USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > New Canaan > Landmarks of New Canaan > Part 32
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[February 24, 1949]
Survivors of the great blizzard of '47 will be interested in the facts of the Great Blizzard of '88. Both the railroad and the newspaper were put out of commission, along with everything else in town. The snow started gently at noon on Sunday, March 11, 1888, but turned into a blizzard early Monday morning with a howling wind and the thermometer at 5 above.
The 6:10 train on Monday left New Canaan on time, reaching Stamford after some delay and there remained a week. The New York Express did not leave Stamford until 9 a.m. and stalled in a snowdrift a few miles out of town. There were not many passengers and the record does not mention any women, which is just as well. They all stayed in the train until Tuesday afternoon when a few of them got out to neighboring farm houses and several hardy souls tramped back through the snow drifts to Stamford. The train crew was on board 59 hours.
The snow did not stop until Wednesday morning and it took the rest of the week to dig out. It is recorded that telegrapher Santy did not get out of his office in the New Canaan station from Monday until Wednesday-he played solitaire, thought of his sins and took the pledge! Trains began to run again on Satur- day and that day the Messenger struggled out with a one page flier entitled "Snow Bound Edition" which contained a lot of wonderful stories of that week.
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A branch line of the New Haven did not have the local interest that had surrounded the New Canaan Railroad and the line dropped out of the news after 1884, except for especial items such as the blizzard. The most impor- tant event for years afterward wasn't even mentioned in the paper-electrification.
The great Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote a delightful poem after seeing one of the early electric trains. Perhaps it was on the New Canaan branch, for this was one of the earliest in the country, and what he saw was certainly an overhead trolley for that is his theme.
"THE BROOMSTICK TRAIN"
"He led the hags to a railway train The horses were trying to pull in vain, Now then, says he, you've had your fun, And here are the cars you've got to run, The driver may just unhitch his team, We don't want horses, we don't want steam, You may keep your old black cats to hug, But the loaded train you've got to lug. Since then on many a car you'll see A broomstick plain as plain can be, And every stick has a witch astride, The string you see to her leg is tied, And as for the hag you can't see her, But hark, you can hear her black cat purr, And now and then as the car goes by, You can catch the gleam of her wicked eye. Often you've looked on a rushing train, But just what moved it was not so plain. It couldn't be those wires above, For they can neither pull nor shove. Where was the motor that made it go? You couldn't guess, but now you know."
The New Haven had electrified the Nantas- ket Beach line out of Boston in 1895, and this was the first electric railway in the country. It was a great success and was quickly followed by others on several railroads. The New Ca- naan branch was electrified in 1899 and was the third or fifth project by the New Haven depending on whether you count extensions of the original New Britain and Nantasket lines.
It was the second to use an overhead trolley, perhaps second in the whole country, for all the engineers then favored third rail. The New Haven also favored third rail but the difference between the law suits arising at Nantasket as compared to the succeeding projects caused an overhead trolley to be installed on the New Canaan branch and the New Haven never again laid a third rail. In 1907 the main line was electrified at the same time as the Harlem division of the New York Central which in- sisted on third rail, but the New Haven stuck to the trolley in spite of interchange difficulties at Woodlawn Junction.
The news that did get in the paper in '99 had to do with morals and temperance! The Consolidated Road had issued all sorts of rules forbidding its employees to enter bars and saloons whether on or off duty and some were fired for violation! There also was a consider- able stir over efforts of the railroads in Con- necticut to secure repeal of a law forbidding trains to move in the state between 10 and 3 on Sundays. The clergy fought hard and edi- torials in the Messenger supported them!
The railroads were accused of bad faith as well as immorality, for it was said that the law had been a compromise openly arrived at, which the roads had accepted some years be- fore rather than not run on the Sabbath at all. It was, therefore, perfidious of them to go back to the legislature for a change so soon! In- cidentally, the state law at that time provided a fine of up to $50 for anyone caught playing baseball or other sport on Sunday.
In 1899 there was considerable excitement at the possibility of a trolley line from Norwalk to New Canaan. The Norwalk Tramway Com- pany was chartered by the legislature to build such a line and there was much debate pro and con as to whether it should be allowed to lay track on the principal streets of New Canaan or should approach the village by way of back alleys and vacant lots. In the end the project was never financed and the charter expired in November, 1899.
