USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928, Volume I > Part 25
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building recently replaced opposite the present Allyn House. It was in honor of his father that John Pierpont Morgan built the memorial here, described later on.
Anson G. Phelps (1781-1853), of the firm of Phelps, Dodge & Company of New York when he died, was a native of Simsbury, a descendant of Rev. Timothy Woodbridge. Since 1815 he had been associated with Elisha Peck, also of Hartford, in the New York management of large packet lines. He had much to do with the transportation development in an advisory capacity, always with Hartford's interests at heart. Amos R. Eno and John J. Phelps, other natives of Simsbury-men who had been clerks in Caleb Goodwin's drygoods store here before they went to New York-were greatly interested. William H. Imlay (1780- 1858), son of the very wealthy William Imlay of the earlier gen- eration, proprietor of Imlay's Mills and promoter of timber en- terprises in Michigan, subscribed $50,000 for the Hartford & Willimantic road, the largest of all the subscriptions. The tract of land known as Nook Farm he owned and sold in 1855 to Fran- cis Gillette and John Hooker (as elsewhere told) to develop. Sam- uel Tudor (1770-1862), with Philo Hillyer in the importing busi- ness, was an earnest supporter.
Amos M. Collins (1788-1858), born in Litchfield and remem- bered best for his benefactions, of whom Doctor Bushnell said, "There is almost nothing here that has not felt somehow his power, nothing good which has not someway profited by his ben- eficence," was another who appreciated what the railroad must be to Hartford and worked for its development. His son, Wil- liam L. Collins (1812-1865), his partner in the mercantile busi- ness which later was Collins Brothers & Company, gave substan- tial endorsement as also to the street railway later and to the park system. Another son, Erastus, who carried the firm along to Collins, Fenn & Company, was no less enthusiastic in this than he was in organizing the city's charities. Henry A. Perkins (1801-1874), son of Enoch Perkins and president of the Hart- ford Bank from 1853 till his death, was a wise counsellor.
Calvin Day (1803-1884) had helped make Hartford a great distributing center for drygoods, beginning when he arrived here in 1820. With his older brother Albert (lieutenant governor in 1856) the firm name was A. & C. Day and at the time of his re-
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tirement in 1862, Day, Owen & Company. He was one of the prime movers in pursuing the very discouraging business of building the Providence road. In insurance and banking he also was prominent; he was for years president of the School for the Deaf and for forty-two years was successively secretary and president of the Atheneum. Charles H. Northam (1797-1881) is a name still well remembered in the steamboat lines. Colches- ter was the place of his birth. Part of his life was spent in the West India trade, at one time in partnership with M. W. Cha- pin. When he took the Norfolk and Richmond line, Mr. Chapin continued the Philadelphia packets. During his presidency, the Connecticut River Steamboat Company gained in popularity. He was president of the Mercantile Bank from 1862 till his death. It was the period when Charles M. Beach (1826-1910) of West Hartford, son of George Beach, was building a dyestuffs trade with his two brothers, George and J. Watson. He continued in the firm of Beach & Company till his death, meantime establish- ing what is still one of the largest dairy farms in the county. His interests in manufacturing and in finance led him to association with those building the roads. William R. Cone, president of the Atheneum, the Retreat and the Aetna Bank, was general counsel for the "New Haven."
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There necessarily is frequent reference in the history of this interesting period to Rev. Dr. Horace Bushnell (1802-1876). With all his preeminence as a theologian, he concerned himself about everything that was for the advancement of the com- munity. His memory is preserved today by a grateful people in the name of its most central park and by his descendants in the name given the beautiful hall and auditorium now becoming a connecting link with the state group on Capitol Hill. He was born in New Preston. After graduating at Yale in 1827 he had experience in newspaper work and in teaching before returning to Yale as a tutor. His intention to study law was changed in 1831 when he began to prepare for the ministry. Young as he was, the North Congregational Church called him in 1833 and in his twenty-six years of service there he held the love and loyalty of a unanimous membership even in days when others would have
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SOUTH CHURCH, MAIN STREET, HARTFORD
BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF THE SOUTH CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, HARTFORD, 1870
Rev. Dr. Edward Pond Parker speaking
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had him put outside the pale. He was once tried for heresy but the council would not convict him. When his physical condition compelled him to retire from the ministry, his congregation signed a paper pledging to support him whether he was able to work or not. His remaining years he devoted to writing the books which have given him such high standing in the world at large, especially his "Christian Nature," "Nature and the Super- natural," "God in Christ" and "Christ in Theology." Rev. Dr. George L. Clark in his history of Connecticut says: "It is scarcely too much to say that this commonwealth has produced more theologians than all the rest of the country," and among them he ranks Jonathan Edwards and Doctor Bushnell the fore- most. The North Church was organized in September, 1824, by members of the overcrowded First Church. (The third society from that church was the one that was formed in East Hartford.) The first house of worship for the North was at the corner of Main and Morgan streets whence it removed in 1866, during the pastorate of George B. Spalding, to a new edifice on Asylum Street at the corner of High, taking the name of Park Church. In 1899, as will be told, it combined with the Farmington Avenue Church, which had been the Pearl Street Church, and the name became Imanuel.
