USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > The memorial history of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1884, Vol. I > Part 44
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88
To the Hon'' General Assembly sitting at Hartford the second Thursday in May, 1751 :-
The Memorial of us the subscribers, Merchants & Traders in and of the County of Hartford humbly sheweth :
That we your Honours' Memorialists have a great part of our Substance in Trade the Medium whereof is a paper Currency which from its first Emission, Anno 1709, to this time has lost more than seven parts in eight of the value it was then Emitted At. And in the few years since the Memorable Expedition against Cape Breton it has lost one half its Value and the Substance in Trade of your Honours' Memorialists is Sunk and lost in the Same Degree & proportion ; and if your Honours in your great Wisdom prevent not the depreciating of the said Medium, we cannot see but it must Terminate in the Ruin of our Trade & Estates, and we humbly conceive the Trade of this Colony can share no other Fate. And as the Medium of Trade is that whereby your dealings are valued and weighed, we cannot but think it ought to be esteemed of as Sacred a Nature as any weights & Measures whatsoever, and in order to maintain Justice must be kept as Stable for us. As a False weight and a false Ballance is an abomination to the Lord, we apprehend a False and unstable Medium is equally so; it occasions as much iniquity and is at least as Injurious. We, your Honours' Memorialists, therefor humbly Pray this Hon" Assembly in your great Wisdom to provide that the Medium of Trade may be rendered Stable for time to come, and that the Just
1 Colonial Records, vol. viii. p. 320.
2 Ibid., p. 359.
327
COMMERCE AND BANKING.
Value of our now Outstanding Debts may be secured to us ; and y' Memorialists as in Duty bound will ever Pray. (Signed)
JOHN LEDYARD, SAM'L PELTON,
JOSHUA LOTHROP, PHILIP MORTIMER,
JOSEPH WRIGHT, RICH'D WAIT, BENJ'N PAINE, SAM'L STARR,
MATTHEW TALCOTT, ELIPHA. WILLIAMS, Jr. JNO. LAWRENCE,
RICH'D ALSOP,
ELISHA BREWSTER,
THOS. BELDING, JNO. MCKNIGHT, ALEXAND'R MACKY,
THOS. GOODWIN,
SAM'L TALCOTT,
ELISHA BURNHAM, JOHN POTWINE,
WM. WRIGHT, DAN'L LOTHROP,
ROB'T NEIVENS, DAN'L GOODWIN,
GEO. PHILLIPS, MICHAEL BURNHAM.
Such sums had been emitted before the date of this memorial that, notwithstanding such conservative endeavors on the part of the Govern- ment as we may suppose it put forth, there was hardly time to redeem them all before the commencement of the next French war. From 1755 excessive emissions of a similar nature to previous ones, except that they bore five per cent interest, followed each other into circula- tion ; of which, in an account prepared for transmission to the Commis- sioners for Trade and Plantations (1764), Mr. Eliphalet Dyer asserted that " their value has remained invariable, permanent, and stable," and that the funds appropriated for calling in, sinking, and discharging said sums emitted, and the sums granted by Parliament as a compensation to the Colony, had been improved therefor ; and that, save only some small sums of 1761, all " antecedent to that of March, 1762, were called in, sunk, and discharged." 1
The troubled years that now followed, covering the period of the war for national independence, brought a notable experience of inter- ruption and disaster to commerce, and of discredit and depreciation to the public promises to pay ; while the eventual recovery from the depres- sion in values and enterprise was necessarily tardy and unsatisfactory, with apparent improvements that too often were found to be only inter- mittent and disappointing. The trade and the finances of the finally independent colonies, and so of each community like this in the centre of our State, were suffering with common or specific embarrassments which awakened the popular mind to the examination and advocacy of any new or old scheme which gave any promise for their amelioration. It was not for this latitude a new project which was evolved out of the perplexing experiences of these trying times, and which eventually se- cured the successful organization of the first and a real bank in Con- necticut and at Hartford. The maturity of its age, if we do not care to say the antiquity of the idea, appears upon the perusal of " First Essays at Banking and The First Paper Money in New England," 2 and, in con- nection therewith, of a letter of our Governor John Winthrop: from which letter some extracts will be interesting. It was addressed to his friend, the Hon. William Brereton, in England, and bears date from Hartford in New England, Nov. 6, 1663 : 3 __
I doe not remember whether yourselfe were present wth the council of the Royall Society, when I declared some proposalls concerning a way of trade and banke wthout mony, wch I had formerly hinted to Mr. Hartlib in a letter fro home, and sometymes to yourselfe when I was in England. ...