"There might be some excuse for these in- conveniences and delays if the New Canaan
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branch was operated at a loss to the railroad. But there are not eight miles of road owned and operated today by the company which in proportion to their cost yield so large a revenue from passenger and freight. The simple truth is this and it should be plainly stated, that this town has been in the past and is today, dis- criminated against by the Consolidated Road. Instead of making it as easy as possible for the traveler from New York to reach New Canaan it would seem to be the aim to surround the journey with every inconvenience and unne- cessary delay."
These bitter words appeared in an editorial in the New Canaan Messenger of May 28, 1904, just two days before the greatest im- provement in the branch line history was in- augurated. "Darkest before the dawn."
Present sufferers might take a lesson from the early days of the century, for in this case unified demand plus visitation to the head office of the railroad by a local committee brought the desired result. Officials promised to pro- vide improved service in the form of a through train to New York. A few months later, on Mon- day, May 30, 1904, the New Canaan Express, which provides such excellent service for Old Greenwich, made its first trip.
There was no band and little excitement but the Messenger declared it a new era. It was a steam train, since the main line was still not electrified, and consisted of baggage car, smo- ker and two coaches (the same ones, perhaps, which run today?). Some 75 people embarked at New Canaan and it is recorded that there was one "quiet game of whist."
On this first day the train arrived in New York on time in one hour and seven minutes. The schedule was 7:45 to 8:52, non-stop from Stamford. Thus, 45 years ago the scheduled running time was 10 minutes or 15 per cent better than it is today! On the return journey, however, four stops were made on the main line and the schedule was 5:30 to 6:49. It wasn't long before complaints and editorials began appearing against this slow return journey. By 1907 it was shortened to one hour and 11 min- utes with departure at 4:49 p.m. No record is
available as to when the New York departure of 5:08 was established. Nor is it evident just when Old Greenwich (formerly Sound Beach) became the favored key station on the sched- ule in both directions.
Although this was 45 years ago the record virtually stops there. The town has grown and the number of trains run over the branch line has increased but nothing happened that was exciting enough to be worth writing about. The famous New Haven Railroad scandal of 1907 had no local repercussions and the Mes- senger never even mentioned it.
There have been grade crossing accidents, some of recent memory, but there has never been an important wreck on the branch line. There have been delays due to ice storms and trees falling over the track and breakdowns on the main line. Everyone has had the experi- ence of getting home several hours late once or twice a year for some such cause; and also of arriving in Stamford a little late and finding that the two car trolley had just left with no passengers!
In the great snow of December 26, 1947, the branch line as well as the main line got all snarled up, but did not quite cease to function. The New Canaan Express got to Stamford that afternoon without too much difficulty and there picked up all the people who had left New York on earlier trains, except the 4:30. At Glenbrook it stalled in a snowbank, but after long delay all the passengers were crowded into the forward two cars. These the engine was able to pull through the snow all the way to New Canaan where they arrived about 8:30. At that hour it was still possible for most people to get home by dint of much cooperative pushing and digging. A lot of good citizens walked farther through deeper snow that night than they thought they could! The adventures of a typical group of commuters from the "Express" that night were recorded for posterity by Orville Prescott in his book column in the New York Times of Dec. 30.
The 4:30 train from Grand Central, carrying your author among many others, stalled at Port Chester and was delayed about an hour.
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H
Hellousers Brandle
Drawing based on photographs taken about the time the Consolidated Road took over
It arrived at Stamford just after the Express had started up the branch, so the passengers took up seats on the trolley cars at about 6:30 and were joined at intervals by arrivals from later trains. There they sat for five hours ex- pecting momentary departure, while a sym- pathetic train crew was never able to assure anyone leaving in search of food that he wouldn't be left behind. Most stayed hungry, but it was the complete absence of information that hurt.
Word filtered through that the express had dropped five cars at Glenbrook blocking the line, but pleas to have the trolleys carry them that far so the engine and two cars of the Ex- press could shuttle them on to New Canaan failed to reach anyone in authority. A search for the station superintendent brought word that he was home in bed. Finally the stalled cars were pulled back and about 150 people then reached New Canaan at midnight, hav- ing been up to seven and one-half hours on the journey.
By that time no country roads were open and hospitable villagers filled up their spare beds and sofas with stranded commuters. One hardy soul dug out three cars before finding his own and then broke the axle without moving per- ceptibly. About 50 people slept in cots at the town hall, the Veterans Center and in the wo- men's detention jail.
