USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Berlin > History of Berlin, Connecticut > Part 22
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
A map of Berlin, dated 1867, shows on the east side of the track a building with the words "Etna Peat Co." On the west side is a "Boarding house." The Etna Peat Company was formed for the purpose of making the decayed sphagnum into bricks to be used for fuel. A factory which was put up was fitted with a steam engine and other expensive machinery for crushing and moulding the turf. A canal was cut across the swamp for drainage and to make a water way for an immense scow which carried a dredger for hauling up the sods. At first the bricks were dried in the open air, afterwards they were kiln dried. Some said the peat was not the right kind, and was good for nothing to burn. Whether it was that, or the
261
DISPOSAL OF HIGHWAY PROPERTY
cheaper transportation of coal, is not clear, but after two or three companies had experimented and sold out, the scheme was pronounced a dead failure, and it only represented a small fortune lost. The persons who alone profited from the venture were the farmers who sold the land and turned their wood lots into money.
Mr. Albert Warren bought the scow, and broke it up for the sake of the lumber. One long stick of yellow pine went into the foundation of his barn, its mate, he sold to the town of Berlin, and it is still in use, as a foot bridge, across the stream at Beckley's mill.
The Hartford and New Haven railroad was opened to travel in 1839. Some years later a second track was laid. One night the laborers employed on this second track left, standing beside "Old Fly," a train of cars loaded with gravel, their tools piled on top. When the men returned to their work the next morning, they saw an island out in the pond that had arisen in their absence, while tools, gravel cars and track had dis- appeared-had gone down into the depths of the marsh, and there they remain to this day. The workmen must have needed an extra bracer that morning to raise their spirits. Phineas Case remembers that when the railroad was building, the women used to come over to that saloon on the corner north of his house with pitchers, pails and jugs to be filled with whiskey.
The story of a second accident at the same place, as gathered here and there from persons who had scarcely thought of it for years, is as follows: On the afternoon of April 6, 1880, just after a heavily loaded freight train had passed the peat factory boarding house, Mr. and Mrs. Kelsey, who lived there, were startled by a thundering great noise. Eight rods or so of the railroad track with its embankment had slumped again.
Night was coming on, the Boston express was nearly due, and another train would soon come from the south. Mr. Kelsey went to look out for the New York train. Mrs. Kelsey ran into the house, lighted a lantern, took off her red flannel petti-
262
HISTORY OF BERLIN
coat and started up the road toward the north waving her danger signals. Glory was the only reward she ever received.
As the engine approached, she screeched at the top of her voice and the train was stopped its own length away from the yawning chasm. It is said that when the trainmen asked what the matter was they were told that the peat bog had gone to h -.
The story goes on to say that there were four millionaires among the passengers on that train-that much praise was given the brave woman who had saved their lives-but that no reward whatever was given to her.
The next day a long procession of wagons and carriages filled with men, women and children might have been seen going through Berlin Street toward the peat swamp and half of Meriden was there.
The boys collected fence rails which they threw into the water west of the track, the rails sank out of sight and then bobbed up again. The telegraph poles had settled so that only the tops were left.
Supt. E. H. Davison and the directors of the road walked about and discussed the situation, while the crowd looked on. The advice of the directors was to remove the track far enough west to avoid the marsh, but the superintendent said he would make a solid bed for the road where it was first laid if it took the whole of Yalesville. A small boy gazed at him in awe as he gave his orders, like a potentate, and thought he must be a very great man.
Mr. Luby says that a caisson of heavy planks, laid flat, one over another, was built and thousands of loads of sand were brought up from the banks owned by the company in Yalesville. As fast as the sand was dumped, water was poured on to make it as hard as possible. After the work was completed a man was kept at the place to watch the road every day for a year, and it will always be under careful inspection.
A certain clever fellow, who was set to guard the embank- ment, had his one failing, and it came to the ears of the com- pany that he sometimes neglected his watch. He was severely reprimanded and threatened with loss of his position. He was
263
DISPOSAL OF HIGHWAY PROPERTY
so scared that he became a disciple of Father Murphy, and was ever after a sober man. He wore a blue ribbon conspic- uously pinned on his coat, and when he met an old friend and was asked how he was getting along, he would say, "Firstrate, sir, I am a blue ribbon man now, sir."
