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 III > Part 23
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These orthodox Russian Hebrews have organized two religious societies, one of which is incorporated (page 452) under the name of Agudas Achim, " Band of Brothers." Their synagogue, which is open for prayers only, is in an upper room on East Main street. The officers elected in April, 1895, are as follows: President, Isaac L. Gancher; vice-president, Joseph Shapiro; treasurer, Louis Nitkin.
The other society, known as the Talmud Torah, is under the direction of the Rev. Joseph Freedman. The synagogue and the school are on Bank street. The superintendent of the synagogue is Louis Finkelstein. The school was organized, October 29, 1893, through the efforts of three brothers, Max, Meyer and Mitchell Kamen. Max Kamen was the first president, and Mitchell Kamen the first secretary. The present officers (1895) are as follows:
President, Joseph Barisch.
Vice-president, Isaac Silber. Secretary, Mitchell Kamen. Treasurer, Solomon Botvinick.
Board of Education: Mitchell Kamen, the Rev. Herman Silverman, Max Abramowitz.
The teachers, Rev. Joseph Freedman and Joseph Brooks, have been connected with the school since its origin. The pupils number about fifty. Instruction is given in the Hebrew language and in the history of the Hebrew people.
RIVERSIDE CEMETERY.
Riverside cemetery was opened in July of the year in which the city was incorporated. Until that time the chief place of inter- ment in the town was the old burying ground on Grand street, the history of which has been given in Volume I. The first suggestion of a new cemetery was made in 1849 by Dr. A. S. Blake (see page 417). Although Waterbury at that date contained only 5000 inhabi- tants, Dr. Blake and others believed that the time had fully come for the establishment of a new burial place, away from the centre of population, and fixed upon the land lying on the eastern slope of Town Plot hill, almost due south of the Grand street burying ground, as especially suitable for such a purpose. A refusal of the land was secured, and money was raised by subscription to pur- chase a part of it. An association was formed (page 451) and
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787
THE LATER PROTESTANT ORGANIZATIONS.
articles of association were adopted (March 6, 1850) and signed by forty-five subscribers. On May 4 the following trustees were elected: W. H. Scovill, Julius Hotchkiss, A. S. Blake, J. S. Mitchell- and R. E. Hitchcock. F. J. Kingsbury was made secretary and
THE HALL MEMORIAL CHAPEL; RIVERSIDE CEMETERY GATE.
treasurer of the board. Additional land was purchased in August, 1850, and the preparation of the grounds for use as a cemetery was begun in the summer of 1852. A detailed survey was made by Howard Daniels of New York, and the grounds were laid out under the superintendence of John North of Bridgeport. The dedication
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
of the cemetery took place September 24, 1853. The several Protestant clergymen of the city participated in the services, and the dedicatory address was delivered by the Hon. Green Kendrick.
By the death of S. W. Hall, March 5, 1877, the association became the recipient of a bequest of $20,000, to be expended in the erection of a memorial chapel "for the use of funerals and for funeral services." The fund was allowed to accumulate until it amounted to $25,000, and the chapel was built in 1884 and 1885 from designs prepared by R. W. Hill. The ashlar work of the building is of a dark gray, quarry-faced granite, the trimmings and window tracery of a granite of a lighter shade, hammer-faced. The nave is provided with a large gothic fire-place. The transept is entered from the vestibule, and is designed to be occupied, when funeral services are taking place, by the family of the deceased. The transept arch is of polished white marble supported by black marble columns, and bears the inscription, " Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord." The opposite wing of the transept contains the receiving vault, and a conservatory opens directly into the chapel at the rear. The corner-stone bears the inscription, "Hall Memorial Chapel." A tablet, of Caen stone, flanked by columns of Tennessee marble, is placed in the wall near the fire-place, inscribed to Samuel W. Hall and Nancy M. Hall, his wife. The chapel was dedicated June 11, 1885. Addresses were made by the Rev. Drs. Rowland and Anderson and the dedicatory prayer was offered by the Rev. J. L. Peck. The other services were conducted by other Protestant clergymen of the city and the hymns and anthems were sung by a chorus selected from the several church choirs. In 1893 the chapel was repaired and thoroughly renovated, and the spire entirely rebuilt at a cost of $5000. The expense was assumed by J. S. Elton and Mrs. C. N. Wayland, in accordance with the wishes of their mother Mrs. Olive M. Elton.
The cemetery was enclosed by a wooden fence in 1854. In 1887 a subscription for a new fence was opened; the sum of $3270 was subscribed and paid in, and an iron fence, six feet high and 1600 feet in length, was erected in 1888.
