History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

This was a very important decision, as the (pi 'stiou at issue — viz., the liability of private prn]ier;y for the dehts of a niuiucipality — had never before been adjudicated. Once definitely settled, however, im- mediate steps were taken for the payment of ovenlue interest and legal e.xjienses, ;i,nd a tax of seven and a half per cent. u]>oii the entire pro]ierty of the i-ity was laid and collected. In lX")(i -A sinking liind (d' Hfty thousand ilollars — this being the sum.dcrivcd from the sale of the .stock owiu'd by the city — was estalilished by Mayor ('al- lioun, wliich, by careful management, has increased from year to year, until the greater part of the rail- road del>t of the city has already been paid oil', and for the balance, diu' in l>>8(i, full provision is alieady mailc. Tlie Housatonic Railroad, wdnch had largely been built with borrowed capital, was nuich crii>[iled. In 1S44 it ])assed into the hands of a committee of twenty citizens, and tor some time was (]]ierate<l under the name of E. (Iregory & Co. I'referrcil stock to a large amount was finally issued, and a reorganization of the company eti'ectcil. .ludging from the last report of the railroad com- ndssioners, however, this road is now in a jirospcrous state. At the beginning of the year ISSO it luiil 74 miles of track, extending from Bridgeport to Sliellield, Mas;., besides several branches and leased lines. Its capital stock is $2,00(:),()00,— viz., .1820,000 old stock, and iSl, 180,000 jirid'crrcd. Its bonded debt is $0.^0,01)0, and its floating indebtedness 8228,088.73 ; total, *778,- 0.'iS.78. It has 20 hicoiuotives, 32 passenger- and bag- gage-cars and 440 freight-cars, 420 employees, and I'O stations. It carried last year 2')2,740 passengers ami 225,037 tons of freight, and its revenue from all sources was $.')<»',»,( lOO. I l(l. The railroad commissioners, in concluiling their report, say of this road, — "Steel rails have been laid as far north as .Merwins- ville, and it is proposed to eontiiuie the steel track during the present year to the State line. The bridges, track, and rolling-stock of this road are all in good comlition. The usual dividend of eight |ier cent, has been ]iaiil to the preferreil stoekholdei-s." The following are the ollieers of the eom]iany : William H. Barnum, rrcsident; David S. Draper, Vice-President ; Charles K. Averill, Secretary and Treasurer; Henry C. Coggswell, General Freight Agent ; Hobart W. Watson, Chief Clerk ; L. B. Still- son, Superintendent ; William II. Bariuim, of Lime Hock, Conn.; Samuel \\'ilU4s, id' New York ; Horace Nichols, William I). Bishop, of Bridgeport; (ieorge W. Beet, of Falls Village; Edward Leavitt, .Tohn B. I'eck, of New York ; D. S. Draper, of ( ireat Barring- Ion : .V. B. Mygatt, of New MiH'ord. Directors. In till' year 1.S44 an act of incorporation was ob- tained from the Legislature of Connecticut by .loseph E. Sliellield, of New Haven, Anson (i. Phelps, of New York, and others, giving them pcrnnssion to lay out and build a railroad, not exi'ceding six rods in width, from New Haven to the western boundary of the State, and to transport persons and properly upon it by the power of steam or any other mechan- ical force, by animals, or " liy any combination of these which said company may choose." May 11, 184i;, the Legislature of the State of Xew York granted the same persons ]iermission to extend their proposed railroad from the Connecticut line to con- nect with the Harlem mail at Williams Bridge, N. Y. The first stockhiddcrs' meeting was held at New York City, May 19, 1840, when the following board of directors was elected : Robert Schuyler, .\nson C. Pheliis, Elihu Townsend, Morris Ketchum, of the city of New York; Henry J. Sanford, of Stamfi>rd; William P. Burrall, Stephen Tomlinson, of Bridge- jiort; .Joseph E. Sheffield, of New Haven; F. R. (irifliii, of Guilford. At a subsequent nu'ctiiig of the directors Robert Schuyler was chosen president and William P. Burrall secretary. Preliminary surveys having been made by .Vlcx- ander C. Twining, on the 27th of October, 18411, a contract was made with Messrs. Alfred Bishop and Sidney (i. Jlillcr to build the road from the ilc]iot of the Hartford and New Haven Railroad, in tlie city of New Haven, to Williams liridge. The contract included the cost of obtaining a right of way of not less tlnin liuir rods wide, and of building upon it a single-trtick railroad with four ndles ot' turnouts, also the grounds and buildings for eleven depols, sinidry water-stations, and numerous culverts. It also called for substantial bridges over the various st reams crossed, iiK-luding the Housatonic, Peipionuock, Saugatuck, and Norwalk Rivers, and the marsh at West Haven. Work was to be commenced by the first day of De- cember, lS4(i, and was to be comi>letcd by Aug. 1, 98 HISTORY OF FAlllFlELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT. 1848. The contract price was two and a quarter mil- lion.s of dollars, payable partly in cash and partly in the company's stock, as follows, — viz. : Caaliy in itiKtalliiiciitrt, aii work is completed $1,350,000 9000 Blmrcs of stock at par 900,000 Total S2,2S0,0OU The contractors were also each to receive a free pass for the term of their natural lives. As usual in works of this magnitude, there was a slight delay in its completion. Trains commenced running from Hridgeport to Fairfield Sept. 2, 1848, but, thougli tinishod from New Haven to Westport in October, 1848, it was not until Jan. 1, 1849, that the road was fully open for travel over its entire length. The original fare, if the writer's information is cor- rect, was from New Ilavcn to New York, one dollar and fifty cents ; from Bridgeport to New York, one dollar. The capital stock of the road was originally two and a half millions of dollars, divided into twenty- five thousand shares, and at the completion of the road was owned as follows: Now York 15,374 shares. Boston 4,6r(0 " Connoeticut 5,026 " Total 25,000 " As already noted, Messrs. Stephen Tomlinson and William P. Burrall, of this city, were stockholders and members of the first board of directors. So many Bridgeport gentlemen have been connected with this road that some additional particulars respecting it, thougii not in strictly chronological order, may prop- erly find a place here. In May, 1851, an additional track was laid, and the capital stock was increased to three million dollars. Two severe disasters have occurred in its history, — the first the terrible accident and loss of life at Norwalk bridge, May 6, 1853, and the second the fraudulent overissue of stock by its first president, Robert Schuy- ler, which came to light in July, 1854, — but, with these exceptions, it has had a career of almost un- broken prosperity. Much of this success is due to the ability of Hon. William D. Bishop, of Bridgeport, who was its efticient ])resident from May 17, 18(57, to March 1, 187!), when ill health compelled him to re- sign. He is .still, however, a member of the board of directors. Hon. Nathaniel Wheeler has also been a director from May 19, 1870, to the present time. Mr. John T. Moody and Mr. William H. Stevenson, of this place, arc also connected with the road, — the former as ;issistant superintendent and the latter an su|ierintendent of the Shore l.,ine division. In the summer of 1872 the New York and New Haven road was con.solidated with the Hartford and New Haven Railroad, and in June of the following year the work of e(|uipping it throughout was com- pleted. The consolidated roail now leases the Boston and New York Air Line, paying that company si.\ per cent, of the earninps of the main line. It has also leased the Shore Line since 1870 for an annual rental of one hundred thousand dollars. The dis- tance from Si)ringfield, Ma.ss., to Harlem Junction is one hundreil imd twenty-three miles, but the total length of main lines and branches is two hundred and twenty-two miles. The capital stock of the consolidated road is $15,500,000, and the total debt only $428,978.48. There are 1683 stockholders, and the earnings from all sources in 1879 were $3,997,892.90. About fifteen passenger-trains traverse the road in each direction daily. There are 57 stations, 84 locomotives, 1740 cars, and during the past year 3,587,899 passengers and 1,209,1)30 tons of freight were transported. The usual dividend paid to the stockholders is ten per cent. The idea of a railroad through the Naugatuck val- ley, terminating at Bridgeport, is also due to Alfred Bishop. This road was chartered in 1845, the follow- ing persons being the incorporators : Timothy Dwight, of New Haven ; Philo Hurd, of Bridgeport ; Green Kendrick, of Waterbury ; Alfred B. Brittain, of Bridgeport ; Thomas Burlock, of Derby ; George L. Schuyler, of New York ; William P. Burrall, of Bridgeport. At the organization of the first board of dijectors, Feb. 18, 1848, Timothy Dwight was chosen president, Ira Sherman secretary, and Horace Nichols treasurer of the company. Messrs. Dwight and Sherman both died many years ago, but Mr. Nichols still retains his post. The recently published history of Derby, Conn., makes the following brief reference to this veteran officer : "When the Naugatuck road was started Mr. Nich- ols was elected treasurer, and has continued therein— a faithful, honorable, prompt, and energetic officer^ until the present time. He is unosteiitatiims, scarcely allowing a notice of himself to be made in print, constant in his attention to business, and therefore greatly successful, and merits and receives the esteem of all with whom he is associated." The original intention was to build only from Bridgeport to Waterbury, but the capital stock was afterwards incrca.sed from eight liundrc(l thousand dollars to one million two hundred thousand dollars, and the road was extended to Winsted, Mr. Alfred Bishoj) being the contractor. He did not live to see the work entirely completed, but died in June, 1849, while the road was not finished until Sei>teml)er 24th of the same year. Since the opening of the road vil- lages U|)on the line have grown into thriving and prosperous cities, manufactures known the world over have been established, and the value of real estjite hits been increjised fivelold.