them, and listen to the hum of their spindles, the rattle of their looms, with all the myriad voices that industry and enterprise blend in a perpetual song of development and progress along the whole course of that mountain stream, the change seems, indeed, astonishing; and in any other country, and with any other population in the world, would have been impossible." The tract which was originally surveyed for the settlement of Waterbury, extends about eighteen miles from north to south, and about ten miles from east to west, containing, at the present time, a population of about twenty thousand. And this section, it will be remembered, was reported upon by the committee who first explored it, as being "sufficient to furnish means of support for thirty families." Although the original purchase of the tract of land at Mattatuck was made in 1674, the deed bearing date 21st of August," for the consideration of divers good causes and thirty-eight pounds," yet the breaking out of King Philip's war, and the distresses dependent upon it, delayed the settlement of the newly-purchased tract until the summer of 1677, and even then an additional year was allowed to the settlers for the completion of their houses. Among the articles of agreement signed by the early settlers, we find : "Article IV. Every person who takes an allotment shall, within four years after the date hereof, build a good and fashionable dwellinghouse, eighteen by sixteen, and nine feet between joints, with a good chimney." The requirements for the buildings of the early settlers show certainly a regard for the appearance of the embryo city; and although the houses which were required to be built by the first proprietors would not compare very favorably with some of the splendid mansions which have been erected within the last few years, replete as they are with every luxury, METHODIST CHURCH, WATERBURY. yet we see, from this provision, that the fathers of the town were not indifferent to the appearance of even the first habitations; they not only specified the size and height, but that the houses should be "good and fashionable." In the summer of 1677 the proprietors came on to their purchase, leaving their families in safer quarters behind them. They then commenced laying out the foundation of the future capital of their little colony. They first selected as the site for the town, the ridge of an eminence about a mile southwest from the present location of the city, which descends to the western bank of the Naugatuck. This ridge is a prominent feature in the landscape as viewed from all portions of the present city, and affords some of the most beautiful sites for residences to be found in this vicinity. Clumps of forest trees are happily grouped over portions of it, presenting much of the effect of English park scenery. This eminence is to the present day called "Town Plot." Here streets were laid out, and building lots apportioned to each settler of eight acres, in accordance with the original articles of agreement. "Before any buildings were erected on the spot, considerations both of expediency and safety induced a change from their primitive design. The disastrous events of King Philip's war admonished them of the necessity of maintaining a ready communication with their friends and allies at Farmington and other eastern settlements; and as the Naugatuck was subject to frequent inundations, this intercourse would be cut off should they be attacked by a savage foe during flood time." Besides, the inhabitants depended greatly upon the produce of the meadows for their support, and the difficulty of transportation to the eminence which they had first selected for the town, doubtless had its weight in effecting a change of location to the valley. The first habitations erected here were of a temporary character, at a place called "Sled Hall," which is upon the eastern bank of the river and near the present covered bridge over the Naugatuck. It was not until the next year, 1678, that any permanent dwellings were erected upon the present site. Soon after this a portion of the settlers removed their families to the new settlement of Mattatuck. "Among their early privations the settlers suffered greatly for the want of a grist mill. Their only resource was by carrying their bread corn to Farmington to be ground, a distance of The state's committee, as early as November, twenty miles through a pathless wilderness. 1679, took the subject into consideration, and not only recommended its erection, but granted thirty acres of land to whoever would build and keep up the mill. In 1680 Stephen Hopkins, of Hartford, built a mill on Mill River, (now Mad River.)" The many water privileges which have since been improved upon this small but rapid stream, the Mad River, have laid the foundation of the prosperity of this place. When we glance at the numerous and splendid establishments which have grown up about Waterbury within the last thirty For this and other facts quoted herein the writer is indebted to "Barber's Historical Collections." years, and look back at this first commencement, we can see what the indomitable energy and perseverance of the early manufacturers have accomplished. We give a good view of the Methodist Church. The building was commenced April, 1853. It was