Please handle this volume with care. The University of Connecticut Libraries, Storrs IF ■> - . * 3 T1S3 00EMMb3M ^1 ►TJ O O r-r^e. ~y^/ ._ J 9 && ~ ONE HUNDRED FIFTY YEARS OF MERIDEN 15° YEARS OF MERIDEN PUBLISHED IN CONNECTION WITH THE OBSERVANCE OF THE CITY'S SESQUICENTENNIAL JUNE 17-23, 1956 MERIDEN, CONNECTICUT: 1956 COPYRIGHT I956 BY THE CITY OF MERIDEN, CONNECTICUT, U.S.A. COMPOSED AND PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Table of Contents Foreword vii Bibliography ix Song of Meriden xii Pictorial Sections: Facing pages 52, 84, 116, 148, 180, 212, 234, 216 1. Colonization 1 2. Indians 6 3. First Meeting Houses 10 4. Place Names 18 5. Old Houses 21 6. « Roads and Travel 30 7. Early Schools 38 8. Meriden in the Wars 43 9. Old Customs, Old Ways and Progress 50 MO. Separation from Wallingford 58 11. Meriden Mines 64 12. Slavery 66 13. The Railroad, Past and Present 69 14. Industry of the 19th Century 81 15. The Civil War 93 16. City Government Before 1900 99 17. The Spanish War 108 18. Street Railways 111 19. Notes of a Spacious Era 113 20. The Century Turns 122 21. The Automobile Age 125 22. Theaters, Past and Present 127 23. Sports Celebrities 134 24. World War I 138 25. World War I Memorial and Boulevard 143 26. The Depression 148 27. City Government in This Century 152 28. Local Industry Since 1900 168 29. World War II 183 30. The Korean War 193 31. Labor Unions 194 32. Public Utilities 196 33. Meriden Newspapers 201 34. Financial Institutions 207 35. Retail Business 218 36. Parks and Playgrounds 227 37. The Meriden Post Office 235 38. Public Institutions 238 39. Organizations 249 40. Meriden Churches 262 41. Meriden Schools; 1860-1956 273 42. Building Meriden 299 43. The Sesquicentennial 301 Index 302 Foreword A city has many aspects, and these aspects change with advancing years. But one aspect of Meriden is as immutable as the forces of nature which brought it into being: its location in the pleasant valley rimmed by the unique formations of up-ended stone which are its heritage from the glacial age. These hills, with their wooded slopes, are the blessing and inspiration of today's generation as they were to the first inhabitants who set their homes and houses of worship upon the high land in the eastern section to overlook a morass which they were still unfitted to conquer. Eventually the swamp was covered and made firm. The city spread westward, wiping out all traces of the ancient wilderness. For more than half of the nineteenth century Meriden was a village, until, after 1867, it took shape as a municipality. By 1906 it had assumed much of the form we know today. Meriden is fortunate in many respects, not the least of which is its ability to retain some of the village's advantages while growing to its present population of 48,000. One of these advantages is the closely knit community spirit which binds and has always bound it together. It is this spirit which earned for the city, during World War II, the national title, officially bestowed by the U. S. Government, of the "Ideal War Community." And it is this spirit which promises well for future achievements as we look now, with pride, at the best which has gone before. The hundred years from 1806 to 1906, and the earlier era when Meriden was a part of Wallingford, have been recorded in previously published histories. But no book has been printed, until now, to cover the last 50 years. This volume, authorized by the General Committee for the Sesquicentennial, is the first effort to bring the story up to date. Its compilation and writing were entrusted to a committee of four, which has labored for months to sift past and present sources of information and produce a work as complete as possible within the limits of allotted space. The committee owes much to previous historians, and to vii numerous individuals of the present who have helped it to gather material. Thankfully, it acknowledges the services rendered by the following: Robert W. Seekamp, Russell H. White, Florence Minkwitz, F. Harold Grimes, Eleanor Dossin, Glover A. Snow, John F. Molloy, Barbara White, Cyrus Baird, Arthur Service, Arthur Barber, and members ,of the staffs of the Meriden Record and the Meriden Journal for assistance along the way. Technical advice on questions of publication and illustration was given by Spencer H. Miller of Miller-Johnson, Inc. and by Harold Hugo of the Meriden Gravure Company. The Committee Sanford H. Wendover Blanche Hixson Smith Elmo A. Decherd Charles A. Newton vui Bibliography A Gazetteer of Connecticut and Rhode Island (1819) Pease & Niles History of Connecticut — Its People and Institutions George L. Clark Facts About Connecticut Conn. Chamber of Commerce Connecticut Historical Collections John Warner Barber Story of Connecticut Charles W. Burpee History of Meriden & Wallingford C. H. S. Davis Century of Meriden Curtis — Gillespie Guide to History & Historic Sites of Conn. Crofut Story of Connecticut Lewis Sprague Mills The Beginnings of New England John Fiske Recollections of a New England Town (Faith) Frances Breckenridge Century of Silver Earl Chapin May Meriden's Centennial Celebration compiled by Atwater Historical Sketches of Meriden G. W. Perkins History of The Meriden Historical Society compiled by C. Marvin Curtis 1893-4 papers in collection of The Meriden Historical Society Connecticut Past and Present Odell Shepard Hartford Courant, Magazine section Jan. 1956 Railway Age (Article by Glover A. Snow) Charter and By-laws of the City of Meriden, 1931 Code of the City of Meriden Meriden Municipal Reports Meriden City Directories Records of the Meriden Chamber of Commerce Records of the Manufacturers' Association News from Home (Letter from Meriden U.S.O. to Meriden men and women in the service, copies from Nov. 1943 through Aug. 1955) Records of Meriden National Guard Companies in World War I Arthur A. Service ix City Records of World War II compiled by Ernest Kirkby Records of the Meriden Community Fund History of New Haven County Rockney Records compiled by the late Frank E. Sands Special editions and the newspaper library of the Meriden Record and Meriden Journal Sono- of Meriden In the heart of old Connecticut A few miles from the sea, There stands our city, Meriden, Ideal Community; Tims honored as our country'' s choice To share the pride we feel, That in the whole United States Our city is ideal. II One hundred fifty years ago, A small town was begun; Surrounded by protective hills And smiled on by the sun. The early settlers planted deep Their roots within this earth; And now, in nineteen fifty-six, We celebrate its birth. Ill The busy hum of industry Is heard from day to day; Our silvercraft and sparkling jewels Are all on world display. Although we're modern, up-to-date, We are old-fashioned, too; We love our concerts in the park, Sweet summer's rendezvous. IV Our City Hall commands a hill In strong democracy, From where a glance may rest upon A mountain or a tree; The Christian Church and Synagogue Stand closely side by side, In friejidly peace as God would wish All people to abide. To God we pray upon this day That faith in Him increase, To build for children after us An everlasting peace; That through all time we'll keep the name We are so prideful of, The Silver City of the world, The place of home and love. - LYDIA B. ATKINSON CHAPTER ONE Colonization One hundred and fifty years ago Meriden attained its identity as a separate community. It was in 1806 that the General Assembly in Hartford granted a petition from the residents of the northern part of the town of Wallingford asking recognition as an incor- porated town on equal footing with its parent, Wallingford. The first town meeting of Meriden was held in June, 1806. The history of Meriden, however, goes much further back. It must include not only the Wallingford background from which it stemmed. An understanding of the character of the people who founded Meriden depends upon knowing something of the causes of the migration which turned an erstwhile wilderness into cul- tivated farmlands. Meriden's history does not go back to the very beginnings of New England. Yet her character is shaped by the Puritan exodus from Europe as surely as is the charac- ter of Massachusetts where the colonists first took root. Those first settlers in Massachusetts were rugged individualists. Mayflower passengers were followed by a continuing flow of immigration caused by religious strife in England. In 1630 a thousand Puritan men found their way across the Atlantic with John Winthrop at their head, and the Massachusetts settlements were firmly established. These men were less in search of political liberty than of freedom to live by the Bible as they interpreted it. The Bible was to them a code of law. Anyone who would not accept their interpretation had no place in their community. Soon the seeds of discontent were sown. Massachusetts was fertile ground for them. A provision of the colonial government ordained that none but church members should vote or hold office. Dissenters began to speak out against this narrowed assump- tion of power. Not all the clergy approved of so much temporal power in the hands of churchmen. One of the most eloquent dissenters Was Thomas Hooker, a pastor in New Town, now Cambridge. He said that "in matters which concern the com- mon good, the general council, chosen by all, to transact busi- nesses which concern all, I conceive most suitable to rule and 1 COLONIZATION most safe for relief of the whole." This was in answer to Win- throp who had said: "The best part is always the least, and of the best part the wiser part is always the lesser." As the historian John Fiske writes, "It is interesting to meet, on the very threshold of American history, with such a lucid statement of the strongly contrasted views which a hundred and fifty years later were to be represented on a national scale by Hamilton and Jefferson." It was Thomas Hooker who led a hundred or more of his parishioners in 1636 to make a settlement in the Connecticut valley, and to bring with them what we now call the "Jeffersonian philosophy" of democratic government. Thomas Hooker's followers made the Hartford settlement and the separate existence of Connecticut began. The Hooker philos- ophy was contained in his powerful sermon at the opening of the General Court in 1638 when he said "the foundation of authority is laid in the free consent of the people." In the spring of that same year, 1638, New Haven was founded under the leadership of another pastor, John Davenport. He had been "converted" by Hooker and others when, back in England, he had tried to dissuade them from their plan to emigrate to the New World. Accordingly he recruited a group of merchants from Yorkshire, Kent, and Hertfordshire to come with him. Their arrival in Boston coincided with some of the bitterest dis- putes between the tolerant and the intolerant. Davenport found Boston uncomfortable. His flock wanted a good harbor and a site with a commercial future. They also wanted a place where they could match their civil management to their own particu- lar interpretation of Scriptural guidance. Davenport and his followers heard about a place called Quinni- piack on Long Island Sound. Men who had been on a campaign against the Pequot Indians reported in glowing terms on the possibility of this location. So the Davenport party began their project which rapidly grew to spill over eventually into Wallingford and what is now Meriden. Also fresh arrivals from England settled Guilford, and a New Haven overflow settled Milford. When Stamford was added in 1640 the four towns united in a republic of New Haven similar to the confederation of towns around Hartford that constituted Connecticut. There the similarity ended. Connecticut followed Hooker's ideas that the choice of public officials "belongs to the people COLONIZATION by God's own allowance." In New Haven "pillars of the church" governed and were judge-and-jury all in one. The New Haven colony was less democratic than Massachusetts from which Hookerites had fled. The first settlers of New Haven were the wealthiest of any that came to any part of early New England. They built large and handsome houses similar to the ones they were accustomed to in England. Theophilus Eaton's house on Elm street, New Haven, had 19 fireplaces. John Davenport's just across the street had 13. One of the most interesting rooms in the Davenport house was the "study." Mr. Davenport spent so much time with his books that the Indians dubbed him "So Big Study Man." New Haven and Hartford had been settled for 35 years before the settlement of Wallingford was undertaken. It was a formid- able project at best. Unfriendly Indians were dangerous. Those who professed friendship were viewed with a wary eye. Wolves ran rampant and were a constant menace to man and beast. But men who had come to this New World to make new lives for themselves, had to have lands to cultivate, space to expand. Con- sequently a committee from New Haven granted lands held by New Haven for the new settlement of Wallingford upon the solemn promise of the planters to live the same sort of godly community life as the parent New Haven community did. Wallingford grew. Farmers moved out in a northerly direction. The north part of the town, though owned by Wallingford, was not a part of Wallingford, writes Dr. C. H. S. Davis in his history of Wallingford and Meriden. With transportation difficult and little more than pathways for roads, farmers in the northern area found it an increasing annoyance to attend church meetings in Wallingford proper. The trip was particularly arduous in winter. Probably as early as December, 1724, these Meriden farmers held their own church services in homes. Some say there were meetings in the Daniel Hall homestead prior to the building of a meeting house. During this same period Hartford was spilling southward in its parallel growth, not only to Wethersfield but to Berlin and on beyond. Thus did the Thomas Hooker influence from the north meet that of John Davenport from the south right here in Meriden. The melding here of the two communities is par- ticularly evident in what happened to the Gilbert — later called COLONIZATION Belcher — farm in the northern part of Meriden. The name of Meriden begins to figure in documents of Con- necticut's history as early as August 28, 1661, when Jonathan Gilbert was granted by the Connecticut Colony "a farm to ye number of three hundred acres of upland and fifty acres of meadow." When he took possession of the property, Mr. Gilbert called it Meriden, although the spelling appears variously in doc- uments as "Meridon," "Merrideen" or "Merridan." Mr. Gilbert who was a man of considerable means and wide interests did not occupy his farm personally. It was first lived on by Edward Higbee as tenant, and later in 1686 was pur- chased by Gilbert's son-in-law, Andrew Belcher. The name Belcher has clung to the area down to present days. By purchase and grant Mr. Belcher added to his holdings until the property extended to the top of Mt. Lamentation. In 1664 Edward Higbee rose in the world from his position as Mr. Gilbert's tenant to become a landholder in his own right. The land between the Gilbert property and Pilgrims' Harbour was deeded to him by a Hartford Indian. Records show that all the property north of Harbour Brook had been bought pre- viously by New Haven in about 1638 from Montowese. The land being more accessible to Hartford than to the New Haven Colony, and the original right of the Indian to sell being ques- tioned, positive ownership remained in doubt until Gilbert and later Higbee established their grants by occupation. The land reaching to the edge of the "Meriden Farm" had been deeded to Wallingford in 1683 by John Talcott who had purchased it from Adam Puit, who in turn claimed title through an Indian deed. When the area now known as Meriden had its petition granted to be a parish of that name as a part of its parent Wallingford, the chance for further controversy about title to the lands was officially ended. In years that followed attempts were made, successfully blocked by Wallingford where there was no desire to lose such a fast growing community, to separate the two parishes. While the struggle continued the part called Meriden lost to Berlin some parts of the original farm which gave the name to the community. The part of the original farm which extends from Corrigan's Corner to the southern part of Cat Hole Mountain went by petition to Berlin in 1798, and in 1803 another strip about a half COLONIZATION mile wide was added to Berlin in the same way. Although Meriden lost some of the "Hookerites" in this fashion, there was left enough overlapping into the New Haven Colony influence to change the character of the community. It might be said Meriden was a melting pot into which converged fragments from those original migrations of organic commu- nities to the north and to the south. In The Beginnings of New England, John Fiske says that in these movements, not of individuals, but of whole communities, "united in allegiance to a church and a pastor, and fervid with the instinct of self-government, we seem to see Greek History renewed but with centuries of added political training." He writes that the government of the United States is in lineal de- scent more nearly related to that of Connecticut than to any of the other thirteen colonies. Connecticut's strength lay in the fact that it was a federation of independent towns with the individual communities retaining all the attributes of sovereignty not ex- pressly granted to the General Court of the colony. In 1643 New Haven Colony joined with Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Connecticut to form the United Colonies of New England. Soon after this Roger Ludlow was requested by the Connecticut General Court "to take some paynes in drawing forth a body of Lawes for the governing of this Comon welth." His code of laws was adopted four years later. A quite different code was put forth by the Colony of New Haven. These are the two documents so often referred to as the "Blue Laws," both containing precepts popularly supposed to be stiff-necked. Connecticut Colony's John Winthrop was a man of great tact. Somehow he persuaded Charles II to sign in 1662 the Charter of Connecticut which gave that colony a freedom from the mother country enjoyed by no other British colony. It was possession of this Charter which persuaded New Haven Colony, albeit unwillingly, to unite eventually with Connecticut Colony. So it is that Meriden, sitting in the middle between the two sections, occupied by people stemming from both, is marked by a fusion of the spirit of both. Meriden's character always con- tained considerable respect for the aristocratic and theocratic features of the original new Haven Colony, but was from the first permeated with fervent devotion to democratic principles char- acteristic of the founders of Connecticut Colony. CHAPTER TWO Indians In no part of New England were the Indians so numerous as in Connecticut, says Dr. Davis in his history of Meriden and Wallingford. Deforest as an expert on Connecticut Indians esti- mated the number at from six to seven thousand. Other sources push the number considerably higher. (The quantity of fish, fowl, and game afforded by Connecticut made the area attrac- tive to the Indians.) At any rate when John Davenport and his followers arrived in New Haven they found red men in pos- session. The Mattabesitt tribe lived in and around the present site of Middletown, — "river Indians," they lived near the waterway but roamed for great distances. At the time of the settlement