■#:-, .'i;-^^ "^ ^^^y^rw ^ ■'^;/'v=:^ ^^0^ ^°--^ ■^^^ "!^' •1 o :•?;;> - "^ 0* ^*^ %..^'' J ..... .^ v^ < o ^°--* J&-, \/ A'v ■ \WV-*"VW-> ....... . ' ■ ^ "^^ - ■<- - • -■ . -.■ - -■/.■jr.- ' "^^ V ■■■■■ \ ,?■ -•■ -^9, ' ■^--0^ '%'^^-"' J" '^c^ '^<&s ^0^ "^ ''!^i; .s^V &'• -^^ A* *!«f 1 ' ,/yi o vP. d^ - >^3i III ^■^I(Vi*r , jr.i:''^' "v ",. ,/ //ff^;- %. ." .\^^'- "^ .-^^ ^'/-f^:' %.o<' o;^iv^ .-^ J^& •^\:r:vv.: ■^0-. ^s ,*' ■-• % °"° V^^ .••". \ w\.^* \'W\c to Portrait Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Etc. Across the River, East Bridgeport, iSyn 43 American Graphophone Co., The igg Americus Hose, No. 6 31 Armstrong Mfg. Co., The 194 Armory, The ■ 88 Armory, The, Main Street Entrance 89 Barnum Alcove, Historical Society Rooms . . facing. Barnum Institute of Science and History, The . facing. Barnum, Phineas Taylor Barnum School, The, East Bridgeport Beach, David Sherman Beardsley Park Beers, Hon. Alfred Bishop Beers, Philo M. Benedict, Celest A., M. D Berkshire Mill and Bridge Bethel A. M. E. Church, Broad Street Betts, George E Bill, Curtis Harvey, M. D. (Por. 126) Bishop, William F Brewster, Swan W Bostwick, Walter B Bridgeport Bank, The, 1S06 Bridgeport Bank, The, 1S57 PAGE. Bridgeport, Bird's Eye View of, 1897 12 Bridgej^ort Brass Co., The 199 Bridgeport Chain Co., The 189 Bridgeport Crucible Co., The 191 Bridgeport from Presbj-terian Church East 43 Bridgeport Gas Light Co., The igo Bridgeport High School So Bridgeport Hospital 64 Bridgeport Light, Winter of 1893 48 Bridgeport, Map of, i82j 13 Bridgeport Public Library 83 Bridgeport, The Harbor oi Frontispiece Bridgeport Steamboat Co. , Docks of the 94 Bridgeport, Streets of. After Blizzard of 1888 100 Bridgeport "Standard" 1897, Page of the loi Brizell, Dr. John, Jr 182 Broth well, Charles Ransom 154 Buckingham. Charles Booth 171 Bullard Machine Tool Co., The 203 Bullard, Wm. Sumner 185 Bunnell, William Henr\ 162 Cairoli, John S. (Por. 182) 181 Candee, Hon. John Dutton 102 Canfield, Henry C) 186 THE -STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF RRIDGEPORT. General Illustrations — Continued. Canfield Rubber Co., The iSg Carey, George Winton (Por. iig) 120 Cedar Creek, View on 93 Christ Church 23 Church of the Nativity iS Churches of 1835 2r Circus Day in Bridgeport 90 Citizens Gas Co., The . igo Clark, Frank E 171 Collection of Historical Society facing 91 Congress Street Bridge, North, 1S70 55 Connecticut National Bank facing 72 Cook, George Franklin 177 Court House, Entrance to 63 Cullinan, John 197 Depot Property used for thirty years 41 Diagram of Fire of 1845 30 Doten, Charles Arthur (Por. iig) 120 Downs, Frederick Bradley 132 East Bridgeport After Blizzard of iSSS gg East Washington Avenue Baptist Church iS Easton, Edward D facing 200 Eagle Brewery ig6 Eaton, Cole & Burnham, Works of the facing ig4 Eaton, Levi W 143 Eckart Bros.' Brewery 196 Entrance to Parochial School, Park Avenue 28 Fairchild, Alfred Beach 174 Fairfield Avenue from k. R. Crossing. 1876 gS Fairfield County Court House (13 Fairchild, George Wilson 173 First Baptist Church, present edifice 21 First Congregational Church la First Court House, now City Hall f)2 First Meeting House. Stratfield, i6g5 4 First Methodist Church Fones, Hon. Civiliou , , Foote, Charles Franklin Typewriter E.\change, The Geo. W. Longstaff Co., The Gill, Rev. John W Goddard, Walter Goodsell, Zalmon Graves, Fred'k Chauncey, M. D. (Por. 127) ... Group of Ex-Mayors Hon. .Monson H.iwlev, Hon. Carlos Curtis. Hon. D. Morgan, Hon. James C. Loomis. Hon. P. T. Bainuni, H< John L. Wessels, Hon. Jarett Morford, Hon. Robert Clark, Hon. R. E. UeKorest. Group of Park Pictures Pe.ilbroke Park. Ueaidsley Park, .Seaside Park. Group of Portraits Hervey Higby, Wm. H. Hall. John E. Pond, Gide Thompson, F. W. Parrott, David M. Read, Russell Tonili son, William H. Mallory, D. K. I.ockwood. Group of Portraits stiles M. Middlebrook, Esq., Hon. C. H, Hubbell, Hon. P. Calhoun, Isaac Sherman, Esq., Hon Clapp bpooner, H< S. B. Beardsley, Hon. John Brooks. Group of Portraits Ira Sherman, Esq., Hantord I, von, Esq., Rev. Nathan Hewitt, D. D., Rev. Gurdon S. Coit, D. D., Hon. E. Goodsell. 23 158 l&I ig6 194 155 163 14S 125 57 PAGE. Group of Portraits 85 W. S. Knowlton, Esq., Capt. Jas. E. Dunham, Elias Howe, Jr., Dr. H. N. Bennett. Hon. I). H. Sterling. Group of Portraits 87 A. C. Hobbs, Esq., Hon. \V. D. Bishop, Hon. Patrick Coughlin, Major Frederick Frye, Gen. Wm. H. Noble, Chas. Foote, Esq., Major Thomas Boudren, Hon. Nathaniel Wheeler, Alfred Hopkins, Esq. Group of Portraits facing 93 Rev. B. E. Warner. D. D., Jacob Kiefer, Esq., Capt. John C. Curtis, Gen. T. L. Watson, Rev. H. N. Powers, D. D., J. S. Hanover, Esq., Isaac Holden, Esq., Dr. F. M. Wilson, A. J. Hobbs, Esq. Hartman, Charles 179 Hatch, Charles Edwin 1S4 Hawes, Edmund Vincent 144 Hoag, Dr. Alva 124 Hoag, Ur. Clitus S. (Por. 125) 123 Hollister, David Frederick (Por. no) 109 Holmes & Edwards Silver Co., The iSg House of Steamer No. i 32 House of Steamer No. 2 32 House of Steamer No. 3 witli Truck No. i 34 House of Steamer No. 4 33 Hou.se of Steamer No. 5 33 House of Steamer No. 6 34 Hubbard, Robert M. D ■ .122 Hubbell. Charles Benjamin 135 Hubbell, Harvey 163 Jackman, Frank H. (Por. 1S3) 181 Jack.son, Horace Harton (Por. :86) 1S3 Judson, Attorney Stiles, Jr 116 Kane, Patrick ns Knowlton, Col. Julius W 153 Kupfer, .Siegmund is6 Lacey, Rowland B 141 Lee, Henry 151 Lockwood, Frederick Joel 143 Log House or 1065 2 Lynch, Dr. John Charles (Por. !2g) 127 Main Street, from the Union Bank Building, South . . 50 Main Street, from the Connecticut Bank Building, North 51 Mann, Charles Wm 117 Marigold, William H 159 Marsh, Edward W iho Masonic Temple. Entrance to g6 McElroy, James H 142 McNeil, Archibald 6g McNeil, Capt- John 16G Merritt, Wm. Piatt 183 Merwin, Orange 174 Middlebrook, Major Louis Nathaniel 113 Miller Building and Old Approach to I-ower Bridge . . 55 Modern, Freight Locomotive 41 Monuments in Stratfield Burying Place 7 Montignani, Frank (Por. 178) 176 Mountain Grove Cemetery, Entrance to 93 Murphy, Timothy J 1S4 Myrtle Avenue Presbyterian Church 18 Officers of Fire Department ot 1897 ....... facing. 29 Fred'k P. Beardsley, Hiram Campbell, C. F. Bamberg, J. H. Long, Wm. H. Murphy, E. J. Madden, T. R. Congon, G. F. Beardsley, E. M. Wilson, C. B. Tuttle, D. E. Johnson, C. E. Palmer. THE "STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. General Illustrat PACE Old Baptist Church, State and Broad Streets . . Old Checks Old Freight Bill, Steamer Ninirod, 1S40 . . . Old Lower Bridge, and East Bridgeport ... Osborn, George Wakeman (Por. 128) . . . Osborn, George Ransom (Por. lyg) . Park Street Congregational Church . ... Phelan, John J. Piatt, C. Tryon Porter, Dr. Geo. Loring. . Post Office and Custom House ... Post Office, Entrance to the Arcade Post Office, Old, Bank Street Entrance . Post Office, The Arcade, Interior Presb_vterian Church, State Street and Myrtle Avenue ic5ns — C-ontiniied. Radel, Andrew (Por. 187) "Republican Standard," 1S39, Page of Vol. i, No. i Residences of P. T. Barnum, near Seaside Park . . Waldemere— Marina. Residence of the late Hanford Lvon . . Residence of Aaron Hawley, with Well Residence of G. C. Waldo Residence of Mrs. Nathaniel Wheeler Richardson, Geo Rusling, John A. (Por. 170) . . . Sanford Building, The Sanford, Charles Edwin (Por. 123) Scofteld, Horace Granfield (Por. iSi) Seal of the City of Bridgeport Seaside Club Seaside Club, Fire-place in Parlor Seaside Institute Seaside Institute, Entrance to Seaside Park Second Meeting House, Stratfield, 1717 Silliman, Lewis B. (Por. 178) Smith, Friend William Snow Arch, Blizzard of 1S88 . Soldiers' Monument, Seaside Park Somers, George E South Congregational Church Southern New England Tel. E.xchange Staples, Frank T Stapleton. Walter ... Sterling. Hon. Daniel H. Stevens, Frederick H. . . Stevenson, Col. Wm. H. . . , •■Standard " Building, The St. Augustine's Church, R. C St. John's Church, Broad and Cannon Streets St. John's Church, Present edifice St. Mary's Church, R. C Statue of Elias Howe, Jr. , Seaside Park Statue of P. T. Barnum. Seaside Park St. Paul's Church. Stoddard, Goodwin. Stowell, George R facing facing 180 119 7t) rAGE. • 193 Swords, W. F., Lumber Co., Establishment of . Swords, W. F. Lumber Co 192 Tallmadge, Albert M. . . 119 Tangle of Poles and Wires , 92 Taylor, Thomas Porter . . 146 The Elevator .44 The First Harbor Light 46 The First Light House, 1S55 ... ... 47 The Second Harbor Light . . , . .46 The Third Harbor Light • • 47 Thompson, Curtis .112 Thompson, H. Adaline, M. D. (Por. 131) 130 Toomey, Jeremiah Dean, Jr 118 Topping, J. Read, M. D. (Por. 130) 127 Torrey & Hubert . 197 Trinity Church .23 Truck of Hook and Ladder No. 2 . . . 34 The LInion Bank Building . . Union Metallic Cartridge C Universalist Church Upson, Elliott Abram U. S. Torpedo Boat Ericsson, etc 76 18S ibi 48 Views in and near Beardsley Park . Views of Historical Society's Rooms, View in Museum, Bridgeport Scientific Society Wade, Patrick Wakeman, Howard Nichols . , Waldo, Geo. C Wallace, Aaron W. . Wallis, George H. T . Warren, Tracy Bronsun Washington Park . . Weber, Robert ... West End School . . Wheeler & Howes Wheeler, Nathaniel Wheeler, Nathaniel (Por. facing) . . . Wheeler Nathaniel, Residence of . . Wheeler & Howes' Building . . Wheeler & Howes' Coal Docks . Wheeler & Wilson Mfg. Co. . . Whiting, Russell Tomlinson Wilmont & Hobbs Mfg. Co. ... Wilmot, Samuel Russell Wintter, Albert F. N Wintter, A. & Co 's Brewery . . Wilson, James Wordin, Nathaniel Eugene, M. D . . Works of the Bridgeport Gas Light Co. . . . 6q . ... 91 facing 90 106 119 105 I So 1S4 155 66 . Si ... 192 facing 136 . ... 136 facing 136 . ... 192 facing 193 156 19S 145 162 195 157 Yellow Mill and Bridge .55 Young, Francis James, M. D. (Por. 131) . . . 12S Young. Mary Rising (Por. 131) 130 Young Men's Christian Association Building . . .91 Zion A. M. E. Church, Broad Street 22 THE "STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. CHAPTER I. THK INDIAN' OW'NKRS OK THK SOU. AND IHb.lK lll^P0^s^;SS10N 1;V IHK WHITK.S. IHK GULIIKN Hll.l, kKSERVAIUIN. THE S IR ATI- I K1,L) PARISH. THE NEW SOCIETY AND THE MEETING HOUSES. THE <'.Rn\VrH KlWAKD THE WATER. NEW FIELD FERRY AND I.orlERY I'.RIDGE. IN the Bridgeport Daily Staiuiard iov October 28, 1870, appeared the following item of local interest: ^ "The frequent finding of Indian bones and skulls in ditTerent places about the city suggests the question whether Bridgeport ma)- not have been at some remote period in the past, one immense Indian hunting and burying ground. Every few days bones are being broitght to light by excavation, and now we find by digging for the new wing of the Prospect street school house, that the ground there was once quite a large burying place. Some fifty graves have been exposed and a large number of human bones and skulls are found buried a few feet below the surface." Not only in the locality mentioned have Indian remains been exhumed, but on Golden Hill, at Seaside Park, and in several other places within the city limits where excavations for new buildings or for city improvements have taken place, and the collections of Historical and Scientific Societies in the Barnum Institute contain interesting specimens of these finds. Were there no other evidences of an Indian occupation of this territory, these would be sufficient, but it is a matter of record that at the time of the first white settlement of this coast, it was occupied by a sub-division of the Algonquins, an Indian tribe or race of ancient origin and great numbers. The Algonquins are said to have migrated east from the Mississippi valley over 1,200 years ago, and to that family belonged all the New England tribes, including the Norridgwoks, Massachusetts, Naragansetts, Pequots, Mohegans, and, among the smaller tribes, the Paugussetts, whom DeForest locates on the territory between the Unkawas of Fairfield, and the Wepawaugs of Stratford. On DeForest's map {1830) the Paugussetts were stretched from the mouth of the Pequonnock river north, to and across the Housatonic. At Stratford a smaller local tribe were the Cupheags. The Indian settlements followed the coasts and the river valleys, but the great interior forests away from the rivers were practically uninhabited. There were three villages or collections of wigwams of the Paugussetts on the Pequonnock river and the coast below it, one at the foot of what is now Golden Hill, one at the head of the cove near the junction of State street and Fairfield avenue, and the other west of Uncoway river, or Ash creek as it is now known. There were level and fertile reaches of land within this territory, stretching back from the shore, and here the Indians planted their corn, which the squaws cared for while the braves were following the chase in the interior. Undoubtedly many generations of Indians lived and died here before a white man's foot ever tiod the shore, and here, after the original settlement in 1638-39, for 125 years more, the Indians lived, died and were buried in what was known as the " Golden Hill reservation." In 1638 the Indians at Uncoway river and on the Housatonic had given to the General Court at Hartford, territory at both Fairfield and Stratford, and on the land thus ceded, settlers had located in the following year. There was no attempt at this time to acquire an}- further title from the Indians, the first deed from them being dated twenty-five years later. The settlers at Fairfield and Stratford pushed the Indians both east and west, and there must have been many conflicts of title with the usual result of the ousting of the Indian from his former possessions and the acquiring of his land by the 2 THE "STAXDARD'S'' HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. white man. In the year 1659 the necessity of some definite arrangement was so pressing that the General Court at Hartford, " having considered the business respecting the Indians at Paquanack and the dii?erences twixt Stratford and Fairfield," each town striving to push the Indians over upon the land of the other, "do see cause to order that according imto the desire of the Indians, they may quickly possess and enjoy from henceforth and for the future, that parcel of land called Gold Hill, and there shall be forthwith so much land laid out within the liberties of Fairfield as the committee appointed by the Court shall judge fit, and in as convenient a place as may best answer the desire and benefit of the Indians forementioned, for the future." This land was to be in full satisfaction for all claims to the Indians. The committee appointed to attend to this business was Mr. Camfield, Mr. Fitch, Richard Olmsted, Nathaniel Elye, of Norwalk, "who are to bound out the lands at Golden Hill, about eighty acres, beg-inning- at the foot of the hill where the wigwams stood, and to run upward on the hill and within Fairfield bounds, as i.s Log House of I 'ing by the late Is Sherman, Esq.) above mentioned." The committee acted, and, having established the reservation, made a report of their work, requiring "that the Fairfield men shall pay to the Stratford men for the eighty acres that the Indians do possess at Paquanocke (Gold Hill reservation), twenty pounds, this to be paid in beefe, porke, wheate and pease. Of beefe 2 barrels, (and) of porke, good and merchantable, which we value at twelve pounds, and 8 pounds to be paydin wheat and pease: — wheate at 4 shillings and 6 pense the bushell, pease 3 shillings 6 pense the bushell, good and merchantable, and this to be payd of Fairfield to Stratford men betwixt this and the first day of ilarch next ensuing." Upon the.se terms between the two settletnents was the Gold Hill (Golden Hili) reservation of eighty acres established, and this price in " beefe, porke, wheate and pease " is the first valuation of what was afterward to be an important part of the city of Bridgeport. Here for over a century lived the remnant of the original Indian tribes, constantly encroached upon by whites, dwindling in numbers under the influence of the stronger race, selling off portions of their reservation, as it became THE ''STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. too large for their decreasing rminbcrs, till in 1765 only four persons remained. These were removed and the land given to the whites. In the year 1639 and at about the same season, the permanent settlements at Stratford and Fairfield were made. Twenty years after this, in 1659, the first deed from the Indians in Stratford was recorded. It was to Moses Wheeler. Then the Golden Hill reservation was set apart to the Indians who were, after that event, known as the Golden Hill Indians. During the century or more of the occttpation of this reservation great changes had taken place in the two settlements. They had grown to be quite large and important towns. Between these towns, back of the Golden Hill reservation and about two miles north from the shore, so as to avoid the deep water of the lower river and the necessity of a drawbridge, a commodious public road had been laid out about 1641, when the General Court enjoined upon towns " to keep the highways between the towns open, full two rods in width." Pushing out along this "King's Highwaj'," the one to the east and the other to the west, the parent parishes had met and formed at, and about what is now the junction of North and Park avenues, a new village which, mindful of its origin, at a later date took the first syllable of Stratford and the last syllable of Fairfield, and named it.self Stratfield. The first settlers West of the Pequonnock were Henry vSummers, Sr. , and Samuel Cxregory. They probably lived in log houses located near the junction of Park and North avenues. In fifty years, from .small beginnings, this village grew to be a very considerable place, and then in view of its numerous households and the long distance to the home towns, in 1690 forty-.si.K of its householders petitioned the General Court for the establishment of a new parish, and in 1691 the parish of Stratfield was duly authorized. From a copy of the original petition the following names of the signers are taken : John Bardsle, Sr. Richard Hubbell, Sr. Matthew Sherwood Sam'l Wells Isaac Wheeler James Benitt David Reynolds Nathn'l Knap Will Barsley Matthew Sherwood, Jr. Isaac Wheeler, Sr. Thomas GriiTln Roburd Bishop Samuel Morhous Jacobe Wakelen vSamuel Bardsle Sam'l Hubbell Sam'l Bardsley, Sr. Samuel Hall David Sherman Richard Hubbell Samuel (iregory Sam'l Treadwell John Odell, Sr. "izhak Hall John Wheller Thomas Wheller Joseph Seeley Moses Jackson, Jr. Samuel Jackson ICphraim Wheller Daniel Bardsle .Samuel French Sam'l Hubbell Timothy Wheller Thomas Benit Ed. Treadwell Jacob Joy John (Jdell. Jun'r John Benitt, Jur Thos. Morhous, Jr. John Sherwood Joseph Joy Sam'l Sumers Matthew Sherwood, Jr. Moses Jackson, Sr. These signatures possess great interest to the old Bridgeporter, for among them, sometimes partially concealed by the peculiar orthography, are the names of families prominent in the history of the city from its birth, and still largely identified with its affairs. KAIRFIEI.D VILI.Ai;E (sTR AT FI EI.d). In those daj's church and state were closely identified, and the establishment of a new parish meant, practically, the establishment of a new village. It had not the full organization of the parent towns, but its rights and privileges were set forth by the General Assembly in 1669. The original grant by the General Assembly was made to "the people of Pequonnock." In the definition of rights the village is called "Fairfield Village," but in Ma)', 1701, the name was finally changed to Stratfield. The first meeting house was located on what is now known as "Meeting Hou.se Hill," on Park avenue, and was completed in 1695, meetings having been held, in the interval, at private houses. The first minister was the Rev. Charles Chauncey, son of Mr. Israel Chauncey, the minister of Stratford, who was of a good English family. Beside the right to elect a constable, the establishment of a parish at Stratfield carried the obligation of organizing a train band or military company, and in THE -STAXDARD'S- HISTORY OF BRWGEPORT. October 1703 "David Sherman was appointed ensign of the train band of Stratfield." The complement of officers was completed in the following spring by the appointment of "Lieut. Tohn Beardslev to be Captain of the train band of Stratfield, and Lent. James Bennet to be their lieutenant " Captain Beardsley was a veteran from the train band of Stratford, and Lieutenant Bennet from that of Fairfield, so that the Stratfield military organization was as composite as the name of the place, and in about the same proportions. As to the " rank and file," history is more reticent, but it is to be presumed they were found in due season. The church first founded at Stratfield was the parent and origin ...f the old First church of Bridgeport, and its history for many years is closely identified with that of Stratfield Village and with Bridgeport Borough, Town and City. The Rev Mr. Chauncev's salary was at one time " eighty pounds " paid in provisions at the rulin*^ rates which may be expressed about as follows : Wheat, ss- per bushel; Indian corn and rye, 3S per bushel- pork a^d. per pound. He also had a liberal supply of firewood of oak and hickory. Extracts from 'the church records (1699-17 15) show that at this time the drum was used to summon the people to church, and the drummer was instructed to march around the meeting house m order that the sound of his call might penetrate in all directions. In the year of the establish- ment of the Stratfield parish, 1691, a street was laid out from the Fairfield line to Pequonnock har- bor, two citizens of Fairfield being appointed "to view where it is most convenient for a highway to pass in ye Fairfield to Paquonnock Harbor and to treat with ye per- sons through whose land said high- way should pass." This street was what is now State street, and it opened up a new route of com- munication between Fairfield and Stratford, so far as Pequonnock river, and along the shore. At the harbor, at the end of this street, there was, as yet, no per- manent settlement, and it was not till many years afterward, Fn,t Mc-.tm.. iim.s. Mra.nei' r ^"^^^ ^^'^^ beginning of Bridgeport was made at the shore. The attractions of the water were constant, however, and the use of the street must have been considerable from the first, increasing as the Stratfield settlers joined in visits to the shore, and the building of houses along Division street, now Park avenue, began. It was ninety-six years after the above layout of State street, or in 1787, that the Fairfield County Court authorized the laying out of Main street, which was then known as "the road at the foot of Golden Hill" and State street, designated as " the road from the dwelling of the widow, Eunice Hubbell, near the stores at Newfield (the first name of Bridgeport) to the town line between Stratford and Fairfield." This latter layout must have embraced the original street as laid out in 1691. The report of the committee empowered to make this layout contains some interesting statements. It is addres-sed "To the Honorable County Court to be holden at Fairfield, within and for the County of Fairfield, on the 3d Tuesday of April, 1787 " and recites that " Whereas — We, the subscribers, were by Your Honors, at your adjourned session held at Danbury, in and for said County on the 3d Tuesday of January last, appointed a committee to view, widen and alter the road at the foot of Golden Hill, so-called, down to the dwelling house of the widow Eunice THE STAXDARiyS- HISTORY OF BKH)GEI'OKT. 4 - Hubbell, near the stores at Newfield, in said Stratford, and also the road from said Widow Hubbell's into the town lirje between Stratford and Fairfield, for the benefit of travelers and carriages passing to and from said stores: We beg leave to report •• * * * From this point the report goes on and gives details of the layout and widening of the two streets. Main and State respectively, Main street from its junction with Washington avenue, and State street from its termination in the layout of 1691, west to the Fairfield line. The report states: "And there is to be reserved in said road (Main st.), for Aaron Hawley, for convenience round his well, which stands about the width in said road, liberty of erecting a fence, beginning twelve feet in the west line of said highway northward of said well, and from thence extending southerly twelve feet to strike the westerly line of said highway." This was to accommo- date the public who ttsed the well of Aaron Hawley, whose house stood on ground now occupied by the wooden block belonging to the late Nathaniel Wheeler, on the corner of Main and Chapel streets. The well is now imder the sidewalk south of the corner of Chapel street. In ]\Iay, 1787, a resolution passed in the General Assembly which shows that the settlement on the water-front at the termination of State street and along the course of Main street had become of considerable importance, and that travel along that route between Fairfield and Stratford demanded increased facilities. The resolu- tion was as follows: " Upon report of a committee appointed in May last, which is now accepted and approved, Re- solved by this assembly that the town of Stratford be, and they are hereby empowered and allowed to keep and maintain a public ferry in said town across the Creek or Harbor called New Field Harbor, from the point of land called New Pasture Point, below Toby's wharf to the opposite shore of said harbor or creek, to and onto the land of Aaron Hawley about ten rods south of said Hawley's dwelling house, and that two suffi- cient boats shall be constantly kept, one on each side of said creek, plying from shore to shore as occasion may require, at the places aforesaid, during the pleasure of this assembly all subject to the same relations that other Ferries in this state are by Law subject to." This ferry line was from the point now occupied by the Steel works across to the foot of Union street, but it accommodated the public for only a brief period, for in May, 1791, the town of Stratford authorized the building of a bridge "across the Pecjuonnock river nearly ojiposite Cannon lS: Lockwood's wharf," and the General Assembly of that date authorized Robert Walker and others, of Stratford, to establish a lottery to raise funds for the building of a bridge across Newfield Harbor. Stratford then petitioned that the expense of maintaining the bridge should not fall upon the town, and by action of the assembly upon report of a committee in the same year the road was changed from its terminus at the ferry at New Pasture Point to conform to the locatiim of the new bridge. This bridge was known as "Lottery Bridge at Newfield." The "port" had been established as far back as the laying out of vState street in 1691, and now the "bridge" was in evidence, from which two things the name of the new town was subsequently to be derived. Stratfield had, in the period between the establishment of the First church (1691) and the building of the first bridge at Newfield (1791), grown into quite a large village. The war of the Residence of Aa ■ith Well in the Street Line. 6 THE '' STANDARD- S'- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. Revolution had passed and the country was entering upon its career as a free republic, but still preserving the customs, laws and many of the prejudices of its previous condition. The Stratfield Congregational church had been compelled to build a new and more commodious edifice, which was erected on the northwest corner of Park and North avenues in 171 7. The Rev. Mr. Chauncey had been succeeded by the Rev. Samuel Cooke, who was ordained February 14, 1 7 16. His salary was ^100 and firewood. He re- mained pastor till his death, which occurred September 2 1747. It is said that small as was his salary, it was not all paid, and his executors brought suit against the parish for ;^3,ooo arrears due his estate. During his ministry the second church was built. Mr. Cooke was succeeded by the Rev. Lyman Hall, who was ordained September , , -J ^ -'■-■--- •- -' :-''". ^^^ 20, 1749, and his pastorate closed June 18, 1751. After ^ „ . „ ^. .^ ,, that he taught school in Fairfield, studied medicine and Second Meeting House, Stratfield, 1717. '^ ' became a physician. He was succeeded by the Rev. Robert Ross, whose pastorate extended to 1796. During the period of these three pastorates many changes had taken place in the little village, as well as in the country at large. '^^m^'^'T' CHAPTER II. AN EPISCOPAL CHURCH I'OKMKD. THK OLD S L. JnHN S. THE REVOLUTION' AND THE WAR OE lSl2.— SCENES AND INCIDENTS IN EACH. THE VISEl'S OF W ASHINI.;T0N' TO NlCHOLS' TAVERN. THE PRITISH FLEET STIRS UP THE PEOPLE. LAFAYETTE's VISIT TO IIRIDGEPORT. |N Orciitt's History of Stratford and Bridgeport is given (p. 557) a full list of the inscriptions in the old Stratfield (or Pequonnock) Burying Place, on the Black Rock road, and the study of that list will show, more than anything else can, the composition of the ancient community. The dates start as far back as i688, but the legible inscriptions are from about 171 2, and the place has been but little used since 1S12. Some of the monuments are given herewith. In 1748 a portion of the people of Stratfield had associated themselves together in the forma- tion of an Episcopal church, the first records of which appear in the following summons issued in tluit year, "to those persons professers of the Epis- copal church, inhabitants of Stratfield Society, to appear at the Church in said Society, Thursday the ninth day of instant, December, at two o'clock in the afternoon, for the purpose of forming them- selves into one body Corporate, or Society, for to chuse Society officers for the well ordering and governing the prudential affairs of said Episcopal church as they in their wisdom shall judge meet and fitting." At the time designated in this call officers were selected and the first rector, Mr. Philo Shelton, was chosen. Mr. Shelton w-as then a lay reader, not having been ordained, but upon the coming of Bishop Seabury he was admitted to the order of deacons, and in 1785 was ordained a priest of the Episcopal church in Trinity Church in New Haven. The Rev. Mr. Shelton was the first person ordained to the Episcopal ministry in this country. His charge was the parishes of "Fairfield, Stratfield and Weston," and among the three he divided his time. The Stratfield Episcopal Church and parsonage lot were located on the map carefully prepared by the late Isaac vSherman and Deacon Rowland B. Lacey and published in Orcutt's History of Stratford and Bridgeport (1886), at the corner of King's Highway and Church lane, now Wood avenue. The church was named St. John's and " was a frame building with a steeple, " This was occupied till the removal of the church to Bridgeport, in 1801. The rectorship of the Rev. Mr. Shelton con- tinued xmtil Easter, 1824, and under him the parish increased largely. '~' ' Next in order of time comes the Methodist Episcopal Church, through the preaching of Jesse Lee, Presiding Elder of the Fairfield Circuit in 1790, w'hich resulted in the raising of a church in 1797 on Toilsome Hill, on the Division street road, about three miles north of North avenue, at the junction of the roads. This church was occupied till 1815, when "the old Congregational meeting house at Here Lyes ln1fe'r'p''c[ s. , 8 THE "STANDARD'S'' HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. Stratfiekl was purchased for use by the Methodists, and for about six \-ears was their gathering place for public worship. 1775 AND 1812. During the War of the Revolution, and later in 1812, Newfield was not without her share of excit- ing experiences. The British drove the coastwise commerce practically off the water, and rendered communication with the larger cities by water difficult and dangerous. Fairfield was burned and the country laid waste as far as Danbury, but the enemy passed Newfield by, as, probably, too small for plunder. In his "Historical Notes" Major Wm. B. Hincks gives some interesting incidents of those days, as follows : — w ashington's visits. Lying as it did upon the old King's Highway, the main road between New York and Boston, Stratfield was visited during the Revolution by Washington upon several occasions, first in 1775 on his way to Boston to take command of the American or Continental array. He was met at this time by the Rev. Dr. Ripley, pastor of the Congregational Church in Green's Farms, who joined his cavalcade and rode with him to Bulkley's inn in Fairfield. Dr. Ripley was a fine looking and dignified man, and he was compared favorably with the Commander-in-chief as they rode together. Dr. Ripley accom- panied Washington as far east as the Stratford ferry. On one of his visits General Washington, with a portion of his staff, halted at Nichols' tavern in Stratfield and took refreshments there, occup}'ing the southwest corner room as their parlor. The locating of this " Nichols' tavern," thus made memorable, was one of the interesting events in the recent bi -centennial celebration of the North church, the historic site being No. 910 North avenue. There are other well-authenticated instances of the visits to this locality, of the great Washington on his various tours through the coiintry, and one in company w'ith General Lafayette is particulaily interesting. Incidents that illustrate the patriotic zeal of oiir ancestors are not wanting, and perhaps the fact that Washington, and more or less of the members of his staff, passed over the old "King's Highway" during the Revolution and stopped at Nichols' tavern, as well as at divers and sundry other places, for rest and refreshment, may have served to keep that zeal at something akin to fever heat. Major Hincks gives a story very much to the point which runs thus: "At noon upon the second of Februars", 1775, as we are informed by an old diary, kept by one of the residents of the place, there was heard by the inhabitant.s of Stratfield a report in the air like thunder, and a great ball of fire of various colors was seen to fly swiftly through the sky to the eastward. "Whether this was regarded as prophetic of bloodshed we are not told, but in the latter part of April the news reached the settlement of the battle of Lexington. Much excitement was created and Captain Abijah Sterling immediately raised a detachment of ten men and marched for the seat of war. Upon their arrival at Hartford they reported to the authorities, but finding for some cause that their services were not required, returned home." A more satisfactory outcome of a campaign could hardly be imagined, and it is easy to conceive how these worthy warriors, in the enjoyment of their subsequent renown, might gather their grand- children about them and chill their young blood with stories of the horrors of "the great ball of fire." INCIDENIS OF THE REVOLUTION. "Much alarm was excited in this vicinity by the appearance of seven British vessels, which anchored off Southport on the 5th of March, 1777. The Stratfield militia company, under Capt. Abijah .Sterling and Lieut. Nathan Seeley, accompanied by the harbor guard, promptly repaired to the spot, where other detatchments of troops had already assembled. Twelve or fourteen boats full of men put off from the fleet, but after a slight skirmish were repulsed and compelled to return without eft"ecting a landing. "About this time the parish of Stratfield was visited by the scourge of small-pox. The disease arose from infection communicated by exchanged prisoners of war, who had been landed under flag of truce, on Stratford Point, by the British in the preceding January. These prisoners were entertained upon their way home by Captain John Brooks, of Stratford. THE -'STAXDARIfS" HISTORY OF BRH)GEPORT. g "Although every precaution was taken against contagion in Capt. Brooks' family, the disease spread, and quickly communicated itself to the adjoining parishes. The horror of this complaint can scarcely be imagined by us at the present day. Vaccination, as now practiced, was unknown. Almost every dwelling was a pest house. People feared even to pass along the roads, lest they should receive the dreaded infection. The guards at the harbor forsook their posts. The number of sick at one time in the town of Stratford was estimated at 600 persons. In May, 1777, Timothy Wheeler and twelve other residents of Stratfiekl petitioned the Legislature for relief. This was followed a few weeks after- ward by another petition, signed by the Rev. Robert Ross, and twenty-one others. In this it was stated that the condition of affairs had become insupportable and that the people were growing de^Sperate and even threatened to pull down the infected houses, and shoot the sufferers, if the plague could not be stayed in any other way. "By direction of the Legislature, (leneral Silliman, of Fairfield, who was charged with the coast defense, was authorized to take the matter in hand and by use of vigorous measures the progress of the scourge was finally stayed. ****** "Quite a number of prizes, mostly small craft engaged in contraband trade, were captured in the sound by privateers during the war. On the 29th of May, 1777, Captain David Hawley brought four vessels of this description into Black Rock Harbor, and on the 9th of December, Captain Brown, of Stamford, brought into Newfield harbor, a small schooner laden with provisions, which he had captured. "Captain Samuel SmecUey, who commanded the brig Defense, the most successful vessel in the colonial navy, was a resident of Stratfiekl parish before the war. He was afterward collector of customs for many years in the district of Fairfield. One of his prizes taken upon the ocean was the British ship Cyrus, mounting eighteen guns, and laden with a cargo that sold for ^20,000, one of the most valuable captures made during the whole war. At the time of the attack Captain Smedley's own vessel was in a leaky condition, and many of his crew sick with the small-pox." Thus both Stratfiekl and Newfield had their taste of the fortune of war, and were, doubtless, put to the same inconvenience by the cutting off of all foreign commerce that most other seaboard towns suffered during the Revolution. It is the record of history that there were many tories in this section at that period, and that fact has seriously embarrassed quite a number of would-be "Sons" and ''Daughters" of the Revolution, it these latter days. THK WAR OF l8l2. Quite similar conditions prevailed during the war of 1S12. The enemy drove our commerce off the Sound, and although he did not land and burn and destroy as in the previous war, he kept the community in a state of excitement and fear that must have been unfavorable to the reasonable enjoyment of life. Again we quote fi'om the "Historic Notes" of Major Hincks: "Early in the war a company of state militia, commanded by Lieutenants Curtis and Bellamy, was quartered in an old bakery on Water street, on the ground now occupied by the Housatonic rail- road building, and details were sent down daily to mount guard on this earthwork, upon the penin.sula know as the Tongue. Another detachment occupied Fort L^nion, upon Grover's hill, at Black Rock. "During the war of 1812 New London was blockaded for a number of months by a British fleet, while the coasting trade of Long Island Sound was for a long time almost entirely suspended, owing to the presence of the fleet and the activity of several privateers, fitted out in the British provinces. One was known as the Liverpool Packet, and sailed from Liverpool, Nova Scotia, and picked up, among other prizes, two sloops running as packets between Bridgeport and New York. THE COMIiNd OF THK I'.RITISH FLKFT. "About the year 1S14, when the company at the Tongue had been ordered elsewhere, the com- munity was startled one afternoon at the sight of two British men-of-war coming to anchor opposite the town. These vessels belonged to the fleet under the charge of Sir Thomas Hardy, the friend and companion of the illustrious Nelson, which was blockading Decatur at New London. From every appearance it seemed the ships were preparing to shell the town, and by the aid of a spy-glass it could be seen that their decks were filled with men. The people gazed in fright, expecting a like fate as in the Revolution, and though the sun went dcnvn and darkness came on without the firing of a gun, or lo THE -STAXDARirS" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. any attempt being made to land, still the excitement on shore was great, and continued to increase throughout the night. No one slept, church bells were rung, money and valuable papers from the Bridgeport bank were removed into the country for security, and not a few of the people, taking with them their most portable property, sought safety iipon the summit of Toilsome Hill. Of course the militia was called out and made ready to welcome the invaders, and General Enoch Foote sent messengers for reinforcements to all the neighboring towns. "To the great relief of all, when morning dawned, not a trace of the British ships could be seen, for they had sailed during the night, having only anchored here to procure a supply of fresh provisions, which, under the cover of darkness, were purchased of certain parties on shore. A man named Garlick, who was proprietor of the Johnson tide mill, in West Stratford, carried on contraband traffic of this kind quite extensively, buying many sheep and cattle and .selling them again, at such times, to the officers of the British fleet. The enemy never made any attempt to land here, but their vessels were frequently in sight and caused much alarm among the people. "One evening, when these vessels were in sight, the sentinel stationed upon the shore, near where the soldiers' monument now stands, rode furiously uptown, shouting at the top of his voice: 'The British have landed!' Two parties were sent down, in different directions, to meet the supposed invaders, and in the darkness fired upon each other, causing great excitement for some time, but, fortunately, no lives were sacrificed. PE.-\CE DECLARED. " The news of the treaty of peace between the United States and Great Britain was received in New York on February ii, 1S15. and was welcomed with an illumination. A public celebration in honor of the event was held in Bridgeport, February 23. There was firing of cannons and ringing of bells at daybreak, and in the forenoon a procession, headed by a band of music, marched through the streets to the North church, where the president's proclamation was read, and the Revs. Shelton and Waterman offered prayer, and J. A. Crocker delivered an oration. After the exercises in the church were concluded there was a public dinner at Knapp's h(.)tel and a ball in the evening. (;exer.\l l.\f.avette's cominc;. "On the night of August 20, 1S24, General Lafayette and suite, while on a journey from New York to Boston, stopped in Bridgeport, at Knapp's hotel, on the corner of Wall and Water streets. Preparations had been made for an escort to meet the party in Fairfield, and conduct it in triumph to the hotel, but these were disconcerted by the lateness of tiie hour — past eleven o'clock — of the general's arrival, nearly every one having given up expecting him, and retired to rest. An eye-wit- ness gives the following account of his reception the next morning: At five in the morning the bells began ringing and the cannons firing. Lafayette had arrived, and slept securely through the night at Knapp's. A few minutes later the street in front of the hotel was thronged with men, and the walk before the brick stores was filled with ladies. Lafayette and his suite made their appearance upon the balcony, between !Mr. Hubbell and Mr. Lockwood. The people welcomed Lafayette with three cheers. He replied: ' I am very happy to receive your kind welcome.* Afterwards, placing his hand upon the balustrade, he exclaimed, not in a loud voice, but with much feeling, 'Happy, happy people!' "The ladies now formed in line in front of the men, and going up, one by one, shook hands with him. The men did the same, and I grasped the hand of Lafayette. After breakfast Lafayette resumed his journey eastward, and was accompanied by a disorderly procession of the townspeople, some on horseback, others in vehicles of various descriptions. "At Washington bridge General Enoch Foote made brief farewell remarks in behalf of the citizens of Bridgeport, but a few of the escort kept on as far as ^lilford." CHAPTF.R 111. THE r,(lR I'dKI. SOME OF THE EARLY BUSINESS 1-TRMS. A I(>\\\ l.\ 1821. — A I I TV IN I.S^fi. IHE C.ROWTH OF POPU 1, ATIDN . TH1-: liOROUCH OF BRIL)(;EP0RT. A T the opening of the present centnry, in the year 1800, the villaji-e of Newfield made an application to the (jeneral Assembly for a separate i^overnment and was, in response to that request, incor- porated as the Borough of Bridgeport. Although the settlement on the west bank of the Pequonnock river had long been known as Newfield village, and had claimed the attention of the General Assembly on several occasions, it was only two years before, in 1798, that the General Assembly had given it a local habitation as well as a name, and fixed its meets and boimds by legal enactment. But having secured the definition of its limits, it must needs desire a new and separate form of government. Then came the application for a Borough incorporation. Mr. Joseph Backus, a law3-er of Newfield, said to have been the only professional man which at the time it possessed, drafted the Borough charter or form of government and forwarded the movement vigorously. The charter was the first of that class instituted in this state, and the one upon which all other Connecticut Borough charters were founded. In a letter from I-.stiuire Joseph Backus to Robert Walker, Esq., under date of September 20, 1822, the former writes: " I say that I did of my own mere motion project the Borough incorporation (the first project of its kind in the state) and drew the charter and then submitted it to the citizens to obtain its enactment. " From the tone of this letter it would seem that the origin of the Borough charter might have been ([uestioned, and Squire Backus was desirous to emphasize his claim to its authorship as well as to its priority in point of time. At the first meeting of the Freemen of the Borough of Bridgeport under its charter, held Novem- ber 12, iSoo, Abijah Sterling, Esq., presided. "Joseph Backus was chosen clerk of said Borough for the ensuing year, and Mr. Sterling, who was a justice of the peace, administered the oath immediately. Amos Hubbell was chosen warden and Josiah Lacy, John S. Cannon, Salmon Hubbell, Lambert Lock- wood, William Peet and ^\'illiam Wordin were chosen Burgesses, and all were sworn in excej)! William Wordin who refused to serve. .\nd Isaac Hinman was chosen treasurer And William Peabody was chosen Bailiff and sworn by said Justice Sterling according to law. And voted — That the first meeting of the Warden and Burgesses be hoklcn at the dwelling house of Ezra Gregory in said Borough, on the 24th day of November, A. D. 1800, at 2 o'clock, afternoon." Thus the Borough government of "the port" was organized. In "Bridgeport As It Has Been" Chapter IV., discussing the Borough government, Mr. Sherwood says: "The only difference here in the power vested in the Warden and Burgesses and that vested in the Courts of Common Council of the several cities, aside from those relating to a Municipal Court, was that the Courts of Common Council could enact ordinances without submitting them to the freemen, while the ordinances adopted by the Warden and Burgesses had to be approved in Borough meeting." Why Bridgeport was not named Newfield, a name that had already been in use for many years, and acquired a very considerable currency, may well be asked. Then, also, the place had been known as Pequonnock, from the river and harbor of that name long acknowledged. Moreover, the latter name, being of Indian origin would have possessed historic suggestivencss. But as New Field had been an evolution, so also was Bridge Port. The conjunction of the two important adjuncts to THE -STAXDARiyS- HISTORY OF DRH)GEPORT. 13 commerce and the convenience of the traveling- public settled the matter and Bridgeport was the name chosen. So Bridgeport was instituted as a Borough, but she was still a portion oi the town of Stratford. Thither the people of Bridgeport Borough were compelled to go to vote, and this was not agreeable, particularly after the number of Bridgeport voters began to make their section of the town a power, and the more conservative dwellers in the town of Stratford realized that soon the Borough would out-vote them and compel such legislation as its citizens saw fit. This was not to be long endured, and a petition was sent to the General Assembly from Stratford in 182 1, a.sking that the Borough of Bridgeport be made a separate town. The Borough joined in this petition, and in justification thereof, showed that it had within its limits, 1,700 souls (about) and 218 dwelling houses, beside two flouring mills and seventy-three stores and manufactories. The taxable polls numbered 235 and the valuation Map of Bridgeport in 1S24. of jiroijerty, from the returns of the assessors in 1821, was $24,701. The petition was granted and the Bc.irough became a town. IHK IIKOINNINOS OK BUSINESS. A list of the individuals and firms doing business in the Borough of Bridgeport from its first settlement up to 1815 was compiled by the late Isaac Sherman, Esq., and is undoubtedly very complete, as his sources of information were excellent. The following summary gives them in brief: The first store opened at Xewfield was supposed to have been by Philip Nichols, and was located near the head of tide water. The date is about 1730. The second was located near the foot of State street, on a wharf and belonged to vStephen Burroughs. Then came Major Aaron Hawley; he sold to Daniel Young, of Norwich; then the firm of Abijah Hawley & Co. — Abijah, Aaron and Wilson — AVest India goods; then Captain Abraham Hubbell of Wilton, and Richard and Amos Hubbell, of Stratfield. who owned the brig Julius; then David Minot & Co., the company being Stephen Summers and Wm. De Forest. They owned the coaster 14 THE •' STAXDARlfS-' HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. "Hope." Then cams Stephen Burroughs, Jr. (179S), who owned the sloop '■ Vohisia," and after him Stephen Burrough.s and Isaac Sherman with the coasters "Volusia," "Peacock," "Hero," and "Nassau." Amos Hubhell owned "the yellow store" in ;8oi, subsequently occupied by De Forest & Hinman, Hubbell & Sherwood, C. B. Hubbell and Daniel Fayerweather in the dry goods line. Later, C. B. Hubbell and John M. Thompson, of Stratford had it. Then came David Sterling, Dr. James E. Beach, Captain Sterling Sherman, all in the grocery, grain and " New York" business; iSicS to 1822. Isaac Sherman and John Brooks, Jr., ran the packet "Mary Ann;" David and John De Forest, Hall &Lyon, Seth and Silas Sherman, David Sherman and Nathan Seeley (i 794-1 797); Samuel Penny, Charles Bostwick and Samuel C. Kirtland ( 1806-1815.) These were the principal firms of that period, covering about eighty-five years. THK CITY -AND ITS CREDrr. In 1836 the town of Bridgeport secured from the legislature of the state a city charter, which was granted in May of that year. In the following year the city of Bridgeport loaned its credit to the Housatonic Railroad Company to the amount of $100,000, and afterward issued coupon bonds to the amount of §50,000 more in favor of the road, this being the first instance on record of the giving of municipal assistance to the building of a railroad. Questions as to the nature of the responsibility thjis incurred subsequently arose, and complications of a serious character were threatened. The city had at that time no adequate property upon which a levy might be made in satisfaction of these obligations and had made no provision for their payment. The question of individual responsibility of citizens, then a new thing, was taken to the courts, and it was established that the property of citizens could be holden for the debt. After considerable severe experience the city established a sinking fund, which in due time met all the obligations and finally extinguished the debt. Further reference will be made to this transaction hereafter. Shortly after the date of the incorporation of Bridgeport as a city, or in 1840, the population of Bridgeport was taken by Henry Edwards, enumerator, and was returned as 4,570. Ten years later (1850) it was taken by William R. Bunnell and the return was 7,558, while in 1S60 George W. Lewis, enumerator, found 13,299, showing a most remarkable increase during the decade. In 1870 the enumeration was made by Philo F. Barnum and showed 19,876 persons, and in 1880 the census taken by William E. Disbrow discovered a population of 29,153. In the seventeen years since that time Bridgeport has more tlian doubled in population, the number being now above 60,000. CHAPTER IV. THE PROGRESS OF THE OLD EIRST CHURCH. — ITS REMOVAL FROM Sl'RATKlKLD TO "THE I'ORT. " ITS HISTORY THAT OF THE TOWN' UP TO THE CONSTITUTION OF 1818. WHAT THE DISESTAH- I.ISHMENT MEANT. THE BI-CENTENNIAL OF THE CHURCH. — INTERESTING CEREMONIES AND EVENTS. THE SECOND OR SOUTH CHURCH. CHURCH AND STATE. \ A / HEX, following- the growth of population and the trend of development, the First Congregational Society of Stratfield removed to the Borough of Bridgeport in iSo8, they built a new church upon the site of their present edifice. The Rev. Robert Ross had been succeeded by the Rev. Samuel Blatchford as pastor of this church, and he was in charge from November 22, 1797, to March 20, 1804, when he resigned. He was succeeded by the Rev. Elijah Waterman, whose pastorate extended from January i, 1806, to his death, October 11, 1825. It was during his pastorate that the change fiom Stratfield to Bridgeport was made and the new church built in the latter place. CIIHER PASTORS. Succeeding the Rev. Elijah Waterman, the pastors were the Rev. Franklin V. Vail, from October 4, 1826, to July 8, 1828, Rev. John Blatchford, son of Rev. Samuel Blatchford, from February 10. 1830, to July 26, 1836. F'ollovving Mr. Blatchford, came the Rev. John Woodbridge, June 14, 1837, who remained seven- teen months; Rev. John H. Hunter, from February 27, 1839, to November 13, 1845, Rev. Benjamin St. John Page, from February 10, 1847, to August 30, 1853. It was during the pastorate of the Rev. Mr. Page that the old church was removed and the present edifice erected. The new church was dedicated on Thursday, April 1 1, 1850, and on the Sunda\^ following opened to public worship. The Rev. Mr. Page was succeeded by the Rev. Joseph H. Towne, whose pastorate extended from June 13, 1854, to June 29, 1858. He was followed by the Rev. ilatson Mier Smith, January 5, 1859, to June 6, 1865. The next pastor was the Rev. George Richards, January 3, 1S66, to August 24, 1870, and the next, the Rev. Charles Ray Palmer, whose term extended from August 15, 1872, to the year 1895, when he resigned to devote himself to his duties as a member of the managing board of Yale University. I'.l-CENTENNIAL CELEUKATION It was during the pastorate of the Rev. Dr. Palmer that the bi-ccntennial celebration of the church was held, on June 12 and 13, 1895. The historical discourse of the pastor was one of the nust interesting and valuable features in the very elaborate ceremonies of the celebration, and next in interest, perhaps, came the roll-call of the original members, answered to in every instance by some descendant or representative. The list is as follows: Richard Hubbell, Sr., responded to by Major Howard G. Hubbell, descendant in the eight generation; Isaac Wheeler, Sr., responded to by Robert E. Wheeler, descendant in the seventh generation; James Bennett, responded to by Clarence H. Kelsey; Samuel Beardsley, responded to by Samuel Fayerweather Beardsley, descendant in the eighth generation; Samuel Gregory, responded toby the Hon. ^I orris B. Beardsley, representing Samuel Beard- sley in his own right and Samuel (Gregory in the right of his grandmother; Matthew Sherman, responded to by James Eaton Beach and David Sherman Beach, descendants in the seventh generation; Richard Hubbell, Jr., responded to by Captain H. W. Hubbell of the U. S. First Artillery, descendant in the sixth generation; David Sherman, responded to by Deacon R. B. Lacey, descended from a daughter of Mr. Sherman; John Odell, Jr.. responded to by Henry R. Parrott. chairman of the Society's committee, descended from John Odcll through his grandfather's mother. i6 THE -'STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. The history of the First Congreg-ational church from the time of its establishment in i6qi to the adoption of the new constitution of Connecticut in iSi8, was, practically, the history of the new town and of the influences which were largely to make and mark the character and progress of the futiire city. To be sure, other religious societies were instituted, and their influence upon the community was considerable, but they lacked the power of the secular government, which, while it controlled the Congregational church, at the .same time gave it a weight and authority in all things that the others could not possess. But it had come to pass in the beginning of this centuiy that the minds of men were working toward a different policy in governmental matters, and the final divorce of church and state was natural and inevitable, and although at first it compelled the re-arrangement of church affairs and their adjustment to a new order of things in which they lost support but gained independence, unquestion- ably the change was for the best. Speaking of this epoch in church history, the Rev. Dr. Palmer, in the historical discourse above referred to, said: "It (the pastorate of the Rev. Elijah Waterman) covered a wonderful period. As many will remember, it was the time of the Evangelical Revival, the fruitage of which was so exten- sive, not alone in Christian homes and churches, but in the formation of great beneflcient organizations, such as the American Board, the American Bible Society and others. It saw the beginning of the temperance reform in this state, in the action of the General Association of 1812. I need only remind you, moreover, that in the midst of it came the second war with Great Britain, a time of peril, of hardship, of impoverishment, in which all foundations were shaken, but out of which the country emerged without serious disaster. Afterward came the great contest which ended in the disestablish- ment of the Congregational churches of Connecticut, the overthrow of the " Standing Order " as the phrase of the day put it. This event, in the time of it, seemed to many excellent men, the triumph of the gates of hell over the Kingdom, but some of them lived to perceive that it was indeed what Dr. Lyman Beecher called it: ' the best thing that ever happened to the Connecticiit churches.' " Among other interesting incidents of the bi-centennial celebration was the ideniiflcation of a number of historic sites and locations which were of note in the old Stratfield parish. Among these were the Nichols' Tavern of revolutionary fame, No. 910 North avenue, where Washington repeatedly stopped on his journeys through the place. Opposite that is the Franklin mile stone, " 20 miles to New Haven," set by Benjamin Franklin when Colonial Postmaster General before the revolution. In April, 1821, during the pastorate of the Rev. Elijah Waterman, the church purchased land adjoining its site, on the east, where the chapel now stands, and a building was erected for a conference room and academy, and here Mr. Waterman intended to establish a theological school, and did there instruct a number of students for the ministry. The parsonage, which is a handsome and commodious house located on Golden Hill, No. 84, was bequeathed to the society b}- the late Mrs. Sylvanus Sterling. On May 4, 1897, the Rev. John DePeu, who came from Norfolk, Conn., succeeded the Rev. I)r. Palmer, and was installed pastor of the church. The sermon was preached by the Rev. Frank S. Child, of Fairfield, the charge to the pastor was given by the Rev. Joel .S. Ives, of vStratford, the charge to the people by the Rev. A. F. Pierce, of Danbury, and the right hand of fellowship by the Rev. Frank Russell of the South Congregational church of Bridgeport. THF, SOU'lH CHURCH. In 1S30, three deacons, thirty-six other men and seventy-eight women were dismissed from the First church, at their own request, to form a new church, the mother church giving them one-half the church property and funds, and $2,000 toward the erection of a new edifice. These united with others in forming the Second Congregational church, and William DeForest, Stephen Hawley and Josiah B. Baldwin were chosen deacons. In August, 1830, the Rev. Nathaniel Hewit, D.D., was chosen pastor, and he remained with the society nearly twenty-three years. In 1853 he was dismissed, and at the same time seventy-eight members of the South church were dismissed, at their own request, to organize a Presbyterian church, of which Dr. Hewit subsequently became pastor. The Rev. Nathaniel Hewit was a man of great ability, and one who stood high in the estimation of the church at large. He had been pastor of the Fairfield church, and was a strong champion of the old school. He was installed pastor of the South or Second church, December i, 1S30, and under him the church prospered. I THE STAXDAIWS" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 17 The second pastor of the South church was the Rev. Asahel L. Brooks, who was installed January 25, 1854, and dimissed March 11, 1856. The Rev. Benjamin L. Swan was the next pastor, and his term continued for two and a half years. The fourth pastor was the Rev. Alexander R. Thompson, whose term was from March, 1859, for three years. In i860 the old church edifice was removed and a new building begun, which was dedicated in January, 1862, the Rev. Dr. Storrsof Brooklyn preaching the dedicatory sermon. The Rev. Francis Lobdell succeeded Mr. Thompson and preached for two years. The Rev. E. P. Hammond held special services during this term and added many members to the church. In May, 1865, the Rev. Daniel Lord was installed pastor of the chnrch, and in 1869 he resigned to accept a pastorate in Chicago. The Rev. Edwin Johnson was the next pastor, he being installed in November, 1870. He resigned in 1876, and the Rev. R. G. S. McNeille began December 4, 1877, and resigned in 1893. In 1894 the Rev. Frank Rnssell, D. D., was called to the church, and is the present pastor. The deacons for i896-'97 are Edward Sterling, Edward W. Marsh, Thomas Calef, Wilbur A. Smith, L. B. Silliman, Emorv F. Strong, George L. Porter, !