Stephen R. Bartlett Collection

Collection

Identifier: MS 054

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

With a few exceptions the folders of the collection contain single deeds between various parties and the Pickett (also spelled Pickit, Picket and Pickitt) family. Primarily they concern the properties of Ebenezer Pickett of Danbury, CT; there is the possibility that the Ebenezer Picketts in the deeds are different Ebenezers.

The collection contains one unidentified manuscript that details a home remedy or remedies and a letter to one of the Pickitt's ancestor's detailing the San Francisco earthquake of 1906.

Dates

Creation: 1726-1906
Creation: Majority of material found within 1726 - 1806

Creator

Bartlett, Stephen R., Dr., Jr. (Collector, Person)

Access Restrictions

Open for research without restrictions.

Use restrictions

Permission to publish materials must be obtained in writing from the:
Ruth A. Haas Library
Archives and Special Collections
181 White Street
Danbury, CT 06810
Phone: 203-837-8992
E-mail: stevensb@wcsu.edu

Biographical / Historical

The Pickett family were according to Thomas Robbins' history of Danbury from his "Century Sermon" of 1801, "The families of Picket, Knapp and Wildman are ancient families in the town." The Picketts were related through marriage to the Knapp, Benedict, Wildman, Seymour, Nichols, Barnum and Keeler families. Thomas Benedict (Ebenezer's cousin) who was the son of one of Danbury's first settlers was the 5th Justice of the Peace in Danbury and signed off on land transaction that occurred during his tenure.

There were at least 4 Ebenezer Picketts in the Danbury and New Milford areas in middle to late 1700s and according to the 1790 U.S. Census of Danbury, an Ebenezer Picket was the head of a household made up of 3 males under the age of 16, and 6 females, and Ebenezer Picket, jr. was over age 16 and lived with one female and was considered a "head of a household." An Ebenezer Pickett, Sr. as of the 1750s was a Danbury Town Selectman [pg. 586, Public Records of Connecticut, 1751-1757], along with fellow selectmen, Daniel Starr and Phineas Judd, expended out of Town stock 12 pounds in support of Ebenezer Barnum who was considered an "indigent person" whose lands were to being sold by order of the Connecticut General Assembly.

Many of the early deeds involve land on Chestnut Ridge (now in Bethel) overlooking the Danbury Township in the area around Chesnut Ridge Road, southeast of Danbury.

A genealogical chart of the Pickett family is included based in the most part on Truman Warner's research notes on early Danbury families Pickett Family Tree

Extent

0.275 Linear Feet ( 1 Box, 38 Folders)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

A collection of deeds and miscellany handed down from the Pickett Family which owned land in Danbury, CT among other places. The collection also contains a letter that describes the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

Arrangement

Folders are arranged in chronological order and according to their original accession numbers applied by the Litchfield Historical Society.

Provenance

Dr. Stephen Bartlett, Jr. donated a "deed bag" and its contents to the Litchfield Historical Society in [1971?] - its accession number was 1971-93 - and the contents were donated to the WCSU Archivies by the Litchfield Historical Society in May 2011. To accompany the gift, Bartlett explained some of his genealogy as follows:

Ebenezer Pickett (or Pickitt) Jr. was from Danbury, CT. His son Rufus and wife Paulina Turrill came to Litchfield, CT and ran the Town Farm property on Bantam Lake in Morris, CT. Rufus bought a house on what is now route 109 on the high ground overlooking Bantam Lake and the Town Farm (aka the Pickett Farm). Their son, Alanson [Jasper] Pickett, had a daughter Julia who married Stephen R. Bartlett and their son Stephen R. Bartlett, Jr. donated this collection to the Litchfield Historical Society. Alanson Pickett's sister, Huldah Marinda Pickett married William H. Farnham in 1837 and came to the Farnham farm (Litchfield Co.). Pickett and Farnham's son Edwin Pickett Farnam had a daughter, Alice, from his first marriage who married her first cousin Stephen R. Bartlett Sr. Edwin Pickett Farnham second marriage was to Gertrude Richardson of Salem, MA.

Ebenezer Pickett, Jr. was the son of Ebenezer Pickett of Danbury who came to the area in the early 1700s.

The collection was presumably assembled by Dr. Setphen Bartlett, Jr.