USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Farmington > History of New Britain, with sketches of Farmington and Berlin, Connecticut. 1640-1889 > Part 6
USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Berlin > History of New Britain, with sketches of Farmington and Berlin, Connecticut. 1640-1889 > Part 6
USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > New Britain > History of New Britain, with sketches of Farmington and Berlin, Connecticut. 1640-1889 > Part 6
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
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HISTORY OF NEW BRITAIN, ETC.
Henry North until his death, and then of his widow and son-in-law, Thomas Hall, until removed in 1884 to make room for business blocks. On the west side of the street, nearly opposite the residence of James North, was the tav- ern of James Booth, Jr. Mr. Booth was a tanner and shoe- maker, his small tannery occupying the lot on the east side of the street, north of the railway. He inherited a large farm from his father, but for many years his tannery and tavern occupied much of his time. His house was after- wards the residence of his son Horace. On the east side . of Main Street, north of Booth's tannery, near where Com- mercial Street begins, was the home of James North, Jr., . from 1820 to 1825. He had a small shop near his house in which he carried on business after his return to New Britain.
On the west side of Main Street, where the Stanley Building is located, James Booth, Sr., was living, at the age of seventy-two. He had a large farm extending from that of Col. Isaac Lee on the north to the farms of John Judd and Thomas Hart on the south and west, and embracing most of that part of the city now occupied by the Russell & Erwin manufactory, and other buildings between Main and Curtis streets. His son, Oswyn Booth, was a cabinet- maker, and had his shop north of his father's house, on the present site of the Bassett House. He lived in the house with his father. This comprised the buildings on Main Street, between Dublin Hill and the present railway crossing. The shop of Oswyn Booth, with forty feet square of land, was bought by Alvin North, in 1823, for $250 ; and in 1824, Alvin North, Amon Stanley, and O. R. Burnham bought a strip adjoining, and the partnership of O. R. Burnham & Co. was formed. About the same time the first meat market in the village was established, near the Booth place, by John Clark, a farmer and butcher, who had resided at the foot of Clark Hill, Stanley Quarter.
Commencing at the present railway crossing on Main Street, in 1820, the first building on the right hand, or west
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NEW BRITAIN, 1800-1850.
side of the highway, was the small shop of Jesse Hart, who was engaged in making cheap cutlery. His, shop was near the site of the Baptist Church, and his house occupied a por- tion of the site of the Russwin Hotel, west of the New Britain National Bank. Mr. Hart died in 1825, and the business was soon after discontinued, but the dwelling-house remained until removed in 1883, to make room for the Russwin Block. The stream which supplied water-power at Hart's shop crossed Main Street and furnished water-power for Thomas Lee's shop and tannery, which were situated near the present site of the First Church chapel and the Herald building. On the site of the church, or a few yards south of it, was a dwelling-house occupied by the widow and family of Isaac Lee. This building had been a shop on the west side of the square, but was bought by Isaac Lee and converted into a dwelling-house before his death. The house was for a time used as a hotel, and then removed to Cedar Street. North of this building and near it, or at the west end of Church Street, was the pound for restraining stray animals. South of widow Lee's house, on the site of Dickin- son's store, Philip Lee, the oldest son of Isaac Lee, then living, had a shoemaker's shop.
To the east of widow Lee's and Main Street was a swamp or low marshy land partly covered with bushes. A con- siderable stream of water flowed from this swamp, furnishing water-power for Judd's Mills. Nearly all the land on the east side of Main Street as far south as the south side of Hart's Block was owned by James North or the Lee family until after 1825. In 1820 Thomas Lee was living on the west side of the square, in a house which he built about the time of his marriage, and which is still standing (1889). He had a store north of his house, on the corner nearly oppo- site' the post-office. This was the only store in or near the center of the parish in 1820.
