USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume II > Part 27
USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume II > Part 27
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Another ferry was long kept up at Oronoque, and this means of crossing streams was employed at other points until bridges could be built.
The first bridge in the town was ordered at the November 24th, 1640, meeting, "to be built with all possible expedition." This was called the Meeting House bridge, and has ever since been kept up. The next one built was at Fowler's mill, near the month of the Wepa- waug, which was put up in 1645. On its site was built, in 1889, the town's beautiful memorial bridge, commemorative of the 250th anni- versary of the settlement of Milford. It is a handsome stone arch structure, with graceful and artistic lines, and at the west approach is a tower of peculiar beauty and substantial appearance, also built of stone and covered with tile. On this and on the north side of the bridge are many historical inscriptions. The bridge cost about $3,100, and is one of the most pleasing objects in the town.
The first Gulf bridge was the third in the town, and was built in 1662. In 1810 another wooden structure took its place, which was used in a repaired condition until 1890, when a good stone and iron bridge was erected in its stead, at a cost of more than $6,000. Plumb's, or the Indian River bridge, on the old County road, was first built in 1706; King's bridge in 1711; a bridge across the Wepawaug, between the meeting house and Fowler's Mill bridge, in 1723. This was below where is now the Episcopal church. It was abandoned after the Jef-
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ferson bridge, a short distance above, was built, about the beginning of the present century. Oyster River bridge was built by New Haven and Milford in 1753. The North street foot bridge was first built in 1768, and the bridge at Jehiel Bristol's in 1819.
The Washington bridge, over the Housatonic, was begun in 1797 and completed in the following year. In the spring of 1806 an ice gorge carried away a part of it. In 1808 it was rebuilt at an expense of $8,000, which sum was raised by a lottery. The bridge at first had a narrow draw, which was the cause of much trouble, the inhabitants of Derby and the Upper Housatonic demanding its removal. After much litigation the difficulty was overcome by the sale of the bridge to other parties. Later it was kept up by the towns of Milford and Stratford, but in 1889 the counties of New Haven and Fairfield assumed control, and by these bodies it is now kept in good condition. It is a long wooden structure, with a roomy side draw, permitting the pas- sage of the largest boats.
Milford village is the center of population, wealth and influence of the town. It is one of the oldest and most attractive places in the county, and but few villages in the state surpass it for quiet beauty and pleasing environments. The village has a good and healthy loca- tion, on both sides of the Wepawaug river and Milford harbor, near Long Island sound, with beach and sailing privileges. The streets are wide, well kept and afford pleasant drives. Many of them are adorned with aged and stately elms and other shade trees. Capacious resi- dences, some of them of modern architecture and costly, are set in large yards of greensward, giving the village a retired and perhaps drowsy appearance. There are also a large number of quaint and well preserved old mansions, betokening the architecture of former centuries.
" The old houses have a musty odor, but they were built to last. On the front doors one may see wrought-iron hinges in the form of a T, with long arms and wooden door latches; the doorstep is an uncut stone. In the garrets one finds hops spread on the floor to dry, colos- sal band boxes, the hair trunk and the lank, glazed gripsack of our fathers. In many door yards the old style well-sweep still remains in use. One old dwelling, as black as coal, has an overhanging third story, supported by carved brackets; another has a row of small dor- mer windows in the front of its roof, which are the admiration of architects. But, above all, there is an air of innate connection and relationship between house and house and surroundings which a new house cannot have, and which makes the indefinable, but no less posi- tive, physiogomy and atmosphere of the old home so gracious and so dignified. The giant trees protect it from sun and tempest; around and over it have grown vines and flowers, memories and traditions."*
There are a score of business places, a Masonic hall, savings bank, * W. H. Downes, in New England Magasine.
15
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several good manufacturing establishments, a fine town hall and Union school house, Congregational, Episcopal, Methodist and Catho- lic church edifices, and several thousand contented inhabitants, many leading retired lives.
The settlement of the village and the town are coeval, the place being founded in 1639. Their history is also practically the same as related in these pages. The event of founding Milford, as indicated by the 250th anniversary, was fitly celebrated August 28th, 1889, when the beautiful Memorial bridge at the foot of Broad street was dedi- cated in honor of the occasion.
