85 Acres for Greenleaf’s New House

Greetings Canterbury history enthusiasts,

   What do you imagine the Greenleaf family did after their nearly completed home burned to the ground in 1811 before they moved in? We found out in the Spring of 2024 when we documented the site.

   This is the second issue of the Cellar Hole Committee newsletter where we tell the story of both the purpose and goals of our work, and the results of the documentation of actual cellar hole. We do this work as we expect our results will give Canterbury residents and others interested in history an easily accessible record of dreams fulfilled, and sometimes abandoned.

    After receiving authorization from the owners of the site, our check in the records revealed that when the town was granted by King George in 1727 (soon our 300^th anniversary!), and the original Proprietors (owners) later drew lots, Ichabod Chesley became the first owner of this 85 acre plot of land that had been occupied by the original settlers for 11,500 or so years. After changing hands at least 5 times in the ensuing 50 years, it passed from Moses Brown to Greenleaf in 1811.

     We began with the simple step of raking the leaves off the stones to reveal the extent of the stone ruin. By the end of our day-long documentation we had learned that the collapsed chimney and fireplace foundation occupied 30% of the area of the cellar hole but we could not determine with certainty that the house originally was 30’ deep and 28’ along the road. Indeed, the nearly totally collapsed condition of the rock foundation made it impossible to determine the extent of the foundation with any certainty. This ruin has been exposed to the elements for over 210 years! Even the few bricks we found were heavily weathered.

    The evidence on the ground confirmed that the building had burned. In the lowest level of the foundation floor we found charred, milled wood, and at the south-west corner a fragment of melted cast iron. But the absence of melted glass confirms that the windows had not yet been installed. The remains of the well 26 feet north-west of the house further supports the hasty abandonment of the site due to a fire, because while the mound of earth piled during its excavation was nearby, the well itself appeared to have been haphazardly filled with rocks but not with soil.

     Not surprisingly, we found no barn foundation. But did learn that in 1826 Greenleaf sold about 4 acres of land around the site which was planted in apple trees by the Foster family. And eventually abandoned. Now it has become a sugar maple grove for a local syrup operation. And this is one hint to the end of the story. Another hint is that the cut granite foundation sill stones are missing, as are 98% of the red bricks.

    What happened?

    While the Greenleaf family lost their house, they still owned 85 acres. And taking the sill stones and red bricks with them just 200 feet north, built again. Bigger and better. And even though the building is gone, the care with which the foundation was constructed bears witness to the fine quality of the new family home. And this cellar hole is already documented! Stay tuned!     We will respond to suggestions and questions addressed to our email which is: cellarholestudys@gmail.com