Leading Business Men of Fairfield County

the rough and in the form of intricate machinery; brass goods; machine, and many- other lines of tools; pianos and organs, paper boxes, toys, knives, locks, rubber- goods, hats, tacks, buttons, carpets, carriages, saws, silk goods, gas-fittings, and gen- eral plumbers' goods, shoes, silver-goods, varnishes, cartridges, furniture, paper, cop- per goods, wheels, bronzes, scissors, springs, britannia goods, beside many celebrated specialties. When one considers that at present, large houses are engaged in all the above lines, and in a majority of the many such houses an approximate idea may be formed of the great variety and wealth of prospective growth the manufacturing in- terests of Bridgeport have now attained. As must necessarily be the case from the large amount of freight business, the facilities therefor are not excelled by any city in New England. The New York,. New Haven & Hartford offers the best provisions which can be desired for reaching all parts of the country, while the Housatonic and Naugatuck command a large and important section of the State. The despatch of freight by water is also of the most convenient and rapid order. The Bridgeport Steamboat Company and the People's Steamboat Line with their fine fleets of passenger and freight steamers, offer the finest opportunities for reaching all parts of the country through New York city. The mercantile trade has increased proportionally with the advance in population and spirit of the city itself. At the present time, there are a large number of large trading houses in the city which for magnitude and enterprise are hardly to be ex- celled by any in New England, while they compete successfully with the largest mercantile houses throughout the country. As an example of the enterprise of her merchants it might be well to cite the large grain elevator of Crane & Hurd, which, at the time of its erection in 1871, was the only one between New York and Boston. Much of the business prospei'ity of Bridgeport has been due to the wise foresight and action of the Bridgeport Board of Trade. Organized 1875 to meet an imperative need, it has exercised a most telling influence over the growing industries of the city. Its original officers were: President, Robert T. Clarke; vice-presidents, Nathaniel Wheeler, P. T. Barnum, Jarratt Morford, E. V. Hawes, and J. D. Alvord; secretary, T. R. Cruttenden; treasurer, Thomas L. Watson; directors, Robert T. Clarke, Nathaniel Wheeler, N. Buckingham, R. B. Lacey, E. V. Hawes, J. Morford, P. T. Barnum, B. Soules, James Staples, D. W. Sherwood, J. D. Alvord, Frederick Hurd, A. C. Hobbs, M. W. Seymour, Hanford Lyon, George Mallory, S. C. King- man, D. M. Read, C. B. Hotchkiss, General W. H. Noble, E. G. Westcott, E. L. Gaylord, N. G. Miller, R. Kost, Charles Hough, E. Parmly, G. W. Bacon, S. W. Baldwin, W. H. Wessels, S. C. Nickerson, E. S. Burnham, and Zalmon Goodsell. Though frequently changing, the directors of the Bridgeport Board of Trade have continued to represent the leading business men of the city. At the present time, D. M. Read is serving as President of the Board for the eleventh time, and R. B. Lacey for the tenth time as Secretary. From the rare union of prudent conservatism and enthusiastic progress, which have marked the past years of Bridgeport's commercial history, we may rest assured that not only has the foundation been firmly laid, but the materials also have already been prepared with which her business men are constructing a superstructure of the highest beauty and value. 42 BRIDGEPORT, PAST AND PRESENT. BRIDGEPORT, PAST AND PRESENT. 43 CHAPTER VI. EDUCATIONAL, LITERARY AND SOCIAL. No higher praise could be given to the educational system of Bridgeport than that it is worthy of the city. Upon the solid ground-work which can be traced back to the old Puritan days, progressive ideas have been developing a higher and more liberal school-culture as the city itself has been pushing forward. About the time of the formation of the Stratfield Ecclesiastical Society, in 1690, a school was organized, of which the Rev. Charles Chauncey was the first teacher, and since that time the church and the school have continued to work alongside of each other in forming noble character. Among the other noted pedagogues of that day in Strat- field were William Rogers and John Wheeler, the latter receiving £63 for teaching a summer school in 1736. In 173S, a second school building was erected, and in 1766, Stratfield was divided into three school districts. It has been found a most interesting branch of antiquarian study, though time forbids an exhaustive reference here, to look up the text books used in those days, with their excessively quaint illustrations and the queer phraseology, such as "Adam, he ate of the tree." It would perhaps be well, however, not to be too critical, when we remember that this was the intellectual food which nourished the heroes of the Revolution. An important step forward in the educational line was made in 1796, when a school society was organized here, in