USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > West Haven > History of West Haven, Connecticut > Part 3
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14
ADJUTANT WILIAM CAMPERLL
FELL DURING THE BRITISH INVASION OF
NEW HAVEN
5. 1779
"MACSSER APE THE MEYOU HET
Memorial to Adjutant William Campbell; Erected Near the Spot Where He Was Killed
pirri,
Memorial to Rev. Noah Williston; Pastor of Congregational Church During Revolutionary War
HISTORY OF WEST HAVEN
When the British fleet lay at anchor off the Old Field Shore on that Fourth of July, 1779, a few people in the little village of West Haven were glad to see the British troops. One of these 'Tory sympathizers was Joseph Prindle, the warden of Christ Episcopal Church on the West Haven Green. He lived at a place called "Half Way Hill", or "Prindle Hill", a farm on the Milford-New Haven road which afforded a good view of the harbor. From that vantage point, he was probably one of the first to see the enemy ships and it is not hard to imagine him standing on his hilltop, smiling with pride and satisfaction at the site of the King's fleet. According to a story handed down through genera- tions of the Prindle family, two of the Prindle boys, probably Joseph and Stephen, carried fresh beef to the British immediately after the fleet anchored. When this became known in the village, an angry group of residents came up to the Prindle Farm to arrest the boys. They were met with the calm response that the boys were there or had been there but a short time before. While the house was being searched, the boys escaped to the woods; the incident was ap- parently forgotten in the excitement of the fighting and pillaging of the next day.
THE SECOND BRITISH RAID
After that first attack on West Haven, anxious eyes often searched Long Island Sound in dread of enemy ships, but no one saw the approach of three armed British ships that anchored off West Haven shore shortly after midnight on August 30, 1781. One hundred and fifty men landed, secured the guard, and proceeded to raid the town, so quietly that residents were not aware of their presence in time to call out the militia. Deliverance Painter, David Johnson, Allen Smith, and Captain Catlin were seized and taken aboard a brig, which capsized. Captain Catlin survived, but his companions were drowned. Thirty head of cattle and some other possessions were also taken by the enemy. Suf- ferers in both this and the previous raid were later allowed an abatement of taxes and damages by the Connecticut General Assembly.
Subsequently, several smaller British and Tory raids were made along the West Haven shore, but little damage was done, and the invaders confined their efforts to procuring livestock and rations. The town responded to the Colonial demands for man power by raising several companies of militia, and the women at home took care of the farms during the absence of their soldier sons and hus- bands.
On March 13, 1782, General Andrew Ward, Colonel Edward Russel, and Gideon Buckingham, a committee appointed by the General Assembly, met at West Haven to estimate the losses suffered by each individual who sustained damages during the British raid, to take their depositions under oath, and to report back to the General Assembly. When the committee made their report to the Assembly, they recommended that tax abatements of £30: 15: 2. be allowed the West Haven sufferers, and that cash damages of £365: 18: 6. be recognized. Liberty of a bill to make proper adjustment of this account was granted, and the report was accepted without change. Depositions and the lists of damages were ordered lodged in the file of the General Assembly.
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HISTORY OF WEST HAVEN
At the close of the war, James Blakeslee Reynolds opened a tavern in the former home of Lamberton Painter, near the present corner of Campbell Avenue and Main Street, which soon became the general meeting place of the villagers who stopped "to pass the time of day" and discuss the affairs of town, church, and school. In the autumn, when the harvesting was finished, the country people from outlying sections came into town to dig clams and to celebrate. Accord- ing to an old diary, "They sang in the streets and lounged about on the Green. At night they raided the fruit trees in the neighborhood. It used to be said that the clammers were more to be dreaded than the Indians". These unwel- come visitors were contemptuously called "gypsies" by local residents who suf- fered their depredations.