It was agreed, when the by-laws were adopted, that "all moneys accruing from sales of lots should be expended in the purchase and improvement of the ground." A price was affixed to the lots " so moderate as to be within reach of the humblest means," and it was hoped that this would "afford a sufficient sum to secure adequate protection and attention for the grounds." But this expectation has not been realized, and from the beginning the trustees have been dependent on the gifts of persons specially
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THE LATER PROTESTANT ORGANIZATIONS.
interested in the cemetery, to carry on necessary work. For sev- eral years after it was opened fairs were held in its behalf, and specific subscriptions of considerable sums have been received from time to time for special purposes. The association has received individual gifts for permanent investments amounting to over $20,000. A special charter was obtained in 1886.
The total number of interments, from the opening of the ceme- tery to the date of the annual meeting, April 4, 1895, was 4278. At that time J. S. Elton was elected president and N. J. Welton secre- tary and treasurer. The trustees and the dates of the expiration of their terms of service are as follows: J. R. Smith, 1896; N. D. Granniss, 1897; Elisha Leavenworth, 1898; E. L. Frisbie, 1899; J. S. Elton, 1900; F. J. Kingsbury, 1901, N. J. Welton, 1902 .*
OTHER MODERN BURIAL PLACES.
Pine Grove cemetery was established in 1854 in the Sawmill Plain district. A piece of land measuring 100 rods was deeded to the district by Milo Sackett, and another piece measuring sixty rods by his wife. In 1882 Mrs. Lydia Sackett deeded to the cemetery as a gift two and a half acres of land on the west side, reserving on the northwest corner of this plot sufficient ground for a chapel. (See page 577).
The Town cemetery-the burial place of " the town's poor"-was established in 1856. It lies north of Riverside cemetery, skirted on the south by Sunnyside avenue. The land, measuring three acres, was purchased from Samuel Chipman.
The land occupied by Melchizedek cemetery, on the Cheshire turnpike road, was purchased by the trustees of the Melchizedek Burial association, May 1, 1875. The association is officered only by owners of plots, and is not a joint stock company. It was organized with reference to furnishing burial plots at fair prices to its mem- bers and to others of the Jewish faith. The first interment was made February 22, 1876.
The Russian Jews have purchased a piece of ground for burial purposes at Saw- mill Plain.
The land embraced in the Waterville cemetery was deeded by David E. Sprague and Anson Downs to the Waterville school district, April 24, 1876. It is situated north of the village on a rocky hill east of the main road. Sixty-four lots were laid out, and they were offered at ten dollars each, and it is mentioned as a remarkable fact that no two purchasers chose the same lot-so that there was no disputing and no bidding. The first burial took place August 29, 1876. There are now in the ground about 150 graves.
(The history of the Roman Catholic cemeteries is given in Chapter XXXIX.)
* The cemetery association published in 1853 a pamphlet of thirty-one pages, containing the articles of association, the by-laws, a brief description and history, a list of shareholders and officers, and an account of the dedicatory services, with the addresses. In 1889 the association published an octavo volume of eighty- six pages, entitled, " Book of the Riverside Cemetery, Waterbury, Conn. A description and history, with illustrations; also the charter and laws, dedicatory addresses, etc." Mr. Kendrick's address is reproduced in full, and the addresses at the dedication of the chapel are given; also various details, such as the list of original subscribers, the several purchases of land, the trustees and the names of donors. The history and description were written, and the entire volume was edited, by the Rev. Dr. Anderson. Twenty-nine full page illustrations are included.
CHAPTER XLII.
LITIGATION IN 1798-LAWYERS AT THE OPENING OF THE CENTURY- SOJOURNERS AND PERMANENT SETTLERS-LAWYERS AT THE INCOR- PORATION OF THE CITY-WATERBURY COURTS-A COURT HOUSE IN 1895-JOSEPH HOPKINS, SILVERSMITH AND JUDGE-JUDGES KINGS- BURY AND BRONSON-CHIEF-JUSTICE HINMAN-OUR "NESTOR," J. W. WEBSTER-ATTORNEYS OF LONG STANDING-THE YOUNGER MEN-LAWYERS WHOSE SOJOURN HERE WAS BRIEF-LAWYERS OF WATERBURY BIRTH WHO HAVE NOT PRACTICED HERE.