The depth of the morass at its center is unknown. Mr. Luby says he has seen a whole coil of telegraph wire unwound and dropped there until it settled by its own weight, without reach- ing a foundation.
The story of the disaster at the Peat Swamp as given recently in the Berlin history, started quite a discussion among those who were taken by their parents to see the show. Charles Warren and one of his schoolmates were sure they saw one car tilting half over the track, and that another was down in the mud- that trunks, soaking full of water, were fished up from the depths, and that when the question was asked who was respon- sible for the damage the reply was "Oh, the company will have to make it good." Others said "'twas no such a thing-that there was no car on the track when it caved in."
To settle the controversy Miss Ruth Galpin went to the office of the Hartford Courant and copied from the file of 1880 their account of the catastrophe [pronounced "cat-a-strop-he," by a little girl in our fifth district school].
Mrs. Walter Gwatkin kindly obtained from the Hartford Times their version of the accident. The two accounts are here given :
OWL TRAIN WRECKED.
NINE CARS IN A HEAP AT BERLIN, AND NOBODY HURT -- WONDERFUL ESCAPE FROM A CURIOUS ACCIDENT-THE COAST ALL CLEAR Now. (From the Hartford Courant.)
The midnight train for New York which left here about two o'clock yesterday morning met with an accident only less remarkable than the escape of all the passengers from the peril that it involved. The track all fell out from under the train, the whole train of nine cars
264
HISTORY OF BERLIN
was brought to a sudden stop and its cars scattered right and left and yet no one on the train was hurt. It occurred just below the ice- house of the artificial pond below Berlin. On both sides of the track there is a peat bog. When the double track was laid a train of gravel cars was left standing there one night and the next morn- ing had all disappeared-been swallowed up. The down train passed at three o'clock. It consisted of two express cars, a passenger coach and three sleepers. The engine was Planet-the engineer Bradford. He suddenly felt a remarkable swaying as if everything had fallen out from under. He applied the air-brakes. The engine crossed but the tender was derailed. The track held together although the foundation was gone. The first express car landed on the up track. The second express car containing the messenger twice turned over and landed on its side in the pond. The mail car fell across the up track with one end in the pond. The baggage car landed on up track. The three sleepers staid on the track. The passengers did not even wake up. Mr. Allen of this city did not know of any trouble until waking he saw by daylight the peat bog where he expected to see New York City. The up train was stopped at Meriden. The loss was between $2,500 and $3,000.
(From the Hartford Times.)
The passenger train bound south on N. Y. N. H. railroad that left this city 2.07 a. m. today met with a serious disaster when about two miles this side of Meriden. At the point where the accident occurred an artificial pond belonging to the Hartford Ice Co. lies on both sides of the track. For some days past the company has had workmen employed in drawing off the water in the pond in order to clean it out, as has been the custom each year since it was con- structed. In consequence of this drawing off the water, the roadbed, which at this point is in the neighborhood of thirty feet wide, was undermined for a distance of seventy-five or more feet. The train consisted of an engine and tender, a postal car, two express cars, the ordinary coacher and three sleepers. The number of passengers on the train is not definitely known. The postal car was thrown at right angle across the track, one end lies buried hard in the sandy bottom of the pond. Every car in the train also we believe was thrown from the tracks and the wreck is a bad one, covering as it does both tracks and preventing the passage of trains in both directions, and requiring as it will, owing to the fact that the water is on each side, most if not the whole of the day to clear it away.
265
DISPOSAL OF HIGHWAY PROPERTY
Passengers and baggage are transferred around the wreck with such dispatch however that the passengers from the south due here by the 9.44 a. m. arrived only about half hour late. It is reported to be impossible to lay a temporary track around the wreck and in consequence the delay is greater than it would otherwise be.
