There are several detailed accounts of the Sandford family’s early roots in England and colonial America.  It is generally agreed that three Sandford brothers, Robert, Thomas, and Andrew sailed with their uncle Andrew Warner around 1634, landing in Cambridge and soon establishing themselves in the Hartford Colony which had begun to establish itself as an alternative to the Massachusetts Bay Colony.  They were neither rich nor poor, but set out for new adventures and opportunities in a time when the flow of colonists from England was increasing and the days of extreme danger of the early colonial voyages had subsided.  We will look closely at the Sandford migration in future posts, but a brief synopsis is that Robert remained in Hartford and Thomas established himself in nearby Milford, both to found branches of the Sandford family that would thrive.  Andrew encountered serious problems and it is not clear that his branch endured.  

Robert lived in Hartford for the remainder of his life, dying there around 1676.  He and his wife Ann Howes had at least nine children, two of whom are known to have played interesting roles in American history.  Son Ezekiel moved to Long Island to found our branch of the Sandford family tree.  Son (and 8th great uncle) Zachariah remained in Hartford and is the subject of today’s post.

The story of the Charter Oak from the early history of Connecticut is commemorated today by the image of the oak tree on the back of the Connecticut state quarter.  The story tells of the radical Hartford Charter, a lengthy document which afforded enhanced rights of self-governance and thus differentiated the Hartford Colony from the stricter Massachusetts Colony.   Some of the ideas of the charter are thought to have eventually made their way into the Connecticut State and United States Constitutions. The British were not amused and made repeated attempts to seize the charter.  (It is difficult today to understand the thinking that seizing a piece of paper could make such a threat go away.)

According to the story, things came to a head in a 1687 meeting in the Hartford meeting house/inn, where the British Governor General had arrived with the mission to seize the charter once and for all.  At dusk following an afternoon of debates and threats, the colonial town leaders finally capitulated and brought the charter into the room, laying it on the table in front of the governor.  But at that moment, the colonists simultaneously extinguished the all lights in the room, plunging it into darkness, and when the candles or lanterns were relit, the charter had vanished.  It had been spirited away by Joseph Wadsworth and hidden in an oak tree a half mile away. 

The tale, bordering on legend and mythology, is told today with a degree of caution and skepticism, particularly the drama of simultaneously extinguishing what must have been dozens of light sources.  But the overall legend has enough credence that in 1999 the United States minted a quarter to commemorate it.  In today’s Hartford it is impossible to go four blocks without seeing a business, building or bridge with Charter Oak in the name.

It is also not difficult to find accounts showing that the Inn was owned by Sergeant Zachariah Sandford, Robert’s son, and that he was the host of the 1687 meeting.  Zachariah lived from 1644 to 1714 in Hartford. He was the grandson-in-law of Jeremy Adams, one of the original founders of Hartford, who left the inn to his granddaughter Sarah and husband Zachariah when he died in 1683.

The oak lived until 1856 and today is commemorated by a stone monument just south of downtown Hartford.  There is no sign of the inn at its former location which today is a town plaza across from the First Church of Christ and the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. 

The old Hartford Cemetery, across the street from where the Inn used to stand, has tombstones for several Sandfords including the young son of Zachariah and Sarah, who died in 1683, and other descendants of the original Robert.  

From the Joe Sandford Living History Interviews, 1973

This comes back to the days of the Ontario National Bank following the First World War, [me] being Vice-President of the Bank and so forth.  Mr. Bucknell (1) had owned a farm back in Burroughs, Michigan, and he owned property up here across the creek from <unclear>.  He came into the bank one day, and he said, “Mr. Sandford, as you probably know, I own ten acres of land in Los Angeles, at the corner of Sunset Blvd. and Western, and Fox Film Co. is leasing it, but this is Mr. so-and-so, and he sold it for me, and we want you to have the escrow.”  Well, we went back in the back room of the bank, and this was the story.  The Fox Film Corp. had a lease (2) on the property, and if someone gave an offer and wanted to buy it, they had thirty days to meet that offer, so they could protect themselves. So we drew up the agreement, and ten acres at that time was to sell for $60,000. After I had drawn up all the agreements, they asked me to notify Mr. Wurtzel, the head of Fox Film Corp., so he could come out with another offer right away.  So I notified him in a fair, legal way that Mr. Bucknell had entered into escrow for this ten acre piece for sixty-thousand dollars.

