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 20
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57
Rye flour, Indian meal, vegetables, fruits, fresh and dried, cheese, butter, milk, poultry, eggs, salted, dried and smoked meats and fish were the staple articles of diet. Salt pork, boiled, cut in thin slices and with potatoes, with a dressing of vinegar and mus- tard, was a conspicuous article in the farmer's summer diet. During the winter months beef could be kept fresh, and at other seasons of the year there was frequently a sort of neighborhood arrangement or understanding by which a slaughtered animal was divided among a number of families, to be returned in kind. What could not thus be disposed of was "cured," that is salted or smoked.
Early in the present century the killing and selling of "meat " became a regular business. The meat was carried in wagons from door to door, at first one day in a week, and at last daily. Markets in fixed places, where meat was sold to customers, did not come into existence until about 1860. Joseph Hall was a butcher from about 1820 onward for a number of years. For a while he lived on the lot now occupied by Elisha Leavenworth, and his "slaughter" was in the rear; but later he removed to Waterville, where he occu- pied a place at the southern extremity of the village, between the two railroad tracks. Until recent years a gate hung over the side- walk in front of the house, bearing the inscription:
This gate hangs high and hinders none: Refresh and pay and travel on.
Street Todd, who lived near the borders of Wolcott, Waterbury and Cheshire, carried on the business for a long time, and was suc- ceeded by his son, Ransom S. Todd. They had a "slaughter" at the farm and one in town-at one time on East Main street, in the barn on the old Hopkins place, and later on South Main street, at
13
194
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
or near where F. B. Field's store is, and still later near Todd's house on Scovill street. Timothy Church, from about 1840, and Enos A. Pierpont from an earlier date,* supplied the town with meat for many years. None of these had market stalls, but sold their meat from wagons. In the autumn, especially along the mountain range in the east part of the town, there were immense flights of pigeons. The killing and salting of these for market was a recognized indus- try. Hezekiah Todd, father of Street Todd above named, had a substantial brick house, which was jocosely said to have been built of pigeons, as the money he put into it was largely the product of this industry.
The soil hereabout was excellent for rye, but not good for wheat. The latter was raised to some extent for pastry, but rye was the staple for bread. Corn meal was also much used, both by itself in many forms, and mixed with rye.
Apples were abundant and good, and played an important part in domestic economy. In the early winter evenings, the paring, coring, slicing and stringing of apples for drying was a family industry, and was also made an occasion of social festivity, as were many other industries. The apples were pared, cored, quartered, and, by means of a darning needle, strung on twine, and then hung in long festoons from hooks in the kitchen ceiling, to dry them; or they were sliced, and dried on pans by artificial heat in the oven, after the baking was over, or in a hot corner by the fireside. These dried apples were mostly used for pies, but sometimes stewed for sauce.+ In the cider-making time a few barrels of sweet cider were boiled down until almost as thick as molasses. In this condi- tion it would keep for a long time, and apples cooked in it were also preserved. This was an excellent and nourishing condiment, and one still known as "Shaker apple sauce;" but then it was a part of the stock of every household. A flourishing farmer would put into his cellar from twenty to forty barrels of cider, and from 100
* A notice of Enos A. Pierpont, in the American of March 14, 1883, written probably by Nathan Dike- man, says of him : "For more than fifty years he was an active and useful citizen, following his vocation from early manhood to within three weeks of his death. At one time he was (we believe) the only market- man and butcher in Waterbury, and by faithful attention to business and honest dealing secured a compe- tence which, all through these years, has been used with modest and unassuming liberality. It is said of him that in all the time he has been in business he never refused to furnish his customers, or the poor, when they were unable to pay. He was a vestryman of St. John's parish for nearly thirty years, and frequently represented it at the conventions of the church. He was born at East Farms (where his father and grand- father lived before him) in 1815, and died March 10, 1883. He was twice married and was the father of six children."
+ The demand for pie continues unabated. In 1893, "the only exclusive pie-baking establishment in this vicinity " employed five bakers and carried on a large business. "Although the demand varies," said the Evening Democrat, "over a thousand pies are made and sold daily, and at a recent date 1529 were disposed of in a single day. The number produced by other bakers and imported from other places must also be large .- J. A.
