USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Waterbury > History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley, Connecticut, Volume I > Part 9
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The Welton Fountain, erected at the east end of The Green in 1888, by the Caroline J. Welton estate, was a kindly thought born of Miss Welton's life-long love of horses. But this, alas, is an age of gasoline! For many years there was a hackstand on North Main Street, south of the fountain, while humble transfer wagons, drawn by even humbler steeds, rested at the curb to the north while waiting for custom. Automobiles and auto-trucks have almost completely dis- placed the horse-drawn vehicles except for certain heavy freight duty and it is rarely now that a horse gets a drink from the Welton Fountain. Sentiment would prevent converting it into a gasoline filling station which would be more useful in these degenerate days. On this account, there was a movement in 1917 to re- move the fountain to the west end of Library Park on the plaza of the Union Station where it would serve many hard-working beasts which are still traveling to and from the freight yards. At the end of the year the change seemed a prob- ability of the near future.
WATERBURY'S CEMETERIES
Riverside Cemetery, which is the oldest of Waterbury's burial places, was founded in the year of the organization of the city and while its acreage was considerably enlarged before 1893, there have been no additions made since that time. Now, however, more room is needed and land is to be acquired at an early date.
By the death of S. W. Hall, March 5, 1877, the association became the recipient of a bequest of $20,000, to be expended in the erection of a memorial chapel "for the use of funerals and for funeral services." This fund was allowed to accumulate until it amounted to $25,000, and the chapel was built in 1884 and 1885 from designs prepared by R. W. Hill. The chapel was dedicated June II, 1885. Addresses were made by the Revs. Drs. Rowland and Anderson, and the dedicatory prayer was offered by the Rev. J. L. Peck. The other services were
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CLOCK ON THE GREEN, WATERBURY
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conducted by other Protestant clergymen of the city and the hymns and anthems were sung by a chorus selected from the several church choirs. In 1893 the chapel was repaired and thoroughly renovated, and the spire entirely rebuilt at a cost of $5,000. The expense was assumed by J. S. Elton and Mrs. C. N. Way- land, in accordance with the wishes of their mother, Mrs. Olive M. Elton.
It was agreed, when the by-laws were adopted, that "all moneys accruing from sales of lots should be expended in the purchase and improvement of the ground." A price was affixed to the lots "so moderate as to be within reach of the humblest means," and it was hoped that this would "afford a sufficient sum to secure adequate protection and attention for the grounds." But this expecta- tion has not been realized, and from the beginning the trustees have been dependent on the gifts of persons specially interested in the cemetery to carry on necessary work. For several years after it was opened, fairs were held in its behalf, and specific subscriptions of considerable sums have been received from time to time for special purposes. The association has received individual gifts for permanent investments amounting to over $20,000. A special charter was obtained in 1886.
The total number of interments from the opening of the cemetery to the date of the annual meeting, in 1895, was 4,278. To November 1, 1917 there have been 7.799 interments in Riverside Cemetery since it was first opened. In 1895 James S. Elton was elected president and N. J. Welton secretary and treasurer. The trustees were as follows: J. R. Smith, N. D. Granniss, Elisha Leavenworth, E. L. Frisbie, J. S. Elton, F. J. Kingsbury, N. J. Welton.
The present trustees are James S. Elton, Otis S. Northrop, F. W. Judson, G. C. Hill, J. Richard Smith, A. J. Smith, F. S. Chase. Its president is James S. Elton ; secretary, Fletcher W. Judson. The latter succeeded to the position of secretary, treasurer and superintendent on the death of Mr. Welton in 1917.
The custodian of the grounds is Henry M. Begnal, who succeeded his father on the death of the latter.
ST. JOSEPH'S CEMETERIES, OLD AND NEW, AND CALVARY CEMETERY
St. Joseph's cemeteries, both old and new, on Hamilton Avenue, have not been enlarged in the past twenty-five years. The old cemetery which contains about twenty acres was bought in 1837 by Father Hendricken and the new cemetery was bought in 1893 by Monsignor Slocum and consists of twenty-four acres, located at Hamilton Avenue and Pearl Lake Road.
