History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

southwest of Black Bock light, was liuilt in IST.'i, ami nmrks what was formerly one ol the most danger- ous localities in Long Lland Sound. The keeper's dwelling, of gray granite, is built upon a, masonry jiicr anil has a Man.sard roof surmounted by an octagonal wooden tower painted white, excepting the dome of the lantern, which is black. Tlie light is a Hashing red one. and the fog-signal is a steel bell struck by nuichinery, — two lilows in i|uick succession, at inter- vals of twenty seconds. Information concerning the ditferent lighthouses and beacons in this vicinity — their co'it.date of erec- tion, etc. — may be found in the acts of Congress approved ujion the following dates: April 21, l.SOd; Feb. 11), 1S07; May 23, ISii.S; March :!, ISIO; March :;, bS21 ; .March 2, 1.S27 ; ami others. The laleCapt. Abram A. McXeil establi-lied a light at the entram-e of Bridgeport Harbor almiit the year bs44, — at first merely a lantern niion the end of a buoy, afterwards a whale-boat decked over and carry- ing a light, and then a grou]> of five jiiles with a lan- tern U]Min the one in the centre. In ISoI, njion peti- tion of ('a|it. .lohn lirooks, a snuill lighthouse was erected lu-re by the govi'rnment, the predeci'ssor of the handsmne structure of 1S71, deserilied above. The present breakwater and the beacon U]iou the rocks known as "the Cows," oft' Fairfield, were also built upon petition of Capt. Brooks. The original parish grist-mill was ui)on Ash Creek, a short distance north of the old stage road or Xortli .Vvenue, and is supposed to have been Imilt either by Henry Jackson, of Fairfield, or by his son Moses as early as the year Kio.".. The suei-essivc structures upon this site have been commoidy known as Jack- son's, Knap]>'s, and Moody's Mill. .\ mill upon the reijuonnock Hiver, near the presi'ut reservoir, was owned and occupied by Ste- ]iheu Burroughs befiire the Kevolution, but the date when it was built is unknown to the writer. Ohl M ill, which stood at the eastern extremity of the coni- ]iiiiH known as ( )ld Mill < ireen, was built in the year lli.'i:! bv Thonuis Sherwoml and .lohn llurd, of Strat- ford, who were granted land by tlie town, and allowed to (diarge a toll of one-sixteeenth ]>art of every grist ground. The uann:' Did Mill is still a familiar one, though the mill itself disappeared nearly a century ago. The mill near the site of the present Berkshire Bridge was first built in \7X-':. as shown by the loUow- ing extract, slightly abridged, from the nuinuscript acts of the (icneral Assend)ly at Hartfiird. The act in ijuestion was passed in October, I7i>2, and may be found in vol. v. pages 34, 8'): " t;iiiin the iii'titiun of Williuni I'ixliie .ami .lames Frcnrti. of ttn- t"w ii lit stiiitfuril. stiitirif; tliat iipnii ri'iiiiuiiiiui k Ilivir, ulinvii tlui si-tUi-im-nt ciillfil New Kielil, liliiiut un« iiiilii Irmn Ilu' m.iulli uf Newtield Hiirlmr. i.4 a ]ila.L- ralli-il tin- Narnnva; tliat Uh-.v own lliu laiiil on i null Milf of .Haiil ilv.T at .siiii |ila.i-; Hint in tin- yi'ar 17H:i tlii-.v I'li'iti-il a dani ami ii 124 lIlSTdKV OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT. KriAt-mill at said place, wliich tlit-y Imvo continued ever nince ; timt tlie}- liave Iwcn perpetniiUy liarnt<8e(l witli luw-suits over nincv, liy I'liilip NiclitdM and Steitlieii Hiirrongtm, Ksqtt., of siiid Strutford, who own laiidn a)x>ve tsHld river, luilf u mile iiliove eaid mill ; and tliiit n tide-mill iit siiid plai'o would be a public advantage, lut per petition on file ; " HcMthfA hij thU AMfiubly, That said dam he eHtiililirtliod at said place called the Narrows, and lilielly is hereby granted to said petitioners to keep up ami maintain a dam aci-osssaid river, and to use and employ said mills now creeled, or that may bo erected, for twenty years from the tlfst of December next, or longer, at the pleasure of tliis Ajo^enddy. I'mriiU-tt, Tliat the Gates of said Ilam shall be deemed sultiinent by a Coniniittee appointed for the puri>ose for the passage of Vessels, Boats, and Scows. "Auil it is oi-dered that neither of the petitioners shall bo liable to respond in damages to any private person for keeping up or nuiintaining the Buuio. Atwuyf proviiledy That no person or jiersons shall be barred from maintaining any aelion in case they are ilaninified by the overllow- ing of the waters occasioned by said Dam." KEWSPAPERS. Extendefl icf'cronce li!i.s alrfa<ly l)ceii iiiafle to tlio American Tck;;r(i))/ie, tlw first in\\si)aiit'r i>ul)lislii(l in Briiltrcport. Anionf.c its successors were the followiiifr: The BridijqMji-t Jlerahl, a weekly pajjer, commenced about the year 1805 by Samuel Mallory. Copies of it are now extremely searee, — much more so than those of its predecessor, the Tckyrap/ic, of which tiuite a luiniljiT have l)ceu preserved. The UrkUjfpdrt Aih'crti^er, started in l^idO, by Heze- kiali Kiplcy, and published weekly for several years at the rate of one dollar and fifty cents jjer annum. Tlie Connecticut Courier, begun in 1810, by