USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928, Volume II > Part 23
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John Pease, Jr., the first selectman, gained precedence by the fact that he was a builder by trade; he was honored with many offices, including that of captain in the militia. A descendant, Elisha M. Pease, by profession a lawyer, from 1834 to 1883, was one of the leaders in Texas, the governor in 1853. Remaining loyal during the Civil war, he had to live in retirement. General
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Sheridan appointed him provisional governor in 1867, which office he held till the reorganization of the state government in 1870. Capt. Ephraim Pease was one of the town's first representatives in the General Assembly, in 1749, Capt. Elijah Williams being the other.
Under the Massachusetts jurisdiction, there was difficulty in getting a pastor for the church society till Rev. Nathaniel Collins was called in 1699. His successor in 1725 was Peter Reynolds, who continued through the "Great Awakening" period till 1768.
A Baptist society was formed in 1750 but was discontinued when its pastor, Rev. Joseph Meacham, adopted the principles of Shakerism in 1781, at which time that cult was first being heard of in America. A society of Shakers built up a farming village of their own in the northeast part of the town where they flour- ished till well on in the present century, by their thrift and agri- cultural intelligence, along with their religiously communistic principles. Mr. Meacham also took part in establishing societies in New England and in New York state, and it was to one of these in New York state that the remnants of the "Church Family" went, selling their fine farms, buildings and equipment.
Methodists built their first house in Hazardville in 1835. St. Mary's Episcopal Parish was established in 1863. The same year the Roman Catholics built in Hazardville and in 1880 erected a larger edifice.
At Thompsonville, whither many Scotchmen had come, the First Presbyterian Church was organized in 1839. Disagreements caused the forming of another society in 1845, the United Pres- byterian, both of which have flourished. The Methodist Church in Thompsonville was formed in 1840. St. Andrew's Episcopal Par- ish there dates from 1851 as a mission and from 1855 as a parish. The Roman Catholic Church established in 1860 was destined to become one of the strongest in the town. Universalists, though few in number, built their place of worship in 1879.
The original Congregational Church was much shaken in the days of Half-covenant and "New Lights"-set forth in the gen- eral history. In 1770 the General Assembly allowed the formation of a second society. This body went on in a wildly visionary way till it associated itself with the Baptists and finally became ex- tinct in 1820. Another division in the original society occurred in
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1855 when Rev. C. A. G. Brigham led half the congregation into a North Congregational Church which in reality was Catholic Apostolic. In 1878 many of the members had returned to the original church, the new church was closed and a year later it was sold to those who had remained true to the apostolic faith, William M. Pearl the elder in charge.
Reviewing the town's school system today it is difficult to imagine how much educational facilities were delayed in the early period. The law compelled instruction for children and in 1703 the struggling settlement did what it could to comply therewith. John Richards was the first teacher, at £14 a year, to be raised among the children. By 1754 it had become necessary to have five districts each with a school. The districts then formed were Wallop, Scitico, North End, South End and Center. The sum of £500 was voted for the buildings. In Hazardville William Dixon, who built the Enfield bridge by aid of a lottery in 1832, was the first teacher. The story of development differs little from that of the other towns, going on till there was a high school in each of the three villages. Today, with a school enumeration of about 4,000 and a town grand list of over $18,000,000, and above all with an appreciation of what schools should be, matters have been well systematized, considering the distance between com- munities. In particular there are the Center and the A. D. Hig- gins and Brainard schools in Thompsonville, the Enfield High School and the Enfield Street School, the North School and the Hazardville School.
The Enfield Free Public Library, of which Mrs. Marion A. Cook is librarian, is at the corner of Pearl and Franklin streets in Thompsonville. It was founded in 1896 and has over 10,000 volumes.
