History of Litchfield county, Connecticut, Part 23

Author: J.W. Lewis & Company (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1532

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This regiment was organized Oct. 11, 1862, at New Haven, and was mustered into the United States service November 15th, with the following officers : Colonel, Samuel P. Ferris; lieutenant-colonel, Whe- lock T. Batcheller; major, William B. Wescome; adjutant, Charles H. Brown; quartermaster, Milton Bradley, Jr. ; chaplain, Richard Wheatly ; sergeant- major, William A. Bailey ; quartermaster-sergeant, Wilfred H. Mattson ; commissary-sergeant, N. B. Bennett; hospital steward, William E. Bissell; sur- geon, Ransom P. Lyon ; first assistant surgeon, Levi S. Pease ; second assistant surgeon, Henry Rockwell.

LINE-OFFICERS.

Company 2 .- Captain, Francis R. Leeds ; first lien- tenant, Philip Lever ; second lieutenant, F. R. War- ner.

Company B .- Captain, Cyrus D. Jones ; first lieu- tenant, Charles Durand ; second lieutenant, Henry L. Wilmot.

Company C .- Captain, L. R. McDonough ; first lieutenant, William M. Whitney; second lieutenant, J. C. Taylor.

Company D .- Captain, David D. Hoag; first lieu- tenant, Charles M. Booth; second lieutenant, Levi Hungerford.

Company E .- Captain, Charles B. Landon ; first lieutenant, Joseph Bostwick ; second lieutenant, War- ren C. Dailey.

Company F .- Captain, L. B. Wheelock ; first lieu- tenant, C. l'. Newman; second lieutenant, Jabez Al- ford.

Company G .- Captain, T. L. Beckwith ; first lien- tenant, William Mitchell ; second lieutenant, Henry Ayres.

Company HI .- Captain, George W. Middleton ; first lieutenant, James Kiley ; second lieutenant, Thomas G. Bennett.

Three companies,-D, E, and F,-with the excep- tion of one man, were enlisted from Salisbury:

The regiment left New Haven November 18th, and proceeded to Camp Buckingham, L. I. Here it re- mained until the 28th, when, having been assigned to the Department of the South, it embarked on the "Che Kiang" for a Southern elime. The Twenty- third Connecticut also embarked in the same steamer, thus crowding fourteen hundred men in quarters which would comfortably accommodate about eight hundred.

The steamer weighed anchor at ten A.M., December 3d, with sealed orders, which finally assigned the regi- ments to Ship Island, La. During the voyage a storm arose, and for twelve hours the heavily-laden steamer battled with the angry waves which lashed in fury about it, seeming every moment to swallow it up in the awful abyss. During the night, while the storm was on, an officer sent the intelligence, "We shall never see another sunrise ; the vessel cannot stand it much longer." The vessel, however, rode safely on, and the voyage was completed in safety.

December 12th the regiment disembarked on Ship Island. On the 17th it re-embarked for New Or- leans, and after stopping a few hours in the city started for Camp Parapet, some seven miles up the river, where it landed and pitched tents, but was immediately ordered to re-embark for Pensacola, Fla. By eleven that night it was on board again and ready for starting. It reached Pensacola Monday morning, and stacked its arms on the Grand Plaza. On the 20th it was ordered to evacuate Pensacola and go to the Barrancas Navy- Yard, where it remained until May 20th, when it was ordered to take the steamer "Crescent" and proceed to Brashear City, I.a. On the 25th it was ordered to Port Hudson, and at noon reached Springfield Landing, having now come within hearing distance of the strife of arms. Marching twelve miles towards the scene of conflict, it found itself now, by some oversight of the move- ment, right between the two contending armies. It fairly ran the gauntlet, escaping unharmed, and the next day, after a march of about thirty miles, when four might have sufficed, it reached trover's division, to which it had been assigned. Until June 3d it here suffered for want of rest and food, when it was ordered to the front. At this time Col. Ferris was acting briga- dier, with Maj. Wescome in charge of the regiment.

