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 23
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We have quoted Mr. Burton as saying that the Judd tavern was for a long period the only inn of the village. This could not have been the case so long as the Clark tavern was kept open. But between 1812 and the date of the opening of the Mansion House- if such an interval existed-it is quite possible that there was
* Mr. Coe, at the time he wrote out this incident for the new History of Waterbury, must have been ninety-four or ninety-five years old. His manuscript, even at that age (written, by the way, with the left hand), was remarkable for its uniformity and beauty. The visit referred to must have taken place at a time when the currency had reached its lowest point of depreciation.
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no tavern at the centre which deserved the name except Captain Judd's. The Mansion House, however (but this was not its origi- nal designation) was quite old. It stood nearly on the site now occupied by the store of E. T. Turner & Co., but faced the north. The central part of the building, which has, in the cut, four tall columns in front, was standing in 1807, when the heirs of Phineas Porter sold the property to Captain Benjamin Upson. It is said to have been built by some of Thomas Clark's family. Captain Upson perhaps had a tavern there for a while. He sold the place to Aaron Benedict. Mr. Benedict sold that part of it which had the house on it to Levi Beardslee, and the rest to Silas Grilley. Mr. Beardslee, who probably kept a tavern, sold to Mr. Grilley in 1814. Mr. Grilley
E
MANSION HOUSE
BURTON'S TAVERN, AFTERWARDS THE "MANSION HOUSE." (A RESTORATION, FROM DESCRIPTIONS.)
kept a tavern and built the east wing. There was a ballroom in the second story of this wing, and (where the columns are, in the cut) on the north front of the old house was a two-story piazza, through the upper floor of which the ballroom was entered .* In 1817 Mr. Grilley sold it, and it passed through the hands of several persons who were not tavern keepers. It was probably during this period that Samuel G. Humiston was landlord, who kept the house
* The Rev. George A. Bryan, when a boy of ten or thereabout, in attempting to climb up the outside of the piazza, fell and broke his wrist, two or three of the balusters by which he had been holding coming down with him .- F. J. K.
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until Israel Coe bought it, in 1821. Mr. Humiston's young wife was Ruth Holmes, a granddaughter of Captain Judd, and had been brought up in the Judd household; so that she was familiar with tavern life from her childhood. She afterwards became the wife of Deacon P. W. Carter.
In 1826 Mr. Coe sold the place to Joseph Burton. Captain Judd had died six months before this, and Burton's was perhaps the only tavern in the borough. By virtue of qualities referred to in the sketch of his life, Mr. Burton was almost an ideal landlord, and circumstances also favored him. There was then a stage-coach line from New Haven to Albany by the way of Waterbury and Litchfield, and in the winter, when the Hudson was closed by ice but navigation on the Sound was still open, much travel from New York to Albany sought this route .* During what was known as the Patriot war, in Canada, the British officers frequently passed to and fro through Waterbury. It was in the palmy days of New Eng- land country taverns, and this one acquired a reputation which extended far and wide. Mr. F. J. Kingsbury, who remembers it in its best estate, describes it as follows:
The house was large, rambling and picturesque, with many wings and angles, the result of successive enlargements. The stables were spacious and well equipped, the table generous, the service good. There was a large ice-house (a rare thing in those days), an extensive kitchen garden, an enormous wood pile, and an immense oven, built out of doors and used only on great occasions. | The dancing-hall, although it would now seem of modest dimensions, was one of the largest rooms in town, and was frequently thrown open for public gatherings of various sorts.
About 1834 Mr. Burton built the long west wing, replaced the two-story piazza by the tall columns, made bedchambers of the ballroom (dancing just then not being in fashion), removed two or three tall Lombardy poplars from the north yard, and changed the yard from a rather sharp slope to a terrace supported by a stone wall, surmounted by a fence, and entered by steps. The oval signboard bearing the words, "J. BURTON'S COFFEE HOUSE," was there before the ground was changed. It was much taller than represented in the cut, and did not stand in the enclosure as shown, but just outside of it.
