USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > The memorial history of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1884, Vol. I > Part 67
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Returning for a moment to the year 1842, for which the figures as to stage-routes were given, it may be noted that steamboats then made daily trips to New York; that there were also two steamboat lines to Springfield ; that there were two trains cach way daily between Hart- ford and New Haven, but none between Hartford and Springfield ; that freight-boats were towed daily to Northampton and South Hadley, also regular or irregular freight-boats to Greenfield, Old Hadley, and Brat- tleborough, some going daily, others as often as freighted. There were also regular packet lines for Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, Providence, and other ports.
The freighting business on the river had long before this grown to considerable dimensions. In the first place the work was of course done entirely by sailing-vessels. Considerable labor and money were spent in developing the up-river navigation, and canals were built at Windsor Locks, South Hadley, and indeed at all the falls that could not be otherwise passed, so as to carry navigation in flat-bottomed
555
TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTATION.
FARE REDUCED.
FOR WORCESTER AND BOSTON, RAIL ROAD LINE.
The TREMONT LINE OF COACHES will leave daily the General Stage Office. State-street. at 4 o'clock A. M, and arrive in Worcester at 3 P. M. and in Boston by the BOSTON and WOR- CESTER RAIL WAY CARS. at 6 P. M
FARE To Worcester From WORCESTER to BOSTON $1,50
This Line runs on the shortest, cheapest, and most direct rout. AG" Citizens Line will leave at 7 1-2 A. M.
U. S. Mail Coach leaves every evening at 6 PM, and arrives in Boston at ? A. M. J. GOODWIN JE. & CO. Hartford, October 21st, 1839.
FAC-SIMILE OF AN OLD STAGE-COACH HANDBILL.
The original is now in the possession of Judge Sherman W. Adams.
boats as far as Wells River, Vermont. The canal at Windsor Locks was the last built, and was opened in 1826. After this, larger boats were used, and sixty-ton craft made the entire length of the river to Wells River; while before these improvements the boats used were only of six or eight tons capacity, and were poled over the Enfield Rapids. After the extension of the railway system these canals, except that at Windsor Locks, were abandoned.
As early as 1824 a steamer was run between Hartford and New York,
556
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
and after that date there were always one or more making regular trips. The first steamer was the "Oliver Ellsworth." She was one hundred and twelve feet long, two hundred and twenty-eight tons burden, and had berths for sixty passengers. The following year the " Macdonough," a somewhat larger boat, was put on to run alternate days. The first
FOR
New-York, Fare $1, and Found.
VICTORY.
THE ELEGANT LOW PRESSURE STEAM-BOAT
Victory
CAPT. LUTHER SMITH Will leave Hartford
FOR NEW-YORK, This Day Fullday
at 1} O'clock, P. M.
HEN REGULAR DAYS OF SAILING ARE
FOR NEW-YORK
FOR HARTFORD
TUESDAYS &
FRIDAYS at 11 P. M.
WEDNESDAYS & SATURDAYS, at 4 P. M.
Light Fruignu, such as Bozen and Baler will be taken at the Lowest Rates, if delivered by ten clock A. M. on the day of sailing.
Apply on board'or at the Ofice or Wiluam H. Whiting, State Street Hartford. 2
1830.
FAC-SIMILE OF A "VICTORY " HANDBILL.
The original is now in the possession of William Boardman & Sons.
steamer with state-rooms was the "Charter Oak," which went on the line in 1838. Various wars of rates occurred. In 1830 the " Victory " was running "fare $1 and found." In 1833 the Hartford Company was running three boats, the " Oliver Ellsworth," "Macdonough," and "Chief Justice Marshall," commanded respectively by H. Waterman,
557
TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTATION.
Jabez Howes, Jr., and M. S. Harrison. On the 10th of June an adver- tisement appeared in the "Courant," announcing that the steamer " Water Witch," Captain Vanderbilt, would go on as a day boat, leaving Hartford on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, at 6 A.M., and returning
NEW YORK
AND HARTFORD DAILY LINE STEAM BOATS.
OLIVER ELLSWORTH, CAPTAIN HENRY WATERMAN. Jr.
CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL, CAPTAIN JABEZ HOWES, Jr.
MACDONOUGHI. CAPTAIN M. S. HARRISON.
