USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume I > Part 17
USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume I > Part 17
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Closely allied with the carriage business is the industry of manu- facturing hardware specialties, several dozen firms being at present engaged in that interest. J. B. Sargent & Co. were among the pioneers in that line, and their establishment has become the greatest in the world. Aeres of land are covered with large buildings, in which about 2,000 people are employed, and so many kinds of hard- ware goods are made that a volume of more than 1,100 pages is required to catalogue them. In their extent, equipments and variety of products these works have no equal in this or any other country. O. B. North & Co. rank among the oldest manufacturers of saddlery hardware. The wholesale hardware business has had a place in the city sinee 1784, before the era of manufacturing. The Mallory- Wheeler Company are representative lockmakers. Their interest was founded in 1834, and has grown to sueh proportions that 25 buildings are oceupied, and 500 workmen are employed. Immense quantities of all kinds of locks are produced.
The manufacture of firearms has been carried on at New Haven the greater part of a century, being here begun on a large scale by Eli Whitney, and has, through the Winchester and other companies, been developed into one of the largest industries of the kind in this country. The Winchester Repeating Arms Company was organized in 1858. Most of the buildings at present occupied were erected in 1870 and cover the area of two city squares. The floor area is nine aeres; 3,000 different machines are operated by 1,000-horse power steam and 150-horse power water motors, and 15,000 workmen are employed. Their firearms and ammunition are sold in all parts of the world. This corporation has absorbed the old Whitney armory. The Marlin Fire Arms Company has had a more recent origin, but is a prosperous and growing industry. Excellent arms are produced, and more than 200 men are employed.
In the manufacture of machinery there are about three dozen con- cerns engaged. The oldest iron foundry is that of S. H. Barnum, which was established in 1832. Of these concerns one is engaged in the manufacture of flour mill machinery, and is noted for the superi- ority of its products, which are shipped all over the globe; six estab- lishments build engines, several being extensive; three make drop forgings, two are safe works and two make cutlery. The brass goods manufacturing establishment of A. B. Hendryx & Co. is one of the most extensive of its kind in the Union, a position occupied in other products of brass goods by Peek Brothers & Co. A dozen concerns
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are devoted to brass goods manufactures, and many skillful workmen are employed.
In the manufacture of clocks New Haven is also in the lead. The New Haven Clock Company has one of the largest works in this country. The company began to make movements in 1853, but since 1856 have produced finished clocks of many different kinds. A num- ber of large buildings, covering nearly two city squares, are occupied, and more than 700 men are employed by this thrifty company, of which Hiram Camp has long been the head.
In the manufacture of rubber goods but few places surpass this city. The largest establishment is that of L. Candee & Co., founded in 1842, and one of the first to manufacture under the Goodyear patents. The works cover more than 2} acres, and are very complete in their equipments. Fifteen hundred men are employed in the various departments, and the products have a most excellent reputa- tion in every state in the Union, and since 1871 have been sold direct to the trade.
"Another important industry of New Haven, and one which is of quite recent origin in this country, is the manufacture of corsets. This city is the birthplace and home of this industry in America, and there are at present eight considerable corset factories devoted to it. The first corsets made in a factory in America were produced in this city in 1860 by Isaac Straus, who is still in the business here, and now one factory alone employs upwards of 1,500 operatives. Concerning the productions of these factories, it may be said that they are fully equal to the imported articles, and have been placed on the market at such low prices as to have almost entirely driven the foreign goods out of American consumption."
The manufacture of musical instruments forms a considerable part of the business of New Haven. One of the oldest firms in that industry is B. Shoninger & Co., who began in a small way in 1850 as organ builders. The manufacture of pianos was added in 1876, only about 100 per year being made. This output has been increased until now 1,800 are made yearly, and their works have become so extensive that they rank among the first in the world.
