Norwich bulletin., 1920-01-01

Oio FuiIef store On tHoFWiCn own
 Green Erected by William cIeve-
 land, Grandfather of President
 Grover Cleveland.
 Norwich Bulletin readers have pre- scented to them with the New Years edition of the paper a link with the
 colonial and later history of the Nor wich Town green in the picture that appears this year on the Bulletins souvenir calendar
 The artistic calendar shows what old residents of the town well remem-
 Der as the George D. Fuller store on Norwich Town green, long since completely torn down, while next to it on what is now the corner of Elm avenue and Town street is the John Perit building, erected some time pre- vious to 1786. The gambrel building in the picture on the calendar is the Perit house, the Fuller store the smaller building to the left with it's front gable overhanging the first story.
 In the three story gambrel-roofed
 building with brick basement John Perit carried on mercantile business for some years up to 17S6. The small Ter building was erected in 1885 by William Cleveland, grandfather of President Grover Cleveland, for his son in law, George D. Fuller. who up to the time of his death in April, ,1SS3 conducted a grocery store in the pro-
 perty. In more recent years the en- tire property has been remodelled and
 the basement in brick is about all that
 remains to remind one of the earlier looks of the property.
 In her book published in 1895, Old Houses of the Antient Town of Nor 1 wich, Miss Mary E. Perkins makes the following mention of the Perit and
 Fuller buildings:
 'Tn 1771 John Perit, descendent of ! one of the first Huguenot pastors in
 America bought the Jonathan Good hue property.
 Whether the old gambrel-roofed
 building on the corner of the burying
 ground lane was include. among the buildings mentioned in the deed of sale or was later butt by John Perit,
 we are unable to say, but in this building he for some years carried on
 g. mercantile business. *"**. Tn 1786 1 the Perit house is sold to Asa Spald- ing. who resides here until he moves
 to the Gov. Huntington house in 1S01 In 1915, Luther Spalding sells the
 house, office and barn to the state for l county uses and the lane between the
 house and the Perit shop for a jail lot. The jail, erected at that time
 remains standing until the courts are
 moved to the Landing and is then shortly after burnt to the ground The Perit house becomes the home of the jailer and from tree in front hangs i a sign of two crossd keys. In 1885 the county house and jail lot are sold
 to Wm. Cleveland who builds for his son in law. George D. Fuller (the bIJSha T15 of hic tho store now occupied by Herbert w 1 Hale. The Perit houses passes into the possession of Henry Harland 1 whose heirs retain it for a while. '1n 1917 the Perit shop property had come into the possession of William 1 Cleveland and after his death this and the adjoining land and store were i deeded by the Cleveland heirs to ] George D. Fuller"
 1 In the recollection of the older res i idents of Norwich Town, the Fuller i store still remains as one of the land
 marks of the green for many years. It
 was one of the typical old New Eng 1 land country stores, where the gossip l of the town was exchanged and where
 many a heated cracker barrel arg1l- 1 ment settled the affairs of state and nation. John T. Wait, the attorney. | whose name is so well remembered
 among the older people, had an of | flee for time in the corner room in the Perit building and later OF. Wattles, also a we'll known attorney
 of that period. had his office there. For many years too the brick base n1ent of the Perit building was the
 shoemaker shop of William Tufts. a contemporary of the Fuller store. For the past 20 years it has been a mar ket, Joseph T. Frazer and Lucius A.
 Fenton having been among the earlier 1 proprietors.
 i The plot of land with the two | buildings on it was left by William 1 Cleveland to his two grandchildren, Harriet M. Fuller (the late Mrs. Lewis
 R. Hyde) and her brother, William l Cleveland Fuller, according to the in formation obtained from members of
 the family. but George D. Fuller had
 the use of it during his lifetime and
 ran the store.
 After the death of Mir. Fuller. the store was run for year or two by
 John Manning, who had been his ] clerk, and was also the Norwich Town 1 postmaster. G. Avery Ray succeeded
 MT. Manning as store proprietor and postmaster about 1884 and was him.
 self succeeded by one of his clerks, i Herbert W. Hale. in 1894, who con ] ducted the store for about nine years.
 During MT. Hale's occupancy of the
 property the Fuller heirs had the | buildings entirely remodelled and
 modernized. The original old Fuller store building was entirely torn down. the Perit house sharing in the altera- tions which put the property in much it's present form. While the rebuilding
 was in progress MT. Hale conducted his store in the old Norwich Town schoolhouse, moving back to the old 1 Fuller store site when it was ready | for him.
 i H. S. Young followed Mir Hale in running the store and postoffice both occupying the corner building. The l Fenton market was in the basement l In August 1915 the market was bought | by William Smith 6 Co.,. who pur-
 chased the grocery store from MT. | Young in November 1915. After the
 death of Mir. Smith the business was I sold in January 1919 to Lewis B. Brand, who conducts the store at
 present and is in charge of the postal | sub station in the building, both now ;e.os-ssoying the corner property, the old | rAsNt building.
 l ti November, 1913 Mrs. Hyde
 sold the entire property to Henry T. German, who sold the real estate in
 July, 1919 to Miss Alice Smith, the present owner.
 The picture for the Bulletins calen- dar is taken from sketch of the 1 Fuller and Perit buildings by Miss