Suffield Trivia

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1. One of the largest protests in Connecticut history took place in 1991. What was the cause?

a. A protest against the Gulf War.
b. A protest against a state income tax.
c. A protest against Connecticut’s “Gay Rights” bill which prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation.

2. The term “copperhead” was used in the North during the Civil War era. What did it refer to?

a. Northern Democrats who were in favor of striking down the Southern successionists.
b. Northern Republicans who were in favor of fighting against the Confederacy.
c. Northern Democrats who opposed the Civil War and wanted an immediate peaceful settlement.

3. The oldest continuously active Congregational church in the United States is located where?

a. Suffield
b. Windsor
c. Wethersfield

4. When Dr. Alexander King died in Suffield, in 1802, his estate inventory included 70 books. Which book was on the list?

a. Hamlet by William Shakespeare
b. The Compleat Housewife by Eliza Smith
c. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift

5. Orders issued on December 22, 1777, from General Washington specified equipment that an officer should carry. What was it?

a. A flintlock musket
b. A bayonet
c. A spear or half-pike

6. Generally, when a man died in colonial New England, his wife received what from his estate?

a. All of her husband’s real estate to dispense as she pleased upon her death
b. One-third of her husband’s real estate to use during her lifetime, and which would revert to her husband’s children upon her death.
c. Nothing.

7. What is a spontoon?

a. A pot used for spitting into.
b. A half-pike carried by infantry officers.
c. A pontoon boat.

8. North Street in the mid-1700s had another name. What was it?

a. Agawam Road
b. Indian Trail
c. Road to Glover’s Hill

9. Edward Burleson, Jr., (1686-1746) born in Suffield, was a tavern entertainer. He was a….

a. Puppeteer
b. Magician
c. Tavern dancer

10. Account books from Suffield businessman from colonial and post-colonial times give an insight to the times and people of that period. What institution in town has the majority of these account books?

a. Kent Memorial Library
b. The King House Museum & Barn
c. Suffield Town Hall

Answers:
1. b. A protest against a state income tax.
2. c. Northern Democrats who opposed the Civil War and wanted an immediate peaceful settlement. Isaac Toucey and Thomas Seymour, two ex-governors of Connecticut were copperheads but William Buckingham, the governor during the Civil War, was an ardent supporter of Lincoln and the war.
3. b. Windsor. The Windsor church was founded in 1630; Wethersfield’s was founded in 1635. Suffield’s meeting house was built in 1680 but the Congregational Society wasn’t organized until 1698.
4. b. The Compleat Housewife by Eliza Smith. It was first published in England, but in 1742, it was the first cookbook to be printed in the American colonies. It was very popular, running through 18 editions in 50 years.
5. c. A spear. Washington thought that firearms that an officer would need to continuously load would interfere with the oversight of soldiers under his command. Suffield note: Eliphalet King(1743-1821) lost his musket in the Benedict Arnold Expedition against Quebec after the Battle of Bunker Hill. Later, under the command of General Washington, Eliphalet valiantly fought in the Battle of Long Island Sound and was promoted to First Lieutenant. As an officer Eliphalet carried a flintlock musket captured by him from the British, maybe as compensation for the gun he lost in Quebec. This same musket hangs in the King House Museum, although the woodstock was replaced after the 1983 King House fire damaged the original.
6. b. One-third of her husband’s real estate to use during her lifetime.
7. b. A half-pike signifying officer rank which was not generally used for combat. Often it was decorated with tassels.
8. c. Road to Glover’s Hill. Glover’s Hill was near the present-day junction of North and Hickory Streets.
9. a. Puppeteer. He was one of the earliest puppeteers in North America. Only 43 puppeteers were active during 1730-1825
10. a. The Kent Memorial Library. The account books are fragile and not available for general viewing but one can look at many of them online at https://suffield.historyarchives.online/home.

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