Tranquillity Farm sold pot pies

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An unidentified man and a sheep dog watch over a herd of sheep at Tranquillity Farm circa 1907. Sheep were among the livestock and poultry raised at the farm. (Middlebury Historical Society scan)

By DR. ROBERT L. RAFFORD

Part I of II – Middlebury’s famous Tranquillity Farm produced lasting effects far and wide. It fed Middleburians and tens of thousands of others across the area. Once one of the most productive farms in Middlebury, its produce – and especially its chicken and turkey pot pies – are still talked about today. Tranquillity Farm became an agricultural behemoth, begun by the family of John H. and Julia Whittemore on the eastern shore of Lake Quassapaug.

John H. Whittemore, a wealthy manufacturer and philanthropist, became a gentleman farmer in Middlebury in the early 1890s. He oversaw the building and operation of the family’s summer home on Lake Quassapaug and Tranquillity Farm until his death in 1910 at the age of 72.

In 1893, the grounds of the Whittemore estate were laid out by the firm of Olmsted, Olmsted and Eliot. The Olmsted landscape architecture family was famous for laying out Central Park in Manhattan and Prospect Park in Brooklyn and hundreds of other private and municipal projects consisting of schools, colleges, parks, arboretums, historic districts and many others throughout the country. Virtually everyone in this country has been touched by their creations.

The Whittemore summer home was designed by the immensely prestigious firm of McKim, Mead and White, who had designed the Whittemore residence in Naugatuck in 1888, along with the library, school and the town Green there. After original work by the Olmsteds, the famous landscape architect Warren H. Manning (1860-1938), who had worked with the Olmsteds, took over designing the grounds.

In 1895, the firm of H. Wales Lines in Meriden was contracted to build the main building for the Whittemore family, costing $25,000 ($934,729 today). Other building projects would follow on the estate, and “J. H.,” as he was called, was intensely involved in all the details of the family’s building and the layout of the grounds, but also had time and resources to build roads and buildings for the towns of Naugatuck and Middlebury, including Middlebury’s first Town Hall in 1895 (it burned down in 1935) and the Center Schoolhouse in 1897 (today home to the Middlebury Historical Society), utilizing the same architectural talents of McKim, Mead and White and Warren H. Manning for these and other projects.

Tranquillity Farm was fully productive of dairy products by the turn of the century. As the farm grew, there were a number of dedicated and expert superintendents, foremen and overseers. The first foreman was Artison Skilton Clark (1849-1937), who grew up on a farm on the land Highfield Country Club now occupies. Later, William Martin Shepardson (1864-1944) was superintendent of all the Whittemore property (Middlebury’s Community Center, originally the new Center School in 1932, was named for him).

After World War I, Tranquillity Farm became a center of activity for the entire region and the state due to the leadership of the family of John and Julia’s son, Harris (1864-1927), and his wife, Justine Morgan (Brockway) (1866-1940) Whittemore. He was thoroughly dedicated to forestry and farming, and was a leader in the Connecticut Forestry Association, a pioneer in establishing the Connecticut State Forest. After his death in 1927, his son, Harris (1894-1974) joined with his wife, Roberta Napier (Forde) Whittemore Jr., and led the farm and other family businesses.

Raising cattle and sheep, as well as chickens and turkeys, became a large-scale venture at Tranquillity Farm. Beginning in the 1920s, meetings, conferences, contests and other activities related to farming were held at the farm regularly for organizations such as the Connecticut Forestry Association, the Connecticut Sheep Breeders’ Association and the Connecticut Jersey Cattle Club. At some meetings, hundreds attended from across the state. Tranquillity Farm became one of the most advanced farms in the state, a leader for Connecticut and neighboring states in educating all who were interested in learning the basics and improving their farming.

Bob Rafford is the Middlebury Historical Society president and Middlebury’s municipal historian. To contact the society, visit MiddleburyHistoricalSociety.org or contact him at president@middleburyhistoricalsociety.org. Your membership and support is welcome.