By this time, most West Haven residents believed their interests would best be served by a separate town government, although purely local matters were in fact directed by the local ecclesiastical society. A typical society meet- ing of this period was held January 1, 1783, at the home of Captain Samuel Candee. This meeting voted to give the Reverend Williston 40 loads of wood to make up 10 pounds of his salary, and to lay a rate of 2 pence on the pound (on the property list) to be paid in wood or cash by the 1st of March; also to lay a rate of 41/2 pence on the pound for Mr. Williston. At that meeting it was also recorded :- "Whereas Lamberton Painter some years ago recd the school money to take care of for the benefit of said school and through his neglect or some other way lost the sume of -, Proposed the Society lose the same or give it to him-Voted that they would not." (Records show that Mr. Lamberton later paid the sum to the society. )
The first city election held in New Haven, February 10, 1784, showed that about one-third of the freemen of the city were residents of West Haven. At that time there were 600 adult males living within New Haven limits. Of this number, 343 were freemen, and more than 100 of these freemen were residents of West Haven. Fortified by this show of strength, West Haven petitioned for a town charter in 1785, was denied, and again petitioned in 1787. On both occa- sions, New Haven and Milford voiced strong opposition before the Assembly, claiming that the creation of a new town would deprive them of some of their lands and thus weaken them politically and economically. New Haven also argued that it was contrary to good policy to create towns so small that the gov- erning power would undoubtedly be weakened hence more liable to suffer dis- orders.
WAR OF 1812
During the War of 1812, West Haven residents were constantly in fear of British raids. Recalling the damage done by the enemy in 1779 and 1781, the local authorities sought to be prepared in the event the British returned. Young Lyman Prindle was chosen to watch for the enemy fleet. Stationed on the hilltop owned by his father, he was equipped with a spy glass and a barrel of tar, which he was instructed to burn when he saw enemy vessels approaching. The threatened raid never occurred, but, as the story goes, Lyman burned the
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HISTORY OF WEST HAVEN
tar when the war ended. The people in the Dogman Road section, who had not heard the news, saw the warning signal and, believing that the British were approaching. threw their silver spoons into the wells.
After the war, agitation for the establishment of a separate town was re- newed, but it was not until 1822 that the societies of West Haven and North Milford (from New Haven and Milford) united and won from the legislature the right to form a separate township. Much controversy attended the selection of a name. Some residents wanted to call the new town Milford Haven, some Westford ( from l'est Side and Milford), others preferred Millhaven or Mill Haven. The name Orange was finally selected in honor of William III, Prince of Orange, the sovereign whose kindly reign brought many benefits to the Colo- nies.
The first meeting of the town of Orange was held on the second Monday in June, 1822, in the North Milford meeting-house rather than in West Haven, because a majority of the inhabitants then lived in the outlying districts. John Bryan, Jr., Thomas Painter, Ichabod A. Woodruff, Aaron Thomas, Jr., and Lyman Law were elected selectmen. Nathan Clark was named treasurer, and Benjamin L. Lambert, town clerk.
More excitement than had been experienced during the war stirred West Haven one Sabbath night in January, 1823, when an opened grave was dis- covered in West Haven cemetery. After a search, the sheriff's posse found the missing body of a young woman mutilated and concealed in the cellar of the Yale Medical School at the corner of Church and Grove streets in New Haven. The body was transferred to a wagon for return to its proper resting place. As the wheels rolled slowly along, a gathering crowd of townsfolk from New Haven and West Haven followed; bells tolled dolefully, as the procession wended its way back to the graveyard. The crowd increased, and angry speeches were made condemning "the criminals".
As darkness fell on January 14, 1823, a mob, including angry men from as far away as Milford, gathered, determined to take the law into their own hands, and marched on the college. The faculty called on the civil authorities to protect the lives and property of the offenders, but the police were as power- less as they were unsympathetic. The militia was ordered out, but they also failed to control the crowd. Students cowered behind the stone walls of the Medical School in a state of siege and prayed for succor.
At this critical moment, the Governor's Foot Guard was summoned to quell the riot. Accompanied by drummers who beat the quickstep, this elite military organization proceeded at great speed to the scene of disorder, issued ball cart- ridges, and fixed bayonets. Within a short time, Benedict Arnold's old com- mand soon had the situation in hand; the Medical School was saved, and the ugly mob withdrew into the darkness.
Night after night, indignant West Haven men reassembled, but, each time they approached the grim stone buildings of the Medical School, they found the Foot Guard still walking post. New Haven was under modified martial law
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HISTORY OF WEST HAVEN
for several nights, and the college area was declared "out of bounds" for civilians. A curfew was strictly enforced, and military patrols tramped their stern way through the "City of Elms".
