USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume II > Part 82
USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume II > Part 82
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The settlement of the town was not begun until after 1700. A short time before that date, the New Haven or county road was laid out on the east side of the river, which made the lands taken up avail- able for occupancy and made their improvement easier. An addi- tional inducement to settlers was now held out in the offer of grants of lands not yet allotted.
Samuel Hickox, Jr., is credited with being the first settler. He was born about 1669, married Elizabeth Plumb, of Milford, in 1690, and lived at Waterbury until about 1703. Doctor Bronson, in his his- tory of that town, says he had a house on his tract of land as early as December 21st, 1702. This house was on the hill east of the river and beyond the old county road, a short distance north of the present resi- dence of B. M. Hotchkiss. The house has been taken away, but the old well is still there. Samuel Hickox owned not only the lands around his house, but was the owner of a tract about a mile north, which had been allotted to other members of the Hickox family, who did not remove here from Waterbury. He died in the great sickness in 1713 and was buried in the Pine Hill Cemetery, which was taken from his land in 1709. A few years before his death he built a small carding and fulling mill, on the brook, on his upper tract of land, from which circumstance the stream took its name-Fulling Mill brook- and he thus, probably, built the first mill of the kind in the state. His wife, Elizabeth, died in 1749, and their sons, John and Gideon, sur- vived them. Remote descendants of this pioneer family still remain in Naugatuck, in families bearing the names of Smith, Hotchkiss, Is- bell, May, Warner and others, many of them active in the town's affairs.
Daniel Warner, Jr., was the second permanent settler in the town, his house being near the old county road, south of Fulling Mill brook. He was a son of Daniel Warner, one of the proprietors of Mattatuck, whose widow continued to reside in Waterbury. He built his house prior to 1708, and April 10th, 1709, his wife, Mary Andrus, died, being the first white person buried in the town. She was interred at Pine
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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
Hill April 11th, 1709. He died in September, 1713, being one of the last victims of the great sickness of that and the previous year. They had sons named Samuel, Ebenezer and Abraham, who became early settlers in this part of the county. In 1738 the former sold the old homestead, and there have since been many owners of the property. In 1783 it was owned by Lemuel Hoadley.
Joseph Lewis, who came to Waterbury from Simsbury about 1700, and married Sarah, daughter of Abraham Andrus, sister of the wife of Daniel Warner, Jr., also settled in what is now Natt- gatuck, coming about 1713. He was probably the first settler west of the river, where he was one of the most active in developing that part of the town. Before his death he became a large land owner, having in all about 900 acres. His descendants became very numerous, many of them living in what was called Lewistown, in the southwestern part of the town. Joseph Lewis was a cloth weaver by trade, and was one of the most respected and substantial men in the town of Waterbury. About 1720 he loaned the town a sum of money to settle a judgment against it in favor of the town of Wallingford, and for that favor he was granted 80 acres of land on Towantie brook. He died November 29th, 1749, and his oldest son, Joseph, also died of the prevalent sick- ness that year. Another son, Thomas, born in 1716, graduated at Yale in 1741 and became a Congregational minister. Samuel, the youngest son, was the first deacon of the church in Salem, and was a justice of the peace from 1771 to 1787. In 1748 all the land in the Lewis neigh- borhood was owned by Joseph Lewis and his sons, John and Samuel. In 1888 70 families lived in that locality, not one of which bore the name of Lewis.
Among others who came about the same time as the foregoing was John Barnes, who bought land on the road leading from Union City to the New England railroad depot early in the fall of 1712, and set- tled there the following year. Later he owned large tracts on Hop brook. Of his five children four died in the great sickness of 1749. He died in 1763. His surviving child married Ebenezer Johnson, of Derby, and the property was long known by his name. In 1790 it passed to Reverend Mr. Fowler.
In the southern part of the town Thomas Richards built a house about 1714, on land which he had acquired half a dozen years earlier. He died in 1726, and 20 years later the property passed to Amos Osborn.
In July, 1720, James Brown, of New Haven, bought a tract of land of the Samuel Hickox estate, which was on the east side of the old county road and south of the present B. M. Hotchkiss place. The fol- lowing year he was appointed the first tavern keeper in the town. He was also the first churchman in Waterbury, and from that fact and that he deemed himself a man of some importance, he was derisively called Bishop Brown. In 1737 he sold out to Josiah Terrell, of Milford, and removed to Westbury.
