m

I m

YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

HISTORY

OF

ANCIENT WESTBURY

AND

PRESENT WATERTOWN
FROM ITS SETTLEMENT TO
1907

>a
S

Dedication.
WE beg our kind readers to remember the diffi
culties to be encountered in writing a correct
and authentic history of this kind. We
have done our best, and therefore feel that no
unduly harsh criticism will be extended to those who
have had this work much in their minds for months.
We now commend it to you, with every hope that this
book will receive a cordial reception in many homes
and be read with interest now and in future genera
tions. In the quaint language of Anthony A. Wood
in his preface to The History of Oxford:
"A painful work it is, I'll assure you, and more than
diffictdt, wherein what toyle hath been taken, as no
man thinketh, so no man believeth except he hath
made the trial."
However, it is a work that has had its pleasures. It
has opened up a richer and more detailed knowledge
of this dear old town, the home of many of our ances
tors, our home and the resting place of our kindred.
To the blessed memory of those who, in the past,
labored among these hills and valleys, with strong
hearts and willing hands, to make homes for those dear
to them, afterward by precept and example to build
strong character, and to those in the present who are
in any way trying to make this beautiful town a lasting
tribute to their labors, this book is dedicated by
THE SARAH WHITMAN TRUMBULL CHAPTER, D. A, R.

Pioneer Days.
IN order to give Watertown its proper location and
show how it became a living factor in this common
wealth it is necessary to enter into a little of the
early history of Connecticut. The Dutch of New Neth-
erland had reached the Connecticut river January 1631,
purchased land of the Indians and built at Hartford a
house which they called "The House of Good Hope."
Then arose the great question among our Puritan
ancestors, "Shall these intruding Hollanders be allowed
to take possession of the finest valley in New England?"
To ask that question was but to answer it, and the first
English settlement in Connecticut was made by William
Holmes, and a number of Plymouth men in October
1633, at the mouth of the Farmington river at Windsor.
With due respect for the rights of the Indians, Holmes
and his companions purchased a tract of land, built a
house thereon, fortified it and ever after maintained their
right thereto. This house w^as framed at Plymouth
and brought hither by water. It is said to have been
the first house erected in Connecticut. Here we feel
constrained to remark that if the policy of rendering
to every man his due had controlled the actions of the
discoverers and settlers of our country, the bitter ani
mosities and bloodier outrages of subsequent genera
tions would have been largely prevented. The first
court, consisting of six men, was held in Hartford,
April 26, 1636. This court looked after the common
affairs of the Colony, declared war, concluded peace,
and formed alliances with the Indians. These local
courts continued their supervision of the civil affairs
of the towns until January 14, 1639, when delegates
5

from Wethersfield, Saybrook and Windsor met m
Hartford, and framed a constitution which is recorded
as "one of the most simple and liberal ever adopted."
Later in the same year, an adjourned assembly incor
porated the several towns, and vested them with power
to transact local business, which action was the origin
and establishment of town privilege.
In no part of New England were the Indians so
numerous as in Connecticut. This is accounted for
by the greater abundance of fish and game which her
rivers and forests afforded. In 1613 the number had
been greatly decimated by a widespread disease re
sembling yellow fever. The part of the State west
of the river belonged to and was occupied by the Mohe-
gans, the Paugasuck (Paugasetts) and the Tunxis.
The name of the latter, meaning "brimming river,"
was derived from a small western branch of the Connec
ticut about ten miles west of Hartford. The Pauga-
sucks were the original holders of the tract extending
for miles both sides of the Naugatuck river. They
called the place Mattatuck, ("badly-wooded"), which
name is preserved in several fraternal orders and indus
trial companies in the present city of Waterbury.
There are six deeds relating to the transfer of this
territory from the aboriginal holders to the white men.
Recorded in Farmington Land Records is a quaint
Indian deed, dated February 8, 1657, conveying to
William Lewis and Samuel Steele of that town "a psell
or tract of Land called Matetacoke, that is to Say the
hill from whence John Standly and John Andrews
brought the black lead, supposed to be in the locality
of Harwinton, and all the land within eight my lie of
that on every side; to dig and carry away what they
will and to build on yt for ye Use of them that Labor
there and not otherwise to improve ye Land. In wit
ness whereof wee have hereunto set our hands: and
those Indyans above mentioned must free the pur
chasers from all Claymes by any other Indyans."
Witness: John Steele. 6

The grantors of the above deed were Kepaquam,
Queromus and Mataneg. Steele's Brook probabl}'
derived its name from John or Samuel Steele. Woster,
or Wooster, the maiden name of Watertown, doubtless
derived its name from Edward Wooster of Derby, who
cultivated or gathered wild hops from the tract of land
known as ""Wooster Swamp," extending along Steele's
Brook to Welton Station at Oakville.
The mining scheme was soon abandoned by the
Farmington men, but they did not forget that there
were desirable farming lands in this wilderness, and
on October 9, 1673, twenty-six men, all of that town,
sent the following petition to the court then in session
in Hartford:
To the hotwrd getwrall coiirt naw siting In Hartford. October
p, 1673:
HoNERD Gentlemen and F.\thers: We being sensible of
our great neede of a comfortable subsistance doe herby make
our address to yo\vc selves, In order to the same, not Ques
tioning your ceare and faithfulness In Ye premises ; Also hoping
of your freeness and readyness to accomidate your poore sup
plicants with yt which we Judge to be; In your hands; acord-
ing to an orderly proseeding we therefore whose names are
hereafter Inserted to humbly petition your honors to take
cognicance; of our state who want Land to labour upon; for
our subsistance & Now having found out a trackt at a place
called by Ye Indians Matitacoock; which we aprihend may
susfetiently acomidate to make a small plantation; we are
therefore bould hereby to petition your honors to grant vs Ye
liberty of planting ye same with as many others as may be:
capable comfortably to entertaine and as for Ye purchasing of
Ye Natives with your alowance we shall take care of; & so
not to trouble you with farther Inlargement we rest only de
siring your due consideration & a return.
By our louing ffriend John Lankton and subscribe ourselves
your nedy petitioners.
Thomas Newell Samuell heacox
John Lankton John Welton
John Andrews Daniel warner
Wm. Higgeson Abraham warner
John Porter Thomas hanco.x
Thos. Barnes John Carrington
John Woodruff Daniel Andrews

John warner, senior Joseph heacox
Daniel Porter thomas Standly
Edmun Scott Obadiah richards
John Standly, Junior Timothy Standly
abraham brounson
The return from the Committee read as follows:
April 6. 7. 8. 9. 1674.
Wee, whose names are underwritten (according to the desire
and appointment of Ye honoured Court) have viewed Ye lands
upon Mattatuck River in order to a plantation, we doe appre
hend that there is about six hundred acres of meadow and
plowing land lying on both sides of Ye river besides upland
convenient for a towne plot, with a suitable out let into Ye
woods on Ye west of Ye river, and a good feeding land for
cattell. The meadow and plowing land above written a con
siderable part of it lyeth in two peices near ye towne plot, Ye
rest in smaller parcels, Ye farthest of which we judge not above
fower miles from Ye towne plot, and our apprehensions are
that it May accommodate thirty familyes. Thomas Bull,
Nico Olmstead,
Robert Webster.
Articles of association and agreement were drawn
up and each settler was required to sign them before
he could take possession of the new lands. Certain
individual rights were sacrificed for the good of the
whole community; a division of the land and a fair
distribution of the tax burden were provided for;
each land-holder had eight acres for a house-lot and a
share in the meadow lands according to his property
interests. A committee was appointed to dispose of
two or three allotments according to its judgment.
The taxes were assessed for the first five years on the
meadow allotments; after five years according to the
laws and customs of the country, each person was
required to build in the place assigned him a good sub
stantial house, "not less than eighteen feet long by
sixteen feet high and nine feet between joints, with a
good chimney;" each house was to be finished within
four years from the date of agreement, June 6, 1674,
or the owner forfeited his right to the land. By the
8

provision that the owner should occupy his house for
four years after completion, and until that time could
not sell his land, squatters were barred from the settle
ment. Before the work of settlement was completed
all New England was called to arms by the Indian
War. Word was sent to all outlying and unprotected
settlers to move to places of safety and the holders
of Mattatuck returned to Farmington. For nearly
three years. King Philip and his followers "held up"
the settlement, and when the settlers again returned
to their abandoned lands, a new site was chosen for a
town, in order that communication with other colonists
in case of assault might be more convenient. April
29, 1684, nine Indians, Patuckquo, Automtockquo,
Wawowas, Taphow, Judas, Mantow, Quatowquechuck,
and two squaws, Mercy, and the squaw of Momantow, —
in consideration of nine pounds already received on
good security for that purpose, granted to Thomas
Judd and John Stanley in the name and behalf of the
proprietors of the Township of Mattatuck, a tract of
land lying north of that formerly sold to Major Talcott
and Mr. Wadsworth of Hartford. It was on its north
side and extended eight miles north from Mount Tay
lor. On an east and west line its extent was eight
miles. The grant butted east on Farmington bounds,
south on former grant, the "Spinning Squaws" land,
west on "Quasepaug Pond" and north on Nonnewaug
and Guernsey town, then called "The Wilderness."
It included the town of Plymouth and the dimensions,
as nearly as can be reckoned, were about eight miles
either way from side to side, while the limits of ancient
Waterbury are described in several deeds as extending
for a distance of eighteen miles on both sides of the
Naugatuck river. If this tract had been equally di
vided among the thirty -six original proprietors, each
one would have received about twenty-four hundred
acres. The original limits now comprehend the towns
of Waterbury, Watertown, Plymouth, Thomaston,
half of Wolcott, one third of Prospect, the larger part

of Middlebury, a corner of Oxford and nearly the whole
of Naugatuck. The first house in Wooster was built
by Obadiah Richards, previous to December 23, 1700,
for in Dr. Anderson's History of Waterbury, we read
that "on that day he was granted one acre 'where his
house stands at his mountain,' and on the same day
his son Obadiah was received as an inhabitant." It
is reasonable to suppose that Obadiah Richards, Jr.,
who was the first known inhabitant of Watertown,
was hving there in 1701. "Richards' Mountain" or
"Obadiah 's Hill" is the eminence southwest of the
Centre. The Woodbury and Middlebury roads pass
over it. In 1701, Richards gave to his sons John and
Obadiah, each one half of his lands on the mountain
(over sixteen acres), and to Obadiah his share of the
house and barn. John, apparently, having assisted in
the building of this house and barn, was owner of the
other half. This house is mentioned in 1704 and again
in 1709, but in 1715 some disaster had befallen both
house and barn for we find in a land grant the words
"where house and barn stood." They were probably
burned in the Indian Raid of 1710. The second house
in present Watertown was built in 1715 by Thomas
Welton. It stood in Oakville on north side of Steele's
Brook and southwest of Turkey Brook. This was
at the fork of the Wooster and Scott's Mountain roads.
In the house known for generations as the "Esquire
John Buckingham place" Ebenezer Richardson lived
from 1721 to 1735. During the summer of 1729 or
1730 Joseph Garnsey came from Milford with his slaves
and cut logs to build his cabin in the locality now
known as Guernseytown. The old records tell us
that "the land in this locality was regarded as so much
more valuable than other undivided land that one acre
was equal to five acres and later to two and one half acres
in other parts of the town." Part of the eastern sec
tion of woodland is now in possession of the descendants
of the pioneer Guernsey. Dense forests covered the
entire twelve hundred acres, extending over Woodbury,

Bethlehem, Linkfield and the Town Woods. Only
on the swamp now occupied by Jtidd's Pond could
animals graze; they browsed upon the trees. From
Captain Joseph Garnsey and his wife, Rachel Marchant,
there descended many families of the same name.
Captain Joseph Garnsey was captain of the Conti
nental forces during the Revolutionary War and on
his return brought with him a fine black English stallion
which he had captured from a British officer. At
one time there were twenty-se\-en families of Garnseys
in this vicinity. Tradition tells us that the first house
ever painted in our town was one of the Garnsey houses,
and that it was painted with a horse's tail. It is re
lated that one night robbers came to Guernseytown.
They first \'isited a man by name of Garnsey who lived
on the place now owned by William Foote. Pie was
so badly beaten that later it was necessary for him
to be trepanned. His wife, throwing off her gold
beads, crawled under the trundle-beds containing her
sleeping children. Peering into the trundle-beds and
seeing only the little ones, the robbers passed them by
and Mrs. Garnsey escaped detection. On leaving the
house the thieves dropped the wallet containing the
stolen money. They then went to the house of Joseph
Garnsey. He and his wife were alone, and she with
quick wit, suspecting the newcomers to be robbers,
ran to the foot of the staircase, and as if there were
many men sleeping above, called name after name,
bidding them come down as thieves were at the door.
Then going upstairs she rolled log after log from the
fireplace down the stairs. The robbers, frightened by
the seeming approach of so many men, rode hastily
away without dismounting. It is impossible to realize
the dangers and hardships of those early days. Men
builded upon the hills the better to protect themselves
from Indians and wild beasts. No man ventured to
the fields without his gun, and children were posted
upon the fences to warn the workers of the approach
of an enemy. Rebecca Prindle, the first child baptised

in the township, was born February 7, 1739, and died
aged ninety-nine years and one month, and retained
most of her faculties to the last. Her father owned a
large tract of land on Scott's Mountain, now Nova
Scotia Hill. Her descendants tell us that when a
child she was often sent by her father to the fields to
frighten away the bears. She married Noah Judd, son
of Timothy Judd, who lived on the site of the house
now owned by Mrs. William Curtiss. Mr. and Mrs. Noah
Judd lived where now the summer home of Mrs. Henry
Merriman stands. The first house built on Scott's
Mountain was that of Deacon Thomas Hickox, erected
in 1728. The earliest burial in Watertown was that
of Hannah Richards, wife of Edward Scoville. Dr.
Anderson graphically describes the sad scene: "In the
early Springtime of 1741, the long procession, without
hearse, without carriage, winding its way down from
Scott's Mountain, and across the swamp, the low bier
covered with 'funeral cloth' or pall, reverently borne by
neighbors and friends to its resting place. It is safe
to write that around that grave clustered the entire
community. As the bundle of straw, according
to custom, was dropped into the grave, and the skeleton
shadow of the meeting-house frame fell over it, four
young children clustered near. One of the number,
a boy of nine years named James, was destined to fill
a high and important position, for in him lay dormant
the Rev. James Scoville, missionary of the Church
of England to his native town and the Society of West-
bury." On the place, now owned by Alfred Adt, lived Samuel
Thomas who died in his country's service at Cape Brit-
ton. Obadiah Scott lived on the road from Wooster
to Bucks' Hill. This house he sold to Rev. John Trum
bull, who afterward built a house on the east side of
the highway, which became the birthplace of the noted
author of "McFingal." The original business centre
of Watertown was near the historic place now owned
by Charles Woodruff. Here stood a schoolhouse a

blacksmith shop, a tavern and several dwelling houses.
John Woodruff, the great, great-grandfather of the

Trumbull House.
present owner, came to this place from Milford previous
to the Revolutionary War. When the call came for
volunteers, he formed a company of which he was
Captain, two of his sons were volunteers and the third
son, being too young to enlist, accompanied his father
as Captain's Aide. When the army disbanded seven

''¦¦•r^v'--<k.

t

Belden House.

years later, he willed his sword to his son John, with
the provision that it should descend to the son John
in each succeeding family. It is now in Rockford,
Illinois, having descended four generations to its present

owner.

13

The oldest house standing in Watertown to-day is
the "Belden House," situated north of the home of
Alfred Adt on Straits' Turnpike, on the east side of the
road. Eighty years ago it was occupied by two maiden
ladies, the first milliners in Watertown, who bleached
and trimmed all the leghorn bonnets in the section.

I — Roman Catholic Church.
3 — Congregational Church.

2 — Methodist Church.
4 — Episcopal Church.

History of tlie Churches.
Congregational Church
IN the southwest comer of the old cemetery stood
the first Church of the township, a Congregational
Chtrrch. The First Ecclesiastical Society was organ
ized soon after the incorporation of the Society of
Westbury in 1738. Among its founders were Deacon J.
Garnsey, Daniel Scott, Lieutenant Thomas Richards,
NathanieF Arnold, William Scoville, George Welton,
Thomas Matthews, Deacon Thomas Hickox, Deacon
Timothy Judd, Deacon John Warner, Ebenezer Porter,
Amos Hickox, Jeremiah Peck, Joseph Garnsey, Thomas
Cole, Ambrose Hickox, Stephen Scott, Thomas Buck
ingham, Thomas Hammond, John Stoddard, Richard
Seymour, Timothy WilUams, Elnathan Judd, Thomas
Fenn, Samuel Reynolds, and Michael Dayton. The
first services were held on the site of the present residence
of George Lewis. Plans were made to build a "meeting
house" in the comer of the old burial-ground, and on
February 24, 1740, the Society directed their committee,
John Judd and John Scoville, to lay out the land as fol
lows: "Beginning at southwest corner, a heap of stones,
then east ten rods to a heap of stones, then ten rods north
to a heap of stones, then west eleven rods to a heap
of stones, then south eighteen rods to a heap of stones
where we began, butting west on land left for a high
way, north on Eleazer Scott's land, south on Stephen
Scott's land, east on Eleazer Scott's land, or common
land as set out by us." "The land included in these
lands amounted to nearly one acre, belonging to Eleazer
Scott, and as a remuneration for the same the committee
15

awarded him 'three acres of land, to lay out m the
undivided land or fifty shillings in money.' " The
building was completed in 1741. There were about
three hundred inhabitants in Westbury in 1739, when
the Rev. John Trumbull was invited to take charge of
the parish. The house already referred to as the birth
place of the author of "McFingal" became the parsonage
and the adjacent land was known as the glebe. Mr.
Trumbull was a good classical scholar, a graduate
of Yale College in 1735, and he was for many years
one of the Trustees or Fellows of that institution.
Dr. Bronson tells us that he sometimes fitted young
men for college after he became minister at Westbury;
"that his attainments as a scholar were respectable;
that he was sound, shrewd and humorous, but that
he appears not to have been distinguished as a preacher;
that the great influence he acquired over his people
was obtained by his generosity, his hospitable manner
and his friendly intercourse. He is described as a
stout athletic man, fond of horses and a lover of inno
cent sports, willing to help the parish boys in games
of contest against the 'Town Spotters.' The young
men met at some half-way place, and carried on their
game of wrestling, 'at the square hold,' on autumnal
evenings around the fire. The story is told that on
one occasion when the last of the Westbury champions
had been laid low, a stranger, Mr. Trumbull in dis
guise, in company with Captain Abel Woodward,
wrestled with the victor and threw him into the fire.
"When next Mr. Trumbull met Mr. Leavenworth, his
colleague of the First Church of Waterbury, the latter
reproved him for throwing his contestant into the
fire. Mr. Trumbull agreed that he had been guilty
of levity, but said that he felt it his duty to give Mr.
Leavenworth's parishioners a foretaste of what they
might expect after sitting under his preaching. "While
a student in Yale College John Tmmbull stole a sign
from one of the shops. He fled with it to his room,
hotly pursued. It was a rule in the College that no
i6

student should be disturbed while at his devotions.
He threw the sign on the fire, and kneeling down prayed,
'A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a
sign; and there shall no sign be given.' His prayer
did not end until the sign was entirely consumed by
the fiames."
Tradition says that the parson's grave old dog, who
was usually as regular an attendant upon the services
as any member of the family, scandalized the good
people of the congregation one Sunday, by marching
in after the sermon had begun, with the minister's
second best wig tied on his head, and took his seat on
the pulpit stairs. The parson looked at him, struggled
to maintain his gravity and remarked, "That is some
of John's work," John being the parson's second son,
afterward the noted author. In the year 1772, during
Mr. Trumbull's pastorate, the second Congregational
Church was built on land purchased of Wait Scott
near the present Post Office. Such heavy timbers
were used in its construction that assistance was given
from five neighboring towns for the raising. Some of
the timbers are to-day in the Congregational Parsonage.
The second Congregational Church had a steeple
one hundred feet high. The bell was rung every night
at nine o'clock by Benajah Bryan, who lived in a house
which stood on the site of the present residence of
Charles B. Mattoon. The tmruly boys used to get into
the meetinghouse, ring the bell in the night, and be
gone before Mr. Bryan could get there. At length
the doors and windows were so fastened that the
boys could not get in, but a boy named Uri Judd,
the son of Benjamin H. Judd, the cabinet maker,
climbed the lightning rod, fifty feet to the belfry, came
down, opened the door, let in the boys and left before
Mr. Bryan appeared.
It is worthy of record that during the first fifty
years of American Missionary History, Dr. Henry
DeForest, a member of the Congregational Church of
Watertown, went to Syria as a missionary.
17

After the second Church was built, Mr. Trumbull
built the house known for years as the "Woodward
House," in order to be nearer the scene of his labors.
Mr. Trumbull died in 1787. In the ancient burial
ground on a quaint old tablet we read:
"Sacred to the memory of Rev. John Trumbull,
A. M., senior pastor of the Church of Christ in West
bury, and one of the Fellows of the Corporation of Yale
College, who died December 13, 1787, in the seventy-
third year of his age and forty-eighth of his ministry.
"Of distinguished learning, industry and abilities,
the most unaffected piety of heart, the firmest attach
ment to the doctrines of the Gospel, the most unblem
ished moral character, a studious attention and friend
ship to the people of his charge, the most cheerful
hospitality to his friends and ardent charity to the
poor, which rendered him respectable in life, and in
firm reliance on the merits of the Redeemer raised his
mind above the fear of death, can render the memory
of the deceased dear to the survivors, and afford a
worthy example to posterity. Go, reader, and imitate
his virtues! Behold the upright man! His end is
peace." During the last three or four years of Mr. Trumbull's
pastorate, Uriel Gridley was settled colleague with
him and succeeded him as pastor of the church. He
came to Westbury in 1785 and remained for thirty -five
years. A writer says of Mr. Gridley, "I shall never
forget and language would fail me to describe his majes
tic dignity and easy grace as he walked, bowing rever
ently, up the broad aisle, ascended the steps and turned
his placid, benign face to the audience."
During his ministry two hundred and thirty persons
were added to the church. Of him also some amusing
stories are told. He was very fond of hunting and one
spring day he borrowed a valuable gun from a neighbor
to shoot robins. Time passed and the gun was not
returned. The owner inquiring for it found it in the
garden in a hill of beans, the gro-wing vines twisted
i8

to the top of the stock. This same parson was given
the first early peas from a neighbor's garden if he would
pick them. He did so, first carrying the vines under
a shady tree, for the day was very warm. At a dona
tion party, "Parson Gridley," as he was called, was
presented with six cheeses; he cut them all to see
which he liked best. There were two services each
Sabbath Day in the churches, one in the morning, and
after an intermission of one hour in winter and one
and one-half hours in summer, another in the after
noon. At each service a sermon not less than one
hour long was preached. No fires were permitted
in the Churches and for the comfort and convenience
of the parishioners, "Sabba Day" houses were built.
One stood near the present site of David Woodward's
house and another near Town Hall. In these houses
were large fireplaces, filled with roaring wood fires,
from which the foot-stoves, which every lady carried,
were replenished. Here the good people during the
intermission between the services, enjoyed their seed
cakes and cookies and the Uttle bottle of cider of which
their Itmcheon usually consisted. During the early
history of the Church it was the custom to register not
only the date but the cause of death. One curious
entry relating to the death of a lady reads as follows:
"She lived with her husband ten weeks. He has
buried two wives in ten months, a Providence which
never took place in Watertown before, and probably
there are but few instances in the Christian world.
The ways of the Lord are past finding out." The
seating of the parishioners in the churches was arranged
by age, "care being taken," by a committee appointed
for that purpose, when reseating was necessary, "not
to degrade any one." The "people of colour" occupied
a seat in the rear of the Church under the gallery.
The seats were paid for by a tax laid upon each member,
and not until the third Congregational Church was
built were seats sold to the highest bidders.
Rev. Uriel Gridley died December 16, 1820, in the
19

58th year of his age and 36th of his ministry. On his
tombstone in the Old Cemetery is this inscription:
"Here rests in hope all that on earth remains
Of one whom late we knew and much we loved
As husband, parent, friend and guide to follow;
Here lies all severed by the hand of death.
Yet mourn we not as those who have no hope.
Our loss his gain, our grief we trust his joy.
For him to live was Christ and in his steps
He humbly trod a follower of the Lamb ;
Meek, patient, merciful and love of heart,
His Saviour's kindness seemed his rule of life
His Saviour's merits all his hope of heaven,
Lo, reader ask thy bosom for such hope of final rest."
The brethren of Federal Lodge erected a stone to
the memory of Mrs. Susannah Gridley "as a mark of
their esteem for the Rev. Mr. Gridley and his late worthy
lady." "In memory of Mrs. Susannah Gridley, the amiable consort
of the Rev. Uriel Gridley, who departed this life on May Sth,
1796, in the 33rd year of her age.
"While yet alive she strikingly exemplified the endearing
virtues of an agreeable and lovely companion to her husband,
the tender-hearted esteem of an affectionate mother to her
children, the serious and social friend to her acquaintance,
and an ornament of piety to the world.
"Now sacred shades receive this long farewell
Sleep, sleep in peace, then rise with God to dwell."
Rev. Mr. Gridley was succeeded in 1822 by Horace
Hooker. Deeply loved and regretted by his people, Mr.
Hooker resigned the pastorate in 1824, on account
of ill-health. Mr. Darius Griswold took charge
of the parish in 1825. He remained until 1834.
In 1835 Mr William DeForest was installed pas
tor. In the same year land was purchased of
Mrs. Dutton on which to build a parsonage. In 1837
Mr. DeForest resigned his pastorate on account of

ill health. In 1834 plans were drawn for a new Church.
There was much controversy over the location of the
new edifice, whether it should stand on the Dutton lot,
so called, or the Woodward lot. The matter was
settled by arbitration, and the present Church was
raised on the Woodward lot in 1839, and dedicated
January 29, 1840. Rev. Philo Hurd took charge of
the Parish on July 1, 1840, and remained nine years.
Rev. Chatmcey Goodrich was installed Pastor of the
Parish in 1849, and remained one year. For twelve
succeeding years the following clergymen were employed
by the Society as stated preachers:
Rev. Geo. P. Prudden, 1857-1861.
Rev. Samuel M. Freeland, 1862-1864.
Rev. Benjamin Parsons, 1866-1867.
In 1872, Rev. George A. Gilliman took charge of the Parish.
He was succeeded by
Rev. Franklin Tux bury, 1877-1879.
Rev. Charles P. Croft, 1880-
Rev. Benjamin D. Conkling, 1881-1884.
Rev. George N. Pelton, 1886-1889.
Rev. Robert Pegrum, 1889-1900.
Rev. William T. Holmes, the present pastor was installed
February 1, 1901. The deacons are: Henry T. Dayton, Charles
W. BidweU, George M. Griswold, Lucien R. Hitchcock.
The Standing Committee, with the Deacons, are : Mrs. James
L. Loveland, Mrs. Nathaniel B. Miller, Miss Estella Beach,
Frederick J. Werking.
Superintendents of Sunday School: Main Department, Fredk.
J. Werking; Intermediate Department, Miss Estella Beach;
Primary Department, Mrs. Fredk. J. Werking.