Knowledge of the accident reached Hartford at about four o'clock, and Division Supt. Davison, Mr. Packard and other under officials of the road, soon had a wrecking train made up that took down a number of workmen to assist in cleaning away the debris. Other workmen also went down on the half-past six and eight o'clock trains and with these, sent from Meriden, formed a large force that is now at work in reopening travel on the line. (Later account.)
A visit to the scene of the wrecked train disclosed a worse situation than the first reports gave and it shows too in a splendid way the unequaled efficiency and promptitude of the work that is done in such cases by the men and wrecking appliances of the N. Y., N. H. & H. road. Superintendent Davison had gone down long before day- light with a wrecking car and 100 men with jackscrews, etc., from this city, and Vice President Reed came up from New Haven with a work car, and a large force of station men with jackscrews and other appliances and the work that has been done is surprising even to those familiar with the expeditious ways of the Consolidated road in such cases. The distinctive feature of this case which separates it from all ordinary smashups, and from other cases of wrecks which can be, and are removed entirely in a couple of hours are first, the locality which is a spot between two sheets of water, that touch the road bed on either side and then give no room for working, and second, the way in which the wreck lay. It was all smashed up and lying across both tracks while one, the east track, had sunk four feet below the level of the other track. Two cars were deep in the mud, another was lying across the tracks, and all the rest were smashed more or less and lying in confusion in all directions. To all ordi- nary view it seemed at daylight as if the situation could not be corrected in three days. In reality it was made so the train could pass in five hours from the time the whole force had got fairly to work. The train from the south came by that spot at 1.52 p. m. on the west track without even stopping. The practical mechanical judg- ment and energy of Mr. Reed and his very capable lieutenant Supt. Davison were never shown to better effect. Mr. George Cutting a Meriden builder after visiting the scene declared that the damage must be $10,000 to the rolling stock alone. This may be a liberal estimate but it includes only a part of the whole damage. Both tracks will be clear at sundown and all restored to place. .
266
HISTORY OF BERLIN
Recent installments of the Berlin History gave accounts somewhat conflicting of the railroad accident at Peat Swamp, said to have occurred April 6, 1880. The Mr. and Mrs. Kelsey to whom reference was made as flagging the trains, lived for seventeen years in the boarding house west of the pond. The first account was copied by the Meriden Journal, of the same week, and thus came to the notice of Mrs. Kelsey, who now lives with her second husband on Curtis Street, Meriden. Her version of the trouble at the swamp shows that it is not always safe to tell another man that his testimony is not true, because it does not agree with yours. He may be thinking of one story, and you of another, both true. Mrs. Kelsey says that on the night of April 6, 1880, the track settled two or three feet and at that time the midnight Washington Express, or "Owl train," was derailed. The baggage car went down the bank, and the postal car lay across the track, while the sleepers remained on the rails; all as described by the reporters. After that a watchman was kept there night and day.
On the night of June 3 following, as the same express was due, just after a heavy freight train had passed along, suddenly, without warning, the embankment settled out of sight, for a length of about a hundred and seventy-five feet. Mr. and Mrs. Kelsey were aroused by the great noise and went out to see what had happened. They were met by the watchman, who said "The peat bog has gone to h -. " His lantern had been put out, and he was so dazed that he could not relight it.
Mrs. Kelsey ran back into the house, took her own lantern, caught her child's* red flannel petticoat from the clothes line, started up the north track, and stopped the train, its length away from the yawning chasm, and thus a terrible disaster was averted. Mr. Kelsey and the watchman went south and warned the New York express.
It was at this time, June 3, that the telegraph poles sank their entire length into the water. No cars were thrown out of place. The trains stopped on either side of the breach and passengers walked over to make connections.
* See pp. 261-2. There seems to be some discrepancy about the ownership of the petticoat. However, this is not of great importance.
267
DISPOSAL OF HIGHWAY PROPERTY
Six months afterwards the railroad company sent Mrs. Kel- sey a check for fifty dollars. As for the millionaires aboard the train, she excused them, for the reason that they knew nothing about her. The affair was kept as quiet as possible.
Mr. William Beckley of Torrington has contributed the fol- lowing bit of history about Peat Swamp :
TORRINGTON, March 31st, 1906.
To the Editor of THE BERLIN NEWS.