The regiment was now called upon to test the music of whistling balls, and there was for the present to be no more rest for it. JJune 4th it was ordered to be ready to go into the ritle-pits. In spite of blu :- dering movements, Company A in advance, it at length reached the pits, where it spent the night. The next day, until eight in the evening, the men did their best, " firing fast and well," to harm the enemy, when they were ordered back to camp. This move was executed without loss, and the regiment next did good service in the trenches.

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HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

The regiment participated in the second assault on Port Hudson, when it lost fifty-nine killed, wounded, and missing. Among the killed were Capt. Hoag, of New Milford, and Lieut. Durand, of Stamford. This was one of the most desperate charges made during the Rebellion, but in that holocaust of fire not a man in that noble legion shrank from his duty.

After the surrender of the place the Twenty-eighth did garrison duty until the expiration of its term of service. The regiment lost,-killed, 9; died of wounds, 9; died of disease, 65. It was mustered out at New Haven, Ang. 28, 1863.

FIRST REGIMENT HEAVY ARTILLERY.

There was one company-I-in this regiment from Litchfield County. Its officers were as follows : Cap- tain, Sanford H. Perkins; first lieutenant, Albert F. Brooker; second lieutenant, Edward II. Mix, all from Torrington. The regiment was organized as the Fourth Regiment of Infantry, and remained as such until June 2, 1862, when it was changed to heavy artillery. It was a gallant regiment, and participated in the following engagements: Siege of Yorktown, Hanover Court-house, Gaines' Mills, Chickahominy, Golden Hill, Malvern Hill, siege of Fredericksburg, before Fredericksburg, Kelly's Ford, Orange Court- house, siege of Petersburg and Richmond, Fort Fisher.

CHAPTER VII. INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

The Housatonic Railroad-The Naugatuck Railroad-The Connecticut Western-The Shepang-The New Haven and Northampton.

THE HOUSATONIC RAILROAD COMPANY

was incorporated in 1836, with authority to build a road from Sheffield, Mass., to Brookfield, Conn., and from thence to tide-water at Bridgeport, or such other point as might be deemed expedient.

In order to aid the undertaking, the city of Bridge- port, at a meeting held March 2, 1837, voted to sub- scribe for stock of the new company to the amount of one hundred thousand dollars, and individuals resid- ing in other towns upon the route subscribed for two hundred thousand dollars more.

Ex-Governor Gideon Tomlinson acted for a time as president of the company, but at the first regular election, April 5, 1837, the following persons were chosen officers of the road: William P. Burrall, President; William H. Noble, Secretary; Jesse Ster- ling, Treasurer ; William P. Burrall, Edwin Porter, Samuel Simons, Stephen Lounsbury, Charles De Forest, of Bridgeport, Anan Hine, Asa Pickett, of New Milford, Alpheus Fuller, of Kent, and Peter Bierce, of Cornwall, Directors.

Mr. Horace Nichols subsequently became treasurer of the road, and held the position until his resigna-

tion, in 1848. A contract was made by the board of directors with Messrs. Bishop and Sykes to build the entire road for the sum of $936,000,-viz., cash, $636,000, and stock of the company at par, $300,000. Work was commenced in July, 1837, about three hundred men being employed by the contractors.

Owing to the panic of 1837, which caused nearly all the banks and moneyed institutions of the country to suspend specie payments, subscriptions for stock were not received as rapidly as had been anticipated, and the progress of the road was delayed.

In February, 1840, the southern division of the road-viz., from Bridgeport to New Milford-was completed and opened for travel. The cost up to that time had been, for the road proper, $476,000 ;. for cars, engines, depots, tanks, etc., $99,000; total, $575,000.

The remaining portion of the road was opened Dec. 1, 1842. Much annoyance was caused by the original track, which consisted of an iron strap fastened upon wooden sills by spikes, which often became loose, when the weight of passing trains caused it to curl up into "snake-heads." In 1846 it was replaced by iron rails of the present pattern.

