USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Farmington > Farmington town clerks and their times (1645-1940) > Part 26
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 | Part 35
The first registration of women, for voting purposes, was made October 21, 1898 and the list of those admitted is repre- sentative: Lily Klauser, Maria M. Porter, Julia M. Bartlett, Laura D. Barney, Jennie E. Butler, Louise C. Redfield, Nellie
296
Farmington Town Clerks and Their Times
M. Thompson, Ellen T. Roberts, Agnes C. Rice, Alice Bartlett, Margaret E. Hurlburt, Ida M. Wollenberg, Malissa A. Howe, Evelyn L. Cowles, Elizabeth G. Porter, Mary J. Hart, Electa B. Lawrence, Mary E. Allen, Linda B. Wollenberg, Delinda Woodford, Edith M. Wollenberg.
A record of the women's vote at the annual town meeting October 5, 1914, reports that a special ballot was used and counted separately, the only candidates for whom the women could cast their ballots being school visitors. In the First Dis- trict 119 women voted and in the Second District 50 exercised that privilege.
By the time another state election came about, Judge Brandegee had reached the age of retirement from the Probate Court judgeship. Herbert Knox Smith and Edward H. Kelly were the candidates with Mr. Smith winning by a large ma- jority. Not only was there general regret among the residents of the town that Judge Brandegee could no longer serve, but even the children discussed the "injustice of it." Small boys who had known Mr. Brandegee through their school years and talked with him about trapping and fishing, voiced their great . indignation. Judge Smith did very little of the work of the Probate Court, only signing orders and allowing "Judge" Brandegee, now clerk of the Court, to conduct hearings, inter- view those who came to Court for advice - and also turned the entire income from the Court over to Mr. Brandegee.
An innovation for the old town of Farmington was brought about in 1915. Due to increased traffic and the resulting haz- ards created by automobiles, traffic officers were appointed, one for duty on Sundays at the Brick store in Farmington and one at the Tunxis Hose Company corner in Unionville.
At this meeting the matter of a Town Manager was discussed and it was voted that the selectmen were "authorized" to em- ploy such a Town Manager at a salary not to exceed $1,800 per year, with a competent bookkeeper at a salary not to exceed $300 per year. An advisory board, consisting of E. H. Deming, Herbert Knox Smith, Fred J. Broadbent, Frank Sanford and William B. McKenney was appointed at this; meeting, to act as a finance committee of the town, to serve
297
Charles Brandegee
until the next annual town meeting, without compensation, and to advise the selectmen, Board of Education, assessors, Board of Relief, Town Treasurer and Tax Collector, or any other officer or board of the town, concerning matters pertaining to the financial condition of the town.
Another Resolution voted was "it is the sense of the meeting that none of the selectmen should contract with the Board of Selectmen for the performance of services about the Town, for pay, except in emergencies."
The matter of a Town Manager was brought before town meeting at various other times, usually by a dissatisfied mi- nority, but evidently was never a popular idea, as no further action was taken for putting it into effect.
At this same town meeting of 1915 the selectmen were authorized and instructed to employ public accountants and to institute a proper system of town accounting.
At the Annual Town Meeting of October 8, 1917, a vote was passed instructing the selectmen "to procure from a re- liable attorney at as early a date as possible, a written opinion defining the powers and duties of Town Auditors, to be re- corded by the Town Clerk in his records." This apparently was not received until 1921, as it follows the record of a town meet- ing of February in that year. It was of considerable length and was given by Day and Berry, attorneys of Hartford.
At this meeting in 1917 permission was given by vote, to allow the "Home Guard" the use of the Town Hall in Union- ville, one night each week for drilling, free of charge.
During the year and a half of World War I, Farmington sent one hundred seventy-seven men into, service - ninety- nine from Unionville and seventy-eight from Farmington. Of these, six failed to return - James Palache and Paul Dimona from Farmington and Louis Condon Hanrahan, who was killed in action in France, Christopher Rourke and Philip E. Bergin who were injured in action and died as the result of their injuries, overseas, and Harold V. Joyce, who died while in service, from pneumonia. The American Legion Post in Unionville is named in honor of Louis C. Hanrahan, first to
298
Farmington Town Clerks and Their Times
give his life from that district, and the Post in Farmington is named in honor of James Palache, first to die from this district.
