The town and city of Waterbury, Connecticut, from the aboriginal period to the year eighteen hundred and ninety-five, Volume I, Part 1

Author: Anderson, Joseph, 1836-1916 ed; Prichard, Sarah J. (Sarah Johnson), 1830-1909; Ward, Anna Lydia, 1850?-1933, joint ed
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: New Haven, The Price and Lee company
Number of Pages: 922

USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Waterbury > The town and city of Waterbury, Connecticut, from the aboriginal period to the year eighteen hundred and ninety-five, Volume I > Part 1

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Joseph anderson

замени Лилезны.

T THE TOWN AND CITY OF WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, FROM THE ABORIGINAL PERIOD TO THE YEAR EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND NINETY-FIVE.

EDITED BY JOSEPH ANDERSON, D. D.

VOLUME I. BY SARAH J. PRICHARD AND OTHERS.

NEW HAVEN : THE PRICE & LEE COMPANY. 1896.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1896, BY THE PRICE & LEE COMPANY, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

1142415

PREFACE.

T HE publication of a 'new History of Waterbury was first seriously considered by the firm of Price, Lee & Co. in the summer of 1887. The undersigned was invited at that time to take in hand the preparation of such a work, but felt compelled to decline the task. He gave to the publishers, however, the names of two writers whom he regarded as well fitted for the work, and in September the following notice appeared in the public prints: "Price, Lee & Co. of New Haven announce that their His- tory of Waterbury is in course of preparation,-the first hundred years in charge of Miss Sarah J. Prichard, and the last hundred years in charge of Miss Anna L. Ward." More than a year after this (on November 16, 1888) the firm issued a circular, in which, after referring to the publication of Bronson's History in 1858 and to the remarkable development of Waterbury since then, and expressing the conviction that the time had come for a new history of the town and city, they announced that arrangements had been completed for the preparation of such a work, and solicited the cooperation of those interested in the subject. In addition to Miss Prichard and Miss Ward, "the Rev. Dr. Joseph Anderson, the Hon. F. J. Kingsbury and Mr. H. F. Bassett" were mentioned as having been engaged to contribute chapters upon special topics or periods. From that time until now the work has been going forward with but little interruption, and in addition to those already mentioned several other writers have been enlisted, as indicated in the table of contents.

Up to the date of the issue of the circular just referred to, but little had been done toward putting on record the history of Water- bury. Interesting references to the town had occasionally been made by the early writers, as for example by President Timothy Dwight in his " Travels in New England and New York"; Barber in his " Historical Collections," in 1836, had devoted to it an enter- taining chapter (prepared, by the way, by Judge Bennet Bronson); Charles Burton had published in the National Magazine, in 1857, his articles on the "Valley of the Naugatuck," two of them relating to Waterbury; Orcutt had issued in 1875 his "History of Wolcott," covering an important section of the old town; biographies of Waterbury men had appeared in such works as the "Biographical

PREFACE.

Encyclopedia of Connecticut and Rhode Island," and the "Repre- sentative Manufacturers of New England," and in the Leaven- worth, the Benedict, the Terry and the Hoadley genealogies; special subjects had been touched upon in such books or pamphlets as those of Chauncey Jerome and Henry Terry on clock making, and those by Messrs. Kingsbury and Anderson enumerated on pages 959-962 of our second volume; the Waterbury Almanac, begun in 1853, had garnered from year to year, so long as its issue con- tinued, the facts not only of the passing time but of the earlier days; the newspapers, for nearly half a century, had been making their daily or weekly record, and-most important of all-Dr. Bronson had published his History, embodying in it materials derived by his father from documents that have entirely disap- peared. But Dr. Bronson's work was completed within five years after Waterbury became a city, and was practically limited in its scope to the period that closes with the Revolutionary war. His account of "manufacturing in Waterbury," for instance, fills less than four pages. There was a clear field for the modern historian, and much interesting material in reference to the earlier times which had not yet been made use of. The claim of the circular, that in view of the rapid growth of Waterbury, the "marvellous development of the industries by which it has became known throughout the world," and the additional facts concerning its earlier period that had come to light, the time had arrived for a new his- tory of the town and city, seemed fully justified.

The plan of the work, as indicated from the start, contemplated a book divided into two volumes, embracing about a century each. After a time the accumulation of materials for the modern period was so great that it became necessary that as much as possible should be crowded into the first volume. The line separating the two volumes was accordingly drawn through 1825, the year of the organization of Waterbury as a borough, and this involved the division of the history of the First church, of St. John's parish and the cemeteries of the town into two parts, the earlier of which is to be found in Volume I and the later in Volume III.

