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 47
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That the town, by a majority of the selectmen, could release to the city all it: interests in the Grand street cemetery; that the superior court, when petitioned byl the mayor or city attorney, should proceed to a hearing of the petition and order :!
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LIBRARIES, BOOK-STORES, LITERARY SOCIETIES.
proper and suitable disposition of the monuments and remains; that the court should appraise and assess the value in the cemetery of any owner's interest; that the court should then pass an order for the payment of such persons and make the land into a public park; also that the park thus created could be used for any suit- able public building or any other public purpose.
The various steps outlined for securing the cemetery for these two purposes were successfully taken, owing largely to the energy of Mayor Baldwin, and on December 23, 1891, the board of agents voted to accept the Grand street site, and the deed was made out. It contains four acres of land and its total cost was $17,000, of which $12,000 was paid to the Roman Catholics for an acquittal of their rights in the property. This cost was borne by the city, so that all the money which the library fund could spare was expended on the building itself.
Work was begun in June, 1893, and the building was practically completed in August, 1894. Its total cost was, in round numbers, $63,500. The architects were Cady, Berg & See of New York, and the supervising architect was H. S. Kissam. The following descrip- tion is condensed from that which appeared in the Waterbury Ameri- can on July 14, 1894:
THE BRONSON LIBRARY. FROM THE ARCHITECT'S DRAWING.
The structure as seen from without is of brick, terra cotta and tile, and is lesigned in the Italian renaissance style, handled in a bold and masterly manner. This style lends itself readily to broad effects and the building impresses the bserver with dignity, virility and grace. The low pitch of the tiled roofs, the reat overhanging of the main cornice, the disposition and arrangement of the arge windows, the strong profiles of the terra cotta trimmings, and the pitted urface peculiar to "washed brick " walls, as also the horizontal banding of the purses, combine to give a sense of breadth and richness of color and charming ffects of light and shade.
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The structure includes two distinct buildings. The first is the administrative and general reference building, for the uses of the public, and is entered under a liberal, well-balanced porch and porte-cochêre. The second is a repository for the volumes of general circulation, and is accessible only to the employees. The nature and relative importance of the two is fitly and unmistakably expressed in their respective external treatment, while the appearance of the whole as a har- moniously related structure is successfully preserved. Taken altogether, the structure is about 150 feet in length. The main building is about sixty-three feet in depth and the " book-stack " about forty feet. The main building consists of three stories, fifteen, twelve and eleven feet respectively in height. The " stack " consists of four stories, each about seven and one-half feet high. The stacks are arranged to secure the maximum of convenience and light, and to accommodate between 175,000 and 220,000 volumes.
The main entrance is on the east, and opens into a large hall. At its extreme end are located the distributing counters and the main central staircase. On the right is the general reading room and on the left are the room of the board of agents and the ladies' reading room. On the west side of the reading room there is a " view window," measuring twelve by fifteen feet, commanding a fine prospect. Opposite the central staircase are the mantel and fireplace of the main area. The back and floor of the fireplace are of yellow Sienna marble with black seams. The heavy oak border is flanked on either side by graceful columns. Above the bronzed iron fireplace is a tablet of bronze, bearing this inscription, prepared by the Rev. Dr. Anderson:
"Silas Bronson was born in Waterbury, West Farms, February XV, MDCCLXXXVIII; died in the city of New York, November XXV, MDCCCLXVII. An enterprising mer- chant in busy centres of trade, he was not forgetful of his native town, but bequeathed to it the fruit of his industry for the establishment of a free public library, seeking thereby 'to encourage and sustain good order and sound morals.' Let all who read these books and find help and comfort in them cherish his memory."
The fireplace in the general reading room on the north side of the hall is simpler in design than the one just described, but is fully as graceful. It fills a niche in the southwest corner of the room. The face and the hearth are of beautiful Numidian marble. Over the fireplace, cut in the marble, is this inscription from Pibrac:
" Cease not to learne until thou cease to live; Think that day lost wherein thou draw'st no letter, Nor gain'st no lesson that new grace may give To make thyself learneder, wiser, better."
On the second floor are rooms set apart for books of reference in the de- partments of law, science and the fine arts, and for patent office reports and series of the Congressional Record; also rooms to be used by those pursuing lines of special research. The rooms on the third floor are set apart for collections in natural history, for paintings and statuary, and for water colors and etchings. They are adapted to such uses in the arrangement of the electric lights and sky- lights as well as in the colors of wall decoration.