dedicated February 28th, 1854. Henry Austin, of New Haven, architect. Expense of the church, sixteen thousand dollars; lot four thousand dollars. The church has a membership of about two hundred and fifty. It is now under the pastoral care of the Rev. Dr. Perry, an eloquent preacher, and is in a very flourishing state. The doctor's last fourth of July oration will be long remembered by those who had the pleasure of hearing it. 66 In 1689 the first minister of the Gospel was settled here, the Rev. Jeremiah Peck, Senior; as inducements for him to accept the call, they voted him the house and lot which they had already provided for a minister, a propriety of one hundred and fifty pounds, and the full benefit of all the divisions which had been granted therein. A salary of sixty pounds per annum was also granted him, fifty of which was to be paid in provisions and ten in wood." Here is certainly a most liberal provision made for the support of the Gospel, particularly when we take into consideration the condition of the settlement and the ability of the inhabitants, as well as the simple manners of that period and the threatening aspect of the country. The first house for public worship erected in Waterbury stood upon the east end of Center Square, within the present inclosure. It was a small building, and continued without gallery or glazing until 1716, when the sum of fifteen pounds was appropriated for its completion. The congregation assembled there until 1726, when the town voted to build a new house fifty feet by forty. A formidable undertaking certainly, especially so, when we consider the condition of the settlement at that period, and the fact which has been stated, that at the time the house was commenced all the inhabitants of the place, men, women, and children, might have been seated upon its sills." We find the fathers of the town were not indifferent to the cause of education, for, says the same writer : "As an example of the solicitude entertained by the original settlers upon the subject of edu cation, and which likewise lays open their embarrassed circumstances, the town in 1698 'voted to set up a school four months or more, and the committee are to endeavor to get a schoolmaster to teach writing as well as reading."" It seems that the fear of the Indians in duced the inhabitants to restrict their resi This dences to the town center. Those who went out to labor along the borders of the river, or at any distance from the town, returned to their families at night. continued until the peace with the French and Indians in 1713. The menacing attitude of the Indians kept the settlement in a perpetual state of alarm. Two or more of the citizens were ordered by the government of the state to act in rotation daily, as scouts to make discoveries and prevent surprises. Sentinels were also placed upon the safety of the people. In the year 1707 the high grounds in the vicinity, to secure a story is told of the Indians making a descent upon Hancock's Meadow, some three miles or more northwest of the town, where they espied an old gentleman, Mr. Jonathan THE BRIDGE, RIVERSIDE CEMETERY. Scott, at work with his two sons. The savages managed to steal very closely upon their victims before they were discovered, and succeeded in capturing the old gentleman, but the boys escaped. Mr. Scott was, however, forced to recall his sons, or, on pain of refusing to do so, was threatened with instant death. They were all taken to Canada. The father and his eldest son were afterward redeemed, and returned home, but the youngest is said to have become so attached to the wild and adventurous life of the Indians that he refused to leave them. Another attack was made by the Indians in 1710. As early as 1700 the inhabitants voted to fortify Ensign Stanley's house, which stood upon the south side of the present Center Square, near the residence of the Hon. Green Kendrick. "In June, 1708, the state gave the town fifteen pounds toward aiding in the construction of forts; and the town agreed to build three forts, two at the expense of the state and one at its own. Three houses were selected for that purpose. They were accordingly fortified by stockades or timbers set up end wise firmly in the ground, with an opening for a gate to pass and repass. Frail as was this defense to any enemy but a savage, the inhabitants were glad for years to avail themselves of the nightly protection which these feeble fortifications afforded." Thus the fathers of the place became a martial people. The highest deference seems to have been paid to military titles, with which the records of that period abound. "The drum was then an important instrument; it sounded the alarm in times of danger; it summoned the inhabitants to the fortified houses at night, and roused them from their slumbers in the morning. It also gave the signal for firing the woods to increase the food for the cattle, and to call the inhabitants to their devotions upon the Sabbath." We learn from the following that the settlers of Waterbury experienced a fearful calamity, in the early period of the history of this little colony, which, in addition to the frequently harassing position of the Indians and the numerous trials attending upon all new settlements, would appear to have been sufficient to discourage them