USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume I > Part 53
USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume I > Part 53
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His gathered wealth has given him the opportunity, and his large acquaintance might have furnished the incentive of movement in public in a showy style, but he has eschewed it all, purposely avoiding it and preferring to be, among his fellow-men, a great deal more than seeming to be. His tastes are as simple to-day as they were when he was only 18 years of age, and hired an old grist mill in Cheshire and began the manufacture of spoons on his own account.
He had been working in his Cheshire mill only about a year when one of those events happened which we call good fortune, and no doubt there is such a thing as good fortune, but it may be doubted whether it is very common, except it is accompanied by good sense. It takes good sense to detect good fortune. Mr. Wallace met a New Haven patron at that time, and was shown a spoon made from a metal new to both of them. It was called German silver. What was its compounding ?- never a conundrum was more puzzling. But an ana- lytic chemist, Doctor Louis Feuchtwanger, was known to have brought a small bar of it from Germany, and he was appealed to to unravel the mystery. Mr. Wallace purchased the bar, carried it to Water- bury, had it rolled, and from this bar made four dozen spoons.
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But a second good fortune followed the first, and it was equally detected by the good sense of Mr. Wallace. He met a gentleman in Waterbury who had recently come from England, and had brought with him the recipe for making German silver. Mr. Wallace pur- chased it for $25. It was at this period that he moved his simple ma- chinery from the Cheshire grist mill down on the Quinnipiac, below Wallingford, and there prepared for the manufacture of spoons and flat ware on a more extended scale. Nickel was procured, copper also, and zinc, and the compounding of German silver was first done, in this country, in Wallingford, in the factory of Robert Wallace and under his supervision, in 1834.
We reach a point now, 1854, twenty years in advance. It is a con- venient position from which to look back on the manufacturing busi- ness of Mr. Wallace. The industry has grown greatly, both in the variety and the output of goods. We notice the new and improved machinery-the product of the manufacturer's invention. We notice the methodical manner in which the work is done, a very picture in method of the manufacturer himself. All goods in process of making must be handled in the easiest, quickest manner, and the manner must be perpetuated, for the workmen will then become skillful and quick in it, and here profits accrue to the business.
But the year 1865 was one of great enlargement in the business. For the last ten years the capital stock had been only $1,200 in 1855, and $14,000 a little later, and now it was raised to $100,000, and the name taken for the combination was Wallace, Simpson & Co. The size of the factory was now greatly enlarged, and its capacity for manufacturing more than correspondingly increased. But in 1871 Mr. Wallace purchased the interest of his individual partner, Mr. Simpson, and with two of his sons formed the new company of R. Wallace & Sons Manufacturing Company, one third of the stock being held by the Meriden Britannia Company. The factory had now added a long list of articles to those already manufactured, and in great va- riety of design-sterling goods, high grade nickel-silver plated ware, both flat and hollow, and a variety of novelties.
But there was still another advance to be made. Might there nct be found a less bulky, lighter, but firmer and more elastic basis for silver plated ware. What of steel? And after patient experiment Mr. Wallace made it work. A new company was formed, still work- ing within the old, of himself, his sons and sons-in-law, under the style of Wallace Brothers.
The factory is now the largest in the world devoted to the manu- facture of flat table ware. In all its departments it consumes from two and a half to three tons of steel per day, and about one and one-half tons of nickel silver. It has selling houses in New York and Chicago, and is never idle for the want of orders to fill. The officers who man-
Robert Wallace
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age its business have been schooled by the founder of the great in- dustry, and are, in fact, members of his own family.
Mr. Wallace has given an example of sterling integrity, business enterprise, perseverance, indomitable will and keen forethought to his townsmen, and is held in high esteem by them. He has a warm, gen- ial temperament, that may flash for a moment into vivid pyrotechnics and startle the workmen, but the next hour be, as in general, velvety as a fresh lawn. The appeals for charity are never turned aside. His family are provided with sittings in church and urged to fulfill zeal- ously the duties of church life as becoming to man and due to his Maker. His large, well furnished home on Main street, Wallingford, is always open to his friends, and he is happy when his family and they are happy.
