HISTORIC RESOURCES INVENTORYFOR OFFICE USE ONL YBUILDING AND STRUCTURES

TownNo.. ISit. No 317HIST ·6 NEW S 77

STATE OF CONNECTICUTUT~ • I I I I I . I ! ICONNECTICUT HiSTORICAL COMMISSION I .. , . . .

59 SOUTH PROSPECT STI~EET. HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT 06106QUAD:I(203) 566-3005

DISTRIC T IF NR SPEC II' Y

Os ONR I0 Actual 0 Pat_tialt , BUILDING "'AME (Commoa' (Histo"c}I Gilbert, Frederick C. , House2 TOWN CITY IIILL"'GE I COUN Yz: Farmington Hartford0

i= J :'TRt.t:T AND NUMBER la .. tI 01 IOC·.""AI-e 9 Pearl Streetuu.. 4 OWNERfSIi=

Blinn, Rita H. o-,«, f2gPri"ot.%w0 S U:.t. IP, .. ,PIIIJ

11"""~~sidence-Residence

6" ~lEXTERIOR VlSl8LE FROM P\J8LC ROAD I INTERIOR ACCESSleLE I '> r t." to" L A INACCESSIBILlTVQ9- 0oVes ~NoTO PUBLIC: Yes No

" TLt. U..-OA rt. UI' '"" .. " ~U'" IUN

Nineteenth-century vernacular 1897-8II ..... _

Ulla, c a'r us. 0' '" c aIlO .. ",II ... a,.,.,opllaIP'

~Clapboord o Asbestos Siding o Brick o Other(Sp.cily}

...o ~ood Shi"9l. o Asphalt o FieldstoneSidi"9 . .o Board & Batt.n o Stucco oCabbleston.o Aluminum GU Conc,.t·fCewanEicoverTI Cut stone

" S; ding X Type: oun a on Typ.:9 STRUCTURA\. SYS~EM

~ Woodfro;m. o Po st and b.am ~ balloon o Othe, I SP.c;(y'

o Load be"a,ing masan,y o St,uctu,al i,on or st •• 11O ROOF j r,·,,, J

[!J Gobi. o Flat o Mansa,d o Manito, o sawtooth

o Gambrel o Sh.d o.. o RoundDOth.'z I Sp.c "yJ0

j::: (Mol."olle,Ill:

[] WoodShingl. 0 Rollo Tin o Slat.U Asphalt

'"wOther0

~ Asphalt shingle o Bu.lt up o Til. 0'Sp.c,(y'., NUMBER OF S -ORIES/ APPROXIMATE OIMENSIONS

2 16 X 34, additions 16 x 15, 11 x 12, 19 x 5, 13 x 5, 12 x 611 '-UNul ION '"~I"" (U•• ", , f~,'(h', If.' Jo E.c.llent ~ Good o Fai, o D.t.r'o,at.d I0 E"c.lI.nt ~ Good o Fai, o Oet.rio,ated13 INTEGRITy .1..0, .,'1"". WHEN I

- '[j'y'~(~""0No I'~YESEXPLAINQ On original

DMov.dX sit.I. RELATED OUTBUILDINGS cR LANOSCAPE ~: .. U"ES

~ Barn 8Sh.d ~ Ga'ogr DOth., londscop" frotu'"s 0' buildings' SPf!Cdy'o Corriog" o Shop o Gald.nhous" -"IS SURROUNDING £ N\,IIRONM£ NT

=:J Oprn land o Wood- [20;Rrs,d.nI,al '1 .land l. __ Scallf!,,,d buddIng. vlsobl" from ~.tr

o Camm,,'c.al o Indus- o Ru,al '-l H.qh bu.ld,nq d.n •. 'y',ial'I> 'N T r R R E l A T 10'" S HIP 0 f tl U" D' NG AND 5 UR R 0 UNO' N G 5 ._----------,----- -. __ ._-_.- --'~------------

Facing north on Pearl Street, the Frederick C. Gilbert House sits fairly close to theroad. A garage lies at the rear of the property. Shrubs encircle the house and otherhouses similar in age are visible from the site.

- ----

wUz«uu.ZCl:i;

17 OTHER NOTABLE FEATUAES OF BUILDtNG OR SITE IIII' .."m ~'f(J III "J(lf"'l"/

This ridge-to-street late nineteenth-century residence features an enclosed one~story frontporch. which covers the original appearance of the front facade. Three windows exist onthe second story and a.small brick chimney extends from t~e roof. Little architecturalembellishments are found on the house. It is truly a modest building.

19 HI ORI L R HI U

In 1897 Frederick C. Gilbert (1860-1910) purchased a plot of land measuring 25' x 219' fromJames L. Cowles. one of Farmington's well-known enterpeneur (FLR 71:310). A condition in th(deed stated that Gilbert "remove the barns and other buildings on the said land" forCowles. By 1898 the house was constructed by Nelson o. Keyes. a contractor, according tothe Farmington House File. Gilbert and his wife Jane M. Warren (b. 1856) and their.fourchildren: Abbie (b. 1885). Grace (b. 1886), Chauncey 1. (b. 1896), and Nettie livedhere until Frederick died. The house remained in the family until it was sold to

widower Charles Blinn. Grace's husband, in 1926 (FLR 85:219). Charles was the son ofPorter and Sarah (Griswold) Blinn of Newington. His wife Grace had died a year earlier andhe married Laura Jane Petts during the time he purchased, this house. In June of the sameyear. he quit-claimed ~ interest of the property to Laura. (FLR 82:400). It remains in thefamily today.

This house contributes to the historical significance of Pearl Street due to itsassociation with the Gilbert-Blinn family.

