History of Fairfield County, Connecticut : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 27

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) comp. cn
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1572

USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > History of Fairfield County, Connecticut : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 27

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Aug. 17, 1876, was the day set for the dedication exercises. Military organizations and guests from abroad were present in large numbers, and the pro- cession, which was under command of Chief Marshal William E. Disbrow, of the Nineteenth Connecticut Volunteers, was perhaps the mnost imposing ever seen in Bridgeport. A violent rain-storm interrupted the exercises at the park and compelled an adjournment to the opera-house, where addresses were made by Hon. D. H. Sterling, Rev. Dr. A. R. Thompson, Maj. W. H. Mallory, ex-Governor Hawley, Gen. W. H. Noble, and others. The design of" the monument, which is the work of W. H. Mosman, of Chicopee, is generally much admired, and its location, overlooking the bright panorama of Long Island Sound, is cer- tainly unequaled.

The ladies of the monument association still kecp up their organization for the purpose of seeing that the monument and its surroundings are. kept in proper order, and hold pleasant reunions in August of each ycar.

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BRIDGEPORT.

SEASIDE PARK.

Publie attention was first drawn to the capabilities of our water front, by the encampment of the Seven- teenth Regiment upon the shore in the summer of 1862, and the experiments of Gen. Gillmore with the Ames gun in the same loeality two years later. In October, 1863, an article in the Standard urged the necessity for one or more public parks, and Sept. 9, 1864, another article in the same journal rcconi- mended the purchase of the ground now occupied by Seaside Park, deseribing it in the following graphie terms :

"A beautiful undulating piece of land, free from rocks, skirted for a good part of the way on the north by fiue forest-trees, and bounded on the south for its entire length by the sparkling waters of the Sound. From this water-front, which is cool and pleasant even iu the hottest days, a pieturesque and striking view is obtained. On the left, as we stand facing the water, is the eity, with its tall spires and chimneys pointing skyward from among the trees; the harbor, dotted with its sailing craft, and the wooded point, with its eottages opposite; on the right, the green sloping shores of Black Roek, stretehing far around to the lighthouse. Far away to the south the hills of Long Island loom up from the horizon in clear weather, while in the foreground a constant panorama meets the eye of white-sailed vessels passing up and down the blue waters of the Sound."

Messrs. P. T. Barnum and James C. Loomis were the first to move in the matter, and the former espe- eially pushed it with his usual energy. Early in No- vember, 1864, a survey of the land was made by E. R. Lambert and George Beckwith, and a map hung up in the post-offiee showing the area of the proposed park to be about thirty-five aeres, thirtcen of which were situated in the town of Bridgeport, and the re- mainder within the territory since annexed, but at that time a part of the town of Fairfield.

During the winter of 1864-65 the owners of the land, Capts. John Brooks and Burr Knapp, and Messrs. George Bailey and P. T. Barnum, agreed to convey the land to the eity free of charge on condi- tion that it be used perpetually for a public park, and the sum of two thousand seven hundred aud twenty dollars was contributed by some sixty individuals and business firms, to purchase additional land. In the following spring the matter was brought up in the Common Council and referred to a committee composed of Hon. Nathaniel Wheeler, Frederick Hurd, and Eli Thompson, who reported favorably ; and at a city-meeting, called in accordance with the report of the committee, July 8, 1865, the Council was authorized to accept the deeds of the land and to appropriate a sum not exceeding ten thousand dol- lars in grading and improvements. Aug. 14, 1865, the Common Council formally accepted the decds, and appointed James C. Loomis, S. S. Clapp, and Jaeob Kiefer Commissioners of Seaside Park.

Gen. Egbert R. Viele, of New York, was consulted by the commissioners, and, acting upon his advice, the sea-wall and drive-way were begun, and the pond excavated and provided with an outlet. Plans were afterward procured at his own expense by Hon. Na- thaniel Wheeler from Messrs. Olmstead and Vaux, the designers of Central Park, New York, which were followed in laying out the grounds. Extensive addi- tions have since been made by purchase, including the beautiful grove on the north, so that the present area of the park is more than double that of the first survey.

It would be difficult to say too much in praise either of the original idea of this beautiful pleasure-ground or the manner in which it has been carried out. In addition to the natural attractions mentioned in the artiele which has been quoted, the trees and shrub- bery, the Soldiers' Monument, the trotting-park, the open-air concerts through the summer, and the facil- ities for sea-bathing make it a place unequaled else- where in New England, while numerous streets and the horse-railroad afford easy access to all. What a benefit the Seaside Park will be to Bridgeport when another century has passed and the population of the place has perhaps increased to a hundred thousand, can hardly be estimated.

THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.

The anniversary of our national independence, July 4, 1876, was celebrated at the park so pleasantly, and withal so sensibly, that the occasiou seems worthy of mention here.

John D. Candee, Esq., editor of the Standard, was president of the day, Col. Samuel B. Sumner was chief marshal, and the procession, though an excellent one, was entirely from Bridgeport and its immediate vicinity. The day was a perfeet one, and those who managed the affair had set up the platform aud the scats for spectators in the beautiful shady grove be- longing to the park, and had not forgotten to provide barrels of ice-water for the refreshment of those who had marehed in the procession.

The exereises were begun with prayer and the sing- ing of Whittier's Centennial Hymn,-

"Our fathers' God! from out whose hand The centuries fall like grains of sand, We meet to-day, united, free, And loyal to our land and Thee, To thank Thee for the era done, And trust Thee for the opening one."

After this the audience listened with exemplary patience to the Dcelaration of Independence, to a historical address descriptive of the place as it was one hundred years ago, to a number of specches, humorons, cloquent, and prophetic, and to an original poem, all the production of home talent. The whole company present then united in siuging "America," -" My country 'tis of thee," etc.,-and, having been dismissed with the benediction, retired to their homes,

INNVIL HUISVISIO MIIN

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HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

much wondering what the exercises would be, and who would compose the assembly, wheu another cen- tury should have rolled around, and the 4th of July, 1976, have dawned.

CHAPTER XII. BRIDGEPORT (Continued).

THE PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS OF BRIDGEPORT.

Almshouse-Banks-Board of Trade-Bridges-Casualties and Crimes- Cemeteries-Churches-Custom-House.

IN the succeeding chapters the writer proposes to give some account of the public institutions of Bridge- port, together with a number of iucidents which could not conveniently be introduced into the preceding narrative, yet which are too important to be wholly passed over. Doubtless some of the statistics here given will secm to readers of to-day wholly uninter- esting; yet it should be remembered that matters quite unimportant to one body of readers are often esteemed valuable by another circle, and also that many facts perfectly familiar to the public at the present time will be by no means so to the succeeding generation, unless put upon record in some such work as this. For convenience of reference, the topics in this chapter are arranged alphabetically.

ALMSHOUSE.

In the year 1865 the sclectinen, having sold the land and building in East Bridgeport formerly occu- pied by the town-poor for about twenty thousand dollars, purchased a farm in the northeastern part of the town and began the erection of another building. The farm cost six thousand four hundred dollars and contains forty acres, of which about twenty-five are in good condition for tillage. The building is of brick, L-shaped, three stories high, and cost about fifteen thousand dollars. It stands upon the east side of Asylum Street, a little north of Old Mill Green, and has usually from fifty to sixty inmates. Besides these, some two hundred others receive occasional assistance at their own homes, For the past ten or twelve years the town has contracted with Mr. William H. Bunnell for the relief of the poor, paying him a gross sum, which is at present between thirteen and fourteen thousand dollars per annum, together with the use of the farm rent free. Mr. Bunnell is well spoken of by all who have dealings with him, and is believed to discharge the duties of his position with humanity. No stated religious services are held at the poorhouse.

BANKS.

At the present time there are five national banks in Bridgeport, whosc aggregate capital and surplus is over a million and a half of dollars, and four sav- ings banks, whose united assets exceed six millions.

One of these institutions, which has reached a very respectable-not to say venerable-age, is the old Bridgeport Bank, which was incorporated soon after the establishment of the borough, when there were but five other banks in the State, and has now entcred its seventy-fifth year without showing any marks of decrepitude. Did space permit, it would be pleasant to speak at length of many of the gentlemen who have been prominent in banking circles here, but only a few can now be referred to, and that in the briefcst manner.

Dr. Isaac Bronson, of Greenfield Hill, the first president of the Bridgeport Bank, was a man of mark in his day. He had served in the Revolution as assistant surgeon of Connecticut troops, and after the war had been engaged in banking, both in Phila- delphia and in New York, before coming to Bridge- port. He was a successful financier, though some of his rules might now be thought a little arbitrary. One of these was never to discount paper having more than sixty days to run, and another never to renew a note.

