USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > West Hartford > West Hartford, Connecticut > Part 15
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The property had several successive owners and was used for various purposes. At one time it was a wood-turning shop and later a wagon shop and blacksmith shop. Eventually it came into the possession of Seth L. Gilbert, who operated the gristmill but leased the wagon and blacksmith shop. A dwelling house was located on the property west of the mill, in which the miller and his family lived.
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HISTORY OF WEST HARTFORD
In 1879 Edwin H. Arnold purchased the property of Mr. Gilbert for $4,000 and proceeded to establish the ice business, delivering daily to customers in Hartford and West Hartford. He purchased additional land of Samuel Whitman upon which he erected his ice houses. He also continued and enlarged the grain and feed business. In 1890 the Trout Brook Ice and Feed Company was incorporated, and in 1894 Frederick W. Arnold, Mr. Arnold's son, was admitted to the partnership with a half interest. The business increased rapidly so that it soon became
FREDERICK W. ARNOLD
necessary to secure a larger area for the harvesting of ice, and for that purpose the large Greenwoods Lake in New Hartford was leased. On two occasions the company, in addition to supplying its regular customers, shipped fifty car-loads of ice daily to New York City.
In 1912 a tract of 150 acres in the southwestern part of West Hartford and the southeastern part of Hartford was pur-
172
HISTORY OF WEST HARTFORD
chased, a large ice pond created, a concrete ice house erected, and a railroad constructed from Farmington Avenue west of Mountain Road to the pond. Cars were purchased and the ice transported daily to West Hartford Center and other points. In 1927 the business was sold to the Southern New England Ice Company, by whom it is now carried on.
Mr. Frederick W. Arnold, by whose enterprise and fine business abilities the ice business in West Hartford has been built up, still retains an interest in the new organization, and is also financially identified with ice cream companies operating in Hartford and vicinity. He also retains ownership of a con- siderable part of the property originally purchased at Trout Brook of Mr. Gilbert.
JOSEPH BISHOP AT NINETY
Tobacco Packing. During a period of years when the farmers of the Connecticut Valley were extensively cultivating tobacco, Joseph Bishop conducted a flourishing business in buying and packing tobacco. In 1858 he built a warehouse just east of his
173
HISTORY OF WEST HARTFORD
residence on the north side of Albany Turnpike near its inter- section with West Hartford Main Street. Oswin Welles of Glas- tonbury was interested financially with Mr. Bishop in the busi- ness, although he did not participate actively in its management. Mr. Bishop was accustomed to drive through the country towns inspecting the farmers' crops of tobacco and purchasing the same to be delivered later at his warehouse ready for packing. Through this experience he became one of the best known citizens of West Hartford and of Connecticut.
In 1871 Mr. Bishop admitted his son William H. Bishop and his son-in-law Charles S. Griswold into partnership with him under the firm name of Joseph Bishop & Sons, and the business
JOSEPH BISHOP'S TOBACCO WAREHOUSE (CHARLES S. GRISWOLD IN BUGGY)
was greatly increased. This partnership continued until 1880 when Charles S. Griswold became the sole proprietor. In 1890 he admitted his son Charles A. Griswold into partnership; then the firm became C. S. Griswold & Son and so continued until the death of the senior member in 1916. The business was then conducted by Charles A. Griswold until 1924, when he retired from active business. The original warehouse was enlarged during the progress of the business and the force of employees engaged in sorting and packing the tobacco was increased from ten to fifty. During the years when the largest amount of busi- ness was carried on it amounted to $100,000 a year.
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HISTORY OF WEST HARTFORD
II. MANUFACTURING
Talcott Woolen Mill. In 1828 Samuel Talcott built a mill for the manufacture of woolen cloth. It was located on the west side of Quaker Lane near the point where the Noyes river or Trout Brook crosses the road. In connection with the mill there were other buildings consisting of a fulling shop where the cloth was dressed ready for market, storage rooms, etc. The small iron-covered building still standing near the road in that locality was a part of the woolen mill plant. This business was successfully conducted for many years by Mr. Talcott and his sons. The Elmwood Creamery and the Grist mill were erected on this property by the Vine Hill Farm Company after the woolen mill had disappeared, and still remain although not used for the purposes for which they were erected.
Goodwin pottery. The manufacture of earthenware was at one time a flourishing industry in the southern part of the town. The clay which abounded in that locality was of superior quality for such purposes. Thomas O. Goodwin for many years maintained a pottery on the north side of the road at the foot of Four Mile Hill. The house which he built in 1821 for his resi- dence just east of the pottery is still standing.
