History of Fairfield County, Connecticut : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 60

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 60

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).

"1816 .- Two of our citizens, R. & E. T. Hoyt, mer- chants in the place, receiving, as the eustom 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 & Benediet, and fin- ished 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 amount- ing 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), some twelve years since, and is yet in active operation 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, aud A. E. Tweedy. This hat-store was connected with manufacturing 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 South- ern trade as early as 1802), with Ezra M. Starr,-the latter still one of our most respected and influential citizens,-started another hat-store in Charlestou. This firm also commieneed 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 suceced ; they were soon firmly established, and went on extending their trade and enlarging their opera- tions, until we have as the amount of sales per annum $60,000. Hats worth here ninety dollars per dozen were taken South and sold at one hundred and twenty dollars per dozen.

"1817 .- Capt. John Foot, with one Mr. Hodge, man- ufaetured hats for the firm of Wildman & Starr, em-

rere

nake

Ehve

lade

240

HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

ploying six or eight men, and getting up about six hundred dozen per annum. Elias Boughton, Abel Hoyt, and others, carried on hatting in Danbury about this time. The hats were then cight or nine ounces in weight. The price for making them-that is, the Russia hat-was ninety-two cents, or five shillings six pence, Yankee currency.

"1824 .- Among the manufacturers of this period were Isaac H. Scelye, White & Keeler, Hatch & Gregory, Joseph Taylor, Hugh Starr, and Taylor & Dibblc.

"1825 .- Fry, Gregory & Co. conducted at this time an extensive trade, working up $80,000 worth of stock per annum; capital invested, $50,000; hands em- ployed at making, 30; trimming, 10. This firm also had a store (now occupied by Mr. Osborne) in West Street, where the hands employed traded, receiving orders instead of cash for their work.

"In 1833, Fry, Gregory & Co. sold out their make- shop to William Montgomery, who had commenced hatting in 1832 with Edward S. Brockett. Mr. Mont- gomery made the hats for Fry, Gregory & Co., who, having finished and trimmed then, sent them to their storc in Charleston for sale. Mr. Montgomery carried on the fur-hat trade until 1853, when, building a large factory in connection with the buildings already on the ground, he entered into the manufacture of wool hats in company with Charles Benedict and Jar- vis P. Hull. Mr. Hull soon withdrew from the firm, and it is now that of Benedict & Montgomery.

"From an old bill dated New York, June 5, 1825, we find that Jocl Taylor bought of E. & H. Raymond one hundred Spanish wool bodies at thirty-four cents apiece.

"1835 .- Mr. Alvin Hurd, having learned the art of making silk hats from two Englishmen in the city of New York, returned here and set up the business in the shop of Starr Nichols, manufacturing for the firm of Swift & Nichols, with five men employed, thus in- troducing into Danbury the art of making silk hats. This branch of the trade increased so that in fact it became the most popular one of the day, and in the years intervening between 1840 and 1850 was carried on almost exclusively, Messrs. Tweedy & White, Wil- liam Montgomery, N. H. Wildman, and others being engaged in it. After 1850 it gradually decreased, and now nothing is done here at this branch, the soft hat taking its place.

" During 1835 and several following years Messrs. Fry & Gregory, together with Samuel Sproulls, kept in operation a large wholesale establishmcut in New York City.

"1840 .- Hoyt, Tweedy & Co. had a factory at the north end of Main Street, and were also connected with the hat-store established at Charleston by the Hoyts in 1816. Since 1840, under Edgar S. Tweedy, John R. Hoyt, F. T. Fanning, Lucius Hoyt, A. E. Tweedy, William R. White, and others, the firm has been known successively as that of Hoyt, Tweedy &

Co., Tweedy, Hoyt & Co., Tweedy & Hoyt, A. E. Tweedy & Co., Tweedy & White, and now (since 1857) Tweedy, White & Co.

"1841 .- After the napped hats had gone out of fash- ion, Messrs. Niram Wildman and John Pry went to Roxbury for the purpose of getting information con- cerning the wool-hatting. They called on Col. La- throp, in that place, who was then considered the best manufacturer of wool hats in this section of the country. Having obtained the necessary information, Messrs. Wildman & Fry returned and commenced the manufacture of wool hats in the old building some time since removed from the grounds of Mr. Fry, employ- ing five men as makers and two women as trimmers, turning off from eight to ten dozen per day, the bodies being formed in the 'old factory.' Wildman & Fry subsequently sold out to Charles Fry and David Wild- man (the latter now deceased), who continued the manufacture iu a building in Main Street, since re- moved.

