USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Norwalk > The romance of Norwalk > Part 17
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NORWALK IN 1819
Just how far Norwalk had progressed, from the time of its settlement in 1651 until the beginning of the 19th cen- tury, was set forth in the "Gazetteer of the States of Con- necticut and Rhode Island" by John C. Pease and John M. Niles under date of 1819. In this surprising tabulation we learn that Norwalk at the time had 13 primary schools, one academy, 16 mercantile establishments, seven taverns, three physicians, three clergymen, two attorneys, 400 houses, a population of 2,983, which of course no longer included Wilton and New Canaan, and an aggregate grand list of $53,231. Of factories, she had six, four carding machines shops and two tanneries. Of mills, there were 12: one woolen, two cotton, one slitting and rolling, five grain, three clothing. Three churches, one bookstore, one post office, one newspaper office, 16 vessels and five companies of mili- tia, complete Norwalk's index.
How did she compare with her neighbors? Stamford, settled II years before Norwalk, had one more tavern. In addition, she had seven churches, four more than Norwalk, two libraries, and an aggregate grand list of $91,668. But Stamford's "fleet" was small, totalling only six vessels. Fairfield, settled 12 years before Norwalk, boasted two
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more physicians, and one more clergyman than did our town and no less than seven attorneys! Bridgeport, on the other hand, found use for only one attorney and two churches were quite sufficient for it. It had, however, three printing offices which published two weekly newspapers, two book binders, a pottery and 15 warehouses. Its "fleet" was of good size, including 18 vessels.
Danbury had made rapid strides. Settled in 1685, 34 years after Norwalk, by Norwalk men, it had passed our town in most all fields. Danbury had 17 schools, II mer- cantile stores, six taverns, five physicians, four clergymen, three attorneys, 550 houses, a population of 3606, an ag- gregate grand list of $74,556. In the town were 28 hat factories, four tanneries, four carding mills, several lime kilns, two woolen mills, three fulling, three grain and one paper mill. In addition, Danbury had seven churches, a court house, a post office and two libraries.
But it was Hartford that set the pace for the state. Hart- ford was the center of intellectual, industrial, political and social progress. For girls, in those days, a trip to Hartford, equalled a trip to Europe now. In Norwalk, it was con- sidered the height of elegance to be able to say that you had "entertained friends from Hartford over the week- end!" Twenty-one taverns, and 18 beer houses drew much trade to Hartford. This city, settled in 1635, included in its assets, 12 schools, five wholesale drygoods stores, 25 re- tail, 61 grocery and provision stores and a drugstore, at the time of the publishing of the Gazetteer. Hartford's professional men totalled 12 physicians, five clergymen, and 22 attorneys. It had 850 houses, a population of 6,500 and an aggregate grand list of $137,845.75.
Its factories were of various kinds : one cotton, four cloth- ing, two carding, eight distilleries, six tanneries, five potter- ies, one button, one whiplash, two hat, two tinware, and two looking glass; five grain mills, two woolen mills and one oil mill. But it was not Hartford's bricklayers, nor tailors, nor its silver shops nor its pewter factories which brought.
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it fame. It was the distilleries for it had more and bet- ter distilleries than any other community in the state. Hart- ford was proud of its liquor industry but it was not so cer- tain that the rest of the state was equally proud of it. There were many who felt it to be "an unholy waste of grain." And so it is that we find Hartford, in a half apologetic article explaining that not only does the manufacture of liquor not result in a waste of grain, perhaps to the detri- ment of the poor, but that rather it increases its production.
GEORGETOWN WIRE MILL
From the tiny little shop where horsehair sieves were woven by hand, to the flourishing wire business of today, is the story of the growth and gain of the Gilbert and Ben- nett Wire Manufacturing Company, one of the earliest factories in this section of the state, located in Georgetown. The business was founded in 1818 by Benjamin Gilbert, a native of Connecticut. Gilbert was a shoemaker by trade who first established a workshop for mending shoes, in the basement of his Weston home. In those days, families sifted their meal through horse hair sieves which were much in demand. Gilbert, seeing a market, gave up his shoe- making and concentrated on sieve making. His wife and daughters wove the hair, while he shaved wooden hoops to form the rims of his sieves, according to "One Hundred Years of Progress," publication of the Gilbert and Bennett Mfg. Co. The horsehair sieve market did not prove as large as he anticipated, so Mr. Gilbert increased his busi- ness by adding the manufacture of curled hair, used for cushions, mattresses and upholstered furniture. The busi- ness grew and shortly the Gilbert family moved from Wes- ton to Georgetown where the little sieve making business was again set up, this time in one of the rooms of the new house.