LEAVES YEW. FORK. OLIVER ELLSWORTH, TUESDAYS &IFRIDAYS. C. J. MARSHALL, WEDNESDAYS & SATURDAYS. MACDONOUGH, MONDAY'S & THURSDAYS.
LEAVES HARTFORD OLIVER ELLSWORTH. MONDAYS & THURSDAYS C. J. MARSHALL TUESDAYS & FRIDAYS. MACDONOUGH, WEDNESDAYS & SATURDAYS.
Hours of Departure from .You. York 4 o'clock P. M. from Hartford 12 o'clock M. Hartford, .April, 1833.
H. BRAINARD, Agent.
FAC-SIMILE OF AN "ELLSWORTH" HANDBILL.
The original is now in possession of William Boardman & Sons.
on the alternate days. This Captain Vanderbilt was Jacob Vanderbilt, brother of Cornelius. Cornelius Vanderbilt was believed to own the controlling interest in the line. Within a few weeks the competition be- eame bitter. The advertised rates fell from two dollars and fifty eents to one dollar, each line advertising this rate on July 29, 1833. A new boat, the " New England," was advertised by the Hartford Company to go on September 2, and on October 3 the Vanderbilt boat began to run on a night instead of a day route. On October 14th rates by the "New England " were advanced to two dollars, the other boats still advertis- ing one dollar, and October 21st they all went up to two dollars. The advertised rates were, however, no guide to the fares actually charged
558
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
during the height of the competition. The then clerk of one of the boats tells how one day a man came to him as he was at work on the docks, and asked the price of a passage to New York. He was told, twenty-five cents. "And found ?" asked the passenger. He was as- sured that he would have his meals thrown in for the twenty-five cents. He went and inquired at the dock of the rival line, and then came back and announced that he had decided to take the twenty-five-cent offer, and wanted a ticket. He was sent on board, and told that he should have the ticket later. When the boat was off, and the passengers were called up to " settle," this fellow lingered till the crowd was gone. Then he came up and recalled the agreement, but added that he was not hungry, and would like a deduction made for meals. The clerk did not see that he could give back any part of that twenty-five cents ; but it proved that this was doubtful economy, for he himself saw the man go down and cat three separate suppers, every one solid and ample for an ordinary appetite. The Vanderbilt boats were run four seasons, and were then withdrawn.
The boats which ran up-stream were almost all stern-wheelers. There were several which ran as passenger-boats from 1826 to 1842. On one, the "Phoenix," Charles Dickens came from Springfield to Hartford in 1842. Others were used to tow loaded barges, the last being the "C. H. Dexter," which was used as late as 1884. Beginning in 1843, a considerable number of propellers were used, running between Hartford and New York, Philadelphia and Albany. For a time they did an excellent business ; but the development of the railroad system produced such competition that the cheaper plan of using barges, sev- eral of which could be handled by one tug, came into general use, and the day of the propellers is over. Until within a very few years they were frequently seen at the docks. Although the introduction of vessels driven by steam-power soon reduced the use of sailing-vessels, much freight was brought in these latter until within some twenty-five years; and a considerable number still come every season, being gener- ally towed up and down the river. At present, regular steamers are run daily to New York, and one to New London and Sag Harbor every second day.
The railroads, which put an end to the thriving turnpike system and to much of the water-transportation, came a little later than the steam- boats. The first road chartered in Connecticut was the Norwich and New London, in 1832. It was followed in 1835 by the Hartford and New Haven, the incorporators of which were James Brewster, John Bab- cock, John S. Mitchell, Joel Root, Alexander Harrison, Obadiah Pease, Richard Hubbard, and Elisha A. Cowles. The Hartford and Spring- field was chartered in the same year. The former road was opened from New Haven to Meriden in 1838, and to Hartford late in 1839. The road from Hartford to Springfield was not opened till 1844. In this year the legislature authorized the consolidation of the two roads, the united company to be called the New Haven, Hartford, and Spring- field Railroad Company, and by that name "to enjoy all the privileges, and be subject to all the liabilities, of such companies." The first depot was about where the Mulberry Street bridge now stands. It was a wooden building, extending across the river, and having the waiting-
559
TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTATION.
room at the east end, on the bank. The track, coming in north of the present machine-shops of the road, crossed the Park River above Imlay's mill, and ran nearly in a straight line across what is now Bushnell Park to the depot, passing not far from the sites of the Putnam and Wells statues. A part of the distance, about where the Park pond now is, the roadway was on trestle-work, which was afterward filled in to make an earth embankment. Part of the land wanted, through this region, was owned by a man who did not care to sell. Failing agreement, it was condemned and taken in the usual form. The owner received what was thought to be a fair price, and he had also the clause in the proceedings which provided that if the property ceased to be used for railroad purposes the title should revert to him. As a matter of fact it was so abandoned in less than a dozen years. He got it back, and almost at once it was wanted for the Park, and was again con- demned and taken, so that it made probably the best real-estate operation of his life.
