USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > New Haven > New Haven, a book recording the varied activities of the author in his efforts over many years to promote the welfare of the city of his adoption since 1883, together with some researches into its storied past and many illustrations > Part 28
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60
(Reprinted from the Journal-Courier of May 9, 19II.)
Few houses in the city of New Haven have a more inter- esting history than has the Trowbridge mansion on Elm Street, which now passes into the hands of the city and which, it is expected, will ultimately be removed. The house faces the Green and stands between the new County Court House and the Ives Memorial Library.
Upon the death of Chief Justice Daggett in 1851, his place was sold to Mr. Thomas Trowbridge, who had the house sawed in two and moved down Church Street to its present site on Columbus Avenue, a few doors from the Church of the Sacred Heart, where the house in mutilated form, still stands. Mr. Trowbridge at once began the erection of the present Trowbridge house after designs of Mr. Sidney Mason Stone, the leading architect of New Haven at that time, and the designer of many excellent buildings. The Trowbridge house was completed and occupied in 1852.
No house in the city is perhaps more identified with the Civil War than the Trowbridge house. While not himself an office holder, Mr. Trowbridge became keenly interested in public affairs at the beginning of the Fremont campaign. Here he entertained Abraham Lincoln during his congressional campaign, and during 1858, 1859 and 1860 his house was one of the stations for the so-called "Under-Ground Railroad"- a system for assisting the escape of slaves. In this enterprise
303
THE THOMAS TROWBRIDGE MANSION
Mr. Trowbridge co-operated with a committee in New York, and with Governor Washburn of Massachusetts, who made several visits to Mr. Trowbridge in this house. Governor Washburn was then and later, a prominent figure in national affairs, and was one of our ministers to France. All of the northern victories during the war, including the surrender of Lee, were celebrated from the front porch of the house, and speeches of encouragement to soldiers going to the front and congratulations to soldiers coming from the front, were made under its colonnade.
In this house Mr. Trowbridge entertained President Hayes for some days. James G. Blaine, the "Plumed Knight," as he was then called, was also entertained there by Mr. Trowbridge, and from its portico he made his first denial of the sentiments contained in Dr. Burchard's speech, which, in the minds of many, cost Mr. Blaine the election. I refer to the famous speech in which Dr. Burchard denounced the other party as the friend of "Rum, Romanism and Rebellion."
The writer remembers that visit of Mr. Blaine as though it were yesterday. His visit to New Haven to make a campaign speech had been on the cards for days and the speech looked forward to with anticipation, but the complexion of the situa- tion was entirely changed by the receipt of the morning papers containing a synopsis of Dr. Burchard's inconceivable foolish speech the night before in New York. The entire country rang with the fatal alliteration of "Rum, Romanism and Re- bellion," and it was seen that the "Plumed Knight" had been dealt a mortal blow by a friend. That eventful morning after, all citizens of both parties were on the qui vive to see how Mr. Blaine would bear up under this terrible blow; what reply he would make to Dr. Burchard's speech.
He came up from New York, as I remember it, that very morning. He was presumably met at the station by Mr. Trowbridge, but I recall only Mr. Blaine, who dominated every one and everything. Entering an open carriage, drawn by a pair of spirited horses, they clattered up State Street to Chapel
304
NEW HAVEN :
Street at a rapid gait, and then swung into Church Street and up to the Trowbridge house. In front of the house the candi- date made a speech to a considerable crowd. He carried off his entry into the city with such dash and spirit that every one was forced to admire his courage and nerve. He was, I think, equally successful in his speech. Every one agreed that he could not have handled the situation better, but no man could have recovered from that alliteration of Dr. Burchard's. I don't mean to say, of course, that "Rum, Romanism and Re- bellion" cost Mr. Blaine his election, but that it helped to lose the Presidency for him, can hardly be denied. This and more . may be told of the Trowbridge house on the political side.
The Trowbridge family had long been in the West India trade and had learned the hospitable traditions of the West Indian planters, and here too in his New Haven home Mr. Trowbridge entertained his business friends with southern hospitality-Sir Thomas Briggs, merchants from Trinidad, Martinique, Demerara and the Spanish Main, resounding and romantic names.
Architecturally the Trowbridge house may be regarded as the best essay in domestic architecture of Sidney Mason Stone. With this house the classical sequence may be said to have ended. The correct proportions of the four columns of the portico have never been properly seen, however, owing to their shroud of heavy brown paint which kills classical details. It is to be hoped that when the house is torn down, the portico may be used as a new front for the Center church chapel on Temple Street.
