The Hebron Historical Society

Governor M. Jodi Rell declared Sunday, May 22, 2005 as “Foote Family Day” in honor of the dedication and contributions of Edward Alfred and Marion Walker (Odell) Foote to open space and farmland preservation in Connecticut. Over 90 people gathered in Hebron’s Old Town Hall on that day to celebrate the lives of this well-known and highly respected couple.

There is tremendous history behind Governor Rell’s proclamation, and it is a story worth passing along to future generations.

The union of the strong, but shy, Edward Foote of Hebron, Connecticut and Marion Odell, a spirited, highly intelligent young woman from Rye, New York was by design. In 1941, the Reverend George Milne had just taken the position of minister for the co-joined Gilead and Hebron Congregational churches, and moved to Hebron with his bride, Janet Odell Milne, to begin his service to the community. The Foote family had been members of the Gilead church for generations, and almost immediately Janet was drawn to Ed, son of Robert and Annie Hutchinson Foote. “This man would be a perfect soul mate for my sister Marion,” she told her husband.

The Milnes soon invited Marion to come to Hebron for a visit. Included in the agenda was… of course… an introduction to Ed Foote! Ed was immediately attracted to Marion, and intrigued by her world views. This was a woman who had been Salutatorian of her class at Rye High School, a Sunday School teacher to Barbara Pierce Bush, had traveled to Europe as part of the Christian Youth Conference in the tense years of 1938 and 1939 (and had crossed the Atlantic on the Queen Mary’s final crossing before being converted to a troop ship), and was a stellar athlete with a particular fondness for hiking and the outdoors. There was no question of Marion’s ability to adapt to small-town living; she was capable of redirecting her enormous energy wherever she was.

On March 27, 1943, Ed and Marion were married at the Rye Presbyterian Church. It was a happy event; Janet served as her sister’s matron of honor, and Robert Foote served as his brother’s best man. The couple drove off to their honeymoon in a 1941 Pontiac convertible, the last made before the war effort ended automobile manufacturing.

The couple moved into the Foote family home on Gilead Street, sharing it with Marion’s new in-laws. Within six years, five children were born in rapid succession: Mary Ann (1945); John (1946); Debby (1947); Betsy (1950); and Eddie (1951).

From the time of her marriage, Marion submerged herself into the rural life and the Hebron community. She daily toiled on the farm with Ed, and often served as the “top weight” on the hay trucks so that the hay wouldn’t blow away as the truck made its way from the fields to the barns. She also joined the Gilead Church and the Hebron Grange, and was such an active participant that soon longtime residents forgot that she was a “foreigner” to Hebron.

The family was tight-knit. They would need this strength on February 22, 1951, when their daughter Debby was killed in a tragic farm accident. Ed, who tried to save Debby, was particularly devastated by her loss. Yet Ed and Marion never lost their faith, and their commitment to farming and the land that had been the core foundation of the Foote family for centuries became more cemented.

As the children quickly learned, living on a farm was hard work.    From the time of his youth, Ed had always enjoyed the calves, and would teach them to drink from a bucket since they were separated from their mothers at birth.  To do this, Ed would place his hand in the bucket with the milk and let them suck on his fingers. As a father, he passed his knowledge on to his own children. Starting at about the age of 5, Mary Ann, John, Betsy and Eddie were given the task of feeding the calves, with Ed’s advice guiding them all the way.

Footehills Farm, like most Hebron farms, was a dairy farm. To have well-fed cows, families had to produce food for the livestock as well as for the family. Most farmers grew corn; but the stony soil at Footehills Farm made regular tillage a challenge. As a result, Ed decided to concentrate on grass silage and hay. The four children were responsible for stacking the bales on the trucks (with Marion in the driver’s seat!) and then moving the hay bales from one end of the haymow to the other for stacking. As the children grew taller and stronger, their responsibilities grew to throwing the hay on the truck, and stacking it higher and higher in the barn. 