A recognition of the successive territorial partitions of the original township involved our including in our scheme the history of Watertown and Plymouth to 1780, of Wolcott to 1796, of Middle- bury to 1807, of Prospect to 1826 and of Naugatuck to 1844. The earlier history of these derivative towns is covered substantially by the narrative in Volume I, the only important exception being the history of Salem society (now Naugatuck) from the Revolution to its incorporation as a town, which it seemed best to leave, with

PREFACE.

the exception of the Salem church, to some future historian to reproduce on a scale commensurate with its importance.

The narrative of the colonial and revolutionary periods is the result of an independent study by Miss Prichard of the original sources, including documents that have come to light since Dr. Bronson's History was written. This study was pursued with but little reference to Bronson, although the value of his labors was known from the beginning. It ought to be understood, however, that it was not the purpose of the author or the editor to super- sede the earlier work; on the contrary, certain subjects to which Bronson devoted special attention are in this History passed over lightly for that reason. It may be added that Dr. Bronson, to the hour of his death, was deeply interested in the present enterprise.

The outline given at the opening of the second volume indicates the largeness of the plan upon which the modern history of the town and city was projected. It has been carried out with a ful- ness of detail hardly anticipated even by the editor when he prepared the schedule of topics for the guidance of his collabora- tors. It is therefore safe to say that this History is more extended in its scope and more exhaustive in details than any town history thus far published. This is made evident in the treatment given to the several departments of the city government, and to special topics not heretofore included in local histories, as shown in the chapters on street names, corporations, inventors and their patents, college graduates, philanthropic institutions, amusements and fraternities. While the fact has never been lost sight of that Waterbury is a great manufacturing centre, while the manufactories and the men who have controlled them have had justice done to them, at the same time a serious effort has been made to represent the many other phases of the life of a prosperous modern city. By following a plan constructed with some reference to modern sociology, the History has become almost cyclopædic in its character, and instead of being, as the prospectus proposed, a work "in two volumes, of about 500 pages each," has grown into three volumes, with a total of 2250 pages. The liberality of the publishers in furnishing to subscribers so much more than was promised deserves to be recog- nized here, and this may serve at the same time as an explanation of the delay in the completion of the work.

In view of the attention given to details, the casual reader will be surprised at certain omissions and discrepancies which he is likely to discover. The probability of the occurrence of error is increased in any work when it is accomplished by collaboration. But in the present case the chief explanation of omissions and

PREFACE.

irregularities is to be found in the lack of cooperation on the part of the public. For the earlier history of the town the sources are of course documentary, and were therefore at the command of the author. For the later history resort must be had to living men, as individuals or as official representatives of organizations, and in many instances repeated appeals had to be made in order to secure a satisfactory statement of essential facts. If the amount of correspondence and of personal effort on the part of the compiler required to secure the data for some of our chapters could be known, it would serve as a revelation in regard to the indifference of the great majority to matters of history, and the difficulties that beset the local historian. Should omissions, then, be discovered, it may be that others than the compiler or the editor are to be blamed for them. It may be presumed at all events that omissions are not accidental, or the result of the want of a plan, but were allowed for some good reason. In the field of manufactures and trade, for example, it was found necessary to limit the record to corporations, and not to touch upon unincorporated business firms unless inci- dentally. There was of course no intention of slighting anybody or neglecting any "interest."

In a work like this, one of the matters difficult to deal with is the biographical element. Who among the living or the dead shall be selected for biographical treatment? and who shall be omitted? In answering these questions it was found impossible to draw a line which any two persons could agree upon. It should be said, how- ever, that the classification and grouping of biographies under different departments naturally led to including persons who might otherwise have been omitted, while others, of no less value in the eyes of the community and in their influence upon it, were passed by. In some cases, in which a formal biography is not given, the significant facts of the life are mentioned incidentally, and can readily be discovered by help of the index. If some biographies seem needlessly long and others too brief, it must be remembered that most of the sketches were prepared from materials furnished by the persons themselves or by their relatives. A similar remark may be made in regard to the genealogical data. The appendix of " Family Records " in our first volume must be of the highest value from the genealogist's point of view, but our History, nevertheless, was not intended to be a genealogy, and makes no claim to be so considered. When, however, the names of a second or third gener- ation and the birth-dates of male children were furnished, especially in families fully identified with Waterbury, we put them on record almost as a matter of course.

vii

PREFACE.