DEAR SIR: I have been very much interested in the History of Berlin as given in the paper.
An item about Peat Swamp that has not been mentioned is this: that in the latter part of the eighteenth and the early part of the nineteenth century, there was, a short distance below where the rail- road crosses a swamp, a carding mill for the carding and making into rolls for spinning the wool and flax raised by the neighboring farmers. The swamp at that time was an open pond as now. What caused the growth of vegetable matter upon it during that compara- tively short period ?
Yours truly, WILLIAM BECKLEY.
CHAPTER XV.
Mt. Lamentation.
The following story tells why Mount Lamentation was so named. It was written before the year 1833, as told to his children, by the Rev. Charles A. Goodrich, who for many years lived in the house now owned by Miss Julia Hovey :
"When I was telling you of the mountains of Connecticut, I mentioned one, as belonging to the Middletown range, by the name of Mount Lamentation. This mountain is situated in the town of Berlin, to the east of the fine turnpike which leads from New Haven to Hartford. The view of the mountain from this road is beautiful, and even grand. It rises like a steep precipice to a considerable height, and forms a sublime con- trast to the rich meadows, which extend to a considerable distance from its base.
The name Lamentation was given to the mountain many years since, from the circumstance that a gentleman was once lost in the thick forest which crowns its top.
The name of this gentleman was Chester. He was one of the pious men who first settled the town of Wethersfield, about which I shall soon tell you. The event happened about nine years after the town was settled.
At some distance south of Wethersfield, there was an unen- closed ground, since called the Mill Lot. To this ground, Mr. Chester went one day, for some purpose, but I cannot tell you what it was. It was a cloudy afternoon, and he was alone. Having completed his business, he set out to return. The country on all sides was a wilderness. Scarcely a foot-path led back to the settlement. He took the direction, however, which he supposed would lead him home, and, for a time, went on without anxiety.
After walking some distance, he began to wonder that he did not come in sight of cultivated land. But still he was scarcely
269
MOUNT LAMENTATION
troubled, as it occurred to him that he might have gone much farther into the forest than he originally intended. He there- fore quickened his step, expecting soon to emerge from the woods.
In this, however, he found himself disappointed. The farther he walked, the thicker the forest trees seemed to grow. A wild and fearful gloom, by this time, was settling around him. Night came on apace, and, for the first time, the painfulness of his situation came over his mind.
He had mistaken his way, and he was now convinced of it. He stopped, and asked himself, what he should do ? He looked around, but he had no means of ascertaining the points of the compass. The sun had been obscured all day. That had now gone down; and not a solitary star glittered on the traveller to direct his course.
He could no longer tell the direction which he had come; of course he could not retrace his steps to the spot from which he had started. In this anxious moment, he scarcely knew what course to take. Having decided, however, he pushed for- ward, still in hopes of reaching home before the setting in of full darkness should render it impossible. For a time, he hastened his flight by running. But the dangers thickened too fast around him to admit of this speed. Trees and rocks were scarcely visible. Against some he struck, and over others he fell.
Injured as he was, he still went forward. But now he pro- ceeded with redoubled caution, since a single step might plunge him from some precipice into an abyss below. It added to the horrors of his situation, that the wolves and panthers, which inhabited the forest, were stealing abroad from their lurking places, in quest of prey. At times he could hear their yells ; and, though at a distance, they sounded like the appalling war- whoop of the savage.
Mr. Chester was a man of courage. He partook of that firm- ness and daring which characterized the first settlers. This was a fortunate trait in their character, since they were liable to encounter dangers unknown to older countries. Mr. Chester
270
HISTORY OF BERLIN
was also a man of piety. He believed in God, and well did he know that his providence could protect him; or, if in the gloomy recesses of the forest he must die, God could take him to his glory.
Trust in God, my children (said Mr. Goodrich), is a source of comfort, in the saddest hour which afflicts the heart of man. It imparts light in darkness, and inspires with courage, in the midst of a thousand dangers. This pious pilgrim now fell upon his knees, and commended himself to an Almighty Pro- tector. He prayed for composure-for direction-for deliv- erance. He supplicated for submission to the Divine will.