>. I). Sanford and Gladden Beers. CHAPTER V. THE I'RESBYTERIAN CHURCH. ITS FOUNDATION AND PROGRESS. THE -METHODIST CHURCH AND ITS ESTABLISHMENT IN BRIDGEPORT. BEGINNING AND GROWTH OF THE BAPTIST CHURCH. THE CHURCHES OF BRIDGEPORT'S EARI.V HISTORY. THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. THE First Presbyterian Church was organized October i6, 1S53, and became connected with the Presbytery of New York. The Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Hewit was installed in the same year. The chnrch was transferred to the Connecticut Presbytery in i860, and in 1870 to the Presbytery of Westchester where it still belongs. The following were the original ruling elders : Stephen Hawley, Church of the Nativity. Park Street Coiiyregational Church. First Congregat East Washingtoi al Church. le Baptist Church Myrtle Avenue Presbyterian Chur Burned 1S74. iouth Congregational Church. Thomas Hawley, John Brooks, Henry M. Hine and Stiles M. Middlebrook. A chapel located on Myrtle avenue and costing about $3,000 was dedicated in February, 1853, and a new church erected on the corner of ]SIyrtle avenue and West Liberty street was dedicated in August 1855. The ground on which the church was built was the gift of Captain John Brooks and Captain Burr Knapp. The Rev. H. G. Hinsdale was installed pastor in i852 as colleague of the Rev. Dr. Hewit, and shortly after the latter resigned. In 1877 the Rev. Mr. Hinsdale was dismissed by the presbytery to accept a call THE STAXDARD'S- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 19 at Princeton, X. J., and in February, 1878, the Rev. H. A. Davenport, the present pastor, was installed. During the pastorate of IMr. Hinsdale in 1874, the church on Myrtle avenue was destroved by tire. The society immediately sold the old site and began rebuilding on the corner of ilvrtle avenue and State street, where a handsome stone church, with chapel adjoining, was shortly erected at a cost of §94,000. Pending the construction of the new church, the church meetings were held in the Opera House, corner of Main and State streets. ST. John's episcop.al church. In 180 1 St. John's Episcopal Church, the Rev. Philo Shelton, rector, erected its second edifice on the southeast corner of State and Broad streets in the borough of Bridgeport. The rectorship of Mr. Shelton continued until 1824, when he resigned. He was succeeded by the Rev. Henry R. Judah, who continued with the church until the year 1S33, when he was succeeded by the Rev. Dr. Gurdon vS. Coit. In 1836 a new church edifice was found necessary and a handsome church (the third edifice) was built on the southeast corner of Broad and Cannon streets. The Rev. Dr. Coit remained as rector of St. John's until 1 86 1, when he resigned to accept the chaplaincy of a regiment in the Union Army. The Rev. Eaton W. Maxey, D.D. . succeeded Dr. Coit, and his term as rector extended from Whit Sunday 1867, to Easter 1S85. During his incumbency the fourth church edifice of St. John's was erected on the corner of Park and Fairfield avenues. The new church is one of the finest in the State, and its lo- Presbyterian Church. Kdifice corner .Slate Street cation, although at first somewhat far from the business streets, has since become much more central and desirable, the growth of the city in that direction having been very great. The old church was purchased by a syndicate and was converted into two halls and used for public purposes till the year 1889, when the site was pur- chased by the U. S. (Jovernmcnt and the old church was torn down to make room for the new post office and custom house. The Rev. Dr. Maxey was succeeded by the Rev. Edgar A. Enos, and after a brief rectorship he was followed by the Rev. J. S. Lindsley, whose acceptance of the call was received September 27, 1887. Dr. Lindsley was a scholarly man and of attractive personality. He was greatly liked, but resigned to go to Boston, Mass., on July 9, 1889. He was followed by the present rector, the Rev. W. H. Lewis. METHODIC EPISCOP.M. CHURCH. St. John"; ch corner Broad and Ca Third Edifice. This church is probably the oldest Methodist Church in New England, since it traces its beginning back to the preaching of the Rev. Jesse Lee, 1789. But that was in the Stratfield days and when the first Methodist society in Bridgeport met in 1802 it was in a wooden block standing upon the corner of Main and State streets. In 1822 the Rev. John Newland Maffit, the revivalist, spent a portion of the year in this place and regular preaching in the old church was soon afterward discontinued. In this year measures were taken THE -STAXDARD-S'- HISTORY OF BRH)GEPORT. for the ei-ection of their first house of worship in this cit}-. The site of the house, which was the northeast corner of Broad street and Fairfield avenue, then Beaver street, was fixed at a meeting held May 13, 1823. and the house, though remaining unfinished for some years, was occupied for worship the latter part of 1823, ]\Ir. Maffit preaching the first sermon in it. It was forty by sixty feet in size, and cost with the lot about ,•$3,000. It was destroyed by fire in 1849, and the present brick edifice was immediately afterward erected on the old site. The Bridgeport station was organized and manned in 1835-36. The present church was dedi- cated on the 14th of February, 1850, and on that occasion the Rev. Dr. Durbin and the Rev. Allen Steele preached the sermons. Since its beginning the church has prospered and it has numbered o , ,. . ^r, u u . tr.,-c several prominent and exception- St. John s Church. Present Edifice. ' '^ ally able men among its preachers. Of these may be named Rev. James :\I. Carroll, Rev. John Dickenson, Rev. Daniel O. Ferris, Rev. Charles E. Harris, Rev. Dr. W. W. Clark and the Rev. Dr. Joseph Pullman, the present incumbent. KAPTIST CHURCH. In 1S35 the known and recognized Baptist element within the limits of the city of Bridgeport was confined to two females, !Miss Hannah Nichols and Mrs. Lydia Sherwood. The Stratfield Baptist Church, an off-shoot from the original Church of Christ in Stratfield, was organized in 1751, mainly under the leadership of Captain John Sherwood, gi'andfather of the late Deacon David Sherwood. The location was northwest from the present city, nearly three miles away. It took fast root in that vicinity, in Fairfield Woods, Chestnut Hill, and as population .sought the interior, extended to North Fairfield, now Easton, and to the southwesterly part of Monroe. It had its two meeting houses, known as the Stratfield and the North, which latter was located about one-half mile westerly of the Stepney depot. In 1830 Rev. James H. Linsley was pastor of the Stratfield church and yet resided in Stratford village. The opportune time came, when in 1835, the St. John's Episcopal Church offered their edifice on the corner of State and Broad streets for sale. Mr. Linsley lost no time in collecting the necessary funds, himself being the leading contributor. The price of the property was $3,650 and $3,000 was collected and paid over to St. John's Society. The first Baptist society was organized July 24, 1837, composed of six members, Benjamin Wakeman, Raymond Whitney, Roswell Whitney, Bennett Whitney and two others whose names are not known" ^c^^j^^^m^ Old Baptist Church, State and Broad Stree THE •• STA.\I)AR[>-S'- HISTORY OF BRH>GEl'ORT. 1S37, with thirtv-nine members; eleven males and twenty- The church was constituted September eight females. The Rev. Joseph Eaton, of Boston, was the first settled minister (183S), church increased to 136 members. He was succeeded in 1840 by the Rev. Daniel Harwington, and he was followed in 1842 by the Rev. William vSmith, of Camden, N. J. He was succeeded by the Rev. William Reid in 1846, and after several ineffectual trials of other ministers, in November, 1857, the Rev. J. L. Hodge, D.D., followed Mr. Reid and remained with the church for three vears. Under him the old church was replaced by a fine new edifice and considerable progress was made. Before the coming of Dr. Hodge the " Second Baptist Church " had been formed which was a .serious drawback upon the old church. Dr. Hodge labored hard to unite the churches but in 1S60 he gave up, and a call w'as extended to the Rev. Dr. A. McGregor Hopper. He began his work in March, 1861, and was successful in a practical re-union of the churches, the second church disbanding and its members generally returning to the old church. Dr. Hopper remained until 1877, and was succeeded by the Rev. ^M. H. Pogson, who remained until 1884, when he gave place to the Rev. W. V. Garner. The Rev. C. C. Luther succeeded Mr. Garner, his term of service being from October i, 1891, to November i, 1893, when he was followed by the present pastor, the Rev. G. W. Nicholson. The old church was sold in 1892 and under him the 1st Baptist Church. and a new site was purchased at the corner of Washington and West aventies, where a very beautiful tone church was erected, the congregation worshipping in a temporary edifice on West avenue in the meantime. The new church was dedicated < )ctober 28, 1894, at which time the Rev. Dr. Samuel F. Smith, author of " America " was present and took part in the services. The church cele- brated its semi-centennial anniversary September 25, 1SS7, in the okl cliurch on State street. CHURCHES Of 1835. Of the above churches the Second Congregational was replaced by the present structure in 1S6: 62 ; the vSt. lohn's Episcopal Church was sold to the Baptists in 1835, and occupied by them till about the year 1859-60, when it was replaced by a substantial brick structure. The First Congregational Church was the third edifice of that Society replaced by the present structure in 1850. The Methodist Church was the first in the city and was destroyed by fire in 1849, wlicn upon the same sight the present church was erected. d Gilbert Streets 22 THE •■ STAXDARD'S- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. The two African Metliodist Episcopal Churches on Broad street are among the older ecclesiastical organizations. The Bethel Church was built in 1S35 and the Zion Church in 1843. They maintain regular services and are well supported. These are, with the exception of the Stillvvell Methodist Church, organized in 1821-22, and possibly some others whose existence was brief, all the churches belonging to the early history of the town, and they were the progenitors of many others which arose in all directions, as the city put on its modern manners with its later progress and prosperity. I A. yi. E. L'hurch. Broad Street. Bethel A. .M. E. Church Broad Street. CHAPTER VI. THE CHL'RCHES OF TO-l)AV. CHRIST KPISCOPAL, TRINITY AND Sr. HAUL"s THE UXIVERSALIST CHURCH. THE CONGREOATIONAL, METHODIST, I;AI>TIST AND CATHOLIC CHURCHES. A VIEW OF ALL. THE MORE MODERN CHURCHES. 'T'Hl-^ first of the more modern of the churches, founded after 1840, was Christ Church, Episcopal. ^ On August 16, 1S50, the parish organized by the election of the following officers: Senior Warden, Charles Bostwick ; Junior Warden, Russell Tomlinson; Vestry, Charles B. Ferguson, Chauncey M. Hatch, Charles ^I. Booth, Samuel Stratton, Aaron T. Beardsley. Philip B. Segee; Treasurer, Henry vShelton; Clerk, John S. Smith. The first rector was the Rev. J. Howard Smith, who was called November 7, 1850, and who was rector until April, 1854. During this time the land was bought for the present church on Courtland St. Paul's Churcli. 1 ,i>t .Meth.nlist Church. Universalist Church. street, the corner stone of which was laid on Good Friday, April 9, 1852. The church edifice was completed in 1853, and was consecrated by Bishop Thomas Church Brownell, on the 21st day of April of that year. It is built of brown .stone and co,st about S32,o°o- The rectors succeeding Mr. Smith have been as follows: Rev. Wm. Preston, 1S54-1856; Rev. George E. Thrall, 1856-1859; Rev. L. W. Bancroft, 1860-1861; Rev. Henry M. Stewart, 1S61-1863; Rev. John Falkner-Blake, (subsequently lohn Blake Falkner), 1863-1870; Rev. John J. Harrison, April 12, 1S70 to November 28, 1870; 24 THE -STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. Rev. N. L. Brig-gs, 1871-1875; Rev. Dr. H. N. Power.s, 1875-1885; Rev. Beverly E. Warner, 1885- 1893, and Rev. Herbert D. Cone, present rector. The Wardens have been: Charles Bostwick, S. B Ferguson, Russell Tomlinson, P. H. Skidmore, S. S. Clapp, Clapp Spooner, L. W. Clark, Daniel Hatch, George C. Waldo, Wm. H. Noble, George Hunger, L. N. Van Keuren, P. B. Segee. The chapel in the rear of the church was erected in 1867 at a cost of about $9,000. The Uxiversalist Church, or "Church of the Redeemer" was organized about the year 1850. In the city records for March of that year, the Chief Engineer reports the conduct of the members of the fire department at "the burning of the Universalist Church on Cannon St., the previous evening" (March 28). From this it appears that the Society worshipped in some structure on that street previous to the erection of the handsome brown stone church on Fairfield avenue, which is its sanctuary, and which was dedicated in the latter part of the year 185 1. P. T. Barnura was an active member of this church during his life and remembered it generously in his will. He was one of the trustees of the church. Among the pastors have been Rev. Adin Ballon. Rev. Olympia Brown-Willis, Rev. John Lyon, Rev. L. B. Fisher, Rev. J. X. Emery. The present pastor is Rev. F. A. Dillingham. The Church of the N.ATivrrv is a picturesque .stone church located on Sylvan avenue and Carson street. It was built chiefly by the Rev. E. Ferris Bishop, of Bridgeport, assisted by Joseph Richard- son, of North Bridgeport. It was started as a mission school for St. John's Church and was main- tained at first by that parish. The church was organized June 4, 1856, by E. F. Bishop, Joseph Richardson, Eli Thompson, Ira Gregory, John Hurd, William M. Hubbell and Henry M. Sherman, all from St. John's Church. The seats were free and the service choral. Mr. Bishop was ordained priest September 22, 1863, by Assistant Bishop John Williams, and was then chosen rector, and officiated at the chtirch frequently till the time of his death. Of late years the church has been in charge of the rectors of St. Luke's. St. Paul's Episcop.^l Church (East Bridgeport) was organized at the residence of General William H. Noble, on Stratford avenue, June 4, 1858, at which time the Rev. Gurdon S. Coit, D.D., of St. John's Church, was chosen rector. Meetings of the Sunday school were held in the coal office of D. W. Thompson, near the center bridge, and subsequently over a store upon Crescent avenue. The Rev. Dr. N. S. Richardson was the first rector of the parish, his term beginning Januarj-, 1868. The corner stone of the handsome church building, upon Kossuth street, fronting Washington Park, was laid by Bishop Willigms, October 6, 1868, and the church was dedicated and occupied for worship July 29. 1869, and was consecrated in 1880. Its cost was about $30,000. Dr. Richardson was succeeded by Rev. M. Clark, the Rev. James O. Drumm. Rev. Mildridge Walker, and the latter by the present incumbent. Rev. H. M. Sherman. TRiNrrv Church was an offshoot of vSt. John's, and was organized June i, 1863. Its first service was held in a hall over the New York and New Haven Railroad depot, June 14, 1863. The corner stone of the present edifice, on the corner of Fairfield avenue and Broad street, was laid November 2d of the same year. The church is built of brown stone from the Portland quarries, and has a seating capacity of about 600. It was opened for public worship on Sunday, July 3, 1864, and was consecrated by the Right Rev. John Williams, assistant Bishop of Connecticut, on Wednesday, November 2, 1864. The Rev. Sylvester Clarke was its first rector. He was succeeded by the present rector, the Rev. N. L. Booth, Dr. Clarke accepting a professorship in the Berkley Divinity School at Middletown, Conn. The Wardens of Trinity have been Jaratt Morford, Ira Gregory, E. B. Goodsell, D. N. Morgan, R. E. DeForest and George C. Edwards. Trinity Memori.-\l Church (West Stratford) was a mission of Trinity Church and a memorial of the Rev. Dr. Gurdon S. Coit. It was opened for worship on Whit Sunday, May 19, 1872. In 18S7 the Rev. Charles Pardee was appointed rector of the Coit Memorial Chapel and of the Church of the Nativity at North Bridgeport. Later on the chapel was given up and the parish became St. Luke's with a new church on Stratford avenue, the old edifice having been sold. St. Luke's Church (Stratford avenue) was organized in 1873. It succeeded to the field of the Coit Memorial Chapel which was converted into a dwelling a few years since. The location on Strat- ford avenue was more desirable and answered better the increasing wants of the parish. Its rectors have been the Rev. Benjamin J. Davis, who had charge, at first, of both St. Luke's and the Coit THE -STAXDARirS- HISTORY OF BRHXUil'ORT. 25 Memorial Chapel. The Rev. A. P. Chapman followed and he was succeeded by the present rector, Rev. John W. (Jill, under whose active administration the parish has prospered. Mr. Gill has charge (if St. Luke's and also the Church of the Nativity at North Bridgeport. St. JohnV Wk.st End Ch.-\i>ki,, (>&- State street (St. Agnes) is a mission in charge of the Rev. Geo. A. Robson. Sr. Mary's Bv The Sk.^ is a small Episcopal church in Black Rock, originally in charge of St. John's, but now in private hands. It is opened during the summer season. TiiK Park Street CoN(;rei;..\tion.\l Church was organi;;ed in iS6iS, wiili thirtv-nine members, twenty-five of whom were dismissed for the purpose from the North Church. Its first pastor was the Rev. John G. Davenport, who was ordained July i, 1868. Until 1871 services were held in Bethesda Mission Chapel on East Washington avenue, but in that year the present church edifice was dedicated October 17. It cost about $25,000. The church is a very vigorous offshoot of the old parent church. In 1 88 1 Mr. Davenport accepted a call to Waterbury, and was succeeded by the Rev. (ieorge S. Thrall in October of that year. Mr. Thrall labored acceptably for three years and was followed, March 26, 1884, by the Rev. Frederick E. Hopkins. In 1885 the church building was materially enlarged and improved. Mr. Hopkins was succeeded by the Rev. Dr. H. C. Hovey, and he by the present pastor, the Rev. Edward Grier Fullerton, Ph.D. Oi.ivEr Church was the outgrowth of a Sunday school mission of the First Church at Xo. 1 14 North Washington avenue, and afterwards at Olivet Hall, corner of Grand street. The present Olivet Con- gregational church was organized November 16, 1870, and the Rev. De Forest B. Dodge was ordained pastor. He was succeeded by Rev. S. Hopkins Emory, (1872): R. Rev. Allen Clark, (1874); Rev- John S. Wilson, (1879); Rev. S. D. Gaylord, (1882) and the Rev. 1-:. K. Holden, (1885), the present pastor. Mr. Holden has proved an e.xcellent pastor and manager, and under his ministration the church has grown much. It has a handsome edifice on the corner of North avenue and IMain street, and it has secured tlie co-operation of many strong and able friends. It is a power in the community for good. The West End Church (Colorado avenue) was first a Sunday school of the Presbyterian church (1884), but it became (1885) a branch of the Sunday school of the First Congregational church, and was organized into a church. Its pastors have been the Rev. George Foster Prentiss, the Rev. Henry Ketcham and the present incumbent, Rev. C. F. Stimson. '1'he Kino's Huvhwav Chapel (Congregational) is located at No. 5S0 Pembroke street, and was organized June 28, 1894. It is a nourishing little church and its pastoris the Rev. Wilson R. Stewart. The Black Rock Conoreca itonai. Church is one of the older churches, having been organized in 1849. It was not of Bridgeport growth, but was a Fairfield organization, till Black Rock was annexed to the city in 1870. It is a flourishing church with a large membership, and the Rev. H. C. WoodrulT is jjastor. The Washlni; iiiN Park IM. E. Church, No. 102 Barnum avenue, was organized in 1854. The original edifice was erected and occupied in 1854, and in 1867 it was enlarged and improved. Its pastors have been Rev. S. H. Smith, Rev. E. J. Searles, Rev. Charles S. Wing, Rev. Thos. Stevenson, Rev. W. W. Bowdish, Rev. A. C. PIggleston, Rev. I. M. Foster, Rev. George. L. Thompson, Rev. Saul ( ). Curtice and Rev. Ervin Thorp, the present incumbent. This church celebrated its fortieth anniversary on Mav 27, 1S94, with appropriate services. The Su.nlmekeield M. E. Church, No. 473 Barnum avenue, was organized April, 1872. Among its pastors have been Rev. George A. Parkington, Rev. A. P. Chapman, Rev. L. W. Abbott, Rev E. L. Bray, Rev. George Filmer, Rev. O. F. Bartholo, Rev. \V. S. :Manship, Rev. D. O. Ferris and the present pastor, the Rev. Royal W. Raymond. Grace M. E. Church, corner Fairfield and Clinton avenues, was established August 6, 1890. It has had the services of the Rev. E. A. Noble and the Rev. Addis Ab^ro, its present pastor. The Newiteld M. E. Church, No. 413 Stratford avenue, was organized 1872. Among its pastors have been Rev. R. S. Eldridge, Rev. F. M. Hallock, Rev. S. A. Sands. The Rev. Samuel Gurney is the present pastor. 26 THE "STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRH>GEPORT. The North AIain St. M. E. Church, or "Tabernacle" was founded July, 1873. In the following year the church on N. Main street, at the foot of Frank street, was opened and the Rev. A. B. Sanford appointed pastor. His successors have been Rev. S. H. Smith. Rev. David Osborn, Rev. J. R. Dumble, Rev. O. F. Tree and others. The present pastor (1897) is Rev. Alvin P. Knell. Other Methodist Episcopal churches are: The First Swedish M. E. Church, West Liberty street; organized in 1883, the German M. E. Church, East Main street, the Zion A. M. E. Church, the Bethel A. M. E. Church, and the Point Union Mission and Sunday school. No. 146 East Main street. The East Washington Avenue Baptist Church is an offshoot of the old First Baptist Church. It is located in what was once the Bethesda Mission Sunday school building, which fronts upon Washington Park. The church was organized in 1874 with forty-seven members, and the Rev. C. W. Ray was its first pastor. It thoroughly remodeled the mission building and made a very satisfactor}^ church of it, at a cost of about $14,000. The Rev. W. M. IngersoU and the Rev. H. W. Pinkham were among its pastors, and Rev. George D. Reid is the present incumbent. Other Baptist churches are the Immanuel Baptist Church, Lafayette street, organized in 1888, pastor Rev. H. A. Chapman. The Messiah Baptist Church, John street, organized 1SS8. Pastor Rev. W. N. ^lorton. The German Baptist Church, No. 38 Burroughs street. Rev. Henri Galen pastor. THE CATHOLIC CHURCHES. The growth of Catholicity in Bridgeport presents an interesting and instructive stud_v. Controlling elements in the population that no other power could effectively reach, the Roman Catholic Church has exercised a great influence upon the commu- nity in the last forty years, and has been a power for morality, temperance and good order. The earliest date when mass is known to have been celebrated was 1830, by Father Fitton, who made regular visits until 1832, when Father Mc- Dermott was stationed at New Haven, and relieved him. In 1837 Father McDermott was succeeded by Father Smyth, who, in 1841, purchased a site for a church which was dedicated under the title of St. James the Apostle, on July 24, 1843; the congregation at that time numbering about 300. The church was located corner of Arch street and Washington avenue, and was built of brick. In November following, the Rev. Michael Lynch was placed in charge of the congregation, and the missions of Derby and Norwalk were included in the parish. sr. Augustine's. In the year 1852 Bishop O'Reilly appointed the Rev. Thomas J. Synott pastor of St. James'. Soon after his arrival he commenced to build the Church of St. Mary, on Crescent avenue, East Bridgeport, and finished it the following year. In the same year he began St. Thomas' Church in Fairfield and finished it in 1854. The brick church on Washing- ton avenue having become too small, the founda- tion for the present St. Augustine's Church was laid August 28, 1866, and it was dedicated on St. Patrick's Day, 1868, Rt. Rev. Bishop McFarland officiating. The convent school in connection with St. Augustine's parish was completed in 1881. Father Synott's pastorship continued for about thirty-two years, and terminated only with his death in 1 8S4. s Chinch, R. Convent in C, Washington Avenue. THE -STAXDARfrS- HISTORY OF BRWGEPORT. -'7 Father Michael F. Kelly was appointed pastor in 1884 and died in 1SS8, when the Rev. D. J. Cremin, the present pastor, succeeded. The present membership of St. Augustine's parish is probably between 5,000 and 6,000 souls. The Rev. Father Cremin is assisted by Rev. Father McNerrey and the Rev. Father Fitzsimmons. ST. Mary's. St, Mary's Church was the first offshoot from St. James' (now vSt. Augustine's) parish and the old church edifice, a modest frame building erected by Rev. Father Synott, in 1S54, still stands on the original site. The first regularly stationed pastor was the Rev. Peter A. Smith, installed in April, 1857, who built the parsonage and continued pastor until February 10, 1862. The Rev. Father John F. Rogers, the present pastor, purchased the building site on Pembroke street, where the church now stands. Work on the new edifice was commenced in June, 1874, and the corner stone was laid May 22, 1875, by the Very Rev. James Hughes, V. G. , and dedicated by Bishop Galbery, October 26, 1877. The old edifice was remodeled into a parochial school under the charge of the Sisters of Mercy. The Rev. Father Rogers is assisted b\- the Rev. F. Dunnigan and the Rev. R. Carroll. SACKED HEART. The Church of the Sacred Heart, set oft" from St. Augustine's parish in 1883, was begun in 1SS4. when the corner stone was laid. The church was dedicated in 1886 (Sunday, July 4). The church edifice is one of the finest in this diocese, and was erected by the Rev. D. J. Cremin, now of vSt. Augustine's. Under the care of the present pastor, the Rev. J. C. O'Brien, the parish has grown and prospered and has added a new parsonage, a home for the Sisters of Mercy, and has now erected a new convent and parochial school building on Park and South avenues, and a year ago erected in the West End, Sacred Heart Chapel. Father O'Brien's assistants are the Revs. A. F. Harty, C. Leddy, and I). Hurley. ST. Joseph's. St. Joseph's German church was organized in 1874. The present church building on Madison avenue was commenced in 1877 and completed in 1878, the Rev. Joseph Schaele, of New Haven, then being its pastor. The Rev. Theodore J. Ariens is the present pastor. The dedicatory ser- vice at St. Joseph's church was the occasion of the first official visit to Bridgeport after his consecra- tion as Bi.shop of the diocese, of the Rt. Rev. liishop ^IcMahon, >|-. Patrick's. St. Patrick's constitutes the youngest of the Catholic parishes of the city, and was formed from St. Augustine's, in May, 18S9. The Rev. James B. Nihil!, formerly assistant to the Rev. Father Lynch, of Danbury, is the pastor. On August 3, 1890, less than fifteen months from date of the parish's formation, was laid the corner stone of the St. Patrick's Church, by the Rt. Rev. Bishop McMahon, in the presence of 4,000 people. It st. Mary-s church, r. c. Pemb.-, will be of Gothic architecture, dimension 64x125 feet, with spire 175 feet in height, of which 80 feet will be stone work; the ceilings and the windows will be large size stained glass, and the three altars will be of marble. St. John's Slavonian Chtrch is situated in the northerly part of East Bridgeport, Jane street. 1 be groined Brooks and THE STAXDARD-S" HISTORY OF BRHJGEPORT. St. AxiHON'v's French Church is on Colorado avenue, and the Italian Congregation meets every Sunday in the old St. Mary's Church. Besides those already named, there are in Bridgeport four Lutheran churches: The First (j-erman Evangelical Lutheran Church, No. 164 Noble avenue, organized in 1892; the German Lutheran SSt. Paulus Church, No, 20 Harriet street (1S93); the Swedish Lutheran Salem Church, No. 399 Park avenue, and Our Saviour's Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church, organized 1893. There are also St. Nicholaus Russian Orthodo.x Church (Greek Catholic) ; the German Reformed Church, Congress street, Pastor Rev. Casper Brunner. (This is a comparatively old church, having been organized in i858); the C(jngregation Benai Israel (Jewish) ; the Berean Church (organized 1890), Pastor Rev. B. D. Remington; the Church of Christ, No. 18 Beach street, Charles Abercrombie, Elder; the City Mission, No. 378 Water street, organized 1890, pastor in charge. Rev. W. D. Fowler. The Advent Christian Church, No. 197 Barnum avenue, corner Brooks street, was organized November 20, 1S49. Its pastor is the Rev. J. W. Davis. chial Scliool Bu-lding. I'ark Av Hiiam Campbell. C. F. Bamberg. J. H. Long. \Vm. H. -Murphy. Frederick P. Beardsley (Chief). T. R. Congon. G. F. Beardsley. E. M. Wilson. C. B. Tuttle. D. E. Johnsim, E. J. Madden. C. E. Palmer. OF"F~IOEF4S OK KIRE OEPA-KTMENT OK l«er CHAPTER VII. IHK FIKSr IIUK K.\(U\h MARKS AN EPOCH. SO.ME OLD FIRES. THE MEN OF THE OLD TIME FIRE LOMI'AXIES. THE OREAF FIRE OF 1S45. A PERSONAL NARRATIVE. FlIE DEPAKFMEXT OF TO-DAV. NOTES ON THE OLD FIRE HOUSES, HATS AND SOME OTHER IllINOS. FIRE DEPARTMENT, FIRES, ETC. \Jt R. FRAXKLIX SHERWOOD begins his exhaustive compilation of borough, town and city data entitled " Bridgeport As It Has Been," with the purchase of the first fire engine, as marking a distinctive epoch in the history of Newfield village. In September, 1796, a subscription was taken up among the inh.ibitants of the vi.lage for the purpo.se of purchasing a fire engine, and in the following May (1797) a petition was sent to the General Assembly asking for the right to constitute a fire company to " conduct and run the sam_-," and it is probable that the engine was bought at some time between those two dates. The reply made to this petition by the General Assembly was not satisfactory, but in answer to another petition, sent in 1798, the Assembly seems to have made a better arrangement, and after defining the limits of the village for the first time, the people within those limits are empowered to constitute a fire company of twenty-five persons to "work and conduct the fire engine" and to enlist twelve of the company from the military company who shall be exempt from ordinary military duly "so long as they do actually .serve in the said fire company." From the specimens preserved as curiosities at the present time, we know that the fire engines of one hundred years ago were very primitive and ineffectual affairs and it was not for many years after the purchase of this firs: engine that Bridgeport had a machine that was really valuable. For a long period the handbucket brigade assi-ted the fire company. Every good citizen and householder kept one or more leather fire buckets in his house, and, equipped with such an extinguisher, he was expected to turn out at the call of "fire," and, forming a line with others from the nearest well, cistern or brook, pass water up to the er.gine wliich was thus filled and then the water was pumped upon the fire. The first record of a serious fire in Bridgeport is found in the columns of the Republican Farmer, published by Stiles Nichols & Son, in the issue for February 9, 1815, and reads as follows: "Fire — On Sunday morning last about 10 o'clock, the new blo^k of buildings in the borough was discovered to be on fire. Its progress seemed to threaten for a considerable time the destruction of the whole block together with all the buildings near it, but the spirited exertions of the inhabitants, favored by a full tide, the calmness of the morning, and the engine, extinguished it. The cairse of the fire, it is said, was the putting of ashes into a wooden dish, the preceding evening and leaving them in the shop of Messrs. Kirtland cV- Wordin, Merchant Tailors, who were the principal sufferers — estimated about two thousand dollars. During the rage of the fire an explosion took place by a small quantity of powder taking fire, which burnt a few people near it, but we are happy to say without material injury. Some considerable damage was done to the apothecary store of Thomas C. Wordin " Following this fire there were for several years futile efforts made to raise by subscription, assessment and tax, the money to purcha.se another fire engine. The thing was ordered to be done at meetings of the Warden and Burgesses, but until Januar}', 1819, it did not become an accomplished fact. At that time the money was raised by subscription and an engine (No. 2) was purchased, which engine is occasionally referred to in the borough records as "No. 16," for reasons unknown. In March, 1S2S, there occurred another fire, which broke out in the cooper shop of Ashbel Olnistead, which was consumed with its contents, and the fire extending through burned six stores and dwellings on Bank and State streets, entailing a loss of §6,000. It was customary for the Court of Burgesses to annually appoint members to fill out or constitute 3° THE "STAXDARLrS- HISTORY OF BRWGEI'ORT. the two fire companies, and it appears to have been " turn and turn about " among the able bodied men of the place. A man would be on one company in one year and on the other in the next year, and there was evidently no respect of persons in the Burgesses' court. The following appointments for 1S23-24 will show the manner of men of which the old fire companies were made. APPOINTMENTS FOR 1823-24. ENGINE NO. I. Ashbel Olmstead, Charles De Forest, David Hiibbell, Jr., Daniel Fayerweather, David Sterling, Jr., Enos Bussey, Eleazer Lacey, Elmer Wordin, Ezra Gregory, Jr., Everad Benjamin, George Atwell, George W. Sterling, George Kippen, George W. Lewis, Gideon Thompson, Nathaniel L. Skinner, Hanford Lyon, Henry Booth, Henry Shelton, Justus Allen, Josiah Hawley, Mim.son Hawley, Norman Northrop, Oswal Backus, Philo Hurd, Paddock Crosby, Philo Birch, Seth B. Jones, Thomas Waterman, Thomas Hawley and William H. Peet. ENGINE NO. 2. John B. Pool, Samuel Hawley, Jr., Sylvanus Sterling, Henr}' Coty, Ziba Northrop, John Beardsley, Ira Peck, Isaac Sherman, Jr., Levi vSherman, Benj. S. Smith, Lyman Baldwin, Lemuel Hubbell, Caleb Tomlinson, Fitch Taylor, Edward Beard, William Porter, Andrew Curtis, Stephen Hull, Jr., William Hanford, Asa Hubbell, Ephraim Knap, Joseph Hawley, Eben Fairchild, Nichols Northrop, David B. Nichols, Everat Lewis, John C. Shelton, Charles B. Hiibbell, William Morehouse, Isaac Burroughs, Albert Shephard, Sej'mour Whiting, Levi Young, Stephen Hawley, George Hawley, Benjamin Wheeler, David P. Minot, Nathan Curtis, David Roberts, Burr Perry, Perry, Jabez Norman, Benjamin D. Lindsley, Benjamin Wheeler, Jr., Levi Lyon, Ephenitus Curtis and Abel Baldwin. In the 3-ear 1S34 another fire company was chartered in Bridgeport, and in 1S40 the Phoenix Fire Company No. 4 and the Pequonnock Fire Company of North Bridgeport were constituted. In 1S45 the Bridgeport Hose Company was organized. In this year occurred the most serious conflagration, considering the size of the place, that Bridgeport has ever experienced. THE FIRE OF 1S45. On December 12, 1845, at midnight, a fire broke out in a wooden building occupied by George Wells as an oyster saloon. It was located on Bank street, and like nearly all the buildings about it, was of wood and very inflammable. The fire burned down to Water street, and then up and down Water street, out on to the dock, sweeping everything before it. It burned through to State street but did not come into Main street. The firemen were handicapped by the low tide, and the fire had everything its own way for a while. Finally, the tide came in and more water was available, and some buildings were also pulled down, which helped to stop the spread of the fire. The following diagram will serve to ehicidate the account of the fire and show how extensive it was. The building marked "A" on the diagram was the saloon of Mr. Wells, the starting point of the fire. " Y " marks the building owned by Daniel Hatch, pulled down on the north, checking the flames in that direction. " \" " wa^ near the dock and water was handy and thus the fire was over- come. An account in the Farmer, of that time, says: "The contest ended about 4 o'clock. The streets outside the burned district were filled with goods and furniture. These had in many instances been moved but not saved. The lack of water enabled the fire to obtain its great headway and most of the damage '^^^ ' — °^ ^ ",„, .i.;; i:"'.'"'!:'^:;„;,, ,7,.^ '- "- ~-' — -^^ uf^ on Water street was done while waiting for the tide to rise." The number of buildings destroyed was forty-nine, and all were of wood. Some forty families were burned out. LjCuLipP THE -STASDARirS- HISTORY OF BRWGHI'ORT. 31 The amount of loss was $150,000 as estimated, upon which there was an insurance of §8c,ooo. Among the goods destroyed were 800 barrels of flour, 100 barrels of mackerel and large quantities of tea, coffee, sugar, molasses, etc. The Common Council held a meeting on the 12th and passed a resolution of thanks to the tire department for their efficient services. A public meeting was held on the next evening, and a committee, composed of Alexander Hamilton, Edwin Porter, Isaac M. Conklin, Daniel Thatcher, V. D. Ellsworth, Ira B. Wheeler, Joseph Cook and Eliakim Hough was appointed " to inquire into the condition of the suffering poor in consequence of the late fire," and authorized to collect and disburse subscriptions, according to their best judgment to those who were needy. A PERSON.XL NAKKATIVE. Mr. (5eorge A. Sanford, of Redding, Conn., was in 1S45 finishing his apprenticeship with Jacob Mott, carriage maker in Bridgeport, and he boarded on ]^Iain street in a house just below Parker & Davis' pre.sent store. He occupied a room in the rear of the house, from which he could plainly see the oyster saloon on Bank street, kept by George A. Wells, in which the fire started. Mr. Sanford states that his landlady, Mrs. Middlebrook, called to him about one o'clock on the night of December 12 saying: "George Wells is all afire." Mr. Sanford dressed immediately and was one of the first to reach the fire. It had started in a lot of shavings in the cellar, kept to use in roasting oysters, and it quickly burst through the floor and enveloped the structure. " Then," says Mr. San- ford, "every one thought the fire must run into Main street. I went back to the house, packed my things and then went across the street to the .Sterling House stables, and had my horse harnessed ready to move if the fire spread into Main street. Many others were making similar preparations. " I went back to the fire and worked a spell on an engine as volunteer. William Hall came to me and asked me to open his grocery store, near Thomas Hawley & Co.'s store, and to give to all, crackers and cheese and cigars. He could not do this as he belonged to one of the engine companies. I did so and there were a large number of boilers of coffee brought in by the ladies. One or two other stores were opened in a like manner. There were three or four hand engines in town, and all the buildings were of wood so that the fire spread rapidly. The tide was out and the pipes from the engines kept filling with mud as they took water from the river. The fire ran into Water street and soon spread on both sides of the street. It was finally stopped from going north on the west side by pulling down a small wooden building just below Thomas Hawley & Co.'s. It ran down both sides of Water street below State, burning what was called " the Old Flat Iron," corner of Water and State streets, that had been an eyesore to Bridgeport people for a long time. It was owned by a man by the name of Wheeler, and how the boys did cheer when they saw it in flames. It was thought at one time that the whole business part of the city was doomed, but the fire was gotten under control finally. "A West India brig had come in a few days before, loaded with salt and molasses and had unloaded at the stores on the dock. They were all burned and the molasses ran into the street and all over the dock where the brig was lying, and she took fire several times, it being low tide, before she could be floated across the river. A lumber yard took fire and the lumber was thrown off the dock. J. C. Blackman was chief engineer of the fire department at that time. I only remember one Amcricus Huse No. 6. Decorated for her last par 32 THE ••STAXDARirS- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. man who is still doing business who was there at that time, and that is Samuel W. Baldwin, of Thomas Hawley & Co.'s, who kept a book and news store on Wall street. I well remember that all the frei'.^ht for Albany and Troy came that winter by boat to Bridgeport and then up the Housatonic road. "Mr. L. Fairchild kept the Sterling House on Main street and Mr. Hinman the City Hotel on Wall street, the two leading hotels at that time. I recall that many remarked the next day that the fire was "the liest thing that ever happened to Bridgeport," and I think it was so, as nearl}' all the buildings burned were old and delapidated." lell Tower. John Street. .\ I'-AID DEI'.ARTMEXT. Up to 1847 the volunteer system had prevailed in the fire depart- mtnt with no effective organization. In that year Mr. R. B. Lacey drafted a plan for a re-organized department which was adopted and a lioard of engineers was constituted which had charge of the several companies and this system prevailed up to the date of the organization of a paid department in 1872. In January, 1864, the steam fire engine, D. H. Sterling, previously contracted for, was received and paid for, the cost being $3,500, but with horses, house, etc., $11,746.24, and this was followed by the procuring of two others, Protector No. 2 and Excelsior No. 5, in 1865. In 1867-68 the fire department, still a mixture of the old and new, was constituted as follows: OFFICERS. Chief Engiiicc-r, Henry T. Shelton; Assistants, George F. Humiston, John Sherman, .S. C. Nicker.son, Peter Ring, Henry Osborn, John ]\I. Wilson, Jr.; Sirrctir?y, Henry Osborn; Treasurer, S. C. Nickerson. STE.^MER D. H. STERI.IN(; NO. I. George W. (yriswold, Jr., Foreman ; E. S. Jennings, Henry Coffin, Assistants. STK.\.MER PKOTHCIOR N(.). 2. W. H. Bradley, Foreman ; Isaac W. Nelson, Theron Hills, Assistants. FOUNTAIN HOSE CO. NO. 3. Conrad ^liller, Foreman ; Joseph Cook, Albert De Forest, Assistants. HOtlK .\N1) L.4])DKR CO. NO. 4. Hector McKenzic, Foreman; Charles A. H. Bright, John Mandcville, Assistants. SrKA.MER EXCELSIOR NO. 5. E. M. French, Forenian ; C. A. Gould, ridge. Assistants. _)hn H. Part- AMERICUS HOSE CO. NO. 6. W. Howard Barnum, Foreman ; Charles W. Gleason, Joseph B. King, Assistants. WHEELER & WILSON STEA.MER SEA.MSTRESS. (Independent.) N. Wheeler, Chief Engineer ; W. H. Vqi-yv, Assistant Engineer; F. Hurd, Secretary &n<\ Treasurer ; (). E. Buck- minster, Foreman: J. J. Medcraft, M. Powers, Assistants. SEAMSTRESS HOSK. Eli Dewhurst, Foreman; John C. Eaton, Walter J. Skinner, ^.f.WiV(r«/j- ; A. Heaton, F.noineer of Steamer : F. B. Bradbury, J. Doty, Assistants. w '111 -. y w r:"| iBBBft " 14l|H9f- i ^ " 1 ij> House of Steamer No. 2. Crescent Pla With Bell Towei. THE ■■ STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF URIDGI-PORT. 3,3 As a natural sequence to the adoption of modern machiner_v, modern methods were also introduced, and, as has been said, in 1872 the volunteer fire department, of which Charles A. Gerdinier had been the head from 1869, was disbanded and a paid department organized, Mr. Gerdinier being retained as chief. The fire department of the city is very satisfactory and effective, and for its size, Bridgeport has not suffered many serious fires. The chief fires of the last forty-five years have been: the steamer Alice burned at the dock in 1852; the carriage factory of F. Wood & Co. , on Broad street, December 22, 1865: lumber yard of Beardsley & Wilson, May 28, 1871; lumber yard and mill of S. C. Nickerson & Son, September 2,0, 1872 ; Courtland Block, February 21, 1873; Presbyterian Church, Mvrtle avenue, December 9, 1874; Wheeler & Wilson factoi-y, December 14, 1S75; hat factory of Glover Sanford & Sons, June 7, 1877, on which occasion eleven lives were lost by falling walls; the Howe Machine factory, July 28, 1883; the Hurd grain elevator, October 13, 18S3: the Barnum Winter Quarters, November 21, 1887. In the year 1872 a fire alarm telegraph system was established and put in operation at a cost of §10, 000, having forty-two call boxes. There was erected in East Bridgeport a bell tower, the one now in use, as a signal station for that side, while the boll of the North Congregational Church was used on the west side for some time. Not giving satisfaction, however, it was subsequently changed for the tower with great bell now used, standing in the rear of Courtland Block, near the house of Steamer No. i, and was at first under the charge of Messrs. Jesse S, Duncomband Joseph P. Reed, but afterwards William Krapp was appointed superintendent. The year of 1872-73 was one of considerable loss by fire, the Nicker.son lumber yard fire and the Courtland Block fire coming on September 30, 1872 and February 4, 1873. These tires, with others, aggregated a loss over and above insurance of $138,257 for the year. The status of the fire department at the present time may be summarized from the report of the Board of Fire Commissioners for the year 1896 as follows: Six steam fire engines, houses and land, two hook and ladder companies, blacksmith's deparnnent, fire alarm telegraph, hydrant department, land on Middle and Congress streets; total 1^^^^^^^^^^^ valuation $184,718.32. Expenses for the year, $67,105.30. ^^^^^fe ^B^^^^^^I^H ''• P- Beardsley, C kief Engineer ; Hiram :M. Campbell, ■H^H^ ^H^^^l^^lvij Eugene M. Wilson, Clarence E. Palmer, Assistant Engineers; • ^H^HH ^^^^^^^^^I^S ^\'' -^- Barns, Superintendent of Fire Alarm. ^"^^™™'-^^SHH^^^^^H^B: 'pj,g above report shows that the City of Bridgeport is, for its size, thoroughly well equipped in its fire department and the fact that the department is efficient and active is House ot Steamer No. ,. Madison .wem.e. demonstrated in part, at least, by the few destructive fires that occur The entire losses by fire during the year 1S96, on buildings and individual losses, were less than $25,000 and that amount was covered many times by insurance. Middle street. THE •^STAXDAR'D■S'^ HISTORY OF BRH>GEPORT. More recently there have been established independent fire departments in some of the large manufacturing plants, such as the Warner Brothers Company, the Eaton, Cole & Burnham Company, and that of Thomas P. Taylor. FIRE HOUSKS, HAIS, ETC. In 1S37 a resolution was passed by the Common Council constituting a committee con.sisting of Nathaniel Wade, Ira Peck and Josiah Hubbell, to secure for the city, by lease or sale, sufficient land on which to build a house for the fire engines of the city. Up to that time they appear to have had no local habitation, and to have been housed temporarily wherever was convenient, a custom not always conducive to the well being of the machinery House of steamer No. And Truck of Hook uan Street. md Ladder Nc or to the efficiency of the department. It was now proposed to make an eft'ort for a better state of things, and so the committee above mentioned was appointed. But, just then, the unpaid interest on the Housatonic Railroad bonds was looming large on the financial horizon of the citv, and there was a conservative feeling abroad that restrained the impetuous who would have made free with the public money. There is no record of the report of this committee; but on September 11 it was ordered by the Common Council "That Fire Engine No. I be deposited for safe keeping in Edwin Porter's 1iarn in said citv until otherwise directed." puin.ic pouxii. The habit i>f designating private property for public uses had not entirely departed, nine- teen years after the turning of " Edwin Porter's barn " into an engine house, for, on the i6th of April, 1856, the city records show that "the barnyard of W. D. Bishop was established as a City Pound and Frederick Saxty appointed keeper of the same." At the next meeting of the Council, May 5, the following communication was received and read : "The undersigned would hereby tender his resignation as proprietor of the City Pound on Golden Hill. Having held it for two or three weeks past, nothing less than a salary of $5,000 per annum, payable in advance, would induce me to retain the honor. Yours respectfully, W. D. Bishop." Truck of He i THE "STAXDARD'S- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 35 The city accepted the resionation and procured a piece of ground on John street, corner of Broad, wiiich was fenced in and made a Pound, at a cost of $74.84. SEVENTV-FIVE DOLLAR HOUSES. But the city was not always to be " close " with its firemen. In 1854 it was voted by the Council "that seventy-five dollars be appropriated for building a house for a hose company, to be located on Cedar street," and again, "that a hose company be established on Golden Hill, and seventy-five dollars appropriated to build a hou.se." This must in time have dotted the city with a class of structures calculated to give variety to its architectural aspects. EIRE HATS. The same year it was voted "That the premium awarded to Hook and Ladder Co., be not paid until the officers of said company equip themselves with fire caps." This was not the first time that the head gear of the firemen had caused trouble. At a meeting of the Board of Engineers in 1852, two years before, a motion was passed to the effect "that every fireman shall provide himself with a good fire hat, and that no roll shall be accepted until the foreman has certified that every member of his company is equipped with a fire hat." Uniformity was essential to a certain degree of discipline, and the demoralizing habit of running to fires in an assortment of high hats representing manj- eras and epochs, must have called for extreme measures of repression and rebuke. CHAPTHR VIII. THE GREAT TURNPIKE INTEREST. HOW THE COMPANIES FED BRIDGEPORT. THEV OPPOSE THE RAILROAD PROJECTS. THE H(_>USAT0N1C R.R. CHARTERED AND BUILT. THE CITY CREDIT INVOLVED A.NI) THE TROUBLE OVER IT. THE DEBT ACKNOWLEDGED AND PROVIDED FOR. QUEER LEGAL PERFORMANCES. THE NAUGATUCK R.R. BUILl. THE TURNPIKE COMPANIES. PREVIOUS to the railroad epoch, which may l^e said to have begun in 1S36, the hiyhways had ' been the avenues of communication with the interior towns, and by them all products were brought to tide water. Bridgeport afforded an advantageous outlet for trade and traffic, and she had built up quite a business, leaving Stratford and Fairfield behind in the matter of commercial enterprise. She built ships and wharves and stores, and opened quite an extensive trade with the West Indies. She begun the manufacture of articles which could be supplied to the back country towns, or shipped abroad, and her maniifactures in saddlery, harness, carriages, furniture, cooperage, and in other lines, became famous, (lood roads were necessar}', and turnpike companies which worked the highways, kept them in repair and took toll upon them, were charterted by the State. Large sums of money were invested in these enterprises, and as all the travel of the time and all the trade from the interior passed over them, they became profitable investments, and the formation of turnpike companies was common. The Newtown and Bridgeport Turnpike Company was one of the most important, and this was extended to New JVIilford, opening up a rich producing territory. This great public highway became one of the most important in Western New England, and paid large dividends to its stockholders. Then another company was chartered which built a road from Newtown to Norwalk, and one from Monroe to Black Rock, for the purpose of diverting to those shore towns a portion of the trade which naturally came to Bridgeport. The petition for a charter for a turnpike company sent to the legislature in 1S2S, recites how that " Huntington Center is the converging point for many roads, from the northern part of the town, from Derby, Roxbury, Woodbury and Oxford," and that the products of agricultural industry and domestic manufactures were all carried over those roads to the Center, on the way to " the port or Borough of Bridgeport," "which is the natural distributing point for all this produce," and from which, over the same roads, are carted back "lumber, coal, brick, timber of all sorts," etc., etc. The importance of Bridgeport as a commercial center thus appears, and the character of her business even at that early day. The petitioners ask for a turnpike road from Huntington Center to Bridgeport, to help all this travel and to make it easier for the " very wealthy farmers of North and Northwestern Huntington " The Huntington turnpike was built and still exists, although its glor)- as a great traveled highway has long since departed. It originally terminated at Main street, below East Washington avenue, but now what is left of it in the cit}- limits is on the east side, under the title Huntington Road. As has been said, the state had granted many turnpike charters (1S36), and the companies were frequently prosperous and the charters valuable. A schedule of the dividends paid by the Newtown and Bridgeport Turnpike Company for five consecutive years shows that it was good paying stock, and in a letter to the Hon. R. M. Sherman of THE - STAXDARD'S- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 37 Fairfield, written from Xew Haven, January 5, 1838, the following dividends are announced as due and payable: Xew Haven Bank ---------... -.i/, pgi- cent Xew Haven Countv Bank ,ii, " a ■' J - Mechanics Bank - - ------... 2 per cent Milford Turnpike . §,.50 per share. Derby Turnpike - . . . Middletown, Durham and Xew Haven Turnpike, payable on the nth inst. - S5.00 per share. Shares of turnpike stock were probably of a par value of $25 each. The directors of the Fairfield County Turnpike Co., at a meeting holden at Redding Ridge, August 9, 1836, declared the "stock of said company to be of a par value of §25 per share each." OPPOSITION TO RAILROADS. The advent of the railroads was to this interest a most serious matter. And yet, charters were being asked for up to and after the time when the railroad epoch opened. The danger does not appear to have been, at first, fully realized. But where railroads were projected that paralleled existing turnpikes, the companies owning and controlling the latter remonstrated strongly against the injustice that would be done them by the granting of the railroad charters Ihe owners of stock in and the officers of the great turnpike companies which terminated in Bridgeport, and which had been the feeders of her trade and commerce for a quarter of a century, fought against the chartering of the Housatonic railroad, which would drain the country from which they derived their support, and, in the end, kill their business. These parties represented, in petitions to the legislature drawn by such able and interested lawyers as Judge Roger Minot Sherman of Fairfield, that they had chartered and vested rights which were threatened with destruction, but which the State was in honor bound to protect. They had invested large sums of money in the building, improving and repair of the great turnpike roads, and the stock in the chartered companies was owned, in many instances, by widows and orphans, and held in trust for other dependent persons, whose all was imperilled by the railroad proposed. When the extent of those interests and the strength of the case thus presented are considered, it is remarkable that the new project triumphed, and to have overcome such certainly natural and seemingly consistent opposition, the railroad, as an institution, must have possessed, even then, that wonderfully persuasive power in shaping legislation, which inheres in it to-day. THE RAILROADS. , » In 1832 Connecticut had authorized through her legislature, the building of railroads for the Boston, Xorwich and New London, Xew York and Stonington, and Sharon and Salisbury enterprises. In 1833 the legislature chartered the Manchester and Hartford, and New Haven roads, and in 1835 the Hartford and Springfield, Fairfield County and the Worcester and Hartford roads. There were projects in plenty. THE HOUSATONIC ROAD. In 1836 a charter for " The Ousatonic Rail Road Company " was granted to Enoch Foote, William Peet and William C. Sterling of Bridgeport, and their associates, and this road was to run from the north line of the State of Connecticut, on the southern boundary of the town of Sheifteld, thence "along the valley of the Ousatonic river" to the town of New Milford, and thence to Bridgeport; or to the western line of the State of Connecticut, to meet a proposed road from Harlem through Westchester County, New York State. Back of this project was Mr. Alfred Bishop, who in that year ( 1836) had come from X'ew Jersey and located in Bridgeport. He was a contractor, constructor of canals, a promoter of enterprises on a large scale, and a far-sighted man of affairs, but even he would have been astounded could he have looked forward to the present time and seen the ultimate importance of the projects which he then set on foot. THE BOND BUSINESS. Mr. Bishop was of Connecticut stock, born in Stamford, but had been operating in New Jersey when his attention was called to his native State, and to Bridgeport in particular, as a fruitful field for railroad enterprises. The proposed Housatonic railroad was the first one which Mr. Bishop 38 THE •' STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. undertook to handle. ^Money was required to build the first section of the road, and the newly chartered city was asked to join in the undertaking, by which it was to be largely benefited. On March 2, 1836, resolutions were passed at a city meeting pledging the credit of the city to the road to the extent of $100,000. This was subsequently increased to $150,000, and bonds were issued and sold by which the money was raised. A novel responsibility was incurred, it is believed to have been the first of its kind in this country, and the question of the legality of the action of the city was a serious one, although the transaction had been approved by the legislature. The promoters of the project had the utmost confidence in the result, and through the help thus secured the road was built, but it was not at first a successful venture, and in the squeeze of a general financial depression which came upon the country, the city was called upon to pay interest, which it was not prepared to meet. There was a question about the responsibility of individual citizens for the debts of the city, even if legally incurred, and a very large amoiint of hostile feeling was developed among those tax-payers who had not been concerned in incurring the obligation. Persons moved out of town to escape, if possible, their proportion of the debt, and others openly repudiated the whole business, and were for fighting against it on the score of illegality. The matter went to the courts, and they decided against the city in every case, and in 1856, twenty years after the making of the original loan, a sinking fund was established, which provided for and secured the extinction of the debt. The result was gratifying, and is pleasant to contemplate to-day, but no one can read the records of those tempestuous times and not feel persuaded that both the city as a corporation and the individual tax-payers proposed to avoid responsibility for the bonds if possible. A large proportion of the property owners felt that they had been led into a losing financial entanglement, from which they would free themselves were there any legal loop-hole found large enough to permit their exit. There can be little question that had the courts declared the "bonds" illegal, the bondholders would have waited long for any provision for their payment. Individuals would not volunteer to pay a debt which had been contracted illegally and without their personal consent. Moreover, the city, as a corporation, did not propose that what little property it possessed should be liable to seizure, for it took measures to secure itself. This is made manifest by the act of Mayor James C. Loomis, on the 2 1 St day of August, 1843, when he did, in conformity with the action of a city meeting previously held, " for the consideration of $15 received to my full satisfaction of George Kippen, demise, lease and farm out unto the said George Kippen, his heirs, executors and assignees, the engine houses Nos. 2 and 3, situated in said city, * * * and also engine house No. 4, situated on Main street, * * * together with the land on which said engine houses stand, to have and to hold * * * fQ^ t:he period of twelve months from the date of this instrument." But this was not all; at a city meeting called for the purpose on September 30, 1843, it was voted "that Philo Hurd, Esq., of the City of Bridgeport, be and hereby is appointed agent * * * to assign, transfer and convey unto Noah Plumb, Esq., of the town of Bridgeport, all the property of the City of Bridgeport, both real and personal, in trust for the benefit of a// the creditors of said city, according to the statutes in such cases made and provided." Thus did the city make a voluntary assignment of what property it had left after the transfer of the engine houses and lands to George Kippen by Mayor Loomis. And still again, in June, 1844, the city sold to the town "all the fire engines with the fixtures and appurtenances thereto belonging, together with the houses and lands belonging to said Fire Department," for the sum of $1,249.09, and the town in turn leased said property back to the city for the sum of $75 annually. This was, evidently, to put the property of the Fire Department out of the reach of attachment for the city debts. None of these transactions was successful, of course, and they were all so clearly illegal that it is strange that they should have been sanctioned by the city fathers. In February, 1845, the property transferred as above from the city to the town, was authorized to be bought back "for $1,249.09, together with the amount of interest due on same at the time of said purchase," and an agent was ordered to "execute and deliver in behalf of said City of Bridgeport, a note or notes, to any person or persons who will lend to the said City of Bridgeport the aforesaid sums to be paid to said town of Bridgeport for the same." The dodge had failed and the city had contracted additional expense in the demonstration of its inutility. THE ROAD BUILT. In the beginning of this Housatonic railroad enterprise ex-Governor (jideon Tomlinson had officiated as president of the company, but at the first annual meeting, in 1S37, the following officers THE '-STAXDARiyS- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 39 werechusen; Wm. P. Bnrrall, President; Wni. H. Noble, Secretary; Jesse Sterling, Treasurer, with Win. P. Bnrrall, Edwin Porter, Samnel Simons, Stephen Lounsbury, Charles DeForest of Bridgeport, Anan Hine, Asa Pickett of New Milford, Alpheus Fuller of Kent, and Peter Bierce of Cornwall, Directors. Mr. Horace Nichols became treasurer of the road shortly after this meeting, and held the position till 184S. The contract for the work was given to Messrs. Bishop and Sykes to build the entire road for the sum of $936,000 — viz.: §636,000 cash, and $300,000 in stock of the company at par. Work was begun in July, 1837, 300 men being employed. The southern portion of the road, from Bridgeport to New Milford, was built and opened to travel in February, 1840. The northern portion was opened in 1842 from Sheffield, j\Iass. to Bridgeport. The rails consisted of wooden sills, upon which an iron strap had been spiked down. This device was not entirely satisfactory, as the ends of the iron straps had an uncomfortable way of curling up, into what were called "snake heads, " and coming through the floors of the cars. The •' T " rail was put on in 1846. The course of the new road did not run entirely smooth. Embarrassments came, but eventually a reorganization was effected, and it was capitalized at $2,000,000, $820,000 being old stock, and the remainder preferred. In 1887 the officers of the road were Win. H. Barnum, President; Charles K. Averill, Secretary and Treasurer; Directors, W. H. Barnum, Wm. D. Bishop, Horace Nichols, A. B. Mygatt, Edward Leavitt, John B. Peck, Charles K. Averill, William E. Downs, D. W. Plumb. Upon the retirement of Mr. Barnum, November, 1887, new forces came into the management of the road, and Col. Wm. H. Stevenson was elected President. The Housatonic road had become " a system," embracing the New Haven and Derby Road, and the Danbury and Norwalk road. After considerable figuring and battling this minor " system " was absorbed by the greater system of the Consolidated road, the Housatonic being leased to that corporation for ninety-nine years, which lease was ratified by the stockholders, October 18, 1892. It was annoimced that after December 13, 1892, the Housatonic road would he known as the " Berkshire Division," and so vanished the Housatonic road as such. THE XL'AGATUCK. KO.AI). The ne.