Cornwall Historical Society: collections

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Monday, December 29, 2014

Scrapbooks

Historical societies love scrapbooks, because they are time capsules that help us connect to both the person who made them and the place where they were made.

We have a small collection of scrapbooks at the Cornwall Historical Society. Here are highlights of some of them.

Emily Marsh's WWII Scrapbook

During World War II, Cornwall librarian Emily Marsh compiled photographs, newspaper clippings, service badges, letters, and hand-written notations in a simple three-ring binder.

Emily Marsh WWII scrapbook.

West Cornwall News Clippings, 1880s

An unknown person pasted newspaper clippings into an old account book during the 1880s, preserving a slice of life for future generations.

West Cornwall news clippings scrapbook, 1880s.

Emeline L. Merz Scrapbook, 1941

Emeline Merz pasted newspaper clippings of her own writings, as well as a Letter to the Editor written by her husband, Kenneth Merz, in this scrap book.

Emeline L. Merz scrapbook, 1941.

Harriet Bennett Scrapbook, early 1900s

Suffragist Harriet Wilcox Bennett used this scrapbook to preserve newspaper clippings that interested her, sometimes with annotations indicating a personal connection to the clipping. A significant portion of the clippings relate to Bennett's activity as a supporter of women's suffrage.

Harriet Bennett scrapbook, early 1900s.

Katherine W. Pratt Scrapbook, 1914

Katherine Willston Pratt's scrapbook, marketed for young women graduating from high school, includes photographs of her classmates, treasured letters, and other mementos of her social activities. Pratt was the daughter of Rev. Dwight Mallory Pratt, originally from West Cornwall, who served as the minister of the Walnut Hills Congregational Church at Cincinnati from 1900 to 1914, when Katherine created this book of memories.

Katherine W. Pratt scrapbook, 1914.

Friday, December 5, 2014

David Johnson's Housatonic River

Christmas has come early to the Cornwall Historical Society! We are delighted to share the most recent donation to our collection--a wonderful oil painting of the Housatonic River at West Cornwall by David Johnson (1827-1908).

David Johnson, Housatonic River at West Cornwall, 1870s.

Johnson was born and raised in New York City and began his art career by painting landscapes in the Catskills, studying with Jasper Crospsey. Johnson joined the National Academy of Design in 1859 and continued traveling in the Northeast, painting landscapes in the White Mountains, at Lake George, and in central New York state. He painted at West Cornwall and other Connecticut locations during the 1870s.

Detail showing a man fishing and smoking a pipe.

Johnson won a first-class medal for art at the 1876 Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia and an award from the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics Association of Boston in 1878. He exhibit a painting of the Housatonic River at the Paris Salon of 1877.

Detail showing two people on the opposite bank of the river, possibly on a boat.

Reverse of the painting, showing Johnson's signature and the painting's title.

Another painting of West Cornwall, done in 1875 by David Johnson, is in the collection of the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, CT.

Friday, November 21, 2014

Coltsfoot Farm Milk Bottle

Our collections include this fun milk bottle from the Coltsfoot Farm.

Coltsfoot Farm was started in 1885 by John Edward Calhoun, taking its name from the Coltsfoot Valley, where his cattle grazed.

The slogan, "a bottle of milk is a bottle of health," was introduced by the Thatcher glass manufacturing company of New York and soon became a nationally used slogan.

The Calhoun family sold off their dairy cattle and equipment at a two day auction in 1966. The farm property was leased and the dairy operations continued on site by Ronald Laigle, Robert Laigle, and Raymond Thuillard.

Coltsfoot Farm closed permanently in the mid-1980s.

View of Coltsfoot Valley today.