After the First Church had built its present impressive edifice nearly on the site of the old one, in 1807, the people of the Second Church began to talk of doing likewise, but it was not till after the North Church had struck out for itself that the idea material- ized, during the pastorate of Rev. J. H. Lindley. The handsome new structure, on the corner of Main and Buckingham streets, was dedicated April 11, 1827, and though it has been visited with fires (serious ones in 1884 and 1922) it continues one of the most effective, architecturally and spiritually, in the state.
The Fourth Congregational was the outcome in the early '30s of a missionary spirit during the great revival, together with the interest of those who felt they could not afford to pay the prices for pews in the older churches. Their first formal meet- ing place was in the former Baptist Church on Dorr (Market) Street. It was opened for services in January, 1831, and the church soon was joined by certain members from the sister churches which appreciated the service being rendered. It was
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called the Free Church. In 1838 it was necessary to begin rent- ing pews as there was a prejudice against paying nothing. The name Fourth Congregational was then taken. It removed to Main Street, north of Pratt, to what later was known as the Me- lodeon Building. In 1850, in the pastorate of Rev. William W. Patton, a large church was built on Main Street near Trumbull, to continue till in 1914 the present structure was erected at the corner, of Albany Avenue and Vine Street, of choicest colonial design. The Talcott Street Church was organized in 1833, but had no regular pastor, ministers of the First and Second officiat- ing, till 1840 when Rev. J. W. C. Pennington was installed.
Suffield Baptists formed the first Baptist church at the home of John Bolles. Rev. Stephen Smith Nelson was the first pastor, in 1796, and the first church was built at the corner of Temple and Market streets. A new church was erected on Main Street later Tuoro Hall-in 1831. The next removal was to the large brownstone edifice at the corner of Main and Morgan streets which was adequate for the increasing membership till the Central Baptist Church was built on Main and Elm streets in 1927. Meantime the South Baptist had been organized in 1834 and during the pastorate of Rev. Dr. Gustavus F. Davis had been brought into high place in the community. Its first building was at the corner of Main and Sheldon streets; its sec- ond, with stately spire, north of the old site on Main Street. These two churches united to build the Central Church.
The new edifice for Christ Church in 1821 has been men- tioned. St. John's Church was built in 1842; Bishop Williams was consecrated there in 1851. The church was torn down in 1907 to make way for the Civic Group and a new one built, far out on Farmington Avenue, which with its new addition is one of the most attractive in the county. St. Paul's Church was built in 1854 as a missionary enterprise-work which later was divided among all the Episcopal churches. Trinity parish was estab- lished in 1859 and for its use the Unitarian Church on Asylum Street was moved to Sigourney Street. The chancel was added in 1875 and the rectory in 1882. During the incumbency of Rev. Francis Goodwin, from 1865 to 1871, a chapel was built for the mission. An Episcopal Sunday School developed into the parish of the Church of the Good Shepherd to which Mrs. Samuel Colt
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SOUTH PARK CHURCH, HARTFORD
CENTRAL BAPTIST CHURCH, HARTFORD
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in 1867 gave the artistic edifice in the neighborhood of Colt's fac- tory in memory of her husband, and afterward the parish house in memory of her son, Commodore Caldwell Colt. The church had the first chimes in the city. Rev. Prof. J. T. Hunt- ington started a Sunday School in the cabinet of Trinity College which developed into a parish known as St. James' after 1878 with edifice at the corner of Park and Washington streets, dedi- cated in 1868. The mission in the north part of the city led to the building in 1872 of St. Thomas' Church on land given by Mrs. William Mather as a memorial to Bishop Brownell. Gen- eral institutions were developed, all contributing to the advance- ment of the church and the community, like the Widows' Home on Market Street, gift of George Beach in 1860; the Church House, Bellevue Street, 1876; church schools; the Church City Mission Society, 1850, and the Church Guild of Hartford, 1867.
