USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1928, Volume II > Part 27
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Mr. Hart's boarding school was on the site of the present Miss Porter's School. It had been the home of Col. Noadiah Hooker and, under his son, Edward Hooker, had housed a pre- paratory school for boys from a distance, known locally as the "Old Red College." Miss Porter's School, mentioned in the spe- cial section of the general history devoted to private schools, was opened in 1844, originally for girls near by but eventually be- coming a seminary of national repute. The beautiful memorial chapel and parish house, erected in her memory near the Con- gregational Church, betokening the love of her former pupils, was dedicated in 1902. Charles O. Whitmore was the archi- tect of it.
Both the Farmington and Unionville districts began to de- velop high schools in the '80s but it was not till this year (1928) that the spacious high school building on the Farmington-Union- ville Road was dedicated, with space for thirty-eight class rooms and provided with all the modern accessories. It has a capacity of 410 pupils and is adapted for both junior and senior high schools.
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Demonstration of Farmington's desire to give education to all without regard to race or color, Indian or Negro, was fur- nished when the Africans of the slave ship L'Amistad were brought here after they had been taken from the ship in 1839 and had been released after the Supreme Court had decided against Spain's claim that they were property, as told in the gen- eral history. Yale Divinity School students had taught them to read and write while they were detained in the New Haven jail, and when part of them were brought here and housed in bar- racks previous to their being returned to Africa at the expense of the Connecticut Anti-Slave Society, they were given employ- ment and also schooling.
A modern instance of this same spirit of devotion, not only on its own account but because of its historical value when tracing disposition since the days of the Indians in their school, is noteworthy. The Farmington Nursery for the Blind, an un- endowed home, is the only place in the state that will take chil- dren under ten years of age and it provides excellent educational facilities for all who come to it. It is located on a small farm which was the gift of Mr. Stotesbury of Philadelphia. An en- dowment fund in memory of Mrs. Ludlow Barker is now being raised.
That the children of Farmington folk became desirous of reading matter a little different from that which the traditions of their elders provided is not surprising. The form of a library existed in the town before the Revolution. There came to be the Phoenix Library, the Mechanics' Library and the Great Plain Library, but undoubtedly the present Village Library originated with the performances of a few determined boys who exchanged their juvenile books in a horse-shed till their elders, instead of punishing them, helped them form an association which devel- oped into a lyceum as well as a book-circulating concern. There are records that run back to 1785. That year the Farmington Library Company records show that there was a catalogue. In 1801 the name was the Monthly Library, Elijah Porter the libra- rian from 1796 to 1813. This was suspended for a time but only to be revived as the Phoenix Library and Mr. Porter returned to remain till 1826. The Village Library, which had been under the care of Capt. Selah Porter since 1817, merged with the
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CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, FARMINGTON
FARMINGTON VILLAGE LIBRARY
Erected in 1917 (finished May, 1919) by D. Newton Barney in memory of his mother Sarah Brandegee Barney
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Phoenix and the captain succeeded Elijah Porter, remaining as librarian till he resigned in 1835 and was succeeded by Simeon Hart, Jr. The association formally became the Farmington Library Company in 1839. In the later years, fainting spirit was again revived and books were kept at the home of Julia S. Brandegee who had opened the Tunxis Free Library at the north end of the town and then in the town hall which was built in the early '90s. Organization under the state law as the Village Library came in 1890 and the present attractive building was dedicated in 1917. It was given by D. Newton Barney in mem- ory of Sarah Brandegee Barney, his mother.
