USA > Connecticut > New London County > Groton > Groton, Conn. 1705-1905 > Part 27
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ing powerfully, thought it not advisable to proceed, ac- cordingly we lay in Ram Island Channel till morning (10th) when the wind having shifted from south-east to south- west and very foggy, we weighed and run back to Nay- ayunk. Left Mr. & Mrs. Wells on board (in order to sleep, they having watched all night while the rest of us lay and groaned in our wet clothing) and went home to Mystic. At twelve o'clock noon we walked to Captain B's then went on board and found that our passengers had deserted. (N. B. Some person remarked on Monday that we might well ex- pect a gale as the sun was on the line.) The wind being south-west and the tide beginning to flow, knowing the sun had got fairly over the line and consequently hoping good weather would follow, we set sail with high hopes and beat up Sound. Caught three mackerel for tomorrow's break- fast.
"At sunset found ourselves in the windward of Brown's Hills so called. The tide turning against us and the wind blowing west, we just fetched to the windward of Saybrook. Continued to beat until daybreak. The wind blowing very heavy, attended with a very bad sea, our quarters were very uncomfortable. We found we had lost ground when it was light enough to see our way. We put about, run back (Wed- nesday, 11th) and turned in and slept till 2 p. m. Having dined, Capt. B., myself and Joshua Leeds Jr. took the boat and went on shore on the west side of the harbor. As we were walking on the bar which leads to the Bridge we saw Mr. Timothy Wightman rowing his boat, returning from his son's. He came in shore and we all walked across the bridge to Mr. Asa Wightman's who was at home. We spent the afternoon at his house and store, and having obtained a fresh supply of provisions, such as lobsters, eggs, milk and bread, not forgetting tobacco, we went on board a little after sunset. Light wind, south-west, the forenoon being very windy and a heavy sea in the sound.
"Thursday, June 12, 1817.
"At five o'clock this morning, light wind from westward weighed and stood out by Black Point. Crossed the Sound
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and got under Long Island shore hoping for a south wind in the afternoon. The wind veered and hauled from north- west to south-west, and being close in with the Island, we for the first time lay our course for New York. After sun- set the wind began to die gradually and head us off. At half past eleven o'clock, being entirely calm, the tide making ebb, we anchored with the mainsail up between Crane Neck and Easton's Neck, about one-third the distance from the Sound to the main shore. The Sound remains un- ruffled as the summer sea through the remainder of the night.
"Friday, June 13, 1817.
"At sunrise, the flood tide making, weighed anchor and made sail, there being a breath of air from the northward. Capt. Beebe employed in reading, having first availed our- selves of the wholesome and reviving operation of a shave. Grog holds out but we have learned that in boys hands butter is a fatal poison to bread and we have taken meas- ures to keep them apart. I had partly been convinced of this fact before, when in the 'Hero' Capt. Potter, Lemuel Clift being cook. A very faint breeze of wind from the south-east enabled us to bring Huntington lighthouse to bear south of us at half past nine a. m. No prospect of arriving at New York this day. The sun is in the meridian -we are now abreast of Poverty Lane. This afternoon We sailed between hawk and buzzard, or rather in neutral lati- tude-the wind being in different directions-vessels one mile astern having the wind to the northward, those one mile ahead having the wind to the south-east. We continued in this bother perhaps two hours when we had a pleasant breeze from the south-east. At 7 p. m. anchored at Riker's Island, the tide being flood. Went on shore at the Island called South Brother. Procured a loaf of bread and one pint of old spirits. Squall from the westward attended with rain. Mrs. Wells and son in smack 'Superior' hailed us. We sent by Franky 25 cents to purchase one pound of butter. We had the benefit of his butter which relished much better than common, and the change (five cents)
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Franky is determined to spend the first opportunity. Nine o'clock p. m .- calm-Franky and Joshua watch to-night. If a breeze we attempt the Gate. Go to bed.
"Calm, as it had been all night. The islands around us appear this beautiful morning to resemble the description of the "Happy Isles" in fabled story. Their green fields, fine trees, highly cultivated gardens and their neat little buildings give the scene an air of delightful enchantment. New moon. Five o'clock waiting for the tide and breeze. The tide will favor about 9 o'clock. N. B. Let me not for- get to call on Willet Mott for my shoes.
"Arrived at New York at 12 Meridian.
