History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

June 17, 1811, the two societies voted to call the Rev, Mcnzies Kayner to jireach alternately at St, Paul's church, at Ripton, and at St. Peter's church, at New Stratford, at a salary of five hundred and fifty dollars per annum and the use of the glebe lot, pro- viding the salary could be raised without taxation. The |)eople in the parish of Ripton being desirous that the relationship of minister and ])eople between them and Rev. Mr. Rayner should be brought to a close, a committee was appointed in December, l.S2t>, to visit Rev. Mr. Rayner to a.scertain the lowest terms upon which he wouhl leave the society. The com- mittee reported that Rev. Mr. Rayiii r would join with St. Paul's Church Society in requesting the bishop to dissolve the connection with that .society in considera- tion of two bund red dollars, and that his services shoulil cea.se on the la.«t Sunday of December. The di.^solu- tion was made by Thomas C. Brownell, Bishop of Connecticut. On Jan. 8, 1811, a subscription was started and the sum of thirtv-five hundred dollars was raised for a HUNTINGTON. 413 fiuul, the interest of wliieli slioulil lie appropriated forever tor tlie support of preaeliiiig in liiptcjii parish by an Episcopal elergynum. In June, 1811, St. Paul's eliureh was Jestroyed hy fire. It originated in eonsei|Uenee of a younj; man, a eitizen of the town, shootinj; a dovewhicli wassittini;' on some part of the eliureh. From the close of Mr. Rayner's reetiir;liip tu tlie year 18G4 several diti'erent clerjjymen occupied the pulpit for short intervals. In 183() the society, being in embarrassed eireum- stanees, made application to the bislmii for pecuniary aid, that it might lie enabled to have ])reaching con- tinued. Since that time it has been a missionary society. In 1841 a parsonage was built on the glebe property. In A])ril, 1804, the Rev. .Tose|jh Covell was called, and remained for nearly thirteen years, when he re- signed on account of ill-health and infirmities of age. He was an efficient Christian minister, a sound di- vine, and looked well to the interest of his small flock. By good advice and Cliristian ministration he was instrumental in adding numbers to the church, leaving the small society in a united and prosperous condition. During his rectorship the church was im- proved in appearance by repainting, reseating, fres- coing, and being made more modern in style. The e-X]K'nse incurred was nearly twelve hundred dollars, which was all subscribed and jiaid as soon .as the work was completed. Rev. Mortimer Hyde ne.Kt lilled the rectorship for two years. Since his resignation tlicre has been no regular clergyman, but the (lulpit has been supplied by lay-reading and the ministerial services of the Rev. Jlr. Duffield, of Monroe. The society was once large and tiourishing, but by deaths and removals, and the mendiers in the eastern part of the town uniting with St. .James' C'luirch at Birmingham, it has been rendered unable to keep up ministerial services without great sacrifices on the part of the membership. CHAPTER XL. HUNTINGTON (Continued). MAXUFACTURINti INTEREST.'^. Tlio Ousatoiiii; Water Company — The Perby Silver Coiiipany — Binniiig- liam Cuiset Company— The Sliclton Company— Bolls, Tmks, Elc— Wilkinson Brothers & Co.V Paper-Mills. THE OUSATONIC WATER CO.MPANV. CoNXECTifUT is emph.atieally a manufacturing State, and, iis in many other i)ortions of New Ens- land, the sagacity, enterprise, and perseverance of lier citizens are everywhere observable in the manner in which they utilize every afforded facility for internal improvements and the development of the great in- dustries which are peculiar to these localities. As a result of such enterprise, villages and towns of rare beauty and interest have rapidly sjirung up along the margin of her rivers, where the ojicning of the jircs- ent century witnessed no indications of busy, bustling humanity. But these placc-s, wild ami iiiiforbidding as was their natural appearance, have, by the embel- lishments of art, lieen remlcred far more delightful and desirable than those which weri' often originally more attractive. Much of the surface of this State is broken and hilly, yet it can boast of no mountain scenery prop- erly so called. The face of the country is delightfully varied by low ranges of hills, and the passage of the t'onnceticut and Housatonic and <ither smaller yet beautiful rivers through its entire length. There arc several elevations in the State dignified by the name of mountain, and, although their highest peaks are much inferior in height to the mountains in other parts of New England, they prescnl many attractions and add much to the scenic views of the State. The lakes nestling among these miniature mountains in some parts of the State are extremely beautiful. But the most picturesque scenery is to be found in the val- leys of her rivers, where it is ever ehanging and