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BUILDER

Fa r m i n g t o n l.a n d Records; Farmington Probate Records; Farmington Vit:11 Re c o rds ; I:drmi::l',ld';I " . t i , W I)' 1()34' Avon Cemeterv Inscriptions, \~.!'.r\ .• 1934; 1853 l-. ... \.Cc me t e r v n.,crl.p lons, .. J\., "J , /

\,'oodford ~ap; 1855 E.~l. Woodford ~\ap; 1869 Ba k c r and Tilden ~;IP; 1878 n,H. 1);liley & C,), '-:.1:'

Prentice. Dudley. HistorX-0f Farmington Houses. 9 vol. N.p., 1974.

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0. 18:28ADATE

>-ell

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..J0. Greater Middletown Preservation Trust::IoU

4/86N

Middletown, CT

I

G No n e knowr, o HIghway, 0 Vondoll~m o D'e v e lo p e r s OO,her

LJ Renewol o Private 0 D'e e e ei o e c r io o 0 loninq o EJ(plonotion

ACME SS4S3.ap

OWNER'S NAME BLINN.CHARLES & ,8 II-? 8 ADDITIONAL INfORMATIONLBbU-r es.

ADDRESS:q Pear 1. St,DAlE BUILT: 189718 fOR: llred.er.J.CK C.LI.J..LOe:.rl.'

ARCHITECTMASTER·BUILDER Ne.Lson O.Keyes

, , 'I. , ~ - - ~. ,.."., 1-

FORMER OWNERS: H r.r om R.Lee lJeL"UY \.J.I~ .J.uv) C1UU .I. J."Ulll -: .I." ;u v. ~': :::.C;~':; _ ~~,~ ........""~-~l par-entis 01 m s ra r st W.J.Ie) a.i s U .I. J."UllJ ~ ~:! T v ,C1~"I ~l o.J !.J..~'""'u, ""'-''-'

'.~Lana xec , vOJ...('± ~ '± o ",~a~~U_ V~:-.l;.)V,!::~t:jJ..<::J.\.J; v, , ,L'';U " v., .....I. VW ....,.James L. "'lW P ~ /:j ~.L .LO~T,VO.L.(.J.., 1J u.J..v~J.1V ,..., V.t:T~'='

.......... oy passway .1. L"Om l!la..l.l uv.l."t::t::v VU ~ ,L·UC1U •

- ~~ ..... ,. " s» ,L ..1 " .1. ,... .,., .. " ""..t"arwJ.Ilt6 vUIl, vUl111. ,.l.;;1VU ,iJ ...........'-'. \ ....u ...• '-'''L'-''-''''~'''' vv ..... '"'U v. '/REFERENCES:

OWNER AS OF. PHOTO NO. ct ~O~~N~ I " L~SI x I 20BLINN, CHARLES & LAURA 1950 'tI ", •- ---

9 Pearl Street 3 1 2 - 1

This house is pictured on page 112 of the Far~ington Bookas the residence of Fred C. Gilbert, and library records show it tohave been built by him in 1897 on land purchased from Ja~es L. Cowlesof 130 Main Street.

Frederick Charles Gilbert was born in Farmington in 1859,the son of James Gilbert and Sarah Griswold. He was married in 1880to Jane Marinda Warren. It has been said that Fred Gilbert -- orperhaps his father -- ran the Town Farm at one time. This is notconfirmed. Another report is that Fred Gilbert vIas a policeman orco ns tab Le in Farmington. He did act as spe.cial constable on theday of President Teddy Roosevelt's visit here on October 22, 1901.

The Gilbert daughters and son were Abigail, Grace, Chaunceyand Nettie.

Ab Lga II Mandine Gilbert , born in 1885, became a registerednurse and was a public health nurse in Middletown for many years.

Grace Irene Gilbert, born in 1877, married Charles Blinn,born in Newington, the son of Porter Blinn and Sarah Griswold.They had a son Charles F. Brlinn, born in 1912, called IIPeteU todistinguish him from his father. See more regarding Pete in theaccount of 6 Pearl Street which he purchased in 1944.

The Blinns had a daughter Virginia. She married Carlton IHayward. She lives at Calais,IMaine, now widowed.!

Chauncey Lee Gilbert, born in 1890, WaS married in 1911 toAgnes Sanderson. They had one child. Chauncey is saLd to have worked-for A. J. Parker in his plumbing shop on Farmington Avenue. He diedin 1934, and his widow lived there~fter with Chauncey's sister AbigaiLin Hiddletmm. They had lived in Unionville.

Nettie B. Gilbert married a Nr. Saegaert of Hartford.

Fred Gilbert is said to have died of a heart attack onthe school lawn in 1910.

Charles Blinn, Fred Gilbert's son-in-law lived here withhis wife Grace, as Mr. Gilbert had died just shortly before they weremarried. After the death of Mr. Blinn's wife in 1925, Mr. Blinn re-

.~ mar~ied in 1926, this time marrying Miss Laura Jane Petta, born inEngland, the daughter of William Petts and Nary Higbid.

In 1928 Mr. Blinn purchased this house from his former wife'sone brothers and 2 sisters, namely Chauncey Gilbert of Farmington,Abigail Gilbert of Middletown and Nett~Saegaert of Hartford. At thi~time the property he purchased ran all the way from that of GeorgeAndrews at 173 Garden Street, to that of Kenneth Ruic at 126 MainStreet, and bounded on the south by the line of the Riddle propertyat 130 Main Street.

The date of Mr. Blinn's death is not presently kno~m, buthe was survived by his wife Laura, and she died on November 28, 1972.

July 20, 1973

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