Maybe ten days later, Mr. Bucknell and his real estate man from Hollywood came in. “Mr. Sandford, my real estate friend here has got another offer.  A man’s offered $80,000.  We want you to draw up a new escrow. We want you to notify Mr. Wurtzel (3) of this $80,000 offer before he accepts the sixty.”  You see the legal point there?  “And Mr. Sandford, if you’ll do that,” Mr. Bucknell said, “I’m going to buy you a new suit of clothes.” Now this was 1920. Well, I’d never accepted anything like that.  Anyway.  But they said, “You’ve got to get that notice in to him, serve him, and so forth. It’s worth your time.” So I took the electric car, went to Upland, changed to the electric car going into Los Angeles to Sixth and Spring, where the terminal was. I took the electric car out to Hollywood, and got over to the corner of Sunset Blvd. and Western.

The Fox Film Corp. had a little frame office building there. It was cold as mischief, foggy that morning, and foggy. I rapped on the door. A guard came around the building, and wanted to know what I wanted. I said, “I’m here to meet Mr. Wurtzel, Fox Film Corp.” “Well, Mr. Wurtzel isn’t here.” He says, “What do you want?” I said, “Well, I’ve got to see him.” So I sat down on the little stoop. It was a very ordinary little building, but that was pretty good property for those days. Well, you could see the curiosity was built up in this fellow. Who was that bird from out of town, wanting to see Mr. Wurtzel?  Later in the morning he came around, said, “Mr. Wurtzel is here now.” See, that’s a Jewish name, Saul Wurtzel; he was the head man. And so he took me around and the door opened, and I said, “Mr. Wurtzel?” He said, “Yes.” I handed him a paper. Well, Mr. Bucknell was most appreciative. This made $20,000 for him, and the whole deal went through nicely. And he said, “Joe, I’ll buy you a suit of clothes. I want you to have it.”

Anyway, my father was getting along in years. He used to get tailor-made suits from Vermont where he had lived. I got a suit, and I said, “Dad, we’re the same size; I’m going to give this suit to you.”  So I got out of that …. Anyway, that’s the details.

Margaret and I were to be married in this place here, in 1921, in this house on the hill. It belonged to her father and mother.  They were living here then. We had built the little place next door.  Anyway, that day, long about eleven o’clock in the morning, as I remember, Mr. Bucknell came up here with that grandfather clock. That cost a lot of money. That was our wedding present.  A little thing, and that was so far reaching.  He admired me. I was co-executor of his estate after he was gone, educated his children—that’s a long story.  But <unclear> he took that money, and he built a beautiful home by one of the great architects, that’s over here today.  It was very important to me <several words unclear>.

Joe Sandford

1973 Living History Interview

Listen to the full set of Joe Sandford Living History Interviews here

Footnotes added to Living History Interview transcript…

1.  This spelling is somewhat conjectural. There was a C.R. Bucknell who lived at 203 West G. and who is linked to Mr. Sandford by Mr. Forrest Doucette–see his interview. The tape, however, is not very clear, and the name does not come across very distinctly.

2.  This lease dated to 1916, according to Thomas and Solomon, The Films of Twentieth Century Fox, p.12. (OCL)

3.  The head of Fox Films was William Fox; Saul Wurtzel, who had started as Fox’s secretary, was in charge of the daily operation of this studio lot. See Glendon Allvine, The Greatest Fox of Them All, s.v. “Wurtzel, Saul,” in the index.

I’m getting ready to do a sequence of articles on the Sandford branch of the family, from grandfather EJ (Joe) Sandford all the way back to the first Sandfords to come to America in 1634. There is a lot of material and it will take some time. To get things started, here is an account of great grandfather Edward Thomas (ET) Sandford written by his son Joe, I believe in 1966 for a speech he was going to give at the Corona California church where ET preached when he first came to southern California . I got this in the form of a photocopy of a 4 page typed manuscript that my father gave me years ago and which was one of the first things I looked at when I finally opened the “family history stuff” file that had been gathering dust in my files for many years. Errors in the original have been left uncorrected.