Otherwise, Farmington was untouched by the war. The Farmington Red Cross chapter met its full quota, of both cash and supplies, the men of the town who were too old or otherwise occupied, for active service, drilled, worked on Liberty Loan drives or volunteered their services to the government for a dollar a year. The women knitted, sewed, had war gardens, and a canning project each summer. Sugar was thirty-five cents a pound, when it could be found, coal twenty-five dollars a ton, when it could be bought, pies and cakes were sweetened with molasses or home-made maple syrup and the housewife exer- cised her genius in using food-stuffs usually disdained in times of peace. Mended clothes were worn with pride, there were meatless Tuesdays, gasless Sundays, and so insistent did the restrictions on Sunday driving grow, that it was not safe to be found on the roads, except on most urgent business.
Women entered industry during this period of manpower shortage. They went to war, too, as nurses, hostesses in can- teens, and in secretarial positions, proving their value so com- pletely, that they retained their place in industry after the war.
The years of great prosperity after the war were not particu- larly noticeable in Farmington. The town remained much as it had been, with only an occasional farmer giving up his life as such, in order to sell his land for house lots. So, too, when the bottom fell out of the fickle fortunes made so quickly and easily, Farmington pulled in its belt a notch, but still main- tained its poise, cared for those who were suddenly unable to care for themselves, and having lived frugally through the ! years, still maintained its standards and paid its bills.
When word came of the Armistice, the church bells were rung, services of thanksgiving were held, and the townspeople greeted each other with tears and laughter of joy and relief.
(The complete list of service men in World War I will be found in the addendum.)
In 1919 the cost of schools in the town had risen to $32,305. And at this meeting "Voted an appropriation of $350 be
299
Charles Brandegee
made for evening school to run seventy five nights along same lines as last year."
Another vote was passed ordering the selectmen to refrain from contracting among themselves for any expenditure of town money. The matter of a town manager was discussed, but not voted. And the voters were still asking for a legal definition of the duties of town auditors.
The matter of a storm sewer was taken up at a special town meeting November 10, 1919 and it was "voted that the sum of $6,000 be appropriated for the construction of a storm sewer on Main Street from the residence of E. H. Deming southward to Maple Street, thence along Maple Street to the lowest point, thence along the valley over private land to the river, also starting on Pearl Street to extend northwest and join the above line on Maple Street."
The town tax dropped to ten mills in 1920.
Efforts were made in 1920 to establish a Trade School in Unionville, to be built at a cost of $12,000 on the property belonging to Ward C. Parsons. The first vote resulted in a tie, and in the second ballot the motion was defeated. That meeting was held April 9, 1920 and another meeting was immediately called for April 22, when the vote was 124 in favor of such school and 135 against.
In these years Edward H. Deming was being unanimously elected Judge of Probate. Cost of maintaining the schools was steadily rising. Additional lights were being installed through- out the town. Fire escapes were added to the town halls and the matter of protecting the public at the railroad crossing in Unionville was entrusted to the selectmen.
February 21, 1921, a committee of seven was appointed "in the matter of a suitable memorial for deceased soldiers, the following named persons chosen: Thomas Clancy, Eugene Heacox, Harry C. Ney, James Morrissey, Adrian R. Wads- worth, Thomas Collins, Thomas F. Geary."
In March, 1921, a special committee was appointed at town meeting to meet with authorities of the State of Connecticut and the "Trolley Company," in an effort to have passenger 'are reduced on the Hartford trolley. The committee consisted
300
Farmington Town Clerks and Their Times
of Thomas Clancy, who had introduced the measure, Adrian R. Wadsworth, who was representative from Farmington and George F. Hanrahan, an attorney just out of law school, who had recently opened a law office in Hartford.
October 10, 1921, the selectmen were instructed to remove the public sign-post in front of the Congregational Church in Unionville and set up such a sign-post in front of the Town Hall, properly protected from the elements.
And on November 2, 1921, a vote to remove the covered bridge in Unionville, substituting a new steel bridge, to cost $25,000, was passed. The bridge was to be paid for in five equal annual installments of $5,000. The bridge spanned the river there until the merciless flood and hurricane of 1938 left it a buckled and twisted wreck.
It was in 1922 that the Borough of Unionville was incorpor- ated. The charter was patterned after that of Farmington, with a few minor changes. The first board was elected at a public non-partisan meeting and consisted of Thomas Clancy, warden, W. W. Pinney, former clerk of the fire district, as clerk, George E. Horsfall treasurer and three republicans and three democrats making up the burgesses for the first year. Mr. Pinney died during the year and his daughter Alice Y. Pinney was ap- pointed for the balance of the year and was afterward elected for several years. In 1922 she was appointed by the selectmen' as tax collector for the town, also to fill the unexpired term of her father.
