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SHARON ARCHIVES

NEWSLETTER OF THE SHARON HISTORICAL SOCIETY FALL/WINTER 2014

Charcoal annie

By Ed Kirby

Mission Statement The Sharon Historical Society collects, preserves and shares Sharon’s stories, building bridges between the past, pre-sent and future through its collections, exhibitions, and programs.

1 Charcoal Annie 2 Director’s Corner 3 New and Noteworthy 4 Collections Connection 6 Upcoming Events

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Despite the contributions of Bartram, the Stantons, Winchester and

others, the story of a very determined lady on Sharon Mountain, sometimes re-

ferred to as “Charcoal Annie,” remains the most fascinating in the annals of Sha-

ron’s northeast corner.

Born in Mignavillers, Haut-Saone, France in 1870, Augusta Malquit

sailed to the United States arriving at age seventeen at Ellis Island on May 2,

1887. Following a somewhat roundabout route to Bridgeport, she boarded the

train to Cornwall Bridge. From there Augusta walked to the home of her cous-

ins, the Malquit brothers on Sharon Mountain.

“She was truly a pioneer outstandingly tall, over six feet, in a time when

most women barely reached five feet, her eyes were a merry blue and her hair

blonde and curly.”

“Augusta’s ambition and intelligence never left her in one place or at a

standstill for long. From her cousins, she entered the home of a family in North

Cornwall as a domestic. The best part of this situation was her duties included

the care of their son who was a student. From him, in the space of three years,

she learned not only to speak English but the basics of the three R’s. She had

found the wonderful world of books and the printed word. She never ceased to

study, whenever she could, for the rest of her life.”

In her days before coming to America, Augusta had become enamored

with a young man named Emile. Whether she followed him to this country or

he followed her, Augusta never revealed. Nor did she reveal where and when

she and Emile were reunited. Whatever the answers to the questions the two

were reunited and Emile Peter Jasmine and Augusta Malquit were married in the

Sharon Town Hall on March 4, 1890 by Justice of the Peace Ezra Bartram. “She

wore a tailor-made gray flannel suit. The fitted jacket and full-length skirt added

to her height. She thought it the proper costume of ‘a Lady.’ Two facts were

positive. Whenever Augusta wore her suit the occasion was important, and, her

summary of a person who was either ‘Sterling” or ‘Silverplate’ came to let peo-

ple know if they were regarded with respect or contempt.”

(continued on page 5)

Did you

know?

Sharon Historical

Society is on

the web,

Facebook and

twitter

Get sneak peeks at ex-

hibits, new acces-

sions, historical

photos from the

collection and

more!

Website:

Www.sharonhist.org

Facebook: Www.facebook.com/

sharonhistoricalsociety

Twitter:

Www.twitter.com/

sharoncthistory

2 s h a r o n a r c h i v e s

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Preferred method of contact:

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Check Membership Level:

Annual Membership—$35

Patron Memberships

Sustaining - $150

Benefactor - $300

Sponsor - $500

Trustee’s Circle - $1000

Membership amount $

Additional contribution to

help support the preservation

of the Gay-Hoyt House $

Total $

JJJOINOINOIN THETHETHE SSSHARONHARONHARON HHHISTORICALISTORICALISTORICAL SSSOCIETYOCIETYOCIETY

Website: www.sharonhist.org E-mail: sharonhistoricalsociety@yahoo.com

(860) 364-5688

Donate online at www.sharonhist.org!

Director’s Corner By Moira Conlan

Have you driven by the Gay-Hoyt house lately? You might have noticed some changes, inside and out! In July, we said a fond farewell to our longtime director, Liz Shapiro as she relocated to coastal Connecticut. The Board of Trustees, our volunteers and curator Rosemary Davis tirelessly held down the fort until I started in Sep-tember. My first month has been a whirlwind, but all of us are so excited for what we have planned this winter. New art and history exhibits, bus tours, lectures-there will be something for everyone! The Gay-Hoyt house itself is looking better than ever. Several trees and the brush to the south of the house were removed in October. If you haven’t already, go check out the view of the house from the Clock Tower now! The portico was also removed and the masonry has been repointed. Special thanks go to the town of Sharon and the 1772 Foundation for their help in funding the repointing. Next up is planning the new gardens! I’m looking forward to getting to know our members and supporters more in the next few months. Please stop by to say hello during the museum open hours or one of our events!