March 22d, 1839, he was married to Miss Harriet Louisa Moulthrop, of North Haven, Conn., a lady singularly suited to him for mutual companionship. Previous to 1879 he lived near his factory, but in that year purchased his present residence on Main street, and there Mrs. Wallace died, January 19th, 1884, beloved by friend and neighbor. A family of ten children have been born to them, of whom eight are living. One son died in infancy, and another, William J., at thirty years of age. The living are Mrs. Adeline Morris and Mrs. Nettie A. Leavenworth, of Wallingford ; Robert B. Wallace, of Brooklyn : Hattie E. Wallace and Henry L. Wallace, of Wallingford ; Mrs. Adela C. Sisson, of New York ; George M. Wallace, of Chicago, and Frank A. Wallace, of Wallingford.
Dwight Williams died in 1874, aged 45 years. He was a farmer, and for two years prior to his death was postmaster at East Walling- ford, and since his death Mrs. Williams has held the office. Mr. Will- iams married Sarah A., daughter of Captain Horace Lamphere, of Branford. Their children are: Julia (Mrs. D. M. Foot), I. Bessie (Mrs. J. E. Beller), Horace S., Sarah E. (Mrs.W. A. Stevens), Julius D., Meta F. (who has been station agent at East Wallingford since August, 1885), and Grace W. One daughter, Lizzie A., died the same week that her father died.
Newton C. Wooding, son of David A. and Flora Wooding, grand- son of David, and great-grandson of John Wooding, was born in 1831. He was a contractor and builder from 1866 until his death. He was a member of the firm of Fenn & Wooding until 1884, when Mr. Fenn died. Mr. Wooding died May 12th, 1891, and the business is continued by his son, Charles F. Wooding. Newton C. Wooding was a member of Accanant Lodge, No. 71, I. O. O. F., and was a trustee in the Baptist church for fifteen years. He married Julia Fenn. Their children are: John N., Fannie J., Nellie E., Charles F., Mary E. and Benjamin H.
CHARLES D. YALE was born in Meriden, Conn., April 23d, 1810. A long, honorable and successful career came to its ending March
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30th, 1890, when Mr. Yale departed this life. He was widely known, but principally in the two states of Connecticut and Virginia, where political relations brought him into public notice and acquaintance with many leading minds. When he died a nature of no ordinary quality ceased its activities. The grief occasioned by this sad event was general and profound.
He was the son of Charles Yale, a pioneer in the manufacture of Britannia and tin ware. Several men who at this writing (1891) are of the older people of the two communities, Wallingford and Meriden, were boys then, and in his factory learned the art of manufacturing Britannia ware. Soon after the year 1810 this pioneer manufacturer purchased the old mills at the upper falls on the Quinnipiac river, known as Tyler's Mills. He remodelled the inner construction of the old mills, and repaired them for the manufacture of Britannia and tin ware, and changed the name of the district to Yalesville, a well known village about three miles south of the city of Meriden. Here Charles D., the son of Charles Vale, spent the early part of his boyhood days, attending school. His education was pursued in the common school and academy and high school.
But at the early age of sixteen years it was deemed best that he should go to Richmond, Va., to assist in the management of his father's business in that city. At a later period he entered business on his own account in the city of Richmond, and there opened a store for general merchandise and the sale of a variety of goods of his own manufac- ture. Success attended his efforts from the start. In the year 1860 he had built and occupied one of the largest warehouses in that city. When the war commenced Mr. Vale had amassed a competence, and in an eminent degree he possessed the confidence, respect and esteem of his fellow citizens for his integrity of character, rare intelligence and fine business ability. He continued his residence in Richmond during the terrible struggle of the war, the close of which found him prepared to promptly resume active business again in his store. He was a prominent business man in the city and in the state.
