USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > The memorial history of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1884, Vol. I > Part 79
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
in the three succeeding years, and was gradually introduced into every State, until now it is the essential part of their school systems; and in the year just closed probably has reached more than two hundred thousand teachers.
Without going further into detail, the subject was urged on the attention of the legislature and the people in each year till 1849, when eleven thousand dollars was appropriated toward the establishment of a Normal School or Seminary " for the training of teachers in the best methods of instructing and governing common schools in this State;" and trustees were appointed, one from cach county, for its management. This Board organized on the 7th of August, 1849, and invited proposals for the location of the Seminary, and appointed Henry Barnard Princi- pal, who, in virtue of the office, would become Superintendent of Com- mon Schools. Mr. Barnard accepted the appointment "on condition that an Associate Principal should be appointed to take the immediate charge and instruction of the Seminary, while he gave such attention to the institution as should be found compatible with the general super- vision of the common schools of the State, - for which his studies and previous experience might in some measure have qualified him."
The Normal School has been under the charge of the following principals : T. D. Stone, 1850-1852; John D. Philbrick, 1853-1855 ; David N. Camp, 1855-1857; Charles F. Dowd, 1857-1858 ; Henry B. Buckham, 1858-1864 ; John N. Bartlett, 1864; Homer B. Sprague, 1864-1867; Isaac N. Carleton, 1867-1881 ; C. F. Carroll, since 1881. It had 270 students enrolled in the year 1885-1886.
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SECTION XV.
PROMINENT BUSINESS MEN.
BY MISS MARY K. TALCOTT.
SOME HARTFORD NAMES. - OLD MERCANTILE HOUSES AND THE MANAGERS. - SKETCHES OF VARIOUS CITIZENS.
THE merchants of Hartford in 1650 were of a very different stamp from those who now occupy our offices and counting-rooms. The epitaph of Richard Lord,
" To Marchantes as a patterne he might stand, Adventring Dangers new by Sea and Land," 1
gives us an idea of the merchant's life then, when a man went on trading voyages in his own vessel to Virginia, the Barbadoes, and other far-away countries, to dispose of his own merchandise and bring home the products of strange lands. This was what William Whiting, Thomas Olcott, Thomas Stanton, and Richard Lord did ; and this was done by their successors, more or less, even through the eighteenth century.
The trade of Hartford before the Revolution was almost entirely with the West Indies, the produce of those islands being brought here from the earliest days of the English settlement. At a later period a few vessels went to Lisbon and the Mediterranean with fish, and to Ireland with timber ; but the frequent wars during the middle of the last cen- tury made such ventures perilous. The trade with the West Indies, however, increased steadily ; in the " Connecticut Courant," Feb. 29, 1768, is the announcement of the arrival at Barbadoes, from Hartford, of Captains Chenevard, Olcott, Caldwell, Bigelow, Goodwin, Forbes, and Bunce, - all well-known Hartford names.
Several Hartford men, namely, Thomas Seymour, Richard Seymour, Zechariah Seymour, and John Skinner, were members of a stock com- pany, chartered by the Assembly in 1732, named " the New London Society, united for Trade and Commerce, for the purpose of promoting and carrying on Trade and Commerce to Great Britain and His Majesty's Islands and Plantations in America, and for encouraging the Fishery."
Among the prominent merchants before the Revolution was John Austin, who had been a midshipman in the English navy during the reign of Queen Anne. Being attracted by the progress of the religious colony, he left the service, and turning his fortune into goods, settled in Hartford, where he married Mary, widow of Nathaniel Hooker, and daughter of Nathaniel Stanley. His daughter Mary married, first, John Ellery, of Hartford, and second, John Ledyard, a man of distinc- tion and influence, and of literary culture, one of the founders of Dart- mouth College. He was born in Bristol, England, in 1700, but came to America at an early age, settling first on Long Island, and then at Groton, where the children of his first wife were born, among them Colonel William Ledyard, the hero of Fort Griswold, killed Sept. 6,
1 See p. 249.
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
1781. John Ledyard, the famous traveller, who died at Cairo in 1788, on the eve of an expedition into the interior of Africa, was his grand- son. Another grandson was Thomas Youngs Seymour, son of Thomas Seymour, the first mayor. He was born June 19, 1757 ; graduated from Yale College, 1777. Before leaving college he was offered a commission by Colonel Sheldon, and served in the Light Dra- goons during the years 1777 and 1778, being with General Gates's army during the campaign against Burgoyne; and he is represented on his black charger in the foreground of Trumbull's paint- ing of the surrender of Burgoyne. He was appointed by General Gates to es- cort General Burgoyne to Boston, and he performed this delicate duty so much to Burgoyne's satisfaction that he pre- sented him with a beautiful leopard- skin, which Seymour often used after- THOMAS YOUNGS SEYMOUR. (From a miniature by Trumbull ) ward while commanding the Governor's Horse Guards, of which he was the first major. He practised law in Hartford, and held many positions of trust, both State and municipal, dying May 16, 1811.