"1846 .- Nathaniel H. Wildman was at this time manufacturing fur hats. He kept up the manufacture until a few years since, and is now engaged in a hat- store at Augusta, Ga. Truman Trowbridge employed a number of hands, also Frederick Nichols.

"1849 .- Mr. Nathan Benedict came from New York with one of the fur-hat forming machines. When it was rumored that such a machine was to be brought here it created considerable excitement among the mechanics in the trade, and when it actually did arrive a majority of hatters were opposed to it. It was put up by Mr. Benedict in the old Hurlbut fac- tory as an experiment, under the patronage of A. E. Tweedy & Co. But very little was done the first ycar, and the enterprise progressed slowly ; but as the public confidence in it was strengthened the old prejudice died out, and its popularity increased.

"1852 .- S. A. Brower & Co. started the business of paper-box making in Danbury. Until the soft hat came into use hats were packed in wooden cases alone. Now one dozen hats are placed in a paper box, and these, to the number of six, are placed in a wooden case. This mode of packing hats for transportation is a little more expensive than the former, but it is at the same time morc safe, neat, and convenient.

"Mr. E. S. Davis, who bought out Brower & Co. in 1852, now carries on the business quite extensively. At first the demand was very small, but as the manu- facture of soft hats increased so did that of paper boxes. Mr. Davis now occupies the whole of the new building seventy by thirty and three stories high (near Tweedy Brothers). Capital invested, $7000; sales per annum, $25,000; paid out to hands per month, $200; hands employed, 11. Boards or straw paper used per annum, 125 tons ; number of paper boxes of all sizes made per annum, 216,000. The 'boards' are manu- facturcd in the neighboring towns of Brookfield, Newtown, and New Milford.

"1853 .- James S. Taylor, of this town, patented his

241

DANBURY.

machines for felting or sizing hats, to which their orig- inality and perfect operation has been satisfactorily applied. These machines have been introduced into general use among the best and most extensive wool- hat manufacturers in the United States. It is a fact worthy of notice that these machines have been in- vented, perfected, and brought into general use in less time than perhaps ever before recorded of any other invention of the same relative value in the incchanie arts in this or any other country, and it is owing to this invention of Mr. Taylor's that our wool-hat man- ufacturers have been enabled to supply the increasing demand for the finer qualities of that article.

"'The Taylor's Patent Hat-Felting Company have about three hundred of these machines in use in va- rious parts of the United States, felting at least six dozen hats per day on each machine, equal to 1800 dozen per day for the three hundred machines, or 540,000 dozen, on an average, per year, being 6,480,000 hats!' They have secured the patent on the machine in various European countries, and now have machines in constant operation in several of the largest estab- lishments in England, where an agency is about being established. 'The largest single day's work performed by these machines was, probably, in the shop of Wild- man & Crosby, in 1856, they having sized on two sets of machines fifty-four dozen hats in one day, the ma- chines being operated by four men, working only ten hours.' A Frenchman, J. Baptiste Lacille by name, and many others, have invented machines for sizing hats and sold their patents for large sums, but the machines failed, not having been brought to perfec- tion, and the Taylor machines have taken the place of all.

"1855 .- Abijah Abbott commenced the manufacture of band-boxes for Messrs. Benedict & Montgomery. Mr. Abbott now employs four hands, making thirty thousand large paper boxes per year and consuming fifty tons of boards per annum. His sales amount to five thousand dollars per annum.

"The making of wooden cases is a large item, and three firms, George Starr, George Stevens & Co., and Raymond & Ambler, are constantly employed.

"In 1860 there were but eight manufacturers of fur and wool hats in Danbury. We have now twelve, and the largest of these is twice as large as any at that date. There have been many changes in the firms since then,-many new firms started and failed. These we have endeavored to look up and obtain re- liable information about them.

" In 1860 there were two firms of the Tweedys,- Tweedy, White & Co., and Tweedy Brothers. In 1864 the first firm was changed to T. E. & E. Tweedy, and the second was changed to William H. Tweedy in 1861. In 1867 both these firms were merged into one under the name of Tweedy & Co., and after four years of business a stock company was formed under the name of the Tweedy Manufacturing Company, which is its present designation.

