The house in which Edward and Ann Ellis Colver lived from 1664 to 1678 has stood for 333 years at its original site, now identified as 279 Col. Ledyard Highway, Old Mystic, CT. The house is maybe the oldest center-chimney Colonial in America. "At least the oldest one for sale!" ( Yankee magazine.) Since 1993, the present owner has been interested in selling it. It is not registered as a historic house and it appears that there are no legal restrictions against demolition or remodeling. When I first visited the house in 1991 on a tour with the national Colver/Culver family reunion, I immediately saw a need to set up a more dependable preservation program than the good intentions of private owners. We are lucky that it has not found a buyer yet, but we should not push our luck too far. It is time to act.

About myself. My Colver lineage is as follows: Ray¹⁰, Andrew⁹, Alfred B.Collver⁸, Gabriel⁷, John Culver⁶, Jabez Collver⁵, John Culver⁴, John³, John², Edward¹.

After the Revolutionary War, Jabez led a party of several Colver families to Norfolk County, Ontario, where they are well remembered as pioneer settlers. One of the youngest in the caravan from New Jersey was Gabriel, who later returned to the U.S., where his son Alfred was born. Alfred married Ruth Rice, and when they set out on the Oregon Trail in 1852 they had three children and a fourth on the way. In all they had 11 children, giving the Collver clan a fast start on the Oregon frontier. A century later, still carrying on the trail blazer tradition, with a wife for the global age (Mitsuko Watanabe, from Kyoto, Japan), and a Ph.D. in sociology from U.C. Berkeley, I came to Long Island, NY, in 1967 to teach at the new State University of NY at Stony Brook, and to have a part in Nelson Rockefellers bold plan for public higher education in a state where private schools had prevailed for centuries.

A preservation plan. The plan for preservation of the 1664 Colver homestead is just in its exploratory stage. Here are some early ideas. The original asking price was $396,000 for the house and 52 acres of land. Five acres have been sold and a subdivision is being worked on to sell off a substantial part of the remaining 47. This will leave about 8-10 acres for the historic property. Let's assume that $400,000 will be needed for the project, including expenses and some fixup costs. If I can collect pledges for that amount, the next step might be to set up a non-profit tax-exempt organization, to be called "The Edward and Ann Colver Heritage Trust." It will need a board of trustees, say 3-5 people to make decisions and sign documents and contracts. As soon as it is legal, the trust can make an offer on the property, contingent on successful completion of the fund raising campaign. At that time, contributors can begin to send in their tax-deductible checks. Meanwhile the trustees will go ahead with plans for maintenance and operation of the property as a historic site. This will include registering it as a historic house and having it listed on tour guides of Mystic, home of the famous Mystic colonial seaport. We would do all feasible to publicize to historical societies, museums, schools for educational purposes, etc. Once the funds are in, we could make the purchase and take over management of the property. A caretaker, either live-in or living nearby, would have to be engaged, and we would need a program of year-round operations--when to have the house open for visitors, what items to display as in a museum, what items to offer for sale, special seasonal events, whether to operate the house as a bed-and-breakfast, etc. Furnishings would have to be rounded up from local sources by donations or loans. Over the longer run, I can see having a continuing membership with modest annual dues, a newsletter, an educational program not only to present at the house but also to take on the road to family reunions, historic society events and the like. In my opinion, it is important to have a large number of contributors. I would prefer to see hundreds of people making smaller contributions so that we can all feel that we own a piece of this heritage and that it is our gift to the people of America today and our legacy to the 21^st century.

The property. The land, mostly wooded, has 320' frontage on Col. Ledyard Highway and slopes down away from the road. The house sits well back below the road and is not readily noticed by passers by. There is room for a screened parking area near the road that would not intrude on the original colonial look of the house. It is only about 3-4 miles from Mystic Seaport where thousands of visitors come with colonial history on their minds. The Wightman Burying Ground , where Edward, Ann and at least 14 other Colvers are buried, is maybe a half mile away and easily included with a house tour. The house is a two-story center fireplace design with a total of 2,256 sq. feet, of post & beam construction, with 5 fireplaces, gunstock posts, chestnut & oak wide board floors, meticulously restored & updated with modern utilities.

Edward and Ann Ellis Collver. Edward Colver was a Puritan who came over at the age of about 25 with the younger governor Winthrop as a member of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635. He was among the founders of Dedham MA. Besides working as a millwright and wheelwright and part-time farmer, he was active in military campaigns, in which his special contribution was to enlist the aid of the Mohegans against the Pequots, who were allied with the Dutch. In appreciation for his services, he was given grants of land. He married Ann Ellis, and they had nine children. Edward is the only known immigrant to America with the name Colver and, there being no other contenders, he and Ann Ellis have the distinction of being the common ancestors of all Colvers, Culvers and Collvers in the U.S. and Canada.

The appeal. This campaign needs contributions of several kinds, the most critically needed being capital for the purchase and establishment of the historic site. Please fill in the attached form and return it to me quickly so that I can get an idea of how popular this cause may be.

                           Andrew Collver

                           acollver@notes.cc.sunysb.edu