USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Hartford > Colonial history of Hartford, Connecticut > Part 17
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There is no more appropriate device in which to sym- bolize the sources of Hartford's early development than this first seal. It sets forth the indebtedness of the town to the Connecticut River. That was the great highway to their settlement from the outside world. To it, they com- mitted many a venture for distant ports. It provided their tables, in season, with the choicest fish. It fertilized their meadows, and it brought to their homes many coveted luxuries. Thus it was the main artery of their early life.
In his plan of Hartford in 1640, Porter located the western bank of the river some distance east of the same in 1824. He evidently thought it had been worn away in the course of two centuries. This is true. The main reason for it was the gradual closing of the channel eastward of two islands lying along the opposite bank. Among the allot- ments, there was granted to Thomas Bird "an Iland Lying Nere the Eaft Side of the grett Riuer ouer againft the Landding plac Contayñ by Eftimã fortenne acres be it more or les Abutting on the Grett Riuer whare the brim of it was at a ordanary watter in the yeare one thoufand Six hundreth forty & fower." In 1659, the town appointed a committee "to veiw Goodman Birds Island & Stake it out to him." Nothing was done and, in 1660, another committee was named to "apoynt Thomas burd the bounds of his Iland ouer against the town." The necessity for settling its bounds indicates that there was even then a swale between it and the main land. On May 3, 1660, Bird sold this island
1 Common Council Records, A, p. 16.
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THE COLONIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD
to Jonathan Gilbert, among whose lands it is described as lying "ouer against ye Comon landing place" and abutting "on ye great riuer weft on ye dutch Island & on ye mead lotts East, & against the litle riuers mouth Sowth." Gil- bert bought the Dutch island the same year. It was the island of two acres, "ouer againft ye Sowth end of ye litle mea- dow," that had been sequestered in 1654. The meadow lots east of it were owned, in 1673, by John Crow, who declared in a document that he would not claim any land west of his mere stones, which "Stand & allwayes haue Stood of [on] the Brow of the Hill or Banck on the ends of my [his] lotts, by the run of valey that lyeth between my [his] Sayd meadow lotts, & that which was formerly Caled the dutch Island." 1 It seems, therefore, that these islands were then disappearing into the mainland. In 1640, there was doubtless a large flow of water east of them, and, in some distant past, the channel may have been farther east. These islands remained in posession of the Gilbert family for some years.2 In 1709 the larger island passed to Samuel Howard. They can now be traced by the contour lines.
As the channel on the east became closed, the force of the current was expended on the western bank and gradually wore it away. The total area of the Little Meadow, however, was not greatly lessened. Most of the diminution was east of the North Meadow creek and north of the landing place, where there was a strip of unallotted land. In 1655 it is described as "an island." At its northern limit was the upper mouth of the creek, for that stream bounded the southernmost lot of the North Meadow on the west and south.3 The Little Meadow lots, abutting east on the creek, were protected, therefore, by the strip of town land, part of which was gradually worn away. In the course of improvements, the creek's lower mouth was closed and the bed filled in, thus securing to the town for public uses the land along the river. In 1773, the General Assembly granted a petition for a lottery to raise funds for the protection of
1 Original Distribution, p. 391.
2 Hartford Land Records, 1: 50, 401, 520; 2: 19; Manwaring's Hartford Probate Records, I: 307; State Archives: Private Controversies, II: 130.
3 Original Distribution, p. 104.
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this bank. Wharves built there later were called the "Lottery Wharves." It was stated in the memorial that the landing-place had been "much enlarged and made very convenient, but was in danger of being ruined by the river's current, unless defended by public aid.1 A committee, appointed by the city in 1792 to ascertain what land near the landing was public property, reported that, since 1677, the river's bank had been worn away for a considerable dis- tance.2 The deeds indicate that there was along the river, in early times, some swamp land. This was doubtless washed away and the depth of water increased.
