ecticut Tercentenary Celebration
DANBURY- BETHEL Settled in 1685
f September 15 to 21, 1935 PRICE 25c. L , . t • • n- i IV • ^ J -JRIBBB p , tfl HHLraJL* •HI i '; £w lifts •M ali MM • • • V: , « J- N T - * - I* ' ' ' ' ? ^ , • '' >- M m 4 . » iiiii iiillli ...,• . x' ... .>»«'....,...... ^ i - ..,',.«_.....,...' m ills iliSflll ilif t V L 3 , - , I I M •• 1 H f| • SK1I V r I 7 > ' j? ! > J •i Ht 111 1, „ , „fr^ ' : / .'-aPhis -•'•"••"•-".."SHS i'S* . if « " •: i '* :' : f tf SS . .1 ...... , ... : If. f * ® IS • • - ' ' .-'.. '..... a : 5 •• . Si® • • ' : •^^tMkm&mBMmmS i • ' i ' ''i^riii "mi r J j;,' ,*>Im 1 ' SSSSSfSlStS fmiMimm i^Sf- B •i : . iM < : %' B • *' ' \< • J ' • si«8i I BPPPB^^^T^ mf > • ' . - • ..<•.'•-' SC. iiiuii iimm^MS^Mi'^31 / :-i--i[.if.h • S ' . • " if^BiiiiiJ- ' ... - 'f •• I . Ill saiff-a; - lili Connecticut State Libran 3 0231 00061 1256 The Connecticut Tercentenary 1635 1935 and The Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Settlement of the Town of Danbury which included the Society of Bethel 1685 1935 A Short Historical Sketch of the Early Days of Both Towns Program of Events for the Tercentennial Celebration -f-Jlf PUBLISHED BY THE TERCENTENARY COMMITTEE PROGRAM SUNDAY, SEPT. 15TH Observance of the Tercentennial by all the Churches separately at the usual services. 4 p.m. Floats Parade. 7 p.m. Outdoor Union Service of All Churches Corner Deer Hill Avenue and Wooster Street. MONDAY, SEPT. 16TH 8 p.m. Colonial Ball, Elks Auditorium. WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 17TH 8 p.m. Tercentenary Concert, Empress Theatre. FRIDAY AND SATURDAY, SEPT. 20 AND 21 8 p.m. Historical Pageant, "The People of the Book" Danbury Fair Grounds. Bethel is joining with Danbury in the main events of Tercentenary Week. In addition, Bethel will observe the Tercentennial separately as follows: SUNDAY, SEPT. 15TH Observance of the Tercentennial by all the Churches separately at the usual services. WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY AND FRIDAY, SEPT. 18TH, 19TH AND 20TH Exhibits of Antiques and Relics at the Masonic Temple. DANBURY TERCENTENARY COMMITTEE Chairman—Thomas J. Bowen Vice-Chairman—John C. Doran Secretary—Harold F. Dow Treasurer—Arthur J. Hurley Honorary Chairmen—Mayor Adam A. Roth 1st Selectman Edward A. Culhane EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Thomas J. Bowen Mrs. John C. Downs Charles E. Carter George F. Green James R. Case Arthur J. Hurley Mrs. Leroy Chapman J. Moss Ives Mrs. Andrew Conniff Wilbur F. Tomlinson Martin J. Cunningham Donald Tweedy John C. Doran Albert P. Walsh Harold F. Dow Lynn W. Wilson CHAIRMEN OF SPECIAL COMMITTEES Colonial Costume Ball ------Frank Belmar Parade of Floats ------William J. Connors Pageantry and Music ------Donald Tweedy Director of Personnel ------George E. Allingham Tickets ------Albert P. Walsh Information Booth ------Charles E. Carter Industrial Exhibit ------Robert J. Dobbs Transportation ------A. William Sperry Historical Program ------J. Moss Ives Markers ------Mrs. Chester H. Brush Publicity ------Lynn W. Wilson BETHEL TERCENTENARY COMMITTEE Chairman—Burton F. Sherwood Sec.-Treas.—Frank E. Hurgin CHAIRMEN OF SPECIAL COMMITTEES Exhibits ------^ - - - Morris Britto, Jr. Markers ------C. K. Bailey Pageants and Floats ------Anna Laura Smith Tickets ----- Earl M. Smith HISTORIC DANBURY Danbury is not only observing this year, the tercentenial of the State of Connecticut, one of the thirteen original states which formed the National Union, it is also observing the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of this historic old town. Perhaps you would like to know something of the early history of Danbury, how and when it was settled, of interesting events that occurred here during the War of the Ameri- can Revolution, and of the beginning of the hat industry which has made Danbury famous as the hatting center of the country. Therefore, we have briefly set forth some of the highlights of the early history of the town. THE FIRST SETTLERS In the spring of the year 1685, just two hundred and fifty years ago, the first permanent settlement of Danbury was made. During the summer of the year previous some of the first settlers had set out from the town of Norwalk, and headed northward on an old Indian trail, looking for fertile inland fields where the soil would be more produc- tive than it was near the waters of Long Island Sound. They came to the valley where today is the site of the City of Danbury. They were attracted both by the beauty and fertility of this valley and here they decided to build their new homes. To their eyes it was an attractive spot with fertile green fields lying between gently sloping hills and out- lying meadowlands through which flowed many small streams making at their junction a river flowing to the northward to join the larger river which is now known as the Housatonic. During the late autumn most of these pioneers returned to Nor- walk. A few remained for the winter. The eight families who made their permanent abodes here did not come to Danbury until the following spring so it cannot be said that the first real settlement was made until then. The names of these first settlers were: Thomas Taylor, Francis Bushnell, Thomas Barnum, John Hoyt, James Benedict, Samuel Bene- dict, James Beebe and Judah Gregory. They brought their families with them and built their homes. There are many direct descendants of these first settlers living in Danbury today. The homes of the first settlers were built at the southern end of what is now Main Street, then called Town Street. The lands were purchased of the Indian proprietors. Little is known of the Indians [S] CUT BY WARREN C. ROCKWELL VIEW OF CENTRAL PART OF BOROUGH OF DANBURY, 1830 who owned the land in the valley. They were a friendly tribe and made no trouble. The Indians had named the valley Pahquioque, which meant an open plain, and the settlement was first known as "the plantation of Pahquioque." This name, difficult of both