A classically New England home sits on Main Street in Hampton, as it has for nearly two centuries. Jonathan Clark built the house for a young couple, Betsey Avery Brewster and her husband, attorney Joseph Prentis, in 1821-1822. With its simple elegance, the house was suitable for a young woman with Betsey’s impressive family tree. Born in Hampton in 1798, she was a descendent of William Brewster, the minister who came to America on the Mayflower with the Pilgrims. She was the daughter of Hampton’s first doctor, John Brewster, and half-sister of John Brewster, Jr., a deaf itinerant portrait painter whose primitive paintings are highly valued today. The Brewster’s solid social standing and relative affluence meant the couple was well situated for success, their prospects bright. The new house reflected the optimism for their future together.
A small red barn nestles under the trees behind the home, genteel but plainly dressed, like a less well-to-do relation. Unlike the house with its classic ornamentation, the barn is devoid of decorative touches. Also unlike the home with its well-documented history, there is no record of when the barn was built or by whom. There are no reminiscences, no children to share memories of climbing the ladder to play in the hay loft, of mucking stalls, of playing hide-and-seek among the carriages or of riding the horses. The little red barn holds its secrets close.
According to the current owner, Richard Prario, this is an “English barn”, common in agricultural Connecticut, although this one is smaller than usual. Its small size indicates it was not a farming barn, but an “in-town” building for keeping carriages and horses close to the house, another sign of the relative affluence of the young Prentises at the time of construction. Typical of the English style, it has gable ends, is windowless and has centrally located doors on the eave sides of the building to allow easy access for carriages or wagons. The beams are hand-hewn and the siding is vertical, simple choices. An unadorned cupola sits on the roof, serving the practical purpose of providing light and ventilation.
Inside, the barn has three bays, as is typical of English barns. A center aisle runs from one side door to the other. Traces of stalls remain in the bay on the south side, which would have provided relative warmth for the animals in the winter. On the north side of the center aisle a third bay provided additional space for storage and other uses. A hand-made, built-in ladder composed of thick dowels leads to a hay loft.
The simplicity of the barn in comparison to the Prentis’ house may reflect the changing circumstances of the young couple. Two years to the day after the completion of their new home, Joseph and Betsey were in serious financial straits, turning to her brother, Dr. William Brewster, for help. For $1000, Joseph leased all lands and buildings his wife had inherited from her father to William, including the new house. He also borrowed an additional $500, then another $500, then $200 and lastly, an amount to cover money owed to his clients totaling $330.46. A list of personal property Joseph provided as collateral included “1 chaise, 1 one-horse sleigh and 1 ox cart”. The barn probably existed at that point, sheltering the chaise, sleigh and at least one horse.
Sadly, the loans did not solve whatever problems the Prentises had, and their monetary difficulties continued. In October 1825, the court judged Joseph an insolvent debtor. The Prentises left Hampton for a fresh start in Douglas, Massachusetts and Betsey’s brother, Dr. William Brewster, became the new owner of their home and its furnishings. English Thread in American Homespun, a history of the Brewster family, quotes Hampton historian Robert Burgoyne’s description of the property as it was in 1825, including the barn. “Back of the house was a solidly built privy which could accommodate two, and a barn for livestock and their food storage.” Dr. Brewster sold his original home, which was further north on Main Street, to attorney and future Connecticut governor Chauncey Cleveland and moved into the Prentis house with his wife and children.
Misfortune followed the Prentises to Massachusetts. Joseph’s legal practice in Douglas failed to thrive, and he and Betsey returned to Hampton to live in their former home with her brother’s family in 1835. The Brewster/Prentis residence was crowded, with nine adults and one child in residence.
Betsey Prentis died in Hampton on October 16, 1838 at the age of 40. She was predeceased by a one-year-old son who passed away on May 8, 1838. The site of her burial is a mystery. There is no headstone for her with the other Brewsters in Hampton’s South Cemetery, although it’s possible that it may have been lost over the years. There is no trace of her in Douglas, either, although the Prenitis’ daughter, Eliza, married into the Dudley family of Douglas. A branch of that family remains in the town to this day.
