USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928, Volume I > Part 38
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Down by the river, the surprisingly few who appreciated the boating possibilities which Hartford still does not value at their full worth-this Rhine-like river opening the way and inviting on to the superb Long Island Sound and all New England's coast- the surprisingly few were establishing the Hartford Yacht Club which later was to have its attractive clubhouse across the river instead of near a coal dock where the original one was. The
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Canoe Club was not long in following. Till a fire dismantled it the yachtsmen also maintained a house near the river-mouth, at Fenwick. Caldwell Colt's famous yacht Dauntless lay off Essex, the elm-shaded hamlet as quaint today as when the British burned its shipping in the War of 1812. The boat was the scene of many boatsmen's parties and eventually gave its name to the club of Hartford and other men who made one of the choicest and most historic old houses, close by the riverside, their own.
Something besides a clubhouse was dedicated on staid old Prospect Street-the "Ministers' Lane" of Hooker's day and un- til these '90s the place of residence for several of the leaders in Hartford history. The dignified home of Mrs. Edward Perkins, who was building on Forest Street, had given place to the digni- fied Hunt Memorial, to be one of what now is "Club Row"-the Hartford Club, the Hunt Memorial, the Elks, the Knights of Co- lumbus. The dedication was also the observance of the fiftieth anniversary of the Hartford Medical Society which was conceived in 1846 but not organized till later. One of the founders of the society was the greatly revered Dr. Ebenezer K. Hunt. His widow left to the society $20,000 to realize her husband's ideal when in 1889, after the society had been chartered, a building fund was started. The gift was conditional on the society's pro- viding a site. It was provided with zest. George G. Williams and his wife, Jeanette Hunt Williams, contributed $20,000. The address of the occasion was delivered by President D. C. Gilman of Johns Hopkins, that institution which was the first in America to depart from the beaten path of the classics and introduce labor- atories. In his address he spoke of Hartford's distinction "for its sagacious instruction of the deaf and dumb, for its wise treat- ment of the insane, for its discovery of anesthesia, for its excel- lent hospital, for its advocacy of sound legislation and wise sani- tary regulations." In 1912 the club built a library addition.
A number of patriotic, fraternal and social organizations had their inception in this decade. Prominent among them were Ruth Wyllys Chapter, D. A. R., in 1892; Martha Pitkin Wolcott Chapter in East Hartford in 1898; the Republican Club in 1894; the Society of Mayflower Descendants in 1896; the Society of the War of 1812 in the same year; the Woman's Club in 1896; the Young Italian American Association, courts of the Foresters of
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THE TOWN AND COUNTY (WOMEN'S) CLUB, HARTFORD Formerly the residence of Theodore Lyman, Woodland Street
PROSPECT STREET CLUB HOUSES, HARTFORD
Left to right: Hartford Club portico (faintly); Hunt Memorial (Hartford Medical Society); Elks; and Knights of Columbus
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America and of the Independent Order of Foresters, Olympia Camp of the Modern Woodmen of America and others.
Altogether, approach to the close of the century was marked by peaceful, happy increase of wealth and population. Certain high financing here as elsewhere, which our story has led us to anticipate somewhat in one line of industry, had not begun to have effect. Throughout the country districts fields were smiling with good harvests-barring an occasional drought year-and farmers in organization were studying to meet more effectively the fast growing demands occasioned by the rapid increase of their closest markets, the industrial cities of the state. In com- mon with the nation as a whole, industry had felt the benefit of a protective tariff so strong that at this moment the wiser states- men were discussing the plan of reciprocity with certain other more advanced nations. In retrospect one sees that at no period was there more evidence of the benefit of long-continued peace; the war cloud on the horizon was noticed by none of the busy people.