There was a long wing, running south, which does not show in the cut; it ran from the west corner of the old part. In this wing " Grandma " Clark, Mrs. Bur- ton's mother, had a suite of apartments. She had been the wife of a hotel keeper, Captain Uzziel Clark, of Sheffield, Mass., and, after her husband's death, came to live with her daughter. She was a very bright woman, full of talk and anecdote. She had been a singer, and could still sing when she liked. "The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea," from the oratorio of "Moses in Egypt," would be followed perhaps by " Pretty Polly Hopkins," as her fancy roamed. Her
* I well remember seeing the trunks, bearing familiar Albany names, as they were being loaded upon the coaches .- F. J. K.
+ This oven is described more fully on p. 195.
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parlor was quite a social centre in the house. Strangers of distinction were invited to her room, and when there was no one else at hand she talked to her great green parrot or her dog .*
It is stated on page 23 of this volume that Edward Chittenden removed from Prospect to Waterbury centre in 1839, and became proprietor of the Mansion House. But it must have been two or three years earlier than this that Mr. Chittenden bought the place. He was succeeded by Sheldon Collins, probably in 1835, and Mr. Collins by Edward A. Bancroft, who kept it until 1848. (See Vol. I, Ap. pp. 39 and 12.) At this time the Messrs. Scovill and the Bene- dict & Burnham Manufacturing company were conducting separate stores in the borough, but had come to the conclusion that it would be well to combine the two. The Benedict & Scovill company was organized, and the land occupied by the Mansion House was selected by them for the site of their new establishment. As has already been mentioned (in a note on page 70), the Messrs. Scovill bought the old hotel, divided it into three double houses, and removed it to Scovill street, then newly opened. This was in 1848, and in the same year the Scovill House was built, and a hotel opened in it the year following.
For several years, following the death of Captain Judd, Burton's tavern was the only one in the borough. But some time before its discontinuance a second-rate hotel, to which the name "Tontine " was given, had been opened on the corner of Exchange place and East Main street by Horace Porter, the eldest son of Daniel Porter. The building, which still stands there, was erected about 1830. The street was then low at that point, and the hotel could be entered, on the level of the first floor, only by climbing five or six steps. A stable adjoining extended southward nearly to where the store of Miller & Peck now stands, and Little brook was an open water-course on the south of it. Mr. Porter was succeeded as a landlord by Philip Cowles, and Mr. Cowles by Burr Perkins, a son- in-law of Silas Grilley. In the meantime the name was changed to Franklin House, and in February, 1846, Samuel Thompson became the proprietor, and refurnished and refitted it. It was also kept, for a time, by Benjamin Fuller.
In 1848 this place-the entire corner-was purchased by William and Augustus Brown, who proceeded to lay the foundation for a new hotel, a short distance to the south. The new house, known as
* The writer remembers being sent by Mrs. Clark (probably in 1830) to Israel Holmes, who then had charge of the Messrs. Scovill's store, to see what the thermometer registered. It was at the back of the store, near the ice-house. "Tell Grandma Clark," said Mr. Holmes, " that it is ninety-five in the coolest place we can find." This was clearly the only accessible thermometer about the Centre, and possibly the only one in town at that date .- F. J. K.
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Brown's Hotel, was opened to the public in May, 1850, with A. B. Curtiss as proprietor, and " with accommodations for from seventy to eighty guests." In 1851, Charles A. Warner became the proprie- tor, and in 1858, Charles Par- HOTEL. tree. Probably because of the piazzas in front of it, this BROWN'S building came to be called the Arcade. It continued to be known by that name until its destruction by fire, Feb- ruary 22, 1894 (see page 130). It was occupied as a hotel, CHARLES PARTREE, PROPRIETOR WATERBURY under Mr. Partree's manage- ment, as late as 1862. Soon CONN.> W. EAVES afterwards, "the Old Ar- cade saloon and dining ADVERTISING CARD IN POSSESSION OF MRS. R. P. SMITH. rooms, under Brown's Hotel," were refitted, and reopened as a restaurant, by R. Manchester.