\t Bridgeport railroad enterprise was the Naugatuck road, and this was projected by Mr. Alfred Bishop, and the objective points were Bridgeport and Waterbury, afterwards extended to Winsted. The charter was granted by the legislature of 1845, and it was subsequently amended in 1847 and 1848. The promoters of the work were Timothy D wight of New Haven, Green Kendrick of Waterbury, Thomas Burlock of Derby, Wm. P. Bnrrall of Bridgeport, Philo Hurd of Bridgeport, Alfred B. Britton of Bridgeport, and George L. Schuyler of New York, and to them the charter was given When Waterbury was to be the northern terminus the capital stock was put at $800,000, but when the road was extended to Winsted, the stock was raised to $1,200,000, and this was increased hiter on to $[,500,000. The company organized in 1848 and made a contract with Alfred Bishop for the building of the road for $800,000 cash and $400,000 bonds. At the organization in 1848 the following officers were chosen: Timothy Dwight, President; Ira Sherman. Secretary; Horace Nichols, Treasurer. In April, 1848, the work of construction was begun, and went rapidly forward. A heavy ''T " rail was used on this road similar to that which had replaced the strap rail on the Housatonic. The road was turned from Derby south, instead of crossing the river there and following the east bank of the Housatonic, it connected with the New York and New Haven road, where the latter crossed the river, and entered Bridgeport on the tracks of that company. The Naugatuck was, from the beginning, a well-managed road, and its stock was in demand at a premium. It carried no debt, and was always an excellent property. It was merged in the Consolidated Corporation in 1887, and became the Naugatuck Division of that system. CHAPTHR IX. THE NEW YORK AND NEW HAVEN ROAU. K. I'.. MAScin's I'REUICTIONS. WHAT THE ROAD IS TO-DAV. SIREEl RAILROADS. THE EFFECT OF RAILROADS OX BRIDCEPORT'S GROWTH. SO.ME OF THE Mi>>T IMPORTANT OF HER INDUSTRIES. THE NEW YORK AND NEW HAVEN R. R. "TpHE charter or act of incorporation of the New York and New Haven Raih'oad was obtained from the legislature of Connecticut in 1844, and by it Joseph Sheffield, of New Haven, and Anson G. Stokes, of New York, with others, were empowered to bnild a railroad not exceeding six rods in width from New Haven to the western boundary of the state, and to transport passengers and freight upon it by steam or any other power, including animals. In the following year the legislature of New York granted the same persons the right to extend their projected road from the Connecticut line to connect with the Harlem road at Williams Bridge, and to enter New York City over the latter line. At the first meeting of stockholders in New York, May 19, 1846, Robert Schuyler, Anson G. Stokes, Elisha Townsend, Morris Ketchum of New York; Henry J. Sanford, of Stamford; Wm. P. Burrall, Stephen Tomlinson, of Bridgeport, Joseph E. Sheffield, of New Haven and F. R. Griffin, of Guilford, were elected Directors, and subse- quently Robert vSchnylerwas chosen President and William P. Burrall Secretary. Preliminary surveys were made, and a contract closed with Messrs. Alfred Bishop and Sidney G. ^Miller, from New^ Haven to Williams Bridge, the work to be begun by the first day of December, 1846, and finished by August i, 1848. The contract price was $2, 250,000, cash in installments to the amount of $1,350,000; and $900,000 in stock of the road. A SURVEY AND DFINKJN. In building the Housatonic road, the final surveys had been made by Mr. Roswell B. ;\Iason, of New Jersey, who was also superintendent of the Housatonic from 1840 to 1845, and surveyor for the city in laying out new streets. In 1838 Mr. Mason made to the President and Directors of the Housa- tonic Railroad Company, a report, which was printed under the title "Report of the Survey and Examination of a Route for a Railroad from Bridgeport in the Direction of New York City, to Saw- pits Village. By R. B. Mason, Chief Engineer of the Housatonic Railroad." In this report i\Ir. Mason says that the line surveyed was " from the corner of Wall and Water streets in Bridgeport to the east bank of the Byram river, opposite the village of Sawpits in New York." After giving the technical statement of the survey and the estimates of the cost, Mr. ^Nlason says: " Although I have estimated for the wooden rail and flat bar, still, I would recommend the edge rail, believing it to be sound economy to use it on a road destined to do such an immense amount of business. " A single track edge rail, with turn-outs, including right of way and all expenses to prepare the road for locomotive power, may be constructed for $21,000 per mile. " I would refer to some of the resources that this road, when complete, will have for its support. The present amount of travel between New York, Bridgeport and the intermediate points, for four or five months in the year, is about 250 daily, each way; for the residue of the year, about 100. This, however, does not include the travel between Sawpits and New York. I have not been able to ascer- tain the amount of travel between the country east of Bridgeport and New York, but from the number of steamboats engaged on the sound, almost exclusively in the transportation of passenger.s, we can readily conceive the number must be several hundred each way daily. During the summer this travel would be divided between the steamboats and railroad. But for several months in the year, a large THE STAXDARD'S-' HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 41 Modern Freight Locomotive H. R. R. The Hon. Wm. D. Bishop was its president l)roportion of it, would seek the railroad. ***** Where, I would ask, is there a railroad project whose benefits, when completed, would be so widely diffused, or that promises such a rich reward to the stockholders ?" This report was made six years before the granting of a charter to the New York and New Haven Company, and it had taken all that time for Mr. Mason's prognostications of success and wealth, which, doubtless, seemed to most men of that day ex- travagant and visionar}-, to gain credence. When work on the new road was begun, Mr. ^lasnn served as engineer in its construction. He subsequently went to Chicago, engaged in railroad enterprises in the west, and was Mayor of Chicago at the time of the great fire in that city. The New York and New Haven Railroad was finished in January, 1849, when it was opened its entire length. It was a single track road, but in 1S51 an additional track was laid, and the capitalization raised to $3,000,000. The depot of this road in Bridge- port is located opposite the Atlantic hotel, on ground given by the late Hanford Lyon on the condition that it should be used for thirtj- years for depot purposes. The limit expired some years ago, and the road has accpiired the site by virtue of the contract. The road has been ably managed, has been im- mensely successful, and has met with few drawbacks, from May 17, 1867, to March i, 1879, and isstill adirector. He was an important factor in the growth and prosperity of the road. The Hon. Nathaniel Wheeler, of Bridgeport, was a director from May 19, 1870, until the time of his death, and was as active and efficient in that as in every important work that he undertook. After ]Mr. Wheeler's death. Dr. I. deV. Warner, President of the Warner Brothers Corset Manufacturing establishment at Bridgeport, was chosen to the vacant place. Many other Bridgeport men have been at various times con- nected with the road, among them Colonel Wm. H. Stevenson, who was superintendent of the Shore Line Division, and later of the New York and New Haven division for several years, resigning in Febru- ary, 1887. The New York and New Haven road was consolidated with the New Haven and Hartford road in 187 1, and has since that time absorbed nearly every line in Connecticut, and many of those in Massachusetts, including in that state what is known as "The Old Colony systetn." With the exception of a few miles, it has now ( (897) a four track road from New York to New Haven, and it has been foremost in introducing the use of electricity on its line, running its Nantasket branch in Massachusetts by that power, and having a third rail from Meriden to Hartford on its regular line, for local trains run by electricit)-. Its push and enterprise are proverbial. In continuation and completion of the four tracking of the road, from New York to New Haven, an elevated four track structure through Bridgeport, from Park avenue east, is contemplated, with a handsome new station east of the old one, a new bridge across the harbor, and an entire elimination of grade crossings in the city. By an agreement with the city, ratified by the legislature in 1895, the expense of these changes^ aside from the tracking, depot and other exclusively railroad cxpen.ses, are Depot Pr 42 THE "STANDARD'S-' HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. apportioned as one dollar to the city, to six dollars to the road, with a limit for the city of $400,000. It is estimated that the cost to the road will be little short of $3,000,000. The authorized capital of this road is $100,000,000 and its traffic is very large. When in 1838 Engineer R. B. ^lason, after making a survey for a railroad from Bridgeport to New York, reported thereon, he was bold enough to say that in his estimation, the travel over such a road, when built, would amount to several hundred each way daily! Undoubtedly, he was thought a visionary in those days, but he would certainly have been adjudged a proper candidate for a lunatic asylum had he then predicted one- half the enormous development of the next sixty years. In the year 1896 the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad carried over its line an average of more than 120,000 passengers daily, including Sundays, the total of passengers for the year being a very little short of 44,000,000 persons. STREET RAILROADS. The Bridgeport Horse Railroad Company was organized in 1865, with a capital of $100,000, audits charter allowed the running of its lines from Pembroke lake to Mountain Grove Cemetery and Black Rock, with a branch to Seaside Park. It was opened to public travel as far as the Sterling House on Main street, January, 1866, and was completed to Seaside Park shortly after that time, and the tracks were also extended out State street to Fairfield avenue. At the time of the organization of the company, the officers were: President, Albert Eames; .Secretary and Treasurer, Frederick Hurd; Superintend- ent, B..F. Lashar; Directors, N. Wheeler, P. T. Barnum, C. A. Hotchkiss, James Wilson, Albert Eames, H. E. Bowser, and F. Hurd. For a number of years the patronage was small, and the road languished. In 1885 the Bridgeport and West Stratford Horse Railroad Company was chartered, with the right to run its tracks from the depot of the Consolidated Railroad in Bridgeport, along Stratford avenue to Nesumpaws creek, with a branch through East Main street, to Crescent avenue. The incorporators were H. N. Beardsley, A. J. Beardsley, Warren B. Nichols, H. B. Drew, Samuel Wilmot, James Staples, V. R. C. (biddings, D. F. Hollister, Jacob Borstleman and James Bounds. The Company organized with D. F. Hollister as President ; H. B. Drew, Secretary and Treasurer^ and the road was successful from the start. In August, 1890, the Bridgeport road was purchased by a Rochester syndicate; in 1892 it was sold to Mr. Charles A. Hotchkiss, of Bridgeport, and in 1893 a company under the name of the Bridge- port Traction Company was organized, capital $1,000,000, and came into possession by purchase of both the West Stratford, or West End, and the old Bridgeport lines. The Traction Company in 1894 introduced the overhead trolley system, so generally in use, and iniTnediately extended its lines much beyond the former limits, reaching Stratford (at Paradise Green and Washington Bridge) on the east, and Fairfield and Southport on the west. The principal streets were double tracked, extensions were made through State street to Fairfield avenue; through Fairfield avenue, from Main street to Fairfield and Southport; through Park avenue to Seaside Park, south, and to Woodlawn Park and the Country Club north ; through Noble avenue, on the east side, to Beardsley Park, and in various other directions, till its lines, counted as single tracks, aggregated, in 1896, 38.2 miles in the city limits, and it paid into the city treasury that year, in taxes, $17,521.40, The company was organized with Colonel N. H. Heft as President, but in 1895 ^^^ resigned to take the position of electrical manager on the Con- solidated road, in the inauguration of its electrical work, and Mr. Andrew Radel was elected president in his place. Under Mr. Radel the road has been run in an admirable manner, and the improvement over the past is very great. The Traction Company has obtained permission during the past winter to extend its iracks to Westport. RAILROADS AND INDUSTRIES. Railroads, both steam and electric, have done much for Bridgeport, and she, in turn, has done much for them. She has granted them, practically for nothing, franchises sure to be of immense value in the future, and she must look to her incidental increment for the reward of her generosity. With the grade crossings removed on the steam roads, now happily possible within a lifetime, and the improvement and extension of her city railway service, she will be well provided, and more attractive than ever bsfore to industrial enterprises, seeking an advantageous location at tide water, with all THE -STAXDARD'S HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 43 UridRepon fro Presbyterian Churcli, Myrtle East. 1S70. conveniences of up-to-date civilization at hand. The old turnpikes were Bridgeport's feeders fifty years ago, and they did their work and poured into her lap the products of many thriving towns in the interior. Then came the railroads, and the business of Bridgeport grew, and the po.ssibilities opened out indefinitely. When General Wm. H. Noble and P. T. Barnum, believing in the future, made East Bridgeport desirable for both manufacturing enterprises and for residential purposes, they could not foresee all that would come to vindicate their enterprise and business sagacity. But the great Wheeler and Wilson Manufacturing Co., capital $1,000,000; The Howe Machine Co. , while it existed, and its successor, the Salts Textile Manufacturing Co., capital, $100,000; The Armstrong ]Manu- facturing Co., capital, $100,000; The Bridgeport Brass Co. , capital, $150,000; The Chain Co., capital, $150,000; The Holmes and Edwards Silver Co., capital, $400,000; The Consolidated Safety Valve Co., capital, $100,000; The Union Metallic Cart- ridge Co., capital, $300,000; The Sanford Hat Manufactory and its successor, the American Ordnance Co., capital, $2,500,000; The Farist Steel Co., capital, $295,000; The Moniunental Bronze Co., capital, $150,000; The Ashcroft Manufactur- ing Co., capital, $200,000, and a number of other corporate and private business enterprises, consti- tute in that section of the city a large town, which, if separated from the western portion, would command attention by its varied and extensive indus- tries, and by all the concomitants of an important and thriving community. But the " East Side" has not enjoyed a monopoly of growth, nor of enterprising men during these forty-seven years of railroad ministration. As there was less in East Bridgeport to begin with, so does its development seem the more remarkable, but the old town has increased quite as fast in that period, and very much the same influences have helped it and have scattered large manufacturing and business concerns all along the line of the New York and New Haven Railroad, as well as else- where in its limits. Prominent among these in 1896 were: The American Graphophone Co , capital, $1,200,000; The Bridgeport Copper Co., capital, $100,000; Bridgeport Deoxodized Metal Co., capital, $75,000; The Bridgeport Elastic Web C'o., capital, $125,000; The Bridgeport Forge Co., capital, $150,000; The Bridgeport Malleable Iron Co., capital, $200,000; The Bridgeport Mining and Milling Co., capital, $600,000; The Bridgeport Patent Leather Co., capital, $100,000; The BuUard Machine Tool Co., capital, $250,000; The Canfield Rubber Co., capital, $250,000; The Connecticut Breweries Co., capital, $700,000; The Consolidated Rolling Stock Co., capital, $4,167,35°; The D. B. Crockett Co., capital, $100,000 ; The Eaton Cole & Burnham Co., capital, $350,000; The Howland Dry Goods Co., capital, $125,000; The Jennings' Bros. Manufacturing Co., capital, $100,000; The H. J. Lewis Oyster Co., capital, $100,000; The Lordship Park Association, capital, $200,000; The May Oyster Co., capital, $120,000; The Parrott Varnish Co., capital, $150,000; The Read Carpet Co., capital, $200,000; The D. M. Read Co. (dry goods), capital, $125,000; The Steinert& Sons' Co., capital, $100,000; TheW. F. Swords Lumber Co. . capital, $200,000: The Warner Bro.«. Co., capital, $1,000,000; Across the River. East Bridgeport, 44 THE - STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. The Wilmott iS: Hobbs Manufacturing Co., capital, $250,000, and tlie Yost Writing Machine Co., capital, $1,000,000. Situated as it is, at tide water, on the Sound, within easy distance of the greatest distributing market of the country, and with all its other facilities, it is no wonder that Bridgeport has become a great manufacturing town, and is rapidly increasing in importance. It sends its name on .sewing machines, cartridges, cannon of all modern kinds, corsets, lamps, bicycles, locks, and a thousand and one other products of modern invention, into every corner of the globe. A sample of its impartiality and success in industrial competition, maybe found in the fact that in 1877, twenty years ago, during the war between Turkey and Russia, the representatives of both these governments were in Bridgeport inspecting cartridges ordered at the Union Metallic Cartridge Company's works, and in February of that year, that company shipped 500 tons of ammunition to Turkey, with heavy orders to Russia also; 80,000,000 cartridges were ordered by the Italian government, and the Bridgeport Steel works were making bayonets for both Turkey and Russia, while the Pacific Iron Works were turning out machinery for the Turks. The Elevator. i CHAPTHR X. THE INKl.CKNXE OF THE BOARD OF TRADE. ITS G00[) WORK. 1 H K HARl:OR AND HARBOR IMPKOVEMEN 1>. HARBOR LIGHTS. BREAKWATERS, CHANNELS, ETC. THE l.:OMMERCE OF IHE PLACE. THE OVSIER INDUSTRY. STE A .^^;0A■1 S, OLD AND NEW. BOARD OF TRADE, Ere. A MOXG the manufacturing- and business concerns of Bridgeport are representatives of nearly every •'^ important industry in the country, and in some lines the city leads all others. Her corporations number over 200, employ an army of men, and are so diversified that some of them are busy at all Her •ey Higby. Ksq. Gideon Thompson, Esq. Hon Russel Tomlinson Wm B. Hall. Esq. F. W. Parrott, Esq. Majc r Wm. H. Mallory J.,hr E. Pond, Esq. Hon. David M. Read. Hon D. B. Lockwood. times. Their aggregated capital is over twenty-five millions of dollars. Before the war of the rebellion, and for ten years thereafter, a lew prominent manufacturing concerns gave character to the business of the place, but after the organization ..kini- North tlie Conneulicut Hank liiiikhng. was President until the time of his death, and Mr. (ierdinicr still retains his place, Mr. Treat was succeeded by Mr. \V. R. Higby, the present President, and Mr. Frank B. Sammis is Treasurer. The capital stock is $200,000. The company has run its pipes into nearly every street in the city and has a very large patronage. It furnishes gas for domestic and mechanical purposes at rechux-d rates, and there is quite an extensive demand for it. Thk Citizens' Gas Company was organized in 1895, and has its plant on Howard avenue, corner of Spruce street. It makes gas for mechanical and domestic purposes by the process of Burdett Loomis, the Hartford inventor. It has already many miles of pipes laid down and many hundreds of customers. Its capital stock is $1,000,000. Charles R. Dieterick, New York, President. Local Manager, Charles D. Woodruff. The Bridgkpokt Ei.ei tkic LiGnr Co. was incorporated in 18S4, and has its plant on John street. Its capital is $250,000. It has a large number of customers, of which the city is one of the first. The electric lights were first used by the city on the streets, February 9, 18S5, or more than twelve years ago, and since that time their number has been constantly increasing. The officers of this company 52 THE "STANDARD'S-' HISTORY OF BRWGEPORT. Natlianiel Whe are: President and Secretary, James English; Vice-President, E. G. Burnham; Treasurer, L. S. Catlin. The city has upon its streets loi gas lights; 239 gasoline lamps in outlying districts, and 317 electric arc lights of 1200 candle power each, or a total of 657 street lights. The entire cost of these in 1895-96, was $43,404.88. This contrasts strongly with the eight oil lamps put up in 1825, and taken down and put away for safe keeping- next year. A still greater contrast is afforded by the " Inventory of the property of the late borough of Bridgeport," transferred to the new city of Bridgeport, by the Wardens and Burgesses and Freeman of said borough, on the 19th day of September, 1836. It is as follows: Three fire engines with apparatus thereto belonging. Also the hooks and ladders and other apparatus used by the Hook and Ladder Co. One clock, formerly called the Borough clock, situated in the belfry of the North Congregational Meeting House. Also one stove. The last inventory of the property of the city of Bridgeport, made in 1S96, places its value at very nearly $2,000,000. BRIDGEPORT'S WATER SUPPLY. Bridgeport has a very liberal and adequate supply of good water for domestic and manufacturing purposes, and uses more daily in proportion to her size than most any other city in the country. She has only attained to the possibilities of this condition through much tribulation in the past and the waging of a vigorous war with those who have liad control of her water supply. About the year 1818 the Rev. Elijah Waterman, pastor of the First (or North) Congregational Church, built a house on Golden Hill, which subsequently became the residence of Hanford Lyon, Esq. At that time " the lane," now Golden Hill street, was closed at Main street by a "pair lit" bars." Mr. Waterman owned the entire front of Golden Hill, and he utilized certain springs upon his property by laying wooden pipes from them down to Main street and Water street, and instituted the first public supply to the city. A trough, located on Main street, near Cannon, was supplied from this source, and was labeled "Public Water," and used by all. Springs below Mr. Waterman's, on the land of Philo Hurd, Esq., were utilized in a similar manner by a Brewing Company. This supply was afterward extended to the streets below, by Mr. Lemuel Hubbell, who added to it the spring on the land where now stands the residence of Clapp Spooner, Esc^., on the corner of Golden Hill and Harrison streets. Mr. Lewis C. Segee bought out the business of Mr. Waterman and continued it until 1848, when he sold to a Mr. Hatch. The " public wells," the comparatively small supply from the Golden Hill springs, and the river, constituted the " city water," upon which it must depend in case of fire, and for many public purposes. While the town was small these supplies were well enough, but as the population increased, and particularly as manufacturing industries multiplied, the need of a plentiful and reliable supply of water pressed upon the city sorely. The report of the Board of Engineers to the Council for the year 1848, refers to the "public wells" as in "good condition, but as usual, during the late drv season have afforded little or no water." The uncertainty of this supply is thus apparent, and the suggestion which accompanies it is significant : "The Board would suggest to your Honorable Body the propriety of considering whether the public interest does not require some further provision for several reservoirs of water near the public buildings on Broad kl-,,,1, ,ire "' ""= '"'« street, to be filled from their roofs, or in case of long continued drought, by the Department from the harbor, which would afford a supply not now realized from the wells." The Council does not appear to have taken action on this matter, but on February 4, 1850, the Board of Engineers were authorized "to construct a reservoir containino- 100 hoosheads water of near uf G. C. Waldo THE -STAXnARiyS- HISTORY OF BRH)OE1'OKT. 53 the Catholic Church, agreeably to their report." This was the old St. James' Church, a brick building- built in 1842-43, on the corner of Arch street and Washington avenue. The reservoir was to be filled from its roof. But relief was at hand. In 1853 the city gave to Nathaniel Green, agent of the Pequonnock Mills, at North Bridgeport, "the sole and exclusive right and privilege of laying down pipes in the public streets and avenues and highways," for the purpose of supplying public water, on the condition that said Green, "his associates or said incorporated company, shall supply said city and the inhabitants thereof, with a full and ample supply of pure water for all public, mechanical, domestic and all other ordinary iises and purposes." The franchise was broad, but the conditions were definite, and on the failure to comply with them, " then all the rights, privileges and powers hereby conferred shall cease and determine." Such were the words of the resolution passed by the city. The Bridgeport Water Company was formed in 1853, Peter M. Thorpe, President; but Nathaniel Green was still the controlling power. A contract was made with the city for a supply of water for all city purposes, and to individuals and companies for domestic and manufacturing uses, and the rates were fixed. It was signed, January 3, 1855, by P. M. Thorpe, for the Bridgeport Water Company, and John Brooks, Mayor, on behalf of the city. Pipes were laid and hydrants set up, but the enterprise did not prosper. Mr. (ireen conferred a great benefit upon the place, but lost money by the ven- ture. The company issued bonds to about $90,000, and being unable to take care of them, they were sold out, and a new company came into control of the franchises and works at a low figure, but posses- sing all the rights of the old com- pany. The new owners were organized in 1S57, under the name of the Bridgeport Hydraulic Co. , and proceeded to run the water supply on principles that were more economical for the company if less satisfactory for the public. From the formation of the new company, in which Mr. Green was a member and director although no longer President, for nearly twenty years there was constant friction between the company, the city and the people. The works were run to pay the stockholders and the supply in quantity and quality was not satisfactory. Repeated attempts to purchase the works were made b}' the city, but always failed from the unwillingness of the people to pay any price for the franchise they had given the company. At the same time the company had difficulties to contend with in the making of new reservoirs, and in keeping pace with the rapidly growing demands of the city that taxed their energies and abilities very greatly. In 1873-74 the company was constituted as follows; Joseph Richardson, President; Charles H. Thorpe, Secretary and Treasurer; George Richardson, Superintendent. Directors: Joseph Richardson, Nathaniel Wheeler, John H. Billings (deceased), Win. H. Perrv and Samuel W. Baldwin. Herkshire Jlill and Bridge, of Navigation and first seat of Commerce INCRKASED W.\TER SUPPI.V. On ;\Iarch 10, 18S6, an organization styled "The Citizens' Water Co.," of Bridgeport, was chartered by the Legislature. Its officers were. President, I. de V. Warner; Secretary and Treasurer, James Staples; Directors, I. de V. Warner, James Staples, H. A. Beardsley, D. F. Hollister, H. N. Beardsley, L. P. Warner and P. T. Barnum. The new company located its reservoir and dam on Mill river, in Easton, and immediately connected the city with its works. The work of introducing the 54 THE -STAXDARD'S- HISTORY UF BRHJGHPORT. water from Mill river into the city was well along, when, in November, 1887, the Hj'draulic Company consolidated with the Citizens' Water Company, the former retaining its name. The Hydraulic Company had, under the Presidency of P. T. Barniim, from 1875 to 1885, been slowly improving its plant. In 1886 the Hon. Wm. D. Bishop was chosen President. Two years afterwards Mr. Bishop resigned and was succeeded by Charles Sherwood, Esq., as President, which position he has held ever since. After acquiring the Mill river property the Bridgeport Hydraulic Company made very exten.sive and costly improvements. All its reservoirs have been improved, and two new ones built in Easton, with a capacity of 900,000,000 gallons. So far as is practicable the "dead ends" have been done away with throughout the city and the company is improving its service in every way. The water supply is steady and ample and a practically unlimited demand is answered to the general satisfaction. In July, 1886, the company purchased the franchise of the Fairchild paper mill and extinguished the last source of contamination on its Pequonnock river supplv. The company has a fine office, handy of access, in the Public Libraiy Building on John street. BRIDGES. The bridges, from which Bridgeport takes a portion of its name, have been and still are nimieruus. The first was the bridge at the head of navigation on the Pequonnock river (River The Old Lower Bridge and East Bridgeport, before the ope Street), across the lower end of Berkshire mill pond. The present bridge is of recent construction, but the former one antedated the revolution. Then came the "Lottery Bridge," socalled, from the foot of Wall street to Stratford avenue (1791), which was replaced about 1807, by a bridge, the western terminus of which was Fairfield avenue, as at present. This was a toll bridge until 1868, when the city bought it and made it free. It was called the' Lower Bridge. Berkshire was either the second or third on the list, the dam being built just above the Berkshire miU in 17S3, and the bridge nine or ten years later. Then in 1836 Willis Stillman, B. G. Noble and others, built a toll bridge at a place called Indian Island. This was known as " Noble's Bridge," and was bought by the city and made free in 1864. It was rebuilt in 1893 at a cost of about $50,000. The railroad bridge was built in 1848 by the New York and New Haven Railroad Company, and replaced in 1869 by an iron structure of a substantial character. In 1850 a company consisting of Abijah Burroughs, Wm. A. Peck and others, built a foot-bridge along the railroad bridge, on the south side, on the same foundations with that structure, and charged a toll of one cent. In 1869 the city built the foot bridge on the northern side of the railroad bridge and made it free. The first center bridge was built by Messrs. P. T. Barnum and Wm. H. Noble, in opening up their East Bridgeport territory. Its eastern terminus was about where that of the present Center Bridge is, but on the west side it landed a considerable distance to the south, and crossed the tracks of the Housatonic Railroad. It was bought by the city and made free in 1S64. i THE - STA.\DARI/S- HISTORY OF BRHHiEl'ORT. The present Center Brid-e, from Cong-ress street on the west side to the foot of Wilham street, on the east, was opened to travel in 1870. It is a substantial stone and iron bridge, with a draw 210 feet long, and is an ornament to that portion of the city. It was built by AVm. S. Knowlton, Esq., and cost, in round numbers, $100,000. The Lower Bridge was rebuilt in 1888, under the supervision of Charles R. Brothwell, of the Board of Public Works, at a cost of $69,307.50, nearly 100 years after the erection of the first bridge in this part of the town. The new bridge has an electric motor for moving the draw, the first ever applied for that purpose, and in widening the approach to the bridge from the east side, the city acquired and removed, in 1887, the "Miller Building," used as a steam mill, and standing in front of what is now the the main entrance to the steamboat dock. "Yellow Mill Bridge," the bridge over the lower portion of Yellow Mill pond, or "Old Mill creek," was originally a toll bridge, built by John r.,nK, ess street Bridge, i„«ki„j; N„rth. ,8,0. Benjamin, of Stratford, in 1792. and then Joseph Walker built, about that time, a dam, and on the east side a tide mill, known subsequently as "Yellow Mill." In 1884 the mill and mill privilege were owned by Mr. (Jeorge F. Cook, and in that year the mill was destroyed bj- fire. An appropriation has been made by the Gov- ernment of the United States for dredging Yellow Mill pond its entire length, from the main channel in the harbor, and the city has appropriated the money for rebuilding this bridge, with a :iroper structure and drawbridge, to admit i)f I he navigation of the channel, thus to be made ip to the head of the creek or pond at the works of the American Ordnance Company. A most important water front for manufacturing purposes will thus be added t. PRESENT .\IAK.E-UP OF THE CITY GOVERNMENT. liOARDS AND CO-M.MISSIONS. REPRESENTATIVES. SENATORS. COUNTY OFFICERS. CITY COURT. CITY ATTORNEY. POLICE DEPART.MENT. THE CITY GOVERNMENT. ■npHE Charter of the City of Bridgeport has been amended and rewritten so many times since the •'■ original enactment, in 1S36, that little of that beside the title remains. As delivered to the fathers at that time, it constituted the Mayor, Aldermen and Common Councilmen to be a Court of Common Council, for the government of the city in such things, in addition to the former Town Government, as its increasing size and its increasing necessities demanded. The said "Court of Common Council " was to consist of a Mayor, four Aldermen, and not more than twenty Common Councilmen, a City Clerk, a Treasurer, and two wSheriffs, who were to be elected on the first Monday in October, at an annual city meeting, all except the Mayor to hold office till their successors qualified, and the Mayor to do the same, " unless removed by the General Assembly." The Court of Common Council met as one body, and that was the make-iip of the City Government for nearly twenty years. On July 16, 1854, Mayor John Brooks announced to the Council that the Legislature had granted the petition of the citizens for an alteration of the City Charter and that, therein, "the mode of procedure in laying out highways has been very much altered and improved." The new Charter .seems to have answered very well for a considerable time. In 1873 the number of Aldermen had been increased from four to six, and there were eighteen Councilmen, or si.K from each of the three wards into which the city was then divided, all meeting as one body. In 1885 the Council was divided by Charter amendment into two Boards, which were to meet separately and act independently upon all matters. Tlie city was divided into si.K wards, and one Alderman and three Councilmen were elected annually from each ward. In addition to this, six Aldermen at Large were chosen, making an Alder- manic Board of eighteen. A Board of Public Works was also established in place of the previously existing Board of Road and Bridge Commissioners. CONSOLIDATION. I Seal of the City of Bridgeport. Designed by Julian H. Sterling. In March, 18S9, the City and Town Governments were consolidated and the Charter revised in conformity with the requirements of that act. The City of New London, which was situated very much the same as was Bridgeport, with a dual government, city and town, covering practically the same territory, had consolidated a few years before, and had found the one government an improvement on the two. Bridgeport was the second city in the State to adopt that form, which has since been copied extensively. The Charter of Bridgeport was also amended that year, to admit of the taking in of West Stratford, which was done on April 18, 1889. Bridgeport as a borough had been still a portion of the Town of Stratford. When set off as a town by herself in 1821, her eastern boundary had been the Yellow ^lill Stream, and her western limit. Division street, or Park avenue, until 1870, when by act of the Legislature, the line was extended west to Ash creek, and the Black Rock district was annexed. The act of 18S9 extended the eastern boundary to Brace's brook, and the Borough of West Stratford was taken in. i THE ■■STAXDARD-S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 5 7 Bridgeport, then, for the first time in her corporate existence, had a territory somewhat commensurate with her population and importance. The Charter of Bridgeport was again amended in 1893, making the terms of office of the ^Mayur, City Clerk, Treasurer, Collector of Taxes, six Aldermen at Large, one Councilman for each ward (six), seven Sheriffs, a Town Clerk and two Registrates of Voters for each ward, to be for two years, and providing that at annual elections for other officers, one Alderman and one Councilman should be elected for each ward for two years, thus making the Boards of Aldermen and Councilmen to consist of twelve members each, six to go cut annually from each Board, leaving six old members constantly on each. Under this amended Charter, Walter B. Bostwick was elected in April, 1893, Mayor for two years. Hon. James C. Loomis. Hon P. T. Barnum. Hon. John L. Wessel.s. NINE EX;-XIAVORS. Hon. Jaratt Morford. Hon. Robert T. Clarl* Hon. K. E. DeForest. The Charter was further amended in 1893, by the constitution of a Board of Apportionment and Taxation, to have charge of the expenditure of the public monies, the appropriations for the various city Boards and the fixing of the tax rate. No more judicious addition to the corps of city officials was ever made. In 1894 the Charter was again revised, and among other changes the two Councilmanic Boards were abolished. The example of other and larger cities was followed in the establishment of a single Board to consist of twenty Aldermen serving two years, ten going off each year, so as to leave ten experienced members constantly on the Board. As experience had demonstrated that the voting 58 THE -STAXDARD-S-' HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. population could not ahvavs be accommodated under the old arrano-ement of six wards, the city was divided into twelve voting- districts, thus ailording ample accommodation for all. Since the establishment of the City Government in 1S36, the following Mayors have held office: Isaac Sherman, Jr. (elected in October), 1836; Daniel Sterling, 1837; Alanson Hamlin, 1S38; Charles Foote, 1839; Charles Bostwick, 1S40 ; \Vm. P. Burrall, (part) 1841 ; James C. Loomis, 1841-42-43-44; Henry K. Harrall, 1845-46; Sherwood Sterling, 1847-48; Henry K. Harrall, 1849-50; John Brooks, Jr., 1851; Henry K. Harrall, 1852; Charles Benjamin Hubbell, 1853; John Brooks, Jr., 1854; Philo C. Calhoun, 1855-56-57; Silas C. Booth, 1858-59; Daniel H. Sterling, 1860-61-62; Clapp Spooner, 1863; Jaratt Morford, 1S64; Stillman S. Clapp, 1865; Monson Hawley, 1866-67 -, Jaratt Morford, 1868; Monson Hawley, 1869; Jaratt Morford (elected in April), 1870; Epaphras B. Goodsell, 1871-72-73; Robert T. Clarke, 1874; Phineas T. Barnum, 1875; Jaratt Morford, 1876-77; Robert E. DeForest, 1878; John L. Wessels, 1879-81-83; Daniel E. Morgan, 1880; Carlos Curtis, 1882; Daniel E. Morgan, 1884; Henry H. Pyle, 1885; Civilion Fones, 1886-87; Patrick Coughlin, 1888; Robert E. DeForest, 1889-90; William H. Marigold, 1891-92; Walter B. Bostwick (the first elected for two years), 1893; Frank E. Clark, 1895; Thomas P. Taylor, 1897. Since, and including i860, at eighteen city elections. Democratic Mayors have been chosen, and at seventeen elections, Republican Mayors. Under the present Charter the City Government is organized as follows: A Mayor, Auditor, City Clerk, Treasurer, Collector of Taxes, City Attorney, Board of Aldermen (twenty members), and the following Boards and Commissions: Sinking Fund Commission, Fire Commission, Park Commission, Board of Public Works, Police Commission, Board of Assessors, Board of Relief, Board of Health, Board of Charities, Library Board, Building Commission, Registrars of Voters, Town Clerk, Selectmen, Board of Apportionment and Taxation, Board of Appraisal of Benefits and Damages, Board of Education. The retaining of the Town Clerk and vSelectmen from the old Town Government is a requirement of the State Constitution. The City has also a City Court with Judge and Deputy Judge, and a full corps of minor officials, including six City vSheriffs. REPRESENTATIVES. Bridgeport was set apart from Stratford as a separate town in 182 1. Up to that time vStratford had sent two Representatives to the Legislature annually. In 1S21 these were Wilson Hawley and Asa Curtis. In 1822 Stratford appears with only one, and Bridgeport is represented for the first time. Her Representative was General Enoch Foote, and his successors have been as follows: 1823, Joseph Backus: 1824, William Peet; 1825, William DeForest; 1826, Noah Plumb; 1827, Smith Tweedy; 1S28, Thomas C. Worden; 1829, Smith Tweedy; 1830, Samuel Simons; 1831, Enoch Foote; 1832, Noah Plumb; 1833, Smith Tweedy; 1834, Noah Plumb; 1835, Daniel O. Wheeler; 1836, Smith Tweedy; 1837, Wni. S. Pomeroy; 1838, Henry Dutton; 1839, Henry Dutton; 1840, Joseph Thompson; 1841, James Fitch; 1842, Abijah Hawley; 1843, vSherwood Sterling; 1844, Alexander Hamilton ; 5845, Dwight Morris; 1846, Joseph F. Crosby ; 1847, Joshua Lord; 1848, Henry T. Higgins; 1849, Silas C. Booth; 1850, Wm. S. Pomeroy; 1851, Wyllys Lyon; 1852, Wyllys Lyon; 1853, Joseph F. Crosby; 1854, Thomas F. Oakley; 1855, Silas C. Booth; 1856, James C. Loomis; 1857, Philo C. Calhoun; 1858, Amos S. Treat; 1859, A. A. Pettingill; i860, James C. Loomis; 1S61, George W. Bacon; 1862, iVmos S. Treat; 1863, Russel Tomlin.son; 1864, Dwight Morris; 1865, Samtiel Larkin; 1866, Nathaniel Wheeler; 1867, George Mallory; 1868, Nathaniel Wheeler; 1869, Amos S. Treat; 1870, Nathaniel Wheeler; 1871, Wm. D. Bishop; 1872, Nathaniel Wheeler; 1873. Goodwin Stoddard; 1874, Robert Hubbard ; 1875 (Bridgeport had two members), David B. Lockwood, Carlos Curtis; 1876, George W. Bacon, Robert Hubbard; 1877, George W. Bacon, Carlos Curtis; 1878, Phineas T. Barnum, Stephen Nichols; 1879, Phineas T. Barnum, Amos S. Treat; 1880, Dwight Morris, John Saxton; 18S1, David M. Read, Robert E. DeForest; 1882, A. H. Abernethy, P. W. Wren; 1883, D. N. Morgan, D. B. Lockwood: 18S4, Wm. H. Noble, A. M. Talhnadge; 1885, John J. Phelan, L. M. Slade; 1886, John J. Phelan, Henry A. Bishop; 1887, Patrick Coughlin, George Watson; 1889 (two year terms), John N. Near, Louis Kutscher; 1891, Fredk. .S. Stevens, Louis THE •• STAXDAkiyS' HISTORY OF BRHHU-I'ORT. 59 Kutscher; 1S93. Morris B. Beardslcy, John Walsh; 1895, Edward \V. Marsh, Charles Keller; 1897, Matthew H, Ri)yers, George E. Somers. SENATORS FROM BRIDGEPORT. Bridgeport has sent to the State Senate since the districting of the State in 1S30, the following persons: 1S33, Philip A. Cannon: 1837, J. C. Loomis; 1841, Noah Plumb; 1845, A. A. Pettingill; 1850, H K. Harrall; 1851, Wm. P. Burrall: 1858, Sidney B. Beardsley; 1859, P. C.Calhoun; 1866, W. D. Bishop; 1873, Nathaniel Wheeler; 1874, Nathaniel Wheeler; 1877, Wm. D. Bishop; 1878, Wm. D. Bishop; 1879, Russel Tomlinson; 1880, Russel Tomlinson: 1881, Morris W. Seymour; 1882, Morris W. Seymour; 1883, R. E. DeForest; 1885, D. N. Morgan; 1887, E. G. Burnham; 1889, D. M. Read; 1891, D. M. Read; 1S93, D. N. Morgan; 1895, Wm. H. Marigold; 1897, Wm. H. Marigold. I- HE COUNTY. The County Commissioners are: Henry Lee, Bridgeport: Whitman S. Mead, Greenwich; James E. Miller, Redding. County Treasurer, Tallmadge Baker, Norwalk. Coroner, Charles A. Doten, Bridgcp irt. Medical Examiner, Dr F. B. Downs, Bridgeport. Sheriff, Sidney B. Hawley, Brook- field. Deputies, Peter Doolan, Jr., (ieorge Heisler, Jr., Bridgeport. I'ROllATF. l)ISlRU:r. The Bridgeport Probate District embraces the towns of Bridgep(jrt, Easton, Monroe and Trumbull. The Judge is Albert M. Tallmadge. T)1E CITY COURT. The City Court was provided for in the original Charter of the City (1836), and the Mayor was Judge, and the two Alderman first chosen, Assistant Judges. This was amended the same year, providing for the choice of a Recorder by the Common Council instead of the Mayor. In 1S55 another a'uendment provided for the election, on the City Ticket, annually, of a Recorder and two assistants. In 1868 the Court was reorganized and the existing constitution adopted. It provides for a Judge, a Deputy Judge, and other officers of a Court of Law. Its civil jurisdiction extends to all cases in law and equity, where the matter in demand does not exceed $500, and where the parties reside within the city limits. Its criminal jurisdiction embraces all cases of crimes and misdemeanors committed within the city, the punishment whereof does not exceed a fine of §200, or imprisonment in the common jail for six months, or both. Since 1869 the Judges and Deputy Judges have been: vSamuel B. Sumner, Judge, 1869, to August; David B. Lockwood, Judge, 1869, Deputy Curtis Thompson; Israel M. Bullock, Judge, 1870 to 1873, Deputies, M. W. Seymour {1870), L. N. Middlebrook (1871), Curtis Thompson (1872 and 1873). .Stephen S. Blake, Judge, 1873 to 1877, Deputies, D. B. Lockwood (1S76), W. R. Shelton (1877). A. B. Beers, Judge, 1877 to 1893. Deputies, F. L. Holt (1877 to 1879), A. M. Tallmadge (1879 to 1881), Charles A. Doten (1S81 to 1887), William H. Kelsey (1887 to 1893). J. J. Rose, Judge, died 1893, succeeded by Patrick Kane, Judge, 1893 to 1895, no Deputy. George P. Carroll, Judge, 1895 to 1897, present incumbent, reappointed for a second term (1897 to 1899), by the Legislature of 1897, Deputy (for both terms) William H. Comley. CITY ATTORNEY. The original City Charter (1836) provided for a City Attorney, and that position has been growing in importance as the city has increased and as municipal affairs have become more and more compli- cated and extensive. The following gentlemen have occupied the position of Legal Adviser to the City (iovernment .since tlie establishment ot the office: Alanson Hamlin, 1836-38; Henry Dutton, 1839-41; James C. Loomis, 1842-43; Dwight jNIorris, 1844-46; James C. Loomis, 1847-48; E. S. Abernethy, 1849; James C. Loomis, 1850-57; Henry T. Blake, 1858; George W. Warner, 1S59-60; Wm. K. Seeley, 1861-63; Samuel B. Sumner, 1868; Wm. K. Seeley, 1869; vSamuel B. Sumner, 1S70-71; Morris W^ Seymour, 1872-73: Henry S. Sanford, 1874; I. M. Bullojk, 1875; Goodwin 6o THE •' STAXDARD'S- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. Stoddard, 1^76-77-78; Curtis Thompson, 1879: David B. Lockwood, 1880, Curtis Tliompson, 1881-82; Robert E. DeForest, 1883; Charles Sherwood, 1884; Robert E. DeForest, 1885; David B. Lockwood, 1886; Curtis Thompson, 1887-88; John J. Phelan, 1889; George W. Wheeler, 1890-91; Howard H. Knapp, 1892; Daniel Davenport, 1S93-94; Jeremiah D. Toomey. Jr., 1895-96; Alfred B. Beers, the present incumbent. POLILK. The Police Force of the city, at present effective and satisfactory, was evolved through the slow processes of experience and necessity from the "Watch" of the earh- days. It was customary to make special Constables of a considerable number of prominent, able-bodied citizens, every year, as it was to appoint a large number to be firemen, but the employing of men to do police duty vi'as a later matter and one not so readily entered upon. In November, 1844, Dwight Morris and .S. ^I. Middlebrook were constituted a committee on "Watch Wardens" (the forerunners of the present Police Commissioners), whose duty it was "to employ at such times as they shall deem advisable, any suitable number of persons to serve as Watchmen " for preserving the peace, and for the protection of property against fire. These "Watchmen " were to receive from the city "not to exceed one dollar each per night." Even this seems to have been an intermittent and not a steady institution. But in 1848 the Night Watch were also made special Constables, and give certain police functions, and their employment was quite regular. A watch house, or station, was also established in the cellar of a brick building on the corner of Bank and Water streets, and so the visible belongings and appurtenances of a Police Department were set up about fifty years ago. The Police Department of Bridgeport is a well organized, well managed and very effective portion of the City Government. The ofificers of the Department are chosen for their fitness and demonstrated worth, and to become a member of the force a man must pass a very fair but strict physical and mental examination. Once on, and doing good duty, he can be removed "for cause" only, and his pay is sufficient to compensate for good and faithful services. The police office, a central station, is under the City Hall, entrance on the south side. The Police Department is under the control of the Police Commissioners, who make the rules governing the conduct of the force, hear complaints, attend to infractions of duty, nominate new men when voted by the Council for the force, and can try and remove existing members for sufficient cause. The roster of the force consists of a Superintendent. Captain, Captain of Detectives, Lieutenant, First and Second Sergeant, one Roundsman, two Doormen, one Truant Officer, one Acting Court Officer and thirty-five Patrolmen on actual duty, making a total of forty-five men. The Department has the most complete electric Police Signal System extant, which adds greatly to its efficiency. It also has a patrol wagon always ready for immediate use. CHAPTER Xlll. THE UAR OK HRII)i;F.PORT. I.ECAL LUiHTS OK IHE I'AiT. THE COURT HOUSE COMES TO THE CITY. THE OI.I) AM) NEW BUILDINGS. THE .MEDICAL PROFESSION. STATE AND COUNl V ASSOCIA ITONS. THE HOSPITAL.— NEWSPAPERS, PASr AND PRESEN I . THE brid(;eport bar. I ()XG before Bridgeport had become .sufficiently a business center to attract the expounders of the '^ law, and to hold out for them the possibilities most desirable to that profession, Fairfield County had become well known for its legal lights. Starting with such men as Roger Ludlow, who left Fair- field for Virginia in 1654, but not until he had impressed upon the colony something of the peculiarities of his vigorous personality, there was hardly a time when the county had not more than one really eminent man among the members of its bar, and frequently there were half a dozen. Some among these came to Bridgeport after a while, but, as has been said, Bridgeport held out few inducements until after the period of the second war with England. In the county such towns as Fairfield, Stratford, Westport, Danbury, Norwalk, and even Newtown, produced and supported very excellent lawyers. Samuel B. Sherwood (1767-1833) lived in Westport. Eliphalet Swift (1780-1857), born in Windham, also came to Westport to settle and practice. Thomas Belden Butler, born in Wethersfield, practiced law in Norwalk. Gideon Tomlinson, born in Stratford in 1781, was a member of the Legislature from Fairfield, then Governor of the State, then Congressman for several terms, then United States Senator, and finally died full of honors and years, at (Greenfield Hill, in 1854. Henry Dutton, Governor of Connecticut in 1854, Judge of the Supreme Court in 1861, was in Bridgeport from 1837 to 1847 in practice, and he seems t<> have been able to endure the place for ten j-ears. It is possible that there was a method in Mr. Dutton's procedure not at first sight apparent, for we read that in the years 1838 and 1839 Henry Dutton was elected to the Legislature from Bridgeport. Joseph Backus had been there from the same town too, fifteen years before, and it may have been a habit of the Bridgeport people thus to employ a, presumably, not overworked attorney. P>x-Governor Dutton died in 1869 in New Haven, where he had been professor of law in Yale College. Isaac Toucey, an able lawyer and Secretary of the Navy for President Buchanan, was born in Newtown, November 5, 1796, and died in 1869. Roger Minot Sherman, eminent jurist and judge, commenced the practice of law in Norwalk, but moved to Fairfield, where he lived and prospered many years. He was born in Woburn, Mass., in 1773, and died in Fairfield, 1844. Then there were Lyman D. Brewster, Roger Averill, Charles Hawley, and when, later, we come down to the men who at last found Bridgeport endurable, if not everything that the legal heart could desire, there were Isaac M. Sturges (1807-1877), .Sidney B. Beardsley, Dwight Morris, James C. Loomis, Amos S. Treat, Wm. H. Noble, Frederick Frye, and many more. In 1814 one Joseph Backus had gained the credit of turning aside a most "remarkable plan " for capturing a British vessel off the harbor of Bridgeport, and it looks as if, in the lack of strictly legitimate practice, he stirred up strife of most any kind that promised him the exercise which his legal temperament required. Whether there were, at that time, any other lawyers in Bridgeport or not, we can not say, but "Squire Backus" was quite enough for one small town. It was he who drafted the Borough Charter in 1800, and proclaimed the fact with a fierce challenge to all who dared to doubt, as late as in 1822, so that he must have lived in Bridgeport for many years. In 1849-1850 the list of attorneys-at-law in Bridgeport is given in the state register as follows: Elisha S. Abernethy, S. B. Beardsley, Wm. P. Burrall, Henry T. Higgins, Francis Ives, James C. Loomis, Mark Moore, Dwight Morris, Wm. H. Noble, Isaac M. Sturges, and George W. Warner. The last named, Mr. Warner, is the sole survivor to-day. Ten years later, in i860, this list was enlarged by the names of Henry T. Blake, Frederick Chittenden, Frederick Frye, James L. Gould, David F. Hollister, L. N. Middlebrook, 62 THE " STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRH)GEFORT. William K. Seelev and Amos S. Treat, but Mr. \\m. P. Biirrall, Henry T. Hitigins and Mark Moore had dropped out. From that time on, the bar of Bridgeport took its share of honors, and holds them to-day. Of the last list Sidney B. Beardsley, James C. Loomis, I. M. Sturges, David F. Hollister, Wm. K. Seeley and Amos vS. Treat were to win abundant honors in their profession for themselves and their city, while Wm. H. Noble, Frederick Frye, L. N. ^Middlebrook and Dwight Morris were to give the best years of their vigorous manhood to the cause of the Union, sacrificing therein professionally, what coidd never be again entirely regained. Of the list of i860 only five now (1897) remain: Messrs. Warner, Blake, Gould, Hollister and jMiddlebrook. Mr. Blake resides in New Haven. Fairfield was the first county seat, and there, in 1720, was erected the first court house, a wooden structure, burned when the town was raided by the British in 1779, and rebuilt in 1794. But in 1853 the growth of Bridgeport and its commerical importance asserted themselves, and the courts were removed to that city, which has ever since shared with Danbury the honor of being a shire town. The building which is now the City Hall, was Bridgeport's first Court House. It was built by a committee consisting of James C. Loomis, Henry K. Harrall, Hanford Lyon, Philo C. Calhoun, John Brooks, Jr., Lemuel Coleman and William S. Knowlton, who , were authorized "to erect on the lot between State and Bank streets, on the east side of the public square, a building of such form and dimen- _. . _ sions as may be deemed by them necessary and proper for a Town Hall and Town Clerk's office * * * and suitable rooms with the necessary fi.xtures therein for the accommodation of the courts of Fairfield County, together with a fire- proof vault for the safe custody and preservation of the public records. " * * * The same com- mittee was also empowered to purchase a site and build thereon a jail. This latter building was erected on Broad street, near South avenue by the Committee, and in 1854 was accepted by the town and turned over to the county authorities. The jail proved inadequate very soon and a new one was erected on North avenue, which has been First Court House. - Now City Hall. since enlarged and improved, and is now very satisfactory. The committee built the Town Hall and Court House on the designated site, and then acquired land on the east side, running through from street to street, corresponding with the " Public Green " upon the west. The new building was opened and occupied in 1855, a portion of it duly transferred tu the county authorities and the committee dismissed with thanks. The Hon. H. K. Harrall, of the committee, had died since its formation. A NEW COURT HOUSE. Although expected to be sufficient for "all time, " the new building soon proved inadequate for the growing business of the town and county. It is a dignified and somewhat impressive building in its massive outlines, and though extending from State street through to Bank street, it was soon found not to be either so commodious or so convenient as was desired, while its proximity to the business streets with their inevitably increasing noises, became a source of great annoyance to the courts, especially after the introduction of tlie street cars into the city. Meetings were held in 1886 by members of the County Bar Association and the county representatives, at which it was decided that another and more suitable Court House was necessary. At one of these meetings it was agreed that a new Court House should be built if the county would release to the town of Bridgeport its rights in the old Court House. Norwalk was in the field and had offered to appropriate $100, 000 for a Court House, if located there, and the two towns, Norwalk and Bridgeport, took their differ jnces to the Legislature. On Marcli 3, 18.S6, Bridgeport, in town I THE -STAXDARirs HISTOKV OF BRIDGEPORT. 63 iiieetint^, voted ti.) appropriate §150,000 tu build the new Court House, and shortly afterwards the Legislature decided in favor of Bridgeport by act approved April S, 1S86. That event was celebrated by a banquet at the Atlantic Hotel, in Bridgeport, on April 9th. A site was selected on the rising ground near the northwest corner of Golden Hill and Main streets, then occupied by the residence of Jacob Keifer, Esq. llr. Keifer's house was moved to the rear, facing on Chapel street, and on the site thus secured, the new Court House was erected. On July 28, i8cS6, the design and draw-ings of Warren R. Briggs, architect, were chosen in competition, and an ex- ternally elegant building, admirabh- adapted to its purposes, was the result. The corner stone was laid June 24, 1887. In selecting the site, in the construction of the building, and in expending the money appropriated, the town was represented bj' a committee consisting of the following gentle- men: Hon. Sidney B. Beardsley, Hon. Nathaniel Wheeler, Emery F. Strong, Hon. P. T. Barnuni, Hon. David M. Read and Samuel B. Sumner, together with the Board of CoimtyCommissioners, consisting of Nathan M. Belden, of Wilton, Charles B. Wheeler, of Bridgeport, and John O. Paige, of Sherman. The new building was completed and first occupied in 1888, and it has the reputation of be- ing the most elegant and conveniently arranged Court House in the State. Its location is conven- ient to the business streets, and yet removed from the noises of traffic, and everj- branch of the judiciary is well accommodated. The bar library is a fine and well appointed room, and a great stimulus has been given to that important institu- tion. There are between fifty and sixty attorneys- at-Iaw in Bridgeport, and nearly all of them belong to the Bridgeport Bar Association, the purposes of which are to encourage brotherly feeling among the members, and to give a banquet every year. A. B. Beers is President and Wm. H. Kelsey Secretary of this organization. THE .MEDICAL PROFESSION. Tm-; F.AiRriKi.i) Countv Mkdic.al Sociktv dates back, by virtue of its records, to 1826, and is not, therefore, so old as other county societies in the State, particularly those of New Haven and New London, which were in existence in 1784. But there are very strong names in the membership of the Fairfield County Society, and, to-day, in point of professional standing, it is the equal of any similar association in the State. Organizing when Bridgeport had grown to be quite an important towm. and just before she took upon herself the dignity of a full-fledged city, the Society was influenced Entrance to Curt House. largely by Bridgeport members, and among its "Moderators" or " Presidents " are quite a number of Bridgeport names. As far back as 1843 we find Samuel Simons Moderator of the Society, and, in 1873, Robert Hubbard; in 1880, Curtis H. Bill, and since that time Doctors J. W. Wright, A. J. Smith, Robert Lauder, George L. Porter, F. M. Wilson and others, have been its Presidents. Dr. Robert Hubbard was also President of the State Medical Society in 1877. The Bridgeport Medical Association was organized in 1S64, anJ in 1867 presented the following Kairfield County Court House. 