USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > The memorial history of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1884, Vol. I > Part 61
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Ample space on the ground floor of the capitol is devoted to entrances and to corridors leading to the well lighted and ventilated public offices, and wide staircases built with marble and granite give access to the several floors. The senate chamber and the representatives' hall are located on the " mezzanine" or half story, the former at the eastern end of the building and the latter upon the south side. The senate chamber is forty feet wide by fifty feet long and is thirty-seven feet high, and is lighted principally from the east by windows seventeen feet from the floor. On the north and south sides are galleries, and adja- cent to the apartment are committee and retiring rooms. The chamber is finished in oak and is elaborately decorated. The representatives' hall is fifty-six feet wide and eighty-four feet long, with a height in the
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
clear of about forty-nine feet. It is lighted by windows on three sides, and has a gallery twenty-three feet wide extending the entire length of
one side. The hall has a high wainscot upon the four sides, and the wood finish throughout is of black wal- nut. The desks for mem- bers are arranged in a semi- circular form upon platforms of graduated heights, the Inour faces of which are pierced at the aisles by outlet openings for the escape of vitiated air, fresh air being intro- duced to the hall through ceiling openings. A special system of heating and ven- tilation for the building has been adopted, and the results have been highly satisfac- tory. Particular attention has been paid to the decora- tion of the hall, the ceiling design forming a conspicu- ous feature. Four entrance STAIRWAY IN THE CAPITOL. doors lead to the hall from the main corridor, and on either side are the speaker's room, committee rooms, etc. The State library occupies a fine apartment, fifty-five feet by eighty-five feet, on the first floor "above the large entrance vestibule, and has a northern
exposure. The supreme court-room is also upon this floor, and is located in the western part of the build- ing. It is thirty-one feet wide by fifty and a half feet long, and is planned with conveniently con- necting apartments. The various State offices are amply provided for throughout the building, and the details of toilets, cloak-rooms, jani- tor's quarters, café, etc., have re- ceived consideration, rendering the capitol as a whole a complete struc- ture of its class. The building is fireproof, and was finished at a cost of $3,342,550.73.
The results of at least a portion of Hartford's insurance prosperity and success are expressed architec- BATTLE-FLAG CORRIDOR IN THE CAPITOL, WITH STATUE OF BUCKINGHAM. turally by the buildings of more than one of her companies, and important changes in street architecture
THE CONNECTICUT MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY'S BUILDING, MAIN STREET, CORNER OF PEARL STREET.
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ARCHITECTURE IN HARTFORD.
were inaugurated when in 1868 the Charter Oak Life Insurance build- ing was erected. Occupying a prominent location upon Main Street, nearly opposite the Centre Church, the structure, which is five stories in height, with a frontage of ninety feet and depth of one hundred and fifty, contains one of the finest business offices in New England. It occupies in height two of the lofty stories and extends the entire width of the building from north to south, is admirably lighted and planned with reference to private rooms, officers' rooms, etc. Further up Main Street the building of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company presents a design in Italian renaissance executed in Westerly granite. The details are bold and well conceived, and the structure, which is thoroughly fireproof, contains, besides the spacious offices of the com-
THE GOVERNMENT BUILDING. CONTAINING POST-OFFICE, U. S. COURT-ROOMS, ETC.
pany, ample accommodations for banking and other corporations within its walls. An emblematic group of statuary surmounting the entrance portico forms a striking and effective feature of the Main Street façade. The Hartford Fire Insurance Company erected a building in 1870 upon Pearl Street, opposite the site of the old-time jail. It is of granite likewise, and the design is characterized by French treatment. These buildings, together with those of the Phoenix Fire and Connecticut Fire Insurance Companies, instance the later structures of this class, while the Travelers contents itself in its old homestead-like quarters on Prospect Street.
