USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Derby > The history of the old town of Derby, Connecticut, 1642-1880. With biographies and genealogies > Part 37
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329
ALFRED BEERS.
organized the " Christian Commission " for the relief of soldiers in the late war. His interest in Christian Associations still continues, and he has done considerable service in their behalf in Connecticut, as a member of the State committee. He held the office of postmaster in Waterbury during 1866 and 1867, and represented that town in the Legislature in 1870 and 1871.
Mr. Beach has resided in Waterbury since 1861. In 1855 he married Miss Sarah Upson, daughter of the late Hiram Upson of Seymour. Their children are Henry Dayton, born Decem- ber 29, 1858, and Edward Anderson, born October 10, 1873. Beside these names should be written, with tender remem- brances, the name of one who for a number of years occupied the position of a daughter in the household, and was the recip- ient of fatherly and motherly affection-Hattie Beach Smith. She went forth from her adopted home under brightest auspices, as the wife of William R. Goodspeed of East Haddam, but died June 20, 1879, at the early age of twenty-four, leaving two children.
ALFRED BEERS.
Alfred Beers, son of Jonathan Beers, was born at Canaan, Conn., September 26, 1817, where he resided with his parents until about five years of age, when they removed to Lewisboro, Westchester county, N. Y. He continued to work with his father, after the old style, until he was twenty-one years of age, but during which time he had, by various methods and efforts, learned the trade of boot and shoe maker.
At the age of twenty-three he married Mary E., daughter of Capt. Leander Bishop of Rye, N. Y.
Mr. Beers resided a time in Shrewsbury, N. J., and removed thence to Bridgeport and commenced work as a conductor with the Naugatuck railroad company in March, 1851, in which posi- tion he has continued to the present time, a term of over twenty- nine years. During this time he has served under all the su- perintendents who have been employed on the road : Philo Hurd, W. D. Bishop, Clapp Spooner, Charles Waterbury and George W. Beach. The distance he has traveled while in this work has been about one million miles, or the same as forty times around the earth, and has conducted about two millions
42
330
HISTORY OF DERBY.
of passengers over the road in safety, having never lost the life of a passenger, nor having had one seriously injured. In one respect he has had the advantage of his brother in the matter of safety ; his train runs in the middle of the day, and his broth- er's at morning and evening, and the only serious accidents which have occurred on the road were two, both on the up train, each in the evening, after a heavy shower of rain.
Mr. Beers, having been so long connected with the road as conductor, has become the personal friend (and almost the per- sonal property) of everybody from Long Island Sound to the Old Bay State, and in traveling it is a matter of about as much satisfaction and sense of safety to the public to see the old con- ductor, as it is to know there is a steam engine ahead of the train. Indeed, his silver wedding in connection with the road ought to have been celebrated four years ago, and thereby given expression to the joyful fact that in regard to these " bans hitherto no man hath put asunder."
Mr. Beers has six children, three sons and three daughters.
Leander J., his eldest son, is conductor on the Shore Line railroad, and runs from New Haven to New London.
Charles W., his second son, is mail agent on the Housatonic railroad.
Alfred B., his third son, is an attorney at law and judge of the city court at Bridgeport. He enlisted in the late war as a private, served three years, and then re-enlisted, declaring that he intended to do what he could to the very last to put down the rebellion. He came out of the contest unharmed, and with a captain's commission.
Mr. Beers's daughters are married, two residing in Bridgeport, the other in Litchfield.
He has four grandsons, all of them, doubtless, if not on the railroad, are traveling in the "way they should go."
Mr. Beers resides in East Bridgeport, is one of the vestry- men of St. Paul's church there, and warden of the borough of West Stratford. He is one of the assessors of the town of Stratford, and also grand juror.
33I
RAILROAD ACCIDENT.
AMOS S. BEERS.
Amos S. Beers, brother of Alfred, was born in South Salem, New York, in 1827, being the son of Jonathan Beers, a farmer. He worked on his father's farm until seventeen years of age, when he went to New Canaan, where he served his time, three years, as a shoe-maker. From this place he went to New York city, where he remained as clerk in a shoe store two years.