Another prominent merchant in the ante-Revolutionary days was Captain John Keith, a native of Scotland, who had been a sea-captain. He dwelt and kept his shop (about 1762) in the wooden building still standing, Nos. 176, 178 State Street.1 He married, in 1751, Marianne, widow of Captain John Lawrence, and daughter of Captain John Beau- champ. Her son by her first marriage, John Lawrence, born June 11, 1719, held the office of Treasurer of Connecticut from 1769 to 1789. He died in 1802, in the house he built in 1785, which until recently stood on the corner of State and Market streets ; and another beside it was built by him for his son William.
.
William Ellery, son of John Ellery, mentioned above, was a mer- chant on a large scale here, both before and after the Revolution, and in 1776 his " Great Store " was on the river-bank, near the foot of the present Potter Street.
Colonel Samuel Talcott, whose store was on Main Street, was an- other prominent merchant engaged in many enterprises for developing the resources of the country, and he also headed a regiment in the last French and Indian war.
The wholesale business of this period (1750-1830) consisted chiefly in exporting goods to the West Indies, importing the produce of those islands, and sending it into the surrounding country and up the Con- necticut River. After peace was declared, in 1783, a thriving business 2
1 C. J. Hoadly's Annals of Christ Church, pp. 43, 44.
2 The following advertisement shows the nature of the trade : -
Tomorrow will be landed the Cargo of Brigantine Friendship, from Barbadoes, viz : 30 Hhds.
Rum, 30 Hhds. Molasses, best quality, 20 Hhds. Sugar, do. JOHN CALDWELL & Co.
They want to purchase Corn, Corn Meal, Oats, Alewives, Hay, Red and White Oak Hogslead Staves, Boards, and Shingles, and a number of Horses for Shipping. - Connecticut Courant of July 22, 1799.
1
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sprang up, increasing in extent, with Barbadoes, Cuba, and the French island of San Domingo. The vessels employed in this trade were denominated " Horse Jockeys," and were strong and heavily built, - dull sailers, with low decks and very high waist, of from one hundred to two hundred tons burden, and generally excellent sea-boats. Many of the smaller ones were sloop-rigged, one-masted vessels, with a stout, short mast, carrying a very large standing topsail. The larger vessels were either two-topsail schooners or full-rigged brigs. These vessels made two, or at the most three, voyages a year, prudently avoiding the West Indies in the hurricane season, and lying a long time in port to procure their cargoes, it being customary to send their own long-boats to the distant sugar estates to transport the molasses aboard. This severe boat duty was very harassing to the crews, and often caused fevers and death.
" When a voyage was determined upon, the cargo was purchased by notes given for a certain number of gallons of rum or molasses, or a certain number of bushels of salt, at the return of the vessel ; so that but a small amount of money was required to carry on the trade. No incorporated insurance offices being in existence, a policy was opened, and individuals took the risks in such sums as they chose on 'vessel,' 'inbound cargo,' or ' stock,' the owner always having a part uninsured. The rate of 'stock on deck' was about ten per cent. The vessel carried from thirty to seventy head of horses and cattle, with sheep and pigs, and any quantity of poultry in coops on the awning. One puncheon of water (one hundred and ten gallons), one bundle of hay (five hundred pounds), and ten bushels of oats were the allowance put in for each head of stock. The ves- sels were frequently commanded by owners or part-owners, or an owner went out as supercargo, to transact the affairs of the voyage." 1
These supercargoes were often youthful scions of old Hartford fam- ilies, and the yellowing files of the " Connecticut Courant " show that many of them succumbed to the yellow fever in Jamaica, Demerara, and other places in those southern seas.
Besides the trade with the West Indies, there was some trade to Ireland, carried on by the Hookers of Windsor and the Bulls of Hart- ford, in flaxseed, potatoes, and staves. There was also a small trade to Madeira, in corn and pipe-staves and a few horses, and in the same articles with Spain and Portugal. There was occasionally an adventure to the coast of Africa for cargoes of ebony, wool, and ivory.