Episcopal Church

About the year 1740, that part of Connecticut now
called Plymouth was incorporated into a Parish of
Waterbury. It was called Northbury and consisted
of eighteen families. They united in building a
proprietary house, designed for all public uses, which
they called a schoolhouse. The first clergyman. Rev. Mr.
Todd, was ordained there. The manner of preaching.

prevalent among the followers of the celebrated "Whit
field, was distasteful to many people, and desiring a
calmer mode of worship, eleven of the eighteen famiHes
conformed to the worship of the Church of England.
Being a majority they obtained possession of the school-
house, but they assisted their brethren to erect another
public house, "until their claims were satisfied." In
the year 1740 a Missionary named Morris was sent from
England by the "Society for the Propagation of the
Gospel in foreign parts" to take charge of the parishes
of Derby, Waterbury and West Haven. Mr. Morris
remained about three years, during which time the
mission of Northbury was organized. He procured
for the use of his parishes a large folio Bible and
Prayer Book. His successor was the Rev. James
Lyon, also a European. Mr. Lyon remained in the
Parish two or three years. After his departure, the
Parish was vacant for a time. In 1749 Dr. Mansfield
returned from Europe, invested in Holy orders, and as
a missionary took charge of the Parishes of Derby,
Westbury and Northbury. Dr. Mansfield's piety made
him much beloved and respected. The alacrity with
which he would take a journey of twenty or thirty
miles over extremely bad roads in severe weather,
visiting the sick, baptizing children, or committing to
the earth the remains of his parishioners, continued
for more than half a century. In 1759 he confined
his services to Derby and Oxford, where he remained
until his death in the ninet)r-seventh year of his age.
The Rev. James Scoville, a native of Waterbury, now
came to the mission. He officiated half of the
time in Waterbury and half in Northbury and
New Cambridge. It is presumed that all members
of the Church of England in Westbury journeyed every
Sunday from the far-away hills of river and stream
to St. James Church, Waterbury, and on those Sun
days when Mr. Scoville was absent from Waterbury,
they met "in the house of James Doolittle during the
winter and spring, and in the chamber of Ensign David

Scott in summer." In 1765 the number of churchmen
having greatly increased, the active members of the
Parish, twenty-one in number, Asahel Beach, Samuel
Brown, Joseph Brown, Daniel Brown, Joseph Pritchard,
Edward Scoville, Thomas Doolittle, James Doolittle,
Jonathan Tulford, Jonathan Garnsey, Eleazer Prindle,
Samuel Scoville, John Judd, Noah Judd, Asa Judd,
John Hickox, Gershom Scott, and William Scoville,
resolved to organize a branch of the Protestant Epis
copal Church in Westbury. They accordingly ad
dressed the First Warning,
"To Mr. William Scoville of Westbury in Litchfield County,
Greeting: — These are to Desire you to warn and Notify, all
the male Inhabitants in said Westbury, possessing the Episcopal
form of Worship and Discipline, to Meet at the Sabbath day
house Near the Church in S'd Westbury, on Monday, the
sixth Day of December next, at 8 of the clock before noon,
there to transact and Do all such things of an Episcopal Nature
as by law such inhabitants are empowered to Do. Hereof
fail not. Dated at Westbury this 27th Day of November 1764.
Signed by Thomas Matthews, Treasurer.
Samuel Brown,
James Welton,
Noah Judd,
Principal Inhabitants
of Episcopal Persuasion,
Westbury, 6th December, 1764.
The Society of Episcopalians in Westbury, being legally
warned to form into a legal Society and met accordingly at
the place appointed viz. the Church Sabbath Day House at 8
o'clock in the morning, & made choice of Lieut. Saml. Brown,
Moderater, & Wait Smith, Society Clerk & Noah Judd, Treas
urer & Mefrs. Noah Judd, WiUiam Scoville & Wait Smith,
Society Committee, David Prindle, Collector of Minister's
rates, and Noah Judd, Grand Jurey, Darius Scoville & David
Manvill Tjrtheing men. "Voted that the annual meeting is to
be on the first Monday in December. The warning to be in
writing by the Committee & sett on the Sabbath House Door
and dismissed the meeting. Wait Smith, Society Clerk.
After meeting with "embarrisments" with respect
to a convenient place on which to erect a Church,
23

Captain George Nichols of Waterbury, gave a spot
for that purpose, and in May, 1765, a Church 45 feet by
36 feet with a steeple (?) was erected on land southeast
of the old cemetery, now owned by Curtis Atwood.
"Such was the harmony, zeal and perseverance, with
Captain Edward Scoville as their principal, to whom
they looked for pecuniary aid and direction, that in
October they had got their Church in such forwardings,
as to be in some measure convenient for the celebration
of public worship. Accordingly, in the latter part of
the month they assembled in it to give Glory to Him
who had put it into their hearts to build it," and gave
it the name of Christ Church. The dedicatory sermon
wys delivered by the Rev. Samuel Andrews, missionary
from the Society to Wallingford, Cheshire and North
Haven. Having a house set apart for the sole purpose of Pub
lic Worship, they petitioned Waterbury Society for
the services of Mr. Scoville in future in proportion to
their grand levy in consequence of which he per
formed public services with them once in six Sundays.
"In this situation things continued, the parish in
creased in numbers and respectability, with the blessing
of Heaven upon the labours of their worth}^ rector,
whose punctuality in the performance of his labours,
notwithstanding the extensive ride he had to perform,
was a remarkable trait in his character. His grave
and becoming deportment made him respected by all
who knew him. The soundness of his doctrine de
livered from the pulpit should not be recon'd among
his chief excellencies, for he taught the people from
House to House, he comforted the aged. Instructed
the young, and made himself agreeable to Children.
Having such a clergyman it is not Surprising that
parishes should increase, which they did to such a
degree that in the year 1771 it was unanimously agreed
among them that another Clergyman was wanting.
Accordingly, the Parishes of Northbury and New
Cambridge agreed for a certain pecuniary sum to relin-
24

quish the services of Mr. Scoville, upon which he con
fined himself to Waterbury and Westbury.
Westbury now enjoyed the benefit of a clergyman
one-third of the time and continued to prosper. In
1773 they did off the tower part of the House, together
with the Pulpit, Chancel, Canopy, etc.
Soon after this time commenced the war between
the mother country and the colonies, in which the
Church in Westbury suffered a considerable dimin
ution of numbers and strength. The windows in the
Church were many of them demolished, several of the
principal men were confined to their farms, and denied
the privilege of attending public worship. . .
The American War being brought to a close in 1783,
and the colonies declared independent of the British
Empire, it became inconsistent with the Society's
Charter any longer to continue their salaries to their
missionaries in this country. Of this Mr. Scoville re
ceived notice and at the same time an offer of a hand
some augmentation to his income provided he would
remove to the Province of New Brunswick, where the
government likewise held out very generous encour
agement to clergymen in salaries, bounties and lands
to themselves and their families. After long and
serious deUberation, he decided to accept the Society's
offer, which left the Church in Westbury vacant.
April 17, 1787, at a legal meeting, it was voted to
meet a committee from Northbury (now Plymouth)
in regard to securing a clergyman to officiate in the
Parish every other Sunday, and in February, 1788, it
was voted "to try to settle Rev. Chauncey Prindle
in the Gospel Ministry in this place one half of the
time, and to pay him an annual salary of thirty pounds,
to be paid in cattle or produce, viz.: Beef, Pork, Wool,
Flax, Butter, Hogs, or any kind of grain, to be paid by
1st Jan. annually, for three years, provided he will
move into the middle of this Parish, and Messrs. Noah
Judd, Wait Smith and WilHam Scoville were a com
mittee to compleat a settlement with Mr. Chauncey
25

Prindle." Mr. Prindle was at this time in Deacon's
Orders, but it was voted to apply to Bishop Seabury
that he should be ordained Priest as soon as possible,
and on the twenty-fourth of February, he was ordained
Priest by the Right Rev. Bishop Seabury in St. James
Church, New London, and he immediately entered
upon the duties of his office and resided in Westbury.
"The Parish continued to increase in numbers, strength
and apparent holiness, and it was voted to move the
Church House 'up onto the hill,' somewhere near where
the meetinghouse in said Westbury now stands, provided
a suitable place can be procured and to give the Rev.
Chauncey Prindle the use of the Church land for eight
years. On the first day of November, 1792, a committee
consisting of William Scoville, Eli Curtiss, Uri Doolittle,
Wait Smith, John Castle and Noah Judd were appointed
"to procure an estimate of the cost which will be neces
sary in order to build a new church without a steeple
and to cover the outside of it, and also to see what
can be obtained by subscription." On November
Twelfth the committee reported the cost ^^[232, 17s, 6d,
for frame and covering, and they had obtained £155,
5s by subscription. April 16, 1793, Messrs. Noah
Judd and Barnabas Scott were made a committee to
purchase the plot of ground belonging to Samuel South-
mayd, south of Timothy Judd's, a little southwest of
the meetinghouse "where the timber for said house
now lyeth," for the sum of seventy pounds. This
plot was the piece of land lying north of the present
residence of Mrs. John Buckingham. After many
conferences it was voted to build a Church 54 by 43
feet, to finish the interior and also to build a steeple
"as it could be much more conveniently done when
said Church is raised" and another subscription was
taken and the old Church House sold 'and money
appropriated toward the new Church.' The com
mittee contracted with Noah Judd to build the Church
for the full sum of £500. This subscription to be
paid in "Beef, Pork, Tallow, Lard, Wheat, Rye, Indian
26

Com, Neat Cattle not more than eight years old, and
Bulls and Stags are not to be received in this subscrip
tion." On November 18, 1794, the new Church was
consecrated by Right Rev. Bishop Seabury by the
name of Christ Church.

Ancient Watertown.

It was ordered that the Society's committee, "Set
up a Suitable and Convenient Post near the Button
Wood Tree Near the Northeast Corner of the Church
for the Purpose of Setting up warnings for the Society's
Meetings for the future, and that a warning for a Society
Meeting set up in writing upon sd Post Signed by the
Committee of sd Society Shall be a Legal Warning, for
all the Members of sd Society to Meet, and that the
Place for sd Society to meet at shall be left for the
Determination of the Committee of sd Society for the

Time Being"

Noah Judd,
Wait Smith,
Wardeti-s.

Eli Curtiss, Clerk.
Amos Belding,
Abel Bronson,
Wm. Scoville,
Eli Curtiss,
Darius Scoville,
Committee.

27

It is presumed that at this time the Rev. Chauncey
Prindle was occupying the house which stood on the
site of the residence now owned by Louis Heminway,
which was removed about thirty years ago and is now
occupied by John Purdy. It was owned by Nathan
Sanders and was purchased in 1788 by Mr. Prindle
for a rectory. In January, 1802, at a Society's meeting,
it was voted "To get the Rev. Mr. Prindle Twenty
Cords of Wood for the year ensuing. He finding the
wood within one mile of his house." At this time
Mr. Prindle was receiving "£45 for his services in the
Gospel Ministry in this Society for half the time." It
appears he felt they were too generous, for January
15, 1802, he writes: "To the Prudential Committee
of the Episcopal Society : Be Pleased to return my most
Sincere Thanks to the Society for their Liberal Dona
tion granted me in their meeting on the first Monday
in December last. And as it Exceeded both my Expec-,
tations and Wishes I hereby Relinquish Fifteen Dollars
of the same, and wish you to apply them in such
a manner as your good Judgment shall suppose to be
most Benefitial to the Society. I am. Beloved in
Christ, Yours, Chauncey Prindle."
On December 24, 1804, Mr. Prindle requested the
members of the Church to unite with him in a Legal
manner in petitioning the Bishop of the Diocese "to
make a separation and annulment of that Sacerdotal
relation between him and them which was entered into
on the tenth of February, 1788. The petition was
granted December 6, 1804, and on the twenty-third
of December he delivered his last discourse to them
as their Rector from Ecclesiasticus 6:16: "A Faithful
Friend is the medicine of life, and they that fear the
Lord shall find Him;" "having been their rector 16
years and 10 months, during which time he never
failed in a single instance of fulfilling weekly appoint
ments and all calls to extra duties, both in and out of
his Parish, nor but twice on Sundays."
"During that period thirty famihes joined the Church,
j8

forty-one left the town for other parts, two became
extinct by death, ten families belonging to the Church
moved into town. The Grand List of the Society
when he took charge of the Parish in 1788 was $65.72,
and when he resigned it was between $1,300 and
$1,400." One particular instance is perhaps worthy of record.
"In the month of August, 1795, he was called upon to
preach a Lecttire and Baptize a number of Children
(who were upon the Eve of being removed to the western
wilderness), in Waterbury, about three miles north
of the centre, near Naugatuck river. There had been
a copious fall of Rain and the River was up to the Brim,
but there had been constantly, for a number of years,
a boat or canoe to cross in, but when arri'v'd at the
place he found neither. The congregation was col
lected, and to go to the nearest bridge and arrive in
season was impossible; to postpone until some future
day was inconvenient. A proposition was made if
a horse and rider could be procured to transport his
effects over, he would transport himself. Accordingly,
Horse and rider were fotmd to whom he committed his
effects, pointed out the place of deposit, saw them safely
landed on the other Side of the River, then committed
himself to the liqtdd element, and soon arri'v'd in safety,
repaired to the House, and performed the service. Bap
tized eleven children and returned in the same manner."
For a year the Parish was without a rector. On
December 2, 1805, the Rev. Russell Wheeler accepted
a call on a salary of $400.00 a year, to be paid at the
expiration of each year, and the Society were to have
the privilege of paying three-fourths of said sum in
merchantable produce at the market price, and if
they could not pay the entire amount the Society was
to give a promissory note for the balance due. At a
meeting November 7, 1807, Mr. "Wheeler petitioned
"that a parsonage house shall be erected one year
from this date and shall give me the use of the ground
on which it shall stand. Should there be any opposi-
29

tion to this I should be unwilling to continue. By
parsonage house I mean a good decent and convenient
house with a barn, a woodhouse, well, garden, etc."
A committee consisting of John Merrils, Caleb Hickox,
David Buckingham, Samuel Southmayd, Gerrit Smith,
Charles Merriman, Eleazr Judd, Aner Bradley, James
Garnsey, Cyrus B. Manvill, Ebenezer French and Abner
A. Hard were chosen to solicit subscriptions for the
parsonage. At a meeting in December they reported
to have raised $759.00, and had the offer of the house
and lot still belonging to Mr. Prindle for $800.00, and
"they are of the opinion that with an addition it will
be under all circumstances the most advantageous for
the Society." The vote was passed to purchase the
house, and to cut the timber from the glebe land to
build such addition as shall be thought necessary.
Mr. Wheeler occupied the house until his resignation
April 25, 1814. In the following November, David
Buckingham, Gerritt Smith, James Garnsey, Charles
Merriman and Dr. Anson Tuttle were appointed a
committee to confer with Rev. Frederic Holcomb and
obtain from him his terms of a settlement in the Gospel
ministry for one-half of the time or more. Mr. Holcomb
signified his willingness to officiate in this parish and
Northfield for the sum of $600.
This parish to pay $365 for three-fifths of the time.
"Provided Mr. Holcomb would purchase the house and lot
lately occupied by Mr. Wheeler, together with the Glebe land,
at a fair price and on account of the extraordinary Price of
Provision, It is Mutually agreed by the Committee and Mr.
Holcomb that the Society are to Pay him Ten Dollars Per
Annum During the continuance of the Present war and no
longer." Mr. Holcomb purchased the rectory for $1,500 and
occupied the house until 1821, when he sold it back to
the society, and later on resided in the house now
owned and occupied by Mrs. Theodore Bronson. It
was about 1816, during the early part of Dr. Holcomb's
ministry, the society voted "To give liberty to have
30

a stove set up in the Church for the benefit of the Society
and under the care of the Prudential Committee, pro
vided it can be done by subscription and without any
expense to the Society." In 1827 they decided to "set
up another" under like conditions, and Marcus Bradley
was appointed "to take charge of the stove and to pay
him one dollar a year," which he seems to have done
for a number of years and apparently perfectly satisfied
with his wages. At the same time Sylvia Freeman
was sweeping and dusting the Church for three dollars
per year. Until January, 1837, the parish was supported
by subscribers to the Society fund, bequests being made
from time to time, notably from Capt. Edward Scoville
and Noah Judd. Committees were occasionally ap
pointed to reseat the Church, apparently assigning
seats to famihes. At this meeting John Buckingham,
Holbrook Curtis, Jacob Blakeslee, Cyrus Manvill,
Alanson Warren, Ebenezer French, Aner Bradley and
Charles Merriman were appointed "to estimate and
apprize the slips," and in February they proceeded to
offer the sUps for sale to the highest bidder, and most
of them were sold. Until January 3, 1832, the Society
had services but a portion of the time.
Dr. Holcomb then severed his connection with the
Northfield parish and gave Christ Church all his services
on a salary of $500 per year. Dr. Holcomb continued
in charge until January, 1839, when on account of
infirmities he resigned, and Rev. Dr. N. S. Richardson
accepted a call and lived in a house purchased from
Benajah Bryan and located on the site of the present
residence of Charles B. Mattoon. This house was
removed to the East Side Road and is now owned
and occupied by Mrs. Sweeney. In June, 1845, Dr.
Richardson tendered his resignation and accepted a
call to Christ Church, Derby. Dr. Holcomb was re
called to the rectorship and served until 1849 "when
admonished by age and its attendant infirmities of
the necessity of lessening my labors, for the little time
remaining to me on earth" he resigned the charge. He

31

resided in the parish until his death and although
never again accepting a rectorship, he never ceased
to labor, and Northfield, Bethlehem and East Plym
outh will bear witness to the tribute recently paid
to him and his beloved wife by Stephen Jewett, of
Fairbault, Minnesota: "We seldom meet men like
Dr. Holcomb. Many a time have I seen Mrs. Hol
comb get him ready to go to Northfield, when it was
very cold and the roads badly drifted. He would
take his shovel and go on horseback, break the road
for Pompey when necessary and lead him through.
He never faltered and no persuasion could swerve him
from the path of duty. He was a general on horseback
and a true soldier of the cross. I often wanted to go
with him and help him. He would say 'No boy. You
are not strong enough; you would suffer.' His most
violent word of reprimand was 'Tut, Tut,' when it
should have been the rod, and Mrs. Holcomb wotdd
say 'We were always good boys.' God bless their
dear, kind-hearted, honest souls. They are now in
the abode of the blessed, free from the sorrow and care
that came to them here."
The Academy, now Christ Church Parish House, was
built during the final rectorship of Dr. Holcomb, and
stood just south of the present residence of Charles B.
Mattoon. In April, 1850, a call was extended to Rev.
Horace Hall Reid and in the letter sent by the com
mittee, they offer him a salary of $600 and "will con
tinue the donation parties." Older members of the
parish will well remember how, in their young days,
they anticipated the donation party at the rectory,
for all the family attended, and would not fail to carry
a plentiful supply of meats, vegetables, raised cake,
mince pie, cheese and doughnuts, to gladden the
heart of the rector and his good wife; but, it must
have been a blessed relief when donation days were
over for every available spot in the house was appro
priated for the time being and the following morning
must have disclosed a sorry sight.
32