Trains were not run into the depot direct, but after first crossing the river ran up one arm of a Y, which extended from near Imlay's mill up to the present stepping-stones, where it joined the other arm, so that the train, running up the first and backing down the second, came to the main line in reversed position, and so backed down into the depot. In these early days of the railroad there were two trains each way daily. The running-time was about an hour and a half. An advertisement of this period shows a summer arrangement under which the first train south left at 5.45 A.M., and the second at 6 P.M. Re- turning, they left New Haven at 5.30 A.M. and 12 M., or on the arrival of the boat from New York. On Saturday there was an extra train at 8 P.M., or on arrival of the New York boat. Before the road to Spring- field was opened, the Boston and Albany ( Western) was in operation, and passengers had to make the distance between Hartford and Spring- field by stage-coach. One advertisement of 1842 announces that the coach leaves at 8 A.M., and runs "to meet the cars at Springfield for Boston. The cars leave Springfield at 1.45 P.M., and arrive in Boston at 5.45 P.M." Another coach left at 3 P.M. As to this the advertise- ment reads : " This stage leaves on the arrival of the afternoon cars from New Haven ; it is put on for the accommodation of passengers coming up in the cars from New York and New Haven, and, if not full, all others that may wish a seat." The railroad between New Haven and New York was not then open, as might now be inferred from the wording of the advertisement, nor was it finished until some six years after that time. The cars used for a number of years were short coaches, such as were altogether used on English and European roads until within a short time. The New York and New Haven Road was opened in December, 1848, giving a through rail-connection to New York. In 1849 the present depot on Asylum Street was built. In 1872 the New York and New Haven Railroad was consolidated with the Hartford and New Haven, under the name of New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad Company. For two years preceding the roads had been run as one under an agreement. This is commonly spoken of as the Con- solidated Road. It operates by lease or majority ownership a number of other roads, including the Shore Line (New Haven to New London), which was opened in 1852; the Air Line (New Haven to Willimantic),
560
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
opened to Middletown in 1870 and to Willimantic in 1873; the New Haven and Northampton (New Haven to Turner's Falls), opened to Plainville in 1848 and to Turner's Falls in 1881; the Hartford and Connecticut Valley (Hartford to Fenwick), opened in 1871 to Saybrook and in 1872 to Fenwick ; also branches to Middletown, New Britain, Suffield, and New Canaan.
As early as 1833 the Manchester Railroad Company was incorpo- rated, to construct a railroad from Hartford to Vernon and Bolton, " to or near the stone pits." Nothing was done under this charter, which, however, was practically revived in 1847, when the Hartford and Provi- dence Railroad Company was chartered, and given the same powers and privileges as had been granted the Hartford and Manchester Com- pany, with power to build to Willimantic and Rockville. Two years before a charter was given to the New York and Hartford Railroad, which proposed to build through Danbury. In 1848 this road was merged with the Hartford and Providence, which was also authorized to bridge the Connecticut River, and extend the road to meet the Providence and Plainfield. The road was opened from Hartford to Willimantic in 1849, and from Hartford to Bristol in 1850. In 1854 trains ran through to Providence, and in 1855 to Waterbury. In 1858 the road was surrendered to trustees for the bondholders, and was run by them for twenty years, Mr. Samuel Nott, who, as engineer, had made surveys for a western extension of the road to Fishkill, being in charge of the road during that time.