Picnics became a daily event for the Foote family, and were used as a reward for the children when their chores were done. Even though her family was her first priority, Marion became even more involved in the Hebron community, ultimately serving on the Hebron Board of Education and Treasurer of the Town of Hebron. In 1974, Marion was selected as the Connecticut Mother-of-the-Year.

All the while, Ed, a graduate of the University of Connecticut with a degree in mechanical engineering, was planning the use of Footehills Farms. He raised a herd of registered Holstein cows, and won awards for Green Pastures. Ed also published in various trade magazines with innovative techniques in many areas of farming. Always cognizant of the importance of balance between wildlife, water and watershed, Ed was constantly designing unique ponds that met those balance requirements. He also used the uncovered stone to accentuate the ponds, and even built stonewalls to create a sense of artistic balance.

In the 1960’s, Ed began corresponding with the State of Connecticut, expressing his concern about the loss of farmlands to housing development. However, preservation on the part of the state was too slow to happen, in Ed’s opinion. He and Marion decided to take action, buying adjoining farms as these operations decided to go out of the dairy business. Over the years Footehills Farms went from an original 150 acres to 850 acres. When Connecticut finally decided to get involved in preserving farmlands, Ed and Marion sold the development rights to over 300 acres of their prime land to the state. This includes the pastoral views seen as one travels on Hebron Avenue. Future generations will not see house after house, or strip malls, in this vista: they will see only Footehills Farms, and the well-laid plans of Edward and Marion Foote.

Marion died at the age of 88 on September 18, 2002, and Ed followed her shortly thereafter, passing away on February 14, 2003 at the age of 86. They led their lives well, and Hebron is the true benefactor.

Hebron residents have grown accustomed to seeing the shiny Cadillac drive through town bearing its well-dressed occupants, Grace Rathbun Grubert and her longtime companion, Milton Porter, on their way to another social event. Yet not everyone knows Grace’s story. It’s the intriguing tale of a spirited woman who left Hebron in 1933 for the city life of West Hartford, New York and Baltimore, only to return to her roots 60 years later.

It is not known exactly how long the Rathbone family has been in Hebron. Isaac Pinney’s famous 1744 map does not mention any Rathbones. The first mention of the family comes from John Sibun’s Our Town Heritage; he states that Rufus Rathbone was living in Hebron by the time of the Civil War. But there is no doubt that by 1900, the Rathbone family was well-known in town. According to Grace, the family name was changed to “Rathbun” by her grandmother, Jane Austin, who had married Isaiah Rathbone. The strong-willed Jane convinced her husband to formally change the family name to “Rathbun.” Other Rathbones, like Probate Judge Leon Rathbone, decided not to follow suit.

Grace was born in 1916 to Frederick Austin Rathbun and Sarah Julia Gray, the sister of Harold Gray. (Harold was Lloyd Gray’s father, making Grace and Lloyd first cousins.) Fred, who had graduated from Yale with a degree in Education, eventually left his job as Headmaster at Wilbraham Academy in Massachusetts. He returned to Hebron and became a “gentleman” farmer, buying a dairy farm on Marjorie Circle. Fred also served as Hebron’s postmaster from 1907 until 1910. The Rathbuns employed several well-known Hebronians on their farm, including Ernest Nye and Sherwood Griffin.

Grace’s skills in fashion design were noted early in her life, which may have been inherited from her three aunts. Her mother taught her to sew at the age of 10; by 12, Grace had joined the Hebron Girls 4-H Sewing Club. Tolland County had a contest for designing and sewing clothes, and Grace entered her first competition. She worked tirelessly on the summer dress that ultimately won first place in Tolland County, and second in the state competition. The following year, she entered the contest again, this time creating an elegant fall dress with a ¾ length long-sleeved jacket. Easily sailing past the other designs, Grace’s dress and jacket went on to the state competition held at the Durham Fair. After modeling her creation, not only did Grace win first place, she also won a trip to the national 4-H competition in Chicago!

