USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Derby > The history of the old town of Derby, Connecticut, 1642-1880. With biographies and genealogies > Part 32
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27I
WASHINGTON BRIDGE.
This incensed the old captain, and he ordered his own men to leave the vessel and open the draw ; but they failed in their attempts, be- ing unable to get the hang of the machine. He then ordered them to get out of the way, for he could clear the obstruction, and having on board two large cannon loaded nearly to the muzzle with iron spikes and what not, he ranged them and blazed away, and made the splinters fly in all directions. This caused the bridge party to show the " white feather " and hasten to open the draw, very glad to get rid of the Derby Frenchman, who was never afterwards troubled or hindered at the bridge.
Not long after this annoyance and before old sores were for- gotten, there was again trouble at the draw. The proud vessel named Delight, commanded by Captain Morris of Derby, was sailing down the river at a falling tide and with a strong wind ; nearing the bridge, they hauled down their sails and gave the signal, but the draw, from some neglect refused passage, and the vessel swung round, her boom striking hard against the draw, causing damage. Night came with a piteous storm, and the vessel was obliged to cast anchor, and remain in the river until the next morning, when she managed to get through and make her trip to New York. Willis Hotchkiss of the Nar- rows, then a little boy, was on board as cook of the vessel. This affair became a test question on the future res gesta of the bridge, for the sloop company sued the former, and brought their case before Esquire Tomlinson, then living at Wesquan- tuck. As parties in interest could not then testify, the boy Hotchkiss was the only important witness. After a rigid ex- amination by two eminent lawyers, and a long and elaborate plea on both sides, the case was finally given to the judge, who gave the plaintiff eight dollars damages and costs. Ever after this, vessels sailing to and from Derby were no more annoyed at the draw by the good people of Stratford or Milford.
How different now the condition of that old and long hated Washington bridge ! Her crumbling, tottering piers still defy the ebb and flow of tides, exhibiting only the sad relics of better days, while the traveler takes the iron horse by rail, or wends his way to Derby and crosses over in safety.
272
HISTORY OF DERBY.
STEAM-BOATING ON THE OUSATONIC.
On a bright Sunday morning in the summer of 1824, the General Lafayette rested upon the bosom of the Ousatonic. A steamboat at that time was a great curiosity, and thousands made "a Sabbath day's journey" to see its advent into Derby. As she steamed up the river, passed the highlands and neared Derby wharf, the streets were filled and the shores lined with spectators eager to catch a glimpse at the invention which has rendered the name of Robert Fulton immortal. Imagine your- self back more than half a century, when the almost barren fields now dotted by the thrifty villages of Birmingham, Ansonia and Shelton were cultivated by the rustic ploughman, and Derby Narrows was a little neighborhood, and see fathers and mothers with their children, rushing from the hillsides and back settlements, many of them for the first time to witness a steamboat, and the reader is inspired with the thought that there was some enterprise in Derby, years ago. The Lafayette was a small boat built with a mast and bowsprit and had side wheels. Thomas Vose her captain, was in ill humor on her first trip. At old Washington bridge, at the mouth of the river, long an eye-sore to Derby interests, a dispute arose as to let- ting the boat through the draw, when Capt. Vose said with emphasis, " I have sailed over the Atlantic for years, and I have the honor to command this boat ; let me through ; my orders must be obeyed, right or wrong." The man at the draw obeyed, and the boat was put through, not however without producing a fearful fracture of the box that inclosed one of the side wheels of the boat. On her arrival in Derby, a boy remarked that she had " lost one of her ears." The next day was the Fourth of July, and the boat was advertised to make an excursion on the Sound. What was to be done? Why ! they rallied Tru- man Gillett from his devotions, and with his apprentice boys, although it was a holy day, the boat was repaired and with flying colors, on Monday morning sailed down the river, with many Derby adventurers on board, returning at an unseasona- ble hour.
