USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > New Britain > New Britain, Connecticut, 1635-1935. [Tercentenary program] > Part 1
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NEW BRITAIN 1635-1935
(Hartford Co., Conn.)
Gc 974.602 N38
Gc 974.602 N38 936873
M. L
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01149 1492
.UN 25 :056
NEW
BRITAIN 16 35- 1935 Lí 1
PANERENCE
OSpringfield
199
5
41
101
00
Torrington
101 HARTFORD
Willimantic
8.
- New - -Britain
2
6
10
6
2
Waterbury'
Norwich O
g
10
2
85
5
8
New London
10
New Haven
1
65
Bridgeport
BLACK GOLD
ac
BLACK& GOLDFORT WAYNE & ALLEN CO., IND.
PUBLIC LIBRARY
-PAMPHLETS
2.
Middletown
6
6
THE FIRST WELL
A well of never-failing water was dug inside the stockade built in 1686, on Christian Lane.
Page Two
POINTS OF INTEREST N
IN
1
NEWA
DOITAIN
O
13
NEW BRITAIN INSTITUTE
O
HOMESTEAD AVE.
2
-
MASONIC TEMPLE
JE
'POST OFFICE
WORLD WAR MEMORIAL
CIVIL WAR MEMORIAL
THE JEROME HOME FOR AGED PEOPLE
WALNUT PARK
-ELIHU BURRITT MONUMENT
STEELE
14
NEW BRITAIN GENERAL HOSPITAL
THE INDUSTRIAL EXHIBIT STATE ARMORY
10
9
ELIHU BURRITT BIRTHPLACE
FOND
THE KLINGBERG HOME FOR CHILDREN
8
SPANISH
WAR MEMORIAL
- TO BERLIN
SITE OF OLD STOCKADE AND WELL,A QUARTER OF A MILE BELOW THE LINE.
CHRISTIAN LANE
...
I
THE SHUTTLE MEADOW CLUB
WILLOW BROOK PARK
TOWN
OF
BERLIN
-
NMOL
NOLONIHUNOS HO NMOLL
-
IL
NMOL
FARMINGTON
HILL
936873
IL
THE FIRST WELL
A well of never-failing water was dug inside the stockade built in 1686. on Christian Lane.
Page Two
POINTS OF INTEREST N
IN NEW BRITAIN
OLD HOUSES-BUILT BEFORE 1790 -NOW STANDING.
1-THE JOHN ANDREWS HOUSE 15 HOMESTEAD AVE.
2-THE JOSEPH ANDREWS HOUSE 62 BURRITT ST.
3. THE EZRA BELDEN HOUSE 530 EAST ST.
4. THE JOHN CLARK HOUSE NORTH STANLEY ST.
5. THE JOSEPH CLARK HOUSE 1242 EAST ST.
6. THE GEORGE FRANCIS HOUSE 1939 STANLEY ST.
7. THE CYRUS HART HOUSE 169 LINWOOD ST.
8- THE ELIJAH HARTII HOUSE 655 LINCOLN ST.
9. THE ELIJAH HARTII HOUSE 63 KENSINGTON AVE.
10- THE JEHUDAH HART HOUSE 267 SHUTTLE MEADOW AVE.
11- THE JOSEPH MATHER HOUSE 741 WEST MAIN ST.
12. THE JOHN OSGOOD HOUSE 5 OSGOOD AVE.
13.THE THOMAS RILEY HOUSE 741 WEST
MAIN ST.
14. THE SELAH STEELE HOUSE STEELE ST. 15-PART OF THE STANLEY TAVERN (NOAH STANLEY'S HOUSE) 1928 STANLEY ST. 16.PART OF THE GAD STANLEY HOUSE STANLEY ST.
1
...
4 .