Of course commuters will always complain, because something always ought to be better! We tend to forget the daily blessing of not having to ride on the Long Island! There is ancient precedent: way back in 1868 on De- cember 12 the Norwalk Gazette sounded a still familiar complaint-its commuters never got a seat on the new modern coaches nor on the shady side. If only our branch line could snare some of that fine pre-war equipment that Darien and Norwalk have had for so long, we might not complain about never getting a ride on those shining new post-war cars-at least not for a while!
By and large the worst thing is that helpless
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feeling of being forgotten by a soulless cor- poration. But there is a hopeful portent: last year the New York, New Haven & Hartford had a change of management, and the very first big snow this winter was promptly plowed out of the station parking lot! It had never happened before.
Perhaps now we have a chance to get a New Canaan Express that is an express, to serve only the branch line and make the journey in
no more than an hour. Consolidation of the 7:37 and 7:57 into one train at say 7:50 (arriv- ing no later than 8:50) would provide enough passengers from the branch stops alone, and would not add to congestion on the main line. The way to get it is the way the good people of 1904 got the Express in the first place: a substantial show of unanimity and a committee to bring it to the attention of senior manage- ment.
ST. MARK'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Edited by S. PEARCE BROWNING, JR. [ March 3, 1949]
[EDITOR'S NOTE: The following are excerpts from the New Canaan ERA of January 16, 23, and 31, 1869.]
We trust the time has passed away forever when the term Episcopal church would excite personal prejudice. Her claims as a house of worship for all people can now be spoken of in public without fear of giving offense to any sensible portion of the religious community.
The frame of the first Episcopal Church crected in New Canaan was raised on the thir- teenth day of May, A. D. 1762. The church was erected on the lot of land donated by Mr. Husted, called the Old Church burying ground, situated about three quarters of a mile west from where the church now stands. The first Wardens were Mr. Stephen Betts and Dunlap Coggshall; and the Vestry were Mr. Samuel Hanford, Abijah Seeley, Seymour Tal- madge and John Raymond. The singing in the old choir was conducted by Miss Abbie and Laurie Pennoyer, sisters; Sarah Tuttle, Mr. John Jarvis, Jared Seymour, Samuel Raymond,
Alfred Raymond, and Luke Keeler. The parish was fully organized in 1791, and on the 2d day of January, 1792, "a tax was raised of two pence, lawful money, on the pound, for the ensuing year." Mr. Stephen Betts and Nathan Seeley were appointed collectors. They then held their own Easter meetings, having previously appointed a committee to attend the Easter meetings in Stamford and Norwalk. In March, 1792, "an extra tax of one penny, lawful money, on the pound," was raised for the church in both the last mentioned towns.
The first church erected on the old site was never finished throughout, and probably on this account was never consecrated. Before the war of the Revolution, the Rev. Dr. Leming of Norwalk, and after the war, the Revs. Dr.
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S' MARK'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH
From a lithograph by one Messieur Aubrun, probably done in August 1870.
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Bowden of Norwalk, and Dibble of Stamford supplied the pulpit. They were followed in turn by the Rev. Mr. Ogilvie and the Rev. Drs. Smith, Whitlock, Judd, Wheaton, Belden, Somers and Sherwood, and the Rev. Charles J. Todd, who, being the predecessor of the Rev. Dr. Clarke, spent half his time in the parish of Ridgefield.
In 1793, "a tax of three pence, lawful money, on the pound," was collected for the support of the ministry, and on the 14th of June of the same year, the Rev. Mr. Ogilvie was called for the remainder of the year. Mr. Samuel Han- ford, Jr., was Moderator of the meeting held for this purpose, and Mr. Stephen Betts made the agreement with the Rev. Mr. Ogilvie.
