The Romance of Norwalk

Daniel Nash, John W. Nash, Nathan Nash, Conrad Newkirk, sergt.; David B. Nichols, Lewis Perry, Charles Raymond, George A. Raymond, Jabez Raymond, Uriah Raymond jr., Thomas Raymond, Waters Raymond, Isaac Rockwell, David Scofield, Richard Scott, sergt.; Nearza Scribner, Lyman Seeley, Frederick Selleck, Wray Sellick, Corp.; James Seymour, sergt.; Uriah Seymour, corp.; Samuel B. Skidmore, corp.; Chapman Smith, Charles Smith, muse.; Frederick Smith, Henry Smith, Ebenezer Smith. James Smith, Joel Smith, John L. Smith, corp.; Joseph St. John, Stephen St. John, Henry Street, William L. Street, John Strut, sergt.; Samuel Strut, Adam Swan, second lieut. Uriah Tailor, Isaac Warren, Lewis Waterbury, Charles Weed, David Weed, George Weed, Henry Weed, Jarvis Weed, James B. Weed, John L. Weed, Scudder Weed, Sellich Weed, Sergt.; William Weeks, Lewis Whitney, sergt.; Matthew Wilcox, William Wilcox, sergt.; John Wireman and Joseph Wood. Enlisted men: Henry Allen, Ethus Barthis, Moses Beers, Seth Bouton, Lewis Brown, Samuel Buttery, George El- wood, Shubael Elwood, sergt. ; Philo Hoyt, Abel Hubbell, sergt.; Isaac E. Johnson, Joseph Knapp, corp.; Charles Lawrence, Daniel Nutting, corp.; Adam Parker, Zery Stevens and John Webb. “cold summer’’ A “cold summer” swept over the country in 1 8 1 6 bringing with it sudden frosts, snow and even ice and leaving in its wake devastation on every side in crippled farms, with corn, WAR OF 1812 207 grain and every green thing black and frozen. Norwalk, with its many little farms of grain and vegetable produce keenly felt the disaster, and in many homes during the fol¬ lowing winter were experienced bare cupboards. Food was scarce and exorbitantly high in price and in many cases nigh unobtainable. The next spring the farmers faced the pros¬ pect in securing seed for their summer crops, of traveling long distances south, and then they had to pay prices which could not but devour the profits for that year’s crops. This “cold summer” of 1816 is described in the Hart¬ ford Times as follows: “There are old farmers in Con¬ necticut who remember it well. It was known as the year without a summer. The farmers used to refer to it as ‘eighteen hundred and starve to death.’ January was mild, as was also February, with the exception of a few days. The greater part of March was cold and boisterous. April opened warm but grew colder as it advanced ending with snow and ice and winter cold. In May, ice formed half an inch thick, buds and flowers were frozen and corn killed. Frost, ice and snow were common in June. Almost every green thing was killed and the fruit was nearly destroyed. Snow fell to the depth of three inches in New York and Massachusetts and ten inches in Maine. “July was accompanied with frost and ice. On the fifth, ice was formed of the thickness of window glass in New York, New England and Pennsylvania, and corn was nearly all destroyed in certain sections. In August, ice formed half an inch thick. A cold, northern wind prevailed nearly all summer. Corn was so frozen that a great deal was cut down and dried for fodder. Very little ripened in New England, even here in Connecticut and scarcely any in the middle states. Farmers were obliged to pay $4 and $5 a bushel for corn of 1815 for seed for the next spring plant¬ ing. The first two weeks of September were mild, the rest of the month cold and blustering with good sleighing. De¬ cember was quite mild and comfortable.” PROSPEROUS DAYS Chapter XX Norwalk Progresses In Spite Of Drawbacks — Tozvn Ex¬ pands — New Roads Built — Community Is Thriving Center In i8ig — Hartford Is Smart Social Center — Wire Factory Is Established In Georgetown. Norwalk prospered after the War of 1812. It grew in shipping, in farming, in factory output, in homes, in popu¬ lation, in area. As its area expanded, so did the length of its highways, and the early years of the nineteenth cen¬ tury reveal many calls upon the town treasury for lengthen¬ ing, widening, grading and repairing of roads. The records are full of petitions from residents in various parts of the town who desired repairs or improvements to their roads, than which there were no worse. There were two reasons, for the deluge of petitions: first the fact that Norwalk had “growing pains”; second, the fact that this was the hey¬ day of the stage coach. Each year saw an improvement in its equipment, efficiency and speed. It demanded better roads and its demands were backed by the townspeople who had grown weary of mudholes and ruts. The town was not prepared; in fact, it would have been impossible for the town to have satisfied all the petitions anyway for they all came at once. Many quarrels arose as a result of the dis¬ satisfaction which followed the negating of petitions. Time and again we find in the town records, that the General Assembly at Hartford had found it necessary