Farmington bore its full share of the brunt of the French- Indian wars described in the general history. When the Revolu- tion came it was one of the most zealous and influential towns in the county. Located at a junction of lines of traffic from the four points of the compass, it was outgrowing its sister towns. In 1756 it had a population of 3,707 as against 3,027 for Hart- ford, 4,220 for Windsor and 5,664 for Middletown; in 1774 these figures were Farmington, 6,069; Hartford, 5,031; Windsor, 2,125 and Middletown, 4,878. Farmington still included Ber- lin, part of New Britain and Bristol, whose colonial history is shared with Farmington. The Congregational Church here was the scene of the exciting meetings of all those in this section, sometimes a thousand attending. In 1774, at a meeting where Col. John Strong was moderator, resolutions were adopted con- demning the blockade of Boston, and all the leading men of the town were appointed a committee to send provisions to that port and to keep in correspondence with other towns. Immediately there was drilling by those who had served in the train band, an organization which had been kept up since 1649, some of the time with dragoons, latterly under the guidance of Colonel Strong and Col. Fisher Gay. Colonel Gay, who was born in Litchfield and after graduating at Yale in 1759 had come here as a teacher and later had made "Gay's store" an institution for all this section of the state, was the outstanding figure of the hour. His leading his hundred men at the Lexington alarm, his early promotion to a colonelcy and his untimely death on the eve of the battle of Long Island has been told. An incident illustrative of his char- acter is this one of his being requested by headquarters to go to
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Connecticut and Rhode Island for powder, the lack of which had hampered Washington from the beginning of operations. The colonel returned in a short time with several tons. The colonel's sword, carefully preserved, bears the inscription, "Freedom or Death."
The town's foresight was shown by its voting in 1774 to add thirty hundred-weight of lead and 10,000 French flints to its stock and in 1775 to encourage John Treadwell and Martin Bull in their manufacture of powder. The town's insight was exhib- ited in its instructions to its representatives, Isaac Lee, Jr., and John Treadwell, in 1787, when the Continental Congress had submitted the first Articles of Confederation for consideration. The plan as a whole was warmly approved but there was "utmost pain" over the discovery that there was "an unfavorable aspect to the New England States" in that the "nine western states," with their similarity in customs, manners and sentiment, might act to the prejudice of New England in the matter of "appointing courts," excluding all New England nominees; and also the method of fixing quotas for war service and apportioning ex- penses was unfair; amendments should be made if it were pos- sible without "endangering the independence and liberties of the United States." When Burgoyne surrendered, some of his officers were billeted in Farmington and among them one who designed two of the town's well-known residences; part of Burgoyne's artillery was held here for a time. The presence of Rocham- beau's army, commemorated by the boulder on the green, is dwelt upon in the general history of the county.
The spirit of the colonial wars shone forth again in 1861 when, with a total population of but 3,000, the town sent 360 men into the service or forty-eight more than its quota. At a meeting presided over by W. M. Wadsworth April 23, the fire and enthusiasm were intense. A full company was enlisted and eleven men went with Company G of New Britain in the First Regiment. Leander Waterman was captain of Company E of the Twenty-fifth. Edward Hooker, born here in 1822, brother of Mrs. Francis Gillette and John Hooker of Hartford, was sailing master in the marine service in 1861. Promoted for bravery, he was commander of the steamer Victoria in 1863. He was retired as commander in 1884. A monument stands in memory of the volunteers.
GENERAL COWLES HOUSE, FARMINGTON
THE ADMIRAL COWLES HOUSE, "OLD GATE", FARMINGTON
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In the World war, when the population was not over 4,000, there was hearty enthusiasm under the governmental and state regulations for all branches of the great work. For the first time since old militia days, the town had not only one but two com- panies, drilling faithfully and ready for duty in the First Regi- ment of the State Guard so wisely established by Governor Hol- comb. Officers in the Farmington company were Herbert Knox Smith (later major in the federal service) and Heywood H. Whaples, captains, and at different times Samuel Mccutcheon, Harold W. Douglas, J. Alfred Skogland, Paul S. Ney and L. W. Leopard, lieutenants; in the Unionville company, George H. Jen- kins, captain, and Eugene C. Heacox, John A. Campion, Oliver S. Tew and W. T. Morrisey, lieutenants. Rear Admiral William Sheffield Cowles, retired, and Mrs. Cowles were among those who were tireless in the home work, and the admiral, a sketch of whose life is given in the general history, was on the staff of the general commanding the state forces.
