SUMNER — Lucien Robinson had a vision in 1933 when he brought back into the family the home that now houses the history and genealogy of Hartford and Sumner.

The little house was built by Increase Robinson in 1784, according to historian and volunteer librarian Bobbie Peters. He built if for himself and his family. His twin great-granddaughters lived there all their lives. When the last one died, the house was willed to her caregiver.

In 1933, according to Peters, Lucien, a great grandson of Increase, bought the house, converted the shed into a library, built bookshelves and filled them with his books, under the care of the original trustees.

Lucien was an Episcopalian priest and a graduate of Harvard. Peters said many of the books in the library are used ones Lucien bought in used bookstores along his travels. It was the wish of Lucien that the people of Hartford and Sumner get the equivalent of a college education in those hard times without going to school. They only needed to come and read his books, said Peters.

Volunteer librarian June Davis, whose mother was one of the original trustees, said the small original room was used as a church, a school and a meeting place for the town. When the books began arriving, the large adjoining woodshed was turned into the library. Davis pointed up to the beam where meat once hung, which is over the children’s part of the library.

Peters said when she first moved to Sumner, she asked one of the trustees to show her the house and library. “I walked into the room and looked on a shelf and found a book with my mother’s descendants,” she said. “Right then, I decided this library would be where I would volunteer my time.”

Peters is like a mother showing off her child as she walks up and down the aisles of books. She tenderly pulls a small volume of poetry off the shelf and carefully opens the beautiful cloth-covered book, which shows lovely Victorian pictures along with the poems.

There are volumes of personal memoirs of famous people, such as U.S. Grant. Davis remarked that with the Internet now, people just aren’t interested in looking history up in books.

“There is just something about holding a bit of history in your hands,” Peters said. “The history of the Robinson family, which helped settle Sumner and Hartford, is so complete that people come from all over the world come to research.” She encourages people to come and see what treasures are lurking among the shelves.

The library, which is on Main Street in East Sumner, is open from 9 a.m. until noon on Tuesday and Thursday during the summer.

There will be more about the history of Hartford and Sumner and the Robinson family at Hartford Heritage Day on Saturday. June 12, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the J&O Irish Museum and the Hartford Town Hall on Main Street (Route 140).