He engaged in the service of the Naugatuck railroad in 1854, as fireman, remaining nine months and then left that position. In 1855 he was appointed conductor and has thus continued to the present time, a period of over twenty-three years, and has thereby, as well as his elder brother, become, if not a part of the rolling-stock of the road, a fixture so important and so famil- iar to all the people that his absence from his train would re- quire a definite explanation from high authority to satisfy the inquiry of the public. He has at different times run his train successive years without losing a trip.
He understands his business and attends to it without fear or favor, and yet with the demeanor of a true gentleman as well as an officer. Attentive in an unusual degree to the sick and dis- abled who are compelled to travel, he is decided and thorough in securing perfect order and decorum on his train at all times.
In the accident which occurred a little above Thomaston on the IIth of May, 1876, by which a coach heavily loaded with passengers was thrown into the river, by the breaking of an axle, he manifested such presence of mind in rescuing every person in safety as to secure the approbation of all on the train, and also received a present of an elegant gold watch from the company. As to this accident he has been heard to say that as he was standing on the platform and saw the coach, the last in the train, go down the banks, although the brakes were already on, " it seemed to me that the train would never stop." Very possibly ! Persons have sometimes lived ages in a moment. All the suffering and sorrow that might be the result of such an accident would pass before the mind in much less time than it took to stop that train, although that time was but half a minute.
He also knows the road on which he travels and looks ahead
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HISTORY OF DERBY.
to avoid possible calamity. Going down on a morning train after a shower in the night, he said to his engineer, " When you reach such a place, before passing the curve stop, and I will go ahead and see if the track is clear." The train stopped at the place, as directed, and in the waiting the passengers began to be uneasy, and to wonder what delusion had come over the en- gineer or the conductor to stop in such a place. The conductor passed around the curve and there lay a landslide covering the whole track, and if they had proceeded as usual the whole train must have gone into the river or been a wreck.
Behind a clear intellect is often wanting a heart to feel for humanity. Men often know the possibility of danger and ca- lamity, but having very little human sympathy rush on, and much suffering is the result, which might have been avoided.
The Naugatuck railroad has been very fortunate in its con- ductors.
Mr. Beers's eldest son, Herbert S. Beers, is conductor on the New Haven and Derby railroad.
His son, Willie H. Beers, is shipping clerk for the Gilbert clock factory at Winsted.
NEW HAVEN AND DERBY RAILROAD.
As the incipient thoughts of a railroad in the Naugatuck val- ley originated in the mind of Alfred Bishop, so the first moving of questions which resulted in the New Haven and Derby rail- road began in the mind of Francis E. Harrison of New Haven, in 1860 and 1861.
After studying over different propositions to facilitate public travel and the transportation of the mails between New Haven and the Naugatuck valley, the idea of a new railroad was fully entertained and entered upon, and the efforts resulted in the incorporation of the New Haven and Derby railroad company, by the Connecticut Legislature, in the year 1864, upon peti- tions numerously signed by the active business men of New Haven and Derby.
The corporators were C. S. Bushnell, Henry Dutton, N. D. Sperry, L. S. Hotchkiss, Benjamin Noyes, Charles Peterson and N. H. Sanford of New Haven, and William E. Downs and Robert N. Bassett of Birmingham.
333
DERBY ROAD DELAYED.
In November, 1865, the project was presented to the public at a meeting held at Tyler's Hall in New Haven, at which Francis E. Harrison and Charles Atwater of New Haven, and William E. Downs of Birmingham were the leading speakers, and the meeting resulted in an increased desire in the public mind for the road.
But little was accomplished until the autumn of 1866, when, by a new and resolute effort on the part of the friends of the project, the subscription was increased until about $200,000 were secured, and on the 24th of April, 1867, the corporation was organized by the choice of its first board of directors, and the election of Henry S. Dawson, president, Morris Tyler, vice- president, Charles Atwater, treasurer, and Francis E. Harrison secretary. The board employed Col. M. D. Davidson of New York city, to make the necessary surveys which were at once commenced, and were completed in the autumn of 1867. In June, 1867, the city of New Haven subscribed $200,000 to the capital stock, and in July, 1869, guaranteed its bonds to the amount of $225,000.
