CANNOT LEAVE THE LIBRIRY. Chap _-b_QL^ COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 9—166 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE tioiii a painting by S. F. H. MorM:-. ^yKc^/^:>ui^ CONNECTICUT AS A COLONY AND AS A STATE, OR ONE OF THE ORIGINAL THIRTEEN BY FORREST MORGAN Editor in Chief ASSOCIATE EDITORS SAMUEL HART, D. D. FRANK R. HOLMES JONATHAN TRUMBULL ELLEN STRONG BARTLETT VOLUME THREE The Publishing Society of Connecticut HARTFORD 1904 Oor^ Two On«>»^ HecrttveO SEP 21 1904 Copyright, 1904, By The Publishing Society of Connecticut All Rights Reserved PUBLICATION OFFICE 194 BOYLSTON STREET BOSTON, MASS., U. S. A. ^ DEDICATED TO NOAH WEBSTER BENEFACTOR OF THE ENGLISH SPEAKING RACE SYNOPSIS OF CHAPTERS CHAPTER I THE POLITICAL STATUS AT THE OPENING OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 33-43 The Royal Charter the Constitution of the State — Dissen- sions of Pohtical Parties — Reason why Connecticut had not adopted a New Constitution — Reaffirming of the Royal Charter — Leaders of the Democrat-Republican Party — Gideon Granger selected for Post-Master General — Con- necticut's Representatives in Congress — Jefferson's Remov- al of the "Midnight Appointees" — Collectorship of New Haven — Extract from the Oration of Theodore Dwight — The "Connecticut Policy" — Population in 1800 — Mississippi River closed to American Trade — Opposition of Mr. Hill- house to Administration Measures — Roger Griswold opposes the purchase of Louisiana — His unsuccessful attempt to cast suspicion on the Management of the United States Treasury — Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution adopted — Repub- lican Convention held at New Haven — General Assembly re- voke Justice of Peace Commissions^ — Presidential Electoral College of 1804. CHAPTER II CONNECTICUT UNDER THE EMBARGO 45-55 Gradual decline of the Federalist Party — Great Britain's unwarrantable acts on the High Seas — The Barbary Pirates — William Eaton in Tripoli — His Capture of Derne — Ea- ton's return to America — His untimely death — Ninth Con- gress Anti-Federalist — Jefferson's Embargo Act — Its Disas- trous effect on Connecticut's Commerce and Manufactures — Presidential Electors in 1808 — Repeal of the Embargo Act encourages the Shipping Interests — Theodore Dwight's illus- tration of the Political Views of Connecticut — Death of Jon- athan Trumbull — John Treadwell elected Governor. CHAPTER III THE BRINK OF WAR 57-66 Causes underlying the Second Struggle with England — Equally good Causes for a War with France — Assembling 19 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE of the Twelfth Congress — Active Leaders in Congress — ^John C. Calhoun's famous speech — A Native of Connecticut pre- sents a report to Congress declaring War — Connecticut's delegation opposed to the War — Press and Pulpit denounce any open rupture with the Mother Country — Roger Gris- wold elected Governor — President issues his first Levy for Troops — Governor Griswold refuses to allow Militia to leave the State — Special session of Legislature convened — Gover- nor's action approved — Assembly recognizes the right of Congress to declare War — Purchase of Military Supplies authorized — Death of Governor Griswold — His successor John Cotton Smith — Presidential Electors of 1812. CHAPTER IV THE SECOND WAR WITH ENGLAND 6; Determination to capture Canada — Lack of developed Mili- tary Talent — William Hull Governor of Michigan Territory — His appointment as Brigadier-General — Placed in command of the Northwestern Army — His surrender of Detroit — His Court Martial, resulting in his discharge from the United States Army — His Vindication — Isaac Hull's Victory with the Constitution — Captain Israel Chauncey's Defense of the Great Lakes — Connecticut's State Militia — A British fleet under Sir Thomas Hardy establishes a blockade of Long Island Sound — Commodore Decatur's Squadron chased into New London Harbor — Blockade of that city by the British^ — Blue Light Federalists — The American Squadron dismantled — British Sailors and Marines ascend Connecticut River — Landing made at Pettepaug Point — Estimate of Damages — The Liverpool Packet — Commodore Lewis' gal- lant defense — Bombardment of Stonington — Sir Thomas Hardy the British Commander — The brave defense made by Volunteers — Captain Jeremiah Holmes in Command — Brit- ish Fleet forced to retire — Naval victories of Commodore Mc Donough — Decatur returns to New London — Return Jon- athan Meigs, Jr., appointed Post-Master General — Drafts favored by Secretary of War Monroe — Officers and Men furnished by Connecticut during the War of 1812 — Major General Peter B. Porter — Brigadier General Daniel Bissell — Colonel Henry Leavenworth — Brigadier Generals Samuel Perkins and William Wadsworth. CHAPTER V THE HARTFORD CONVENTION 85-97 Dissatisfaction with Madison's Administration — People of New England opposed to the National Government — Legislature 20 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE of Massachusetts advocates a Convention to safe-guard New England interests — Connecticut and Rhode Island appoint Delegates — Convention assembles at Hartford — Two Coun- ties in New Hampshire represented — A Permanent Organ- ization effected — Members of the Massachusetts delegation — Connecticut's Representatives — Delegation from Rhode Island — William Hull, Jr., the sole Delegate from Vermont — Rumors that the proceedings of the Convention were of a Treasonable nature — Regiment of United States Troops or- dered to Hartford — Convention proposes amendments to United States Constitution — An adjournment taken — Signing of the Treaty of Peace obliterates all Grievances. CHAPTER VI THE POLITICAL REVOLUTION OF 1817 99-110 Revival of the Commerce of the State — Depression of the Manufacturing Industries — Republican-Democratic party op- posed to the Royal Charter as an instrument of Government — Meeting favoring Toleration and Reform held at New Haven — Formation of a new Political Party — Oliver Wolcott nominated for Governor — His Defeat — Presidential elec- tion of 1816 carried by the Federalists — Legislative disburse- ment of the funds received from the General Government — Repeal of the "Stand-up Law" — Tolerationists secure con- trol of both Houses of the General Assembly — Resolution adopted authorizing the calling of a Constitutional Conven- tion — Biographical sketch of Oliver Wolcott. CHAPTER VII THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1818 111-121 Constitutional Convention assembles at Hartford — Members of all Creeds and from all Walks in Life — Seven were mem- bers of the Convention that ratified the Constitution of the United States — Federalists well represented — Tolerationists elect their Candidate for Secretary — Oliver Wolcott chosen to preside over the Assembly — Committee appointed to draft a Constitution — Their report considered by Sections — The final adoption of the Constitution — Its ratification by a ma- jority of the electors of the State — Amendments made to the original Constitution. 21 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE CHAPTER VIII THE MONEY PANICS OF 1819-37 123-135 The Bank Capital of Connecticut — Comparison with that of Massachusetts — Law of 1802 — State invests Surplus in Bank Stock — Comptroller of Public Accounts authorized to de- mand Financial Statements from Banks — Banks incorporated at Bridgeport and New London — Derby Fishing Company — Eagle Bank of New Haven — Connecticut's subscription to the War Loan — The Phoenix Bank of Hartford organized — Specie at a Premium — Establishment of the Second United States Bank — Middletown selected for the Connecticut Branch — Importation of Specie by the General Government — Money Crisis of 1819 — Incorporation of Savings Banks — Connecticut Branch of The Bank of the United States re- moved to Hartford — SulTolk Bank of Boston becomes a Clearing House — Financial Crash in England — Failure of the Eagle and Derby Banks — New York Bank Wreckers — President Jackson's opposition to the Bank of the United States — United States Depositories — Public confidence in Monetary affairs shaken — Confidence restored in the Sum- mer of 1834 — Four new Banks chartered — Money Panic of 1837 — Appointment of State Bank Commissioners. CHAPTER IX INDUSTRIES OF CITIES AND TOWNS IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. .. .137-147 New Haven as a Commercial Port — New Haven's South Sea Fleet — The New Haven Green — Ports of Sandwich Islands and China visited — Seal Fishing — Passage of the Embargo Act destroys Foreign Commercial interests — Resumption of Business — New York gradually absorbs the Commerce — Foreign Trade of Hartford — Exchange of Products with Foreign Nations — Commerce of Hartford at the present Day — New London as a Ship Building Mart — Mould's Vessels — JeflFrey's Great Ship — Bald-headed Schooners — Whaling Voyages made from New London — Ship Commerce first to engage in the Trade — The Pioneer Vessels — The Carrier makes a Voyage for Sperm Whale — New London only ex- ceeded by New Bedford in Whale Fishing tonnage — Re- verses of 1847 caused by Competition and California Gold Craze — Temporary revival — Unsuccessful ventures of New Haven Merchants in Whale Fishing — Early enlistment of Stonington Citizens in the Trade — Gradual changes in the County Capitals. 22 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE CHAPTER X THE DEATH OF THE FEDERALIST PARTY 150-163 Connecticut receives a visit from President Monroe — Feder- alists take no part in his Reception — New Haven his first stopping place in New England — Tour resumed — Middle- town and Hartford visited — Also New London and Ston- ington — Agitation of the Extension of Slavery — The Mis- souri Question — Slavery in the North — Missouri Compro- mise — Ninth Presidential election — National Republicans and Whigs — Six prominent candidates to succeed Monroe — John Quincy Adams the favorite in New England — Andrew Jackson the idol of the Democracy — Henry Clay the spokes- man of the Border States — Crawford, Lowndes and Calhoun sectional candidates — Strict and Loose Constructionists — Connecticut elects Federalist Electors — The Tariff Ques- tion — Connecticut in favor of Protection for American In- dustries — Convention of Woolen Manufacturers assembles at Harrisburg Pennsylvania — Twentieth Congress pass the Tar- iff Act of 1828 — General Peter B. Porter Secretary of War — Defeat of Governor Oliver Wolcott — Election of Gideon Tomlinson to the Executive Office — Electoral College of the Eleventh Presidential election — Prominence of Moses Aus- tin in the settlement of Texas — Captain Samuel Chester Reed the designer of the American Flag — Ambrose Spencer Chief Justice of New York — Newgate Prison abandoned — Retreat for the Insane incorporated — Connecticut General Hospital Chartered at New Haven — Organization of Yale Medical College. CHAPTER XI THE POLITICAL STATUS OF CONNECTICUT DURING JACKSON'S TWO TERMS 165-175 Inauguration of President Jackson — His slogan cry "To the Victor belongs the Spoils" — Wholesale dismissal of Office- holders — Hayne and Webster debates — Gradual decline and fall of Federalisrn — Governor Tomlinson succeeded by Dr. John S. Peters — New element in the Political Field — Anti- Masonic Party — Biographical sketch of Dr. Peters — State Electoral College of 1832 — Henry W. Edwards elected Gov- ernor by the Legislature — His Political Services — Candidate of the National Party chosen by Legislature for Governor — First appearance of Whig Party in State Politics — Biogra- phy of Samuel Foot — Temperance Movement and Abolition of Slavery important Political factors. 23 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE CHAPTER XII A DECADE OF NATIONAL AND STATE POLITICS 177-192 Condition of the Country at the Thirteenth Presidential- Election — Southern Democrats present a Northern Pres- idential candidate — Connecticut carried by the Democrats — Her Electoral College — Money Panic of 1837 causes defeat of the Democratic State Party — William W. Ellsworth elected Governor — Sketch of his Life — John M. Niles the Democrat- ic opponent of Governor Ellsworth in 1839-40 — The Presi- dential Election of 1840 — Coimecticut carried by the Whigs — Francis Granger becomes a member of President Harri- son's Cabinet — Chauncey F. Cleveland elected Governor by the Democratic Party — Whigs triumphant in Spring of 1844 — Roger Sherman Baldwin as Governor — Fifteenth Presi- dential Election — Connecticut's vote cast for Henry Clay — War with Mexico opposed by the General Assembly — Isaac Toucey chosen Governor by the Legislature in 1846 — Mem- ber of both Polk and Buchanan's Cabinets — General Assem- bly receives from Governor Toucey notification of War with Mexico — The President's call for Volunteers — Action of the Legislature — Clark Bissell elected Governor — Sketch of his Life — Treaty of Peace with Mexico — Sons of Connecticut in the Mexican War — Generals Totten and Talcott. CHAPTER XIII AFTER THE MEXICAN WAR 193-205 Controversy over Extension of Slavery — Wisconsin becomes a State — Anti-Slavery Movement — Whigs nominate General Taylor — Albany Regency — Free Soil Party — Connecticut's vote in the Sixteenth Presidential Election — Joseph Trum- bull chosen Chief Magistrate by the Legislature — Thomas H. Seymour his Successor — His re-election — Appointed Minister to Russia — Charles H. Pond becomes Governor — Samuel D. Hubbard a Cabinet Official — Democratic and Re- publican Presidential Conventions of 1852 — Connecticut's Presidential Electors — Henry Dutton chosen Governor by the Legislature — Know-Nothing and Whig members of the Legislature elect William T. Minor Governor — Connecticut's attitude regarding the Slavery Question — Her Popular Vote in 1856 — Alexander H. HoUey becomes Governor. CHAPTER XIV THE FINANCIAL PANIC OF 1857 207-215 Unsettled financial condition of the Country — Danbury Bank created — Legislature of 1847 grants Charters to four Banks — 24 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE Five Banks organized in 1849 — Incorporation of Banks in 1851 — Free General Banking Law — Banks organized under this Law — The Statute repealed — Banks incorporated under the Old Law — The Granite Bank Fraud — The Mattatuck Bank of Waterbury — New York Bank Conspirators — Finan- cial Panic of 1857 — General Suspension of Specie Payment by Connecticut Banks — New Britain Bank chartered — Sav- ings Institutions — Savings and Building Associations. CHAPTER XV THE TEXTILE INDUSTRIES 217-235 Introduction of Spanish Merino Rams — Foundation of the present Factory Villages — Selectmen of Towns constituted by Legislature, Visitors to Manufacturing Establishments — The Humphreysville Manufacturing Company — Extracts from President Dwight's Travels — Fathers of American Woolen Mills — Old Forge on the Oxoboxo river — Scholfield Satinet — Woolen Industry during the War of 1812 — Mar- ket collapsed on declaration of Peace — Middletown Woolen Manufacturing Company — Wolcottville Knitting Company — Hockanum Company — Rockville a centre for Woolen Manufactures — Other Woolen Mills — Hartford Carpet Com- pany — Connecticut ranks seventh in the amount of her woolen manufactured Goods — Invention of the Cotton Gin — Samuel Slater arrives in Rhode Island — Cotton Industries established in the Eastern part of the State — Pomfret Manu- facturing Company — The Industry at Jewett City — Cotton Mills in the towns of Sterling and Plainfield — Grosvenor- dale Company — Pioneer Cotton Spinner of Willimantic — Norwich the natural centre of Cotton Industries — The manufacture of Cotton Thread — Gardiner Hall's in- ventions — The Willimantic Linen Company — Cotton Mills scattered throughout the State — Dr. Nathaniel Aspin- wall's experiments with Silk-worms — Colonel Elderkin an early Pioneer — Rodney and Horatio Hank's Invention — Mansfield Silk Company — Frank and Ralph Cheney at South Manchester — The Plant of the Cheney Brothers — The manu- facture of Silk introduced into Rockville and Willimantic — The Silk Industries at other Points — Connecticut fourth in amount of Silk products. CHAPTER XVI METAL INDUSTRIES , 237-256 Early manufacture of Tin-ware at Berlin — Application of Machinery to Clock making — Exportation of clocks to for- eign Countries — Jerome Clock Company — Organization of the Seth Thomas Clock Company- — Waterbury becomes 25 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE known as "The Brass City" — The Button Industry — Brass and German Silver manufactured — Aggregate Capital invested — Connecticut's rank in amount of her Annual Products — Formation of the Benedict and Burnham Manufacturing Company — Scovill Manufacturing Company — Brass Kettles made by Battery process — Foundation of the City of Ansonia — Manufacture of Brass and Copper at other Points — Con- necticut first in the production of Machine-Screws — Third in Metal Working Machinery — The Industries of Hartford — — New Haven — Derby and New Britain — Bell-Making in Connecticut — Introduction of Lock-Making — Yale and Towne Manufacturing Company — The Works of The Brad- ley and Hubbard Manufacturing Company — Axes and Edge Tools — Pins and Needles — Silver Spoons and Hollow Ware — ^Connecticut first in the manufacture of Plated and Britan- nia Ware — Early attempts at Watch-Making — The Water- bury Watch. CHAPTER XVII THE DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIES 257-277 The Inventive Genius of the Citizens of Connecticut — Charles Goodyear's discovery — Establishment of the Hay- ward Rubber Company — Other Rubber Industries — Process of solidifying Rubber — Two Novel Rubber Industries — Man- ufacture of Fire-arms — Samuel Colt's patents — The Hotch- kiss' Gun — American Ordnance Company — Invention of the Sewing Machine — Wheeler & Wilson, and Weed Sewing Machine Companies — Columbia Bicycle — The Smyth Man- ufacturing Company — Paper Making Industries — Manufac- ture of Hats and Corsets — New Haven's Carriage Works — Connecticut's output of Pianos and Typewriting Machines — Comb Industries — Chemicals and allied Products — Manufac- ture of Leather Belting — Cigars and Tobacco — Mosquito 'Netting Factory — Invention of Machine for cutting Corks — Lincrusta- Walton — Connecticut as a Manufacturing State in 1810 — Her Population, Manufacturing and Agricultural positions in 1900. CHAPTER XVIII THE ADVANCEMENT OF INTERNAL INTERCOURSE. . .279-287- Improvement of primitive Highways — Construction of Turn- pikes — Stage Coach Lines established — Hartford at the head of Sloop Navigation — First Bridge to cross the Connecticut River constructed — Steam Navigation on Long Island Sound — First Steam Vessel to cross the Atlantic, command- 26 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE ed by a native of Connecticut— The Steamboat King—Es- tablishment of Steamship Lines between Hartford and New York- Charters granted to the Farmmgton and Ousatomc Canal Companies— Connecticut's rapid progress in the con- centration of Commercial Capital, and Inter- State Inter- c course CHAPTER XIX EARLY RAILROADS 289-300 Opposition to the introduction of Railroads— Legislature grants first Charter— Incorporators of the Hartford and New Haven Railroad Company— Hartford and Sprmgfield Rail- way Company organized— Danbury & Norwalk and Hou- satonic Railroad Companies— Number of Miles of Completed Railroads in New England in 1840— The Railroad Era— The Shore Line— Boston and New York Air Line— Boston Hart- ford and Erie Railroad Company— "Consolidated Road — Board of Railroad Commissioners— Comparison of their re- port of 1855-56 with that of 1900. CHAPTER XX THE ORGANIZATION OF CITIES, BOROUGHS AND TOWNS 301-30K Twelve new Towns organized in the first decade of the Nine- teenth Century— Griswold and Salem in New London Coun- ty granted Town Privileges— Darien taken from Stamford- Bridgeport becomes a Town— Milford formed from Orange —Chaplin and Manchester incorporated— Monroe, Madison and Prospect organized — Nine new Towns added to Connec- ticut's complement from 1830- 1 839— Western part ofSaybrook becomes Westbrook— Portland taken from Chatham— Rocky Hill from Wethersf^eld— Naugatuck granted Town Privileges —Two new Towns created by Legislature in 1845— Eastford and Andover incorporated— Fifteen Towns organized be- tween 1850-60— Morris formed from Litchfield— Sprague taken from Lisbon— Southwest corner of Middletown be- comes Middlefield— Western part of Wethersfield nained Newington— Beacon Falls incorporated— Ansonia taken from Derby— Boroughs become a Civil Division- Present Boroughs— Bridgeport and Waterbury become Cities— Mer- iden given Civic Honors— New Britain and South Norwalk incorporated— Danbury and Rockville made Municipalities— The Banner Year for creating Cities— Putnam the last reci- pient of Civic Rights— Civil Divisions of Connecticut. 27 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE CHAPTER XXI AGE OF INVENTION 309-320 The First Patent — Passage of a New Patent Law — Cotton Gin invented — Lee's Windham and New London Pills — Metallic Tractors — Modification of the Patent Law — Elliptical Main- spring for Carriages patented by Jonathan Mix — Statement of Ezra L'Hommedieu to the Secretary of the Treasury — Pat- ent issued for propelling Carriages by Steam — Brewster's inventions in Cotton and Woolen machinery — Goodyear's First Patent — Important inventions of machinery for man- ufacture of Axes and Pins — Automatic machine for Comb- dressing — Number of Patents issued from 1840 to 1850 — Con- necticut's rank for Patents issued to her Citizens — Total number of Patents issued in United States — In France — In Great Britain — In Germany — The First Industrial Exhibition — Connecticut's Manufacturers represented — Exhibition of 1862 — Connecticut represented by three Manufacturers. CHAPTER XXII PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM AND INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION 321-344 Connecticut first in the foundation of Schools and Churches — Noah Webster's early studies — Eliphalet Nott's ability cer- tified to as a Teacher, by the Selectmen of the Town of Franklin — The Code of 1750 — Subdivision of Towns into School Districts — School Societies — School Visitor — Board of Commissioners of Common Schools — Connecticut School Fund — School Tax — Town Deposit Fund — Free Text Books — Establishment of Higher Grade Schools — The First Acad- emy — State Normal Schools — Episcopal Academy incorpor- ated at Cheshire — Legislature incorporates Washington Col- lege — Purchase of College Hill — Bishop Brownell first Pres- ident — Jarvis and Seabury Halls — Members of the First Fac- ulty — Reverend Nathaniel S. Wheaton becomes President — His successor Reverend Silas Totten — Brownell Hall built — Name of College changed to Trinity — Board of Fellows or- ganized — House of Convocation formed — Reverend John Williams succeeds Dr. Totten — Berkeley Divinity School in- corporated — The administrations of Reverend Doctors Goodwin, Eliot, Kerfoot and Jackson — Sale of College grounds — Purchase of new Site — Reverend Thomas R. Pyn- chon elected President — Erection of Northam Hall — Doctor Pynchon's successor Reverend George W. Smith — Reverend Flavel S. Luther elected President — Third College estab- lished in Connecticut — Located at Middletown — Wesleyan University — Reverend William Fisk its first President — His successors — The Orange Judd Hall of Natural Science con- structed — Gifts from George I. Seney, Isaac Rich and oth- 28 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE ers — Dr. Bradford P. Raymond chosen President — The Con- vention at East Windsor — Pastoral Union of Connecticut — Theological Institute of Connecticut — Its removal to Hart- ford — Name changed to Hartford Theological Seminary — Gifts of James B. Hosmer and Newton Case — Dr. Chester Hartranft elected its First President — Origin of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum — Work of Reverend Thomas Gallaudet — His successors — Change of name — Attempt to establish a negro college at New Haven — Prudence Crandall's school at Can- terbury. CHAPTER XXIII CONNECTICUT UNDER BUCHANAN'S ADMINISTRA- TION 345-353 Kansas Troubles — Kansas-Nebraska Bill and the Dred Scott decision — Enactment of the Retaliation Law by the New York Legislature — Organizing of Colonization Socie- ties — The Silliman Letters — Spring election of 1858 — William A. Buckingham the Republican nominee elected — His first two Administrations — His re-nomination — Exciting Political Campaign of i860 — Abraham Lincoln visits the State to make Campaign speeches — Biographical sketch of William A. Buckingham. CHAPTER XXIV CONNECTICUT IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE .-55-377 Names and Brief Sketches of Members who have repre- sented the State — Record of Members who represented other States but were natives of Connecticut. CHAPTER XXV CONNECTICUT IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE FIRST TO THE THIRTIETH CON- GRESS 3 "9-409 Names and brief sketches of Members who represented the State — Changes in the manner of electing Members of the House — ^Natives of the State who represented other States. 29 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE CHAPTER XXVI CONNECTICUT IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE THIRTIETH TO THE FIFTY-SEV- ENTH CONGRESS 411-437 Names and brief sketches of members who represented the State — Natives of the State who represented other States. APPENDIX THE CHARTER AND CONSTITUTION OF CONNECTI- CUT BY LYNDE HARRISON 4'<: 452 30 ILLUSTRATIONS Webster, Noah Frontispiece. Baldwin, Roger S Facing p. i86 Brown, John Facing p. 174 Brownell, Thomas Church F >cing p. 330 Capture of the Guerriere by the Constitution Facing p. 74 Colt, Samuel Facing p. 262 Gallaudet. Thomas H Facing p. 340 Goodyear, Charles Facing p. 260 Hartford in 1856 Facing p. 282 Hull, Isaac Facing p. 72 New Haven in 1858 Facing p. 294 Phelps, Anson G Facing p. 244 Seymour, Thomas H Facing p. 198 Tallmadge, Benjamin Facing p. 386 Terry, Nathaniel Facing p. 114 Toucey, Isaac Facing p. 188 Treadwell, John Facing p. 54 Trumbull, Joseph Facing p. 406 Trumbull. Lyman Facing p. 374 Wheeler, Nathaniel Facing p. 266 Whitney, Eli Facing p. 312 Wolcott. Oliver Facing p. 108 31 CHAPTER I The Political Status at the Opening of the Nine- teenth Century THE opening of the nineteenth century found the conservative commonwealth still recogniz- ing, as the norm of existence, the Royal Char- ter. The other members of the American Union, with the exception of Rhode Island, had adopted new constitutions. The F'ederalist party had never commanded a majority of the people. It was essen- tially an upper-class and therefore minority party; but in its earlier years it was reinforced by a great number of per- sons who were Democrats at heart, because it was the only organization bent on forming the strong government indis- pensible for national security and order, just as in 1896 a vast number of Democrats reinforced the Republican party as the only method of saving sound finances. In both cases the temporary alliance fell apart as soon as the immediate peril was over. The classes headed by Jefferson had joined that headed by Hamilton with great reluctance; and by 1794 it was evident that they were fast melting away into their nat- ural party. The dissensions between the Federalist leaders after 1796 are usually credited with ruining the party and bringing in Jefferson in 1800; but in fact, if Hamilton and Adams had loved each other like brothers, the result in all probability would have been just the same. The Federalists used the obviously judicious plan of bal- ancing their New England candidate for President, Adams, with a South Carolina candidate for Vice-President, Pinck- ney; but most of the growth in the country had been in sec- tions and of elements opposed to them, and they went out of power not to return. The slovenly provision of the Con- stitution for electoral voting very nearly enabled them, how- ever, to come back by intrigue, putting Burr in as President ov^er Jefferson. Perhaps it was not so indefensible a measure 35 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE as usually represented. The Connecticut electors clung to Burr up to the last; and they were men of character, not act- ing for mere spite or partisanship. The plain fact was, that they regarded Burr, from his being a Northern man, as safe to intrust with the interests of New England commerce ; and Jefferson as a Southerner as likely to be hostile to them. And the crowning argument in their favor is, that they were right. Jefferson did nearly destroy New England commerce: it is very unlikely that Burr would have forced through an. Embargo Act. To return to the State constitutions : — The reason Connec- ticut and Rhode Island did not adopt new instruments of government was because their own represented their own wishes and gave them the fullest powers. These instruments were not forced upon them from without, but framed from within as entirely as new constitutions could have been ; it would be time to make a change when one was called for. The only alteration needed was the transfer of allegiance from the British Crown to the new independent nation. This was done by the declaration "that the form of Civil Gov- ernment in this State shall continue to be as established by charter received from Charles the Second, King of Eng- land, so far as an adherence to the same will be con- sistent with an absolute Independence of this State from the Crown of Great Britain," etc. The Royal Charter was reaffirmed in the revision of the laws in 1784; prior to this, a number of the legal minds of the State had attacked the validity of the document on the ground that as the charter had been vacated by King, Lords, and Commons, and independence declared by Congress, and ratified by the Legislature of the State, therefore, strictly speaking, the commonwealth was destitute of any civil con- 36 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE stitution. These ultra views gained but few adherents until about 1800; when a considerable minority of the people, adopting the principles of the Democratic-Republicans, be- came strong enough in numbers and influence to seriously embarrass the party which two years previously was abso- lutely dominant in the State. Among the leaders of this opposition were William Williams of Lebanon (a signer of the Declaration of Independence), General James Wads- worth of Durham, General Erastus Wolcott of East Wind- sor, Dr. Benjamin Gale of Killingworth, Joseph Hopkins of Waterbury, Colonel Peter Bulkley of Colchester, Colonel William Worthington of Saybrook, and Captain Abraham Granger of Suffield. In the organization of the first Democratic presidential administration, Connecticut was honored by the selection of native sons, representing sister States, to preside as Presi- dents pro tempore over the Senate of the seventh Congress. The President called to his aid, to fill the position of Post- master-General, Gideon Granger, a native of Suffield, who had served in the State Legislature ; and also gained celebrity through his efforts to promote education by the establish- ment of a school fund. Though in the National Senate the Democrats were largely in the ascendency, there was a distinguished and conservative minority. Connecticut's adherence to her early political affiliations was ably defended by Uriah Tracy and James Hillhouse, who led the opposition in connection with Gouver- neur Morris of New York, Jeremiah Mason of Massachu- setts (a native of Lebanon, Connecticut), and James Ross of Pennsylvania. At the head of the State delegation in the lower house were Roger Griswold, Samuel W. Dana, Calvin Goddard, and John Cotton Smith; all aggressive opponents 37 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE of any governmental measures not emanating from their own political party. One of the first acts of President Jefferson was the removal of the so-called "midnight appointees," made by his prede- cessor. Adams did not devise this scheme for retaining the control of the administration with the Federalists after the electors had ousted them, nor did he approve it; but as he let himself be made the instrument of it, he must share the responsibility. Among the appointments was that of Elizur Goodrich to the coUectorship of New Haven. This gentle- man was a member of Congress and a strong Federalist par- tisan; he resigned his seat for the residue of his term, to secure a permanent position. His qualifications for the office were indisputable; but Jefferson naturally treated all these appointments as nullities, and removed Mr. Goodrich from office, naming as his successor Judge Samuel Bishop. This aroused great Federalist indignation throughout Connecti- cut; the combined press of the State asserted that the liberties of the people were being endangered, and they assailed the principles of the administration. Technically, Jefferson had in truth violated the law as to appointments, and the Federal- ists had kept to its letter; but their indecent violation of good faith had itself to thank for their enemies' disregard of law. A memorial was addressed to the President, by a committee consisting of merchants of New Haven, in which they alleged that Judge Bishop was incompetent to perform the duties of the office, and unfitted for the position on account of his age; lamenting that a change of administration should interfere with subordinate offices under the government, and alleging that the President's action was a negation of the tolerant views professed by him in his Inaugural address. This was an unwise step for the memorallsts, as It gave the President the 38 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE opportunity to contrast his toleration with that of his prede- cessors. In justification of the qualifications of Judge Bishop, he referred them to the action of their Legislature at the pre- vious May session, when the judge was chosen chief judge of the Court of Common Pleas of New Haven County, also as sole judge of the Court of Probate. This seems to have settled the particular contro\ersy, but the general tone of Connecticut's influential classes towards the new Democratic regime was incredibly bitter. As a climax and a curiosity, we give the following, said to be a passage from an oration delivered by Theodore Dwight before the Connecticut Society of the Cincinnati. The authority is Randall's "Life of Jef- ferson." Randall admits that he cannot prove its authen- ticity, but is positive of its genuineness; possibly he was more positive than if he had not been a Democrat. Mr. Dwight said: "We have now reached the consummation of Demo- cratic blessedness. We have a country governed by block- heads and knaves; the ties of marriage, with all its felicities, are severed and destroyed : our wives and daughters are thrown into the stews; our children are cast into the world, from the breast, forgotten ; filial piety is extinguished, and our surnames, the only mark of distinction among families, are abolished. Can the imagination paint anything more dreadful this side of hell? Some parts of the subject are indeed fit only for horrid contemplation." The national defeat of the Federalist party in the fall of 1 800 solidified the ranks of the Connecticut section ; but even in New England, the growth of population tended to weaken the Federalists. Apart from defections caused by ambition and selfishness, "old families" did not increase nearly so fast as the new-comers whom the Democracy represented. The 39 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE Federalists had done a good and indispensable work; but they were opposed to the spirit of the vast emancipated mul- titude. For the present, however, Connecticut's Federalist basis was broad enough to withstand their influences; her interests still needed the Federalist policy. The "Connecticut policy" was stigmatized by the Demo- cratic-Republican press as pure stagnation. It was asserted that in the stubborn conservatism of her tenets the State bid defiance to truths flowing from the revolution in political science, which had caused no alteration either in her constitu- tion or the thoughts of her citizens ; the latter being the dupes and victims of a pampered anti-christian priesthood, to whom they were subservient through superstition, which resulted in their own debasement and the personal exaltation of their rulers. Connecticut's representation in the national legislative halls was not changed by the census of 1800. Her population of 251,002 gave her the rank of eighth among the States, and on the basis of one representative for every 33,000 inhab- itants entitled her to seven members. The second session of the Seventh and the first session of the Eighth Congress were enlivened by measures pertaining to the maintenance of navigation on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, and the purchase of Louisiana. The latter, though resulting immediately from Napoleon's needs and bad faith, was the natural sequel to a long history of Southwestern dis- content, for years threatening outright secession or even annexation to Spain, and breeding some active traitors like Wilkinson, besides more than once coming close to war with Spain. It was only a question of time when the United States would have it ; though had not the English barred the way to Napoleon's colonizing it, years more would have 40 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE elapsed and possibly much larger French settlement would hav^e been found there. The issuing of a proclamation by the Spanish intendant, forbidding Americans the use of New Orleans as a port of entry, was one of the later complications; and on President Jefferson's notification to Congress that the Mississippi was virtually closed to American trade, he was empowered to call out the militia for the purpose of occupying New Orleans. These administration measures were met with opposition by Connecticut's representatives in the Senate. Mr. Hillhouse, while in favor of maintaining American rights in the Mis- sissippi valley, deemed it proper that the President should confine his call for troops to the States west of the Potomac or Hudson ; the others being considered too far distant from the contemplated field of battle. In the lower house, Roger Griswold, as an opposer of the purchase of Louisiana with- out the unanimous consent of the States, was ably combated by John Randolph, the leader of the administration forces. Griswold's resolution for the production of all papers cov- ering the transactions was bitterly opposed by the supporters of the government; and the purchase of the province, and its erection into a territory, were consummated by a large major- ity. Mr. Griswold made an unsuccessful party movement to bring suspicion on the management of the United States Treasury, alleging that appropriations for discharging the public debt had not been devoted to that purpose. This charge was proved so unworthy of credence that it reacted on its proposers, and was a triumph for the administration. The Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution, relating to balloting for President and Vice-President, was ratified in 41 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE 1804 by the required three-fourths of the States; Massachu- setts, Connecticut, and Delaware refused their assent. The opposition is not creditable to the Federalists of these States : the Jefferson-Burr imbroglio had proved the grave and immediate necessity for some such amendment, whose neglect might result in a civil war or the usurpation of the Presi- dency by virtual fraud. Leading Republicans from time to time urged the neces- sity and importance of forming a new constitution to be rati- fied by the people. No concerted action was taken until Aug. 29, 1804, when delegates from ninety-seven towns assembled at the State House in New Haven, for the purpose of formulating a plan for a new constitution, "which shall separate the legislative, executive, and joadicial powers; shall define the qualifications of freemen, so that legislators shall not tamper with election laws ; and shall district the State so that freemen may judge of the candidates for their suffrages." This was a direct blow to Connecticut's Federalism; as it was believed by Republicans and by some of the Federalist leaders that a new constitution, in connection with the loss of Hamilton as a national leader, would remove all causes of hostility to the general government. On the assembling of the Republican delegates. Major William Judd of Farming- ton, was chosen chairman. The meeting was held with closed doors; an address to the people was formulated, advising preparatory measures for a new constitution. This was fol- lowed by a pamphlet war. In one pamphlet the address of the New Haven Convention was burlesqued ; another, under the pseudonym of Jonathan Steadfast, was entitled "Count the Cost." These, in connection with denunciations from the Federalists, to the purport that the acts of the convention were revolutionary toward the law, order, and steady habits 42 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE of the State, resulted in an increased Federalist majority at the October election ; thus showing that the popular mind was not yet prepared for any radical change in the Charter as a constitution. The venom of political strife was exhibited in the action taken by the Federalists, at the convening of the next General Assembly. Five justices of the peace, who had attended the Republican convention at New Haven, were cited to appear before that body, "to show reasons why their com- missions should not be revoked," since "it is improper," as the preamble of the resolutions set forth, "to trust the administration of the laws to persons who hold and teach that the government is an usurpation." The culprits had but slight show for justice, before their predisposed judges; the Governor and Council, after a hearing, unanimously passed a bill revoking their commissions. The House concurred by a large majority. The question of a new constitution was one of the main issues in the spring election of 1805 ; but although it held a prominent place in the Republican platform for several suc- ceeding years, there was no probability of its attainment, and the introduction of more weighty and immediate matters caused it gradually to be lost sight of during the next decade. The presidential election of 1804 was void of any exciting interest. The electoral college of Connecticut consisted of Jonathan Trumbull, Lewis B. Sturges, John Treadwell, David Smith, Oliver Ellsworth, Asher Miller, David Dag- gett, Sylvester Gilbert, and Joshua Huntington, who cast the vote of the State for Charles Cotesworth Pinckney for Presi- dent and Rufus King for Vice-President. This, with three votes from Delaware and two from Maryland, was the total received for the Federalist nominees. 43 CHAPTER II Connecticut Under the Embargo WITH the growing prosperity of the country in the first part of Jefferson's second administration, there seemed every prob- ability of the F ederalist party even in New England being soon extinguished. New lands were being rapidly taken up by the swelling tide of stal- wart sons of the Eastern settlers, which was already surging impatiently against the vast Indian holdings in the South. In commerce, the great European war was throwing nearly all the carrying trade of the world into the hands of America, the one civilized neutral nation. But this very fact bred its own counteraction : the administration which had begun so favor- ably closed in disgrace and wild apprehension, and the dying Federalist party gained a new lease of life. Great Britain would not allow America to sit in quiet and reap all the har- vest, while she was draining her life-blood to save Europe from a huge Napoleonic monarchy; especially she would not see her seamen desert her naval service to enter the safe and lucrative American merchant marine. America must bear her share of the common burdens and perils of civilization. Hence impressments, the bloody affair of the Leopard and the Chesapeake, and the Embargo. Hence also the kidnap- ping of hundreds of native Americans into the English navy: while impressments were going on, English officers were not disposed to be too particular. Hence too the secret hounding on of the Barbary pirates against us. Connecticut's most intimate share in this branch of the Federal warfare was through one of her ablest and most picturesque sons, William Eaton of Woodstock. Eaton was a high-spirited, keen-witted, clear-sighted man, full of a passionate patriotism, and stung to the soul by the insults to his country, and the manner in which Christendom allowed 47 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE itself to be ravaged by the wretched Barbary corsair states, or buy them oft by blackmail which even so secured nothing. Why this was so, is outside our province : enough to say that the larger Christian powers, to their shame, subsidized them for the very purpose of having them ravage the smaller ones. The United States paid blackmail like the rest: up to 1800 it had paid about $2,000,000, largely in the shape of armed vessels to ravage its own commerce. Eaton was made dip- lomatic agent at Tunis; and by a mixture of iron firmness and judicious coloring of the truth, succeeded in greatly reducing the American payments. But he was deeply incensed at the whole degrading business, and urged on the government the plan of supporting the cause of the rightful sovereign of Tripoli, Hamet Caramelli (who had been deposed by his brother Joseph) , on consideration of his agree- ing to release this country from all future payments. Jefferson gave Eaton a vague commission to undertake the plan, but privately instructed Commodore Barron of the Mediterranean fleet to use it only as a club to extract a treaty from Joseph, and drop Eaton and Hamet as soon as this was done. Eaton, by one of the most marvelous feats of daring, generalship, and management of men, recorded in American history, released Hamet from great danger, collected in Alex- andria a motley rabble of some five hundred men of various nationalities, marched them six hundred miles across the desert to the seaport of Derne, the head of the richest prov- ince of Tripoli, captured it, and with Barron's help could easily have carried out his plan. But Barron was sick, and even when in health was not a man to go beyond his instruc- tions or sympathize with audacious policies; and those instruc- tions we have just noted. Joseph, threatened with this revolt in his rear and bombardment from other United States ves- 48 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE sels In front, hastily consented to a treaty by which he relin- quished claim on this country for tribute (till he saw fit to break it), but still held a mass of American prisoners to ran- som. The agent of the United States, Tobias Lear, paid him $60,000 for them, on the excuse that he feared Joseph would murder them otherwise. More disgracefully, Hamet's wife and children were left in Joseph's hands by a secret article. Hamet had to fly; some years later the United States pro- cured him a position in Tripoli. Eaton was furious. He came home to be feted and lauded as a hero, which he was, and a great general, which in our sober judgment he might have been on broader fields; and denounced the government's policy to all who would lis- ten. But the political issues of the country were too extended to have this minor one affect the general public action. Eaton only succeeded in cutting himself off from further public employment and spoiling a more enduring career which lay before him. Burr attempted to enlist him in his Southwestern conspiracy, thinking his sore and inflamed state of mind was a favorable one on which to operate. But Eaton was a patriot before all else: he informed the government of Burr's proposition, and testified at his trial. He finally located at Brimfield, Massachusetts, and there fretted and drank him- self into an early grave, in 181 1, only a year before the war which would have given him a new opportunity to win lau- rels, and might have had a different course had he been given an important command. It was one of the great opportu- nities lost by impatience and lack of balance. So far, Eaton earned his semi-oblivion with posterity; yet he had a spark of true genius, and that is too rare and precious not to regret its waste. And he was not the mere adventurer he is com- monly and half-sneeringly represented in history. It would 49 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE be easy to show that his impetuosity had more genuine states- manship than the truckling tameness of those who suppressed him ; and he was a true patriot. The Ninth Congress was decidedly Democratic. The majority, however, was divided in its choice for Speaker; this encouraged a hope among the Federalists that they could secure the position for John Cotton Smith, but on the third ballot Nathaniel Macon was elected. The larger issues of the Embargo which began in 1 806, and which with some mitigations practically continued until it was merged in the stoppage of commerce involved in the War of 18 12, cannot be discussed here. The general outline of English policy we have already given. The American coun- ter-policy might be one of three things. One was to fight. But this both parties were agreed was impossible, until the scheme of Canadian invasion was broached some years later than the time we are now considering. The speculatively and tempera- mentally unwarlike Jefferson, the coldly philosophic Madison, were not more convinced on this point than the fiery Eaton. It was taken for granted that the immediate result of such a move would be to have our entire navy "Copenhagenized," as the phrase went; in other words, seized and confiscated bodily by the British and added to their own. The second alternative was to submit to the English claims. This the Federalists as a body were willing to do, asserting that they were essentially righteous. The Democrats would not hear of this; but they proposed no remedy any more than the Federalists. At length Jefferson evolved one which must have given him peculiar pleasure, as a hater of war, as a member of a purely agricultural community, and as a Southerner. This was to cease commerce altogether till we could resume it without getting into international trouble 50 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE by it. If it was going to call for military protection, it should simply be withdrawn. This country should live on its own products until the rest of the world stopped cutting each oth- er's throats. The man of peace found this solution in har- mony with his principles; the farmers' representative was in no fear of losing favor with his own district; and the South- erner could bear up with great fortitude under the necessity of crippling New England. The Federalist vote for Burr, mentioned in the last chapter, will be significantly remem- bered. It would be unfair not to add that as a statesman, Jefferson sincerely believed that it would bring England to her knees, by raising the prices of her necessaries of life so high that she would abandon her policy. The measure, nevertheless, was futile and a boomerang. It half ruined New England and made it relentlessly hostile to the Democratic administrations, and finally to the war they brought on ; but it badly injured the South also, to the aggrieved surprise of those sections, for all parts of the coun- try were tied by common interests, and the farmer could not sell his surplus if there were no commercial sections to buy. England, on the other hand, simply bought her goods else- where, and suffered little. The cutting oft of the European markets made most of our grain, rice, cotton, and tobacco unsalable. While every imported article rose in price, wheat dropped from two dol- lars a bushel to seventy-five cents, artisans ceased work, labor- ers dropped their tools, and wages stopped. Connecticut's population was largely composed of com- mercial and manufacturing people, and the depression was most vitally felt. Her ports were filled with dismantled ship- ping; her wharves, on which the grass had begun to sprout, were destitute of merchandise, the counting-houses of the 51 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE shippers were placarded with "to let," while their former employees walked the streets with their hands in their pock- ets. Thus, on the eve of the presidential election of 1808, the signs indicated a return of the Federalists to power if the North could affect it. But as before observed, the new sec- tions held the balance, and they were Democratic. Jefferson would not accept a renomination for a third term, ostensibly because Washington had declined it, or because his party was not unanimous. In fact, he would not have taken it on any terms. The presidency had become a nightmare he was anxious to lay down the soonest possible. All the glory, all the credit, all the satisfaction, all the good-will had passed, and only thickening difficulties and the utter failure of his cherished policy rose up before him. The one salvage from the wreck which he could make, he did : he was able to trans- fer the reins to his favorite lieutenant and fellow Virginian, James Madison, who would continue his policy and bear the curses for it Instead of himself. Connecticut voted for her principles and her Interests as of old : her electors — Jonathan Trumbull, John Cotton Smith, John Treadwell, Stephen F. Hosmer, David Daggett, Jesse Root, Roger Griswold, Fred- erick Wolcott, and Samuel W. Johnson — cast their votes for Charles Cotesworth PInckney for President, and Rufus King for Vice-President. In the selection of his advisers, Madison still retained Gideon Granger as postmaster-general, though the office had not yet been raised to Cabinet dignity. Madison's heritage, left him by his predecessor, was not one to be envied by any Incumbent of the office. The ruin which the Embargo had wrought upon the commercial and manufacturing interests of the North was duplicated In the South, where the planters were obliged to support their four 52 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE hundred thousand slaves whilst the products raised by their labors were a drug in the market. Less than two months before his inauguration, Jefferson's expiring government, furious at the fierce resistance with which New England fought for her life, and the armies of smugglers she was sending overland to Canada, passed an enforcing act far more savage than Great Britain had ever dared to do even in her own country ; immense fines and for- feitures were to scourge the rebellious section into obedience, heavy bonds were exacted, and the revenue collectors were made a set of little czars. The result appalled the authors of the measures. The collectors nearly met the fate of those who tried to collect the stamp duties before the Revolution; some were sued in the State courts, and some resigned; the courts would give no findings against smugglers; and at last the New England States openly threatened nullification, and acording to John Quincy Adams, provisional secession (until the laws were repealed), and even opened negotiations with Great Britain. Less than four weeks after the Democrats passed this last act, they repealed the Embargo, the repeal to take effect with the outgoing of Jefferson's administration on the 4th of March. But this joyful prospect was almost immediately overcast again. All the shipping interests had hailed the removal of restrictions with delight and begun to hurry forward their vessels and merchandise. Disappointment soon followed. The Democrats regained courage. Negotiations of the Brit- ish minister at Washington were repudiated by the British government, and the American government seized the chance to reimpose the Embargo in the shape of a "non-inter- course act." The Federalists of Connecticut had rejoiced at the prospect 53 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE of a renewal of trade intercourse with England. On the sud- den change In International relations, they accused the admin- istration of insincerity and unwillingness to adjust the existing difficulties between the two nations. The political views of the majority in the State are most fitly illustrated by the fol- lowing, from the able pen of Mr. Dwight, one of the most prominent of Federalist spokesmen : "Mr. Madison had just entered upon the office of Presi- dent of the United States; Mr. Jefferson had left the govern- ment surrounded with difficulties and embarrassments. The foreign commerce of the country, under the system of em- bargo and non-intercourse, was destroyed, and all the various branches of domestic industry — agricultural, mercantile, and mechanical — were in a state of deep depression or stagnation; and the community were becoming very uneasy under priva- tions which were not only unnecessary, but extremely injuri- ous and oppressive. "Under such circumstances, it was a stroke of good policy in him, at his entrance upon the duties of chief magistrate, to excite popular feeling in favor of his administration. Noth- ing would be more likely to produce such an effect, than the adoption of measures which would relieve the nation from the multiplied evils of the restrictive policy; and it required no extraordinary degree of foresight to discern, that if such an arrangement as was contemplated with the resident Brit- ish minister should be accomplished, it would be cor- dially welcomed throughout the country, and render the new chief magistrates universally popular. At the same time, if the arrangement should be rejected by the British government, whatever the cause for refusing to ratify it might be, it could hardly fail to raise a spirit of resentment 54 JOHN TREADWELL CONNECTICUT AS A STATE in the United States, of a proportionate extent with the grati- fication which the adjustment had excited." During these troublesome times of political differences occurred the death of Connecticut's chief executive officer, Jonathan Trumbull. His colleague was appointed by the General Assembly to fill the vacancy; at the following Spring election he was chosen by the freemen for their Governor. John IVeadwell was born at Farmington, Nov. 23, 1745; after graduating in 1767 from Yale College, he acquired a complete knowledge of legal lore, although he never offered himself as an applicant for examination to the bar. In his early life he became identified with the political affairs of his native State; from 1776 to 1785, with the exception of one session, he represented the town of his birth in the General Assembly. In the latter year he was elected a member of the upper house of the Legislature, which position he resigned on his election in 1798 to the Deputy-Governorship. Gov- ernor Treadwell for a number of years presided over the dif- ferent courts of the commonwealth. No civilian of his time was better acquainted with the internal policy of the State. He was not a man of brilliant genius, or extended erudition; nor was he endowed with commanding eloquence. Having been deprived of the advantages of birth, personal attrac- tions, and courtly address, he was not of a social turn of mind ; nor, in the common import of the word, was he a popular man. At the end of his gubernatorial term he retired to private life. He died in his native town, Aug. 18, 1823. 55 CHAPTER III The Brink of War IN the preceding chapter, the causes underlying the sec- ond struggle with England have been outlined. It is true that there were just as good causes for a war with France, where Napoleon seized enormous amounts of American shipping, and intensified his outrages even while professing to have abandoned his Con- tinental blockade. This was a characteristic performance of his — to abandon injuries in words at the moment of exer- cising them in deeds, and while never making reparation. But it served his purpose of giving a pretext to the Democrats for concentrating their hostility on England. I'his incensed the Federalists, who thought it unfair to fight one of an equally guilty pair and not the other. A modern reader hardly sees the force of the argument. If two burglars are breaking into your house, the fact that you have only strength to fight one is hardly a reason for letting both carry off the silver; and at least Napoleon did not crimp American sailors. But the Federalists had the stronger ground that England was fighting the battle of the United States as well as her own, and this was true. Had Napoleon won before 1803, our whole West would have remained in the hands of France, and when or how it would have become English is not easy to see; and even in 18 12, little as it seemed likely, the mastery of Europe by Napoleon would have been of evil omen for America. But it did not follow that America should submit to every humiliation on this account. As a fact, the rights of search and impressment contributed nothing to English success. Thus, on the assembling in 1 8 1 1 of the Twelfth Con- gress, a month earlier than usual, while the President and his advisers were aiming to settle the differences by diplo- matic measures rather than an open rupture, the people of both nations were filled with a bitter mutual animosity. The 59 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE fall elections had resulted favorably to the administration, thus causing members of the Democratic party to be more in unison in demanding an open declaration of war. The active leaders in Congress were well under forty years of age, and the most active were under thirty. They were bent on "creating a nation," as they expressed it, by car- rying the American flag north to Canada and south to Key West. To the speakership of this Congress was elected a young Kentuckian, who thus made his first appearance in the national halls of legislation, and who was to prove an impor- tant factor in the affairs of the government. It was on the 1 2th of December that John C. Calhoun made his famous speech, which is acknowledged the best made in the long debates on the advisability of war; in which he said, "Protec- tion [of the citizen] and patriotism are reciprocal, and are the road that all great nations have trod." It was the historic duty of a native of Connecticut, Peter B. Porter, in his official capacity as chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, to present their report of the action to be taken by Congress to prepare for the inevitable conflict. After a long and acrimonious debate with closed doors, the act declaring a state of war against Great Britain and the dependencies thereof to exist, was signed by the President on June 1 8, 1 8 1 2. Madison had been very averse to the measure ; he had shown in the negotiations with the Barbary pirates that he was willing to have the nation grovel in the very dirt to avoid a pretext for hostilities; he resigned it as the price of his renomination. His excuse was, that England in the stress of her Napoleonic struggle could well afford to pay the price of a relinquishment of her useless rights of search for our good-will, and that a war just at this time could extort them 60 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE from her. As a matter of fact, war had been going on for some time before the declaration was made. With the sole exception of Vermont (the one New Eng- land State which had no seaboard and no commerce). New England was bitterly opposed to any proceedings that would cause a suspension of peaceful relations between the two coun- tries. The entire Congressional delegation of Connecticut were unanimously opposed to the declaration, and voiced the opinions and sentiments of their constituents. The press of the Commonwealth was united in denouncing the measures taken to promote the conflict, and censured their political opponents for thus committing the country to warlike demon- strations against the only English-speaking Protestant power of the European continent. From the pulpit came denuncia- tions that the war was not sanctioned by Christianity; deplor- ing the necessity of any open rupture with the parent country, and advising that every means be used to settle existing diffi- culties amicably. In the prospects of war, those interested in commercial, mercantile, and agricultural pursuits saw no rem- edy for the stagnation of trade, from which they had suffered for a decade. The mechanic's wages would not be bettered, nor would the cost of living be in any way lessened; while imported articles would increase in value. To the people of Connecticut the outlook was in itself discouraging : there was no hesitancy in openly avowing their dissatisfaction with the warlike steps taken by the administration. The Federalists in the Spring of 1811 placed in nomina- tion for Governor and Deputy-Governor two of their staunch- est members ; both had been opposed to the feeble and fumb- ling foreign policy, irritating but ineffectual, of Jefferson and Madison. The candidate for Governor, Roger Griswold, had for five terms represented the State in the lower house 61 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE of Congress; had been a bitter opponent of all administra- tion measures, and exhibited his pugnacity by becoming involved in the first personal altercation that took place on the national legislative floor. His associate on the ticket, John Cotton Smith, had been his colleague in Congress; they were both advocates of peace, and were fully in accord with Con- necticut's attitude towards the general government. The Federalist nominees were elected by an overwhelming major- ity ; a Legislature was chosen in which those of the same polit- ical affiliations largely predominated. Roger Griswold, the newly-elected Governor, was born in Lyme, May 21, 1762. After graduating from Yale in the class of 1780, he studied law. Three years later he began the practice of his profession at Norwich, where he soon acquired distinction as an able advocate and vigilant public oflUcIal. He returned to the place of his nativity in 1794, and the follow- ing year became a member of the lower house of Congress, serving five terms. Esquire Griswold then became a judge of the Connecticut Supreme Court, but resigned in 1809 on being appointed by the General Assembly to fill a vacancy in the Deputy-Governorship. He was elected Governor in 181 1, and held the office by re-election until his death at Nor- wich, Oct. 25, 1 8 12. Lie had removed to that city to try the effect of change of air for an affection of the heart, which at times caused him great suffering. Governor Griswold was a noted Federalist leader and strong partisan. On account of his political knowledge, eloquence, and legal ability, he was recognized as a national leader as well. There are plenty of excuses for the Federalists as a whole, and the New England Federalists in particular, fighting the declaration of war, or the policy which led to it, to the last gasp ; we have outlined these before. For their frantic 62 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE attempts to tie the hands of the government when It was once engaged, the commercial excuse can no longer avail : the more vigorously the war was prosecuted the sooner their com- merce would be restored, the larger salvage would be made from the wreck and probably the more favorable terms of peace obtained. Their one excuse must be, that they believed crushing or crippling England to be equivalent to enthroning Napoleon. This was the status of affairs when the President issued his first levy for troops, to take part in an expedition against Canada; it having been decided by the administration that the war should be inaugurated with aggressive rather than defensive methods. In fact, it was the thought of this inva- sion that heartened the Southern braves to declare the war at all. In response to the President's requisition. Governor Gris- wold refused to allow the militia to leave the State to be placed under the command of General Dearborn, the com- mander-in-chief of the United States army; nor would he acquiesce in the substitution of regular for the regiment's own line officers. This position may have been unpatriotic and was certainly fortified by party feeling; but it was sound constitutional law beyond dispute. The Constitution of the United States spe- cifically states that the control of the militia is lodged in the State government, excepting in the suppression of insurrec- tions and to repel invasions. Furthermore, it is to be under the command of their own officers, the sole proviso being the personal conducting of campaigns in the field by the Presi- dent. (It was on precisely this rock that the first attempt at a draft in 1863 was wrecked, and the government had to pro- ceed by another method) . The Governor contended that there was no insurrection to suppress, neither was the country 63 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE Invaded by a foreign foe; therefore the call of the President for the militia, to take part in any aggressive military expedi- tion, was unconstitutional. A special session of the Legislature was held in August 1 8 12, and the action of the Governor was approved; and while resolutions were adopted condemning the act of the administration in declaring war, they expressed the deep love borne by the people of the State for the Union. The admin- istration was censured for the selection of England as a com- batant rather than France, as the former was in condition to inflict the greater injuries. It was also feared that it would entangle the nation in an alliance with a power that had sub- verted every European republic, and which was also fatal to civil liberty. The resolutions cited the folly of the United States, without either navy or army, with an impoverished treasury, a frontier of sea and land thousand of miles in extent and feebly defended, engaging in a war without first "count- ing the cost." The Assembly recognized the right of Congress to declare war, but regretted that occasion required it; they pledged themselves to support all the obligations resulting from the act, in the defense of the commonwealth and its sister States, In compliance with the federal Constitution. They authorized the purchase of three thousand muskets, three thousand car- touch boxes, eight pieces of artillery of six pounds calibre, six hundred pounds of powder, and five tons of musket balls. A military force to consist of two regiments of infantry, four companies of cavalry, and four companies of artillery, was ordered to be raised, "to hold themselves in readiness for the defense of the State, to enforce the laws of the Union, to sup- press insurrections and repel Invasions during the present 64 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE war; subject only to the order of the commander-in-chief of the State." It was during the regular session of the General Assembly that the death of Governor Griswold occurred. John Cotton Smith became the acting Governor ad interim. He was born at Sharon, Feb. 12, 1765. At the age of fifteen he entered Yale College, where he soon attained high rank as a scholar. Graduating at the termination of the Revolutionary War, he began the study of law, and rapidly attained distinction. Governor Smith began his political life in 1793, representing his native town in the State Legislature. He resigned this position seven years later, on being chosen to fill a vacancy in the congressional delegation. Though a Federalist, which party was then in the minority, he was highly respected for sound judgment, and often called upon to preside over the committee of the whole, especially on those questions where the debates were liable to awaken party animosities. Prompt, energetic, and an indefatigable worker, his national career was unspotted; no insinuations were ever cast on his polit- ical integrity, nor was the finger of suspicion ever pointed at any of his official acts. He resigned his seat in Congress in 1806, and devoted himself to agricultural and literary pursuits; but his fellow townsmen were unwilling to release him from his political labors. In the fall of the same year, he was again chosen their representative to the General Assembly, serving until 1809, when he became a member of the council. The same year saw his elevation to the Supreme Bench of the State, which position he resigned, to become the associate of Roger Griswold on the Federalist ticket. His first election by the people to the office of Governor was in 18 13. He filled the position for four consecutive terms. Governor Smith adorned 65 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE all stations in life with consummate grace and dignity. His public duties were most faithfully performed; his State papers were distinguished for perspicuity and classic ele- gance; he was noted for always being equal to the occasion. His death occurred at Sharon, Dec. 7, 1845. In the Presidential election in 18 12, the freemen of Con- necticut joined with the wing of the Democratic party that was opposed to Madison's war policy, and supported DeWitt Clinton and Jared Ingersoll for President and Vice-Presi- dent. The electoral college of the State was composed of Nathaniel Terry, Daniel Putnam, Theodore Dwight, James Gould, David Daggett, Stephen F. Hosmer, Calvin God- dard, Jonathan Barnes, and S. B. Sherwood. 66 CHAPTER IV The Second War with England WE have already said that the tempting prox- imity of Canada to the United States was the cause of the War of 1 8 1 2. It was not the cause of the desire for the war, but it was the reason why the war was thought possible to bring to a successful issue. A naval war was looked on as utterly hopeless. Up to the time of the victory of "Old Ironsides," even the stoutest patriots and the most daring fighters considered speedy and crushing naval defeat as inevitable. William Eaton and James Madison were nearly as unlike as any two human beings ever made; but the fiery hero of Derne was at one with the cold and timid protagonist of peace at almost any price in regarding naval contest against England as insane. But it was thought certain by the Southern and Western youth that Canada could be carried with a rush, and this belief induced the selection of England as an antagonist. Unfortunately they did little in the field to justify their dauntless courage on the floor. No preparations had been made, no plans of campaign devised, even the distribution of commands and definition of authorities had not been drawn out. Supplies had to be gathered, armies to be formed and trained. There was little developed military talent in any conspicuous position: Eaton was dead; Winfield Scott was a young subordinate; Henry Dearborn, the commander-in- chief, was utterly incompetent, and was alone sufficient to guarantee a failure; James Wilkinson, the most noted man in the Southwest, was a cunning, slippery, selfish intriguer, without military or executive abilities; Jackson, the hero of the Southwest, was as innocent of strategy as he was full of courage and energy. All things not only portended but assured disaster; and when it came, the disillusioned public 69 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE was sure to demand a scapegoat, and equally sure to find him in some subordinate left by his superiors to destruction. The luckless person whom fate had destined for this role was a Connecticut man, William Hull, then Governor of Michigan Territory — the northernmost part of the Northwest Terri- tory, separated in 1805 and named from the great Lake, with its seat of government the village and fortress of Detroit. Hull was born in Derby, June 24, 1753. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1775, but at the outbreak of the Revolution joined the army. He was made a captain, and served around Boston and in the New Jersey campaign, and ultimately at Yorktown, becoming colonel and reputed a brave and skillful officer. Locating at Newton, Massachusetts, he practiced law, entered politics, and become major-general in the State militia. He was engaged in suppressing Shays' Rebellion, and was appointed a commissioner to treat with the Canadian Indians. When the War of 1812 was officially declared, and the regular army was reorganized. President Madison appointed him one of the four brigadier-generals, and he was placed in command of what was termed the Northwestern Army. This force consisted nominally of about one thousand regulars, with three regiments of Ohio militia, numbering over two thousand ; they were to co-operate with the army of the centre, whose numerical strength was rated at four thousand, and who were to rendezvous in the vicinity of Niagara Falls. It was confidently expected that these two armies would be able to plant the Stars and Stripes on the walls of Montreal. The figures were paper, and the co-operation never came to pass. Hull, by the incapacity of the commander-in-chief Dearborn, plus that of the civil administration supposed to be directing the war, was left at Detroit with less than a thou- 70 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE sand men, without supplies, hundreds of miles from possible help, with the command of Lake Erie in the hands of the British, and Hull's communication with the rest of the army in their hands also. To remain there inactive was to be starved out; to abandon the place and try to tight his way to the main army was to give up the very post he was commis- sioned to maintain ; to leave part of it there and try to open communications with the rest was to fail with the latter (as he did) and imperil the former. The government, in a word, had left him cooped up in a trap, from which escape was ab- solutely impossible, and lifted not a finger to make it no trap or help him out of it. The inevitable result occurred. Isaac Brock, a resolute and unscrupulous English officer of high military abilities, came down upon his victim with nearly double his forces, including a mass of Indians. This assault was made possible by Dearborn, with incredible meanness, cowardice, and folly, having made an armistice with Brock not to include Hull's army! Brock now demanded Hull's surrender; threatening, if it was refused and a fight was made, the letting loose of Indian massacre on the whole Territory far and wide, and the butchery of the inhabitants of Detroit when captured. The history of English use of Indians in the Revolution proved this no idle threat. If Hull could by any possi- bility have won not a single engagement or a dozen of them, but the campaign — if he could have even faintly hoped to hold the place and avoid ultimate surrender — it would have been his duty to fight to the last gasp; and we believe he would have done so. But that was simply out of all hope: Napoleon himself could not have done it. It was in fact a year before the one thing took place, that might have saved him, the control of Lake Erie by the United States; and 71 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE when it did, the British commandant of Detroit evacuated it at once without even waiting for the approach of the United States forces. Hull, then, had an alternative worse than death to a brave man with a reputation to lose. He could save that reputation by making an absolutely hopeless fight; at the cost of wan- tonly sacrificing many good soldiers' lives, and bringing the unspeakable horrors of Indian butchery and torture on many hundreds of Michigan families. A meaner man would have chosen this part. Or he could save all this useless bloodshed, anguish, and desolation, by doing at once what he must do in a few weeks in any event; but ruining his career and repute. He chose the better part, with a courage incomparably higher than that of a mere fighter: and to his last day, shamed and cursed as a coward and sometimes as a traitor, he never regretted it, and declared that in the same situation he would do the same again. Sometime, the moral elevation of a man who cared more for mercy and the welfare of others than for his own good name in the mouths of the unthinking, will be appreciated, and the Brock stamp of man will not shine quite so brightly. With the fall of Detroit, the whole Northwest lapsed to the British. That was the price paid for going to war in a reckless hurry, under a peace administration, with nothing ready, with incompetent civil and military heads. But it was easier and more satisfactory to blame the victim of their own laches than themselves, and of course the heads of the administration would shift their own derelictions on the minor scape-goat. There was a roar of wrath, and Hull was court-martialed for treason. The court-martial was a disgrace to decency. The president of it was that very Dearborn whose incapacity and sluggishness, to say nothing worse, had not only left Hull 72 from a painting by Gilbert Stuart. A^^u^u CONNECTICUT AS A STATE to his fate but let an overwhelming force down upon him; whose own character and conduct were the things really on trial before it, and who would be condemned by Hull's acquit- tal. Hull was acquitted of treason, but found guilty of cow- ardice and sentenced to be shot, in place of Dearborn who should have been shot if any one was to be. Madison remit- ted the sentence, but ordered his name to be stricken from the rolls of the army. The old hero retired to Newton and spent the rest of his life there, uncomplaining, serene, justified of his own con- science and trusting that future generations would justify him likewise. With all who have any right to judge, they have done so. His famous grandson, James Freeman Clarke, has done it thoroughly in a volume not of sophistry, but of unan- swerable demonstration; and even Henry Adams in his his- tory practically admits the facts. The fortunes of war, which had proven so disastrous to the Americans on land, were to be recompensed by their vic- tories upon the seas; in the supplanting of the acknowledged mistress of the oceanic area, the sons of Connecticut were to play an important part. It w^as only three days after the surrender of Detroit that the nephew of the unfortunate commander covered the name with a glory more than equal to its unjust disgrace, and dis- pelled once for all the cloud of terror which paralyzed the energies of American administrators. The real service which the Southern hot-heads did was the last thing they intended, and in some ways the very reverse. They did not glorify themselves on land; they did not conquer Canada; they dis- credited and injured the country by the imbecile conduct of the operations they had initiated. But they did an immense service unwillingly by unlocking the energies of the American 73 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE Navy, and proving it the superior, ship for ship and man for man, of any on earth. So far was this from being in their thoughts that Isaac Hull with the Constitution fought the Guerriere in disobedience of orders, and if he had been beaten would probably have been shot. The result of this victory, and of others which followed, was actually to make American seamen contemptuous of Brit- ish seamanship, fighting power, and even courage; and it needed some sharp lessons to tame down their over-confi- dence. But it was a good and valuable change from the ancient cringing terror. It first raised America from subordi- nation to full manhood, and the American national character to full self-reliance. The nation justly felt itself a sharer in the credit; for it was not alone Hull's superb seamanship, but the superior intellectual alertness, skill, training, and energy of the American seamen and gunners which won the victory. But, as said, in one respect the South did the reverse of what it meant. The whole vitality of the navy was predom- inantly of the North. The embargo had been an attempted crushing of the commercial section for the sake of the agri- cultural, of New England and New York for the South and West. The war was against New England's wish, and was to glorify the Southern land forces. In fact nearly all the glory was won by the arm which they disliked, and largely the section which opposed the war; and the war would have ended in irreparable loss but for the work of the very States whose political magnates were fighting it tooth and nail. A hardy son of Connecticut, Captain Israel Chauncey, who had spent his early life in the merchant service, became the pioneer in the defense of the Great Lakes, By the gallantry of the force under his command, the Americans were enabled to retard the enemy's progress on Lake Ontario, also to cap- 74 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE ture a schooner having on board twelve thousand dollars in specie. The serenity and peace of Connecticut was undisturbed at the opening of the second year of the war. The territory within her boundaries had not been ravaged by the enemy, nor had any damage been done on her seacoast. Her com- mercial intercourse with foreign nations had suffered, how- ever; there was also an accumulated surplus of her manu- factured products. In accordance with the act passed by her General Assembly, a State corps was organized, under the command of Na- thaniel Terry as brigadier-general. In consisted of two reg- iments of infantry, with ten companies each, the colonels of which were Timothy Shepard and Elihu Sanford; one regi- ment of cavalry with four companies, under Major David Deming; and four companies of artillery, of which Major William Stanley was the ranking officer. The State militia, besides the two independent compa- nies of the Governor's foot-guards, was composed of four divisions. The first of these comprised the first and second brigades, under Major-General Solomon Cowles. The first brigade, composed of the first, eighteenth, nineteenth, and twenty-second regiments of infantry, with the first regiment of cavalry, was commanded by Brigadier-General Moses Tryon, Jr. The sixth, fifteenth, twenty-third, and twenty- fourth regiments of infantry, with the seventh regiment of cavalry, constituted the seventh brigade, under Brigadier- General Levi Lusk. The second division, commanded by Major-General John Hubbard, was formed of the second and fourth brigades. The second brigade consisted of the second, sev- enth, tenth, twenty-seventh, and thirty-second regiments of 75 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE infantry, the second regiment of cav^alry, and the first bat- tahon of artillery; and had for its commander Brigadier- General James Merriman, who was afterwards superseded by Hezekiah Howe. The fourth, ninth, and twenty-eighth regiments of infantry, with the fourth regiment of cavalry, made the fourth brigade; and its brigadier-general was Matthias NicoU. On his retirement, Enoch Foote was ap- pointed to fill the vacancy. The major-general of the third division was William Williams. It included the third and fifth brigades. The third, under Brigadier-General Jirah Isham, had for its subordinate organizations the third, eighth, twentieth, thirtieth, and thirty-third regiments of infantry, and the third I'egiment of cavalry. The fifth brigade embraced the fifth, eleventh, twelfth, and twenty-first regiments of infantry, and the fifth regiment of cavalry, and was under the command of Brigadier-General David Holmes. The fourth division, commanded by Major-General Au- gustine Taylor, consisted of the sixth and eighth brigades. The brigadier-general of the sixth was David Thompson. It included the fourteenth, seventeenth, twenty-fifth, and thirty-fifth regiments of infantry, also the sixth regiment of cavalry. The commander of the eighth, Brigadier-General Ephraim Hinman, was succeeded by Gerrit Smith. It was composed of the eighth, thirteenth, sixteenth, twenty-sixth, and twenty-ninth regiments of infantry, with the eighth reg- iment of cavalry. The position maintained by Governor Griswold in ref- erence to the militia was adopted in a modified form by his successor. Connecticut, however, had at her command a force of about fifteen thousand men, fully equipped and of- ficered, to resist any invasion of her territory. 76 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE In the spring of 1813, a formidable British fleet, under the command of Sir Thomas Hardy, passed through Long Island Sound. They raised their flag on Block Island, cruised along the coast, and established a blockade. On the first day of June, Commodore Decatur's squadron, con- sisting of the frigates United States and Macedonian with the sloop-of-war Hornet, on arriving at the entrance of Long Island Sound, was chased by the enemy into New London harbor. The British fleet was strengthened by the arrival of reinforcements. In anticipation of an attack on New London, six hundred of the Connecticut militia were summoned to the neighborhood to protect the coast. The threatened at- tack was deferred, but was the cause of great consternation among the inhabitants of the city.; the bank's specie, also the non-combatants, being removed to Norwich. The British blockade of New London was so effectual that Decatur was obliged to lighten his ships; removing them as far as possible up the Thames, out of reach of the enemy, he erected land intrenchments, from which he could observe the manoeuvres of his opponent in the harbor. In the fall of 18 13 an American schooner was fitted out as a torpedo vessel. On being sent into the Sound, she was captured by the British, her crew effecting their escape. She was in the possession of the enemy about three hours, when she exploded, causing great alarm in their ranks. One lieutenant and ten men were killed, while many others were badly wounded. This caused the blockade to be more vig- orously enforced. Commodore Decatur, restless under this inactivity, made several unsuccessful attempts to effect his escape. He selected the night of Dec. 12 for a final effort, keeping his plans secret. It was dark and dreary; the outlook was favorable 77 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE for the success of the enterprise; but at the mouth of the harbor blue Hghts made their appearance, thus notifying the enemy. Decatur was forced to relinquish the undertaking. He then made a complaint to Congress, claiming that resident Federalists were the offenders. Though no evidence was pro- duced to substantiate the charges, the party was stigmatized with the opprobrious epithet of "blue-light" Federalists. The frigates of the American squadron were dismantled, and left at the head of navigation on the Thames, the sloop- of-war remained In New London harbor. Decatur and his men, in April 1814, proceeded overland to New York. The fleet was not released until November, 18 14, when it ran the blockade. There were several spirited adventures at different times during the year 1 8 13. A sloop or schooner would be pursued into one of the many harbors; but the attacking British ves- sels or barges would be repulsed by a hasty gathering of lands- men. In April 18 14, a body of British sailors and marines num- bering about two hundred ascended the Connecticut, landing first at Pettepaug Point, about six miles above Saybrook. After destroying the shipping they proceeded later to Brock- way's Ferry, and demolished the vessels gathered at that point. After thus amusing themselves for about twenty- four hours, they retreated, being unsuccessfully pursued by the militia, aided by a detachment of marines from the Amer- ican squadron. The amount of damage committed by these raiders approximated $200,000. The coast trade of the State suffered serious loss from the operations of a British privateer named the Liverpool Packet, which cruised through the Sound. Her victorious career was brought to an end by a flotilla of thirteen gunboats, com- 78 CONNECTICLT AS A STATE manded by Commodore Lewis, who convoyed over fifty ves- sels that were detained at Saybrook harbor. Owing to his gallant defense, they were able to proceed on their eastern journey, making a successful escape to New London. The citizens of Stonington were kept in constant alarm by the nearness of the enemy's fleet; though Governor Smith was petitioned over and over again for help, only a small guard of militia was sent to their aid. On Aug. 9, 18 14, the Ramlllies, seventy-four guns, Pactolus, forty-four guns, brig Dispatch, twenty-two guns, and the bomb-ship Terror, with several barges and launches, commanded by Sir Thomas Hardy, entered the harbor. Anchoring his little squadron within two miles of the town, he displayed a flag of truce. Thereupon several of the residents were deputized to open communication with the enemy. Acting under instructions from his superior oflicer, Commodore Hardy in a nonchalant manner informed them it was his intention to destroy the town, giving them one hour to remove their women and children before he began firing. The citizens were horri- fied at this message. The situation was appalling, for the town was in a defenseless condition ; but, nowise daunted, preparations were begun to give battle to the enemy. The bombardment was begun at eight o'clock in the evening. The bomb-ship Terror and the barges rained shells and rock- ets upon the village, to Ignite the buildings. The Stoning- ton volunteers took possession of the extremity of the penin- sula on which the borough now stands. Erecting a sort of redoubt, they placed within It two cannons, a six and an eighteen pounder. With these they hurled solid balls at their assailants, sinking one of the barges and compelling the re- treat of the bomb-ship with her remaining consorts to the flag-ship, which was unable, on account of insufficient depth 79 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE of water, to approach within less than a mile and a half of the town. The British war vessels, at sunrise on Aug. lO, again bombarded the town. The Stonington volunteers were joined by a number of their neighbors from Mystic, under com- mand of Captain Jeremiah Holmes; who being a good gun- ner handled the eighteen-pounder with such effect that the brig-of-war Dispatch was obliged to cut her cables, to avoid being sunk. At this critical moment the ammunition gave out. The town seemed at the mercy of the invaders; some of the timid citizens advocated a surrender, but the redoubtable captain thundered "No." Pointing to the ensign, he shouted, "That flag shall never come down while I am alive." To prevent some coward hauling it down, he nailed it to the staff. The timely arrival of a supply of ammunition from New London gave the valiant captain an opportunity to double- shot his cannon ; he was thus able to keep the British at bay until the arrival of a competent force of militia under General Isham. The British fleet continued to bombard the town until noon of Aug. 12, when it departed, having but little success to boast of from the expedition. Not a single life was lost in the village. One person was severely wounded, be- tween fifty and sixty slightly disabled, and about forty build- ings more or less injured. It was not, however, until the dawn of peace that the Connecticut coast was freed from Its hostile neighbors. On March 11, 1815, the British fleet, saluting the colors at Fort Trumbull, left Long Island Sound, having maintained a successful blockade for over two years. The naval victories of Commodore Chauncey on Lake Ontario, with those of Commodore McDonough on Lake Champlain, were important factors in the military events of the war. The latter officer, though a native of Delaware, 80 CONNEC TICLT AS A STATE was an adopted son of Connecticut, having married a fair daughter of one of the influential families of Middletown. in consequence of this he made that city his place of res- idence; his death occurred at sea. Commodore Decatur was not a native citizen, but de- scended from a Rhode Island family, and was held in high admiration by his many friends in Connecticut. After his disastrous battle, while in command of the frigate President, he returned to New London, where he received a warm and hearty welcome. He subsequently made his residence in the suburbs of Washington, occupying the sumptuous mansion erected by Connecticut's most noted diplomat and litterateur, Joel Barlow. From here Decatur started, on the morning of that lamentable day in which his life was sacrificed in a duel. In the middle of March, 1814, President Madison ap- pointed Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr., to succeed Gideon Granger as Postmaster-General. By this act, the office was held continuously from January, 1802, to December, 1823, by sons of Connecticut. The new appointee was born in Middletown, in November 1765. His grandfather's ro- mance has already been told. Graduating from Yale Col- lege before he was twenty, he became a lawyer. With his father he emigrated to Ohio; they were among the first set- tlers at Marietta. Young Meigs soon became conspicuous in public affairs. He also engaged in the Indian warfare of the day. On the organization of the new State he became chief justice, and also received a brevet as colonel in the United States army. He was a United States district judge in Michigan Territory, and Senator from Ohio 1808-10; in the latter year he was elected Governor of that State, which position he held four years. The services performed by him 81 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE during the war of 1812 were of incalculable value. Colonel Meigs died at Marietta, March 29, 1825. The British burning of the capital, with the emergencies that had arisen in public affairs, caused President Madison to convene a special session of Congress on the 19th of Sep- tember, 1 8 14. A strong necessity existed for filling the ranks of the regular army, and employing the militia of the differ- ent States in a more efficient service. The appointment of James Monroe as Secretary of War, and his advocacy of an increase in the army, caused the United States Senate to pass a bill authorizing the President to call for eighty thousand militia, to be divided in equal quotas between the States, ac- cording to population. Connecticut's allotment was 3,720 men. The House bill, giving the President authority to call out the militia of any State if the Governor refused to do so, was defeated in the Senate. There can be little doubt that it was unconstitutional. These new measures of the Secretary of War, favoring a draft if the States failed to fill their quotas, were received with great excitement in Connecticut. They were denounced as a scheme of conscription rivaling the daring of Napoleon at the height of his power. The General Assembly, at its October session in 18 14, while it authorized extensive pur- chases of munitions of war, empowered the Governor in the event of a conscription to call a special session of that body. The military draft bill was subjected to amendments in both houses of Congress; conference committees were ap- pointed, but finally, four days after the treaty of peace at Ghent, the Senate by a majority of one indefinitely laid the bill on the table. Some historians have asserted that this bare majority of one saved the country from a dissolution of the Union ; that 82 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE the Eastern portion, rather than submit to a draft, would have seceded. As the news of the treaty would have been received before the draft could have gone into operation, or rather as the administration would not have put it in force with negotiations pending, the question would not have arisen. As to secession, it was much more easily talked of than executed. There was a great deal of heady talk, but any official measures to carry it into effect would have made an immense change in the atmosphere. Connecticut, according to a letter of the Secretary of War transmitted to the third auditor of the Treasury, relating to militia in service during the War of 1812 (State papers, 2d Session, sixteenth Congress), was credited with having furnished, at various times in the years 18 13-14, four gen- erals, nine general staff officers, 70 field officers, 2 1 regimental staff officers, 72 non-commissioned staff officers, 195 captains, 395 subalterns, 1,438 non-commissioned officers, 363 mu- sicians, and 7,363 privates. Connecticut received from the general government, for the services of these men, the sum of $102,756.07. The State also furnished nearly 1,600 native citizens for the rank and file of the regular army, besides 156 officers. Prominent among the latter, we may mention Major-General Peter B. Porter, a native of Salisbury. In 1795 he removed to New York State. He resigned his seat in Congress at the beginning of the war; declining a general commission, he afterwards accepted the command of a division composed of New York and Pennsylvania volunteers. He took part in the battles of Chippawa, the most creditable land battle of the war, and Lundy's Lane. At the siege of Fort Erie he led a brilliant sortie. General Porter received a gold medal from Congress, also a sword from the New York 83 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE Legislature, for military services. Though appointed by President Madison in 1 8 1 5 commander-in-chief of the army, he declined the honor. Brigadier-General Daniel Bissell, accredited from Con- necticut as a West Point cadet, commanded at a successful affair which took place at Lyons Creek, Upper Canada. Henry Leavenworth, a native of New Haven, a lawyer by profession, became a regular army officer, and was brevet- ted lieutenant-colonel for gallantry displayed at the battle of Chippawa ; was wounded, and brevetted colonel for merito- rious services, at Lundy's Lane. After ten years of faithful service in one grade, he was commissioned brigadier-general. Samuel Perkins, son of a Revolutionary captain, was born in Norwich. Early in the nineteenth century he removed to the Western Reserve, After General Hull's disaster at Detroit, Brigadier-General Perkins of the Ohio militia was assigned the duty of protecting the northwestern frontier. A native of Durham, William Wadsworth, ranking as a brigadier-general in the New York militia, was in command of the American forces at the assault on Queenstown Heights. The country's second difficulty with England, which the far-seeing Franklin had predicted would be our war of in- dependence, established the United States as a first-class naval maritime power. Since that day, no foreign nation has block- aded our coast, nor have hostile fleets invaded our harbors; our commercial relations abroad have not been interrupted; the American seaman has been protected in all climes, his rights respected on all seas and in all foreign lands. 84 CHAPTER V The Hartford Convention THE growing dissatisfaction with Madison's ad- ministration, in carrying on the second war with England ; the refusal of several of the governors of the New England States to order out the militia on receipt of the Pres- ident's proclamation asking for troops; and the general gov- ernment's declining to pay these soldiers, when called out by the State executives, basing their refusal on the ground that the forces had not been placed under the command of the United States general in charge of that department, — gave rise to the feeling that New England was given over to the enemy by the national government. This feeling became universal, and was strengthened by the differences between the people of New England and those of the South, on the question of slave representation in Congress. The admin- istration in power was largely dominated by Southern influ- ences, and engendered in the inhabitants of the Eastern States a revolutionary spirit against a government which they felt would rather sacrifice their interests than not. New England was the manufacturing centre of the country. The embargo laid on shipping by Congress had diminished her wealth and prostrated the business community; her people were largely adherents of the doctrines of Washington and Hamilton ; and as Federalists were opponents of France, the opening of the nineteenth century had placed the control of the national government in the hands of their opponents, whose tendencies and sympathies were in accord with the supporters of the French Revolution, and antagonistic to England's dictatorial acts, especially on the sea. It is not likely that the anti-war spirit would have gained such headway had the war been waged with decent energy and skill. Great victories would perhaps not have been 87 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE needed ; but there should have been some evidence of a com- petent directing brain, of a coherent plan and the preparation of means for it, and of common-sense precautions. So far from this, there was evidence of little but incapacity, resulting in disaster and threatening worse. New England could have borne with the annihilation of her business life, had there been a prospect of a speedy and honorable end ; but it seemed likely to be a long agony ending in loss of half the country's future. It is fair to say that part of this was the fault of New England herself in tying the hands of the administra- tion. Massachusetts through her legislature took the initiatory steps toward a convention to safeguard New England inter- ests. She made overtures to her sister States to join with her in remonstrance against the rule and the usurpations of the general government. A committee of her legislature made a report which contained a covert threat of independent action on the part of her people, and recommended the appropriation of the national revenue derived from her con- stituency for her own defense. The primary object of the resolution was to adopt some mode of defense suited to the emergencies of the New Eng- land States; the ultimate one was to advise with each other for radical reforms of the Constitution. The opponents of the report denounced it as a preparation for a dissolution of the Union. Their efforts to defeat the measure were unavail- ing, owing to the cessation of hostilities on the Continent of Europe, and the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty to the throne of France; leaving England in position to blockade more effectually the ports of our Atlantic coast, while her land forces occupied a large area of the territory of Maine, thus 88 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE completing the demolition of New England shipping inter- ests, and menacing the safety of the Northwest. A rumor spread that plans were on foot to restore New England to the British. Like much other nonsense in a heated time, this was widely credited. It was actually believed that the section which opened the Revolu- tion, which was foremost in fighting British authority and had to drag the South into the fray, and foremost in advo- cating entire independence, was about to relinquish that inde- pendence out of party spite, and go back to colonial subjec- tion. Some of her people, it was said, had declared for neutral- ity, and placed themselves under the protection of that nation. If so it was a move to force the hand of the govern- ment. In response to a communication from the executive of Massachusetts, the authorities of Connecticut and Rhode Island appointed delegates to the convention. Their coasts had been ravaged by the enemy; the majority of their citi- zens were in bitter opposition to the war. The situation was different in New Hampshire, with but a few miles of sea- coast. That State itself as a sovereignty took no action, though delegates were selected from some of her minor divis- ions. The people of Vermont were purely agriculturalists, and strong partisans of the national government. That State had been the only one which did not support Burr In the imbroglio of 1800. The previous year they censured their Governor, a candidate for re-election, and his defeat was due to his refusal to obey the requisitions of the President calling for the services of the State militia. Therefore the com- monwealth did not act as a unit In sending delegates; one 89 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE of the counties adjoining Massachusetts chose a representa- tive to the convention. On Dec. 15, 18 14, the convention assembled at Hartford; its meetings were held in the alderman's chamber of the pres- ent City Hall; the public were excluded. The roll being called, there were found to be present twelve delegates from Massachusetts, seven from Connecticut, three from Rhode Island, and two representing counties in New Hampshire. A permanent organization was effected by the choice of George Cabot of Boston as president, and Theodore Dwight of Hartford as secretary. The latter was not an accredited delegate; he was a ready and brilliant writer, connected with the editorial staff of the Connecticut Mirror, a newspaper thoroughly opposed to the Democratic policy of war. At the head of the Massachusetts delegation was George Cabot, the gentleman to whom was given by his colleagues the honor of presiding over their deliberations. He had been a confidential co-laborer of Washington and Hamilton in the councils of the Federalist party; he had represented his native State in the upper house, and by his strenuous advocacy of the adoption of the Constitution, was instrumental in securing Its ratification by Massachusetts. A pure-hearted, lofty- minded citizen, a sound statesmen, and universally beloved, his presidency of the convention was his last political act. President Cabot and one of his associates were engaged in mercantile trade. The others of the Massachusetts dele- gation were members of the legal fraternity of that State. Nathan Dane had served as a member of the Continental Congress, and during his term of office ardently advocated the exclusion of slavery from the Northwest Territory. He was highly esteemed for his wisdom and rectitude. William Prescott, a son of the commander of the American forces at 90 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE Bunker Hill, had represented his fellow-citizens in both houses of the Massachusetts legislature. Harrison Gray Otis, a noted debater and eloquent orator, had served in Con- gress from the Suffolk district, through President Adams' administration. Timothy Bigelow had presided over the Massachusetts House of Representatives; John Thomas was the presiding judge of probate of Plymouth County; Joseph Lyman was elected for several years sheriff of his residence county. George Bliss, endowed with learning, industry, and integ- rity, was noted for his eminence as a lawyer, and for several terms was a member of the legislature. David Waldo, a merchant of Worcester, repeatedly refused political honors, but was a member of the State Senate. Samuel Sumner Wilde, in recognition of his legal ability, was raised to a seat on the bench of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts. Hodi- jah Bayliss served as an officer in the Continental Army, and for many years was probate judge of his native county; he was distinguished for sound understanding, fine talents, and unimpeachable probity. Stephen Longfellow, Jr., was at the head of the bar of Portland, his residential city; he was a leading politician, and afterwards represented that district in Congress. He was the father of the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. At the time of his death in 1849, he was the only surviving member of the Massachusetts delegation to the Hartford Convention. Connecticut's representatives compared favorably with their Massachusetts confreres, in legal acumen and scholarly abilities. They were lawyers who reflected credit on them- selves and the commonwealth. Chauncey Goodrich, Deputy-Governor of the State, serv^ed in both branches of Congress. He was noted 91 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE for the purity of his statesmanship, and his useful- ness as a public citizen. John Treadwell had filled the executive chair of the State. He was a politician of the Washington school, and since attaining his major- ity had been prominent in public life. The best known member of the delegation was James Hillhouse, a Rev- olutionary soldier, who for a score of years was identi- fied with Congress; his ability and worth received universal commendation. Zephaniah Swift, Chief Justice of the Con- necticut Supreme Court, was the recipient of Congressional honors. He was a deep and thorough legal scholar. The prom- inence of Nathaniel Smith in the Connecticut bar is indisput- able; he was a member of the Supreme Bench. His life was marked by chastity of morals and love of country. Calvin Goddard, the only one of the delegation not a native of the State, had held judicial and legislative positions, and also risen to great eminence in his profession. Roger Minot Sher- man was the possessor of qualities of the highest order, both as a lawyer and citizen. The most prominent one of the Rhode Island delegation was Daniel Lyman, a major in the Continental Army. At the close of the war he distinguished himself as a lawyer, and became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Samuel Ward, son of Governor Samuel, was not present at the first roll-call, but the following day took his seat in the body. The age of eighteen found him a captain in the American army. He was taken prisoner of war while sharing in Arnold's expedition against Quebec. At the close of the war he retired from military service with the rank of colonel, and became a mer- chant in New York City. Benjamin Hazard and Edward Manton were natives of the State. The former was eminent as a lawyer and legislator; the latter, though of sterling 92 CONNECriCUT AS A STATE worth, had never become identified with the political discus- sions of the day. Cheshire, a New Hampshire county contiguous to Mas- sachusetts, sent as a delegate Benjamin West, who bore a good reputation as a lawyer. His colleague, Miles Olcott, a member of the legal fraternity, represented several towns in Grafton and Coos, the northwest counties of the State. It was not until the 28th of December that Vermont took any part in the deliberations of the convention; William Hall, Jr., having presented credentials from towns in Wind- ham County, was introduced and took his seat as a member of the body. He had frequently been elected to the State Legis- lature, and was a merchant universally esteemed and re- spected by his fellow-citizens. The convention was in session, with closed doors, twenty days. Wild rumors were circulated that the proceedings were of a treasonable nature. The excitement was aug- mented by the fact that the Massachusetts legislature, about this time, appropriated one million dollars towards the sup- port and equipment of ten thousand men, who were to be under the direct control of the State, to relieve their militia. The United States government, disturbed by the prevailing reports, ordered a regiment of soldiers under the command of Major Thomas S. Jessup to Hartford. Their ostensible duty was to recruit it for the regular army, but their senior officer was cautioned to keep a watchful eye on what the administration considered an unpatriotic conclave. The military demonstrations, however, were limited to a squad of idlers occasionally marching around the building, their fifers playing the "Rogue's March." The convention, undisturbed by these outside influences, proceeded on the even tenor of its way. The delegates con- 93 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE vened twice a day, with a few exceptions. The meetings were opened with prayer, the clergy of Hartford generally officiat- ing; one Episcopalian rector, however, declined the honor, stating as his reason that he knew of no form of prayer for rebellion. Plenty of them were found forty years before. A committee submitted on Dec. 20 a general project of such measures as it might be proper for the convention to deliber- ate upon. Their report was adopted, and another commit- tee was appointed to prepare a statement of the unconstitu- tional infringement by the executive government of the United States upon the rights of individual States, for pre- sentation to the legislatures represented in the assembly. It was not until the 30th of December that this committee reported to the convention. After an extended debate, last- ing until Jan. 4, it was voted that two copies of the resolu- tions, in connection with a printed copy pertaining to the militia, with an appendix to contain any documents and articles deemed proper, should be delivered by the Massachu- setts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut delegations to their Governors. Copies also were authorized by the president to be forwarded by mail to the executives of New Hampshire and Vermont, to be laid before the legislatures of their respective States. The substance of the proposed amendments to the Con- stitution of the United States was, that representation and taxation should be based on the number of free persons. This was aimed at the Southern States, whose slaves counted in three-fifth ratio as representative people. The power of Congress was to be limited; a vote of two-thirds of its mem- bers being required to admit a new State, to declare war, or to interdict commerce, except in case of an actual invasion. The nativism of the convention was exhibited by their debar- 94 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE ring any but already naturalized citizens from eligibility to Congress, or from holding any civil office under the authority of the United States. They recommended that the presiden- tial office should be restricted to one term, and that no State should furnish two Presidents in succession. This was an attack on Virginia, whose citizens had filled the executive chair of the nation for six out of seven administrations since the formation of the federal government. There were other minor propositions : the delegates were opposed to drafts and conscriptions by the general government, and wished the States to be empowered to defend their own terri- tory from a foreign foe. The convention adjourned sine die Jan. 5, 181 t. The unpublished journals, consisting of twenty-seven written pages, accompanied by the printed reports, was placed in the custody of the president, and by him some four years later deposited in the secretary's office of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, as permanent testimony to the world that the convention meditated no treason. It was suggested by the convention, in the event of peace not being concluded between England and the United States, and the defenses of the Eastern States being neglected, that the legislatures again appoint delegates to another con- clave, to be held at Boston on the third Thursday of the fol- lowing June. 1 he president, Chauncey Goodrich, and Daniel Lyman, or any two of them, were empowered to reassemble the delegates, if in their judgment the situation of the country demanded it, previous to that time. The resolutions, after being discussed by the legislatures of Massachusetts and Con- necticut, were made the subject of communications to Con- gress, by commissioners appointed bv these States; but the consideration of the matter was retarded, and eventually 95 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE closed, by the signing of a treaty of peace at Ghent, which was concluded before the adjournment of the convention. By the treaty, the two nations were left essentially in the same position as before the beginning of hostilities. Henry Clay, one of the commissioners, on the day before the final signing, remarked " 'TIs a damned bad treaty and I don't know whether I will sign it or not." But It was surprisingly good when considered in the light of the actual position of the United States at the time. The very sections which had forced on the war were sick of It, and making no serious exertions to carry it on, and the military operations were dropping Into sheer nothingness. Had the British govern- ment persevered a few months. It would have left us In a dreadful position ; had it even stuck to Its original demands for the treaty, It Is hard to see what we could have done. That the treaty was In fact a very beneficial one, despite the fact that It settled not one of the grievances for which the war was undertaken. Is shown by the outburst of joy with which It was received all through the country. New Eng- land was of course the most relieved, for life could now go on again. After eight years of business prostration and wide- spread bankruptcy and distress, a new prosperity was to set in. But this very fact caused the Hartford Convention to be the political ruin of Its members. Had the war continued, they would have been locally held as patriots and saviours; with the war ended, they were cast aside even by their own section as treason-mongers who had deserted their country In Its sorest need. The worst interpretation was put upon their motives; and the very classes whose spokesmen they had been, would not or dared not honor them. As to the purpose of the convention, the one possible authority is Its action. If any political body were judged by the wild proposals or foolish 96 CONNECriCL ]■ AS A STA'I^E speeches made by Its extremist members, none would have any reputation left, and most of them would seem only fit for a mad-house. The convention voiced a real grievance, which had brought its section to the brink of permanent industrial impoverishment — unfortunately the predominance of the un- commercial sections; it was one which could only be cured by dissohing the Union. That in its \icw a contingency was not far off when that step might be the one salvation from entire ruin, is evident enough; equally so, that it was still some distance off and things might change, and no hasty action was to be, taken. Fhat the members were as good patriots and as good citizens as those who rushed into the war and had not resolution to keep it up, is no very extravagant proposition. That the life of New England had come to seem incompatible with the life of the Union was not its fault; on the contrary, it was the fault of the very sections which were fighting it, and whose members in the early years of the Union fought and defeated its attempts to build up a strong navy, and so make the United States able to hold its own against the world. 97 CHAPTER VI The Political Revolution of 1817 L.ofC. THE cessation of hostilities brought to Connecti- cut trials as well as blessings, while her finan- cial condition was comparatively superior to that of some of her sister States. To some classes of her community peace brought speedy ruin; with others, disaster was changed to prospective wealth. The commerce of the State sprang into active life; on the ocean appeared the white sails of her mercantile marine service. Foreign commodities during the last year of the war had become scarce, and consequently dear; agricul- tural products, however, had reached a low point of value. The manufacturing industries of the State, which at this period largely consisted of cotton goods, had benefited by the war, this article attracting capital on account of its remu- nerative returns; by the declaration of peace, however, they were brought into competition with English products, which was thought ruinous to these industries unless they received protection from the general government. The staple agricul- tural products on which Connecticut's prosperity largely depended were cotton and tobacco. The former rapidly advanced from ten to twenty cents a pound, thus debarring her manufacturers from competing with their foreign rivals. The latter commodity partly counteracted this misfortune, by advancing from two or three dollars to as high as twenty- five dollars per hundredweight; this increased the value of her landed property, and also advanced wages. A flow of wealth into the State, which engendered luxurious and indul- gent habits, was a resultant. Gold, silk, and wine took the place of silver, cotton, and common spirits. A desire was created for more elaborate homes, both in architecture and interior decoration and furnishings. Personal and social enjoyments become more numerous and expensive. 101 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE In this era of prosperity, the attention of the people was recalled, by the leaders of the Republican or Democratic party to its political status. The commonwealth was desti- tute of a constitution adopted by the people. The Demo- crats, in their attack on the validity of the Royal Charter as an instrument of government, were to receive the support of a number of disaffected Federalists, who complained that the party they formerly affiliated with was dominated by leaders of the Congregational church. One of the causes of this disloyalty was the appropriating of a bonus of $50,000, received by the State for the granting of a charter to a bank in Hartford. The obtaining of the act of incorporation for this second financial institution in the capital city was bitterly opposed by the directorship of the Hartford Bank, which had enjoyed the sole privilege of carrying on the banking business in that locality for twenty-two years. Among the petitioners for the new bank charter were some Episcopalians. The majority of the General Assembly being of the Congregationalist faith, in order to circumvent their opponents they proposed that $20,000 of the bonus should be devoted to the medical institution connected with Yale College. Of the balance, a portion was to be appropriated to the Bishop's Fund of the Episcopal Church, or used for any other purpose the General Assembly deemed best. The "Bishop's Fund" here alluded to was created in 1799, for the purpose of obtaining private subscriptions for the sup- port of the Bishop, the State having refused to appropriate any of the public funds for this purpose. The same Assembly which granted the bank charter in 1 8 14, while it set aside the $20,000 for Yale College, refused to make any disposition of the balance of the moneys. This enraged the Episcopalians, who claimed their portion of the 102 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE bonus, basing this claim on the wording of the petition. These demands were disregarded by the Legislature, which did not recognize the right of petitioners to dictate the distri- bution of appropriations. The Episcopalians, since the establishment of their academy in Cheshire, had at various times requested the Legislature to endow it; but they had been only partially suc- cessful. In 1802 a license was granted to raise $15,000 by lottery; they also desired that it should receive a charter as an Episcopal college. The General Assembly, with its Fed- eralist majority, most of whom were of the Congregational faith, with strong attachments for the institution at New Haven, did not wish to create an Episcopal rival for Yale, nor did they deem it just that money should be appropriated from the State Treasury for the maintenance of a Bishop. Thus vainly petitioning the legislature for that which they contended was their legal right, the members of the Episco- pal Church proposed to unite with the minority political party. They were joined by the Baptists and Methodists, whose numerous legislative applications for relief from the compulsory religious taxes had remained unanswered. They demanded that "legal religion" should be abolished, and "the adulterous union of Church and State forever dissolved." A meeting was held at New Haven for the purpose of cementing an alliance between the Democrats and such of the Federalists as were opposed to the "standing order" and "were friends of toleration and reform." The Democrats, recognizing the utter impossibility of obtaining supremacy in State politics, by their past efforts, welcomed these new adherents to their ranks with open arms and with perfect unanimity accepted as the standard-bearers of the new polit- 103 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE ical party, Oliver Wolcott for Governor, and Jonathan In- gersoll as Deputy-Governor. Wolcott was a Federalist of the Federalists. He even opposed the renomination of John Adams, because he be- lieved "We should never find ourselves in the straight road of Federalism while Mr. Adams is president." The Anti- Federalists, at the time of his resignation as Secretary of the Treasury, had not only accused him of maladministration, but with downright crime. By his retirement from public life, and an absence of fourteen years from Connecticut, he had lived down the old-time resentment. Mr. Wolcott was opposed to the Hartford Convention ; he was a friend to the Union, a foe to rebellion, and an active supporter of the late war; he resisted bigotry and favored toleration: all of which made him an available candidate for the coalition. His associate on the ticket was an eminent lawyer of New Haven and a prominent member of the Episcopal Church, being senior trustee of the "Bishop's Fund." The new political party, first called "American," and after- wards "American and Toleration," was beaten at the spring election in 1816. Mr. Wolcott received 10,170 votes out of 215759; Judge Ingersoll, with the help of Federalists, was elected by a majority of 1,453. The diminished majority of the Federalist candidate foreshadowed a coming political revolution in the State ; although at the presidential election held in the fall of 18 16, they were again successful. The electoral college, consisting of Jonathan Ingersoll, William Perkins, Nathaniel Terry, Elisha Sterling, Seth P. Staples, Elijah Hubbard, Jirah Isham, Asa Wiley, and S. W. John- son, cast nine votes for Rufus King for President. There being no regular nominee for the office of Vice-President, five votes were cast for James Ross and four for John Mar- 104 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE shall. In this election the Federalist candidate for President received only the votes of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Delaware. At the session of the Legislature in October, 1816, the Fed- eralists adopted conciliatory and compromising measures, to strengthen their position in the State. There was a balance due the commonwealth from the general government, for disbursements expended in general defense during the war. The Assembly passed "an act for the support of Literature and Religion," in which one-third of the amount was appro- priated to Congregationalist societies, to be divided among them for the support of the Gospel; one-seventh to the trus- tees of the "Bishop's Fund," for the use and benefit of the Episcopalian denomination of Christians; one-eighth to the Baptist trustees; one-twelfth to the Methodist trustees for the use of their denominations, and one-seventh to Yale Col- lege. The balance, a little more than one-sixth, was to remain in the State Treasury. The amount received from the United States, before No- vember, 18 17, was $61,500. As might have been expected, these concessions rather promoted than diminished the op- position to the established order of State and Church. The Federalists and Congregationalists thought too much had been conceded, while the minor sects deemed the division unjust. In fact, the Methodists at first refused to receive their share; but finally in 18 18, thinking it wrong to leave such a sum remaining idle in the State Treasury, they accepted the amount. The Baptist trustees were still more obstinate, but finally succumbed to the inevitable, in June, 1820, and received their portion of the appropriation. The next year the same nominations were made by the Toleration party. Oliver Wolcott was elected Gover- 105 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE nor, the Federalist candidate being the incumbent of the office, John Cotton Smith, The legal returns gave Wol- cott 13,655 in a total vote of 26,976. By corrections afterwards made and conceded by the Federalists, his major- ity was about six hundred. Never had such a political cyclone swept over the "land of steady habits." Only four years previous, John Cotton Smith, the Federalist candidate, received 9,415 votes for Governor, and Elijah Boardman, his Democratic competitor, 2,619. At the October session of the General Assembly in 1816^ the success of the Toleration party was assured by their plac- ing in nomination their ticket for Assistants. The " Stand-up Law," which had been on the statute-book since 1801, was repealed at this session. This obnoxious law deprived the freemen of a secret ballot; it was not only condemned by the Democrats and their Toleration allies, but was also very unpopular among the Federalists; it was one of the few grievances the freemen had to complain of, and was instru- mental in consummating the political revolution that began in 1817. One of the first acts passed by the Assembly in this year was that "securing equal rights, powers, and privileges to Christians of every denomination in this State." The law was not explicit enough to satisfy the minor sects, as it con- tained no declaration that would enable them to have recourse to the same measures that were enjoyed by the StandingOrder. The following year another bill was adopted, which more effectually secured equal rights and privileges to all denominations. The Toleration party, in the spring of 1 8 18, appeared under the name of "Constitution and Re- form." The political revolution was completed by the 106 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE re-election of Wolcott and Ingersoll, also of eight new Assist- ants, and a majority against the Federalists in the House of Representatives. While the success of the Democrats and Tolerationists was due to their unanimity of feeling in favor of a new con- stitution, the Federalists were by no means united in opposing it. In several towns, prominent members of that party con- curred in the vote instructing their representatives to favor the change. There was also the old rivalry between New Haven and Hartford, which dated from the union of the colonies. The Tolerationists advocated a political equality, by having only annual meetings of the Legislature, held alternately in each city; thus many Federalists of New Haven and vicinity favored "Constitution and Reform." The Democratic press, by able editorials, indorsed the change; these were supple- mented by a liberal distribution of pamphlets throughout the State. The most serious defect in the existing form of govern- ment was the omission of defining "the supreme power and authority of the State." This was vested in the General Assembly, without reservation of the judicial authority to the proper courts of law. This body was the court of ultimate resort in all matters, civil and criminal. It also, for a long time, reserved to itself the sole jurisdiction in equity; nor had it as yet delegated to the courts the power of granting relief, if the amount in controversy exceeded $5,335, which had been fixed as the equivalent of £1,600. The power to call to account any court or magistrate for cause found, and to punish, fine, or displace, was vested in this body; also its right to grant pardons, suspensions, and reprieves, in capital or criminal cases, was unquestioned. 107 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE Therefore many leading members of the bench and bar wished to have the legal status of the courts more specifically defined ; they also desired a separation of the executive, legis- lative, and judicial branches of the State government. The election of 1818 was to change not only the policy, but the frame of government. At the convening of the As- sembly in May 18 18, it was well understood that its prin- cipal business would be to provide for the calling of a con- stitutional convention. The Governor, in his address before the two houses, presented the subject with fairness, caution, and good sense. The House of Representatives appointed Orange Merwin of New Milford, David Plant of Stratford, Shubael Griswold of East Hartford, Nathan Pendleton of North Stonington, and Nathaniel Griffing of Guilford, a committee to report on that portion of the governor's mes- sage which related to the revision of the form of civil gov- ernment. The council appointed Elijah Boardman and Wil- liam Bristol members of a joint committee. A resolution was adopted June 2, 18 18, calling for town meetings to be held on the following fourth day of July, to enable the freemen to elect as many delegates to a Constitu- tional Convention, to be held the fourth Wednesday in August, as they had representatives in the lower house of the General Assembly. The result of the two elections assured a majority for the Tolerationists, though both parties had put in nomination their strongest men. Oliver Wolcott, the Father of the Constitution of 18 18, and the first Governor elected under it, was the third mem- ber of the Wolcott family called upon to fill this office. He was born in Litchfield, Jan. 11, 1760; at the age of four- teen he entered Yale College; two years later he joined the volunteer militia, which interrupted his studies. He took 108 From a ciavun sketch bv Rembrandt Peale. ^^?:^v^^^^^ CONNECTICUT AS A STATE part in repelling Tryon's invasion; he afterwards returned to college, graduated, and began the study of law. During the summer of 1779 he acted as aide-de-camp to his father, who commanded on the western borders of the State; he was attached to the quartermaster's department of the Continental Army, but after declining a commission as ensign, he left military life to resume his legal studies. Leav- ing his native town in 178 i, he proceeded to Hartford, where he accepted a clerkship in the office of the Commissioners of the Pay Table. The following year he was appointed one of the board. In May 1784 he was selected one of the commis- sioners to adjust the claims of Connecticut against the United States; his colleagues were Oliver Ellsworth and William Samuel Johnson. The abolishment of the Commissioners of the Pay Table caused him to be appointed in 1788 Comptroller of Public Accounts; this office he resigned to become Auditor of the United States Treasury. He was afterwards made Comp- troller, and in the spring of 1791 he declined the presidency of the United States Bank. On the resignation of Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of the Freasury In 1795, Governor Wolcott succeeded him, holding the office until Nov. 8, 1800. Two years later he removed to New York City-, engaged in mercantile pursuits, amassed a fortune, and became the first president of the Bank of North America. After the close of the second war with England, he returned to his native town, where in company with his brother he founded large woolen mills near Torrington. For ten con- secutive years he was elected to the gubernatorial chair; on his retirement from this office, he returned to New York City, where he died June i, 1833. Governor Wolcott was the last survivor of Washington's Cabinet, and the last link 109 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE in the chain that represented the principles of the founders of the reoubhc. 110 CHAPTER VII The Constitutional Convention of i8i IT was an auspicious day historically for Connecticut, that saw the assembling of the Constitutional Con- vention in the Hall of Representatives at Hartford, on Aug. 26, 18 18. The royal gift, which had been received with enthusiasm by the colonial fathers, was to be dispossessed of its governmental powers, and become a relic of antiquity. The Royal Charter, while it contained no royal prerogatives, was tinged with the spirit of aristoc- racy. The artisans who were to advance the prosperity and importance of the State were not, under its government, co-ordinate with the landed proprietors. The mechanic was prima facie vulgar ; his ability was exercised not in increas- ing his wealth, but in a determination to desert his vocation, to become a member of the professional or agricultural class. The abolishment of an established church caused all men to enjoy the same political status. For the first time, the mechanic was on an equality with the Congregationalist farm- owner. This laid the foundation for a distinct mechanical commonwealth, and undoubtedly stimulated inventive genius. The convention embraced members of all creeds, and from all walks in life; but there was a large predominance of those who had attained honorable distinction in profes- sional or public positions. Seven of the delegates — namely, Pierrepont Edwards, Amasa Learned, Jessse Root, John Treadwell, Stephen Mix Mitchell, Aaron Austin, and Lem- uel Sanford — were members of the convention which ratified the Constitution of the United States. Amasa Learned and Timothy Pitkin had been representatives in Congress, while Pierrepont Edwards was a member of the Continental Con- gres and the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Elisha Phelps, James Stevens, Gideon Tomlinson, Orange Merwin, and Daniel Burrows afterwards represented Connecticut in 113 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE the lower house of Congress; while to the upper house, James Lanman, Nathan Smith, and Gideon Tomlinson were sent. The latter, and also Dr. John S. Peters, became Governors of the State. The Federalists were well represented. In their ranks were honored chiefs and pillars of their established order. Three of them were venerable members of the judicial bench : Jesse Root, in his eighty-second year, Stephen Mix Mitchell, in his seventy-fifth, and ex-Governor John Treadwell, in his seventy-third. The leadership of the minority was divided between General Nathaniel Terry and Governor Treadwell. There were many other Federalists having a State rather than a national reputation, who were members of the body. Among them we name Aaron Austin of New Hartford, who had for nearly a quarter of a century sat with the Assistants at the council board; William Perkins of Ashford, Colonel Shubael Griswold of East Hartford, General Levi Lusk of Wethersfield, Rev. Aaron Church of Hartford, Henry Terry of Enfield, Colonel John McClellan of Woodstock, Dr. Bela Farnham of East Haven, and Dr. Solomon Everett of Can- ton. These gentlemen were leaders in the political party of their forefathers, and earnest advocates of the established order of the Congregationalist church. They refrained from a hopeless opposition to the coming constitution; but their efforts were directed towards preserv- ing, as far as possible, the established institutions of Connec- ticut, and a distinction of powers under a new form of gov- ernment. These principles were voiced by their political organ, the Connecticut Courant, in its issue of June 21, 1 8 18: "Federalists are far enough from being opposed to a Constitution, and instead of being enemies to it, will be heartily glad to co-operate with all honest Republicans to 114 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE form such a constitution of civil government as will secure to the freemen of Connecticut equal rights and a continuance of those numerous privileges which have so long distin- guished the people of the State." The new political party, whose battle cry was "Toleration and Reform," when its age is taken into consideration, pre- sented an array of leaders unprecedented in the history of the State. Prominent among these was Pierrepont Edwards, the venerable founder of the party. He was the youngest son of the Rev. Jonathan Edwards, and possessed a fund of legal lore. He was appointed by President Jefferson as United States Judge for Connecticut, and early identified himself with the organization of Freemasonry in the State. He was chosen the first Grand Master of that order. Among the other recognized leaders were Alexander Wolcott of Middle- town, the founder and father of the Jefferson school of poli- tics in the State, the Baptist divine Rev. Asabel Morse of Suffield, the sometime Methodist preacher Rev. Daniel Burrows of Hebron, Joshua Stow of Middletown, General Joshua King of Ridgefield, Daniel Tomlinson of Oxford, and Christopher Manw^aring of New London. There were also at least a dozen of the medical fraternity selected as delegates, nearly all of whom were advocates for Toleration. Prominent among these were Drs. Sylvester Wells of Hartford, John S. Peters of Hebron, William Shel- ton of Huntington, Nathaniel Perry of Woodbury, John Turner of Norwich, Noah A. Lacey of Brookfield, and Jehial Williams of New Milford. On the assembling of the delegates, the body was called to order by Jesse Root of Coventry. This honor was conferred on him in consequence of his seniority of age. The first test of party strength was manifested in the selection of a clerk 115 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE for the convention. The Federalists presented as their candi- date Thomas Day, Secretary of State; on the third ballot, however, James Lanman of Norwich was chosen to fill the position. His Excellency Oliver Wolcott, one of the dele- gates from Litchfield, was elected to preside over the assem- bly. The convention being formally organized, and prayers offered, a committee of five was appointed, to frame a sys- tem of rules for the order and government of the body. It was not until the 27th of August, however, that definite action was taken to further the business for which the con- vention was called together. A committee consisting of three members from each county was balloted for, to draft a constitution to submit to the convention. One-half of this committee of twenty-four members, notwithstanding the hostility to Yale that had been manifested by some of the Republicans, and also that the institution was viewed with jealousy by dissenters from the established order on account of its relations to the State, were of the alumni of that college. Only five of the com- mittee were from the Federalist party. On the 28th of the month, rules and orders were adopted; though a Preamble and Bill of Rights were presented, no action was taken until the first of the following month, when it was considered by sections. The adoption of a Bill of Rights was opposed by the lead- ers of both parties. Governor Treadwell for the Federalists contended that, as the people of the State had not to deal with any tyrant or aristocracy, it was superfluous. Mr. Wol- cott, for the Democrats, thought it circumscribed the pov/ers of the General Assembly; he also offered objection to several of its clauses. The Declaration of Rights, however, which 116 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE became Article I. of the constitution, embodied those princi- ples of personal liberty and self-government which the people of the State inherited from their progenitors; every line breathed true democracy. As originally reported by the com- mittee, this Declaration consisted of twenty-three clauses; several of these were amended, and two entirely eliminated. The second article provided for the distribution of the powers of the government, the defining of which was one of the primary causes of calling the convention. The Judiciary was, for the first time in Connecticut's history, separated from the General Assembly, which, like its predecessor the General Court had been omnipotent. The third article related to the Legislature and elections. The former was to consist of two branches : the upper house to be known as the Senate, and to consist of twelve members elected by the people; the lower house was to be called the House of Representatives. The towns, being the unit of State organization, retained their former representation, irre- spective of wealth or population. The power of the General Assembly to reduce the number of representatives from each town, providing that at least one was credited to a town, was reported on favorably by the drafting committee. So also was an attempt to base the representation on population : providing that a town should have four thousand inhabitants to entitle it to more than one representative, although as low as two thousand was advocated. These resolutions were decided in the negative, and the original representation enjoyed by the towns was maintained. In regard to the meet- ings of the General Assembly, the committee were in favor of holding annual sessions alternately in Hartford and New Haven ; but on this being presented to the convention by the vote of the presiding officer, a resolution was passed amend- 117 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE ing it so that semi-annual sessions were to be held. This was afterwards reconsidered, and the original report of the com- mittee was adopted. The membership of the upper house of the Legislature was a mooted question. Various attempts were made to raise the committee's report of twelve, to twenty. These failing, six- teen was substituted ; finally fourteen was adopted. Articles fourth, fifth, and sixth, pertaining to the executive and judicial departments of the government, also to the qual- ifications of electors, were considered by sections, and adopted after a few minor amendments were made. The presentation on Sept. 1 1 of the seventh article of the constitution, which dealt with religion, led to an acrimoni- ous and protracted debate. The Federalists, though in a hopeless minority, still opposed the severance of Church and State ; they could not, however, prevent the absolute equality before the law of all Christian denominations, though they were able to secure to the old ecclesiastical societies their legal rights and privileges as corporate bodies. The remaining articles of the constitution, pertaining to education, impeachments, general provisions, and amend- ments, after slight changes, were adopted as reported by the committee. It was on Sept. 15 that the draft of the constitution, as amended and approved, was adopted by the convention by a vote of yeas 134, nays 61. A resolution that the constitu- tion should be ratified "by a majority of the qualified voters present on the first Monday in October next," was, after various unsuccessful attempts to substitute for majority, three- fifths, four-sevenths, and five-ninths of the number of votes given, finally passed. In a resume of a vote of the convention for the adoption of 118 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE the constitution, we find that while many of the prominent Federalists voted in the affirmative, the ultra-Jeffersonian Democrats were arrayed in opposition. This was for the best interests of the State, as the constitution thus submitted to the people was not such as either party wished for, but a com- promise between radical Democracy and conservative Fed- eralism. The Republicans gained a triumph in the overthrow of the charter government; the Toleration party, by the guarantee of perfect religious liberty and the enjoyment of equal powers, rights, and privileges to all denominations of Christians, had achieved the victory for which they had con- tended. The ratification of the constitution by the people was for a time deemed doubtful; but the influence of the Democrats at the town meetings was counteracted by the Federalist dele- gates who had voted for It In the convention, advocating it in good faith, which brought many Federalist votes to its sup- port. It is asserted on good authority that a Federalist leader, by his personal and political Influence, did more to secure a majority for ratification than any one else; whereas if he had opposed the constitution, It could not have escaped defeat. The electors of the State, by a majority of 1,554 in a total vote of 26,282, ratified the constitution on the 5th of October. While the five southern counties gave a majority of 2,843 ^^^ ratification, the northern counties gave 1,289 against it. New London was the banner county for ratifica- tion, giving a majority of 948 in a total vote of 2,532. The town of Groton cast its entire vote, 283, for the constitu- tion, while In Waterford there were only three, and in Pres- ton eight, who were opposed to it. The constitution was engrossed on parchment, and enrolled, with the State seal 119 CONNECl ICUT AS COLONY AND STATE laffixed, then deposited in the office of the Secretary of State. There have been thirty-one amendments to the constitu- tion. The first three of these, adopted in November 1828, related to an increase in the membership of the Senate to not less than eighteen nor more than twenty-four members, and also gave the General xA.ssembly the power to district the State accordingly. The next four amendments pertained to the duties and election of different State officials. In October 1845 ^^^ property qualifications for electors were dispensed with, and every white male citizen of the United States, with cer- tain restrictions of residence, became a legalized voter. This was amended in 1855, and the requisition added that every person, before being qualified, should read an article of the constitution. In 1876, the word "white" preceding "male" was erased. In 1897, every person was required to read a section of the statutes of the State, in the English language, in order to be entitled to suffrage. By an amendment passed in 1856, the term of office of the judges of the Supreme Court of Errors, and of the Superior Court, was fixed at eight years; they were debarred from holding this position after reaching the age of seventy. In 1880 the constitution was further amended to the effect that the said judges were to be nominated by the Governor and appointed by the General Assembly. An amendment adopted in 1864 gave the right of suf- frage to all drafted persons or volunteers then in the service of the United States, who were absent from the State. In 1873 Hartford was made the sole capital. The following year the membership of the House of Representatives was modified, allowing every town the representation it then had, but a new town had to contain a population of five thousand 120 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE to entitle it to two representatives. This was further amended in 1876, so that a new town must have at least twenty-rive hundred inhabitants to be entitled to any repre- sentation. The time for election of State officers was changed in 1875 to the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, the election to be held annually; this in 1884 was changed to "biennially," and the term of office made two years. An amendment was adopted in 1901, which provided that the election of the State officials should be determined, not by majority, but plurality of votes. This ended the greatest political scandal of the State, under which for many years a minority of voters regularly put their candidate in office, and the majority as regularly went to the polls on a fool's errand. The Senate was also increased, so that it was to consist of not more than thirty-six members nor less than twenty-four. The General Assembly was empowered to redistrict the State, but the act was not to go into effect until the Wednesday after the first Monday of January 1905. 