Calvary Cemetery on East Main Street on the Cheshire Road, comprises about sixty-seven acres. In 1885, the Rev. Wm. A. Harty purchased fifty-three acres, and the Rev. John A. Mulcahy, the remainder in August of 1891. It was con- secrated by the Rev. Michael Tierney on May 24th, 1894, the sermon on the occasion being preached by the Rev. James F. O'Donnell, of Watertown.
The three cemeteries belong to the Immaculate Conception Parish, and the superintendent is the head of the parish, Rev. Father Fitzsimons, but they are for the use of the entire Catholic community.
PINE GROVE CEMETERY
Pine Grove Cemetery, which was established in the Mill Plain District in 1854 was greatly extended in April, 1898, by the purchase of ground extending through to the Southmayd Road making in all twenty acres of burial ground. It was incorporated in January, 1887. Its founders were : Milo Sacket, Leonard Warner, James Porter, Mark Warner, Edward Scott, Jesse J. Doolittle, Levinus Warner, Leonard Hall, Charles Frost, Gaylord Alcott, Merrit Scott.
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The trustees of the association for the year 1917 are: Warren B. Hitchcock, Edson A. Hitchcock, Mark L. Warner, Theodore Munson, George C. Walker, Arthur E. Blewitt, Miss Fannie H. Porter.
WATERVILLE CEMETERY
The land embraced in the original Waterville Cemetery, which lies on the hill just east of the main road, has twice been extended in the past quarter century and now comprises several acres. It was originally laid out for sixty-four lots, on ground deeded by Daniel E. Sprague and Anson Downes. In 1916, the ceme- tery, which had been enlarged by an additional acreage a decade before, made an arrangement with the Chase Metal Works by which its main street front was traded to that company for an adequate strip of land on the other side of the cemetery on Fort Hill Avenue.
The present officers are: Fred Jackson, president; Thomas Burton, secretary, and Horace Garrigus, director and in charge of the cemetery.
FOUR JEWISH CEMETERIES
There are now four Jewish cemeteries in Waterbury. The oldest of these belongs to what is known as the "Reform" Congregation, and is known as Melchi- zedek Cemetery on the Cheshire Road. This was bought in 1875. In the last (lecade the two O. B. O. lodges, Brass City and Gladstone, opened a joint burial place on the Wolcott Road. Later cemeteries were opened in the same district by the Waterbury Hebrew Benefit Association No. I, and Waterbury Star Lodge, I. O. B. A.
TIJE TOWN'S CEMETERY
What was known as the Town's Cemetery, comprising three acres near River- side, which had been used for the burial of the poor for two decades, was closed in 1911. The fence around it was removed and the acreage was added to Chase Park. It remains as it was in that year. Burials of the poor are now made in the various cemeteries of the city.
CHAPTER VI
SCHOOLS, LIBRARY AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY
GROWTH IN SCHOOL POPULATION-TWO IMPORTANT CIIANGES IN SCHOOL GOVERN- MENT-ITS NEW MODEL HIGH AND GRAMMAR SCHOOL STRUCTURES- OUTSIDE SCHOOL DISTRICTS INCLUDED-EVENING SCHOOLS-MEDICAL INSPECTION-MAN- UAL TRAINING - PLAYGROUNDS - SALESMANSHIP SCHOOL - CONTINUATION SCHOOL-VOCATIONAL SCHIOOL-VALUE AND EXTENT OF SCHOOL PROPERTY-PRI- VATE AND PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS-DAVID G. PORTER BEQUEST-LIBRARY AND MAT- TATUCK HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
On September 1. 1917, the beginning of the present school year, there were enrolled in the public and private schools of Waterbury 22,953 pupils. Of these 16,833 attended the public schools and 6,120 the parochial and other private schools. The school census enumeration of children between the ages of four and sixteen was 26,419. This was a gain of 2,418 over the enumeration of the previous year, while the enrollment shows a gain of 1,890.
The total number of children in the district in 1893, the beginning of the quarter century, was 8,475.
The superintendent of schools, in his report for 1893, made the following general statement in regard to the schoolhouses of the Center District: "All the buildings now in use, fourteen in number, have been erected within the last twenty-two years. They contain eighty-four school rooms, and some have recita- tion rooms in addition. They are substantially built, are in good repair, and afford ready egress in case of fire. Two of them, the Bank Street and the Clay Street buildings, are excellent in design and will compare favorably with any other school buildings in the state in the same grade."
