One mystery solved opens more inquiries

NORTH EAST — Ralph Fedele and Alex Kay wait on the porch at Simmons’ Way Village Inn, anxious.

“We’re very excited,� Fedele mentions, though his body language has long given him away. Both are members of the North East Historical Society, and Aug. 14, the morning they are sitting on the inn’s porch waiting, marks the conclusion of a historical detective’s case.

The request Fedele received was not the first the North East Historical Society has fielded, and will not be the last. Alan Dempsey of Meriden, Conn., had contacted the town’s library, looking for the Millerton residence his great-grandfather, Robert Dempsey, had owned.

It’s a familiar story of a family searching out its roots. But this request had more than a few gaping holes. Dempsey knew only that his ancestor owned a house in the village; there was no street name or other records that would guide the society in the right direction. But the library forwarded the inquiry on to the North East Historical Society, knowing that if anyone could help Dempsey, it would be them. And sometimes the mysteries with the fewest clues yield the greatest rewards.

A room in the NorthEast-Millerton Library is home to the historical society’s archives, but with little to go on, the search moved on. After visiting the Irondale Cemetery and Town Hall, the location of Robert Dempsey’s house was still unknown. But Dick Valentine, the  former owner of the Valentine Funeral Home on Park Street, remembered that Dempsey had lived in Spencer’s Corners, an area north of the village.

“I called Alan back and told him what I had found out,� recalled Fedele, still sitting on the inn’s porch, waiting for the Dempseys to arrive. “Then he told me that he had an old picture of [his great-grandfather’s] house.�

With photo in hand, Fedele hit the streets. He traversed the roads in Spencer’s Corner, looking for a building with matching characteristics. His efforts paid off, thanks in part to the preservation of the house in question throughout the years. A meeting was scheduled for Dempsey, with his cousin and family historian, Barbara, in tow. They met with Fedele to visit the Banks House, as it is known, on Rudd Pond Road.

Accompanying Fedele was Kay, the youngest member of the North East Historical Society. Here historical paths meet and blood lines converge, generations down the line. Kay himself is a descendent of the Dempsey family line. His story is another piece of the puzzle.

Alex is the great-great-grandson of “Father John� Dempsey, Robert’s brother. Father John and Robert both lived in Spencer’s Corner, and Alex’s uncle currently resides in Father John’s old house, just down the road from the Banks House. Up in that attic their family discovered a large trunk filled with letters and photographs, overflowing with history and intimate details surrounding their family’s life and history.

“It triggered memories,� explained Melanie Kay, Alex’s mother. “Reading some of the letters, you start to think, ‘Who are these people?’ ‘Who are they really?’�

Alan and Barbara Dempsey eventually arrived, and the four of them, accompanied by a reporter hard on the trail of an evolving story, made the brief drive up to the Banks House, currently owned by Ron Afzal, his wife, Lisa Strauss, and their family.

The morning was an event that local historians dream of, as Afzal’s tour brought the Banks House into context with the founding of the village of Millerton and the history of Spencer’s Corner, which was known as the Brown homestead back in the late 1700s and early 1800s, when the house is estimated to have been built. Robert Dempsey was the first non-Brown to own the house.

To the delight of the Dempseys and Fedele, much of the structure’s original woodwork has been left intact and restored. The tiger maple bannister, intricate rosettes with deep inlays on the trim of the doorways, and the fireplace were defining highlights.

“There’s so much character,� exclaimed Barbara Dempsey.

“It’s really fascinating,� added Alan. “I’ve always enjoyed history, and there’s so much depth to the detail here.�

The Dempseys, Afzal and Alex exchanged information and anecdotes about the history of the house and the Dempsey family.

“It was actually interesting to meet the other relatives,� Alex said the following week. “We didn’t know there were other relatives with the last name Dempsey.�

But while the one case was closed on Aug. 14, the revelation has opened up other inquiries. Alex acknowledged he would be continuing his research into the Dempsey family, and his mother mentioned the determination and effort her son has displayed since finding their family’s old documents.

“If there are more Dempseys around, we would like to trace them back to see where they fit into our family,� Alex explained, a true sleuth in the making.

The Dempseys returned to Connecticut at the end of the day, knowing a little more than they had when they left. Alex admitted he hadn’t discovered anything ground-breaking from his distant relatives, but that the experience had strengthened his desire to learn more. And Fedele stumbled across a few more historical documents that would make great additions to the historical society’s archives.

“We would encourage people to go into their attics,� he said. “There are old houses all around this area, and they’re filled with stuff.� By scanning letters and photos of the area’s history in their archives, Fedele explained that the information gathered could help families like the Dempseys shed light on future mysteries.

What was it that drew Alan Dempsey to the site of his great-grandfather’s home? What feeling of ancestral curiosity moves Melanie and Alex Kay to sift through trunks of antique documents and pictures? This is not a story of a long lost family reunited, but of strangers bound together through the branches of an old family tree, gathering momentarily inside a house whose foundation runs very deep into the ground below.

And somewhere, someone, is sniffing out this lead.