A few rods south of the house of Thomas Lee was the residence of Dr. Samuel Hart, at that time the leading phy- sician in New Britain. The house stood on the present site
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HISTORY OF NEW BRITAIN, ETC.
of Rogers' Block, and was removed to the west end of Court Street to make room for the block. Cyrus Booth, a brass founder, was living in a house also on the west side of Main Street about ten or fifteen rods south of Dr. Hart's. Nor- man Woodruff, who removed from New Britain about 1815, returned in 1822, and built a house just north of the present site of the Savings Bank. His shop for the making of brass goods was in the lot west of his house. On the site of the South Church was the old red house of Nathan Booth, the first resident of this part of the parish. In 1820 it was oc- cupied by his grandsons, Samuel Booth and Robert Booth. Near by they had a blacksmith's shop and foundry, where plows were cast. Robert died in 1823, and the business was afterwards conducted by his brother. On the east side of the street, the next building south of Philip Lee's shoe shop, in 1820, was the Abner Clark house, owned and occupied by Charles M. Lewis many years before his death. At that time, 1820, this house, that of widow Isaac Lee, and the shops of Thomas Lee and Philip Lee, were the only buildings on the east side of Main Street south of the line of the rail- way. Nearly opposite the Abner Clark place was a house owned and occupied by William Bassett on the present site of the Churchill residence. Mr. Bassett was a wagon- maker, his shop being north of his house. In 1834, he sold his place, including the shop, to William A. Churchill, and built the house on the corner of West Main and High streets, more recently occupied by A. P. Collins.
At the north end of South Main Street, near its intersec- tion with Park Street, was the residence of Seth J. North. He was, in 1820, forty years of age, and already one of the leading business men of the place. His shops were at first near his house on both sides of South Main Street, but were afterwards removed and located some distance east and back from the street, and reached by a lane extending east, which afterwards became Pearl Street. He was at this time en- gaged principally in the manufacture of bells and various articles in brass. South of his house, on the east side of the
S.S. N.L.
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NEW BRITAIN, 1800-1850.
street, was a small tenement house, the only building then on that side of the street north of Ellis Street.
The present South Green was an uneven common with high rocks on part of it, and a deep hollow at the north end which was filled with water most of the year. This was the skating pond in winter. A few rods south of the common, on the west side of the road, was the house built by Daniel Ames soon after the revolutionary war, and afterwards sold to Aaron Roberts, who, in 1820, was residing there at the age of sixty-two. He was a joiner by trade, but owned the O. B. Bassett farm, which he let or cultivated by the aid of hired help. A short distance west of his house he had a cider-mill, and over one end of it was the room in which the town hearse was kept. At the present corner of Ellis and Maple streets, Josiah Steele, a farmer who worked Mr. Roberts' farm, was living at the age of forty-one. The only other house on the Berlin Road, or South Main Street, was that of Reuben Gladden. He had a large family of chil- dren, among whom was Walter Gladden, for many years post- master. At that time Main Street turned east at the sand bank, and intersected Stanley Street some distance north of the brick yard.
East Street still retained its character as being princi- pally the residence of farmers.' Smith's store was continued a few years longer, and Lewis's tin-shop for awhile was occu- pied by busy manufacturers of tin-ware; but agriculture was the principal occupation of the residents of this part of the parish. Manufacturing business' was concentrating nearer the center, and the store and shops of East Street were soon closed.
The original settlers of this street had all passed away. Some of the old families were represented by their descend- ants, but in many instances the old homesteads had passed into other hands, and new names were connected with these first farms of New Britain. Near the north end of this street, the farm which for some years had been occupied by Timothy Kilbourne was, about 1800, bought by Levi Wells,
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HISTORY OF NEW BRITAIN, ETC.
and has since been held in the Wells family. In 1820, Levi Wells was living upon it, at the old homestead. He died in 1823, and the farm passed to his son, Horace, who built a house on the opposite side of the street. Near the Wells place, and on the west side of the street, was the homestead of Solomon Clark, where had been kept for a few years the first store in New Britain. At the time now con- sidered his son, Solomon, was living in it.
South of the railway crossing was the Woodruff place, occupied in 1820 by Amos Woodruff, a brother-in-law · of Solomon Clark. His son, Truman, had married in 1802, and was living in the house with his father. A few rods farther south, on the site of the old home of the Patersons, Andrew Pratt was living in a house which he had built. These four neighbors, living within a few rods of each other, were all successful farmers, who had passed the meridian of life. Amos Woodruff, the eldest, was seventy-five years of age, Mr. Pratt was sixty-four, Clark sixty-two, and Wells fifty-six years old.
A short distance south of the home of Andrew Pratt, William Judd had his home at the place more recently occu- pied by Mr. Thornily. The old homestead near it, on the west side of the street, had been considered the north end of the Great Swamp society, places north of it belonging to Newington or Farmington. In 1820 this homestead was owned and occupied by Daniel Judd, who with his brother, James Judd, owned Judd's saw-mill. Sixty rods or more south, on the same street, was the house built by Captain Stephen Lee, and later known as the "Hinsdale Place"; * and farther south the house built for his son, afterwards called the " Skinner House." These stately homes had both passed from the Lee families, and were now occupied by persons who may never have known the original owners. The Hinsdale house and the land adjoining descended from Capt. Stephen Lee to his son and grandson, and was by the latter sold to Elijah Hinsdale, in 1777. Mr. Hinsdale owned
* This house was torn down some years ago.
