The Newtown bee. (Newtown, Conn.) 1877-current, 1897-09-10

sort OF house-that-Jack- built story, and it
would be hard to decide which is most
! interesting, the old house, built in 1912;
the hospitable gentleman, who made us
welcome; the sweet, old fashioned gar
den, whose flowers we rifed; or the
treasure of the house, that had been the
objective point of our afternoons drive.
We had gone thither to see the pictures
of five very remarkable women, known
to fame as the "Smith SISTERS"
There are seven portraits in the collec-
| tion, painted in Hartford in 1912, and now
hanging on either side of Dea Mitchell's
wide front hall. AS you enter, first on
your left is Zephaniah Smith, who in the
last century was an hOnored pastor of the
Congregational church in Newtown, Ct.
His wife, Hannah, in stiff frilIed cap,
looks out of the canvas opposite, while
beyond on either side of the hall are the
portraits of the~fve daughters whose
life record is but another proof that there
is nothing new under the sun-not even
the new woman.
Next to her mothers portrait hangs
that of the eldest daughter, Hansy
Sephina. 1t was hoped that son would
be the first conner to the family hearth,
and the fathers name, prepared for the
unborn boy, was softened to suit the
daughter. Next is Cynthia Lucretia,
black-haired and slender-fngered as are
all the sisters; then Laurelle Aleorila,
whose liquid name slips as easily from
ones memory as from ones tongue;
while on the opposite wall are the two
youngest daughters Of the worthy pas
tor, Julia Evalina and Abigail Hodassah.
With the exception of Julia Evalina,
who married at the tender age of Sc, the
sisters lived unwed; perhaps the artistic
temperament indicated by her accom-
plishments may have made her more
susceptible than her sisters to the tender
passion. 1t is of Julia Evalina that the
story is told that, returning from Troy,
where she had been teaching, she had as
felloW-travelers in the stage coach two
gentlemen, who, for the sake of privacy,
were conversing in French. She told
| them, modestly, that she understood
French. They thanked her, and contin-
ued their conference in Latin. Again she
was obliged to interrupt them, and de-
clare her ability to understand this also.
Then Greek was resorted to, but in vain
Greek, too, was understood by this re-
markable young woman Of the 18th CEN
Jury. How many B. AS and Phi. DE-
able to follow an easy conversation in
Greek and Latin do the women's colleges
of to-day afford?
1t was not, however, for their accom-
plishments, nor for their beauty, which
their portraits testify was great, that the
Smith sisters are remembered throughout
New England, but for their devotion to
the great principle which formed the
cornerstone of American liberties, the
stone on which the colonies and the Eng
lish father-land split-"No taxation
without representation" Tax bills might
be sent to the sisters on their Glastonbury
farm, the tax gatherer might do his best
the state, only by seizure of their goods
could the tax be collected; and year af-
ter year, attached to their COWS as to
their principles, the sisters attended the
auction sale and brought back their own.
Once the cows proved refractory, and
had to be returned to the farm at milking
time. Once Hansy Sephina found her
self at the sale without sufficient money
for the purchase, and unable to borrow
of the men who were her neighbors, but
the 20 minutes allowed her for the mile
ride to her home and back proved more
than enough for the purpose, and Sephins
had two minutes to spare when she re-
turned. Not until Julia Evalina gave
her heart and hand to her suitor, the
Judge, did Glastonbury receive unchal
lenged the taxes levied. Then, fearing
that under the law of Connecticut, which
made man responsible for his wife'i
debts, his body would be seized, the judge
went up on the last day of grace ant
paid the tax.
One could fill volume with the quain
5 and original traits of these new women o
: the 18th century. They lived to a rip'
old age, the youngest dying at 96, AM
even in death they were original. Ono
In seven years the blaek-winged messen
. ger visited the homestead and called ava
one of it's household until he had gather
ed them all on the other side of the dar
river. Had they, perhaps, in their Ion
and busy lives, found nothing certain bI
death ard taxes? The ample hall
IS which the old paintings hang takes