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The idea for the display happened by chance. Ms. Cook was looking for information about John Church, a gravestone carver who made a grave marker in 1721 for Joseph Harris, a man was killed by Indians, according to Ms. Cook. The gravestone can be found in the old cemetery behind Stop & Shop in Litchfield.
Ms. Cooked looked through old issues of The Litchfield Enquirer on microfilm at the Litchfield Historical Society and found Mr. Church's advertisements, but didn't stop there.
"As I started to go through the newspapers, I noticed other stuff referring to South Farms and it just looked interesting," Ms. Cook said.
So she photocopied some of these notices and later enlarged them for an exhibit in the James Morris Museum, located in the Morris Community Hall on North Street. She went through all the newspapers from 1830 to 1839, a daunting task. It took about an hour and one half to read through each weekly issue.
"But it was fun and very interesting. I learned a lot about the history of the town," she said.
Ms. Cook said she didn't see a lot of local news in the newspaper at the time; most of it pertained to national and international events. Instead she focused on the advertisements and notices for information about the town's history. Most of the ads were only three inches wide and not very long. She just looked for anything that was from South Farms.
"They didn't have to say where it was, they just said South Farms and that's it," she added.
A handful of the ads she found are on display in the museum until Nov. 12. The exhibit starts with an ad from the July 29, 1830 issue by John Church, the gravestone carver, who is advertising marble gravestones.
Another advertisement is from Sept. 10, 1835 by Frederick Marsh. It is for a summer business on Bantam Lake that sells molasses and fruit and rents small boats and fishing equipment. There is also a schedule for the Omnibus, a carriage that provides transportation form Spencer and Wadham's Hotel to Bantam Lake. The cost was $1.50 for eight seats.
Ms. Cook also found a lot of advertisements for missing or found animals.
"People either advertised that they walked into their yard or they left. Hopefully these people connected," she said.
Resident George Merchant posted two ads of particular interest. In the Sept. 25, 1838 issue he offered a $5 reward for a missing ram and then later, in the Oct. 25, 1838 issue, advertised the sale of his sheep, bucks, lambs and ewes saying "the subscriber is thinking of changing his business soon."
Other notices referred to the sale of property or services at the many tanneries in town. In the Aug. 15, 1839 issue resident Rufus Ames posted a notice about vandalism on his farm that reads, "I hereby give notice to all people, white or black, male or female, not to dig sand on the northwest corner of my lot near the southwest corner of the Great Pond, and thus exposing my crops to injury and ruin."
The exhibits at the museum change every other month. Ms. Cook said she usually focuses on the display case and shows collections such as of old bottles, buttons or butterflies. She also showcases work from local artists. The previous exhibit was a collection of bottles from the Morris Historical Society.
While there are not a lot of visitors to the museum, Ms. Cook said she is hoping to change that and bring in more information to increase the historical aspect of the museum. Most people visit looking for genealogy information.
The James Morris Museum, in the community hall on North Street, is open Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Wednesday through Friday from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The phone number for the museum at 860-567-5036.