STANLEY
STANLEY
MUNICIPAL SWIMMING POOL
GOLF
COURSE
AND
CLUB HOUSE
16
-
6
15
STANLEY PARK
WELLS
TEACHERS COLLEGE OF CONNECTICUT
12
THE POLISH ORPHANAGE
MAJOR GENERAL JOHN PATTERSON MONUMENT
HAWLEY MEMORIAL LIBRARY
CITY HALL
13
NEW BRITAIN INSTITUTE
11
2
-
MASONIC TEMPLE
TOWN
WORLD WAR MEMORIAL
CIVIL WAR MEMORIAL
HILL
WALNUT PARK
-ELIHU BURRITT MONUMENT
STEEL
NEW BRITAIN GENERAL HOSPITAL
THE INDUSTRIAL EXHIBIT STATE ARMORY
10,
ELIHU BURRITT BIRTHPLACE
POND
THE KLINGBERG = HOME FOR CHILDREN WHICHEN
8
SPANISH WAR MEMORIAL
SITE OF OLD STOCKADE AND WELL.A QUARTER OF A MILE BELOW THE LINE
CHRISTIAN LANE
THE SHUTTLE MEADOW CLUB
.
WILLOW BROOK PARK
TOWN
OF
BERLIN
NEWINGTON
NMOL
TOWN OF SOUTHINGTON
14
936873
9
L
JL ـالالـ
FARMINGTON
OF
..
TOWN
PLAINVILLE
5 1
JU
HOMESTEAD AVE
I'POST OFFICE
3
THE JEROME HOME FOR. AGED PEOPLE
-
MUNICIPAL
TERCENTENARY COMMITTEE OF NEW BRITAIN Mayor David L. Dunn, Honorary Chairman George C. Rogers, Chairman
Henry T. Burr Gerald P. Crean
William H. Day
M. Henry Donnelly Miss Edith B. Helmer Joseph M. Ward
SUB-COMMITTEE ON TERCENTENARY BOOKLET
appointed by the Women's Cooperative Committee Miss Edith B. Helmer, Chairman
Miss L. Adele Bassett Miss E. Gertrude Rogers Mrs. Louis W. Young
GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT IS MADE TO:
Mr. Buell B. Bassette, Mr. H. P. Battey, Mrs. S. M. Cowles, Mr. H. N. Lockwood, Mr. Carl Neumann and many others who furnished in- formation for the historical sketches ;
The City Social Survey for the service of Mrs. Estelle Case Gard, artist ; for the loan of the drawings and maps, and for valuable assistance ;
Miss E. Gertrude Rogers, author and compiler of the historical data.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
History of the First Church of New Britain by Alfred Andrews. History of New Britain by David N. Camp. Life and Labors of Elihu Burritt by Charles Northend. Genealogies.
Page Three
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THE JUDD ELM The Judd Elm marks the location of one of the four original houses which stood on West Main Street west of Washington Street
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TERCENTENARY PROGRAM NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT JULY 22-27, 1935
Thursday, July 25
"Elizabeth, the Queen" Presented by the Little Theatre Guild The Embassy Theatre 8:00 P. M. Admission 25 cents
Friday, July 26
*Historical Pageant-For children Memorial Field in Willowbrook Park 3:00 P. M. Admission 10 cents
*Historical Pageant-For adults Memorial Field in Willowbrook Park 9:00 P. M. Admission 25 cents
Saturday, July 27
Tercentenary Parade 2:00 P. M.
Baseball Game in Walnut Hill Park immediately after the parade
*Historical Pageant-For adults Memorial Field in Willowbrook Park 9:00 P. M. Admission 25 cents
July 22-27 inclusive
Industrial Exhibit Prepared by the New Britain Manufacturers State Armory Daily 2:00-5 :30, 7 :00-10:00 Admission free
*The Historical Pageant is presented by Eddy Glover Post No.6 of the American Legion
Championship track and field meet, lawn bowling inter-state tournament, softball, golf, baseball, archery, horseshoe pitching, soccer, field trials, and fish and game outing at selected dates.