During Mr. Reid's pastorate, the present Church
and rectory were built, and the Academy removed
and to-day there are those who remember the excite
ment of being rolled along, for the school continued
in session. In May, 1853, Alanson Warren, Geo.
Mallory and Nathaniel Wheeler were appointed a
committee to procure a plan for a new Church, and
on May 29, 1854, the corner stone was laid by Rt. Rev.
John Wnhams, and consecrated November 15, 1855.
The old Church was sold to George P. Woodruff for
$300, reserving the pulpit and reading desk.
"Grateful thanks are due to Augustus Cleveland of
New York (Mr. Cleveland was an uncle of Mrs. Reid)
for the Uberal benefaction of a fine-toned bell and to
George R. Chittenden of London, England, for the
font; to Mrs. J. M. L. Scoville of Waterbury for a liberal
contribution toward the erection of the Church in the
home of her childhood; also to Hon. William E. Curtis
of New York."
In November, 1856, Rev. Mr. Reid resigned after a
successful pastorate of seven years. He preached his
farewell sermon from PhUippians 1: 27: "Only let your
conversation be, as becometh the Gospel of Christ,
that whether I come and see you, or else be absent,
I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand together for
the faith of the Gospel."
Rev. Benjamin W. Stone came from Newtown,
Conn. His rectorship was three years. He received
the appointment of Financial Secretary for the Society
for the Increase of the Ministry. A unanimous call
was then extended to Rev. William H. Lewis, rector
of Holy Trinity Church, Brooklyn. He accepted and
began his duties April 11, 1860, and until 1871 he gave
his untiring labors to the parish, universally beloved.
At this time advancing years made his labors too
arduous. The love of the people for their devoted
pastor made them willing and glad to call Rev. William
L. Peck from his school at Litchfield, to assist Dr.
Lewis in whatever capacity he was needed and also to
33

teach in the Academy. Mr. Peck remained during the
rectorship of Dr. Lewis. He, too, was a faithful and
conscientious preacher of the Gospel. On Easter Day,
1874, in consequence of failing health and the infirmities
of age, Dr. Lewis resigned. His resignation was ac
cepted with sorrow that necessity should sever the
tie so long and happily existing between pastor and
people. His faithful services in the parish, his im-
common acceptance in the pulpit, his strong practical
good sense, his blameless life and conversation, his
earnest zeal in all that pertained to the parish, both
temporal and spiritual, will ever remain in loving
remembrance in the hearts of all who were privileged
to know and love him.
Rev. Dr. Francis T. Russell preached his memorial
sermon from II Corinthians 1: 12: "In simplicity and
godly sincerity," and said: "No one familiar with
the character of this godly man will for a moment
doubt the propriety of these words. He was simple
and earnest as a child. The one purpose he had in
all his work was utter unconsciousness of self. "Who
ever felt the mild and genial glance of his clear blue
eye, or heard him in the pulpit, when his looks adorned
the venerable place, or was led by his voice in prayer,
would never doubt the godly sincerity of this man."
October 22, 1877, as the spire, which was the
crowning glory of the Episcopal Church, and which
among these hills pointed the way to heaven, was
being taken down, timber by timber, the earthly house
of this aged man of God was sinking hour by hour to
the repose of the tomb. "Though our earthly house
of this tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building of
God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the
heavens." From 1874 to the autumn of 1876, Rev. Dr. S. D.
McConnell ministered in the Parish. He then accepted
a call to Holy Trinity, Middletown, Conn. He has
since been prominent as a preacher and writer, especially
in his History of the American Episcopal Church.
34

Rev. James Stoddard was called from Westville,
and for ten years was beloved by his people. He was
deeply interested in the prosperity of the town, and
rendered valuable assistance in the work of the library.
He was succeeded in June, 1886, by Rev. H. N. Cunning
ham, who labored faithfully and acceptably. He was
much interested in the mission at Oakville. In 1890
he removed to Waltham, Mass., feeling the field of
labor was larger and Rev. John L. Nichols succeeded
him. During his ministrations, the Church was re
decorated and the lectern and other memorials added
to the chancel. Mr. Nichols resigned on accotmt
of ill health in Jtdy, 1894, and in October, 1894, Rev.
Mr. Cunningham was recalled to the rectorship. The
following Easter a vested choir occupied the new
choir stalls and in February, 1896, a new organ was
placed at the chancel end of the Chtirch. About
this time, Chas. A. Warren, our beloved senior warden
for twenty-nine years and also filling other offices of
trust and responsibility in the Church, was suddenly
taken from us. Always conscientious and faithful
to duty, performing it in a delicate and unostentatious
manner, his high rectitude and unfailing cheerfulness
won for him the respect and affection of all who knew
him. His successor, Merritt Skilton, was a like-minded
man. God soon called him from his useful life here
and Christ Church parish mourned two faithful and
devoted Christian workers. Since 1854, many names
are familiar: Russell Beers, Sherman Woodward,
for many years wardens; George Merriman, Hubert
Scoville, Merritt Heminway, and others closely identi
fied with the Church's work. At the present time
Alfred Scoville and George Pritchard are the wardens;
Harry H. Heminway, superintendent of Sunday School;
Wallace Atwood, Henry H. Bartlett, William J. Mun-
son, Paul Klimpke, B. Havens Heminway, S. McLean
Buckingham, Burnett S. Johnson and Charles Smith,
vestrymen; Harry H. Heminway, parish clerk.

35

Methodist Church
About the year 1794, a local minister preached the
first Methodist sermon in Watertown. The service
was held in the house of Ebenezer Stone, which was
situated north of the old Church in North Watertown,
on the turnpike from Waterbury to Litchfield. In
1800 the first class was formed, with Jesse Hayes as
leader. This class consisted of five women and one
man. Mr. Hayes, or as he was familiarly called, "Father
Hayes," was really the father of Methodism in Water-
town, "a Revolutionary soldier, a staunch patriot and
a brave man. His loyalty to Methodism and his
courage in fighting his spiritual battles were akin to
that which he always felt for his country. His educa
tion was somewhat limited, yet he was a man of superior
sense and sound judgment. His piety was never
doubted. A man of strong faith in God, mighty in
the Scriptures, fervent in prayer and burning with
zeal for the Lord of Hosts, he made a lasting impres
sion on all who knew and listened to him. He was
an excellent class leader and a good exhorter." Every
Sunday he walked from his home in Woodbury to North
Watertown, where he conducted two services, was class
leader, and then returned home to conduct a fourth ser
vice. The class at North Watertown thrived under his
care. In 1829 he was compelled to resign his charge on
account of age and infirmities. James Skilton succeeded
him. At this time the class was a part of the circuit
comprising Goshen, Bantam, Washington, Woodbury,
Litchfield and North Watertown. In 1829 the Rev.
Bradley Selleck and Rev. W. Wolcott were the circuit
preachers, and Rev. Laban Clark, the Presiding Elder
of the Hartford District, of which Goshen was a part.
Mr. Coleman formed a Church in 1811, holding services
in groves and schoolhouses until 1838, when a meeting
house was erected on Straits' turnpike. James Skil
ton is said to have built one corner, Levi Thompson
36

one comer, and funds were raised from the other mem
bers to complete the work. There was a gallery over
the entrance and one narrow aisle in the centre, in
which was a small stove. At weddings the couple
separated when the stove was reached. The Church
was dedicated by Presiding Elder Fitch Read, Decem
ber 11, 1838.
On February 21, 1853, a meeting was held in the
office of Dr. Catlin to discuss the feasibility of estab
lishing Methodist worship at Watertown Centre, and
it was voted desirable to have preaching here the follow
ing conference year. Much difficulty was experienced
in securing a suitable place for these meetings, and
the committee accepted the invitation of General
Merritt Heminway to use the ball-room in his hotel
during the summer. Rev. Larmon Abbot preached the
first sermon here May 29, 1853. There being no facil
ities for heating the ball-room, during the winter
the Congregational chapel was rented for the use of
the Society. In October, 1854, the basement of the
new Church was ready for use, and the edifice was
dedicated December 13, 1854. Mr. Abbott remained
in Watertown until 1858. He was succeeded by the
Rev. Joseph Smith, a local preacher. Rev. A. "V. R.
Abbott took charge of the parish from 1859-1860.
Rev. Seymour Landon, 1861-1862; Rev. A. C. Eggleston,
1863-1865; Rev. T. A. Lovejoy, 1865-1867; K,ev. W. S. Bell
(supply); Rev. David Osbom, 1868-1869; Rev. B. Pillsbury,
1870-1871; Rev. T. N. Laine, 1872-1874; Rev. H. Q. Judd,
1875-1877; Rev. S. K. Smith, 1878-1880; Rev. A. H. Mead,
1881-1882; Rev. G. B. Dusenberre, 1883-1885; Rev. John
Rippere, 1886-1887; Rev. J. Howard Hand, 1888; Rev. R. W.
Jones, 1889-1892; Rev. I. E. Smith, 1893-1894; Rev. S. W.
ToUes, 1895; Rev. N. W. Wilder, (supply); Rev. C. B. Ford,
1896-1898. In 1897, the membership of the Church having
greatly increased, it became necessary to build a larger
edifice. $9,500 was subscribed, largely through the
influence and generosity of Augustus N. Woolson. He
also purchased the old Church for $1,000 and removed
37

it. A call for more money for carpets, organ, etc., was
met by the same generous giver. And not only in his
Church was Mr. Woolson's influence felt. He repre
sented the town in Legislature, and was sent by the
unanimous vote of his townsmen as delegate to the
Constitutional Convention. Many homes in the town
were made happier by his benevolence. It has been
said that for a quarter of a century before his death
there was no movement looking toward the improve
ment of Watertown in which he had not a prominent,
if not a leading part. He was an honest and successful
business man, a model citizen, a philanthropist and a
sincere Christian.
Mr. Ford was succeeded as pastor of the Methodist
Church by Rev. Walter Wesley Winans in 1901. He
remained until 1904 and was succeeded in the same
year by Rev. William McNicol, who had charge of the
parish for three years. The present pastor. Rev. W. M.
Warden, succeeded him in 1907. The present trustees
are: Theodore F. Atwood, James B. Woolson, Walter
S. Barlow, Martin "V B. Atwood, Julius J. Skilton,
William B. Burton, Howard M. Hickcox, Elmore J.
Bassford, Joseph W Atwood; stewards: Edward
Bryan, Thomas Gee, Bertram P. Hudson, Alfred J.
Stephens, Howard Seymour, Martin A. Doolittle,
Elmer A. DooUttle, William J. White, Charles F. Abbott,
Frank M. Wilder, Joel H. Atwood, Robert J. Moore;
Howard Seymour, recordirig steward of the Quarterly
Conference. The trustees and stewards constitute
the official board, of which B. P. Hudson is treasurer
and R. J. Moore, secretary.

Roman Catholic Church
In 1841 the first Roman Catholic, Michael Dunn,
came to reside in Watertown. Three years later he
was joined by Anna Gaffney and Patrick Dougherty.
In 1853 there were a dozen Catholics in town, com
prising the families of Patrick Dougherty, Patrick
38

Dmm, James Goodsell, John Kane, Robert Torrence
and John McGowan. The first priest who visited
Watertown was the Rev. Michael O'Neil, of Waterbury.
He celebrated Holy Mass at the house of John Mc
Gowan, the present home of Edward McGowan. The
second celebration was at the house of Robert Torrence,
and the third at the house of Mrs. Harvey. The first
death of a Catholic was that of Patrick Fitzpatrick,
in 1853. A child of Patrick Drum was the first baptized.
"When Father Hendricken assumed charge of the Cath
olics in Watertown, he celebrated Mass monthly in
what was known as Citizens' Hall, the former Episcopal
Church. Father Rodden and Father Bohen of Water
bury also labored here. In 1871 Rev. James Gaffney
of Thomaston, assumed charge of the parish, and con
tinued his work until 1884. In 1877 the site of the
present Church was purchased and the erection of an
edifice began at once. The corner-stone was laid in
1877. On March 24, 1878, Bishop Galberry dedicated
it in honor of St. John the evangelist. The Church
cost $7,000. Patrick Dunnigan and John Kane were
the first trustees. In 1884, the Watertown parish was
divided from Thomaston, with Terryville as a mission.
Rev. Joseph Fones was the first resident priest. He
remained two years. In 1886 he was succeeded by
Rev. James W. Lancaster. Father Lancaster died in
1899. He was succeeded by Rev. James H. O'Donnell.
Father O'Doimell renovated the Church and rectory,
laid concrete walks, introduced a new heating ap
paratus and electric lights and liquidated the entire
debt of the parish. He also purchased a cemetery lot
at a cost of $700, toward which the town donated $300.
This cemetery was blessed in 1896 by Bishop Tierney,
and named Mount St. James' Cemetery. Father
John Loftus, the present resident priest, succeeded
Father O'Donnell in 1902. The Church trustees are:
Father Loftus, Louis Brandmyer and Michael Hanning;
Superintendent of Sunday School, Father Loftus.
Through his efforts a fine parochial school is in
process of erection. 39

Educational Development.
THE earliest schoolhouse which we can trace,
is described as a "little red schoolhouse having
a huge fireplace at either end and a swing parti
tion in the middle with which the room could be divided
if necessary." William Punderson was the teacher
and "it stood on the village Green," "surrounded by
roads." It is very probable that the next public
schoolhouse stood on the same site, as it stood on a
triangular plot of ground near the site of the soldiers'
monument and faced the road, now closed, which
ran from Straits' turnpike past the Congregational
Church. The schoolhouse had one outside door which opened
into a square entry in which were two doors, the one
on the right leading into the "big room," occupied by
the advanced pupils, on the left to the "little room,"
used by the primary class. Each room was furnished
with a teacher's desk and chair, and a square box
stove stood in the middle of the room. At either
side a shelf was placed on an incline for the pupils to
write upon, and underneath this was another shelf
for their books. The benches on which the pupils
sat were placed in front of these shelves and were
made from slabs, the rounding side down. In order
to reach these shelves, they climbed upon the benches
and throwing their feet over, sat with their backs
toward the inside of the room. The earliest school
master of whom we have any record was William
Punderson, who was paid from the public money and
was to "have a dame to assist him if needed."
In the year 1779, at the time Westbury separated
40

I — Second Schoolhouse. 2 — Schoolhouse of 1852.
Schoolhouse of 1883.

from Waterbury, its list of children was greater than
that of Waterbury, as Watertown drew the larger
portion of the ministerial, school and public monies
as its share. In 1851, it was voted by the district to
sell the old schoolhouse and build a new one. A. B.
Everitt, Lewis Andrus and Charles Edwards were ap
pointed a committee to "purchase a lot offered by
Miss Lydia Woodward, upon which to locate a district
schoolhouse." At an adjourned meeting held on
February 10, 1852, it was voted that "the sum of
$1,600 was amply sufficient to build a schoolhouse,
including fences and school fixtures and to purchase
the site." The old schoolhouse was sold and moved
to a site a little south of the residence of Merritt
Heminway, where it was used as a blacksmith shop
for a number of years, after which it was rented by
Emil C. Marggraff for a harness shop. Later it was
moved to a plot of ground at the foot of Mr. Heminway's
garden where it still does service as a barn. The new
schoolhouse was built and ready for use the same year.
It stood on the present district school lot and contained
two rooms which were designated the "little room" and
"big room," as were those of its predecessor. The equip
ment of the "Httle room" consisted of a huge iron stove
which stood in the center of the room and had an
enormous capacity for large sticks of wood which were
brought in by the children as the fire needed replenish
ing. In cold weather those nearest the stove were
nearly baked, while those in the rear were quite the
other extreme. The desks were of a mde, plain con
struction, the fronts forming the backs of the seat just
ahead of them and were painted a light drab. In
front were the A, B, C scholars seated on a long bench
divided by httle square boxes used for books. The
teacher's desk, painted dark brown, stood on a raised
platform. There were two extra chairs for the visitors
and committeemen and sometimes as a privilege a
pupil was allowed to "sit up by the teacher." The
blackboards were painted on the walls, and maps
41

depicted the outhnes of the States in vivid colors.
The big room was a little more pretentious in its fur
nishings. The desks and chairs were of more modern
construction. They were of wood mounted on iron
standards and each desk contained a sunken ink-well.
The maps were more complete, and in one corner was
a bookcase which contained the school Ubrary, con
sisting of the "Rollo" books, which told of that
most perfect boy's travels at home and abroad; Oliver
Optic's stories of precociously successful boys and
girls; the Auriwell stories, and many others of a good
moral tone. For many years there was no well in the
school yard and it was a much desired privilege
for two pupils to go after a pail of water to the wells
of the neighboring houses. The pail and tin dipper
were a prominent feature in the entry where the boys
and girls hung their hats and coats. Here, too, hung
the bell rope — a constant temptation to small, for
bidden hands to touch. Lunch boxes were unknown
but shelves bore a goodly array of tin dinner-pails.
The boys wore leather boots, some of which were red
tops and others had copper toes, and the girls' footwear
was equally stout and noise-making though of a different
cut. The teachers taught season after season and
among those closely identified with the school were
Miss Abbie Woodward, Miss Nancy Bronson, Miss
Mary Allyn, Miss Emily Hotchkiss, Mr. Wilson, Mr.
Loomis, Miss Sackett, Miss IngersoU, Miss Mason and
Truman P. Baldwin who presided over the "big room"
during the winter months from 1863 until 1872. The
town grew and population increased and the school-
house which was built to accommodate one hundred
pupils became too small and in 1883 it was voted by
the district to build a new schoolhouse "upon the
present school site," and to buy a small piece of land
in the rear adjoining the same of Miss Lydia Wood
ward, the sum to be paid not to exceed $400 and a
suitable fence was to be provided for the land. A. N.
Woolson, Buell Heminway, C. A. Warren and Henry T.
42

Thk Baldwin School. Completed in 1907.

( Reproduced Jrom Dratvin^. )

Dayton, were appointed a building committee. They
were empowered "to move or sell the old schoolhouse,
erect a school building, grade and finish the same!
provided the sum total did not exceed the sum of
$8,500, which was provided." The building was
erected and contained four rooms. Additions were
made from time to time until there were eight rooms.
Eariy in the morning of December 21, 1906, the school
building and all its contents were burned.
On Febmary 4, 1907, the district voted to appro
priate $50,000 to erect a new school building which
should contain twelve rooms, which was confirmed
March 25, 1907. After an effort to reconsider the
first vote taken, F. B. Noble, Charles Atwood, Elmer
DooUttle, Michael Brahen and Charles Lockwood
were appointed building committee. Mr. Frederick J.
Werking has been the efficient principal of the schools
for thirteen years. There are eight outside districts
as follows: Oakville, Poverty Street, Guernseytown,
French Mountain, Linkfield, Nova Scotia, East Side
and Polk District. The Guernseytown schoolhouse
was built about the year 1848 to replace one des
troyed by fire and the money with which it was
paid was raised by subscription.
In 1839 Miss Hannah Bradley taught a select school
in the law office of Hon. Holbrook Curtis, a building
which stood on the site of the residence of Dr. Charles
Jackson. It was moved from thence to the plot of
land on which stands the house now owned by Merritt
Heminway. A second story was added. One floor
was used as a harness shop, and on the other the old-
fashioned buskin shoes were made. These shoes were
of fine morocco, sewed and turned and had no heels.
They were taken to New York and sold. Later the
building was fitted as a dwelling house and was moved
to the right-hand comer of Straits' turnpike and Chest
nut avenue and is owned by Charles Atwood.
In December, 1841, it was voted by the Episcopal
Society to "permit Joseph Salkeld, son-in-law of Aner
43

Bradley, to keep a select school in the lecture room of
the Church the ensuing year." There is httle known
about this school. Five years later, at an adjourned
meeting held on the sixteenth of February, in Christ
Church, Watertown, it was voted to purchase the
place owned by Jacob Blakesley, opposite the Episcopal
Church for a sum not to exceed $1,650. George Merri
man, Hubert H. Scoville and George P. Woodruff were
authorized as a committee "to sell and convey by good
deed of conveyance for the Society, the south and north
half-acres of land from the parsonage lot, opposite
the Episcopal Church, so as to give good title to the
same." The rector and other members of the Society
proposed, at their cost and individual subscriptions,
to erect a two-story building, the lower floor to be
fitted up for a select or Grammar school. The Wardens
and "Vestry were to be authorized to appoint, annually,
a Board of Managers, "whose business it shall be to
supply teachers and to have an oversight of the in
stitution." The upper room was to be "fitted up as
a lecture room for the accommodation of the Episcopal
Parish, to be used by them for religious and literary
purposes and for such other ends as in the opinions of
the Wardens and "Vestry shall not endanger the morals
of the people, nor contribute in any way to party
animosity." This vote was carried into effect a little
later and the building was known as the Academy
and stands at the top of Academy Hill. Professor
S. E. Brownell was the first teacher, "a man of firie
education and master of seven languages." He was
succeeded by George W. Burr, a graduate of Yale.
He resigned to take charge pf a school in Brookfield,
Conn. His successor was George S. WilHams, a graduate
of Trinity College, who continued the school for three
or four years. Henry A. Pratt then taught the school
and was succeeded by Miss Maria Louise Townsend,
a person of great dignity, very "correct in her lan
guage," and always "insisting upon a high standard
of courtesy in the behavior of her young ladies and
44

gentlemen," and had a very tender regard for httle chil
dren, sympathizing heartily in all their joys and sorrows.
Her successor was Rev. C. Collard Adams, assistant
to the Rev. Dr. Lewis, rector of Christ Church. After
Mr. Adams came Charles E. Barton, a college graduate,
who afterwards became a successful lawyer in Boston.
Then Rev. W. L. Peck took charge of the Academy.
He, like his predecessor, was assistant of Dr. Lewis and
was very successful as a teacher and in his parochial
duties. With his administration the school as an
Academy was closed and is used at the present time as
the parish rooms of Christ Church. Some of the pupils
who attended the Academy were: Professor William E.
Burr of Columbia College, designer of the memorial
bridge across the Potomac at Washington and a mem
ber of the Isthmian Canal Commission; Dr. Carl E.
Mtmger of Waterbury, Conn., who is a famed nose
and throat specialist and was one of the promoters
of the Gaylord Sanitarium at Wallingford, Conn.;
Dr. H. Holbrook Curtis of New York; his brother, ^
William E. Curtis, assistant treasurer under Cleve
land's administration, and others who have achieved
distinction in their profession.
About the year 1850, Miss Grace Dayton, who is
described by a former pupil "as a well informed woman,
and good teacher, conveying her ideas in a pleasant
manner," opened a private school in one of the chambers
of her father's house, which was the residence of the
late Mrs. Caleb T. Hickox. Beginning with twelve
or fifteen pupils, her school increased and she moved to
an upper room of her father's shop, and later to the
basement of the Methodist Church where she taught
for many years with great success.
Horace D. Taft, A. M., was born in Cincinnati, Ohio,
December 28, 1861. He is a son of Alphonso and
Louisa (Torrey) Taft. Mr. Taft entered Yale in 1879
and was graduated in the class of 1883. He then went
abroad with his father who was at that time Minister to
Austria, and on his return he studied law in Cincinnati
45

and was admitted to the bar in 1885. Two years later
he was appointed tutor of Latin at Yale. In 1890 he
estabUshed a school at Pelham Manor and three years
later he removed his school to Watertown and purchased
the Warren house in which to conduct the school.
The institution is designed to fit boys for college and
scientific schools and the course of study covers five
years. Mr. Taft has been very successful in his work,
the school making a steady growth under his care.
Alterations have been made in the building from time
to time and it now accommodates seventy boarding
pupils. The faculty consists of:
Head Master, Horace D. Taft, M. A.; Judson S. Dutcher,
Mathematics and Physical Science; Olin C. Joline, B. A., Greek;
Paul Klimpke, French, German; Harley F. Roberts, M. A.,
Latin; Charles H. Ward, M. A., English; Sydney B. Morton,
M. A., Latin; Andrew D. Mcintosh, B. A., History, English;
Paul Welton, History, Physical Culture; Rev. Herbert N.
Cunningham, M. A., Chaplain and Religious Instructor.