New Haven has also become an important wholesale center, sup- plying many of the adjoining towns with the products of trade. In 1889 there were in the city " five wholesale grocery houses (the first was established in 1825), two wholesale drug houses, three wholesale hardware houses, four wholesale paper houses, two wholesale boot and shoe houses. three wholesale china and glassware houses, two whole- sale paint and oil houses, three coffee and spice mills, three wholesale cigar houses, besides a number of others smaller in size and repre- senting other lines of merchandise."
The commercial prosperity of New Haven has been greatly pro- moted and conserved by the Chamber of Commerce, which was organ-
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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
ized April 9th, 1794, and which has continuously existed since that time. It is thus one of the oldest associations of the kind in America. At present it has several hundred members, including the principal business men of the city, and the following officers: President, J. D. Dewell; vice-presidents, Samuel E. Merwin, Nathan Easterbrook, Jr .: treasurer, Wilbur F. Day; corresponding and recording secretary, T. Attwater Barnes; directors, N. D. Sperry, Joel A. Sperry, John H. Leeds, Charles H. Townsend, George H. Ford.
Since the city has so many diverse interests it requires large bank- ing facilities, which are supplied by fourteen monetary institutions, commanding capital to the amount of $12,000,000. Seven of these banks are organized under the national banking laws and four are savings banks, which have a local deposit of nearly $12,000,000 and a surplus approximating $400,000. The volume of business done by these banks is shown by the returns of the Clearing House, which indicate that the exchanges of the local banks in 1888 amounted to $60,782,206.
The first bank in the city was organized December 22d, 1795. as the New Haven Bank, with a capital of $50,000. It had been chartered in October, 1792, with a capital of $100,000, which amount could not be raised, as contemplated, and an amendment reducing the minimum capital was found necessary. David Austin was the first president and William Lyon the cashier. In 1865 this bank was reorganized under the national banking laws, and is now one of the oldest and most substantial monetary institutions in the state. It is known as the National New Haven Bank, and Wilbur F. Day has been the president since 1869. In this period more than $1,000,000 have been paid to the stockholders as net profits. Mr. Day is also the president of the New Haven Clearing House.
The city has more than six hundred professional men, and every generation has had, in all of the leading professions, some of the brightest minds in the country-men greatly honored at home and abroad for their learning and success as practitioners. Among those in the legal profession who left their impress upon affairs which have come down to the present generation, none was greater than Roger Sherman. He was admitted to the bar in 1754, and removed to New Haven in 1761, where he died in 1793. He was not only one of the foremost men in the city and state, but also of the nation. As a member of the continental congress, he was one of the committee of five to draft the declaration of American independence, and Jefferson said of him that he had the best common sense of any man in that body. He was known as a Christian statesman, whose life was a benediction at home and abroad. He lived in the house on Chapel street next west of the opera house, and was, perhaps, one of the greatest men the county had ever adopted as a citizen. Jared Inger- sol and James A. Hillhouse were also able lawyers before the revolu-
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tion. Since that time, among the principal lawyers have been: Pierre- pont Edwards, Nathaniel Smith, David Daggett, Dyer White, Jona- than Ingersoll, Simeon Baldwin, Eleazer Foster, John Hart Lynde, Seth Staples, Samuel Hitchcock, Isaac H. Townsend, William W. Boardman, Dennis Kimberley, Roger S. Baldwin, Alfred Blackman, Ralph I. Ingersoll, Charles Ingersoll, Clark Bissell, Henry Dutton, Jonathan Stoddard, Henry White, Eleazer K. Foster, William Bristol, John Beach, Charles Ives, Thomas B. Osborne, Dexter R. Wright and some others, named in the preceding pages, all deceased.
