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Historical Halloween: How Southington Celebrated

10/27/2021

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Halloween, All Hallows’ Eve or Hallowe’en as it has been referred to throughout American history is celebrated globally on October 31. The holiday developed from the ancient Celtic festival commemorating the changing of seasons from summer to winter, light to dark. On this day the belief was that the veil between the living world and the dead was weak enough for spirits who died throughout the year to cross over and visit the homes of their relatives. Large bonfires would be lit throughout a village for anyone seeking to relight their hearths for winter and to keep away any ill-willed spirits. Costumes and masks were worn as disguises should a devilish spirit seek to haunt you, and most importantly the holiday acted as a day to predict the forthcoming year, be it in health or wealth but especially love. When the Romans conquered the Celtic region between 390 BCE and 43 AD Roman rituals celebrating the dead and the harvest season influenced the traditions that have come to mark the holiday for us today.
In its earliest history, Halloween or Hallowe’en was a celebration first brought to America by Irish immigrants in the 1840s who continued to celebrate amongst themselves, projecting Irish hospitality by sending the “richest products of the farm” for the celebratory feast that marked the end of the harvest season. Young men and their sweethearts would go door to door to houses of friends and relatives participating in fun and feasting. The earliest mentions of such celebrations in Southington found within The Barnes Museum’s collection are found in Alice Bradley Barnes’s (1843-1897) 1871 diary. Alice who grew up in the Barnes Museum and is the mother of Bradley Barnes wrote in her diary on October 31, 1871, that she was “helping Pa clean and trim the lamps and clean the chimneys for the hall tonight as the Irish have a dance there tonight”.

Meriden Daily Republican Oct 30 1883, p.3
Ceremoniously many of the activities of Halloween are traditionally related to couples. Apples and nuts were used to predict the strength of a couple’s relationship. Nuts would be placed on a fire grate to see if the nuts would promptly pop, indicating a good match. Another activity was “lover’s blind man’s buff” in which three plates - one depicting the earth symbolizing sudden or violent death, another with water which could mean emigration or shipwreck, and the third plate having a ring on it to symbolize without a doubt a wedding very soon to come thereafter. Usually, a man’s sweetheart was the one to blindfold him and thus the couple quickly conspired to ensure a peephole for the lad to choose the ringed plate. Another activity enjoyed involved young lads and ladies diving head down into a large tub of water to try to pick up with their mouth from the bottom a shilling, penny, or ten-penny (dime).

Snap-apple was a game in which several two-foot-long crossed sticks were suspended from the ceiling, each with a short lighted candle on one end and an apple on the other end. The sticks would then be spun around, and the prize went to the young person who could grab the apple of the stick with their teeth. The trick to the treat was that occasionally someone accidentally bit the candle end of the stick - ouch. In Southington in the 1800s, a pail of cider containing roasted apples was taken into the orchard and drank to the “good health of the apple trees”. Apple pies would be made tiny and hidden under pillows by ladies attempting to woo their sweethearts on Halloween night.

Children, especially boys and a few girls dressed as boys for the evening would go out and stir trouble. Halloween in Southington in 1889 marked town trash barrels being flipped over, posts pulled out of the grounds, and gates missing or trashed as part of what was called then “the bombardment of North Main Street”. In 1893 some of the Center Street business signs were ripped off and discarded in the center of the street. The way children first celebrated Halloween in these destructive ways is best depicted in the 1944 classic film Meet Me in St. Louis starring Judy Garland. The film is set in the year 1903 and shows the classic holiday being celebrated by young folks of the neighborhood dressed in their worst clothing, dirt on their faces, parading around town carrying out acts that would deem one of them the “most horrible”.

Things escalated though and in 1907 those mischievous children “bombarding” the streets took things a bit too far by smashing front doors to homes on North Main Street. The newspaper the following year reported that Halloween observances were to be quiet in sections of town when things were “overdone”.

The Journal 31 Oct 1908, p.1
By 1890 it was a popular occasion for local societies and residents to host dress balls on Hallowe’en night with local papers reporting the next day on those who attended, what they wore, and the music or entertainment they listened to. People would have their choice of several local Halloween parties thrown at local residences and dance halls. One such ball occurred in Southington in 1891 at St. Thomas Church and was attended by nearly everyone in town. The evening began with each gentleman receiving a slip of paper inviting him to vote for one of the ladies present at the ball to win a solid gold ring. The lady with the most votes won the ring. Many of the ladies were just past the entrance where they attempted to advocate to be the one to win the gentleman’s vote and the symbolic gold ring. As the decade edged to the turn of the century, Halloween celebrations continued to play off of mystical themes that included predicting the future, fortune telling, readings about ancient superstitions, pumpkin carving, and much of the same ghoulish merriment we still celebrate today.