The annual report for the year ending October 1, 1894, showed that there were fifteen school buildings in use in the district. The number of school-rooms in use was ninety-three, and the number of teachers, including assistants, was 120. The total number of boys registered during 1893 was 3,145, and of girls, 2,902, making a total of 6,047,-an increase of 375 over the previous year. This was exclusive of pupils in the evening schools. The total number registered in the evening schools, was 814. The average attendance at the evening schools declined from 495 in November, 1893, to 254 in February, 1894, and 114 in March. The number of pupils in attendance at the day schools during the spring term of 1895 was 5,289. The following table will serve to show not only how they were dis- posed of, but the number and the location, approximately, of the schools of the district in 1895. (Under "high school" are included temporary accommodations in the Moriarty block.)
High School I,I34
East Main Street. 197
Elm Street.
490
Ridge Street. 3.56
Clay Street. 389
Hillside Avenue. I18
Bank Street 651
Sperry Street. 324
Bishop Street.
432
Locust Street.
383
Porter Street.
315
Dublin Street. 117
Washington
262 Westside Hill.
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During the winter term, 1893-94, the number of pupils in the high school proper was 191. Of this number, thirty-eight graduated and a few left the school to enter employment. The number of grammar school scholars who passed examination for admission was 110, making the number at the summer term 252. These were packed into quarters originally designed for only 114. In several other rooms the condition reported was almost as bad, but in some of them at least temporary relief was obtained by additions to the buildings or the securing of rooms elsewhere to take care of the overflow. At the district meeting held May 9, 1895, it was voted to erect a new high school building at a cost of $100,000, and to enlarge the Bishop Street and Bank Street schools at an expense of $30,000 additional. The expenses of the district during the year 1894 were nearly $150,000, of which the largest items were, for salaries $80,000 and new buildings, repairs, etc., about $16,000.
Until 1899 the charter as amended in 1880 and 1895 governed in school matters, and the following excerpts from two sections of that document describe succinctly the methods by which the controlling power was elected and by which taxation for school purposes was levied.
"Said Center School District shall annually, on the first Monday of October, choose by ballot a district committee consisting of five persons, a board of educa- tion consisting of seven persons, a treasurer, two auditors and a clerk; no person shall hold more than one of said offices, and all of said officers shall be residents and legal voters of said Center School District.
"Said district committee shall have the general care and management of the concerns of said district ; enumerate and make return of the scholars at the time and in the manner provided by law for other school districts; employ teachers approved by the board of education ; make a list of the polls and ratable estate of all the inhabitants in said district whenever it becomes necessary, for the purpose of taxation ; shall exercise control over the expenditures of all moneys belonging to said district; make all contracts for furnishing of supplies, building and repairing of schoolhouses, and, with the concurrence of the board of education, abate such taxes as, in their judgment, ought to be abated."
On June 20, 1899, the first notable change in the government of the schools was effected by act of the Legislature. By it, the boundaries of the city were fixed as those of the Center School District. The name Center School District was abolished. The law then ordains that "said new department of education shall be under the control of the board of education, consisting of the mayor, who shall be ex officio chairman, and seven members, who shall be elected bienni- ally at the meetings of said city for the election of officers ; and for this purpose separate ballots shall be provided in the several voting places in said city. The terms of office of said members shall begin on the first Monday of January next following their election, and the provisions of the charter of said city in relation to the powers and duties of city officers shall apply to said members."
It further provided that the board of education "shall have the entire charge and direction of all the public schools of said district, and of the expenditure of all moneys appropriated for the support of the same."
On the matter of taxation, it provided that "the treasurer of the city shall receive the amount of school money to which the district is entitled from the school moneys of the state, from the Town of Waterbury, from state appropria- tions for school purposes, from gifts, and from the tax laid within the district for school purposes, which moneys shall be subject to the order of the board of education under such rules and regulations as the board of finance may from time to time establish. The board of education shall submit to the board of
THE DRIGGS SCHOOL, WATERBURY
THE WEBSTER SCHOOL, WATERBURY
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finance of the city, at the time fixed by law for the submission of the estimates of other departments of said city, a detailed estimate of its expenses for the next year for which the appropriations for city purposes are by law required to be made, specifying separately the sums needed for current and for special expenses, but no tax shall be laid upon any property lying outside of the present limits of the City of Waterbury and within the limits of said city as hereby established at a rate exceeding one-half of the rate of taxation upon property lying within the present limits of said city."