spelling and pronunciation, now only survives in one street called Pahquioque Avenue and in the names of several organizations. It was once used for the name of a popular tavern and of one of Danbury's banks. The tavern burned and with it the name. The bank changed its name long since. Danbury was first made a town by act of the General Court in 1687. The petition was presented on behalf of the inhabitants of the plantation of Pahquioque, who asked that the town be named "Swam- feild" (Swampfield). A swamp on the east side of Main Street was an important feature of the topography. The petition stated that "there are twentie families inhabiting at Pahquioque and more desirable per- sons a-cominge." Danbury escaped being christened Swampfield for the General Court named the new town Danbury, after the old village of Danbury (anciently Danebury) in Essex County, England. It is prob- able that some of the first settlers came from Danbury, England. The official survey showed the territory of the town to be eight miles in length, running north and south, six miles in width, east and west. This territory included what is now the town of Bethel which was not separately incorporated until 1855, so that Bethel shares in the early history of Danbury and in the two hundred and fiftieth anni- versary of the first settlement. Gradually as the years went on the little settlement grew and pros- pered. The main street extended its length and took on new houses until it stretched nearly two miles from south to north. Until the last quarter century the old street was lined with beautiful elms but modern city improvements have laid waste most of these old trees. There is little documentary evidence of the history and growth of the Town and its settlement until 1777, as the Town Records were all destroyed at the time of Tryon's raid. THE BRITISH RAID ON DANBURY The outbreak of the Revolution found the town of Danbury with a population of 2,470. When in April of 1775 the shot that was "heard around the world" was fired at Lexington, the bell on the meeting house was rung and patriots were summoned to arms. A company of ninety-eight able-bodied men was organized and sent for duty with the northern army at Lake Champlain. The first man to enlist in this company was Enoch Crosby, a shoemaker, who afterwards became f 7 1 famous as a Revolutionary spy operating in Putnam and Duchess counties, New York. The event of chief historic interest in the story of Danbury's past was the raid made by General Tryon, commanding the British forces in New York in 1777. This raid was made because the commissioners of the American army had chosen Danbury for a deposit of a large quantity of military stores. General Tryon set out from New York with a force of two thousand troops for the purpose of destroying these stores. This force landed at Compo Point in the town of Fairfield, and marched directly to Danbury. As soon as the landing was made and it became known that Danbury was the objective of the expedition a call was sent out for the gathering of the state militia forces. General David Wooster, who was living in New Haven, responded to the call as did also General Benedict Arnold, who happened to be home on fur- lough, and was eager to get into some real fighting. Wooster ordered the militia to march to Fairfield where he was joined by Arnold. There at Fairfield they learned that General Silliman, who was in command of the Department of Connecticut, had started for Redding on the way to Danbury, and had sent word to have the militia report at Redding. Col. Joseph Cooke, who resided in Danbury, was in command of what few Continental troops were here at the time of the raid. It was only a small detachment. They had guns but no ammunition. Most of the Connecticut troops were with Washington in the New Jersey cam- paign. As soon as Col. Cooke received news of the approach of the British he sent a messenger to General Silliman. The messenger came in contact with the enemy at Redding and was taken prisoner. While the British were marching to Danbury, General Silliman proceeded to Redding with a handful of troops. Here he was joined by Wooster and Arnold. It was eleven o'clock at night before the American forces reached the village of Bethel. Owing to the weariness of the men and to the fact that their firearms were made practically useless by a heavy down-pour of rain, it was decided to rest for the night and to make an attack on the British troops on their return march from Danbury. The American force only numbered seven hundred as against the British force of over two thousand. In the meantime, General Tryon, had arrived in Danbury and estab- lished his headquarters in the center of the village. He at once gave orders for the destruction of the military stores. Most of the stores had been placed in the edifice of the Church of England, a portion of which, changed and remodelled, is now standing on the south-west corner of Main and South Streets. It may have been an idea that the stores would have been safe from destruction if stored within the f 8 1 portals of the established church, but the quite obvious thing was done, the supplies were taken from the church and burned in the street. Altogether some three thousand pounds of pork, one thousand bar- rels of flour, several hundred barrels of beef, one thousand six hundred tents, two thousand bushels of grain besides other supplies including a quantity of rum which was regarded as an essential part of a soldier's ration were destroyed. It is said that the fat from the burning pork and meat ran ankle deep in the street. As for the rum, the British troops decided that the best means of destruction was by individual con- sumption. New England rum was a very potent beverage and long before midnight most of the British troops were gloriously drunk and having a high old time. Had the American troops, even though small in number, advanced on Danbury that night from Bethel they could prob- ably have wiped out the entire