March 25, 1838, the city of Bridgeport voted to con- firm the previous subscription of one hundred thou- sand dollars, and authorized an additional one of fifty thousand dollars, and Messrs. Henry Dutton, F. C. Bassett, and Lockwood De Forest were appointed agents for the city to raise the necessary funds by issuing coupon bonds. These bonds were paid to the railroad company in lieu of cash, and by the company were disposed of to other parties.

At the May session in 1838 the Legislature by a special act validated the action of the city of Bridge- port, referred to above, in subscribing for the stock of the Housatonic Railroad Company, and in issuing bonds in payment for the stock. This act of the General Assembly was approved at a city meeting held for the purpose, but no provision was made for the payment of the bonds or of the coupons as they fell due.

The action of the majority was viewed with alarm by many of the leading tax-payers, who in January, 1839, appointed a "Council of Safety," to advise as to what measures should be taken in regard to these bonds. This council was composed of thirteen mem- bers, Philo Hurd being chairman and Isaac Sherman secretary. Eminent counsel were also retained by the city, and an effort was made to secure the services of Daniel Webster, but Mr. Webster was obliged to de- cline the case on account of other engagements. No active effort seems to have been made by any one to repudiate the debt, but a very general desire was man- ifested that some competent tribunal should decide to what extent the private property of citizens in the minority could be taken to satisfy a debt created by the vote of a majority, many of whom were not tax- payers.

101

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

In June, 1843, the railroad company obtained judg- ment against the city in the Superior Court, and, an appeal to the Supreme Court of Errors having been decided in favor of the plaintiff, an execution on this judgment was issued and placed in the hands of Deputy Sheriff Smith, of Norwalk, to be by him levied and collected. This officer then first demanded payment of the amount from the mayor, clerk, and treasurer of the city in turn, and then, payment not having been made, called upon them to exhibit goods, chattels, or lands belonging to the debtors,-viz., the mayor, Common Council, and freemen of the city,- which they were either unable or unwilling to do. The deputy sheriff then, acting under legal advice, broke open the dry-goods store of Bronson B. Beards- ley and the wholesale grocery of Niles, Thorp & Co., and, seizing a quantity of goods from the former, sold them at the post. Mr. Beardsley brought an action against the deputy sheriff for taking his property un- lawfully, but in June, 1844, the case was decided against him. It was then carried to the Supreme Court of the State, where the decision in favor of the defendant was affirmed, Judge Church, in giving the opinion, using the following language :

" The city of Bridgeport, with great deliberation and unanimity, and under sanction of the General Assembly, has contracted a debt. The securities isaned by the city have been purchased by bona-fide holders, with its assent, and upon the faith of the city and the luws. No funds, either by taxation or otherwise, have been provided for payment. A right without a remedy Is not an admitted principle. We know of no other practical remedy but the one to which this plaintiff lins resorted."

This was a very important decision, as the question at issue-viz., the liability of private property for the debts of a municipality-had never before been adjudicated. Once definitely settled, however, im- mediate steps were taken for the payment of overdue interest and legal expenses, and a tax of seven and a half per cent. upon the entire property of the city was laid and collected.

In 1856 a sinking fund of fifty thousand dollars- this being the sum derived from the sale of the stock owned by the city-was established by Mayor Cal- houn, which, by careful management, has increased from year to year, until the greater part of the rail- road debt of the city has already been paid off, and for the balance, due in 1886, full provision is already made.

In 1844 the road, which had largely been built with borrowed capital, was much crippled. It passed into the hands of a committee of twenty citizens, and for some time was operated under the name of E. Gregory & Co. Preferred stock to a large amount was finally issued, and a reorganization of the com- pany effected.