Page Five
HISTORICAL DATES
1634 Windsor, Wethersfield, and Hartford settled by people from Watertown, Rox- bury, Dorchester, and Newtown, Mass.
1645 Farmington incorporated as a town by settlers largely from Hartford.
1686 Settlement begun at Christian Lane in the Great Swamp by families chiefly from Farmington.
1705 Great Swamp Society organized.
1754 Society of New Britain created (Kensington divided from New Britain).
1754 First school established in what is now southcast part of New Britain.
1785 Berlin separated from Farmington and incorporated, including New Britain, Kensington, and Worthington societies.
1791 Circulating Library opened.
1810 Elihu Burritt born September 8.
1825 First Post Office in stone store on Main Street, opposite East Main Street.
1850 New Britain separated from Berlin and incorporated.
1850 First railroad through New Britain.
1850 Normal and High schools established in new Town Hall.
1850 Free graded school system started.
1853 New Britain Institute and Library Association started in a room in the Miller Building.
1857 Shuttle Meadow bought and used for municipal water supply.
1870 New Britain incorporated as a city. Each year until 1876 amendments were made to the charter, conferring additional power on the Common Council. One year the Council met nearly every week, organizing and developing different depart- ments.
1879 Elihu Burritt "Apostle of Universal Brotherhood" died March 6.
1886 The first tramway or horse car.
1896 First High School Building erected on present site.
1901 New Britain Institute Library building erected.
1910 Record breaking flight from Governor's Island to Philadelphia and return in three hours and thirty-four minutes, made by George K. Hamilton, a native of New Britain.
1910 Hamilton Day celebrated in New Britain-first aviation meet in the history of Connecticut.
1922 Normal School Building erected (now Teachers' College of Connecticut).
1928 World War Memorial dedicated.
1931 Hawley Memorial Children's Library erected.
1935 Celebration of the Tercentenary.
Page Six
FROM COLONIAL SETTLEMENT TO COSMOPOLITAN CITY
A LL ROADS lead to New Britain as truly as they ever led to Rome. Rome never boasted people from more lands than live in New Britain today. The insignia of the Roman army were not carried to such widely scattered places as are the trade marks of New Britain factories.
New Britain is a city of striking contrasts. Here are quaint old houses built before the Revolution and filled with fascinating furniture of the Puritan past. Here also are people from all quarters of the globe, speaking more than thirty languages.
Two hundred and fifty years ago, in 1685, the first English colonists began to settle in the area that later became New Britain, coming over the mountain from Farmington. Some, in the northern part of the present Stanley Quarter, were considered to be still in Farmington. The others gradually formed the Great Swamp Settlement, which included the area from Corbin Corners on the north to East Berlin on the southeast, in- cluding Berlin and Kensington, and which also included the land south- west as far as Southington Mountain, and west through Corbin Avenue to West Main Street. An Indian trail ran through the Great Swamp from Farmington to East Berlin. Sundays, except when winter snows made it impossible, a line of settlers' families would trudge over this long trail to worship in Farmington, the men carrying loaded muskets to protect them from the Indians.
In 1686 and 1687, Captain Richard Seymour and others began a settle- ment and laid out a connecting road which they named Christian Lane. This road still bears the same name in the southeast part of New Britain. These settlers erected a stockade of spiked timber, sixteen feet high, a little north of the present Stiles and Reynolds Brick Company on Christian Lane. In the Palisades, as the stockade was called, were built strong cabins of hand-hewn white oak and chestnut. The fields outside the stockade were cultivated during the day, and at dusk the laborers returned to the fort, for the Mattabesett Indians, neighbors of the colony, were not friendly. A well of never-failing water was dug inside the fort. The dirt and soil, to the depth of sixteen feet, was thrown out by hand without windlass or rope. (Illustration on cover.)
East Street was settled very early by the Judds, Smiths, Lees and others and, because it was very good farming land, it remained the center of the settlement for a long time. Thomas Stanley and four sons, Thomas, Noah, Timothy and Gad, settled in what is now the Stanley Quarter. Portions of the homes of Noah and Gad still stand. Noah kept the tavern and Gad was a colonel in the Revolutionary War. Deacon Elijah Hart, son of Thomas Hart of Kensington, and his son, Judah Hart, had large farms on the present Corbin Avenue near the house later called the "State
Page Seven
House." This large section became known as Hart Quarter. Others of Elijah Hart's sons settled near. One of them, Elijah, who first lived in the southwest corner of Hart Quarter, built a house on Kensington Road, and a mill and dam near Willow Brook, the remains of which may still be seen. It is related that the Cyrus Hart house, now on Linwood Street, was built with a concealed hiding place in the large chimney, which served as a refuge from the Indians.