GEORGE DUDLEY SEYMOUR.
NOTE : When the house was torn down in 1912, the four imposing fluted columns of its façade were saved and stored in a shed back of the Center Church Chapel, and there they lay, rotting, until they were chopped up in 1919-1920 to feed the fires of Center Church, of which Mr. Trow- bridge, the builder of the house, was a pillar. For all that, his shade must bewail the chopping up of those fine fluted columns, even to keep the "home fires burning." G. D. S., 1921.
XXVIII.
NEW HAVEN'S ROLL OF HONOR: NAMES OF NEW HAVEN WORTHIES SELECTED FOR THE MEMORIAL ARCH OF 1912.
(Reprinted from New Haven newspapers of the time.)
Let us now praise famous men and our fathers that begat us.
Ecclesiasticus 44: I.
The crowning feature of the New Haven Week celebration of 1912 was the Court of Honor, arranged in front of the churches on the Green, and the leading feature of this Court of Honor was a memorial arch, for which I was asked to compile a list of names of New Haven's most famous citizens from its foundation up to the present time. The compilation of this list required a careful review of New Haven's past history and the balancing of many conflicting claims. As was expected, the list provoked considerable discussion and rivalry, but it was placed substantially without change upon the tablets of the arch. I also prepared a list of names considered but not included. The original list was offered as representative, rather than definitive. The letter of transmittal to Mr. Smith, whose firm erected the arch, and the list and addenda here follow :
DEAR MR. SMITH :
NEW HAVEN, CONN., Aug. 5, 1912.
I enclose herewith a proposed list of names to be placed upon the tablets of the Memorial Arch to form the central feature of the "Court of Honor" on the Green for the "New Haven Week" celebration. I have added to the list of names sufficient descriptive text to suggest my reason for choosing each name. Of course these notes might be greatly amplified if it were thought necessary or desirable, but I believe that the names chosen will justify themselves, in a great majority of cases at least, without explana- tion. I have endeavored to make the list as broadly representative as possi- ble, and in this way I have been obliged to leave out names of many old New Haven families that it would have been a pleasure to include, as well as names of prominent citizens of more recent times.
306
NEW HAVEN :
As I told you when you called upon me, I do not feel that I am the person to compile New Haven's Roll of Honor and I shall be glad to have you get Governor Baldwin, Mr. Henry T. Blake, or Professor Franklin B. Dexter to pass upon the list. I think, however, that these gentlemen would probably endorse most of the names on my list. Any pupil of our schools who could be induced to look up each name, would, when he got through, be well versed in the history of New Haven from its foundation to the present day.
If the list is too long, I shall leave it to you to cut down. If you have space for more names, I shall be pleased to supply them.
Very truly yours,
GEORGE DUDLEY SEYMOUR.
Mr. Jabez Amesbury Smith,
New Haven, Conn.
PROPOSED LIST OF NAMES.
Eaton and Davenport-Co-founders of the New Haven Colony.
Dixwell, Goffe and Whalley-Regicides; names affixed to death warrant of Charles I, and perpetuated in three of our streets.
Brockett-Surveyor ; laid out the "Market Place," now called the "Green"; a subscriber to the fundamental articles of the New Haven Colony.
Gilbert-Magistrate; merchant; deputy governor.
Allerton-Mayflower Pilgrim; leading merchant of New England of his time. (Sometimes styled the Father of American Commerce. He lies buried on the Green near the site of the flag-pole.)
Saltonstall-Governor of Connecticut; descendant of Sir Richard Sal- tonstall; built house near Lake Saltonstall, then called "Furnace Pond," in 1708.
Lamberton-Captain of the "Great Shippe" lost at sea in 1646 and known as the "Phantom Ship."
Yale-Father of Elihu Yale.
Hopkins-Governor of the Colony; founder of Hopkins Grammar School. Cheever-First school teacher of New Haven.
Ingersoll-Lawyer; prominent in stamp act controversy; admiralty law- yer ; first of a line of lawyers of the name to have offices facing New Haven Green for 160 years.
Hillhouse-United States Senator; prime mover in the planting of the New Haven elms; reclaimed and saved the Connecticut school fund. Treas- urer for fifty years of Yale College, indebted to him for securing the land necessary to complete the College Street front of the old Campus.
Wooster-Major-General in Revolutionary Army; took part in the cap- ture of Louisburg in the "Old French War"; succeeded General Richard Montgomery in command at Quebec; born 1711; mortally wounded at Ridgefield in a skirmish with General Tryon after the burning of Danbury in 1777.
