USA > Connecticut > Connecticut yesterday and today : 1635-1935 : celebrating three hundred years of progress in the Constitution state > Part 33
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
BERTRAND E. SPENCER 1929
CHARLES A. RUSSELL 1929
CHARLES L. WETHERBFE 1929
CHANNING E. HARWOOD 1929
BERNARD KOSICKI 1931
N. EVAN DAVIS 1931
ALLEN W. HOLMES 1931
PHELPS INGERSOLL 1931
CHARLES M. PARK 1932
THOMAS M. RUSSELL, JR. 1932
EARL. R. HUDSON 1932
CHARLES J. ARRIGONI 1933
DR. WILLIAM M. JOYCE 1934
OFFICERS
CHARLES T'. DAVIS President
RALPH J. ATWELL Vice-President
JOHN P. BACON Vice-President
HERBERT C. DANFORTH
Secretary
EARL, SANTANGELO Assistant Secretary
WILLIAM A. DICKINSON, JR. Assistant Secretary
CLARENCE G. KUNZE Teller
1
CHARTERED BY CONNECTICUT IN MAY 1825
HE Charter granted to this Bank in May, 1825, was the third in the State and among the first few in the United States. The bank opened for business in July of the same year with the following officers: President, Nehemiah Hubbard; Vice- Presidents, John Hinsdale and Samuel Gill; Directors, the above three and Samuel Southmayd, Charles Brewster, William L. Storrs and Horace Clark. E. G. Southmayd was Secretary and Treasurer.
Deposits were received at the office of Samuel Southmayd located on the northeast corner of Main and William Streets. The bank received deposits between the hours of two and five P.M. at this place of not less than One Dollar, which were placed for safe keeping in a chest that is now in the Hartford Atheneum.
The old "Oak Cupboard", as it is called in one branch of the Southmayd family, was according to tradition the original Middletown Savings Bank.
When or by whom the cupboard was brought from England its present owner has not been able to ascertain. It is not claimed that it was a part of the cargo of the over-laden Mayflower, but according to experts in antique furniture was probably made in England about 1650. Its wide hinges, hand-wrought nails, and solidity of frame bear witness to the honest hand labor of former generations. The front is paneled, with an inlaid diamond of red wood in the center of each panel, and its color is the rich brown of genuine "antique oak".
In the early years of the nineteenth century the cupboard stood in the drug store occupied by Charles A. Pelton, then occupied by S. Southmayd and Company as druggists. The family tradition is that people, knowing Mr. Southmayd to be an honest man, brought him for safe-keeping their money and valuable documents, which he stored in the old oak cupboard. Finally, the need for a savings bank being thus indicated, the present Middletown Savings Bank was formed. Possibly the first meeting of the incorporators was held in the back room of the drug store.
Later the cupboard was moved to New York City among the possessions of the late Horace Southmayd, and stood in the kitchen to hold pots and pans. At that time it was painted red; possibly had been for a long time, as no one seemed to know its value. Later it was moved down to the Southmayd warehouse, where one day a colored porter whiling away time began scraping the paint off with his knife and the beauty of the wood beneath was discovered.
Scraped and restored, it was brought back to Middletown in 1877 by the late Stephen C. Southmayd, by the will of . whose widow it was given to its present owner.
At the annual meeting which was held shortly after Christmas of December, 1825, it was voted to name the bank The Middletown Savings Bank.
In 1838, the property now occupied by the Middletown Coal Company was purchased and occupied by the bank until 1870. In that year the southeast corner of Main and William Streets was purchased and a brownstone building was erected, the first meeting in this place being held on June 6, 1870. The officers at that time were President, George W. Burr; Vice-Presidents, John P. Bacon and Lot D. VanSands; Directors, the above with William South- mayd, Charles A. Boardman, Elijah Ackley and Samuel Babcock. Daniel W. Camp was Treasurer and there was a clerk, George H. Harris, instead of Secretary, and John B. Kilbourn was the Assistant Clerk.
Some years ago an addition was erected in the rear of this building to provide a room for the directors and allow more working space for the employees.
In 1925 a committee was named to consider the possi- bility of remodeling or making a change in the old building. This committee reported, that in view of conditions, it would be wiser to erect a new building and reported that the old McDonough house property at the corner of Main and Court Streets was available. This site was purchased and Charles T. Davis, President, T. Macdonough Russell, John P. Bacon and Linus Baldwin were named as the building committee.