The student who actually robbed the grave fled the city during the confu- sion, but his accomplice, a servant without funds, turned State's evidence against him. The servant was imprisoned.
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT
The embargoes and curtailment of imports during the War of 1812 had created a demand for the products of the little backyard shops that had begun to make goods for home consumption or for barter and trade with their neigh- bors. The industrial growth of the town was like that of scores of other com- munities in the State of Connecticut, where Yankee ingenuity and thrift com- bined to produce consumer goods, specialties, and a payroll for the citizens. Long before the machine age, the groundwork of superior craftsmanship had been established by the local specialists who worked in wood and metals. Father taught son, and thus families became known for their particular specialties, just as certain business houses are known today.
The clock-menders, tinkers, tailors, net-menders, and sheep-shearers were usually itinerants who made their rounds on seasonal schedule. West Haven shoemakers had permanent locations and traveled but little outside their own parish, taking their cue from the cobblers of Milford just to the southwest, who. by 1845, had placed Milford fourth in Connecticut as a shoe-producing center. Newton Stevens (1784-1866), a shoemaker who was an ardent Congregational- ist, tried to convert all of his 20 apprentices, much to the alarm of Dr. Bela Hubbard, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in New Haven. The Stevens shop was a fairly large establishment with several fully trained cobblers as well as the apprentices. Starting in 1838 and continuing operations until 1880, Allen Northrop and his eldest son, George, made shoes in one of the rooms of their house. Gamaliel Painter was one of the community's most famous shoemakers. After he served his apprenticeship to Nehemiah Smith here, he became a travel- ing craftsman who journeyed far. He finally settled in Middlebury, Vermont, where he became the owner of considerable land and, in 1800, founded Middle- bury College.
The excellent grazing lands of West Haven supported sizable herds of cat- tle, and tanneries converted the hides into leather for shoes and harness. With an assured leather supply at hand, a market close by at New Haven, and with the Milford cobblers ready to train young men in their craft simply for the work they might accomplish during their four-year apprenticeship, the West Haven shoe industry enjoyed almost a half-century of prosperity.
As in all Colonial settlements, the purely domestic types of industry, the weaving, sowing, candle and soap making, and the spinning of flax, were so efficiently managed by the housewives that for generations every home was an almost self-sufficient entity. Homespun, dyed with the juices of native herbs
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HISTORY OF WEST HAVEN
and roots, was woven and stored away in the great pine chests against the com- ing of the tailor.
Like most Connecticut seaside communities, West Haven, too, had dreams of commerce and of great ships that would span the ocean and bring prosperity to the little seacoast village. The settlement had an agricultural surplus, her forests produced staves and planking in sufficient quantities for export, and the residents needed sugar and molasses to sweeten cornbread, as well as spices from the east. Shipwrights sought deep-water shore-sites for their shipways, and lum- bermen scoured the forests for oaken timber for ship's knees, planking, and solid keels.
Farmers sometimes bought shares in the schooners, scows, and sloops built in West Haven yards. Country boys developed sea legs on slippery decks of homemade vessels in the fishing or oystering trade and, if they survived, some- times shipped before the mast for adventure in the West Indies trade or on coast- wise ships to Boston. Local blacksmiths learned to forge marine fittings and tools in demand by the shipbuilding trade. Carpenters, adept at framing houses and barns, learned how to step a mast and discovered that swinging either adze or broadaxe for ship-timber production was simply a question of acquired skill, as in other lines of their craft.
Some blacksmiths scorned the production of ship's hardware and specialized in making ox carts and, later, carriages.
When silkworm culture and the planting of mulberry trees was subsidized by the state (1793), West Haveners enthusiastically attempted to make the huge profits promised, but with no better results than achieved in other sections. In the yard of the T. J. Warner house, on Jones Hill Road, built in the early eighteenth century, stands an old mulberrytree, reputed to bear nine different kinds of leaves. Planted by some hopeful reader of "The Silk Growers' Manual" (1838), this gnarled giant remains as a reminder of the days when Connecticut people dreamed of a bonanza created by a tiny, ugly worm.
