USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Farmington > History of New Britain, with sketches of Farmington and Berlin, Connecticut. 1640-1889 > Part 23
USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Berlin > History of New Britain, with sketches of Farmington and Berlin, Connecticut. 1640-1889 > Part 23
USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > New Britain > History of New Britain, with sketches of Farmington and Berlin, Connecticut. 1640-1889 > Part 23
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45
He decided to send his oldest son, James, to Stockbridge, Mass., to learn the brass business of Joseph Barton who was considered skillful in the manufacture of articles in this metal. Two of his neighbors, Joseph Booth and Samuel Shipman, sent their sons, Joseph Booth and Joseph Shipman, with James, to Stockbridge, for a similar purpose. The parents of Booth moved to New York State, and their son went there, but North and Shipman, after serving an appren- ticeship, returned to New Britain in the latter part of 1799, and in the spring of 1800 commenced the manufacture of sleigh bells. They at first worked together in a room vacated for the purpose, in the "Sugden House," then standing at
269
INDUSTRIES.
the corner of South Main and Park streets, and owned by James North, Sr. This was probably the first distinc- tivé manufacture of metals, excepting tinware, which was conducted in New Britain, entirely separate from the black- smiths' shops. From this humble beginning in a room in a dwelling-house, by these two young men, have arisen the various manufacturing enterprises which have made New Britain noted on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
In the autumn of 1800, the success of the business was so well assured that each of the young men, with the advice and aid of his father, set up business by himself. James North, the older of the two, continued in the Sugden House, belonging to his father, by whom his capital was furnished ; and Joseph Shipman established similar works in one end of his father's joiner's shop on East Main Street. Dr. Smalley, the first minister of the parish, loaned Shipman fifty dollars to commence business, and this constituted his capital. The sleigh bells and other articles in brass were all made by hand. Some were sold in this State, and a part were carried to Boston, Albany, or elsewhere, on horseback, where they found a ready market. The profits of the business soon enabled Shipman to repay the money borrowed of Dr. Smalley, and to purchase raw material as needed. The burning of his father's shop was a temporary interruption, but in 1803 he bought Nathan Booth's homestead on Stanley Street, and soon built near it more extensive shops for his business.
Seth J. North, a younger brother of James, learned the blacksmith's trade in his father's shop, but afterwards went into the shop with his brother and assisted in making bells. James soon after removed to Cherry Valley, N. Y., and Seth succeeded to the business in New Britain. He continued for a time in the rooms which had been occupied by his brother in the Sugden House, and then built shops near, affording more room. The shops of North and Shipman soon became the principal manufactories of brass goods in their line in this country, and the products of these shops were not
270
HISTORY OF NEW BRITAIN, ETC.
only distributed over New England, but were sent to New York, Philadelphia, and the Southern. States. Wagons were fitted out with goods from the shops where brass goods and tinware were manufactured, and the goods were sold directly to the retail dealers or consumers by peddlers or traveling salesmen, who both took orders and delivered the goods, building up a lucrative and important trade in the South and West. Erastus Lewis, after manufacturing tinware for some years on the west side of Main Street, commenced making clock weights and bells, and it was not long before clocks and bells were sold in the Southern and Western States with the brass goods and tinware. Lewis eventually moved his business to Waterbury.
About 1800, James Booth, Jr., having learned the shoe- maker and tanner's trade, established a tannery on the east side of Main Street, north of the railway, and nearly oppo- site his father's residence.
The branches of business which had been established in Stanley Quarter and on East Street were continued in those localities for several years, but at the beginning of the present century, business began to concentrate upon Main Street. In 1805-6, Thomas Lee and his brother, Isaac, built the first store in this part of the parish. It was located at the northwest corner of the public square, opposite the site of the present post-office. This was the first store in New Britain, west of East Street.
In 1807, Thomas Lee, Isaac Lee, Seth J. North, Joseph Shipman, and William Smith, formed a company and erected a building near the site of Porter's Block, for the manufac- ture of various kinds of jewelry. This was probably the first manufacturing company with more than two partners in New Britain. The business was continued three or four years, and was then given up and the partnership was dis- solved.