"Giles M. Hoyt's factory in 1860 was in Grassy Plain, which was then a part of Danbury. In 1874, Mr. Hoyt removed to the shop on White Street now occupied by Nichols & Hinc. It had then just beeu vacated by Lacey & Downs. In 1878 he moved again to his present locatiou, in the old laundry-building near the Danbury and Norwalk Railway.

"A. T. Peck was in the winter of 1863 engaged in hatting with his brother-in-law, Auson Taylor, in the old comb-factory which stood on the site of Beckerle and Co.'s new factories. Mr. Taylor had just received a patent for combining pieces of waste silk with fur, and they were manufacturing hats under this pateut. It was said that a hat, after being 'jacked up,' was made to look like a silk hat, and at a much less cost. They were made in all styles. Mr. Taylor died soon after the manufacture began, and Mr. Peck then went out of business.

"In 1864, Shethar & Lacey built a small shop near the Phoenix factory, and ran it for a few years.

"The Union Hat Company, composed of W. H. Youngs, H. C. Ely, Kellogg Nichols, and Cyrus Ray- mond, started in that building in 1869. In 1872 they discontinued business. It was occupied between this time and 1875 by Casper Zeigler, and in that year William Beckerle took it. He remained here one year, and in 1876, after taking into partnership C. H. Piex, T. F. Fay, and J. H. Shuldice, he removed to the old comb-shop near Pahquioque Avenue. This shop soon proved too small for the firm, and from time to time they added to its capacity by building on numerous additions and crecting small buildings for make-shops, coloring-shop, etc. In December, 1879, the establishment was totally destroyed by fire. Work was immediately resumed, and now the new factories, exceeded by but one establishment in town, are nearly complete.

"In 1865, J. G. Meeker began business as a hatter in a factory on Canal Street. This building, for a few months previous to this, had been used by journeymen hatters, who took out work from our larger firms for manipulation in one branch only. They were not what might be called manufacturing hatters, and for that reason we have not secured their names. In 1877 this factory was completely destroyed, and the next year the present commodious and enlarged building was completed and occupied by D. W. Mceker, a brother of the first named. He still car- ries on business there.

" As carly as 1844, Ransom Brothwell, father of Theodore Brothwell, had a shop in Mill Plain. He started it carlier than this, but this is the first we can find of him. It was situated on the present farm of Oliver Burchard, and some time after (in 1848) he removed to a factory on the site of the present black- smith-shop.

"The next we find of hatting in that hamlet is a shop run by P. A. Sutton. This changed hands many tines, being owned successively by A. Solomon, now

red

the

Li-

. E

the did

time

242

HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

of Norwalk, Harry Jennings & Son, and Stone & Downs. The latter were burned out in 1867, and Mr. Downs then retired. Benjamin Stone then built the shop now occupied by H. M. Senior & Son, ran it for about nine months, and then went to New Jersey. C. B. Prindle occupied it next for about six months, and Senior bought it in 1871. John Harvey was a partner of Senior for one year. In 1878 the present firm was formed.

" In 1866, C. B. Prindle and Edward Gage took out work to size. The original shop stood just west of the present building. In 1869, Mr. Gage went out, and Mr. Prindle took it. 'Prindle & Co.' soon after became the title of the firm, and they finished hats complete. In December, 1877, the Mill Plain Manu- facturing Company, a joint-stock corporation, took the factory now standing, which was built in 1871. In 1879, Mr. Prindle went it alone, and is now doing business there.

"It is related that at the time of Mr. Brothwell they were making what was known as the 'coney' hat. These hats were always worth just a dollar. If no money was forthcoming on pay-day, the men were given as many hats as there were dollars due them. These they spent at the stores the same as cash, and the storekeepers sent them to New York to sell. Mr. Brothwell never used the neat packing-cases of to-day, but used to go out and knock boards off the fences and make cases.

" In 1860 the old firm of Crofut, Bates & Wildman was Henry Crofut. From that time to now there have been four different partners besides Mr. Crofut. First, Rollo Nichols was admitted, under the firm-name of H. Crofut & Co. Then George K. Nichols was ad- mitted, then Joseph H. White, the firm still retaining the old name. The present firm is Crofut, White & Peabody, the Messrs. Nichols being both dead. Mr. Peabody was admitted in 1878.

"The firm once occupied the factory on West Street, which was burned in 1864, in addition to the ‘Pah- quioque' shop.