Uppermost in the minds of the committee was a building of stability that would be a credit to the city, constructed so as to command the lowest rate of insurance and a mini- mum of upkeep cost, the result being the magnificent new building which is now occupied by the bank.
In the 110 years of history the bank has had 13 presi- dents. George A. Coles, with a record of 29 years served the longest. David Harrison, George W. Harris and Henry G. Hubbard, the shortest, each serving a year. The follow- ing are the names of the presidents and the year they were elected :
Nehemiah Hubbard, 1825; Richard Rand, 1837; Joseph Taylor, 1844; David Harrison, 1856; Henry G. Hubbard, 1857; Lot D. VanSands, 1858; George W. Burr, 1861; George W. Harris, 1881; Elijah Ackley, 1882; Samuel Babcock, 1884; George A. Coles, 1887; Frank B. Weeks, 1916; Charles T. Davis, 1925.
President Davis has been on the Board of Trustees for the past eighteen years.
In the 110 years of service $24,450,433.57 has been paid in dividends and the book value of assets is $14,639,- 661.94 but in reality the assets are much larger as many of the holdings of the bank have been greatly enhanced in value since first purchased. Of the 78 savings banks in the State, The Middletown Savings Bank ranks 14th in assets.
The last report on October Ist, 1935, showed the bank had 11,834 depositors with $13,250,859.50, a surplus of $1,000,000 and profit and loss account of $333,795.84.
1271}
M. S. BROOKS & SONS, Inc.
-
CHESTER - Established 1848
SIMEON BROOKS April 6, 1793 March 30, 1864
MERRITT BROOKS March 6, 1833 January 8, 1917
IMEON BROOKS, the founder of M. S. Brooks & Sons, Inc., began manufac- ture of wood screw eyes and wood screws in 1848. He was the first manufac- turer of either product in America. To-day his great-grandsons, Louis M. Brooks and Malcolm G. Brooks, carry on the manufacture of the same pro- ducts on the same site.
The first manufacturing plant of Mr. Brooks was a small building, eighteen feet by twenty-one feet ; this structure to-day forming an ell part to the present Plating Room. In developing his new pro- ducts (wood screw eyes) Mr. Brooks did not have money enough to buy the necessary wire and it is here that the ingenuity of the man stands out. To
The Plant of M. S. Brooks & Sons as It Appeared at the Time of the Dedication in 1857.
overcome this difficulty he went into the neighbor- ing fields and collected wire from the fences, from which he manufactured his screw eyes. He placed these in envelopes, a dozen to an envelope, and bor- rowed enough money to pay his stage coach fare to New York. Upon his arrival in the city he set about selling his product until he had made enough money to pay back his debt and buy one small coil of wire.
He brought this wire home with him and manu- factured more screw eyes and again went to New York to hawk his product in the busy city. This process he repeated again and again, until finally he found it necessary to ship the amount of wire he could buy by schooner from New York to Chester, since the stage coach .could not accommodate the weight.
Early in the life of this concern Merritt Brooks, son of Simeon Brooks, who was associated with his father in this enterprise, developed the first machine in America to bend screw eyes automatically. The business ability of Simeon Brooks brought an in- creasing demand for the product and the new ma- chine made it possible for the business to expand with this demand.
Less than ten years after Simeon Brooks had made his first screw eyes the business had outgrown the small quarters of the first plant and it was found necessary to construct a large factory to accommo- date further development. This building was com- pleted in 1857 and was at that time considered an enormous factory. On August 7, 1857, a Grand Dedication Party was held to celebrate this great
<1272]*
FIRST MAKERS
OF WOOD SCREW
EYES IN AMERICA
SIMEON S. BROOKS November 17, 1865 May 12, 1916
HILTON C. BROOKS September 21, 1861 November 4, 1934 .
event. The celebration lasted all day and that night a dance was held with Carvers Band furnishing the music. The Committee of Arrangements were George B. Ransom, Joseph H. Leete, George Ship- man, George B. Holmes, Frederick C. Daniels, and Chas. N. Silliman. Floor Managers were George B. Holmes, Joseph H. Leete and John Shipman. L. B. Carver, Prompter. Tickets were One Dollar. Newspapers of the period commented upon this af- fair as one of the greatest events of the year in Mid- dlesex County.
In the later part of Simeon Brooks' lifetime Mer- ritt Brooks took the business over from his father; although the founder remained identified with his enterprise until his death in 1864 at the age of seventy-one.