About 1808, Hezekiah C. Whipple, a jeweler from Provi- dence, R. I., came to New Britain and occupied a small house on Stanley Street. He commenced work by himself in a
271
INDUSTRIES.
room in his house, but two or three years afterwards had a small shop near the corner of East Main and Stanley streets, in which he made a few silver-plated buckles, cloak clasps, and other articles from plated wire. In 1812, Seth J. North and Alvin North formed a partnership with Mr. Whipple, and the firm continued the manufacture of such articles as Whipple had made, and some others. During the war of 1812 the business was quite successful, and several new articles were added to their list. They made the wire by plating copper bars with silver, and drawing into wire, first by hand, and then by horse -power. At first the plated articles were polished by hand, but having learned that a more rapid process was in use in Middletown, it was soon adopted by this firm .* This shop was the beginning of a manufac- turing establishment which, under various names and by different persons, has been continued at the same locality until the present time.
Jesse Hart, a son of Deacon Elijah Hart, of Kensington Street, having learned the blacksmith's trade, came to the growing village, made his home where the Russell & Erwin building stands, north of the green, and, turning the water of the brook on the rear of his lot, secured a small water- power where the Baptist church is located. He had a black- smith's shop there, in which he used the water-power in forging and finishing knives and forks and other hardware. The stream of water then crossed Main Street, and passing southerly, supplied Thomas Lee with water-power, which he employed in the manufacture of coffee-mills, snaps, beads, - and other articles of hardware. His shop was on the east
* Alvin North went to Middletown to learn what the new process was, but he found that it was held as a secret, and would not be divulged without the payment of money. He paid twenty-five dollars and was then told to "take old woolen stockings, sew up the holes, put in pieces of soap cut small, have a pail of warm water, fill the stocking with the articles to be polished, then dip in water and rub the whole between the hands." The process was a simple one, but the company found that it would save the labor of half a dozen girls. They substituted canvas bags for stockings, and these were used until the introduction of the tumbling-barrel.
272
HISTORY OF NEW BRITAIN, ETC.
side of Main Street, near the site of the First Church. He also had a tannery in the rear and near his shop.
Norman Woodruff, a brass founder, living on the west side of Main Street, north of the site of the Savings Bank, had a shop at the rear of his house for the manufacture of brass goods. A few rods further south, Samuel Booth, a blacksmith, living at the home of his father and grandfather, where the South Church is located, made bureau locks, sad- irons, bellows pipes, and other similar articles.
Abner Clark married Polly Belden, a daughter of Capt. Jonathan, in 1802. Her father built for them the house on the east side of Main Street, occupied for many years by Charles M. Lewis. In the chambers of this house Mr. Clark carried on saddle and harness making for several years.
In Stanley Quarter, besides the business already de- scribed, Lot Stanley and his son, Amon, manufactured fur hats which were prized for their appearance and durability. At times, a dozen or more men were employed, and hats made at this shop found a ready market in this State and in New York. In the winter, when a considerable stock of hats had accumulated, Amon Stanley, with his two-horse team, would take a load of hats, and proceeding to Western New York, would sell them readily, and purchase beaver and other furs, which were brought home and made into hats for the sales of another season.
In 1812-1814, the war with Great Britain, to a great extent, cut off the importation of foreign goods and stimu- lated domestic manufactures. The demand for goods led to the establishment of a number of small shops for making such articles as were required for domestic use, and for a short time these shops were prosperous. After the treaty of peace was promulgated in 1815, and importation from Europe was resumed; these shops were generally closed or used for other purposes, and manufacturing was again restricted to the shops of Seth J. North, Joseph Shipman, and the North & Whipple company. The almost entire destruction of the commerce of the State by British cruisers, and the blockade,
273
INDUSTRIES.
the suspension of specie payments by many of the banks during the last year of the war, the general disturbance of the finances, and the heavy debt incurred in carrying on the war, affected all industries, and those of New Britain in common with other parts of the country ; and for a few years it appeared that manufacturing operations would be generally suspended.
