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"So thoroughly is the American ethos embodied in the works of American silversmiths that it has given to their product a typical identity and it never can be mistaken for that of any other country." — Charles Messer Stow in the Introduction. Forsaking the flourishes and ornamentation favored by their European contemporaries, early American gold- and silver smiths pioneered a new American aesthetic sensibility in creating for their well-heeled clients finely worked, luxurious metalware for the table, which was marked by a simplicity and forthrightness of design. These accomplished artisans have left us not only a stunning legacy of priceless silverware but also an opportunity to examine the...
"While the six-month encampment of the Continental Army at Valley Forge in 1777-1778 has been part of America's folklore for generations," author Joseph Boyle writes in his Introduction, "most of the men who served there have remained anonymous. The names of over 30,000 men of all ranks appear on the surviving monthly muster and payroll records. This compilation is the initial effort to recognize some of these heroes of the Revolutionary War."
Thieves, rumrunners and rapscallions all color the unsavory side of Litchfield County history. Townspeople accused women of witchcraft simply for not bearing enough children in the early days of the region. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Owen Sullivan and William Stuart took advantage of the county's isolated stretches and a currency shortage to build counterfeiting empires. In 1780, Barnett Davenport's brutal actions earned him infamy as the nation's first mass murderer. Small-time speakeasies slowly took hold, and the omnipresence of alcohol-fueled crime led to the birth of the nationwide prohibition movement. Local historian Peter C. Vermilyea explores these and other devilish tales from the seedier history of Litchfield County.
White's History of Litchfield, prepared for the Litchfield Historical Society for the Town's bicentennial, summarizes the two earlier town histories and fills in the gap between the years before the Civil War and the period following World War I. Also included is a lengthy appendix including officials of government, religious, civic, patriotic, social, and business organizations, and a street directory. There are more than 200 pictures in the volume that are replicated on the CD-ROM as well. For this republication we have added a complete index.
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