USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Seymour > Seymour and vicinity. Historical collections > Part 12
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The Saturday before May 25th, there was a tremendous hailstorm ac- companied by terrific thunder and lightning and torrents of rain. The ground was literally covered with hailstones, many of which were as large as pigeous eggs. As described by a writer of the scene, "It seemed for a few moments as if all Iceland had been broken up and was being showered down on our devoted heads." One horse was so frightened that he ran, throwing out its driver, who was seriously injured. Other horses were so stupefied with fear that it was with great difficulty that their drivers could urge them to places of shelter.
Leverett Pritchard died June 4th, in the 83rd year of his age. He had "been an inhabitant of the town from his infancy, and his character ever remained unspotted, so much so that his morality had become proverbial. From his door the friendless were never spurned, and from his bounty the Imingry were fed and the naked clothed. In him the needy and destitute found a friend."-(Derby Journal.)
The Thursday before June 15th two men were covered by a landslide about a mile above the village, where workmen were engaged in making ex- cavations for the railroad. One of them was not found until life was extinct. The railroad bridge across the Naugatuck was built under contract by Dwight & French.
The new hall of Rock Spring Division, at the west end of the Nauga. tuck Bridge, was dedicated on the Friday evening before the 16th of October.
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SEYMOUR AND VICINITY.
1848-49]
George W. Bungay was the principal speaker and a poem was read by John W. Storrs.
On Tuesday evening, Ang. 1st, 1848, Gough made a powerful temper- ance speech in the M. E. Church, and on Monday and Wednesday evenings of the same week he lectured in the Congregational Church.
The telegraph came following close upon the railroad, and in November was in operation.
In this year Mr. Hyde from Oxford, N. Y., called to see his native place after an absence of thirty-four years. His father had been drowned in the Honsatonic River. His mother was buried in the Methodist cemetery. His brother Abijah Hyde was then living in Quaker Farms. Orson Hyde, the Mormon, was a brother of these. The old homestead was in the corner of the lot opposite Cedar Ridge school house, now owned by Judge Munson. The Hydes were remarkable for their good memories. Abijah and his brother from York state were Methodists, and the York state man has sons who have been noted as scholars in the M. E. Church.
A young man named Pitt was killed Nov. 11th, 1848, near the Bell school house, by the bursting of a cannon which was being fired in honor of the election of General Taylor to the presidency.
Most of the maples near the M. E. Church were set ont Oct. 28th, 1848, by Rev. Sylvester Smith and his son. Two had been set out on the west side of the church some years before by Alva Davis.
Lewis Bunce lost about $4,000 by the burning of his papermill, Dec. 23, 1848. Stock to the amount of 8675 was saved and he received $1,325 insurance.
The Rimmon paper Co. seems then to have been organized, as the D. R., Vol. 32, page 306, under date of Jan. 27th, 1849, refers to machinery of the mill which was destroyed by fire and states that the Company has a paid in capital of $5,100. The stock was taken as follows : Andrew W. DeForest, 66 shares; Burritt Hitchcock, 66 shares; Eli Hayes, 36 shares ; Horace Riley, 12 shares ; James II. Bidwell, 30 shares ; James Wallace, 20 shares ; A. W. DeForest, Agt., 10 shares ; total, 240 shares. Burritt Hitchcock, president ; A. W. DeForest, secretary. Bunce continued in charge of the inill which was located near the mouth of Little River, where the Douglass Manufacturing Co's lower shop now is.
The establishment of Humphreysville Academy is best recorded by quoting from the prospectus issned at the time.
HUMPHREYSVILLE ACADEMY,
HUMPHREYSVILLE, CONN.,
GEORGE B. GLENDINING, A. M .. AND MRS. NANCY HI. GLENDINING, PRINCIPALS,
The selection of Humphreysville for an Academic Institution, has been made not more with reference to the place itself than to a wide tract of the surrounding country, for which there have reined to be educational demands.
Located in the romantic valley of the Nangatuck, Humphreysville is peculiarly healthy ; and distant only ten miles from New Haven, sixteen from Bridgeport, and eighty from New York- with all of which places it is connected by a railroad soon to be in operation, it is most easily accessible.
