Taporneck
NUGGET #65
Taporneck was an American Indian leader, about whom little is known; his signature or “mark” is included on the first deed from the natives to the settlers in 1708; he is also the top signatory on deeds in 1727 and 1729 for land mostly in western Ridgefield — much was ceded to New York in the Oblong; Taporneck lived at Wepack or Long Pond; name variously spelled in records: Tapornick, Tappornik, Topornick, Tawpornick, and Tapporneck; George L. Rockwell (History of Ridgefield, 1927) misread early settlers’ handwriting in transcribing deeds, calling him Japorneck.
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.
