Bristol, Connecticut : "in the olden time New Cambridge", which includes Forestville, Part 26

Author: Smith, Eddy N. 4n; Smith, George Benton. 4n; Dates, Allena J. 4n; Blanchfield, G. W. F. (Garret W. F.). 4n
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Hartford, Conn. : City Print. Co.
Number of Pages: 730

USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Bristol > Bristol, Connecticut : "in the olden time New Cambridge", which includes Forestville > Part 26

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).

"Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces .- Psa., cxxii., 7.

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BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT

TESTIMONIAL WINDOW, inscribed as follows: "As a testimonial to the liberality of JOHN HUMPHREY SESSIONS, by whom this church was built, this window was contributed by a grateful congregation, Anno Domini MDCCCXCIII."

"For He loveth our nation and He hath built us a synagogue."- Luke, vii., 3.

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OR "NEW CAMBRIDGE."

REV. CHARLES H. BUCK.

"Feed the flock of God."-I Peter, v., 2

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"Beyond my highest joy I prize her heavenly ways."

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OR "NEW CAMBRIDGE.".

THE LATE JOHN HUMPHREY SESSIONS.

and is to be deplored. The only way, however, that some communities can have a church is to go in debt for it. The members of this church have not been hampered and burdened in that way. John Humphrey Sessions lifted that load forever from your shoulders. And on this anniversary day you hold him in loving and grateful remembrance and for decades and generations to come this beautiful and commodious structure will stand here as a silent but eloquent sermon of God's love to men, and of man's love to God. And here you and your children will congregate to sing and praise and pray.

For ten years the gospel has been preached here every Lord's Day. That is a great thing to begin with. God's minister has come with a message of salvation, of forgiveness, of good-will, of hope of heaven. The duty of the pulpit has been to give no uncertain sound. My pre- decessors failed not to give the Truth. They have fed you with the finest of the wheat. They have been faithful and safe teachers as well as earnest and successful preachers."

The Bristol Methodist Episcopal Church is one of the most generous in the New York East Conference in its support of its own pastor and in its contributions to the Conference benevolences. For a single decade prior to 1904, to the local church, to missions, education and philan- thropy, the church gave over $100,000.00.

The present membership of the church is 710. The Sunday School has 745 members, with 85 in the Home Department and 80 on the Cradle Roll. William Edwin Sessions is the indefatigable and devoted super- intendent.

The society owns an excellent parsonage which is a source of much delight to the pastor's family. The first pastor to occupy it was Rev. A. C. Eggleston some twenty-four years ago.

The Rev. Charles H. Buck, D. D., has the honorable distinction of having served this society three full terms as pastor, making eleven years in all. The present pastor, Arthur Henry Goodenough, is on his eighth year and has accepted a unanimous call for the eighth year.

The Epworth League, Ladies' Aid Society, Woman's Foreign Mis- sionary Society, Woman's Home Missionary Society, Pastor's Guild, Men's Club and other branches are active and vigorous.

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BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT

FREDERICK CALVIN NORTON.

That Strange Yankee Game, Wicket' *

BY FREDERICK CALVIN NORTON.

W HEN it was announced a few weeks ago that Bristol had held the wicket championship for three or four years back, it caused a ripple of laughter to go over the town where, for sixty years or more, no man living knows of a wicket team that has defeated the players from Bristol. Bristol men and boys take to wicket playing as a duck will to water and there has never been a team organized in this State that has defeated the men who represent the Clock Town.

This game was popular before baseball was heard of and in the different sections of the town there are always a half dozen or more players that could be relied on to make a record when the time came. Farmers' sons, mechanics and everybody, in fact, would gather at night on the hill green opposite the Congregational Church, and play their favorite game. In the district known as Polkville, two miles north of the borough, there always lived some excellent players and some of them are still living.

To those of today there is little known about the ancient and hon- orable game of wicket. Look where you will, you cannot find any

*Published in Hartford Courant in 1904.

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work on the subject. Yet this game enjoyed a popularity locally that baseball will never attain.

During the past thirty years, Bristol has never thought of playing a game of wicket without "Gus" Smith for bowler. This position cor- responds to the pitcher in a baseball game and to play successfully a man has to possess a lot of ability. "Gus" always had the trick of bowling the ball in such a manner that the man at bat was uncertain whether he could hit it and the result was in the majority of cases, that he didn't make runs enough with "Gus" to win the game.