By now, Grace was only 15 years old, and a trip from Hebron all the way to Chicago had the town abuzz. Obviously, she made the trip with a chaperone, Estelle Grover from Storrs. Once in Chicago, the 48 state winners – Alaska and Hawaii weren’t states then – met daily with fashion designers. Finally the big day came, but with a new feature: the judges would also vote on the girls’ homemade lingerie! Grace’s slip and underwear had been carefully hand sewn with crepe de shine and lots of lace. When asked, “And when did they judge these garments?” her answer is quick and witty: “Well, not on me!”

The small town Connecticut girl walked away with the First Runner Up prize – second in the entire nation. Winning such a prestigious award only accelerated Grace’s desire to enter the fashion world. She would soon have help.

Upon returning from Chicago, Grace’s aunt, Mary McDonald, an executive at G. Fox in Hartford, offered a sales job to her young niece. Obviously, the daily trip from Hebron to Hartford was untenable, so Grace moved in with Aunt Mary at her West Hartford home, and commuted with her daily to work. Grace loved her job so much that, after intense discussions with her parents, decided to complete her senior year at Hall High School in West Hartford – and continue to work nights and weekends at G. Fox.

Upon finishing high school, Grace went straight to New York with her friend, Anne Burr. [Anne ultimately became a Broadway phenomenon and a pioneer in the soap opera As The World Turns.] The two girls stayed at the Barbizon Hotel for Women; Grace soon signed up with the Harry Conover Modeling Agency. Every day, she would show up for work at 8:30 a.m. and wait for an assignment. It wasn’t a long wait. Primarily a photographic model, Grace was in high demand. She would get her assignment, grab a cab, be photographed, and then return to Conover for her next assignment. “It was hard work,” she says. But at the time, many Connecticut residents were earning only $18 per week; some weeks, Grace earned $1200.

With her earnings, she went to the University of Connecticut for two years, and then took a job with Connecticut General Insurance in Hartford. She again lived in West Hartford with Aunt Mary, who by now, secretly married, was pregnant. “In those days, a pregnant married woman was automatically fired. But Mary was tall, and was able to cover up the pregnancy. My mother raised her child, Elaine, until age 6, and Mary was able to keep her job at Fox’s.”

One day, walking out of the Mark Twain Library, Grace ran into William Grubert, a young man she had previously met at a Wethersfield Country Club dance. He insisted they go to the movies and dinner; they dated steadily for the next year and married in August 1942.

Bill, who had Masters Degrees from both MIT and Harvard, was an up and coming insurance executive at FIA (Factory Insurance Association) in Hartford. He was transferred to New York, but soon entered the Army Air Corps. Whenever Officer Grubert was sent on assignment to Baltimore, Grace temporarily went to work at the well-known department store, Hoschild-Kohn’s. After the war, Bill took a job with Royal Globe Insurance, and Grace opened up her own specialty shop, called “Grayce Fashions.”

The couple lived near the intersections of West 16th Street and 7th Avenue, close to Bill’s office and Grace’s shop. However, after being robbed at knife point three times in one year, Bill insisted his wife close the store, even though she had successfully operated the business for nine years. She did, and took a job as Showroom Manager for Rees and Orr Associates, a position she held for 30 years. Grace’s most memorable event during that time was her first trip to California. She and Bill started out in San Francisco, but over the course of three weeks saw most of the state. “Why can’t you get transferred here?” she teased him. Bill passed away in 1979; Grace continued to live in the penthouse, even after her retirement.

In 1991, Grace returned to Hebron to take care of her cousin, Lloyd Gray, following his knee replacement surgery. The following year, Lloyd and Milton convinced her to return to Hebron. In September 1992, Grace made the final move back to her roots.

“There are lots of things I miss about New York. But I’m content here.”

Hebron. No matter how far life takes us, there’s no place like home.

A Man Of All Times: Memories of Edward Ashley Smith

Donna J. McCalla, President, Hebron Historical Society

“Hebron” can only be defined through the people and events that have shaped our destiny over the last 300 years.