of New Haven, Sowheag was the great sachem of the Mattabesitt tribe ruling from a fort on high ground near the narrows of the Connecticut River, his power extending over what are now Meriden and Wallingford. It was this sachem who sold the land to Davenport and his company. To Sowheag, to the Quinnipiacs, and other Indians with any claim to the area taken over including East, North, and New Haven, Woodbridge, Orange, Branford, Cheshire, and Hamden in addition to Meriden and Wallingford, the well-to-do mer- chants from London via Boston paid in goods. Odell Shepard lists the payment to the Quinnipiacs at twenty-four coats, twelve hatchets, twelve hoes, two dozen knives, twelve spoons, twelve pewter porringers, and four cases of French knives and "sizers." The deed for the transaction with the Mattabesitts deals with the sachem's son Mantowese, whose mother seems to have been the actual lineal inheritor of the land transferred. To Mantowese Davenport, Theophilus Eaton, et al., paid eleven coats made of trucking cloth, one coat for himself of English cloth, made after the English manner, and one reserve piece of land for planting what his small band of followers might need. It all seemed very friendly with a mutual agreement to make reparation for any INDIANS damages incurred by either side — by the Indians' dogs on the white man's cows or by the white man's hogs on the Indian corn. Indians in this part of Connecticut actually welcomed the arrival of the English among them. They hoped to obtain assist- ance from the new settlers in defense against depredations of Pequots and Mohawks. Both of these tribes were constantly on the warpath and demanding tribute from weaker, less warlike peoples like the Mattabesitts. Meriden was never used as a permanent camping ground by any tribe, but it was the happy hunting ground of both the Quinnipiacs and Mattabesitts, says Robert W. Seekamp, past pres- ident of the Archaelogical Society of Connecticut and a Meriden resident. Mr. Seekamp has made an exhaustive study of Indian lore and Indian relics. We are indebted to him for the following information. The Quinnipiacs numbered some 400 when the Davenport party purchased the New Haven area. For centuries they had lived at the East Haven site on New Haven harbor during the rigors of cold winters. Milder temperatures along the Sound and access to salt water game and shellfish attracted them to make their permanent home on the coast. During milder and warm weather they journeyed up the Quinnipiac river, making tem- porary campsites near spring holes or where game was most plentiful. The trails followed by those Indians are today the highways we use. The road from Red Bridge to Cheshire was an Indian trail, as is also Capitol Avenue from West Main through the pass to Kensington, West Main to Milldale, East Main to the reservoir, and Preston Avenue from Baldwin to Westfield Road. Temporary campsites have left their marks in the presence of a profusion of old weathered clam and oyster shells, flint and quartz chips and Indian artifacts. Such reminders of the Indian past have been found on the old Raven farm at Meriden airport, around the spring on Meeting House Hill, in the vicinity of Red Bridge and up on Allen Hill, in the hummocks north of Peat Works Pond, at the base of Mt. Lamentation near the Houston property, Spruce Glen, and down on the lower reaches of South Broad street. The historian John Fiske says there can be little doubt that the material comfort of the Indians was for a time considerably im- INDIANS proved by their dealings with white men. Their want of fore- sight and thrift left them to face an annual struggle against famine during the harshness of winter. When the settlers came the In- dians had a good market for the skin of every fur-covered animal they could catch. If trade didn't provide them with all they needed, they could count on the white man's charity. Not only do Connecticut records show that every bit of land was obtained by honest purchase from the Indians, save for territory conquered in the Pequot war, but the general laws prove there was every intent to treat the Indians justly. No mat- ter how good the white man's intentions, his way of life, his very aspirations that had brought him to the New World, made him interfere with the ways of the Indian. Even the friendly Indians of this section of Connecticut where Meriden is located, Indians who remained allies of the English first in the Pequot war and later in King Philip's War, found themselves pushed out in the march of progress. After all it is hard to tell today how much the Indians actually understood what it meant to "sell" their property. They had known no such thing as private ownership of land as the white settlers understood it. They lived a tribal life. Their land be- longed to the tribe for the use of everyone. They shared hunt- ing and fishing rights on certain "preserves" with other tribes. Their idea of the "sale" of land on which Meriden now stands might very well have been that it was just a general invitation to white men to share the tribal privilege in return for which the white man would share his arts of defense against enemy tribes. We cannot be too smug about the purchase by which was acquired our Meriden heritage at the expense of the gradual eclipse of the red men who once hunted and fished the land and waters. Remnants of the Mattabesitts became pitifully few. Hardly more remained of the Quinnipiacs. Land was bought for them eventually up Farmington way among the Tunxis, after their last sachem died on the old reservation held in East Haven. The Hartford Courant magazine section of January 22, 1956, carried a piece by Lawrence C. Nizza about the four remaining Indian Reservations in Connecticut. Situated in North Stonington, Led- yard, Kent, and Trumbull, they comprise together 799 acres and contain 15 houses. Only 23 recognized tribal members live INDIANS on the reservations part-time, or the year-round. Most of the descendants of the original Indians have married with other ethnic groups. Integration is so complete that there seems no further need for reservations or special handling of "Indian affairs." How much of our Mattabesitts or Quinnipiacs from this section remains in the life blood of the present gen- eration is a question. But the little knowledge we have of their presence here when the white men came adds that aura of an- tiquity to our history which gives it color. As Odell Shepard says the possession of even a little Indian lore deepens the Connecti- cut landscape enormously by lending the dimension of time. Throughout Indian Connecticut, according to Shepard, it was believed that the men who lived in this place had a special access to the Divine. Indians here had a particular awe for stones. Indian lore has it that larger boulders in field and forest were kept always well supplied with offerings of corn or trailing moss. Huge rocks were chosen for council meetings. So we may believe that Meri- den's Hanging Hills and the rocky promontories of Mt. Lamen- tation still echo with reverent, philosophical tributes from the Indian orators of the distant past. CHAPTER THREE First Meeting Houses As early as 1679 the people of Wallingford voted to build a "meeting house," a building 28 feet long, 24 feet wide and 10 feet high. So small was the group, and so burdened were they by poverty and the business of merely living, that it took several years for the completion of this small building. Two years later there was another vote, "to go on and finish the house." As their population and wealth increased, they enlarged this first meeting house to 40 by 28 feet. This was in 1690 when the town had grown to 73 families. The following year it was voted to "ceiling the house" and to build two pews. This was evidence of great luxury because, before this, seating arrangements had been long hard benches, occupied on one side of the house by men and boys, and on the other by females of the congregation. Growth and change continued, even as they do today, and in April 1706, we find "The town chose Deken Hall, Samuel Roys and Goodman Culvert, a commetee to procure workmen to come and buld gallers (galleries) for the In largement of the meeting hous." During this time the people who lived on farms scattered about the north section of town had great difficulty in getting to meeting, especially in winter. Roads were scarcely more than paths through the woods and swamps, and horseback was the only means of transportation. Consequently, these devout people peti- tioned to hold their own religious services closer to their homes. On the town records of Wallingford, under the date of Decem- ber 1, 1724, appears the following: "In respect of ye north farmers the town voated that they may hire a Minister four months this winter on their own charge." This vote was the first act that in any way separated the area of Meriden from Wallingford, or that recognized that these north farmers num- bering 35 families, were a distinct community. That same spring, at the May session of the General Assembly, this resolution was passed: "Upon the petition of the north farmers in Wallingford and those inhabiting the land northward of said Wallingford, commonly called Wallingford Purchase 10 FIRST MEETING HOUSES Lands. This Assembly grants that they be a separate society for setting up and carrying on the publick worship of God among themselves, with all such liberties, powers and priviledges, as other such societies in this colony have and do by law enjoy . . . " In May 1728 the farm of Meriden was added, and the parish from then on was known by that name. Therefore, although there are no records to prove it, it can be assumed that after December 1724 the farmers of Meriden no longer made the arduous journey to Wallingford on Sunday, but had a place of worship in their own territory. There is a tradi- tion that these services were held in the Daniel Hall homestead until the meeting house was built. An entertaining tale, which may or may not be true, is often told in connection with the building of this first church in Meriden. According to the story, the farmers living in the most northerly section, along the old road, and those to the west, in Milking Yard and Pilgrim's Harbor, wanted the meeting house to, be located near the junction of Curtis and Ann Streets; but those living to the east, near Dog's Misery, insisted that it be built nearer them, on what has since been called Meeting House Hill. Finally, it was settled that the building should be placed on the western slope of this hill, and the materials were collected there, ready for the actual "raising." During the night a group of the other faction — presumably the Royces, the Robinsons, the Collinses, the Coles, the Fosters and the Merriams — brought , teams and hauled the timbers down the hill, over the brook, and westward, on what is now Ann Street, to the spot they preferred. This, naturally, caused a great furor, but eventually the Dog's Misery group won — the Yales, the Iveses, the Whitings, the Levits and the Halls. The men who had worked so hard in the night to carry out their scheme were forced to haul the material back up the hill in broad daylight, their ears, no doubt, ringing with the taunts of their adversaries. At any rate, in 1727 the meeting house "about thirty feet square and built in the very plainest style" was erected on Meet- ing House Hill. The site, at what is now the corner of Ann Street and Dryden Drive, is marked by a large boulder placed there in 1904 by the First Congregational Society. The first burying ground in Meriden was about fifty rods to the east, near the top of the hill. Two years later the society resolved to form a Church, 11 FIRST MEETING HOUSES and on October 22, 1729, after a day of fasting and prayer, the Church was duly organized with 51 original members. The Reverend Theophilus Hall, of Wallingford, was the first preacher. He still held this post at the time of his death 30 years later. Toward the end of his life his salary was raised, but for many years it was £50 and firewood — about $175 annually — a sum which might be paid in either money or provisions. Mr. Hall lived in a house at the southeast corner of Curtis and Ann Streets and he also owned a large farm in what is now the center of uptown Meriden. It was on a part of this farm, slightly east of the site of the present Center Church, that the second meet- ing house was erected, probably between 1752 and 1755. Un- fortunately, the society records until 1755 are missing. Under the date of December 11, in that year, is found the first entry relating to the new church — a receipt for £150 advanced by Mr. Hall for building. Thus, it appears that the church was built by Mr. Hall, and that the society gradually repaid him. This new meeting house, about 64 by 44 feet in size, replaced the earlier one which the society had outgrown in the 25 years since it had been built with such unchristianlike behavior on the part of its members. Originally, this second building had no bell nor steeple, but these were added in 1803. For 75 years this structure served continuously as a place of worship. In 1831 the present Center Church was built on almost the same spot. This was about the first building of any architectural pretensions to grace our town. Together with its neighbor, the First Baptist Church, built in 1847, it still adds charm and beauty to our city today. There was a division in the organization in 1848 when a part of the congregation moved with their pastor to the "Corner" in West Meriden and built a church there. Those who remained took the name of Center Congregational Church. The white colonial wooden church at the "Corner" was replaced in 1876 by the granite structure, located a little farther north on Colony Street, and known today as the First Congregational Church. The Baptists have the next longest history in this area. The church which was organized in Wallingford, with about 10 families, in 1735 (or 1739) was the third Baptist Church in the entire colony. This church, however, ceased to exist after a time, but some of the families continued to hold to their faith, and in 12 FIRST MEETING HOUSES 1786 another Baptist Society, consisting of 12 members, was organized in Meriden. For several years after this, meetings were held in homes in the southeastern part of town. Their first house of worship was a dwelling purchased near the present dividing line of Meriden and Wallingford to accommodate Baptists liv- ing in both towns. In 1815 the Meriden Baptists built a second meeting house, nearer the center, on a site which is now the south corner of Broad and Charles Streets. This building was sometimes spoken of in derision as the "Salt Box," from its un- pretentious appearance and scanty furnishings. Fifteen years later the society moved this house to a lot directly across the street, adjoining the Broad Street graveyard. At this time the structure was raised over a basement story, and was also adorned with a steeple. This remained the place of worship for the society until 1847 when they built the beautiful church which today stands almost next to the Center Congregational. Here again, there appears to have been some argument, and no doubt tempers once more were hot, because the Congregational Society placed an injunction to deter the construction of this new church so close to theirs. It was pointed out that there was no objection to the Baptists "as a Christian people, as good neighbors and worthy citizens." The Congregationalists' argument was that the Baptist minister had "a peculiarly sharp ringing voice, so that beyond a question, he would disturb their society in wor- ship." The Episcopal Church in Meriden was organized about 1789 in the Moses Andrews homestead on West Main Street, now the home of the Meriden Historical Society. Samuel Andrews, a brother of Moses Andrews, was the last missionary to the Episcopal Church in Wallingford, in the service of "The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts." When the Revolutionary War broke out all Episcopalians were suspected of being Tories, and Moses Andrews was forbidden to leave his farm without special permission of the town selectmen. After his petition to attend church in Wallingford was denied, Moses decided to have a church in his own home. Using slabs and blocks of wood from a neighboring sawmill as benches, he in- vited his neighbors in for weekly services, at which he was the lay reader. With these simple beginnings, a society was formally organized in 1789, preceded by a declaration of conformity to 13 FIRST MEETING HOUSES the Church of England, and Moses became its first clerk. It was not until 1816 that a tiny wooden structure was built on the southeast corner of the old burying ground on Broad Street (probably the very spot where Olive Street is now) and con- secrated as St. Andrew's Church. Mrs. Frances A. Breckenridge in her charming book, Recol- lections of a New England Town, describes one of the festivals held in this first church: "In the very first years of the existence of St. Andrew's as a parish the yearly Christmas 'illumination', as it was then called, was with tallow candles. Wooden frames to fit the windows were so arranged that a candle was at each window pane. These panes were about seven by nine inches, and probably thirty panes to a window. The frames were carefully kept from year to year to be produced and used at the proper time. A chandelier of tin, precariously suspended from the arched ceiling in the center of the church, and side lights of tin fastened to the posts which supported the galleries, held the inevitable tallow candles. All of these that were accessible were duly vis- ited once in a half hour or so by someone armed with the 'snuffers'. The inaccessible lights had to be left with toppling wicks to drip tallow onto whomsoever it might fall. The last illumination was in 1833 or 1834. Until the later years of the century the festival of Christmas was only observed by the small congregation that worshiped at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church. Except, that persons from other denominations would attend there upon Christmas eve to hear the music. The little church was always crowded on these occasions, as their annual recurrence was the one musical event of the year." This earlier church was replaced by "a new and elegant Gothic church of brownstone" in 1848. Within twenty years the in- creasing membership of the parish made it necessary to build a larger place of worship. Therefore, in 1866, this second church was taken down and the stone from it used for erecting the present St. Andrew's Church on East Main Street. This, then, is the story of the three church societies estab- lished in Meriden during the eighteenth century, and of their houses of worship which, in the early days of the last century, clustered about the old burying ground on Broad Street. One other denomination, the Methodist, was established in town before the middle 1800's. About 1830 a meeting house was 14 FIRST MEETING HOUSES built on East Main Street. Mrs. Breckenridge has this to say about it: "Near the bars that lead into the East Cemetery is the barnlike Methodist Church, with its bare wooden benches and packing box pulpit. To this house, one bleak, snowy Jan- uary day, queer Treacher' Baldwin brought his infant child to be baptized by himself, his wife the only witness. He had the grace and mercy to borrow a bowl of warm water . . . The building . . . was bought, moved onto Curtis Street and made into a joiner's shop. It was finally set on fire by some children playing in the old pulpit, and was