" The firm of E. A. Mallory & Co. in 1860 was formed of Mallory and P. A. Sutton. In 1864, Mr. Mallory associated with him his brother, Samuel Mallory, and this firm continued till 1866. Samuel Mallory then retired, and until 1872 E. A. Mallory was again alone. In that year he took in his son, Charles H. Mallory, and this comprises the present firm.

"In 1862, Mr. S. C. Holley began the manufacture of wool hats in the shop then standing at the Main Street bridge, which had before that been used by Crosby & Wildman. For a short time J. H. Cesner was his partner. In 1865, Mr. A. N. Wildman con- nected himself publicly with the firm, and the 'Co.' was added to Mr. Holley's name. In 1868 the factory was burned. The same year they built the factory on River Street now occupied by them. Mr. A. B. Holley became a member of the firm in January, 1876, though the firm-name was not changed.

"Shethar & Lacey was the name of a new firm which purchased the Montgomery factory, on White Street, in 1865. For one year they continued business, and then admission to the firm was given to Henry Starr and Thomas Lawrence, under the firm-name of Shet- har, Lacey & Co. One more year passed and this firm dissolved, and in its place was the firm of Lacey, Hoyt & Co., composed of W. F. Lacey, Theodore Hoyt, Moses Collier, Ives Bushnell, and George Downs. In 1872 the firm went out of business, Lacey, Downs & Co., the company being C. H. White, then formed a copartnership and manufactured hats for a time. Lacey & Downs were before this time associated in the fur-cutting business in the Phoenix factory, re- cently destroyed by fire. Their hatting experience continued but a short time.

"Elijah Sturdevant continued the business at the factory in Beaver Brook District until Aug. 31, 1873. On that date the building was totally destroyed by fire at a loss of sixty thousand dollars. For four years the ruins lay about as the fire left them, and it was in 1877 that the place was rebuilt. James S. Taylor then took the factory, and from that time to this a desultory trade has been carried on there, a young firm running through one trade and then suc- ceeded by another, which was in turn run out by another. None of them seemed to have had much success. In 1879, D. E. Leowe & Co. took it, but in 1880 they dissolved. Mr. Taylor has always occupied part of the factory as a forming-shop.

" Nichols & Hine were burned out in Bethel in the spring of 1878. In the fall of the same year they came to Danbury, and took the old Lacey, Downs & Co. factory on White Street, where they still remain, having been eminently successful.

"We now have given the hat-manufacturers since 1860, so far as we can trace them. Next in order come the fur-cutters. The firm of W. A. & A. M. White, which was the principal one in the trade at that time, is still running. Their factory was totally destroyed by fire in 1874. It was immediately re- built with brick, and is probably one of the most con- veniently arranged establishments in the country. The firm-name remains the same, though new blood has been added to it in the persons of the sons of the original Whites, who bear the same names.

"W. F. Lacey and George Downs went into partner- ship with Stephen Hurlbut in 1862 under the name of Hurlbut & Co. In 1864, Mr. Hurlbut left the firm and started in business in Peck's comb-shop, where Beckerle & Co.'s factories now stand. He continued business until 1869, when he was killed by a runaway team.

"Peter Robinson, in 1865, began the fur-cutting busi- ness in a shop belonging to the Tweedys. In 1867 he purchased a building at Beaver Brook, and admitted to partnership Mr. John Tweedy. In 1870 the busi- ness was so extensive that greater accommodations were made necessary, and the firm purchased the fac-

243

DANBURY.

tory of Benedict & Montgomery, on West Street. This shop was burned down in 1874, and in the same year they went to their present quarters in the Hull & Belden Co.'s factory, on Canal Street. Mr. Tweedy had in the mean time retired from the firmn, and John Starr was taken in in 1871. Mr. Starr died in 1876, and O. de Comeau took his place. He remained a member of the firm one year, and, in 1877, Mr. Rob- inson's oldest son, E. T. Robinson, was taken into the firm and sent to England, where they established a branch office. The manufacture of hat-cases is also an important factor in the business. In 1860, Mr. George Starr was the only person engaged in the busi- ness in Danbury. Besides cases, he made blocks, tools, etc. In 1876 his brother, Daniel Starr, purchased the business and still continues it. The Danbury and Bethel Hat-Case Company began to manufacture cases only in 1876, and still continue.

"Through the kindness of one of our oldest resi- dents we have been enabled to trace some of the old hatters.

"1787 .- William Babcock, who was employed by Burr & White in this year, died in New Haven.

