Our daughter the docent

Today was a Thanksgiving open house at the David Humphreys House in Ansonia, Ct. The house is the headquarters of the Derby Historical Society. Ansonia, as well as several other towns, were once all a part of Derby.

Our daughter, who hopes to become an elementary school teacher someday, has been working there as a docent when fifth graders visit the house where Humphreys, a Revolutionary War hero, was born. The house was built at the end of the 17th Century. Humphreys was born in 1752.

Humphreys was a teacher, an aide-de-camp to George Washington, and later served as an ambassador to Spain. He brought black Merino sheep back to Connecticut from Spain and started a woolen mill.

At the open house we enjoyed samples of pumpkin soup, squash pie, turkey, cranberry sauce, applesauce, and brown bread with freshly-churned butter. Everything was delicious. I enjoyed watching Allegra talk to the members of the public about the house and the food that had been prepared in two fireplaces.

I was pleasantly surprised when blogger and history buff extraordinaire Linda walked into the room while we were sampling the food. I knew she had wanted to see the house, but I wasn't sure if she would be able to make the trip today to our part of Connecticut.

Happily she did, and brought her daughter Jamie and, of course, her camera. It was good to see them! I hope they enjoyed themselves. I'm sure Linda got some great shots.

You could say the kitchen is "rather dark" even when it's sunny out. But with its big fireplace it is definitely cozy. Notice the formal portrait of David Humphreys in the front room, seen through the doorway.

The turkey was roasted in this tin oven in the fireplace in Lady Humphreys' parlor, located next to the kitchen. This room in the front of the house definitely lets in more natural light.

Ralph also wrote a post about our afternoon, which you can read here.