A Second Look at the First Durham Fair Association Board

According to the Durham Fair website the first officers of the Durham Fair Association were elected in August, 1916 -- the first year the fair was held -- and included President, Harry Ryan,Vice-President, Walter Wilcox, Secretary, Frederick Page and Treasurer, A. Ernest Otte.

All were members of Durham’s Grange no. 57, a fraternal organization designed to support rural and agricultural communities. The Grange ran the first fairs.

Knowing the fair's agricultural heritage, it's tempting to believe that these men were all farmers. They were not. Instead, their backgrounds reflect the make-up of Durham in 1916, a mix of agriculture and small business.[1]

Association President Harry (Henry) P. Ryan was not native to Durham, but he succeeded in making it his home. Ryan was born in Plymouth, Connecticut in May 1878 and moved to Durham sometime before 1900. Ryan worked a variety of jobs in his lifetime but only a few were on a farm.

In 1900, the 22-year-old old Ryan began working as a carpenter. By 1918, he had given up carpentry and worked as an insurance agent for Prudential Insurance. Twelve years later, in 1930, he was involved in farm management – a career he would hold in some form for the rest of his life. Ryan died in Middletown in 1957. He had lived in Durham most of his life.[2]

Walter S. Wilcox, Association Vice-President, was the oldest member of the Association’s board and the only member not involved in Durham’s farm life. Born in September 1866, he was the oldest son of Samuel B. and Clarissa E. Wilcox.

Wilcox grew up around farms. His father Samuel first acted as the farm manager for the industrial school in Middletown. He later worked his own land in Killingworth. Despite his experience, Wilcox never farmed. Between 1900 and 1920, he and his wife Carrie lived in Durham’s town center. He worked as a grocery salesman, a tradesman in one of the town’s two tin factories and a carpenter. His membership in the Grange may have been his way of returning to his roots.[3]

Secretary Frederick Page was the only Association member who could be described as a typical farmer. Son of Henry and Phebe Page, “Fred” was born in January 1874. He grew up on the family farm in Durham. By 1910, he had been married to his wife Gertrude for seven years and had a daughter named Katherine. After World War I, he made a career change and became a state dairy inspector. His daughter would carry on his interest in science. In 1930, she was working as a bacteriologist [4].

Albert Ernest Otte (A.E.), Association Treasurer, had the most unusual background of any of the members of the original board. His parents were German immigrants. Amelia Gastler, his mother, had arrived in America at age 7 in 1870. His father August Otte had come over in 1882 at age 18. Born December 10, 1890, A. Ernest was the second of the couple's three children. Otte settled easily into Durham’s farming life. He worked on his father’s farm through his twenties. World War I disrupted his life only slightly. A. Ernest served as a sergeant in the Durham Home Guard. After his father’s death, he seems to have taken over the family farm. He and his brother Herbert co-ran a farm on Higganum Road for decades. He served on the Association’s board often and acted as the Fair’s president in 1957. He died in September 1976, still a Durham resident.[5]

Sources:

[1] Durham Historical Society, Durham, 1900-1950 (Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2010), 104; digital images, Google Books (http//books.google.com: accessed 17 August 2011). Durham Fair Association, “About the Durham Fair,” Durham Fair (http://www.durhamfair.com/about.html : accessed 17 August 2011).

[2] 1900 U.S. census, Middlesex County, Connecticut, population schedule, Durham, sheet 7, dwelling 186, family 194; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 August 2011); citing NARA microfilm publication T623, roll 141. "World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," digital image, Ancestry.com, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancesry.com : accessed 16 August 2011), Henry Philip Ryan; citing World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, National Archives and Records Administration, M1509, 1570619. 1930 U.S. census, Middlesex County, Connecticut, population schedule, Durham, enumeration district (ED) 4-4, sheet 5-B (penned), dwelling 121, family 135, Harry P. Rynn [Ryan]; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 August 2011); citing NARA microfilm publication T626, roll 271. "U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942,” digital image, Ancestry.com, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancesry.com: accessed 16 August 2011), Henry Philip Ryan; citing Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration, National Archives and Records Administration. Connecticut Department of Health, Connecticut Death Index, 1949-2001 (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2003), Henry P. Ryan; citing Connecticut Department of Health, Connecticut Death Index, 1949-2001 (Hartford, CT, : Connecticut Department of Health.)