195
INDUSTRIES OF THE HOME LIFE.
to 300 bushels of apples, every fall, and these were used in the family with the greatest freedom. A half dozen or more cider mills were scattered about the village for the convenience of the farmers. Cider brandy was distilled in considerable quantities, nearly every neighborhood having its distillery. The manufacture of lager bier was begun in Waterbury, by the Naugatuck Valley brewery, about 1878. The present building was erected in 1881. Soda-water fountains began to appear about thirty years ago; at any rate there were three here in 1867.
Joseph Burton had the first ice-house in town, about 1830. It was in the rear of his hotel, where the store of E. T. Turner & Co. now stands. The next one was on the place now occupied by Henry W. Scovill, and the third was Dr. Frederick Leavenworth's, on the lot now occupied by the building of the Young Men's Chris- tian association. The first regular dealer in ice was Timothy Porter, and he was also the first Waterbury brickmaker. (See the sketch of his life in a subsequent chapter.) There were no public ice-carts until after 1860. Wells and cool cellars were used as refrigerators. Consequently, a joint of meat or a pail of milk not infrequently went into the well. For the milk there was no help, but the meat and the pail were usually fished out by fastening the steelyards to a bed cord and angling for the lost articles with the steelyard hooks.
Near Mr. Burton's ice-house was another structure which, so far as I remember, was unique in the town. It was a large, brick, out- door oven, with a hearth perhaps four feet by eight. The top was arched, and entirely covered with round clam shells neatly set in mortar, the effect being that of a white tiling. There was no roof over it, or protection of any kind. It was used for the great bakings necessary on training days and other gala days, in connection with the hotel.
The old wills and appraisals of estates show how clothing was kept and cherished. They frequently indulged in what would seem to us like extravagance in the purchase of single articles of dress. Forty or fifty dollars for a leghorn bonnet, and a similar sum or more for a beaver hat, when money was worth from five to eight times what it is now, seem like great prices; but these articles were expected to last a lifetime and to be passed on in good order to the next generation.
Prior to about 1860, it was not customary for tailors to furnish the materials for clothing. The tailor had his shop where he made the garments, but all the materials were bought elsewhere and fur- nished to him. Earlier in the century men's clothes were to a great
196
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
extent cut by tailors and made up by tailoresses in the house. This was especially true of pantaloons and vests. Women were apparently not so successful in making coats, although they frequently made these also .* In the fifth issue of the Waterbury American, January 11, 1845, David S. Law advertised as "merchant tailor." (It was the first advertisement that appeared in a Waterbury newspaper.) Boardman H. Leavenworth began business as a tailor September 1, 1847; E. Dayton in April, 1848. Among the earlier tailors were the brothers William and Asahel Adams, and William H. Adams, son of William. The shop of William H. Adams was on the east side of Bank street, and was the only building between Burton's tavern and Captain Upson's house. (See Vol. I, Ap. p. 6.)
The itinerant tailor was succeeded by the merchant tailor, and the itinerant shoemaker by the shoemaker with a permanent shop. Andrew Bryan was not only a shoemaker but a tanner. At his tan- nery, near Little brook, he made leather for his own use and also for sale to others. (The leather for shoes was frequently furnished by the customer, as the cloth for clothing was.) About 1825, " a man who had been a Methodist minister" brought to the village two trunks full of ready-made shoes, and offered them for sale at the old Farrel house on Grand street (where the Baptist church now stands). After this, boots and shoes were kept in stock at the sev- eral stores of the borough. S. B. Hall & Co., who succeeded H. M. Clark, in October, 1845, advertised "both store and order shoes."