burned to the ground." Ac- tually, the Methodist Society was not organized until 1844, fol- lowing a series of revival meetings held in what was known as "Old Bethel," a long shop owned by Charles Parker. Here the congregation sat on boxes which gave them a good view of the preacher. In summer a large tent was pitched in an open lot be- tween High and Broad Streets. It was 1847 when the society built a wooden church on Broad Street near Charles. This was used until the First Methodist Episcopal Church, at the corner of East Main and Pleasant Streets, was erected in 1867. Perhaps we should digress for a moment to discover what "going to meeting" was like in these early days of Meriden. First of all, the houses of public worship were never heated. In- deed, to have done so would have been considered a sign of degeneracy, if not of actual profanation. Even as late as 1831, when the present Center Congregational Church was built, "it was with great difficulty that the society could be induced even to allow chimneys to be built, though they were to be erected gratuitously." In winter the temperature must have been bitter for the people, many of whom had traveled several miles on horseback or on foot to reach the meeting house. The only artificial heat allowed was that from the women's foot stoves, little square metal boxes filled with glowing coals from the home hearth. It has been told that men with bald spots were sometimes forced to put their mittens on their heads to keep warm; and preachers often complained that their voices were drowned by the noise of persons stamping their feet to keep them from freezing. The prayers, during which the congregation stood, were long and sermons even longer. In 1849 the Reverend George W. Perkins wrote, "As prayers and sermons then (before 1800) were much 15 FIRST MEETING HOUSES longer than 'moderns' will endure, the winter hearers of those days must have endured a species of martyrdom. ... As a partial relief to such suffering, some persons built near the church, what are often mentioned in the old records as 'Sabbath day houses' — little cabins about 10 feet square, finished with a fireplace, chim- ney and some chairs. Here the owner retired with his family at the intermission, and partook of some refreshment prepara- tory to the freezing process of the afternoon." There were probably several Sabbath day houses around the first meeting house, and one was plainly mentioned in a deed of 1740, as standing on land north of the church. But the second meeting house must have had a rash of them, because at least 13, and maybe more, stood east and north of the church. The first entry on the land records referring to these houses was made on July 23, 1757, when Theophilus Hall deeded to "Deacon Benjamin Whiting, Ensign Amos Camp and Bezaleel Ives a spot of land sufficient for three Sabbath day houses with stables adjoin- ing, of the dimensions of those now standing on said spot . . ." These men lived in the extreme southeast district, too far away for them to go to their homes during the "nooning" on Sundays. Also near the church stood two "Sabba' day" houses, each of which was 20 feet square and was probably shared by two or three families. According to Mrs. Breckenridge, "The one room had a fireplace, and the fuel and a barrel of cider were provided by 'joining'." This fireplace was also useful for replenishing the coals in the women's foot stoves. Even in the second Congregational meeting house the seats must have been mere benches, because the story is told of a restless little girl who "slipped from the seat and made her way under the benches, on all fours, to the door where finally she was captured by her dismayed pursuers on the last step." In addition to frigid temperatures in winter, hard seats and sermons "timed by an hourglass which was sometimes turned twice before the word 'lastly' was heard," the congregations of those days were plagued by the tithing man. He not only took up the collection, but kept order, particularly in the galleries, and tickled, with a fox tail or rabbit's foot on the end of a pole, those inclined to sleep, and also prevented anyone from leaving before meeting was ended. The singing, too, was very different from our present idea of 16 FIRST MEETING HOUSES church music. The two or three tunes, which never varied from one year to another, were keyed from a pitch pipe and were sung without benefit of instrumental accompaniment of any kind. In old records there was frequent mention of a curious custom, that of "beating the drum" on the Sabbath. Since the early meeting houses had no bells, a substitute was found in a drum. According to the records of 1673, one "Sam'll Monson shall be allowed 40 s. for maintaining and beating the Drum in good order for the yeare ensuing." 17 CHAPTER FOUR Place Names The name of Meriden derived from "Meriden Manor" by which Andrew Belcher dignified the estate he owned by purchase from Jonathan Gilbert. Since the property is referred to as Meriden before it was acquired by Mr. Belcher, the supposition is that the choice was Gilbert's. There is no proof of why he selected the name. It has been suggested it was because it means "pleasant valley" and consequently was, and still is, an apt de- scription of that part of Meriden. Perkins' Historical Sketches gives a totally different explana- tion which has long been a popular folk story here. He says the name is compounded of "merry" and "den." Since there were so many merry meetings of travelers in the old stone house over which Andrew Belcher presided as host of the inn, the place acquired the affectionate nickname of "Merry-Den." It is generally believed, however, that the true source of the name is Meriden, England. Nor is this assumption less prosaic than the folklore so suggestive of revels. Scenically, topographi- cally, Meriden in Warwickshire is very like this piece of Con- necticut. Furthermore it lies in the very center of England. One of London's great daily newspapers carried some years ago a feature article on the British Meriden which remains to this day a quiet little town, quite outstripped in population and industry by her American namesake in Connecticut. The writer of the piece illustrated his feature by a drawing which represented a cut-out map of England poised in perfect balance on the tip of a sharply pointed pencil. The spot thus demonstrated as the exact center of England was the village of Meriden. Meriden, Connecticut, is not the precise center geographically of its state. But its location earns the description of "central." Moreover it was certainly the center upon which converged the two strongest Puritan influences which fused into the democratic philosophy which in turn sired our American Constitution. There is a little story related by Odell Shepard in his Con- necticut Past and Present which says a visiting Frenchman in 18 PLACE NAMES Washington to study our form of government heard of one famous American after another who had been born in Con- necticut. He looked in an atlas to discover the location of this phenomenal place and found it to be "only a little yellow spot on the map." Years later he was called upon for a Fourth of July oration before a group of Americans in Paris. He spoke of Con- necticut as "that little yellow spot on the map that makes the clock-pedlar, the schoolmaster, and the senator. The first of these gives you time; the second tells you what to do with it; and the third makes your law and civilization." Meriden has produced its clock-pedlars, schoolmasters and senators. She is typical Connecticut. Odell Shepard also speaks of the way "Meriden crouches . . . beside her mounded hills." Between her hills there are valleys, ponds, and streams still known by names used by the earliest settlers. For instance Jonathan Gilbert's first grant of land was specified as in the "vicinity of Cold Spring." Derivation of that name is easily understood since waters welling out of masses of rocks there are sparkling and cold. Professor Silliman wrote about Cold Spring for the American Journal of Science back in 1821. He described a natural icehouse in the masses of fallen trap rock where "ice remains usually the year around." He said the small brook running to the south of the natural icehouse has "been known to the youth of the vicinity since the middle of last century, so they have been accustomed to resort to this place, in parties, for recreation, and to drink the waters of the cold-flowing brook." At one time Cold Spring was a projected spa on which considerable sums of money were spent for development. Nearby "Cat Hole" no doubt was so called because wild animals posed a peculiar threat in that narrow cleft between rocky hills through which one of the earliest known paths was trodden. According to Doctor Davis in his history, Crow Hollow, the "locality near Julius Parker's shops about two miles west of the city," has an equally obvious source. There were a great many crows wont to congregate in the vicinity. "Bangall" on the road toward Middletown derived its name, he says, from the fact that Captain Benjamin Hall who kept a tavern on the Noah Pomeroy place, said a party from Middletown continued their frolics there throughout one night and "banged all creation." 19 PLACE NAMES Pilgrim's Harbor, sometimes without an apostrophe and some- times with the apostrophe after the S, was the name of the south- western part of Meriden through which Harbor Brook runs. It was called by that name in an Indian deed of 1664. Barber's history written in 1838 says the name came from a tradition about the regicides said to have stopped there in their wanderings. But the assumption now is that the name, antedating those flights of regicides from political persecution, came from the fact that the area offered some protection from cold and winds in the nature of a "harbor." Black Pond still earns its name without question. Dog's Misery nearby, south of the Middletown road, was a morass thickly covered with tangled vegetation where wild animals took refuge from the chase to the complete bafflement and sometimes to the death of dogs on their trail. Meeting House Hill naturally ac- quired its name from its selection as the site of the first house of worship in Meriden. Hanging Hills is another name entirely obvious in origin. Falls Plains and Little Plain were once in common usage for the sec- tion now referred to as Hanover and the upper section extend- ing toward the old main road to Hartford. The first title also obviously got its name from the falls in the river going through the plain — a plain that was apparently regarded most favorably by the pioneers since it was one of the first areas to be staked off into lots. Turning back to the northeastern section of Meriden, Mt. Lamentation broods over the landscape. The Reverend Charles A. Goodrich of Hartford writes the story of the source of that name. It is a grim tale about a man named Chester who lost his bearings one dark and stormy day. He wandered for two days and nights, barely escaped plunging off a precipice, and be- came slightly demented; and was loudly lamenting before a searching party found him. The Goodrich book in which this tale appears is called Stories on the History of Connecticut: De- signed for the Instruction and Amusement of Young Persons. If the Lamentation story is a good sample, the nature of the re- vered gentleman's idea of amusement might well be questioned by current censors of juvenile literature. 20 CHAPTER FIVE Old Houses There are still standing in Meriden today a number of homes which were built in the eighteenth century. Some have been carefully preserved through the years, others have been lovingly restored, and a few have been so altered that it is difficult to recognize them for what they are. The oldest house in town is undoubtedly the 1711 Club Inn, on North Colony Street. As its name implies, it was built in that year, by one Solomon Goffe of Wethersfield. His deed gave this indefinite description of the property, "the farm is in the woods and bounds west on the Country road and extends north, east and south." The chimneys in the cellar of this house are enormous and the stones are cemented with clay mixed with straw, as are the foundation walls. The old rafters, huge floor beams, and split laths also indicate the age of the building. The first addition to the house, which looks as old as the rest, was probably made by Jonathan Collins who bought the property in 1729. At present it is, as it has been for a number of years, a popular eating place. Less than a mile north of here, on the west side of the road, on a bank protected by a stone wall, stands the Stephen Bailey place. This was built in 1734 by John Dennie, a rich Boston merchant who never occupied the house but leased it and the farm to someone else. It, too, has an early addition on the north side. This place has been very well kept, and must look much as it did 200 years ago. Some little distance farther, at 1376 North Colony Road, is an old house belonging now to Wallace Miramant, florist. One of the most interesting things about it is that it stands on the site of the old Belcher Tavern. Although this house is unquestionably old, it is not known exactly when it was built, nor by whom. However, its hand-hewn white oak beams proclaim its age. In A Century of Meriden, Mr. Curtis suggests, as the result of a conversation he had with the granddaughter of Sidney Merriam, who came into possession of the inn about 1812, that in 1833 the old build- ing was moved to the rear for a wood shed and carriage house, 21 OLD HOUSES and the present house was erected on the ancient site. How- ever, it appears to be older than this, and the contractor who supervised its remodeling in 1949, felt that it was one of the oldest houses in town. At one time it had eleven fireplaces. The present owner has carefully stowed away in his attic an old sign, found in the place, bearing the words "Hotel Belcher." On the other side of the road, at number 1563, is the Yale place, built in 1788 by John, a grandson of that John Yale who, in com- pany with Jedediah Norton, bought the Belcher, or Meriden, farm in 1741. This house has had some additions and has had its clapboards replaced with shingles, but its earlier lines are clearly discernible. It is owned and occupied by the Staszewski family. Also in the north part of town, at 1065 Broad Street, near Britannia, is the Asahel Curtis place. This house was built, prob- ably by Joel Yale, in 1807 but was sold to Isaac Lewis and Asahel Curtis a few years later. In a building adjoining, these two men manufactured metal buttons. After a time Mr. Curtis bought the house from his partner. Here his son, George R. Curtis, was born. For many years now the place has belonged to Frank N. Wilcox. It has apparently changed little since its early days, except to improve. The Andrews Homestead, on West Main Street, now the home of the Meriden Historical Society, was built by Moses Andrews probably about 1760. The double overhang of the second and third stories indicates that it may be even older. This house, like so many others, was enlarged at an early date. When the sloping roof was raised to accommodate the addition in the rear, the old end rafters were left and are still visible in the attic. The massive timbers, sturdy wall planking, and wide floor-boards are still in remarkablv fine condition. In one of the bedrooms an area of the wall has been cut away so that the glassed-off section shows the construction — the hand-hewn beams, hand- split laths, hand-wrought nails, and wooden pegs. The place is an excellent example of a large, comfortable, colonial farmhouse. It follows the usual plan of that day — the small entrance hall, where the delicately turned bannisters contrast strikingly with the rugged stones of the huge center chimney; to the right the dining room, to the left the withdrawing room, each with its fireplace; and in the rear the keeping room, with its enormous cooking fireplace, complete with Dutch ovens. It was in this 22 OLD HOUSES house that the first Episcopal church services in Meriden were held. In later years the place passed through a succession of hands, becoming, at one time, a two-family house. It was acquired by the Board of Education for the City of Meriden, and in 1933 and 1934 was renovated as a federal project to serve as a kinder- garten for the Benjamin Franklin School, and a colonial museum for the city. In 1940 when the School Board relinquished con- trol of the property, two groups, the Andrews Homestead Com- mittee and the Meriden Historical Society, which had been defunct since 1895, united to save the old house. This was accomplished and the Homestead, repaired, redecorated, and furnished with antiques which had been given or loaned to the society, was the scene of an Open House, January 14, 1942. The following year, because of the war, the place was turned over to the city for a Child Care Center, and its furnishings were returned to their owners or safely stored for the duration. Then in 1952 the Meriden Historical Society was again re- vived and once more took over the Andrews Homestead. It has been beautifully redecorated and furnished, insofar as possible, with antiques of the period of 1760. In it, also, are housed col- lections of old books, papers, and souvenirs of Meriden's past. Certainly, Moses Andrews built well, and our town is fortunate to have such a fine old house for its historical museum. Meriden is likewise fortunate in possessing the Meriden His- torical Society in its reactivated form, destined to perpetuate and augment the house and contents of the Andrews Homestead. Originally the society was organized in 1893 after a year of planning for its proper functions. Papers were prepared for reading at subsequent meetings, many of which are preserved in a book housed at the Andrews Homestead and from which con- siderable information has been gleaned for this volume. Despite the obviously general interest in the organization's efforts to gather material on Meriden's past, there seems to have been no meeting after the one dated November 1, 1895. When the fate of the Andrews Homestead became a matter of public concern in 1940, the Meriden Historical Society was reorganized to include the already active Andrews Homestead Committee for the purpose of raising funds to maintain the property as a center of historic interest. For the two years before 23 OLD HOUSES the Andrews Homestead "went to war" the society more than fulfilled its mission. After 10 years of wear and tear in community service, the Homestead was in dire need of the attentions which only an active Historical Society could give it. The organization was again revived, its constitution brought up-to-date, and concen- trated work begun to make over this handsome relic of Meri- den's past. With financial aid from the Cuno Foundation, the work has been completed. It is unthinkable that the museum should ever again fall into other ways and other uses. The Meriden Historical Society has become a necessary and vital function in Meriden's affairs depended upon to carry on without interruption the preservation of Meriden's past as a symbol of all that makes Meriden happy and proud in celebrating in 1956 its sesquicentennial year. Still farther west, on Johnson Avenue at the corner of Eaton, stands the old Johnson place, now owned and occupied by the Carter Whites. This house, with its lovely Palladian window and hand-pegged divided stairway, was built by Israel Johnson about 1785. In the early days West Main Street, as we know it, did not exist and Johnson Avenue was the through street to the west and