from making further efforts, and, indeed, to induce them to abandon entirely their undertaking. We are told that "In February, 1691, the alluvial lands bordering the Naugatuck, upon which was their chief dependence, were almost entirely ruined by a flood. The river, by rains and melting of the snows, rose to a prodigious height, far beyond any instance of the kind since known, washing away the soil in many places, and covering the remainder with gravel and stones to a degree that rendered it unfit for immediate use. weather had been previously warm, the frost came out of the ground, leaving the arable part an easy prey to the raging element." The Surely here was sufficient in itself to have disheartened any but the indomitable fathers of New England: they saw their chief means of support, and that upon which they had most depended at the commencement of their little settlement here, for the time entirely cut off. Although the colony seems to have diminished in numbers after this calamity, yet the courage of the greater portion appears to have held out; but we find that in 1709 the population varies little from what it was in 1691, at the period of this severe inundation. Again we find, in 1712, the inhabitants suffering from another terrible calamity. "The town was visited by a great and mortal sickness, which raged without abatement until September, 1713. During its prevalence the number of well persons were insufficient to provide for and attend the sick and bury the dead. About thirty individuals died of the fever, and this out of a population of about two hundred." Many anecdotes are related to show the poverty of Waterbury previous to the suc A cessful prosecution of manufactures. gentleman still living, who for many years practiced law in an adjoining town, tells an ingenious method which he devised for collecting debts from parties residing here. He used to put his executions into the hands of a negligent deputy sheriff, and wait very quietly until the day of service had passed, and then sue the sheriff's bondsman for the debt. In this way he generally managed to collect his claims, but the sheriff, who resided in another town and had a very pretty property, was entirely ruined by his official business. One individual residing in Waterbury is said to have papered his house (probably not a very large one) with writs and various processes of law which had been served on him from time to time. Hollister, in his "History of Connecticut," says: Indeed, for many years, and until the commencement of the present century, Waterbury was not thought to be a town that could offer any very strong inducements to those who were seeking a favorable situation for a permanent abode. "But a change has come over the aspect of the place, that reminds us of the transformations that we find in the tales of Arabian enchantment. The river, once so destructive to those who dwelt upon its banks, though sometimes even now in its gamesome moods it loses all its self-control and deluges the lands and houses of the inhabitants, is no longer the instrument of destruction to them, but is, notwithstanding its lively looks and the racy joyousness of its motions, their common drudge and plodding laborer in all departments of their manifold enterprises. The difference between the twentyeight families of Mattatuck flying from the meager settlement where poverty, inundation, and disease threatened their extermination, aud the young city of Waterbury with its stone church towers, its rich mansions, its manufactories, and its population that is now numbered by thousands, affords to a reflective mind a practical illustration, scarcely equaled upon the prairies of the West, of the self-renewing vigor and boundless exuberance of health that characterizes the blood of the old pioneers of New England. "The Naugatuck Valley, but a few years ago unknown, almost unexplored even by the citizens of Hartford and New Haven, is now one of the most interesting and busy thoroughfares in New England." The Cemetery of Riverside is beautifully situated upon the bank of the Naugatuck River, at a short distance from Waterbury. We present several engravings, but in our next number we shall give further illustrations of this cemetery, as well as some account of it in detail. * FIRST GRIEF. THEY tell me, first and early love But the memory of a first great grief The grief that marks our dawning youth To memory ever clings; And o'er the path of future years A lengthen'd shadow flings. From his dwelling in the tomb: The anguish of that night! A youthful brow and ruddy cheek An eye grew dim in which the light Cold was the cheek and cold the brow, I know not if 'twas summer then, If flowers came forth to deck the earth, I look'd upon one wither'd flower, Within that house of woe; To aid the sinking heart. Softly we trod, as if afraid To mar the sleeper's sleep, With him the agony was o'er, And now the pain was ours, As thoughts of his sweet childhood rose, Like odor from dead flowers! And when at last he was borne afar From the world's weary strife, His every look, his every word, Came back to us like things whose worth But the one is long remember'd, The gayest hours trip lightly by, And leave the faintest trace; But the deep, deep track that sorrow wears No time can e'er efface! |