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Much of the farm was purchased for public use: The Connecticut Valley Railroad, later a spur off the New York and New England Railway System, opened a line through the farm in 1871. Brainard Field (off the map to the northeast) was opened for air traffic as early as 1921; the Silas Deane Highway, running north and south through the center of the farm was built in 1930; The Route 15, Hartford Bypass, opened about 1946, sliced the farm from east to west and seriously hindered its productivity by sapping acreage and hurting economies of scale. Finally, the Hartford Electric Light Company built a distribution station at the south end of any remaining pasture during the 1950's.
Of course, the entire farm was not lost to public use. The last Buck to work the land was John Saltonstall Buck (1879-1958). Taxes were going up and competition from large conglomerates in the west drastically cut into profits that could be made by raising animals and crops in the east. Realizing that both his sons were more interested in engineering than farming, he sold the lands north of the Route 15 bypass. Other lands were parceled out to his four children upon his death. His youngest son, John Webster Buck (1912-2002), inherited the house, barns, other out buildings and about 4 acres, but sold much of it to a good neighbor, Merritt Baldwin, for erection of the Jordan Center. He did this because the Metropolitan District levied a hefty sewer assessment to run lines along two sides of the property, although only one house was situated thereon, and the property was now taxed as a residence rather than as a farm.
John Webster Buck's son, Douglas (1940-), received the property in 1982, about 1-1/2 acres. By this time the surrounding area was pretty much parceled out for homes along Hartford Avenue and businesses along the Silas Deane Highway to the west. Using the property for a farm was out of the question, although horses, goats and chickens were raised on it at various times. Jacqueline Buck, raised the horses. Many townspeople remember the riding lessons they took here. The barns, used for storage by John, were continued for that use by Douglas; however, they were in serious need of repair, and using them for storage seemed unworthy of their ancient purpose.
Using them as a school for the arts began in the 1990's with a vision. Virginia Buck saw in her minds eye students and visitors going in and out of the barns, taking lessons, giving lectures and workshops, displaying paintings and giving and attending performances. She saw that it would become a center for the best classical fine and performing arts education available. Now, with the gift of the old structures from our ancestors, Virginia's artistic talent, Doug's building skills, some money handed to us by our parents, plenty of hard work and contributions from neighbors and friends, we have begun the task of bringing them "up to code" so they can be used as a school. The first step has been to remove and rebuild two structures that were used anciently as a carriage house and ox shed. The ox shed is being used as a classroom and the carriage house for atelier (formal artist studios). They are home to Wethersfield Academy for the Arts.
What's in a Name?
The name, Folly Brook Farm, is
taken from Thomas Tryon’s, The Wings of the Morning, the first of two
epic Romeo and Juliet style novels of two feuding families, the Talcotts and the
Grimes. The story is set in Pyquog Village
during the early 1800’s. Pyquog Village,
of course, is Wethersfield, Connecticut. Most of the names are changed; for
example, present day Hartford Avenue is Hartford Way in the novel, Marsh Street
is March Street, Wolcott Hill is Avalon Hill, Lucky Lou’s is the Old Hundred,
Comstock Ferre is Burdin’s Seed Store, and Mill Woods is Grimes Mill.
Tryon's Follybrook Farm, it can be said, is the ancient Buck farm,
situated on the northern end of town, “sufficiently removed from the village
center to reap the rewards of solitude, yet close enough for convenience.” Tryon describes the farm nicely, its
rambling nature and location of its buildings including the barns and
summerhouse, the spot for a romantic scene between a Talcott daughter, Aurora, and
Grimes’ suitor, Sinjin. Many of the
furnishings and appointments described in the novel were in the Buck farmhouse:
Chippendale, Hepplewhite and Queen Ann furniture, silverware polished for
special occasions, and porcelain lamps from China. With its white painted chimneys with black
tops, the farm may well have been a safe house for runaway slaves.
Tryon, of course, changed names
and events and weaves a good tale to capture the flavor of that historic
period. However, one can infer where he got his ideas for some of the
characters. Old Bobby, the senior
Talcott, with his bushy eyebrows and kindly nature was no doubt John S. Buck
during the 1960’s; his son, Appleton, was John W. Buck, and his hot tempered
grandson, Priam, was probably Douglas, who had just returned from US Army
basic training. Interestingly, Grimes,
was Marjorie Buck’s maiden name.
Marjorie’s father, Harry Grimes, lived with the Bucks until his death. A major character of the book, Georgiana
Ross, mimics the life and accomplishments of Prudence Crandall of Canterbury.