Among the captains and merchants of early days were Colonel Jeremiah Wadsworth, William Ellery, Barnabas Deane, John Coleman, Charles Caldwell, John Morgan, John Caldwell, Joseph and William Hart, Strong & Smith (Rev. Nathan Strong and Solomon Smith), Thomas Sanford, Ely & White, Captain John Smith, James Burr, Sam- uel Olcott, Michael Olcott, Daniel Olcott, Samuel Marsh, Normand Butler, John Chenevard, Bull & King, James Bull, Hezekiah Merrill, Daniel Jones.
The name of Colonel Jeremiah Wadsworth occurs in other chapters of this history, and he may well be called the foremost citizen of Hartford during the Revolutionary period and the years following. He was the wealthiest man in the city, largely concerned in the West India trade,
1 This extract and many of the facts in this section are derived from a series of articles which appeared in the " Hartford Times " in 1858.
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
a leader in all mercantile enterprises, and a firm supporter of the patriot cause. He was born in Hartford, July 12, 1743, the son of the Rev. Daniel Wadsworth, pastor of the First Church. In his early youth he was placed under the care and in the service of his mother's brother, Matthew Talcott, a merchant in Middletown. When about eighteen years of age he was seized with symptoms of consumption ; and following the advice of friends, he shipped before the mast in one of his uncle's vessels. Here he soon recovered his health, and contin- ued to follow the sea as mate, and afterward master, of a vessel. In 1773 he removed to Hartford, and soon afterward the war deprived him of his employment at sea. He was offered the position of deputy- commissary under Colonel Joseph Trumbull ; and so satisfactorily did he execute his duties, that on the resignation of his principal he was appointed by Congress his successor in the office of commissary-general of purchases. After the arrival of the French troops he became commissary of the French army, and acted in that capacity until the close of the war. He shared largely in the confidence of General Washing- ton, and the prin- cipal officers of both the American and French armies held frequent consulta- tions with him. In July, 1783, Colonel Wadsworth em- barked for France, for the purpose of rendering an ac- count of his admin- to the istration
COLONEL JEREMIAH WADSWORTH AND HIS SON. (From a painting in Wadsworth Athenæum.)
French Govern- ment, and obtaining a final settlement of his business. The
latter part of the next year he returned home, having invested a consid- erable part of the funds he had obtained from the French Government in French, English, and Irish goods, which he brought home and sold in Hartford and Philadelphia. He was a member of the State Con- vention for ratifying the Constitution of the United States, a member of Congress six years, member of the Council of Connecticut, 1795- 1801. He died April 30, 1804, leaving one son, Daniel Wadsworth, who sustained his father's reputation for liberality, and did much for the growth and prosperity of Hartford. The Wadsworth Athenaeum is a lasting memorial of his desire to promote literary and artistic
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objects. He married Faith Trumbull, daughter of the second Governor Jonathan Trumbull, and lived for many years in the mansion on Pros- pect Street, now occupied by the Hartford Club. His death took place in July, 1848.
After the Revolution the names of Jacob Ogden and John Morgan became prominent, both coming here the same year, 1781. Ogden was born in Newark, New Jersey, and had been engaged in carrying on iron- works in Colebrook ; but they were accidentally burned, Aug. 30, 1781, and he then moved to Hartford. He was a merchant of enterprise, and built the long wooden block on the south side of Ferry Strect, and for his residence, in 1794, the building on State Street, afterward Ran- som's coffee-house, and later the Exchange Hotel.1 He remained here fifteen or twenty years, and afterward he kept a hotel in New Haven for twenty years.
John Morgan was born in Killingworth in 1753, and was graduated from Yale College in 1774. He was a merchant of widely extended fame, celebrated for his private enterprise and public spirit, being con- nected with almost every undertaking in the early commercial history of Hartford, and a promoter of the prosperity of our city in its infancy. He was the projector and the principal proprietor of the bridge across the Connecticut, and on the street leading to it he built what was in its day the finest block of stores in the town, - the old yellow block now standing on the southeast corner of Morgan and Front streets. His own residence, also, was on Morgan Street (named for him), - the handsome house since known as the " Webb house " and the " Ellsworth house." His garden comprised the land stretching from this house down to Commerce Street. He was a warden of Christ Church for many years ; "and to his zealous labors and liberal contributions the parish was indebted for its temporal prosperity more than to those of any other individual." He met with reverses in his latter days, which reduced him to comparative poverty. He died in Hartford, Sept. 19, 1842, aged eighty-nine.