[3]1870 U.S. census, Middlesex County, Connecticut, population schedule, Middletown, p. 76 (penned), dwelling 472, family 541, Walter S. Wilcox; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 August 2011); citing NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 108. 1870 U.S. census, Middlesex County, Connecticut, population schedule, Middletown, p. 83 (penned), dwelling 428, family 671, Walter S. Wilcox; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 August 2011); citing NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 108. 1880 U.S. census, Middlesex County, Connecticut, population schedule, Killingworth, enumeration district (ED) 81, p. 62 (penned), dwelling 65, family 71, Walter S. Wilcox; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 August 2011); citing NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 102. 1900 U.S. census, Middlesex County, Connecticut, population schedule, Durham, enumeration district (ED) 273, sheet 5 (penned), dwelling 112, family 115, Walter S. Wilcox; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 August 2011); citing NARA microfilm publication T623, roll 141. 1910 U.S. census, Middlesex County, Connecticut, population schedule, Durham, enumeration district (ED) 296, sheet 1-B (penned), dwelling 12, family 13, Walter S. Wilcox; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 August 2011); citing NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 135. 1920 U.S. census, Middlesex County, Connecticut, population schedule, Durham, enumeration district (ED) 207, sheet 9-A (penned), dwelling 207, family 220, Walter S. Wilcox; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 August 2011); citing NARA microfilm publication T625, roll 187. “Durham’s Industry,” Town of Durham (http://www.townofdurhamct.org/content/16154/16162/18115/18122.aspx: accessed 16 August 2011).

[4] 1900 U.S. census, Middlesex County, Connecticut, population schedule, Durham, enumeration district (ED) 273, sheet 2 (penned), dwelling 29, family 30, Fred H. Page; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 August 2011); citing NARA microfilm publication T623, roll 141. 1910 U.S. census, Middlesex County, Connecticut, population schedule, Durham, enumeration district (ED) 296, sheet 3-A (penned), dwelling 56, family 66, Frederick H. Page; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 August 2011); citing NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 135. 1920 U.S. census, Middlesex County, Connecticut, population schedule, Durham, enumeration district (ED) 207, sheet 5-A (penned), dwelling 111, family 122, Frederick H. Page; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 August 2011); citing NARA microfilm publication T625, roll 207. 1930 U.S. census, Middlesex County, Connecticut, population schedule, Durham, enumeration district (ED) 4-4, sheet 5-A (penned), dwelling 109, family 123, Frederick H. Page; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 August 2011); citing NARA microfilm publication T626, roll 271.

[5] Durham Historical Society, 49. 1900 U.S. census, Middlesex County, Connecticut, population schedule, Durham, enumeration district (ED) 273, sheet 9 (penned), dwelling 227, family 237, Albert E. Otte; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 August 2011); citing NARA microfilm publication T623, roll 141. "World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," digital image, Ancestry.com, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancesry.com : accessed 13 August 2011), Albert Ernest Otte; citing World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, National Archives and Records Administration, M1509, 1570619. 1920 U.S. census, Middlesex County, Connecticut, population schedule, Durham, enumeration district (ED) 207, sheet 6-A (penned), dwelling 136, family 148, A. Ernest Otte; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 August 2011); citing NARA microfilm publication T625, roll 187. 1910 U.S. census, Middlesex County, Connecticut, population schedule, Durham, enumeration district (ED) 296, sheet 4-A (penned), dwelling 82, family 96, Ernest A. Otte; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 August 2011); citing NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 135. “Elected President of Durham Fair,” The Billboard, 23 December 1957, p. 54, c. 3. Ancestry.com, Social Security Death Index (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.Original data - Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File. Social Security Administration. Original data: Social Security Administration. Social Security D), Number: 048-30-2882; Issue State: Connecticut; Issue Date: 1954-1957.