In the southwest room is an admirable collection of geological specimens and minerals, numbering in all about a thousand. It was obtained through the public spirit of Cornelius Tracy, at whose request E. O. Hovey, Ph. D., visited Chicago near the close of the
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World's Fair to select and purchase the specimens. Dr. Hovey afterward classified, labelled and arranged them, and they were opened to public inspection in the summer of 1895. There is also in this room a valuable collection of nearly a thousand coins (including duplicates), placed in the library by Nathan Dikeman while he was president of the board of agents. In 1895 Mr. Bassett presented to the library his valuable herbarium, in which about 1600 species of plants are represented. They were collected by him in northern Ohio, Massachusetts, Kansas and Connecticut between 1849 and 1894.
The circulation of books from the beginning until now (1895) has averaged not far from 56,000 volumes a year, but this does not include the use of books in the building. The number of volumes in the library, August 31, 1895, not including duplicates, was 51,455 It is regarded as an exceptionally valuable and well selected col- lection, and, while broadly general in character, is somewhat noted for its books illustrating the fine arts and its local genealogical and historical works. The original plan, to make the Bronson library as complete as possible in works relating to the mechanical arts, and especially in those likely to be useful in connection with the indus- tries of Waterbury, has not been lost sight of, and the addition of such works has more than kept pace with the demand for them.
It may be added that the board of agents has in its charge the fund established by Samuel Holmes for the benefit of young men of Waterbury studying at Yale university, to which reference is made on page 251.
SILAS BRONSON.
Silas Bronson, son of Elijah Bronson, was born in Waterbury, Nest Farms (now Middlebury) February 15, 1788. He was one of a amily of eight children, and as his father was a farmer of moderate neans, was obliged at an early age to do something for his own upport. After receiving a limited common school education he Forked for four years as a carpenter and joiner, after which he emoved to Georgia, and for fifteen years was a merchant, mostly Augusta. In 1830 he removed to New York city and commenced he business of an importing and jobbing dry goods merchant. He iffered severely from the memorable fire of 1835, but eventually tade good his losses. Abandoning, after a time, the dry goods ade, he devoted himself to the commission business until failing ealth compelled him to retire.
He never married. By his will he left to the city of Waterbury 200,000 to found a library, also $25,000 to the New York hospital. r. Bronson had no business connections with Waterbury, and had
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seldom been here since his boyhood; so that his gift to the city seems to have been made at the prompting of early associations .* It was as unexpected as it was welcome. He was an intimate friend of Matthew Vassar of Poughkeepsie, and had a plan of founding a
Vilu Bronson
school for boys somewhat after the pattern of Vassar college; but ill health prevented him developing it. The following estimate, by an old friend, is probably accurate and just:
* There is good evidence that his friend Lucien S. Bronson (p. 249) had considerable influence in deciding the amount of his bequest to Waterbury, if not the direction in which it should go.
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LIBRARIES, BOOK-STORES, LITERARY SOCIETIES.
Mr. Bronson's was not an eventful life. He commenced with nothing and through long years of patient industry and frugality accumulated a large fortune. He had a high and deserved reputation for commercial integrity and was never greedy of large profits either on merchandise or for the use of money, but he was most cautious in the bestowal of credits. He was by no means a miscellaneous alms-giver and was sometimes considered to be penurious, but he was far from being wholly selfish. He would never accept any favor or service for himself without at once offering compensation.
He died in New York city, November 24, 1867, and is buried in Greenwood cemetery.
WILLIAM F. POOLE, LL. D.