In the ensuing years Mr. Gilbert installed and put into operation the first machinery ever used in picking hair;
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moved his growing business into a separate factory; adopted a machine for the making of sieve rims although the horse- hair cloth was still made by hand; produced the first wire cloth on a carpet loom; commenced the manufacture of dry glue; and during the Civil War astounded the indus- trial world by putting woven wire window screens on the market. Hitherto all screens had been made of cloth or hair netting. A wire mill was built and the business ex- panded rapidly. The firm name became Gilbert and Ben- nett in 1828; Gilbert, Bennett and Co., in 1832; and Gilbert and Bennett Manufacturing Co., incorporated in 1874. In 1887 a western branch was established in Chicago. The company which literally has "made" Georgetown, watches over the little community with care and interest, constructs houses, schools and other buildings when necessary, takes care of the Georgetown Volunteer Fire Co., and in general acts the part of a fond father.
TRANSPORTATION
CHAPTER XXI
Norwalkers Leave For Ohio In "Prairie Schooners"-Glor- ious Stage Coach Days-Early Steamboat Puffs Into Harbor-First Trains Run Through Norwalk-Draw- bridge Catastrophe Here Shocks Country.
DURING the next 35 years, 1820 to 1855, Norwalk found herself in the midst of an unprecedented progress in trans- portation of all kinds. This was the time of the glorious coaching days; of the first steamboat in Norwalk; of the extending of the New York, New Haven and Hartford railroad through this town; of the building of the Danbury and Norwalk railroad. The great white covered "prairie schooner" was still in vogue when the third decade of the nineteenth century opened. These wagons were employed by the little company of families who left Norwalk in 1820, bound for Ohio. One writer says: "Well I remember that assembly on the village green, for the first emigration to the West, to found Norwalk, Ohio. I can see those white covered wagons as they disappeared down Barkmill Hill; can hear the Doxology, the partings, as if forever."
The travelers were families who were taking advantage of the gift of land in the middle west, made to Norwalk by the Connecticut government before the close of the 18th century, to recompense this town in part, for the losses suf- fered by it during the Revolutionary War. After their arrival in Norwalk, Ohio, eight communicants founded St. Paul's Episcopal Church in 1820. Five of them were from St. Paul's Parish and included Luke and Jemima Keeler, Mr. and Mrs. John Keeler and Ruth Boult. But the "prai- rie schooner" was used only for covering very long distances
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when household furniture, trunks and farming implements must be carried along with the passengers.
GLORIOUS STAGE DAYS
The most popular mode of transportation for ordinary travel was the stage coach, which saw its glorious era from 1820 to 1840. Up to this time, 1820, the coach had been an awkward, ungainly, uncomfortable thing, slow of speed, disagreeable in movement. But in 1827, Louis Downing, a carriage maker of Concord, New Hampshire, announced the completion of the famous Concord Coach which revolu- tionized passenger transportation.
The new coach had a strong body swung on leather straps, a stout top, comfortable seats and a luggage compartment. This coach is the same which has been made immortal in "wild west" moving pictures. When the first railroad was built the owners used Concord coaches, merely altering the wheels to fit the rails.
When the new stage came into favor, Norwalk, in com- pany with other towns along the line, found itself forced into extensive road improvement work, which not only made travel a deal more pleasant but much faster. It now took but two days to get from New York to Boston; there were fre- quent relays of horses along the road, and a driver was scheduled to make at least ten miles an hour. Norwalk was a point of importance not only on the stage line between New York and Boston, but it was also the termination of a stage route between Danbury and Norwalk. Captain Platt of Danbury ran a stage between the two towns in the years 1815 to 1824. He left Danbury at noon and arrived here in the early evening.
Passengers who intended going on to New York by boat, took supper at a tavern kept by one Hezekiah Whitlock, better known as Uncle Kiah. After the evening meal, every- one went on board the boat, and later to the berths. During the night, if the tide was right, the ship sailed for New York.