At the landing-place where there was a substratum of rock, they found a convenient locality for most of their early river traffic. This was an important center for two centuries. Rev. Thomas Hooker may have foreseen the high value of land in the neighborhood when he acquired here four acres. His eastern bound was the creek, the landing- place and the highway to it, now Kilbourn Street. This land descended in the family for several generations. Timo- thy Stanley owned the triangle south of this, at the corner of Kilbourn and Front streets. It remained in the possession of his family for more than a century. In 1742 it passed to Timothy Bigelow. The Road to the Ferry was bisected by another from the south. The lot east of this abutting on the river, afforded a desirable site for their early ware- houses. It comprised one acre. Its original owner was Thomas Scott. In 1652, his heirs sold it, with the home- lot, to Thomas Cadwell.3 South of it, along the river, John Steele owned two acres, which he sold to William Pantry. To this, other lots were added, and his grandson, John Pantry, owned here twenty-five acres. This tract was afterwards called "Pantry Jones' Pasture." Thomas Cadwell made an exchange of land with the town in 1669. It thus secured for public uses the land along the river. The remainder of Cadwell's lot descended to Esther Cadwell. She married Caleb Bull, and their heirs inherited it. Shortly
1 Conn. Col. Rec., XIV: 118, 119.
2 Common Council Records, A. 2, p. 65.
3 Original Distribution, pp. 62, 476-479; Common Council Records, A. 2, pp. 59 ff.
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THE COLONIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD
after Thomas Cadwell acquired this lot, he erected upon it a warehouse. It stood where the store of Thomas Bull was located in 1792. As he is believed to have been conducting a private ferry in 1652, he may have used this warehouse in connection with that venture. The account book of John Talcott shows that Cadwell's warehouse was used by the Colony during King Philip's War, probably for the storage of supplies. In 1685 he sold it to Nathaniel Stanley, from whom it passed to Nathaniel Hooker. The latter's son Nathaniel, built there a new warehouse, the frame of which survived in Thomas Bull's store. The town granted liberty, in 1653, to Jonathan Gilbert to set up a warehouse east of the Hooker lot, provided he had the consent of Mrs. Hooker. This site was in the highway west of the landing. He erected the building at once. Very likely he here stored the corn he collected in 1654 for the train-band. He had charge of the military stores for some years. His warehouse was a two-story building. It had a cellar underneath it and a staircase leading to the second floor. This building was standing fifty years later. After Gilbert's death in 1682, his son Samuel sold the north end to Thomas Thornton, and the south end he sold in 1693 to Thomas Hooker, subject to the life use of Widow Mary Gilbert. The town also granted to Jonathan Gilbert, in 1676, "Twenty six Foot of bredth in land by the great riuer & Forty foot in length the former bredth westward to be to him & his heirs forever." The condition was that he and his heirs should maintain the highway thither. This location was next south of the land- ing, at the north end of the Scott-Cadwell lot. Here he erected a second warehouse, which he also owned at his death. In 1683, this land was forfeited to the town because his heirs refused to keep in repair the highway. Later, this warehouse passed to William Gibbon; in 1696, to William Caddy; in 1698, to William Whiting, and, in 1725, to John Austin. The last-named owner petitioned, in 1736, for liberty to build an addition at the west end, it being then the northernmost warehouse on the bank of the river. In 1761, it was owned by John Ellery. This was the ware- house referred to in 1678, when a committee of the town recommended that the "Land on the North side of Mr
11
FIRE AT THE FOOT OF FERRY STREET
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ALONG THE GREAT RIVER
gillberts warehouse: Betwene the great Riuer [and the] brew of the Little meadow Hill where the ffence Now stands to the mouth of the Little Riuer [North Meadow Creek] bee and Remayne for a Common Landing place which wee Judg Nessesary for the publick." 1 The same year the above- named strip of land along the river was recorded to the town.2 We have thus a fairly complete plan of the landing-place and its environs in 1678. It continued for years, with few changes, except the erection of other warehouses. We have only to picture to ourselves a highway leading north- east from Front Street to the river, on the south side of the creek's mouth. When this channel was closed and the bed filled, the landing-place was enlarged. Along the river south of it, was the row of early warehouses. The first one, erected by Jonathan Gilbert, was on the west facing the landing. There was evidently a swale parallel with the river. West of it, the grade ascended to the Little Meadow Hill. In 1911, some workmen, who were driving the intercepter tunnel at the foot of Kilbourn Street, found at about low-water level, three large pine logs laid parallel east and west, four feet apart, with cross pieces upon them. An imaginative writer suggested the discovery of Hooker's raft. Probably it was the remains of an early causeway laid across the above swale, by which the settlers reached the landing-place. This approach to the river had become important in 1678. From that time, the landing-place entered upon an era of development that only reached its climax after the revival of commerce in the early years of the city's life.