Mr. Smith, many years ago became slightly unbalanced mentally and was sent to the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane at Middletown, where he remained for a long time. All the time he was there he kept the game of wicket in his mind and whenever Bristol had a game on, "Gus" was sent for and did the bowling The unusual feature of a man from an insane asylum, bowling for a wicket game could be seen in Bristol for the last dozen years or so. Later "Gus" went to the Soldiers' Home at Togus, Me., and is there yet, but if there is a game here this fall he will be sent for and will do the bowling.

When the New Britain-Bristol contest took place last fall the manage- ment sent to Maine for Smith and he came here bright as a daisy for the game. His work was of the same character as in the old days. He is only slightly demented, but that does not in any way interfere with his ability to bowl a ball that will befuddle the most intellectual man

The center of this ball is tightly wound wool yarn. It was spun and knit by Charity Shelton, the grandmother of Harry Shelton Bartholomew, and she gave it to him for the ball. It has worn out three or more lcather covers, and has always been re-covered by Mr. Cook. Always used by the Bristol players at their games with out-of-town people, they rarely used it in practice-and it retired from games with Mr. Bartholomew-so it happens that this ball was never beaten.

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in Bristol or New Britain. He is now between fifty and sixty years old, but is as lively as a cricket on the day of a wicket game.

A feature of Bristol's wicket history is that the teams have always been composed of Bristol players, while the teams that had striven to gain the championship have been made up of players from several towns. In Wethersfield there are a few good players and in New Britain there are a few, but the team representing that city at the last game with Bristol was made up from at least four towns. The fact is that wicket runs in the blood in Bristol. The men take to it naturally and where opponents have to spend weeks in practice, Bristol players simply accept the challenge and in nine cases out of ten never practice before the game.

DESCRIPTION AND HISTORY OF WICKET.

The origin of the game of wicket is obscure. Different authorities say that the men who settled New England brought with them the game of cricket, but as this savored so much of the English aristocracy, the hardy men of New England gradually changed the features of the game. It is safe to assume that wicket is practically cricket in an abridged form. In the Yankee game a batsman defends a wicket which a bowler attacks' and the largest number of runs that a side gets in two innings wins the game. When a stranger sees a game of wicket for the first time he is struck by the crowd of men on the field, as there are about thirty players at once. It seems impossible for anybody to do anything with such a crowd around, but if the spectator watches long enough he will change his mind.

The field is laid out with what is known as an alley, a smooth space of ground, at each end of which is the wicket. This consists of two pyramids of wood on top of which is a slender stick about five feet long. At the other end of the alley stands the bowler outside of the other wicket. The bat resembles a lawn tennis bat except that the part where the net work is on a lawn tennis bat is made of wood. At the other end of the alley seventy-five feet away, is another batsman of the same side and at each end also is a bowler. The bowler can throw the ball from either end as many times as he wishes, and at times a good bowler will completely mix up a batsman.

The business of the batsman at all times is to defend the wicket and if the wicket is not knocked off its pyramid the man is not out. Sometimes a man will stay at his place at bat for a long time. The special business of the bowler, on the other hand, is to get the wicket off its perch as soon as possible The bowler takes a ball and starts at a point considerably beyond the end of the opposite wicket and runs toward the batsman. When he reaches the wicket he jumps over it and then throws the ball along the ground towards the other end of the alley in an effort to prevent the batsman from hitting the ball and getting a run and to displace the wicket. If the wicket is knocked off, either by the ball or some fumble of the man batting he is out and the next man in the batting order takes his place. Then, on the other hand, the man at the bat is anxious to get runs for his side, but an observer would think it well nigh impossible for any man to knock the ball far enough so that he could reach the other alley and thus count a run.

With thirty agile players standing around the batsman to prevent the ball from going far it would seem impossible for one to get a run, but they are piled up with an ease which makes one wonder whether it is all luck or not. When he hits the ball and one of the other side does not catch it on the fly, the batsman runs to the other end of the alley, and if the ball is not thrown to the wicket tender before he gets there a run is counted. The bowler can change from one end to the other at any time and there are various tricks which are resorted to to put the batsman off his guard. The ball can be delivered by either bowler from either end.

The placing of a field for wicket is similar to that of a cricket field

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for swift bowling, as the fielders are placed around the wicket. The batsman who puts the ball out of the reach of the thirty alert fielders is performing a more wonderful feat than the man who gets a home run in a baseball game. There are many rules in the game, one of which is that the ball when bowled along the ground must touch the ground before it passes the central line of the alley, or it is called no ball. It is only when the ball happens to hop up a little just before it reaches the batsman that he is able to hit it so as to send it into the field and over the fielders' heads. The batsman cannot run on a bye or a wide as in cricket, but only after the ball has been hit. The batsman can run and meet the ball if he wishes.