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HOME OF THOMAS O. GOODWIN, ELMWOOD, BUILT IN 1821
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HISTORY OF WEST HARTFORD
In 1832 Harvey Goodwin had a pottery still farther east on the south side of the road east of the present location of South Street. It was customary to make up a load of earthenware and then start out with a horse and wagon on a journey from town to town for the purpose of disposing of the goods wherever cus- tomers could be found. Sometimes the journey up the valley of the Connecticut River would extend as far as Vermont. When the load had been disposed of, the return journey would be made
HARRY GOODWIN, PROPRIETOR OF POTTERY, 1823
as hastily as possible and another lot of earthenware would be made, preparatory to a journey in some other direction. Harvey Goodwin conducted his business until 1867. At that time his shop was destroyed by fire.
His sons, H. Burdette Goodwin, Wilbur E. Goodwin, and Newell E. Goodwin, then proposed to take up the business under the name of Goodwin Brothers Pottery Company. They pur- chased of Charles Cadwell about three acres of land with a small building located on the south side of the road just west of the
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HISTORY OF WEST HARTFORD
JUGS AND JAR MADE IN THE GOODWIN POTTERIES
N. Y., N. H. & H. Railroad, erected a larger building at once, and proceeded to do business on a larger scale. They added to the manufacture of the ordinary forms of pottery, the production of terra cotta goods in various forms of beautiful design, and eventually increased their plant to embrace a group of buildings covering several acres on the south side of New Britain Avenue west of the railroad tracks. They developed a large business, employing salesmen whose operations extended across the con- tinent.
GOODWIN BROS. POTTERY AT TIME WHEN IT WAS BURNED.
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HISTORY OF WEST HARTFORD
In 1908 a fire broke out in one of the buildings. As facilities for extinguishing fires in West Hartford were at that time inade- quate, an appeal was made to the fire department of Hartford, which promptly responded, but in spite of its efforts the entire plant was destroyed with the exception of a small brick office building, which still remains but in a changed location and form.
H. BURDETTE GOODWIN, PRESIDENT OF GOODWIN BROTHERS' POTTERY
Mr. H. Burdette Goodwin, the president of the company, died at his home in West Hartford, on his 84th birthday on November 30, 1929.
Brick Yards. There were several brick yards in the southern section of the town in which excellent bricks were made from the clay which abounded there. Some of the old houses still standing and in use in that locality were constructed from brick made in those yards.
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HISTORY OF WEST HARTFORD
WHITLOCK COIL PIPE FACTORY
The Whitlock Coil Pipe Company. In 1892 thirty-five men in West Hartford organized the Whitlock Coil Pipe Company for the purpose of manufacturing products made of coiled or bent pipe and tubing, and, in particular, a special type of feed water heater for use in connection with steam boilers.
The plant was located on South Street in Elmwood, and at first consisted of a single building. At the present time it em- braces two large main manufacturing buildings, an office build- ing, and several smaller structures, and covers a total area of between three and four acres.
The first board of directors consisted of the following, who were elected at the first stockholders' meeting held on October 21, 1891; W. E. Goodwin of West Hartford, F. C. Rockwell of West Hartford, H. H. Francis of Hartford, E. W. Whitlock of New Haven, W. L. Shepard of West Hartford.
Today the products of the Company may be broadly de- fined as heat transfer equipment; that is, apparatus for effecting the transfer of heat from one liquid or gas to another. The
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HISTORY OF WEST HARTFORD
breadth of application of such equipment is indicated by the fact that it is used in practically every industry in the country, in practically every building of any kind whatever. In every hotel, every large apartment house, in all Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A. buildings, in the thousands of colleges and schools, in the tens of thousands of office buildings, in all institutions such as hospitals, asylums, and so on, are what are known as hot water service heaters. Whitlock Heaters are installed in thousands of such buildings, among them many of the largest of their kind in the United States, as well as many in foreign countries. From the huge Hotel Pennsylvania in New York to the Union Medical College in Pekin, China, and from the Mount Royal Hotel in Montreal to the Sevilla-Biltmore in Havana, Cuba, Whitlock Service Water Heaters are contributing their part toward the comfort of millions of people.
During the last five years in particular, the scope of the Company's activities has markedly broadened, bringing it into the field of manufacturing heaters and heat exchangers for what are broadly known as the "process industries" - that is, in- dustries using, in connection with the manufacture of their pro- ducts, processes of a more or less chemical nature, such as the textiles, the preparation and manufacture of food products, dairies and creameries, power laundries, etc.