I N the first volume of his "Travels in New England and New York," President Timothy Dwight describes a journey which included a visit to Waterbury. He arrived here on Monday, September 16, 1798, and, having rested over night, rode to Litch- field the next day. In his published narrative he reports probably what he heard during his brief stay-the gossip, perhaps, of the tavern at which he lodged-and the impression it made upon him was not altogether favorable. He says :
The town is generally decently built, and contains several neat houses and two well-appearing churches, a Presbyterian * and an Episcopal. A few years since, an academy was erected there, but it is now visibly decaying.
The morals of this town are not on a high scale (1798). Beside the usual evils of political division, litigation has for a long time spread a malignant influence over the people of Waterbury. Its well known effects have been extensively suffered here, and will in all probability be unhappily realized to an indefinitely future period.
The condition of affairs reported to President Dwight evidently made a deep impression upon him, and one can hardly help wishing for further details, in order to understand what could have brought about so much division and strife in the quiet country village of 1798. Of one thing we may be sure-that the lawyers of the place were not at the bottom of the matter; for, as already stated on page 7, "the representatives of the legal profession were few." Judge Hopkins was not a lawyer by profession, although he was for some years a judge of the New Haven county court. He must have had considerable legal knowledge, and was doubtless the general adviser of the town in legal matters, but certainly not an instigator of " liti- gation." The same may be said of John Nichols, who had studied law and practiced in justice courts, but was not a member of the
* See note on page 585.
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THE LEGAL PROFESSION AND THE COURTS.
bar. Eli Curtiss was a lawyer as early as 1779, but his residence at this time, if he had not then removed to Bristol, was in Westbury. In 1794 Ebenezer Foote of Westbury entered the Litchfield Law school, and was admitted to the bar of the state of Connecticut in 1796, but removed immediately to Lansingburgh, N. Y .* The only man in the village who could be regarded with any propriety as an attorney at law was John Kingsbury, who at the time of President Dwight's visit had been in practice about eight years.
We thus find ourselves at the initial point of the history of the legal profession in Waterbury. What remains of its earlier history can be briefly disposed of. Bennet Bronson, who filled a large place in the life of the town, began to practice in 1802. Of him we shall have more to say. In 1805 the little group of practitioners was increased by the coming of Cyrus Clark, one of the sons of Ebenezer Clark of Washington (Conn.). He resided in the house now occupied by E. M. Burrall, next south of St. John's church, and his office stood very near where the southeast corner of the present church is. He died in January, 1829, and very little now remains to indicate his professional standing. + Sometime in 1808 another lawyer arrived in the person of Lorin Barnes, who came from Southington. He lived on East Main street in the "Hoadley house " (which stood on what is now the east corner of Phoenix avenue), but he died after a residence in town of two or three years. His widow, Mrs. Isabella Barnes, became the wife of another lawyer, Samuel Frisbie-the son of Reuben Frisbie, who lived in the east part of the town. He studied at the Litchfield Law school, and married Mrs. Barnes on February 3, 1813. After practicing in Waterbury a few years, he removed to Indiana. LeGrand Bancroft came to Waterbury in 1815, and after practicing here a year or two returned to Newtown. These were the only attorneys at law who settled in the town before 1824, when Joel Hinman, afterwards chief justice, opened an office; and there was no further addition to the list until the coming of E. S. Abernethy in 1829.
The whole number of lawyers who practiced in Waterbury prior to the incorporation of the city was about twenty. Five or six had offices in town at that date. Judge Kingsbury had been dead nearly nine years, and Judge Bronson since 1850. But N. J. Buel had been practicing in Waterbury since 1840 (his brother Theodore
* For a full account of Ebenezer Foote, see Bronson's History, pp. 390 - 393.
+ Cyrus Clark was a brother of John Clark, who lived " over the river," and of the Rev. Jehu Clark of Milford. In 1807 he married Nancy, daughter of Mark Bronson, who survived him until 1866. One of his daughters became the wife of the Rev. Walter Clarke, D. D.
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792
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
since 1845), and J. W. Webster since 1844. F. J. Kingsbury, who had opened a law office in town in 1849, was just relinquishing the law for banking and manufactures, and C. H. Carter was commenc- ing practice. S. W. Kellogg had been in practice at Naugatuck since 1848, but did not open an office in Waterbury until 1854. Dur- ing the twenty years succeeding the incorporation of the city about fourteen were added to the list of Waterbury attorneys, of whom not more than five or six remain in town. Several of the most active and successful lawyers of the city began practice between 1874 and 1884.
COURTS AND THE COURT HOUSE.