Methodism was introduced by Rev. Jesse Lee and others and in 1790 the first society was formed here. Interest waned till 1820 when Evangelist J. N. Maffit came, a chapel was built at the corner of Trumbull and Chapel streets and Benoni English was appointed pastor. A church was built on Asylum Street in 1860, predecessor of the structure on the corner of Farmington Avenue and South Whitney Street, dedicated in 1905. The North Methodist began with a chapel on Windsor Avenue in 1871; the cornerstone of its present building on the corner of Albany Avenue and Woodland Street was laid in December, 1919. The South Park Methodist Church was organized in 1869 as a mission and its church near Barnard Park was built in 1875. The African Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1836 and its church was built in 1857 on the Pearl Street site now occupied by the Fire Department's main building. While there had been meetings of Universalists, at the State House and else- where since the 1790s, the Rev. Richard Carrique in 1821 began with services there and sometimes in the Second Church, whose members voted that there should not be such preaching regu- larly. Thereupon sixty members of the church joined with the Universalists in erecting their building on Central Row in 1822. The dedication sermon was preached by Hosea Ballou. The edi- fice, the Church of the Redeemer, opposite the First Church, on
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Main Street, was built in 1860, and the cruciform edifice on Asy- lum Hill in 1906.
In April, 1830, a Unitarian Association was formed by promi- nent men at the residence of James H. Wells. The First Uni- tarian Congregational Society was organized in July, 1844, and Rev. Joseph Harrington was the first minister. The church, which was built in 1845 at the northeast corner of Asylum and Trumbull streets, was the one which was removed, stone by stone, in 1860, for building Trinity Church. In 1879 the society was reorganized and Unity Church and Hall was built on Pratt Street. Now the house of worship is on Pearl Street.
Those of Presbyterian convictions in the Congregational churches held their first assemblage in Washington Temperance Hall in 1850. In 1852 the former South Baptist Church, at the corner of Main and Sheldon streets, was bought, during the pas- torate of Rev. Thomas S. Childs. Ten years later, because musi- cal instruments had been introduced, part of the congregation left to form the United Presbyterian Church, which, however, was continued only seven years, most of the members returning. Interest being revived under the pastorate of Rev. J. Aspinwall Hodge, a new stone church was built on the corner of College (now Capitol Avenue) and Clinton Street in 1870.
This summary denotes not only the increase and variety of in- terest in religious matters during the comparatively long period of peace but also the increase in numbers and wealth and the diversification in population. Very strong evidence of this is fur- nished in the firm, constant development of the Roman Catholic Church which, despite the loyalty and high standing of many of its members in the trying times of the Revolution, had been judged more or less in the light of colonial experiences with its French representatives in Canada. New England naturally in- herited more of this criticism than the colonies further south. The first diocesan see in America was established in Baltimore in 1789. Boston was one of the four sees when in 1843 Connecti- cut and Rhode Island were made a new diocese. Hartford was designated the episcopal city and Bishop William Tyler came here in April, 1844, but in a few months obtained permission to remove the residence to the larger city of Providence. In Con-
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OLIVET BAPTIST CHURCH, HARTFORD
ASYLUM AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH, HARTFORD
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necticut there were three priests, four church buildings and about 5,000 communicants, most of them Irish but a number of them, like Bishop Tyler, New England converts from Protes- tantism.
