USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Winchester > Annals and family records of Winchester, Conn.: with exercises of the centennial celebration, on the 16th and 17th days of August, 1871 > Part 42
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61
The two sections of Winsted having become united in one continuous village of as compact form as the conformation of the land would admit, many questions of police arose which could not be satisfactorily set- tled by the town authorities. Street lines needed regulating and a system of sidewalks to be established. Fire regulations were indispensable, and connected with them, a water supply and fire companies. Municipal reg- ulations not required for town governments were needed.
An application for a borough charter was made to the Assembly in 1858, which was granted in June of that year, by which the defunct bor- ough charter of Clifton, covering only the West section of the village, was repealed, and more enlarged powers conferred on the new body, which was organized by an election of the following officers on the second day of August of the same year :
454
ANNALS OF WINCHESTER,
WILLIAM H. PHELPS, Warden.
ROLLIN L. BEECHER,
EDWARD CAMP,
JOHN T. ROCKWELL,
Burgesses.
CHARLES COOK,
CHARLES B. WEED,
JOHN G. WETMORE,
JOHN HINSDALE, Treasurer. CALEB P. NEWMAN, Bailiff.
The attention of the Warden and Burgesses was first directed to the improvement of streets, and the laying out and construction of sidewalks. A careful survey and plan of all the streets within the borough, as they then existed, was made, and sidewalks were ordered to be graded where immediately required.
One of the earliest improvements ordered by the borough authorities was the closing of the road through the centre of the East Village Green and opening parallel streets on the east and west sides thereof, as already described. The intervening area was graded, enclosed with a stone and iron railing, and planted with maples, elms, and evergreens by private subscriptions at an expense of about two thousand dollars, receiving the , corporate name of " Park Place."
The first sidewalk surveyed was along the north and east side of Main street, from the corner of Main and North Main streets westerly and northerly to corner of Main and Spencer streets, a distance of one mile and twenty rods, which was ordered to be graded and rounded to a width · of five feet. The portion of this walk east of Chestnut street was origi- nally planked, and the remaining portion was flagged with North River stone. The portion originally planked was, at a later period, flagged with concrete. A plank walk was early ordered on the east side of North Main street, which, after a few years, was replaced by a concrete walk extending northward to the borough line. Another plank walk was laid on Main street from the corner of Spencer street to Dudley's tannery, of which the portions on the east side have been replaced by concrete. The flagged and concrete walks of the borough are believed to exceed a length of three miles, and are mainly from five to six feet wide, and in excellent condition.
The organization of a fire department was delayed by reason of a general desire to obtain a supply of water for its use, by means of an aqueduct from the lake, distributing water to all parts of the borough. On the 30th of August, 1858, the warden and burgesses were instructed
455
AND FAMILY RECORDS.
" to ascertain whether the borough has a right to draw water from Long Lake; whether the amount taken through a six-inch pipe would be prejudicial to the manufacturing interests of the borough, and if it proba- bly would be so prejudicial, whether a reservoir of sufficient capacity to meet the wants of the borough might not be constantly filled by the waste water of the lake." On the 19th of August, 1859, on report of a committee of the warden and burgesses, a petition was brought to the assembly of 1860 for power to draw water from the lake on such terms and under such limitations as should be prescribed.
The Assembly, at its May Session in 1860, granted power to the warden and burgesses to take water from Long Lake or the Little Pond for fire and other purposes, and to raise the surface of the water in said lake or pond not exceeding four feet above the then existing high water mark, by suitable embankments where necessary, and such water to distribute by aqueducts, &c., throughout the borough for all purposes, with a proviso that the water should be so taken and distributed for fire purposes only, until the lake embankment should be made sufficiently high to raise the water of the lake at least three feet above the then existing waste-weir near the outlet of the lake, nor until the water shall have risen two feet above said waste-weir, and that the person controlling the outflow of water for manufacturing purposes shall not permit the water to be wasted thereafter in greater quantity than theretofore. Pro- vision was also made for the appointment of water commissioners, with requisite powers to secure the right of flowage along the shores of the lake ; to construct the necessary embankments, to lay and construct all necessary pipes and aqueducts, to regulate the distribution and use of the water, and establish and collect water rents therefor. The borough was authorized to raise by permanent loan a sum not exceeding $25,000, at six per cent. interest, to be applied to the cost and expenses of construc- tion of the said water works, and for no other purpose whatever.
