Skip to content
Wethersfield Historical Society

Wethersfield Historical Society

History Happens Every Day

Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Pinterest
  • About
    • Wethersfield Historical Society’s Stance Against Discrimination and Oppression
    • Job Openings
    • History
    • Mission
    • Research
    • Staff
    • Board
    • Newsletter
    • Tercentenary Film
    • Our Logo
    • Privacy Policy/Legal
  • Visit
    • XVth Annual Taste of Wethersfield, 2023 Edition
    • 2023 Calendar of Events
    • Exhibition/Properties
      • The Black Experience in Wethersfield and Electronic Submission Page
      • Chronicling COVID-19 and Electronic Submission Form
    • 41st Annual Old Wethersfield Arts and Crafts Fair October 7, 2023 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
    • The Witch of Blackbird Pond Ball, Saturday, October 29
  • Education/Tours
    • For Educators
    • For Scouts and Leaders
    • Adult Tours & Programs
  • Site Rental
    • Rental Facility
      • Film Production at WHS
    • Keeney History
  • Virtual WHS
    • Annual Report 2019 – 2020
    • WHS Book Talk
    • Virtual Exhibit – Chronicling COVID-19
    • Virtual Exhibit – Wethersfield Women
    • Old Wethersfield Lantern Light Tours 2020
    • WHS Virtual Summer Program 2020: Intro to Black History in Wethersfield
    • WHS Virtual Summer Program 2020: I. The American Revolution
    • WHS Virtual Summer Program 2020: II. The CT State Prison at Wethersfield
    • WHS Virtual Summer Program 2020: III. Colonial Wethersfield through the lens of the Ancient Burying Ground
    • WHS Virtual Summer Program 2020: IV. Women of Wethersfield
    • Keeney Koolers Concert Series 2020: The Jolly Beggars and Goza Latin Band
  • Membership
  • Support
    • Membership
    • Annual Fund
    • Leave a Legacy
    • Donation to the Collection
    • Volunteer
  • Contact
  • Donations

WHS Board Scholarship 2014 Winning Essay

Home » Articles From The Community » WHS Board Scholarship 2014 Winning Essay

The Governing and Advisory Boards of Wethersfield Historical Society  award a scholarship to a graduating High School Senior. To be eligible students must have volunteered at the historical society and/or any taken the Wethersfield High School’s  Wethersfield Studies class. The recipient is then chosen on the basis of a short essay submitted to our committee. In 2014 the topic was “In your opinion, what person, place or event has made a significant contribution to the history of Wethersfield, past or present?”  The subject the 2014 winning essay was Colonel John Chester and was written by  Kassandrah Banks.

Each year at the Memorial Day parade in Old Wethersfield, one can hear the ancient sounds of fifes and drums resonating from the Col. John Chester Fife and Drum Corps. The corps represents Colonel John Chester, a local born January 18th, 1749. This historical figure graduated from Yale College and soon became lieutenant of the local militia. The fife and drum corps that honors him, the oldest junior ancient fife and drum corps, continues to perform in his name to this very day. This man did many things for his town and for the freedom of our country.

Col. John Chester is recognized for his success as a Lieutenant in the Connecticut Colony’s Militia in 1771. We commemorate him for his leadership qualities shown during the Revolutionary War. Chester brought a group of one hundred men up to Massachusetts, where they settled in Roxbury, and played an important part in the Battle of Bunker Hill. Chester was discharged from military obligation, but re-enlisted under George Washington’s request. He was major but was named colonel in 1776. We also note him for his work after his days on the battlefields. After his retirement in the military, he became a Justice of Peace and a judge of Hartford County Court. He also worked in the General Assembly and as a supervisor of the United States Department of Revenue for the District of Connecticut. John Chester, a resident of Wethersfield, made a significant impact to our success in the Revolutionary War and to our town of Wethersfield.

I joined the Col. John Chester Fife and Drum Corps when I was four years old and have played in the fife line for several years now. Over ten years ago I saw the corps marching through Old Wethersfield during the Memorial Day parade and I immediately wanted to be a part of the organization. Since then, I’ve performed in hundreds of events, such as parades and memorial services. The uniforms we wear today are adaptations of the real ones worn by the Wethersfield Company, and the music is mostly from colonial times. “We try to keep the music alive.” said director, Arthur Hutchinson.

This corps has been a significant part of my life and I have dedicated many hours to practicing every Wednesday night with the corps. I’ve made many great memories through this organization, but every once in a while we should be reminded of why we represent John Chester. Every year at the Memorial Day Parade our director brings all the members to Chester’s burial stone and talks about him and his astonishing achievements. It’s important for people such as John Chester to be recognized even hundreds of years after their time. I think the corps does an excellent job of representing not only John Chester, but also for representing colonial Wethersfield. Col. John Chester made a very significant contribution to the town of Wethersfield, and this corps has kept his name alive and has given him the praise he deserves.

marinersmuster

Works Cited:

“Col. John Chester’s Fight For American Independence.” Wethersfield Historical Society.  N.p., n.d. 1 April 2014

Howard, Nora. Stories of Wethersfield. Wethersfield. White Publishing, LLC, 1997. Print.

Hutchinson, Arthur. Personal Interview. 2 April. 2014.

Wieder M., Lois. The Wethersfield Story. Stonington: The Pequot Press, Inc., 1996. Print.

 

 

Search

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
Home | About Us | Visit | Education/Tours | Site Rental | Support | Contact UsThe construction of this website has been made possible in part, by a Strategic Technology Grant from the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.
Proudly powered by WordPress