History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

In the year 1819, thinking that Bridgeport was fully capable of managing its own affairs, and feeling the inconvenienee of being compelled to go to Stratford to vote at every election, the people of this jilace p<'- titioned the Legislature to be set off into a sc))arate town. Their petition was defeated by the opposition of the Stratford representatives. In 1821 the attempt was renewed, and this time was successful, no op|)o- sition being offi^red on the jiart of Stratford. In fact, finding that the Bridgc|jort men were very decideil ami could outvote them at town-meetings, tlic people of Stratford favored the division of their town, hut were careful to have the li(}iindary-rine estalilishcil to suit their own interests and not tliose of liridgcport. This is the reason why our townslii|i, down to the year 1870, was so extremely narrow, and why tlie eastern shore of our harhor still remains under another jurisdiction. At the time of the setting otf, Bridgeport is reported to have contained about seventeen hnndred inlialiit- ants and two hundred and eigliteeii dwelling hou.ses. * Bev. E.lwiird \V. Pcft, ll.I). 94 HISTOllY OF FAIllFIELD COUxNTY, CONNECTICUT. TluTc were also within its limits twD flnuring-mills, and seveuty-thrcestoresand inauut'aitories. The num- ber of the taxable polls was two hundred and thirty- five, and the valuation of property, according to the returns made by the assessors for that year, was twenty-four thousaml seven hundred and one dollars. Division Street, now Park Avenue, continued to he the western boundary of the township until 1870, when that jjortion of Fairfield lying east of Ash Creek was annexed by act of the Legislature. The city of Bridgeport was incorporated in May, 1836. At the first city meeting Isaac Sherman, Jr., was elected mayor, and Ira Sherman city clerk. In the year 1839, owing to the financial troubles result- ing from the issue of city bonds to the Housatonic Railroad Company, East Bridgeport petitioned the Assembly to be set ofl" from the city. Their request was granted, and for twenty-five years our neighbors upon the east side of the river, while belonging to the town, had no voice in city affairs. In 18(>4, however, the eastern district was reunited to the city, of which it has since formed a very important part. The charter of Bridgeport has been so frequently amended that to give an exact account of its succes- sive changes would rc(|uiro the pen of a historian like Uallam. Following is a list of the mayors of the city from its first incorporation to the present time: Isaac Sher- man, 1836 ; Daniel Sterling, 1837 ; Alanson Hamlin, 1838; Charles Foote, 1839; Charles Bostwick, 1840; j William P. Burrall, 1841; James C. Loomis, 1843; j Henry K. Harral, 1844; Sherwood Sterling, 1847; Henry K. Harral, 1849; John Brooks, Jr., 1851; Henry K. Harral, 1852; Charles B. Hubbell, 1853; John Brooks, Jr., 1854; P. C. Calhoun, 1855; Silas C. Booth, 1858; D. H. Sterling, 1860; Clapp Spooner, 1863; Jarratt Morford, 1864; Stillman S. Clapp, 1865; Monson Hawlcy, 1866 ; Jarratt Morford, 1868 ; Mon- son Hawlcy, 18(i9; Jarratt Morford, 1870; E. B. Good- sell, 1871; Robert T. Clarke, 1874; P. T. Barnum, 1875 ; Jarratt Morford, 1876-77 ; Robert E. De Forest, 1878; John L. \Ve.s.sels, 1879; Daniel N. Morgan, 1880. Cll APTER XI. BRIDGEPORT (Continued). Gnjwlli of Itu' CUy — ItM IViimhitioii liicrpii^cd miiro than sovciifuld in I»WB tliiiii hiilf II ('ciitury — IK-acriptlon of Bridgeport in IS.'i" — TIio Wlmlc-KiKlicry iill.iii|it<!il— Tliu It<illroa<l Epocli— Sketch of Alfrcil BiHliu|> — tl|M.-iiitig of tlio HuiidAtouli:, Now Vork and Now Haven, and NangutUL-k Raitruuds — Fiuuucial EDibarratumientA — Development of Eiwt Itridgoport — The Wheeler A WlUon Mannfftctnring Company — Bridgep<irt during the War of the Rebellion — Great War^Meetlngfl — Departure of TnK>p«t for the Fn»nt — The Lailies' Relief and Si^ldionj' Aid Soeiotien — Return of the Regimen!.'*— Seaside I'ark eataldiflhed l.'^t'h'i — Dedication of Soldiers' Uouiuucnt— Celebration of the Coutoa- uial Fourth of July, 1876. Bkidoeport has changed wonderfully in almost ever>' respect within the* memory of many persons now living. One well-known citizen tells the writer that he can recollect the time when Main Street was bordered witli common rail-fences for almost its en- tire length, and it wiis necessary to let down a pair of bars before going up upon Golden Hill. • .Vnotlur speaks of the time when lie rented a broad tract fronting ujwu the river and extending as far back as Lafayette Street, to be used as a cow-pa.sture, for the sum of sevcu dollars per year. In 1824 a map of Bridgeport was published by H. L. Barnum, a print of which, though upon a smaller .scale, forms one of the illustrations of this work and will repay care- ful examination. Even since the incorporaticm of the place as a city, in 1836, it hits increased in popu- lation more than sevenfold. The article upon Bridge- port in Barber's " Historical Collection of Connecti- cut," written in the following year, — 1837, — is