Woodmont is a post office and station on the New Haven railroad in the eastern part of the town, near the Long Island sound. Extend- ing to the beach and along the shore, a village of several hundred in- habitants, most of them summer residents only, has lately sprung up; but the improvements lately begun and projected will not only make this an attractive place of resort, but will also invite a settled popula- tion. In the past year some handsome residences were erected and the roads much improved.
'This locality was long known as " Burwell's Farm," from the fact that large tracts of land were owned here by John Burwell, one of the first planters of Milford. He had a son, Lieutenant Samuel Burwell, and the latter's sons, Nathan and Samuel, were the first settlers of this part of the town, about 1690. They became well-to-do farmers, and at one time their descendants here were numerous; a few only remain.
In the northwestern part of the town, near the Housatonic river, Joseph Wheeler settled in 1705, and from that time the locality be- came known as Wheeler's Farm. Previously it was called the " Upper Meadows," and Sergeant Camp had hop yards there in the seven- teenth century. The rich, alluvial lands were well adapted for their growth, and the fertility of the soil also attracted many good farmers to this section, which for many years was one of the best tilled in the town. Fine farm buildings were put up. At the river was formerly a small ship yard. In late years this has been an ordinary farming community.
Henry Tomlinson, who was by trade a weaver, was authorized in 1654 as the first keeper of an ordinary in Milford. His place was on the old county road, a dozen or more rods west of the meeting house. Not fulfilling the requirements of the town, he was succeeded in the course of a year by Richard Bryan, and that family kept the place many years. Others followed. In 1789 Andrew Clark was the keeper. There is a tradition that in that year General George Wash- ington was a guest of the house, when, according to Lambert, the fol- lowing incident occurred: " Washington, not much relishing his sup- per of boiled meat and potatoes, called for a bowl of milk, which was brought him, with a pewter spoon in it, having a broken handle. He
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asked for a silver spoon, but was told that the house afforded none, whereupon he gave the servant maid a two-shilling piece, and told her to go and borrow one. She accordingly borrowed one for him at the minister's." David Butler was the last keeper of the old inn, when it was discontinued about 1824.
John Camp opened a tavern on lot No. 50, in the " West End," in 1705, and about 1710 Samuel Miles opened another public house in the village. As the travel by land increased these places had a good pa- tronage. Some time about 1800 a tavern was opened at the east end of Washington bridge, on the Housatonic, which for a number of years was quite popular. Later, Benajah Thompson had a public house at Poconoc Point, which had a fine reputation, and fifty years ago was patronized as a sea-side resort. Later and more modern sea- side places were opened, nearer the village, on Burns' Point, and the former places have been discontinued.
At the beginning of the present century, when Broad street be- came a general thoroughfare for east and west travel, two public houses were opened on it, opposite each other and near the center of the village-the Milford House and the Washington House. The lat- ter was on the south side of the street, and was kept by Captain Ste- phen Trowbridge. He was also a well-known sailor and sea captain, and as such crossed the Atlantic 100 times. The tavern was discon- tinued many years ago, but Captain Trowbridge lived until 1876, when he died at the age of 95 years.
Of the Milford House Nathan Merwin was the popular landlord fifty years ago and later. Since his time the house has been much en- larged, some of the most substantial alterations being made after the rebellion, by Andrew Hepburn, who had been a sutler in the army. It has been continuously used as a hotel, and has had a number of landlords.
When the town was settled the harbor was clear of obstructions, permitting vessels to land where is now Fowler's mill, where a wharf was built. Gradually the channel filled up and became so shallow that navigation was practically abandoned. Efforts were made to improve the harbor, and in 1877 the United States government caused the chan- nel to be dredged, when immense quantities of mud were removed. At the same time a stone breakwater, about 300 yards long, and jet- ties were built at the mouth of Indian gulf. This being done, small vessels could again ascend to Baldwin's wharf.
The first merchant and trader was Alexander Bryan. As early as 1640 he sent a sloop to Boston, which was laden with furs he had bought of the Indians, and which returned with goods for the plant- ers. In May, 1650, the town granted him a lot at the corner of Broad street and Dock lane, on which he built a store or warehouse. The same year he built a wharf at Dock lane, which he resigned to the
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town in 1653 on condition that the town would keep it in repair. This was done, and for many years it was known as the Town Wharf. There were now two wharves, this one and the first one at Fowler's mill. In 1655 Richard Bryan, son of Alexander, was given liberty to build another store, 18 by 30 feet, on the opposite side of the lane. Below Alexander Bryan's store was the store and warehouse of Will- iam East, and near by was the tannery of Miles Merwin. These three merchants owned in 1675 two brigs and one sloop. The former were used in the West Indies trade, carrying thither horses, cattle, cornmeal and timber. Returning, they were laden with rum and molasses, and it is said that the New Haven planters first got their supplies here. The sloop was used in the Boston and coast trade by Alexander Bryan, whose eredit with the merchants of the Bay was so high that his note of hand passed as current among them as bank bills of this day in our present trade.
