USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Bridgeport > The story of Bridgeport > Part 6
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Whale fishing claimed no small amount of atten- tion in those days. Several whaling companies had been formed and the Bridgeport Whaling Company, organized in 1833, had a capital stock of $100,000. Four boats were owned by the company: the
"great crowds of people used to assemble at the water's edge, usually at Stephen Hawley's Lumber Yard, where the docks of the Housatonic Railroad Company now are (1881) to welcome the mariners home from their long voyage. The boat crew would bend to their oars as if they would snap them, and the final pull as the boat neared the wharf would make it almost leap from the water. Then a great shout of joy would go up as the adventurers landed and each would be surrounded with a throng of friends and relatives eager to bid him welcome".
Such were the delights of 1836. But the Bridge- porters had other means of entertainment. Bridge-
THE HARBOR IN 1837 Eastern view of Bridgeport a century ago as drawn by J. W. Barber.
"Atlantic", the "Hamilton", the "Harvest", and the "Stieglitz". The company proclaimed its object as the prosecution of "whale and other fisheries in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans."
The log of the "Atlantic" showed on its third voyage to the south Atlantic and Indian Oceans, 1837 to 1838, a net capture of thirty four whales, "male and female". The voyage lasted 629 days.
The sighting of a whale ship off the horizon of the Bridgeport harbor was the occasion for a general hullaballoo and holiday.
"When the news was received that one of the whale ships was outside," says Historian Hurd,
port at the time, it must be remembered, was a fairly small town of not more than 4,000 persons. Every- one was interested in what everyone else did and, if there were no party telephone lines by which one neighbor might learn another's business, there were plenty of grapevine routes and back yard fence tele- graphs to carry the news. Now, while the majority of Bridgeporters paid little attention to this com- munity airing of the family wash, there were those who were unduly sensitive about the matter.
Witness the complaint of B. C. DeForest, dry goods merchant, who after financial difficulties, apparently turned his business over to one A. C.
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1936
Beers. Mr. DeForest issued two business cards to announce what had taken place.
The first stated "I am still at the old stand, No. 4 Exchange Place, under the management of Andrew C. Beers, formerly of this city but more recently of New York."
"MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS"
The second stated "The few individuals of this city who always know more about their neighbor's busi- ness than they do their own and who think they understand perfectly the exact causes of the uprisings and downfalls of their friends, are respectfully in- formed that if they will call upon me I can tell them as much in ten minutes (if it is any of their business to know) about my affairs as they can find out in four weeks by inquiring of this and that and the other individual. If anyone has any demands against me-please present them and we will settle."
Do not misjudge these worthy forefathers, how- ever, they were a hard-working, upright, god fear- ing, group of citizens. There were no six hour days nor five day weeks in those times. A man who lay in bed after six in the morning was considered slothful and no one thought of "quitting" before it was dark.
If they worked hard, so did they play hard. A large number in the community were farmers. Of the remainder, those who owned shops or little busi- nesses downtown or "were in the professions", prac- tically all tilled the land at home to some extent in their spare time. Labor was scarce and thus in the busy seasons especially in the fall harvesting, neigh- bors gathered at each others' homesteads to help out, the quicker to get the work done.
Thus it was that frolics and stone bees (when a stone wall had to be built) and neighborhood barn parties were the order of the day.
FUN IN 1836
"Fun at these bees was boisterous, if not worse," commented Osborne's history of Connecticut, "and work ended with kissing games, dancing, wrestling, hopping, fcot racing. The kissing games were by no means restricted to the labor class. A young law student wrote of Litchfield: 'Walter S. Franklin, Esq., says they were kissing down at Charlotte Landon's wedding. Miss Mary Ann thought she was near being smothered at the kissing bout which was held in Litchfield. . .. They say Helen was all but kissed to death at the Landon's .
After reading the above one is forced to the con-
clusion that there is no reason for pitying the early Bridgeporters because they had no cars in which to park.
True, not all Bridgeporters indulged in such light and frivolous pastimes. There were more reserved types of recreation. Books were on the market and though the variety was not especially wide, the selec- tions were certainly in good taste.
