USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Hartford > Colonial history of Hartford, Connecticut > Part 18
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VIEW OF HARTFORD FROM THE EAST SIDE OF CONNECTICUT RIVER, 1841
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ALONG THE GREAT RIVER
and bequeathed in 1794 to his nephew, John Jones. It remained to recent times. This was then the Ferry Way, called later the "Public Landing." In 1775 the old landing was still in use - and a busy place it was during the Revolu- tionary War. Just north of it, was the Knox Tavern. William Knox married Jannet, the daughter of Normand Morrison, and, after his death, she married John Calder. At this tavern they did a thriving business. Revolu- tionary prisoners on parole were boarded there.1 William Knox was also the ferryman, and practically in control of the situation. In 1783, he advertised to sell grindstones there. That would have been an appropriate name for the kind of intoxicants that tradition declares he sold at his tavern. The stores of Joseph Barrett and Major John Caldwell were on the other side of Commerce Street. In 1770, Blackleach Wells bought a small house on the south- east corner. West of these, near the northeast corner of Kilbourn and Front streets, Captain John Bigelow had a house and store in 1771, and others before him. North of this was the Hooker tract, where Daniel Messenger had located in 1725. At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, the meadow north of Talcott Lane was mostly devoted to pasturage. Its early owner was William Westwood, whose heir was Aaron Cook. Here, in 1756, was "Cook's Little Meadow," which was then acquired by Pantry Jones, and sold in 1787 to General Wadsworth and others. At this time, the Maritime Company bought up this land for speculative purposes. John Tiley owned the lot north of that above-named. It was called the "Creek lot," and was the location of the North Shipyard. In 1787, Joseph Toocker, a ship-builder, leased land and built a house on the west side of the passway along the river.2 He was doubtless engaged at his trade in the neighboring shipyard, where many vessels had formerly been built and continued to be for some years.3
1 "Major French's Journal," in Conn. Hist. Soc. Coll., I: 213, 215.
2 Boardman's Ancestry of Jane Maria Greenleaf, pp. 97-100; Hartford Land Records, 18: 408, 474.
3 In 1727, John Tiley, Jr., sold to John Caldwell and John Knowles the hull, mast, boom and bowsprit of the sloop Speedwell, seventy-nine tons. - Hartford Land Records, 1: 208.
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THE COLONIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD
This survey from the records gives us in outline a picture of the land along the Great River as it appeared at the close of the colonial period, with the entrance upon it of those activities that eventually transformed it. Early engravings show, in some measure, what it became. The old ferry, by which farmers from the East-side entered the town, gathered trade. Advertisements of 1787, show that shop-keepers on both sides of the river, were offering West India goods in exchange for butter and cheese. Arriving travellers, also, needed an inn and sometimes a horse- shoer. The river trade demanded warehouses, and these sufficed for colonial times. At length, however, there came a new era, and with it another generation of merchants. Then the Great River claimed its opportunity.
CHAPTER XII THE BANKS OF THE RIVERET
THE town of Hartford once had in its ancient riveret a great natural source of beauty. In the days of the forefathers it was a clear and sparkling stream, except in times of freshet or flood. DeVries described its appearance in 1639, in his reference to "a high woodland out of which comes a valley which makes the kill or creek." What a trout stream it must have been in those days! It had its deep pools and its areas where it could spread out its skirts on occasion. Its springtime waters, after tumbling over a natural fall, rushed down between high banks, over a rocky incline and at last found quietness at the level of the Great River. The Dutch traders at once saw the advantage of its mouth as a harbor. It was protected from the Con- necticut's current by the protruding foot of the Little Meadow. There they could entertain the canoes of many Indian's who came to trade, and their own sloop was largely concealed from view. This must have been in those days an interesting port. Let us try to imagine two rows of settlers' homes, with their out-buildings and yards, one on either side of this stream, from the eastern limit of Bushnell Park to the river. No old rookeries shut them off from a view of their neighbors across the stream - nothing but the trees and shrubbery of their front yards. The distance was too great to suit lovers, but perhaps some young Lean- der swam this Hellespont, or knew a good place to wade across. How pleasant it must have been along the riveret's banks, to listen at evening's hour to the purling stream, to recline underneath the shade on a summer noontime, or to sail toy boats down with the current, freighted with loving messages for dear old England. Such was life along the riveret in the days of the forefathers, and all the early residents on its banks passed away with their generation before there were any material changes.