About this time John Maltbie was also in trade. In 1685 Nicholas Camp built a store at the "West End," where he lived, and he became a well known business man of the town. " In 1696 Mungo Nisbett traded here, by way of New York."*
In 1714 Samuel Clark was a merchant and bought Richard Bryan's store. In 1730 Peter Pierett. a Frenchman, came to Milford, where he was a merchant, and traded with France many years. He built the lower wharf, on the west side of the harbor, afterward purchased by Milford and known as the Town wharf. About the same time John Gibbs carried on a trade with Holland. Louis Lyron, another French- man, traded here about 1740. At this time the port of Milford was widely known at home and in foreign parts.
In 1790 Captain Charles Pond, a seafaring man, who had commanded the " New Defense" in 1779 as a privateer, and others engaged in trade, shipbuilding and merchandising, as Charles Pond & Co. In 1793 they built the wharf on Gulf Neck, where is now the Merwin oyster industry. In 1811 Adam Pond, a son of Captain Charles Pond, and others formed the firm of Pond, Fowler & Co., and continued in trade until 1823. He was a successful foreign trader, and was well known among the shippers of New York. Pond, Baldwin & Co. were also in trade until 1814, when the firm was dissolved. Later came Miles, Strong & Miles, who were largely engaged in the shipping trade until the failure of the firm in 1821, sinee which time there has been but little foreign trade with Milford.
Ships were built at Milford as early as 1690, by Bethuel Langstaff, who that year built a 150-ton brig for Alexander Bryan. In 1695 he built another vessel for Boston parties.
The " Sea Flower," built for Richard Bryan, was launched in 1717, and from that time, for a little more than one hundred years ship- building was one of the leading industries of the town. Nearly every
* Lambert.
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trader built his own vessels, and several yards were maintained at the village. A few small vessels were also built at Wheeler's Farm, on the Housatonic.
About 1760 Eli Gunn came to Milford and had a ship yard near his residence. In later times the principal ship yard was on the east side of the harbor, below Fowler's mill. Another yard was on the west side, between Dock lane and Wharf street.
Among the master builders were Isaac Jones, called " Boss " Jones, and " Boss" John Rhodes. As ship carpenters there were, among others, John Hepburn, William Tibbals, Newton Northrup, Nathan Bristol, John Bump, Samuel Greene, John Bassett, John Rood, Caleb Northrup, Isaac Bristol, Samuel B. Gunn and Asa Gnnn. Other ship builders were William Durand, David and William Atwater, Abraham Tomlinson and Farrand Clark.
Captain Noah Kelsey, who had a shop near the Episcopal church, made many of the vessel irons used. Two of the last vessels of any size launched were the "Isabella," in 1818, and the " Marcellus," in 1820. This was built for Captain David P. Halsey, but was sold to Captain Nathan Gillett. The builders were W. H. Fowler and D. L. Baldwin.
The venerable John W. Fowler says that in the period of Milford's greatest commercial activity, for about thirty years, ending in 1820, the following vessels were owned in Milford and sailed from that port:
Ships: "Hesperus," by Pond, Baldwin & Co .; "Garune," by Miles, Strong & Miles; "Chase," "Vaucher," "Hamlet," by Stephen A. and Isaac Treat. Brigs: "Charles," "Susan," "Martha," "Pond," by Pond, Baldwin & Co .; "Calena," " Behurin," by Tomlinson & Clark; " Wepo- wage," "Milford," by Miles, Strong & Miles; "Friendship," "Thomas," by S. A. & I. Treat; " Patriot," by William Durand.
The schooners built or sailing from Milford in the interests of the above were more than a dozen in number, and there was about the same number of sloops.