Deacon Elijah Hotchkiss supplied the people with hats from early in the century until about 1836. He kept several apprentices, and made wool hats which were sold to the trade. He also made fur hats for customers. Jonathan Platt succeeded him after an interval of a few years; but the introduction of silk plush for hats changed the course of the trade. In its issue of May 1, 1847, the Waterbury American refers to the establishment of a new "hat man- ufactory " as follows :
We take pleasure in being able to state that Waterbury is no longer without a regular hat shop. It is a business much needed among us, and our citizens should feel bound to give the proprietor a liberal patronage, provided his goods are as
* The first sewing machine used in Waterbury was a No. 7 Singer machine. It was purchased in 1852 by Benedict, Scovill & Co., but had been put aside as being of no use. Charles Espe, in a letter of July 24, 1893, says that he visited Waterbury about that time, looking for employment, saw the machine in the store of Bene- dict, Scovill & Co., put it in order and used it for the firm for two years. He wasafterward sent to Europe by the Singer Manufacturing company and exhibited their machines there for five years, and also in this country. The first machine sold by the Singer company in Waterbury under W. J. Bradley, was a " Letter A," No. 29,297. It was bought by Nathan Cook, January 7, 1860. The second machine sold was a "Number Two," No. 33,071, bought by L. L. Stevens, February 11, 1860. The first regular agent in Waterbury was Thomas Weber, a tailor, in 1859. He was succeeded by Charles Fox and others. The first agent for the Weed sewing machine was H. F. Bassett, in 1866. A. J. Carrier bought a Howe sewing machine, for the purpose of intro- ducing it into Waterbury, in 1870.
197
INDUSTRIES OF THE HOME LIFE.
cheap and of as good quality as those obtained abroad. We speak advisedly in say- ing that Mr. Shepard keeps as good, fashionable and cheap an article as can be bought anywhere. We think those who will give him a call cannot fail to be suited, both in the quality of the article and the price. Let us encourage our own .*
The first barber in Waterbury was Hamlet Chauncey Porter, son of Horace Porter. He was a clerk in Denman Porter's drug store, and combined the barber's business with his other duties. In August, 1834, he died, and he seems to have had no successor for several years. There was a style of hair-cutting for children, called bowling. It is said to have been originally accomplished by placing an inverted bowl over the child's head, and cutting off all the hair that appeared beneath it. The style prevailed, but without the use of the bowl, for a considerable time, and the work was done by the father, the mother or some member of the family. Men did their own shaving, and there were always some with superior skill in such matters, who stood ready to cut a neighbor's hair. In 1846, however, a barber's shop was opened by N. Weston, who advertised to serve customers in " the new room fitted up for him in the base- ment of the Baptist church." In 1851, J. B. Hickok had a barber's shop attached to the Scovill House. In 1852 William Lewis had one in the basement of "Messrs. Brown's new hotel," and two years later, William Games appeared, who is remembered by many. In 1879 there were eight barbers in Waterbury, and in 1888 forty- nine. Six years later the number remained the same, and about a dozen were Italians.
Carpets were common, but they were mostly made from yarn spun in the family for the purpose, from coarse wools, which was sent to one of the larger towns to be dyed and then woven, either at home or in the neighborhood. Many families had looms, and many men and women made weaving their business, or rather a partial business; for hardly any of the handicrafts could be relied upon for constant employment, and the intervals were employed in farm work or in some other form of hand labor. The "Jack-at-all-
* A milliner's advertisement, published three years later than this (April 12, 1850), is of sufficient interest to justify its reproduction: "Mrs. Welton, having got settled at her old stand, would invite the ladies of Waterbury and vicinity to call and examine her stock of summer millinery, which, though not purchased nor made in Paris-as many others represent-is nevertheless equal, if not superior, to the most boasted of those who insult American enterprise and skill by offering as superior any flimsy article stamped as Paris made The modes of Paris are certainly tasteful, and Mrs. W. has a large assortment made up in accordance there- with, as well as an excellent assortment of millinery-all of which she will sell at the very lowest prices. All she asks is a call, to secure a customer, as such are her present arrangements that she defies competition. Work done at short notice and on reasonable terms. Shrouds made to order, or furnished readymade on application, at short notice."-J. A.
+ An advertisement of 1865, speaks of "the original Waterbury dye works" as established in 1850. In 1856 James Walker conducted a dye works at the Waterbury knitting factory. In 1858 the Benedict & Scovill company advertised themselves as "the Naugatuck Valley carpet store."