William Frederick Poole came of good old New England stock. He was the son of Ward and Eliza (Wilder) Poole and was born in Salem, Mass., December 24, 1821. His father was a farmer, and as a lad he made trial of work as jeweller, farmer and tanner. His own tastes were distinctly literary, and by 1842 he had secured enough money to justify him in entering Yale college. His funds early gave out and he was obliged to stop and earn more money. In 1846 he returned to Yale, entering as a sophomore, and graduated in 1849 in the same class with President Dwight. In the last term of his sophomore year Mr. Poole was appointed assistant librarian of the society of Brothers in Unity, which had a library of 10,000 volumes. He held his position only a few weeks before he dis- covered that the great need of the students was some means of ascertaining what the bound sets of periodicals contained. He immediately set about supplying this need by preparing an index to these volumes, and in a year the work was so far advanced that the society voted to print it. While the printing was in progress, George P. Putnam of New York assumed the whole pecuniary responsibility of its publication, and the work appeared in 1848 with Mr. Putnam's imprint. This led to Mr. Poole's well known "Index to Periodical Literature," the third edition of which appeared in 1882, having been prepared with the cooperation of the American Library association and the Library association of Great Britain. Various supplements to the Index have since appeared.
After graduating from Yale, Mr. Poole became, in 1851, assistant librarian of the Boston Athenæum, and the next year librarian of the Boston Mercantile library. During his four years in that posi- tion, he prepared and printed a dictionary catalogue of the library on the "title-a-line" principle, which has been so widely followed since. After organizing various libraries in smaller cities, includ- ing Waterbury, Mr. Poole became, in 1869, the librarian of the Cin- cinnati Public library, which he reorganized, and in 1874 the libra- rian of the Chicago Public library, which under his management
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
grew to have the largest circulation, probably, of any single library in the country. In 1887 he was elected librarian of the Newberry library in Chicago, founded by the late Walter L. Newberry, who endowed it with $3,000,000. The selecting of works for this library was the crowning achievement of his life, as it was intended to be principally a library of reference and to contain ultimately 4,000,000 volumes. Death prevented him from seeing the result of his toil, as he passed away at Evanston, Il1., March 1, 1894. His wife, who survived him, was the daughter of Dr. Edward W. Gleason of Bos- ton. Four children, of the seven born to them, are still living.
In 1882 Mr. Poole received the degree of LL. D. from the North- western university. He did much to direct the development of libraries in the Northwest, and was a leader in the movement for practical utility and convenience in library buildings as opposed to mere architectural effect. In the field of early New England his- tory his pen was constantly on the alert to expose the pet fallacies of the villifiers of the founders. He was an earnest promoter of the University Extension movement, and his reputation as a libra- rian extended to England and the Continent.
WILLIAM I. FLETCHER, M. A.
William Isaac Fletcher, son of Stillman and Elizabeth (Sever- ance) Fletcher, was born in Burlington, Vt., April 28, 1844. Four years later his parents removed to Winchester, Mass., and Mr. Fletcher's early education was conducted in the common schools of that town and others in the state. In 1867 he removed to Hartford and remained there for two years, after which he came to Water- bury. Mr. Fletcher resided here for three years, during which time he was librarian of the Bronson library. After leaving Waterbury he passed two years in Lawrence, Mass., and then returned to Hart- ford, where he remained until 1883. He then removed to Amherst, Mass., where he has since been engaged as librarian of the Amherst college library. He has published an " A. L. A. Index to General Literature " and " Public Libraries in America," and edited a "Coop- erative Index to Periodicals" from 1883 to 1893. He also collabo- rated with Dr. W. F. Poole on his "Index to Periodical Literature" and its supplements, which appeared in 1887 and 1892. He married Annie Le Baron Richmond, October 11, 1868. Their children are Elizabeth Le Baron, Francis Richmond, Robert Stillman, Katherine Ogden and John Lockwood.
H. F. BASSETT, M. A.
Homer Franklin Bassett, the eldest son of Ezra and Keziah (Witt) Bassett, was born in Florida, Mass., September 2, 1826. He studied
He. Bassett
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at Berea (O.) university and Oberlin college. From 1837 to 1850 he resided in Rockport, O., and from 1850 to 1858 spent his winters teaching in Ohio and Connecticut, and his summers upon his farm in Rockport. He taught in Wolcott in 1850, '51, '52 and '53, in Berea in 1856 and '57, and during the winter of 1858 and '59 in Waterville. He spent part of 1858 in Kansas, and in the spring of 1859 came to this city and opened a private school on the second floor of the building afterward occupied by the Bronson library (see pp. 41, 534). After eight years, during which time the school prospered, he was obliged to discontinue it on account of ill health. In 1871, in con- connection with the life insurance business, he started a real estate and fire insurance agency. Since 1872 he has been librarian of the Bronson library, was town treasurer for one year, and was a mem- ber for many years of the board of education and the board of school visitors.
