USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928, Volume I > Part 37
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In connection with the main points already told, there were many incidents, throughout the '90s and later, in the problem of the bridge. One notable one was in 1892 when a man named Dupre built a sloop above the bridge and demanded the opening of the draw which then was out of order and was closed, looking to the building of a new draw and hopefully of a new bridge. The incident was seized upon to open up the whole subject of up- river navigation. The government sent Col. D. C. Houston to hold a hearing. People to the north argued strongly that future possibilities should not be cut off by a drawless structure, and in this the street board, the bridge commission itself, Mayor Dwight and the Board of Trade were in accord with them. Of course that must mean a new bridge for the old one was too feeble to endure the strain of operating a draw. Its capacity was only eight tons; fifteen years previously a load of stone had broken through; streets cars were now passing over it, and altogether there was cause for alarm. The government's attitude was that
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there should be a draw, even though few sloops should come that way; but this certainly implied a stronger structure. Mr. Dupre and his boat were instrumental in arousing sentiment and in pre- paring the public mind for what must come. The bridge was officially condemned in 1894.
Neither for newcomer nor for posterity can one convey a worthy impression of the chief events or institutions of his com- munity by taking them out of their settings. Nor yet may the full value of changes and developments from time to time be apparent without the background of other local activities. A bundle of twigs or a bunch of tulips tied tightly together sacrifice rather than conserve the fine in nature; there must be suggestion of the marvel and beauty of growth.
So with the parks which have brought Hartford so much of her fame. They began with the old South Green, a commons from earliest times. Village Street Green was designated in 1834, one-sixth of an acre of comely trees. The story of the evolution of Bushnell Park from a railroad scrap-yard in the '50s is enjoyed most by those who search out the contemporaneous life of the city, as has been given in these pages.
And now was to come a remarkable fulfilment of visions long entertained by the more thoughtful citizens-now, in the '90s, and like the Atheneum improvements and the philanthropic in- stitutions, out of a community beginning to throb with industry and also with what industry was bringing, by way of population, by way of getting about and by way of income. One senses the need and likewise the joy of fulfilment only by noting the preced- ing and subsequent content.
Because of the rush of events it sometimes is forgotten that in 1891 the park commissioners were perfecting a plan for a chain of parks around the city-one at the south end, one on the north branch of Park River, and one in the north part. They estimated the cost of from 250 to 500 acres would be about $500,- 000 and prophesied that the worth to the city would be at least $5,000,000. Arguments were about to be made unnecessary.
Much of the credit for the remarkable park era of the '90s is due to the Board of Trade which, as has been noted, was organized in 1888. It had not magnified industrial and commercial de-
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THE HARTFORD GOLF CLUB, HARTFORD
ONE OF MANY WALKS IN THE ROSE GARDENS, ELIZABETH PARK, HARTFORD
سعيد
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velopment to the forgetfulness or detriment of aesthetics and whatever might tend toward the betterment of Hartford as a city to live in. High valuation was placed upon the city's natural assets and upon reminders of the historic and literary past. The members of the board were representative of that large body of citizens who, for another thing, took pride in the reputation that Hartford stood pre-eminent for its fine and carefully kept lawns. To bring their organization more efficiency under the law, they incorporated in 1893. At that very time-and perhaps with the co-ordination of his close friend Henry C. Robinson-Charles M. Pond was being impelled to confer with just such an organization.
Mr. Pond (1837-1895) was a son of President Charles F. Pond of the New York, New Haven & Hartford road and grand- son of Caleb Pond, once one of Hartford's well known financiers. He himself was treasurer of the road for several years and in 1870 was treasurer of the state. He had served as representa- tive and senator and he had organized the Hartford Trust Com- pany. He had married Elizabeth Aldrich of New York, his own birthplace. During her lifetime their home had been the sightly and beautiful Prospect Hill farm, the acres running well back from Prospect Avenue, on the high land west of the city, into West Hartford. This estate had been willed to him by his father. Soon after the incorporation of the Board of Trade, Mr. Pond wrote to President J. M. Allen on the subject of more parks and his plan to give the city his own land of ninety acres, to bear the name of his wife. Terms of a will were drawn up in conferences with Rev. Francis Goodwin, Leverett Brainard, Judson H. Root, Henry C. Robinson, Charles E. Gross, Frederick S. Brown and J. B. Bunce who were the board's Committee on Public Affairs. Mr. Pond died August 30, 1894. Relatives contested the will but a compromise was effected by which the city received the land and in addition $105,000 to make it what it is-one of the most beautiful parks in the country and with a rose garden which na- tional committees of floriculturists have several times declared ranked first. .