Can you guess? Take a look at the mystery objects from our collection here and on page 4. what do you think they are? The answers will be in the next newsletter, but if you can’t wait that long “Like” us on Facebook to see the answer right away!

s h a r o n a r c h i v e s 3

New and Noteworthy

IN OUR OWN BACKYARD: FIVE WOMEN EXPRESS LIFE WHERE WE LIVE

ON DISPLAY NOVEMBER 8-DECEMBER 20, 2014 EXHIBIT OPENING SATURDAY NOVEMBER 8, 5:00-7:00 PM THE GALLERY @THE SHS

The Sharon Historical Society is pleased to

announce the opening of the newest exhibit in

The Gallery @the SHS, In Our Own Back-

yard… Five Women Express Life Where

We Live. The show will run from November

8th to December 20th, with the reception on

Saturday, November 8th from 5 – 7 PM.

Gallery visitors will experience the beauty of

our area’s rolling hills, long vistas, fields and

marshes, deep skies and stretches of water in

artwork created by local artists.

Dorothy Fox, Nancy Goldberger, Patricia

Hogan, Linda Wenkert and Lilly Woodworth

share their love of the Litchfield Hills and sur-

rounding area with paintings in oil, watercolor, acrylic and pastel.

The Gallery @the SHS is located at The Sharon Historical Society

& Museum, 18 Main Street, Route 41, Sharon, CT. The museum is

open Wednesday through Friday, from 12-4 and Saturday from 10 -

2, and by appointment. Visit our website at www.sharonhist.org.

For more information call 860-364-5688.

Jackson Hill Road Fog by Linda Wenkert

Backyard Conversations by Dorothy Fox

4 s h a r o n a r c h i v e s

Collections

Connection by Rosemary Davis

The dedicated volunteers at the SHS recently

completed a several years long project to inventory all of

the objects in our collection. The importance of this at

times tedious task (Dr. Chaffee’s collection alone includes

14 forceps!) to our understanding of our mission cannot

be understated. Two important themes that emerged

from the inventory are: 1) we have many fascinating arti-

facts that the public doesn’t often see, and 2) we have

some artifacts that do not clearly relate to Sharon. Both of

these concerns are common to historical societies, but we

have found two unique ways to handle them here.

Regarding the first problem, the same volunteers

that completed the inventory are creating exhibits in a

room in the Gay-Hoyt house, now known as the Volun-

teers’ Corner. They are thrilled to have the opportunity

to share some of the interesting items that they invento-

ried. Their first exhibit consists of dolls, pillows, silver

and china, and more! The room will also include a case

dedicated to new acquisitions, which brings me to the sec-

ond issue: how to focus our collecting, so that we don’t

end up with items that do not directly relate to Sharon.

In the last year, the SHS updated our Collections

Management Policy to clearly state our collecting objec-

tives. The purpose of the society is “to collect and pre-

serve such records, objects, and other personal property

that are connected with or illustrate the history of the

town of Sharon.”

In connection with the SHS mission, our next his-

tory exhibit, which will open in early December, strives to

answer the question, “What Can the Sharon Historical So-

ciety & Museum Do For You?” This interactive exhibit

will give community members the tools to dig into the

history of their Sharon home, uncover information about

Sharon ancestors, peruse artifacts and archival collections,

and share their own Sharon tales in a video history!

Volunteer at SHS!

I like volunteering at SHS because they work with my talents. I’m not just handed letters to stuff because that is what is im-portant that day. They pay attention to my professional skills, my interests, my wacky sense of humor and I know that I will be

engaged, interested and looking forward to next week.– SHS Volunteer Marel Rogers

Our volunteer program will match your talents

and interests to our needs. We are looking for everything from docents to technology wizards.

Call or email us to find out more!

In August, Barbara Bartram donated a

family wedding gown made for Flora Bene-

dict in 1873. The gown is now on display in

our Volunteer’s Corner.

Can you guess?

Here is another mystery object from our collec-tions. What do you think this one is? The answer will be in the next news-letter in the spring or on our Facebook page now!

s h a r o n a r c h i v e s 5

Between the years 1891 and 1895, Augusta gave

birth to four daughters, three recorded in the town of Sharon

and one in New Milford.

Following World War I the Barnum Richardson

Company operation had been reduced to only one furnace

(East Canaan #3) and the foundries in Lime Rock. By then

charcoal was shipped to the furnace from Vermont and West

Virginia. “Augusta and Emile bought a saw mill and went

into the lumber business. They supplied The Ansonia Forest

Products Company, The Coe Brass Manufacturing Company

and Mr. Frank Stowe, Builder, of Ansonia. It was during this

time that one of her sons-in-law was the proud ‘Teamster’ of

the Blue Ribbon team that took first place at the annual Go-

shen Fair. Augusta was very proud of that.”

In later years Augusta and Emile purchased a farm in

Canton Center, Connecticut. They “retired” to the farm rais-

ing chickens, owned a cow and horse and worked the land

from dawn to dusk. Emile died at age seventy-two in 1934

and Augusta died in 1950. Both are buried in the Lime Rock

Cemetery. Ironically, the foremost monuments in the front

corner of the cemetery mark the family plots of Augusta’s

greatest charcoal benefactors, those of the Barnums and Rich-

ardsons.