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THE COLONIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD
The formal baptismal name of this stream was the "Little River." Sometimes, though rarely, as the boundary be- tween the two "sides," the "river" was a sufficient designa- tion. In the town votes, as early as 1642, they used the diminutive term "riveret," and "rivulet" was favored in the land records. Then in the last decade of the century when its mills multiplied, it came to be called "Mill River," a name especially applied to the main stream. The early designation of the south fork was "Hog River," and of the north fork "Ox Pasture River." These were so termed because of abutting pastures for the animals named. Quite recently, but with some fitness, the former title has been extended to the entire stream.
The earliest public service that has been attributed to the riveret is turning the wheel of Mathew Allyn's mill. Here, for some years, the corn of the forefathers was ground. Allyn's first mill was probably built in 1636, soon after the arrival of Hooker's company. The site may have been chosen in 1635 by the pioneers, or earlier by John Hall. It stood on his two-acre mill lot, part of which is the planted bank north of the river in West Bushnell Park. The western section of the road from the Meeting House to the Mill, now Ford and Asylum streets, ran through it, continu- ing across Brick-kiln or Gully Brook to the Ox Pasture. The entry of this lot was made under the date February 1639-40, and it is believed just before Allyn abandoned his first and completed his second mill.1 It states that his mill was then standing on this lot and that there was "an ifland on the fouth west fide of the mill." The northern bound was his own ten-acre tract in Westfield, made up largely of swamp land, through which the brook flowed from the north. The owner thus had a considerable flowage, secured by damming the brook, which then entered the riv- eret some distance east of the present stepping stones. In the author's opinion, Allyn's first mill utilized this water privilege and not the riveret. This belief is favored by the fact that these adjoining tracts were granted to him by the plantation. However, a pen sketch of 1685 notes the "place where Mr Alyns first mill stood," and it was ap-
1 Original Distribution, p. 145.
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THE BANKS OF THE RIVERET
parently near the present stepping stones.1 This mill is thought also to have been on the west side of the brook's mouth. The mill lot extended westward of this to John Skinner's land.2 This location harmonizes with a town vote thought to date in 1637, appointing Thomas Scott to "keep in good Repayre the bridg over the bri[ck kiln] swam[p] brooke leading to the mill." This first mill was hastily erected to meet immediate needs. It was probably of the simplest construction of pioneer times, still to be seen among the mountaineers of the south. Its shaft was an upright timber, with vertical paddle blades morticed in at the lower end for a wheel, and the nether mill-stone was secured at the upper end of the shaft. Obviously the swift current from a mill-pond was most advantageous for such a mill. We have no other references to this mill, except that in 1644 it was forbidden to ret hemp or flax in the riveret below "that place whare Mr Allens mill ded first stand." 3
In 1639, Mathew Allyn decided to erect a new mill, having then very likely improved facilities. About the same time, the town conceived the idea of owning its own mill. It appointed committees in September of that year to "vew for a place to set a mill," and to see what Mr. Allyn "hath agaynst seting vp of another mill." A con- troversy ensued. It did not, however, deter the miller from carrying out his project. Perhaps he was assisted in this by John Hall, a man of skill in such construction work. He located his second mill on the southwest corner of his island. There he made a dam across the riveret, noted in the above-named sketch as the "Place where the former dam of Mr Allyn's mill was." Here he had the advantage of the channel between his island and the main land on the south, probably used as a mill-race. The plans for this mill seem to have been made before his mill lot was recorded, for it is stipulated therein that he had a right to dig and carry away earth from the bank southwest of his island "for the ufe of his mill" - a valuable privilege in constructing his dam and levelling up his mill yard. His problem was to make a convenient way to this mill from the north side