British force. The heavy rain storm earlier in the evening was an occurence which proved most unfortunate for the American cause. Most of the inhabitants had fled the town before the British arrived. Major Taylor who kept the tavern at the foot of Main Street, in his haste in gathering his large family and a few supplies to get them beyond the range of the invaders, suddenly missed his youngest daughter. He went back to find her busily engaged in making mud pies at the lower end of South Street blissfully unconscious of the near approach of the British troops. Colonel Cooke with the small force of Continentals and militia left to join the forces under Wooster and took active part in the engage- ments of the following day. The only resistance offered by the inhabitants of Danbury was that of three young men, one of them a negro, who fired upon the British troops as soon as they arrived in the village. They were in the second story of the house of Captain Ezra Starr on the west side of Main Street. The troops retaliated by killing the boys and burning the house. General Tryon received word of the concentration of the militia at Bethel, soon after midnight. Up to that hour only three buildings had been destroyed. He then gave orders to burn the village, saving, however, the dwellings of the Tories. The next hour, the houses of the Tories were marked with a white cross made with white wash indi- cating that they were immune from destruction. Nineteen dwelling houses, the meeting house of the New Danbury society, and twenty- two stores and barns with all their contents were set on fire and con- sumed. More buildings would have been burned had it not been that General Tryon was in a hurry to get his troops away as soon as they f 9 1 became a little sober and before any more of the American militia could be gathered. The British general decided to return to Compo by a different route, and this route was by the way of Ridgefield. Before the gray light of the early dawn, a long file of the British troops could be seen leaving the village in the direction of Ridgefield. THE DEATH OF GENERAL WOOSTER It was on a Sunday morning when the British troops left Danbury with many of its dwellings in smoldering ruins, and started on their return march. No church bells rang in Danbury that morning; the inhabitants had other things to attend to than divine service, and their principal house of worship was destroyed. Messengers were sent to Bethel to inform General Wooster that the British had withdrawn from the village and later other messengers who had followed the enemy to see what route they had taken reported that Tryon was making a detour toward Ridgefield. A council of war was held. It was decided to divide the American forces. General Arnold and Silliman, with five hundred men, undertook a forced march to Ridgefield by a direct cross country route. General Wooster with two hundred men took a more northerly route intending to harass the enemy from the rear and do all the damage possible while the main force attacked from the front. It was a daring plan but with the Americans so greatly outnumbered there was little chance of success. Some patriotic farmers in Miry Brook section had destroyed a bridge over Wolf pond, on the route chosen by the British. This so delayed the progress of the enemy force that General Wooster caught up with the rear guard before he expected. He came upon them at eight o'clock while they were having breakfast. He appeared from a piece of woods about three miles north of Ridgefield village. So sudden was his attack on the rear guard that he captured forty men before the British command was aware of his presence. He withdrew as rapidly as he came but shortly after made another attack while the enemy was in motion and it was then that he was mortally wounded. The British returned the fire with three pieces of artillery. Wooster's small force wavered in the face of this heavy fire and Wooster turning in his saddle to rally his men was struck by a musket ball which is said to have been fired by a Tory. The British continued their retreat. Gen- eral Wooster was given first aid treatment on the field. The great sash which he wore was unwound and being spread out as a blanket he was put on it, and carried from the field. He was then conveyed by f 10 1 a carriage to Danbury where he could receive further surgical treat- ment. He was taken to a house on South Street which was standing until a few years ago. Here he languished and died three days after receiving his wound. The bullet had entered his back obliquely just as he had turned to wave on his men and cutting the spinal cord was buried in his stomach. There was from the first no hope for his recovery. CUT BY WARREN C. ROCKWELL DEATH OF GENERAL DAVID WOOSTER AS SHOWN IN BAS-RELIEF DETAIL ON WOOSTER MEMORIAL MONUMENT, WOOSTER CEMETERY He was buried with military honors in the old graveyard on Wooster Street, named after him. He was over the age for active duty being sixty-seven years of age when he died. He was a graduate of Yale, f 11 1 had served as captain in the Louisburg expedition in 1745, and served as a Brigadier-General in Canada earlier in the War for Independence. Returning to New Haven after the Canadian expedition he was ap- pointed Major-General of the Connecticut Militia. It was in this capac- ity that he came to Danbury. On April 25, 1852 the remains of Danbury's Revolutionary hero were taken from the Wooster street burial ground and interred in Wooster Cemetery beneath the imposing monument there placed near the entrance and dedicated to his memory. HONOR TO THE MINUTE-MAN There is no place here for even a brief account of the engagement at Ridgefield following the rear guard attack by Wooster. This was brought on by the attempt of Arnold and Silliman with their small force to block the progress of the British. The American troops showed the greatest valor and inflicted greater losses on the enemy than they themselves sustained. As the British