USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Wolcott > History of the town of Wolcott (Connecticut) from 1731 to 1874, with an account of the centenary meeting, September 10th and 11th, 1873 and with the genealogies of the families of the town > Part 16
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185
THE STREAMS OF WOLCOTT.
bushes they will soon become trees, and the present pas- tures will become forests. From the fact of this rapid growth of wood on land which had been under cultivation from forty to seventy years, it may be properly conclu- ded that the strength of the soil has not been exhausted, and hence with labor and fertilizers Wolcott soil could be made to produce as abundantly as ever.
STREAMS IN WOLCOTT.
Mad River is the largest stream within the limits of the town. It rises at the northern boundary and flows south and southwest into the Naugatuck River. Several streams flow into Mad River. One from Spindle Hill, called Stony Brook, enters the river from the west above the Great Falls, or the Mill Place; another from the east, north of the center, enters below the Great Falls, and is the one on which was situated the tannery of Mr. Ira Hough. Another stream from Buck's Hill enters the river in the Big Plains, and is the one on which Mr. Jonathan Bement built a tannery, near Gehula Grilley's residence, where Mr. Isaac Hough now resides. A small stream east of Capt. John Alcox's residence was called East Misery Brook. Another from the north-eastern part of the town enters Mad River a little north of Woodtick, while another from the south-east part, called Lily Brook, enters a little below Woodtick.
Three reservoirs are now constructed in this town in connection with Mad River, to supply the manufactories of Waterbury,- one in the northern portion of the town, covering Cedar Swamp; another in the south-eastern, adjoining Judd's Hill, and the other at the north end of Chestnut Hill. The last named, which is not yet com- pleted, has been constructed at a much greater expense than the others ; and all of them have been built by Waterbury manufacturing companies. In the north-east part of the town is Roaring Brook, running in a south-
186
HISTORY OF WOLCOTT.
eastern direction down Southington Mountain, on which is, at present, a saw mill of considerable power. There was another mill on the same stream further up, but nothing. remains of it except the dam and the foun- dation walls.
CHAPTER II.
THE FIRST SETTLERS.
The land in Wolcott, belonging as it did originally to the towns of Farmington and Waterbury, was "taken up " largely by the inhabitants of those towns some years before any persons made their residence on these lands, and hence the Waterbury part of Wolcott was, much of it, owned by Waterbury people, and was settled largely by the people of that town, while the Farmington part was "taken up" by the people of that place, and many of the early residents were from that town, including Southington, a few coming from Wallingford. The Far- mington part was laid into "long lots," being in three tiers, of one mile each. The first tier joined the Water- bury, or the "bound line," the second lay east of the first, and the third east of the second, extending to the foot of Southington Mountain. The whole length of each "long lot " is said (in some of the deeds) to have been three miles. The lots were numbered from north to south, and must have commenced near the northern boundary of Wolcott.
The earliest record of the purchase of land in this part of Wolcott that I have seen, except that of Mr. Thomas Upson, in 1732, is that by Lieutenant Heman Hall, on March 12th, 1750, on the long lot, number fifty- six ; but on this farm was then a dwelling house, in which Mr. Joseph Preston was probably residing. This house stood on the " twenty-rod highway" running north and south on Southington Mountain, directly east from
188
HISTORY OF WOLCOTT.