Attention was again directed more exclusively to agricul- ture; farm products were increased, and were exported in considerable quantities, giving occupation to men and animals. Hay, the various grains, flour and meal, apples, cider, and timber, were sold in Hartford, Middletown, or Farmington ; meal, shooks, and hoops were carted to New Haven and shipped to the West Indies. The place gradu- ally recovered from the effects of the war, and some indus- tries were revived before the close of the decade, 1810-1820. The coopers' shops again became a source of profit. Phine- has Penfield, on the road to Farmington, Ephraim Royce, two miles west of the Center, Selah Hart and Robert Corn- wall, in Hart Quarter, and a few others in other parts of the parish, followed the coopers' business actively at least for a portion of the year. At Royce's shop, cedar pails, tubs, and similar articles were made, but in most of the shops the preparation of casks for shipping meal to the West Indies, or of shooks and hoops for export, was the principal business.
The wool and flax from the farms were converted into yarn and thread, there being spinning-wheels in most house- holds, and hand-looms in some. Aaron Hart, who lived in the south part of Hart Quarter, had tools which had been used by his father for making weavers' reeds, and he used them for the same purpose. A number of individuals from New Britain were for a few years engaged in peddling, and well-stocked trunks and wagons fitted out from the shops of New Britain, or the stores of Hartford, Berlin, and Farming- ton, were sent into the country around New Britain. Some of these traveling salesmen had valuable collections of goods, and made extended trips to other States.
274
HISTORY OF NEW BRITAIN, ETC.
Moses D. Seymour had a clothing mill near the bridge on Kensington Street. At this mill, and later in that of Nor- man and Ira Hart, near their home, cloth was made. Other local industries were started, and the place was gradually preparing for the changes which followed in the next decade.
About 1820, there was a general revival of business in the country. The adoption of the State constitution in 1818, securing the extension of suffrage, and the voluntary support of religion ; the admission into the Union of several new States,* and the adoption of a tariff, to protect domestic manufactures, may have contributed to this result. In New Britain some of the old shops which had been closed were reopened, and new buildings were erected. The few shops in which manufacturing had been carried on for a number of years without interruption were enlarged or improved, but the progress was slow, and it was not until near the close of the decade that New Britain became distinctively a manufac- turing village. Already a number of articles had been made for export, and goods from New Britain had found a market in many of the large towns of the country.
The shops of Seth J. North and Joseph Shipman, which at first occupied but a few square feet, became a series of founderies and finishing shops, in which sleigh bells and other articles in brass were cast and polished by hand or the foot lathe. Mr. North and Mr. Shipman were both accus- tomed to take their goods to market in New York and Boston with their own two-horse wagons, returning with the raw material or with groceries and other goods. Their shops would seem small in comparison with the manufactories of the present time, but at that time, they had an important place in the industries of the parish. In these shops, a number of young men were trained and fitted for business who afterwards had shops of their own, or held important positions in other larger establishments.
Thomas Lee, after the death of his brother, Isaac, in
* Indiana was admitted in 1816; Mississippi in 1817; Illinois in 1818 ; Alabama in 1819 ; Maine in 1820, and Missouri in 1821.
.
275
INDUSTRIES.
1818, had his son, L. P. Lee, associated with him, and they were engaged in making buttons, curb chains, snaps, hooks, and rings, etc. They used seven different sizes of wire, some of which cost one dollar per pound. They were also engaged in the bead business, and in making hooks and eyes. The glass bead business was prosecuted with success about 1823 to 1825. The beads were strung into necklaces, bracelets, and dress trimming, chiefly by women and girls. The lace business was carried on in Stanley Quarter by Thomas Stanley and others. The plating business, first established by North & Whipple, had passed into the hands of Alvin and Seth J. North, and had been increased in variety and amount, until it included most of the articles made by the Lees and a few others.
The manufacture of tinware, which had been introduced by the Patersons, and which became an important industry in the parish, was still continued on East Street and on the west side of Main Street. Several smaller shops were opened in which hand-bells, andirons, shovels, and tongs, bellows-pipes, snuffers and snuffer-trays, carriage knobs, coffee-mills, and similar articles were made.
A branch of business which was essentially a New Britain enterprise, and was more fully developed a few years later, was introduced in the early part of this decade. In the shops of the Norths, where plated wire was made into clasps, rings, and hooks, for men's clothing, there was begun the manufacture of hooks and eyes for women's clothing. At first, the wire was imported from Europe, drawn out by hand until of the proper size, and then cut into the requisite length, and formed into hooks and eyes. This last part of the work was performed by women and girls, many of whom took the wire to their homes, and by the aid of pliers pro- duced the proper form. The first machine used in the manufacture of hooks and eyes was constructed about 1830, by Levi Lincoln of Hartford, to the order of Henry North. This machine operated so well that others were made for the same purpose. The original machines were improved by
-
276
HISTORY OF NEW BRITAIN, ETC.