"Saturday June 21st 1817.
"Sailed from New York in Sloop 'Hetty' Capt. Jesse Wilcox for Stonington. Passengers as follows: Jonathan Eldredge and lady, Benj. F. Babcock, widow of Elisha Wil- liams, widow of Jabez Stanton, Cyrus Williams, Ralph Miner, Asa Whitney, Henry Babcock and Perez Chapman. Sunday June 22nd 1817.
"Pleasant at 12 p. m. Arrived at Stonington harbor. Monday June 23rd, 1817.
"At 6 morning, set out on foot for Mystic and took the benefit of all the rain."
In 1866 the Mallory steamer "Loyalist" began to make weekly trips from Mystic to New York. She was com- manded by Captain Pardon T. Brown, who the next year ran the steamer "Artisan" in her place. The traffic was not sufficient to support a steamer and after two seasons the line was discontinued. The New York, Providence and Boston Railroad Company furnished the outlet to the East for many years and the New Haven and New London Rail- road Company that to the west. The terminus of the for- mer was Stonington and of the latter New London, con- nection being made by steamboats which stopped at Mystic en route. The Steamers "Chicopee," "Tiger," "Water Lily" and "Golden Gate" all served on this line.
In 1852 a charter was granted by the Legislature to the
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"New London and Stonington Railroad Company" to build a road from the Thames River easterly to a junction with the tracks of the New York, Providence and Boston Rail- road Company by the shortest, most feasible and best route, crossing the Mystic River by the northern-middle route, so- called, or by the southern-middle route, so called. The road was not built for several years and in 1856 the Legis- lature authorized the New Haven and New London Railroad Company and the New London and Stonington Railroad Company to merge their charters and to form one company. Authority was also given them to cross the Mystic River at any point which the General Railroad Commissioners of the State might fix and determine, between the extreme northern and southern routes.
Acting under this authority, the company's engineers chose the southern route and located the road across Six- penny Island, Abigail Island and Mason's Island, more than a mile below the village of Mystic, and at once commenced work thereon. This roused the people of Mystic to vigorous action, and at the May Session of 1857 a petition of Charles Mallory and 580 others, inhabitants of Groton and Stoning- ton, asked for the repeal of the legislation passed in 1856. This led to an acrimonious discussion carried on in print and before the General Assembly, the Mystic people asking for a layout that should cross the river at a point not lower than the present foot bridge, while the railroad corporation stood upon its charter rights and insisted upon its own layout. The matter was finally compromised by the adop- tion of the northern-middle, or the so called O. T. Braman route, where the road was finally built, and opened for traffic in 1858.
The road did not prove at once a profitable venture and in 1858 the Legislature authorized a lease of it to the New York, Providence and Boston Railroad Company for two years, a privilege afterwards extended to twenty years. The lease was not profitable to the stockholders and as they were not able to pay the interest on their bonds, foreclosure proceedings were commenced which finally resulted in 1864
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in a separation of the New London and Stonington Railroad Company from the New Haven, New London and Stoning- ton Railroad Company and its sale to the New York, Prov- idence and Boston Railroad Company, which corporation continued in control until at first by lease (April 1, 1892), and then by purchase of all its stock, it was in 1893 merged into the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company.
From the opening of the road until October 10, 1889, con- nection was made by ferry from Groton to New London. As the traffic increased longer trains and heavier cars made the ferriage increasingly difficult, and the delay incident thereto was a serious drawback to the through travel from Boston to New York, so in 1882 permission was given by the General Assembly for the construction of a bridge across the Thames River not below Winthrop's Neck.
The bridge was built in 1888-9, being opened in October of the latter year. The bridge is a double-track structure with two spans of 150 feet each, two of 310 feet each and a swing draw of 503 feet, giving a total length of 1423 feet. The building of the bridge made necessary a reloca- tion of the tracks from Pequonnoc-now Midway-to Groton, involving a change in the location of six roads in the west part of the town, all of which were laid out so as to avoid grade crossings.
The ferry from Groton to New London was an early ob- ject of care to the inhabitants. In 1651 we read of an agree- ment with Edward Messenger to keep the ferry for twenty- one years, but after two or three years he gave up the lease and removed from town. March 1, 1.55, the town entered into an agreement with Cary Latham for a lease and monopoly of the ferry for fifty years. Mr. Latham operated the ferry until his death, after which his son-in-law, John Williams, succeeded him.