later the stagecoach route to Waterbury. Originally this house faced south on Johnson Avenue, but at a later period was turned to face east on Eaton. The Johnson family owned the mountain land to the north — all the way up to West Peak. They had hoped to develop the property into a valuable mining tract but, unfortunately, their prospecting did not reveal the wealth of gold and copper they had expected to find. In spite of this disappointment, however, the family lived in rather an elegant manner, and rumor has it that it was considered quite an honor to be invited to their home. On Coe Avenue, within a short distance of each other, are two good examples of eighteenth century houses. One is the home of Victor Lucchini, Coe Farm, which has just been sold to the city as the site of the new west-side high school. This colonial house was here when the farm was sold by Samuel Rice to Asa Barnes in 1795. Calvin Coe bought it in 1820 and it has remained in the hands of his descendants until now. It is to be hoped that this lovely old home can be saved when the high school appears in the place where the house has stood for over 24 OLD HOUSES 160 years. The second house is the Rice place, built in 1781, by Ezekiel Rice, Jr., a Revolutionary War soldier, on land given him by his father. Its style is somewhat different from most of the houses of this period, because instead of one large center chimney, it has two, one at each end, and has a hallway running through the center of the house. Until fairly recent years, this place was still owned and occupied by members of the Rice family. On Old Colony Road, at Archer's Corners, is the Deacon Robert Royce, or Rice, house. It was standing there in 1740 when the highway running west from this spot on the old Country Road to Hanover, now South Meriden, was opened. In the latter part of the last century the place was sold to the wife of Dr. H. A. Archer — hence the name Archer's Corners. In 1906 this house had a porch on two sides. Now that has been removed and so today, in spite of some recent shingling, the house probably looks more as it did originally. Just north of this old Robert Rice farm, on the site of Walnut Grove Cemetery, was the farm bought by Dr. William Hough, Wallingford's second physician, in 1730. Sometime between then and 1740, when he moved to Cheshire, Dr. Hough built a house on this property. His son, William, continued to live and conduct a blacksmith shop here for many years. About 1930 Mr. Russell White bought this Hough home from the cemetery association, moved it piece by piece, and carefully reconstructed it in its present location at the corner of Broad Street and Gale Avenue. There it may be seen today, exactly as it stood for almost 200 years in its first location — complete even to its oversized chim- ney and fireplaces. Looking at it, one would never guess that it had not been right there for all of its long existence. It is now the home of the Robert Bergers. A short distance up Broad Street, at 309, is the Benjamin Hart house, now owned by the John B. Kirbys. This was built in its present location just before 1800. The original house faced on Curtis Street and was built in 1729 by Captain John Webb. When Mr. Hart inherited the home he wanted it to front on the new turnpike, and so he tore it down and built the present house, using many of the beams and other material from the old house. Around the corner, at 54 Curtis Street, is the Benjamin Curtis 25 OLD HOUSES house, owned by John Molloy. The first Benjamin Curtis, in 1729, acquired from his father, Nathaniel, a 200-acre farm front- ing on this old street and spreading out fanlike to the east. For many years the Curtis family continued to inhabit this section of town, which accounts for the frequency of the name here. This house was built probably about 1795, by the second Ben- jamin when his own homestead, a short distance south, became too small to hold all of his fourteen children. The house has outwardly changed very little with the years. Five houses beyond is the home of iMrs. Charles N. Flagg. This is also reputedly a Curtis house, but when it was built, and by which Curtis is not certain. The back ell part was evidently the original house and the main building was added in front, somewhat later. The inside was extensively remodeled when the Flaggs bought the place about thirty-five years ago, but the outside still preserves its original colonial lines. Directly across the street is an attractive white-washed brick, which is now the home of Airs. William H. Race. The long, narrow, rectangular building was built originally for a spoon factory, probably by Edwin E. Curtis whose home was at 112 Curtis Street and is still standing. Later it was a dame school conducted by Miss Harriet Bradley. After awhile it fell on bad times and became a disreputable looking two-family tenement, referred to in the neighborhood as "the brick." About ten years ago the Races bought it and converted it into the serene and charming home it is today. One of the oldest houses in iMeriden is at 160 Curtis, the home of Mrs. Marion P. Heidel. It was built in 1730 by Lazarus Ives. In 1740 Daniel Bradley owned it and had his blacksmith shop here for a time. Then the house was sold to Daniel Hough, the father of Dr. Ensign Hough, who with his family lived in it for many years. After that it had a number of owners, and during the Victorian era was considerably changed. Some years ago the Heidels remodeled it and removed much of the ornateness, so today, although not quite in its original form, it still retains its early charm. Far down on Curtis Street, almost to the Wallingford line, stands a house which was built about 1778 or 1780 by Noah Yale for his son, Thomas. This house was originally on a lane which ran up to Yale Avenue, because this section of Curtis 26 OLD HOUSES Street was not opened until 1820. There is a story that in the early part of the last century this place was used as an inocu- lation hospital, on account of its remoteness, and because it was not on a highway. It can easily be located, since it is at present known as the Mother Goose Farm. Almost directly east of this house, on Yale Avenue, is one built by this same Noah Yale for himself in 1761. He was a grandson of the original Thomas Yale to whom a large farm in this section of Wallingford was granted sometime before 1702. Noah Yale's house was certainly a fine, dignified colonial farm- house, containing much good paneling and detail. Many meet- ings of the Congregational Society were held here before the Revolutionary War. This was also the home of the slave, Chatham Freeman, who earned his freedom by serving in the war in place of one of Mr. Yale's sons. Another story is told of this same slave. Mr. Yale had a female slave at his farm whom Free- man wanted to marry. His master said he would agree to the marriage if Freeman would work for him seven years. He did and then married the woman. Today, almost two hundred years later, this house is still owned and occupied by Noah Yale's descendant — his great, great, great grandson, David Yale. The Ephriam Berry house, now owned by Frederick M. Stevens, Jr., stands on the northeast corner of Parker Avenue and Ann Street. This house was almost certainly built in 1743. Its construction is excellent, there are fine details such as cup- boards and paneling, and it has been carefully preserved through the years. It is probably one of the finest examples of an early colonial home to be found in Meriden. There is, on the south side of Miller Avenue, a red house called the 1777 Rest Home, owned and managed by Mrs. Edward Punty. It is not certain who built it, but a story about it has been handed down from father to son in that section for years. According to this tale, the man could not decide just where he wanted his home built. One day he walked to the top of the hill on his property, and taking off his hat he flung it into the wind, which was blowing strongly from the west, and said, "Where the hat falls I will build my house." And so he did. This place was occupied in the last century by Richard Miller whose name re- mains in that of the street. On the northwest corner of Miller Avenue and Paddock, which 27 OLD HOUSES in the early days was called Misery Road, is the Silas Rice place. This house occupies the site of the dwelling of Captain Divan Berry, of Revolutionary fame, which was destroyed by fire in 1796. On October third of that year, Deacon Silas Rice bought the half finished house which was being erected on the same spot. Even now, appearing much as it did when the Deacon com- pleted it, this house is occupied by Robert S. Rice, a direct descen- dant of the builder. Farther north, on the east side of Paddock Avenue, is the large farmhouse which was built by Isaac Hall, son of the doctor of the same name, about the year 1770. For a long time this was known as the Rollin S. Ives place. In recent years its walls have been shingled, which helps to conceal its ancient character. Still farther east, away over in what used to be called Dog's Misery, is the old Noah Pomeroy place. The first mention of this house in the records was in March 1751, when Israel Hall and his wife deeded it and sixty acres of land to Phineas Hall. It is the same place where Benjamin Hall was later supposed to have kept the tavern which gave the section the name Bangall. About 1816 or 1817 it was bought by Noah Pomeroy. At that time it stood' at the junction of Pomeroy and Murdock Avenues, but many years ago it was moved a few hundred feet to the east, and now it stands at 24 Ives Avenue. It was in this old house that the Universalists first assembled in 1821. Some thirty years later the First Universalist Society of Meriden was organized. Dr. Sherburne Campbell owns a home on East Main Street, near the corner of Maple Avenue. This was apparently one of several houses built by Samuel Baldwin. The date is given as 1772, although it probably was earlier. The Almon Hall family was the first to live here. Two of his children, Russell and Fanny, continued to occupy the place for many years, until they died at an advanced age. The story is told that Miss Fanny, in her last years, became confused and was inclined to wander about. In order to keep her safely in the house, it is said, she was chained to an iron ring fastened into the floor of her room. In recent years this house passed through a number of different hands. It has been carefully restored, added to, and today is a perfect example of how an eighteenth century home can be adapted to comfortable, modern living. Another house, no doubt of somewhat similar style when it 28 OLD HOUSES was built about 1795, is the Orchard Guy place on the corner of East Main and Williams Street. A short distance east of here is the Abel Yale place which is considerably older. The first mention of it on the records was in 1737 when his brother, Moses, quit-claimed to Abel all his interest in the house and farm. During the years a number of additions have been built, and its appearance has changed considerably. It is on the corner of East Main and Horton Avenue. Some other early homes which have lost much of their colonial appearance through alterations and additions are the Edward Collins house (1738) at 596 Colony Street; the Abel Rice or William W. Plumb place (1733 or before) at 175 Hall Avenue, near the junction of Gale; the Comfort Butler house (1770) at 67 Kensington Avenue; and that of Levi Allen (before 1784) on Allen Avenue. One of Meriden's oldest houses has come to rather a pathetic end. It is now a three-family tenement, with a storeroom tacked on the front. This is the home built originally by Captain Na- thaniel Merriam, about 1730, on the present site of Saint Andrew's Church. In 1866 it was moved, around the corner, to Miller Street where it now stands, looking sad and forlorn, behind the Connecticut Electric Equipment Co. Probably no description of Meriden's old houses would be complete without mention of the stately Eli Birdsey mansion, even though it was built considerably later — not until 1830. It was the first imposing residence to be erected in town. It has now been made into apartments, but it is still dignified and beau- tiful today, in its commanding location at the head of East Main Street hill, almost across from the two colonial churches, and in Meriden's most historic section. 29 CHAPTER SIX Roads and Travel The first settlers in what is now iMeriden entered virtually virgin territory. This was not an area where Indians lived with any permanence. It was their hunting ground so there were some Indian trails winding in and out where moccasined feet had picked the way. Some of our streets today no doubt follow the general lines of such trails. Gradually those trails become trodden ways beaten down by men on horseback. Later they were widened into roads and new roads added as the settlement grew. In 1729, George W. Perkins tells us in his history, there were twenty-five families in Meriden. By 1770 the number had expanded to 123 families. Meanwhile some sort of rude roadway system was developing. One record shows that the General Assembly in Hartford in 1666 ordered Edward Higby thus: "for making and mainteineing the way over Pilgrums Harbour passable for man & horse, shall have his estate and farme free of Countrey (rates) for this yeare anp! next, he mainteining the way soe longe as aforesaid." As time went on a definite pattern emerged for reserving quite a wide strip of land for roads wherever new grants were made. For instance in 1707 the "towne chose Eliezer peeck, Joshua culver, David Hall, a commetie to see that dogs missery hiway may not be pinsht of the twenty rods in any place from the town to misserie whare it was not laid out before the graint was of said hiway." Twenty rods is often mentioned as road width. Still oftener the records speak of six rods for a highway. What the roads were like is another matter. Other records indicate that it was custom- ary for settlers adjacent to these "roads" to raise crops on this public property. Since the strips were cleared but not too well traveled, it was but a practical custom, quite "Yankee" in character. According to historian Perkins the first wagon was brought to Meriden in 1789. He says it was owned by Ezra Rice and was of rude construction, being simply a square framed box placed 30 ROADS AND TRAVEL on four wheels, drawn by two horses, with ropes for traces, and cords for the guiding or driving lines. Yet, he says, " it was then thought to be a very elegant establishment." Previous to the coming of that wagon, there had never been owned in the town more than three two-wheel carriages. These he describes as being very rude, awkward chaise bodies or uncovered seats hung on two wheels. And he adds incidentally that he had it on what he considered good authority, that of a man whose business took him at various times into every house in the town (could he have been a tax collector?), that in 1802 there was but one carpet in the whole town of Meriden. As a further commentary on Meriden's standard of living when she became a separate town, the Century of Meriden carries the note that when Samuel Yale died in 1816, the inventory of his belongings contains the first notice we have of a stove in Meriden. The item appears on that document as "stove and pipe" valued at $10. Among papers written by Meridenites for the historical society in the eighteen-nineties, is one by Allan B. Squire on the railroad. In it he says the "first stage in Connecticut ran through Meriden in 1784 on this old country road west of the central village where the railroad is now located." He adds that until the time the railroad was completed over half a century later the "good people of Meriden had no other means of communication with Hartford and New Haven except by private conveyance." On that subject of private conveyance Welcome E. Benham says in his paper in 1894: "I well remember that 60 years ago it was quite common for persons to travel from town to town, several miles on foot. I and others sometimes walked to New Haven and back, 32 miles, and quite frequently to church on Sabbath to Cheshire Center, four miles from home. . . ." "Horse wagons were nearly all of the lumber box order, with wood axletrees. The back chair seat was often supported on a wooden spring; the forward seats were plain flat boards resting on the upright sides. It was considered a luxury to have cushions or blankets on them to alleviate the jolting over stone. When elliptic springs were first introduced, they were considered a marvel, and set the body of the wagon up so high that some feared danger of toppling over. . . ." He describes the stages as "uniformly built in egg or oval body form, capable of seating from six to ten inside, and with additional 31 ROADS AND TRAVEL seats outside up back of the driver and on top." A large leather boot was built on behind to carry trunks and baggage, and also another in front to protect the driver. The whole was set on strong leather side straps called "thorough braces," suspended from elevated points front and rear, each resting firmly on the heavy four-wheeled running gear, and gave "an easy, rollicking motion to passengers when driven rapidly over rough places." The wide- awake drivers were "well skilled in handling their four lines and cracking their long lash stage whips over the backs of their forward span of galloping steeds. On approaching their stopping place they blew their shrill tin horn to notify hostlers to have fresh horses harnessed ready for exchange. There was one stage a day each way from New Haven and Hartford, a distance of thirty-six miles, running time four hours." When George W. Perkins describes travel in the earliest days, a century before the above, he says: "... you see a traveller starting from Hartford, on his way to New Haven. He is on horseback, with heavy saddle-bags depending from the saddle, and perhaps with pistols at his saddle-bow. After passing Wethers- field, he drives into the forest, where there is only a 'bridle path' cut through the trees. Slowly picking his way among stumps and swamps, with now and then some trepidation as an Indian crosses his path, he reaches toward nightfall the old stone house called Meriden, and is glad to find that its stout doors and shutters can resist all hostile attacks. The next morning, at early dawn, he commences another hard day's journey, and has hardly gone beyond the tavern door, when he spies a troop of gaunt wolves upon Mount Lamentation." One of the historical papers, written in 1893 by Albert H. Wilcox, adds this about the stone house: "As the journey between Hartford and New Haven formerly occupied 'two good days' the Belcher Tavern and another tavern in Wallingford became very notorious resorts especially during the French and Revolu- tionary wars. Afterwards a wooden addition was built which was kept as a tavern until the opening of the turnpike in 1799." He also speaks of Bartlett's "Hotel Belcher" being built in the 1820's near the old tavern and its adjoining forts. Perkins describes how the horseman, in prestagecoach days, was almost bemired in passing the swamp and unbridged stream at Pilgrim's Harbor. It was no wonder the regular horseback 32 ROADS AND TRAVEL trail from Hartford swung by way of Wethersfield rather than along the shorter route later taken by the railroad. As A. B. Squire describes that route it is obvious how much swampy ground had to be reclaimed. He speaks of the railroad passing by "Old Fly" and "Beaver Pond" through meadows called "Green Swamp" into Kensington parish and thence to its termination on Main Street in Hartford. The