History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

"Among those who came from out of town was a young man hailing from the extremely rural district of Wolfpits, below Bethel. He was barefooted and timid. He had heard of the grand house and the beautiful garden, and he wanted so much to see them that he walked to T)aiibury for that purpose. But when he got here and saw bow grand was the place he dared not step on the premises. More than that, he feared to go on the same side of the street, but kept on the opposite side. Even at that he shrunk from stopping in front of the place, so timid was this rural lad. He walked slowly up the street and then back again, feasting his eyes upon the architectural magnificence and bucking against numerous people in his eagerne-ss to look alone at the house. That was fifty years ago, and the barefooted farm-boy .so over- come by the display that he dared not stop in front of it is Mr. Charles Hull and the present owner of tin- property. "The transformation of the jilace into a bridal- bower cost a number of thousand dollars. In the l)lace of the residence and his store .stands Mr. Hull's block of business places. " Itachel Barnum's dwelling came next. It stood where is now Almon Judd's store and home, " Next came the residence of Friend Starr, father of Charle-s ¥. Starr, and now occujiied by the latter. Mr, Starr had a shoe-store where the Pahiiuio<|ue Bank now is. The following anecdote is related of Charles F, Starr when he was a boy : One of his duties was to go to the pasture and bring home the cows. He rode a horse for this purpose, and, being of a social turn, generally came home with several lilaymates perched on the animal behind him. In fact, the horse was full of boys. Old Mr. Starr got out of patience, finally, with making an omnibus of the steed, and he told Charles one day that if he came home at night with any boys behind him on the horse he would severely punish him. When the cows came in that evening, there was the horse as full of boys as ever. But every mother's son of them wn» in front of Cluirlti. That conscientious youth was poised well back on the animal's rump. His father gave up the point. " Where JIartin H. Griffing's residence now is livnl Zalmon Wildman, father of Hon. F. S, Wildman, Just north of his Inmse was a small hat-finishing shop, and on the south was a store. The ilwclling was re- moved to the rear, on East Liberty Street, where it is used as a tenement, "The Pahquioque Hotel was then a private resi- dence, and was occupied by Elijah Sanford, grand- father of Librarian C, H. Sanford. He had a sadillerj- at the north end of the building. In company with Friend Starr he conducted a tannery, which st 1 on Liberty Street, at the junction of Railway Avenue. " Abel B, Blackman lived in the house now occu- pied by the family of the late I>ynian Keeler, Mr, Blackman was a shoemaker, and had his shop on the north side of his house, " David Foot's hou.se stood on the site occu]>icil by Dr, W, F, Lacey. Mr, Foot was a tailor. His shop stood in the southwest corner of his door-yard, where is now the doctor's drive-way entrance. Mr, Foot was a prominent man in that day, and was for many years a trying ju.sticc of the peace. DANHUKV. 199 " Benjamin Smith lived wliere is now tlie residence | of Samuel Stebbins. "His neighbor on the south was Horace Bull. He liveil where now stands St. Peter's clinrcli. His house was removed to the sinee-o])ene(l Centre Street, and is now the parsonage of St. Peter's eliureli. He was the father of the ehildren's great friend, Miss Mary B\ill. Mr. Bull was a tailor. Pie was also a noted singer, and for over thirty years was tlie chorister of the First Congregational Church. He was the first milk- peddler Danbury had, peddling on the street from a cart and ringing a bell at the customer's door. This was in 18")ll, we think. Up to that time i)eoplc bought their milk from neighbors who nwucd a cow. sending the children for it; and at this time every fourth family had its cow. A tribute to Mr. Bull's musical talent was a remark .ludge Dutton, then of tbc ."^u- perior Court, nuide when in Danbury. He said. 'I heanl Mr. Bull ring his bell this morning, and there was really music in it.' Mr. Bull's sales amounted to about forty quaits a day. "There was no hou.sc bctwi'cn his ])lacc and what is now the Turner House, but was tlu'n a tavern kept by David 'Wood. The land lying between, and run- ning clear liaek to Town Hill Street, was a vacant lot, boggy at the front with meadow at the rear. Tiiis piece belonged to the First Congregational Society, and the use of it was given to the pastor. " Joseph Moss White, father of Col. IC. :Mos-^ White, lived where is now the C. F. Bailey liomestead. Mr. White was a surveyor, and held a county otticc as such. "Maj. Comstock's stcjre was an important centre of business aside from its traffic in mcrchandisi'. In