In 1705, the Great Swamp Society was formed. Soon after its organiza- tion a small church was built and a burying ground was laid out on Christian Lane so that it would not be necessary to climb Farmington Mountain each Sunday, or to carry their dead the long distance for burial. This church is not standing, but the cemetery has been carefully pre- served. A second meeting house was built a short distance southeast of the present Berlin Station. This was more conveniently located for the residents of Hart Quarter than the first, but was soon outgrown.
Eventually the members of the Society, who lived in the northern part of Great Swamp district, asked leave of the General Court to withdraw and become a separate parish. This new parish was to include three ham- lets ; Stanley Quarter, Hart Quarter and East Street. In May, 1754, the General Court passed an act creating the Parish, or Society of New Britain, thus separating it from Kensington. The boundaries were similar to those of today. For nearly one hundred years New Britain continued to be a Parish within the town of Berlin.
"At the same meeting it was agreed to chuse a number of men to assist ye Survaier to make a map of this Society and find the Senter of the same as Nigh as they can." The new Meeting-house was built in the center of the settlement at a site within the present Paradise Park. In 1758, "Ye Society Unanimously voted to choose Mr. John Smalley for their Minister and to proceed to his settlement in ye work of ye Gospill Ministry amongst us." "Att ye same Meeting ye Society agreed to give to Mr. John Smalley for his salary ye three first years, fifty pounds annually. ... Ye annual salary may be Discharged and Payed by annually Delivering ye value thereof in grain to him, ye said Mr. Smalley, in the foloing manner, viz : an equil quantity of Wheet, Rye or Indian Corn."
Anecdotes connected with some of the houses now standing illustrate the difference between the New Britain of this earlier time and the city of today. On the Corbin Avenue site, now occupied by the Jerome Home, stood a district school house. It is related that Indians, who were lodged in the adjoining barn over night, paid for their lodging by weaving rush seats into the school room chairs. The Osgood House, now standing on Osgood Avenue, was built by Deacon John Osgood. In the oldest part of the house is a flight of stairs in which each tread is a solid, three-sided block of wood hewn by hand. His father, Jeremiah Osgood, was the first Baptist in New Britain. In 1776, he was immersed in a pool made by obstructing the flow of water in a rivulet in Stanley Quarter.
Page Eight
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Many of the earliest houses in New Britain had the "overhang" above the first story. This was at first used on all four sides of the house with openings through which guns could be fired or heavy objects dropped on enemies below. Most of the oldest houses now standing are called "Salt Box" houses because they resemble, in shape, the old salt boxes. The deep sloping roof behind was adopted because the English kings levied twice as heavy a tax on a two-story house. A house so constructed was listed as a one story house.
The center of old New Britain was very different from the present center. The section which is now Central Park was only a marsh, with another marsh to the east. At that time the present Arch Street was a path through a cow pasture which included the area now occupied by the South Church. Anyone wishing to follow the path took down and replaced the bars.
New Britain at first was largely a farming community. Each member of a family was expected to do an appropriate share of the work. There was the raising of cattle, and of agricultural produce such as flax and grain. The women cared for the house, wove the cloth and made the clothing. Shoemakers and carpenters followed their trades. Blacksmiths' shops were set up, and nails, chains and tools were fashioned. Sawmills prepared lumber for sale in neighboring parishes. Corn and wheat, ground in New Britain, were shipped to the West Indies.
Transportation in those days was by stage coach or private convey- ance, and the articles which were made in the shops were carried by wagons or oxcarts to be sold in Hartford, New Haven and other towns. The Litchfield-Middletown Turnpike, now Corbin Avenue, was built about 1800. A toll-gate was located over the Plainville Road just west of the present Russwin Road. The house in which the keeper lived is still stand- ing at the corner of Norton Road and West Main Street. To avoid the toll, the settlers made a new road over the hill, up Wooster Street and down Steele Street.
