John D. Edmonds (ca. 1832-1865)
NUGGET #78
Edmonds, John D., (ca. 1832-1865) was probably a Ridgefield native and as a teenager taught school in town. He married and moved first to Benton, N.Y., and then near Grand Rapids, Mich., where he also taught school. In 1861 he enlisted for three years in the Civil War, but was discharged in 1862 after being severely injured in a runaway horse incident not involving battle. Then studied law in Michigan and returned to Ridgefield where he died of tuberculosis at the age of 33. He may have been the town’s first lawyer, although he may have been too ill to practice here. He was a son of Robert Chauncey and Abby Darling Edmonds of Silver Hill Road, died at age of 33 of tuberculosis.
Jack Sanders, Who Was Who in Ridgefield.
More Historical Nuggets
First Pride Day, 1998
FIRST ‘PRIDE’ DAY: “A Celebration of Community: Straight, Gay and Lesbian“ took place in 1998, on the Community Center lawn. Just a year later, a Rainbow Flag was flown for the first time in the nation over a state capitol, Hartford, on March 21, 1999.
Hezekiah Scott (1789-1879)
Hezekiah Scott was a weaver and operated a distillery on the brook near his home on Barlow Mountain Road — a stream now called Kiah’s Brook.
Paving
The first road paving, part of a state experiment, was done on the eastern end of Branchville Road around 1912. Catoonah Street was paved in 1922.
Lillian Barnard Gilkes and Louise “Lulu” Davidson
Gilkes, Lillian Barnard, (1903-1977), was a nationally recognized scholar, author and critic who lived at 93 Olmstead Lane with stepsister.