Socially, there was-looking back upon it-a rather humorous breaking of old traditions, a possibly awkward adaptation to new conditions, but beneath all that, a warmth of heart and hospitality. In the merry circle of "all hands round"-as the "prompter" of the older days would "call off" at the country dances-it was necessary, as it were, to drop the hand of the next one "on the right" long enough to let in a new arrival. This could not be done in New England without a moment of cool surprise, but forthwith the enlarging circle swung on as merrily as before. Social oddities there were, as in each generation since the days of the exclusive tavern balls. The ancient but ever up-to-date Courant appointed a society reporter, whose name was known only in the innermost sanctum, to furnish a column each week. "Pendennis"-for that was the name under the Thackeranian paragraphs-was lamenting that there was "abroad in this other- wise courageous town a dread and fear in regard to giving din- ners." And : "Our present methods of entertaining in public halls is attended with considerable embarassment from the fact that matrons do not matronize and patronesses do not patronize." The chaperones went about the hall, having good times by them- selves to the neglect of their proteges.
Dancing parties called "germans"-copy-readers never knew
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whether to capitalize the word-were long the vogue, where first the ladies and, next dance, the men took "favors" from the table and using them as a symbol of faith went along the room-sides, each selecting his or her companion for that particular waltz or schottisch. As soon slap both man and lady in the face as "cut in" on a dancing couple at any dance. Amateur theatricals, as reported in the press, brought in large sums for charity. Women's big hats in the theater were a constant target for "Pendennis," safe in his (or her) disguise. Then in April, 1898, said "Pen- dennis" of a "sound of revelry" as incongruous as that before Waterloo described by Byron: "Very rarely are there crowded together so many entertainments as have been given and are to be given last week and this for local charities and enterprise. It is somewhat bewildering to the public-spirited person who wishes to patronize everything. The flurry will pass by, however, and we may be sure that everything is good and deserves attention."
In church architecture, graceful spires of colonial days were giving place to Gothic towers, indicative of a medieval influence. One that was pleasingly suggestive of Old World design was the rebuilt and enlarged brown-stone edifice of the popular Trinity Episcopal parish on Sigourney Street, consecrated in 1899, six years after Rev. Ernest DeF. Miel had come as rector. From the organization in 1859, a devoted membership had given con- stant evidence of its respect and love for the church and it had been blessed with generous support. Increasingly necessity has always meant added beauty, as exemplified by the rectory and the chapel and parish house, memorial to Lucy Morgan Goodwin. Chimes were later placed in the tower.
The Pearl Street Congregational Church, feeling the pressure of business in the center, sold to the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company its edifice built in 1852, removed to the cor- ner of Farmington Avenue and Woodland Street and there in 1899 dedicated a new home which took the name of Farmington Avenue Congregational Church. This was during the pastorate of Rev. William DeLoss Love. The Park Congregational ( Doctor Burton's) sold its edifice at the corner of Asylum and High streets, where the large Capitol office building now stands, and the two congregations were united in 1914, as the Immanuel Church, under the pastorate of Rev. Dr. Charles F. Carter.
In 1894 another name was added to the list of distinguished
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TRINITY EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SIGOURNEY STREET, HARTFORD
IMMANUEL CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, HARTFORD
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clergymen. Doctor Walker felt compelled at last to yield to the weakness of flesh and was made pastor emeritus, but his activities were only intermittently diminished and his pen was not idle. To assume the duties relinquished, Rev. Charles M. Lamson was called. Doctor Lamson (1843-1899) on his mother's side was a descendant of Capt. Aaron Cook who was prominent in Windsor's early history. Educated at Williston Seminary, an instructor at Amherst and a student of theology at Halle in Germany, he had been pastor in Brockton, Worcester and St. Johnsbury, and already was prominent among the New England clergy. Amherst gave him the degree of doctor of divinity. His peculiar qualities were well demonstrated when he was chosen to be head of the American Board of Foreign Missions. For a considerable time the board had been torn by party strife and the outlook was dark. Doctor Lamson's conservatism appealed to one party and his broad sympathies to the other with the result that lasting peace was restored and his name was revered. His years here were too brief for him to make the deep impression on the community altogether which most of his predecessors had made, but the devotion of his parish was well expressed in the memorial services at his death.
Among the people of foreign extraction the church interest that was marked in the '80s was continued. The Danish Evan- gelical Lutheran Church was dedicated in 1891; the German Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart in 1892; the German Evan- gelical Lutherans and the missionaries of LaSallette were organ- izing at the same time; the Roman Catholic Church of the Immac- ulate Conception was begun 1894, and also the Danish-Norwegian Congregational; the Rumanian Synagogue was built on Market Street; in 1898 the Italian Catholic and the following year the Swedish Methodist Emanuel began their edifices.