the present gamble-roofed house which he or his son, Captain Heman Hall, afterwards built. Mr. Hall sold this farm to Mr. Preston, of whom he purchased it, and the deeds are dated on the same day. On the 19th of the same month, Mr. Hall purchased another farm on lot fifty-six, of a Mr. Jonathan Mott, fifty acres, "with a dwelling house on it and a road across it," for two hun- dred and ten pounds. He purchased other land near this in 1754, but was then residing in Wallingford, and did not make his residence here until after this date. In 1753, Mr. James Pike, and his two sons, Samuel and Da- vid, were residing on or near Pike's Hill. Mr. Samuel Pike bought eighty-five acres on lot thirty-eight, of Mr. Robert Porter, of Farmington, for two hundred and fifty- pounds, in 1753, which land " butted on Waterbury line." Mr. Cogswell purchased of Asa Cowles a part of lot 38, "middle tier," in 1754. Mr. David Pike sold land to Mr. Daniel Mix, in 1753, it being a "part of the lot his father owned." Mr. Benjamin Barnes owned land near that purchased by Lieut. Heman Hall, in 1753, and may have resided on it. 1
The earliest record I have seen of Mr. John Bronson in Wolcott, is that of 1762, but whether he was then re- siding here or not I am not able to say, certainly, but think he was. Mr. Justus Peck, afterwards Deacon, was in Wolcott as early as January 18th, 1762. Captain Na- thaniel Lewis, probably, made his residence on the farm still known by his name, about 1760 to 1765, and Mr. David Frost near the same time, perhaps a few years later, and the Carters about 1770. The Beechers may have been here before 1765, as also the Brockets, Hor- tons, and some others who settled in the north-east por- tion of the town ; still, I am of the opinion that they had not been here long when the Society was organized, in 1770.
In Waterbury part, Mr. John Alcox, of New Haven, was the first resident, removing hither in March, 1731.
189
THE FIRST SETTLERS.
In the autumn of the same year Mr. Isaac Hopkins pur- chased the farm in the valley east of Chestnut Hill, and probably made it his residence the next year, 1732, the year that he was married, and on this farm he resided until his death. Mr. Benjamin Harrison was living on Benson Hill, now Wolcott Center, in 1739, when he pur- chased land adjoining " his own land," according to the reading of the deeds. He purchased one hundred and eleven acres of land of Stephen Hopkins, jr., of Water- bury, deeded July 2, 1737, which land joined on Isaac Hopkins' land. By the reading of some of Mr. Harrison's deeds it appears that other families had resided or were residing in that portion of the town before he removed there. After Mr. Isaac Hopkins and Mr. Benjamin Har- rison, the following families became settlers in the valley south-west of Benson Hill : Elijah Frisbie, Roger Prichard, Eldad Mix, and a few others, before 1760; and Joseph Parker, Joseph Sutliff, Gehulah Grilley and Timothy Scott,* before 1770. On Spindle Hill, Thomas Welton and Eliakim Welton, and Shadrick Benham settled soon after John Alcox. Mr. Amos Seward was residing east
* Inhabitants of Waterbury subject to pay taxes in 1760, residing in East Branch (afterwards Wolcott), three miles or more from the Meeting house, as given in Bronson's History of Waterbury.
Thomas Welton,
£83
Isaac Cleveland,
£29
Benjamin Nichols,
34
Joseph Sutliff,
86
John Alcox, jr.,
54
Shadrick Benham,
26
John Alcox,
SI
Josiah Adkins,
35
Benjamin Benham,
40
William Hickox,
52
Seth Bartholomew,
52
Abial Roberts, jr.,
2
Joseph Sutliff, jr.,
7
William Monson,
I3
Conrad Johnson,
45
Daniel Alcox,
48
Eldad Mix,
22
James Alcox,
42
Edward Rogers,
2I
William Woodward,
6
William Cole,
9
Isaac Hopkins,
151
Roger Prichard,
96
Barnabas Lewis,
36
James Bassett,
55
Abial Roberts,
73
Joseph Beach,
54 Josiah Rogers,
49
Whole No. 28.
Total, £1,261
190
HISTORY OF WOLCOTT.
of Woodtick in 1770, and had been there some years, probably, and south of him were settled at that time sev- eral of the sons of Thomas Upson. Wait Hotchkiss came to Wolcott in 1765, and Abel Curtiss, Isaac Twitchell, and Joseph Beach, near the same time ; probably a little before. David Norton came about 1760. Josiah Rogers had been here but a short time before 1770, though his father, Deacon Rogers, of North Branford, purchased land here in 1724. Solomon Hotchkiss was an early set- tler on Spindle Hill, east of Mr. John Alcock's, but very few particulars concerning him and his family have been seen. Joseph Atkins removed here about 1758. In 1770 there were residing at the Center, then called Farming- bury, Aaron Harrison and the family of his brother Ben- jamin Harrison, Abraham Woster, John Barrett and the family of James Barrett, Joseph Atkins, and Josiah Tal- mage, and soon after were added Daniel Tuttle, Samuel Byington, and possibly a few others; yet of this I am not certain.