approached within musket range a fierce fight began and it was fully an hour before these two thousand disciplined British troops were able to force the five hundred American untrained militia to retreat from their position. Colonel Abraham Gold, of Fairfield, fell while refusing to retreat and attempting to rally his men. Arnold had his horse shot from under him and when a British soldier advanced toward him with fixed bayonet, Arnold, who was dis- mounted, drew his pistol and shot him at close range. A Ridgefield farmer who skinned Arnold's horse the next day said that the animal had been struck by no less than nine bullets. Arnold and Silliman followed the British and at Saugatuck gave the enemy some lively entertainment before they embarked for New York. The American loss of sixty dead and wounded is said to have been less than half the loss suffered by the British. It is to be remembered that the American forces which were gath- ered to repel the British expedition to Danbury were made up of both the organized and unorganized militia, and that a large part of these troops had had little or no military training. Farmers from the towns through which the expeditionary force passed on its way to and from Danbury quickly joined the forces under Wooster, Silliman and Arnold. These men had in their possession fire-arms of various sorts, and little ammunition, but they knew how to make good use of them. They were not afraid to fight and to risk their lives in defense of their homes. They belonged to that great legion of Revolutionary fighters-—the far- famed minute men. They were old and young, married men with large f 12 1 families to support, and lads too young to enlist in the Continental line. It was the minute-men who fought at Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill. It was the minute-men from Danbury, Bethel, Redding, and Ridgefield and adjoining towns in the northern tier of the county who despite smaller numbers and inferior ordnance gave a good account of themselves in the engagements at Ridgefield and inflicted losses on the enemy force. It was the minute-men from the towns at the lower end of the county who came to the support of Silliman and Arnold at Saugatuck and took heavy toll of the British regulars. A monument in honor of the minute-man of Fairfield County has been erected near the site of the landing of the British force at Compo Point, and well may he be honored. Supplies for the Continental Army continued to be stored at Dan- bury but after Tryon's raid they were safe. There never was a second foray. The British did not relish another expedition to Danbury. COMMISSARY JOHN McLEAN John McLean was commissary of the Continental Army and in charge of the stores at Danbury. He came to America from Scotland in 1757, where he had been an ensign in the famous Black Watch regiment. He settled at Danbury and joined the Revolutionary army as soon as war broke out. When Tryon started his expedition, McLean had sent off all his horses and wagons to carry supplies to West Point. All he had left was a pair of oxen and a saddle horse. When he first learned of the approach of the British he put his family in the ox cart, equipped with a feather bed, and started them for New Milford. Real- izing that they would soon be out of danger he started to save his sup- plies. The McLean genealogy (The Clan Gillean) records that: "When the British were approaching Danbury in 1777 he knew that his wife and children would be safe, but he was somewhat anxious about his whiskey. In order to preserve it, he put it in jars and hid the jars under his barn, and perhaps under the ground. The British burnt Danbury but some of John McLean's whiskey escaped. It seems that the jars were all destroyed but one. That lucky jar is still in existence but to what use it is now put we do not know." When the British were seen approaching over Coalpit Hill, the commissary mounted his saddle horse and started up Main Street. The British advance guard started in pursuit and as they chased him they opened fire. Bullets passed through his coat and hat but he was mounted on the fastest horse in Danbury and escaped uninjured, joining his f 13 1 family in New Milford. He afterwards returned to Danbury with his family and resumed his duties as commissary, for notwithstanding Tryon's raid it was decided to keep Danbury as a depot for Revolu- tionary supplies. McLean was the largest property owner and tax- payer in the town. He was also the first selectman. All his property was destroyed and in the awards made to those who suffered by the British raid he was paid the sum of $12,462.64. This was a large sum in those days and the inference is that he owned several houses which were destroyed. His own home was located on the east side of Main Street, near the corner of Main and South Streets. When he returned after the raid he erected a new house which is still standing at No. 5 Main Street. THE PASSING OF THE FRENCH TROOPS One of the most dramatic moments in Danbury's history came in July of 1781, when four thousand eight hundred troops, under Count DeRochambeau passed through on their way to Yorktown, where they were a decisive factor in the victory which determined the defeat of the British and the victory of the colonies. This was the most distinguished body of citizens of one nation who ever came to the United States on the same mission. They left Danbury by way of West Wooster Street and Hull's Hill. They dragged their artillery wagons and carts over Miry Brook, following the same route as Tryon four years before. Under Rochambeau were such distinguished nobles and officers as Le Due De Lauzun; Count Arthur Dillon and his brother; Col. O'Brion; Major General, the Marquis De Chastellux; Baron de Vioemil ; Count de Custine; Count Guillaume de Deux Ponts; Prince De Broglie; Count Segus, uncle of Lafayette, and others. On the return march from Yorktown, the French made their for- tieth camp in Danbury. The exact stopping place is in that section