Old Houses of East Haven

We hope to soon see photos such as the above photograph of the Jedediah Andrews House from Donald V. Chidsey's Old Houses of East Haven as part of the Connecticut Treasures initiative discussed in the May 28th, 2010 post. Library Journal published a short article on the project in the November 19th, 2010 issue, http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/home/887872-264/in_connecticut_a_small_model.html.csp

Stephen Bradley's Bridge

There was an interesting occurrence this past month concerning The History of the Village and Town of East Haven Connecticut from the First Grant of Land in 1644 to 1873 by Reverend Daniel Havens. An inquiry was made as to information on the bridge down by the Old Mill on Lake Saltonstall. Haven's section on bridges gave a good introduction in the History:



"Another bridge was built over Stoney River near the Iron Works, now known as Stephen Bradley's Bridge."



In the table of contents for the chapter on bridges entry number 48 is listed as " Rebuilding of Stephen Bradley's Bridge over Stoney River ordered by town." However, the chapter ends at number 36. The following entries are not there. I had been using the typewritten copy of the History, so I turned to the notebooks that were transcribed from Haven's original handwriting. The notebook also ended at number 36. I then called James Campbell at the New Haven Colony Historical Society, which holds the original document. He was kind enough to send over both a fax and to also mail a photocopy. But Haven's handwriting is extremely difficult to decipher (as shown below) so, for the moment, the text remains a mystery.

Metadata for Old Houses of East Haven

The metadata for the Digitization Project, facilitated by Library Connection and the Connecticut State Library is in the process of being written for the work, Old Houses of East Haven by Donald V. Chidsey. The Hagaman Memorial Library is entering the data into an Excel template to be submitted to Library Connection. Scans of each of the houses will also be sent. The information will be made available through the Internet. We are looking forward to making this work available to the public through this project.

Hagaman Library Contributes to Treasures of Connecticut Libraries Project

The Treasures of Connecticut Libraries Project is an online partnership between the Connecticut State Library and Library Connection, a non-profit cooperative of 27 public and academic libraries. The Project will enhance already standing digital collections of the Connecticut Humanities Council databases such as, Connecticut's Heritage Gateway, http://www.ctheritage.org/ the Encyclopedia of Connecticut History Online, http://www.ctheritage.org/encyclopedia/encyclopedia.htm and Connecticut History Online, http://www.cthistoryonline.org/cdm-cho/index.html.

The Hagaman Memorial Library's contribution to the project will be Old Houses of East Haven by Donald V. Chidsey, a page of which can be seen in the photograph above. The work written by Mr. Chidsey in 1934, consists of text and photographs of houses and landmarks of East Haven. In the preface the author states:
"The following account gives a brief history of East Haven's old houses, as well as the Old Stone Church, the Green and the Iron Works from the time of origin to the present time. It contains, in simple language, those events and incidents connected with each place which are of chief importance and general interest. This booklet is designed primarily, as a reference for those who may be interested in ascertaining the names of the owners of the few old places still remaining in East Haven. A knowledge of the history of the folk now gone forever who once lived in these old houses will perhaps create a deeper respect upon the part of the present generation for past generations who were the founders and builders of our town."