USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > West Haven > History of West Haven, Connecticut > Part 6
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Approximately 50 persons are employed by the company in its distribution plant. A fleet of tank trucks, varying in number from 20 to 25, is operated by this concern.
The Bulk Plant, on Water Street, consists of five large tanks; four of these have capacity of 645,000 gallons each, and the remaining one has a capacity of 225,000 gallons. A battery of smaller tanks have a total capacity of about 4,000,000 gallons. The total capacity of the entire plant exceeds 6,800,000 gallons.
AIR DISTRIBUTORS, INC.
Among the recent additions to West Haven's industries is Air Distribu- tors, Inc., which came to 72 Water Street, West Haven, from New Haven, in August of 1939, and established a distribution house for air-conditioning appara- tus manufactured by the Carrier Corporation of Syracuse, New York.
Occupying the first floor of a two-story red-brick building, this concern employs ten persons regularly, with a seasonal fluctuation. Organized in April of 1938, this company has already opened up new territory for its products. It originally served only New Haven and Fairfield counties, but now covers New London and Middlesex counties as well. A branch office is maintained at Bridge- port for the convenience of Fairfield County clients.
Mr. C. C. Farrell, of Westport, organizer of the firm, is the president.
FULLER MERRIAM COMPANY
Another recent addition to the industries of West Haven is the Fuller Merriam Company, at 72 Water Street. Occupying the second floor of the same building that houses the Air Distributors, Inc., this company is engaged in the manufacture of abrasive grinding wheels.
Organized on September 1, 1939, this firm chose West Haven for its location because of the proximity to factories in New Haven and other Connecticut cities.
The abrasive grinding wheel has replaced the grindstone and emery wheel, in the finishing of pistons, cylinders, and all moving parts. This company, the
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first manufacturer of this type of wheel to establish a plant in the New Haven area, has proved its worth to Connecticut industries.
The wheel manufactured by Fuller Merriam is the result of more than eight years of research carried on by Dr. E. S. Merriam of Marietta, Ohio; it is of a vitrified type developed by him in an unique process.
Officers of the concern are: Harrison Fuller, president and treasurer; and Mrs. Julia B. Fuller, secretary.
ELM CITY MACHINE COMPANY
The latest of West Haven's industrial plants is the Elm City Machine Com- pany, of 31 Water Street. Established in December of 1939 by Charles Liedke and Lewis Dandelske of New Haven, the firm manufactures roll feeds and reel stands and is engaged in machine designing, general machine work, and machine repair.
WEST HAVEN OYSTER INDUSTRY
The raising of oysters for market was for many years an important industry in West Haven, although the town waters are now restricted to the culture of seed oysters. From 1879 to 1917, approximately 3,290,000 bushels were raised on "Shag Bar." This comparatively small area of 75 acres, sometimes known as Beach Oyster Grounds, adjoining the present Sandy Point, was especially productive because of the favorable saline content of the water resulting from the fusion of river and sea at this point, combined with the suitable temperature created by the action of the sunlight on the shoal grounds.
Since 1917, these beds within the breakwater have been used for the raising of "seed" oysters, which are transplanted to other waters to be fattened for market. The 1937 seed-oyster crop in these waters is estimated at 500,000 bushels. The last unusually large set harvested was in 1930. Present oyster beds within West Haven waters include 1,444.3 acres of leased grounds and 627.8 held under perpetual franchise. In the fiscal year ending April 30, 1940, revenue received by the town from taxed and leased oyster grounds amounted to $5,970.87.
HISTORY
Oysters were harvested here by the earliest settlers who were shown the natural beds by the friendly Indians of the neighborhood.
As early as December 1777, a court order forbade the taking of oysters dur- ing the months of May through September and prohibited the carrying of shells away from the shore. A Town Meeting on April 7, 1828, voted that oysters could not be gathered without a written permit and named a committee of six to superintend the harvesting and to stake out within the limits of the town "places for the laying down of oysters." At that time it was also voted that "no such permit shall be granted unless upon a certificate under the hand of a physician that oysters will be conducive to the health of the person or persons for whose benefit the permit shall be requested, nor shall such permit be for more
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HISTORY OF WEST HAVEN
than 24 hours." A fine of $7 levied at this meeting for the taking of oysters from waters not staked by the committee was raised to $15 in 1842.
