USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Waterbury > The town and city of Waterbury, Connecticut, from the aboriginal period to the year eighteen hundred and ninety-five. Volume II > Part 14
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James P. Goodwin, who died on June 13, 1893, within one day of his seventy-sixth birthday, filled an important place in the history of the fire department. He became a member of the first Water- bury fire company in 1828, and from that time remained connected with the department as foreman or chief engineer until his failing health compelled him to retire. His cool self-possession in times of necessity made him an excellent officer, and he had the desirable faculty of making his men work harmoniously and do their utmost in an emergency. His mechanical skill was of great value to the department, and no slightest flaw was ever observed in an engine which had come under his supervision.
Mr. Goodwin was foreman of the Citizens' company from its organization in 1860 until 1870.
A loyal friend and fellow fireman, in a letter to the American written on the occasion of his death, says: "The hand fire engine is, with us, a thing of the past, but the faithful and disinterested services of James P. Goodwin and others who worked it so effici- ently in years gone by, will not soon be forgotten." During the last twenty-five years of his life Mr. Goodwin engaged in the lock and gunsmith and awning business, which he continued until his health began to fail, shortly before his death.
SAMUEL C. SNAGG.
Samuel Craft Snagg was born in Westport, November 19, 1846. He came to Waterbury in 1856, and was educated at the High school. On March 5, 1862, he enlisted at New Haven, in Com - pany C, First regiment Heavy Artillery, for a term of three years, the enlistment being credited to Waterbury, and at Arling- ton Heights, in March, 1864, he re-enlisted to serve until the end of the war. Among the engagements in which he participated were those of Yorktown, Fair Oaks and Malvern Hill. He was mustered out with the Army of the James at Alexandria, Va., and returning to Waterbury followed his trade as a machinist until his election to his present position. For a quarter of a century he has been connected with the Fire department, having joined it in February, 1868. He was a charter member of Monitor Hose company, No. 3, and was foreman of the company for three terms. He has filled the positions of third assistant and second assistant engineer, and was elected chief engineer February 3, 1882.
CHAPTER IX.
EARLY EPIDEMICS-INOCULATION -A HEALTH COMMITTEE-SMALL-POX IN 1873, 1882, 1884-AN ENERGETIC BOARD AND ITS EXPENDI- TURES-LOW DEATH-RATE OF WATERBURY-MATTERS OF CON- DUCT-MACHINERY OF JUSTICE-THE CITY COURT-POLICE DE- PARTMENT, OFFICERS AND FORCE.
T HE Rev. Jeremiah Peck, in his petition to the General Court for aid in building the first house of worship of the old Waterbury church, speaks of the plantation as having been brought low by losses, but "especially," he says, "by much sickness among us for the space of the last four years." As this was in October, 1691, it is evident that within the period to which he refers occurred the widely prevalent sickness of 1689, described at the time as "a distemper of sore throat and fever." The extent to which it prevailed in Waterbury is indicated in the account in Volume I, page 213. Apparently more serious in its ravages than this was the so-called "great sickness " of 1712. Although confined almost entirely to the dwellings on the north side of West Main street, between North Main and North Willow, its victims num- bered twenty-one, ten of whom were heads of families. The figures seem small, but according to Dr. Bronson's estimate these twenty- one persons constituted more than one-tenth of the entire popula- tion .*
In the summer of 1749 the inhabitants of Waterbury, in a peti- tion to the General Assembly, speak of another similar trial as having then recently occurred. "We have been visited," they say, "with remarkable and sore sickness, which spread itself through- out the whole town in so extraordinary a manner that in two par- ishes scarcely ten families escaped the distemper. Many whole families at the same time were incapable of helping themselves in the least degree." The disease in this case took the form, says Dr. Bronson, of a low nervous fever, which ran its course in nine days. It began in June and continued until the following January. From the middle of harvest-time until the last of September, nearly all the inhabitants that were in health were employed in caring for the sick and burying the dead. Of the ninety-three deaths that occurred during 1749, probably all were caused by this "malignant
* See Vol. I, p. 285; Bronson, p. 113.
