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Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Litchfield record book

00-1936-10-0

 Collection
Identifier: 00-1936-10-0

Scope and Contents

The Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Litchfield record book (1936-10-0) contains meeting minutes from April 17, 1878 through December 4, 1878 of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Litchfield, Connecticut. Also included in the book is the "Constiution of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Litchfield" which was organized on April 17, 1878 at the Congregational Chapel in Litchfield. The second half of the record book contains personal notes concerning Revolutionary war soldiers, their descendents, and burial places. These seem to have been added at a later date and are not related to the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Litchfield. List of members of the Mary Floyd Chapter of the DAR with the name of their Revol. war ancestor. The item is currently housed in 3A Box 30.

Dates

  • created: 1878
  • Other: Date acquired: 10/07/1937

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright is retained by the creator(s) of this collection for materials they have authored or otherwise produced. After the lifetime of the creator(s), copyright passes to the Litchfield Historical Society. Copyright status for other collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Biographical or Historical Information

Litchfield County, Connecticut had a long involvement in the Temperance Movement in the United States. The first American Temperance Society was established at Litchfield, Connecticut in 1789. Two hundred farmers in the town met to create an association to discourage the use of spirituous liquors. Following this, Reverends in the area began taking the topic up at their pulpit. In the year 1811 the General Association of the Congregational body in America appointed a committee on the subject of intemperance. When this committee was unable to suggest or propose a remedy, the Rev. Dr. Lyman Beecher of Litchfield moved for the appointment of another committee to report without delay a remedy for intemperance. He was himself appointed chairman of this second committee, and reported resolutions recommending to all good men total abstinence from all distilled liquors. The report was adopted, and from that time Rev. Beecher acted upon the principle and trained his children therein. In 1812, while pastor of the Congregational Church at Litchfield, he preached six sermons on “The Evils of Intemperance.”  These were published in 1827 and widely circulated in the United States and throughout Great Britain and Ireland. In 1827 a temperance society was organized in Torringford, and soon after this a temperance society for Litchfield County was organized. The Litchfield County Society continued its active work for a number of years, and secured much support in the area. Local temperance organizations continued to form in Litchfield County throughout the nineteenth century, including Woman’s Temperance Unions in Litchfield and New Milford.

Note written by

Extent

0.00 Linear Feet

1 bound volume. other_unmapped

Language of Materials

English

Source of Acquisition

Richards Family

Method of Acquisition

Gift

Existence and Location of Originals

multi-part note content

Related Materials

multi-part note content

Other Descriptive Information

This collection was processed with support from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

Title
Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Litchfield record book
Date
11/05/2011
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Litchfield Historical Society Repository

Contact:
7 South Street
P.O. Box 385
Litchfield CT 06759
860-567-4501
860-567-3565 (Fax)