This was at least a partial consolidation of school and city governments, but the amended charter of 1901 made complete consolidation depend upon the wishes of voters in the districts. For the purpose of giving a clear idea of what seems a complicated method of taxation, the two clauses of the amended charter are quoted quite fully :
"Said City of Waterbury, on and after said date, shall be divided into two districts. The first district shall comprise all the territory of said city, and the second district shall comprise all the territory that lay within the limits of said city as the same existed on the first day of January, 1901, excepting that all that territory lying east of the City Mills Pond, so called, and Great Brook, and which, with other territory of the Bucks Hill School District, was annexed to the Center School District of Waterbury, by the General Assembly at its January session, 1899, is hereby restored to the said Bucks Hill School District and is made a por- tion of said first district.
"All the inhabitants and property within the limits of the first district shall be liable to taxation to defray the burdens and expenses imposed upon said city by this act, to the same extent as they would have been liable if said burdens, ex- penses, duties and powers had not been transferred from said town to said city ; and in addition thereto for the expenses for the support of schools within that part of said first district lying outside the limits of said second district, to the same extent that the said town may now be liable, and for the expenditures by the Board of Health of said city (exclusive of the expenditures for the collection and removal of garbage), and police protection outside of said second district, and the expense of, less receipts from, criminal prosecutions, which expense shall be ascertained and determined by the comptroller; and all other burdens and expenses of said city, including the support and maintenance of schools within the limits of said second district, shall be met by taxation levied upon the inhabitants and property within the limits of the second district; and it shall be the duty of the assessors and Board of Relief of said city to indicate in the compilation of the grand list what is taxable by said city in each of the said districts ; and the public money derived from the taxation of the inhabitants and property of the second district exclusively shall not be expended for any purpose for which the money of said city could not lawfully be expended at the time of the passage of this act ; pro- vided, however, that the property lying outside of the limits of the City of Water- bury, as established by the General Assembly of 1895, and within the limits of the second district as established by this act, shall be taxed to meet its propor- tionate share for the support and maintenance of schools within said second dis- trict, but for all other burdens and expenses of the said second district it shall be taxed at a rate not exceeding one-half of that necessary to be levied upon the remaining property within said district in meeting such burdens and expenses."
It also provided that "the several school districts of the Town of Waterbury, outside of said second district, shall continue to remain as school districts with the same territorial limits, rights, powers, and obligations as now existing with the exception as set forth in section seven of this act (before quoted ) and the
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obligations now imposed upon the Town of Waterbury, with respect to the sup- port of schools outside of said second district, are hereby imposed upon said City of Waterbury and shall be an expense incurred by and chargeable to the first district hereinbefore described."
It also provided that "Whenever twenty-five electors, residing in any one of said school districts, shall petition the Board of Aldermen of said city that the school district within which they reside may be brought under the full jurisdiction of the second district heretofore described, said Board of Aldermen, after due hearing, shall fix a day on which all legal voters residing within the limits of said school district may vote upon the question whether they are in favor of or opposed to said petition."
It was fourteen years before the first outside school district availed itself of its privileges under this law. In January, 1915, Town Plot was the first district to vote itself under the jurisdiction of the Waterbury Board of Education. The Sprague (Waterville) district and the Mill Plain district voted themselves in in January, 1916. The Bunker Hill district came in on November 1, 1917.
Those still operating as distinct school districts are Reidville and East Farms, which had formerly been one district, East Mountain, Bucks Hill, Hopeville, Park Road, and Oronoke, the latter two also a division of one former district.
The last school board under the old law was as follows :
Board of Education: A. A. Crane, chairman; George H. Cowell, John D. Freney, Thomas J. Kilmartin, Charles S. Rodman, George W. Russell, Eugene A. Pendleton.
District Committee : A. I. Goodrich, chairman ; Michael J. Byrne, Timothy J. Carmody, Otis S. Northrop, Edward T. Root.