I33
THE RECORD OF HEALTH AND GOOD ORDER.
disease," and the victims constituted about one-sixteenth of the inhabitants .*
These are apparently the only epidemics by which Waterbury was visited during its colonial history. We learn that at a some- what later date the community suffered not a little from small-pox, the result of contact with the American army. The main east-and- west road between the Connecticut river and the Hudson ran through the village, and was much used for the transportation of army stores and the passage of troops, including sick soldiers. Small-pox was communicated to the people, and several deaths having occurred, a town meeting was called to consider the question of resorting to inoculation. Liberty to inoculate was granted in September, 1778, and again in 1782; and afterward, in 1784, permis- sion was given to Dr. Abel Bronson to erect a building for a pest- house and to practice inoculation there. He established a pest- house within the limits of present Middlebury, which became some- what famous. t In 1803 Drs. Joseph Porter and Edward Field had permission granted them to inoculate with small-pox, "for attesta- tion," such persons as they had previously inoculated with kine- pox, under direction of the civil authority and selectmen of the town.
During the first half of the present century Waterbury was not visited, so far as appears, with any widely prevalent epidemic dis- ease, and the health of the community was as good as that of most New England towns, and probably above the average. But it was, to say the least, a wise precaution on the part of those who drew up the first city charter to constitute the Common Council a board of health with reference to the preservation of the health of the city and the prevention of disease, clothing them with authority to appoint a health committee "with such powers as they should think proper." A health committee was duly appointed, and in 1856 a by-law was enacted in relation to the removal of unhealthful nuisances and the cleansing and purifying of streets and buildings.
As stated on page 2 of this volume, the charter of 1871, while creating boards of commissioners for various purposes, makes no provision for health commissioners. Even the "health committee " of the earlier charter disappears, and the only allusion to the subject is in the declaration in section 24, that the Common Council shall have power to enact ordinances providing for the health of the city and to prevent and abate nuisances of every kind. The
* Vol. I, pp. 370, 371; Bronson, pp. 324, 325.
+ Bronson, p. 357, note. Another pest-house was situated within the present city limits, on North Main street, between Division and Brewster streets.
I34
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
ordinance in relation to nuisances is very full, but the casual references therein to the health of the city are the only recognition we find of the existence of that wide field covered by the modern " board of health."
This was the condition of things represented by the "Charter and Ordinances" as published in 1874. But in the meantime the city had been threatened with an epidemic of small-pox, and the people had been impressed with the importance of adopting more thorough sanitary regulations. The Waterbury American of April 23, 1873, speaks as follows :*
The recent rapid increase in the number of cases of small-pox in this city is a fact which calls for special attention from the authorities and from the public. . . . We have been repeatedly urged not to make known the true state of affairs, and especially not to designate the places where the disease exists; but we feel that we should be unfaithful to our duty as journalists, did we yield to such requests; and not only so, but guilty of a criminal and perhaps disastrous silence.
The writer then goes on to speak of the Board of Health as having held a meeting to consider what could be done, but as having accomplished nothing of practical value. The Health Committee, however, had had two new members added to it, and had been empowered to make and publish any regulations which they might consider necessary. " At a meeting of the Committee this morning," it is added, " two votes were passed, one recommending that every- body be vaccinated, the other directing that every building in which small-pox exists be placarded with the words, 'Small-pox here.'"
This record gives us a Board of Health and a Health Committee. But if we read a little further we shall find that these did not belong to our municipal system at all. The American goes on to say:
As the Board of Health and their sub-committee are officers of the town rather than the city, would it not be well for the Common Council, which meets this evening, to take some action on this important matter? If they were to appoint the gentlemen of this committee to act as their representatives and entrust them with such powers as the city government possesses in relation to this whole business, it would not only relieve them of any anxiety they may feel as to the legality of measures they may wish to propose, but infuse new energy into their operations. What the public wants is promptness.
The American added, at the end of its appeal: "The dreaded disease which has swept through other places like a plague, is spreading in our city, but has not spread so widely but that its progress may be stayed." This was in 1873, and there were other
* This editorial of twenty-one years ago was written by the author of the present chapter.
