USA > Connecticut > New London County > A modern history of New London County, Connecticut, Volume I > Part 32
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Until recently the above considerations had little weight in determining the policy or location of manufacturing plants; today, however, in many progressive communities they have much weight in influencing city planning
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for the future. It is believed that with the smaller manufacturer, particularly one who desired to assimilate with the best life of his new city, they should receive very favorable consideration. Such men with healthy enterprises will be most heartily welcomed to New London. Moderate rates for power and as favorable conditions as possible will be provided. Bear in mind the fact that goods shipped in the afternoon or evening, even heavy freight by boat, from New London, can be delivered in New York the following morn- ing; equally prompt shipments are received from New York.
An opportunity to personally discuss local conditions and possibilities is solicited. A number of small water power privileges, one of considerable size and well equipped, are available in this vicinity.
Groton, just opposite the city of New London, is one of the very few localities where valuable water transportation rights remain unabsorbed by railroad or other powerful corporations. Definite information regarding specific properties on Groton Bank or properties bordering the railroad will be supplied to interested parties on application to the Groton Board of Trade. The New Haven Railroad Company controls valuable properties both below and above the bridge. Manufacturers or others desiring to avail themselves of these privileges will receive very favorable consideration from the company.
Mystic, a village in both the townships of Groton and Stonington, nat- urally blends the one with the other, thus completing the most splendid bit of shore line east of Thames river. Whether one seeks location for a factory, a recreation spot for summer, or a home site, Mystic offers peculiar advan- tages. Industries of world-wide reputation are already here; there is room for more. Artists of repute find in Mystic and environment permanent charm and inspiration for their talent; their recommendation brings others who become enthusiasts. City-jaded folk find in Mystic's beauty, quiet and sim- plicity, a panacea for tired bodies, weary minds. The sea, the country, the hills, the lowlands-all nature at her best is Mystic's glorious asset to offer the vacationist. Would you build yourself a home "far from the madding crowd," but within easy access, overlooking the sun-kissed waters of the Sound, or up the Mystic Valley? Would you buy some dear old farmhouse dating back to Colonial days, with the possibilities it would be a joy to develop acres surrounding it for the farm you have always planned to own; the farm where you and the wife, the children and their children may get in tune with life? Has that time come yet? Then buy a ticket for Mystic on the Shore Line, about half-way between Boston and New York. Look up the secretary or president of the Men's Club; tell him your errand, and he will try to show you that Mystic, Connecticut, has all the characteristics of the ordinary New England village extraordinarily developed.
Stonington offers unusual inducements as a place of summer residence. It is situated directly on the Atlantic Ocean; indeed, it is the only town on the main line of the New Haven railroad between New York and Boston with an ocean frontage. It also lies between Stonington Harbor, a safe anchorage for yachts, protected by three Government breakwaters, and Little Narra- gansett Bay, a picturesque sheet of water on the farther side of which, three miles distant. is situated Watch Hill, one of the most famous summer resorts
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of New England. Between Stonington and Watch Hill a passenger steamer makes frequent trips during the summer season.
This situation, on ocean, harbor and bay, gives Stonington remarkable advantages for sailing and other aquatic sports. The town is the headquarters for an extensive fishing industry, bluefish, cod and mackerel being among the varieties of edible fish that abound in the nearby waters. The ocean breezes reduce the temperature in the heated months, so that the mercury customarily registers from five to ten degrees below the temperature in neighboring com- munities, while in winter the nearness of the salt water tends to prevent the extreme cold experienced farther inland.
In the last few years Stonington has taken on new life as a summer resort. Many city residents have purchased or built homes in the borough and vicinity, and a first-class summer hotel, to which the name of the Ston- ington Manor Inn has been given, has been established on the outskirts of the borough, in the midst of a beautiful estate of field and forest, ninety acres in extent. There are also a number of inns and boarding houses within the settled portion of the town.
The township of Stonington contains 10,000 inhabitants. Stonington borough has a population of 2,500, and is situated half-way between the eastern and western boundaries of the township. The town was settled in 1649; the first house in what is now the borough was erected in 1752. In 1814 the place was the scene of a three days' bombardment by a British squadron, which was marvelously repulsed by a handful of defenders with three small cannon. This event was elaborately celebrated, with the aid of State and town appropriations, on August 8-10, 1914.