Upon a portion of the ancient Meeting-House Square is now seen the modern Americanized government building containing the post- office and United States Court House. It is three stories in height with
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
mansard roof, and is planned with reference to the peculiar location. The granite details, like those of all similar government work, are clearly cut and costly. The structure was begun in 1873 and after a series of delays was finally completed and occupied in 1883. A valuable addi- tion to the public buildings of Hartford was made in 1877, when the Cheney block on Main Street was erected. The extensive frontage of over one hundred and fifty feet offered ample opportunity for treat- ment. The design is a bold and free rendering of the Romanesque,
THE CHENEY BLOCK, ON MAIN STREET.
extended through the five stories and emphasized by a corner tower with lofty pyramidal roof covered with red tiles, adding picturesqueness to the composition. The building is one of marked architectural inter- est not only in the general conception of the masses, but in the careful study of minor features, elaborate carving at objective points being an important factor in the richness of the completed effect. The block is built chiefly of Longmeadow stone, with a finish of Ohio sandstone; and, besides spacious shops on the ground floor, contains in the stories above offices and apartments, a hall being located in one portion of the upper floor.
THE BUILDING OF THE CONNECTICUT FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY, PROSPECT STREET, CORNER OF GROVE STREET.
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ARCHITECTURE IN HARTFORD.
THE GOODWIN BUILDING, CORNER OF ASYLUM AND HAYNES STREETS.
The Hall of Records possesses no particular merit of design, but it is of interest to know that it was probably the first building in the city showing fireproof construction. It is a pleasing feature of progress to note that a building the uses of which were so forbidding as those of a jail can be erected with architectural effect. The new jail was finished in 1874, and is substantially constructed of briek, with a generous finish of Ohio stone. In the northern part of the city also the new almshouse is in process of construction upon an extensive plan, portions of which will be carried out as the needs of the city demand. Instances of the recent movement in architectural design are seen in the new " Queen Anne" blocks upon Asylum Street, built by Messrs. F. and J. J. Goodwin, trustees, which are important additions to our street architecture, and illustrate the possibilities of moulded brick, carving, and terra-cotta.
In ecclesiastie design, among the more recent examples are to be mentioned the Park Church, the Memorial Church of the Good Shep- herd, the Roman Catholic Cathedral, and the Congregational Church upon Asylum Hill. These structures are all of Gothic design of differ- ent periods, the Cathedral, which is the largest building of its class, being of Early Pointed Gothic. The plan is a Greek cross. The entire length of the edifice is two hundred and sixty-four feet, with a frontage on Farmington Avenue of one hundred and twenty-three feet, which is marked by two towers the spires of which completed will rise two hun- dred and twenty feet from the ground. The walls are built of Portland stone and the interior finish will be executed in oak. The Cathedral is designed with a seating capacity for two thousand persons.
The buildings of Trinity College, an institution elsewhere described, are from an architectural standpoint of special interest, not only in view of the fact that the demands and requirements are met by a treatment somewhat different from that adopted by similar institutions
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
in other States, but also on account of the designs, which were the work of an English architect. A general view of the buildings thus far com- pleted is given elsewhere. They are exceptionally well built, the materials being Portland stone for the ashlar, - which is a model of its kind, - with Ohio stone profusely used for a finish. The interior work is carried out with the same general idea of solidity of construction which characterizes exterior work, and the finish is of brown ash, hard- wood floors being laid throughout. The design of the college work is early French Gothic.
Mention must also be made among public buildings of the new county building, a view of which is given. It is of press brick with Portland stone trimmings, and commands a central location upon Trumbull Street. It affords accommodation for the Superior Court and other courts, the county offices, etc., and has recently been com- pleted at a cost, including the land, of about $260,000.
Near the Hartford Hospital, which of late has had its field of usefulness enlarged by much-needed additions, is located the Old People's Home, erected by special gifts. The building has a southern exposure of great value, and presents a diversified frontage. It is of brick, with brown stone finish, and is three stories in height, with pro- jecting wings on the east and west. The accommodations are ample, and the living-rooms for the occupants are well arranged with refer- ence to those important health conditions, light, air, and ventilation.