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NEW BRITAIN, 1800-1850.
all the land from the homestead through to Stanley Street, except the cemetery. Between the cemetery and Stanley Street was his mulberry orchard, already mentioned.
SKINNER HOUSE.
The Skinner house, built by Josiah Lec, with the barn near it, and a farm of sixty acres upon which it was located, was sold by him to John Richards, in 1776, for £555. The deed also included half the irons of the saw-mill, by the meeting-house. Five years later, Richards sold the place to Captain John Hinsdale, the father of Elijah, for £900. A part of the Josiah Lee farm had been sold to Dr. Smalley, in 1788 ; the remainder, with the house and barn, was bought by Rev. Newton Skinner, and the house was occupied by him soon after his marriage, in 1815. He lived here until his death, in 1825, and worked the farm. This house is one of the oldest in New Britain. Near the Skinner place, on the cast side of the highway, was a small house occupied
* The Skinner House was built and occupied for several years by Josiah Lee, father of Mrs. General John Paterson. It was afterwards owned and occupied by Rev. Newton Skinner.
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HISTORY OF NEW BRITAIN, ETC.
by Dan Wright. South of the road leading east, on the east side of the street, was the old homestead of Dr. Smalley .* In 1820, it was occupied by Elnathan Smith, who had owned it nearly forty years. He was at that time more than eighty years old, but had been a man of wealth and influence. His store, the first in the parish except Solomon Clark's, was on the opposite side of the street. It was a small building in which a few dry goods, and a small but miscellaneous stock of groceries, were kept for the convenience of the people who could not well go to Farmington or Hartford. The store was discontinued a few years later.
On the west side of East Street, near the store, was the old tavern stand of Joseph Smith, the father of Elnathan. After Mr. Smith's death, the tavern was closed and the property was bought by Seth Lewis, who had near a shop for the manufacture of tinware. Further south, on the west side of the street, was the homestead of Leonard Belden, which for three generations was owned and occupied by farmers, all having the same name. A few rods further south, on the east side of the street, was the school house of the East District. East of the junction of East Street with Kelsey Street, Joel Belden and Ira Belden had their homes. After the street again turned south, the first house was Linus Gilbert's, and a short distance south of it Thomas Booth was living near the location of the New Britain Home. Still further south, near the intersection of the street which formerly passed over the ledge from South Stanley Street, was the residence of Col. Joseph Wright. Roger Deming was living near, and at the old home of the Lewis family John Ellis had his home. The remaining residents of East
* Dr. Smalley became an owner of quite a large tract of land in New Britain. His first purchase was of William Paterson, in 1759, when he bought his home- stead and twenty-six acres of land, extending from East Street to the Wethers- field line, for £300. He made several additions to this tract, and also bought land in other parts of the parish, some of it being as far west as the Shuttle Meadow Mountain. Between 1781 and 1789, he purchased, according to the land records, eleven different pieces, amounting to more than 160 acres, for which he paid more than £1,000.
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NEW BRITAIN, 1800-1850.
Street, in 1820, were widows Hannah Booth, Mary Gilbert, and Asahel Blinn, all near the south end of the street. Several of the families that first lived on that street had gone to the center of the parish or to other places.
The cross-roads running east and west had a few houses upon them. In the northern part of the parish, on the cross-road connecting Stanley Quarter with the Farmington road, and near the latter, there was living, in 1820, Elijah Andrews, a man esteemed for his courteous manners, kind disposition, and sincere piety. He had ten children. His oldest son, Truman, was living with his father. The second son, Ebenezer, lived near. Ira, the fourth son, after being in Meriden several years, had returned to New Britain, and was living in the house on the Farmington road which had been built by Reuben Wright.
Farther south on this road was, first, Lester . Osgood, at the home of his father, Deacon John Osgood, and next, Ebenezer Steele and wife, both over ninety years of age, veritable patriarchs in the community .* Still farther south, at the " Cassidy place," Josiah Dewey was living in 1820, but soon after removed to the southeast district. East of the Farmington road, in the valley, was the farm and home of Elijah Francis, a shoemaker and tanner; and further south, but north of Dublin Hill, Chauncey Merrills and John Recor were living in 1820. At this time, west of Osgood Hill, on Horse Plain, were the homes of Bethel Hart, Elisha Lewis, Benjamin Stanton, Ladwick Hotchkiss, and a few others.