Roads were being constantly surfaced with either macadam or crushed stone, in an effort to keep up with the demands of motorists. The state was paying a larger share of the cost of these roads, with a small part furnished by The Connecticut Company, and the town paying considerably less than one half.
October 9, 1922, at the annual town meeting, on motion of Mr. Brooks, "Voted: That the Selectmen of the Town of Farm- ington be and hereby are authorized and instructed to extend in an easterly direction along the site of the old lockup, the wall which now extends from Christ Church property to the site of the old lockup in the Borough of Unionville, and to place
30I
Charles Brandegee
in said extended wall necessary steps to make possible an en- trance to the Hillside Cemetery from Farmington Avenue."
At an eventful adjourned town meeting held February 21, 1923, with Edward H. Deming as chairman and George F. Hanrahan as clerk, a Board of Finance for the town was voted, after many weeks of controversy, and some bitterness. It was the end of the old regime, the beginning of a new order for the town. Consideration was also given to bonding the town indebtedness, this being actually accomplished in December of 1924.
The annual town meeting of October 13, 1924, acted on many matters of interest. Reports of town officers and the new Board of Finance were read and accepted. On motion presented by Lawrence A. Howard, it was "Voted that the First Selectman is instructed to appoint a committee to consider the matter of a town forest and report at the next annual town meeting."
Also "Voted that the bulletin boards in front of the Town Halls in the first and second voting districts are hereby desig- nated as a place for the posting of all legal notices.
Also "Voted that the Selectmen are hereby authorized to - move the partition of the post office in the town hall in the first voting district to a point nearer the front door, whenever the - post office department agrees to pay a rental of $400.00 per annum."
On December 9, 1924 at a special town meeting held in Farmington, a Resolution to issue bonds to pay $120,000 ndebtedness of the town, owed to the Farmington Savings Bank, was passed, and the form and terms of the bonds duly ead, adopted and ordered recorded. The principal is paid off it the rate of $4,000 per year and the bonds bear interest at the rate of four and one-quarter per cent per annum.
In October 1925 Thomas Hewes reported for the Town Forest Committee, offering the following Resolution, which was voted unanimously: "Resolved, that the present Committee on a Town Forest be continued in office for a year, with power to dd to its members, cooperate with the posts of the American Legion in Farmington and Unionville, to acquire land for a Town Forest to be maintained as a perpetual memorial to the
302
Farmington Town Clerks and Their Times
Soldiers and Sailors of the Town of Farmington in the Great War of 1917-18, at a cost to the town not to exceed $1500.00. To report at the next Annual Town Meeting as to its action and make recommendations as to the permanent care and custody of the Forest."
Protests of the Union School District, over the much lower grand list and income of that District, than the Center School District had, resulted in a new line being established whereby the Union School District would include the brick yard and the Hartford Sand and Stone Quarry near the railroad tracks. The line as voted August 8, 1923 gave the boundaries of Union School District as Bristol and Burlington town lines on the west, on the north the Avon town line to its intersection with the Canal Railroad thence along center line of said railroad to the West Avon highway; thence along said highway to its intersection with Farmington Avenue; thence southerly parallel to the railroad to Farmington River; thence along said river . to center line of said railroad; thence southerly along said line : of railroad to the Daniel Lyons Road, so-called, and along the center of said road, westerly, to the Bristol town line.
In 1924 Oakland Gardens development had become a rapidly growing part of the town. Roads were being accepted there, and houses being built, almost overnight. One of the first men to build there said to Mr. Brandegee "I know we are; poor and not much of an addition to your town just now, but we are out of the tenements - our children are in the country, and just give us time, we will soon have good-looking houses there."
The year of 1924 marked the last year of Mr. Wadsworth's. services as a selectman. His advancing years, his reluctance to accept the Board of Finance had all contributed to bring about a change. At the town election of 1925 Austin D. Barney began his years of service to the town, first as first selectman, to be followed as chairman of the Board of Finance and general town counselor.
The year saw, too, a desire on the part of the townspeople for a new high school. Endless meetings followed one another
303
Charles Brandegee
as one faction or another held out for a certain appropriation, or a favorite site.
