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26-404: The house was built in 1822 by Elisha Phelps , who was given the land by his father, Noah. Noah Phelps was a graduate of Yale University , a lawyer and a judge . The first floor contains a center hallway with a kitchen, breakfast nook and parlor. The second floor also has a center hall and two rooms on each side. The house is decorated throughout with detailed woodwork and glass that show

52-639: A Conservative banner for Governor of Connecticut . His attempts were unsuccessful. Phelps died in Simsbury in 1847 and was buried in Hop Meadow Cemetery. His home, which he built in 1820, has been renamed the Amos Eno House , after a subsequent owner. It still stands in Simsbury and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Toleration Party The Toleration Party , also known as

78-425: A restaurant , then was sold to a developer, who built a community on the property. The town of Simsbury purchased the house in 1960 but did little to maintain it except to paint it in 1976 for the bicentennial. Finally, in 1985, extensive restoration was done to the inside and out. The house is now an inn, cafe and reception hall that hosts wedding parties up to 120 people. The Eno family made many contributions to

104-653: A large part in the party's creation, and the party nominated Oliver Wolcott Jr. (who formerly was a Federalist), for governor and Judge Jonathan Ingersoll (earlier, a Democratic-Republican) for lieutenant-governor. Wolcott was a Congregationalist, but Ingersoll, a well-respected Judge, was a Warden of the Episcopal Trinity Church on the Green in New Haven. In the 1817 elections, the Toleration Party swept control of

130-516: A life tenancy to remain there. She refurbished the home and renamed it Eaglewood, a nod to her last name and to the family's patriotism. She also carried out a series of renovations on it, including landscaping by the Frederick Olmsted firm, who designed Central Park in New York. The home became a very important fixture in Simsbury's social atmosphere in the summers. It overflowed with guests to

156-582: The Toleration-Republican Party and later the American Party or American Toleration and Reform Party , was a political party that dominated the political life of Connecticut from 1817 to 1827. The American name referred not to nativism or the later Know Nothing , which was also known as the American Party, but to the party's national orientation. The party was formed by an alliance of

182-676: The Connecticut Constitutional Convention in October, 111 of the 201 convention delegates belonged to the Toleration Party. The resulting Constitution of 1818 generally adhered to the Tolerationist platform, especially their two major issues: increasing the electorate and the democratic nature of the government and disestablishing the Congregational Church. The party was eventually ratified by a small majority of voters in

208-656: The Federalists and pre-Federalists dating back to discrimination that took place before the American Revolution . However, they avoided joining the Democratic-Republicans, partly due to the party being too radical for some of them, and partly because leading Episcopalians strongly supported the Federalists: the first Episcopalian to be appointed to the state upper house was William Samuel Johnson , who later became

234-545: The General Assembly, with Wolcott and Ingersoll winning election to their executive branch positions, though only by 600 votes. This gave them the political capital to call a convention to draft a new state constitution . But Federalists were still strong and it was clear that a two-thirds majority could not be raised to pass a new constitution. Governor Wolcott appointed the Rev. Harry Croswell , of Trinity Episcopal Church on

260-491: The Green, New Haven, to deliver the Annual Anniversary Sermon on May 14, 1818. The notorious Croswell, a political opponent of President Jefferson and a former Federalist, had renounced politics for religion. His sermon, strongly advocating the strict separation of church and state, was a success: shortly afterwards, the General Assembly voted 81-80 to allow ratification by a simple majority vote. Croswell's sermon

286-688: The Tolerationist platform, especially their two major issues: increasing the electorate and the democratic nature of the government and disestablishing the Congregational Church. By the end of the 1820s, the Tolerationists had developed into the Jacksonian branch of the Connecticut Democratic Party . The Federalist Party had been dominant in Connecticut, holding a near-monopoly on power, since its foundation. The Democratic-Republican Party

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312-491: The college a charter. This was the immediate impetus that led to the creation of the Toleration Party. The Toleration Party was established at a state convention held at New Haven on February 21, 1816. The party was formed by an alliance of the more conservative Episcopalians with the Democratic-Republicans, along with a number of former Federalists and other religious dissenters, specifically Baptists , Methodists , Unitarians , and Universalists . Pierpont Edwards played

338-405: The family summer residence. He built additions onto it in order to accommodate visits from his large family, including numerous bedrooms and a new wing. When the expansion was complete, the house had over thirty rooms. Amos' daughter Antoinette Eno Wood who aided her disgraced brother lived in the house caring for her father. After his death she refused to leave the home and paid her brother, Amos

