USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Bristol > Bristol, Connecticut : "in the olden time New Cambridge", which includes Forestville > Part 30
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Tin shops seem to have been quite numerous in different parts of the town, one of two on red stone hill; one on the south mountain, one on the corner of School and. West streets and in other places. In 1804, there were in all eleven tin shops, together with two cloth manufac- turers, four tanners and shoe makers, two gristmills, three sawmills, two carding mills, four blacksmiths, one silversmith, two merchants, two doctors, one lawyer, and several taverns.
The tin shops sent their production far and wide over the country until the Yankee tin peddler was known throughout the whole country, they were not all from Bristol, but Bristol supplied its full quota. These tin peddlers also sold the wooden trenchers and other wooden articles before mentioned. . :
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Attempts to develop the iron industry of the town were early entered upon. Beside the blacksmith, search was made for iron ore, and the most prominent place was on north Chippin's Hill near the Burlington line. This was leased by Luke Gridley who experimented upon the ore which was pronounced of excellent quality, and in order to work it successfully he applied to the Legislature for the privilege of a lottery to raise about three hundred pounds, his petition was endorsed by about forty of the principal business men of the surrounding towns, the petition was referred to a committee who made a favorable report thereon. It is said that some of the ore was reduced and it is probable that it was reduced at what was called the forge, which was situated at what is now known as Pequabuck Falls near the Plymouth line. This forge was established before 1785 as part interests therein were sold from time to time until 1807, John Rich sold his interest to Sherman Johnson, retain- ing the use of one fire sufficient to make one ton of iron per year for five years; that this was not a blacksmith shop is evident, as mention is made of one on the same premises "located near the forge."
The clock industry created a demand for castings for weights, also bells, which was met by the establishment of a casting shop or foundry, and there were two of this kind as early as 1831. Orrin Judson and Lord S. Hills established one on what is now Union street, east of the brook where Claytons' shear shop stands, and another was estab- lished on what is now West street by George Welch, the former of these was not long used as it was not easily reached and was probably sold to Welch and Mr. Hills was taken into the employ of Mr. Welch. It is also said that Mr. Hills at one time had a small foundry on what is now Valley street for a short time.
H
GILDING ROOM, "BRICK SHOP," MAY, 1888. From Photo, loancd by Mrs. Gilbert I.von.
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The Welch casting shop passed into the hands of Elisha N. Welch who removed it to North Main street, where it was managed by him until about 1852, when Mr. Welch entered into partnership with Mr. Harvey Gray and bought out the machine business which had been established by Atkins, Allen & Co. on West street, of which Mr. Gray was superintendent, and removed it to a shop built for the purpose adjoining the foundry. In this shop machinery was made suitable for making clocks. Presses adapted for the particular uses of clock- making, lathes for turning the several parts, so that every one of a thousand should be a duplicate of its fellow. The foundry business was carried on in this place under different names until the National Water Wheel Co. took possession of this plant for the manufacture of water wheels.
The Bristol Foundry Company followed and conducted the foundry business for a time on the ground where Eaton's elevator and the brick shop of the J. H. Sessions & Son, factory are now located, the business being conducted by Gray & Bentley, and later by Gilbert Bentley and Andrew Terry, the ground where the foundry was located having been held by them under a lease from 1873 until 1876, when they bought the land on Laurel street and removed the foundry thereto, greatly. enlarged it, and in 1879 sold out to John H. Sessions, who associated with him his son, William E. Sessions, and they conducted the business under the name of the Sessions Foundry Co. at that place until 1895, when the building of the present plant of the Sessions Foundry Co. was completed, which is now the largest and best equipped foundry plant east of Chicago. [End of the Atkins Notes.]
Concerning the old forge, which was the forerunner of the present extensive iron works of the Sessions Foundry Co., the writer has in- formation obtained from his grandfather, who was familiar with the plant, and who was well acquainted with its proprietors. Ore was brought from the Salisbury mines by teams, unloaded at the top of the hill, near where the railway embankment now is, or a little east of where the railway emerges from the hills and parallels the road near the Devil's Backbone. The old road was obliterated for some distance when the railway was built, but can be traced for a short distance at the top of the hill, at about the same height as the railway. It was lowered about twenty feet by the railway company, and about twenty feet more by the tramway company, when the Terryville trolley line was built. The ore was conveyed to the forge which stood on the bank of the river, through a chute, and was there wrought into rods by means of trip-hammers, to be sold to blacksmiths. In digging for the founda- tions of an enlargement of the buildings, iron ore was discovered, and some of it worked into bars. One of the workmen told the grandfather of the writer, that he could always tell when he was forging iron from this ore, as it was far superior to the Salisbury product. It was not ob- tained in large quantities, however, and its working was only experi- mental. The cost of hauling the ore over the Litchfield hills, was the principal reason for the abandonment of the enterprise.