Watertown Library

The Library Association was formed in 1865 through
the energy and influence of Rev. Dr. Lewis, rector of
Christ Church, who called a meeting of those interested
in founding a public library. They had little hopes
of success but subscriptions were solicited and when
an amount was raised sufficient to buy five hundred
books and a few magazines, the library was opened
in an upper room of the old Academy. Miss Nancy
Bronson was appointed librarian. It remained in the
Academy for about one year when it was removed to
an upper room of the store now owned by Francis N.
Barton. Ten years later Dr. John DeForest donated
$5,000 as a perpetual fund, the interest of which should
be used for the purchasing of books. In 1879 the
Legislature passed an act incorporating "the Water-
town Library Association," making sure its posses-
46

sions. Four years later Benjamin DeForest, brother
of Dr. John, gave $15,000 for a hbrary building which
was completed and ready for occupation the following
year. Dr. John DeForest then made a second dona
tion of $5,000 and at his death two years later he left
a legacy of $10,000 more, making in all $20,000 which
the Ubrary received from him. A number of other
legacies have been received
From Hon. Leman W. Cutler, who was president of
the Library Association for many years, $3,000; Caleb
T. Hickox, $800; and Henry Piatt, $500. The building
is of gray Quincy granite, and is a very attractive piece
of architecture. The interior is finished in ash. Por
traits of Dr. John and Benjamin DeForest, and their
parents; also Leman W. Cutler and Caleb Hickox adorn
the walls; attractive donations have been made by the
Sexta Feira Literary Club of the "Winged Victory of
Samothrace," and a bronze tablet in memory of John
Trumbull, poet, who was a native of Watertown.
Buell Heminway, president of the Association, presented
a cast of the "Flying Mercury," and a handsome table
and chairs. Samuel Curtis, a painting of buffaloes, by
J. D. Howland. Benjamin DeForest Curtis has given
many historical works of great value.
Miss Nancy Bronson was the efficient librarian for
thirty-eight years and six months, untiring in her efforts
for its growth and prosperity. In 1885, Miss Jennie
Smith was appointed Assistant Librarian, as the work
had become more than one could perform. In 1903,
Miss Bronson resigned, and Miss Smith was made
Head Librarian, with Miss Helen Upson as Assistant.

47

Industrial Development.
THE history of the industrial development of
Watertown began with its pioneers, and was
promoted as the settlement grew, and its needs
were made manifest. We who live in an age of rail
roads, steamboats, telegraph and telephone, electricity,
and machinery, can hardly realize for one moment
the difficulties which beset these early settlers of Water-
town. Theirs was the "homespun age," as it has been
so aptly termed. The first of importance to them was
the sawmill to help build their homes, and foUowing
closely came the gristmills, or "corn-mills" as they were
sometimes called. The first sawmill was built about
1722, by Jonathan Scott, on the site where the factory
stands now owned by James Woolson.
Waterbury history tells us "Jonathan Scott and his
wife Hannah (Hawks) Scott were the first permanent
residents of Wooster- Westbury-Watertown. " In 1710,
Jonathan Scott and his two sons, Jonathan and John,
were captured by the Indians on the Waterbury mead
ows. The thumb on the right hand of Jonathan, Sr.,
was cut off, and thus mutilated, he was taken on a long
march to Canada. He was two full years in captivity,
ere his return to his family, and his sons never returned
to their home, thus leaving Mrs. Scott with one daughter,
Martha, a child of nine, and three Uttle boys, Gersham,
seven, Eleazer, five and Daniel, three, to struggle in
the wilderness. Joseph Scott, eldest brother of Jona
than, was killed by the Indians while clearing a piece
of land near Reynolds' Bridge, and Scott's grave is a
"recognized bounds of three farms to this day, Henry
Reynold's, W. H. Switzer, and George Osbom."* "He
* Waterbury History. 48

was killed before February 7, 1708, at which date his
brother. Samuel was granted administration on his
estate." About the year 1725, David Scott, brother of Jona
than Scott, built another sawmill on the site where the
Seymour, Smith & Company factory now stands, in
Rockdale. About the year 1729, James WilUams
ran a gristmill, which was situated at the mouth of
Spruce Brook, where now is the old dam of the Oakville
Pin Company.
The next needed aid came with the fulling and
carding miUs. In 1764, Nathaniel Arnold sold to
Abraham Norton a fulling-mill privilege on Wooster
brook, which is thought to be the site of the sawmill of
David Scott.* At an early date there must have
been another fulling and carding mill on the site where
the Oakville Pin Company's factory now stands, "for
in a deed from Stephen and Daniel Mathews to Mark
Leavenworth of twenty-four acres of land in the south
part of Watertown, mention is made of a fulling mill,
carding machine and house on same," and here is
thought to be the place where a saw and gristmill stood
in 1830, owned by James Bishop. Seba Bronson had a
gristmill near the upper pin factory which he sold to
Gen. Gerritt Smith, who made pewter buttons until
his death in 1829. It was then purchased by ScoviU,
Buckingham & Company, who made brass buttons and
other brass goods ; from them it was transferred to the
OakviUe Pin Company, which was organized in 1852 by
Green Kendrick. "This company is especiaUy interesting
as one of the earUest pin firms on the continent and is
the outcome of Chauncey Crosby's invention of a
machine for sticking pins on paper." The plant con
sists of several large brick buildings ranging from one
to two stories high, and the various departments are
equipped with the latest and most approved automatic
wire machines and all needed appliances, operated by

* Waterbury History. 49

either steam or water and lighted by electricity suppUed
by the company's own electric plant.
On the west bank of the Branch, about one-half mile
from the east end of the Wigwam reservoir, stands an
old time carding and fulling mill which was built about
1830 by Dennis Smith, to whom the women from all
parts of that section would bring the wool in the fieece
to be carded into rolls, which he would spin and weave
into cloth if desired or they would carry the rolls home
and spin the yarn and weave the cloth for themselves,
and return it to him to be dyed and pressed. Near
the residence of Mrs. Henry Skilton, in Guernseytown,
was an ancient saw and grist mill, probably one of the
first in Watertown which in later years has been known
as "the Skilton miU." In 1834 it was owned by WilUam
Hotchkiss, who ran in connection with it a small shop
which stood near the upper end of the pond and manu
factured shingles, churns, cheese presses, cheese boxes,
cheese hoops and hat blocks which were sold to the
merchants of the town. Sleds, sleighs, grain cradles,
carts and wagons were repaired. Previous to 1834,
Elam Beardsley owned the mill and shop property and
had cast brass buttons to be placed on the ends of the
horns of cattle as an ornament and a safeguard to
prevent them from injuring each other.
In 1778 Aner Bradley came to Watertown and pur
chased the place now owned by B. C. Atwood and
built the front part of the present house, and during the
same year he built a shop between the residence of
B. C. Atwood and the cottage now owned by Charles B.
Mattoon, in which he carried on the goldsmith's business,
making gold beads, silver spoons and jewelry; also
repaired watches and clocks. In 1805 he sold his house
and shop to Benjamin DeForest and bought the house
now owned and occupied by his granddaughter, Mrs.
Elmer Welton. In 1806 he bought a narrow piece of
land adjoining his home on the south of William Punder
son on which to build a shop to carry on his goldsmith
business. A few years later his eldest son Aner, having
50

learned the tanner's trade, persuaded his father to
build a tannery back of his goldsmith's shop. Here
hides were sent by the different households and returned
in assorted leather to be made into shoes by the travel
ing shoemaker who, with his lapstone and awls, made
his annual trips to each family and remained until all
were provided with footwear. This son, Aner, was a
progressive son of a progressive father and very soon
conceived the idea of making shoes as well as preparing
the leather for them. For this purpose his father
built a small addition to the goldsmith's shop in which
to make shoes, and Mr. Bradley btiilt a third goldsmith's
shop for himself, on the groimd where the John Keilty
house now stands opposite the residence of Miss Mary
Merriman. Mr. Bradley, during his residence in Water-
town, held the office of Town Clerk for thirty years.
The Woodward tan shop was owned by David Wood
ward, son of Captain Abel Woodward. Mr. Woodward
was a successful tanner and shoemaker. At his death
in 1822 the business was carried on by his son David,
until 1840 when his brothers, Israel and Andrew, entered
into company with him. The tannery stood near a
spring between the residence of Dr. Martin and the
bam owned by Homer Heminway. A few years later
Mr. Woodward built another tan shop on Cutler road,
east of residence of Charles Warner. This shop was
purchased by Charles A. Warren who manufactured
wire forms in which to place evergreens for church
decorations. The Woodward shoe shop stood between
the library and the house now owned by David Wood
ward, of Atlanta, Ga. The shoe shop was moved to
Cutler Road and is now the residence of Edward
McGowan. Watertown had a hat shop where Francis
N. Barton's store now stands. It was owned and
occupied by Joel P. Richards who sold the business in
1785 to Alanson Warren for a consideration of $600.
Mr. Warren employed from ten to twenty apprentices
and joumeymen. The hat shop was moved to
51

Academy hill, and is now a tenement house owned 1
Mrs. D. C. CaUender.
In the year 1849 a company was formed, compost
of Alanson Warren, George P. Woodruff and Nathani
Wheeler. They purchased the water privilege c
which the Leverett-Candee-Satinet factory had bee
burned (the site of the David Scott sawmill), and bui
a mill to manufacture steel buckles and slides. M
"Wheeler, while on a trip to New York to sell his good
met A. B. Wilson, who had made a model of a sewin
machine and was sure it would work. Mr. Wheel(
became interested in the machine and in 1850 tl
Warren, Woodruff & Wheeler Co. contracted to buil
two thousand of the Wilson first patent shuttle sewin
machines for a New York company who were the princ
pal owners of the patent. In 1851 A. B. Wilson, tl
patentee, came to the factory to assist in btdlding ti
machines and perfect another machine on a differer
plan, that of a rotary hook. Mr. Wilson, assisted b
Joseph Wheeler, (brother of Nathaniel) perfected th
machine and it was patented in 1851. It was improve
and patented again in 1852. The new model was
success and a partnership was formed of Wheele;
Wilson & Co., composed of Alanson Warren, Nathanit
Wheeler, George P. Woodruff and A. B. Wilson, wit
a capital stock of about $80,000. About this tim
Mr. Warren remarked to his son that he "would probabl
live to see the day when they would make and se
twenty-five machines per day." In 1853 the compan
was reorganized as the Wheeler & Wilson Manufacturin
Co., with a capital stock of $160,000. Alanson Warre
was chosen President; George P. Woodruff secretar)
Waterbury capitalists and others took the increase
stock. In 1855 Mr. Warren resigned the presidenc}
and Nathaniel Wheeler was elected president. I
June, 1856, they removed to Bridgeport and sold thei
plant to Seymour Smith & Son, who manufacture
prunning shears and bull rings, and at one time had
hair-pin department. After the death of Seymot:
52

Smith, the business was continued by his son, WilUam
and his two sons, George and WilUam, Jr.
The M. Heminway & Sons' Silk Company is one of
the largest and best known industries in Watertown.
General Merritt Heminway was the son of John and
Hannah Thompson Heminway of East Haven. He was
bom March 21, 1800, and came to Watertown at twenty-
one 3'ears of age. He was clerk for James Bishop, who
carried on the mercantile business in the basement of
the Bishop Hotel, which stood on the site of the Homer
Heminway residence. In 1822, a company was formed
under the firm name of Bishop & Heminway, arid
continued until 1842, when Mr. Heminway assumed
control of the business. In 1849, Mr. Heminway fitted
up a building, which is a part of the present factory and
had been occupied by Nathaniel Wheeler, who was en
gaged at that time as a wagon maker, and there began the
manufacture of sewing silk in skeins. A few years later
he formed a joint-stock company having his four sons
and a daughter as partners, under the firm name of
M. Heminway & Sons' Silk Company. Mr. Heminway
was the first in this country to spool silk. The first
were made to hold twelve yards each. After making
a small quantity he took it to New York for the inspection
and approval of the leading New York merchants of
that time. They were discouraging in their opinions,
beUeving it would stretch the silk, which would be
detrimental, but Mr. Heminway was not a man to be
easily discouraged. He continued to spool the silk.
The sales increased and from a small force of twelve or
fifteen employees, they now number about 300 in all
departments. They have a factory in Waterbury,
and certain branches of the work are done in New York.
There are salesrooms in New York, Philadelphia,
Chicago and San Francisco.
After the death of General Heminway, his son Buell
organized a silk company in which his son, B. Havens
Heminway and Henry Bartlett are his partners under
the firm name of The Heminway & Bartlett Silk Company.
53

The company is prosperous and have a large factory
near the railroad station and employ about 150 in all
departments. In 1831, Abram B. Everett and Anthony G. Davis, a
machinist, formed the company of Everett & Davis,
purchased a small water privilege and about an
acre of land on the street running east from the
Greenville bridge. On this land were two small houses,
in which they lived, one' opposite the residence of James
B. Woolson, and the other opposite the so-called Everett
house. There was also a small shop, 14 feet x 18 feet,
which had been used for carding wool and fulling cloth.
In this they manufactured mouse-traps of wood. In
1842 or '43 they built a factory two stories high with a
bell tower. Eli Curtiss, proprietor of the DeForest
store, contracted with Everett & Davis to make soft
metal rings and corset eyelets. Mr. Curtiss was his
own traveUng salesman and sold these goods, as well
as mouse-traps, on commision. This factory was
burned. In January, 1850, the Watertown Manufacturing
Company was formed, with a capital stock of $30,000,
to manufacture sewing silk, mouse-traps, timbrella
sticks, machinery and other goods. The stockholders
were A. G. Davis, A. B. Everett, EU Curtiss, L. W.
Cutler, Benjamin DeForest, Sr., Dr. John DeForest,
Alanson Warren, Sr., George Mallory, Abram Hawley,
Caleb T. Hickox, Joel Hungerford, Dr. Allyn Hunger-
ford, Samuel Peck, Sr., Friend Davis, Jeremiah Peck,
and David Woodward. A. G. Davis was elected
President, A. B. Everett, Secretary and Treasurer. A
factory valued at from $5,000 to $6,000 was built on
the site of the Jonathan Scott sawmill, then o-wned and
used as a sawmill by Jeremiah Peck, and the bell of
the old factory was hung in the tower.
In 1861, Everett & Davis again purchased it and
four years later Augustus N. Woolson succeeded Mr.
Everett and the firm name was changed to Davis &
Woolson. Mr. Davis built many of the original machines
54

used in the factory. Mr. Davis died January 18, 1873,
and Mr. Woolson assumed control of the business and
continued for over thirty years. Augustus N. Woolson
was a man of wonderful energy and ability and soon
built up a prosperous business, necessitating additions
to the factory from time to time. Mr. Woolson con
tinued to manufacture the mouse-traps, but gave more
attention to umbrella and parasol trimmings. Henry
S. Frost was Superintendent- during Mr. Woolson's
ownership, and aided the business by his popularity
with the employees as well as in reconstructing and
building new machines for special purposes. Augustus
N. Woolson died July 20, 1903. He left the business
to his son James B. Woolson, under whose name it
still continues.
James Bishop and Lucius Bradley made wooden
clocks in a factory on the site of the Homer Barlow
mat shop. It was burned with a warehouse full of
clocks ready for shipment.
In 1860, Joseph Wheeler bought the water privilege,
and built the present factory in which were made
sewing machine suppUes which were shipped to the
Weeler & Wilson Company in Bridgeport. Later his
son, Eli, made turned goods and wagons. In 1855,
John Barlow made carriage and door mats from sheep
skins in the Woodward tannery on Cutler Road. A
few years later he moved across the way where he had
built a small shop. He continued the business for
about twenty years when it was purchased by Samuel
A. Merwin, who continued in the trade until his death.
In 1890, Homer Barlow purchased the Joseph Wheeler
property to manufacture mats and other useful household
articles from sheep skins, which he procures at home
and abroad, many coming from Canada, China and
"Venezuela. Erastus Barlow, 'brother of Homer, is
engaged in the same business near his residence on
Cutler Road. About the year 1867, Walter S. Capewell
purchased a small casting shop in Oakville, from Gay-
lord, Armstrong & Warner. Mr. Capewell remodeled

55

the building to manufacture shot pouches, powder flasks
and shot belts. Mr. Capewell continued the business
until October 1, 1892, when the property was purchased
by Joseph Baird and Frederick E. Warner under the
firm name of Baird & Warner, manufacturing automatic
wire machinery and bottle fasteners. The business
prospered and on July 1, 1894, a joint-stock company
was incorporated under the firm name of Baird Machine
Company. Additions have been made to the plant from
time to time and the company has become a well known
and leading industry.

56

Mercantile Interests.
THE first merchant in Watertown was Wait
Smith, who bought the house owned and built
by Jonathan Scott, better known in these
days as the EUel Daily place. He began the mer
cantile business in the house known as the Patrick
Dougherty place. He was succeeded by his son. General

Patrick Dougherty House.
Gerritt Smith, whose dwelUng was on the site of the
present residence of Mrs. Louisa Warren. He built a
store on the site of the brick building now used by the
Fire Department. He was a popular and successful
merchant for many years. His successor was John
Morris, who sold the bu.siness to Amos Gridley, his
son-in-law. Mr. Gridley moved the old store to the
rear of the lot for a warehouse and built the brick build
ing previously mentioned. He also moved the house
which Gerritt Smith built, to the rear of the lot, which
faced on Straits' turnpike, and built a new residence for
himself. Young Love Cutler was the next merchant in':'
Watertown. He kept a small stock of merchandise in
57

the west part of the residence of Dr. Walter S. Munger,
who later built a store on the site of the brick building
now owned by H. P. Bissell. Across the door in large
letters was the hospitable invitation "Walk In." In
1830, John and Benjamin DeForest bought the store of
Young Love Cutler and conducted a successful business,
taking produce of the farmers and giving in payment
one third cash. The remainder was given in a due bill,
which could be presented at the store and the amount
of purchase was credited on the bill. In 1817, John
DeForest and his brother Benjamin dissolved partner
ship and the latter continued the business, moved the
old store and built the present brick building. In 1825,
he sold it to Eli Curtiss, who introduced the industry
of braiding fine plant hats. These hats were made by
the women of the different households for many miles
around. For a very fine hat one dollar and fifty cents
was paid for braiding and less for the coarser ones. Thus
the women were able to help support their families.
Mr. Curtiss was succeeded by Orrin Starr, whose -wife
was the daughter of Rev. Dr. Holcomb. Mr. Stan-
conducted a successful business until his death, Septem
ber 26, 1869. Myron McNeil succeeded him and con
tinued in trade until 1881, when it was purchased by
B. C. Atwood and David Woodward. Mr. Woodward
soon removed to Atlanta, Ga., where he manufactures
doors, blinds, and all kinds of interior woodwork.
Mr. Atwood established both a hardware and drug
store. He received the appointment of postmaster,
and the post office was located in the same building.
In 1906, the building was purchased by H. P. BisseU,
who continues the drug business, Levi Southworth
acting as manager. The store owned by Francis N.
Barton for the past twenty-two years was built by
William Merriman, who conducted a general mercantile
business. It stood between the residence of Theodore
Bronson and Frederick H. Bronson. Mr. Merriman
was succeeded by his son Harry, who moved the store
to the southeast corner of the Taft School Park. It
5*^

was purchased by George Mallory and George P. Wood
ruff, under the firm name of Mallory & Woodmff.
About 1839 or '40, it was practically destroyed by fire
and was abandoned nearly two years, when it was pur
chased by Warren & Newton, who rebuilt it and con
ducted a general store in connection with the suspender
factory in Oakville. After six years they dissolved
partnership. A new company was formed called the
Phoenix Company. Alanson Warren, George P. Wood
ruff, Charles A. Warren and Samuel A. Merwin were the
principal stockholders and Samuel A. Merwin was the
manager. They continued the mercantile business
until it was purchased by Charles A. Warren and Samuel
A. Merwin, who moved the store to the present site.
In 1860, they were succeeded by Lewis & St. John.
Later it was o-wned by Robert B. Lewis and then by
Frost & Brown, who sold it to Francis N. Barton, the
present merchant.
The brick store which stands opposite the residence
of Merritt Heminway was built in 1828 by Bishop,
Heminway & Hickox, who conducted a general mercan
tile business. In 1830, Mr. Hickox retired from the
firm and Bishop & Heminway continued in trade until
1837, when they dissolved partnership. General Hemin
way continued the business until 1842, when Charles
Partree entered into partnership with him. In 1855,
Mr. Heminway assumed control and his sons became
his partners. They were succeeded by T. E. Barnes,
Fredus Ladd, Henry J. Mattoon, Burton H. Mattoon
and brother, and John Keilty.
There are in Watertown at the present time three
drug stores, one owned by H. P. Bissell, one by Daniel
G. Sullivan, and one in Oakville by William Hungerford.
There are five general stores conducted by Francis N.
Barton, John Keilty, Andrew Barton, George Barton
and W. H. Jones, the two latter being in Oakville.
The Hitchcock Hardware Company, located in Pythian
Hall building and Joseph Suffa & Company, plimibing
and heating, in the H. P Bissell building.

59

Tavern Days.
HOSTELRIES were located on all the post roads
of the country, but those of New England were
unique. On these post roads were toll gates.
There was one at North Watertown near the French
Mountain school house. There Aunt Mollie Hartshorn
was the gate keeper; the other where 0. A. Hartman
now lives on Woodbury Road. Aunt Electa and Aunt
Hannah Osbom collected the toll, and these good women
were familiar figures to all travellers from the country
roundabout. The old stagecoach was a lumbering
vehicle, hung on thorough braces which lurched over
the road like a ship at sea. They usually had three
seats, the back of the middle seat being formed of straps
to support the backs of the passengers. The progress
of the coach was eagerly anticipated along the high
way, farmers stopped their work to watch it out of
sight and at every house, faces at the windowpanes
looked out at the passengers. When the coach drew
up at the inn, to change horses, or perchance to remain
over night, a bugle call would be heard from afar,
the signal for everyone to gather on the porch as the
coach stopped, with a flourish. The portly landlord
welcomed his guests with a hearty hand clasp, his
stentorian voice calling for the stable boys to take
the horses and look after the luggage. All was a
whirl of excitement, packages were delivered to wait
ing recipients, the ladies ushered into the parlor and
the men into the tap room. In the low-studded
rooms were hardwood oak floors, white and sanded,
a blazing fire in the fireplace, the chief center of attrac
tion. During the half hour after the arrival, the bar
60

did a brisk business in toddy, flip and punch, of which
the ideal landlord was master. In eariy days all classes
of people indulged in the practice of drinking in modera
tion, and as often as occasion demanded. Here many
interesting types could be seen,— the up-country farmer,
the merchant dressed in broadcloth, a cattle-drover in
hip boots, the country parson, the mral politician,—
for tavems were political centers. Supper was served,
plain roast beef, chickens, vegetables, baked beans,
brown bread, hot and steaming, Tallman sweetings,
spare rib of pork, apple dumpling with potato crust
and pandowdy tempted the hungry travellers. After
supper more green wood was heaped on the fire, a bowl
of extra brew, the guests fill their long clay pipes and
enjoy an evening of gossip and adventure. As they
become drowsy, a pretty maid, candle in hand, escorts
them to their chambers. If the night is cold a warming
pan is passed over the sheets and the traveler, buried
deep in a feather bed, is oblivious of all about him until
morning. We must not leave the tavern without a
peep into the spacious attic. Here are quilting frames,
carding machines, spinning wheels, looms, pumpkins
and squash in motley array, while from the rafters
overhead hang strings of fragrant herbs, — mother
wort, pennyroyal and everlasting dried apples and
peppers. The house now owned and occupied by Charles B.
Buckingham has for many years been a landmark to
generations of travelers on their journeys from the
country towns to the city. It was built in 1772 by
Rev. John Trumbull, for a Congregational parsonage.
Later the house was purchased by Colonel Edmund
Lockwood and used as a tavern, and a large ball room
added. Shortly before the opening of the nineteenth
century the house came into the possession of Cap
tain David Woodward, son of Abel Woodward of
Revolutionary fame, and for a score of years thereafter
it passed through the most important period of its
existence. The golden age of the stagecoach brought
6i

business and prestige to this convenient and sumptuous
tavem. Captain Woodward did not live to see these
prosperous days of the stagecoach decline before the
inexorable progress of the railroad. He died in 1822.

