Hidden Gems of Hartford and Tolland Counties

ELLINGTON, CT — The latest installment of the Hidden Gems series takes us to a roadside memorial in Ellington that local folklore calls perhaps the oldest in the nation and at least one of the earliest.

The stone dedicated to 10-year-old Samuel Field Knight dates back to a November day in 1812, when the young man fell from an ox cart and was run over. It is situated on the side of the pavement along the west side of the south end of Pinney Street, near the Windermere Avenue intersection.

(Chris Dehnel/Patch)

According to the book, "Ellington: Chronicles of Change," compiled by Dorothy Cohen in 1987, young Samuel was driving the cart by himself to get cider from Col. Joseph Abbott's Cider Mill, located at the south end of Pinney Street.

This book also refers to Pinney Street as the place of Samuel's gravesite, but some historians believe he is buried at Ellington Center Cemetery and the Pinney Street site is a roadside memorial.

Burial records are not available to determine where he is actually laid to rest.

Samuel was the son of Stephanus Knight and his first wife, Hannah Ayers Knight, who are both buried at Enfield Street Cemetery in Enfield with other family members.

(Chris Dehnel/Patch)

The stone at the memorial reads:

Kild in this place
Samuel Field Knight
by a cartwheal roling over his head
in the 10th year of his age
Nov 8th 1812
But O the shaft of death was flung
And cut the tender flower down

____

The Hidden Gems series features out-of-the-way mom and pop restaurants, small specialty stores you may have never heard of, little-known historical markers or beautiful nature spots that may be a bit off the beaten path, all located within Hartford and Tolland counties. Do you have a favorite "hidden gem" in the area that you wish to see featured in this column? Email your ideas to tim.jensen@patch.com.

Other columns in this series:

• Carol's Lunchbox
• Country Casuals
• Dakota Restaurant
• Country Cobbler
• Beau's Burger Shack
• Daniel Glazier Tavern
• Mount Southington Ski School
• Awards & More
• Marquis de Lafayette Monument
• The Little Red Store
• River Bend Bookshop
• Gerry's Donuts
• Traveler Restaurant
• First Decorated Christmas Tree
• The Stanley-Whitman House
• Vernon's Santa House
• Vintage Radio and Communications Museum of Connecticut
• Old Country Banquet Hall
• Brazilian Gula Grill
• Thomas' Smokey Pit Stop
• Congregational Church of Burlington labyrinth
• Noah Webster House
• The Bushnell's Green Room Wall
• Belding Wildlife Management Area
• The Aborn Castle
• Heublein Tower
• Birthplace of Jonathan Edwards
• Grave of Revolutionary War Soldier Heman Baker
• Jessica's Garden, Lobster and Ice Cream Shack
• Shade Swamp Sanctuary
• Ken's Corner Breakfast & Lunch
• Tolland Red and White
• The Packing House
• Cold Harbor Seafood
• Nye Holman State Forest/Heron Cove Park
• Hosmer Mountain Soda Shack
• Connecticut Trolley Museum
• Matterhorn Mini Golf
• Wood Memorial Library & Museum
• Hastings Farm
• Liquid Nirvana
• Iwo Jima Survivors Memorial Park
• Academy Hall
• Southington Drive-In
• Little Theatre of Manchester at Cheney Hall
• Somersvillage Gifts & Gourmet Baskets
• New England Civil War Museum
• The Pinchot Sycamore
• Stafford Palace Theater
• Mansfield Hollow State Park
• Old Tolland County Jail and Museum
• Hill-Stead Museum
• Mark's Restaurant