Restoring Cady-Copp's Education Mission
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — For almost 280 years the Cady- Copp Cottage has stood as one repository of Putnam’s history and education.
The gambrel-roofed home, perhaps, might be graced with a white Christmas this year. And perhaps in 1745 the home’s first Christmas might have been a white Christmas.
Aspinock Historical Society (AHS) Vice President Jeanne Benoit and Town Historian Bill Pearsall think the first Christmas in the home would probably have been more about religion than festivities. The home was built by Joseph Cady, Esq. for his daughter and son-in-law Damaris and Rev. Perley Howe. Howe was the pastor of the First Congregational Church of Putnam — now the meetinghouse next door.
If the Howes had been of German descent, there might have been more of a festive Christmas. It was the Germans who brought Christmas trees to America, Benoit said. Not being German and being the pastor of the church Benoit said most of the holiday would have been spent in church.
“Unless you were German, there wasn’t much Christmas,” Pearsall said.
They might have had a “holiday” dinner which, back then, would have included venison or wild turkey or chicken, plus items from the root cellar. “It would have been more of a day in church rather than a celebration day.”
After Howe died, Damaris married Aaron Brown, who was also a pastor.
In those days, pastors were educated men. In the minister’s study on the cottage’s second floor, pastors taught Latin and Greek to local young men who were headed to college. Knowing Latin and Greek was a requirement to go to college. Benoit said there was no such thing as high school. One young man Brown prepared for college was Manasseh Cutler. Cutler went to Yale at age 12 and graduated at 16. Cutler went on to write the Northwest Ordinance.
Fast forward hundreds of years and the calling for the Cady-Copp Cottage is the same — education. The Aspinock Historical Society is conducting a serious capital campaign to bring back the cottage and grounds AND its purpose. Society President John Miller said “The Cady-Copp Cottage Museum will be open for tours and education of the history of the Cottage including highlighting Manasseh Cutler who was educated as a boy there.”
Over the years, the exterior has been refurbished and an access road and a small parking lot have been installed.
But before the cottage can again teach, the interior needs help. Miller said the next phase is the refurbishment of the interior including the unique fireplace (a four-corner fireplace which uses a central chimney). That fireplace/chimney put the Cady-Copp Cottage on the National Historic Register in the early 2000s.
The total budget is about $50,000 with matching grants available. Benoit is working on finding a matching grant. Miller said they are depending heavily on donations because the chances of getting a grant “are probably almost nil so that’s why donations are so important,” he said. He added they have raised $25,000 to date.
The AHS mission is to “Protect the Future by Preserving the Past” The Cady-Copp Cottage is a vital part of our mission and will be the third museum under the AHS umbrella open to the public, he said.
There are many ways to donate. Miller said: “AHS is a 501(c)3. Donations can be made by visiting our web site www.putnamaspinockhistsoc.com; or mail to AHS, 200 School St. Putnam CT 06260; or stop by the AHS Museum located on the second floor of the Putnam Municipal Complex between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays.”
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