Early fisheries were conducted by individuals who sought fish for food and fertilizer. About 1840, local men banded together in co-operative fisheries, and in 1850 gave up hauling seines and set a fish pound. On June 26, 1850, a phen- omenal catch of drumfish was made. By 1860, the fishing co-operative had dis- banded, and only a few individuals remained in the business. Homer Smith and his associate bought the seine house and went into the fish business on the Oyster River.
About 1850, tobacco was grown in West Haven on the old Tyler estate owned by N. Tyler and P. B. Tyler, sometimes known as "Tyler's Grove". About five acres were planted, sheds were built, and the experiment continued for several years. But West Haven soils were not favorable to tobacco culture; the Tylers gave up tobacco growing and planted other crops.
In this colony, where builders imported bricks from England, every effort was made to develop brick production from local clay. As early as 1651, records mentioned exploration for clay, and a highway description written in 1713 men-
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HISTORY OF WEST HAVEN
tions clay pits in the vicinity of Shingle Hill, but as the clay pits were few and shallow, only local supplies of brick were ever produced. From 1850 until after the Civil War, one John Haynes operated a brickyard near Jones Hill but the clay ran out and the business died.
During the decade 1840-50, sea sand, which in the early days had been used by colonial housewives for covering for their floors and was later mixed with lime for mortar, was used in the local manufacture of sandpaper and other abra- sives. Small industries slowly developed. In the year 1845, there were within the town of Orange two woolen mills, which employed nine men and seven women, producing flannel, satinet and woolen yarn ; six plough factories, one comb factory (employing one man) ; two flour mills, employing two men each; and 160,000 bricks were locally produced. A town inventory of that year lists 786 sheep, 146 horses, 1,116 "neat" cattle, 730 swine, 8,183 bushels of Indian corn, 1,940 tons of hay, 598 bushels of buckwheat, 3,055 pairs of boots and shoes made, 2,632 bushels of fruit, 55,708 pounds of butter, 6,491 pounds of cheese and 137 pounds of honey, 200 tons of ship timber, and 721 cords of fire wood.
In common with other residents of Connecticut, the people of West Haven believed that valuable mineral deposits were undoubtedly hidden away beneath the soil. Dr. Eneas Muson reported to Yale students in 1807 that an Englishman had worked a silver mine on the Derby Turnpike prior to the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. In 1818, David Lambert reported the discovery of copper and silver in paying quantities in a ledge near the Milford town line. Before mining operations were started or any ore delivered to the stamp mills, a company was formed and prospectors swarmed over the countryside. According to legend, Mr. Lambert made his discovery while fox hunting, and the pelt proved to be worth more than the ore.
Some authorities mention the presence of galena in the area, and others state that the New York Mining Company traced a vein of that ore to the parent ledge. Copper pyrites appears in West Haven rocks, and asbestos has been re- ported as abundant in the serpentine rocks in the northern section of the town.
The Orange Copper Mining Company, operating in 1856, sunk shafts 30 feet and discovered a 2 foot lode of galena. One specimen analysed was purported to contain 15 ounces of silver to the ton and 62 per cent lead. The sample was evidently not "mine run", for operation of the mine failed to pay.
About the middle of the nineteenth century, town roads were greatly im- proved to meet the demands of the growing community, which had developed to such an extent that a female academy was established on the thoroughfare now Savin Avenue. The year 1849 was eventful: Steam railway service was estab- lished, and the town was proud of a crude platform that served as a station beside the right-of-way; the first post office here was opened, and, during a building boom of modest proportions, the H. H. Richard Lumber Company was organized. The Congregational Church was sufficiently prosperous to build a new structure, and the old one was converted into a public meeting hall and store. In 1855, a stage ran between New Haven and West Haven but soon afterward was replaced
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The "Harry A. Barry", Three-Masted Schooner; Launched in West Haven, November 25, 1880
Mill on Old Hubbard Farm, Erected in 1862, and Used to Refine Sorghum During the Civil War
HISTORY OF WEST HAVEN
by a horse railway, which was opened in 1869 when the Kimberly Avenue bridge was built.
Improved transportation facilities fostered the growth of industry. In 1853, the West Haven Buckle Company was founded to produce buckles and similar specialties.
