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Wethersfield Historical Society

Wethersfield Historical Society

History Happens Every Day

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About the Author: Thomas H. Alton

Home » Articles From The Community » About the Author: Thomas H. Alton

I was born on January 9, 1958 in Manchester, Connecticut, a city located about eight miles east of Hartford.  I grew up in Bolton, a small rural town just east of Manchester.   My parents were chiropractors and had their practices in Bolton.

After I attended local schools in Bolton and Manchester, I went on to Boston College, where I would receive my undergraduate degree in history and French in 1980.  One highlight of my university years was my trip to Paris in 1979 after my junior year to take courses in French art, language,  and history.  In addition to my visits to important art museums and monuments in the Paris region, I also visit the department stores in Paris to compare and contrast the operations and architectures of that city’s stores with those of American stores.

After college, I held various positions, ranging from that of a bank teller, to a driver for a Stamford-based limousine service.  Although I had lived in New Haven, Bridgeport, and New York City, I was mindful of my Connecticut heritage.  I was also keenly aware of Connecticut’s architectural heritage.   I now live in Philadelphia, a city that has a long heritage in the arts and sciences.  I now work as a title searcher and participate in that city’s arts.  I am a member of Choral Arts Philadelphia as well as a member of my local church’s choral group.  Yet, during my vacations, I do return to Connecticut and visit sites that remind me of my family heritage.  Currently, my brother and I are working on our family genealogy and can now number several founders of the City of Hartford among our ancestors.

My interest in G. Fox and Company’s history began shortly after that store had closed in 1993.  My family were frequent shoppers there during my childhood and youth.  G. Fox was one of Hartford’s most important landmarks and I felt that future generations should know what was like to visit such a store.  Luckily, the Connecticut Historical Society had a good collection of documents and memorabilia relating to G. Fox and, during my annual visits to the CHS, I look forward to uncovering a new story that made the store so special for generations of Connecticut families.  I am also planning to write an imaginary account of a visit to G. Fox & Company in the present time–a ‘what if’ scenario if that store had survived the economic and social upheavals of the past several decades.  It should be noted that a few European stores continue to operate to this day, notably Harrods of London, Kaufhaus des Westerns (KaDeWe)of Berlin, and the Galeries Lafayette and Printemps stores in Paris.

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Articles from the Community

  • Articles from the Community
    • 284 Brimfield Road
    • A Birds-eye View of Wethersfield's History
    • A Boyhood Visit to G. Fox & Company
    • A Brief History of Wethersfield United Methodist Church
    • A History of Franklin Avenue
    • A History of Temple Beth Torah
    • A Life of William Beadle
    • A Shepard and his Flock: Counting Chairs and Tracking Down Apprentices at the Wethersfield Historical Society
    • A Whaling Family
    • About the Authors
    • Black History in Wethersfield
    • Childhood Memories of the Wethersfield Homefront
    • Colonel John Chester
    • Connecticut at War: 1634 – 1781
    • Connecticut's Black Governors
    • Connecticut's Witch Trials
    • Dividend
    • Fairway 6
    • Foodways
    • Francesco A. Lentini – Three-Legged Wonder
    • Frank and Lou
    • George Whitefield – The Billy Graham of Colonial America
    • Governor Thomas Welles
    • Griswoldville Connecticut (1680-1987)
    • History of Public Libraries in Wethersfield
    • History of the Church of the Incarnation
    • History of Trinity Parish (Episcopal)
    • History of Wethersfield Library
    • Horribles Parade
    • Horseradish King
    • Houses of Worship
    • Irish Immigrants in Wethersfield 1860 to 1900: Outcasts to Neighbors
    • Issacson's Field Plane Crash
    • Jared Butler Standish
    • Meet Mr. Wethersfield: Alfred W. Hanmer
    • Mill Woods Park: A History
    • One Branch of the Josiah Willard Family of Wethersfield
    • Rediscovering Benjamin Lee Whorf
    • Religion in Glastonbury: the Congregationalists
    • Reverend and Colonel Elisha Williams
    • Rocky Hill: A History
    • Sgt. Maj. Robert H. Kellogg
    • Slavery and Wethersfield
    • Sophia Woodhouse's Grass Bonnets
    • Still Fighting Fires After All These Years
    • Table of Contents
    • The "Conference State"
    • The Blue Violet
    • The Chesters of Blaby Leicestershire England
    • The Contentious Life of James Wakelee
    • The Eel-Catcher’s Travels: Robert Seeley 1602-1667
    • The First Church of Christ
    • The Undoing of Silas Deane
    • The Welles Family and the Establishment of Newington
    • The Wethersfield Elms
    • The Wethersfield Meteorites
    • The Woman Came To Do Laundry
    • They Even Survived Rocks on the Track
    • Thomas Hickey: George Washington's Wethersfield Kidnapper
    • Town's Biggest Fire
    • Twentieth-Century Wethersfield
    • Wethersfield Almshouse 1843-44
    • Wethersfield Enters the Revolution
    • Wethersfield Evangelical Free Church
    • Wethersfield Illinois
    • Wethersfield in the Civil War by Wes Christensen
    • Wethersfield Prison Blues
    • Wethersfield Street Life 1634-1995
    • Wethersfield Summers
    • Wethersfield: A History
    • Wethersfield: The Cradle of American Seed Companies
    • Wethersfield's "Other" Plane Accidents
    • Wethersfield's Homebuilders: 1634 – 1900
    • Wethersfield's Homebuilders: 1900 – 1930
    • Wethersfield's Homebuilders: 1940s and Beyond
    • Wethersfield's Top 10 Natural Disasters
    • Wethersfield’s Dinosaur Footprints
    • Wethersfield's Glorious Baseball History
    • Who was Charles Wright?
    • William W. Anderson Veteran of the Allied Invasion of Normandy June 6
    • Wintergreen Woods: A History
Wethersfield Historical Society Wethersfield Historical Society
150 Main Street, Wethersfield, CT 06109
p. (860) 529-7656 f. (860) 563-2609
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