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Were the weather good, the passengers might expect to be in the city by morning. But the trip usually consumed all next day, and if the weather were "dirty" it might be three or four days before the boat finally made New York. There were generally ten or twelve berths on the boat, passage on which might be secured for the sum of fifty cents. Meals were twenty-five cents each and invariably consisted of beef- steak and fried onions. Hiram Barnes of the hat city ran a stage between Danbury and Norwalk in 1830.
FIRST STEAMBOAT
Thrilling days came to Norwalk in the spring of 1824 when the first steamboat appeared in the harbor. Excited cries rang through the streets of the little town when the "lookouts" sighted the boat coming up the sound, and all rushed down to Old Well (South Norwalk ) wharfs to greet the dawn of a new era in shipping. As the boat, which called itself the "General Lafayette," steamed "majesti- cally" into harbor, the populace screamed for joy, hats and caps were lost by the dozen and some even fell into the water in their excitement. The only somber note in the whole event was struck by some of the older men, who shook their heads in sadness, for they saw in the coming of steam, the passing of their beloved old sailboats. .
Vessels of all kinds, passenger and freight, played a major role in Norwalk's history from earliest times. It is inter- esting to trace the growth of shipping here, from the days when birch bark canoes afforded the only means of water transportation, until the era of the steamboat. According to Historian Selleck, who has recorded the names and deeds of the earliest ship owners in the community :
"Captain Richard Raymond of Saybrook, heads the roll of Norwalk navigators. He ran a coasting vessel (tran- siently) in and out of Norwalk harbor in the seventeenth century, his 'pier' being in all probability near Fort Point. Old wharf remains have there been discovered."
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Among those who followed Captain Raymond were Cap- tain Josiah Thatcher, Captain James Hurlbutt, Saugatuck shipbuilder, and in 1750 appears the name of Commodore John Cannon whose vessels ploughed to West India waters. A number of Norwalk boats went to the southern islands taking horses, oxen, pigs, goats, corn, wooden staves, flour, earthenware, butter and woven goods and bringing back molasses, sugar and plenty of rum. Then there was Captain Nathan Mallory, 1757-1800; Captain David Whitney, 1775; Esaias Bouton, Norwalk Tory who owned a vessel which plied between this town and Boston; and scores of others.
The era of the sail packet lasted from 1800 to 1830. Uriah Selleck was a coasting proprietor in Norwalk during those years and Eben D. Hoyt was a shipmaster at that time. The latter ran a boat line from Norwalk to New York, the vessels making two trips a week. The line passed through several hands in succeeding years. The last vessel of the regular line, "The Domestic" was burned to the water's edge off Shippan Point.
In 1815, the first steamboat came up Long Island Sound past Norwalk, on its way to New Haven. This was Robert Fulton's with its great side wheels, its noisy engine unmuffled and its stacks emitting clouds of smoke and sparks from the dry wood fuel. Historians give Robert Fulton credit for the invention of the steamboat, yet Connecticut claims that it was John Fitch of Windsor who first made practical use of steam in a sea-going vessel. So sure is Connecticut of her claims that she caused to be erected a bronze portrait and bas relief of Fitch in the state capitol at Hartford, the inscription on which reads :
"This tablet, erected by the state of Connecticut commem- orates the genius, patience and perseverance of John Fitch, a native of the town of Windsor, the first to apply steam successfully to the propulsion of vessels through water."
Fitch launched his boat on the Delaware river in 1786. It was forced through the water by mechanical paddles, six
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on each side. The boat, which was 45 feet long had a speed of only three miles an hour. Norwalk may be per- mitted a hold on the tail end of the glory, for John Fitch's great grandfather resided for a short time, about the year 1652, in this town.
In 1824, the "General Lafayette" commenced trips be- tween Norwalk and New York and this community was thus officially connected by steam with the rest of the world. The "General Lafayette" was succeeded later in the season by the "John Marshall," named in honor of the Chief Justice of the United States. The "John Marshall" made three trips each way every week and the fare charged was one dollar. Three years later, Cornelius Vanderbilt put on a boat and reduced the fare to $.25. Other boats which ap- peared on the line in the next few years were the "Balti- more," the "Citizen," the "Fairfield," the "Nimrod," in 1836 and the "Westchester." The latter was taken off the Norwalk route after a while and became one of the first boats to join the "People's Line" on the Hudson river. After the departure of the "Westchester," the "Nimrod" and the "Fairfield" continued in service, doing a very prosperous business.