In baseball the decisions of close plays are always left to the umpire but in wicket there are really three umpires. There are two referees, one for each side and there is a judge appointed to be a sort of supreme court for the other two. Last fall when Bristol played New Britain, Governor Chamberlain was the judge, but he did not have to go to the field but a few times.

MEMORABLE GAMES OF WICKET.

One of the important games played many years ago in this town was that against a team from Waterbury on the Federal Hill Green on September 9, 1858. Big preparations were made in each town, for the game and the Waterbury players hired a special train to bring them to Bristol. The Waterbury Journal, long since defunct, issued the day following a special in which it told the story of the game. The greater part of the day was spent in playing and a band from Forestville rendered music. There was no ill feeling and when the game ended the Water- bury team was defeated by 110 runs. When the contest was over, the players went to the hall and dressed for a banquet which followed at the Kilbourn House. The band headed the procession down Main street hill and the wicket players marched behind to the center of the town, where they were roundly cheered.

The game not only attracted attention in this section of the State, but it assumed such proportions that New Yorkers became interested and it was reported with much detail in the New York Sunday Mercury a few days later. That newspaper remarked at the time that Bristol had a wicket team to be proud of. The New York newspapers had a chance to tell the same story twenty-two years later when the Bristols went to Brooklyn and defeated the club of that city.

The most important game ever played in this town was with New Britain on Monday, July 18, 1859, for the championship of the State. For some time previous to the game the Bristols had advertised that they were willing to meet a team from any town or city in the State or any combination to determine which was the better one. After a while New Britain accepted the challenge, although a well-known Bristol man said a few days'ago that there were some Hartford players on the team when it reached Bristol. The leading men of each town were as interested as the players themselves and the affair was arranged with a much detail as any sort of public celebration would be in these days. Monday morning dawned clear and hot and it turned out to be one of the warmest days of a warm summer. The whole town was afoot carly and a holiday was practically declared. The game was to be played at Federal Hill Green and that plot of ground at ten o'clock on that day presented a scene that will never be forgotten by those who saw it.

Interest had also grown in Hartford to such an extent that a special train was made up in that city for the event. The train left Hartford at 7:30 A. M., with one carload of Hartford people and when it reached New Britain, four cars were quickly filled with excited people. Every car was trimmed with flags and bunting and as the train reached the local station about nine o'clock it presented a grand appearance. The Visitors had a band with them and the crowd that greeted them at the

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station was a large one. It is estimated that when the game commenced there were fully 4,000 people in and around the grounds. Every window of the Congregational Church was filled with people who stood there all day; every available window in houses of the neighborhood was also filled, while thousands stood in the hot sun watching for ten hours the contest that was to decide the supremacy.

A large ring was reserved for the players and the ground was "clear, hard and fine" according to a newspaper of that day. The two teams had elected Judge Charles S. Church of Wolcottville as umpire of the game and Charles G. Thompson of Bristol and E. H. Porter of New Britain were the referees. The game lasted most of the day and was watched by the great crowd of spectators as if the lives of the players depended on their work. The New Britain men were dropped behind early in the game and although they made a heroic effort to win they could not get enough runs to outclass the Bristols. The Hartford Press said that "the most remarkable order prevailed during the game and the contestants treated each other with faultless courtesy, the good- natured cheers at each others' mishaps being given and received in the best of spirits. The judges required the umpire but few times during the game and the decisions were yielded to promptly. Toward the close of the day a number of outsiders were unnecessarily vociferous towards the New Britain players but they were an exception." Said the ' Press :- "The sole drink of the day was cold water for the New Britain club and mixed water and milk for the Bristols. Rum was at a discount." New Britain was defeated by a score of 190 to 162, which wasn't a very large margin but enough to determine who were the better players. The score of the game printed in the Press at the time is here given for the purpose of showing who took part in that memorable contest :

SETTLING A DISPUTED POINT.

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SCENE AT GAME OF SEPTEMBER 4, 1903.

INNINGS.

BRISTOL

FIRST

SECOND

THIRD

George Hendrick,

Elijah Manross, .

0)c

Franklin Wordworth, .

Charles Alpress, .

12c

Russell Fellows, .

Lucius Osborne,

George H. Mitchell,

J. Fayette Douglass,

Eli Manross,

Harry S. Bartholomew,

11c

Franklin Steele,

William Jerome, .

()c

Hiram Wilcox,

Henry I. Muzzy,

John Williams,

T. B. Robinson, .

Henry A. Peck,

Ốc

0)c

Volney Bradley,

Josiah Tracy Peck,

Rufus Sherman, .