It was after reading Mr. Pond's will that Colonel Pope con- ferred with his counsel, Mr. Gross, concerning another large park, saying that "much of the success of any manufacturing business depends upon the health, happiness and orderly life of its em- ployees and in a like manner a city thrives best by caring and
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providing for the wellbeing of its citizens." As has been said, the colonel was then acquiring the Weed plant which had been making his bicycles under contract and, with eye to the future, had bought much other open land, including the Bartholomew farm south of Park Street and near its junction with Laurel Street. This farm he would give to the city, but in order that his employees on Capitol Avenue might get the full benefit, he would make a condition that the city add the land along the south and east side of Park River from the farm to Capitol Avenue, where the Pope memorial fountain now stands. That land was then an adjunct of the property of the Watkinson Juvenile Asy- lum and Farm School, of which Rev. Francis Goodwin was presi- dent; of the Hartford Orphan Asylum and of the Hartford Real Estate Improvement Company of which J. L. Howard was presi- dent. Members of the Board of Trade were in consultation, the proposition was given to Mayor Leverett Brainard and the city approved.
But this could not be brought about until the park board was reorganized. It was then under the control of the city govern- ment with no independent power. An amendment to the city charter was secured by which the board obtained more freedom of action and, with the mayor as a member ex-officio, self-perpet- uating. For the most part the new members were the same as the old; they were Francis Goodwin, Sherman W. Adams, Gur- don W. Russell, Rev. Edwin Pond Parker, Rev. William DeLoss Love and Herman T. Hull.
On the day the Board of Trade held its special meeting to arrange for the charter amendment, Mrs. Elizabeth H. Colt, widow of Colonel Colt, expressed to her counsel, Mr. Gross, her desire to aid the board in its work for parks which eventuated in her providing in her will that the city should have all her land from Wethersfield Avenue to the Connecticut River excepting one piece which had been sold by one of her agents and which the city obtained by purchase. The Colt residence, Armsmear, was re- served as a home for the widows of Episcopal clergymen and others. The gift, which was formally presented to the city in 1916, after Mrs. Colt's death, included the statue of Colonel Colt near the lake, the other valuable statuary and the gardens. Many tennis courts and baseball diamonds, a skating rink and pavilion
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HENRY KENEY (1806-1894)
KENEY MEMORIAL TOWER, HARTFORD
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and other features have been provided so that it is one of the chief recreation resorts in the city.
On the eve of the announcement of the gift of Elizabeth Park and just after Colonel Pope's gift, the public learned that in his will Henry Keney had provided for one of the largest parks in New England. Henry Keney (1806-1894) was the son of Joseph Keney who came to Hartford and set up a grocery store near the present corner of Main Street and Ely Street, in which business Henry succeeded him with Alva Gilman as his first partner. In 1830 his brother Walter (1808-1889) succeeded Mr. Gilman and the one sign, H. & W. Keney, remained over the door till Henry's death, which marked the end of the oldest mercantile establish- ment in the state. At different times, Ebenezer Roberts and J. N. Goodwin were in the firm, and after Walter's death, William Tucker and H. H. Roberts when the firm name was Keney, Rob- erts & Co. Henry was vice president of the Hartford Fire Insur- ance Company in 1885, and also of the Farmers and Mechanics National Bank and of the Hartford Carpet Company. His invest- ment of $216 in the Hartford Fire in 1841 was worth over $80,- 000 in 1891 and cash dividends had been $125,000.