Stonington has the quality of quaintness to an unusual degree. No nearby community possesses quite the same element of old-world charm. It has a free library with nearly 7,000 volumes and liberally endowed, an excellent union high school with over 200 students, five churches, express service to New York, Providence and Boston, trolley service to New London, Mystic and Westerly, improved automobile roads, and a delightful variety of back-country scenery within easy reach. Its Board of Trade would appre- ciate the opportunity of acquainting any interested persons still further with its advantages as a place of residence, either for the summer season or all the year round.
The town of Montville is situated on the west side of the Thames river, midway between Norwich and New London. It is especially fortunate in its location, having a deep water front, best of steam and trolley service, as well as being intersected by the broad macadam boulevard that connects Norwich on the north and New London on the south. The Oxoboxo river furnishes power to many industries.
Salem, a naturally very productive farming township, northwest of New London, has been comparatively isolated, and its prosperity retarded because of inferior roads, but now with the reconstruction of the Hartford Turnpike, largely by State aid, through Waterford, Montville, Salem, Colchester, Marl. borough, Glastonbury and Hartford, a new era for the town of Salem is assured.
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Beautiful Niantic by the Sea! This village is situated on the Connecticut shore of Long Island Sound, seven miles west of New London, on the main line of the N. Y., N. H. & H. railroad midway between Boston and New York, and on the Lincoln highway running from California to Maine. It also connects with New London by trolley.
The village derives its name from the Niantic Indians, who once occupied this stretch of the north shore, fishing upon the waters of sound, lake and rivers, and hunting in its woodlands. The village has a population of about 800, with 1,900 inhabitants in the entire town of East Lyme, of which the village is a part. This village offers exceptional opportunities to manufac- turers and home-makers. For the most part the land is comparatively level, and many acres finely located could be secured at reasonable prices.
Lake Niantic, a beautiful sheet of crystal water, is encircled by the village. This lake is principally fed by springs, covers about twenty-five acres, and is a never-failing reservoir. This body of water is available for manufacturing purposes. The one-quarter mile spur track of the railroad reaches to the lake, passing directly by Luce's factory, a three-story building formerly occupied by the Knickerbocker Typewriter Company, now for rent. The Technical Equipment Company, engaged in the manufacture of brass valves and gauges, occupy the factory on the east side of the village. The streets are well kept and lighted by electricity. There are four churches-the Baptist, Methodist Episcopal, Congregational, and Episcopal. The Roman Catholic, at Crescent Beach, one-half mile away, is open during the summer season.
Splendid farms adjoin the village. The soil for the most part is loam, with gravel subsoil, and especially adapted for the cultivation of fruit, vege- tables and grain. As means of enjoyment, the fishing, bathing, boating and hunting cannot be surpassed anywhere on the Atlantic seaboard.
Crescent Beach, a summer resort, one-half mile away and connected with the village by steam and trolley, has a summer population of 1,500 people, while Pine Grove, the same distance from the center of the village, has one hundred cottages and is the summer home of about five hundred people. There are two good hotels, and an efficient livery stable. The train and trol- ley service meet every need both for travel and transportation. Everyone visiting the village for the first time is charmed with its location and general appearance, and expresses the wish to visit it again. During the summer season many visitors from all parts of the world visit the village and nearby beaches. Niantic is also the summer headquarters for the National Guard of the State, who, by their presence, each year attract many friends and visitors.
Recently a Village Improvement Society has been formed for the pur- pose of rendering the town more attractive, and to promote its business interests. Any further information or description of the village, its con- ditions and the advantages which it offers, will be cheerfully given.
The town of Ledyard, a quiet farming community, is situated on the east shore of the Thames river, directly across from Montville. Peach growing and strawberries furnish the big output from the farms. The only
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NEW LONDON COUNTY
village in the town is Gales Ferry, on the N. Y., N. H. & H. railroad, noted for being the headquarters of the Yale and Harvard crews while training for the college regatta.
The village is composed, in a large measure, of summer cottages. Boat- ing and fishing attract thousands to shores of the Thames, and shore prop- erty is steadily rising in value in all the towns that border on this beautiful stream.