There were grist mills and fulling mills on Mill Brook, cross- ing Main Street, in the early days. The first grist mill, in Indian Neck, has been maintained ever since and is today the working property of Winchell Smith, the distinguished playwright, who has built a beautiful home here. In the days following the Revo- lution, when industries were being started in other towns, this town was having an unusually severe experience with "spotted fever" and smallpox. In 1792-4 it was necessary to maintain an isolation hospital on the hill toward Plainville where today can be seen "Hospital Rock" bearing the carved initials of many who had to remain there for a longer or shorter period.
The transformation of the frontier town from an agricul- tural to a mercantile center is one of the most interesting events of the colony. War conditions around New York had made the road to Litchfield the chief thoroughfare from the East to the Mid-West; while from New Haven and Bridgeport to the North, here lay the easy route through the Farmington valley. The opportunity for extensive trading was recognized by men like John and Chauncey Deming and the sons of Elijah and Solomon Cowles. Solomon Cowles, who had been a major-general in the militia and an officer in the Revolution, built on Main Street for
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his son George the residence with the pillared front which is still one of the most notable in a town of notable residences. George Cowles, who like his father acquired a competence in the mer- cantile line, himself became major-general in the militia and adjutant-general of the state. These men shipped large quanti- ties of corn and numbers of horses brought from the West to the West Indies, and the return cargoes of sugar, molasses and rum were sold throughout central New England. Some of the traders had branch stores in other towns. Several had their own ves- sels plying the distant seas, one at least to China. The whole habit as well as the dress of the descendants of the self-denying pioneers was changing. Governor Treadwell wrote in 1802 that more capital was here employed than in any other inland town. When came the pinch of the folly-war of 1812, men like Chaun- cey Deming held reserves that added to the strength of the un- dismayed Hartford Bank.
One reason for the decline in 1820 is taken to be the better roads Farmington itself had helped to build over the Talcott Range, from the West to Hartford. Another, perhaps, was the natural advantage Hartford had for water commerce. And when Farmington looked to regain prestige in the '20s by reason of the canal, she was doomed to disappointment for the railroads came soon after and the line that followed the canal's course never was important in competition. But the capital that had been acquired continued to be well invested in the country's growing enterprises and many who possessed it remained to en- joy the traditions and the natural beauty of the town.
The Farmington Canal story, locally and in its effect upon imagination through a large part of New England, is little un- derstandable by succeeding generations without this picture of the times and a comparison with the national agitation over the later building of the Panama Canal. The inauguration of the Erie Canal had stirred New England to the point of projecting half a dozen canals, and New Haven had the vision of such water communication with the extreme North as would enable her to rival New York, as a metropolis. The Legislature exempted stock from taxation and required from $100,000 to $200,000 on tax-free charters to banks. The New Haven Bank subscribed $100,000 to the Farmington Canal Company but subsequently
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was nationalized; the Mechanics Bank of Hartford contributed $200,000 and, remaining a state bank, was tax-free ever after. New Haven and other towns contributed freely and as late as 1840 New Haven pledged $3,000 a year for thirty years. The state was to share in profits when dividends reached 12 per cent. As a start the canal was to be from New Haven to Northampton, Mass., with ultimate plan to continue to the Connecticut, de- spite Hartford's objections, and eventually to reach the Cana- dian border.
Ground was broken near Salmon Brook, Granby, July 4, 1825. A procession two miles long wended its way from Farmington for the exercises, participated in by Timothy Pitkin (who was elected forty-two times to the Legislature), Rev. Allen McLean of Simsbury and others of note. In the column, headed by Gen. George Cowles, were the Simsbury Artillery, the barge of Capt. George Rowland of New Haven in which were Gov. Oliver Wol- cott and distinguished guests, and people in carriages and wagons and on horses. The governor turned the first shovelful of earth. In two years there was a trench from Congamuck Ponds to New Haven and water was let in from Cheshire, half- way between Farmington and New Haven. The feeder dam on the Farmington was at Unionville.