The will gave large sums to Trinity College and to all the lead- ing charitable and philanthropic institutions of Hartford, with the residuum for the purchase of a park in the north part of the city. A large piece of finest woodland extending to the Windsor town line and known as the "Ten-Mile Woods" was bought, to- gether with pasture-land, a total of 673 acres, and turned into a driving or country park. The committee of the Board of Trade designated to devise the park system consisted of Rev. Francis Goodwin, H. C. Robinson and Charles E. Gross. Mr. Keney also gave the old homestead with the direction that the trustees should erect a suitable memorial to the mercantile business so long con- ducted there-according to the reading of the will. A stately clock tower was erected, surrounded by an acre of park.
The dream of a great circle of parks, accessible to people of every section of the city, had been almost realized within a short period. To help in its completion and especially to place some- thing near the more congested part of the city, the park board bought land along the river north of the great bridge and estab- lished Riverside Park. It is where the Indian village was when 37-VOL. 1
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the settlers came and covers part of the "Soldiers Field" given to the men who went out for the Pequot war.
Then in 1901 the last possible link was added, by purchase, when the whole of two miles of meadowland and the slope from Wethersfield and Maple avenues, in the southern part of the city, was taken for Goodwin Park. Here are some of the finest elms in the Connecticut valley, great groves of trees, lakes and a public golf course as also at Keney Park today. Despite his protests, the board named the park after its president.
Rev. Francis Goodwin (1839-1923) was a son of Major James Goodwin. After beginning in the drygoods business, the memo- ries of his mother's teachings caused him to enter Berkeley Divin- ity School where he was graduated in 1863. He had served as rector of Holy Trinity Church of Middletown, in charge of Trin- ity Church in Wethersfield and as rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Hartford when in 1878 he was chosen first archdeacon of Hartford. This position he held till 1888 when he resigned to join with J. J. Goodwin in the administration of his father's estate. This involved the care of a large amount of real estate, some of it undeveloped, and thereby brought him a fuller appreciation of the possibilities in beautifying the city. His work for the Atheneum, of which he was president, has been noted ; he also was a trustee of the Watkinson Reference Library and president of the Watkinson Farm School, and had been a member of the park board since 1881. He was the father of William B., Charles A. and Rev. James Goodwin.
Besides the major parks which have now been described, the city is dotted with smaller parks and playgrounds. To mention the more prominent: Franklin Green, at the junction of Frank- lin and Maple avenues, was laid out in 1876. Rocky Ridge Park, twenty-eight acres, is along the crest of the old trap-rock quarry, near Trinity College, with a sweeping western view and furnish- ing opportunity to study glacier-scarred rocks. Lafayette Square is at the junction of Washington, Lafayette and Bucking- ham streets; on it is a statue of Columbus, given by the Italian- American citizens who now are desirous of having the name changed to Columbus Square while others would retain the name Lafayette, have the Columbus statue moved and a reproduction placed there of the equestrian statue of Lafayette, made from the model which the famous sculptor, Paul Bartlett, gave to Connec-
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ticut, his native state, after he had completed the statue given by American school children to be set up in Paris. Tunnel Park is some more than half an acre at the junction of Main Street and Albany and Windsor avenues, under which run the main tracks of the New York, New Haven & Hartford road which leased the property to the city for a nominal sum, beginning in 1874.
Campfield Memorial Grounds will increase in historic interest as time goes on. Since it was dedicated in 1900 it has been visited by thousands of veterans for the last time but in future generations thousands of newcomers will visit it and will recall the story of Connecticut's share in the Civil war. At Webster and Adelaide streets, on the ridge overlooking the Connecticut valley, it marks the field where in earlier times the militia regi- ments held their encampments and where, in the '60s, seven of the Connecticut regiments were assembled and prepared to go to the front. The details of those unforgetable days are given in this history's section on the Civil war. In 1893 the Legislature appropriated $1,000 to save a part of the famous field and also an appropriation to each regiment that would erect a memorial on any battlefield where it had fought. Subsequently it was agreed that, for the regiments so desiring, the appropriations should be given for a memorial in Connecticut, and it seemed fitting that the regiments that assembled here make a memorial common to all. Uniting as the Campfield Monument Association, the vet- erans responded generously to the call. John C. Barker, the owner, gave this portion of his property, through General Gilman. It was decided to erect thereon the bronze statue of Gen. Grif- fin A. Stedman, a Hartford man of Revolutionary ancestry who began as a lieutenant and was brigadier-general on the day he fell in 1864. The statue is the work of Frederick Moynihan of New York, the pedestal by Stephen Maslen of Hartford. The city gave the park-like effect to the grounds. In 1923 a tablet was placed here in memory of Maj. Thomas McManus of the Twenty-fifth, C. V., who was active in securing this memorial.