WOLCOTT CENTER IN 1800.
The Center, soon after the town was incorporated, was a place of considerable mercantile business and land speculations, the land sales being stimulated by the ex- pectation that a turnpike would be constructed from Tor- rington to New Haven, and that Wolcott would be an important station on that road. In 1796, Mr. Samuel Byington sold his farm and hotel, west of the Green, and a little southwest of the Meeting house, to Moses Todd, Bani Bishop, of Southington, and Hezekiah Todd, of Che- shire, for four hundred and eighty-four pounds. This farm contained forty-seven acres, the hotel and wheelwright shop, and was bounded on the north by Joseph At- kin's land, on the west by Mad River, on the south by David Norton's land and the highway. In February, 1797, this farm waspurchased by Abijah Fenn, of Water- town, who built in the following year, 1798, the store
191
WOLCOTT CENTER IN 1800.
near the corner of the lot towards the Meeting house, which he built on contract for Truman Woodward and Amos Baldwin, said to be of Wolcott, but who, probably, came from Watertown, previously. In 1800 Moses Todd purchased this store, and soon after sold it to Benham and Tuttle, who continued the store with great enter- prise for a number of years. Mr. Fenn sold his hotel and farm in January, 1799, to Mark Harrison, Esquire, " for the consideration of eighteen hundred and thirty-three dollars." Mr. Dan Tuttle sold his place, containing nine- ty-three acres, at the south-west corner of the green, in 1797, to Moses Todd, for seven hundred and fifty pounds. This farm, Mr. Asaph Hotchkiss afterwards purchased, and resided on it some years, and gave some of it, lying west of the old bound line, for a public green. Mr. Asaph Hopkins came from East Haven to Woodtick and then to the Center, and was engaged largely in buying and selling land.
Rev. Mr. Woodward sold the Gillet place, March 4, 1799, to Charles Upson, Esquire, for five hundred and fifty pounds, and on the 26th of the same month he purchased of Mr. Bani Bishop " a certain piece of land about fifteen rods east of the Meeting house, containing about one acre of land, together with a large dwelling thereon standing, and store and horse shed near and adjoining the same," for eleven hundred and thirty dollars. In April following, he purchased of Elijah Birge thirty-five acres, with buildings, lying north of and adjoining the one acre. These buildings, including a dwelling house, stood opposite the burying ground, and was the house where a fatal accident occurred." Mr. Woodward con-
* Some military officers came to the house early in the morning to " wake up" their fellow officer, and went into the house ; upon which, the resident officer arose quickly and said in a joke, "Go out of my house, or I will shoot you," he, supposing his gun was not loaded, and suiting his action to his words, fired, and the gun being loaded with a wad, the firing proved fatal in a few hours.
192
HISTORY OF WOLCOTT.
tinued to reside in the house east of the Meeting house until his death.
The old dwelling house now standing on the corner opposite the house Rev. Mr. Woodward resided in, was sold by Jabez Harrison, in January, 1799, to Moses Todd and Bani Bishop. Jabez Harrison was the son of Benja- min, the only brother of Deacon Aaron Harrison, and may have resided in this house a number of years. Todd and Bishop sold it to Aaron Harrison, jr., the land con- taining about half an acre. Mr. Harrison sold the south part, or about a quarter of an acre, to Darius Wiard, and then sold the house and lot in April, 1800, to Hezekiah Todd and Caleb Todd, who sold it in October of the same year to Matthew Wiard. In December 1801, Rev. Mr. Woodward purchased this dwelling, and the bound- aries are thus designated : "a certain lot of land lying in said Wolcott, about fifteen rods Southeast of the Meet- ing house, and is butted North on highway, East on Lu- cius Tuttle, South on Darius Wiard, and West on said Town's land, containing about twenty-six rods of land, be the same more or less, with a dwelling thereon stand- ing." This dwelling Mr. Woodward sold to Isaac Ben- ham, of Waterbury, and Samuel Benham, of Wolcott, in 1802, the latter residing in it many years.
