Rochester’s Proprietors’ (business owners) list contained not only the name of a Native American, but also that of a woman (somewhat rare for 1694).
Elizabeth Ellis, born Elizabeth White, was the daughter of Peregrine White, one of the original Pilgrims. Elizabeth’s husband had been a proprietor and upon his death, she took his place. Unlike some of the proprietors who were simply investors and never set foot in Rochester, she lived on her land and her descendants remained in the area for generations.
Rochester has been always been home to strong, independent, and interesting women, two of whom shared a belief in the importance of libraries that spanned almost a hundred years.
Elizabeth Leonard was the wife of Charles Leonard who inherited the lands known today as East Over Farms. Beginning in 1853, he devoted himself to making the property into a “Gentlemens’ Estate”. Both he and Elizabeth adopted Rochester as their second home and Charles paid to fill swampland to complete Mary’s Pond Road and connect it to Rochester Center. He also gave money for an endowment for the upkeep of the Center Cemetery.
After Charles’ death in 1868, Elizabeth stayed on in Rochester for some years and continued to contribute to the town. In 1876, she donated money to endow the Rochester Free Public Library, which was in the old Academy building which is now the Vestry of the First Congregational Church. She also donated money to renovate and refurbish the First Congregational Church.
In 1892, the town decided to build the current Town Hall. At that time, Elizabeth donated $2000 (half the money needed) for the building with the requirement that a library was included in the plans. That library which was in what is now the Assessor’s Office continued there until Plumb Library was built.
Dorothy Bray Plumb was an interesting person with a “quirky” sense of humor who enjoyed town activities according to Arthur Lionberger. In 1970, Dorothy donated both the land and the money to build a new library to replace the one in Town Hall that the town had outgrown. She enlisted the help of Robert Sherman, a local builder, to design and construct a building that was at home with the existing architecture on the town green. The Joseph H. Plumb Library, a memorial to her late husband’s love of books, opened in 1976. Their pictures and her husband’s oversized rocking chair are in the library, as well as, portraits of Elizabeth and Charles Leonard.
By Connie Eshbach