The Scovill House, mentioned above as having been opened in 1849, was built by J. M. L. & W. H. Scovill, and the building was owned by them until J. M. L. Scovill's death, after which it was; sold to Brown & Dart. The erection and opening of this hotel marked an important epoch in the history of the borough. While the foundations were being laid, in October, 1848, the Waterbury American spoke of it as "the Messrs. Scovill's splendid hotel," and for that time it was doubtless an imposing structure. The year in which it was completed was the year in which railroad connections were established between Waterbury and Bridgeport, and there were signs of promise on all sides in the business world. The house was opened to the public on July 14, 1849, under the manage- ment of George D. Ives. Mr. Ives was succeeded, January 1, 1851, by John Davis, and Mr. Davis by Brown & Dart. In September, 1867, Charles I. Tremaine became the proprietor, and managed it until June, 1870. He was succeeded by Payne & Todd,* who re- mained until 1874, when E. C. Lewis and Alton Farrell bought the property. They leased it to Mr. Tremaine, who returned to Water- bury, resumed the management of the hotel, and retained it until his death. Under Mr. Tremaine's second administration, the house was enlarged by Messrs. Lewis & Farrell to nearly double its origi- nal capacity, and various improvements were introduced, to meet
* Colonel Stephen H. Payne was the son of Joseph Payne, Jr., of Prospect, and his second wife was the widow of Ransom S. Todd. He afterward removed to Milford and died there.
15
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the demands of the modern travelling public .* After Mr. Tre- maine's death, T. R. Howe became the manager.
The later hotels of Waterbury can be disposed of briefly. The Adams Hotel was opened, near the original site of the Naugatuck Railroad station, in 1856, with W. H. Adams as proprietor. The name was afterwards changed to the Wolcott House, with Oliver Wolcott as proprietor, and still later to Earle's Hotel. About 1890 A. Esinhart became the proprietor, and immediately introduced extensive improvements. Smith's Hotel was built by Augustus Smith, a landlord of much experience, in 1881. Since Mr. Smith's death, it has had various proprietors. The Franklin House was opened by Mrs. Lucy Weeden, widow of J. H. Weeden, in the Griggs block on Bank street, in 1884. At her death, her son, J. Frank Wee- den, succeeded her. The Cooley House was opened April 5, 1887, with R. V. Cooley as proprietor. He remained but a short time, and has had several successors. A. J. Bunnell became proprietor in April, 1894.
In the City Directory for 1894, fifteen hotels are mentioned. Since 1868, there have been at least fifty hotels, of various grades, in Waterbury, including one or two in Waterville, most of which have had but a brief existence. Some of them, although bearing the name of hotel, are probably of the same order as " a lodging house in the Brooklyn district," described in 1888 as follows :
It is kept by an Italian and his wife. Fifteen cents are charged for a night's lodging. The men generally bring their provisions with them, and the rule is, "First come, first served." That is, those who come first get the beds; the later ones fare as best they can.
Perhaps it ought to be added that in May, 1894, ground was broken by F. B. Rice for a new hotel, on the north side of Grand street, between Bank and Leavenworth streets, to be under the management of J. Frank Weeden. The dimensions fixed upon were 100 feet by 40, with a wing measuring 54 feet by 32.
CAPTAIN SAMUEL JUDD.
Samuel Judd, son of Lieutenant John and Mercy (Bronson) Judd, and great-grandson of Lieutenant Thomas Judd, who was the son of Deacon Thomas Judd of Farmington, was born in Waterbury December 26, 1734. (See Vol. I, Ap. pp. 78, 79.) The Judd family had always been prominent in Waterbury affairs, and its promi- nence was well sustained by the subject of this sketch.
* A partial view of the Scovill House is given on p. 41.
.
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TAVERNS, HOTELS, OLD TIME LANDLORDS.
When England, provoked by the continued aggressions of France on her American colonies, made the formal declaration of war against that country which resulted in the last of the "old French wars," Samuel Judd was twenty-two years old, and he promptly enlisted in a company raised in Waterbury and marched under Captain Eldad Lewis to the scene of hostilities around Lake George. The peculiar nature of the warfare carried on by the French and the Indians required much alertness and great courage on the part of the colonial troops. Besides the hardships of the long journey through almost trackless forests, there was much marching and countermarching and much watching and waiting; but the only important conflict in which the Waterbury company appears to have taken part was the attack on Fort Ticonderoga, commanding the line of communication between Lake George and Lake Cham- plain,-an engagement in which the British and colonists, after a four hours' contest, were obliged to retire. The company returned to Waterbury at the close of its term of enlistment, but young Judd had shown such soldierly qualities during the campaign that he received a lieutenant's commission and was authorized "to assist in raising by enlistments a company of able bodied, effective vol- unteers within this colony for the ensuing campaign." The com- mission to enlist volunteers was repeated the following year, but the duty of the companies raised by Lieutenant Judd consisted mainly in mustering and marching; for fortunately the fighting was over, although the treaty of peace was not formally concluded until February, 1763.