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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
Ebenezer Hickox, one of the sons of Samuel Hickox, the first set- tler. located on the lot which later became the May place. He sold out to the Rew family in 1732, and in 1744 Josiah Terrel also became the owner of this property. He gave it to his son, Moses, who was the father of Irijah Terrell. The latter built on it the commodious house which became a tavern and which was used as an inn until after the building of the Watertown turnpike along the river.
Samuel, Edmund and John Scott, sons of Edmund Scott, Jr., of Wa- terbury, who had been allotted lands along Scott's or Towantic brook, were among the early prominent settlers of that region, much of it be- ing in the Millville section. Samuel Scott also owned land on the side of Strait's mountain, which he gave to his son, Gideon, in 1752. In 1785 Gideon Scott had a house where is now the intersection of Scott and Cross streets, and where, in 1843. George Hoadley erected a new dwelling, using the old cellar wall. For many years this Scott family was very numerous in that part of the town.
Obadiah Scott, of another family, being a son of George Scott, was admitted as a bachelor proprietor in 1713, and in 1716 he had a house in the southern part of the town, east of the one erected by Thomas Richards. He died in 1735, and after being owned by his sons, most of the land later passed to Amos Osborn, whose descendants still oc- cupy a part of it.
Another early settler at Judd's Meadow and along Towantic brook was Samuel Warner, who here received a bachelor's lot in 1712 and more land in 1715, some of it extending up Strait's mountain. Other lands along the brook made this one of the largest farms in those days. He died in 1741. From this family descended Stephen Warner, who was well known in Naugatuck as one of the most skillful malleable iron workers of his time.
Near the present Millville school house Daniel Williams, commonly called " Dan " Williams, made substantial improvements before 1740. He died in 1754, and his son, Daniel, conveyed some of the land to John Lewis, but descendants remained in that part of the town.
In the southwestern part of the old town of Waterbury John An- drus settled some time about 1724, becoming in the course of years a large land owner. He built a substantial house, which was mentioned in contemporary writings as late as 1814. Much of his land was con- veyed to Nathaniel Gunn in 1733, and Andrus removed to Woodbury probably not long thereafter. In the same locality Joseph Lewis, Jr., son of Deacon Joseph Lewis, began the acquisition of land in 1728, and acquired real estate for twenty or more years, until he had large pos- sessions. He owned, among other tracts, the land at Bradley's Corner. which bore for a time the name of Lewis' hill.
But the Gunns were for a number of years relatively more important than any other family in this part of the town. To such an extent had they absorbed every interest that the locality was called Gunn-
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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
town, and members of the family were engaged in farming, milling, distilling, lumbering and merchandising. Nathaniel Gunn was the first of that name here. He purchased land of John Andrus in 1733. near Twelve Mile hill, and adjoining lands belonging to Ebenezer War- ner, Joseph Lewis, Jr., Daniel Williams, John Weed, Jr., and David Judson. From these he subsequently purchased lands to enlarge his estate until he had more than 600 acres at the time of his death, in 1769. He married Sarah Wheeler in 1728, and among their sons were: Abel, Enos, Nathaniel and Jobamah, to whom was given a goodly es- tate, which they further increased until they were accounted very wealthy. Jobamah, especially, became a large land owner, so that in the list of 1791 he had 563 acres, part of which was used as a deer park. He built a house and furnished it in a style equalled only in cities of that period.
The Gunns were churchmen and were suspected of disloyalty in the revolution; and Jobamah Gunn was charged with being one of the parties implicated in the kidnapping of Chauncey Judd." On the com- plaint of housing and feeding the kidnapping party he was fined $1,800 in gold. Besides having fine farm buildings, the family of Enos Gunn, near the close of the last century, put up a brick store- house at Gunntown, in which Larmon Townsend, a son-in-law, mer- chandised many years, until he removed to Middlebury Center, after that town was formed. The brick building was demolished and some of the material was taken to Naugatuck village, where it was used in the erection of a hall. The Gunns, though once so numerous, are no longer here represented, and but few bearing that name live in the town.
In the extreme southwestern part of the town. on the summit of the beautiful Twelve Mile hill (formerly so called because it was twelve miles from Derby, now known as Huntington hill), which rises 900 feet above the sea and about 600 feet above the village of Naugatuck, a boundary stake was set May 18th, 1680. The commit- tee on the part of Mattatuck were: William Judd, Thomas Judd and John Stanley, Jr. The latter appears to have been impressed with the beauty of this location, for about 1687 he secured a grant of twelve acres on the summit of the hill. A tract of 100 acres was afterward here granted to Reverend Joseph Moss, the pastor of the Derby church, which was sold by his heirs in 1739 to Thomas, Joseph and Amos Osborn, three brothers, of New Haven, who descended from one of the first Osborns of that place. They afterward made division of the Stanley and Moss lands, and by making other pur- chases became large land owners.