When the parish was organized in 1791 as an Ecclesiastical Society, Mr. Stephen Betts was Moderator of the meeting, and Mr. Jo- nathan Talmadge was sworn to a faithful per- formance of the office of Society's Clerk. The following names of thirty-five families were then enrolled on the Church Records, "for the cultivation of harmony, peace and good agree- ment."-Luke Raymond, Ebenezer Raymond, Timothy Raymond, Solomon Warren, Nathan Raymond, Silvanus Seely, Jr., Nathan Seely, Abraham Crissy, Seymour Talmadge, William Tucker, Mrs. Bethua Talmadge, Joseph Smith, Nathaniel Crissey, N. Crissey, Jr., Samuel Cris- sey, Abijah Seely, Lydia Leeds, Titus Finch, David Webb, Jr., Eliphalet Hanford, Abijah Comstock, Abram Dann, Ebenezer Hanford, Jr., William Bolt, John Jarvis, William Reed, Theophilus Hanford, Samuel Hanford, Jr., Timothy H. Hanford, Levi Tuttle, Peter Weed, Reuben Allen, and Samuel Seely. Of all these heads of families who attended the old church on the Husted property there are none remain- ing. They are all dead and gone, priest and people, fathers, mothers and children, alike anxiously interested in the welfare of God's holy church, now rest from their labors, and their works do follow them.
Mr. Stephen Betts lived in the house for- merly standing on the ridge near Mr. Alfred Raymond's. The dwelling has been pulled down, and the property is now in the posses-
sion of Mr. Joseph Crawford. Mr. Jonathan and Seymour Talmadge lived in the old home- stead, near the residence of Mr. Sherman Smith and Mr. Solomon Warren, in the house now occupied by his daughter, Miss Julia A. Warren. Mr. Abijah Seely occupied the Seely homestead, in Ponus Street, and Mrs. Lydia Leeds the old house which formerly stood on the present site of the newly enlarged dwel- ling of Mr. Wm. Y. Davenport. Mr. Abijiah Comstock lived in the house near the residence of Mr. Vanhouser. Mr. William Bolt and Mr. John Jarvis, were residents of White Oak Shade. Mr. Jarvis occupied the old red house, still standing, and Mr. Ebenezer Hanford on the property now in possession of Mr. H. Sel- leck. The house formerly occupied by Mr. Levi Tuttle, below the residence of Mr. Sam- uel Tuttle, has long since been removed. Mr. Peter Weed, brother of Mr. Henry Weed, the present senior warden of the church, was a resident of Ponus Street, as was also Mr. Reu- ben Allen. Mr. Allen was the then great singer of the parish and leader of singing in social circles. In later years he moved to the Western States, and has since died.
"As soon as Thou scatterest them they are even as sheep, and fade away suddenly like the grass."
The ground upon which the present church edifice is erected was purchased of Mr. Fair- weather by Mr. Stephen Betts, the purchase money being afterwards included as a part of his subscription to the building fund. The building committee were Saml. Raymond, Edward Nash and David S. Knight. The old church was taken down in the year 1833, after having weathered the storms of seventy-one years. On the 6th of May, 1834, the new church edifice was consecrated.
On the resignation of the Rev. Dr. Clarke, the regularly settled Rector of the Parish, the Rev. David Ogden was called and became
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the regularly settled Rector of the Parish. He entered upon his sacred duties on the 6th of July, 1837, and resigned on account of ill health July 1, 1842. It pleased Almighty God to remove this faithful Pastor from the midst of his sorrowing people June 8th, 1845. In March, 1845, the Rev. Wm. Everett accepted a call to the Rectorship, and remained until the ensuing Easter. He was succeeded by the Rev. Dr. Short, who was the Pastor six years; the Rev. Wm. Long three years; the Rev. Wm. H. Williams, two and a half years, and the Rev. Wm. H. Cook, five years. During the Rec- torship of the Rev. Wm. Long, the present or- gan was purchased, and the old melodeon re- moved from the choir, where it had seen good service. The church was remodelled and par- tially rebuilt during the Rectorship of the Rev. W. H. Williams at an expsense of about $3,500. After this alteration was made, the new church
was opened May 12, 1858, by the Right Rev. Bishop Williams. A debt of about $1,200 now remained on the building, $500 of which was paid before the call of the present Pastor, and the balance of about $700, by the friends and people of the Parish during the first year of his ministry. A legacy in property, to the value of about $500, was left to the Parish by Mr. Ezra Seymour, who lived in White Oak Shade, his home, which stood on the site of the present residence of Mr. Fish, being pulled down.
The Sunday school of St. Mark's was first organized in 1833, under the superintendance of Miss Esther Betts, daughter of Mr. Stephen Betts and now, 1869, Mrs. Lewis Raymond, a widow, 79 years of age, and residing in Nor- walk.