1 Colonial Records, vol. xii. p. 339. 2 Dr. J. Hammond Trumbull : Worcester, 1884. 3 Massachusetts Historical Society's Collections, 5th ser., vol. viii. p. 86.
328
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
The generall acquaintance and interest yt they have in the gentry, merchants, and citisens, besides the sufficient insight yt many of you have into matters of trade and exchange, made me thinke yt such a designe could no way be better accepted and brought into vse then from yt Royall Society. If it may appeare of publiqe vse and benefit, they may please to add what they se necessary for the prfecting thereof. It is wholy their owne.
I have given ont no copies of it, nor made it knowne to any other ; it will most probably be so approved, as from themselves that it may be quickly brought into a practical way, to the great advance of trade, and settlement of such a banke as may answer all those ends yt are atteined in other p'ts of the world by bankes of ready mony. I metion no p'ticulars, there being in yt discourse weh was left wth Mr. Oldenburg, the modell of what I would se necessary fundamentally for such a designe of trade. .
This I am bold to mention to yourselfe in p'ticular that if there appear no acceptance as to the promoting of it amongst gentlemen and merchants to a triall, &c., I might obteine your Hon's advice, whether to move any other way therein by acquainting merchants or others for the setting it a foot, or to desist further thought about it or any further addition to that modell weh is so far already in writing. Honble ST, Yr most humble servant, JNO. WINTHROP.
The "modell" is not known to have gained publicity here to the extent of promoting any designs of this nature during the life of Governor Winthrop, but it does thus appear to have been matured and cherished in his own mind, and in the course of his long and influential service in the affairs of the State may subsequently have been given out among his confidants and often perhaps referred to as an available and timely relief for the necessities of trade as they arose during the years of his administration. A chartered bank appears to have been organized in Massachusetts as early as 1686 ; 1 but our fathers on the Connecticut did not adopt the novelty as readily as they imitated other characteristics of their neighbor's finances. A resolution appeared in the Lower House of the Assembly in May, 1726, " that a bank be raised of certain sums of Bills of Credit on this Government to be let out at Reasonable Interest, and that a Comtee from both Houses be appointed to prepare & Draw and bring in a proper Scheme therefor to pass into an Act;" and another at the same session that "a Bank of £100,000 more or less be emitted in bills of public credit to be Loaned to ye use of the Government." Neither of these passed the Upper House.
But not until the charter of the New London Society United for Trade and Commerce was granted at the May session of 1732 was the attempt made by any corporation to issue and give currency to their own bills of credit or society notes. This association sought their treasurer from Hartford County. When they organized, John Curtiss, of Wethersfield, received and accepted that appointment and removed to New London. Their enterprise was ostensibly to follow navigation and trade ; but the community were soon surprised by the appearance in circulation of large amounts of paper currency in notes bearing their title and in tenor and looks quite like those of government emission. These at first passed readily into use and to popular favor. The idea seemed full of promise to business minds. But afterthoughts were critical. Wise men distrusted a scheme that had apparently exceeded
1 First Essays in Banking, p. 14.
329
COMMERCE AND BANKING.