"At this juncture of Norwalk's steamboat success," says Historian Selleck, "the 'Napoleon' was put upon the route and the climax of enthusiasm was reached. This boat was denominated 'Peck's Get-Up' and the evening of its arrival at Old Well South Norwalk was a memorable one. At the close of the trip the captain appeared and made a five minutes' speech ending with: 'Be true to the Napoleon and she will be true to you.' The multitude was then invited aboard and taken up to the bridge. (Norwalk) The people still clung to the boat and were carried back to Old Well, (where the vessel was to remain over night) and walked home again."
About this time, steamship lines were extended from Nor- walk up to Bridgeport, the "Fairfield" making the trip one week, the "Nimrod," the next.
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It is interesting to know that the first steamboat to cross the Atlantic Ocean was built by men with Norwalk family connections. The ship "Savannah" was constructed by Fickett and Crockett, shipbuilders, at Erie Basin, New York city, in 1818, according to the New York Mercantile Ad- vertiser of March 27, 1819. Gardner Fickett was grand- father of the late Samuel Fickett of Rowayton and William Crockett was grandfather of Major William G. Crockett of this city. The ship, which weighed 350 tons, had pad- dle wheels and a wheelhouse made of canvas stretched over an iron rim. It made the voyage to Liverpool in 22 days, 14 of them under steam, in 1819. When the boat was seen puffing into the English harbor, the citizens ran down to the wharf to put out the fire !
The first small gasoline launch in town was owned by Judge John Keogh and his brother Thomas Keogh some 30 years ago. The good ship was called the "Sara K.", in honor of the boys' sister, Sara Keogh, now Mrs. Sara E. Lane. The year 1929 finds the Norwalk harbor dotted with craft of all kinds, steam, gasoline, sail. During the summer time, there are passenger boats which make daily trips between Norwalk and New York, mostly for excur- sions. There are no longer regular all year round lines between the two cities, commuters finding trains much faster. However, there are a number of the more wealthy residents who use their own private yachts to go back and forth to New York every day.
FIRST TRAINS
While Norwalk watched steamboats grow out of long clothes into short and advance from the infant stage, at least to the adolescent, railroads were making faint tootings from the cradle. Danbury became interested in the "dread- ful steam cars" even before Norwalk. For some time, the inland town had been seeking a means to connect itself, easily and profitably, with the Sound. In 1825, when the Erie
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TRANSPORTATION
Canal project was first agitated, it was proposed that a canal be built from Danbury to the Westport tidewater. A survey was made, the line of route following close to that of the present railroad as far down as Redding, where it crossed over to the Saugatuck Valley and then continued to Westport. The project was abandoned because of the heavy locking necessary. In 1830, the canal idea again bobbed to the surface and was promptly squelched. Five years later, Danbury, still struggling to make its Sound con- nections, considered the building of a horse railroad from its town, to Norwalk.
Agitation was begun in 1835 by a group of men who shortly formed a company. The new organization was in- corporated as the "Fairfield County Railroad Company" with a capitalization of $300,000. A charter was obtained for the proposed road which was to run from Danbury to a suitable point at tidewater in Fairfield or Norwalk. An elaborate survey was made but nothing happened. It de- veloped afterwards that the backers of the scheme had in mind a much larger project than at first might appear for they planned a through line from New York to Albany by way of Danbury. The Danbury-Norwalk railroad today is all that is left of that project. The route was to com- mence in New York. There passengers would take the boat to Wilson's Point, Norwalk, a harbor which was open all winter. The new railroad was to commence at Wilson Point from where it would run up to Danbury, thence to West Stockbridge, Mass. Here the line would connect with what is now the Boston and Albany railroad which was then being built from Albany to West Stockbridge.
The Norwalk-Danbury railroad of 1835 was to be horse- drawn and expenses were to include "the horse path" at $123 a mile, six carriages, 30 horses, two depots with car- riage houses and stables and one half way house with car- riage house and stable. Two trips were to be made each day, it being estimated that the trip would take about three hours. It now takes 50 minutes. After all these elaborate
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plans nothing happened for the progenitors simply went to sleep. Meanwhile Bridgeport awoke and in 1840 built a railroad into New Milford, thereby securing for herself for some time, the Housatonic Valley trade, which Danbury might well have secured had she not lagged while building her railroad. Bridgeport's move killed the colossal plan of a road from New York to Albany by way of Danbury.