The authorship of our History affords a fine illustration of the modern tendency to cooperative work in literature. The original plan, which placed the first hundred years in charge of Miss Prichard and the second hundred years in charge of Miss Ward, has been substantially followed out, although in each volume a group of writers is represented. Miss Prichard, in pursuance of her task, after years of patient and loving research, contributed to the History an elaborate and vivid narrative covering the colonial and revolutionary periods, and prepared, in addition, chapters on the old highways, on early place-names, on the history of the First church and on the church in Salem society. The relation of her work to Dr. Bronson's has been already referred to, but it would not be easy to set forth the entire newness of the picture she has painted, and the amount of well-established detail she has introduced into it. As we read her story, the Waterbury of the eighteenth century comes back to us, vital with the old colonial life and clothed at the same time in that rich and tender coloring which the past so naturally takes on at the magic touch of a pen like hers.

From the nature of the case Miss Ward's work was entirely different. As already indicated, the sources she had to draw upon were living men and existing organizations, and much labor was required in securing the cooperation even of those who were them- selves subjects of the history. The newspapers of half a century had to be searched, an extended correspondence had to be carried on and personal interviews held, for the securing of materials, and after all this came a task of preliminary editorship, ere these materials could be handed over to the writers who were to prepare the several narratives. Such work can never secure the recognition it deserves, because it is work beneath the surface; but such work as this underlies our second and third volumes throughout, and without it our history of modern Waterbury could not have come into being. Miss Ward's relations to the people of the present time made her a representative, to a certain extent, of the business aspects of the publication, and in this field also she has exhibited decided ability. The numerous illustrations with which the book is adorned have been in her charge, and the elaborate index is the fruit of her skill in a field in which she is known as an expert.

Among the collaborators there are two who ought to be specially mentioned because of the large amount of work done by them. One of these is Miss Katharine Prichard, who prepared with pains- taking labor the invaluable appendix containing a transcript, with important additions, of the records of the town in relation to births,

viii

PREFACE.

marriages and deaths. The other is Mr. Kingsbury, who has not only written a number of chapters, but has served continually as a repository of genealogical and other facts, cvcr ready to be drawn upon and always reliable. The others who have cooperated in the production of the several narratives are designated in the table of contents prefixed to each volume. A helper who has, perhaps, done more for the work than is thus indicated is Benjamin F. Howland, who has assisted Miss Prichard in following out many lines of re- search. Another is Professor David G. Porter. Another is Miss Mary DeForest Hotchkiss, whose services have been chiefly, but by no means exclusively, clerical. The editor takes the liberty of say- ing that he regards the men and women who have contributed to this History as constituting a corps of workers of exceptional ability -some of them filling the position of specialists in the fields in which they have labored.

With so large a variety of authors, it was inevitable that there should be considerable diversity of style and treatment, and, as already suggested, occasional repetitions and contradictions. The diversity of style and treatment is probably an advantage. As for contradictions and repetitions, they have been eliminated, so far as a laborious editorial revision could accomplish this. The editor is not responsible for Miss Prichard's narrative, but only for its place in relation to the work as a whole. As for the other chapters, he has taken it upon himself to shape them with reference to a certain editorial standard, which included such minor matters as punctua- tion and capitalization, and the omission of the titles "Mr." and " Miss," and of the name of the state after places, when that state is Connecticut. It included also, within certain limits, the literary form of the chapters.

That some parts of the History are brought down only to 1894 and others to the end of 1895 is explained by the fact that the work has been going through the press for two years. Many changes have taken place in the community in the meantime, the most important of which is probably the securing of a new charter for the city and the reorganization under it of the municipal depart- ments. (As the first volume was printed before the division into three volumes was decided upon, some of the references therein to Volume II should read " Volume III.")

Since this work was first projected, several books and pamphlets have appeared, relating to the history of Waterbury. Among these are: "Waterbury and Her Industries," published in 1888; " Water- bury Illustrated," published by Adt & Brother in 1889; "The Book of the Riverside Cemetery," 1889; "Waterbury, its Location, Wealth,

PREFACE.

Finances, etc., published by the Board of Trade," 1890; " The Mili- tary History of Waterbury," 1891; " The Churches of Mattatuck," 1892, and " The History of New Haven County" (Volume II, Chapter XV) 1892. It is pleasant to note that all these, except the last, were prepared by writers belonging to our corps of collaborators, and were not designed to supersede this work or any part of it.

