Seth Thomas - Bradstreet House

237 Main Street
Thomaston, CT  06787

The Seth Thomas-Bradstreet House has stood on Main Street at least since 1838.  A very well preserved two-story building, it has a long association with one of the most important families in Connecticut.

In 1838, Seth Thomas bought the house from Marvin Blakeslee.  Thomas was the famed clockmaker whose company would attain an international reputation. It was one of five houses that belonged to the Seth Thomas family which were situated along Main Street.  All were large; all except the Seth Thomas-Bradstreet House are gone.

In 1850, Thomas sold the house to his daughter, Amanda Thomas Bradstreet, for $2,700.  Her husband, Thomas Jefferson Bradstreet, was from Massachusetts. He was a descendant of the Puritan poet, Anne Bradstreet and her husband, Gov. Simon Bradstreet of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Subsequently, the house remained in the family.  Amanda's son, George Parker Bradstreet, and his wife, Hattie Blackman Bradstreeet, lived in the house, and the next family member to live there was their daughter, Edith Amanda Bradstreet and her husband, Ulric Mather.  The Mather family traces its lineage back to the Puritan minister, Richard Mather, grandfather of the Rev. Cotton Mather.

The last in the line of descent from Seth Thomas was Edith Bradstreet Mather, who never married.  When Miss Mather died in 2004, the State of Connecticut awarded the Town of Thomaston a grant of $450,000 to purchase the house and its contents from her surviving sister, Clara-Louise Mather Riggs.

In November, 2005, the Town of Thomaston became the owner of the house, the contents, and the real estate.

The house is a gem.  Its location and association with three prominent families make it a treasure.

Contact Persons:

Joseph Wassong, Chairman                                          
Thomaston Historical Commission
342 Hickory Hill Road                                                   
Thomaston, CT 0687
(860) 283-5253
jwassong@snet.net                                                          

Val Polowy, Member
Seth Thomas-Bradstreet House Committee     
570 Moosehorn Rd.
Thomaston, CT  0687
(860) 283-8806
valpolowy@snet.net

Seth Thomas-Bradstreet House

Seth Thomas (1785-1859) + Laura Andrews (1790-1871)
Amanda Thomas (1821-1884) + Thomas Jefferson Bradstreet (1807-1897)
George Parker Bradstreet (1848-1929) + Hattie Melchor Blackman (1863-1945)
Edith Amanda Bradstreet (1886-1965) + Ulric B. Mather (1883-1973)
Clara-Louise Mather Riggs (1918- 2009 ), Edith Bradstreet Mather (1919-2004)
Gwendolyn Bradstreet Riggs (1946-    )