Historic Lyme, Lyme, CT (2026)

12/08/2022

Elizabeth Alice Ely was born in Lyme on the 31st of December in 1836. She was the first daughter and second child of John Griswold Ely and his wife Sally Pratt Williams. Elizabeth grew up in Lyme and was married to Henry Sill Lord in 1861. She kept a diary for most of her life.

Receive a quarterly window into this young woman’s experiences living on Joshuatown Road more than 150 years ago, with selected diary entries from Elizabeth’s 1855 diary. Below are the entries selected for Late Fall/Holiday, by Lyme Public Hall Board member Jacqueline Jaffe.

In early December 1885, we find Elizabeth in the pre-Christmas holiday vacation trying to get to Hartford for a visit. It took her three days but once she got there, she was swept up in a whirl of cultural events.

Tuesday Dec.7 -- In the forenoon I packed up and after dinner I started with Father to go to Deep River from there I intended to go to Hartford. We came up in the dory boat-the east side of 12 mile island, but could not get around it on account of the ice which had blocked in: so we went a shore on the island and Father pulled the boat across the island and then rowed to the shore of the ship-yard. I found Gib there and he went with me to Mrs. Arnold's where I spent the night.

Tues. eve Dec.14 -- Mrs Lee and I attended a lecture before the "Young Men's Institute" delivered by Ralph Waldo Emerson on the "Laws Of Success"

Wed. Dec. 18 -- I intended to take the stage to Middletown today and then take the cars to Hartford, but it has been a rainy day which prevented me.

Fri. Dec. 18 -- In the afternoon Mrs.Lee and I attended a lecture in American Hall delivered by Dr.Wieting. Mr. Edward Gates called in that evening.

Sun. Dec. 19 -- I went to meeting in the evening with Mr.Edward Gates, to Pearl street young people meeting, then to Centre Church and heard Dr. Hahuse deliver a lecture to young ladies.

(photo: Pleasant Valley at Beaver Brook/Hamburg Rd.)

05/04/2022

Cartes de Visite: Social Media Selfies of Yesteryear

The carte-de-visite era began just as the popularity of time-consuming and costly portraiture photographs begins to fade. The new format was patented in 1854 by French photographer Andre Adolphe Eugene Disdéri, when he devised a process to produce a large number of prints much more cheaply. Each mounted photograph was the size of a 4 x 2 1/2 inch visiting card, so the cartes quickly caught on for trading among friends and visitors in the 1860s. They proved to be a very popular item during the American Civil War, when soldiers, friends and family members were able to send them to loved ones.

The Local History Archives of Lyme is home to the Sterling Family Photo Album, 1850-1880, of Stephen Parker Sterling and Annie Warner Sterling (Sterling City, CT), which contains 98 cartes of their friends and family. Here is one delightful example from this collection: "Very Respectfully, Sterling & Bill"

04/23/2022

The Lyme Public Hall & Local History Archives is going to honor our past by publishing some of the entries from the diary of Elizabeth A. Ely. Elizabeth Alice Ely was born in Lyme on the 31st of December in 1836. She was the first daughter and second child of John Griswold Ely and his wife Sally Pratt Williams. Elizabeth grew up in Lyme and was married to Henry Sill Lord in 1861. She kept a diary for most of her life.

We are going to show you extracts, from her 1855 diary, which will correspond to the current time of the year. Thus, we can see how a young woman who lived on Joshuatown Road was experiencing her life more than 150 years ago.

These entries will appear 4 times a year and correspond to the four seasons: Spring, Fall, Winter and Summer.

Spring.

The first one is written on Tuesday April 17th, 1855. Elizabeth was eighteen. This was the last day that she was attending school.

“Examination Day again and the last day of school for me. It was cloudy some. Celia Pratt came with me from school. I had a perfect card through the term. Capt. Joseph Tucker and Edgar Stevens came home last Sunday, they had been shipwrecked. They were 4 days out of N.Y. when they shipwrecked, 3 man and one woman were drowned, the others got onto the wreck and were 7 days when they were taken off not having anything to eat, but one rat which they cut into 18 pieces, but 3 of the men would not eat any they could not have survived much longer if they had not received aid, as they were most gone.”

“Thursday April 19th.

Another pleasant day: Mother finished Father’s sail. I sewed on the jib. Celia went home at night, Ellen went with her.”

Image: Map of northern Lyme around the time Elizabeth was writing her diary.

04/20/2022

Welcome to Historic Lyme! This is a space to share photos and memories of life in Lyme; to reminisce with friends and welcome new residents to a place with deep historical roots.

Perhaps you will recognize this church -- it looks much the same today, although it's surroundings have changed a bit from when this photo was taken!

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Lyme, CT
06371

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https://lymepublichall.org/

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