64 THE "STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. roll of membership: Robert Hubbard, G. Ohnesorg, J. R. Gumming, G. L. Porter, G. L. Beers, G. F. Lewis, A. H. Abernethy, E. Gregory, E. H. Winslow, vSetli Hill and R. M. Gray. The Society languished for a time owing, doubtless, to the fact that the county and vState societies furnished all the advantages to be derived from association, but as the city increased in size and the number of physicians multiplied I'apidly, it was reorganized in 1871, and now shows a list of over forty members, a considerable niimber of whom have been officers of the Society at one time and another. The Society has a room in the Barnum Institute, which was left to it by the will of the founder, the late P. T. Barnum. There is no local homeopathic society in Bridgeport, but five of her homeopathic physicians are members of the State Homeopathic Society, and most of them have held offices therein. Dr. Charles E. Sanford, the oldest representative of that school of medicine in Bridgeport, has held several offices in the State Society, and was for several years president of the Bridgeport Board of Health. There are several eclectic physicians but no society in the city. The entire list of registered physicians and surgeons numbers (1896) one hundred and one, and all must register to be allowed to practice. There are si.x female prac- titioners on the list. THE BRIDG?:P()RT HOSPrrAL. The observant traveler passing throught Bridgeport on the cars, would be impressed chiefly by the magnitude and number of the large manufacturing concerns that border both sides of the line, but he would note one noble and prominent struc- ture, standing on a hill to the north of the road on the east side, which could not be classed among the manu- factories or mills. It is the Bridge- port Hospital, and it is a sign of pro- gress as well as of philanthropy of which the appreciative Bridgeporter is properly proud. Through the in- fluence of Dr. George F. Lewis, Mrs. Susan Hubbell, a relative, was in- duced to donate one acre of ground and $13,500 for hospital purposes. In various ways this amount of money was increased to $50,000, when the State added 1150,000 more, and in January, 1878, the hospital was organized. The present building was erected and was opened m 1884, having cost more than $too,ooo. Since that time it has been assisted in a number of ways, by the building of a children's ward, by the addition of a scientific operating room, by the endowment of free beds, and by bequests of money for general purposes, till its capacity for good work has been greatly enlarged. It is a well equipped institution, and the amount of good that it does is very great. A tablet in the main hall records the names of those who have given considerable sums to the institution. Its corps of nurses, physicians, etc., is full and effective, and its record is excellent. Among the notable cases on the records of this institution is one of the giving of sight to a person forty-nine years of age, who had been born blind. NEWSPAPERS. Bridgeport has, and has had, its full complement of newspapers and like publications, and has never failed to exploit itself at all stages of its corporate career, through the medium of printers' ink. It owes a large amount of its prosperity, beyond question, to the thorough advertising which its advantages have received throught the columns of the press. Its first newspaper was The American Telegraph and Fairfield County Gazette, begun in 1795, ^"d issued weekly by Lazarus Beach, corner of Wall and Water .streets. It had a (not sworn) circulation idgeport Hospital. THE ••STAXDARIfS" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 65 of 800 copies at §1.50 per year, and was delivered all over the county liy post riders. It ran for about ten years and there are many copies of it extant, which reflect the condition of trade in those days, through its advertising columns. The next venture was T/ic Bridgeport Herald, by Samuel Mallory, which had a brief existence, and copies of which are quite rare. Then came Tlic Bridgeport Advertiser, Hezekiah Ripley, 1806; T/ie Connecticut Courier, Nathan L. Skinner, 1810; The Connecticut Patriot, L. Bradley & Co., 1826 and Tlie Spirit of the Tunes, anti- Masonic, Geo. W. vSmith, Jr., 1831. Copies of these publications can be occasionally picked up. The Bridgeport Republican was started in 1830, by Edmond Fanton. This was the predecessor of The Standard. About 1839 Mr. Fanton sold his material to A. A. Pcttingill, who shortly after (1839) began The Republican Standard. In 1848 Julius S. Hanover was taken into the concern, and it was known as Pettingill & Hanover until sold out to J. D. Candee in 1863. In 1853 a tri-weekly edition was issued, and in 1854 The Standard became a daily. The Bridgeport Chronicle was issued in 1848 by B. H. Munson, and The Bridgeport Leader, T. M. Clark, about the same time. Both were short lived. Mr. Clark became sub.sequently editor of the / Vinsted Herald. The Republican Fanner was started in Bridgeport in 1810, by Stiles Xichols, who bought it from Danbury, where it had been published since 1803. It became a daily in 1850 under the late Wm. S. Pomeroy. It was subsequently under the management of James L. Gould and Henry B. Stiles at the corner of Wall and Water streets, and, later still, in the Waller building, No. 21 Fairfield avenue. Mr. Gould left the concern a few years ago, and it has since been incorporated, H. B. Stiles, President and Floyd Tucker, Secretary and Treasurer. Mr. Tucker is Editorial Manager and is a iournalist of large experience and ability. The Leader was started in 1870 by Franklin Sherwood, John N. Near and Frank A. Whiting. Mr. Sherwood subsequently obtained possession of the paper, and still publishes its successor, TIte Independent Leader, No. 321 Water street, a weekly, devoted to local nuinici])al matters and the perpetuation of the old Bridgeport records. 'V\\Q Morning Neivs, started by Major Henry M. Hoyt in 1874, ran for a few weeks and then suspended. In 1879 Major Hoyt again launched the paper, and conducted it until the date of his death in 1885. In that year Mr. L. C. Prindle came into possession of the paper and has conducted it ever since, changing later into the evening field. The Evening Post was started in 1883 by G. W. Hills, and in 1885 Mr. H. M. Hills was made a partner. It was published in the Winton block, on Main street, in 1885, subsequently removed across the street to Nos. 1 15 and 1 1 7 Middle, and thence to its new building on Cannon street, opened in 1892. A morning edition, The Morning Telegram, is issued from the same office. In 1891 the Post Publish- ing Co. was incorporated. President, G. W. Hills; \'ice- President, W. H. Comley; Secretary, F. W. Holande; Treasurer, R. N. Blakeslee. The Morning Union, published daily by the Union Publishing Co. , was incorporated in 1892. It is issued from Nc. 105 .State street. The Bridgeport Sunday Herald — with a Waterbury edition — covers the western section of the State. It is published from No. 35 Middle street, by F. R. Swift. d i inTfiTiii I i I ! 1 1 CHAPTER XIV. THE PARKS OF l;Kl Ik; EPC IR T. THE PUiiLIC i;RELN. \V ASH 1N( noN PARK. SEASIDE PARK, ITS INCEPTION, DEVELOPMENT AND COST. PEARDSLEV PARK A SPLENDID (;IKT. OTHER PARKS ABOUT THE CITY. NOTES IN CONNECTION WITH THE PARKS. "THE PUBLIC GREEX." 'T^HE Borough of Bridgeport, on February 9, 1807, bought of vSalmon Hubbell that "piece or parcel of land, lying and being situate in said Bridgeport, containing one-quarter of an acre, be the same more or less, and bounded easterly on Daniel Fayerweather's land, southwardly and westwardly and northwardly on highways, to be laid open, kept and maintained as a public high- (•». ,, ^., way forever. " The " public highway " in this case was a pretense, for the said " piece or parcel" was never used for highway pur- poses, but is the lot of open land lying west of the present City Hall, and further bounded on State, Broad and Bank streets. ^Vhen the City Hall was built, this land Seaside Park. WaS not encroachcd upon, but the little Ueardsley Park. "Green" has been, in effect, a public park ever since; although not recognized as a part of the park system of the city, and being only a portion of the City Hall lot. WASHINCTON PARK. In 1851 Wm. H. Noble and P. T. Barnum, in the opening up of their property in East Bridge- ]ji)rt. in what had been the " Xew Pasture Lots," set aside a tract of land of four acres in extent, to be used as a public park, and thus to render more attractive for resi- dential purposes the remainder of the territory. While it remained openand thus used asa "common, " it was not formal!}' transferred to the city till 1865, when a deed was given and the Common Council accepted the gift under the title "Washington Park." An appro- priation of $r,ooo was made for fencing and improving this park, and Wm. H. Perry, Charles A. Hotchkiss and Nathaniel Wheeler were appointed Commissioners in charge of the improvements. This park remains a monument to the public spirit and foresight of the men who gave it to the city. It is bounded on the north by Barnum avenue, on the west by Noble avenue, on the south by East Washington avenue and on the east by Kossuth street. It is surrounded bv some of the finest residences on the east side, and four TIIH •• STAXDARDS" HISTORY OF BR/DGLI'ORT. 67 churches, the Park Street Congregational, Washington Park M. E.. St. Paul's Episcopal, and the East Washington Avenue Baptist Church, look upon it. It is laid out in converging walks, with a band stand in the central space, and it has a fine growth of native forest trees, which were standing upon it when it was first selected for park purposes. Being in a central location, and easily accessible, it is a great benefit to that iiortion of the citv. -KASIDE l'.\RK. In the year 1862, previous to its departure for the seat of war, the 17th Connecticut Volunteer Regiment encamped on the land south of the city bordering upon the sound, known as Seaside Park. It was then all farming bind, but its fine location fronting on the sea was very delightful. Thousands visited it at that time, and afterward, when various other special attractions called them there, and in 1863 and thereafter, articles in the Bridgeport Daily Standard pointed out the beauty and popularity of the place, and urged upon the city the propriety and advantage of securing so exceptionally well located a tract for park purposes. P. T. Barnum and James C. Loomis were the first to move in the matter. In 1S64 a survey was Pembroke I'ark. He.-irdslev Park. Seaside Park. Iteardslev Park. made by E. R. Lambert and (ieorgc Bcckwith and a map drawn of the propo.sed area, thirty-five acres in all, thirteen of which were in ]-5ridgeport and the remainder in Fairfield. In 1865 a committee was appointed by the Common Council, consisting of Nathaniel Wheeler, Frederick Hurd and Eli Thomp- son, to examine into the matter, and these gentlemen reported favorably upon a proposition of the owners of the land, Captains John Brooks and Burr Knapp, and Messrs. George Bailey and P. T. Barnum, to convey the land to the city free of charge, provided that it be used perpetually for a public park; and they also reported the contribution of $2,720 by some si.xty individuals and business firms for the purchase of additional land. A city meeting was called July 8, 1865, and the Council was authorized to accept the deeds of the land and to appropriate a sum not exceeding $10,000 for grading and improving the park. The Council formally accepted the deeds August 14, 1865, and appointed James C. Loomis, S. S. Clapp and Jacob Keifer, Commissioners of vSeaside Park. At the suggestion of General E. R. Viele, of New York, the sea wall around the front of the park was begun, the driveway an 1 walk back of the wall laid out, the pond excavated and connected with tide water. It was some time before final plans were adopted. In the Daily Standard for January 15, 68 THE "STAXDARrrS-' HISTORY OF BRWGEPORT. 1867, occurs the following item concerning the park: " In the rooms of Messrs. Lambert «& Bunnell, the architects, in Wales bnilding, can be seen an excellent sketch of the proposed Seaside Park. This drawing was, we learn, obtained and presented to the Park Commissioners by Mr. Nathaniel Wheeler at considerable expense, and is an example of public spirit worthy of special mention. The drawings were obtained of the designers and Superintendent of the New York Central Park, and the work was done by Messrs. Olmstead, Vaux & Co., artists of New York. The plan is well worthy the attention and study of our citizens generally, and particularly of those who have property in the vicinity of the park." Subsequently, considerable additions were made by gift and purchase, and the area of the park was o-reatly extended. In 1872-73, the Commissioners, Messrs. Nathaniel W'heeler, G. B. Waller and Albert Eames, reported the total expenses in the purchase of land and in improvements, $77,778.85. The following is the table of lands donated to and purchased by the city for Seaside Park, up to and including 1870: Acres. Rods. Price. August 14, 1865. P. T. Barnum 7 10 given. " " " John Brooks and wife I . ,, ■> y 6 57 " " " " Burr Knapp " " ) " " " George Bailey 7 134 " " " " Harry W^heeler, 100 feet wide for an avenue. - " Harry Wheeler 7 S5 §2,257.50 September 22, 1865. J. Brooks and wife. | South end of ]\Iain| - " Burr Knapp and wife. [■ street — quantity!.. - given. " •' " F. Lathrop and wife. ) not stated. ) - " 28, " George Bailey 5 $ 900.00 29, " " " 8 151 4,470.50 June 5, 1866. F. Lathrop and wife, west of Main street.... - — 250.00 " 6, " J. Brooks and wife, west of Main street - — given. " 6, " Burr Knapp and wife — quantity not stated.. - — " rl. H. Whiting, south of Park Place, beO I tween Broad ar^I Main strppt'; — nuan-V I tity not stated. '• 14, '• John Brooks and Burr Knapp 4 120 1,425.00 September 8, 1866. Harry Wheeler 2 12S 832.00 July 12, 1869. P. T. Barnum 3 So given. September 14, 1869. Harry Wheeler 2 136 2,843.75 January 24, 1870. Nathaniel Wheeler 2 80 given. $13,478.75 In 1884 P. T. Barnum gave about thirty acres mure to the park, the gift comprising the land be- tween Waldemere avenue and the water, and extending from Iranistan avenue on the east, to Barnum's Dyke, at the mouth of Cedar creek, on the west. This was a portion of the land reclaimed by the building of the dyke by Mr. Barnum. In 1895 Mr. Horace Smith, who had a claim to certain land within the park, south of the north line of Waldemere avenue, released his right and title to the city, and so removed all obstruction to the improvement of the west end of the park to the dyke. In addition to its walks and drives, the park has a handsome band stand, and a fine pier extends from the eastern end out over the water. Grounds for athletic sports and the race track, a portion of which is a bicycle path, are also available. Beyond the park limits, to the east, are b.Uhing pavilions on a very good beach where all facilities are afforded. A UNlgUF, PARK. The whole area of Seaside Park occupies about 125 acres, and it has now a substantial sea wall, for most part solid masonry, along its entire front. It is well laid out, and its walks and drives embrace a great variety in grove and shrubbery, lawn and water views. 7, " J tween Broad and Main streets — quan-[... - — 500.00 THE -STAXDARirS HISTORY OF BRIDOEPORT. 69 There is no other park Hke it in the country, so near the city, with miles of walks and drives along the shore, where the waves break pleasantly in fine weather, or dash in mig-ht and magnificence when driven by the storm. It is intended to extend the sea drive, or bonlevard, to Black Rock, over the breakwater to Fayerweather's Island, and to thus complete a water front that can have few rivals anywhere. I'.E.\RDSI,F.V P.ARK. Beardsley Park, which lies in the northwestern part of the city on the Pequonnock river and lake, was the gift of the late James Walker Beardsley, and was laid out after plans by Frederick Law Olmstead in 1 88 1. The deed to the city was dated May 24, 1881, and it was onl}- conditioned upon the expenditure annually, by the city, of $3,000 in improvements. This condition has been not only kept, btit exceeded. and the natural beauty of the park has, with skilled and careful man- agement, increased immensely, till statue ..t v. t. namum at seaside I'ark. now the park is one of the most beautiful to be met with anywhere. It is chiefly rural in character, having only the water front of the river, but its walks and drives, its rustic arrangements of wall and boulder and parterre, and its fine concourse with a magnificent view from the summit, are great attrac- ^'_,y tions. From the level of the concourse there is a view in every direction, both grand and beautiful. The city lies to the south, the far -lund stretches from east to west along the southern horizon, while iral views of hill and forest, field and farm, meet the eye on the east and north, with the river and the opposite hillside on the west. The trolley cars bring crowds of passengers to this park, which is a great favorite, affording so strong a contrast to Seaside on the Sound, each n uusiev I I. K admirable in its way. SOME OIHER PARKS. Lafayette F'ark is a small area of land at the junction of Lexington avenue, Jones avenue, and George street. It was given by the late Nathaniel Wheeler and Seth B. Jones, and has been improved by the city, imtil it is a very acceptable and valuable little park for its immediate neighborhood. It is nearly a triangle in shape. A small park at the corner of Clinton and North avenues is called Clinton Park. It made its appearance as a source of ex- pense to the city in 1887, and has been duly watched and tended ever since. Wood Park is another little breathing place at the junction of Benham and Wood avenues, north of George street. It contains 2.500 feet of space, and is valuable to, and appreciated by the neghborhoiid. Pembroke Park is the "Old Mill Green," the " waste land - ^^^^ Beardsley Park. formed by the forking of the King's Highway, east of Berkshire Mill pond, and left a common ever since. It has been improved for park purposes by the city, and will, in the future, doubtless attain a higher degree of usefulness than it enjoyed when it was an adjunct of the great traveled highway between New York and Boston. 7° THE - STANDARirS" HISTORY OF BRHJGEPORT. IHE MURDER tlK MR. HE A RDSI.EV. On December 22, 1S92, James Walker Beardsley, the donor of Beard.sley Park to the city, died at his residence near the park, from injuries received at the hands of burglars, a few evenings before. The guilty parties were never discovered, and they carried away with them considerable plunder, leaving Mr. Beardsley, who was ill at the time, in a condition from which, as has been said, he died. Mr. Beard.sley left to the city a most magnificent monument of his public spirit and beneficence, and lie will be cherished in the memory and affection of his fellow citizens so long as the noble ]jark whicli bears his name gives health and pleasure to the people. t.arnu.m's statue. The bronze statue of P. T. Barninn at Seaside Park was unveiled on the 4th of ]u\y. 1893, with ,v Reside Waldemere. of P. T. Barnum, near Seaside Park. Marina. Waldeme appropriate and exceedingly interesting ceremonies, in which thousands participated. The following is an extract from the official programme of the day: "A fine bronze statue of the late P. T. Barnum, a perfect picture, by Thomas Ball, was presented to the city of Bridgeport by his former partners, James A. Bailey and James A. Hutchinson and W. W. Cole. This now stands on a superbly sculptured granite pedestal, the gift of the citizens of Bridgeport in beautiful Seaside Park, of which he was one of the founders, and the largest donor. It is in a particularly well chosen site, his favorite summer-day haunt, on the margin of the Sound, and within sight of his former home. ***** it will be long ere the world forgets P. T. Barnum." THE SOLllIERS MONUMENT. The Soldiers' Monument at Seaside Park is a very beautiful and satisfactory structure. The Ladies' Soldiers' Monument Association of Bridgeport and the town together, furnished the funds, THE -STAXDARDS- HISTORY OF liRIIHrEPORr. 71 about $30,000, and procured the erection of the noble monument. The corner stone was laid August 29, i866. Governor Joseph R. Hawley and Major-General A. H. Terry being among- those present. and taking part in the ceremonies. The monu- ment was dedicated August 17, 1876, and on that occasion there was one of the most imposing civil and military displays ever made in Bridgeport. The procession was in charge of Chief Marshal Wni. E. Disbrow, and among the prominent speakers at the literary portion of the affair, which took place in the Opera House, owing to a sudden storm, were the Hon. D. H. Sterling, Rev. Alex- ander R. Thompson, formerly of the South church, Major Wm. H. Mallory, ex-Go\-ernor J. R. Hawley and General Wm. H. Noble. The committee under whom the monument was erected consisted of Wm. H. Mallory, Henry A. House and J. D. Alvord, and the artist and designer was Wm. H. ^loscman, of Chicopee, Mass. IHK HOWE STAIUK. The statue of Elias Howe, the inventor, during his life the head of the great Howe Sewing Machine Co., was a gift to the city on the condition that a suitable base should be furnished for it, which was done. In the fall of 1884 the statue was placed upon a projicr foundation in its iM f\ l£w .fcH .•«fe »K,>^%r"' ksIIHf^^«9M IhHM^^ B^Kfi^S Hh ^ 1 Soldiers' .Monuinenl, .Seaside Park. present position, and is prominent among the ajipro- priate and historic adornments of the place. A -NARROW ESCAPE. In 1853, Seaside Park, although not then thought of, came very near being made impossible. A com- mittee of the Common Council had been appointed to survey the city south of State street, and on July 5th of that year, this committee reported a map and survey, and another committee was appointed to lay out said streets m accordance with said survey. The last corn- committee reported on September 5th, and among the other improvements, recommended "the extension to the shore of Long Island Sound, of Lafayette street, Lambert street (Warren avenue) and Myrtle avenue," and the layout of a dozen, more or less, cross streets in that section. This report was adopted by the Council and the improvements ordered, but the Mayor failed, for reasons unknown, to sign the layout, and it never became operative. Charles B. Hubbell, Esq., was Mayor of the city at that time, and the fact that he never signed the document, the carrying out of which would have rendered Seaside Park an impossibility, should be placed to his credit, whatever ma}- have been his reason therefor. It was eleven years later tliat the movement to secure Seaside Park was made. at Seaside Pi CHAPTER XV. liRlDGEPORX's SOUND FIXANCIAL INSl'ITUTIOXS. HER HISTORIC BANKS AND HER WELL-KNOWN BANKERS. POSTMASTERS OF THE PASI'. CUSl'O.M HOUSE AND l_:OLLECTORS. THE NEW FEDERAL BUILDING. THE BANKS OF BRIDGEPORT. ORIDGEPORT has always prided herself upon her sound and successful financial institutions and, although, since the establishment of her banks, there have been numerous periods of business stress and financial trial, there has never been a bank failure in the city. The Kridgeport Bank, iPo6. There are five National banks in Bridgeport, five savings banks and several private banking institutions. The Bridgeport Bank, the oldest bank in the city, was incorporated in October 1806. Its capital _^____^^^^^^^_____^_^^^^^^____^^_= stock was $200,000, CASHIER OF THE BRIDdEPOBT BAIVK, '^Fay to ^ fY/ or B^artVy a J©/ and its directors 'f± were: Isaac Bron- son, B 1 r d s e V Norton, Samuel W. I« Johnson, John S. ?S -^ Lannon, Salmon ~ 'i'aJ<^T- / /v^ COtlllEOTISTIT SAITZ, 1,0., J ^ Hubbell, Lambert Lock wood, David .Minot, Jessup Wakeman and Ebenezer Jessup. Isaac Bronson was chosen President and George Iloyt, Cashier. .-.^r ^S'^ i^a :r>-;'^'^ .1» i^&ISg THE CONNECTICUT NATIONAL BANK BUILDING. THE -STAXOARfrS HISTOkY OF BRIDGEPORT. 73 Mr. Bronson was an able financier and had had experience in banking both in New York and Philadelphia before coming to the Bridgeport Bank. Succeeding Mr. Bronson the Presidents were: John S. Cannon, Ebenezer Jesstip, Sylvanns Sterling, Hanford Lyon, Sherman Hartwell, Munson Havvley and the present incumbent, Thomas B. DeForest. F. N. Benham is Cashier. The bank has been managed in a successful manner from the first. Its capital to-day is §215,850 and its surplus $1 12,000. The first building of this bank was a plain two story and a half structure on the southeast corner of Main and Bank streets. This was remodeled in 1857, and an additional story put on. In 1884-S5 the Bridgeport Bank and the City Savings Bank built, upon the same site, the handsome Union Bank Building which they now occupy. The building is one of the finest in the city, and is a model of good taste and convenience in its architectural detail and arrangement. The next bank in order of time was the Connecticut Bank. It was granted a charter in 1831, on the condition that it pay a bonus of $5,000, seven-tenths of which went to Yale College, and the remainder to Washington College. The corporators were Cyrus H. Beardsley, Daniel Sterling, Enoch Foote and others. Mr. Beardsley was the father of the late Judge vSidney B. Beardslew Mr. Sterling was the father of the late Daniel H. Sterling "War Mayor" of Bridgeport, and General Foote was the father of Charles Foote, later Cashier of the bank. Mayor, etc., etc. This bank was located on the north corner of Wall and Water streets, for several years, but after the fire of 1833 a lot was purchased on the corner of Wall and Main streets, and a building erected, which was recently superseded by the imposing Connecticut Bank Building now standing there. The capital of this bank is now $332,100, and its undivided profits were (1897) $150,000. Its Presidents have been Captain Ezekiel Hubbell, who was elected in 1835, and the Cashier was the Honorable Charles Foote, who retained the position till he died. Mr. Hubbell was succeeded by Daniel Thatcher in 1840, he by P. C. Calhoun in 1848. Mr. Calhoun served till 1864, when he resigned to take the Presidency of the Fourth National Bank of New York City. Harvey Higby succeeded Mr. Calhoun and served till 1875, when Daniel H. Sterling was elected to fill his place. On the death of Mr. Sterling, in 1877, Mr. Samuel W. Baldwin was chosen to the Presidency. Mr. Foote, Cashier, died in 1862, and John T. Shelton succeeded him. He resigned in 1868 to become Treasurer of The New York and New Haven Railroad, and was succeeded by Mr. H. B. Drew, who was in turn followed by Mr. H. S. Shelton, 74 THE •'STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDOEPORT. who is now Cashier. The present building, which is a stately and substantial edifice, six stories high, was built in 1885-86. The Farmei's' Bank was chartered in 1849 with a capital of $200,000. It paid for its franchise by a bonus of $5,000 to the general hospital society of the State. It was located at first on the southwest corner of Main and State streets for several years, but in 1871, it removed to its present location on the corner of Main and Bank streets.. It was the first of the Bridgeport banks to adapt itself to the new national banking law, and in 1864 it took the name of the " First National Bank of Bridgeport." At the organization of this bank, Edmund S. Hawley was elected President and William E. Seeley, Cashier. It has been a depository of public funds since its organization as a National Bank, Stile Hon, C. B. Hubbell, Mas-t JI. Middlebrook, Esq. iSsi. Hon. P. C. Calhoun, Mayor, 1855-56-57. Isaac Sherman, Esq. Hon. Clapp Spooner, Mayor, iS6> Hon. S. B. Beard.sley, Judge Superior Court. Hon. John Brooks, JIayor, 1S51 and 1854. and its management has been very prudent and successful. Upon the death of Mr. Hawley, Win. E. Seeley was chosen President, and O. H. Brothwell, Cashier. Its capital stock is $210,000 and its surplus $105,000. The Pequonnock National Bank was chartered in 1851 and paid $4,000 for its charter; $1,000 to Bridgeport Library; $1,500 to the State Treasury for the benefit of the in.sane poor, and an equal amount to the State Reform School. It built the banking house that it now occupies on the corner of State and Main streets, and opened its doors for business in 1S51. Its Presidents have been: P. T. Barnimi, 1851, Charles B. Hubbell, 1855, Clapp Spooner, i860, Munson Hawley, 1865, Charles B. Hotchkiss, 1869. Its capital stock is now $200,000 and its surplus fund $100,000. Its President is David Trubee and its Cashier, I. B. Prindle. THE -STAXDARDS- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 75 The Bridg-eport City Bank, now the City National Bank, was organized in 1854 under the general banking act of 1852, with a capital of $100,000, subsequently increased to $200,000. It began business iu the old Post Office building on Bank street, and then removed to the corner of Wall and Water streets, and in 1861 it fitted up and occupied its present quarters, Nos. 17 and 19 Wall street, facing Middle street. In March, 1865, it was reorganized under the National Banking Act, and its capital was increased to §250,000. The Presidents of this bank since its organization have been Adam P. Houston, S. F. Hurd, Ira vSherman, Sherwood Sterling, George B. Waller and Daniel N. Morgan. When Mr. Morgan was appointed Treasurer of the United States by President Cleveland in 1893, he Ira Sherman. Ksq. Hanfoid Lyon, Esq. Rev. Nathaniel Hewit, D. D. Gurdon S. Coit, D. D. Hon. E. B. Goodsell, Postmaster, 1853-1) Mayor, 1S71-72-7J. resigned his position, and Edwin G. Sanford, the present incumbent, was chosen in his place. Frederick J. Banks is Cashier. The surplus fund of this bank by its last .showing was $150,000. ;avini;s h.xnk;; The are five savings banks in Bridgeport, the oldest of which is the Bridgeport Savings Bank, chartered May, 1842; among its corporate members being Gideon Thompson, Wm. H. Noble, Thomas Ransom and Schuyler Seeley. It was the ninth savings bank chartered in the State, and at the time was the only one west of New Haven. Its present handsome banking house was completed in 1878, and with the lot, cost about $62,000. The Presidents of this successful and well-managed bank have been : Sherwood Sterling, 1842; Smith Tweedy. 1843: Daniel O. Wheeler, 1850; Lemuel 76 THE ■■ STANDARD- S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. Coleman, 1851; Sherwood Sterling, 1S64; Hervey Higby, 1S70; E. S. Hawley, 1875. President is Samuel C. Trubee, and its Treasurer, Alexander Hawley. The City Savings Bank was chartered in 1859. David F. Hollister is President. Middlebrook was Treasurer from its organization for many years, and was succeeded by Major Wm. B. Hincks, the present officer. The rooms of the bank are in the United Bank Building, corner Main and Bank streets and are very pleasant. Wm. N. Middlebrook is Assistant Treasurer. The first President was Hanford Lyon ; he was succeeded by Ira Gregory, and he in turn by Horace Nichols, who was followed by the present incumbent. The bank has a very large line of deposits, and in the dividends paid from January, i860, to January, 1886, it disbursed $1,700,000. The bank built the half of the Union Bank Building which it occupies, and owns that side, the Bridgeport National Bank owning the southern half. The People's Savings Bank was organized in i860. Its first President was Ira Sherman and its Treasurer, vStephen Hawley. The bank is carefully and ably managed, and the money of its 6,000 depositors is looked after with discretion. It has been very successful. In December, 1864, Its present Mr. S. M. Bank Building-, ci.rner llain and Bank Stiects. llndgepurt National and City Savings Banks. the bank purchased the lot on the southeast corner of Main and Bank streets, on which stood the Part- ridge ph(jtographic gaUery. This building was removed in 1870 and the present banking house erected in its place. The first floor was rented to the First National Bank, and the Savings Bank occupied the front rooms on the second floor. The present officers are: President, Wm. E. Seeley; Treasurer, Edward W. Marsh ; Teller, Frank Hubbard. The Mechanics and Farmers' Savings Bank was chartered in 1871 but its organization was delayed until 1873. It was started as an East Bridgeport institution and located on East Washington avenue, near East Main street. Mr. George W. Hayes was its first President, and he was succeeded by Mr. Wm. G. Lineburgh. In 1873 the bank abandoned its East Bridgeport venture, and located in the basement of the Connecticut Bank Building, corner Main and Wall streets. From there it removed into the Barnum Building, 407 Main street. In July, 1S83, Mr. Andrew Burke was chosen President Old Post Office. nk Street Entranc THE •■srAXDARirS" IHSTORV OF BRIDGEPORT. 77 and Mr. Lyman S. Catlin, Treasurer. In December, 1885, the bank removed to the City Bank Building, Wall street, and has been there ever since. The same officers continue. The Industrial Savings Bank, Patrick Coughlin, President, and John F. Noble, Treasurer, has rooms in the Standard Building, on Middle street. It has not yet fairly begun its career. The private banking establish- ments are: T. L. Watson & Co., 305 Main street. Established in 1866. James Staples & Co., 109 State street; Marsh Merwin & Lemmon, 305 Main street ; Burr & Knapp, 363 Main street. TIIK I l£l)ER.\l, UUSIiNhSS. The Postmasters of Bridgeport have licen Amos Fairman, appointed in 1801 ; Charles Bostwick, 1804 ; Benjamin Bostwick, 1806 ; Charles Bostwick, 1808; Jesse Sterling, 1810; Stephen Lcninsbury, Jr., 1841; Philo F. Barnum, 1845 ; George Wade, 1849; E. B. Goodsell, 1853; F. W. Smith, Jr., 1861; George F. Tracy, 1869; James E. Dunham, 1872; J. W. Knowlton, 1875; Edwin F. Meeker, 1 886; J. W. Knowlton, 1889; Aurelius Steward, 1893, present incumbent. The Post Office was on Bank street, below Main, in a building running Post Office and Custom Hiiuse, corner Cannon and Broad Streets. Site of old St. John's Church. through to State, where it had been located under F. W. Smith. But it soon became evident that the growing town demanded a public building, and this matter was successfully agitated especially by Congressman E. W. Seymour, until in the spring of 1888 an appropriation was made by Congress of §150,000 for a Federal building in Bridgeport, to accommodate all the departments of the Federal business. In December of that year, the site of the old Si. John's Church, corner Cannon and Broad streets, was selected, and the work soon after begun. The building was completed and opened to the public on February 5. 1892. It has accommodations for the Custom House. Post Office and Internal Revenue Collector, and is, externally, a ver}^ noble and attractive building. Its arrangements internally are excellent also, but so little allowance was made in the plans for the inevitable growth of business, that an appropriation of §100,000 has been made by the present Cong for a necessary enlargement of the building. The Collectors of this Cu.stoms district have been: Samuel Smedley, 1789 to 18 nss (1897), 12; Walter 78 THE '' STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. Bradley, 1812 to 1832; Samuel vSimons, 1832 to 1841; Joseph Thompson, 1841 to 1845; Stephen Lounsbnry, 1845; William S. Pomeroy, 1845 to 1853; W. H. Peet, 1853 to 1861; Silas C. Booth, 1861 to 1867; John Brooks, 1867 to 1869; Julius S. Hanover, 1869 to 18S5: Walter Goddard, 1885 to 1890; George B. Edmonds, 1890 to 1893; Walter Goddard, 1893 to 1897; Frank J. Naramore, present incumbent. From the time of the establishment of the Internal Revenue Department by Government until the consolidation of the Connecticut districts (1883) the Hon. D. F. Hollister was Collector of this district. During- his nearly twenty-one years' term of office, Mr. Hollister collected and paid over to the Government $10,556,096.09, without the loss of a cent. Since consolidation, Bridgeport has only Deputies representing the Department. CHAPTER XVI. THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF BRIDGEPORT. BEFORE .\ND AFTER CONSOI.IDATIOX. HER MODERN SCHOOL BUILDINGS. THE FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY. THE GIFT OF A NOBLE WOMAN. — ITS HISTORV AND PRESENT CONDllION. THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. T^HE school was a regular accompaniment and sometime forerunner of the church in the colonial * governmental system. In 1650, in the code of laws promulgated by Deputy Governor Roger Ludlow, of Fairfield, for that colony, was this clause : " Every township within the jurisdiction, after the Lord has increased them to the number of fifty households, shall forthwith appoint one within their town to teach all such children as shall be sent to him to write and read, whose wages shall be paid either by the parents of such children or by the inhabitants in general. And it is further ordered that when any town shall increase to the number of 100 families or householders, they shall set up a grammar school, the master thereof being able to instruct youths so far as they may be fitted for the university." As early as 1678 the settlers in Stratfield petitioned the General Court to be released from paying school taxes to Fairfield, and their petition was granted. They had a school of their own. In i6gi, when the petition for a new parish was favorably considered, the school society was incorporated also, in what was then the " Village of Fairfield," afterwards (1701) called Stratfield village. IHE OLD DISTRICTS. In 1766, under a new law, the " Stratfield School Society " established three districts, the North, Middle and South. These were managed by committees chosen by the parish, till by the law of 1796 a school society was formed for receiving the interest on the monies received from the sale of public lands in the "Western Reserve," which monies were paid "according to the list of polls and ratable estate of such societies respectively." The lands sold for $1,200,000, which was the basis of the present school fund. In 1856 the " school society " was abolished, and its property transferred to the town. DISTRICT CONSOLIDATION. The district system continued till the annual election in April, 1876, when the districts were consolidated under one control, and the management of all the schools put in the hands of a single committee or Board of Education. Previously Bridgeport had been divided into eleven districts and two fractional districts, and the disadvantages arising from the differing rules and regulations in each were many and serious. THE BOARD OF EDUCATION. The first Board of Education was chosen at a special town meeting, April 12, 1876, and consisted of the following persons: James C. Loomis, Daniel H. Sterling, F. W. Zingsem, James Staples, A. H. Abernethy, Henry T. Shelton, Andrew Burke, Edward Sterling, Joseph D. Alvord, David Ginand, George W. Bacon, Julius S. Hanover. It organized with the following officers: James C. Loomis, President; Daniel H. Sterling, Vice-President; Henry T. Shelton, Clerk; H. M. Harrington, Superin- tendent. The Hon. J. C. Loomis died September 16, 1877, and Mr. Julius S. Hanover, who was then Vice-President, was elected President of the Board, which place he held until 1891, or nearly fourteen years. Mr. Hanover then became agent of the Board, and was succeeded by P. W. Wren, who is President of the Board at the present time. Mr. H. M. Harrington was Superintendent from the formation of the Board until the year 1890, and to his industry, experience and tact was due very much of the success attending the establishment of the new system. He was succeeded by Dr. 8o THE -'STAXDARLrS- HISTORY OF BRH>GEFORT. Eugene Bonteii, who remained until 1893, when he was succeeded by Charles W. Deane, the present incumbent. Since the formation of the Board in 1876, the following- persons have been members: James C. Loomis, Daniel H. Sterling-, F. W. Zingsem, James Staples, A. H. Abernethy, Henry T. vShelton, Andrew Burke, Edward Sterling, Joseph D. Alvord, David Ginand, George W. Bacon, Julius S. Hanover, Edward W. Marsh, Daniel N. Morgan, David M. Read, Nathaniel Wheeler, Thomas J. Synnott, George C. Waldo, George N. French, Emory F. Strong, Peter W. Wren, Wm. B. Hincks, Frederick Hurd, Henry Cowd, Morris B. Beardsley, Marshall E. Morris, John H. Colgan, Thomas F. Martin, Wilfred E. Norton, Joel Farist, Frederick A. Rice, Charles F. Williams, Joseph J. Rose, Edward F. Hallen, Patrick Coughlin, George Watson, David F. Read, Frank Kinsley, Frank Miller, Henry C. Cogswell, John N. Near, John C. Shelton, Peter Gabriel, Frank M. Canfield, Elmer S. Youngs, Clarence N. Payne, George L. Porter and C. C. Godfrey. SCHOOL BUILDINGS. In the matter of school houses Bridgeport had little to pride herself upon up to 18S3, at which time her new High School Building, on Congress street, was opened and occupied. This was a new departure in school construction. and while it was severely plain upon the outside, the committee not having any money to spend in ornamentation, its interior arrange- ment and its system of heating and ventilation were admirable, and became the subject of investiga- tion by visitors from all parts of the country. It was a model for imitation, and the same general plan has been followed in most of the school buildings subsequently constructed by the city. The architect was Air. Warren R. Briggs, of Bridgeport; the builder, Mr. George Turney, and the com- mittee for the town and the Board of Education consisted of Julius S. Hanover, Nathaniel Wheeler, Ed- ward W. Marsh and George C. Waldo. There are very few school buildings in the country more thoroughly built, and although it has been in use for fifteen years, it is adequate to the demands of the present, and likely to be sufficient in accommodations for many years to come. Two modern school buildings for the lower grades were erected in 1883-84, one on Myrtle avenue and the other on North avenue, corner of Gak street. A handsome and commodioiis Grammar School was erected in 1889-90, on Clinton aveniie, at a cost of about $60,000, and to this building the Training School, the local preparatory school for teachers, was removed, from the Prospect School Building in 1890. In 1893-94 two more school buildings were built, one on Sanford avenue, known as the "Wheeler School," and the other on Maplewood avenue, to replace the Old South School on Iranistan avenue. Beside these a new school building was opened in the upper district of the east end, known as the Sumnierfield School, while the new and elegant Barnum School, East Bridgeport, on the Barnum grounds, was occupied. This building was designed and constructed by Longstafif & Hurd, architects and builders. Bridgeport has still another new school building now under construction in the Newfield district, but so rapid is her growth in population, that President Wren declares in his last report (1896), that it will require a ten-room building to properly accommodate the annual increase. Hii;h School, C. THE '•STAXl>.\RI)-S- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 8i School, ICast Hriilgeport. In 18S5 the Hon P. T. Barnum constituted a fund of $1,000, the interest of which should be devoted annually to two prizes, to he given to the pupils of the High School, who should compose and recite the two best English orations. Beside the regular day schools, in the winter Bridgeport has for many years supported eveninc- schools of various grades, which have been well attended. An evening drawing school was for several years ver}^ successful, great interest being taken by a large number of pupils, and excellent results attained, ^[r. Julian H. Sterling taught the classes in this school, and the exhibitions of mechanical or free-hand work annually made were remarkable and justly commended. Experts in their several departments have been and are employed by the Board of Education in the schools, and music has been an es- pecially attractive feature of the curriculum. In 1872 Mr. Charles Wells was ap- pointed special teacher of music, and for five years he devoted himself to the work to such purpose that much progress was made, and the interest and ambition of the pupils greatly stimulated in that line. After consolidation the old methods were for a time abandoned, and the good work done by Mr. Wells was almost lost. For several years there was no special teacher in mu.sic, but the mistake was finally recognized, and Mr. F. E. Howard was appointed Superintendent of Musical Instruction. His thorough method and excellent system have produced very satisfactory results. The teachers for the lower grades of the Bridgeport schools are drawn from the ranks of the High School graduates, those wishing to teach taking a post graduate course of two years in the Training School, from which they acquire a thorough acquaintance with the system in use, and with the theory and practice of teaching as here entertained and applied. The results have been eminently satisfactory, and amply vindicate the wisdom of the methods pursued. This system renders a state Normal School unneces- sary, and keeps the control of the local schools in the hands of the local board, where it properly belongs. The corps of teachers numbers 172. The total of school expenses for the year 1895-96 was $153,756.00. Registered pupils during the year, 9,024. It is a fact that the average cost per pupil is .smaller in Bridgeport than in any other large town in the state. The estimated value of school proiierty, land, buildings, furniture, etc., is $800,000. West End Scl.ool. Clint. .11 Avenue. I'UIV.^TE SCHOOLS. There were many private schools in Bridgeport from the time of its establishment as a borough. Prominent among these were schools managed by the Rev. Samuel Blatchford and the Rev. Elijah Waterman, of the First Congregational Church. There were schools also by the Rev. Birdsey G. Noble, Amos A. Pettingill, Mr. Abbott (in the basement of the South Church), Mr. Isaac H. Johnson, Mr. W. W. Selleck, Rev. Henry Jones, Rev. Guy B. Day, Mr. George W. Yates, Emory F. Strong, Esq. (commercial and military institute), and others. 82 THE ■■STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. The Young- Ladies' seminaries were also numerous. The first of these was kept by a Mrs. M. M. Mallapar, at the foot of Toilsome Hill, afterwards removed to 89 Courtland street. Miss Lydia R. Ward came from Salem, Massachusetts, in 1828, to improve the public (high) school, then on State street, but when the Second Congregational Church was built, Miss Ward, with her sister. Miss Sarah C. Ward, opened a select school there, and met with good success. Miss Ward had a genius for teaching, and made her mark in no unmistakable way upon the minds and manners of the young women of Bridgeport. The school was afterward removed to Lafayette street, where the Misses Ward purchased a fine lot and established a school that had a wide and deserved reputation for excellence, and was continued until 1876. Miss Emily Nelson conducted a select boarding and day school for j-oung ladies, first at 23 Harrison street, and afterward at 107 Golden Hill. This school had a very successful career, but was discontinued in 1895, The Hillside Seminary was another successful school for girls. It was established by Miss E. B. Whiting, in 1856, on Gilbert street, and afterward removed to the "Old Bostwick Place," on Washington avenue, Golden Hill. Miss Whiting married Mr. T. J. Rundel, and for three years the school was conducted by a Miss Wolcott. Mrs. Rundel subsequently returned, and became again principal of the school, remaining until 1876. After her, Miss A. J. Stone, Miss Cornelia Knowles (Mrs. Fitch) and Miss Slade (Mrs. W. R. Hopson) continued the school very successfully. In 1881 Mrs. Fitch removed to New York, and Miss Stone and ^Irs. Slade-Hopson conducted the institution till it was closed in 1892. The principal private schools of to-day are: The University School, V. C. Peck; The Park Avenue Institute, S. B. Jones; The Courtland School for Young Ladies, Misses :\Iarble and ^liner, and a number of business and commercial schools. THE FREE PUBLIC LlllRAKY. The Free Public Library of Bridgeport is one of the most useful and best equiped for popular purposes in the state. The public appreciation of it is shown by the constantly increasing membership, and by the number of books given out for home reading and for reference and study every year. At the seventh annual banquet of the Bridgeport Board of Trade, held at the Atlantic Hotel, on Tuesday evening, February 28, 1S82, during the speech making which followed the repast, the President, Hon. David M. Read, called upon the Hon. John D. Candee, editor of the Standard, to speak up(jn the Library. Mr. Candee said; " Deeming the final establishment of our Free Public Library as among the most important events in the history of Bridgeport during the past year, I cheerfully speak of it. The first public library was started in Bridgeport sixty-two years ago, by Mr. S. M. Middlebrook, then a boy about eleven years old, who in 1820, by publishing several anonymous communications in the Farmer. caused the calling of a public meeting and the formation of a small library which was kept open for many years. Then there were formerly three secret societies in Yale College, each having a fine library. ( )ne of these was composed entirely of southern students, who so mismanaged their funds that their library was at last sold to pay its debts, and the citizens of Bridgeport, by liberal subscriptions, bought it for a public library. For more than twenty years this library struggled along with inadequate funds for its support and improvement, till, not long ago, it was compelled to close its doors. The legislature having recently passed a law permitting the establishment of Free Public Libraries, to be supported by a tax upon the poll list, Mr. Clarence Sterling, of this city, interested himself in obtaining the benefit of this enactment for Bridgeport, and by circulating petitions to the Common Council, he, more than anyone else, caused the movement which has resulted in giving us our present noble Free Library and Reading Room. About 1,500 new books have been added to the Library, which brings it up to nearly 12,000 volumes, of which an average of about 350 are drawn daily. The spacious Reading Room, which is supplied with about $550 worth of papers, magazines and periodicals of special nature, receives about 500 visitors a day. Those who draw books are from every class in the community, old and young, and we deem it to be very useful, especially to the poor. Although it has been open only about two months, yet it has already taken so strong a hold upon the community that we can believe it will be liberally supported so long as the city exists." At that time, 1882, the officers of the Library were as follows: Directors, David B. Lockwood, THE '-STAXDARDS HISTORY OF URIDGEl'ORT. 83 John I). Candce, Patrick Coughlin, William B. Hincks, William J. Hills, Charles Sherwood, Gustave Ohnesorg-, M. D. ; President, William D. Bishop; Vice-President, John D. Candee; Secretary, Charles Sherwood; Treasurer, Wm. B. Hincks; Librarian, Mrs. Agnes Hills. In November, 1882, the Directors determined to try the experiment of opening the reading room on Sunday in order that a class of citizens might be accommodated who were debarred by their daily labor on secular days from the use of the library. The experiment was a success from the beginning, and the Reading Room has been open to the public on Sunday ever since. The Sunday attendance for the year 1896 was over 10,000. In January, 1883, by the death of Mrs. Catherine A. Pettingill, the trustees of the Bridgeport Public Library came into possession, as trustees for the city, of the property on the southwest corner of Main and John streets, known as the Burroughs Building, which was put into their hands by the will of Mrs. Pettingill. to be used for library purposes, and to be called the Burroughs Public Library Building. The building is a handsome fonr-storj- structure, with two fine stores on ^Liin street, and a Art Gallery, West. General Deliverv Desk. il< 1 I'l l;l.IC I.IHK.^KV, Main Street. Art Gallers-, Kast. Catalogue Room. wide hallway between. It was built by Abijah Burroughs, brother of Mrs. Pettingill. This building was immediately taken in hand by the trustees, and the neces.sary repairs and alterations made. The new library building was opened to the public on June 11, 1S88. The report of the Directors to His Honor, Mayor R. E. DeForest, made June i, 18S9, contains the following reference to the new quarters: "The Directors have much pleasure in reporting, after the practical test of eleven months' work, that the Burroughs Building is admirably adapted for library purposes. The arrangements have received the approval of many visiting librarians, and if the work could be done again, there would be little, if anything, to alter. * * * Its utility is shown by the fact that nearly half the works issued last year were of an educational character. Our need of books grows more imperative every year. In proportion, as we educate the people, we create new demands. The inhabitants of the recently annexed districts are eagerly availing themselves of library privileges, and next winter will undoubtedly see a great increase in our labors. 84 THE •• STANDARD'S-' HISTORY OF BRHJGEPORT. " It is a matter of congratulation that through the wise munificence of a noble woman, our city is sure of sufficient library accommodations for many years to come." The progress of the institution since then has been constant and marked, and the place that it occupies in the life of the city is ever growing larger. The property is productive and is steadily paying off the debt contracted for its improvement, the library is increasing in value to all students and lovers of good literature, as well as to those who only read to be amused. The annual report for 1896 showed an addition of over 3,000 books and documents during the year, of which only about 530 were " light literature. " The total of volumes in the library is 28,194, and there were given out for home use and for study and consultation during the year a total of 142,637 volumes. A new departure in library work was made not long since by the Directors, in converting the large hall at the top of the building into an "art gallery and art department," and of that special branch of work the librarian speaks, in a recent article, as follows : " Three years ago an art department was added to the institution, and since then a series of art exhibitions have been held every year under the direction of the art committee and Superintendent Hills. This has proved a formidable addition to the work of the library, involving, as it does, the planning of exhibitions months ahead of the actual time of opening, and the endless responsibilities of their care and arrangement. On the other hand, the exhibits have been exceedingly popular, and the patronage of them increases yearly. They have drawn into the library people whom books alone would never have attracted, and their influence is undoubtedly elevating. The library exhibitions seem to prove the truth of the old saying, that "pictures are the books of the unlearned." Children delight in them, and the hard-working people, too tired for reading or continuous study, often express their sense of the rest and refreshment they find in them. Some experiments have also been made in the direction of free lectures with gratifying success." The Board of Directors is constituted as follows: President, Frederick Hurd; Vice-President, Wm. B. Hincks; Secretary, Charles Sherwood; Treasurer, W. J. Hills; Directors, the foregoing and W. J. Hills, Wm. D. Bishop, Jr., Morris B. Beardsley (appointed by Mayor Clark to fill the place made vacant by the death of Hon. D. B. Lockwood), George C. Waldo, Patrick Coughlin and Alfred B. Beers. The library has been, and is, fortunate in its librarian, Mrs. Agnes Hills, whose qualifications for the place are admirable, and upon whose excellent management much of the success of the institution depends. CHAPTER XVII. BRIDGEPORT DURING IHE WAR 1861-65. HIK SKNIIMENTS SOLID AND HFK SOLDIERS READY. HER EARLV ENLIST.MENTS. ELIAS HOWE, JR., A I'UIVATE IN THE RANKS. IHEEADIES' AID SOCIETIES NUMEROUS AND EFFECTIVE. THE G. A. R. AND OTHER VETERAN ORGANIZATIONS. IHE C. N. G. liRlllGEPORl's SHARE OF THE 4TH REGIMENT. ■npO properly set forth the history of Bridgeport during the War of the Rebellion would require a * volume by itself and a farther perspective than the present time affords. Its treatment now, must of necessity be very general. Bridgeport was loyal, although it contained elements in 1861 as W. S. KnowHon, Es ]. Capt. Jas. K. Dunham, Elias Howe, Jr. Dr. H. X. Hennett. !I..n. D. H. Sterling. it did in 1876 and in 1S12, hostile to the government and willing to embarrass or defeat it, in every manner possible and at every available time. But the City Government was in the hands of the Republican party, and at the heal was Mayor Daniel H. Sterling, a n:an loyal, brave and capable. 86 THE -STASDARD'S- HISTORY OF BRH)GEPORT. who held the reins of the municipal government with firm and judicious hands thniuyhout those trying days. At a meeting of the Common Council held on April 15, 1S61, Councilman Wm. S. Knowlton introduced the following resolutions which were unanimously passed: Whtreas, Rebels and traitors have wickedly assaulted and fired upon the flag of our country thereby waging war against our Government and initiating strife, therefore Resolved, That we solemnl}' renew ottr fealty to the Government under which we live, fully beHeving that it is the best that any people were ever favored with, and that we will use our influence to uphold the constituted authorities. Resolved, That we earnestly invite our citizens to join hands with the Government in sustaining- the Union, the Constitution and the enforcement of the laws, and that they frown upon every efifort made to encourage disloyalty to our flag and country. Resolved, That we have full confidence in the patriotism, integrity and ability of the President and the Cabinet; that we extend to them our hearty sympathy in the ordeal through which they are passing and that we pledge to them our united and earnest support in all their constitutional acts. In commenting upon the condition of afifairs, in his opening address at the same meeting, Mayor D. H. Sterling said: " I am happy to assure you that our city, notwithstanding the severe blow that has been dealt at her manufacturing, commercial and business interests, is still true to the Constitution and the Union. A strong determination pervades the minds of her citizens to uphold the Government at any cost and sacrifice." These noble words as well as the resolutions adopted, show the true feeling of the people. Such was the position taken by Bridgeport at the beginning and firmly maintained until the end, and she poured forth of her blood and treasure in the cause of the Union in no stinted measure. From the first public meeting on April 20, 186 [, when the town voted $10,000 to aid the families of volunteers and raised $7,000 on the spot, through to the grand illumination in honor of the Fall of Richmond on April 10, 1865, there was no serious break in the succession of patriotic acts which answered fully to the demands of every occasion. Another great war meeting was held July 19, 1862, just after the defeat of McClellan, at which Mayor Sterling, Hon. Wm. D. Bishop, Hon. Russell Tomlinson, Elias Howe, the inventor, then a resident of Bridgeport, and Governor Buckingham were speakers. Mr. Howe enlisted that evening, in the Seventeenth Regiment, then forming, and his example was followed by crowds of young men whose enthusiasm was awakened by his action. Bridgeport sent her full quota to the war and there were men of all ages and all walks in life among the volunteers. Boys enlisted and came back after the war with commissions and records for bravery, before they had reached twenty-one years of age. In the three months' campaign a company was raised by Capt. Fred'k Frye, and the following extract from the Standard oi April 30, 1861, relates an interesting event in connection therewith: "One of the most interesting occasions which we have ever known in Bridgeport, occurred last evening at Washington Hall. Company D, Third Regiment, Connecticut Volunteers, were marched into the crowded hall at ^V2 o'clock, and a public presentation took place of the following articles from the ladies of Bridgeport. A sword and belt and pair of epaulets to Capt. Fred'k Frye, and Lieutenant's epaulets to the two Lievitenants of the Company, Sylvester H. Gray and Elliot M. Curtis; from Samuel Baldwin, Esq., a revolver to Capt. Frye. A revolver was also presented to Orderly Sergeant Doane and some other articles to other members of the Company. The presentation address was made by H. T. Blake, Esq., and Capt. Frye and his officers happily responded, after which Rev. Mr. Thompson addressed the Volunteers in some appropriate and eloquent remarks. Capt. Frye, who leaves a large and excellent law practice in this city, and a most interesting family, in order to serve his cotmtry, comes of a gallant and distinguished lineage, his ancestors for five generations back, having served as officers in the various wars of our country's history." vSeven companies were filled in part or whole, by Bridgeport men in the fall of 186 1, and among their officers were Major L. N. Middlebrook, Captain Henr\' Beible, Captain Thos. Boudren, Captain Sylvester Gray, Lieut. H. M. Hoyt, Captain Thomas Coates, Captain Elliot M. Curtis, Major John Speidel, Col. Richard Fitzgibbons and Major Fred'k Frye. In 1862 the Fourteenth Regiment went out, containing a Company from Bridgeport and under command of Col. Dwight Morris, of this city. Other members of the Fourteenth from Bridgeport THE ••STAXDARDS" HISTORY OF BKHHiEPORT. 87 were Julius W. Knowlton, Alfred (i. Mollan, Frederick B. Hawlc}-, Franklin Hartlett, RnsselUilen, \\m. B. Hincks, F. B. Doten, Francis A. King-. Then the Sev'enteenth Regiment was formed under Col. (afterwards (General) Wm. H. Noble, Charles AValter, Lieut. Col., with a large number of Bridgeport men, among whom were: Hanford N. Hayes, Dr. Robert Hubbard, Elijah Gregory, Jesse S. Xash, W. H. Lacey, Wm. L. Hubbell, Henry North, Henry Huss, John C. Curtis, F. B. Hall, Elias Howe, Jr., John F. Clancy, George E. Underhill, James E. Dunham, H. Whiting Chatfield. Edgar Squires, John H. Porter, Charles McElroy and Patrick Wade, Jr. The Second Conn, l-ight Battery, Captain John W. Sterling, was also recruited from Bridgeport. A. C. Hobbs, Ksq. Major Frederick Frye Hon. W. D. Hishop. Gen. Wm. H. Noble. Hon. Patrick Couglilin. t:harles Foote, Esq, Major Tliomas Houdren. Hon. Nathaniel Wheeler Alfred Hopkins. Among its members were Walter S. Hotchkiss, Philip B. Segee, George Munger, D. B. Lockwood, Philo B. Sherman, Frank H. Whiting, Miles Gray, Justus B. Hawley, Henry R. Chaffee, Walter K. Mills, W. W. Narramore, George A. Stockwell, Wm. P. Burroughs, S. H. ^Nliddlebrook, Wm. R. Palmer and Sam B. Spinning. The First Conn. Calvary regiment contained L. N. Middlebrook, Richard R. Crawford, Frederick Curtiss, Henry I. Flint, Frank A. Wood, and William H. Mallory was Captain in the First Sqnadron. In the Si.xth Regiment among others were; Rudolph Kost, John Waters, George W. Bailey, Alfred B. Beers and Edward H. Lyon. Under the nine months call, in 1.S62, three companies were recruited in Bridgeport. Company D. Twenty-third Regiment. Captain C. W. Hall; Company I. 88 THE '■ STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRHtQEPORT. Twenty-third Regiment, Captain W. H. May, and Company K. Twenty-fourth Regiment, Lieutenant E. M. Goodwin. Among the members of Company D. and I. Twenty-third Regiment were John H. Coggswell, John G. Stevens, Charles E. Shelton, R. B. Faircbild, John W. Buckingham and Peter Doolan. The tablets on the Soldiers' Monument at Seaside Park bear the names of i68 Bridgeport soldiers and sailors who died in the service during the war, killed on the field, of disease in the hospital, or of starvation in the prison pen. THE LADIES' SOCIETIES. The record of the Ladies' Societies of Bridgeport during the war is one worthy of mention and commendation. The Ladies' Relief Societ}* was formed August i, 1861, and met every "Wednesday for work, from that time on during the war. Mrs. WooLsey G. Sterling was President until she removed from the city, and then slie was succeeded by Mrs. Daniel Thatcher. Other officers were: Miss Lydia R. --i (|, .■ y_ 4^ -rrU 4 3... ■ qi iiiij IB Of 1 !Tn \\\ u 'S i^iil^ The Sanford Building in, corner of Cannon Street. Arcade- Interior, •morv— Main Street. Ward, Secretary, and Miss Sarah Jane Hawley, Treasurer. While this Society collected and forwarded money and supplies, its chief function was in connection with the sanitary commission in supplying hospital clothing and stores. Beside this large numbers of boxes of provisions, mittens, stockings, etc. , were forwarded to Connecticut regiments in the field. The Soldiers' Aid Society was organized July 19, 1862, and it officers were: Mrs. D. H. Sterling, President; Mrs. Munson Hawley, Vice-Pre.sident; ]\Irs. L. H. Norton, Secretary; Mis. Wm. E. Seeley, Treasurer. This was a very large and active society and its work was very important. It forwarded to the front large numbers of bo.