Originally passengers were transferred in a canoe, later in a boat propelled by sails and oars. For a long time the landing on the New London side was north of Winthrop's Neck, the high land of the Neck affording some protection
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in landing. Under the act of incorporation of the town of Groton, the first article provides "that the ferry and the land and the house belonging to it shall be and remain for the benefit of a free school in the town on the west side of the river," showing the importance attached to the ferry at that time. "In 1794* the sum of $500 was raised by subscription and a wharf built at the end of the Parade, which was accepted by the town (New London-C. R. S.) as the only ferry wharf." The width of the river from this point to the opposite shore, as measured on the ice in Jan- uary 1821, was one-hundred and forty-four rods, sixteen rods short of half a mile. The wharf was rebuilt in 1815. In 1821 a horse or team ferryboat commenced running.
An advertisement in a local paper of the time was as follows :
"The public are hereby informed that an elegant new Team-boat, sixty-five feet in length and forty-five in breath, commenced running on the 2nd inst. A new Turnpike Road from this Ferry direct to Providence thro Mystic, North Stonington, Hopkinton &c. on which the Sound Steam- boat line of Coaches run is also completed.
"Loaded carts, waggons &c. can use this Ferry with the same security as a bridge.
"New London Ct. June 5, 1821."
This was an improvement on sculling, rowing and sails ; but the ferry was often out of repair and in some respects inconvenient and offensive. In 18-19 an arrangement was made by the town with Maro M. Comstock by which he was to have a lease of the ferry for ten years (to February 1, 1859) on condition of his running a ferry boat propelled by steam. Under this lease a steamboat, the Mohegan, sev- enty feet long, thirty-five feet wide and of twenty-five norse power, furnished the public with every requisite ac- commodation. On the expiration of Mr. Comstock's lease the ferry was run for ten years by Thomas Fitch, followed by Maro M. Comstock, who again conducted its affairs. He put a new boat on the route, the "Uncas." After the expira-
* History of New London, Caultins, ed. 1860, p. 660.
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tion of Mr. Comstock's lease the city of New London for a time operated the ferry, but not meeting with financial suc- cess again leased it to the Thames Ferry Company.
That there were mutterings of discontent with the opera- tion of the ferry is indicated by the following action of the voters of Groton: "Notice: The inhabitants of the town of Groton who are legal voters in town meeting are hereby notified and warned to meet in special town meeting at the town house on Fort Hill in said town on Wednesday the 15th day of April 1874 at two o'clock in the afternoon of said day to act upon the following petition of Simon Hunt- ington and nineteen others dated April 6, 1874, to wit
" 'To the selectmen of the town of Groton-The under- signed inhabitants of the town of Groton in the County of New London and legal voters in said town request you to call a meeting of the inhabitants of said town qualified to vote in a town meeting, at an early date, to take into con- sideration and to act upon the subject matter of preferring a petition to the Legislature of this state to be holden in May next, asking for liberty, power and authority to es- tablish and operate a ferry between the towns of Groton and New London for the transportation of freight and passengers and for all other purposes for which a ferry may be useful or necessary by means of steam or otherwise.
(Signed) "Horace Clift "John W. Miner Selectmen. "Silas Spicer
"Dated at Groton April 8, 1874."
At a subsequent meeting the following preamble and vote were passed :
"Whereas-The inhabitants of the town of Groton are dissatisfied with the present accommodation of the Ferry between New London and Groton, and believing that the rates of fare are high and oppressive upon the laboring classes and that some measures ought to be taken to reduce them,
"Voted. That the town of Groton petition the General Assembly of the State next to be holden for the right to
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establish a ferry between the towns of New London and Groton, and that John W. Miner be a committee & agent for said town of Groton and that he be authorized for and in behalf of said town to sign and prefer a petition to the next General Assembly in their name for the above named object and that said agent be authorized to take all steps necessary and proper to carry the same into effect, and to incur all necessary expenses therefor which shall be paid by the town, all expenses not to exceed the sum of three hundred dollars, without further instructions from the town."
At the annual town meeting September 28, 1874, Mr. Miner presented his report which was "discussed and finally accepted."