first step in progress from Indian trail to airplane came with the advent of freight wagons and stagecoaches. The pack- horse business had been profitable since it was the only means by which to transmit mail and goods. So owners of the pack-horse business were opposed to the "new-fangled" freight system which called for the building of roads, just as later the stagecoach companies opposed the coming of railroads, and railroads in turn look askance at trucking on highways. New highways passable for stagecoaches cost considerable in money and effort. Neither state nor towns could keep them up although some stretches were entrusted to the good offices of settlers receiving land usage or other benefits in payment. So the stage lines obtained charters from the state allowing them to establish turnpikes, either by taking over and improving existing roads, or by building their own with necessary bridges. The first turnpike through Meriden was completed in 1799, a big event in our history. Its building was the opening of what is known as Broad Street. It necessitated the filling in of a deep ravine which people called Nabb's Folly since a man of that name had tried to build a road across it and failed. According to Mrs. William Mackensie in a paper prepared some 30 years ago for the D. A. R., it was "an uncommonly deep chasm, through which ran a rapid, narrow stream of water." In her younger school days she says it was known as the "Gulf." The turnpike builders filled in the ravine enough to allow a narrow road across it, although people had previously thought it could never be filled and made safe. That sort of hazard was many times multiplied before Connecticut villages were finally connected by their network of turnpikes, now replaced by one of the finest and most comprehensive road systems in the nation. The north-south turnpike was soon traversed by an east-west route to the further advantage of the old Central Tavern as a convenient stopping place. Returning to Mr. Benham's paper we 33 ROADS AND TRAVEL find a description of the toll turnpikes where gates across the pike forced travelers to stop to pay their fee before they could continue. Generally the gates were of the high fence type that swung, some were pivoted on a pole, and others were raised by pulleys and weights from a high roof overhead. There were gatekeepers who took the toll to fill the coffers of the turnpike companies so they could maintain the system in at least passable condition. According to Mills in his Story of Connecticut the usual toll was from 25 cents for a four-wheeled pleasure carriage down to four cents for a rider on horseback. But people going to and from churches on Sunday were allowed to pass free, as were voters on their way to town meeting or farmers enroute to mills. Funerals were always free. Mr. Benham places one toll gate on the north-south turnpike on South Broad Street midway between Meriden and Yalesville and another north of the Berlin woods midway between Meriden center and Berlin. On the east-west turnpike he says one gate was about a "mile west at the old notch road corners just beyond the Parker foundry." The turnpike companies also erected milestones along these post roads. Some that once stood in the vicinity of Meriden are still preserved although not in their original locations. The Century of Silver recounts the recent story of two such markers. One was on Colony Street in front of the house occupied until her death by Miss Sally Collins, and since torn down to make way for new construction. Only a few feet south of the Post Office, this stone indicating 19 miles from New Haven was dear to "Miss Sally's" heart. To her horror one day she looked out just in time to see a steam shovel scoop the stone up in its gnawing way preparing for a new street surface job. Tearfully Miss Sally told the workmen of her shock. They were sympathetic and toted the chipped relic to land behind her house. Later she gave the stone to Roy C. Wilcox who subsequently located milestone 20 far out North Colony Street in front of what was Judge Dunn's house, the old Norton place. Mr. Wilcox, possessed of respect for Meriden's historical relics, has the two milestones flanking the doorway of his present residence on Allen Hill. Such stone markers have proved more durable than some of the many markings used in the early 1700's. Land records and 34 ROADS AND TRAVEL those covering space reserved for roads commonly use such terminals as "a heap of stones in the corner of the fence west of the Path" and a "walnut bush marked with stones" or a "white oak tree" to the "large chestnut stump." A trail ran from New Haven to Hartford down in the bottom of the valley through swampy land for a century before the turn- pike was built. This was developed into a road sometime after the turnpike came into being, roughly along the line of the present Colony Street. The sandstone hill on which the center of old Meriden grew, and its connecting ridges made far better terrain for the first full-fledged highway. John Warner Barber notes in his Connecticut Historical Collections that a road was constructed in the northwestern part of Meriden to Berlin sometime in the second decade of the 1800's. He says it went through "a narrow and romantic glen, between two ridges of the Blue Mountains; this pass, which is more than a mile in extent, is called Cat Hole." In some parts of the glen, continues Mr. Barber, there was barely room for a path because angular fragments of rock protruded at a forty-five-degree angle. He says the rocks were beaten down and covered with earth brought in for the purpose in order to make what might be called a road. He also calls attention to the elevated perpendicular rock on one side of the road which once resembled the profile of a human face, some saying it looked just like George Washington. Today one's imagination has to be pretty good to see what may have been far more sharply defined 150 years ago. But the Washington legend lingers. Stagecoaches took four days to go from New York to Boston. The second day out of New York meant the passengers and drivers had their noon meal in Meriden. This is why the Central Tavern became in reality the heart of the town, shifting the center from its former location at the junction of Curtis and Ann Streets. A Hartford newspaper dated May 31, 1838, carries the story of the fastest trip ever made from New York to Hartford as eight hours and five minutes, actual time by steamboat and stage. And the time consumed by stage from New Haven to Hartford was four hours and ten minutes, including stops for changes of horses and rest periods for passengers. The coming of the railroad changed everything. For a century and a half before it, communication between Meriden and the outer world 35 ROADS AND TRAVEL was a slow process. All travelers were of interest to Meriden townspeople. Some- times very important figures came this way. According to Mills in his Story of Connecticut, George Washington traveled from New Haven to Hartford on his way from Philadelphia to Cam- bridge in 1775, presumably on the route we call Colony Street. Again in 1789 he made a tour from New York and through New Haven and Hartford on his way to Springfield and Boston. One legend, entirely without authentication in any record, says that Washington stopped overnight on one of these tours in a house on North Colony Road that has long since disappeared from our landscape. Mr. Benham tells in the historical society collection of papers of the visit to Meriden of a later President. He writes: "I recall with interest the memorable occasion in about 1829 when General Andrew Jackson, President of the United States, made his tour through New England, and in going from New Haven to Hartford by carriage he stopped off uptown and gave an open air public reception from the stone steps of the Center church. He was greeted by quite a concourse of people, intro- duced by General Walter Booth, and shook hands with a large number of prominent men, passing one by one in line. He had bright eyes, his gray hair stood up above his forehead, and as a venerable, brave looking man he appeared worthy of his high position. After this brief patriotic reception he and his honorable escorts, including Martin Van Buren, re-entered their carriages and proceeded to Hartford. Dr. Isaac I. Hough was then landlord of the old Center hotel where the New Haven and Waterbury stages always stopped." The stage drivers were colorful figures themselves. It took considerable skill to manage the job. In addition the personality of the driver had much to do with making stagecoach travel popular. All sorts of legends surround those figures of stagecoach days, so imposing in their great coats and tall beaver hats. Quite naturally the drivers were "treated" by passengers at their stops at way stations. The story is that sometimes the drivers were sharp businessmen who arranged with innkeepers to get a cut on profits. In a sort of version of the "wooden nutmeg" legend it is said that it was a common custom for the innkeeper to serve the driver colored water when giving his treater the usual rum 36 ROADS AND TRAVEL or whiskey. Thereafter he and the driver could split the profit made on the harmless substitute. One of the famous stagecoach drivers lived in Meriden, Silas Lawrence, whose home was on Broad Street. Since the Central Tavern was a logical place for changing horses, there was a large barn nearby for housing them. That building was still standing until the second decade of this century. It was used for many years before by John Holmes' tinsmith shop. The stagecoach business was but a part of the turnpike's importance. Much freight was carried over the road, particularly in the winter months when the Connecticut River was closed to navigation by ice. The freight teamsters customarily made the Central Tavern an overnight stop. Freight was carried usually in long heavy wagons with high board sides and arched canvas tops, drawn by from four to ten horses according to the weight of the load and the depth of the season's mud. These wagons gradually disappeared from this area as new transportation methods devel- oped. They went westward and were later known as "prairie schooners" when figuring in the vast settlement projects that opened our continent. When we remember that Fulton's steamer made its trial trip in 1807, we can realize how essential stagecoach and freight wagon were to the economy of this part of the country well into the third and fourth decades of the 1800's. 37 CHAPTER SEVEN Early Schools As early as 1650 the General Court of Connecticut established a code of laws which ordered that every township within its jurisdiction comprising as many as fifty householders, should appoint a schoolmaster to teach the children to read and write. Thus, the school and the church took root together, and sprang up almost with the first log cabins in the forest. Although a school of sorts had evidently existed previously, the first allusion to schools in the town records of Wallingford was in 1678. At that time they voted "to allow for the encouragement of such a school master as the select men shall approve of, ten pounds a year in general, and three pence a week for all scholars, from six to sixteen, as long as they shall go to school." Apparently, a room was hired for this purpose, because it was not until 1702 that the town voted to build a schoolhouse. By 1722 it became necessary to have several schools, and so appeared the beginning of school districts. In the earliest days there was no mention of any subject but reading, writing, and spelling. It is quite probable that for a long time nothing else was taught except occasionally the rudiments of arithmetic. The books used in the schools were limited, both in number and scope. The New England Primer, the Psalter, Dilworth's Spelling Book, and Dilworth's Schoolmaster's Assist- ant for arithmetic were the only ones in use. The teaching of manners and respect for elders, particularly the dignitaries, was greatly stressed. And once a month the minister catechised the children in the meeting house, accompanying that catechism with many a stern reproof. The first schoolhouse in Meriden was a little low, red hut with four small windows, which stood at first near Ann Street, but was later moved to the slope between Gale Avenue and Holt Hill bridge. Another one, just as red and just as small, was built a few years after on the "old road," now Colony Street. Each one had a fireplace "for the alternate freezing and roasting process which the scholars underwent during the cold weather." Here 38 EARLY SCHOOLS the children learned the alphabet and were taught to call "Z" "izzard." The Primer for the younger pupils, and the New Testament for the older were the school reading books in the seventeen seventies. The first edition of this primer was strictly religious in its axioms. Thus: "In Adam's fall we sinned all." The woodcut was of an apple tree, beneath which were two figures having a remote likeness to humanity, one of them offering the other a big apple. Even as early as 1773 the town records show that Meriden was separated into school districts, because the taxes for school purposes were then divided proportionately between the districts. And by 1820 several schoolhouses had been built. In the western part of town there was a particularly substantial one, known as the Stone Schoolhouse. The uptown section had grown so populous by 1832 that there was difficulty in deciding the loca- tion of the Center School, and the question was settled by divid- ing the area into the north and south centers. The south center acquired for its school a small workshop at the northwest corner of the Broad Street Cemetery, on a lane which is now Charles Street. The North Center School was at a junction of Broad and Wall Streets. In 1835 a district was set off at the Corner, and a school was opened in a tiny building which stood just where the Main Street railroad crossing now is. This school was moved a few years later into the Lyceum building which was built on what is now Church Street. Our frequently quoted Mrs. Breckenridge attended the North Center School during the winter of 1834. Here is her descrip- tion of it: "The dimensions were probably twenty by twenty- five feet. A large butternut tree grew at the northwest corner of the building. Beneath this tree was the wood pile of logs to be cut for fuel as wanted. This was by no means as often as needed for warmth and comfort. Before the two doors, which gave entrance to the house, lay flat stones, which served as door steps. The doors gave access to two lobbies, where four or five children could stand at once if they stood close. In the lobbies or entries, as we called them, were kept the outer garments, the dinner pails and other possessions of the scholars. In the middle of the room a raised hearth or platform, about three feet square, made of brick and the thickness of a brick in height, supported a box stove. The room had four windows, two on a side. Around 39 EARLY SCHOOLS the room on three sides was a sloping counter which served as a desk, on which were kept, in more or less orderly fashion, the books and slates of the larger scholars. In front of this counter, on three sides, was a bench made of slabs, the flat side being uppermost. In front of these were low seats, with an apology for a back. On these the younger scholars and the very little ones were seated. The windows were shadeless; neither blind nor curtain tempered the glare. They were never washed, unless in summer some young woman teacher . . . essayed, with the help of the girls, a little housekeeping on her own account. The room was swept once a week by the girls in turn. "Oftener than not three dollars a week for a man teacher and one dollar and a half for a woman, for six days' teaching, was thought 'pretty easy.' An acceptable candidate for the winter school must be able to teach reading, writing (for this he must 'set copies') and Daboll's arithmetic, so far as or including the rule of three; to make a quill pen, and to 'govern' the large boys. "At nine in the morning those who loitered outside were called in by a vigorous thumping on the window sash with a ruler or ferule. This instrument was utilized as a timekeeper, to line copy books, and as a means of castigation whenever energetic disciplinary measures were in order. The pupils rushed in with all the racket and clatter that vigorous youth, shod in heavy cowhide boots and shoes, are capable of creating. The boys who entered later perpetrated a curious side-long jerk of the head, and the girls a perpendicular dip of the person, both contortions being supposed to indicate 'manners.' When fairly seated, Testaments were produced and school opened by the first and second classes reading two verses as it came the turn of each scholar. "The reading over, all the large scholars turned their faces to the wall and addressed themselves to Daboll's arithmetic, Wood- bridge's geography or their home-made writing books. Of course, the boys could turn on the long benches easily, but the girls had to take pains to perform the gymnastic feat properly. It was done by stooping and placing the hands on each side of the skirts, then by a quick, circular movement throwing the feet over the bench. This was usually done simultaneously. When called upon for anything by the teacher the whole class whirled back again. 40 EARLY SCHOOLS "Webster's New Speller was the class book for spelling in the school. The third class' having had their spelling lesson in words of two syllables set for them to study, the little ones were called up one by one to be ,taught their 'A, B, C's' .... It would now be time for the second class to read and spell. A whirl of feet and petticbats landed two rows of boys and girls standing on the floor facing the teacher, who gave the order, 'Manners!' and the jerking of necks and bobbing of skirts gave evidence that school etiquette was understood. The spelling came first, after- ward the reading from the same page, such things as: 'We burn oil in tin and glass lamps.' 'We can burn fish oil in lamps.' A geography lesson, if anybody had one, mending pens, attend- ing to sums and a playtime for the boys and one for the girls brought the morning session to a close. "The afternoon began by reading in the Columbian Orator. The National Preceptor came into use a few years later. To some of the scholars this was the best part of the day. More Daboll, a geography lesson, and more alphabet for the little ones. Poor little things! They sat patiently three hours on the hard benches, with nothing to do and nothing to look at. The one virtue re- quired of them was to keep still. More spelling by the first and second classes, and at one o'clock the school day's work was done. 'Manners' were required from each scholar on leaving the room, and the genuflection was aimed at the wall, the benches, the door or the teacher as it happened." During this same period Meriden could boast of several private schools. The first one in town was taught by an Episcopal clergy- man, the Reverend Mr. Keeler. In 1834 Miss Julianne Eddy opened a private school in the basement of the Center Congregational Church. At that time it was only one large, cold, gloomy room, filled with benches. The next year the school was moved into the basement of the old Baptist Church on the northeast corner of the cemetery, because the room here was lighter and warmer. Some years later, after Miss Eddy's marriage, Miss Henrietta Malone started a private school in Captain Collins' old house on East Main Street near the corner of Parker Avenue. And in 1840 John D. Post established the "Academy," a boarding school in a small way, on East Main at Elm. For a time this school had a fair patronage from other towns, although there were well- 41 EARLY SCHOOLS established boarding schools for young ladies in Hartford and New Haven, and Cheshire Academy enjoyed considerable prestige. 