"1803 .- Samuel H. Phillips lived opposite the Dan- bury Savings Bank, where Meyers' store now stands, and died there. George Benediet was a son of Elia- kim, and lived and died in Danbury. David Wood lived and died opposite the Capt. Ryder place, or on the site of the old Church of England, on the corner of Main and South streets. Ezra Wildman, who was a great-unele of Samuel C. Wildman, moved to Clarks- field, Ohio, and died there. Ebenezer and John D. Nichols died in the South. The firm of Boughton & Starr we cannot trace. Mr. Boughton is believed to have been Elias Boughton, who lived on the site of George C. White's residence.

"1805 .- The firm of Clark & Benedict should have read Benedict & Clark. Sallue P. Clark lived down town, near the old Carrington place. He was an unele of Starr Clark, who spends his summers in Dan- bury. Benediet was the son of Peter Benedict, who lived in Mountainville, on the place now owned by E. S. Benedict. Gersham Nichols was the father of Starr Nichols and the great-grandfather of John Nichols, of the firm of Nichols & Hine.

"1807 .- Noah Rockwell died in Danbury. Hoyt Gregory died here, and we believe has no descendants. " 1812 .- James Benedict, of Tweedy & Benediet, retired from business to a farm on the Hudson River, and died there.

"1816 .- David H. Boughton was a son of Elias Boughton, and died South. His remains were brought home and interred in the burying-ground up-town. David M. Benedict lived later in life in the house now owned by Lucius P. Hoyt, and died there. He was also buried in the up-town burying-ground. Ezra M. Starr lived and died in the house now occupied by Ira Morse, on South Street. Mrs. Morse was his nieec.

" 1818 .- Capt. John Foote lived near the present

residence of Harmon Knapp, Main Street. Abel Hoyt was father of Giles M. Hoyt, and died in Bethel.

"1820 .- Ephraim Gregory was a son of Elijah Greg- ory, a blacksmith, who lived where L. S. Benedict now lives. His shop stood on the site of St. James' Church.

"Mr. Jolin Fry is still living, a hale and hearty old man, in the house where his first shop stood, on New Street.

" Alvin Hurd, who was a partner of Mr. Fry in 1818, died in August, 1869.

"Benedict & Montgomery consisted of Charles Ben- edict and William Montgomery. The firm closed busi- ness in 1861. Mr. Benedict is still living in Danbury, on Deer Hill Avenue. William Montgomery moved to Baltimore some years ago, and is still in business there.

"Joel Taylor lived for many years in Great Plain. He was father of Mr. James S. Taylor. He died in 1870.

"Nathaniel H. Wildman was in the southern trade in Charleston. He closed up his business in 1861. He lived and died in the old house yet standing in rear of Wildman's Block, on Main Street. He was the father of Alexander Wildman. His death oc- eurred in 1877.

"Charles Fry and Truman Trowbridge are still living and working at the trade.

"The firm of R. & E. T. Hoyt doing business in 1816, was Russell and Eli T. Hoyt. The former died in 1868. The latter still lives in the homestead on Main Street, a man ripe in years, still preserving good health, and one looked up to by all men as an example of what an industrious, useful, honest life can do.

"John R. Hoyt, who was one of the sons of Russell Hoyt, succeeded the old firm. He was a brother of Lucius P. and T. Granville Hoyt. He died in 1848. This old firm of Hoyt Brothers eventually consoli- dated with the Tweedy family. The firm of Hoyt, Tweedy & Co. was the consolidation of the two.

" A. E. Tweedy died in February, 1864. His cousin, Sanmel Tweedy, died in 1868. It is told of Mr. A. E. Tweedy that his funeral was the largest ever held in Danbury. Niram Wildman, who was a partner of John Fry, was grandfather of A. N. and John Wild- man. He lived where the latter lives now.

"Frederick Nichols is brother-in-law of Giles M. Hoyt. He now lives in New York.

"The White Brothers, mentioned in 1814, were Jud- son and Russell White. Russell died in 1838, and Judson a few years later. Russell White was the father of Mr. William R. White.

"Edward S. Broekett, who was in business in 1832 with Williana Montgomery, died in Norwalk in 1872. He was for many years the trying-justice of Danbury, and his reputation extended into the whole country.

"Isaac H. Seeley is mentioned in 1824. Mr. Seeley died in January, 1880, a man full of honor and ripe in years. White & Keeler were Col. E. Moss White,

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.

History of Fairfield County, Connecticut : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 60

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