Concerning the other early warehouses in the row at the landing, the records give further information. George Gardner received from the town, in 1674, one rod square, where he erected a warehouse. The report of 1792 states that his son, Ebenezer Gardner, gave this to Caleb Stanley. Probably it was on or near the site granted to the latter. In 1678, a grant twenty feet square was made to Ensign Na- thaniel Stanley for the same purpose. His site was between Cadwell's and the landing. Then, in 1683, a tract sixteen feet wide and twenty-four feet long at the north end of Cad-
1 Hartford Town Votes, I: 192. 2 Ibid., I: 184, 190.
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THE COLONIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD
well's warehouse, was given to Caleb Stanley. It descended to Timothy Stanley, who sold it in 1743 to Captain William Tiley. A similar grant was made, in 1685, to Richard Edwards, between the warehouses of Caleb and Nathaniel Stanley. This year, also, Joseph Wadsworth and Philip Lewis received liberty to erect one next to the landing-place. North of the landing, Colonel Samuel Talcott erected a warehouse, about the middle of the eighteenth century. It was on his own land. The creek bed had been filled in meanwhile. This warehouse or store was near the mansion- house and other buildings, which Colonel Talcott sold in 1777 to William and Jannet Knox. It passed later to John Chenevard. There was another warehouse at the south end of the row. It was built on the reserved lot of Thomas Cadwell, perhaps by his son Thomas, about 1695, when he became the ferryman. In 1719, it is mentioned in the inventory of Mathew Cadwell, his successor, as "1 Acre and 4 of Land and the Ware houfe that Stands on it." The inventory of his son Mathew in 1723, speaks of it as "the Waor hous and fhop and Land one which they ftand." In both cases the value was £70. The latter's heirs sold it, in 1745, to Caleb Bull, Jr., the deed specifying that the ware- house had formerly belonged to Mathew Cadwell.1 In buildings then standing on this lot, or afterwards erected, Caleb Bull conducted his flaxseed store. All these ware- houses would now be considered insignificant, both in size and business. They were owned, however, by the most prominent merchants of Hartford. It was in this little group of buildings that a large part of the river trade of colonial times was carried on. In 1792, this public area at the landing was laid out, and its courses and measurements were recorded .? There Thomas K. Brace established later his warehouses and his wharf was located. The site is at present indicated by the promontory east of the railroad tracks, opposite the foot of Kilbourn Street.
The years following King Philip's War also mark an era in the development of the East-side. The committee of 1678 reported as follows: "Allso we haue ordred a Common