1 State Archives: Private Controversies, III: 73.
2 Original Distribution, pp. 145, 309.
3 Hartford Town Votes, I: 75.
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THE COLONIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD
of the riveret. On January 11, 1640-41, Mr. Allyn promised "To macke a waie offer To ye mill so yt good man hall wold doe it for 20g & m! Alin Layd him stufe," and the frag- mentary record shows that the erection of a bridge was intended. At the same time the town, on its part, voted to "make afence Leading To ye mill through mrs spencers grownd & giue hir satisfacone for yt ground," evidently for a roadway. She was the widow of William Spencer and lived just across the riveret west of the mill, where the Sigourney mansion is. This plan was carried out. In 1645, her second husband, William Edwards, acknowledged the receipt of "damages done by the way to the Millne" through his home-lot. The approach to this mill from the north side was, therefore, by a short highway diverging south- ward from the road to the Ox Pasture, and across the riveret by a bridge opposite the mill. The way to the Armory from Asylum Street now follows the course of this highway. During the period when John Steele made his entries in the Original Distribution, he distinguished this as the "old mill." It had hardly been finished before the delayed project for a town mill came to effect, in the erection of one at the falls below. The plan provided that it should not "preiuduse the mill of the sd mr Mathew Allen by stop- ping the water," but the erection of a competing mill re- newed the dispute. In 1643 arbitrators were appointed to settle these differences. Their success is doubtful. Each mill doubtless had its friends and patrons. The rivalry continued for some years. After such a pioneer outlay as Mathew Allyn had made for the town's benefit, he probably felt aggrieved by this competition. May it not have been this controversy, rather than any religious differences, that was at the root of his trouble with the church, for which, in 1644, he was excluded from its fellow- ship? He removed to Windsor soon afterwards, and few men in the Colony had greater influence, or received more honors than he in his after life.
In 1653, Mathew Allyn deeded his mill lot to his son, John Allyn. This entry was made by William Andrews, evidently from the earlier record, for, like that, he omitted the word "west" after naming John Skinner's land, and did
185
THE BANKS OF THE RIVERET
not give contemporary abutters. He designates the lot, however, as that upon which "a mill stood." From the tense of this verb, we infer that this mill had then fallen into disuse. It is possible that a freshet had cut across through the mill-race, making the island of later times. This was long called "Allyn's Island," and later "City Island," though it was found in 1841 that the city did not own it.1 On or near this island, one of Mathew Allyn's descendants has erected the Corning fountain. The dis- use of this mill may also account for the contemporary project of the town to enlarge its mill, or build a new one, as presently related. It is improbable that this mill was ever revived. John Allyn formed a partnership later with John Bidwell Jr. in that business, thus establishing the "Upper Mills," which survived as "Imlay's Mills" to recent times. The lot next south of Allyn's Island originally belonged to John Wilcox, from whom it passed to his son-in- law Thomas Long. In 1681, John Bidwell bought part of this lot. The tract was seventeen rods along the riveret and three rods wide, or fifty-one square rods.2 Thus Allyn united his interests with those of Bidwell, the most extensive and experienced mill owner of his day.3 They then erected a mill, which eventually grew into a group, where milling of various kinds was carried on for years. Their dam was located above the former. The testimony of 1685 was that "Mr Allyn's old mill dam stood much lower than the present dam." Joseph Mygatt's project in 1682, to exchange land with the town, probably contemplated access to these mills. It was for "the conueniancy off a Bridg or highway ouer the River," and anticipated "Badger's Road" as laid out in 1741.4 The Bidwell interest passed in 1692 to his heirs, and, in 1700, Sarah Bidwell sold to John Marsh Jr. one moiety in the mills, then being "much out of repair." This grantee sold, in 1704, to Joseph and William Whiting, who, as heirs of Captain John Allyn in 1696, and by purchase, had acquired his half interest. Thus the Whitings became
1 Common Council Records, Vol. F, pp. 122, 124.
2 Original Distribution, pp. 461, 462, 526.
3 Inventory of John Bidwell, 1692; Mem. Hist. of Hartford County, 1: 230; State Archives: Private Controversies, I: 72 a.
4 Hartford Town Votes, I: 201, 212, 224, 231.
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THE COLONIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD
the sole owners of this property, with the island and mill lot. They sold the mills, in 1712, to Benjamin Graham and Joseph Mygatt; and these families, with divided interests, were associated with them for years. About 1727, Joseph Tillotson acquired three-fourths of the grist-mill, with the whole of the bolting-mill, the other one-fourth of the grist- mill being owned by Richard Seymour, who also had one- fourth of the saw-mill and the fulling-mill. Three-fourths of the saw-mill were still held by the Graham and Mygatt heirs. Then Jonathan Pratt purchased the grist-mill, with one-fourth of the saw-mill, which interests he sold, in 1737, to Daniel Badger, who also secured, through Thomas Andrus in 1741, another fourth of the saw-mill. Badger conducted these mills until 1744, and they were commonly called "Badger's Mills." He sold, through Jonathan Yeomans, to John Ellery, who also bought from Jonathan Seymour the one-half of the saw-mill that had passed from Isaac Graham through Timothy Andrus and Timothy Marsh. Thus the upper mills had a single owner. They were then called "Ellery's Mills." During this period rights in the dam were usually in proportion to each owner's mill interest. The mill yard remained as originally laid out. East of it, was a two-acre lot with a dwelling-house, which also passed to successive millers. On the north of this lot, ran the road to the upper mills, which furnished access to them from the South-side. In 1741, a road was laid out from the North-side, diverging from Asylum Street and crossing the riveret by a bridge near the present structure. It was called "Badger's Road."1 The mill plant was improved during the ownership of John and William Ellery. From the latter, John Ledyard secured a half interest, in 1767. They and their heirs were in control for many years. In 1814, Benjamin Wood became the owner and added a cotton mill. The property passed from him, through Henry Seymour, to Samuel Ledlie in 1817, and he sold, in 1820, to William H. Imlay, whence the name "Imlay's Mills." A picture of them in the possession of the Connecti- cut Historical Society, was drawn from the western bank of the river, and represents their appearance during the