307
NEW HAVEN'S ROLL OF HONOR
Sherman-Signer of the Declaration of Independence; United States Senator; framer of United States Constitution ; first Mayor of New Haven.
Baldwin-Governor of Connecticut; United States Senator; defender of the captives of the Amistad, "the most famous case ever tried in Connecticut" (1739-1818).
Daggett-Chief justice of Connecticut; United States Senator.
Hooke-Associate pastor of Center Church with Davenport, and later domestic chaplain to Oliver Cromwell.
Pierpont-Minister of Center Church; one of the founders of Yale Col- lege; accredited with drafting the "Saybrook Platform."
Bacon-Minister of Center Church; noted preacher; abolitionist.
Beecher-The Rev. Dr. Lyman Beecher; eminent preacher and theo- logian; early abolitionist; father of Henry Ward Beecher, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Isabella Beecher Hooker and Catherine E. Beecher. Dr. Beecher was born in New Haven, on George Street, and is buried in the Grove Street Cemetery.
Munger-Minister of United Church; progressive theologian; essayist.
Dwight (the elder)-President of Yale; Yale's greatest teacher; theolo- gian; writer; foremost American educator of his generation.
Woolsey-President of Yale; writer of works on international law.
Brush-First director of Sheffield Scientific School; eminent educator.
Whitney, Wm. Dwight-Scholar of international reputation.
Dana, James Dwight-Geologist; writer of text books.
Whitney, Eli-Inventor of cotton gin.
Blake-Inventor of ore crusher in use throughout the world.
Goodyear-Inventor of vulcanized rubber.
Trumbull-Artist; friend of Washington; patriot; diplomat.
Doolittle-Early American engraver ; patriot; "Paul Revere of Connecti- cut."
Town-Architect and builder of Center Church, Trinity Church and Old State House; bridge builder.
Hoadley-Architect and builder of United Church and many other fine designs in New Haven and through-out the state.
Augur-One of the earliest American sculptors; to be ranked with Rush and Frazee.
Jocelyn-Portrait painter and engraver; pupil of John Trumbull.
Lovell-Lancasterian school teacher. His famous school, opened in 1822, was continued to 1857, when it was supplanted by the New Haven graded schools.
Russell-Proprietor of famous military school.
Webster-Author of American Dictionary of the English Language.
Percival-Poet and scientist; made geological survey of Connecticut.
Mitchell-Writer; landscape architect; laid out East Rock Park.
Gregson-Merchant; lost in "Phantom Ship"; benefactor of Trinity Church.
Townsend-Representative sea Captain; made the famous voyage of the "Neptune" around the world in 1796-99.
308
NEW HAVEN :
Terry-Hero of Fort Fisher.
Foote-Rear Admiral United States Navy.
Winthrop-Civil War hero; author of "Cecil Dreeme," "Saddle and Spur," etc.
Bushnell-Builder of "Monitor."
Sperry-Friend of Lincoln; coadjutor with Bushnell in building the "Monitor."
Lewis-Progressive Mayor of New Haven.
Osborn-Founder of New Haven Evening "Register"; journalist of wide influence and reputation; advocate of important public works; descendant of old New Haven families.
Sheffield-Founder of the Sheffield Scientific School.
Winchester-Manufacturer of arms of world-wide use.
Sargent-Manufacturer of hardware of world-wide use.
Farnam-Benefactor of Yale and New Haven.
Trowbridge-Benefactor of Yale and New Haven.
English-Benefactor of Yale and New Haven.
Welch-Benefactor of Yale and New Haven.
Marett-Benefactor of Public Library, New Haven Hospital and Orphan Asylum.
Ives-Foundress of Public Library building.
Addis-Benefactor of Hospital and Orphan Asylum.
Boardman-Foundress of Boardman High School.
ADDENDUM NO. I.
I am certain that the list is open to criticism. I am equally certain that no list could be made on which there would be agreement as to all of the names, and I am inclined to the belief that an "interloper" may be relied upon to look at the subject more fairly and in a broader way than any "town-born" person, whose prejudices would lead him to place old New Haven names above names recognized by outlanders as standing for real distinction or achievement. I also wish to make it clear that the list must be viewed as largely representative, and in no sense inclusive.
On the New Haven side I should have been pleased to have included :
Henry Austin: "Father of Architects," architect of our City Hall, the old College Library, the gateway to Grove Street Cemetery, etc.