Elias Morgan, his half-brother, was a hardware merchant, and a man of considerable note. He is said to have built the house his brother John lived in, on Morgan Street, and also the house on Pros- pect Street now occupied by George M. Bartholomew. He was one of the founders and proprietors of the " New Theatre," on Temple Street. He died in St. Croix, West Indies, May 15, 1812, aged forty-one.2
Another prominent name was that of Major John Caldwell, who was born in Hartford, Dec. 21, 1755, son of Captain John Caldwell, who died in 1758, and grandson of John Caldwell, who came to Hart- ford about 1725 from Beith, in North Britain. Major Caldwell was an energetic, public-spirited, honest man, honorable and honored. From the close of the Revolutionary War to the adoption of the Constitution of 1818, no name appears more frequently or prominently in the history of Hartford. During the Revolution he helped to organize a troop of volunteer horse, which did service in the State under Governor Trum- bull's orders, and which was incorporated in 1788 as the Governor's Horse Guards. His was the first name on the memorial for a charter, and he was chosen the first major, serving until 1792. The same year
1 In 1819 the Ætna Insurance Company began business there.
2 " Morgan Family," by N. H. Morgan, p. 96.
VOL. I. - 42.
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
he was elected president of the Hartford Bank,1 just chartered, -a position of great trust and responsibility ; for banking was then an ex- periment in Hartford. He retained this position until 1819. He was one of the commissioners to build the State House at Hartford, in 1794, and also one of the commissioners to supervise and lay out the bridge and causeway to East Hartford. His name is first on the list of the corporators of the Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb. Major Cald- well was a merchant in a large sense. He owned ships employed in the West India trade, but occasionally making Spanish and Mediter- ranean voyages, and engaged to some extent in coasting. Two large ships, the " Amphion " and the " Glenthorne," were built for him in a ship-yard on the ground now occupied by the Steamboat Company, which were employed in earrying flour and eorn to Cadiz and Lisbon. He was one of the largest of the Hartford underwriters, who before the advent of insurance companies wrote policies on all the foreign com- merce, then very considerable, of the Connecticut River. The firm of John Caldwell & Co. were heavy losers by the depredations of the French privateers during the last years of the last century, both through the capture of their own vessels and as insurers of others. During the financial distresses caused by the War of 1812 the bulk of his fortune was swept away ; and after his retirement from active life, about 1820, he retained only a modest competence. He died May 26, 1838, in his dwelling on the east side of Main Street, about seventy feet south of Central Row. Sarah, daughter of Major Caldwell, married Christopher Colt, of Hartford, who was at one time in partnership with his father-in-law. One of their sons was the famous inventor of the revolving pistol, - Colonel Samuel Colt. Margaret, another daughter, married Jared Scarborough, a man of prominence, who owned part of the land where the American Asylum now stands, and land on Prospect Hill, which was known as Scarborough Hill.
Michael Oleott, who was Major Caldwell's half-brother, was asso- ciated with him in the shipping business, and together they built a ship called the "Four Sisters," after Mr. Olcott's four sisters (also Major Caldwell's half-sisters), which was employed in the European trade. Mr. Olcott was for years Quartermaster-General of the State, and frequently represented Hartford in the General Assembly. He lived in the house now standing far back from the street, on the corner of Main and Bel- den streets, and died there, May 11, 1829.
Another noteworthy man of that time was Barnabas Deane, brother of Silas Deane, of Wethersfield, the diplomatist; and when the latter went to Congress, in 1774, he intrusted the management of his business in Hartford and Wethersfield to him. When the expedition against Ticonderoga, which was planned at Hartford, and of which Silas Deane was one of the chief managers, had succeeded in the capture of the fort, Barnabas Deane was sent as one of the Connecticut commissioners to provide supplies for the garrison. He lived in the fine old house on Grove Street, now occupied by Mr. Nelson Hollister. The building known as Chapin's Warehouse, on Commerce Street, was built by him. He carried on a shipping business, and also had a distillery. The firm of Barnabas Deane & Co. was formed in March or April, 1779, - a firm which owes its historical interest to its silent partners