loses none of its beauties from the sources of the rivers to where they mingle with the waters of Long Island Sound. A late writer, in speaking of the attractive jdaees and manufacturing interests on the Ousatonic — better known as Ilonsa tonic — River, says, in reference to the great achicvenieiit of the Ousatonic Water Company: "At the present day, when niannfactming entorjuise sleeks every availahle opportnnity for its Llevelopment, it seems stran[;e that less than forty years ago tlio project of utili/ing one of the finest \vator-l)o\vers in New Kn^'lanil shouM have encountered vij;oroU8 (ipposition ; yet such was the fact, anil hnt for the iiiilonutahle enerjiy anil persevelance of some half a dozen individuals the ^teat iiiiprovi-nutit might have shun, bered for another generation. "A brief history of the enterprise which under the auspices of the Ousatonic Water Company, at llerby, Conn., was liriMij;iit to successful completion in 1870 cannot fail to prove of interest to our readers, and es- pecially to those who desire to find an advantageous Ka'ation for niaint- facturing operations within easy distance of New York City. "The Ousatonic — or Housatonic, according to modern orthogniiihy — is one of the largest rivers in New Englaiut, having a much greater vol- ume of water than the Blackstone, (ininnehang, Chieopee, Shetucket, or Willirnantic, all bordered by flourishing manufacturing towns, and but little less than the Merriiuac, wliii-h drives the countless spindles of Lowell. The Housatonic takes its rise among tin: hills of Iterkshire Co., Mass., more than one hundred miles above the head of tide-waler at Bir- mingham, Conn., and empties into Long Island Sound mar Bridgeimrt. "It drains alnint two thousand square miles of teiritoiy and receives iniinerous tributaries, some of which are rivers of considerable magni- tuiie, such aa Still River, I'oinperaug, Shepaug, etc. These allluetits usually connnence their course at the taitlet of large lakes which serve as natural reservoirs, equalizing the How of water and insuring an un- failing supply at all seasons of the year. The niinimnm average How of water dniiug the lowest stages is estimated at not less than five hundred cubic feet per second, which is eipiivali-nt to twenty-five hnmired leirse- power for twelve hours per day. " Aside from the abundance of water wliicii the Housatonic aftbrds, the fact tliat it was the last a\ailable large water-power in close prox- imity to navigable tide-water along the whole New Kngland coast would seem to have been sntticient inducement for its speedy utilization, but it is only within a few years that its incomparable advantages appear to lijive been fully recognized. 414 HISTORY OF FxVIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT. " Tho project of dnmming tlio Housalonic Kivor wns first broacliod Id 1838. and in the following year tlio Slate Lcgiulaturo graiilml a chartor, or rnlhor revived au old oiie which had been issued in 1S22 for the pur- I>oso of coustructing a canal, and whicli had expired by its ow ii limita- tion. Tho provisions of the charter wore liberal, with tlie oxcoptiun of one restriction: the company were not allowed to build a higli darn for fear of injury to the Bhad-fiMherit.9, wliich were then considered very valuatde. Tlie construction of flsh-weii-s was not so well underetood at that time as at tlie present day, and penplc were sceptical as to the pmc- ticability of indu<;ing shad to perform the acrobatic feat of scaling a doni, ovoo with tho aid of mechanical contrivances. " To erect a low, tumbling dam at tho only available spot would have involvotl the necessity of a canal to bring tho water where it could bo made serviceable, and the estimated cost was so great tliat the project was abandoned, and for more than twenty years wa8 allowed to rest un- disturbed. "The matter was again revived in 18G3, and inl8Cl application was made to the Legislature to dam the river at any iwiint that might bo selected, ami the privilege was granteil after sjitisfying the committee of the liegislature that tho rights of navigation and other rights woultl bo maintained by tlie building of locks, etc. " The next difllculty wos to secure the assistance lif capitalists, and it was not until the autmnn of 18GC that the requisite amount of capital — S40f),0(X)— was secureil and tho company fully orgauizod for active oper- ations. IHr. llenry T. Potter was appointed engineer and suiieriiitend- onl, and the great work was fairly inaugurated by the laying of the first stone on the 17th of July, 18IJ7. With several interruplions from fresh- ets the work progressed, and was nearly completed when the great freshet of Oct. 4, ll?G9, swept away neaily onc-quaiter of the dam. In the following sjiring operations wore again resumed, and without further seiioiis hindrance carried to final completion, the last cai>«touo of the noble stiucturo being laid on the 5th of October, 1870,