From an article in the "New England Magazine," written by Mr. Henry R. Palmer, we quote the following description of Stonington :
When Longfellow wrote of "the beautiful town that is seated by the sea," he was thinking of Portland ; but his tender song applies to Stonington. If the town is not strictly beautiful, since it has no fine buildings and stately streets, still it is set in the midst of a pleasant country and the charm of the sea wraps it about. A mile from the shore its roads wind their way through overhanging woods, and the traveler loses his sense of the ocean, except as its scent is borne to him on the breeze. But from every hilltop the sea is disclosed. It stretches in soft expanse as far as the eye can reach. On clear days the white cliffs of Montauk and Block Island come into view. A dozen tall lighthouses cast their glow over the evening waters. There is salt in the air and in the speech of the fishermen. It is the sea that gives the town its distinctive note.
Also a description of the whaling industry in its prime:
Shortly after 1830, the whaling industry took the place of sealing as the chief maritime resource of Stonington. Captain Charles P. Williams fitted out, first and last, no less than twenty-eight whaling ships; Charles Mallory of Mystic, on the western borders of the town, nineteen ; John F. Trumbull, eleven ; and other individual owners or firms, half a dozen. The industry reached its climax in the forties, when fortunes were made in single voyages, and the Arctic and Antarctic seas were stripped of the profitable monsters. The whalemen sought the Southern Ocean first, and in their zeal sailed it from east to west, sometimes circling the world. When the whales became scarce in that portion of the globe, the intrepid venturers made their way north and found even greater prey in the waters of Alaska and Kamschatka. Their voyages lasted sometimes but a few months, at other times they ex- tended over four or five years. During this prosperous period, Stonington was a live commercial town. The fitting out of a whaleship required much time and industry, and the sorting of cargoes made the harbor front a busy and interesting place. Oil casks, anchors and rigging, lumber and spars, were strewn about. Sailors lounged at the corners or leaned over the bar at the taverns. They wore blue trousers and roundabout jackets and black ties knotted in sailor fashion. They were a jovial, happy-go-lucky lot and bent on rough-and-ready pastime when they got ashore. The taverns rang with the scrape of their fiddles and the clatter of their hornpipes; and once when two ships sailed into port the same day, the rival crews, boasting of the prowess of their favorites, formed a ring on Water Street and held high fistic carnival. As fast as one contestant measured his length in the dust, another took his place, while a crowd of villagers packed the street and cheered the valiant. There was little brutality ; when a man went down he was "out of the game." One young fellow of fine physique maintained his place in the ring against a large number of fresh comers. One blow of his fist was enough for each of them. A distinctive American artist like Mr. Pyle could make a lively picture of the scene.
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The annals of whaling are tinged with tragedy. A Stonington captain died at sea, and his wife, who had accompanied him on the voyage, brooded over his death till one morning her room was found empty, with the window at the stern of the vessel open. Accidents on shipboard were followed by rough but effective treatment in the absence of a doctor, as when an unfor- tunate colored seaman injured his leg so severely that amputation became imperative. The captain-a stern disciplinarian accustomed to strict meas- ures-consulted with his ship-keeper, and together, after the suffering man had been lashed to a ring in the deck, they sawed off the offending limb and seared the arteries with fire.
The township of Stonington contains eight thousand people, only two thousand of whom live at Stonington borough. The remainder are divided between Pawcatuck, which is practically a part of Westerly and has about four thousand inhabitants; Mystic, at the western extremity of the town, with fifteen hundred more; Old Mystic, three miles to the north of Mystic, with a population of five hundred; and an extensive farming district. Paw- catuck is a busy community with manufactories of textile goods and printing presses. Mystic is a picturesque village set in a charming valley, with cotton and velvet mills. At the southwest corner of the town is Mason's Island, a part of the grant to Captain John Mason, the Indian fighter, and still in the possession of the Mason family; and just beyond it is Mystic Island, the extreme southwestern limit of Stonington authority. The town for the most part is rocky, and the superabundance of "stones" may account for the name of "Stonington" received from the General Court in 1666. Regarding this name, ex-Judge Richard A. Wheeler, the "historian of the Pequot coun- try," writes in a recent letter: "I have searched as with lighted candles all of our New England records to learn the origin of the name of Stonington, but thus far have failed. I have two books entitled gazetteers of all the known civilized nations of the world, one published in London in 1782 and the other published in Philadelphia in 1806, in neither of which does the name of Stonington appear except as a place in Connecticut. So the name or word Stonington may have been coined, I think, by one or both of our representa- tives, viz., Thomas Stanton, Senior, or Samuel Cheesbrough." Be this as it may. it has taken firm root in American nomenclature, and been grafted on new communities in several States of the Union. To all of these old Stoning- ton sends greeting and best wishes on her two hundred and fifteenth birthday.