The powers granted as above by the assembly were accepted in a borough" meeting, on the 1st of August, 1860, by a vote of 217 for, and 68 against the acceptance, and three water commissioners were appointed, who at once proceeded to carry out the necessary measures contemplated in their appointment. An imperfect embankment at the outlet of the lake was so far completed during the season, that on the 13th of March, 1861, a rise of water to twenty-four and a half inches above the previous high-water mark was duly certified. During the following three months the rise attained a level of fully four feet above the old high water mark, and so overflowed the frail embankment as imminently to threaten its destruction, and the consequent deluge of a large portion of the village. During the summer and fall the embankment was remodeled and
-
456
ANNALS OF WINCHESTER,
thoroughly perfected, so that no danger of a crevasse has since been apprehended. The height of reserve water on the lake, when full, is about ten feet above the bottom of the gates through which it is drawn for manufacturing purposes.
During the making of the original embankment in 1860, a main pipe of sheet iron, lined within and without with water cement, having an interior diameter of nine inches, was carried from the lake, under Lake street, and thence under Main street ; from the corner of Spencer street in a six-inch pipe of same materials, to the corner of North Main street, and thence in a four-inch pipe under North Main street to the corner of Wallen street, and from Lake street through Meadow street. In 1864 pipes were laid under Prospect street, and extensions made in other directions. Branches have been since laid from year to year, nntil nearly every street in the borough, sufficiently below the level of the lake, is now (1872) supplied with water for fire and family purposes, the whole length of pipe of all sizes amounting to about six and a half miles. The surface elevation of the lake is about 150 feet above the corner of Lake and Main streets, and over 200 feet above the terminus of pipe under North Main street. Experience has proved that with the free - not to say wasteful - use of the water thus far permitted, the size of the main pipe has become insufficient for fire purposes in the remote parts of the borough, and that the sheet iron and cement pipes are insufficient to sustain the pressure. This has become so apparent that measures have already been adopted, and partially carried out, for substituting a twelve- inch cast iron pipe from the Lake to Main street, with the expectation of being obliged, at no distant period, to substitute enlarged pipes of cast iron throughont the borough.
In November, 1862, the Fire Department was organized by dividing the borough into four fire districts, to be under the control of a fire warden, and an assistant fire warden, in each district, each district to be furnished with a hose cart, supplied with not less than 300 feet of hose, and other necessary apparatus, to be worked by a volunteer fire company of ten or more members. For the streets of the boroughi not supplied with avail- able water, which could be thrown upon its buildings directly from the hydrants, only one fire engine has been provided, and this is rarely used.
In 1864 the assembly authorized the establishment of a police court, with power to determine all cases for violation of the by-laws or ordinances of the borough, and also to have the same powers and privileges within the borough as are exercised by justices of the peace within the town, and during the same or following year, a borough building, with a lockup in the basement, and accommodations for borough meetings and police courts, was erected near the corner of Main and Bridge streets.
457
AND FAMILY RECORDS.
The Winsted Gas Company, a private enterprise, was organized in 1861, with a capital inadequate to its successful operation and extension. Its operations are confined to the portion of Main street west of Chestnut street. The company greatly needs an increase of capital, and an entire renovation. Its entire extinction, and the organization of a new com- pany, with greatly enlarged means and energetic direction, is exceedingly desirable. .
The following manufacturing enterprises were organized or enlarged during this decade :-
James S. and John T. Rockwell erected the tannery on Main street, now owned by John T. Rockwell, in 1852.
The Eagle Works, a joint-stock company, for manufacturing table cutlery, erected a brick factory on the lake stream in 1852, and con- tinued its operations until 1856, when the establishment was sold to Rice, Lathrop & Clary, and was thereafter operated by the successive firms of Rice & Lathrop, and Lathrop & Barton. The original building was burned down in 1860, and two wooden factory buildings were afterwards erected, which are now standing.
The brick factory on Mad River, adjoining Lake street bridge, was erected for a machine shop by John Boyd, in 1853.