On West Main Street, John Judd, the grandson of the John Judd who first settled in this part of the parish, was living near where his son, Morton, afterwards built. He was a blacksmith by trade, and his shop was nearly opposite his house. His oldest son, John, was married in 1822, a few months before his father's death, and, for
* They had thirteen children, seventy grandchildren, 171 great-grandehil- dren, and there were twenty-four of the fifth generation before her death. -ANDREWS.
6
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HISTORY OF NEW BRITAIN, ETC.
a time, lived west of his father, at the corner of West Main and High streets. Twenty or thirty rods farther west, also on the north side of the highway, was the res- idence of William Smith, who had a large farm in the vicinity, and had also been engaged to a limited extent in the manufacture of tinware. The next house on West Main Street was on the south side of the road, west of Park Place, on the site where Horace Eddy built in 1882. It was owned and occupied by Isaac Lewis. On the north side of the highway, west of Curtiss Street, Thomas Hart was still living, at the age of eighty-three. His son Abijah, then about fifty-six years of age, had been engaged in mer- cantile business in New York, but had returned to New Britain, and was living in the house with his father, hav- ing the general oversight of the farm. Some thirty rods farther west, Charles Eddy was living in a house also on the north side of the highway.
On the west side of Burritt Street, a few rods north of its intersection with West Main Street, Joseph Andrews had his residence, and on the opposite side of the road were his cider-mill and still. A few rods west of Burritt Street, on the north side of the Plainville road, was the house built by Joseph Root seventy years before, and for more than half a century occupied by Moses Andrews. The house was bequeathed to his son, Nathaniel Andrews, but the latter, after his father's death, removed with his family to Michigan, and this house became the residence of Harry Judd. A few rods west of it, on the same side of the highway, was the residence of John Andrews, M.D., who was for many years a practicing physician. In 1820 he was sixty-two years of age, and had relinquished much of his practice to care for his farm. Nearly half a mile farther west, Joseph Mather, a tanner and shoemaker, who had passed much of his early life at sea, and had been in the service of his country, both in the army and navy, was, at the age of seventy, passing his years in the quiet of his home. On the same street, a short distance west
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NEW BRITAIN, 1800-1850.
of the home of Joseph Mather, David Booth and Theodore Riley were residing near each other ; next west of the latter, Rhoda Andrews, widow of Hezekiah Andrews, Jr., had her home with her son, Selah Andrews, who inherited the farm of his father. The next house west, also on the north side of the road, had been built by the first Hezekiah Andrews more than sixty years before. In 1820 it was occupied by Ezekiel, his son, who inherited the homestead and the mill west of it, which had also been built by his father. Nearly opposite to the mill, Alfred Andrews, the oldest son of Ezekiel, built his house in 1820, and lived in it until his death ; and it has since been occupied by some members of his family. A few rods west of this, on the north side of the road, and near Pond River, Unri Wright was living in a house built by Moses Andrews, Jr., before 1780. The only house in New Britain on the Plain- ville road, beyond the Wright place, was the gate house on the Middletown and Berlin turnpike, which had been opened ten years before.
In Hart Quarter, a large proportion of the farms re- mained in the families of the descendants of the original settlers. The first generation had died ; many of the next had secured homes elsewhere, but others still occupied the residences and worked upon the farms of their ancestors. The old homestead of Judah Hart, opposite the old school house in the southwest district, was occupied by his son, Judah, and then by his grandson, Salmon Hart, who, in 1820, was in the prime of life, managing the farm of his father and grandfather. His cousin, Roger Hart, inherited a large farm from his father, John Hart, who had lived neighbor of Judah, but in 1820, Roger had removed from his father's homestead, and was living in a small house on the mountain road west of the turnpike, at the age of fifty-five. Samuel Gladden was a near neighbor of the same age. He died in 1823, and Roger Hart afterwards married his widow. Beyond this house was Selah Steele's home, and north of the latter, in a small house since torn down, a family by the name of Brown were living about 1820.
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HISTORY OF NEW BRITAIN, ETC.
