History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

■Tobn W. P.acoii, born in Hartford, June 9, 1827; grtiduated at Trinity College in 184(5, taking the first ap])oiiitment in his class. Soon after his graduation he became principal of an academy in Essex, Conn., which position he resigned to conimenee the study of law in the office of Hon. Isaac Toucey, in Hartford, remaining with him till the spring of 1848, when he adopted the profession of civil engineering. In this capacity he was einjdoyed on the first surveys of the present New York and New England Kailroad from Hartford to Willimantic, remaining during tlie builfl- ing of that part of the road, taking charge, among other important work, of the present Union Depot and Connecticut River Bridge, at Hartford, and of the heavy rock-cut at Bolton Notch. After the completion of this work he spent two years on the surveys and construction of the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad, and was then recalled to Hart- ford to assume the position of superintendent of the Hartford, Providence antl Fishkill Railroad, between Providence and Waterbury, also a part of the lu-eseut New York and New England road. Five years were spent in this capacity, when he went to Western Vir- ginia to take charge of the operation aiiil devebip- ment of extensive coal-mines and salt-works at West Columbia, on the Ohio River. Here he remained about two years, when he returned to Danbury to become in July, 185',), .superintendent and chief engi- 262 HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT. neer of the Dauburj' and Norwalk RailroaJ, con- tinuing in tlie position until Jan. 1, 1877. In tlie fall of that year he was a])p()intctl by Governor Hubbard one of the board of railroad eoinmissioners, which office he still holds. During his residence in Danbury, Mr. Bacon has been active in the promotion of desirable public im- provements. The present water-works were origi- nated and engineered by him in 1860, as is testified to by the inscription on the stone slab at the lower reser- voir. At the completion of the works he became one of the board of water commissioners, continuing as such till 1876, since ^^hich time he has been secretary of the board. Until quite recent years the borough was without a public hall, and, to supply this long-felt and growing necessity, Mr. Bacon, in 1800, organized a joint-stock company called the " Danbury Public Hall Company," which imrelia.'^ed the old Congrega- tional church, standing where the soldiers' monument now stands, and fitted it up with a pleasant and com- modious hall, whicli well served the public demands until the building of the present opera-house, in 1873. In 1871 the agricultural society of the town seemed likely to cease to e.\ist, and the organization of the company conii>osing the present Danbury Agricul- tural Society is due to the efforts of John W. Bacon. Under his direction a stock company was formed, of which he is now president, which has so conducted the affiiirs of the society as to lead to most conspicuous prosperity and success. Its annual fairs are attended by crowds so immense as to totally eclipse in point of number the attendance at all similar exhibitions, not excepting even that of the State Fair. This unprece- dented prosperity, it is believed, is mainly attributa- ble to the inflexible enforcement of the rules ex- cluding the sale of intoxicants, to the exclusion of wheel pools or other gamblinjj; devices too often per- mitted at such exhibitions to absorb the money of the unwary, and to the faithful performance of all that is advertised. Mr. Bacon has been a director of the savings bank of Danbury since 18(!3, and for many years a member of the Board of Education. Dee. 20, 1852, he was married to Miss Caroline E., daughter of Dr. llussel B. Botsford, for many years a leading physician in Danbury. Miss Botsford was granddaughter of Matthew B. Whittlesey, formerly a leading lawyer of the place. The children of Mr. and Sirs. Bacon are Sarah \\'., Eliza W.,— married May 14, 1879, to G. Mortimer Bundle, son of Samuel H. Bundle, of the firm of Bundle & White, — and John Russel Bacon. Mr. Bacon is still in vigorous health and in the full possession of matured faculties trained and disciplined by a most varied experience. In him is exeniplitied the aphorism, "The shallows inurniur while the depths are dumb." Quiet and uiuissuming, one re- ceiver the impression that beneath that quiet exterior there is force, energy, and a resolute determination which overcomes all obstacles, and on his countenance is stamped the impress of truthfulness and fidelity. With urbanity of manner is combined great force of character and unyielding determination in the face of difficulties, and a