Roseland Cottage (1846)

Wabaquasset

Northeast Connecticut has been home to Algonquin people for at least 12,000 years. The Nipmuc, or Fresh Water People, lived in numerous encampments or villages near bodies of fresh water in a territory that extended from present-day Vermont and New Hampshire through central Massachusetts to northern Rhode Island, and into northeastern Connecticut. Those who lived in the area now known as Woodstock identified themselves as Wabaquasset, which signified they lived in an area where reeds were gathered to be woven into mats for their homes.

Wabaquasset was located at the conjunction of three trails important to the Nipmuc and other Indigenous people, and eventually European traders and colonists–situated as it was on the Great Road from Hartford to Boston, and on the road from Providence to Albany.

New Roxbury

Encouraged by their pastor John Eliot, men known as the Thirteen Goers left Roxbury in the Massachusetts Bay Colony for Wabaquasset in 1686. Eliot, familiar with the area from his proselytizing, knew the land to be fertile and sparsely populated after the dispersal of the Nipmuc people during King Phillip’s War. These Goers founded the town of New Roxbury, the earliest European settlement in the region. Homes and a meeting house were built in the area around present-day Woodstock Hill and Plaine Hill.

In 1690, New Roxbury changed its name to Woodstock because of its proximity to the town of Oxford, reflecting the nearness of those two towns in England. The Town remained a part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony until 1749, when, after a contentious legal battle with the Massachusetts  colony, it seceded in favor of becoming a part of the Connecticut Colony. The Common served as assembly sites for troops during the American Revolution and the War of 1812.

“First class abolitionist”

In 1813 in a house on the common at Woodstock Hill, Lydia Bowen gave birth to a son, Henry Chandler Bowen. His father George operated a tavern and store in that house which still stands today and is called Sunset Hill.

As a young man, Henry exhibited talents and aspects of character that would flourish as he matured. He helped with his father’s store, exhibiting an exceptional gift for business. He joined the First Congregational Church and was a charter member of the town’s first temperance society. Influenced by the persecution of Prudence Crandall and her school for young Black women, just down the road in Canterbury, Connecticut, Henry wrote that he was moved to become a “first class abolitionist.”

In 1834 Henry moved to Manhattan to serve a five-year clerkship at Arthur Tappan’s silk importation and dry goods firm. Though Henry was reluctant to leave Woodstock, he acquiesced to the wishes of his parents, who wanted him to take advantage of this opportunity. The Tappan brothers Lewis and Arthur had a profound effect on Henry’s growth, developing his entrepreneurial skills, strengthening his commitment to New England Congregationalism, and to the ideals of temperance and abolitionism.

A Colorful Summer Retreat 

In 1845, the Bowens purchased a little over two acres across the road from the Woodstock Hill Common as a site for their summer home, Roseland Cottage. Construction was completed in 1846, at a cost of $10,000. At least a portion of these funds came from profits made from Bowen and McNamee’s silk trade with southern planters, and thus was indirectly the result of the labor of enslaved people. The system of slavery was so deeply rooted in the economy and fabric of the United States, it entangled even dedicated abolitionist Henry Bowen.

According to Lucy, the months spent at Roseland Cottage were filled with “riding, studying, eating, sleeping, and thinking.” Accounts of the children are filled with outdoor experiences, and games like croquet and bowling in the alley that is still part of the barn complex.  The landscape, including the boxwood parterre garden, largely follows the theories of landscape architect Andrew Jackson Downing, though Downing would have taken exception to the color of the stylish summer home.

Continuing Family Traditions

After Henry’s death, the family continued to use Roseland Cottage as a country retreat. The cottage became suitable for year-round living when radiators were added in 1911, which may also be when modern plumbing was added. Roseland Cottage was the second house in Woodstock to be electrified around that same time. Except for the utility updates, the second generation of Bowens made few changes to the interior or exterior of Roseland Cottage.

Through a complicated series of bequests, the cottage eventually came to Mary Bowen Holt, Lucy’s and Henry’s oldest daughter. She left Roseland Cottage to her son Henry with the stipulation that her daughters (his sisters) be allowed to live there until they married. One of those daughters, Constance, never married, and the striking pink Gothic Revival became her year-round, permanent home. Known as The Great Lady of Roseland, Constance Holt maintained the Victorian character of the house, living there with servants and companions until her death in 1968.

Becoming a Museum

In 1970, the property was purchased by Historic New England with the help of local and state agencies and Roseland Cottage opened as a museum. The Bowen family collection, including original furniture, china, glassware, books, artwork, clothing and archival documents, were donated to Historic New England as part of the sale. Henry’s and Lucy’s descendants continue to donate family artifacts to Historic New England and Roseland Cottage which serves as a repository of Bowen family treasures.