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Narrator – The Rev. E. T. Sandford was pastor of our church from 1897 to about 1907.  He will be represented by his son, E. J. Sandford of Ontario.

E. J. Sandford –  ‘My father was born on August 23 1840 in Topsham, Maine.

He had the fortune to be active during a very important period.

His Uncle Thomas Sandford owned a fleet of Clipper Ships that sailed the Seven Seas.

The opening of the Civil War in the United States found father in  Chinese waters on one of these ships serving as First Officer.

He was anxious to share a part in this War and became an officer on one of our Naval ships serving for one year.

Returning to Maine he became Captain of the First Maine Cavalry.  Soon his Regiment was transferred to Washington, D. C. and became the First District of Columbia Cavalry.

He saw much action to the South of the Capitol (sic).  We have many letters that he wrote to his wife from the battle fields and they are very personal, historic and valuable.

His regiment was one of the first to use the repeating rifle.  His men could fire sixteen times without reloading and his writings state that, ‘The Rebs could not understand how this was possible’.

His first hear (sic) wound was through his coat sleeve and in letter informing his wife of the experience he mentions a fellow townsman that was yellow on the field of battle.

During the Spring of 1864 his Regiment was active on the Wilson Raids into the South.  On one of these two week Raids they were successful in getting through the Reb Lines and rode day and night as far South as Weldon, N. C. destroying telegraph lines, depots, bridges and rail equipment.

The found ample food in the South and he wrote his wife that she must not believe the news reports that the South was short of such.

Returning to their base camp in the North he was shot through the groin and felled from his mount.  This at Reams Station, Va.

Upon regaining consciousness he crawled through the field, was able to join his Regiment.  An order was received that they flee leaving all sick and wounded on the field.  He ordered a horse and was assisted thereon and rode ‘Ten miles through swamps, jumping fences and reached field hospital.’

In letter written by the Christian Commissioner he states that ‘Dr. Jamison has been very kind to me doing all that he can for me’.

Leaving the field hospital he was transported to City Point and then via ship to hospital in New York City.

Upon recovery and while limping he was asked by the War Department to go to Waterville, Maine as Provost Marshal to straighten out a serious problem.

He accomplished this well and when completed his associates presented him with this Gold Headed Cane on Sept. 28 1864.

On March 3 1865 he was sent to Chee Foo, China as U. S. Consul and his Commission carries the manual signature of President Lincoln.  William H. Seward signing as Secretary of State.

He enjoyed this Service and became very interested in the Chinese people deciding to become a Missionary upon completion of this Duty.

Crozier Theological Seminary of Upland, Pa was his school.

Eureka and Santa Cruz, California, and St. Johnsbury, Vt., were his charges and he made many friends in each area.

He informed his family that we could have ‘all of the oranges that we liked so well when we arrived in Corona’.  Our home was the Dr. Huff property on West Sixth St. – now a large market and I recall running through the house and out the back door and – there was an orange tree.

Corona was a small and a grand Community at that time.  Crown Colony – as I recall

Working with Rev. Burr, pastor of the Congregational Church, they endeavored to call on all new comers to the area welcoming them and extending invitation to become affiliated with their respective churches in the Community.

Father was very interested in the welfare of people and used a bicycle and horse and buggy to make his calls.  That was the period of Livery Stables and as I recall he paid $ 1.00 on week days and $ 1.50 on Sunday afternoons for his carriage.

Corona had two saloons around the turn of the Century.

One known as Provencals, and the other, Penprase’s – if my memory serves me correctly.

Each paid a License Fee of $ 300 monthly.  A very important item, then as now.

Father Sandford knew these men personally and in visiting with them told them, ‘That while he did not like their business, that they had families.  That they probably would like to have the children and wives attend Sunday School and Church, and might require the services of a minister from time to time – and if he could so assist he would be glad to’.

This was typed while ‘Three of my grandchildren – ages from 4 to 9 – were active around me – so please pardon errors’.*

                                                                                                 Joe Sandford, Ontario, Calif.

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It is the last line of the manuscript that is the basis of estimate for the date it was written. Assuming the three grandchildren underfoot were me, sister Claire, and brother Paul. I was 9 years old in 1966.