I35
THE RECORD OF HEALTH AND GOOD ORDER.
occasions afterward when there was the same reason for concern and the same baseless assurance that the danger was not serious. A "small-pox campaign" which aroused unusual anxiety, was that of 1882. It began in February and we find by consulting the news- paper files that the excitement continued late in May, that in the middle of June much alarm was felt, and that toward the end of July twelve Italians were taken to the pest-house, and the excite- ment was tremendous. One result of this outbreak of the disease was the election of a new Health Committee (August 3, 1882). But it took still another experience of anxiety and danger to arouse the city to definite action. Again, in the spring of 1884, we were threatened with an outbreak of small-pox, and then somebody proceeded to draw up "an ordinance relating to health," which was adopted by the Common Council in 1885. This ordinance provided that there should be a Board of Health for the city, consisting of three members besides the mayor, one of whom should be a physician in good standing; that they should have authority to appoint a health officer and a sanitary inspector; that the board should meet monthly from October to May, and semi-monthly from May to October, and that it should make all needful rules and regulations concerning the protection of the health of the city. Mayor Boughton in his message of January 4, 1886, spoke of this as "a new and very important arm of the city government, acting under a code of health ordinances, and well organized." Two years later-January 2, 1888-he said, "Its usefulness has been apparent during the past year, especially while our city was visited with epidemics, during the summer and autumn. New rules and an entirely new system embraced in a code of ordinances have been recommended by the board and enacted by the Council, and have become a useful part of our sanitary regulations." And on January 7, 1889, he added: "I think the experiment has proved a wise one. It appears to have been satisfactory and to have met with public approbation. The city is more cleanly, and citizens regard the department as a necessity."
Mayor Boughton, in the message just quoted from, speaks of the Board of Health and its officers as having "insisted on a rigid execution of the ordinances." The thoroughness of their methods has been illustrated more than once in their dealing with epidemic diseases. Toward the end of 1889 the epidemic known as the "grip". was very prevalent, so that 300 cases in one day were reported. This did not call for very energetic or stringent action on the part of the commissioners ; but at the time of the outbreak of small-pox early in 1893, their promptness and thoroughness
I36
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
were fully exhibited. The expenses incurred at that time, and paid by the city, amounted to $2810.66 .*
The following are the annual appropriations, since the estab- lishment of the Board of Health, made to meet the expense of their work and to pay the salary of their health officer (which is $250 annually) and of their sanitary inspector (which depends upon various considerations).
ISS6 $1000 IS90 $3500
ISS7
2000
I891 4500
ISSS
2500 1892 5000
ISS9
3000 1893
6000
The Board of Health from year to year has been constituted as follows :
1885, Calvin H. Carter, Dr. Charles H. French, Henry I. Boughton.
1886, Calvin H. Carter, Dr. Charles H. French, F. Floyd Weld.
1887, Henry I. Boughton, Calvin H. Carter, Dr. Charles W. S. Frost, F. Floyd Weld.
1888 and 1889, Henry I. Boughton, Edward L. Frisbie, Dr. Charles W. S. Frost, F. Floyd Weld.
1890 and 1891, Charles R. Baldwin, Edward L. Frisbie, Dr. Charles W. S. Frost, Frederick A. Spencer.
1892, Edward L. Frisbie, Dr. Charles W. S. Frost, Frederick A. Spencer, Robert A. Cairns. +
I893 and 1894, Edward L. Frisbie, Dr. George O. Robbins, Robert A. Cairns.
The health officer of the Town is Dr. Bernard A. O'Hara.
It was probably due in part to the adoption of a thorough-going code of ordinances, to the increased efficiency of the Board and its officers, and to the rapid education of the people in regard to sani- tary matters, that the year 1888 witnessed a marked diminution in the number of deaths in the city. The total in 1887 was 744, while in 1888 it was only 555, and in 1889 only 510. In 1890 it was 626-a little higher-but this for a city of 35,000 inhabitants is an exceptional showing. The Waterbury Republican of November 20, 1888, commenting upon the report of the state Board of Health, then just received, called attention to some facts in regard to the health of Waterbury which it is worth while to reproduce here, in conclusion, as worthy of permanent record.
In 1686, when the first settlers of Mattatuck sought incorporation as a town, and were exercising their brains for a new name to take the place of the (to them) heathenish Indian title of the region, their attention was caught by the numerous rivers, rivulets, springs, marshes, fogs and perhaps rain storms, and they called
* See the Republican of March 2, 1893.
+ Mr. Cairns, city engineer, was elected to fill a vacancy caused by Major Spencer's resignation.
I37
THE RECORD OF HEALTH AND GOOD ORDER.
the town Waterbury. So marshy was it in certain localities that roads were con- structed of timber, and when a luckless horse, cow or ox wandered from the straight and narrow path there was no telling to what depth it might sink.
