History of Windham County, Connecticut, Part 30

Author: Bayles, Richard M. (Richard Mather)
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: New York, Preston
Number of Pages: 1506

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HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.

Benjamin Lathrop who after faithfully discharging his duty as a Minister of the Gospel of Christ-worn out with bodily Infirm- ities calmly resigned his breath on the 16th of July, 1804, in the 79th year of his Age." On a heavy old brown stone table we read the epitaph of Colonel Thomas Dyer, who died May 27th, 1766, 72 years of age. His inscription is cut into the slab, but a die sunk into it bears the inscription to his wife as follows :- " Here lies Interr'd the Remains of Mrs. Lydia Dyar the late Consort of Col'nl THOMAS DYAR of Windham. She was bornl January the 15th A. D. 1695, and died March the 12th A. D. 1751 In the 57th Year of her Age, And in firm Expectation of Eter- nal Life Through the Merrits of JESUS CHRIST."

Besides the Congregational church, which is noticed else- where, this village contains a handsome stone structure, known as St. Paul's Episcopal church. The origin of the Episcopal church in this village dates about the beginning of the present century, though its first movements are enveloped in obscurity. Services were conducted about that time by Reverend John Ty- ler of Norwich, who visited this station occasionally. Services were held in private houses for a time, but in 1832 a society was formed and in the following year a handsome stone church was erected, which is still standing. The first service was held in it December 25th, 1833. It was formally consecrated by the Right Reverend Thomas Church Brownell, bishop of the diocese of Connecticut, April 11th, 1834. The first rector of this church was L. H. Corson, whose ministry here began December 17th, 1832, and ended in 1836. Since that time successive rectors have been-William A. Curtis, 1836-7; Charles J. Todd, '37-8; John W. Woodward, '38 -- 9; Henry. B. Sherman, '39-43; Giles H. De- shon, '43-5; Abel Nichols, '45-6; A. Ogden, '46-7; Joseph Brewster, '47 -; Henry Edwards, '50-1; Sanford J. Horton, '51- 61; John H. Anketell, '62 ; Alfred H. Stubbs, '65 ; Clayton Eddy, 66-8; E. Huntington Saunders, '69; Isaac W. Hallam, '69-75 ; Richard K. Ashley, '76; Richard C. Searing, '84-6; Henry B. Jefferson, from May 2d, 1886, to the present time. Mr. Jefferson resides in Willimantic and has charge of St. Paul's church in that village. The church here is in a prosperous condition. During the last three years the interior of the church has been greatly improved by the efforts of the ladies of the parish. The present number of communicants is twenty-three.

A Baptist church once existed in this village for a brief season.

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HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.

It was instituted in 1846. A house of worship was erected, but the society was weak and could give but a feeble support to the preaching of the gospel. After about ten years, services were abandoned, and the house was used for a year or two by an Old School Presbyterian society, which also had a feeble and short existence. The church being abandoned altogether, was taken down and removed to Baltic about twenty years since.

South Windham is a pleasant little village about three and a half miles southeast from Willimantic. It is beautifully situated, amid romantic surroundings of hill and marsh, cultivated field and wooded plain, winding through all of which the swift, dark waters of the Shetucket gracefully ripple on their merry course to the sea. It has stations on the Providence Division of the New York & New England, and on the New London Northern railroads. It lies thirteen miles north-northwest from. Norwich. It is situated in the southern part of the township, not far from the line. It has a population of about six hundred, and is the center of considerable manufacturing interest. Many years ago the facilities offered by the stream at this point were appreciated and turned to account in various small ways. By the develop- ment of inventive genius on the part of men associated with the locality it was made the seat of manufacturing operations of great importance to the country. About 1827 George Spafford of this place, a man of much mechanical insight, having been employed in fitting up the Fourdrinier machine for making paper at North Windham, formed a partnership with James Phelps, and they set to work to construct a duplicate. They first began work at New Furnace, in Stafford, on account of the foundry facilities to be had there. Nine men, under Charles Smith as foreman, were kept at work within closed doors, with ordinary hand tools and a single power lathe. Yankee ingenuity tri- umphed over every obstacle, and completed an improvement upon the original Fourdrinier machine. It was sold to Amos D. Hubbard, and put in successful operation at Norwich Falls, in May, 1829. A second machine was soon afterward completed and sold to Henry Hudson of East Hartford. Both yielded such excellent results that the projectors were encouraged to make preparations for the permanent continuance of the business, and accordingly erected suitable accommodations on the site of an old fulling mill at this place. Their works were ready for occu- pancy early in 1830. Here they built mills for customers in