The "Bridgeport Book Store" advertised in an 1836 issue of the "Bridgeport Republican" that it had several "new books" for sale. Among them were "A Visit to the Churches", and "Guide for Young Disciples". If you didn't like those snappy titles there was the "Young Ladies Book of Piety" or "Letters from Constantinople".
The "Bridgeport Republican" was not the only newspaper in town. There was also the "Republican Farmer". The "Bridgeport Republican" had as its motto: "Pledg'd but to truth, to liberty and law- no favor sways us and no fear shall awe".
Newspapers a century ago seemed to consider everything important except local news. Events in China or in the Balkans and poems on the weather took front page prominence, while the doings of the villagers were told about in the last columns on an in- side page.
Keeping the wolf from the door was more than a bar-room jest among the Bridgeporters a century ago, for the "Bridgeport Republican" announced that Moses Bulkley had "killed a wild varmint, a wolf of uncommon size, 6 feet 6 inches in length and weigh- ing 80 pounds" a mile and a half from the city.
Later, the "Republican Farmer" announced that another animal, "a mammoth wolf, killed near this place", would be exhibited at Hinman's hotel that all might see and marvel.
Advertisements concerned mostly stores, boats and real estate sales. One ambitious agent offered city property on Golden Hill Street: "565 rods of ground, 2 houses and a brewery, for a private gentle- man's residence."
Theater advertisements had already become an ac- cepted thing by 1836, but it was not to see Charlie Chaplin nor any girlie whirlies that the Bridgeporters attended the theater. Programs were of a far more sober nature. In fact, the big hit of the year at the Lyceum theater appeared to be a lecture on the ele- vating and thought provoking subject:
"Is Dueling Ever Justified?"
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1836 THE
STORY
OF BRIDGEPORT
1936
JESS. BENTON
AT THE "SIGN OF THE WHITE WAND"
CHAPTER EIGHT
K EEPING the fighting firemen disentangled from the innocent bystanders, at the scene of a confla- gration, was one of the first problems of moment which faced the court of common council after Bridgeport became a city in 1836.
It was a real problem. No sooner did the fire bell ring than everyone dashed to the scene. Some clambered up the front of the burning building, others dashed buckets of water onto the smoking debris, still others threw sand and dirt in through the windows where the tongues of flame licked the sills. And everyone gave orders to everyone else.
Burning arguments over who should direct opera- tions at the scene of a fire; criticisms and catcalls from the sidelines; and fist fights between the fighting fire- men and the onlookers, were common occurrences.
To put a stop to such confusion and give the fire- men a chance to do their duty, the city fathers formu- lated a "By-law for preserving the buildings in the City of Bridgeport from fire."
The by law was aimed to settle once and for all the argument as to who should fight fires when the fires needed fighting. And to make sure that there would be no question as to who were firemen and who were on-lookers, for it must be remembered there were no uniforms in those days, it was decreed that each warden and each assistant should carry a white wand five feet high!
Fire wardens were instructed "to repair to said fire immediately" as soon as the alarm was given, and to form the citizens into lines for conveying water, by bucket, from the well or stream to the fire engine.
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TE E STORY £ F BRIDGEPORT
1936
The dissertation on distaffs was worded as follows:
"In order that the fire wardens and assistants may be more readily distinguished, at fires, each of them shall carry in his hand a white staff or wand of five feet in length and all persons present at a fire are directed to refrain from giving orders or direc- tions; and to continue in an orderly manner without noise or disturbance and under the direction of the fire wardens or one of them, to use their best en- deavors to extinguish the fire and save the property in danger. And no person without permission of the fire warden shall depart until the fire shall be extinguished and every person offending in either of the parts aforesaid shall forfeit to and for the use of said city the sum of not less than $1.00 nor more than $5.00.
"SAVE ME, FIREMAN!"
No intimation is given as to what the firemen were to do with their white wands should occasion neces- sitate one of those breath taking rescues so often seen in the movies, wherein the intrepid fire fighter boldly takes the mother and child in one arm, the family jewels in the other and struggles down the ladder by the skin of his teeth.
However, it may have been that the wardens did none of that spectacular heroic stuff, but confined their activities solely to directing operations.