When Rochambeau's forces were halting in East Hartford, in 1781, Abbé Robin had celebrated mass in the Colt meadows, the first service of the kind in the county. In 1813, on invitation of Rev. Dr. Strong, Rev. Dr. Matignon, a refugee from France, then stationed at Boston and stopping over on a journey to New York, had preached at the First Church on a Sunday evening. When Bishop Chevrus came here in 1823, Col. James Ward and Sam- uel Tudor had obtained permission for him to hold services in the State House. Rev. R. D. Woodley who came as the first resident priest in Connecticut, in 1828, was a nephew of Bishop Fenwick of Boston. The parish jurisdiction extended into Vermont and New Hampshire. In 1830 Rev. James Fitton was the appointed pastor.
The building Christ Church was about to replace in 1828 was moved to the north side of Talcott Street and, under the title of the Most Holy Church of the Trinity, was made the first Catholic church in the state. A parochial school and a Catholic journal were instituted, the journal to go to Philadelphia as the Catholic Herald in 1832. There was unceasing activity. A residence was built for Father Brady, a cemetery was provided at the western end of North Cemetery and temperance and literary societies organized. St. Patrick's Church at the corner of Church and Ann streets was built in 1849. A convent was established near the present cathedral in 1855, with the Sisters of Mercy in charge. James Hughes as vicar-general came from Providence in 1854. Among his first works was the building of an orphan asylum near the church, another for boys, and a parochial school. Bishop Francis P. McFarland divided the city into north and south parishes in 1859 and, the old South Side schoolhouse having been bought, Rev. Peter Kelly who had been appointed at the same time, was immediately in charge of the new parish of St. Peter's. It was in the pastorate of Rev. John Lynch, in 1865, that a stone church was built around this wooden one, and the ample provisions for a constantly growing parish have been pro- vided from time to time ever since. Bishop McFarland in 1872
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removed his residence to Hartford when the new diocese of Provi- dence was created, to embrace Rhode Island and part of Massa- chusetts, and made his home on the corner of Woodland and Col- lins streets. That summer he bought a site for the cathedral, a portion of the Morgan farm then owned by Maj. James Good- win. The cornerstone was laid the next year and the chapel com- pleted the following year, after which the parish of St. Joseph's was formed. All the other features of the great work which had been inaugurated were progressing rapidly when Bishop McFar- land, now sainted in local memory, died. October 12, 1874. The following era falls within the later review in these volumes.
The Jews are first, mentioned in the town records of 1661. The few of the faithful here in 1847 organized as the Congrega- tion Beth Israel, established their first church at the corner of Main and Wells streets and later acquired the building from which the Baptists had removed in 1831. This was named Tuoro Hall. It was on the site of the present Brown, Thomson & Com- pany building which was built in the '70s as the Cheney Build- ing, the largest and finest structure of its kind in the city for many years. The synagogue on Charter Oak Street carries on the history to the later era.
ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, HARTFORD
XXIV
FIRST LIFE INSURANCE
PRINCIPLES INVOLVED-BEGINNING OF COLT'S AND JEWELL'S PLANTS- SHARPS AND SPENCER RIFLES-WEED SEWING MACHINES-FIRST WATER SUPPLY-FIRE AND POLICE DEPARTMENTS.
In these days of marvelous facilities for quick communication and rapid transportation by land, sea and air, one may not won- der that individual men can be concerned in many enterprises, and one is prone to visualize the mid-century founders of many of the institutions today as gentlemen of comparative leisure with mind and effort directed toward some one particular thing. It cannot be harmful-other than to this or that one's personal pride-to observe that the standard for multiplicity and variety of interests, and saying nothing of the great political and eco- nomic problems of government, was at least as high and remark- able as at any time since those '30s to '60s of the nineteenth cen- tury. The list of names was short compared with what was evolved. And of what was evolved, nothing since the Constitu- tion has brought the city greater fame than insurance. It re- quired no favor of climate or commercial location; it required genius, of course, for it was a new thing, but it required also financial courage, a strict abstention from plunging and the power and will to fulfill promise.
The history of each company today has been written volumi- nously and in technical detail, marking each its own triumphal progress; the object of town and county history is to mark the still greater wonder of the blending in. The '30s to '60s show it. They show also the learning of fundamental lessons so essential to today's successful science. These are the features, with some of the leading names, that should here be stressed, the story of the origin of fire insurance and the first two companies having already been told.