Treasurer, John Meyer ; treasurer sinking fund, John W. Burns; auditors, John J. Dawson, Daniel M. Davis; clerk, T. J. Moran; superintendent of schools, Berlin W. Tinker.
The first Board of Education under the amended charter was as follows:
Hon. E. G. Kilduff, mayor, chairman ; Charles S. Chapman, George H. Cowell, Edward WV. Goodenough, John F. Hayes, Thomas J. Kilmartin, John J. McDon- ald, George W. Russell. The superintendent was B. W. Tinker.
From this period on the school growth was rapid. In 1899 the new Barnard and Webster schools, with ten and twelve rooms respectively, were opened. The remodeled Merriman and Hendricken schools were also in use practically as new buildings, and the Driggs school was nearly ready for occupancy.
The system of furnishing text books free had been introduced into the schools in September, 1895, and has accomplished all that its supporters claimed for it.
A system of physical training was inaugurated in the public schools of Water- bury in September, 1896, and was further extended.
In 1896 the new high school on East Main Street was opened. The site cost the city $25,000 and the building complete cost approximately seventy-five thou- sand dollars. It was planned by Joseph A. Jackson. It was three stories in height, with offices and four class rooms on the first floor.
Across the entire front on the building on the second floor were the physical laboratory, the lecture room, and the chemical laboratory. All these could be thrown into one large room by means of immense rolling partitions, making a room ninety-three feet long. The lecture room had raised platforms. Adjoining the chemical laboratory was a dark room with sink for photographic work. On this floor were also a teachers' room, with lockers, and three large recitation rooms, also four class rooms, all well lighted, and each with separate wardrobes for boys and girls.
CLARK SCHOOL, WATERBURY
BUNKER HILL SCHOOL, WATERBURY
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The third floor contained a fine large assembly hall, 64 feet by 72 feet, with ceiling 20 feet in height. This room was entirely clear of any posts or obstructions. In the basement was located the gymnasium.
The exterior was designed somewhat in the colonial type of architecture, and was built of buff pressed brick with Indiana limestone and terra cotta trimmings.
All the rooms had fresh air supply ducts, and likewise ducts for the removal of the vitiated air. These all connected with a central main duct in the basement and run to the foul air gathering room at the rear, which discharged outside of the building by the exhaust fan. The building was completely remodeled later.
In June, 1900, the board re-established the training school for teachers, with Adelaide V. Finch as principal.
At this period, 1900, it was evident that the city had already outgrown its high school eapacity. The record of increase in attendance shows that the school had more than doubled its attendance.
No. of Pupils 237
1896-1897
1897-1898 321.5
1898-1899 351.2
1899-1900 436.9
September, 1900 494
For the year 1901 the physical plant of the Waterbury schools consisted of eighteen buildings with a seating capacity of 7,532. During this year the Walsh and Russell schools were opened, the Walsh School from designs by Joseph A. Jackson and the Russell School from plans by Thomas M. Freney.
The Walsh School building was described in the report of this year as "located between Ashley and Dikeman streets, and fronts south looking towards Ashley Street. The building is three stories in height, with basement, having a frontage of 126 feet and a depth of 67 feet. The principal entrance to the main floor is in the center of the front through a high arched entrance porch. Other entrances to the basement and main floor are provided at each end. The first floor contains six class rooms and principal's room and teachers' room, with toilets, etc. The main corridor on each floor is twelve feet wide and runs the whole length of the building. The second floor contains six class rooms, teachers' room, recita- tion room and storage room. The third floor contains six class rooms and one large recitation room, which can also be used as a elass room if needed. There is also a teachers' room with toilets and store room. In the basement are two large play rooms, one for the boys and one for the girls, also the boys' and girls' rooms, containing the sanitaries. The remaining space in the basement is used for the heating and ventilating apparatus, eoal and fuel."
"The Russell School," the report continues, "is two stories in height, with basement and attic, having a frontage on West Main Street of eighty-nine feet, and extending back on Wilson Street a distance of eighty-four feet. The main entrance is on West Main Street, opening from a porch with tiled floor, connect- ing with corridor. There is also an entrance to first floor on the west side of the building from the school yard. There are marble stairs at each end of the build- ing, leading from the first floor to the basement and from the first to the second floor. There are two entrances to the basement." In the building there were at the outset six school rooms. This capacity has been greatly increased.
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