1 Ibid., MS. Vol. II: 111, 114.
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THE BANKS OF THE RIVERET
first half of the last century. The history of these mills furnishes a good example of the persistence of such business enterprises during colonial times. Near the north end of the old fordway, a novel foot-bridge was built, in 1828. At either end were casks filled with stones, which were spanned by a large timber, to which cleats were nailed. This bridge was ten feet above the water.1 It was called "Imlay's Bridge," and a sketch of it by Frederick B. Perkins has been preserved by the Connecticut Historical Society. The bridge at Ford Street was erected in 1850.
The early project for a town mill was doubtless suggested by the greater convenience of one at the falls, and the need of a bridge there. In those days, a bridge was a natural adjunct to a mill. So the plan of 1639 included both.2 It would seem that the committee then appointed, thought to settle a disagreement by having two bridges, one near the mill and the other near the fordway, to accommodate "the lower pt of the Towne." The latter was to be a cart bridge, ten feet higher than the great flood of 1638-9.3 On April 15, 1640, an agreement was recorded for carrying out this project. Possibly the lower bridge was built that sea- son, as the upper bridge, when erected, was called the "New Bridge," but the entire plan was not carried out, perhaps for lack of unanimity or the expense. The outcome was that, on January 9, 1640-41, liberty was given to Edward Hopkins and John Haynes "To sett vp amill & a bridg one ye Litell River ofer against ye palesadoe att theare owne prper Charge." The bridge was to be "a strong suficientt Cartt Bridg To be Twelfe footte wide bettwene ye Rayles wth Turned Ballesters one ye Top." They were to be finished before the following winter and to be kept
1 Mem. Hist. of Hartford County, I: 371; The Hartford Post, Feb. 23, 1884.
2 Hartford Town Votes, I: 7, 14, 30, 36-38.
3 "The great flood began on the 5th of March. On the 11th of March it began to fall, but by reason of much rain on the 12th day, it rose very high." Mathew Grant's Church Record. There was another exceptional flood in May and June, 1642. In 1683 and 1692, the water rose to 26 feet. On May 1, 1854, the height was "25} Feet above Low water Mark," as stated on the picture of "The Flood of 1854," though Geer's Directory gives it as 29 ft. 10 in. In 1801, the height was 27 ft. 8 in., which was the highest of record to that date. The water has reached 26 ft. or over in 1841, 1843, 1854, 1859, 1862, 1869, and 1896. The most damaging freshets on the Little River have not been necessarily in the years of great floods on the Connecticut River.
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THE COLONIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD
in repair four years, when the expenses were to be adjusted. The town was to pay £120 toward the enterprise. This agreement was signed by Edward Hopkins and the towns- men. Probably the work was completed before September 2, 1641, when Hopkins's "halfe the Myll stand[ing] by the New Bridge" was attached.1
Leaving the bridge and its successors for later considera- tion, we follow the history of the mills located at the falls. This first town mill, conveniently distinguished as Hopkins's mill, was located on the north bank of the riveret, just below the falls. It is true that the palisado was on the north side, and a location "over against" it might seem to mean across the riveret; but, as there is positive evidence of its being on the north side, either a change of site was made, or the above phrase was used in an obsolete sense, meaning "in front of" the palisado, the entrance to which was, there- fore, on the west. The corner lot opposite was bounded south and west by the "hyway leadding to the mill." 2 This could only refer to Hopkins's mill, and establishes its location. Possibly this was the only mill in operation in 1655, and increased facilities were needed. A committee was then appointed to treat with Robert Hayward of Windsor, and later to agree with Thomas Bunce to erect a new mill. Finally the inhabitants voted, January 23, 1655-6, to appoint John Talcott, William Westwood, Nathaniel Ward and William Wadsworth to agree with workmen for the construction of a mill "upon the townes account." 3 At the same time, they owned the action of a previous committee in buying Hopkins's share of "the old mill with the appurtenances." The expenses of this venture were to be paid by rates levied upon the es- tates of the inhabitants. In three years these amounted to about £550.4 The total of each inhabitant's assessment constituted his propriety interest in the mills. It is a good illustration of the method, already discussed, by which the proportions of the ancient proprietors were determined.
