USA > Connecticut > Connecticut yesterday and today : 1635-1935 : celebrating three hundred years of progress in the Constitution state > Part 20
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34
In the spring of 1635 Oldham returned to Watertown and discovered that per- mission to leave had been granted. Consequently, all this year a number of families migrated to the new settlement; land was bought from the Indians, 1636 the town laid out, and the name Wethersfield chosen. Nevertheless, the town remained under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts until 1639, when the Fundamental Orders were drawn up.
The hardships of the first few years were great. There was the terrible Indian Massacre of 1637, in which three women, six men and twenty cows were killed; these crippled the settlement, as the Indians wanted, as this was no small proportion of the inhabitants. In addition the settlers found difficulty in keeping live stock until the number of wolves had been reduced. It was a wild land; one girl shot a bear from her doorway-"He was a good Fatte one and kept us all in meate for a good while."
However, Wethersfield prospered and a lively commerce began. As early as 1648 ships were going to the West Indies with pipe staves; later they went to distant parts with salt beef, pork, and fish, bricks, horses, onions, etc. The first ship in Con- necticut, "Tryall", was built in 1649 at Wethersfield. Warehouses, shops, and a ship- yard rose, as well as a tavern and private houses. The bulk of these are now buried in time or by the shifting course of the Connecticut River.
All of the early settlers in Wethersfield did not remain there. Perhaps it was because they were so high-spirited that they soon became restless. A great many set- tlers kept coming all the time, and the rising prices of land made them think of selling out and trying another place. Possibly the ministers encouraged this feeling; four early towns were started with ministers who had been first in Wethersfield. The first real delegation departed for Milford in 1639. A few went to Stratford and Fairfield. In 1640 Stamford was practically settled by Wethersfield people. This took a majority of the church members and householders. In 1644 others went to Branford. Thus as the colony grew there were a few Wethersfield people in nearly every town. The last organized emigration was in 1659 to Hadley, Massachusetts. These emigrations left the town well depleted, but there was such an immediate influx of newcomers that within a year there was a good-sized population again.
During her more than three hundred years of history, Wethersfield has experi- enced, in addition to emigrations, several territorial losses. These have taken the form
1820 COMSTOCK, FERRE & CO. - WETHERSFIELD 1935
WETHERSFIELD SEED GANDI
COMSTOCK FERRE & CO
The Home of Comstock, Ferre & Company, Connecticut's Oldest Seed House
ONNECTICUT enjoys a world-wide reputation for its seed in- dustry. The growing of seeds undoubtedly originated with the growing of onions for which Connecticut, particularly Wethers- field, was famous in Colonial times. Records show that immense quantities of "Wethersfield Reds" were shipped prior to 1761. Seed growing for sale commenced when the importation of garden seeds from England was shut off by the Revolution of 1776.
Comstock, Ferre & Co., the oldest seed firm in the state, began with the venture of James Lockwood Belden about 1820. In 1837 the business was purchased by Franklin G. Comstock and his son William G. Comstock. Eight years later Henry Ferre entered into partnership and the present name was adopted. Great interest in the industry is shown by the number of well-known Hartford and local business men who appear as stockholders when the firm was incorporated in 1853: William G. Comstock, Henry Ferre, Daniel Strong, . Charles Clapp, Thomas Belknap, William T. Lee, Henry Strong, Case, Tif- fany & Co., Tertius Wadsworth, William Boardman, Samuel Humphrey, David W. Clark, William Isham, Ellery Hills, Thomas H. Holladay, Lynde Olmsted and H. L. Bidwell. Largely through William G. Comstock's efforts an excellent trade was built up extending to "the Frontier" in the days when St. Louis, Chicago and Minneapolis were the extreme western outposts.
Today's business is countrywide as to wholesale trade with a constantly in- creasing demand for local market garden, farm and private garden planting. The growing of seeds requires contact with the entire world to produce in the greatest perfection the many varieties now offered. Farms are still operated in Wethersfield where large quantities of seed are produced, notably sweet corn, tomato, turnip and summer squash.
Through long experience this firm is well qualified to maintain the high standard required by particular planters. A complete line of garden, flower, grass and field seed is carried, also fertilizers, insecticides and other garden requirements. Every care is used in the cleaning and handling of seeds, each lot being given a thorough germination test and later tested for performance in the field. The confidence which the customers of Comstock, Ferre & Co. have shown through over a century is evidence that good seed is recognized as the foundation of agricultural prosperity.