Early in the winter of 1867, the contract for constructing the road was awarded to Messrs. George D. Chapman & Com- pany, with a proviso that it should be completed by the close of the year 1868. The work, however, proceeded very unsatisfac- torily, and finally, in the summer of 1869, was abandoned to the company by the contractors. In the spring of 1869, Mr. Dawson resigned the presidency and Hon. Morris Tyler was elected as his successor. In the autumn of 1869, a new contract for the completion of the road was made with Willis Phelps of Spring- field, Massachusetts. In 1871, Mr. Phelps having surrendered the contract, the road was completed under the direction of E. S. Quintard, Esq., who had been elected superintendent in August, 1870.
The opening excursion was made on Saturday, August 5, 1871, and the regular running of trains commenced on Wed- nesday, August 9, 1871. Since that date, its business has been fully equal to the expectations of its proprietors, and now amounts to about $100,000 per year.
In September, 1874, Mr. Tyler resigned the presidency of the company, and late in the year Mr. J. H. Bartholomew of
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HISTORY OF DERBY.
Ansonia, was elected as his successor, and has continued to hold that office by successive annual elections until the present time. The officers of the company at the present time are as follows :
President, J. H. Bartholomew of Ansonia,
Vice President, Charles L. English of New Haven,
Secretary, Francis E. Harrison of New Haven,
Treasurer, Charles Atwater of New Haven,
Superintendent, E. S. Quintard of New Haven.
The whole length of the road is thirteen miles, running through a rural district nearly the entire distance, having the good fortune to touch the villages at a single point and then pass- ing into the open country. The stations, beginning with New Haven are : West Haven, Tyler City, Orange, Derby, Birming- ham and Ansonia. A brief notice of the leading men engaged in this enterprise is given.
J. H. BARTHOLOMEW, ESQ.
Jeremiah H. Bartholomew was elected president of this com- pany, Sept. 29, 1874, and still holds that office. The biographi- cal sketch of him may be found in another part of this book.
HON. MORRIS TYLER.
Hon. Morris Tyler was elected president of the company in 1867, which office he held until September, 1874, when he re- signed, but continued a member of the board of directors until his decease, in November, 1876.
To Mr. Tyler, is due, perhaps, more than to any other mem- ber of the board of directors, the successful prosecution of the work to its completion, in which he, and the board, had to contend against innumerable difficulties, growing out of finan- cial embarrassments occasioned by the failure of the con- tractors, at a time when the work was about half done. His efficient effort in carrying it to completion is well expressed in the following resolutions passed by the stockholders at the an- nual meeting, November 15, 1876: "Resolved, that in the death of Mr. Tyler, the New Haven and Derby railroad com- pany has lost a director whose services, far exceeding any re- quirement of official duty, were invaluable ; whose counsel and
335
RAILROAD MEN.
whose means, in the darkest days of its history, largely contrib- uted to preserve its road to the public interests which originally induced its construction, and whose unrewarded services as the executive officer of the company for several years, should ever be held in kindly remembrance. That in grateful acknowledge- ment of our obligations to Mr. Tyler for his unwearying devo- tion to the welfare of the company we place these resolutions upon our records."
Morris Tyler was a noble type of American manhood. With- out the early aids which arise from inherited wealth, he, by the force of native energy and conscientious industry, acquired the confidence of his fellow citizens, and filled most important posi- tions in the city of his residence, and in the state. He was re- elected to the mayoralty of the city of New Haven, and lieuten- ant governor of the state, besides being connected with many financial and manufacturing corporations, in which he was a large stockholder. He died in the midst of his usefulness, leav- ing to his family and fellow citizens a reputation for public enterprise, and duties well performed, which they will long remember with honor and affection.
ELI S. QUINTARD, ESQ.
Eli S. Quintard is one of the oldest and best known of the active railroad men of Connecticut. He is a native of Norwalk, where he was born in 1820. His railroad life began with the establishment of the 9.30 morning down train on the New York and New Haven railroad, soon after its opening. Of this train he was the first conductor. Almost a quarter of a century after this (1872) his conductor's trunk, still in a state of good pre- servation, was sent him as a keepsake by the officials of the road. After a short service as conductor he was transferred to the New York agency of the road, and soon after, in 1852, en- tered the office and duties of its assistant superintendent, with his head-quarters at New Haven. This position he retained, to the satisfaction of the changing administrators of the company, and with the hearty good-will of its employes, until the winter of 1869, when he surrendered that office and removed to Cleve- land, Ohio, where he became superintendent of the Cincinnati, Sandusky and Cleveland railroad.
