USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Redding > The history of Redding, Connecticut : from its first settlement to the present time > Part 14
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CHAPTER XIV.
History of Schools.
WE have before spoken of the care of our Puritan ancestors to pro- vide for the church and the ministry in their infant settlements. They were equally careful to furnish them with the school and the teacher. If piety was one of the pillars of democracy, so also was intelligence; and church and school were alike deemed indispensable to the growth and security of the state; hence we find the pioneers of Redding making early provision for the establishment of schools among them. The first recorded movement of the parish in the matter was in 1737, when, at a parish meeting held December 26th, 1737, it was voted to have a parish school, and to maintain said school by a parish rate. John Read, Joseph Lee, Joseph Sanford, John Hull, Nathan Lion, Stephen Morehouse, and Daniel Lion were the first school committee. The meeting also voted : "that said school be divided into three parts, that is to say, five months in that quarter called the Ridge, and five months on the west side of the parish near the mill, and two months at Lonetown, understanding that the centre of division is the meeting-house, and that Stephen Burr be- longs to the west side."
These were the original school districts of the town; in them the first rude school-houses were erected, and from the one to the other went the peripatetic school-master as his duties called him. These school-houses were built of logs; their furniture was of the most meagre description, consisting of a sloping desk of boards affixed to the wall and extending around three sides of the building, benches of rough-hewn plank and a planed pine board whereon the student "figgered" with bits of charcoal. Nor was the curriculum of the schools much more extensive. Reading,
*To 1880.
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
writing, and arithmetic were all that was then thought necessary for the country boy to know; further knowledge was to be acquired in schools of a higher grade.
As years passed on, and new families moved into the place, the dis- tricts became strong enough each to support its own school.
Hence we find a parish meeting held December 10th, 1742, voting: "that the interest of the school money belonging to the parish shall be divided into three equal parts for the year ensuing, for the maintaining of three separate schools (each to be kept by a master), one third part of the money for that part of the Parish east of Little River, one third part for that part of the Parish between Little River and the Saugatuck River, and one third for that part west of the Saugatuck. Provided, that each part of the Parish as above divided, keep a school as above- said three months in the year ensuing, but if any part of the Parish fail in keeping a school as abovesaid, the other two parts that keep said school, shall equally divide the said money between them, and if two parts of the Parish fail in keeping a school as abovesaid, that part of the Parish that shall keep said school the three months, shall draw the whole of the school money." The same districts are defined in the appro- priation of the school money in 1743 as being "the school on the West side of Aspetuck River, the school by Mill River (Saugatuck), and the school by the Church."
In 1745 the appropriation was made to the same districts, with the provision that each should "keep a school with a school master sufficient- ly capable to learn children to Wright and Reade."
There seems to have been no change in this respect until 1764, when it was voted: "that the school money should be subdivided according to the lists within such subdivisions." In 1768 the bounds of the districts were first set out by a committee appointed at town meeting for the pur- pose. This first committee consisted of Stephen Mead, Daniel Hill, and Daniel Sanford. The school committee for this year, appointed at town meeting, consisted of seven, and it is probable that each represented a district-which would give us seven districts in the town at that time.
December 19th, 1792, the following important vote was taken: "that the school money shall be lodged with the Treasurer, and he to collect the interest arising on the school bonds annually by the first day of April, the Interest already arisen and unpaid to be collected forthwith, and in failure of payment of back interest, he to send the bond, or bonds, and collect principal and interest, and to conduct in the same manner on neglect of annual payment of interest on said Bonds, and to pay said Interest and School Money to the School Committee as it may be ap- propriated by the committee of the Districts annually."
As to the source or origin of these school bonds, or by whom taken,
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
I am unable to give a positive answer. The town of Redding has a school fund of $400, distinct from the State fund, and which dates back to a period beyond the reach of memory or tradition; it is more than probable, however, that it was the sum realized from the sale of lands in Litchfield County in 1733, called western lands, and which was divided among the several towns in proportion to their poll list and ratable estate for that year and to be secured and forever improved for the use of the schools kept in said towns according to law. Redding, unlike most of her sister towns, has preserved this fund inviolate, and still uses its pro- ceeds in support of her schools. In 1795 came the sale of the Western Reserve, and Connecticut's munificent grant to her common schools, which has put them in the front rank of educational forces, and con- tributed so much to the material prosperity of the State. In October of that year the inhabitants of Redding met, and formed themselves into a school society, in order that they "might have the advantage of the monies arising from the sale of western lands." Peter Sanford, James Rogers, and Simeon Munger were the first committee chosen by this society. Prior to 1870, the cost of supporting the schools above that derived from the school funds was borne by the parents or guardians of the scholars, but in that year the legislature passed a law compelling the towns to maintain free schools, and this plan has since been pursued.