The first meeting was called on a petition of twenty voters for September 8, 1924, when a committee of five was voted, to consider possible sites for the new school. Mrs. Herbert Knox Smith, Reverend Quincy Blakely, Thomas Hewes, George F. Hanrahan and Raymond Case were appointed as the High School Site Committee. Among the sites proposed were the Hamilton, Whitney, House and a portion of the Brooks and Erkson properties at the corner of West Avon Road and Farm- ington Avenue, at a cost not to exceed $20,000. Mr. Brandegee recorded: "It was moved to accept the Committee's recom- mendation and accept report. Motion seconded and discussed pro and con at great length. Mr. Rourke moved to table motion to accept, which was carried by a rising vote. After much discussion meeting became a parliamentary maze, which was finally cleared by a motion to adjourn for two weeks from date of this meeting, to be held in second district town hall at 8 o'clock. Motion carried."
Later the "Pond site" on Main Street was considered. In May 1925 the Staples site was also considered.
August 8, 1925 Edward H. Deming as chairman of the meet- ing, appointed Eugene C. Heacox, Thomas S. Rourke, Harry C. Ney, Everett T. House and Mrs. Lawrence A. Howard as the High School Building Committee. Meeting followed meet- ing, as those dissatisfied with votes passed, called for another meeting to reverse the previous vote. The last town meeting at which Mr. Brandegee presided as town clerk, was the one at which the townspeople agreed at last on the Parsons site, so- called, voted that the tract of land containing forty-five acres on Farmington Avenue, be purchased for not more than $10,000. This was also the last town meeting record in Volume Four, which had been entirely made up of recordings during Mr. Brandegee's twenty-nine years as town clerk.
The new high school was dedicated June 7, 1928 with the following program:
Music - The High School Orchestra
Invocation - Rev. Thomas H. Tiernan
304
Farmington Town Clerks and Their Times
Address of Welcome - Superintendent of Schools William
H. Mandrey
Presentation of the Building - Thomas S. Rourke
Acceptance in Behalf of the Town - Austin D. Barney, First Selectman
A Message from the Architect - William T. Towner
Music - School Glee Club: Daybreak, Pale Moon
Address - Dr. Albert B. Meredith, State Commissioner of Education
Music - Orchestra and Audience: America
Benediction - Rev. Franklin W. Barker
The last item recorded by Mr. Brandegee, on the last page of Volume Four, was the following letter:
Mrs. F. F. Hurlburt
Farmington, Conn.
Dear Mrs. Hurlburt:
I wish to inform you that the Board of Selectmen at their meeting held January 1Ith appointed you Town Clerk to fill the unexpired term of Mr. Charles Brandegee who resigned as of January 4th, 1926. Will you please get in touch with Mr. Brandegee and take over your duties as soon as possible.
Yours very truly A. D. Barney First Selectman
A true copy Attest C. Brandegee Town Clerk.
My first recording was the town meeting authorizing the purchase of the Parsons property for the new High School. At that meeting the following Resolution was offered by Judge Edward H. Deming, accepted by rising vote and voted that the resolution be spread upon the records of the town:
"Whereas - Charles Brandegee has served the Town of Farmington in the capacity of Town Clerk uninterruptedly for twenty-nine years;
"Whereas - Mr. Brandegee has now reached the age where he wishes to retire after his years of devoted service in the Town; and
"Whereas - During his long term of office, the interests of
305
Charles Brandegee
the Town have been extremely well looked after, and the inhab- itants of the Town and others have experienced and enjoyed his courteousness and willingness to oblige, his cheerfulness and efficiency;
"Now, Therefore - Be It Voted, that the inhabitants of the Town of Farmington hereby express their hearty appreciation of his long years of service and extend to him the best wishes of the Town for a long and happy retirement."
When Charles Brandegee came to Farmington in 1894, to make his home, he was returning actually to the home of his ancestors. He was past the half-century mark; his life had been a series of war experiences and western adventure, before he took up his clerical pen as town clerk here.
Mr. Brandegee had been in Farmington just long enough to establish residence when he was first elected. For the next twenty-nine years he had little or no opposition, being usually the unanimous choice of both Republicans and Democrats.
Mr. Brandegee not only commanded respect and loyalty - his personality invited and retained the admiration and devo- tion of all who knew him. He had the rare gift of a quick sym- pathy - an understanding and appreciation of the problems, joys, sorrows of all. The children adored him. One small boy once said of him "He looks like Santa Claus, except that he only has a white mustache - no beard."
