USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > The memorial history of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1884, Vol. I > Part 49
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Jan. 20, 1851, Amos M. Collins, Nathaniel H. Morgan, and Gurdon W. Russell were appointed a committee to erect an addition to the north wing of the main building of the town-house, for the safe keeping of the male prisoners, and their separation from the inmates of the almshouse, and the sum of $3,000 was appropriated for the purpose. On the 10th of March, 1851, a fire broke out in the upper story of the almshouse, and the interior of the building was entirely destroyed, only the walls being left standing. At that time there were about forty inmates. The next month plans were offered and accepted, in town- meeting, for rebuilding and repairing the almshouse and hospital, and the sum of $12,000 was appropriated. Before the end of the year the repairs were finished, and the building, with the outward appearance of that of 1841, has been used until the present day, but will now (1885) soon be superseded by a new building in another location.
Another subject mooted in 1785 was the necessity for a new bury- ing-ground, the old one behind the Centre Church being then nearly full.1 The first plan was to enlarge that ground in the rear, and to sell the portion of the lot fronting on Main Street for the purpose of erecting stores, in order to obtain the money for purchasing additional land. Dec. 27, 1785, Captains Samuel Wadsworth, John Chenevard, Seth Collins, and Jonathan Bull were appointed a committee "to lay out so many Places as may be conveniently taken off the front of said Lott, for the erection of Stores, taking special care to leave a sufficient Pass-way, and not interfere or come too near the meeting-house." Jan. 3, 1786, the committee reported with a "Plann of the burying- lott," and they were directed to sell those pieces of land selected, at public auction or private sale, as they thought best. And a month later three lots twenty-five feet by thirty, a little north of the North Meeting-House, were offered at public auction, at Flagg's Tavern, "a very pleasant and commodious stand for a merchant or shopkeeper." March 22, 1786, the town of Hartford conveyed to Charles Hopkins one of the above-mentioned lots of land " in the Town Platt," near the North Meeting-House, and on the 4th of April the remaining two lots were sold to Jeremiah Wadsworth. He built thereon a brick store, afterward enlarged by Daniel Wadsworth and Nathaniel Terry, and still later, in 1832, purchased by the Centre Church,-the same building which is now used as their lecture-room, with stores underneath. In 1787 the select- men sold to Prosper Hosmer a piece of land twelve feet in width on the street, and sixty-three feet in length, taken off from the northeast part of the burying-ground, "not necessary for interment." The selectmen were
1 " Whereas it is represented that the present burying-Lott must soon be enlarged for the purpose of interment." Jan. 3, 1785.
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THE TOWN SINCE 1784.
empowered to sell to James Hosmer, in 1796, a strip of land four feet in width and sixty feet in depth, -the money received to be used for the purpose of purchasing other lands for burying-grounds.1 Between 1786 and 1807 the area of the burying-ground was considerably dimin- ished, as a number of lots were taken from it and sold. When the First Church built a new brick edifice in 1806, the town sold to the society quite a large piece of land, as the new building was placed farther back from the street than the old wooden church. In the later deeds a con- dition is inserted that cellars shall not be dug. nor the soil broken, or dug up to the depth of more than two feet. When one recalls the state- ments of old inhabitants that coffins were placed one above another on account of the crowded condition of the yard, one wonders that the town should have been so willing to sell portions of the land. Almost the last pieces taken off from the burying-ground were the two small pieces quit-claimed to Trinity College, in 1825, on the east side, near Wadsworth's and Terry's land. The town allowed the city to erect a brick engine-house and hose-house, twenty-two feet in width and thirty feet in length, on the burying-ground, "to do as little injury to the Burying-Yard as possible," in 1833; and staid attendants at the Centre Church can recall the excitement caused in their boyhood by an alarm of fire during church services, and the clattering of the engine over the stones in the gangway as it rushed to the scene of action.
