Turning Back the Pages - July 3, 2025

125 years ago — 1900

During the unusually severe electrical storm in Kent Friday afternoon of last week, Walter Hall, a farmer aged 50, was struck by lightning and instantly killed. Mr. Hall was sitting at the dinner table in his home at the time.

It is supposed that a hen lays only lays one egg a day, but Benjamin Cleaveland is in a position to dispute this statement. Last week he placed one of his motherly old hens in a coop by herself in order that her brood might learn to shift for themselves. About noon he went to the coop and found a nice fresh egg. He thought nothing of that, but when he happened there again late in the afternoon and found another nice freshly laid egg, he was naturally somewhat astonished. The coop was fixed in such a way that no other hen could get into it, and there is but one solution to the matter — that hen laid two eggs in one day. Both were of ordinary size but slightly different in color. This goes to prove that even the hens are enterprising in Lakeville.

James Winterbottom of Lime Rock was subpoenaed to appear in New Haven on Tuesday as witness in a divorce suit. “Jim” didn’t know any of the parties concerned in the case, but had to go nevertheless. Had heard something, perhaps.

A horseless wagon passed over the road leading from Cornwall to Falls Village and northward last Monday. It was probably the first one to venture over that course. It was being run about 12 miles an hour. The occupants, a man and woman, didn’t delight in scaring every horse they met, but would stop the machine and wait until a team would pass. If all drivers would be as considerate as this we should have fewer runaways than people expect to experience in the near future.

The residents of Bostwick Hill witnessed an interesting incident in natural history on Monday. A hive of bees belonging to F.H. Chapin swarmed on one of the small trees on Thomas Martin’s lawn. Mr. Chapin was soon on hand and it was interesting to watch him handle the big bunch of buzzing insects. He would lift them up with his bare hands, and those that were flying around in the air would settle upon him but never a one offered to sting him. Mr. Chapin said they know him and they certainly acted as if they did. He says they never sting him and he soon had this swarm nicely hived without losing a one.

100 years ago — 1925

Due to the severity of our winters, it has been apparent for many years that a receiving vault should be built at Salisbury Cemetery. A suitable piece of ground has been reserved for this purpose by the Cemetery Association, and a very generous gift has just been made as a nucleus of the fund. Although it is planned to build the vault on the grounds of the Salisbury Cemetery Association, it is intended that it be used by all creeds.

The gas bus going east at 10 o’clock left the rails at Twin Lakes on Tuesday and pretty nearly buried its nose in the lake. Fortunately no one was injured, but the bus had to be laid up for repairs, a steam train taking its place. The bus had to be hauled out of its predicament by the Canaan switch engine.

With the new marriage licensing law, passed by the general assembly during the last session which went into effect Wednesday, both parties to the marriage union must sign the license before it can be issued. The requirements of the law will necessitate that both the man and woman appear before the town clerk to swear to the statements and sign the license. Heretofore only one party to the marriage was required to swear to the statement and sign the license.

Interlaken Inn is now open for guests. The work of restoring the Inn since the recent fire has progressed rapidly and satisfactorily and Mr. and Mrs. Percy are to be congratulated upon the fact that the house is now ready for its large list of guests.

50 years ago — 1975

A block of 4 1975 commemorative stamps honoring the 200th anniversary year of the United States Military Services will be released for sale this Friday, July 4, with one American soldier strangely resembling Taconic resident Weston Pullen. The fact is the man on the Bicentennial stamp IS West Pullen. He was asked to pose for the stamp last year by artist and illustrator Edward Vebell of Westport, and Pullen agreed. At that time though, Pullen, while he knew the modeling job was for a stamp, did not know it was for the nation’s Bicentennial stamp.

State Police Trooper Dean Hammond was surprised early last Thursday morning to find a snowman, yes, a five-foot snowman, standing in the middle of Route 41 in Sharon just south of the Sharon Post Office. State Police Sgt. Peter Lawson took a photograph, believing that otherwise no one would credit the presence of a snowman. The snowman, the work of an unknown prankster, was removed from the highway by troopers.

The old Beckley Furnace on the Lower Road in Canaan is one of six sites mentioned for restoration in a preliminary proposal drawn up by the State Department of Environmental Protection. The preliminary report notes that with the increased interest in historical places and events that is being generated by the nation’s Bicentennial, there is also increased awareness of how certain historical land uses shaped Connecticut’s landscape. The Beckley Furnace was listed as being desirable for restoration because it rests on two acres of land already owned by the state. It is readily accessible to the public and is in better repair than some of the other sites.

Like shadows out of the past, a detachment of Colonial horsemen appeared in Northwest Connecticut this weekend. The riders are members of the first troop Philadelphia City Cavalry who are reenacting George Washington’s historic ride to take command of the nation’s first army 200 years ago. The troop, then called the Light Horse of the City of Philadelphia, acted as Washington’s bodyguard on that long ago ride to Cambridge, Mass. Today it continues its long history as part of the 104th Cavalry Division, Pennsylvania National Guard.

25 years ago — 2000

It will be a bittersweet parting when the Rev. Gilbert Larsen and his wife Jody leave Sharon next week for their new home in Florida. After 17 years in the pulpit of Christ Church Episcopal, the minister is retiring as of Aug. 1. But with vacation time due, his final sermon was given last Sunday and the couple plans to hit the highways next week. “It’s been a wonderful experience for Jody, me and the kids,” said Rev. Larsen, speaking of his two sons, Gilbert and Robert. “It (Sharon) is a marvelous place to raise kids. The people are wonderful. Because of the closeness, sometimes I felt like the parson for the whole town.”

CANAAN — After many months in limbo, a pending dam permit sighed its last breath this week when Phoenix Horizon failed to move to reopen the public hearing process. The Department of Environmental Protection had gone back and forth with the would-be developer, trying to pin down its intentions. After numerous extensions to the hearing process that began a year ago, the matter was declared terminated as of June 27. But all that no longer matters. As of June 14, Phoenix Horizon no longer owns the Sand Road property where it attempted to build up to 73 single-family homes. Webster Bank foreclosed on a mortgage June 14.

A home accessories store on Main Street in Lakeville was robbed of $12,000 worth of goods and $150 in cash on the evening of June 15. Bonnie Mulville has owned April 56, a home accessories and gift shop, for 21 years, Bonnie’s husband, John, said, “and this is the first time this has ever happened. They cleaned out the cash register and took a lot of glitzy stuff, salad servers and cast aluminum trays and a whole glass case of jewelry.” The thieves also stole several wall clocks. “It was not any little robbery,” Mr. Mulville said. “It was terrible.” A few days later, Mrs. Mulville’s wallet, which had been stolen, turned up again. “Someone found it in the bushes on Route 44 with the money and credit cards still in it,” Mr. Mulville said. Only the robbers know why they tossed the wallet but kept the cash from the cash box.

Sheffield Plastics Inc. has presented $500 scholarships to three students at Mount Everett Regional High School for their efforts in resolving a computer problem that faced the company. The checks, presented by Sheffield Plastics Human Resources Director Janet Force, were in appreciation for the work of Ashley Winseck, Claire Mielke and Amanda Janusz when the girls were freshmen. The project was performed under the supervision of Mount Everett technology teacher Charlie Flynn.