198
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
trades" was a common character. The warp of the carpets was sometimes spun from tow, and sometimes tow and wool were carded together. For the kitchens and bed-rooms rag-carpets were com- mon. These were made of a warp of yarn and a woof or filling of woolen cloth cut or torn into narrow strips, about half an inch wide. Factory-made cloth was woven with what was called listing-a nar- row border of coarser material by which the cloth in the piece was hooked upon the tenter bars and shearing or teasling frame. This border was torn off before the cloth was made into garments, and played an important part in household economy even to a some- what recent period. It was excellent for rag-carpets, and was nailed on the edges of doors and windows as weather-strips are now. In the carpet manufacture the lists were assorted in colors and wound in balls of suitable size to "pass " (that is, between the warp), and by this arrangement of colors pleasing effects were pro- duced. Floors of public rooms and others much used were some- times sanded. I do not remember ever to have seen rushes used, although I think they sometimes were.
Of furniture and house equipments nothing in the way of gen- eral description need be said, as so much has been written on this subject which applies to Waterbury homes as to others of the same period. Until a comparatively late date, most of the furniture was made in other places. Many of the chairs came from Albert Hitch- cock's chair factory at Barkhamsted. A prominent cabinetmaker -apparently the only one-in the early part of the century was David Prichard, Jr., who was born in 1775. He made tables, bed- steads, bureaus and sideboards. At one time a large part of the furniture found in Waterbury homes was of his manufacture. He was also a coffin maker,* as was also George Root, one his suc- cessors in the cabinetmaking business. George Root & Son adver- tised " furniture and undertaking " in 1857; but several years before that, Mr. Root had formed a partnership with J. M. Burrall, which was renewed in 1860 and continued until 1868.
There was no tinsmith here until 1835. Travelling tinkers did what mending was required, and travelling tin peddlers supplied the people with wares, taking their pay in paper-rags, if required. "Trunk " peddling was a favorite form of industry for young men. They travelled from house to house with two tin trunks, holding about a bushel each, containing pins, needles, ribbons, combs, hand- kerchiefs, laces, perfumes, children's books, and a great variety of small wares.
* For many years, prior to about 1850, Samuel Atkins was the only person in town who engraved silver. He marked all the coffin plates and all the spoons. This was done simply as an accommodation. His business was burnishing buttons. He lived on the northeast corner of Bank and Grand streets. (See Vol. I, Ap. p. 9.)
199
INDUSTRIES OF THE HOME LIFE.
The first person who kept a stock of jewelry and silverware in Waterbury was James R. Ayres. He was succeeded by H. & D. Wells. The first chronometer that came to Waterbury was probably the one owned by these jewelers, who in the winter of 1870 imported one of Browning's from London. The City Hall clock was regu- lated by it.
Bronson, in his chapter on Waterbury after the Revolutionary war, illustrates the condition of things by reproducing the tax list of the First society for 1783. Speaking of the "luxuries which our fathers enjoyed," he says:
The only wheeled vehicle of any sort in the list is a "riding chair " set down to the account of Ezra Bronson. I suppose it was a two-wheeled carriage without a top, for a single person, which the owner, who was much engaged in public life, used in business. It is affirmed that Parson Leavenworth also had a two- wheeled carriage, with a double seat, and that this was the first thing of the kind which was owned in Water- bury. Bronson's " chair" is on the lists of 1782 and 1783, but after that it disappears. The column for car- DR. SAMUEL ELTON'S GIG (OR "RIDING CHAIR"). riages is then wholly blank till after 1791, except that in one instance (1789) a " sulkey " is entered against the names of the administrators of George Nichols.
In the list for 1796, Benjamin Hoadley appears as a "wheelwright," and is listed for seventeen dollars. So far as appears from the lists that have been preserved, he is the only man pursuing this trade between 1783 and 1800, although the blacksmiths number sev- enteen. His work was probably confined to farm wagons, if not to mill wheels, and there is no trace of carriage making in Waterbury until the pres- ent century had half run its course. O. H. Bron- son had a carriage shop on Grand street as early as 1850, and in 1852 Charles F. Goodwin, who DR. FREDERICK LEAVENWORTH'S CARRIAGE. BOUGHT OF JAMES BREWSTER IN 1825. (NOW IN POSSESSION OF ELISHA LEAVENWORTH.) had for seven years been in the employ of Henry Hale in New Haven, removed to Waterbury, and entered into a partnership with Jeremiah Parker for carriage building. After a
200
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
ycar and a half, Mr. Parker retired, and Mr. Goodwin conducted the business alone until 1889, when he received his son into the firm. Charles N. Parsons was the next person to go into the business, having come to Waterbury (from Watertown) more than thirty years ago. In 1875 George Panneton and David Ducharme, both Canadians, established a carriage manufactory on Jefferson street, and other firms have since been established. There are now five or six carriage manufactories in Waterbury, besides two or three car- riage "repositories," and the business is rapidly increasing. Out- side of brass working it is one of the most important of Water- bury industries.