Dec. 26, 1799, Messrs. John Caldwell, Daniel Olcott, John Dodd, and Elisha Mix were appointed a committee " to procure some convenient place, or places, for a burying-ground, for the use of the First and Sec- ond societies in this town." A lot was soon decided upon for the south side ; and in 1800 the burying-ground on Maple Avenue, known as the "Old South Yard," was opened, and the first burial in that ground was that of Walter, son of Mr. Levi Robbins, who died Oct. 5, 1801.2
In December, 1806, Enoch Perkins, Andrew Kingsbury, George Good- win, and Amasa Keyes were appointed a committee "to purchase one or more pieces of land for one or two public burying-grounds in such a place as they may judge best for the convenience of the inhabitants ;" and they were authorized to sell the lands belonging to the town, near the new brick meeting-house (the Centre Church), for the purpose of raising money for purchasing the new burying-grounds, and for fencing the other burying-grounds in the town. The committee purchased land of Hezekiah Bull, on the Windsor road, the present old North cemetery, and in February, 1807, they were authorized to sell to individuals " par- ticular parcels of ground in the burying-ground for family burying- grounds." The first interment in the North burying-ground was that of Mrs. Anna Olcott, who died Feb. 6, 1807, aged seventy-one.
The ancient burying-ground was opened for burials, in a few in- stances, after 1806; the most noteworthy occasion was the funeral of
1 It is evident from the boundaries given in the deeds from the town of these lots, and in those of property adjoining, that the burying-ground extended formerly from the ground cov- ered by the Centre Church building as far north as the brick building next to Mr. J. B. Hos- mer's old house. The lot sold to Charles Hopkins adjoined Hosmer's land, and a school-house stood between Hopkins's store and that built by Jeremiah Wadsworth, -now the Centre Church lecture-room building. The north line ran west from the main street in a straight line at least two hundred and twelve feet. (See deed from John Haynes Lord to James Hosmer, 30 Nov. 1782, Town Land Records, xiv. 353.)
2 According to the inscription on his stone he was "the first that died out of the family, and the first who was buryed in this ground."
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
General Samuel Wyllys, former Secretary of the State, third of the name who held that office, who died in 1823.1 His remains were borne to the grave with military and masonic honors, the Governor's Foot Guard assembling to do honor to the memory of their founder and first com- mander. Madam Wadsworth, widow of Colonel Jeremiah Wadsworth, was also buried in the old ground in 1817, by the side of her husband. Dr. William Whitman, town clerk for many years, buried in 1846, was the last person interred there.
A feeling of respect for the graves of our ancestors seemed to be awakened in 1831, and it was voted, March 8, that a stone wall should be erected around the west side of the old burying-ground, and also that the ground should be put in order, and that the gravestones that were fallen and lying in the yard should be replaced in position. Pre- vious to that time the burying-ground was so open that it was used as a passage-way by people going to the meeting-house from the streets lying immediately west; and, according to the testimony of persons now living, many of the stones were laid down to make a path, so people could walk dry-shod in bad weather. The monument in the centre of the ground, to the memory of the first settlers of Hartford, was erected in 1836, and the Ancient Burying-Ground Association now have charge of this cemetery, and the old stones are carefully propped up, the grass cut, and the paths kept in order.
The North and South burying-grounds proved sufficient for the needs of our population until 1843, when a piece of land on the high ridge near Rocky Hill, called Zion's Hill, was selected as a suitable spot for a new burying-ground, and two tracts of land were purchased by the town, of Colonel James Ward and G. M. Bartholomew, to be used for that purpose.
These are town cemeteries. Those owned and managed by private corporations are Cedar Hill on Fairfield Avenue, some three miles from the City Hall, and Spring Grove on Main Street, next the North Bury- ing-ground. Cedar Hill cemetery is on high ground of an irregular surface, and has been used since 1866. It was laid out with reference to picturesque effect, and contains many fine monuments. A handsome memorial chapel has been built there by Mrs. C. H. Northam, and one at Spring Grove cemetery by Mr. T. M. Allyn.