The year 1850 was an eventful one. New Britain separated from Berlin and was incorporated as a town. A Normal School and a High School were started in the building already designed for use as a Town Hall. Trans- portation, including the shipping of manufactured goods, was greatly facilitated by the building of the first railroad through New Britain.
Important occupational changes were also taking place about this time as the result of the developing industrial situation. Atinware business had been started in a shop on East Street. In James North's shop on Main Street, North and Shipman began the manufacture of sleigh-bells. An- other undertaking was the manufacture of clasps, hooks and eyes for clothing. The wire for these products was imported from Europe, and was drawn, cut and formed by hand. Part of the work was done by women and girls, many of whom took the wire to their homes and there shaped it into the proper form with pliers. The first machine for this purpose was con- structed in Hartford about 1830. It was introduced into New Britain by
Page Nine
Mr. North. Other articles of wire and brass and also plated saddlery parts were manufactured. From these beginnings has developed the North and Judd Manufacturing Company.
The early development of manufacturing industries may be attributed to the enterprise of the Lee, Hart, Judd, North, Stanley, Smith, Talcott, Corbin, Russell, Erwin, Landers, and other old New Britain families. The Stanley Works began the manufacture of bolts and hinges ; Russell and Erwin and P. & F. Corbin, builders' hardware ; Stanley Rule and Level, tools ; Landers, Frary and Clark, hooks and other hardware. These com- panies rapidly extended the range of their products and other companies were organized. New Britain has become the "Hardware City of the World."
The present manufactures include : hot and cold rolled steel, builders' tools and hardware, cutlery, electric and non-electric household appli- ances, machine parts and machinery, automobile parts, saddlery hardware, ball bearings, radiators, mailboxes, garden tools and equipment, shirts, underwear, sweaters and other knitted goods, cloaks and suits, and food products.
In 1718, a committee was appointed by the Great Swamp Society to ascertain the best method of maintaining schools. It recommended that, "being so widely scattered, the area of this society be divided into five parts or Squaddams." When the Society of New Britain was organized in 1754, it took over the school of one Squaddam and this became the basis of the South East School District of New Britain. In those early district schools the long desks and benches were arranged along the sides of the room. The children, when studying, faced the wall; when reciting, faced the teacher.
The New Britain High School was established in 1850. This, with the State Normal School and a primary school, was opened in a building on the site of the present Central Junior High School. At present the New Britain schools include a large High School, two Junior High Schools, and sixteen elementary schools with a total of approximately 14,000 pupils and a teaching staff of about 500. Mr. Stanley H. Holmes, superintendent of schools since 1906, has consistently maintained progressive methods, has kept the best interests of the future citizens of this city before the people, and has organized an educational system of high standing.
The State Normal School which was also started in 1850, was the first in Connecticut and one of the first in the country. Henry Barnard of Hartford, who was instrumental in its establishment, served as its first principal from 1850 to 1855 and later became the first United States Commissioner of Education. John D. Philbrick, M.A., after two years as the head of the school, resigned to become superintendent of schools in Boston. He was succeeded by David N. Camp, M.A., who held the position of principal for nine years. All of these men held positions of leadership in the State, being Superintendents of the Common Schools of Connecticut at the same time that they were in charge of the Normal School. A very
Page Ten
prominent part in the development of the Normal School was played by Marcus White, who was the principal from 1894 to 1929. Under his leader- ship the school maintained its steady progress and acquired the beautiful buildings which it now occupies. During the administration of Herbert D. Welte, the present principal, the Normal School has attained the status of a teachers' college.
Elihu Burritt, known as an "Apostle of Universal Brotherhood" is New Britain's most famous son. A sketch of his life accompanies his picture. In the educational world, Professor Ethan Allen Andrews of Stanley Quarter was famous. He was professor of Latin in the University of South Carolina and other institutions for twenty years, and the author of a Latin Lexicon and Grammar. Deacon Alfred Andrews, who died in 1876, preserved in his writings many vivid pictures of early New Britain. He was an historian and the author of the genealogies of the Hart and Andrews families, as well as of the other families who were members of the First Church at that time. He was an ardent abolitionist.