Halloween is a special day for The Barnes Museum as it is the birthday of Leila Holcomb Upson Barnes (1884-1952), wife of Bradley Barnes, and resident of the museum from 1910-1952. As children, Bradley and Leila grew up as schoolmates and neighbors and often Leila would celebrate her birthday with a Halloween party that Bradley would be invited to. Her sixteenth birthday was reported in local papers as being a special occasion for such a reason with many local families invited to celebrate in spooky style with games, music, and a feast. The evening ended with Leila receiving a gold ring, a tradition at the time symbolic of a betrothal in her future. Ten years later she married a young man who had been at her sixteenth birthday party, Mr. Bradley Barnes.

The Journal, October 8 & Nov 1 1900.
Halloween is a special day for The Barnes Museum as it is the birthday of Leila Holcomb Upson Barnes (1884-1952), wife of Bradley Barnes and resident of the museum from 1910-1952. As children, Bradley and Leila grew up as schoolmates and neighbors and often Leila would celebrate her birthday with a Halloween party that Bradley would be invited to. Her sixteenth birthday was reported in local papers as being a special occasion for such a reason with many local families invited to celebrate in spooky style with games, music, and a feast. The evening ended with Leila receiving a gold ring, a tradition at the time symbolic of a betrothal in her future. Ten years later she married a young man who had been at her sixteenth birthday party Mr. Bradley Barnes.
This year on October 30, 2021 we will be commemorating Leila and her birthday once again with Leila’s Birthday Bash, a spook-filled event filled with games, treats, and very few tricks. We hope to welcome children to the museum and museum grounds to honor and celebrate the way Leila did for so many years in her youth. Happy Hallowe’en!!!

Leila Upson Barnes pictured on the grounds of The Barnes Museum circa 1910.

This year on October 30, 2021 we will be commemorating Leila and her birthday once again with Leila’s Birthday Bash, a spook-filled event filled with games, treats, and very few tricks. We hope to welcome children to the museum and museum grounds to honor and celebrate the way Leila did for so many years in her youth. Happy Hallowe’en!!!

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Prehistoric Artifacts from Connecticut

9/21/2021

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An Unexpected Discovery...

In June of 2021, over 70 Native American projectile points were discovered in the attic at the Barnes Museum. This was surprising because as far as we know, there are no Native American ties to the Barnes family of Southington, CT. The paperwork that accompanied the projectile points analyzed them in the 1930s. Since archaeological classifications have changed over the years, it was now our job to tell the story of these artifacts. The paperwork also mentioned that some of the points may have been found as close as Southington and as far away as Florida. For the purpose of this post, we are going to concentrate on the artifacts found in Connecticut.

Archaeology in Connecticut

While Connecticut is known for its colonial history, it is also rich with Native American prehistory dating as far back as the Paleo-Indian Period in 12,000 BC. Prehistoric rock shelters can still be seen today along many public hiking trails in Connecticut. Rock shelters are mostly located in higher elevations and close to a fresh water source. During the warmer months, Connecticut was actually ideal for hunters and gatherers. With its forests and proximity to rivers for fishing and trading, it was a perfect area for prehistoric Native Americans to settle for a season. Hunters and gatherers were most prevalent in Connecticut during the Archaic period which stared in 5000 BC. The Archaic period is also where we found that most of the artifacts were from.

Late Archaic Period

Brewerton Notched Projectile Points

The oldest artifacts were found in the Late Archaic Period which spans from 5000 BC to 3000 BC. The Native Americans in the Late Archaic time period attained their sustenance through foraging nuts, fruits, wild plants, and hunting small mammals such as deer, and fishing. They would process their food by baking, roasting, and drying. They lived in seasonal base camps with smaller temporary campsites along the Connecticut and Farmington river. They had two separate populations; Laurentian and Narrow Point.

The Laurentian people settled into camps near the rivers and lakes. Their main residence was a base camp with a man made pole structure, seasonal rockshelters, and temporary open air camps.The projectile points found in this time period were Brewerton Notched Points.They are points commonly found in New England, New York, and the Ohio Valley.

Brewerton Notched Points are identified by the notches on their stems. They have a slightly concave base and an expanded stem. They were mainly used as spear points when hunting large mammals. Some of the projectile points were also used as knives. They are made mostly of quartz and chert.