121 CHAPTER VIII The Money Panics of 1819-37 THE commencement of the nineteenth century found Connecticut with five chartered banks, representing a united capital of $595,000. The contiguous State of Massachusetts at this time had twenty-two banking institutions; these possessed, collectively, capital amounting to $8,024,562. The population of Connecticut, compared to that of Massa- chusetts, was forty-three as to one hundred, while her bank- ing capital was but as seven to one hundred. This was due to the fact that the people of Connecticut were more largely engaged in agricultural pursuits than the inhabitants of the Bay State. Also, from 1790 to 18 10, her population did not increase in the same ratio as that of the other States in the Union ; the cause of this was the liberal contributions of her inhabitants made to forward the development of the West- ern frontiers, which hindered her commercial and industrial progress. It was also a fact that Rhode Island, New Hamp- shire, and New York extended their banking facilities in greater proportion to their population than did Connecticut. The Legislature in 1802 passed the first general law in ref- erence to banks, prohibiting them from issuing bills in frac- tional denominations of a dollar, and forbidding the circula- tion of bills for these amounts in the State. The following year, the State having a surplus of $400,- 000, the General Assembly authorized subscriptions to be made to the capital stock of the five banks then in existence; the State retained the right, however, to withdraw such invest- ments on giving six months' notice. The stock thus created was non-transferable, but was entitled to all profits and divi- dends, the same as stock of other holders. It conferred no right to vote at the general meetings; but if the amount in any bank exceeded $5,000, the State might appoint a director 125 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE on the managing board of that Institution. The Comptroller of Public Accounts had the right to demand financial state- ments, and to inspect the books of any bank. This was the first act passed by the Legislature of the State providing for an inspection of moneyed institutions by a State official, and was not for the protection of stockholders and depositors, but as a measure of security for State investments. The quintette of State banks was Increased In 1807 by the incorporation of a bank at Bridgeport, which place seven years previously had been raised to the dignity of a borough. The capital stock was $200,000, divided into one thousand shares of two hundred dollars each, of which the State was not allowed to hold more than one-fifth without the consent of the directors. The following year a charter was granted for the establishment of a bank at New London. Owing to the Embargo and Non-Intercourse acts passed by Congress In 1807, a depreciation had occurred in the com- mercial interests of the State. As a preliminary measure of relief, the banks were authorized to issue post notes. The Derby Fishing Company was incorporated in 1807, to engage in fisheries ; two years later It was granted the privi- lege of writing marine Insurance. On account of the Inter- ruption of its industries by the Embargo act, it was allowed to loan its capital. The directors of the company, considering this sufficient authorization, began the business of banking, Issuing notes of circulation. This was considered by the General Assembly an abuse of privileges granted, and the company was summoned to appear before them. The fol- lowing year a charter was granted for the establishment of a bank at Derby, but with the provisoes that the fishing com- pany should hold no stock, nor should any one of Its ofl^icials act as a director of the financial Institution. The bank was 126 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE required to furnish an annual statement to the General As- sembly; this was the first time in the history of the State that such a demand had been made. These restrictions, however, were repealed two years later. The Eagle Bank of New Haven was chartered in 1 8 1 1 with a capital of $500,000. The agitation by Congress of the renewal of the charter of the Bank of the United States, coupled with the declaration of war with England, tended to unsettle the financial affairs of the country. That the war was unpopular in Connecticut is evidenced by the fact that in 18 12, out of a loan of $13,- 100,200 obtained by the general government, she is credited with only $6,200. The war party gained in strength, how- ever, as two years later, to a loan of $25,000,000, several individual citizens each subscriber more than four times this amount. For twenty-two years the Hartford Bank had enjoyed a monopoly of the financial business of that city and the sur- rounding country. In 18 14 a petition was presented to the Legislature for the incorporation of a new bank, with a cap- ital of $1,000,000, a portion of which was to be devoted to the establishment of a branch at Litchfield. The petitioners for the new bank offered for the privilege of incorporation, a bonus of $60,000; to be used, in such proportion as the Gen- eral Assembly might deem expedient, for the support of the medical department of Yale College, also for the Bishop's Fund of the Episcopal Church, or be otherwise disposed of if that body deemed it necessary. The foremost movers for the new bank were Episcopalians, who hoped, through favoring a donation to Yale, to further the granting of a charter for a college of their own religious belief, for which they had repeatedly petitioned the Legis- lature without success. The branch at Litchfield was to 127 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE influence the legislative votes in the western part of the State. The directors of the Hartford Bank presented to the Legislature a memorial, offering to increase their capital stock $1,000,000, for which privilege they would pay the State a bonus of $50,000; but notwithstanding this opposi- tion, a charter was granted to the Phoenix Bank, compelling them to pay into the State treasury a bonus of $50,000. This was the first instance in Connecticut of a bonus being made a condition for granting a bank charter. Such a requirement is not justifiable, as it takes in bulk what should be distributed annually in the shape of taxation. That Hartford at this time must have contained many moneyed men, is shown by the fact that on the books of sub- scription for the new bank being opened, stock was taken amounting to $7,000,000. The establishment of the Phoenix Bank made the total amount of the banking capital of the State $4,000,000. The liquidation of the first Bank of the United States, which had conducted a successful business, created a desire on the part of its stockholders to continue the banking business; this caused throughout the Middle States a mania for the organization of financial institutions. The opinion soon became universal that the establishment of a bank would create the necessary capital, and that a promise to pay money was money itself. During the war, the exportation of specie was prohibited. This, in connection with the British blockade, operated jls a check against the expansion which was taking place all over the country. Foreign goods realized a large profit, which also added to the show of prosperity. In October 18 14, specie was at a premium of eleven per cent. ; when peace was declared, it was thought the currency 128 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE of the country would return to a healthy condition. Suspended banks were expected to resume; and though specie fell to three or four per cent, premium, in July 1815 it advanced to fifteen per cent. This was due to various causes, among which were the excessive amount of foreign goods imported, also the unequal depreciation of the suspended bank notes in different localities, and the repeal of the act allowing banks to issue post notes. The fever of speculation, like the bank and war fever, did not take a strong hold in Connecticut and the other New England States. The conservative conduct of Connecticut's bankers and merchants, in resisting expansion, attracted spe- cie ; and while some of the banks in New England suspended, those of Connecticut never refused to pay their demand notes in gold and silver. They were obliged, however, on account of the suspension of so many banks throughout the country, to replace these notes with others payable two years after the close of the war. The circulatory currency had no universal basis of redemp- tion, which caused great inconvenience in making remittances from one part of the country to the other. This produced a state of affairs unsatisfactory to every one except the money brokers. Congress in 18 16 sanctioned the establishment of a second United States Bank, to be prohibited from suspend- ing specie payment; branches could be established in every State; Middletown was selected for the Connecticut branch. Congress could only legislate indirectly for the State banks ; but its requirement that all dues to the United States should be collected in gold and silver, or notes payable in such coin, caused the nominal resumption of specie payment. The currency of the country, however, was far from being on a sound basis during 18 17-18; the general government im- 129 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE ported $7,000,000 worth of specie, and it was deemed im- practicable to maintain an adequate supply in the country un- less the Bank of the United States would curtail its discounts. This policy was adopted; the parent bank and its branches also declined to receive on deposit any bills but those of their own issue. This, in connection with the contraction of the cir- culating medium, could lead to only one result, for a people heavily burdened with debt. The money crisis of 18 19 was felt to a less degree in New England than any other part of the country : but trade became stagnant and real estate rapidly depreciated; many were made bankrupt by a refusal of their customary bank accom- modations ; employment was sought by thousands of idle per- sons. The recovery from the panic of 1 8 19 was slow in Con- necticut. Owing to the scarcity of work, and low wages, the population of the cities drifted into the country; the price of land and living commodities in 1820-21 ruled at less than one-half the price of a year before the crisis. The General Assembly, watchful of the financial safety of her citizens, in 18 12 required the cashiers of banks to make annual sworn statements of their capital stock to the State Comptroller; also of debts due them, money on deposit, and notes in circu- lation. No provision, however, was made for personal in- spection, or for publication of the reports. It was during this depression of finances that the first steps were taken, at Hartford, to incorporate a society for the sav- ing of small amounts of money. The success of similar insti- tutions in Massachusetts influenced several gentlemen to peti- tion the Legislature, and in 18 19 forty-one persons were incorporated under the name and style of The Society for Savings. The first six months' deposits amounted to $4,352.- 77. The following year the Savings Bank of New Haven 130 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE was Incorporated. Other charters were granted as follows: The Norwich Savings Bank in 1824; the Middletown Sav- ings Bank in 1825; and the Savings Bank of New London in 1827. The Legislature in 1822 chartered the Stonington Bank at Stonington, and the Windham Bank at Brooklyn; two years later the Fairfield County Bank at Norwalk, with a branch at Danbury, also the Mechanics' Bank of New Haven, received articles of incorporation. The Connecticut branch of the Bank of the United States was removed to Hartford in 1824; the next year the Thames Bank of Norwich was granted a charter. Bank notes at this time were redeemable only at the places where they were issued. This retarded business with distant points, as money exchanges depended on the credit of the banks of issue or the discount attendant on their redemption into current funds. The Suffolk Bank of Boston, in 18 19, began to deal in uncurrent money, and offered to allow coun- try banks, on their depositing $5,000 and such further sums as might be necessary, to redeem their bills, and allow them the discount at which they might be purchased. This plan was put in full operation in 1824, when seven Boston banks formed a combination, and designated the Suffolk Bank as a clearing-house for the clearance of their bills; thus forcing the country banks to provide also an agent of redemption. The permanent deposit was reduced to $2,000, and the Con- necticut banks joined the Suffolk system, thus providing a depository for redemption of their bills without discount, which brought them to par where Boston funds were redeem- able. A financial crash occurred in England in 1825, owing to a speculative fever that raged during the preceding year. This 131 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE commercial disturbance was soon felt in the United States, and indirectly caused the failure of two banks in Connecticut; the first disaster of the kind in her history. The Eagle Bank of New Haven was the first to succumb ; this failure was due to unwise and reckless management. The other was the Derby Bank, whose charter was repealed by the Legislature in 1826, the management having fallen into the hands of a party of New York bank-wreckers. These financial disturbances retarded for a time the chartering of new banks ; it was not until 1828 that the Tolland County Bank of Tolland was incorporated. Three years previous to this, the Legislature had empowered the Quinnebaug Canal Bank to transact busi- ness, but its charter was vacated in 1832. The Connecticut River Banking Company had been incor- porated as a financial institution, to further the operations of the Connecticut River Company ; but the bank did not com- mence business until October 1829. The following year the Middlesex County Bank was authorized to do business at Middletown. The General Assembly, at its session in May 1 83 1, chartered the City Bank at New Haven, the Connecti- cut Bank at Bridgeport, also a bank in East Haddam and in Jewett City. At the session held in 1832, the Quinnebaug Bank of Norwich, and the Windham Bank to be located in the town of Windham, were granted articles of incorporation. The Legislature at its May session in 1833 granted char- ters to six banks : the Farmers' and Mechanics' of Hartford, the Merchants' of Norwich, the Whaling of New London, the Thompson located at Centre Village, the Mystic of Ston- ington, and the Meriden in the town of that name. The determined opposition to the Bank of the United States made by President Jackson, when he vetoed the bill for the renewal of its charter, and his subsequent re-election 132 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE in opposition to all the influences of the banking interests of the country, had a tendency to depreciate monetary affairs. The cessation of depositing the government funds in the Bank of the United States, in the fall of 1833, and the depos- iting of them in State banks designated by the Secretary of the Treasury, were the forerunners of a money panic. The United States depositories in Connecticut were the Mechan- ics' Bank of New Haven, the Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank of Hartford, and the New London Bank at New London. The confidence of the public was taken by these monetary changes; business became paralyzed, manufactories shut down, and many of their owners failed. Though the Presi- dent was repeatedly petitioned to recharter the Bank of the United States, he was imperious to all demands, and obsti- nate in his refusals. This created in the country a disturbed state of affairs. The people considered it an abuse of power, that the monetary system of the country should be subject to the caprice of one man; the banks exaggerated the evil, and demanded payment of loans, refusing further business accom- modations. Though the period of disturbance was not of long dura- tion, it unsettled the commerce of the country; but in the summer of 1834 confidence was restored, and the financial dangers were over. In that year four banks were chartered : the Exchange at Hartford, the New Haven County at New Haven, the Manufacturers' at Farmington, which however never went into operation, and the Stamford in the town of that name. For the first time in the history of the State, the shares of capital stock in these institutions were placed at fifty dollars each, and in one instance at twenty-five dollars, in order to give the poor man, if he so desired, an opportunity to invest his savings. Thus at the close of the year 1834 133 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE there were thirty-one banks in Connecticut. Of these, fifteen were chartered in the years 1831 to 1834 inclusive. This increase in banking enterprises was proportionate throughout the country; and coupled with the transfer of the public funds from the Bank of the United States to the smaller State banks, managed by financiers possessed of no practical knowledge of banking, engendered a speculative fever. Cotton, the acknowledged king of products, advanced twenty-five per cent., owing to the demand from England, where credits were also expanding. This caused the people to make extravagant purchases of Western and Southern lands. The times were in a chaotic state, when in July 1836 the famous specie circular was issued by the general govern- ment; which demanded payment for all lands, except from actual settlers and residents of the State, to be made in gold and silver. Congress legislated in favor of rescinding the specie circu- lar, but it received a "pocket veto" by the President; this was the cause of the returning of the bills to the banks of issue, for redemption in specie. The government depositories be- ing also obliged to provide on Jan. i, 1837, for the payment of one-quarter of the surplus of the government to the States, in proportion to their respective representation in Congress, the whole brought the financial unsettlement of the country to a climax. General contraction was unavoidable, the rates for money steadily advanced; cotton fell in price to seven cents a pound, and more than half the cotton mills shut down. Merchants became bankrupt, and on the suspension of the New York and Boston banks in May 1837, those of Connecticut (with the exception of the City Bank of New Haven, the Union Bank of New London, and the Mystic and Stonington Banks 134 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE of Stonlngton) refused to liquidate their obligations in specie. The losses of Connecticut banks were chiefly through loans made in Western New York, and through the failure of E. M. Morgan & Co. of New York, who were the agents in that city for at least six banks of the State. No bank in the State failed, however, and they were all prepared to resume specie payment in May 1838. The money panic had demonstrated that unsecured bank notes were dangerous to the public welfare ; for every dollar that was hastened home for redemption, it was necessary to call in a corresponding dollar that was loaned, and no new accommodations could be extended to bank patrons. Another serious objection was, that in the hands of unprincipled men, a bank circulation could be extended to its utmost limits in periods of expansion. The State had obliged banks, under the law of 182 i, to lodge annual statements in the office of the Comptroller; no regular forms were provided, and each bank prepared a state- ment in accordance with the personal views of its officers. At the May session of the Legislature in 1836, a committee was appointed with the power to inspect and examine, under oath, all officers, agents, and servants of the banks. This was the first step taken by the State to examine all of its banks, and it resulted the following year in the appointment of John C. Palmer and Chauncey F. Cleveland as bank commissioners. From that time this has been a permanent office of the State government. 135 CHAPTER IX Industries of Cities and Towns in the First Quar- ter OF the Nineteenth Century AT the opening of the nineteenth century, New Haven, as a commercial port, had not recov- ered from the disastrous effect to her com- merce received during the French Revolu- tion. Her export trade was largely with the West Indies; her maritime enterprises were the prey of English and French cruisers stationed in the waters about those islands, and she suffered in consequence large pecuniary losses to both vessels and cargoes. Nevertheless, in 1800 we find registered in the district eleven thousand tons of shipping. At her wharves vessels were frequently anchored during the early part of the first decade of the new century, laden with wines and brandy from Marseilles, wines and silks from Bordeaux, myriads of articles of British manufacture from London, wines, oils, and opium from Cadiz; in fact, at that time there was imported into the city nearly everything required for the use of her citizens. The equipment of the "New Haven South Sea Fleet" was a commercial venture that will, in all probability, never be rivaled in that city. The fleet consisted of no less than twenty ships, commanded by officers the peers of any naviga- tors, and manned by American seamen, largely from New Haven and vicinity. The crew of each numbered about forty men, besides a mechanical force; their armament was from ten to twenty-six pound guns, muskets, cutlasses, boarding- pikes, etc. The object of the adventure was to visit the Pacific Ocean, in the neighborhood of the St. Felix group of islands, for the purpose of seal-fishing. The voyages were from twenty to thirty months in duration. The skins were sold at Canton, where the ships were laden with silks and teas for the homeward course. There was on the coast of Patagonia a tract of land nearly 139 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE two miles in length on which the captains of the New Haven vessels used to dry the skins of the captured seals; it was known in those early days of seal fishing, by the name of "the New Haven Green." Before the close of 1804, New Haven ships had visited the Sandwich Islands and a number of the ports of China ; valuable cargoes of spices had also been imported from the Spice Islands in the Indian Ocean. These extensive undertakings Vv^ere not confined to the citi- zens of New Haven; merchants of the other large towns of the State were also interested in the enterprises, both in ships and cargoes. Seal-fishing as a type of commerce was maintained with greater vigor until 1806, when, owing to the competition of vessels sailing from other New England seaports, and the wholesale destruction of the seals, the market became so overstocked that the venture was unprofitable. Still, under all these reverses, we find New Haven in 1807 with a popula- tion of six thousand inhabitants, paying annual customs duties amounting to $150,000, with fully one hundred foreign- bound vessels leaving her port each year. The Embargo Act, passed in that year, destroyed the foreign commercial interests of New Haven: in July 1808 there were seventy-eight ships lying embargoed in her port. Month after month passed away, and there was no relief for the stagnation of business; merchandise was valueless, ship- wrights and seamen were listless wanderers; an indignation meeting was held ,and the President was petitioned to imme- diately suspend the act. The ship-owners in the fall of 1808,. seeing no indications of the removal of the embargo, dis- mantled their ships to await the advent of more propitious times. Early in 1809 the President issued his proclamation declaring the Embargo Act at an end ; the New Haven ship- 140 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE owners speedily resumed business. In less than a month thirty-three vessels were refitted and on their way to foreign ports; commerce steadily increased. Many new vessels were built, and the old-time impetus revived; but the outbreak of the war of 1812, like its predecessor, was to prove disastrous to all maritime enterprises. At the termination of the war, there were one hundred sea-going vessels owned in New Haven. Commercial relations were again formed with distant ports in Europe and South America, and valuable cargoes were brought to the city. But gradually New York absorbed the commerce, though many New Haven citizens are still interested in ship tonnage. The foreign trade of Hartford prior to the Revolution was almost entirely with the West Indies; at a later period a few vessels were sent to Lisbon and the Mediterranean with fish, and to Ireland with lumber. After the declaration of peace, a thriving business sprung up with the Barbadoes, Cuba, and San Domingo. The cargoes from these foreign ports generally consisted of rum, molasses, and sugar. The exports to them were corn, corn meal, oats, alewives, hay, red and white oak hogshead staves, boards, shingles, and horses. The vessels employed in the trade were thoroughly built, but slow sailers, with low deck and high waist, and of from one to two hundred tons burden. The smaller ones were sloop-rig- ged, the larger either topsailed schooners or full-rigged brigs. When a voyage was determined upon, notes were given for the cargo, payable in rum, molasses, or salt, on the return of the vessel. This necessitated but a small amount of money to carry on the trade. Ventures were made of exporting flax- seed, potatoes, and staves to Ireland, and corn, pipe-staves,, and horses to Madeira, Spain, and Portugal. Occasionall)'- 141 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE a voyage was made to the coast of Africa for cargoes of ebony, wool, and ivory. The constant warfare in which the European nations were involved from 1792 to 18 15 acted as a stimulant to the commerce of the United States, owing to the fact that the colonies of these countries were obliged to obtain their sup- plies from her domains, exchanging their products for the bread-stuffs and live cattle of the New England States. One of the greatest articles of export was kiln-dried corn meal, which was used in feeding their slaves. A number of Hartford merchants were actively engaged in these commercial operations; and to further their business, they estabhshed an agency at New London, and their vessels were despatched from this place, as they could not ascend the Connecticut except in times of freshets, on account of insufficiency of water. In the first three decades of the last century, the river bank adjacent to Hartford was lined with wharves that bustled with traffic; vessels were lying in the stream, often three or four abreast; warehouses and packing houses teemed with life; the wharves were filled with hogs- heads of sugar, rum, and molasses, waiting transportation "up river" by scows or flat-boats. To-day, Hartford's prom- inence as a port of entry for foreign importations is a thing of the past. In that section of the city formerly devoted to the transactions of this trade, a lone steamboat leaves her wharf for a daily trip to New York; while on the river, in place of foreign-laden vessels, a few pleasure yachts are anchored. Her citizens, instead of being interested in ocean transportation, are engaged in banking, insurance, and manu- facturing. But immense amounts of railroad stock are owned by them, and the freight cars far outnumber the schooners they have displaced. 142 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE Situated at the eastern end of the State, with a magnificent harbor of five fathoms in depth, spacious and accessible at all seasons, the port of New London, for nearly one hundred and fifty years previous to the opening of the nineteenth century, had been the ship-building mart for the colony. Shallops and pinnaces of from twelve to twenty tons were built here as early as 1660. Towards the latter part of the seventeenth century, ships of a larger pattern were con- structed; they were known by the name of Moulds' vessels, after their master builder Hugh Moulds. As early as 1723, ship yards were started at Groton. Here, two years later, was launched what was named "Jeffrey's Great Ship." Her burden was seven hundred tons, and she was the largest ship that had been constructed on this side of the Atlantic. Other ships were soon built, and in 1733 New London had acquired a reputation for the production of large vessels which she has maintained even to the present day; as is evidenced by the fact that the largest steamboats now afloat are the products of her ship-yards. At Mystic, a near neighbor to her, was built the Quinebaug, the first "bald- headed" schooner on the Atlantic coast. Previous to 1800, New London was the most important port of entry in the commonwealth. A decade and a half later, with only a popu- lation of 3,330, her tonnage was 14,685 tons, that of the entire State being 60,091 tons. New Haven and Hartford, with nearly twice the population each, had respectively 12,439 and about 9,000 tons. Though there were whaling voyages made from New London previous to 1794, they were confined to a near-by catch in Long Island Sound, or to the Newfoundland Banks as the most distant point. The first vessel to sail from Con- necticut on a whaling voyage to the Pacific Ocean was the 143 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE ship Commerce; she was owned and fitted out at East Had- dam, but cleared from New London. An attempt was made the following year to form a whaling company at New Lon- don; but the honor of being second in Connecticut in the whaling enterprise is credited to Norwich. A small new ship, the Miantonimoh, was epuiqped here, and set sail from New London in 1800; but her cruise was terminated in two years, as she was seized by the Spanish authorities. The Des- patch from New London made a voyage around Cape Horn in 1802 for whales, but as it did not prove remunerative, the venture was not repeated. The year 1805 marks the date when whale-fishing may be said to have actually begun in New London. The pioneer in the trade was the ship Dauphin ; the Leonidas and Lydia were afterwards added to the fleet, and were sent to the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Patagonia. There was only time for a few successful voyages, when the embargo and non-intercourse acts were passed by Congress; this, in con- nection with the outbreak of the war of 18 12, entirely broke up this species of commerce. When the treaty of peace was signed at Ghent, the West India trade of New London, which in former days had been a source of much wealth and prosperity, was not extensively revived; but in 18 19 whaling was again taken up with renewed vigor. The first fleet sent out consisted of the brigs Mary, and Mary Ann, and the ship Carrier; from time to time the brigs Pizarro and Thames, the ships Commodore Perry, Stonington, Connecticut, Ann Maria, and Jones, were added. The Carrier was the first vessel from New London to make a voyage for sperm whale; she was absent nearly two years and a half, and returned with 2,074 barrels of oil. The Commodore Perry was the first copper-bottomed whal- 144 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE ing vessel despatched from New London. The four brigs and the ship Carrier were withdrawn from the fleet after making three or four voyages. Of the five ships then in com- mission, two were right-whale and three sperm cruisers. Of these, the Commodore Perry after making seventeen voyages, and the Stonington after making thirteen, were broken up in 1848. The Connecticut and Jones were condemned, and the Maria Ann was run down by a French whaler in 1842 in the Indian Ocean. 1 he prosperity of New London is largely due to the suc- cessful prosecution of the whale fisheries. In 1827 the staunch-built ships Neptune and Superior were added to the fleet. The maximum, however, was reached in 1845, when seven vessels were newly commissioned. This, with the purchase of the McClellan in the following year, made seven- ty-eight vessels sailing from New London, engaged in the whaling industry. The city at this time was only exceeded by New Bedford in tonnage engaged in pursuit of whales. In 1820 there were three brigs and one ship, with a tonnage amounting to 950 tons; in 1846 there were seventy-one ships and barks, one brig, and six schooners, aggregating 26,200 tons, having an invested capital of nearly $2,000,000, and employing three thousand seamen. Reverses came the next year, due to the extension of the trade beyond what it could bear, a depressed market, scarcity of whales, and the out- break of the gold craze, when nineteen vessels vvere with- drawn for voyages to California. During the years 1849- 50 there were but thirty-four arrivals of whalers at the port of New London; but the next year brought revival instead of retrogression, and the fleet was increased to fifty vessels. But the general introduction first of camphene and then of 145 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE petroleum as illuminants caused whale fishing to become unprofitable. A number of New Haven merchants in 1823 equipped two ships to engage in the capture of whales in the North Pacific Ocean. While the vessels returned heavily laden, the low prices of oil and bones, coupled with the fear that the competition would destroy all the whales, caused the enter- prise to be abandoned and the ships sold. The town of Stonington had been in its early days engaged in the West India trade, also in the attempts to obtain whales in Long Island Sound. About 1820 a number of vessels were fitted out for seal-fishing; this was at first successful, but ten years later it was discontinued for whale-fishing. There were at one time sixty-three vessels, with a tonnage of from eighty-two to four hundred and eighty tons each, engaged in the business. Thus have been briefly outlined the seaports of Connecticut in the first quarter of the nineteenth century. The other county capitals of the State, as well as those set- tlements dignified by the name of city or village, were more or less interested in manufacturing enterprises. In 1820, while eighteen and four-tenths per cent, of Connecticut's population were engaged in agricultural pursuits, only one and three-tenths followed commerce for a livelihood, while six and four-tenths were connected with manufacturing. There had been a gradual evolution, from the purely manual methods of manufacturing to primitive machinery; the cap- tains of Industry and the specialists had made their appear- ance, and in a State as conservative as Connecticut, the changes thus effected were noticeable. The gravitation from the farm to the growing cities of the rising generation was to destroy the picturesqueness of colonial times; the supremacy of steam, coal, and iron, with municipal progress, 146 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE and the advent of foreign immigration, were to change the daily doings of the people. 147 CHAPTER X The Death of the Federalist Party THE prominent Democratic-Republican who pre- dicted in 1804 that the Constitution was the death-blow of Connecticut federalism, was a faithful prognosticator of future events. In the summer previous to the assembling of the Constitutional Convention, the State received a visit from the newly-elected President. President Monroe was wel- comed by the citizens of the State, not on account of his personality, but as the Chief Magistrate of the nation. It was the end of sixteen years of bitter political strife, but the era of "good feeling" was now inaugurated. The Federalist party, while on the whole it contained the best educated, most high-minded, and most solvent part of the nation, had been wrecked by its own want of faith. The eminent Connecticut Federalists took no part in the recep- tion ceremonies tendered the President: but he was met by cavalcades of mounted citizens, groups of school children, and the roar of cannon; triumphal arches were erected. The President was not attended by any member of his Cab- inet; his suite consisted only of a private secretary, and Gen- eral Joseph G. Swift, the Chief Engineer of the War Department. The ostensible object of the tour was the inspection of the national defenses. The Presidential party sailed from New York June 20, 1817, on the steamboat Connecticut; arriving on the after- noon of the same day at New Haven, which was the first stop- ping-place in New England. The shipping in the harbor displayed their colors, and salutes were fired from a revenue cutter, Fort Hale, and from an artillery company stationed on shore. The country and city dignitaries extended the presi- dential party welcome on board the steamboat; they were received on landing by the Governor's Horse Guards, who 151 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE formed the military escort. The following day, being Sat- urday, the president visited Eli Whitney's gun manufactory and Yale College; and, attended by the Governor and Dep- uty-Governor, received the military. On Monday the tour was resumed. The party was met at Durham by a large concourse of citizens from Middle- town, accompanied by a company of cavalry; arriving at the limits of the city, the President was mounted on a white charger, and escorted by several companies of infantry to the principal tavern, where he breakfasted. The morning was spent in visiting North's pistol factory, the Starrs' sword works, and Johnson's rifle manufactories. After partaking of dinner, the journey was resumed for Hartford, by the way of Wethersfield, where the party was met by the military from that city. Hartford was approached by the city bridge, which was ornamented with three lofty evergreen and laurel arches. A large concourse of citizens were assembled at the South Green, and the President was escorted to Morgan's Coffee-House, where he was tendered an address of welcome. After replying in an elegant and impressive manner, he reviewed the military. The President, during his stay in Hartford, visited the Deaf and Dumb Asylum and the State Arsenal, besides other points of interest. Continuing his tour, the country on the west bank of the Connecticut River, through the towns of Windsor and Suf- field, was traversed; and Springfield, Massachusetts, was reached. Leaving that city and returning southward through the towns of Enfield and East Windsor, the night was spent at East Hartford. On the afternoon of the 25th, New Lon- don was reached. The following morning Forts Trumbull and Griswold were visited, and the Thames River was exam- ined to judge of its accommodations for a navy yard. 152 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE The presidential party left New London, on the morning of the 27th, in the sloop-of-war Enterprise, accompanied by other United States vessels. After visiting Gardiner's Bay, sail was set for Stonington harbor, which was reached at three o'clock. The President received a committee from that town on board the revenue cutter Active, and prepara- tions were made to go ashore. He visited the redoubt made memorable by the bombardment of the town in 18 14, also the United States Arsenal. A public reception was held in the evening, and the next day the Presidential party, on board of the sloop-of-war Enterprise, departed for Rhode Island. The disintegration of the old Federalist principles had been going on for some years in Connecticut. The more advanced element of the party had amalgamated with the cause of toleration and reform, the standard-bearers of this new school of politics being taken from their ranks. At the close of the Fifteenth Congress, the subject that was to agitate the country for the next half-century was mooted; it arose on the question of the admission to the Union of the Territory of Missouri as a slave or free State. The Sixteenth Congress had an overwhelming administra- tion majority. The style of the delegates from Connecticut had entirely changed; those war-horses of the Federalists who had represented the State at preceding sessions, with the sole exception of Jonathan C. Moseley, were succeeded by younger men, of whom Gideon Tomlinson, Henry W. Ed- wards, and Samuel A. Foot were afterwards to fill the execu- tive chair of the State. The Missouri Question was the engrossing theme of the session. There were at the time ten slave States, while the free were twelve in number. Slavery had been thoroughly eradicated in New England; in 1820 there were forty-eight 153 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE slaves in Rhode Island and ninety-seven In Connecticut, all of whom In time would become free. In New York, New Jer- sey, and Delaware, the free black population predominated over the slaves, but there were thousands of negroes still in a state of bondage. Pennsylvania had only a little over two hundred slaves, who were to be emancipated on arriving at a legal age. In the new and undeveloped West, the States of Ohio and Michigan were entirely free from the evil, while Indiana and Illinois had but a few hundred each. Missouri, which asked recognition as a slave State, had over ten thousand slaves. The question of slave extension was of vital Importance to the advocates of human bondage. Mis- souri as a Territory at this time consisted of the country lying west of the Mississippi River, extending to the Pacific Ocean, and north from the boundary line of Louisiana to that dividing the United States from Canada, excepting the terri- tory claimed by Mexico. The admission of Missouri as a slave State would open In the future this vast area of terri- tory to the rapacious grasp of the Southern slave-owners. The members of Congress from that portion of the country were persistent in their demands for the retention of slavery in the territory, for the reason that by the new distribution of Representatives In accordance with the census of 1820, the North would Increase her representation ; therefore to equalize the balance of power, it was necessary that as many new States as possible should be made slave-holding States. Every device was resorted to by those favoring slave exten- sion. The admission of Maine as a State was placed as a rider on the bill for the admission of Missouri. This was strongly objected to by those interested In Maine: they claimed, and rightfully, that there was no justice In making her admission as a State contingent on that of another with 154 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE which she had naturally no connection. All pending differ- ences were settled, however, by the passage of the Missouri Compromise, which after being passed to give slavery one extension, was repealed to give it another. At the ninth Presidential election, party lines were entirely eliminated, James Monroe receiving all the votes for Presi- dent excepting one from New Hampshire. Connecticut's vote for Vice-President was cast for David D. Tompkins. The electoral college of the State consisted of Henry Sey- mour, Isaiah Loomis, Samuel Welles, William Cogswell, William Moseley, John Alsop, Ebenezer Brockway, S. W. Crawford, and Samuel H. Phillips. At the close of the first year of Monroe's second admin- istration, it became evident that new political combinations were gradually forming in the country. Federalist princi- ples and temper had not died with the party; but the classes which had formed it were forced to decide on new issues. They had only voted with the Democrats from self-interest or apathy; they now reconstituted themselves as a party to strengthen and nationalize the Union by a great system of internal improvements, protection to home industries, and the like. The National Republicans and the Whigs were only Federalists rebaptized. There were no less than six prominent candidates for the succession to Monroe. New England presented the most Dem- ocratic of Federalists, John Quincy Adams, who had upheld the Embargo as at least showing some spirit of resentment for insult, and supported the war of 1812. Andrew Jack- son, partly owing to his triumph at New Orleans, was the idol of Democracy, especially in the new West, though his candidacy was ridiculed by the politicians. Henry Clay's passion for compromise, which had brought him national 155 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE fame, made him the natural spokesman of the Border States, The other candidates, William H. Crawford of Georgia, William Lowndes (who died in 1822), and John C. Cal- houn of South Carolina, represented sectional rather than party preferences, though Calhoun won his section by representing the extremists of the whole South. Adams, as the ablest and most highly trained professional pub- lic man in the country, and heir of the best tradi- tions of Nationalism, and Clay, by reason of his course in the Missouri Compromise, received the support of those who had been Federalists in the North and Border States respec- tively. The Presidential campaign of 1824 was carried on with activity during the summer and autumn, though the feeling prevailed that there would be no choice by the peo- ple, and consequently the election would devolve upon the House of Representatives. A new dividing line was introduced into politics in Con- necticut during this campaign, called the "strict-construction- ist" and "loose-constructionist." To the first belonged the former members of the Anti-Federalist party, and their chil- dren and pupils. They were advocates of a strict construc- tion of the provisions of the Constitution of the United States, with special reference to the rights of individual States, of which they were special champions. Their oppo- nents, who were for the most part originally Federalists, or of Federalist families, were in favor of the supremacy of the nation's rights, making each unit subservient and secondary to the United States sovereignty. Connecticut, still strongly imbued with the Federalist spirit, and also having a natural desire to support the New England candidate, authorized her electoral college — con- sisting of Calvin Willey, David Keys, Oliver Wolcott, John 156 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE Swathel, Rufus Hitchcock, Lemuel White, David Hill, and Moses Warren — to cast their votes for John Quincy Adams for President, and Andrew Jackson for Vice-President. She was the only State in the Union to give her entire vote for the latter for that office. Jackson also received one vote from Maryland, one from New Hampshire, and three from Mis- souri. On the assembling of Congress, there being no choice by the people for President, John Quincy Adams was elected by a vote of the States in the House of Representatives. The tariff question, which was of vital interest to Connec- ticut, was to agitate the country, and to be the rock of conten- tion on which the Democratic-Republican party was to split and form antagonistic combinations. The South, awakening to the fact that cotton was not yet the king product of the country; also realizing that with the rapid settlement of the Western States, which advocated free labor, her legislative influence in Congress was diminishing, — sought an alliance with the commercial and mercantile interests of the East to oppose protection. It had grasped the fact that slavery pre- vented the growth of manufactures in the South, and would enhance the value of European and Northern products. The home of protection was in the Middle States, although it also had the support of the West. The latter was fast developing into an agricultural country, which demanded not only protection for her wool and other raw materials, but also for the cereals raised for bread-stuffs. New England was divided on the question, deeming it detrimental to her importing and shipping. Connecticut where manufacturing predominated, as early as 1820 gave evidence of future increasing values, was firmly in favor of protection. The distinctive protection policy is generally conceded to have 157 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE begun with the act of 1816, but it rather belongs to the acts that preceded than to those passed at later dates. The panic of 1 8 19 caused the principles of protection to be backed by a stronger popular feeling than hitherto. The cause of this was the great collapse in land and agricultural products; owing to the close of the Napoleonic era, the foreign markets were no longer purchasers, while the manufacturing indus- tries were still in the early stages of their growth. The first step taken in this new movement was in 18 20, when an attempt to increase duties on importations was defeated by a single vote in the Senate; while bills for increased duties were regularly presented during the next two years, they were not pressed, as the gradual disappearance of the indus- trial and commercial depression tended to let the matter lie dormant. On the eve of the Presidential election in 1824, this matter was again agitated, causing the passage of the tariff bill of that year. This was the first and most direct fruit of the early protective movement. The bill was not a party measure; it was carried mainly by votes of the Western and Middle States, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. Important changes were made; by laying increased duties on products raised in agricultural districts; while there was an ad valorem duty on cotton goods. The minimum valuation was twenty-five cents a yard, which by the introduction of machinery prohibited foreign importations, thereby greatly enhancing the profits for Connecticut manufacturers of cotton fabrics. The com- mittee that framed the bill tried to insert a minimum valua- tion on woolen fabrics, of eighty cents a yard, but their recommendation was defeated by a scant majority of three. Trade became buoyant in 1825, particularly in woolen goods; but the following year a reaction took place, owing 158 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE to a panic in England which caused wool to drop to a penny a pound, and the English manufacturers flooded the American market. An attempt to increase the duties on woolen impor- tations was in 1827 defeated in the Senate, by the vote of the Vice-President. The defeat of this bill caused the assembling of a conven- tion at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, which was largely attended by the woolen manufacturers of New England; and a memo- rial was prepared, asking relief from Congress by the estab- lishment of an ad valorem rate of forty per cent, on woolen goods, to be gradually increased, with a minimum valua- tion of fifty cents on two dollars and a half, four dollars, and six dollars a yard. It was asked that the duty on wool be placed at twenty cents a pound, and raised annually two and a half cents a pound until it reached fifty cents. These discussions and conventions occasioned the formation of polit- ical organizations, which were first known as Adams and Jackson parties, afterwards as National Republicans and Democrats. On the assembling of the Twentieth Congress, the polit- ical trend of the House of Representatives was doubtful; but the election of a Democratic Speaker placed that party in control of the management of the body. The presiding officer placed five supporters of Jackson and two of Adams on the committee for the tariff revision. A bill was reported which was thought an Ingenious solution of existing difficul- ties between the different sections of the country; but while the Southern members of the committee favored It, their intention was on the passage of the bill to vote in the nega- tive, thus throwing the obloquy of defeat on the Adams wing of the party, and enabling themselves to pose as the "true friends of domestic industry." To the great surprise of the 159 CONNECl ICUT AS COLONY AND STATE authors, the bill passed both houses and became the tariff act of 1828. The New England Representatives voted in the negative, 23 to 39 ; her Senators, six ayes to fiv^e nays. Of the Connecticut delegation in the House, there was but one member in favor of the bills; both the Senators, however, supported the measure. In the last year of Adams' administration, he honored Con- necticut by selecting one of her sons. General Peter Buel Por- ter, for the portfolio of Secretary of War. General Porter was born in Salisbury, Aug. 14, 1773. After studying law, he settled at Canandaigua, New York, for the practice of his profession. He subsequently removed to the neighborhood of Buffalo, where he made extensive land purchases along the Niagara River. During the war of 18 12, General Porter was offered the position of Commander-in-Chief of the army, but he declined. He shared, however, in the best victory of the war, that of Chippawa. He was one of the early pro- jectors and members of the first Board of Commissioners of the Erie Canal. He died at Niagara Falls, March 20, 1844. The standard-bearer of the Toleration party had filled the executive chair of the State for a decade of years; having nearly reached man's allotment of life, threescore years and ten, he was defeated for re-election. His successor, Gideon Tomlinson, was born in Stratford on the last day of the year 1780; graduating from Yale in 1798, he secured a position as tutor, but later he turned his attention to the study of law, and was admitted to the bar in 1807. His political career was inaugurated ten years later, when he was elected Representative to the General Assembly from the town of Fairfield; he afterwards became a Member of Con- gress. Mr. Tomlinson was first elected to the gubernatorial chair in 1827; he served four years, but resigned before the 160 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE expiration of his last term of office, to accept the position of United States Senator. After serving one term in that body, he retired from public life, and passed his remaining days in the practice of his profession. He died Oct. 8, 1854. The electoral college of the eleventh Presidential election was composed of Sylvester Norton, Roger Taintor, Rufus Hitchcock, Homer Boardman, Moses Warren, George Pratt, Charles Hawley, and W. R. Kibbee. The vote of the State was cast for John Quincy Adams for President and Benja- min Rush for Vice-President. Among the historical events that occurred in the decade between 18 10 and 1820, In which Connecticut was either directly or indirectly Interested, the following are worthy of mention. One of her sons, Moses Austin, headed the move- ment which made Texas ultimately an integral part of the United States. He was born about 1764, in the town of Durham. In the latter part of the eighteenth century he emigrated to what is now West Virginia, locating near the present town of Lewisburg, having in view the prospecting for lead mines. After spending three years in this part of the country, in the summer of 1796 he descended the Great Kanawha River, also the Ohio; on reaching the Mississippi he ascended it, and landed In New Spain near the present village of St. Genevieve, Missouri. Three months was con- sumed In the trip. Austin obtained a grant of land about sixty miles south of the present city of St. Louis. This was located in the iron and lead district, not far from the present city of Potosi, Washington County. Here he accumulated wealth, but reverses caused by the panic of 18 19 turned his attention to the country lying south of his location. The following year 161 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE he obtained from the Mexican government a grant of land, with the privilege of colonizing three hundred American families. He returned to Missouri for emigrants, and some authorities say he was waylaid and robbed, experiencing such hardships as to cause his death. Others say he arrived home safely, and while making arrangements to remove his fam- ily, was taken ill, and died June lo, 1821. The enterprise thus started was taken up by his son, Ste- phen Fuller Austin, who obtained a confirmation of his father's grant; in 1833 the American settlers were so power- ful that they became uneasy under the Mexican government. Stephen F. did not live to see the independence of Texas, which was mainly due to his labors; the capital city of the State was named In honor of this pioneer family. The designer of the present American flag was Captain Samuel Chester Reid, who was born at Norwich Aug. 25, 1783. During the war of 18 12 he commanded the privateer General Armstrong. A Congressional committee was appointed to revise the national flag, and they invited Cap- tain Reid to make a design. The flag originally had thirteen stripes; these had been Increased to fifteen. Reid restored the original number, and placed in the blue field a star for every State then In the Union. This has been the device ever since. The ermine of the Chief Justice of New York State from 1 8 10 to 1823 was worn by Ambrose Spencer, a native of Salisbury. He was born Dec. 13, 1765, and graduated from Harvard University in 1783; studied law, and settled in the State of New York. Connecticut abandoned her Newgate prison at Simsbury in 1827, when the new prison at Wethersfield took its place. Two philanthropic enterprises that were inaugurated at 162 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE this period are deserving of mention. The estabhshment of an asylum for the insane was agitated in 1812, at this time there were only three institutions of the kind in the United States. It was ten years, however, before the Retreat for the Insane at Hartford was incorporated. A few years later, the Con- necticut General Hospital at New Haven was chartered; it is the oldest hospital in the State. The establishment of these monuments of philanthropy, with the organization of the Yale Medical College, form a triplicate for the benefit of the State, for which her citizens are indebted to the Connecticut Medical Society. 163 CHAPTER XI The Political Status of Connecticut During Jack- son's Two Terms THE inauguration of Andrew Jackson as Presi- dent of the United States marked an epoch in national history. Self-willed and aggressive, he was the one great dominant figure in the Presidential succession between Thomas Jef- ferson and Abraham Lincoln. In a masterful way he asserted those principles that unquestionably represent a self-assertive democracy. As with his Irish forefathers, a gathering word was adopted for his clan ; though not he but W. L. Marcy invented it; the slogan cry of this American Napoleon, "to the victor belongs the spoils," has been indelibly stamped on his administrations. On President Jackson's accession to office, a wholesale dis- missal of officeholders commenced, over seven hundred changes taking place in the first administrative year. The six Presidents preceding Jackson only made seventy-four remov- als, and most of these for sufficient cause; even this small number including Jefferson's removal of the "midnight" appointees. It is a noticeable fact that General Jackson, during the first session of Congress held in his presidential term, used his veto power four times, which exceeded, save in one instance, his predecessors' use of the privilege during their entire term of office. This amply evidenced that the executive power in Jackson's hands meant his own will ; but It was the will of his party also. This policy In public life was the same as his counsel to President Monroe, to discard party lines and prin- ciples, and to act in all respects as the President of the United States. Perhaps it was not so very unlike the spirit of George III.'s mother to her son, "George, be King." The Twenty-first Congress was made historic by the ora- torical debates in the upper house, between Senators Hayne 167 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE and Webster; In one of which the latter uttered the never- to-be-forgotten sentence, "Liberty and Union, now and for- ever, one and inseparable," which struck a responsive chord in the hearts of millions of his countrymen. The debates were occasioned by Mr. Foot of Connecticut presenting to the Senate a resolution on the expediency of limiting the sale of public lands. The decline and fall of Federalism as such, and the upbuilding of the essentially similar doctrine of the Whigs, naturally caused but slight changes in political parties In Connecticut. The Toleration party, with Its Intermingling of the former adherents of Federalist and Democratic prin- ciples since the adoption of the Constitution, elected Its nominee for governor; while the Presidential vote was cast, with only one exception, for those who were believers In the precepts of the first organized political party of the country, and were closely linked with it. That there was an apathy among the citizens, Is shown by the vote given for Governor at the first election after the adoption of the new State Con- stitution. There was no organized opposition to Oliver Wol- cott, who out of a total vote of 25,975, received 22,539. For the five succeeding elections. Governor Wolcott was still the successful competitor, but the total vote steadily diminished, and in 1824 he received 6,892 out of 7,777. The following year a Federalist ticket appeared, with David Daggett as the nominee; also in 1826 with the same candidate, which was the last appearance of the Federalists as a party In a political campaign. They polled 4,310 votes, while Wolcott received 6,780. The two candidates for the position of Governor In 1827 were original members of the Toleration party : Oliver Wol- cott, under whose leadership for ten successive years the 168 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE party (which in puhlic use had gradually dropped its last name and adopted that of Democrat, though still officially entitled Democratic-Republican) had marshalled its forces, met with opposition in the folds of the party of which he had been one of the organizers. In opposition to his re-election Gideon Tomlinson was placed in nomination; he had been for eight years a Member of Congress. During "the era of good feeling," when party lines were entirely obliterated, he was a firm supporter of the adrrtinistration, and had at various times, in the absence of the Speaker of the House, been called upon to perform the duties of that office. The campaign was conducted with more spirit than any previous one for a decade: out of a total vote of 13,857, Tomlinson received 7,626. For the next three years there was but little opposition to Governor Tomlinson's re-election; upon his tendering his resignation in March 1831, in order to accept the position of United States Senator, the office was filled in the interim by Dr. John S. Peters, who had been Lieutenant-Governor during Tomlinson's entire gubernato- rial term. In 1 83 1 a new element presented itself in the political field. There had been a rapid growth of the Masonic order in the State from the time of the mysterious disappearance of Wil- liam Morgan, after his announcement of a forthcoming book purporting to reveal the secrets of that organization. Not only in Connecticut, but throughout the New England and Middle States, a decided opposition had arisen against (to use a term of the day) these "organized aristocrats." So universal was the feeling that in 1831 a national convention was held, and Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates were nominated. In this year the Democratic State ticket was headed by Dr. John S. Peters, who received 12,819 out 169 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE of 18,866 votes cast; the nominee of the Anti-Masonic party polled 4,778 votes. The paternal ancestors of the successful candidate were Englishmen of note, and of whom some had acquired fame; among these were Hugh Peters the Cromwel- lian, and Rev. Dr. Samuel Peters the Royalist historian. John S. Peters was born in Hebron Sept. 21, 1772. His early days were spent in agricultural pursuits, but on attaining the age of eighteen he decided to become a school-teacher. While engaged in this occupation he studied medicine, and in 1796 completed his education at Philadelphia. The fol- lowing year he returned to Connecticut, and after traveling throughout Vermont and New Hampshire, to find a town In which to locate for the practice of his profession, he returned disheartened, and finally settled In his native town. Here he quickly found a use for his abilities, and became one of the most skillful and successfulmembers of the medical fraternity in the State. Early In life. Dr. Peters became Inter- ested In politics, and served his townsmen both In a legislative and judiciary capacity. After his retirement from the guber- natorial chair he never practiced his profession. He lived to be eighty-five years of age, and died in his native town, March 30, 1858. Governor Peters was re-elected in 1832; in the fall of that year occurred the Presidential election. Andrew Jack- son was a candidate for re-election ; his opponent was Henry Clay; and notwithstanding that Connecticut for almost a score of years had elected for her State officials those who were opposed to Federalist principles, her citizens were still opposed to General Jackson, whose self-will and self-asser- tiveness constituted a one-man power which was foreign to her conservatism. The State electoral college, consisting of Morris Woodruff,, 170 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE John D. Reynolds, John Baldwin, Chester Smith, Eli Todd, Oliver H. King, Erastus Sturges, and E. Jackson, Jr., cast the vote of the State for Henry Clay for President and John Sergeant for Vice-President. In the spring election of 1833, Governor Peters identified himself with the wing of the Democratic party that was opposed to President Jackson, which styled itself the National Party. He was opposed by Henry W. Edwards, who was the nominee of the Jackson party. Though Governor Peters received a plurality of the votes cast, he lacked fifty-three of a majority; according to the Constitution (for the first time since its adoption) the choice devolved on the Legislature, and his competitor Henry W. Edwards was selected to fill the office. The newly chosen governor was a grandson of the famous metaphysician Jonathan Edwards, and a son of Pierrepont EdwMrds the founder of the Toleration party. Henry W- was born in New Haven, October — , 1779; he was a mem- ber of Princeton's class of 1797. After studying law at the Litchfield Law School, he began to practice in his native city; eminently successful in his profession, he obtained the confi- dence of his fellow townsmen. At the age of forty he was elected as a Democrat to the National House of Representa- tives; he resigned this position to accept an appointment to the Senate. He was afterwards elected for the unexpired term. Retiring from national politics, he became interested in those of the State, serving in both houses of the Legisla- ture. Governor Edwards was a candidate for re-election, but did not receive the full Democratic vote, on account of their being an anti-Masonic ticket in the field. Neither of the nominees receiving a majority of the popular vote, the Legis- lature was again called upon to make the selection, and the 171 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE National Party candidate, Samuel A. Foot, was chosen to fill the office of Governor. The first appearance of the Whig party in State politics was in 1835, when their standard-bearer, the occupant of the gubernatorial chair, in a total vote of 42,788, was defeated by Mr. Edwards, the Democratic nominee. The elections of 1836 and 1837 were but repetitions of that of 1835 ; though the Whig party placed in nomination their strongest candidate, Mr. Edwards maintained his usual majority. While Governor, he suggested that a thorough geological survey of the State should be made, which was done in accordance with his desire. After his retirement from public life. Governor Edwards spent the remainder of his days in the city of New Haven, where he died July 22, 1847- Samuel Foot, the second Governor to be chosen by the Legislature, was born at Cheshire, Nov. 8, 1780. His pre- cocity was such that he entered Yale College at the age of thirteen. He was of delicate constitution, which proved a hindrance in his collegiate course; but defying all obstacles, he graduated with honors at the age of seventeen. Young Foot attended the famous Litchfield Law School ; but owing to illness he was obliged to relinquish his chosen profession for one that would provide him with more active occupation. He engaged in the shipping trade at New Haven, and made several voyages to the West Indies; suffering heavy financial losses during the War of 18 12, he turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. Mr. Foot settled in his native town, occupying his time in farming and the politics of the day. His Democratic opinions being in accord with those of a majority of his townsmen, he was elected to the State Legis- 172 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE lature, subsequently to both houses of Congress, and was Governor for one year, 1834-5. After his retirement from this office, he was never again actively engaged in politics; his domestic and private affairs engrossed his attention the remaining years of his life. He died in Cheshire Sept. 15, 1846. Governor Foot's natural characteristics were integrity, industry, perseverance, and decision. Two important factors at this period were adjuncts in shaping the political status of the State. The use of alcoholic stimulants was universal. Following the customs that were transmitted to them, the people of the State indulged in these beverages very generally. In all walks of life the use of liquors was habitual; in the minister's accounts with the country store, the charge for a gallon of rum often appears; in the harvest field, a jug of liquor was a constant companion; while at the numerous hostelries which had sprung up along the different stage routes, the landlord's flowing bowl always awaited the tired traveler. That Connecticut should be a leader in an organized attempt to mitigate this evil, was to be expected, as her rec- ord teems with pioneer efforts in all reform movements. The first modern temperance society was founded in 1789 by two hundred farmers of Litchfield County, who agreed not to use "any distilled liquor during their farm work the ensuing year." The progress of the temperance movement was slow; it was not until 1826 that the first public society was organ- ized. Three years later, an association for the promotion of temperance was started in the town of Brooklyn ; the fol- lowing year a State temperance society was formed, which soon had subordinate organizations in each county; but grad- 173 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND SI ATE ually the endeavor became united in one State association. While the movement in Connecticut did not predominate in politics to as great an extent as in some of the other New Eng- land States, it had its influence upon the trend of affairs both in State and local government. The abolition of slavery — the other important factor — was favored by the founders of the nation, both on economic and moral grounds. The invention of the cotton gin, however, had solved the mooted question for the Southern people, as to the successful raising of cotton as a staple product; the plant- ers considered slave labor essential for its successful pro- duction. Congress in 1807 prohibited, under heavy penal- ties, the further importation of slaves into the United States; this in a measure enhanced the value of those already held in bondage, and the people of the South were ever ready to defend their human property from any interference of their Northern neighbors. In the latter part of the eighteenth century, societies were formed advocating the abolition of the evil; the first effectual attempt towards that end, however, was made in 18 15 by a zealous citizen of Ohio, who issued the first abolitionist news- paper, called The Appeal Devoted to the Cause. Nearly a score of years later, the subject was vehemently revived, by the publication of the Liberator in Boston. The movement rapidly gained adherents throughout the Northern section of the United States; societies were formed in cities and vil- lages, having their accessories of "underground railways" for the rescue of fugitive slaves. This, coupled with the deci- sions of the Supreme Court, in favor of slave owners, aug- mented opposition, until it became not only a part of national but of State and local politics. The Abolitionists, seeking to unite against the dominant 174 JOHN BROWN CONNECTICUT AS A STATE Democratic party, which was the advocate of pro-slavery doctrines, joined the then nearly organized Whigs. Con- necticut, as a State whose sons had been instrumental in forming colonization societies, with refuges for the negro in the land of their nativity, early placed herself on record as opposed to slaveholding, and welcomed the general uprising to wipe out the blot on the escutcheon of a free country. The doctrines of anti-slavery were universally promul- gated by her eloquent sons and daughters; and she offered as a martyr to the cause, one whose "body lies moldering in the grave," and whose natal day is honored by the citizens of his native town of Torrington. 