11782;
EDWARD W. WILLARD Treasurer and General Manager
JOHN C. WILLARD Secretary
Edward W. Willard has been the Treasurer and General Manager of Comstock, Ferre & Company since 1924. He has been with the company for more than thirty years. Mr. Wil- lard represents the seventh generation of the family born in Wethersfield. Josiah Willard, first of the name in this town, was the eldest son of Major Simon Willard who migrated from Massachusetts to Connecticut settling Wethersfield in February, 1661. He was appointed as writing teacher by the town of Wethersfield being the first to hold that office. He pur- chased a home on Broad Street which is now occupied by John C. Willard. The original deed to this property was witnessed by his brother who later became head of Harvard College.
1935
YE ANCIENT TOWNE OF WETHERSFIELD
1634
"WETHERSFIELD" - PETER'S "HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT"
ETHERSFIELD is four W miles from Hertford, and more compact than any town in the colony. The meeting- house is of brick, with a steeple, bell, and clock. The inhabitants say it is much larger than Solomon's Temple. The township ten miles square; parishes four. The people are more gay than polite, and more superstition, than religious.
This town raises more onions than are consumed in all New-England. It is a rule with parents to buy annually a silk gown for cach daughter above seven years old, till she is married. The young beauty is obliged in return, to weed a patch of onions with her own hands; which she performs in the cool of the morning, be- fore she dresses for her breakfast. This laudable and healthy custom is ridiculed by the ladies in other towns, who idle away their mornings in bed, or in gather- ing the pink, or catching the butterfly, to ornament their toilets; while the gentle- men far and near, forget not the Weth- ersfield ladies' silken industry.
Wethersfield was settled in 1637,* by the Rev. Mr. Smith and his followers, who left Watertown, near Boston, in order to get out of the power of Mr. Cotton, whose severity in New-England exceeded that of bishops in Old-England. But Mr. Smith did not discard the spirit of persecution as the sole property of Mr. Cotton, but carried with him a suffi- cient quantity of it to distress and divide his little flock.
'NOTE: 1634 correct date.
Excerpt from Peters' General History of Connec- ticut, Published in England in 1778
To the Sheriff of the County of Harford
or Lis Deputy, or citker of the
Confiables of the Town of Herskerfield
. citbin faid County ; Greeting. UN HIS MAJESTY's NAME, You are hereby commanded to fumare John Miley of Witterfind afrasaid to appear lepic tolisten 1 William! " functies of the peace for ito aufort fourty at his dwelling
Houle in ? Witherfind on the 2. Day of fameany nost at two ofthe Many in Hy afternoon then If there to bangles und Gustan Bucking up raid Withan field . -
In a Plea, that to the Plaintiff the Defendant render the Sum of Light Shillings Lawfree money
which to the Plaintiff, he the Defendant jufly owes by Book do Believe Back, Ausunk As by the Plaintiff's Book ready in Court, to be produced fully appears : Which Debt the Defendant hath never paid, (though often requefted and demanded) which is to the Damage of the Plaintiff the Sum of Light Shillings Lawful Money.
And for the Recovery thereof, with juft Cofts, the Plaintiff brings this Suit. [ ] fail not, and of this Writ, with your Doings thereon make due Return according to Law Dated at Witter ? the 26% - Day of December_ AnnoDomini, 1766 And in the 7th " Fear of Lis Maiefly's Reign.
Early Document Now in Possession of Judge Walter S. Comstock
of townships which broke off from the mother town but still remained in close sym- pathy with it. They began as separate parishes and thus formed entities which eventu- ally received incorporation as townships: Glastonbury ( 1693), Rocky Hill (1843), and Newington ( 1871) were so formed.
Wethersfield was the scene of thrilling action in colonial and revolution days. It was a center of resentment at the time of the Stamp Act and later the Boston Port Bill of 1774. In 1775 the company which Col. John Chester raised here was "the largest and best equipped and trained company of volunteers which marched from Connecti- cut." General Washington stopped in Wethersfield several times and during the last of these stays, in the Webb house, he planned with his staff the siege of Yorktown, which brought the Revolutionary War to an end.
In her long history, Wethersfield has contributed much to the state and to the nation. She has sent men to the wars and has furnished numerous citizens who have been outstanding in civil life. Wethersfield has always reflected an advancing spirit. From the days when this spot became the temporary home of Yale College in 1716, she has had fine schools, while the tradition and importance of her churches goes back to the very founding of the settlement. Many of the important facts concerning early Wethersfield history have been established through the long and careful researches of Jared B. Standish.
THE VILLAGE CEMETERY
At the northeasterly corner of the large Square, or Common, which the fore- fathers of Wethersfield established at the beginning of their settlement, they placed their burying ground. It is a sandy hill, that old Cemetery, started nearly three hun- dred years ago, around which are the more level portions added in later years. Proofs are not wanting that this hill was originally a burial-mound of aborigines.
