|
DID YOU KNOW? The town of Canaan is two hundred and forty years old.
Originally it encompassed 6 square miles, and the land
was purchased from the Stockbndge Indians in 1758 for 250
pounds.
The original settlers, the majority of whom came
from Canaan, Connecticut, named their new township New Canaan
Among them was Gamaliel Whiting of Norwich, Connecticut and
his brother William. Several of their ancestors were
passengers on the Mayflower, and their mother was Elizabeth
Bradford, great-granddaughter of Govener Bradford of
Plymouth, and also of Elizabeth Alden, daughter of John and
Priscilla. Among other names of the original founders of the
town of Canaan, familiar to us now as the names of local
ponds, streets and houses, are; Solomon Bebee; Ass Douglas;
Aaron Kellogg and Elihu Curtis, whose son, Samuel, was the
first white male child born in town (no mention of a female
proceeding him exists). Others include William Aylesworth,
Zebulon Robbins, Jonathan Ford, Simeon Duty, John Wadsworth
and Gideon Frisbie whose family settled one of the oldest
sections, known as New Canaan and also as Canaan Post Office.
Eleazer Cady came to this neighborhood about 1760 and his
granddaughter was Elizabeth Cady Stanton of women's'
suffragette fame. William Warner settled in Canaan Center,
where he opened an inn next to the site of the present Canaan
Historical Society at the intersection of County Route 5 and
Tunnel Hill Road
DID YOU KNOW? The Canaan
Historical Society is conducting an archeological dig at the
site of the William Warner tavern. Anyone interested in
participating is welcome to come and help on Saturday
mornings, beginning at 9:30 am. In 1764, William B. Warner
and his wife Rebecca Lupton Warner, moved to Canaan Center
from Connecticut with their twelve children. They first built
a small house, near the site of the future Presbyterian
Church, which now houses the Historical Society, and soon
after, a tavern and inn. It was here, on June 24th, 1776,
that the voters of the King's District assembled to elect
delegates to the Continental Congress At this meeting they
also adopted, unanimously, the historic resolution directing
their delegates to vote for the independence of the thirteen
American Colonies from Great Britain. Sadly, the Warner
Tavern was burned to the ground in a fire in 1906. It is this
historic site that our professional archeologist and
volunteers are attempting to uncover. Please join us.
|
