Virtual Exhibits
Women's History at the Stratford Historical Society
Women have been an integral part of the history of the Stratford Historical Society. We are celebrating our 100th Anniversary and Women's History Month by sharing some of their stories.
Celia and Cornelia Curtis
Sisters Celia (1837 – 1925) and Cornelia (1840 – 1924) Curtis were the daughters of Levi Curtis (1806 – 1874) and Jersha Lewis (1802 – 1835), and were descendants of William Judson, who was among the first seventeen European families to settle in Stratford in 1639. Celia and Cornelia lived on the Curtis family farm on Huntington Road, west of Paradise Green until 1891, at which time they purchased the Judson homestead on Academy Hill. With the exception of a few brief years, this Georgian mansion built by militia Captain David Judson in 1723 had been solely in the Judson family. Celia and Cornelia had truly come home.
Tragically, in 1924, Cornelia was burned to death in the house as she was kindling a fire. Celia, older and somewhat infirm, was unable to help her. According to a close family friend, it was not until after Cornelia’s death, that Celia realized that provision had to be made for what would happen to the house after her own death. With the encouragement of her friends Adelaide Gunther and Elizabeth Sammis, Celia decided to leave the home to serve as a historical house to “preserve and maintain records and artifacts of the history of Stratford.”
To that end, the Stratford Historical Society, Inc. was organized when Articles of Association were filed on January 17, 1925. The Society “undertook to preserve, cherish and care for all historical material…relating to the history of Stratford… and to maintain a building for the preservation and exhibition of such material…” On July 10, 1925, a meeting was held to create a working organization, and 55 persons enrolled as members. By September of that year, the number of members had increased to 134. In addition, Celia’s bequest stipulated that within five years of her death a fund of $10,000 be raised to maintain the house. In fact, within that time, $14,000 was raised, and 350 members were enrolled in the Society.
Celia Curtis died on November 14, 1925, about a year after Cornelia’s death. Her legacy, however, lives on, and the home that she and Cornelia cherished still stands in all its dignity.
Perhaps nowhere are the personalities, idiosyncrasies, or characters of Celia and Cornelia more charmingly captured than in the following poem by Lura Abell, first published for The Stratford News, October 13, 1939 (Stratford's Tercentenary Edition). Lura Abell, who was a feature and editorial writer for the Post Publishing Co., lived near the Curtis sisters, and as Wilcoxson states in his History of Stratford, knew and loved them both.
Miss Celia and Miss Cornelia
by Lura Abell
You can almost see them still,
Walking down Academy Hill
Miss Celia, bent, but tall and prim,
Miss Cornelia, behind, fluttery and slim.
Their bonnets, shawls and reticules,
Their silks and roches know the rules
Of bygone fashions, when seemliness
Was the better part of dress.
Miss Celia, a little older, precise
And thrifty was given to thinking twice
Before each step in managing
Their home, estate and everything.
But Miss Cornelia spoke right out
Whatever it was she thought about;
Her wit used often to shock Miss Celia,
Who was always saying, “Why, Cornelia!”
Their earliest home may still be seen.
Fifth from the foot, west of Paradise Green,
Where Levi Curtis owned his farm;
The aged house is mellow with charm.
His daughters went to school downtown,
At the old Academy on the crown
Of the hill that took from the school its name;
Mr. Sedgwick, the head, earned well its fame.
Miss Celia was good at arithmetic;
And Miss Cornelia’s fingers were quick
With a pencil, too, but not at a sum,
A task she found to be very humdrum.
It was her pleasure when alone
To sketch pretty pictures; even a stone
She would adorn with cherubs gay,
For a paper-weight, to give away.
As spinsters they bought on Academy Hill
The old white Colonial home that still
Houses relics of theirs as well as town history.
Why neither married is still a mystery.
Their father left them well-to-do;
They were charitable and social, too;
Friends dropped in, when the day was fine.
For homemade cookies and dandelion wine.
But every noon they used to walk
To the Cranston house for dinner and talk;
The boarders there were of the elite,
When the Post Hoed was still a quiet street.
God-fearing, it was their pleasure and will
To serve Christ Church, at the foot of the Hill;
Three pews from the front sat Miss Celia;
Three pews from the rear sat Miss Cornelia.
And so the years went on and on;
The World War started, raged, and was done;
But though the world emerged deranged,
The sisters’ lives seemed little changed;
Till Cornelia, rising early one day,
Came down to find the log fire grey;
She poked it with a pencil, and smoke
Enveloped her and wade her choke.
She fell unconscious, unaware
That her journey of life was ending there.
Miss Celia lingered about a year.
Then followed to join her sister dear.
For a quarter, now, sightseers roam,
Conducted through the rooms of their home,
Which Miss Celia deeded to Historical Society,
A fitting close to their works of piety.
Their passing marked the end of an age
In Old Stratford, but for history's page.