///^i^:

Residence of Chas. B. Buckingham.
His -widow and children continued to occupy the old
homestead. It descended to the eldest daughter
Abby. The ball room was removed to a nearby lot
and transformed into the house now owned by David
Woodward of Atlanta, Georgia. The old tavem in
later years descended to Mrs. Henry Davis, passing
from the Woodward family to its present owner in
1905. Among the most famous hostelries in Connecticut,
none was perhaps more popular than "Bishop's Tavem."
It stood on the turnpike from Litchfield to New Haven,
on land now owned by Homer Heminway. It was
built by Noah Judd for his son Eleazer, who managed
it for many years and sold it to James Bishop. The
architecture of the house is typical of one hundred
years ago. It was encircled by a veranda. On the
east and south sides steps led up to the doors. This
tavem was the rendezvous for all who came to Water-
town to trade. The village was at that time a market
62

town, and people came from Waterbury, Bethlehem,
Minortown, Plymouth and Middlebury, ready to trade
anything from a farm or horse to a jack-knife. "Very

Bishop's Tavern.
little money exchanged hands in purchase of goods,
exchange and barter being the common method.
Board cost Sl.oO per week. A horse and carriage
could be hired all day for sixty cents. Mr. Bishop
was a man of fine physique and good personal ap
pearance. He had not much culture, but possessed
a personal magnetism which made him a leader . of
men. He was a farmer, a merchant and an innkeeper.
The great meadow opposite the inn, containing fifty
acres, belonged to him and it was one of his hobbies to
have the grass cut from it in a single day. Mr. Bishop
o-wned a hotel in New Haven, a branch of the Water-
town tavem. One year he announced that he proposed
to take the hay from the great meadow to New Haven
in a single load. Twelve yoke of fine red Devons,
¦with wide-spreading horns, were secured, each yoke
driven by a colored man in uniform. A "wagon with
special rigging and several pairs of wheels was secured.
Men were sent to inspect the road, bridges were strength
ened, trees were cut down, turnpike gates, and in one
instance, a small building removed. The horns of
the oxen were decorated with scarlet streamers and
there were scarlet housings on their yokes and shoulders.
On the load of hay was a band of music which played
inspiring strains from time to time. The clarionet
played on that occasion by Chester Scott is now in
63

possession of Charles Smith, a quaint wooden instru
ment -with ivory ferules and brass keys. Mr. Bishop
preceded the cavalcade in a barouche drawn by a
pair of handsome gray horses. Outriders and mounted
marshals cleared the way and gave orders. Every
body from Watertown to New Haven was on the alert,
and the highway was lined -with spectators. There is
no doubt that this extraordinary performance adver
tised "Bishop's tavern" and added greatly to its fame.
General Merritt Heminway became Mr. Bishop's partner
and together they managed the hotel for several years.

Clarionet.
In 1840 General Heminway purchased the tavem and
continued it for about twenty years. It was moved
to its present site on the east side about fifty years ago,
and converted into a tenement.
On the place known as the Hiram French place,
southeast of the house now owned by Mrs. Clark Wood
ward stood an old time tavem. The history of this
hostelry is very meagre, but we are told that Mr. Daniel
Hickox was at one time the landlord and that his eldest
child was born there in 1765. It was on the old miUtary
road and was discontinued after the building of Straits'
turnpike. There was also a tavern near the present home of
Charles Woodruff.
In possession of one of Watertown's oldest inhabit
ants, is a quaint invitation to a ball given in Morris,
written on a four-spot of clubs. The card reads as
follows: "The company of U. Hickox is requested
at D. Harrison's baU room, Wednesday, Febmary,
1 p. m. L. Hotchkiss, S. Pierpont, A. Johnson, U.
Hickox, Managers."
A Uttle north of the old cemetery, upon the east side
64

of the road, there stood eighty years ago, a very old
house, two stories in front and one in the rear, occupied
and o-wned by Samuel Dayton, the father of Truman
and Glover Dayton. This house is said to have been
built by a man named Scott, who kept a hotel before
the Revolution, where it was said that the flip-iron
never cooled during the -winter solstice.
About two miles north of Watertown Center, on
Straits' Turnpike, stood an old brown lean-to house
known as the Foote Place, which was convenient for
travelers. Early in the 1830's a daughter, Sabra Foote,
married Selah Scoville, who removed the old house
and on its site built a large modem tavern, with the
finest and most commodious ballroom in this section.
Hither came crowds of merrymakers from the surround
ing to-wns, even as far as Comv/all Bridge, to enjoy
the supper and jolly dances for which the house was
famous. Mr. Myron McNeil, one of Watertown's oldest resi
dents at the present time, has related an interesting
incident of the Scoville Hostelry. There was to be a
public dance on the Fourth of July. Lemonade was
to be one of the beverages, and fifty lemons were needed.
Mr. McNeil was dispatched to Waterbury with orders
to procure them in Waterbury if possible; if not, to
go to Naugatuck. He was only able to get twenty-
five in Waterbury, and went to Naugatuck for the
remaining twenty-five.
In a letter received by Mrs. Sabra Scoville, dated at
Watertown, January 7, 1849, we read that although
"the wind blew a hurricane, with the snow fifteen inches
deep and flying so that the dooryard fence could not
be seen," forty horses were in the stables and one hundred
and thirty suppers were served to young people assem
bled for a dance. Six turkeys, eight chickens and
eight gallons of oysters were prepared for the enjoyment
of the guests. This was the last occasion on which the
ballroom was opened for a public dance. To this
tavern also came teamsters for exchange of horses.
65

Oystermen from Fair Haven, fifteen or twenty in a
single day, with two-horse loads of oysters on the
way to Albany, which were distributed to other parts
of the country. Loads of cheese and pork from Goshen
on the way to New Haven for shipment to the West
Indies. From "Vermont, droves of cattle and horses,
especially the lazy Canucks, used in the West Indies
for treading out sugar cane. The popularity of Sco-
ville's Tavem, under the management of Selah Sco
ville and his son Hubert, continued for twenty-two
years, and to-day the house stands, changed but Uttle
in outward appearance, occupied as a private residence
by Alfred H. Scoville, son of Hubert, and grandson of
Selah Scoville.
In 1865-66 a hotel was built by the Warren family.
The site was the rear of the old Harry Merriman place
and the "Corner Store." The "Warren House" was
an imposing structure with a cupola, long, wide verandas
and a broad fiight of steps. It had its o-wn plant for
the manufacture of illuminating gas. Water was
supplied from distant springs, and a sewer was built to
Dayton's pond for its drainage. All conveniences
known at that time were installed. The furniture
was handsome and substantial; there was a commo
dious ballroom with a musicians' gallery of •wrought
iron; there were single rooms and rooms en suite;
public parlors and bath rooms. The coming of the
"hotel folks" was a great event in Watertown, and was
eagerly awaited year by year. W. C. Burroughs, a
man well-known, popular, and of great experience, was
the first landlord. After several years of successful
management, Augustus Smith succeeded him. Mr.
Smith and his wife were great favorites with the to-wns-
people, as well as -with the hotel guests. He was a
plain out-spoken man, expressing himself in a quaint,
humorous manner, and many of his jokes are stiU
remembered. The hotel was kept open during the
winter months and several Waterto-wn families closed
their houses and boarded there, so that the social
66

life of the estabUshment was continued throughout
the year. It was a favorite terminus for sleighing
parties and many a good supper and jolly dance was
enjoyed there. Mr. Ashby, the clerk, was very popular
and when a severe attack of illness ended fatally, it was
a genuine sorrow to those who had known him. The
next landlord was Judah Swift, popularly known as
"Sheriff" S-wift. "Billy" Booth, bright and witty,
but handicapped by deformity, an expert telegraph
operator, was his clerk. "Sheriff" remained at the
Warren House until George A, Woodruff, a son of one
of the original proprietors, came into possession of the
property and took charge as landlord. During his
management the custom of holding a series of dances
during the -winter became popular. The last two
landlords were S. LaFarge and Mr. Southworth. There
were no local attractions in Watertown except the
drives and -views, and the hotel lost its prestige. It
was closed as a hotel in 1890. It was purchased in
1893 by Horace D. Taft, of Pelham Manor, N. Y., who
estabUshed his weU-kno-wn school within its walls.
Outwardly the building remains practically unchanged.
The great sign on which the name of "Warren House"
proclaimed the identity of the building has disappeared;
the evergreen and other trees have grown larger, but
around the weU-kno-wn place, lingers the atmosphere
of delightful recollections and the memory of many
pleasant days.
The ancient hostelry and the stagecoach are of the
past, but the memory of the older generation reverts
to the time when Harry Fenn, Edmund Fairchild,
Myron McNeil and others were important characters
on the turnpike between Watertown and Hartford,
taking passengers all along the way and charging one
dollar for the trip. And later a daily stage between
here and Waterbury.
This stage carried the mail. The postoffice accom
modations were meagre compared with the present,
and the mails small. A clock-case with black velvet
67

on back and sides, and tapes nailed across in sections
was the receptacle for the few letters. Postage twenty
cents each. The following report shows the increase
in the past fifty-five years:
Total number of letters mailed in one week, October 12 to
October 19, 1861, 281. ^ ^
Total number of letters mailed in one week, October 12 to
October 19, 1862, 300.
Total number of letters received in one week, October 12 to
October 19, 1862, 500.
Total number of letters received in one day, October 21,
1862, 81.
Total number letters and postals mailed in one day, October
21, 1907, 877.
Total mumber of letters and postals mailed in one week,
October 12 to October 19, 1907, 2,056.
Total number of pieces mailed in one week, October 12 to
October 19, 1907, 3,431.
Total number of monev orders issued in one year, ending
October 20, 1907, 1,850.
Total amount of cash received for same, $18,295.48.
Total amount of cash received for fees on same, $132.57.
Number of money orders paid in one year, ending October
20, 1907, 602.
Amount of cash paid out for 602 money orders, $5,111.88.
Number of letters registered during year ending October 20,
1907, 730.
Total number of pieces of mail delivered by two R. F. D.
carriers for one year, ending September 30, 1907, 94,599.
Total number of pieces of mail collected by two R. F. D.
carriers for one year, ending September 30, 1907, 23,103.
Total weight of mail and equipment sent away July 1 to
September 30, 1907, 6,139K pounds.
Respectfully, B. C. AT"WOOD, Postmaster.
"Watertown, Conn., Oct. 25, 1907.
The weekly New Haven Palladium and the Register
were the only newspapers received here, and they had
very few subscribers. There is a quaint item in the
Connecticut Journal, printed in New Haven, April 13,
1796: Found — fome time in February laft, a black fpotted muff
fpotted red and white, lined with blue shalloon, and ftuffed
with tow — The owner may have it by applying to the fubfcriber
and paying charges. JAMES "W. FOSTER,
Watertown, March 18, 1796.
It was in 1845 the first whistle of the locomotive
sounded along the Naugatuck "Valley and the smoke
floated up the mountain side. It was a small engine
fired with wood. 68

In 1871 Watertown's peaceful quiet was disturbed by
the incoming and outgoing trains. Two each way daily
between Watertown and Waterbury. Fare 40 cents.
To-day, twelve tickets for $1.00.
The trolley has been built this year as far as French
road, and doubtless will be continued through the
to-wn. Mr. Myron McNeil and Col. WilUam B. Hotchkiss
were the stage-drivers familiar to the present genera
tion. Mr. McNeil, veteran of all, and the only one
living to tell us of the good old days. He has now
passed his four-score years. With mind still vigorous
he deUghts to recall the scenes and friends of youth
and manhood.

The Lantern that Was Carried bv Myron McNeil on the
Stage Coach for Many Years.
69

Probate Court.
THE first probate court was held at Woodbury.
Waterbury and Westbury were included in that
district. The records were kept in Woodbury
from 1719 to 1779. After that date, the court was
held at Waterbury until 1834 when a probate district
was formed at Watertown. The judges have been as
follows: Holbrook Curtis, July 1834 to July 1836; Benjamin De
Forest, July 1836 to July 1837; Merritt Heminway, July 1837
to July 1838 ; Holbrook Curtis, July 1838 to July 1846 ; Charles
S. "Woodward, July 1846 to July 1847; Holbrook Curtis, July
1847 to July 1850; Allyn M. Hungerford, July 1850 to July
1852; Leman "W. Cutler, July 1852 to January 1877; Allyn
M. Hungerford, January 1877 to January 1879; William
Hotchkiss, January 1879 to June 1890. Mr. Hotchkiss died in
office. Howard M. Hickox, January 1891 to the present
date. In 1864 the town appointed "George Mallory and
others" to act as a committee to purchase the brick
building owned by Amos Gridley. The deeds were
drawn and property transferred April 1st of the same
year. This building was fitted up as a To-wn Hall.
Previous to that time all town meetings were held
in the Congregational Chapel, which stood near the
present post office. In 1894 the town voted to ap
propriate $18,500.00 to erect a new to-wn haU and
appointed WilUam J. Munson, Buell Heminway, Au
gustus N. Woolson, Charles B. Mattoon and Edson B.
Lockwood building committee. The building was
completed, leaving a balance in the treasury of $145.64
from the appropriation and accepted by the town
October 16, 1895. 70

RE^Ioe-NCe OF LEMAN W. CUTLER

Hon. L. W. Cutler was bom December 12, 1807, in
the house now o-wned by Dr. W. S. Munger. He was
the youngest son of Younglove and Anna Woodward
Cutler. He entered Yale College in 1826, was elected
Representative from Waterto-wn for five terms, was
State Senator in 1845 and 1856 and State Comptroller
during the Ci-vil War.
He was Judge of Probate for twenty-four years and
retired at seventy years, the age limit. He was Town
Clerk thirty-nine years and Town Treasurer ten years
and County Commissioner six years. He was one of the
oldest members of Federal Lodge and was Treasurer
for many years. He was an honored and beloved
citizen.

71

John Trumbuil — Poet.
RE"V. John Trumbull married Sarah Whitman of
Farmington in 1744. Four children were born
of this tmion. John, the fourth child and second
son, was bom in 1850. At the age of seven years he
passed a good examination for Yale college. On account
of his extreme youth he did not enter upon his studies
there until six years later. In 1771 he and Timothy
D-wight were chosen tutors of Yale College. In 1773
he was admitted to the bar of Connecticut as practicing
attorney. He then went to Boston and entered as
student in the office of John Adams, afterward second
President of the United States. He was the author of
"The Progress of Dullness," a poem ridiculing some
of the clergy of his time, and " McFingal, "a burlesque
poem of the Revolution, a production that had much
influence both at home and abroad. It was printed in
1782 and passed through forty editions. Mr. Trumbull
was also a prominent member of the "coterie of thinkers
and doers known as the Hartford wits," a group of
men who stimulated and shaped an improved style
of thinking and writing advocated in a publication of
which Hartford was the center. We are in possession
of a poem -written by Mr. Trumbull in a lighter vein,
pubUshed in the New York Evening Post in 1775.
The occasion of it is thus related: "Trumbull and
Thomas Wooster were fellow-students in the office of
Judge Matthew Griswold, father of Governor Roger
Griswold, of Connecticut. Both of them were in the
habit of visiting the family of the Honorable J. P.
Cook, whose daughter was a young lady of uncommon
beauty and accomplishments. Wooster became ex-
73

travagantly fond of her, but she conducted herself
with the prudence and dignity becoming her station,
not manifesting partiality for him more than for others
who visited the house. At a party at Mr. Cook's one
evening, Trumbull, who was always full of vivacity,
observed to Nancy that Tom was so bashful that he
could never muster up courage enough to tell her how
much he loved her, and therefore he intended to per
suade him to address her by letter. Soon after he wrote
the following witty lines, and sent them to Nancy
without the knowledge of Wooster. None were offended
and the circumstance became the subject of much
mirth at subsequent family parties. It is supposed
to have been published about the time it was -written,
but the friend to whom we are indebted for our copy
took it some thirty-five years ago from the old manu
script in possession of an old gentleman who studied
law years before in Judge Griswold's office, when it
was found in the drawer of an old table which had
been occupied by Wooster and Trumbull:"
"To thee, dear Nancy, thee my sweeting,
Poor Colonel Thomas sendeth greeting.
Whereas so pleased the powers above
I'm fallen desperately in love.
For Cupid took a station sly
In one bright comer of your eye.
And from his bow let fly a dart.
That missed my ribs, but pierced my heart.
Pierced through and through and passing further
Put all my insides out of order.
Nor this the only plague, I found.
As mice into a cheese wiU creep
Through some small scratch and entering deep.
While all -without looks fair and well.
They leave your house an empty shell;
So thievish love when once got through
Stole off and bore my heart to you.
And left me heartless, still at ease,
An empty shell like aforesaid cheese.
I, Colonel Tom, being in great smart.
Beseech you to return my heart,
Or else to cure my ceaseless moan,
74

Make an exchange and send your own ;
O, Nancy, thee I love more fully.
Than ever Hudibras loved TuUy,
Not Eneas of old nor Dido
Could love one half as much as I do.
I hold my Nancy more a goddess
Than Venus gay or Dian modest.
Throughout the world thy glories shine.
Nor hath the sun such powers as thine;
Thy beauty keeps the world together.
Thy looks make fair the cloudy weather,
And if a drought should come again.
If you should fro-wn, I know 'twould rain.
For you the earth produces flowers.
For you clouds drop in lovely showers;
Fruits only grow that you may eat,
And pigs and calves to find you meat.
Your cheering smiles which we observe.
Should you withdraw, the world would starve.
Earth would refrain her wonted store.
And plums and peaches be no more.
O, Nancy, would you love but me,- —
How mighty glad poor Tom would be!
I'd stick to you like pitch forever
Nor chance, nor fate our love should sever.
Then love me, Nancy, for I tell you,
I'm a very clever fellow.
And you must think 'tis true, for why?
No one can tell as well as I,
Here follow then without objections
The rent-roll of poor Tom's perfections.
Know then, aU womankind, that I,
When stretched out straight am six feet high.
Whence from plain reasoning, it appears,
I'm one of Nature's grenadiers.
Yet, I do whisper this between us, —
Serve only in the Wars of Venus,
I'm fair and one good sign, observe is,
I have red hair, ma'am, at your service.
Of wit I brag not, yet have brains
Enough to walk in when it rains,
I know the odds 'twixt cheese and chalk,
To tell a hand-saw from a hawk.
To cane a man should he abuse me
Or hang myself, should you refuse me."
Mr. Trumbull in later years moved to Detroit. In
75

the Watertown library hangs a beautiful bronze tablet
presented by the Sexta Feira bearing this inscription:
"To John Trumbull,
Author of McFingal — the poem
of the Revolution.
Born in Watertown 1750
Died, 1831."

76

Evergreen Cemetery
FROM the earUest settlement of Watertown, until
the year 1854, only one place of burial had
existed -within the town limits. Great difficulty
was experienced in providing suitable places in the old
cemetery for the burial of the dead. In view of this
fact, some of the citizens united in forming an asso
ciation to procure and arrange a place where they and
others might have a suitable place for interment.
The folio-wing officers were chosen:
Trustees, George P. Woodruff, Chairman; Alanson Warren,
Abram B. Everett, Hubert Sco-viUe, Russell S. Beers, George
Mallory, Reuben Himgerford, M. D.; Secretary, Reuben
Hungerford, M. D.; Treasurer, Charles G.Edwards; Superin
tendent, Charles G. Edwards.
A piece of land situated near the center of the town,
containing one and one-half acres was purchased for
$1,200. It has been graded, cultivated, laid out in
paths and beautified by shrubs. Public services,
dedicating it for its intended use, were held upon the
grotmd September 4, 1854. The order of exercises was
as follows:
1, Opening Hymn; 2, Prayer of Invocation, Rev. F. Holcomb,
D. D.; 3, Hymn; 4, Scripture Reading, Rev. H. H. Reid; 5,
Dedicatory Prayer, Rev. Chauncey Goodrich; 6, Dedication
Hymn; 7, Address, Honorable Samuel Foote, Geneva, N. Y. ;
8, Closing Anthem; 9, Doxology; 10, Benediction, Rev. F.
Holcomb, D. D,
The services were beautiful and appropriate. Mr.
Foote said in part:
"Allow me to congratulate you on the acquisition and dedi
cation of this beautiful and appropriate lot of land, as a pviblic
77

cemetery. The measure furnishes high evidence of your
liberality, taste and Christian character. I claim a right to
share, and do share with you, the gratification which its accom
plishment justly affords. Although I left this town many years
since, yet here was I born and reared, and my father before
me. The very farm which my grandfather purchased in a
state of nature and cleared, and on which he raised a numerous
family, is now owned and occupied by one of his lineal des
cendants. In yonder burying ground are the graves
of my ancestors, of my relatives and of many of my pla5rmates
in childhood, while through your kind remembrance and
friendly partiality, I, the youngest and almost the last of a
large family am here, with marks of age upon me, to assist you
in dedicating this spot of earth to the ser-vice of the dead
and pro-viding for their ashes a field of peace. Here,
my friends, in this quiet and beautiful piece of ground, which
we are this day dedicating as a cemetery, and which you -will
ornament with paths and trees, and shrubs and flowers, will
be your graves. Your neighbors, townsmen, and sometimes
strangers, will walk through this burial place, look at your
graves, read the inscriptions on the monuments, think and
speak of you, if they knew you in life, and if not, will inquire
about you and learn who and what you were. O, my
friends, let us try to live 'as we shall wish we had when we come
to die,' that the memory of us may be sweet, and "a savor of
life unto life.' "
On October 9, 1889, more burial lots being needed,
a piece of land was purchased on the opposite side of
the highway, which has been graded and improved,
and to-day the citizens of Watertown are justly proud
of the beautiful, well-kept ground, "God's Acre," the
last resting places of their beloved dead.
From September 4, 1854, to June 15, 1907, there
have been 1,135 burials.
The present officers of the association are:
Trustees: Dr. Walter S. Munger, Chairman; Charles M. Noble,
Alfred H. Scoville, Howard M. Hickox, Charles B. Mattoon,
George P. Pritchard, George A. Harper, Buel Heminway, H.
William Warner; Secretary and Treasurer, Howard M. Hickox;
Sexton, Frank B. Hickox.
The association has a General Fund of $9,500, and a
Special Fund of $2,500. 78

The Watertown Centennial.
Until the year 1780 Westbury had remained a society
of Waterbury. At that time it was incorporated as
an independent town and named Waterto-wn, the
society of Northbury being included until 1795, but
electing its o-wn officers and representatives. It was
then incorporated and named Plymouth. On June
19th, 1780, the first to-wn meeting was held in Water-
town. Phinehas Royce, moderator. The following
officers were elected: Town clerk, Timothy Judd;
selectmen, Thomas Fenn, Thomas Dutton, Stephen
Matthews, Nathaniel Barnes, Jesse Curtiss. In 1880
William G. French, first selectman, found in a record
book of 1780 an account of the organization of the
to-wn and in the February town meeting, Hon. L. W.
Cutler and William G. French were appointed a com
mittee to consider the matter of celebrating the cen
tennial, and the following notice was placed on the
public signpost and in the Waterbury American:
"Notice is hereby given that a meeting of all persons inter
ested in the celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of
the incorporation of this town, will be held at the Town Hall on
the fifteenth day of April, 1880, at 7:30 P. M., to devise a
plan, if thought advisable, for proceeding in this matter, and
to provide ways and means for carrying out plan proposed.
A full attendance is requested. Any further action will depend
upon the interest shown by the public at said meeting."
Wm. G. French,
L, W. Cutler,
Committee.
The meeting was well attended, much interest shown
and the following programme arranged:
79

WATERTOWN CENTENNIAL.
Thursday, June 17, 1880.
The day will be ushered in by a salute of ten guns, and ring
ing of the bells, at five o'clock, a. m.
Marshal's Orders.
The Military and Fire Companies, and all others who are to
take positions in the procession, will report to the Marshal on
North Street, at 10 o'clock, sharp.
The First, Second and Third Divisions will form on North
Street, the right resting on West Street.
The Fourth Di-vision will form on East Street, the right near
Mrs. Eli Curtis', and extending East.
At 10:15, His Excellency and Staff will be escorted to their
positions in line. At 10:30, a salute of 21 guns in honor of the
Governor. At the third gun the column will move promptly without
further orders.
The Assistant Marshals, having charge of divisions, will take
notice and govern themselves accordingly.
The line of march will be through the principal streets, re
turning to near the place of formation, when it will be dismissed.
Order of Procession.
Platoon of Police — Captain Scott.
Chief Marshal and Staff.
Thomaston Cornet Band.
Company G, Second Regiment, C. N. G., — Captain Bannon.
Company A, Second Regiment, C. N. G., — Captain Spencer.
Putnam Phalanx, — Major Brown.
His Excellency Governor Andrews, and President of the Day.
The Governor's Staff.
Watertown Centennial Cadets, 38 Boys, — Capt. B. Havens
Heminway.
Orators of the Day, Clergy, and other distinguished guests.
SECOND division.
Assistant Marshal Vorra.
Woodbury Band.
Centennial Cadets, — Captain Heminway.
Representatives of the Press and Hartford Glee Club.
Citizens on Horseback.
third division.
Assistant Marshals Wooster and Woodward.
Waterbury Band.
Phoenix Fire Company, No. 1, Waterbury.
FOURTH division.
Assistant Marshals Munson and Peck.
8o

Wolcott Drum Band.
Antiques.
Citizens of this and other towns in carriages.
Wm. B. Hotchkiss, Chief Marshal.
Programme.
At 12:30 p. m., CoUation.
At 1:30 p. m., the Thomaston Band -will escort the Governor
and Speakers to the platform near the Congregational Church,
when the assemblage -will be called to order by Hon. L. W.
Cutler, President of the Day.
1. Invocation by the Rev. James Stoddard.
2. Singing by the Waterto-wn Choir.
3. Address by Hon. Wm. E. Curtiss, of New York.
4. Address by His Excellency, Governor Andrews.
5. Singing by the Hartford Glee Club.
6. Address by Hon. F. J. Kingsbury, of Waterbury.
7. Address by Rev. Dr. N. S. Richardson, of Bridgeport.
8. Singing by the Watertown Choir.
9. Address by Dr. W. T. Woodruff, of Thomaston.
10. Singing by the Hartford Glee Club.
11. Addresses by other gentlemen.
12. Singing by the whole assemblage, of the following hymn,
led by the Watertown Choir, to the tune of
AULD LANG SYNE.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot.
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot.
And songs of Auld Lang Syne?
For Auld Lang Syne we meet to-day.
For Auld Lang Syne;
To sing the songs our fathers sang.
In days of Auld Lang Syne.
We've passed through many varied scenes
Since youth's unclouded day.
And friends and hopes and happy dreams
Time's hand hath swept away;
And voices that once joined with ours.
In days of Auld Lang Syne,
Are silent now, and blend no more
In songs of Auld Lang Syne.
Here we have met, here we may part
To meet on earth no more.
And we may never sing again
The cherished songs of yore.