1 Hartford Land Records, 7: 193.
2 Hartford Town Votes, MS. Vol. II: 342-345.
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Landing place uppon Mr Jonathan gillberds Island on the east side of the great Riuer where now itt is, to be ffower rods wide uppon the Banck next the Riuer." Thence they laid out a highway across the island, down the bank where the carts had "allready made a passage," and eastward to the upland.1 This road was obliged to cross swamp land and swales, over which causeways were built. A road here was already in use and connected with a north and south road, laid out in 1640 along the meadow hill. In 1670, the country road, now Main Street, was established by order of the General Court.2 In consideration, the proprietors were granted and took twenty rods eastward of their three- mile lots. Other roads followed. Saw-mills were built on the Hockanum, or Saw Mill River.3 Eligible locations for East-side farms were chosen, and residents there increased. Among early settlers the following were the most prominent families: Bidwell, Burnham, Forbes, Goodwin, Hills, Olcott, Olmsted, Pitkin, Porter, Risley, Spencer and Wil- liams. Thus began an era during which the East-side at- tained great prosperity.4
The ferry across the river was at first, and for many years so far as known, a private enterprise. In 1641, the General Court took notice of Windsor's ferry and encouraged that town to provide a boat for its use, by allowing a charge for passengers.5 This was Bissell's old ferry, where travellers crossed in going to the Bay. It is quite improbable that Hartford was without similar accommodations. Thomas Cadwell seems most likely to have been this early ferryman, and possibly before him, Edward Stebbins, who lived nearest the landing, did such service. After the distribution of East-side meadow lots, boats must have been constructed of sufficient size for farming use. Animals were trans- ported across and pastured in the meadows. At a later date, the owners of East-side lots owned such a boat in common, as did the "Proprietors of the North Meadow."
1 Hartford Town Votes, I: 185, 190, 191; Hartford Land Records, 1: 401, 520.
2 Conn. Col. Rec., II: 133.
3 Original Distribution, p. 553; Hartford Land Records, 1: 101; 4: 203, 369; 5: 459; Conn. Col. Rec., I: 262; II: 178; III: 218, 219.
4 See East Hartford: its History and Traditions, by Joseph O. Goodwin.
5 Conn. Col. Rec., I: 71.
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THE COLONIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD
It was called a "great boat." Very likely the town had such a boat in early times. In 1715, the town's boat was kept at a certain place for the use of inhabitants.1 There was also one on the East-side. At the town meeting, December 22, 1681, the convenience and necessity of having a public ferry at Hartford was considered. A committee was appointed to agree with a suitable person to keep the same for seven years. Thomas Cadwell was the man selected. As his warehouse was at the landing, and his house, after 1652, at the southwest corner of State and Front streets, this service would have been convenient for him. His agreement, dated March 31, 1682, states that he was "to maintaine a suffitiant Boate ffor the passaige of Horse and man: and a Connoe good and suffitiant to Carry ouer single persons." 2 The fares were: Hartford residents, man 1d., horse and man, 3d. in silver, and double fare if in other pay, non-residents or after dark. Thomas Cadwell was thus the lessee of the ferry privilege, though not necessarily the ferryman. He agreed that it should be "carefully attended." He died in 1694. His widow, Elizabeth Cadwell, succeeded him for one year and then his son Thomas. Probably Mathew Cadwell was the next ferryman. He died in 1719 and was succeeded by his widow, Abigail Cadwell, and her son Mathew. The rent was then £10 a year. This son was probably the ferry- man in 1723, when he died. His inventory includes the "Cart Booat with the Chain fastened to it," and the "hors booat" and chain. Thus one family conducted this ferry for at least thirty-seven years. Daniel Messenger bought a lot near the landing in 1724, and soon afterward built a house there, being persuaded to do so, he claimed, in the expectation of securing the lease of the ferry. He received the appointment in 1726, and probably in 1727, paying therefor £13. The privilege was then sold to the highest bidder. Daniel Messenger was aggrieved, as he had pro- vided "boats, scows and other vessels." He appealed to the General Assembly for redress, agreeing to take the franchise for ten years, to carry the members free when on