"Nowhere in New England can a more beautiful natural location be found for the interment of loved friends, commanding as it does a wonderful prospect of the Great River winding for miles through its fertile meadows, with the uplands of Glas- tonbury in the background. Here, near the little log church, the fathers of the town were laid to rest. It originally embraced the eastern and a part of the western decliv- ity. Due to the sandy nature of the soil, as well as to the fact that few trees have existed to collect those enemies of sandstone and marble; dampness and mold." These are the words of Edward Sweetser Tillotson, who copied the inscriptions on all of the monuments and published same in #899. He included, ako, inscriptions found in the other burying grounds in the territory which was Ancient Wethersfield, and now are the Towns of Newington, Rocky Hill, and Glastonbury.
Although there were burials beginning in the very earliest days, the earliest stone, now, is that of Leonard Chester, with the lettering on it still plain, who died in 1648.
EST HARTFORD is W founded on territory orig- inally a part of that taken by the earliest settlers who founded Hartford, Weth- ersfield and Windsor. The part of this land now lying in West Hartford was laid out in sections or farms in 1672. The first settlement was made in 1679 by Stephen Hosmer, about a half mile north of what is now West Hartford Cen- ter, where he operated a sawmill on the west side of Trout Brook.
West Hartford was made a separate town by grant of the Legislature at its May session in New Haven in 1854. The same act authorized Solomon S. Flagg, whose name appeared first on the petition, to issue a call for the first town meeting, which was duly held in June of that year. Officers elected at that meeting were Col. Solomon Flagg, first selectman; John Whitman, first town clerk, and Samuel Whitman, first town treasurer.
The inost distinguished native of West Hartford is generally conceded to be Noah Webster, born here in 1758. His first publication was a combination of reader and grammar called by him "A
AVON
-
J. W. ALSOP, AVON FIRST SELECTMAN
Joseph W. Alsop was born in Middletown, April 2, 1876, being the son of Joseph W. and Elizabeth Winthrop Beach Alsop. His family have been in Connecticut since 1638 and still own real estate in Middletown, the deed for which was recorded in 1696. He has served three terms in the Legislature, and for many years has been a trustee of the State College, and a member of the Public Utilities Commission. He has served the town of Avon as First Selectman for fourteen terms. Avon has followed the "pay as you go" policy and is free from debt. It has up-to- date schools and three-quarters of its highways are now improved roads.
W. H. THOMSON, Town Clerk
Grammatical 'Treatise"; his second publi- cation being the famous Webster Spell- ing Book. He is, of course, most widely known as the compiler of the dictionary which bears his name, first published in 1828.
FARMINGTON BOOK SHOP
HE FARMING - TON BOOK SHOP was started in 1923 by Miss Helen M. Scarth. The shop was originally located in the brick building on the corner of Main and Colton Streets, but moved in 1925 to its present address on the corner of Farmington Avenue and Main Street. The present building was designed by Mrs. John Wallace. Riddle, who built the Avon Old Farms School.
The Farmington Book Shop was among the first country bookshops in America. While this type of shop is frequently seen in England, it was not until recent times that such a shop was to be found in this country. Miss Scarth at first sold only old and rare books and children's books; she now carries a complete line of the better modern books and in addition conducts an ample lending library.
West Hartford is the first town in the state to have a Town Manager, Benjamin I. Miller being first appointed by the Board of Selectmen on July 1, 1919.
Incorporated 1830
W OOD FORD FARM consists of 600 acres stretching westerly from near the top of Talcott Mountain on both sides of the Albany Post Road to the Farmington River. It was estab- lished in 1902 by J. W. Alsop, The general superintendent is J. J. Au- derson, who has held his present position for more than twenty years. Visitors are always welcome at Wood Ford Farm, which is only a short drive from Hartford and can be reached by following the Albany Turnpike to the western foot of Talcott Mountain, and then turning sharply to the right. Milking time is 4 P. M., and visitors at thit time are specially welcome. The milking barns are entirely separate from the other farm buildings and are without question the most perfect in every detail of any barns. in Hartford County.
