The SLT owns a 15 acre parcel of land that intrigues historians, children and environmentalists alike. The Wegner property located off Terry’s Plain Road is a rich reminder of our colonial past.
The Wegner parcel was part of a 50 acre land grant from the General Court of Hartford in 1653 to Thomas Ford of Symondsbury, Dorset, England. Simsbury Connecticut was established in 1670, and six years later the town was attacked by the Wampanoag Indians led by Metacom, the fabled King Phillip. Forty homes, some barns and other buildings were burned. Whether King Phillip watched the conflagration from a cave up on Talcott Mountain or not, this legend of “firetown” stills excites those who hike or gaze up at the basalt ridge framing the east side of the Farmington Valley.
A militia did exist at that time and was instrumental in evacuating the inhabitants of Simsbury to safety in nearby Windsor. However, the original Simsbury militia training ground was on the west side of the Farmington River at the site of the current Town Hall. No bridges spanned the river and unreliable ferry service made assembly by members who lived on the river’s east side difficult. It was decided in 1685 that the original land grant, which was then owned by Ensign John Terry, should also serve as a militia training ground for the citizen members of the “traineband” who lived on the east side of the river. A large sandstone boulder from the Ketchin quarry was erected by the Terry’s Plain Homeowners Association in 1993 to commemorate the east bank training site of the Simsbury militia. In 1993, the then owners of the land who were charter members of the SLT, Patricia Wegner and her husband Arthur, donated the 15 acre parcel to SLT. The land had been cut for hay and today is still a hay field. A red oak tree was planted in 1997 to commemorate Martha Austin’s long service to the land trust. The Wegner’s generous gift to SLT will enable the lovely, flat, meadow edged with bluebird houses that lies between the Metacomet ridge and the tree-lined Farmington River, to remain much as it was over 350 years ago. |
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