The standard of education, intelligence and social refinement in the town, in the first quarter of the century, as compared with that of other places was good. A few places of as large population stood higher, but not many. Bronson, in his History,* speaks of the gen- eral poverty of the country and the special poverty of Waterbury at the close of the Revolutionary war. Admitting all that he says (and most of it is based upon statistics), there are some facts to be considered which stand out with remarkable distinctness upon the background thus furnished. In 1785-within two years from the close of the war-the citizens of Waterbury had completed an acad- emy building capable of accommodating 150 pupils, and Joseph Bad- ger had established a school in it which became so large, the first year, that David Hale (brother, by the way, of Nathan Hale) and afterward John Kingsbury were called as assistants.t Within ten years from the close of the war, two churches, a Congregational and an Episcopal, were planned, and in 1795 they were finished and occupied. Judged by the standards of the time, they were large and elegant structures. These three public works were paid for by subscription within the town. (The academy, begun by general subscription, was finished by a few individuals.) Water- bury has never had the habit of going outside for help, and their cost was withdrawn from the active capital of the town, and became nonproductive (in the material sense). One wonders where the money came from. The number of consumers of agri- cultural products, who were not also producers, could hardly have been a hundred. All this shows an interest in education, secular as well as religious, which reflects great credit upon the people; and what was true in the latter part of the last century continued to be true during the present century. There were no men of large fortune here, and very few who were moderately rich, even accord- ing to the standard of those times. But there was a considerable
* See pages 361 to 367. + See Bronson, p. 559, note.
20I
INDUSTRIES OF THIE HOME LIFE.
number of families that lived well, educated their sons at college and their daughters at the best schools, and were able to avail them- selves of such means of social culture as were then accessible. Prior to 1840, there was probably no private library numbering 500 vol- umes in the town. But it must be borne in mind that there were not many such in the state. There was no railroad in Connecticut until 1839, and no gas works or public water works until ten years later.
Although during the present century the skill and mental power of Waterbury men have been tributary for the most part to the great brass industry of the town, the industries of the home life, as we have designated them, have nevertheless been carried on with all necessary vigor, and have enlisted their quota of hard workers. In the remaining pages of this chapter we have brought together, in chronological order, biographical sketches of men representing these home industries either in a previous generation or in the present-cabinetmakers, coopers, hatters, blacksmiths, house-build- ers and the like-and at the end have added a few representative farmers. In view of the relation of the sewing machine to the home life, the claim of the famous inventor, Allen B. Wilson, to a place in this group cannot well be questioned.
THE PRICHARD FAMILY.
James, Benjamin and Roger Prichard,* sons of Benjamin of Mil- ford, and grandsons of Roger (of Wethersfield in 1640, of Springfield in 1643, and of Milford in 1653) removed to Waterbury. James came in 1733 and bought the house and farm of Caleb Thompson, west of Town Plot, and the house of Stephen Upson at the town centre. Benjamin came in 1737 and bought Obadiah Warner's house and farm on Bucks Hill. Roger followed in 1738, and bought a house and land of John Warner on the same hill. Joseph, the fourth brother, probably came to Waterbury also, as Timothy Judd's record of deaths in Westbury has the following : "March 15, 1766. Died old Mr. Joseph Prichard."
James Prichard seems to have cultivated his Town Plot farm and other lands over the river, but to have lived in the village. He came about the same time as Jonathan Baldwin, who in an interest- ing account book (begun in Milford and continued in Waterbury) calls him "Cousin Prichard." He soon began the acquisition of lands, securing a "propriety in the sequester land," and bestowing
* Roger Prichard signed his name as witness to the will of Joyce Ward, in 1640, as Prichat. In the early records at New Haven and Milford, it is Prichard. The introduction of "t" in the name is not generally found until about 1800.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.