175 CHAPTER XII A Decade of National and State Politics THE thirteenth Presidential election found the country on the verge of a commercial panic. Jackson's transfer of the national moneys from the United States Bank to a number of private banks, with no requirement of sound- ness or guaranty of management, had started a whirlwind of speculation, "wild-cat" banking, and unsecured "rag" money; then his discovery of his mistake and requirement of specie payments suddenly brought down the whole fabric with a crash, which however did not come till he was out of office and his successor got the blame. Professor Sumner's remark that "he regulated the finances as a monkey regulates a watch: he simply smashed things and left his successor to repair the damages," though much criticised, does not seem too severe. No more ignorant and reckless hand ever under- took the dictation of a people's financial methods, and con- sequently its livelihood. Jackson's qualifications for this deli- cate task were those of any other backwoods Indian fighter. That he should have understood it would have been a mira- cle; but he should not have undertaken it. The main respon- sibility, however, belongs to those who put him there. The Democratic party presented as its candidate Martin Van Buren, who had been Secretary of State during Jackson's first administration. Though his appointment as the representa- tive of the United States to the Court of St. James was not confirmed by the Senate, he was afterwards elected to pre- side over the latter body. It was the first time the Demo- cratic party had selected a candidate from a northern State for the head of their ticket. There were other issues at stake besides the financial con- dition of the country. Since the last Presidential election, two new States had been admitted to the Union, Arkansas and 179 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE Michigan; one a slave, the other a free State. This did not change the political status of the upper house of Con- gress. Nevertheless, in the North, West, and East, some determined advocates of anti-slav^ery principles gathered around them devoted followers, and the rumblings of that mighty movement that was to draw the line between the peo- ple of the North and South, were thus early developing. The leading Southern Democrats, wishing to placate the members of that party in the North, deemed it wise to resign what they had so far during the life of the nation strongly insisted upon, — that the candidate for President should be from a slaveholding State; and therefore favored Martin Van Buren as the successor of President Jackson. Van Buren was an astute politician, one of the chief creators of the efficient political "machine" in New York State and the coun- try at large. Unlike his successors in its operation he had genuine political principles, and is entitled to the name of statesman, though also a supple and not too scrupulous poli- tician. He combined some of the broader views of the old school with the crafty self-seeking of the new; he was the political heir of Jefferson, as well as the pliant supporter of Jackson and the dominating figure of the Albany Regency, — a group of New York political managers who for many years distributed offices among themselves and their adherents. Van Buren, not being of pronounced pro-slavery views, was not obnoxious to a majority of the freemen of Connecticut. They also saw danger in the financial condition of the country, and feared that a change of administration would hasten mat- ters. They chose an electoral college consisting of Lorain T. Pease, Luther Warren, Alfred Bassett, Seth P. Beers, Julius Clark, R. P. Williams, Moses Gregory, and Carlos Chapman, who cast the vote of the State for the Democratic 180 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE nominee for President. The eight votes for Vice-President were given for Richard M. Johnson. There being no choice for Vice-President, the election went to the United States Senate. Of the sitting members from Connecticut, John M. Niles cast his ballot for Richard M. Johnson, while Gideon Tomlinson supported Francis Granger, the Whig nominee. The spring election in 1837 for Governor, like its two pre- decessors, yielded a majority for the Democratic nominee; but the money panic in the fall of that year, and the conse- quent hard times, was to prove in the spring of 1838 disas- trous to the party then in power. The Whig party presented as their nominee their defeated candidate of the previous year, the descendant of one of Connecticut's immortal names. His Democratic opponent was Seth P. Beers, a citizen of Litchfield, the incumbent of the office of Commissioner of the Public School Fund, which by his untiring zeal and energy had been largely augmented. But the wave of financial distress was to the Democratic party a herald of defeat. They deserved it, for they had put its chief cause where he could do most mischief. In a total vote of 50,101, William W. Ellsworth received 27,1 15. The newly elected Governor was the third son, and one of boy twins, of Oliver Ellsworth. He was born at Windsor, Nov. 10, 1791 ; graduating from Yale College in 18 10, he entered the Litchfield Law School, where he was a close student, ambitious to become master of his chosen profession. He was admitted to the bar in 18 13, and soon afterwards married the eldest daughter of the lexicographer Noah Webster. Young Ellsworth removed to Hartford, which became his home, and at the age of twenty-six we find him a partner of his brother- in-law Thomas S. Williams. On the election of the latter to Congress, he assumed the entire management of what was 181 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE then the largest law practice in the State. His fame as a legal authority was recognized at home and abroad. In 1827 he was appointed professor of law at Washington — now Trinit}' — College, which position he held until his death. Mr. Ellsworth was a member of the twenty-second and twenty-third Congresses, serving on the committee that car- ried into effect Jackson's proclamation against nullification by South Carolina. He also helped to investigate the affairs of the United States Bank at Philadelphia. After his Congres- sional career, he returned to his law practice. It was with unwillingness that he accepted the nomination for Governor, in which office he served for four terms. On retiring from the gubernatorial chair. Governor Ellsworth again began the active practice of law, and from 1847 to 1861 — when he was retired on account of his age limit — was a member of the State judiciary. The last years of his life were spent at Hart- ford, where he passed away Jan. 15, 1868. The encomiums of Rufus Choate, the leader of the American bar, are the best evidences of Governor Ellsworth's worth and character. That eloquent pleader said "he was a man of hereditary capacity, purity, learning, and love of law. If the land of Shermans, Griswolds, Daggetts, and Williamses, rich as she is in learning and virtue, has a sounder lawyer, a more upright magistrate, or an honester man in her public service, I know not his name." The Democratic opponent of Governor Ellsworth in 1839- 40 was John M. Niles, a native of the same town. His natal day was Aug. 20, 1787. Mr. Niles established in 18 17 the Hartford Times, and was for several years its exclusive editor. In May 1840 he accepted the appointment from President Van Buren as a member of his Cabinet, and served as Postmaster-General, resigning the office March i, 1841. 182 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE Mr. Niles was elected to the United States Senate in 1842, having previously served in that body from 1835 ^^ ^839> when he was chosen to fill a vacancy. At the completion of his term of office he retired from the Senate, and devoted himself to literary pursuits. Besides contributing to the peri- odical press, he edited a Gazetteer of Connecticut and Rhode Island, and wrote a history of South America. On the organ- ization of the new Republican Party in 1856, Mr. Niles be- came identified with it, and in the interest of its prinicples he established the Hartford Press. His death occurred in the city of his adoption, May 3, 1857. He bequeathed the bulk of his property to the poor of Hartford, and his library to the Connecticut Historical Society, At the Presidential election in the fall of 1840, the Demo- crats presented as their candidate the occupant of the execu- tive chair. The Whigs, with a ticket consisting of General William Henry Harrison and John Tyler, carried on a cam- paign indignantly characterized by the Democrats as one of "Noise, Numbers, and Nonsense," or in other words the same tactics by which the Democrats had "whooped it up" for Jack- son. But they carried them much futher. This campaign was the real birth of "hurrah" political argument; of the trans- parency and the campaign song as the chief methods of con- vincing an intelligent electorate; of spouting, screaming, drinking, "buncombe," and appeals to everything but reason. There was no end to mass-meetings and processions, log-cab- ins, barrels of hard cider, and coon-skins. The use of these primitive articles, not obviously connected with qualifications for the highest executive office of a great country, was sup- posed to indicate Harrison's sympathy with "plain men" and "sturdy American citizens," as distinguished from the "aris- tocrats" who had always lived in clapboarded dwellings, 183 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE worn broadclothj and sometimes drunk unrepublican wine. These methods, so honorable to the rationality and intelli- gence of American citizens, combined with the opprobrium heaped on the Democratic party for the hard times, were successful. Van Buren had come into office with a very large electoral vote, but the people denied him a re-election by an equally large adverse vote. Connecticut joined the tidal wave of her sister States in giving a large majority for the Whig candidates, and elect- ing Hezekiah Spencer, Reuben Booth, James Brewster, Philip Pearl, Adam Larabee, Peter Bierce, Timothy Green, and John S. Peters as Presidential electors. These cast the vote of the State for William Henry Harrison for President, and John Tyler for Vice-President. General Harrison extended to Francis Granger an invita- tion to become a member of his Cabinet; he was appointed Postmaster-General March 6, 1841. He was the fourth out of the ten incumbents who had filled the position since the Inauguration of the national government, that claimed Con- necticut as the place of their nativity. He was the son of Gideon Granger, who was Postmaster-General from 1802 to 1 8 14. Born at Suffield, Dec. i, 1792, he graduated from Yale In 181 1 ; in 18 14 he removed to Canandalgua, New York, where he practiced law. Mr. Granger was a prom- inent leader in the Anti-Masonic movement, and on the organization of the Whig party he took an active part in politics, being their candidate for Vice-President in J836. He was a member of the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth Con- gresses, but resigned from the latter to accept the Cabinet appointment tendered him. He resigned this office, however, shortly after the death of President Harrison. His last appearance in political life was as a member of the "sllver- 184 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE gray" Whigs, who were opposed to active opposition against slavery. He died at Canandaigua, Aug, 28, 1868. In the spring election of 1841 the Whigs were triumphant, and Governor Ellsworth was again elected, receiving 26,078 votes to 20,458 cast for his Democratic opponent. Middlesex was the only county in the State which did not give a Whig majority. The following year, however, though the Whigs still headed their ticket with the incumbent of the guberna- torial chair, they were subjected to a crushing defeat, every county with the exception of Hartford (which gave a plural- ity of but forty for the Whig nominee) being carried by the Democrats. There had been four tickets in the field. The candidate of the latter party was Chauncey F. Cleve- land, Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1835-6. He was one of the most popular men in the eastern part of the State; this locality had not had a repre- sentative in the executive chair for nearly a score of years. Mr. Cleveland was born at Canterbury, Feb. 16, 1799; he received only a district-school education, but in 18 19 was admitted a member of the Windham County bar. He was eminently successful in his chosen profession, but early in life became identified with politics, and was an acknowledged leader of the State Democracy. He served two terms as Governor, and in 1849 was elected Member of Congress, filling that position with ability and distinction for four years. Foreseeing that the attitude of the South would engender a civil war, he finally severed his sixty-years' connection with the Democratic party and became an unflinching supporter of the Union. He was a Presidential elector on the Republi- can ticket; and afterwards a member of the Peace Congress. This was practically his last appearance in public life; he afterwards quietly practiced his profession in his native town 185 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE until his death, June 6, 1887. Governor Cleveland's personal appearance was of a commanding nature, though he was of gentle and courteous manner. He was better known in political than professional life, his ambitions tending in that direction. The Whigs in the spring of 1843 presented as their candi- date, the most talented man of his day in Connecticut. There were three tickets in the field: the Democratic, headed by Governor Cleveland; the Whig, by Roger Sherman Bald- win ; and the Liberty, by Francis Gillette. The contest was exciting and close: in a total vote of 54,738, Cleveland received 27,416, which gave him a majority of 94. The election would have been carried to the Legislature, but for the fact that 196 votes cast in the town of Salisbury for Roger Baldwin were thrown out as defective. None of the nominees for State officials on the Democratic ticket were elected but the Governor; and the Legislature chose those whose names appeared on the Whig ticket. In the spring of the following year, the political parties presented the same nominees. The Whig ticket did not receive a majority of the votes, but the Legislature chose Roger Sherman Baldwin for Governor. The successful can- didate was born in New Haven Jan. 4, 1793. On his father's side he was descended from one of the original founders of his native city; his mother was a daughter of Roger Sher- man. Young Baldwin's precocity is shown by the fact that at the age of ten, he had read a large portion of Virgil. Entering Yale before reaching his fourteenth year, he gradu- ated in 1 8 1 1 . He then attended the famous Litchfield Law School, and became a member of tre New Haven County bar. He was chosen to fill civic positions in New Haven; in 1837 was elected to the State Senate, where he became an early 186 From the Portrait by Brady CONNECTICUT AS A STATE member of the Whig party, also an advocate of anti-slavery principles. In 1839 he was counsel for the "Amistad Captives." Associated with Mr. Baldwin in the case was the vener- able ex-President John Quincy Adams. The plea of the former, however, was so profound that Chancellor Kent has rated the pleader "with the leading jurists of the day." Gov- ernor Baldwin served with distinction as chief magistrate for two terms, having received in the spring of 1 845 a majority of over 1,000 votes. In 1847 he was appointed United States Senator, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Jabez W. Huntington. On the expiration of his term the Democratic party was in power in the State, which debarred him from re-election. Governor Baldwin returned to the practice of his profession, declining all further political hon- ors. His last public service was as a member of the Peace Congress. His death occurred Feb. 19, 1863. The fifteenth Presidential election was in the fall of 1844. The national issues are familiar. Harrison had died after a month's occupancy of his position; and Vice-President Tyler, who had been put on the ticket to catch Southern votes with no idea that he would have any power, promptly locked horns with Congress, creating an administrative deadlock for the remainder of the term. Neither party cared to con- tinue his service. The issue of 1844 was the annexation of Texas, to enable the South to gain an enormous accession of territory, the very object with which it had been colonized and revolutionized. Henry Clay was put forward by the Whigs, but was too ambiguous in his promises to please the Southerners, who preferred the ardent annexationist James K. Polk of Tennessee. Clay nevertheless would have had a majority but for the anti-slavery party, which nominated 187 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE James G. Birney and diverted enough votes from Clay in New York and Michigan to give those States to Polk. It has since been discovered that this party acted with great sagacity and utility; but neither they nor others thought so at the time, and they never nominated another President. Connecticut's popular vote was for Henry Clay 32,832, James K. Polk 29,841, James G. Birney 1,943. Her Presi- dential electors, Clark Bissell, N. O. Kellogg, Charles W. Rockwell, Joseph L. Gladding, Samuel A. Foot, and Free- man Smith, cast the six votes of the State for Henry Clay for President, and Theodore Frelinghuysen for Vice-President. The retiring President left to his successor a legal state of war. This status belli was produced by the admission of Texas, whose independence had never been conceded by Mexico. The people of Connecticut were utterly opposed to any open hostilities, resulting from the admission of a slavehold- ing State as a member of the Union. The General Assembly passed resolutions deploring the necessity of war, and recom- mending philanthropic efforts to secure peace instead. They also censured their State delegation in the House of Repre- sentatives, as well as John M. Niles, one of their Senators, for voting for the admission of Texas as a slave State, it being in opposition to the wishes of the majority of the free- men of the commonwealth. The body was specially severe in passing judgment on their delinquent Senator, claiming that his vote was the deciding one in the admission of Texas. The yeas and nays were 27 to 25. Had he cast his vote against the bill, he would have voiced the wishes of his con- stituents and it would have tied the ballot. At the spring election in 1846, though the Whig nominee, Clark Bissell, had a plurality of the votes, the Legislature 188 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE chose Isaac Toucey for chief magistrate. He was born at Newtown, Nov. 5, 1796; studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 18 18. He removed about this time to Hart- ford. By an untiring interest in his clients' affairs, he secured a large and lucrative practice. Mr. Toucey was from 1835 to 1839 a member of the lower house of Congress. Retir- ing from the gubernatorial chair at the end of his term of office, Governor Toucey was appointed by President Polk, on June 21, 1848, Attorney-General of the United States; he served until March 3, 1849, ^^^ during a portion of this period he was acting Secretary of State. In 1851 he was elected to the United States Senate; on the completion of his full term he accepted the portfolio of Secretary of the Navy in President Buchanan's Cabinet, serving until the close of his administration, and sharing in the discredit with which the latter as a whole was loaded by the party which suc- ceeded it. Returning to Hartford, Governor Toucey resumed the practice of his profession. He declined several official posi- tions tendered him, among which was a place on the bench of the United States Supreme Court. It has been justly said that Governer ToucJey was one of the most able lawyers in Connecticut; his fame reached beyond the limits of the State. He was tall in person, with fine features, and of com- manding presence. He was firm in his convictions, possessing strength and tenacity of will. His private character was without stain, and on all occasions he exhibited the bearing of a high-toned gentleman. He died July 13, 1869. It was on May 20, 1846, that Governor Toucey notified the General Assembly that war with Mexico had begun; also that the President had called for 50,000 volunteers. The Governor's message was referred to a joint select committee^ 189 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE and on the 29th of May a resolution was unanimously passed, upholding the general government in their preparation for war, also authorizing the enrollment of three regiments of volunteers. At the election held in the spring of 1847, though there were three tickets in the field, the Whigs elected their nom- inee by a majority of six hundred votes. Clark Bissell, the newly-elected chief executive, was born in Lebanon, Sept. 7, 1782. His father was a man of very limited means, who was able to give his boy only the advantages of a district- school education. Young Bissell in his leisure moments studied his Latin and Greek grammars, and was prepared for college by a resident clergyman. He entered Yale Col- lege in 1802, and supported himself during his collegiate course by teaching in the public schools of New Haven. Graduating in 1806, he became tutor in a private family in Maryland. Afterwards returning to his native State, he taught a public school for one year at Saugatuck (now Westport). He then studied law, and after his admittance to the bar in 1809, removed to Norwalk. The next twenty years were spent in building up an extensive law practice. He was elected in 1829 to the General Assembly, and was after- wards chosen on the judicial bench, where his fame as an able lawyer and noted jurist was universally acknowledged. Resigning from the bench in 1839, he became a member of the State Senate, and when elected Governor was recog- nized as one of the ablest men in the State. Governor Bis- sell was re-elected, and at the expiration of his second term of ofHce retired from public life, with the exception of serving one term in the Legislature. His death occurred at Nor- walk, Sept. 15, 1857. A treaty of peace was signed with Mexico on Feb. 2, 1848. 190 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE Although the people of Connecticut were greatly adverse to the war during its continuance, the national government was supported with loyalty and patriotism. The commonwealth furnished over seven hundred officers and enlisted men for the regular army. Among the former, who afterwards gained honor and renown in the Civil War, were Joseph K. F. Mansfield, John Sedgwick, Nathaniel Lyon, Horatio G. Wright, Alfred H. Terry, Henry W. Wessells, Henry W. Benham, and others. Connecticut had two other sons in the Mexican War whose services were of incalculable value. Joseph Gilbert Totten and George Talcott. The former was born at New Haven, Aug. 23, 1788. He spent his childhood in the home of his maternal uncle, General Jared Mansfield. He entered West Point as a cadet in 1805, and served with distinction in the engineer corps during the war of 18 12. When hostili- ties began with Mexico, General Totten was assigned the engineering operations of General Scott's army of invasion; in that capacity he directed the siege of Vera Cruz. At the close of the war he returned to his official duties at Wash- ington. On the breaking out of the Civil War he was com- missioned brigadier-general, and afterwards brevetted major- general. He died at Washington, D. C, April 22, 1864. George Talcott was born at Glastonbury Dec. 6, 1786. He served during the War of 18 12 as deputy commissioner of ordinance, ranking as captain. He was brevetted briga- dier-general May 30, 1848, for faithful performance of his duties during the Mexican War. Through some misconstruc- tion of an order for a large amount of shot and shells, given by a subordinate officer, for which General Talcott did not hav^e the ratification of the War Department, he was court-mar- tialed July 8, 185 I, and dismissed from the army. Though 191 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE General Talcott's honesty was not impeached, his faithful disbursements of millions of government moneys during his thirty-eight years of official life did not weigh in the judg- ment of the court. A misunderstanding that might have been amicably settled without loss of honor, ended in a public dis- grace. General Talcott died at Albany, New York, April 25, 1862. 192 CHAPTER XIII After the Mexican War THE close of the Mexican War caused a vehe- ment agitation of that sectional topic of con- troversy, the restriction of the extension of slavery. The slaveholding States, after the admission of Texas to the Union, with an area sufficient for the formation of four or five new States, were counterbalanced by the great Northwest, which was rapidly being populated by settlers who demanded recognition as members of an integral Union. The admission of Wisconsin in 1848 as the thirtieth State, equalized the representation of the free and slave States in the upper house of Congress. The Southern politicians, regarding the Great West as a field for the creating of new States, sought to extend the line of division established by the Missouri Compromise to the Pacific Ocean; this was in direct violation of the privileges granted to the inhabitants of that country by the Mexican government, from whom it was acquired. The passage of compromise measures in 1850, while it admitted California as a free State, left the question of slavery in the territories of New Mexico and Utah for future decision, A fugitive-slave law was established, while slave traffic was suppressed in the District of Columbia. Connec- ticut in her own conservative way awaited the development of events; in 1847, by a vote of 19,495 to 5,616, she refused to amend her constitution by eliminating the word "white" before the words "male citizen," in the article relating to the qualifications of electors. Nevertheless, a strong anti-slavery feeling was gradually growing among her citizens, as it became evident that the slavocracy would not remain content with anything short of permission to hold slaves in every newly admitted State of the Union. Among her sons were Henry B. Stanton, John Pier- 195 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE pont, and others, co-laborers with William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, and Theodore Parker, for the emancipation of the slaves, primarily because the Union must be all slave or all free, as Lincoln afterwards said. The Whig nominating convention which met in the sum- mer of 1848, setting aside, in favor of the military popularity of Buena Vista, Monterey, Palo Alto, and Resaca de la Palma, the claims of Daniel Webster and Henry Clay, selected as their candidate General Zachary Taylor. At a convention held by the Democratic party two sets of delegates appeared from New York. The opponents of the old "Albany Regency," which had so long held the reins of power in the State, had turned its own guns against it and ousted it; but the Regency sent a contesting delegation. The convention dared not take sides with either faction, and excluded both ; whereupon the Regency party held a conven- tion of its own and nominated Martin Van Buren for Presi- dent. To gain popular sympathy and strengthen their moral claim, as well as to furnish a basis for future bargains, they adopted the principles of the Liberty Party, which had t\\'Ice nominated James G. BIrney for President, and controlled some 20,000 votes in New York State; favored the Wilmot Proviso; and established as their watchwords "Free Soil" — "Free Speech"— "Free Labor"— "Free Men." The new combination was called the Free Soil Party, and polled about a quarter of a million votes In the next election; whereupon the Regency made terms with the opposing New York fac- tion and dropped Its anti-slavery allies overboard. The popular vote of Connecticut in the sixteenth Presi- dential election was for Zachary Taylor 30,314, for Lewis Cass 27,046, and for Martin Van Buren 5,005. In accord- ance with this decision of her freemen, the Presidential elec- 196 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE tors — T. W. Williams, Solomon Olmstead, E. Jackson, J. McClellan, J. B. Ferris — cast the six votes of the State for Zachary Taylor for President and Millard Fillmore for Vice-President. At the spring election in 1849, the Whigs presented as their candidate a grandson of Connecticut's Revolutionary War Governor; the Democratic candidate was Thomas H. Seymour, who had gained honor and distinction in the Mexi- can War by his successful leading of the assault on Chapul- tepec, the Gibraltar of Mexico, and scaling its heights. The Democratic party was weakened by disaffection in its ranks; and a third ticket, with John M. Niles as nominee, receiving 3,520 votes, caused the Whig candidate to receive a plu- rality. The Legislature, by a vote of 122 to no, chose Jonathan Trumbull for chief magistrate. The successful candidate was born at Lebanon, Dec. 7, 1782. Entering Yale in 1797, he graduated four years later. He was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1803, but the fol- lowing year he removed to Hartford, where he spent the remainder of his life. Governor Trumbull, after serving in the General Assembly, was selected to fill an unexpired term in the National House of Representatives, serving through the session of 1834-5. He was elected to the Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh Congresses. Besides attending to his legal practice, he was engaged in various business enterprises, and was also connected with the directory board of several charitable institutions. He died Aug. 4, 1861. At the next election, the Democratic party presented their defeated candidate of the previous year. The Whig ticket was headed by Lafayette S. Foster. Though the former had a plurality of the more than seven hundred votes, the elec- tion devolved on the Legislature, where Seymour received 197 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE 122 votes to io8 for his opponent. Thomas H. Seymour was born at Hartford in 1 808 ; in his youth he displayed the traits of leadership that he afterwards exemplified. After obtain- ing a public school education in his native city, he attended Captain Alden Partridge's institution in Middletown, where he pursued a military course of study, graduating in 1837. On his return to Hartford he was elected commanding officer of the Light Guards of that city. He studied law and was admitted to the bar; but before he gained a lucrative practice he became interested in politics, and became editor of The Jefersonian, a democratic organ. This, coupled with an attractive and pleasing address, soon made him the acknow- ledged leader of the Hartford Democracy. Governor Sey- mour was elected member of Congress in 1 843 ; at the expir- ation of his term he declined a renomination. On the break- ing out of the Mexican War he was commissioned ntajor; at the close of hostilities he returned to Hartford, and again interested himself in political affairs. At the election for Governor in 1 85 1, no candidate received a majority of the votes; the Legislature after an exciting contest declared Seymour elected, the ballot being Seymour 122; Foster 121. The nominee on the Whig ticket. Green Kendrick, was chosen Lieutenant-Governor by a vote of 1 24 to 120. The following year Seymour's opponent was the successful occupant of the second position in the executive department of the State ; for the first time Seymour received a majority of the votes, and the following year he was again elected by an increased majority. He was elected four guber- natorial terms; but in April 1853, having received the appointment of United States Minister to Russia, he resigned his position as Governor. Governor Seymour was the Amer- ican representative at the Court of Russia for four years; he 198 ^^.2^^. CONNECTICUT AS A STATE then spent a year in European travel before returning to Hartford. During the Civil War he was the leader of the Connecticut Peace Democracy. Among the old-time Demo- crats he still retained his popularity, but on his re-entrance into political life in 1863, as the nominee of that party for Gov- ernor, he was defeated after an exciting canvass. At the Democratic National Convention held in 1864, Governor Seymour received thirty-eight votes on the first ballot for candidate for President. His latter years were passed peace- fully at Hartford, where he died Sept. 3, 1868. The retirement of Governor Seymour from the executive chair, a month after the beginning of his fourth term of office, called to the position the then Lieutenant-Governor, Charles H. Pond, who was born in Milford April 26, 1781. At the age of seventeen he entered Yale College, where he became noted for an inexhaustible vein of wit, also for unusual mus- cular strength. Graduating in 1802, he studied law under the guidance of Roger Minot Sherman; he continued his legal studies two years, and was admitted to Fairfield County bar, but he never practiced his profession. This was partially owing to the failure of his health; for several years he fol- lowed the sea, but in 18 19 again took up his residence on land. Governor Pond filled judicial positions in New Haven County, and was its sheriff for fifteen years. He was Gov- ernor Seymour's associate in 1850; the following year he was defeated by the Legislature, but was re-elected to the same office in 1852-3. On his retirement from the Gover- nor's chair, he never again entered public life. He died April 28, 1861. President Fillmore in 1852 called to his Cabinet Samuel D. Hubbard, to take the portfolio of Postmaster-General. The new Cabinet official was born in Middletown, Aug. 10, 199 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE 1799. Graduating from Yale College at the age of twenty, he studied law, but abandoned its practice to engage in manu- facturing. Mr. Hubbard was a member of the Twenty- ninth and Thirtieth Congresses; at the close of Fillmore's administration he retired to private life. He died in his native town Oct. 8, 1855. The one absorbing question before the country now was whether the Compromise of 1850, fugitive-slave law and all, should be carried out in good faith. Despite the shock which that law had given to the moral sense of the North, and which ultimately killed the Whig Party, the great majority even of Northerners wished it. On business grounds alone, the North, which annually sold a thousand million dollars' worth of goods to the South, shrank from a disturbance which would imperil that trade. Lovers of the Union were willing to make large sacrifices to prevent its continuance being men- aced. It is fair to say, also, that great numbers thought the South had much right on its side, and could not do otherwise than protect its great vested interest at all hazards. For all these reasons, conventions of both parties professed the utmost sincerity in upholding the Compromise, and the ques- tion of success would be largely determined by the candidates. In this light, it seems grotesque that the successful one was a Northern man and the vanquished a Southerner. But the matter is less strange than it appears. The Democratic convention of June 1852, unable to decide among the conflicting claims of first-rate leaders — Douglas, Marcy, Cass, etc. — and not daring to nominate a slave- holder, chose on the forty-ninth ballot a representative of the pro-slavery Northerners, afterwards contemptously nick- named "dough-faces," and who were "more Southern than the Southerners." This was Franklin Pierce, a New Hamp- 200 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE shire lawyer and public man, of good repute from the Mexi- can War and service in Congress, an excellent speaker and of captivating manners. He aroused no animosities, and not even the Southern fire-eaters doubted that he would do every- thing they asked; as he proved afterwards by his course regarding Kansas. The Whigs had still greater leaders to choose from, but equally turned them down for a "dark horse." The mighty Webster had in vain turned his coat (as the Northern anti- slavery men considered) in his seventh of March speech: the South remembered his lifelong contest against its aggressions and not his late recantation. So the Whigs played the aged (and in general most discreditably successful) military card. On the forty-eighth ballot they nominated Winfield Scott, certainly one of the greatest soldiers America has ever pro- duced, but of no civil experience. For some reason he was thought to be much influenced by Seward; it was believed that this would insure him votes in the North, and his Vir- ginian birth and residence votes in the South. It worked exactly the other way : the South was set against any taint of abolitionism, and the North preferred its own conservative if it were to have any. Pierce was elected by a heavy major- ity, which fairly represented the anguished resolve of the majority of people to stop agitation; but the Whig party instantly perished, because the settlement was against natural possibility of maintenance. Connecticut's vote, for a con- servative community, was so close in itself as to presage a speedy revolution. Its vote was Pierce 33,249, Scott 30,359, John P. Hale (Free Soil candidate) 3,161 : a slight major- ity against Pierce; but as plurality ruled, the Presidential electors — Thomas H. Seymour, N. Belcher, A. P. Hyde, Charles Parker, S. Bingham, and William F. Taylor — cast 201 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE their votes for Franklin Pierce for President, and William R. King for Vice-President. At the spring election for State officials in 1854, the Dem- ocrats presented as their candidate Samuel Ingham. The disintegration of the Whig party placed three opposing tick- ets in the field ; and though Ingham had a plurality of almost 9,000, the Legislature by 140 to 93 chose Henry Dutton for chief magistrate. The successful competitor was born in Watertown, Feb. 12, 1796. In early life he was engaged in. agricultural pursuits; but through the assistance and advice of a kinsman he was enabled to enter Yale College. Young Dutton graduated in 18 18, and became a law student with Roger M. Sherman, supplementing his studies by teaching in the public schools. After acting as tutor for two years and a half at his Alma Mater, he began the practice of law in Newtown. In 1837 he removed to Bridgeport, wishing a larger field for his professional career. Governor Dutton was called upon to fill legislative and judicial positions. Upon his retiring after his one term as Governor, he was appointed in 1 861 to the bench of the Supreme Court of Errors, from which he resigned upon reaching the age of seventy. He then devoted himself to his law practice, also to his work as Kent professor of law at Yale, continuing these duties until his death at New Haven, April 28, 1869. At the spring election in 1855 the candidate of the "Know- Nothing" (American) party for Governor, William T. Minor, obtained a plurality over the Democratic nominee, Samuel Ingham, and the choice of the Whigs, Henry Dutton; there being no majority by the popular vote, by a union of the Know-Nothing and Whig members of the Legislature Minor received 177 to 70 for Ingham. William T. Minor was born in Stamford Oct. 31,1815. At the age of fifteen he entered 202 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE Yale College; afterwards studying law with his father, he was admitted in 1841 to the bar of Fairfield County. Gov- ernor Minor represented his native town eight times in the General Assembly, and was also a State Senator, besides hold- ing several judicial positions. After serving two terms as Governor he continued his law practice. At the spring election in 1856, Governor Minor's Demo- cratic opponent, Samuel Ingham, received a plurality of nearly 6,700, and lacked only about 1,300 votes of having a major- ity, there being four tickets. The Legislature, however, gave Governor Minor 135, to 116 votes for Samuel Ingham, and the former thereby became Governor for the ensuing year. At the breaking out of the Civil War, Governor Minor was an outspoken adherent of the Federal cause. In 1864 he was appointed by President Lincoln Consul General to Havana, Cuba; he resigned this office in the spring of 1867, and resumed the practice of law at Stamford. He was later elected Judge of the Superior Court; but after serving five years he resigned. His latter years were spent at Stamford, where he died Oct. 13, 1889. The Whig party — which never had much of definite prin- ciples, except a general preference for a powerful and liber- ally spending government, and a dislike of the swelling mob of ignorance poured in and naturalized from foreign shores — was killed by the election of 1852, which showed that the Northern and Southern wings could no longer act together. But the members still shrank from arraying them against each other in a open fight on the slavery question; and tried to dodge the issue by making one on restricting the naturaliza- tion of foreigners. There was much temporary warrant for this, and for a while the perplexed ex-Whigs took refuge under that banner and gave the American ("Know-Noth- 203 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE Ing") party many notable State victories; but it could not in any event have become the basis of a national party, and shortly the Kansas-Nebraska Bill sent Northern feeling in one mighty surge into the anti-slavery ranks. It was evident that a new party must be formed on the issue of resisting Southern attempts to slaveryize all free ter- ritory; and the Republican Party came into being. It was practically a spontaneous generation from a vast and obvious necessity; sprang into life in many quarters almost at once, and the scattered branches coalesced. The bulk of the mem- bers were from the Whigs, a large section from the Free-Soil Democrats, and a highly important element from the Aboli- tion party. Connecticut was among the foremost in the movement. It had been one of the earliest seats of resistance to slavery — of course by a small minority, as in all reforms. There one of the first Northern negro schools was taught; there fugitive- slave cases had been obstinately fought in the courts and won ; thence John Brown and the Beechers sprung, and from its greatest daughter "Uncle Tom's Cabin" had emanated to set the world on fire. There the colonization movement had been strongly supported, when it was still thought a scheme in good faith to benefit the negroes. Thence went forth colonization companies to balk the Southern scheme for making Kansas a slave State. The time had come for its majority to range themselves openly on the side of free- dom, and they did so. At the Presidential election in 1856, Connecticut's popular vote was for Fremont 42,715, Buchanan 34,495, Fillmore 2,615. The Presidential electors were Henry Dutton, Julius Catlin, Thomas Clark, E. Spencer, William A. Buckingham, and S. W. Gold ; they cast the vote of the State for John C. 204 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE Fremont for President, and William L. Dayton for Vice- President. The Republican candidates in the election secured the entire electoral vote of New England. This had not occurred since 1824, when there was no majority obtained for any candidate in the Electoral College, and John Quincy Adams was elected by the House. At the election for State officials held in the spring of 1857, there were but two political parties represented. The Demo- crats presented as their candidate for Governor the many times defeated Samuel Ingham, who was opposed on the Republican ticket by Alexander H. Holley, the Lieutenant- Governor of 1854-5, that being his first public office. The latter was elected by a majority of 550, in a total vote of 62,908. Alexander H. Holley was born in Salisbury, Aug. 12, 1804. His education was limited to that received at public and private schools; for although he fitted for college, he was obliged to abandon his studies owing to ill health. Governor Holley started in a business career at sixteen, and later in life became identified with the manufacture of cutlery at Salis- bury. His one-term administration was uneventful. On his retirement from public life, he spent his time in European travel when not in his native town. He died in the latter place Oct. 2, 1887. 205 CHAPTER XIV The Financial Panic of 1857 THE unsettled financial condition of the country prior to the panic of 1837 precluded the incorporation of any new moneyed institu- tions. The General Assembly from 1834 to 1847 granted no bank charters, excepting that in 1 844 the Danbury Bank was created by dividing the Fair- field County Bank into two equal parts, making each a sep- arate corporation. The restoration of the people's confidence in the business prosperity of the country was the signal for the formation of new financial institutions. The Iron Bank of Canaan received a charter from the Legislature of 1 847 ; the following year articles of incorporation were granted to the Manufactures' Bank at Derby, the Saybrook Bank at Essex, the Waterbury Bank at Waterbury, and the Winsted Bank at Winsted. There were five banks chartered in 1849: the State at Hartford, the Citizens' at Norwich, the Farmers' at Bridgeport, and the Pawcatuck and Deep River in the vil- lages of the same names. The bank fever about this time reached a period of stag- nation, as no charters were granted by the Legislature of 1850. The following year, however, it broke out with renewed vigor, and the following banks were incorporated : the Hatters' at Bethel, the Pequonock at Bridgeport, the Eastern at Killingly, the Bank of North America at Seymour, the Central at Middletown, the Merchants' at New Haven, the Mystic River at Mystic, the Ocean at Stonington, the City at Hartford, and the Woodbury at Woodbury. Besides these, the capital stock of the Connecticut Bank at Bridge- port was divided, and one-third of It was taken to organize the Southport Bank, which heretofore had been a branch of the Bridgeport institution. The extension of the banking interests of the State turned 209 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE the attention of the Legislature to the passing of laws for the protection, not only of the private interests of their own citi- zens, but also those of the country. This caused in 1852 the passage of the Free General Banking Law. The important specific provisions of this law were, that it required at least twenty-four persons to form a bank; also one-half of the cap- ital stock subscribed must be paid into the State treasury before business could be commenced, and the balance within one year. The funds thus arising were to be Invested in bonds of indebtedness of the United States, or any one of the New England States, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Kentucky, or of any of the cities of New York and Bos- ton, or any incorporated city in Connecticut. On the deposit- ing of these bonds with the State Treasurer, he was empow- ered to issue circulating notes of equal amount, stamped across the face with the words "Secured by the pledge of Pub- lic Stocks"; a failure on the part of the bank to liquidate these notes rendered them liable to protest, when the securities were to be sold and payment made pro rata to the holders of the same. The main object of this law was to establish a circulating medium equal to gold and silver, and the Issuing of bills acceptable for their face value throughout the United States. The difference of incorporating banks under the old and new law was, that by the former, one-fifth of the capital stock was taken to pay the expenses attendant on organization and to retain the legal amount of reserve specie; they were also authorized to issue in circulating currency one and one-half times the amount of their capital stock. Under the new law the bank's issue of bills was confined to an equal amount of public securities, deposited with the State Treasurer, and an organization could not be effected unless one-half of the pro- 210 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE posed capital stock, was paid into the State's financial deposi- tory. The following banks were organized under the Free Bank- ing Law from 1852 to 1855 inclusive : the Bank of Commerce of New London, the Bank of Hartford County, the Charter Oak and Mercantile at Hartford, Bank of Litchfield County at New Milford, Bank of New England at East Haddam, the Bridgeport City at Bridgeport, the Citizens' at Water- bury, the Hurlburt at West Winsted, the Pahquioque at Dan- bury, the Quinnlpiac at New Haven, the Saugatuck at West- port, and the Shetucket and Uncas at Norwich. This new system, which In some respects was not unlike that adopted In after years by the United States government in the National Currency Act, did not secure abiding favor; the statute was repealed In 1855, the institutions chartered under It being allowed to take charters In the old form by paying a bonus of ten per cent, upon their capital stock into the State treasury. Under the old law the Legislature in 1854 Incorporated the Elm City and Tradesmens' Banks at New Haven, the Home at Meriden, the Mattatuck at Water- bury, and the Stafford at Stafford. In 1855 the RockvIUe Bank was chartered by the General Assembly to carry on busi- ness at that place. The following banks were incorporated by the Legislature of 1856: the Clinton, Colchester, Norfolk, and Litchfield in the towns of the same name, and the Merchants' Exchange at Bridgeport. The latter, owing to the financial disturbance of the country, was never organized. The Colchester Bank, the year after its incorporation, had its charter repealed for an unwarrantable issue of bills. The Legislature, in the year in which was to occur the great- est money crisis that the United States had as yet experienced, 211 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE granted charters to nine banks: of these the Pequot of Nor- wich, the Putnam of Putnam, the Clifton of North Stoning- ton, the Old Lyme of Old Lyme, and the Mohegan of Paw- catuck, were organized. The others were the Merchants' and Manufacturers' and the Aetna of Hartford, the Norwalk of Norwalk, and the Granite of Voluntown. The latter institution was a fair example of the wild-cat banking system prevalent in the country at this period. Six days after the payment into the State treasury of the first ten per cent, of its capital stock, its officials began issuing circu- lating bills, while the balance of its subscriptions required by law was deposited in bills of insolvent banks and worthless checks drawn on banks outside of the State. Upon investiga- tion by the bank commissioners, no evidence of a fixed place of business was found, nor did the bank have a vault or safe, or even books. It was undoubtedly a most deliberate attempt by non-residents to perpetrate a fraud, and would have had a most disastrous effect, if it had not been overthrown in its incipiency by the vigilance and energy of the State officials. The location was enough to excite suspicion : a bank in one of the smallest country towns in the State, with no trade establishments and very little manufacturing, was almost prima facie a fraud. There were other cases of a like nature in the State, less obvious on their face. The Mattatuck Bank of Waterbury was chartered with a capital of $500,000; this was reduced to $150,000; on payment of the stipulated ten per cent. the bank was organized. Owing to suspicious circumstances, the bank commissioners were led to believe that a large por- tion of the stock subscriptions were not bona fide, nor were the directors chosen in conformity with the law. An examination was made, and it was found that New York parties had fur- 212 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE nished the cash for the first payment on the capital stock ; and that certain well-known citizens of the State had been induced through the blandishments of a resident agent to allow the use of their names as stockholders. Of the board of direc- tors elected, only one was a legitimate stockholder; the resi- dent agent, a Hartford citizen, was chosen president, and as the managing official he did not deposit in a State bank the moneys collected, but turned them over at once to the inter- ested New York parties, taking simply their receipt. After holding his office a few weeks he resigned, receiving $2,500 for effecting the organization of the bank. The courts declared the bank insolvent and appointed a receiver. There were three other banks organized in the State by New York bank conspirators, who subscribed for stock under fictitious names, issuing a large amount of circulating bills, which they placed on the money market. Of these the Easton and Litchfield were short-lived : in less than a year from the time of their organization they were in the hands of receivers. The Woodbury Bank had an existence of a number of years, but its charter was finally repealed by the Legislature in 1859. The Bank of North /\merica was dissolved by an injunction obtained by the bank commissioners, but was afterwards reorganized and known as the Ansonia Bank. The financial panic of 1857, while it was short, was very destructive. The cause of it was directly due to the exces- sive railway building throughout the country, accompanied by undue expansion of currency. The banking Institutions had made large loans on collaterals, which during the sum- mer of 1857 declined rapidly in value. The collapse in August of a prominent New York life and trust company, coupled with the suspension of Western banks, precipitated matters; 213 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE the prices of stocks went down with a rush, manufactories were closed, and laborers thrown out of employment. The failure of the Illinois Central Railroad Company to meet its pending obligations was the final blow that caused the money panic to be universal. The general suspension of specie payment by the Connecticut banks took place Oct. 14; the circulation of their bills was reduced in six months from over ten million dollars to about four million; most of this took place between Aug. 16 and Nov. i. Specie payment was resumed, however, on Dec. 14. While the financial panic had been a trying ordeal to the Connecticut banks, only six- teen were obliged to pass their usual dividends. Their stand- ing for soundness and stability had been severely tested, but with few exceptions they had been able to maintain the par value of their notes on the money exchanges of New York and Boston, which placed them high in the confidence of the citizens of their own and neighboring States. The Legislature in i860 chartered the New Britain Bank to transact business in the town of New Britain; this made seventy-three banks of discount in the State, having an aggre- gate capital of $21,626,167. The savings institutions had a slow growth during the first half of the nineteenth century. In 1847 they numbered nine, having deposits amounting to $3,221,591,33. A little over a decade later, in i860, there were thirty-seven, with deposits of $18,132,820. In this amount was figured $1,567,536 invested in savings and building associations. The organiza- tion of these depositories for the people's moneys was author- ized by the Legislature of 1850. Within four years there- after, thirty-four associations had begun operations under the law ; two years later they numbered nearly fifty ; the financial 214 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE panic of 1857 reduced their number to twenty-seven, and in i860 all but five of these were in process of liquidation. 215 CHAPTER XV The Textile Industries THROUGH the efforts of General David Hum- phrey, the primitive woolen industries of Con- necticut were largely extended and placed upon a substantial basis. While a resident at the Spanish court, he improved the breed of native sheep by the introduction of Merino rams. This caused a craze among the New England farmers: fine fleeces commanded as high as two dollars and fift)^ cents a pound; Merino sheep were sold at from one thousand to fifteen hun- dred dollars a head ; but on the declaration of peace in 1 8 1 5, the falling prices of wool caused them to be sold as low as one dollar apiece. The stagnation in the wool market continued for nine years; the blooded flocks of sheep were either broken up, or interbred with native stock. Notwithstanding the fact is disputed by some antiquarians, to Connecticut belongs the credit of establishing the first woolen mill in the United States; her industrial experiment at Hartford, mentioned in a previous volume, was not only unique in national history, but antedates any other enterprise of similar character. A century previous to the establish- ment of this mill, the records state that Gabriel Harris of New London left by will four looms with their tacklings, also a silk loom ; it is only fair to infer that his business consisted of custom-work. The foundation of the factory villages which now dot the surface of New England, utilizing her streams and peopling her villages, was laid in 1 803 by General Humphrey ; he pur- chased in that year a mill privilege on the Naugatuck River, now located within the limits of the town of Seymour, and here he erected buildings. Owing to a residence in England, he was cognizant of the demoralizing influences of factory industry; also, being of a far-sighted and broad-minded char- 219 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE acter, regarding manufacturing largely in the sense of a phil- anthropic enterprise, he intended as the manufactures grew that there should be no decadence in the character and quality of the citizens engaged in them. To further these views, he was instrumental in having the Connecticut Legislature pass an act constituting the selectment of the towns visitors to the manufacturing establishments within their jurisdictions; they were empowered to enforce measures for the proper care and moral well-being of the employees. This, in connection with the building of schoolhouses, and modern tenements with market gardens attached, caused Humphreysville even from its start, and for many years afterwards, to be known as an industrial paradise. The Humphreysville Manufacturing Company was incor- porated in 1810; at the opening of the War of 18 12 it was the best equipped mill in the United States. The production was chiefly broadcloths, which sold at four dollars and a half a yard; cotton goods were also manufactured. Employment was furnished to about one hundred and fifty persons. Ac- cording to President Dwight in his "Travels," there were in 181 1 "several buildings equipped with four breakers and finisher cards, two jennies, a billy with forty spindles, a picker, four fulling mills, two shearing machines, four broad looms, eight narrow looms, and eighteen stocking frames. There were three churches, fifty or sixty dwellings, and three mer- cantile stores" in this first model factory village of New Eng- land. The fathers of American woolen mills were Arthur and John Scholfield, who arrived in this country in 1793 from Yorkshire, England, their entire capital being the plans for models of parts of textile machinery, which information they carried in their heads. After operating in Massachusetts, the 220 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE two brother in 1798 leased a water privilege at the mouth of what is now the Oxoboxo River ( Montville) , this name being a perversion of the original Indian name Opsobosket. This was a historic spot, as It was the site of a saw-mill erected in 1653 by John WInthrop, who afterwards utilized it as a bloomery which became known as the "Old Forge." 7'he Scholfields Improved the shop located on the property, and put In operation the first woolen machinery In Connecti- cut for the manufacture of cloth by water power. Three years later, Arthur removed to Pittsfield, Massachusetts. His brother operated the mill until 18 12, when his lease expired; the woolen business was carried on at this location for a num- ber of years, but It eventually became an oil mill. John Schol- field, whose death occurred in 1820, seems to have possessed a passion for erecting new mills; In 1806 he purchased a water privilege at Stonington, also In 1 8 14 one at Waterford, where mills were built; the same year, higher up on the Oxo- boxo stream, he purchased the site of the oldest woolen estab- lishment in that part of the country, a clothing mill having been operated there by Joseph Otis in 1790. Scholfield enlarged the building and equipped it with machinery. It was at this mill that his son Thomas manufactured the first piece of satinet made In the State; this fabric become widely known as the "Scholfield satinet," and Its manufacture was continued a number of years by his descendants. This textile was also manufactured by Delano Abbott, at an early date, in Vernon. During the War of 1 8 1 2, the price of broadcloth advanced to eighteen dollars a yard, and a woolen mill became a verit- able gold mine; but peace had hardly been declared when the market collapsed, on account of the inferiority of Ameri- can cloth as compared with that of English manufacture^ 221 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE which could now be imported. The Legislature, in four years beginning with 1812, chartered twenty-six companies, whose united capitals amounted to $4,210,000, for the production of woolen and cotton fabrics; the manufacturers importuned Congress for protection, and the tariff act of 18 16 was the result. The statement was made by Andrew W. Magill and William Young, two Connecticut woolen manufacturers, in a letter to the Congressional Ways and Means committee, that there were in the State twenty-five establishments engaged in the manufacture of woolens, and these gave employment to twelve hundred persons; that $450,000 capital was invested, and the production amounted to 75,000 yards of narrow and 25,000 yards of broad cloths. Among the early woolen manufacturers was the Middle- town Woolen Manufacturing Company, organized by Isaac Sanford and others previous to our second war with Eng- land. It produced from thirty to forty yards of the choicest broadcloth daily, using only the finest of merino wool. The machinery was run by a twenty-four horse-power engine, and it was the first mill in Connecticut to utilize steam for man- ufacturing purposes. There were at this time mills in Litch- field County, one at Wolcottville (now Torrington), two at Goshen, and one at Winsted. The former was established by James Wolcott In 18 13, and manufactured a fine quality of goods ; after running a score of years under this management, It changed hands and became known as the Wolcottville Man- ufacturing Company. The mill was destroyed by fire in 1844, but was rebuilt, and the name of the company was changed to the Torrington Manufacturing Company. A change of owners in 1853 caused it to become known as the Wolcottville Knitting Company. The Winsted venture was started in 18 13 by the Rockwell brothers; a line of broad- 222 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE cloths and satinets was manufactured, but the enterprise was not a success, and the buildings being destroyed by fire in 1835, ^^^ project was abandoned. Elisha Pitkin in 1770 established, on a water privilege on the Hockanum River, the first wool-carding machine run by water power in the State, and probably the first in the country, under a patent for making "cloth without yarn." Felt was first made there in 1807 by Joseph Pitkin, a son of Elisha. A privilege was purchased on this river in 1 8 14, and a manufactory for satinets was started. In 1836 the present Hockanum Company was organized. In 1869 the manufac- ture of fine worsteds for men's wear was begun ; a near neigh- bor to this plant is the Rock Manufacturing Company, which was established in 1824 by Colonel Francis McLean. Seven years later saw the erection of a mill by the Frank Company; and by a division of the Rock Company, the Leeds Company came into existence. On the site of the Springville mill in 18 19 stood a full one-set mill; the Leeds Company was afterwards consolidated with the Rock, and the Springville with the Hockanum Company. The New Eng- land mill commenced business in 1837, manufacturing sat- inet; four years later it was burned; on Its being rebuilt fancy cassimeres were made, which was an innovation in Rockville manufacturing, as it required a new and better class of skilled workmen. In 1836, the Saxony, now Snipsic, mill was built; the Panola, American, and New Frank also went into operation in that year. The Rockville Warp Mill, at which cotton warp is spun and colored for the use of satinet and cassimere manufacturers, was started in 1853 by Joseph Selden. There has been for over half a century at Talcottvllle a mill manufacturing union cassimeres. The manufacture of 223 CONNECl ICUT AS COLONY AND STATE satinets in the decade between 1840 and 1850 was extensively carried on in the town of Stafford; the success of the enter- prise was due to Eliot A. Converse. The largest woolen industry in the township is located at Stafford Springs, and is knowrh as the Warren Woolen Mills; fine worsted coatings are here produced. In the northeastern part of the State, a woolen factory was started at Mechanicsville in 1827; it was operated by differ- ent lessees, and finally destroyed by fire in 1843. ^^ was not until 1858 that another attempt was made; the Mechanics- ville Company then began the manufacture of fancy cassi- meres. A mill was erected in 1826 for making woolens, by the Pomfret Manufacturing Company, at what is now Putnam. A year later the Rhodesville enterprise was started, and although its early success was retarded through losses by fire, it eventually became prosperous and formed the nucleus of the present Morse Mill, of which the Powhatan Mill erected in 1872 is a part. The Connecticut woolen manufacturers, in competition with foreign countries, labored under the disadvantage of possessing only primitive machinery. The introduction in 1824 of Goulding's carding machine marked the first per- ceptible step towards progress; but it was not until 1870 that the American manufacturers, by the adoption of a self- operating mule, were enabled to successfully compete with their English brethren. They were also largely aided by the protective tariffs granted by the general government. As will be seen, the woolen industries were largely centred in Tolland County, with Rockville as the natural centre; there are however various isolated plants scattered throughout the State, many of which are of recent date. At the outbreak 224 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE of the Civil War there were ninety-three establishments in Connecticut engaged in the manufacture of satinets, cassi- meres, stocking yarn, hosiery, blankets, flannels, carpets, and felting. The most prominent of these was the Hartford Car- pet Company, established at Thompsonville in 1828, and it has gained a reputation for its products second to none ia the country. Connecticut in 1900 ranked seventh in the United States, in the amount of her woolen manufactured goods; at the beginning of the last decade she was fifth, but was passed by Maine and New Jersey. She ranks fourth in woolen goods proper, and sixth in worsteds, her combined productions amounting to $12,637,032. The invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney — who, though a resident of Connecticut, was a son of a sister State — coupled with that by Hargreaves of the spinning jenny and Arkwright of the spinning frame, gave an impetus to cotton manufactures. These inventions were the primary causes for the successful advancement of the modern cotton manufacturing interests of the country. The arrival of Samuel Slater in Rhode Island in 1790 was the initiatory step towards placing the American cotton man- ufactures on a similar basis with those of England; though Bagnall asserts that before this date there were six cotton mills in Connecticut, located at Norwich, New Haven, Beth- lehem, East Hartford, Suffield, and what is now Vernon. They had produced cotton cloth, and were still carrying on the manufacture prior to 1805. This year marks an era in the history of the country; for our foreign relations gave rise to a condition of affairs favorable to domestic manufac- 225 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE tures, and the cotton industries received an impetus from which they have never receded. These industries in their infancy were estabhshed in the eastern portion of the State; this was due to the fact that the first promoters were Rhode Island manufacturers. The streams that unite with the tidal waters of the Thames River at Norwich, also the banks of the Quinebaug, Shetucket, and Moosup Rivers with their tributaries, which nature, aided by man's handiwork, had endowed with valuable water privi- leges, were eagerly sought by the pioneers. This resulted in more than seven-tenths of the cotton spindles in the State being located in New London and Windham Counties. Samuel Slater, the generator of the Rhode Island cotton industries, with his father-in-law Ozias Wilkinson, erected in 1806 the first cotton mill in eastern Connecticut; it was called the Pomfret Manufacturing Company, and Smith Wilkinson, a brother-in-law of Slater, was made resident agent. The frame of the building was raised on the fourth of July in the presence of two thousand persons, who were regaled with free punch in honor of the occasion. The next decade witnessed the erection of numberless cot- ton mills: wherever the streams afforded sufficient water power, a site was selected, and building commenced ; the hills and valleys resounded with the buzz of the saw and blows from the hammer. At Jewett City (named in honor of Eleazer Jewett, a pioneer in milling interests) John Wilson in 181 1 conveyed the real estate and water privileges to the Jewett City Cotton Manufacturing Company, in which the Slaters afterwards became interested. The town of Sterling was a field for early cotton manufac- turers. The Sterling Manufacturing Company was started 226 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE there in 1 808 ; ten years later they were running sixteen hun- dred spindles. Here was also the American Manufacturing Company on the Quanduck, and a small mill on the Moosup River; loss of buildings from frequent fires caused a decline In the industry. In the adjoining town of Plainfield, the Union Manufactur- ing Company, the Andrus Factory Company, and the Central Manufacturing Company were early in the field. The latter became the property of Norwich parties, and Its name was changed to the Kirk Mills. Two years after the starting of a mill at Quinebaug Falls saw the establishment of the Thompson Manufacturing Company at Thompson, now Grosvenordale. A few years later the Masons became associ- ated with the management, and it became known as the Ma- sonville Company. Dr. William Grosvenor, a nephew of the Masons, undertook the active management in 1848; twenty- years later a factory that had been started in FlshervIUe in 1828 was purchased, and a consolidation was made and in- corporated under the name of the Grosvenordale Company, having a capacity of 65,000 spindles. The Connecticut Man- ufacturing Company was organized In Thompson In 181 1; after various vicissitudes, the buildings were destroyed by fire in 1849. The pioneer cotton spinner of WHlImantic was Percy Rich- mond, who in 1822 acquired water privileges at the lower end of the borough. In 1826 there were four mills in successful operation, the most prominent of which were the Windham and Smithvllle Manufacturing Companies. The Killlngly Manufacturing Company, organized In 18 14, and the Dan- ielsonvllle Manufacturing Company, were noted early cotton Industries in the town of Killlngly; besides these was the Stone Chapel Manufacturing Company, located on the site 227 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE of the Attawaugan Company, who also operated the Ballou Mills in Killingly and the Pequot Mills in Montville, making a line of sheetings, shirtings, and cambrics. As early as 1790, Dr. Joshua Lathrop established at Nor- wich, the natural centre of the cotton industries of the State, a cotton factory on the town plot, having five jennies, one carding machine, and six looms; it is worthy of note that this was before the invention of the cotton gin, and the improve- ments in machinery by Arkwright and others. Samuel Slater was not successful in obtaining water privi- leges at Norwich Falls, but Cartwright's improvement of the power loom was hardly reproduced in America before several cotton factories were in active operation in Norwich and vi- cinity. In the city proper, on the Yantic River, is located the Falls Company ; they own the water privilege where William Williams, Jr., & Co. began the manufacture of cotton fabrics in 1 8 13. The present company make a variety of cotton goods, such as tickings, awnings, ducks, domets, denims, and covert cloths; this class of goods is also manufactured by the Shetucket Company on the river of that name. At Greene- ville, another suburb of Norwich, a mill was organized in 1837; the water privileges were purchased of the Thames Company. On the same stream is the Occum Company. The promoters of this company were instrumental in calling the attention of Cyrus and Edward P. Taft in 1865 to the facili- ties offered for the manufacture of cotton goods; this resulted in the establishment of the Ponemah Mills, which is said to be one of the three largest cotton plants in the United States. This company also operates another mill four miles from Taftville, and its percales and fine lawns for printing have a reputation second to none in America. The Potoket Mills Company, located at Occum in the town 228 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE of Norwich, occupies a privilege that has been in operation since 1866. In the towns adjoining Norwich are the Uncas- vllle Manufacturing Company, situated on the Oxoboxo River in Montville; it was incorporated in 1848. The mills of the BozrahvIUe Company were formerly within the limits of Norwich, and are among the oldest in New England; the power is furnished by the Yantic River, and what is known to the trade as twills are manufactured. On the Pochaug River, near the village of Voluntown, is located the Griswold Cotton Mills Company. The White- stone Company with mills at East Kllllngly produce a cotton cloth used for flour sacks. There are a number of cotton mills throughout the State that have followed In the footsteps of the early promoters, but as early as 18 14 an organization was formed In what is now Westport. It was known as the Saugatuck Manufactur- ing Company, and was incorporated in that year by the Gen- eral Assembly; they manufactured woolen goods as well as cotton. In 1 8 1 8 the name was changed to the Richmondville Manufacturing Company. In the spring of 1844 John Lees and John P. Dryden became Interested in this enterprise, but the buildings and contents were totally destroyed by fire. In 1878 they were rebuilt and were occupied by the Lees Manu- facturing Company. The name of one of the early promoters of the cotton Industries of New England is represented in Connecticut. A son of Oliver Chace, the agent of the first mill at Fall River, owned and operated the Moodus Mills at East Haddam, and it is still managed by his descendants. The Spragues also operated a mill at Baltic for years; it was destroyed by fire In the fall of 1887. The modern triumph in the cotton industries is the manu- 229 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE facture of thread. Less than forty years ago the housewife was persistent in using only foreign threads; in fact, the opposition to American products was such that to introduce their wares the manufacturers had to label them in imita- tion of imported thread, and pack them in soldered leaden boxes, in order to protect them against their imaginary voy- age across the Atlantic. The ultimate success of the industry is largely due to Connecticut manufacturers. In 1848 Gar- diner Hall began the manufacture of cotton thread in South Willington ; his son Gardiner became interested in the enter- prise, and the Thread Drawing or Finishing Machine, the Automatic Spool Printing Press, that printed labels in four colors by one operation, and the Tension Regulator, which takes the thread from the spool without turning it, are but a few of his many valuable inventions. In 1854 The Willimantic Linen Company was organized by Hartford capitalists; the name soon became a misnomer, for they engaged in the manufacture of spool cotton. The abolishment of the popular prejudice against American cot- ton threads is due to this company. The English manufac- turers claimed that much depended on the state of the atmos- phere in the making of threads, and that a good article could not be produced in this country, on account of the dryness of our climate; but Yankee genius devised a plan by which moisture was imparted to the air, making it preferable to the natural humidity of the English atmosphere, as it could be controlled. The labor and ingenuity attendant on thread making can- not be better illustrated than by the statement, that to make a perfect six-cord cotton thread, from the time the raw material is taken from the bale until a finished article is produced, the fibres by sundry operations are doubled (as the 230 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE technical phrase is) or intercombined over twenty millions of times. The success attained by the Willimantic Linen Company, coupled with the protection given the industry by the general government, caused the foreign manufacturers to establish branch factories In this country. Owing to the great superi- ority of the Willimantic six-corded thread, however, it enjoys the patronage of the leading sewing-machine manufacturers, and is also used by the manufacturers of straw goods, knit goods, clothing, and hats, throughout the country. There are scattered throughout the State, kindred cotton Industries producing hosiery, underwear, cotton yarn, shade cord, twines, etc. In the manufacture of cotton goods Con- necticut ranks third in New England, having fifty-five of the three hundred and thirty-two establishments located In the Eastern States; her factories are equipped with 1,001,474 active spindles and 19,545 looms. The experiments of Dr. Nathaniel Asplnwall In the culti- vation of the silk-worm in Connecticut, although confined largely to Mansfield, laid the foundation for one of the great industries of the State: previous to 1788, thirty-two persons had petitioned the Legislature for Incorporation to manufac- ture silk thread In that town. Among the early pioneers was Colonel Elderkin, who owned an extensive mulberry orchard In the adjoining town of Windham. He produced about ten thousand pounds of silk annually, which was manufactured Into the fashionable long stockings of the day; handkerchiefs and vest patterns were also successfully fabricated; and sev- eral pieces of dress silk were produced, with which the daugh- ters of the proprietor adorned themselves. 