The house now the residence of Mrs. Johnson Alcott, was built by Darius Wiard, about the year 1800, and was the residence for a number of years afterward of Dr. John Potter. The house at the south-west corner of the Green was the residence of Mr. Daniel Tuttle for several years before 1797, and after that was the residence of Messrs. Asaph Hotchkiss, Isaac Hough, and for the last twenty years of Erastus W. Warner. I am of the opinion that the old cellar wall standing south-west of Mr. Erastus M. Warner's, near a large rock on east side of the pres- ent road, marks the place of the residence of Mr. John Barrett, the grave digger at the Center for many years.
The second house on the south side of the road going
C
193
THE PUBLIC GREEN.
east from the green appears, by a certain deed, to have been built by a Mr. Bishop in the summer of 1800, and it was afterward purchased by Mr. Lucius Tuttle, and pos- sibly enlarged by him. The house next this on the east was built by Mr. Pitman Stowe, and was kept by him as a hotel for a number of years, after which Rev. Mr. Keys resided in it, and it is frequently spoken of at the present day as Mr. Keys' house. By some of the deeds it seems that there must have been a house here before the one Mr. Stowe built.
On the opposite side of the road from Mr. Keys' house, and a little east, was the residence, for some years, of Deacon Aaron Harrison. It was afterward the residence of Deacon Isaac Bronson for a number of years, and then of his son, Irad Bronson. East of the site of this house, and within a quarter of a mile of it, are remaining parts of the foundation walls of three other houses that were probably standing in 1820.
The house of Abraham Woster, in 1770, stood about three rods west of the present Meeting house ; the com- mittee who fixed the stake for the site of the first Meet- ing house said it was placed "a little north of Abra- ham Woster's house," but it must have been a little east instead of north.
THE PUBLIC GREEN.
The land given to the Ecclesiastical Society was lo- cated on the north side of the highway running east and west in front of the Meeting house, and all the Green south of this highway belongs to the town. The east part of this Green was given to the town by Charles Up- son, Esq., in 1801, and is described in the deed as "a certain piece of land being and lying in said town of Wol- cott, about ten rods southeast of the Meeting house, but- ting north on highway, cast on Matthew Wiard and Da- rius Wiard, south on William Robinson, west on high- way, or the bound line. The west part of this Green was
14
194
HISTORY OF WOLCOTT.
given to the town by two individuals ; the northwest cor- ner, containing about a quarter of an acre, by Michael Harrison, in 1800, and the remaining part by Asaph Hotchkiss, in 1808.
THE MILL PLACE.
There was "Laid out to Benjamin Harrison," father of Deacon Aaron Harrison, "December 5, 1748, five acres of land in the Northeast quarter of the bounds at the Great Falls of the Mad River," on which he probably built a saw mill, for he sold the same with a saw mill on it, deeded November 19, 1751, to John Alcox and Abiel Roberts. This property, with a clothing mill then standing below and adjoining the saw mill, was purchased of John, Da- vid, and Joseph Alcox, by Abraham Norton, in 1787, and at this place was erected afterwards a grist mill, one half of which was deeded on purchase, to John Norton by John Alcox, James Alcox, Daniel and David Alcox, November 1, 1793. John Norton received by gift from his father, Abraham Norton, one fourth part of this mill property in 1791, and in 1793 a dwelling house and one acre of land. Abraham Norton removed to Litchfield, in 1796, at which time his son John purchased sixty-four acres of his land at the mill place. The year following he sold to his son John thirteen acres more, it being, probably, all he owned in that part of the town. This grist mill was owned for many years by John Norton, and known far and near by his name. There is now standing at these Great Falls only a saw mill and cider mill which are owned by Mr. Dennis Pritchard.