Sidney Mason Stone : Architect. Mr. Stone designed the Thomas Trow- bridge house, soon to be demolished; the old Third Church, which was torn
309
NEW HAVEN'S ROLL OF HONOR
down only a few months ago to make way for the new Second National Bank; the College Street Church; the Ezekiel Trowbridge house, and so on.
Robert Newman: One of the foremost men among the planters of New Haven, Governor of New Haven Colony, and the owner of the famous barn in which the first town meetings were held.
Major Nathan Whiting: A gallant officer in the "Old French War" and present at the taking of Louisburg.
Postmaster Mitchell: Entitled to remembrance as having had progressive ideas on the subject of postal service for his time, and. as being one of the first, if not the first, postmasters in this country to use postage stamps.
Augustus R. Street, Esq .: Mr. Street built the old New Haven House and was responsible for the founding of the Yale School of the Fine Arts.
Bancroft Foote: Mr. Foote is entitled to rank with New Haven bene- factors on account of his large bequests to the Boys' Club and the General Hospital.
On the college side I should like to have included the follow- ing names :
Prof. William Brewer: Co-laborer with Brush, Whitney and Lounsbury, Lyman Norton and Daniel C. Eaton, in building up the Sheffield Scientific School; teacher, investigator, arctic explorer, writer, naturalist.
Prof. Benjamin Silliman, the elder : In the fore part of the last century Professor Silliman was not only one of the foremost figures in New Haven but one of the foremost figures of the scientific world in America. He was a good scientist for his time and gave a great impulse to the study of science in this country. He edited and published "Silliman's Journal," one of the foremost scientific publications in this country for many years.
Prof. Hubert G. Newton: Eminent as a mathematician and physicist spe- cializing in celestial mechanics, and one of the few college professors ever to have taken an active part in New Haven's municipal affairs.
Prof. Othniel Marsh: A noted scientist, but more eminent as a collector.
Prof. Johnson: Professor Johnson lived so retired a life here for many years that this community never realized, perhaps, that he is entitled to rank as the "Father of Agricultural Chemistry" in this country. His investi- gations in plant foods paved the way for the United States Department of Agriculture.
Prof. William Graham Sumner: The greatest Yale teacher of recent years and noted as the apostle of free trade and as a writer on economic and social questions.
But the inclusion of so many Yale names would justly be criticised on the ground that they disturbed the balance of a list to be considered as representing the city of New Haven. Nor would the list be complete on the Yale side without the names of James Hadley, Elias Loomis and Thomas Day
310
NEW HAVEN :
Seymour. The Yale names already on the list must in a sense represent these other distinguished names.
On the purely New Haven side I regret not to have included such old New Haven names as Winston, Alling, Atwater, Bradley, Tuttle, Hotchkiss, Ives, Betts, Mansfield, Hotchkiss, Townsend and Pardee.
In writing the name Pardee, I am thinking in particular of George Pardee, the school teacher, who is but dimly seen through the mists of time. He took the place of Ezekial Cheever as the teacher of the New Haven boys, after Cheever turned his back on New Haven and found a more congenial sphere for his activities in Boston.
I have certainly written enough to make it clear that the compilation of any list is attended with immense difficulty, and that some of the names must always be debatable.
G. D. S.
ADDENDUM NO. 2
My local pantheon was already somewhat overcrowded but the end was not yet. Space was found on the tablets being prepared, for six more names, and birds freighted with sug- gestions, if I may so characterize the situation, began to flutter through my open window. My position grew more delicate- six places to be filled and no more.
The Journal-Courier of September 19th printed the follow- ing article :
When the panels containing the names on New Haven's "Roll of Honor" were completed and ready to be put in place on the arch in the center of the Green, it was discovered that there was still room for six more names. Word was conveyed to George Dudley Seymour, whose selections for the roll had been heartily approved, and he prepared a list for the additional spaces. He has added a number of names also considered worthy of being honored, telling why they could not be included. The selections and data follow :
311
NEW HAVEN'S ROLL OF HONOR
Zunder-Leading Hebrew citizen of his day. During long service on the Board of Education he contributed largely to the development of the New Haven public schools.
Carmody-Minister of St. John's R. C. Church for a long period. The leading representative in New Haven for many years of a race which has for nearly one hundred years enriched the life of the city. A man of intel- lectual force, dignity and benevolence. A friend of Dr. Leonard Bacon. He received the Doctorate of Divinity degree from the College of the Propaganda at Rome.