In the year 1850, intensive work was commenced on the Danbury-Norwalk railroad which we know today. Equip- ment was to include three locomotives, four first class and two second class passenger cars, eight box, 16 platform and three hand cars. March 1, 1852, trains were running. When the road was opened between Danbury and Redding, the rails in this section were laid on the ground because the earth was so frozen it wasn't possible to dig down at all. Nor did the road owners dare to wait until spring would thaw the ground, for the people had become impatient to see the trains go through, and it was considered wiser not to delay the opening any longer. E. T. Hoyt of Danbury was first president of the road until August 25, 1864, at a fixed salary of $250 a year. He refused any increase. Ed- win Lockwood of Norwalk was the second president, con- tinuing in office until June 18, 1873.
In 1882, the Danbury and Norwalk railroad was extended from South Norwalk to Wilson's Point, three miles to the south on Long Island sound, and large docks and transfer bridges were built on the shore. Before the idea was put into practical operation, the line was leased to the Housa- tonic Railroad company for a term of years. This took place October 1, 1886. Danbury now sent its produce by trains as far as Wilson Point in South Norwalk where it was loaded on boats and shipped to Oyster Bay. From this point, the produce was sent over the Long Island railroad to New York city where it was distributed for points west and south. Although at first high hopes had been enter- tained for the plan, it did not work, for there were many storms on the Sound which caused delays. Passenger traffic
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fell off and then freight traffic became less and less until it almost ceased. October 31, 1892, the whole Housatonic system passed into the possession of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad and the plan was abandoned.
Although Danbury became interested in a railroad many years previous to Norwalk, the latter boasted regular train service long before the hat city. When the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad first ran its wooden cars through Norwalk, in December 1848, Canal street, New York city, was the terminal. The Grand Central was still an untouched dream. By July 15, 1857, the terminal had been moved up to 27th street and Fourth avenue and by December 1872, to 42nd street, the present line termination.
Excited crowds gathered in the center of this town on the advent of the railroad's first trip through Norwalk. Some came to scoff, some to applaud and still others out of plain curiosity. Down the line, around the curve, puff puffing as hard as it could, came the brand new train, the engine, a queer little thing not weighing much more than six tons, with a great smoke stack and a high pile of pine logs for fuel. In the front stood the engineer, a man of vast importance, in tall hat and frock coat. Behind the engine dragged a half dozen cars which looked for all the world like enlarged Concord stage coaches. The people who had gathered in the center to watch the marvel of science, held their breath in one accord when it drew near, and then, finding that the thing really did go and that Norwalk actually had a railroad right through its "midribs," they all burst into cheers. It was a great day for Norwalk which con- sidered itself, from that day on, "made."
Early railroad travel was anything but pleasant. Riding was dirty and uncomfortable; there was a constant jarring with no springs to soften the bumps, and passengers often complained of headaches. Accidents were frequent and the trains were continually breaking down and requiring the as- sistance of farmers and oxen in order to complete the jour- ney. Trains were stopped by hand or foot brakes. Some-
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times the engineer merely opened the safety valve. Simul- taneously, several strong men rushed from the station, seized the back of the train and held it firmly, until the station agent could grab sticks of wood and thrust them through the wheel spokes. The passengers dismounted as soon as the train was in hand. When it was time to proceed again, the sticks were removed, the several strong men gave the train a good push and she was off ! Time and again the sections of the train parted company and the engineer found it necessary to walk back and tie the train together again. For that reason, crooked roads were the most popular. These gave the engineers a chance to look back and see if the cars were "all right."
The first trains through Norwalk were not so well pat- ronized as those of later years when the cars had been en- larged to carry some 60 passengers. At that time, the "height of luxury" featured a long car with a big stove in the middle or a small one at each end, tallow candles for light, tiny glass windows, only the center one of which could be opened, no screens and no ventilation. Dust and smoke swept the train, the poor springs nearly jolted the passengers through the windows, and the noise of the rackety wheels was so terrific that speech could not be heard. Traveling today is so luxurious compared with that of eighty years ago that it is difficult for us to imagine how the folks of yesterday could have stood the strain of going any farther than three or four miles from home.
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