From an early period Redding has been favorably known for the number and excellence of her select schools; some of these were conduct- ed by the pastors of the different churches, and others by professional teachers. One of the earliest of these schools was that kept by S. Samuel Smith, Esq., in the centre. The Rev. Jonathan Bartlett opened a school for boys and young men about 1795, that attained a high reputation and flourished for a term of years; his school was kept in his dwelling- house-now the residence of Mr. Lemuel Sanford. The first boarding- school in town was opened by Mr. Walker Bates about 1825. Mr. Bates was a pupil of Mr. Bartlett's, and a very successful teacher. A few years after, Mr. Eli Gilbert opened a select school at the centre, which continued in successful operation for a term of years; and in 1836 two schools were established on Redding Ridge-one by Mr. John Osborne, the other by Mr. Aaron B. Wilson.
One of the most noteworthy schools of the town was the Redding Institute, founded by Daniel Sanford, A. M., in the fall of 1847. (See Chapter XXII.)
The boarding-school opened by Mr. Burton Bradley about 1850, and Miss Polly Sellick's boarding-school for young ladies, founded in 1844, were successful and well-conducted institutions. The Misses Sanford also had a select school for young children.
In 1878 Rev. Aaron S. Sanford, of New Haven, donated the sum of five thousand dollars for the endowment of a High School. This muni-
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
ficent gift was accepted by the people of the town, and the Hill Academy was incorporated under the laws of the State. The first trustees of the institution, seven in number, were Francis A. Sanford, Aaron Tread- well, John Todd, X. Alanson Welton, Stephen Sanford, Thaddeus M. Abbott, and Arthur B. Hill.
The first principal of the academy was Mr. T. M. W. George, of Hartford, who closed his first year's labor July Ist, 1879.
CHAPTER XV.
Manufactures.
IN 1793, under a State law, a specific tax was laid on the various trades and professions, and from the grand list of that year we may gather accurate knowledge of the number of tradesmen, artisans, and professional men in the town at that time.
The following table is prepared trom this list :
TRADE OR PROFESSION. TAX.
TRADE OR PROFESSION. TAX.
BLACKSMITHS.
Aaron Barlow $ 5
S. Sam Smith. 50
Thaddeus Abbott 5 Enoch Merchant. 5 PHYSICIANS.
Thomas Davies. 10
Thomas Peck.
10
TRADERS.
SADDLER.
James Rogers. 25
Benj. Sanford & Co 25
Stephen Betts & Co. 25
William Heron. 25
Ezekiel Jackson & Co. 25 Abijah Parsor 25
TAILORS.
Justus Whitlow
5
Joel Byington. 5
CLOTHIER.
Elisha Bradley
5
WHEELWRIGHT.
Joel Gray 5
SAW-MILLS.
COOPER.
Stephen & John Fairchild. 4
Stephen Gray
5
Oliver Sanford ..
4
15
Ezekiel Jackson.
15
Abel Burr
15
GRIST-MILLS.
Ephraim Wheeler.
3
Stephen Burr and Daniel Perry 6
5
TANNERS AND SHOEMAKERS.
Asabel Salmon.
5
TAVERN-KEEPERS.
Stephen Betts. .
15
Ezekiel Sanford.
Seth Meeker & Co .. 4 Crawford & Sanford. 5
JOINERS. Barlow & Sanford. 6 Eli Lyon 5 Enos & Seth Wheeler 4 Stephen Lyon. 5 Daniel Perry 5 Oliver Sanford IO IRON-WORKS.
ATTORNEYS.
Thaddeus Benedict. $60
WEAVERS.
