Turning Back the Pages

125 years ago — April 1900

Mrs. Worrell of Sharon has been sick for two weeks with grip and neuralgia, but is better now.

SHARON — Nelson Wilcox has had the Local Telephone put in his home.

They say there are still snow banks four feet deep on Mt. Washington and the ground is still covered with “the beautiful.”

The Winsted Citizen on Wednesday evening stated that Salisbury held an election of Town officers on Tuesday. The editor of the Citizen is somewhat twisted or else he must have been referring to Venezuela where they hold elections whenever they please.

Miss Elizabeth Wilson has engaged to teach the school at East Canaan the coming term.

J.M. Miller has just received a fine lot of double farm harness and single harness, also another assortment of steamer trunks and has in stock a large assortment of horse furnishing goods.

GOOD HORSE for sale or will trade for a good cow. Edward McCue Lakeville.

People are warned against a soap peddler who goes to houses selling his wares and promising premiums in the shape of china ware. He has caught many victims in other towns.

While playing around a bon-fire early Sunday morning, Ina, the seven year old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Savoy, was so severely burned that it is feared she cannot recover. It seems that in some manner her clothing caught fire and before help arrived she received serious burns about the hips and back. The child and family have the sympathy of all their friends.

The road scraper has been at work about the village streets and the roads now present a much smoother appearance.

100 years ago — April 1925

Mr. and Mrs. C.M. Ingersol have returned from the south, and are again at Evergreen Farm for the coming season.

O’Loughlin Bros. have added to their auto livery service a very attractive Studebaker Pullman Bus. The new conveyance seats 16 people, is finely appointed and rides very comfortably, due to the latest springs and upholstery. O’Loughlin Bros. have put the bus in commission to accommodate parties who wish to take long rides and tours. It is a very handsome and comfortable addition to their equipment.

Miss Marion Eggleston is home from Woodsville, N.H. for vacation. Miss Eggleston, who has been Home Demonstrator Agent, has been promoted to Boys’ and Girls’ Club Leader but will still be located at Woodsville.

LIME ROCK — The house that Mr. Hunter occupies is being redecorated.

The trout fishing is good, but the catching “not so good.”

The Salisbury Iron Corporation have made arrangements to lay out the property on the Lincoln City road in building lots, and will sell the same at auction. Some of the lots may be sold at private sale, after survey is completed and property has been appraised.

On Wednesday morning a brush fire of serious proportions occurred on the land near Wake Robin Inn. The blaze was a fierce one and for a time endangered the Inn. The fire company assisted by a lot of volunteers fought the blaze with brooms, shovels and extinguishers, and the big tank on the chemical truck had to be used before the fire was extinguished. Things were quite exciting for a short time.

50 years ago — April 1975

Canaan attorney Catherine G. Roraback has taken on another prominent case, this time defending Susan E. Saxe, the Brandeis University honor student turned revolutionary. Miss Saxe is facing bank robbery charges in connection with a 1970 bank hold-up in Philadelphia, Penn., which netted $6,240, and a bank hold-up in Boston in which a policeman was killed. Miss Saxe, 26, was arrested March 27 in Philadelphia by a city policeman who recognized the fugitive from a photograph taken recently by a bank security camera in Torrington, where Saxe is believed to have lived with another fugitive, Katherine Powers, 26, also sought for the two bank robberies. Three men have already been convicted for the bank hold-ups. The two women have been on the FBI’s 10 most-wanted list for 4½ years.

Connecticut State Police Sgt. Victor Keilty ended his long and distinguished career last Tuesday when he retired from the force. Keilty, who had been a state trooper for 33 years, spent much of his time over the years at the Canaan Barracks, and has made his home in Canaan for the past 25 years. He was honored Friday evening with a surprise party at Dileo’s Grove in Torrington.

Flutists Mary Lou Estabrook and Nancy Frost will be featured performers with the Torrington Civic Symphony at its spring concert April 13 at 3 p.m. at Vogel School auditorium.

Lakeville Journal Editor-Publisher Robert Estabrook testified before a General Assembly Committee in Hartford Tuesday in strong support of new freedom of information legislation now under consideration. Estabrook concentrated on the need to define and narrow the permissible grounds for executive sessions of public bodies, and to guarantee public access to police arrest records.

The highlight of the 1975 racing season at Lime Rock Park will be the Schaefer 350 on May 26, Memorial Day, featuring races for the International Motor Sports Association’s Camel GT, Goodrich Radial Challenge, and Gold Cup Super Vee series. More than 150 entries are expected to compete for over $50,000 in prize and accessory money, making the weekend one of the richest ever at the 1.53-mile road racing circuit.

A spanking new post office greeted Kent patrons Monday morning of this week. Postmaster Eugene Bull locked the door of the old facility for the last time at noon on Saturday, and workers moved equipment to the new building during the weekend.

25 years ago — April 2000

SALISBURY — Habitat for Humanity, Northwest Connecticut Affiliate, has announced the selection of its new partner family for the house it will build on Selleck Hill Road, on land donated by Sally Ellsworth. The family is Hal and Terre Lefferts of Lakeville and their three sons. Mr. and Mrs. Lefferts moved to the area in 1997. Mr. Lefferts was originally employed at Oblong Books. He is now music director of radio station WKZE in Sharon, as well as a composer and singer-songwriter. Mrs. Lefferts is an artist and dance instructor.

CANAAN — Last year’s completed preservation of the state’s only industrial monument may have been reward enough for those who worked so diligently toward that goal. But members of the Committee for the Preservation of the Beckley Furnace are reaping the fruits of their labors time and time again. Last summer, the East Canaan furnace was designated as an official project of the White House’s “Save America’s Treasures” program. Word was received late last week that it has also been named a “Local Legacy” by the Library of Congress and be part of a nationwide program to celebrate the library’s bicentennial.

To make way for renovations at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, a pin oak was moved 40 feet by Acorn Tree Care of Litchfield. The tree was planted in 1978 in memory of Kevin Bond, who died while a student at the school.