While most long-term residents of Sharon would

not recognize the name of Augusta Malquit Jasmine, few

would fail to recognize the names of the generations that fol-

lowed Augusta and Emile. Among their grandchildren were

such family names as Mitchel (or Mitchell), Douleillet and

Deveaux. But most recognizable to all would be those of the

Euvrard family, most of who farmed on Sharon Mountain,

particularly the East Street section. In the fourth generation

of Augusta and Emile, the surnames Miles, Joray, Hubbell,

Prindle, Pope, Douchane were added. Across the Housatonic

in Cornwall Bridge, the late Charles Orin Tompkins was part

the fourth generation and his children part of the fifth.

A truly remarkable woman was Augusta Malquit

Jasmine, the legendary Charcoal Annie of Sharon’s northeast

corner.

This article originally appeared in Seldom Told

Tales of Sharon Volume 1 by Ed Kirby and is reprinted

here with his permission. Visit the gift shop at the Sha-

ron Historical Society for a complete selection of books by

Mr. Kirby, the new Sharon Arcadia book, and more!

Charcoal Annie Continued from page 1

In the early 1890s the Barnum Richardson Company

foundry in Lime Rock was still a major United States producer of

railroad car wheels. The iron from local blast furnaces was made

using high quality Salisbury ore, lime from the Stockbridge for-

mation for flux and charcoal as fuel. High quality charcoal was

key to the manufacture of iron that could withstand the level of

shock created between railroad car wheels and steel rails.

From their days in France, Emile and Augusta remem-

bered well the process of making charcoal. They also understood

the value of the hardwoods of the Mine Mountain/Mount Easter

sections of Sharon Mountain for charcoal production.

Donning the gray suit, Augusta went to Lime Rock and

called on Milo B. Richardson, president of Barnum and Richard-

son Company, the major producer of iron in the region since

1830. Richardson, impressed by her knowledge of timber, lum-

ber and charcoal, and faced with an increasing shortage of quality

charcoal, finally gave her an order for one ton.

“But a ton! Gusta, you must be crazy,” Emile said. “I am

only one man. It would need helpers and a team of horses for

dragging the logs, and a wood-shod sled, and where are we going

to get all of these? And it will be a lifetime of work, day and

night.” “Work never killed anybody,” she said, “and I will get you

men, and a team and a wagon and sled.”

Once again donning the gray suit, Augusta went to a

local banker, presented the merits of the venture, obtained the

funding and formed the Jasmine Company. Augusta “was unbend-

ing yet kind and fair. A stern taskmaster, a jolly friend and as

strong as a man. The crew of men who eventually worked the

Jasmine Company knew that the gentle Emile was the Foreman –

Augusta was the Boss.”

“Record of that first ton of charcoal is vague, but she was

true to her word and much respected in the business world. A

very satisfied Mr. Richardson granted her an unrestricted contract

for all the charcoal the Jasmine Company could produce. They

fulfilled that contract for over twenty years.”

SHARON HISTORICAL SOCIETY

18 MAIN STREET

PO BOX 511

SHARON, CT 06069-0511

FRIDAY OCTOBER 31– HALLOWEEN TRICK OR TREATING ON THE TOWN GREEN. MAKE THE SHARON HISTORICAL SOCIE-

TY A STOP ON YOUR TRICK OR TREATING ROUNDS. THE DÉCOR WILL BE FRIGHTFUL! SATURDAY NOVEMBER 8– GALLERY OPENING, “IN OUR OWN BACKYARD”. 5-7PM IN THE GALLERY @SHS. FEATURING THE WORK OF ARTISTS DOROTHY FOX, NANCY GOLDBERGER, PATRICIA HOGAN, LINDA WENKERT AND LILLY WOOD-

WORTH. REFRESHMENTS WILL BE SERVED. THE EXHIBIT RUNS THROUGH DECEMBER 20. GALLERY OPEN WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY 10-4 AND SATURDAY 10-2. SATURDAY DECEMBER 6– TREE LIGHTING AND OPEN HOUSE AT THE SHS. GATHER ON THE SHARON GREEN AT 4:45 FOR CAROLS AND THE SHARON TREE LIGHTING. JOIN US AT THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING FOR WARM REFRESHMENTS, SEASONAL DECORATIONS AND MORE. UNTIL 6:30 PM. COMING SOON...OUR NEW HISTORICAL EXHIBIT “WHAT CAN THE SHARON HISTORICAL SOCIETY DO FOR YOU?”, A FIELD TRIP TO SHARON’S IRON HERITAGE SITES AND MUCH, MUCH MORE!

Fall/Winter 2014

calendar of Events

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Sharon, CT 06069

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LAKEVILLE, CT

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