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 22
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ASA C. PECK.
Asa Curtis Peck, son of Cyrus Peck, was born in Southbury, May 6, 1829, and was educated in the schools of the town. In his youth he learned the carpenter's trade, and worked at it in Hotchkissville. He came to Waterbury in 1849, and went into business for himself, but very soon afterwards made contracts for the erection of import- ant buildings in New York city and Stamford and Norwalk. He was actively engaged as a carpenter and builder in this city until about 1886, when he turned his attention more directly to the real estate business. He is the owner of various houses and blocks, including the hotel known as the Cooley House.
In 1853, while engaged in erecting a school-house for the Union school in Norwalk, Mr. Peck became acquainted with Sarah A., daughter of Deacon Charles Lockwood of that borough. They were married January 2, 1854. Their only surviving child is Frank Lockwood, born October 26, 1866; married, April 23, 1890, Emily B., daughter of Frank and Ella (Carpenter) Lockwood of New York.
Robuste Brana
213
INDUSTRIES OF THE HOME LIFE.
ROBERT K. BROWN.
Robert Kingsbury Brown, son of William and Sarah (Kingsbury) Brown, and grandson of Colonel James Brown, above mentioned, was born in Waterbury, December 6, 1833. He was educated in the schools of the town, and entered the employment of Brown & Brothers, where he remained for some years, having charge during the latter part of the time of the manufacturing department. After- ward, in connection with his father, he turned his attention entirely to real estate, the care of which has since been his principal occu- pation. He is director in several business corporations, and has held some municipal offices. He has given considerable time and thought to questions of municipal administration, and has fre- quently appeared as an expert on these subjects before legislative committees. He is the largest individual taxpayer in town. On January 22, 1856, he married Elizabeth Nichols, daughter of Stiles M. Middlebrook of Bridgeport. They have no children.
FREDERICK B. RICE.
Frederick Benjamin Rice, son of Archibald and Susan (Bronson) Rice, was born September 30, 1843, in Hudson, O., to which place his parents had removed, from Waterbury. Soon after this the family returned to Connecticut, having spent but a few years in Ohio, and Mr. Rice's early education was conducted in the public schools of Waterbury. Later he entered Eastman's business col- lege at Poughkeepsie. After leaving the college, he became clerk in the flour and feed business of L. D. Smith & Co., in which his father possessed an interest, and afterward occupied a position in the Apothecaries' Hall company.
In 1862, Mr. Rice enlisted among the "nine months " men, and served in the war for the Union for thirteen months, most of this time having been passed in Louisiana, under General Banks. On returning from the war, he first filled the position of secretary in the Apothecaries' Hall company, then entered the lumber yard of the Waterbury Lumber and Coal company, where he remained as clerk for several years. After a brief interval, spent in Bangor, Me., he returned to the Lumber and Coal company, and there occu- pied the position of secretary of the company. He and his father having acquired a controlling interest in the business, they sold out to a New Britain syndicate represented by F. G. Platt and F. H. Humphrey.
While still connected with the Lumber and Coal company, Mr. Rice began his present business, which consists in building houses,
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
and selling them on the installment plan, thus enabling persons of moderate means to become owners of comfortable homes. He has built over 400 houses, stores and business blocks, ranging in value from $800, to $12,000.
He has served three terms in the Common Council and five terms as assessor, and has held various positions such as those on the Water Supply committee, the committee on a new charter, and the Finance committee of the Centre district, in some of which his expert knowledge of real estate has lent to his judgment great weight and value.
Mr. Rice married Helen Mccullough Mintie, the daughter of Alexander and Helen (Kenyon) Mintie, May 23, 1866. They have had two children, Helen Susan, who died in early childhood, and Archibald Ernest, born June 26, 1877.
A FEW WATERBURY FARMERS.
DANIEL UPSON, son of Stephen and Sarah (Clark) Upson, was born in Waterbury, March 9, 1769. He was the youngest of eight children. His father died eighteen days after his birth, and he was educated by his mother and at the common schools. He was a far- mer, and lived in the Town Plot district. Mr. Upson served as selectman for Prospect (then Columbia), Naugatuck (then Salem), and for Waterbury during many years. He was made a deacon of the First Congregational church in 1818, and served in that capacity until 1832, when he resigned the office. He married in November, 1796, Mary, daughter of Samuel Adams, who died June 29, 1830. (For the names and dates of birth of their nine children, and for Mr. Upson's ancestry, see Vol. I, Ap. pp. 141, 142.) On September 4, 1831, he married Phebe Kirtland. He died October 1, 1854.