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HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.

many different states, and supplied parts of machinery. This, it is claimed, was the first paper making machinery successfully working in this country. It should have been mentioned that the first Fourdrinier machine was brought to this country about 1827, from Germany, by an Englishman named Pickering, who employed Spafford to assist in setting it in operation. In 1830 the firm sent Charles Pickering, son of the first mentioned, to England to investigate the process of steam drying used in that country, and soon after that time Spafford invented the present paper cutter. The firm removed their works to South Windham in November, 1830, and commenced operations in the following February. They then employed about ten hands and finished six to eight machines a year. These machines were valued at from $2,000 to $3,500 apiece. About the year 1838, Charles Smith, a millwright, and Harvey Winchester, a blacksmith, who had been employees of Spafford, Phelps & Co., were admitted into the firm, the capital stock of which at that time was $50,000. Owing to financial troubles during the years 1838 to 1840, the stock of Phelps and Spafford was sold to the other partners and the firm of Smith, Winchester & Co. was formed. George Spafford died soon after this, heavily involved. James Phelps invented Phelps' patent washer, and accumulated some property before his death. Since that time the business has been conducted un- der the name of Smith, Winchester & Co. They employ about one hundred hands, and have manufactured machines that weighed one hundred tons each and cost $20,000. Where for- merly machines were made from forty-seven to forty-eight inches wide and run forty feet a minute, they are now made one hundred inches wide and run two hundred and fifty feet a minute. The main features, however, remain the same as when their manufac- ture was first begun. The firm have again and again been com- pelled to enlarge their works and build new conveniences for storage. The Little Pigeon Swamp brook, which sometimes ran dry during the summer, was made permanently effective by the construction of reservoirs covering the former swamp. A pros- perous village has grown up around this establishment, and other industries have been added.

Amos D. Allen was a manufacturer of furniture at South Windham. His son Edwin inherited a large share of the inven- tive genius of the family. Incidentally visiting a printing office at Norwich one day, he became interested in seeing a font of

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wood type, and at once conceived the idea of manufacturing it by machinery. He set to work and soon had the idea in practi- cal operation, and with such success that about the year 1827 he established in a small way the business of manufacturing wood type at this place. Though many improvements have been made in the manufacture of wood type yet the principle of the chief machines used by Mr. Allen is still preserved. The business made fair progress under his control, there being at that time but one other establishment in the country engaged in the same work, that being Darius Wells & Co., of Paterson, N. J. In 1837 Mr. Allen entered into partnership with George F. Nesbit of New York city, who under his own name introduced the wood type to the trade, while Mr. Allen conducted the manufacture in South Windham. The business made fair progress, though en- countering the opposition incident to new inventions. Later on another man came upon the stage with an additional fund of inventive genius and executive ability in the person of William H. Page, of New Hampshire. He had served many years in the practical work of a printing office, and after considerable time spent in experimenting in that direction, he obtained the ma- chinery which had been used in the business by others and started a factory on his own account in 1856. During the next year many improvements were made in his machinery, and a much superior kind of type was produced. The business- sur- vived the panic of 1857 in a healthy state, and in the fall of that year was removed to Greenville, in the suburbs of Norwich, where it was carried on more extensively.

Following another line of the history of wood type manufac- ture in this town we will go back again to Edwin Allen. He was the originator of the business here, and started business in an old building which stood near the machine shop. He after- ward erected a shop about one mile west, on his father's farm, where he employed steam for power. His method was original and he kept it a secret to all except his employees. “No Admit- tance " was painted upon the doors of his shop and the rule was strictly adhered to. This was about the year 1840. Some twelve persons were employed, and type cases, galleys and other wood- en materials used in printing offices were manufactured, as well as wood type, and block letters for signs were also cut out. Allen failed in business, and afterward moved the shop down to where he building now stands, being used by the present American

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HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.