He was "Charlie" Brandegee to all. He was short, plump, with a never-failing dignity of bearing. His hair and mustache were white as snow, his face round and ruddy, and his deep blue eyes usually had a friendly twinkle. But all of this was only a pleasant cover for a character of great strength, a deter- mined mind, a ready wit - and a political astuteness entirely unsuspected.
It was my good fortune to be the recipient of his generous good nature and loyal friendship during his last year in Farm- ington. Following his resignation as town clerk in his 8 Ist year, due partly to growing feebleness and partly to Mrs. Brandegee's desire to remove to Somerville, Massachusetts to be near their daughter and grandsons, my appointment as town clerk on January II, 1926 found me in an entirely new work. From Janu-
306
Farmington Town Clerks and Their Times
ary to the following October, Mr. Brandegee came to the office every morning, with his mail, his papers, his never-failing fund of stories, and an inexhaustible willingness to tide me over the new duties. It undoubtedly eased the break for him, too, to follow the routine and meet the people whom he knew so well, without the stress and strain of actual work.
Everyone had an affectionate story to tell of him - his hu- mor, his kindness, his practical good sense, or his sayings and doings in the office. He could make his own contribution, in whatever company he might find himself, or whatever the sub- ject might be.
Until his illness in 1925, Mr. Brandegee was proud of the fact that he had missed only one day at the office in twenty-nine years - that one day being when he and Mrs. Brandegee ac- companied their daughter Hildegard to New York to see her sail for Belgium to study music.
Mr. Brandegee was always affected by the weather, despite the fact that in all of his years in office, no storm, heat or cold ever altered his routine. On a particularly fine day, with a deep blue sky and unusually clear air, he would say "Sky too blue today - storm tomorrow."
Charles Brandegee was the son of Dr. Elishama and Florence, (Stith) Brandegee and was born in Berlin December 12, 1845. His mother was born in Florence, Italy, daughter of Major Townshend Stith. Dr. Elishama Brandegee was third of the name, being the beloved physician in Berlin all of his adult life. One of Dr. Elishama's sisters was Sarah, who married Danford Newton Barney, Sr. Mr. Barney died young. He left a son, D. Newton Barney, Jr., who married Laura Dunham and made - his home in Farmington. Another sister was Miss Julia Brande- gee, for many years librarian of the village library, who lived in the Brandegee house at the north end of High Street.
Members of the Brandegee family all had a touch of genius. Robert Brandegee who lived on High Street was a famous' artist, his portraits occupying places of honor wherever they are: shown. Arthur Brandegee, another brother of Charles and son of Dr. Elishama Brandegee, wrote several books on flowers and. ferns of New England. Townshend Brandegee went west as a
307
Charles Brandegee
civil engineer and laid out many western towns in Colorado, naming one of them Florence in honor of his mother and sister who were named for Florence, Italy. Townshend studied botany and science and in his later years occupied a room at the Uni- versity of California in recognition of his publications on plants. On his 80th birthday he was tendered a luncheon at which a book was presented to him, made up entirely of letters of appre- ciation of his scientific work, from scientist friends all over the country. His sister, Miss Emily S. Brandegee, only surviving member of the immediate family, now has the book in her keeping. Miss Emily Brandegee published several papers which she had read at various times before the Daughters of the Amer- ican Revolution in Berlin, and has long been actively interested in maintaining an excellent library in Berlin.
Charles Brandegee left Berlin when he was seventeen, to en- list in the Zouaves in the Fifth New York Regiment. Their uni- form was red and white with blue trimmings. In service in the South the men marched until their shoes were worn off. Charles was taken prisoner the third day of the Battle of the Wilderness and sent to Andersonville prison. There his uniform soon wore to rags. The men dug holes in the ground for shelter and their food was salt pork and hard bread. Through friends in Wil- mington, North Carolina, Zebulon Latimer, a cousin of Dr. Brandegee's, sent a letter through the blockade, telling of Charles' whereabouts and his release was effected. He weighed less than ninety pounds when he reached home. However, he had no desire to remain in Berlin. He took Horace Greeley's advice, and enjoyed in later years telling of his adventures in the western plains. One summer he spent most of his time on horseback shooting buffalo, seeing sometimes a herd of 1,000. He received $1.00 apiece for all he shot. Many years afterward when he visited those same plains, the bones of the buffalo were being taken away for fertilizer. Mr. Brandegee loved to tell tall tales of pulling up bushes near his camp and of how the gold dust would sparkle in the dirt - of the big snakes - and of how far he was dragged through the cactus by a frightened horse, and watch his listener's face as he spun his yarn. A
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.