38-VOL. 1
XXXII
COMBINED MORAL STRENGTH
ST. JOSEPH'S CATHEDRAL CONSECRATED-ST. FRANCIS HOSPITAL-UNIT- ING FOR BATTLE AGAINST VICE-PROGRESS OF Y. M. C. A .- THE OPEN HEARTH.
For the average man who dwelt in Hartford in the '90s there is not much either in personal recollection or in compilation of activities to make him appreciate that the country as a whole was experiencing a tremor which many thought would disturb the very foundations. The purchasing power of the dollar was decreasing, the cry of the far West was growing louder, section- alism was more apparent and there were actual grounds for grave apprehension felt elsewhere. Our local history for this period loses much of its force if, by narration of sundry details, it does not show the existence of a firm faith-not worked up for the occasion but as a kind of inheritance,-a kind of inheritance which newcomers were accepting for their own. Religion was a holding power. Discouragements there had to be in individual churches and sects, but a review of the entirety from the present point of vantage reveals the actual progress.
The leaders in the Roman Catholic diocese sought everywhere the best for their followers; nothing was too good for them. Men who had been laborers, and especially the children of the earlier comers, had profited by the privileges and advantages this country offered. The mass of them had been thrifty and sober-minded. Their places in manual labor were now being filled by new immi- gration and from different countries. Every year it was more possible for the leaders to plan advancement in keeping with the spirit of the whole community. The growing cathedral on Farm- ington Avenue and the planting of a hospital were marks of this.
The consecration of St. Joseph's Cathedral, in the town of Thomas Hooker, had a significance not fully appreciated by thou- sands from all parts of the state who thronged the completed
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ST. JOSEPH'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL, HARTFORD
ST. FRANCIS HOSPITAL, COLLINS STREET ENTRANCE, HARTFORD
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splendid structure on May 8, 1892, nor by the other thousands of on-lookers. It was a significance to be comprehended only by con- templation of history since the June day in 1636 when Hooker emerged upon the banks of the river out of the wilderness. The steps of progress since Bishop McFarland conceived the idea and in 1872 bought part of the old Morgan property as a site for cathedral, episcopal residence and convent and since his successor, Father Galberry, broke ground in 1876 and the basement was dedicated in 1878, have been noted. The building had been pub- licly opened on the return of Bishop McMahon (1835-1893) from Europe in November, 1891. This was the bishop who, born in New Brunswick, educated in Rome and with a record of chaplain service in the war, had been appointed vicar-general by Bishop Hendrickson when Providence became a separate see in 1870, and he received the degree of D. D. from Rome. After service at New Bedford, Mass., he had been chosen for the see at Hartford to succeed Bishop Galberry and had been consecrated in 1879. The cathedral had been his first work, but while putting it through he had organized forty-eight new parishes, dedicated seventy new churches and established sixteen convents and sixteen schools. The cathedral, built by plans from P. C. Keeley of Brooklyn, N. Y., was erected largely by the sacrifice of his own income and the voluntary contributions from all parts of the diocese. These consecration services in themselves, attended by distinguished clergy from various places and by a multitude of people, were most imposing. Spires were to be built above the massive towers but at the time for them, tests made of the underlying stratum of ground forbade. The chimes were installed in 1914.
Three years later the Roman Catholic Church of the Immacu- late Conception, on the corner of Park and Hungerford streets, was dedicated, today one of the largest churches in the city.