accordance with a recent State law, to superintend the administration of the schools. About this time considerable money was given to schools by the State, the interest of the sum obtained by the sale of the " Western Reserve Lands" being distributed for this purpose by the legislature. The "School Society" continued in existence until 1856, when the system of to- day with a few changes was adopted. The spirit of the town is admirably shown by the action it took in 1858, to abolish the required tuition money and establish a free school system, ten years previous to the time when the State made such action compulsory and universal. In 1875, after considerable discussion, in which Henry T. Shelton through the Standard took a leading part, it was voted to unite all the eleven school districts in Bridgeport under one government, and a Board of Education was organized. Its original officers were: President, James C. Loomis; Vice-president, Daniel H. Ster- ling; Secretary, Henry T. Shelton; Superintendent, Henry M. Harrington. Since that time the growth of the schools has been continuous and marked. In 1877, a commodious brick building was erected on the site of the old Island Brook school-house, Avhich had been destroyed by fire. A training school for teachers was opened in 1879. The large and beautiful High School building was completed in 44 BRIDGEPORT, PAST AND PRESENT. 1882. The new plan which was adopted for heating and ventilating it has attracted attention and approval all over the country. The excellent discipline and the unusually broad range of study offered have justly rendered the Bridgeport High School one of the most famous in the State. Two extensive school-houses, of a most attractive architectural style and approved internal arrangement, were erected in 1884. A worthy precedent was established in 1885 by the donation by Hon. P. T. Barnum of $1,000 for the awarding each year of two gold medals to the two schol- ars in the High School "who shall write and publicly pronounce the best two English orations." One interesting fact recently brought out is the discovery by statistics, that the cost per scholar of maintaining the schools in Bridgeport is the lowest of any city in the State, being $15.43 for each scholar a year. This demonstrates, in connection with the unexcelled advantages offered, a most excellent wisdom in the application of funds and an enviable simplicity of machinery in the management of the educational interests. One of the most successful teachers Bridgeport ever had, as well as one of those who have done most to perfect the school system, is Miss Lydia R. Ward. In private schools, Bridgeport has always been highly favored, and in particular the Golden Hill Seminary and the Hillside Seminary are two of the best known young ladies' boarding schools in this part of the country, drawing a large patronage from the best families of New York and other cities. Bridgeport has always felt a most decided interest in literary, scientific and social affairs. The old " Philomathean Society " bears ample evidence to the strength of their regard for the former.- This society was organized in 1855, and contained many of the most cultured men of the city, some of whom have since won high honors in professional life. It continued its debates and literary work up to 1866. Of late years, several successful reunions have revived the recollection of how popular it was and how much good it did. The Bridgeport Scientific Society, organized in 1877, has had a prosperous and progressive existence. Among its early officers were President H. N. Powers, D. D. ; Vice-President, Clarence Sterling; Secretary, Geo. C. Waldo; Treasurer, T. E. Peck; Librarian, Leonard Sterling; Historian, Annie Sterling. Much valuable scientific research and experimentation has been done, particularly in the line of botany. A large herbarium, in addition to an extensive museum and library have been collected within its rooms in the Wales Building on Main Street. Bridgeport has possessed a large number of able papers since it first emerged into some faint resemblance to a town. The date of their commencement has been as follows: The Bridgeport Farmer, originally started as the Republican Farmer in 1790, ran successfully until the time of the Civil War, when it aroused much open hostility for its disloyal sentiments. Since that time it has continued to grow and to prosper, until it has come to occupy a leading position among the great journals of the State. The American Telegraph was started in 1795, by Lazarus Beach but did not survive many years. The Bridgeport Herald, started in 1805; the Bridgeport Advertiser, 1806; the Connecticut Courier, 1810; the Connecticut Patriot, 1826; the Spirit of the Times, 1831; the Bridgeport Chronicle, 1848; the first Bridgeport Leader, 1854; all these had a comparatively brief and unimportant existence. The initial number of the Republican >Sta?idard was published by A. A. Petten- gill, editor and proprietor, in 1839. Mr. Pettengill about the same time purchased BRIDGEPORT, PAST AND PRESENT. 45