History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

the sum (if two thousand seven hundnd and twcidv I ,, , -1 » 1 1 ■ . ■ I- ■ 1 i' I "Our fiitln-rs' Gii.l: fnuii cut ulio.sv liiiiicl d(illars was contniiuted bv sonu' sixtv im ividiuils ' ti„. .„„»„,! r n ii • .■ i lilt' t-(?ntmi('8 i:ill like ^iiauisot :^iin(l, and business firms, to purchase additional land. In WiMiu'L-t tu-tl.-i.v. uiiitrd, fn-... the following spring the matter was brouiiht up in And li.y.il to uu. liui.l iHi.i Tl.cf, ,1 /-I ,. ., , ,. , . ... . To Uiiuik Thf'i- I'.ir 111.' fniil'.n.', the Common ( ouueil and referred to a eoinmitlee a i . . ^, , ., • Anil trust Tbce to|- tlu> .ip"iintg uiu'. composeil of lion. Nathaniel "Wheeler, I''rederiek lluril. and l';ii Thumps who reported favorably; .\fter this the audience lislened with exemplary and at a eity-meeting, called in accordance s\itli the patience to the Declaration of Indeiiendence, to a re|iort .of the conimittee, ,Iuly S, l.sCi.'i, the Coiineil hislorieal address descriptive of the place as it was was authorized fd accept the deeds of the land and one hundred years ago, to a number of speeches, to ajipropriatc a sum not exceeding ten thousand dol- humorous, eloipient, and prophetie, and to an oriLdnal lars in grading and im|.rovements. .\ng. 14. I.Si;."i. poem, all the production of home talent. The whole the Common Council formally aeecpfed the deeds, eompaiiy ]ireseiit then uiiiled in simjini; " America " and appointed James C. Loomis, S. S. Clapp, and —•' My country 'tis of thee," etc.,— and, having been Jacob Kiefer Commissioners of Seaside Park. dismissed with the bem'dietion. retired to their homes 106 HISTORY OF FAIKFIELD COUNTY, COXNECTICUT. much wondering wlint the exercises would l)e, and who would compose the assembly, when another cen- tury should have rolled around, and the 4th of July, IS'Tli, luive dawned. CJI A I'TKR \ 1 1. BRIDGEPORT (Continued). THE PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS OF BRIDGEPORT. AlmsIiouBO — Bauks — Buiird of Tnulo — Bridfies — Ciwunlties ami rriines — Conietoritts — CIuiitIicj, — CtiHlom-Ihnijn'. In the succeeding chapters tlie writer proposes to give sonic account of the ])ul>lic iiistiuitions of Hridge- port, together with a number of inci<lcnts whichcould not conveniently be introduced into the ])receding narrative, yet which are too important to be wholly passed over. Doubtless some of the statistlca here given will seem to readei-s of to-day wholly uninter- esting; yet it should be remend)crcd that matters quite unimportant to one body of readers are often esteemed valuable Ijy another circle, and also that many facts perfectly familiar to the public at the present time will be by no means so to the succeeding generation, unless i)ut upon record in some such work as this. For convenience of refcreiiee, the tojiics in this cha2)ter are arranged ali)habetically. ALMSHOUSE. In the year 1865 the selectmen, having .sold the land and building in East Bridgeport formerly occu- pied by the town-poor for about twenty th(msand dollars, ])Urcha.sed a farm in the northeastern ])art of the town and began the erection of another l)uililing. The farm cost six thousand four hundred dollars and contains forty acres, of which about twenty-five are in good condition for tillage. The building is of brick, L-shaped, three .stories high, and cost aboiit fifteen thousand dollars. It stan<ls u|)on the east side of A.sylnm 8trcet, a. little north of Old Mill (Jreen, and has usually from fifty to sixty inmates. Hcsidcs these, some two hundred others receive oceasional assistance at their own homes. For the past ten or twelve years the town ha-s contracted with Mr. William H. liunnell for the relief of the ]>oor, |)aying him a gross sum, which is at present between thirteen and fourteen thousand dollars per annum, together with the use of the farm rent free. Jlr. Bunnell is well spoken of by all who have dealings with him, and is believed to diseliarge the duties of his i)osition with humanity. Xo stated religious services are held at the poorhouse. BANKS. At the present tinu? there are five national banks in Bridgeport, whose aggregate capital and surplus is over a million and a half of dollars, and four sav- ings banks, whose united assets exceed six millions. One of these institutions, which has reached a very respectable — not to say venerable — age, is the old Bridgejjort Bank, which was incorporated soon after the establishment of the borough, when there were but five other banks in the State, and has now entered its seventy-fifth year without showing any marks of decrepitude. Did space permit, it would be pleasant to speak at length of many of the gentlemen who have been prominent in banking circles here, but only a few can now be referred to, and that in the