Connecticut western news., 1921-09-01
INTERESTING SKETCH OF TOWN OF NORTH CANAAN Written by Mrs. Mary G. Adam Twenty Five
 Years Ago

Due to the tact that so many nave been interested in articles which have recently appeared in the News, dealing with the early his tory of the town, we have received permission from Mrs. Mary G. Adam to publish the following article, which appeared in the Connecticut Quarterly" twenty-five years ago. We are sorry we cannot reproduce the many local scenes which accom- pany the article.
 In the beautiful valley of the Hou- satonic River, known to the Indians as the "Oosotonuc," lies the town ship of Canaan. What was once embraced in the ancient name, is now subdivided into Canaan, East Ca- naan, South Canaan, and Falls Vil- lage; perhaps Huntsville ought also to be included.
 The town is bounded north by Massachusetts; west by the fair stream above mentioned; east by Norfolk; and south by Cornwall.
 The township was sold at auction, in New London, January, 173S, and in May, 1740, the first settler ar- rived
 The name of this pioneer was Samuel Bryant. He came with an OK team from Stamford, Ct., with John Franklin as teamster. Mir. Bryant had six sons; his seventh child, also son, was the first white child born in this town. In June of the same year Daniel and Isaac Lawrence, with their families, came to spy out the land; they were soon followed by the Hewitts, and from that time the settlement of the town went on rapidly. In 1741 a church was form ed in what is now South Canaan, and consisted of four persons,7Jacob Bacon and wife, Isaac Lawrence and wife.
 The turnpike between Boston and the Hudson passed through part of the town, so that portion of it soon became a center of various indus tries. One of the first, perhaps the first, nice house built was erected by Captain Isaac Lawrence in 1751; and it stands to-day, to all appear ances as solidly as ever; it has been remodeled, and rejuvenated; but the
 old frame still carries the modern
 ized super-structure, as proudly as
 when the workmen laid down their tools, more than a hundred and for
 ty years ago.
 The old well-scoop is still in use,
 if one prefers a draught from "the
 old oaken bucket" to one drawn
 from a modern faucet, equipped with the latest thing out in filters. For many years this house was used as a ''Tavern," where the stages stopped, as they passed through Canaan,
 towards Hartford, Poughkeepsie, and Albany.
 Over the great front door still
 hangs the iron lantern frame, from which "the light of other days" used to shine, guiding the weary travellers ' to this welcome hostelry. Under this same door lies the broad stone door step, on which we can read the name
 of Captain Isaac Lawrence, his wife, and their eleven children, seven sons and four daughters.
 The taste for large families seems to have been handed down, among
 other good things, in this particular line, as in 1850 we find there were more than GOO descendants of this
 father in Israel. In Hawthorn's
 notes, 1898, we find these words: At
 Canaan, Conn, before the tavern,
 there is a doorstep two or three
 paces large in each of its dimensions and on this is inscribed the date
 when the builder of the house came to the town,-namely, 1741. Then follows the age and death of the patriarch Cat over 90) |. r. would seem as if they were buried there; and many people take that idea. It is odd to put family rec ord on a spot where it is sure to be trampled under foot"
 When the disagreement came, be-
 tween ,he mother country and her robust child--who could no longer be
 kept in swaddling bands Canaan Continued on page S)