THE HOYT-PABST HOUSE "Crusoes In Our Midst"
M. FARMER MURPHY, Author
CLINTON VAN DE WATER, Artist
[March 17, 1949]
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Written some 20 years ago, when the author was a correspondent for the New York Times, this story tells about life as lived then by Gardner and Wilbur Hoyt. The home of Robert E. Pabst at North Wilton and Bald Hill roads, pictured above, in- cludes part of the old Moses Hoyt homestead in which the brothers resided. )
Suppose every man had to raise his own food- stuffs, make his own clothes, build his own house. Comfortable living would then be im- possible.
Such was the preamble of a recent adver- tisement that aimed to point out the complex- ity of civilization and the advantages of organ- ization and diversification of industry. The ad- vertiser wished to make his readers see the ab-
surdity of any one's trying by his own labor to meet all his own requirements in this land and in this day.
Yet within fifty miles of New York and with- in five or six miles of New Canaan center, two brothers, Gardner and Wilbur Hoyt, about 50 years of age, supply all their needs by their own labor and manage to live comfortably, too.
The Hoyts dwell in an old Colonial farm-
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house that is well kept and tidy, though some- what in need of paint. In season their door yard is beautified with blossoms of lilac, rose of Sharon, bridal wreath, bleeding heart and lily-of-the-valley. Here, in almost the simpli- city of the Pilgrims and in defiance of the mo- dernity, the brothers abide. The world with its new-fangled contraptions moves by them without influencing them. Civilization sur- rounds yet does not engulf them. They live on their little island of the past, peaceful, inde- pendent, imperturable. Sufficient unto them- selves, they can bid the world go hang.
A huge woodpile shows how little terror the price of coal has for them, and this is but the introduction to their strange scheme of domes- tic economy. They make their own shoes. The leather comes from a cow or a calf that they have killed for meat. They cure the hide them- selves. And they make their own clothes. Their ordinary garb is fashioned of overall stuff. Gloves, mittens and caps come just as easy to these primitive tailors, and they knit their own socks with the skill of a woman war worker. The only concession they make to the factory system of the outer world is to buy their cloth- ing materials.
From their two cows comes milk for butter and cheese. Their hens give them eggs to eat and sell. Their porkers provide them with their chief item of meat, though now and then they have chicken or veal. In the autumn they smoke hams and bacon over a fire of green hickory or birch and laugh at the Chicago packers.
Their garden keeps them in potatoes and other vegetables. They always cultivate, be- sides, two rows of broom corn and two of to- bacco. When the corn is dry they make brooms of it. They cure the tobacco and break the brown leaves in the hand when they wish to fill a pipe. Corn, oats and hay of their own raising provide food for their stock. They oncc planted wheat and buckwheat for flour, but that was before civilization stilled the grist mills beside the neighborhood brooks.
When the Hoyts leave home they leave to- gether. Sometimes they walk, in long, swing-
ing strides. If they ride, they go in a wagon with straight shafts and wooden axles, drawn by one of their two horses. The wheels are held on with iron pins.
Years ago, when they had the wagon built, they thought it would be a good idea to buy an extra wheel. Perhaps they feared that the supply of wood for spokes might give out; per- haps that prices might rise. That extra wheel has remained in the attic all these years. The wagon has been so carefully handled that the "spare" has never been needed, and the saying "as useless as a fifth wheel to a wagon" is still not discredited.
Twice in their lives the brothers have visited New York City, and that was more than 30 years ago. They have never used a telephone. But let no one suppose they are so uninformed. They take a daily newspaper and a weekly, they read substantial books and discuss cur- rent questions with clearness and sense. For pastime they go fishing.
Cold weather and long winter evenings do not bring loneliness and gloom to the Hoyts. Outdoor chores are finished early, and then the brothers sit before a roaring wood fire, one reading aloud from the book or paper while the other fashions baskets.
These baskets are not the fancy souvenir sort that fall apart or lose their handles. They are substantial and useful and of exquisite work- manship. They are made from splints of maple or white oak or ash which has been carefully selected for its straight and even grain. The splints are first split out of the log and then planed until they are as smooth and almost as thin as a silk ribbon. They are cut to various widths according to the use to which they are to be put, wider for the frame and narrower for the filler, and are kept in a water bath to make them pliable.
While the reading goes on there gradually grows under the manipulation of skilled hands a pattern as pleasing in its graceful utility as any stuff woven on the loom. Little square bas- kets that seem to invite two dozen eggs; taller oval baskets fit to hold thermos bottle and pic- nic things; small baskets for cut flowers from
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