The attorneys in 1889-90, according to the list furnished the secre- tary of state, were the following:
John W. Alling, S. W. F. Andrews, Edward A. Anketell, George L. Armstrong. E. P. Arvine, Harry W. Asher, Ward Bailey, Frederick W. Babcock, Simeon E. Baldwin, Francis G. Beach, John K. Beach, Rodman V. Beach, George E. Beers, William L. Bennett, Herbert E. Benton, Stuart Bidwell, James Bishop, Henry T. Blake, Levi N. Blydenburgh, Charles F. Bollmann, John W. Bristol, Louis H. Bristol, Samuel L. Bronson, Edward G. Buckland, James J. Buchanan, Charles K. Bush, Julius C. Cable, David Callahan, William C. Case, William Scoville Case, Jonathan W. Chapin, Prentice W. Chase, James G. Clark, L. W. Cleaveland, George R. Cooley, Leonard M. Daggett, Hugh Dailey, Lucius P. Deming, George L. Dickerman, T. E. Doo- little. Edwin C. Dow, Edward Downes, Cornelius T. Driscoll, D. Cady Eaton, William H. Ely, Jacob E. Emery, John T. Fitzgerald, Charles H. Fowler, John S. Fowler, O. H. D. Fowler, Timothy J. Fox, John C. Gallagher, Jacob P. Goodhart, William L. Green, George MI. Gunn. E. Edwin Hall, Charles S. Hamilton, Henry B. Harrison, Lynde Harri- son, Charles A. Harrison, Charles B. Hawkes, Charles H. Hayden. Carlton E. Hoadley, J. C. Hollister, H. L. Hotchkiss, Leverett M. Hubbard, Savilian R. Hull, C. R. Ingersoll, Francis G. Ingersoll, George P. Ingersoll, Jonathan Ingersoll, Frank H. Kelly, Jr., William H. Kenyon, P. F. Kiernan, Charles Kleiner, William H. Law, Edward L. Lindsley, Seymour C. Loomis, Burton Mansfield, A. McC. Mathew- son, Charles B. Mathewman, Kojiro Matsugata, Eli Mix, James T. Moran, John L. Morehouse, Samuel C. Morehouse, Luzon B. Morris, Joseph B. Morse, Albert H. Moulton, Lyman E. Munson, Henry G. Newton, William P. Niles, Arthur D. Osborne, Arthur S. Osborne, William S. Pardee, Albert D. Penney, L. L. Phelps, John P. Phillips, Rufus S. Pickett, James P. Pigott, Henry C. Platt, Johnson T. Platt, Joseph D. Plunkett, Walter Pond, Edwin Parrington, A. Heaton Robertson, George W. Robinson, William C. Robinson, John A. Robinson, Edward H. Rogers, Henry D. Russell, Talcott H. Russell. George D. Seymour, Bernard J. Shanley, Joseph Sheldon, Edwin A. Smith, Siegwart Spier, Henry Stoddard, William B. Stoddard, David Strouse, John P. Studley, Charles L. Swan, Jr., James S. Thompson, Jason P. Thomson, William K. Townsend. Dwight W. Tuttle, Grove
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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTV.
J. Tuttle, Julius Twiss, Morris F. Tyler, George A. Tyler, Charles L. Ullman, S. Harrison Wagner, John B. Ward, Willard D. Warren, George D. Watrous, Francis Wayland, James H. Webb, Alfred N. Wheeler, Cyrus B. Whitcomb, Charles A. White, Henry C. White, Henry D. White, Roger S. White, Oliver S. White, John H. Whiting, Isaac Wolfe, James A. Wood, Arthur B. Wright, William A. Wright, Samuel A. York, Edmund Zacher, Fair Haven, Curtis S. Bushnell.