Sigourney Park Square, originally a part of the town farm and lying between Ashley, Sigourney, Sargeant and May streets, was declared a public square in 1895.
The Washington Street Triangle was laid out in 1900 at the junction of Retreat Avenue and Washington and Vernon streets. Charter Oak Memorial is a gift from the Society of Colonial
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Wars, in 1906, near the spot where the famous Charter Oak stood, at the junction of Charter Oak Avenue and Charter Oak Place, marked by a granite monument. Mrs. Augusta C. Pease, widow of Zena Pease, presented the land to the society, through its president, James J. Goodwin. Among the numerous play- grounds are the Harbison, given in 1913 by John P. Harbison, opposite Ward Place, and the George H. Day, given by the Boule- vard Park Company in 1917 and named by the Park Board in honor of one who was much interested in playgrounds. The Windsor Street playground is the latest addition to the list.
The total official valution of parks and playgrounds in 1927 was $7,088,000, Keney Park leading with $2,500,000 for the land and $25,000 for the buildings. In the '90s when four great gifts came so closely together, one could hear in some quarters the remark that the taking of so much property from the tax list and, in any instance, the imposing of the cost of maintenance would put a burden on the city that would be excessive if not un- warrantable. It is estimated today that the increased valuation of property in the vicinity of the parks themselves has covered the difference in taxes several times over and that the institutions have yielded profit beyond computation. Nevertheless, the time has come again when suggestion of other parks or memorials is met by an argument that money should go for the materially practical and for necessities.
As the city was fortunate in having the advice of the eminent landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted, when Bushnell Park was laid out, so also it was fortunate again in having the services of Theodore Wirth when it acquired Elizabeth Park, and again when George A. Parker came here to be superintendent at what time Keney Park was being prepared, and subsequently to be superintendent of all parks till his recent death. Mr. Parker, who was exemplary in all lines of citizenship, was born in Fitz- william, New Hampshire, in 1853 and had had much experience on private grounds and public estates before being called here.
Under wise management, the parks were being beautified by other gifts. In 1897 John J. Corning of New York gave the fine Corning fountain which was placed by the park board in Bushnell Park in such position as to heighten the effect of the Capitol itself as viewed from Asylum Street near the railroad station by those coming into the city by train. The work, commemorative of the
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Indians in the days when Hartford was settled, is one of the best examples of the genius and skill of J. Massey Rhind. Around the thirty-six-foot lower basin, he placed warriors and hunters, in bronze, and around the upper basins graceful Indian maidens, topping the whole, at a height of thirty feet, with a noble hart crossing a ford. The fountain is set in a mass of flower beds. The name Corning goes well back into the history of Hartford. In the First Church there is a memorial window in honor of three deacons by that name, in successive generations beginning with Ezra Corning. John B., the father of the donor of the fountain, was the son of Deacon George and was himself a member of the South Church and instrumental in forming the Pearl Street Church, now the Immanuel Congregational Church of Farming- ton Avenue. At one time he was in the drygoods business here. Interesting himself in real estate he became the owner of much valuable property on the south side of Asylum Street. Both of his sons, John J., who was a banker and broker in New York, and Frederick E., who lived in London, were born in the house still standing on Pearl Street. Mr. Corning died in 1896.
The figurehead of Admiral Farragut's flagship Hartford was given to the city through Commander Philip Hichborn, chief con- structor of the navy, and was placed in the Capitol with fitting ceremony including a parade of which the navy veteran Francis B. Allen was marshal. Also Dahlgren guns from the Hartford, procured through Senator Hawley, were mounted on the terrace in front of the Capitol. The old commons at the south end of Main Street, long known as South Green and once the favorite place for circuses, was given the name of Barnard Park in honor of the great educator whose home was across the street.