A fact which ought not to pass without mention here is that sev- eral of those who have been engaged upon this work did not live to see it completed. Of the writers whose names appear in our table of contents four have finished their earthly course since the History was begun: Nathan Dikeman, Israel Holmes, 2nd, who died Feb- ruary 12, 1895, the Rev. J. H. Duggan, who died November 10, 1895, and Thomas S. Collier of New London. The widely-known en- graver, Alexander H. Ritchie, by whom most of the steel plate portraits in this History were executed, died September 20, 1895, in his seventy-fourth year. He was a native of Scotland, an artist in oil colors, and for twenty-five years a member of the National Academy of Design. He had frequently expressed a desire to com- plete this series of portraits, upon which he had been at work for seven years, and during his last illness had the satisfaction of knowing that his hope had been realized. It is to be added that George S. Lester, who, as a representative of the publishers, was for some time closely connected with the History, and well-known in Waterbury, died on April 20, 1893.

The editor ventures to say a word in conclusion in reference to his own work. It was understood at the outset that the three gentlemen mentioned in the prospectus should constitute a kind of editorial board, to whom the various doubtful questions likely to arise, as well as the general shaping of the work, should be sub- mitted. This position they have not abdicated and their advice has continually been sought, but as the work advanced, its editorial management devolved more and more upon the undersigned, and became by degrees a close supervision, extending not only to the general plan and outline but to innumerable details of form and arrangement, to say nothing of the composition of entire chapters of the narrative. The duty of supervision, which the editor thought of in advance as but little else than a pastime, proved for various reasons to be a prolonged and laborious task. The plan of the History was so extensive, and the standard adopted so high, that a much greater burden of labor came upon him than he antici- pated when he accepted the position. His professional duties, of course, could not be transferred, and this special work must there- fore be performed at odd times and during summer vacations and

PREFACE.

in midnight hours. If it is not what it ought to be, he hopes that these facts may serve to explain deficiencies. Looking back over the past four years, he is inclined to appropriate as his own the quaint language of Anthony à Wood in the preface to his History of Oxford: "A painful work it is, I'll assure you, and more than difficult,-wherein what toyle hath been taken, as no man thinketh so no man believeth, except he hath made the trial." A "painful work," but a work that has had its pleasures; and not the least of these has been the close association into which it has brought the editor with the other workers in the same field. That it has also opened up to him a richer and more detailed knowledge of this noble old town, of which he has been a citizen for more than thirty years-a town remarkable for its strong men and for its marvel- lous development as an industrial centre-is something for which he cannot cease to be grateful.

JOSEPH ANDERSON.

WATERBURY, FEBRUARY 22, 1896.

CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.

PAGE

CHAPTER

I. PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS, I By Homer F. Bassett, M. A.

II. ABORIGINAL' INHABITANTS, . 14 By the Rev. Joseph Anderson, D. D. Also the three following chapters.

III. INDIAN DEEDS AND SIGNATURES, 26

IV. INDIAN GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES, 39

V. STONE IMPLEMENTS OF MATTATUCK, 56 .

VI. LONDON'S PLANTATION IN MASSACHUSETTS BAY, . 77 By Miss Sarah J. Prichard. This and the following chapters to Chapter XXXIV were written by Miss Prichard.

VII. MASSACHUSETTS BAY'S PLANTATION IN CONNECTI- CUT, .

. 91

VIII. CONNECTICUT'S PLANTATION AT MATTATUCK, II6

IX. MATTATUCK AS A PLANTATION, I27

x. MATTATUCK AS A PLANTATION, 144

XI. ORDERS OF THE ASSEMBLY'S COMMITTEE, . 150

XII. MATTATUCK AS A PLANTATION, 158

XIII. MATTATUCK AS A PLANTATION, I76

XIV. THE TOWNSHIP OF 1686, .

I85

XV. WATERBURY IN 1689, .

203

XVI. FROM 1685 to 1691, 215

XVII. THE FIRST CHURCH OF WATERBURY, 224

XVIII.

MEADOWS, ISLANDS AND HILLS,

237

XIX. DURING QUEEN ANNE'S WAR,

248

XX. THE SCOTT FAMILY, . 257

XXI. THE COMMON FENCE, 264

XXII. TO THE CLOSE OF THE PROPRIETORS' REIGN, . 277

XXIII. THE NEW INHABITANTS, 292

XXIV. EARLY NORTHBURY,

3II

xii

CONTENTS OF VOLUME 1.

