Wilton Historical Society News

Here are recent items about the Wilton Historical Society and links to articles in newspapers and other online media.

Winner of Lionel Train Set Raffle Announced

Congratulations to Ralph Loglisci of Stamford, winner of the recent Lionel train set raffle as part of the Wilton Historical Society's Great Trains exhibit. Ralph, a constable in Stamford, and his wife, the Stamford town clerk, plan to give the train set to their grandson as a somewhat late holiday present! Pictured from left are, Society trainmen: Don Drummond and Bob Siebert, Mr. Loglisci, and Jeff Headden.

The Civil War comes alive in Wilton

Loud pops sounded from muskets and gun smoke drifted through the air outside The Wilton Historical Society on Saturday as part of a Living Day History Civil War Encampment.

The free event, sponsored by the Historical Society, Wilton Library and 14th Connecticut Infantry Regiment, included a lecture by Wilton High Senior Bryan Caswell, a soldier lunch and camp life, and military drills and a firing demonstration that drew the attention of dozens of spectators.

Re-enactors with the 14th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, wearing wool, Federal Blue uniforms and Brogan boots, fired 1861 Springfield percussion rifles by file, rank and independently at the command of Lt. Paul Martinello of Somers.

Read the full article in the Wilton Villager.

Look here for a Wilton Villager video

Wilton Patch Reports Musket Fire in Wilton

A Wilton teen was responsible for gunshots fired Saturday at the Wilton Historical Society, but thankfully it was all show for history's sake.

The Historical Society hosted Connecticut's 14th Infantry Regiment for a Civil War re-enactment, with events organized in large part by Wilton High School senior Michael Kaelin.

Read the full article in Wilton Patch.

Dan Kinley Speaks to Kiwanis Luncheon About a Civil War Soldier's Life

Dan Kinley, Wilton Historical Trustee, spoke to a recent Kiwanis luncheon about a Civil War soldier's life. Dressed in authentic Union uniform, Dan described the rigors of living and combat during that war. As an active re-enactor for both the American Revolution and the Civil War, Dan is well qualified to to discuss historic military life. He is very active in the Historical Society and is Commander of the Wilton Militia.

For the last ten years he has appeared before all of the 5th Grade classes at Cider Mill, discussing a soldier's life.

For information about the current exhibit, America’s Civil War Retrospective, click here.

Society’s and Library’s scholarly lecture series on the Civil War featured

Wilton Patch

Maybe the Civil War saved the nation from itself.

As the country marks the 150th Anniversary of the start of the Civil War, scholars and citizens question its meaning. One scholar suggests the four year war prevented apartheid, no civil rights, and a uneasy marriage between southern slaveholders and northern industrialists

“We often talk about the Civil War as a tragedy. But I suggest the real tragedy would have been a Civil War that wasn’t fought, or a Civil War that didn’t end the way it did,” Steven Hahn, a Yale trained Ph.D., said during a Sunday lecture at the Wilton Historical Society.

More than 100 people attended the lecture, the second of four in a series about the Civil War. The Wilton Library Association cosponsored the event with the historical society.

Read full article on Wilton Patch Wilton Patch

Young man who helped Wilton Historical Society save 1852 train station, appointed by Obama

The Wilton Bulletin

Donald B. Verrilli Jr., a 1975 graduate of Wilton High School and son of a former first selectman of Wilton, was nominated Monday by President Barack Obama to succeed Elena Kagan as solicitor general of the United States.

Mr. Verrilli, 53, is the son of Donald B. Sr. and Rose Marie Verrilli of Shagbark Place in Wilton. Ms. Verrilli served as first selectman from 1975 to 1981 and prior to that served on the Planning and Zoning Commission....

As a high school student in Wilton in the 1970s and a member of the school ecology club, Mr. Verrilli organized a group of students to help the Wilton Historical Society save the 1852 train station from demolition and move it to Lambert Corners.

Read full article in The Wilton Bulletin

Civil War series highlighted in The Wilton Bulletin

Nobody deliberately starts a long war. When people go to war, one of their premises is that they can win it quickly.