To the southwest of the capitol, and occupying an eligible site opened up by the laying out of new streets, stands the building of the Hartford Orphan Asylum, another example of Gothic design applied to a public edifice. The plan presents a main building about thirty feet wide and one hundred and thirty-five feet long, fronting to the south, with two wings, one extending back from the central portion and a second on the east with a square tower at the intersection and rising above adjoining roofs. The east wing contains the superintendent's house to the south, and on the east is a large and effective bay carried up through the sev- eral stories. Moulded brick are extensively introduced in arch-work and string-courses, and throughout the design exhibits thought and careful study in the composition. The accommodation of the Asylum is ample, and the various apartments, inclusive of the schoolrooms, dormi- tories, nurseries, matron's rooms, etc., are well arranged. The separate entrances for boys and girls are well placed, the corridors are thoroughly lighted and the staircases conveniently located and of easy ascent. The wing extending back from the central portion of the main building con- tains on the ground floor a spacious dining-hall - a memorial gift - handsomely finished in oak. At one end of the hall is a massive hooded fireplace of Ohio stone. The great chimney with which this fireplace is connected is exteriorly treated in a clever manner and together with the other chimneys illustrates the fact that with proper thought and attention comparatively minor features of a building may be brought into artistic prominence.
Besides the buildings devoted to educational purposes, previously mentioned, are those of the Connecticut Theological Institute upon Broad Street. The frontage is nearly two hundred feet, the building is three stories in height and is flanked by the chapel and the library, the lat- ter being semi-detached. A long wing at right angles to the chapel
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ARCHITECTURE IN HARTFORD.
contains lecture-rooms and students' quarters, and the principal building contains on the ground floor a reception-room, lecture-rooms, presi- dent's room, etc., the floors above providing ample accommodation for students, the rooms being well planned. A gymnasium is located in the rear of the ample grounds. The design of the Institute as origi-
THE HARTFORD PUBLIC HIGH-SCHOOL BUILDING.
nally contemplated presented a well-balanced and careful study which it is to be regretted was not carried out, as it would have presented a treatment in striking contrast to the painful and commonplace com- position now existing.
In the neighborhood of the Institute, and in refreshing contrast, is to be seen the handsome public high school, but recently erected by the city with lavish hand, a worthy home of the institution of which Hart- ford is justly proud. The building, which is constructed of Philadelphia press brick with a finish of Portland stone, and enriched at objective
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
points with excellent carving, exemplifies the latest ideas of arrange- ment and plan of this class of public structures, and is a thoroughly well built and admirably equipped school-house. It is two hundred and thirty-six feet long, with an average width of one hundred feet, and is but two stories in height with a basement and attic. There are two towers, one of which, one hundred and twenty-six feet high, stands at the northeast corner and contains broad flights of stone stairs, and is finished exteriorly by a lofty roof, the wall faces beneath con- taining dial-plates of the clock. The second tower is upon the castern front, and is built for astronomical purposes, and, at a height of ninety- eight feet, is surmounted by a revolving dome seventeen feet in diameter. The building has four entrances on the ground or principal floor, and corridors twelve feet wide run lengthwise on this floor and that above. Provision is made for the school-rooms, together with recitation-rooms, cloak-rooms, laboratories, apparatus-rooms, etc. On the ground floor is a reception-room and also a fine library, while the first floor contains at the southern portion of the building a public hall capable of seating twelve hundred people. The toilets, reached from the cloak-rooms, are located outside the line of the main building. A thorough and effective system of heating and ventilation gives good satisfaction. The school is practically fireproof, the floors being laid upon brick arches supported by iron beams ; the plastering is applied directly to the brick-work, and press brick for interior wall finish has been largely adopted with excellent effect.
For a city of its size and importance, Hartford does not contain cer- tain public buildings which the visitor might naturally expect to find, and among which a free public library would be conspicuous. But the structures already built make a goodly showing, and of the various classes represented they form excellent examples, to which additions are constantly being made. The future of our domestic architecture being full of promise, we may with reasonable expectation look for a corresponding future in relation to our public structures.
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THE HARTFORD FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY'S BUILDING, CORNER OF TRUMBULL AND PEARL STREETS.
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INSURANCE.
SECTION VII.
INSURANCE.
FIRE INSURANCE.
BY CHARLES HOPKINS CLARK.