Just in case the over ambitious onlookers didn't see fit to obey the "sign of the white wand" the by- laws provided that such refractory persons were to be held in custody and it was directed "that no more force be used by such fire wardens or his assistants than shall be necessary for the purpose aforesaid."
It was also ordered that one fire inspector was to be appointed in each of the wards of the city to examine the fire places and chimneys of all houses and buildings.
Each house owner and each shop owner was re- quested to "keep at his own expense a leathern bucket being 13 inches in length and in the internal diameter thereof eight inches at the top and seven inches at the bottom, for each story of such building".
In order to encourage the budding firefighters, prizes were offered for vigilance on duty. A by-law ordered that "on every alarm of fire in said city the company which shall first arrive with their engine in a condition to work at the place where such fire shall have broken out, shall be entitled to have and receive,
out of the treasury of said city, as a reward for their diligence and activity the sum of five dollars".
Bell ringers were given a chance to win prizes too, for a by law stated: "That on every alarm of fire in said city, the person who shall first commence ringing one of the public bells in said city and shall continue to ring the same, until duly ordered to cease, for the purpose of attending the alarm and giving notice of the fire", a prize of one dollar would be given.
This same set of by-laws on fire also directed that "on the first Monday in each month from April to
FIRE!
M
November (or if the weather were too inclement some other day)", the firemen shall "wash and work" the engine to see that all things "are in readiness for immediate service".
Nothing was said about keeping the engine in running order from November to April, so it may be presumed that anyone who yelled "fire" during the winter months would be uncertain of the response.
The fire laddies were cautioned that the fire engine was never to be used except for city business on pain of a $20 fine.
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6 .
1836 THE
STORY
F BRIDGEPORT
1936
SEWERS AND SIDEWALKS
Sewers and sidewalks also occupied the attention of the city fathers during the first few meetings of the court of common council.
The appointment of a health committee to examine an open drain "running near the house lately occu- pied by James Porter, deceased", might be called the first official business of the city. The proprietors of land through which the drain ran, were ordered to remove all rubbish. (Oct. 6, 1836)
The first official expense of the new city was in- curred in the laying of new sidewalks in the business district "in front of the land and brick buildings situated on the north side of Wall Street." It was stated that the sidewalk was "out of repair" causing the public inconveni- ence and that it "ought to be flagged with stone or paved with brick." (Oct. 19, 1836)
In the next few weeks it was ordered that cer- tain sidewalks on Main Street should be grav- eled; that the sidewalks on Beaver Street (Fair- field Avenue) should be repaired; and that the side- walks on Lafayette Street were to receive attention.
Grumbling and dissatisfaction followed the city's choice of which sidewalks were to be repaired. One Mr. Sherwood, criticizing later, said:
"It may not be out of place to remark that these crosswalks were conveniently near either the resi- dence or the place of business of the members of the court of common council, to whom the duty of con- structing them was given. This coincidence between a public improvement and the private convenience or interests of members has continued down to the present day."
Keeping the streets free of dirt and rubbish; stray horses, swine and cattle; over enthusiastic ball play- ers and pistol and rocket celebrators, were other worries of the early Bridgeporters.
A by law passed in February 1837, relative to the disposal of manure collected from the city streets took care of the first worry.
The second, relative to wandering animals, necessi- tated several court of common council meetings.
A by-law "restraining horses, mules, cattle, sheep,
swine and geese from going at large in the limits of the city" was passed in January, 1837.
A few months later a "horse and mule" by-law ordered that one or more pounds and several hay- wards (keepers), not exceeding five, be designated for stray animals. When horses, asses, mules or swine were impounded for roaming at large, owners were allowed to claim the same on payment of fifty cents a head. Impounding charge on cattle was twenty five cents a head, and on sheep, six cents a head.
The first dog tax was laid January 7, 1837 and cost $1.
But it wasn't only the animals that cluttered up the highways, the people were just as bad. Suggestions and warnings had no effect and so the irate city fathers finally set $4 as the fine to be paid for obstructing traffic.