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HISTORY OF DERBY.
In the spring of 1870, negotiations were opened which re- sulted in the election of Mr. Quintard superintendent of the New Haven and Derby railroad, and his return to New Haven to supervise its completion and take charge of its work. It is but truth to say that his election gave general satisfaction, and was an element of strength in the public mind, which had be- come greatly discouraged in regard to the road by the various mishaps which had attended its construction. Under his super- intendence the road has been carefully and judiciously operated, by which the public confidence has been obtained. The road is now recognized as a very great convenience to the localities for whose benefit it was specially constructed, and the day is not far distant when its receipts will warrant further outlay to make its usefulness more complete and extensive.
In addition to his large railroad acquaintance Mr. Quintard is one of the most prominent Free Masons in the state, having at- tained the highest honor in the Knights Templar and other kindred organizations of that body. He was also for some years a member of the New Haven common council.
FRANCIS E. HARRISON, ESQ.
Francis E. Harrison is a native of New Haven, having been born in that city in 1830.
Graduating from Yale College in 1849, the subsequent years until 1861 were occupied in teaching and newspaper editing, in banking and insurance business.
While acting as receiver of the suspended Litchfield Bank his attention was directed, by his own personal inconvenience, to the insufficient accommodations for travel between New Haven and the Naugatuck valley. The difficulties then experienced became still more apparent to him after engaging as chief clerk of the New Haven post-office in 1861, where he had occasion for observing the want of mail facilities between the two local- ities. To remedy these, he first petitioned the New York and New Haven road for an early morning train into New Haven, connecting with the only morning train down the Naugatuck road, and a corresponding returning train. Such a train was placed on that road, starting from Stamford, reaching New Haven at eight o'clock, and returning at noon.
337
CHARTER SECURED.
While circulating this petition for this morning train, and ex- plaining its object to the business men of New Haven, he was constantly met by suggestions of a railroad making direct con- nections with the Naugatuck road at Derby. This was so fully in accord with his own ideas that in the spring of 1864, after consultation with prominent gentlemen in New Haven and Derby, Mr. Harrison drafted, secured signatures and presented petitions to the Legislature of that year for the incorporation of the company, which petitions were granted. Upon the or- ganization of the company in 1867 he was elected secretary, in recognition of his services, which position he has held since that date by continuous annual elections, taking an active part in the administration of the affairs of the road.
In addition to his duties in connection with the road Mr. Har- rison continued in effect, though not in name, the assistant post- master of New Haven until January, 1872, when he was elected treasurer of the New Haven Gas Light Company, an office which he still occupies.
HON. CHARLES ATWATER.
Charles Atwater, the treasurer of the New Haven and Derby railroad company, is one of the well known business men of New Haven. Descended from one of the old families of the town, he was born January 2, 1815 ; graduated at Yale College in 1834, and nearly all his business life, save a short period after graduation spent in Philadelphia, has been that of a New Haven merchant. The firms of English and Atwater, Charles Atwater and Sons, and Charles Atwater and Company, in each of which he has been a member, held a leading position in the iron and hardware trade in the city. He was also for many years a director in the City Bank, and some of that time its vice-president. Leaving that position he was the president of the Mechanics' Bank of New Haven about three years. In both these positions much of the active management of these insti- tutions was intrusted to him.
Besides his business relations in New Haven, Mr. Atwater was a large owner in the Birmingham Iron and Steel Works, and for a time quite active in conducting that enterprise. While thus engaged his attention was directed to the advantages of 43
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HISTORY OF DERBY:
railroad communication between New Haven and the Nauga- tuck valley, and at the meeting in which the Derby railroad project was first brought to the attention of the public he pre- sented a resolution, " that the business interests and general prosperity of New Haven would be greatly advanced by a more direct railroad connection with the Naugatuck valley," support- ing it with remarks of a practical and business-like character, and thus, from the very first, interested himself in that enter- prise. When the corporation was organized he was elected a director, and subsequently its treasurer, which position he has held to the present time, giving his services for many years gra- tuitously, and in the darker days of the road often uniting with Mr. Tyler in sustaining it with his personal credit.