For ten years following the death of the elder Brooks, Merritt Brooks continued in charge of the business, at which time he leased the business to Wil- liam M. Clark for a term of ten years, two addi- tional years later being added to the original lease. On February 16, 1886, he returned to again take control. The next decade was a prosperous one for the Company and another new building was added to their plant in 1886. In 1902 the present office and packing room were built.
Before 1900 Merritt took his two sons, Hilton C. and Simeon S. Brooks, into partnership with him. Both of whom remained in the Company until their deaths. Upon the death of Simeon S. Brooks in 1916 his interest was acquired by Hilton C. Brooks. Previous to this time Louis M. Brooks and Malcolm
G. Brooks, both sons of Hilton C. Brooks, had begun work with this Company, Louis M. in 1911, and Malcolm G. in 1915.
The Company was incorporated on January I, 1928 under the name of M. S. Brooks & Sons, In- corporated. Louis M. Brooks was chosen as Presi- dent and Treasurer, and Malcolm G. Brooks as Vice- President, Secretary and Assistant Treasurer.
When Simeon Brooks started manufacturing wire goods the population of Chester was less than one thousand, steam power was but little used and the development of electric energy was still far in the future. Transportation was by stage coach and the river boats on the Connecticut. To-day all of this is changed, yet the mark of Simeon Brooks' business initiative and foresight remains.
The Present Plant of M. S. Brooks & Sons, Inc., in Chester. For More than 85 Years the Factory Has Remained on this Site.
4273]>
1861
C. J. BATES AND SON
1935
C. J. BATES
ONNECTICUT has, in the past 150 years, witnessed the rise of innumerable industries, embracing within themselves nearly all the efforts of man to turn the natural products of far off lands into the implements of modern life. Of these many. en- terprises some of the most unique are centered in the small villages set amongst the low rolling hills of the lower Connecticut Valley.
It is in this section the manu- facture of ivory was begun and is still carried on today. Some pro- ducts which found great favor in the past century have been out- moded. Consequently many of the old firms have disappeared. Many have, however, survived and are today engaged in manufacturing the self-same products of yester- day, to which have been added newer products. Such a company is the firm of C. J. Bates & Son, 427415
of Chester, Connecticut.
Carlton J. Bates, the founder of this business, was born in Chester on February 6, 1847. When fourteen years old and still studying in the schools of the town, he was offered the job of building fires for a new company just beginning business in the town. The firm was that of Tyler & Post, engaged in the manu- facture of ivory sleeve and collar buttons. His duties at that time consisted of starting the fire in the big cylinder stove at six o'clock in the morning, removing the ashes and sweeping out the one large work room.
For two years he continued at this job, while finishing his early education, many times during these years being forced to plow his way through tremendous snow drifts to reach the factory and in
weather the thermometer showing thirty degrees below zero. At the age of sixteen he finished school and began work in "the litle yel- low factory", as the shop was then called in the neighborhood. This building, still remains a part of the Bates Plant today.
Mr. Bates spent the next few years in becoming familiar with the manufacturing processes of the business as a workman for Tyler & Post. This alone, how- ever, did not prove of enough interest for him. He continued his education at Hannum's (now Morse's) Business School in Hartford. To attend his classes he was forced to travel by train from Chester to Hartford each night and return. In the 1860's, getting to Hartford was not as easy a trip as it is today. As a result of his business education he
Mr. Bates and his employees in front of the original shop
MANUFACTURERS OF IVORY PRODUCTS
was advanced to the position of in 1873 he sold the business to bookkeeper for the firm. In the Mr. Bates, who has continued it on the same site. meantime important changes were taking place in the firm itself.
The partners, Tyler and Post, after working together some few years, found they could never be in any real agreement. Conse- quently, about 1865 Post bought out Tyler's interest and after gaining control began to expand the business. He first bought the old factory near what was then the A. H. Gilbert property (now owned by H. C. Bates). He then purchased the business and ma- chinery of the Griswold-Gladding Company of Essex, manufacturers of bone crochet hooks, later con- solidating all of the manufactur- ing in one factory at Chester.
Mr. Post continued the busi- ness for some eight years. In the meantime business decreased and
Hamilton C. Bates, son of C. J. Bates, was born January 27, 1879. As a boy he was interested in the factory and after finishing school went to work with his father. In 1907 he was made a member of the firm, the name be- ing changed to C. J. Bates & Son.