Erecting shops and buildings out into the street, putting up bars or fences across the roadways, alter- ing the course of waterways,-these were included in the list of causes for which fines might be assessed. It was also stated that a fine would follow:
"The laying of any heap or heaps of firewood, timber, planks, boards, shingles, hoops, staves, rails, fencing stuff, boxes, any case, barrel, hogshead, iron castings, rubbish or lumber, any piles of brick or stone . . . placing of any truck, or cart wagon, sleigh or carriage, not attached to any horse, horses or cattle in or upon said highways."
After cleaning up the streets, the city fathers toned down the noisiness of the community. By-laws relative to the firing of guns and pistols within the limits of the city were passed and it was ordered that no one was to sell either rockets, fire balls or crackers unless the same was for some public festivity desig- nated by the mayor. Last but not least, no person was to keep on hand more than one pound of gun- powder at a time, without a special license from the court of common council!
Ball players were warned that they were not to play with common ordinary balls, footballs or fire- balls, "whereby horses are liable to be frightened, or passengers injured, or windows broken."
"BLOATED" SALARIES
Governing of the city called for formulation of a number of other laws. A board of assessors was formed; the first city tax, two cents on the dollar, was laid; a board of relief was inaugurated.
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THE STORY OF
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1936
The tax collector was to get one per cent of all the money collected and paid into the treasury; the city attorney was to get twenty five cents "on each and every fine or penalty collected without suit".
Bridgeport already had a city court, for the original charter made provision for such. The mayor was designated as judge, and two aldermen were assistant judges. The judge was allowed $3 a day for his services, and the assistant judges $1 a day. Jurors received $.50 for each case!
The city clerk, who also filled the office of clerk of the common council, was rewarded with $15 a year for his diligence.
Besides its worries over pigs and pistol shooters, mules and mud puddles, the court of common council was beset by another pressing problem, i.e .: "where to go nights."
The city fathers literally, had no place to go for their meetings. Sometimes they met in the school- house, sometimes in the old Washington Hotel, some- times in the city courtroom and sometimes in the Bap- tist Church, which they were allowed to use pro- vided they "didn't stand on the seats.
But the council had no quarters it could call its own. For some years be- fore Bridgeport became a city, the question had worried the townspeople who had considered various plots of ground as suitable for a townhouse. But it was not until 1851 that a lot was purchased, and that lot is the one on State Street on which the city hall stands today.
Curiously enough, when the building was finally erected, it was opened not as a city hall but as a county courthouse. And thereby hangs a tale.
THE "COURTHOUSE TRIANGLE"
Bridgeport figured prominently in the famous "courthouse triangle" which kept Bridgeport, Fair- field and Norwalk in a fever for 22 years. Each of the three communities wanted the courthouse; each struggled to get it; Bridgeport emerged victorious in face of bitter cries of "graft!", "gold!" and "pull!"
The county courthouse squabble commenced in
1833. Up to this time there had been one court- house in Danbury and another in Fairfield. The Danbury building was in good condition, but the Fairfield building was in such poor condition that it was thought necessary to replace it. The state was of a mind to do one of three things: rebuild the courthouse in Fairfield, move it to Bridgeport or move it to Norwalk.
Norwalk was determinedly eager to have the courthouse within her boundary lines; so was Bridgeport; and Fairfield was not averse to having her courthouse rebuilt. For the next 20 years, in- numerable meetings were held, each town playing against the other in an effort to win, and voting down each other's petitions and suggestions as fast as they were raised.
A smart move on the part of our city fathers brought the courthouse to Bridgeport. And what do you think they did?
A hundred years ago, the cost of erecting a build- ing the size of our present city hall, assumed mammoth proportions in the eyes of the General Assembly and of the county. A dollar in those days meant a great deal more than it does today.
Bridgeport councilmen realized this; knew that the General Assembly was turning and twisting in its aggregate minds the best and most economical method of obtaining a new courthouse for Fairfield county.
Working on this knowledge, Bridgeport city fathers made an offer to the General Assembly which was in effect, that if the city were allowed to have the county courthouse within its boundaries, she would assume all expenses which might be entailed in the erection of the necessary public buildings (which were to include a jail) and would, in addi- tion, assume the contracts already made for timber, brick and lime and other materials, for the proposed new jail in Fairfield.