June 20, 1828, the first boat, named after James Hillhouse of New Haven, the superintendent, was launched at Farmington for use as soon as the short stretch to New Haven was completed. That was the most gala day in Farmington's history. Bands were playing, cannon booming and the old church bell ringing. A repast of crackers and cheese, lemonade and cider and the good things the women of the town had been days in preparing, was served at the old Noadiah Hooker place, while the door of every home stood open. The crowded boat made trips over the acque- duct across the Farmington, a majestic structure 280 feet long and 36 feet high, the remains of which today remind one of Roman ruins. John Pettibone of Simsbury built and owned the Weatogue, Farmington had the American Eagle and there were the Oliver Wolcott and the New England, most of them sumptu- ous with berths and dining salons. In the earlier days they were drawn by large gray horses ridden by colored boys dressed in white. Excursions were run from New Haven as far as South-
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ington and the farmers shipped their produce to the shore. The joy was the greater because of difficulties that had been over- come. In 1826 there had been merger with the Hampshire & Hamden Company of Massachusetts, looking toward necessary wider territory, and in 1827 funds had been exhausted by re- pairs along the banks. The company did not own the boats but received its income from tolls.
Defiance of the new thing, steam railroads, was like that of the Connecticut River Company of Hartford, whose efforts to meet this competition by means of its canal at Windsor Locks is described in the general history. In 1835 the canal had been put through to the Connecticut on the north. The next year dam- ages were inordinate and at the same time the backers were in- terested in the proposed New Haven & Northampton railroad, paralleling the canal. In 1838 the main New Haven road was open to Meriden on its way to Hartford; in 1841 there was through route from New York to New Hampshire; in 1842, the Connecticut River Company's boats were reaching Brattleboro, Vt .; in 1843 there was an expensive flood; in 1845, a great drought which somehow meant an increase in "breaks" through the farming sections and boats had to stop running; in 1846 New York men got control of the stock; the railroad was char- tered and in 1848 was running to Plainville at Farmington's southern border; in 1849 the farmers irrigated freely and boats ceased to run north of Farmington. The broad bed of the canal became the convenient bed of the railroad, as may still be seen in New Haven and in places through the country. The charm and beauty of old Farmington seem to have been left in perpe- tuity. It has had its stations on the line of the Northampton steam road and connection through Unionville with the Central New England at Collinsville, but today its only connection with the outside world is by electricity and motor vehicles.
With all this there is much that is significant, New-England- wise, in the fact that such a town shows a healthy increase in population and wealth. The population in 1840 was 2,000; to- day it is over 4,000. Its grand list in January, 1928, was $7,400,000 with only a 14-mill tax-an increase in valuation of nearly $300,000, of which one-third was in Unionville and two-
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thirds in the village itself. In addition there is property worth half a million exempt from taxation, including state property which was increased the past year by the game preserve on Scott Swamp Road. The resident landholders number 1,227, the non- resident 203. These conditions would not satisfy a typical cham- ber of commerce but they are gratifying to the kind of people who more and more are choosing Farmington for a place of resi- dence. Aside from the beautifying of the old residences and grounds and the character of the new residences the local sav- ings bank may be taken as a symbol. Founded by Deacon Sam- uel Hart, it began modestly in 1851, in a small brick building in between the comely homes on Main Street. Julius Gay, whose residence was close by, for many years and until his recent death was the head of it, and now Timothy H. Root is the president. This year 1928 the little brick building, so in keeping with its surroundings and near the still existing structure of the (Eras- tus) "Gay Store," gives place to a brick and stone building in harmony with the "street" of modern times. And its assets of $12,300,000 mark an increase of nearly 38 per cent in two years, its deposits of $11,150,000 an increase of nearly 39 per cent. This is in addition to the Unionville Bank and Trust Company, incorporated in 1922, E. C. Heacox president, having capital of $25,000 and savings deposits of nearly $300,000,-commercial deposits of approximately $209,000.
Scott Swamp game preserve, covering 800 acres, lies to the west of Main Street and bordering on the road to Bristol, not far from where Rochambeau's army encamped when passing through the town. In 1926 Walter W. Holmes of Waterbury arranged to buy part of the territory for a game refuge. At the same time, the state fish and game commissioner, in coopera- tion with Homer H. Judd, a Bristol sportsman, was contem- plating establishing a game club there. The outcome was that, when the divergent plans became known, each party to the other, they united, Alain C. White of Litchfield and his sister with them, procured the whole section and turned it over to the state as a game sanctuary. On adjoining land acquired is the Jordan farm with natural and now with artificial ponds, where trout- breeding is carried on extensively. Near this wild and densely wooded preserve is the town's noble Memorial Forest.