THOMAS CLARK UPSON, son of Daniel and Mary (Adams) Upson, was born in Waterbury on December 20, 1819. Like his father, he was the youngest of a large family, having five brothers and three sisters. He was for some years a builder, but his later life was passed on his farm in the Clark district, near Platt's Mills. He was a justice of the peace, and also served the town as one of its select- men. He became a member of the First church in 1843, during the ministry of the Rev. David Root.
Mr. Upson was twice married. His first wife, Harriet Morris of Woodbury, died in 1853, and was the first person buried in River- side cemetery. The Hon. Green Kendrick, in his address at the dedication of the cemetery, spoke of her as "a lovely and pious woman, a fit model for the living to copy."* His second wife, who
* See Book of the Riverside Cemetery, p. 37.
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HISTORY OF WAYSREURS.
and selling theo on the installment plan, thus enabling persons of modende maths to lecomte owners of comfortable homes. Ile has buily www. oe hogses, Mores and business blocks, ranging in value From Mas, to 811,000
Ihe has served three terms in the Common Council and five Trois as . wor, and has held various positions such as those on the Wallr Simply committee, the committee on a new charter, and the judge committee of the Centre district, in some of which his expert knowledge of real estate has lent to his judgment great weight and value.
Mr. Rice married Hele MeC Mmmgb Mintie, the daughter of Alexander and Thelon Ytor Miars, May 23. 1866. They have had two children tohis tasut who hildhood, and Archibald Ernest boru J
A FEW WATERBURY FARMI
DANIEL Urios, 81 0( Stapben wod Sarah (Clark) Upseg, was born in Water
children. His father died eigutenny ogs stir bu Th, and he's educated by his mother and at the common pone He wasn far- nier, and lived in the Town Plot district Mo. Upson serveil we selectman for Prospect (then Columbia), Naugatuck (then Salein), and for Waterbury during many years He was made a deacon of the First Congregational church in 1818, and served in that capacity until 1332, when he resigned the office. He married in November, 1706, Maty, daughter of Samuel Adams, who died June 29, x855- WFor ihr adines ahdi deres of birth of their nine children, and Der MT. Upsiw ancestry, see Val. 1, Ap. pp. 141, 142.) Ou Seja 4: 1831 he married Phebe Kirtland. He died October CHE
THOMAS CLARK UPSON, Son of Daniel and Man ily | Epson was born in Waterbury on December 20, 1814 Koe hn father, he was the youngest of a large family, having dre Brothers and three He was for some years a builder, hut bis IMder life was julie on his form in the Clark district, near Platt' Mills. He was a jurtore of the peace, and also served the town as one of its select- men. He leerme a member of the First church In 1343, during the ministry of The Rev. David Root.
Mr. Upain was twice married. His first wife, Harriet Morris of Woodbury, died in. 1853, and was the first person buried in River- side cemetery. The Hon. Green Kendrick, in his address at the dedication of the cemetery, spoke of her as "a lovely and pions woman, a fit model for the living to copy."* His second wife, who
Snc Diwes wf the Piver ole Cmmeter):
-
Daniel Upson
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INDUSTRIES OF THE HOME LIFE.
survives him, was Cornelia L. Pease, of Bridport, Vt. His children are Charles M. Upson, who married Jennie, daughter of Elias Bald- win; Harriet C., wife of the Rev. Charles S. Wright of Jersey City, N. J., and Frederick P. Upson, of Hartford. He died June 24, 1888.
ANSEL PORTER, a life-long resident of Waterbury, was born August 2, 1784, and was the son of Colonel Phineas and Millicent Lewis (Baldwin) Porter. He was a New England farmer of plain and simple tastes, never seeking to enter public life, but highly esteemed for his good judgment and trustworthy qualities. He was a captain in the United States army in the war of 1812. On April 13, 1807, he married Lucy, the daughter of Ward Peck. Their chil- dren were Phineas W., who died in infancy, Millicent, who died at the age of five years, and Ansel Charles, who lived to a good old age. Mr. Porter died October 9, 1813, and his widow became the wife of John Clark, formerly of Washington, Conn.
ANSEL CHARLES PORTER, son of Captain Ansel and Lucy (Peck) Porter, was born November 16, 1811. His father died before he was two years old, and his mother married again on April 3, 1817. The boy was brought up at the old Clark place (already referred to on page 75). The house is still standing on the east corner of Bank and South Leonard streets. When the population of the Brooklyn district began to increase, and the quiet and comfort of the old homestead were seriously encroached upon, Mr. Porter removed his family to another part of the city, but continued to own real estate in the Brooklyn district until his death. He was a farmer from his youth onward, and never took an active part in Waterbury manu- factures.