C. J. Bates originally made ivory sleeve and collar buttons and bone crochet hooks, after- wards adding manicure imple- ments. For the last thirty-five or forty years they have special- ized in the making of crochet hooks, knitting needles, manicure implements and sets. In 1905, not having enough room in the old plant, they purchased the factory of S. Silliman & Co., afterwards tearing this down and replacing
HAMILTON C. BATES
with the present modern plant.
Today the company continues manufacturing the same lines in this present factory, pleasantly located on the banks of the stream flowing through Chester into the Connecticut River between the low hills sloping away on either side.
The Modern Plant of C. J. BATES & SON in Chester
1275$
THE COMSTOCK, CHENEY & CO., IVORYTON - Established 1847
NE of the interesting things about Connecticut is the number of indus- trial communities that have arisen and taken their place as potent factors in the pro- ducing capacities of the state, as a re- sult of the inventive genius, business sense and strong individuality of some. one man, a pioneer in new fields of industry, who had the sense of things to come and builded oftentimes even better than he knew. Such a com- munity is that of Ivoryton, in the western part of the town of Essex, and such a pioneer and man of ster- ling sense and industry was the late Samuel Merritt Comstock.
The Comstock, Cheney & Co. was established by Samuel Merritt Com- stock at its present location in Ivory- ton, then called Center Brook, in the year 1847. This spot was chosen on account of the small stream which flows through it from the beautiful adjacent hills and empties into the Connecticut River about two miles below the village. The stream fur- nished the water power on which the first small plant depended. At that time the spot could hardly be even called a village. There were only three or four farm houses scattered along the main road; but now Ivory- ton is a very attractive, modern, en- terprising community, with its big factories, stores, post-office, theatre, churches, hotel, library and attractive residences.
The firm at first devoted itself cx- clusively to the manufacture of tooth- picks. Two years later W. C. and A. B. Comstock were admitted to partnership under the firm name of S. M. Comstock & Co., and the busi- ness extended to the manufacture of combs and other small articles of ivory. George H. Cheney and Charles H. Rose were admitted into partner- ship in 1860, becoming a joint stock company in 1872.
George A. Cheney had already spent ten years of his life in Zanzi- bar, Africa, as a purchaser of ivory from hunters and traders, and was thoroughly familiar with that fasci- nating department of the business.
SAMUEL MERRITT COMSTOCK
Zanzibar at that time was the great African depot for the ivory trade of the world. At this time was added the manufacture of pianoforte ivory. In 1873 the firm began the manufacture of piano and organ keys as a distinctive branch of the business, and in the year 1885 was added the manufacture of piano actions and hammers for which the company soon achieved a world- wide reputation.
The extent of the works operated by the company was thus set forth by a local paper in 1899:
"The floor space occupied by the various departments will aggregate more than 100,000 square feet. From a million and a half to two million feet of the finest lumber is kept in stock. Eight to ten thousand pounds of the best African ivory is cut by them every month. The company has about 600 employees on its payrolls. It owns and controls about forty tene- ment houses, all of them well built, comfortable homes; also a boarding house which has sixty boarders at the present time. About thirty acres of land is owned by the company, and the bleach houses will aggregate 3,500 feet in length."
Samuel Merritt Comstock, the founder of Comstock, Cheney & Co., was a native of Essex, born .August 14, 1809. He was educated in the public school and began his business life at the age of twenty years in the old comb factory at Centerbrook. He there obtained a technical and expert knowledge of the working of ivory which was of inestimable value to a young man of his inventive turn of mind.
In company with his brother Joseph and Edwin Griswold, Samuel Com- stock began the manufacture of combs and other ivory goods in the old fac- tory, where he remained for thirteen years, from 1834 until 1847, when he moved to Ivoryton and there laid the foundation of the present firm.
Mr. Comstock was elected to the Connecticut Legislature by a large majority in 1869 and served one term. He married Harriet Hovey of Mansfield, Conn., November 20, 1838. They had eleven children, of whom Archibald W. Comstock is the president of the present company. Samuel Merritt Comstock died at Wilmington, N. C., January 18, 1878.
{276}
1847 -
THE COMSTOCK, CHENEY & CO. -
1935
-
DONSNAK & CO'S, COME MANUFACTORY, CENTRE BROOK . 1834.
COMSTOCK CHENEY & CO MANUFACTURERS OF IVORY GOODS
Above-The main plant and working force of the Comstock & Cheney Company about 1875. Inset a reproduc- tion of an old engraving showing the Center Brook plant in 1834. Below the Comstock & Cheney Company plant at Ivoryton, as it looks today.