The presidents who have held office since the founding of the Company, with the dates of their service, are as follows: W. E. Goodwin, 1891-1894; W. L. Shepard, 1894-1899; C. E. Beach, 1899-1925; J. L. Goodwin, 1925 to present date. The present chairman of the board is Mr. C. E. Beach, who has served on the board of directors and as president and chairman since 1898. The officers of the Company at the present time are: J. L. Good- win, president and treasurer; W. C. Beekley, vice-president and secretary; W. L. Howard, assistant treasurer.
The Abbott Ball Bearing Manufacturing Plant. In 1912 George E. Abbott, a skilled and experienced machinist and in- ventor, established a plant for the manufacturing of a superior quality of ball bearing balls, in a building erected for that pur- pose on the south side of New Britain Avenue at Elmwood, west of the N. Y., N. H. & H. Railroad. He began business with six employees, devoting his own personal attention in an efficient manner to the conduct and development of the business, which increased so that it soon became necessary to erect additional buildings and employ a large force of workmen. This business has now attained such proportions, requiring the services of seventy persons and producing 900,000 lbs. of balls annually, that it is recognized as one of the leading manufacturing establishments of West Hartford.
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HISTORY OF WEST HARTFORD
SPENCER TURBINE COMPANY
The Spencer Turbine Co. The history of the Spencer Tur- bine Company can be traced to 1892 when Mr. Ira Hobart Spencer was employed by E. H. Betts, wholesale grocer. To augment his income at that time, Mr. Spencer took care of St. James' Church, Hartford, where it was a part of his duty to blow the organ every Sunday. In connection with his work at St. James' Church, he built an hydraulic engine to automatically blow the organ, and as the water supply pipe in the church was only the usual small house-supply pipe, it was necessary to make a most efficient engine to secure sufficient power with such a small service pipe. This high efficiency was the foundation for the present Spencer Turbine Company.
Following the water motor, there was developed the differ- ential duplex rotary motor, and then came the piston blowers, which were usually driven by a water or an electric motor.
The Spencer Motor Company later became the Organ Power Company, and as electricity came into more general use, the trend of the times was directed towards electrically driven pumps and blowers for pipe organs; so in 1904 Mr. Spencer brought out the electric organ blower known as the Orgoblo, on which has been built up the largest business of its kind in the world. Mr. Spencer guided the work through the early experi- mental stages and later development until today there are electric blowers suitable for every organ requirement. The Orgoblo is recommended and installed by most of the principal organ builders throughout the United States and in many foreign countries. Practically every great American organ is blown by an Orgoblo, as well as over 25,000 church and theatre organs.
In 1905 Mr. Spencer brought out the turbine vacuum cleaner or Central Cleaning System. In 1907 the Spencer Turbine Cleaner Company was organized and in 1918 the Organ Power Company and the Spencer Turbine Cleaner Company were merged into the Spencer Turbine Company.
The central cleaning systems are installed in thousands of
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HISTORY OF WEST HARTFORD
the largest and finest buildings in the United States, collecting all the dust and dirt from the many acres of floor space in these immense buildings and conveying it through pipes to the central receiver in the basement. It is standard equipment in leading schools, hotels, theatres, office buildings, etc., and is also increas- ingly being used for industrial applications.
The last of the three specialty lines developed by Mr. Spen- cer was the multi-stage turbo centrifugal air compressor, which is widely used for operating pneumatic tube systems in leading stores and business buildings; for supplying air for industrial oil and gas burning furnaces in heat treating; in forge shops; foundry cupolas, etc.
Mr. Spencer was widely acknowledged as one of the leading authorities on low pressure air engineering in the United States and took out about 100 patents. Each of the three lines is a recognized leader in its field and has won the highest award in every exposition entered. Mr. Ira H. Spencer died on April 28, 1928, in his 54th year, with a record of achievement granted to but few men.
The above concern was located in Hartford until January, 1919, when it moved into its new factory at 484 New Park Avenue, West Hartford, where with the several additions since erected it has the largest and best equipped manufacturing plant in its lines in the world, and at the present time employs about 150 people with a total annual production valued at nearly $2,000,000.
The officers of the company at the present time are as follows: S. E. Phillips, president; J. M. Lord, vice-president; H. H. Richardson, secretary and treasurer; F. N. Cooke, assistant treasurer; W. V. Paine, chief engineer.
Hartford Division of the New Departure Co. This Division of the New Departure Company was established at Elmwood early in 1913 after purchase of land and buildings from the Whit- lock Coil Pipe Company. The main offices and factories of this Company are located in Bristol, Conn.
