New Canaan Now & Then: Josiah Weed House

652 Weed St.

‘Now & Then’ is sponsored by Brown Harris Stevens Realtors Joanne Santulli, Karen Ceraso, Bettina Hegel and Schuyler Morris.

The Josiah Weed House is a 2 ½ story, side-gabled house that was built in 1745 (town records indicate 1780 construction) with a fieldstone foundation. 

John Bouton I is the earliest owner of the property on record and was a descendant of two notable families from Norwalk. Mr. Bouton’s great grandfather, also named John Bouton, arrived in Boston in 1635. It is unclear when Mr. Bouton passed away, but there is a record that his widow, Alice, married Matthew Marvin in 1647. The Marvins were part of a group known as the Ludlow Agreement Settlers and moved to Norwalk in 1650. Ms. Marvin’s son, John Bouton II was 14 years old at the time his family relocated to Norwalk. By 1655, Mr. Bouton was listed as a property owner in his own right in Norwalk. He married his stepsister, Abigail, and their son, John III was born on Sept. 30, 1659. 

Mr. Bouton III married Sarah Gregory and their son, Nathaniel, was born in 1691. In 1711 John IV was born but it is believed that his mother was Mr. Bouton III’s second wife, Mary [Mercy] Hayes. Mr. Bouton moved from Norwalk to Stamford sometime prior to 1733. 

Mr. Bouton IV married Mary Petit and his half-brother Nathaniel married Hannah Betts. The Boutons were active in establishing a new parish for the families in the area. In 1733, all of the Boutons became charter members of the Canaan Parish Congregational Church. Mr. Nathaniel Bouton’s daughter, Abigail, married Josiah Weed on April 10, 1742. Mr. Weed was a weaver or a joiner by trade. In 1744, Mr. Weed purchased 20 acres in Stamford from John Bouton IV for 160 pounds sterling. The Josiah Weed house was visited by Reverend William Drummond between late December 1772 and January 4, 1773. Reverend Drummon recorded in his journal that the house occupants included Josiah, Abigail, their children Hannah, Josiah, Mary, Jonathan, Sarah, Dorcas and Daniel. Reverend Drummond also mentioned grandchildren Abigail Heusted and Damaris Boutton [Bouton] as residents. 

Mr. Josiah Weed Jr. inherited the house at the time of his father’s death. He married Sarah Seeley in Darien on January 8, 1776. Mr. Weed enlisted in the 9th Company, 9th regiment of the Continental Line. He served six short-term enlistments between his enlistment at the end of the Revolutionary War. Mr. Weed was elected to various public offices which included Fence Viewer in 1804 and 1806, Lister in 1805, Surveyor of Highways in 1808, and Grand Juror in 1811. He died in 1812 and his property was passed to his heirs until the last parcel of land was sold in 1868.

An interesting twist to the history of the Josiah Weed House is that 124 years after Mr. Bouton IV sold the property to Josiah Weed; the property was purchased by another John Bouton. The new John Bouton was the great grandson of John Bouton IV. The Bouton family owned the property until 1903, although their primary residence appears to have been in Brooklyn, New York. It also appears that the Boutons rented the property because the 1870 Census lists David DeForest as being a resident. 

In 1903, the Boutons sold the property to William Haviland. Mr. Haviland was married to Lucretia or Sarah Weed. Mr. Haviland didn’t own the property for very long and sold it 1907 to Mortimer F. Smith. During Mr. Haviland’s short ownership he did make alterations, including altering where the chimney was originally located (through the center with open fireplaces on the ground floor.) Mr. Smith died in 1908 but his widow, Libbie, and her son, Clarence continued to occupy the property until 1946. The attached photo was taken in 1927 by an ancestry, C. Smith. Mr. Smith responded to a request from S.B. Hoyt on behalf of the New Canaan Historical Society requesting information and reported that the great grandfather of Andrew Jones (town clerk in 1907) claimed to have made shoes at the house in 1825. Smith further noted that his father-in-law, Arthur Bliss, attended school there in approximately 1860 and recalled it as a place where mules were stabled while the railroad was being built in 1866-67. Mr. Bliss also mentioned that the house was referred to as “the old black house” and commented that the timbers were all made of oak and were all fastened with wooden pegs. According to Mr. Bliss, the property was also known as “Long View Farm” and consisted of twelve acres at one time. Mr. Clarence Smith died on June 13, 1946 and his wife, Ida Lou Smith, died May 4, 1922 of pneumonia. In April 1921, Mr. Smith donated blood to save the life of his war buddy, Lewis Robtoy, but his efforts were in vain and Mr. Robtoy died of anemia.  

In 1946 the property was sold to Mr. Allen Whitlock and his wife, Grace Cissel Whitlock. Mr. Whitlock graduated from the Pingry School in New Jersey and Princeton University in 1933. He was the president of the New Canaan Princeton Alumni Club. His wife, Grace, was the daughter of John Cissel, former governor of the New York Stock Exchange. Both the Whitlocks were involved in the community, with Ms. Whitlock serving as a board member for the Easter Seals Rehabilitation Center of Southern Fairfield County as well as being involved in the Sewing Group, and the Waveny Care Center. Ms. Whitlock died on June 7, 1984 after a long illness. Mr. Whitlock, a retired advertising and design executive, lived in New Canaan for 30 years before his death in 1988. Mr. Whitlock was involved in many community activities, including the Boy Scouts, St. Mark’s Church, and the Waveny Care Center, and was instrumental in the Town’s acquisition of Waveny Park. The Whitlocks made their home at the Hathaway Commons at the time of both of their deaths. 

The Weed Street home was sold to Peter G. Huidekoper. Peter Galloway Huidekoper was born in Washington DC to Reginald and Bessie Huidekoper on September 22, 1926. He graduated from the Middlesex School but before graduating, he joined the American Field Service and served in India. He attended New York University and in 1961 he became the president of Weed & Duryea, where he worked until his retirement 35 years later. 

Mr. Huidekoper died in May 2015 in Nonquitt, Massachusetts. The Huidekopers sold the home on Weed Street prior to 1958 to Richard W. Baker. Mr. Baker was the Eastern Regional Sales Director for American Airlines (appointed in 1956). The next owner was Ralph W. Jennings, who was an account supervisor for Foote, Cone and Belding Advertising; followed by Mr. Stuart Austin, an executive at ITT and James Phelps Retz who purchased the property on December 20, 1985. Mr. Retz was the senior vice president and national sales director of U.S. Auctions Inc. in 1991. 

Mr. Retz became the senior vice president of marketing and technology for Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty. Mr. Retz sold the property to Richard L.C. Pilsbury, Jr. on September 26, 1994 for $565,000. The Pilsbury family owned the home until 2002 when it was sold to Brian G. Falvey for $1,200,000. Mr. Falvey sold the home to its current owners in 2013. The current owners did an extensive interior renovation in 2014 that has not affected the integrity of this historic home.