Judging from the last report of the railroad com- missioners, however, this road is now in a prosperous state. At the beginning of the year 1880 it hud 74 miles of track, extending from Bridgeport to Sheffield, Mass., besides several branches and leased lines. Its capital stock is $2,000,000,-viz., $820,000 old stock,

and $1,180,000 preferred. Its bonded debt is $550,000, and its floating indebtedness $228,038.73 ; total, $778,- 038.73. It has 20 locomotives, 32 passenger- and bag- gage-cars, and 440 freight-cars, 420 employees, and 20 stations. It carried last year 252,740 passengers and 225,037 tons of freight, and its revenue from all sources was $599,660.09.

The railroad commissioners, in concluding their re- port, say of this road,-

" Steel rails have been laid as far north as Merwinsville, and it is pro- posed to continue the steel track during the present year to the State line. The bridges, track, and rolling stock of this road are all in good condition. The usual dividend of eight per cent. has been paid to the preferred stockholders."

The following are the officers of the company : William H. Barnum, President; David S. Draper, Vice-President; Charles K. Averill, Secretary and Treasurer ; Henry C. Cogswell, General Freight Agent ; Hobart W. Watson. Chief Clerk; L. B. Still- son, Superintendent ; William H. Barnum, of Lime Rock, Conn. ; Samuel Willets, of New York ; Horace Nichols, William D. Bishop, of Bridgeport; George W. Peet, of Falls Village; Edward Leavitt, John B. l'eek, of New York ; D. S. Draper, of Great Barring- ton ; A. B. Mygatt, of New Milford, Directors.

NAUGATUCK RAILROAD.

The Naugatuck Railroad, from Derby to Plymouth, was chartered in 1845. In 1847 the company was al- lowed an extension of one year for commencing its road and expending thereon the sum of fifty thousand dollars, and were authorized to extend its line to Win- sted. Prior to the awarding of the contracts and ex- tending the line to Winsted, it had been transferred to Alfred Bishop, of Bridgeport, and his associates, who, in consideration of a bonus of thirty thousand dollars and payment of the land damages along its line to Waterbury, by the citizens interested in its comple- tion, contracted to build the road and open it to that point in 1849. Soon after the extension to Winsted was authorized, Mr. Bishop proposed to so extend it, on being secured another cash bonus of thirty thou- sand dollars and a right of way from Waterbury northward. The proposition was unlooked for, but was promptly responded to. A meeting of citizens interested along the line was immediately called, and a division of responsibility was agreed upon, by which the citizens of Winsted assumed half the bonus and the securing the whole right of way and depot grounds within the town of Winchester; and the citizens of Wolcottville and Plymouth agreed to assume the other half of the bonus and the whole expense of the remaining land title.

A spirit of liberality, before unprecedented, pre- vailed. Men gave their thousands who had never before given a hundred for any public object. The subscription was speedily filled up, when the chronic sectional disease of our community broke out on the question of locating the terminus, -whether it should

102

HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

be on East village green, on the Flat, or in the West village. There was a backing down of a portion of subscriptions, which rendered a new subscription ne- cessary on the basis of locating the terminus on the Flat, where the depot now stands. A reassessment of the adhering subscribers was proposed and speedily adopted. About five thousand dollars was assumed by adhering subscribers to make good the withdrawn subscriptions, and the contract with Mr. Bishop was thereupon perfected.

The iron horse paid his first visit to the Winsted depot Sept. 21, 1849. The first passenger-train came up on Saturday the 22d, and returned on the follow- ing Monday.

Mr. Bishop, the projector and builder of the road, died before its completion. He was a man of far-see- ing and comprehensive views, of quiet energy and liberal spirit.

The present officers and directors are as follows : President, E. F. Bishop, Bridgeport, Conn .; Seere- tary and Treasurer, Ilorace Nichols, Bridgeport, Conn. ; Superintendent, George W. Beach, Water- bury, Conn .; Chief Clerk, James Potter, Bridgeport, Conn. ; General Ticket Agent, William Tomlin, Bridgeport, Conn. ; Freight Agent, B. Soules, Bridge- port, Conn. ; Board of Directors, E. F. Bishop, Wil- liam D. Bishop, R. Tomlinson, Bridgeport, Conn .; J. G. Wetmore, Winsted, Conn .; F. J. Kingsbury, Waterbury, Conn .; A. L. Dennis, Newark, N. J .; H. Bronson, J. B. Robertson, New Haven, Conn. ; R. M. Bassett, Birmingham, Conn.