Enfield was doing well as an agricultural community in the first quarter of the eighteenth century, even as it is doing now with its orchards and its tobacco plantations, when a great change was brought about through the enterprise of an Enfield man and soon after that another change through the starting of a very different kind of industry. Orrin Thompson (1788-1873) came from Suffield to Enfield when a mere boy. As a clerk in a Hart- ford store he acquired business habits to which in his later years
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he was wont to ascribe his success in life. He was clerk in a fac- tory office in Jewett City, this state, when he was drafted for the War of 1812 and was sent to Stonington for a short tour of duty. In 1814 he opened a store for himself in Enfield, on the site of the present Congregational Church. Success attended but he wanted a wider horizon. Joining the firm of Andrews & Company of New York in 1821, he devoted his attention to the carpet trade in which they were engaged, and as they continued to progress he asked himself why the carpets imported from Scotland could not be made in Enfield. By 1828 the Thompsonville Carpet Manufac- turing Company was incorporated, a mill was built near the mouth of the advantageous Freshwater Brook, Scotchmen were at the looms and the foundations were laid for one of the most success- ful carpet concerns in the world. Twelve years later he had added to the company's possessions the carpet factory in Tariffville, which also was successful. Having acquired great wealth, he was broadening out still further when financial difficulties of those with whom he was associated closed his mills. Thereupon he in- terested Hartford men to form the Hartford Carpet Company and the plant was reopened in 1854 with him as superintendent. He retired in 1861. Timothy M. Allyn of Hartford was president of the new company, followed by George Roberts of Hartford in 1856 and he, at his death in 1878, by John L. Houston, thus estab- lishing that prestige which has made the office one of high honor in Connecticut industry. The next great change came in 1889 when the Bigelow Carpet Company with mills at Clinton, Mass., the Lowell Manufacturing Company of Massachusetts (founded in 1825), and the Thompsonville concern combined as the Bigelow Carpet Company, a union of the three oldest and most successful carpet manufacturers in America. In 1891 the Hartford Com- pany and the E. S. Higgins Carpet Company (established in 1837) consolidated as the Hartford Carpet Corporation of Con- necticut, and in 1914 a merger was effected of all four corpora- tions as the Bigelow-Hartford Company, capital $13,500,000, turning out 27 per cent of the country's carpet product. In 1927 John A. Sweetser of the Bigelow-Hartford Division was made a trustee of the Institute of American Carpet Manufacturers that year established for the development of all phases of the industry. The Tariffville mill was burned in 1867 and was not rebuilt; in-
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stead, the capacity of the Thompsonville plant was doubled and the building of the Enfield Manufacturing Company was added. Superintendent Lyman A. Upson, for years one of the leaders in all civic affairs, with Henry G. T. Martin of New York established the Upson-Martin Company in the same line.
The other great industrial development began when Loomis & Company in 1833 acquired 500 acres of rough land on both sides of the Scantic in the eastern part of the town and established a powder-making plant. Augustus G. Hazard (1802-1868), of Rhode Island birth, interested in a line of New York packets and also conducting a cotton and powder commission business, was interested in this enterprise to the extent that he came here in 1837 and six years later organized the Hazard Powder Company, himself as president. The plant was greatly enlarged. In 1854 it absorbed the Enfield Powder Company which had started near by in 1849. The output was enormous, especially during the Civil war. The company was acquired by the DuPont de Nemours Company of Delaware in 1895, but this was not made public till reorganization in 1902, when the name of Hazard was dropped. Edward Prickett had the exceptional record of being superinten- dent from 1859 to 1905.
Jefferson Davis when secretary of war visited Colonel Hazard at his mansion in Enfield Street. Aholiab Johnson, many years probate judge, was invited with others to meet the distinguished guest. The subject of slavery having come up, Johnson expressed the belief that the discussion would be ended by prohibiting the extension of slavery into new territory, to which Mr. Davis re- plied with much vehemence.
Gordon & Gordon also have a powder plant at the Hollow in Hazardville. Gordon Brothers at Scitico are manufacturers of shoddy. The Hazard Lead Works were organized by F. A. Picker- ing and others, E. H. Potter of New York, president, in 1904. The machinery was removed to buildings in Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1907, but an office is kept here. Among the other concerns is the West- field Plate Company, manufacturing casket trimmings.
Mention has been made of the rallying for the Lexington alarm in 1775. Officers with Major Terry at that time were Lieut. Richard Abbe and Ensign Joseph Booth. Officers in the Boston
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campaign were Capt. Hezekiah Parsons and Lieuts. Barzillai Markham and Samuel Hemingway. Capt. David Parsons, Capt. Thomas Abbe and Capt. Daniel Perkins were in the subsequent campaigns. In the War of 1812, Capt. Luther Perkins and seventy-four men did a tour of duty at New London. Maj. Robert Morrison and Capt. Jabez Collins were also in the service.
