USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Danbury > History of Danbury, Conn., 1684-1896 > Part 19
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We have already referred to the reputation for witty retort enjoyed by the late Mr. Barnes. Numerous stories are told of
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this phase of his character, some of which are well worthy of preservation.
On one occasion he was coming down from Litchfield, when an old woman appeared from a building at the side of the road and hailed the stage. It was pretty well loaded, as was evident to any observer. Barnes drew up his horses, thinking he had a passenger in prospect.
"I've got a trundle-bed I wish you would take to Danbury for me," said the woman.
Concealing his disgust, Barnes gravely replied, "Sorry, marm, I can't accommodate you, but I've got a saw-mill to take on just below here."
When O. P. Clark kept a store on South Main Street it was a favorite resort for Barnes. One evening he was in there when an old gentleman, who was sitting by the stove, observed, " Things have changed a great deal up along the Still River, Mr. Barnes, since you drew a stage up there."
"I s'pose so," said Barnes absently.
" Yes, indeed. I kin remember the time when all along up there, clear to New Milford, was a woods. It was full of trees in that time, and the wild geese used to lay in there thicker'n bees."
" Where do wild geese make their nests and hatch their young, uncle ?" asked some one else.
" In the crotches of the trees, I think," said the old gentleman.
"Is that so, Barnes ?" said the interrogator, appealing to the stage-driver. "Do wild geese make their nests in the crotches of trees ?"
" I don't know as wild geese do," said Barnes, in his squeak- ing voice ; "but suckers do."
That ended the discussion.
On another occasion he was seen crossing the road with a parcel in his hands.
" What have you got there, Barnes ?" asked a friend.
" A pumpkin pie," was the reply, given in a tone that indi- cated some disgust.
True enough, he had a huge pumpkin pie, one of those articles baked on a large, old-fashioned earthen platter. He was sent with it by his wife to a poor but shiftless family, with whose misfortunes he had no sympathy.
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" What will they do with it ?" asked the friend.
"I don't know," piped Barnes, "unless they take it for a cushion."
Once only he was come up with, according to his own admis- sion, and that was by a woman. A revivalist preacher was in town holding a series of meetings. He stayed at the Wooster House, and was accompanied by his wife, who was not pleased with Danbury. Meeting Barnes one day, she remembered him as the driver of the stage that brought her here.
" Do you belong to Danbury ?" she abruptly inquired.
"No, ma'am," he sweetly replied ; "Danbury belongs to me."
" Well, you are a poorer cuss than I thought you were if you own this place," was her spiteful rejoinder.
Barnes withdrew at once.
CHAPTER XXX.
REMINISCENCES AND INCIDENTS.
IN 1772 a cavalry company was formed in Danbury as Fourth Company, Third Regiment, Third Brigade. This company served in the Revolutionary War under the following officers : Ezra Starr, captain ; Benjamin Hickok, lieutenant ; Jeremiah Dunning, cornet.
Following is a list of the captains of this company in order of succession : Daniel Starr, afterward major ; Ezra Starr, after- ward major ; Benjamin Hickok, afterward major ; David Wood, afterward major ; Nathaniel Gregory, Asahel Benedict, Seth Comstock [1812], afterward major.
Second Company, Fifth Regiment, Fourth Brigade : Hugh Starr, captain ; Elias S. Sanford, captain ; Isaac Seeley, Fred- erick Seeley [1825, sixty men], William B. Hoyt, afterward major ; Starr Nichols, afterward colonel ; Abijah E. Tweedy, afterward colonel ; William Wildman, Orson Dibble, Elijah Sturdevant, afterward major ; George Starr, Grandison M. Bar- num, Charles W. Fry, afterward colonel; Judah P. Crosby, afterward major ; George W. Wilson, Ezra A. Mallory, Jacob B. Sears.
All companies were disbanded by the law of 1854. By State law the Fifth Regiment was formed and annexed to the Fourth Brigade. It consisted of four companies, the first from Wood- bury, second from Danbury, third from New Milford, and fourth from Newtown.
This first cavalry company, who participated in the War of the Revolution, were present at the two executions at Redding in February, 1779, under the order of General Putnam. Lieu- tenant Jones, a British spy, was hanged, and John Smith, a de- serter from the First Connecticut Regiment, was shot. The company were ordered to White Plains, attached to the regi- ment of Colonel Sheldon, of which Benjamin Tallmadge was
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major, and were with Putnam at Horse Neck and at the burning of Norwalk and Fairfield.