CONNECTICUT WESTERN RAILROAD.

After the opening of the Naugatuck Railroad, in 1850, the necessity of a railroad communication eastward to the Connecticut River, and westward to the Hudson, became more and more apparent, but until recently seemed impracticable, by reason of the high grades and circuitons lines required in running roads easterly and westerly over the monntain ranges between the Hudson and Connecticut Rivers.

The steady growth of Collinsville, New Hartford, and Winsted, and the great enlargement of the iron interests of Salisbury and Canaan, stimulated the desire to overcome difficulties in the way of the en- terprise which had seemed to the communities inter- ested to be insuperable.

Public attention was first called to the practicabil- ity of the enterprise by E. T. Butler, Esq., of Norfolk, in 1865, and, mainly through his instrumentality, ex- perimental surveys were made during that year ; and in 1866 a charter was granted to the "Connecticut Western Railroad Company," with power to construct a road from Collinsville, Conn., to the Massachusetts State line, on the border of North Canaan. Strennons efforts were made by Mr. Butler and others to interest capitalists in the scheme. The Boston and Erie Rail- road Company were vainly solicited to make the route a part of their line. Hartford and Springfield capi-

talists were appealed to in vain. The Canal Railroad Company would have nothing to do with it. The Ilarlem, Housatonic, and Naugatuck Companies, with which it was to form connections, gave it a cold shoulder.

At this nearly hopeless stage of the enterprise the Dutchess and Columbia Railroad Company, under the auspices of George II. Brown, Esq., of Washington Valley, N. Y., had completed their road from Fish- kill-on-the-Hudson, opposite Newburg, to near Pine Plains, in Dutchess Co., N. Y., and were seeking an eastern connection. The existence of the Connecticut Western charter was made known to Mr. Brown, who, with characteristic energy, at once embarked with Mr. Butler and others in the enterprise. A new charter was obtained from the Legislature of 1868, granting power to extend the road from the city of Hartford to Collinsville; thence to follow the line of the charter of 1866, through New Hartford, Winsted, and Norfolk ; and thence to diverge westerly through North Canaan and Salisbury, in the direction of Mil- lerton, on the Harlem Railroad, so as to connect with the Dutchess and Columbia Railroad at the State line. The charter authorized towns along the line of the road, in their corporate capacity, to subscribe and pay for stock in the road to an amount not exceeding five per cent. of their grand lists last made up, on being empowered so to do by a two-thirds vote of the inhabitants of such towns at meetings duly called and notified for that purpose.

The town of Winchester, on the 22d of August, 1868, by a ballot of three hundred and sixty-six to sixty-six, voted a subscription of five per cent. on its lists, amounting to one hundred and sixteen thousand dollars, to the stock of the company, and individnal citizens of the town made further subscriptions to the amount of seventy-four thousand nine hundred dol- lars. Winchester was the first town on the line to vote on this test question, the result of which was to determine whether the road should be carried through. Subscriptions of other towns along the line were soon afterwards voted as follows :

By Town.

By Citizens.

Salisbury

$50,000

$103,090

Cnnaan ..

34,000

16,000

Norfolk

41,50)

10,800

Canton.

40.000

Simsbury.