In the Civil war 421 men, or fifty more than the quota, went out. Several were in C Company of the First Regiment of which Frank K. Ruth was captain and A. W. Scott and Francis D. Loomis lieutenants. Capt. Samuel Brown of Company D of the Sixteenth was killed at Antietam. George Clark was captain and J. W. Anderson and Walter Luce lieutenants of Company F of the Twenty-second, most of whose members were from Enfield. The soldiers' monument stands at the corner of Church and North Main streets. Capt. V. B. Chamberlain of New Britain delivered the address at the dedication in 1885.
In the Spanish war, Maj. James B. Houston was in the pay- master's department and remained in the service. For the World war, every call was answered-by men, women and children. The men were in the One Hundred and Second Infantry and the One Hundred and and First Machine Gun Battalion and in training camps. Capt. P. J. Rogers was in command of Company L, First Infantry, State Guard. J. K. Bissland was a major on the staff of Gen. L. F. Burpee. The paucity of farm help brought heavy burden upon the older men.
When the old covered bridge to Enfield had become dilapidated a bridge company was chartered in 1889 and a new one was built at a cost of $76,000, including payment for right held by the old bridge owners, as related in the Suffield section of this chapter. The bridge was taken over by the state and made free in 1908.
The water company was organized in 1885, drawing its supply from the headwaters of Pierce's Brook. Judge Charles H. Bris- coe, the president, was an earnest worker in the town's develop- ment. He came here as a lawyer in 1854, removing his office to Hartford in 1868, where he was the first judge of the Court of Common Pleas.
The town has three voting districts for a population of about 13,000. About three-quarters of the people are in the Thompson-
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ville district. While still under town form of government that district is well provided with fire and police protection, has its own newspaper, the Thompsonville Press, a good club, well lighted streets, a public hall and in every way has an atmosphere of pros- perity. It is the home of the Northern Connecticut Power Com- pany, whose development has been so noteworthy, as related in preceding pages on Suffield town. Its Board of Trade is pro- gressive and its Industrial Development Committee has started a movement which has resulted in the organization of the Indus- trial Development Corporation. This company, of which Walter P. Schwabe is president, has an option on the carpet company's property at the rear of the former Hathaway tract as available location for new concerns.
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LIII WINDSOR ADVENTURERS WESTWARD
SIMSBURY, THE GRANBIES, CANTON AND COLLINSVILLE-SETTLEMENT BURNED BY INDIANS-CHURCH DISSENSIONS, GENERAL COURT DIS- CIPLINE-FIRST IRON AND COPPER-FUSE AND AX CONCERNS-DISTIN- GUISHED MEN-FAMOUS FARMS.
"Appendix of Windsor" the General Court called the present Simsbury region. Of the three Constitution Towns Windsor was the most acquisitive ; neither rivers nor mountains, nor yet Massa- chusett's false boundary checked her spreading. In this she was true to her Dorchester settlers. This appendix-in its crags and tumbling streams the joy of the savage, and today traversed by improved roads, the delight of the lovers of scenery-was long as useless to Windsor town as the namesake in the human anatomy. It was saved for her by the action of one pioneer, John Griffin, who with only one or two helpers had begun gathering pitch in 1642 and was doing well at it in 1647 when the General Court, noting the indifference of Windsor men in general, directed the towns as a whole to buy the section through a committee of the court. At about this time an Indian carelessly set fire to trees upon which Griffin was dependent for his income. After trial the General Court ordered the man to pay 500 fathoms of wampum; if he failed in this, Griffin could "ship him out" or exchange him for Negroes. Forthwith the Indian, Manahannoose, gave Griffin a title to much of the land, called Massacoe; other Indians gave the rest of the section and Manahannoose went free. The court resumed giving grants to Windsor men who had been aroused but awarded to Griffin 200 acres north of the falls in the Farm- ington in recognition of his skill in gathering the much-desired pitch and turpentine, followed eight years later by another grant a mile and a half square, known as "Griffin's lordship," for yield- ing to proprietors deeds he had acquired from the natives.