Some persons, unfamiliar with the healthfulness of this city, have imagined that the occasional fogs which from force of habit still visit us, and the springs and rivers in the vicinity, are deleterious to the people's health. There never was a more absurd delusion, as the statistics of the state Board of Health prove. The report for the month of October is just at hand. It covers the sanitary condition of 164 of the 167 towns in the state. The total of deaths in these 164 towns repre- sents an average annual death-rate of fifteen and seven tenths to a thousand of population. The rate of mortality for Waterbury is only fourteen and eight tenths, which is almost six per cent better than the average for the whole state. The rates for twenty-nine towns of more than five thousand inhabitants vary from six per thousand for Enfield to twenty-seven and three tenths for Danbury, the average being sixteen and two tenths. The average of 135 towns of less than five thousand inhabitants is fourteen and eight tenths per thousand, precisely Waterbury's rate.
The larger and denser the population of a place, the greater its proportional mortality is expected to be. Therefore when Waterbury, with thirty or thirty-five thousand inhabitants has a death rate no larger than the average of the 135 towns of less than five thousand inhabitants, its residents have cause to take pride in the salubriousness of its atmosphere.
THE POLICE DEPARTMENT.
In a primitive New England town the apparatus for the enforce- ment of the laws, the preservation of the peace and the infliction of penalties is of the simplest kind. The condition of things, in this respect, which we still find in rural communities existed in Waterbury until 1853, when it became incorporated as a city. The justice of the peace was the one public functionary to whom matters of conduct were referred, and a justice court was the highest legal forum. Under the borough organization no additional functions were developed. Indeed, in the by-laws of the borough very few offenses of any kind were recognized. Those by-laws had far more to do with the restraining of cattle running at large than with sup- pressing the human malefactor. There were penalties inflicted for riding horses or driving wagons on sidewalks, and for disturbing the community by the noise of fireworks or ammunition; but apart from the reference to such offenses as these, the great realm of con- duct was not entered upon.
Under the city charter, however, the machinery of justice became more complex. By that charter (as we saw in Chapter III) the Common Council was clothed with power to appoint (annually) special constables, not exceeding twenty-five in number, who should have the same authority to preserve the peace, arrest offenders and present them for crimes, as ordinary constables have in their
ยท
138
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
respective towns. A city court was established, and also a police court, the judge of which was expected to exercise the powers belonging to the justice of the peace and various other powers specified in the charter or its amendments; and the Common Coun- cil was authorized to establish a city prison. The body of special constables seems to have been looked upon as a genuine police force, for a chief of police, or captain of police, is mentioned in the records. In 1857, Charles F. Jones is spoken of as "foreman " of police, with the following seventeen men serving under him :
Richard Welton, Horace B. Peck, Orrin Smith, Alfred Forrest, Nelson Parsons, Frederick A. Warner, Eli B. Gibbud, Levi B. Bolster, Horace Frost, Henry Todd, Dennis Blakeslee, Chauncey W. Judd, Amos H. Hotchkiss, Alonzo M. Robe, Daniel Ladd, George A. Bidwell, John F. Woodruff.
In 1869 there was an active and a supernumerary force, with Daniel S. Morris as captain,-the active force consisting of a captain and three others. In 1870 William Laird was appointed captain, with a salary of three dollars a day and $8.34 a month additional, while the active members received $1000 per year. In 1871 another man was added to the active force, making one captain and four men.
Under the new charter of 1871, the city court and the police court were left untouched, but a board of commissioners, consisting of the mayor of the city and four others, was constituted, and under this board the organization and management of a "police depart- ment" was placed. This board of police commissioners was com- posed like several other boards created by the new charter; it con- sisted of four persons, two elected annually for a term of two years, with the mayor as president. According to the charter, the police department must consist of one chief of police, as many ordinary policemen as the Common Council sees fit to appoint, and sixteen supernumerary policemen to be called into service by the chief when- ever in his opinion needed. The police commissioners were to define the duties of members of the department, hear complaints against them, fix their wages and make all needful regulations, and to serve without compensation. It was the rule at first that the term of service for all officers and members of the police depart- ment should be limited to two years.
