The Romance of Norwalk

In succeeding years, the time was extended to September 15, then to October 1, then set back to September 1 and in 1845 ^e time was set by the town from April 1 until Sep¬ tember 15. The town also decreed that from September 15 until April 1, no person should take “a greater quantity than three bushels of oysters in the space of 24 hours.” One could hardly get rich on that. A third section of this same 1845 ^aw instructed those who took oysters from the town waters to throw overboard all small oysters and shells. Thus was provision made for the reception of new spat or other oyster set. In the year 1842, Connecticut, the first state to do so, granted vested rights in oyster grounds and thereafter it became lawful for owners of land in the state of Connecticut where there were salt water creeks or inlets, “to dam gate or lock said creek or inlet” preparatory to the growing of oysters. OYSTER PLANTING Oyster planting was begun in earnest in Norwalk in the year 1845, following a state law which gave the various towns and cities in Connecticut the privilege of planting in their waters, oysters brought from outside the state. A year later it was also lawful to plant oysters here brought from any port within the state. Norwalk was quick to take advantage of all privileges in the oyster industry. The town records of October, 1847, disclose the fact that Edward Stuart, William Hallock, Stephen Olmstead, Levi Clark and Daniel Hoyt were named a committee “To mark, stake out and inclose a piece of ground near Tavern Island to be used by said applicants for laying down or planting oysters.” Non-residents were warned against taking any oysters from local beds by a state law in 1848. In 1855, the two-acre law went into effect. This, in short, 350 ROMANCE OF NORWALK provided that towns might appoint a committee not exceed¬ ing five in number “who may if public intent requires, desig¬ nate to any person desiring to plant oysters, an area not exceeding two acres in extent.” Norwalk, upon receiving the state’s instructions, appointed Harry Pennoyer, Burr Nash and David Roberts to designate grounds for the planting of oysters in the Norwalk Harbor. At that time the state considered that two acres of oyster ground was all one man could handle. “For ten years after the passage of the two acre law, cultivation of oyster ground was con¬ fined to the rivers and harbors of the state and areas inside the Norwalk Islands,” according to James Bogart, formerly engineer of the Connecticut Shellfish Commission, in an ar¬ ticle on the oyster industry in this state, published in the 5th annual report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics for 1889. The report was republished in the Conn. Public Documents, 1910. In 1864, property in the claims set out in accordance with the provisions of the acts of 1855 and 1864 was made liable to assessment and taxation in the towns where such claims were situated, in the same manner as other property. In 1865 offshore planting in 20 to 25 feet of water, at low water began between Fish Island and the Norwalk islands. In 1870, planting offshore in 30 feet and over began outside the Norwalk Islands and was followed a few years later by deep water planting outside of New Haven Harbor. Norwalk led the entire country in deep water experiments. Up to this time none of the oyster owners had even consid¬ ered the planting of young oysters on the offshore grounds, partly because it was not thought the embryo oysters could live in the rougher water; partly because the planters feared the hoards of starfish which abounded on the floor of the Sound, at a distance from shore ; and partly because few knew or understood just how much of the Sound belonged to Connecticut and how much belonged to New York. OYSTER INDUSTRY 35i NORWALK USES STEAM FIRST To Norwalk, Connecticut, in the year 1874, goes the honor of having introduced steam into the oyster industry and of having set an example which the rest of the world quickly followed. Many sorts of sails and ships had pre¬ ceded steam, including canoes, rowboats, sharpies, sloops, scows and schooners. In the heyday of the oyster industry Norwalk had one of the largest fleets of oyster boats in the state. The sharpie, said to have been originated by the fishermen of this state, was admirably adapted to the oyster business. It had a sharp bow and a broad flat bottom and was able to carry a large cargo on a very light draft, an important feature in the oyster boat then, as it was thus able to pass safely over the scarcely submerged oyster beds. Captain George N. Warren had one of the largest sharpies in Norwalk, named after himself. Scows were found in Norwalk in good numbers. Many of them used to anchor down in the Ware Creek below the Nash Engineering plant on the Wilson Point road. Captain Augustus Raymond had one of the biggest. Captain Peter Decker, founder of the Peter Decker Oys¬ ter Co., on Cove ave., sold two years ago, and