So valuable a water privilege could not escape the notice of the thrifty manufacturers of Bristol. A natural dam, consisting of a spur of rock, covered with a thin layer of soil, and forest trees, which ex- tended in the remote ages across the valley, at this point not more than a hundred yards in width, the only connecting link between Fall Mountain and Chippens Hill, was gradually eaten away by the river, until a chasm was made through which the lake above was eventually drained. So narrow was this natural dam it was possible to sit astride of it, and because of its resemblance to the spine of some imaginary monster, it was dubbed by the early settlers, the Devil's Backbone. It was not until 1837, however, that the privilege was utilized, after its abandon- ment by the Forge Company. In that year, inspired no doubt by the organization of The Bristol Manufacturing Co. and the building of the South Side satinet mill, a knitting company was formed, known as
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The Bristol Falls Co., to whom Ebenezer Miller and Hiram Camp con- veyed their interest in the property, which included the water privi- lege, factory and other buildings standing thereon. The company was not recorded as an organization until 1839, with a capital of $20,000; Richard Peck, President, Ebenezer Miller, and Joshua I. Taylor, Direc- tors. Chauncey and Noble Jerome, and other leading business men of Bristol, were stockholders. Reports were made as required by law in 1839 and 1840, but there is no further report. It is understood that it was a short-lived affair.
In 1853 The Ames Shovel Co. was organized by Bristol capitalists, John Birge, President, with a capital of $10,000, acquiring the buildings of the Falls Co., and manufacturing shovels, spades, scoops, hoes, forks and other farm implements. The stockholders were John Birge, Theo- dore Terry, Edwin Ames, E. L. Dunbar, Winthrop Warner, Alphonso Barnes, Thomas Barnes, 2d, and Wallace Barnes. Annual reports were made in the years 1854, 1855 and 1856, when they ceased. The business was wound up, and put into the hands of S. R. Gridley, as Receiver. After standing idle a number of years the buildings were torn down, sometime in the sixties. It was understood that Edwin Ames, the Secretary of the Company, was taken into the business prin- cipally to secure his name. and to thus profit by the reputation of the firm of the same name in Massachusetts. It was not a success.
It may not be generally known that the Stafford oil well was not the first effort made to strike "ile" by Bristol captalists. In 1865, the Pequabuck Oil Co. was organized, with a capital of $12,000; Noah
THE OLD INGRAHAM CLOCK-CASE SHOP ON POND STREET. FRONT PART WAS OLD CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, BURLINGTON.
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Pomeroy, President, S. R. Gridley, W. H. Nettleton, H. A. Seymour and Wallace Barnes, being the other stockholders. A well was bored in the oil regions of Pennsylvania, Mr. Seymour superintending the work, but no oil was found.
In 1869 The American Coal Barge Co. was organized in Bristol, with Elias Ingraham, as President. A coal barge was constructed at New Haven, after a design by a Mr. Preston, of that city, which was calculated to load and unload coal mechanically, obviating the expen- sive process of hand shoveling which had been previously employed. The barge was a success, coal being taken on at New Jersey ports, transported to New Haven and unloaded there, at a great saving of expense. The hard times coming on, about that time, discouraged the investors, and the business was sold. The Consolidated road is now practically following the same method in transporting and _un- loading its coal supply.
10
RAILROAD VIEW, 1863. Cut loaned by Milo Leon Norton.
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THE BRISTOL PRESS
A. S. BARNES.
T THE founder, editor and for seventeen years proprietor of The Bristol Press, was C. H. Riggs. The first number of The Press was published on March 9, 1871. The Press was started in a small way upon prepaid subscriptions and borrowed money with very insufficient material and machinery, but it made the best of circumstances and held on its course.
The paper owed its origin to the suggestion of Rev. W. W. Belden, then pastor of the Congregational Church, and to the helping purses of Messrs. N. L. Birge, Elias Ingraham, J. H. Sessions and Josiah T. Peck, each of whom advanced forty dollars in aid of the enterprise. All were repaid out of the first year's profits. The subscription list at first con- sisted of about two hundred and fifty names.