At the outset, the factory at Elmwood manufactured ball bearing shaft hangers, but in the summer of 1913 began the manu- facture of small ball bearings. Mr. Hugh Rockwell became the first manager, and was succeeded in 1914 by Charles M. Gearing. Early in 1914, after the bearing business had made a start, the factory was producing some 5000 bearings a day of perhaps half a dozen sizes. The employees numbered at this time about 300. Under Mr. Gearing's management, the business expanded until in 1917 about 8000 to 9000 bearings were turned out daily. Through Mr. Gearing's agency, the New Departure Company purchased a large tract of land lying between the railroad and
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HISTORY OF WEST HARTFORD
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NEW DEPARTURE CO. WORKS
Newington Road. Most of this tract was subsequently developed into some 150 house lots. Employees of the Company were given concessions in the purchase of lots as an encouragement in home owning and thrift. At this writing (1929), this large tract is almost completely built up.
The business for the Elmwood factory increased and more floor space became necessary. New construction, chiefly in 1919, but some previous to that, about doubled the floor capacity. The production had steadily increased up to 12,000 per day, with about 600 persons employed.
Mr. S. E. Stockwell became manager late in 1919, and during his regime from 1919 to 1929 the factory experienced an enor- mous increase in business. Much new and improved machinery was added, the number of employees steadily increased, and the number of sizes of bearings produced was several times multi- plied. In the early part of 1929 the number of employees reached somewhat over 1100, the number of sizes of bearings made ran up to 70, and production had exceeded 47000 bearings a day.
Towards the middle of 1929, Mr. Milton Gearing, son of Charles Gearing, became plant manager, and considerable re- organization took place in preparation for a possible still larger business.
The Elmwood factory, being a division of the New Depart- ure Company, is part of a unit of the great General Motors Cor- poration and therefore benefits from the buying power and re- search facilities of that corporation. It is also able to share in
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HISTORY OF WEST HARTFORD
the benefits of the General Motors Savings and Investment Plan and group insurance plan which carries a sick benefit provision. Membership in the Savings and Investment Plan, which has returned to employees their money many fold for classes already matured, has enabled many an employee at the Elmwood factory to take a long step toward owning a home, or laying by a little competence, or enjoying more of the comforts of life than would otherwise have been his.
III. MISCELLANEOUS
The West Hartford Mutual Fire Insurance Company. In 1859, five years after West Hartford became a separate town, an act was secured from the General Assembly incorporating a fire insurance company with the above title. Benjamin Gilbert, Hezekiah G. Webster, David White and Chester Griswold appear to have been prominent in securing this act.
From a statement issued at the close of the second year of the company's existence, January first 1861, it appears that at that time the company had issued eighty-three policies insuring property to the amount of $83,612.25. The list of persons whose property was insured, with the amount of insurance on each piece of property, is as follows:
Elizur Cadwell $1,612.
Benjamin Gilbert $700.
F. L. Olmsted 600.
George W. Cadwell 600.
John McLean 1,000.
Thomas Brace 750.
John Ellsworth 750. Josiah Raymond 120.
Allen S. Griswold 590.
Horace K. Seymour 1,281.
Chester Elmer 525.
Bissell & Seymour
1,650.
Gurdon Flagg 950 .
Julius Steele
1,200.
Emerson A. Whiting 200.
Mason Seymour 1,200.
James F. Butler 577.
Leonard Buckland
275.
Sherman S. Steele 750.
Zephaniah Alden 3,000.
Edwin B. Griswold 600.
Edward Stanley 750.
Fred J. Butler 550.
Amos Hurlburt Eber Gridley
700.
Charles S. Mills
1,800.
Chester Francis
1,000.
Eben Steele
1,837.50 567.
Joseph C. Sisson
1,700.
George W. Seymour 400.
Philip G. Parsons
275.
George Butler 800.
Ruth F. Whitford
600.
Nathan Burr 771.
Chester Griswold
188.
Joel E. Rood 150.
George N. Whiting 300.
Oliver S. Elmer Ralph Flagg
1,400.
Charles Ramsey
1,600.
1,475.
William Sedgwick
1,800.
Homer Wells 600.
Benj. F. Bissell
800.
Samuel A. Griswold 1,100.
Joseph E. Brace
675.
Sherman S. Steele
1,950.
Thomas Brace
1,325.
Philip Corbin 1,000.
Reuben Hamlin
250.
Roderick Colton
1,000.
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HISTORY OF WEST HARTFORD
James M. Cadwell 875. Edgar H. Seymour 1,800.
George W. Seymour 450.
David Selden 750.
Josiah Raymond 431.25
Chester Griswold 1,150.
Charles S. Griswold 1,150.