50,000

20,100

Bloomfield

42,300

25,900

Hartford

750,000

64,000

Winchester

116,000

74,900

The surveys, estimates, and location of the road were completed in 1870, and the whole line was put under contract immediately afterwards. The first passenger-train passed over the road from Hartford to Millerton, N. Y., on the 21st of December, 1871, and returned the same day, and since then the communi- cation has been uninterrupted. Its connections with other roads along its line, and at its termini, will make it a trunk-line of equal importance with the other east-and-west roads of New England. Its con- nections with roads already completed are with three

103

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

roads at Hartford, with the Canal Road at Simsbury, its branch at Collinsville, the Naugatuck at Winsted, the Housatonie at Canaan, the Poughkeepsie and East- ern, the Dutchess and Columbia at State line, and the Harlem at Millerton, Other connections are shortly to be completed with the Connecticut River and Bos- ton and Albany roads at Springfield, the Collinsville and New Britain branch at Collinsville, the Farming- ton River road from Lee to New Hartford, or Win- sted, and the road from Rhinebeck-on-the-Hudson to the State line, the three latter now in process of con- struction.

The present officers are as follows : President, C. J. Camp, West Winsted, Conn .; Vice-President, C. T. Hillyer, Hartford, Conn .; Secretary, E. R. Beardsley, West Winsted, Conn .; Treasurer, William L. Gil- bert, West Winsted, Conn .; Superintendent, John F. Jones, Hartford, Conn .; General Ticket Agent, Walter Pearce, Hartford, Conn .; General Freight Agent, John F. Jones, Hartford, Conn .; Board of Directors, C. T. IIillyer, T. M. Allyn, II. S. Barbour, L. B. Mer- riam, N. B. Stevens, Hartford, Conn. ; Joseph Toy, Simsbury, Conn .; C. J. Camp, William L. Gilbert, George Dudley (deceased), West Winsted, Conn .; E. T. Butler, Norfolk, Conn. ; D. J. Warner, Salisbury, Conn .; A. H. Holley, Lakeville, Conn. ; L. W. Cutler, Watertown, Conn.

SIEPAUG RAILROAD.

The first meeting of the corporators of the Shepaug Valley Railroad Company was held at Litchfield, April 25, 1869, when it was voted that books be opened for subscription to the capital stock. At the second meeting of the corporators, held at Litchfield, Nov. 13, 1869, it was voted that the first meeting of stockholders be called at Litchfield, Nov. 27, 1869, for the purpose of choosing directors, At the meeting, which was held pursuant to call, the following were chosen : David C. Whittlesey, Chairman ; Edward W. Seymour, Clerk; Directors, J. Deming Perkins, Henry W. Buel, George A. Hickox, Henry R. Coit, Edward W. Seymour, George M. Woodruff, William Deming, Simon H. Mitchell, Seth S. Logan, George C. Hitch- cock, Albert L. Hodge, Glover Sanford. J. Deming l'erkins was elected President ; Simeon II. Mitchell, Vice-President; Heury R. Coit, Treasurer; and George M. Woodruff, Secretary. Sept. 9, 1870, the directors met and voted to invite Maj. Edwin McNeill to meet with the board, he having taken a deep interest in the enterprise and made the preliminary survey at his own expense. On the 24th of the same month it was voted

to adopt as the location of road the line as laid in the valley of Shepaug River, through Roxbury, more than four hundred thousand dollars having been subscribed to the capital stock.

Maj. Edwin McNeill was elected director Oet. 1, 1870, in place of Glover Sanford, resigned. The con- struction of the road commeneed October, 1870, and it was opened for business Jan. 1, 1872. In 1873 the second mortgage bondholders foreclosed, a new charter was obtained, and a new company was organized in June, 1873, as "The Shepaug Railroad Company," the second mortgage bondholders of the Shepang Val- ley Railroad Company becoming stockholders in the new corporation.

The first board of directors were Edwin MeNeill, Origen S. Seymour, Henry W. Buel, George MI. Wood- ruff, Henry R. Coit, F. Ratchford Starr, J. Deming Perkins, and William Deming. J. Deming Perkins was elected President ; Henry R. Coit, Treasurer ; George M. Woodruff, Secretary.

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History of Litchfield county, Connecticut, Part 23

Author: J.W. Lewis & Company (Philadelphia, Pa.) Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1532

Author: J.W. Lewis & Company (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1532