And now, in the events succeeding at the close of the war, in which Mr. Vale was a prominent actor, we can see quite distinctly his individuality. He became a member of the council of the city of Richmond, and as both his nature and cultured manhood were appar- ent he was put forward and counselled with for the best interest of the city and state. Besides, by birth and general makeup he was suited to those mediations needful to the trying times of reconstruction in Virginia. He was a democrat in politics, but born in the North, and his democracy was of the best patriotic type. And as to his tempera- ment and address, he was eminently a leader of men, and a peace- maker between parties at variance. He was such a man as all parties want on their side, and while only one could have him, others seem to think scarcely any the less of him for that. He was as broad in
CD.yale
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opinion and charity and as genial in manner as he was engaging in presence. Hence, he was one of the men placed on frequent com- mittees mediating between Washington and Virginia, while Virginia was working back into full reconstruction in the Union. And when leaders in political life in Virginia were sharing a common anxiety for the welfare of the state, lest the political adventurers who were plen- tiful in those days should get control of the government, Mr. Vale was the man of all others to stand on the steps of the Capitol in Rich- mond, in the presence of a great multitude of citizens, and in an elo- quent, graceful speech introduce Honorable Gilbert C. Walker as a candidate for governor of the state. Mr. Walker was not only nomi- nated, but elected. This election was an epoch in the history of Vir- ginia, for it was the first election of state officers by the people of the state after the close of the war. The reconstruction of Virginia to complete federal relations soon followed this event, and was in direct consequence of it.
Mr. Vale was also for several months, by appointment of Chief Justice Chase, foreman of the grand jury of the United States District Court of Virginia. He was also treasurer of the committee in behalf of the Peabody fund for the establishing of normal schools in the city of Richmond, and to him much credit is due for his services in the establishment of the public school system of Richmond.
Mr. Vale lingered in Virginia long enough to see the old state brought back into the Union. Then he began to think of gathering together a part of his property and returning to his home state to live among his early friends and old associations. He moved to Walling- ford, Conn., in 1871. There he found business relations. The silver plate company of Simpson, Hall, Miller & Co. had been organized. The opportunity was given Mr. Vale to purchase a considerable amount of the capital stock of the company, and he did so. Mr. Yale was treasurer of the company from 1871 until the early part of 1887, when he retired from active business life. His two sons, Charles B. Y'ale and G. Selden Yale, had charge of the store of the company in New York city until the latter part of 1886.
Mr. Yale was for several years president of the Silver Plated Ware Manufacturers' Associations; and in their meeting at Meriden, Conn., May 15th, 1890, the associations expressed their regard for his memory in these words:
"Voted: That the Silver Plated Ware Manufacturers' Associations have learned with regret of the death of their former President, Hon. Charles D. Yale of Wallingford, Conn., and that they recall with pleasure the many pleasant characteristics that endeared him to all members, and desire to record their high appreciation of his character as an associate in business and as a Christian gentleman.
"Voted: That the above resolution be placed on the minutes and a copy thereof sent to the sons of the deceased."
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In Wallingford society Mr. Yale distinguished himself as he had done in Richmond society. It was not his wealth which gave him position, but his noble, attractive, genial manhood. His courtly affability everywhere, and his evident breadth and practicalness of idea, made him known, and the more widely he was known, the more widely he was loved. Nature had bestowed upon him rich gifts of intellect, as of soul, language, speech, the power to collocate words in elegant sentences to clothe ideas, an abundance of which he never lacked, in the rich, royal garb of choice rhetoric, delightful to hear,- a gift he possessed in unusual degree. Hence he could make a speech of the finished, eloquent sort, or write an elegant letter. He made an admirable presiding officer at public gatherings.
In the town politics of Wallingford, Mr. Yale was frequently called out to serve his townsmen in office. He represented them in the gen- eral assembly in the years 1874 and 1878. He also represented the Sixth Senatorial District in the state senate in the years 1875, 1883 and 1884. He was chairman of important committees in the senate and in the house. In 1884 he was his party's candidate for president pro tem. of the senate. Mr. Yale took an active and prominent part in these sessions, in shaping legislation, and was ever ready and effective in the advocacy and debate of all measures he deemed essential to the welfare of the people. His services-able and distinguished-in both branches of the state legislature received the most cordial appre- ciation of his fellow citizens.
Mr. Yale was a religious man, and constant in his practice of reli- gious duties. While in Richmond he was a member of the First Presbyterian church. In Wallingford he united with the First Con- gregational church, and lived his faith to its honor.
" Type of the wise who soar but never roam ; True to the kindred points of Heaven and Home."
Hence he was a gentleman of pure and strong character. Nothing would hurt him more than to have his honor and integrity called in question, and he would go to almost any length to vindicate them. Three things he loved supremely-integrity, truth, righteous- ness.