For the youth of the place and the country around it, a higher institution of learning has ap peared to be needed ; at the same time regard has been had youth of the cities, for whom there may be here furnished, in connection with educational facilities at the most moderate rates, the safest guarantees for health and morals. The course of instruction to be pursued in Academy is designed to meet the wants of' pupils of both sexes, and of various ages and destination. Whatever the pupils shall profess to learn they will be required to learn thoroughly-superficial attainments being
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[1849
regarded as of little worth. * * * Instruction will be given in all the branches of an English education ; in the Classics-Latin and Greek; in French and Music. * * *
The Principals trust to the fruits of their labors so to commend them as to gain for their Academy an extended patronage. At their commencement they offer their qualifications, experience in teaching and devotion to the work, as pledges to satisfy such as may commit pupils to their charge. In addition they may refer to the Rev. W. F. Walker, Rector of Union Church, Humphreysville, who has known them for many years in their office as teachers; to the principal inhabitants of Troy, N. Y., where for nine years they taught successfully ; to the trustees of Cayuga Academy, Aurora, New York, of which Mr. G. was more than two years Principal; to Professor Mills of New York city, and to Professor Berteau of Brooklyn, L. I., in whose institution Mr. G. was more than two years professor of Belles Lettres.
Humphreysville, Feb. 22nd, 1849.
Speaking of Glendining's Academy the Derby Journal said, "The natural and picturesque scenery with which Humphreysville abounds, and the quietness of the village, render it exceedingly well adapted for the location of an institution of the kind .??
The new comers were immediately received with favor. In May the Academy had already forty-seven pupils.
Buffum's Cotton Factory took fire Feb. 22nd, but the flames were sup- pressed before any great damage was done. Loss about $200. Insured. A portable fire engine which was kept in the building was made to render good service, the water being carried from the "canal" to the reservoir of the engine in pails and then forced in a stream against the building.
In March Nathan White made an engraving of the village, which was spoken of by the Derby Journal as "very prettily gotten up and giving an accurate idea of the place."
There were in operation one cotton factory, three paper mills, French & Dwight's large establishment for the manufacture of augers, plane irons and other edge tools; also three other anger factories and one ax factory. A large building was being erected for the construction of cars.
Thursday evening, Mar. 15th, about 9 o'clock, French & Dwight's ma- chine shop was found to be on fire and was burned with all its contents. The shop was an old wooden one and was well stocked with tools, patterns, &e. Loss from $2,000 to $3,000. It stood on the east side of the canal where is now the tinning shop of the N. H. Copper Co.
John J. Rider was licensed as taverner and all licenses to sell spiritnous liquors were refused. Jacob Carter lectured on temperance Feb. 12th. Julius Bassett sailed for California Jan. 23rd.
Joshua Kendall, D. G. W. P., installed the officers of Rock Spring Di- vision Jan. 13th, as follows : William B. Curtiss, W. P. ; John Adams, W. A .; John W. Storrs, R. S. ; William Hughes, A. R. S .; Edward F. Bassett, F. S .; Henry Patterson, C .; Alonzo T. Smith, A. C .; Edward Hotchkiss, I. S .; E. Gainsby, O. S.
In April, Joshua Kendall was elected representative for the town of Derby.
The first locomotive came to Humphreysville on Thursday afternoon, May 10th, 1849; and the first passenger train on the following Monday, May, 14th.
Wilson Weston had his left hand and arm severely mangled June 28th, by the shears for cutting iron and steel, in the works of the Humphreysville Manufacturing Co.
The Rimmon dam was commenced this summer by Dwight & French.
The society of the "Daughters of Temperance" was instituted in August.
Friday, Dec. 14th, William B. Watson's horse was killed by a loco- motive and his stage broken up.
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1849-50]
In June the small pox was prevalent in Blueville, the dreaded disease having been brought in rags to the papermill.
VILLAGE DIRECTORY IN 1849.
Alopathic Physicians, Joshua Kendall, S. C. Johnson, Thomas Stoddard. Attorney, II. B. Munson.
Augers and bit manufacturers, Dwight & French ; French, Swift & Co. ; and Iliram Upson.
Ax manufacturer, Clark Wooster.
Boot and shoe dealer, William Hull.
Botanic Physician, J. D. A. Yale.
Clergymen, Congregational, William B. Curtiss ; Episcopal, William F. Walker; Methodist, Charles Stearns ; Baptist, William Dennison.
Cotton manufacturers, William Buffum, shirtings, 500,000 yds. yearly, consuming fifty tons of cotton, and running 54 looms. Forty-one persons employed. Sherman & Beardsley were manufacturing stocking yarn, batting twine and carpet warp.
Druggists, James Davis, Robert J. Abbott.
Furniture manufacturers and dealers, Johnson & Bassett.
Harness maker, Isaac N. Martin.
Justice of the Peace, Albert J. Steele.