1 Hartford Town Votes, I: 318; MS. Vol. II: 21.
2 Hartford Town Votes, I: 197, 198.
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public business, and to pay each year one-tenth of the expense of erecting the Little River bridge.1 A contract had been made, however, with the successful bidder, Charles, the son of Richard Burnham, for one year. These short term leases were due to the town's hope of securing a charter for the ferry. It petitioned for one in 1727, and several times later, without success. The fares were changed from time to time, and the members of the General Assembly, court officials and town inhabitants were not unwilling to profit by the ferryman's labor.2 His remuneration, however, was not derived so much from his fares as from the license to sell liquors, which it had become the custom to grant him. That was the reason for Daniel Messenger's liberal offer. In 1728, being then a "tavern-keeper," he sold his property and removed elsewhere. The next ferryman of record was Timothy Bigelow, who was the lessee in 1736. He bought of Daniel Edwards in 1742, the land on the northeast corner of Front and Kilbourn streets, and estab- lished there his home. He also kept a tavern. Nathaniel Pease, ferryman in 1746, petitioned for a license. Timothy Bigelow died in 1747. His son Benjamin was later ferry- man and host. During his term, in 1757, a project was started to have two ferries at Hartford. When he mem- orialized the General Assembly in 1759 on the subject, he stated that another place lower down on the river had re- cently been used as a landing. He admitted the need of two boats and declared that he was willing to keep two, provided the ferry was established at the ancient ferry place and no competition was allowed.3 This plan was carried out, but no monopoly was granted. Benjamin Bigelow continued as ferryman for some years, but much of the time after 1757 there was a competing ferry. In 1769, the town committee was authorized to make a lease for ten years, the ferryman to have liberty to land his boats anywhere between Mr. Knox's house, north of the ancient landing-place, and Jones's south wharf, which was south
1 State Archives: Travel, I: 157, 171, 173.
2 Ibid., I: 194, 281; Conn. Col. Rec., IV: 156, 248, 332, 366; VII: 257; Hart- ford Town Votes, I: 241, 242.
* Conn. Col. Rec., XI: 138, 282.
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THE COLONIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD
of the foot of the present Ferry Street, the lower landing- place of later times.1 In this lease, the inhabitants were to have free passage to meetings and when on public busi- ness. This would have meant much more before 1694, when an ecclesiastical society was formed on the East-side. In earlier times there was great disorder in conveying church- goers across the river. The most was made of this fact in the East-side petitions for a separate organization. The rent of the ferry was put to various public uses, such as procuring firewood for the schools and repairing the bridges. In 1719, the inhabitants of West Farms were authorized to expend £9 of the ferry rent in buying land for a burial ground.2 Across the river by the ferry, there was a large amount of travel during the Revolutionary War. Several boats were in use and, some of the time, two ferries, as in later times. This travel was somewhat relieved, however, by ferries above and below the town.3 After the incor- poration of the city, these augmented needs urged the con- struction of a bridge.4
The earliest wharf of which we have any knowledge, was that probably built by Samuel the son of Thomas Thorn- ton, who owned the north half of the old Gilbert warehouse. In 1702, the town appointed a committee, "to veiw a Small peice of Land that Sam" Thornton desires to wharfe on & lay out the same to him if it prove not predudiciall to the town he to Enjoy the Same as Long as the town Shall see Cause." The next year, he inherited from his father "part of the warehouse at the Common Landing Place." Prob- ably this wharf adjoined the warehouse on the north side. It might have been within the mouth of the creek. We do not note any other wharves for many years. The public landing was used by river merchants. Vessels frequently anchored in the stream, and customers went out to them in boats, the traffic being conducted on the decks. With
1 Hartford Town Votes, MS. Vol. II: 179, 185, 192, 231.
? Ibid., MS. Vol. II: 13.
8 Conn. Col. Rec., V: 354; VI: 322; State Archives: Travel, I: 138, 139, 189. See "Ferries in Early Days" in The Hartford Times, Sept. 29, 1908; July 2, 1909; Aug. 23, 1910.
4 Memorial Hist. of Hartford County, I: 369-371; Goodwin's East Hartford, pp. 195-197; Wright's Crossing the Connecticut, pp. 5 ff.