-
-
[277)
1
POND'S EXTRACT COMPANY
MANUFACTURING CHEMISTS - Established 1846 CLINTON, CONNECTICUT
POND'SEXTRACT.
Fifty Years Ago
OND'S EXTRACT COMPANY, or was something more than a score of years after its more properly its primary product, is inception that the formula became by inheritance the property of a clergyman, Rev. R. E. Whittemore, then holding a pastorate in Clinton, and he con- structed a building for its manufacture in that town which had begun existence as the Plantation of Ham- monassett in 1665. peculiarly linked with colonial, in fact with pre-colonial, Connecticut. The hamamelis shrub, which then flourished prolifically in the valley of the lower Connecticut, with its bright yellow blossoms appearing in the autumn after the leaves had fallen, convinced the Indians of its Here the industry has continued to exist with steadily increasing effectiveness in production and in economic benefits to the village. But it is a far cry from the negligible barn-like structure which housed the original enterprise to the commodious and well- appointed plant of today. No less notable is the advance in the volume and variety of its products. supernatural properties. It found a place, therefore, in their limited pharmacology and their unlimited superstition. Distilled, it healed their wounds and relieved their aches and pains, while poised in deli- cate balance, it indicated the presence of hidden water-springs. Convinced of its supernal powers, they called it witch hazel.
So much for its pre-colonial associations. It was in the post-colonial period, but in that section of Connecticut which had formed the northern portion of Saybrook, one of our first settlements, that Doc- tor Pond perfected his process of distillation in 1846, and Pond's Extract of Witch Hazel started its beneficent career as an ameliorative lotion. It
In its earlier stages the company was hampered by a lack of capital and publicity. Whittemore dis- posed of his holdings to the Harrisons, but their tenure was short-lived, and in the early nineties of the last century the property passed into the hands of Leon Hurtt. That change in proprietorship marked the beginning of progress. Hurtt installed Robert B. Lively as superintendent of production, a
[278]>
1846 EIGHTY-NINE YEARS' DEVELOPMENT 1935
position which for forty years he has held with dis- tinct efficiency, and under his intelligent management the plant was enlarged, the output materially in- creased, and the personnel expanded. Still, however, the extract of witch hazel remained the sole product, and this was shipped to New York in bulk for bottling and distribution.
It was not until the last decade of the present century that the development and diversity in pro- duction became particularly noticeable. In 1995 Lamont, Corliss & Company assumed control and began at once to inject the virus of modern manage- ment. In the early days Whittemore had supple- mented the distillation of witch hazel with the manufacture of an especially emollient bayberry glycerine soap, but he lacked the means of bringing it to the notice of the public, and thus we lost an effective toilet accessory. There is no such impedi- ment in the present regime which produces not only a medicament to soothe our bruises, but an alluring variety of cosmetics to enhance our beauty. Pond's Creams have become even more famous than Pond's extract of witch hazel, and both types of product have attained not merely a national, but an inter- national reputation. Exported to practically every civilized country, these creations of the Pond labora- tory are the largest selling face creams in the world.
This expansion in production entailed an increase in facilities. In 1930, therefore, the plant was trebled in size by construction as attractive in appear- ance as it is effective for use. A still more extensive enlargement would have been essential had not the erection of international tariff walls necessitated the establishment of manufacturing laboratories in Canada and England. Besides these units of manu- facture the company owns and operates at Seymour, Conn., a paper-making plant exclusively devoted to the production of Pond's facial tissues.
By this remarkable increase in the scope of its activities the company has been of very definite economic benefit to the village in which it is located, and to contiguous communities as well. Two hun- dred fifty men and women find employment there. This is, of course, a financial asset. Furthermore, through opportunities of employment there has been brought to Clinton, or retained in town, a group of worth-while citizens who, without this modus vivendi, would have been compelled to carry their constructive activities elsewhere. In addition to these inevitable practical benefits the management wisely lends its generous support to the social and cultural interests of the town, and has thus become not merely an industry, but an institution.
POND'S
Today
[279]>
THE TWENTY-SIX TOWNS OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
IN THE ORDER OF THEIR ESTABLISHMENT TOGETHER WITH THEIR PRESENT ACREAGE AND POPULATION.
ESTABLISHED
TOWN
MILES FROM HARTFORD
ACRES
POPULATION
1674
Woodbury
38
23,343
1,744
1712
New Milford
54
40,321
4,700
1719
Litchfield
30
33,065
3,574
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.