USA > Connecticut > Connecticut yesterday and today : 1635-1935 : celebrating three hundred years of progress in the Constitution state > Part 21
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college. The school aims particularly to educate the whole boy, first by thoroughly understanding him as an individual, and then by planning for his full development according to his own needs. Avon is approved by the New England College Entrance Certificate Board, which means that nearly all colleges accept without examination a bor whom the school certifies- Harvard, Yale, and Princeton still require the college entrance board examinations.
The equipment for football, baseball, track, tennis, polo, hockey, and other sports is excellent. There are no inter-scholastic athletics except polo, but nearly the whole school takes part in intramural sports. The school has had an unusually fine health record. Two trained nurses are in constant attendance in the Infirmary.
The Student Government is of a distinctive form, being organised as the Village of Old Farms based on the New England township. The Warden and members of the Council are elected by citizens of the village, and in non-academic matters they and their appointees are given a large measure of responsibility under guidance of a faculty member. The village has its own laws and its own Courts.
Another feature is Community Service. Every boy in the first four forms is obliged to give eight hours weekly to some sort of work for the common benefit of the village. He may choose to work in the forests, poultry run, stables, shops, power plant, etc. At least once during the year he will take his turn at the farm. This makes possible an experience which may enrich the life of a boy as nothing else can, and is given an important place in the all around training the school provides.
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WILLIAM HOLMES BUILT A TRADING POST AT WINDSOR 1633
HE history of Windsor really begins in 1631 when the River In- dians, fearing conquest by the Pequots, endeavored to persuade white men to settle among them, making offers of grain and other assistance in doing so. Governor Winslow of Plymouth was greatly interested in the idea, and, after some investigation, sent Lieutenant William Holmes, in 1633, with material for building a house and with other supplies in "a large new bark." As the boat sailed up the Connecti- cut River past what is now Hartford, it was threatened by the fort of the Dutch, who were also colonising Connecticut, and was called upon to halt, but passed on safely and disembarked eight miles above at the mouth of the next river. At this point Holmes built his trading house and stockade; it was the future Wind- sor.
This settlement did not remain long alone. In 1635 a party from Dor- chester, Massachusetts, came and later another group, the "Lords and Gentle- men," came from England with a grant from the Earl of Warwick. Both of these parties occasioned much dispute, and this was only quieted when the original settlers divided with them the land north of the Farmington River. The Dorchester party was the most numerous and had the greatest influence in laying the foundation of the Ancient Town of Windsor.
In 1637, danger from the Pequot Indians caused all of the settlers to aban- don their dugouts and come together on what is how Palisado Green. Here they surrounded themselves with a strong palisado. Two years later the meeting house was built and the same year the grist mill, first in Connecticut, was started. Windsor was now thoroughly established.
Windsor has been vastly reduced from its original size. In 1670 Simsbury became a separate town; Granby was later ( 1786) split off from Simsbury. Further divisions from Windsor have been: Coventry (1712); Enfield and Suffield (1723); Tolland ( 1715); Litchfield (1719); Bolton (1720) from which Vernon (1820) was taken; Harwinton ( 1737); Torrington ( 1740); and East Windsor ( 1768) from which came Ellington (1786) and South Windsor (1845). Further divisions were Barkhamstead and Colebrook (1779); Manchester ( 1823); Wintonbury ( 1835); and Windsor Locks (1854).