The Winsted Auger Co., a joint-stock corporation, erected a factory in 1853, near the corner of Main and Coe streets, in which they manufac- tured augers until 1860, when it was sold to Rice & Lathrop, soon after which it was burned down and rebuilt. It is now operated as a table cutlery establishment by Wm. P. Lathrop.
In 1852, the Cook Axle Company erected a brick factory building on the site of the old Reuben Cook forge in the east village, which was operated by them until about 1864, after which it went into the hands of R. Cook & Sons, by whom it has since been carried on.
Benjamin and Edward Woodall erected, about 1853, a factory for making steel fire irons, on the site of Halsey Burr's abandoned scythe works on North Main street, which, in 1854, became the property of "The Winsted Shovel and Tongs Company," a short-lived joint-stock association, which ceased operations about 1857.
In 1854 The Clifton Lumber Company erected the factory building nearly opposite the Naugatuck Railroad depot on Willow street, now occupied by the Winsted Printing Company, which was operated as a planing mill and sash and blind factory, and propelled by the first steam engine employed in the borough. The business not proving satisfactory, the building was used for a brief period by the American Percussion Cap Company, and in 1863 was purchased by The Borden Condensed Milk Company, which used it in their manufacturing business until 1866.
58
458
ANNALS OF WINCHESTER,
In 1859 the Green Wood Agricultural Park Association was formed, and during the next year purchased the land for its park, graded the trotting course, and erected a building for agricultural exhibitions. Trotting courses were then at the spring tide of popularity, and country agricultural exhibitions had not been played out. More than one hun- dred subscribers from within and without the borough took stock in the concern, many of them believing it was to turn out a profitable invest- ment. It has as yet made no dividends, and none are looked for.
The Empire Knife Company grew out of a small pocket cutlery concern, established by Thompson & Gascoigne, about 1853, and soon afterwards transferred to Beardsley & Alvord, who, in 1856, erected the factory buildings at the lake outlet, enlarged the business, and placed it on a permanent basis.
Before the middle of this decade the prosperity of Winsted was seri- ously retarded by one of the periodical revulsions of business which follows excessive stimulation. The banks, alarmed by their over-issues, checked the high speed of enterprise by a sudden application of the brakes, which prostrated some establishments and crippled many others, the severest calamities falling on the improvident borrowers from the savings and building associations, who were largely mechanics, dependent on daily and constant wages for meeting their monthly payments. Build- ing of new houses entirely ceased, and large numbers of those already built came ou a market destitute of buyers at any price. Many of our worthy mechanics sought in other places and in other pursuits to support their families and retrieve their losses. This state of things could not long continue in a community blessed with the recuperative power which has signally characterized our business interests. The lowest point of depression had been reached, and signs of returning prosperity had become apparent in 1860.
Notwithstanding the depression referred to, the proportional increase of population, buildings, manufactures, banking capital and moneyed investments was far greater than in any preceding decade. The opening of the Naugatuck Railroad made an outlet for our heavy manufactured articles never before enjoyed, and brought in a large number of new business men. The trading business of adjoining towns was largely attracted to this as the common center. Very little capital was brought in from abroad. Its rapid accumulation grew out of the profits of home business, stimulated by improved facilities.
The succeeding decade, though showing a substantial and healthy growth, will not exhibit as large a proportionate increase, owing to exorbitant freight charges, and the consequent superior facilities for the manufacture of heavy goods nearer to tide water.
459
AND FAMILY RECORDS.
We compile abstracts of taxable property and polls in Winsted on the lists of 1850 and 1860, as follows :-
1850.
1860.
ITEMS.
No.
Amount.
No.
Amount.
Dwelling houses,
311
$161,180
494
$504,330
Acres of land,
2,278
180,103
8,864
188,880
Mills, stores, and factories,
48
66,320
2
196,505
Horses,
177
9,143
192
18,477
Neat cattle,
1,201
15,397
826
18,519
Sheep, swine, &e.,
0
294
Coaches and carriages,
5,389
8,320
Farming utensils, .
2,957
25
Clocks and watches,
899
5,350
Pianos and Melodeons,
1,141
5,927
Household furniture, .
