Norwalk After Two Hundred & Fifty Years

"Sloop and schooner passenger traffic gradually fell off when steam superseded the wind as a motive power. John Fitch's great grandfather resided for a short time (1652) in Norwalk, but the great inventor himself launched the original steam propelled vessel in the world on Collect Pond, Smith's Valley, now Center street, New York, some thirty-six years after Fulton's Cler- mont. Henry Betts, of Norwalk, assisted ' by two or three citizens of means, constructed a small engine, and planting it in a modest craft prepared for 'the trial.' The start upon the maiden trip was made and 'Oyster Shell Point' was reached when the vessel was blown up, thus putting a period to Norwalk river steam navigation until the appearance in the harbor in the spring of 1824 of the pioneer steamboat General Lafayette, which plied be- tween Norwalk and New York until succeeded later in the season by the John Marshall, Capt. Pennoyer and iater Capt. John Brooks, an enterprise for which Henry Belden first president of the Fairfield County Bank stood tesponsiblc, and the Marshall made three trips each way every week, and lay in Norwalk at Uriah Selleck's dock (near Chas. T. Leonard's present coal yard), and what- ever'shore office'the boat had, being in the same Selleck's country store on the dock. In the spring of 1829 the Baltimore was put upon the route by Cornelius Vander- bilt as an opposition boat. This gave place in 1830 and 1831 to the Citizen, which succeeded in running off the John Marshall. Vanderbilt at that time was called the proprietor of Long Island Sound. The Flushing Pecks now appeared upon the scene, who, being associated with Charles Hovt, and having bought the Citizen from Van- derbilt, ran the same while the Fairfield was building by Lawrence & Sneeden near 8th Street, New York. WThen the Fairfield was completed and had proven a success, the Nimrod was started and went into service in 1836. Previous to the latter's arrival the Westchester 248 ran for a brief period in opposition. (This boat was put upon the route during the cholera season, as so many liew the city at that time the fare between New York and Norwalk was raised to seventy-five cents. The Van- derbilt owner of the Westchester lowered the fare to twelve and a half cents, which created fierce opposition and aroused an intense interest. The first boats came to the bridge, and their arrival was the signal for a dis- charge of cannon from Town House Hill and the gather- ing of multitudes at that point and at Bessey's Hill. The Westchester was withdrawn from the Norwalk route to be placed on the Hudson river as one of the maiden boats of the now famous "People's Line." This line, it is pos- sible, was actually born in Norwalk. Alanson P. and Edward St. John, Philip Cannon and Gordon Coles were largely the inaugurators of the new enterprise.) The Nimrod being ready, the two distinguished Sound com- manders, John Brooks and Curtis Peck, confronted each other. The Pecks disposed of the Citizen to the Hoyts, to the Norwalk bridge, as a packet commanded by Cap- tain Munson Hoyt Not long after the boat was sold for excursions and then for towing purposes and finally came to an end by a boiler explosion. The Fairfield and Nimrod did a prosperous business and stages from as far north as Danbury and east as Bridgeport connected with both boats. "At this juncture of Norwalk's steamboat suc- cess the Napoleon was ptit upon the route and the climax of enthusiasm was reached. This boat was denominated 'Peck's Get-up,' and the even- ing of its arrival at Old Well was a memora- ble one. At the close of the trip the captain ap- peared and made a five minutes' speech, ending with: Be true to the Napoleon and she will be true to you.' The multitude was then invited aboard and taken up to the bridge. The people still clung to the boat and were carried back to the Old Well (where the vessel was to remain over night) and walked home again. A good business season followed. Eventually Captains Peck and Brooks came to an agreement that the boats, one week the Fairfield and the next the Nimrod should run through to Bridgeport. This arrangement continued until the building of the Housatonic railroad, when Capt. Brooks gave up the Norwalk route altogether, leaving everything in Capt. Peck's hands. The Croton was now put on the line, then the Cricket, the Cataline, 249 the Curtis, the Peck and the Hero. The St. Nicholas, a tentative, boat, from time to time ran in opposition, but the Pecks were masters of the situation. They so con- tinued until the opening of the New Haven and New York railroad. Lawrence M. Stevens, in 1849, put the Norwalk in service, and in 1852 Stephen Olmstead, Stiles Curtis and Edward C. Bissell adventured the Pacific, Capt. Joe Byxbee (largely a freighter), which boat's pas- sage through the draw on May 6, 1853, was followed by the terrible railway calamity of that date. The John Hart, Confidence, George Law, Americus, Netty White, John Romer, Arrowsmith, Pegasus, Cape Charles, and Adelphi (City of Albany) are names of