Phelps Hatheway Traditional Cache

Our youth group created an “exhibit-in-a-box” for some historic properties around the state of Connecticut. We spent our summer caching, and visited and researched some house museums. We chose items for our caches that represent events or people related to the house as a way to help with the interpretation of our history. Feel free to trade the cache items, especially if your item relates to our history. You can also accept the challenge to find them all. We hope you enjoy our caches and stories!

“The cache is not located anywhere that would be unsafe for you, the flowers, or the historic structures, so please be respectful while you hunt.”

Phelps Hatheway:

The Phelps-Hatheway house and garden is about 250 years old and is one of the oldest standing houses in Connecticut. Located in Suffield, it was originally built in 1761 by a town merchant named Shem Burbank for his wife.  He and his wife raised a family in the house until financial issues caused him to sell the house to Oliver Phelps, a prosperous land speculator in 1788, who then proceeded to live in the house for 8 years. Buying this house had shown the large success that had come of Phelps. He inquired millions of acres of land that mostly resided in western New York. To keep his flashy and expensive image, Phelps made an addition to the house in 1794 adding a wing. This wing still has some of the original bright and vibrant French wallpapers put in by Phelps. After Phelps’ death in debt, the house was then purchased by Ashael Hatheway and it remained in his family for a century.

Most interesting:

Phelps was a wealthy man despite coming from a family that was less fortunate. Having his father die when he was just 3, Phelps’ mother was left to raise 17 children. Phelps started work at the young age of 7 in a local store to help support his family. In later years Phelps joined the continental army and fought in the Battle of Lexington. Despite all the good Phelps had done for the army and the status that he built, he was still known as a very unfriendly man. In 1788 when a council was held to discuss the ownership of the land, Phelps pressed hard to get the chiefs of the Five Nations (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca) to believe that they had lost their rights when the British lost the Revolutionary war and signed the peace treaty in 1783. Following the council meeting Phelps basically kicked everyone out of their land in the blink of an eye when he purchased it. Through my research the most interesting point that came up was the original owner and builder of the house, Burbank, lost it because of debt and Phelps ended up loosing the house in debt also. This turn of events lead to the house being purchased by the Hatheways.

Cache Items:

Five Nation’s flag – Represents the meetings that were held with the chiefs of the Five Nations of Indian at Buffalo Creek.

The Grinch – Represents how others described Phelps as being a bit cold and ruthless.

Judy Mood Declares Independence – This book represents how Phelps fought in the Revolutionary War and even worked with George Washington in the battle of Lexington.