When serving as State troops the regiment was under com- mand of Captain Starr ; when serving out of the State as Conti- nental troops they were generally under the command of Lieu- tenant Hickok. When Putnam went into winter quarters at Redding, Captain Starr's company was ordered home and re- ported weekly.
At the battle of White Plains this company all appeared with glass bottles in place of canteens, and when ordered to the right of the American line to keep the British from turning the right flank, they rode in subdivision, with Lieutenant Hickok in com- mand.
In jumping a low stone wall surmounted by two rails, Gabriel Barnum's horse fell, throwing his rider. The British were firing rapidly, and Hickok turned back and said, "Barnum, hurry up, the balls are flying fast !" Seeing no movement on the part of the fallen man, he shouted again, " Barnum, Bar- num, hurry up, the balls are flying fast and hot !"
Barnum raised himself, and looking at the broken bottle which had taken the place of his canteen, said, "I don't care a d-n for the balls, Hickok ; but just look at my rum !"
The Continental uniform of the company was blue coats and vests, with red facings, knee-breeches, boots, and cocked hats. In 1791 this was changed to red coats with yellow facings, yellow breeches, long boots, and bearskin caps.
We are indebted for this military information to Colonel Sam- uel Gregory, of this city (Middle River District), who was adju- tant of this regiment for four years. Eight of the ancestors of Colonel Gregory were soldiers of the Revolution, two were in the War of 1812, and he himself was in the Civil War until failing health caused his return in 1863. Colonel Gregory also gives us from memory the following, which will be of local inter- est :
"At the celebration of the Fourth of July in 1838, the pro- cession was formed at the Danbury House, then standing on the site of the present Turner House. In this procession were sixty Revolutionary soldiers of Fairfield County, and one hundred veterans of the War of 1812. From the Danbury House the pro- cession marched up Main Street to West, up West Street to Deer
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Hill Avenue, and over the hill to the Baptist church on the corner of Wooster Street.
"Here an oration was delivered by James Taylor, and the Declaration of Independence read by Reuben Booth, after which the procession returned to the starting-point. Before reaching it the ranks were opened, and every man stood with uncovered head while the Revolutionary soldiers marched through to the table of honor at the feast, which was spread in the broad, green dooryard of the hotel.
"The chaplain of the occasion was Rev. Anson Rood, then pastor of the Congregational church, and the marshal of the day was Colonel Ira Gregory."
THE MAIN STREET PARK.
When this century began Main Street, from Centre Street to the old saddle factory, was confined to the road on the east side of the park, and formed a bow. Major Ezra Starr, of Revolution- ary memory, lived where now stands the residence of Mrs. D. P. Nichols. He owned that property and down the street as far as Wooster Street. In 1801 there was a petition to straighten the street at the bow. In response to this feeling Mr. Starr gave the land along his front, but on the condition that the part thus opened should forever be a common, and no roadway should traverse it. This left the road where it was, but straightened the street.
The common thus created became a turf, and was utilized par- ticularly once a year for training purposes. There were two military organizations in Danbury at that time-one was an artillery company, and the other a company of cavalry. The former rendezvoused at the tavern kept by Ebenezer White, grandson of the clergyman by that name. It was a two-story wooden building, and stood on the site of the Turner House. The cavalry had their headquarters with Dr. Starr, on the corner of Main and Elm streets, but both companies trained on the green created by Major Starr's bounty. In those days "a training" was a mighty event, and the village would be full of visitors, while the citizens donned their holiday attire and did no business.
The troops dressed their parade on a line formed along the turf by a pick, and visible the entire length. It was a perfectly straight line, and in those days was felt to be necessary to get a
DANBURY HOUSE
TURNER HOUSE, 1896.
AARON TURNER.
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perfect dress of the companies. The military eye of a century ago may have been as fierce as is that organ of to-day, but it was evidently not so accurate, hence the line.
In 1851 or 1852 a project for making a central park here by running a road on the west line was agitated. It was immedi- ately opposed by the uptown people, although the citizens below Liberty Street were to bear the expense of the improvement. It was claimed by the opponents that should the borough give the privilege to make a park of this place, the resort would in time be thrown back on the borough, and it would have to bear the expense of keeping up a spectacle that was to gratify and benefit only a portion of the community. How singularly blind sec- tionalism will make us !