PAGE

CHAPTER

XXV. EARLY WESTBURY, . 320

XXVI. EVENTS FROM 1732 TO 1741, · 332

XXVII. THE SETTLEMENT AT JUDD'S MEADOWS, ,

. 342

XXVIII. LANDS HELD BY NON-RESIDENT OWNERS, · 353

XXIX. 1742-1760. . 366

XXX. WATERBURY IN THE COLONIAL WARS, . . 383

XXXI. WATERBURY'S LATER YEARS AS A COLONIAL TOWN, 398

XXXII. WATERBURY IN THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION, . 409

XXXIII. WATERBURY IN THE REVOLUTION, . · 433

XXXIV. WATERBURY IN THE REVOLUTION - 445

XXXV. AN ERA OF RECONSTRUCTION, By Arthur Reed Kimball.

. 488

XXXVI. LIFE IN THE AGE OF HOMESPUN,

. 520 By Mrs. Emily Goodrich Smith (with additions).

XXXVII. OLD HIGHWAYS AND STREETS, . 548 By Miss Sarah J. Prichard and Benjamin F. Howland.

XXXVIII. OLD MILLS AND EARLY MANUFACTURES, . 572 By the Hon. Frederick J. Kingsbury, LL. D.

XXXIX. THE EARLY SCHOOLS AND THE FIRST ACADEMY, . 592 By Miss Charlotte Benedict; the First Academy by the late Israel Holmes, and.

XL. THE FIRST CHURCH TO 1825; ALSO THE CHURCH IN SALEM, . 601 · By Miss S. J. Prichard (pp. 601-616; 640-646) and Dr. Joseph Anderson. The biography of Dr. Samuel Hopkins by Miss Benedict.

XLI. THE EPISCOPAL PARISH TO 1830, 647

By F. J. Kingsbury, LL. D.

XLII. BURYING GROUNDS AND TOLLING BELLS, . · 666 By Miss Katharine Prichard (pp. 666-680) and Dr. Joseph Anderson.

XLIII. ENGLISH PLACE NAMES OF MATTATUCK,

· 685 By Miss S. J. Prichard and Benjamin F. Howland.

APPENDIX. FAMILY RECORDS,

By Miss Katharine Prichard. pp. 1-166

PORTRAITS IN THIS VOLUME.

ON STEEL.

Anderson, Joseph,

Frontispiece.

MISCELLANEOUS.

PAGE

Bronson, Alvin,

518

Bronson, Josiah,

515

Cook, Lemuel,

315

Hopkins, Samuel, D. D.,

634

ILLUSTRATIONS IN THIS VOLUME.

PAGE

John Warner's staff,

xiv

Tree in the rock on the old Cheshire road,

A western war-club, scalp-locks attached, and old Waterbury buttons marked

" Scovills & Co. extra,"

Pestle of Turkey hill Indians,

Indian pipes,

Implements found in Naugatuck,

Soapstone dish and chipped implements, Hospital bluff, Waterbury, .

Dish, axes and " Chungke stone," Waterbury,

Specimens found near Bunker Hill, 67

Pestle and soapstone dish from Watertown,

Toy implements from a child's grave,

Articles of agreement and association adopted by the planters of Mattatuck; first page, I28

Articles of agreement; second page,

129

Articles of agreement; reverse,

I30

The old Town Plot,

I32

House lots of Mattatuck, 1681,

I60

Dr. Henry Bronson's map, .

I6I

The oldest gravestone,

. I73

The Indian deed of February 20, 1684,

. 192

The Three Sisters, alias the Three Brothers,

193

Waterbury township of 1686; view from Malmalick hill,

198, 199

Proprietors' book of record, 1677-1722,

216

Hop Meadow hill; the sections remaining in 1891,

241

Looking down upon Steel's meadow and plain, .

. 242

Pine meadow, looking southward from Reynolds bridge. Jericho rock and Buck's Meadow mountain,

. 243

244

The Rock house

. 259

xiv

ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

Steel's meadow along the river,

266

Map of survey, 1715, 283

Entrance of Beacon Hill brook into the Naugatuck river at the straits,

284

House built by the Rev. John Trumbull, .

328

The valley of " the small river that comes through the straits northward of Lebanon,"

343

Fac-simile of invitation to a ball,

538

House built by William Adams,

562

Factory of J. M. L. & W. N. Scovill, 1835,

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The town and city of Waterbury, Connecticut, from the aboriginal period to the year eighteen hundred and ninety-five, Volume I, Part 1

Author: Anderson, Joseph, 1836-1916 ed; Prichard, Sarah J. (Sarah Johnson), 1830-1909; Ward, Anna Lydia, 1850?-1933, joint ed Publication date: 1896 Publisher: New Haven, The Price and Lee company Number of Pages: 922

Author: Anderson, Joseph, 1836-1916 ed; Prichard, Sarah J. (Sarah Johnson), 1830-1909; Ward, Anna Lydia, 1850?-1933, joint ed
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: New Haven, The Price and Lee company
Number of Pages: 922