The sacred songs our fathers sang.
In days of Auld Lang Syne,
We may not meet to sing again —
The songs of Auld Lang Syne.
But when we've crossed the sea of life,
And reached the heavenly shore.
We'll sing the songs our fathers sing,
Transcending those of yore.
We'll meet to sing di-viner strains
Than those of Auld Lang Syne —
Immortal songs of praise, unknown
In days of Auld Lang Syne.
Benediction by the Rev. S. K. Smith.

The Phoenix Fire Company will exhibit the working of their
engine at some time during the day.
The Antiquities will be on exhibition at the Town HaU through
the day.
Invited Guests are informed that they can obtain tickets to
the collation by calling on C. T. Hickox or C. A. Warren, Sec
retaries. Trains will leave Watertown for Waterbury at 4:30 and
5:30 p. m.
The day dawned brightly beautiful, and in the morn
ing delightfully cool. The day was ushered in by a
salute of ten guns at sunrise. Nearly every house
was decorated with a profuse display of flags and
bunting, and on every hand were to be seen evidences
of the preparations made by the citizens to celebrate
this anniversary. During the morning the ladies were
out in force preparing a collation in a large tent on the
village green. "This was an elegant affair and entitles
the ladies to all praise."
The first special train arrived from Waterbury at
8:35 a. m. The engine was decorated with the national
colors and festoons of evergreen and the name plate,
"Wolcottville" bore the figures 1880 in green. There
were six cars. On board were the two Waterbury
military companies. Phoenix Fire Company, No. 1,
the Waterbury City and the Thomaston comet
bands and the Wolcott Drum Corps. Another train
82

followed at ten o'clock bringing the Putnam Phalanx,
of Hartford, and the South End Glee Club of Waterbury.
Then followed another special train of eight cars,
crowded with passengers. In the meantime additions
to the throng came in four-horse wagons, double and
single teams from the adjoining to-wns and it was
estimated eight thousand people were in attendance.
The parade was large and imposing. The Putnam
Phalanx in their picturesque continental uniforms
attracted general attention and elicited rounds of
applause all along the line. Captains Bannon and
Spencer's commands marched finely. The Fire Com
panies never appeared to better advantage and the
Centennial Cadets, a company of boys, in dark blue
uniforms and red sashes, under command of Captain
B. Havens Heminway and Lieutenant Charles Plemin-
way were a striking feature of the procession. The
antique part of the parade was a decidedly novel one,
everything pertaining to it savored of "ye olden time,"
the figures "1780" were attached to nearly everything
and the exhibition of antiques in the Town Hall, now
the engine house, was very creditable. Roderick Atwood
was the patriarch father. The cavalcade was preceded
by a man seated astride a horse and surrounded by
five barrels, two on each side and one across the pommel
of the saddle. This representing the ride through
Waterto-wn, in 1799, of Noble Atwood, who, to decide
a wager, accompUshed this feat. There were old
vehicles of every description fiUed with ladies and
gentlemen in continental costumes. Nearly every
thing in this procession was one hundred years old.
There was the centennial wagon loaned by Hon. Elisha
Leavenworth and the old gig in which Dr. Elton long
made his rounds to visit his patients on these hills and
in the towns roundabout. The carriage containing Gov
ernor Andrews, Hon. WilUam E. Curtiss, Hon. L. W.
Cutler, President of the day, and Hon. F. J. Kingsbury,
was drawn by four horses driven by Lyman Norton.
The Governor and Staff and other visiting guests were
83

in carriages. While the procession was in motion a
salute of twenty-one guns was fired in honor of Gov
ernor Andrews. Colonel WilUam B. Hotchkiss was
Chief Marshal and was efficiently aided by Rev. Charles
Croft, Alanson Warren, Merritt Heminway, James
Wooster, John "Vorra, William Munson, Frank Peck,
David Woodward and Henry Atwood. The procession
was reviewed in front of the Warren house by Governor
Andrews. Just after noon the collation was served
and at 2 p. m. the exercises followed at the speakers'
stand in front of the Congregational Church, beginning
with prayer by Rev. James Stoddard, Rector of Christ
Church. Hon. L. W. Cutler then remarked it had been
intended to have a lengthy historical address but it was
finally decided several short addresses would be more
interesting, and introduced Hon. WilUam E. Curtiss of
New York. Judge Curtiss' Address
In the brief observations I shall address to you on this inter
esting anniversary, I will confine myself to recalling the memory
of those of my own profession who have heretofore dwelt in
our midst. Others who address you will speak of many who
are departed who have been engaged in different pursuits.
Eh Curtiss, who graduated in the class of 1777 at Yale college,
and who lost an arm in the war of the Revolution, was the
first member of the legal profession that settled in Watertown.
Tradition speaks favorably of his courage and ser-vices as an
officer of the Revolutionary army, of his merits as a la-wyer,
and the public positions which he held indicate his appreciation
by his fellow-citizens. In the brief list of subscribers to Kirby's
Law Reports, published at Litchfield in 1789, the first or among
the first published in America, his name appears, also that of
Samuel Southmayd, the father of Samuel W. Southmayd, the
lawyer; also the name of Thomas Fenn, Esq., the ancestor of
Amasa J. Parker, and other lawyers of eminence and sterling
merit; and also the names of Daniel Potter, Esq., and David
Smith, Esq. This subscription list both here and over the
country is worthily represented to-day in the third and fourth
generations of the subscribers. Hon. Eli Curtiss removed
from Watertown and died in 1821. Samuel W. Southmayd
was born in this town in September, 1773. He was the great
grandson of the Rev. John Southmayd of Waterbury, who
himself was' the great grandson of Sir William Southmayd of
84

the county of Kent, England. He studied law at Litchfield,
and was admitted to the bar in 1795. In 1809 he received
the honorary degree of A. M. from Yale college. He early
acquired the esteem and confidence of his townsmen, whom
during his brief life he represented seventeen times in the
Legislature. He soon rose to eminence in his profession. His
law library, much of which came into my father's possession,
contained most of the valuable English reports and treaties of
his day, which, enriched by notes and addenda in his beautiful
hand-writing, indicate to this day how accomplished and learned
he was as a lawyer. He died March 4, 1813. The apefcdotes
and traditions of his career have almost faded aw,a^, but his
example as a patriotic citizen, a kind-hearted inan, and a
learned and honorable la-wyer may exert an influence when
his name even is forgotten. He was a bachelor, but died
surrounded by the kindred of relatives awaiting the change,
as the late Dr. Samuel P. Elton described it to me, with the
calmness of a philosopher and the resignation of a Christian.
Soon after the death of Mr. Southmayd a committee was ap
pointed at a meeting of citizens to in-vite Mr. Holbrook Curtiss,
then practicing law in Ne-wtown, to remove to Watertown.
He accepted his in-vitation and remained until his death in
1858. He was in 1813 twenty-six years of age, ha-ving gradu
ated from Yale in 1807. During his long period of practice
he had the respect and confidence of the community. He was
many times a member of the Legislature, a judge of probate
and also a judge of the county court. Cultivated and scholarly
in his tastes, he possessed that rare gift of memory that ap
parently placed at his command for any occasion the Bible,
Shakespeare, Hudibras, Blackstone's commentaries and
Chitty's Pleadings, and a mass of tradition and anecdote.
But his Ufe is so fresh in your memories that it is unnecessary,
perhaps not becoming, that I should say more of him, yet I
cannot refrain from saying as his son, how grateful I shall
ever be to his friends and neighbors, who in the weary hours
of his declining Ufe, watched over and cheered and comforted
him, and whose kindness ever extended to me and mine, makes
the very sight of these hiUs dear to me. I trust that when
the final reveiUe sounds, we may look eastward at them with
immortal -vision and with consummated hopes.
Hon. F. J. Kingsbury's Address.
The vaUey of the Naugatuck, like so many other important
portions of the world from Ophir to AustraUa and California,
owes its settlement to that natural passion of the human mind,
the search for mineral wealth. As early as 1650 or thereabouts
some hunters and explorers venturing over the mountains
85

from Farmington into this valley discovered here what they
called a black lead mine. They should have gone back and
started a joint stock corporation with a capital of twenty
millions and perhaps an ex-member of Congress for a president,
and then sold out their shares to their neighbors who were in
a hurry to get rich. Well, they seem to have done what they
could to have lived fully up to their rights and privileges;
they did set up their stake and go back and file a claim for a
circle with a radius of eight miles. They may have sold some
shares to their neighbors, indeed it is more than likely that
they did, and as we think of it, it grows upon us how like to
these days were those, for so far as the record goes nobody
ever succeeded in finding again the mine or even the stake,
or much more than lead enough to blacken fingers. Indians
were as plenty here then as they are in Arizona now, and
sometimes quite as hostile, so that although some of these
pioneers looked longingly over the mountains at the little
strips of good land which they had seen lying along the river
bottoms, they discreetly stayed where they were for a while
longer. But about the year 1677, after King PhiUp was dead
and the Indians who remained had learned to stand in whole
some awe of the white man's power, they returned once more
to think of making a colony in this valley. The natural and
easy entrance into the valley from Farmington seems to have
led along the line of the Mad river to the point where the center
of Waterbury now is, and the broad stretch of river that wanders
there was doubtless an attraction. The present town of Water
bury, although perhaps I say it who shouldn't, is not a desirable
tract of land for agricultural purposes. Great ribs of almost
naked rock with intervals of sand and gravel form too large a
portion of its surface for profitable farming. But the pioneers
had learned that the Naugatuck river was liable to become
impassable, by reason of great freshets, and it was not safe
for this little colony, pushing itself into the wilderness, with
uncertain savages still on every side, to cut itself off from its
base of supplies and succor. While therefore it may seem
strange and even stupid to have stopped just there when a
little further on they might have found so much better soil,
to them the choice doubtless seemed to lie between compara
tive safety -with moderate success and a risk of property and
life for somewhat greater gains. Who shall say that they
were not wise? Then the appearance of the country was very
different from what it is now. The question has been asked,
Was the country mostly covered -with wood at the time of
settlement? I am incUned to think that there were beside
the river bottoms large patches of upland which were not
timbered, but were in a state to be cultivated without much
86

preliminary labor and expense of clearing, very different in
short from the condition of northern Ohio when that country
was settled about a hundred years later. I infer this from
descriptions in ancient deeds, such expressions as "so far as
the good land goeth," "thence to the -wilderness," "meadow
and plow land," "main," etc. Also from the absence of refer
ence by record or tradition to "logging bees," and to the ex
pense and trouble which heavy clearing involves. Yet I
presume that on the uplands west of the Naugatuck there
was StiU too great an amount of timber and brush to make
it easy to appreciate the true nature of the soil, its richness
and its adaptation for culture. This very township was famous
for its enormous trees. Tradition tells of one of the early
pioneers who ha-ving stripped the bark from a large elm to
use for a bed found it so tightly curled about him in the morn
ing that it came near proving a coSin. At any rate, for reasons
which appeared to them sufficient it was not until the lapse of
40 years or more from the first settlement at Waterbury, say
1720, that attention was seriously turned to the good land
lying about "Wooster Swamp" and "Scott's Mountain," where
a little settlement known soon after as "The Village" was
estabUshed. I am informed that these local names or some
of them have whoUy disappeared from use or even from tradi
tion, but the name of "Wooster Swamp" frequently shortened
to "Wooster" was applied to the northwest quarter of the
to-wn, and the other names are of frequent occurrence on the
record. The Guernsey or Garnsey family apparently settled
there some 20 years later. Where the name of Wooster came
from I have not discovered, but Scott's mountain received its
name from one Jonathan Scott, who was captured by the
Indians in the Waterbury meadows in 1710, and after his
return settled at this place.
We have again to note the resemblance between the men
of that day and this, as we find on the record evidence of a
genuine land speculative fever in connection with the dis
covery of these good Gamseytown lands. Roads were laid
out on so magnificent a plan that they have not even yet been
opened, and an acre of land here was valued as equal to five
acres in the other unallotted lands. Afterwards there was a
reaction in the market and the rate was 2}/^. Here is one of
the votes in regard to roads, November, 1722: "It was agreed
by vote that in dividing of the sequestered lands at the north
west comer there shall be three 'tears' of Lotts, viz. — a high
way near Woodbury of two rods wide, and then half a mile
wide of land to be laid out in lots, and then a highway of Eight
rods to run north and south — and then another 'tear' of a half
mile wide and then another highway of eight rods and then
87

another 'tear' of lots a half mile wide, and then a highway
on the east side eight rods, etc. The committee in laying
out the lots to leave a four or six rods highway every half mile
or thereabouts through the 'tears' — No lott to be divided." —
(Bronson, p. 252.) The notoriety of the movement was suffi
cient to attract many settlers from other towns. Bronson
says about one half were new inhabitants and among them
were many of Watertown's most valuable citizens. The
movement had a better basis than many speculations. The
land was of the best, far superior to that in the older portions
of the town, perhaps equal to any in the state. Enterprising
and ambitious men appreciated their value. Good land in
those days was wealth, and very soon the new settlement
began to prosper. Then the older settlement seems to have
grown rather jealous of the new. The young men were being
drawn away by superior attractions. They took the young
women with them. The young settlement threatened to
overtop the old one. It was getting ambitious. It applied
for special church privileges. It asked to be incorporated as
a separate ecclesiastical society. All these movements the
old town sturdily resisted. There is not wanting in the record
some appearance of stumbling blocks deliberately put in the
path of the new settlement. However, they persevered, and
in 1738, after a struggle of a number of years, what had been
known as Wooster swamp and Wooster and the village and
"Up the River," became an incorporated ecclesiastical society,
bounded on the east by the Naugatuck river and the west
branch, under the name of "Westbury."
The new society continued to prosper, and in 1780 the town
voted, in a spirit of wise liberality, to prefer a petition to the
next General Assembly that the societies of Westbury and
Northbury might be incorporated into a separate town and
annexed to the county of Litchfield. This was done. Water-
town was incorporated, and henceforth emancipated from all
parental control, it was left to take care of itself. It showed
itself entirely competent to do this and for the next 50 years
seems to have gone straight onward in a course of prosperity.
The lands were rich, fruitful and easily cultivated and in those
days agriculture was the business of the state and good land
was the symbol of wealth. All other occupations were sub
sidiary to the cultivation of the soil and only had existence
as they were related to that.
By about 1810, the new town might fairly be said to have
outstripped the old. Several enterprising merchants had
established themselves here. Mr. Wait Smith, who was suc
ceeded by his son. Gen. Gerritt Smith, Mr. Yoimglove Cutler,
and the brothers John and Benjamin De Forest were among
88

the leading merchants whose enterprise materially aided in
building up the young town. They received the produce
of the farmers and thereby stimulated production and in
troduced various new branches of industry. Cheese and
butter making were largely entered into; the raising of stock
also and the packing of beef and pork. From 1810 to 1830,
Watertown as a commercial center was a place of more im
portance than Waterbury, and there are many people still
living who well remember when Waterbury people came to
Watertown to do their shopping, much as Watertown goes to
Waterbury now.
Early in the century Gen. David Humphreys, a native of
Derby, a man of genius, a soldier of the Revolution, who had
been an aide of Washington, became the representative of
this government at the court of Spain. He there conceived
the idea of importing into this country the fine wooled Spanish
merino sheep. He embarked his own fortune in the enter
prise. To forward his plans he built a factory for the manu
facture of fine wool goods at Rimmon Falls, afterwards known
as Humphreysville and now Seymour, but which should have
retained the name of its founder. He was not pecuniarily
successful, nevertheless the country owes him a debt of grati
tude, and the enterprising business men and farmers of Water-
town were among the first to engage enthusiastically in his
plans. The merino sheep were brought and bred here, and
to this day the name of Watertown and the flock of Stephen
Atwood is celebrated wherever merino sheep are known.
A gentleman -who has made agriculture and fine cattle a
study, and who has travelled all over the world, once told me
that he had seen more fine teams of working oxen in the streets
of Watertown than he had ever seen in any other place in all
his travels. These, of course, were the famous "Connecticut
Reds," of which Watertown may be said to have been the
birthplace, and in the breeding of which Mr. Jacob Blakeslee
and others have borne a conspicuous part.
I have been anxious to present some personal sketches of
the men who were most active during this period in building
up the young town. I have only been able to get two or three,
but perhaps others may be added later. Among the business
men of the town, Younglove Cutler was one of the first to open
a store in the settlement. Mr. Cutler was born in Killingly,
Conn., in 1750. Having a stepmother, he was induced at
the age of ten years to pack all his possessions in a handkerchief
and without one cent in his pocket, to strike out and seek his for
tune, adopting as his motto, "Go West, young man," selecting
Westbviry as his future home. He worked about for the farm
ers for a while as he could find employment, but I soon hear
89

of him trading in a smaU way as a peddler. Next opening a
smaU store in the south part of the house now owned by Dr.
John DeForest where he traded evenings and worked out
through the day, which house must have been built not far
from 1783, since that is the year in which he bought the land
on which the house stands. The large show windows can
now be seen under the verandah. Afterwards he built a wood
store where he traded for many years. The building was
afterward removed and the brick store built on its site by Mr.
Benjamin DeForest. He became a large land owner and stock
breeder, and was particularly interested in the Spanish merino
sheep, procuring his flock from Gen. Humphrey, whose im
portations dates 1802. He sold one ewe for $1,000 and her
unborn lamb for $500 more. Mr. Cutler died in 1816.
John H. and Benjamin De Forest, brothers and natives
of Huntington, Conn., came to Watertown and entered into
mercantile business in 1803, first in a small way in the north
east corner room of the house now occupied by B. C. Atwood,
but soon moved to the store owned and formerly occupied
by Mr. Cutler, which stood on the ground where the brick
store now stands, occupied by Myron McNeil. There they
successfully pursued the business of country merchants till 1817
when the partnership was dissolved. The business in those
days was principally a barter trade; but little money was in
circulation. No cash was paid out directly for produce; con
tracts were made with a few of the larger farmers to bring in
their pork, butter, cheese and grain which were the principal
products of the farm, and receive on the first day of April in
each year one-quarter to one-third cash, the remainder to be
taken in "store pay." The pork, butter, cheese and grain
were all sent by teams to New Haven. No Waterbury market
in those days. During the time of their partnership the older
brother John went several voyages to sea as supercargo and
part owner. On one of these voyages he visited Spain and
brought away a lot of merino sheep, among the earliest of the
kind ever introduced into this country, which proved both
profitable to the owners and of immense value to the farming
^iiterests of the United States. A while after the introduc-
/tion of these sheep the speculation in them ran so high that
single merino bucks and ewes were sold for $1,500 and $1,600
each. On another voyage during the war of 1812 and while
England and Prance were also at war he sailed for France
with a cargo of codfish. Had they arrived safely the vessel
would have netted a large profit to her o-wners, but just as
they sighted port the vessel was cut out by a British privateer,
the vessel and cargo confiscated and the crew thrust into the
celebrated Dartmoor prison where they were confined several
90

months. After a while Mr. De Forest, who was noted as an
adept with the pen, wrote a very plausible letter to the British
admiralty and so "pulled the wool" over the eyes of the officers
as to his intentions and destination that they liberated him
and the crew. During his residence in Watertown John H.
was much interested in politics and civil affairs. He was the
principal trying justice for many years and represented the
town in the State Legislature for five sessions from 1809 to
1815. About the year 1819 John H. went to Humphreys
ville (now Seymour) and purchased the principal water privi
lege there and the old mill foundry, built and occupied by
Geo. Htunphrey as a woolen factory, converted it into a cotton
mill where he successfully pursued the business of cotton
manufacture tiU his death in 1839. After the dissolution of
partnership in 1817, Benjamin continued the business tiU 1825
when he gave it up to Eli Curtiss who had been his clerk.
During this time while on a trip to New York to purchase goods
(there being no drummers in those days) he saw a bundle of
palm leaf lying on the wharf. The thought occurred to him
that a hat might be made of it similar to the Panama. He
purchased a bundle of pakn leaf and also a Panama hat- and
brought them home. He offered a prize of $50 to any one
who would find out how to braid them. Mr. Anson Beecher of
Northfield, and lately of Westville took the prize. He came
to Mr. De Forest's and for weeks instructed large numbers
of women and girls in the art of braiding. The manufacture
progressed slowly for want of material. So difficult was it
to obtain the plant in New York, that an agent was finally sent
to the West Indies to procure it, and to arrange for a future
supply. The manufacture became a success, and large num
bers of women and girls in this and the neighboring towns
made it their principal business, much to their profit. This
branch of manufacture, begun here in Watertown in this small
way, is now extensively prosecuted by machinery in various
parts of the country, and a hat that once cost $2 or $3 is now
sold for 50 or 60 cents. A short time before Mr. De Forest
left the mercantile business he united with Aaron Benedict
and others in forming a company for the manufacture of gilt
buttons, with a capital of $6,600, which was the commence
ment of the Benedict & Burnham Manufacturing company
of Waterbury. Mr. De Forest became salesman of the new
company — principally in New York and Boston — till 1837,
when he retired in consequence of ill health, and died in 1859.
During the period covered by the sketches just given the
town had grown in wealth and refinement. Elegance and
even luxury, as luxury was then counted, was found among
its inhabitants. The people were able to give their sons and
91

daughters all the advantages of education which the country
afforded, and many young men went forth from the old town
who made names for themselves in all parts of the country.
Doubtless they will be spoken of by others — a bare list of their
names would be too long to insert here. But some of them
we are glad to see back with us again to-day.
So long as agriculture was the principal interest of the State
the young town steadily gained on the old one in wealth, enter
prise and importance. For some reason which I have not
had time to investigate the old town seems to have held its
own in population somewhat remarkably, perhaps it had that
prolific gift for which poverty is proverbial.
During the twenty years from 1815 to 1835, Connecticut
passed from an agricultural to a manufacturing State. The
opening of the wheat lands of the west, and a variety of other
causes which I have not time to enumerate wrought this change ;
and the inhabitants of the old town of Waterbury, who had
been compelled by the poverty of their soil to exercise Ttheir
wits in order to live, now found use for them in a profitable
direction. Very soon the tide was turned and the ambitious
young men of Watertown began to look to the lower valley as
a place to exercise their gifts. The current of emigration was
reversed and the De Forests, Eltons, Buckinghams, Merri-
mans and many others now brought their capital and enter
prise back to the older town. There the farmers soon began
to find a market for their produce and a place of investment
for their surplus gains. There their sons became captains of
industry, and where the sons went there went the daughters
also. The later history of the town and its progress in many
directions I leave to other hands. My endeavor ends here.
Thus the two towns have grown again to be as one people, one
in history, one in race, one in interest, one in thought. As
they were at the first so shall they remain — mother and daughter
to the last.
Rev. Dr. Richardson of Bridgeport was the next
speaker, his remarks being of a reminiscent character.
Rev. Dr. Richardson's Address.
We are told that, in the olden time, it was the custom at
great festivals and celebrations, at the beginning to set forth
pure wine and when men had well drunk, then that which
was worse. After what we have heard this afternoon, I am
sure you will say that that custom has been handed down
to the present day. You have well drunk of the good -wine,
I can only offer you that which is worse. But such as I have
give I you. 92