Near the homestead of Salmon Hart, but a little south, and on the opposite side of the road, Simeon Lincoln, a brick mason and farmer, had his home and farm. He had bought land of Judah Hart in 1789, and of David Hills in 1796, and built a house for himself which he occupied until about the time of his death. His son, Simeon Lincoln, Jr., was the first husband of Almira H. Lincoln Phelps, and he and his wife resided at this place for some time.
A few rods farther south, and near the spot where the first Elijah Hart lived, Selah Hart, his great-grandson, had made his home. He was a farmer, and also kept a tavern ; and later, had a hotel at Saratoga. About twenty rods south of Hart's tavern, Jehudi Hart, the third son of the first Deacon Elijah, had his home. He was a quiet farmer, already aged eighty-one, but able to care for his farm, which he seldom left even for a day. It is said that though living in New Britain eighty-five years, he never went to Hartford.
On the road running north from its intersection with the turnpike, the house in which Elizur Hart formerly kept a somewhat noted tavern, had passed from the Hart family, and the place since known as the "State House " was, for some years, occupied by John Hamlin, Jr. Allen Francis lived in the house next north, and but a few rods from the "State House." The house of H. Deming, burned in 1886, was farther north. Col. Francis Hart, a tanner and shoemaker, was living near the Shuttle Meadow road in a house which had been built by Asahel Hart. Chester Hart, his brother, also a tanner and shoemaker, was located near him in 1820, but afterwards built on the corner made by the turnpike and Shuttle Meadow road.
After the Middletown and Berlin turnpike was opened in 1810, Robert Cornwell established a tavern near the corner where the turnpike crossed the Shuttle Meadow or Southing- ton road. He had a cooper's shop opposite in which he worked a part of the time. He died in the autumn of 1819, but his widow resided at the homestead for many years. Moses W. Beckley, a son-in-law of Mr. Cornwell, kept a tavern
:
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NEW BRITAIN, 1800-1850.
in the vicinity after Mr. Cornwell's death. Daniel Smith, a cabinet-maker, had a house near the corner of the old road and the Southington road, but it was burned soon after. This cluster of houses, with the taverns and shops in the vicinity, had given to this part of Hart Quarter an appearance of thrift before 1820.
On the old road, south of the old house of Chester Hart, Ira Stanley, a farmer in middle life, was living and cultivat- ing his farm. He afterwards moved to the center of the parish, and with his son John, built a house near the railroad where the Stanley building was afterwards erected. Farther south was the old homestead of the second Deacon Elijah Hart, and nearly opposite the house which he built for his son Aaron. In the latter house Aaron was living in 1820, at the age of fifty-nine. His son, Aaron, soon after built a new house on the site of his grandfather's home. The large farm and house were afterward owned by Horace Hart. Elijah Hart, the son of Deacon Elijalı, and brother of Aaron, was living on Kensington Street in a house built by his father, a short distance from the mill. The second Deacon Elijah Hart had given to each of his three sons, Elijah, Aaron, and Ozias, a home. His eldest son, Elijah, had the south part of the large house which his father built on Kensington Street. He engaged in the manufacture and export of corn-meal, even more extensively than his father had done. Three of his sons were clothiers or cloth dressers. Ira lived in the north part of his father's house, and Norman in the house next north on Kensington road. Their clothing-mill was near their father's grist-mill. Ira Hart died in 1824, at the age of twenty-six, and the business was continued by Norman Hart. He removed to the Center about 1851. Ozias Hart, a brother of Deacon Elijah, had a saw-mill north of the bridge near the Shuttle Meadow road. His residence was near on the west side of Kensington Street. His uncle, Benjamin Hart, more than seventy years of age, had his house and farm on the Shuttle Meadow road, near the head of the mill-pond which supplied the saw-mill. Ozias Hart's house, a few years later,
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HISTORY OF NEW BRITAIN, ETC.
was bought and occupied by Calvin Winchell. Nearly oppo- site, on the east side of Kensington Street, was the house built by Moses D. Seymour some years before. He was a clothier by trade, and had his shop near Ozias Hart's saw- mill. He afterwards built a house on Main Street at the foot of Dublin Hill. Cyrus Stanley lived in the house which Seymour had occupied on Kensington Street, and had a shop for manufacturing brass goods in the building formerly occu- pied by Seymour as a clothing-mill. These were the only houses on Kensington Street between its junction with Main Street and the Shuttle Meadow road. Arch Street had not been opened, and there were no buildings west of Main Street, between Shuttle Meadow road and West Main Street, until those in Hart Quarter were reached.
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