From an article in the "Architectural Record," by Mr. M. W. Pentz, we quote regarding Stonington :
There remains, as far as I know, only a single place which has preserved to any marked degree its Colonial atmosphere, and that is Stonington. Here progress has been asleep, its population has barely doubled in a hundred years; its old sea trade is dead beyond hope of recall. Grass grows in its streets; its wharves are tenanted only by a few motor boats and unused steamers of the Sound lines; its glory has departed. It is kept alive by a few textile factories and a great machine works, but its principal industry is summer boarders, fortunately not so numerous as to change its ancient tone. The resident population, aside from the descendants of its original settlers, is composed largely of Portuguese from the Azores Islands, descend- ants and relatives of the daring sailors who once formed the crews of its fish- ing vessels. Here they furnish the factories with labor and form an element both picturesque and useful.
I suppose the trees have grown up, some houses have been reshingled, a few new shops have been built, but in the old portion of the town so little has been changed that the effect is precisely what it must have been a
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hundred years ago. The railroad station is on the neck of land which sep- arates the old town from the mainland, no trolley passes through the streets and only a couple of side tracks to the unused pier of the steamship company exist to change its appearance. Even these wabble around so unobtrusively through the back yards that they are almost invisible, and I have never seen a train upon them. I suppose to preserve the franchise they must occasionally run some cars, but it is probably done in the middle of the night, when every- body is asleep and there is nothing else to do.
Immediately beyond the green is the south end of the point, a grassy, quiet place with a lovely view of the water on three sides, and the delightful old stone lighthouse in the center. This is a splendid place to sit and dream and if you try hard enough you can easily fancy Admiral Hardy's ships fight- ing away without doing any harm except for what a modern lawyer would term the damages for mental anguish of the inhabitants; who, after all, do not seem to have been much alarmed. In the harbor not far from the point is a monument which marks the corner between the States of Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York, and as a small boy I went out there and sat with my legs curled around it "in three states at once."
Turning back from the green toward the square, on Main street, one passes more exquisite examples of the old work, of which the most charming is the house known to the youngsters as "Miss Katty's," and the Wayland residence, which in some ways is the show place of the town. Almost oppo- site the Wayland house is the old library, a typical house of the early times, when two-story houses were taxed by the King and when one-story houses went free. Still on Main street is the Second Congregational Church, an interesting example of church architecture of the early nineteenth century, although not in detail as good as the earlier work. Several cross streets connect Main and Water Streets and where there is width enough little side streets project like spurs from them, each lined with residences, quaint or dignified as the fancy of the owner dictated. The customs house still flies the flag of the Revenue Service, and I suppose the collector has occasionally something to do, yet looking through the window one sees only a couple of old gentlemen half asleep over the newspapers and a collection of dusty and mildewed leather-bound books.
Peace and a certain sleepy dignity are the characteristics of the old town. It is unable to get much excited about anything; changes and advances in civilization are infrequent ; the authorities there appreciate the loveliness of the place and are anxious to keep it as untouched as possible.
The following figures give some idea of the financial situation of the county at present. The list shows the number of people in each town and city in New London county who paid the Federal tax on their incomes, and whether the tax was based on incomes over or under $5,000 a year :
Over Under $5,000 $5,000
Over Under $5,000 $5,000
Bozrah
O
29
New London
256
2,732
Colchester
I
49
North Stonington
I
I
East Lyme.
9
78
Norwich
215
2,805 4I
Franklin
I
7
Old Lyme.
7
Griswold
14
520
Preston
0
4
Groton
28
546
Salem O
I
Lebanon
O
8
Sprague
8
318
Ledyard
o
30
Stonington
55
980
Lisbon
O
0
Voluntown
3
21
Lyme
4
45
Waterford
7 132
Montville
6
191
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MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION
The State Senators from the three Senatorial Districts, called Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh, till 1906, and thereafter Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth, have been as follows:
Ninth District 1890-92
Tenth District
Eleventh District
Stephen A. Gardner 1892-94
Charles F. Thayer
Alex. C. Robertson
Stephen A. Gardner 1894-96
S. Ashbell Crandall
Alex. C. Robertson
Benj. H. Lee 1896-98
William H. Palmer, Jr.
