1. Although Samuel Reid (1757-1832) did not live in Suffield, his son Samuel Reid Jr. (1780-1852) and granddaughter, (Hope) Ann Reid Pomeroy (1821-1918), did. The Reid family claims that the first Samuel served a special role in the Revolutionary War. What was it?
a. He served as a bodyguard to George Washington.
b. He posed as a deserter to gain information on the British in New York City.
c. With his reputation for burning a British merchant ship in 1772 and his patriotic fervor, he was appointed to command the Rhode Island Navy.
2. Suffield began as Stoney Brooke Plantation by permission of the General Court of the Mass. Bay Colony in 1670. Around what time was the town referred to as Suffield in the records of Hampshire County?
a. 1700
b. 1677
c. 1693
3. In the spring of 1686, Samuel Kent (?-1690), one of the original settlers of Suffield, caused an uproar at a town meeting in concert with Peter Roe (1662-1739). What did Kent say?
a. He said all townspeople should have the right to vote at a town meeting.
b. He said that the Mass. Bay Colony should secede from England because of England’s disregard for the colony.
c. He said that women should hold offices in the town government.
4. Benajah Kent (1746-1821) was the grandfather of Sidney A. Kent (1834-1900) who funded the first Kent Memorial Library. Benajah built the east portion of Kent Place, the mansion on the corner of Sheldon Street and Mountain Road which was later expanded by Sidney. Benajah was also a merchant. What commodity did he trade in?
a. Wood
b. Indigo
c. Tobacco
5. In early America what were trenchers?
a. Trenchers were a French word used in the French and Indian War for ditches dug as a shield from enemy fire.
b. Trenchers were a slang for smallpox which created pits in the skin.
c. Wooden plates.
6. In early colonial times what would be the implements of an average family’s meal?
a. Forks, pewter dishes, wooden cups
b. Napkins, spoons, tablecloth
c. Wooden plates, leather cups, seating for everyone
7. In a 1951 Suffield house tour conducted by Antique & Landmarks (now called Connecticut Landmarks), Delphina Clark. who lived in the Daniel Remington house on Hill Street, displayed a Suffield toasting fork with the inscription “Make me a mug flip”. What is a mug flip?
a. A mixture of beer, rum and sugar heated with a red-hot implement.
b. Cream and sugar whipped up to a froth with a heated fork.
c. Madeira wine and cider heated with a fork, topped with brandy and lit on fire.
8. The town boasted a cotton yarn factory built about 1795. In which part of town was the factory located?
a. On the east side, near the dam on Boston Neck Road.
b. On the northeast side, near Deep Brook on East Street.
c. On the south side, on the west side of Stony Brook near South Main Street.
9. What is a fulling mill?
a. It manufactures felt from woolen cloth.
b. Fulling is a corruption of fouling which is an accumulation of unwanted sludge and deposits. A fulling mill cleaned and smoothed large stones which would be used in gristmills.
c. It was a part of the iron mill production. Bog ore was smelted to remove impurities; the resulting pig iron was transferred to a fulling mill which formed it into blocks.
10. What was the original name for the town of Enfield, Conn.?
a. Watertown
b. Fair Field
c. Freshwater
Answers
1. a. He was one of about 90 men who served as Guards of George Washington during the course of the war. (Genealogy Trails)
2. b. 1677
3. a. He said that all townspeople should have the right to vote at a town meeting when the town population was over 300. I presume Kent meant all men, not women, but that is not specified in the records. At that time, only the 86 holders of the original land grants could vote. Kent and Roe were found guilty of “high handed rebellion” and fined five pounds. (Alcorn, Biography of a Town)
4. b. Indigo
5. c. Wooden plates
6. b. Tablecloth, napkins, spoons. Napkins were a necessity since much of the food was eaten by hand although knives and spoons were also used. Forks were rare, mostly unknown. Wealthy people used pewter dishes and cups and glass wine glasses. Common folk often used wooden spoons, wooden bowls with handles (porringers) so that the contents could easily be drunk, wooden plates carved with an indentation to hold juices, and wooden or leather cups. Food on bowls and plates might be shared with a neighbor. Often tables were rough boards laid across two sets of legs. Tablecloths, called board cloths, covered the rough wood. Benches were often used for seating but children in large families might have to stand to eat. Early on, Suffield had a wooden ware manufactory; the wares were sold by peddlers. (New England Historical Society) Oliver Phelps, one-time owner of the Phelps-Hatheway House, was, in his early life, a peddler of wooden wares.
7. a. A mixture of beer, rum and sugar heated with a red-hot implement.
8. c. On the south side town, west of the pond of Stony Brook near South Main Street. The site contained a fulling mill, gristmill and the cotton factory. Suffield’s cotton factory is believed to be the first in Connecticut. (It Happened in Our Town, 1978).
9. a. It manufactures felt from woolen cloth. Felt is made by washing, pounding and stretching the wool. Felt, lighter than wool and resistant to water, was used for military clothing, tents, hats and other items.
10. c. Freshwater. It was incorporated as the Freshwater Plantation in 1683, but was renamed Enfield in 1700.