'The first recorded crop raised for market was in 1879. From that time until 1917, the average annual crop was 86,576 bushels, or 1,154 bushels per acre. The bumper crop of 1882, when 146,926 bushels were raised, was almost equalled in 1915 when 135,384 bushels, an average of 1805 per acre, were harvested. An- ticipating the state board of health embargo because of increasing pollution of harbor water, no crop was raised in 1916. The loss to the town resulting from this pollution is indicated by the fact that "Shag Bar" oyster grounds, valued at $1,000 per acre in 1915, at today's market price of oysters, would be worth about $4,000 an acre.
For the protection of their valuable crops, oyster growers formed the West Side Oyster Association and maintained two watchmen to patrol the beach at low tide. These watchmen were quartered in "Watch Houses" erected on high piles at a central point, one about 400 feet from the top of Sandy Point and the other on a sand bar a short distance from City Point. Each was required to keep a light burning through the night to aid boatmen in finding their grounds. Abandoned in 1917, these watch houses were destroyed a few years ago in a fire of incendiary origin.
In January, 1881, the Shell Fish Commission was created by legislative act to provide a centralized supervision of shell-fish property and to prevent over- lapping titles and similar complications. Prior to that year, Oyster Committees named by the town issued perpetual franchises for planting and cultivating oysters. Subsequently, applications for franchises have been made to the commission and recorded at the office of the West Haven town clerk. The first franchise granted by the commission August 15, 1881, gave to one Charles H. Seeley 300 acres of oyster ground at $1 per acre. The franchise read: "To have and to hold the same unto the said grantee and his legal representative the only use and behoof of said grantee and his legal representative forever".
Because of the decreasing revenue from the West Haven oyster beds, the Shell Fish Commission was given complete jurisdiction over them in 1912. Since then, the commission has discontinued the granting of perpetual franchises in favor of leases (usually for periods of five or ten years) awarded by bids. Determined by the value of the beds, bids range from 50 cents to about $3.50 per acre, although a maximum of $30 per acre has been paid. The oyster beds' are assessed by the Shell Fish Commission at $15 per acre and a 2 per cent tax levied. All revenue from the leases and taxes is turned over to the town at no cost for the services of the commission. At the end of the fiscal year 1915, the annual revenue amounted to $886.66.
Until 1925, oyster companies from any part of the State were at liberty to dredge, untaxed, in a natural bed of 1,200 acres within the town waters. A legislative act of that year placed this natural bed under the jurisdiction of the Shell Fish Commission. From this particular acreage, West Haven now derives the bulk of its revenue in taxes and leases on oyster grounds.
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WEST HAVEN INDUSTRY
STARFISH ELIMINATION
Oyster growers estimate that more than 50 per cent of the annual seed-oyster crop in West Haven waters is destroyed by starfish. During the winter of 1933-34, when a branch of FERA was engaged in starfish extermination in Long Island waters, all available boats in West Haven waters were hired and large groups of men were employed in the work. Mops of yarn tangle were dragged over the bottom, catching in the spines of the starfish; the loaded mops were drawn in by a winch and dipped into scalding water. The dead fish were used as fertilizer. According to estimates, about one-and-a-half billion starfish were destroyed along the Connecticut coast.
In March, 1935, the United States Bureau of Fisheries established a biological laboratory at Milford, which has conducted a series of surveys of conditions in the Sound and experimented with possible methods for starfish control.
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TOWN GOVERNMENT
Town meetings in West Haven are still spirited events despite the large population and diversity of residents' interests. Way back in Colonial days, the Reverend Theophilus Morris said that the West Haven people were ready in debate and "the most learned in casuistry" of any group he had ever met. His characterization still applies. Here, in town meeting today, just as public questions were bluntly discussed by sturdy farmers who were not afraid to express their opinions, modern problems are ardently debated by taxpayers, even though State law has in many ways limited the power of direct action.
BOARD OF SELECTMEN
The board of selectmen, composed of three members, who are elected every two years, has broad powers, which have been increased many times since the founding of the town, in order to keep pace with the demands of the growing community. The duties of the first selectman are approximately those of the mayor of a city. The other two selectmen serve in a capacity similar to that of a board of aldermen. Town business is directed by the select- men and a board of finance, a bipartisan group of six members. Action by a town meeting no longer limits these groups under the law, although such a meeting may be called to offer advice.