WINDSOR'S ORIGINAL
INHABITANTS (1640)
Henry Wolcott, Esq .. John Taylor
William Phelps Eltwed Pomeroy
Jolin Whitefield William Hosford
Humphrey Pinney Aaron Cook
Deacon John Moore
Ilias Parkman
Deacon William Gaylord Thomas Stoughton
Lieut. Walter Filer
Owen Tudor
Matthew Grant Capt. John Mason
comas Dibble
Matthew .Men
Samuel Phelps
Richard Oldage
Nathan Gillet
Henry Stiles
Richard Vore William Hayden
Abraham Randall
George Philips
Bigot Eglestone
Return Strong
George Phelps
John Hillyer
Thomas Ford
Thomas Barber
Edward Griswold Nicolas Palmer
Jolin Bissel
Thomas Buckland
Thomas Holcomb
Isaac Sheldon
Daniel Clark
Robert Watson
Peter Tilton
Stephen Terry
Messrs. - Newberry
Bray Rosseter
Roger Ludlow, Esq. Thomas Dewey
Joseph Loomis
William Hurtburt
John Loomis
Roger Williams
John Porter Thomas Bascomb
William Hill
Nicolas Denslow
James Marshall
Thomas Thornton
SUFFIELD SAVINGS BANK
SAMUEL R. SPENCER, President
Presidents of Suffield Savings Bank MARTIN J. SHEI.DON July 6, 1869 to Nov. 6, 1869 DANIEL W. NORTON Nov. 6, 1869 to July 15, 1871 BYRON LOOMIS July 15, 1871 to May 7, 1877 WILLIAM H. FULLER May 7, 1877 to Jan. 6, 1890 WILLIAM L. LOOMIS Jan. 6, 1890 to July 11, 1894 MATTHEW T. NEWTON July 11, 1894 to Jan. 8, 1906 CHARLES C. BISSELL Jan. 8, 1906 to Feb. 3, 1914 SAMUEL R. SPENCER Feb. 9, 1914
HE charter of the Suffield Savings Bank was granted by the Legislature in May, 1869, and was ac- cepted by the corporators at a meeting July I following. It opened for business in the First National Bank building but was later located in offices at the south end of the Cooper block, remaining there until 1914 when its own handsome building was constructed on the pres- ent site.
The Bank Today
Founded 1869
IA
WILLIAM J. WILSON, Treasurer
Treasurers of Suffield Savings Bank CHARLES A. CHAPMAN July 6, 1869 to May 7, 1877 WILLIAM L. LOOMIS May 7, 1877 to July 28, 1877 BENJAMIN F. HASTINGS July 28, 1877 to Aug. 6, 1877 SAMUEL WHITI. Ang. 6, 1877 to July 29, 1896 MARTIN H. SMITHI July 29, 1896 to Jan. 8, 1906 WILLIAM J. WILSON Jan. 8, 1906 Asst. Treasurers Suffield Savings Bank EMMA L. NEWTON Jan. 12, 1903 to Jan. 8, 1906 HAROLD K. PERKINS Jan. 23, 1928 [185]>
1871
THE BRISTOL PRESS
1935
A Home Newspaper Serving the Towns of Farmington Valley
HE BRISTOL PRESS was founded as a weekly newspaper by Charles H. Riggs, in 1871, when the population of Bristol was less than 4,000. Mr. Riggs, in start- ing the paper, solicited prepaid subscriptions and, with some borrowed money, he was able to get to- gether an equipment of type and machinery so that he could issue the new paper. The first issue ap- peared on March 9, 1871. Mr. Riggs filled a unique place in the community and he was an espe- cially able man as a country editor.
For seventeen years Mr. Riggs carried on the business alone, and in 1888 he sold to Messrs. Havi- land and Duncan, of Southington, who published the paper for three years, when the Bristol Press Publishing Company, with a capital stock of $ 10,000, was organized and purchased the business.
The first officers of the company were: O. F. Strunz, president; J. H. Sessions, Jr., vice-president; S. K. Montgomery, secretary, and Richard Baldwin, treasurer.
While the Bristol Press was still a weekly, in March, 1902, Arthur S. Barnes, then at New Ha- ven, returned to his native town, as manager of the Bristol Press Publishing Company. Under Mr. Barnes' management, the Press was immediately changed from a six column to a seven column paper, and the number of pages were increased.
In 1910, when the population of Bristol was. 13,500, the management of the paper decided that Bristol should be served more frequently than once a week by a local paper. Therefore, the Bristol Press was changed from a weekly to a semi-weekly, published on Monday and Thursday. This semi- weekly continued until October, 1916, at which time membership was taken in the Associated Press and the Bristol Press became a daily.
The Press considers it as its first duty to chronicle events in Bristol and to endeavor to influence public opinion on local events. In politics, it is indepen- dent believing that such is the only course for a local paper.
Associated with Mr. Barnes for many years have been Thomas A. Tracy, as city editor, and Wallace H. Miller, editor of the paper.
ARTHUR S. BARNES
In 1908, the Bristol Press Publishing Company purchased the Farmington Valley Herald, which it publishes once a week. In 1911 the New Hartford Tribune was purchased and combined with the Farm- ington Valley Herald. This paper serves the towns of the Farmington Valley between Hartford and Winsted. It is strictly a home newspaper for these towns.
When the Farmington Valley Herald was taken over by the Bristol Press Publishing Company, George A. Beers became its editor and for twenty- five years he continued in this work, visiting all of the towns of the Farmington Valley regularly each week. The editor at present is G. Stephen Potwin.