To make up for the infringements upon the old church com-
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mon and drill field, Miss Porter and the pupils of her school in 1900 bought and gave to the town the large field opposite the his- toric Elm Tree Inn. On the corner across the way was the won- derfully constructed house of Col. Fisher Gay, built by Capt. Judah Woodruff who was associated with the colonel in building the church in the 1770s. In 1897, Hartford, Waterbury and Farmington men bought the estate, including the wide fields for golf, and established the Farmington Country Club. When the building burned in 1901, it was rebuilt along lines sugges- tive of the old one.
Borough government came by act of incorporation in 1901, the year after the present town hall was built, and along with it more definite organization for sanitation, fire-protection and the like. In early days water was brought down from the hills in wooden pipes. Austin F. Williams and others got a supply by damming Gin Still Brook. In 1880 Adrian R. Wadsworth built a dam on Fulling Mill Brook, as it was then called, and established the Farmington Water Company. In 1895 others were given an interest in the company which was incorporated. There was further enlargement of the company in 1924 and the controlling interest was given to the Voters' Trust. A pipe has been laid to the Nepaug line of the Hartford Water supply, for connection in case of necessity.
Theodore Roosevelt was frequently a guest of his sister, the wife of Admiral Cowles, at the ancient residence "Old Gate." On his first visit in 1901, after his election to the presidency, the new borough government, Adrian R. Wadsworth warden, ren- dered him honors. Senior Burgess A. A. Redfield made a brief address, to which the President replied that since his visit was purely domestic and personal he was doubly grateful for this op- portunity to receive the borough government informally. There was a reception in the afternoon.
Farmington's list of native sons and of adopted sons who have won distinction is a long one. Gov. John Treadwell was an especially strong character in the trying days of federalism and anti-federalism. Born here in 1745 he was graduated at Yale in 1767. Nine years later he was sent to the House of Repre- sentatives and continued there and in the Senate till appointed lieutenant-governor in 1798 and then governor in 1809 to suc- ceed Jonathan Trumbull, 2nd, who had died in office. He was
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continued as chief executive through the following year. For twenty years he was a member of the Supreme Court. He was instrumental in establishing the state school fund. A member of the Yale corporation, his interest in education and missions was widespread. The governor's residence was on a part of what is now the property of D. Newton Barney.
John T. Norton of Albany married a daughter of the gover- nor and built the Barney residence in 1832, at that time the largest private house in the town, it having thirty-four rooms. Difficulty in getting the foundation stones desired and in haul- ing the lumber ran the cost up to a round $6,000 (sic). His son, Col. Charles Ledyard Norton, who was in command of col- ored troops in the Civil war, was an entomologist and a man of much learning. He greatly beautified the spacious grounds and raised many varieties of fruit. Frederick Cornelius Jones who spent his summers in Farmington leased the place from the Nor- ton family till it was bought by Mr. Barney in 1890.
The honored name of Porter, so dear to his congregation and to all interested in temperance and in missions, was given still wider repute by his children, Noah and Sarah. Of the daughter mention has been made in the section of the history devoted to private schools of the county. The son was true to the character- istics of his father,-fond of learning for learning's sake, recog- nized around the world as a great scholar, humble yet forceful in all his purposes. When in 1871 he succeeded Doctor Woolsey as president of Yale, that institution was in fact a college; on his resignation in 1886 it was in truth a university.
Among the many descendants of the pioneer John Cowles was James Lewis Cowles (1843-1892), who has been mentioned in the general history as the father of parcels post. His home till his later years-he died in Richmond-was the General Cowles house on Main Street. He was an independent candidate for Congress in 1896, running on his own platform, which in- cluded free trade, sound money, anti-railroad monopoly and pub- lic ownership of public utilities, but was not elected. He left Farmington in 1902. His four daughters, Maude A. (deceased), Genevieve A., Edith V. and Mildred L., are widely known artists. The residence became the property of Richard M. Bissell of the Hartford Fire Insurance Company who removed here from the
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