its charter, and were alarmed; and a determined reaction against it developed throughout the colony, precipitated by a demonstration of the Governor and Council against the new money and an examination of the business by the legislature, who dissolved the association ; a fiat which they endeavored for a while to resist, but to which acquiescence was finally enforced and they retired, after much trouble and the im- poverishment of many of their members and the thorough disgrace of the whole notable undertaking, provision having been made by the Assembly for redemption of their outstanding bills.1
One signal experiment of such a character, in the opinion of our steady-going people, answered for many years ; but after their prolonged and miserable struggle under the depression and ruin of war, when once assured of their independence they rallied for peaceful pursuits and began anew to lay foundations for business enlargement and stability. Their discussions seemed to contemplate more intelligent ideas of finance. The necessities of governmental policy had brought a different model into place ; and for ten years from 1781 they had had opportunity to observe the success of the Bank of North America at Philadelphia, and later, of one at New York, and of one at Boston, whose notes had been made redeemable in coin at pleasure of the holder. The act authorizing the establishment of the United States Bank, with various branches to be planted in eligible cities, passed in Congress early in 1791, and Hartford, not behind time in some things, became somewhat awakened at a pretty early date in this regard. Here, for the day, was to be found a goodly accumulation of capital ; this could easily be ac- counted an eligible city ; certain men of the town thought well of the United States Bank, and occasionally published 2 some reasons why a branch of it might be about the thing for this important section of the world. The establishment of a national bank might justly be considered as one of the most auspicious events which had for many years happened in the United States. A bank established here would be particularly beneficial to our commerce by enabling the merchant to command money when he wants it. Now, if he is to have advantage of opportunities and not lose them, he must always keep a hoard of money in his chest. A bank enables a merchant to employ a larger capital in trade than otherwise he would ; especially helpful to the speculator, enabling him to buy in large quantities and to hold his stores until he can realize a satisfactory profit. The farmer also may get his advantage from the merchant who avails of such facilities, because he can sell his produce all at one place at a stipulated price, and not be obliged to run all over town to market it piecemeal as he may be able to find money, with a different price at each place perhaps. The owners of the bank would deposit money subscribed by shares, to support a paper credit ; and in many ways it would become properly an instrument of commerce, and all who had money to spare could become participants in the profits by contributing to the capital. Any way, if the bank did the farmer no good it would do him no harm; the bank would make public credit ; it would make facilities for exchanges and collections between various localities. It would make paper money, and, periodically, out of its profits would make "what are called dividends." If a bank was an
1 Colonial Records, vol. vii. pp. 507, 508.
2 See the " Connecticut Courant " files of the day.
330
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
instrument of commerce, it was urged that one was needed here. Con- necticut might be called the soul of the West India Trade, and imported at this time more spirit in proportion to its trade than any other State. One half the horses, cattle, and mules exported the previous year from the United States were from Connecticut, and the principal article re- turned in payment for them was rum, and the molasses received is mostly distilled into new rum after it arrives. Into Connecticut there- fore are brought large amounts of West India goods which pay heavy duties, while at the same time the cash from the State goes to New York for supplies of dry goods. No State is in greater need of specie ; and as it is an importing State, it has a claim to that pecuniary aid which would be derived from the national bank. Best judges believed that a bank here with a stock of one hundred thousand dollars would yield a good profit.
In the course of another year the purposes of those who favored the establishment of such an institution here began to assume an appear- ance of more definite direction and responsibility,1 and in the beginning of 1792 the preliminaries of corporation were arranged, the proposed capital was pledged by subscription, and the parties now substantially committed sought a charter from the legislature. For the purpose of securing this the preparation and presentation of their petition was wisely committed to three happily chosen agents, over whose signatures the merits of the enterprise and the desires of their principals were given in the following intelligible and interesting terms : -
To the Honl. Gen. Assembly of the State of Connecticut, now sitting in Hartford : -
The Petition of John Trumbull, Chauncey Goodrich, and Noah Webster, Jun., all of the City of Hartford, Agents for the Stockholders in Hartford Bank, humbly sheweth : That an association has been formed and a subscription opened by a number of mercantile Characters and others in said City and its Vicinity, to estab- lish a Bank therein ; The stock of said Bank to consist of One hundred thousand dollars, and to be divided into Two Hundred and fifty shares; which said sum is already subscribed, and a Part thereof deposited in the Hands of a Committee chosen for that purpose. The Objects of said Institution are to facilitate com- mercial operations, and extend the trade of the said City & State, now too limited by the smallness of mercantile capitals; and the stockholders flatter themselves that a well-regulated Bank will be especially useful to our Export Business, as it will provide Specie for the merchants wherewith to purchase the Produce brot to Market. The Public, and particularly commercial Men, have with Regret for a long time seen the dependent state of our trade; our imports and Exports in the Hands of the Merchants of other States ; the trade of an ex- tensive inland Country on Connecticut River, daily growing in population & wealth, diverted from said city, its natural Place, into other channels, out of the
1 Feb. 27, 1792. "It is proposed to petition the Honorable General Assembly of this State at their Session in May next, for the establishing a Bank in this city. All merchants and others that are disposed to forward this business are requested to meet at Mr. David Bull's this evening at 6 o'clock." - Advertisement in the " Connecticut Courant."