Chauncey Merchant
5
Edward Starr
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
From this date down to 1850 the town made a very creditable ad- vance in manufactures. The iron smelting works of Oliver Sanford in Sanfordtown were one of its earliest and most prominent industries. Ore was brought from Brookfield and Roxbury in great wagons and smelted at the mills, and after smelting was conveyed in the same man- ner to Westport or Norwalk, and shipped to various points. This enter- prise was the pioneer of its kind in America, and proved quite profitable to its projector. The works were entirely destroyed in the great freshet of 1805, and never afterward rebuilt, the business being removed to Valley Forge. Fulling-mills were early erected, the first, probably, by Abraham Fairchild about 1742, near Nobb's Crook, on the Saugatuck River. The first woollen-mill was erected in 1812, near the site of the old fulling-mill, by Comstock, Foster & Co. It did a prosperous busi- ness through the war and for some years afterward. It was later bought by Mr. Joel Foster, one of the members of the old company, who con- tinued the business until the burning of the factory in 1843, or 1844. Carriages began to be built in Sanfordtown as early as 1800, and the business soon became one of the leading industries of the town. Ephraim Sanford built the first carriage factory in the rear of the house on the corner now owned by Mr. George Treadwell. He was succeeded in 1820 by his two sons David and Enoch A. Sanford. David Sanford died in 1834, and the business was continued by Enoch A. Sanford, the susviving partner. A few years after, Daniel Sanford was admitted a partner, and the firm entered largely into the Southern trade. In this they proved unfortunate, and failed. Subsequently Mr. E. A. Sanford formed a partnership with Charles Duncomb, and later with G. A. San- ford, by whom the business was conducted with varying success. In its palmiest days this firm did a large business, employing from twenty-five to thirty men, and maintaining a depot for their goods in New York. Mr. Aaron Bartram built a carriage factory in 1840 and in company with Mr. Eben Wilson did a large business for a term of years. Mr. Bradley Sanford began the manufacture of carriage axles in Sanford- town in 1833, and continued it until 1838, when he was succeeded by Mr. G. A. Sanford.
Hat-making was at one time a prominent industry in Redding. To Mr. Billy Comstock is due the credit of erecting the first hat manufactory, which stood near his house in the Boston district. Mr. Daniel Gould had a large hat shop in Lonetown, and later Mr. Jesse Banks carried on the business somewhat extensively in Sanfordtown. He employed at one time from twenty-five to thirty men, and supplied the Southern and West India market. Mr. Milo Lee also carried on the business for a number of years, first with Mr. Banks, and afterward in a factory near his house. Bricks were made at one time by Mr. Alanson Lyon, on
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
Redding Ridge; and in the same district a large shirt manufactory was once in successful operation, under the management of Mr. Curtis Fan- ton, and his son, Henry Fanton. In 1856 the Redding Manufacturing Company was organized in Sanfordtown for the manufacture of pins, and other small articles of brass. A large building in Sanfordtown, long known as the pin factory, was built by this company; for a time its prospects for a successful career were excellent, but owing to some mis- management on the part of the directors, it soon proved a failure.
The Hill Limekiln in Lonetown is perhaps the oldest lime-burning establishment in the State. It was probably opened at an early day by Colonel John Read, who was the owner of the tract of land in which the quarry is situated. In 1810 it came into the possession of John R. Hill, a grandson of Colonel Read, who conducted an extensive business and acquired a fortune. Mr. Hill retired in 1823, and was succeeded at dif- ferent periods by his sons Aaron S. Hill, Moses Hill, William Hill, and John L. Hill. These gentlemen conducted the business with the same energy and success that had characterized their father's management. Since Mr. John L. Hill's retirement, the business has been conducted, successively, by Messrs. Ames & Osborne, Barnes, Smith, Philo Wood, John Todd, and Arthur Todd.
In 1842 Squire James Sanford built a foundry on the Aspetuck River in the Foundry district, and entered largely into the manufacture of agricultural implements. He had before invented an improved hay-cut- ting machine, in which the cutting was done by revolving cylinders furnished with knives, which he manufactured here, and which had an extensive sale throughout the country.
The Aspetuck River, dashing through a gorge in this district, fur- nishes abundant water-power, and this the skill and energy of the San- ford brothers long utilized in the manufacture of buttons. Their three button factories had a capacity of between three and four hundred gross of buttons per day, employed twenty-eight hands, and made this district one of the busiest and most prosperous localities in the town.
The pleasant village of Georgetown, in the western part of Redding, owes its existence largely to the establishment in its midst of the Gilbert & Bennett Manufacturing Company's works. An account of this great corporation written for this work by its late president, possesses, since his death, a peculiar interest.
128
HISTORY OF REDDING.
CHAPTER XVI. The Gilbert-Bennett Manufacturing Company.