formerly known as Plum Meadow Grove, extending along South Street and Shelter Rock Road near where now the plant of the Frank H. Lee Company. While in Danbury, Count Rochambeau was entertained by Col. Joseph Cooke at his home on Main Street, (the house now occu- pied by Doctor and Mrs. Harris F. Brownlee). A REVOLUTIONARY HOSPITAL During the Revolution, a hospital for the American army was kept for some time in Danbury. Two buildings each about sixty feet in length, were built for that purpose. These houses were located on the f 14 1 south side of what is now Park Avenue, between Division and Pleasant Streets. One of the houses is still standing although unfortunately some of its fine revolutionary architecture has been spoiled by remodeling. Many of the sick and wounded soldiers were brought here from White Plains. Many of the sick were soldiers from the south who were not used to the rigors of the northern climate. About two hundred soldiers were buried near this hospital. TO THE END OF THE CENTURY In 1784 Danbury was made a shire-town or county seat by the act of the state assembly. The other county seat was Fairfield. The fol- lowing year a court-house and jail were built. In January, 1791, the jail was burned, but rebuilt the same year on the site of the present jail. The second jail was built with the proceeds of a lottery. In 1790, Danbury's first newspaper appeared. It was called the "Farmer's Journal." Robert Sandeman came to America in 1764 from Perth, Scotland, and founded a new religious sect known as the Sandemanian church. Sandeman died in 1771 and was buried in the old town cemetery in the rear of the county jail. His church, named after him, stood for many years on Hillside place in the rear of the Danbury News Office. It is no longer in existence. Danbury's first historian was the Rev. Thomas Robbins, who preached the famous "century sermon" in the meeting house of the Congregational society which stood at the time where the soldiers monu- ment now is. Mr. Robbins was the head master of a private school which was located on Wooster Street. Although an ordained minister, he was not the regular pastor of the church. The sermon was delivered on the first Sunday of January, 1801. Much of what we know of the early history of Danbury is obtained from his sermon which was the result of a long and patient research. Mr. Robbins said that at the beginning of the new century there were seventeen schools in the town, twelve in the first society, and five in Bethel. Much more attention, he said "is now paid to the education of youth than formerly." There were three military companies; one of infantry, one cavalry troop, and an artillery company which was more military than we have today. The general occupation of the people of the town, he said, was farm- ing, but within recent years considerable manufactures had been estab- lished. "In the manufacture of hats" he said "this town exceeds anyone in the United States. More than twenty thousand hats, mostly fur, are made annually for exportation." The manufacture of boots and f 15 1 CUT BY WARREN C. ROCKWELL SOUTH EASTERN VIEW OF THE BOROUGH OF DANBURY, 1830 shoes was carried on to a considerable extent. There was also a paper mill, and a number of saddles were made yearly for exportation. Dan- bury presented a far different scene in those days than it does today. Main Street was a country road above Wooster Street, and West Street was another country road leading into it. Deer Hill Avenue was a cow path. The greater part of Main Street was plowed land and meadow. The town then had a population of 3,274, including Bethel. WHIPPING POST, STOCKS AND LOTTERIES Danbury did not escape the whipping post and the stocks. The first county court house was built on the site of the present court house. It was a box-shaped affair of two stories with a chunky little cupola on the roof. In front of it stood a whipping post and a pair of stocks. Both were used for years. Whippings were frequent in the early days of the century and were a part of the duties of the deputy sheriff. When this first court house was torn down in 1824 to make way for the second court house, the use of the whipping post and the stocks was abolished. It is too bad that these instruments of ancient punishment were de- stroyed, for they would have made interesting relics and there are some today who believe that they might still be put to good use. The second court house was afterwards removed to Taylor's Lane and it still can be seen south of the jail, where it is being used as a box factory. The first jail was built with the proceeds of a lottery, as was the first Danbury poor-house. The General Assembly granted the town the right to hold a public lottery so with the proceeds it could build a house for the town poor. The lottery in those days was an easy way of elimi- nating the burden of taxation. STAGE COACHES AND RAILROADS There were many stage coach lines running through Danbury in the old days. Most of the travel to New York was by stage to Norwalk and then by boat to New York. Another stage line ran to Sing Sing, N.Y. where connection was made with boats on the Hudson River. There was a through line from Boston to New York, arriving in Dan- bury to take on passengers at the hour of 2 a.m. and awakening all the light sleepers with its stage horn. The first railroad built to Danbury was the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad which was completed in 1852. Previous to this there had been numerous canal and railway projects. In 1840, the old Housatonic Rail- f 17 1 road was built from Bridgeport to New Milford and Danbury had access to this by stage to Hawleyville and afterwards by dummy engine and car to Brookfield Junction. THE BEGINNING OF HAT MAKING James Montgomery Bailey, the "Danbury Newsman" in his His- tory of Danbury makes the following statement: "It is said to be a sober fact in history that the first building erected in this country as a hat shop was built in Danbury and the first