364-701: The famous Fifth Avenue Hotel at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 23rd Street in Manhattan . It was here that he and relatives established the Second National Bank of New York. The Eno family would visit the house in Simsbury every summer. One of their grandchildren was Gifford Pinchot , conservationist and Governor of Pennsylvania , who was born in the house. In 1884 scandal hit the family when one of Amos' sons, John Chester, embezzled millions of dollars from his father's bank and then fled to Canada to avoid prosecution. After settling his son's debts, Amos retreated to

390-742: The head of the Committee of Style that wrote the U.S. Constitution. Among other irritations, a group of Episcopals had put up bonds for a state bank in 1814 in order to fund an Episcopal college in Cheshire to rival Congregationalist Yale; the Phoenix Bank in Hartford received state funds for Yale College but the Assembly gave nothing to the Episcopal "Bishop's Fund" that was raising money for an Episcopal college and refused

416-621: The more conservative Episcopalians with the Democratic-Republicans , as a result of the discrimination of the Episcopal Church by the Congregationalist state government. In the 1817 elections, the Toleration Party swept control of the General Assembly. At the Connecticut Constitutional Convention in 1817, 111 of the 201 convention delegates belonged to the Toleration Party. The resulting Constitution of 1818 generally adhered to

442-586: The national Democratic-Republican Party, was allied to them. Wolcott was the only governor elected by the ticket; he was in office until 1827, and his successor, Gideon Tomlinson , was nominated by the Democratic-Republican Party itself. By the end of the 1820s the Tolerationists had developed into the Jacksonian branch of the Connecticut Democratic Party , while the Connecticut Federalists and more orthodox Democratic-Republicans had become

468-567: The point that the house would be filled and the guest house would have to be used. She also hosted ice cream socials on the Fourth of July . She also hosted a meeting of the Connecticut Woman's Suffrage League in the home. Present at this meeting was Katharine Houghton Hepburn, mother of actress Katharine Hepburn . Upon her death, the house was passed through her brother Amos Frederick's will to his minor nephew, who eventually sold it. It became

494-546: The state: it would not have passed had the simple majority rule not been passed in May by one vote. The Tolerationist constitution was used in Connecticut until 1965. In the end, "The separation of church and state , and the overthrow of the last theocracy in America would be accomplished by a former printer's devil, scandalmonger, and twice-convicted felon, the Rev. Harry Croswell." The Tolerationist Party, although generally independent of

520-462: The town of Simsbury, including: Elisha Phelps Elisha Phelps (November 16, 1779 – April 6, 1847) was a United States representative from Connecticut . He was the son of Noah Phelps and father of John Smith Phelps who was a United States Representative from Missouri . He was born in Simsbury, Connecticut . In 1800, he was graduated from Yale College and from Litchfield Law School . He

546-691: The wealth of the original occupants. Elisha and his wife had three children: Mary, John , and Lucy. John grew up to be the Governor of Missouri and became a United States Senator . Mary married John Allen, and their son became a representative to the United States Congress . Lucy married Amos Richards Eno of Simsbury. They moved to New York City where he and a cousin opened a profitable dry goods business. Amos parlayed his profits into real estate investment in Manhattan, New York. In 1856–59 he built

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572-652: Was admitted to the bar in 1803 and began practice in Simsbury. Phelps was member of the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1807, 1812, and 1814-1818. He was elected as a Toleration Republican to the Sixteenth Congress (March 4, 1819 – March 3, 1821). He was again a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1821 and served as speaker. He served in the Connecticut Senate 1822-1824 and

598-514: Was elected as an Adams candidate to the Nineteenth and Twentieth Congresses (March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1829). He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1828. After leaving Congress, he was Connecticut comptroller 1831-1837 and again a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1829 and 1835 and served as speaker in 1829. He was appointed a commissioner to revise and codify the state laws in 1835. In 1838 and 1839 , Phelps ran under

624-654: Was established in Connecticut in 1801 but succeeded in winning merely 33 of 200 seats in the Connecticut General Assembly at best. After the War of 1812 (which saw the Hartford Convention and the blue lantern affair in the state), however, Federalist power began to wane. The Federalists were closely aligned with the Congregational church , which was still the established church of Connecticut (Connecticut

650-649: Was one of the last States to disestablish its state church; most States had done so by the 1790s, although the Congregational church effectively remained established in New Hampshire until 1819 and in Massachusetts until 1833). All residents of the state had to pay a tithe , which irritated members of other denominations, especially the Episcopalians . Episcopalians in Connecticut were lately wealthy and at odds with

676-448: Was reprinted in four editions. The most fateful vote in the General Assembly was that whatever constitution was proposed need be ratified by only a majority of the voters. The vote on this point was 81 to 80, with the dissenters favoring anywhere from 60 to 80 percent affirmative vote of the voters or towns. If any of the dissenters' proposals had carried, the constitution, which passed by a vote of 13,918 to 12,364, would have failed. At

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