The city water system withal, delighting with its supply of pure water, not only was kept free from possible contamination by the purchase of surrounding territory but was made to vie with the parks in beauty. To this feature of the park board's work Ezra Clark (1819-1896) gave much of his thought and energy. President of the board in 1854 and from 1882 till his death, it was during his time that the chief part of the building of the works was done and he planned the park-like effects. He saw the completion of No. 6 reservoir and promoted the petition for the right to take in Salmon Brook in Granby which was
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granted by the Legislature in 1897. In business Mr. Clark was a member of the successive iron and steel firms of Watkinson & Co., Clark, Gill & Co., and Ezra Clark & Co., was president of the National Screw Company and held many positions of trust. He was the father of Charles Hopkins Clark, long the editor of the Courant.
One vile spot in the very heart of historic Hartford had come now to appear to all to be a burning disgrace. It was Gold Street, formerly known as Nichols Lane. Gold Street extends for a mere half block from Main Street at the corner by the Center (First) Congregational Church to Lewis and Wells streets to the west, on the bank of Park River, the eastern boundary of Bush- nell Park, and connecting with Jewell Street for direct route to the railroad station. The disreputable buildings along the north side, crowded with a shiftless sort of humanity and allowing only from fifteen to thirty feet for roadway, backed against a rude wall marking the southern line of the ancient cemetery where sleep Hooker, Haynes, Stone and others of the first settlers whose names are familiar in American history,-in the rear of the beautiful edifice of the church they founded. As elsewhere de- scribed, it was the second of the settlement's burying grounds and the only one till 1800; no interments had been made there since 1846; shut in as it was, it seldom was visited and the old stones were in disarray. On clotheslines over the cemetery waved the variegated "washings" of the denizens of the rookeries.
That the conditions were intolerable it required but a few words from the pastor of the church, Rev. Dr. Walker, to reveal. Mayor Brainard called the matter to the attention of the Common Council in his annual message. Ruth Wyllys Chapter of the Daughters of the Revolution, under the leadership of Mrs. John M. Holcombe, gave the citizens an opportunity to assist, and the Herculean task of cleaning up was accomplished by 1900 when the restored grounds were placed in charge of the park board. The street was widened to the church line, the cemetery and its stones were made to bear evidence of care and respect, the wall was replaced with a handsome iron fence with an appropriate gateway given by two descendants of Governor John Haynes, and a bronze tablet was placed near it by the D. A. R. in commemora- tion of what Emily Seymour Goodwin Holcombe had done. The
ENTRANCE TO KENEY PARK, HARTFORD
THE ANCIENT CEMETERY
Here lie the remains of founders of the Connecticut Colony and framers of the world's first written constitution
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city government decreed that there should be no more burials there except of Mr. and Mrs. Holcombe.
Today the grounds are adjoined by the beautiful "Center Church House of the First Church of Christ," given in 1908 in memory of Francis B. Cooley by his family, Mrs. Cooley, Francis R. Cooley, Sarah Cooley Hall, Charles P. Cooley and Clara Cooley Jacobus-one of the most useful institutions in the city-and al- together it is impossible for modern Hartford to conceive what the surroundings once were.
Out-door recreation was becoming more general, for both sexes. Bicycle clubs were formed not only for racing but for trips into the country, hitherto so far away. And golf was tak- ing a strong hold. The Hartford Golf Club was started in 1896 with a made-over barn on Kenyon Street for a clubhouse and the eastern part of Elizabeth Park for part of the links. The sur- veyor's rod already was busy there and the club pushed westward to its present location on the hill north of the park. When its fine new building was burned it rebuilt on a still more comprehen- sive scale in 1909. Today it is again feeling the march of resi- dential progress and extends its grounds farther to the north and west. Distance was being rapidly eliminated as a factor in 1899, when automobiles were coming on in greater numbers, and one of Farmington's stately mansions was made over into clubhouse of colonial design for the Country Club, with hills and meadows for the golf links.
Looking into the future-with faith-the Twentieth Century Club was organized in 1892. Its purpose was somewhat sugges- tive of that of the old lyceums. Not from the platform in a cheerless hall but at the dinner table in a well-lighted room speak- ers from abroad as well as from home delivered not lectures but talks on the glowing topics of the hour. As it began, so it has continued, with increasing strength.
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