No definition is complete without including Edward Ashley Smith, although where to begin his story is difficult. Smith was a church deacon and community leader, the town’s Tax Collector for nine years, the town’s Tax Assessor for 18 years, a member of the Hebron Board of Education from 1919 until 1941, a State Legislator for two terms, and a man who always put family and God first. He was devoted to the preservation of the Burrows Hill Schoolhouse, the oldest one-room schoolhouse still in existence in Hebron today. Edward was a poet who always kept a small notepad in his farmer’s pocket, ready to capture his thoughts in iambic pentameter even while plowing his fields or milking his cows. In sheer volume, no Hebron poet can match E.A. Smith’s record, and his family still has his original poetry, written on any scrap of paper he could find to capture his thoughts.

A book could easily be written about E. A. Smith’s life. Born in 1887, Edward was the son of Edwin and Ella Smith; his grandmother was Elizabeth Coates, who documented Hebron’s Great Fire of 1882. Edward was always a serious child. In 1900, at age12, Edward began keeping a daily journal of his day’s activities. Each day begins with a description of the weather, something very important to farmers in the 1900’s, and includes the day’s farming activities.

On May 16, 1900, Edward wrote: “The girls went to school. My eyes are bad again. Edna and I went to Turnerville with the butter.” The Turnerville Depot had become a major source of transportation for Hebron farm produce by 1900; Smith’s diary confirms this. However, something had gone wrong with young Edward’s eyes; by 1902, he could no longer attend school because of the eye problem. On October 2 of that year, he wrote his mother, who was visiting relatives in Springfield, Massachusetts: “[Papa and I] just got through milking, and I have got washed and my hair combed. It is about 8:00… When do you think that I can begin studying again? It doesn’t seem to me as if it could very soon.” Fortunately, by 1905 Edward’s eye problem had been resolved, and he was ecstatic to be able to attend the “Select School” at the Hebron Town Hall.

Edward and his younger sister, Florence (who ultimately became a highly recognized educator; the Florence E. Smith School of Science, Math and Technology in West Hartford is named after her) attended Bacon Academy in Colchester. Ed and Florence were lucky; in good weather, they could hitch up the team of horses and drive the family wagon to Colchester because they lived in the south side of Hebron. In bad weather, they, like Annie Hutchinson from the Gilead side of town, would board with a Colchester family. Nothing came before school in the Smith family.

Edward developed a passion for poetry and clocks, and in 1918 married Annie Belle Palmer. Lucius Robinson (Don Robinson’s father) was their best man; sister Florence was Maid of Honor. The Smiths had three children, Bradford, Edwin and Marie. Ultimately, Marie married Albert Barnes Billard, and their son, Roger, went to live with Edward and Annie at the age of 16. Because chores started at 5:00 in the morning, and Roger was helping his grandfather, it was just easier for him to live with his grandparents.

Roger has many fond memories of Edward, including the Sunday morning cow milking. “After that, we would go to church, followed by the Men’s Fellowship Breakfast. Then we’d come home, and milk the cows again. Cows had to be milked twice a day.”

“I remember driving the tractor while Granddad sprayed the apple trees. We picked the apples in the fall and sold apples and cider at the homestead. We also sold the apples wholesale in Willimantic and Manchester. We’d pick up the dropped apples and drive to Enfield to sell them at the cider mill. But Granddad’s real love was his egg business. In the 40’s and 50’s, he’d take the back seat out of his big old Buick and fill it to the brim with eggs. Then he’d drive to Hartford and deliver his eggs to his regular customers, picking up their orders for the following week.” Eventually, the chicken and egg business was not profitable, and Edward decided to sell out. “Nonetheless, Granddad was a ‘people person’ and he didn’t want to let his Hartford customers down, so after he sold the chicken business, he’d drive to the egg auction in Willimantic, near where the Wal-Mart is today, and buy eggs wholesale. Then he’d drive to Hartford and sell these eggs to his customers,” says Roger.