Messrs. Lamb of Perlin, and Ira Callendar and Thomas Tracy of New Britain, until they reached such perfection as to be nearly automatic. The silvered goods were made from brass wire coated with pure silver. Henry North, Alvin North, Seth J. North, Thomas Lee, Isaac Lee, and L. P. Lee & Co., were all engaged in this manufacture, but about 1848, the entire business passed into the hands of Seth J. North & Co., afterwards North & Stanley, and North, Stan- ley & Co. These firms introduced improved machinery, erected new buildings, and hooks and eyes were manufac- tured in large quantities for an extended market. The prin- cipal building occupied by North, Stanley & Co. was on the south side of Park Street, and in 1889 was one of the build- ings owned and occupied by P. & F. Corbin. .
After the death of Seth J. North, the business was con- tinued by his son, Frederick H. North, and Oliver Stanley. The machines had been improved until a single machine would take the wire from the reel, cut it into suitable pieces, and form into complete shape ninety hooks or one hundred and twenty eyes, in a minute ; and fifteen of these machines in one room could be watched and superintended by a single operator. The hooks and eyes when finished were fastened to cards, usually by women, in New Britain and surrounding towns. This work was sent as far as Simsbury and Canton, to be performed by women at their homes. At one time more than twenty girls were employed at the factory in making paper boxes in which the goods were packed for shipment. During the civil war, nineteen of the hook and eye machines were at one time employed upon military goods. The substitution of buttons for hooks and eyes led to the closing up of the business, as there was no longer market for the production.
The manufacture of fine jewelry in New Britain dates from about 1820, when William B. North, the youngest son of James North, having learned the jewelry business in Hart- ford, came to New Britain and commenced the manufacture of jewelry. After the death of Rev. Newton Skinner in
.
277
INDUSTRIES.
1825, Mr. North bought the Abner Clark place, which had belonged to Mr. Skinner, and erected a shop south of it, on the site of the Rockwell place, at the junction of Main and Elm streets. Here he continued the manufacture of jewelry for a few years, and then moved his shop to the north of his house. William A. Churchill learned the jewelers' trade in Mr. North's shop, and in 1831 was admitted into partnership with him. The firm then became North & Churchill, and was soon distinguished for the excellence of its work. The partnership of North & Churchill was continued until the death of Mr. North in 1848. Soon after this occurrence, Mr. Churchill admitted into business with him James Stanley, a former apprentice, and the firm became Churchill & Stanley. In a few months after, D. C. Pond became a partner, and the firm was changed to Churchill, Stanley & Co. Charles M. Lewis, another apprentice of William B. North, after work- ing as journeyman in the shop of North & Churchill, formed a partnership with Charles A. Warner for prosecut- ing the jewelry business. They worked at first in a room in Mr. Warner's house on the east side of South Main Street ; but this being too contracted, they removed to a small shop back of Mr. Warner's house. About 1848, they built a larger shop north of Mr. Lewis's house, and increased their business. A few years later these two firms were merged into one, with the place of business on the west side of the street.
The business at the corner of East Main and Stanley streets had also changed hands. Soon after the close of the war of 1812, Alvin North bought out the other partners, continuing the manufacture of wire, and, from this wire, making rings, clasps, hooks, etc. Henry Stanley was in com- pany with him for a short time, 1827-1829. About 1830, Orrin S. North, the eldest son of Alvin, went into part- nership with his father, the firm becoming A. North & Son. Horace Butler commenced work for Mr. North about 1822, and after a time had an interest in the business as one of the partners. O. S. North, after some years, withdrew, and the firm became North & Butler. In 1846 Mr. Butler
278
HISTORY OF NEW BRITAIN, ETC.
bought out a portion of the business and established a separate shop a few rods north on the west side of Stanley Street. He continued business here as H. Butler, H. Butler & Co., or H. Butler & Sons, until his death in 1870, when it passed into the hands of A. E. Taylor and others, and be- came the Taylor Manufacturing Company. One branch of the business was continued at the old shop by Alvin North, who had associated with him his son, O. B. North, and after- wards Hubert North under the name of A. North & Son.