Barber notes David Bull's as "the most noted tavern in Hartford, and was called the 'Bunch of Grapes' Tavern, from the carving of a bunch of grapes used as a sign." It stood at or near the point of intersection of Asylum Street with the west side of Main ; Asylum Street not being opened.
M. de Chastellux visited the house during the Revolutionary War. " A very good inn," he wrote, " kept by Mr. Bull, who is accused of being rather on the other side of the question ; a polite method of designating a tory."
331
COMMERCE AND BANKING.
State, and merely from want of mercantile wealth. A bank, by bringing into operation money not now used in commerce, and combining mercantile capital and exertion, it is expected will in some measure remedy this evil. Such an institution, your Honors are sensible, cannot be safely and successfully managed without Governmental Protection and Patronage. Confiding in your Honors' known attention and aid to the important Interests of the State, and of every class of its Cityzens, The said stockholders have instructed the Petra to apply to you for an Act of Incorporation for sd stockholders ; which the Petr: humbly pray your Honours to grant, & therein such Powers as shall be necessary for the well management of sd Bank, and with such Limitations as you shall see fit. And your Petr.8, as in duty bound, will ever Pray.
Dated in said City of HARTFORD, this 14th day of May, Anno Domini 1792.
JOHN TRUMBULL, - CHAUNCEY GOODRICH, Agents. NOAH WEBSTER, JR.,
The application was successful, and the charter of the Hartford Bank was granted without apparent objection or delay, - the capital, from $100,000 to be increased from time to time to a sum not exceed- ing $500,000. The following notice appeared in due time : -
HARTFORD, June 18, 1792.
At a meeting of the stockholders of the Hartford Bank, convened according to law on the 14th of June, 1792, the Hon. Oliver Ellsworth, Esqr., was elected to preside at said meeting for the election of Directors of said Bank, when the following persons, viz., Jeremiah Wadsworth, John Caldwell, John Morgan, George Phillips, Barnabas Dean, Timothy Burr, James Watson, Caleb Bull, and Ephraim Root were duly elected Directors of said Bank for the ensuing year. On Saturday (16th) the Directors met for the purpose of choosing a President,1 and made choice of the Hon. Jeremiah Wadsworth, Esq., who declined serving, whereupon John Caldwell, Esqr., was elected. Hezekiah Merrill, Esqr., was at said meeting appointed Cashier of said Bank.
The organization now being completed, other necessary details were arranged, so that by Wednesday, August 8, the bank was opened for the transaction of business, in accordance with a code of regulations pub- lished by authority, as follows : -
RULES TO BE OBSERVED AT HARTFORD BANK, IN HARTFORD.
The bank to be open every day in the year except Sundays, public Fasts, Thanksgivings, Christmas, and the Fourth of July, from the hour of nine o'clock till twelve o'clock in the morning, and from Two o'clock to Five in the after- noon, Saturday afternoon excepted.
Proposals for Discount will be received every Wednesday; and if accepted, the money will be paid the following day. Payments made at the Bank are never subject to revision ; errors (if any) must be discovered before the money is taken off the counter.
In order to obtain Discount, a note expressing the sum wanted (in Dollars) must be enclosed in a letter directed to the Cashier of the HARTFORD BANK, with an indorser requesting Discount, may be made for any number' of days not ex- ceeding Forty-five.
1 The Presidents of the Hartford Bank have been : John Caldwell, elected June 16, 1792; Nathaniel Terry, June 10, 1819 ; Joseph Trumbull, June 12, 1828 ; David F. Robinson, Nov. 8, 1839 ; Henry A. Perkins, June 9, 1853 ; James Bolter, July 6, 1874.
332
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
CONNECTICUT
CO
Pres!
3
BANK
Hartford 11
Catch.
.Red.xe.
SHARTFORD
3
hay . Goodar Srlcau THREE
FAC-SIMILE OF AN EARLY HARTFORD BANK BILL, NOW IN POSSESSION OF THE BANK.1
Notes presented for Discount must be ex- ecuted in the City of Hartford, and the draw- er or indorser must be a resident within said City.
Charge shall be taken in said bank of the Gold and Silver of all those who chuse to place it there, free of expense ; and will be kept subject to their order payable at sight. And they will receive Deposits of Ingots of Gold and of Silver, wrought Plate, or other valuable articles of small bulk, and return the same on demand to the depositor.
