Sexing Chickens

The Town of Enfield, Connecticut is rich with the kind of stories other towns can only dream about - from a purported shark attack in a Freshwater Swimming Hole (called Twenty-Foot) to a California Miner blasting for buried pirate treasure on the Scantic River (as directed by a Boston Spiritualist).

The forgotten narrative of Sugar Ray Robinson fighting as an amateur and Gorgeous George of Hollywood wrestling as a professional in the 3500-seat outdoor boxing arena in Thompsonville is retold for a new generation of interested readers.

Few remember the 300 pound 19-year-old Carlo DeCaro who was one of the last people put to death in the electric chair in Connecticut for the cold-blooded murder of his neighbor as they traveled to work in Somersville one Saturday morning.

The tale is told of Patsy Napolitano, the Fireworks King of nearby Springfield, Massachusetts, who built a pyrotechnics manufacturing business on Brainard Road in the northeast section of Enfield, only to have the manufactory erupt in a massive explosion in 1930 with, surprisingly, no loss of life.

The story is presented of a current resident who believes her house on the banks of Shaker Pines Lake is being visited by the spirit of the deceased Shaker Elder George W. Clark. The reason behind the ghost's presence is unclear, but his apparition has been viewed by at least four separate people.

What about the secrets of the Vail Sanitarium on Enfield Street? The tale of the escape and subsequent search for inmate Samuel F. Crowell, of Manchester, Connecticut, is recalled, and the suspected, unfortunate circumstances revealed that drove the young man to commit suicide.

The forgotten history of the ancient protective group the Enfield Society for the Detection of Thieves and Robbers is recounted, adding more than 27 years of content to its archives, and establishing a new date for its inception.

Add to these stories the UFO sighting at the Osborne Prison Farm, the Pilche's Chicken Hatchery, national figures Paul Robeson and Thomas Ash, and you begin to acquire a taste for the eclectic history of this north central Connecticut town.

Strap yourself in for a fun ride...