The first office occupied by the paper and connected job printing business was the second story of a frame building twenty feet square, adjoining Seymour's block, next to the railroad. Here, with a Washing- ton hand press for newspaper work, and a Novelty job press, the editor started a five-column folio "patent outside" paper, the type for the inside being mostly what had been worn out and thrown aside in an office in New York state.
ยท The editor had gained some knowledge of type-setting and printing while teaching school, but was far from being expert in the art. How- ever, with the assistance of a girl, who was greener at the business than he was, he resolutely set to work, and in the face of difficulties, he entered upon his new career.
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Before the first year was ended new quarters were secured in S. E. Root's factory on lower Main street where with power presses, the busi- ness greatly increased. In 1877 a building was erected by H. S. Pratt on Main street, opposite Muzzy's corner and to this building the busi- ness was removed, Mr. Pratt becoming a partner.
- Mr. Pratt remained in the partnership less than two years, when Mr. Riggs resumed the entire ownership. In 1880 another office was built in the rear of what was then Gale's studio on the east side of Main street. This building about 1890 was removed to Riverside ave- nue where The Press was published for seventeen years.
In August, 1888, Mr. Riggs the founder of the paper, disposed of the business to Messrs. Haviland & Duncan, of Southington. Mr. Thomas H. Duncan became editor and manager and remained as such until December, 1891, when the Bristol Press Publishing Co., with a capital stock of $10,000, purchased the business. The first officers of the company were: O. F. Strunz, President; J. H. Sessions, Jr., Vice President; S. K. Montgomery, Secretary; Richard Baldwin, Treasurer. Mr. C. H. Riggs was employed as editor and manager until April, 1893, when he was succeeded by Mr. H. H. Palmer of New Haven. Mr. Palmer remained with The Press less than a year when Mr. Wallace H. Miller took charge of the paper as editor and manager.
Mr. Wallace H. Miller continued as editor of The Press and manager
The photograph herewith reproduced, represents Mr. Riggs and his office force, probably in 1882. At the left are Walter H. Royce and Miss Bertha Evans. In the door at the right stands George. A .: Fish; farther in front is Herbert E. Garrett, and seated by Mr. Riggs is Sid- ney M. Card. In the doorway at the left stands Rev. Asher Anderson, the pastor oi the Congregational Church at that time.
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of the Bristol Press Publishing Co. until February, 1901, when he was succeeded by Mr. Chas. F. Olin. Mr. Olin remained with The Press as editor until June, 1907, but in March, 1902, he was succeeded by Arthur S. Barnes as manager. Mr. Barnes is a Bristol boy and was born on March 12, 1871, the very year and month in which The Press made its initial appearance before the people of Bristol.
Under Mr. Barnes' management The Press has been increased from. a six column to a seven column paper and the number of pages from eight to ten, twelve and sometimes sixteen. Associated with him in carrying on the work are Wallace H. Miller as editor and Thomas A. Tracy as assistant. Mr. Miller returned to The Press in June, 1907. The officers of the Bristol Press Publishing Co. are-President, Gilbert H. Blakesley; Secretary and Treasurer, Arthur S. Barnes; Directors, Gilbert H. Blakesley, Otto F. Strunz and Arthur S. Barnes.
In January, 1907, the land on Riverside avenue occupied by The Press building was sold to Mr. Wm. E. Sessions and a plot 53 by 90 feet was purchased from Mrs. Edward E. Newell on Main street, the former site of S. E. Root's factory. A two-story brick building has been erected there, and in September, 1907, The Press removed to its new home. This new building is 74 by 36 feet and is of mill construction throughout, and is situated on the very same spot where The Press was quartered in S. E. Root's factory from 1872 to 1877.
The Press considers it as its first duty to faithfully chronicle local events in Bristol and to reflect public opinion on local affairs. In politics it is independent, believing that such is the only course that a local paper can take. It strives always to live up to the commendation of one of its former editors who spoke of it as "a high-grade, influential home newspaper, one that always works for the welfare of the town and its best interests."
MAIN STREET, 1868.