Mr. Bassett's taste for natural history led him early in life to make a practical study of botany, so that he is familiar with most of the flowering plants of western New England, northern Ohio and eastern Kansas. He is a skilful entomologist and has acquired a transatlantic reputation in this, his favorite field of study. The following are some of the papers he has published on entomological subjects :
Descriptions of several supposed new species of Cynips, with remarks on the formation of certain galls. Proceedings of the Entomological society of Philadel- phia, Vol. II, 1863.
Descriptions of several new species of Cynips and a new species of Diastrophus, same periodical, Vol. III, 1864.
On Dimorphism. Proceedings of the Entomological society of Philadelphia, Vol. III, 1864.
Galls found on plants of the genus Rubus (Diastrophus turgidus). Canadian Entomologist, Vol. II, 1870.
On Dimorphism. Proceedings of the Entomological society of London, 1873.
Habits of certain Insects of the Genus Cynips. Canadian Entomologist, Vol. V, 1873.
Remarks on Cynipidae. Same journal, Vol. IX, 1877.
Agamic Reproduction among the Cynipidae. Proceedings of the American asso- ciation for the Advancement of Science, Vol. XXVI, 1877.
New Species of Cynipidae. Canadian Entomologist, Vol. XIII, 1881, pp. 33.
Description of a new Species of Cynips. American Naturalist, Vol. XV, 1881.
List of North American Cynipidae. American Naturalist, Vol. XVI, 1882.
Arrangement of North American Cynipidae by Dr. Mayr. Same journal, 1882.
New species of North American Cynipidae. Transactions of the American Ento- nological society, Vol. XVII, 1890, pp. 33.
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In these papers he has described about a hundred new species of gall-flies, and has recorded some interesting discoveries regarding their habits. His cautious and candid treatment of the material makes his work doubly valuable, containing, as it does, an accumula- tion of accurate observations in this comparatively unworked field. Mr. Bassett's literary work in other fields has been referred to in Chapter XLV.
On May 21, 1848, Mr. Bassett married Sarah A. Tomlinson, who died on August 4, of the same year. On April 8, 1855, he married · Lovina Alcott, eldest daughter of George G. Alcott of Wolcott, who was a brother of the famous Dr. William A. Alcott. She died August 11, 1880, leaving two children, Antoinette Alcott (for whom see the chapters on literature and art), and Frank Alcott, who was born April 19, 1867, and died December 5, 1891. On July 17, 1884, he married Margaret D. Judd, by whom he has one daughter, Helen Margaret.
HELEN SPERRY
Helen Sperry, daughter of Corydon Stillman and Catherine (Leavenworth) Sperry, and sister of M. L. Sperry (page 291), was born in Waterbury, and spent her girlhood here and in Torrington. She was at Brooke Hall, Media, Penn., for a short time, and passed a year at the Young Ladies' institute in this city (now St. Mar- garet's school). From 1874 to 1876 she resided in Minneapolis, Minn., in the home of a sister, and in 1877 and 1878 was in the family of her brother, Lieutenant C. S. Sperry, at Annapolis, Md. She returned to Waterbury in 1879, and in October, 1883, was ap- pointed assistant librarian at the Bronson library. She remained in this position, which she filled with marked ability, until the autumn of 1892, when she entered the widely known Library school connected with the state library at Albany, N. Y. She was in the Bronson library again from July to December, 1893, but returned to Albany, and became a cataloguer in the state library in January, 1894. In June following, she graduated from the Library school, with exceptionally high honors. Shortly after- ward she received an appointment as assistant librarian in the Carnegie library at Braddock, Penn., and in March, 1895, was pro- moted to the position of librarian. Miss Sperry has prepared a valuable paper on "Reference Work in Popular Libraries," and a very full " Reading List on Venice." She is recognized as holding already a high place in the profession to which she has devoted herself.
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BOOK-STORES AND BOOK PUBLISHING.
The first book-store in Waterbury was opened by William Patton in 1842. In the summer of 1846 he connected a book-bindery with his business, and advertised: "To judges of good binding, to those who know the difference between real and sham, words are unneces- sary." His book-store was situated in the Lyceum building in 1848, in the Arcade in 1852, and in 1859 was removed to Hotchkiss block, and afterward to Bank street, where it became known as the Book Haunt. In 1883 he sold out the Book Haunt to George N. Ells.
