The History of the Chesebro Home and Grocery

By Chelsea Mitchell, Director of the Woolworth Library, Stonington Historical Society

The property at 144 Water Street and its owners have had an impact on the town of Stonington since Colonel Oliver Smith sold a parcel of land on “Long Point” to John Gallup in 1771. Although it remained a vacant lot until it was built upon by Samuel B. Chesebrough, its location was an important part of what became the business center of the Borough.

Samuel B. Chesebrough was born in Stonington in 1788. Samuel served in the War of 1812 and after the attack on Stonington, married Sally Robinson on Christmas Day 1814. Samuel and Sally had six children before her untimely death. He then married widow Harriett Haskell Pollard, his second wife, and had another four children. It was during his marriage to Harriet that he built a home and grocery on the lot.

After Samuel’s death in 1857, his son, Samuel Haskell Chesebro, started his own grocery business in the building which operated for more than fifty years. In addition, he was a respected local historian and wrote numerous accounts of the Borough in the 1850s. He married Lucretia Maria Babcock and together they had one child, a daughter they named Pauline.

Samuel’s will, probated in 1914, had some unusual bequests: 

“Second: to Edward J. Garrity, my faithful clerk of said Stonington, who has been in my employ for over thirty-five years and still in my employ at this time, I give and bequeath the sum of Two Thousand Dollars, and to Charles D. Main of said Stonington likewise a faithful clerk and now in my employ and has been for the last twenty years or more, I give and bequeath the sum of Fourteen Hundred Dollars. Third: To Everett N. Pendleton, son of Nelson A. Pendleton, deceased, a dear friend of mine, I give the cane presented to me by the late Capt. Charles F. Buell, made from the wood of the British ship Macedonian which was captured by the U.S. ship United States, October 25, 1812. Fourth: To my friend Elias B. Hinckley, I give the ‘live oak’ cane, the wood and knob of which was presented to me by the late Captain Burch. The wood was a part of the first U.S. vessel, Kearsarge which took the Confederate steamer Alabama off the coast of France during the Civil War. The knob or handle was given to Capt. Burch by the captain of a New Bedford whaler who claimed that it came from a sperm whale which made 175 barrels of oil the largest ever known to be taken. There is no mark on the cane, but it will be known by the wood, which is known as ‘Live Oak’. He devised the rest of his estate to “my beloved wife, Mrs. Lucretia Chesebro”.

Samuel Haskell was the first in his family to change the spelling from Chesebrough to Chesebro. 

After the death of her parents, Pauline Chesebro inherited the house, and she continued to run the store her father had founded in 1859. She was listed in many of the city directories of the times as either proprietor, manager, or owner of Chesebro Grocery Store and living at the same address until her death in 1938. 

In 1943, the property was purchased by Victorino Ernest Cravinho. He was born in Villa Franco, S. Miguel, Azores, Portugal on February 3, 1899, to Angelo and Francesca Cravinho. He emigrated from Ponta del Gado, St. Michaels Portugal and, according to a certificate of arrival, arrived in Providence Rhode Island July 1,1920 on the ship Roma. He married his first wife, Gilda, on August 26, 1921, although it is unclear where. Gilda did not emigrate until 1925, when she arrived in Boston aboard the ship Canada. At the time of her emigration, Gilda was employed to work as a domestic servant. 

Before purchasing the house at 144 Water Street, the Cravinhos lived in many houses in Stonington — on Harmony Street and a few different houses on Trumbull Street. During those years, Mr. Cravinho’s occupation varied from laborer, weaver, to operator, placing him most likely in one of the nearby mills. He registered for the World War II draft in February 1942 at the age of 43. At the time, his employer was Electric Boat.

Although neither a death nor divorce certificate ending his marriage to Gilda Cravinho can be found, it appears that he married Maria Conceicao Barbosa in 1950 when she was 18 and he was 51. She was born in Portugal, and after their nuptials, the newlyweds moved to Providence. 

Maria (Mary) Clotilde Costa Oliver was born in Stonington on January 19, 1911 to Alvaro B. Costa and Maria Libania Mendonca Costa and married Antonio (Anthony) Fereira Oliveira (Oliver). Anthony was born in Lisbon, Portugal on January 1, 1911. They both worked at the Velvet Mill in Stonington — he as an electrician and she as a quiller. They had a daughter, Elizabeth (1932-2012). Anthony registered for the draft in 1940 and served in the U.S. Navy from 1943 to 1945 during World War II. In 1949, Mary and Anthony purchased the house on Water Street. Mrs. Oliver owned the property until 1952 at which time she sold it to Mr. and Mrs. Roy Cole.