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The Yankee Clock Industry
EDITED BY MILO LEON NORTON .*
T HE late Roswell Atkins devoted much time to the search of records, and all other available sources of information, in pursuit of knowledge as to events in the early history of Bristol. Mr. Atkins was careful, painstaking, and cautious, in his in- vestigations, and what he committed to writing was the result of as thorough investigation as it was possible to make. The sources of in- formation as to the earliest industries are extremely meagre, the busi- ness enterprises of the eighteenth century being conducted on so small a scale as never, in the opinions of the active participants, likely to be- come of interest to future generations. In the preparation of this work it has been thought best to give Mr. Atkins' notes on the clock industry in full, substantially as he wrote them, making only such minor addi- tions to them as may be thought necessary.
EPHRAIM DOWNS CLOCK, 1825.
*It was the intention to fully illustrate this article, but after mature consideration it was thought advisable not to attempt to do so in the limited space at our disposal-as to do justice to the subject hundreds of clocks would have to be shown.
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In a preliminary way it may be of interest to say that the first Yankee clock-making, as a business, was undoubtedly established in Bristol by Gideon Roberts, a soldier of the Revolution, son of Elias Roberts, who was a victim of the Wyoming massacre in 1778. His home was the house now owned by Asher C. Bailey, on the Fall Moun- tain road, afterward the residence of his son, Hopkins Roberts, and known a generation ago as the Hopkins Roberts place. The house itself has a historic interest as occupying the site of one of the first houses in that section of the town, built by Moses Lyman, in 1736. The Roberts house was built by Alvin Cole, a brother of Katherine Cole Gaylord, and came into the possession of the Roberts family by purchase.
One of the several tin shops that were in active operation inBristol prior to the Revolution, stood on the west side of Wolcott street just north of the residence of the late Alonzo Rood. When the grading for the lawn in front of the house of Edward Bradley was done, the open cellar hole of this old shop was filled up, having existed until that time, about twenty years ago. This shop was purchased by Gideon Roberts, as his business had increased, and was moved by him to the southwest corner of his front yard, where it was used by him as a clock shop, and may be accorded the distinction of being the first clock shop in the United States. This probably took place not far from the year 1800. The building is still standing, having been purchased by Asahel Hinman Norton, and attached to the east side of his house, now occupied by Jason H. Clemence. Mr. Roberts made the first clocks by the aid of a foot lathe, and such hand tools as the saw, dividers, hand drills, etc., from wood, the first clocks not being cased, but bracketed to the wall. Some of his later movements were cased in the tall cases in fashion at that time. His method of disposing of these clocks was to take three or four of them with him upon horseback, to New York and Penn- sylvania, where he sold them at twenty-five dollars apiece. It was in Pennsylvania that he became acquainted with the English cherry, which the thrifty Quakers had transplanted from British soil, and he brought pits of the cherry home with him, planting the same and dis- tributing to his neighbors. There are cherry trees still standing which are the descendants of these original trees, but it is doubtful if one of the originals is left. The Fall Mountain cherries were long famous, and were in great demand. But the cherry was not the only acquisition that he made from the Pennsylvania Quakers; he adopted their re- ligion as well, and also the peculiar dress and quaint speech of the Society of Friends. He died in 1813, and it is said that his business of clock making had increased at that time so that he had four hundred movements in the works.
NOTES ON THE CLOCK BUSINESS, BY ROSWELL ATKINS.
The earliest manufacturers of clocks seem to have been confined to the Roberts family, so far as the records show, and though the date of 1790 is given, it would seem as if it might have been even earlier. But soon after the opening of the new century others turned their attention that way, and in 1808, Barnes & Waterman, Levi Lewis, Sextus O. Newell; in 1809-1811, Joseph Ives, probably in company with Manross, and located on the Self Winding Clock Co.'s site; Chauncey Boardman and Butler Dunbar, at the Ashworth shop just south of the burner shop; Amasa and Chauncey Ives, at the Hiram C. Thompson shop; and Elias Roberts & Co., on the brook near the Dana Beckwith place: made clocks. This last shop was used for different purposes: German silver combs, tinder boxes on the plan of the lock and flint, also the wheel and flint, prior to the introduction of lucifer matches. These were made by the Iveses, Joseph and Shailer, and later by Bryan Richards, in this shop. Others soon engaged in the clock business, some making cases and buying movements, putting their own names inside. In 1821, Barnes
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& Johnson, also Chauncey Boardman and Col. Joseph A. Wells, in the east part of the town, near the turnpike. This shop was first used for wood clocks, later brass clocks were made there, and the tools were sold to Mr. Ingraham. Cutting boxes for cutting hay, were also made there by Wells, Barnard & Co. Seymour & Churchill also made movements, also some rules.