worth reading in this connection, and, as copies of the work are now scarce, the greater part of it is herewith reproduci'd : "Bridgcjxirt was incorporated as a town in 1821. It was formerly that part of the parish of Stratfield lying in the town of Stratford. It is of a triangular shape, averaging four miles in length from north to south and over two miles in breadth, containing ])er- hai)s about ten sipiare miles. It is bounded north by Trumluill ; ea.st by Stratford ; south by the waters of Long Island Sound; and west by Fairfield. The township is generally level, and has a strong, fertile soil. " The city of Bridgeport was incorporated in 1836. It is mostly built on the west side of an arm of the sea, seventeen miles .soutiiwest from New Haven, sixty-two miles from New York, and four from Fair- field. The harbor extends about three miles inland to the head of tide-water, where it meets Pequonnock River,a considerable mill-stream. The average width of the harbor at high water is eighty rods. At low water most of it is bare, leaving a channel about a dozen rods W'ide; common tides rise .seven feet, — spring tides, nine. The depth of water on the bar at high water is about thirteen feet ; withiu the bar the water is much tleeper, having a mudtly bottom. The bridge across tlie harbor is about one mile and a half from its mouth, seventy-five rods in length, built on trestles, with a draw for vessels to jiroceed above. The surface on which the town is principally built is a ])lain about twelve feet above high-water mark. There is, however, a rise called Golden Hill, commen- cing about one hundred rods ntu-thwest of the centre of the present buildings, which after a gradual ascent of about twenty rods, in which the perpendicular elevation is fifty feet, i)reseuts a surface of half a mile square, forming a delightful situation for an u|iper town; from this elevation is a fine jjrospect of the Sound and surnmnding scenery. Though situated withiu three miles of Stratforil and four of Fairfield, both among the earliest settlements in the State at the close of the Revolutionarv war, there were but BRIDGEPORT. 95 trii <ir twelve houses on the site where liricli^eport is now huilt. In 1790 there were but one hundred and ten inhabitants. In 1.S30 there were upwards of eighteen hundred in tlie liorough. The nund)er of inhabitants at tliis tiuie (1S.37) in tlie eity is three thousand tour luindred and sixteen. "The original luune of the village (now eity) was Newfield, whicli in ISOd was ineorporated as a I)orough and called Bridgeport. '■ There are five ehurches in tlie limits of the city, — one Episco])al, erected in l.SOl, now ll.^MT) used liy the Baptists ; two Congregational; the first Congre- gational eliureli was erected in 1SI)3 (?) by the society formerly worshiping in Stratflehl, the other in is;-t((; the Methodist, erected in 1S22; and the present Epis- co|ial church, now building. The ancient lueeting- liouse of the parish of Stratfield stood about one mile and a half northwest of the central part of tlu' eity, on the Line Roail between Fairfield and Piridgeport. It was taken down a year or two since. " The first newspajicr printed in the village was in 1795, and edited by Lazarus Beach. The first bridge was erected acro.ss the harbor in 1783 ('?). There are two banks in this place, — the Bridgeport and Connec- ticut Banks, the former incorporated in ISOO, the lat- ter in 18.31. The number of inhabitants within tlie linnts of the town is estimated at upwanls of lour thousand. A daily line of steamboats between Bridge- port and New York was established in .Tuly, 1834. Among the principal articles manufactured in this ]ilai'e are saddlery and carriages. The ■whale-fishery of late has received considerable attention. Bridge- jiort at this time is ra])idly increasing in wealth and ]iopulation. A charter was granted in lS.3t! for a rail- road, called the Housatonic Railroad, following the valley of the Housatonic about eighty-five miles to West St<icl<bridge, Mass." .\llnsion has licen made to the prosecution of the whaling-lmsiness from this port. In May, 1833, Eben Fairchild, Daniel Tomlinson, David Perry, Samuel V. Hurd, and David P. Jlinot were incorporatc<l under the name of "The Bridgeport Whaling (_'om]iany ;" the capital stock of tlie company was one hundred thousand dollars, and the object of its formation was " to prosecute the whale and other fisheries in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans." The company owned four ships, called the " .Vtlantic," " Hamiltofi," " Har- vest," and "Stieglitz." When the news was received that one of the whale- .sliips Wits outside great crowds of jieople used to as- semble at the water's edge, usually at Stephen Haw- ley's lumlier-yard, where the docks of the Huiisatonie Railroad ('oinpany now are, to welcfime the mariners home from thi'ir long voyage. The boat's crew' would bend lo Ihiir oar~ until it seemed as if they would snap them, and the final pull as the boat neared the wharf would make it almost leap from the water. Then a great shout of joy would go U]i as the adven-