42 CHAPTER EIGHT Meriden in the Wars The terrible Pequot War was over before any settlement of white men took place in the Meriden area. By the time King Phillip's War was under way, Meriden was still a part of Walling- ford. The entire community set up regular guard service with a tight schedule for sentinels on duty throughout the dangerous period. There was an elaborate system for alarms, not like our present plans to warn of an atomic attack, but at least equally adequate for the times. . As has been said, the Indians in this neighborhood were friendly to the white man and as afraid of warring tribes as any settler worried for the fate of his family and property. But there was no telling when enemy propaganda might win over a neighbor Indian here and there. Those Indians knew the white man's property as well as the settler did himself. They had the run of the farms and were potentially too dangerous, in the event they should become renegades, for the peace of the white settler's mind. In the Joseph Wadsworth papers discovered around 1900 in an old pine box in the attic of the Wadsworth home in Hartford, that man credited with hiding the Charter in Hartford's famous oak tree says of King Philip's War that "fortunately Connecticut was not called upon to make any sacrifices in this troublous time, as aside from the burning of Simsbury there was no property lost in the colony and I always believed that it would not have happened if the people had remained in their homes instead of rushing off. . . ." However, many Connecticut men did "rush off." Of the 300 Connecticut Englishmen in the army of 1,000 raised for the Narragansett campaign, there were a few from this section. Some served in the disastrous Swamp Fort fight in Rhode Island. Some years later land was given to the veterans in recognition of military service. One of these was Samuel Hough, father of James who built the Meriden mill later known as Baldwin's in the north- eastern Section. His land in lieu of a pension or the more modern 43 MERIDEN IN THE WARS "GI benefits" was in the Norwich section of Connecticut where he lived at the time of his enlistment. Only one Meriden man is listed as being in the Louisburg expedition in 1745. He is Samuel Royce, son of Captain Ezekial who is recorded as having made a death claim after his son died in New London upon his return from Cape Breton. Quite a few Meriden-Wallingford names are on the rolls of the French and Indian Wars as participating in the Fort Ticonderoga campaign, — names familiar in our history such as Daniel Hough, Benjamin Curtis, Abraham Hall, Moses Curtis, Isaac Cook, Jr., and Benj. Rexford. Before recounting Meriden's part in the Revolution, the small part played in the War of 1812 by local people can be quickly told. This was not at all a popular cause in any part of New England. Trade was too important to the inhabitants tasting the early success of their manufacturing and merchandising talents. The embargo on the port of Boston was a serious setback. Never- theless a number of Meriden men enlisted for military service although there is no indication that they were ever actively engaged against the enemy. Their duty was apparently guard work in New Haven or New London, and even that was of short duration. The colonists' ties with England, which had been stretched taut for some years, reached the breaking point in 1775. The news of Paul Revere's ride, the night of April 18, and of the following day's fighting at Lexington and Concord spread like wildfire throughout the colonies. Patriots hesitated no longer and eager men hurried towards Boston. One company of 38 men, under Captain John Couch, went from Meriden. These men were out only seven days, hardly time to go to Boston and return. They doubtless received notice while on the march that their services were not needed. One Samuel Kilbourn rendered an account "for ferrying across Connecticut River at Hartford in the Lexington alarm Capt. Couch, of Meriden, with 18 men, 4 hourses and 1 waggon. Also Capt. Cook of Wallingford." Captain John Couch, probably Meriden's outstanding Revolu- tionary War hero, had come here in 1746 and bought a farm from Aaron Lyman. He was, therefore, not a young man at the outbreak of hostilities. He built his house on what is now the junction of Wall and North Wall Streets. The Ransom Baldwin 44 MERIDEN IN THE WARS place (1828) was once part of Captain Couch's farm. Shortly after the Lexington alarm the Legislature issued the first call for troops. The regiment was recruited in New Haven county, and about September 28, 1775, it marched to the Northern Department and took part in operations along Lakes George and Champlain. In this campaign Captain Isaac Cook, of Wallingford, commanded a company in which there were about ten Meriden men, including Lieut. John Hough and Sergt. Samuel Hall. In the expedition to Lakes George and Champlain, referred to above, many of the soldiers were taken sick and the following bills were paid by the state for medical attendance to Meriden men. Dr. Insign Hough presented a bill for going after Benjamin Austin to Stillwater, N. Y., on October 30, 1775: To Horse hire 130 miles at 2d per mile £1-1-8 To my time 8 days at 3/8 per Day £1-4-0 To cash paid expenses on said Journey 18-5 Simeon Perkins presented a bill for bringing home his appren- tice, Jared Benham, from beyond Albany. Lieut. Joseph Shailer was taken sick at Putney, Vermont, after the campaign and "was tended 16 days" at an expense of £1-10-0 and then was obliged to hire a man and a horse to bring him home, a distance of 190 miles, at an expense of £6-16-18. John Austin, of Wallingford, presented a bill for going for his sick son, Amos, six miles this side of Albany. A soldier on his way home from the campaign was taken sick at Edward Collins' home, on North Colony Street, in Meriden, and could go no farther, so there he remained helpless for six weeks, with Dr. Insign Hough and Dr. Isaac Hall attending him, and Mr. Collins furnishing nurses and watchers. The quantity of rum and brandy administered to this sick man was prodigious during the two weeks when he was "worst." He finally recovered and went on his way, but his name is not given in the bill. In the siege of Boston, which took place after the Battle of Bunker Hill, the only official record of service from Meriden is that of Captain John Couch. He was in Colonel Wadsworth's regiment which reached there towards the end of January, 1776. Probably there were with him several more Meriden men he had commanded during the Lexington alarm, but the names of only two have come down to us — Ezekiel Rice and Samuel Scovil. Letters from Ezekiel Rice, Joseph Rice and Joseph Shailer (or 45 MERIDEN IN THE WARS Shaylor), written while they were soldiers in the Revolution, are quoted in Curtis's A Century of Meriden. This Joseph Shailer served continuously in the army from the beginning to the end of the war and attained the rank of first lieutenant. He was in the battles of Long Island, White Plains, and took part in the storming and capturing of Stony Point under "Mad" Anthony Wayne, on July 15, 1779. His home was on Gravel Street, a little south of Baldwin Avenue. He later moved to Ohio. After the British evacuated Boston, General Washington and his army set out for New York. Captain Couch was at that time in Col. Bradley's battalion in General Wadsworth's brigade which "was stationed the greater part of the summer and early fall of 1776 at Bergen Heights and Paulus Hook (now Jersey City). In October it moved up the river to the vicinity of Fort Lee, then under General Greene's command. In November most of the regiment was sent across the river to assist in defending Fort Washington, which on the fall of the fort November 16, was captured with the entire garrison." Captain Couch was taken prisoner, together with the following Meriden men in his com- pany: Gideon Ives, John Pierce, Samuel Rice, Jonathan Hall, Benjamin Austin, Gideon Rice, Stephen Atwater, Moses Hall, and possibly Nathaniel Yale. Captain John Couch was in a British prison on Long Island for some time after this capture. In the State Library at Hartford, in Revolutionary War Documents, Vol. XII, are preserved various receipts for money conveyed by the state to men in prison on Long Island, 1777. John Couch's name is among the number of those signing. He evidently gained his freedom during the year, for he appears as captain of a company in a militia regiment ordered to Peekskill in 1777. Isaac Hall Jr., son of Dr. Isaac Hall, was apparently captain of a company of militia which was, in 1776, attached to a regiment of Light Horse. In 1777 he was in service in New York and "parts adjacent," and in 1779 it is recorded that some men were detached from "Capt. Isaac Hall's company to go to Greenwich." His name also appears on the roll of those doing service in the British invasion of New Haven in 1779. Divan Berry was second lieutenant of a company in Wads- worth's brigade, and was at Fort Washington, but it does not 46 MERIDEN IN THE WARS appear that he was captured. Later that same year he was at Ticonderoga under General Gates. In 1779 he was a captain on coast guard duty near Greenwich, during the time of the British expedition up the Sound under General Tryon. In 1780 he was a captain in the 17th regiment. John Hough, mentioned before as a lieutenant in Captain Cook's company in 1775, did service in this state during the years 1776 and 1777. In 1779 he was captain of a company which served in the Tryon invasion, and in 1780 he was a captain in the Seventh militia regiment. In the month of October, 1777, Lieut. Colonel Baldwin's regiment of militia was ordered to the Hudson at Fishkill to aid the Continental army. They were out perhaps 30 days, and probably saw no active service. In this regiment, besides this same Lieut. John Hough, were Captain Bezaleel Ives and Captain Dan Collins. Two Meriden slaves served in the Revolution. One was Chatham Freeman, who undoubtedly assumed this surname when he became free. He was the slave of Noah Yale, and the story is that he was offered his freedom if he would go to war in place of one of Mr. Yale's sons. Chatham served the enlistment, returned home and was freed. The second slave was Black Boss who belonged to Abel Curtis. On a report of the town of Wallingford 1779 in the State Library, appears the name of Boston negro, next to the name of Chatham negro. As the first enthusiasm of the war wore away it was found necessary to make an inducement for men to join the army. Accordingly, on March 31, 1777, it was "voted, that the town will give a Bounty to those that engage in the Continental service. Voted that each soldier that engages in the Continental service for the quota of Wallingford shall be paid by the town the sum of five pounds lawful money by the year for three years unless sooner Discharged: to be paid by the beginning of each year." This payment of bounty was carefully recorded, and in April, 1779, the town reported to the State War Department a list of all those to whom bounties had been paid. A second report was made in December, 1779 and at various times lists were furnished of those soldiers whose families were assisted by the town during their absence in the field. Several references have been made to the British expedition up the Sound, under General Tryon. This is probably as close as the 47 MERIDEN IN THE WARS war came to iMeriden, since New Haven is nearer than Danbury. The enemy came to anchor in New Haven harbor about midnight on Sunday, July 4, 1779. No doubt beacon fires and scurrying horsemen soon carried the news through the surrounding country, and probably by daybreak of the fifth, the various militia com- panies in this and adjoining parts of the state were on the march to New Haven. The British troops, about 3,000 strong, were landed at daybreak on the east and west shores, and New Haven was soon in posses- sion of the enemy. Several buildings were fired, a number of people were killed, and numerous outrages were committed. On the East Haven side there were many encounters with the local militia and sharp fighting a good part of the day. The swiftly gathering companies from up the state soon convinced the British that their position was untenable and on the evening of the sixth they embarked and set sail for New York, stopping on the way at Fairfield and Norwalk, where they committed greater devasta- tion and havoc than at New Haven. Two companies of militia from Meriden marched to New Haven, probably starting on the morning of July 5th. One was under the command of Captain Dan Collins and the other under Captain John Hough. No doubt other Meriden men saw service in the Continental army, but their names in the official records can not be positively identified as belonging to men from this vicinity. The lack of a middle name, an almost universal custom at the time, and the failure to give in the records the addresses of the great majority of the soldiers, makes it generally unwise to assume an address. Today in the Curtis Memorial Library hangs a large bronze plaque containing the following inscription and names: 48 meriden in the wars In Memory of the Soldiers of the American Revolution 1775-1783 — Parish of Meriden — Erected by the Susan Carrington Clarke Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution Capt. John Couch Capt. Divan Berry Capt. Israel Johnson Capt. Isaac Hall Lieut. Joseph Shailer Sergt. Samuel Hall Sergt. Ezekiel Rich Stephen Atwater Abner Andrews Isaac Atwater Benjamin Austin Jared Benham Samuel Collins Ebenezer Cowles Joel Cowles Joel Hall Rufus Hall Capt. Dan Collins Lieut. James Hough Ens. Brenton Hall Sergt. Amos Ives Corp. Daniel Janes Corp. Ezra Rice Sanborn Ford Yale Bishop John Barnes John Couch James Cabon Abel Curtis Timothy Foster Daniel Hall Moses Hall, Jr. Bezaliel Ives Timothy Ives Samuel Johnson Benjamin Merriam John Ives John Miles June 1906 Nathaniel Douglas Chatham Freeman Phineas Hough Moses Hall Jonathan Hall David Hall Isaac Hall, Jr. Benjamin Hart Gideon Ives Isaac Livingston Phineas Lyman Asaph Merriam Ephriam Merriam Boston Negro John Pierce Israel Hall Isaac Rice Gideon Rice Wait Rice Justus Rice Jotham Rice Solomon Rice Joseph Rice Levi Robinson Benjamin Rexford, Sr. Benjamin Rexford, Jr. Thomas Spencer Nash Yale Nathaniel Yale Waitstill Yale Nathaniel Yale Jotham Hall Militia Jesse Merriam William Merriam Joseph Merriam Titus Merriam Caleb Merriam Stephen Perkins Elisha Scovil Capt. John Hough Lieut. Nathaniel Merriam Ens. Thomas Foster Sergt. Joseph Edwards Sergt. Jonathan Yale Sergt. Comfort Butler Sergt. Giles Griswold Willys Bishop Asa Brown Edward Collins Elisha Curtis Giles Foster Ozias Foster Jeremiah Farrington Phineas Hall Enos Hall Marshall Merriam Amasa Merriam Samuel Merriam Elisha Merriam Caleb Merriam Daniel Mekye Wyllys Mekye John Morgan Simeon Perkins John Robinson Samuel Rice Elijah Scovil David Scovil Moses Way John Yale Abner Way Amerton Yale Jesse Merriam Daniel Yale Many of these Revolutionary soldiers are buried in the old cemetery on Broad Street. Here in 1931, a boulder with a bronze tablet listing their names, was erected by the Captain John Couch Branch, Sons of the American Revolution. 49 CHAPTER NINE Old Customs, Old Ways and Progress Perhaps it would be interesting to consider what life was like in these old homes a hundred and fifty or two hundred years ago. Since Meriden was an isolated farming community — a suburb, really, of Wallingford — most of the homes were of the simple farmhouse type. Inside, as we have seen, there were often pleasing details, such as good paneling and attractive bannisters and cupboards. But the clapboards were nailed directly to the studding and, in the early houses, boards were used instead of plaster on the inside of the outside walls. In winter how the wind and cold must have whistled through the cracks! Blazing fires were kept burning in great fireplaces, but rooms were still draughty and cold. The bedrooms must have been almost unbear- able. No wonder warming pans and feather beds were considered necessities. Merely keeping alive was, in many respects, quite a difficult matter. Besides the hazards of Indians and wild animals, there was a great lack of medical knowledge, and physicians of any kind were few. The mortality rate was much higher then than now, particularly among young mothers. In reading over old records, it is very noticeable that many men had two, three, and sometimes even four wives. A woman was almost an economic necessity for a man, in those days, when she was not only his companion and the mother of his children, but when it was she, alone and unaided by any outside help or any mechanical gadgets, who kept his house clean, prepared every morsel of food he ate, and made every stitch he wore. Nearly every household had its great wheel for spinning wool and its small, or flax, wheel for making linen thread; plus a loom for weaving this thread into sheets, table linen, and cloth for underwear for the entire family. The wool, also, had to be woven into material, out of which the wife made suits for her husband and clothes for herself and the children. There were, in addition, socks to be knit from the carded wool. Until about 1810 nearly all materials for common wear were 50 OLD CUSTOMS, OLD WAYS AND PROGRESS homemade. Besides all this, the housewife had to make her own pillows, feather beds, soap, and candles. Candle making was a serious affair. At first they were made by "dipping," then tin moulds came into use and a number of candles could be poured at one time. Even so, candles were used with the greatest economy. In the realm of food, the lady of the house, of course, churned butter, made cheese, baked bread, dried and salted food for the winter, and helped with the butchering, the chickens, and the vegetable garden. The old adage, "Women's work is never done," was certainly true then. The settlers in this area must have found an abundance of game, but as early as 1760 there was a colonial law forbidding the killing of deer from the first of January to the first of August. The penalty was four pounds for every offense. Several times, in old inventories, wild pigeon nets were mentioned. This indicates that people took advantage of the great annual flights of these birds, no doubt for food and to use the feathers for beds and pillows. Every family lived on the produce of its farm or by the proceeds of some useful trade, which was secondary to the work of tilling the soil. Among the various families there was little difference in the value of their possessions. There was no great wealth anywhere. Mr. Perkins speaks of the almost complete lack of money or circulating medium. In 1706 the entire circulating cash in gold and silver in the colony was only about 2,000 pounds. And, of course, there were no banks in existence. Bartering produce was the accepted method of doing business. Life was hard, in those early days, and pleasures were few. Even though the all-day church attendance seems severe to us, it provided a welcome change from the drudgery and monotony of the rest of the week. And the "nooning," particularly in summer, when it took on the air of a solemn and sedate picnic, gave the women almost their only opportunity to get together. In fact, the church, with its attendant ceremonies, provided