Bills and notes left at the office for collec- tion will be presented for acceptance, and the money collected or de- manded, without ex- pense, except in case of protest ; the charges of which shall be paid by the person lodging the bill or note.
Gold or silver coins will be received and paid according to the laws established by the Congress of the United States.
By order of the Pres- ident and Directors, HEZEKIAH MERRILL, Cash".
In a short time theinstitution proved itself a necessity. THREE No period returned when it could be spared, and for an important term of years our city and county, and indeed an extending region without, gave an undivided patronage to its administrations, and
1 The picture represents John Caldwell's warehouse at the river-bank and one of his ships which was housed in and laid up at Hartford during the embargo.
Promiseto
Dollies on demand.
A
333
COMMERCE AND BANKING.
an assured, if rather tardy, confidence to its currency, which in due course was cautiously emitted and watchfully protected. Business methods generally improved with the knowledge and use of the new facilities. As had been predicted, the bank had its influence in " de- stroying that bane of all trade, and that curse to Connecticut trade, barter." The system of exchanges and payments between individuals was inaugurated, which, with some progressive refinements perhaps, has continued to this day.
Increasing subscriptions, as business warranted it, were added to fill out the capital stock of the bank to the limit of its projectors; the advantages and security of such an aggregate of cash capital incor- porated by the Government, over individual copartnerships for banking, became more and more evident, and the public favor was gradually but surely gained for the institution itself and for a system that was to expand and improve, but had come to stay. Its business and influence extended apace. The profits increased. Dividends were remunerative to the owners of the stock, so that at each further increase of the cap- ital, making it finally one million dollars, -as authorized by Legis- lative Act of May, 1807, - the amount offered to investors was largely over-subscribed ; and not only was the advance of four per cent which the act provided for readily paid, but larger premiums were bid for shares by those who were eager to buy.
Such prosperity in a score of years must needs awaken the attention of anti-monopolists, or at least of those who coveted the so-called mo- nopoly, and from such as these came to be heard suggestions of another bank. Moreover, the politics of the time, the war of 1812, and not less the differing inspirations of Congregational and Episcopal ecclesiasti- cism, were prolific of discussions upon both sides of which the ad- ministrators and clients of the old bank could not be satisfactorily ranged.
The moving consideration, no doubt, lay in the calculation that with the return of peace would come better times for commercial and manu- facturing enterprise, and that even the then present population and business should afford a profitable patronage to a second institution of the kind. There were strong and shrewd business men in the move- ment. To the Congregationalists, the Churchmen, the Federalists, and the Democrats of the legislature, they brought their best reasons with their petition, which follows here, and pressed their snit to win : -
To the Honorable General Assembly of the State of Connecticut, to be held at Hartford, the Second Monday of May next : -
The petition of Ward Woodbridge, Samuel Tudor, Jr., Charles Sigourney, and their Associates, humbly sheweth : That the experience of the last thirty years has in this country completely demonstrated the advantages arising from well-regulated banks in a commercial community. That your petitioners there- fore forbear to enter, deeming it entirely needless, into any details of their advantages before a body so well informed as this Honorable General Assembly. That your petitioners pray for leave to establish a bank in the city of Hartford. And they respectfully ask permission now to offer to the Honorable General Assembly a few reasons why they think their prayer may be granted, not only without injury to the public, but as combining public advantage with private interest.
334
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
A bank in the city of Hartford is an establishment by no means for the accommodation of that place only. All the neighboring counties in this State share largely in the conveniences it affords. Most of the western part of Massa- chusetts, and of those parts of Vermont and New Hampshire which are contigu- ous to Connecticut River, -a section of country almost equal in population to the whole State of Connecticut, - derive advantages from a bank in this city as well as contribute to its support; the merchants from them having long been accustomed to receive loans of money from the Hartford Bank. Nor has this bank been able at all times to supply the demand for loans, though accompanied with undisputed security. The great dividends of profit made by the Hartford Bank of late years demonstrates the great and increasing demand for loans ; and it is a singular fact that these dividends have increased in amount with the in- crease of the capital of the bank. The very high price which its stock commands evidences both the profitableness of the business and the safety with which it may be conducted.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.