USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Litchfield > The history of the town of Litchfield, Connecticut, 1720-1920 > Part 16
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A general view of local industries is given in the Gazetteer of the States of Connecticut and Rhode Island, 1810. "The most important manufacture in the town is that of iron, of which there are 4 forges, 1 slitting mill and 1 nail factory. There are 1 cotton mill, 1 oil mill, 1 paper mill, 2 cording (carding?) machines, 6 full- ing mills, 5 grain mills, 18 saw mills, 5 large tanneries, besides sev- eral on a small scale; 2 comb factories, 2 hatter's shops, 2 carriage makers, 1 cabinet furniture maker, 3 saddlers, and a number of house carpenters, joiners, smiths and other mechanics". Morris, p. 89, repeats this list, adding "1 machine for making wooden clocks and 1 cotton manufactory".
This list, however, by no means exhausts the catalog of Litch- field's industries, even at that early date. The advertisements in the early Monitors and in the other newspapers reflect an active commercial life beginning at once after the close of the Revolution. Certainly the army stores gathered in Litchfield during the War involved the presence here of many merchants and emphasized the important geographical position of the town, as it then was. Situ- ated at the intersection of the road from Boston and Hartford to New York with that from New Haven to Albany, the market, at least for certain commodities, was much more than a local one. In the first issue of the Monitor, December 21, 1784, there are only three Litchfield advertisements: that of William Russell, stocking weaver, from Norwich, England, who announced that he was ready to make "worsted, cotton and linen Jacket and Breeches Patterns, men's and women's Stockings, Gloves and Mitts"; that of Zalmon Bedient, barber, who offered cash for human hair, at his shop a few rods north of the court-house; and that of Cornelius Thayer, who carried on the business of brazier at the shop of Col. Miles
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Beach in North Street, at which shop the jeweler's and silversmith's business "is carried on as usual by said Beach". Ten or fifteen years later these three pioneer advertisements had increased in number to fill three columns or more, setting forth enterprises of every variety.
The iron industry is mentioned by the Gazetteer as of the chief importance. One foundry stood near the site of Miss Van Winkle's house on North Street, owned by Russell Hunt and Brothers. The ore was brought from Kent and Salisbury, in winter on sleds and in summer on pack horses in leather bags.
There was a slitting mill in Bantam, where the first rolling and slitting for nails was done by machinery by a secret process. Bantam can also boast the first machine-made harness buckles.
In Milton there was a puddling furnace owned by Hugh Welch. In 1860 this was bought by one Hinchcliff, and converted into the shears shop.
A forge was located in Bantam near the site of the factory of Flynn and Doyle.
In the Monitor, February 15, 1797, is told the first industrial disaster of the town. "On Monday the pressure of water and ice, on the stream leading out of the Great Pond, was so great that it swept off the dam, bridge and iron-house belonging to Mssrs. Wads- worth and Kirby, at their slitting and rolling mill. Their loss is estimated at $2,500, including the suspension of their business the present season. The damage to the public at large will be much greater than the individual loss. The great quantity of Cash put in motion by this factory has a sensible effect on the circulating medium of this and the neighboring towns. All persons concerned in the manufacture of Iron have strong reasons to lament this mis- fortune". Fortunately, a notice in the issue of February 27 announces that by the great exertions of the firm and "the generous assistance of their friends" they "have nearly repaired the damage and that on Thursday of the present week they will be again in motion".
In Bantam lived a certain Phineas Smith, nailor, who advertised in the Monitor for "one or two faithful Workmen at hammer'd Nails". These hammered nails were possibly the hand-made nails that are pulled with such difficulty out of the oaken beams of our oldest houses. They were of such value that carpenters of old never threw them away, but carefully straightened out the used ones and preserved them for future use.