231 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE After the death of Colonel Elderkin, the property passed into the hands of Rodney Hanks and his nephew Horatio of Mansfield, who in 1810 invented and built a machine for spinning silk by water power. It was several years, however, before a silk factory was established, and the early attempts were not profitable. The Mansfield Silk Company was char- tered and began business in 1829, equipped with machinery made by Edmund Golding, who was familiar with the Eng- lish method of construction ; this was the first practical success in manufacturing sewing silk, except by hand power. The company became involved in the mulberry speculation about 1839, and dissolved, though some of the members became interested in other silk enterprises. Frank and Ralph Cheney in 1836 laid the foundation for the largest silk textile Industry in the State. They began to manufacture at South Manchester, in a small way, silk thread from imported raw material, and since that time the busi- ness has continued in the hands of members of the Cheney family. The business was incorporated In 1854. The plant of the Cheney Brothers is of extensive area, employment being given to over one thousand persons, to whom every encouragement has been extended by their employers, for the improvement of their health and welfare. For a number of years, only reeled-silk and silk fibre were used; but in 1865 the company experimented In spun silk, which led to great developments In the industry. Silk at one time was recognized as a luxury; but through the endeavors of manufacturers, largely attributable to Cheney Brothers, it has been placed within the reach of a majority of the pop- ulation of the country. The introduction of spun silk caused the production of pongees and florentines, plain, figured, and printed, for dress goods and decorations; satins, twills, and 232 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE armures in printed patterns and solid colors, black and col- ored grosgrains, velvet plush and upholsterers' materials, drapery fabrics and curtains, handkerchiefs, mufflers, and flags; ribbons in grosgrain and satin, plain and fancy edges. The American products became standard, rivaling those of Europe and the Orient, thereby obtaining the monopoly of home consumption. The Cheney Brothers perfected the pro- duction of printed silk by machinery. By their method, as many as a dozen different colors can be put on the same piece of goods by one process; in foreign countries this was done by hand, thus rendering the finished article much more expensive. The manufacture of silk was introduced into Rockville in 1857 by E. K. Rose; but it received no impetus until some six years afterwards, when the founder associated with him- self in the business the three Belding brothers. This part- nership remained in force three years; Mr. Rose then with- drew and started the Rose Silk Manufacturing Company, which, however, was short-lived. The Beldings' interests at Rockville remained inactive; but they established sole agen- cies in the large cities of the United States, and added mill after mill to their manufacturing resources. In 1870 opera- tions were recommenced; in 1876 the works at Northamp- ton, Massachusetts, were started, and subsequently those at Montreal, Canada, and San Francisco, California, all of which are outgrowths from the Rockville enterprise. Willimantic Village, being contiguous to Mansfield, where at an early day silk mills were started by Joseph Conant, naturally attracted the attention of silk manufacturers. The Holland Silk Manufacturing Company was established there in 1865. In 1872 O. S. Chaffee & Co. removed from Mansfield to this place the mills originally started by Conant; 233 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE silk and mohair braids, sewing silk and buttonhole twist, are their principal products. The Natchaug Silk Company, an outgrowth of this industry, was incorporated in 1887, for the manufacture of silk dress goods, serges, and satins. The silk industry has been carried on at South Coventry since 1866; and for over half a century the L. D. Brown & Son Company have manufactured a line of machine twist, sewing silk, floss, dress silk, linings, fish lines, etc., at Middle- town. The pride of the factory enterprises of New London is the Brainerd and Armstrong Silk Company, whose special- ties are sewing silk, machine twist, knitting silks, floss and embroidery silk, in all colors and shades. The New London Wash Silk Company are pioneers in the production of wash silks in this country; they manufacture a line of the finest kind of filo, floss, twist, etc., placed on the market. The Owaneco Silk Company of Norwich is a reorganiza- tion of a stock company that was engaged in the silk industry in the adjoining town of Preston. The Oneida Community established a silk mill in Wallingford in 1868; but on removal of its branch some twelve years later, it was discontinued. In 1878 the manufacture of silk dress goods was introduced at Putnam. The Globe Silk Works at New Haven manufacture a peculiar silk twist, used by boot, shoe, and clothing manu- facturers, besides a regular line of embroidery and sewing silks, braid, and spun silk. There are a few scattered silk manufactories located in the western part of the State. The Eagle Silk Company of Sey- mour was established in 1850, and after continuing a score of years, was disbanded; the plant however was utilized in 1880 by the Tingue Manufacturing Company, who manu- facture silk and mohair plushes for dress goods and uphol- stery. The Winsted Silk Company was estabhshed at Win- 234 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE sted in 1874; they manufacture silk twist. Other silk fac- tories are scattered throughout the State, several being located in the parent town of the industry. In 1900 Connecticut ranked fourth in the United States in silk products; her $12,- 166,775 worth of productions represented thirty-eight estab- lishments, and gave employment to 6,514 of her people. The combined textile industries of the State in 1900 com- prised one hundred and ninety establishments, whose capital amounted to $66,340,241, and which employed 32,469 of her inhabitants, paying them wages to the amount of $11,- 539,771. The salaried officers were 963 in number, whose compensations amounted to $1,423,307; raw material was used to the value of $26,910,550; and the productions aggre- gated $48,728,019. This has not varied over two million dollars in the last twenty years. 2Sb CHAPTER XVI Metal Industries THE centralization of the metal industries in the western part of the State is largely due to the fact that the early endeavors of the colonists in iron manufactures were more successful in that section of the country. The valuable water privileges of the Naugatuck Valley, with its accessi- bility to the New York market, attracted the capitalists of that metropolis, which was instrumental in promoting the progress of the work; but these advantages were secondary in the ultimate success of these enterprises. It is to the inven- tive genius of her citizens that Connecticut is indebted for the accumulated wealth which she has derived from these indus- tries. The manufacture of tinware at Berlin before the Revolu- tionary War was the forerunner of the production of Yankee notions, with which the name of Connecticut is so closely associated. The first tin pail thus produced, formed the basis of a development in metal manufacturing that has placed the productions of the State in the markets of all foreign nations. The lack of coal among her mineral resources impaired the value of Connecticut's iron mines; this resulted in the industry becoming most prominent in those localities where these two important factors in its production were accessible to each other. The manufacture of pig iron and steel was however, never abandoned. In 1900 Connecticut was the eighteenth State in the Union in the amount of her iron products, which amounted to 54,365 tons annually, showing an increase of 31,771 tons over that of 1870. Though she takes so low a rank in productions of the manufactured raw material, she ranks fifth in forging, fourth in nails and spikes, and eighth in architectural and ornamental work. The manufacture of clocks was the source of those various 239 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE adjuncts and derivations that have become a part of the vital interests of the State. When Eli Terry came from Windsor to what is now Thomaston, he had been thoroughly educated by the best of English clockmakers ; the improvements and inventions made by him in this wonderful piece of mechanism, also the introduction in 1821 of the small mantel clock, cre- ated such a demand that other artificers were stimulated. This resulted in 1841 in the perfecting of the one-day brass clock by Chauncey Jerome, which completely revolutionized clock- making. The application of machinery in the cutting from brass of interchangeable parts, also the division of labor so that one workman could produce each part, made it possible for three men to take the brass in sheets, press it out, level it under the drop, cut the teeth, and make all the wheels, for five hun- dred clocks a day. This so cheapened the manufacturing that clocks were brought within the reach of the masses, and from being luxuries became articles of necessity. The demand in this country being supplied, in 1 842 Mr. Jerome shipped a consignment to England. On their arrival in that country they were promptly confiscated at their invoice prices by the authorities, who suspected a case of undervaluation. On receipt of this agreeable information, which supplied them with a cash buyer on the spot at full price, the exporters shipped another cargo, which shared the same fate; but on the arrival of a third consignment, the English authorities decided to retire from the clock business. The exports soon extended to the European Continent, Asia, South America, Australia, and China ; in fact, Connec- ticut supplies the world with clocks. She manufactured in 1900 nearly three-fifths of the entire production of the United States, which gave employment to nearly four thou- 240 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE sand of her people. The Jerome Clock Company was absorbed in 1856 by the New Haven Clock Company, which dates its existence from 1853. The pioneer of this industry in Connecticut had three sons; in 1809 Seth Thomas became asociated with one of the younger Terrys, and in 1853 the Seth Thomas Clock Company of Thomaston was organized. They manufacture annually about four hundred thousand clocks, furnishing employment for nearly one thousand per- sons. Other notable industries in this line are the Water- bury Clock Company, located in the city of that name, which dates its incorporation from 1857, and the Parker Clock Company of Meriden, organized in 1893. The old high-pattern wooden clock was manufactured in the latter part of the eighteenth century at Waterbury. But the initiatory enterprise which has culminated in her being the centre of the brass industries of the country, and earned for her the title of "The Brass City," was laid about 1800. At this time Henry, Samuel, and Silas Grilley began to make buttons from block tin or pewter, casting them in iron moulds. Even previous to this, about 1760, a silversmith named Joseph Hopkins had covered iron buttons with silver. An improvement having been made in attaching the shanks and eyes of the metal button, a company was organized in 1802, under the firm name of Abel Porter & Co. Eighteen months were consumed in preliminary efforts, and employ^ ment was finally given to thirteen men. The copper was obtained by melting old stills, tea-kettles, etc., into ingots, which were rolled into sheets on a pair of two-inch rollers operated by horse power. The capital of the concern becoming exhausted by experi- ments, it was not until 1 820 that any impetus was given to tht business. Then James Croft, an Englishman with a thor- 241 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE ough knowledge of button-making, was engaged. But It could not be con.sidered as on a substantial basis until about 1830, when Joel Hayden perfected a machine for covering buttons. Though since its earliest days Waterbury has not been with- out a button factory, there has been only one, the Waterbury Button Company, that has been engaged distinctly In this line of manufacture. One of the largest button companies In the United States is located at Shelton. The firm was established in 1846 at Botsford, by John Griffin, the father of the present members of the firm, and the inventor of the first cam machine for turning horn buttons. The manufacture of paper buttons was carried on for over forty years at Wallingford. In the value of her productions in this Industry in 1900, Connec- ticut was only exceeded by New York. One of the early pioneers In the button Industry was Aaron Benedict, who started in 18 12 to manufacture horn and Ivory buttons. Eleven years later gilt buttons were made, but It was not until 1829 that any attempt was made to roll the brass consumed. Then Benedict & Coe, an outgrowth of the pioneer establishment, manufactured their own brass, and a few years later german-sllver, which has become the great- est industry of Waterbury. The aggregate capital Invested in the brass Industry in 1830 was less than $100,000; the growth has been so phe- nomenal, that In 1900 Connecticut ranked first In the United States In her annual products. In brass rolling she manufac- tures three-fourths, In castings one-third, and in brassware one-half, of the total products of the country. These com- bined Interests employ about twelve hundred of her citizens, and represent a capital of over $20,000,000. The oldest joint-stock corporation in Waterbury, the Ben- 242 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE edict & Burnham Manufacturing Company, was organized in 1843. There were other incorporated companies in existence at this locality previous to that date, among which was the Waterbury Manufacturing Company, which by a special act of Legislature in 1814 was made a corporation for the manu- facture of wool and cotton fabrics. In 1833, by special char- ter the Naugatuck Manufacturing Company was created for the production of fine broadcloths. The members of the Benedict & Burnham Manufacturing Company have been the originators of other concerns, which have materially benefited the city. Their productions consist of copper and all its alloys, and german-silver; they also make seamless tubings, lamp burners and trimmings, safety pins, and wire of all descriptions. Among other prominent brass industries in Waterbury is the Scovill Manufacturing Company, an outgrowth of one of the early metal button enterprises. In 1842 they began the manufacture of plated metal for daguerreotype plates, and subsequently engaged in the manufacturing of cameras and other materials for daguerreotyping. In 1889 they formed an independent corporation for their photographic business, and removed the industry to New Haven and New York. Brown & Eaton were also pioneers; they were organized in 1 830 by Israel Holmes, an employee of the Scovills. After various changes the firm was dissolved in 1856, the business being divided equally between Brown Brothers, who became financially embarrassed, and Holmes, Booth & Hayden. The latter formed a corporation in 1853, ^"^ ^^^ among the largest producers of brass, german-silver, and copper in sheets, from which they manufacture a diversified line of use- ful articles. From the former concern sprung the firm of 243 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE Randolph & Clowes. The Plume & Atwood Manufacturing Company was Incorporated in 1869; the Waterbury Brass Company was established in 1845 ^Y Timothy Porter. The first attempt to make brass kettles by battery process in the United States was in 1834, when Israel Coe, Anson G. Phelps, and John Hungerford established this industry in Wolcottville, now Torrington. The panic of 1837 caused a suspension of the business. It was revived in 1841, however, in connection with a rolling mill, and the Wolcottville Brass Company was organized. For a decade the business prospered, but then went into a decline until 1863, when the Coe Brass Company was formed. Brass wire and german- silver were manufactured. About 1 873 brass for small arms, cartridges, etc., was made ; this specialty resulted in the com- pany securing a large foreign trade. About this time they purchased the plant of Wallace & Sons at Ansonia, where braziers, copper sheathings, cornices, wire, etc., were manu- factured. The foundation of the city of Ansonia was laid by Anson G. Phelps in 1844, in the establishment of the Ansonia Manu- facturing Company. This pioneer copper industry, through the efforts of its founder, consolidated with the Birmingham Copper Mills; a reorganization took place in 1869, when the name of the Ansonia Brass and Copper Company was adopted. The plant covers over sixteen acres, and is divided into four sections, which are known as the copper, wire, brass and lamp fixtures, and insulating mills. The New Haven Copper Company of Seymour was first established under the title of the Humphreysville Manufac- turing Company; it operates a branch mill at East New Haven, and braziers, sheeting copper, polished copper, etc., are among its productions. The Birmingham Brass Com- 244 ( --:::>^/^i, -z^ O-^i^ f.^^/^^ CONNECTICUT AS A STATE pany, of Shelton borough, is an outgrowth of the Osborne & Cheeseman Company, which for half a century was one of the best known concerns in the brass trade. The firm of James Graham was organized in New Haven in 1861 ; their output consists of all kinds of brass and com- position castings and all grades of Babbitt metal. The Andrew B. Hendrix Company of the same city manufacture nearly three-fifths of the bird cages made in the United States, their capacity being one hundred and fifty dozen a day. They are also large producers of fishing-reels, chains, and picture wire, for which a market is found in every part of the world. One of the most important industries of Bridgeport is the Bridgeport Brass Company, founded in 1865, manufacturing brass and copper goods of every description. They employ about eight hundred workmen, and in every country on the globe where illuminating oil is used, this concern is known. The Bridgeport Copper Company produces electrotypic cop- per, in the shape of wire bars, cakes, and ingots. The manufacture of metals in their primitive state engen- dered kindred industries, and iron and steel were made into a variety of articles. In the production of machine screws, Con- necticut ranks first in the United States; her four establish- ments engaged in the work have an annual output of over $2,000,000. Prominent among these is the Hartford Ma- chine Screw Company, organized in 1876. They manufac- ture all sizes of screws, from those for the heaviest engine to the kind that enter into the construction of the smallest part of a watch. They receive royalties on their patents from many of the largest manufacturers in this country and Europe. They have established a branch at Elyria, Ohio, for the accommodation of their Western trade. In metal-working machinery, Connecticut is third in the 245 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE amount of her products. Her forty-eight establishments, from a total aggregate of three hundred and ninety-seven in the United States, have an invested capital of $8,000,000, and employ over 4,000 persons. The Farrell Foundry and Machine Company plant is the second largest in Ansonia, covering several acres of ground; heavy castings, for iron, brass, copper, and india-rubber machinery, are made. This industry was established in 1848 by Almon Farrell, and Sylvester and Sullivan M. Colburn, twin brothers. In 1836 they inaugurated large works at Derby, with a branch at Shelton ; they had previously carried on a small foundry at Westville, This concern was incor- porated in 1850, under the name of the Birmingham Iron Foundry; in addition to rubber and rolling-mill machinery, all kinds of iron and brass castings were produced. The Wa- terbury branch of the Farrell Foundry and Machine Com- pany was purchased in 1880 by E. C. Lewis, who organized a joint-stock company; power presses, lathes, rolling-mill machinery, shafting, etc., are produced. The Peck, Stow & Wilcox Company of Southington is a consolidation of three companies into a joint-stock company. All in their early careers were engaged in the manufacture of tinners' machinery and tools; they now rank among the largest producers of mechanics' tools, housekeeping imple- ments, and shelf hardware. The Meriden Machine Com- pany, incorporated in 1889, are manufacturers of forming lathes, for turning ornamental shapes in metals and wood. The Bridgeport Malleable Iron Company, established in 1878, occupy a plant covering five acres, and employ over five hundred hands ; malleable and gray iron castings of the lar- gest kind are made. The Bridgeport Forge Company, incor- 246 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE porated In 1883, make a specialty of wrought and steel forg- Ings for marine work. Hartford produces engines, boilers, textile machinery, tools of various kinds and descriptions, chucks, horseshoe nails, returning steam traps, swaying check valves, and drop forging. The latter from Its first Introduction has so advanced that bars of iron, steel, or copper, can be trans- formed by the use of dies Into any required shape and size with rapidity and precision. New Haven has manufactures of brass faucets and plumb- ers' materials; the BIgelow steam boilers; the firm of Sar- gent &: Company, who undoubtedly rank at the head of the manufacturing hardware line in the country, employing about two thousand operatives; and the Star brand of scis- sors and shears. Derby has a razor factory, also one of the largest metallic bedstead works In the Union. Torrington's skate manufac- turing establishment has an output of 750,000 pairs of skates a year. New Britain is the centre of the hardware manufacturing of New England ; her pioneer being James North, a black- smith, who made brass buckles, andirons, etc., for home con- sumption. His five sons were taught different mechanical trades; the eldest, his namesake, became proficient In the manufacture of bells, andirons, clocks, spoons, harness and shoe buckles. Such quantities were produced that a market was sought at Albany and other points, the goods being trans- ported in saddle-bags. These Industries were the forerunners of the drawing of silver-plated copper wire into hooks and rings for men's overcoats, hooks and eyes for women's use, aud curb chains for bridles; they laid the foundation of the present extensive manufactures in the city. 247 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE There are scattered throughout the State various establish- ments that have aided in making Connecticut in 1900 the first State in the Union, in the hardware manufacturing line; pro- ducing nearly one-half of the total products of the United States. She is, however, exceeded in metal house-furnishing goods by New York. In saddlery hardware she again ranks first; her eight establishments in this line, employing over seven hundred hands, manufacture one-fourth of the total amount produced in the country. This industry was founded at Hartford in 1794 by Norman Smith, and for over a cen- tury his descendants have been engaged in the same enter- prise. The cutlery and edge-tool industry gives employment to over four thousand wage-earners, and its productions equal one-third of the aggregate output of the country, mak- ing the State rank first in the Union. Bell making in Connecticut began late in the eighteenth century; a notion prevailed that their silvery tones were due to the generous contributions of silver in the composition of bell metal, hence a Spanish fourpence halfpenny was dropped into the molten mass. It has become an important industry in the State, furnishing more than two-thirds of the total production of the United States in 1900. There are seven establishments engaged in the manufacture of bells, principally located in the towns of Chatham and East Haddam. In the former the industry dates back to an early date, when sleigh, hand, house, cow, sheep, door, and ship bells were made in limited quantities. One of the special features of the Centen- nial Exhibition was the exhibit of the Gong Bell Manufac- turing Company of East Haddam. Bicycle bells are made at Bristol and Middletown, and clock bells at Thomaston. The introduction of lock-making in Connecticut is credited to Stephen C. Bucknell, an Englishman, who in 1832 settled 248 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE In Watertown, and made locks for cabinets by the English method of hand labor. His progress was necessarily slow, and he disposed of his interests to those engaged in clock- making, but their machinery was not adapted to manufacture locks in competition with foreign labor. The Mallory Wheeler Company of New Haven, established in 1834, com- bine lock manufacturing with that of hardware; door locks and latches, knobs, padlocks, and bronze door furniture are made in numberless designs. The William Wilcox Manufacturing Company was estab- lished at Middletown in 1845. Plate locks, padlocks, wood hames, etc., are among its products. One of the earliest industries of South Norwalk was the Norwalk Lock Company, who made locks and builders' hard- ware in endless variety. The Smith & Egge Company of Bridgeport furnish the post-office mail locks that are used by the national government. The company that has given Connecticut a world-wide rep- utation in this industry is the Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company, which located at Stamford in the spring of 1869. The flat keyed lock which is known as the "Yale lock" is the invention of Linus Yale, Jr. He and his father were known as manufacturers of bank locks of superior construc- tion. This invention marked an era in lock manufacturing, — the substitution for the heavy lock and cumbersome key of a small flat key and a light-weight lock that can be applied to the heaviest door. Additional security from burglars is also obtained, as the key openings are much smaller than in the old-style locks. The company's vault door, with its time and combination locks and Its automatic bolts, challenges the admiration of the world, though it fills the criminal operator with despair. The manufacture of fine locks suggested to 249 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE the company fine hardware; and all sorts of door and cabinet hardware In bronze and Iron, are among its productions. Their buildings, which are models of factory construction, extend over twenty acres ; and when running In full capacity, employment Is given to fourteen hundred hands. While In gas and lamp fixtures Connecticut only ranked fourth In 1900, In the total production of the United States In lamps and reflectors she stands first; her nine establish- ments In this line furnish one-fourth of the total amount man- ufactured. One of the most Important factors In the State in this line of Industry Is the Bradley & Hubbard Manufacturing Com- pany of Merlden. A half-century ago marks the Inception of this great enterprise, when with a capital of only $5,000, a joint-stock company entitled Bradley, Hatch & Co. was organized. Various changes were made in the personnel of the company, from this time until 1875, when a new joint- stock company was formed under the present name. Their various styles of lamps, with the celebrated "B. & H.'* burner, are sold throughout the United States and foreign countries. In addition to this line, oil stoves, gas fixtures, combina- tion gas and electric fixtures, bronze statuary, bronzes, brass tablets with onyx tops, and a great variety of other articles in brass and bronze, are manufactured. From a small wooden building, and a working force of less than a dozen hands, has arisen a hive of industry consisting of substantial brick build- ings, in which about one thousand five hundred operatives are employed. Among the other important industries in this line In Merlden are the Miller Lamp and Parker Lamp. That the early colonists of Connecticut were artisans and artificers in iron and steel, is fully evidenced by the fact that 250 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE scattered throughout her limits are manufacturers of edge tools, which by their superiority have not only gained a repu- tation in this country but also in foreign lands. The imperial armories and private-gun factories of Germany, after the close of the Franco-German War, were equipped with tools and machinery of Hartford make. This, however, was only the beginning of a trade which has developed until shipments are made to most of the European nations. Axes and edge tools were manufactured about 1 8 1 2 by Wakeman Bradley in the town of Weston. About the same time gimlets were made in Chester by Ezra and Joseph L'Hommedieu ; and three years later the former invented his ship auger. It was not until 1826 that any attempts were made by the manufacturers to sharpen the dull edges of the hand-made axes; these required several hours' work from the purchasers to fit them for use. In that year Samuel W. and David C. Collins, clerks in a hardware store, decided to undertake the manufacture of axes, ready ground and pol- ished, for the market. They established their first shop at Hartford, and made eight axes a day. They subsequently moved some fifteen miles west of that city, on the Farmington River, and a village sprung up around their works which was named Collinsville. The company's wares, on account of their superior quality, have large sales in foreign countries. Not only axes are manufactured, but adzes, machetes, sugar- cane knives, railway tools, cast-iron ploughs, agricultural and mining implements, and many other iron and steel tools. The pins manufactured before the Revolutionary War were very crude. They were drawn from wire by hand, and the head made by twisting fine wire around the top of the body of the pin. About 1824 a machine was invented that made solid heads to the pins, by a process on the same prin- 251 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE ciple as that used for making nail heads, by driving a portion of the pin itself into a countersunk hole. In 1831 Dr. J. S. Elowe succeeded in perfecting a machine that made a pin by one operation; this was afterwards improved so that a solid- headed pin was produced. This was soon followed by the pin-sticking and paper-crimping machines, which so facili- tated matters that the business steadily increased to its present large proportions. That Connecticut is the largest producer of needles and pins of any State in the Union, is due to the fact that the man- ufacturers of these articles were attracted to the State on account of her metal industries and the ingenuity of her citi- zens. In 1900 her productions in this line were not exceeded by any other State; in fact, she manufactured sixty-five per cent, of the entire output of the United States. One of the largest pin manufactories in the country is located at Winsted, where it v^as established in 1854; three years afterwards it was incorporated under the name of the New England Pin Company, The American Pin Company of Waterbury was organized in 1846, and was an outgrowth of an industry started at Poughkeepsie, New York. The company after- wards purchased the Fowler Pin Machine. The making of needles by the cold-swaging process, which reduces the wire without heating, annealing, or grinding, is successfully carried on by the Excelsior Needle Company at Torrington. The largest concern in the world for manufacturing eyelets is the Schneller, Osborne & Cheeseman Company of Ansonia ; a specialty is made of eyelets for corsets and shoes. The Union Thimble Company of Naugatuck enjoys the distinction of having the only manufactory of steel thimbles 252 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE in the country; there are but few concerns making thim- bles of any kind. In the manufacture of stamped ware, Connecticut ranked fourth in 1900, and in electrical apparatus and supplies eighth, in the total amount produced in the United States. In the insulation of electric wires, the manufacturers of the "Kerite" at Seymour, and the New York Insulating Wire Company at Wallingford, are important factors. The manufacture of silver spoons and other articles of lux- ury was carried on before the Revolutionary War, by John Austin, at Hartford. The next party to engage in this indus- try was Jacob Sargent, who manufactured silverware on a more extensive scale. He included gold beads, ear-drops, sil- ver spoons, ladles, sword trimmings, and old fashioned tall clocks among his productions. Mr. Sargent was the leading merchant in this line in Connecticut. He was succeeded by Job Q. and Walter Pitkin, who, besides carrying on the jew- elry business, operated an outside shop where solid silver spoons, forks, and spectacle frames were made. The tinware industries of the State having become largely extended by peddling in the South and West, a demand was created for a better class of goods. This caused the introduc- tion of pewter, which was composed of four parts lead to one of English block tin; from this combination of metals both flat and hollow tableware were made. Among the pioneers of this industry were Ashbel Griswold at Meriden, and Charles and Hiram Yale at Wallingford. The business of the latter firm steadily increased, which caused them to import from England skilled workmen, who in that country had used a compound where a metal of harder and finer texture had been substituted for lead, making the articles manufactured from it susceptible of a more durable polish. This composite metal 253 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE was known as britannia, and by the adoption of its use the Yales became the largest manufacturers in the country of a large line of hollow ware, such as tea sets, communion ser- vices, etc. The pioneer in Meriden carried on the business for a num- ber of years ; eventually other firms became interested, and in 1850 there were four important manufacturers of britannia ware in Meriden, whose merchandise was all marketed by one of their number. To facilitate the management of affairs and curtail expenses, they were organized under one head as the Meriden Britannia Company. At the time of the organiza- tion of this company, all articles were cast in moulds. Four years later the rolling of metals was begun and the formation was by spinning and stamping; electroplating was introduced in 1856. In the early sixties, metal or nickel silver was sub- stituted for britannia as a base metal. In late years sterling silverware has also been produced. The discovery of electro silverplating at Hartford in 1846, by Asa H. William and Simeon S. Rogers, marks an era in the manufacture of silver-plated articles. The business began in a small way, in a cellar in Hartford. In 1857 a factory was built; in 1858, William Rogers having retired from the firm, the other two brothers removed to Waterbury and started a rival concern. In 1862 the three brothers again united in business at Meriden; they adopted as a trademark "1847 Rogers Brothers." This was sold to the Meriden Britannia Company, who still retain it. William Rogers resumed business at Hartford in 1865, un- der the firm name of William Rogers Manufacturing Com- pany. In 1 87 1 Asa H. Rogers and his nephew began manu- facturing in the same city under the name of Rogers Cutlery Company; eight years later the two firms were consolidated 254 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE as the William Rogers Manufacturing Company. They use all the steel blanks manufactured by the Norwich Cutlery Company, in which they are interested. The industry at Wa- terbury, after the withdrawal of the Rogers brothers, was en- larged and improved from time to time, and their "The Olive" was among the first fancy patterns in electro-silver plate made in America. Their trade-mark " (Star) Rogers & Bro. Ai" has become celebrated. The Yates factory at Wallingford was purchased by Sam- uel Simpson, who in 1847 sold it to John Munson, and it af- terwards became consolidated with the Meriden Britannia Company. Mr. Simpson re-engaged in business, adopting the electro-plating process, but in 1854 sold his two factories to the Meriden Britannia Company. The following year he formed a partnership with Robert Wallace, who in 1834 compounded the first german-silver ever made in America. As Wallace had no means, he entered the employ of Hall, Elton & Co., who utilized the new method, and thereby became the pioneers in the manufacture of german-silver tea and table spoons in America. The manufacture of flat and hollow silver ware is one of the largest industries in Wallingford; this is largely due to the enterprise of Samuel Simpson, Robert Wallace, Aimer Hall, William Elton, G. I. Mix, and others. Meriden, which has acquired the soubriquet of "The Silver City," is replete with manufactures of every description of plated silver ware, and to some extent of the sterling article. At Derby there is a factory which makes a specialty of novelties for hotel use : clocks, table, and sideboard plate. At Shelton borough, a full line of silver-plated forged-steel table cutlery is produced. Middletown also has a silver- plated ware industry. The Holmes & Edwards Silver Com- 255 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND Si ATE pany of Bridgeport, are the owners of a process of inlaying; with sterHng silver. The combined productions of the twenty-six establishments engaged in manufacturing plated and britannia ware, in Con- necticut, is equal to over three-fourths of the aggregate pro- duced in the United States, which in 1900 amounted to $12,000,000. Nearly forty-five hundred of her citizens are wage-earners in this industry. During the early part of the nineteenth century there were spasmodic attempts to manufacture watches. In 1838 Pitkin Brothers established a plant at Hartford, and after produc- ing eight hundred movements by machinery were compelled to abandon the project. Nelson P. Stratton, who was con- nected with them, afterwards became identified with the Waltham Watch Company. The low-priced watch that is not a sham dates from the experimenting of Charles Benedict, who in the fall of 1879 placed upon the market a watch which attracted public atten- tion on account of its astounding cheapness. This was due to an invention that dispensed with about three-fourths of the wheels and small parts. The Waterbury Watch Company was organized in 1880, and has established agencies in every quarter of the globe. Although the production was at first confined to the cheap "Waterbury watch," today expensive and handsome designs, as well as a variety of movements of various sizes, are manufactured. 256 CHAPTER XVII The Diversified Industries NOT only in textile and metal industries has Con- necticut taken an important place in the man- ufacturing world: from 1870 to 1900, in pro- portion to her population, she led all other States in the number of patents granted her citizens, with the exception of four years when she w^as sec- ond. Prior to 1870 the Patent Commissioner's reports are incomplete, there being no record of patents taken out by States. This inventive genius led to the establishment of numerous varied industries, which have tended to make Con- necticut the home of a diversity of manufactured articles, both novel and unique in their designs. The success of the rubber industry is due to the inventive genius of one of her sons. Native rubber had been used for a number of years for waterproof wearing apparel, also for cloth for carriage tops; but it was only in 1832 that a Ger- man chemist discovered that sulphur would deprive rubber, dissolved in oil of turpentine, of its lack of pliability. About this time Nathaniel Hayward, a citizen of Massachusetts, noticed that flowers of sulphur scattered upon leaves of rub- ber weakened their adhesive powers. It remained, however, for Charles Goodyear to discover in 1839 the method by which rubber could be put to practical use. While experi- menting with rubber and sulphur, he accidentally ov^erturned a small quantity of the composition upon a hot stove; this proved that heat was the one thing necessary to vulcanize rub- ber. Previous to this, shoes made of this material, even when partially sulphurized by oil of vitriol, melted in summer and were stiff and odorous in winter. Goodyear was deco- rated with the Cross of the Legion of Honor by the French Emperor. He inherited his inventive genius from his father, 259 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE who resided at Naugatuck, and was the author of several Inventions. Hayward,who was an associate of Goodyear, was visited at his works in Woburn, Massachusetts, by Leverett Candee, a manufacturer of elastic suspenders at Hampden in that State; he requested Hayward to make him a rubber shoe ; on receipt of samples he established in 1842 a factory at New Haven. Shortly after this, Mr. Hayward removed to Connecticut, and in 1844 established himself at Lisbon, where he commenced the manufacture of rubber shoes. Three years later he organ- ized the Hayward Rubber Company at Colchester, with a second factory at Bozrah for the preparation of the crude rub- ber. Identified with the promoter in this plant was William A. Buckingham, afterwards Vv^ar Governor of the State; he had charge of its financial management from its inception until his death. The plant was the largest of the kind in the coun- try, having a capacity of 10,000 pair a day. The Hayward Rubber Company closed its works in 1885 ; three years after- wards it was succeeded by the Colchester Rubber Company, which was finally absorbed by the United States Rubber Company, which closed the plant and removed the machinery. Goodyear, after perfecting his patents in 1845, granted a license for manufacturing purposes to the Naugatuck Rub- ber Company. They immediately began to make shoes, drug- gists' sundries, army and navy equipments, etc. The outbreak of the California fever gave them the opportunity to furnish pioneers' outfits; and during the Civil War, millions of blankets were made. The business was then conducted under the name of the Phoenix Rubber Company. The name of the corporation was changed in 1848 to the Union India Rubber Company, and a factory was opened at Middletown for the 260 CHARLES CiOODVEAR. CONNECTICUT AS A STATE manufacture of rubber clothing. It afterwards became known as the Goodyear Rubber Company, and the production was changed to a high grade of foot-wear. The Goodyear Metallic Rubber Shoe Company was started at Naugatuck in 1843; '^ was the first concern to introduce the popular Arctic shoe. The next year saw the organization of the Goodyear India Rubber Glove Manufacturing Com- pany, which located at Litchfield, but three years afterwards removed to Naugatuck. At this time they employed seven hands, and gloves, mittens, and finger-cots were manufac- tured. Gradually their line was extended, until clothing, boots and shoes, surgical and druggists' sundries were pro- duced. In 1 88 1 the plant of the Phoenix Rubber Company was purchased. The infant industry at New Haven had had a phenomenal growth. In 1850 Mr. Candee organized a trust known as the Goodyear Shoe Association for making shoes under Good- year's patents; he also incorporated the business at New Haven, and interested the Hotchkiss brothers in the new enterprise. There are now five establishments in Connecticut engaged in the rubber boot and shoe industry; this is an increase of three in the last decade. Employment is given to over 5,000 hands, and in 1900 they furnished one-fourth of the total production of the United States, Connecticut being exceeded only by Massachusetts in the aggregate amount manufactured. The process of solidifying rubber, making it susceptible of polish and also of being moulded into any desired form, the product of which is designated as vulcanite or hard rubber, was patented in 1851 by Nelson Goodyear, a brother of Charles. This discovery, which was simply using an increased 261 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE amount of sulphur and subjecting the compound to a higher temperature, was developed at a factory in Newtown. Among the first licenses issued for its use was that to the Beaver Dam Company at Beaver Dam ; they were succeeded by the American Hard Rubber Company, which was afterwards con- solidated with New York interests of a like nature. The principal manufacturers of hard rubber in Connect- icut are H. P. & E. Day of Seymour, who make fountain pens, and the Johns-Pratt Company of Hartford, who pro- duce a compound called "Vulcabeston." The Seamless Rub- ber Company of New Haven, organized 1879, manufacture an extensive line of druggists' sundries. The Metropolitan Rubber Company located at Wallingford In 1890, for the manufacture of rubber clothing. There are two novel rubber industries in Bridgeport. One of these, the Canfield Rubber Company, does an annual busi- ness of over a million dollars in dress shields; another estab- lishment produces bath-tub plugs, closet flanges, plumbers' rings, and various other articles used for mechanical and sanitary purposes. The practical use of the bicycle caused a rapid growth of the pneumatic rubber-tire industry. The earliest manufac- turers were John S. Gray & Co. of Hartford, who made solid and cushion tires for the pioneer bicycles. These works were afterwards purchased by Colonel Albert A. Pope, who enlarged them, and incorporated the Hartford Rubber Com- pany. The reclaiming of rubber from worn-out goods dates from the time that the success of vulcanization was demon- strated. The factory at Naugatuck operated by the United States Rubber Company is the largest and most complete in the world. Connecticut had in 1900 twenty-five establish- 262 <:P^7-^' CONNECTICUT AS A STATE ments engaged In the production of rubber and elastic goods; about 3,000 hands were employed, and she ranked third In the Union In her productions. The Introduction of the manufacture of firearms by Eli Whitney at WhltneyvIUe made it one of the permanent indus- tries of the State. The parent company, the Whitney Arms Company, was absorbed In 1858 by the Winchester Arms Company, of which the Winchester Repeating Arms Com- pany Is an outgrowth. About 18 10 the manufacture of fire- arms was begun by Oliver Bidwell at MIddletown, and four years later Colonel North started a pistol factory in that city. The government placed large orders with him, and also for swords manufactured by parties in that locality. An impetus was given to the manufacture of firearms, when in 1835-36 Samuel Colt perfected his patents In Great Britain and the United States, for a pistol having a rotary cylinder containing several chambers, to be discharged through a single barrel. The United States government refused to adopt the weapon, and this caused the failure of a New Jer- sey company formed for Its manufacture. At the outbreak of the Mexican war, through the solicitations of General Zach- ary Taylor, the government ordered one thousand pistols, their efficiency having been demonstrated In the battle for Texan Independence and in the Seminole War. The government contract, for lack of facilities, was assigned to Eli Whitney; but in 1848 a plant was provided in Hartford, and business came in ceaseless and swelling streams, due to the Mexican war and California gold craze. Orders were received from foreign countries, also from the remote outposts of civilization. Ten years afterward sixty thousand revolvers were made in a single year; these were largely used by the English in the Crimean War, and by Gari- 263 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE baldi in Italy. The Colt Patent Fire Arms Company was incorporated in 1856, and in addition to pistols, has from time to time added the manufacture of gun machinery, rifles, shot-guns, Catling guns, and the Colt automatic machine gun, besides other articles. The Sharp's Rifle Manufacturing Company had at one time a factory at Hartford. The Hotchkiss gun, which is used mostly to form the secondary batteries for war vessels, is also manufactured at Hartford. The Marlin Firearms Com- pany is a feature of New Haven's industrial world. The American Ordnance Company was incorporated in 1896; it is located at Bridgeport, and manufactures heavy ordnance for the United States government. The Parker breech-load- ing shot gun, made at Meriden, has gained a world-wide rep- utation. Connecticut ranks third in the Union in the produc- tion of firearms. Late in the eigheenth century a powder mill was established at Middletown, and since that time the manufacture of ammu- nition has been one of the leading industries of the State. In 1900 she ranked first in the Union in this manufacture, pro- ducing three-quarters of the total output, and employing more than 4,500 wage earners. The first manufacture of friction matches under an Ameri- can patent was begun in 1836 at Hartford. The Diamond Match Company, which dates its birth from 1854, is among the important industries of the world; its headquarters are at Westville. One of the most important inventions of the nineteenth century was the sewing-machine. For the ingenuity of its construction the public is indebted to a poor mechanic, who, though not a native of Connecticut, served during the War of the Rebellion as a common soldier in one of her volunteer reg- 264 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE iments. Elias Howe perfected his patent in 1 846 ; but receiv- ing no encouragement in this country, went to England, where he disposed of the rights to that country. On his return to America, he found that others had utilized the foundations he had laid, and had made many valuable improvements. A journeyman cabinet-maker, while working in Michigan, without ever having seen a sewing-machine, conceived the idea of one; and in 1849, while a resident of Massachusetts, com- pleted its construction. Its peculiar features were a two- pointed shuttle and two-motion feed, which made a stitch at each forward and backward motion of the shuttle, while the feed motion enabled the machine to sew continuous seams of any length, straight, or at any angle or curvature. The Howe patent made a lock stitch, and by use of the shuttle interlocked the two threads ; these improvements made a loop or double chain stitch, and while more thread was consumed, the seam was more durable. Allen B. Wilson, the inventor of this new machine, received a patent in 1850; but not being satisfied with his shuttle, he sought a more efficient device, and finally invented a rotary hook and stationary bobbin, w^hich with a four-motion feed completed the fundamental principles of a rotary hook lock- stitching machine, rendering it practical for family use. Mr. Nathaniel Wheeler, a member of a firm that manufactured buckles, buttons, and other small metallic wares at Water- town, while on a business trip to New York City in 1850, saw on exhibition one of Wilson's sewing-machines, and con- tracted with the patentee (engaging him as superintendent) to build five hundred of them at his factory. This contract was not carried out; but in Its place a copartnership was formed under the name of Wheeler, Wilson & Co. for exploiting Wilson's inventions. This was succeeded In 1853 265 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE by the joint-stock company of the Wheeler & Wilson Manu- facturing Company, and three years later the factory was removed to Bridgeport. The works in that city cover eight acres of ground, and employment is usually given to i,20Q men. In the production of sewing machines the State is only exceeded by New Jersey; her seven establishments in 1900 gave employment to about 2,100 hands. The Weed Sewing Machine Company was organized in 1863 at West Winsted; their object was to manufacture an original sewing-machine, patented by T. E. Weed. They removed to Hartford two years later; the business was pros- perous until competition between the different manufacturers brought it to the verge of ruin. In 1878 the company was visited by Colonel Albert A. Pope of Boston, who submitted to them a proposition to manufacture for him the Columbia Bicycle. To this they agreed, and the work of their skilled mechanics, and their high reputation as sewing-machine man- ufacturers, were devoted to the perfecting of the bicycle. The result was so successful that in 1890 Colonel Pope, to facilitate manufacturing, was confronted with the alternative of either purchasing the stock of the Weed Manufacturing Company, or building elsewhere. A liberal proposition was made by Colonel Pope and his associates to the stockholders of the company, which resulted in their acquiring the entire property, and the company was absorbed by the Pope Man- ufacturing Company. Thus, in fourteen years from the time Colonel Pope exhib- ited at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia the first modern bicycle, which he had imported from England, a chain of factories have developed in Hartford, which at times employ 5,000 hands, and placed Connecticut in 1900 fourth 266 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE In a rank in the United States in the manufacture of bicycles. The business was for a time merged in the great trust, the American Bicycle Company, and its head office removed to New York, Colonel Pope retiring from the management. But without his ability and experience it ran down, and he resumed the management and restored the headquarters to Hartford. There was organized in Hartford in 1879 the Smyth Manufacturing Company, for the development of a ma- chine for sewing books with thread; after overcoming many difficulties, the company has succeeded in introducing these machines into the leading binderies of this and foreign countries. They have also placed upon the market a book- case machine which operates automatically, except that one person feeds the cut cloth. The first paper-making industry in the State was started at Norwich in 1766 by Christopher Leffingwell, under a promise from the Legislature to pay a bounty of twopence a quire on writing paper, and one penny a quire on all printing and common paper. This was discontinued, however, at the end of two years. Mr. Leffingwell in 1777 associated with him as a partner his son-in-law Thomas Hubbard, and the ownership of the mills has ever since remained in the family. The present company, the A. H. Hubbard Company, is sit- uated on the Yantic River, where colored paper is manu- factured. Here the first Fourdrinier machine made in America was in 1829 placed and put in operation; previous to this, paper was made by hand, a sheet at a time. This machine was man- ufactured at Stafford by Phelps & Spofford; the drying cylin- ders were not added until 1 83 1 . Previous to 1776 there were seven paper mills in New Eng- 267 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE land, only one of which was located in Connecticut. The daily output not being over one thousand pounds, which was not enough to supply home consumption, and the Revolution- ary War preventing shipments from foreign markets, new mills were started. Watson & Ledyard erected in 1776 at East Hartford one of the first paper mills in the Connecticut valley. This mill supplied paper for a weekly issue of eight thousand papers from the Hartford press, in addition to the greater part of the writing paper used in Connecticut and by the Conti- nental Army. The manufacture of paper has been continuous in the State since its inauguration at Norwich. The Chelsea Mills, located at Greeneville on the Shetucket River, and the Pacific Mills at Windsor Locks, were in i860 among the largest of the kind in the world. High-grade book, writing and col- ored lithograph papers were made in large quantities. The Uncas Paper Mills, located at Thamesville in the city of Norwich, manufacture about ten tons of paper daily, which is largely used in making boxes. The manufacture of paper has been since 1852 a leading industry in the town of Montville, The mills are located on the Oxoboxo River; at the outset book and newspaper were made, but they have given place to manilas. A plant in Sey- mour covering many acres is the outgrowth of a paper indus- try started in 1805 by General Humphrey; in 1857 Sharon Y. Beach and others became interested in it, and in 1880 the S. Y. Beach Company was formed. They make a specialty of colored papers. Connecticut had in 1900 forty-nine establishments, rep- resenting $4,000,000 of capital engaged in the manufacture 268 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE of paper; in book, wrapping, and straw board her annual production was 59,807 tons. This production gave rise to kindred industries. The State ranked fifth in her manufacture of fancy paper boxes, and 1,632 wage-earners were employed in this branch. The most notable factory is located at Meriden, where it was estab- lished in 1862 by Edgar J. Doolittle. Here every descrip- tion of paper boxes is produced, from the cheapest cartons to the finest boxes lined with silk, satin, or plush. Connecticut in 1900 ranked second in the manufacture of envelopes, making more than one-quarter of the total produc- tion of the United States. The Plimpton Manufacturing Company of Hartford dates its incipiency from 1865, and has one of the most perfectly equipped plants in the country, with a capacity of three million envelopes a day. The com- pany has since 1874, with the exception of one year, had the government contract for the manufacture of stamped enve- lopes. The manufacture of hats has always held a prominent position among the industries of America. The abrogation by the Revolution of the acts of Parliament restricting their manufacture, stimulated the industry in a greater or less degree in almost every State of the Union. By the old pro- cess of hand labor, a man could make in a day four or five hat bodies, which was the first stage of preparation. As early as 1799 inventions were patented to cheapen the cost of production. Though other industries had priority in the city of Dan- bury, the manufacture of hats has been the dominating fea- ture in its growth and prosperity. In a little red building at the northern edge of the village, Zadoc Bennett in 1780 started this industry, and he is rightly named the father of 269 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE hatting in Danbury. The work was all done by hand, one journeyman and two apprentices being employed; three hats were made each day. In 1 8 10 there were fifty-six hat shops In operation In the township of Danbury, but no shop employed over five hands; the hats were finished In the rough, then sent to New York City to be made ready for sale. The shops were small plank rooms, heated by a wood fire, where men gathered about a kettle, and pulled and hauled the bodies of coarse fur which had been formed by their own hands, at the rate of one a minute. These shops gradually Increased their capacity, which tended to cause a diminution In their number, and the inauguration of larger factories was hastened by the Introduc- tion of machinery. In 1820 a machine was Invented for forming hat bodies; Stephen Hurlburt of Glastonbury a decade later secured a patent for the hardening of hats upon a cone, thereby cheap- ening the production of the stiff or Derby hat. This was followed by a machine for coloring, which hitherto had been a slow and tedious process; then in 1849 ^ fur-hat forming machine was patented, which revolutionized the trade. The name of Mallory has been Identified with hatting In Danbury since the early part of the nineteenth century. The pioneer Ezra Mallory established a hat-shop on a small scale at Great Plain in 18 13, employing from six to twelve hands, and turning out from three to six dozen hats a week. The present firm of E. A. Mallory & Sons, who are descendants of the founder, possess one of the largest and best equipped hat factories In the country. They employ from 350 to 450 hands, and 48,000 dozen hats are made annually. Women's straw hats of fine quality were made In New Eng- land during the eighteenth century; the material used being 270 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE field and meadow grasses, also oat straw, which was bleached In the vapor of burning sulphur and then braided. Miss Sophia Woodhouse, a resident of Wethersfield, In 1821 sent to the Society of Arts In London, England, samples of a new material for making straw hats In Imitation of Leghorn; this was a meadow grass known as tickle-moth, which grew abundantly In that section of the country. The London deal- ers pronounced the bonnet sent for Inspection superior in fineness and color to the best Leghorn, and the Society voted Miss Woodhouse a large silver medal and twenty guineas, on the condition that she would furnish them with seed, a description of the bleaching process, and the treatment of the grass, with evidence that she was the original discoverer of the process. The same year a patent was granted by the United States government to Gardiner and Sophia Wells (nee Woodhouse) for a process of making bonnets and hats of grass. The manufacture of fur and straw hats forms an important feature in the Industrial enterprises of Norwalk, South Nor- walk, and Stamford. In 1900 Connecticut ranked first in the production of hats, making one-third of the aggregate num- ber manufactured In the United States, and furnishing employment to about 5,000 persons. There is another article of wearing apparel in the manufac- ture of which she ranks first, viz., corsets. Her twenty-four establishments in this line represent a capital of over three mil- lions of dollars, and produce over twice that amount in man- ufactured merchandise, which is nearly fifty per cent, of the total production of the country. Nearly 6,000 operatives are employed. The city of Bridgeport is the centre of this industry. The Warner Brothers Company organized in 1874, employs nearly 2,000 hands. Langdon Batcheller & 271 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE Co. is the oldest firm manufacturing hand-made corsets in this country. Their wares were formerly made in Paris and London; they erected their present factory in 1876, and their full force comprises 1,000 operatives. The Bridgeport Cor- set Company dates its organization from 1865; there is a branch establishment at Birmingham. In the manufacture of carriages, the State in 1900 ranked tenth; though her one hundred and seventeen establishments are widely scattered, a large proportion of them are located in New Haven and its immediate vicinity. The ten manufacturers of pianos in Connecticut produce annually 7,500 instruments, valued at $1,000,000, which causes the State to rank sixth in the Union in this line of industry. Organs are also made; in 1890 the self-playing organ, "The Symphony," was placed upon the market; in 1897 the "Angelus," the pioneer cabinet piano-playing attach- ment, was introduced; this was followed a year later by a competitor called "Pianola." All of these are manufactured in the city of Meriden. The manufacture of graphophones and supplies for the same was commenced in Bridgeport in 1887. In the number of typewriting machines produced, Con- necticut is only exceeded by New York; her three incorpo- rated companies, located respectively at Hartford, Derby, and Bridgeport, have an annual output of about $800,000. The machine for the cutting of teeth in combs was invented by Phineas and Abel Pratt, residents of what is now Essex; its introduction stimulated the industry, and was the fore- runner of the present plant at Irvington, which manufactures all kinds of ivory goods, making a specialty of keyboards for musical instruments. The success of this establishment has 272 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE encouraged similar manufactures at Deep River and other localities. In chemical and allied products, Connecticut had in 1900 thirty-one establishments engaged in the manufacture of fer- tilizer, dye-stuff extracts, paints, varnishes, explosives, oils, etc. The Stamford Manufacturing Company, located on the site of the original town grant to William Fitch,' in connection with the grinding of corn and wheat, undertook that of spices and dyewoods. The property was purchased in 1832 by Henry J. and John C. Sanford. The former became a pio- neer in the successful production of dyewood extracts, par- ticularly of logwood; the name of Sanford on a package of extracts was sufficient evidence of its high standard. In later years the extract of licorice was added, and it has become the leading product of the establishment. The company was incorporated under its present name in 1844. Its business so expanded that larger facilities became necessary, and mills were started at different points in Connecticut, as well as in Westchester County in New York State. The export trade in the decade between 1850 and i860 was phenomenal. Until 1 870 the company was practically without a rival ; since then, though it has had competition, it has more than quadrupled its output. The company owns a large tract of land in Asia Minor where the licorice root is gathered and cured. In Stamford there is a chemical laboratory for the manu- facture of vegetable extracts; and two miles from the centre of the city, at Glenwood, are works for the refining of cam- phor and wax. That Connecticut ranks third in the manufacture of leather belting is largely due to the Jewell Belting Company of Hart- ford. The foundation of this enterprise was laid by Pliny 273 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE Jewell in 1845, when he established a tan-yard on what is now Bushnell Park; his ancestors had been tanners for sev- eral generations. Three years after making Hartford his place of residence, he opened a shop for making leather belts. He was the third person in America to engage in that special business. Manufacturers of the United States, and indirectly of Europe, were educated by Pliney Jewell and his sons to sub- stitute leather belting for their costly and cumbersome sys- tem of gearing, for the conveyance of their power. Tan- neries were established at different points in the United States, where materials for belting were exclusively made. The pres- ent company was organized in 1883, ^^^ they have long held the record for large belts. The Norwich Belt Manufacturing Company was started in 1845 by C. N. Farnum. A specialty is made of dynamo and other high-speed belting, and a great number of straps for various purposes are produced. The year 18 10 saw the establishment at East Windsor and Suffield of the first cigar manufactories in the United States. The first cigars made in the United States were rolled by hand in the former town, and peddled by the women. There were in 1870 two hundred and thirty-five factories in Connecticut, but the census of 1900 gives only two hundred and sixteen, making the State rank tenth In the Union. Tobacco was grown in New England in the decade ending with 1650; the cultivation, however, was abandoned until the beginning of the nineteenth century, when It gradually revived. In 1825 the crop was of such magnitude as to war- rant the establishment of a warehouse at Warehouse Point. Eight years later it was ascertained that Connecticut tobacco possessed the firmness of texture, strength of tissue, and 274 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE smoothness of surface so desirable for cigar wrappers; these facts tended to make the raising of the plant one of the most profitable industries of the State. I here are scattered throughout Connecticut manufactories embodying usefulness and uniqueness in their productions, which have all materially aided in advancing the reputation of the State as a hive of industrial wonders. In a work, of this character, it is impossible to cite all; a few are appended, however, to give the reader some idea of the diversity of manufactured articles produced. Nearly a half-century ago, a factory was established in Middletown on Little River, a tributary of the Connecticut, and named by the Indians Chawana ; the concern was called by the people of Middletown "The Mosquito-Netting Fac- tory," as bed canopies and netting for protection from mos- quitoes were manufactured. The introduction of wire screens for windows necessitated a change in productions, and the manufacture of dress linings and hammocks was added; the latter being made of jute, cotton, silk, in fact any material that could be woven, and in all colors. The city can boast of another unique industry, viz., ship chandlery, of which Wil- cox, Crittenden & Co. are the largest manufacturers in the world. A machine was invented in 1852 to cut corks; previous to this time they were made by hand, and were ill fitting and very unsatisfactory. In that year John D. Crocker, an artist, while calling at a drug-store in Norwich, heard the druggist complain of the corks then in use. After experimenting, Crocker patented a machine to manufacture round and taper- ing corks; it cut from twenty to thirty corks a minute. A copartnership was formed to manufacture the article, and the 275 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE enterprise was a success from the start. The business is still carried on at Norwich. The manufacture of Lincrusta-Walton, which is used extensiv^ely for decorative wall coverings, and ornamentation in other ways, was begun in 1882 at Stamford. The town of Westport numbers among its industries a morocco factory, the production of "The Utopia Embalming Fluid" and other disinfecting and antiseptic preparations, also a satchel manu- factory. The only place in Connecticut where Eli Whitney's great invention is manufactured is New London, where it was estab- lished in 1846. The gins made here are very popular with the planters throughout the cotton belt. In this city is the largest industry of bed comfortables in the world; horse blankets, carpet linings, and quilted fabrics are also among its standard productions. On an old mill site on the Oxoboxo River, the Palmer Brothers manufacture cotton and down bedquilts and comfortables. The well-advertised "Packer's Tar Soap" made at Mystic, and the Williams Shaving Soap made at Glastonbury, are among the manufactured products of Connecticut. The growth of manufacturing in Connecticut cannot be more fully illustrated than by comparing the statistics at the opening of the nineteenth century with those of the end. The former mark the era when the infant industries of the State had gained a respectable footing in the commercial interests of the commonwealth. There were in 18 10 fifteen States in the Union, and Con- necticut, with a population of 261,492, represented about one twenty-seventh of the entire number of inhabitants of the country. Of these 1 8.4 per cent, were engaged in agricultural pursuits, 6.4 per cent, in manufacturing, and 1.3 per cent, in 276 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE commerce. Her manufactured products in 1810 amounted to $7,771,928, which in proportion to her population equaled that of Massachusetts, and was only exceeded by Rhode Island. As an agricultural State she was seventh. The value of her landed property and improvements was $88,534,971, in which she was exceeded by Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. Connecticut gave evidence thus early that manufacturing was to be her pre- dominant interest. In 1900 she ranked as the twenty-ninth State, numbering 908,420 persons, representing about one eighty-third of the entire population of the forty-five States; nearly 21 per cent, of these were engaged in her 9,128 manufacturing establish- ments, which had an invested capital of $314,696,736, plac- ing her seventh in manufactures and in the amount of her products eighth in the Union. The increase in her agricul- tural interests has not been so conspicuous: in 1900 she had 26,948 farms, averaging eighty-five acres; her landed prop- erties and improvements were valued at $97,325,068 ; in the value of her lands she was the thirty-fourth, and in the amount of her improvements the twenty-fourth State; less than five per cent, of her inhabitants were engaged in this industry. 