J. F. Butler 1,000.
Benjamin Gilbert 300.
Nathan Gilbert 1,150.
900.
Emerson A. Whiting 2,000.
Edw'd Selden, admin. 2,000.
Hannah Ellsworth 3,500.
George Flagg 1,650. Philip G. Parsons 1,150.
Joseph C. Sisson 1,200.
Joel E. Rood 3,600.
Arthur Hosmer
1,200.
Milton Braman
1,200.
Sherman S. Steele 500.
Allen S. Griswold 1,500.
Paphro Steele
1,000.
Josiah Raymond 637.50
Mary Woodworth
400.
William Storer 2,040.
John McLean
675.
Dudley Allen 1,500.
$83,612. 25
This annual report called attention to the prosperous condi- tion of the company and stated that none of the officers received salaries, that it "had never lost a single dollar," and that in view of all the facts the board of directors felt confident that if there was a safe and economical insurance company in the country it must be the WEST HARTFORD MUTUAL FIRE INSUR- ANCE COMPANY, and that they thought that their fellow citizens must agree with them in this opinion. The report was signed in behalf of the directors by Leonard Buckland, clerk.
No further records of the company are at hand, and it is not definitely known how long it continued in existence; but there is a tradition that after a fire had occurred destroying one of the houses which the company had insured, it went out of business. While the existence of this company for such a brief period did not contribute materially to the history of the town, it is worthy of notice as an evidence of the enterprising spirit of some of the citizens of the community at that time.
The Comet. The Comet was the name chosen for a news- paper published monthly in West Hartford fifty years ago. Its motto was "Independent in Spirit, Serving No Clan or Party."
In the issue for February, 1880, the following announcement appeared :
TO THE PUBLIC GENERALLY AND TO THE PEOPLE OF WEST HARTFORD AND VICINITY IN PARTICULAR
The Comet, enlarged and improved, will hereafter make a specialty of having Local News. We have secured able cor- respondents from the surrounding towns who will furnish general news, items of interest, etc. Besides this feature, The Comet will contain scientific articles, adventures, essays, poems, edi- torials, girls' department, etc., etc.
Lucius Elmer 900.
Allyn Burr 710.
Emma Seymour
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HISTORY OF WEST HARTFORD
You are respectfully invited to subscribe. The subscription price is fifty cents per year. Communications will reach us promptly if addressed to The Comet, West Hartford, Connecti- cut. Subscriptions will also be received by M. S. Buckland at the West Hartford Post Office, and by the agents who canvass for us.
Respectfully, Robbins Brothers
In the issue above referred to, the following advertise- ments appear :
L. Buckland, dealer of fine groceries, flour, etc.
Mrs. M. A. Eldridge, fashionable dressmaker, also agent for the Howe Sewing Machine, one-fourth of a mile south of Post Office.
The time-table of the Hartford and West Hartford omnibus and Mail route also appears, in which it is stated that the omnibuses leave West Hartford at 8 a.m. and 1 p.m., and leave Hartford on return at 9:15 a.m. and 3:15 p.m.
Apparently this Comet, like other comets, was not a fixed star, for its publication was not long continued.
The West Hartford Trust Company. During the latter part of the year 1926, enterprising citizens of West Hartford, in recognition of the rapid growth and development of the com- munity, and with clearness of vision with respect to its future, made application for a charter of incorporation for a banking institution to be located at the Center. The bank was incor- porated Nov. 16, 1926, with the following list of officers, trustees, etc: President, Roy T. H. Barnes; Vice-President, Huntington P. Meech; Secretary and Treasurer, Clarence A. Boyce; Trustees, Dennis F. Ahern, Roy T. H. Barnes, Austin D. Barney, C. Frederick Beach, Clarence A. Boyce, Myron J. Burnham, Paul M. Butterworth, Francis T. Fenn, A. S. Freeburg, Charles A. Griswold, Henry T. Holt, Kendrick A. Luther, L. P. Waldo Marvin, Huntington P. Meech, Max Myers, Edgar L. Ropkins, C. Gilbert Shepard, E. Terry Smith, M.D., H. Terry Morrison. These officers, with the exception of H. Terry Morrison, continue in office at the present time, 1928.
The bank opened for business Dec. 13, 1926, with a capital stock of $100,000 and a paid in surplus of $125,000. After a year and a half of business it had 4,000 depositors and total assets of $1,600,000. During that period it had paid all expenses of incorporation and management and had a profit of $10,000. The success of the bank fully justifies the wisdom and foresight of its founders and reflects great credit upon the officers who have had the management of its affairs.
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