But the down-town people persisted in their enterprise, and the borough authorities finally granted their request. In the spring of 1853 the work began. Two thousand dollars was sub- scribed by the down-towners for this purpose, and we have them to thank to-day for the pretty, inviting park which adorns Main Street. Augustus Seeley was a leading party in the matter. He was ably seconded by W. P. Seeley, the late Aaron Turner, and others on South Main Street. The trees were dug by Noah Adkins and Fred Bevans, two well-known men in that day. They were given by James Harvey. Thus originated Elmwood Park.
The prediction of the up-towners was verified. The park went back to the borough, but the annual expense of keeping it in order has been insignificant.
When the park was first laid out it was sown with grain to get a turf. This was fired one night by some of our present sober-minded and anti-levity citizens, who were then boys. It made a very handsome illumination, but the citizens were very much shocked.
When the late Uncle Sam Jennings was warden he cut a crop of hay from the ground. He had previously issued a proclama- tion forbidding the obstruction of the highways of the village. One afternoon he loaded his cart with the hay, but it being late he left the load in the street for the night. A number of un- known parties, in the fear of the law and with a most commenda- ble regard for its integrity, drew the cart to the Pound in the night, pitched the hay over into the enclosure, then took the
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cart to pieces, passed that over, and finished up by reloading the hay and leaving the whole within the Pound.
The feelings of Warden Jennings when he discovered the loca- tion of his hay the next morning can easily be imagined, but he issued no manifesto, nor offered any reward for the apprehen- sion of the actors. He remembered where he had left his cart the night before, and silently went to work to pitch the hay out- side, to take the cart apart and get that over, and then to put the machinery together again and reload the hay.
That was in the " good old times."
DANBURY'S FIRST IRISHMAN.
The first Irishman that ever came to Danbury was Peter O'Brien, about seventy years ago. He located himself in Stony Hill District just east of the school-house, and put up a genuine shanty made of stone, clay, and turf, with a barrel for a chim- ney, and was one of Danbury's greatest attractions in those days. He kept a cow, pigs, and chickens that were always seen hovering about the door, unless occasionally when Mrs. O'Brien drove them away. Pleasure-seekers would frequently drive that way to get a sight of his small retreat. He was like most of his race, witty and full of fun, and invariably answered when asked how he came over from Ireland, " Faith, and I come over in a hoss cart."
Several anecdotes are related of him, one of which we will give. He was a day laborer, and most of the time worked for an old man by the name of Starr, in Beaver Brook, the father of Colonel Elias Starr, who resided on the corner of Main and Boughton streets in this village and kept a private school there. Almost every day after school hours the colonel would ride out to his old home, and on one occasion he saw a fine dog there that belonged to Peter, which he was anxious to purchase. Hogs were permitted to run in the street then, and at times annoyed the colonel very much. Peter would take $2 for the dog. A bargain was made, and the dog was brought into town. The next day after the purchase Mr. Starr saw several pigs in his dooryard, rooting up his grounds, when he yelled for his dog to chase them away. The dog ran around, jumped upon his new master, but showed no disposition to go for them, for the best reason in the world, the poor animal was totally blind.
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Forthwith the colonel started for Beaver Brook, where Peter was at work, and in tones not to be misunderstood wanted to know why he did not tell him the dog was blind.
" I knowed ye'd find it aout," said Peter.
" You rascal, you said he would chase hogs, and he is as blind as a bat," reiterated the colonel.
" I tole ye he would chase a hog as fur as he could see, and faith he will, and it's no lie I'm telling ye."
The old man, Mr. Starr, was so pleased over it that he told Peter (after the colonel left) that he would give him a bushel of rye every year, as long as he lived, for cheating his son Elias, who had been to college-and he did.
CHAPTER XXXI.
EXTRACTS FROM FRANCIS' HISTORY OF HATTING IN DANBURY.
IT is said to be a sober fact in history that the first building ever erected in this country as a hat shop was built in Danbury, and the first hat ever made in these United States was made in this town.
Be this as it may, certain it is that in the days of the Revolu- tion, when our town was but a hamlet, when provincial's blade was crossed with that of royalist, and a little phalanx of stout hearts were contending for the inborn rights of man ; when the seeds of future glorious empire were being planted in the fur- rows ploughed by the cannon-ball, harrowed in deeply by the iron war-horse, the tramp of wheeling and charging columns, moistened and enriched by the generous flow of the life blood of patriots, we find in
1780 .- Zadoc Benedict engaged in the less chivalric and bloody occupation of making hats in a small red shop, standing near the grounds now the site of the depot, in Main Street. With limited resources and capital, he kept up the fire under his soli- tary kettle, and employed to work up his "stock" the services of one journeyman and two apprentices, turning off hats at the rate of three per day, or one and a half dozen per week, two hats being an average for a good workman in a day.