The building industry had a famous representative in Giles Kil- bourn, who built the church erected in 1796 on the hill opposite the Burying Ground at Bantam by the seceding Episcopalians of the western part of the town, who, during the ministry of Rev. David Butler, organized the Second Episcopal Society of Litchfield. Giles Kilbourn died September 13, 1797, and his funeral was the first
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in the new church. He built the houses now occupied by Mrs. Vanderpoel, Mrs. Harrison Sanford and Charles H. Coit.
Joiners were frequently advertised for by our old cabinet makers, many of whom signed their names to their work, like artists or silver-smiths. They had a right to do so, for their work was hand-wrought and artistic. One of the most noted of these men was Silas E. Cheney, who died in 1820. David Bulkley and George Dewey were partners, two doors west of the County House, and their carving became famous far beyond the limits of the township. They were succeeded about 1839 by Bulkley and Cooke.
John Mattocks, a Windsor chair maker, half a mile west of the center, advertised in 1797, taking in exchange for his work "Bass wood Plank proper for chair seats". Near him and at the same period, Nathaniel Brown, house joiner, made "Windsor, fiddle-back, dining-room, parlor, kitchen and children's chairs".
Also in 1797 appears the advertisement of Oliver Clark and Ebenezer Plumb Jr., who "Have taken the shop lately occupied by Mr. Ozias Lewis, in the main South Street, a few rods below Mr. Kirby's,-where they intend (if properly encouraged) to furnish every description of Cabinet Work, elegant and common to fancy on agreeable terms. They make Heart-back Cherry Chairs from 7 to 9 dollars each; Windsor ditto from Ss. to 15s. each. Pungs and Sleighs, of any model, on short notice. All kind of Stuff fit for Cabinet or Shop work, received in payment". The taking of produce or raw material in payment for manufactured articles is a frequent feature of the old advertisements, due to the scarcity of circulating coin in the years following the Revolution. In 1799, Oliver Clark was at work alone at the same shop, advertising "swell'd and straight sideboards, bureaus, chairs, etc., of mahogany, cherry and other stuff highly finished; and finishing buildings in the most approved style of architecture".
The trade of carriage making was a prominent one. There was a carriage factory at Milton owned by Ralph P. Smith's father and uncle, located below the Blake Grist-mill. At a very much earlier period coaches were made at a factory on Chestnut Hill, every part of the carriage being manufactured on the spot. In 1839, William Clark manufactured "Carriages, Pedlar and Pleasure Wagons of all kinds" to order "one door north of the Congregational Church", and in the same year Ambrose Norton had a carriage shop further up North Street on the west side. North Street was essentially the business street in those days, and the street also on which the greatest merchants lived, especially Benjamin Tallmadge and Julius Deming, each of whom had his store immediately south of his house. In his Statistical Account, Morris enumerates the carriages in use, presumably in the spring of 1812 as "1 phaeton, 1 coachee and 46 two-wheel pleasure carriages!" and adds, p. 92, "Waggons, drawn either by one or two horses, are much used by the inhabitants. The first pleasure carriage, a chair, was brought into this town by
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Mr. Matthews, mayor of New York, in the year 1776, and is still in use here: the first umbrella in the year 1772".
Still another carriage factory was located at the foot of West Hill, before the tan-yard which was there for so many years.
Tanning was an extensive industry, together with other manu- factures involving the use of skins and leather. Caleb Bacon adver- tised, Monitor, May 29, 1799, for a boy "14 or 15 years old as an Apprentice to the Shoemaking and Tanning Business". Morocco leather was produced here in those energetic days, and used for hats, witness another Ad. of the same Caleb Bacon, in the Witness, July 1, 1806: "The subscriber takes this method to inform his customers and the public that he is now carrying on the morocco manufactory in Litchfield half-a-mile north of the Court House on the great road leading from New Haven to Albany, where he offers for sale in large or small quantities Rowan Morocco suit- able for Shoes or Hats, finished in the neatest manner by some of the best workmen on the continent. Also a few real Goat Skins, Kid Bindery, etc., Cheap for cash or raw materials, such as Oak and Hemlock bark, Hides, calf and sheep skins, sumac of this year's growth (the time to crop which is July and August) and must be dried like hay free from rain or any wet. Hatters and shoemakers will do well to call and see for themselves".