A number of seafaring men dwelt at Milford, and it has been esti- mated that the casualties of such a life caused more than one hundred persons to find their last resting places in the waters of the mighty deep. It should be noted in this connection that an unusual propor- tion of Milford's seamen became the commanders of their vessels, which commends the bravery and the intelligence of this class of citi- zens. Indeed, some of the best people of the town followed the sea, and "at one time nearly every house contained a retired sea captain or the memory of one." Among those who rose to the rank of captain were: Benedict Bull, James Bull, Freeman Bassett, Mix Bradley, Philip Bull, Nehemiah Bristol, Edward Brown, William Coggeshall, Farrand Clark, Freegift Coggeshall, Charles Coggeshall, William Coggeshall,
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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
Jr., George Coggeshall,* Isaac Dickinson, Samuel Dickinson, William Davidson, Howe Davidson, Samuel Davis, David Foster, Joseph Green, William Glenney, James Hitchcock, Richard Hepburn, David Hepburn, John Hepburn, William Larrabee, Daniel Miles, Isaac Miles, Daniel Mallory, Benajah Mallory, Robert Meadows, William Nott, Charles Pond, Charles H. Pond, Adam Pond, Peter Pond, Samuel Peck, Dan Peck, Joel Plumb, James Riley, Josiah Rogers, Stephen Stow, Anthony Stow, Samuel Stow, Samuel Stow, 2d, Phineas Stow, William Sanford, Frederick Stow, Elisha H. Stow, Henry Turner, Isaac Treat, William Tomlinson, Samuel Tibbals, David Treat, Stephen Trowbridge.
In the ordinary lines of merchandising, Abraham Tomlinson & Co. were in trade at the beginning of the century, and in 1802 David L. Baldwin was one of their clerks. He became one of Milford's mer- chants, and was in trade until 1854. Contemporary with him latterly were Mark Tibbals, John W. Merwin and A. Clark. Nathan Fenn, a later merchant, was killed by burglars who entered his store. P. S. Bristol and the Cornwalls were merchants of a later period, the latter continuing and having as contemporaries the Fords, Platts, Shepherds and Buckinghams.
About 1850 M. & J. A. Curtis opened a drug store, which has been carried on since 1865 by James T. Higby, now one of the oldest mer- chants in the village. On the 10th of December, 1887, a part of this business block was destroyed by fire. All trade is limited to local de- mand of the town, having a score of stores.
On the 9th of March, 1640, the planters arranged with William Fowler, one of the five judges and one of the chief men among them, to have a mill. An advantageous natural site, on the lowest power of the Wepawaug, with the perpetual use of the stream at that place, was granted him, and the mill was set going as early as September, 1640. The mill was estimated worth at least £180, and was the first in the county. The second one, at New Haven (Whitneyville), was built by
* Captain George Coggeshall made 80 sea voyages between 1799 and 1854, and wrote a book in 1851, recounting his experiences. His literary ability was of no mean order, as will be seen by the following epitaph, which he wrote for his nephew, Captain Freegift Coggeshall:
" Here in this lonely, humble bed, Where myrtle and wild roses grow, A son of Neptune rests his head, For, reader, 'tis his watch below. " Long hath he done his duty well, And weathered many a stormy blast; But now, when gentle breezes swell, He's safely moored in peace at last.
" Tread lightly, sailors, o'er his grave, His virtues claim a kindred tear; And yet why mourn a brother brave Who rests from all his labors here?"
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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
William Fowler, the son of the above William Fowler, in 1645. In this year (1645) the Milford mill was injured by a freshet, but was soon repaired, the town voting the help of the brethren to that end. At this place a grist mill has been continuously operated ever since, and the owners have always been members of the Fowler family. The present owner, William M. Fowler, obtained possession of the property in 1884, and soon thereafter erected the mill now standing on the original site, which has been thus occupied by five different mills. Another singular circumstance is that the present owner is the eighth William Fowler, in the ninth generation of the family, that has suc- cessfully carried on this mill property.
Soon after the grist mill was started a saw mill was added, but the latter was removed many years ago.
The mill site next above, on the Wepawaug, was improved in 1675. The town made an order, September 29th, 1674, when liberty was granted to Elder Buckingham and others to build a saw mill and a fulling mill at that point, and they were put up on the east side of the stream. In the month of December, 1702, the town requested the owners of this site to build a grist mill with at least two sets of stones, "one for English grain and the other for Indian grain, and a good boult so ye men, if they wish, may boult yr own floure." The mill was built on the southwest side of the stream, and is still continued. The saw mill was taken down in 1836 and a woolen mill erected in its place by Townsend, Dickinson & Co. For several years they made satinets on an extensive scale, when the mill was destroyed by fire. A smaller mill was then built, but the death of Dickinson soon brought this enterprise to an untimely end. Subsequently this building and others at the same place were used in the carriage business.
