Norwich’s Silversmith Shop Turns 250
Featured in The Norwich Times - April 21, 2022
One of Norwich’s most unique historic structures and thought to be among the last of its kind in all of New England, is the Joseph Carpenter Silversmith Shop found on the Norwichtown Green. The shop was originally constructed between 1772 and 1774 and was a commercial property for brothers Joseph Carpenter (1747-1804) and Gardner Carpenter (1748-1815). Young Joseph and Gardner were born to parents Joseph Carpenter and Elizabeth Lathrop; Joseph Sr. predeceased Elizabeth and she remarried to Joseph Peck in Norwich. Peck owned a historic tavern on the Green known as the Knight-Peck Tavern and expanded the property into the structure seen today. As Joseph and Gardner’s father-in-law, Peck was heavily involved in the early training and professional development of the two brothers. The family remained in Norwich and built a tidy enterprise and family legacy along the East Town St side of the Norwichtown Green.
In 1772, Joseph leased parsonage land from the First Congregational Church to construct the building and to this day, the building’s footprint remains virtually unchanged. Joseph Carew and James Wentworth supplied the lumber and field stone to build the structure and upon the building’s completion, Joseph and Gardner operated a joint business from the shop. Joseph occupied half the shop as a silver and goldsmith while his brother Gardner occupied the other half as a dry goods merchant. Gardner also served as paymaster for the 17th Connecticut Regiment during the American Revolution and in 1799 became postmaster in Norwich. Although Connecticut contains no natural silver deposits, Norwich silversmiths thrived with Joseph being among the region’s most renowned makers of spoons, buckles, buttons, engravings, clocks, and more. Approximately 50 silversmiths existed in Norwich during its ‘golden age’ of silversmithing (1760-1810) fashioning items using coin silver which was approximately 90% pure silver. Specie obtained worldwide supplied the silver needed which catered to a growing landed American gentry during the second half of the 18th century. Dozens of locally made silver implements as well as a few notable examples of Carpenter-made clocks still exist, these pieces are now on display in the Leffingwell House Museum and Silversmith shop and have become particularly rare standouts in early Americana. The Silversmith shop still features original details including original window shutters, chimney stack, and silversmith forge. Original clapboards from 1772-74 are still present and historic photos show us that some window casements and door locations changed between the 19th and 20th centuries.
In the late 1780s, Joseph leased another section of land from the church to construct an early federal-style home next to the shop, and sometime around 1790, Gardner constructed a “storehouse” that mirrored the look of his brother’s home. The storehouse was built on the opposite side of the c. 1783 Daniel Lathrop Schoolhouse which historian Mary Perkins notes as “The Red Store.” In 1793, Gardner built a stately brick Georgian-style home on East Town St where he lived until his death. All of these structures still survive, though Joseph’s home was relocated from the street to a plot of land behind the schoolhouse in the early 20th century. The shop remained in the Carpenter family, at one point being a dry-goods store in the late 1860s run by Joseph’s great-grandson, also named Joseph, before being sold in 1915 to the United Workers group; a full-scale restoration of the property was completed by renowned architect Norman Isham in 1916. Shortly thereafter in 1919, a partnership was formed between the United Workers and the Faith Trumbull Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution to form a public museum within the shop that was to be managed by the DAR. The two organizations formed a committee to oversee the project spearheaded by Henry Watson Kent, the first curator of Slater Memorial Museum who then was then representing the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. According to records, the DAR kept antiques and historical items within the shop that was opened to the public during the summer months until the early 1930s before they relocated to their current chapter house on Rockwell Street in Norwich.
For decades the shop remained as leased office space and was not publicly accessible until 2021, ultimately continuing a vision that began 100 years ago. A partnership between the Society of the Founders of Norwich and the Norwich Historical Society brought about another significant restoration campaign occurring between 2020-2021 totaling nearly $100,000. The original foundation was reconstructed, a new cedar roof added, landscaping and drainage systems were upgraded and installed, interior spaces received climate control, and a new bathroom was installed using reclaimed materials from an 18th century farmhouse in Montville, CT. For the 2022 season onward, the shop will be open seasonally and feature a public exhibition on the commercial history of the Norwichtown Green, the Silversmith Shop, and will showcase original artifacts connected to the Carpenter shop and family.