On October 19, 1847, he married Ruth, daughter of Cyrus and Mercy (Peck) Sherman, of Woodbury, who still survives him. Their only child is Julia Sherman, wife of Mark L. Sperry.
ENOCH WILLIAM FROST, fifth child of Enoch and Anna (Culver) Frost, was born in Waterbury on May 7, 1803. The early part of his life was spent in farming; he was afterwards employed in the factories of Scovill & Co. and Brown & Elton, and was for a num- ber of years a member of the firm of Porter & Frost, carrying on the button business near what is now the Shear shop. He after- ward resumed the life of a farmer, and resided in the East Farms district. In his earlier life he was a prominent member of the Bap- tist church, but becoming alienated from it in consequence of an ecclesiastical quarrel, he began attending the First Congregational church, and after a time became, with his wife, a communicant therein. In 1883 he removed to Brooklyn, N. Y., and in 1885 to
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
Sterling, Ill., where he died. On June 24, 1823, Mr. Frost married Lydia, the daughter of Heman Hall of Wolcott. There were seven children, two of whom are now living: Mrs. L. C. Graves and Mrs. Egbert Bill, of Sterling, Il1. Mr. Frost died January 12, 1890. Mrs. Frost survived him until March 30, 1891. They were buried in the East Farms cemetery.
ISAAC BOUGHTON, son of Jonas and Lydia (Hine) Boughton, was born in Derby, July 15, 1808. He came to Waterbury when he was very young, and has always resided here. In early life he was con- nected with the Benedict & Burnham Manufacturing company, and later for a time with the Waterbury Buckle company. But for many years he devoted himself to farming and transactions in real estate.
On May 15, 1833, Mr. Boughton married Caroline, daughter of Obadiah Upson. Their children are, George Arnold; Susan M., who married Robert E. Pryor; Henry Isaac (for whom see else- where); Isabel, who married Henry S. Peck of Chicago; and Eliz- abeth. Mr. Boughton died February 7, 1891.
AN ELM ON HOLMES'S MEADOW, NEAR THE WEST MAIN STREET BRIDGE.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE OLD NEW ENGLAND TAVERN-ITS SIMPLICITY-THE FIRST WATER- BURY TAVERNS-IN THE VILLAGE AND IN THE TOWN AT LARGE- JUDD'S TAVERN-REMINISCENCES-ITS FATE-BURTON'S TAVERN- DESCRIPTION AND HISTORY-THE TONTINE AND BROWN'S HOTEL- THE SCOVILL HOUSE-LATER HOTELS, LARGER AND SMALLER- CAPTAIN SAMUEL JUDD-JOSEPH BURTON.
T I HE tavern of the old New England times-that is, of New England prior to the era of railroads-holds about the same relation to the modern hotel as the old New England life holds to the city life of to-day. The tavern was an outgrowth of cir- cumstances-the expression in simplest form of the desire to show hospitality to the passer by and at the same time earn an honest shilling. At a time when the population was pretty uniformly distributed, when villages were few and far apart, and travellers went afoot or else on horseback, it was an easy matter for a farmer, convenient to a travelled road or near some "four corners," to put up a tavern sign and thus let it be known that he was at the service of the travelling public on reasonable terms. And as it was an easy thing, so was it a common thing to do. In the times to which we refer, taverns were to be met with every few miles on every frequented road, and they were usually kept by farmers who had two or three spare rooms and were willing to take care of a stranger's horse for pay. Such places had no special equipment, and the guest took his meals with the family, and fed on their usual fare. It ought to be understood, however, that the "ordinary," or house of public entertainment, was provided for by act of the General Court as early as 1644. Every town was required to fur- nish a "sufficient inhabitant " for the conduct of such an establish- ment, "that strangers might know where to resort." The person chosen by the town was to be presented to two magistrates, who were to judge of his fitness for the work. In 1703, the "common victualler, innholder, or taverner " was to be licensed by the county court. In May, 1712, all licenses were revoked, and towns were ordered to choose every year one or more persons to that office, who were to have a license for " one year and no more."