In January, 1872, the police force of Waterbury was organized under this charter and these regulations, with William Laird as chief. The salary of the chief of police was $1100 a year; that of a patrolman $850 (raised in 1873 to $900), and the wages of supernum- eraries twenty cents an hour while serving on duty. In 1875 the city charter was amended, making the term of service for all the mem- bers of the department, except supernumeraries, not a limited term
I39
THE RECORD OF HEALTH AND GOOD ORDER.
but to continue during good behavior. But in 1882 the term for members of the force was fixed at two years, and in May of the same year six men were added. In July of 1882, the salary of patrolmen was fixed at $800 a year, and so remained until April, 1883, when it was again placed at $900. In 1885 the charter was again amended, and the term of all members of the force was fixed to continue during good behavior. It also provided for the addition of a lieutenant and a sergeant. On October 6, 1886, the force was organ- ized as at present. The salary of the chief was fixed at $1300, of the lieutenant at $1100, of the sergeant at $1000, of the patrolmen at $900. In 1887 six men were added, making the force, as now constituted, a chief, a lieutenant, a sergeant, eighteen patrolmen and sixteen supernumeraries.
The history of the police station and city prison is given in Chapter III (page 47).
The chiefs of police, under the charter of 1871, have been as follows:
William Laird,
1872 to 1874
William C. Bannon, 1874 to 1875
Oliver Austin, 1875 to 1880
William Laird,
1880 to 1884
George M. Egan,
since February 19, 1884
The police department is at present (1894) manned as follows:
Chief, George M. Egan.
Detective, Charles E. Egan.
Lieutenant, Charles R. Bannon.
Doorman, John A. Kennaugh.
Sergeant, Thomas Dodds. Patrolmen, 23; supernumeraries, 16.
In February, 1891, the police commissioners voted that the chief of police whenever appearing in public should be dressed in full uniform.
The Board of Police Commissioners for 1894 consists of Edward B. Reiley, Augustus I. Goodrich, John J. McDonald and Frederick E. Cross.
If we had a record, extending from the beginning of the settle- ment to the present time, of the actual crimes and misdemeanors committed in the town, with summaries for each year, and could place this over against an annual census of the population, thus bringing to view the ratio between the one and the other, we should then be in a position to estimate with some correctness the ethical condition of the community at different times, and to decide whether its morality was improving or declining. Unfortunately no such record has been kept, and for the earlier history of the city even, it would be difficult to ascertain the facts. There are data, however,
140
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
for the last decade which are accessible, and an examination of them reveals some interesting facts. The following memorandum shows the number of arrests for each year since 1883, and the number of cases adjudged "not guilty." Besides those disposed of in this way a considerable number of cases are "nolled " and in others sentence is suspended; but we do not deduct these, for our object is to ascer- tain the actual moral status of the community rather than the legal and technical aspects of the matter.
YEAR.
ARRESTS.
"NOT GUILTY."
" GUILTY."
ISS4,
1519
I4I
I478
ISS5,
I474
93
138I
ISS6,
1587
I04
1483
ISS7,
I60S
62
1546
18SS,
1529
45
1484
Total for five years, .
7372
1889,
I396
42
1354
1890,
1383
I7
1366
189I,
1744
40
I704
IS92,
I660
3I
1629
IS93,
16IC
63
1556
Total for five years, .
7609
Even on a superficial examination of these figures, one is impressed with the remarkably small increase in the number of criminal cases as compared with the increase in the population. In each of four different years the number of guilty persons arrested was smaller than the number in the year preceding, while the increase in the last year of the decade over the first is only seventy- eight. The fluctuations in the rate of increase reveal the presence of an element of uncertainty, as for instance, the varying caprices of different prosecuting attorneys; but after all, the fact remains that while during the period under consideration the city grew from about twenty-five to nearly thirty-five thousand -an advance of almost forty per cent in population-the increase in the number of arrests was seventy-eight rather than 591. If we divide the decade into two equal periods, we find that the number of criminal cases in the first five years was 7372, and in the second five 7609, an increase of only 237. But we discover on closer inspection that this increase is chiefly due to the unusually large number of cases in 1891. The number of arrests in 1890 was only 1366-smaller than in any year of the decade save the one preceding it; but, strange to say, in 1891 there was a sudden leap from 1366 to 1704. If the number of arrests in that one year had been no larger than the average for the other
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