briefest manner. Dr. Isaac Bronson, of- Greenfield Hill, the first president of the Bridgeport Bank, was a man of nuirk in his day. He had served in the Revolution as a.ssistant surgeon of Connecticut troops, and after the war had been engaged in banking, both in Pliila- del|)liia and in New York, before coming to Bridge- port. He was a successful financier, though some of his rules might now be thought a little arbitrary. One of these was never to discount paper having more than sixty days to run, and another never to renew a note. Daniel Thatcher, ])resident of the Connecticut Bank for fifteen years prior to 184>i, Sherman Ilartwell, president of the Bridgeport from 184!' to 18<>i1. and Sherwood Sterling, president of the City tVir a num- ber of years prior to 18G9, were all excellent men and st')od high in public estimation. George Sterling also, who died in 1871, had been for twenty-eight years treasurer of the Bridgeport Savings Bank, and was respected and loved by all who knew him. Mcti- tion may also be made of P. C. Calhoun, who has found a wider field for his abilities than Bridgeport affords, and has been for a number of years [)ast the president of the Fourth National Bank of the city of New York. The Bridgeport Bank was incorporated October, 180(), on ])etition of John S. Cannon, Salmon Hub- bell, Lambert Loekwood, and Isaac Hinman, and began business May 21, 1807, in a house no longer standing, upon the west side of Water Street, lU'ar State Street. The building now owned and occupieil by the bank, on the corner of Main and Bank Streets, was erected in 1810, and was esteenic(l at that time a great ornament to the jdace. In 18(i."), in common with all the other banks of discount in the city, the Bridgeport became a national bank. This bank has had seven presidents, — viz., Isaac Bronson, term of service, eighteen years; John S. Cannon, seven years; Ebene/.er Jessu|). five years; Sylvanus Sterling, eleven years; Hanford I^yon, one year; Sherman Hartwell. twenty years; and Monson Hawley, eleven years. The capital of the Bridgeport National Bank is now $21.'),8'iO, and its snri>lus $80,000. Officers of the in- stitution at the present time are: President, Monson Hawley; cashier, F. N. Benham ; directors, T. B. De Forest, Monson Hawley, R. B. Laeey, Carlos Curtis, D. M. Reed, John M." Wheeler, J. Bartrani, T. B. Bartram, and P. N. Fairchild. %^*^-^4v.^ . r*^/*-' ;.'* ^^^^'^ "y&W^mr?-^^ . H- '^^ % -^ ^i^zr^ ^^ ^^^^ /'O 1^ «V? « ^*^ ■ l!l!Il>(iJ-;i'<)KT. ]07 111 :May, 1S:?1, Cyrus H. Reanlsloe, Daniel J^terliiia;, Euiirli Footc. and others, petitiiineil the Lei;islatiirc, and reeeivcd iierniission to estaldish a new hank in Bridfre|iiirt, to be called the ConnectiiMit liaiik, with ])owir to open a liraneli at Mill River, or SoiithixTt, in the town of Fairfield. As the i-u>toni was at that time, the ineorporatoi's \vere reipiired to pay a honus of s:-")0(i(l f(ir their eharter, seven-tenths of whieh sum went !■> Yale t'oUe^ie. and the remainder to Wash- iiifiton Colk'fre. The first officers of the (.'oiinectiiMit I'aiik were ('apt. Ezekiel Iluliliell jiresident, and t'harles Foote cashier, thi' lattir for many years iden- tified with the hank, hotli as cashier and as director. For several years this institution was hicated on the north corner of Wall and Water fstreets, hut after the great fire of 1S8;5 a lot was |iuri'hased upon the corner of ]\I[iin and Wall Streets, and the ]iresciit edifice erected. Till' capital of this hank at the ]ircseiit time is S3o2.iMMI, with a sur|>lus of s]nu,(l(Hi, and the ofheers areas fidlows: President, Samuel W. Baldwin; cashier, Ileiiiy I!. T'rew ; directors, 1', (.'. Calhoun. William ]>. I'.i^le.p. .Tarratt Morford, S. C. Tnihee, Henry 1!. I>rew. S. W. Baldwin, William It. HiL'hy, and Mar- .shall F. Morris. The Farmers' Bank was chartered in \>iV.K with a capital of Sl'oo.Ollll, and was oljliged to pay a lionus of $5(100 to the (ieneral Hospital Society of the State cd' Connecticut. For many years it transacted Imsiness upon the southwest corner of jNIain and State Streets, hut in February, 1871, removed to its present location, at Main and Bank Streets, in the building of the People's Savings Bank. The F\iriners' Bank was the first to avail itself of the Xational Bankinsr Act, and in March, l.S(;4, it- name was i-hanged to "The First Kational Bank of Bridgeiiort." It has been since its organization as a national bank a depository for funds <d' the United States government. The capital of the bank now stamls ;it is^lii.oiio, with a surjilus of $105,000. mid tidlowing is a list of its otiicers: President, Edmund S. Hawley ; cashier, AVilliam E. Seelcy ; directors, E. S. Hawley, Russell Toinlinson, Horace Nichols, W. E. Seeley, Edwanl Sterling, C. K, Averill, C, A. (irannis, S. S. Booth, and H. L. Fairchild.