The Governor's Estate and St. Stephen's Church

The Governor's Estate and St. Stephen's Church. Ridgefield, Connecticut. , On these grounds in 1786 the Town Proprietors built the Independent School House from materials taken from the razed old town house that stood on the Village Green. In 1896 Governor Phineas Lounsbury built his estate, Grovelawn, on this site. It now serves as the Community Center. The bell on the front lawn of the Center, called The Confederate Bell, was captured during the Civil War by a Connecticut colonel. At the time it bore a painted inscription that read, "This bell is to be melted into a cannon , may it kill a thousand Yankees!" Presented to Governor Lounsbury it was rung at the signing of the armistice ending world war one, and again at the end of world war two., Market Street was named for the meat market that stood behind the home of the Hurlbutt family on Main Street. Established by David Hurlbutt during the first half of the 19th century, poor David died in 1858 from a head wound he received from the horn of a struggling cow he was about to butcher., The Episcopal Church, the American branch of the Church of England, had its beginnings here as early as 1725, with the first church building being erected around 1740. In 1768 Rev. Epenetus Townsend headed this church, as well as the one in Ridgebury, continuing his pastorship until 1776, when, as a loyal British subject, he was forced to leave Ridgefield. The church fell into disuse and was used by the Patriots as a warehouse. During the Battle of Ridgefield it was burned by the British troops advancing down Main Street.