This is, according to the statement of some of our oldest citi- zens, about the first that was done at hatting in Danbury, and although hats had undoubtedly been made here long before this, still we shall take this as the starting point and regard it as the commencement of what has since proved an important and extensive trade. . . .
1787 .- Colonel Russell White and Oliver Burr, * firm of Burr &
* Oliver Burr was the youngest son of Colonel Andrew and Sarah (Sturges) Burr, of Fairfield, Conn., where he was born November 10th, 1745. He was the maternal grandfather of Mrs. Balmforth and the late William R. White, also of the late
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White, or O. Burr & Co., carried on what was then considered an extensive trade, employing thirty hands, variously engaged, and turning off hats at the rate of fifteen dozen per week, or seven hundred and fifty dozen per year. The hats of this period were without elegance, being heavy, rough, and unwieldy. They sold at from $6 to $10 each, enough to buy two or three fine hats now. One man could make about nine hats per week, but the process of making was very different from what it is now.
The manufacturer bought the skins in a bundle. The fur then had to be taken from them by hand and assorted. Then it was bowed into " bats," with the old " bow," "pins," and " catgut," and these " bats" were made into hat bodies. After the hats were made (everything being done by hand), they were dis- tributed to the ladies living in the vicinity, in order to have the hair that remained sticking in the nap removed by tweezers.
Among the men employed by Burr & White were Eli Benedict and William Babcock, who afterward went to New Haven.
1791 .- In the Farmers' Journal, published at Danbury, in this year, we find the following advertisement :
"TO BE SOLD BY 0. BURR & COMPANY, ONE HUNDRED WEIGHT OF GOOD HAT WOOL, AND SEVERAL PAIRS OF WHITE ENGLISH RABBITS,
Whose increase is amazingly fast and the skins for fur in great demand, and their flesh of the most delicate kind ; and to con- clude the whole of their excellencies, their keeping requires nothing but vegetables, such as weeds, grass, potatoes, turnips, etc., etc. They need no drink.
" Also, given as usual twenty pence per run for coarse woollen yarn.
" Danbury, May 18th, 1791."
1800. - In Robbins's century sermon, delivered at Danbury, January 1st, 1801, we find these remarks : "In the manufacture Edgar S. Tweedy, and the paternal grandfather of the late Mrs. Lucius S. Hoyt. When Colonel Aaron Burr was quite young he was placed by his father for a time in the charge of Oliver Burr, who was his third cousin, to pursue his studies. Oliver Burr died in Danbury, January 31st, 1797
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of hats this town (Danbury) much exceeds any one in the United States. More than twenty thousand hats, mostly of fur, are made annually for exportation."
1802 .- The first hat store at the South in connection with manufacturing at Danbury was established by two active and well-known men (now deceased), Zalmon and Seymour Wildman. They had one store at Charleston, S. C., firm of Z. & S. Wild- man ; another at Savannah, Ga., firm of Wildmans & Hoags. Zalmon Wildman manufactured in the shop of Zadoc Benedict, after the decease of the latter in 1803. He also, some years later, carried on quite extensively the finishing of hats for the Southern market, near the grounds now the site of the Pah- quioque Hotel in Main Street.
1803 .- During this and following years Samuel H. Phillips, George Benedict, David Wood, William Babcock, Ezra Wild- man, Ebenezer and John D. Nichols, Boughton & Starr, and others carried on hatting in different parts of the township. The fashionable hat of this year was six inches deep and two-inch brim.
1805 .- Clark & Benedict carried on the hatting business in the red building situated in West Street, and now occupied as a dwelling. Gersham Nichols, at the same time, in a building near the residence of Oliver Stone in Main Street.
1807 .- Noah Rockwell commenced manufacturing with his " plank" shop in the cellar of the house now occupied by Mrs. Rosaboom, in Franklin Street ; also Hoyt Gregory had a shop in West Street. All these manufacturers carried on the business on a limited scale, employing, probably, from seven to eight hands each, and turning off hats at the rate of four or five dozen per week, or two hundred and fifty dozen per year. Among the men in the employ of Hoyt Gregory were James Seal and Thomas Peck, who eventually engaged in an extensive business at Boston.