Hobart A. Warner,

Orrin Tuttle,

Warren McIntire,

12c

0b.

Albert Woodruff,

William Carpenter,

Horace Grey,

Charles Smith, Jr.,

John Manross,

John C. Mack,

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BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT

NEW BRITAIN

William Maitland,

William H. Hart,

0)c

Charles W. Andrews,

Samuel Moore

Henry Mather,

William Burritt, .

Andrew E. Hart, .

11b

Monroe Stannard,

W. H. Riley,

William Hotchkiss,

Daniel Gilbert,

Philip Corbin,

C. Myron Talcott,

Thomas Brigham,

George Gilbert,

Frank W. Beckley,

Robert Kenyon, .

Walter Stanley,

F. W. Stanley,

Valentine B. Chamberlain,

Edward Stanley,

Thedeus Butler, .

I. S. Lee,

Walter Judd,

Thomas Hart,

John Stannard,

Charles Gilbert,

John Burritt,

Walter Parsons,

0)c

()

Andrew Corbin, .

Grand total, Bristol, 190; New Britain, 152. "b," bowled out; "t," ticked out; "c," caught out.

When the game was over the New Britain enthusiasts marched to the passenger station with their band and boarded the special train. They were a crestfallen lot, although nothing had taken place except the defeat to make them sad. The train that was so gayly decorated in the early morning was now changed to a different garb, for the men from New Britain now dressed the cars in mourning. A generous supply of black bunting had been secured so that the train looked as though it were carrying the body of some famous man to its last resting place. The members of the New Britain club remained behind for the customary banquet, which was served in the Kilbourn House. Those who participated in this feature were the officials of the game, Church and Porter, Philip Corbin, Josiah Tracy Peck, Valentine B. Chamberlain of New Britain and Elijah Manross of Forestville.

Last September at the public meeting of the Old Home Week cele- bration in the Congregational Church, Charles Elliot Mitchell of New Britain, said, referring to that game: "In 1859, I was half dead with excitement lest Bristol should be, defeated. Now possibly because I have lived in New Britain so long, my sentiment is, 'May the best players win.' "'

Governor Chamberlain, at the banquet in the Gridley House after the last game of wicket between New Britain and Bristol on September 4th of last year said: "I came to Bristol today as a citizen, simply be- cause I wanted to come and couldn't think of giving it up. I had an enthusiastic desire to see this game and I have seen it. I remember playing wicket against Bristol in 1859. We got licked in good shape that day and I nearly lost heart. To those of this generation, wicket is tame, but to us old boys it's the delight of our lives."

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The Govenor wrote the author of this article last week: "I have a vivid recollection of the game between New Britain and Bristol and of the great excitement and large attendance. Of course this is a game of my youth, of which I have very pleasant memories, but it seems to me a game where the interest is fully equal to that of baseball at the present time. I regret that the boys of this generation have not the opportunity of participating in a recreation so enjoyable."

On August 27, 1880, the Bristol Wicket Club went to Brooklyn, N. Y., and administered a decisive defeat to a club made up in that city. The team there had shown good work for some time and the result was a challenge to the one in Bristol. Some of the players that went to the city were :- Austin D. Thompson, Miles Lewis Peck, Harry S. Bar- tholomew, James A. Matthews, Albert M. Sigourney, Joseph H. Ward, Henry Peck, Henry B. Cook, George Bartholomew, Hiram Wilcox, Michael B. Rohan, Timothy B. Robinson, Harry W. Barnes, Adrian J. Muzzy, Wallace Muzzy, and Theodore D. Merriman.

There was a good deal of curiosity among the new York reporters over the game and the Brooklyn Eagle, in reporting it, remarked that there was a regular army of them watching the game from the start. The next day's issue of the Eagle contained a column and a half on this strange Yankee game which was played so deftly by the Bristol men. The newspaper said :-

"There were many greybeards on both sides, but what was most striking in the contest to the spectators present, accustomed to wit- messing games and matches of all kinds in the metropolis, was the entire

NORTH ST.

(1) No. 4, Mrs. W. E. Barker R, Joe Terrien R; (2) No. 14, S. R. Goodrich O, C. A. Neal R; (3) No. 15, W. O. Goodsell (); (4) No. 22, (). C. Ives R, Gco. A. Askey R; (5) No. 27, A. Q. Perkins (); (6) No. 35, P. J. Crowley O, Martin Hahn R, James Mc Williams R, Mrs. Andrew Karbaun R; (7) No. 26, C. W. Edgerton R, Miss Sarah Goodenough R, (8) No. 36, C. E. Hungerford (), Mrs. C. H. Muzzy R; (9) Mrs. Elizabeth Hart O.