John Moshier kept the only livery stable, in connection with the tavern. Merchants, Lyman Smith, Lucius Blackman, Downs & Sanford, Harri- son Tomlinson, Elias Hotchkiss, Humphrey & Wooster, Tuttle & Bassett, and Lucius Tuttle.
Paper makers, DeForest & Hodge, manufactured 480,000 1bs. printing paper yearly ; Lewis Bunce, manufactured printing paper, clothiers' boards and press paper; Smith & Bassett, manufactured wrapping, straw and button boards.
Stove and tinware dealers, E. Lewis & Co.
Tailors, J. A. Stevens, Charles W. Storrs.
The Humphreysville Copper Co. was organized in 1849 with a capital stock of $40,000. The first issue of stock was forty shares to S. C. Jolmson, Jan. 23rd. The proposal to establish a coppermill here was first made by Isaac Nathans to Raymond French. Mr. F. went to New York and made inquiries in regard to the manufacture of copper, prices of stock and mann- factured goods, etc., and becoming satisfied that the business was then a profitable one, returned and organized the company. JJ. W. Dwight was the first president of the company. The directors, Feb. 8th, were-Raymond French, Harrison Tomlinson, George Rice and Sheldon Kinney. D. R., Vol. 32, page 309.
In the spring of 1850 there was quite an exciting time over the election. The postmaster, Mr. Lum, had recently died and Rev. Samuel Hickox was talked of as snecessor, but John W. Storrs was finally appointed. The de- vision being partly a party matter, aided by religious preferences and preju dices, it became evident in March that the matter would considerably affect the spring election. Thomas Burlock of Ansonia was nominated by the whigs and Rev. Sylvester Smith of Humphreysville by the democrats. The election was held in the basement of the Congregational Church in Hum- phreysville. The friends of the defeated candidate for postmaster rallied for Rev. Sylvester Smith, and while Mr. Burlock confidently expected a majority of 125, Mr. S. received a majority of 26. Burlock was a great politician,
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and to be beaten by a local preacher and a papermaker, was no less a surprise than the success of the democratic ticket in a strong whig town.
The subject of dividing the town had not been agitated until after this election, but now it quickly became prominent. Messrs. Dwight and French led in the movement and Judge Munson was active in its advocacy. Why no one proposed the name of Humphrey for the new town, we have been unable to learn. The bill to grant the petition was prepared and printed with the name "Richmond," but before it was put on its passage Judge Munson came to Mr. Smith and suggested the name "Seymour." Mr. S. replied, "It is short, our Governor and the Speaker of the Honse have that name, and it is an eminent name in Connecticut, and we will have it the name of our town." The bill was so amended and passed. Following is a copy of the
Charter of the Town of Seymour,
General Assembly, May Session, A. D., 1850.
Upon the petition of Leman Chatfield and others praying for the incor- poration of a new town, as will fully and at large appear by their petition on tile, dated the th day of April, 1850, which petition has been duly served upon the town of Derby and was duly returned to and entered in the office of the Secretary of this State according to law.
RESOLVED BY THIS ASSEMBLY. That all that part of the town of Derby lying northerly of the following described line, to wit: commencing at the Housatonic River, thenee running casterly in a straight line touching the most northerly point of Martin B. Bassett's stone building on the east bank of said river, thence running easterly in the same straight line to the north side of the dwelling house now occupied by said Martin B. Bassett, thence in a straight line easterly to the stone bridge in the highway, about twenty-five rods westerly of the house occupied by Pearl Carpenter, thence fromn said bridge following down the brook that runs under said bridge, till it empties into the Naugatuck River, thence from the mouth of said brook easterly, in a straight line to the intersection of the line dividing the town of Wood- bridge from the town of Derby with the centre line of the Rimmon Falls Turnpike road; with all the inhabitants residing therein, be, and the same hereby are incorporated into a distinct town by the name of Seymour, and the inhabitants aforesaid, and their successors forever, residing within said limits shall have and enjoy all the powers, privileges and immunities which are enjoyed by other towns in this State, with the privilege of sending one repre- sentative to the General Assembly of this State.
