George Barnes bought 847 Asylum Avenue

1. Henry K. Morgan and George D. Morgan were acting as trustees.
2. Horace Cornwall notarized the deed
3. George Burnham recorded the document in the land records and collected a fee of $9.

Right now, this is the earliest reference I have to 847 Asylum Avenue with a building on it.

1. The deed does not include a street address, but the 1869 Baker & Tilden Atlas of Hartford City and County shows property owned by George Barnes and bounded by J. B. Burr, James Goodwin, and Trinity Episcopal Church right where 847 Asylum Avenue would be today.
2. Henry and George were likely acting as trustees for the estate of Joseph Morgan, and here’s where things get a little confusing:

• As noted above, the 1869 atlas has James Goodwin as owner of the land to the south of 847 Asylum, not Joseph Morgan, his estate, or his heirs. Possibly the legal description hadn’t caught up to the new owners of record, which remains common even today.
• Nevertheless, Joseph Morgan built a house at 108 Farmington Avenue, which he gave to his son Junius as a wedding present. Joseph Morgan died in 1847, and Junius and his family, including his son J. P., moved to Boston in 1851.
• Henry and George did not, as far as I can tell, have any ancestors, siblings, or descendants named Joseph, nor were they related to Junius or J. P.
• George lived in Irvington, NY, but Henry spent his entire life in Hartford. In 1857, he bought 108 Farmington Avenue, and he lived there until his death in 1911.
• In 1913, when J. P. died, one of the articles that the Courant ran included a photo of the “Morgan Homestead,” and while the caption didn’t give a street address, it did say the house was currently occupied by W. D. Morgan.
• Henry had a son named William Denison Morgan, and after William and his wife Gabriella were married in 1913, they lived at 108 Farmington Avenue.
• So: although they weren’t any relation to Joseph, it appears that Henry and George were acting as trustees for Joseph’s estate.  Makes perfect sense, right?

George Barnes will sell the property to O. L. hatch on January 5, 1876.

1. The legal description of 847 Asylum Avenue at this point in time was:

• North: 65’ +/- along Asylum Avenue
• East: ~210’ along land owned by J. B. Burr
• South: 75’ +/- along land owned by Joseph Morgan (deceased) and Trinity Episcopal Church
• West: 210’ +/- along land owned by Charles C. Strong

2. Horace Cornwall was a justice of the peace.
3. George J. Burnham was the Hartford Town Clerk.
4. Today, George Barnes would have paid $191,052.36 for this property.
5. The fee to record the deed would be $191.05 today, or 0.1% or the purchase price.

Hartford, CT, Land Records.  “Warranty Deed,” Hartford, CT land records, October 3, 1867 (v. ?, p. 700).