Mr. Atwater is not a stranger to public life, having been a member of the New Haven board of aldermen in 1858 ; a rep- resentative from New Haven to the Legislature in 1861 ; sena- tor from the fourth district in 1862; the democratic candidate for lieutenant-governor in 1872, and the greenback candidate for governor in two later years. He was also for thirteen years a member of the New Haven board of education. In all these public positions he has shown a practical sagacity that has se- cured the commendation of his fellow citizens, and has rendered valuable services to the interests intrusted to his care.
EDWARD B. BRADLEY.
Conductor Edward B. Bradley, a native of Newtown, Conn., son of J. W. Bradley, present proprietor of the Tontine Hotel in New Haven, entered the service of the New Haven and Derby railroad as conductor August 9, 1871, he being the first con- ductor employed under the first time-table issued by the com- pany, and has continued in the same position to the present time. Under his direction, and that of the other conductor, as- sisted by the engineers, no accident causing the sacrifice of hu- man life has occurred during the eight years, of five trips a day, in the business work of the road.
HERBERT S. BEERS.
Conductor Herbert S. Beers, son of Amos S. Beers, who has been conductor on the Naugatuck railroad twenty-three years,
339
FLOODS.
began work as a brakeman on the New Haven and Derby road in March, 1872, wherein he continued until October, 1875, when he was appointed conductor, which position he still occupies.
FRESHETS.
The water and ice floods in the Ousatonic and Naugatuck rivers in the long past, according to tradition, were more mag- nificent and terrible than in later years. Large quantities of cord-wood upon the shores, saw-mill logs, ship timbers, huge trees broken or torn up by the roots, houses, barns and bridges were swept down stream almost annually by resistless floods. A wagoner with his team one day was swept from the cause- way while attempting to cross when the rivers were rising. He was rescued by two men in a flat-bottomed skiff from Derby shore. now rowing through the stream, again floating on ice, veering out a long rope which was held by parties on shore. The wagoner was saved at great peril, nearly exhausted, but his team was swept into Long Island Sound.
The Naugatuck often rises suddenly, and many accidents have happened and lives been lost in attempting to cross on the causeway when the water was not apparently very deep. Mr. Thomas Wallace, although warned of danger, was, some years since, very bravely and leisurely crossing over with horse and wagon, when, nearing the western shore, the swift current car- ried him, with driver and horse, from the roadway, lodging him in a clump of buttonwood trees. Quick as thought the lookers on rushed to the rescue. Mr. Wallace's beaver was "on the swim," and his venerable locks bristling above water. One thoughtful adventurer made a dive for the hat, when Mr. Wal- lace, like any sensible man, exclaimed, with great emphasis, "Never mind the hat-save me !"-and all were safely landed on terra firma.
Once it was more lucrative to catch drift-wood during freshets than at present. This was frequently done by throwing a rope with a stone on its end over a log near the shore where it was clear of ice, and then towing it in. Catching wood in this way, a man from Captain Nichols's wharf, for fear of losing his rope, tied the shore end around his waist, and then grappled a log
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HISTORY OF DERBY.
which proved too much for his strength. He was carried down the stream and drowned. One of our oldest inhabitants in- forms the writer that he has heard the roosters crowing in a barn while riding majestically on the swelling flood, happily unconscious of danger. Eighty years ago, or more, the ice was unusually thick in the Ousatonic, and during an ice flood it was piled up on Shelton's Island just below Birmingham, it is said, at least forty feet high, portions of which remained until the early part of the next June. It was during this freshet an in- cident occurred of exciting interest. The first house of Mr. Joseph Wheeler stood near the river at Derby Landing, just be- low the old Leman Stone building. It was a sort of store, eating house, and stopping place for travelers. During the freshet Wheeler was along the shore watching the elements, and saw a large sheet of ice, occupying nearly the entire width of the river, strike the western shore, then veering to the east and approaching his house, and the water rapidly rising. Mrs. Wheeler was alone in the house, unconscious of danger, when her husband rushed in and seizing her, without speaking, carried her, terrified and screaming, through deep water to dry land. The sight was rather ludicrous to the lookers on. Mrs. Wheeler was boiling doughnuts when her husband made the rude assault upon her, but she clung with tenacity to her dripping ladle, and this was all the furniture saved, for house, doughnuts and all, moved off with the unyielding ice, before Mrs. Wheeler had time to realize what was going on.
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