In the same year the physicians and surgeons of the town of New Haven were as given in the appended list, taken from the " Register of the State:"
Allopathists; Francis Bacon, F. E. Beckwith, Frederick Bellosa, E. H. Bishop, Louis B. Bishop, Timothy H. Bishop, Evelyn L. Bissell, W. L. Bradley, Charles H. Brockett, Henry Bronson, T. M. Cahill, W. H. Carmalt, H. A. Carrington, S. H. Chapman, George F. Converse, C. V. R. Creed, Lucy M. Creemer. M. A. Cremin, D. I .. Daggett, William G. Daggett, Louis S. DeForest, Charles F. Dibble, F. L. Dibble, Gus- tavus Eliot, C. L. Fitch, H. Fleischner, C. J. Foote, J. P. C. Foster, L. M. Gilbert, S. D. Gilbert, William W. Hawkes, C. H. Howland, Stephen G. Hubbard, Levi Ives, Robert S. Ives, Walter Judson, B. L. Lambert, D. C. Leavenworth, Thomas G. Lee, A. W. Leighton, B. S. Lewis, Charles A. Lindsley, C. P. Lindsley, William E. Lockwood, John F. Luby, Edward G. Madden. Stephen J. Maher, Max Mailhouse, Mary B. Moody, John Nicoll, M. C. O'Connor, Oliver T. Osborn, Charles E. Park, Henry Pierpont, Edward K. Roberts, Arthur Ruickoldt, Thomas H. Russell, L. J. Sanford, J. W. Seaver, H. E. Smith, Marvin Smith, J. E. Stetson, W. H. Stowe, Henry L. Swain, James K. Thacher, W. H. Thomson, J. H. Townsend, R. B. West, Frank H. Wheeler, C. S. White, F. O. White, Moses C. White, F. H. Whittemore, S. W. Williston, A. E. Winchell, F. W. Wright, Willis G. Alling, Arthur O. Baribault, A. Brown, George M. Bush, John J. Crane, Robert Crane, V. M. Dow, Aaron Ignal, Rollin McNeil, Alphonse Oulman, Joseph Reed, James M. Reilly, William Sprenger, Henry A. Street, E. L. R. Thomson, E. L. Washburne, William J. Whiting.
Homœopathists: C. B. Adams, M. J. Adams, William D. Anderson, B. H. Cheney, C. A. Dorman, Edwin C. M. Hall, John A. Hutchinson, J. W. Jewett, Mrs. Adelaide Lambert, William H. Sage, P. C. Skiff, A. L. Talmadge, Charles Vishno, C. W. Vishno, E. J. Walker, I. S. Miller, Isadore L. Murray, Charles Rawling, W. W. Rodman, Walter C. Skiff.
Eclectics: H. J. Bradley, M. F. Linquist, M. F. Linquist, Jr., James C. Chesley, C. F. Edson, John L. Lyon, Westville, H. B. Smith.
The New Haven post office was established in April, 1755, by order of Benjamin Franklin, postmaster general of the King for the British colonies in America. John Holt, of the firm of James Parker & Co., printers and publishers of the Connecticut Gasette, was appointed
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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
postmaster, and the office was kept at their printing house in the lower part of the city. The first mail service in this part of the country was limited, and was primarily for the benefit of the troops engaged in the French and Indian wars, the soldiers being thus enabled to communicate with their friends at home and in the colonies, to which the system had been extended. Gradually the convenience of the system was recognized, more offices were estab- lished in the county, and the service was improved.
In 1760 Postmaster John Holt was succeeded by Thomas Green, another of the Gasette partners, who was followed by Benjamin Mecom, who had become the publisher of the Gazette. In 1768 Luke Babcock, the publisher of a rival paper. took charge of the office, but served only about a year. In 1769 Christopher Kilby became the postmaster, and continued until his death in March, 1774. Near the end of the same year Elias Beers was appointed to the charge of the New Haven office, which he removed to his shop, which stood on the site of the present New Haven House. Under his administration the business of the office developed, the number of mails being increased to four per week (two from the East and two from the West) in 1780.