The Press has its own two-story brick building on Main Street, and a thoroughly modern equipment for producing a daily paper. The Bristol Press is also equipped for producing commercial job print- ing, which has been a department of the business ever since the paper was established.
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1785
BRISTOL
1935
HE settlement of Bristol began more than a cen- tury after the landing of the Mayflower at Plymouth. Bristol was not of the first or second generations of the English settlement, but per- haps should be classed as the fourth. Newtown begat Hartford, Hartford begat Farmington, and Farmington begat Bristol; but a long time elapsed between the first white men's houses in Farmington in 1640 and the first house in Bristol in 1727. The rough hills upon which the greater part of Bristol is built and the heavy forest with which these hills were then cov- ered were attractive to Indian hunt- ers and perhaps afterwards to their white successors, but they were at- tractive to neither red man nor white as a site for dwelling houses, nor were they capable of easy conversion into farms.
The Farmington proprietors, in 1672, then eighty-four in number, took formal possession of an exten- sive tract of territory, then unbroken wilderness, west of their home settle- ment. They laid out a parallelogram eight miles long and four wide and called it "reserved land"; the rest of the land they divided among them- selves. However, it was not until 1721 that an actual survey and allot- ment of the western land was made. This gave Farmington people definite title to land in what is now Bristol.
The first actual settler, so far as our present knowledge goes, was Daniel Brownson of Farmington, probably a son of the Richard Brumpson who had received a grant in 1663. Daniel Brownson received a deed dated May 22, 1727, to the seventy-first lot in the fifth division, which had been al- lotted to Isaac Brownson, and built a house thereon. The western end of this lot was about a mile from the present westerly line of Bristol; the Brownson house was not far west of the present corner of West and South Streets. As the years went by, other settlers arrived and within ten years there was an established populace.
What the old road to the church in Farmington was like we can only imagine; doubtless a mere bridle path winding among the trees and over the streams. At any rate, in 1742 the lit-
tle body complained to the General Assembly that they were so remote from any meeting house that it was difficult to attend meetings. Their pe- tition for a separate parish was heard and granted in that same year and the future Bristol was now on its way. This group was called the New Cam- bridge Society.
In connection with the growth of this society another grew up somewhat later to the north which was called West Britain. In 1785 it seemed ad- visable to petition for incorporation of
EARLY SETTLERS OF BRISTOL
DANIEL BROWNSON of Farmington, 1727 EBENEZER BARNES of Farmington, 1728
NEHEMIAH MANROSS of Lebanon, 1728
NATHANIEL MESSENGER of Hartford, 1729 BENJAMIN BUCK of Farmington, 1729
JOHN BROWN of Colchester, 1729
both into one town, and this petition was granted in that year, the name Bristol being adopted. But there were mutual antagonisms between the two sections of the new town, and in 1806 the northern section, formerly West Britain, was split off and given the name Burlington.
For over a century Bristol retained its town status, but in 1887 a need was felt for a local government which could provide municipal advantages not available to a town government. Consequently, after some years of ar- gument, a bord igh charter was given
by the General Assembly in 1893 and ratified by the voters. Both town and borough government were superseded when the City of Bristol was incor- porated in 1911.
While Bristol has been the scene of various industrial ventures too numer- ous to list, it is chiefly noted as a city of clocks. Bristol has been making and selling clocks for about one hun- dred and fifty years. During nearly all that time it has been the principal industry, and for at least half that time the only manufacturing industry of any size. Probably no other town in the world, certainly none in the United States, has made so many clocks as Bristol. Bristol clocks were the first to be exported to England, and have been sold all over the world for nearly a century.
These early clock makers were not manufacturers but handicraftsmen, who made their clocks by hand and sold them to such wealthy people as could afford fine hand-made furni- ture. A third of the nineteenth con- tury had passed before clockmaking became an industry which supplied the common people with a means of regu- lating their lives by an accurate knowledge of the time. What revolu- tionized the business and made the clock a universal household article was the superseding of wood by metal and of springs by weights and pendulums.
It is said that in about 1850 there were fifty or more concerns making clocks or clock parts in Bristol, all to- gether probably not making as many clocks per year as the Ingraham Com- pany and the Sessions Company now make in a week. It is interesting to note, also, that such companies as Veeder-Root, Incorporated; Wallace Barnes; the New Departure Com- pany; the Bristol Brass Corporation ; and the American Silver Company all trace their organization directly or in- directly to the clock industry in Bristol.