Wood Type Company. John G. Cooley bought the business and removed it to New York city. In April, 1878, the American Wood Type Company, then composed of C. H. Tubbs, John Mar- tin and George L. Kies, formerly connected with the Page Com- pany, began the manufacture of wood type in the building which years before had been occupied by Allen. They ran the busi- ness for five years, and then the other partners turned their in- terests over to Mr. Tubbs, who now represents the company, and the establishment is in active operation. The shop has capacity and machinery to employ seventeen hands. They have patterns on hand to manufacture two hundred different styles of type, in all sizes ranging from two-line up to 100-line. The works are run by water power supplied by the Pigeon Swamp brook.

The Radial Thread Buff Company of South Windham was or- ganized in 1883, for the purpose of introducing a patent article invented by Robert Binns, which they commenced to manufact- ure in a small way. The patented article is a wheel from eight to twelve inches in diameter, made of cotton cloth, the filling be- ing cotton rags. This wheel is used by silver platers to burnish their ware. The company also make wheels from whole stock, but in the manufacture of scrap wheels they are the only concern in the country. The present production is from fifteen to twenty thousand monthly, and employment is given to about fifteen hands. Robert Binns was born in Providence, R. I., January 9th, 1844, and is of English descent, being the eldest son of Robert and Hannah Binns. He is a machinist by trade, and he came to South Windham in 1873. He married Mary Rue and they have six children : Mary, Nancy, Frederic, Bertha, Eva and Eugene.

There is also at South Windham a grist mill, owned by Mr E. H. Holmes. It is situated in the village, near the track of the New London Northern railroad. It was built by Mr. E. H. Holmes, the father of the present owner, about the year 1848. It has a capacity of about eighteen horse-power, and grinds from twenty-five to thirty thousand bushels a year. One room in this grist mill is occupied by Robert Binns in the manufacture of a patent slitter blade, which is self sharpening and has an im- proved slitter hub. Slitter blades are a pair of cutting disks with edges working together like the edges of a pair of scissors. This manufacture is a new enterprise, but it is meeting with de- served success.

The nly church of this village is an offshoot from the Con-

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gregational church of Windham. For twenty-five years, more , or less, services have been conducted here on occasional Sab- baths or on week-day evenings. The old Fitch school house is used for religious services. This is a building once intended for a private school, and is rented of private owners for religious services. It stands near and is connected with the Warner House, a hotel of commodious size standing near the depot of the New London Northern railroad. It is now owned by Alfred Kinne. For a few years back religious services on Sunday have been omitted, but in March, 1888, a Society of Christian En- deavor was formed here, and in the following December a church was organized, which now numbers eighteen members. During the winter a revival occurred. Since December 7th, 1888, preaching services have been held every Sunday afternoon by the pastor of the old church at Windham Centre. A Sunday school is also maintained here.

South Windham is a pleasant village, with wide streets and elm-shaded walks, lighted with gas. The surrounding country is hilly, and on an eminence on the west stands a modern an- tique structure of respectable dimensions, just completed for a summer hotel. It overlooks the village and surroundings, and is a conspicuous object for miles around. Its site affords charm- ing landscapes of the Shetucket valley and the surrounding country. The road from South Windham northerly toward the old center of the town crosses the Shetucket over a covered wooden bridge 252 feet long, over the portals of which may be read the usual legend of warning, in great black. letters on a white ground, "The riding or driving any Horses, Teams or Carriages on this Bridge in a Gait faster than a Walk is by Law prohibited." On the east side of the river is the depot of the Providence Division of the New England railroad, about one- eighth of a mile from the other. Cleared farms occupy most of the hills of the vicinity, which are somewhat bold and rugged, while among them the Shetucket, a beautiful stream, swiftly and gracefully glides in many a rippling curve.

In the northwest corner of the town, on the Natchaug river and the New York and New England railroad, lies the post vil- lage of North Windham. It is situated on a comparatively level step on the northwest border of the hilly section of the town, and about four miles north of Willimantic. The village contains some four hundred inhabitants, and its principal institution is a

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manufactory of thread. This locality was formerly called New Boston, and about the year 1810 Edmond Badger and others built a mill here and began the manufacture of writing paper. This enterprise gave some impetus to the growth of the village for awhile, but it was abandoned by Badger in 1825, and after further failures to make it a success, it fell into the hands of an Englishman named Joseph Pickering, who with great labor and difficulty had succeeded in bringing to America the first im- ported Fourdrinier machine for the manufacture of paper. He was joined by J. A. H. Frost, of Boston, and they bought the dilapidated paper mill at a low price, and here set up the ma- chine which was to effect a revolution in paper making. This firm soon became bankrupt, and their Boston creditors attempt- ed to carry on the business, but they were equally unsuccessful. The Fourdrinier machine was moved to Andover, Conn., and finally to York, Pa.