They, also, were churchmen, and Thomas Osborn was, in 1742 one of the subscribers to a fund to erect the first Episcopal church in Waterbury. In 1753 Daniel Osborn, another brother, bought the.
* See History of Bethany.
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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
Jonas Weed place, on the northeast side of the hill. His son, Abra- ham, was the pioneer settler of Osborntown, buying land there as early as 1758, and later secured some of the Edmund Seott lands, allotted as early as 1723. He died in 1813. The Osborns had many descend- ants, some still remaining in that locality.
In the eastern part of the town the principal landowner and settler was Stephen Hopkins. He bought land at Judd's Meadow as early as 1723, but most of his future purehases were on the elevated tract of land which is known to this day as Hopkins' hill. Here Stephen Hop- kins owned a tract of land, in 1757, which embraeed more than 959 acres and extended from the south braneh of Fulling Mill brook south- ward, at its extreme length, one and seven-eighths miles. In places it was more than a mile wide and had a very irregular shape, there being 23 angles, every one of which was marked with the letters "S. H." Before his death, in 1769, his estate in what is now Naugatuck was more than 1,000 acres.
Stephen Hopkins was the grandson of John Hopkins, of Hartford, where he settled in 1636, and a son of Stephen Hopkins, who built the first mill in Waterbury about 1680. He was a brother of John Hop- kins, the miller of Mattatuck. Stephen Hopkins was born in 1689 and in 1717 married Susanna Peck, of Wallingford. Their sons, who at- tained manhood, were John, Stephen, Joseph and David. Their daugh- ters married into the Bronson, Royce and Johnson families. Some of the descendants of Stephen Hopkins' family attained great distinction in the professions in which they engaged. A grandson, Samuel Miles Hopkins, born in the Salem Society in 1772, received the degree of LL.D. from Yale College in 1828, and his son, also Samuel Miles, be- came a doctor of divinity, by a degree of Amherst College, in 1854.
Doctor Lemuel Hopkins, the third son of Stephen, was born in 1750 and before his death in 1801, was one of the most distinguished physicians of the state. He was also a writer of great force, but pub- lished very little over his own name. About 1784 he removed from Waterbury to Hartford. Many other branches of the Hopkins fam- ilies were noted for their good qualities as citizens and the name is one of the most honorable in the town.
Other honored and early prominent settlers were the Hoadleys, the Wards and others, whose names appear in accounts elsewhere given of the fathers of the town's history.
Originally Waterbury extended south along the Naugatuck to the Derby line. From the north of that town Oxford and Bethany were set off, but the Naugatuck region was long known as the "South Farms," and the inhabitants traveled many miles to attend meetings at Waterbury. Tiring of this they petitioned, April 22d, 1765, for liberty for four months winter preaching. Against this desire of 46 persons Samuel Porter, living in what later became Prospect, protested May 15th, 1765, because a division would make the old society too
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IIISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
weak and that it was sinful for the "South Farmers" to shirk their ob- ligations to attend service at Waterbury. His scruples were respected and when the district line was run for winter preaching his farm was left outside of the limits. This provisional or winter parish was four by seven miles in extent. Having enjoyed the fruits of self rule to this extent, a movement was set on foot to form a permanent parish which should embrace four by six miles of the southern part of old Waterbury. Against this petition of November 13th, 1771, 39 of the inhabitants of that section, which later became Prospect, set them- selves in opposition, claiming that while it was too far to attend meet- ings at Waterbury, they could no better be accommodated at the "South Farms," but that they should have a society of their own. The matter was referred to a legislative committee which reported, and the incorporation of Salem Society followed, as will be seen by this record:
"May, 1773, upon the memorial of Gideon Hicox, of Waterbury, in the county of New Haven, and others praying for society privileges, Bushnell Bostwick, Thomas Darling and James Wadsworth were ap- pointed a committee in October last, who have reported that it is con- venient and necessary that a distinct ecclesiastical society be made and constituted within the following limits: Beginning at a rock near the road from the Town Plat at Waterbury to New Haven, distant from the meeting house in Waterbury two miles, one-half a mile and sixty rods, called the 'Mile Rock' to Wallingford line; thence in said line to the tree called the 'Three Brothers;' thence south to the Beacon Gap; thence to the southeast corner of a farm formerly be- longing to James Richards, lying on Beech Hill; thence west to the mouth of the Great Spruce Brook, on the west side of the Naugatuck river; thence keeping the Brook westwardly to the mouth of the Brook that comes off from Red Oak Hill; thence north- westwardly to the place where Moss Road crosses Derby line; thence northwardly in said road to Enos Gunn's dwelling house; thence a north line so far as to intersect a west line from said . Mile Rock.'