In 1821, Chauncey Jerome bought of George Mitchell a house and land on South Street, to be paid for partly in clocks. He afterward bought a small shop built by Treat, Lee & Alle, on the north side of the river, west of what is now Main Street, for making any article connected with the business, and in 1824 entered into partnership with Elijah Darrow and his brother, Noble Jerome and they, in 1826, secured the laying out of Main Street. They then bought land on the east side of the new street; erected a shop on the west side, for making cases, about where the Ives meat market stands; a movement shop where the spoon shop is, but closer to the road; and, soon after, a finishing shop on the west side opposite; and a large barn on the north side of the river, for stabling the horses necessary for the economical prosecution of their business. There was no other means of transportation of merchandise to New Haven or Hartford, until the completion of the canal in 1826 or 1827; and as the canal was useless during the winter, horses had to be employed until the completion of the railroad to Plainville; in 1847, and to Bristol, in 1848.
The coming of Mr. Jerome gave an additional impetus to the clock industry, and this was followed by the location of Ephriam Downes, an experienced clock maker, in 1825, he having also purchased of George Mitchell the property on which was a small shop, and which has since remained in the family until its purchase by the Liberty Bell Co. This property was to be paid for in clocks for Mr. Mitchell, who supplied peddlers with various articles of manufacture.
In May, 1828, Samuel Terry, of Plymouth, a brother of Eli Terry, bought the old grist mill property south of Pierce's, on which, beside the mill, was a small shop owned by Simeon Johnson, and also a tannery. The mill was converted into a clock manufactory. Charles Kirk, about this time, made clocks in a shop on the north side of the river from the mill, soon after buying the shop on Race Street, and carrying on the business a number of years, when he sold out and removed to Wolcott, where, with his sons, he invented and manufactured musical clocks.
Samuel Terry, was succeeded in the clock business by his sons at the old stand, for some years, followed by Terry & Andrews; and the shop owned by C. E. Andrews, and used as a manufactory of light hard- ware, was built by them. Auger bits were made there, and that line of business is still followed. Of the sons of Samuel Terry, Theodore removed to Ansonia, for a time, and was also located in Pequabuck, where Scott & Co.'s mill stood. William A. Terry still resides here, a man of scientific attainments in any line in which he becomes interested. He is the inventor of a calendar which is absolutely perpetual, taking up the leap-year changes, automatically. He was for many years one of the most skillful photograghers the country afforded; and his micro- scopic discoveries in the realm of diatoms, have given him a world-wide fame.
George W. and Eli Bartholomew, commenced making wood clocks in Edgewood, about 1829, and continued till about 1843, a part of the time in connection with cabinet making. The site they occupied had been formerly used by Martin Byington, and Isaac Graham, as a grist- mill, a sawmill, and a distillery. Since 1855, bit braces have been made continuously by the Bartholomews.
In 1830, George Mitchell, Rollin and Irenus Atkins, bought the old Baptist meeting house (the second church edifice was built that year), and moved it northwest to the location of the shop where they had carried on wood turning and comb making since 1819. Clock
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making was conducted in it by different firms: Mitchell & Atkins; Atkins & Downs (Anson, a brother of Ephraim); and R. & I. Atkins, for a number of years, until the saw business was established in 1836, under the name of Frost, Merriman & Co. A dam was built by this firm some distance above Hickory Park, a raceway dug, and a shop erected near the building occupied as an isolation hospital during the smallpox visitation a few years since. This was used as a grinding shop for saws, but was abandoned and the shop removed to the top of the hill, opposite the stone house, on Divinity Street, where it became the residence of Constant Welch, for many years. In 1857 the firm name was changed to I. Atkins & Co. An extensive business was done by this concern, who made cotton gins, and other machinery. The firm failed about 1858, in the saw business, and it was conducted by the Jessups, of New York, for four years, then for two years more by H. Porter, who removed it, in 1864, to the melodeon shop, where The Porter Saw Co. was succeeded by The Penfield Saw Works. In 1851, the manufacture of clocks was recommenced by the Atkins Company, and continued until 1880. Barnes Brothers continued the business for a few years, when the business was abandoned, and the shop was finally burned.
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