History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

Of all these several gifts and donaticms the trustees have thankfully availed themselves. Not only the twenty-five thousand dollars phiced at their dispo.sal by the Messrs. Alexander AVhite and George (iran- ville White has been, in accordance with their wish, expended upon the buihling, but in October, 1^78, Mr. Alexander M. White, to insure the utmost possi- ble perfection in the complcti(ni of the new structure, made a further donation of fifteen hundred dollars. Upon receiving a vote of thanks from the trustees i'liy this amount, he added three thousand five hundred dollars for finishing, furnishing, and purchase of 233 HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT. books. Tliese contributions, Mr. W'hito desires it understood arc, like otliers comiiifr through him, from the iumily of the late E. Mos.s White. The present building was erected from plans fur- nished by Messrs. Lamb & Wheeler, of Newark, N. J. It was begun in 1877 and completed early in 1879. The first story is rented for oflice.«, leaving the entire second story for library uses. It is heated by steam throughout, and ha.s received the approval and ad- miration of some of the best architects and autjiori- ties upon architecture in tlie country. It is a monu- ment to the generosity and philanthropy of a single family, and a public benefaction of which all the in- habitants of Danbury have every reason to feel proud. CHAPTER XXIII. DANBURY (Continued . llntliiig ill Danbury— Otiier Manufactures — rrejseiit 3Iauufacturc8— The Execution of Anthony — Trial and Execution of Amos Adonis. HATTING IN DANBURY. Thp: following history of the hatting business in Danbury is condensed from W. II. Francis' History of Hatting, published in 1860, and continued from that time to the present by Mr. Bailey, in the Dan- bury News: " It is said to be a sober ftict in history that the first building ever erected in this country as a hat-shop wa.s built in Danbury, and the first hat ever made in these United States was made in this town. Be this as it may, certain it is that in the days of the Revo- lution, when the town was but a hamlet, when pro- vincial'-s blade was cro.sscd with that of royalists and a little phalanx of stout hearts w'erc contending for the inborn rights of man, when the seeds of future glorious empire were being planted in the furrows plowed by the cannon-ball, harrowed in deeply liy the iron war-horse, the tramp of wheeling and charging columns, moistened and enriched by the generous flow of the life-blood of patriots, we find that in 1780 Zadoc Benedict was making hats in a small red shop standing near the grounds now the site of the depot, in Main Street. AVith limited resources and capital, he kept up the fire under his solitttry kettle and em- jiloyed to work up his 'stock' the services of one fotirncyman and two apprcnticet, turning off hats at the rate of three per day, or one and a half dozen per weel; two hats being an average for a good workman in a day. "This is according to the statement of some of our oldest citizens al)out the first that was done at hatting in Danbury, and, although hats had undoubtedly been made here long before this, still we shall take this iis the starting-point and regard it its the commencement of what has since proved an important and extensive trade. " 1787.— Col. Russell White and Oliver Burr, firm of Burr & White or O. Burr & Co., carried on what wa.s then considered an extensive trade, employing thirty hands, variously engaged, and turning off hat-! at the rate of fifteen dozen per week, or seven hundred and fifty dozen per year. The hats of this period were without elegance, being heavy, rough, and unwieldy. They sold at from six to ten dollars each, — enough to buy two or three fine hats now. One man could make about nine hats per week. " The manufacturer bought the skins in a bundle. The fur then had to be taken from them by hand and assorted. Then it was bowed into ' bats,' with the old ' bow,' ' pins,' and ' catgut,' and these ' bats' were made into hat-bodies. After the hats were made (everything being done by hand), they were distril)- uted to the ladies living in the vicinity in order to have the hair that remained sticking in the nap re- moved by tweezers. "Among the men employed by Burr & White were Eli Benedict and William Babcock, who afterwards went to New Haven. " 1791. — In the Farmers' Journal, published at Dan- bur)', in this year, we find the following advertise- ment : "*T0 DE SOLD DY 0. BUUR t COMPASr, ONE llUNDKED WEIGHT OF GOOD HAT wool., AND SEVERAL PAIBS OF WHITE ENGLltill RABniTS, Whose Increase i« onmiingly fust and llie (kins for fur in great demand, and their flesli of the most dellcalc kind ; and to conclude tlio whole of their excellencies, tiieir keeping requires nothing hut vegetaltlitt, such as weeds, grass, iwtatoes, turnips, etc., etc. Tliey nce<l no drink. '"Also, given as usual twenty iwiice per run