The times called for another hospital. Busy industry and swifter transportation were claiming their victims; typhoid, diph- theria (especially in Parkville, the southwestern suburb out beyond Glenwood which the new factories were giving strength to) and other ills which were to find their masters in the next generation were working havoc seemingly to be perpetual. The Ladies of Charity, encouraged by Bishop Tierney, inaugurated a hospital campaign, a location was secured on Woodland Street and in 1897 St. Francis Hospital was opened under the charge
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of the Sisters of St. Joseph with Sister A. Valencia superin- tendent. Five months later, in the first annual report, Dr. John O'Flaherty, president of the medical staff, which included some of the foremost physicians of the city, said: "The wisdom and need of such an institution I think is established beyond any question of doubt, from the loyal support and endorsement it has received from the majority of the profession in our city and from those in surrounding towns in the county, and as it is not intended to interfere in any particular way with the work of the older hos- pital, but is supplying a long felt void in our city, I feel assured that it will grow in favor and receive the support and endorse- ment of the profession at large, and the approval of the vast majority of the best people of our city and state." Doctor O'Fla- herty had the evidence of this before his death in 1904. The hos- pital was incorporated in 1899 and the Training School for Nurses was started. By 1900 another building was ready for use, in 1901 it was included among the hospitals entitled to receive state appropriation and in 1906 a new building was completed, increasing the accommodations from the original thirty patients to 120 and with a number of private rooms.
Inspired by the bishop, and after his death in 1908 by Bishop Nilan, ably seconded by Chancellor John G. Murray, by all the clergy and a progressive directorate, more buildings were erected, the Russ and Taintor properties on Woodland Street and the Wolff property on Collins Street were secured for better accom- modation of nurses and internes, in 1917 the large wing was ready for occupancy, and in 1920 the fine extension, 212 by 50 feet, was completed, giving an Ashley Street entrance hardly less effective than that into the administration building on Col- lins Street. When the hospitals of the country were standardized, St. Francis ranked in Class A, an attainment which itself tells of the amount of devotion and hard work on the part of the sup- porters of the institution. In 1926 the Woman's Auxiliary was formed, with Anna Prior Emmett president, to help make the burden lighter. In the hospital's first five months 314 patients received treatment; in the year 1926, almost 10,000. Mother Valencia was still treasurer and Dr. John F. Dowling was presi- dent of the large staff. There were fifteen free-bed funds, and the Frank C. Sumner, Mary W. Case, Silas Chapman, Jr., and John Ahern invested funds.
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ST. PETER'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, HARTFORD Church and buildings on homestead grounds of Dr. Henry Barnard
CHURCH OF THE SACRED HEART, HARTFORD
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Bishop Michael Tierney (1839-1908) came with his family from Ireland to Norwalk. Educated at St. Thomas' College in Montreal and at Troy, he entered the priesthood in Providence. Later he was located at New New London, Stamford and Hartford (St. Peter's parish) where he built St. Peter's Convent and was in charge of the school and chapel of the cathedral. He went to New Britain in 1883 where he built a fine church on Main Street, and was recalled here to be bishop in 1894. His death was deeply felt by the entire community.
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Periodically, special effort was being made to overcome sundry evils springing from intemperance and indifference to moral standards. The city ranked well among other cities but it was felt by the public-spirited that it should rank better. Thomas E. Murphy, the magnetic temperance lecturer, devout believer in personal influence, held a series of interesting meetings in 1893, the effect of which was encouraging. The times had developed another energetic worker but of a somewhat different type,- Arba Lankton, one whose field was limited to the railroad trains and the street corners. He was known by the traveling public as "Hartford's pop-corn man," and his basket of bags vanished quickly when he hurried through the car aisles or cried his wares on the streets. He had begun his open-air meetings as early as 1856 and continued them till he caught his death-cold in 1905. Of the society he formed he himself was all of the officers. Into it he turned pretty nearly all the money he acquired, including not a few subscriptions, to use in his warfare upon alcohol and tobacco, his chief ammunition being his own little leaflets and his membership cards and pledges which were signed by thousands. Each year's published report showed an exact balance of receipts and expenditures with surplus zero. Always on the move, obliv- ious to laughter or ridicule, he was respected alike by the men of affairs and the dregs of humanity, and not a few became better citizens through his influence.