There were saddlers and harness makers in large numbers. But leather was used for many other purposes less to be expected. Erastus Lord made the first leather pocket-books in this country. "He moved to Litchfield", Vanderpoel, p. 24, "and continued to make them at his house on the south side of Prospect Street, where Mr. MacMartin now lives". His son, Augustus A. Lord worked with him and later by himself, and finally moved to the center and con- fined himself to book-binding. For a time his business was very varied, as shown by an advertisement in the Enquirer, May 6, 1844: "Blank Book Manufactory. A. A. Lord manufactures to order, Records, Ledgers, Journals, Day Books, Waste Books, Grand List Books, Writing Books, Memorandums, etc. etc. at his manufactory in Prospect St. He also manufactures Pocket Books of every description, Among which are Pocket Books, Portfolios, Bill Books, Memorandum and Merchants' Pocket Books, Gents' and Ladies' Dressing Cases, etc. Book Binding in all its variety executed in the most thorough manner. All of the above articles made of the best of stock, and the workmanship equal to any in the country".
In the Monitor, November 3, 1795, Thomas Trowbridge advertised for "two or three journeymen Shoemakers who if steady and faith- ful will find immediate employ and sufficient wages". His business was extensive, as is evidenced by an anecdote told of Col. Tall- madge. The latter was most particular as to his dress, and con- tinued to wear the small clothes and long stockings of the Revolu- tionary period long after other men had donned trousers. A neces- sary accompaniment of this costume was a pair of elegant high
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top boots. He once took such a pair to Trowbridge's shop and asked him if he could repair them. Mr. Trowbridge assured him that he could, but the Colonel was still doubtful as to his ability: bought those boots in New York", he said, "and they are exceedingly choice". "And I made those boots in Litchfield", was Trowbridge's answer, "and sold them to the New York trade. I guess I can mend them!" And the Colonel was satisfied that he could.
Hats were made not only out of Morocco, but from beaver and lamb's wool. Turning again to the Monitor, August 15, 1798; "Shear'd Lamb's Wool, Proper for Hatter's use, paid for in cash at the store of Timothy and Virgil Peck ;- who manufacture and have for sale Hats of prime and inferior quality". And just below this: "Sam. Seymour and Ozias Seymour" also announce that they have beaver hats for sale and pay cash for lamb's wool and for "Lambskins with the wool on". There were fulling mills beyond the North Street iron foundry, where wool was fulled "for hats made and sold on South Street by Ozias and Moses Seymour. This hat factory was afterwards moved to the west of the town and owned by Braman and Kilbourne". (Vanderpoel, p. 24).
Wool was a very important commodity; and wool carding had to be carefully supervised. In the Witness, June 10, 1806, we find S. Strong & Co., announcing that they had "again employed Jerry Radcliffe to superintend their carding machine, half a mile south of Capt. Bradley's Tavern. As Mr. Radcliffe's skill in the business of carding is well known in this neighborhood nothing need be said on that point. Our customers are informed that their work will be warranted well done, conditioned that those who have cause of complaint inform us previous to spinning the wool-otherwise no allowance will be made. Wool for carding may be left at Moses Seymour Jr's store or at the Machine". In 1805, Jerry Radcliffe had been "carrying on the business of cloth dressing at Marsh's Mills, half a mile east of the Court House".
"Wool spinning", continues Mrs. Buel, whose notes we are closely following, "was still done at home, although these other steps in the process of cloth-making, such as the preparation of the wool for the wheel, the dyeing of the yarn and the weaving of the fabric had already begun to pass into the factory or the hands of specialists". Wool wheels are advertised: "Notice to Farmers. Cradle and Wheel Manufactory. The subscriber has located him- self one mile and a half west of the Court House on Harris' Plain, so-called, where he has on hand Grain Cradles with Scythes or with- out. Also, Wool Wheels and Reels. On hand, a few dozen Patent Wheel Heads, with Cast Steel Spindles. ... Elias Bissell".