By Edwin Gilbert.
I have been asked to give an account not only of the above named company but of the conditions of manufacturing that obtained in my boy- hood and youth. These were very different from those of the present day. There were then no great factories, with ingenious and compli- cated machines doing the work of many hands, and a system of organ- ization as perfect and complete as that of any army. The day of the traveling tailor and shoemaker who went from house to house providing shoes and clothing for the families, had barely passed. Such things as were manufactured-and their volume was very small compared to that of the present day-were made in small shops by the proprietor and a small force of journeymen and apprentices. Such were the conditions when in 1818 the idea occurred to Benjamin Gilbert, of Georgetown, that the unused long hair of cattle and horses collected by him in his business of tanner and currier might be turned to account by weaving into sieves for the use of housewives in sifting meal and flour. He accordingly made a loom in which his wife, a woman of great energy and strong character, wove the hair, and himself made the "hoops," out of sawed strips of wood, by shaving them with the old-fashioned drawing knife. This was the first sieve ever invented. It met a popular demand and it was soon necessary to introduce machinery to saw and smooth the hoops. A good deal of this work was also let out to the neighbors, thus intro- ducing the idea of co-operation and concerted action, as seen in the mod- ern factory. When twelve dozen sieves a day were being produced the business was thought a large one, and the firm moved from the basement of the Gilbert homestead, where it began operations, into an old saw mill near by.
About 1826, Mr. Gilbert also invented a machine for picking hair, which proved very successful, and the business so increased that a room was secured in a shop in connection with David Nichols, where a small water-wheel furnished power to run the picker and the twisting machine which gave the necessary "curl" to the hair. Another idea of Mr. Gil- bert's about this time, was the making of mattresses from hair, and also of using it to stuff the cushions of carriages, and very soon the firm was furnishing the great carriage manufactories of New Haven, Bridgeport and other cities with hair for this purpose.
Soon after, Sturges Bennett, of Wilton, who had married the eldest daughter of Benjamin Gilbert, took an interest in the business, under the
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PLANT OF THE GILBERT, BENNETT MANUFACTURING CO.
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
firm name of Gilbert & Bennett, and assisted in every way to secure suc- cess. It thus became necessary to obtain a salesman to dispose of their goods, and Edmund Hurlburt, of Wilton, was secured and made a very successful salesman, traveling all over New England with horses and wagon, collecting the raw material and selling the finished product. About 1829 the firm was enlarged by the admission of Mr. Hurlburt (who meantime had married another daughter of Benjamin Gilbert) and of William J. Gilbert, the eldest son of the founder.
In 1834 the business had so increased that a mill site was bought nearly opposite the present Georgetown railroad station, and a mill built thereon, always known as the "red mill," and used until its destruction by fire in 1889, a period of fifty-five years. In 1842 Edwin Gilbert, the second son of the founder was admitted a member of the firm, and as his health was delicate, he was sent out on the road to sell goods, as his elder brother had been doing for years, journeying as far west as Ohio. In 1847 Benjamin Gilbert, the founder, died after an illness of several years that incapacitated him for active business. Previously, in 1837, some fine wire had been secured and woven into wire cloth on a carpet loom owned by a neighbor-the first wire cloth ever made in America, and which rendered possible in a short time the manufacture of wire sieves.
In 1850 the manufacture of glue was added to the company's busi- ness and some important improvements in its manufacture were intro- duced, notably the substituting of wire for cotton netting on which to dry it, as had formerly been done. This revolutionized the method of drying glue and has been adopted by all makers. In April, 1856, David H. Miller, who had previously had some experience in the business in New York, joined the company's staff as bookkeeper and by his business ability contributed greatly to its success. He is at this present writing (February, 1906) Vice-President and Treasurer .* In 1857 the company began the manufacture of coal hods and continued it until 1864, and in 1861 the manufacture of painted wire cloth, which was the first to be put on the market. A wire mill was built in 1863 for the manufacture of iron wire, and other buildings added from time to time as business de- manded it. Two years later machinery was introduced for weaving wire cloth in power looms which before had been done by hand.
On Sunday, May II, 1874, just at the sun rising, the cry of "fire" startled the village, and the latest, most complete and most valuable of the factory buildings was found to be on fire. There was no fire ap- paratus with which to fight the flames, and the company's officials and the throngs of men, women and children that quickly gathered could do nothing but look on while building after building with its intricate and costly machinery was reduced to ashes. In an hour and twenty minutes
*Elected President on Mr. Gilbert's death.
