“From Stone House to Glass House,” an exhibit on the historic preservation movement in Connecticut, opens 1 April in the CCT Gallery, in the offices of the state’s Commission on Culture and Tourism. The Shaw Mansion and its preservation by the New London County Historical Society is featured as one of the earliest examples of historic house preservation in the state.
![FOAL[1]](https://www.nlchs.org/wordpresswp-content/uploads/2010/03/FOAL1-300x238.jpg "FOAL[1]")
Tuesd Mar .1. . . .wee got home [from his farm in Stonington] Sun about an hour high and wee buried the Child at Sun down. . . . Saturd 5. . . I was at home al Day. Josh brot home the mare & Colt & left the young Horses. . . Mond .7. fair & Cold & windy. I went to Groton to John Averys to Assist in an arbitration . . . Tuesd 15 it Snowed & Rained most of the Day. I was at home foren. afternoon helping measure 100 Rod of Land for Dea. fosdick Hills Lot Next Jno Plumb taken by Execution for Charlots Debt. Wednsd 16 fair & warm. I was at home al day. foren helping Adm draw S[t]ones. aftern pruning Appletrees. Thursd 24. . . I was Laying out Commons . . . I am to Receive 7s 4d of Dea Fox. the Rest are pd & I Recd 2s 6d for Abel Moors part of Dea Fosdick.
Something that fascinates a good many people about Joshua Hempstead’s life is its variety. One day he’s at court acting as someone’s lawyer, the next he may be surveying or working on the highways. It’s very different from today’s specialization.
The month of March, 1736/7, gives a representative sample of this range of activities. In that month, Hempstead:
What didn’t Hempstead do that month? Well, he didn’t letter any gravestones, an activity that provided income now and then throughout his adult life. He didn’t write a will for anyone. He didn’t hold any justice of the peace courts at his house, although he did perform that marriage, also a justice function. But overall this month gives a very good picture of the scope and variety of Hempstead’s life.
The March Second Sunday program celebrates the 90th Anniversary of the League of Women Voters. Connecticut LWV President, Jara Burnett, will share the story of the effort to pass the 19th Amendment, approved in 1920, and the story of the organization that pushed for that change: the National American Womens Suffrage Association, which became the League of Women Voters in 1920.
In its 90 years the non-partisan league has campaigned for increased understanding of public policy issues, efforts to achieve an open governmental system that is representative, accountable and responsive to the people, and has hosted local and national candidates debates.
The program will take place at the Shaw Mansion beginning at 2pm on Sunday 14 March. The program is free for members of the New London County Historical Society and for members of the League of Women Voters, $5 for others. Refreshments will be served following the program.
The Shaw Mansion has been the headquarters for the New London County Historical Society since 1907, and is located at 11 Blinman Street, close to the intersection of Bank and Tilley Streets in New London.
[February 1738] Tuesd 6 fair. I went with Josh to Mr Wm Wheelers & he went with us & wee Run the Line & marked Trees & put heaps of Stones in Every 20 Rod from the Wallnut Tree by Stantons fence the N E Cornner of Fannings 100 Acres & a Side Line of Mr Wheelers (that was Robert Fannings 30 acres.) unto the great White oak on the Hill the S E. Cornner of fannings 100 acres. I sold my old ox to Mr Wheelar for £12 10s 0d & ye other to Stephen Bennet for £11 10s 0d. Wee Lodged at Stephen Bennets. I hear that my old uncle Greenfield Larabee aged 90 Last april Died on Saturday Night last & was buried a Monday.
Winter, of course, was the ideal time to do survey work in the field. With the leaves off the trees, one’s sight line could be much improved. How Hempstead learned the art of surveying is not mentioned in the diary, but he does make reference in 1722 to buying a needle for the compass and the wire to make the surveyor’s chain, these being the two most important pieces of equipment necessary for the task. The chain is made up of 100 links and is equal to 4 rods of 16 ½ feet, for a total of 66 feet. Thus 80 chains would equal one mile. 
Of course there are other tools to measure lines and angles in the field, including stakes to mark the end of one chain and the beginning of the next as one surveys a line more the 66 feet in length, and poles to help provide a clear sight line where things are obscured by changes in elevation. People too were necessary, as this is a task which could not be performed alone; there need to be at least two other people to carry the chain while the surveyor stands at the compass to sight down the line. Hempstead usually notes in his diary the assistance of Joshua, his grandson, and sometimes Adam, his slave.
The piece of land being surveyed mentioned in this diary entry is one that Hempstead is familiar with. This is land in Stonington adjacent to Hempstead’s property which boundaries he needed to renegotiate and reestablish in 1720. Being able to measure land is not the only skill required in this process. As Pat Schaefer points out, “All of this activity needed judgment and negotiating ability as well as surveying skills. … there was much back and forth about the terms of ownership and the exact amounts of land involved.”
We have a copy of Geodaesia, the Art of Surveying, printed in London in 1783 in our collection. A researcher trained in surveying read it recently to see if she could identify some practices common to 18th century surveyors. “Not much has changed,” was her judgment, well, that is before GPS.
February’s Second Sunday, on the 14th, will feature Mary Lenzini, Executive Director of the Visiting Nurse Association of Southeastern Connecticut. The VNA is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year and this will be an opportunity to look back at how far we have come in providing skilled nursing assistance in our region. Of course there have been vast changes in the nursing profession over those 100 years as well as amazing changes in medical practice.
As early as 1909 the Visiting Nurse Association of Southeastern Connecticut was at work. Black bag in hand, equipped with enema bags, dressing supplies, thermometers and little else, these pioneers visited their patients on foot, by horseback, or by bicycle.
Charged mostly with caring for the poor, new mothers and children, psychiatric and homebound tuberculosis patients, their nursing duties were combined with a large dose of social work.
This Second Sunday program will take place at 2 pm at the offices of the VNA of Southeastern Connecticut, 403 North Frontage Road, just inside the Waterford border next to Springhill Suites and the New London Mall.
NEW LONDON: The National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded a “We the People” grant to the New London County Historical Society to fund the creation of a preservation plan for the 55 oil paintings in its collection. Nationally recognized painting experts, Lance Mayer and Gay Myers, independent conservators associated with the Lyman Allyn Art Museum, will conduct an intensive survey of the collection in order to create the plan. Having a plan in place will make it possible to seek additional funding for the conservation and treatment of specific paintings in a future funding cycle.
James Leach, Chairman of the NEH writes, “The goal of the ‘We the People’ initiative is to support projects that explore significant events and themes in our nation’s history.” The society’s collection has a number of outstanding components with six Ralph Earl portraits commissioned for the Shaw family in 1792, and a large number of ships’ portraits and ships’ captains’ portraits associated with New London’s whaling years. In the Thomas Shaw portrait, Earl included a view in the background of Fort Trumbull with a large American flag flying over it. This alone makes this painting an important document of our nation as there are fewer than 100 images of the American flag that have been identified as being created prior to 1800.
Meyer and Myers clients have ranged from the Guggenheim Museum to the Art Institute of Chicago, and more locally, the Yale Center for British Art and the Wadsworth Atheneum. In 2009 they treated Washington Crossing the Delaware for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Their scholarly work on 18th and 19th century painting techniques has been shared in numerous articles and conference presentations. They look forward to having a project close to home and the opportunity to closely examine the Earl portraits.
The New London County Historical Society, founded in 1870, is the oldest historical organization in eastern Connecticut. The Shaw Mansion has been the society’s headquarters since 1907 and is located at 11 Blinman Street, New London, close to the corner of Bank and Tilley Streets.