\es of goods, and in 1863, in response to an appeal for fresh vegetables for the soldiers, it received and forwarded several thousand barrels and boxes of the same to the seat of war, Mr. Henry R. Parrott, then agent for the Adams Express Company, taking charge of their carriage and delivery. The third society of Bridgeport ladies was the League of Loyal Women of Bridgeport. This THE STASIiARIfS" HISTORY OF IIRIDGEPORT. 89 was formed in 1S63, with Mrs. S. S. Clapp, President, and Mrs. E B. Whiting', Secretary. It hatl 129 members and its object was to encourage loyalty. (i. A. R. Bridg'eport has to-day a large and flourishing Grand Army Post, Elias Howe, Jr., Xo. 3, founded in 1867; the members of which embrace representatives from the Union \^eterans oi many states. It has quite a fund for the relief of sick and needy members, and it loolcs after the widows and dependent children of deceased veterans. Some of its members have been high up in the State and national organizations. The twenty-fifth anniversary of the institution of the order of the (irand Army of the Republic was celebrated April 6, 1S91, at Bunnell's Opera House, under the manage- ment of Elias Howe, Jr., Post, and was a very successful affair. There is also a Sons of Veterans Camp, Franklin Bartlett. No. 11, and Col. S. R. Sumner Command Xo. 2, Union Veterans Union. These organizations look well after the interest of the \'eterans and keep fresh the patriotic lessons of the last war. HONOR MEX. Two Bridgeport veterans have received the medal voted by Congress for distinguished bravery on the field, and given out by the Secretary of War. They are Major Wm. B. Hincks and Lieutenant [(jhn C. Curtis. COXXECTICUT XATIOXAL CUAKD. Prior to the war of the rebellion Bridgeport had maintained her share of military organizations, from the train band of the old Stratfield days down through the period of the two wars with England. The "old militia" had degenerated at one time so as to be very near a farce, but there were, at the date of the last war, many excellent military companies in the State, and after the war Bridge- port's quota of the Connecticut Xational Guard, as then reorganized, was two companies, which, in 1870, were as follows: Company B., Capt. John S. Atkinson, and Com- pany E. (East Bridgeport), Capt. Edw-ard N. Goodwin. Bridgeport has now three companies of the National (iuard. Company B. , Capt. Wni. Houlihan; Company Iv, Capt. John J. (ilennon, and Company K., Capt. Frederick H. Masterson. There is also Fourth Section lirigade vSignal Corps, under Lieut. Edward S. Challenger; and Fourth Section '""' ai""">—m-'"i .>i>ci-t i-.ntraiue. Machine Gun Battery, under Lieut. Franklin S. Edwards. These organizations are all in a most creditable condition. The militia of Bridgeport belongs to the Fourth Regiment C. X. (i., which is located in Litchfield and Fairfield counties. In 1890 Col. T. L. Watson, of Bridgeport, in command of the Fourth Regiment, was appointed (ioneral of the Connecticut Xational Guard, and held the position till May, 1892. (ieneral Watson was succeeded in the Fourth Regiment by Lieut. Col. Henry Skinner, of Winsted, who became Colonel on the 2 2d of March, 1890. On January 8, 1892, Captain Russell Frost was chosen Colonel of the Fourth, and held the command till appointed General of Brigade, in 1897, when he was succeeded in the regiment by Major James H. Sheridan, the present colonel, commanding. On the staff of General Frost is Brigade Quarter Master Major Wm. H. Marigold, of Bridgeport. Officers from Bridgeport on the staffs of Governors of Connecticut since 1889 have been : Col. Frank R. Parrott, aide on the staff of Governor Morgan G. Bulkeley, 1889; Brigadier General, Henry A. Bishop, Paymaster General to Governor Luzon B. Morris, 1893-95; Brigadier General William E. Disbrow, Quartermaster General to Governor Vincent O. Coffin, 1895-97; Brigadier General Louis N. Van Keuren, Quartermaster General to Governor Lorrin A. Cooke, present executive, 1897. The Armory is located on Main street, is a very fine and commodious building, with space for battalion drills and separate rooms for each Company. CHAPTER XVlll. THE RARXUM IXSTITL'TE. HISTORICAL AXD SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. THE SEASIDE INSTITUTE. YOUNG men's christian ASSOCIATION, BOVS' CLUH, ORPHAN ASYLUM, ASSOCIATED AND OTHER CHARITIES, PUBLIC CHARITIES. CEMETERIES. THE BARNUM INSTITUTE. '"pHE Barnimi Institute of vScience and History is a notable building situated on the southeast corner * of Main and Gilbert streets, and challenging attention by its prominent position and picturescjue aspect. In 1888 the Hon. P. T. Barnum announced that he had given to the Bridgeport Scientific Society and the Fairfield Historical vSociety, the plot of land on the corner of Main and Gilbert streets, and that he would erect thereon a building that should be a home for them, an ornament to the city. Circus Day in Bridgeport. " The Greatest on Earth." and a monument to himself. This he did, and in December, 1892, his administrators made over to the societies named, including the Medical Society, whic.x was designated a room in the building, the Barnum Institute of Science and History, which was opened and dedicated with appropriate ceremonies, on February 18, 1893. The first floor is occupied by the museum and collections of the Scientific Society; the second floor by the collections of the Historical Society and by the room of the Bridgeport Medical Society, and on the third or upper floor is the auditorium or lecture hall for the purposes of both organizations. So far as has been practicable the collections of both the Scientific and Historical Societies have been open to the public, and thousands of visitors from Bridgeport and abroad have been through the rooms. Since its opening the building has been in charge of a joint View ii: Mubeum o£ the Bridgeport Scientific Society. Collection of the Historical Society. Barnum Alcove. Historical Society Rooms. THE "STAXDARD'S' HISTORY OF BRHHJEPORT. 91 committee of the two societies, consisting of Messrs. Isaac Hoiden and E. R. Lambert for the Scientific Societ}', and Edward Deacon and George C. Waldo for the Historical Society. The Bridgeport Scientific Society was organized in 1877, and its Presidents have been Rev. Dr. H. N. Powers, Isaac Hoiden, Esq., Rev. Beverley E. Warner and Dr. C. C. Godfrey, present incumbent. It has a large membership and does a com- mendable amount of work in the way of scientific investigation and instruction. It gives a course of lectures on scientific subjects every year that are well attended, and its classified collections are of great and growing value and interest. The Fairfield Coimty Historical .Society was organized January 28, 1881. Its fir.st officers were: President, R. B. Lacey; Vice-Presidents, Hon. W. T. Minor, Rev. Benjamin L. Swan, and Charles Burr Todd; Treasurer, Major Wm. B. Hincks; Recording Secretary, Dr. N. E. Wordin ; Corresponding Secretary, Maj. L. N. Middlebrook. Mr. Lacej- was President until his death in 1897, when he was succeeded by Curtis Thompson, Esq., the present incumbent. The Society has issued a nmnber of papers and \ lew in Histi.ncai suciety's Rooms. reports, and its Collections and library are con- stantly increasing. " Orcutt's History of Stratford and Bridgeport," issued in two volumes in 1887, was under the auspices, and with the assistance of the Society, and the author. Rev. Samuel Orcutt, was Secretary of the Society at the time he was killed by a railway train, near the Naugatnck dock in Bridgeport, January •5, 1893. The .Seaside Institute was erected in 18S7 Ijy iho Warner Brothers, proprietors of the great corset factory, for the use of their employes. It affords to the young girls and women engaged in the factory the advantages and facilities of a well arranged club at very low prices. It has a restaurant, free reading room, librar)-, bath rooms, public hall, and rooms for evening classes. It is a finely proportioned and elegant building of brick and stone, and cost about $60,000. THE v. M. C. A. The first effort for a Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation in Bridgeport was made in 1868 with the follow- ing organization: Dabney Carr, President; Henry Stirling, Emory F. Strong and R. P. Chapman, Vice- Presidents; C. P. Porter, Treasurer, and Wm.F. Fosket, .Secretary. After doing commendable work it was dis- continued in 1S72. "The Voung Men's Christian As- sociation " of Bridgeport was organized in June, 1883, and incorporated a year later. It employed Mr. Wm. E. Colley as general Secretary, and he began his work in 188^. The Association secured rooms and entered •^ Kiunmce i. . Seaside Institute. upon the regular work of such a body, making itself felt and respected from the first. The management was vigorous and efficient, and the results appealed to the discriminating public. The officers were: Dr. I. de Ver. Warner, President; D. W. Kissam, Daniel E. Mansh, M.-'.rshall E. Morris, Vice-Presidents; F. W. Marsh, Treasurer; Dr. W. H. Donaldson, Recording Secretary; W. E. Colley, General Secretery, and George Munger, Auditor. \-^i^M!m^ :^ rr r j-dJc;::_Wwy_ Tfb. I" ■M '^ 1 92 THE -STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. The need of a building specially adapted to its work and adequate to the possibilities of the city was felt from the first, and the effort to secure it was constant. In October, 1888, the President, Dr. I. de Ver. Warner, placed at the disposal of the Society the lot of land on the northwest corner of Main and Gilbert streets, and on Jim e 3, 1890, the corner stone of the present handsome and com- modions building was laid, Chauncey M. Depew pronouncing the oration. Mr. W. R. Briggs was the architect, and the building is in every respect a most satisfactory home for the Association. It was opened and occupied in 1891. It cost about $150,000. The Association has a finely equipped and well managed Physical Department, a Trade School and Institute, which turns out excellent work, a Religious Department, Reading and Study Rooms, and, in short, all the equipments of a thoroughly effective organization. liOVS' CLUI!. Along similar lines with the Y. M. C. A., but in a different field is " The Boys' Club," organized on a small scale about twelve years ago, but now with a membership of over 1,700 boys. The officers are: John C. Curtis, President; D. ¥. HoUister, Vice-President; Morris B. Beardsley, Second Vice-President; (_)range Merwin, Secretary and Trea- surer. This organization takes from the streets the boys who have few home comforts and advantages, and provides them with instruction, entertainment, and good surroundings and influences, free. Its work has been greatly pros- pered and it answers a want long unsup- plied, but which bears a great influence u])on the future character of the com- munity. It has a fund gradually grow- ing, with which it will hereafter build a home of its own, designed for its especial purposes. It is the most successful club of its character in the United States. ORPHAN ASVl.UM. The Bridgeport Protestant Orphan Asylum, No. 119 Lafayette street, was organized December 11, 1867, and incor- •I'he SeasiJe insinuu-, poratcd Jtlay 6, 1868. It lias a building in which it finds comfortaljle but not entirely adequate quarters, and it has a fund for a new building, to be erected in the future, upon Fairfield avenue in the Black Rock district. For years the late Miss Lydia R. Ward was President of the institution and her interest in and labor for it were constant. It has a corps of officers and managers comprising the most prominent ladies in Bridgeport, and its good work enlists the sympathies of all charitable persons in the community at large. A SSOC I A r EI ) CHARITIES. The Bridgeport Associated Charities for Industrial Relief is a society founded for the purpose of preventing the evils of indi.scriminate alms giving, to examine into needy cases and furnish, where possible, the means of self-support, which are so much more beneficial than unearned relief. It has done a very large amount of good in the exposure of fraud and the assistance of the worthy and de,serving, and it is greatly appreciated in the city. Association Buildin;; ELECTRICAL GKOVVTH. Has Come To-iSy?— Tangle of Poles and Wires, Fairfield Av e, Looking up Mi.ldleSt- ;v. B. E. Warner, I). D. General T. L. Watson. Isaac Holden.Hsq Jacob Kieter, Esq. Rev. H. N. Powers, D. D. Dr. F. M. Wilson. Capt. John C. Cui-tis. J.rs. Hanover, Esq. A.!J. Hobbs, Esq. The is wide, the citv. THE -STAXDARD-S- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 93 Ladies' Charitable Society is what its name implies, and the extent of its work and influence It meets every week and its members are among- the most active and influential ladies in The Protestant Widows' Society and Sterling Widows' Home provides a home with all its comforts to those admitted to its privileges. It has a large and pleasantly situated building on Prospect street, where there is seldom a vacant room, and where many worthy but dependent widows find comfort and provision for their declining years. It is an admirably managed institution, and its afi"airs are in the hands of charitable, self-sacrificing and efficient ladies. Besides these associations there are : The San- ford Orphanage; The Woman's Auxiliary Y. ^I. C. A. ; The Young Woman's Christian Association, and many other minor charities. Every church in Bridgeport has one or more charitable guilds or societies connected with it, and few cities of its size can boast of better organized or more effective charitable work. CI IV CHAKl I ll>. The city charities are in charge of the Board of Public Charities, a branch of the City Govern- ment. This work is done with discrimination and care, but the cost is considerable. The Emergency Entrain. e I.. M .I'.ii. i.:-.r i,, .:y Hospital, Tlic Town Farm, tlic Am bulancc servicc and the outside poor, aggregated in 1895-96 an expense to the city of S37.500, or more than four times the entire cost of the City Government in 1857. CEMETKRY ASSOCl.^TIOXS. The Mountain Grove Cemetery, the most im- portant in the city, was organized in 1849, and the grounds opened in 1850. The gateway to the grounds was built by the proceeds of a concert given by Miss Catharine Hayes, a noted singer, in 1852, while a guest of P. T. Barnum. In 1S78 a fair held in the city netted the Association over $1 1,000, which was used in improving the groimds. The present officers are : Dr. I. de V. Warner, Presi- dent ; F. J. Xarramore, Secretary. The Lake View Cemetery Association, Chas. N. Beecher, President; Secretary and Agent, W. C Mead. This body was chartered in 181 1 and its grounds are situated north of Old Mill Green, charter was amended in 1872, new grounds added, and it became a more important place. It.'. 94 THE " STAXDARDS- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. The Park Cemetery Association was organized in 1878, and its grounds are located in the northern portion of the city on the west side of the river. Its President is B. H. Hull, and .Secretary and Treasurer, J. W. Thompson. St. Augustine's Cemetery, a Catholic burying place, is situated on Arctic street, corner of Helen. Docks of the Bridgeport .Steamboat Co. i CHAPTER XIX. SOCIAL CLUBS AND KRATERNAL ORIJ AXIZ A TIONS. IHE "OLD ECLECTIC. THE SEASIDE. THE ROOF TREE AND THE ALGONQUIN' CLUBS. — THE MASONIC ORDER. THE ODD FELLOWS, KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS AND OTHERS. RRIDC; KPORt's AMUSEMENTS AND THEATRES IN THE PAST. SOME MEMORABLE EVENTS. THE BEGINNING OF ELECTRICAL USES. SOCIAL CLUBS. npHE Eclectic Club was an organization for purely social purposes among the prominent young men of the town nearly thirty years ago. It was constituted in 1870, and first had rooms on the second floor of Wheeler's Building, on the corner of Fairfield avenue and Main street. It subsequently removed to the Curtis Building, corner of ^lain and Elm streets, and its last move was to the second story of what was then the Burroughs' Building, where it occupied nearly all the room on the second floor, which is now the location of the Bridgeport Public Library. As the club grew older it was joined by an older class of men, and at one time it had a large number of the prominent men of the place on its membership roll. It was dis- banded in 1890, paid all its debts and a dividend to its members, and left only pleasing recollections of its career behind. Among its Presi- dents were: (ieorge C. Waldo, Morris W. .Seymour, Wm. H. Stevenson, R. T. Clark, George L. Porter and John E. Pond. The Seaside Club was origin- ally a driving club, and was organ- ized in 1884 with E. R. Ives, Presi- dent; E. G. Burnham, Francis Ives, Vice Presidents; Frank J. Narramore, Secretary, and Chas. F. Williams, Treasurer. Later on it dropped its original driving character and became a social club for general purposes. It grew rapidly, and has been very popular. Its first rooms were at No. 344 Main street, where it occu- pied the second and third floors of the building. In 1888 it began looking for a location for a new club house, and finally purchased the lot on the southeast corner of State and Lafayette streets, upon which it proceeded to erect its present commodious and elegant structure. Being forced to leave its first rooms on Main street before the new club house was completed, the organization moved into rooms in Wheeler's Block, on Main street, and occupied them until its new building was opened September 19, i8gi. This club has been m.anaged along the lines of its original intention, and its membership has embraced very many of the prominent business and professional men of the city. It has a membership of about 400, and is in a sound and healthy financial condition. It affords its members both amusement and business facilities, and its exceptional character commends it to the support of discriminating men. Its Presidents have been: E. R. Ives, Nathaniel Wheeler, Frederick Hard, F. M. Mason, George C. Waldo, Civilian Fones, Wm. E. Seeley, Henry Atwater, Wm. H. Kelsey, L. N. Van Keuren and David F. Read, the present incumbent. Seaside Club. 96 THE "STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. The Seaside Outing Club is a sub-organization of the Seaside Club, with a pleasant summer house on Seaview avenue overlooking the water. It was organized in 1894, and is popular and well sustained. Its President is John A. Rusling; Vice-President, Edward S. Hotchkiss; Secretary, R. W. Cogswell, and Treasurer, Fred. Atwater. The Roof Tre3 Club is a purely social organization on the east side. It was formed in November^ 1891, and opened to its members January 4, 1892. Its rooms are at No. 197 Noble avenue, and its ofUcers are: President, \V. T. Howes; Vice-president, N. S. Warner; Secretary, E. H. Havens. The Algonquin Club was organized October 5, 1S92, and its first and present rooms are in the Staples and Barnum Bniklings (adjoining) on State street, where it has handsome and extensive ciuarters. It is run on full club principles with a cuisine and other club accommodations. It was limited in membership at first, but was popular and after- wards enlarged its number. It will have very fine I'ooms in the new Seeley Building, now being completed at the corner of State and Broad streets, where it will occupy as much floor space as any club in the state. Its Presidents have been Archibald McNeil, General Henry A. Bishop and Thomas P. Taylor, the present official. THE COUNTRY CLUB. The Country Club is an organization for the usual pur- poses of such clubs, and is located in Brooklawn Park, just west of Brooklawn avenue and across the Fairfield line. It is a popular institution, and has in its membership a large Fire IMact^ in I'aiior <>f .Seaside Club. , r n • i ^ i t j i.i t* • i number of Bridgeport ladies and gentlemen. It provides the means of outdoor sport in golf links, baseball grounds, etc., and has buildings for receptions, dances, dinners, and the other accompaniments of such institutions. It is incorporated as "The Brooklawn Association of Fairfield," and its officers are: President, Wm. E. Seeley; Vice-President, Charles Sherwood; Treasurer, Herbert M. Knapp, and Secretary, Wm. T. Hincks. KRATERN.\L ORDERS. The Masonic Order is a §trong cme in Bridgeport, and it is the oldest of the fraternal orders of the city. St. John's Lodge No. 3, Free and Accepted Masons, was founded in Stratfield in 1762. It was subse- quently moved to Fairfield, but in 1789 it was finally removed to Bridgeport, where it met in the house of Daniel Young, southwest corner of Union and Water streets. During the excitement over the alleged ab- duction of Morgan (1831-32) feeling ran high against Free Masonry in Bridgeport as well as elsewhere. Various unfounded charges were made against it, and it was declared "injurious to morality and re- ligion." The feeling against the order soon died out, however, and the progress of free masonry was after- ward unchecked. In 1862 the centennial anniversarv of St. John's Lodge was celebrated in the First Methodist Episcopal Church with appropriate cere- monies, and in Franklin Hall with a banquet. Kntra.Ke :.. m... ;,. i. ,:,.ie on Bn.ad street. The next Masonic organization in Bridgeport was Jerusalem Chapter No. 13, R. A. M., established October 21, 1813. Then came Jerusalem Council No. 16, R. and S. M., 1827; next, Hamilton Com- mandery No. 5, Knights Templar, 1855, and four other lodges and chapters in 1S58. Corinthian Lodge No. 104 was chartered in 1868. THE -STAXDARDS'- HISTORY OF BRJDGEPORT. 97 In There are now eleven Masonic societies in the city. On September 25, 1894, the corner stone to a Masonic Temple of fine architecture and ample dimensions was laid on Broad street at the head of Bank, and in 1895 the building was dedicated to the uses of the order. It is one of the noble public structures of the city, and tells its own story of the character of the organization that caused its erection. The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was established in Bridgeport on June 11, 1841, by the institution of Pequonnock Lodge No. 4, two years after the introduction of the order into the State. This was followed twenty-six years later (1867) by the institution of Steuben Lodge No. S^. The order became flourishing and the character of its members was excellent. Today there are fifteen lodges and associations of Odd Fellows in Bridgeport, and in point of membership it stands easily first of the fraternal organizations. The parent lodge of the Knights of Pythias, Mythia Lf)dge No. 6 was established in 1S67, and the order has taken a very firm hold upon the city. There are eleven lodges and associations connected with it, and its charitable and social work is ex- tensive and increasing. The Knights of Columbus have four Coun- cils in Bridgeport; the Foresters of America twelve Courts and Circles; the United American Mechanics, seven societies, and the temperance organizations number twelve. The Improved Order of Red Men has two lodges. There is a flourishing chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution — The Mary Silliman branch of the Connecticut Society. It meets every month in the rooms of the Historical Society, Barnum Institute. The Sons of the American Revolution, General Gould Sellick Silliman, branch of the Connecticut .Society, have a large organiza- tion, and the interest in the objects of the Society is great. Taken altogether there are, including the great orders. Masonic, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Foresters, etc., about two hundred and fifty societies, clubs and associations in Bridgeport, and it is doubtful if any town of its size on earth has more. Adding to these the guilds, unions and other auxiliarj' societies connected with the churches, and also the more public charitable in- stitutions and associations, and the number as- sumes truly formidable proportions. ) . /' / \j/,r//. Arch after Blizzard of AMUSE.MKNTS. In the early days of the city the amusements of the people were the especial care of the City Fathers There were no theatres and only an occasional "dramatic lyccum" exhibited in some hall, or an, entirely "moral show" of the circus variety, pitched its tents just outside the precincts, or, for a consideration, was allowed in the city. The state law was strict in "the fifties," and required active supervision of such things by the city authorities. On April 14, 185 1, the proprietor of the Stanley House, a hotel situated on the corner of Main street and South avenue, was permitted by the Council to "erect a bowling alley and billiard table on said premises, to be used solely for purposes of health and recreation." In September of the same year another billiard room was permitted, this time Hall & Hitchcock being the proprietors. Col. O. B. Ball, a member of the Council was one of the firm, and the billiard room was "to be used solely for health and recreation, and subject to the supervision of the Common Council." Mr. Franklin Sherwood gravely suggests that as the business of Hall & Hitchcock was the wholesale and retail liquor trade, it was "handy for the members of the Council to keep a supervision over it, and a number of them were in the habit of doing so. " In 1852 Mr. E. W. THE '-STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. Fairchild, keeper of the Sterling- House on Main street was allowed to erect a billiard table and nothing was said about "health and recreation " in the permission. Robinson & Elder's circus was licensed for two days (July 23-24) that year, for the payment of $75 into the city treasury. This is said to have been the first circus exhibition ever given in the city. "The Greatest Show On Earth" had not then arrived. The first theatrical performance, given every day for any considerable time, was by George H. Wyatt, who, on November 30, 1S52, was allowed to exhibit his Dramatic Lyceum at Baylies' Hall on State street (now the Berkshire Flats) on paying $10 to the city treasury for the first week and $5 weekly thereafter. Mr. Wyatt must have made it pay, for on the nth of the following April the Council voted that Mr. Wyatt might exhibit his Dramatic Lyceum for two weeks longer on the pay- ment of $25 per week to the city. MODERN THEATRES. Franklin Hall, on State street, was for years the largest and most convenient hall for public purposes in the city. It was the second building from the corner of Main street, on the north side of State and south of the Court House lot. It was owned by Lewis C. Segee, and in 1869-70 Mr. Segee built an Opera House on the property south of the hall and on the corner of State and Main streets, where the old Franklin House had stood. The Opera House was opened in Decem- ber, 1870, and for a number of years gave to Bridgeport excellent theatrical entertainments, with such representatives of the histrionic art as J. W. Wallack, Edwin Booth. Lawrence Barrett, Joseph Jeiferson, Edwin Adams, John Brougham, Mr. and Mrs. Barney Williams, Laura Keene, Janauscheck, Maggie Mitchell, Madame Marie Seeback and Clara Louise Kel- logg. In 1875 the property changed hands, and the Opera House and Franklin Hall were con- verted into office buildings. In 1S76-77 Mr. E. V. Hawes, a retired wholesale merchant, built on Fairfield avenue, next east of the Standard building, an Opera House which was opened to the public Monday, April 9, 1877. This was successfully managed for some years by Mr. John N. Near, and after- ward by several others, including Mr. G. B. Bunnell. It is still maintained and affords the public of Bridgeport a pleasant and comfortable place for theatrical performances, concerts, exhibitions and public meetings of every kind. It is well designed, finely fitted up, has a large and well appointed stage, and since it was opened, in 1877, has given to the people of Bridgeport the best theatrical attractions outside the great cities. In music and the drama have appeared there Theodore Thomas, Rubenstein, Von Bulow, Janauscheck, Joseph Jefferson, Frank Mayo, John McCullough, Denman Thompson, Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Florence, Fanny Davenport, John T. Raymond, Miss Clara Morris, Miss Mary Anderson, Sol. Smith Russell, Col. Cody (Buffalo Bill), Maud Granger, F. C. Bangs, F. S. Chanfrau, Robson and Crane, Lotta, Miss Emma Thursby, Rose Eytinge, Miss Emma Abbott, Mr. Gillette, Kate Claxton, M'lle Rhea, and more recently all the leading lights of the American stage. When P. T. Barnum built Recreation Hall on Main street, west side, below State, 1883, he left an admirable place for a theatre in the hall, gymnasium, skating rink, etc., and the building was subsequently changed over into a very attractive and comfortable theatre known as " The Auditorium," where performances are regularly given during the season. There are numerous parks and pleasure grounds handy to the city, where, in the season, recreation Fairtield Avenue. Railroad Crossing- THE "STASDARirS" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 99 may be found. Pleasure Beach is one of these, and it can be reached by steamboat or ferry, at all hours of the day, and affords the usual entertainment of an up-to-date shore resort. A baseball park and cement bicycle track are among the attractions. Avon Park, on the line of the Stratford branch of the electric railroad, has also baseball grounds, a picnic grove, etc. Since the days of Nichols' tavern, where "Washington was wont to refresh himself, and the later date of Knapp's Hotel, from the balcon}' of which General Lafayette greeted the people, the hotels in Bridgeport have been numerous. To-day they are; The Atlantic, on the corner of Fairfield avenue and Water street, where Col. T. B. Warren worthily succeeds Hale, Lamb and Poland, in keeping a most excellent house; The Windsor, corner of Fairfield avenue and Middle street; the Gaillaird, on State street; the Wilson House, on John street; The Arlington, Golden Hill and others. For years the Sterling House, on Main street, and the City Hotel, on Wall street, were two of the principal hotels of the place. These have been discontinued many years and the property utiliz.cd for other business purposes. Place," stood, probably for THK HISTORIC OAK. On a lot of land on Fairfield avenue, known for years as the " l-iurr over 300 years, a sturdy oak tree. It was a large tree in 1660, when the parish of Stratfield was settled, and imder it Colonel John Burr held a meeting and council of the Indians in 1681, when deeds were passed and the title to Indian Ter- ritory acquired. The land was held in the Burr family for many years, and the old oak was a pic- turescjue and historic object, until, in 1S84, when its remaining branches and decayed trunk yielded to the storm and it was overthrown. lilK lU.IZZARI). Among the events not soon to i,..^i i,i,<.K>:i"'ii ..itL-r the Blizzard T. ■ i=;.z:_r-^-xr"-=-a:|a:^g.un=i--.r^: ..... _.. .._ .... ... . ._,_^ ,^^^^,^^„_.,.^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^r.-. ; jTFrjfSt.-=nHjf2 1 ■rl"-'-'^ '^-^'"l " ,"*- ' ■" "" '■ " ^- "" - " -T ~ ' Kr.-,;i's;5::xi~'^' J,- — .__^i-_ v^^_^y •^_^-_;_-_ __, '^^ .,„,„; - -■ „■. ::Ha T^t:'^'5:riir;ta — jiTKStc^sE,t;|— ^E:j^:««s:,ti--|,_.j„ ^"^^ ,_,,^ , -2?~~rrr33^ rrr "■"':""■■-'-"■■■ ',-" -"-■^--■3^ -r^".-'"^ -"-'-' "■'--■""• ---" - . .■■:"_■?' —nil^jr— 3" . ..:.•:; 'k-HS^.^sT'"''^" ^_ .. : _ - '.'^ - ' '--^^^^^^^^ JOHN DUTTON CAXDEE was ^t£:-. : ■ ' ''■ " ":"• born June 12, 1819, in the town of ^^Ht?:' /:-M Pompey, Onondaga County, New York. v.- . ::"£x- His parents were Benjamin Candee and ■•- ! , . .. : ,r- -. ■, i. 7 . - , ...-.■.:"-= Almira (Dutton) Candee, both of Oxford, Conn. He had three sisters and one brother older than himself, and one sister younger. His paternal ancestors were a frugal, industrious, hospitable, common-sense, " well-to-do " race. On the maternal side they were devoted to learning, music, intellectual and moral and religous pursuits, indifferent to money (if not improvident), kind and sympathetic. He was descended from the earliest settlers of New England. On the paternal side, he was of Huguenot descent, the Candees coming from the French condc, and on the maternal side, from an old English family, the Dutton s having been known in England for about a thousand years past, and some of them were intimate friends and associates of Oliver Cromwell. His prominent characteristics were derived from each of his parents. He loved learning, delighted in hospitality, was frugal and industrious, benevolent, religious, full of public spirit, and midway between acquisitiveness and improvidence. He often said that the greatest pleasure he ever derived Hon. John Duttun Cande eorge Curtis Waldn THE '■ STANDARD'S- HISTORY OF BRHXJEI'ORT. 103 from money was when he gave it away, and there was nothing in his life at which he felt so much like complaining as the fact that he was not provided with money enough to gratify this inclination in a large way. His parents moved from Pompey back to Connecticut about 1825. His father having taken some contracts on the Farmington canal, the family resided in that town about one year, when they removed to Cheshire, where his father died, leaving a widow with six children, from six weeks to fifteen years old. without any means of support. His mother moved to New Haven, and being a woman of great firmness, of wonderful endurance, of uncommon intellect and devotion to her family, she struggled with almost superhuman efforts to maintain her large family, by her personal labor in a strange city, without friends or acquaintances, there or elsewhere, who were able to alleviate her toil. The terrible struggle for existence which he witnessed in those years of suffering produced upon his mind a deep and abiding impression, and gave him some idea of the wonderful power, resources, devotion and self sacrifice of which women are capable, and made him through life a friend of the widow and the fatherless in their need. When nine and a half years old he walked to Oxford to live on a farm with his great uncle. Captain Job Candee, and he always regarded his three years' residence on the farm as exceedingly beneficial to him, in the observations he made in the lives and conversation of that shrewd, common-sense class of men— the farmers. Captain Candee was a soldier in the Revolution, and from listening ^o his stories of the war, he caught those sentiments of patriotism which controlled all his subsequent conduct in public matters. When about ten years old, he learned something about the institution of slavery, and he instinctively felt the supreme wrong of such a system so strongly that he was ever afterward an abolitionist, and was always ready to do all in his power for the emancipation of slaves, wherever they were held in bondage. When thirteen years old, he went to work in a printing office as a " roller boy," and continued to labor at that trade in different offices for ten years, until he fully mastered every department of that art. He became strongly attached to the trade, chiefly because he regarded it as the greatest of all influences ever exerted for the improvement of mankind, religion only excepted. He was always proud of having been a practical printer. Being fond of reading and study, and living in Xew Haven, where Yale College was constantly before liis eyes and in his thoughts, it was natural that he .should earnestly desire to go through that University, and though without means, he finally decided to make the attempt. He had studied Latin a little, while at work in the printing office, and with this start went to the Academy, in Hamilton, Madison County, New York, and was able to prepare for admission to college in one year. He entered Madi.son University in the fall of 1842; he remained there two term.s, and in the following spring left that University and joined the Freshmen class in Yale, graduating in 1847. The next two years he spent in Yale Law School, under the tuition of Governors BisscU and Dutton. After graduation he went to Iowa in the fall of 1849, intending to practice law in that state, hut returned to New Haven in 1850 without having opened an office. For the five following years he was the prosecuting grand juror of New Haven, and it fell to his lot to enforce the Maine law, which he did with complete success. After that, for seven years, he practiced law in New Haven, being city attorney for two of those years. He was always harrassed with an uncontrollable diffidence, which he hoped to master in course of time, but after havmg been at the bar for twelve years, and finding that this feeling had been enormously increased instead of diminished, he determined to quit a profession in which that peculiarity made him miserable, although he had received a satisfactory income. In looking for some other business, he finally decided to become an editor, and with that in view he edited the Neiv Haven Journal and Courier io-a three months, during the absence of the editor in the fall of 1862. Finding that profession congenial to his tastes, he subsequently purchased a two-thirds interest in the Bridgeport Standard, and entered upon his new duties, September 12, 1863. On the 29th of October following, he married Miss Sallie Bryant Smith, daughter of Rev. S. F. Smith, D.D., of Newton Centre, Mass. Three daughters blessed this union, which proved to be very loving and happy. When Mr. Candee assumed control of the Standard he adopted certain rules to be followed 111 its conduct, to which he strenuously adhered. The first was to admit nothing to its columns which would have an irreligous or immoral tendency. Also to avoid those personalities in journalism which are so unfortunate! v common. Very soon after coming here, he called upon :\Ir. Poniroy, the editor of the Farmer, and thev both agreed to avoid all unpleasant allusions in their respective journals. I04 THE '' STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. and though there were subsequently thousands of attacks made upon him in that and other papers, many of them doing him the grossest injustice, yet he very rarely, if ever, replied to any of them. His motto was: "If my daily life does not vindicate me, in the community, my paper shall not." He considered that space in any newspaper was much better filled with the current news of the day than in personal vindication of the editor, and acted accordingly. He determined to be just in all things, toward all men, and not allow personal dislikes to affect anything published in the Standard, and often refrained from printing criticisms upon the conduct of those who had done their utmost to injure him lest personal feeling might lead him into great severity. He merely, in such cases, dropped their acquaintance, spoke favorably of them in the paper whenever there was any occasion for favorable notice, and very rarely, if ever, criticised their conduct. He desired to be just towards all men, and if he ever swerved from that rule, to err on the side of mercy, not severity. There may be some to whom the above will explain the reason why they did not find articles in the Standard, which would have been unpleasant reading to them. But while he could thus forbear towards those who sought to injure himself, he had no such tenderness for persons or parties who sought to prey upon or corrupt the public, and he never hesitated to hold them up in the severest terms. In political questions he always took the deepest interest, and it was purely disinterested. He never sought offices of profit or honor but once, and at one time refused to take a very lucrative official position (which was said to be worth $8,000 a year), which he was strongly urged to accept, " because," he said, " I would not have it even seem to any one that my political work is done for any personal advantage." More than this, in times of very important national elections, as in 1856, he repeatedly said he would give his life for the cause, if by so doing he assured its success. His mind was early directed towards the subject of religion, and he became a member of the First Baptist Church, in New Haven, in 1835, in his sixteenth year. Though firmly believing that that church was nearer to the Apostolic Church than any other in its doctrines and ordinances, yet he always held the other Protestant churches in the highest esteem, as they all hold in common the great fundamental doctrine of Christianity, and his advice to others was, "Join that church in which you can make the greatest religious and moral progress." In morals his strongest characteristic was honesty in all things. He never claimed credit for this, because it was his nature, and he could not be otherwise. He never consciously wronged a human being out of a penny; he even refused to make what is called " good bargains," that is, to get more for one's money than the money is worth, but used always to say, " charge me for this what it is worth, with a fair profit; that is the way I wish others to trade with me, and so I wish to trade with others." He strove to be as honest in his judgments of others in his words concerning them and in all things else, as he was in his business dealings. He never loved money well enough to be even willing to gain a single cent by any means whatever, which he was not willing the whole world should know. He adhered to the Republican party devotedly, because he firmly believed it w^orked solely for the best good of mankind, and is the purest political part)' that ever existed. He was enthusiastically devoted to the cause of human liberty, and did all in his power to help it along among all nations, regardless of race, color or religion, and was impatient of those shams, by which kingcraft, priestcraft, or any other craft restricted the political or religious liberty of mankind. He thoroughly believed in the vast importance of universal education, the higher the better, and favored the public expenditure of any amount of money requisite to bring educational advantages within the reach of all. In business matters his motto was, "Live and let live," being fully as willing to give fair prices to others as to receive them for himself, thinking that all will prosper much better, if a fair field is given to each, than they can when one preys upon another. Towards his workmen he always held the kindest feeling and gladly paid them the best prices. Having been a workingman himself, he knew their toil, their privations and the difficulties which surrounded them, and therefore he was their sympathizing friend, and glad to aid them in any way possible. In his editorial career he always felt exceedingly cramped for space, which prevented him from realizing his own ideal in a newspaper; nevertheless, he had the pleasure of suggesting and advocating many public improvements which were adopted by the city, many projects of law which were enacted by the state or bj' the United States, and many ideas on various subjects which were adopted by the public. He felt gratified with his nomination by the Republicans of the state for Lieutenant-Governor in 1882, as he regarded that honor as a mark of approval of his political labors by his party, and the satisfaction Patrick \V;i< Frederick H. Stevens THE "STAXDARD'S HISTORY OF DRIDGHl'ORT. 105 which that feeling- gave them greatly overbalanced any disappointment felt at the polls. Under Mr. Candee's direction the Standard took and maintained a high place as a reliable, clean and honorable journal. After the election of 1882, Mr. Candee continued his management of the Standard, but gave up active participation in its editorial conduct in 1887, owing to ill health. He remained the President of the Association, however, until the time of his death, in 1888, and took part in the meetings of the directors to the last. Under his management the paper grew to be a very successful and very influential institution, and while conservative and prudent, he was quick to see and adopt a real improvement in any department of his business. In the Council and on the Board of Directors of the Public Library, he served the city and the interests of the public, faithfully and well. He was especially interested in the development and success of the Library, and was President of the Board of Directors at the time of his death. GEORGE CURTIS WALDO was born in Lynn, Mass., March 20, 1837, and is the eldest son of the late Rev. J. C. Waldo, of New London, Conn. Deacon Cornelius Waldo was the first of the name to come to this country, and he emigrated from England in 1654, and settled in Massachusetts, and from him all branches of the Waldo family in this country have sprung. The ancestry of Dr. Cornelius goes back to Thomas Waldo, brother of Peter Waldo, founder of the Waldenses, 11 70. On his mother's side Mr. Waldo is from the old Huguenot family. Ballon, his mother being Elmina, daughter of the late Rev. Hosea Ballon, of Boston, and cousin of Eliza Ballon, mother of James A. Garfield. Mr. Waldo was graduated at Tufts College, Massachusetts, in i860; studied law in the office of the Hon. A. C. Lippitt, in New London, Conn., and from that office enlisted with Mr. T. M. Waller, in the first company that went from New London, in the campaign of 1861. Having served through the campaign, Mr. Waldo, on account of impaired health, abandoned the study of law and engaged in active business, and in 1867 became connected with T/ie Bridgeport Standard &s city editor and local reporter. Two years later he became associate editor, under the late John D. Candee, and retained that position until the death of Mr. Candee in 1888, when he was made editor-in-chief, which position he still holds. Mr. Waldo has been connected with the Standard for over thirty years. In 1874 he married, in New Orleans, Annie, daiighter of Major Frederick Frye, formerly of Bridgeport, and their children are, Selden Connor, Rosalie Hillman, Maturin Ballou and George Curtis, Jr. Mrs. Waldo is great-great-granddaughter of Colonel James Frye, of Andover, Mass., who commanded a regiment at Bunker Hill. Mr. Waldo has been for nearly twenty years a member of the vestry of Christ Episcopal Church, and was for four years its junior Warden. He was with the late Rev. Dr. H. N. Powers, one of the founders of the Bridgeport Scientic Society, and for five years its Secretary, and he is Vice-President of the Fairfield County Historical Society. He was for five years a member of the Bridgeport Board of P^ducation, for two years Chairman of the Committee on Schools, and was one of the Committee for the Town and the School Board, which built the High School Building on Congress street. He was first President of the old Eclectic Club, was for three years Vice-President, and two years President of the Seaside Club, is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, a member of the Army and Navj^ Club of Connecticut, and of a number of fraternal organizations. He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Scciety, (Delta Chapter of Massachusetts), and has been one of the .Shell Fish Commissioners of the State of Connecticut for eight years, and for four years Chairman of the Board. He is a Republican in politics, and has been for several years an officer of the Republi- can Club of Bridgeport. In 1887 Mr. Waldo was appointed Commissary General of the State, on the staff of Governor Lounsbury, but for business reasons was compelled to decline the position. FREDERICK HOLLISTER STEVENS.— The Stevens family is an old one, and of English origin. Seven brothers of that name are said to have left England about the year 1638, for reasons that were disapproved by the crown, and their property was confiscated. The amount lost was large, and several unsuccessful attempts to recover all or a portion of it have since been made. A place in London is still known as " Stevens Square." John Stevens, of Newbury, Mass., was one of the seven brothers, and he was the grandfather of the Rev. Timothy Stevens, of Glastonbury, first minister of the Church of Christ in that town. Timothy Stevens was born in Roxbury, Mass., January 28, 1666. He graduated at Harvard in 1687, and moved to Glastonbury in 1692. He was called to the Church of Christ in Glastonbury in that year, and was ordained at the completion of the church in the follow- io6 THE '•STANDARD'S'- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. ing year, 1693. He was a man of more than ordinary ability, and was pastor in Glastonbury until 1726, when he died. Frederick HoUister Stevens, the subject of this sketch, is a lineal descendant of the Rev. Timothy Stevens. He was born in Meriden, October 19, 1856, and is the son of the late Joseph Hollister and Laura E. Post Stevens. Another ancestor of Mr. Stevens, was Lieutenant John Hollister, who was born in England in 161 2, and came to this country in 1642. He settled finally in Glastonbury, and lived in the old Hollister homestead, which is still standing, and is the oldest frame hou.se in Connecticut. It was occupied, vintil recently, by members of the Hollister family. Mr. Frederick Hollister Stevens, though born in Meriden, is thus of Glastonbury stock. He was educated in the public schools of Meriden, and moved with his family to Hartford in 1873. At the age of seventeen he entered the large wholesale and retail dry goods house of Brown, Thomson & Co., of Hartford, as assistant cashier, and in five years worked his way to the highest position in the financial department of the business. He remained twelve years with this firm, and then entered the First National Bank of Hartford, intending to make banking his business, but in 1893 he was induced to leave Hartford and take charge of the business department of the Standard Association, becoming Secretary, Treasurer and Business Manager of that corporation at that time, which position he still holds. On October 4, 1892, Mr. Stevens married Almira Louise, eldest daughter of the late Hon. John D. Candee, of Bridgeport, and granddaughter of the Rev. Dr. S. F. Smith, author of "America." Mr. Stevens is a veteran of Company K, First Regiment, C. N. G., of Hartford, a member of the Connecticut branch, Sons of the American Revolution, a member of the Seaside Club, of Bridgeport, and also of a number of other social and fraternal oroanizations. GEORGE R. STOWELL, the veteran compositor on the Standard, was born in the town of Guilford, Conn., in 1827. He learned his trade, as a printer, in Norwich, and after that worked for two years on the New Haven Palladiuiit. In September, 1849 he came to Bridgeport and went to work as a compositor on the Standard, and has been so employed ever since, and will complete his forty-eighth year of continuous type-setting on this paper, in September next, (1897). Mr. Stowell is a good citizen, a man of excellent character, and one who enjoys the respect of a large circle of friends. PATRICK WADE, the subject of this brief sketch, is one of the best known residents of the city. He was born in Douras, County Galway, Ireland, March 18, 1844, and came to Bridgeport with his parents in November, 1849. He received his early educa- tion in the local public schools. In 1856 he began his career on a farm just outside the city, but the mechanical genius inborn with him, craved for an opportunity, and he was not satisfied with his agricultural labors. So in 1858 he returned to this city and became an apprentice boy in the mechanical department of the Farmer office. He remained there, solvmg the mysteries of the printing art, until 1862. Itwasin 1862, at the age of seventeen years, he enlisted in Company K, 17th Connecticut Volunteers, and in this company he served until the close of the war. At the Battle of Chancellorsville he was promoted to Corporal for good behavior in action. At the Battle of Gettysburg, he was made Sergeant for meritorious conduct. He was second in command of a squad of twelve men, who recaptured the town of Gettysburg, on the morning of July 4, 1863, and furnished the waiting army with the news that Lee had retreated, and the battle was won. The squad of twelve captured forty-six prisoners. Upon Mr. Wade's return from the war he came to the Standard office, August 23, 1865, and he has been one of the main supports of the Standard Association ever since. He has long been a Stockholder, a Director and the Superintendent of the mechanical department. To his excellent judgment has been due in a large measure the Standard's steady and prosperous growth. His ambition has always been to make the Standard one of the cleanest, handsomest and best journals in Connecticut, and lie StaiiJaid's \ George R. Stu THE "STANDARD'S- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 107 certainly much of its success has been clue to his zeal and ability. He is familiar with every detail of the printing- business, and his practical knowledge has been invaluable to the publication in which he has always taken so much pride. Mr. Wade has repeatedly declined public office, although his worth was known and appreciated by the Republican party, whose cause he has ever loyally supported. During the administration of Governor P. C. Lounsbury, Mr. Wade was offered the position of Quarter-Master General of Con- necticut, but he declined the honor. The cause of the old solider, how-ever, has always been dear to him, and through his efforts, two handsome monuments for the 17 th Connecticut have been erected on the battle field of Gettysburg. Mr. Wade has been Treasurer of the 17th Regiment Association for the last fifteen years. He is also a member of the Sacred Heart R. C. Church, the Army and Navy Club, and the Elias Howe, Jr., Post, No. 3, G. A. R. He is a gentleman of unswerv- ing integrity, loyal to his friends and respected by all who have ever known him. ^il(J5»,y. CHAPTER XXI. BIOGRAPHY.— LEGAL PROFESSION. LION. ALFRED BISHOP BEERS was born at New Rochelle, N. Y., April 23, 1845, and is the ^ ' son of Alfred Beers, who was identified with the Naug-atuck Railroad from 1851 to 1886. The ancestry of Mr. Beers upon the male side of the line is traced back to the Beers family of Gravesend and Dartford, Kent County, England. The more immediate ancestor was James Beers, of Gravesend, Kent County, England, who died in 1635, leaving two sons. James and Anthony, who emigrated shortly after to Watertown, Mass., and removed from there to Fail-field, Conn. , in 1659. Anthony was a mariner and was lost at sea in 1676, leaving a son Ephraim, who was born in 1648, and died leaving a son Ephraim, who died in 1759, leaving a son Daniel, who was born 1745, who removed to Ridgefield, Conn., and served in the Continental Army and was present at the attack on Danbury, and engagement at Ridgefield by Tyron, in 1777, and died 1820. He left a son Edmund, born 1768, who died 1843, leaving a son Jonathan, born 1789, who settled at Vista, West- chester Co., N. Y., and died in 1868, and who was grandfather of the subject of this sketch. His mother's maiden name was Mary E. Bishop, her father being Leander Bishop, of Stamford, Conn., who was a brother of Alfred Bishop, late of Bridge- port, Conn., now deceased, a well-known contractor and builder of railroads, especi- ally of the Naugatuck Railroad ; their father was William Bishop, of Stamford, Conn., who was a descendent of John Bishop, one of the first ministers to Stam- ford, Conn. His grandmother was a descendent of Dr. Charles McDonald, a Scotchman by birth, who came to this country shortly before the Revolutionary War, and upon the breaking out of hostil- ities, enlisted in the Continental army and served during the entire war, partici- pating in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga, and also in the battle of White Plains, N. Y., in 1776, where he distinguished himself by his bravery. After the close of the war he entered the medical profession and practiced successfully at Port Chester, N. Y., until his death, which occurred about 1842. Alfred B. Beers removed to Bridgeport in 185 1, and was educated in the public schools of that city. He enlisted September 5, 1861, for a term of three years as private in Company I, Sixth Connecticut Volunteers. This regiment was attached to the Tenth Army Corps, and participated in Hon. Alfred B. Beer THE ''STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 109 the bombardment of Hilton Head, S. C, battle of Pocataligo, S. C, (he was honorably mentioned in the report of the General commanding, for bravery and meritorous conduct in that engagement), also in the siege of Fort Pulaski, Ga., actions at James Island, S. C, Morris Island, siege and assault on Fort Wagner, and siege of Charleston, S. C. ; re-enlisted as a veteran volunteer in same regiment and was engaged in the campaign of 1864 against Richmond, siege of Petersburg, Va., engagements at Deep Bottom, Deep Run, where he was wounded, Chapin's Farm, and Laurel Hill, on the north side of the James river in 1864; he was promoted from First Sergeant of Company I, to Captain of Company B, in same regiment, and was engaged in the bombardment, charge, and capture of Fort Fisher, N. C, under General Terry, January, 1865, and advance upon Goldsboro, N. C, April, 1865, and was discharged from the service at New Haven, Conn., August 21, 1865, being then about twenty years of age. He then engaged in general business and in study until 1867, when he commenced the study of law, and was admitted to the Fairfield County Bar in 187 1. In 1S72 he was Clerk of the City Court, in 1875 Assistant City Attorney. In 1877 he was elected by the Legislature, Judge of the City Court of the City of Bridgeport and was re-elected continuously until 1893, when he declined a re-election. As a Judge he discharged the duties of his jiosition with marked fidelity and inflexible honesty, holding the scales of justice evenly balanced, and rendering his decisions unmoved by sympathy and unawed by clamor. He has been prominently connected with the Grand Army since its organization, and was Commander of Elias Howe, Jr., Post, No. 3, G. A. R., located at Bridgeport, also Commander of the Department of Connecticut, G. A. R., in 1880-81, and is a member of the New York Commandery of the Loyal Legion. He is a member of the Soldiers' Hospital Board of the State of Connecticut, a position he has occupied for twelve years, and is Chairman of the Executive Committee, and has spent a large amount of time in the last ten years in assisting to perfect that admirable institution, Fitch's Home for the Soldiers, and the Connecticut Soldiers' Hospital, at Noroton, Conn. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Bridgeport Public Library and Reading Room, an institution in the foundation of which he took a marked degree of interest. He is also a Director in the Standard Association, publishers of the JWidgcport Daily Standard, The Eaton, Cole & Burnham Co., and The Bridgeport Electric Light Co., and a member of The Board of Governors of the Seaside Club, and of the Ma.sonic Fraternity. He has just been appointed City Attorney of the City of Bridgeport by the Mayor, for the term of two years from July 1, 1S97, and is President of the Bridgeport Bar Association. In politics he is a Republican and has taken an active jjart in the affairs of the party, and has been a well-known figure as a delegate to most of the State conventions held in the past twenty years. He was married, February 29, 1872, to Callie T. House, of Vineland, N. J., daughter of William House, who was a brother of Royal E. House, the inventor of the House Printing Telegraph System, with whom he was interested, and also took part in the construction of the first telegraph line erected in this country, being the line from Baltimore to Washington. Four children are the result of the marriage, Alfred B. Beers, Jr., Harry H. Beers, Ralph T. Beers and Mary E. Beers, deceased. As a lawyer he is devoted to his chosen profession, and brings to its practice a clear and logical mind, a retentive memory, confidence in his cause upon its merits, and a thorough hatred of trickery and shams. He is careful in the preparation of his cases, ready in speech as an advocate, and honest in his claims for his client, and has taken part in many of the important trials in Fairfield County and in arguments before the Supreme Court of the State. He is possessed of a genial and kind nature, affable in intercourse with his fellows, with a personal character above reproach, and is esteemed and honored by the citizens of Bridgeport as an upright and conscientious christian gentleman. DAVID FREDERICK HOLLISTER was born in Washington, Conn., March 31, 1826, where he received a common school education. His father, Gideon Hollister, was a well to do farmer, a man of sterling integrity, and of much influence in the community in which he lived. David was the youngest of the family, having a sister four years and a brother eight years older than himself. When he was sixteen years of age the family removed to Woodbury, Conn., where he remained on the farm in accordance with his father's earnest wish, for several years. While thus at home on the farm, he had the fortune, good or bad, to cut his foot so severely as to interfere with active duties for many months, and he finally obtained the consent of liis father to prepare for college. He then THE "STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. determined to enter the Class of '51, though there were then but eleven months before the commencement of the term. He made the best use of his time, and at the commencement of the term presented himself for examination without having completed, however, quite two-thirds of the preparatory course. When he left home for New Haven and bade his friends good-bye, he assured them that they would not see him again till he was a member of the Class of '51. though he had many misgivings as to his success in passing the examination. To his surprise and great delight, however, he passed the Rubicon in safety. This he always attributed in a great measure to an experience, serious enough in the time of it, that he had with Professor Kingsley, who examined him in Latin. The professor gave hin: an exceedingly tough oration to translate, which he knew at a glance could not be trifled with or extem- lWi|)))ill'l'!P*iii ,ffWf' wmmm porized on with safety, and so he told the professor frankly that he could not read the selection. ''What, what, young gentleman," said the professor, " did you not know that this book was in the pre- paratory course?" "Yes, sir," replied the applicant, "but I did not have time after I decided to enter this class to com- plete the whole preparatory course." The professor commenced to close the book, with a look on his face which seemed also to the applicant to close the door of hope for admission to the class. In a fit of desperation the applicant exclaimed, ' ' I can give you the derivation and mean- ing of every word on the page, construct the sentences properly, and parse them correctly." With a doubtful smile upon his face, the professor told him he might try it. The trial proved that the applicant had a fair knowledge of the principles and construction of the Latin language, and the professor called a halt. The professor then turned to another portion of the book and asked if he could read that. It was simply a narrative, and the boy replied, " I never saw it before, but I can read it," which he proceeded to do to the entire satisfaction of the professor. " Now, yoimg gentleman," said the professor, " tell me why you did not attempt to read David rre.ierick II.. iiister '^^i" ^^'^^ Selection?" " Becausc, " replied he, " it was a speech, and I knew nothing whatever of the occasion or subject matter and could not enter into the spirit of it so as to translate it intelligently, and knew I should only make a fool of myself if I attempted it." A pleasant smile spread over the professor's fatherly face as he expressed himself satisfied ; and he proved ever afterward, during the entire college course, a most kind and considerate friend. In his Senior year he was elected first President from his class of the Linonian Literary and Debating Society, an honor which was then esteemed second to none in college life. Prior to entering college he had studied law for a time, and immediately after graduation he entered the law ofifice of his brother, the late Gideon H. Hollister, of Litchfield, author of the History of Connecticut, and graduate of Yale, Class of '40. In the December following graduation, 185 1, he was admitted to the Bar of Litchfield County, and at once removed to Salisbury, Conn., and opened an office for the practice of law. In September, 1852, he was married to Miss Mary E. Jackson, of Brooklyn, N. Y. THE "STAXDARirS- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. in a graduate of Packer Institute. In 1S54 he removed to Bridgeport, Conn., where he opened an otTice and resumed the practice of law, and where he has since remained, and is now engaged in the practice of his profession. Soon after moving to Bridgeport he purchased several tracts of land in and about the city, and took needed exercise and recreation, and devoted his leisure time in opening up and developing the propert}' by streets and avenues, upon which many pleasant homes have been erected, and a flourishing village now exists. He received the degree of M. A. in 1866, at Yale. He has always been identified with the public institutions and improvements of Bridgeport and vicinity, and has been a member of the City Government. In 185S he was elected Judge of Probate for the District of Bridgeport, and was re-elected in 1859. August 15, 1862, he was appointed by President Lincoln, Collector of Internal Revenue for the Fourth District of Connecticut, and after the consolidation of the Second and Fourth Districts, in October, 1873, he was appointed Collector of the Consolidated District by President Grant, which office he held continuously until September i, 1883, when, upon the consolidation of all the Districts in the State, with office at Hartford, he retired from the public service, having been continuously in the office for over twenty-one years, and having served under six Presidents, viz: Lincoln, Johnson, Grant, Hayes, Garfield and Arthur. During this time he also held the office of Receiver and Disburser of the Public Funds for the Government, and was also Receiver of Commutation Money during the War, thus handling in these various offices many millions of dollars, without loss to the Government or the discrepancy of a farthing from first to last. He was an ardent supporter of the Government during the War of the Rebellion, and although not a subject of miHtary duty, by reason of the injury already referred to, and from which he has never fully recovered, he procured and sent to the front two good substitutes to represent him on the field, while at home he assisted in various ways in rendering those important services which were so essential to the success of the cause. By means of his official relations to the Government he was brought into frequent contact with President Lincoln and the heads of the various departments at Washington, civil and military, and was thus enabled to serve this city and district in several very important matters, especially in relation to the provost marshal's office in this district, which at a most critical period was a source of much uneasiness and anxiety to those who were engaged in recruiting men for the service. Upon moving to Bridgeport he and his late lamented wife, JMary E. Hollister, united with the First Presbyterian Church of this city, of which he has since been an active member and has devoted mtich time and labor to its welfare. He has been an elder of the church for over thirty years, and is now the senior elder and treasurer of the church and one of the Society's committee. The beautiful church, chapel, Sunday school building and parsonage of the First Presby- tarian Church, corner of State street and Myrtle avenue, Bridgeport, are, in great measure, the result of his planning and earnest labors and imflagging zeal, as he was the chairman of the building committees and assisted in securing the land for the purpose. All these buildings are beautiful, appropriate and convenient, and, as a whole, are unexcelled by any church property in the country. He was one of the three original organizers and managers of the Boys' Club of Bridgeport, and obtained its cliarter from the Legislature, and is one of its vice-presidents and active in its management. He is a member of St. John's Lodge F. and A. M., a member of the Board of Trade and of the Seaside Club. He has obtained from the Legislature of the State many charters of public interest in addition to that of the Boys' Club, among which are the Citizens" Water Company, now consolidated with the Bridgeport Hydraulic Company, the Bridgeport and West Stratford Horse Railroad Company, of which he was President for several years, but which is now consolidated with the Bridgeport Traction Company, the Stratford Land and Improvement Company, the City Savings Bank, of which he was one of the original incorporators and trustees, and for many years a Vice-President and now the President, the Young Men's Christian Association, and others. He is one of the trustees of the Bridgeport Orphan Asylum and its legal adviser. His professional life covers forty-three years of Bridgeport's history. When he came here there were but seventeen practicing lawyers in the city; two of them moved away, four still survive, and the others have all passed to the other shore. He came here at an opportune time and at once entered upon an extensive practice, which continued to increase till he entered upon the collectorship at the beginning of the war. The duties of this office demanded and received the greater portion of his time and his best energies for over twenty-one years, and 112 THE -STAXDARD'S'' HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. upon retiring from office he received the highest testimonials for his long, efficient and faithful service. At the close of his official life he formed a copartnership with Wm. H. Kelsey, of Bridgeport (who had served in his office as deputy collector for several years), under the name of HoUister & Kelsey, and the firm are still engaged in an extensive practice in the various branches of law business. Upon attaining his majority he cast his first vote with the old Whig Party, and upon the formation of the Republican Party, under the presidential leadership of the famous Pathfinder, John C. Fremont, he espoused the interests of that party and has ever since been an earnest advocate and supporter of its principles and policy. CURTIS THOMPSON.— Possessing the confidence and esteem of the best of Bridgeport's citizens, with a lofty purpose to be found upon the right side of every moral, civil and religious question, and ready to aid in advancing it with such means as he can command, an active participant in municipal affairs, the mover in procuring one of the most effi- cient local governments in the state, and an attorney of large and extensive practice in his profession, such is the record of Curtis Thompson in this city. He was born in the town of Trumbull, October 30, 1835, his ancestors being of Puritan stock and among the early settlers, and of the old town of Stratford. His parents were George and Lucy (Curtis) Thompson; and it was during a tempo- rary residence in Trumbull that their son was born. vStratford school and the academy furnished his early education and Harvard University his collegiate instruc- tion. In 1865 he was admitted to the Fairfield County Bar, having read law with George W. Warner and David F. Hollister, and has since practiced his profession in this city. It is the belief of Mr. Thompson that it is the duty of every citizen to actively participate in the management of public matters. Stratford, of which he was then a resident, honored him with election to the Assemblies of 1865-66-67, and while a public servant in this capacit}' of legislator he served on the Judiciary, Incorporations and other com- mittees. During the following years his C nrtis Thompson. ^ ^ - active interest in municipal affairs was well-nigh constant. In 1868-69 efi>re the Masonic Lodge of Dan- bury he delivered a masonic lecture on the origin of masonr}', under the auspices of the grandmas- ter of the state, and before the local Y. M. C. A. he gave a highly interesting talk on "Every Day Topics," which was extensively ciuoted. He is an ardent admirer of the Boys' Club and presented to the fund for a home ,$2,400 of the Bridgeport Traction Company's stock. The labor unions of the city selected Mr. Goodsell to preside at one of their mass meetings, !■ iii.ii,i \\ Mniih. and on numerous occasions he has acted as chair- man of large political gatherings. On the occasion of the distribution of Christmas gifts to the poor of the city at the Opera House through the enterprise of the newspapers and the charitable citizens of Bridgeport, Mr. Goodsell was chosen as presiding genius of that memorable occasion. He is also an active member of both the Scientific and Historical Societies. Mr. Goodsell is a trustee of the Connecticut Co-operative Savings Society and Vice-President of the branch in this city. In brief he has been one of the few men who could be depended upon to do all in his power to aid every enterprise for the city's benefit, and has given lavishly of both time and money, and has been urged to accept office in many societies, which he has been obliged to decline from want of time to give the attention needed, as he is very active in every position he has accepted, and was never looked upon as a figure head. Though his public and society duties make great inroads upon his time, he manages to thoroughly enjoy the healthful environment of his pleasant home on North avenue, where he has lived for many THE STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF ItRHtGEPORT. years, having been married in i86S to ^liss Caroline Fox, a member of one of the oldest families of the city. To Mr. and Mrs. Goodsell have been born three children — Zalmon, who died in infancy; Eliza Jane and ^lary Caroline, both of whom are among the most popular of the many yoimg society people of the city. FRIEND WILLIAM SMITH, who is one of the representative men of Bridgeport, was born in Cortright, X. Y., ^lay ii, 1829, and after an education received in the public schools and the Amenia Seminary, Dutchess County, N. Y., came to Bridgeport, which was in 1849. Mr. Smith entered the dry goods business on his arrival in Bridgeport as a clerk for E. Birdseye, and served imder this firm until 1861, when he was elected, by popular vote. Postmaster, continuing in that position until 1869. In 1874 he became a manufacturer, and secured the contract for considerable Government work. The Smith & Egge Company, of which he is the President, has been very successful since its inception, and has contributed its share to the development of the city's manufacturing industries. Mr. Smith is a member of St. John's Lodge F. and A. M., the .Seaside Club, and many others. He represented Fair- field County in the Republican State Committee for several years, and it was during his tenure of the office of Post- master that the new postoffice was erected. Angelina Amelia Weed became his life- partner, February 23, 1853, by whom he has four children. HENRY LEE, the .subject of this sketch, is well and favorably known throughout the state. He is rm ardent Republican, and has been wide!}' identi- fied with the party's interest since his location in Bridgeport. He spent his boy- hood dayj at Coventry, Conn., having been born in that town on March 24, 1848. When but a boy he entered the employ of the Union Metallic Cartridge Company, then located in that town, and while there became thoroughly acquainted with the handling of deadly explosives. In November, 1868, soon after the Cartridge Company removed iie^rv i.ee. their plant to this city, Mr. Lee came here and assumed charge of the priming department. He continued in this capacity until 1881, when he launched into the grocery business with the late George M. Robertson as his partner. The co-partnership existed only a year, and then the firm of Lee & Ketcham was formed, with Charles J. Ketcham as junior partner. This firm conducted a prosperous business until June, 1895, when Mr. Lee retired. On August i, 1895, Mr. Lee assumed the duties of a County Commissioner for Fairfield County, having been ajjpointed by the General Assembly of that year. He was elected Secretary and Treasurer of the Board, and at the present time holds that position. As a Commissioner he has displayed the same tact and business ingenuity which made him a successful business man, and has done much in advancing the interests of the commonwealth. During his residence in I^ridgeport, Mr. Lee has been recognized both by election and appoint- 152 THE " STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. ment to numerous political offices, and has proved a faithful and able official. He was first elected Registrar of the old sixth ward in 1881, and was re-elected in the following year. In 1885 he was elected a member of the Board of Selectmen and served with Emor}' F. Strong and John C. Shelton. He continued in office during the following year. He represented the third ward in the Board of Aldermen in 1887 and 1888. The next year he was selected as the candidate of the Republican Party for the position of Mayor, but was defeated by ex-Congressman Robert E. DeForest. During the last term of Mayor Marigold, he was appointed a Fire Commissioner and served fifteen months and resigned. His next public office was that of County Commissioner, which he now holds. He was appointed August i, 1895, for four years. Mr. Lee is widely known throughout the state as an authority on Connecticut history, and has one of the largest collections of books pub- lished in the state and relating to its history known in this section. He is a member of a number of secret and social organizations, among them being St. John's Lodge F. and A. M. and Jerusalem Chapter, the Samuel H. Harris Lodge No. 99, I. O. O. F., the Ancient Order of Ecsenics, Seaside Court of Foresters, the Seaside Club, the Bridge- port and Connecticut Historical Societies, and several others. He is Director in the Lee Bros. Furniture Company, a large and successful business enterprise. GEORGE E. SOMERS.— It is worth recording that in our Representative in the Legislature from Bridgeport, we have an example of what a man with courage, determination and brains can accomplish. George E. Somers was born in Newtown, Conn., Januar)' 21, 1833, and after receiving his education in the public schools of that town, was apprenticed to a mechanic. At the age of nineteen he commenced his career as a skilled mechanic at Naugatiick, and after devoting two years at his trade there, moved to Waterbury. Wallace & vSons, of Ansonia, then engaged his services, but a better offer from Providence, R. I., caused him to settle there, being employed by the Gorham Manufacturing Co., the world-renowned silversmiths. While with George E. sumers. this Company he was employed in making tools for manufacturing silversmiths, w'hich required the utmost skill, but the war breaking out he returned to Ansonia, engaging himself in the manufacture of cartridge shells with his former employers at that place. About the close of the war Mr. Somers returned to Waterbury as head of one of the departments of the Benedict & Burnham Company. While in the employ of this concern he went to Europe, and on his return introduced the manufacture of seamless brass and copper tubing in this part of the country, which has grown to be a great feature in manufactures in that line. While in Waterbury Mr. Somers served the city for several years as Fire Commissioner, his efficiency in that office being unquestioned. In 1881 Mr. Somers came to Bridgeport as vSuperintendent and Director of the Bridgeport Brass Company, and during his residence here the many patents THE "STAXDARD'S- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 153 granted him lias no doubt greatly assisted that company in creating the wonderful plant and business that is credited to them. :Mr. Somers is a thorough Republican, and although not desirous of public office, he was nominated for the Legislature and elected by a sweeping majority. Previous to this he was appointed to the Board of Public Works, vice Edward R. Ives resigned, by Mayor Marigold, continuing under Mayors Bostwick and Clark. Mr. Somers is a thirty-second degree Mason, and has served in most of the offices of the Blue Lodge and Commandery. He married, November, 1858, Sarah J. Noble, daughter of David Noble, of Southbury, Conn., who died August, 1864. His second wife was Fannie E. French, daughter of Miles French, of Bethany, Conn., to whom he was wedded, 1865. Mr. Somers is essentially a self-made man, working his way from the bench to the position of Vice-President and Superintendent of the vast works of the Bridgeport Brass Company, and his record will prove that a young man with the true grit can secure by integrity and honest hard work the competency that awaits him. COLONEL JLVLIUS W. KNOWLTON.— The subject of this biography has been prominently identified in the councils of the Republican Party in Connecticut during a considerable portion of his life. During four Presidential administrations he held the important office of Postmaster of Bridgeport; he has served two terms in the state Legislature representing Stratford, has been a member of the State Central Committee, and was on the staff of Governor Marshall Jewell, with the rank of Colonel. Julius W. Knowlton was born in Southbridge, Mass., Novem- ber 28, 1838, the son of William S. Knowlton, and traces his American ancestry to Thomas Knowlton, who emigrated from England in 1632. At the age of seven his parents moved to Norwich, and three years later to this city, where he received his education in the public and private schools. In i860 he engaged in business. When the war broke out Mr. Knowlton enlisted as a private in Company A, Fourteenth Connecticut Volunteers, and upon the organization of the regiment was made its Com- missary Sergeant. Promoted to the second Lieutenancy of Company C, he was in command of it at the battle of Gcttj'sburg, and on the third day of that terrible encounter he was wounded. Remaining in the hospital on the field for eleven long daj's, he was then removed to Baltimore, and then to his home in Bridgeport. The following January found him again at the front, though on account of his wounds he was unable to perform exacting militarv duty, and in 1864 he received his discharge for physical disabilit}'. Colonel Knowlton was one of the three gentlemen who, in October, 1866, purchased the Bridgeport Standard, organizing as a joint stock company under the laws of Connecticut, Mr. Knowlton assuming the duties of Secretary, Treasurer and Business Manager. This position he resigned some seven years later to become Superintendent of the Moore Car Wheel Company, of Jersey City, N. J. A year later he took a Government position in the post office department at Washington, and later became Chief Clerk of the department, which was then under the control of Postmaster-General Marshall Jewell, of Hartford. This was during Grant's administration. In 1875 Colonel Knowlton received the appointment of Postmaster at Bridgeport, and occupied that position imtil November, 1886. He was reappointed in May, 18S9, and served until December 31, 1893. In addition to his political affiliations. Colonel Knowlton has been actively identified with the social and fraternal life of Bridgeport. He is a prominent member of the Masonic Brotherhood, and has taken every degree to and including the thirty-third — the Scottish rite. He is a Grand Army man, a member of the Army and Navy Club, the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, and of the Seaside and Algonquin Clubs. He has also been Assistant Adjutant General G. A. R., a member of Colonel Julius W. Knowlton. 154 THE " STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRHJGEPORT. the National Council, and in iSSo was a delegate to the National Encampment. He is also a member of the First UniversaHst Society of Bridgeport. Colonel Knowlton married Miss Jennie E. Fairchild, of Newtown, Conn., December 17, 1866. They have had two children, both of whom are dead. CHARLES RANSOM BROTHWELL.— Very few of Bridgeport's citizens have watched her o-rowth and progress with greater interest than has Charles Ransom Brothwell, it being the home of his fathers, he has looked iipon her prosperity with great pride, and wilhngly devoted his time and attention to her advancement. Mr. Brothwell was born in 1833. The early part of his life was spent on his father's farm, the property now known as Brooklawn Park. At thirty-five years of age he became connected with the Hon. P. T. Barnum, and eventually became his real estate agent, which position he held at the time of the latter's death. His relations to Mr. Barnum were most valuable, as his knowledge of property and undivided interest speak for them- selves. Many of the big schemes of the real estate world originated with this faith- ful assistant; for instance, the reclaiming of that track of land adjoining Seaside Park, east of Cedar Creek, which added forty acres of taxable propert}' to the city. Mr. Brothwell was one of the original members of the Board of Public Works, which position he held for twelve years, his principal interest in connection with the Board being the building of the bridges, especially the Lower Bridge, which was the first in the United States to be operated by electricity — Mr. Brothwell's idea — not only was the electric motor introduced by him, but he provided a swinging stop latch, which made the use of electricity com- plete, for without that and the yielding abutment it would be impossible to open and close the draw as rapidly as at present. He also provided the swinging gates which are placed at either side of the bridge for the safety of the public. One of the features of the semi-cen- tennial celebration of Bridgeport in 1888 was the great industrial parade, of which Mr. Brothwell had the honor of being ii.iiks K. i;iothweii. Grand Marshal. For several years previ- ous he was interested in the Board of Trade, and not only during the Presidency of the Board, 1891-92, but at all times has been instrumental in getting a large number of manufacturers to locate here. In politics Mr. Brothwell is a Republican, and has been honored with many offers of office by his party, but invariably declined^ except in 1892, when he was defeated for the Senatorship. WALTER B. BOSTWICK was born in New Milford in 1840, and lived there for many years, his business ventures in the manufacturing line having been made in that town, and carried by him to a very successful issue. In 1884 he came to Bridgeport and located at the west end, where he invested heavily in real estate, carried on manufacturing, and took a large part in promoting the subsequent rapid development of that portion of the city. He was a Democrat in politics, and was early urged THE "SrAXDARD'S HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. I5S to represent his section of the city in tlie Common Council, which lie did in both branches to the satisfaction of all, and where his work as a Legislator for the interests of the city was such as to secure him the friendship and support of a large constituency. In 1893 he was nominated for Mayor on the Democratic ticket, and was elected by a very considerable majority. He was the first Mayor under the new charter, making the term two years instead of one, as it had been since the establishment of the first city government. As Mayor, he was impartial and judicious, and by his prudent management much was accomplished during the two years of his incumbency for the improvement of the city and the benefit of its citizens. During his term the street car strike took place, which for a considerable time disorganized the street car service of the city, and entailed great inconvenience upon the public. Mayor Bostwick was active at this time, and took a prominent part in what was done to preserve the peace and settle the difficulty, which was finally brought to a satisfactory conclusion. Since his term as Mayor, Mr. Bostwick has given his time exclusively to his important personal interests, which are large and increasing, and demand his constant attention and supervision. TRACY BRONSON WARREN is a lineal descendent of Richard Warren, who came from Greenwich, England, on the Mayflower to Plymouth, Mass., in 1620, and died in the same town in 1628. Mr. Warren's ancestry runs back of the landing of the ^layflower in an unbroken line nearly six hundred years. The Warren family was well known in revolutionary times, and the an- cestors of our subject, though of Briti.sh parentage, fought hard for the independence of their adopted country. vSocially Col. Warren is very much re- spected as his membership in the Sons of the American Revolution, F. and A. M., all the local clubs, the Old Guard of the City of New York, and many business organizations would indicate. He has served two terms in the Board of Aldermen and one term as City Treasurer, which positions he has held to the credit of himself and the better- ment of the cit\'. His business attention is entirely devoted to the Atlantic Hotel, which for years has been a Mecca for a great many of the promient people of the United States. He married, in 1874, Clara A. Mills, of Boston, Mass., a descendent of revo- lutionary and colonial ancestors, who is at the present time Regent of the local Chapter D. A. R. Four children comprise Mr. Warren's family. Col. Warren, who has been very prominent in the Connecticut National Guard, came to Bridgeport in 1876 and has resided here ever since. In politics he is a Republican, and a member of the Episcopal Church. REV. JOHN W. GILL.— One of our most prominent divines is the Rev. John W. Gill, who, although comparatively a stranger in Bridgeport, has. by his devotion to the needs of his parish and his charitable kindliness, succeeded in establishing himself in the hearts of his parishioners for all time. He was born in Brookljm, N. Y., March 24, 1S61, and after receiving his preliminary education in the public schools of that city entered Trinity School, completing his study at St. Stephen College. The public life of a minister of the Gospel is very little in evidence, in comparison to the inner life, where his days and years are one long sacrifice to his flock. St. Luke's vestry and congregation are to be congratulated on securing the Rev. Mr. (bill's service, and the writer trusts that he may long abide Walter B. Bostwick. IS6 THE '• STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. with us. His election as Chaplain of the 4th Regiment, N. G., is regarded as a sure test of his personal popularity, also his membership in the Yacht Club, where he was unanimousl}' elected. WILLIAM F. BISHOP was born in Woodbmy, Conn., April 30. 1836. On February 16, 1872, he removed to Bridgeport, where he established himself in business at No. 65 State street. In February, 1875, he associated himself with John CuUinan in the undertaking business, under the firm name of Bishop & Cullinan. The partnership was continued until October 16, 1882, since that time Mr. Bishop has continued the business alone. Mr. Bishop is a member of the Masonic Fraternity, he having been initiated in 1861 in Federal Lodge, No. 17, of Watertown, Conn. He is also a member of the A. A. Scottish Rite, S. P. R. S. , and of the vSovereign Consistory of Bridgeport, and a thirty-second degree Mason. Upon the morning of September 2, 1897, Mr. Bishop, who had been ill for some time from the effects of a paralytic stroke, passed away at his home on Warren Street, sincerely mourned by a large circle of friends. RUSSELL TOMLINSON WHITIXG upon whom, by common consent, there has been con- ferred the title of Bridgeport's leading grocer, is in every sense a true son of the Park City. Bom here upon Novembor 29, 1847, he is able to trace his descent without a break, back to the time of the Pilgrim Fathers. He is the son of Isaac H. Whiting, whose father, William Nathan Whit- ing, was in turn the son of a Revolutionary patriot. Col. Samuel Whiting. Col. Whiting was a resident of Stratford, and served under General Washing- ton, being in command of one of the Connecticut regiments. He was a descendentof William Brad- ford, one of the Mayflower company and governor of the Massachusetts Colony. With the exception of a few years spent in the City of New York, Mr. Whiting has always resided here, and through the exercise of more than ordinary business ability, attained to an honored position in the mercantile life of the city. His large establishment on j\Iain street is a model one, and within its walls is con- ducted a business which he has seen grow from humble beginnings to a most enviable volume. When a lad Mr. Whiting attended the common schools of the city, and from them passed to the private military school conducted so successfully by Emory F. Strong. After a term of two years in this institution he entered at once upon a business career, and without interruption has since been engaged in mercantile pursuits. Going to New York he entered the service of one of the big dry goods firms of that period, and for eleven years was ever to be found at his post. He was in turn connected with the hoiises of Halsted, Haines & Company, Hurd, Curran & Company, and Butler, Broome & Clapp, until late in 1874. He decided to return to his native city and embark in the grocery business. With this object in view he formed a partnership with Philo H. Prindle, the firm being known as Prindle & Whiting, and opened the store upon Main street, where he has ever since been located. Up to the following March Mr. Whiting remained in New York closing his term of service with his old employers and buying goods for the store in this city, but as soon as possible gave up all his metro- politan connections in order to devote his entire time to the store here. From then until now it has ever been his effort to keep his establishment in the front rank, and he enjoys a well earned and deserved reputation in the grocery trade, both wholesale and retail, of New England. Though always an ardent Republican, Mr. Whiting has never entered upon a public career. He has many times been Col. Tracy B. Wai THE ''STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF URHXJEI'ORT. 157 requested to serve up<.in the vai'ious boards and commissions of the city, but has consistently declined, preferring to remain an humble worker in the party ranks. For many years he has been a prominent member of Christ Episcopal Church, and has held the office of Vestryman, discharging the duties of that position with much benefit to the church society. He early joined the Masonic fraternity and in its work has always been an active and interested participant. He is at present a member of Corin- thian Lodge, F. and A. M., Jerusalem Chapter, R. A. M., Jerusalem Council R. & S. M., Hamilton Commanderv, No. 5, K. T. \'. Pyramid Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. In addition he is a member of the Seaside Club, the Seaside Outing Club and the Bridgeport Boat Club. Upon April 18, 1S76, Mr. Whiting was united in marriage to Mary A. Brooks, granddaughter of Joseph Brooks, of the old firm of Brooks & Stratton, and to them have been given three children, Russell Hitchcock, Eamice Hull and Clarion Brooks. JAMES WILSON.— During the years from 1857 to 1880, Mr. James Wilson was prominently identified with the interests of Bridgeport. Those who, to-day, are oc- cupied with public and private affairs, scarcely realize, as they frequently meet this venerable citizen on the street, that thirtv years ago he was as active as they now are, not only in public matters, but in the liberal use of private means for the establishment and maintenance of institu- tions which have been so fruitful in growth, and a permanent benefit to the community. Yet such is true. ilr. Wilson came to Bridgeport in 1857. associated with the late Joseph Alvord, as partner-contractors with the Wheeler & Wilson Sewing Machine Co. His previous experience as the master of three trades, and as an United States armorer and gun maker, enabled him to achieve a large measure of financial suc- cess. His prosperty, however, was an un- selfish acquisition, for his increasing means were immediately invested in Bridgeport's then infant industries and enterprises. The Pembroke Iron Foundry (then Wilson & Parsons), the Monumental Bronze Co., the Bridgeport Horse Railroad Co., and many others which are permanent and assured. The soundness of his judgment and conservatism of his business views, caused him to be much sought for on boards of direction, so that at one time he was a Director in no less than twelve boards of industrial concerns in the city. Called upon to serve his fellow citizens in public affairs several times, his duties became exceptionally arduous, owing to his peculiar and characteristic conscientiousness. He was elected Alderman on the Republican ticket in 1865 and Councilman in 1866-67. Mr. Wilson is a member of the ^lasonic body of Bridgeport, being a Knight Templar and also a member of Hamden Lodge, I. O. O. F. , of Springfield, Mass. Mr. Wilson's personality was always attractive; his large form and genial countenance are familar to most of the present citizens and by his kindness and cordiality of manner, together with his well- known integrity of character, command the respect and esteem of all. Born at Enfield, Conn., July 3, 1815, of New England stock, liberally educated, married in 1838 to Miss Sarah Parsons, the daughter of a prominent citizen of Warehouse Point, Conn., and the father Jolin W. Giil. 158 THE '■ STAXDARD'S- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. of four children, two only of whom are living, James E., a mechanical engineer, and Charles H., a metalurgist and founder. He retired from active business in iS8i with an ample competence for his declining 3-ears, and at the advanced age of eighty-three is living in quiet and comfort with his life companion, both in good mental and ph3'sical health. HON. CIVILION FONES, of the City of Bridgeport, is a descendent of two French Huguenot families. His paternal great grandfather was an exile to England during the reign of Louis XIV., and afterward became an officer in the English Navy, and when retired was given a tract of land embracing 1,500 acres in the state of Rhode Island, where the town of Wickford now stands, and on which he located. His son Daniel, the grandfather, and Christopher (the father of Civilion), were born on the ancestral acres, and the latter married Sarah A. Marigold of .South Carolinian lineage, also a descendent of French Huguenots. The son, Civilion, came to Bridgeport from New York City in 1858, where he has since resided. He is a graduate of the Baltimore College of Dental Surgeons, and has been engaged in the practice of his profession, on the corner of Main and Bank streets, for about thirty- three years, and the appreciation of his pro- fessional brethren has been expressed by electing him President of the Connecticut Valley Dental Association, also President of the Connecticut State Dental Society, and in 1893 he was appointed by Gov. Morris one of the five State Dental Commissioners, and upon the organization of the commis- sion was elected President by its members, which office he still holds. Gov. Coffin also re-appointed him in 1895. He has been identified with the Repub- lican Party since its organization, but never held political office until the year 1884, when he was elected to represent his ward as Councilman. The following year he was elected Alderman, and at the April election in 1886, was elected Mayor of the city over- coming an opposition party majority by about 1,000, and was re-elected in the ^^.^ William F. B.sh..p. Spring of 1887 by an increased majority, and hence received an unusual politicat support from both parties. During both terms of his office every effort was made for the improvemen o f the city. In his message of 18S6 he made mention of the necessity of taking urgent means to procure a new Post Office Building, and the Council passed a resolution for him to take such steps as were necessary to have a bill passed granting the erection of said building. Whereupon he, in company with several prominent citizens, visited Washington, and while there a bill passed the House appropriating the money to the City of Bridgeport for the new Government Building, which now stands at the corner of Broad and Cannon streets— the site of the old St. John's Church. There were improvements made, such as the removal of railroad tracks from Water street, the removal of the old Miller Building, and erection of the Lower Bridge, also locating and placing of numeroiis gates and crossings. THE ''STASDARD'S'' HISTORY OF IIRIDGHI'ORT. 159 One of tlie marked benefits was the improvement of the streets and roads about the city. The Park Cottage was also built during his last term of office, and many other improvements made of minor importance. Both terms were most harmonious in every respect, as there was not a hitch in either party during his administration. A singular coincidence is the fact that he was born in the same year that the city, of which he was twice elected Mayor, was incorporated. He is a member of several clubs in the city and state, and was President of the Seaside Club in the year 1892. He has taken several degrees in Odd Fellowship and is a thirty-second degree Scottish rite Mason. WILLIAM H. :MARI(iOLD, of Bridgeport, Senator from the Fourteenth District, was born in Waterbury, Conn., September 17, 1858, and, with the exception of two years spent m Florida when a boy, lived in that city until 1 88 1, when he moved to New Haven, re- maining there only about six months when he went to Bridgeport, where he has since remained. He learned the trade of a printer in the office of the Waterbury American, and was for five years pressman on the Bridgeport Farmer. In 1886 he purchased the printing office of Mr. Charles Libby, and in 1887, organized The ^larigold Print- ing Co., of which he is Treasurer and Manager. He entered politics in 1S89, when he was elected Councilman for the First Ward. In 1890 he was elected Alder- man from the same ward, and during tlie same year was elected Chairman of the Re- publican Town Commitee, in which position he first came into state notice prominently from his fight to compel the counting of the famous "specked ballots." In 1891 he was nominated and elected Mayor of Bridgeport. He was prevented by the Democratic ma- jority in the Board of Aldermen from carry- ing out the reforms he attempted, althougli he carried the fight throughout the entire year, when he was again elected by an in- creased majority, and with a Republican majority in the Common Council working with him, successfully carried out the desires of the best citizens, and restored harmony and tranquility to the departments In 1894 khs^ii t. wiiiii.iK. he was nominated for the State Senate and elected, and served with credit as Chairman of the Committee on Cities and Boroughs, and also as Chairman of the Committees on Joint Rules, on Senate Rules and Contingent Expenses. In 1S96 he was again elected Senator, and was elected by the Senators to the position of President Pro-Tempore of the Senate. He is also Chairman of the important Committee of Finance and Chairman of the Committee on Joint Rules. During the Presidential Campaign of 1896 he was selected as Chairman of the Republican Town Committee, and added to his reputation as a successful and sagacious political manager. He is a firm believer in and supporter of fraternal societies, and was Grand Master of the ( )dd Fellows of Connecticut in 1893, and was Representative to the Sovereign Grand Lodge in 1894-95. and in 1895 he was elected Grand Treasurer of the Order for the state, which position he now holds. He is also a Knight Templar, a Shriner, a Knight of Pythias, a Red Man, a Forester, a member of the i6o THE '' STANDARD- S-' HISTORY OF BRWGEPORT. United Workmen, the order of Heptasophs, Woodmen of the World, Royal Arcanum, and Good Fellows. He is a member of the Seaside Club, the Algonquin Club, the American Wheel, and Presi- dent of the Triple Link Wheel Club of Bridgeport, the United Service Club of New York, Camp Woodbine, of Port Jefferson, Long Island, and an honorary member of Camp Riga, Twin Lakes and many others. He is an old member of the Connecticut National Guard, having served five years with Company A, Second Regiment, of Waterbury. He is now Brigade Quartermaster, with rank of Major, on the staff of Brigadier-General Frost. He was married, July 7, 1S80, to Miss Annie C. Henderson, of Waterbury. They have two children, William H., Jr., and Bessie H. EDWARD W. MARSH, for eleven years Treasurer of the People's vSavings Bank, is one of Bridgeport's well known and influential men. Deeply interested in its business and religious life, he holds a high place in the esteem of his brother citizens. Mr. Marsh is a native of New^ Milford, Conn. He was born January 24, 1836, the son of Daniel and Charlotte B. Williams Marsh. The public schools of his native town furnished his education until he was about ten years of age, or until the establishment of what was called the Academy. This he attended for a time, thence going to the Alger Insti- tute at South Cornwall for one or two years. Another term or two at the New Milford Academy finished his school days. Mr. ;\Iarsh entered the office of the Housatonic Railroad at the New Milford station, where his father was agent, and was there employed for two and one-half years. He was later engaged for a short period in the freight office at New Haven, repairing to Bridgeport in December, 1854. On his arrival in the Park City Mr. Marsh entered the general freight office here, where he re- mained about a year. Seven subsequent years saw him employed in the T. Hawley Hardware Company, and for twenty years he was engaged in the Spring Perch Com- pany on John street. It was while he was employed at T. Hawley Hardware Company that he married, June 8, 1858, Amanda Blanden, of Burlington, Otsego Coimty, Jam« Wilson. Xew York. August 6, 1862, Mr. Marsh enlisted in the Nineteenth Regiment, Litchfield County \'olunteers, which afterward became the Second Regi- ment, Connecticut Heavy Artillery, in which he received the appointment of Quartermaster Sergeant a non-commissioned staff officer. In March, 1863, Mr. Marsh was accidentally shot through the head by a pistol in the hands of one of the officers of his regiment. In 1864, when General Grant took command of the Army of the Potomac, Mr. Marsh's regiment joined it, was at Cold Harbor, in front of Petersburg, and with Sheridan in the Shenandoah. Mr. Marsh was promoted to the Captaincy of Company M, Second Connecticut Heavy Artillery, February 17, 1864, and was mustered out July 20, 1865. It was while serving in the war that Mr. Marsh's only child, Charlotte BHss Marsh, died (May 3, 1863) of diphtheria. Mr. Marsh returned to Bridgeport in August, 1865. During Mr. Marsh's life in the Park THE '-STAXDARiyS" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. i6i City he has been before the public in many ways. He has served on the Board of Aldermen as a Republican from the First Ward, and represented the city in the General Assembly in 1895, where he served upon the important Committee of Finance. During his term in the House, Charles Kellar was his colleague. Mr. Marsh is at present Treasurer of the People's Savings Rank, Vice-President of the Y. M. C. A., the Bridgeport Hospital, the First National Bank and the Bryant Electric Company, a Director in the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Trust Company, and Secretary of the Spring Perch Com- pany, and of the Elastic Web Company. He is a member of the G. A. R., the New York Commandery of the ^lilitary Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, and the Seaside Club. He is also a deacon in the South Congregational Church. Mr. Marsh's second wife was Fannie F. Hawley, whom he married January 12, 1888. ELLIOTT ABRAM UPSON.— Very few men have the necessary experience and ability to embark in a business that necessarily requires foresight and de- termination, and accept the full responsi- bility at the early age of twenty-one, but there was born in Wolcott, Conn., Decem- ber 9, 1840, a gentleman who succeeded in accomplishing the above object, and carried that determination to pave his way to ulti- mate success to this very day. Elliott Abram L^pson spent his early years at the district school in Waterbury, Conn., where he after- ward became a teacher. Tiring of the monotony of a pedagogue's life, in 1861 he began his business career in the ice busi- ness. From that time on his great percep- tion and power of organization stood him in good stead, as through him a number of ice companies came into existence, and re- main to-day through the necessitude of commercial life, a monument to his busi- ness ability. Mr. Upson is Secretary and Treasurer of Naugatuck \'alley Ice Cvas appointed Cashier, which position he l62 THE " STASDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. held until July i, 1862, when ill health made it necessary for him to retire from active service in thj office he had so long and honorably filled. He was warden of St. John's Church for over twenty-five years, and the welfare of the church was always looked after with the greatest interest. He was also Past Master of St. John Lodge, F. and A. M., and was one of the charter members of Hamilton Com- mandery. Mr. Foote did not take a very great interest in politics, yet he was once elected Mayor, and also held the office of Alderman and Councilman of this city. At dhc time the Fourth Congres- sional Committee of the Whig party endeavored to persuade him to accept the nomination of Congress- man from the district, but he preferred to follow the banking business rather than accept the nomination. The following is copied from the Standard, issued December 6, 1862: "Mr. Foote was among the older class of citizens, and as Cashier of the Connecticut Bank he faithfully and promptly discharged all the duties he was called upon to perform. He was warden of St. John's Church, and, as in all things, he was ever prompt and faithful in the dis- charge of every dut}-. Of him it may be triply said — He was an honest and ex- emplary man. " ALBERT F. N. WINTTER, a brewer by trade, is one of the German residents of Bridgeport, having been born at Bandarf in Wurtemberg. His education was re- ceived at Wildberg in his native country, and t went)'-six years ago he came to Bridge- port. He was married, November 18, 1875, to Miss Pauline K. Veit, by whom he has had three children. WILLIAM HENRY BUNNELL be- gan life in Fairfield, and after securing a liberal education at the public school, com- menced his business career as a farmer. Ilis life, which has been spent entirely in this neighborhood, can be chronicled as one of great success, and the regard felt for him in this community, both as citizen and business man, is unbounded. After leaving the farm at Westport, he was apprenticed to the carriage makers' trade, eventually settling in Bridgeport, where he finished his mechanical education under y. M. Miller, with whom he worked for Henry J. Lewis. two ycars. The carriage business being irksome, he resigned his position February 3, 1862, and was appointed Superintendent of the Poor imder contract. The position being made a salaried one April i, 1884, he was selected to take charge of the same bureau, and continued in that office until 1896. The regard Mr. Bunnell is held in the public estimation is attested by the fact, that in spite of changes of administrations and the different political atmospheric upheavals, the official head of the Department of the Poor remained unchanged. In addition to the above Mr. Bunnell has held the office of Assessor, member of the Board of Selectmen of Stratford, Burgess of Stratford (when that town was a borough), and Warden, which office is now termed Ma3^or. As a church member our subject has been very prominent. The Methodist Church, of which he has been a member for forty years, has honored him by nearly all the official positions in that organization. Mr. Bunnell is a Mason, and married, in 1856, Julia G. Foster, THE "STAXDAIWS'- HISTORY OF BRH)CrEPORT. 163 daughter of Edward C. and Eliza Foster, of Danbur_v, the issue of said marriage being nine children, four of whom are dead. Mr. Bunnell's attention is now entirely devoted to the real estate business, and he resides at No. 132 Seaview avenue, corner of Newfield avenue. HARVEY HUBBELL. — Perhaps one of the most successful of the \-ounger manufacturers of Bridgeport is Harvey Hubbell, proprietor of the Tool and ilachine Works which bear his name. His factory is located on Organ street, in the western part of the city, and it is one of the many busy enter- prises in that section. While a young man, Mr. Hubbell has earned an excellent business reputation for knowledge and good judgment among the manufacturers of the city. He is a son of the late Harvey Hubbell, of Long Hill, who for many years was well known as a manufacturer of gentlemen's underwear. Mr. Hubbell, senior, was a very successful business man, and many of his good qualities have been inherited by his son. The subject of this sketch was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., December 20, 1857, and at the age of six years, his parents removed to Long Hill, in tliis state. When quite young Mr. Hubbell left home and went to Xew York City. Here he spent several years with John Roach, the ship-builder. Later on he became associated with the Cranston Printing Press Works, of Norwich, Conn. He held the position of Superintendent of the factory, and served in that capacity until he came to Bridgeport in 1888. Upon arriving in this city Mr. Hubbell at once- opened a small tool and machine shop on Middle street, and soon built up such a business that he was compelled to seek larger quarters. These he foimd in the Knapp & Cowles factorj- on Railroad avenue, but these also were soon outgrown. Then he took possession of the building on Organ street, which for years had been known as Barnum's school. Here his factory is located at the present time. The building consists of three floors 100x25. It is heated by steam, lighted by electricity, and its appointments are all in keeping with the most modern equipment. The specialty of the factory is the manufacture of all kinds of tools, and machinery for all lines of mechanical production. A feature is also made of the manufacture of brass machine screws. Sheet metal press work for elec- trical supplies and electric work is also numbered among the most valuable specialties manufactured, and the record these articles have made in prac- tical use fully demonstrates their popularity among mechanical workers and manufacturers. Although Mr. Hubbell has been in business in this city less than ten years, the fact that he has been compelled to seek larger and more extensive quarters on three different occasions during that time, is in itself a tribute to his merit and success. He is a skillful mechanic himself and so is able to direct the many men in his employ to the advantage of his trade. His recognition has been well merited. Socially ^ilr. Hubbell is well known and popular, and is one of the valued members of tbc Seaside Club. Wlllia.u H. M;ilii;iild. WALTER GODDARD.— In official and political as well as social life Walter Goddard has long been among the most prominent of the citizens of Bridgeport. For nearly forty years he has been a resident of this city, and never during that time has he failed to hold a position that kept in touch with the rapid progress of the ever-growing town. Like many another who has attained to enviable standing in the community, Mr. Goddard is not a native of this city. He was born at London, 164 THE '■ STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. England, February 2, 1836, coming of an old English family. Upon July 4, 185S, he left his home in search of fortime in America, and within a short time located in this city, which has ever since been almost continually his home. His first position was with the old dry goods firm of Hall & Read, and from there he went to Easton, conducting a general store in that town. Ever deeply interested in public affairs he was a warm advocate of the Union cause, though at that time it took courage, when in old New England, to boldly attack the cherished customs of the South. In 1862 he became tired of the monotony of life in Easton and returned to the city, engaging in the dry and fancy goods business, and shortly locating at Main street and Fairfield avenue. In 1S70 he was first elected a Justice of the Peace, but subsequently was re-elected for several terms, and was called upon to preside at the trial of many cases of more than ordinary irnportance. It was m the same y-ear that he was ap- pointed town health officer, entering upon the discharge of his duties in the face of many difficulties. Many complaints had been made of the condition of the city water and the slaughter houses, which were then located on the immediate out- skirts of the city. He fearlessly set out to bring about a change, and during his term, which lasted several years, a great improvement was made. In 1S73 he was elected a Member of the Common Council, where he served witli fidelity and zeal upon some of the most important of the committees. The office of Town Auditor was also conferred upon him, and in addi- tion he served most acceptably upon the Board of Relief. For four years he was one of the vSchool Committee which regu- lated the affairs of the Bridgeport school district, and great advances were made in the improvement and condition of things, so much so that many schools adopted their plan. Singing was introduced in the public school, and courses of examinations were adopted, which are kept up by the new system. Always a Democrat, he was in 1SS6 appointed Collector of Customs for the district, and under his management the number and value of imports increased to Eiwiii-d w. Marsh. a wonderful degree. Just at that period a strong effort was being made to ccjn. solidate the custom houses at Bridgeport and New Haven, but mainly through his efforts it was defeated, and it was but a short time before the wisdom of the decision became apparent. Through vigorous work he secured the application of the Immediate Transportation Act to this port, and under it goods have ever since been brought directly here in bond for appraisal and collection of duty. It was also due to his efforts that the Marine Hospital service was instituted here, by which seamen receive care in sickness and fitting burial in case of death. During this period the erection of the new custom house and post office was begun, and he was appointed by the national officials as disbursing agent, all the funds paid out passing through his hands. This was for a period of three years, from 1888 to 1890, inclusive. In 1889, upon retiring from the Collectorship, he was appointed an Assessor, and for three years served faithfully upon this, one of the most important boards in the city, with THE STAXDAA'D'S" HISTOKY OF BRIDGHl'ORT. '65 credit to liiinself and to the satisfaction of all with whom he came in contact. In 1S93, with the change in the national administration, he was appointed once more to the position of Collector of Customs, and has since held it, being also custodian of the Government property. Politically, ilr. Goddard has always been affiliated with the Democratic Party, but being a believer in sound money principles, he, last fall, connected himself with the National Democratic Party, and is a prominent member of the Democratic Club. Ever ready to do all in his power to assist in the progress of the city, he was active in the municipal celebration of July 3 and 4, 1888, securing the presence of the U. S. vS. Atlanta, and upon other occasions influencing officers of the Navy Department to despatch vessels to this city. Having great faith in the future development of Bridgeport, 'Sir. Goddard years ago invested largely in real estate. He had the courage of his belief and improved the property, even though the expense was great, thus being largely instrumental in the building up of the east end, and that now attractive section north of Old .Mill Green. Socially, Mr. Goddard has never been prominent, being naturally of a quiet and retiring disposition. Of the Seaside Club he is an honored member, while his name is to be found upon the rolls of the Bridgeport Yacht Club, the Democratic Club, the Church Club of Connecticut, and as an honorary member upon the roster of the Second Connecticut Light Battery Association. He is one of the older Masons of the city, being a member of St. John's Lodge No. 3, F. and A. M. In the Board of Trade he has ever been active, serving upon the important com- mittees. For years he has been one of the most valued members of Trinity P. F. Church, and is at present one of the vestrymen. In the formation of St. Luke's Church in the east end he did most effective service, and is one of the most esteemed of the church's friends. In brief it can well be said of him that, ever on the alert to be of value to his fellows, he has made a record of which he can jjardonably be proud. JOHN A. RUSLING.— Among the Eiik,u a. Upso... merchants of Bridgeport none is more respected than John A. Rusling, who, although not a native of the Park City, has spent so many years here that his business place is considered a landmark by even the oldest inhabitants. Mr. Rusling was born in the village of Hope, Warren County, N. J., December 21, 184S, and after receiving his education at the public schools, left his native town for Wilmington, Del., and from thence to Philadelphia, Pa. Returning to his native home he commenced a business career, but New York City offering better opportunities he removed his belongings there, coming to Bridgeport in 1877. His enterprising nature soon found an opening in the tailoring and furnishing line, and in company with Mr. Wilson, soon built up a paying business. Mr. Rusling has been honored by the Republican Party, of which he is a great worker, with the office of Police Commissioner, and as a member of the City Council, for which position he was elected i66 THE '• STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. by a decisive majority. He is a member of F. and A. ^l., and belong-s to Hamilton Commandery ot Bridgeport. He also is a member of the Outing Club, Seaside, Country and Algonquin Clubs. Mr. Rusling was married, September 14, 1871, to Mary S. Lane, havmg as issue three children, one being deceased. CAPTAIN JOHN McNEIL.— To a manufacturing city of such distinction as Bridgeport, offer- ing inducements to the projectors of great industrial enterprises, the necessity of exemplary harbor facilities cannot be too strongly borne upon. How much the success of great establishments, intended to be far-reaching in their importance, is bound up in the adequacy of transportation possibilities is too evident to need extended explanation. Sufficient is it to state that the industrial and commercial prosperity of a community are, and must ever be dependent, in great degree, upon the ease and cheapness with which the transporter may receive and ship his wares. The excellence of Bridgeport's situation in this regard constitutes its attractiveness to the promoters of its great manufacturing plants. It is obvious then, that whoever takes a prominent part in the development of the.se facilities must, perforce, be the recipient of much merited credit. To him the industrial life of the community is very greatly due. And when Bridgeport reckons with those who have, in one way or another played an important part in her growth and prosperity, she must pay deserved tribute to the present Harbor Ma.ster, Captain John McNeil. ;More to him, perhaps, than to any other single individual in her history, have Bridgeport's harbor improvements been due. The subject of this biographical sketch has seen the place of his birth grow from a village to an enterprising city. He was born here, one of twelve children, October 9, 1830, the son of Abraham A. and Mary Ann (Hults) McNeil and grandson of Wil- liam McNeil, who graduated at Yale College in the class of 1777, and was conspicuous in the French troubles at the beginning of the present century. Archibald McNeil, his great-grandfather on the paternal side, was .