It IS 35 years next Tuesday since I left Watertown as a
citizen and resident. Thirty years are said to include a genera
tion. Of course nearly aU who were in the meridian of Ufe
thirty-five years ago are gone. The mass of those to whom I
speak are strangers to me. And yet it does not seem so to
me. In coming back to Watertown I feel as if I were coming
home. I Uved in Waterto-wn seven years. But those seven
years made a lasting impression on me. The parish church
here was my first parish, and a first parish is like "a first love,"
there is no other love like it. At any rate it used to be so,
when it was said "matches were made in Heaven." Where
some of them are made now-a-days is quite another question.
But here I came in 1838 -with my youthful bride and was wel
comed to the home of my predecessor, the Rev. Dr. Holcomb.
Those days return to me now -with fresh recollections of the
warm-hearted, genial sympathies of her who presided over
that household, and whose heart has never grown old. Such
sun-beams in homes and parishes and neighborhoods are
among Heaven's best boons. They cast the radiance of beauty
and attractiveness over our whole Uves and over our holy
reUgion. Nearly aU who were there then, and whom I knew
and loved, and on whom I leaned, are gone. My predecessor
is gone. He was a good man, wise, discerning, earnest, faith
ful and true. The church at large estimated and honored
him. He labored here as Christ's minister 28 years, and he
Uved to see the seed which he had planted spring up and bear
abtmdant fruit. His prayers and efforts were not in vain.
We honor his memory to-day. Few of the laymen of the parish
who were here then are here now. I may not particularize, but
their names are almost upon my lips. There is one name.
however, which I may mention, Holbrook Curtiss, a man of
rare worth, of true nobility, of strong character, of ripe culture ;
a man whose modesty and shrinking retirement, and these
alone, kept him from shining in public Ufe, where his talents
fitted him to adorn almost any station. In calling upon him
at his office once, I found him thoroughly absorbed in a volume
which he was devouring. It was a volume of the French
classics in the French language, full of sentiment, and yet he
never intimated that he was a French scholar. The scenes
of my ministry here of seven years return vividly to-day.
Scenes of domestic joy, and of domestic disappointment and
grief; scenes of an overcoming faith, and a calm and serene
repose, like the closing beauty and glory of an autumnal day.
And that half score of aged venerable women whom I found
here, mothers in Israel, I thought them then, a noble band.
Certain it is that their children and grand-children have done
much to make Watertown and Waterbury, yes and Bridgeport,
93

what they are to-day. These were some of my experiences
here as a minister of the Gospel of Christ. Ah, is Christianity
a failure? as some brazen faced, brazen-throated scoffers are
telUng us in these days, and telUng the young men and young
women in our cities and factories and work-shops! Chris
tianity a failure! Oh, no! It is a grand, glorious reality and
power. But its victories are not won on tented fields; they
are -victories of faith and love.
Perhaps I may be pardoned, if I allude for a moment, to
one of quite another character. It was the settled policy
of our Colonial forefathers to cultivate in the colony a military
spirit, at least to see to it that every man should be trained to
the use of fire-arms. Every town had its "training-day"
twice a year, and its "general training" once a year. That
custom was handed down to their descendants, and the militia
system is a part of our continental system. Not long after I
came to Watertown I received a commission from Col. Shelton
as chaplain of the 12th Regiment of Connecticut militia. A
regimental parade was on hand and I was expected to appear
"armed and equipped for military duty." I had never dreamed
of being a soldier, especially such a sort of soldier, and was
not well posted in military proprieties, and so I applied to my
valued and I may almost say my life-long friend. General
Heminway, for the use of his beautiful parade horse and his
trappings. I have an indistinct recollection that the general
intimated that those accoutrements belonged to the staff
officers of a general, not a colonel. However, that point was
waived, and I was escorted with military "pomp of circum
stance" to the parade ground, down on the meadows yonder.
The colonel I have no doubt was somewhat sui-prised and
amused at seeing his chaplain appear in the plight of a general's
staff officer, but he was a gentleman as weU as soldier and
said not a word. The parade exercises were imposing; the
militia needed no apology; and the militia of Connecticut
have proved, on many a well contested field since that they
can be relied on and are fully equal to any occasion.
I know very well that these reminiscences in which I have
indulged are trifles on such an occasion as this. It was, I
think, in 1742 that the first service of the Episcopal church
of any kind was ever held in Westbury, now known as Water-
town. This was 138 years ago. It was a marriage service.
The names of all the parties concerned are significant. It
was the marriage of WilUam Scoville to Elizabeth Brown,
daughter of James Brown, who, a layman, was so strong a
churchman in these ante-revolutionary days that they gave
him the name of Bishop Brown. The place where the marriage
was solemnized was a new barn, doubtless adorned and deco-
94

rated with nature's robes of beauty, wreaths and festoons.
It was on what was long known as "the Buckingham place."
The officiating clergyman on that occasion was the Rev. Dr.
Samuel Johnson, then rector of Christ church, Stratford, and
afterwards president of King's coUege, now Columbia college,
in the city of New York. Dr. Johnson was a great man, a
man of profound learning. He was the only man in the Con
necticut colony capable of writing the laws of Yale coUege
in the pure and elegant Latin in which they appeared, — so
Prof. Kingsley of Yale college once told me. Dr. Johnson
was the intimate friend, and as long as they both Uved the
constant correspondent, of the distinguished Bishop Berkeley,
whose name is embalmed in the memories of all time scholars.
It was he who said:
"Westward the course of empire takes its way;
The four first acts, already past :
A fifth shall close the drama with the day;
Time's noblest offspring is the last."
The name of Dr. Johnson thus becomes associated with the
early history of the families, who have since been identified
-with the growth and prosperity of Watertown and Waterbury.
I hold in my hand a manuscript letter of Dr. Johnson's, to Mr.
Samuel Brown of Waterbury, on one of the stirring questions
of those days. It was on the doctrine of absolute predestina
tion. It was dated January 1, 1737, 143 years ago.
I have thought proper in speaking this afternoon to limit
myself to a particular field. I would gladly have taken a wider
range. There are other Watertown men who are equally
identified with the progress and prosperity of the town. There
are, too, historic names of men who were born here, who have
achieved a national reputation, like John Trumbull, the author
of ' ' McFingal.' ' And there was his father, the Rev. John
TrumbuU, the first Congregational minister in Watertown.
And there was Mrs. TrumbuU, the mother of the poet, a rare
woman, from whom the son inherited not a little of his genius
and character. That was a day of maternal influence, where
lies the true power and glory of woman. That is woman's
legitimate throne, a nobler elevation than the throne of the
Cassars. Around names like these I leave to others to weave
garlands worthy of their fame and growth. I do not speak
of the past history of this beautiful town, nor of its future
prospects, nor of the conditions of its prosperity. I invoke
God's best benedictions upon you all and upon all those who
shall come after you.
Dr. W. T. Woodruff, of Thomaston, followed Dr.
95

Richardson, and spoke without notes. A summary of
his remarks are appended:
Dr. William T. Woodruff's Address
I am reminded of the motto over the study door of Cotton
Mather, "Be short." I shall abide by the motto. Northbury
the daughter, the oldest daughter of Westbury, comes to you
with her filial congratulations to-day. We of Northbury have
been keeping house for ourselves more than four score years.
It must be admitted we have done it largely on tick, and we
may continue to tick still longer, yet we do not propose to
repudiate our obligations, or bring disgrace upon the family
name. I accept these memorial gatherings as I do the local
histories now so common, as evidence that the memory of the
fathers is not to be forgotten and that the facts now passing
into dim obscurity may not be entirely lost in obli-vion. The
first settlers came to what was afterwards caUed Northbury
nearly one hundred and fifty years ago. Tradition says that
the first explorers reported that it might sustain ten or at the
outside fifteen families. At that time Waterbury was bounded
north on the wilderness. . The place selected was on the Nauga
tuck river, where the pre-historic floods had pushed back the
hills and left an alluvial deposit fit for cultivation. North and
south it was shut in by rocky cliffs which abutted sharply on
the river, and rendered egress impossible except inland over
the hiUs. So serious was this felt to be, that a petition was
presented to the town of Waterbury asking for winter privi
leges. In other words to be relieved from paying a ministerial
tax in Waterbury and that they might be permitted during
certain months to sustain the Gospel at home. To sustain
that petition it was stated that on going to Waterbury they
were compelled to cross the Naugatuck nine times. The first
settlers were a sturdy and independent race, their clothing
and food being produced largely from the farms. Here dwelt
the Cooks, the Parrels, the Blakeslees and the Harrises. Their
Christian names would sound oddly to-day. There was Asaph
and Ambrose, Barnabas and Benoni, Emas and Ezekiel, and on
the other side Patience and Prudence and Comfort and Sub
mit. That last name never was popular and has now, I think,
become obsolete. The li-ving was plain and frugal, but health
ful and abundant. Let me imperfectly reproduce a dinner
of the olden times, that boiled dinner, that immaculate per
fection of all cooking. The sun has touched the meridian,
and the noon mark on the -window-sill has told to the -vrife
that the hour of the noonday meal has come, and will aUow
neither delay or lack of abundance. The dinner horn sends
its welcome notes over hill and vaUey calUng the farmer and
96

hired men and boys. Washing in a stone at the door which
has a natural cavity they enter the house. The center of the
table is graced -with a pewter platter filled -with meat and
vegetables. Grace is reverently said, somewhat too long for
the exacting appetites of the young folks. This is foUowed
by that golden glory, a boiled Indian pudding, and this was
supplemented by that New England nectar, cider. Neither
the dyspepsia nor sick headache lurked around that board.
It made blood and bone and muscle by which they drove out
the -wild beasts and Indians and sent defiance to King George.
Connecticut has produced one poet who has sung the -virtues
of hasty pudding. Would that Watertown could raise up
another TrumbuU to chant the glories of potluck. Here let
me correct a popular faUacy, that the heart is the seat of courage
and bravery. Nothing could be no more fallacious. The
stomach is the source of the heroic emotions and the throne
of the sympathies. Putnam with his strong sense understood
it when on this, the anniversary of Bunker HiU, he ordered
his men to fire at the waistbands. No man has lived without
a stomach, many a man without a heart or the evidence of it.
Soon after the Revolution two retired army officers settled in
Woodbury, Gen. Da-vid Smith and Major Joseph A. Wright.
They in conjunction -with Rev. S. Waterman, the third clergy
man, had a very elevating influence in moulding the character
of the place. A son of Gen. Smith, Junius Smith, afterwards
became a merchant in London, and was the first projector of
ocean steam na-vigation. The project was combatted by Dr.
Lardner and others, but after many delays and difficulties a
company was formed, a vessel constructed and Mr. Smith
made the first voyage ever made across the ocean exclusively
under steam. About the year 1793 a young man from Windsor
who had obtained some knowledge of clockmaking came to
Northbury carrying his goods and chattels in a cotton bundle.
Stalwart in frame, taciturn by habit and excitable in tempera
ment, EU Terry began in a small way and with very imperfect
machinery the making of clocks. Feeling the necessity of
understanding the keeping of time by scientific methods he
studied astronomy and became a profound scholar in the
science. What has been the success of this enterprise every
body knows. To-day the clocks made under the patents of
EU Terry keep time under almost every degree of latitude,
and nations most remote, Uke China and Japan, are among
the great markets of the trade. Another name world wide
in its reputation, and whose imprint was a sure guarantee
of the reliability of the clock, was a poor Wolcott boy, begin
ning Ufe with his bare hands, and bred a carpenter by trade.
Seth Thomas, invincible in wiU and purpose, a man of few words,
97

kindly in his disposition, charitable to the needy, in justice
and equity he was the Aristides of his calUng. His keen sense
of right made him despise all the subterfuges of craft and aU
the devises of dishonesty. Being inquired of in court if he
knew that he was under oath, he replied, "I am always under
oath." Character in a word. The town named after him is
a fitting memorial of such a life. To these two men, Messrs,
Terry and Thomas, old Northbury as it was, Plymouth and
Thomaston as they now are, owe a debt of gratitude for the
prosperity and thrift for which they are distinguished.
Governor Andrews, who was present with his wife
and daughter, was next introduced and arose amid
enthusiastic applause. He had no written address,
but spoke substantially as follows:
Gov. Charles Andrews's Address
When I was asked to make a speech this afternoon it was
stipulated that I should not be called until all the family speeches
were made. I wish to say in behalf of those of us who do not
live in Watertown that we think you have done a good deal
of bragging to-day. (Laughter.) But when it comes to
centennial anniversaries in our towns we will beat you at your
own game. (Renewed laughter.) Seriously speaking it is no
light thing to greet the one hundredth anniversary of the birth
of a place. Think what was going on in 1780 — war with Great
Britain, Jonathan Trumbull governor, Connecticut a struggling
undeveloped colony. That summer Washington journeyed
from his head-quarters to Hartford to meet Rochambeau and
others, and to plan that campaign which ended in the surrender
of Yorktown. It was no light thing to form a colony in those
troubled days. But the men of the place were far-seeing,
they felt that municipal town meetings were the primaries of
political science, and that within them liberty grew and
permeated all the people. It is local independence which
makes a nation independent and strong, and in those local
gatherings the roots of liberty struck down into deep and
permanent soil. If it had not been for the towns of New
England there would never have been any Declaration of
Independence, nor any Revolutionary war. (Applause.)
So when the little parish of Waterbury became large enough
to be clothed with the panoply of municipality the State clothed
it. Nowhere in the world have towns the independence they
have in this State. People came and planted settlements
at Wethersfield and Hartford and Windsor and elsewhere,
and were subject to no one. They came together and formed
a colony, and so are the nearest, under the sun, to true de-
98

mocracy. Every man was interested in good and safe govern
ment. From such seed grew the Revolution, and our national
government, which must continue to grow for all time. I
do not intend to make a speech on this subject now, but hope
in the future to develop the idea more fully. The governor
closed with words of congratulation to the people of Watertown.
Mr. Cutler next introduced Mr. Wm. E. Curtiss, Jr., referring
to him as a "chip of the old block." His appearance was
greeted -with applause. He began by remarking that he found
himself in a melancholy position, as it was announced by the
president of the day that there would be no more set family
speeches. He had expected to give some reminiscences of
his great-grandfather. Rev. Dr. James Scoville, but Dr. Rich
ardson had anticipated him, and therefore nothing remained
but to allow his speech to remain undisturbed in his pocket.
He said he had noticed many of his old schoolmates in the
assemblage before him, but in many instances saw none of the
oUve branches which are expected to be seen after a youth
has reached manhood. (Laughter.) He concluded by ex
pressing the hope that those who had gone forth from Water-
town to seek fame and fortune in other states, might come
back to the old town in their declining years and depart their
Uves in peace and happiness. Rev. James Stoddard next read a
few selections of much interest from some reminiscences written
by Mrs. Frederick Holcomb, prefacing them with the remark
that there was no person in Watertown who was dearer and
nearer to the hearts of the townspeople than she. At 4:15
the exercises closed with the singing of "Auld Lang Syne'' by
the choir and audience, and the benediction was pronounced
by Rev. S. K. Smith.
Among the prominent gentlemen present were:
Nathaniel Wheeler of Bridgeport; Truman A. Warren
of New Haven; Judge John A. Davis of New York;
Hon. Lyman W. Coe of Wolcottville; Samuel Judd
of Minnesota; H. A. Botsford of Hartford; and Horatio
Benton of Litchfield. Many of the residences were
profusely decorated -with flags and bunting. The
Warren house was a popular resort during the day.
Ever)rthing passed off in the best possible manner.
The citizens of Watertown and the committee of arrange
ments may feel satisfied at the result attending their
efforts to make the celebration of the one hundredth
anniversary of their town a brilUant and interesting
one. 99

The Reunion at Watertown of the 19th C. V.
July 7, 1875.
WEDNESDAY, citizens of Watertown were given an op
portunity to participate in the first soldiers' retinion
ever held in their pleasant village. Most royally
did they do the honors of the occasion, and the veterans of
the old 19th C. V., afterward the 2d Heavy Artillery, have no
cause to regret that they voted to hold the tenth annual re
union in the extreme southeast comer of Litchfield county.
Though the clouds looked slightly moist during the early
morning hours, the day proved to be as fine as could be -wished.
The people of Watertown and the adjoining towns had turned
out almost en masse, judging from the multitude present, to
take part in the festivities. The special train, which arrived
from Waterbury about 11 o'clock, had on board some fifty
members of the regiment, and a number of ladies, two passenger
cars being well filled.
At the depot they were met by the committee of reception
and the Terryville cornet band, 26 pieces, under the leader
ship of Frank Thomas. After forming in line, the Thomaston
band, headed by Chief Marshal John Heminway and his assist
ants, mounted, escorted the "vets" to the green in front of
the Congregational church. The members then filed into
the Town Hall to register with the secretary of the regimental
association, Lieut. D. C. Kilboum.
In the meantime other veterans and their families continued
to arrive from different parts of the county. Those from the
vicinity of Litchfield were accompanied by the Wolcottville
cornet band.
A bountiful collation was served in a tent. The tables
presented a beautiful appearance, and the veterans were en
thusiastic in their praises of the ladies who had provided so
abundantly. The square surrounding the tent was literally crowded
with people, handsome turnouts, and vehicles of every descrip
tion. After dinner there was music by the Wolcottville
and Thomaston bands, and both acquitted themselves
splendidly. Between 2 and 3 o'clock the regiment reassem-

bled beneath the pleasant shade of the trees in front of the
Congregational church. After music by the Terryville band,
and prayer by Rev. L. Munger, the business meeting was called
to order by the president of the regimental association, W. E.
Disbrow, a gentleman well fitted for the position. The genial
secretary, Lieut. D. C. Kilboum, then read his report, and also
the treasurer's report, which showed a balance of $8.63 in the
treasury. A letter received from the citizens of New Hart
ford, extending an invitation that the reunion next year be
held in that place, was read, and it was voted that the invita
tion be accepted. The reading of letters from absent members,
namely, S-wift B. Smith, Eli Sperry, Robert Irwin, Geo. S.
Williams and E. T. Carrington, created considerable merri
ment, some of them being written in a facetious vein. Three
cheers were given for the absent ones, after which was sung
the following song, composed for the occasion by S. N. Griswold
of Co. A, and sung to the air of "Hold the Fort:"
Comrades can you still remember
How in sixty-two.
In Camp Dutton, we were gathered
And first wore the blue.
Chorus — Raise on high the starry banner.
We'll defend it still;
By the Ballot and the Bullet,
In our might we will.
Rebel flags were floating proudly
On our land and sea.
When the sons of Litchfield County
Joined, our flag to free.
Gathered now in glad revinion,
Our sad hearts recall
Those who on the field of battle,
By our side did fall.
Time and sword have thinned our numbers.
Yet the fallen brave
Never more shall be forgotten.
While our flag shall wave.
Heaven shall shed its choicest blessings
On the patriot's grave ;
God preserve the flag and nation.
They have died to save.