2(1 CHAPTER XVIII The Advancement of Internal Intercourse IT was not until the latter part of the eighteenth cen- tury that any efforts were made on the part of Con- necticut to improve her primitive highways. How little progress had been made in road construction is illustrated by the fact that for a period of one hun- dred and forty-four years the colonial authorities had ordered only one new highway to be built. The transporta- tion of troops and supplies for the Revolutionary army had shown the vital necessity for perfecting these arteries of inter- nal intercourse, in order to further the commercial relations between the citizens of contiguous States. The era of the construction of turnpikes was inaugurated in 1792, by the chartering of the Mohegan Turnpike Com- pany to build a roadway from Norwich to New London. In 1808 there were thirty-nine turnpike companies in operation, with seven hundred and seventy miles of highways, the cost of construction being from $550 to $2,280 per mile; the most expensive one was that between Hartford and New Haven. From this time until 1839 one or more companies were incorporated annually, until over one hundred were in operation, intersecting the State in every direction, diverging from common centres to outlying districts. These turnpikes were under the supervision of commis- sioners, and were strictly regulated by law. The toll-gates were placed at intervals of ten miles; the charges ranged from one cent for a single animal to twenty-five cents for a stage-coach and horses. The charters of the pioneer com- panies terminated soon after the last ones were granted; the introduction of railroads made them unprofitable as invest- ments, and eventually they all became free. The construction of turnpikes encouraged stage-coach lines, and in 1802 there was a daily route established between 281 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE New York and Boston. A little over three days were con- sumed in transit; the stopping-places for the night were at Worcester, Hartford, and Stamford; the coaches arrived at these points about eight o'clock each evening, and resumed the journey the following morning at three. As late as 1842 there were twenty-two stage routes centering at Hartford ; the longest of these ran to Haverhill, Massachusetts, and Brat- tleboro, Vermont. These daily coaches brought to the merchants of the commercial centers, orders from customers throughout the western part of Massachusetts and Connecti- cut, and also from the eastern part of the State; for the inland transportation, regular lines of freight wagons were established. The citizens interested in forming commercial relations with that vast territory lying north of the boundary line of the State, urged that the Legislature should take some action to utilize for freighting purposes those extensive water- courses which crossed the country in a northerly direction from tidewater. Attempts were made to dredge and form a channel in the Housatonic River; but its bed was of such a rocky foundation that little progress was made. The Nor- wich Channel Company was incorporated in 1805, for improving the Thames River; if they succeeded in making it navigable for vessels drawing eight and a half feet of water, they were to be empowered to demand certain tolls. The company made but slight headway, and about twenty years after its incorporation it was merged with the Thames Bank of Norwich. To encourage internal commerce in the Connecticut River, the Legislature in 1824 incorporated the Connecticut River Company for the purpose of removing sand-bars, building canals, and making all improvements necessary for the bet- 282 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE terment of river navigation, as far north as Barnet, Vermont, providing the company should receive the approval of the Legislatures of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Ver- mont. The latter was the only one that ratified the company's charter; they therefore confined their efforts exclusively to that section of the river lying in Connecticut. The company was composed mostly of Hartford citizens, who were desir- ous of establishing a through transportation line to the north- ern country, in advance of one contemplated by New Haven parties, who proposed building a canal from tidewater at that citv to Northampton, Massachusetts, intersecting the Connecticut River at that point. Hartford was at this time the head of sloop navigation on the Connecticut River, and held the key to the northern trade as far as the Canadian borders. The building of canals around the falls in Massachusetts and Vermont, the completion of the locks at Windsor Locks, and the canal at Enfield Falls, permitted sixty-ton flat-bottomed steam craft to navigate the river to its junction with the Wells River in Vermont. Pre- vious to this the freighting business was done entirely by sailing vessels, and boats of six or eight tons capacity. The northern territory thus reached sent lumber for domestic use and export, surplus agricultural products, pot and pearl ashes; the boats returned loaded with rum, molasses, groceries, and other supplies. Though ferries were early established cross- ing the Connecticut, it was at Enfield in 1808 that the first bridge was built connecting the shores of that stream; in the next year one was constructed in Hartford. The waters of Long Island Sound, forming the entire southern boundary of the State, encouraged maritime enter- prises of every description. The coasting sea-trips, as well as those to foreign lands, for the transportation of passengers 283 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE and freight, were among the Important Industries of the early settlers; It was not until 1816 that steam as a motive power was Introduced. In October of that year a regular line of steamboats was established between New London and New York. Two trips were made a week, the Connecticut plying between New London and New Haven, and the Fulton run- ning from New Haven to New York. The fare was five dol- lars between the two former places, and four dollars between the latter. On a trial trip made by the steamboat Connecti- cut, Sept. 28, 1 8 16, the voyage to New York was accom- plished In twenty-one hours. The era of steam navigation was Inaugurated on the Thames River Oct. 15, 18 16, when the Connecticut ascended to Norwich. The following year a regular line of steam communication was established between Norwich and New York. The trips were made weekly by the Connecticut and the Fulton ; stops were made for passengers and freight at New London and New Haven. This was an improvement over uncertain packet lines, as the voyages were made with comparative certainty. Captain Moses Rogers, a native of New London, com- manded the Savannah, which was the first steam vessel to cross the Atlantic Ocean ; he thus gave to Connecticut a prom- inent position in the records of early steam navigation. An- other native of the State, but a resident of Detroit, Michigan — Oliver Newbury — was popularly known as "the steamboat king," on account of his splendid steamboats, and the large number of lines he established on the great lakes. The introduction of steamship navigation between Hart- ford and New York did not take place until 1824. The first steamboat to make a regular trip was the Oliver Ellsworth; she was of two hundred and twenty-eight tons burden, and one hundred and twelve feet in length, having berths for slx- 284 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE ty passengers. The following year the McDonough, a larger vessel, was added, and trips were made on alternate days. It was not until 1838, when the Charter Oak was placed on the route, that a boat was equipped with state-rooms. On the es- tablishment of a competing line in 1830, the fare was reduced to one dollar and found to New York. Three years later the original company added the steamboat Chief Justice Marshall to their number. A day line was also instituted by placing in commission the Water Witch, commanded by a brother of Cornelius Vanderbilt; she made three trips a week, leaving Hartford at six o'clock in the morning. In the fall the Van- derbilt line was changed to a night run, and the fare was ad- vanced to two dollars; but it was withdrawn after running four seasons. Daily passenger steamboats plied on the Connecticut River from 1826 to 1842, between Hartford and Springfield; they were mostly stern-wheelers. At different intervals during this time competing lines were operated. Steamboats were used on the Connecticut above Hartford, to tow loaded barges, even as late as 1884; propellers were also run between that city and New York, Philadelphia, Albany, Boston, Baltimore, Norfolk, Richmond, and various other points. The development of the railroad system produced compe- tition; steamboats and propellers were gradually disused, tugs being substituted for towing purposes. In 1824-25, regular day-lines of steamboats were established between New York and New Haven, Bridgeport, Norwalk, and Stamford, two days being consumed in the round trip. Competition was so brisk that the fare from Norwalk to New York was reduced as low as twelve and a half cents. The building of the Erie Canal stimulated like projects in adjoining States. In 1822 charters were granted to the Farm- 285 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE ington and Ousatonic canal companies. The Farmlngton Canal was to start from tidewater In the harbor of the city of New Hav^en, and to extend through the town of Southwick, Massachusetts located In close proximity to the northern boundary line of Connecticut; to the Connecticut River. The canal, passing through the town of Farmlngton, proceeded up the river of that name to the furthermost boundary line of the town of Colbrook; it was an attempt in a small way to bring the Connecticut back to its original path. The eleva- tion of one hundred and eighty-six feet between New Haven and what is now Plalnville (formerly known as Bristol Basin) was overcome by the building of twenty locks. The opening of the canal In 1826 gave such an impetus to busi- ness at this point, that a dozen mercantile establishments located there, and prophecies were made that Hartford would have a rival as a business centre. The canal, however, suf- fered from the porous nature of the soil, wash-outs were fre- quent, and it was doomed even before the advent of rail- roads. The proposed route of the Ousatonic Canal was along the valley of the Housatonic River, from tidewater at Long Island Sound to the State line In the town of Canaan, being an elevation of about 612 feet, with a proposed extension as far as Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The estimated cost, exclu- sive of locks, was $5,900 a mile, the contemplated length sixty-six miles. Passing as It did through a mountainous sec- tion of the country, sixty locks were required, at a cost of $3,500 each. The attempt to capitalize the company for $500,000 proved fruitless, and the project was abandoned. The Quinebaug Canal Company, with a proposed route for a canal running parallel with the river of that name, and the Sharon Canal Company, with a proposed route beginning 286 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE in the town of Sharon, and proceeding from there west to the New York State boundary line, were incorporated by the Legislature. The companies, however, did not prosecute the work, and their charters expired by their own limitations. The General Assembly in May, 1829, incorporated a com- pany to build a canal from tidewater at the Saugatuck River to the village of New Milford. The New Haven and North- ampton Company was incorporated in 1836, for the purpose of consolidating the Plampshire and Hampden and the Farmington Canal companies into one company. I'hrough these channels of interstate intercourse, even before the coming of railroads, Connecticut made rapid progress towards the concentration of her commercial capi- tal. Her citizens were speedily informed of national events through the medium of the daily press; business and social relations were to add to the sagacity and enterprise which had ever been prominent characteristics of her people. Her manufactured wares, also her surplus agricultural products, were to find markets beyond her compass, even in the uncivi- lized portions of the globe. Thus with conservatism she waited for the evolutions of progress, ready at all times to take advantage of all improvements conducive to her advance- ment and prosperity. 287 CHAPTER XIX Early Railroads IN the Introduction of railroads, Connecticut was behind her neighboring sister States. In Massachusetts and Rhode Island, in the latter part of the second decade of the nineteenth century, railway legislation pre- dominated over all other matters. There was a decided opposition to this new method of locomotion and freight handling. The farmers thought it boded the disuse of horses, and saw a decreasing demand for hay and oats; the landlords of the taverns that dotted the stage routes justly feared bankruptcy; while men engaged In navigation and inland freighting saw a compe- tition that would cause a diminution of their profits. The revenue from travel. Instead of being deposited at the toll- gates of the turnpikes, would fill the coffers of the railroad corporations. The people of the eastern section of the State, being largely Interested in manufacturing, and having the practica- bility of the use of railroads demonstrated in the adjoining States, petitioned the General Assembly for the incorporation of a company, to build a railroad from Norwich to New Lon- don; also one In a northerly direction from the first men- tioned city towards the city of Boston. The Legislature, at Its May session in 1832, granted a charter to the Boston, Norwich & New London Railroad Company, authorizing a capital stock of ten thousand shares, payable by assessments not to exceed one hundred dollars a share. This company effected a consolidation In 1836 with the Norwich & Worcester Railroad Company; traffic was opened on Dec. 14, 1839, between Norwich and New Lon- don, and with Worcester in the following March. At the same session of the Legislature, articles of Incorpo- ration were granted for a railroad to begin at the western 291 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE border line of the town of Sharon, from thence to run north- erly through the town of Salisbury, to the northern boundary line of the State. Privilege was also granted to make an extension in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, to intersect other railroads. The capital stock of the company was to be $500,000, divided into shares of one hundred dollars each. Several parties were given a franchise to build a railroad from Stonington to the eastern boundary of the State, under the corporation name of the New York & Stonington Rail- road Company; its capital stock consisted of one thousand shares to be raised by assessment, which was not to exceed one hundred dollars a share. In 1833 this road was consolidated with the New York, Providence & Boston Railroad Com- pany, a corporation chartered by Rhode Island, The road was completed and opened for passenger traffic to Providence, Nov. 10, 1837; connections were made with New York by steamers. The Legislature in 1835 granted James Brewster, John Babcock, John S. Mitchell, Joel Root, Alexander Harrison, Obadiah Pease, Richard Hubbard, and Elisha A. Cowles, articles of incorporation to form a company, with an author- ized capital of $1,000,000, to build a railroad between the two capitals of the State, to be known as the Hartford and New Haven Railroad Company. The road was opened between New Haven and Meriden in 1838, and the following year to Hartford. Two trains of short coaches, similar to those used on English and Continental roads, were run daily between the two points. The schedule time was one hour and a half, and connection was made at New Haven with a steam- boat for New York. Through passengers were conveyed from Hartford to Springfield by stage-coaches, there to con- 292 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE nect with the Western Railroad (now the Boston & Albany) road for Boston. The Legislature at the same session chartered the Hart- ford & Springfield Railway Company with a capital stock of $500,000, to construct a road between the two cities; but it was not opened for the conveyance of passengers until 1844, when the two roads were consolidated under the name of the New Haven, Hartford & Springfield Railroad. A million-dollar corporation was incorporated by the Legislature of 1835, to construct a railroad from Hartford to the city of Worcester, Massachusetts, by the most feasible route; it was to be known as the Hartford & Worcester Rail- road Company. There was, however, a proviso in their char- ter, that a certain amount of money was to be expended inside of four years; this was never complied with, and all rights and privileges under the charter thereby became null and void. At the same session the Fairfield County Railroad Com- pany, with a capital stock of $200,000, divided into shares of forty dollars, received a franchise to construct a railroad from a suitable point in the town of Danbury to a point at tide-water, either in the town of Fairfield or Norwalk. The charter of the company was renewed in 1846, and four years later the capital stock was increased to $400,000, and Its name changed to the Danbury & Norwalk Railroad Com- pany. The Saugatuck & New Milford Canal Company, which obtained incorporation papers in 1829, had the privilege in their charter, with the sanction of the Legislature, to use for the construction of a railroad the funds subscribed to their capital stock for the building of a canal. That body, at their May session in 1836, having given the required consent, a 293 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE charter was obtained for the Ousatonic (Housatonic) Rail- road Company to build, in the valley of the river of that name, a railroad to start at tide-water in the city of Bridge- port, and extend northerly to the southern boundary of the town of Sheffield, in Massachusetts. The road was partially opened on Feb. lo, 1840, and from Bridgeport to the Mas- sachusetts line on Dec. i, 1842. At the beginning of the year 1840 there were 462 1-2 miles of completed railroads in New England, of which Connecti- cut had 117 miles, being exceeded only by Massachusetts with 236 miles. In the decade 1840-50, known as the railroad era, a vast new impetus was given to that industry. In Connecticut alone, the mileage reached 551 miles, while in the New Eng- land States, 2,845 niiles were in operation, besides several hundred miles under construction. The cost of building was from $35,000 to $40,000 a mile, and no pecuniary aid had been given towards their construction, except that in a few instances the companies had been relieved of taxation for a stated period. One of the important projects of this epoch was the com- pletion of the New York & New Haven Railroad, which was opened to the public Dec. 19, 1848 ; thereby completing an all-rail connection between New York and Boston, the Western Railroad having been built from Worcester to Springfield. Three trains were run daily between New Haven and New York. A railroad was opened on July 22, 1852, between New London and New Haven. It was not until 1858 that a road was completed from Stonington to New London ; this made a second continuous rail route from New York to Boston, which had already been connected with Providence, and that 294 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE with Stonington, It ran along the shore of the Sound, whence it took its popular name the "Shore Line." Charters were granted to several companies during the fever of speculation in railroad construction; prominent among these were the Naugatuck Railroad Company, organ- ized to build a railroad from the city of Bridgeport, running in a northerly direction to the town of Plymouth. It was opened for traffic in 1849, ^"^ has since been extended to Winsted. The New Haven & Northampton Railroad Company received a charter in 1846. They followed the line of the Farmington Canal, and completed a road from New Haven to Plainville in 1848, which was later continued to North- ampton, Massachusetts, more recently to Williamsburg, and finally to Shelburne Falls. The New London, Willimantic & Palmer Railroad Com- pany was chartered in 1847. It was afterwards extended north to Grout's Corner, Massachusetts, to connect with lines into Vermont and to Montreal, and its name changed to the New London Northern Railroad. For many years it has been operated by the Central Vermont Railroad Com- pany, forming its tide-water terminal at New London. The Middletown Railroad Company was incorporated by the Legislature, at its session in May 1844; its charter was renewed some years later, and it was open for business in 185 I. The road was ten miles in length, its terminals being Middletown and Berlin; soon after its completion it was operated by the Hartford and New Haven Railroad Com- pany. The Middlesex & Hartford County Railroad Company was also incorporated in 1852; it was to construct a road from a suitable point in Saybrook to the city of Hartford. 295 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE Its charter was extended in 1855 ; afterwards it was reorgan- ized under the name of the Hartford and Connecticut Val- ley Railroad Company; the road was not opened to Say- brook until 1871 ; the following year it was extended to Fen- wick. The Boston & New York Air Line was projected to build a railroad between New Haven and Willimantic; thereby mak- ing a third all-rail connection between New York and Bos- ton. It was completed from New Haven to Middletown in 1870, and to Willimantic in 1873. In the history of railroad construction in Connecticut, the franchise which had the most varied experience had for its foundation one of the earliest grants made by the Legisla- ture. The General Assembly in May 1833 incorporated the Manchester Railroad Company to build, a road from the city of Hartford to a notch in the mountains in the town of Bol- ton, or somewhere near the stone pits in Bolton and Vernon. The charter lay dormant until 1847, when it was revived by the Hartford & Providence Railroad Company, with all the privileges granted to the parent company, and the additional one of building roads to Rockville and Willimantic. Two years previous to this, a company was formed to construct a road from Hartford to Danbury, to be known as the New York & Hartford Railroad Company. In 1848 this corpora- tion was merged with the Hartford & Providence Railroad Company, and the latter name was changed to the Hartford, Providence & Fishkill Railroad Company. They received the further privilege of extending the road westerly towards the Hudson River. The road was opened for traffic between Hartford and Willimantic in 1849; the next year between Hartford and Bristol; in 1854 through trains were run from Providence to Hartford, and the following year to 296 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE Waterbury. In 1858 the road was surrendered to trustees, to be operated in the interest of the bondholders. These were in possession for several years; during this time sur- veys were made as far west as P ishkill, New York. The Boston, Hartford & Erie Railroad Company was incorporated in 1863, for the43urpose of building a through line from Boston to the Hudson River. This corporation in 1866 purchased the rights of the stockholders of the Hartford, Providence & Fishkill Railroad Company; they then issued the famous Berdell bonds named (from John H. Berdell, president of the Erie Railroad) ; but on failure to pay the interest, the property was foreclosed under the mort- gage, and the bondholders took possession ; claiming the right to redeem the original indebtedness of the Hartford, Provi- dence & Fishkill Railroad Company. The road having been built a dozen miles southwest from Boston, had lain idle for many years, was then completed to Putnam, and in 1872 to Willimantic, thus completing the line from Waterbury to Boston. A reorganization was effected in 1873, when the New York & New England Railroad Company was incor- porated. They purchased all the rights of the bondholders of the Boston, Hartford & Erie Railroad Company, also those of the Hartford, Providence & Fishkill Railroad Com- pany, and completed the road from Waterbury to Brewster, New York, in July 1881. In December of the same year it was finished to Fishkill on the Hudson; but failing to pay running expenses, it was on Dec. 31, 1883, placed in the hands of a receiver. The consolidation in 1872 of the New York & New Haven and the New Haven, Hartford & Springfield Rail- road Companies, under the name of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company, commonly known 297 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE as the "Consolidated Road," created a railroad octopus that operates nearly the entire railroad mileage of the State. It has absorbed the Shore Line and the Providence & Stonington along the coast; the Ncav York & New England, which itself had previously absorbed the Norwich & Worces- ter; the Air Line; and the old Connecticut Western with its new Springfield & Tariffville branch — thus controlling all the lines to Boston. It has also taken in every north-and- south line with the single exception of the New London Northern, — the Housatonic, Danbury & Norwalk, Nauga- tuck, New Haven & Northampton, and Connecticut Valley. All the small lines and branches also belong to it except the 2 1-2 miles of the South Manchester road: the Meriden, Waterbury & Connecticut River, the lines from East Hart- ford and Rockville to Springfield, the Shepaug Valley from Litchfield south, the Derby from New Haven to Ansonia, the Stamford & New Canaan, the branches from Berlin to Middletown and New Britain, from Rockville to Vernon, from Farmington to Collinsville and to New Hartford, from Windsor Locks to Suffield, from Turnerville to Colchester. In a word, all the business of Southern New England to New York passes through it as through the spout of a tunnel. The Hartford & Connecticut Western Railroad Company was chartered in 1868, opened to the public in 1871, and reorganized ten years later as the Hartford & Connecticut Western. By the purchase of the Rhinebeck Railroad, it owned a continuous line from Hartford to the Hudson River. Passing first under the control of the Reading system as the Philadelphia, Reading & New England, it became the Cen- tral New England & Western, and has lately been bought by the "Consolidated," shortly after building a branch from 298 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE Tariffville to Springfield which it was vainly hoped would enrich it with a great through business. The General Assembly in 1850 created a board of three commissioners, to be known as Railroad Commissioners, whose duty it was to examine twice a year or oftener the railroad system of the State. They were authorized to require corporations to make all repairs necessary for the safety of the public. The act was further amended in 1853, and the duties of the commissioners more fully specified: they were empowered to oblige the companies to use all safeguards to prevent injuries and destruction of life. Blanks were to be furnished the railroad corporations, on which full returns and statistics were required, under the oath of the president. The officials of the corporations were required to notify the commissioners, within twenty-four hours, of all accidents attended with serious personal injuries. The commissioners were to make an annual report to the General Assembly. In their report of 1855-56, not quite a quarter of a century from the time the first railroad charter was granted, they stated that the capital stock of the corpo- rations operating railroads in Connecticut was $23,675,838, of which amount $18,702,248 was paid in; there was, how- ever, an outstanding indebtedness of $12,165,356.68. The companies operated 772 miles of road, of which 590 were within the limits of the State. The cost of construction and equipment had been $29,505,662.75 ; this varied among the different railroads, from the New York & New Haven at $81,401.50 per mile, to the Danbury & Norwalk at $15,- 691.62. While the rolling stock of the New York & New Haven Railroad consisted of 26 locomotives, 73 passenger cars, and 329 freight cars, the Danbury & Norwalk Railroad had only 3 locomotives, 4 passenger cars, and 24 freight 299 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE cars. The former gave employment to 533 men, while the latter had 42 employed. The total equipment of all the rail- roads in the State was 118 locomotives, 208 passenger cars, and 1,615 freight cars, with a clerical and operating force of 2,088 persons. For the sake of comparison, and to show the growth of the railroad business in the State, we append statistics from the Railroad Commissioners' forty-eighth report. On June 30, 1900, the capital stock of the railroad corpo- rations in the State was $103,343,268.38. They had a funded debt of $39,444,000. Their gross earnings for the fiscal year were $42,024,951.36, while their operating expenses were $29,5 17,485.39. The length of the main lines and branches in the State was i. 01 3. 3 5 miles; by adding the double tracks and sidings, the aggregate mileage was 1,821.87 miles. Including officials and clerical help, employ- ment was given to 27,456 persons. 300 CHAPTER XX The Organizations of Cities, Boroughs, and Towns THE Increase of population In Connecticut, with the desire of her citizens for easier facilities for the conducting of their town affairs, caused In the first decade of the nineteenth century, the formation of twelve new towns. Waterford, formerly a part of New London, was Incor- porated In 1 80 1 ; as was New Canaan, originally a parish, and taken from Norwalk and Stamford. The following year Wilton, named after the old Saxon town situated at the junc- tion of the Hadder and Wily rivers in Wiltshire, England, was taken from Norwalk; and Sherman, named In honor of Connecticut's foremost statesman, was taken from Fairfield; and both were invested with town privileges. Marlborough, by the union of portions of Colchester, Glastenbury, and Hebron, became an organized town In 1803. The next year a part of Lebanon was set aside, and incorporated as a town under the name of Columbia so called from the poetical name of the United States, The Legislature In 1806 created two towns In Hartford County, and one in New Haven County. Burlington was taken from Bristol, Canton from SImsbury, and Meriden from Walllngford. The next year, by taking portions of the towns of Waterbury, Woodbury, and Southbury, MIddlebury was organized; it was also enacted that the northern part of the town of Stonington should become a town under the name of North Stonington. In 1808 Vernon, formerly a part of Bolton, was invested with town privileges. The organization of new towns during the second decade was confined to New London County. Griswold was formed in 18 15 from Preston, and named In honor of Gover- nor Griswold, a native of that county. Salem, which name in the Hebrew language means peace, was taken from the 303 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE towns of Colchester, Lyme, and Montville, in 1819. The Legislature in 1820 incorporated a town from a portion of Stamford, and it was given the name of Darien. The fol- lowing year Bridgeport was taken from Stratford; and in 1822 from Milford was formed Orange, named in reminis- cence of the powers of that house. The General Assembly in the year 1822 incorporated Chaplin, from the towns of Mansfield and Hampton; the new town was named for a prominent citizen. Deacon Benja- min Chaplin. Manchester, while it cannot be called a pro- totype of its English namesake, is likewise engaged in silk manufacturing; it was formerly a part of the town of East Hartford, and was granted town privileges in 1823. The Legislature in the same year incorporated from a portion of Huntington the town of Monroe, named in honor of the President. The eastern portion of Guilford in 1826 was erected into a separate township, and named for ex-Presi- dent Madison. Prospect was organized in 1827 from por- tions of the towns of Cheshire and Waterbury. From 1830 to 1839, nine new towns were added to Con- necticut's complement. The northern part of Farmington, which is watered by the river of the same name, was formed in 1830 into the town of Avon, from Shakespeare's river. The Legislature at its May session in 1831 granted town privileges to the inhabitants of the northern part of Branford, and the town was named North Branford. The next year Bethany, a parish — which name in the Hebrew language means "house of dates" (fruit) — was formed from Wood- bridge. It was in 1835 that the western part of Windsor was incorporated into a township, and called Bloomfield, from an old Hartford family. Westport was organized the same year from portions of Fairfield, Norwalk, and Weston. Ches- 304 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE ter, a parish of Saybrook, was incorporated in 1836; its name was obtained from an ancient English episcopal city, situated on the river Dee. The Legislature at the same session passed an act organizing from Groton the town of Ledyard, named In honor of the brave defender of Fort Griswold. That section of country lying on the west bank of the Connecticut River, between Haddam on the north and Saybrook on the south, being a part of Killingworth, was in 1838 organized into the town of Clinton, probably from the great promoter of the Erie Canal. The same year East Lyme was Incorporated; it was originally portions of Lyme and Waterford. The town of Westbrook was formed from the western part of Saybrook, hence the name; it was organized in 1840. The succeeding year Portland (from the English town of the name) was taken from Chatham; in 1843 Rocky Hill was organized from Wethersfield. Territory was taken from Waterbury, Bethany, and Oxford in 1844, ^^^ granted town privileges; it was called Naugatuck, an Indian name mean- ing forks of a river. Two new towns were created by the Legislature in 1845 • South Windsor was taken from Wind- sor, and Easton from Weston. The eastern part of Ashford was named Eastford, and incorporated into a township in 1847. The number of towns In Tolland County was increased in 1847, by taking portions of Hebron and Coven- try and organizing Andover, which was formerly a parish. Its name was taken from the market town in Hampshire, England. In the decade between 1850-60, fifteen towns were incor- porated. In 1850 New Britain was taken from Berlin; and Seymour, named in honor of the Governor of the common- wealth, was formed from Derby. The ntxt year, Cromwell, 305 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE named for the Lord Protector, was organized from Middle- town. Old Saybrook was organized from Saybrook in 1852. Three towns were incorporated in 1854: West Hartford from Hartford; Windsor Locks (from its canal locks) from Windsor; and Essex, a parish (named from the maritime county in the southeastern part of England), from Old Say- brook. The Legislature granted town privileges to three towns in 1855 : Bethel, formerly a part of Danbury, derived its name from the Hebrew, meaning "house of God"; Put- nam named for the Revolutionary hero, was taken from the towns of Pomfret, Thompson, and Killingly; Old Lyme, incorporated from Lyme under the name of South Lyme, received its present name two years later. The south- eastern part of New Milford was organized in 1851 into the town of Bridgewater; its name is that of an English town, but is pertinent from a bridge that crosses the Housatonic, which forms a portion of its boundary line. Scotland per- petuates the name of the native land of some of its settlers; it was taken from Windham and organized in 1857 into a township. North Canaan taken from Canaan, and East Granby from Granby and Windsor Locks, were in 1858 incorporated as towns. The next year Morris was formed from Litchfield. The eastern part of Franklin and the western part of Lisbon were formed in 1861 into the town of Sprague, named from the "War Governor" of Rhode Island, who owned the great cotton mills at Baltic. In 1866 Middlefield was formed by taking the southwest corner of Middletown. Plainville, for- merly known as Great Plains, was taken from the southern part of Farmington and erected into a township in 1809. The western part of Wethersfield was incorporated in 1 87 1, and named Newington. The same year the towns of 306 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE Bethany, Oxford, Seymour, and Naugatuck each contributed a portion of territory to form Beacon Falls; the name is descriptive. The western part of Plymouth was organized as a town in 1875, and named Thomaston, after the noted clock inventor, Seth Thomas. The last town incorporated in Connecticut was in 1889; it was taken from Derby, and the old Greek termination for "place" added to the name of the founder, thus forming Ansonia. The village had received the name many years before. The centralization of population at points within the limits of different towns occasioned the need of a distinct local government short of the full administration of a city. This resulted in the incorporation by the General Assembly, at the commencement of the nineteenth century, of what were desig- nated boroughs. The name was taken from a civic division in England, applied to municipalities that had been granted spe- cial privileges by a royal charter. There are four States in the Union which use the word in their local government. In Minnesota and Pennsylvania its boundaries are identical with those of one of the primary divisions of the county; in Con- necticut and New Jersey, it includes the space occupied by houses adjoining or nearly so. The five subdivisions of Greater New York are designated as boroughs. At the October session of the General Assembly in 1 800, Bridgeport was the first borough incorporated; like many of its successors, it afterwards became a city. The present bor- oughs, and dates of their incorporation, are Stonington 1801, Guilford 18 15, Newtown 1824, Colchester 1846, Bethel 1847, Wallingford 1853, Danielson 1854, Greenwich 1854, Winsted 1858, Fair Haven 1872, West Haven 1873, Staf- ford Springs 1873, Litchfield 1879, Shelton 1882, Torrington 307 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE 1887, New Canaan 1889, Southington 1889, Branford 1893, Bristol 1893, Naugatuck 1893, Jewett City 1895, Fenwick 1899, Farmington 1901, Ridgefield 1901, Groton 1903, and Woodmont 1903. It was over half a century before any additions were made to the quintette of cities incorporated by the General Assem- bly in 1784. The Legislature in 1836 conferred civic hon- ors on Bridgeport, which thus early manifested signs of its present importance as a banking and manufacturing centre. Nearly a score of years rolled away before another city was added to the list. Waterbury, which had passed the five thousand mark in population, was granted the rights of incor- poration by the Legislature of 1853. In the same county in 1867, Meriden was created a city; the influx of foreign labor had greatly augmented its population. At the May session of the Legislature in 1870, New Britain and South Norwalk, both manufacturing centres, were incorporated as cities. This complement of Connecticut's cities remained unchanged for nearly a score of years, when the growth of the hat industry in Danbury, and the woolen industry in Rock- ville, so populated these centres that they were entitled to all the privileges of municipal incorporation. The banner year was 1893, when Ansonia, Derby, Norwalk, Stamford, and Willimantic were created cities. This, with the incorporation of Putnam two years later, divides Connecticut by civil divi- sions into eight counties, eighteen cities, twenty-six boroughs, and one hundred and sixty-eight towns. 308 CHAPTER XXI Age of Invention i IN the earlier volumes of this work, mention has been made of noted Connecticut inventions; previous to the formation of the federal government, patents had been issued by some of the colonies. Upon its organ- ization, immediate steps were taken to put in opera- tion the eighth section of the first article of the Constitution, which provided that inventors of new machines or processes should receive letters patent for the sole and exclusive use of their inventions, for a period of fourteen years. The first Board for the issuing of patents consisted of the Secretaries of State and War, and the Attorney-General; the first patent was granted on July 31, 1790, to Samuel Hop- kins, for an improvement in pot and pearl ashes; the total number issued in that year was three. The early records of the United States patent office are deficient in not stating the residence of patentees; this renders it impossible to credit any section of the country with these early endeavors. The orig- inal patent law was repealed in 1793, and a new act passed in which the formalities necessary to obtain letters patent were prescribed ; also the rights of inventors, with the fees to be paid, were more definitely stated. The next year the cotton gin was patented; and though originating in the brain of a borrowed citizen, it was mainly through the exertions of Phineas Miller and his wife of Connecticut, patrons of Eli Whitney, that it was brought to the notice of those interested in the production of cotton. Mr. Miller became a partner of the inventor. Through the instant and wholesale infringement of the patent by the citizens of the cotton States, and the defiant refusal of their governments to have it respected or to pay for it, the partners made almost nothing from it. One Southern representative openly justified his State's denial of justice on perhaps the 311 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE most impudent ground of robbery every alleged, — that the invention was of such enormous value to the public that no private person had any right to monopolize it. The machine itself revolutionized the political, social, and industrial interests, not only of the United States but the whole world. The exports of cotton from this country in 1793 were 187,600 pounds; two years later they reached 6,276,300 pounds. There were forty-three patents granted in 1796, eleven of which applied to improvements in the manufacture of nails and brads; among these was one to Daniel French of Con- necticut for both cut and wrought nails. Apollos Kinsley of Hartford received a patent for an improvement in printing machines. Samuel Lee, Jr., on April 30, 1796, was granted a patent for the composition of bilious pills the first of that class of inventions; Lee's Windham pills, and Lee's New London pills were the subjects of numerous patents. On Feb. 19 of the same year, Elisha Perkins obtained a patent for his Metallic Tractors, of which mention has already been made. We find on Nov, 27, 1797, that Eli Terry received letters patent for improvements in clocks, time-keepers, and watches. The patent law was modified in 1800, so that two years' resident aliens could enjoy the same rights and privileges as native-born citizens. Eighty-three patents were issued in 1804, which exceeded in number any previous year; the next year the residence of the patentees appears on the records. Among the most important granted that year were to Robert Crane, Jr., Waterbury (May 4), for iron wheels; Asahel A. Kersey, Hartford (Aug. 28), shingle machine; William Wing, Hartford (Aug, 28) , casting type; William King and H. Salisbury, Hartford, for carriage springs. Connecticut 312 1:LI WHITNEY CONNECTICUT AS A STATE was represented in 1806 by George Richards of Stonington; he was granted a patent February 14 for a dough machine. Among the important patents of 1808 were those to Jon- athan Mix of New Haven (Feb. 19) for an elliptical main- spring to be applied to carriages, and placed parallel with the axle, to which it was screwed in the centre; Ebenezer Jenks of Canaan (April 18) for a fire-brick machine, Simon Glover and D. Parmalee, Newtown (June 8), for a mortising ma- chine, and Abel Brewster, Hartford (July 11), for a vitriolic test for bank bills. Four patents were granted in 1809 for the manufacture of combs; of these three are credited to Connecticut, Moses Moss of Farmington (Jan. 10), and Timothy Stanley of Southington (July 6), for manufacturing hair combs, and Nat. Jones of Southington (May 9), for making wooden combs. In the same year Samuel Green, of New London ( Feb. 15), received a patent for making paper from seaweed, Mary Kies of Killingly (May 5) for weaving straw with silk or thread, Ira Ives of Bristol (June 24) for the striking part of clocks, Simeon Jocelyn of New Haven (July 13) , for pruning shears. The latter were operated by means of a pole and cord for lopping the outer and upper branches, and were similar to the kind now in general use; it is claimed, however, that previous to their being patented in this country they were in general use in Germany. One of the most important patents of the year was for a double-rodded screw auger by Ezra L'Hommedieu of Say- brook (July 31); the patentee informed the Secretary of the Treasury that with only a man and two boys, he manufac- tured his own wire and produced daily three hundred weight of assorted screws, which were superior to those imported. The inventors of combs seem to have flourished in the earlier 313 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE days; on May 28, 18 10, David Williams, 3d, of Hartford, was granted letters patent for ivory combs; on Aug. 16 of the same year Eli Parsons of Bristol received a patent for pocket hair combs. ' A patent was issued in 181 1 to Charles Reynolds of East Windsor, for his invention for propelling carriages by steam. The year 1 8 1 2 marked an era in patenting apparatus for spin- ning, weaving, and other processes for the manufacture of wool, cotton, flax, and hemp; there were a dozen inventions for spinning machinery and eight or ten for looms. Of the latter, J. Roxanna Sizer, of New London received a patent Oct. 2 1 for a loom for weaving feathered cloth. In the same year, May 23, Robert O. Richards of Norfolk was granted letters patent for manufacturing boots and shoes with wooden pegs, screws, etc. This was the means of greater relief to those engaged in that trade; it was generally used throughout the State, and enabled the workmen to complete their handi- work with increased dispatch, durability, and neatness. Of the five patents issued in 18 13 for cutting and making screws, one was obtained by A. Burnham and T. S. Barnum of Sharon. There were four patents obtained in this year for printing presses; one of these by Zachary Mills of Hartford, who also obtained a patent for an ink distributor. Of the one hundred and sixty-six patents issued in 1 8 1 5, nine were to citi- zens of Connecticut for button making; viz., L. Merien, New Haven (Jan. 4), turning and polishing; William Lawrence, Meriden (April 12), a lathe-pin for turning wire-eyed but- tons; John B. Collins, Meriden (April 12), single-jointed pewter molds for wire-eyed buttons; Anson Matthews, Southington (April 26), wooden molds; Ira Ives, Bristol (Aug. 7), three patents — viz., for a holdfast while polish- ing for setting eyes of metals in the molds, and for smoothing 314 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE and rending the eye of metal; Herman Matthews, Southing- ton (Sep. 12), two patents, for a machine for finishing, and one for making wMre neck buttons. The thirty-hour wooden clocks were patented June 12, 1816, by Eli Terry of Litchfield; the first printing press in which the long lever was introduced with success was patented Feb. 8, 1 8 19, by John L. Welles of Hartford. In the annals of cotton and woolen manufactures from 1820 to 1830, the inventions of Gilbert Brewster of Norwich came into extensive use. For his improvement on the wool- spinning wheel, he received a patent Feb. 27, 1824; this was followed by three patents issued March 13 of the same year, for a spinning machine and method of receiving rolls from the machine, for an improvement on wool spinning, and for a spindle for throstle spinning. These, with his later improve- ments in cotton and wool spinning machinery, were manufac- tured in large quantities at Poughkeepsie, New York, by the inventor. A power loom for weaving checks and plaids, the first American loom of that kind, was invented by Rev. E. Burt of Manchester, who in connection with O. D. and A. H. Boyd, received a patent Aug. 19, 1828. Among the important patents issued in 1829 were those to John Arnold, Norwich (July 15), for forming the web of cloth, without spinning or weaving; William Delit, East Hartford (Jan. 13), for a machine for cleansing rags for paper; and R. Fairchild of Trumbull (May 4), an agitator in paper-making. There were 554 patents issued in 1830. Of the 146 credited to New England, Connecticut had 52; the most important was that of Festus Hayden, Waterbury (Oct. I ) , for American wire-eyed buttons. The succeeding year, Charles Goodyear, who later gained renown for the vulcanizing of caoutchouc, patented a "safe- 315 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE eye button," also a steel spring fork. On March 28, 1831, Asa G. Bill and George Spalding of Middletown received a patent for a loom for weaving webbing, tape, etc. One of the most unique machines for which a patent was issued in 1833 was to Edward M. Converse of Southington, for a wiring machine for tin-plate ware. We find in 1835 ^hat Charles Goodyear, on Sept. 9, was granted a patent for a gum- elastic cement. It was on Feb. 25, 1836, that a patent for revolving firearms was issued to Samuel Colt of Hartford; and on Oct. 26 of the same year J. Arnold and G. G. Bishop of Norwalk received a patent for forming a web of wool and hair without spinning. Prior to 1836 there was no critical examination of the state of an article, preliminary to the allowance of a patent appli- cation. In its salient features, the patent system of to-day is that of the law of 1836, though there have been various enactments modifying and improving it in matters of detail. The most important patent issued in 1837 was to Charles Goodyear on June 17, for divesting caoutchouc of its adhesive properties. The next year he received a patent for an improvement in the manufacture of gum-elastic shoes wholly from india-rubber, they having been previously made by simply applying a thin coating of the gum. The same year, Elisha K. Root of Collinsville was granted a patent for a machine for punching and forming the eyes of axes, hat- chets, etc. Among the important patents granted in the early part of the fifth decade were two to John J. Howe of Derby: the first in 1 841, for improvements on a machine for making pins, and two years later for a machine for sticking pins in rows, in sheets of paper. To Ethan Allen of Norwich was issued in 1845 ^ patent for improvements in the locks of 316 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE pistols and other firearms. In the same year Charles Good- year of New Hav-en patented a waterproof manufactured of two elastic substances; and Charles Turner of Norwich, a writing machine called the Chirographer. Calvin B. Rogers of Saybrook obtained in 1845 a patent for an improvement in machinery for making dressing combs. The invention of Mr. Rogers was the first for a self-acting machine for comb-dressing. Prior to this, the blanks were fashioned by hand from bits of ivory, six hundred being a good workman's daily stint; by means of this new machine, five times this amount could be finished in the same time. We find that of 572 patents issued in 1847, o^ie for improved machinery for dressing staves was granted to Isaac Judson of New Haven, and it is mentioned among the ten most important ones of that year. The next year Col- lins & Co., as assignees of Elisha K. Root of Collinsville, patented an improvement in machinery for dressing axes. There were 5,516 patents issued from 1840 to 1850. Prior to the former date the total amount was 11,421. Among those classed as important, we make mention in 1850 of those of Samuel Colt and Jesse Carpenter of Hartford, the former receiving one for improvements in repeating fire- arms, the latter for improvements in machinery for spin- ning yarn and making ropes. The following year Sheldon Northrop was granted a pat- ent for an improved loom for weaving seamless bags; Allen B. Wilson of Watertown, one of his numerous patents for improvements in sewing machines; and Nelson Goodyear for a combination called hard rubber, of which mention has been previously made. In 1852 Benjamin S. Stedman of West Meriden was granted a patent for an improved machine 317 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE for manufacturing pocket-books, and C. Sharpe of Hart- ford for an Improved method of priming firearms. Among the eighteen important patents of 1853 were those of Halvor Halvorson of Hartford, for an improvement in looms for weaving haircloth; and Chauncey O. Crosby of New Haven, for improvements in machinery for sticking pins.. The next year Eli Whitney of Whitneyville received a patent for an improvement in firearms. The following citizens of Hartford were granted patents in 1855: E. K. Root for an improved compound rifling machine; RoUin White for improvements in repeating fire- arms ; and J. B. Terry, improvement in pin-sticking machines. The same year, patents were issued to William V. Gee of New Haven for improvements in looms for weaving suspen- der webbing; Thaddeus Selleck of Winchester, for a process of reducing Franklinite ore to obtain iron and the white oxide of zinc; John H. Doolittle, assignee to American Hosiery Company, Waterbury, for knitting machines; De- Grass and Fowler, Wallingford, for a press for punching metal; and Andrew Hotchkiss of Sharon, projectiles for rifle cannons. The patents worthy of mention obtained by Connecticut citizens in 1856 were those to Horace Smith and Daniel P. Wesson of New Haven, for improved primers for cartridges; John J. Howe and Inman Piper of Derby, for improvement in japanning pins; James S. Taylor of Danbury, for an improvement in machinery for forming hat bodies; and Blakesley, Piatt & Jordan of Waterbury, for machinery to make brass kettles. Among the thirty important patents granted in 1857 were, to George and David Cook of New Haven, for improved adjustable seats for carriages; and Charles Hicks, assignor to 318 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE American Flask and Cap Company of Waterbury, for an improvement in machine for varnishing percussion caps. The notable ones granted to Connecticut citizens in 1859 were to Samuel Colt, Hartford, for a gunstock that was also a canteen, and coupling gun stocks with pistols; L. S. White of Waterbury, for a burnishing machine; Milo Peck & Co. of New Haven, for an improved tool holder; John A. Evarts, West Meriden, for an improvement in the mode of manufac- turing pulleys; Wallace & Sons of Ansonia, for improved clasps for skirt-hoops; and Thaddeus Selleck of Winchester, for coating the surfaces of iron with Franklinite metal. Thus briefly have been sketched a few of the most valuable patents that have tended to make Connecticut one of the foremost manufacturing States of the Union. From this time, the multiplicity of patents granted her citizens renders it impossible, in a work of this character, to make specific mention of them. So ingenious were her citizens in the last four decades of the nineteenth century, that to give an item- ized account of even the important inventions patented, which have advanced her progress, is a subject to be dealt with by itself. To show the increase made, we state the number of patents issued In the first year of each decade, beginning with 1840, when Connecticut had 24 in a total of 449: in 1850, 57 out of 973; i860, 237 out of 4,510; 1870, 739 in 12,- 677; 1880, 610 in 12,655; 1890, 937 out of 24,103; 1900, 755 out of 22,935. According to the ratio of population, Connecticut in 1900 was second of the fifty-two States and Territories of the United States; two years later she was first, there having been issued to her citizens one patent for every 1,198 of her popu- lation. By comparative tables it is shown, that the United States Issues one-third of the patents of the world. She had 319 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE a grand total to Dec. 31, 1901, of 579,768; the next country was France with 330,977; Great Britain third, with 294,- 758; and Germany fourth, with 144,239, The first industrial exhibition that could rightly be called a "World's Fair" was held at London in 1851, at the "Crystal Palace" ; it attracted exhibitors from all over the world. The manufacturers who represented Connecticut were J. A. Fay & Co., of Norwich, planing and molding machinery; Samuel Colt of Hartford, repeating firearms; Whiting Hayden, of Willimantic, drawing frame for cotton; Ashmead & Hurl- burt, of Hartford, machine-made gold foil; and Julius Pratt & Co., of Meriden, ivory veneer cut by machinery. A much more important exhibition was held in 1862 in the same city. Owing to the Civil War, there were only seventy exhibiters from the United States, three of whom were from Connect- icut: viz., Blake Brothers, New Haven, stone-breaking ma- chine; W. H. Green, Meriden, revolving caster; and Colt's Patent Firearms Company, Hartford, guns and pistols. 