A friend at the Connecticut State Library sent me a treasure for which I shall forever be grateful and in his debt. My friend sent me a copy of a 1797 court case mentioning a man some friends and I have been researching for years! The man was Cato Meed. He enlisted in the Revolutionary War from Norwich, later lived in New York and then Iowa.

Montrose, Iowa was always very proud to have a revolutionary soldier buried in its cemetery and shocked to learn just a few years ago that Cato was on the U.S. Census rolls as a black man and is now officially the first black revolutionary war soldier known to be buried west of the Mississippi River. Now we know about others but Cato was the first. Anyway, I am so excited it is tough to focus.

How many family researchers go beyond looking in the local newspapers for birth and death notices? Once in a while coming up with the notice of an anniversary or special party or gathering. What about the church records? Some churches on their anniversaries will create a book of their members from the 1st to the present. But where do the church records eventually wind up? Birth, baptism, bar mitzvah, wedding and death what do you celebrate? What makes up the points of your life?

What about the court records? For a while they were a very popular find at yard sales. Now the logs of the court records are found in boxes in libraries, museums, storage areas, attics, basements, barns and garages. A few such as the ones at our own Leffingwell House Museum in Norwich, CT are on occasional display but mostly they sit on a shelf with no one taking inventory of their pages, the names of the individuals involved or the subjects they cover. Over the years the pages have become drier and more delicate but the ink is still as dark and vibrant as ever. With the latest technology or a camera phone held steady on a frame I can only hope someone is now photographing the pages and placing them in any of the free research spaces available to the public. It would be a crime if they were to attempt to charge for the public information but a well placed note of appreciation for a donation would likely draw a fine response.

When you are researching your family think first of yourself and the highlights, both good and bad and then continue to search in what you know to be the unlikeliest of places. You may find a surprising treasure there!

Thank you for reading and sharing my history and Norwich Community blog freely with your family or friends or anyone you think might be interested or in a position to take on some of the suggested projects. Don’t hesitate to contact me for further information. I am happy to pass along anything I can. Together we can make a difference. Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs.

Let’s just face the facts. If you were born in Norwich, CT you have to leave Norwich, CT to reach your full potential and to become appreciated. Take for example Simon Perkins. Simon Perkins was born September 17, 1771 to Captain Simon Perkins, who died in 1778 while in the Continental Army and Olive Douglas, a descendant of William Douglas, one New London, CT’s founders.

Perkins spent his youth learning the trade of surveying and at age 24 he ventured to Oswego, New York to survey and sell land for three years. From late 1797 through 1831 he was the land agent for the Erie Land Company in Ohio, a subsidiary of the Connecticut Land Company owned and organized by none other than General Moses Cleveland of Canterbury, Connecticut. Perkins established the company headquarters in Warren, Ohio that was then a portion of the Western Reserve of Connecticut.

From 1801- 1829 he also served as the first postmaster in the Connecticut Western Reserve. With urging from the United States Postmaster General, Perkins, established a mail route to Detroit in 1807 by negotiating a treaty with the Native North American tribes.

On March 4, 1804 Perkins married Nancy Ann Bishop and they subsequently had nine children who later also figured prominently in Ohio history.

In 1808, Perkins became a Brigadier General in the Ohio militia and in 1812 commanded 400 men in the defense of the northwestern area of Ohio from British and Native American attacks after the surrender of Detroit in the fall of 1812 by General Hull. All while serving also as an auditor of Trumbull County Ohio from 1810-1812.

With 64 stockholders and a capital of about $100,000 Perkins established the Western Reserve Bank of Warren, Ohio in the fall of 1813. Building upon that success he also assisted in the founding of banks in Painesville and Norwalk; the Brier Hill Iron & Coal Company (later the Brier Hill Steel Company) in Youngstown, Ohio; becoming a trustee of the Warren Academy, an agent for Aetna Life Insurance Company, stockholder and President of the Trumbull and Ashtabula Turnpike Company, and State of Ohio Canal Commissioner from 1826 – 1838. This was during the main planning of the Ohio and Erie Canal. Perkins invested in land near Summit Lake, now south Akron. He generously donated some of his land to the state for a canal right-of-way. To further assist with the founding of the City of Akron he and Paul Williams, also of Connecticut, donated 100 lots of land according to the December 6, 1825 record at the Portage County seat of Ravenna, Ohio.