In 1831 the mill property above spoken of came into the hands of Mr. Justin Swift, who transformed it into a cotton fac- tory. Under his management a successful manufacturing estab- lishment was maintained. The mill employed about forty hands and was a benefit to the neighborhood. On the 16th of July, 1860, the mill took fire and was destroyed. It was rebuilt and Mr. Swift, in the fall of 1862, leased it to the Merrick Brothers, who converted it into a mill for the manufacture of thread in the skein. They retained occupancy of the premises till 1872, when the property was bought by E. H. Hall & Son, the father having been superintendent of the mill for Merrick Brothers, and the son having been connected with the same firm in their works at Holyoke, Mass. Since that time the capacity of the mill has been increased about one-half, and thirty-six feet have been added to the original length of the building. The mill is run wholly by water, and forty hands are employed, the manufactured product amounting to about three thousand pounds a week.

Edwin H. Hall, the senior member of this firm, was the second youngest son of a family of thirteen children of Nathan and Philomella Hall, and he was born in Mansfield, Conn., May 26th, 1821. He married Sophia, daughter of Major Henry Prentice, and had five children, viz. : Luthera, wife of Charles S. Lyman, overseer of Merrick Thread Company, of Holyoke, Mass .; Ella M., Edwin H., Alice A., wife of P. A. Foland, agent at Boston

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for the Merrick Thread Company ; and Francois P., who died in childhood. Edwin H. was born in Willimantic, December 29th, 1847. He married Maria Ayers, a native of South Coventry, Conn., and they had one child, Francois L., also an adopted daughter, Nettie M. Edwin H. died December 12th, 1884.

The settlement of North Windham had, in the first half of the century, a fulling and carding mill, owned by the Lincolns. This they afterward transformed into a manufactory of felting used in working the Fourdrinier machine, they having acquired the art by picking to pieces and reconstructing the English specimens first imported. The village had attained sufficient importance to be favored with a post office in 1838, and Mr. Ralph Lincoln was appointed postmaster, which office he retained for many years.

The North Windham Cemetery is a tract of land about one acre in extent, located near the center of the village. Jonah Lincoln probably donated ground for it. The society took charge of it for awhile, but later the town has taken charge of it and enlarged it. It is well filled with graves and is neatly kept. It lies on the east side of the Windham road, and on either side of it are the institutions of the place, the church and the school house. These buildings are white and of similar model, and not greatly different in size. The meeting house, which stands north of the cemetery, is a little larger in size. Each is sur- mounted by a belfry. The church, cemetery and school house are about one-fourth of a mile west of the railroad station.

The Christian Society which occupies and owns the meeting house referred to is an undenominational society composed simply of those who contribute to its financial support. The ob- ject is to maintain a Christian ministry or preaching of the Gos- pel regardless of denominational creeds. The preamble and res- olutions agreeing to certain broad and liberal conditions bears date March 15th, 1830. Meetings were first held in a school house. At the organization, Jonah Lincoln acted as moderator, and the name then adopted was the "New Boston Christian So- ciety," after the name which was held by the locality at that time. January 7th, 1857, the name was changed by vote of the society to " North Windham Christian Society." The meeting house was built in 1844. The first members of the society, that is, those who joined it previous to 1840, were Jonah Lincoln, Elias Sharp, Levi Johnson, Daniel Lincoln, Jacob Flint, Ralph