the day of which we write there was no bank liere. and the only means of exchange was through an agency of a distant l)ank. The Phwnix I'.ank, of Hartford, had a branch in Litchfield, and 'Sir. Comstock was its agent here. Twice a week the stage plying Ijetween Norwalk and Litehtiebl jiassed througli Danbury and took up the money and bills collected by agent Com- ) stock and carried tliem to Litclificld. The major did a business also in iron-ore. This was received from the mines at Brewster and jiiled up on the ground in ! rear of his place. Mr. Hull has frecpiently found pieces of this ore in excavating on the prenuses. "Where now stands the store long occuj)ied by the late Samuel Stebbins stood a shoe-shop, which as early as 1805 was occupied by Col. Ebenezer D. Starr. 'Zalmon Wildman, who lived where now stands j the residence of M. H. (iritfing, was a4n'ominent man t in the history of the town. He was appointed ]>ost- ' master in 1S05, and held the oflice for a period of [thirty years, when he resigned the position on being I elected to Congress. This election oceurrcil in the ispring of 1835. In the winter following be died. I Mr. Phillips was Mr. Wildman's deputy, and to him Mr. Wildman gave the income from the otficc. "From Wcsl to Woostt-r ,S/>'eets. — The first building was a small one, and stood on the corner. Next to it was a store. Both structures stood where is now the garden of Mr. V. S. Wildman. The first was us,m1 f..r various purposes. Parly in the century it was used as a condj-shop by (Ircen & Barnum until l.'^l.") ; after that it was occupied by a party luimcd Leggett for I'ui-cutting. It also was used as a barlier-slioi>, a scliool, and a stone-cutting-sbop. Subscipiently, Wil- liam (iray used it as a tailor-shop. It now stands on the Danbury and Norwalk Kailway line, oii]iosite the l'rcight-<lepot, where it is dccupicd as a tenement. The store was built in 18tMI by Col. Timothy Taylor, who occujiicd it. In ISIS it was rented by Amos and Samuel Stel>l)ins, wild did Imsiness tlnac until 1S39, wdien the building was torn down. Amos died some ye:irs before this, and the Imsiness was conducted by his brother Samuel, ^\'heu this place was remove<l, Sir. Wildnuin jmt up the building across the way, where tbc late Samuel Stelibins did biisiiu'ss until Ids death. "Next to the store, and wliere is iinw the Jlctlio- dist parsonage, stood the h(jme of Alaiis(]n Haridin. He was a lawyi'r. " Between this and wdiere is now Mrs. Amos Steb- bins' residence there was no building. It was an open meadow with a ]iond at the front. In 1S3() or there- aliout Thonuis T. Whittlesey i>ut up two buildings wbciv now stands the Baptist church. One of these was built for a conference-room for the First Congre- gational Society. In 1S.'58 it was occupied by Bene- dict i_t Nichols, who remained there until 1842, wdien they took the building now occupied by Almon Judd. In 1S52 they built on the corner (d' Liberty Street, which they now own. After they vacated the coufer- ence-lmilding it was liought by .Tudge Homer Peters, who remcjved it to the foot of Liberty Street, where he now occupies it. Tin- other building was used at one time for the pulilication of the Danbury Recorder. It stood on part of the ground now occupied by the Baptist church, and wdu'u it was built the Iniihling was moved south, where it still stands. " West 5j</f.— Where the hou.se of Mrs. Amos Steb- bins stands stood at the beginning of the century a house occui>ied liy Dr. Daniel Comstock. He was the [ihysieian of the village then, and a man of con- siderable mental attainments. There was an addition to the house in which, from 1812 to 1815 or there- about, was published a pajier by Nathaniel Skinner. In the last-named year he removed his office to Hridgepin-t. "Tlie next house was the house of Maj. Ezra Starr, who distinguished himself in the Revolution. It was built on the site of the one burned by Tryon's troops. In 1830 tlie property came into the pos.session of Starr Nichols, who moved back the m.ajor's house and built the om; now <jwneil and occupied by Hon. D. P. Nichols. Maj. Starr had a large family, but none of its members have a residence in Danliury now. "The next house was occupied by Col. f^lias Starr, 200 HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT. jind is now tlie residence of Edward Allen. Tlie coloni'l was a teacher, and his school (private) Wius in the next Imildin;;, now a tenement, and twenty years ago occupied hy L. H. Bonfrhton ii.s a slioe- store. "There was no other building until near the corner of Wooster Street, where stood the ' Academy,' a public school of the higher order. It is now a tene- ment belonging to St. Peter's i)arish, and adjoins on the north Vaughn & O'Brien's carriage-factory (the old church). For many years the lamented Irwin taught there, and a number of our gray-haired citi- zens drank in knowledge at that fountain.