ColchesterTalks.com Free and open access to Colchester's rich history.
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ColchesterTalks.com Free and open access to Colchester's rich history.
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Class of 2008 Grad Committee info
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Interested in other local history within the state? Please visit our following website affiliates that are kind enough to list Colchestertalks.com Visit Connecticut's Heritage Gateway a program of
The Connecticut Historical Society
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http://www.Colchestercitizenwatch.org For free and open access to public information about Colchester finances and elected official decisions.
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Colchester, Connecticut has a proud history of influencing the United States and Connecticut. This section is devoted to sharing these stories.Did you know?
Three generations of Bemans influenced the nation, state, Colchester and Middletown. Cesar Beman was the slave to John Isham. John was the husband of Dorathy Foote (granddaughter of Nathaniel Foote) Generation #1. Cesar was freed by John in 1781. Upon his freedom, Cesar chose the surname Beman because freedom meant he could "be a man". (i) Cesar went on the serve in the Revolutionary War in the Continental Army for several years. (ii) Generation #2. Cesar's son, Jehiel was raised in Colchester in the early 1800's. (ii) In Colchester, he worked as a shoemaker. (i) In 1830, Jehiel moved to Middletown, Connecticut. In Middletown, Jehiel became the first minister of one of the few African Methodist Episcopal Zion Churches in Connecticut. In his life, Jehiel rose to state and national prominence for his efforts in the anti-slavery and Underground Railroad movements. Generation #3. Jehiel's son, Amos was born in Colchester in 1822. In 1830, he moved to Middletown with his family. Like his father, Amos rose to state and national prominence with the anti-slavery and Underground Railroad movements. (i) Amos also was instrumental in the integration of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. For six months, he challenged the whites only enrollment policy. When threatened with bodily harm, he gave up his fight. Because of his efforts, however, 2 years later, Wesleyan University decided to admit black males. Jehiel had another son Leverett born in Colchester in 1810. In 1847, he became the developer of the first known residential subdivision in the state to be laid out by a free black man for black home owners. (iii) i Diana Ross McCain Hartford Courant, October 29,1 1997 pg. 4 ii Jehiel C. Berman: a leader of the Northern free black community iii Ask the Courant, Hartford Courant (south central/shoreline edition) January 26, 2004 pg. B 3
One of the oldest water rights granted in Connecticut was in Colchester. December 13, 1725 water rights were given to Andrew Carrier and Nathaniel Skinner. Click here for the full story.
In the late 1700's Samuel Loomis was one of the nation's top cabinet makers.
In 1801, the 1st Commandery of the Masonic Knights Templars in the America's, was instituted in Colchester. This charter was granted through the efforts of John R. Watrous, a local leader, Revolutionary War surgeon and Trustee of Bacon Academy.
Jonathan Trumbull Jr., an original Trustee of Bacon Academy, was the Governor of Connecticut (1797-1809). It's interesting to note that he was a Trustee while serving as Governor.
William Alfred Buckingham, Bacon Academy alumnus, was a noted politician in the state of Connecticut. He was the mayor of Norwich, CT in the 1850's. He was Governor of Connecticut (1858-1866). Later he became U.S. Senator (1869-1875)
Edwin Denison Morgan (cousin of Morgan G. Bulkeley) graduated Bacon Academy in 1820's. He moved to New York City in 1836. He became Chairman of the Republican National Committee 1856-1864; Governor of New York 1859-1862; during the Civil War served as major general of Volunteers in the Union Army 1861-1863, serving as commander of the Department of New York; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1863, to March 3, 1869; chairman of the Republican National Committee 1872-1876. http://bioguide.congress.gov
Lyman Trumbull was a great friend of Abraham Lincoln and co-authored the 13th Amendment that abolished slavery in the United States. Trumbull was born in Colchester, graduated from Bacon Academy and went on to be a great statesman in Illinois.
Born in Connecticut in 1832, William Larrabee attended Bacon Academy in the 1840's. According to www.state.ia.us/iowahistory, he moved to Iowa at the age of 21. He had little formal education, only completing the eighth grade. However, he was a lifelong self-learner. His public service began in 1867. He served 17 years in the Iowa legislature, then two terms as governor, from 1886 to 1890. Larrabee's progressive ideas put him at odds with his fellow Republican Party members. Among the causes he championed were woman suffrage, railroad regulations, and African-American rights. He held strong views on education, believing in tax-supported education for all students.
Isaac Edwin Crary, Bacon Academy Alumnus, is credited with founding the state of Michigan's public education system in the 1850's. He also served on the University of Michigan Regents (1837-1843). http://en.wikipedia.org
Morrison R. Waite, Bacon Academy alumnus, was the Chief Justice for the Connecticut Supreme Court (1854-1857). He later became the Chief Justice for the United States Supreme Court (1874-1888)
Park Benjamin, Bacon Academy alumnus, was a major force in the publishing industry in the 1830's and 1840's. His role as a poet and editor was nationally recognized. To quote his good friend Edgar Allen Poe, "For the last six or seven years, few men have occupied a more desirable position among us than Mr. BENJAMIN. As the editor of the American Monthly Magazine, of the New Yorker, and more lately of the Signal, and New World, he has exerted an influence scarcely second to that of any editor in the country." (1)
Morgan G. Bulkeley, a Bacon Academy notable, was an important politician in the 1800's. He was the mayor of Hartford, CT(1880-1888). Later he went on to become the Governor of Connecticut (1889-1893) and U.S. Senator from the state of Connecticut (1905-1911) photo from baseballhalloffame.org
(1) http://www.wvu.edu/~lawfac/jelkins/lp-2001/benjamin.html (2) SNEAKERHEAD.COM
Photo credits, unless noted otherwise were sourced copyright free from wikipedia.org or congress.gov |
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Bacon
Academy graduate Stephen Austin '08 co-founded the State of Texas.
The
sneaker arguably was first produced in Colchester and successfully marketed.
"A discovery at an estate sale has led experts to believe that
the first basketball shoes were produced by Colchester Rubber Company of
Colchester, Connecticut who went out of business in 1893. While there is no
significant evidence to point to the use of these shoes for basketball, it seems
that shoes that were produced just a few miles from the birthplace of basketball
just two years after the invention of the game would certainly have been used
for basketball." (2)
Publisher's note: A local historian has stated the
sole pattern of the shoe casts some doubt on this claim.
ColchesterTalks is attempting to get more information associated with the
validation of this matter.