Daniel Thatcher, president of the Connecticut Bank for fifteen years prior to 1848, Sherman Hartwell, president of the Bridgeport from 1849 to 1869, and Sherwood Sterling, president of the City for a num- ber of years prior to 1869, were all excellent men and stood high in public estimation. George Sterling also, who died in 1871, had been for twenty-eight. ycars treasurer of the Bridgeport Savings Bank, and was respected and loved by all who knew him. Men- tion may also be made of P. C. Calhoun, who has found a wider field for his abilities than Bridgeport affords, and has been for a number of years past the president of the Fourth National Bank of the city of New York.

The Bridgeport Bank was incorporated October, 1806, on petition of John S. Cannon, Salmon Hub- bell, Lambert Lockwood, and Isaac Hinman, and began business May 21, 1807, in a house no longer standing, upon the west side of Water Street, near State Street. The building now owned and occupied by the bank, on the corner of Main and Bauk Streets, was erected in 1810, and was esteemed at that time a great ornament to the place. In 1865, in common with all the other banks of discount in the city, the Bridgeport became a national bank.

This bank has had seven presidents,-viz., Isaac Bronson, term of service, eighteen years; John S. Cannon, seven years ; Ebenczer Jessup, five years ; Sylvanus Sterling, eleven years; Hanford Lyon, one year; Sherman Hartwell, twenty years; and Monson Hawley, eleven years.

The capital of the Bridgeport National Bank is now $215,850, aud its surplus $80,000. Officers of the in- stitution at the present time are: President, Monson Hawley; cashier, F. N. Benham ; directors, T. B. De Forest, Monson Hawley, R. B. Lacey, Carlos Curtis, D. M. Reed, John M. Wheeler, J. Bartram, T. B. Bartram, aud P. N. Fairchild.

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In May, 1831, Cyrus H. Beardslee, Daniel Sterling, Enoch Foote, and others, petitioned the Legislature, and received permission to establish a new bank in Bridgeport, to be called the Connecticut Bank, with power to open a branch at Mill River, or Southport, in the town of Fairfield. As the custom was at that time, the incorporators were required to pay a bonus of $5000 for their charter, seven-tenths of which sum went to Yale College, and the remainder to Wash- ington College. The first officers of the Connecticut Bank were Capt. Ezekiel Hubbell president, and Charles Foote cashier, the latter for many years iden- tified with the bank, both as cashier and as director.

For several years this institution was located on the north corner of Wall and Water Streets, but after the great fire of 1833 a lot was purchased upon the corner of Main and Wall Streets, and the present edifice erected.

The capital of this bank at the present time is $332,000, with a surplus of $100,000, and the officers are as follows: President, Samuel W. Baldwin; cashier, Henry B. Drew ; directors, P. C. Calhoun, William D. Bishop, Jarratt Morford, S. C. Trubec, Henry B. Drew, S. W. Baldwin, William R. Higby, and Mar- shall E. Morris.

The Farmers' Bank was chartered in 1849, with a capital of $200,000, and was obliged to pay a bonus of $5000 to the General Hospital Society of the State of Connecticut. For many years it transacted business upon the southwest corner of Main and State Strects, but in February, 1871, removed to its present location, at Main and Bank Streets, in the building of the People's Savings Bank. The Farmers' Bank was the first to avail itself of the National Banking Act, and in March, 1864, its name was changed to "The First National Bank of Bridgeport." It has been since its organization as a national bank a depository for funds of the United States government.

The capital of the bank now stands at $210,000, with a surplus of $105,000, and following is a list of its officers : President, Edmund S. Hawley ; cashier, William E. Seeley ; directors, E. S. Hawley, Russell Tomlinson, Horace Nichols, W. E. Seeley, Edward Sterling, C. K. Averill, C. A. Grannis, S. S. Booth, and H. L. Fairchild.

The Bridgeport City Bank-now the City National Bank-was organized Jan. 17, 1854, under the gen- eral banking act of 1852, with a capital of $100,000, which five years later was increased to $200,000. It began business in the old post-office building, on the north side of Bank Street, thence removed to the southwest corner of Wall and Water Streets, and in 1861 completed and occupied its spacious building, Nos. 17 and 19 Wall Street. The cost of this building was twenty-six thousand dollars. March 15, 1865, this bank was reorganized under the National Banking Act, with a capital of $250,000.

The following gentlemen have served as presidents of the institution : Adam P. Houston, S. F. Hurd, Ira

Sherman, Sherwood Sterling, George B. Waller, and Daniel N. Morgan. Its capital stock is now $250,000, and its surplus $58,000. Hon. D. N. Morgan, mayor of the city, is the president, and J. F. Fayerweather cashier. The directors are George B. Waller, Elbert E. Hubbell, S. M. Middlebrook, Nathaniel Wheeler, George Mallory, E. G. Sanford, D. N. Morgan, D. B. Booth, and Miles Beardsley.

The Peqnonnock Bank was chartered in 1851, and the sum paid for the privilege was four thousand dol- lars, which was distributed in the following manner : One thousand dollars to the Bridgeport Library, one thousand five hundred dollars to the State treasury, for the benefit of the insane poor, and the same amount to the State Reform School. Its brownstone building, corner of Main and State Streets, was com- pleted and its doors opencd for business Nov. 10, 1851.

Following is a list of the presidents of this bank : P. T. Barnum, 1851 ; Charles B. Hubbell, 1855 ; Clapp Spooner, 1860; Monson Hawley, 1865; Charles B. Hotchkiss, 1869. William R. Higby was cashier from the first organization until February, 1869, when he was succeeded by I. B. Prindle.

March 18, 1865, the Pequonnock was reorganized as a national bank. Its present capital is $200,000; surplus, $40,000. The officers are : President, Charles B. Hotchkiss; cashier, Isaac B. Prindle; directors, C. B. Hotchkiss, David Trubce, John Hurd, James H. Moore, I. B. Prindle, William M. Terry, William G. Lineburgh, J. L. Wessels, and Charles Nettleton.

The Bridgeport Savings Bank was chartered in May, 1842, and began business at a store on Water Strect in July of the same year. Of the twenty-two eor- porate members mentioned in the charter, but four are now living,-viz., Messrs. Gideon Thompson, Wil- liam H. Noble, Thomas Ranson, and Schuyler Seeley. At the time when the charter was granted there were but eight savings banks in the State, some of them just organized, and none west of New Haven. In 1821 the bank was removed to No. 21 Wall Street, and in 1850 to a building upon the site now occupied, on the corner of Main and State Streets. The present handsome banking-house was completed in 1878, and cost about forty-four thousand dollars, or with the lots, some fifty-eight thousand dollars.

The following gentlemen have been presidents of the institution: Sherwood Sterling, 1842; Smith Tweedy, 1843; Daniel O. Wheeler, 1850; Lemuel Coleman, 1851; Sherwood Sterling, 1864; Hervey Higby, 1870; E. S. Hawley, 1875. On Oct. 1, 1879, the last annual report of the bank commissioner shows that the number of depositors was 7763, and the total assets $3,288,451, of which amount about two-thirds was invested in loaus upon real estate. The present officers of the institution are: President, E. S. Hawley; vice-presidents, S. C. Trubee and Luzon W. Clark ; treasurer, C. P. Porter ; trustees, S. C. Trubee, W. R. Higby, A. E. Joy, C. Thompson, P. Conrad, J. Bartram, F. B. Hawley, L. W. Clark,

108

HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

E. Birdsey, Edward Sterling, Dr. D. H. Nash, T. B. De Forest, W. H. Perry, C. P. Porter.

The petition for a second savings bank in Bridge- port was drawn by S. M. Middlebrook, and was signed by such men as S. Hartwell, P. C. Calhoun, Hanford Lyon, Russell Tomlinson, Horace Nichols, A. A. Pettengill, John Brooks, and others, and a charter was granted for the institution in May, 1859. Mr. S. M. Middlebrook was the first treasurer of the insti- tution, and still holds the position, which he accepted nearly twenty years ago. The rooms of this savings bank have always been adjoining those of the City National Bank, at first upon the corner of Wall and Water Streets, and since 1861 at Nos. 17 and 19 Wall Street. The assets of the City Savings Bank, Oct. 1, 1879, were $1,686,478, of which sum $916,883 was in- vested in loans upon real estate. There were at the same date 4294 depositors. Mr. Hanford Lyon, for many years president of the institution, died Dec. 21, 1879. The following are the officers at the present time: President, Ira Gregory ; treasurer, S. M. Mid- dlebrook ; trustees, Ira Gregory, D. F. Hollister, John Brooks, G. P. Stockwell, F. W. Parrott, Courtland Kelsey, C. K. Averill, Horace Nichols, J. Baylies, H. S. Peck, Horace F. Hatch, Burr Curtis, L. W. Booth, S. M. Middlebrook, George K. Birdsey, Levi B. Booth, Nathan Birdsey, and Marcus C. Hawley.

In June, 1860, upon petition of Nathaniel Wheeler, James C. Loomis, William H. Perry, Sherwood Ster- ling, George B. Waller, Frederick Wood, Elbert E. Hubbell, P. C. Calhoun, Ira Sherman, and others, the People's Savings Bank was incorporated. Its place of business was for some time upon the corner of Main and State Streets, in the building of the Pequonnock Bank. Its present handsome banking- house was erected in 1870, and cost about forty-three thousand dollars. The assets of the institution, Oct. 1, 1879, were $1,268,143, a little more than half of which was invested in loans upon real estate, and the number of depositors 2893. The officers are as fol- lows : President, George B. Waller ; treasurer, Egbert Marsh ; trustees, William E. Sceley, S. W. Baldwin, S. S. Booth, E. W. Marsh, D. W. Kissam, E. E. Hub- bell, B. Sanford, S. P. Glover, R. Tomlinson, C. B. Hotchkiss, and Eli C. Smith.

The Mechanics' and Farmers' Savings Bank was incorporated in 1871, and commenced business Oct. 1, 1873, in a building upon Washington Avenue, East Bridgeport. Sept. 1, 1878, it was removed across the river to the rooms beneath the Connecticut National Bank, and April 1, 1880, to the premises now occu- pied, 409 Main Street (Barnum Building). The whole number of depositors, Sept. 1, 1880, was 730, and the total assets same date, $142,838.09. The officers of the institution were: President, William G. Line- burgh ; vice-presidents, George Lewis and Andrew Burke; secretary and treasurer, Lyman S. Catlin ; trustees, David Wooster, S. C. Kingman, I. W. Smith, G. W. Peck, Carlos Curtis, R. B. Lacey, D. N. Mor- I

gan, B. Sonles, H. R. Parrott, L. B. Stillson, C. Morton, D. B. Lockwood, G. W. Hayes, L. F. Curtis, George Keeler, John L. Wessels, F. B. Hall, and Isaac B. Prindle.

BOARD OF TRADE.

The Bridgeport Board of Trade was incorporated in 1876 " for the promotion of trade, the giving direction and impetus to commercial and manufacturing enter- prises, the encouragement of intercourse between business-men, and for the general growth and pros- perity of Bridgeport." Among the substantial results already achieved may be mentioned the location here of Messrs. Warner Brothers' and Thompson, Langdon & Co.'s corset-factories, the Bridgeport Paper Box Com- pany, the Frary Cutlery Company, the Sharps' Rifle Company, and other manufacturing . establishments. A map of Bridgeport, with two columns of letter- press upon the margin setting forth the merits of the place as a site for manufacturing, has been published and extensively circulated. Besides the monthly meetings, annual banquets have also been held, at which much eloquence has been displayed which the world will not willingly let die.

The officers of the Board of Trade are as follows : President, David M. Read; vice-presidents, N. Wheeler, P. T. Barnum; secretary, R. B. Lacey ; treasurer, T. R. Cruttenden; directors, W. H. Noble, B. Soules, J. Morford, H. R. Parrott, I. De V. Warner, E. G. Burnham, and M. W. Seymour.

BRIDGES.

Bridgeport is not inappropriately named, as the whole number of bridges, great and small, crossing the Pequonnock River, Pembroke Lake, and the various streams known as Ash Creek, Horse Tavern Brook, Island Brook, and Rooster River, cannot be less than twenty-five or thirty in number. Time does not permit even an enumeration of them all, and only those crossing the Pequonnock River will be men- tioned, taking them in the order of their construction.

1. First in point of time comes the bridge crossing the river upon the line of North Avenue, at the upper end of Berkshire mill-pond. This bridge is of no very ancient date, but its predecessor was built long before the Revolutionary war.

2. The Lottery Bridge, which was erected in 1793, extended from near the foot of Wall Street to Stratford Avenue upon the east. Having become dilapidated it fell over, and was replaced about the year 1807 by the present Bridgeport or Lower Bridge, whose western terminus is at the foot of Fairfield Avenue. Toll continued to be collected at the Bridgeport Bridge until the year 1868, when it was sold to the city for about eighteen thousand dollars and made free for public travel. The covered way for foot-passengers was built in 1850.

3. The dam across the river just above the Berk- shire Mill was constructed in the year 1783, but that there was no bridge at that point for at least nine

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History of Fairfield County, Connecticut : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 27

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) comp. cn Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co. Number of Pages: 1572

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) comp. cn
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1572