There are many advertisements of the dyeing business. At the clothier's works of Sam. Nevins about a mile north of the Meeting House, cotton and linen yarn were dyed blue. In 1806 (Witness) "Ruth Cooper having obtained a complete skill in blue dyeing from
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Louis Perkins, proposes to carry on the Business in the East part of this town".
Marsh's Mills, at the foot of East Hill, were owned by Ebenezer Marsh and later by Thomas Addis, Clothier, who, according to his advertisements, "executes all branches of the trade including weav- ing".
In the last years of the eighteenth century we get an interesting announcement in the Monitor, December 2, 1798, showing not only the low ebb of the clothiers' business, but an early attempt at a commercial pooling of prices: "Notices to Clothiers. The Clothiers of the County of Litchfield are requested to meet at Mr. David Buel's, in Litchfield, on the third Monday of December instant at 1 o'clock, P. M. The suffering interest of the trade, in common with other artizans, by means of their labour bearing an inadequate pro- portion to the rate of Produce, etc., requires immediate remedy ; and the object of the meeting being principally to establish uniformity in prices, it is hoped every person interested will punctually and point- edly attend".
David Buel, here mentioned, was a man of many enterprises. He was for a time joint publisher with Thomas Collier of the Monitor; dealt in ladies' Stuff Shoes; exchanged sole leather for cash or flax; and was the Litchfield Agent for one of the State lotteries, for raising money for public works, as was then the unquestioned cus- tom in pious Connecticut.
Flax was still abundantly raised. Ephraim Kirby and Benja- min Doolittle owned an oil-mill where they "exchange the best Lin- seed Oil for Flax Seed". (Monitor, January, 1798). In 1805 Moses Seymour Jr., also ran an Oil Mill.
There was a cotton mill near the foot of South Hill, owned by Samuel Sheldon, a brother of Colonel Elisha Sheldon, and near it was a papier mache factory. Julius Deming started a paper mill in Bantam, in which Elisha Horton, who took part in the Boston Tea Party, was the foreman. Samples of the paper made by him are in the collections of the Litchfield Historical Society.
In Milton there was a button mill opposite the grist mill, while grist mills were dotted throughout the country. "Anti-Come-Off Coat and Pantaloons Buttons, a new article", were advertised at A. P. P. Camp's, in the Enquirer, June 3, 1841, but history is silent as to whether they were locally made.
About 1842 Simeon S. Batterson came to Litchfield with his family from New Preston and, with his eldest son James G. Batter- son, established and for some years maintained a marble yard on the East side of Meadow Street. Specimens of their work can still be seen in some of the Litchfield houses. From Litchfield they removed to Hartford, where James G. Batterson became one of the leading business men. He organized, and for many years was President of, the Traveler's Insurance Company. He was the builder of our present State Capitol, and of many other public build- ings in Hartford and elsewhere.
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Record also survives of a brick-yard half-a-mile west of the Court House, where in 1798 John Russell offered bricks in lots of from 15,000 to 50,000. There was also a piano factory about a mile west of town; at least a depression in the ground is shown where such a factory is reputed to have stood.
It is a pity that the memory of many such curious old enter- prises is quite lost. One would also like to know what became of the silk worms which Jedediah Strong advocated in prose and verse, some of which he claimed to be raising at his Elm Ridge house.