In connection with this subject should be mentioned the hearse, in old days a town institution, and the hearse-house also. Until the end of the last century corpses were borne to the grave on a bier, carried by friends and neighbors. A hearse was constructed for the town by Asa Francis, about 1800; and on May 23d of that year the selectmen were directed to refund to the First and Second societies, and to the Epis- copal and Baptist societies, the sums advanced by them respectively for this conveyance. In November, 1826, the selectmen were authorized to procure an additional " Herse." One of these hearses was kept for a time in a building in the rear of Burr's store, on the north corner of
1 There are no gravestones in the yard in memory of the Wyllyses: "one of the latest male members being asked why they did not follow the custom in this respect, replied in the impulse of strong pride that 'if the State of Connecticut could not remember the Wyllyses without a monument, their memory might rot !' The graves of the family are in the centre of the burying-ground, near the monument erected to the memory of the first settlers." - I. W. STUART, Hartford in the Olden Time.
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THE TOWN SINCE 1784.
Main and Charter streets. One of them, and perhaps both, were after- ward kept in a small building, erected for the purpose, in the rear of the edifice now known as the Centre Church lecture-room, an agreement being made to that effect in 1832 between the town and the First Eccle- siastical Society.1 There is no record of the time when the town ceased to keep the hearses, and the gloomy equipages may be imagined as slowly falling into decay and mouldering into dust in the congenial company of the ancient gravestones.
The intimate connection that formerly existed between Church and State is shown by a vote of the town, in 1808, " that no bills for sweep- ing meeting-houses or churches, or ringing bells for the meetings of any religious society, shall in future be allowed by the selectmen or paid by the town."
Long after this time the custom was continued of ringing the church- bells at twelve M. and nine P.M., and all good citizens drank their cider, raked up their fires, and retired to their beds, when the sound of the nine-o'clock bell was heard. Mrs. Sigourney describes the custom as it was practised in 1805, when she first visited Hartford :2 "As I lay ruminating and reviewing the scenes of the day, I heard a pleasant sound, - the bells from the steeples of the North and South churches ringing for the hour of nine. They strike alternately two strokes, each waiting for the other, then, joining, tell with one voice the day of the month in unison. One has a deep, heavy tone, the other a melodious one ; and their concord is like that of bass and treble in perfect har- mony." Apparently the South Church continued the custom of striking the day of the month after ringing the nine-o'clock bell, after the other churches had dropped the ceremony. As the century approached its third quarter, efforts were evidently made to have this practice discon- tinned, and on the 4th of December, 1848, it was voted that the ringing of the nine-o'clock bell in the South meeting-house be given up. Nov. 29, 1852, $25 was appropriated for ringing the Centre Church bell at nine P.M .; the same sum for ringing Christ Church bell at noon, and $30 for the West Hartford bell, notwithstanding that this action was in flat contradiction to a vote, March 10, 1851, that the town would pay no more bills for ringing the public bells. In 1853 the amount paid for the bell-ringing was increased to $30 and $40 respectively, but in 1854 there is no record of any town action on the matter, and prob- ably the custom was dropped.
On the 3d of December, 1849, it was voted that the several ecclesias- tical societies (except West Hartford parish) should be requested to discontinue the practice of tolling the bells for funerals.
The Great Bridge on Main Street continued as in former times to be a source of expense, as, being on a high trestle-work, it needed frequent repairs. Dec. 31, 1801, a committee was appointed to prepare a plan for the construction of a new bridge, and an architect was consulted about the expense of building one of stone. The deliberations were long and protracted, and accompanied by creature comforts, for on the 29th of December, 1802, John Ripley, innholder, presented a bill of
1 The society leased the land to the town, and the town gave the society the right to use the room over the hearse-house.
2 Letters of Life, p. 84.
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
£1 14s. 6d. against the town "for entertaining the Committee ap- pointed to take into consideration the best method of building a new bridge." The final conclusion of the matter was a vote, Jan. 5, 1804, " that a wooden Bridge be constructed across the little, or Mill River ;" the bridge to be in width not less than forty feet or more than forty- four feet. Feb. 9, 1807, $2,500 was appropriated for the purpose of repairing the Great Bridge, and a floating bridge was to be provided for the accommodation of public travel while repairs were going on.