uncle of the late David B. Decker, pioneer in the oyster industry in Nor¬ walk, was the originator of the use of steam in the oyster business in this country. In spite of the jeers and gibes of his friends and fellow-oystermen, he tried out his idea in his little sloop “Early Bird” and achieved success. Captain Decker under date of December 10, 1881, wrote the fol¬ lowing letter to the “Sea World” in answer to an inquiry concerning the introduction of steam into the oyster business: “I put steam power in my sloop for the purpose of towing and hauling my oyster dredges in March, 1874? and found her capacity for catching oysters augmented about ten times without increasing her working expenses. In 1876, a boat for the same purpose was built at City Island, New York, and in 1877, another at Norwalk, making three all told and now I can count twelve in active operation and several in 352 ROMANCE OF NORWALK process of construction. I have 5 6 acres of hard bottom oyster ground which I was unable to use owing to its being infested with starfish, and I could not keep them off until I put steam in my boat; then I cleaned them all away, and in doing so, I cleaned the bottom to such an extent that it received the young oyster spat, and now the ground is cov¬ ered with oysters and free from starfish. “When I commenced to rig my sloop into a steamer, the rest of the oystermen laughed at me and said I was a fool; but after they found that I could catch more oysters than they could, they went to the legislature and had a law passed to prohibit steam dredging on natural beds. But instead of destroying, I claim that the use of steamers will create natural beds, which I think I have fully demonstrated by cultivating the 56 acres of ground mentioned above.” After Captain Decker and his brother commenced to use steam dredgers on the oyster beds, a number of state laws were passed concerning such dredging on the natural beds. One permitted “steamers” to dredge two days a week. In 1883, all dredging by steam on the natural oyster beds was prohibited, although it was still permitted on the privately owned beds. The “Early Bird,” Norwalk’s first oyster steamboat, was 31.4 feet long, 13 feet beam and 3.4 feet deep. She weighed 7.08 tons. After serving 17 years in the oyster industry, the boat was accidentally burned in January, 1889. The transition of Captain Decker’s “Early Bird” from a sail to a steamboat, did not take place over night; it was a gradual process. In the beginning, a boiler and an engine were placed in the sloop to turn the drums on which the dredge lines were hauled, the sails being still depended on to propel the vessel. Later, the captain made an additional improvement by attaching a small screw to his sloop, thus obtaining auxiliary steam power to assist in propelling the vessel when the wind was light. Afterwards Captain Decker and his brother put a larger boiler and a more powerful engine into their vessel and depended on steam altogether. The mast, bowsprit and OYSTER INDUSTRY 353 sails were removed. By the new arrangement the boat could haul two dredges at once taking up from 150 to 200 bushels of oysters per day. When the other oystermen noted how successful Captain Decker had become in the oyster business, through the use of steam, they commenced to take a strong interest in the idea. Captain Danny Hoyt was one of the earliest to follow Decker’s example in Norwalk and he installed steam power in his boat for work on his grounds in the vicinity of Pilot Island. Incidentally, to Captain Hoyt is said to belong the honor of having invented the special safety catch for raising and lowering windows, found on most of the present day railroad trains. Others besides the oystermen in Norwalk showed interest in the new steam invention. W. F. Lockwood, not an oyster- man but an enthusiastic believer in steam dredging, built the steamer “Enterprise” expressly for the business. When oystermen in surrounding towns and cities discovered the profit of using the new invention in their business, many steamers were built. OYSTER PROBLEMS IN l88o The early 1880’s found the state harassed by oyster problems. By this time, it had been discovered that the two acre law was being enforced in name only. Although one man was alloAved to hold no more than two acres, it was revealed that in several cases, one man held the ground rights for as many as 200 or even 300 men, netting the planter a very large acreage. The plan involved the appli¬ cation of numerous friends for their two acre privileges. The friends then quitclaimed the ground to the planter, for a certain remuneration. This disregard of its oyster laws caused the state no little concern. In addition, there was continued quarreling between the “natural growthers,” those oystermen who made their living off the public beds, and the oyster growers, owners of the private oyster grounds. Es- 354 ROMANCE OF NORWALK pecially in Norwalk, Bridgeport and New Haven was this true.