The Lafayette was owned mostly by a company in New York,
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273
STEAMBOATS.
and destined to run between that city and Derby, touching the borough of Bridgeport on her regular trips. Meeting with united opposition from a line of Derby packets, the Parthena, Commodore and Pulpit, these combined making three voyages a week through the season, the Lafayette was obliged to succumb and sell out to Bridgeport parties, who at that time were jealous of Derby's prosperity. Derby, then a sea-port town was ambitious of keeping up the commerce of the place. The citizens of Bridgeport had no steamboat, and to head off Derby, they bought the Lafayette which was lucky for the own- ers, for it was a sort of elephant on their hands, not being adapted to the navigation of our river. One of the above pack- ets, the Pulpit, was fast sailing, built by a Congregational min- ister, and while running against the boat never lost a trip during the summer season ; so it seems our first steamboat had strong opposition even from Derby citizens. Not satisfied with their first experiment, a part of the people of Derby had a steamboat built under the superintendence of Capt. Vose, ex- pressly for the navigation of the Ousatonic, and it was called after the name of the river, the Ousatonic. After running one season between Derby and New York, she was run into the cove once owned by Gen. David Wooster, about four miles from the mouth of the river, where she remained for the winter. The next spring she commenced her regular trips, but meeting with the old opposition of Derby packets besides interfering with the sloop navigation of Bridgeport, she passed into other hands and steamboating on the Ousatonic was not attempted again until 1836. The founder of Birmingham, Sheldon Smith, prom- ised the villagers that they should have steamboat facilities. He first put on the Caroline, which was destined to run up to Birmingham; but this boat with Capt. Battell did not prove a success. Mr. Smith in his zeal then built a dyke and expended sev- eral thousand dollars in deepening the channel across the river, when he purchased the little steamer Maria which made several trips in 1837 between New York and Birmingham. On her last trip, Capt. John C. Hotchkiss in command, when nearing the Birmingham wharf one Saturday evening, the boat instead of rounding the dyke ran upon it at high water and was fast, the passengers being transported to Birmingham in boats, and
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274
HISTORY OF DERBY.
the next morning the Maria rested upon the dyke high and dry above water. Steamboating on dry land and the Ousa- tonic, being unsatisfactory, was abandoned on the part of Mr. Smith, when in 1845 the Naugatuck Transportation Company built an iron boat called the Naugatuck, by some nicknamed the Iron Pot which ran to the great accommodation of Derby citizens two or three seasons, and afterwards the same company put on the Ansonia, and for two years more a brisk business was continued between Derby and New York. The Valley City was the next steamer on our river, built by.the Atwater iron and steel works, and after the war broke out was sold to the govern- ment.
The eighth and last steamboat running from Derby to New York was the Monitor. She was built by a party of Derby cit- izens, at a cost of about $30,000 and running a few seasons, Capt. Henry Bemot in command, was run into off New York by another vessel, badly damaged and nearly sunk, and this foul col- lision, as it was claimed, involved an expensive lawsuit, and the stockholders of the unfortunate Monitor lost every dollar of their capital. Thus within fifty-five years, eight different steam- boats have plied between Derby and New York, the citizens having the benefit, while the owners were poorly remunerated for their zeal and enterprise in trying to accommodate the public.
DERBY FISHING COMPANY.
By an act of the General Assembly the "Derby Fishing Com- pany " was chartered in 1806, James Lewis, Leman Stone, Can- field Gillett and Philo Bassett being the corporators, Canfield Gillett was elected president and James I. Andrews secretary. The primitive object of the company mostly was to be confined to "Cod and other fisheries, exporting and disposing of the same and carrying on the fishing business in all its branches." The capital stock was to be not less than $50,000. After the organization of the company, the stock of which was liberally subscribed to by the people of Derby and vicinity, they at once commenced the building of vessels. The first built was called the Eliza, and Capt. Clarke Elliott went four voyages with her to the West Indies. She was afterwards captured by the French
275
THE FISHING COMPANY.
and lost. About this time Capt. J. Hull went out as a super- cargo in a large vessel heavily laden with fish, bound for Spain, and a gale coming on before reaching the coast, all the fish and valuables were thrown overboard to save the vessel and crew. The Ousatonic and Naugatuck vessels were built by the Fishing Company and launched in the Narrows near Baldwin's old dis- tillery, where 2000 barrels of cider were distilled annually, and much of the brandy was put upon the market unadulterated at 37 I-2 cents a gallon. The Fishing Company carried on a large trade with different ports until near the breaking out of the war of 1812, and it was not surprising that New Haven people should become jealous of its prosperity. It made tempting dividends, and after several amendments to its charter, it was allowed to deal in various kinds of speculation. The stock was largely increased, parties by virtue of charter, giving their ne- gotiable notes in lieu of money paid in. The company sub- scribed for many shares of the first Derby bank, incorporated in 1809, which afterwards did a flourishing business. The Fish- ing Company and the Derby bank were in harmony with each other financially, yet both were violently opposed by capitalists of New Haven, as there was then a lively competition between the interests of Derby and the then small place, now the great City of Elms. At one time the Fishing Company brought from New York a chest of specie, which required eight men to re- move and place in the Bank, the old brick house still standing in the back street of the Narrows, owned and occupied by Da- vid T. Osborne.