320 CHAPTER XXII Public-School System and Institutions of Higher Education CONNECTICUT has always been among the first States in the Union to secure to her citizens the advantages of a public education; the founda- tions of the schools, as well as of the churches, were laid by the early colonists. The old meth- ods, which have previously been stated, were perpetuated, and there were no radical changes made in school government be- fore the latter part of the eighteenth century. One can form some idea of the primitiveness of the facili- ties for obtaining an early education, by what the lexicogra- pher, Noah Webster, wrote in 1840. He states that when he was young, the books used were Dilworth's Spelling Book, the Psalter, and the Bible. A small book on geography was first published In 1789 by Jedidiah Morse; the study of his- tory was unknown at this period. Until 1785 the books men- tioned were the only ones used for reading; at that time Web- ster published the Third Part of his "Institute," which con- tained short notices of the geography and history of the United States. Three years later he wrote about twenty pages in reference to the transactions of the country after the Revolution; this appeared In the first edition of Morse's American Geography. Slates were not used until some years after the Revolution; the teachers wrote copies and sums In arithmetic, which were copied on paper by the scholars with- out the use of text-books. The introduction of Webster's Spelling Book in 1783 laid the foundation of more care and accuracy In that study; English grammar was not generally taught. That the adoption of these needed reforms must have caused a revolution In the acquiring of knowledge, is evi- denced by the fact that in 1793 the selectmen of the town of Franklin certified as to the ability of Ellphalet Nott (who 323 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE was afterwards for sixty-two years president of Union Col- lege), that "he had taught reading, writing, English gram- mar, geography, arithmetic, and several branches of mathe- matics, with uncommon success." While the code of 1750 provided that every town or par- ish should maintain one school, there had been as early as 1724 towns which were divided into two school districts. In 1766 these districts were recognized as merely subdivisions of towns and parishes; but in 1794 they became by law quasi bodies corporate, having the power to vote the repairs for their own building, to elect their officials, and to levy and collect taxes. It was not until 1839 that they were empow- ered to choose their own committees, to purchase and con- vey school properties, to make arrangements and regulations for the management of schools, employ teachers, arrange school terms, and be parties to actions in legal proceedings. There has been no practical change made in the powers thus granted to school districts and their officers; in 1866, how- ever, it was enacted that towns could abolish their districts, and constitute a union district. This privilege has been exer- cised by many towns, and there is a growing tendency to return to the town system of school government. The school societies, which were the offsprings of the par- ishes, were not recognized by law until 1798, when the care of the schools was entirely transferred from the towns to these societies; this remained the usage until 1856. Since this date the care of funds, the formation and arrangements of school districts, the appointment of committees, and what- ever was formerly done by these societies, is transacted by the towns. The schools previous to 17 14 were independent cor- porate bodies; but in that year a law was passed giving the towns and societies supervision of them ; this was the begin- 324 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE ning of the official visiting of schools, and in 1798 the office of School Visitor was created. While the question of State supervision was agitated in 1826, it was not until 1837 that a law was enacted estab- lishing a "Board of Commissioners of Common Schools." This consisted of the Governor and School Fund Commis- sioner, ex-ojficio, and one person from each county; the board had the power of choosing their own Secretary, who became in fact, if not in name. State Superintendent of Pub- lic Schools. The first to fill this position was Henry Barnard, whose devotion to the interests of the public schools of his native State will always cause his name to be associated with educational matters. The Board of Commissioners was abolished in 1842 ; three years later the "Commissioner of the School Fund" was appointed "Superintendent of Common Schools," which posi- tion he held until 1849, when with the establishment of the State Normal School at New Britain, the principal of that institution performed the duties of both offices. The present State Board of Education, consisting of the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor as ex officio members, and one from each congressional district was established in 1865, with authority to select their own secretary, who was to devote his time to the duties appropriate for a State Superintendent of Schools, Since 1895 ^he latter official has been an ex officio member of the board. In the maintenance of her schools, Connecticut can point with pride to that stable monument which was created in 1795 by an act of her Legislature. The Connecticut School Fund owes its foundation to the sale of the lands on the "Western reserve"; its first dividend was made in March 1799, and for thirteen succeeding years an average annual 325 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE dividend of $35,135.19 was paid to the school societies. The board of managers up to this time had consisted of four indi- viduals; owing to the facts that a large amount of interest was unpaid, and many of the securities of uncertain value, the Legislature decided to change the system, and intrust the funds to one man, with the title of the "Commissioner of the School Fund." James Hillhouse, who for sixteen years had represented the State in the upper house of Congress, was selected for the position. He resigned his Senatorship, and served fifteen years in his new office. He so disentangled embarrassing affairs, that during his charge of the funds not only was the capital increased, but the annual dividend was some $17,000 larger. Mr. Hillhouse was succeeded by Seth P. Beers, who had been his assistant for two years previous to his retirement. Mr. Beers' administration continued until 1849, ^^^ ^Y ^'S wise and judicious management the original capital was nearly doubled. The dividends to the school societies, until 1820, were determined by the amount of their grand list, therefore the wealthier ones received the greater proportion. This was changed in that year, when the number of children between four and sixteen years of age in each society was made the basis of distribution. The rate for each child varied from eighty-five cents in 1826 to one dollar and a half in 1849-50; but since that time, owing to increasing population, it has gradually diminished, until it was enacted by the Legislature that interest on the fund should be transferred to the State Treasurer. This has been done since 1897. In 1760 the school tax was fixed at forty shillings on each £1,000 assessment; this was continued until it was abolished in 1820. From that time to 1854, town or society school tax 326 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE was unknown in Connecticut; the tuition or rate bills, and interest in funds and dividends from the School Fund, being the only source of income. The State tax was restored in 1854, but was again abolished, the last payment being made in 1890. By an act of the Legislature, the State in 1871 agreed to make an annual appropriation of fifty cents for each child between four and sixteen years of age resident of the towns; this the following year was increased to one dollar and a half. Upon receiving the interest of the School Fund, the rate was made two dollars and a half, which is the pay- ment now made by the State for the support of public education. In the winter of 1836, the Legislature created what was known as the "Town Deposit Fund." This was occasioned by the division of the surplus revenue accumulated in the United States Treasury, which was to be distributed pro rata among the States. Connecticut's apportionment was a little over $1,000,000, which was to be paid during 1837 in four equal payments. Three of these were received, but owing to the financial panic of 1837 the other was postponed, and has never been liquidated. The actual amount received was $764,670.60; and while this was nominally a deposit made by the general govern- ment, with the privilege of its recall to the national treasury, this right has never been exercised, and probably never will be; therefore it was really a gift to the State. The General Assembly, on receiving the deposit, apportioned it among the towns according to their population in 1830; though towns formed since that date received their share from what was originally apportioned to those from which they were taken. At first, only one-half of the income derived from the 327 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE deposit was devoted to school purposes; but In 1855 this was modified so that the entire Income was to be expended for the maintenance of public schools. The pioneer town in the Introduction of free text-books was Killingworth ; the example thus inaugurated was fol- lowed previous to 1903 by thirty-nine towns. That Connec- ticut should (as many of her sister States have done) Intro- duce this system, is a wide-spread opinion In the State ; but the contrary idea is by no means lacking supporters. The early colonists evinced a desire for the establishment of schools of a higher grade than the ordinary common school. According to the code of 1650, towns containing one hundred families were required to maintain a grammar school; in 1672 this was amended, to the effect that one should be established In each of the four country towns. Hartford and New Haven already had such schools, but Fairfield and New London did not comply with the law for many years. The school law of 1700 made a permanent income for the grammar schools, and the system thus adopted continued unchanged until 1798. When school societies had charge of school affairs, they were empowered by a two-thirds vote "to institute a school of higher order." It was under this law that the High School In Hartford was established In 1847. The school dis- tricts in 1839 were authorized to establish schools of dif- ferent grades; this power was taken from them a few years later, but was restored In 1856, and at the same time towns were given the right to maintain high schools. For the advancement of education, and as a preparatory school for a college course of study, academies were instituted. The first one appeared in 178 1, and was known as the Staples Free 328 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE School; it was located in what is now the town of Easton. Two years later the Plainfield Academy was founded. The famous law school of Judge Reeves, a brother-in-law of Aaron Burr, was established in 1784 at Litchfield, where it was continued until 1833. A female seminary was also started in that county seat in 1792, and was in existence nearly forty years. The Episcopal Academy at Cheshire was established in 1796, and from this time the Legislature was frequently petitioned to incorporate academies; in 1838 a general law was passed, authorizing citizens under certain conditions to form a corporation for the maintenance of these schools. Mention has already been made of the act authorizing the institution of a normal school for teachers. The State Nor- mal School was opened at New Britain in 1850, and with the exception of two years has continued in active operation to the present time. Since 1865 it has been under the charge of the Board of Education. A similar school was started at Willimantic in 1889, and one at New Haven in 1893. Trinity College, like many similar educational institutions in the country, owes its existence to the efforts of a particular religious denomination to have a college under its auspices. Soon after the consecration of Bishop Seabury, steps were taken to organize an educational institution under the control of the Episcopal Church. At a convocation held at East Haddam, the initiatory movement was made that resulted in the incorporation in 1801 of the academy at Cheshire; this was sometimes called Seabury College. The Legislature granted but limited privileges to this institution ; it was not ■empowered to confer degrees, thereby it could not become a 329 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE rival of, or even reach the same educational standard as, the college then in existence under the controlling influences of Congregationalism. Though repeated efforts were made to obtain an enlarge- ment of its charter, and petition after petition was drawn up and presented to the General Assembly, the ascendancy of Congregationalism, and the strong feeling existing against Episcopacy, created a violent opposition. Though in 1810 the House of Representatives favored the memorial, it was not concurred in by the Council (Senate). Another strenu- ous effort was made five years later. The time had not yet arrived, however, for the establishment of a second college : the State was undergoing great political changes, and this, with the establishing of a General Theological Seminary, together with a vacancy in the episcopate, led the Churchmen to defer the project. The endeavors of those who had so zealously labored for the accomplishment of the undertaking, were however to meet with success; the adoption of a new State constitution in 1 8 18, coupled with the consecration the following year of Rev. Thomas Church Brownell as Bishop of Connecticut, were, after more than a quarter of a century of earnest exer- tions, to accomplish the incorporation of a second college in Connecticut. A meeting of eighteen clergymen was held in 1822, at the residence of the newly-elected Bishop in New Haven, where it was decided that a petition should be circulated through- out the State, for the purpose of obtaining signatures of the citizens favoring the organization of the college. This petition was presented to the Legislature on May 30, 1823; three days later, the act incorporating Washington College was passed by the lower house ; it received the concurrence of 330 THOMAS CHURCH BROWXELL, I). D. CONNECTICUT AS A STATE the upper house, and was duly signed by the Governor. The citizens of Hartford, to testify their appreciation, celebrated the event by the firing of cannon and the lighting of bon- fires. The charter provided that before the Trustees could organ- ize, $30,000 should be secured; they had the authority to locate the college in any town in the State which they might deem expedient. The same plan was adopted that was used to secure the permanent establishment of the first college; competition was opened, $50,000 was pledged within a year, and as Hartford had generously subscribed three-fourths of this amount, it was selected for the home of the institution. As a historical fact, it is worthy to record that the day before the presentation of the memorial for the chartering of Washington College, the corporation repealed the old so- called "test-law" of Yale College. The Trustees selected a beautiful site, consisting of four- teen acres, half a mile west of the public square at Hartford; it was dignified by the name of College Hill. Thick forests were near neighbors, in which, to the student with hunting proclivities, the click of a gun would often be as music to his ear; while those inclined to aquatic sports could indulge in boating or fishing on the small river that bounded the campus. Bishop Brownell was elected president of the college on May 16, 1824; the following month the erection of build- ings was begun. These were two : Jarvis Hall, from plans of a noted Boston architect, which was designed for the accom- modation of the students; the other, Seabury Hall, which contained the chapel, library, and other public apartments, was from a drawing by Samuel F. B. Morse, the inventor of the electric telegraph. The Faculty was chosen the following August; among its 331 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE members were Rev. George W. Doane, who became Bishop of New Jersey, and Mr. Hector Humphrey, the first tutor, who was afterwards elected President of St. John's College of Maryland. The Rev. Horatio Potter was chosen pro- fessor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in 1828; in 1854 he was elected provisional Bishop, and in 1861 he became Bishop, of the Diocese of New York, which position he held until his death in 1887. The college was opened on Sept. 23, 1824, with nine under- graduates, which number was increased before the close of the year to twenty-eight. An innovation was inaugurated that was a new feature in American college education: students were taken for a partial course, allowing them to pursue such particular studies as were suited to their circumstances. After a two-years' attendance, an English diploma was received by them. The attacks against the establishment of a Church college, although its doors had been thrown open to the public, had not yet ended. An anonymous pamphlet war was begun; but in spite of sectarian opposition, and lack of support by the State, Washington College maintained its position, and was encouraged by donations from abroad. The first Com- mencement was held in August 1827, when ten graduates received the degree of Bachelor of Arts. The cares and labors of the Diocese became so arduous that Bishop Brownell in 1831 was obliged to resign his duties as president, and Rev. Nathaniel S. Wheaton, one of the orig- inators of the plan, was chosen to fill the position. Previous to this he had visited England to solicit contributions, espe- cially for the library, and met with much success. Dr. Wheaton during his occupancy of the office, which he resigned in 1837, was instrumental in laying the foundation for a sys- 332 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE tem of endowments, which with his own benefactions placed the college on a firm financial basis. The vacancy he left in the presidency was filled by the elec- tion of Rev. Silas Totten, who had been for four years profes- sor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy. Under Dr. Totten's administration of eleven years, considerable addi- tions were made to the funds of the college, especially for the establishment of scholarships; a second dormitory building was built in 1845, and named Brownell Hall; the same year the name of the college was changed to Trinity. A Board of Fellows was organized for the superintendence of the course of study and discipline. The Alumni and other graduates, not members of the corporation, were formed into the House of Convocation, which name was changed in 1883 to the Association of the Alumni. The successor of Dr. Tot- ten was Rev. John Williams, a graduate of the class of 1835 ; under his administration the funds of the library were considerably increased. A theological department was estab- lished, which was the foundation of the Berkeley Divinity School, incorporated in 1854, and afterwards removed to Middletown, where it has been encouraged by the generous help of the citizens of that city. The charter was amended in 1849, making the Bishop of Connecticut ex officio Chan- cellor of the college, and president of the Board of Trustees. Dr. Williams in 1851 was elected Bishop of Connecticut. Two years later his episcopal duties had so increased that he resigned the presidency of the college. Bishop Williams was succeeded by Rev. Daniel R. Good- win ,who resigned in i860; and Dr. Samuel Eliot, his succes- sor, filled the position until 1864. It was during his term of office that the foundation was laid for an addition of $100,- 333 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE ooo to the general fund of the college, which project was ulti- mately successful. The next president was Rev. John B. Kerfoot, whose administration was brief. He resigned in January 1866 to accept the bishopric of Pittsburg. The vacancy was not filled until June, 1867, when Rev. Abner Jackson, a graduate of the class of 1837, was elected to the presidency of his Alma Mater. Under Dr. Jackson's administration, the number of students increased ; the colossal bronze statue of the first pres- ident was presented to the college ; the largest gift from any individual donor was received; and the city of Hartford, desirous of obtaining a site for a new capital, purchased the college campus for $600,000. A new college site of seventy- eight acres was secured, a mile south of the old campus, and Dr. Jackson visited England twice to perfect plans for the new buildings. But before the work was begun, he died, after a short illness, on April 19, 1874. On the 7th of November in the same year, the Trustees elected Rev. Thomas R. Pynchon, of the class of 1841, to the presidency. Ground was broken for the new buildings, with appropriate ceremonies, on July i, 1875, ^^^ two large blocks of buildings were ready for occupancy in 1878. The erection of Northam Hall in 188 1 completed the western range of the quadrangle. It was named for its munificent donor, Mr. Charles H. Northam, of Hartford, whose total gifts, in connection with a legacy left by his widow, do not fall far short of a quarter of a million of dollars. Dr. Pynchon retired from the presidency in 1883. His successor. Rev. George Williamson Smith, made desirable changes in the curriculum of studies. A fine and well-fur- nished gymnasium, with an alumni hall, has been built out- side the space assigned to the quadrangle on the north 334 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE campus. At a corresponding situation on the south side is the handsome laboratory. Besides these, there is a modest obser- vatory on the south campus. Near by are the residences of the faculty, and chapter halls of societies; but the extensive plans outlined by the late President Jackson must be left for future generations to complete. The resignation of President Smith, occurred in the latter part of 1903. His successor, Rev. Flavel S. Luther, ap- pointed in May 1904, had long been Professor of Mathe- matics in the college, and recognized as not only one of the most learned and clear-headed mathematicians in the country, and a stimulating teacher, but a man of wide interests, orig- inal thought and great charm of style in presenting his ideas. The incorporation of the third college in Connecticut was not attended with any sectarian opposition. In the first quarter of the nineteenth century, the seminaries under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church being in a flour- ishing condition, the leading minds of the church advocated the need of a univ^ersity of collegiate rank, to be located either in New England or New York. At this critical period, a seeming accident directed the attention of the officials of the Church to Middletown : in 1825 Captain Alden Partridge, a former superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point, opened in that city the American Literary, Scientific, and Military Acad- emy. The citizens, to encourage the school, erected two sub- stantial stone buildings. While at first prosperity attended it, this soon waned, and a failure to obtain a charter from the Legislature caused its removal in 1829 to Norwich, Vermont. The vacant buildings attracted the attention of Rev. Laban Clark, presiding elder of the New Haven district. Learn- ing that they were for sale, he promptly notified the proper 335 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE parties that he would be one of ten to purchase the property. The matter was taken under serious consideration at a ses- sion of the New York Conference; they appointed a com- mittee, who, in conjunction with a similar committee chosen by the New England Conference, issued proposals inviting several towns to compete for the location of a college. While liberal offers were received from several towns, that of Mid- dletown was considered most advantageous. The entire real estate, valued at about $30,000, was offered with only two conditions : first, that it should be perpetually used for a college or university; second, that the college should be endowed with $40,000. Of this sum the citizens of Middletown raised $18,000. The necessary amount was soon obtained; trustees were chosen, and the college organ- ized under the name of Wesleyan University. It is the oldest college now extant that was founded, and has remained, under the patronage of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The first president was Rev. Wilbur Fisk. In May 1831 a charter was granted to the university,and in September of that year its doors were opened to students. The peculiar views introduced by the first president, that the proficiency of the student in each department should be the only basis of classification, and that any student able to pass the requisite examination was to receive a diploma with- out regard to the time spent in college, were abandoned; and the usual system of classification was adopted. Wesleyan was among the first colleges to establish a scientific course, to meet the wants of those whose tastes or financial conditions debarred them from taking the ordinary classical course. The death of Dr. Fisk occurred in 1839. Dr. Stephen Olin was elected president, but feeling himself too feeble to assume the duties, he resigned early in 1841, and Dr. Nathan 336 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE Bangs was chosen to fill the vacancy. He accepted the posi- tion reluctantly, and in July 1842 resigned in favor of Dr. Olin, whose health had improved. While the latter gentle- man never devoted himself closely to the work of instruction, he strengthened the financial condition of the college, and extended its reputation. His commanding character was an inspiration to the students. He died in 185 1. After a year's interval Dr. Augustus W. Smith, one of the original faculty, was elected president; it was during his administration that the permanent existence and prosperity of the university was assured, by the raising of an endowment fund of $100,000. Dr. Smith resigned in 1857, and was succeeded by Rev. Joseph Cummings. This was the first time that an alumnus of Wesleyan was chosen to preside over the college. The work accomplished by his predeces- sor was augmented by the new president; a library fund of $27,000 was raised by the alumni, and a new and tasteful library building, with a capacity for 100,000 volumes, was erected at a cost of $40,000 by Isaac Rich of Boston, a large contributor to the support of the university. The Boarding Hall was remodeled into an Observatory Hall, a Memorial Chapel was built, and the Orange Judd Hall of Natural Science was constructed at a cost of $100,000, by the munifi- cence of Orange Judd of New York, the famous founder of the "American Agriculturist," a member of the class of 1847. Dr. Cummings resigned the presidency in 1875, and Rev. Cyrus D. Foss, of the class of 1854, was unanimously elected his successor. Notwithstanding the large gifts the college had received. Dr. Foss found its finances in a deplorable con- dition, which was partially due to the money panic of 1873. The expenditures were $46,000 annually, while the income was only $20,000. During the five years of President Foss' 337 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE administration, the current expenses were provided for, the debt paid, and nearly $250,000 added to the endowment. Being elected in 1880 a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Dr. Foss tendered his resignation. The vacancy was filled by the election of Dr. John W. Beach; during his term of ofiice, the endowment fund was further increased by the princely gifts of George I. Seney. The retirement of President Beach occurred in 1887. This was followed by an interregnum of two years; then the present incumbent, Dr. Bradford P. Raymond, was chosen president. His administration has been signalized by a gift from Dr. Daniel Ayres of $275,000. A new gymnasium has been erected, and the number of students and instructors increased. Wesleyan ranks among the strongest of the sectarian colleges; the grounds, buildings, apparatus, and endowment, aggregate nearly $2,000,000. She is fifth in size of those under the control of the Methodist persuasion, having in 1902 thirty- six instructors and 320 students, with a total income of $113,811. There have been graduated since the organiza- tion of the college 2,333 students. The Hartford Theological Seminary owes its foundation to a convention of thirty-six Congregational ministers held at East (now South) Windsor, Sept. 10, 1833, for the purpose of devising measures for the defense and promotion of evan- gelical principles. Ceretain speculations and dogmas had been advanced, which were viewed with suspicion, as being at variance with the teachings of the Holy Scripture; these new doctrines had also been advocated by certain newspapers devoted to Congregational literature. Many members of that persuasion were antagonistic to these new ideas, respecting Divine government and human depravity and regeneration. Therefore at the East Windsor 338 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE Convention, the Pastoral Union of Connecticut was organ- ized on the basis of a Calvinistic creed. The constitution adopted, provided for the establishment of a Theological Seminary, to guard against the perversion of consecrated funds and other misdemeanors. It was deemed advisable that the control of the college should be placed in the hands of a Board of Trustees elected annually by the Pastoral Union, rather than lodged in a corporation. The Theological Institute of Connecticut was incorporated in May 1834, and formally opened the following Septem- ber; the institution was located at East Windsor, with sixteen students in attendance, and a faculty of three professors. For several years the finances of the seminary were in a precarious condition, the current expenses being defrayed by contribu- tions from persons of moderate means. In 1839 a legacy of $11,000 was received from Miss Rachel Waldo of Wor- cester, Massachusetts. During the next decade there were a number of donations, of from one to seven thousand dol- lars each. A second professorship was endowed by Mr. Chester Buckley and wife of Wethersfield ; later a third by Dr. Asahel Nettleton. The disadvantages of the location of the seminary at East Windsor had been embarrassing from the first; after a score of years, from a lack of social and church life and an intellectual and literary atmosphere, they became depressing. The trustees wished to improve the location; also the number of students was decreasing, and their finances were not adequate to a proper prosecution of the work. Hence they made overtures to Yale College to unite the two seminaries. While the conference held was at one on nearly all the proposed conditions of the union, those who represented Yale asked for a delay before coming to a 339 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE final decision. No action was taken at this time, but in 1864 the negotiations were resumed by Yale. Important changes, however, had taken place with the struggling seminary at East Windsor: liberal gifts had been received from several parties, the most munificent being that from James B. Hosmer of Hartford, who also founded a professorship, and gave $100,000 for the erection of the edifice on Broad Street in that city. The seminary was trans- ferred to Hartford in September 1865, and for fourteen years occupied dwelling-houses on Prospect Street, when they removed to their present location. The Faculty at this time consisted of only two professors. The largest number of students belonging to the seminary in any one year, before its removal to Hartford, was thirty-four, the Faculty being three professors. According to the catalogue of 1902, there were eighty students and sixteen professors. It was through the liberality of Newton Case of Hartford that the present library building was constructed, with a capacity of 200,- 000 volumes. The name of the seminary was changed to Its present title on its removal, and later a reorganization was effected to conform with modern institutions of like character. Dr. Chester D. Hartranft was elected first President, which office he filled until 1903, when he resigned in order to con- tinue literary work in Germany. The Deaf and Dumb Asylum at Hartford owes its origin to the endeavors of Dr. Mason F. Cogswell, whose infant daughter, while suffering from an attack of spotted fever in 1807, became totally deaf, and afterward practically a mute. On the child reaching the age of ten years, the father desired to procure for her an education, and sought the co-op- eration of his friends and neighbors to establish a school for deaf mutes. There had been several unsuccessful attempts 340 ^. /^ ^C^:^^?= CONNECTICUT AS A STATE to start institutions of this character in the United States, although they were in active operation in Great Britain and France. At a meeting held April 12, 1 8 1 5, at the residence of Dr. Cogswell, steps were taken to perfect a permanent organ- ization ; also to obtain subscriptions to defray the expenses of a competent person, to visit Europe for the purpose of acquiring the art of instructing deaf-mutes. The funds were readily secured, and Rev. Thomas Gallau- det was the universal choice; but he was very unwilling to relinquish the sacred calling, for which he had fitted himself at the Andover Theological Seminary. He was at length persuaded, however, and sailed for Liverpool on May 25. In Great Britain Mr. Gallaudet encountered insurmountable obstacles in his efforts to obtain instruction. He then pro- ceeded to Paris, where Abbe Sicard was in charge of the Institution for Deaf Mutes, founded in 1760 by Abbe de I'Epee. This worthy cleric accorded the American educator every facility. After a year's instruction, in August 18 16, Mr. Gallaudet returned home, accompanied by Laurent Clerc, one of Abbe Sicard's pupils, and an instructor in the Paris institution. On his arrival at Hartford, he found little had been accom- plished besides obtaining an act of incorporation, in May 18 16, as "The Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons." Over $2,300 had been contributed by various persons, but this had been expended in defraying the expensese of the European trip; therefore his first energies were devoted to obtaining a per- manent fund, which was finally secured, — private benevo- lence yielding $12,000, and the State Legislature appropri- ating $5,000. These sums insured the permanency of the institution ; and 341 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE on April 15, 18 17, the school was opened in a building on Main Street, Hartford. At the end of a week there were seven pupils, and by the first of June the number had been increased to twenty-one. The following year the attendance had so increased that the directors thought the work should become national, and decided to ask a grant from Congress. Through the efforts of the Connecticut congressional dele- gation, aided by other influential and philanthropic members of both houses, a township comprising 23,000 acres of wild land was appropriated for the use of the institution. On account of this gift, and the probability that the work of the institution would be largely national, it was deemed advisable to change the name to the American iVsylum for the Deaf and Dumb. The buildings now occupied were completed and opened in 1821; numerous additions have since been made, however. Four years later, arrangements were made with the other New England States to educated their deaf- mutes. Mr. Gallaudet in 1830, owing to failing health, resigned his position as executive officer. Mr. Clerc, after completing a service of forty-seven years, was in 1857 retired on a pen- sion. The successors of Mr. Gallaudet have been Lewis Weld, 1830-53; Rev. William W. Turner, 1854-63; Col- lins Stone, 1863-79; Edward C. Stone, 1870-8; and Job Williams, 1878. Changes of the first importance have taken place in the character of the instruction given. Through the devices of visible speech, in which Alexander Graham Bell and others have been so active, muteness has been virtually abolished; nearly all can be taught in some measure to speak. This also has greatly increased their capacity to earn liv- ings for themselves. Hence it has become not an "Asylum" but a school, and the "dumb" are no longer admitted to exist; 342 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE hence the name has been changed to the American School at Hartford for the Deaf. There have been two instances in the history of the State where town supremacy retarded public education. The first of these occurred at the outset of the anti-slavery struggle in 1 83 1, when the free negroes of the United States were desir- ous of establishing a college for their young men, to which a mechanical department was to be attached. Connecticut offered superior advantages for mechanical education; New Haven was the home of advanced education in the State : for these reasons that city was selected for the site of the proposed college. This raised an outburst of opposition in New Haven; public meetings were held denouncing the project, and every means taken to defeat the success of the enterprise ; and it was abandoned. The other instance was of the same character. Prudence Crandall, a young Quakeress, conducted a private school at Canterbury; becoming imbued with anti-slavery principles, she corresponded with William Lloyd Garrison, the father of Abolitionism, stating that she proposed to ofifer the advan- tages of her school to colored children. In an attempt to carry out this project, a storm of indignation was raised in that quiet and peaceful Connecticut town. A town meeting declared the school a nuisance, the colored people were insulted in the streets, and an unsuccessful attempt was made to arrest them under the vagrant act. Failing in these attempts to close the school, the General Assembly was appealed to, and an act was passed forbidding the introduc- tion into the State of negroes from another State for the purpose of instruction, without the written consent of the selectmen of the town. Her opponents being armed with this legal weapon. Miss 343 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE Crandall was arrested, and for a night was incarcerated in jail. Trial after trial failed to convict her, and what is now termed boycotting, in its most aggravated form, was used against her. She in attendance with her pupils was excluded from church services; and as a final resort, mob law was instituted. Her house was broken into at midnight, the inmates turned into the streets, and the house with its con- tents ruined. Miss Crandall succumbed to the inevitable, and abandoned her enterprise. While the people of the commonwealth as a whole should not be held responsible for these persecutions, they grew out of Connecticut's peculiar legal system, which recognizes the town as the unit of government, and therefore responsible for its own acts. The fears of the Canterburians are those of millions to-day; as to their validity, that is another ques- tion. The greatest coeducational institutions for whites and blacks in the whole country, Oberlin and Berea colleges, have never been responsible for a single intermarriage; and "social equality" is the emptiest of bogies. It rests with every one whether he shall invite people of any color to his home or elect them to his club. 34=f CHAPTER XXIII Connecticut under Buchanan's Administration AFTER the inauguration of President Buchanan, the Kansas troubles continued to be the all- absorbing topic of the administration, as Pierce had left them. The determination of the Southern members of Congress to allow the admission of Kansas only as a slave State, and to force it by open and bloody violence to become such, kept the issue clearly before the people, where the Kansas-Nebraska bill had brought it. The Dred Scott decision, which threw open the whole Union, free and slave, to slavery, aroused still fiercer wrath. These occurrences divided even the Demo- cratic party, and caused it to lose control of the general gov- ernment, which it had dominated, with the exception of a few years, ever since the inauguration of Jefferson. This decision of 1857, by a majority of the justices of the United States Supreme Court, the case having been before the tribunal for over three years, is well known. In essence it was that slaves were personal chattels, and therefore could not become citizens of the United States; also that a residence in a free State did not in any way release them from bondage ; it even went farther, and declared that slavery was not a local institution, and therefore not amenable to local laws, — that it should have protection in the national domain, the same as any other property. The New York Legislature, in retaliation, enacted a law that neither color nor African descent disqualified a resident of that State for citizenship, and that a slave brought within its limits became free; any attempt to retain such a person as a slave was punishable with imprisonment, not to exceed ten years. In the North, especially in New England, vigorous measures had been and were taken to form colonization socie- ties, to settle the disputed territory in Kansas with citizens 347 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE who would employ only free labor; also to counteract the temporary settlement of armed bands of MIssourians, who were endeavoring to have the new State adopt a constitution establishing slavery within its limits. Connecticut was foremost among her sister States, in pro- moting and equipping colonization societies. At a meeting held in New Haven in April, 1856, when a leader of one of these newly organized societies stated that they were unable to provide themselves with rifles, or any other species of fire- arms, Professor Benjamin Silliman, then in his seventy-sev- enth year, offered to head a subscription list for the purchase of the desired articles. The necessary sum was quickly raised, and the party thoroughly equipped. This action of the citi- zens of New Haven was the cause of indecent vituperation by the pro-slavery newspapers, throughout the country; also by the champions of the Southern gangs who were upholding a minority usurpation by using rifles at every turn. It was brought before the United States Senate, where Professor Silliman and his fellow subscribers were ably defended by Senator Lafayette S. Foster. In July of the same year, a letter signed by Professor Sil- liman and forty-two other citizens, mostly residents of New Haven, was addressed to President Buchanan, remonstrating against the use of United States troops in Kansas to enforce the fraudulent Lecompton constitution, and other laws that had been passed by invaders from Missouri, which were opposed by the actual settlers. The President in a plausible way attempted to shirk, all responsibility in the matter, and stigmatized the inhabitants of Kansas as a lawless and sedi- tious people. Several meetings of the signers to the remon- strance was held, and letters written by Dr. Leonard Bacon, Alexander C. Twinning (the author of the original protest), 348 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE and Dr. N. W. Taylor, were forwarded to the President. They became known as the Silliman letters, and were the means of causing the President and his Cabinet to avow openly their pro-slavery views and plans. It is unnecessary to review in detail the various phases of the struggle: the outrageous attacks on the legitimate colon- ists who were determined that Kansas should become a mem- ber of the Union as a free State; the iniquitous Lecompton constitution; the sack of Lawrence, the headquarters of the anti-slavery party; the affairs at Black Jack and Ossawa- tomie, linked with the name of one of Connecticut's most famous sons. These were early events that presaged the Civil War; and the final failure of the South made her lead- ers turn to that war as the only resource left. As the time for the spring election of 1858 approached in Connecticut, the political outlook of the country was most threatening. This, in connection with the disturbed state of financial affairs, caused the leaders of the Republican party to select as their candidate for Governor one whose previous record showed an adaptability for the management of mone- tary affairs. At a convention of bankers and business men held in Connecticut during the panic of the preceding year, William A. Buckingham of Norwich was a member. His knowledge of finance so impressed that body that he was deemed the most acceptable candidate to represent the busi- ness interests of the State. The political parties were evenly divided, but the Republican candidate was elected by a major- ity of 2,449, his plurality being 2,753, which was a larger plurality and majority than had been concentrated on any one candidate in opposition to the Democratic party for nearly a decade. The Legislature also by this election became largely Republican in both branches. 349 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE Governor Buckingham was re-elected in 1859 by a reduced majority. The cities and larger towns, with the exception of Norwich and New London, gave majorities for the Dem- ocratic candidate; but this was counterbalanced by the agri- cultural districts of New London, Windham, and Litchfield counties, contributing handsome Republican majorities. While the nominal Republican supremacy in the State government was not as great as in the preceding year, the closeness of the struggle had consolidated the party, and eradicated the free- lances and factions, placing it on a firmer vantage ground than It had before occupied. The first two administrations of Governor Buckingham were during a period of intense excitement and earnest debate throughout the country. Public men were breaking away from old political parties, and joining newer organizations; the air was rife with threats of unheard-of measures that would be resorted to if the opposition party was successful at the polls. The chief executive of the country had not only lost the control of a Democratic Congress, but also had alien- ated members of his Cabinet, who condemned his pro-slavery policy. The President had scarcely finished half his term of office, before his administration had completely broken down. Its unpopularity steadily Increased, and the House of Repre- sentatives became Republican. This, with the determined opposition of Stephen A. Douglass in the Senate, caused Buchanan to become one of the most pathetic figures in Amer- ican history. The self-styled "Old Public Functionary" had been confronted by an irremediable disruption of his party on the slavery question, and forced to choose a side ; consist- ency to his whole life policy and utterances left him no alternative but to side with the wrong, yet without heart or vigor, and he had the fate of being execrated as a tool of 350 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE unrighteousness by one side, and despised as a spineless weak- ling by both. That the administration had lost control of the country was evidenced In the spring of 1859, when New Hampshire, Con- necticut, and Rhode Island elected Republican candidates. The former, Pierce's State, had always been reliably Demo- cratic, while Connecticut was as likely to vote one way as the other. The death-blow to Democratic supremacy in national affairs was struck at the State elections held in the fall of 1859. Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania went Republican; this foreboded the carrying of the coming Pres- idential election by the Republicans, and a complete revolu- tion on the slavery question. Then occurred those long, bitter, and treasonable Congres- sional debates; the John Brown raid and execution; the pub- lication of Helper's "The Impending Crisis." Under these circumstances, the political canvass of Connecticut in i860 became the most vigorous that has ever been known. In January the Republican convention renominated Gover- nor Buckingham; the next month, Thomas H. Seymour was nominated as the opposing candidate. This election was regarded by the country as a Presidential election In minia- ture ; the State was selected by the Democratic leaders as the most likely of the Northern States in which to restore their prestige of victory. Prominent speakers visited the State to make campaign speeches, among whom was Abraham Lin- coln, who had gained national fame by his debates in Illinois with Senator Douglass; but at that time he was hardly thought of as a Presidential candidate. Mr. Lincoln made half a dozen speeches, was the guest of Governor Bucking- ham, and laid at this time the foundation of that friendship 351 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE and confidence which were ultimately of so much benefit in the troublous times of the country. The small plurality received by Governor Buckingham only illustrates the strenuous efforts made by the opposition, who resorted to every known political device to secure a vic- tory : the venal use of money in buying votes, the importa- tion of voters from New York, etc. In fact, that the State remained Republican was due to the popularity of the candi- date, and the education, intelligence, and Christian morality of its citizens. The early returns from the near-by cities showed good majorities for Mr. Seymour; but later, the eastern part of the State telegraphed that their honored son had received their support, which, added to the returns from the smaller and inland towns, changed the result. "The Land of Steady Habits" had by a small plurality, ranged itself on the side of "Liberty and Union" ; and it was to pave the way to the election of a Republican to the Presidency of the United States. William A. Buckingham, who by the decision of his fel- low citizens was to guide the State through the dark days of the Rebellion, was born at Lebanon, May 28, 1804. His early education was obtained in his native town, supplemented with an academical course at Bacon Academy, located at Col- chester. Having a taste for mathematics, he first undertook the profession of land surveyor; after trying it for a while he became a school-teacher, but finally returned home, and for three years was engaged in agricultural pursuits. Upon reaching manhood he decided to devote himself to mercantile business, and entered the employ of his uncle, who carried on a dry-goods store at Norwich. Here he remained two years; after spending a short time in a wholesale store in New York City, he began business for himself in 1826 at 352 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE Norwich. In addition to his dry-goods business, he began in 1830 the manufacture of ingrain carpets, and in 1848 became interested in the manufacture of rubber boots and shoes. The latter proving remunerative, Mr. Buckingham retired from his other business, and devoted his entire time to this new industry, in which he amassed a large fortune. He was mayor of Norwich in 1849-50, also 1856-57, and the following year was nominated for Governor. Governor Buckingham was chief executive of the State for eight years, and was one of the most prominent war Gov- ernors of the North; he declined a renomination at the end of his eight years of service, and spent the next two years enjoying the pleasures of private life. In 1868 he was elected United States Senator, taking his seat in that body March 4, 1869, ^^^^1 immediately busied himself in considering the great question of reconstruction. He was not destined to serve out his term of office: his death occurred at Norwich Feb. 5, 1875. The finest epitaph that can be inscribed to his memory is the tribute paid him by the Norwich Bulletin; that he was "a man of honor and a Chris- tian gentleman." 353 CHAPTER XXIV Connecticut in the U. S. Senate IN the First Congress, Oliver Ellsworth and William Samuel Johnson were Senators from Connecticut. They had been prominently identified with the con- vention that formed the Constitution of the United States; their legal education, combined with their natural gifts as pleaders and orators, made them leaders in that body. Mr. Johnson was appointed chairman of the committee to revise the language of the Constitution; the corrections in the original copy are in his handwriting. At the convening of the Second Congress, Senator Johnson hav- ing accepted the presidency of Columbia College, Roger Sherman was chosen his successor. To this Congress Vermont sent as one of her first Senators Stephen R. Bradley, born in Wallingford, Connecticut, Feb. 20, 1754, and a member of the Yale class of 1775. H!e was a lawyer, and also commanded a volunteer company during the Revolution, being on General Wooster's staff at the time of the death of that illustrious officer. Senator Bradley had been a co-worker with his intimate friend, General Ethan Allen, in the organization of Vermont as a State; he was a man of great ability but eccentric habits. The death of Roger Sherman occurred before the conven- ing of the Third Congress, and Stephen Mix Mitchell was appointed to fill the vacancy. He was born at Wethersfield, Dec. 9, 1743 ; he graduated from Yale at the age of twenty, and soon afterwards began the practice of law. It was mainly through the endeavors of Senator Mitchell that Con- necticut established her title to the Western Reserve. Mr. Mitchell resigned from the Senate at the close of the Third Congress, to accept the appointment of Judge of the Supe- rior Court of Connecticut. Noted for his Christian dignity and purity of patriotism, he was a faithful public servant. 357 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE He was a member of the Continental Congress, and also held judicial offices. He died in his native town Sept. 30, 1835- The successor of Senator Mitchell, Jonathan Trumbull entered the Fourth Congress with a complete knowledge of parliamentary rules, and wide experience as a legislator: he had been a member of the House of Representatives since the formation of the government, and had filled the Speak- er's chair. He resigned after a year's service in the Senate, to accept the position of Deputy-Governor. The same year Senator Ellsworth tendered his resignation, to accept the office of Chief Justice of the Superior Court of the United States. The next two Senators from Connecticut were like their predecessors. Federalists. Uriah Tracy, who was chosen for the unexpired term of Jonathan Trumbull, was born in Franklin, Feb. 2, 1755; a graduate of Yale, he read law at Litchfield, where he became a resident. He had served as a Representative in Congress since 1793; he was of com- manding presence, universally respected, and enjoyed the friendship of the leading men of his time. Senator Tracy was President pro tern, during part of the Sixth Congress. He died at Washington, D. C, July 19, 1807, and was the first person buried in the Congressional burying-ground. His colleague, James Hillhouse was first chosen for the unexpired term of Senator Ellsworth. He was born at Mont- ville, Oct. 21, 1754; graduating from Yale in 1773, he took an active part in the Revolutionary struggle, and commanded the Governor's Guards when New Haven was invaded by the British. Senator Hillhouse served as Representative in Congress for 1791, until he was promoted to the Senate; he was President pro tern, during a portion of the Sixth Con- 358 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE gress, and during his sixteen years service as Senator he was recognized as among its most valuable and useful mem- bers. His resignation took place in 1810, when he became Commissioner of the School Fund; his fifteen years man- agement of this fund, coupled with his service of half a cen- tury as Treasurer of Yale College, are living monuments of his financial ability and fidelity. He died at New Haven, Dec. 29, 1832. One of the Senators from Massachusetts to the Fourth Congress was Theodore Sedgwick, born at West Hartford, May 9, 1746. After leaving Yale he studied theology, but finally relinquished it, and was admitted to the bar before he was twenty-one. Fie began practice in Berkshire County, finally settling at Stockbridge. He was a zealous patriot, and had been a member of the House of Representatives since its organization. His term as Senator expired in 1798 ; he was President pro tern, during one session of the Fifth Congress. In 1799 he was again elected as Representative, and was chosen Speaker; in 1802 he was made Judge of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, which position he held until his death at Boston Jan. 24, 18 13. The successor of Senator Bradley of Vermont, though a native of the same State, did not belong to the same polit- ical party. Elijah Paine was a prominent Federalist. He was born at Brooklyn, Jan. 21, 1757, and was a member of the legal fraternity. He was the first president of the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Harvard, and delivered the first ora- tion before that association. An early pioneer of Vermont, he was secretary of the convention that framed her first con- stitution. Senator Paine had held both legislative and judicial positions, and on his retirement from the Senate he was appointed by President Adams judge of the District 359 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE Court of Vermont an office he held at the time of his death, April 28, 1842, at Williamstown. To the Fifth Congress Vermont again sent as one of her Senators another son of Connecticut. Nathaniel Chipman was born in Salisbury, Nov. 15, 1752 ; he settled as a lawyer in Tinmouth, Vermont, and was professor of law for twenty eight years in Middlebury College. He had been Chief Jus- tice of the Supreme Court of Vermont, also judge of the United States District Court. Judge Chipman was the author of "Sketches of the Principles of Government" and "Reports and Dissertations." He died at Tinmouth, Feb. 15. 1843. The resignation of Philip Schuyler as Senator from New York caused the appointment of John Sloss Herbert to fill the vacancy. He was born at Fairfield in 1738, graduated from Yale in 1757, and began the practice of law in New York. Though he was senator-elect from January 1798 to May 5, 1799, he resigned without qualifying for the posi- tion, to become judge of the United States District Court of New York. He died Feb. 4, 1805. At the opening of the Sixth Congress, Abraham Baldwin presented his credentials as Senator from Georgia. He was born in Guilford, Nov. 6, 1754. He was a chaplain in the Revolutionary army after his graduation from Yale. Mr. Baldwin at the close of the war removed to Georgia, where he affiliated with the Democrats. He was a member of the House of Representatives from the time of its organization. He removed in 1804 to Savannah, where he was admitted to the bar. It was through his exertions that the University of Georgia was organized, and he became its first president. He was President pro tern, during a session of the Seventh 360 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE Congress. He died before the expiration of his term as Sen- ator, in Washington, D. C, March 4, 1807. The Federalist Senators from Vermont were succeeded In the Seventh Congress by two Democrats. Israel Smith was born In Connecticut, April 4, 1759. After graduating from Yale, he studied law and settled at Rupert, Vermont, but subsequently removed to Rutland. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 1791 to 1797, and again In 1800; he resigned from the Senate In 1807 to become Gov- ernor of Vermont. He died Dec. 21, 18 10. His colleague was Stephen R. Bradley, who served two senatorial terms, and was President pro tern, of a portion of the Seventh and Tenth Congresses. He died at Walpole, New Hampshire, Dec. 16, 1830. The resignation of Senator LIvermore of New Hampshire caused the election of Simeon Olcott. He was born In Con- necticut, Oct. I, 1735; graduated from Yale In 1761, and began the practice of law at Charlestown, New Hampshire. He had filled the positions of Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas and of the Superior Court. After the expira- tion of his senatorial term, he lived In retirement at Charles- town until his death, on Feb. 22, 18 15. At the opening of the Tenth Congress, Chauncey Good- rich, who had been elected to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Senator Tracy, took his seat. Mr. Goodrich was born in Durham, Oct. 20, 1759; he graduated from Yale College at the age of seventeen, having gained a high repu- tation for genius and acquirements. Five years later he established himself in Hartford as a lawyer, in which pro- fession he became eminent. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 1795 to 1803. He resigned as Sen- 361 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE ator in 1 8 13 to accept the position of Deputy-Governor. He died at Hartford Aug. 18, 1815. From the new State of Ohio came Return J. Meigs, second of the name; a Democrat in poHtics. He was a lawyer, and began practice at Marietta. He was Senator from 1808 to 1 8 10, resigning to become Governor of Ohio. The resignation of Senator Hillhouse occurred during the recess of Congress; Samuel W. Dana was elected to fill the vacancy. He was born at Wallingford, Feb. 13, 1760. A Federalist in politics, he was a member of the House of Rep- resentatives from 1797 until his promotion to the United States Senate. Senator Dana was a distinguished lawyer, and his appearance at the bar was much admired. If he had devoted himself to his profession, he would have secured a large practice ; but from his early days he was more engaged in the counsels of the nation than in pursuit of legal practice. His long Congressional career terminated in 1821, when he retired to his adopted residential city, Middletown, of which he became mayor, and where he died July 21,1 830. Ohio sent to the Eleventh Congress a son of Connecticut, to fill a vacancy caused by resignation. Stanley Griswold was born at Torrington in November 1763; graduating from Yale in 1786, he became a clergyman. In politics he was an avowed admirer of Thomas Jefferson. He edited a Demo- cratic paper in Walpole, New Hampshire, in 1804; and was afterwards appointed Secretary of the Territory of Mich- igan. He was Senator from June 2, 1809, to Jan 12, 18 10, when he resigned to become United States Judge for the Northwestern Territory. He died at Shawneetown, Illinois, Aug. 21, 1 8 15. The successor of Senator Goodrich was David Daggett born in Attleboro, Massachusetts, Dec. 31, 1764; he gradu- 362 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE ated from Yale College in 1783, and was professor of law in that institution. He practiced law in New Haven, presided over the Connecticut House of Representatives, and was also mayor of his residential city. Mr. Daggett was Sena- tor from 1 8 13 to 18 19, and afterwards was judge of the Supreme Court; also Chief Justice, from which office he was retired on attaining the age of seventy. He died at New Haven, April 12, 1851. To the same Congress came Jeremiah Mason born at Lebanon, April 27, 1768. Graduating from Yale in 178 i, he was destined for a professional life; he studied law, and acquired the reputation of being profoundly learned in com- mon law. Emigrating to Vermont, he was admitted to the bar of that State; but afterwards removed to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where he became the friend of Daniel Webster, who always spoke of him in extravagant terms of praise. Senator Mason was appointed Attorney-General of New Hampshire, and from 1813 to 18 17 was Senator from that State. He was a Federalist in politics, and resigned his seat in Congress to devote himself to his profession ; he removed to Boston where he retired from active practice at the age of seventy, but was consulted as chamber-counsel until his death, Nov. 14, 1848. Ohio again sent a son of Connecticut to represent her in the uppper house of Congress: Benjamin Ruggles, who gained the sobriquet of "The Wheel-horse of the Senate," on account of his well-known habits of industry, and con- stant devotion to the interests of his constituents, during his three terms of office. He was born in Windham County in 1783; received a classical education, and taught school in the winter; studied law, and was admitted to practice at Marietta, Ohio. He finally settled at St. Clairsville in the 363 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE same state. He was Senator from 1815 to 1833, serving on many important committees. Though a Democrat in politics, he was presidential elector on the Whig ticket in 1836. He died at St. Clairsville, Sept. 2, 1857. To fill a vacancy, Vermont sent to the Fifteenth Congress William A. Palmer. He was born in Hebron, Sept. 12, 1 79 1, studied law, and began practice at Danville, Vermont. Judge Palmer had served on the Supreme Bench; he was a member of the Senate from Oct. 18, 18 18, to March 3, 1823, and was Governor of Vermont from 1831 to 1835. He died at Danville, Dec. 3, i860. The change of politics in Connecticut which resulted in the adoption of a new constitution placed the Democrat party in power. James Lanman was elected to the Sixteenth Con- gress, and was the first Democrat from Connecticut to take a seat in the Senate. He was born in Norwich, June 14, 1769. He graduated from Yale in 1788, studied law, and began practice in his native city. Senator Lanman had been a member of both houses of the Connecticut Legislature, and was secretary of the convention that formed the new Con- stitution. During his term in the Senate he was a member of several important committees ; he voted with the Southern members on the Missouri Compromise. Though he was appointed by the Governor during the recess of the Legisla- ture to a second term, before the vacancy occurred the Senate refused to give him his seat on the ground that the appoint- ment was without authority of law. Senator Lanman sub- sequently became judge of the Supreme and Superior Courts of Connecticut, and was also mayor of Norwich, where he died Aug. 7, 1841. The two Senators from. Connecticut to the Seventeenth Congress were James Lanman and Elijah Boardman. The 364 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE latter was born at New Milford, March 7, 1760. He was a successful merchant, and was largely interested in the town of Boardman, Ohio, where he died Oct. 8, 1823. To this Congress came as a representative of Vermont, Horatio Seymour, born in Litchfield, May 31, 1778. He graduated from Yale College in 1797, studied law at the Litchfield Law School, and in i 800 began practice at Middle- bury, Vermont. Senator Seymour was an uncle of ex-Gover- nor Horatio Seymour of New York. While nominally a Democrat, he was the Whig candidate for Governor in 1836. For the greater part of his two terms in the Senate, he was chairman of the Committee on Agriculture. He died at Middlebury, Vermont, Nov. 21, 1857. The Ohio Senator Ruggles' colleague in the Seventeenth Congress was another son of Connecticut, Ethan Allen Brown, who had been elected to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Senator Trimble. He was born in Darien, July 4, 1776; he received a liberal education, and studied law under Alexander Hamilton. In 1804 he removed to Cincinnati, where he began the practice of his profession. He was judge of the Supreme Court of the state from 18 10 to 1818, and elected by the Democrats as Governor, holding the office from 1818 to 1822. His term as Senator ended March 3, 1825; he was afterwards United States representative to Brazil. He died at Indianapolis, Feb. 24, 1852. The vacancy caused by the death of Senator Boardman was filled by the election of Henry W. Edwards, who served for the balance of the term ; he was a pronounced Democrat, and his legal knowledge made him an active and useful mem- ber of the Senate. A native of Connecticut was sent to the Senate from Louis- iana. Josiah S. Johnston born in Salisbury Nov. 25, 1784, 365 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE was in his infancy taken by his father to Kentucky. Gradu- ating from Transylvania College, he studied law, and in 1805 removed to Alexandria, Louisiana. In politics a Clay Democrat, he served from 1821 to 1823 in the House of Representatives, In 1824 he was elected to fill a vacancy in the Senate. He retained this position until his untimely death, May 19, 1833, caused by the explosion of gunpowder on board the steamboat Lioness on the Red River. Senator Lanman was succeeded in the Nineteenth Con- gress by Calvin Willey. He was born at East Haddam, Sept. I5> 1776; read law, and began practice at Stafford, but in 1 808 removed to Tolland. Senator Willey served one term; he died at Stafford, Aug. 23, 1858. To this Congress came Asher Robbins, born in Wethersfield, Oct. 26, 1757; a mem- ber of Yale class of 1782, he became tutor in Providence College, now Brown University. After studying law, he began practice at Providence, but in 1795 removed to New- port. Mr. Robbins was a leading Senator of Congress from 1825 to 1839; he was first elected from Rhode Island to fill a vacancy. He was a Whig in politics; an accomplished scholar and orator. His death occurred at Newport, Feb. 25, 1845. Owing to political changes. Senator Edwards was defeated for a re-election; his successor, Samuel A. Foot, had been twice a member of the House of Representatives, and during his senatorial term served as chairman of the Committee on Pensions. To fill a vacancy, Oliver H. Prince, born in Connecticut in 1787, a lawyer from Macon, represented Georgia in the Senate, from Dec. i, 1828, to March 3, 1829. In the Twenty-first Congress was David Jewett Baker, elected to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Senator John 366 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE McLean of Illinois. Mr. Baker was born at East Haddani, Sept. 7, 1792; with his parents he emigrated to Ontario County, New York. He was a graduate of Hamilton Col- lege, studied law, and began practice in Illinois; he attained a high position in his profession. Though politically a Dem- ocrat, he was strenuously opposed to slavery. Senator Baker was the author of the act to sell public lands to actual set- tlers in tracts of forty acres. He died at Alton, Illinois, Aug. 6, 1869. There was a change in the Connecticut Senators in the Twenty-second Congress. Gideon Tomlinson resigned as Governor of the State to take his seat in the Senate. He had served for nearly four terms in the House of Representatives ; during his one term in the Senate he took an active part in national affairs. To this Congress came Samuel Prentiss, who was for two senatorial terms to represent Vermont. Senator Prentiss was born in Stonington, March 31, 1782; he removed with his father to Worcester, Massachusetts, and subsequently to Northfield, where he studied law. He began practice in 1803 at Montpelier, Vermont, where he acquired a reputation for eloquence and integrity. Judge Prentiss was Chief Jus- tice of the Supreme Court of his adopted State, and a promi- nent member of the Whig party. On his retirement from the Senate he was appointed Judge of the Federal District Court of Vermont, which office he held until his death, Jan. 15, 1857. Senator Foot was succeeded by Nathan Smith, who was acknowledged one of the most distinguished advocates of New England. He was born at Woodbury, Jan. 8, 1 769, and received his professional education at the Litchfield Law School. Senator Smith located at New Haven, and was 367 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE State Attorney for New Haven County, also United States District Attorney. His demise at Washington, D. C, Dec. 6, 1835, deprived the Whig party of one of its prominent and influential members. The vacancy thus created was filled by the election of John M. Niles, a supporter of State Rights principles and a Dem- ocrat. Mr. Niles served as Senator from 1835 to 1839, and was again elected in 1843, serving until 1849. Judah Dana was born in Pomfret, April 25, 1772, gradu- ated from Dartmouth College in 1795; studied law, and be- gan practice in 1798 at Fryeburg, Massachusetts (now Maine) . He was elected to fill a vacancy, serving from Dec. 31, 1836, to March 31, 1837. Senator Dana had filled sev- eral legislative and judicial positions; was a delegate to the convention to frame a Constitution for Maine. He died at Fryeburg, Dec. 27, 1845. Senator Tomlinson was succeeded by Perry Smith, a Dem- ocrat. Mr. Smith was born in Woodbury, May 12, 1783; attended the Litchfield Law School, and in 1807 settled at New Milford. He was a sound and stable lawyer, and dur- ing his one term in the Senate was a member of several im- portant committees. He died at New Milford, June 8, 1852. Thaddeus Betts, a native of Norwalk, and a member of Yale class of 1807, was elected as a Whig to the twenty-sixth Con- gress. He had acquired distinction as a lawyer, was greatly respected for his talents and character, and was destined to be an influential member of the Senate; but he died during the first session of the Twenty-sixth Congress, at Washington, D. C, April 8, 1840. Senator Betts' successor was Jabez W. Huntington, born in Norwich, Nov. 8, 1788. He graduated from Yale in 1 806, and studied law at Litchfield, where he practiced thirty 368 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE years; was a member of the State Legislature, also a Rep- resentative in Congress from 1829 to 1834. In the latter year he removed to his native city; became a judge in the Supreme Court of Errors, also of the Superior Court. Judge Huntington prolitically was a Whig; he remained a member of the Senate until his death, Nov. 1 1 , 1 847, at Norwich. To fill a vacancy, Rhode Island elected Nathan F. Dixon Senator. Mr. Dixon was born in Plainrteld in 1774; gradu- ated from Brown University, and began the practice of law in 1802 at Westerly, Rhode Island. He died at Washington, D. C, Jan. 29, 1842, before the termination of his senatorial term. A majority of the early favorite sons of Vermont were of Connecticut birth. Samuel S. Phelps, who represented that State for two terms, was born in Litchfield, May 13, 1793. He graduated from Yale College in 181 1. While studying law, he entered the American army during the war of 18 12; before the close of his military career he received the appoint- ment of paymaster. Settling at Middlebury, Vermont, Sen- ator Phelps practiced law, and held both legislative and judicial offices. While Senator he displayed abilities of a high order. He was politically a Whig. In January 1853 he was again appointed to fill a vacancy, serving until October 1854, when the Senate decided that he could not hold his seat by appointment. He died at Middlebury, March 25, 1855. Among the new members of the Twenty-seventh Congress was William Woodbridge. He was born at Norwich, Aug. 20, 1780, but removed when eleven years of age, with his father, to Marietta, Ohio. Senator Woodbridge returned to his native State for his early education, studied law at Litchfield, and was admitted in 1806 to the Ohio bar. He was appointed Secretary of the Northwest Territory, which 369 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE caused his removal to Detroit in 1 8 19 ; he was elected the first Congressional delegate from that Territory. Besides holding judicial positions, he was a member of the convention that framed the constitution for that State; was Governor from 1839 to 1 841, and in the latter year was elected Senator, which office he filled for one term. Judge Woodbridge, while in the Senate, was a working member on many important com- mittees, his reports and speeches were numerous; he was noted as an eminent jurist and constitutional lawyer, a faith- ful and honored public servant. His latter years were passed in retirement at Detroit, where he died Oct. 20, 1861. To the Twenty-seventh Congress also came Samuel C. Crafts, born in Woodstock, and a member of Harvard's class of 1790. He was the youngest delegate to Vermont's first Constitutional Convention; was a member of the lower house of Congress from 18 17 to 1825, Governor from 1829 to 1832.; in fact, it is said that he filled every office In the gift of the citizens of Vermont. He was appointed to fill a vacancy, and afterwards elected for the unexpired term. He died at Craftsbury, Vermont, Nov. 19, 1853. The Empire State sent two natives of Connecticut to fill vacancies in the Twenty-eighth Congress. Daniel S. Dickin- son was born In Goshen, Sept. 1 1, 1800; In his childhood his parents removed to Chenango County, New York. Here he obtained a common-school education, studied law, and began practice in 1828. Three years later he removed to Blngham- ton, New York. A Democrat in politics, he became a leader in his party; he held many local and State offices, and In 1844 was appointed Senator by the Governor, and afterwards elected for the full term by the Legislature. He was chair- man of the Senate Committee on Finances, besides being a member of other equally Important committees ; he was also 370 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE the originator and supporter of many popular measures. At the breaking out of the Civil War he became a Republican. He died in New York City, April 12, 1866. The other Senator was Henry A. Foster, born at Hartford, May 7, 1800. He removed to Cazenovia, New York, and was admitted to the bar in 1822. He was a member of the New York State Senate, elected Representative to the Twen- ty-fifth Congress as a Democrat; upon the resignation of Sen- ator Silas Wright, Jr., to accept the Governorship of New York, Mr. Foster was elected for the unexpired term, serving from Dec. 9, 1844, to Jan. 27, 1847. After his retirement from Congress, he was a member of the Supreme Court of New York. He died at Rome, New York, May 12, 1889. Among the new members of the first session of the Thir- tieth Congress was Roger S. Baldwin. He had been elected to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Senator Huntington. Mr. Baldwin was named after his illustrious grandfather, Roger Sherman, and was an admirable example of all that was best in the intellectual and moral life of New England. He had developed a mastery of the principles of law that was considered remarkable in a man of his years. Senator Bald- win had been Governor of the State ; he served in his new position until 185 1. Senator Niles was succeeded by Truman Smith, a member of the Whig party. Mr. Smith was born at Woodbury, Nov. 27, 1791 ; he was a member of Yale, class of 18 15, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 18 18. He had repre- sented the town of Litchfield in the State Legislature, and was a Representative in Congress for eight years. Senator Smith was remarkable for his wide though silent influence in national politics. Being wearied of public life, he resigned from the Senate in 1854. He removed to New York City, 371 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE where he devoted himself to the practice of his profession. He died at Stamford, May 3, 1884. John Wales was elected to fill an unexpired term from 1849 to 185 I, caused by the resignation of J. M. Clayton, Senator from Delaware. He was born in New Haven, July 31, 1783, and died at Wilmington, Delaware, Dec. 3, 1863. The political changes in 1852 caused the election of Isaac Toucey as Senator from Connecticut. Mr. Toucey had been a member of the House of Representatives from 1835 to 1839, also Governor of the State; he served throughout his term, afterwards becoming Buchanan's Secretary of the Navy. The resignation of Senator Smith caused the election of Francis Gillett for the unexpired term, by a coalition of Whig, Temperance, and Free-Soiler members of the State Legislature. He was born in Windsor (now Bloomfield), Dec. 14, 1807; graduating from Yale College in 1829, he became a farmer. He was a strong temperance and anti-sla- very advocate, and for a number of years received the nom- ination for Governor from those parties. He served in the Senate from May 25, 1854, to March 31, 1855; he died at Hartford, Sept. 30, 1879. To fill a vacancy in the Massachusetts senatorial represen- tation, Julius Rockwell, a member of the House of Represen- tatives from 1847 to 1 85 1, was elected June 15, 1854, serv- ing to Feb. 10, 1855. Mr. Rockwell was born at Colebrook April 26, 1805, graduated from Yale in 1826, and was admitted to the bar in Litchfield County in 1829. The fol- lowing year he began practice at Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He died at Lenox in the same State, May 19, 1888. Jared W. Williams was born at West Woodstock, Dec. 22, 1796. He studied law, and began practice at Lancaster, New Hampshire. He had been a member of both houses of 372 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE the State Legislature, was Representative in the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth Congresses, and Governor of New Hamp- shire from 1847 fo 1849. He was appointed in 1853 to rill a vacancy in the Senate, and served until the close of the Thirty-third Congress; politically he was a Democrat. He died at Lancaster, New Hampshire, Sept. 29, 1864. To the Thirty-fourth Congress, as a new member, came Lafayette S. Foster; he was born in Franklin, Nov. 22, 1806, and was a direct descendant of Miles Standish, the Plymouth Pilgrim. His collegiate education was obtained at Brown University, from which institution he graduated in 1828. Admitted to the practice of law in Maryland, he later became a member of the Connecticut bar. Mr. Foster had been three times Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives, and the unsuccessful candidate of the Whig party for Gover- nor at several elections. He was elected May 19, 1854, by the combine vote of Whigs and Free-Soilers, to the United States Senate. He served from 1855 to 1861 on the commii- tee on Public Lands, Pensions, and Judiciary. On the organi- zation of the Republican party, he became one of its active members. Senator Foster was re-elected for a second term ; during the exciting times attendant on the Civil War he took an important part in national politics. He was chosen Pres- ident pro tern, of the Senate; therefore when Andrew John- son became President he was the acting Vice-President of the United States. During his last term in the Senate he served on the committee on Indian Affairs, Private Land Claims, and Revolutionary Claims, and was chairman of the committee on Pensions. During the Civil War he was chairman of the committee on Foreign Affairs. Senator Foster died at Nor- wich, Sept. 19, 1880. Another son of Connecticut began his senatorial career in 373 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE this same Congress, and It extended to long after the close of the Civil War. Lyman Trumbull was born at Colchester, Oct. 12, 1 8 13; studied law, and began practice at Belleville, Illinois. Senator Trumbull served in the State Legislature of Illinois, was Secretary of State 1841-42, and Justice of the Supreme Court from 1848 to 1853. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1854, but resigned his seat on his promotion to the Senate; he served until March 3, 1873. During the war he was a leading Republican, but in the lat- ter part of his life became one of the chief independent lead- ers. He died at Chicago, June 25, 1896. Senator Toucey was succeeded by James Dixon. He was born in Enfield, Aug. 5, 18 14; attended Williams College, graduating in 1834; studied law, and was admitted to the bar. Mr. Dixon was originally a Whig, but subsequently became a Republican. He was elected to the House of Rep- resentatives for two terms, where he distinguished himself for his powers as a debater. During his first term in the Senate, he participated in all of the parliamentary debates preceding the Civil War. He was re-elected In 1863, with a unanimity that had no precedent In the annals of Connecticut. He was a member of the committee on Manufactures, and during his last term was chairman of three important committees. He died March 27, 1873. To this Congress there came to fill a vacancy, Martin W. Bates, born in Salisbury, Feb. 24, 1787. He was educated for a physician, but after teaching school for a time, took up the practice of law. Senator Bates had served In the State Legislature of Delaware; upon the death of John M. Clay- ton, Senator from that State, he was elected as a Democrat to fill the unexpired term, serving from Dec. 6, 1858, to March 3, 1859. He died at Dover, Jan. 11, 1869. 374 From an Engraving by I.inton LYMAN TRIMIU LL CONNECTICUT AS A STATE At the opening of the first session of the Fortieth Congress, Orris S. Ferry presented his credentials as Senator from Con- necticut; after taking the oath of office, he became a member of that body. He was born in Bethel, Aug. 15, 1823, was a member of Yale, class of 1 844, and admitted to the bar three years later. Senator Ferry was defeated for Representative to the Thirty-fifth Congress, but was elected as a Republican to the next Congress. Declining a re-election, he became colonel of the Fifth Connecticut Volunteers, who were attached to General Bank's command. Colonel Ferry served in the army until the close of the war, and was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general. He was a member of several important committees during his first term as Senator, in 1872 his re-election was effected by a coalition of Independent Re- publicans and Democrats, though he opposed the former organization. Senator Ferry voted against the Civil Rights Bill, on the ground that it would be prejudicial to the cause of public education. His death occurred at Norwalk Nov. 21, 1875. Connecticut sent to the Senate of the Forty-first Congress her famous War Governor, William A. Buckingham, already mentioned. The vacancy caused by Senator Buckingham's death was filled by the appointment of William W. Eaton, for the unexpired term ending March 3, 1875. Senator Eaton was elected for the next full term. He was bom in Tolland, Oct. 11, 1 8 1 6 ; educated in the public schools, he studied law and was admitted to practice. He had filled judicial and legislative positions, and was twice Speaker of Connecticut's House of Representatives. He was a pro- nounced Peace Democrat during the Civil War. After his retirement from the Senate, he was elected as a representative 375 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE to the Forty-eighth Congress. He died at Hartford, Sep. 21, 1898. From the reconstructed State of Mississippi came Henry R. Pease. He was born in Connecticut, February 19, 1835; he was admitted to the bar in 1859. He enlisted as a private in the Union army, and was promoted to a captaincy. He edited and published the Mississippi Educational Journal, the first magazine ever devoted to public education in the South. Senator Pease was elected to fill a vacancy and served from Feb. 12, 1874, to March 3, 1875; he was a member of the committees on Education, Labor and Enrolled Bills. The death of Senator Ferry occasioned the appointment of James E. English, a War Democrat. Mr. English had been a member of the House of Representatives. During the Civil War period he had voted and acted with the Republicans, he also had been Governor of the State. For the unexpired term of Senator Ferry, William H. Bar- num, a Democrat, who was serving his fifth term as a mem- ber of the House of Representatives, was elected. Mr. Bar- num was born at Boston Corners, Columbia County, New York, Sept. 17, 18 18, he received only a common school edu- cation. In 1 836 he began the manufacture of car wheels, also the production of iron from the ore. This led to his taking up his residence in Salisbury. Senator Barnum gained a national prominence as chairman of the National Demo- cratic Committee in the Presidential campaign of 1884. He died at Lime Rock, April 30, 1889. From the re-constructed State of Florida, a cosmopolitan citizen of the United States, Adonijah S. Welch, was sent to the Forty-fourth Congress. Senator Welch was born in East Hampton, April 12, 182 1. He removed to Michigan in 1 839, where he studied law and was admitted to the bar. He 376 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE went to California during the gold excitement in 1849, but returned to Michigan two years later; he resided in that State until 1865, when he removed to Jacksonville, Florida, and helped to reconstruct that State. He was chosen United States Senator, serving from July 2, 1878, to March 3, 1879. He removed to Iowa, and from 1879 to 1883 was President of the Iowa State Agricultural College. He died at Pasadena, California, March 15, 1889. The present Connecticut Senators are Orville H. Piatt and Joseph R. Hawley. Senator Piatt was born in Washington, July 19, 1827; he received an academical education, studied law, and in 1849 ^'^s admitted to practice. He was elected as a Republican, for his first term as Senator in 1879; he has been an earnest advocate for the abolishing of secret executive sessions of the Senate. Senator Hawley is descended from an old Connecticut fam- ily. He was born at Stewartsville, North Carolina, Oct. 31, 1826. His father was a minister, and the family were tem- porarily in the South at the time of the Senator's birth. He graduated from Hamilton College in 1847, ^^^ three years later was admitted to the bar in Hartford ; he abandoned the legal profession to become editor of the Hartford Courant. General Hawley's war record has been dealt with in another portion of this work. He was first elected to the Forty-second Congress as a Republican, to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Julis S. Strong. He was a member of the Forty-third and Forty-sixth Congresses, leaving the latter to take his seat in the Senate. 377 CHAPTER XXV Connecticut in the House of Representatives — From the First to the Thirtieth Congress THE prominent position that Connecticut has always held in the proceedings of the lower house of Congress, is directly attributable to the greater advantages of cultivation naturally inherited by the older States, as well as to the sturdy worth of the character of her representatives. At the first election held after the ratification of the Feder- al Constitution, there were five Represenatives elected by the people at large; of these Roger Sherman, whom Thomas Jef- ferson declared "never said a foolish thing in his life," was most universally known. The member from Hartford was Jeremiah Wadsworth, born in that city July 12, 1743 ; in his early life he follow^ed the sea, and at the age of thirty settled in Hartford as a mer- chant. During the Revolutionary War he was attached to the Commissary Department of the army, and shared largely in the confidence of Washington ; the latter's first interview with the French officers took place at Colonel Wadsworth's resi- dence. He was a pronounced Federalist, and served through, four Congresses. He died April 30, 1804. The third member was Jonathan Trumbull, who was at- tached to Washington's family as secretary and first aide dur- ing the war. He was Representative until 1795, when he was transferred to the Senate. The fourth member was Benjamin Huntington, born in Norwich April 19, 1736; graduated from Yale College in 1 76 1, and practiced law in his native town. He had held ju- dicial positions; was a member of the Continental Congress; served one term, and was for twelve years Mayor of Norwich, where he died Oct. 16, 1800. The other member was Jonathan Sturges, born at Fairfield, Aug. 23, 1740. A member of Yale, class of 1759, he became 381 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE a lawyer. Mr. Sturges was re-elected to the Second Congress, also was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court of Con- necticut. He died In his native town, Oct. 4, 18 19. Two natives of Connecticut, Theodore Sedgewick and Abraham Baldwin mentioned In the preceding chapter, began their Congressional careers in the First Congress. The new members of the Connecticut delegation to the Second Con- gress were Amasa Learned, who served two terms, and James Hillhouse, who was re-elected twice; but before the termina- tion of his last term, was transferred to the Senate. Mr. Learned was born at Klllingly, Nov. 15, 1750; he graduated from Yale College in 1772, studied theology, but preached only a short time. He died at New London, May 4, 1825. In the Second Congress Israel Smith, of Vermont (see pre- ceding chapter) first took his seat. In acordance with the apportionment based on the cen- sus of 1790, Connecticut's representation in the House of Representatives was changed from five to seven. The new members to the Third Congress were Joshua Colt, Zepha- nlah Swift, and Uriah Tracy ; the latter gentleman remained a member of the House until 1796, when he was promoted to the Senate. Joshua Colt was born In New London, Oct. 7, 1758 ; grad- uated from Harvard College in 1776, and began the practice of law in his native city. He was twice re-elected, but died at New London of yellow fever, Sept. 5, 1798, before the termination of his last term. Zephaniah Swift was born at Wareham, Massachusetts, in February 1759; graduated at Yale College In 1778, and established himself as a lawyer at Windham. He served two terms In the House. He was a judge of the Superior Court of Connecticut for eighteen years, during the last five of 382 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE which he was Chief Justice. Judge Swift was the author of several law works, among which was a "Digest of the Laws of Connecticut," on the model of Blackstone. He died at Warren, Ohio, Sept. 27, 1823. To this Congress came Ezekiel Gilbert, born at Middle- town in 1755. He studied law and began practice at Hud- son, New York; served through the Third and was re-elected to the Fourth Congress. The new faces in the Connecticut delegation to the Fourth Congress were : Roger Griswold, who served five terms, Samuel W. Dana elected to fill a vacancy caused by the trans- fer of Uriah Tracy to the Senate; he remained a member of the House until 18 10, when he too became a Senator. Chaun- cey Goodrich, who was re-elected twice, and afterwards chosen to the Senate; James Davenport, elected to fill the vacancy caused by transfer of James Hillhouse to the Sen- ate. He was born in Stamford Oct. 12, 1758. Graduating from Yale College in 1777, he served in the Commissary Department during the Revolution. He was re-elected, but died during the first session of the Fifth Congress, at Stam- ford, Aug. 3, 1797. Last was Nathaniel Smith born at Woodbury, Jan. 6, 1762. Though his education was limited, he acquired distinction by the energy of his talents. He had been a member of the State Legislature, where he took an active part in the abolishing of slavery, founding the public- school system, and disposing of the public lands of the State. He was re-elected, but declined any further renominations. He died in his native town March 9, 1822. The new Connecticut members to the Fifth Congress were John Allen, William Edmond, and Jonathan Brace. The latter was elected to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Representative Coit. 383 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE John Allen was born in Great Harrington, Massachusetts^ in 1763; admitted to the bar, and settled in 1785 at Litch- field. He was a man of great intellect, and of giant stature, measuring six and a half feet in height, and weighing over three hundred pounds. He was a Federalist in politics. He died at Litchfield, July 31, 1 8 1 2. William Edmond, elected to fill the vacancy caused by the death of James Davenport, was of Irish parentage; born Sept. 28, 1755, he graduated from Yale in 1773. He was a volunteer during Tryon's invasion, and received a wound that lamed him for life. He began the practice of law at New- town; held legislative and judicial positions; was a man of powerful frame and superior intellectual endowments. He was re-elected, and after his retirement from Congress was appointed to the bench of the Superior Court. He died at Newtown Aug. i, 1838. Jonathan Brace was born in Harwinton, Nov. 12, 1754. He began his legal studies in the office of Chief Justice Ells- worth, and was admitted to the bar in Vermont. After a resi- dence of eight years in that State, he settled at Hartford. Mr. Brace was re-elected, but resigned in May 1800. He was mayor of Hartford for nine years, and died in that city Aug. 26, 1837. To the Sixth Congress, which was the first held at Washing- ton, the retirement of John Allen and Nathaniel Smith from the Connecticut delegation caused the election of John Daven- port and Elizur Goodrich. The former (a brother of James Davenport) began a long Congressional career, which did not end until 18 15, when he declined a re-nomination. Mr. Davenport was born in Stam- ford, Jan. 16, 1752; graduated from Yale College in 1773, and was a member of the legal profession. He took an 384 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE important part among the Revolutionary patriots, ranking as major in the Commissary Department. He was, like his brother, a Federalist in politics. He died in his native town, Nov. 28, 1830. Elizur Goodrich was born in Durham, March 24, 1761. He belonged to the Washington and the elder Adams school of Federalists. He was honored with various offices of trust and responsibility; was professor of Law in Yale College, mayor of New Haven nineteen years, and judge of the County and Probate Courts of New Haven County. Mr. Goodrich served only one term in the House. He died at New Haven Nov. i, 1849. To fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Representa- tive Brace, John Cotton Smith was elected, and he remained a member of the House until his resignation in 1806. Two States sent natives of Connecticut to the Sixth Con- gress. From New York came John Bird born in Litchfield; a lawyer of Troy, New York. Abraham Nott born in Saybrook in 1767, went to South Carolina, where in 1791 he was admitted to the bar. Besides being a Representative from that State, he was elected to the Supreme Bench. The new Connecticut members to the Seventh Congress were Benjamin Talmadge, Calvin Goddard, and Elias Per- kins. Mr. Perkins was born in Norwich April 5, 1767, and grad- uated from Yale College in 1786. Lie studied law, but after practicing a few years relinquished the profession. He died at New London, Sept. 27, 1845. Calvin Goddard, a noted jurist and a student under Chief Justice Ellsworth, was born in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, July 17, 1768; he began the practice of law at Plainfield, which town he represented nine times in the Connecticut 385 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE House of Representatives; and was three times elected Speaker of that body. He was re-elected, and in 1807 removed to Norwich, of which city he was mayor for seven- teen years. He died there May 2, 1842. Benjamin Talmadge's Congressional career was of six- teen years' duration. He was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., Feb. 25, 1754. During the Revolutionary War his military ser- vices were invaluable. He took an active part in the capture of Andre ; was the leader of an expedition that resulted in the surrender of Fort George and the destruction of the British stores on Long Island; he was also a member of Washing- ton's military family, attaining the rank of general. After the war he engaged in mercantile business at Litchfield, and acquired a large fortune. He died there March 17, 1835. Two of the delegation from Massachusetts to the Seventh Congress were natives of Connecticut. John Bacon, born in Canterbury in 1737 graduated from the College of New Jersey in 1765; studied theology, and was settled over the Old South Church at Boston. Owing to a difference of opinion between him and his congregation, he was dismissed in 1775, and removed to Stockbridge, where he died Oct. 25, 1820. Manasseh Cutler was admitted to the practice of law in Massachusetts in 1767; this being uncongenial to him, he studied theology, and became a licensed Congregationalist preacher. During the Revolutionary War he served as a chaplain; after its close he studied medicine, and soon mas- tered the science sufficiently to practice, and was thus enabled to minister to both the spiritual and physical needs of his con- gregation. He was a Federalist In politics; was re-elected, but refused all further re-nominations. The new member of the Connecticut delegation, to the 386 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE Eighth Congress was Simeon Baldwin born In Norwich Dec. 14, 1761 ; he was admitted to the bar at New Haven In 1786, having graduated from Yale College five years earlier. He declined a re-election. His death occurred at New Haven May 26, 1851. Simeon Earned, born at Thompson Aug. 13, 1753 ; after- wards removed to Berkshire County, Mass., where he was for several years sheriff; he was elected to fill a vacancy in the Massachusetts representation. From Vermont came Mat- thew Chittenden, who received four re-elections to the House, and resigned in 18 13 to become governor of Vermont. He was born in Salisbury, March 12, 1769, and removed with his parents to the Green Mountain State. Though a college graduate, owing to feeble health he devoted himself to agri- cultural pursuits. He died at Williston, Sept. 5, 1841. The Empire State sent to the Eighth Congress Gaylord Griswold, a native of Connecticut, who had removed to Herkimer County; also Oliver Phelps, a native of Windsor, who resided at Canandaigua, New York. From Delhi, New York, came Erastus Root, a Democrat, born in Hebron, March 16, 1773; he graduated from Dartmouth College in 1793, taught school, studied law and settled in Delaware County, New York. Possessed of highly cultivated intellect and tastes, he became prominent in politics, was a representa- tive in the State Assembly for eleven years, three of which he was Speaker. He was State Senator for eight years, and a Representative in the Eighth, Eleventh, Twelfth, Fourteenth, and Twenty-second Congresses. He was Lieutenant-Gover- nor of New York In 1822, and died In New York City, Dec. 24, 1846. At the opening of the Ninth Congress, three new members of the Connecticut delegation were by re-elections to serve — 387 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE Lewis B. Sturgis six, Timothy Pitkin seven, and Jonathan O. Mosely eight terms. Mr. Sturgis was born in Fairfield in 1762; he was a lawyer, and subsequently emigrated to Ohio; he died at Norwalk in that State March 30, 1844. Mr. Mosely was also a member of the legal fraternity; he was born at East Haddam in 1762, emigrated to Michi- gan, and died at Saginaw Sept. 9, 1839. Timothy Pit- kin was born in Farmington, Jan. 21, 1766; after graduat- ing from Yale College he studied law with Oliver Ellsworth, and began practice at Hartford. He was for twenty-two terms a member of the State Legislature, six of which he was Speaker. Mr. Pitkin was the author of a "Statistical View of the Commerce of the United States," also a "Political and Civil History of the United States from 1763 to 1797." He died at New Haven, Dec. 18, 1847. To fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of John Cotton Smith, Theodore Dwight was elected to the Ninth Congress. He was born in Northampton, Massachusetts, Dec. 15, 1764, studied law, and began practice at Haddam, but finally removed to Hartford, where he became interested in literary work. Mr. Dwight was tall and fine-looking, of command- ing presence, fitted by education and experience to become a valuable member of the House ; but he declined a re-nomina- tion. He died in New York City, June 12, 1846. To this same Congress came two New York Democrats, natives of Connecticut : Uri Tracy, born in Franklin and set- tled in Oxford, New York; he was Representative 1805-7, again 1809-13. He died in the latter year. His Democratic colleague, Josiah Masters, numbered among his personal friends Jefferson, Randolph, Madison, Clay, and other great men, and was a co-operator and adviser of Governor DeWitt 388 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE Clinton in the system of internal improvements which gave to New York the rank of the Empire State. He was born in Woodbury, Oct. 22, 1763, graduated from Yale College in 1784, and soon afterwards removed to Schaghticoke, New York. Mr. Masters held legislative and judicial positions, and was twice elected to Congress. He died June 30, 1822. There was but one change in the Connecticut delegation to the Tenth Congress; the new member was Epaphroditus Champion, who was re-elected for the four succeeding terms. Mr. Champion was born at East Haddam, and was greatly respected for his public and private character. A near neigh- bor of his colleague, Colonel Jonathan O. Mosely, their resi- dences being only a mile apart, and both being officers in the State Militia, they naturally held numerous conferences on military and civil affairs during the exciting times of the War of 18 12. Mr. Champion died at East Haddam, Nov. 22, 1835. The transferring of Samuel W. Dana to the Senate in 1 8 10 caused the election of Ebenezer Huntington to fill the vacancy. Peter B. Porter, a native of Salisbury, was Rep- resentative from New York 1809-'! 3, and 1 815-16, and Ebenezer Sage born in Connecticut, and settled at Sag Har- bor, New York, held the same position 1809-'! 5. The new Connecticut member to the Twelfth Congress was Lyman Law; the delegation remained unbroken during the two succeeding Congresses, which was during the period of our second war with England. Mr. Law was born in New London, Aug. 19, 1770; he graduated from Yale College in 1 79 1, and studied law with his father, Richard Law, who was a member of the Continental Congress. He was a mem- ber of the Federalist party, and died at New London, Feb. 3, 1842. 389 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE A native of New London, Edward Hempstead, born June 13, 1780, was the first delegate to Congress from west of the Mississippi River; he represented Missiouri Territory 18 11- 14; was a lawyer, and resided at St. Louis; a man of ability, pure and without reproach. He died Aug. 10, 18 17. To fill a vacancy in the New York representation, Thomas P. Grosvenor, born in Pomfret in 1780, and a lawyer at Hud- son, was elected to the Twelfth Congress ; he was re-elected to the Thirtenth and Fourteenth. He died April 25, 18 17. William Strong, a Democrat, native of Windham County, was Representative from Vermont i8ii-'i5, and again 1819- '21. Two sons of Connecticut, Richard Skinner and Ezra But- ler, took their seats in the Thirteenth Congress as Represen- tatives from Vermont. The former was born at Litchfield, May 30, 1788; received his education at the famous law school in that town, was admitted to the bar, and removed to Manchester, Vermont. On his retirement from Congress after serving one term, he was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Vermont, also governor from i820-'22. He died, much respected for his public services and private worth, at Manchester, May 23, 1833. Ezra Butler was born in Con- necticut in 1762; began the practice of law at Waterbury, Vermont. He was a member of the State Assembly for eleven years, and of the executive council fifteen years. After serving one term in Congress, he became governor of Ver- mont i826-'2 8. He died at Waterbury in that State, July 19,1838. From New York came John Lovett, a native of Norwich, who served two terms and died in Ohio in 1818; also Samuel M. Hopkins born in Salem May 9, 1772, studied law and became an eminent lawyer. 390 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE A man of versatile ability was James Kilbourne born in what is now New Britain, Oct. 19, 1770. He was appren- ticed as a farmer's boy; the son of his employer gave him lessons in Latin, Greek, and mathematics. He next became a mechanic, then a merchant, afterwards a manufacturer, and finally studied theology and became a clergyman of the Epis- copal Church. In the early part of the nineteenth century, he was instrumental in forming an emigrating colony to locate in Central Ohio, where he organized the town of Worthington. Mr. Kilbourne was elected to the Thirteenth Congress from Ohio as a Democrat, and was re-elected; the legislative act that the United States should grant land, to actual settlers In the Northwestern territory originated with him. He died at Worthington, April 24, 1850. Of the six members of the Vermont delegation at the open- ing of the Fourteenth Congress, four were natives of Connec- cut, all of whom were to serve one term. Asa Lyon was born in Pomfret, Charles Marsh in Lebanon, Daniel Chipman In Salisbury, and Luther Jewett in Canterbury; before the close of that Congress they were joined by Samuel C. Crafts, a native of Windham County, who served i8i6-'23. MIcah Brooks, born in Cheshire in 1775, ^"^ removed In his child- hood to western New York, was also a member of the Four- teenth Congress. There were five new members in the Connecticut delegation to the Fifteenth Congress: Ebenezer Huntington, who had served in the Eleventh Congress, Uriel Holmes, Samuel B. Sherwood, Nathaniel Terry, and Thomas S. Williams. Uriel Holmes was born in Hartland in 1765 ; was a mem- ber of Yale, class of 1 784 ; he practiced law at Litchfield. He resigned before the expiration of his term and was succeeded by Sylvester Gilbert. The latter was born in Hebron in 1756, 391 CONxNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE graduated from Dartmouth College In 1775, and two years later began the practice of law in his native town. In 1780 he was elected to the General Assembly, being the youngest member in the House he was re-elected thirty times to that body, and in 1826 was the oldest member. He died Jan. 16, 1846. Samuel B. Sherwood was born in Connecticut in 1767; a graduate of Yale College in 1786, he studied law and finally settled at Saugatuck, where he died April 27, 1833. From 1 8 10 to 18 15 no man in Connecticut wielded greater political influence. Nathaniel Terry was a classmate of Mr. Sherwood. He was born in Enfield, Jan. 30, 1768 ; was admitted to the bar in 1789. After his retirement from Congress, he was mayor of Hartford from 1824 to 1831. He died at New Haven, June 14, 1844. Thomas S. Williams was born at Wethers- field, June 26, 1777; a member of Yale class of 1794, he studied law at Litchfield, began practice at Mansfield, and in 1 803 removed to Hartford. In his new home he was to fill many positions of honor and trust; besides representing the town in the General Assembly for seven terms, he was mayor of the city i83i-'35. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Errors i834-'47; he was also an official in many charitable institutions, and was noted for his benevolence. He died at Hartford, Dec. 15, 1861. To the Fifteenth Congress, from Ohio, came Levi Barber, Philemon Beecher, and Peter Hitchcock. The former was born in Litchfield County; he was defeated as a candidate for the Sixteenth Congress, but elected to the Seventeenth. Philemon Beecher, an able lawyer was born in New Haven in 1775; he was re-elected, and was again a Representative i823-'29. He died at Lancaster, Ohio, Nov. 30, 1839. Peter Hitchcock was born at Cheshire, Oct. 19, 1780; gradu- 392 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE ated from Yale College In 1801; three years later he was admitted to the bar, practiced in his native town, but in 1806 removed to Geauza County, Ohio. Here he was a member of both houses of the State Legislature; after his term in Congress, he served twenty-eight years on the Supreme Court Bench of Ohio. He died at Painesvllle, Ohio, May 11, 1853. Two of the New York Representatives were natives of Connecticut, Thomas H. Hubbard and John Paine Cush- man. The latter had gained eminence among the legal fra- ternity, and had discharged with ability the duties of the various offices, with which he had been intrusted. He was born in Pomfret in 1784, and after graduating from Yale in 1807, settled at Troy, New York, where he died Sept. 16, 1848. Thomas H. Hubbard was born in New Haven In 1780, and settled at Hamilton, New York, where he was surrogate of the county for ten years. He was Representative in Congress from 1817 to 18 19, and again 1821-23; he removed to Utica, New York, in the latter year, where he died May 22, 1857. From Vermont came Mark Richards, a Democrat, a native of New Haven; he was re-elected. Joel Abbott born in Fairfield, March 17, 1796; studied medicine with his father, and emigrated to Georgia, where he estab- lished himself at Washington. He was a member of the Fifteenth Congress, and was three times re-elected. He died at Washington, Georgia, Nov. 19, 1826. One of the members of the delegation, from the old Key- stone State was Henry Baldwin born in New Haven, Jan. 14, 1780; graduated from Yale at the age of seventeen. He began the practice of law at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; was elected as a Federalist and twice re-elected; he however resigned before the completion of his third term. He was appointed in 1830 justice of the Supreme Court of the United 393 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE States, serving until his death at Philadelphia, Aug. 21, 1844. Justice Baldwin was the author of "A General View of the Origin and Nature of the Constitution and Government of the United States," 1837. The success of the Toleration party in State politics caused a complete change (with the exception of Colonel Mosely) in the Connecticut delegation to the Sixteenth Congress. Among the new members were Samuel A. Foot, Henry W. Edwards, and Gideon Tomlinson, who were afterwards to become Senators. Mr. Edwards was re-elected, and Mr. Tomlinson served from 18 19 to 1827. The other members were John Ross, James Stevens, and Elisha Phelps, who were members of the Democratic party. Mr. Ross served two terms. He was born at Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1764; removed to Hartford, where he died June 22, 1832. Mr. Stevens was born at Stamford; a man of considerable native talent, a politician of sterling integrity, but an inflexible adher- ent of the Democratic party; he voted with the South on the Missouri Compromise. He served one term in Congress, and died April 16, 1835. Elisha Phelps was born at Simsbury, Nov. 7, 1779; a graduate of Yale College in 1800, he studied law at Litch- field, and began practice in his native town. He was a mem- ber of both houses of the State Legislature; he was elected to the Nineteenth and Twentieth Congresses. From 1830 to 1834 he was State Comptroller, and the following year was appointed one of the Commissioners to revise the statutes of the State. He died at Simsbury, April 18, 1847. The New York delegation to the Sixteenth Congress con- tained a number of Connecticut's sons: George Hall, a native of New Haven, came from the central part of the State; Aaron Hackley, also born in New Haven resided in Her- 394 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE kimer; Ebenezer Sage, a former Representative, took his seat, but there being a contest, the House gave it to his opponent, and he served only from Dec. 6, 1819, to Jan. 14, 1820. Henry Meigs, born in New Haven, Oct. 28, 1782, and educated as a lawyer, removed to New York City, where he died May 20, 1861. James Strong, born in Wind- ham in 1783, located at Hudson, was Representative in Con- gress i8i9-'2i and again i823-'3i. He died in Chester, New Jersey, Aug. 8, 1847. Nathaniel Pitcher, born at Litchfield in 1777, removed to Sandy Hill; he was Represen- tative in Congress i8i9-'23, again i83i-'33. He died at Sandy Hill, May 25, 1836. John D. Dickinson, born in Middlesex County in 1767; studied law and began practice at Troy. He was a member of Congress i8i9-'23, again i827-'3i. He died at Troy, Jan. 28, 1841. Henry R. Storrs was born in Middletown, Sept. 3, 1787; he graduated from Yale in 1 804, and practiced law some years at Utica, New York, where he was elected to Con- gress 18 i9-'2i, and i823-'3i. After this he established him- self in New York City, became an eminent legal practitioner, and was distinguished for uncommon powers of discrmina- tion, and great logical exactness; he was a ready and pow- erful elocutionist, and attained the first rank while in Con- gress, as a debater. He died at New Haven, July 29, 1837. Albert H. Tracy, born in Norwich June 17, 1793, studied medicine with his father, but at the age of eighteen years emi- grated to State of New York, studied law and began practice at Buffalo. He served three terms in Congress, representing the district west of Seneca Lake. \Ir. Tracy declined Cab- inet appointments from two Presidents; was defeated as a Whig candidate for United States Senator in 1839. He died at Buffalo, Sept. 12, 1859. 395 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE Two of Vermont's new members were natives of Connec- ticut. Ezra Meech was born in New London, July 26, 1773; he was associated in early life with John Jacob Astor, in the fur trade, and was also interested in ship timber contracts; he finally settled in Vermont, and was elected a Representa- tive to Congress i8i9-'2i again i825-'27. In the latter part of his life he devoted himself to agricultural pursuits, hav- ing at one time a farm of over 3,000 acres stocked with 3,000 sheep and 800 head of cattle. Mr. Meech was noted for his intelligence and hospitality; he was six feet five inches in height, and weighed 370 pounds, and was one of the most expert trout fishers in the country. He died at Shelbume, Vermont, Sept. 23, 1856. Rollin C. Mallary successfully contested his election to the Sixteenth Congress, and was seated Jan. 14, 1820; he was re-elected to the four succeeding terms. He was born at Cheshire, May 27, 1784, and removed to Poultney, Vermont. As a member of Congress he took an active part in all mat- ters appertaining to commerce, and was held in highest esti- mation for both his public acts and private virtues. He died at Baltimore, Maryland, April 16, 1831. William Woodbridge mentioned in a previous chapter, began his Congressional career in the Sixteenth Congress. The new members elected to the Seventeenth Congress from Connecticut were Daniel Burrows, Ebenezer Stoddard, Ansel Sterling, and Noyes Barber. Mr. Burrows was born in Groton in 1766. He was a business man and preacher. His opinion of his brother mem- bers derived from his one term in Congress, was expressed, as follows, in a letter to his brother: That a majority of Congress consisted of second-rate lawyers, who spouted by 396 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE the hour to no purpose only to be heard; and he thought there was no more wicked place than Washington. He also deplored the lack of integrity in men acting in high stations. Mr. Burrows died at Mystic, Jan. 23, 1858. Mr. Sterling was born in New London County Feb. 3, 1782; admitted to the bar in 1805; he was re-elected, and died Nov. 6, 1853. Mr. Stoddard, Representative from 1 82 1 to '25, was born in West Woodstock May 6, 1786; he practiced law extensively in his native town. He was Lieu- tenant-Governor i833-'34; and died at Woodstock Aug. 1 1, 1848. Noyes Barber, born in Groton April 28, 1781, was in early life a merchant, but afterwards became a lawyer. He was a man of ability, universally respected. His vote, during his long Congressional career of fourteen years, was always recorded in the interest of an economical administration of the government. He died at Groton, Jan. 3, 1845. To the Seventeenth Congress, New York sent six new members natives of Connecticut: Joseph Kirkland, Charles H. Ruggles, Micah Sterling, Samuel Campbell, Reuben H. Walworth and Elisha Littlefield; the latter was re-elected. Of these, JVIr. Ruggles was afterwards to become a judge of the Supreme Court of New York, Mr. Kirkland was the first mayor of Utica, and Mr. Walworth was appointed in 1828 Chancellor of the State of New York, which position he held twenty years, when the office was abolished. Chancellor Walworth was pronounced by eminent authorities "the great- est equity jurist living;" his published opinions as Chancellor fill fourteen volumes, while his other opinions occupy as many more. Elias Hayes, a native of Ashford, and John Mattocks, were Representatives from Vermont. The latter was born in Hartford, March 4, 1776. He became a successful lawyer, 397 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE and settled at Peacham, Vermont. He was a brigadier-gen- eral during the war of 1812, Judge of the Supreme Court of Vermont, Representative i82i-'25 and i84i-'43, also gov- ernor for one year, declining a re-election. He died at Pea- cham, Aug. 14, 1847. To the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Congresses Pennsyl- vania sent John Todd, a native of Hartford, and Walter Forward born in Connecticut in 1786. The latter became a lawyer and settled at Pittsburg; he was originally a Demo- crat, but afterwards became identified with the Whig party. Mr. Forward was appointed by President Harrison First Comptroller of the Treasury, and was made a member of President Tyler's Cabinet, receiving the portfolio of Secre- tary of Treasury. On his retirement from the Cabinet he was appointed by President Tyler charge d'affairs to Den- mark, but returned to this country to accept the office of judge of the Alleghany County Court. He died at Pittsburg Nov. 24, 1852. From Maine came William D. Williamson, born in Can- terbury, July 31, 1779. He began the practice of law at Bangor, and was president of Maine's first Senate, and by the resignation of Governor King he became Acting Gover- nor. Mr, Williams was the author of a History of Maine. He died at Bangor May 27, 1846. Josiah S. Johnston, mentioned in a preceding chapter, began his Congressional career as a Representative from Louisiana, in the Seventeenth Congress. By the apportionment in accordance with the Census of 1820, Connecticut's representation in the House of Represen- tatives was reduced to six; there was only one new member to the Eighteenth Congress, — Lemuel Whitman, a graduate 398 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE of Yale College In 1800; he served one term, and died at Farmington Nov. 18, 184 1. From Central New York came Ela Collins of Lowville, ) born at Meriden, Feb. 14, 1786. He became a lawyer, and 1 afterwards commanded a regiment of militia at Sackett's Harbor, in the war of 18 12. He served as Representative one term, and died at Lowville Nov. 12, 1848. Parmenio Adams, a native of Hartford, removed to Batavia, New York; was a paymaster during the war of 18 12. He was a Federalist, and served as Representative from r823-'27. Dudley Marvin, born at Lyme in 1787, removed to Can- andaigua, and in 181 1 began the practice of law, soon attain- ing eminence in his profession. He was an Adams Democrat, and afterwards became a member of the Whig party. He was Representative i823-'29, and was a member of the Com- mittee for Modification and Revision of the Tariff; in absence of the chairman he made an elaborate report, which was the basis of the measure known as the "Woolen Bill." In 1844 he removed to Ripley, New York, where he was again elected to Congress, serving i847-'49. In a speech on the Presi- dent's Message, referring to the Mexican war, his remarks on the extension of slavery in the Territories were almost prophetic in their character. Mr. Marvin's distingushing characteristics were unusual gifts as an orator, and an extreme subtlety of observation, that rendered his powers of cross- examination exceptional. He died at Ripley June 25, 1852. To fill a vacancy in Pennsylvania's representation, Chaun- cey, a younger brother of Walter Forward, was elected. He was re-elected for the two succeeding terms. Mr. Forward was born at Old Granby, and in 1800 removed with his father to Ohio ; studied law, and was admitted to practice at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. He took special interest In the 399 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE Baptist Church, and became a successful and popular preacher, but did not leave politics or cease to practice as a lawyer. He died in 1839. For four Congresses Louisiana sent Henry H. Gurley, born in Lebanon in 1787. He studied law and began practice at Baton Rouge, where he died in 1832. The Ohio delegation to the Eighteenth Congress was strengthened by the election of Elisha Whittlesey. He was born at Washington, Oct. 19, 1783 ; removed in 1806 to the Western Reserve, and served as a Representative in Con- gress from 1823 to July 9, 1838, when he resigned. Mr. Whittlesey was one of the founders of the Whig party, and held several government positions. He was appointed by President Taylor First Comptroller of the Treasury, and held the office until the accession of President Buchanan; he was reappointed by President Lincoln in 1 86 1 . He died at Wash- ington, D. C, Jan. 7, 1863. The new members of the Connecticut delegation to the Nineteenth Congress were Elisha Phelps, a member of the Sixteenth Congress, John Baldwin, Orange Merwin, and Ralph J. Ingersoll. They were all re-elected to the Twen- tieth, and Mr. Ingersoll served through the Twenty-first and Twenty-second Congresses. He was born in New Haven, Feb. 8, 1788; and admitted to the bar in 181 1. He was conspicuous as a debater, and was styled the Young Hotspur. He was a Democrat in politics, and was appointed by Presi- dent Polk minister plenipotentiary to Russia. He died at New Haven, Aug. 26, 1872. To this Congress came from New York Timothy H. Por- ter, a native of New Haven; a lawyer who located at Olean, also Nicoll Fosdick, a native of New London, who located at Norway. 400 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE From Ohio for two terms came John C. Wright, born in Wethersfield in 1783; studied law, began practice at Steu- benville, and became judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio. He afterwards removed to Cincinnati where he became pro- prietor of the Cincinnati Gazette. He was a member of the Peace Congress. He died at Washington, D. C, Feb. 13, 1861. To fill a vacancy, Pennsylvania sent Thomas H. Sill, a native of Connecticut; he was a lawyer by profession, and settled in practice at Erie. He was also a member of the Twenty-first Congress. From the same State came Charles Miner, born in Norwich, Feb. i, 1780. When a youth of nineteen he removed with his father to Wilkesbarre, Penn- sylvania ; he subsequently settled in Westchester. He was a Representative in Congress i825-'29, and declined a re- election on account of deafness. He was author of a His- tory of Wyoming, still a classic in its way and an authority of the first water; also wrote upon the silk-growing business. Mr. Miner was universally respected for his high character and ability. He died at Wilkesbarre, Oct. 26, 1865. The new Connecticut member to the Twentieth Congress was David Plant a native of Stratford. He had been Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives, a member of the State Senate, and Lieutenant-Governor i823-'27. Mr. Plant died in his native town, Oct. 18, 1851. New York sent two Democrats, natives of Connecticut, to this Congress. John C. Clark was again Representative i837-'43. Phineas Tracy, twice re-elected, was born in Nor- wich Dec. 25, 1786; was admitted to the bar, and settled in Batavia ; he was first elected to Congress on an Anti-Masonic ticket. There were four new members in the Connecticut delega- 401 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE tion to the Twenty-first Congress : Jabez Huntington was to serve until 1834, when he was transferred to the Senate. William W. Ellsworth served until 1833 ; as a member of the judiciary committee he prepared and reported the present copyright law. Ebenezer Young born at Killingly in 1784. He was Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives two years, and served for three Congressionl terms. His death occurred at West Killingly, Aug. 18, 185 i. William L. Storrs was born at Middletown March 25, 1791, and admitted to the bar in 18 17. Mr. Storrs had been Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives; he was re-elected to the Twenty-second Congress, also to the Twenty- sixth Congress. He resigned from the latter in June 1840, to accept a place on the Connecticut Bench, which position he filled until his death at Hartford, June 25, 1861. Two natives of Connecticut were new members for New York to the Twenty-first Congress. Henry B. Cowles born at Hartford; removed to Dutchess County and began the practice of law in the adjoining county. Ambrose Spencer, born in Salisbury Dec. 13, 1765, settled at Hudson, where he became a lawyer; In 18 10 he became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New York, retiring from the Bench in 1823. Originally a Democrat, in 1844 he was President of the National Whig Convention at Baltimore. He died at Lyons, New York, March 13, 1848. To fill a vacancy, Humphrey H. Leavitt was elected Rep- resentative from Ohio, and was twice re-elected. He was born at Suffield, June 18, 1796; removed in an early day with his brother to the Western Reserve. He began the practice of law at Steubenville, Ohio, and in 1834 resigned from Con- gress to become judge of the District Court of Ohio, filling the position until his death at Springfield, Ohio, In 1873. 402 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE Judge Leavitt decided the Vallandigham case during the Civil War, and President Lincoln is credited with the remark "that it was worth three victories to him." Frederic Whittlesey born in Washington, June 12, 1799; studied law, and was admitted to the bar at Utica, New York; afterwards settled at Rochester. He was a member of the Morgan committee, and conducted an Anti-Masonic political paper. He was re-elected to the Twenty-third Congress, and was afterwards Vice-Chancelior and Judge of the Supreme Court of New York. He died at Rochester, Sept. 12, 185 i. At the opening of the Twenty-third Congress, Samuel Tweedy was the only new member in the Connecticut delega- tion; before the expiration of that Congress, Joseph Trum- bull was elected to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of W. W. Ellsworth. Representative Foot having been elected Governor, Ebenezer Jackson, Jr., was elected for the unex- pired term. Phineas Miner, an eminent lawyer, a resident of Litchfield, was elected to the unexpired term made by the transfer of Jabez Huntington to the Senate. Among the new members of the New York delegation to this Congress were four Democrats, natives of Connecticut : Henry Mitchell was a physician of Norwich. Sherman Page, who was re-elected, was a lawyer of Unadilla, Abel Hunting- ton, a native of Norwich, who at an early age removed to East Hampton, Long Island, where he practiced medicine for sixty years, — was a Representative in Congress from 1833- '37. William Taylor, who removed with his parents to Onon- daga County, had been president of the New York Medical Society, and practiced his profession for fifty years. He was a Representative In Congress i833-'39. At the opening of the Twenty-fourth Congress, six Demo- 403 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE crats constituted the Connecticut delegation, all of whom made their first appearance as national legislators. At the head of the delegation was Isaac Toucey, who was to become prominently identified with both national and state politics. Another important member was Samuel Ingham born in Hebron, Sept. 5, 1793, admitted to the bar in 181 5; two years later he settled in Saybrook. During his Congressional career he was chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs, also a member of the Committee on Commerce ; he was often called upon to preside over the committee of the whole, and discharged the duties with great skill and ability, during some of the stormy and protracted sessions of the House. Mr. Ingham died at Essex, Nov. 10, 1881. Andrew T. Judson was born in what is now Eastford, Nov. 29, 1784; he obtained only a common-school education, but studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1806. Soon after this he removed to Vermont, but three years later returned to Canterbury, which he made his permanent home. He was Representative in Congress i835-'37 ; he was appointed judge of the District Court, and continued in that position until his death, March 17, 1853. Among the cases brought before him for abjudication was the libel of the Amistad and the Africans on board. Elisha Haley was born at Groton, Jan. 21, 1776; was by occupation a farmer, but was an active leader in politics. Zal- mon Wildman was a native of Danbury; he died at Wash- ington, D. C, Dec. 10, 1835, and was succeeded by Thomas T. Whittlesey, a member of Yale class of 18 17, a lawyer by profession. The other member of the delegation was Launce- lot Phelps. From New York to the Twenty-fourth Congress, of Con- 404 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE necticut birth, came William Mason, who located in Che- nango County; William Seymour who resided at Bingham- ton ; Graham H. Chapin, who settled at Mount Morris, and Francis Granger, a native of Suffield, who has already been mentioned in this work. Mr. Granger was defeated for the Twenty-fifth Congress, was re-elected to the Twenty-sixth and 7 wenty-seventh, but declined all further re-nominations. Isaac E. Crary a native of Preston, a lawyer by profession, was a delegate to Congress from the Territory of Michigan, and on its admission as a State in 1836 was elected Represen- tative, filling the office until 1841. There was one change in Connecticut's delegation to the Twenty-fifth Congress: Orrin Holt, a lawyer, took the seat made vacant by the retirement of Andrew T. Judson. The new members to the Twenty-fifth Congress from New York State, of Connecticut birth, were Luther C. Peck, from the western part of the State, who was re-elected; James B. Spencer, a Democrat, native of Salisbury and a resident of Fort Covington ; Arphaxad Loomis, born in Winchester, and located at Little Falls; Bennet Bicknell, a native of Mans- field, who settled at Morrisville; and Amasa J. Parker. The latter was born in Sharon in 1807; admitted to the bar at Delhi, New York, in the fall of 1828. He was a Democrat in politics, and became judge of the Supreme Court of New York. He died at xAlbany, May 13, 1890. Ohio sent as one of her Representatives John W. Allen, a son of John Allen who represented Connecticut in the Fifth Congress. Mr. Allen was born in Litchfield in 1802 ; removed in 1825 to Cleveland, Ohio, of which city he was mayor. He was a member of the Iwenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth Con- gresses, and served on the Committee on Militia and Military Affairs. 405 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE The six Democratic Connecticut Representatives gave place in the Twenty-sixth Congress, to six members of the Whig party; of these William L, Storrs and Joseph Trumbull were members of earlier Congresses. The others were Truman Smith, who was afterwards to become a Senator, Thomas B. Osborn, Thomas W. Williams, and John H. Brockway. Mr. Osborne was born in Weston, July 8, 1798; gradu- ated from Yale College in 18 17, and began practice as a law- yer in his native town. After his retirement from Congress, he was for ten years professor of Law at Yale ; though a man of retiring disposition, he was a model in private and social life. He died Sept. 2, 1869. Mr. Williams was born in Stonington, Sept. 28, 1789, and was engaged In the mercantile business at New London. Mr. Brockway was born in Ellington, Jan. 31, 1801 ; was a law- yer, and had served in both houses of the Connecticut Legis- lature. He died July 29, 1870. From New York State came to the Twenty-sixth Congress five new members who were natives of Connecticut : Judson Allen, John Ely, Meredith Mallory of Hammondsport, Charles Johnston, a lawyer of Poughkeepsie, and Theron R. Strong, born in Salisbury Nov. 7, 1802. The latter opened a law office at Palmyra, and was a judge of the Supreme Court of New York. He died at New York City, May 15, 1873. From Ohio also came two natives of Connecticut to this Congress : Jonathan Taylor of Newark, and David A. Stark- weather a lawyer of Canton, who was afterwards a member of the Twenty-ninth Congress, and from 1854 to 1857 min- ister Plenipotentiary to Chili. The only change in the Connecticut delegation to the Twen- ty-seventh Congress was the election of William W. Board- man in place of William L. Storrs. Mr. Boardman was 406 ^^ /rM/y^-^^^^^ CONNECTICUT AS A STATE born in New Milford, Oct. lo, 1794; was a lawyer, and had held judicial and legislative positions. To fill a vacancy in the Maine delegation, David Bronson, a lawyer, native of Suffield, was elected. Sherlock J. Andrews, born in Wallingford Nov. 17, 180 1, a graduate of Union College, removed in 1825 to Cleveland, Ohio, where he began the practice of law; his wit, eloquence, sympathy, good sense, and integrity, gave him great power before a jury, or the public. He shared with Thomas Cor- win, at one time, the leadership of the Whig party in Ohio. He served one term in the House of Representatives, but was afterwards judge of the Superior Court of Ohio. He died at Cleveland, Feb. 11, 1880. By the new apportionment, based on the Census of 1840, Connecticut's representation in the lower house of Congress was four. Since 1837 the State had been divided into six Congressional districts, a Representative being elected from each district. In 1842, by an act of the General Assembly, four districts were established as follows: District No. i, consisting of the counties of Hartford and Tolland; district No. 2, the counties of New Haven and Middlesex; district No. 3, the counties of New London and Windham; district No. 4, the counties of Fairfield and Litchfield. The first election in these new districts resulted in the choice of four Democrats ; the most prominent of these was Thomas H. Seymour. The member from the third district was George S. Catlin, born in Harwinton, Aug. 7, 1809. He began the practice of law at Windham, where he died Dec. 26, 1851. Samuel Simon was a native of Bridgeport, where he died Jan. 13, 1847. John Stewart born in Chatham in 1795, was a farmer by occupation; he died in his native town Sept. 16, i860. 407 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE Four Democrats, natives of Connecticut, were sent as new members from New York, to the Twenty-eighth Congress: Edward Rogers, a lawyer from Madison County; Moses G. Leonard, from New York City; Orville Hungerford, from Watertown, who was Representative i843-'47; and David L. Seymour. The latter was born in Wethersfield, Dec. 2, 1803, began the practice of law at Troy; was also Repre- sentative i85i-'52. David R. Tilden of Ravenna, Ohio, a native of Connec- ticut, was a Representative to Congress i843-'47. There was a complete change in the political complexion of the members of the Connecticut delegation to the Twenty- ninth Congress. Truman Smith was again to become a mem- ber of the lower house of Congress ; James Dixon was to com- mence his eventful Congressional career. From the second district came Samuel D. Hubbard, John A. Rockwell repre- sented the third district. He was born in Norwich, Aug. 27, 1803, and studied law, which he practiced with ability and success. During his terms in Congress he was chairman of the Committee on Claims. He subsequently practiced in the Court of Claims, and was the author of a work on Spanish law. He died of apoplexy at Washington, D. C, Feb. 10, 1861. The New York delegation to the Twenty-ninth Congress numbered among its new members three natives of Connec- ticut: Stephen Strong from Owego; Bradford R. Wood, a native of Westport, a lawyer at Albany, afterwards United States Representative to the Court of Denmark, and William W. Woodworth of Hyde Park. A noted philanthropist, who had given bountifully to churches of all denominations, public schools, city parks, and charitable institutions, was Dudley S. Gregory Representative 408 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE from New Jersey to the Twenty-ninth Congress. He was born in Redding Feb. 5, 1800; removed to Albany in 1808; finally engaged in the iron business in the Adirondacks. He died at Jersey City, Dec. 8, 1874. From Missouri came a son of Connecticut to this Congress, who was destined to have a long Congressional career; he was eight times re-elected. John S. Phelps was a son of Elisha Phelps, three times a Representative from Connecticut. John S. was born in Simsbury, Dec. 22, 18 14; graduated from Washington (now Trinity) College, and studied law with his father, emigrating to Missouri in 1843, he settled at Springfield. He was a member of the Select Committee of Thirty-three on the Rebellious States. Mr. Phelps served as a colonel of volunteers in 1861, and the following year was appointed by President Lincoln Military Governor of Arkan- sas. He was Governor of Missouri i877-'8i, and died at St. Louis, Nov. 20, 1886. 409 CHAPTER XXVI Connecticut in the House of Representatives from THE Thirtieth to the Fifty-seventh Congress THERE were no changes in the Connecticut dele- gation to the Thirtieth Congress. From New York State came as new members of Connec- ticut birth, Harmon S. Conger of Cortland, who was re-elected; George A. Starkweather of Cooperstown; John M. Holly, a lawyer from Lyons, who died before the expiration of his term of office; Daniel Gott, who was re-elected; Daniel B. St. John, a native of Sharon, engaged in mercantile business, who was re-elected, and was afterwards State Bank Commissioner of New York; Fred- erick W. Lord, born in Lyme, a practicing physician at Sag Harbor; and Frederick A., a son of Benjamin Talmadge, a Representative from Connecticut for eighteen years. Freder- ick A. was born in Litchfield, Aug. 29, 1792 ; graduated from Yale College in 181 1, and three years later began the practice of law in New York City. He had been alderman of the city, president of the State Senate, and city Recorder for five years. After his Congressional term, he was again Recorder for three years, and in 1857 was appointed General Superinten- dent of the Metropolitan police; subsequently clerk of the Court of Appeals. He died at Litchfield, Sept. 17, 1869. In the Pennsylvania delegation to the Thirtieth Congress was Samuel Bridges born in Colchester, Jan. 27, 1802; admitted to the bar, and began practice at Allentown. He was also a member of the Thirty-third and Fortieth Con- gresses. From the same State, William Strong born in Som- ers, May 6, 1808, was elected Representative. He studied law and was admitted to the bar at Philadelphia, and began practice at Reading. He was re-elected; upon retiring from Congress he continued the practice of his profession until 1857, when he was elected a judge of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. In 1870 he was appointed justice of the Su- 413 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE preme Court of the United States, serving until his resignation in 1880. He died Aug. 19, 1895. John Crowell of Warren was a native of Connecticut, and a Representative from Ohio 1847-51. John H. Tweedy, born in Connecticut, removed to Wis- consin in 1837 and began the practice of law at Milwaukee. He was a member of the first constitutional convention of that Territory, and in 1847 was a delegate to Congress. He died at Milwaukee, Nov. 12, 1891. To the Thirty-first Congress, Connecticut sent a new dele- gation. From the first district, Loren P. Waldo, a Democrat, was elected. He was born in Canterbury, Feb. 2, 1802, read law, and was admitted to practice locating at Tolland. He was afterwards judge of the Superior Court of Connecticut. The second district sent Walter Booth, a Free-Soiler born in Woodbridge, Dec. 8, 1791; he settled at Meriden, and be- came a merchant, manufacturer, and banker. The member of Congress from the third district was Chauncey F. Cleveland; he was re-elected. Thomas B. Butler a member of the Whig party represented the fourth district; he was born in Weth- ersfield, Aug. 22, 1806, practiced medicine for eight years, then studied law, and in 1837 became a member of the bar. Judge Butler was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut; he was a careful student of the law, and his strict idea' few cases thereafter when the parent town lost its double representation. Soon after the adoption of this constitution, North Branford was cre- ated from Branford with one representative ; but the electors of the old town consented to forfeit their double representa- tion in the general assembly. Some years later, when New Britain was created a new tOAvn, by seperation from Berlin, an arrangement was made in the general assembly by which Berlin retained only one representative, and New Britain took the two which had belonged to the old town of Berlin. Article fourth of the constitution provided for the execu- tive department. The governor, lieutenant-governor, treas- urer, and secretary were to be elected by the electors, and the provisions of the section required that if no person should have a majority of the whole number of votes, the general assembly should choose the executive officers from the names of the two persons having the greatest number of votes. This provision of the constitution continued as a part of the fun- 445 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE damental law of the State until 1901, A comptroller was annually appointed by the general assembly, but this pro- vision of the constitution is changed by article five of the amendments which was adopted in November, 1836. Sheriffs were appointed for each county by the general assembly for terms of three years, and in case of death or resignation, the governor had power to fill the vacancy until the same should be filled by the general assembly. Article seven of the amendments adopted in 1838 pro- vided that sheriffs should thereafter be appointed by the electors in each county for terms of three years; and in 1886, by article twenty-eight of the amendments, sheriffs were to be elected thereafter for terms of four years. The fifth article of the constitution provided for the judicial power of the State, which was vested in a Supreme Court, a Superior Court, and such inferior courts as the gen- eral assembly should, from time to time establish. It was also provided that there should be appointed by the general assembly in each county a suflicient number of justices of the peace, with such jurisdiction as the assembly might prescribe. All of the judges were to be appointed by the general assem- bly. Judges of the Supreme and Superior Court were to hold their offices during good behavior, and all other judges and justices of the peace were to be appointed annually. No judge or justice of the peace, however, should be capable of holding his office after arriving at the age of seventy years. Article sixth of the constitution provided for the qualifica- tions of electors, and also provided, to a certain extent, the provisions concerning elections. The qualifications of electors were prescribed in the second section, and provided that every white male citizen of the United States who had gained a set- tlement in the State, and had attained the age of twenty-one 446 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE years, and had resided in the town at least six months preced- ing, could be admitted an elector if he had a freehold estate of a yearly value of seven dollars, or had been enrolled in the militia and had performed military duty for the term of one year, or had paid a State tax within the year next preceding, and had sustained a good moral character. The privileges of an elector were forfeited by a conviction of bribery, forgery, perjury, dueling, fraudulent bankruptcy, theft, or other offence for which an infamous punishment is inflicted. Section seven of this article provided that in all elections the votes of all electors should be by ballot, and the select- men and town clerk were given power to decide on the quali- fications of electors, at such times and in such manner as might be prescribed by law. Article seventh of the constitution contained what was then deemed a very important provision; to wit, the subject of religion and the right to worship. It was declared to be the duty of all men to worship the Supreme Being, but that they had the right to render that worship in the mode most con- sistent with the dictates of their consciences; and that no per- son should by law be compelled to join or support any church or religious association. It w^as further provided, however, that every person then belonging to such church or association should remain a member thereof in the manner thereinafter provided, and that every society or denomination of Chris- tians should have the right to support their churches and min- isters by a tax upon the members of such society. The second section of the article provided that any per- son might separate himself from the society of Christians to which he belonged, by leaving a written notice thereof with the clerk of such society, and he should thereupon be no 447 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE longer liable for any future expenses which might be incur- red by the society. Article eighth of the constitution especially protected the charter of Yale College and the fund called the school fund. Article ninth provided for impeachment of any or all of the executive or judicial officers. Article tenth of the constitution provided the form of oath of office to be taken by all officers; and that each town should annually elect selectmen and other officers of local police. The rights and duties of all corporations were not to be affected in any way, except to the extent that there were restrictions in the constitution. Section four of this article provided that no judge of the Superior Court or the Supreme Court ! no member of Con- gress; no person holding the office of treasurer, secretary, or comptroller; and no sheriff or sheriff's deputy should be a member of the general assembly. The eleventh article provided for amendments to the con- stitution, which to be adopted must be first proposed by a majority of the house of representatives; then approved by two-thirds of each house at the next session of the general assembly; and then ratified by a majority of all the electors of the State at town meetings warned and held for the pur- pose. For nearly fifty years after the adoption of this con- stitution, no important amendments were adopted. In 1828 three amendments were adopted which provided for a senate of not less than eighteen nor more than twenty-four members, to be chosen by districts. Under these amendments, the senate was fixed at twenty-one and con- tinued to be that number until 1881, when the number was increased to twenty-four, and the number of senators elected by districts continued to be twenty-four until and including 448 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE 1903 ; at which time, under the amendment adopted in 1901, the senate was increased to thirty-five. In October 1845, ^" amendment was adopted erasing the property and tax qualification necessary to make citizens elec- tors. In 1855, Article eleven of the amendments required that every person should be able to read any article of the consti- tution or any section of the statutes before being made an elector; and in 1897, Article twenty-nine of the amendments provided that the applicant should be able to read them in the English language. This last amendment was adopted because in some of the towns, naturalized citizens who were unable to read in English had been presented with copies of the con- stitution printed in foreign languages. Changes were made in the provisions concerning the judicial department of the State by amendments adopted in 1850 and 1856, when it was provided that judges of probate and justices of the peace should be appointed by the electors from the several towns and districts, and that judges of the Supreme Court of Errors and the Superior Court, appointed in the year 1855 and thereafter, should hold their offices for the terms of eight years. In 1870, there was much discussion throughout the coun- try concerning changes in the constitutions of the several States. Conventions after conventions were held in the reconstructed Southern States; and the states of Pennsyl- vania, Illinois, and other Northern States, adopted amended and improved constitutions, many of them with special limi- tations upon the powers of the legislatures of such States. The restrictions in the constitutions of the United States were not deemed to be sufficient, and the older constitutions of the several States, like that of Connecticut, contained prac- 449 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE tically but few limitations upon the powers of the legislative bodies. In 1 87 1, a so-called constitutional reform association was formed in Connecticut. Leading men of both parties, mostly residents of cities, became members of this association. Bills were introduced into the general assembly of 1873, providing for a constitutional convention, but they failed to receive a majority vote. Neither the senate nor the house repre- sented at that time the majority of the electors of the State in the manner that was deemed satisfactory by the electors of the cities. Bridgeport, Meriden, and Derby each had only one representative, because they were so-called ne\y towns. When the proposed bill for a constitutional convention had been defeated, the friends of constitutional reform pre- pared several amendments to the constitution, many of which failed; but during the next four years eleven amendments were adopted, having received a two-thirds vote of each branch of the general assembly. Two of these amendments referred to representation in the house of representatives. Article fifteen, adopted in October, 1874, provided that every town that then contained or thereafter should contain a population of five thousand should be entitled to send two representatives, and every other one should be entitled to its present representation in the general assembly. Article eighteen, adopted in October 1876, provided that if any new town should thereafter be incorporated, such new town should not be entitled to representation in the general assembly unless it had twenty-five hundred inhabitants, and unless the town from which the major portion of its territory should be taken had at least twenty-five hundred inhabitants; and that until such town should have at least twenty-five hun- 450 CONNECTICUT AS A STATE dred Inhabitants, the new town should, for the purpose of rep- resentation, be an election district only of the town from which it had been taken, for the purpose of representation in the house of representatives. Prior to the adoption of that amendment, in every decade there had been several new towns of small population incorporated. Since the adoption of that amendment, no new town has been incorporated, except that Ansonia was taken from Derby and made a new town ; but at that time both the old and new town had over five thousand population. In 1875, the time of the election was changed from April to November, and the terms of senators and State officers were extended from one to two years. In 1884, the terms of members of the house of represen- tatives were increased to two years, and the regular sessions of the general assembly were changed from annual to bien- nial. In 1876, the terms of judges of the courts of common pleas and district courts were changed from one to four years, and those of judges of city courts and police courts were made two years. At the same time, the terms of the judges of probate were changed from one to two years. In 1877, two important amendments to the constitution were adopted. The first prohibited the general assembly and all counties, cities, boroughs, towns and school districts from granting extra compensation to public officers or agents, or increasing the compensation of any public officer, to take effect during the continuance in office of the person whose salary might be thereby increased; or from increasing the compensation of any public contractor above the amount specified in the contract. The other amendment then adopted, prohibited any county or city, or other municipality, from 451 CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE becoming a subscriber to the capital stock, or becoming a purchaser of the bonds, of any railroad corporation, or from loaning its credit directly or indirectly in aid of any such corporation. This latter amendment was adopted because many cities, and some of the small towns in the State, had had serious losses from investments or donations for the construc- tion of railroads which failed to be profitable in their oper- ation. Article twenty-six of the amendments, adopted in October 1880, changed the method of the appointment of judges of the Supreme and Superior Courts, by requiring that they should be appointed upon a nomination of the governor rather than by the nomination of a political caucus. In October, 1901, article thirty of the amendments changed the method of electing State officers so that they may be elected by a plurality vote, rather than by the general assembly, if candidates fail to receive a majority of all the votes cast. The constitution of Connecticut, with all the amendments that have been adopted, especially those adopted during the last thirty years, is in the main satisfactory in its provisions to the electors of the State. A constitutional convention was authorized by a vote of the electors in October, 1901, and it held its sessions for several months, beginning in January, 1902. The constitution which they submitted to the people made no substantial changes in the old constitution, except in relation to representation in the lower branch of the general assembly and the method of amending the constitution itself. The electors, however, in both the large and small towns of the State, did not favor the proposed new constitution, and it was defeated at a special election, held in 1902, by a large majority. 452 SEP 21 1904 I i DELTOCAT. u.r TP^ :?1 1904- LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 014 111 748 8