It was in 1894 that a group of prominent citizens came together, confident that the desired improvement in conditions could better be brought about by organized work. At a meeting at which the first City Club of Hartford was formed-not for
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social enjoyment-Lieutenant Governor Ernest Cady presided and Archibald A. Welch was secretary. The signers of the con- stitution and by-laws were such men as William Waldo Hyde, Arthur L. Shipman, Charles Hopkins Clark, Charles E. Gross, James P. Andrews, John M. Holcombe, Wilbur F. Gordy, Archi- bald A. Welch, Louis R. Cheney, John M. Taylor, George C. F. Williams, Professor F. S. Luther (later president of Trinity Col- lege), W. I. Twitchell, Col. William C. Skinner and others whose names are conspicuous in Hartford's up-building. Like the "Com- mittee of Five" in the churches, they gave themselves to research and study, and while as an organization they did not continue down the years, their ability from that day to this to advise and assist in the various features of uplift then being inaugurated was much greater.
The Charity Organization, in 1890, was development from the needs of the hour. It has been seen that Hartford fared better than many other cities in the period of national discontent that was coming on and which both natural conditions and erroneous legislation were to engender. Hartford began to analyze the problems as soon as they appeared. And one of them was how to aid intelligently instead of wastefully as was the first tendency. Expenditures of city and individuals for out-door relief were run- ning on into large sums, and children in families who could pre- sent orders and have them filled, without investigation, were growing up to think that that was the way to get a living. Col. Jacob L. Greene, president of the Connecticut Mutual Life, was president of this organization of careful students of the situation.
In cooperation was the "Committee of Five," headed by Rev. John J. McCook. Going exhaustively into the subject, he gathered the statistics which showed that the United States was expending more per capita on unorganized giving of alms than any other nation, that Connecticut led the United States in this and that Hartford led Connecticut. The report of the committee became a textbook in the study of charity in public institutions.
Of the many places where the record of Professor McCook's career might properly be given in the history of the last forty years, this may be as suitable as any, for it was here that his zeal- ous endeavor for his fellowman very distinctly began to attract the attention of a wide public. He was of the family known in Civil war times as the "fighting McCooks," so many of them were
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active in the war. Born in New Lisbon, O., in 1843, he was a brother of Gen. Anson G. McCook of that state, and he himself left his books at Jefferson College to go out as a lieutenant in the First Virginia, U. S. V. When he returned to his studies, it was at Trinity where he was graduated in 1863. After a course in medicine, he decided to study for the ministry and, graduating at Berkeley Divinity School in Middletown, he was made priest in 1867. That school gave him the degree of D. D. in 1901 and Trinity that of LL. D. in 1910, at which college he so long was a professor. Following a year as rector of St. John's in Detroit, he accepted the position of rector of St. John's in East Hartford and continued as such till his death in 1926. In addition to his devotion to his parish and his progressive work which endeared him to Trinity, he was never sparing of his energies for advancing the interests of his local communities and of the state. He was president of the Trinity Board of Fellows from 1915, for several years chairman of the High School Committee in Hartford, presi- dent of the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Reformatory in 1895-7, was one of the commissioners on penal legislation and during the World war was a member of the State Council of Defense.
The plan of organized charity was so successful that in 1894 David I. Green (1864-1925) was called here to act as superin- tendent. He was born in Independence, N. Y., was graduated at Alfred University in 1885 and obtained the degree of M. A. at Johns Hopkins. Especially fitted for this position he continued till 1918 when he accepted the position of professor of economics at Kenyon College.
The United Jewish Charities of Hartford was organized, with similar and most effective intent ever since, in 1891. The Roman Catholic churches found solution for some of their problems and a means to greater efficiency when the Ladies of Charity was organized in 1897 in connection with St. Francis Hospital. The first Board of Charity Commissioners was appointed by Mayor Miles B. Preston in 1896 and William W. Stillman, clerk of the Board of Selectmen, was appointed superintendent, continuing in office till his death in 1925.
For the benefit of needy widows George Beach established a home on Market Street with the idea that it should be self-sup- porting. In 1895, legacies having been received, another building
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was erected on South Hudson Street. Five years later the Beach family offered a site and coincidentally funds were received for a memorial to Maria Kelsey of Hartford. In addition to the Market Street home there soon were the George Beach Home on South Hudson Street and the Kelsey Memorial on extensive prop- erty on Wethersfield Avenue-all in charge of trustees under a corporation consisting of the rectors and wardens of Christ, St. John's and Trinity Episcopal churches.
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