hat ever made in these United States was made in this town." Due to the loss of the town records when Danbury was burned by the British it is difficult to prove that hats were made here prior to the Revolution, but they undoubtedly were. It is said that one of the first settlers was a hatter. The first authen- tic record of a hat shop in Danbury goes back to 1780. In that year one Zadoc Benedict had a little red shop on the east side of Main Street where is now located the Post Office building. He employed one jour- neyman and two apprentices, turning out hats at the rate of three a daj' or one and one half dozen a week. He was one of those who were awarded damages by the state for losses sustained in the burning of Danbury. He was awarded the sum of eight hundred forty-nine dol- lars and ninety-five cents, but whether this covered an)' loss for a hat shop does not appear. Robbins, in his century sermon, indicated that there had been a remarkable growth in hat making in Danbury in sixteen years, Zadoc Benedict in his one little shop was turning out about nine hundred hats in 1784, while in the year 1800 Robbins says over twenty thousand hats were being made annually. The hat of this early period was heavy, rough and unwieldly. They sold from six to ten dollars apiece. In Robbins diary it appears that he first had a hat made in Danbury at the beginning of the century. On May 25, 1812, after he left the town, there is an entry that he received a new hat from Danbury for which he paid ten dollars. "It is all beaver." Some years later there is an- other entry that he received "a good hat from Danbury by New York for which I paid $7.00." He evidently liked Danbury hats. Soon after the close of the Revolution many more hat shops began to spring up in Danbury to keep Zadoc Benedict company, until in 1808 there were over fifty of these little shops employing seven or eight men each, turning out four or five dozen a week. The fashionable hat of this period was six inches deep with a two inch brim. f 18 1 epsrARD T>€NFICI_I>-tbi.B oto Pumrt OLD HAT SHOP IN GREAT PLAIN, 1823 In the old days hats were transported to New York by stage coach in leathern sacks containing six to eight dozen. Ezra Mallory, founder of the Mallory Hat Company, who began the manufacture of hats in a little shop in Great Plain in 1823, used to drive his horse to South Nor- walk carrying his hats in a bundle tied to his saddle. There he took a sloop to New York. Sometimes the boat was becalmed and there would be a delay of several days. Bailey thus describes a scene in a plank shop of those days: "In a plank-room, small and inconvenient, gathered around one kettle, heated by means of a furnace filled with wood underneath, you will find three or four men pulling and hauling the bodies of coarse fur, which had been formed, not by a machine at the rate of thirty per hour, but by their own hands at the rate of one per hour." He also describes how the hats were made: The manufacturer bought the skins in a bundle. The fur then had to be taken from them by hand and assorted. Then it was bowed into "bats," with the old "bow," "pins," and "catgut," and these "bats" were made into hat bodies. After the hats were made (everything being done by hand), they were distributed to the ladies living in the vicinity, in order to have the hair that remained sticking in the nap removed by tweezers. f 19 1 In the early part of the century hat finishing was a very small part of the trade here—in fact hardly any hats were sent to market finished and trimmed, but were sent in the rough to the city, there to be made ready for sale. As the century advanced larger and better equipped factories using machinery which had been invented and employing a larger complement of men gradually took the place of the many little shops that were scattered over the town and in the outlying districts. There was a set back to the growth of the industry in 1836-37 during the great panic. All hat shops in Danbury were closed and hatters were out of work for a whole year. To give work to the hatters who had families many were employed by the town to remove a water pipe through Main street, receiving a dollar a day. But Danbury's industry survived this depression as it has every other. The manufacture of wool hats began in 1841 and continued for many years. For some years no wool hats were made in Danbury. Now, however, there is one factory located here with modern equip- ment which is turning out wool hats. High silk hats were in vogue before the Civil War and in the years between 1840 and 1850 they were made almost exclusively in Danbury. Francis, writing in 1860, says that after 1850 the making of silk hats gradually decreased and "nothing is done here at this branch, the soft hat taking its place." As this narrative has only to do with the early days of the town, we cannot complete the history of Danbury and bring it down to date, showing how the industry has developed and brought with it allied in- dustries including the manufacture of fur, leathers, silk and other com- modities used in the trade. Danbury is today the hatting center of the country and had its start from the little red shop of Zadoc Benedict during the days of the Revolution. f 20 1 LOCATION OF PLACES AND HOUSES OF HISTORIC INTEREST WHICH ARE SPECIALLY MARKED COMPILED BY MRS. J. E. C. BRUSH Old Episcopal Churchyard and original site of Church of Eng- land built in 1763, on the north side of South Street adjacent to the South Street School. The church, after the Revolution, was moved to a new site on the northwest corner of Main Street and Mountain- ville Avenue where it was remodeled. This building is still standing. The First Town Cemetery on Wooster Street, west of the jail, where lie the remains of Robert Sandeman and where General Wooster was first buried. The Second Town Cemetery on Downs and North Main Streets where several Revolutionary soldiers are buried including Captain Noble Benedict who raised the first Danbury company