In the memory of the oldest inhabitant this Derby bank once had " a fearful run " upon its specie deposits by the Eagle bank of New Haven. On one Saturday ten thousand dollars of Derby bills were presented at the counter and the specie demanded. Fitch, the cashier, very quickly and coolly said to his teller, " Hand out that smallest box of specie from the vault and we'll begin to count." The box was filled with six cent pieces of silver, and just then it was all the specie the bank had on hand. Before the ten thousand dollars were counted out, however, the doors were closed, by the Spartan rule of these moneyed institutions. In the meantime the cashier, Fitch, had stepped out and penned a note to the president of the bank,
276
HISTORY OF DERBY.
Wm. Leffingwell, who resided in New Haven, stating the plan on foot by the Eagle bank, and immediately dispatched a mes- senger over the hills to New Haven. On Monday Leffingwell had gathered up thirty thousand dollars of Eagle bank bills and when a further run was continued on the Derby bank by the Eagle bank the bills of the latter were presented in payment, and thus the New Haven sharpers were foiled in their attempt to break the first bank of Derby.
The Derby bank lost heavily by the Fishing Company, but no man ever lost a dollar by the bank. It paid in full be- fore stopping business. An effort afterwards was made to transfer its charter to New Haven, but it was opposed by the people of Derby and the Legislature, and the project failed.
Successful and highly prosperous at first, the Fishing Com- pany was destined to encounter financial shipwreck. The war of 1812, together with bad management, proved its utter ruin. Most of their shipping with valuable cargoes was captured by the French and confiscated, involving total loss.
The sheriff became busy in attaching all the available prop- erty of parties refusing to pay and owing notes to the company. These notes were collectible by suits at law. Many who thought themselves in good circumstances were made poor by this operation, and left the town in disgust. The president of the company for the first few years was voted by the directors a salary of $1500 a year for his services, the last two, each year, he was voted six and a quarter cents. An act of the Legisla- ture, passed in 1815, transferred the office of the company to the city of New Haven, with all the books, papers, etc., and thus the Derby Fishing Company was wound up by receivers, with more than a total loss to the stockholders of Derby and its vicinity.
THE FIRST DERBY BANK REVIVED.
The charter of the Derby bank being owned mostly by John Fitch and others of New Haven, was suffered to remain dor- mant until 1824, when it was resuscitated. Some Derby peo- ple in connection with Horace Canfield and his brother, both financial adventurers of New York, purchased for $12,000 the charter, with the brick building used by the bank. 'Horace
277
DERBY BANK REVIVED.
Canfield had married a very worthy and respectable lady of Derby, which gave a favorable impression among the people of the town. The bank was soon in active operation. John L. Tomlinson a lawyer, was made president, and Edward Crafts, cashier. They operated under the charter of 1809, which al- owed a capital stock of $200,000, but could commence bank- ing business when $60,000 was actually paid in. The Can- fields were the agents, the moving power of the bank. Little business was done within doors by way of discounts ; exchange of bills on other banks being a prominent feature of the agents. Crafts, the cashier, obtained and had in hand, through the Canfields, in current bills and specie, $100,000, which he de- posited with the Fulton bank of New York to the credit of the Derby bank. Derby notes were then issued which read as follows :- "The Derby bank promises to pay at FULTON BANK New York," etc.
An ordinary observer without scrutiny would take the bill for a Fulton bank bill. These Derby bills, were then put upon the market and for the first few months redeemed at the Fulton bank of New York. The Canfields in one month ex- changed with drovers and other business men $80,000. They bought largely of real estate and dabbled in other speculations, and paid in Derby money when it would be received. When $200,000 were issued, the deposits were withdrawn by the Canfields from the Fulton bank, and then the Derby bank as a matter of course failed. The excitement over the affair was intense and many were the anathemas heaped upon its man- agers. At the General Assembly in 1825, Mr. Tomlinson was called before the standing committee on banks, to explain the condition and management of the Derby bank, when he became so confused in his statement, showing that he had been most egregiously duped, that the chairman of the committee told him to take his seat and forthwith a report to the House re- voked the charter.