Hail Columbia! Let the echoes
Ring from shore to shore.
Life to Union! Death to Treason!
Shout it evermore.
The election of officers resulted as follows :
President — A. P. Kirkham of Derby.
Vice President — J. N. Snowden of New Haven.
Secretary — D. C. Kilboum of Litchfield.
Treasurer — C. W. Hinsdale of Litchfield.
Executive Committee — P. E. Chapin, H. C. MerriU, A. F.
Lane, Henry Jones, Martin Wilcox, R. R. Smith and Carlton
Seymour. The historian's report showed that eight members had died
during the past year, as follows: Capt. M. H. Sanford, Lieut.
John M. Gregory, Lina Hotchkiss, Elbert B. Rowe, James B.
Parks, Patrick Delaney, James Jukes and John L. Strickland.
Allusion was made to Col. McKenzie, now a general in the
regular army, who is taking an active part in the Sioux cam
paign, and some of his exploits were cited. All the company
historians were reappointed with the exception of Horace
Sanford of Co. H, he being newly elected.
Among the "lost children" who registered was Archie Hurd,
Jr., of the 29th regiment, the first colored man to enlist in
Connecticut. Address of welcome delivered by Judge Wm. E.
Curtiss of New York, and the response by Colonel Smith
of Woodbury: Judge William E. Curtiss' Address of Welcome
Officers and soldiers of the Second Connecticut Heavy
Artillery: I feel myself honored in being called upon by my
fellow-townsmen, to extend a welcome to you and your wives,
and your children, and your brother volunteers on this inter
esting occasion. We offer a welcome, with gratitude in our
hearts, to the soldiers that in the hour of danger bravely per
formed their duty, and who, when peace came, made them
selves esteemed and respected as most worthy citizens.
It is fourteen years since I here said the words of parting
to some of you, then bouyant with youth, and hope, and
patriotic devotion. We were proud of our mountain county
regiment, and amid cheers and festivities it passed to the field;
but though there were hearts that were wrung, and partings
that were final, and seats by the familiar hearthstones that
were never to be again filled, all felt that the preservation of

the country was a sacred duty, to be accompUshed at any sac
rifice. As the months rolled on, we watched the bloody trail
from the dark hour at Cold Harbor, that robbed of life your
brave Col. Kellogg and so many of his officers and men, through
the victories of Winchester, Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek,
back to the storming of the lines at Petersburg, and saw no
other regiment in advance of you, enter that long fought for
city. We were justified in our pride. Men are apt to point with
satisfaction to events in the obscurity of the past. Almost
in sight was bom and bred Trumbull, the poet of the Revolu
tion, and here he -wrote the poem so full of humor and of Revo
lutionary patriotism, that cheered men's hearts in his day,
and went through many editions in this and the Old World.
A generation that has gone told us of a levy in their time of
aU men between sixteen and sixty years of age. We see linger
ing an occasional soldier of the war of 1812, but those that
are here to-day, or that are about here, are so vigorous and
active that the less we say about their old age and their in
firmities the better.
Yet, notwithstanding all the drapery and the sunset gUding
of the past, history can point to no acts of nobler courage, to
no examples of more devoted, self-sacrificing and lofty pat
riotism, than what we have seen with our own eyes, and heard
with our o-wn ears.
There is one passed away, with whom I studied my pro
fession and who would have gladly joined in this welcome.
His address on the presentation of your colors, breathes with
the inspiration of his lofty, noble soul and far-reaching wisdom.
WiUiam Curtis Noyes, to whom I refer, was the worthy hus
band of the patriotic lady, who presented you the stand of
colors for the regiment, herself a descendant of one who, in
the old time, honored our county, both as a soldier and in the
national councils. Though since that day so many years
have sped, and so much of sorrow and bereavement has come,
she has not forgotten the courage and the sufferings of the
brave soldiers, over whom they waved during those years
of struggle and of triumph. I would attempt to say some
words in her behalf, but I know that no language of mine
would be so grateful to you, as her words in this note, written
to me in reference to this occasion, and for the trespass of
reading which thus pubUcly, I trust I may be pardoned. She
writes "that any words of encouragement you may be wilUng
to use in my behalf, to the survivors of the brave 19th Con-
nepticut, now merged in the 2d Heavy Artillery, wiU be ex
ceedingly gratifying to me." "I retain the strongest possible
103

interest in the regiment, and owing to your long, consistent
and continued attachment to my husband, I feel as if no one
could express his sentiments more suitably or happily than
yourself." My brave friends, I wish I had the ability and the eloquence
to express his sentences — to tell you how he honored the ele
vated standard of principles and discipline and conduct that
you placed before you, and sought to be guided by; how his
prayers went up to Heaven, that your heads might be covered
in the hour of battle, and that success might attend your
cause ; how his heart filled with gratitude for your manly cour
age and unselfish patriotism; how his hand and his heart
were ever open and ready to minister to the wounded and the
bereaved. Some other tongue than mine can better do justice
to all this.
We have not met to-day to recount the story of our losses,
or to renew our griefs. The army rolls that show the gathering
on the Litchfield hill on the 13th of September, 1862, of eight
hundred and fifty young men, the sons of our friends and
neighbors, of whom on the 7th of July, 1865, only one hundred
and eighty-three remained to be mustered out, are a record
that will speak for all time. These sad sacrifices are not with
out their compensation. We have the constitution and the
government preserved, under which we were bom, and have
lived and prospered and enjoyed the protection of our personal
rights and our property, the administration of justice, pubUc
schools and liberty of speech and conscience, all which we
trust to preserve unimpaired, and transmit to the generations
yet to come. We have a country overflowing with the products
of its teeming soil, over which health and peace are smiling,
and where hunger and want scarcely cross a threshold. We
have a great and united nation rapidly growing in numbers
and in strength, the heavy burden of its debts diminishing,
and with the bow of promise set in the heavens, proclaiming
that the time will come when neither the pension of the wounded
soldier, nor the earnings of toil, nor the pecuniary obligations
incurred in business transactions, shall be paid by the tender
of an unfulfilled promise to pay.
For all these blessings that we have, and that are to come,
should we not feel grateful to those who shouldered the musket
to protect them in the season of peril?
It is with such sentiments of appreciation and gratitude for
your acts and with heartfelt respect and sympathy for you
personally, we give you our most cordial and most hearty
welcome. 104

CoL. Smith's Response
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen and Comrades of the
2d Connecticut Hea-vy ArtiUery: I am requested, in behalf
of the regiment, to retum thanks to you, Mr. President, repre
senting the people of Waterto-wn, and to yourself, Sir (to
Judge Curtiss), for the cordial and hospitable welcome you
have made ready for us, and the eloquent terms in which you
have been pleased to greet us. I know I express the feeling
of each comrade here present, when, in their name, I assure
you of their grateful appreciation, their sincere thanks.
And sir, in your address of welcome, you have afforded us
most sincere pleasure by reading that communication from
the beautiful and patriotic lady who gave to us our unequalled
flags. The assurance thus afforded, that she had not for
gotten those to whom she entrusted them, affords a thrill
of pleasure to aU such present at their reception, as are still
Uving to remember their donor. Permit me, in my comrades '
names, to say, that since that day she has always been, is now,
and, so long as any one of us shaU Uve, -will always be honored
and remembered -with grateful reverence. Tell her, sir, from
us, that these flags, by her entrusted to our keeping, have
been faithfuUy guarded; that while many have died beneath
their folds, not one has dishonored them; and further, sir,
teU her, that while the kind Pro-vidence that has hitherto spared
us, shaU suffer us to remain, we shall not cease to pray that
her lovely and unselfish Ufe may be long spared, to bless others,
as she has honored us.
You have spoken, sir, of that day at Camp Dutton when
this regiment marched forth to duty in the field. We call
it StiU the regiment, but, sir, the battalion is elsewhere.
"On Fame's eternal camping ground
Their silent tents are spread.
And Glory guards with ceaseless round
The bivouac of our dead."
There, the regiment musters on this anniversary. Here, is
but a detachment detailed for duty for awhile, tiU the grim
orderly. Death, shaU summon us to rejoin them. Each year
must henceforth witness a diminution in our ranks, until at
last there -wiU remain a few palsied old men, and then none.
But in aU this melancholy road, tUl the closing scene, there
-wiU be no more pleasant days than such as are afforded by a
welcome like the present. We may seem, ladies, much occupied
with each other, perhaps, somewhat forgetful of the courtesy
which is your due.
There are flowers whose perfume is so exquisite, so almost
105

divine, that one might beUeve they, had crept forth from the
open gate of Eden and so come down to us. But, one there is,
possessed of this queenly property, that, while itself giving
forth a delightful odor, when mingled with these others, it
neither changes nor overpowers, nor obscures their scent, but
simply intensifies it and renders it tenfold delicious.
Thus, ladies, it is with your welcome here to-day. To grasp
a comrade by the hand once more, to talk over again old times
and scenes, to learn of the present, and tell our hopes of the
future. These are pleasures which one thing only could heighten
— your care for us, your kindly ministrations, more than all
your sweet presence here; these intensify and render doubly
deUcious the happiness which our meeting gives us. There
fore once more, in the name of the 2d Heavies, permit me to
return to all, citizens, president, orator, ladies — our cordial,
and heartfelt thanks.
The Wolcottville band then rendered the "Rip Van Winkle
Overture" with telling effect, after which the exercises were
brought to a close with cheers for the citizens of Watertown.
About 5 o'clock the bands and a few invited guests were
served with refreshments in the Town HaU, and additional
e-vidence was furnished that the ladies of Watertown know
only too well how to fulfill all that is required of them. No
matter how pleasant the reunions may be which will come
hereafter, the members of the Second H. A. wiU not forget
for many years to come the handsome treatment they received
in Watertown in the centennial year. The whole number of
veterans present, who registered, was 220; also 40 "lost chil
dren," i. e., members of other regiments, and ten -widows of
deceased comrades.
Names of "Veterans and Revolutionary Soldiers.
Men enlisted from Watertown for three years under the
call of the President for five hundred thousand men in 1861;
Corp. Robert B. Atwood, J. Shelton Bronson, George H.
Baker, George Castle, Sylvanus M. Clarke, Levi B. Downs,
Albert S. Frost, J. J. Fischer, William Gridley, Adolph Hof-
fenmeyer, Augustus Lane, H. W. Loomis, Capt. Wm. H.
MaUory, Eugene Mclntire, Wm. D. Noble, Wm. H. Norris
H. A. Pratt, Corp. Mark O. Patterson, Chester RusseU, Wm.
W. Scoville, McHenry Stone, Henry G. Scott, Hubert Scott,
Lewis J. Welton, Sergt. Frederick H. Welton, Theodore Welton,
Bronson Welton.
In 1862: Wm. C. Atwood, John S. Atwood, Joseph Atwood,
Charles L. Bryan, Norman W. Barnes, Harvey Bronson, James
McCormick, Simon O. DonneU, Jr., Theodore C. Glazier, Samuel
lo6

D. Hme, Edward C. Hopson, Albert J. Hotchkiss, Edgar B
Lewis, Matthew Lusk, John A. Ludford, Hiram Mattoon
Timothy Malone, James H. Pritchard, Andrew J. Tuite, William
H. Whitelaw, Charies Warner, Thomas Wheeler, Richard
Barker, Marcus Dayton, Edward S. DooUttle, Benjamin H.
Mallett, Sherman Guernsey, Charles Taylor.
The foUo-wing men enUsted for three years and received the
to-wn bounty of one hundred dollars each :
Nathan B. Abbott, Peter Duffy, Charles E. French, George
S. Guilford, WilUam H. Guilford, Heman A. Morris, Merit B.
Woodruff. The following men enlisted for nine months and received
the town bounty of one hundred and fifty dollars each:
George W. Andrews, RusseU W. Ayres, Charles F. Black-
man, Marvin Brouet, John Brouet, John H. Bryan, John J.
Beecher, Ezra E. Bassett, George Clark, John N. Ensign,
George B. French, Edward S. Fairchild, John FitzPatrick,
Edgar Gibson, Henry F. Gibson, Lyman F. Guernsey, David
M. Hard, Amos G. Hull, Thomas B. Hotchkiss, Frederick
Nichols, Charles Nightingale, WilUam M. Parke, George J.
Porter, Julius J. Pope, WiUiam Root, Charles W. Scott, Cyrus
Thomas, George A. Wright.
Veterans living, 1907: George B. French, Thomas B. Hotch
kiss, George A. Wright, Norman W. Barness, Seth B. Bassett,
John S. Atwood, Sheldon J. Fox, Fred Cone, Henry S. HaU,
Frank Painter, John J. Rogers, Charles Warner, Charles J.
Bromberg, Andrew G. Drake, Henry Fitch, Albert S, Frost,
Da-vid M. Hard, Leroy Upson, George Babin, E. C. Marggraff.
Names of Revolutionary soldiers who enUsted from West
bury: Thomas AtweU, Timothy Andrews, Clark Baird, Alsop
Baldwin, Ensign Theophilus Baldwin, William Bassett, Aner
Bradley, Dr. Abel Bronson, Ebenezer Brown, James Brown,
Benajah Bryan, David Buckingham, Thomas Cole, Major
Agustus CoUins, Lieut. EU Curtiss, Zerah Curtiss, Joseph Cut
ler, Younglove Cutler, Jonathan Davis, Isaac Dayton, Justus
Dayton, Capt. Michael Dayton, Michael Dayton, Jr., Samuel
Dayton, Lieut. Thomas Dutton, Lieut. Titus Dutton, Lieut.
Nathaniel Edwards, Surgeon John Elton, Lieut. Nathan Ferris,
Jeremiah Finch, Da-vid Foot, David Foot, Jr., James Fulford,
Lieut. John Fulford, Noah Fulford, Titus Fulford, Jonathan
Gaylord, Daniel Goodrich, Philo Guernsey, Chauncey Guern
sey, Jonathan Guernsey, Capt. Joseph Guernsey, Southmayd
107

Guernsey, John Hannan, Ambrose Hickox, Lieut. Amos Hickox,
Jr., Darius Hickox, Elisha Hickox, Josiah Hickox, Capt.
Samuel Hickox, Thomas Hickox, Jr., WiUiam Hickox, Jr.
Da-vid Hubbard, David Hungerford, James Hungerford,
Joel Hungerford, Allyn S. Judd, Balmarine Judd, Brewster
Judd, Chandler Judd, Daniel Judd, Demas Judd, confined in
Jersey prison ship, Ebenezer Judd, Joel Judd, Martin Kellogg,
Capt. Asa Leavenworth, Ashbel Loveland, Amos Matthews,
Capt. Stephen Matthews, Amasa Mattoon, Thomas Merchant,
Jr., Christopher Merriam, Ensign Isaac Merriam, Charles
Merriman, Heman Munson, Lot Osbom, Elisha Parker, John
Parker, Benjamin Peck, Capt. Daniel Pendleton, David Punder
son, Nicholas Ransom, Theophilus Ransom, Lieut. -Col. Benja
min Richards, Ebenezer Richards, Abiel Roberts, Jr., Joel
Roberts, John Saxton, Gershom Scott, Jr., Stephen Scott,
Woolsey Scott, John Sea, Daniel Seymour, Joash Seymour,
Capt. Josiah Seymour, Capt. Stephen Seymour, Capt. Zadok
Seymour, James Smith, John Smith, Elijah Steele, Capt.
Samuel Strickland, Ensign John Stoddard, WeUs Stoddard,
Solomon TrumbuU, "Grig," Mr. TrumbuU's negro, WiUiam
Trumbull, Edward Warren, was at the surrender of ComwaUis.
Samuel Welton, Capt. John Woodruff, Samuel Woodruff,
Capt. Abel Woodward, John Woodward, George Wooldridge.
Mr. Caleb Hickox left in his will $3,000.00 towards a
soldiers' monument, to be available at the death of
Mrs. Hickox. In 1902, the Soldiers' Monument Asso
ciation was organized and a soliciting committee ap
pointed. $3,500.00 has been contributed by citizens
and friends and a monument to commemorate the
memory of the men who gave their lives in their country's
cause has been erected on the slope opposite the Meth
odist Church.

io8

^¦^^¦

*iM iitoi iioUi

Soldiers' Monument.

Societies and Organizations.
Freemasonry
THE first Masonic Lodge was held December 22,
1790, -with the foUo-wing officers and members
present:
Asher Blakeslee, Worshipful Master; Abel Bronson, Senior
Warden; Aner Bradley, Junior Warden; Nathan Preston,
Secretary; Elisha Warren, Tyler; Brethren present: John
Clarke, Chas. Merriman, Elijah Sherman, Samuel Woodward,
Amos Matthews, Barnabas Scott.
This meeting was held at Landlord (David) Turner's,
where they continued to meet until March 11, 1793,
when they removed to the Charles Merriman house
(opposite Taft's School), now occupied by Miss Mary
Merriman. Brother Merriman was "to find the Lodge
¦with house room, wood, candles, etc. for the term of
one year, and to have for his reward twelve dollars
and find the Lodge -with Liquor at Prime cost in New
York, allowing freight and transportation." The first
election of officers was held January 10th, 1791, when
they met to celebrate the Feast of St. John the Evan
gelist. Asher Blakeslee, W. M.; Abel Bronson, S. W.; Aner Brad
ley, J. W.; Samuel Southmayd, Sec; Chas. Merriman, Treas.;
Amos Matthews, S. D.; Elisha Warren, J. D,
Brother Ethel Porter was the first member to be
buried with Masonic honors. He died March 1, 1797,
in the thirty-second year of his age.
Honored, unchang'd, a firm yet cautious mind
Since tho' prudent, constant yet resigned,
Fill'd with the sense of age, the fire of youth,
Such this man was, who now from earth removed.
109

The Lodge ordered five hundred copies of the funeral
sermon preached by the Rev. Chauncey Prindle on this
occasion. August Sth, 1796, Brothers Chauncey Prindle and
Aner Bradley were appointed a committee to wait on
Rev. Uriel Gridley and offer to present him with a
suitable white marble tombstone in memory of his
late worthy Lady Dorcas.
January 6th, 1800, Brothers William J. Punderford
and Chauncey Prindle were appointed a committee
to make arrangements to commemorate the death of
Brother George Washington.
December 30th, 1806, Doctor Abel Bronson presented
the Lodge -with twenty dollars, the interest of which
was to be used to purchase a glass of remembrance.
The present officers of Federal Lodge, No. 17 F. &
A. M., are:
Ira C. Hotchkiss, W. M.; Thos. F. Magee, S. W.; S. McL,
Buckingham, J. W.; Jas. T. McCleery, Sec; Geo. F. Pritchard,
Treas.; Robert V. Magee, S. D.; Chas. B. Buckingham, J. D.
Rev. H. N. Cunningham, Chaplain.

Foresters

The origin of the Society of Foresters dates to the
time of Robin Hood and his band of merry men in
Sherwood Forest, England. It developed into assem
blies called courts, governed by a supreme body called
High Court, and became a benefit association. In
1890 the American Courts seceded from the EngUsh
and became the Foresters of America and now are
governed by their own Supreme Court, using for their
emblem the national colors.
Court Merritt Heminway, No. 48, was organized in
Watertown, April 17, 1890, -with 22 charter members.
Officers: Chief Ranger, J. D. McGowan; Sub Chief Ranger, Thos.
Higgins; Treasurer, E. P. McGowan; Financial Secretary,
John Dougherty; Recording Secretary, Frank Welch.
Members: Albert M. Bassett, Joseph Colgan, John Dough-

erty, Edward Lyons, Silas Marshall, Edward P. McGowan,
Michael R. Sepples, James Brophil, Thos. Colgan, Thos. Hig
gins, John Minnehan, John D. McGowan, Thos. McCarthy,
Frank Welch, Ernest Zeidler, James Colgan, Roderick N.
Deland, John Holoran, Patrick Minnehan, Thos. F. McGowan,
Henry St. George, Samuel O. Oxley.
The present membership is 117, and present officers:
Chief Ranger, Oscar Jorlot; Sub Chief Ranger, Edward
Canfield; Treasurer, Michael McFaddon; Financial Secretary,
Edward P. McGowan; Recording Secretary, James Hanning;
Senior, Samuel Moulthrop; Junior, WilUam Downes; Senior
Beadle, Thos. Dumphy; Junior Beadle, George McNulty;
Deputy Grand Chief Ranger, James Hanning; Junior Past
Chief Ranger, John Purdy; Lecturer, Thos. Shields; Trustees,
D. G. Sullivan, Patrick Walker, Patrick McGough; Court
Physicians, Dr. E. K. Loveland and Dr. James Martin.
A weekly benefit of five dollars is paid to all sick
members in good standing; doctors' bills are paid and
medicines furnished. $100 is paid toward funeral
expenses of a member and $50 at the death of the wife
of a member. In seventeen years Court Merritt Hemin
way has paid $1,000 sick benefits and $700 funeral
expenses. It is now one of the most prosperous Courts
in the State and has a large surplus in the bank.

Knights of Pythias

Columbia Lodge, No. 12, Knights of Pythias, was
instituted March 26, 1891, with twenty-seven charter
members. The first officers were:
Frank J Painter, Past Chancellor; George Hudson, Chancel
lor Commander; Robert V. Magee, Vice Chancellor; George
Treuren, Prelate; John J. Gailey, Keeper of Records and
Seal; Wm. J. White, Master of Finance; Robert J. Moore,
Master of Exchequer; Harry H. Heminway, Master at Arras;
Edgar L. Brouette, Inner Guard; Wm. Warrington, Outer
Guard. Present officers are:
David Davies, Chancellor Commander; George A. Ryder,
Vice ChanceUor; Linus F. Mattoon, Prelate; Jessy G. Hudson,

Master of Work; Thomas F. Magee, Master of Finance; Ber
tram P. Hudson, Master of Exchequer; Jason C. Hart, Master
at Arms; Wm. W. Jerman, Inner Guard; George Robinson,
Outer Guard.
The Lodge now numbers 101 members.
The total receipts since the Lodge was instituted
have been $12,071.08. $6,167.50 was expended for
sick and funeral benefits and at present about^ $1,000
are available. 
Fire Department
The Watertown Fire Department was organized
May 8, 1894. The number of members at that time
was about fifty. The first officers were:
Wm. H. Beers, Chief Engineer; E.W.Wheeler, Assist
ant Engineer; John J. Gailey, Secretary; James B.
Woolson, Treasurer. The Department is divided into
two companies called Hook and Ladder, No. 1, and
Chemical Engine Co., No. 1.
The first company officers were:
Hook and Ladder No. 1. — George Hudson, Foreman; George
W. Barton, 1st Assistant; Thomas D. Higgins, 2d Assistant.
Chemical Engine Company No. 1. — Henry H. Bartlett, Fore
man; Robert V. Magee, 1st Assistant; Henry St. George, 2d
Assistant. The apparatus consists of one hook and ladder truck,
one chemical engine, two hose carts and fifteen hundred
feet of hose. The present Department ofl&cers are:
Chief Engineer, S. McLean Buckingham; Assistant Engineer,
Thomas L. Shields; Secretary, Thomas F. Magee; Treasurer,
Joseph Suffa.
The present Company officers are:
Hook and Ladder No. 1. — Ralph B. Bronson, Foreman;
M. Hanning, 1st Assistant; H. Bronson, 2d Assistant. Chemi
cal Engine Company (now known as Hose Company No. 1). —
Foreman, Charles E. Gibson; 1st Assistant, Edward P. Mc
Gowan; 2d Assistant, Charles B. Buckingham.
The membership is limited to sixty men and we have
about twenty associate members.

Sexta Feira.
A Literary Society of fifteen or twenty ladies was
organized in the fall of 1886, composed of a few from
each denomination, meeting weekly, reading, taking
their sewing, and having Ught refreshments. In 1897,
they adopted a constitution with Umited membership
of thirty-five with a president, vice president, secretary
and treasurer. Article first reading: "This Society
shaU be called Sexta Feira." Article second: "The
object of this Society is to stimulate literary taste and
furnish social entertainment."
Sixty-nine names have been enrolled during the
twenty-one years. Thirty-five upon the "roll call"
to-day. Eight have been removed by death.
A number of gifts have been presented to the
Public School, and to the Library. A bronze tablet
to the memory of John Trumbull, the author and poet,
lawyer and judge of Connecticut Supreme Court, born
in Watertown, April 24th, 1750. The Society is in a
flourishing condition, having just celebrated its twenty-
first birthday, -with eleven present who were at its
organization ten years ago.
They have for their study this coming season: Latin,
America, -with Mexico, West Indies and South America,
in particular for their historical, physical, political and
natural resources and research. The officers are: Mrs.
Buel Heminway, President; Mrs. B. C. Atwood, "Vice-
President: Mrs. F. W. Gray, Secretary and Treasurer.

Daughters of the American Revolution.
The Sarah Whitman TrumbuU Chapter, D. A. R.,
was organized October 24, 1904. State Regent, Mrs.
Sara T. Kinney, met the twenty charter members at
"Campsie," the home of Mrs. John A. Buckingham,
and appointed Mrs. John A. Buckingham first Regent.
At a meeting following Mrs. Buckingham appointed
"Vice Regent, Mrs. Merritt Heminway; Corresponding
113

Secretary, Miss CorneUa Hotchkiss; Recording Secretary,
Mrs. Francis B. Noble; Treasurer, Mrs. John H. Taylor;
Historian, Mrs. Charles B. Mattoon; Registrar, Mrs.
Robert T. Lewis.
The membership has increased to thirty. The
Chapter has erected a drinking fountain to mark the
site of the John Trumbull house -with the inscription:
"Erected by the Sarah Whitman Trumbull Chapter,
D. A. R., to mark the site of the John Trumbull
house, 140 ft. Northeast."
It has also placed a brass tablet on the tree from
which the American flag was first unfurled at the close
of the war of 1812.
Historic spots are few in Watertown but the Chapter
can and will do other work that will leave its impress
upon the future. "Village Improvement Society
The "Village Improvement Society was organized
January 10, 1905, Mr. Horace D. Taft, President;
Mrs. Merritt Heminway, "Vice-President; Mrs. Alfred
Stephens, Secretary; Charles B. Mattoon, Treasurer.
The purpose of the Society is to beautify and improve
the appearance of the village, to assist in making side
walks, in grading, and in making any public improve
ment that -will benefit the town or its residents, and to
try to stimulate a spirit of progressiveness in our people.
The Society has received the encouragement of the
public and looks for a generous support in coming years.

114

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