HARTFORD occupies a unique position in fire insurance. For no predisposing cause beyond the energy and skill of those who have had charge of the business, it has acquired the leadership in the United States of this important interest, and has come to be more widely known for this than for any other of its various claims to prominence. Nowhere else has fire insurance reached such magnitude as here. Be- sides the six in Hartford, there are only nine fire insurance companies in the United States that have cash capitals of as much as $1,000,000 each. Three of the six in Hartford exceed this amount. The Ætna has $4,000,000 ; the Phoenix, $2,000,000; and the Hartford, $1,250,000. The aggregate capital of the six companies in Hartford is $10,250,000, which exceeds one quarter of the capital of all the fire companies in the country. The total assets 1 of the Hartford companies exceed $24,788,000, and they insure more than $1,000,000,000 of ·property. The losses that they paid in 1885 exceeded $5,000,000.
The business has grown up to its vast proportions from the hum- blest and most informal beginnings. Just how it started is not known. Some persons incline to believe that it began in marine underwriting, and that Hartford owes its eminence as an insurance centre to the im- portance that it once had as a shipping port. It is certain that very early in the history of the business local merchants and ship-owners and importers insured vessels, and took the risk themselves as a side speculation among their other ventures. A charter for a marine insur- ance company was granted in 1803, and from 1805 until its absorption in the Protection it was doing business as the Hartford Marine Insurance Company. John Caldwell was president.2 The earliest record of fire insurance is found in a policy, still preserved,3 which was issued in
1 It is of interest to notice that among these assets there is over $1,685,000 at par, of the stock of banks in Hartford, which is more than twenty per cent of the banking capital of the city. The life insurance companies of Hartford own, beside this, $1, 470,000 of local bank stocks, or more than seventeen per cent ; and thus the combined insurance interests of the city consti- tute also nearly forty per cent of the banking capital for which the place is famous.
2 Mr. Caldwell in 1794 advertised to take marine insurance in the name of the Connecti- ent Insurance Company.
8 It was for £800 for one year on Mr. Imlay's house, and made "assurance against Fire, and all Dangers of Fire ; moreover against all Damage which on account of Fire may happen, either by Tempest, Fire, Wind, own Fire, Negligence and Fault of own Servants or of Neigh- bours, whether those nearest or furthest off ; all external Accidents and Misfortunes ; thought of and not thought of, in what manner so ever the Damage by Fire might happen." The firm of Sanford & Wadsworth consisted of Peleg Sanford and Daniel Wadsworth. It was formed in 1798 and dissolved in 1798. Mr. Sanford came to Hartford from New Haven, and sub- sequently returned there. He died at sea in 1801. The first formal advertisement of the firm as insuring against fire appears in the "Courant," dated March 10, 1794, which is a month later than the date of the policy alluded to.
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
February, 1794, to William Imlay, by Sanford & Wadsworth, "for the Hartford Fire Insurance Company." No such company had then been incorporated, and this was either a mutual arrangement, or a name taken by individuals to dignify the operations which they conducted at their own risk. The first organized company, however, developed very prob- ably from this ; it had the same name ; it was the Hartford Fire Insur- anee Company, which was chartered in May, 1810. Daniel Wadsworth, Daniel Buck, and David Watkinson (the first named afterward founded the Wadsworth Athenaeum, the last named established the Watkinson Library) were authorized to call a meeting of the stockholders. This was held June 27, 1810, at Amos Ransom's Inn. Among the subscrip- tions to the stock were the following: Nathaniel Patten, one hundred shares ; David Daggett, of New Haven, one hundred ; Frederick Woleott, of Litchfield, forty ; Daniel Wadsworth, eighty ; Chauncey Goodrich, seventy ; Nathaniel Terry, one hundred ; David Watkinson, one hun- dred ; Hudson & Goodwin, one hundred; Eliphalet Terry, twenty ; Samuel Tudor, twenty-five ; Daniel Morgan, twenty ; Joseph Trumbull, ten. The stockholders elected as directors, Nathaniel Terry, Nathaniel Patten, David Watkinson, Daniel Buck, Thomas Glover, Thomas K. Brace, James H. Wells, Ward Woodbridge, and Henry Hudson. These chose Nathaniel Terry president, and Walter Mitchell secretary. The capital of the company was $150,000, of which ten per cent was paid in, and the balance was secured by the notes of stockholders. The ex- pectation was that the profits would eventually pay off the rest of the liability .. Nor was it an idle expectation ; for until 1812 the company had not a dollar of loss, and, as it paid its president no salary, and its treasurer $300 a year, with $30 extra for firewood, its running expenses were not heavy. But luck turned against it, and for a number of years the losses far exceeded the receipts. Stockholders lost confidence, and instances are on record where the stock sold for five dollars a share, the purchaser assuming the liability. The early policies of the Hart- ford were surmounted by the accompanying picture of a fire in Hartford. The cut represents the scene at the foot of Ferry Street, on the river. The old bridge is seen in the distance. The general conduct of the people at a fire at that period is shown : some are operating the engine, some passing buckets, and some engaged in salvage.
