The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Trust publishes book marking town’s anniversary
LITCHFIELD — The Greater Litchfield Preservation Trust announces that it has teamed up with the nonprofit Litchfield Patriots to honor Litchfield’s Revolutionary War era patriots with the publication of a book that will be a companion to the September 7th Revolutionary War Living History Day on the Litchfield Green. The book starts with the schedule for September 7th, followed by stories of real people and actual events that took place in Litchfield during the War, and ends with 7 pages listing the veterans from Litchfield, South Farms (Morris) and a section of Torrington that was originally part of Litchfield. We are proud of our ancestors and the part they played in establishing the United States.
Contributors include Timothy Abbott, Stephen McGrath, Amy Gagnon, Carol Bramley, Lee Swift, Cleve Fuessenich, Peter Vermilyea, Linda Hocking, Daniel Keefe, and Benjamin Tallmadge.
Timothy Abbott is an avid historical researcher and Revolutionary War reenactor who lives in North Canaan, Connecticut. One of his papers — Documentary Evidence of the Route and Encampments of the Convention Army in Connecticut, was accepted for inclusion in the collection of The David Library of the American Revolution. He is President of Colonel Ogden’s First New Jersey Regiment and a member of the Canaan/Falls Village Historical Society. Tim, as a member of Litchfield Patriots, has organized and hired the actors that will be on the West Green on September 7th.
Cleve Fuessenich, a native son, is a wellknown lover of Litchfield and its history. In addition to being passionate about Litchfield's history, Cleve is also committed to serving Litchfield in a variety of ways —Chairman of the Litchfield Economic Development Commission, Secretary of The Greater Litchfield Preservation Trust, VicePresident Litchfield Patriots. Board member of the Litchfield Housing Trust, Litchfield Board of Assessment Appeals, the Litchfield Conservation Commission; and member of the Litchfield 300th Anniversary Committee.
Dan Keefe retired from the Connecticut Technical School System to pursue his passions of researching local history and gardening. Over the last 50 years Dan has interviewed local residents and written numerous papers based on his extensive research — Slavery in Litchfield, Litchfield Pest Houses, the Scoville Hotel, the East Litchfield Depot and the Captain William Bull Tavern, to name a few. Dan recently gave a wellattended presentation at the Oliver Wolcott Library on three important women in Litchfield’s history.
Stephen P. McGrath is Adjunct Professor of History at Central Connecticut State University. He has taught in the public school systems and parttime at the university level for over 27 years. At CCSU, he teaches all periods of American history, a comparative course in the American and French Revolutions, and supervises student teachers. He is past president of the Connecticut Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History, a member of the Association for the Study of Connecticut History, and served on the Board of the Litchfield Historical Society for six years.
Lee Swift, a former librarian, is a Litchfield and Morris historian. She is a volunteer at the Litchfield and Bantam Historical Societies, White Memorial Conservation Center, former Morris Town Historian, Board member of the East Cemetery Association and Secretary of the Greater Naugatuck Valley History Consortium. Lee has researched, and written, local history articles that have appeared in a variety of newsletters in addition to providing carefully researched material for books.
Peter Vermilyea teaches history at Housatonic Valley Regional High School in Falls Village, Connecticut, and at Western Connecticut State University. A graduate of Gettysburg College, he is the director of the student scholarship program at his alma mater’s Civil War Institute. Peter is Secretary for the Board of Directors for the Litchfield Historical Society and a member of the Litchfield 300th Anniversary Committee. He is the author of Hidden History of Litchfield County, Wicked Litchfield County and more than a dozen articles in history magazines. Peter also writes for, and maintains, the Hidden in Plain Sight blog.
Every dollar of every book purchase will support the September 7th event — insurance, actors, police, portable toilets, hay for horses and tent rental among other items. The books are available in the Litchfield Town Clerk’s Office, Serendipity Boutique at 3 West Street and the Congregational Church Book Store, open Saturdays 103; and they will be sold at the August 10th Litchfield Hills FarmFresh Market and on Center Green during the Living History Day, September 7th.