The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-03-24
Will Eagle
CURIOUS OLD COS COS.

There Are Located Booths Former Coun-
try Seat and a Beecher School.
Directly opposite the railroad station
ut Cos Cob, Conn, on small hill over
looking the harbor, stands tall mansion
among the trees. The latter are chiefly
evergreen. especially along the brow and
slope of the hin leading down to the water,
where many cedars grow naturally. Hence
the name, Cedar Cliff" The shore is
rocky and the prospect a beautiful one.
To the east and south extend the waters OF
the harbor; across the bay eastward lie
the pretty cottages Of Riverside; the is
lands at the mouth of the river partially
close the view of the sound. while to the
north stretches the high railroad bridge
connecting the opposite shores
This,was once the country seat of Edwin
Booth, and thither the great tragedian with
drew when financial embarrassments con
neoted with the management of his mag
nificent theater swallowed up his fortune
and even robbed him of the noble monu-
anent he had reared at such vast cost and
pains. His books, pictures and trappings
were all given up to creditors. 1t was
gloomy time for the melancholy Dane
but with the close companionship of his
wife, Mary McVicker Booth, and by cheer
full surroundings his spirits recovered from
the cloud that had hung over them. 1t
was while thus spending the summer OF
1874 at Cos Cob that he barely escaped a
fatal injury 4 colt that he had been
brea king to the harness took fright and
Booth was violently thrown from his car
rage Early dates had to be Cancelled in
consequence, but the plucBy actor soon APP
pea.red on the boards with his right arm in
n sling, while his left handled the sword
with credit.
Al. Cos Cob crossing the previous year
the talented Charles NJ. Barras, famous as
the impersonator of the hypochondriac
and author of the ''Black Crook" met his
death from the cars. In the early days
one of the hloodiest of Indian battles took
place on the plain below the town, when
almost whole village of the natives was
wiped out by the whites. The prophecies,
Ann Hutchinson, when expelled from the
Bay colony, took refuge in the woods near
here and was slain there by the Indians.
At the upper end of the village, near
Mianus. in a large old Colonial homestead,
the widow of General James c. Beecher,
youngest of the famous sons of Lyman
Beecher, keeps a select school. James
Beecher-pastor, chaplain, subaltern and
finally hrevetted a brigadier general-was
afflicted in mind for some years before his
death. He was brought to Cos Cob in the |
hope Of benefiting his health, but he died |
by his own hand in 1856 The '-Old Oak |
Homestead school has flourished for ten
years. The oak from which the name OF |
the establishment As taken is of mammoth !
size and stands in the road near the gate |
1t is about twelve feet i'll diameter at the !
ground and towers to a goOdly height. It's |
age must antedate the arrival of the white |
man Cos Cob is a sleepy old town, but |
not less charming for all that. A little |
shipyard on the banks of the upper harbor |
lends a semblance of industrial activity to |
the village, while sundry of the the towns |
men hunt the fish and oyster in leisurely |
way.