Windsor people were allowed land at present Westover Plain,
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Nod, Weatogue and Hop Meadow. Simon Wolcott, Captain New- berry and Deacon Moore were the committee. Settlements both sides of the Farmington were made in the late '60s by John Case (the first constable), Thomas Barber, Samuel Filley, Michael Humphrey, Joshua Holcomb, Thomas Maskel, Luke Hill, Samuel Pinney, Joseph Phelps, John Pettibone, Joseph Skinner and Peter Buell, all good county names to this day. Holcomb and Case were delegates to the General Court as soon as "winter privileges" had been granted. To this land ten miles westward from Windsor and the same distance northward from Farmington the name "Simsbury" was given, after "Sim" Wolcott, as he was popularly called. And he was awarded special favor by being allowed to retail wine and liquors, "provided he keep good order and dispose of it," until an ordinary was set up. John Terry was the first town clerk. Griffin released his "lordship" in 1672.
On the outbreak of King Philip's war in 1775, the reports of burnings and killings in Massachusetts were so alarming that in October the court ordered the Simsbury people within a week's time to look after their crops under the protection of the guard which was sent. Not all heeding this, the command went forth :
"The insolences of the heathen, and their rage increas- ing against the English, and the spoil that they have made in sundry places, hath moved us to order that forthwith the people of Simsbury do remove themselves, and that estate they can remove, to some of the neighboring plantations, for their safety and security."
In the hasty compliance, much had to be left behind. At the first signs of spring many were for returning but on Sunday, March 26 (1676) a party of marauding Indians-not a part of King Philip's forces, since none had come so far south and west- burned the forty dwellings, furniture, utensils and provisions. Tradition has it that King Philip watched the fire from what is still called "King Philip's Cave" on the west side of present Talcott (or Avon) Mountain; the explanation can perhaps be found in the fact that in those times this was designated as Mount Philip, most conspicuous on this spur of the Green Moun- tains which hems in the beautiful Farmington Valley on the east.
The painful work of rebuilding the town was not undertaken till a year later, organization having been maintained in Windsor
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meantime. A common field was marked off on both sides of the Farmington, from Farmington to the falls on the north, a dis- tance of seven miles. To settle disputes a plan was adopted that controversies be referred in writing to Worshipful Major Talcott and Captain Allyn. As has been seen, Maj. John Talcott was one of the most respected heroes of the war. Simsbury people in particular looked up to him as councilor and judge in matters civic and religious. Under his guidance they followed the ex- ample of settlers in other towns and planned to rebuy the land from the Indians. A deed of trust was made to the major and others for the whole ten miles square. Then the perquisite not being forthcoming, the natives made "vexatious outcries" till in 1682 the town voted to raise funds by selling 150 acres of the river-bank land in the western part of the town.
Major Talcott, who most likely would be the purchaser, in- formed them in a courteous communication that he would not prevent the selling of the land designated but he found on going over it that it was utterly worthless because of brush, swamps, mountains, inaccessibility and uninhabitableness; the people themselves might investigate ; "for my design is not to bring up an evil report concerning the badness of any part of your bounds; nor shall I anyways disadvantage your market by putting a low esteem upon the lands, let the wheels turn which way they will." However, if they could see their way to it, in "freedom of spirit and serenity of mind," and could grant 100 acres in each of three places where he should indicate, along the river toward the west- ern boundary, he wrote "I shall accept, you giving deeds for the same, whether it shall be worth a penny to me or no. And that shall be an issue of the debt matter depending." (Part of this land is now in the rich farm of Joseph W. Alsop). The towns- men, who had lost everything, acquiesced "upon the account of the mayor defraying of the charges of the whole Indian pur- chase."
Soon after they felt the thrust of Massachusetts into Connecti- cut territory along the Suffield line and for a time along part of the Windsor line, but these matters were adjusted after Massa- chusetts had been forced back, except for the one salient between Simsbury (North Granby section) and Suffield. The turmoil over a site for a meeting-house was more serious. At the outset
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they had voted to have Thomas Barber build the house, after which they would organize their society. The question was which side of the river to build, and the vote of one town meeting was promptly rescinded at the next till Major Talcott and Captain Allyn were called upon to arbitrate. Their decision was for the west side or the side where the burying-ground was, but in 1682, in the eleventh year of the dispute, the decision was voted down. On suggestion of the arbitrators they then signed an agreement to cast lots-"and where the providence of God cast it, so to seat down contented." The old record book reads:
"At a solemn meeting on May 24, 1683, two papers were put into ye hat, the one east, and the other for the syd of ye river,-and it was agreed that the first paper that was drawn shall be the lott; this voted : the lot that came forth was for the west syd of the river."