Selectmen elected in 1939 to serve until 1941 are: Charles F. Schall, James W. Gilbert, Jr., Robert Farquharson.
BOARD OF FINANCE
On July 13, 1911, the legislature passed "An Act Creating a Board of Finance for the Town of Orange, increasing the Powers of the Selectmen, and Repealing the Charter of the Borough of West Haven". This act, consisting of 28 sections, has since been amended in 1913, 1915, 1917, 1919, 1921, 1923, 1925, 1927, 1929, and 1931.
This board, with the first selectman, exofficio, as chairman, and six electors "who shall be taxpayers", is appointed by the board of selectmen for a term of three years, in accordance with a legislative act which provides that "not more than four members thereof, including the First Selectman, shall belong to the same political party". The first selectman is privileged to vote with this board only in the case of a tie.
Duties of the board include a minute study of the annual budget and setting of the tax rate, as well as approval of any expenditures made by all departments of the town government.
Present members of the board are: Albert T. Pierson, Joseph E. Miller, Gartner W. Caselton, Robert J. Hodge, John Frazer, Joseph B. Hannan, with First Selectman Charles F. Schall as chairman, and Elmer W. Scranton as clerk of the board.
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TOWN GOVERNMENT
TOWN CLERK
The first town clerk of West Haven, Benjamin I. Lambert, was elected in 1822. His duties included keeping the land records and numerous services now performed by other departments, such as those of registrar of voters, and, for a time, town treasurer. The town clerk was paid on a fee basis until 1929, when a salary was voted.
George H. Thomas served the longest term in this office, from 1891 to 1926.
Today the town clerk is the registrar of vital statistics and the keeper of the land records ; his work also includes such duties as the issuing of hunting, fish- ing, and dog licenses. Franklin A. Lum is the present town clerk; Mrs. Catherine Sheppard is assistant town clerk.
REGISTRARS
Under the Town of Orange, from 1822 to 1868, the town clerk acted as registrar of voters. New voters were made by the board of selectmen, the town clerk officiating as the board of registration. In 1868, two registrars of voters were elected to do this work. In 1869, the Assembly created two voting districts ; the first included the present West Haven and the second the territory which is now the Town of Orange. Two registrars were elected from cach district.
At the present time (1940), general registrars, one a Republican and the other a Democrat, are elected at each town election. Each of these general registrars appoints a deputy-registrar for each of the six voting districts, making a total of twelve deputies serving the town.
Roy Price, Republican, and John Blake, Democrat, are now general regis- trars.
TAX COLLECTOR
The first tax voted by the Town of Orange, in 1822, was high,-six cents on the dollar. Edmund K. Fowler was the first collector at a yearly salary of $20. In 1823. inhabitants were allowed to "work out" their tax on the highways.
sanie rate after they had worked out their own taxes.
In some years, the right to collect taxes was auctioned off to the lowest bidder, who was given a stated percentage of the money collected; at other times, a salary was voted, and, as late as 1925, a fee system was used. The lowest recorded bid to collect taxes was made by Zevi Alling in 1845; his bid was $5.60. Some of the early collectors made substantial amounts when the town voted them series of old rate books and assigned them the property liens for back taxes. This form of special compensation was occasionally used until the 1890's.
In 1860, when the Grand List was $813,686, the tax was four cents on the dollar to defray town costs, and one cent to maintain highways. In that year, when Sidney F. Oviatt, "bid off" the collection of taxes for $19, the tax-
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payer was allowed 1212 cents an hour to work out his taxes. Dr. Henry W. Painter, the collector in 1866, received one per cent on collections of current taxes, and three per cent on back taxes.
Five separate tax districts developed, with an elected collector in each. Thus, in addition to the general town tax, there was a separate rate in the Allingtown Fire District, the West Shore Fire District, the Northern School District, and the Western School District. The Central, or Union School District, also had a separate rate, which was collected by the town tax collector. In 1926, this confusing system was simplified by consolidating the school dis- tricts into the Union School District. On July 1, 1935, the West Shore Fire Distiet voted to have the town collect its annual levy, leaving the Allingtown Fire District as the only section of the town making an independent collection. This was remedied in 1938, when Allingtown voted to have the town tax col- lector collect its district tax.