Then there arose a discussion with regard to the South Market, there being no building for the traffic, the venders bringing their mer- chandise in wagons, and the sales being carried on in the open air, in that part of the street near the south end of the bridge. Complaints were made that the collection of wagons and carts was an obstruction to public travel, and that in stormy weather the arrangement was in- convenient and uncomfortable. A proposition was made in 1810 that another bridge should be constructed on the west side of the existing bridge, upon a single arcli, and on that superstructure a con- venient market-house could be built; and the petitioners, James Ward and others, proposed to erect the same at their own expense, and pay to the town an annual rent of $10, the usual sum for which the land on the banks of the river had been leased to individuals. The petition was granted, the addition to the bridge was built, and for about twenty years the long wooden building now standing on the north side of Sheldon Street did duty as a market on the west side of the Great Bridge. There were also two or three stores on either end of the bridge,1 and some travelled individuals compared the structure to London Bridge.
This was not the only market, for, as mentioned elsewhere, the Central Market stood in the open space southeast of the court-house. As described by an old resident, it was a brick building, about seventy- five by twenty-five feet, with a basement for winter use. The sides and ends were open, the roof supported by brick piers about two feet square, with stalls along the sides. The Central and the South markets were superseded by the City Hall Market on Market Street, and the Franklin Market on Main Street, just south of the bridge, owned by the city ; and after 1832 the markets were controlled by the city and not by the town. The South Market was not removed until the stone bridge was built, when the proprietors relinquished all their interest in the bed and banks of the river, on which the market was built.
The old bridge was strengthened by the building of stone piers, in 1819, in the bed of the river, for the support of the bridge, and also to protect the wood-work from the ice.
In 1831 it was decided to build a stone bridge in place of the wooden structure, to be of the same width as the street, and the sum of $16,000 was appropriated for its erection ; and Messrs. Henry Hudson, Henry Kilbourn, and James Dodd were appointed a committee to erect the bridge. Dec. 11, 1832, the selectmen were authorized to borrow more money, raising the entire amount needed for the construction of the bridge to the sum of $30,000. The first stone in the foundation of the bridge was laid June 18, 1833, and the keystone of the arch inserted
1 Frederick Seymour, at the "Red Store, south end of the bridge," advertises West India goods. - Connecticut Courant, 1797.
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THE TOWN SINCE 1784.
on the 21st of November by Elias Rathbun, the contractor. Main Street, on either side of the bridge, was raised six or seven feet, so that the stores were left several feet below the street. The old wooden bridge was really in a valley, and a person looking down Main Street from Exchange Corner would see only the top of a vehicle on the bridge. The completion of the work was regarded with much satisfaction by our citizens, and the thanks of the town were presented to the com- mittee " for their skilful and faithful service gratuitously rendered in constructing the bridge which combines strength with elegance of archi- tecture, and is alike creditable to the town and to the committee." The structure is one hundred feet wide, supported on a single arch (at the
Dyp
THE PRESENT STONE BRIDGE.
time it was built the largest in the United States), seven feet in thick- ness at the base, and three feet two inches at the centre ; the chord or span of it is one hundred and four feet, and it is thirty feet nine inches from the bed of the river to the top of the arch. Very little confidence was felt in the stability of the bridge, and many believed that the arch would fall when the wooden supports were removed. After the bridge was open for travel, many farmers coming in from the country would fasten their horses on the south side of the bridge, and walk across to transact their business ; but time has proved the strength of the bridge, and after fifty years it stands as firmly as ever.
The ferry over the Connecticut River, at the foot of Ferry Street, continued to be the means of communication with the eastern part of the State for more than twenty years after the beginning of this period.1 In 1804 John Morgan and others petitioned the General Assembly for leave to build a bridge over the Connecticut River at
1 In 1805 there were two ferries running, one crossing to Kilbourn, then Ferry, Street, in Hartford, the other to Ferry Street, then Jones's Lane. Mrs. Sigourney speaks of the boat as large and flat-bottomed, with four oarsmen.
VOL. I .- 24.
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
or near "Sinking Fund,"1 so called, and the town appointed John Caldwell and Nathaniel Terry, Esqs., agents to oppose the petition, in behalf of the town. The opposition was successful for a time, but in 18092 a bridge was built by a company incorporated as the Hartford Bridge Company. This structure was open, with the draw on the east side, instead of being on the west side as at present ; and it was prob- ably not as well built, for only nine years after its erection, March 3, 1818, during a violent storm of several days' duration, the ice lodged against the bridge, and one half of the second arch of the bridge gave way, and fell with a tremendous crash, and the part left standing was much injured. The bridge was rebuilt, at an expense of $125,000, during the same year. The "Connecticut Mirror," under date of Dec. 7, 1818, announces, " with great satisfaction the completion of a new and stupendous bridge, greatly improved from the former one, 974 feet in length, built on six arches of more than 150 feet each, strengthened by
VIEW OF HARTFORD IN 1841.