Prior to 1853 Waterbury had no legal forum of greater impor- tance than a justice court. Everything beyond a justice's jurisdic- tion went to New Haven for trial. As early as 1768 (see Volume I, page 406) application was made to the legislature for a new county with Waterbury as its county seat, and this has been repeated nearly every ten years since. In 1860 an energetic effort was made in this direction, and the adjoining towns sympathized in the movement, Waterbury offering to bear the expense. Litchfield opposed it, however, and the legislature did not accede to the request. The last attempt was in 1880 .*
When the city was incorporated in 1853 a city court was estab- lished, to have jurisdiction of all civil actions cognizable by the county courts, when the party lived in the city, except when title of land was in question. This jurisdiction was afterwards extended to towns adjoining Waterbury (as already stated on page 37), and - enlarged to cover all civil cases, and in 1881 (page 34) the name was changed to District court, and Woodbury and Southbury were added to the jurisdiction. In the spring of 1895, by an act of the legislature, the Waterbury police court was abolished and a new city court created in its stead, having the same jurisdiction as the police court and in addition civil jurisdiction to the same extent as justice courts. It was provided that its jurisdiction over crimes and misdemeanors concerning the water system of the city should extend to all towns in which the reservoirs and conduits of that sys- tem are situated; also that the judge of the court should appoint a prosecuting attorney and a clerk, whose terms of office should be two years.
In 1872 it was ordered that two sessions of the superior court should be held each year in Waterbury (thus virtually making Waterbury a half shire town) provided that proper accommodations
* See Chapter III, pp. 35, 37.
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THE LEGAL PROFESSION AND THE COURTS.
were furnished. When the City hall was built in 1869 (see pages 40 and 41), a comfortable court room, with jury room, clerk's room and fire-proof vault, was provided, with the expectation that they would soon be needed. After a few years the court room was ren- dered dark and disagreeable by the erection of a "lock-up" in the rear. In 1895 the legisla- ture authorized the erec- tion of a new court house in the city, the expense to be borne by Waterbury and New Haven county jointly. A court house committee was appointed, and authorized to expend $80,000 for a site, a build- ing and its furniture. On April 25 a site was pur- chased on Leavenworth street, and in September the erection of the build- THE NEWTON RESIDENCE; SUPERSEDED BY THE COURT HOUSE IN 1896. ing was begun. The dwel- ling house which stood on the lot was built by the Rev. Henry B. Elliot (page 593) about 1845. It was afterward occupied by William H. Merriman, and later by Isaac E. Newton, from whose heirs it was purchased by the court house committee.
JOSEPH HOPKINS.
Joseph Hopkins was the third son of Stephen and Susanna (Peck) Hopkins, and grandson of John Hopkins, the miller (see Volume I). He was born in the south-east quarter (now Naugatuck) June 6, 1730. He learned the silversmith's trade, married in 1754, and set- tled at the centre of the town as a silversmith and watchmaker. His house was on West Main street, on the ground where the late Scovill M Buckingham resided, and was torn down to give place to Mr. Buckingham's house in 1835. He had a shop west of his house (near St. James's church, which stood at the corner of Willow street), but his public engagements were so numerous that he gave up his trade many years before his death.
He was made a justice of the peace in 1762. In the spring of 1764 he was chosen a representative to the General Assembly, and he was afterwards re-elected forty-four times. He was appointed one of the "justices of the quorum" in 1777, and was the first judge of probate when the Waterbury district was established in 1779.
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
He died at New Haven, whither he had gone to hold court, March 27, 1801. At the time of his death the following notice of him appeared in a New Haven newspaper:
He had attended the court during the session until the Tuesday before his death, when, complaining of ill health, he left the bench. On Saturday the corpse was conveyed to Waterbury, attended by some of his family and other connections, accompanied a part of the way by a respectable procession composed of the judges of the court, the clergy, the gentlemen of the bar, the sheriff, and other officers of the court and citizens of New Haven. The procession stopped in front of the court house, and a prayer well adapted to the occasion was made by the Rev. President ยท Dwight in the presence of a large collection of the inhabitants, sympathizing in the loss of a man endeared to them by a long course of public service.
Possessing a sound mind and an honest heart, he faithfully discharged to gen- eral acceptance the duties of a deacon in the church of the First society of Water- bury, a justice of the peace, a representative in the legislature, a judge of probate of the district of Waterbury and assistant judge of the county court for about thirty years. From early life he adorned his course in an exemplary manner with the profession and practice of Christianity.
JOHN NICHOLS.