A highly successful business at one time was that of the gold and silversmiths. Samuel Shethar, Isaac Thompson, Reuben Mer- riman, Timothy Peck, William Ward and Benjamin Hanks were the best known of these workers in gold, silver and brass. Some of their silver spoons are still in use. In 1903, the Mary Floyd Tall- madge Chapter, D. A. R., held a large and interesting exhibit of locally owned silver, including specimens by several of these men. They were nearly all active somewhere between 1795 and 1805. Among many other things, Shethar manufactured those silver Eagles, the nation's arms, which were the emblem of the Federalists and were worn in the hat by both men and women during the bitter war between the Federalists and the Democrats. Undoubtedly these sold well in Litchfield in 1806. Another of these men, Benjamin Hanks came from Mansfield, Conn., to this town in 1778, remain- ing only till 1785, when he returned to Mansfield. While here he was a clock and watch maker, and contracted for and put up the first clock in the city of New York: on the old Dutch Church, Nassau and Liberty Streets. The clock was unique, having a wind- mill attachment, his own patent, for winding itself up.
We should not overlook the many industries of Northfield in the old days. These include, since 1798, spinning wheels, clocks, tin- ware, linen goods, nails, brick, cider brandy, flutes, wagons, car- riages, coffins, leather goods, trysquares, clothespins, knitting machines, butter and cheese, harness snaps, and cutlery, of which only the last survives.
To sum up the commercial industries of the Golden Age in Litchfield we are fortunate in having an accurate summary of those still active in 1845, at the very end of the period. This is found in a book prepared by Daniel P. Tyler, Secretary of State at Hart- ford, from the returns of the local assessors, entitled "Statistics of Certain Branches of Industry in Connecticut for the year ending October 1, 1845". The abbreviations used are: C. for capital; E. for employee; F. for female; M. for male; and V. for value.
Woolen Mills, 2; machinery, 2 setts; wool consumed 11,000 lbs; satinet m'd, 11,000 yds; V. $8,000; flannel m'd, 2,981 yds; V. $1,490.50; woolen yarn m'd, 500 lbs; V. $300; C. $6,000; M.E. 7; F.E. 3.
Casting Furnace, 1; ware cast, 30 tons; V. $2,250; C. $5,000; E. 7.
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Paper Factory, 1; stock consumed V. $3,500; paper m'd V. $8,000; C. $15,000; E. 10.
Musical Instrument Factory, 1; V. of m's, $8,000; C. $15,000; E. 16.
Saddle, Harness and Trunk Factory, 1; V. of m's, $1,000; C. $500; E. 2.
Hat and Cap Factory, 1; No. m'd 2,000; V. $3,000; C. $1,000; E. 6.
Car, Coach and Wagon Factories, 7; V. of m's, $21,900; C. $10,900; E. 31.
Soap and Candle Factory, 1; soap m'd, 100 bbls; V. $300; tal- low candles m'd, 600 lbs; V. $50; E. 1.
Chair and Cabinet Factory, 1; V. of m's, $3,000; C. $2,000; E. 5. Tin Factories, 2; V. of m's, $4,000; C. $2,000; E. 3.
Linseed Oil Mill, 1; oil m'd, 2,000 gallons; V. $2,000; C. $2,000; E. 1.
Tannery, 1; hides tanned, 1,765; leather m'd, V. $5,605; C. $5,650; E. 7.
Boots m'd, 1,286 pairs; shoes, 2,167 pairs; V. $7,500; E. 20.
Bricks m'd, 110,000; V. $500; E. 1.
Snuff, Tobacco and Segars m'd, V. $1,400; E. 2.
Lumber prepared for market, V. $3,079.
Firewood prepared for market, 4,549 cords; V. $9,098. Flouring Mills, 4; C. $8,000. Marble made into grave stones, V. $3,000; E. 3.
Suspenders m'd, 6,300 doz; V. $26,100; C. $5,000; M. E. 9; F. E. 50.
Mittens and Gloves m'd, 800 doz; V. $4,800; C. $4,000; E. 4. Sperm oil consumed in factories, 192 gals; V. $192.
Sheep, all sorts, 3,278; V. $2,570; wool produced, 15,714 lbs; V. $5,499.90.
Horses, 565; V. $16,273; neat cattle, 4,969; V. $51,231; swine, 2,714; V. $21,604.