The General Assembly was completely won over by this offer and it was ordered that the county courthouse buildings be removed to Bridgeport, the official act, approved by the General Assembly June 30, 1853, stating that "from and after the first day of October next, the Supreme court of Errors, the Superior court and the County court in the county of Fairfield," should be held in said Bridgeport.
It was made the duty of the town of Bridgeport, "free of expense to the County of Fairfield, to erect
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STORY OF BRIDGEPORT
1836 THE
on the lot between State and Bank Streets on the east side of the public square, a building with suitable and convenient rooms with the necessary fixtures for the accommodation of said courts and with a fire proof vault for the safe custody and preservation of the public records to the acceptance of any three judges of the Supreme Court of Errors."
It was also made the duty of the town "to erect free of expense to said county, a suitable jail" to the acceptance of three Supreme court judges.
Building was commenced almost immediately and by March 14, 1855 it is noted that the selectmen were instructed "to build a temporary fence around the courthouse and improve and finish the grounds connected therewith." This action practically com- pleted the building of Bridgeport's first courthouse, the same building now used as a city hall.
By April 1, 1854, the new jail had been erected on the east side of Broad Street near South Avenue.
The new courthouse was not to be entirely devoted to courts, for the "southeast room on the second floor" was reserved for the use of the Bridgeport Library Company, and the "room below called the basement in this building" was to be used as a town hall for all town meetings.
Soon after the building was finished we find the "freemen" of Bridgeport were also holding their city meetings in the "new courthouse."
The second county courthouse, the present structure on Golden Hill was first occupied in 1888.
Today, the common council of the city of Bridge- port, also known as the board of aldermen, meets in the council chambers in the city hall.
EAST BRIDGEPORT SECEDES
No sooner had Bridgeport been incorporated a city in 1836 than it commenced having trouble with one of its children, East Bridgeport. The latter complained bitterly about the expense of the new government (chiefly occasioned by the city's partici- pation in the building of the Housatonic railroad) and in 1839 petitioned to be "set off" from Bridge-
port so that it need no longer share in the expense.
Although the city fathers did not think the request a fair one, maintaining that the little community across the river sought to share in the advantages which the city offered, without paying for them, nevertheless the General Assembly granted the request. At the May session, 1839, an act was passed "altering the limits of the city of Bridgeport." Thus East Bridgeport really seceded from the city of Bridgeport.
It was not until 1864 that the eastern section was reunited with the city. Under date of March 7, 1864, the city fathers called a meeting for March 14th "for the purpose of appointing a committee to make application to the Legislature for an amend- ment of the city charter extending the limits of said town so as to include East Bridgeport."
For many years the city directories listed the two communities separately. An 1862 directory gives separate listings for the residents of the city of Bridgeport and for the residents of East Bridgeport. But the city directory of 1867-8 shows Bridgeport and East Bridgeport names listed together.
Bridgeport was enlarged in 1889 when the eastern boundary of the city was extended to Bruce's Brook and the borough of West Stratford was taken in. (April 18, 1889.)
During that year also, the town and city govern- ments were consolidated by act of the state legislature. (March 26, 1889.)
The mayor is the head of the present city government and is elected every two years. Until 1889, elections were held in April. They are now held in November. The election of Jasper McLevy as mayor in 1933, the first Socialist to hold such office in Bridgeport, marked a new era in the government of the city.
The list of mayors to date, since the incorporation of the city in 1836, an explanation of the present form of government under which the city operates, and the names of some of the present office holders, will be found in the appendices.
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1836
THE STORY
OF BRIDGEPORT
1936
THE IRON HORSE ARRIVES
CHAPTER NINE
Z EB Marsh dug his heels into the rounded sides of the cracker barrel on which he was seated and yelled to the little gathering around the stove in Seth Wakelee's store:
"I tell you, that railroad will be the ruination of this town! Fifteen miles an hour! Why sir, you won't be able to keep an apprentice boy at his work- he'll be that set on gadding off weekends. And as for the good honest folk as has been plodding along day after day, they'll be flying around like whipper snappers. Flour and coal and lead and whiskey and other such sober things that have always been used to slow traveling will be whisking around like sky rockets. 'Twon't do no good, I'll tell you. People will get flighty, they won't stay at home any more. It'll upset the whole nation."
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