A historical lecture, “The Happy Nine,” will explore the lives of Thomas Bird Coleman’s grandchildren, the fourth generation descended from Robert Coleman, and their roles in Cornwall’s history during the last half of the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries.
The free event will be hosted by the Friends of the Cornwall Iron Furnace, beginning at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 9, at the Freeman Auditorium at Cornwall Manor as well as virtually on Zoom.
The lecture, by Jim Polczynski, will focus on the children of Anne and Bradford Alden (Sarah and Robert Percy), Margaret and William Grisby Freeman (William, Edward, Anne, Margaret, and Isabel), and Sue Ellen and William Coleman (Robert Habersham and Anne Caroline), as well as how Cornwall Manor came to occupy the Coleman estate, which was once part of the vast holdings of the Coleman families.
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Polczynski is a retired engineering consultant with ties to the steel industry. He developed an interest in the iron and steel industry in Lebanon and Cornwall while renovating and restoring the Cornwall Company Store, and he authored the book “Souls of Iron,” which tells the story of the Coleman iron dynasty. He is currently president of the Friends of the Cornwall Iron Furnace.
Cornwall Iron Furnace site administrator Mike Emery will moderate a brief discussion at the end of Polczynski’s presentation. Registration is required only for people who are watching at home via Zoom.
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