In 1863 the Boston, Hartford, and Erie Railroad Company was in- corporated. It was the evident intention, under the act of incorporation, to secure the through line between Boston and the Hudson, which had been contemplated for fifteen years or more. Carrying out this idea, the Boston, Hartford, and Erie bought almost at once the rights of the stockholders in the Hartford, Providence, and Fishkill Railroad, paying in cash and stock, the stock exchange being ratified by the stockholders of each road; but some stockholders refused to transfer stock, and the purchase did not touch the bonds of the Hartford, Providence, and Fish- kill. In 1866 the Boston, Hartford, and Erie issued the Berdell bonds for $20,000,000, based on a mortgage issued to Robert H. Berdell and others, trustees. This mortgage covered the Hartford, Providence, and Fishkill Railroad, with others, but was subject to the first mortgage executed by that road before the Boston, Hartford, and Erie acquired any rights in it. In 1871 the trustees under the Berdell mortgage took possession of the property of the Boston, Hartford, and Erie, in- cluding, as was claimed, the right to redeem the first mortgage bonds of the Hartford, Providence, and Fishkill Railroad. The New York and New England Railroad was chartered in 1873, with a capital of $20,000,000, which represented only the Berdell bonds. The company also bought of the assignees in bankruptcy of the Boston, Hartford, and Erie all rights of redemption of that company. In 1878 it obtained from private persons money with which to pay off the first mortgage bonds of the Hartford, Providence, and Fishkill, and thus came into complete possession of its property. One of the last acts of the Boston, Hartford, and Erie, before it passed to the New England, had been the completion, in 1872, of the portion of the road between Putnam and Willimantic, - finishing the through line to Boston. In July, 1881,
561
TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTATION.
the New England Company opened its line from Waterbury to Brews- ters, and in December of the same year it was finished to Fishkill, on the Hudson. The road was then run with special reference to through freight business. It failed to earn sums corresponding to the great outlay that had been made, and on Dec. 31, 1883, it passed into the hands of a receiver, Mr. C. P. Clark, formerly second vice-president of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad, and was thereafter run by him, with more attention to local business and less to the through traffic.1 The company leases or otherwise controls various branches, which, with the main line of two hundred and fifteen miles, make a total of four hundred and twenty-five miles operated by it, of which three hundred and twenty-six are owned by the company.2
The Connecticut Western Railroad Company was organized in 1868, and opened to Millerton in 1871. It was reorganized in 1881 as the Hartford and Connecticut Western. It has since bought the Rhinebeck Railroad, giving $800,000 of stock, and owns a continuous line from Hartford to the Hudson at Rhinecliff. To the stocks of this road and the Connecticut Valley large subseriptions were made by the town of Hartford, -$750,000 to the Western and $500,000 to the Valley. The stocks have since disappeared under foreclosure of bonds. The Con- necticut Valley Railroad, from Hartford to Fenwiek Point, at the mouth of the Connecticut, was opened July 30, 1871, as far as Saybrook Point, and to Fenwick in the following year. It was reorganized by the first mortgage bondholders in July, 1880, under the name Hartford and Connectieut Valley Railroad, and the control subsequently passed to the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad Company. The length of main line is forty-six miles.
During all this development of outside traffic there was, naturally, a building of new roads and improving of old within the limits of Hart- ford itself. The thirty-eight streets recognized in 1820 have increased to about three hundred, with an aggregate length of some one hundred and sixty miles ; about fifty miles are macadamized. The streets, with the lighting of the same, are in charge of a board of street commis- sioners, the members of which, like those of the other city boards, are appointed (two each year) by the mayor and confirmed by the alder- men. The expenses of the department in 1884 were $76,967.80.
An extensive sewer system was developed, by which at present most of the streets of any consequence are served. Its establishment re- sulted in at least one leading ease at law, decided by the Supreme Court of Errors in 1868. For a proposed sewer, benefits aggregating $1,283 were assessed on Caleb Clapp, Aaron E. Clapp, R. D. Hubbard, William B. Ely, Alfred E. Ely, Harry E. Ely, and R. P. Hubbard, and on the First Ecelesiastical Society of Hartford. Three separate suits were brought for abatement, on the ground that there was no benefit, be- cause the parties assessed were already served by private drains.
1 On the 22d of December, 1885, the Court signed an order to terminate the receivership on December 31, 1885, exactly two years from the time it was created. It was shown that the company was in position to pay all its current obligations and probably manage its affairs with- out interference by creditors. The advance in the market value of its securities during these two years was very great.
2 The sketch of the New England Railroad is chiefly based on the excellent account given by the Connecticut Railroad Commissioners in their 1879 report.
VOL. I .- 36.