in the Revolutionary War. The General David Wooster monument at the entrance of Woos- ter Cemetery (Ellsworth Avenue entrance). Underneath this bronze shaft lie the remains of General Wooster. The Asa Hodge homestead at 384 Main Street, built in 1695 and probably the oldest house in Danbury. The Ives Tavern on West Wooster Street, built in 1690 on the Boston Post Road in Brookfield, which was removed to Danbury about ten years ago and restored. Site of the hat shop of Zadoc Benedict where the Post Office now is. Old house at 35 Park Avenue formerly used for a hospital for soldiers during the Revolution. The Monument in Memory of the Danbury soldiers in the Civil War, in City Hall Square, and the monument in Wooster Cemetery in honor of soldiers of Civil War who are buried in unknown graves. "The Anchorage" at corner of Park Avenue and Division Street, long the home of Rear-Admiral F. W. Dickens. The following houses now standing were built prior to the Revolu- tion and survived the burning of Danbury: The house at 32 Main Street, built in 1761. The St. John homestead at 43 Main Street, date of erection un- certain. Old Wildman homestead, occupied by Dr. D. C. Brown, 330 Main Street, 1776. Home of Col. Joseph Piatt Cooke, 342 Main Street, residence of Dr. and Mrs. H. F. Brownlee. This house was partially destroyed by the British, and rebuilt. Col. Cooke at different times entertained Washington, Lafayette and Rochambeau. Dr. Sophia Penfield home, 356 Main Street, 1773. f 21 1 The Roff homestead, 101 South Street, built in 1765, formerly Episcopal rectory and Parish House. The Benedict homestead, 140 South Street and the Husted home- stead, 130 South Street. These houses were built at about the same time, probably in 1765 and were not burned by the British. The Hodge homestead, 12 North Street, 1770. The last home of Admiral Dickens, built about 1690, on Wooster Heights, formerly called "The Moorings." The Oliver Penny homestead on Clapboard Ridge, 1774. The Comfort Wildman homestead, Sugar Hollow Road, 1770. Caleb Benedict homestead, Beaver Brook, 1763. Homes of Albert and Howard McKay, Beaver Brook, 1775. Charles Nilson home, Beaver Brook, 1761. The White Turkey Inn, Beaver Brook, 1760. Woodbine Farm, Beaver Brook, said to have been erected 1695. James Kyle home in Great Plain, 1760. James Nichols homestead in Great Plain, 1769. The Morgan homestead in Great Plain, 1775. In Mill Plain, near Lake Kenosia, is the old home of Thomas Stevens, erected in 1765, now occupied by Judge C. Edmund Mason. Opposite this is the old home of Captain Thomas Stevens, built in 1740. There were other old houses built after the burning of Danbury and before the close of the 18th century. These have been designated by smaller markers giving the year that they were built. They are as follows: Main Street: No. 5, John McLean, 1780. No. 20, the Wood Tavern, 1792. No. 33, Joseph Moss White, 1790. No. 34, William H. Clark, 1790. No. 35, John Dodd, 1790. No. 52, The Meeker homestead (Tavern), 1784. No. 294, Samuel Tweedy, 1790. No. 332, John Wildman homestead, 1795. No. 138 South Street, Mrs. Reuben Tompkins, 1780. No. 6, New Street, Gregory homestead, 1783. No. 58 Division Street, Brockett home and school, 1785. George Bradley home, 1790. No. 10 Chapel Place, the Ives homestead, 1780. Great Plain, Ezra Mallory, 1785. Mill Plain, Daniel Seger homestead, 1785. Other houses have been marked which were built early in the 19th century, but our limited space prevents a full list. f 22 1 BETHEL Until 1855, when the Town of Bethel was incorporated, the history of Bethel is a part of the history of Danbury and is therefore similarly incomplete since the records were burned by the British during the Revolutionary War in the raid upon Danbury. The first settlers of Danbury passed through what is now Bethel in 1684 on their way from Norwalk. It is presumed that they traveled along the old Indian Trail which runs through the Milking Yard (the route followed by the Railroad from West Redding to Bethel.) The exact time of the first settlement of Bethel is unknown. The Bethel town line is only about a mile from the site of Danbury's first settlement, and it is certain that shortly after the settlement of Dan- bury, probably about 1700, some of the settlers moved into Bethel. In 1759, when the Ecclesiastical Society was formed, seventy-one persons withdrew from the Danbury church to join that of Bethel. In 1760 was built the first church on the site of the present Con- gregational Church. A burying ground was laid out between the church and the present Town Hall. In this cemetery lie the remains of Bethel's first settlers and of several Revolutionary War veterans. Some of the gravestones which still can be plainly read date back as far as 1765. From the time of the first settlement until about fifty years ago, Main Street, which is now a residential section, was the center of the town. Many of the old deeds describe property as lying so many rods from the meeting house. The Congregational church faced east instead of south as at present. The town meetings were held in the basement of the church. The present town hall, which was erected in 1843 as a church to replace the original meeting house which burned in 1842, was moved to its present site after its steeple was blown over in 1865 by a windstorm. Bethel has a number of houses still standing which were built be- fore the Revolution, among which are: the Peter Barnum house at 21 Grassy Plain Street, which is now owned by Elliott Gregory; the house located on Grassy Plain Street, near the Danbury line, now owned by the Keane family in which house the first mass for the inhabitants of Danbury was said in 1838; the Captain Benjamin Hickok place located at 245 Greenwood Avenue, built in 1760 and used as a tavern during the Revolution, which is now owned by Martha B. Fairchild; another Hickok place located at No. 13 Blackman Avenue, built in the same year and which is now occupied by Archie Post; the Captain Eli