The stigma of the Derby bank failure has long rested upon the town and more than was deserving upon Mr. Tomlinson. It haunted him in streets and public places and even annoyed him in his forensic eloquence at the courts. On one occasion he was counsel for a party in Quakers Farm, Oxford, when his
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HISTORY OF DERBY
principal witness was under impeachment for truth and verac- ity. To maintain his reputation Tomlinson relied upon a good old lady who happened to be blessed with a five-dollar Derby bank bill.
When called upon the stand the question was asked her, " Do you know the witness, Mr. -? "
"I do ; well acquainted with him ; always known him."
" What of his general character for truth and veracity ?"
"On a par with the Darby bank."
" Madam, what do you mean by that comparison ?"
"Good for nothing now, nor never was while your honor was president of the bank," was the reply.
"That's all." The witness was impeached.
In justice to Mr. Tomlinson it is proper to say that he was not a particeps criminis to the affairs of the bank, except that he suffered it to be managed loosely. Lyman Osborn, an hon- est man, aged 84 years, now living, 1879, who was assistant cashier while Crafts was absent on a sea voyage for his health, says he has no reason to think that the president of the bank, or the cashier, Crafts, ever received one dollar of the swindle money. Osborn's duty was simply to sign bills and nothing more, though after the failure of the bank he went down to New York, spending many days to see what could be done to relieve the unfortunate bill holders, but as he writes, "Could find nothing of the Canfields."
A SUIT IN LAW.
There was a peculiar specimen of judicial administration in Derby at a time when law was less a science than at present, and the rules of evidence not so strictly confined to proper lim- its. A Mr. D., peaceably and piously disposed, had from time to time missed corn from his crib, and his suspicions resting upon one of his distant neighbors, Mr. R., he entered complaint to punish the offender. Petty larceny in olden times was con- sidered, and visited with swifter and more condign punishment than is meted out to those who steal on a more magnificent scale in these later days. The constable brought Mr. R. be- fore Justice Hotchkiss, then living at North End, who was good authority for the whole town in matters of law and equity.
279
BREVITY IN LAW.
The justice, as was customary, called in an assistant to give ignity to the court and aid him in the rendition of a ver- lict.
The evidence offered by the prosecution was that corn had een stolen from his crib, and as the accused had for some time maintained a suspicious character, he could be no other than the thief. All of which Mr. R., pleading his own cause, stoutly lenied, alleging his entire innocence of the crime, declaring hat he did not know that Mr. D. had any crib, much less corn. After a patient hearing from both sides his honor, Judge Hotch- kiss, turned to his associate for his opinion. He replied that he complainant had undoubtedly been dispossessed of a certain quantity of corn, and whatever might be the probabilities of he guilt of the accused, there was no real evidence before the court to convict him, and the most prudent course would be to discharge him with a friendly admonition to beware of exposing himself to suspicion in the future. The chief justice, some- what disconcerted by the leniency of his associate, taking the whole responsibility, forthwith pronounced the judgment of the court, which was that as Mr. D. was a very worthy citizen, it was the duty of the magistrate and the laws of the land to pro- tect him in his property, and as the prisoner was known to be the only thief in Derby, therefore Mr. R. must have stolen the corn, and ordered that the constable take him to the nearest post and inflict "one dozen on his bare back, well laid on." The sentence being carried out, and Mr. R., smarting from the lash, confessed to the bystanders, saying, "Well, I did steal his corn, and if he don't keep his crib locked, I'll surely steal more."
Another case is given, which is a beautiful illustration of brevity. The prisoner, poor Pat, was arraigned before our wor- thy judge for certain violations of the statute, for which he had frequently been tried but never proved guilty. This time he was sure he would get clear, for he had a shrewd lawyer. The evidence against him being all in, his counsel, full of quibbles, informed the court that he should offer a mass of testimony to prove beyond a doubt the entire innocence of his client, but the justice promptly ruled out the evidence as inadmissible, and said to the prisoner, " Guilty or not guilty, you are fined seven dollars and costs."
280
HISTORY OF DERBY.
JUDGE LYNCH.