In 1835 a general change of management took place, and the com- pany began its long career of success at the very time when, but for the courage and foresight of its management, it might have ceased to exist. At the beginning of the year Eliphalet Terry had been made president, James G. Bolles, afterward Internal Revenue Collector, secre- tary, and Christopher C. Lyman assistant secretary. Mr. Lyman, declining all offers of promotion, remained in his position forty-three years. The business, under the new management, was remarkably suc- cessful. Up to December the losses of the year had been less than $3,000. A dividend was about to be declared, and a supper was given in celebration of the event. The next morning news came from New York of the great fire there. The company's losses were over $60,000, -- an immense sum as business was then conducted. Mr. Terry deter- mined upon his course of action at once. He pledged his own prop- erty in the city to the Hartford Bank as security for the drafts he might make, and he started immediately for New York in a sleigh, in
Eliphalt Jerry
INSURANCE.
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FAC-SIMILE (REDUCED) OF THE HEADING OF THE EARLY POLICIES OF THE IIARTFORD FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY. (Representing an early fire at the foot of Ferry Street.)
the bitterest cold weather. On reaching the city he found business in the utmost confusion. The fire insurance companies were nearly all bank- rupt, and merchants who had not lost their property in the fire felt that it was no longer insured and might disappear in a moment, while those who had suffered and held policies feared these were worthless. Mr. Terry announced that he would pay all losses of the Hartford Com- pany, and also offered to take new insurance. The result was that confidence was restored ; the company took a large amount of new business at high rates ; all losses were paid, and the best of reputations was established. Then the company began sending out agents exten- sively, and the business speedily developed. Mr. Terry, who is so closely identified with the Hartford Company, was born in Enfield in 1776, son of Judge Eliphalet Terry, who for thirty-three years, and until his death, represented Enfield in the legislature. Three sons, Eliphalet, Seth, and Roderick, came to Hartford and acquired promi- nent positions. Eliphalet Terry, in 1795, entered the service of Mr. Church, in his store at the meeting of Main Street and the Albany and Windsor "roads." At Mr. Church's death he took the business, and subsequently took his brother Roderick Terry into partnership in the firm of E. & R. Terry, which eventually became H. & W. Keney, now the oldest firm in the city. In 1830 Eliphalet Terry retired. From 1835 until his death in 1849 he was president of the Hartford Fire Insurance Company. Mr. Terry was active in establishing many of the benevolent and philanthropic institutions of the city. He was one of the moving forces and large contributors toward the establishment of Dr. Bushnell's church, and was a man whose influence was felt in
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
social, political, and religious circles. The other presidents of the company have been Hezekiah Huntington, from 1849 to 1864; Timothy C. Allyn, 1864 to 1867 ; and George L. Chase, who was elected in 1867. The Hartford has increased its capital to $1,250,000 and its assets exceed $4,700,000; but the Chicago fire caused it a loss of over $1,968,000, and necessitated the paying in of $500,000 of new capital. Its granite building, on the corner of Trumbull and Pearl streets, was put up in 1870.
The second company in the city was the Ætna Insurance Company, whose corporate name does not include the word "fire." It was char- tered in 1819. The first board of directors, elected June 17 that year, consisted of Thomas K. Brace, Thomas Belden, Samuel Tudor, Jr., Henry Kilbourn, Eliphalet Averill, Henry Seymour, Griffin Stedman, Gaius Lyman, Judah Bliss, Caleb Pond, Nathaniel Bunce, Josepli Morgan, Jeremiah Brown, James M. Goodwin, Theodore Pease, Elisha Dodd, and Charles Babcock. In August Mr. Pease died, and Henry L. Ellsworth was chosen to fill the vacancy. The directors elected Thomas K. Brace president, and Isaac Perkins secretary.
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