From an old picture belonging to Judge S. W. Adams, showing the ferry-boat and the up-river stern-wheel steamboat.
strong geometrical braces, and supported by six heavy stone piers, ex- clusive of the abutments. One entirely new pier has been built, and the others raised several feet. The timber of which this elegant bridge is constructed was standing in the forests near Bellows Falls, in Ver- mont, on the 1st July last." In the mean time the ferry had continued running, although the Bridge Company had made several attempts to
1 The territory along the river bank between Morgan Street and the track of the New York and New England Railroad was known as Sinking Fund. This name arose from a land speculation started in the nineties. Certain people thought real estate would rise in that quarter, and so they bought land, and built wharves along the river bank ; but the specu- lation ended in failure.
2 Winthrop's Journal tells of a freshet in the spring of 1645, which broke away " the bridge at Hartford on Connecticut." It is thought there may have been a bridge over the Connecticut River at that time, although a Little River bridge may have been referred to.
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THE TOWN SINCE 1784.
suppress it. In 1817 the Bridge Company made a proposition that the town should discontinue the ferry, in consideration of an annual stipend from the company, or a portion of the stock in the bridge. The select- men were instructed by a vote of the town to oppose the application made to the General Assembly by the Bridge Company for suppressing the ferry; but notwithstanding their efforts the legislature passed an act, in 1818, discontinuing this means of communication. This was done on condition that the Bridge Company should repair the bridge, as before described, and no compensation was made to the town. In 1836 the ferry was re-established, the town having obtained a repeal of part of the act of 1818. This ferry-boat was propelled by two horses, one on each side of the boat; and this mode of crossing the river was continued until 1843, when a contract was made between the town and the Bridge Company, the latter agreeing to pay the town the sum of $12,000. This contract was accompanied by a condition that at any time after the term of twelve years, by a vote of the town, the interest in the said ferries shall revert to the town, they refunding to the company one half the sum paid.
After the Main Street bridge was built, no more expensive bridges were required by the needs of the population or the growth of the town. There were no bridges over Little River from Main Street west to the present city limits, excepting two or three simple wooden struc- tures on the roads leading to the West Division, and a foot-bridge at the foot of Pearl Street, or Workhouse Lane, as it was called in 1827, when the town voted that the bridge should be built. An old resi- dent gives the following description of this bridge: "On either shore was a round stone pier, each with a mill-stone for a cap, on which rested a large timber, once the mast of some large vessel. To this mast, at proper intervals, were cross-pieces of scantling to which the flooring was nailed. It was finished with a suitable hand-rail. Stairs at either end led to the bridge, which was about ten feet above the water. Crossing to the further side was a raised plank foot-walk, that led over to the mill, across the swampy meadow."1 This mill was the one known as Imlay's Mills, but still earlier called the Upper Mills. A fulling-mill was in operation at this place before 1726, carried on by Benjamin Graham, as well as a grist-mill and saw-mill. In 1849 it was voted in town-meeting that a bridge across the Little or Mill River, from Bliss Street to the foot of Pearl, Ford, or Asylum street, was a public necessity; and the Ford Street bridge was built the next year, at a cost of $15,000. Three years later, in 1853, a bridge was ordered to be built over the Little River, at the south end of Front Street, at an expense not exceeding $10,000; and Woodbridge Street was opened, connecting Front Street with Charter Street. Since that time four- teen bridges have been built in different parts of the town, varying in size and importance.
For the space of almost two hundred years after the settlement of Hartford the town records were kept in the private dwelling, or office, of the town clerk for the time being, as is now the case in many coun- try towns. It is true that before 1800 the town clerk generally held his office for life ; nevertheless the changes were sufficiently frequent,
1 Hartford Evening Post, Feb. 23, 1884.
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