In a plank-room, small and inconvenient, gathered around one kettle, heated by means of a furnace filled with wood under- neath, you will find three or four men pulling and hauling the bodies of coarse fur, which had been formed, not by a machine at the rate of thirty per hour, but by their own hands at the rate of one per hour. A contrast, indeed ; but more of this ere we close the sketch.
GILES M. HOYT. THEODORE S. TWEEDY.
WM. R. WHITE. A. EDWARD TWEEDY.
CHARLES BENEDICT. WM. H. TWEEDY.
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1808-1809 .- There were fifty-six hat shops in operation in the township of Danbury, averaging from three to five men each. Many farmers were interested in the trade, setting up a kettle and hiring journeymen.
1812 .- We have our venerable citizen, now president of the Danbury Bank, Samuel Tweedy (who went into business as early as 1800), and James Benedict, firm of Tweedy & Benedict, carry- ing on business in a shop situated on the ground where the house of Mrs. Sprague now stands, corner of Main and Elm streets. Hands employed thirty. During the war the trade between hat dealers and the Northwest Company was cut off. John Jacob Astor sold at auction, in the city of New York, a large quantity of furs which had been seized. James Benedict, hearing of the sale, attended and bought five bales (one thousand pounds) of " old coat beaver" at $1 per pound. The price immediately advanced to $5 per pound.
We must remember that at this time hat finishing was a very small part of the trade here-in fact, hardly any hats were sent to market finished and trimmed, but were sent in the "rough" to the city, there to be made ready for sale. In this year a machine was invented for blowing fur, and first used in Messrs. Tweedy & Benedict's establishment. It consisted of a wire drum, in which the fur was placed, and the machine moved with a crank by hand. Small, simple, and imperfect, it was thought to be an important invention at that time; now it would be laughed at as a child's plaything.
1814 .- Judson and Russell White, firm of White Brothers, conducted a large business (then) in a shop opposite the old fac- tory now occupied by Crosby, Hoyt & Co. Capital invested, $50,000. Hands employed, about fifty, making probably about two hundred dozen hats per month, or two thousand dozen per annum. This firm had a warehouse in the city, where the hats were sent to be sold.
Among those who learned the trade with the White Brothers was Starr Nichols, Esq., now deceased, who afterward became a prominent townsman, contributing in a great measure to the advancement and building up of Danbury. Soon after his " time was out"' he commenced business for himself. Doing very little at first, but steadily increasing, he pushed forward with that zeal which ever afterward formed so prominent a trait
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in his character, until when the White Brothers retired from business he took their place, and carried it on with increased energy, employing fifty "makers." He met with several re- verses of fortune, but at the time of his death (1856) was engaged in a lucrative business in a hat store in New York City, and to-day he is remembered as one of the most prominent men in the trade. His benevolence and active perseverance are well worth imitating.
1816. - Two of our citizens, R. & E. T. Hoyt, merchants in the place, receiving, as the custom was, hats in exchange for their goods, taking a few hats went South and opened a store at Charleston, S. C. The hats were made by Tweedy & Benedict, and finished partly in the old finishing shop yet standing on the corner of Main and Franklin streets. The Messrs. Hoyt began on a small scale, the sales at first amounting to but $15,000 or $20,000 per year, but as the trade increased in importance throughout the country, they took advantage of it, and through their efforts was built up a large establishment, increasing until at one period the yearly sales reached $100,000. The business continued in the hands of some of the Hoyt family, until the death of John R. Hoyt (son of Russell), and is yet in active opera- tion under F. T. Fanning. David H. Boughton was the first partner taken into the firm, and the following individuals were from time to time connected with the same house : David M. Benedict, Edgar S. Tweedy, F. T. Fanning, Lucius P. Hoyt, and A. E. Tweedy. This hat store was connected with manufac- turing in Danbury up to 1854, and affords an example of pros- perity and continued success, with close attention to business as the cause.
In the fall of the same year, 1816, Zalmon Wildman (who, as before mentioned, was engaged in the Southern trade as early as 1802) with Ezra M. Starr-the latter still one of our most re- spected and influential citizens-started another hat store in Charleston. This firm also commenced with about $20,000 as the yearly sales, but an enterprise like this in the hands of such thorough and active business men could but succeed. They were soon firmly established, and went on extending their trade and enlarging their operations until we have as the amount of sales per annum, $60,000. Hats worth here $90 per dozen were taken South and sold at $120 per dozen.
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