According to the charming stories recorded in Madison’s Heritage: Historical Sketches of Madison, Connecticut, the Madison Historical Society was founded with astonishing speed. In the years 1917 and 1918, during and shortly after the First World War, the idea for the Society was sparked, it is said, by “a fierce fire of enthusiasm.” It seems that the society was created more by circumstance than by intention. Witnesses to its sudden presence on the social and cultural scene of Madison say that it evolved, in fact, from a chance remark.

One afternoon in August 1917, Mr. George Wilcox was making his daily visit to the Bushnell Homestead, and Civil War veteran John Henry Meigs, passing by in his buggy, stopped to greet his neighbors. Brisk conversation ensued, with the gentlemen exchanging tales of “early times, boyish pranks, and school days.” Upon leaving, Meigs mentioned in passing what a delight it had been to be so long at conversation with nary a word mentioned about the war. From that seed, it is asserted, George Wilcox began to form notions of a society that would celebrate and commemorate the lively history of the town. Just a week later, thirty to forty invitations were sent to townspeople who might be interested in such convivial reminiscences. Miss Elizabeth Todd Nash offered her home for the first meeting, at which the only by-law was that such topics as “War, Work, and Worries” were “taboo” for the evening.

The festivities, which lasted until after midnight, were so successful that Nash approached Wilcox with the idea that the meetings might be weekly occurrences and, further, that the old stories might be recorded for the preservation of history. Wilcox agreed, and once again invitations were made to people in the older generation and to others who might enjoy such an endeavor. Before long, the respondents were inquiring as to rules and membership, and a regular meeting place was established at the Chapel next to the present Memorial Town Hall.

Just weeks later, more than 100 charter members had enrolled in the Madison Historical Society. Continuing to develop its plan with surprising swiftness, the Society then secured, within its first year, a building to call its own. Mr. Nathan Bushnell offered the use of his old family home in exchange for some repairs and the payment of its taxes. By the second summer, the Society had purchased the home, and before long, generous members had repaired it and outfitted it with enough donated heirlooms to create a period house that could open its doors to visitors.

In later decades, the organization worked to save the venerable Lee Academy from conversion to a saloon, first arranging its move back to a position of honor on the Madison town green and then purchasing it outright from the Town. During the 1950s and 1960s, the Society focused its efforts on the development of its collection, the further restoration of the Allis-Bushnell House, and the establishment of its status as a nonprofit organization.

In 1976, when the United States celebrated its bicentennial, the Madison Historical Society produced a publication in commemoration of the town’s history. Published by the Bicentennial Committee, the volume was entitled Madison: Three Hundred Years by the Sea: Farmers and Fishermen, Sailors and Summer Folk. It tells, in picture and story, the history of the town from the 1600s through the mid-twentieth century. It also describes the thirteen distinct neighborhood “districts” of the community.

After painstaking restoration work throughout 1975, the Allis-Bushnell House was dedicated in August 1976 as a museum of the history and heritage of Madison.