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ALONG THE GREAT RIVER
the revival of trade after the Revolutionary War, wharves multiplied very rapidly. Solomon Porter's survey of 1790 notes those of Jones, Bull and Olcott in front of the old warehouses. In 1824, there were twenty between Dutch Point and Morgan's bridge. The Connecticut River was then at the height of its commercial renown.
The impression prevails quite generally that the eastern section of Hartford was populous and busy with mercantile life during colonial times. Those conditions were not brought about until the nineteenth century, after many years of development. One who walked through Front Street, from the fordway at Little River northward in 1775, saw little to suggest its appearance fifty years later. There were some scattered homesteads on the west side of the street, with barns, gardens and orchards. On the east side, the entire southern portion was a meadow that had long been known as "Haynes' Pasture." It contained about twenty-three acres. At an early date, the Haynes family began to gather the original lots into this tract. After the Revolutionary War, the owner, John Haynes Lord, yielded to the pressure of business interests and sold certain lots. Ashbel Wells Jr. erected there a brick store in 1787. He made and sold pottery, whence the name Potter's Lane. Captain John Chenevard also bought on the Little River and established there a wharf. A still-house was near. In 1786, General Jeremiah Wadsworth purchased five acres, adding to two tracts sold to him in 1783 and 1784 from the Pantry lot. To him the credit was due for the development of commercial interests along that water front. Probably the first house erected in this portion of the meadow was that of Hannah Watson. She sold two acres to Caleb Bull in 1774, with the house where she lived. The lot west of this she had deeded to William Watson in 1771. When it passed, in 1773, to Asa Benton, it had upon it a new house, partly built. North of this, the next house was Pantry Jones's, south of Jones Lane. His homestead and adjoining pasture occupied a considerable area. It was through the southern part of this tract, then owned by his son Nathaniel Jones, that lower State Street was opened in 1800. In 1783, Pantry Jone's sold the northwest corner
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THE COLONIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD
to Dr. Solomon Smith, who built there a house and store. In 1785, it passed to his son Daniel Smith, who sold to John Hall, a hardware and drygoods merchant. In 1781, Pantry Jones deeded to Barnabas Dean and Company the lot near the river, long occupied by their distillery and store. Per- haps the latter building was erected earlier by Pantry Jones. This firm was formed in 1779. It is said that General Nathaniel Greene was a silent partner. Northwest of the distillery, there was a blacksmith's shop, known as Ensign's. Along Ferry and Kilbourn streets the greater part of the business life in this section gathered. In 1775, this was mainly in the warehouses by the landing-place. Here, in 1784, William and George Bull sold, among other articles, "fire stoves." They advertised these in 1787 as "Franklin stoves." Frederick Bull was located here in 1775. He dealt in ironware, kettles and pots. Before 1788, when Commerce Street was accepted by the city, there was a roadway, which followed its general course, west of the warehouses. It was called "Cheapside" - a name applied, in 1811, to Main Street, north of State. On the northwest corner, where it crossed Jones Lane, Caleb Bull had a red house and store. It was leased to Elisha Vibbard and, in 1789, sold to him. Here, too, Aaron Bradley, the black- smith, was located in 1784. He bought land there in 1787. The next year he advertised as at the sign of the "Horseshoe," No. 3 Cheapside, Jones Street. He .also invited his patrons to another shop in the North Shipyard at the sign of the "Strap and Dead Eye." In 1786, Charles Hopkins removed into his brick store in Cheapside. West of Bradley's shop John Watson Jr. purchased a location from Caleb Bull in 1787. He had owned before 1782 the Normand Morrison warehouse at the landing, which then passed to Captain John Chenevard. It was south of one belonging to the heirs of Captain Samuel Olcott, and north of the store of Captain William Bull. North of these buildings there was a lumber yard, owned by Caleb Bull. . His son James Bull leased the corner of it, in 1790, to J. Beckwith for a shop. On the west end of this tract Samuel Kilbourn located his house and store in 1775. At the foot of Ferry Street was the ferry house built by Pantry Jones,
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