That such places of entertainment should be established in villages was a matter of course. And when a village was situated at a centre where many roads converged, or upon some important
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
thoroughfare, the village tavern became a place of some import- ance. This was especially the case after agriculture developed and transportation increased, and farm wagons for the conveying of grain and fruits in large quantities came into use. The traffic connected with prosperous farming furnished constant employment to teamsters and brought in money, not only to the proprietors of turnpike roads, but to the innkeeper who made everybody welcome.
Although Waterbury, from the point of view just indicated, was not exceptionally fortunate in its situation, it certainly had nothing to complain of. From an early period it lay on the road which ran east and west between the Connecticut and the Hudson, with Farm- ington comparatively near on the one side and Woodbury on the other, and in a later day it became an important stopping place on the road between New Haven and Albany. The farm products of the north and east sections of Litchfield were transported through Waterbury to New Haven, and the various suprlies which the farmers or their teamsters brought back with them returned by the same route ; and the teams must usually "put up' for t1 > night in Waterbury.
The first Waterbury tavern seems to have been kept by John Hopkins. In accordance with the act above mentioned, he was chosen in December, 1712, to keep tavern for that year, and was appointed again in each of the three years following. Thomas Richardson was chosen for tavern keeper in 1716 and 1717, and Lieutenant John Hopkins in 1718 and 1719. It is probable that Thomas Bronson, Jr., in 1747, John Scovill in 1750, and John Bron- son in 1754 were tavern keepers, in view of the fact that they furnished " meals" for public officers on special occasions. But the first tavern of which we have any definite knowledge was at the centre of the town. It was, in fact, on or very near the ground where the City hall now stands. Among the early resi- dents of Waterbury, although not one of the first settlers, was Thomas Clark, nephew of Timothy Stanley. He was not only a farmer and a cloth weaver and a storekeeper and a deacon, but we are informed that "he also occasionally took boarders, and has several charges [in his account book] against the colony for 'vict- ualing' soldiers that were passing through the town."* He was Timothy Stanley's heir, and after his uncle's death continued .o occupy the homestead and to "take boarders." His son "succeeded him in the occupancy of the homestead, and kept a tavern "-so Bron- son informs us-"until his decease, October 25, 1779. The house," it is added "was the scene of some interesting events during the
* Bronson's History, p. 145.
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TAVERNS, HOTELS, OLD TIME LANDLORDS.
Revolutionary war." In 1790, Sarah, one of the daughters of the younger Thomas Clark, became the wife of Captain Lemuel Harrison. During the intervening years, and for twenty years afterwards-that is, until 1810 or 1812-the Clark tavern remained, and the family continued to live in it ; and when, in 1831 or there- about, Captain Harrison built his brick house, it stood for the most part on the foundation of the old dwelling. As already stated, on page 22, Captain Harrison's daughter, Maria, born in 1796, continued to live there until 1868, when it gave place to the City hall.
We know that some time before the Revolution there was a tavern kept by Captain Ezra Bronson, near the site now occupied by the Kendrick apartment house, and another " at the Red Lion," by Jonathan Baldwin. There was a tavern also near where the Citizens' bank now stands, which was kept for a while by Jesse Leavenworth, thu eldest son of the Rev. Mark Leavenworth and the father of Dr. Frederick Leavenworth. As he removed to New Haven in 1 :57, the tavern must have been in existence before that date. It is also known that in the latter part of the last century- from 1795 onward-there was a tavern kept by Ephraim Warner on the old Hopkins place, that is, on the south side of East Main street near the corner of Brook street. These, with a single important exception, were the only taverns near the centre during the period under consideration. But Waterbury had a fair supply scattered over the town. James Brown, noted as the first Episcopalian in Waterbury, had a tavern at Naugatuck in 1722 and a few years later. He afterward removed to the Buckingham place, above Oakville, and probably continued the business there. Between the close of the Revolutionary war and the end of the century, there were at least twelve tavern keepers in Waterbury, and we know that in the one year 1788, and again in 1795 and 1796, there were seven taverns in operation. This was while Middlebury and Naugatuck were still included in Waterbury, and there was at least one in each of these sections. There was another in the East Farms district, kept by Joseph Beach, which is specially interesting because of a fact mentioned in our first volume (page 448)-that the earliest burials in the East Farms cemetery were of soldiers who had reached the tavern, worn out and ill, and had died there .* There was another, which also had associations of the war-time connected with it (Vol. I, p. 422), about two miles west of the centre
* This " tavern" was probably the small house owned afterward for many years by Stephen Culver. I think that the house is now gone, and that another was built near it by Enoch W. Frost, his nephew .- F. J. K.