The Protection was incorporated in 1825. Like the other stock companies, only enough cash capital need be paid in to pro-
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vide equipment and grease the wheels; the balance was paid in notes. Premiums could cover the losses, which were never heavy or bunched; little reserve was required, for staunch banks were under the same control as these companies; so the profits could go forth at once as dividends! The start was auspicious, among the directors being such men as Solomon Porter, W. W. Ells- worth, James B. Hosmer, Nathan Morgan and Roderick Terry, with Ellsworth as president. Lawyer Thomas C. Perkins was secretary. David F. Robinson and Eliphalet Averill were later presidents. Mark Howard worked out a plan for remote agen- cies. Heavy losses were met, but in 1854 there had to be sur- render to wrong methods.
Mutual companies were being formed around the country. The idea was satisfactory till members had to be assessed; then the company mortality was excessive. The Hartford County Mu- tual was organized in 1831, David Grant president and Charles Shepard secretary. In cases of necessity they did not assess, they found the money-and they were cautious in their risks. The company continues today, more popular than ever and one of the few mutuals to survive. D. D. Erving was successively secre- tary and president from 1863 till his death in 1925, a record unexcelled in the country. The City Fire took a charter as a mutual company but changed to stock and organized in 1853, Ralph Gillett accepting the presidency. Leverett Brainard came here to be secretary, resigning in 1858 to enter the partnership of Case, Lockwood & Company, publishers. The company kept in good condition but the Chicago fire was its undoing.
The dangers of the hand-to-mouth methods caused a reorgan- ization of the Hartford Fire in 1835. Eliphalet Terry, cousin of Nathaniel, was made president. That same year came the New York fire. Many companies announced their inability to pay. With the thermometer below zero, Terry drove to New York in an open sleigh during the night following the fire and proclaimed that his company would pay every claim in cash. The money taken in for new premiums was equal to the amount paid out. There was the same fortitude when the company lost nearly $2,000,000 in the Chicago fire, once again in the Boston fire the next year (1872), and finally in the San Francisco horror when the loss was $350,000,000. Hezekiah Huntington and Timothy
JAMES GOODWIN
First president of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company
GUY R. PHELPS
President of the Connecti- cut Mutual Life Insurance Company 1866-69, and conspicuous in life insur- ance in early days
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THE CONNECTICUT MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, HARTFORD
AP TTAT .
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C. Allyn were the presidents of this company preceding the coming of George L. Chase of the later period. The Aetna was paying an 18 per cent dividend when the New York fire occurred. Staking his own fortune, President Thomas K. Brace encour- aged his associates till the last claim was paid, as was to be the case in the subsequent disasters, for the stock-note system had been ended forever in 1849, and in the early 1900s the capi- tal was to be $5,000,000, the largest in the world at that time. The company was true to that thoroughness which was mentioned in the account of its earlier days. Edwin G. Ripley who suc- ceeded Mr. Brace in the presidency of 1857 was among the lead- ers in establishing the city reservoir idea. T. A. Alexander, L. J. Hendee and Jotham Goodnow followed till William B. Clark was promoted to the office in 1892.
Of the fire insurance companies that survived the old stock- note days, the Connecticut Fire was third in order, organized in 1850 with Benjamin W. Greene as president and resolved to take only select risks. Again, in the list of directors, are names asso- ciated with those of various companies, industries, banks, philan- thropies and public affairs-James B. Hosmer, Julius Catlin, David F. Robinson, Joseph Trumbull (governor in 1849), Har- vey Seymour, Edwin D. Morgan, James Dixon (senator in 1857- 1869), Edmund G. Howe, Tertius Wadsworth, Timothy M. Allyn, John L. Bunce and Edson Fessenden. Martin Bennett's name was added to this notable list when he became secretary in 1860.
The Phoenix (fire) joined the group in 1854, through the efforts of Henry Kellogg of East Hartford who had been a book- keeper in the Connecticut Mutual and would accept only the sec- retaryship in the new company, of which Nathaniel H. Morgan, head of the Hartford Trust Company, was chosen presiding officer till Simeon L. Loomis could be called from New York where he had gone to help establish the Home. Much of the busi- ness of the defunct Protection came to the Phoenix. At the time of the Chicago fire Governor Marshall Jewell, a director, went to that city and, mounting a packing box, declared that the company would pay every claim; the announcement, heralded through the press, restored confidence. There was similar evidence of de- pendability at Boston and at San Francisco.
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