Indian Corn, 24,777 bu; V. $20,564.91; wheat, 55 bu. V. $82.50; rye, 8,748 bu, V. $7,260.84; barley, 226 bu. V. $136.80; oats, 29,920 bu; V. $12,566.40; potatoes, 46,713 bu; V. $11,678.25; other esculents, 36,713 bu; V. $6,118.83.
Hay, 7,830 tons; V. $93,960; flax, 1,046 lbs; V. $104.60.
Fruit, 32,710 bu; V. $400; buckwheat, 9,316 bu; V. $4,658.
Butter, 126,314 lbs; V. $18,947.10; cheese, 352,262 lbs; V. $21,135; honey, 1,000 lbs; V. $100; beeswax, 100 lbs; V. $28.
Benjamin Tallmadge, Julius Deming and Moses Seymour were perhaps the three largest merchants in the town. The picturesque figure of Col. Tallmadge directs attention to him in particular.
Henry Ward Beecher wrote of him: "How well do we remember the stately gait of the venerable Colonel of Revolutionary memory! We don't recollect that he ever spoke to us or greeted us,-not because he was austere or unkind, but from a kind of military reserve. We thought him good and polite, but should as soon have
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thought of climbing the church steeple as of speaking to one living so high and venerable above all boys!" (Litchfield Revisited, 1856).
Col. L. W. Wessells has also left us a boy's impression of him: "When a small boy, I have often seen him on horseback, a remark- ably handsome figure and splendid horseman. He wore small clothes and top boots, with shirt ruffled at bosom and wrists, and we urchins looked upon him as something very nearly God-like. He made me a present of the first cock and hen of the Poland variety ever brought to Litchfield, and I was, of course, inflated with pride and the envy of every boy far and near". (Connecticut Quarterly, September, 1896).
In his Personal Memories, p. 135, E. D. Mansfield wrote of him: "He was one of the gentlemen of the old school, with the long queue, white-topped boots, and breeches. After the war he had retired to Litchfield, and was one of the most marked as well as dignified men who appeared in that aristocratic town. When the Western Reserve of Ohio was set off to Connecticut and sold for the school fund, he became a large owner of lands there, and a township was named after him".
Col. Tallmadge was in business with his brother, John Tall- madge, who lived in Warren, and was postmaster there. The wide range of goods covered in their importations is proved by a single one of their many advertisements in the Monitor, November 7, 1792:
"Cheap Goods! The subscribers having supplied their stores at Litchfield and Warren, with a large and general assortment of Euro- pean and West-Indian Goods, now offer them for Sale at a very small advance for pay in hand, or on a short credit. Besides a great variety of other articles, not mentioned, they have on hand a large assortment of: Twill'd plain and striped Coating; Superfine and low priced Broadcloths; London Kersemiers; Scarlet, crimson and green Baizes, double and single; Yellow and white Flannels; Rattinetts, Shalloons, Antiloons; Durants and Tammies, twill'd and plain, of various colors; Moreens, Taboreens, Joans; Black Russell, Calli- manco, Sattinette, Lastings, Velvets, Thicksetts and Cords, Twil'd and plain; Fustians, Janes; Hat Linings, Scarlet, blue and light colored Shagg; Wildbores, Cordurett and Camblett of various col- ors; Elegant tambour'd vest patterns; Toylonetts; silk, cotton, hemp and thread Hose, ribb'd and plain; Chintzs, Callicoes, Furniture ditto, Printed Linen, diversified in figure and quality; Best India. Sattin, wide and narrow, twill'd, plain and vellum Modes; Sarsa- nettes, silk and thread, wide and narrow, edging and laces; Chinz and purple Shawls; Ribbons of all colors and qualities; Furs and Trimmings; etc., etc., etc., etc., any or all of which will be sold by the piece, pattern, or single yard. Also a very general assortment of Ironmongery and Hardware; a very extensive and general assort- ment of crockery and Glass Ware; 6 by 8 and 7 by 9 Window Glass; Looking Glasses handsomely gilt; large Family and smaller Bibles; Testaments and Psalm Books; Websters Institutes, by the gross,
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