Can one person make a difference? Yes.

The following is a true story. It's an American story. Maybe the most American story.

Stick around to the end.

— Andrei Cherny (@AndreiCherny) November 23, 2020

(P.S. To read this story in a thread on Twitter, click on this embedded tweet.)

Thank you to Meriden Historical Society and Meriden Public Library, commemorating the historic 150th anniversary (to the day) of the completion of the Jedediah Wilcox Mansion with a virtual program presented via Zoom by local historian Brian Cofrancesco along with lively commentary by teacher and historian Justin Piccirillo (who also is an author with a new book about the history of Hubbard Park that will be published in 2021; story linked here).

Jedediah Wilcox “served as President of the Meriden Horse Association in 1868 and welcomed President Ulysses S. Grant to Meriden during his 1870 visit.” From Find A Grave Memorial. Learned that Wilcox was a horse person.

Learned much about Wilcox from viewing this program and the research by Cofrancesco. Meriden, New Haven, Westfield. That Wilcox was a horse person.

“Once called “the Croesus of Meriden” (Connecticut) Jedediah Wilcox, was born in the Westfield section of Middletown in 1827. He was the sixth of twelve children and the brother of businessman Dennis Coburn Wilcox and industrialist, mayor and high school namesake Horace Cornwell Wilcox. Jedediah moved to Meriden, CT in 1845 at the age of 18 with no known education but a passion and dream of starting a successful business. He resided in Meriden until 1874, and during his time here founded and was involved with several businesses and companies. His most successful businesses included J. Wilcox & Company, Colt & Wilcox Carpet Bag Factory, Wilcox Britannia Company/Wilcox Silver Plate Company, Meriden Fire Insurance Company, Meriden Tape Company, American Copper & Brass Company, American Metal Company, and Meriden Steam Printing Company, among others, though his leading industries were carpet bags, ladies hoop skirts and corsets, and silver. He served on several boards of directors including the First National Bank of West Meriden and the Home Insurance Company of New Haven. In 1867, he was appointed to serve on a special town committee which secured a charter for the City of Meriden and established the city's limits. Later that year, he was the unsuccessful mayoral candidate in the City's first election but served as a city Alderman. He served as President of the Meriden Horse Association in 1868 and welcomed President Ulysses S. Grant to Meriden during his 1870 visit.”

Another shard surfaces. Page 236 in Transactions of the Connecticut State Agricultural Society by Connecticut State Agricultural Society, 1859. Original from: University of Chicago Digitized: June 18, 2013. Author: Connecticut State Agricultural Society. Available to read free on Google Books. Fascinating for a person who loves equines, history, research. This adds another dimension to the man, community, connections. Even to the building which once stood and to the hope that one day a marker will be placed for Mr. Wilcox and his wife. (Include a depiction of the mansion and a horse on this stone marker, please.)

Circle back. Navigate forward. Batten down the hatches and survive, help others to do the same.

Stories. Music. Outdoors even in November, nature.

Give thanks. For all those who choose the right thing to do and set the example of competence, self-control, courage in the face of storms in life. Then and now collide in the present.

Due to an automotive accident, avoided death but there is now a journey which is teaching patience and hope. Patience.

Learning that a business may focus on profit at the cost of compassion and competence. Yet another smaller company founder will stand firm to help.

In a life where writing is like breathing but now doing words on a screen takes days and editing (which is like surgery for words) is stymied, will highlight here some of the people and learning found via Twitter which also provides handholds while climbing rough terrain in life.

Holidays are constructs. Be grateful to be alive and well because when all is pared away, down to the bone that is more than enough. Recalling holiday meals in chow halls decorated with festive symbols, far away from home when a hot meal and strong black coffee with colleagues and a call home was plenty. Never again was a home-cooked meal taken for granted.

Learning about history while on a journey of another story in a pandemic. Connections, community, working remote. Write. Connecting artifacts, place, time during a journey that was not planned but am here, still alive to make it. Focus. Rest. Seek excellence and commitment.

Mask on. Wash hands. Avoid air that is warm and re-circulated throughout a building shared breathing. Find strategies to recover yet avoid a contagious virus in a pandemic. Hold on.

Time and place. What makes a place unique sometimes takes going away to come back. Thank you to Meriden Historical Society and Meriden Public Library, commemorating the historic 150th anniversary (to the day!) of the completion of the Jedediah Wilcox Mansion with a virtual program presented via Zoom by local historian Brian Cofrancesco along with lively commentary by local historian and teacher Justin Piccirillo (who has a new book about the history of Hubbard Park that will be published in 2021; related story linked here). By the way, Cofrancesco, a Meriden resident, is head of education at Connecticut's Old State House in Hartford.

Because designers and artists, architecture and collectors know Meriden, Connecticut around the globe, yet locally many overlook the rich legacy still here for research and connections.

Charles Parker of Meriden, Connecticut is long gone, but his well-designed and manufactured products stand the test of time. Those include a piano stool that swiveled to adjust height and rolled easily. In a pre-pandemic exhibit on Meriden Green, members of the Meriden Historical Society displayed one of these along with related information about Parker.

Recently unearthed are the remaining “bones” of a Parker piano stool. More about that in part two, still being written. Meanwhile, as one fact fits in with all the others by listening and then asking questions, reading. Did Mr. Wilcox walk to work from his home facing Broad Street to the his business complex on Pratt Street? Horses. Chalker & Fenn.

One more story for the week that is Thanksgiving in the original sense of the word. Witness what one person can do for humanity, a community.

You can watch the live feed (and access recording later) at https://t.co/7kU8ut4b1Z

— Dan Skinner (@danielrskinner) November 18, 2020

“The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating, that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored, because it cannot survive their being repeated.”

— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Chief of Counsel for the United States, opening statement to the International Military Tribunal, Nov. 21, 1945, in the Palace of Justice at Nuremberg, Germany.

To be continued. For helpful places, people, tips in a pandemic, visit our Resources page. Wear a mask and keep washing your hands and avoiding exposure whenever possible. We'll get through this together.