Brewster-Prime mover in the upbuilding of the great carriage industry of New Haven; first president of the Consolidated Road; active in public affairs. Father of the Rev. James Brewster of Chirst Church, and grand- father of Bishop Brewster of Connecticut and Bishop Brewster of Colorado.
Smith-Dr. Nathan Smith did more for the general advancement of the medical and surgical practice than any of his predecessors or contemporaries in this country. The most distinguished member of the first medical faculty of Yale. Recognized both in America and in Europe as one of the greatest contributors to the science of medicine and surgery of the last century.
Silliman the Elder-Pioneer in the sphere of natural science in this coun- try and a man of national fame. Father of the study of the natural sciences at Yale. Conducted the Connecticut Journal of Science. Professor at Yale for over half a century. "A man of letters and of manners, too." Member of the National Academy of Science. President of American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Croswell-Minister for forty-three years of Trinity Church, which under him took the foremost place in the diocese. Brilliant and witty controver- sialist. Before coming here in 1815, he was editor of a paper published at Catskill, N. Y. An ardent federalist, he was finally prosecuted for libel and defended by Alexander Hamilton. He was convicted, but the trial resulted in the freedom of the press. He was a man of wide sympathies and minis- tered to the whole city as no New Haven minister had done before or since his time.
These six names are selected from a much larger list. The name of Father Carmody was not selected without considering the names of Colonel Healey and Colonel Cahill, both gallant New Haven Irishmen who served in the Civil War. No mis- take would have been made in including the names of either Bernard Reilly or Major Maher, had that been possible. Alexander Troup has also high claims to a place on account of his support of the labor movement, not popular with New Haven conservatives, but unquestionably one of the most sig-
312
NEW HAVEN :
nificant social movements of the century. Mr. Troup was greatly interested in the welfare of New Haven, and in placing the administration of city affairs on a business basis. He advocated the city improvements then under way.
The medical profession is now represented on the list by the name of Nathan Smith, who seems to have been the most distinguished man of his profession who ever lived here. In selecting his name I have reluctantly passed over the names of Dr. Eneas Munson, the Elder, a native of New Haven, a prominent citizen, one of the founders of the Connecticut Medical Association and its second president. In the same connection I should mention the names of Dr. Jonathan Knight and Drs. Eli and Levi Ives. Dr. Munson was a friend and correspondent of Captain Nathan Hale, Yale 1773.
With the name of Mayor Lewis it would have been a pleasure to have associated the name of Mayor Skinner, one of the most public spirited and progressive mayors New Haven ever had.
Eli Whitney, 2d, might have been mentioned in connection with his father, the distinguished inventor, for his services in introducing water into New Haven, which he did against the determined opposition of many of the most prominent citizens of that time. His plan was to make the introduction of water a public enterprise, but the opposition was so great it was finally put through as a private undertaking.
Among the artists the names of Rossiter and Ives might have been included. Ives was a native of Hamden but closely associated with New Haven.
Louisa Cornelia Huggins, better known as Mrs. Tuthill, a native of New Haven, was a writer of note and also the first to call New Haven the "City of Elms."
Among New Haven writers Colonel DeForest should have been included. William Dean Howells placed him in the fore- front of American novelists. The scene of his most famous novel, "Miss Ravanel's Conversion," was laid in New Haven.
Not to make this list longer, I may say in leaving the whole
313
NEW HAVEN'S ROLL OF HONOR
subject that I regret more than anything else not having included the name of Willard Gibbs, who was born in New Haven, spent his entire life here, and died here, though he lived in such retirement that even many members of the Yale faculty did not know him by sight. He is recognized by many as the greatest American in the field of science, and Lord Kelvin, in a recent conversation with Mr. Stokes, expressed the view that Professor Gibbs was easily entitled to rank among the ten greatest Americans. I should like to see Lord Kelvin's list. He might well have said that for sheer intellectual power, Jonathan Edwards and Willard Gibbs (both born in Connecticut) were never surpassed, if equalled, by any men of American birth.
After the original list had been placed in the hands of Mr. Mattoon and by him turned over to Mr. Tosi, the sculptor, I received a long cablegram from Mr. Seymour C. Loomis, then at Charlottenburg, urging the claims of Prof. Elias Loomis to a place on the list. I had already considered the name of Professor Loomis, who is, I believe, entitled to be considered the "Father of the Weather Bureau," just as Professor Johnson is entitled to be considered "Father of the Department of Agriculture." But the list was already heavy with college names, and I did not see my way clear to include these two distinguished citizens, who have brought so much honor to New Haven and to Yale.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.