Wm. F. Gates
Benj. H. Lee 1898-1900
Lucius Brown
John N. Lewis
James Pendleton 1900-02
John H. Barnes
Henry C. Burnham
James Pendleton
Wallace S. Allis
Frederick J. Brown
1902-04 Thomas Hamilton
Nelson J. Ayling
Arthur M. Brown
Eighteenth District 1904-06
Reuben S. Bartlett
Austin I. Bush
William J. Brennan 1906-08 Charles B. Waller 1908-10
Alonzo R. Oborn
Harley P. Buell
Fredk. P. Latimer
William I. Allyn
George H. Bradford
1910-12
Charles S. Avery
Angus Park
Alton T. Miner 1914-16
John H. Barnes
Benjamin H. Hewitt
Lucius E. Whiton 1916-18 James R. May 1918-20
John H. Barnes
Frank H. Hinckley
William C. Fox 1920
William B. Wilcox
Elisha Waterman
C. C. Costello
Allyn L. Brown
James Graham
The Mayors of Norwich have been as follows:
Benjamin Huntington, 1784-96; John McLaren Breed, 1796-98; Elisha Hyde, 1798-1813; Calvin Goddard, 1814-31 (resigned).
Since 1831, elected annually-James Lanman, 1831-34; Francis Asher Perkins, 1834; Charles W. Rockwell, 1835, 1838, 1846; Charles J. Lanman, 1838; William C. Gilman, 1839: John Breed, 1840-42; William P. Greeve, 1842-43; Gurdon Chapman, 1843-45; John Breed, 1845; Charles W. Rockwell, 1846; John Dunham, 1847-49; William A. Buckingham, 1849-51; LaFayette S. Foster, 1851-53; Erastus Williams, 1853-55; Wm. L. Brewer. 1855; Wm. A. Buckingham, 1856-58; Amos A. Prentice, 1858-60; James S. Carew, 1860- 62; James Lloyd Greene, 1862-66; Lorenzo Blackstone, 1866-70; James A. Hovey, 1870-71 ; James Lloyd Greene, 1871-75; Hugh H. Osgood, 1875-76; Charles Osgood, 1876-77; Hugh H. Osgood, ›877-86; Increase W. Carpenter, 1886-88; A. Ashbel Crandall, 1888-92; Calvin L. Harwood, 1892-96; Frederic L. Osgood, 1896-1900; Charles F. Thayer, 1900-08; Costello Lippett. 1908-10;
Nineteenth District
Twentieth District
Bryan F. Mahan 1912-14
Charles S. Avery
Frederick A. Johnson
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NEW LONDON COUNTY
Charles F. Thayer, 1910-12; Timothy C. Murphy, 1912-16; Allyn L. Brown, 1916-18; Jeremiah J. Desmond, 1918-20; Herbert M. Lerou, 1920-22.
Mayors of New London :
Richard Law, 1784-1806, 22 years; Jeremiah G. Brainerd, 1806-29, 23 years ; Elias Perkins, 1829-32; Coddington Billings, 1832-35; Noyes Billings, 1835-37; Jirah Isham, 1837; Francis Allyn, 1838-41 ; George C. Wilson, 1841, died July 20, 1841 ; Caleb J. Allen, August 12, 1841, resigned June, 1843; An- drew M. Frink, 1843-45, resigned ; J. P. C. Mather, 1845-50, resigned August ; Andrew C. Lippett, 1850-53; Henry P. Haven, 1853-56; Jonathan N. Harris, 1856-62; Hiram Wiley, 1862-65; Frederick L. Allen, 1865-71; Augustus Bran- degee, 1871-73; Thomas W. Waller, 1873-79; Robert Coit, 1879-82; George E. Starr, 1882-85 ; C. A. Williams, 1885-88; George F. Tinker, 1888-91 ; George Williams, 1891, resigned in two weeks; Ralph Wheeler, 1891-93, resigned after two years; A. J. Bentley, 1893-94; James P. Johnston, 1894-97; Cyrus G. Beckwith, 1897-1900; M. Wilson Dart, 1900-03; Bryan F. Mahan, 1903-06; Alton T. Miner, acting Mayor five months in 1905; Benjamin L. Armstrong, 1906-09; Bryan F. Mahan, 1909-15; Ernest E. Rogers, 1915-18; E. Frank Morgan, 1918-21.
The "New London Day" recently published an edition celebrating its fortieth anniversary, which contains much valuable information. Among other information, it printed the following chronological review:
1880-Population of New London, 10,537.
1881-Charter granted Smith Memorial Home, Masonic street.
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