Nathaniel L. Skinner, and eimtinued by him lor upwards of a dozen years. Another l)aper, called the Connecticut Patriot, was commenced in 1826, by L. liradley & Co., at their office, corner of JIain iind State Streets, opposite the Steamboat Hotel, afterwards the Franklin Home. A newspaper called the Spirit uf the Times, published and edited by Georjje W. Smith, Jr., at the corner of State and AVater Streets, which met for a time with eonsideralile success. Tliis paper was started in ISHl, when public feeling ran high on the subject of Ma- sonry, soon after the abduction of the unfortunate Morgan. It was devoted to the cause of anti-Masonry, and for a while circulated as many as eight hundred copies. It was afterwards sold to John Swaine. The Bridi/e/jorl Rcpulilican, a weekly paper, com- menced in 18:50 by Kdmund Fauton. This paper was the predecessor of the Standard. About the year 1839, Mr. Fanlou sold his printing material to A. A. Pettengill. The Bridijeport Clironicle, first jmlilislu'd .S,.|,t. !l, 1848, by B. H. Muiison, at the corner of State and Water Streets. It wius i.ssued weekly, at one dollar per aiiiiuin, and enjoyed but a brief existence. The same is true of the first liridgcpurt Leader, which was suspended after fifteen numbers. It was edited by T. M. Clarke, subsetpiently eilitor of the Winstead Herald, and published by the Bridgeport Printing Com|)an)-. The ilate u|)on its first niunbcr is March 25, 18.54. The ncwspajiers pul^hed in Bridgeport at the present time sire the Farmer, Democratic, Standard, Republican, and the Morning News and Leader, inde- pendent. The first number of the Republican Farmer was i-ssued Ai)ril 25, 1810, by Jlr. Stiles Nichols, who had removed from Diinbury, where the pai)er had been published under the same name since 180.3. The first copy of the Daibj Farmer was printed Jtin. 1, 1850, by the late W. S. Pomeroy. The iiublication-office and editorial-room of the Farmer, which were for many years upon the corner of Wall and Water Streets, have been recently removed to a more con- venient location. No. 21 Fairfield Avenue I Waller's Building), adjoining the railroad depot. Messrs. James L. Gould and Henry H. Stiles are the pro])rie- tors of this old-established journal, the former giving special attention to the editorial, the latter to the publication, department. The local editor is Mr. Rufus A. Lyon. The Republican Stand^ird was commenced in the year 18.39 by A. A. Pettengill, who wsts both editor and proprietor. In the s|)ring of 1848, Julius S. Hanover was admitted to an interest in the business, anil tlie tirm-namc was subsetiuently changeil to I'et- tengill iS: Hanover. In 18.53 a tri-weekly edition was begun, followed in 18.54 by th^ jmblication of a daily. In September, 18G3, Mr. John D. Candee, formerly of New Haven, became the successor of the firm of Pet- tengill & Hanover, and Jan. 1, 1867, the Standard Association was organized, with a capital stock of sixty thousand dollars. .\t the present time the paper is edited by Messrs. John D. Candee and George C. Waldo, Alexander Wheeler having charge of tlu- business management and Louis C. Prindle the ile- partment of local news. The handsome brick build- ing on the corner of Fairfield .Vvenue and Middle Streets, owned and occupied by the Stamlanl Asso- ciation, was erected in 1870, at a cost of alimit thirty thousand (h)llars. Several attempts have been made at different times to founil a daily morning pa|>er in Bridgeport, — a difii- cult task in any city, but especially so here on account of the proximity of New York and the early hour at which the metropolitan journals are received. The Morning Sews, liowevcr, begun in 1879, seems to have secured a foothold and to enjoy a fair share of public favor. The publicatiou-otlice is No. 324 Main .Street. Maj. Henry M. Hoyt is publisher, Arthur W. French editor, and I. M. Witmeyer reporter. The Leader, now in its ninth vidume, is i.ssued every Wednesdtiy and Saturday at No. 321 Water Street. Franklin Sherwood is the editor and pro- prietor. Special attention is given in its columns to municipal affairs, the iirocceilings of the Common Council, etc. ODD-KELLOWS. The society known jls the Indepeinlent Order of Odd-I"ellows was first introduced into Connecticut, and Quinuipiiic Lodge, of New Haven, instituted, Sept. 3, 1839. In .Viiril, 1840, Charter Gak Lodge, BRIDGEPOllT. 125 ]S'<i. i!, of llurtl'nril, aiicl Jlidclli'scx L(i(1l;c', Xci. .'!, of admitted to its mcmbersliip is two liiiiiilriMl ;\iid Kast H;id(l;iiu, were tiiiiiidfd, t'olldwcil, .[line I I, l.^-U, tliii-ty-oiie ; present menilierslii|i diic liiindred and liv rc(Hiiinn(iek Lodii'e, No. 4, (if UridL'eiHirt, the iK'ti- nineteen, ineludiug a liattalion of alioid forty iiiii- tioii for wineli was sifrtu'd liy (ieorL:c II. .T(jhn.s(iii, foriui'd Patriarclis. l!ridf;i']iort l'aieani|iiiieiit, iS'o. John M. Wilson, ( iilson Landnii, Samuel L. Eldred, '22, was eliartered May 17, l.S7(l, ami mcits in the ami < leoriii' 'Walters, all of this eity. The first ]daee hall of Steuben Lodge, on State Stmt. Its niinier-