Records show that Joseph and their son, John, subsequently moved to Rock County, Wisconsin in 1840. Two years later, John “sold his interest in two parcels of land in Hampton”. At the age of 60, Joseph left Wisconsin for California, writing to his family about his move. The 1850 census in Placerville, County of El Dorado, California includes a Joseph Prentis among those living in a boarding house. His occupation was “miner”, his claim valued at $1000. Shortly after, he disappeared. His family never heard from him again.
The financial humiliation of the Brewster family started with Joseph, but it was not to end with him. By the 1830’s, Hampton was losing population as people moved west to more fertile land or to cities to work in the burgeoning mill industries. With fewer patients, Dr. Brewster’s income suffered. His economic decline was exacerbated by the inability of many of those who remained in town to pay him. He had depleted his savings to rescue Joseph from his debts and now found himself unable to pay his own. By 1839, he realized his only option was to place all his property in the hands of a trustee. The probate court ultimately found him an insolvent debtor, just like his brother-in-law. A public notice, posted at his residence and published in the newspaper, notified anyone interested in the estate to contact the trustee. It must have been a painful and humiliating time for the Brewsters.
The inventory compiled by the trustee lists Brewster’s “home lot and buildings, about 16 acres”, but does not specify the nature of the buildings. It also lists items that might have been stored in a carriage barn close to the house: “1 chaise and harness; 1 gig and harness; 1 sleigh;1 side saddle; 1 side saddle best; 1 bridle; 1 man’s saddle; 1 bridle and martingale; 1 horse”. In addition, there are many farm wagons, carts, sleds, implements and livestock listed, so somewhere on the Brewster property there was at least one more barn for farming purposes.
After settling all his debts, Brewster was able to retain the residential property and some other land holdings. He owned a drug store near the house and supplemented his income selling patent medicines. He appears to have fortified his income sufficiently to avoid further monetary problems.
At about this same time, Dr. Brewster became embroiled in the larger national issue of slavery. In 1896, abolitionist Joel Fox recorded his recollection of an 1840 incident in which Brewster brought a young girl, a runaway slave, to Hampton. He recalls that not long after her arrival she met a man who had come from Florida to visit friends, who recognized her, and who knew she was a runaway. She told the Brewsters, who kept her hidden until the man returned to Florida. Soon after, the son of the girl’s owner, Mr. Price, came to Hampton to claim his mother’s property. He approached attorney Chauncy Cleveland for help. Cleveland, however, abhorred slavery and told him in no uncertain terms “if he would fill his office with gold he would not help him”. Price found someone else to help, the girl was ultimately found and arrested and was brought before Judge Eaton of Plainfield. Cleveland volunteered to represent the girl.
In court, Cleveland contested Price’s right to appear to reclaim the girl on behalf of his mother because Price had no power of attorney to act on her behalf. That night, Price was caught forging one and had to leave Connecticut to escape arrest for fraud. The girl went to live with Rev. S.J. May, Massachusetts abolitionist and friend of William Lloyd Garrison, who had defended Prudence Crandall’s school for “young Ladies and Misses of color.”
When Dr. Brewster began to suffer from health issues, the family left the Hampton home to live in Danielson where Brewster’s son, Francis, also a doctor and druggist, could care for him. They lived in a large frame house with an attached drug store, located near the railroad tracks where a bank now stands.
In 1854, Francis sold the Brewster house to William and Hannah Clark. Since then, it has served as a private residence, an inn and tavern, and a private residence again. Over the years, various owners have altered the barn. The cupola was modified and the doors have been changed. It has a new, quiet life with Rich Prario, dressed on holidays in patriotic bunting or Christmas wreaths, a reminder of Hampton’s history and of how many stories can be found in even the simplest places.
Jean Wierzbinski
Owner Rich Prario will provide more information about the Brewster house accompanied by a tour of the house on Saturday, October 12 from 1-3 pm. The free event begins at the Hampton Community Center.