Provenance

Commissioned by Jonathan Rose, Sr. (1668–1736), Branford. Conn., for his son Jonathan Rose, Jr. (1698–1768), Branford, Conn., and Abigail Rose (née Abigail Barker, 1670–1755), Branford, Conn., around 1724; by inheritance to Jonathan Rose, Jr., 1736 [see note 1]; by inheritance to their son Justus Rose (1732–1810), Branford, Conn., and his wife Lydia Rose (née Lydia Russell, 1741–1831), Branford, Conn., 1768; by inheritance to their son Jonathan Rose (1781–1862), North Branford, Conn., and his wife Harriet Rose (née Harriet Woodward, 1780–1836), North Branford, Conn., 1810 [see note 2]. Purchased by William B. Curtiss, Jr. (1844–1910), North Branford, Conn., in 1868 [see note 3]. Purchased by New Haven Water Company, New Haven, Conn., 1922 [see note 4]; sold to the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 1926

Note 1: The house was built by Jonathan Rose, Sr. around the time of his son’s marriage to Abigail Barker, performed by Rev. Samuel Russell on November 23, 1724. Jonathan Sr. transferred titled of the property in his will, drawn up in 1728 and executed in 1736, bequeathing “to my well beloved son Jonathan Rose all my farm or land at Goshen in aforesaid Branford with the house and barn thereunto belonging where he now lives as a good estate of inheritance in fee simple” (copy of Jonathan Rose, Sr., will in curatorial object file). Prior to 1831 North Branford was part of Branford.

Note 2: The will of Justus Rose, drawn up August 26, 1801 and executed 1811, gave one-third of the house and a life tenancy to his wife with the balance going to their son Jonathan (copy of Justus Rose will in curatorial file 1926.114). Jonathan Rose and Harriet Woodward were wed September 8, 1803. Harriet gave birth to three sons and two daughters, and died March 31, 1836. Jonathan remarried to Sally Baldwin Harrison (1791–1880) of Branford on October 12, 1837, officiated by Rev. Timothy P. Gillett. It was also Sally’s second marriage; her first husband, General Philo Harrison, died July 18, 1829. Jonathan predeceased Sally and it is unknown if she or one of her step-children inherited the property.

Note 3: Various local histories have called the property the Rose-Curtiss House, after its first and last private owners. It is unclear which Curtiss owned the house. Rev. William B. Curtiss (1812–1888) was a clergyman of note and the likely purchaser of the property, although the United States censuses for 1870, 1880, and 1900 list William Sr. as a resident and his son, William Jr., as a farmer and head of household. William Jr. married Bertha Grant (1847–1883) and then in 1885 remarried to Katherine A. Curtiss (1864–unknown). It is unknown if William Jr. predeceased his wife or if she inherited the property.

Note 4: The New Haven Water Company purchased some forty properties in North Branford in order to flood the area and create a reservoir called Lake Galliard. On the advice of architect J. Frederick Kelly and antiquarian George Dudley Seymour and using funds provided by Francis P. Garvan, Yale purchased and extracted two first floor rooms and the staircase prior to the demolition of the house (curatorial object file).