The Garlick Homestead, OAKLEA (1849 - Present)

Happy New Year and welcome back, Monroe history lovers. This week’s historical spotlight takes us to Upper Stepney to 253 Stanley Road. This address is located between Easton Road (Rt. 59) and Hattertown Road. There, on an impressive, cleared plot of level land, we find the Garlick Homestead, as so labeled in our first supporting image. Our earliest residential maps of Monroe from the mid-1850s associate the home with Daniel Burton Fayerweather. The Monroe assessor’s records indicate it was built in 1849, but there have been reports of earlier dates painted within the home which imply that portions of it are earlier. Are you familiar with this home? It can be easy to miss as the main roads in the area bypass it. Let’s head on over to Upper Stepney and learn some new history.

Samuel Middleton Garlick was born in Derbyshire, England in 1845 and came to America when he was just three years old. Shortly after his arrival, and for reasons unknown, he was orphaned by his parents and was thereafter raised by his aunts in Salem, New Hampshire. Young Samuel excelled throughout his early formal education and eventually became a teacher. His teaching career ranged from institutions in New Hampshire, New York and Connecticut, and he earned his way towards obtaining a medical education at Dartmouth Medical College, where he graduated in 1874. His post-graduate medical education was at Harvard University, where he earned his medical degree. Dr. Garlick eventually settled in Fairfield and married Harriet Trubee Knapp. The couple relocated to State Street in Bridgeport and started their family. It was there that Samuel established a large private practice and was also a member of the staff of consulting surgeons at Bridgeport Hospital. The last 15 years of his medical career were as the medical examiner for the City of Bridgeport.

Dr. Garlick was certainly well-established and successful in his career, but with such success comes a high degree of stress and a need to disconnect from time to time. The Garlick family’s solution was to buy a summer home in Upper Stepney, an easily accessible seasonal haven out in the country away from the ever-bristling energy of the city. Our earliest available records show the Garlicks and their four children began summering in Upper Stepney in 1914, when they formally named their new home OAKLEA. Oak, inspired by the variety of tree surrounding their fine home, and Lea, meaning an open area of grassy or arable land suitable for growing crops. One drive past the property today, and you’ll immediately realize their home was aptly named. The Garlicks soon settled in among the full-time residents of Upper Stepney and were welcomed by our local established organizations throughout town. The family hosted numerous well-attended summer lawn parties in association with Harmony Grange No. 92. Anyone up for a game of badminton or croquet?

In 1924, both Dr. Samuel Middleton Garlick and his wife Harriett Trubee Knapp Garlick passed away in their full-time residence on State Street in Bridgeport, with just over 8 months separating their deaths. They’re buried in Oaklawn Cemetery in Fairfield. After their passing, their children continued their summer tradition at their Upper Stepney home. One sibling named Herbert lived there full-time for a few more years, but it was apparent that their halcyon summer days in the country had passed along with their parents. The home was eventually purchased by a Vermont native named Eugene Langevine. It was now time for a new family to make their own memories and Monroe history in the home. After Eugene passed away in 1951, the home was purchased by Ernest Chase, where it remained in the Chase family’s ownership through 2014.

I hope you enjoyed this week’s historical spotlight on OAKLEA, the Garlick family’s summer home in Upper Stepney. Please share this post with your family and friends. They needn’t be Monroe residents, of course. All are welcome, as you know, same as the Garlick family were back in their day. Thank you for your continued support and interest in Monroe’s rich history as we begin a new and important year. This year America celebrates its semiquincentennial, 250 years since the signing of our Declaration of Independence. Stay tuned for events in town as we celebrate the event. Until next time, is there a doctor in the house?

Regards,

Kevin Daly
Historian, Monroe Historical Society
www.monroecthistory.org
Our Past is Always Present