Turning Back the Pages - August 13, 2026

125 years ago — August 1901

THE JOURNAL this week begins its fifth year, and thanks are due the public for generous support and cooperation. The Journal has at all times endeavored to faithfully represent its section as home paper should, and hopes the public will continue to bestow its patronage and assistance.

Modern day editor’s note: This week begins The Journal’s 130th year of publication and this year marks 5 years as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. We are as grateful today for the support of our community as our predecessors were 125 years ago.

Genial John Belcher has purchased a new driving horse, a sweet one they say.

100 years ago — August 1926

Jack Wells of Brooklyn recently caught a five pound pickerel at Twin Lakes. The fish measured 27 inches in length.

A government airplane came to grief near West Cornwall last Sunday. It is understood the two pilots saw that their gas was running low and looked around for a place to land. They selected a cornfield belonging to Eugene Wickwire, and in landing made a miscalculation of the distance, the plane coming to a stop against a stone wall and barb wire fence, and receiving considerable damage. The pilots escaped injury. The plane was taken apart and towed to Hartford for repairs.

Thomas Graham, formerly of this place, is in the Winsted hospital as the result of injuries received when he was struck by an automobile on Gay Street, Winsted, Monday evening. He was carried in an unconscious condition by two automobilists from the street and left in a barn nearby where he was found later. He sustained five broken ribs and his left arm was fractured. The automobilists, who are unknown, carried Mr. Graham to the barn thinking he was dead, and left without notifying anyone of the accident. The injured man is the father of Mrs. Peter Phillips.

Mrs. Katherine Johnson Ashe is spending the summer near Asheville, N.C. Mrs. Ashe writes that Asheville was named after her husband’s “great-great-grandfather who was a distinguished general in the Revolutionary war.”

50 years ago — August 1976

A former Salisbury resident has become “foster father” to a young male chimpanzee and is helping him learn to communicate more clearly with human beings. The “father” is Walter Benesch, a graduate of Housatonic Valley Regional High School, and son of Louise Benesch of Amesville. His “foster son” is a 2 ½ year old chimp, Nim Chimpsky, whose name is a take-off on that of Noam Chomsky. Chomsky, a noted linguistics expert at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is known for his skepticism on the subject of chimpanzee research, Benesch said. In Project Nim, Benesch cares for the young chimp like a parent, feeding him, putting him to bed and taking him to visit friends.

CANAAN — Age and ill health have left undimmed Grete Stuckgold passionate commitment to the world of opera. Confined to Geer Memorial Extended Care Facility for the past three years since she suffered a stroke in New York City, the 80-year-old former opera star continues to follow opera through Saturday morning broadcasts. “I’ve become emotionally involved,” she says. Mrs. Stuckgold’s interest in opera is no passing fancy. She has devoted her life to the art and was for 15 years prima donna with the New York Metropolitan Opera House. She has sung most of the major soprano roles during her career, and has appeared in nearly every European country, all the states of the Union and every Canadian province.

ASHLEY FALLS — Sheila Angus, Sheffield correspondent for The Lakeville Journal, produced some shattering news Monday morning when she drove her car through the window of the Ashley Falls Post Office. When Mrs. Angus pulled up in front of the post office she had difficulty in getting her gear shift into the parking position. “The car just refused to stop,” she said,” and I found myself going into the plate glass window. There were no personal injuries, thank heaven, but you should see the post office!”

25 years ago — August 1976

Housatonic Valley Regional High School senior Candace Deeds spent the last six months in Costa Rica, studying at a high school and teaching at an elementary school. She also found time to check out some of the beaches. “I’ve never experienced anything like them before,” she said of the finely crushed seashells that made the soft shimmering sand.

These items were taken from The Lakeville Journal archives at Salisbury’s Scoville Memorial Library, keeping the original wording intact as possible.