\ibert wintter. in the Revolution. His maternal grandfather, William Hults, was a New England mariner, who was lost at sea with the brig William in the year 181 3. Captain McNeil's father, Abraham McNeil, was engaged in ocean commerce at New Haven as supercargo. He was the founder of Bridgeport's lighthouse system, and for many years kept the lighthouse here. Thus it is seen that, both on the paternal and maternal sides. Captain John McNeil inherited a liking for the sea. When a boy of sixteen, he began his career as cabin boy of the schooner Hazard. For thirty-six years he sailed the seas. From cabin boy he rose to command a vessel, and at one time and another he had charge of steamers plying between New Haven, Bridgeport and New York. He served as an apprentice to the Bridgeport harbor pilots, from 1847 to 1850, and was then appointed a regular pilot, receiving a state license to that effect, which he held until 1855 ; and during that time he handled every class of vessel that came into Bridgeport harbor. THE "STAXDARiyS" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 167 In the year 1SS2, the office of Harbor Master was created by a city ordinance and Captain McXcil was chosen to fill the important position which he has since held. Here was opportunity for him to give to his home city the benefits of his ripe imderstanding and wide experience. But before this period, his services had been conspicuous. As long ago as the year 1866, Captain McNeil, then captain of the steamer J. B. Schuyler, plying between Bridgeport and New York, recognized that Pen- field Reef was the virtual key to this harbor, together with the fact that it was one of the most danger- ous spots along the sound. He thereupon petitioned the government at Washington to erect a light- house there; and after four years of determined effort was rewarded by seeing his cherished hope materialize. Further than this, the government, in recognition of his public spirit, allowed him to select the first keeper of the light whicli he had been so instrumental in securing. This was only one of many things. After fourteen years of effort he again had the satisfaction of seeing another cherished wish bear fruit, and a fog horn in connec- tion with the Penfield Reef light house be- came an accomplished fact. At his sug- gestion also, the government, in 1868, raised and enlarged the inner and outer beacons, two qld-time diminutive structures which had proved dangerous to craft in foggy weather. It was in February, 18S2, tiuit Captain McNeil cotnmunicated with Colonel Bar- low, in charge of the engineering opera- tions for this district, regarding the widen- ing of the channel from the inner beacon to the Naugatuck dock to 600 feet, a step demanded by our growing commerce. Colonel Barlow's reply is interesting, and an abstract follows: "The channel 300 feet wide and twelve feet deep is now com- pleted from the Fairfield Avenue Bridge to the inner beacon, above the steel works dock, it being much more. It would ap- pear, therefore, that, so far as the commerce of Bridgeport is concerned the project of improvement may be regarded as finished. If the requirements of vessels for refuge are such that more room is needed at Bridge- port, your suggestions to widen the harbor from the inner beacon to the steamboat wharves is an excellent plan." Acting on this suggestion. Captain McNeil forwarded wiiiiam h. Kunneii. to Washington the first petition to extend the whole project of 1871. This resulted in an appropriation of $00,000 being recommended by the War Department for the execution of the work. A supplementary appropriation was later made for the purpose of widening the channel between the inner beacon and the Naugatuck dock. Under the new project, the width of the channel between the points named was increased to 600 feet, which wassubsequently increased to 774 feet. After a request made in 1885 without effect, in July, 1892, in pursuance of a recommendation of Captain McNeil, the point of Stony Bar was cut off and the channel deepened, widened and straightened. A special act of Congress was, in 1894, passed on the recommendation of Captain McNeil by Congressman Robert E. DeForest, for straightening and deepening the channel on the outer bar; also for connecting it with the new cut through the inner bar. Captain McNeil later conceived the plan of building a breakwater to extend from the point of the i68 THE '■ STAXDARD'S'' HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. "Tongue " to the inner beacon, and having a large area to the north dredged out, thus making a harbor for boats of all classes out of the way of incoming and outgoing vessels. He forthwith sent a petition to Washington, an appropriation was made and the plan consummated. The accomplish- ment of this plan meant retention here of a large and increasing oyster industry, whose operations reach, perhaps, from $35 0,000 to $400,000 per annum, full3-$6o,ooo of which probably reaches the coffers of our merchants. In January, 1892, Captain }iIcNeil recommended the constructing of a lighthouse at tlie East End of the breakwater, which extends from the point of the "Tongue " to the inner beacon, and in 1893 the lighthouse was constructed. In 1887 Captain McNeil had also forwarded a petition to the national capital, the result of which was the deepening, widening and straightening of Pequonnock river from Washington Avenue Bridge to Winton's dock at Berkshire Bridge. In Decem- ber, 1892, another petition for a can buoy on the southwest side of the outer bar was also granted, this being the first can buoy Bridgeport ever had. It was like- wise through his instrumentality that the system of storm signals on Point Lookout was inaugurated. It was at the request of the Lighthouse Board that Captain McNeil located the lighthouse of Penfield reef, Bridgeport bar and the Breakwater. Also in October, 1894, Captain McNeil petitioned for the new project which was to make the new channel fifteen feet deep at low water, and 300 feet wide from the outer bar to the bridge; also to dredge out on the west side below the Naugatuck dock to the harbor line; also on the east side, above the Farist vSteel Works to the Lower Bridge. In this new project is also included the improvement in Yellow Mill Pond and Johnson's Creek, also the contemplated improvements in Black Rock harbor, all of which plans were approved, and the cost of this new project was estimated on in the War I)e- partment's office in New York, and the project was approved by the late Colonel Houston, then United States Engineer in charge of our district. Through the per- sistency of the Honorable E. J. Hill, of Norwalk, our representative in Congress, the first appropriation for the Yellow Mill improvement has been made. In April of the year 1S82, Horace Smith called the attention of Captain McNeil to the damage constantly done by the washing away of land and the filling in of Cedar Creek. Captain McNeil drew up a petition asking for the survey of Black Rock harbor and its tributaries. The petition was favor- ably reported and passed at the following session of Congress, and early in the following spring another petition was forwarded to Washington for an appropriation of $80,000 with which to carry on the work. A committee was subsequently appointed to visit Washington, of which Captain McNeil was one. They laid the matter before the River and Harbor Committee and the $80,000 was subse- quently recommended and granted. This was used for dredging a channel and building a breakwater. The foregoing gives a summary of Captain McNeil's services to the city, services which have been ey Hubbell. THE STAXDARD-S- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 169 recognized and rewarded by a continuance in office under the suffrage alike, of Republican and Demo- cratic common coimcils. On the occasion of the festivities of the 3d and 4th of July, 1888, Captain McNeil had charge of the harbor display, on the night of the 3d, which was the most imposing marine celebration ever seen in these waters. He also superintended the " Landing of Columbus," Cohmibus Day, and on numer- ous occasions has extended the hospitality of his boats to the City Government, and citizens of note from other places. In 1865 Captain McNeil married Anna .Scofield, daughter of James and Anna Maria (Barnes) Scofield, of New York City, and great granddaughter of Ebenezer Scofield, a revolutionary officer. They had one child, a daughter, the wife of the Rev. Louis N. Booth, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church of this city. Captain McNeil is a member of the Board of Trade, of which he has been President, and was President of the Democratic Association, a member of the Seaside Club, the Algonquin, His- torical Society and other social organiza- tions. In February of this year he re- ceived his sixth appointment as Harbor Master. ARCHIBALD McNEIL, the sub- ject of this sketch, comes of good old revo- lutionary stock. His great grandfather, Archibald McNeil, was born in Wood- bury, Conn., November 19, 1740. He en- listed in the War of the Revolution July 3, 1779, and served with honor, doing a patriot's part. His son, William McNeil, grandfather of Archibald, was born in what is now Naugatuck. He studied at Yale College and graduated in the class of 1777. He participated in the French troubles that followed the Revolution, and was taken prisoner and confined in a French prison, through which experience his family became interested in the celebrat- ed "French spoliation claims." His son, Abram Archibald McNeil, father of the present Archibald, was born in Derby, in 1802, but lived for many years in Bridge- port where he founded and was, tintil the time of his death, connected with the Bridgeport lighthouse. Archibald McNeil ^^"'"^'" '""''i""'- was born in Bridgeport, July 2, 1843. He passed his early years in this city, attending the public schools, and then spent four years m New Haven, where he graduated at the celebrated Hopkins Grammar School. After leaving school he settled in this city, and has been in business here since that time, with the exception of twelve years, during which period he was in the export trade with Cuba in New York City. For eighteen years past he has been one of the most extensive wholesale bituminous coal dealers in this section, being sole agent for six of the most import collieries. In 1881 he married Jean McKenzie Clan Ranald, daughter of Captain George J. Clan Ranald, of New York City. They have three boys. Mr. McNeil has always been in the social swim and popular with his large circle of acquaintances. He was one of the charter members, and for two years President of the old Eclectic Club when it represented the best social elements of the city. He was for many years a member of the Seaside Club, and was a charter 170 THE -'STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. member and for two years President of the new Algonquin Club, to which he now belongs. In 1872-73 Mr. McNeil was a member of the Common Council from the old second ward, on the Democratic side, during the hot times of the first police muddle, known to old Bridgeporters as the days of the "two Johns and the two Henrys." From 1874 to 1877 Mr. McNeil was Commodore of the first Bridgeport Yacht Club, and was an efficient officer, as he was always a good sailor and deeply interested in all boating matters. He is one of the Board of Governors of the new Bridgeport Yacht Club, at Black Rock. Mr. McNeil was always a Democrat in politics, and stood by the ship in all weather. He was nominated for Representative in the Legislature at the election of October, 1896, and although swallowed up in the landslide, had the consolation of running some 400 ahead of his ticket, which testified to his standing in the community at large. He represented his ward in the Common Council in 1872-73, and, although strongly urged, refused to allow his name to g'o before the convention for MajJ-or, in 1897. PHILO M. BEERS.— Out of the many homes in the known world how many does not possess a sewing machine? And yet how many will stop to think that in all that vast amount of mechanism the needle plays the most important part. The mediaeval fish bone that was used for centuries has been succeeded by the ingenuity of man, by a minute particle of steel so constructed and tempered that, with care, they will with con- stant use last for months. Bridgeport has among its many indus- tries one of the largest needle factories in this country, the inventive genius of its head, Philo M. Beers, being the means of the installation of automatic machinery, that will produce from 600,000 to 700,000 needles in one month. The product of this factory is favorably known by all dealers, and the great quantity of needles used on the Wheeler & Wilson machines are all of tliis pattern. Philo M. Beers, the inventor (jf the valuable machinery for the manu- facture of all kinds of needles, was born in Cornwall, Conn., July 23, 1835, and came to Stratford at the age of twelve, where he was educated in the public schools. Remov- ing to Bridgeport in 1858 he went into busi- ness, but soon after, the Civil War breaking out, he at once volunteered and went to the front. After serving in the army for the full term of enlistment, he returned to Bridgeport in order to make a study of the improvements necessary in the manufacture in his particular lines. After devoting a great deal of time and money he succeeded in accomplishing his object. As a Republican Mr. Beers served two years in the Common Council with beneficial results to the city, and though not active in politics his advice is very eagerly sought. Philo M. Beers married, October 12, 186 r, Augusta S. Hubbard, having an issue of five children; his son, J. W. H. Beers, being associated with him in the manufacture of sewing-machine needles. As a Mason he stands very high, having attained the thirty-second degree. He is also a member of the G. A. R. and of the Roof Tree Club. John THE ''STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRH)GEPORT. 171 The makers of history in industrial centers are the manufacturers, and of the numerous firms mentioned in this work none is more respected than that of P. M. Beers. CHARLES BOOTHE BUCKINGHAM, probably one of the best known of the local business men, was born in Bridgeport, September 20, 1847. He received his rudimentary education in the public schools, after which he entered Emory F. Strong's Academy. After completing his course in that institution he became associated with his father, the late Nathan Buckingham, in the furniture business. On the decease of the latter (which occurred in February, 1885), the affairs of that firm passed under the control of the subject of this sketch. His early bu.siness training, obtained under the tutorage of the elder Buckingham, gave him a peculiar fitness for the management of the large interests entrusted to his stewardship. The house had been established fifty-four years ago, and its foundation was built upon hon- orable methods, a line of polic}' which has since been continued under its present head. The firm name has become a landmark, as well as a household word throughout Fair- field Count}-. Mr. Buckingham is a member of several social and benevolent organizations, prom- inent among which are the Seaside Club, Lodge of Odd Fellows, Pequonnock Lodge of Sons of the American Revolution, Scientific and Historical Societies and the Universalist Church. Politically Mr. Buckingham is a Republican. He is also a Trustee of the City Savings Bank, and President of the Bridgeport Coach Lace Co. On March 24, 1875, Mr. Buckingham married Miss Justine H. Bellows. They have two children, Nathan C. and Earle M. FRANK E. CLARK.— To few of the younger business men of the city have the passing years brought a greater measure of success than to Frank E. Clark, at present prominent not only in business but in social and political life. Starting out in life's battle with none but the ordinary advan- tages, he has attained to a place of honor and earned the commendation of a large circle of friends. Though the public career of Mr. Clark has been comparatively short, l,,,,^ McNeil, his life has been marked by varied and interesting experiences. He is one of the few persons who can well be called self-made men. In i860 he was born in the little town of Salisbury, among the picturesque Berkshire Hills. This place has been the home of his ancestors for fully two hundred j-ears, his parents being of English and Irish descent, and springing from the same root as the famous firm of thread makers of the same name. When a mere lad he went from his home to Amenia, N. Y., and thence departed for the West. After a short stay in Missouri he located in Iowa, where, later, he embarked in business. In this he prospered, but the longing for home was irresistible, and he ultimately returned to the Nutmeg State. After enjoying a vacation he became clerk at famous Conley's Inn, at Torrington, and from that place came to this city, about fifteen years ago. It was on January 21, 1884, that he was united in marriage to Mary Gregory Thorme, daughter of 172 THE "STAXDARD'S-' HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. David Thorme, for many years a prominent contractor with the Howe Sewing Machine Co. Of a particularly domestic temperament, Mrs. Clark has devoted herself almost entirely to her home ditties, but during her husband's service as Mayor assisted him most happily in discharging the social duties of his position. Not long after this he secured the contracts for the labor at the jails of Fairfield and Litchfield Counties, which he still holds. In order to be near his employes he has built a pleasant home on North avenue, directly opposite the County Jail of this County, which, while unpretentious, is one of the most cozy in the city. In June of 1894 he entered public life as a member of the Board of Public Works, and at once took an active part in its deliberations. He was instrumental in securing the crushing of stone for the streets at the long unused city crusher, thus effecting a saving of about thirty cents a ton over the contract price. He also advocated the present system of issuing work tickets for labor on the city streets to the deserving poor, which has resulted in the reduction of the number of families aided by the Board of Charities to a figure below that known previously for the past twenty years. In April, 1895, he was elected Mayor by a majority of 758, being the only Demo- cratic candidate in New England who was successful in a ma}'orality contest that spring. Soon after his election he caused a settlement of the long-standing police struggle by the appointment of the present Superintendent, Eugene Birmingham. This was accomplished by recourse to the Legis- lature and was the promotion of a faithful official, a policy which the Mayor greatly favored. The garbage reducing plant of the Bridgeport Utilization Company was also completed and set in operation during his term of office and under his direction. Early in the present year it was decided to re- organize the company, which had up to then been conducting the reduction plant located at the West End. From its inception Mr. Clark had been deeply interested in the work of the company, and he was most fit- tingly, at that time, appointed to the Super- intendency of the plant. In July, at the holding of the annual meeting, he was chosen to the Presidency, and is now busily engaged in attending to these added duties. Archibald McNeil. During his term as Mayor, and on his recommendation, the first steps toward de- vising and building a better system of sewers in the city were taken. Permanent street paving was another improvement favored, it being his opinion that the building of good, durable and permanent roads is true economy. He favored the adoption of the present police signal system, to effect a saving of money and bring about greater efficiency in the department of public safety, and worked hard to settle the differences arising between the city and the Consolidated Railroad, brought about by the effort to elim- inate all grade crossings within the city limits. In this work he was eminently successful, and after many conferences, in company with Messrs. W. E. Seeley and F. S. Stevens, signed an agreement with the N. Y., N. H & H. Railroad Company, providing for the carrying forward of the work. Under this agreement the herculean task was entered upon and went smoothly on until a legal action was com- menced to determine the validity of the act under which the agreement was made. This has since THE "STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 173 been decided in favor of the cit)-, the legality of the act being decided. In the meantime the construction of the new roadbed was continued, and the bills were submitted to the auditing committee of which Mr. Clark was Chairman. Last spring Mr. Clark was urged by his friends to accept a re-nomination for the mayoralty, but refused. Soon after the election he was appointed by Mayor Taylor, his successor, to the Board of Assessors, and has already rendered good service on that important commission. Mr. Clark is a member of many organizations, including the Ma.sonic and Odd Fellows fraternities, being connected with Corinthian Lodge, F. and A. M., and Pequonnock Lodge, L O. O. F. He is also a charter member of Nebo Senate, Knights of the Ancient Essenic Order. Among the members of the Algonquin Club he is accounted a "jolly good fellow," and the distinction of honorar}^ membership has been conferred upon him by the Camp Riga Association. For a long time he has been connected with Trinity Episcopal Church, and has aided to a great extent in the jiromotion of its successful work. GEORGE WILSON FAIRCIIILD.— The fact that the jewelry house of George W. Fairchild was established as long ago as 1865, and has been in successful operation ever since that date, speaks well for the business capability of its proprietor. Mr. Fairchild, who is a lineal descendent of the Fairchilds who settled in Stratford, Conn., in 1639, was born in that town in 1837, where he received his education, and where he now resides in the old family homestead. From his native place he went to New York City, learning the jewelry business there, first with A. C. Benedict, later with Osborne, Boardman & Townscnd. In the fall of 1S65 Mr. Fairchild came to Bridge- port and established the house which bears his name. He has occupied his present store at 357 Main street for the past twenty years, the first location having been in the Citizens' Building. In July, 1887, the safe of the Fairchild establishment was broken open, and jewelry to the amount of $7,000 or $8,000 taken. The Jeweler's Association, of which Mr. Fairchild is a member, succeeded in run- ning down and convicting the three men i,i ji^, .^, jj^.^^.^ who committed the theft, but only about $500 worth of stolen property was recovered. A portion of the goods taken belonged to customers of Mr. Fairchild, and notwithstanding his serious loss he honorably made good all their property, an act which speaks to the highest credit of the firm. Mr. Fairchild is a member of the Board of Education, a trustee of the Stratford Library Association, a charter member of the Village Improvement Society, and a trustee of the Farmers' and Mechanics' Savings Bank of Bridgeport. For nearly a quarter of a century he has been Secretary of the Methodist Episcopal Sunday School of his native town, and is always interested in every benevolent enterprise. On October 19, 1864, Mr. Fairchild married Miss Helen Adela Parrott, of Bridgeport, by whom he has had four children — three sons and one daughter. The eldest .son died in 1875. The two remaining sons are associated with him in business. 174 THE ''STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. ORANGE MERWIX, of the banking firm of Marsh, Merwin & Lemmon, was born at New Milford, Conn., August 21, 1S54. He is probably one of the best known and most popular of Bridgeport's citizens. Mr. Merwin is President of the Board of Fire Commissioners, a member of the Seaside and Roof Tree Clubs, Treasurer of the Y. M. C. A. Association and Boys' Club, and is a 32d deo-ree Mason. ALFRED BEACH FAIRCHILD, son of Charles N. and Louisa (Beach) Fairchild, is descended from Thomas and Katherine (Craig) Fairchild, who came from London, England, and first settled in Stratford, Conn., about the year 1639. Alfred B. Fairchild was born in the village of Nichols Farms, town of Trumbull, Conn., July 13,, 1845, and received his education in the common school of the village. At the age of eighteen he left Trumbull and his father's farm, and acted as clerk in tlie store of his brother, Henry C. Fairchild, in Bridgeport, where he continued until 1867. Being then of age he began busi- ness for himself by purchasing the village store in Nichols Farms, his native place. Here he continued successfully for three years, and then purchased the general store at North Bridgeport in connection with the woollen mills of Dean, La Monte & Co., which he conducted with success till the destruction of the woollen mills by fire, which, in a large measure, de- stro3-ed the business. Mr. Fairchild then entered the insur- ance and real estate business, which he commenced in August, 1874, and in that business he has continued until the present time. He has held the Secretaryship of the Bridgeport Board of Underwriters for nearly ten years, and was also Secretary of the Bridgeport Mutual Life Association for about the same period, and is now its President. In May, 1894, he associated with himself in business the late Wm. C. Mead, as a partner, under the firm name of Fairchild & Mead, which is still con- tinued by the surviving partner. 'Sir. Fairchild has never been prominent in Charles B. Buckingnam. politics, but he Is a member of the Board of Fire Commissioners of the city at the present time, receiving his appointment as a Democrat from Mayor Taylor. He is a member of the Masonic Fraternity, of the Seaside Club, and has been for many years connected with the South Congregational Church. Mr. Fairchild was married to Eliza Mills Tomlinson, daughter of Gideon M. Toralinson, of Stratford, June 18, 1873, and has two sons living. FRANK T. STAPLES. — Of the younger citizens of Bridgeport none is more popular than the above-namsd gentleman, who, in the varied business of banking, real estate and insurance (as a partner with his father) has been markedly successful. Frank T. Staples was born in Bridgeport, November 24, 1863, and was educated at the public school, graduating in 1881. He then accepted a position in the insurance department in his father's office, and in January, 1882, upon the death of George W. Fairchikl. Orange Merwin. (Kire Com.) Albert IS. Fairchild. (Fire Com.) Frank T. Staples. (Fire Com.) THE " STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 175 T. R. Cnittenden, took charge of the banking portion of the business, with which he has since been connected. In 18S4 he became a partner in the concern, under the firm name of James Staples & Co., successors to the business established by James vStaples. Mr. Staples was married, December 16,1884, to Laura Frances Stevens, having as issue one son (Richard T. Staples). As a Republican he was appointed Fire Commissioner, June ist, 1897, which official position he still holds. This gentleman is socially very popular, and is a member of the Seaside Club. "WALTER STAPLETOX was born on the 31st day of January, 1S65, was educated at the Union School, and has been a resident of his native city (Bridgeport) all his life. The present generation are all acquainted with the many genial qualities of our subject, both as a busine.ss man and a gentleman. His business (that of a bottler and manu- facturer), is a very extensive one, which has been built up from a very moderate beginning. Mr. Stapleton is the founder of the American Bottlers' Association, of which lie has been President for three years (an honor very much sought). He is a great believer in fraternity, as his membership in the Elks, Foresters, Arion and Turner vSocieties will indicate. The popularity of Mr. Stapleton is well known. The Fourth Regiment Connecticut N. G. , at its election in Februar)', 1897, appointed him as their Paymaster with the rank of First Lieutenant, which position he has filled with credit to himself and the regiment. But it is in politics where his friends are manifold, and no candidate had better recommendations for the office of Fire Commissioner than the subject of our sketch. The present Board, of which he is a member, has succeeded beyond antici- pation in pushing to the front plans for the betterment of the department, and in Mr. Stapleton the taxpayers have a repre- sentative who will look fully after their interests. The future political career of the gentleman will be watched with much kindly interest. He is unmarried. LEWIS B. SILLIMAN, one of the leading wholesale dealers in and a producer of crude petroleum, a gentleman well lames staples, known throughout Xew England, was born at Durham, Greene County, New York, June 9, 1S32. When he was twelve years of age, he, with his parents, removed to Bridgeport, where he received his education in a select classical school. In 1885 Mr. Silliman located at Titusville, Pa., where he remained until 1887, having been engaged in the banking business, and also a producer of crude petroleum. During the latter year above mentioned, he returned to Bridgeport where he engaged in his present business. He still retains his interests in the oil region of Pennsylvania, the Standard Oil Company taking his product of crude oil. At his place of business. No. 368 Water street, Bridgeport, he conducts an extensive trade in illuminating, cylinder, engine, spindle, machinery, and other oils, lubricating greases, petroleum product, belt dressing, stainless oils, etc. He also deals extensively in iiava/ stores, which he receives direct from the southern markets. His special brand of 176 THE -STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. illuminating, " Calcium Light." oil is a great favorite with the trade, and an immense output is sold every year. Some idea of the extent of the business conducted by Mr. Silliman may be gained from the fact that he has three floors, 150x30 feet, fully stocked, and has a dock in the rear. He also owns the schooner M. O. Wells, which makes weekly trips to New York. He makes occasional trips to the oil region, is in frequent communication with manufacturers of oils, benzines, etc., and is therefore able to save much time and money in transportation. It will naturally be seen that he is in the position to supply the trade of New England at the lowest market rates, and can guarantee prompt shipment either by rail or water. Mr. Silliman is a prominent member of the Seaside Club, South Congregational Church, the State Sunday School Association, and the Sons of the Revolution. Politically, Mr. Silliman is a Republican. While residing at Titusville, he was for eight years a member of the City Council, six years (if that time he was President of the Board; he was also President of and an influential member of the Library Associa- tion of that city. On May 15, 1S62, he married Miss Susan Hawley Sterling, oldest daughter of the Hon. Sherwood Sterling. Mr. Silliman has always been identified with every movement for the betterment of Bridgeport; he is a public spirited citizen, and is a liberal contrib- utor to all charitable and religious causes. He is highly esteemed as a citizen and a neighbor. FRANK MONTIGNANL— The visitor at the photographic studio of Frank Montignani on vState street will find much to interest him. An extended ex- perience as a photographic artist both in this country and abroad is the recom- mendation that Mr. Montignani has to offer to his patrons. Serving his appren- ticeship of seven years with the firm of Ross & Thompson, of Edinburgh, Scot- land, photograpers to Her Majesty the Queen, Mr. Montignani went from there to London, where he became associated with Seargent, the royal photographer. Coming to this country at the age of twenty-three, he worked in the employ of Charles H. Williams, and finally came to Bridgeport, where he established his busi- ness in 1871. Mr. Montignani has the honor of being the first one in this city to engage in enameling, water color painting, and the making of carbon prints. He has in his possession the negatives of pictures he has taken of many Bridgeport people for the past twenty-three years. The date of Mr. Montignani's birth was October 30, 1847, in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. He was married, Janiiary 23, 1870, to Mary Francis Hill, by whom he has had two children, a son and daughter. The son, Vincent DeBois Montignani, has succeeded to his father's business, having the reputation of being a first-class crayon artist. Mr. Montignani attends the South Church, and is a member of the Knights of Pythias, Bridgeport Lodge of Elks, No. 36, and the Concordia Society. Frank K. Cla DAVID SHERMAN BEACH. — In these days of slow progress, it is pleasant to record the l>,.via Slieiman l:. Franklin Cook. ruH STA.XDARDS- HISTORY OF HKIDGEl'ORT. '77 success of one of Bridgeport's public spirited citizens, who, although quite a young man, has made an enviable record in the realms of finance. David Sherman Beach was born in Bridgeport, Fairfield County, Conn., February 26, 1861. Descended from one of the oldest families in the state (dating from revolutionary time), he, by inherent tact and great business abilities, has succeeded in building up a corporation whose scope and destiny is unknown as yet to our great people, though entirely of advantage to its investors, and bondholders, is philanthropic. His system to a great many was visionary, but time that works wonders has convinced the skeptics that in David Sherman Beach there is the element of push and pluck to be one of the ablest financiers of his time. The North American Investment Company', of which he is the head, was incorporated under the laws of the state of New Jersey, 'SVa.y 26, i8g6, with a great many of Bridgeport's prominent citizens as directors. Horticulture seems to have been the study of his early business life, for at the age of fourteen we find him a partner in the firm of |. H. Beach & Sons, of Horti- culture Farm ; at the age of twenty-eight he became the sole owner of the vast expanse of greenhouses called Agricul- tural Emporium, which, in spite of a checkered career remains to remind him o: days gone by. David Sherman Beach is tlie author of the Beach Insurance Bill, which, although not regarded favorably by the members of the Legislature of 1897, IS looked upon as the forerunner of a measure that will entirely meet with his ideas, and secure the benefits embodied in b.is bill. Mr. Beach was married, October 15, i.sSj, at the age of twenty four, to Mary Jane Meeker, datighter of Mr. and Mrs. Hurr Meeker, of Westport, Conn., liaving an issue of four childicn-- Jolm H., David Slierman, Jr., Harlan Page, and ICIla F., who died in infancy. Society seems to demand a good por- tion of his recreation hours, as he is a nicniher of a number of social and church clubs, a noteworthy one being the local Christian Endeavor vSociety, of which he is the President. Mr. Beach is a com- municant of the First Congregational Church of Bridgeport, and has held his membership for twenty years. This his- tory might well record the fact, that it is owing to such energetic citizens as David Sherman Beach, that the city of Bridgeport has made such wonderful growth during the past twenty years. Walter Stjipleton, Kire Commi! GEORGE FRANKLIN COOK was born in Birmingham, England, April 30, 1843. At the age of four years he came to this country with his parents. His father, Richard Captain Cook, started the first bakery in East Bridgeport. His death was the result of an accident which occurred when he was but thirty-eight years old. He left a widow and six children. He was conducting a prosperous business at the time of his untimely death. George F. Cook was educated in the schools of Bridgeport. At eighteen he enli.sted in Company I, Ninth Regiment Connecticut Volunteers, September, 1861, and served with credit and distinction for four years. He was the only wagon- 178 THE "STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. Mastei" the Regiment had during its service. The Regiment never went into action but that he went and carried his musket. With three others he captured eight guerrillas opposite Vicksburg. Mr. Cook had a large number of horses under his charge during the four 5'ears' service, but never lost a horse except those that were killed in action. While aboard the ship King Fisher, more than half the horses aboard were killed in a storm off Cape Hatteras, in December, 1861. Through constant care and watchfulness jMr. Cook landed all that he had charge of in good condition. May, 1862, while in the Gulf of Mexico en route from Ship Island to New Orleans on board the ship Western Empire, with a cargo of 200 horses, the ship was struck by a calm which lasted for two weeks. It was necessary to allow the horses only two quarts of water and two quarts of oats a day, but none suffered to be incapacitated from the siege. Mr. Cook was wounded at Cedar Creek, Va., October 19, 1S64. He was engaged in the battles of Baton Rouge, Cedar Creek, Winchester, Fisher's Hill, and was mustered out of service, August 3, 1865. He had a large milk farm for three years, and was salesman for A. L. Winton for two years In 1S70 he started a grocery business on East Main street, firm of Cook & Winton, later Cook & Rogers. In 1880 he disposed of the grocery and started a livery business on East Main street, and in 1885 removed to the large and commodious stables on Kossuth street. Here he has a building 128 feet in depth, with a frontage of 60 feet, the whole airy, well lighted and conveniently arranged for carrying his large business, while the grounds connected with it comprise about four acres in extent. ^Ir. Cook makes a specialty of thoroughbreds for the saddle for ladies riding as well as for men. He has been with his saddle horses to Niantic for fifteen encampments, which have been ridden b}' all the highest officers of the State, and also by (rencral Miles, commander of the United States army. In 1892 he sent twelve horses to Chicago at the dedication of the World's Fair, for Governor Bulkeley and staff, at an expense of $1,500, which was paid by Governor Bulkeley personally. His horses have been used in Providence, New York and vStamford for state parades. On Grant Day Governor Cook and his staff were furnished with Mr. Cook's horses, and on all occasions they have eiven universal satisfaction. As the manager of one of Bridgeport's largest livery stables, Mr. Cook has always prided himself on its sanitary condition and freedom from epizootic diseases, but in January, 1896, the horses in his stable were suddenly attacked by a disease, which for violence and rapidity of results, was unparalleled in the annals of veterinary literatiire. On January 5 the first horse was attacked, and within the five following days thirty-six horses died. Local veterinai-ians, with those of state and national reputation, pronounced the disease cerebro-spinal meningitis, but none were willing to venture an opinion as to its source. It seemed to swoop down upon the stable like some of our storms from unknown regions. This sudden and severe loss would have disheartened a less courageous man, but with characteristic energy and the assistance of appreciative friends, the stable was quickly refitted, and within a very short time 1 . ji. .Mom.gnani. it was as well filled as before. He now manages one of the most prosperous livery establishments in the city. Clmiies Hartman (Uec'd). THE "STAXDARir^-' HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 179 Mr. Cook was twice married. In 187 1 he maried Hattie Seele}-, daughter of Deacon Ebenezer Winton, of Easton. There were two children, Susan Louisa and Frankhn S., both located in the west. In 1 88 1 he married Mrs. Anna Booth Cook, b}- whom he has one son, Alexander Thompson Booth Cook. :Mr. Cook has always been a Repiibhcan, casting his first vote, while in the field, for Abraham Lincoln. He has taken no active part in pohtics, was once nominated for Alderman in the Democratic Si.xth Ward, and ran ahead of his ticket. He is a member of the G. A. R. CHARLES HARTMAN, the brewer, who died in this city, January 30, 1896, had been a resident of Bridgeport something above nine years. He was a native of Germany where, at Neiistadt-on-the- Hardt, he was born, May 11, 1844. He received his education in the public school of his birthplace, and at the youthful age of twelve learned the brewery trade. Previous to coming to America, in 1866, he traveled through his native country, visiting the largest Ger- man cities. On his arrival in this country, he was first employed at the brewery of Conrad Stein in West New York. Two years later found him at the Shutte brewery in Morrisania, X. V. He then returned to the metropolis, becoming foreman of a brewery there. After marrying, he was employed by Schmidt & Huhne, of New York, and later started in business for him- self. After conducting a saloon for some half dozen years, Mr. Hartman lost all his savings through speculation, and was com- pelled to begin anew at the brewery busi- ness, once more working his way from the beginning to the position of foreman. He was successively employed in Wilmington. Del., Hunsdale, Pa., Baltimore, Md.,and Newark, X. J., thence returning to Morris- ania, N. Y , he assumed control of the A, Hupfel & Son's brewery, which position he occupied for four years. In 1887 Mr. Hartman came to Bridge- port. With $9,000 he started the brewery on Hamilton street and built the business up until he was in possession of the latest improvements. It was with hard labor that he brought the firm to its present- day position. His application to business was so intense and persistent that finally, over- (ju-.., : i; ,■■-, ..n. estimating his strength, overwork laid him on his sick bed and he finally passed away. Mr. Hartman was a member of the Frcedcn, Odd Fellows, Knightsof Pythias, the Beyer Verein, Schutze, Gerniania and Concordia Societies, and of the Brewers' Association. He was married, August 28, 1872, to Susanna Maydeline Schonsiejel, by whom he had five children. Mr. Hartman was one of the enterprising CJermansof the city, a man who had worked his way up from small beginnings, step by step, until he obtained a competence. When in his last illness, his many friends were constant attendants at his bedside, and when borne to his final resting place he was followed by the largest funeral procession the Park City ever saw. Eighty carriages were in the line. ^lany friends came from out of town to pay their final tribute to the dead, and during the funeral ceremony the hou.se and grounds were crowded. Over 100 floral pieces and almost as many bouquets testified to the place Mr. Hartman held in the hearts of those who knew him. Besides the mem- I So THE STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. bership of local societies who were in attendance, many delegations from out of town were present. GEORGE RANSOM OSBORN. — Biographies and histories being constantly written, brings to light the many families, whose genealogical tree is easily traced back through generations to that period, when the proud sons of Normandy, under William the Conqueror, landed on the shores of England, and proclaimed their hero king after the battle of Hastings. George Ransom Osborn is a scion of the noble family of Osborn, and was born in Humphreysville, Conn., (now Seymour), Septem. ber, 1831 ; and after finishing his education at his native home, went out into the world to grapple with that fickle dame, fortune. His was a most migratory disposition, he has lived and succeeded in business in a number of cities; principally. New York, Hartford, Cleveland, New Haven, Chicopee Falls, and Ilion, where he was a contractor at the Remington Arms Works during the war. At tlie outbreak of the Free vSoil agitation in Kansas, Mr. Osborn volunteered and became a member of Jim Lane's Free State Arm)-; after which, returning east, he accepted employment at the Remington Arms, leaving there to establish his own business at Chicopee Falls; and after disposing of his property there, came to Bridgeport as a manufacturer of bird cages; later, removing to New York, where he founded the Osborn Manufacturing Co. Mr. Osborn all through his life has been intensely patriotic; and the number of societies (during the war and at present) receiving his boanty will never be known. As a business man and gentleman, he is very much re- spected, both in this and other cities; notabh^ New York, where he founded the Osborn ]\Ianufacturing Co., tiie concern still exist- ing. He married, in 1861, Mary Clarissa Williams, who died in 1877, leaving two boys, one of which subsequently died; the other, Howard Mason, is now in business with his father. As a second matrimonial venture, Mr. Osborn wedded, in 1880, vSaridi Edwin Boorman, of Chautauqua, X. Y. Mr. Osborn is a Mason and a member of the Knights of Honor. AARON W. WALLACE.— One of Bridgeport's oldest and most prominent residents and business men, is Aaron W. Wallace, who came to Bridgeport in 1852. Almost eveiy citizen of any age, has met and is acquainted with that gentleman's kindly countenance. His bakery, sitviated 173-179 State street, has always (since he started in that business) been a mecca for the Anion w. Wallace. fashionable element of the Park City inhabitants. He was born in the City of Yonkers, N. Y., October 13, 1S27, and received his education at the public schools of that town. Yonkers (not having developed into the large city it is to-day) was a field hardly suited to the progressive and enterprising mind of Mr. Wallace, so he pushed out into the world, with a good name and a little capital; and afier visiting a large number of places, finally settled in Bridgeport; becoming fully identified with that city's growth and industrial progress. His political career has been marked by a display of patriotism in the performance of his duties in several official city positions, and although he sacrificed a good deal of time from his biisiness, a call from his party was never made in vain. The positions of Member of the Council, Board of Taxation and Apportionment, Assessor, Grand Juror and others were all filled with the same official sagacity and political acumen. Mr. Wallace is Vice-President of the Bridgeport and Port Jefferson Steamboat Co., member of the Seaside Club, and is a vestryman of Christ Church. He married, December 25, 1850, i\Iartha E. Near, and is the happy father of three children. HORACE GRANFIELD SCOFIELD.— The subject of this sketch was for many years chief engineer on the New York. New Haven and Hartford Railroad, and has been City Siirveyor of Bridge- port for twenty-nine years. He came to the Park City from Stamford, the place of his birth, where he was born, March 7, 1832. His education was received at the New Canaan Academy, supplemented by THE STAXDAkTrS" HISTORY OF BRIDOEPORT. iSi four years study under private tutors while teaching. A Republican in politics, Mr. vScotield repre- sented the town of Stamford in the (General Assembly in the years 1867 and 186S. ( )n April 20, 1870, he married Miss Emma Adelia Hobbie, by whom he has had four children. JOHN S. CAIROLI, by profession a dentist, and a member of many fraternal organizations, was the son of Lazarus Cairoli, who was born in Leghorn, Italy, and became a sea captain. He was born in Philadelphia, August 14, 1845, where he was educated in the public schools; subsequently being graduated from the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery. For thirty-one years he has been a resident of Bridgeport. He is a member of Corinthian Lodge F. and A. ^L, Jerusalem Chapter R. A. M., Jerusalem Council Hamilton Commandery No. 5, Knights Templars, Pyramid Temple, Order of the Mystic Shrine, Seaside Council, No. 709, Royal Arcanum, also Phoenix Council, No. 77, Elias Howe Post, No. 3, G. A. R., and of the Pequonnock Lodge, L O. (). F. In politics he is a Republican, and is a member of the Plymouth Congregational Church of Milford, Conn. Mr. Cairoli en- listed in Company I., 25th New- Jersey Volunteers in 1863, and w'as discharged in June, 1864. He then joined the United States Navy, serving on the gunboat Wyanda. Mr. Cairoli's wife was Susie ^L Strong, the daughter of John P. Strong, and gianddaughter of Hon. Selah Strong, of Milford, Conn. Mr. Cairoli is a direct dc-scendent, on the maternal side, of Cap- tain Ilir.im Walker, of revolutionary fame who was wounded at the Battle of Mon- mouth, and whose youngest child (the mother of our subject) is still living in Camden. X. J., at the age of eighty-five. She recently joined the Daughters of the Revolution of Philadelphia; being the only direct descendent of a revohitionarv soldier in that city. FRANK H. jACKNLVN. D.D. S.,is the sim of W. H. Jackman, a prominent wool hat manufacturer, of Law'rence, Mass., in which city he was born and reared. He received hisearly education in the public schools, but in order to embrace a higher eilucaiion attended the Worcester Acad- n.,r;ic«; o. si-..ii,i.i. emy, Worcester, Mass., finally graduating from the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, with the highest honors of his class, receiving the first prize and the special commendation of the Dean. Dr. Jackman began his professional career in Chicago, and after a successful though short stay removed to Bridgeport, becoming associated with Dr. C. W. Strang, finally developing a business of his own at No. 436 Main street. The family of Dr. Jackman is one of the oldest in New England, the church and all professions having an honored member in some scion of the family. Dr. Jackman, .\. ]\I. M.l)., of Clinton, Conn., is the only brother of our subject. The Doctor is considered to be a rising man in his profession, popular, handsome, accomplished and quite young (being onlv thirtv vears of age), and he will, no doubt, at no very distant future, become a leading light in dental surgery. He resides at No. 193 Fairfield avenue and is unmarried. w^^^^^^^^^^^^Ktj V ^^^^^^H mm ^1 l82 THE ■'STANDARD'S" HIS TOR I OF BRIDGEPORT. C. TRYON PLATT. — The tramping of soldiers' feet at the outbreak of the late war, resounding through the streets of Bridgeport, was an event of grave importance to the mothers and wives of those men, as they marched on, perhaps to their doom, but with the consciousness that some sacrifice must be made in order to save the Union. The father of the subject of this sketch was one of those heroes who volunteered his services to his coimtry, in the Second Connecticut Light Battery, and served with distinction and honor. After the war he became foreman of the White Manufacturing Company, and married Miss A. Elizabeth Goldsmith, of New York, having a son and daughter as the result of the union. C. Tryon Piatt is that son ; his education was gained in the public schools of this city, finishing his scholastic course and not being satisfied with the trade he was learning, he entered the studio of Mr. Farini to learn the art of photograph}'. After devoting four years to that study he commenced business on his own account, and leased the studio at No. loo Fairfield avenue, which he still carries on. Mr. Piatt executes some very fine work, and receives more than his share of the city's demand in that line. He is the son of Norman and Eliza Piatt, and is unmarried, DR. JOHN BRIZELL, JR., of this city, is a son of John Brizell, a contractor of Liverpool, England, and was born in the City of Liverpool in i86c. His early educa- tion was gained in the private schools of that city, where he studied until the year 1875. Though at a very early age he en- tered the office of G. Hayes, a veterinary surgeon (acknowleged to be the foremost in the country), and after serving four years in mastering the preliminaries of the pro- fession, he was admitted to the New Veter- inary College, Edinburgh, Scotland, the completion of this course occurring in 1882, when he received his degree of M. R. C. \'. S. Before sailing for the United States he began practicing in Liverpool, in order to thoroughly equip himself fur the line of duty he had laid out for himself in this country. Kentucky, the home of the thorough- bred, seemed to be a magnet that drew him south, but after practicing there for a num- ber of years, he found that to gain the repu- tation his talents already entitled him to, the Eastern States afforded the greatest oppor- tunity, .so with great ability as a practitioner and a stout heart, he moved his family to Bridgeport, Conn., and his success of the venture was soon an assured fact. Dr. Brizell, some time ago, opened a hospital for his veterinary work and dentistry,* attached to which is a horseshoeing shop, and it is considered by competent judges to be the most complete in the country. Tlie Merchants' Lodge of Masons, of which Dr. Brizell is a member, is presided over by H. R. H., the Prince of Wales, and on that account Merchants' Lodge is known in all parts of the world. He is also a member of Knights of Pythias, Midland Veterinary Association of England, and is an attendant of the Pres- byterian Church. Dr. Brizell married Robina White, of Edinburgh, Scotland, and is the happy father of two children. John S. Cairoli. C. Trvon Piatt, R.)bert Webbei- ^ «^ William P. llerritt. Charles E. Hatch. THE WINDSOR HOTEL (MERRITT & HATCH, PROr'RS). THE '•STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRH>GErORT. 183 ROBERT WEBER, the present Democratic Town Clerk of Bridgeport, was a native of Wuerttem- berg, Germany, where he was born, November 19, 1851. His education was received at Koenigebronn and Heidenheim. For twent)--five years he has been a resident of the Park City, and is a member of several of the local German Societies, Schwaben Verein, Turn Verein, Schuetzen Verein, the Arion Singing Society, besides the B. P. O. E. Elks, U. O. R. Men, Knights of Pythias, Park City Athletic Club, and the Order of Seven Wise Men. In :88i Mr. Weber was elected a Councilman from the old sixth ward, and in 1884-85 and 1887 was Selectman. At the last local election he was elected Town Clerk by a majority of 795. Mr. AVeber was married, February 3, 1S74, to Miss L. W. Koehler. They have had five children, all living. SWAN benja:\iin BREWSTE younger element of business men has t as the years have passed by, from the city's betterment, to those bct- Of this younger element, the niin Brewster, is well known. He Canaan, in this state. His cduca- University, at Bloomingtnn. 111., and he took up his resi- Mr. Brewster opcn- .State street in 1884, mo v c d to the Main street, and in that building, ness in the Arcade sold out, and went business, in which Mr. Brewsicr has as an honorable, ing business man, and holds hosts of mirable personal qualities. He is a the ^lasonic Fraternity, and is a has been twice married. His first of Marcus and Julia H. Nichols, to 14, 1888, one child being the issue, died ^larch, 1891. Mr. Brewster's Tomlinson Meeker, granddaughter have one child, a daughter, born R. — In the rapid development and growth of the Park City, the akcn no small part, the weight of responsibility has been shifted the pioneers who struggled hard for ter able to bear the burden, subject of this sketch, Swan Benja- was born in Falls Village, Town of tion was received at the Wesleyan n completing his scholastic course, dence in this city, ed an art store on subs e q u e n 1 1 y Bishop Block, on after the changes continued the busi- until 1895, when he into the real estate he is n(jw engaged, always been known fair, and enterpris- and he has made friends by his ad- member of the Episcopal Church, of Democrat in politics. Mr. Brewster wife was Lizzie H. Nichols, daughter whom he was married, November Both Mrs. Brewster and her child second marriage was with Sally of the late Fenlon Hubbell. They ^lay 1, 1897. Frank H. Jack HORACE HARTON JACKSON, proprietor of the well known book and stationery store on Main street has been a resident of the Park City for more than two decades. He is a native of Yonkers, New York, where he was born on the i6th of November, 1863. His education was received in the public schools of Middleport, Ohio, and Bridgeport. Mr. Jackson is a member of several of the well known clubs and fraternal organizations of Bridgeport, including the Seaside, Contemporary, Country and Bridgeport Yacht Clubs, Pequonnock Lodge No. 4, L. O. O. F., the Improved Order of Red Men and the Ancient Essenic Order, Stratfield Encampment No. 23, I. O. O. I". WILLIA:\I PLATT MERRITT was born in New York City, February 12, 1857, and received his education in the public schools of that city. His geniality being so well known, it was suggested that the hotel business was his forte, and after adopting the advice of his friends, became Room Clerk of the Grand Union Hotel, New York. During his occupany of that position he saw the house grow larger and larger; wing after wing ,84 THE '-STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRHHM-J'ORT. being- added, and it was no doubt due (at least in part) to Mr, Merritt that those great results were attained. After thirteen years' service Mr. ]\Ierritt retired from the (irand Union, and in company with Charles E. Hatch, acquired the Windsor Motel, this city, which no doubt shelters the large majority of travelers coming here. Air. Merritt was wedded in 1S90 to Elizabeth Edmonds, of New York City, one s(.)n being the result of the union. Mr. Merritt can no doubt claim the distinction of being the only representative of the famous Seventh Regiment of New York in this city, whose membership contains the flower of the refined manhood of the Empire City, including tlie scions of its wealthiest families. CHARLES EDWIN HATCH was born in the City of New York, Novembers, 1841, in which city he spent most of the earlier years of his life. Educated in the public schools and Free Academy of New York, entering into mercantile life until the breaking out of the war, when he enlisted in the 83d N. Y. Vols., for three years, returning entered the hotel business, and in 1S86 was called to open and manage the Hotel Russwin, in New Britain, which he did successfully, the Russwin having the reputation of being one of the best and neatest kept hotels in New England. Coming to Bridgeport in 1S95 he bought out one-half interest in the Hotel Windsor of this city, and its present popularity is due to the great popularity of Mr. Hatch and his associate, Mr. Merritt, their long experience in the business giving them a thorough knowledge of the wants of the traveling public. Mr. Hatch is a thirty-second degree Mason, Knight Templar, Shriner, and a member of the Putnam Phalanx (one of the oldest military social organizations in the country, and composed of very prominent citizens of Connecticut), also a member of the Royal Arcanum and several other fraternal societies. He married for his wife and helpmate through life Catharine E. Barnes, of Amagansett, Long Island, on October 30, 1S70. who. on her mother's side, is a blood relation of the famous Senator Roscoe Conklin. During their happy married life they have had born ti) them one son, now deceased. i;eorge H. T. Wallis. TIMOTHY J. MURPHY, though one of our prominent citizens of the younger element, has led a very uneventful life. Born in Cork, Ireland, March 4, i860, he left his native country in order to seek that will o' the wisp, fortune, in the Western Hemisphere. He landed in New York in 1879 (^ sturdy specimen of manhood), and after spending a year in that Cosmopolitan city went to Springfield, Mass., and in 1888 came to Bridgeport. Timothy J. Murphy has by dint of energy and the foresight to grasp opportunities succeeded in building up a successful business, and at the same time to gain the esteem of all. Col. Murphy is a member of the A. O. H., K. of P., K. of C, A. O. F. of A., K. of G. E., Emmet Club, Elks, etc., N. E. O. P., and is the Commander of the First Regiment, H. R. of this state. He married, January, 1893, Catherine '\l. Crowley, by whom he has two L-hildren. CiEORGE H. T. WALLLS was born in Birmingham, England, February 5, 1859, and received his education in that city. At the age of fifteen he was apprenticed to A. P^mbery, one of the principal Art Dealers in England, and at the close of his apprenticeship was tendered a certificate of C.lonel Timulhy J. llurplr John Brizell, V. S. Till- '■STAXDARjrS" HISTORY OF I;RII)(U:I'0RT. proficiency in the different branches of that business. Coming- to this country in iS86 Mr. Walhs came to Bridjreijort and entered the .service of J. H. Scully, continuing- under him until 1896, when he succeeded that gentlenian as owner of the art establishnient on State street. Scully's art store is very well known to the people of this city and the woi'k of ;\Ir. ^\'alIis has been highly commended. The great love of everything- artistic has been the means of making his success permanent, and the thorough knowledge acquired by his earl)- training has enabled him to restore to their original condi lion many valuable objects of art whose beaut\- had been dimmed by time, accident and various other causes. Mr. Wallis is married and has two children. \V1LLI.\M SUMX1':R IU'LLARD.— Willi, mi .Sumner lUillard, who lias resided in the City '<: Uridgeport for nine years, has had a very variel experience. Sutton, Mass., was the place, when- on the iith day of September, 1844, he first saw the light, but it was in the town of Lenox th it he received his education, until September, i860. when his father moved to Peekskill, N. Y., hciv his studies were continued under private tutor, preparing for West Point or Annapolis Nav;il Academy, that being his ambition, but when the call to arms was made at the outbreak of the lair war, he dropped studies and at once volunteered to serve in the interest of his country. He wert to the front, February 12, 1862, as a member of the United States Sanitary Commission, and after the '••^"^m^- i--. I'.eits cipitulation of New Orleans, November, 1863, he was appointed to take charge of the Soldiers' Home, New Orleans, where the work of the United States Sanitary l^ommission was commended bv the whole world. At the close of the war. September, 1865, Mr. BuUard was relieved of his post and mustered out with the rank of Major. The succeeding two years was spent in the study of medicine, but as that profession did not suit his inclination, he tcok up the trade of iron moulding, later having contract to make all the castings of the Mutual Gas Works of New York City. Of his later life he is best known as (ieneral Contractor in Paving and Roofing, and an Entomologist. The Elm Leaf Beetle (Galerucella lutcola) proving very destructive to the beautiful elm trees here and elsewhere, he devised a plan whereby the insect might be destroyed. That he .succeeded is attested by the fact that in March, 1896, he was commended by the Agricultural Department of the United States Government, and his plan given ofificial authority. His first wife was Hannah Kettlewell, by whom he had three sons. After her death he married Ella Belcher, one daughter being the result of the union. In politics Jlr. liullard is a Republican. Christ Church claims him as a member, also the Association of Economic Ento- mologist. I'REDERICK C. MULLIXS has had the distinction of holding the important position of City Clerk of Bridgeport for cisiht vears. and of having been re-elected for another two-vear i86 THE -STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. term at the last local election. He is a native of the city, beint;- born in 1863, was educated here, and has always made it his home. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus, the Foresters of America, the Arion Society, the Ancient Order of Hibernians Division No. 2, Camp Uncas, the American Federation of Wheelmen, and Park City Yacht Club. Mr. Mullins was married, September 5, 1888, to Mary E. Johnson, of Bridegeport. He is a member of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church. HENRY O. CANFIELD is a manufacturer of rubber goods. He was born in Naugatuck, November 9, 1847, where he attended the public schools, further extending his education in French and German schools. He has resided in Bridge- port for some dozen years. He is a member of the Seaside and Algonquin Cltabs, and also the Masonic Orders. April 17, 1873, he married Miss Emmagene C. Freshhour, by whom he has had three sons. He is a Republican in politics. SIEGMUND KUPFER was born at Althutte, Bohemia, Austria, where he received an education in a polytechnical school. For the past twenty-three years he has resided in Bridgeport, where he is highly esteemed and respected. Mr. Kupfer was formerly a wine merchant. In 1866 he became a traveling salesman, a position he continued to fill iintil 1893. He afterward became Assistant Tax Collector, having- held that position for four years, his term expiring in April, 1897. He is at present a Justice of the Peace, he having recently been elected for a term of two years. On Alay 10, 1868, Mr. Kupfer married Aliss Anna Block, of New York City. Five children have blessed the union ; one, a daughter, is married to Mr. Edward Epstein, of New York City. ANDREW RADEL.