ATKINS' MILL.
Joseph Atkins built a grist mill on Mad River, some twenty rods below the Great Falls, about the year 1760, which he continued as the only grist mill in the parish for twenty years or more.
Mr. Atkins died in 1782, and in 1783 his son, Deacon
195
ATKINS' MILL.
Joseph Atkins, sold half of this mill property to Thomas Upson, father of Charles Upson, and afterward Streat Richards owned the whole property for a number of years, deeding it in 1800 to Isaac Upson, with " about one quar- ter of an acre of land a few rods northeast of said mill, with a dwelling house standing on the same." Some years after this, the mill was removed to Woodtick, where it was operated as a grist mill. There is now a building known as the "old carding mill" standing on the site of Atkins' grist mill, but no work is done in it, and the indi- cations are that it will soon go down the river. There are two mills on this river a few rods below the "old carding mill," one a saw mill, now doing yearly a large amount of work. It is said that Seth Thomas made an agreement about the year 1800 or a little after, for some mill property, owned by Daniel Byington at this mill place, proposing to engage in the manufacture of clocks, and that by some peculiar requisitions after- wards made by Mr. Byington, and because of the want of encouragement from the people of the town in construct- ing a road from the mill place to Cheshire so that he could reach the market conveniently with his merchandise, he gave up the project, and went to Plymouth Hollow, and entered upon the same plan there, and the result has been the establishing of that enterprising village now known as Thomaston, Connecticut.
WOODTICK.
Mr. Judah Frisbie was the first settler in Woodtick, as far as I have learned, and he purchased his first land here in the autumn of 1773, but did not reside on it until some years afterward. His account book shows that he board- ed at Mr. Amos Seward's before he was married, and while, probably, he was working on his land and attend- ing to business of various kinds (for he was a busy man). The same book shows that he was engaged in build- ing, probably a house, in 1776. His brother-in-law, El-
196
HISTORY OF WOLCOTT.
nathan Thrasher, was married in 1778, and probably set- tled on the farm now owned by Deacon Orrin Hall, the same year, where he resided until about 1800. Judah Frisbie mentions the saw mill as early as 1776, and as he sold lumber at different times and frequently from that time forward until 1790, it is probable that he owned a part or all of the mill. Abraham Norton sold one half of this saw mill in 1801 to Harvey Upson, the other half being "owned by Capt. Samuel Upson and Samuel Up- son, jr."
The Atkins grist mill at the mill place was taken down (after 18oc) and removed to Woodtick, and used for a grist mill for a time, and then changed into a paper mill, which has been greatly enlarged and improved by machinery, so that, at present, it is producing, yearly, a large amount of paper. It is now owned by Mr. Emerson M. Hotchkiss, late of Southington. .
HOTELS.
The first hotel was that of Samuel Byington, on the west side of the Green, where he also had a wheelwright shop. Joseph Twitchell kept the same house after the year 1800, for a short time. Pitman Stowe kept a hotel a few years in the house that Rev. Mr. Keys afterwards occupied. Col. Moses Pond kept a hotel in the house previously occupied (about twenty-five years) by Mr. Lu- cius Tuttle. Daniel Alcox kept hotel for a time at the Center, probably in a house that stood near the corner of the roads east of the Center ; one of the roads going east toward John Bronson's, the other toward Cheshire . Thomas Wiard had a hotel, but in what house I know not.
HIGHWAYS.
One hundred years before Farmingbury parish was or- ganized, the hunters from Farmington followed the In- dian trail, or path, that passed through what is now the towns of Bristol and Wolcott, to the valley of the Nau- gatuck and to Woodbury. After the settlement of Waterbury, this path became the traveled road between
197
HIGHWAYS.