Lamoka Projectile Points

The Narrow Point people settled in micro-environments such as open air camps, quarries, highlands, shell middens, rock shelters.Their lithics include lamoka and squibnocket points made of local quartz and quartzite.

Lamoka points are small points with an expanding stem and straight base. Like the Laurentien Points, Lamoka points are found in New England and the Ohio valley. They were used as dart points attached to a spear or an atlatl.

Squibnocket Projectile Points

Squibnocket points can either be stemmed or triangular. The stemmed point is really thin with a long stem and excurvate base. The squibnocket triangle point can either be equilateral or isosceles. The base is concave. Both points were used as dark points to attach to a spear.

Terminal Archaic Period

Snook Kill Projectile Points from the Susquehanna Broadspear Tradition

The Terminal Archaic period spans from 3000 bc to 1000 bc. It evolved from the Late Archaic period. During this time, Native Americans started to expand trading along the rivers and coasts in Connecticut to obtain exotic materials from distant regions. The two traditions were the Narrow Point Tradition and Susquehanna/Broad Spear Tradition. Although they lived in the same time period, archaeologists have debated whether their traditions were truly separate like the Late Archaic period.

The Narrow Point people evolved from the descendants of the Late Archaic period. They lived in similar dwellings and areas as their predecessors. In their camps, residents were broken up and lived together according to labor. They still used squibnocket and lamoka points as spear points connected to an atlatl.

The Susquehanna/Broad Spear tradition evolved from the Laurentian tradition. They settled near rivers and lakes. Rivers made trading easier. They were known for their snook kill and orient points. These points were used as knives, scrapers, and spears.

Late Woodland Period

We also found a few projectile points that dated back to the Late Woodland period which spans from 1000 bc to 1500 ad. During this time, the Woodland people were living in more permanent year-round settlements where they grew crops and hunted local, small mammals. They lived near marshlands and estuaries. They established trade networks with European settlers which spanned throughout most of North America.
The main crops that they grew were corn, beans, and squash which were known as the “three sisters” crops. They would cook their food in clay vessels.

Levanna Projectile Points

This is also when projectile points were used as arrowheads to hunt their food. The Levanna point was one of the first true arrowheads that was attached to a bow and arrow. These points have a mostly straight edge with a concave base.

Native American Cookware

Prior to ceramic technology, natural materials like soapstone were used for cooking. A fragment of a soapstone bowl was found within the collection of projectile points. Although there is an ancient Native American soapstone quarry in Barkhamsted, CT, we are unsure of where this bowl was produced. In Connecticut, soapstone was a readily available material. It is an ideal vessel at the time because it was heat resistant and waterproof. It could be used to cook over an open flame. Since soapstone is a soft rock, it was easier to carve and shape. However, it was still a very time consuming process.

Soapstone Bowl Fragment

Niantic Stamped Pottery Sherd

Soapstone was quickly phased out upon the advent of ceramic technology. A small pottery sherd was also found within the assemblage. The Niantic Tradition pottery existed in the Woodland period around 750 to 400 bc. This style of pottery was prevalent in Connecticut. The pottery sherd is made of clay and may have been fabric stamped by a woven mat. The raw clay was ground into a powder and mixed with water to create the material needed to make the pot. After the stamp is applied to the vessel, the pot is put into the fire to finish it. The pattern is not just for aesthetics. It helped the pot evenly distribute heat while cooking as well as make the vessel slip resistant. The vessels were made by women either locally or they were traded for.

Sometimes you can find the most unexpected discovery in your own backyard or in this case, an attic at a historical home museum. These artifacts have giving us a snapshot into Connecticut's prehistory that goes beyond the written record. We were lucky enough to be able to use updated archaeological methods have helped us determine where exactly these artifacts fit into the history of Connecticut.

About Nadia Dillon: Nadia recently received her second Bachelors degree at Central Connecticut State University in May 2021. She majored in Anthropology and minored in Archaeology. Her area of interest while attending CCSU was Native American prehistory.

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Historical Halloween: How Southington Celebrated

Prehistoric Artifacts from Connecticut

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The Barnes Museum
85 North Main Street
Southington, CT 06489
(860) 628-5426

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Historical Halloween: How Southington Celebrated

Prehistoric Artifacts from Connecticut

Visit Us

The Barnes Museum 85 North Main Street Southington, CT 06489 ​(860) 628-5426

Location

Follow Us!

The Barnes Museum
85 North Main Street
Southington, CT 06489
(860) 628-5426