— To President Andrew Radel, of the Traction Company, is due more than to anyone else, the fact that the people of Bridgeport to-day enjoy better facilities for street car travel than are to be found in any other city of the same size in the country. Mr. Radel is a man of experience in the building and management of street railways, and under his direction the local system was transformed from its old and antiquated form to its present convenient and well handled condition. Andrew Radel was born in Newark, N. J., March 2, 1S62, and after completing his common school education, spent two years at vSt. Benedict's College. He is the son of the late John Radel. When he was sixteen years of age his father purchased the Newark and South Orange Street Railway, which was in the hands of a receiver, and generally considered to be absolutely valueless. For it he paid $35,000, or rather agreed to pay that sum, being given ten years in which to do so. Its length was but seven miles, and its equipment was meagre and the patronage was very small. Mr. Radel, senior, was engaged in the grocery business, to which all his time was devoted, and he soon placed the siegmund Kupfe THE ''STANDARD'S-' HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. i87 ninning of the road in the hands of his son. The latter soon showed that he possessed the ability to carry out the task, and almost before it could be realized by competing lines, a franchise had been secured for the extension of the line four miles into a well peopled and prosperous section of countrvi Immediately there was a change in its affairs, and it soon became a paving investment. In seven vcars the entire purchase price had been earned over and above expen.ses, great im- provements had been made, and the road was paying a handsome percentage. In 1892 it was sold by Mr. Radel to the present owners, he securing a large .share of the stock of the new company. Imme- diately afterward, under the supervision of Andrew Radel, it was equipped with clec- tricit}', the work being done in record breaking time, and with a celerity that won new laurels for the manager. When the syndicate controlling the company decided to take possession of the system in this city, Mr. Radel was natur- ally selected for the position of Superin- tendent and General Manager, and under his direction the line was ec[uipped wiin electricity, extended, and a new and con- venient service put in operation. U]5<>n the work he has accomplished, coniniei t is unnecessary, for all know and appreciate the advantage of the present service, under which all points of tlic city are reached easily and quickly. Mr. Radel is now not only President of the Bridgeport Traction Company, but a Director of the Newark and South Orange Traction Company and Vice-President of the New Brunswick Traction Company. Of the latter he was the organizer, and in it is associated with many of the most prominent men of that section of New Andrew Radei. Jersey. While prominent in politics in his former home, having served as an Alderman and refused other positions, i\Ir. Radel has not entered actively into politics in this city. On the other hand he has preferred to devote himself entirely to business. His home is on Park avenue, not far from Seaside Park, and there it is that he delights to spend all the leisure moments which he is able to snatch from a busy life. CHAPTER XXIV. manufacturin(t and commercial interests. T^HIi UNIUX METALLIC CARTRIDCiE COMPANY.— To write of this celebrated institmiun, ' for its worli is based on such scientific principles, and its reputation is so far reaching, that •' institution " better expresses its character than does the word factor}-, appears to be carrying- coals to Newcastle. Whoever owns a firearm, be it the monster gun representing a great government, or the pistol of private pocket size, possesses also some of the product of the Union Metallic Cartridge Company. Established in 1866, and incorporated in 1867, the works have grown until they now cover three entire blocks in Bridgeport; the buildings and the 1,100 employes forming a little city of their own. vSome idea of the space required for the mechanical operations of this company may be formed with the knowledge that it will take three hours to obtain even a casual glance of the machinery used in manufacture and a busy month to gain understanding of its uses. ()f this machiner)- a volume could be written ; much of it has no precedent, it can scarcely be said to have been made. It has grown in the brain and hearts of the business giants who have demanded its appearance; compelling circumstances caused by scientific revelations, having called for almnst human apparatus to fulfill certain duties, and perfected knowledge has surmounted all ditificulties. Many of the machines belonging to the Union Metallic Cartridge Company have no duplicates in the world. The influence of this wonderful organization extends to every clime and its wares are called for in everv language. In its Bridgeport home the company has a foundation of peculiar honor. During the great financial depression lasting from 1873 to 1877, it was the principal industr}' of the city, and its every obligation was fulfilled. In the more recent hard times it has been the aim and pleasure of its directors to keep the wolf far from the door of its emphn'es. The working inhabitants of its domain are indeed fortunate. Financially the company is as strong as mechanically it is great. The words of its controller is as good as a payment made in gold. As the signature of its Treasurer is taken for full value in all money markets of the world, so the trade mark, L^. M. C, on its products signifies superiority. For the manufacture of ammunition in all its various uses, the Union ^Metallic Cartridge Company's works are the largest in existence. Cartridges, caps, wadding and shells for every variety of pistol, gun or cannon, are made there and so close is the inspection of the work that of all the millions of pieces of ammunition that are sold and shipped not a single cartridge leaves the factory that is not practically perfect. " That is not a boast," said one of the officials of the company to the writer, " it is a fact." i\Iechanical genius has always been a part of the LTnion Metallic Cartridge Compan}- and Mr. A. C. Hobbs, the first Superintendent (now deceased) will be remembered for his great ability and as the celebrated " Lock expert," who at the exhibition of 1851, in London, opened all the locks of Eng- lish manufacture. The son of Mr. Hobbs became successor to his father's chair and may now be found in general management of the works. The company is officered as follows: President and Treasurer, Mr. M. Hartley, New York; Vice-President, Mr. W. J. Bruff, New York; Secretary, Mr. M. Graham, New York; General Manager, Mr. A. J. Hobbs, Bridgeport; Superintendent, Mr. Jerome Orcutt. The larger number of these gentlemen have given more than a cpiarter of a century to the development of the business. A 500 horse power engine drives the ^iletallic Cartridge Department proper, and an auxiliary engine of 250 horsepower stands ready to increase the efficiency at any moment. Electrical generators of 400 horse power supply fourteen motors to drive the machinery in the departments where paper shells (for shot guns), primers, caps and gun wads are made. In a large independent building, immense hydrau- lic draw benches and presses are in operation for the construction of solid drawn brass cartiidge cases in calibres ranging from one inch up to six inches, used in United States Army and Navy Rapid Firing Guns. THE "STAXDARirS- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 189 THE HOLMES & EDWARDS SILVER COMPANY, situated on the line of the N. Y., N. H. and H. R. R. Co., the main thoroughfare from New York to Boston, presents to the traveler an idea of the pro;^ressive industrial conditions of Bridgeport, Conn. The company is incorporated under the laws of Connecticut with $400,000 capital, George C. Edwards, President; John Cummings, Secretary. A glance at the illustration of factory buildings shows the progress made from 1882 to 1897, the capacity of the works having more than quadrupled in this time, and it is safe to say that they are the largest manufacturers of table flatware in the world, as it may be noticed that their output is confined to this class of goods. The company point with pride to the record of these years, and find it due to the uniformity of the quality and finish upon which the reputation of the house has been established. December 9, 1884, and March 2, 1886, United States patents were issued on the process of inlaying in the back of the bowls and handles of spoons and forks, pieces of sterling silver. This quality of spoons and forks gives to the world the value of sterling silver at less than half the cost of desirable .solid goods, furthermore they are guaranteed by the Holmes & Edwards Silver Company for a period of twenty-five years in ordinary family use. While the Sterling Inlaid goods have been presented as the leading feature of this company's business they are not confined in any way to one article of manufacture, as everything that can be made in silver plated flatware is manufactured by them, which inchides Spoons, Forks, Knives, Ladles, Tongs, Servers, etc. One chief quality of plate on which the company has laid a great deal of emphasis, and which has been very well received by all their trade, is what is known as the extra sectional quality which is known by the trade mark " Holmes & Edwards XIV." This e.xtra sectional quality means that an extra deposit is placed on the back of the bowl and handle as indicating the points at which the silver is most easily worn off. They also make all qualities of silver plate, as well as a full line of solid metal spoons and forks in Mexican Silver, Aztec Coin Metal, (ierman and Nickel Silver. They are represented by salesrooms in New York, Chicago, St. Louis and San Francisco. THEBRIDCEPORTCHAINCOMPANY.— This company carries the name of Bridgeport through twenty-five or thirty states of the union, to Europe, Australia and remote South Africa. As its title suggests, the manufacture of chains is its line of work, but it remains for the product itself to tell the st(jry of superior workmanship. Indeed, nothing else could be expected to give a world wide reputa- tion to a manufacturing establishment. The Bridgeport Chain Company wasestablished in the year 1887. It lias won success by not only producing something which is wanted, but making that something of a high standard of excellence. It is no small honor, and a fact that this company may point to with justly //iiroHCfdfd \mde, that the only medal awarded on chains at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893, was won by two of the Bridgeport Chain Company's productions; on its " Triumph" chain and its plumbers' and sash chains. The "Triumph," the " Brown " and the "Perfection " are the special manufactures of this company. These chains are made by special machinery, and the feature of them is their links of twisted joints, obviating the necessity of welding. This absence of welding enables almost the complete original strength of the whole metal area to be maintained. Of course, the gist of the inventions lies in the machines, which are able to bring such creations into being. The strength of a chain is measured by its weakest link. The Bridgeport Chain Company evidently intends to have no weak links, cither in its chains or in its business. Till': CANFIELD RUBBER COMPANY.— To be the manufacturers of an article which is sold throughout the civilized world, and has carried the name and fame of Bridgeport with it, is an honor of no small magnitude. To put this one article upon the market in such enormous quantities that the sales exceed the huge sum of $1,000,000 annually, adds to the honor and compels a profound respect for the industrial enterprise of the projectors. The output of the Canfield Rubber Company consists entirely of their celebrated dress shield. It seems almost incredible that the demand for such an article should reach such proportions as to warrant the employment of many expert operatives and the turningout of the enormous number of 5,000,000 pairs of this simple contrivance annually. Yet that such is the case, the business of the Canfield Rubber Company otifers proof. Nor is this all. The manufacture and sale of this contrivance in such proportions has called for an imposing four story brick structure covering a large area of ground and the equip- ment of it with the latest appliances and special machinery necessary to that end. It has called for I90 THE "STANDARDS- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. the maintenance of branch offices in several great cities of the world, New York, London, Paris, Vienna and Hamburg. The Canfield Rubber Compan}' was incorporated in the year 1882 with a paid up capital of $250,000. The dress shield which has become so widely known is the invention of the late Jared H. Canfield, a man who was always identified with the rubber business, and who was thoroughly posted in every detail of that important industry. For several years he spent his time in France, introducing patents in rubber goods. On his return to the United States, he invented the celebrated dress shield, which has made his name so widely known. The present officers of the company are: Ratcliffe Hicks President; Frank N. Benham, Vice-President; Charles F. Holcomb, Secretary and Treasurer. THE CITIZENS' GAS COMPANY.— The largest plant for the manufacture and distribution of pure gas for fuel purposes in the world is located on Cedar Creek in the southern part of Bridgeport. This extensive establishment is the property of the Citizens' Gas Company, one of the later acquisi- tions of the city, and notwithstanding that it began business in Bridgeport less than two years ago, it is now enjoying a rapidly increasing business in supplying its customers with gas for power and domestic purposes. As speedily as possible its mains are being extended to all parts of the city, and in this capacity several hundred men are employed. The Citizens' Gas Company was incorporated in 1885, locating in Bridgeport in August, 1895. Its offices are at present located in the Masonic Build- ing, on Broad street. A visit to its plant at Cedar Creek reveals the extent to which the business is now expected to be carried on in the future. Its l^uildings are iron throughout. They consist of a generator house two stories in height, 135x45 feet. In this building are eight gas generators nine feet in diameter by fifteen feet in height, each pair being connected to a vertical tubular boiler, six feet in diameter by twenty-three feet in height. The scrubber room is 22x45 feet, and contains two producer gas scrubbers 8x27 feet, and two cast iron producer gas condensers 6x10x20 feet, and two water gas scrubbers, 7x27 feet. In the exhauster and engine room, which is 34x45 feet, are two No. 10 and two No. 8 Root gas exhausters driven by direct connected engines and one Sturtevant gas exhauster. The boiler room is 45x34 feet, and contains two Cahall boilers, one of 180 horse power, which is gas fired, and one of 150 horse-power, which is coal fired. The meter and valve room contains one fourteen-foot station meter, made by the Maryland Meter and Manufacturing Company, and two Connelly gas governors, with the necessary valves for distrib- uting the gas. The purifying house, 120x60 feet, contains four purifiers twenty-four feet square. Three lines of main lead from the works: One twenty-inch low pressure, supplying the resident part of the city. One twenty-inch high pressure line supplies part of the manufacturing industries. The size of the pipes is from twenty to eight inches diameter, and is ample for the heaviest con- sumption that it will be called upon to deliver in the most severe winter weather. The true value of fuel gas for domestic purposes is coming to be known, and the nature of the company's product is such that for light, quick work it is cheaper than coal. Added to its utility for cooking, its numerous advantages over a coal fire make it a desirable heating agent. The convenience and economy of gas used for power is also beyond the experimental period. Its product is used by some of the largest manufacturing establishments in Bridgeport. The capacity of the Citizens' Gas Company's plant is 3,000,000 cubic feet per day, with ample provisions for future growth. The gas is manufactured by the new Loomis process. In addition to the making of fuel gas, the company carries a large line of cooking and heating stoves, engines and gas appliances of all kinds. The officers of the company are : President, Charles F. Dieterich, New York; Vice-President, James Staples, Bridgeport; Secretary and Treasurer, A. B. Proal, New York; General Manager, Burdette Loomis, Hartford; Assistant Manager, Charles D. Woodruff, Bridgeport. THE BRIDGEPORT GAS LIGHT COMPANY has been doing business in the Park City for almost half a century. Incorporated in the year 1849, it has been brought to its present standing and usefulness by the industry and wise judgment of its management, and to-day occupies a strong position among the city's financial interests. Messrs. William R. Higby, President; F. B. Sammis, Secretary and Treasurer; Charles A. Gerdenier, Superintendent, and Samiiel C. Trubee, William B. Hincks, William D. Bishop, A. J. Hobbs, E. G. Burnham, Moms B. Beardsley, N. W. Bishop and H. F. Greenman, its Directory, are gentlemen whose reputation is a guarantee for the faithful performance THE -STAXDARryS'- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 191 of tlie responsible positions which they occupy in the community. The original cost of gas was $5 per thousand cubic feet; now it is $1.25, with liberal discount to large consumers, which places Bridge- port on the same basis that other large New England cities enjoy. Besides the manufacture and distribution of gas for illuminating purposes, this company has taken advantage of the increasing knowledge of the convenience and adaptibility of gas for heating and cooking purposes, by carrying a large stock of heaters and ranges. Manufacturers and families now appreciate the use of gas, and its consumption is steadily growing. For braizing and annealing purposes it is said to be unsurpassed. By means of atmospheric burners attached to the ranges and stoves sold by the company, a proportion of about two-thirds air is combined with the illuminating gas, making the blue flame, the finest quality of fuel gas, with intense heat. Mr. Charles A. Gerdenier has been vSuperintendent of the company for the past thirty-three years. The capital stock of the company was $75,000 when organized. Its enormous growth of business is evidenced by the fact that the capital stock has been increased to $300,000. The original inccjrporators of the company were: W. P. Burrall, R. B. Mason, Russell Tomlinson, E. C. Calhoun, Hanford Lyon, H. K. Harrall, C. B. Dungan, H. B. Stevens and H. G. Ludlow. Its first President was H. K. Harrall. Those who have since filled that position are: Hanford Lyon, Amos S. Treat and its present incumbent, W. R. Higby. The quality of both illumin- ating and fuel gas manufactured by the Bridgeport Gas Light Company compares favorably with any manufactured in the world, it being made from the best English Canne land 'Westmoreland coal, and is necessarily a pure coal gas. THE BRIDGEPORT CRUCIBLE COMPANY was organized and incorporated under the state laws in 18S7 as a joint stock corporation. A very valuable site was secured upon Knowlton street, the property having a frontage of 310 feet upon the harbor line. In 1893 the original factory, which then covered quite a space of ground, was destroyed by fire, and upon its embers was erected the very large plant that is seen far and near to-day. The new factory has a much greater capacity than the old one, yet the demand in the markets of the world for their products have entirely outgrown it. 192 THE ''STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. The depressed financial times of the past few years have entirely passed the company by, and the wonderful output of crucibles, Climax furnace clay, Champion store clay, etc., have not been lessened. Europeans were for years highly prejudiced against all American manufactured articles, but the last few years, with our wonderful facilities of turning oiit machinery, and the inventive genius of the sons of the country, we are enabled (with the assistance of such enterprising concerns as the Bridgeport Crucible Company), to command a fair share of trade in their markets. The company whose name heads this article has selling agents who travel and sell their products through Europe, which consists of (inclusive of the above-mentioned articles), bicycle chain graphite lubricant, ground and prepared plumbago and graphite in all forms. There is no doubt that the Bridgeport Crucible Company has the most complete and economical plant for the manufacture of crucibles and all the allied products. Mr. E. G. Burnham is the President of the company, with Mr. W. T. McFarlane as Treasurer and General Manager, and it is due to these gentlemen to say, that in the history of Bridgeport there is no corporation that has done more to create the vast growth of our industries which has made our city a successful manufacturing center. WHEELER & HOWES. — This firm, composed of John M. AVheeler and William T. Howes, stands at the front of its line of business in the New England states. Its proprietors, men of ability, enterprise and integrity, are num- bered among the representative men of the Park City. Wheeler 8z Howes are wholesale and retail dealers in coal, flour and feed, mason's building material, blue stone, drain pipe and fertilizers of every kind. For more than thirty years this firm has con- ducted business, and the extent of their operations becomes readily luanifest, when it is understood that their plant covers three acres of groimd. Their warehouses, im- mense coal chutes, excellently ap- pointed oflSces, etc., give some idea of the comprehensive character of their trade — a trade which extends through all parts of Bridgeport and surrounding localities. The firm's coal yards lie at the junction of Sterling and Noble streets, with a large river frontage to furnish dock facilities, while a four-stor}- brick structure at Knowlton and Crescent streets is used for grain, flour, building materials, etc. Besides these, a branch office is located at No. 336 Main street. The specialty by the house is coal. The different departments of the business call for the employment of perhaps a half a hundred men, and the firm's annual sales reach very large proportions. While Messrs. Wheeler & Howes have given so much abiUty and enterprise to the buiding up of this extensive business, their liberality of view has made them mindful of the city's interest as well, and whatever tends to promote its welfare finds them readv to assist. W. F. SWORDS LUMBER COMPANY.— All that the lumber trade implies is to be found at the immense establishment of the W. F. Swords Lumber Company. Seven acres of ground are covered by the mills, storehouses and piles of lumber, that await either sale or manufacture by this perfectly equipped organization. More than 50,000 superficial square feet of mill floors are crowded by machines and material pertaining to the building trade, and about 150 employes are steadily engaged in the manufacture of the various articles that construction calls for. A thousand feet of river front THE -'STAXDARirS" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 193 furnishes dock room for seven vessels, and their railroad frontage and private switch lines, permit the unloading- of ten cars per day; 5,000,000 feet of lumber forms only a common stock on hand, embrac- ing white and yellow pine, spruce, hemlock, ask, oak and cherry, while the mills are ready to furnish to immediate order, every kind of plain or fancy, soft or hard wood work that is used for building purposes. Two engines, aggregating 300 horse power, drive machinery of the latest designs and patents, and if there is one single thing wanting to make the establishment the most complete in the eastern country, the Swords Lumber Company does not know it. The manufacture of boxes is a particular industry of one of the mills ; almost every make of box is put together, while one looks at it. Special machinery makes dove-tailed or lock cornered boxes, and the output averages 3,000 a day. Other manufactured products are doors, sash, mouldings of every variety, mantles, and cabinet work generally. The shavings from the planing mill are separated from the sawdust by machinery, and one-half of the quantity collected is blown through. pipes directly in the engine furnaces, the other half is compressed into bales of 100 pounds each, and sold. An idea of the power used in the compress of the shavings. EsUblislimeiit of the The W. F. Swords Lumber Company. may be formed by knowing that a bale of them measuring only 20x20 inches by three feet, will, on cutting the wire by which the bale is formed, completely fill an average size one-horse wagon. The various labor-saving, and speedily producing machines that are employed, represent vast capital, and command the greatest interest. Everythingthat cabinetwork and carpenteringskilldemands is to be found. The builders' needs, from foundation to the finish of the roof, is either in stock or will be immediately manufactured from drawings or estimates. The buildings and yards are filled by prosperous looking workmen, and from draughtsmen to boys tending automatic wonders every one is busy. The company's facilities and connections are of an influential character, enabling it to offer special advantages to builders, contractors and dealers, and to fill orders at lowest market rates in a prompt and satisfactory manner. The equipment is one that is prepared to handle the largest con- tracts, and all work done is characterized by its excellent workmanship and high class materials. A company's success unquestionably lies in the complete knowledge of all details and processes possessed by it's officers, and in this particular the Swords Lumber Company is especially fortunate. The officers of the company are: Mr. John V. Giles, President; J. A. Aitchison, Secretary; E. D. Alvord, Treasurer. Mr. Bassett is no longer associated with this company. 194 THE "STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. THE ARMSTRONG MANUFACTURING COMPANY.— A three-story biiildino;, 150x40 feet, with every square foot of working surface covered with the most costly and perfect implements of mechanical invention— such is the plant of the Armstrong Manufacturing Company, a concern to which the attention of the leading mechanics has been attracted by the excellence of the work pro- duced. Among the many of Bridgeport's enterprises, the Armstrong Company is accorded a high place. Search the kits of first-class steam and gas fitters throughout the world, there will be found some of this firm's handiwork. Their stocks and dies have a record for superiority, while especial attention may be drawn to their pipe threading and cutting off machines. This business was established in the year 1870 by the late Mr. F. Armstrong. The original factory was located at Noble avenue and Steriing street. Success brought new obligations and the paraphernalia required to keep step with the trade offered, compelled the present plant on Knowlton street. About 1885 the present company was incorporated with Mr. Armstrong as its President. Later Mr. C. H. Armstrong became its Secretary and Treasurer, and still more recently he assumed the added duty of General Manager. Having grown up with the business, there is no one more capable than he to direct its affairs. The machines spoken of above for threading and cutting off pipe, have, of course, only been brought to their present state of excellence by many experiments and much study. They are made for hand or power, and like the well-known stocks and dies, are constructed with a view to the saving of time and labor. With them it is poss- ible to cut off and th read pipe from one to six inches inclusive, the threading process requiring only a matter of a few moments time. It is claimed for these machines that they will do the work more easily and rapidly than any on the mar- ket. Cutting off pipe with them is accomplished by means of a newly patented automatic attach- ment, and they are so arranged that the dies open to allow the material to pass through without removing it from the machines; and this by a simple motion of a hand-wheel or lever. Besides these machines and devices mentioned, the Armstrongs are the manufacturers of elastic suspenders, armlets, garters, and special spiral spring buckles. These have been on the market for years, and are acknowledged of standard quality. THE GEORGE W. LONGSTAFF COMPANY.— Study the character of the work which a business firm accomplishes if you would get at the secret of its success. Mere words can merely tell of they cannot prove ability. This is exemplified in something far more subtle than speech. 1 ublic patronage is a pretty sure criterion of public confidence. Work which will not stand the test is sooner or later rejected, and the firm producing it meets its well-earned execration. Take a survey of the City of Bridgeport. Learn who constructed this building and that ; then let judgment be given without fear or prejudice. Some dozen years ago the firm of Longstaff & Hurd, contractors and builders, came into existence, but was borne down in the recent financial crisis. It was in March, 1895, that the present organization of George W. Longstaff & Company, was incorporated, with a capital stock of $10,000. Since its foundation, this firm has executed work of which it may well be proud. The Barnum Historical Institute, the Sanford Office Building, that splendid structure on Main street, the Barnum Block, and the recently constructed and extensive plant of the Wilmot & of The .\rmstrong Manulactur THE "STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 195 Hobbs Manufacturing Company are buildings which bear testimon}- to the style of work to which this firm has devoted its attention. Expert workmen, excellent material, fineness of handicraft, tell the story. A three-story brick structure has been filled throughout with machinery and appliances, and here everything in the line of building and cabinet work is manufactured. Complete facilities make it possible to imdertake work on the largest scale. The contracts executed show these men to be masters of their undertakings. Mr. George W. Longstaff, President of the company, has been a resident of Bridgeport for many years. Besides his devotion to business, he has found opportunity to take part in affairs of a public nature, and is accounted one of the city's most influential citizens. Deeply interested in its Municipal Government, he has been a staunch supporter of every project tending toward its advancement. Politically he has served upon the Board of Aldermen, and is an ex-member of the State Committee. Besides being familiar with the details of the contracting business, Mr. Longstaff is an architect of high standing, and some years ago practiced this profession. Several fine churches built, not designed, and the Hanover Insurance Building in New York City, were of his design. He likewise designed the Arcade, the Barnum Monu- ment at Seaside Park, the Barnum His- torical and Scientific Building, and many other structures. He is a member of the Board of Trade, and otherwise interested in Bridgeport's financial and industrial institutions. The other officers of this company are: Secretary, Peter N. Frederickson; Superintendent, Daniel Campbell. The former of these gentlemen has been a resident of the city for almost a score of years. He is a man of wide experience, thoroughly versed in the details of his business, in which he has been engaged from boyhood. Mr. Campbell has great ability in the line of work to which he devotes so much of his attention. Both Mr. Frederickson and Mr. Campbell were for years associated with the old firm of Longstaff & Hurd. The plant of the Longstaff Company is situated at No. 269 and 271 Railroad atv-iiuv,. Establishment of The George W. Longstaff Company. A. WINTTER & COMPANY'S BREWERY was started on the site of the present plant in 1855 by Mr. John Benz, being the first lager beer brewery established in this city. Lager beer was not then as popular as it is to-day, the general public not being aware of its many wholesome and invigorating qualities. The knowledge that malt was considered by all prominent physicians as a stimulating tonic, and that one of the principal ingredients in the brewing of lager beer was that commodity, created for it a great demand, which, in the line of beverages, is unrivaled. The demand being constantly on the increase, made necessary the enlarging of the plant, until it has grown to be the most complete in the state of Connecticut. Mr. Benz died in 1871, and the business was carried on under the management of Mr. A. Wintter until 1875, '^^hen he became the sole owner. In 1S80 Mr. Wintter associated with him Messrs. McMahon & Wren, and, as a result, the Connecticut Brewing Company was established, consisting of A. Wintter & Company and the Meriden Brewing Company, with a capital stock of §700,000. These breweries are equipped with all modern improvements, and their products are widely known and appreciated by the people. 196 THE '•STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. ECKART BROTHERS' BREWERY. Eagle Hrewery, Eckiirt Bros., Proprietoi-s. Arriving in this country he visited numerous cities, ever.ir.ally considered one of Bridgeport's oldest residents. Twenty years later the brewery of Eckart Brothers was founded, and from a small beginning, has grown into one of the most complete in the country. Socially, Mr. Ehrsani is very popular, and the Turn Verein Society has in him one of the most pro- gressive members. He is a communicant of the Church of the Nativity, North Bridgeport, and in politics always was independent. THE FRANKLIN TYPEWRITER EX- CHANGE began business January i, 1896, with ;\Ir. Frank Marshall, who for a year previous to that time had been engaged as a salesman for Miller & Martin of this city, who were then the general selling agents of the United States for the Franklin Typewriter, he having resigned his position as foreman of the assembling department of the Yost Writing Machine Co., of this city, which position he held for several years. The office of the Exchange was located in the Sanford Building on the third floor, at first, but owing to the increase in business, larger quarters were necessary, and on November I, 1896, the business was removed to the ground floor of 45 Cannon street, where they are now located. The house carries in stock all makes of type- writers, both new and second-hand, which thev rent, sell or exchange, typewriter cabinets and all kinds of office supplies. The repair department is under the personal supervision of Mr. Marshall, where all typewriters entrusted to their care receive In the industrial development of Bridgeport during the last twenty years, we find that the brewery founded by the Eckart Brothers (of which Mr, Frederick F, Ehrsam is now the head), has taken a prominent part. It is only in latter years that the beverage of lager beer has become so popular, and to-day it is the favorite with all ages and in all climes. The cut annexed is an exact reproduction of the plant of Eckart Brothers, which contains all the modern machinery necessary to a perfect brew of lager beer, etc., and employs a large num- i ler of skilled employes, who, in making their homes here, add to the -reatness of the Park City. Frederick F. Ehrsani was born in Sa.\e ^leiningen, Germany, April 20. 1844, and received a liberal edu- cation in the home of his nativity. ^cti' n^ in Bridgeport in 1854, and is THE CONNICCTICUT BREWERIES' CO., A. WINTTER & CO., BRIDGEl'ORT. Controlling the Meriden Brewing Co. Meriden P. W. Wren, Prest. J. H. McMahon, Gen'l Mgr. A. Wintter, Secv. and Tr Capital Stock, $700,000. for '^'"PiF THE MERIDEN BREWINO CO., Jno. A. Hurley, JIgr. A. WINTTER & CO. BREWERV, A. Wintter, Mgr. INTERIOR VIEW OF THE SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND TELEPHONE EXCHANGE, BRIDGEPORT. INTERIOR VIEW OF JOHN CULLINAN'S UNDERTAKING Eb lAHLlSHMEN I . THE "STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 197 prompt attention. They have lately opened a copying office in connection with their typewriting- business, and have secured the services of several competent stenographers. JOHN CULLIXAX, a prominent, successful business man of Bridgeport, was born in Ireland, February 10, 1S40. Forty-seven years ago he left his native country and emigrated to America, settling in Springfield, Mass., June 30; came to Bridgeport thirty-three years ago, where, for the past twenty-eight years he has successfully conducted the leading business in the undertaking line. Mr. Cullinan is a self-educated as well as a self-made man, and his success in business has been due entirely to his own efforts. His great business capacity demonstrates him to be a man of more than ordinary executive ability. In 1863 ]\Ir. Cullinan married Miss Kathrine Keating, of Bridgeport, to whom five children have been born. Two of their sons, John and Thomas are prominent members of the local bar. Mr. Cullinan is a member of the Emmet Club, the A. O. H., the Knights of Cohmibus, Knights of Honor and the American Legion of Honor. With all his associates, he is highly esteemed and honored, both as a citizen and a man. TORREY & HUBERT'S Art Store, (formerly Brewster's). — In purchasing art, pictures, bric- Interic.r View of Torrey & Hubert's .\rt Store. a-brac, etc., to beautify the many delightful homes in this city, some intending bu}^ers wend their weary way to the larger cities, regardless of the fact that in their own town they can secure the same articles at a much less price. Intelligent art connoiseurs will not question why that should be the case; because, by that very intelligence they will clearly understand that the cases are not parallel. In New York, for instance, although the quantity of sales are no larger (owing to the great com- petition) in point of numbers than in many smaller cities, the immense rent and other outlays they have to meet, must come from as small a number of people as the art store in smaller places; where their running expenses are much less. The question then arises and must be met; is it sensible to pay the cost incident to a railroad journey and a larger price for such articles ? The excellent cut here published, is an exact reproduction of the interior of Torrey & Hubert's art store, in the P. (). Arcade, which was founded by Swan Brewster in 1884. 19S THE '' STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. The show windows are like the chameleon, constantly changing color; each succeeding one show- ing some new beauty, and are becoming the talk of the town. The kaleidoscope windows, the bright handsome store, the pretty gallery, the quiet refinement and the artistic display, are very potent charms to attract all lovers of the beautiful. It is conceded to be one of the handsomest stores in the state, and should be visited by everyone. The business, annually, of this firm is very large, and their stock contains the finest examples of the painter, sculptor, photographer and kindred arts. In looking around the store, one is impressed with the immensity and variet}' of the articles dis- played; oil paintings and water color selections, statuettes and bric-a-brac; examples of a master hand and the enterprise of this most popular firm. The generous support accorded this art store by the inhabitants of Bridgeport speaks well for their discernment, and the knowledge of this, encourages Messrs. Torrey & Hubert to scour the artistic world for their best examples. THE WILMOT & HOBBS MANUFACTURING COMPANY.— Bridgeport may well take pride in this enormous manufacturing concern. Controlled by gentlemen who represent a superior type of financial and industrial life, giving employment to hundreds of mechanics, and conducting a trade of far reaching importance, it stands as one of the bulwarks of the Park City's many and varied industries. To give an adequate idea of its extent, or of the diversity of its manufactured products is not easy in the limits of this article. To make steel of the finest quality, and then, by submitting it to their mastering processes, make this stubborn product pliable and obedient to their will, is the difficult task which the Wilmot & Hobbs Manufacturing Company has marked out for itself. As if to symbolize the indomitable energy which has brought this vast concern to its present state of industrial complete- ness, after the destructive fire of 1S95, which laid a large portion of these works in ruins, new structures rose phoenix-like from the ashes before they were hardly cold; and now absolutely fire-proof buildings greet the eye of the interested observer. The year 1877 saw the establishment of this great business by the late Mr. S. R. Wilmot. Some years later this gentleman gave an interest in the production of steel to his son-in-law, Mr. Hobbs, when the firm became Wilmot, Hobbs & Co. In 18S4 the business was incorporated under its present name, and in 1894 Mr. Hobbs sold out his entire interest. The list of this firm's entire products is a long one. Bessamer, open hearth, and the celebrated " Swedoh " steel, billets, bands, sheets and strips for pressed, stamioed and drawn work, anti-rust, copperized, and nickel-plated oilers, lamps, engineers' and steamboat sets, bicycle tubing and nickel-plated stove edge and ring trimmings, may be mentioned among them. For a number of years these works have been conducted on the departmental plan, and the hot rolling department is deserving of special mention. This is advantageously located on a branch track of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. Here, each year, the company receives its raw materials — thousands of tons of domestic and foreign billets — these to be cut by enormous shears to the desired size and weight, heated in large gas furnaces capable of turning out 100 tons per day, passed to and fro through the hot rolling mill train, operated by engines of some 1,500 horse-power, and thus turned into bands and plates. A portion of the annealing and pickling of hot rolled steel is conducted at the hot rolling depart- ment, or lower mill, situated at the corner of Howard and Wordin avenues, and a portion at the main works at Railroad and Hancock auenues. Between these two many teams are kept constantly employed in transportation of the product. But in addition to the hot rolled, annealed and pickled and bright cold rolled sheet and strip steel, used for sewing machines, bicycles, typewriters, bells, parts of guns and a hundred and one other branches of business, many patented specialties are also manufactured in the sheet steel line, controlled on various royalty and contract arrangements. Many of these are sold to other manufacturers for their raw material, while a large line of goods are sold through dealers and jobbers in hardware and other branches of business. One of the very interesting products of the concern is sheet steel rolled to proper thinness for the manufacture of spoons. The importance of this branch of the business is suggested when it is known that the company has con- tracted for the delivery before the close of the present year (1897) of two thousand tons of this steel to be furnished to the various manufacturers of spoons. This portion of the company's business was secured against a score of competitors, and the uniformity in size and quality of the product, causes its ' *%a*' MAIN OFFICE COLD ROLLING MILLS.&c. Samuel R. Wilnu.t. F. A. Wilmot. PLANTS OF THE WTLMOT ,■(; HOBKS MANLFACTURING CO. THE "STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 199 use by the trade of the entire country. Patented steel flooring is another specialty. Steel tape is furnished as raw material in quantities as great as 500 tons to the order, which later appears as millions of shoe nails. Obviously the conduct of this vast concern requires a constant study of ways and means to reduce cost of production by various improvements in manufacture, and an unflagging business zeal. Observation of this enormous plant reveals machinery filling thousands of feet of floor space, twelve engines and boilers furnishing power for its operation; an electric plant supplying the hundreds of lights used in the great buildings, and a thoroughly fitted machine shop where the tools needed in the business are made and repaired. Ten to twenty thousand tons of steel are annually turned out of the hot rolling mills, and 10,000 tons of coal are each year consumed as fuel. In the handling of these immense quantities of raw material, the unequalled railroad switch yard and dock facilities which they possess are of inestimable value. There is no need to add that the.se plants and the operation of the business represents an enormous outlay of capital. The officers of the company are: President and Treasurer, F. A. Wilmot; Second Vice-President and Superintendent of Mills, A. N. Stanton; Secretary, P. L. Bryning; Assistant Treasurer, Calhoun Lathham ; Superintendent of Manufacturing Department, C. D. S. Miller. THE BRIDGEPORT BRASS COMPANY, located on Crescent avenue and East Main street, is one of the largest manufacturing concerns of our city. In 1865 Daniel W. Kissam, Samuel R. Wilmot and John Davol, owners of the Wilmot & Kissam Manufacturing Company, a corporation doing business in Brooklyn, N. Y., recognizing the advantages of Bridgeport as a manufacturing city, removed their business to this place, forming The Bridgeport Brass Company, with a capital stock of $150,000, of which corporation John Davol was President; S. R. Wilmot, Treasurer, and W. D. Kissam, Secretary. The company engaged in the general manufacture of brass and copper wire, tubing and sheets, and many other articles of which brass and copper are component parts, especially kerosene oil burners and lamps, in the manufacture of which a larger amount of brass is consumed than any one article for which brass is used, and they are still largely engaged in this branch of the business. Many branches have been added, such as the manufacture of seamless brass and copper tubes, clock move- ments, bicycle lanterns, insulated copper wire for electrical purposes. This company was the first to introduce and manufacture what is known as " Hard Drawn " copper wire, of which thousands of miles are now used for telegraphic, telephonic and railway purposes. The company's business and manufacturing facilities have largely increased, until they now occupy about five acres and employ nearly a thousand employes, with a pay roll amounting to half a million dollars annually. The officers of the company are: Chas. M. Mitchell, of Waterbury, Presi- dent; Geo. E. Somers, of Bridgeport, Vice-President; Nelson M. Beach, of Bridgeport, Treasurer; Frederick J. Kingsbury, Jr., of Fairfield, Secretary. THE A^iIERICAN GRAPHOPHONE COMPANY.— When the talking machine was perfected by the inventions of Professor Alexander Graham Bell, Professor Chichester Bell and Mr. Charles Sumner Tainter, a new and curious industry was brought into the world. This is the manufacture of Graphophones. Not many people know that a large factory building in Bridgeport is devoted to the manufacture of talking machines. It might be said to be devoted to the making of talk. The factory of the American Graphophone company is for many reasons one of the most notable in the group of extensive manufacturing concerns that have been attracted to the Park City. The persons employed in making the various parts of the talking machine, the general character of the output and its wide distribution throughout the world, are all elements that make the concern interesting. Its growth has been rapid, but the officers of the company consider that they are yet only on the threshold, and that the industry will in a few years require a plant many times the size of the present large factory. The factory of the American Graphophone Company on Railroad avenue, at the foot of Howard avenue, is 400 feet long by 60 feet wide. It has two floors, which provide about 48,000 square feet. There is a wing, 100x30 feet, with three floors. A proposed new wing will be 100x50 feet, and contain three floors, which will provide 46,000 square feet of floor space. To follow the construction of a Graphophone from the design until it is finally assembled, is interesting and instructive. THE "STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. The Graphophone consists of several parts: I, The framework which supports the mechanism; 2, The shaft or mandrel on which the cylinder revolves; 3, The rod on which the carriage supporting the recorder or reproducer moves; 4, The recorder or reproducer; 5, The motor either electric or clock- work; 6, The cylinder on which the record is engraved. The making of the carriage, of course, is metal work, such as may be seen in any factory where fine machinery is manufactured. vSeveral years of experience has resulted in reducing the frame- work to the simplest form consistent with efficiency. The factory is provided with many fine lathes and tools designed especially for the purpose of quickly making and finishing the framework. Every part is milled and lathed and turned with the greatest accuracy. The finest steel tools that can be made or obtained are employed. It is essential that every adjustment should be of the most accurate character. As an instance of the delicacy of the work required, it may be mentioned that the artisans employed are provided with callipers that measure their work to the point of one-quarter of a thousandth part of an inch. When the work is inspected it has to undergo the tests of the finest measurements, or be rejected. A part of the factory force is engaged in making the clock- work or electric motors that drive the Graphophones. The work that is of peculiar interest, however, is the making of the recorders and reproducers, and the cylinders on which sound is recorded. These, of course, are the distinctive features of the Graphophone, the other parts of the machine being only the fine mechanism necessary to keep the cylinder, and the recorder or reproducer, in proper and regular motion. To the eye of the hasty observer the recorder and the repro- ducer of a Graphophone seem very much the same. They appear to be discs of hard rubber or aluminum about an inch and a half in diameter. The under side is hollowed and made to hold a glass diaphragm, to which is attached" a little metal arm holding a small point of sapphire at the end. To the upper side is secured flat on the disc a short, thick tube of the same material as the disc, which tube extends about an inch beyond the edge of the disc, and ends in a metal ring or collar, by means of which the ju.uiding cylinders. recorder or reproducer is attached to the trunnion. The difference between the recorder and the reproducer is in the bit of sapphire referred to, and the manner of its attachment to the glass diaphragm. In the case of the recorder the sapphire is made in the form of a little chisel with a cutting edge, and it is secured in a piece of metal that is attached rigidly to the glass. In the reproducer the sapphire is in the form of a little ball, which is attached to the imder side of a lever, one arm of which is secured in the center of the diaphragm glass, the other moving freely on a pivot that is attached to the casing of the diaphragm. This facilitates the free play or vibration of the diaphragm. The difference of these sapphire points suggests their different uses. The chisel of the recorder cuts into the wax cylinder, and as the diaphragm vibrates in response to the sound waves beating against it, makes a deeper or shallower impression according to the pitch and volume of the sound. On the other hand the ball of the reproducer does not cut, but merely "tracks " in the furrows made in the cylinder by the recording chisel or stylus, and moving up and down the undulations, reproduces in the diaphragm the same movements or vibrations that originally caused the chisel to cut the furrow. The sound is thus reproduced. Testing Musical Records Edward D. Easton, Pres. and Gen. Mgr. American Graphophone Co THE ''STANDARD'S- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. While iiiucli of the work about the Graphoplione Factory is such as may be seen in any factory where fine metal work is done, there are several departments where the processes are unique. One of these is the department where the wax cylinders used in making records are moulded and polished for use. The rough wax is melted in great steam-jacketted kettles in a room on an upper floor. It is drawn oflf in a pipe to another big kettle or vat, on the floor below where it is kept in a melted state, filtered and cleaned. Thence it passes to the floor below, where it is mixed with chemicals necessary to give it the proper consistency. Then it is ready for the mould. The moulds are arranged in rows around a great flat wheel, about six feet in diameter. As the wheel revolves, a man ladles the melted wax into the moulds. By the time the filled mould reaches a man on the other side of the wheel, the wax has hardened and the rough cylinder can be taken out. The moulders have to work rapidly, as the wheel keeps moving around, taking in loads of melted wax at one point and discharging rough moulded cylinders at the other side. These rough cylinders are then taken to a department, where the}' are reamed and then shaved or poli.shed. Much of this work is done with great rapidity on shaving machines or lathes especially designed for the purpose by Mr. T. H. Mac- Donald, the manager of the factory. The tools used against the wax are edged with sapphire. Another interesting department is the music record depart- ment where the musical records used on the talking machines are made. Here a score or more of men are employed testing the records, putting them up in neat boxes, labelling them and storing them away in proper order. Thousands of these records are made in a day. This department is a sort of musical Babel. A visitor will hear a dozen or more tunes at once issuing from the horns of as many Graphophones. Each tester, however, is interested in the particular musical record he is trying, and such is the force of training he hears nothing else. In one cozy corner of the factory building is the lapidary's room, the department where men are engaged in fashioning the minute cutting points and balls of sapphire used on the recorders and reproducers. Sapphire is used for this purpose because no metal is durable enough. The wax cylinders seem soft enough, but the constant attrition soon wears a steel point out of shape. Next to the diamond the sapphire is the hardest of the precious stones. The sapphire arrives at the Graphophone factory in rough lumps. With fine saws the lumps are divided into thin slabs. Again the slabs are sawed up into little four-sided sticks, and the sticks are cut up into tiny blocks or cubes. Each cube is then fashioned either into a cutting ]ioint or a ball for a reproducer. Another part of the factory where one can see work that is (jut of the ordinary is a section of one of the long rooms where men are engaged in completing the recorders and reproducers. In the rubber or aluminum case is inserted a glass diaphragm about an inch in diameter. This is placed between two small gaskets or rings of rubber, which allows the diaphragm to play or vibrate when a sound wave strikes it. The sapphire point is attached to the outside of the diaphragm. These glass diaphragms are made in France of the finest rolled plate glass. They are 7-1000 of an inch in thickness, or much thinner than a sheet of writing paper. The making of Graphophones is not the only industry pursued in the factory of the American Graphophone Company, though it is the principal one. The Company has patent rights in photograph projecting machines, and manufactures the Graphoscope, a projecting machine devised by Mr. MacDonald, the manager of the factory. Connected with this part of the factory is a film making establishment. When one remembers that the photographic negative from which films are made is from 50 to 150 feet in length, he can understand that the process of developing and printing from it is very interesting. The dark room is an apartment as large as an ordinary parlor. Here the photographer Sapphire Cutting Room. THE '■ STANDARD'S-' HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. Slaking Graphoscope Filn and his assistants work, not in the dark, but with the aid of electric lights enclosed in rose-colored bnlbs. The negatives are in long bands or strips jtist as they are run through the camera. The photographer winds them on a big roller or barrel, which revolves in a trough filled with the developing solution. Two or three turns of the crank bring the pictures out. The work of getting views or subjects for these films is directed from the factory, and cameras for the purpose have been made and perfected there. The Manager and Superintendent of the factory is Mr. T. H. MacDonald, a well-known resident of Bridgeport. To his inventive genius is due much of the improvement in talking machines, and in the processes of manufacture. The Assistant Manager is Mr. Clement March, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Assistant vSuperintendent is Mr. E. E. Norton, who has charge of the mechanical work. The American Graphophone Company was organized shortly after patents for the Graphophone were issued in 1887. Its pro- moters were mainly professional men in Washington who believed they saw in the invention a very desirable substitute for shorthand amanuenses. It is an interesting fact in the history of the enterprise that the earlier efforts of these whose capital was invested in it were directed almost wholly to introducing the Graphophone for business uses. Experience soon proved, how- ever, that the use of the machine for entertainment purposes afforded a field almost tmlimited, and the demand for machines for such purposes steadily grows from year to year. From the factory point of view, by far the most important aspect of the Graphophone is that of the pleasure maker. There is practically no limit to the number that may be irsed for this purpose. Early in its history the Graphophone Company leased its rights to the North American Phonograph Company, but when that concern went out of existence it entered into the field as a manufacturer. It, however, made no marked headway until a succession of changes brought the present management in control. Then the concern was reorganized, the company rehabilitated and refinanced, the factory methods revised, and the whole establishment put on a strictly business basis. The result has been a rapid and steady growth. The Columbia Phonograph Company had secured through its capable management the position of the principal dealer in the world in talking machines and talking machine supplies, and upon the reorganiza- tion of the American Graphophone Company the Columbia Phonograph Company became its sole sales agent. Now, through the Columbia Phonograph Company, the American Graphophone Company is represented in attractive buildings in New York, Paris, Chicago, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Balti- more and Washington, besides having agencies in other cities. The officers of the American Graphophone Company are: Edward D. Easton, President and General Manager; Wm. E. Bond, Vice-President; Wm. Herbert Smith, Treasurer; Paul H. Cromelin, Secretary. Directors: M. E. Lyle, Andrew Devinc, Chas. S. Tainter, Edward D. Easton, Wm. E. Bond, R. O. Holtzman, Wm. Herbert Smith, John J. Phelps and R. F. Cromelin. Of all the men who have been connected with the talking machine as a business enterprise, Mr. Edward D. Easton, the Pre.sident of the American Graphophone Company, is by far the best known. He began his bu-siness relations with the Graphophone when the Graphophone was invented, and has devoted himself to it ever since. He is a native of Massachusetts, and possesses the best of New England traits. His boyhood was spent in the vicinity of Hackensack, New Jersey, where he entered newspaper work as an assistant editor when about fifteen years old. He became an expert stenographer early, and after doing considerable shorthand work for various newspapers, went to Washington to take a position as a stenographic clerk in the Light House Board. He maintained eloping a 150-Foot Negati' THE '-STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 203 his connection with the Government for seven or eight years, when he resigned to enter a more lucrative field that opened before him in general reporting. Mr. Easton reported the Guiteau trial, the long, drawn-out Star Route trials, and many other famous cases. His reputation as a stenographer was of the highest character, and he was constantly employed in various parts of the country, but chiefly in Washington, in the most lucrative work. After making, before he was thirty years old, a record in the shorthand profession, which can be equaled by few of those who have given a lifetime to the calling, he stepped out of it to devote his energies and talents to the talking machine. He was one of the first to appreciate the practical uses of the invention, and to put it into service in his own business. The great future he saw for it induced him to invest his capital in it, and to devote his life to it. He organized first the Columbia Phonograph Company, which originally was a local concern operating in Maryland, Delaware and District of Columbia. Of the several local companies organized about the same time, the Columbia Phonograph Company was the only one that achieved marked success. This was due to the fact that its energetic President both understood the machine he was handling, and had as well a wonderful aptitude for business and organizing ability. These qualities became more and more evident as years passed on, and the Columbia Phonograph Company grew from a local concern into an establishment whose operations are world-wide. This success naturally brought him to the Presidency of the American Graphophone Company, and placed him at the head of the talking machine btisiness of the world. The skill with which he, in an incredibly short time, brought the American Graphophone Company up from a state of despair to an enviable degree of prosperity, has been remarked with wonder by many financiers familiar with the difficulties in the way. United with a thorough knowledge of the talking machine, he possesses rare financial skill, and enjoys the thorough confidence of all whose capital has been invested in the enterprise. Under his direction the factory in Bridgeport has steadily grown in size, processes have been perfected, and the talking machine itself greatly improved. THE BULLARD MACHINE TOOL COMPANY.— When the visitor to Bridgeport's mechanical establishments notes that eighty-one factories in this city alone use machine tools in the production of their special lines of work, the position of this concern in the industrial world becomes more strikingly evident. When further a plant covering a space, 400 by 160 feet, and occupying a number of connecting buildings is observed, and when it is known that a force numbering between 150 and 200 is employed upon labor demanding more than common intelligence and skill, the importance of the Bullard iMachine Tool Company begins to be in a measure realized. It was in the year 1880 that Mr. E. P. Bullard brought the Bridgeport Machine Tool Works into being. Fourteen years later that company was incorporated under the present name, and with Mr. Bullard as its President, H. A. V. Post as Treasurer, and A. H. Bullard, Secretary, it began an era of continuous development along original and independent lines. This latter fact is one to which the company calls attention. It is not bound down to the hard and fast methods of predecessors and contemporaries, but seeks results from its own lines of thought and action. To-day its special machines are assisting in the manufacture of the appliances of other great corporations, helping to realize the claims of railroads, shipbuilding concerns, and the production of mechanical devices in this country and abroad. The Bullard Machine Tool Company manufactures many machines, boring and turning mills, lathes and turret machines, unusually complete in their appointment and high grade, being those to which particular attention is given. The most recent structure which the company has erected is perhaps an unexcelled workskop, its massive walls and roofs being of the most modern build, and the science of the present day architecture providing light and air comfort to scores of workmen. ' y^^y. H 65 78 -K , ,_„ J' "^.. ' ' ^\ '■^^•' »t' 'i^ ^, . \ -> t' A. ^' -^^ •jj .°-<.^ ^o-" ^^':^ \ o V A* •\ '•V^ -$§ c" 0" v*.«-^'.v ^ K . -^ o > "> •^1'* 9. ^""^t. -=:■- / ^ ^0^ .►'•»' v" .a;^.-:- '^^