1815 records show Perkins was one of the largest land owners in the state of Ohio and paid one-eleventh of the total state real estate taxes from Portage County, Ohio . Some of the holdings are now in Cuyahoga Falls and western Akron, Ohio. On March 25, 1815 he purchased 1,298 acres at $2.08 an acre from Samuel Parkman. The acreage is now most of downtown Akron.

General Simon Perkins died November 6, 1844 in Warren, Ohio and Mrs Perkins on April 24, 1862. Original oil portraits of General and Mrs Simon Perkins are on display at the Perkins Stone Mansion an Akron, Ohio house museum preserved in honor of the General and Mrs Perkins eldest son, Colonel Simon Perkins who managed his fathers holdings and investments as well as his own which included a large sheep and spinning operation for a time managed by abolitionist John Brown.

Thank you for reading and sharing my history and Norwich Community blog freely with your family or friends or anyone you think might be interested or in a position to take on some of the suggested projects. Don’t hesitate to contact me for further information. I am happy to pass along anything I can. Together we can make a difference. Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs.

Most people in Norwich are familiar with the surname Backus because of the William W. Backus Hospital that plays such a huge part in the Norwich, CT community and surrounding area. But were there others named Backus? Who were they? What did they do and where did they do it?

If anyone wanders through the Yantic Cemetery they’ll come across the grave of Henry Titus Backus born April 4, 1809 died July 13, 1877. From that information you’d imagine that he spent his whole life here but you’d be wrong.

Backus was born and educated in Norwich even worked as a store clerk in Norwich as a young man but he began attending classes at Yale and later began studying law under Calvin Goddard and eventually being admitted to the Connecticut bar in 1833 before moving to the Western Territory and Michigan.

In Michigan he lived in the house of his cousin, law partner and future father-in-law William Woodbridge.

Backus married Juliana Trumball on December 7, 1835. Later he bacame a senior partner in the law firm Backus and Harbough.

Firmly established in society Backus was easily elected to the Michigan House of Representatives as a member of the Whig Party in 1840 and was a member of the state constitutional convention of 1850 followed by becoming an Alderman from the 9th ward of Detroit from 1860-1861. It was a short term because Backus was also elected to the Michigan State Senate as a Republican and was chosen to act as President Pro Tempore when J. R. Williams became Lieutenant Governor of Michigan. When Williams died in June 1861 Backus rose to become the 15th Lieutenant Governor until January 1863.

Backus built a reputation for his legal knowledge, fairness and negotiation abilities to the extent that when William T Howell resigned from the Arizona bench, U.S. Senator Jacob M. Howard recommended Backus as the replacement. The new Associate Justice of the Territory of Arizona received his commission on March 11, 1865 and was present for the opening of the territories first Supreme Court session on December 26, 1865 so he could leave for his posting in Tucson on January 2, 1866.

He enjoyed his posting and exploring the area, territory and even Mexico but did not request reappointment when his term expired in March 1869. The throat condition that hadn’t troubled him in Arizona returned when he returned to the colder climate of Detroit. In 1875 Backus requested an appointment in Arizona or New Mexico but none were available. By March 1877 he was making his home with his friend Charles Hayden of Tempe, Arizona. While the two were traveling through Mohave County, Backus became ill in Greenwood, Arizona and died on July 13, 1877 and was buried there and then later moved to Norwich, CT.

Thank you for reading and sharing my history and Norwich Community blog freely with your family or friends or anyone you think might be interested or in a position to take on some of the suggested projects. Don’t hesitate to contact me for further information. I am happy to pass along anything I can. Together we can make a difference. Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs.