Farmington and Waterbury, passing from Bristol over the hills in a direction a little south of west, through what is now the northwest corner of Wolcott, into the valley near the present village of Waterville, thence down the stream to Waterbury. Tradition says this road passed Mr. Levi Atkins' present dwelling, and that the Indian trail at that point passed a little further north, near a large shelving rock called "Jack's Cave."* This road continued to be, as I judge, the principal road between Farmington and Waterbury more than seventy years, until after the settlement of Spindle Hill. In 1750, nine- teen years after Mr. John Alcock settled on Spindle Hill, a road was laid out from Mr. Eliakim Welton's running east of north until it reached the road above described, then east to the Farmington line at the Scarritt place,t it being a continuance of the road from Waterbury to Buck's Hill. We learn from the records that in 1754 another road was laid out from Waterbury to "Farming- ton bounds." This came up the Mad River, passing Mr. Isaac Hopkin's dwelling, the Abel Curtiss place, the mill place south of the great falls, thence east through land now inclosed in the Center burying ground, to the bound line, thence north on that line to the Scarritt place. This road was called the East Farmington road, the one passing Mr. Alcox's being the west.
When Mr. Thomas Upson settled on Southington Mountain there was probably no road from Waterbury to Southington, except a path for persons on foot and on horseback. The old "twenty rod highway" was the first laid out highway near his farm, as far as ascertained, and began south of Mr. Upson's dwelling (I know not how far), going north past Capt. Nathaniel Lewis' and David
" The Indians encamped under this rock nights in passing between Far- mington and Woodbury. It was near this cave that the large chestnut tree stood from which Mr. Timothy Bradley said he cut two hundred bullets, which were shot into the tree by the Indians while shooting at a mark.
+ See Waterbury Records.
198
HISTORY OF WOLCOTT.
Frost's dwelling, thence east across the brook to the present burying ground, thence north on the mountain to the northern boundary of present Wolcott, at least, but more probably to New Cambridge, now Bristol. The deeds recorded in Farmington that I have seen mention this twenty rod highway as far north as the "tenth long lot," making it certain that the road continued north as far as the first of the long lots at least. The date when the road was laid out I have not seen, but it was there twenty rods wide in 1750.
A few years after the incorporation of the town, there was considerable effort made by individuals and by the town, in town meetings, to secure a turnpike through the town from Torrington to New Haven. The town ap- pointed committees at different times to meet other com- mittees of the Legislature, to forward this object, and the town did considerable work on the road, but the project did not succeed.
About the time (near 1812-15) the New Haven turn- pike was given up, the road on the southern boundary of the town running from Waterbury to Marion was made a turnpike, a large part of the stock being owned by the Upson families of Wolcott.
CHAPTER III.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
As early as 1763 the people of Farmingbury winter parish had their own schools and were exempted from paying tax for schools outside of the parish, and this privilege was granted them until the parish was organized. At the first Society meeting, in Nov., 1770, a committee of six was appointed to divide the Society into Districts, and that committee made report to the adjourned meet- ing in the same month, which report was accepted by the Society, but what the report was is not stated in the records, and hence the difficulty of ascertaining how many Districts were established. There are, however indica- tions that from the first, and for several years afterwards, there were nine districts, for they appointed nine men as committeemen, and passed the following vote : "Each school committee shall collect their poll rate, each one in his district." The words "each one in his district," are quite definite information that one man only was ap- pointed to a district. The names of the several commit- tees indicate where these districts were located. Joseph Sutliff, jr., for the Southwest district ; Joseph Atkins for the one at the Mill place, for which district no name has been seen ; John Alcox for the West district ; Capt. Aaron Harrison at the Center ; Jedediah Minor for the East district, near John Bronson's ; Nathaniel Lewis for the Southeast district ; Amos Seward for the South dis- trict ; Simeon Plumb for the North district, and Daniel Finch for the Northeast district. All these districts are
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