Yes, Kat. I was running around all by my lonesome...doing my Lizzie thing. Before I found this forum, I was the only person I knew who was interested in Lizzie. Now, like this evening, the Forum is my guilty pleasure (I've got to get off and study very soon for a major exam), but I just love coming to the Forum.
Here's another farm-house shot. I couldn't get a photo of the other side as there were people out there on the little side porch who nodded very tolerantly at me as I adjusted my telephoto lens from a polite distance across the street. The old stone walls from the farm go right to the water in the rear.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a343/ ... 0_0165.jpg
The property is just looking so run-down to me. The first time I looked for the farm, I didn't even have an address. I just took my Rebello book and looked for a house that looked like the photo on pg. 43.
Here's an old photo from the Swansea Historic Society site:
http://www.swanseamass.org/history/old_ ... borden.jpg
They used to have a very old photo of an unidentified house which I thought was an early version of this same house before it got the big chimney, but the link is not working today for that pix.
And as far as a tie to the Anthony families and the Chace families, I have always wondered if the story that McHenry fed Trickey with the name of Frederick Chace in it wasn't actually a 'message' or warning to someone, and Trickey was just an over-ambitious patsy. (And did I ever point out that Mr. Trickey was a member of the Press
Cycle Club?)
I also find the so-called Tilden/Thurber incident disingenuous.
Here's another link from that site:
http://www.gargaro.com/thurber/swansea.html
"We, those names are hereunder written, do fully, upon our admission to be inhabitants of this town of Swansea, assent to the above written agreement, made between the church now meeting here at Swansea and Capt. Thomas Willett and his associates, as the sd. agreement is specified and declared in the three proposalls above written, with the severall conditions and explanations thereof concerning the present and future settlement of this town. In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed."
(Signed by fifty-five persons.)
First Signers Admitted to the Town: Thomas Willett, John Myles, John Allen, James Brown, Nicholas Tanner, Hugh Cole, Benjamin Alby, John Browne, Samuel Wheaton, Thomas Barnes, Thos. Estabrooke, Richard Sharpe, Wm. Ingraham, Thos. Manning, Wm. Cahoone, George Aldrich, Nathan'l Lewis, John Thurber, Jona Bosworth, Joseph Lewis, Wm. Hayward, Jno. Thurber, 2d, Gerard Ingraham, Zach. Eddy, Hezekiah, Luther, John Paddock, Samuel Luther, Obadiah Brown, Senr. Caleb Eddy, John Myles, Jr. Thomas Lewis, Joseph Carpenter, Robert Jones Eldad Kingsley, John Martin, John Cole, Joseph Wheaton, Nathan'l Paine, Stephen Brae, Gideon Allen, John Dickse, Wm. Bartram, Joseph Kent, Sam'l Woodbury, Nehemiah Allen, Sampson Mason, Job Winslow, Obadiah Bowen, Jr. Richard Burgess, Jno. Butterworth John West, Thos. Elliott, Timothy Brooks, Nathan'l Toogood, Jere. Child
There are Thurber links that go way back in Swansea. I had started doing some digging into Thurber genealogy but haven't gotten very far. Thurbers also have ties to Attleboro and the Gorham (of Gorham Silver) family. Please note there is an Obadiah Bowen Jr. listed above and the immediate Bowen family of Dr. Bowen is also from Attleboro. I think the so-called "shoplifting incident" was a message to Lizzie not to upset the status quo and not to renew certain old friendships. Right now, this is all speculation. But I can't wait to get back to digging through these seemingly uninvolved interested parties. For all that is wrong about Arnold Brown, I do believe he was right in intimating that there was a conspiracy going on behind the scenes.
Please excuse my pun, but I believe there were a number of people who has axes to grind (or whatever).