Bristol's greatest growth has come since about 1870 and is due to her great industrial development. From 1870 to 1930 the city grew from a population of 3,788 to a population of 28,487, an increase of 651 per cent. In a corresponding period pre- vious to 1870, it grew only 165 per cent. It is now the twelfth largest town in Connecticut.
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THE E. INNGRAHAM COMPANY - BRISTOL - MAKERS
Plant About 1875
ELIAS INGRAHAM Founder and President 1824-1885
LIAS INGRAHAM, the founder of The E. Ingraham Company, came to Bristol in 1824 to work as a cabinet maker, orig- inally obtaining employment with George Mitchell and later with Lawson and Chauncey Ives. He apparently had an unusual flair for design and produced a number of original and handsome clock cases.
In 1835 he purchased a shop, with water privi- leges, and sometime during this period, associated with his brother Andrew, and Elisha C. Brewster, and formed the partnership of Brewster & Ingra- hams. Many of the clocks which they produced are still in use as timepieces and are highly prized as antiques. They confined their production largely to the old-fashioned, rectangular-shaped shelf clocks with ogee mouldings and looking-glasses or pictures in the lower half of the door frame, to the gilt Gal- lery clocks such as were used in the early Churches, to the Doric clocks, and to the Sharp Gothic clocks.
Elias Ingraham originated the four-pillared Sharp Gothic clock which in its day was the biggest seller among American clocks and was extensively copied by all early makers. The original model was cut from a block of mahogany when Elias was on a trip to Caracas, Venezuela.
About 1854 the firm name was changed to E. & A. Ingraham, but in 1855 the entire plant was
destroyed by fire, entailing a loss of about twenty thousand dollars. Apparently their business was car- ried on in a small way, for a time, in Ansonia, Conn., and it is believed that they ceased manufacturing during the panic of 1857. However, in 1859 they were again manufacturing in Bristol, and from that time on there is a continuous record of their produc- tion and sales in the hands of the Company.
About 1859 Elias's son became a partner in the business and was continued as a partner until 1880, when a joint stock company was formed under the name of The E. Ingraham & Company, which in 1884 was changed to The E. Ingraham Company.
Clock-making started in the town of Bristol about 1790, the earlier manufacturing being confined large- ly to wooden movements. About 1830 Bristol was the center of the American clock business, and as late as 1860 there were in excess of seventy individuals, concerns, and partnerships engaged in Bristol in, the production of clocks,-The E. Ingraham Company being the sole survivor of the many early Bristol producers. It is also interesting to note that The E. Ingraham Company is the only early American clock concern operated by the Founder's descendants, being carried on to-day by the great-grandchildren of Elias Ingraham.
In the carly days, manufacturing was conducted on an entirely different scale and methods from the
:[188]-
OF DEPENDABLE TIMEPIECES FOR A CENTURY -
1935
Edward Ingraham 1885-1892
Halter A. Sumschau
1892 to date
1892-1930
present. Of interest is a contract entered into in 1848 by Brewster & Ingrahams and Anson Atwood, who for many years was employed as a Superintendent, from which we quote in part: -
"The said Atwood further agrees to keep good order in the establishment, and allow no gam- bling, nor wrestling, or scuffing, nor profane language, have regular hours for business and not allow the factory to be opened on the Sabbath, except in the morning before Church, and this only for the purpose of washing, shaving and preparing for church. He and his hands shall be regular attendants at the Church on the Sabbath.
It is quite apparent that no contract with a clause similar to the above would be accepted today.
The E. Ingraham Company has always been abreast of the times and has constantly expanded its lines to meet trade requirements, being respon- sible for many innovations and improvements in the horological art.
In 1890 the firm began the manufacture of stand- ard alarm clocks, in 1913 the manufacture of low- priced pocket watches, in 1915 of eight-day alarm clocks, in 1930 of wrist watches, in 1931 of self- starting electric clocks, and in 1932 of manual- starting electric clocks.
Probably no concern has done more in originating and refining designs, either in wood-case clocks, in alarm clocks, or in watches, and certainly no clock concern has contributed more to the public in the way of mechanical improvements. In this latter field particularly, its contributions have been numerous and important, though many of a technical and sci- entific nature aimed at improvements in quality and in timekeeping. However, certain of the improve-
ments originated by this company have constituted valuable conveniences to the public,-such as, for example, the enclosed bell in alarm clocks, the stem shut-off for readily turning off the alarm, the un- breakable crystal for watches, the bringing of the tonneau-shaped movement into the non-jewelled wrist watch field, and the development and pre- sentation to the public of low-priced wrist watches and electric striking clocks, etc.
