The first Suffield Trivia published in the Observer in the December 2018 issue was an easy challenge for you because the answers were given. It will not be so easy this time. It’s a contest! You could be a winner! Send your answers by email to suffield350@gmail.com or by regular mail to the attention of Jackie Hemond at Kent Memorial Library, 61 Ffyler Place, Suffield 06078. Three entries will be chosen at random from all the correct entries that are received by February 14. Only one entry per person. Good luck and learn Suffield’s history.
1. The short section of Mountain Road between Muddy Brook and Main Street was called a different name. What was it?
a. Taintor Hill Road
b. Mill Lane
c. Gay Street
d. Granby Way
e. Depot Street
2. Were there slaves in Suffield?
3. In what year was the Second Congregational Church established in West Suffield?
a. 1850
b. 1743
c. 1799
d. 1728
e. 1833
4. What was Mapleton Avenue once called?
a. Chestnut Avenue
b. Pleasant Street
c. Crooked Lane
d. Indian Road
5. Suffield had a mineral found in swamps that was very useful. What was it?
a. Silver
b. Garnet
c. Bog ore
d. Tourmaline
e. Barite
6. When a group formed the First Baptist Church, what were they called?
a. Separates
b. Dancers
c. Bathers
d. Disturbers
7. Suffield has a minor claim in American history because of these Suffield residents, Seth Pease and Gideon Granger. What was it?
a. George Washington slept in both of their houses.
b. One was the U.S. Postmaster General and the other was the U.S. Assistant Postmaster General at the same time.
c. They were both killed in Shay’s Rebellion.
8. Which is untrue?
a. Oliver Phelps was Superintendent of Purchasing for George Washington during the Revolutionary War.
b. Oliver Phelps set up a land speculation office in Suffield to sell land in the Western Reserve.
c. Oliver Phelps started a silk manufacturing plant in Suffield, inspired by a packet of mulberry tree seeds (mulberry trees are the food of the silkworm) which was sent to each parish in Connecticut.
d. Oliver Phelps went bankrupt.
e. Oliver Phelps ran for Lieutenant Governor of New York State on the same slate with Aaron Burr, who ran for Governor
9. In 1795, instigated by Suffield’s Gideon Granger, Jr., the General Assembly created the state Common School Fund with the revenue from the sale of the Western Reserve, a tract of land in present-day Ohio. The interest on this permanent fund of $1.2 million was dedicated to funding the common schools of the state. Does this fund still exist?
10. What was the name of the first newspaper published in Suffield?
a. The Impartial Herald
b. The Village Herald
c. Suffield Courant
d. Valley Spy
e. Muddy Brooke News