He was married December 3d, 1834, to Miss Mary Culver, formerly of Wallingford, then of Saratoga county, New York. Mrs. Yale died about two years earlier than her husband. In answer to a letter of sympathy for his bereavement from a friend, he wrote as follows: "I first met Mrs. Yale 54 years ago. I was with a gay young party. The first words of her that ever met my ears were words of reproof to one of the party who had made light of solemn words. Forty-nine years she and I walked to the same house of God together, sat at the same communion table and had a common faith. She has been to me an
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earnest Christian wife, and left to our children the inheritance of an undeviating, courageous Christian mother."
Two sons were born to them, Charles B. Yale and G. Selden Yale. This family of four persons were unusually devoted to each other and happy in their family life. The sons delighted to minister personally to the comfort of their parents in their declining years, and now the memory of both their father and mother is a legacy of undying worth to both the sons.
CHAPTER IX.
TOWN AND CITY OF MERIDEN.
Location and Description .- Early Settlement .- Ecclesiastical Organization .- Civil Organization .- Town Officers .- Town Buildings .- South Meriden .- East Meriden. -The City of Meriden .- Location and Surroundings .- Early Growth .- Municipal Affairs .- Police Department .- Street Improvement .- Public Parks .- Water Depart- ment .- Fire Department .- Gas Light Company .- Railway Interests .- Manufactur- ing Interests .- Banking and Other Monetary Institutions .- General Business In- terests .- Inns and Hotels .- Post Office.
T HE town of Meriden occupies the northeastern section of the county, being bounded on the south by Wallingford, from which it was set off as a separate corporation in 1806. North and east are the counties of Hartford and Middlesex, the divi- sion lines being marked by the Hanging hills, Mt. Lamentation and the Totoket hills. Much of the surface presents a broken aspect, some parts being of a mountainous nature. In other parts are low- lands, separated by high hills of a sandstone nature, having a south- westerly trend. Drainage is afforded by the Quinnipiac river and affluent brooks, the principal one being Harbor brook. The former breaks through a trap rock hill, two miles southwest of the city of Meriden, taking thence a direct eastward course from the Farmington valley to South Meriden, from which place it flows south, after having taken the waters of Harbor brook. The latter flows from the north- east, after being fed by a branch flowing from the south and other smaller streams from the east.
These hills and streams formed natural subdivisions of the present town, which were early designated by the names of Meriden, Dog's Misery, Pilgrim's Harbor, Falls Plain, etc.
The name of the parish and of the town was taken from the sec- tion which was located in the extreme northern part of what is now Meriden. In this locality grants of lands had been made by the gen- eral court of Connecticut in 1661 and the following year, to Jonathan Gilbert, an innkeeper, of Hartford, and Captain Daniel Clerke, all of which soon became the property of Gilbert. From the latter 470 acres passed to Captain Andrew Belcher, a merchant of Boston, Mass., who made the first improvements thereon, some time about 1664. These consisted mainly of a stone house, with port holes in the walls for defense against the Indians, who might be led to attack travelers
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passing from one colony to another, on the highway (Old Colony road) leading through this tract. On condition of stocking the house with arms and ammunition, those living in the house were to have the privilege of keeping " tavern forever." This tract of land and the stone house received the name of Meriden from the native place of the Belcher family in Warwickshire, England.
It should be borne in mind that the Belcher tract and the lands south of it were not included within the bounds of the New Haven village, which became Wallingford in 1670, but were under the juris- diction of the Connecticut colony, with no connection with Walling- ford, on the south (whose north bound was near the present railway depot at Meriden), or with the old town of Farmington on the north. But, in a general way, those settling upon these lands inclined toward the church and society of Wallingford, and on petition to that corpor- ation were admitted to its privileges, and also passed under the con- trol of the town of Wallingford, whose jurisdiction over this locality was more clearly recognized in later years.
