Attributed to Mr. Mook
Mook Farm, early 20th century
Watercolor on paper
Gift of Mrs. William Richmond, 1983.06 

Some of the objects in the collection documenting the material culture of present and former inhabitants of Greenwich and its region include these representative examples.

Mook Farm once stood in the area of the present-day intersection of Forest and Tomac Avenues.  The Ferris farm can be seen in the distance to the left; the Lockwood farm is to the right.  The Mook farm became the site of the Dalton Lathe and Tool Company and later, in 1933, the Electrolux Corporation plant.

Attributed to Hester Bush Mead (b. 1807)
The Jabez Mead House, ca. 1840
Watercolor on paper
Museum purchase, 2006.02 

The Jabez Mead House stood at the southeast corner of the Post Road and Indian Field Road in Cos Cob and was originally part of a large farm.  It was torn down in May 1939. Family history attributes this painting to Hester Bush Mead, daughter of Candice Bush, one of the slaves owned by the Bush family and the last slave freed in Greenwich on January 3, 1825.  Hester is buried in Union Cemetery, Greenwich, with her mother.

Artist unknown
Fashion, 1842
Oil on canvas
Gift of Isaac Ferris, 1957.03 

Maritime trade was a major part of the Greenwich economy. This painting depicts the packet boat “Fashion” owned by Stephen Waring, a member of one of the Cos Cob shipping families.  The lighthouse, at the back left, is possibly the one installed on Great Captain’s Island at the urging of Captain Waring.   

Candlestand with Drawer, 1760-1790 Cherry and pine Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John Callahan, 1991.05

This “snake foot” candle stand is a rare form containing a candle drawer.  Although the form is most widely associated with the Connecticut Valley, examples may have been produced in Fairfield County as well.

Creamer, ca. 1818
Chinese Export Porcelain
Given in memory of Mabel L. Hendrie by Mrs. Valentine D. Ketchum and Mrs. Clinton K. Scofield, D237.05c 

Hannah Cordelia (b. 1818)
Beaded Purse, ca. 1834
Glass beads
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Clinton Knapp Scofield, 1958.13 

This creamer is part of a set brought back from China by Captain Hendrie for his wife, Hannah Maria Hendrie, in 1818. Monogrammed with her initials "HMH," what remains of the service is a coffeepot, sugar bowl, plate, bowl, two cups and saucers and a creamer.

Apothecary Bottle, pat. 1894
Glass
Made for Finch’s Pharmacy by Whitall Tatum Company
Gift of Rudy Funke in memory of Helen Grote, 2003.05 

The first Finch drugstore was opened in 1905 at Greenwich and Railroad Avenues.  In 1910 William Finch, Sr. leased the corner storefront in the new building on the corner of Greenwich Avenue and Havemeyer Place that quickly became known as Finch’s Corner.  By his death in 1943, he had built what was considered the largest individually owned drugstore in Connecticut.  His sons ran the business until 1954 when they sold it to Milton Baygell.

“I am a beaded bag artistically designed with dainty beads of various colors and shades of the rainbow, and exquisitely embroidered by a lovely little lassie of sixteen, Hannah Cordelia by name, as a wedding gift to her sister Mary (1806-1900) who was married to Horace Mead, a young man of Greenwich Conn.

Stillson Benevolent Society Members
Mariners Compass Album Quilt, 1855
Cotton
Gift of Amelia Willis Mead, 1938.06 

May 10th 1834…Hannah Cordelia realized the long distance her sister must travel as Mary & Horace were desirous of selecting a home in the far West in the valley of the Mississippi, State of Illinois.”  So begins the “History of a Beaded Bag” written in 1927 by Anna Lord, daughter of Mary Mead to tell how this purse was made and where it traveled. 

The Stillson Benevolent Society was an organization founded in 1829 by pupils of Elizabeth Stillson, a renowned teacher whose death at age 24 was widely lamented. This quilt was presented to Sarah Lewis, treasurer of the Society from 1834-1859.  One hundred and nineteen names are inscribed in the centers of the fifty-seven compasses. On the back is a single name, S.A.E. Mead.  She was the daughter of Captain Daniel Merritt and mother of Major Daniel Merritt Mead; she succeeded Sarah Lewis as treasurer.