1 Conn. Col. Rec., I: 67.
2 Original Distribution, pp. 107, 255, 438.
3 Hartford Town Votes, I: 106-109.
4 Ibid., I: 109, 114, 120, 122, 130, 134, 140; Original Distribution, pp. 539, 546, 549.
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THE BANKS OF THE RIVERET
A mill book was kept, in which these shares were recorded, and they were passed by deed, or will, to new owners. Hopkins's mill was not displaced by the new building, but the latter adjoined it. The property is described in 1711 as "two certain water grinding mills . . . under one roof or house." 1 There are other references to them as "two grist-mills." West of the mills there was a watering-place for public use, called, in 1812, the "Town Lane." In early years, these mills were managed by a committee chosen by the inhabitants. They employed a miller. Apparently, this town mill paid, for, in 1658, a vote was passed to reim- burse from its profits the committee that built the mill. The subsequent history of this mill is recorded in many conveyances. About 1720, Nathaniel Stanley acquired some of the scattered shares in it. William Stanley increased these holdings. He had a controlling interest in 1792. Consider Burt then secured it, partly by leasing Stanley's rights. The plant was then commonly called "Burt's Mills." In 1805, Bela Burt and Solomon Loomis succeeded. They sold, in 1812, to Eliphalet and Heman Averill, whose partner was James Babcock. Horace Burr bought out the Averills in 1815, and, in 1819, Ira Todd acquired the control. They then received the name "Todd's Mills." A clothier's and carding mill had been added to the grist-mills. Todd was very enterprising. He purchased from Reuben Wads- worth in 1829, his share of the "finishing mill" on the south bank of the stream, and, in 1833, he acquired the share of James Taylor. He sold a half interest in the mills on both sides, the latter year, to Leonard Daniels, to whom another quarter passed, from Lucius Nichols in 1836, and the balance, excepting the Stanley interest, from Lemuel Humphrey in 1838. The rights of William Stanley had been bequeathed to the Second Ecclesiastical Society. Thus these ancient mills enter the history of our own times.2
We turn back to follow the history of the town's main bridge. Early intercourse between the plantations at this place was by a fordway over a ledge of rocks, now visible at low water. East of the mill there was, in later times, a
1 Hartford Land Records, 2: 107.
2 The Hartford Courant, June 29, 1912; The Hartford Times, July 15, 1891.
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THE COLONIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD
"passway to the river." A similar reservation was on the south side of the stream. Here, it is thought, their earliest bridges were located. The proprietors of the old mills erected east of this a small house called the "miller's house." If they carried out the original plan, their first bridge was twelve feet wide, with rails on either side. Its substructure, we may infer, was not very heavy. Winthrop tells us that in 1645-6, there was "so sudden a thaw in the spring (the snow lying very deep) and much rain withal, that it bare down the bridge at Hartford." 1 Of its rebuilding we have only hints in the accounts of 1648, which refer to Mr. Haynes's rate "when the Brig was Biultt," and a payment to Thomas Bunce "for work at the Brig." That it was re- paired the same year, and its supports were strengthened in 1651, may indicate that the freshets made it hard to main- tain their structure. At the latter date, the General Court, then in session, excused some from training, "to bee imployed about the raising of the worke prepared for the supporte of the great bridge." It was again repaired in 1660 and 1667; but it was so old in 1671, that it was a question whether it could be made "safe & secure for Foot Folkes to pass ouer." At this time, there was a difference of opinion as to the best location for a new bridge. The Second Church had been recently organized. A meeting- house was in process of erection. Attendants there would naturally favor a location nearer or at Main Street, a short distance from the new church. There was delay.2 The old bridge was examined by the townsmen and again by experts. One night, in the autumn of 1672, their differences were brought to an issue. The old bridge was burned. Two of the town's young men were arrested, as being "deeply suspicious" of causing the fire. They were finally dis- charged.3 No doubt some thought it was justifiable arson. The town then appointed a committee "to bulde a good bridg ouer the riuer for passidg for horce & foott one ye publick Charge of ye toune & the toune leues it with ye aforesaide Committy to order ye dimenchons of ye said bridg and the place whare itt shuld be ereckted." 4 The
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