Said new town shall support all bridges within their bounds, (except such as belong to turnpike companies or other corporations or individuals to support) and be released from supporting any bridges without the limits of said new town; shall pay and perform their proportion of the present debts and liabilities of Derby, and be allowed the same proportion of its credits, including the like proportion of the town deposit fund, and the same proportion of interest in the almshouse land; and shall take and support their proportion of the present town poor of said town of Derby; the proportion of the said new town in all the respects aforesaid being as the list of that part of the new town taken from the town of Derby for the year 1849, bears to the whole list of Derby, in the same year ; and the selectmen of the said town of Derby and Seymour are hereby empowered to apportion and divide the present town poor, the debts,
1850]
SEYMOUR AND VICINITY. KI
credits, town funds and als house land aforesaid, according to the rule afore- said ; and in case they should not be able to agree, then such apportionment shall be made by Samuel Meigs, Esquire, of Oxford, whose decision shall be final. And said town poor when so apportioned, shall be settled inhabitants for all purposes in the respective towns to which they are set and said new town shall be liable to maintain all such poor of the town from which it is taken, as are or may be absent therefrom ; provided, such poor person or per- sons at the time of their departure belonged to the portion of said town of Derby hereby incorporated, or were residents therein as settled inhabitants at the time of such departure therefrom.
Resolved further, That the collector of town and state taxes of said Derby, be hereby authorized lo collect the several taxes already laid, in the same manner as though this act had not passed.
Resolred further, That it shall be the duty of said new town to assume and perform the contracts and liabilities now subsisting between the town of Derby and any other person or persons for keeping in repair such portion of the roads of the old town of Derby as lie within the limits of said new town, and to save the said old town from all expense therefrom.
Resolved further, That the mileage of the said town of Seymour to Hartford be forty-five miles, and to New Haven be eleven miles.
Resolred further, That the first meeting of said town of Seymour shall be held on the fourth Monday of June, 1850, at the basement of the Metho- dist Episcopal Church at Humphreys Ville, in said town of Seymour; and Leman Chatfield, Esquire, (and in case of his failure to attend the same, Harris B. Munson, Esquire,) shall be moderator of said meeting; and said meeting shall be warned by setting up a notification of the same on a sign post hereby established at the east end of the bridge over Naugatuck River, at said Hunphreys Ville, and at such other place or places as said persons or either of them deem proper, at least five days before said meeting. And said town of Seymour shall at said first meeting, have all the powers incident to other towns in the State, and full right to act accordingly, to elect town officers ; and the officers so elected at such meeting shall hold their offices until others are chosen and sworn in their stead.
STATE OF CONNECTICUT, SS. I hereby certify that the foregoing
Office of Secretary of State, S is a trne copy of record in this office. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Seal of said State, at Hartford, this 12th day of September, A. D., 1850.
SEAL
JNO. P. C. MATHER, SECRETARY OF STATE.
January, 1850, was a remarkably warm month, and in the following month the snows were followed by heavy rains, raising the streams and caus- ing considerable damage. In the freshet of Feb. 10th and 11th the lower bridge was considerably damaged and narrowly escaped being carried away. There was also a high flood March 1st.
The water lease of S. Y. Beach's papermill expiring in this year, it was pulled down and removed to its present location on Bladen's brook. Paper- making was discontinued June 15th and resumed Sept. 2nd.
A town meeting was held June 24th in the basement of the M. E. Church, as provided by the charter, Leman Chatfield presiding as moderator. The principal officers of the new town were as follows:
Selectmen, Leman Chatfield, Daniel L. Holbrook. Thomas Cochran.
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[1850-52
Town Clerk, Charles B. Wooster; Town Treasurer, Sylvester Smith.
Grand Jurors, Burton W. Smith, Thomas Stoddard, George L. Hodge, Abel Holbrook, Charles L. Hyde, Walter B. Clark.
Constables, George H. Merrick, Philo Beecher, Oliver H. Stoddard, Hiram P. Johnson, Roswell Humaston, John J. Rider.
Committee on Roads, Sheldon Kinney, Daniel L. Holbrook.
Tithingmen, Church Society-Burton W. Smith, Sheldon Hurd, Isaac Lindley ; Methodist Society-John L. Hartson, Jarvis Polly ; Congregational Society-Medad K. Tucker, William II. Tuthill ; Baptist Society-Sharon Y. Beach, George L. Hodge; Great Hill Methodist Society-William C. Smith, Roswell Humaston ..
The second town meeting was held in the basement of the Congrega- tional Church, Oct. 30th, 1850. Leman Chatfield, Daniel L. Holbrook and Thomas Cochran were elected selectmen ; Charles B. Wooster, town clerk ; and Burton W. Smith, town treasurer.
At the electors' meeting held Mar. 31st, 1851, Bennett Wooster was elected the first representative of the Town of Seymour to the General Assembly.
The Baptist Society was organized in March, 1848, Rev. William Den- nison, from White Hills, in charge. The church on Maple street was built in 1851. Tythingmen were last elected for the church in October, 1859.