Today ( 19-10), the total town tax, in the First Taxation District, set by the board of finance, is 2318 mills. This levy includes three separate rates, the 19-mill rate of the town, the 13/8-mill rate of the First Taxation District for fire protection, and the 234-mill rate of the West Haven School District, which operates as an independent unit of the town government. The three levies are collected as a unit by the town tax collector. The West Shore Dis- trict pays a separate fire tax of 23/8 mills and the Allingtown District, a fire tax of 11/2 mills; both districts are exempt from the 13g-mill tax of the First Taxation District.
The board of finance sets the salary of the tax collector ( Robert F. Sylvester, 1940), and that of the back tax attorney (Leon H. Gabriel, 1940), an office created April 1, 1937, in an effort to collect approximately $200,000 owed the town in back taxes.
ASSESSORS-BOARD OF TAX REVIEW
Four months after its incorporation, at a meeting of the Town of Orange on October 7, 1822, a board of assessors and a board of relief were named. Henry Ward, Thomas Painter, John Bryan, Jr., Jesse Allen, and John Lambert were members of the first board of assessors. The first board of relief included Chauncey Alling, Eliakim Kimberly, and Robert Treat.
Before that time, the responsibility for assessing property was assumed by the church societies. The property list, or Grand List, as it is now known, was then called "the minister's rate". Some of those old rate books are preserved. One list of 1745, in the possession of the New Haven Colony Historical Society, shows that the property in the parish of West Haven, was valued at £4,627 and was held by 84 persons. In 1790, there were 107 property owners, and the total assessed value of their land had fallen to £3,149 indicating the hard times that followed the Revolutionary War.
In 1849, an assessment record of nonresidents shows dwelling houses assessed at $150 to $700, and land, depending on location, from $10 to $35 per
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West Haven Town Hall, Erected in 1892; It's One-Time Auditorium, Scene of Many Political Debates
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"The Center," Main Street and Campbell Avenue; As It Looked at the Turn of the Century
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TOWN GOVERNMENT
acre. In 1889, the Town of Orange had a Grand List of $2,546,966, while the Borough, or the present West Haven area, had a Grand List of $1,641,570. From that date up to 1910, the town grew rapidly, with the assessed valuation increasing to $10,589,262. The greatest increase in assessments came in 1926, when the Municipal Service Corporation was engaged to reassess the town at full market value. Valuations were increased from $29,647,991 to $50,366,253. At this time there was but one assessor, Charles Spreyer.
By Act of the General Assembly, in 1929, the number of assessors was in- creased to three, the present number. The tax assessor, chairman of this group, is employed full-time. The other two members are on a part-time basis. This group prepares the Grand List, after which additions or reductions are made by the board of relief, now known as the board of tax review. The completed list is reviewed by the board of finance as a basis for the tax rate.
In 1939; three local men were engaged to reassess the town at full market value. The taxable Grand List was decreased from $52,651,660 to $52,590,224. The 1939 Grand List, filed with the town clerk, upon which the 1940 tax rate of 2318 mills has been set, is as follows :
Grand List, gross (1939) $ 62,945,006.00
Taxable Grand List, net (1939) $ 52,590,224.00
The three members of the board of tax review are elected at the biennial town elections, and members of the board of assessors are appointed by the select- men for a term of two years. The present assessors are : Henry Conlan, Chair- man; Clifford Whitehead and Richard Brennan, Sr.
TOWN COURT
Before 1822 legal matters here were settled in the courts of New Haven. After 1822, a simple town court was established with a justice of the peace acting as judge.
From 1873 to 1895, the court was held in the Borough Rooms, on the second floor of the Thompson Block. David E. FitzGerald, Jacob Goodhart, and other prominent members of the county bar often tried cases here before the farmer justices and grand jurors. As Savin Rock grew and numerous arrests were made for violation of closing-hour regulations, court cases increased and a "liquor prosecutor" was added to the staff.
All court officials were paid on a fee basis. The justice of the peace received $3.12 for each case; a grand juror, $2.06; and the liquor prosecutor, $10. This fee system was abolished April 1, 1895, when the General Assembly created the Orange Town Court. That court had jurisdiction over all crimes and misde- meanors committed within the town, for which the fine did not exceed $200, or a jail or workhouse term of not more than 6 months. This court also took over all duties of the oldl justices' court.
