Stephen Howard Young (1878-1972)
NUGGET #70
Young, Stephen Howard, (1878-1972), was one of the world’s wealthiest art dealers; from late 1940s until death, owned estate on lower Branchville Road, opposite Old Branchville, that includes Candee’s Pond; a business partner was his nephew, Francis Taylor, father of actress Elizabeth Taylor, who visited Branchville estate; Young’s friend, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, then Columbia U. president, is said to have decided to run for president of U.S. while visiting there; Young left millions to build a medical center in northern Wisconsin, where he often vacationed.
Jack Sanders, Who Was Who in Ridgefield.
Read Young’s New York Times obituary, or learn more about his legacy in Wisconsin.
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.