“You’re from Norwich, CT?” “Yes.” “Do they ever have exhibits of “finger billiards?” “I’m sorry but I honestly have no idea what you are talking about.” And so began the most interesting history conversation I have ever had while watching a game of pool.

The gentleman speaking to me is a billiards historian. He told me he was once a professional player but age shakes put an end to it being lucrative so now he just watches and does a little teaching on the side of the younger players when they let him.

“So why did you ask about “Finger Billards” in Norwich? Thats when he told me this mostly unverified story of “Yank Adams.” Yank’s real name was Frank B. Adams. He was born in Norwich, CT December 19, 1847 and died sometime in 1923. He began being called “Yank” while serving in the Eighteenth Connecticut Volunteers during the Civil War. He was a large boy of 16 when he enlisted and an even larger man when he was discharged three years later. During those three years he also learned how to bowl and would show-off bowling tricks such as the “cocked hat”, “back frame”, “head pin stand” and the “Skew ball.”

From 1872-1875 he found work as a carpenter and then as a traveling salesman for the American Sterling Silver Company. One day, when he was twenty-five while working for the Derby Silver Company of New York he was waiting to meet with his customers in a Poughkeepsee hotel and he wandered into a billiard room. He took six balls over to one of the tables and began practicing his “bowling” shots. He soon had the attention of every person in the room because of the way and the speed that he moved the ball. Men asked for the privilege of placing the balls as a test whether Adams could make the shot. Thats when Adams learned about Professional Carom Billiards.

Carom Billiards is when a player manipulates the billiard balls with his hands instead of a cue stick. The manipulation is usually spinning the ball between the thumb and middle finger.

In the next town he hired a table to practice and while he continued to sell silver for the next three months he practiced and added new tricks and shots until he had a regular exhibition repertoire.

When he returned to New York a meeting was arranged for him to meet Maurice Daly, the “Dean of Billiards.” Daly challenged Adams to make the shots he claimed with a set of four balls. Adams made twelve shots as Daly became more and more interested and asked for Adams to repeat certain shots before offering him the opportunity to exhibit in his Billiards Room.

It wasn’t long before he gave up his job with the silver company and began earning $115 a week at Miner’s Bowery Theater. After a while he went on tour, for example in Chicago he earned $500 a week for a three week engagement. Then he returned to New York for a year and then went on another tour of the United States and Europe. Even in tiny venues Adams drew standing room only crowds.

Adams performed for the Vanderbilts, three U.S. Presidents, the Prince of Wales and the Comte de Paris. But he also developed other interests and was the editor and publisher of the Chicago Sporting Journal, general manager of New York Sporting and Theatrical Journal, and was an intermediary for boxing challenge matches often holding the stakes and distributing the winnings.

Partial to Chicago, Adams owned the White Elephant, the Academy Billiard Hall and Union Square. His business card read, “Yank Adams, Champion Finger Billiardist of the World. Residence Immaterial.”

His biggest match was in 1878 in Manhattan’s Gilmore Garden against the reigning cue champion William Saxton. Using only his fingers Adams won the three day competition of straight rail against Saxton using a traditional cue.

According to Bullocks Billiard Guide, Adams earned more than $70,000 for exhibitions alone over seven years. It is claimed that is more than the combined earnings of all the other listed billiardists of the time including Jacob Schaefer, George Slosson and Eugene Carter.

In 1889 Adams broke the world record for successive straight rail points with a score of 4,962 counts in a row. In 1890 Adams earned 1,000 francs or about $200 a week for 13 weeks exhibiting in Paris.

When Adams was 76 years old he was still exhibiting and running a billiard academy in New York. Tom Foley is quoted as saying he thought, “Yank had cashed in. But he’s like all those billiard players. They never die.”

Thank you for reading and sharing my history and Norwich Community blog freely with your family or friends or anyone you think might be interested or in a position to take on some of the suggested projects. Don’t hesitate to contact me for further information. I am happy to pass along anything I can. Together we can make a difference. Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs.