History of Fairfield County, Connecticut : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 28

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 28

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4. In May, 1836, Willis Stillman, Birdsey G. Noble, and others, were given permission by the Legislature to build a drawbridge across the Pequonnock River at a place called Indian Island, and to collect toll from all persons crossing it except those going to public worship, funerals, or town-meetings, or who were upon military duty, all of whom were entitled to pass free. The corporation was called the East Bridge- port Bridge Company, and the bridge was the one now connecting the two parts of East Washington Avenue. It was finally purchased by the city for the sum of four thousand dollars, and thrown open for public travel Oct. 22, 1864. A sort of annex to this bridge was constructed by the horse railroad company in 1865.

5. In the year 1848 the New York and New Haven Railroad Company built a wooden bridge across the river, which in 1869 was replaced by a more substan- tial structure with double track and heavy iron draw, extending from Golden Hill Street upon the west to Crescent Avenue upon the east side.

In November, 1850, Abijah Burroughs, William A. Peck, and others, having been chartered by the Legis- lature under the name of the Crescent Foot-Bridge Company, with capital stock of two thousand dollars, opened a foot-bridge, built upon the foundation of the railroad company, upon the south side of the track, charging one cent toll. The present bridge for the accommodation of foot-passengers, upon the northerly side of the railroad track, was built by the city in 1869, and is free to all.

The uext bridge built is no longer standing ; having become unfit for heavy travel it was taken down about the year 1869. It was erected by Freeman B. Plumb, William S. Knowlton, and their associates, who in the year 1852 were authorized by the Legislature to con- struct a bridge from the foot of William Street, East Bridgeport, to some point near Porter's Rocks, on the western shore of the harbor, to collect toll from pas- sengers, and to maintain a draw. This also was pur- chased by the city and made free, Oct. 22, 1864, the price paid being thirteen thousand two hundred and fifty dollars. A salute of one hundred guns in honor of the event was fired by enthusiastic persons in East Bridgeport, who perhaps had building-lots to dis- pose of.

6. The present Centre Bridge is the only one which can really be called a credit to the city. It extends from the foot of Congress Strect, on the western side of the river, to the foot of William Street, in East Bridgeport, a distance of some eight hundred fcet. For the greater part of this distance it has a clear roadway of thirty feet, and sidewalks of six feet in

width, while the draw, which measures two hundred and ten feet, is the longest in New England. The cost of this bridge was, in round numbers, one hun- dred thousand dollars, and it was completed and opened for travel in December, 1870. Following is a list of the special committee appointed by the Com- mon Council for its construction : William D. Bishop, N. Wheeler, Eli Thompson, J. D. Alvord, Frederick Hurd, Eli Dewhurst, and J. H. Sharpe.

CASUALTIES AND CRIMES.

The great dam across the river, near the reservoir in North Bridgeport, has several times given way, causing disastrous inundations. These floods occurred in 1836 and 1843, and also on Nov. 21, 1851. Upon this latter occasion not only was the bridge below the factories and the Berkshire bridge and dam swept away by the resistless tide, which damaged property to the amount of seven thousand dollars, but a young man named Peter Kinsella was drowned, while trying to save a horse from a barn in the track of the torrent.

The steamer "Lexington" was burned opposite this harbor, though too far over towards the Long Island shore for assistance to be rendered, Jan. 13, 1840. It was a bitter night, and only four persons were saved, while one hundred and twenty-two are known either to have perished in the flames or to have sunk in the icy waters of the Sound. The light from the burning steamer was plainly visible here, and many people collected upon the shore to gaze at it.

Although the number of trains is about seventy daily, the list of railroad accidents in Bridgeport is a surprisingly short one. It is safe to say that more persons have been killed in this viciuity by runaway horses than in traveling upon the cars. Yet painful accidents have not been entirely escaped, and twice a horrible disaster has barely been prevented. Oct. 12, 1852, a locomotive and four cars belonging to a Nau- gatuck freight-train ran off the drawbridge. The engineer escaped by jumping ; the fireman's leg was broken, but he was able to swim ashore. Aug. 15, 1865, a collision took place in North Bridgeport be- tween a Housatonic passenger-train which was back- ing down and a locomotive upon its trial-trip, by which eleven persons lost their lives and twenty-seven others were injured. Engineer William Bristol was also killed by a collision a short distance above the Parlor Rock picnic-ground, Aug. 30, 1880.

On June 20, 1867, the noon express-train out of New York reached Bridgeport at half-past two, and after the usual halt at the depot moved forward upon the bridge at the rate of eighteen miles an hour, neither the engineer nor the conductor notieing that the red ball or safety-signal had been lowered, and that the heavy iron draw, which had been opened to admit the passage of a schooner, was still some twenty feet out of place. The only hope for the safety of the train was in the exertions of the bridge-tender, Dennis Colgan, who, by putting forth every effort, succeeded

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HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

in closing the gap just in time. Even then he was obliged to run down the single track in face of the advancing engine and shoot the bolt into its socket, or, the bridge being crescent-shaped, the impact of the train would have thrown the draw open again and precipitated the engine and cars into the water below. He was just in time to push the pin into its place and then drop between the ties to the timbers beneath, when the train thundered over his head. So close was the locomotive that spectators on shore and npon the adjoining foot-bridge, who had shouted for him to keep back and not to sacrifice his own life in the vain hope of saving others, all believed that he had been killed ; and it was perhaps under this impression that the engineer, on arriving at New Haven, left at once his train and the company's employ withont waiting for the formality of a discharge. Two weeks after this narrow escape the board of directors of the New York and New Haven Railroad passed a preamble re- citing the foregoing facts, and a resolution that as a token of their appreciation of the heroism exhibited by Dennis Colgan five shares of the company's stock be transferred to him, and that a copy of the pre- amble and resolution, signed by the president, be sent to him, together with the certificate of stock.

Five years after this occurrence another disaster of the same nature, and of even greater magnitnde, was just escaped at the same place. It was the afternoon before Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 27, 1872, when a train of fonrteen passenger-cars from New York, being be- hind time, after a brief stop at the Bridgeport depot, ran upon the bridge, the draw being open at the time to admit the passage of a Inmber barge. From the neighboring Centre Bridge, which was crowded with carriages and pedestrians waiting for the draw on that bridge to close, frantic efforts were made to attract the attention of the engineer, but in vain ; and men turned their backs that they might not see the fatal plunge that seemed inevitable. The new drawbridge has a donble track and two sets of gearing, the one in ordi- nary nse requiring about twenty revolutions to close the draw, the other, or fast gearing, taking only thir- teen revolutions, but needing the strength of two men to operate it. Using the latter, Colgan, by his ntmost exertions, just succeeded in elosing the gap in time. Almost breathless from the exertion, he ran down the track to drive home the wedge which secnres the draw, bnt was too late, for the engine had already reached the spot. There was no hesitation upon his part, however. "Standing npon the side track," says an eye-witness, "he planted his lever hard against the rail and held the draw firmly in place while the train went thundering by. Five seconds later in forming the connection, or the slightest shrinking on the part of the bridge-tender, and the train would have plunged into the horrid chasm." One can hardly read snch an incident as this withont thinking of Horatius at the bridge, and that, too, not altogether to the advantage of the brave old Roman.

It is pleasant to add that Dennis Colgan still re- mains in the employ of the railroad company in whose service he has been for over thirty years, and that he has prospered financially, being at present the owner of four donble honses. Another point worthy of men- tion is that no drawbridge npon the line is now allowed to be opened within ten minutes of the time for any train.

In 1870 a man named Achille Zajotti was killed by an explosion of fulminate at the works of the Union Metallic Cartridge Company, in East Bridgeport. On Sept. 18, 1880, a disastrons explosion of the same snb- stance occurred near the same locality, instantly killing three men, Philander Clark, Michael Dempsey, and Wilbnr Fiershinger, and two boys, James Tobin and Joseph Sullivan, and completely demolishing the small building in which they were at work. The shock of the explosion broke hundreds of panes of glass in the vicinity, and was plainly felt for miles away. The accident was probably cansed by carelessness in allow- ing the fulminate, in which the men were working, to become dry, as, when moist, it is considered non-ex- plosive. The manufacture of exploders, in which this substance is used, has since been discontinued by the cartridge company.

Bridgeport has always been a law-abiding city, and its records are not stained by many great crimes. A few cases, however, are sufficiently horrible. In 1796 a youth named Shelton Edwards was murdered; the store, npon the corner of State and Water Streets, in which he slept, plundered, and then set on fire to con- ceal the crime. The perpetrator was never discovered.

Another mysterious case occurred here on the even- ing of Jnne 3, 1872. Capt. George M. Colvocoresses, a retired naval officer, was shot dead in a secluded street near the steamboat-landing, whether by an as- sassin or by his own hand was the subject of much controversy at the time. Rewards of seven thonsand dollars for the arrest of the murderer and ten thou- sand dollars for the recovery of the securities snp- posed to have been stolen from the person of the vic- tim were offered, but have never been claimed, thongh detectives were bnsy for a long time investigating the case. Capt. Colvocoresses had insurance policies upon his life to the amonnt of nearly two hundred thonsand dollars, which the companies declined to pay npon the ground that he had committed suicide. Snits were bronght by his executor to enforee payment, bnt a compromise was finally effected.

One of the most cold-blooded nınrders ever perpe- trated was brought to light here in September, 1878, when a woman of bad character, named Alexander, and one Bassett, the man with whom she, was living, qnarreled and accused one another of having murdered Frank Weinbecker, a sailor, in the hope of realizing a few dollars by selling his remains for dissection. The body was packed into a barrel and carried to New Haven, to the Medical School. Failing to dispose of it there and fearing detection, the barrel, with its

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ghastly contents, was abandoned in a lonely place upon the way home, where it remained until discov- ered in the manner already indicated. Both the eriminals are now serving out sentences of imprison- ment for life in the State prison, at Wethersfield.

CEMETERIES.

The old Stratfield or Pequonnock burying-ground upon North Avenue was used by the early settlers. It contains six hundred and forty gravestones, the inscrip- tions upon which have been eopied, the earliest date found being 1688 .* Besides these are other rude stones without any lettering, and not a few graves entirely unmarked. Through the praiseworthy efforts of Mr. R. B. Laeey, this aneient burying-place has recently been greatly improved. The remains of three minis- ters of the first church in this eity-Charles Chaun- cey, Samuel Cooke, and Robert Ross, whose united pastorates covered the period of ninety-three years- repose here, and a monument to their joint memory, either here or in Mountain Grove Cemetery, would not be an inappropriate tribute.

MOUNTAIN GROVE CEMETERY contains some sev- enty-five aeres, beautifully situated near the western boundary of the town, and partially encireled by the meandering course of the pretty stream called Ash Creek. Within its limits repose the mortal remains of no less than five thousand seven hundred persons, about three thousand two hundred of whom were originally interred here, the remainder having been removed from other grounds,-in particular from the old Division Street or Park Avenue burying-ground in 1873. Although including so many inhabitants, this eity of the dead is not an old cemetery, having been incorporated as reeently as 1849, and opened with appropriate ceremonies June 7, 1850. The first person buried within its limits was Caroline, infant daughter of the late Dr. F. J. Judson, Aug. 1, 1850. About eleven thousand dollars-the profits of a very sueeessful fair held in St. John's Hall in December, 1878-have recently been expended in grading and beautifying the grounds. Russell Tomlinson is presi- dent and William R. Higby is seeretary of the assoei- ation. The direetors are R. Tomlinson, William D. Bishop, H. T. Shelton, William H. Perry, N. Wheeler, W. R. Higby, E. Birdsey, D. M. Read, and Edward Sterling.

PEMBROKE CEMETERY is situated in East Bridge- port, north of Old Mill Green, and bordering upon Stillman's Pond. It was chartered October, 1811, and originally contained but one acre of ground, to which seventy-seven rods were added in 1844. From 1862 to 1872 the old ground, being full, was suffered to be- come overgrown with underbrush, and burials in it ceased. In 1872 the charter of the association was

amended, permission being given to purchase one hundred acres of land, to sell the old ground, and to remove the dead to the new inclosure. Sixteen acres of land were accordingly purchased in the above locality. No record of burials previous to April, 1874, ean be found. Burials since that date number three hundred and seventy-one. The officers of the association are : President, Ali Andrews; Secretary, A. C. Parker; Treasurer, George B. Mallory.

PARK CEMETERY, in North Bridgeport, was organ- ized in 1878. It is situated a short distance west of Berkshire Mill-pond, and contains about forty-four aeres. Seventy-five interments have already been made here. The officers of the cemetery are: Presi- dent, B. T. Nichols ; Seeretary and Treasurer, Joseph S. French ; Superintendent, Edgar S. Nichols; Direc- tors, B. T. Niehols, Curtis Thompson, J. A. Nichols, E. S. Niehols, Joseph S. French.

There are also two Roman Catholic cemeteries,- one between Arctie and Shelton Streets, in East Bridge- port, which fronts upon Pembroke Lake, and the other upon that pleasant old thoroughfare called Grove Street (in early days Cooke's Lane), not far from the western terminus of the horse-railroad.

Here are a few epitaphs copied from the old burying- ground upon Park Avenue, incorporated in 1811, but diseontinued and the remains removed elsewhere in 1873 :

"Death is a debt to nature due, Which I have paid, and so must you."

" In youthful bloom death cut me down, There to await the trumpet's sound. Repent, believe, while you have time, For I was taken in my prime."

" And what is life? 'Tis but a flower That buds and blossoms for an hour, But death comes like a wintry day, And cuts the pretty flower away."

CHURCHES.

At the present time there are twenty-six ehurehes in Bridgeport, belonging to ten different denomina- tions,-viz., Baptist, Congregational, Protestant Epis- eopal, Methodist Episcopal, Presbyterian, Roman Catholie, Universalist, Christian, Advent, and He- brew. Full particulars of the early history of the oldest three-the First Congregational, St. John's Episcopal, and the First Methodist-have already been given. Mention of the others will follow, but the spaee given to each will be unavoidably quite limited.

THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH was constituted Sept. 20, 1837, with thirty-nine members. The society had been formed previously,-July 24, 1835,-and the sum of three thousand dollars raised by subscription, which was paid for the house of worship just vacated by St. John's Episcopal Society,-a wooden building upon the corner of State and Broad Streets. This sum was collected through the efforts of Rev. James H. Linsley. of Stratford. A regular minister was not obtained

* The writer is indebted to Mr. O. P. Dexter, of New York, for a copy of these inscriptions, and regrets that want of space prevents its publi- cation with this article, as originally intended.

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HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

until 1838, when the Rev. Joseph W. Eaton, from Boston, was settled. His successors in the ministry here were: Rev. Daniel Harrington, 1840; Rev. Wil- liam Smith, 1842; Rev. William Reid, 1846; Rev. Dr. A. G. Palmer, 1854; Rev. J. L. Hodge, D.D., 1857 ; Rev. A. M. Hopper, D.D., 1861; Rev. M. H. Pogson, 1877.

The present house of worship, a substantial brick structure costing seventeen thousand dollars, was built upon the site of the former church in 1860. In 1878 it was repaired and a number of improvements made, at an expense of about one thousand three hundred dollars. The number of communicants is now 325; membership of the Sunday-school, 283.

THE EAST WASHINGTON AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH was organized Jan. 30, 1874, with forty- seven members; Rev. C. W. Ray was the first pastor. The price paid for the church, which fronts upon Washington Park, and originally belonged to the Bethesda Mission Sunday-school, was ten thousand dollars, and about three thousand five hundred dollars additional was expended in repairs and improvements. Rev. W. M. Ingersoll is now the pastor, and the church has increased to 158 members, with a Sunday- school of 175.

An account of the organization and early history of the FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH has already been given. The present church edifice, upon the corner of Bank and Broad Strects, was completed and dedicated April 11, 1850, and is the fourth that has been occupied by the society. The chapel was built in 1858, cost eight thousand dollars, and has lately been repaired and improved at an expense of two thousand five hundred dollars. The communion service con- tains some antique pieces of plate presented by early members many years before the Revolution. The par- sonage, No. 84 Golden Hill Street, was bequeathed to the society by the late Mrs. Sylvanus Sterling.

Fifteen pastors have been settled over the church during the one hundred and eighty-five years of its existence, but only three of them are now living. Rev. Charles Ray Palmer, the present pastor, was in- stalled Sept. 11, 1872. A history of the church, pre- pared by Mr. Palmer in 1876, was published, and con- tains many interesting facts relating to the early set- tlers of this place. The present number of communi- cants is 348 ; membership of the Sunday-school, about 200. The church records contain the names of forty- two persons belonging to this congregation who served in the Union army during the Rebellion.

THE SECOND (or South) CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH was organized Jan. 28, 1830, with one hundred and seventeen members, who had been dismissed for that purpose from the First Church. Its first house of worship, a wooden building upon the corner of Broad and Gilbert Streets,-the same site now occupied,-was completed in November, 1830, and cost about five thousand dollars. Rev. Nathaniel Hewit, D.D., thic first pastor, was in-

stalled Dec. 1, 1830, and his ministry-a very suc- cessful one-lasted for nearly twenty-three years.

His successors were : Rev. A. L. Brooks, 1854; Rev. Benjamin L. Swan, 1856; Rev. Alexander R. Thomp- son, 1859; Rev. Francis Lobdell, 1863; Rev. Daniel Lord, 1865; Rev. Edwin Johnson, 1870; Rev. R. G. S. McNeille, at present pastor, who was installed Dec. 4, 1877. The present house of worship was dedicated Jan. 20, 1862, and during the past year both church and chapel have undergone extensive alterations and improvements, costing upward of eleven thousand dollars, and rendering them exceed- ingly convenient and attractive in appearance.

This church furnished quite a number of the flower of its young men for the Union army in the late civil war. Among those who volunteered were Ed- ward W. Marsh, William H. Hawley, Frederick B. Hawley, Frederick B. Doten, Henry M. Hoyt, Eliot Curtis, John Curtis, Frederick Curtis, James H. Porter, Henry L. Sturges, John Ward, Alfred G. Mollan, and Marcus Sterling.

The whole number of members enrolled upon the register of this church is 1186; the present member- ship is 434, and the Sunday-school numbers 350. Eight young men have been sent into the ministry, and over one hundred thousand dollars have been contributed by its members for benevolent purposes.

March 18, 1880, the church celebrated the comple- tion of its first half-century of existence by services deeply interesting to all who attended. A history of the church, prepared by Mr. Edmund S. Hawley, was read upon this occasion; it is a document of great valuc, and ought to be reprinted.

THE PARK STREET CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH was organized Jan. 15, 1868, with thirty-nine mem- bers, twenty-five of whom were dismissed at one time from the North Church for the purpose. Rev. John G. Davenport was ordained July 1, 1868, and still continues to be the pastor of this very successful church. Until the summer of 1871 services were held in Bethesda Mission Chapel, upon East Wash- ington Avenue. The present church building, cor- ner of Park and Barnum Streets, opposite Wash- ington Park, was dedicated Oct. 17, 1871, and cost about twenty-five thousand dollars. The menber- ship of the church is now 430, and its Sabbath- school-one of the largest in the city-numbers about 600,-certainly a very marked increase for the short space of less than thirteen years.

OLIVET CHURCH .- About the ycar 1866 a mission Sunday-school was begun by members of the First Congregational Church and others in the northern part of the city. The school met at first in the upper story of No. 114 North Washington Avenue, after- wards at Olivet Hall, upon the corner of Grand Street. After some time the school developed into the church now known as Olivet Congregational Church, which was formally organized by a council convened for the purpose, Nov. 16, 1870, and Dec. 14, 1870, the Rev.

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BRIDGEPORT.

De Forest B. Dodge was ordained pastor. Oct. 11, 1871, Mr. Dodge resigned, and letters of dismission were granted to forty-nine members of his former flock, that they might join him in forming a new ec- clesiastical body. His successors as the pastors of Olivet Church have been : Rev. S. Hopkins Emory, April, 1872; Rev. Allen Clark, September, 1874; Rev. John S. Wilson, August, 1879. The building now used by the society, upon the corner of Main Street and North Avenue, was completed and occupied for worship Dec. 24, 1876. It cost, including the ground upon which it stands, about three thousand five hun- dred dollars. The membership of the church at its organization was 36 ; the present number of commu- nicants is 104, with a Sunday-school of 170.

THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF BLACK ROCK was gathered Sept. 11, 1849, twenty-four members having been dismissed from the Fairfield Congrega- tional Church for the purpose. On the same day the house of worship erected by the society was dedi- cated. It stands upon the corner of Church Street and Bartram Avenue, and its cost was about three thousand dollars. The first pastor, Rev. W. J. Jen- nings, was ordained and installed April 9, 1850. His successors have been : Rev. Marinus Willett, 1858; Rev. A. C. Baldwin, 1861; Rev. F. W. Williams, 1866; Rev. Howard W. Pope, at present pastor, Sept. 1, 1874. Present membership of the church, 82; of the Sunday-school, 75.

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History of Fairfield County, Connecticut : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 28

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