57,810
4,225
Bank and insurance stocks,
79,073
211,130
Turnpike stocks,
225
Railroad bonds,
5,400
19,250
Investments in trade,
24,450
79,650
16
in vessels,
520
200
Money at interest,. .
76,074
107,192
on hand, .
2,897
Taxable property, .
18,555
825
Taxable polls,
383
743
in manufactures, .
41,245
142,545
The population of the town had increased during this decade from 2,179 to 3,550, and Winchester Society having continued stationary, at about 500, the increase in Winsted was 1,371. It thus appears that in taxable property and population Winsted Society had more than doubled.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
WAR OF THE REBELLION .- VOLUNTEERS IN THE SERVICE .- CONTRIBUTIONS OF MONEY AND SUPPLIES.
1861 to 1871.
" PROCLAIM liberty throughout the land to all the inhabitants, thereof" was the prophetic inscription on the bell which, on the fourth of July, 1776, announced the birth of our nation. Its tones were freighted with the solemu declaration "that all men are created equal, and endowed by their Creator with the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." On this fundamental principle our forefathers, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of their intentions, severed their connection with Britain, and fought to a triumphant end the Revolutionary War.
On the return of peace, a more perfect union of the states, in order to secure unity, justice, domestic tranquility, and the blessings of liberty, was found needful, and the convention of 1787 was assembled. A con- stitution was framed, nearly perfect in its distribution of political powers, but marred by compromising the first principle of the declaration of independence - the principle of universal liberty.
The bitter fruits of this compromise could not then be foreseen. Slave labor was then unprofitable in most of the states, and scarcely remunera- tive in any of them. The delusion that slavery, let alone, would die a natural death, was dotingly cherished as an opiate to tender consciences, made restive by this first desecration of the "Higher Law" of God and humanity. The mill of the gods ground slow, and was unheeded. The cotton gin was invented. The foundations of slavery were strengthened and enlarged. When it demanded an extension of its domain over the virgin soil of Missouri, before consecrated to freedom by a solemn ordi- nance, conscience was aroused, and resistance was made. The nation was convulsed as never before. The struggle was fearful, and was quieted by another unholy compromise, making the parallel of 36° 30/ the dividing line between the law of God and the enactments of man.
Again all was peace and concord. The eloquent statesman of Kentucky was baptized "The Great Compromiser," and gloried in the
-
461
FAMILY RECORDS.
title. One senator of freedom-loving Massachusetts pronounced the Declaration of Independence "a string of glittering generalities," and another - the very Jupiter Tonans of the North, the expounder par excellence of the constitution - eloquently adjured his constituents to conquer their prejudices and sustain the Fugitive Slave Law.
The mill of the gods, though the sound of its grinding had grown nearly inaudible, still ground on.
As early as 1830 voices crying here and there in the wilderness began to be heard protesting against the abominations of slavery and the sub- serviency in the North to the behests of slave owners. Such utterances were denounced by the pulpit, the press, and the pot-house ; yet they found a lodgment in many thoughtful minds and tender consciences. The press began to teem with anti-slavery publications, and petitions for the abolition of slavery in the district of Columbia flowed into Congress. Joshua R. Giddings dared to advocate them in the Hall of Representatives, and old John Quincy Adams bravely sustained him. The South impe- riously demanded that free speech and a free press should be put down, and the right of petition withheld. The northern pulpit uttered an uncertain sound. Orville Dewey, President Lord, and the Princeton Divines upheld the institution as not only patriarchal but divine. Castle Garden, backed by the mercantile community of New York, proscribed every trader who refused to sell his principles with his goods. Garrison was dragged through the streets of Baltimore and Boston with a halter around his neck. Lovejoy was shot down while defending his free press in Illinois ; Sumner was brutally knocked down in the senate chamber, and old John Brown was hung in Virginia. The mill of the gods ground on with accelerating motion and fearful power. Lincoln was elected, and Sumpter bombarded.
Our last decade opens with this consummated crisis. It is our pur- pose not to dwell on the grand national results achieved. but to detail the humble though creditable contribution of moral force, men and means, made by this town to the common cause, and to commemorate the ser- vices of our noble boys who responded to their country's call and fought her battles.
