Leading Business Men of Fairfield County

The records of the Ninth and Seventeenth Regiments have been given in the history of Bridgeport. The men of the Tenth first saw active service off the coast of North Carolina and later during an invasion of that State. They fought with exemplary courage in the series of battles in Charleston Harbor and won distin- guished honors at the battle of Fort Wagner. For two years they helped to preserve Florida to the Union and passed through the final series of battles around Richmond under Grant, completing their four years' service by witnessing the surrender of Lee at Appomattox Court House. The Thirteenth was called a " dandy regiment," but soon showed what metal it was made of. First at New Orleans, then at Port Hudson and the other battle-fields around Vicksburg, and finally under Sheridan in the Shenandoah valley, the chivalric spirit of the gallant men who composed it was exemplified by many noble deeds. The Twenty-eighth also showed a brave and patriotic devotion, particularly in the battles around Vicksburg, where many of its noblest and best men were slain. Stamford was also represented in the battles of Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Cedar Creek, and most of the other important battles of the war. Men, money and supplies were furnished with generous patriotism hardly surpassed even in our own State. More than $74,000 were subscribed by the citizens of the town to maintain the Union and its defenders, while the devoted women labored without ceasing that the gallant soldiers might not be in need of anything in the physical, mental, or religious spheres. Many homes were left desolate by the war. Amotig the number of the noble dead we find the names of the following: Captain Francis R. Leeds, formerly cashier of the Stamford Bank, who died in Florida, December, 1862, a victim to over exertion in his devotion to the country and the effects of the Southern climate; Lieutenant Charles Durand, who was shot while leading his command in the charge at Port Hudson; Corporal James Vail and Jason Wardell, who were also shot during the same charge. All these, and others whose names we do not now find, were among the most beloved and honored citizens of Stamford, and though their loss created deep mourning, yet now their memory brings no thought save that of sacred peace and the noble work which they helped to achieve. It is since the war that most of the progress of Stamford has been made. As the beauties and facilities of the place have come to be better known it has rapidly advanced both as a manufacturing center and as a summer resort. The manufacturing interest has grown so extensively that it has placed the town in the front rank among the busy cities of this busy State. A line which has made the town famous in all parts of the country is the manufacture of locks, one of the largest houses of the kind, probably, in the world, being located here. Large quan- tities of stoves, iron, brass, copper, and hollow ware, hot air and cooking ranges, castings, boots and shoes, wire and edge tools, carriages, billiard tables, wall paper (Lincrusta- Walton), fire-brick, drain pipes, marble and stone carvings, are also made here and exported. The town has assumed already that air of modern progress and 156 STAMFORD, PAST AND PRESENT. enterprise which mark the larger cities of the State. Many massive and elegant structures have arisen of late years to represent the business of the town. In their lines the buildings of the Yale & Towne Company, the Brunswick & Balke Company, and the Stamford Bank have few superiors in the St^te. A beautiful town-hall building, of brick and Ofeio stone, has been erected at a eost of $150,000. The Ferguson Library, one of the best in this part of the State and thoroughly appreciated by the people, also occupies an elegant building. There are twelve churches in the town, all well sustained, and some of their edifices are very beautiful. Three enterprising newspapers are published here, and admirably sustain the public interests. There are also two national and two sav.ngs banks, beside a large number of mercantile houses, some of large proportions and wide reputation. The situation of Stamford has played no small part in its recent development. Hardly more than an hour's ride from New York by rail, it was not possible that its advantages could long escape observant and admiring eyes. At the present time, twenty-eight trains a day stop at Stamford coming from New York, and as many going the other way, beside a special train which the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company have recently added to meet a growing need of those coming up from New York late in the evening from the theatres. A steamboat line has also been established, and daily trips are made back and forth from the metropolis. Stamford has now come to be one of the most popular residences for business men in the vicinity of New York city. The pure, invigorating atmosphere, the magnificent scenery toward the Sound and back toward the country, its