130
HISTORY OF REDDING.
the labor of years was destroyed, and a property loss of $200,000 sus- tained, on which there was an insurance of but $40,000. Dismay was to be seen on every face-for nearly all were dependent on the factories for their daily bread-but they were reassured by the officers of the company who declared that the shops should be rebuilt before the snow flew.
In rebuilding two new departures were necessary-the firm was or- ganized as a joint stock company, and the Danbury & Norwalk Railroad was prevailed on to run a spur track up to the factories, thus giving much better facilities for shipping freight. In the new factories the latest hygienic and sanitary improvements were introduced, and much more costly and ingenious machines for the manufacture of the company's staples were constructed. On March 23, 1877, the glue and curled hair department of the business was sold, the company turning its attention more particularly to the production of wire goods. There is no product of wire more universally used at present, perhaps, thar galvanized wire cloth, and this product the Gilbert-Bennett Manufacturing Company was the first to invent and place on the market.
Thus briefly and imperfectly I have sketched the origin and progress of an industry. When one compares the cellar basement of 1818 and its one article of manufacture with the present factories, covering 150,000 square feet in an area of some fifteen acres, requiring 400 horsepower to drive them, with nearly 600 employes, and scores of patented machin- ery and processes turning out many tons daily of wire cloth, wire netting, wire fencing, fire proofing, and other products of wire, many of them first invented and introduced by the company, the contrast is almost startling, and one can but wonder if the same ratio of improvement is to be continued for the next seventy-five years, and if so, as to the state of perfection that will then be attained.
CHAPTER XVII.
Miscellaneous.
A favorite dish with the Latin nations is the olla podrida-a thing of shreds and patches, composed of odds and ends of the larder that could be utilized in no other way. This chapter is intended as a sort of mental olla podrida, and we have no doubt will prove as varied, if not as savory, as the dish above described. For our first ingredients we insert some quaint and curious extracts from the town records as follows :
January 2d, 1778. It was voted, "that the selectmen provide a Spade, Pick Axe, and Hoe to be kept for the use of digging graves." August
131
HISTORY OF REDDING.
II, 1873, "Voted, that the town will set up a singing meeting. Voted to lay a tax of Id. on a pound to pay the Singing Master." March 13, 1787, "Voted not to admit Small Pox by innoculation: Voted to admit Small Pox by Innoculation next fall." October 19th, 1795: "Voted that the selectmen prosecute tlrose persons that cut timber on the highways." September 19th, 1798: "Voted that the district to which Silas Mer- chant belongs, shall pay him $2 for his dragg." In 1801 the town voted to relinquish to Enoch Merchant the fine imposed on him by William Heron, Esq., for "admitting puppet shows into his house contrary to law." December 20th, 1802, John Read, Jr., was "ex- cused" for admitting puppet shows into his house, "on said Read's paying the costs." In 1804 it was voted, "that this town will not remit to Ebenezer Robinson of Danbury, the fine imposed on him by William Heron Esq. for breaking the Sabbath, which fine is now uncol- lected." The same year Aaron Read was appointed "Keeper of the Key to the Town House." In 1807, it was voted to remit the fines- $1.67 in amount-of Peter Bradley, and Nancy his wife, for Sabbath- breaking : also voted, that William Heron Esq. be paid $11.08, amount of costs in defending a suit brought by William P. Jones against him. for a fine collected and paid into the treasury of the town. In 1808, voted that the town will remit the fines of all those persons who labored on the Sabbath the 3Ist of July last past, in this town, on payment of costs. In 1817, Daniel Sanford and Aaron Burr were appointed a com- mittee to procure the fish called pike, and put in Umpawaug Pond. In 1840 it was voted, that if any non-resident should kill birds within the limits of the town he should be fined and if he killed robins, except in case of sickness, he should be fined $5.
In the records of a town meeting held December 8th, 1806, occurs the following curious entry : "Voted, that S. Samuel Smith, Lemuel Sanford, and Benjamin Meeker be a committee to write to William Crawford re- questing him to name the person belonging to Redding to whom he de- livered Mrs. Sarah Fleming's letter in May last, notifying him that in case of refusal, the Inhabitants of this town, will feel themselves author- ized to declare to the world, that he never did deliver such a letter to any person belonging to Redding."
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