History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

ever, witlidiit dmiht, citlicr tlic sccniid nr lln' lliird (i|ieni'd Inr travel in 1 »i'eeinlier. IS711. I'dllnwin^; is a point at whieli tiie river was erosseiL list ipt llie speeial eiininiilti'e a|i]>iiinted l>y llie ( 'olii- 4. Ill May, l.S;!(l, Willis St ill man, Rirdsey (). Nulile, iiion ( '(piineil tor its eiuistruetion : William I). Ilislid]), and others, were jiiven permission liy the Legislature N. \\'lieeler, I'.li Tlioin|isoii, .1. 1). Alvord, Frederick to luiild a drawliridi;e across ihe l'e,|n k Itiver llurd, l".li 1 lewliurst, ami .L ILSIiariie. at a place ,-:illcd [iidiaii Island, and f'l collect t.,11 from all ]ieisons crossing; it cxi-ejit tlio>e uniii,:; to piililie worshi)!, tunerals, or towii-meetinirs, or wlio The i;reat dam across the river, near the reservoir were iijioii military duty, all of whom were entitled to in North I!ridi;e]iort, has several times •;iven way, pass free. The cor]ioration was called the East Hridire- catisiiij;- disastrous inundations. Tliese tioods occiiired ]iort Bridjie ( 'om]iany, and the liridf;e was the one now in ls:!i; and 184.'i, and also on Nov. 21, IS.'d. I'poii eonncctiiij.'' tile two jiarts of Kast Washington .\veiiuc. this latter occasion not only was the hriili;c ludow It was finally purchased hy the city for the sum of the factories and the Ucrksliirc hridge and dam swi'pt four thoiisanil dollars, and thrown open for piiMie away liv tlie resistless tidi\ which damaged |>roperty travel Oct. 22, 18(14. A sort of .•iiinex to this hridge to the amount of seven thousand dollars, liiit a young was constructed hy tin: lior-c railroail compunv in man named I'eter Kinsella was drowned, while trying 18(!."i, to savea horse from a ham in (lie trai-k of the torrent. 0. In the' year ISIS the New York and New I la\ en Tlic stcanicr '' Lexington" was liiirncil opposite this I'ailroad ('om]iaiiy huilt a wooden hridge across the harhor, though too far over towards the Long Island river, which in ISC'.l was replaced hy a more siihstan- ^liore for assistance to he remlcrcd. .Ian. L'.. 1S4(». It tial structure with douhh' track and In'avy iron draw, was a hitter night, ami only four persons wiac saved, extending from (oilden Hill Street u]>on the wc-t to while one liundred and tweiity-twi> are known either Crescent .V venue U]>on the east sidi'. to Ii.im' perished in the llamcs or to have sunk in the In .\'o\(iiilM'r, IS.'yd, Ahijah Ihirroughs, William A. icy waters id' the Sound. The liglil from (lie Imrning Peck, and others, having heeii chartered hy the Legis- steamer was plainly vi^ilile lure, and many people latiirc under tlic name id' the ('resceut I'oot- Bridge collictcd upon the shore to gaze at it. ( 'ompany. with ca]iital stoidc of two tlimisand ilollars. Although the niinilier of trains is alioiit seventy opened a footdiridge, huilt U|ion the foundation of the daily, the list id' railroad aeiidents in ISridgcport is 11 railroad ioinpan\ , upon the south side of the track. siir|)iisingly short ime. It is safe to say that more charging one ci'iit toll. The present hridge for the persons have hcen killed in this vicinity hy runaway accommiHlation of foot-pas>eiigers, upon the northeih' horses Ihan in traveling upon the car-, '^'cl painful side <d' the railroad track, wa> huilt hy the eit\' in .accidents lia\e not hcen entirely e-eaped, and twice a 18(59, and is free to all. horrihle ilisaster has harcdy liccii i.revented. ( >ct. 12, The iie.xt hridge huilt is no longer standing; having ]X~>'2, a locomotive and four lars helonging to a Nau- heeome unfit for lieavy travel it was taken down ahout gatuck freight-train ran olf the drawhridge. Tlie the year !S()1). It was eri-ctcd hy Freeman I!. I'luiiih, engineer escaped hy jumping; the tireman's leg was William S, Kiiowlton, and their associates, who in the hroken, hut he was ahle to swim ashore, Aug. 15, year 18.'i2 were authorized hy the Legislature to eon- l.'vli-"), a cidlision took place in North Ihidgeport he- struet a hridge Irom the foot of William Street, Ivist tweeii a llonsatonic pa>scnger-train whieli was hack- Bridgeport, to some jioint near I'ortcr's Kocks, on the ing down and a locomotive upon it- trial-(rip, hy western shore of the harhor, to eidleet toll from pa— which ele\cii person^ lo>t their lives and twenty-seven sengers, and to maintain a draw. This also was pin- other- were ininrcd. Ihigiiieer William llristcd was (hascd hy the city and made \'rri\ Oct. 22. ISCl, the also killed hy a collision a short di.