After a long service Jesse Atwater succeeded Beers, in March, 1802, and was the postmaster until his death, in 1814. Then came William H. Jones, who also served a long term of years. His appointment by the postmaster general continued until July 9th, 1836, when he was commissioned as the first presidential appointee. In 1842 he gave place to Henry Huggins, whose administration was short, continuing only two years. Edward A. Mitchell succeeded him, in October, 1844, and while he was postmaster he introduced the use of stamped envelopes, anticipating their use by the general government a number of years. It is said that Mr. Mitchell's method of using stamps was the first in the Union, and was at the time con- sidered a remarkable innovation.
John B. Robertson became the postmaster June 14th, 1849, keeping the office in the Brewster Block. Lucius A. Thomas succeeded him in 1853, and in his administration the present post office building, on Church street, was erected in 1860, at a cost of more than $200,000. It was, at that period, one of the best buildings of the kind in the East.
In April, 1861, Nehemiah D. Sperry was appointed postmaster by President Lincoln, and served with great acceptance for 24 years. Under the administration of President Cleveland he gave room for Benjamin R. English, as his successor, who, after four years, was him- self succeeded by his predecessor, Nehemiah D. Sperry, the present postmaster. The office ranks as the first in the state, and is near the head of the foremost ones in the Union. In 1888 8,000,000 pieces of mail matter were handled.
The city has been much benefitted by its system of street rail-
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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
ways, some of which have been successfully operated for 25 years. The oldest company was chartered in 1860, to build from Fair Haven East to Westville, and given franchises to build lateral lines. Many of the principal streets have been occupied, and all the main points of the city can be reached by it. Five other lines were subsequently chartered, namely: the New Haven and West Haven Company, to Savin Rock, in 1865; New Haven and Centerville, the same year, via Broadway; State Street, in 1868; New Haven and Allingtown, in 1872, and the Whitney Avenue, more recently. The latter companies were authorized, after the granting of their first charters, to modify their lines, so as to build to the corner of Chapel and Church streets, which has become the point where all the lines now center, and from which place any part of the city or any of its suburbs can be speedily reached.
The city is well supplied with charitable and philanthropic institu- tions, the oldest and most extensive being the General Hospital of Connecticut. In May, 1826, the legislature chartered the General Hospital Society of the state, and appropriated $5,000 toward the erection of such an institution. In the course of a few years indi- vidual contributions were made to supplement that sum, and the first building of the kind was begun in New Haven. It was completed in July, 1832, and was of sandstone stuccoed, having an extreme length of 118 feet. There were twenty rooms, and the whole expense of the building was about $12,000. In 1861 the hospital offered accommoda- tions for sick and wounded Union soldiers, and gradually its use for that purpose was extended until, in April, 1863, a military hospital was here established, with the name of the Knight General Hospital. in compliment to Doctor Jonathan Knight; $10,000 was expended upon temporary extensions, which increased the capacity to 1,500 beds. In the spring of 1865 the use of the hospital by the national government ceased, and it again reverted to its original use. In 1875 the hospital was enlarged, the new buildings being supplied with modern appli- ances, and the wards were so arranged that each patient could be given 1,600 cubic feet of air. These improvements cost $88,000. The hospital grounds are at the corner of Howard and Congress avenues. and occupy an entire block. It is now well equipped, and is most efficient in its work.
The New Haven Dispensary was organized in 1872, and has an office on York street, near the Vale Medical College, where its chosen work is well carried on, to the great benefit of those who need its help.
The New Haven Orphan Asylum was begun in a very humble way in February, 1833. In 1854 the late James Brewster offered to build a new asylum, on condition that the town would provide a proper site. His offer being accepted, he built a part of the present asylum soon after, and, in the course of eight years, added a wing. His gifts to this object amounted to $20,000. The asylum has a good location on Elm street, and has become a noble charity.
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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTV.
St. Francis Orphan Asylum, on Highland street, is maintained by the Roman Catholic parishes of the city. It was incorporated in May, 1865, and commodious buildings have been erected for its use. In its chosen sphere this asylum has done good service, furnishing a home for about 150 children.