WOOD FORD FARM
AVON, CONN. J. W. Ausor, Proprietor
FARMINGTON
Settled 1639
MRS. MABEL HURLBURT Town Clerk of Farmington
ORIGINAL SETTLERS OF FARMINGTON
MR. JOHN STEELE ELDER WILLIAM GOODWIN DEACON ANDREW WARNER STEPHEN HART WILLIAM LEWIS REV. ROGER NEWTON MATTHEW WEBSTER THOMAS BARNES JOHN BROWNSON RICHARD BROWNSON GEORGE ORVICE THOMAS PORTER JOHN WARNER THOMAS DEMON JOHN. COLE DEACON THOMAS JUDD THOMAS UPSON DEACON ISAAC MOORE JOHN LOMES WILLIAM HITCHCOCK or HECOCK
TOWN CLERKS
Farmington Town Hall
EW Connecticut towns have a more colorful history than Farming- ton. Settled in 1639 and called Tunxis Sepus ( Little River ), it was incorporated in 1645 and given the name which it now bears. Originally it covered an area of 225 square miles and included what are now the towns of New Britain, Berlin, Southington, Bristol, Burlington, Avon, and Plainville. In 1685 a patent was granted to the proprietors of the Town, confirming the charter granted in 1645. Land was purchased from the Indians by the settlers, who later organized themselves as Proprietors of the Town, taking possession of all the land within the limits of the town in 1672 and ordering a division on certain ratable property holdings.
The Farmington Canal, an institution of great expectation, was chartered in 1828. Work was commenced on it in Northampton in 1825. It connected New Haven with Northampton and was to compete with Connecticut River traffic, but with the growth of the railroads it was abandoned. Its course, however, is clearly marked through the town; the fast crumbling pillars of the aqueduct are a landmark at the north end of the Farmington River.
The churches of Farmington have always been important factors in her life. The Congregational church with its Christopher Wren spire, generally conceded to be the daintiest and most exquisite in rural America, is a true Colonial structure. The present edifice was built in 1771, but the church was organized in 1652; and it is interesting to note that there have been but thirteen ministers since that time. In addition the libraries have always played an im- portant part in the town, the present beautiful building being a memorial erected by D. Newton Barney. The earliest library of which we know was the Farmington Library Company begun in 1785.
The village of Farmington was untouched by the industrial activity of the Nineteenth Century, and it is this fact that makes it the delightful place it is today. The solid and substantial homes that line the streets are constant reminders of the sturdy folk who built them. Four of these houses roman and they are among the oldest in Connecticut, dating from approximately 1660. These houses are; the Whitman house, now the Farmington Museum; the central part of the Elm Tree Inn; the home of C. Stanley Mason; and the house on Main Street occupied by William Lawrence. Farmington abo points with justifiable pride to the Grist Mill on the Farmington River, known as Brownson's Mill in the late seventeenth century, and now known as Winchell Smith's Grist Mill.
THE FARMINGTON SAVINGS BANK
Founded 1851
TIMOTHY COWLES First President
WILLIAM A. HITCHCOCK Present President
J. HARRIS MINIKIN Present Treasurer
ARLY in 1851, a group of public-minded citizens of the town of Farmington met to consider the advisability of organizing a mutual savings bank, setting the example for several other enterprising towns and cities in the state. Farmington was an important town, and its citizens felt an impelling urge to give it the added advantages which might accrue from a bank of its own.
So the matter was discussed, and notice was posted on the common sign post concerning a meeting to be held in July, 1851, to organize a corporation, and a charter was granted by the General Assembly in that year.
On August 14, 1851, the commissioners appointed to organize the bank met, with Erastus Scott as chairman, and William Gav as clerk pro tem, and elected the first officers of the corporation:
On these men devolved the responsibility for the safekeeping of money entrusted to their care, and the assurance to the pub- lic that the affairs of the bank would be conducted honestly and efficiently. The new bank was dedicated to public service, and the officials received little or no compensation. It was not until 1854 that it was voted to pay the treasurer $50 for his expenses for six months.
At a meeting of the directors held August 15, 1851, the treasurer was empowered to receive deposits Mondays and Thurs- days of each week from 12 to 3 p. m. But the bank prospered and by 1860 office hours were from 8 to 12 a. m. and from 4 to 8 p. m. daily.
The first office of the bank was at the house of Simeon Hart; the second in 1853, was at the home of Samuel S. Cowles. By 1853, deposits had increased so that the treasurer was em- powered to buy a safe.
In 1865, the corporation purchased, from Erastus Gay, land on the west side of Main Street and transferred its headquar- ters to a small brick and brownstone store (remodeled and en- larged in 1890) which occupied part of the site of the present building, to remain there until the erection of the Colonial brick structure in 1928.
At the close of the first year of its existence the bank had 135 depositors who had deposited $5,530.25; at the end of the eighty-fourth year it has 9,500 depositors and $12, 314,964.61 on deposit.