for coanw woolcnj>-am. '"Danbury, May 18th, 1701. • "ISOO. — In Bobbins' century sermon, delivered at Danbury, Jan. 1, 1801, we find these remarks: 'In the manufacture of hats this town (Danbury) much exceeds any one in the United States. More than twenty thousand hats, mostly of fur, are made an- nually for exiiortation.' Thus, more than half a century ago,.our fathers took the lead in the manu- facture of hats, and to-day their sons are not behind. " 1802. — The first hat-store at the South in connec- tion with nuinu facturing at Danbury was established by two active and well-known men (now deceased), Zal- mon and Seymour Wildman. They had one store at Charleston, S. C, firm of Z. & S. Wildman ; another < at Savannah, Ga., firm of Wililinan it Iloags. Zal- mon Wildman manufactured in the shop of Zadoc Benedict after the decease of the latter, in 1803. He also some years later carried on quite extensively the finishing of hats for the Southern market, near the grounds now the site of the I'alKiuioquc Hotel, in Main Street. " 1803.— During this and following years, Samuel H. Phillips, George Benedict, David Wood, William ' Babcock, Ezra Wildman, Ebcnczcr and John D. Nichols, Boughton & Starr, and others, carried on hatting in different parts of the township. The fash- DANBURY. 239 ionable hat of this year was six inches deep and two inch brim. "ISO;"). — Clark & Benedict carried on the liatting l)usiness in tlie red building situated in West Street, and now occupied as a dwelling ; Gersham Nichols at the same time, in a building near the residence of Oliver iStone, in Main Street. " 1807. — Noah Kockwell commenced manufacturing with his 'plank' shop in the cellar of the house now occupied by Mrs. Rosaboom, in Franklin Street. Also, Hoyt Gregory had a shop in West Street. All these numufacturcrs carried on the busiTiess on a limited scale, employing, probably, from seven to eight hands each, and turning off hats at the 'rate of four or live dozen i)er week, or two hundred and tifty dozen per year. Among the men in the employ of Hoyt Gregory were James Seal and Thomas I'cck, who eventually engaged in an extensive business at Boston. " 18U8-0. — There were fifty-six hat-oliops in opera- tion in the township of Danluiry, averaging from three to five men each. l\Iany farmers \vere interested in the trade, setting up a kettle and hiring journeymen. It is but a few years since the trade was centralized and the bulk of capital concentred in a few large estab- lishments. "1812. — We have our venerable citizen, now presi- dent of the Danbury Bank (who went into business as early as 1800), and James Benedict, firm of Tweedy & Benedict, carrying on business in a shop situated on the ground where the house of Mrs. Sprague now' stands, corner of Main and Elm Streets. Hands employed, 30. During the war the trade between hat-dealers and the Northwest Company was cut off. John Jacob Astor .sold at auction, in the city of New York, a large quantity of furs which liad been seized. James Benedict, hearing of the sale, attended and bought five bales (one thousand pounds) of 'old coat beaver' at one dollar per pound. The price imme- diately advanced to five dollars per ])0und. " We must remember that at this timejiat-tinishing was a very small part of the trade here ; in fact, hardly any hats were sent to market finished and trimmed, but were sent in the ' rough' to the city, there to be made ready for sale. In this year a ma- chine was invented for blowing fur, and first used in Messrs. Tweedy & Benedict's establishment. It con- sisted of a wire drum, in which the fur was placed, and the machine moved with a crank by hand. Small, simple, and imperfect, it was thought to be an im- portant invention at that time ; now it wcmld be laughed at as a child's plaything. "1814. — Judson and Russell White, firm of White Brothers, conducted a large business here. Capital invested, $50,000. Hands employed, about 50, making probably about two hundred dozen hats per month, or two thousand dozen per annum. This firm had a warehouse in the city, where the hats were sent to be sold. "Among those who learned the trade with the White Brothers was Starr Nichols, Esq., now deceased, who afterwards became a prominent townsman, contrib- uting in a great measure to the advancement and building up of Danbury. Soon after his 'time was out' he commenced business for himself Doing very little at first, but steadily increasing, he pushed for- ward with that zeal which ever afterwards f<n-med so prominent a trait in his character, until, when tlie White Brothers retired from business, he took their place and carried it on with increased energy, em- jdoying fifty 'makers.' He met with sevir.il re- verses of fortune, but at the time of his death (185()) was engaged in a lucrative business in a hat-store in New York City, and to-day he is rcmembereil as one of the most prominent men in the trade. His benevo- lence and active perseverance are well worth imi- tating. •