"Notice, Whereas a petition has been presented to the Selectmen of the town of Groton in the words and form following, to wit
" 'To the Honorable Selectmen of the Town of Groton- The undersigned, inhabitants of the town of Groton and legal voters in town meeting hereby petition you to call a special town meeting of said town to be held in the town house on the 3rd day of October 1874 at 2 o'clock P. M. to act upon the Ferry question in accordance with the peti- tion brought before the annual meeting held on the 28th day of September 1874 which matter was laid on the table. Dated Groton, Sept. 28, 1874. Said petition being signed by more than twenty inhabitants of said town, Therefore " "The inhabitants of the town of Groton who are legal voters in Town meetings are hereby notified and warned to meet in Special town meeting at the Town House on Fort Hill on Monday October 12, 1874, at 2 o'clock in the afternoon of said day, to act upon said petition and to take such further action upon the petition referred to therein as may be thought expedient.
(Signed) " 'Horace Clift "'John W. Miner Selectmen. * 'Silas Spicer
"' 'Dated at Groton Oct. 3, 1874.' "
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At a meeting held in accordance with this call :
"The matter tabled at the annual meeting was taken up.
"Voted, That the prayer of the petitioners be refused and the petition be rejected.
"After a motion to adjourn had been negatived it was
"Voted, That the following preamble and resolution be accepted :
" 'Whereas, In the year 1651, five years after the found- ing of New London, a regular ferry was established be- tween the west and the east sides of the Thames River called the New London Ferry, and certain lands were set apart for a ferry way and landing, and
"'Whereas, In the act incorporating the Town of Groton, it was provided, First, that the Ferry and land and house belonging to it shall be and remain for the benefit of a free school in the town on the west side of the river, showing that said land was designed by the original planters of this colony to be used as a ferry and for no other purpose.
"'Whereas, the said land was so used until 1825, a period of one-hundred and seventy-four years, and
" 'Whereas, This ancient landing place combined more good qualities for a ferry landing than any other to be found on the east side of the river, namely, an easy grade to the highway, a never failing spring of water to supply the boiler of a steamboat, a wide open space in front pre- venting the crowding of carriages and loaded teams, and greater nearness to the three great thoroughfares over which the travel and traffic of Groton and the adjoining towns finds its way to market. Also greater nearness to the New London navy yard and to the population of Groton Bank who require daily and hourly use of the ferry.
" 'Now therefore
" 'Resolved by the citizens of the town of Groton in public meeting assembled that the long and unbroken use of the 'Old Ferry Landing' for a hundred and seventy-four years,
" "That the compact entered into at the time of the in- corporation of the town of Groton, the actual advantages
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to New London and the pressing requirements of public travel, all unite in demanding the immediate restoration of the ancient ferryway in this town to the use of the public as a Ferry way landing.
" 'Resolved, That the selectmen be instructed to present the vote of this meeting on the Ferry question to the au- thorities of the city and town of New London and in behalf of the town of Groton request them to run their ferry to their ancient landing place near the Ferry Spring.
" 'Resolved, That it is the sense of this body that no further meetings should be called on the ferry question for one year.' "
At the January session of the Connecticut Legislature in 1903 a charter was granted to the Groton and Stonington Street Railway Company, and in August 1903 an organiza- tion was effected and the following officers were elected : President, Thomas Hamilton. Vice-President, B. F. Wil- liams. Secretary, E. W. Higgins. Treasurer, Costello Lippitt.
Common stock to the amount of $400,000 was subscribed by the incorporators and it was voted to issue $200,000 worth of preferred stock in addition to this. During the next year work was vigorously pushed and on December 19, 1904, the road was opened for travel. The road from Westerly to Groton Bank runs for nearly twenty miles through a most delightful variety of scenery comprising villages, forest and ocean, making it one of the most at- tractive trolley rides in the State.