About 1791, a public circulating library was started through individual subscriptions. This was organized in 1853 as the New Britain Institute and Library. It was located for many years on the second floor of the Miller building (south of Center Church) and then in the Hart Building. Through the gift of Cornelius Erwin, a new building was erected on High Street, and the Library moved into it in 1901. The Hawley Memorial Library for Children was built in 1931 by Benjamin Hawley in memory of his mother. The Institute owns 108,000 volumes.
In the first 165 years from its original settlement (1685 to 1850) New Britain's population, mostly of Puritan stock, increased to 3,029 inhab- itants. Irish and German families began to arrive about 1850; Swedish and Scotch followed, and later many other nationalities. By 1900 the population had grown to 28,000; and in 1930 the census showed 68,128.
New Britain is rich in churches of many creeds and nationalities. Before 1820, the Baptist and Methodist Churches were organized; the Episcopal Church dates back to 1836, and St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church to 1842. Since that time many Catholic Churches, a wide range of Protestant Churches, also Jewish, Russian Orthodox, Greek Catholic, Gregorian, and Nestorian Churches have been added. In the view from the summit of Walnut Hill or Osgood Hill, the spires and domes of many types of ecclesiastical architecture are mingled with the trees, domestic roofs, and towering factory chimneys of this industrial city.
The present population of the city includes former residents of Armenia, Assyria, Austria, Australia, Bohemia, Canada, the Cypress Is- lands, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Yugoslavia, Lithuania, Norway, Persia, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Roumania, Russia, Scotland, South American countries, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Turkey, the Ukraine and the Virgin Islands. Such is the cosmopolitan character of the city which is in the making.
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Page Twelve
NEW BRITAIN IN 1836 (From a drawing made for the Connecticut Historical Collections in 1836)
NEW BRITAIN IN 1836
This view of New Britain in 1836, would seem to have no connection with the city of today.
Prominent in the foreground is a barn-like structure (No. 3), in which the faithful Methodist brothers and sisters worshipped.
Up the street, to the north, is the old Hendrick house. This was built by Dr. Samuel Hart for a tavern, and was kept as a temperance home.
The house (No. 2) is the Lewis place which stood next to the Trinity M. E. Church.
The square-roofed house on the right, (No. 1) was built in 1831 by John Stanley, grandfather of Mr. Edward N. Stanley, President of the Savings Bank.
The four-story building (No. 4) was the shop of Seth J. North, who was a prominent manufacturer at that time.
The little triangular pond (No. 5) was near the corner of Elm and Church Streets and it was generally known as"The Canal."In winter, "The Canal" was a famous skating resort, to which the boys and girls in that period, flocked in merry crowds. "The Canal" also served another purpose, for there, in summer or winter, the converts of the Baptist Church re- ceived the rite of immersion.
Page Thirteen
HUMPHREY HOUSE
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Page Fourteen
CENTER OF NEW BRITAIN IN 1855
.
CENTRAL PARK, MAIN STREET, 1888
Page Fifteen
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COLONEL ISAAC LEE
C OLONEL ISAAC LEE, a grandson of Captain Stephen Lee of East Street, built a house on the east side of North Main Street, near the foot of Dublin Hill. This house, which is not standing at present, was opposite the place where St. Mary's Church now stands. It was one of the first few houses on Main Street.
Colonel Lee was a strong character, physically, mentally and morally. As a magistrate some thirty years, he was a "terror to evil doers," and a "praise to them that do well." He was a farmer by occupation, and was of Herculean strength. He was the leader of the "ring" in athletic sports and gymnastics, especially in wrestling. Many anecdotes are related of him, such as "throwing barrels of cider into his cart, as common men would pumpkins; throwing to the ground the big bull"; and "thrice throwing the big Indian, in Farmington Street."
He was one of the two men in New Britain who were treated with the utmost reverence. When Dr. Smalley or he were approaching or passing, all hats were doffed, even by men laboring in the field some distance from the road.
Page Sixteen
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OLD LEE HOUSE
Colonel Lee was prominent in shaping the civil and religious affairs of the new society, and was one of the original members of the First Church. He was a member of the legislature 24 years.
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