most of the social life known at that time. There were the dinners and balls at the ordination of the minister, and the feasts, as at Thanksgiving (Christmas then did not count at all) and at weddings and funerals. At this time relatives and friends came from afar, and were expected to stay and partake of the funeral baked meats which custom required must be lavishly provided. Outside of this feasting, the funerals were dreary, indeed. The 51 OLD CUSTOMS, OLD WAYS AND PROGRESS coffins, outlining as nearly as possible the shape of the body, were made by the nearest carpenter. Sometimes they were clumsily lined, but usually not; occasionally they were stained or painted a crude blue color, but most often the wood was left untouched. The term "bearers" was a literal one, because the coffin, with its burden was carried on men's shoulders the entire way to the roughly dug grave. Not a flower was ever used; it would have seemed indecorous to try to lighten the gloom of death. A quaint custom which has been lost with the years is described by Mrs. Breckenridge: "The very greatest and most important of all social functions was the ordination dinner and the ordination ball that followed. Both for the dinner and ball a liberal supply of liquors was supposed needful and proper. The last ordination ball given in Meriden was in 1803 when the Rev. Erastus Ripley was ordained. This ball was given in the old tavern ball-room. The last real ordination dinner was given when the Rev. Charles Hinsdale was installed in 1823. This dinner was at his own house situated on Broad Street. At this feast onions held an honorable and conspicuous place, and liquors were so copiously provided that it was whispered a prominent member of society became quite incoherent in conversation. . . . Ordination balls were very serious and stately divertisements, and very rigid and formal etiquette was observed; also, critical attention was given to the dancing steps." Naturally, these grand affairs did not happen often, and there was very little entertainment, as we think of it, in the lives of early Meridenites. There was scarcely even any reading material available to them. The Bible, of course, was read and reread, partly perhaps because of the scarcity of other books. The few printing presses in the colony printed sermons of eminent preachers. These were widely circulated and read. One of these was a sermon of the Rev. Theophilus Hall, delivered on August 10, 1760, entitled, "A Saving Faith Scripturally Explained." The annual almanac was a popular publication, since it provided reading for the entire family and served, besides, as a farmer's log book and weather predictor. There were few children's books, other than the New England Primer. But by 1796 Meriden had a small subscription library of 153 volumes, mostly relating to divinity and theology. It is 52 The Meriden City Hall o cc oc - a cs pq Uh c - > H — C 03 O a H Andrews Homestead, 424 West Main Street Built circa 1760 Interior Andrews Homestead Meriden Historical Society hostesses in 18th century costumes Meriden Center about 1834 looking north from junction of Curtis and Broad Streets (From Barber's Historical Collections of Connecticut) Curtis Street elms, as they were 1711 Club Inn 677 North Colony Street, built 1711 Residence Dr. Sherburne Campbell 1074 East Main Street, built before 1772 Wiliemess. .Each. Houje .Lot" contcxins fix acres of laLneL. HIQH WAY Common. - ' p>5 Fields c £ >. <• 1 1 1 I u, z 2. £ j * r z m X COLONS "ROAD f rom HaTl^ord To New Howe*. 1% Common FteldL WEST aftertfie original by Perkins , l.it hog ro.pky . 128 Fulton St. N.M. Original plan of the Town of Wallingford JvUjrHtVILLIAGEl f?n ye Jt&i-St St&e */ye &*> _ I72t3 _ Map prepared by Joseph P. Beach of Cheshire OLD CUSTOMS, OLD WAYS AND PROGRESS likely that this collection was housed in the basement of the old meeting house where the Center Church now stands. In the early part of the nineteenth century the only private libraries of any size were owned by Dr. Isaac Hough and Mr. Fenner Bush. Among the doctor's collection were the works of such English authors as Smollet, Fielding, Richardson, Sterne, Dean Swift and Fanny Burney. The American Lady's Preceptor, published in Baltimore in 1821, was another favorite of the doctor's niece, Mrs. Breckenridge, who says that he and Mr. Bush bought all the new books as they came out. In that far-ofl day, people in this little parish had no idea what was happening in the outside world until long after it had occurred. There was no newspaper, letters were extremely rare, and news was brought only by travelers going through, perhaps from Hartford or Boston to New Haven or even to Wallingford for, in the early days, it was considered one of the large towns in the colony. That our town was not a place given to luxury may be assumed from descriptions of living conditions in Perkins' Historical Sketches. Mr. Perkins stated that in 1802 there was but one carpet in all of Meriden. According to Mrs. Breckenridge, carpeted parlors were common by 1836, but she questioned if there were a dozen homes in town at that time where carpets were in use in the living room. We have come to think of these early settlers as exceedingly strict and righteous, but apparently they, too, had their small vices. In 1647 the colony ordered that no person under twenty years of age should use any tobacco without a certificate from a physician; and no others although addicted to its use, unless they were ten miles from any house, and then not more than once a day. Cider was the common beverage of the country, although some beer was drunk. Among some old records this strange entry was found, "It is ordered that there shall be one good hogshead of beer for the captain and minister." In early times rum was largely consumed. A half pint was given, as a matter of course, to every day laborer, especially in summer. In all families, rich or poor, it was offered to male visitors as a sign of hospitality, or just plain good manners. Women had their nip in the form of "Hopkins Elixir," which, at the same time, probably promised to cure everything. Crying babies were 53 OLD CUSTOMS, OLD WAYS AND PROGRESS silenced with hot toddy because it was supposed to be good for colic. Every man imbibed his morning dram, and this was considered temperance. There is a story of a preacher who thus lectured his parish, "I say nothing, my beloved brethren, against taking a little bitters before breakfast, especially if you are used to it. What I contend against is this dramming, dramming, dramming at all hours of the day." Tavern haunting, especially in winter when there was little to do, was common, even among respectable farmers. A story is told of one man who frequently went to the old Central Tavern to meet some cronies. Late one cold winter night he said goodbye to his friends, wended his way home, and tucked himself snugly in bed before he remembered his patient nag left tied in the tavern shed more than a mile away. Now and then in records or recollections of the days when Meriden was in its infancy there is a reference to a "house painted red." The inference is that Meriden, like the run of old New England communities, was made up of houses unpainted for the most part, whose shingles were allowed to mellow with the weather. When paint was used, it was generally either bright red or equally bright yellow. Even the meeting houses usually glowed with the favorite red paint which was retained throughout succeeding years as a favorite barn shade. The fashion for white paint which is now so much a part of New England tradition, didn't come in until the second or third decade of the nineteenth century. A description in Mrs. Breckenridge's Recollections of the old Hough house so famous as a tavern is applicable on a smaller scale to the plan of houses in general use at the time. The front door opened into a square hall from which a narrow crooked stair rose to the second floor. On either side of the hall, doors opened into flanking rooms, each with its fireplace. From each of these rooms doors gave access to the big kitchen, the actual center of family life, its huge fireplace and brick ovens in constant use. The family ate in the kitchen, spent their evenings there reading, sewing, spinning, or knitting, commonly received their visitors there. In some homes the kitchen also doubled as sleeping quarters for a part of the brood growing too numerous for bed- rooms. Low ceilings were far more common than the high ones such as wealthier home owners affected. The furnishings were quite simple — usually a few straight-backed chairs primly lined 54 OLD CUSTOMS, OLD WAYS AND PROGRESS against the wall, a dresser covered with an array of pewter and whatever lusterware the housewife could collect, a small table, a stand or two for candles, and a high-backed settee, maybe two, beside the fireplace. During the earliest days in Meriden, houses were provided with strong barricades for doors and windows as protection from marauding Indians. The Belcher Tavern was an example of the sturdy defense system necessary to the times. After the com- munity grew and the Indian menace was being forgotten, less protection was needed. Door latches were first wooden and later iron. The earliest ones had no thumb pieces. The latch was on the inside of the door to which a cord was attached and run through to the outside by way of a hole bored for the purpose. Locking the door was simply accomplished by pulling the string inside. Some houses were built with a wide front door made of two separated panels swinging in from each side. Such a doorway remains in the old Johnson house on Eaton Avenue now owned by Carter H. White. The simple handleless latch was no pro- tection for such a double door. Locking, in such cases, was accomplished by a stout wooden bar, longer than the width of the door frame, carefully fitted into equally stout wooden arms attached midway on the door casing, a device still in the old Johnson house. Ornamental trees on private property were neglected for many years after the first settlement. Landowners were too busy wresting a living from the stony land, which was actually a blessing in disguise since to it may be credited the developing of the creative, inventive genius of future Meridenites. But it was the custom from the beginning of road building to plant lines of trees to flank the highway. Lombardy poplars had a brief vogue, probably a bit of French influence, the last specimen of which was a scraggly tall skeleton near Hough's tavern felled in the 1890's. But poplars were never as popular as the stately elm so much better suited to giving shade and graceful ornamentation. Orchards were an early acquisition in the neighborhood. Fruit trees never objected to their stony surroundings. Many barrels of apples were stowed away in Meriden cellars. But more found their way into presses of the cider mills. As early as 1718 there is a record of official permission to one man to erect a cider mill. 55 OLD CUSTOMS, OLD WAYS AND PROGRESS Before Meriden became a separate town, cider mills were dotted all around the community. Creaking machinery could be heard throughout the apple season as it squeezed the presses that drew sweet liquid from fleshy pulp. No doubt Meriden boys used to congregate around the tubs elbowing one another out of the way as each tried to get his sucking-straw into the golden juice. Full barrels of cider were carted home. Many families had cider on the table at every meal. Sweet-apple cider was also boiled down to make "apple- molasses" much desired in pies and puddings and sauces. Inciden- tally tea was a beverage used only for special company. Coffee, home ground of course, and sweetened with molasses, was far more commonly used. Just as "Yankee" became a synonym for ingeniousness, thrift, and careful bargaining, — as has been said a Yankee "is a born arguer, a born peddler, a Jack-at-all-trades and good at them all," — so is "Yankee housewife" a synonym for scrupulous cleanliness. Indoors in Meriden, neatness was the supreme rule. Perhaps with the advent of wallpaper and carpets and a great variety of furniture and knickknacks, the neatness which was the well- earned repute of the New England housewife took a bit of a backward step. But cleanliness was always solidly next to godli- ness. Mrs. Breckenridge gives a delightful description of the hustle and bustle of seasonal housecleanings by which the early Meriden housewife purged her house in almost the same fervor that found its outlet in a spiritual revival. When the settlers first moved into what is now Meriden there was little fencing done. Pasture lands were more or less common property during the days before threat from Indians was entirely laid at rest and while wild animals were making their periodic depredations on domestic breeds. Men found it safer to make a joint project of protecting herds and flocks. It was from this period that "Milking Yard" got the name that is still used for a tract partially included in Walnut Grove property today. It was out there a pen was built into which cows were driven at milking time where owners came to milk, each his own cows. Cattle were branded but strays from other areas now and then found their way into Milking Yard, and others were too carelessly marked for proper identification. One of the earliest requests for the separation of Meriden into a village with its own 56 , OLD CUSTOMS, OLD WAYS AND PROGRESS governmental system was based on the need for a more conveni- ently located "Pound" for caring for such strays. Driving cattle to Wallingford was far too irksome for the busy men of this neighborhood. Gradually the wilderness was being conquered. Soon it became feasible to divide land into parcels for private use. The tinkling of bells on cows and sheep that once had sent out merry tunes in common pasturage was reduced from mass orchestration to smaller units. Fences were built. Plenty of stone was at hand on Meriden hills for the purpose. Unhappily those picturesque piles of moss-grown, vine-covered rocks are fast disappearing. But in the early 1800's they were an integral part of the landscape. In the lowlands the usual fences were made by digging a ditch. On the ridge made by the excavated dirt a low barrier of rails, stakes, and brush was put up. Oxen did most of the heavy farm work like plowing and hauling. It was not until 1825 or later that horses took up that burden. Farmers worked from daylight to dark, from seed time to harvest. Tools were few and clumsy in the earliest days, but the very plentitude of stones put native ingenuity to work at devising new equipment, better than those of wood with rough iron edges and points — a talent that was quickly extended to the making of all sorts of handy gadgets that made the progress of Yankee peddlers welcomed throughout the countryside. There are many jokes about the wooden nutmegs, basswood hams, and white-oak cheeses, but the Yankee peddler's knowledge of his market, care in selecting useful goods, and integrity in rdriving what may have been a "hard bargain," planted the seed from which American industry has made its sturdy and phenom- enal growth. Some of the best seeds were planted by Meriden. Charles and Hiram Yale sent out peddlers with their tinware. The Twiss brothers marketed their Meriden-made clocks by peddlers. Pratt's ivory combs went to market with peddlers. Charles Parker got his start making and peddling household coffee-mills. 57 CHAPTER TEN Separation from Wallingford Not long after Meriden attained the dignity of being a parish society with a name of its own, some of the settlers began to agitate for a new step to importance and independence. Residents in the north end of the parish found it inconvenient to go to Wallingford to attend church, town, and freeman's meetings. Several petitions were sent to the General Assembly requesting permission to become a separate town, or at the least to be annexed to other towns nearer than Wallingford. By May 1786, feeling was waxing rather high on the subject. A formal petition went to Hartford over the signatures of three appointed agents^ John Couch, Sam Whiting, and Dan Collins. Citing how grievously the inhabitants were subjected to "great trouble, inconvenience & expence" in attending the "ordinary Business of the Town, Proxys, Town Meetings, &c." and upon their business at the County and Superior Courts, they asked that the parish become the town of Meriden and annexed to the County of Middlesex. Wallingford countered by sending a special and eloquent committee to speak against the petition, which they did success- fully. Again in 1794 another petition to the same effect was drawn up to be met with a counter proposal from Wallingford that it would be "highly reasonable and expedient and likely to unite the two Societies together and prevent a separation." Recognizing the "disagreeableness" suffered by the society of Meriden in attending meetings in Wallingford, it was proposed to hold one-third of the meetings in Meriden, and the rest in Wallingford. Still the inhabitants of Meriden were determined to be set apart. Attempts in 1803 and 1804 continued to fail, but Wallingford leaders either tired of the struggle or accepted the inevitable. It was voted to choose a committee of equal numbers from each Wallingford and Meriden to confer. At last the final petition went to the General Assembly in May, 1806, showing that Meriden constituted in extent, population, and property more than one- 58 SEPARATION FROM WALLINGFORD third of the parent town of Wallingford. Thereupon the Assembly passed the resolution that "The inhabitants living within the limits of the parish of Meriden be and they are hereby incorporated into and made a Town by the name of Meriden." The first town meeting was held in Meriden on the third Monday in June, 1806, which was the 16th, at one o'clock, and the town officers were elected. So it was that 150 years ago Meriden joined the federation of independent communities so distinctive of Connecticut, and in the direct pattern by which our nation was consitiuted and has waxed in the freedom of the self-governed. The moderator, George W. Stanley, was selected by the General Assembly. Under his chairmanship, clerk, selectmen, constables, tax collector, treasurer, surveyors of the highways, "fence viewers," pound keepers, jurors, and weight sealer were elected. That was an exciting day for Meriden. Some of the minutes of the meeting make amusing reading today. Voted, they say, that any person may wear his hat in Town meeting "Except" when addressing the Moderator. Voted, That Geese shall not be suffered to run at large on the highways unless they are well Yoaked. On that day it was also voted to "lay a Tax for the purpose of defraying the debts and expences to which this Town now is or may be liable." Five mills was the first tax rate. A paper on taxation preserved in the Historical Society's collection says the list for 1826 for collections made by Asahiel Curtis shows nine persons paid over eight dollars each for both town and state tax. There were only 21 others who paid more than five dollars. Some who were influential citizens paid much less. The two smallest taxes were for a fraction of a cent, and both of them marked on the record as paid. It is interesting to note that in 1800, coaches were assessed at $168, chariots at $134, phaetons at $75, curricles at $68, other four-wheel carriages on springs at $30, each gold watch at $34, other watches at $10, steel and brass wheel clocks at $20, clocks with wood wheels at $7. According to the same paper, dwelling houses back in 1702 were put on the