John Nichols was a son of Captain George Nichols, one of the wealthy and influential citizens of the town. He was born Febru- ary 12, 1751, and graduated at Yale college in 1773. He lived in a house built by his father on East Main street (pictured on page 346), which was removed in the summer of 1895 to make room for the new high school building. He was a man of some ability and of rather elegant and expensive tastes. He was one of the set of young men who established the deer park and club house in the western part of the town. His legal status is indicated on page 790.
President Day of Yale college, who was a student here at Joseph Badger's school in 1786, told the writer that the first umbrella he ever saw was carried by one of John Nichols' family. It was of red silk and came from France .*
About the beginning of the present century Mr. Nichols removed with his family to Kinderhook, N. Y.
ELI CURTISS.
Eli Curtiss was the fifth child of Samuel and Dinah (Clark) Curtiss, and was born at Northbury (now Plymouth) February 10, 1748-9. The catalogue of Yale college shows him to have graduated in 1777, but his name appears in Arnold's company (the fifth) of the First regiment, in which he enlisted May 5, 1775. On April 10,
* Mr. Nichols had one or two small slaves, but the neighbors thought he must have a score, as he used to stand at the door and call aloud for Tom and Dick, and Harry and Susan and Jane and others, winding up with a " hullabaloo " on a conch shell.
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THE LEGAL PROFESSION AND THE COURTS.
1777, he was appointed sergeant major; on November 17, 1777, ensign, and on April 21, 1778, lieutenant. On December 4, 1779, he resigned, but his name occurs again as captain of militia to the northward, under General Gates. In 1789 he appears as subscriber to Kirby's Reports. He lost an arm in the service, and while living in Bristol, where he spent the later years of his life, received a pen- sion. He purchased land in Bristol in 1813, and was then described as of Plymouth. He was a lawyer in Watertown in 1779 and for many years after. He died in Bristol, December 13, 1821, and was buried in Plymouth in the east burying yard.
He married Mary, daughter of John Hopkins, but appears to have left no children. He gave his property by will to a nephew and niece, so that his wife must have died before him.
JOHN KINGSBURY.
John Kingsbury, the son of Nathaniel Kingsbury, was born at Norwich West Farms (now Franklin) December 31, 1762. He pre- pared for college under his uncle the Rev. Charles Backus, D. D., of Somers, and entered Yale at the age of eighteen. On account of the war everything connected with the college was in an unsettled state, and after a few months he left it and en- gaged as a marine on board a privateer which sailed from New London. He made two cruises and assisted in cap- turing two prizes. On the last cruise he was taken ill and was for a long time in a critical condi- tion. After recover- THE KINGSBURY HOUSE; WEST CORNER OF WEST MAIN AND SOUTH WILLOW STREETS. BUILT IN 1805; TAKEN DOWN IN 1895. ing he returned to college and graduated in 1786, and immediately after became the assistant of Joseph Badger in the conduct of the academy which Mr. Badger had opened in Waterbury the previous year.
In the spring of 1788 he entered the Law school at Litchfield; was admitted to the bar in Litchfield county in 1790, and opened an office
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
here the following autumn, having delayed this step on account of enfeebled health. He became at once a prominent and influen- tial citizen in the town. In 1793 he was chosen town clerk, and held the office much of the time until 1818. From 1796 to 1830 he held the office of justice of the peace. He represented the town seventeen times in the legislature. On the death of Judge Hopkins, in 1801, he succeeded him as judge of the county court (a position which he occupied until 1820) and as judge of probate, which place he held until disqualified by age in 1832. He married, in 1794, Marcia, daughter of Deacon Stephen Bronson. She died March 21, 1813.
Dr. Henry Bronson, from whose History of Waterbury most of this sketch is taken, says of Judge Kingsbury:
He acquired in an eminent degree the confidence and respect of the commu- nity in which he lived. He held many public offices and always discharged his duties ably, faithfully and acceptably. From the death of Judge Hopkins to the time of his decease no man in the town was more honored, respected and be- loved. Judge Kings- bury was a popular man, but he became so in consequence of the benevolence of his character, his kindly sympathies, his agreeable man- ners and many ex- cellent qualities. He
never sacrificed principle or con- DET sistency. He was a good neighbor and trusty friend. Lively in his manner, easy in conversation, often facetious in his remarks, his company was sought by persons of all ages and classes. His long PARLOR AND KITCHEN OF THE KINGSBURY HOUSE, 1805. aquiline nose, the benevolent smile which usually played upon his countenance and his winning way can never be forgotten by those who knew him.
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