" Which report is accepted and approved. Whereupon, it is resolved by the Assembly that the inhabitants living within the aforesaid limits be and they are hereby made and constituted a distinct Ecclesiastical Society, with all the Privileges, Powers and Immunities to such Socie- ties usually belonging in this Colony, and shall be known and called by the name of Salem.
" Passed in the Lower House. Test. W. M. WILLIAMS, Clerk. Concurred in the Upper House.
GEORGE WILLIS, Secretary."
Under the jurisdiction of this Salem ecclesiastical society, the in- habitants of this region lived many years, and later were parts of Waterbury and other adjoining towns, many years more, when sepa-
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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
rate town privileges were prayed for and obtained, but not without opposition.
The old Salem Parish was incorporated as a town on the petition of Willianı De Forest and others, dated February 16th, 1844, by an act of the May, 1844, session of the general assembly, to include " all the parts of the towns of Waterbury, Bethany and Oxford lying within the following limits, to wit: Beginning at the northeast corner of the Society of Salem, in the town of Waterbury, where the same adjoins the northwest corner of Prospect, and thence running southerly by the line of the said Society to the town of Bethany, at a point called the ' Three Brothers,' thence by said Society line southerly to the south- east corner of said Society, at a point in Bethany called Beacon Gap, and thence westerly in said town of Bethany in a straight line to Naugatuck River, at the mouth of Spruce Brook; thence north westerly, in the line of said Society in the town of Oxford to Burtis' Corner, thence northerly in the line of the said Society as it now runs, to the northwest corner of said Society to the place of beginning, with all the inhabitants residing thereon, be, and the same are hereby incor- porated into a distinct town by the name of Naugatuck."
The new town was entitled to one representative. The first meet- ing was held on the public green, on Church street, and John Peck moderated, when the following officers were chosen : Clerk, Charles S. Peck : selectmen, Ransom Culver, Enos Osborne, Burton Sperry ; treasurer, Isaac S. Johnson : town agent, Charles Nettleton ; treasurer of deposit fund, Hiel S. Stevens ; tything men, Francis Webster, Orrin Hotchkiss, Monroe Serrells, Enos Hopkins, William H. Tomlin- son, G. O. Hotchkiss ; surveyors of highways, William H. Hine, Sam- uel Osborne, Enos Hopkins, Gideon O. Hotchkiss, Jonathan Scott, John Hopkins, Laurence S. Lewis, Joseph O. Kane, Bennett Candee, Leverett Osborne, Bela Atwater, E. M. Payne.
The regular election in October, 1844, was also held on the green. between the Episcopal and the Congregational churches, and the first principal officers were reelected. A tax of six cents on the dollar was voted. The selectmen were to be allowed one dollar per day for their services, and a building for the use of the town was leased of David- son & Goodwin.
From the organization of the town until 1889 the clerks have been : 1844-6, Charles S. Peck: 1847-59, Gustavus Spencer; 1860, Edwin W. Brainard : 1861, E. P. Thompson ; 1862-70, Charles M. Clark ; 1871-3, George D. Bissell ; 1874-7, Lauren S. Beardsley ; 1878-84, J. F. Garrison ; 1885-6, George D. Bissell ; 1887-8, Henry C. Baldwin, S. S. Scott, assistant clerk ; 1889, Arthur W. Kane, James E. Sweeney, assistant clerk.
The Naugatuck Probate District was created in 1863. David Smith was the judge, serving six years. Samuel Hopkins was the next judge, for a few years, when David Smith served again, eight
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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
years. In 1881, George D. Bissell was elected judge, succeeded the next term by John M. Sweeney. In 1885-6, Samuel Seeley Scott was the judge, his successor being the present efficient incumbent, Judge John M. Sweeney.
