Welcome to Thursday Doors! This is a weekly challenge for people who love doors and architecture to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos, drawings, or other images or stories from around the world. If you’d like to join us, simply create your own Thursday Doors post each (or any) week and then share a link to your post in the comments below, anytime between 12:01 am Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American eastern time). If you like, you can add our badge to your post.
Not only is the Historic Wethersfield district home of the largest collection of early homes in the State of Connecticut, but it also figured prominently in the events in and around the time of the Revolutionary War. In addition to working with Thursday Doors, I am also trying to satisfy Linda G. Hill’s JusJoJan prompt today. The prompt was provided by Kim, and Kim gave us “Understanding” as the prompt. So, in order to provide a better understanding of this town’s role in the Revolutionary War, I present the houses of four of these men.
Silas Deane – Lawyer and merchant who worked in Hartford and who later moved to Wethersfield. He was a representative in the Connecticut House of Representatives, and later named a delegate to the Continental Congress. He was appointed as a secret envoy to France to induce the French government to provide financial aid and munitions to the colonies.
Joseph Webb – (paraphrased from the Webb House web site) Was a merchant who operated a store out of this house. He died in 1761. His son, Joseph Jr. and his wife entertained often in their home which was given the nickname “Hospitality Hall.” In May 1781, they were the host and hostess when Gen. George Washington spent five nights in the house. Here, in one of the front parlors, Washington met with the French general Comte de Rochambeau to plan a joint military campaign that led to victory at Yorktown and the end of the American Revolution.
The other two houses in the gallery are those of sea captains Allyn Stillman and his brother Nathaniel Stillman, Jr. Allyn was a blockade runner and soldier in the militia during the war. Captain Nathaniel Stillman was one of General George Washington’s Life Guards – a unit charged with Washington’s safety and the protection of the army’s cash, and official papers during the War.
A Bit of Door Trivia – The separate photo below is the Nathaniel Stillman, Jr. house, and it includes an interesting feature found on many houses in New England. The door on the front edge of the side wall is known as a “Coffin Door” or the “Death Door.” The primary purpose of this door was to allow easy access to the parlor for a coffin in a home that had a central staircase (where it would be hard to maneuver a coffin). The expression, “being at death’s door” is thought to stem from the presence of these doors in European houses.
I hope you enjoy the pictures in the gallery and those of the other participants. I want to thank Cee Nuner for focusing the Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge on Thursday Doors this week. Please welcome the participants joining from Cee’s challenge, Note: I will be adding some of these posts in comments, as Cee’s challenge began before today’s link was posted.
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