The building of the railroad necessitated the construction of a new drawbridge over the Mystic River. The iron bridge built in 1866 had come to extensive repairs and it was not considered substantial enough to carry the in- creased traffic. A call was issued by the selectmen for "the legal voters of the Town of Groton to meet in the Town House, Fort Hill, on Monday October 26, 1903, at 2:30 o'clock P. M. to act on the petition of C. B. Holton and 26 others to take action in regard to the purchase and erec- tion of a new drawbridge over the Mystic River in said
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town at the site of the present bridge, and to authorize, direct and empower the Selectmen of said town to advise and consult with the Selectmen of the Town of Stonington and with the Groton and Stonington Street Railway Com- pany, and to make and enter into a contract with said Company and said Town of Stonington to assist the Town of Groton in the purchase and erection of said bridge at a cost to the Town of Groton not to exceed (1/4) one-quarter of the expense of purchasing and erecting said bridge and the erection of proper abutments and approaches thereto." The Berlin Construction Company were the lowest bidders and the contract was awarded to them for $24,891.00, the work to be completed in three months, but with the usual delays the bridge was not opened for traffic until September 21,1904.
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CHAPTER XVI
SHIP BUILDING, SHIPPING AND SHIPMASTERS
S HIP BUILDING was one of the earliest established in- dustries of New England. Abundance of excellent timber in close proximity to the coast offered exceptional advantages to English artisans at a time when material was already becoming scarce in the home country. Before the advent of the white man the Indians had availed them- selves of the huge trunks of trees, and by the use of fire had hollowed out the great canoes, sometimes thirty or forty feet in length, capable of carrying forty or more men each, in which for purposes of pleasure or war they paddled as far from the mainland as to Block Island. Judge Wheeler tells us* of "the 'Royal Limb,' a famous canoe which was made from the limb of a tree so large that a barrel of molasses could be easily rolled in the inside from one end to the other."
No doubt the first vessels built in Groton were for fish- ermen or coasters. Just when the first venture was made we do not know, but as early as 1677 Thomas Wells "of Ipswich-shipwright" was engaged in ship building on the Pawcatuck river. His son Joseph, who died in October 1711, is styled ** "of Groton." The family lived at Porter's Rocks and the old home in which Joseph died stood until 1868, nearly two hundred years.
John Leeds, who died in 1696, was a shipbuilder in Groton and his descendants carried on the business until well into the nineteenth century. At an early date John Burrows, Jr., is mentioned as a ship carpenter. "Thomas
History of Stonington, p. 129.
** Hempstead's Diary, p. 3.
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Starr* is called a shipwright. In the year 1710 he sold a sloop which he describes as 'a square sterned vessel of sixty-seven tons and six-sevenths of a ton burden, built by me in Groton.'" October 4, 1716 ** "I was all day at launching ye Groton sloop at Lathams." November 2,f "I was helping Samll Egcumbe Launch his sloop for P. Man- waring. we Launched about 8 o'clock at night." Sloops were built at Pequonnoc prior to 1719.
About 1720# "Capt. John Jeffrey, a master shipbuilder, was induced to come over from Portsmouth, England. Land for a shipyard was given him in Groton on the op- posite bank of the Thames." Miss Caulkins says : § "About the year 1720 Capt. John Jeffrey, who had been a master shipbuilder in Portsmouth, England, emigrated to America with his family. He came first to New London but regarding the opposite side of the river as offering peculiar facilities for ship building, he fixed his residence on Groton Bank. In 1723 he contracted to build for Capt. James Sterling the largest ship that had been constructed this side of the Atlantic, and that a favorable position for his work might be obtained the following petition was pre- sented :
"'Petition of James Stirling and John Jeffrey to the town of Groton: That whereas by the encouragement that we have met and the situation of the place, we are des sirous to promote the building of ships on the east side of the river, we request of the town that they will grant us the liberty of a building yard at the ferry, viz., all the land betwixt the ferry wharf and land granted to Deacon John Seabury, of said Groton, on the south side of his land, for twelve years.
"'Granted Feb. 12, 1723-4. Provided that they build the Great Ship that is now designed to be built by said peti- tioners in said building yard.'
* History of New London, Caulkins, Ed. 1860, p. 319.
** Hempstead's Diary, p. 60.
# Ibid, p. 61.
# In Old Connecticut, p. 75.
§ Ibid, p. 241.
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"Jeffrey's great ship was launched October 12, 1725. Its burden was 700 tons. A throng of people (says a con- temporary diarist) lined both sides of the river to see it propelled into the water. It went off easy, graceful and erect. Captain Jeffrey built a number of small vessels and one other large ship, burden 570 tons. It was named the 'Don Carlos' and sailed for Lisbon under the command of Captain Hope, Nov. 29, 1733." Thomas Fanning, born May 22, 1755, was a ship carpenter and worked at New London, Mystic, &c .*
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