The town hall was built in 1882. The agitation of the matter which led to the erection of the hall was begun in December, 1877, when B. B. Tuttle, Samuel Hopkins, Hiel S. Stevens, Patrick Conran, G. M. Allerton, James S. Lewis, Patrick Brennan, William O. Lewis and F. B. Tuttle were appointed a committee to report on this subject. They recommended, January 7th, 1878, that a two-story hall, 58 by 93 feet, be built of brick, with trimmings of granite and Ohio sand- stone, and estimated the cost of the building at $19,000. The report was acted on, and February 18th, 1878, it was voted to purchase the Lewis & Whittemore lot, on the northeast corner of Church and Maple streets. A delay took place and nothing effective was done until June 28th, 1880, when the following building committee was authorized : Bronson B. Tuttle, George M. Allerton, Charles A. Ensign, B. M. Hotchkiss, Homer Twitchell, Hiel S. Stevens, Thomas Conran and Harry S. Hotchkiss. Plans prepared by Architect L. B. Valk, of New York city, were adopted and the cost was estimated at $30,000. In February, 1881, the lot was enlarged by the purchase on the north of five more feet of land. The hall was completed in July, 1882, at a total cost of $54,000. The lower story is fitted up for offices and a spacious court room, while the main part of the upper story forms an auditorium, having a seating capacity for 850 people. The building has a private water supply and is one of the most creditable public buildings in the county for the cost.
The town farm is one-half a mile west from the center, on the Mill- ville road, and consists of 110 acres. When purchased, in 1861, there was an old saw mill on the place. It is maintained at an expense of about $3,000 per year, and the receipts from the farm are about $1,800 per year. More than 30 inmates are admitted annually.
Among the thoroughfares of the town, the 'Straits ' turnpike long held a most important place. It took, to a large extent, the place of the old County or New Haven road, which was opened about 1700, and whose general course was on high or hilly ground. The turnpike was built about 100 years later, and followed the course of the old highway only where it was advantageous to do so. Below Salem bridge it left the hills and, crossing the river, bore to the northwest, to Watertown. On the east side of the river the Waterbury turnpike was built, forming a junction with the above at the Salem bridge, and it became a popular road which, as a public highway, is well kept up to this day. The llumphreysville & Salem turnpike was built in 1825 and vacated in 1853. It extended along the east side of the river from Seymour to its intersection with the Straits turnpike, below Salem
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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
bridge. This road is also well kept up, and the entire highway along the east side of the stream forms a delightful drive.
The first bridge at Naugatuck was a little more than 100 rods above the present one, being somewhat lower than the present dam. On the hill, near where the road from the west entered it, was Daniel Beecher's inn. The old Salem bridge was replaced with a fine iron structure, completed in 1883, and having a span of 185 feet. The cost was about $15,000. A good iron bridge was authorized to be built in 1891 at Union City, in place of the old wooden structure.
The Naugatuck railroad was built through the town in 1849 and stations have been located at Naugatuck and Union City. At the former place new buildings were put up in 1890. The New England railway, built through the northwest part of the town, in 1881, has a way station in Naugatuck.
Naugatuck owes its development and to a large extent its exist- ence as a corporate body to the manifold manufacturing interests within its bounds. These have changed it from a poor agricultural section to one of the richest, most active parts of the county. Here have been, in turn, industries which have caused the town to be the center of those interests, as button making and cutlery produc- tion; and the later manufacture of rubber goods and malleable iron ware has given Naugatuck an extended reputation. The fine water power of some of the minor streams first attracted attention from the ordi- nary pursuits, and their successful improvement revealed the possi- bility of making the town a manufacturing point. A further im- provement, after modern methods, and the utilization of the waters of the river were crowned with such rich results that the destiny of the town long since became apparent. This was further assured by the building of the railway, in 1849, and the liberal employment of the power of steam, which have enlarged the capabilities of a natur- ally advantageous location, until but few places of its size have in- dustries already so important and which are being still further ex- panded.
The first improvement of this nature was on Fulling Mill brook, east of Union City, on which were also some of the other early indus- tries. It was a fulling mill, put up by Samuel Hickox, soon after his settlement in 1703. It appears that it was afterward changed into a grist mill, and as such it was conveyed by Ebenezer Hickox to Hezekiah Rew, in 1737. James Baldwin was a later owner, who dis- posed of it to William Hoadley, of Branford, in 1752. Besides the mill, there was a tract of land of 200 acres, extending down the river, as far as Hillside Cemetery. Later the owners were Jared Byington and his sons, Jesse and Isaac, who had then, about 1800, a trip ham- mer for drawing nail iron, having a shop on the hill near by, in which half a dozen men were employed in heading them. In 1808, the New Haven & Baltimore Button Company secured a part of the property
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