In July, 1848, A. Braunfels became proprietor of the Waterbury book-bindery. In the spring of 1852 Issac R. Bronson formed a partnership with Hopkins, Bridgeman & Co. of Northampton, Mass., under the firm name of I. R. Bronson & Co., and commenced the book-binding business in connection with book-selling. In 1853 Edward L. Bronson bought out the interest of Hopkins, Bridgeman & Co., and the firm became Bronson Brothers. On June 9, 1858, after many delays, this firm published Dr. Henry Bronson's "History of Waterbury."* In November, 1856, they sold their book and sta- tionery business to John H. Smith, who seems to have been suc- ceeded in January, 1859, by Walter L. Bruce. In the spring of that year their bindery was purchased by E. B. Cooke & Co., publishers of the Waterbury American. W. R. Seeley, book-binder and blank- book manufacturer, was in the business from 1866 to 1873. He died October 22, 1875, aged thirty-one years.
The book-store of Abbott Brothers had a small beginning, but under the name of the "Naugatuck Valley Book-store and Art Emporium " became the foremost establishment of the kind in the city. They abandoned the business in 1871, to devote their atten- tion to real estate, and the store was occupied for a short time by John Kendrick, Jr., who offered it for sale in May, 1873.
W. O. Guilford's book-store became a feature of Bank street, opposite the post office, in 1871. The bindery was purchased from Porter & Deacon in June, 1875, and was carried on for a year or more under the firm name of Guilford Brothers. The business came into possession of W. O. Guilford in July, 1878, and was conducted
* The prices at which the History was sold are as follows:
Muslin Plain,
$2.50 Half Turkey Morocco. $3.25
Full Sheep,
3.00 Full Goat Antique, 5.00
Muslin Gilt,
3.25 Full Goat Gilt, . 5.00
In 1869 Abbott Brothers advertised the book for sale at $1.50 in cloth, and $2.00 in sheep. In later years copies have been scarce, so that it now (1895) sells for upwards of $6.50 per volume, and is difficult to obtain.
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
by him for eight years under his own name. On October 12, 1887, a joint stock company (page 446) was formed, W. O. Guilford being one of the largest stockholders, and A. H. Tyrrell manager. On November I, of the same year, the business was removed to No. 25 Canal street and subsequently passed through various changes. Mr. Guilford is again (1895) in the book and news business on Exchange place.
The list of books and periodicals (apart from newspapers) thus far published in Waterbury is small. The publication of Bronson's History has already been mentioned. In 1853 I. R. Bronson & Co. issued the first number of an almanac called the "Waterbury and Naugatuck Valley Almanac," which contained in addition to the monthly calendar and the usual astronomical data, a brief account of early Waterbury, and of the churches and other local institu- tions, with a list of joint stock corporations, and other matters of interest. This almanac was continued by E. B. Cooke & Co. for a number of years. In the Waterbury Chronicle of December 29, 1865, appeared the following: "Mr. Josiah Giles, the publisher of the 'real and original only' Naugatuck Valley Almanac, has issued a number for the year 1866, a copy of which has found its way to this office." The American of the same date said: "It is only necessary to say that the Giles almanac, a surreptitious imitation, first ap- peared a year ago." The "History of the Town of Wolcott from 1731 to 1874" by the Rev. Samuel Orcutt was published by the American Printing company in 1874. Richard Clark of Phila- delphia published a map of Waterbury soon after 1850; prominent buildings, public and private, embellished its margins. Other maps have appeared at intervals, all of them published outside of Waterbury.
The Waterbury Directory for 1868-9 was published by Webb & Fitzgerald of New York city. A. Brainerd published a Directory of Waterbury in 1871, and Fitzgerald & Dillon of Hartford in 1873. In 1875 the Price & Lee company issued a Waterbury Directory, and since that time they have published one each year. The "Naug- atuck Valley Directory," published by Case, Lockwood & Brainard of Hartford, contained the name and location of every business man from Bridgeport to Winsted. The publication in Waterbury of the " Proceedings of the Connecticut Pharmaceutical Association " has been already mentioned (page 878).
WILLIAM PATTON.
William Patton was born December 17, 1809. He was of Scotch- Irish descent. His father, a cotton manufacturer, came to this
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