562
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
The cases were similar, and were heard together, that of Clapp v. The City of Hartford giving the title to the proceedings. The finding of Judge Loomis as a committee, and the opinion of the Supreme Court of Errors, written by Judge Carpenter, may be found in the 35th Conn., p. 65. The property-owners were sustained in their claim that service provided by themselves, the sewage being carried across their own land, or under a highway, with constructive assent of the street commissioners, relieved them from a elaim for betterments by the city when opening a sewer into which their property could drain, and which was built in a street on which this property fronted. The case is con- stantly cited in similar suits.
The Hartford and Wethersfield Horse Railroad Company was char- tered in 1859, but was not opened for travel until 1863, and then only on Main Street, and amid many predictions that it would prove a waste of money. For some time it looked as if this might be the case. The cars ran at long intervals, and there was grumbling at the fares. The introduction of cars without conductors lessened the expenses, and by degrees they were run oftener, and came nearer to meeting the real requirements. The Asylum and Farmington Avenue lines were opened in 1872. The Retreat Avenue line was opened in 1882, the Lafayette Street line in 1883, and the Albany Avenue Extension in 1884. At the beginning the fare was five cents. It was afterward increased to six, then to seven, and in 1882 was again reduced to five cents; the service having been meantime very greatly improved. Open cars were first put on in 1883.
Under the limits made necessary in such a sketch as this it has been impossible to do more than suggest the kind and magnitude of the development of travel from the earliest days of the settlement. It is worth while at the end to note one passage from Dr. Bushnell's famous sermon on "Roads," which was preached on Thanksgiving Day, 1846. It is as follows : -
" If you wish to know whether society is stagnant, learning scholastic, religion a dead formality, you may learn something by going into universities and libra- ries ; something also by the work that is doing on cathedrals and churches, or in them ; but quite as much by looking at the roads. For if there is any motion in society, the road, which is the symbol of motion, will indicate the fact. When there is activity or enlargement or a liberalizing spirit of any kind, then there is intercourse and travel, and these require roads. So if there is any kind of ad- vancement going on, if new ideas are abroad and new hopes rising, then you will see it by the roads that are building. Nothing makes an inroad without making a road. All creative action, whether in government, industry, thoughit, or re- ligion, creates roads."
W. a. ayres
563
MANUFACTURES AND INVENTIONS.
SECTION XI.
MANUFACTURES AND INVENTIONS.
BY W. A. AYRES.
FROM the earliest industrial activity of the country, Hartford has had a leading part in manufactures. Its record falls naturally into two parts : the first extending to about the end of the eighteenth cen- tury and covering the beginnings of many industries that have since been enormously developed ; and the second embracing the period dur- ing which manufactures have become the most important form of industry for the county. Hartford inventors have played an impor- tant part in the development of forms of business in which many millions of capital are invested, producing goods that go all over the world.
Under the first division the following may be noted : In 1637 a grist-mill was built on the Little River at Hartford, and the same busi- ness has continued up to the present time ; it is now known as Daniels's mill, and is the only water-power mill in the place ; at one time there were six shops or mills which received power from the water stored by four dams. In 1667 Thomas Harris was given forty acres of land as an encouragement to build a saw-mill " on the brook between Hartford and Wethersfield, on the east side of the great river." The General Court of Feb. 8, 1641, ordered hemp and flax to be sown by each family, and also passed an order for the importation of cotton. In 1644 two inspectors of linen and woollen yarn were appointed in each town of the colony to " judge and determine the rate or price the weavers should receive by the yard for yarn." The cotton was for more than a hundred years used in combination with wool or linen.
At Hartford about the close of the seventeenth century there were several fulling-mills. One of the earliest was that at what is now Burn- side. It was owned by William Pitkin, and was burned in 1690. In the year 1700, the General Assembly gave the widow of John Bidwell leave to convey to John March a half interest in a fulling-mill, of which her husband died seised. About the same time Thomas Tousey had a fulling-mill within the present city limits. About 1797 Dr. Apollos Kinsley built and operated on Main Street in Hartford the first steam road-wagon ever constructed. He also invented a brick-pressing machine, the first known, and with it made bricks which were used in the construction of the " mansion house" on Kinsley Street. An- other of his inventions was a machine for making pins; but this was never a success, and the progress in this manufacture belongs wholly to a later period. Still another of his inventions was a card-machine. It was run in a small building a little back from Main Street and above Asylum Street, and the motive-power was furnished by a sort of tread- mill operated by dog-power. There were usually eight or ten dogs,
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