gentleness of manner which shows that great force of will is not inconsistent with kind- ness and consideration for the feelings of others. Long may he be spared to Danbury to the enjoyment of the love and respect he has so deservedly won ! CHARLES HULL. Charles Hull, one of Danbury's most successful merchants and business men, traces his descent through a long line of ancestry from George Hull, a settler in Dorchester, Miiss., in 1630. His ])aternal grandfather, Chapman Hull, was a farmer in Redding ; married Esther Buckley, and had three children, — Morris, Henry C, and George. The father of the subject of this sketch, Morris Hull, was a man of more than ordinary ability, and at the time of his death, on the threshold of manhood, had already laid the foundation of a prosperous ca- reer. His advantages for an early education were limited to the common schools of the vicinity of his boyhood home_, but his eager desire for intellectual improvement induced him to devote many of his even- ings and much of his intervals of leisure to the ac- quirement of knowledge, and when yet a vcrj- young man was found qualified and engaged to teach school in Danbury. He began his career as a merchant in Redding, re- moving thence to Huntington, where he remained two years, and then removed to 5Ianlius Square, in the central part of the State of New York, and was the pioneer merchant of that place. Near this place ho built a warehouse on the Erie Canal, and the place was called Hull's Landing after him, which name it still retains. He saw opening before him a bright career as a merchant in the ra])idly-growing country, but was |)crniitted to enjoy the prospect but a short time. Going to New York City to replenish his stock of goods, on his way home he visited his grandmother, in Redding, at whose house lay his eldest son stricken with fever. Watching at the bedside of his prostrate son he contracted the malady, malignant typhoid, of which he died, at the age of thirty-two, leaving u widow and six small children dependent almost en- tirely upon their own exertions for their support. The business and effects of the father and husband in the new country were disposed of, and the following spring the family returned to Redding. At the age of seven Charles was "put out to work" with a farmer, remaining four years, and as evidence that they were not years of unmixed pleasure or of pampered, nurturing ease, and as indicative of the character of the man whose prolrtje he was, one inci- dent will suffice : Charles was very fond of the Sunday- DANBUKY. 263 school. The one most accessibk- to him was hcUl at the church, three miles away by road, and more thau two miles across lots through the woods. This school he was desirous of attending;, and was permitted to do so on condition that he W'Ould carry his shoes in his hand until he came to a certain stone wall close by the church, when he might put them on, wear tlieni through school hours and to the stone wall on his return, taking them off at this point and carrying them in his hand home. Charles accepted, performed the conditions, and attended Sunday-school. Four years later, at the age of eleven, he left this home, go- ing to Hedding Ridge. Here he found employment with the builder of the Episcopal church (yet stand- ing), iilaeing the stones in the trenches upon whi<-h the foundation of that edifice rests, and to receive as conipen-iation the munificent sum of twenty-five cents per day. Tliis Charles sujjposed was inclusive of boanl, but upon this jmint he was anytliing but agree- ably enlightened, while at supper on the day his task was finished, by a conversation between his emidoyer and wife, during which it transpired that he was to be charged for board. By a simple and not unreason- able comjHitation it was estimated that a fine healthy boy would eat twenty-five cents' worth per day, espe- cially as he worked hard, and as his wages amounted to just that amount the account was easily balanced. But the wife — a mother mayhap — the woman always tenderer than man, thought "the boy ought to lune something," and "the boy" was given twenty-five cents. Twenty-five cents for performing all the labor attendant upon the laying of the entire sub-founda- tion of a church, together with what coarse food he ate while doing the work, was his entire compensation. But we dovibt if Napoleon ever received with jironder triumph the crown from conquered jx)tentate than was experienced by Charles when these his first earn- ings wore placed in his hand. This was young Hull's first experience, and the les.son taught was not lost, for in his next engagement, in which his services were given for his board, clothes, and schooling, eacli item of compensation was fully stipulated in the agree- ment.