The New Haven Home for the Friendless was placed upon a permanent basis by a number of benevolent people some time after its incorporation, in 1867. A comfortable place on Clinton avenue is occupied, and the home enlists the support of many charitable people. Its benefits have been extended to more than a thousand persons.
The New Haven Aid Society had its origin in the fall of 1864, as a work and aid society, taking its present name in 1867. Its collections and disbursements in aid of those who need this assistance have been more than $2,000 per year.
There are numerous other charities in the city, and since 1878 their work has been much systematized through the agency of the Board of Associated Charities. That body was organized June 1st, 1878, and nearly all other bodies now cooperate with it to the mani- fest advantage of the community at large.
In addition to the foregoing there are several Christian associa- tions, whose work is, to a large extent, philanthropic. The Young Men's Christian Association was organized a number of years ago, but interest in its work had greatly declined. In the past few years its usefulness has been extended, and fine quarters have been secured for it at a generous ontlay of means. There are attractive parlors, reading and recreation rooms maintained both at New Haven and Fair Haven, and at the former place is also a large and well equipped gymnasium. Its work among young men has been revived. and its influence is again increasing.
The Young Women's Christian Association was organized in 1880, and became a corporate body two years later. A home in the interest of young ladies has been opened; gratuitous instruction has also been imparted. The mission of the association is a noble one, and good work has been done.
There are 26 Masonic lodges, 28 Odd Fellows lodges and 37 other secret organizations, besides 27 temperance secret societies, making in all 118 secret organizations. There are also 114 societies for charit- able, benevolent and other purposes, aside from a number of mutual benefit, mutual aid and mutual insurance societies.
There are five permanent political societies and eight military organizations. Twenty-five societies support or maintain rooms for social visiting and as places of amusement. Few cities excel New Haven in provisions of this nature. The oldest secret society is Hiram Lodge, No. 1. F. & A. M., which was instituted in 1750; and Franklin Chapter, No. 2, R. A. M., was instituted in 1795. All the other lodges were organized in the present century.
CHAPTER III.
TOWN AND CITY OF NEW HAVEN.
Early School Teachers .- Hopkins Grammar School .- Other Early Schools .- Later Select Schools .- The Lancasterian School .- Graded Schools Established .- Present Condi- tion of Public Schools .- Yale University .- The Periodical Press .- First Congrega- tional Church .- North Church .- Yale College Church .- Third Congregational Church .- Dixwell Avenue Church .- College Street Church .- Church of the Redeemer .- Davenport Church .- Howard Avenue Church .- Humphrey Street Church .- Taylor Church .- Dwight Place Church .- Ferry Street Church .- Eman- uel Church .- First Presbyterian Church .- Trinity Church .- St. Paul's Church. - St. John's Church .- Church of the Ascension .- St. Thomas' Church .- Christ Church .- Grace Church .- St. Luke's Church .- All Saints' Chapel .- Trinity Chapel. -Methodist Churches .- Baptist Churches .- Lutherans .- Second Adventists .- Uni- versalists .- Hebrews .- Roman Catholics .- Cemeteries .- Fair Haven .- Westville .- Biographieal Sketches.
T HE planters of Quinnipiac brought a schoolmaster with them, in the person of Ezekiel Cheever, at that time but 23 years old. As soon as his house could be prepared for that purpose the school was opened, for the early settlers believed in education, and this matter from the beginning received their most careful attention. One of his pupils, in 1639, Michael Wigglesworth, bears testimony to the proficiency of Mr. Cheever, when he says, "In a year or two I profited so much, through the blessing of God, that I began to make Latin and to get on apace." His salary was about $150 per year, and he taught here about twelve years, when he removed to Ipswich. He was also an author, and his book called " Accidence, or Short Intro- duction to the Latin Tongue," was one of the first text books in this country, and was used in schools for 150 years. Cotton Mather thus spoke of this book:
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