Christmas with the Hicks-Stearns Family

The year is 1895, and it is certain to be a delightful evening as you have the good fortune to be invited to the home of prominent Connecticut legislator and businessman, Ratcliffe Hicks and his sister, Minnie Hellen Hicks.

On Friday evening, December 2, thanks to the Tolland Historical Society, time travel was made possible for those interested in enjoying a taste of the holidays as they were celebrated more than 100 years ago in Tolland. The Society opened the doors of the Hicks-Stearns Museum where costumed residents, some based on real historical residents of the day, others fictional, welcomed visitors into the home for a cup of good cheer.

At the far end of the main room, two young women, Henrietta Quinn and Alice Shaw (portrayed by Alison Quinn and Alice Zelman, respectively) as members of the Women's Christian Temperance Union implored visitors to take a pledge for temperance and refrain from partaking in spirits of any kind. They also spoke in favor of the suffrage movement which they felt drew from parallel concerns to improve the conditions of Americans, particularly poor women and children.

"The wealthy have more options to do different things [instead of drinking]," said Quinn. "For the poor, sometimes they see the saloon as the only place to go," she said, adding that refraining from imbibing in spirits would reduce wild behavior and not waste money that could otherwise be used to feed poor families.

Shaw added that as charitable Christians, it is important to encourage temperate people to remain temperate and to encourage those who are not to take the pledge.

"We need to have a water fountain in Tolland where people could come for a free, refreshing drink to quench their thirst. If we had that, there would be no need for spirits," she said.

At the opposite end of the room, the discussions of the two women influenced the conversation of Ratcliffe Hicks (portrayed by David Hayes) and the Honorable Senator Edward Fuller (Mark Depathy.) 

"I supported women voting in school matters, said Ratcliffe Hicks.

The former legislator who represented Tolland at the State level for two terms was not in favor of granting women the right to vote in political decisions. And while neither Hicks nor the Senator were enthusiastic about the temperance movement, they recognized the underlying concerns of the young women to want to reach out and help those less fortunate in society.

"We have many fraternal organizations for the betterment of the worker, their families, and their widows," said Fuller, reminding guests that in 1895 there was no social security and other safety nets that helped out families in need. If a worker became ill or injured or died, the families they left behind were often destitute.

One such organization was the Odd Fellows, an organization which remains strong in England today. Other organizations included the Masons, the Ancient Order of United Workers, and the Knights of Columbus, the latter which started insurance policies for workers, Fuller said.

"The Masons were more of a follow-on to the workers guilds," said Depathy, explaining that various workers such as masons and shoemakers would become members of a guild to insure they put out a good product at a fair price and that competition would be reasonably limited. "The Masons were made up of multiple types of skilled workers and formed in places that were too small to have guilds," he said.

An impeccable hostess, Minnie Hellen Hicks (Beatrice White-Ramirez) along with her visiting sister, Emma Hicks Downing (Teresa Gerry) invited visitors to enjoy a glass of wine and refreshments in the opulently decorated dining room.

Elegant furnishings and popular holiday past-times and customs were on display in the home along with lithographs and original prints by notable Storrs artist Richard Kochanek and information on the landscape work underway by UConn landscape architecture student Oliver Gaffney and the rest of the Uconn Horticulture Club.

The Hicks-Stearns Family Museum is located at 42 Tolland Green, Tolland.