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absence of that spirit of partisan malice of continuous disputing and quarreling, which is so frequent at the local contests on the local ball fields. There was plenty of good-natured chaffing, but the behavior of the contestants throughout the game was that of educated, intelligent, American workmen. It is rather rough recreative exercise, well calcu- lated to give a man a healthy old appetite after a match, besides making him sleep well that night."

The game commenced at ten o'clock and for the first half Bristol was apparently taking things easy, for it looked to the Eagle man as if they were to be defeated, but in the afternoon they went in to win and trimmed their opponents in good shape.

The Brooklyn paper made special mention of the fine playing of Cook, Bartholomew and Newell and said they really won the game by their hard hitting. After the game the clubs with their officials, went to the Brighton Beach Hotel, where they had a wicket supper, talked over old times and ended the day, as the Eagle says as joyfully as it had been commenced.

FAMOUS GAMES FOR THIRTY YEARS OR MORE.

Henry B. Cook has a book in which are the records of all the wicket . games played in Bristol for the past thirty years. The first game re- corded in the book was between Bristol and Forestville October 3, 1874. It was a three-inning game and there were the usual thirty men on a side. Bristol won 122 to 111. Among the high scores made were those of A. M. Sigourney, who made 14 runs, H. B. Cook 11. Gus Smith 10.

On the next page is a game played the year before at Wolcottville

NORTH ST.

(10) No. 57, George S. Reed's store, Harry Wing R; (11) No. 61; M. Chirrico R; (12) No. 63, A. E. Hare's Old Homestead Bakery; (13) No. 62, Searles & Osborne's Meat Market; (14) No. 68, Joe Perry R, Joe Foushear R; (15) No. 77, W. E. Hough R; (16) No. 79, Mrs. A. Bantot R, No. 81, Mrs. John Myers R; (17) No. 89, Franklin Ball, R, (18) No. 95, Arthur J. Hannah R, John Whitman R.

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OR "NEW CAMBRIDGE."

now Torrington, with the team of that place. The score that day was: Bristol, 312; Wolcotville, 109. A. M. Sigourney made 31 runs, H. B. Cook 14, I. P. Newell 31, S. D. Bull 22, Hiram Wilcox 21, H. S. Bartholo- mew, 16, J. H. Ward 14, Miles Lewis and Henry A. Peck each 13.

A game with Ansonia in that city September 24, 1873, resulted in a score for Bristol of 282, while Ansonia made only 45 runs. At that game Herbert Booth made 27 runs, M. L. Peck 26, S. D. Bull 24, George Hendricks 21, Hobart A. Warner 18, H. B. Cook 17, and Joseph Brad- shaw and Gus Smith each 10.

In July, 1876, the Bristols tackled their old friends, the Waterburys on their home ground. At the end of two innings the score was even each scoring 147. The next inning abounded with fireworks and the Bristols won out, making 83 runs in that inning, thus defeating the men of the Brass City 230 to 193. John Ward made 23 runs, H. B. Cook 17 and James Matthews 13.

Bristol came so mighty near defeat at Waterbury that the mem- bers decided to do some practicing before they played a return game. Accordingly they played Burlington, July 29, 1876 and won, 305 to 135. The two clubs played again on August 5th of the same year and the farmers from the hill town got a worse whipping than before, the score being 409 to 109, the Bristols making so many runs they got tired of the sport. H. B. Cook made the star record of his life that day and piled up 47 runs, while Dewitt Stevens made 40, J. H. Ward 29, A. M. Sigourney 24, Henry A. Peck 23, Seth Barnes 20, M. L. Peck 18, H. A. Warner and James A. Matthews each 17. They played Forestville September 9th of the same year and won 153 to 130. The return game with Water- bury was in September; Bristol winning before a big audience, 318 to

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Bristol, Connecticut : "in the olden time New Cambridge", which includes Forestville, Part 26

Author: Smith, Eddy N. 4n; Smith, George Benton. 4n; Dates, Allena J. 4n; Blanchfield, G. W. F. (Garret W. F.). 4n Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Hartford, Conn. : City Print. Co. Number of Pages: 730

Author: Smith, Eddy N. 4n; Smith, George Benton. 4n; Dates, Allena J. 4n; Blanchfield, G. W. F. (Garret W. F.). 4n
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Hartford, Conn. : City Print. Co.
Number of Pages: 730