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
on the road to Woodbury, where Lemuel Nichols "kept tavern" during the Revolution; another, at a later day, at Gideon Camp's on Bunker Hill, and perhaps another at Captain Joseph Bronson's, just above Waterville. Supposing the number of taverns at the end of the century to have been seven, and the population to have num- bered 3000, we have a tavern for every 428 persons,-from which we must infer that the amount of travel in that day was greater than is commonly supposed, or that tavern keepers, as already indicated, were not largely dependent upon tavern keeping for their support. Irijah Terril, who kept tavern at Salem, was also a storekeeper; the same was true of Josiah Bronson, Jr., of Middlebury; and, as we have seen, some of the tavern keepers were farmers. Among these was Daniel Beecher of Naugatuck, for instance, whose tavern was widely known, and whose farming was conducted on a large scale,- as well it might be, for he married four times and had fifteen children .*
In speaking of the taverns in the village, the most important one was only alluded to. This was the famous tavern kept by Cap- tain Samuel Judd. Further on in the chapter a full account of Cap- tain Judd is given, from which it appears that he was a farmer and, when occasion came, a soldier. How he happened to turn his attention to tavern keeping, we are not informed, but he began the business in 1773 and continued it-or others continued it for him- as long as he lived, that is, until 1825. During a considerable part of this extended period, Judd's tavern was the only one between the northern part of Waterville and Salem Bridge-a distance of nine or ten miles-and, as we have already said, its situation was one of much importance; for it was on the road by which the farm- ers of Litchfield county carried their produce to New Haven, and at the same time on the chief east-and-west thoroughfare between the Hudson and the Connecticut. During the Revolutionary war, we are told, the establishment was repeatedly occupied by detach- ments of the American forces, and on one occasion the French troops passed through the village, 8000 in number, accompanied by Lafayette and other distinguished officers. In one of his articles on the "Valley of the Naugatuck,"+ Charles Burton describes the tavern as he probably remembered it:
There stood upon the north side of West Main street, a short distance from Centre square, a house known as the " old Judd house," which was for a long period
* His fourth wife, whom he married after he was eighty, was Mrs. Sena Hoadley, widow of Hiel Hoad- ley of Oxford, and mother of the late Eben Hoadley. Mr. Beecher's tenth child, Calvin A., established the Naugatuck Manufacturing company, afterwards the Beecher Manufacturing company, where the factory of the American Mills company now is. The eleventh child, Clarissa, became the wife of Charles A. Goodyear. + The National Magazine, October, 1857, p. 289.
22I
TAVERNS, HOTELS, OLD TIME LANDLORDS.
of years the only inn of the village. The house was red, and a capacious stoop extended across its front; at one corner was a venerable weeping elm. In imme- diate proximity to the house, extending along the line of the street, was an ample horse-shed, in accordance with the fashion of those days. Altogether the establish- ment was a good representation of the New England inn of the olden time.
The site here designated was that which is now occupied by the residence of S. J. and T. D. Barlow. It is said to have been the birthplace of the first English child born in this part of the state. Here Captain Judd spread his table, and welcomed the passing guest, and frankly expressed his opinions on all sorts of questions, through all the changes of half a century. Israel Coe, who was over thirty years old when Captain Judd died, gives the following incident (in which he was himself probably one of the partici- pants) as illustrating the remarkable longevity of the landlord and his inn :
In 1823 a resident of Waterbury was returning from Boston with a horse and buggy. The horse lost a shoe, and while the blacksmith was replacing it, his father, an aged man, inquired of the traveller where he came from. When Waterbury was mentioned, "Waterbury ?" he repeated, " I was in Waterbury once, on my way home from the Continental army. I stopped at a tavern on the north side of a wide street, and bought a glass of bitters. When I asked how much there was to pay, I was told ' twenty dollars,' but we could not make the exact amount, and I paid him eighteen dollars. I have never been there since, and I presume the landlord has been dead many years." When informed that the landlord was still alive, and keep- ing tavern there yet, he was greatly surprised, and said that he seemed to be an old man at the time of his visit. The landlord, of course, was Captain Judd, who lived to be ninety-two .*
Captain Judd died in 1825. What befell the old tavern eight years afterward has already been related at the beginning of Chapter VIII (page III). It is a singular fact, says Mr. Burton, that all the build- ings which belonged to the establishment were destroyed by fire. In the first place, the barn and sheds were struck by lightning and burned, and on the memorable morning of February 25, 1833, the old house itself, with three of its inmates, was consumed by the flames.
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