In 1861, W. M. Gessner, a shipbuilder of Fair Haven on the Quinnipiac in New Haven, established the Gessner and Mar Shipyard on the thoroughfare now Water Street, at the end of Main Street. Two shipways here converted native lumber into three and four-masted schooners of about 200 feet in length, with a displacement of approximately 1,500 tons.
The Civil War period was marked by patriotic enthusiasm, recruitment, im- proved trade, and sacrifices. During the war-time sugar shortage, John Hubbard erected a mill about a quarter mile east of Oyster River, off the Jones Hill Road, for the purpose of refining sorghum juice as a sugar substitute. West Haven, Orange and Milford residents bought the local sorghum syrup and paid an average of 50 cents per gallon. The mill operated until 1883, and the building still stands.
The first horse-drawn street cars connected West Haven Center with New Haven in 1867 and extended service to Savin Rock a few years later. 'This early transportation aided greatly in the growth of the community, increased realty values, and made the citizens proud of their modern facilities.
The sandy beach at Savin Rock furnished recreational opportunities for the citizens of the community who bathed, dug clams, or fished for harbor bluefish. The Grove, just behind the eminence of the "Rock", was the scene of many picnics, camping expeditions, and reunions, but it was not until the 1870's that a mechanical concession was first erected on this natural playground. A small man-power carrousel, the forerunner of the many electrically operated and re- splendent "rides" of the present day, creaked its laborious way around a track not unlike that at the old sorghum mill.
Ferry service to and from Savin Rock to New Haven and to Lighthouse Point started in 1870, when the late George Kelsey erected a 1,500-foot pier and operated several small steamers. When the contract for the pier was completed by Charles R. Waterhouse, a spectacular test of its stability was conducted by the Second Regiment of Connecticut militia who marched over it. The command, "Route Order!" was given to prevent too much vibration from the rhythm of marching feet.
By 1873, the Town of Orange had a population of 2,800. The early pic- ture had changed ; a majority of the residents lived in and about the center of the present West Haven. The growing village felt the need for better roads, street lighting, police and fire protection, and, when improved facilities were not provided complained that the rural town government could no longer efficiently provide for the needs of the village. In response to demands of the residents, the General Assembly created the Borough of West Haven in May, 1873. Borough
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HISTORY OF WEST HAVEN
territory stretched from the Post Road to the Cove River and covered a little more than the present first taxation district. Borough government was adminis- tered by a warden and a board of burgesses. The selectmen continued at the head of the town government.
Both the town and the borough levied taxes. The borough supported the fire and the police departments and paid for public improvements within the borough limits ; the town maintained the schools and supervised road work.
Frequent controversies arose between town and borough. The "Upper Section", as the total area of Orange was called, claimed that the borough was the cause of high taxes, and the borough residents were convinced that their civic development had little in common with the outlying farm section, where the people were determined to keep their local government simple and inexpensive.
During this period, oyster culture was becoming more and more important as an economic factor, and many other small industries were developing. Numer- ous carriage shops, of which the S. H. Bishop Company was the most important, built heavy drays and custom-built carriages with all the accessories. A local invention, the Bishop Adjustable Carriage Pole, was made and sold to many other carriage manufacturers. The Bishop shop at the foot of North Union Avenue ceased operations after a destructive fire in 1894.
About 1875, the Mathusek Piano Company ( formerly Parmelee Piano Com- pany) moved from New Haven to West Haven and employed a considerable number of hands at its factory at Campbell Avenue and Brown Street. The firm produced from 40 to 60 instruments each month, until it moved to New York in 1913. According to tradition, Mr. Parmelee, once owner of this company, de- signed and installed in his factory the first automatic sprinkler system to operate successfully anywhere in the United States. After the piano company moved to New York, the plant was used by the Avis Manufacturing Company, manufac- turers of gun barrels for military arms.
Meanwhile, Savin Rock was becoming more and more popular as a recrea- tional center for the people of western Connecticut. Promoters chose the location for cock fights, horse races, and prize fights. Excursions ran to the seaside resort from near-by cities, and conventions were held in the Grove. The tables beneath the trees were always crowded, and the beer gardens served capacity crowds almost every week-end through the season.
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