Norwalk steam craft of modern times." Among the craft named by the Norwalk historian was the Confidence and one boat not named, the Wilson G. Hunt. Upon both of these steamers the present writer well remembers having made trips from New York when a small boy. What makes this recollection interesting is that a few years later these identical boats survived the perils of 16,000 miles of navigation upon the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and reached the port of San Francisco. California. A little later, in 1855 and 1856, the Confidence and Wilson G. Hunt became alternating daily boats of the California Navigation line between Sacramento City and San Francisco, and it was the wri- ter's privilege to make many trips in these two boats be- tween the two ports. Their hulks decayed at last on the banks of the Sacramento river. This writer has also1 a keen recollection of some of the other boats named by the historian. Their trips from New York to Old Well in- cluded stops at Portchester, Rocky Neck (Greenwich) and Stamford. Once upon the old Croton the writer remembers his first encounter with a hurricane. His father and mother were quite alarmed, and as the waves covered the lower deck and threatened to fill the furnace rooms, there was evidently cause for anxiety. The Croton put into Cow Bay for the night, and the next morning resumed her trip to Norwalk. The experience has never been forgotten. Thousands of old residents remember these journeys on the Sound in the steamboats of the early days. The Cataline was another of the famous boats. She was sold in 1861 to the United States government as a transport and when the price paid was made public there was a scandal, and charges of fraud and corruption. The Cataline hardly fulfilled 950 the expectations of the government, but the contractors who bought and sold her were satisfied. The Cataline used to land at the foot of Catherine street, New York, and one day the strain on one of the landing hawsers was so great that it suddenly broke and threw a dozen per- sons to the ground. One of the boys who thus narrowly escaped was the writer of these lines. The statistics of Norwalk's commerce are not suf- ficiently comprehensive to give us much idea of its extent or importance according to modern standards, but we may infer that the principal exports were agricultural products. The "Market Day" previously alluded to, was an institution similar to that which is witnessed in hundreds of places to-day- Railroads have changed these conditions largely, but there are even in New Eng- land 'market days" still when buyers and sellers meet. The methods are different, however. Now the produce of farms is not so generally sold for export, but there are yet days when "butter" is brought to the centers upon particular days. In the old days the farmers and their wives sent their products by wagons to the landings all over Connecticut — and many an old resident to-day can recollect of the back-breaking torture of carrying for long distances baskets of eggs or jars of butter to reach the sloops bound for New York. The introduction of manufactured goods made some changes in the cargoes as years progressed, but in those days as now the return cargoes consisted largely of coal, lumber and building hardware. It is only a few years since any systematic attempt has been made to supply statistics of the com- merce of Norwalk by water. The United States govern- ment has instructed the Engineer Corps at New London to obtain statistics of all the harbors on the Sound as{ a means of judging" their commercial importance. The railroads have interfered so largely in the freight move- ments that it is impossible to judge of the aggregate trade statistics of any of these ports by the water route figures. With these qualifications it will be seen that Norwalk is bv no means of small importance in the ex- tent of its shipments by water. In order to show by comparison the movements of Norwalk commerce, the figures are appended for five years, ending June 30, 1882 and from 1890 and 1891 ; also 1895 and 1896; also 1899 and 1900* 251 COMMERCIAL STATISTICS. For the Year Ending J une 30th, — ARTICLES 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 Received: Coal, tons 76,000 76,000 78,000 81,999 90,200 Iron, tons 3i5°° 3.45° 3,600 4,150 4,400 Lumber, feet 12,000,000 12,000,000 10,000,000 30,000,000 31,559,956 Gen. Mdse., tons 38,760 36.860 39.100 48,085 53,565 Shipped: Lumber, feet 100,000 125,000 140,000 440,000 540,000 Gen. Mdse., tons 2,965 2,565 3,o95 38,984 48,775 Vessels arriving and departing: Steamers 510 520 54° 1,119 i,459 Sailing Vessels 310 320 340 482 539 Barges 360 365 375 434 500 Vessels owned in or hailing from Norwalk and South Norwalk, Conn. 70; tonnage, 3,008. 1890 1891 1895 1896 Tons Value Tons Value Tons Value Tons Value Coal Lumber 85,000 17,500 (14,000,000 feet) 210,000 $ 340,000 350,000 12,600,000 100,000 18,500 (16,000,000 feet) 250,000 $ 400,000 390,000 15,000,000 102,750 $ 385,312 73.790 $ 310,585 Gen. Mdse. Building 47,775 41,070 9,500 4,082,875 303,400 200,000