The Company's patent portfolio consists of 25 or more Design Patents and 75 or more Mechanical Patents with many more Design and Mechanical Patents pending, indicative of the inventive ability within the organization and of the Company's de- termination to keep in the lead in its developments in the clock and watch industry.
The Company is fortunate in operating in a plant, all buildings of which are of modern brick or con- crete construction, scientifically heated, ventilated, and lighted, and thus furnishing ideal working con- ditions. The Company has never hesitated to spend money for the finest of modern equipment, and its plant is equipped with the most up-to-date machinery obtainable. A large force is engaged in keeping the machinery and tools in such perfect repair that many machines are operating better and more accurately today than when purchased. It has also been the policy of the Company to employ only highly skilled American labor at wages considerably above the average for the industry, and the Company takes reasonable pride in the fact that practically its entire organization was maintained throughout the depres- sion and at 1929 wages.
The business has grown constantly and even during the recent depression has shown continual progress.
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THE E. INGRAHAM COMPANY
Established IS24
An early Ingraham Clock
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8
1
6
A Modern Ingraham Electric Clock
What Is Produced
T THE E. Ingraham Company manufactures an unusually comprehensive line of timepieces, producing popular- priced, non-jewelled watches, both pocket and wrist, 30- hour Alarm Clocks, 8-day Alarm Clocks, and 8-day Mantel and Office Clocks with both marine and pendulum movements. The Company also manufactures a complete line of Manual and Self-Starting Synchronous Motor Electric Clocks with timepiece, alarm, and striking movements and cased for all possible usages. The Company is also a large producer of radio cabinets, humi- dors, and woodworking specialties, and in all its lines of produc- tion it fabricates from the raw materials all the parts that go into the finished product.
A Heritage
T THE E. Ingraham Co. is proud of its heritage of more than a century of experience in the production of non- jewelled timepieces. Four generations have been engaged in the process of developing timepiece craftsmanship, and to-day the Company covers the entire field with a very complete line of merchandise. The Company is also proud in its belief that
its clocks and watches have long been recognized for their sturdi- ness, accuracy, and unequalled values. A large force of skilled and experienced Americans are engaged in its plant under ideal manufacturing conditions with the finest facilities and equip- ment and with a minimum of labor turnover. The entire organization has been maintained intact and with practically no wage reductions and under very satisfactory operating hours during the recent depression.
Under the present capable management of the fourth gener- ation, who are direct descendants of the founder, the Company has made rapid and successful progress.
Many new mechanical developments have originated under their direction. New and modern designs in both metal and wooden cases have been devised to meet the ever changing style trend.
Notable in the recent advancement, is the development of an up-to-date wood-working plant fitted with the most modern machinery, making possible further strides in the construction of not only clock cases but table model radio cabinets, which bear the fine appearance of high grade, hand-finished furni- ture.
An increased production schedule has necessitated extensive additions of machinery, buildings, and employment which is at present over 2,000.
Present Plant of Tre E. Ingraham Company
4190]>
The WALLACE BARNES COMPANY
Founded 1857
The original factory of the Wallace Barnes Company. The present administration building is located on this same site.
HE Wallace Barnes Company was founded in 1857 under the name of. Dunbar and Barnes, it' being a partnership between Wallace Barnes and Mr. Dunbar. For three quarters of a century this concern has been under the management of the same family and en- gaged in the same business on the same location.
We have recounted elsewhere in these pages the story of the Platt Co. deeding away their future when, at about 1850, they paid Wallace Barnes his wages with a wagon load of hoop wire. The Barnes family have never swapped their business out of existence.
Little is known of the firm in the days of the partnership, but it is presumed that though their business was probably small, it was successful. Nor is it known why these two men dissolved partnership. Whatever the reasons, Mr. Barnes bought out the interests of Mr. Dunbar in 1864 and from that time continued alone in the enterprise until he was joined by his son in 1880.
The early years of the business were spent in manufacturing hoops for the then popular hoop skirts. While this product was the bulk of the output, they . also manufactured clock springs for the many clock manufactories thereabouts.
The keen-witted fore- sight of the founder of the firm is well illus-
trated by the renting of the hoop-making machinery and rooms to a New Jersey firm but a few years before the fashions changed and many firms went out of business through concentration on this item. Throughout the history of the Company this factor has stood out, foresight in determining the demands of the country.
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