Oliver B. North, who was for a time in company with his father, bought Judd's mills with the water power, and at that. place made knobs, bitts, and other articles. In 1852, he built a larger shop near, which was burned in 1863. He after- wards removed to New Haven.
The brass business which for many years had been almost exclusively in the hands of Seth J. North and Joseph Ship- man & Sons, was, from 1820 or 1825, carried on also in other shops, some of them small, with a few specialties, and others of considerable extent, employing twenty or twenty-five hands, and including, besides the manufacture of articles of brass, those of other metals. , Among the shops of this kind were those of James North, Jr., Cyrus Booth, Norman Woodruff, Samuel Booth, William H. Smith, and Chauncey Cornwell, on Main and South Main streets; Josiah Dewey on East Main Street ; Cyrus Stanley in Stanley Quarter, and Cyrus Stanley and Ira Stanley near the bridge on Kensing- ton Street. A few years later, other shops were started and a greater variety of goods was made. About 1829, Seth J. North, William H. Smith, and Henry Stanley formed a partnership for the manufacture of hardware, and built a shop somewhat larger than had been erected before in New Britain, on the east side of South Main Street, near. the present terminus of Pearl Street. The little machinery that was used was run by horse-power, probably the first use of this power for manufacturing purposes in New Britain. Mineral coal for melting brass and iron was first used in this shop about 1831.
279
INDUSTRIES.
After Elm Street had been opened, S. J. North con- structed a canal to take the water from the brook which crossed Main Street to the former street, where he secured water-power and erected the first brick manufactory in New Britain. This building was occupied by Seth J. North, John Stanley, and Henry Stanley, the firm being North & Stanley, and then North, Stanley & Co.
The firm which had prosecuted the hardware business near the present corner of South Main and Pearl streets was dissolved, Seth J. North and Henry Stanley transferring their interests to the new building of North & Stanley, and William H. Smith going into business in shops which he built nearly opposite his house on the west side of South Main Street. The building on the east side of the street, which was vacated by the North, Smith & Stanley Co., was soon after occupied by a new company consisting of William H. Belden, I. N. Lee, and C. B. Erwin, who formed a part- nership, under the firm name of William H. Belden & Co., for manufacturing hardware. Mr. Lee soon after bought Mr. Erwin's interest, and the business was continued by Mr. Belden and Mr. Lee, until the shop was burned in 1841.
The store of the Lees opposite East Main Street, and of 0. R. Burnham & Co., were the only stores in the parish in 1825. A few years later, the store of O. R. Burnham & Co. was moved to the corner of Main and South Main streets and kept by Charles Stanley. Frederic T. Stanley and Cur- tis Whaples opened the store on the site of Booth's Block on the east side of Main Street in 1829, a room over the rear of the store being occupied by F. A. Hart & Co. in the manufacture of suspenders. F. T. Stanley was interested in this business, furnishing a part of the capital .* In a few years, F. T. Stanley sold out his interest both in the store and shop, and engaged in the manufacture of hardware. Mr.
* When Andrew Jackson became President of the United States, Mr. Stanley sent him a pair of suspenders finished in this shop as a sample of what could be done in this department of manufacturing in this country. The President wrote an antograph letter to Mr. Stanley, commending the workmanship and acknowl- edging the gift.
280
HISTORY OF NEW BRITAIN, ETC.
Whaples continued the store, having as partners I. N. Lee, Messrs. Fuller and Ward, who had a shop in the rear of the store, and finally O. C. Stanley. After the suspender busi- ness was given up by F. A. Hart & Co., Curtis Whaples and I. N. Lee occupied the rooms in the manufacture of stocks.
In 1835 William Bingham and Charles Stanley were admitted to this firm, forming a partnership for three years for carrying on the business. At the expiration of that time, I. N. Lee bought out the other partners and removed the business to the rear of his house on North Main Street, Mr. Whaples carrying on business with Mr. Winchester in the rooms vacated. Mr. Bingham was also in this busi- ness with Stephen Strickland for a short time, and then worked at it at his home. Seth J. North and John Stanley were engaged in the stock business for several years, first in a room over the south store, and afterwards in the upper story of their new building on Elm Street.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.