“It’s intrinsic to Just War Theory,” said Eugenia Kiesling, professor of history at the United States Military Academy at West Point. “To be just, a war has to be proclaimed by a sovereign, it has to be in a good cause and it has to be winnable at a reasonable cost, which tends to imply that the war will be short. The longer a war goes on, the greater the suffering on both sides.”

The North and the South went into the Civil War believing it would not last long, she explains, an expectation that will also be the starting point of her lecture at the Wilton Library on Jan. 23.

Read full article in The Wilton Bulletin

Wilton Villager previews Civil War lectures

The Civil War remains a dark and fascinating chapter in this nation's history, and the Wilton Library and the Wilton Historical Society are presenting a scholarly series entitled "America's Civil War -- 150 Years Later" that will explore four aspects of the internal conflict.

Professor Eugenia Kiesling's lecture, "Why Did the Civil War Last So Long?" will begin the four-part series on Jan. 23, from 2 to 3:30 p.m., in the Wilton Library's Brubeck Room.

"The scholarly series is phenomenal, and we've been doing it four years," Leeds said. "The community response has been overwhelming. I sensed there was interest in the community with the historical society and their high-level lectures. People really learn from notable academics. I felt like we should get together and do something."

Read full article in Wilton Villager

The Great Trains exhibit featured in The Wilton Bulletin January 7, 2011

What is it about this time of year that brings out the model trains? We asked Herb Roome, one of six volunteers with the Wilton Historical Society (WHS) who set and break down an elaborate display of all gauges of electric trains for the holidays, something that has snowballed into a tradition that now livens up the society’s historic old house on Danbury Road like clockwork.

There’s the old American tradition of having a train running in a circle around the base of the Christmas tree. But there’s more to the magic than that.

“We have tried to add things that attract little kids beyond just trains running around in circles,” he said. “Lots of little buttons out in front that kids can push that make things happen. Turn the Ferris wheel on and off, turn the carousel on and off. Make lights flash. As far as older ones go — not as old as me but some of the guys, particularly in the Boomer class — had Lionel trains sets, what most of those gentlemen would have had in their early teenage and middle school years.

Read the full article: Wilton Bulletin Trains Article

Video on The Daily Wilton features Society’s Great Trains exhibit

Do you ever wonder what Wilton looked like in the 1940s or '50s? To find your answer go no further than the Wilton Historical Society, where the 13th Annual Great Trains Exhibit is on display and showcases many miniature replicas of the town.

The Wilton replicas and Thomas the Tank Engine are among the more popular sets at the historical society. But Dave Forslund, one of the volunteers that started the Great Trains Exhibit, said each visitor likes different sets.

"The smaller the kid, the bigger the train," Forslund said, "The parents like the O-gauge because it reminds them of when they were kids."

Watch the video http://www.thedailywilton.com/neighbors/train-exhibit-still-rolling-wilton

Fourth grade visit to the Society featured in The Wilton Villager

Nine-year-old Luke Maloney looked pleased with himself as he maneuvered an authentic, colonial carving device to whittle a shapeless piece of wood into an oversized peg. It was his favorite hands-on activity at the Wilton Historical Society Heritage Museum, he said, but he still prefers the 21st century.

"I just wanted to experience this stuff," he said, and from behind his modern-day safety goggles, he explained the role of such handmade pegs in pre-Revolutionary America. "They'd help hold up the roof."

Maloney was one of about 75 fourth grade students from Cider Mill School that visited the cultural haven Thursday. More fourth grade classes visited the museum on Tuesday and Wednesday, chaperoned by parents and teachers as they enriched classroom lessons in colonial life through mini-lectures, demonstrations and activities.

Read the full article http://www.wiltonvillager.com/story/485730

Back In Time to Barter
Article in Wilton Patch by Cathryn J. Prince
May 10, 2010

Forget Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, or even baseball cards. When it comes to trading, rabbit skins and a yoke of oxen rule.

To cap off a year of learning about colonial America, fourth grade students from Cider Mill School learned the intricacies of bartering. The new interactive lesson at the Wilton Historical Society was added as a way to tie the curriculum to the community.

"We provided them with things that actually occurred in Wilton," said Kate Gluckin of the Wilton Historical Society. "The only thing that has changed is the exchange. We've turned into a cash economy. But we still face the same choices – to go into debt." (rest of article)

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