The war of the Revolution broke out when Lieutenant Judd was about forty years of age, and it need scarcely be said that he took an active part in the struggle. It is impossible, however, at this distance, to speak definitely of his experiences in this war; suffice it to say that the expedition against Quebec, the battle of Long Island, and the campaign which resulted in the capture of Burgoyne, are among the most probable fields of his military activity. His commission as captain dated from the closing days of the war, after the surrender of Cornwallis and while negotiations for peace were still pending. It was issued January 24, 1783, by Governor Jonathan Trumbull, the original "Brother Jonathan." Captain Judd was honored in this marked way at the time when our independence had just been achieved by successful warfare carried on by capable citizens, when military rank stood far in advance of civil position in the respect accorded to it, and when none but able men could hope to secure it. There was probably no man of his time with whom military title was so thoroughly identified, or who maintained
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
the efficiency of the local militia in a higher degree than he did, during the many years that it was under his command.
In addition to farming, which was carried on to a greater or less extent by almost every householder in the place at this period, Captain Judd kept a tavern. When he chose this occupation, in 1773, no manufacturing enterprise in the town had begun to attract attention. The great brass industry, which his grandson did so much to develop fifty years later, did not exist even in dreams; and there were of course no railroads, and no "drummers" here, except those who beat actual drums in the company he commanded. Nevertheless Captain Judd, as a taverner, did a very considerable business. In the absence of public buildings, the tavern of these early times was a kind of general headquarters for the town, a place of meeting for civil, military, political, and even religious consultation, and a rendezvous on muster-days and other public occasions. The tavern keeper of the past was therefore much more a public man than the hotel keeper of the present day. For fifty years Captain Judd discharged the duties of the prominent position he occupied with the stately politeness of the olden time, and with a prompt exercise of authority, when needful, which always checked the beginnings of disorder. During this long period he filled a large place in the society of the town. It was for many years the custom of the military companies on muster-days, after the fore- noon drill, to go to Captain Judd's for refreshments, where the tables were invariably spread for them, either in the yard or on the street in front of the house. As a consequence there was no able- bodied citizen who did not know the captain; and everybody liked him, although people expected of him on occasion great plainness of speech. Although two generations have passed since his day, stories of his doings and sayings are still repeated.
A man named Wood had removed from New York to Waterbury and had become Captain Judd's neighbor. He had brought with him more assumption of import- ance than sweetness of character or activity in business, and was not a favorite, and Captain Judd soon contracted a dislike for him. On one occasion, when sharp words had passed between them, the Captain terminated the interview by saying, " I advise you to go back to New York, sir. When we want you, we will send for you, sir. I can be lazy enough for this end of the town, sir."
Captain Judd owned land on Burnt Hill, and a person who had the reputation of being light-fingered lived opposite one of his lots. One day, on visiting his premises, he discovered that a number of rails had been taken from his fence. He promptly accosted the man across the road, with the remark, " There seems to have been a freshet here lately which has carried away my fence-rails. Can you tell me when it occurred, sir?" The fact that he owned land where fences were liable to be carried away by freshets, suggested, doubtless, the form of his rebuke.
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One morning, when the cold was intense, a man came into the public room of the tavern, and drew up a chair before the open fire in such a way as to monopolize its genial warmth. Observing that the stranger did not draw back after the first chill had passed, but seemed inclined to hold his place to the discomfort of the other guests, Captain Judd approached him and asked in his most stately manner, " May I inquire, what is your name, sir?" The man answered that his name was Frost. "Ah, indeed," was the reply; " I might have guessed as much from the way you crowd into the fire, sir. Excuse me for inquiring, sir." The man drew back in confusion amidst the laughter of the company.