fine roads for riding, and the unusual social and church privileges for a country residence have justly rendered it one of the most delightful of all our places of country residence or summer resort. The town is said to have " more elegant private residences than any other of its size in the State." The beautiful situation and advantages of "Shippan Point" are too well known to need description. In addition to the good points we have already named, the facilities for sea- bathing, boating and fishing, the large number of first-class hotels with every ac- commodation, and the lack of dazzle and glare which confound many as the true aim of a season's recreation, have made Stamford one of the most popular of our summer resorts for those who can discern and appreciate the "real" advantages of a watering place. The ever-increasingly large number who spend a few weeks or months of the summer here, goes to show that this is a growing class among our people, and that Stamford is rightly coming to take a high rank among the best watering places on the New England coast. The population, which in 1880 was 11,298, is now estimated to be not lower than 15,000, and will probably increase yet more rapidly in the near future. The school system is a most excellent one. There are seventeen common schools in the town, four graded schools and two academies, which are all managed by the most approved modern methods and offer exceptional privileges. Several private schools are also maintained. The management of the water and gas supply is most scientific- and satisfactory, and great attention is paid to the efficiency of the fire and police depart- ments. To a very marked degree Stamford is coming rapidly to assume an import- ant position among the representative New England cities of today. EAD1NG BUSINESS II OF ST St. John, Hoyt & Co., Lumber Dealers, Canal Dock. — Since the business was inaugurated in 1868, this house has maintained its leadership among the representative mercantile concerns of Stamford, and the firm have long been identified with the growth of the town as a manufacturing and trade centre. The office and large yards of the firm are ad- mirably located on Canal Dock, where they pos- sess every facility for receipt, handling, storage and shipment of large quantities of merchandise, the advantages for transportation from the lumber regions and to all parts of the country, either by rail or water, being all that could be desired. They have five hundred feet of dock front, and tke piling ground covers five acres of land. Messrs. St. John, Hoyt & Co. handle large quantities of all kinds of rough and dressed sea soned lumber, and supply everything in their line with dispatch and at lowest possible wholesale and retail prices, and the promptitude in filling orders, liberal policy and honorable methods of these successful merchants, command universal commendation of their trade and correspondents. About one-half the business is at wholesale and extends over the State; a track in the yard con- necting with the railroad, giving them unequaled facilities for shipping lumber promptly. Messrs. John St. John, Harvey Hoyt and Wm, H. Judd are the individual members of this relia- ble firm. They are all natives of Stamford and are recognized as three of her most influential, public- spirited citizens. They are the president, vice president, secretary and treasurer, respectively, of the St. John Wood Working Co., the leading source of Sash, Door and Moulding supply in this section of New England. Mr. St. John is one of the burgesses of the borough of Stamford, and Mr. Judd is a director of the Stamford Savings Bank. The St. John Wood Working Co., Manufacturers of House Trimmings of every Description, embracing Pine, Hardwood and Cabinet Trim- mings, Mantels, Doors, Sashes and Blinds, Mouldings, etc., Carving, Turning, Lumber Yards, Factory, Kiln-Dryers and Office, Canal Dock. — This corporation is the outgrowth of the extensive Lumber business, inaugurated by Messrs. St. John, Hoyt & Co., in 1868, and its or- ganization was necessitated to sup- ply the great demand upon the re- sources of the firm named, for work- ed Lumber, Frames, Sash, Doors, and Wood work generally. With a view of reducing the cost of production, and at the same time at- taining the highest standard of excel- lence in their manufactures, they have recently added to the works a kiln dryer, with capacity for 40,000 feet of lumber, and introduced in all departments of the manufactory the most improved wood working machinery obtain- able. Nothing but kiln dried lumber is used. The company was incorporated in 1885, and possess ample facilities for their business, which is conducted on a scale of great pro- portions. The extensive lumber yards, factory, kiln dryers and office are conveniently located on Canal Dock, and the buildings cover an area of several acres. The factory is supplied with best wood-working machinery in use, driven by a steam engine of 150 horse power, and a Urge force of workmen are employed in the various departments of the business.