Daughter Marie remembers her dad’s special “clock room,” located in the basement of the stately pillared home on Burrows Hill Road. “Dad blocked off one end of that main basement with apple crates, and then began to build a room. My mother never knew; she thought it was still filled with apples! But Dad was bringing in all kinds of things, a sofa from Hartford, dishes, linens, a table… he wanted a room to call his own, a room for his clocks and a room for his Men’s Fellowship Meetings.”

Longtime Amston resident Charles Wallace came to know Edward through the Congregational Church’s annual auctions. Ed’s theme was, “From my attic to your attic!” One year, Chuck was chairman of the annual auction, and someone donated a water heater. “It took several of us and a pickup truck to go get the water heater. Afterwards, Ed asked us over to his ‘office.’ It was considered an honor to be invited to Ed’s.” Once the men got to the Smith home, they went down to the basement office. Ed told the group, “Can I get you some refreshment? I have soda, I have cider, and I have cider that is a little spoiled, but it still tastes good.” Chuck said, “Spoiled cider has to taste like vinegar!” Someone nudged Chuck and whispered, “You REALLY want to try the spoiled cider…” Chuck remembers today: “That was the closest thing to Apple Jack you could ever drink!” Annie Palmer Smith would never allow alcohol in her home, and it’s not known today if she knew “spoiled cider” was being served in her home!

Son Bradford became the family historian. But it was his son, Edward Bradford Smith, who reproduced all of his grandfather’s poems in 1975, as well as memories of family members after Edward’s death in 1968 at the age of 80.

Edward’s wife, Annie, remembered that on their 50 th wedding anniversary, “We celebrated our Golden Anniversary at the Congregational Church in Hebron. Many friends and relatives gathered and we had a good time. Edward brought the long suit coat which he had been married in fifty years before and had some pictures taken of him in it. He could still fit in his wedding clothes fifty years later. I could not wear my wedding dress, alas!” Annie joined her husband in heaven in 1985.

Literally any longtime Hebron resident who knew Edward today characterizes him as “generous” and “optimistic.” Elaine Wallace remembers him as an “extraordinary man, a patriarch of the community.”

And so he was. Edward Ashley Smith is yet another example of someone who has made Hebron “Hebron.”

The Hebron Historical Society thanks the Smith-Billard family for loaning us Edward Smith’s journals, letters and poetry, which have now been digitally scanned for future generations.

Farewell, Gray Eagle

Lloyd Sherwood Gray, a lifelong Hebronian, passed away very early Saturday morning, January 15, 2005, just 20 days after entering Windham Hospital. Lloyd was a local folk hero. Most everyone has heard stories of his daredevil escapades in a variety of aircraft starting from around age 19. Most everyone will remember the twinkle in his eye and his sometimes subtle, sometimes outrageous humor.

Lloyd had the uncanny ability to make friends throughout his life; he could count friends that go all the way back to his childhood, “new” friends and neighbors that he has been close to for the past 20 years, and us “baby” friends who were fortunate enough to get to know Lloyd in the past year or so.

Lloyd was a humble man. He was not afraid to talk about his regrets in life, he was not afraid to talk about the things dearest in his life. He was not afraid to express his emotions about his family and friends and his love of flying. He was not afraid to express his love for his wife, Lucille Kelley Gray, and his mother, Susan Miner Gray.

Lloyd ended almost every one of our conversations and visits with, “Righto. Signing off for now, and thanks a million.”

Thanks a million for so many happy memories, Gray Eagle.

• Lloyd Gray's Air Campaigns
• Lloyd Gray's Handwritten Diaries from World War II
  • Lloyd Gray's Handwritten Diaries Pages 1-14 (6.6MB)
  • Lloyd Gray's Handwritten Diaries Pages 29-25 (4.5MB)
• Lloyd Gray's Diaries -- transcribed by Anna Robinson
  • Lloyd's Diary_Typed_First 12 pages.pdf
  • Lloyd's Diary_Typed_Last 16 pages.pdf
• The Gray Eagle Soars -- by Donna McCalla
• Lloyd Gray Passes Away -- article printed in Hartford Courant
• Farewell, Gray Eagle -- by Donna McCalla

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