A mill was also early built on Beaver brook, west of the village. In May, 1689, Captain Samuel Eells, Timothy Baldwin and Samuel Couch were given liberty to build a fulling mill at that place, on Bald- win's land. Some time after the revolution the power was utilized for a grist mill, which was owned and run by the Prince family more than half a century, but has been disused many years.
On the East river the third grist mill in the town was built by John Plumb, the town granting hiin the necessary liberty in December, 1706. As conditions of this right he agreed to build a causeway and keep the same in repair, and to grind the grist of "the towns people in preference to those of strangers." The grist mill was allowed to go down, and about 1825 the power was used to saw stone for the Milford Marble Company, whose quarries were near this locality. The marble is of the kind called Verde antique, and was discovered in 1811 by Solo- mon Baldwin, at that time a student in Yale from Huntington. A company was formed to quarry the marble, and for some years it was actively engaged, when the quality no longer held out. From this quarry four chimney pieces were supplied for the Capitol at Washing-
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ton. In later years small lumber mills have been carried on by the Clark Brothers and H. M. Rose, the stream furnishing limited power. In this part of the town the scenery is very attractive along the river.
On the 18th of February, 1714, liberty was granted to a company of forty persons to build a tide mill at the Indian Gulf outlet. This was kept up a number of years, and about the time of the revolution a new mill was built. The latter was swept away March 5th, 1843, and a new mill was built, which was last used for grinding barytes. Some time before the late war this was removed, and no mill has been there since that time.
In 1815 there were in Milford and in the Milford part of Orange six grist mills, seven saw mills, four fulling mills, one oil mill, two card- ing machines, one large woollen factory, and two ship yards.
It is said that among the early settlers there was a great want of mechanics, but upon proper encouragement by the town the various trades were soon represented. George Clark, Jr., was the carpenter; Nathaniel Baldwin the cooper; John Baldwin the tailor; John Smith, the blacksmith, having his shop near the town house; and Ephraim Strong was a later blacksmith. Edward Adams and Miles Merwin were the tanners. The latter's yard was near Bryan's Wharf, and the business was long carried on by his family. There were shoemakers, but it is said that " for fifty years there was no saddler in town; sheep- skins were used for saddles, and in such demand that the Stratford people used to say, 'If the Devil should go into Milford in the shape of a lamb they would skin him to get his hide for a saddle.'"*
Henry Tomlinson and Richard Holbrook were weavers, but in many families weaving was carried on, and the fulling mill put up in 1675 was the first in the colony. In 1720 Lewis Wilkinson had a clothier's shop on the island, below Meeting House bridge. An in- dustry which was important, but which was discontinued so many years ago that few know that it was ever carried on, was brewing. In 1651 Edward Wooster, a brewer, had a hop yard on Mill river. He later had another yard in the lower part of the present town of Ansonia. Sergeant Camp, another brewer, had a hop yard on the Housatonic. Brewing houses were maintained until about 1750.
The manufacture of carriages was for many years an important industry in the town. About 1830 Dennis Beach and his brothers, Hammond and Harvey, began on a small scale in a shop near his resi- dence. In 1837 they built the dam in the upper part of Milford vil. lage, and used its power in this industry, and continued a number of years. A little earlier, about 1834, Brown, Frazer & Co. put up car- riage works on the site of the post office block, manufacturing for the Southern trade. Charles Pond Strong was also interested later. Oper- ations were discontinued about 1847, when the shop was used for a cabinet factory a short time.
*Reverend Elijah C. Baldwin.
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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
In 1837 Rogers, Gardner & Davis had carriage works on Broad street, near the Trowbridge tavern, which passed to Isaac T. Rogers, who manufactured until his removal to Brooklyn, N. Y. Beecher & Miles, at the old fulling mill property, above Jefferson bridge, were the last to operate on an extensive scale, and continued until about 1853, when the industry here declined. When fully carried on several hundred men were employed, and Milford carriages had a splendid reputation in Southern and Western markets. Since the year named small shops only in these mechanic arts have been occupied.
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