Taylor f 23 1 CUT BY WARREN C. ROCKWELL VIEW OF BETHEL LOOKING NORTH FROM CHESTNUT STREET, 1830 place at 51 Milwaukee Avenue which is now owned by Mrs. Robert C. Keeler; the Abner Taylor place located at the corner of Oxford Street and Greenwood Avenue which is now owned by C. K. Bailey — this house was owned by Luther Holcomb shortly after the Revolution, the same Luther Holcomb who stopped the British at Hoyt's Hill; the Benjamin Hoyt place at the foot of Hoyt's Hill which is now owned by Dr. Frank D. Solley, and in which church services were held before the meeting house was built; the Jabez Taylor place located on the top of Hoyt's Hill which is now occupied by Frank Larson; the Benedict homestead located in Stony Hill, on Route 6, also known as the Major Dikeman place; the Fry place located on Starr Lane at the foot of Sunset Hill which is now owned by William Fry; the Thaddeus Starr place located in Plumtrees, which is now owned by William Wildman; the Aunt Sally Beebe place in Stony Hill, built in 1765 and which is now occupied by John Capellaro; the Benedict homestead in Wildcat District which is owned by William Henry Ferry. It is not pretended that this list is complete. There are several other old houses which may be of Revolutionary date although the record is uncertain. There are also many houses built around 1800. There is another house which, although not so old, is of peculiar interest. This is the house at 55 Greenwood Avenue, now owned by William H. Hickok, in which the great showman, Phineas T. Barnum, was born. Barnum, who spent his boyhood and early manhood in Bethel cherished his native town, even though he was jailed for printing libel- ous statements in his newspaper, "The Herald of Freedom," and in 1881 presented to the town a fountain which stood in the triangular park on Center Street until after the World War when the present statue was erected. On April 26, 1777, the village, then consisting of about 83 houses, was stirred by the sight of the invading British Troops under General Tryon marching through on their way to raid the Continental stores at Danbury. A few hours later the Connecticut militia under the com- mand of Silliman, Wooster, and Benedict Arnold came flocking in and quartered in Bethel that night—the night of the burning of Danbury, and the night before the battle of Ridgefield in which Wooster was killed. There was little sleep in Bethel that night as it was expected that the British would return by the same route. Probably every house in Bethel Village was crowded with American troops as there was a heavy rain falling, and the militia had little or no equipment. Just before the British reached Hoyt's Hill on the afternoon of April 26th, an incident took place, which, while some doubt has been cast upon its accuracy, makes an interesting anecdote— f 25 1 CUT BY WARREN C. ROCKWELL BIRTHPLACE OF P. T. BARNUM, BETHEL While ascending the eastern slope of Hoyt's Hill, Tryon was startled by the appearance of a single mounted horseman upon the summit of the hill, whose gestures and actions indicated that he was issuing orders to a large army. "Halt!" the horseman cried in a voice of thunder, while flourishing his sword. "Halt! the whole universe— Wheel into kingdoms." Tryon, believing that a large force was before him, promptly gave orders to halt and deploy but it was some time before he learned that the army consisted only of the horseman, Luther Holcomb, who then was riding rapidly toward Danbury. Few Bethel men served in the war of 1812, since this war was as unpopular in Bethel as elsewhere in New England, but in the Civil War, Bethel sent 133 men to fight for the Union, an admirable record for a small town. Among the prominent men that Bethel has sent out into the world are: Orris S. Ferry, a Member of Congress in 1859-60, Colonel of the Fifth Conn, during the Civil War and twice elected U. S. Senator after the War; Laurens P. Hickok, a prominent scientist, who became Presi- dent of Union College; Julius H. Seeley, who for 13 years was Presi- dent of Amherst College; and Laurens Clark Seeley, a brother of Julius H. Seeley, who for many years was President of Smith College. Bethel is a hatting town and has been for a hundred and fifty years. Hatting first started in Danbury in 1780 and probably com- menced in Bethel shortly thereafter since in 1793 we have a record of four hat shops doing business in Bethel. The industry grew steadily until about 1910 when it reached its peak with a dozen or fifteen large factories running. At the present time there are six hat factories located here. The first industry in Bethel, however, was not hatting, but comb- making, which is believed to have started before the Revolution. A cen- tury ago, it was a larger industry than that of hatting but it gradually declined and died out altogether about 75 years ago. Besides the raid on Danbury, Bethel was thrice more visited by large bodies of troops during the Revolution. In 1781 about 4000 French troops under De Rochambeau, passed through Stony Hill on their way to the Hudson. These same troops also passed through Bethel again on their way to Newport a year after the Battle of York- town. In 1778-1779 the right wing of the Continental Army under Putnam wintered in this vicinity at three camps, one of which is located on the Bethel-Redding Line and which is now known at Putnam Park. There are many points of historic interest in Bethel, most of which we have already mentioned but there is one thing which you cannot see f 27 1 —unless on parade—to which in closing we must pay tribute as an organization which has done much for Bethel—The Bethel Drum Corps. Organized in 1883, with some of the original members still playing— we take our hat off to this corps—as thousands did when it marched down Penn. Ave. in Washington at the G.A.R. encampment in 1902, a drum corps of which Bethel is justly proud. CUT BY WARREN C. ROCKWELL PHINEAS TAYLOR BARNUM Printed in Danbury, Conn. by The Hamilton Press, Inc. f 28 1