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Lincoln, Samuel Flint, James Lincoln, Warren Clark, Charles W. Warren, Lester Lincoln, Benjamin Perry, Warner Lincoln, Nathaniel Lincoln, John Flint, Robert W. Robinson, Burr Lin- coln, Asa Bates, Henry Lincoln, David Lincoln, Samuel A. Lin= coln, Stowel Lincoln, Darias Spafford, Shubael Cross, George Backus, Erastus Martin, Thomas Robinson, Rufus Burnham, Nathan Gallup, Moses Coffin, William M. Johnson, Horace Flint, Sherman Simons, Thomas Baldwin, Schuyler Chamberlin, Sam- uel Flint 2d, Moses C. Abbe, Marvin Lincoln, Nelson Simms, James L. Brown, Philip R. Capen, Luther Burnham, William L. Dexter, John J. Burnham, Levi Allen, Mason Lincoln, Frank M. Lincoln and Allen Lincoln. From 1840 up to later dates, as giv- en in the list following, other subscribers joined the society as follows: Charles Card, Hezekiah P. Brown, N. F. Ackley, Reu- ben Peck, Porter B. Peck, Charles Collar, Pearl L. Peck, Albert Lincoln, 1847; George Lincoln, Oren F. Lincoln, Freeman D. Spencer, Dwight F. Lincoln, 1849; Lorin Lincoln, Jared W. Lin- coln, Sumner Lincoln, Thomas T. Upton, Lucius Ingraham, Lucius Flint, Henry E. Gurley, 1853; Lucius H. Cross, Martin Flint, 1858; Edward L. Burnham, Charles Johnson, Seymour Davenport, Joel W. Webb, 1859 ; Pardon Parker, Charles Squires, Stowel Burnham, Chester Welden, 1871; Albert Hartson, Ed- win H. Hall, 1873; Charles E. Peck, Henry A. Jones, George E. Bennett, 1880; David Nichols, Abner P. Smith, Robert Harley, C. F. Spencer, M. A. Bates, William Sibley.

The society for many years employed regular ministers, who resided here and performed pastoral functions. Among the early ministers were Roger Bingham, of Windham, Harry Green- slit, of Scotland (both of whom also preached here before the so- ciety was formally organized), Alfred Burnham, Savage White, of Canterbury ; Isaac H. Coe, Waldo Barrows, James Burlingame, a young man by the name of Wright for a year or two, and Syl- vester Barrows for a year or two. Since about 1878 no resident pastor has been supported, but preaching has been maintained more or less by the employment of ministers associated with churches in the neighboring villages as circumstances indicated, the funds of the society being placed in the hands of a commit- tee with discretionary power.

The mill of which previous mention has been made as having been once owned and operated by the Lincolns in the manufact- ure of felting for the Fourdrinier paper machines, stood about

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fifty rods below the cotton mill of E. H. Hall & Son. The man- ufacture of felting belts was carried on by Stowel Lincoln pre- vious to the late war. These belts were endless and seamless, and made to run over rollers to take up moisture from paper pulp. Few manufactories of the kind existed in this country, and this gave a considerable prosperity to the village. It gave employment to about thirty hands in its prosperous days. This business, however, faded out, and when the war introduced the " days of shoddy " the mill was changed to a factory for making woolen cloth. This business was introduced by Stowel Lincoln, and later the mill has passed into the hands of William Sibley. It is only in operation now a part of the time.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

JONATHAN HATCH .- Samuel Hatch, the grandfather of the sub- ject of this biography, married Naomi Phelps. Their son Jona- than, a resident of Lebanon, Connecticut, was married to Betsey Payne of the same town. The children of this union were : Samuel O., Eliza, Chester P., Jonathan, and James C., of whom Chester P. and Jonathan are the only survivors. The latter was born in Lebanon, October 21st, 1817, and until the age of sixteen resided on the homestead farm. He received a rudimentary ed- ucation, and on deciding to encourage his taste for mechanics, entered the shops of Phelps & Spafford at South Windham as an apprentice. Here his services were speedily made valuable as a journeyman, until an interest in the business was acquired under the firm name of Smith, Winchester & Co.

Mr. Hatch retained his connection with the business for thirty years, retiring from the firm in 1877. Meanwhile this attractive field of labor furnished aid for the development of his inventive genius. He secured various patents on machinery, the right to some being transferred to the firm while others were reserved by him. His attention is still given to inventions, the most im- portant being the construction of a machine for the manufacture of paper by a new process, the patent for which was obtained in August, 1889. This is but one of several patents obtained by him on inventions of more or less importance. Mr. Hatch has, aside from his business interests, given more or less attention to matters of a public and political nature. He has been for four years selectman of his town and represented his constituents in the state legislature. He was in 1845 married to Alma, daugh-

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History of Windham County, Connecticut, Part 30

Author: Bayles, Richard M. (Richard Mather) Publication date: 1889 Publisher: New York, Preston Number of Pages: 1506

Author: Bayles, Richard M. (Richard Mather)
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: New York, Preston
Number of Pages: 1506