For eighty-four years this bank has understood and met in- telligently the needs of the large area which it serves, and has been a successful factor in the prosperity of Farmington and the surrounding communities.
First Report to General Assembly
To the How General Asservebly of the tale. of Connecticut to be convento on at New Havew on the First Wednesday Mfellay 1852 in conformity with an acro Legislativas pasto June 2° 1843, Thereby transmit a statement of the condition of the Harmonytow Savings Bank on the first day of April 1852.
The first deposit was made in and Bank, Aug 25.t. 1851. driterest on apositif commerces by direction of the crustes, October fest. A Dividend was declared Jan 1. 1852, of the earnings of the Bank, in order that the demiannual divi. - deneds, might be made in future, on the first days & january and Gaty. Numérico 980 135!
Amount Deposited $5530.25 Deposits witharaum 75:31 Dividend Jan 1 1852, SAtel 17. 49
dritevent receivedjan/1952 28,28 Expenses forwarding to cif 1, 1852 46.12 Joans secured by real estate 4525,00
Cast on hand April 150 929.94.
1182]>
A COMMUNITY INSTITUTION FOR EIGHTY-FOUR YEARS
ORIGINAL FOUNDERS OF THE FARMINGTON SAVINGS BANK
Erastus Scott Samuel S. Cowles
William Gay
Chauncey Rowe
Timothy Cowles
Timothy Porter
Egbert Cowles Austin F. Williams
Asahel Thomson
John Deming
Henry Mygatt
Lucius S. Cowles .
Simcon Hart George Cowles
Thomas Cowles
Abner Bidwell
Ira Hadsell
William L. Cowles
E. W. Carrington Solomon Whitman
John Hooker
PRESIDENTS OF THE FARMINGTON SAVINGS BANK
Timothy Cowles
1851-1853
Early Home of the Farmington Savings Bank
ORIGINAL OFFICERS
Timothy Cowles, President
William L. Cowles, Vice President
Samuel S. Cowles, Vice President
Simeon Hart, Secretary and Treasurer
FIRST BOARD OF DIRECTORS
William Gay Chauncey Rowe
fra Hadsell 'Thomas Cowles
Henry Mygatt- E. W. Carrington
PRESENT OFFICERS
William A. Hitchcock, President
George G. Williams, Vice President
Robert Porter Keep, Vice President
J. Harris Minikin,
Secretary and Treasurer
Allen 1. Balch, Assistant Treasurer Mary S. Halloran, Assistant Secretary
PRESENT BOARD OF DIRECTORS Charles G. Bill
George G. Williams
Henry W. Barbour
1908-1914
Samuel S. Cowles
1853-1872
Robert Porter Keep
Timothy H. Root
1919-1931
Edward H. Deming
1911-1928
William A. Hitchcock
1932-
J. Harris Minikin
1928-
Austin D. Barney
S. Leonard Root
John T. Norton
1853-1861
Asahel Thomson 1862-1866
William Gay 1867-1889
Winthrop M. Wadsworth 1890-1891
Franklin Wheeler
1892-1907
Simeon Hart
1851-1852
William A. Hitchcock
Julius Gay
1915-1918
Julius Gay
1873-1910
John H. Thompson
Herbert Knox Smith
1931-1931
J. Harris Minikin
LIST OF TREASURERS
Present home of the Farmington Savings Bank
[183]
AVON OLD
FIRMS, AVON, CONNECTICUT
VON OLD FARMS is a College Preparatory School founded in 1927 by Mrs. John Wallace Riddle, who was also the school architect. It is maintained under a Deed of Trust, the entire property and its management being placed by her in the hands of a self perpetuating Board of Directors of which she is now chairman.
The buildings stand along a ridge overlooking the lovely Farmington River valley, in the midst of a 3,000 acre estate which consists of farm meadow land and forests with thirty miles of bridle paths. The stone and brick buildings, English in style, are beautifully built and furnish an excellent example of handcraft both in the stone and wood work.
While the school follows the broad cultural traditions, its point of view toward the individual boy is modern and liberal. Avon does not believe that a certain type of youth is especially to be desired, or that the school's function is to mould boys to this type. On the contrary, it values boys as separate and distinct individuals. It is vitally interested not in sameness among boys but in differences; not in a pattern to follow but in personalities to develop. It distinguishes closely between education based primarily on pressure from without, social or otherwise, and education based primarily on tapping the sources of power within a boy. For this reason, individual freedom, under supervision, is very real at the school and permeates its whole daily life.
Avon offers to boys from the ages of twelve to eighteen an all around preparation for the universities and colleges. A certain number of boys are taken each year who do not expect to go to
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.