They had been holding services through these years. Samuel Stone, son of Thomas Hooker's able colleague, had been their spiritual guide from 1673 to 1681, when he was succeeded by Samuel Stow, recently dismissed from the Middletown church. He saw the meeting-house built but left in 1685. Edward Thomp- son of Newbury, Mass., came as "supply" two years later but abandoned the field four years afterward because of a disagree- ment as to terms. Seth Shove accepted the position, suddenly changed his mind and removed to Danbury. Finally, following two years' discussion of terms, came Dudley Woodbridge, of cleri- cal family, and forty-three people joined the church at his ordina- tion in 1697. His death in 1710 was such an affliction that there was recourse to a day of fasting and prayer for guidance in choosing a successor. The choice fell in 1710 on Timothy Wood- bridge, Jr., son of the Hartford minister, who was to continue steadfast through troublous years till his death in 1742. His first great trial began in 1725, at a moment of rejoicing, for member- ship had so increased during his ministration that a new sanctu- ary was freely voted. This joy of his was turned to grief by the looming again of the question of location. As before, the vote of one meeting was reversed soon after, and thus on till the solicitous General Assembly sent Gov. Joseph Talcott and Nathaniel Stan- ley to assist. The governor presided at a meeting at which many votes were taken till under his admonishment unanimity was
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reached. Hardly had he arrived home, however, when he received word that the decision had been overturned. His next step, in 1736, was to appoint a court of inquiry.
This court proceeded to make county history. It annexed that part of the town east of Mount Philip in the Talcott range to Wintonbury (Bloomfield) which took its name from its parts of Windsor, Farmington and Simsbury, and divided the rest of the township into three societies. The First Society should build on Drake's Hill, which ever since has been the site. The other two societies were set off to Granby later, when the town was thus divided, and in 1780 the First Society was divided again for the making of the society of West Simsbury, later Canton.
These were not all the sorrows of Rev. Mr. Woodbridge and it is meet to refer to the other of them in order to get the picture of the dignified General Assembly as a collector and exercising its power to punish those who did not collect. At the May session of the court, 1732, the minister made presentation that his salary was one year and seven months in arrears. The society was com- manded to pay within twenty days or the colony's secretary, Heze- kiah Wyllys of Hartford, would grant execution against the estates of the inhabitants. Four years later, Mr. Woodbridge again appeared and the court again ordered payment for the previous year, £100, Tax Collector John Case to receive the sum and turn it over. At the following May session, Mr. Woodbridge reported that the order had been disregarded. The indignant court commanded the colony's auditors to make report at the next session that the account had been adjusted and, to render their task possible, required the listers to make a rate against the inhabitants amounting to the required sum of £110 and deliver this to James Cornish, Jr .; any lister failing to comply must pay a fine of £10 to Mr. Woodbridge and the same amount to the county treasurer; and finally, if the collector should fail in his duty, the colony secretary should issue a writ and distrain the amount out of his goods. Mr. Woodbridge received his salary. And it will be noted that the year 1736 was the year when the court was granting the petition that authorized the formation of the church society.
The new meeting-house was erected in 1739. Samuel Hopkins of Waterbury, the first minister there, later gained fame as the
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founder of Hopkinsianism (disinterested benevolence). On his departure after six months, the society voted to "improve Mr. Gideon Wells in order for settlement." He had served ten years when a vote was taken on "whether there is any considerable number who are not suited and easy under the ministry of Mr. Wells;" and "there appeared 29 who voted that they were easy and 25 that they were not easy." So Mr. Wells received notice to withdraw. Rev. Benajah Roots, supporting the half-way cove- nant idea, was dismissed in 1772. Through the war and till 1801, when he resigned, Samuel Stebbins was the earnest and patriotic leader. The coming of Rev. Allen McLean (from Vernon) in 1809 marked the beginning of the present era of peace, happiness and success. It was one of the most notable pastorates in the state, and the work he did for education, culture and the advance- ment of the whole state's welfare-for he was a prominent figure in many assemblages in other communities-was carried on by his descendants, of whom the present United States Senator George P. McLean is one. On the fiftieth anniversary of his ordination, people came from distant places to felicitate him and the church. He was blind then but continued till his death in 1861, with colleagues to assist him after 1850.
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