Gottlieb Baer of Longmeadow

Gottlieb Baer

Longmeadow has benefitted from the talents of immigrants in our community. Gottlieb Baer and his family are just one example. Gottlieb and Melchior Baer were brothers who grew up together in Switzerland. Gottlieb, the younger of the two, emigrated to the United States in 1869 and settled in Springfield. In 1886, he received a patent for an improved tip for a cigar and he opened a factory and store in Springfield, G. Baer & Sons. Why would it be a good idea to open a cigar factory in Springfield? Because tobacco was one of the major cash crops in the Connecticut River Valley. In 1880, 32 Longmeadow farmers grew over 91,000 bushels of tobacco. Farmers in neighboring towns, including Suffield and Enfield, still grow shade and broadleaf tobacco for cigar production today. And, you can still see tobacco barns dotting the landscape in many areas of the valley.

Tobacco Barn, Enfield, CT

In 1891, Gottlieb moved his operations to the Porter-McElwain block in Springfield. He lived at 264 Sumner Avenue in Springfield and was very involved in the affairs of the Forest Park community. He even knew the Geisel family and, in 1901, he served as a pallbearer for Christine Geisel, the grandmother of Theodor Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss).

Gottlieb's older brother, Melchior Baer, and his family emigrated to the U.S. in 1881 and they settled in Longmeadow. Melchior was a farmer and he lived on what is now Shaker Road; his son, Gottlieb, lived on what is now Parkside Drive.

Son Gottlieb and his brother, Rudolph, worked for their Uncle Gottlieb Baer at G. Baer & Sons. In 1911, the Longmeadow Gottlieb was elected Tree Warden of Longmeadow and he stopped making cigars. He continued as the town Tree Warden for 36 years until he retired in 1946. The town honored him in the 1946 annual report for his many years of service to our town. Sources 1900 & 1910 U.S. Federal Censuses

1946 Longmeadow Annual Report

1894 Map of Longmeadow

Annual Statistics of Manufacturers

Springfield Republican Mar. 15, 1909

Contributed by Elizabeth Hoff, Longmeadow Historical Society Board Member

Originally published November 19. 2020

Jerusha Mather Williams Colton (1783 - 1844)

Jerusha Mather Williams was born in 1783 to Ensign Samuel Williams and Lucy Burt. Jerusha's grandfather was the Reverend Stephen Williams, the Town of Longmeadow's first minister. She was born the year after Stephen's death, and so never knew her famous grandfather, but his legacy was very much alive.

Jerusha was an accomplished needlewoman, having made a sampler and family crest in the SH collection, as well as crewel-worked chair seats. The Williams family crest was almost certainly created at the Misses Patten school in Hartford, CT. The school was established in 1785 by Miss Sarah Patten. Family crests were a common theme for daughters of prominent people to create.

Detail of Family Crest

After her education was complete, Jerusha worked as a preceptress, or teacher, at Deerfield Academy from 1806-1812. While there, she was invited to a ball, one of many galas held at the Academy to celebrate the end of terms or other special occasions. Her invitation, printed on the back of playing cards, is in the Historical Society collections.

Ball Invitation

She left teaching to return to Longmeadow, and married Lyman Colton, the son of Ebenezer Chandler Colton and Phebe Barton, in 1828. When Jerusha and Lyman married, he was 29 years old and Jerusha was 45 years old. Why the age difference and why did she marry so late? The couple had no children and Lyman did not remarry after Jerusha's death.

Jerusha's gravestone in the Longmeadow Cemetery reads: Jerusha M. Colton, consort of Lyman Colton and daughter of the late Samuel Williams who died of cancer Dec. 6, 1844, aged 61.

Gravestone in Longmeadow Cemetery

The Historical Society collection is the repository of many items of Jerusha's needlework, as well as letters and diaries dating from 1802-1824).

Contributed by Betsy McKee, Board member, Longmeadow Historical Society

Originally published November 12, 2020

Joseph A. Hekking "View of the Connecticut River from Pecousic Brook"

This painting of the Connecticut River looking north across present-day Forest Park has been a treasured item of the Longmeadow Historical Society for many years. Enjoying pride of place over the mantel in the parlor, the front hall, and other locations, it was painted by Joseph Antonio Hekking, circa 1876.

Storrs House Parlor

Hekking Portrait Displayed Above Mantle

Joseph Hekking was born in the Netherlands in 1830, studied in Paris, and died in New York in 1903. He lived in Cherry Valley, NY in 1859, and taught painting at the Cherry Valley Female Academy. Hekking served in the Civil War with a New York regiment. He lived in Hartford, CT from 1873-1878, where he met Professor Richard Salter Storrs. Professor Storrs was a teacher, along with his sister Sarah, at the formerly named American Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb, now The American School for the Deaf. The vista that Hekking painted--a view of the Connecticut River Valley looking north toward Mt. Tom--was still largely private land. In 1884, Orick H. Greenleaf offered 65 acres for a park to be named Forest Park. Businessman Everett H. Barney donated another 178 acres. They convinced others to donate more land until the park ultimately measured 735 acres. Much of this land was located in the nearby town of Longmeadow, just to the south.

I can picture Hekking setting up his easel on the hill near the Picknelly Baseball field just at the entrance to Forest Park and Interstate 91. You can see what looks like bucolic farmland stretching out toward the city of Springfield, and you can just make out a train emerging from the trees. A covered bridge is visible in the distance, and to the far right, Mt. Tom.

Contributed by Betsy McKee, Board Member, Longmeadow Historical Society

Originally published November 5, 2020