When he rose, he knew that God was there. Still his heart was full. Whose heart would not have been full ? He . thought of home; of a tender anxious wife; of her helpless weeping children. He was a kind and tender husband, a fond and affectionate father. His thoughts gave life to all the sensi- bilities of his soul; his bosom heaved with unutterable anguish, when he felt that he might see his family no more.
Roused, however, by his feelings, he determined to make another effort to reach home that night. He now changed his course, and changed again, and again, and with increased cau- tion proceeded on his way. All effort, however, was in vain. No opening disclosed itself to his weary step, and no glimmering light fell upon his moistened eye.
In this state he continued to wander, he scarcely knew whither, nor how long. At length, overcome with anxiety and fatigue, he sunk upon the earth, concluding to wait till day. At the same time, he determined not to sleep; but had he determined otherwise, it would have been to no purpose, for sleep approached him not.
Before the day dawned, however, he forgot his cares a few minutes. Protected by Providence, he awoke, but judge what must have been his gratitude to God. He had stopped the pre- ceding evening-he had laid himself down on the very verge of a frightful precipice. A few steps more, and he would have slept the sleep of death.
271
MOUNT LAMENTATION
The morning, which brings joy to most, brought little to him. A dark cloud still hung on the sky, and a thick mist obscured almost every object around him. He knew not where he was, and what was still more painful, he knew not what direction to take.
As he rose from the earth, he found his limbs stiff from exposure to the damps of the night. A faintness came over him for want of food. He descried some berries on a neighbor- ing bush, and drank some water from a neighboring rill.
The day preceding he had pursued a course which he sup- posed to be north and east, though it was afterwards proved to be a direction exactly opposite. The day continued dark and gloomy. His exertions were now such as he could make; but they were far less vigorous than they had been the day before, for he was fainter from the loss of strength and courage.
Again night approached. A deathlike sickness settled upon his head. The darkness and the solitude appalled his weakened mind. He sank upon the earth and commended himself to God in prayer. A kind Providence enabled him to sleep, and pro- tected him from the dangers which surrounded him. The howlings of the wild beasts occasionally broke upon his slumbers, but if they approached him they were not permitted to touch him.
Another morning found him still in the land of the living; but hope had now nearly fled. It was still dark and cloudy. His exhaustion of body had affected his mind, and he scarcely knew what he was, or whither he would go.
He perceived, however, that he was ascending an elevated .tract of country, which he conjectured to be the base of a mountain. Up this ascent he dragged his way, faintly hoping that from its top he might overlook the settlement at Wethers- field.
But the impressions of what took place that day were too faint ever to be distinctly recalled. He only recollected that he reached the top-he looked abroad-but he could discover nothing but a wild waste of woods, extending as far as the eye
272
HISTORY OF BERLIN
could reach. At the prospect, his heart sickened to its core, and hope took her flight.
We will now go back, my children (said Mr. Goodrich), to the home of Mr. Chester. His wife had expected his return at an early hour of the afternoon on which he left her. It was unusual for him to be absent after sundown. As that time had arrived, she began to feel anxious that he did not make his appearance.
Her solicitude increased as the evening advanced. The hour of family prayer came. The large family bible was brought out and laid in its usual place. Every moment it was expected he would come. But he came not. At length, after waiting long-after listening many a time to hear the sound of his approaching step-she sent her family to bed, while she watched still longer for his arrival. The morning at length dawned, but he had not arrived.
The news of his strange absence was now spread through the village. No one had seen him or heard of him. Several of the inhabitants started in search of him. They were abroad all day, but no trace and no tidings could they discover of him. It was now settled that some serious disaster had befallen him.
I cannot stop to tell you of the cruel suspense of the family ; nor of the agitated state of the village, on the setting in of this second night. A thousand conjectures floated through different minds-and many ill bodings respecting him went the village round.
The next day, at an early hour, preparations were made for a more extended search. Nearly all the men of the settlement were summoned, and after settling their plan, they started in different directions, on the intended search. They took with them drums and firearms, to assist in guiding his course, should he fortunately come within the sound of them.
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.