1 See page 331.
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rather than to its nominal head. These partners were General Na- thaniel Greene, then Quartermaster-General of the Continental Army, and Colonel Wadsworth, Commissary-General. Greene and Wadsworth supplied the greater part of the capital, and Deane undertook the active management of the business. Extraordinary precautions were taken to conceal the fact that two officers so high in rank were silent partners and capitalists in this firm, and the correspondence was carried on in cipher. Greene withdrew before the end of 1781, but Wadsworth's con- nection with Deane was not dissolved until the death of Mr. Deane in 1794. "The business of the firm was that of general traders. During the war they dealt largely in the staples and manufactures that were most needed for the use of the army, or that could be most advan- tageously exchanged for provisions and forage. They were owners, or part owners, of distilleries of ' country rum' and ' Geneva ;' tried, not very successfully, to establish salt-works ; owned grist-mills ; were in- terested in one or two privateers ; imported salt from the Bermudas, through the southern colonies or otherwise ; and bought and sold or bartered wool, grain, and flour, country produce, and domestic manu- factures. The business reputation of the firm was high at home and abroad ; the integrity and honor of its partners without stain; nor is there a vestige of evidence that its founders took undue advantage of their official positions to extend the business or increase the profits of the firm." 1
The wars in which nearly all the European nations were involved from 1792 until 1815 stimulated the commerce of the United States, as a neutral country. In addition to the supplies desired by the West India planters, the British Government required a large amount of fresh beef and flour for the use of the troops in the numerous garrisons in the islands, and the naval force which was kept cruising in those seas. Great Britain being at war with Spain, no supplies could be obtained from the Spanish main, and only from the United States could supplies be drawn. An agency was established at New London, under charge of the British Consul, to purchase and forward live cattle. Many Hart- ford merchants despatched vessels from New London, many of them being of too large a size for the Connecticut River, except in time of freshets. The return cargoes, however, were often brought to Hartford, as the salt from the Bahamas found a ready sale in the inland towns in Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire, the cattle being generally killed and packed at home, thus requiring a large supply of salt. Kiln- dried corn-meal was a great article of export in those days, it being the food of the slaves. Kilns for drying the corn abounded, and the corn itself was grown in such quantities that it was a drug in the market.
By the revolt of the negroes of San Domingo, and the massacre and expulsion of the white inhabitants, this city lost a very extensive and lucrative commerce. The difficulties between the United States and the French Republic during the administration of President Adams were a severe check to the West India trade. Swarms of French privateers sallied out from Martinique and Guadeloupe, capturing many of our ves- sels. And although the French Government subsequently in the sale of Louisiana to the United States arranged for the payment of these
1 " A Business Firm in the Revolution," by J. Hammond Trumbull, LL.D., in the Maga- zine of American History, July, 1884.
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captures, neither the sufferers nor their heirs have yet been reimbursed for their losses. As the Napoleonic wars progressed, more and more ports were interdicted by the decrees of the English and French Govern- ments. St. Bartholomew's was a Swedish possession, and being a per- mitted or neutral port, it was the only place in the West Indies where trade could be legally carried on after the non-intercourse act of 1809; and Hartford vessels were despatched thither, with horses, cattle, and provisions, which were much needed in the neighboring islands, over which waved the flag of Great Britain, and to which they were trans- ported in small island vessels called drogers.
During the War of 1812 all intercourse with the West Indies was necessarily prohibited, but more or less smuggling was carried on, and trade in contraband goods. A British squadron was stationed in Gardi- ner's Bay, under command of Sir Thomas Hardy ("Nelson's Hardy "), in the " Ramillies," 74 guns, blockading New London and the Sound, and considerable illegal traffic was carried on, supplying these ships with provisions, etc. Goods were also smuggled through the Canada line, and brought down the Connecticut River from MeIndoes Falls.
During the palmy days of the West India trade, in 1791, a number of business men purchased a tract of land along the river front, expect- ing handsome profits from the venture. Among them were Jeremiah Wadsworth, John Morgan, John Caldwell, Daniel Jones, and Minturn & Chapin of New York. With the exception of the New York firm, the purchasers were the prominent business men of Hartford. The land they bought was bounded west on Front Street, south on a line ten rods north of Morgan Street, which is now called Gordon's Lane, east by Connecticut River, and north on the creek that enters the river near the water-works. Docks were built which may be found there to-day, extending north to the cove where the ice-houses stand. The purchasers agreed upon a plan whereby all the income from this property should be pooled, and the surplus put into a sinking-fund until the accumulation should equal the purchase-money. The scheme was considered a very promising one, and the promoters expected to reap a golden harvest. But the trade which they had relied upon to make the speculation a success was not attracted, their docks were deserted, their warehouses empty, and the name " Sinking Fund," as a term of ridicule, was applied to all Front Street, and river property north of the bridge, for fifty years thereafter. It was only this one locality, however, that could be called deserted. During the first thirty years of this century the wharves on the river-bank were bustling with traffic, and lined with vessels, often three or four deep, and Hartford was truly " the head of sloop navigation." Large warehouses extended all along the bank of the river, from the foot of Potter Street to the packing-houses above the bridge, where beef and pork were packed for the export trade, large quantities being brought down the river in brine, and inspected and re-packed here. At times the whole line of docks, from the bridge to Grove Street, was filled with hogsheads of sugar, rum, and molasses, waiting to be carted 1 into the large warehouses, or the numerous scows, or flat-boats, loading for "up river." This same territory presents a very different scene to-day ; the docks unoccupied, the warehouses and
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