-tance aliovi' the price paid ludiig thirteen thousand two hundred and Parlor Koek picnic-ground, ,\iig. .'ID, ISXd. fifty ilollars. A salute of one hundred guns in honor I'll .Iniie 20, ISliT, the noon express-train out of of the event was lircd hy enthusiastic persons in Ivist New "^'ork rcai lied r.ridgiport .it half-].asl two, ami Briilgeport. who perha|is hail huilding-lots to dis- after the ii-iial halt at the depol \eil forward upon pose of. the hridge at the rate of eighteen miles an hour, (). The present Centre Hridge is the only one which neilher (he I'ligineer nor the conductor noticing that can really he called a credit to the city, it extends the red hall or safety-signal had heeii lowered, and from the foot of Congress Street, on the wc-tcru side that the heavy iron draw, which had hecii opened to of the river, to the foot id' \\'illiani Street, in I'.ast admit the passage of a scln er, was still sonic twenty- Bridgeport, a distance of some eight huiidred feet. feet out id' phnc. Th ily hope for the safety of the For the greater part of this di-iance it ha- a char train was in ihe exertions id' the hridge-tendcr, I )eiinis roadway of thirly feet, and sidewalks of si.x feet in Colgaii, who. hy putting forth every ell'ort, succeeded 110 HISTORY OF FAIRFIKLD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT. in dosing the gaj) just in time. Even then he was obliged to run down the siiigU' track in fiiee of the advancing engine and shoot tlie bolt into its socket, or, the bridge being crescent-shaped, tlie iinjjact of the train would liave thrown the draw open again and precipitated the engine and cars into the water below. He was just in time to push the pin into its place and then drop between the tics to the timbers beneath, when the train thundered over his head. So close was the locomotive tliat s|)ectators on shore and upon the adjoining foot-bridge, who had shouted for him to keep back and not to sacrifice liis own life in the vain hope of .saving others, all believed that he had been killed ; and it was perhaps under this impression that the engineer, on arriving at New Haven, left at once his train and the company's employ without waiting for the formality of a discharge. Two weeks aftiT this narrow escape the board of directors of the New York and New Haven Railroad passed a preamble re- citing the foregoing facts, and a resolution that as a token of their ap|)reciation of the heroism e.\hil)ited by Dennis Colgau five shares of the company's stock be transferred to him, and that a copy of the pre- amble and resolution, signed by the president, be .sent to him, together with the certificate of stock. Five years after this occurrence another disaster of the same nature, and of even greater magnitude, was ju.st escaped at the same place. It was the afternoon before Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 27, 1872, when a train of fourteen pa.ssenger-cars from New York, being be- hind time, after a brief stop at the Bridgeport depot, ran upon the bridge, the draw being open at the time to a<lniit tlie pa.s.sage of a lumber barge. From the neighboring Centre Uridge, which was crowded with carriages and pedestrians waiting for the draw on that bridge to close, frantic efforts were nuide to attract the attention of the engineer, but in vain ; and men turned their backs that they might not see the fatal plunge that seemed inevitalile. The new drawbridge has a double track and two sets of gearing, the one in ordi- nary nse rcfjuiring about twenty revolutions to dose the draw, the other, or fast gearing, taking only thir- teen revolutions, but needing the strength of two men to operate it. Using the latter, Colgan, by liis utmost exertions, just succeeded in closing the gap in time. Almo.st brcathle-ss from the exertion, he ran down the track to drive home the wedge which secures the draw, but was too late, for the engine had already reached the spot. There Wiis no hesitation upon his i>art, however. " Standing ujion the side track," says an eyc-witne.ss, "he planted his lever hard against the rail and held the draw firmly in place while the train went thundering by. Five .secoinls later in forming the connection, or the slightest shrinking on the part of the bridge-tender, and the train would have plunged into the horrid chasm." One can hardly read such an incident as this without thinking of lloratius at the bridge, and that, too, not altogether to the advantage of the bnive old Ronnm. It is plea.sant to add that Dennis Colgan .still re- mains in the employ of the railroad company in whose service he has been for over thirty years, and that he has pros]>ered financially, being at present the owner of four double houses. Another point worthy of men- tion is that no drawbridge upon the line is now allowed to be opened within ten minutes of the time for any train.