Enoch Kelsey House

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name =Enoch Kelsey House

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location = 1702 Main St.
Newington, Connecticut
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lat_direction = N
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long_direction = W
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built = 1799
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added = June 28, 1982
refnum = 82004437
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governing_body = [http://www.newingtonhistoricalsociety.org Newington Historical Society] The Enoch Kelsey House is a historic home in Newington, Connecticut.

As a private home

The house was built by Enoch Kelsey and his son, David Kelsey. Enoch was a farmer and tinsmith. Enoch was born August 12, 1717 in Wethersfield, Connecticut. [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~myfamily1/kelsey/d6.htm] He married Mary Bidwell, and together they had twelve children. David was his second, born in 1760.

Originally, the house was located on the western end of Kelsey Street, across from Christian Lane.

Enoch's grandfather, John Kelsey, was a weaver.

The home features rare, freehand painted wall decorations, basement to attic paneling, a beehive oven and fireplaces. [http://www.newingtonhistoricalsociety.org/index_files/Page277.htm]

As a museum

In 1979, the house was scheduled for demolition, when the Historical Society gained permission to first go inside and inspect some of the artwork that was rumored to be inside. When the volunteers entered the house and found the artwork, they began fundraising in order to perform the renovations needed to make the building into a museum. [http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1995/4/1995_4_94.shtml] The house was moved to its current location at the intersection of Main Street and Copper Beech Road. Its address is 1702 Main Street in Newington. It is now a museum run by the Newington Historical Society. It is open to the public April-November on the first and third Sunday of every month.

The home of Enoch's brother Ezekiel Kelsey is also a historic home in Berlin, Connecticut.

External links

* [http://www.newingtonhistoricalsociety.org|Newington Historical Society]