Anna Warner Bailey House on 108 Thames Street, Groton, Connecticut
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Why
is the Anna Warner Bailey House Worth Saving?
This house was once the home of a
heroine of the Revolution and The War of 1812. At the tender age of 16, she
fearlessly tended to the wounded at the Battle of Groton Heights in 1781. Later
in 1813, she attained national fame and recognition for being an inspiration to
the soldiers in their defense of Fort Griswold. She was paid visits from President
James Monroe, Lafayette and President Andrew Jackson and then Vice-President
Martin Van Buren in recognition of her patriotism. In 1833 President Andrew
Jackson presented her with a cast iron fence that surrounded the house.
Anna Warner Bailey
(1758-1851)
Anna and her
husband, Captain Elijah Bailey, a survivor of the Battle of Groton Heights,
moved into the house around 1800 and opened a tavern. In 1818, President Thomas Jefferson appointed
Captain Elijah Bailey as the town's first postmaster and the house became the
first post office for Groton.
The Anna Warner Bailey House is
on the National Register and, as such, cannot be torn down. It is an important
building within the Groton Bank National Register Historic District and of the
Thames River Heritage Park, located on 108 Thames Street within easy walking distance of its new
water taxi service to Fort Trumbull and New London City Pier where riders can
walk to the other historic buildings, such as the Shaw Mansion and the U.S.
Customs House.
What Is Its Current Status?
It is currently owned by the City
of Groton. The Anna Warner Bailey Chapter of the Daughters of the American
Revolution (DAR) has spearheaded the formation of the Friends of the Anna
Warner Bailey House (FAWBH) under the umbrella of the non-profit 501(c)(3) DAR
chapter. Officers of the Friends of the Anna Warner Bailey House are:
President, Susan Archer, Vice President, Donna Brewer, Secretary, Jane Clukay
and Treasurer, Sharon Jackson.
The committee is currently
developing a proposal to the City to assume ownership and seek private and
grant money to restore the house, ideally, as a Visitor Center for the Historic
Groton Bank with its Fort Griswold Battlefield State Park, Fort Griswold
Museum, Fort Griswold Monument, the Avery-Copp House, the Ebenezer Avery House
and the Bill Memorial Library and the Submarine Veterans Memorial.
What
Will Be Its Future?
The Mother Bailey House could serve as a
historic resource to showcase the history of Groton. Key periods in the history
of the community, encompassing early colonial settlement, the Revolutionary War
through the War of 1812, and beyond into the 19th and 20th centuries
can be interpreted from time to time.
Focus could be on the years that the first occupants lived and worked in
the house, emphasizing Mother Bailey and her story, but could also include
eighteenth century medicine. At the
height of her fame, Anna Warner Bailey, known as “Mother Bailey”, lent her name to the manufacture of a
patent medicine called Mother Bailey’s Quieting Syrup.
Other themes related to the house
could emphasize its use as tavern and inn, and early postal service.
The center would be able to
highlight and promote the other historic sites in the Groton Bank. Visitors interested in historic tourism are
often drawn to areas with multiple sites, as it enables them to explore several
places within a small geographic area – and most of these sites are free to the
public.
The Anna Warner Bailey House
could be established as an architectural study museum focusing on historic
building techniques and materials, rather than furnishing a house to interpret
a specific time period. This type of museum exposes construction elements, so
that visitor can see into walls, under stairs, and behind chimneys. Features of post and beam construction, evidence of the use of
traditional hand tools, historic forms of insulation, brickwork and plastering
could be exposed to enable people to understand how a house was constructed
from the inside out. These structural techniques, including historic
alterations and repairs, are usually concealed in a finished house.
Groton has an opportunity to
provide a unique historic preservation resource to be open to our community and
to visitors from outside our region.
Various cultural and historic
groups could maintain exhibits or displays inside the house
Kiosks could offer information to
visitors regarding all the things to see and do in Groton.
Non-profit groups such as the
Friends of Fort Griswold and Groton Bank Historical Association, neither of
which have physical spaces of their own, could use the Anna Warner Bailey House
for meetings, lectures and on-going exhibits.
These groups would also serve as excellent resources to provide volunteers
for staffing the museum.
We
Need Your Help!
We are asking you to help us in one or all of the following ways.
Please write to the Mayor expressing your support for our
plan. In order to convince
the City to transfer ownership to us, we need to show the City we have the
support of the community. Mayor Keith Hedrick, Municipal Building, 295 Meridian
Street, Groton, CT 06340 or email hedrickk@cityof groton-ct.gov
Promote
the idea. Spread the word about our plan and encourage others to
support the idea.
Become
a member of the Friends of the Anna Warner Bailey House. The
membership fee is $50. Note: 25 hours of volunteer time (pre-approved) can be
used to cover the membership fee. Write to Friends of the Anna Warner Bailey
House, P.O. Box 907, East Lyme, CT 06333
and ask for a membership application.
Make
a tax-deductible donation to the effort to preserve the house. Checks
should be made out to the Anna Warner Bailey Chapter of the DAR (with a Memo
Note of the Friends of the AWBH.) It can be sent to the above address.
Volunteer
your time
We are looking for people to help
us with fundraising, grant writing, mailings, and events. Again, volunteer
hours can be used to cover the membership fee.
Check
out the Anna Warner Bailey blog. Written by Lisa Saunders, author of
numerous local non-fiction books, at annawarnerbailey.blogspot.com
Find more information about Anna
Warner Bailey at the the Anna Warner Bailey Chapter of the DAR website:
http://annawarnerbaileydar.org/
Photograph of the Anna Warner Bailey House taken by Jane Loeser Clukay on August 4, 2017.
I would love to run one of Jane Loeser Clukay's photos of the Anna Warner Bailey House in the Groton and Mystic Times to give more publicity to efforts to save it. May I get permission? My email is l.howard@theday.com, phone 860-701-4356. Thanks, Lee Howard, The Day
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