to step in and to order this road fixed or that forgotten as the case might be. But Norwalk prospered just the same. And she ex¬ panded, industrially and intellectually. New books, letters, 208 PROSPEROUS DAYS 209 newspapers, the stage coaches and the boats kept her in constant touch with the outside world and she profited by her acquired knowledge. New ideas came to the commun¬ ity, new ideas in custom, in reform, in dress. At this time, the Empire dress, which had long flowing lines and a short waist with no particular pressure on any part of the body, was popular for women. It was quite unlike the tightly laced and boned bodied dresses of the previous centuries. Other “innovations” came here. The early nineteenth cen¬ tury saw the introduction of lefts and rights in shoes and the use of shoe blacking. Hitherto, a concoction of lamp¬ black, suet and tallow wax had been the habitual cleaning material. NORWALK IN I 8 1 9 Just how far Norwalk had progressed, from the time of its settlement in 1651 until the beginning of the 19th cen¬ tury, was set forth in the “Gazetteer of the States of Con¬ necticut and Rhode Island” by John C. Pease and John M. Niles under date of 1819. In this surprising tabulation we learn that Norwalk at the time had 13 primary schools, one academy, 16 mercantile establishments, seven taverns, three physicians, three clergymen, two attorneys, 400 houses, a population of 2,983, which of course no longer included Wilton and New Canaan, and an aggregate grand list of $53,23 1. Of factories, she had six, four carding machines shops and two tanneries. Of mills, there were 12: one woolen, two cotton, one slitting and rolling, five grain, three clothing. Three churches, one bookstore, one post office, one newspaper office, 16 vessels and five companies of mili¬ tia, complete Norwalk’s index. How did she compare with her neighbors? Stamford, settled 11 years before Norwalk, had one more tavern. In addition, she had seven churches, four more than Norwalk, two libraries, and an aggregate grand list of $91,668. But Stamford’s “fleet” was small, totalling only isix vessels. Fairfield, settled 12 years before Norwalk, boasted two 210 ROMANCE OF NORWALK more physicians, and one more clergyman than did our town and no less than seven attorneys! Bridgeport, on the other hand, found use for only one attorney and two churches were quite sufficient for it. It had, however, three printing offices which published two weekly newspapers, two book binders, a pottery and 15 warehouses. Its “fleet” was of good size, including 18 vessels. Danbury had made rapid strides. Settled in 1685, 34 years after Norwalk, by Norwalk men, it had passed our town in most all fields. Danbury had 17 schools, 11 mer¬ cantile stores, six taverns, five physicians, four clergymen, three attorneys, 550 houses, a population of 3606, an ag¬ gregate grand list of $74,556. In the town were 28 hat factories, four tanneries, four carding mills, several lime kilns, two woolen mills, three fulling, three grain and one paper mill. In addition, Danbury had seven churches, a court house, a post office and two libraries. But it was Hartford that set the pace for the state. Hart¬ ford was the center of intellectual, industrial, political and social progress. For girls, in those days, a trip to Hartford, equalled a trip to Europe now. In Norwalk, it was con¬ sidered the height of elegance to be able to say that you had “entertained friends from Hartford over the week¬ end!” Twenty-one taverns, and 18 beer houses drew much trade to Hartford. This city, settled in 1635, included in its assets, 12 schools, five wholesale drygoods stores, 25 re¬ tail, 6 1 grocery and provision stores and a drugstore, at the time of the publishing of the Gazetteer. Hartford’s professional men totalled 12 physicians, five clergymen, and 22 attorneys. It had 850 houses, a population of 6,500 and an aggregate grand list of $137,845.75. Its factories were of various kinds: one cotton, four cloth¬ ing, two carding, eight distilleries, six tanneries, five potter¬ ies, one button, one whiplash, two hat, two tinware, and two looking glass; five grain mills, two woolen mills and one oil mill. But it was not Hartford’s bricklayers, nor tailors, nor its silver shops nor its pewter factories which brought PROSPEROUS DAYS 21 1 it fame. It was the distilleries for it had more and bet¬ ter distilleries than any other community in the state. Hart¬ ford was proud of its liquor industry but it was not so cer¬ tain that the rest of the state was equally proud of it. There were many who felt it to be “an unholy waste of grain.” And so it is that we find Hartford, in a half apologetic article explaining that not only does the manufacture of liquor not result in a waste of grain, perhaps to the detri¬ ment of the poor, but that rather it increases its production. GEORGETOWN WIRE MILL