He was a complacent landlord when "the cap was on the right ear," and his unwavering reply to all suggestions was, " That's well, sir." In his later life, after he had become very deaf, the son of an old friend, who lived at a distance, called to pass the night. After the usual compliments, the Captain inquired for his friend. " My father is dead, sir," was the reply. "That's well, sir," the Cap- tain responded, with unmoved composure. Raising his voice the visitor said again, "My father is dead, sir." That's well," came the response again. A third time the visitor tried to explain, shouting at the highest pitch, "My father is dead, sir." With stolid face the old man looked calmly on and yet again responded, " That's well, sir," to the entire discomfiture of his guest. Whether this is to be attributed entirely to deafness, or in large part to the Captain's well known obsti- nacy, is a question .*
Captain Judd was a large landholder, owning property to the north and west, including the river meadows above the iron bridge, and extending considerably beyond Westwood, where his great-grandson, Israel Holmes, now resides. Once on a September morning, when he was quite advanced in years, he directed his grandson, Israel Holmes, to get the oxen out to plough a certain piece of land that was to be sown with rye. Young Holmes replied that the land was worn out, and it would hardly pay to sow rye in it. " Don't mind about that," said Captain Judd, " I won't have it said that John Kingsbury has sowed more rye than I have."
This man who was not in the habit of being outdone was once seen on horseback in the field driving the oxen while the young Israel ploughed. His vigor of spirit long outlasted his bodily strength. When, in the later years of his life, he used to summon his laggard workmen to the field in the morning, saying, "Come on, boys; I am going to be the only lazy man to-day," it was under- stood that he expected to have something done, even if unable to do much himself.
He was a man of sterling integrity and great strictness of prin- ciple. Although in his time there was no public sentiment against spirituous liquors, he would never dispense them except in "tem- perance " quantities. "One glass is enough, sir ;" " You can't have any more, sir ;" "Not another drop to-day, sir," were his constant decisions, from which no appeal was ever successfully made. Accus- tomed to be treated with deference by others, he had a thorough respect for himself, and though not given to fullness of speech, a
* This anecdote is given in Burton's " Valley of the Naugatuck," National Magazine, October, 1857, p. 290.
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positiveness of character and force of personality went with his words which always made them effective and which have done much to perpetuate his memory.
By C. D. Kingsbury, who died in 1890, at the age of ninety-four, Captain Judd was remembered as a familiar figure, dressed in knee breeches, sitting on the piazza in front of his house, drumming with his fingers to the time of some martial melody, and with thoughts doubtless busy among the reminiscences of a stirring past. He was of medium height, or somewhat above, and solidly built. His wife was the daughter of Isaac Hopkins, and the ruddy Hopkins complexion seems to have had a prepotency on the one hand, as the prompt energy of the Judd family did on the other.
Horace Hotchkiss, in his " Reminiscences," already referred to, describes him as follows-adding a few anecdotes:
In person he was short and stout, but without much muscular development. His full oval face, lighted by twinkling gray eyes, with his scanty hair concealed under a white turban-shaped linen cap, which was often set awry, comes very perfectly before my remembrance. Like Queen Elizabeth, he was variable in his moods, eager to prove himself in the right, obstinate when opposed, but easily yielding to milder influences.
A traveler who had stopped for dinner, on looking at the change he had received after paying his bill claimed that a mistake had been made. Captain Judd refused to admit this, but as the traveler persisted, inquired what it was. "Why," said he, "you have given me back twenty-five cents more than I gave you." Captain Judd paused a moment, and then said, "There is no mistake; it is worth twenty-five cents to any man to eat such a dinner."
Once, when going into the woodlands to chop wood with my father, an extra axe was needed, and I asked Captain Judd if he would lend me his grandson Reu- ben's. He was not in good humor, that morning, and gave me a plump refusal: "No, I vow you can't have it; Reuben will want to use it. You're always borrow- ing something. Go to Kingsbury and get his axe, and when you have borrowed from him as long as you have from me, then you can come again." "Very good, Captain Judd," I said, " I'll get one somewhere else. I came here because Reu- ben's axe is a good one, and I knew you would accommodate me if you could." "So I would, so I would," said he emphatically, and I went away. Before I reached the street, however, I was called back in imperative tones: "Young man, come here. You get Reuben's axe and use it." " No, Captain Judd," I said; " Reu- ben will want it, I can borrow one somewhere else." "Young man," he replied, "go straight into the kitchen and get Reuben's axe, and when you want anything- you or your daddy-come to me."
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