A union Sunday school festival was held Ang. 28th by the Baptist. Congregational, Episcopal and Methodist Sunday schools.
At the annual town meeting held Oct. 6th, the selectmen, town clerk and treasurer were re-elected.
At a special town meeting held in January, 1852, it was voted to build a new bridge over the Naugatuck, near Moshier's tavern, and Isaac B. Davis, Philo Holbrook and Raymond French were appointed building committee.
At the spring election, Rev. Sylvester Smith was elected representative, receiving 217 of the 354 votes cast. The following persons were elected justices of the peace :- Harris B. Munson, Leman Chatfield, Sharon Y. Beach, Isaac B. Davis, Charles B. Wooster, Philo Holbrook, George P. Shelton, Daniel L. Holbrook, Samuel R. Hickox, Eli S. Cornwall.
At the town meeting in the basement of the Congregational Church in October, Daniel Holbrook was elected first selectman but declined to serve another year. Isaac B. Davis, Sharon Y. Beach and Harpin Riggs were then elected and Burton W. Smith was elected treasurer. A resolution was passed authorizing the layout of a street past the house Denzel Hitchcock, now known as High Street, also accepting Humphrey street as highway. The following resolution was adopted:
Voted, that all Horses and Cattle be restrained from going at large upon the highways and commons in Seymour (except that any man owning one cow ouly can by permission from any one selectman, let her run at large provided she has a strap on her neck with the owners name on) and if so found going at large shall be liable to be impounded and that the penalty for each animal so im- pounded shall be seventy-live cents, two thirds of which sum to be paid to the person or persons so impounding the same, by the owner or owners of the animal or animals so impounded, and one-third to the pound keeper.
Voted, that Sheep and Swine be restrained from going at large upon the highways and commons in said town, and if so found going at large shall be liable to be impounded, and the penalty for each Sheep or Swine so impounded shall be twenty-five cents, to be paid to the person or persons so im- pounding the same by the owner or owner of the Sheep or Swine so impounded eighteen cents, and to the pound-keeper seven cents.
Voted, that Geese be restrained from going at large upon the highways or commons in said town.
1852-54]
SEYMOUR AND VICINITY.
and if so found gomg at large shall be liable to be impounded, and the penalty for each Goose so impounded shall be eight cents, one-half of which shall be paid to the person impounding the same and the other half to the pound-keeper, by The owner or owners of the geese so impounded.
Voted that any inhabitant of said town may lawfully impound all such creatures found going at large as aforesaid, and it shall be the duty of the person or persons impounding the same to give notice thereof to the owner or owners of such creatures, if known, within twenty-four hours after im- pounding the same, and in case the owner or owners of such impounded creatures be not known by the impounder, to inform forthwith one of the Constables of said town, whose duty it shall be to proceed in the same manner as is by law prescribed for Constables when they are informed that creatures are impounded for doing damage upon land, and the owners thereof is not known, and said Constable shall be entitled to his lawful fees in the same manner as for creatures doing damage upon land, provided that nothing in this vote or By-Law shall be so construed as to prevent the owner or owners of such creatures from redeeming them from the person or persons while driving them to pound, by paying the drivers fees.
Voted, that the foregoing By-Law be effectnal from and after the 26th day of November, 1852, until the first Monday in October, 1853.
Voted, that the town clerk be directed to cause the foregoing By-Law to be published four weeks successively in the Columbian Register printed in New Haven, also in the New Haven Palladium.
This by-law was re-enacted in 1853 and the penalties increased one-fourth. In 1854 it was repealed.
The vote of the town for presidential electors, Nov. 2nd, 1852, was- democratie, 258; whig, 105; free soil, 4.
The Humphreysville Copper Co. was re-organized in 1852 and the capital increased from $100,000 to $200,000 by the addition of 4,000 shares of $25 each. S. R., Vol. 3, p. 123. The President of the company certified that the whole amount had been paid in Feb. 2nd. A large part of the stock was taken in Humphreysville, the bank taking 700 shares. The directors of the company then were-William Cornwall, Timothy Dwight, George F. De Forest, Charles Durand and Harrison Tomlinson. In February, 1853, the directors were=Jolm W. Dwight, William Cornwall, Timothy Dwight, Charles Durand, Nathan Peck, Jr., of New Haven, Raymond French, George F. DeForest, Harrison Tomlinson and Sheldon Kenney of Seymour. The works were greatly enlarged and the business increased. Up to this time the business had proved very lucrative, but after the enlargement the profits decreased and the stock finally went down.
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