Anti-slavery sentiment had become more pervasive and incisive in our town than in any other in Western Connecticut before the outbreak of the rebellion. At the organization of the Free Soil Party it commanded a decided plurality of all the votes in the town, but the unwise nomina- tion of Van Buren for President paralyzed its power as a political organization. Large numbers, thoroughly imbued with anti-slavery sentiments, would not fight under such a vulpine leader. They fell back, mainly into the Whig party, and infused into it all the vitality that sur-
462
ANNALS OF WINCHESTER,
vived its dead issues. The party died, and its free soil element formed the germ of the Republican organization. There was also an infusion of free soil sentiment in the Democratic party, surviving the Van Buren fiasco, which fused with the Republican element, and consolidated the party that carried us safely through the mightiest civil convulsion recorded in history.
The bombardment of Sumpter flew over the telegraph wires on Saturday, April 4, 1861, and electrified the country to a degree not exceeded by the news of Bunker Hill. A nation educated for more than half a century to peace secured by successive compromises of moral principle, and so pro- ficient in this teaching tha' the announcement of a Higher Law than the Constitution by a New York senator was denounced as traitorous by many of his compeers ; a nation which had long worshipped money-bags as its gods, and served cotton as its king - was suddenly called to face the alter- native of relentless slave domination for all future time or a war without parallel in the world's annals.
On Sunday the 5th, while yet the smoke of battle hung over Charleston Harbor, humble prayer was ascending to the God of Battles from a thousand sanctuaries throughout the Northern and Eastern states. Divine guidance was implored and granted. Patriotism, long dormant and seem- ingly dead, was revived and brought into vigorous power, as if by inspi- ration. The news was communicated to Rev. Mr. Eddy while finishing his sermon for the day. A new text was selected and a new sermon blocked out under the inspiration of the event, which electrified his hearers, and raised them to the plane of his own patriot ardor. The same spirit pervaded the other ministers and congregations. The key note was struck and the community marched to the inspiring music. A citi- zens' meeting was notified from the pulpits of three of our churches for that evening. The meeting was held in our largest hall, which was crowded to its utmost capacity. Party prejudices were dissipated; treas- onable utterances were silenced ; factious pretences were scattered to the winds. The fog of disloyalty rose with the smoke over Charleston Har- bor, disclosing as clear a sky and as pure an atmosphere as was breathed by our Revolutionary fathers. The following address to Governor Buck- ingham was drafted, and immediately signed by nearly two hundred citizens.
" To His Excellency, Wm. A. Buckingham, Governor of the State of Connecticut :
SIR : Inasmuch as a spirit of unbridled license and treasonable disloy- alty at the South, under a governmental policy too mild and passive, has now ripened into open rebellion threatening the dismemberment of the republic, and immediate and utter failure of the great American experi-
463
AND FAMILY RECORDS.
ment of a people ruling itself-and inasmuch as events now transpiring in Charleston Harbor render it evident that the general government has entered upon a contest requiring the spontaneous and cordial co-operation of all loyal states and citizens, -
Therefore, we, the undersigned, feeling that Connecticut is called upon, now and at once, to proffer its aid to the General Government in defence of the Union, the Constitution and Laws, respectfully request Governor Buckingham to adopt such measures as shall afford this state an opportu- nity to place her resources at the disposal of the General Government."
The call of Lincoln for volunteers speedily followed, and was promptly responded to .· Enlistment papers were prepared and presented at a pub- lic meeting. Samuel B. Horne, an unassuming boy of scarce eighteen years, and in reduced circumstances, was the first to come forward and enroll his name. He served out his three months' term, and in October of the same year enlisted as a private in company E, Eleventh Infantry Volunteers; was chosen a sergeant, and rose by promotion to first lien- tenant and captain ; was in twenty-five battles and skirmishes - was three times wounded ; and at the end of his three years term served as Provost Marshal of the Eighteenth Army Corps to the end of the war. On re- tiring from the service, he studied law, was admitted to the bar of Litch- field county and is now a practising lawyer at Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The following other Winchester recruits enrolled themselves in the squad that formed the nucleus of Infantry Company B, first organized in this town :-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.