Tradition gives us but one case as tried before Judge Lynch in Derby. A lawyer once took up his abode in town, who, find- ing the people opposed to litigation and thus affecting his inter- ests, stirred up unnecessary suits, which were extremely annoy- ing. The pettifogger was declared a nuisance and a meeting was held and a committee appointed to wait upon him. The com- mittee after exhausting mild and humane means to abate the nuisance, as a dernier ressort warned the knight of Blackstone to desist from his nefarious business, and leave the town within ten days, on penalty of a visit from Judge Lynch. The lawyer laughed at their threats, and defied their interference in his affairs. At the expiration of the ten days, however, the com- mittee waited on him at his house in the night season, took him from his bed, apologizing to his wife for the rude disturb- ance, and in his sleeping garments gently seated him on a wooden horse, previously prepared, and paraded him through the street, accompanied with a tin kettle band, at last deposit- ing him in a mud puddle, a mile from home, with the promise of another ride, with a coat of tar and feathers, if found in town at the expiration of another ten days. The lawyer was naturally very indignant and lavish with his threats, but the remedy was successful. In his own behalf he entered a nolle prosequi, left for parts unknown, and the good people of the town were a long time without the luxury of petty lawsuits.
During the West India trade Derby was a place of frequent resort for planters' families, who came, as many now go to Sar- atoga, for recreation. A Mrs. Gallagher and family from St. Martins spent several summers at the residence of Mr. N. Lewis in the Narrows. She was a lady of rare attainments, of finished education, benevolent, and an ornament to society, but no argument could harmonize her views with the Yankees on the status of the negro. She had lived on the plantation where the grades in rank were strongly marked, and by the force of education and association, like thousands under similar circum- stances, had no just conception of human rights. Her idea was that the negro was a semi-human being, a sort of domestic
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as to oth mo se ma ide for
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28I
A SOUTHERN LADY.
animal, holding the same relation in her estimation as a favorite dog or horse that ministers to the comfort or amusement of its owner, and was horror stricken at our recognition of the negro as differing from us only in color. Always kind and indulgent to her slaves, ministering to their animal wants, recognizing no other, it was an amusing novelty to Mrs. G. to think it was any more unjust to enslave the negro than any other animal that served her convenience, but how many precious lives and how many millions of money have been wasted to explode this one idea, so deeply rooted in the mind of the slave-holder by the force of circumstances.
At one time large quantities of alewives were caught in Derby and packed for the West India market. She was asked what use was made of them in St. Martins. She replied, "We give one to each of our negroes every Sunday morning as a special indulgence. They are an excellent fish for ourselves, but we never eat them." The alewives are a dry, very bony fish of the herring species, and were mostly used by our farmers at that time as fertilizers. One hundred barrels were caught in one day by two men near Naugatuck bridge. This was accom- plished by means of a weir. Then two men with a scoop net held between, facing each other, entered the pocket of the weir and scooped up as many fish as they could carry or hand in, when they were emptied alive into huge vats of strong brine, and afterwards packed in barrels for shipment. This was con- sidered a paying business in those times at $1.50 to $2.00 a barrel.
36
B.
CHAPTER X.
THE FIRST CHURCH OF DERBY AND THE WAR OF 1812.
N account of church administration, by Daniel Hum- phreys, December, 1735.
March 6, 1734, then the pastoral charge of the Church of Christ in Derby was committed to me." Such is the title given and the record made on the first page of the oldest book of church records now in possession of the First Church in Derby. When the fifth chapter of this work was written the authors were not informed of the existence of this book, having understood that the earliest records preserved began in 1787. It is probable that for a time it was missing, since we have the following record, made by Rev. Mr. Tullar :
" At the time of the foregoing ordination [Rev. Mr. Tullar's, in 1783], the Rev. Daniel Humphreys was senior pastor, who departed this life September 2, 1787. After whose death there was search made for the records of the church and there being none found, the church proceeded to procure a book for records, and also appointed a committee to assist in making out a cata- logue of those who belonged to their body ; and it appeared from the best of their recollection that the following persons were members of their church." Then follows a list of names which it is quite evident was made "from the best of their rec- ollection," for if this book had been at hand a list of nearly all who had united with the church during the previous thirty years could have been secured. The records which Mr. Humphreys made consisted of baptisms and the admission of members to the church. These entries he commenced in January, 1736, and after continuing them regularly three years stopped, and made no more for eighteen years. This is surprising, since the book was large enough, and no pages have been removed, for the record was again attended to from 1756, and was so written that the removal of leaves would have broken the continuous- ness of the record, which now appears uniform. From these records we learn that, although at the settlement of Mr. Hum-
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