[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Brookfield 9-12-1974.
Amendments noted where appllcable.]
The symbols used in the Seal of the Town of Brookfield have the following
meanings:
A.
A defiant eagle: the spirit of Brookfield's founders.
C.
The eagle's wings: support the Town's indomitable
will to survive during its early days.
D.
The eagle's talons: shown gripping firmly some links
of the historic chain[1] that was made pro patria (for one's country) to stretch across
the Hudson River at West Point to keep British ships from going beyond the
highlands during the American Revolution.
[1]
Editor's Note: The following is an explanation of this historic
chain:
From the book "Everyday things in American Life 1607 - 1776." Page
164. Vol. 1, by William C. Langdon
Furnace at Salisbury, Connecticut.
"This furnace made cannon and shot for the American Army throughout
the Revolution. It has been claimed that parts of the great chain stretched
across the Hudson River at West Point to keep British ships from going beyond
the highlands was forged there. " From the book "Annals of Brookfield" by
Emily Hawley, Page 127 Chapter 9
"Eleazer Hathaway made muskets, chains and anchors and
other things for innumerable purposes." It is alleged also that much of his
chain was used with the Salisbury Chain to stretch across the Hudson. There
were also the Kent furnaces and others.
E.
The two stars in the border symbolize the many stars,
34, that adorned the 1861 flag that was made by Brookfield Women and flown
on Obtuse Road South all during the Civil War.