The first judge of the Orange Town Court was Samuel J. Bryant, who served until 1919. His staff consisted of deputy judge, Egbert E. Pardee;
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prosecutor, John Wilkinson; and clerk, Charles K. Buslı. A probation officer, Dr. Charles D. Phelps, was added to the court staff in 1905.
In the present West Haven court are Judges William Holleran and Douglass Johnson; prosecutors, William Hadden and John Carroll; clerk, Louis Hurley; assistant clerk, Humbert Orio; and probation officer, Edwin Appleton.
WELFARE DEPARTMENT
In the early days of the community there was no organized charity. Needy persons were either "bound out" as servants and laborers or sentenced to serve in the workhouse.
In 1823, within a year after Orange was incorporated as a town, the selectmen were authorized by a town meeting to auction off to the lowest bidder the responsibility of caring for the town poor for a period of one year. On October 4, 1824, it was voted that Parson Hine "be paid $435. for freeing the town from any expense which may arise from the town paupers for the term of one year".
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'The successful bidder was required to clothe his charges, under the super- vision of a committee named by the town to examine their clothing when they came under his care and at the end of the year. Pauper children between six and eight years of age were allowed six months of schooling each year; those between eight and sixteen years of age were given three months in school.
This method was continued until 1856, when a town meeting voted that "town poor care" was a matter to be handled by the first selectman as town agent. Needy persons were then placed with individual families. In later years, when hospitalization or institutional care was required, the selectmen supervised com- mitments. Needy families were supplied with orders for groceries, fuel and clothing ; gas and electric bills were paid, and partial payments were made on rents. This practice was continued with little change until 1929.
When the depression became acute, the system was changed to provide part- time work for the hundreds of unemployed. To meet the emergency, the Town of West Haven floated public improvement bonds during 1932-33 to the amount of $125,000.
The need of a permanent welfare department soon became apparent, and, on December 1, 1933, this unit was established. Mrs. Florence W. Heil was named as the first supervisor. The first selectman, as town agent, still remains, as provided by the statutes, responsible for the "care of the poor"; hence, the welfare supervisor, though relieving him of those duties, cannot assume the responsibilities. Applications for relief are investigated by members of the department assigned to this particular work.
Under the supervision of Mrs. Anne Stapleton, and employing 11 persons, the welfare department in February, 1940, was providing aid to 371 West Haven families, or a total of 1,360 persons. The cost to the town for direct aid in that month amounted to $8,308.26, and for hospitalization, $1,593.25.
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TOWN GOVERNMENT
BOARD OF HEALTH
The West Haven Board of Health was created by Special Act of the Con- necticut Legislature on June 5, 1923. Consisting of three members, one of whom must be a physician, appointed to three-year terms by the board of select- men, the board has the power to employ a health officer and as many sanitary inspectors as it considers necessary.
The present board, which has complete control over all problems relating to the health of the town, includes Patrick A. Flynn, president; Lawrence M. Tierney, M. D., secretary ; and Harry J. Kenny. Eugene M. Cozzolino, M. D., is the health officer; Walter Murray, the sanitary inspector; and Mrs. Emma Hurley, R.N., nurse.
Health clinics for children of pre-school age are conducted at regular inter- vals by the health officer. Diphtheria toxin-antitoxin and smallpox vaccine are administered.
'The sanitary inspector is charged with periodic inspections of bakeries, barber shops, restaurants, chain stores, and other public places, as well as placarding houses for communicable diseases and caring for complaints relative to unsanitary back yards, junk yards, garbage cans, cesspools, and dumps.
Plumbing inspector, William F. Walsh, is also deputized as assistant health inspector, to care for complaints regarding unsanitary plumbing, wells believed to be polluted, and other such matters.
BOARD OF FIRE COMMISSIONERS
"An Act Establishing a Board of Fire Commissioners for the First Taxation District of the Town of Orange" was approved by the legislature on May 8, 1919, but has since been amended many times.
The commission consists of three electors, "all residents of the First Tax- ation District", two of whom are appointed by the board of selectmen, and one elected by the members of the volunteer fire companies within the district. All serve a three-year term of office.
This board controls the activities of the fire department and expenditure of funds allotted annually by the board of finance.
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