According to Doctor Davis, in his " History of Wallingford," the early proprietors in this section were the Belcher's Meriden tract, in the extreme north; Nathaniel Roys, south of that grant; Henry Coles, south of the latter; Bartholomew Foster, south and west of the latter; and south and east the 300 acre tract of John Merriam, purchased in 1716. The Foster tract contained 360 acres, and was sold by the Wal- lingford committee in 1710. Descendants of the latter two still live in this part of the town. The inhabitants of this section increased. and we learn from their petition for a pound, "at Meriden or Stone House," submitted to the general court in October, 1724, that there were at that time citizens living there by the names of N. Merriam, N. Merriam, Jr., William Merriam, Tim Foster, T. Foster, J. Robinson, T. Gerrum, J. Parsons, Eleazer Aspinwall, J. Merriam, Jr., B. Foster, T. Andrews, D. Rich and J. Scofel.
"Pilgrim's Harbor" was a term applied to the section of country south of most of the above described and embracing what is now the principal part of the city of Meriden. The term was used prior to 1661 in a letter* in which this part of the country is designated as "Pilgroomes Harbour." But there is a popular tradition that the name was derived from the fact that when the fugitive regicide judges, Ed- ward Whalley and William Goffe, passed through here on their way to Hadley, Mass., after October 13th, 1664, in their flight from Mil- ford (where they had been secreted two years), they found a refuge in the dense wildwood of these swamp lands. Here they rested several days, securely sheltered or harbored from possible pursuit-pilgrims in a strange land. Thus was bestowed the name "Pilgrim's Harbor" to the locality, and the stream flowing through it received the name of Pilgrim's Harbor brook, or more frequently Harbor brook. This
* Written by Daniel Clarke. See Doctor Davis, p. 128.
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brook was made passable for man and horse as early as 1666, by Ed- ward Higby, who was compensated therefor by having his rates abated.
While the lands along the brook and the swamps adjacent thereto were valueless for agricultural purposes, they were much sought after on account of being " hoop growing ground;" and allotments of two, three, four or more acres were made as early as 1677 to the original proprietors of Wallingford. This of course had the effect of dispos- ing of the territory without developing its settlement. The lowlands along the south branch of Harbor brook received the unpoetical name of "Dog's Misery." The principal part of this section was south of the old Middletown turnpike, and extending toward the head of the brook, nearly a mile. Here the swamp was originally so miry and the wildwood so tangled and dense that dogs following wild animals, which often took refuge there, were killed in their attempts to reach the hidden prey in this jungle; hence the name. This land has been reclaimed and is valuable in its present uses; but even in its forbid- ding aspects, two hundred years ago, it was so much esteemed that the town (Wallingford) was eagerly besought to make allotments. In 1679 Nehemiah Royce, Nathaniel Royce, David Hall, Thomas Hall, Isaac Curtiss, Nathaniel How, Daniel Mix, Joseph Holt, Thomas Yale and Isaac Royce became land owners in this locality; in 1685 Walter Johnson, on " long hill towards Dog's Misery;" in 1683, Daniel Hooper; in 1713, Jeremiah Hull; and in 1715, Jonathan Atwater.
Some of these probably settled the year they received their lands and in 1677 a public watering place for cattle was reserved near Nathaniel Royce's land, which was afterward claimed by him as his property. In 1696 his neighbors so strongly protested against this claim that he was forced to surrender his right to the watering place, which was again turned to the use of the public. In 1724 the whole number of families at "Dog's Misery " and " Pilgrim's Harbor " was 35, most of whom bore the names of those above given, as original landowners.
The " Falls Plain" section now bears the name of South Meriden. Grants of lands in that section were made in 1677 to Nehemiah Royce and Samuel Royce, and in 1680 to Samuel Hough. In 1689, as is else- where related," a village was projected on the plain below the falls, the lots in the same being assigned to the proprietors of Wallingford by casting lots. In 1694 John Peck was granted lands in the same locality, and other allotments were made at a later day. East of this section lands were allotted to Levi Fowler and others as early as 1676.
In the southeastern part of the present town, called the "Swamp " or " Little Plain," settlement was projected by the town of Walling- ford as early as December 16th, 1679. The same year allotments were made to Samuel Royce, Goodman Lewis, Thomas Yale and others .
* See account of South Meriden.
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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
After the country was cleared up, here were made some of the finest farms in the northern part of the old town and the locality very ap- propriately took the name of "Farms " section or district.
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