MARGARET KNIGHT

508-627-8894

(margaret02539@yahoo.com)

Winter is a good time for doing some historical research. Many thanks to Bob Gurnitz, Travis Jacobs, Lindsay Allison, Peter Wells and Edo Potter, who all added pieces to the puzzle of where Litchfield Road got its name. Information also came from Hatsy Potter’s Chappy recollections book, from the oral histories of Joanne Patterson and Clarence Barnes Jr.

All agree that the road was named after the Litchfields, who were responsible, at least in part, for building the section of Litchfield Road from the corner at Green Pastures down to the main road at Caleb’s Pond. Before that, road access to town was up to five corners (Blow Your Bugle Corner) to connect with the section of the main road then known as School Road — because of the old school not far from the firehouse. At that time the sandy land was covered with scrub oak and pine, not conducive to auto travel. Boats were a much more common means of travel to town from the Litchfields’ house.

According to Travis Jacobs, whose mother Loretta Beal Jacobs acquired the property from Mrs. Litchfield in 1953, Mrs. Elizabeth R. Litchfield purchased Green Pastures from Mrs. Helen Sedgwick Mead in 1927. Mrs. Mead’s nephew, Stanford White, had designed the house there (now owned by the Healeys) in 1895. Houses were (and still are) often referred to by their former owners’ name, or some nickname. Edo Potter remembers that when she was a child, the Litchfield house and the house next door, which belonged to the Bunkers, were known as the Meads and the Persians, referring to an Old Testament story.

In her oral history, Joanne Patterson (the Bunkers’ daughter) remembered Mrs. Litchfield “was a rather formidable lady, and we were all, including my parents, quite in awe of her.” The Bunkers (also parents of Kappi Getsinger and Suzanne Hopkins) bought their house at Snow’s Point, Whitherwind, in 1929.

In the remembrances of Clarence Barnes Jr., Trip Barnes’s father, who brought his family to Chappy (to the Chasin house) in 1944, he mentions a 1924 Model T Ford woody, bought from Mrs. Litchfield when she was cleaning out her garage. He remembered that Mr. Electus Litchfield was a noted architect in New York, and that he redesigned the present town wharf with the platform on top. Edo remembered that the Litchfields’ son Bud used to visit Chappy by way of plane in and out of the Katama Airport, which he evidently owned.

Travis wrote that the section of Litch-field Road in question was built in the early 1930s. According to Lindsay Allison’s family history, her grandfather, George H. Bunker, built the road with Mr. Litchfield. Her family’s opinion is that the road could just as easily be called Bunker Road. Perhaps the indomitable personality of Mrs. Litchfield won out as far the naming went.

All this research has brought up another history question. I’ve found that many of the Chappy properties were referred to as belonging to the “Mrs.,” even when there was a Mr. around. It seemed more common, in most of the 20th century — especially the first half — for property to be the possession of the husband, but I wonder if things were different on Chappy. Any thoughts on this subject?

I’m sure there is other important Chappy news, but I was away and haven’t heard it. Perhaps Wasque has washed away or there’s some new breach? Earlier in the week my family had a gathering in Sugar Bush, N.H., where the snow is a huge force of nature to be dealt with on a daily basis. There were at least three feet of snow on the ground, and more came while we were there. People were digging out driveways and mailboxes and shoveling snow off roofs. Lots of houses had icicles the height of the house, and thick layers of ice built up at the edges of the roof. It seemed like a full-time job dealing with winter and, by the end of the visit, I felt less regretful that we haven’t even had enough snow to ski on here.

Thanks to our family communicator, Dorothy Knight, we had visits in Sugar Hill with a relative and a friend from the Island. Bill Pinney, our cousin, came for tea. He’s been involved for many years in town government and land conservation there. We also had dinner with Mari Harmon, friend from across the harbor, who stays there with her daughter Jane for a couple of months. For many years our parents, the Joneses and the Phinneys all used to visit the Harmons for ski weekends in Sugar Hill. Bob and Edo Potter housesit there every March. From what was sticking up above the snow, we could see that it’s a beautiful area, with lots of great views of the White Mountains.

The potluck at the community center on Wednesday, Feb. 16 at 6 p.m. will be hosted by Sally Snipes and Peter Wells. All are welcome.

The fat-free film at the Edgartown Library on Tuesday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. is the German film Mostly Martha.