books at $5 for each fireplace. Sheep that were sheared got a reduction on the list of 75 cents. There was a poll tax on citizens from 18 to 21 at $30, from 21 to 70 at $60. As George Munson Curtis said in his historical address for 59 SEPARATION FROM WALLINGFORD iMeriden's Centennial celebration, "There was little about the town in its early days which indicated that some day it would grow to a place of considerable size; it was simply a quiet, peaceful community, bent on getting a living as best it could from the rather sterile soil. . . ." It was still primarily a farming community when it attained its position as a separate town. There were a few business places begun by citizens who were looking for something other than an agricultural pursuit. The agriculture of Connecticut which had so recently fed Washing- ton's armies in Massachusetts and New York during the Revolution, was already of too little profit to satisfy the ambitious without sufficient love of the soil to compensate for its limited productivity and remuneration therefrom. Some were beginning to branch into other lines, to take what Judge Simeon Baldwin called "a spot of earth . . . rough hills, far from the sea, with no streams to furnish any considerable power, and by their inventive faculty, their quick eye and ready hand, their wise economy, their watch of markets and creation of markets. . . ." turn this community into a place of diversified industry whose products have a world-wide market. But in 1806 Meriden still looked very much the farm com- munity it was. Life revolved more or less around the tavern up on the East Main Street hill at the corner of Broad. It was in that tavern kept by Dr. Insign Hough that the town officers and selectmen had their headquarters. It was there, also, that the farmers gathered to talk over the news of the day and to discuss and argue community affairs. Moreover the tavern offered an opportunity for Meriden farmers to meet outsiders and to sample opinions from other parts of the country, because it was the popular stopping place for stagecoaches enroute from Hartford to New Haven or bound the other way from New York to Boston. Mrs. Breckenridge in her Recollections of a New England Town says also that the stages brought glimpses of city fashions as the passengers stopped at the famous "Hough's Tavern," the "Halfway House," to dine or sleep. So we can imagine that the tavern was a center of interest for Meriden women as well as the men burdened with the vote and hence obliged to keep up on the news. Most of the houses built in Meriden in the years immediately 60 SEPARATION FROM WALLINGFORD before and after the year it became a town are of modest construction and lacking some of the elegant touches in wood- work or appointment of those that came before and later. It seems obvious that Meriden was a bit on the "poor" side in that particular era — poor at least in what could be gleaned from the land, but rich in possibilities. Little shops began to spring up, places where one or two men working together were making things they could sell. George Curtis says that by 1820, 105 of the little more than 1,200 inhabitants were engaged in some sort of manufacturing. By the end of another two decades the proportion had increased to 21 per cent. Shops were larger; goods were durable, handsome, and useful; Meriden was making a name for herself in the commercial world. These were the sort of men to whom Meriden must be thankful for fashioning the shape which is our city's today. Back in 1849 Reverend George W. Perkins pays his tribute to the breed of men who founded Meriden, and their succeeding generations who built the community: ". . . those fathers of ours were men, Christian men, New England men." There is a pertinent comment in one of the historical papers written by Leland Ives to set down the history of his own family. He prefaces his factual genealogical account with the dry remark that in writing the Ives family history he was "by no means embarrassed with a superfluity of interesting material. A suc- cession of generations of most reputable New Englanders whose quiet lives were devoted largely to farming and mercantile pursuits, is not well calculated to inspire a stirring essay." In this present generation we can take exception to that judgment. It is so obvious now that the character of this city, which has been called an "ideal community," was shaped by the persistent efforts of the many "reputable New Englanders" who were not spectacular in their own day, but who left behind them a spectacular record. George W. Perkins in his history calls attention to a reply the Connecticut Legislature made in 1680 to a questionnaire from the mother country. "The country is a mountainous country, full of rocks, swamps and hills; and most that is fit for plantations is taken up," was what was in the report. Yet the whole state contained only about 10,000 inhabitants then. The men of "quiet lives", who were devoted to farming and their children and who used their ingenuity to manufacture 61 SEPARATION FROM WALLINGFORD desirable goods which could be made without an abundance of water power, wrested a good living and built the foundation for a happy life for succeeding generations out of meager resources. In another of the papers prepared for the early historical society, Henry Dryhurst reports that "when in 1806 Meriden was set apart from Wallingford, Amos White was named by President Jefferson as the first postmaster. The office was located in a one- story building ... on the southeast corner of Broad and East Main (this was the Eli Birdsey property). He was followed by Patrick Lewis who served until President Jackson appointed Levi Yale who served the next 12 years, transferring his office to 641 Broad. The West Meriden post office was established in about 1845 with Joel H. Guy appointed as postmaster by President Polk," — the office on West Main. The center of town life was up around the white churches on the top of East Main Street hill. Welcome Benham, whose paper for the historical society has already been quoted, recalls in 1894 his own memory of the downtown part of Meriden as being "a bog swamp extending from Colony Street on the west to beyond Veteran on the east and southerly to South Colony Bridge and northerly up to or beyond Cedar Street." H. S. Wilcox writes in his paper for the historical collection that for a period of over 125 years after the Boston merchant Andrew Belcher built his old stone fort there is no record of any merchant doing business in this place and "probably the early settlers bought their supplies in Wallingford and Middletown." Mr. Wilcox notes: "In the year 1792 John Butler started the boot and shoe business on South Market Street (now Broad) nearly opposite the Center Congregational Church. ... A few years later Amos White had a grocery and provision store situated a little south of the old Meriden bank. Mr. White was the first town clerk of Meriden. ... Eli C. Birdsey had a dry goods store on the corner of East Main and South Market Streets, occupying the front portion of the brick building now standing there (paper dated in 1893) and Alanson Birdsey occupied the rear part with a stock of groceries." The Century of Meriden notes there was a store run by Amasa Curtis and Isaac Lewis in the former's house which stood at the fork of Broad and Curtis. Across the street and a bit to 62 SEPARATION FROM WALLINGFORD the north was Seth D. Plum's tavern. There was also a big barn just east of the Central Tavern where the stagecoach horses were kept. With the many residences in the area, this was Meriden's busy center of activity. Another "center" was growing down the hill near Harbor Brook, where Perkins' Blacksmith Shop appears on the map of that era and houses were scattered along the way up old Liberty Street hill past Cowles' stone-cutting yard and toward a tannery still further to the northeast. But the hilltop was the nucleus of the new town of Meriden. Another of the same 1894 collection of historical papers that fails to bear the name of its writer says: "Just what the state of religion was in Meriden at the beginning of this century we don't know, but soon after the Revolutionary War and during the hard times and the unsettled state of the country following that period, we have every reason to think it was at a low ebb. For 74 years there seems to be no record of a revival of religion in this town." This anonymous writer refers with admiration to the "great and wonderful reviving" that had occurred under Jonathan Edwards in 1735. Also he expressed himself as being deeply impressed by the revivals of 1852-53 under the same Perkins who wrote our charming old history of Meriden. It is Mr. Perkins who has something to say about that gap in Meriden's spiritual growth. "So far as the morals of the town are concerned," he writes, "there are some rather curious facts. The number of taverns was astonishingly great. In 1790, and for some time before, when the whole population of the town was not more than nine hundred, and as late as 1812, there were five if not eight taverns within the limits of Meriden. As those taverns always kept ardent spirits, and as the population of the town was small, and as the amount of travel then was much less than it is now (1849) these facts indicate a low state of morals." He continues by contrasting his own era with the old, pointing out that but two taverns served Meriden in his day, a Meriden with a population of 3000, and at only one of those "are spiritous liquors sold." 63 CHAPTER ELEVEN Meriden Mines Meriden once had its era of seeking hidden wealth in the ground. Soon after the town was settled, people began to think of what riches might lie hidden in the rocks of our hills. As early as 1712 the legislature passed a law for the protection and encouragement of potential miners in this area and in Simsbury. Shafts were sunk in Meriden and some vigorous prospecting done, but by whom nobody now knows. In 1737 a company was formed to try again in the abandoned works located in "milking-yard hill." Papers carefully copied by G. W. Perkins in his Historical Sketches indicate the search was for gold as well as for copper. He further relates that men who were "old inhabitants" in his time said that in their boyhood it was a matter of current belief that gold had actually been found here. The story also went that the "foreigners" working the mine appropriated and kept for themselves what gold was found. Anyway the means for smelting ore was not at hand. One attempt to ship ore to England for smelting resulted in disaster when the ship was lost at sea. Once more the mine was abandoned, never to be tried again. This was called the Golden Parlor Mine. Several records of contracts for work were preserved into Mr. Perkins' time. They indicated that what was then a very considerable sum of money was expended on a futile search. The Golden Parlor in the Walnut Grove section was not the only such venture. Land south of the Belcher property amounting to some 50 acres was leased in 1735 "for digging all manners of metals." A good century and a half after that ended as an unprofitable operation, Meridenites fre- quently found fragments of good crystal quartz in the old pits — some recollect discovering bits of "lovely blue quartz." Still another try for buried treasure was made near the Hanging Hills by Dan Johnson who is reported to have lost a small fortune. His shafts were in what was then called Mining Hill — what is now the island at the south end of Merimere, since waters were backed up around it for our reservoir. It may seem incongruous to us in this day and age to find our 64 MERIDEN MINES canny forebears had what seems to us a pipe dream. But copper was successfully mined in Granby and iron in Salisbury. In fact the Salisbury mine and works were well known. The guns of the Constitution and other early American warships were cast at Salisbury out of iron mined there. Gold, silver, mica, lead, asbestos, copper, and cobalt have been found not too far from Meriden. None of it was ever in amounts that would fire a miner's imagination today. Sandstone such as was used to make the old turnpike milestones went from this neighborhood to build some of the lush structures of New York's earlier days. The one profitable product from Meriden's rocky surface is the trap rock, which has given being to substantial businesses for many years and with that we are content. Meriden's prosperity stems from the minds and skills of the men and women who call it "Home." 65 CHAPTER TWELVE Slavery In colonial days Connecticut and New Haven colonialists thought it was as proper to buy, sell, or keep slaves as to do the same with cattle, horses, or chickens. There are records of public auctions of slaves in Middletown. Slavery began in Connecticut in 1639 when one colored lad from Dutch Guiana was held as a slave in Hartford. Many of the Pequot Indians captured in the war with that enemy tribe were held as slaves. But Indians made unwilling workers so the practice was discontinued, although there was no hesitancy on the part of Connecticut people about selling Indians who were captives into slavery in the West Indies. But one of the first anti-slavery societies in the nation was formed in New Haven in 1833, evidence that people in this area were not backward in their awakening to the wrongs of the practice. In Meriden the abolitionist movement was sparked by a small group of "men of property and influence." Believing that slavery was a "monstrous sin," they sought to convince other Meridenites by bringing in a famous anti-slavery minister to speak at the Congregational church. There was also a strong and bitter anti-abolitionist feeling here and the leaders on that side of the controversy determined to break up the meeting. There ensued what is known as the "Meriden Riot" when two brothers named Thompson, imports to the community for the occasion, battered down the church door with a log picked up in a neighboring woodpile. Eggs, rotten and otherwise, and some stones were used as missiles. Women fainted, there were many scuffles, and much excitement. But apparently nobody was seriously hurt. It was, however, a cause celebre in Connecticut, almost resulted in the summary dismissal of the minister, and took many years to heal breaches caused in local friendships. An interesting postscript to this "Meriden Riot" incident is that one of the Thompson brothers is said to have seen a local young lady in church with whom he fell instantly in love. Against her family's wishes and the advice of friends, she finally married him 66 SLAVERY — we assume after he served the six months' jail sentence imposed for his part in the riot. Needless to say the couple left Meriden for some unidentified place "in the West." The slavery controversy boiled in Meriden for a long time. Mrs. Breckenridge in her Recollections tells about the persecution of two of Meriden's early manufacturers — Harlowe Isbell and Homer Curtis who owned a shop for making door latches. These two men were at the time the only local persons voting the anti- slavery ticket. Twice their factory was set on fire and burned down with all contents. Many word-of-mouth anecdotes have been handed down through the years about the part these men took in helping escaping slaves on their "underground" route to freedom. The root of the trouble in Meriden lay in disruption of trade with the South. By the time of the outbreak of the Civil War few if any slaves remained in what could be called a state of bondage in this neighborhood. No Meridenite was to suffer loss of personal property, valuable assets, by the freeing of slaves. But Meriden's very existence depended upon continuing employment of crafts- men and laborers in the variety of businesses finding ever wider markets. Sudden disruption of trade with the South, a ready market for some of Meriden's finest quality products, hit where it hurt. When the inevitable came to pass, many a family faced some extremely lean years before a subsequent readjustment restored trade which was, and still is, Meriden's life-blood. The shortages normal in war times were many times compounded by unemployment. It was very natural that the moral issue of slavery was confused in local minds by intrusion of serious dislocation in budding industries. Actual slavery in Meriden itself was of too small an extent to make it a great local issue. Meriden was stirred in the controversy by theoretical and religious conviction mainly. Perkins in his history says only a few slaves were owned here. But their condi- tion, living as they did singly in the families of their owners and working side-by-side with them, was very different from that of slaves worked in gangs under overseers as was done in the South. Meriden slaves were considered members of the family and baptized as such on the plan of "household baptism." Mr. Perkins lists many records showing such baptisms and the no less carefully recorded deaths. From 1728 to 1766 he says 67 SLAVERY 29 deaths out of 316 were so worded as to indicate they were slaves. He also notes that slave trade as such never existed in Meriden although there were some transfers of slaves made in the same manner as transfers of other personal property. Emancipation by proclamation made little difference in Meriden. Some of the local slaves had already been freed before the great national decision was taken. Others were living in the promise of early release and with the knowledge their children would not be born into slavery. There was not a hitch in the transition to the enlightened era for which the Civil War was fought that was caused by slaves themselves, or by owners reluctant to change their status. There were, however, honest differences of opinion among Meriden's rugged individualists about the issues that culminated in the bloody, heart-breaking war. These left scars as deep if not as notorious as that made by the "Meriden Riot." 68 CHAPTER THIRTEEN rijrwrwvr The Railroad, Past and Present When the first "iron horse" snorted into Meriden on December 3, 1838, the stagecoach horses in the stable on Broad Street may have pricked their ears and trembled with fright as the strange sounds of its coming drifted up the hill. But the trainload of dignitaries, pulled by a primitive locomotive, which arrived to mark the opening of the new railroad, marked also the beginning of the end of stagecoach days here. The horses were soon to be retired from the business of hauling travelers between New Haven and Hartford, and the mechanical steed was to take over this task permanently. No single factor has played a larger part in shaping the pattern of Meriden's growth than the course taken by the railroad through the low lands at the valley's deepest depression, where Harbor Brook nows sluggishly on its way to join the Quinnipiac River. The tracks were laid over a swamp, and there was quicksand under the rails where they crossed East Main Street, a condition which was to cause much trouble to maintenance crews in later years. But an early proposal to run the line east of Broad Street, then the center of the town, was strongly opposed, and the thinly settled section of West Meriden was chosen. The westward trend of the town's expansion was thus established. The railroad was incorporated by the State Legislature in 1833, when Andrew Jackson was still President. But the project did not come to life until several years later. The interval was filled with the loud complaints of those who saw their means of liveli- hood threatened by the proposed line: tavern keepers, holders of toll gate privileges, the center and fringes of the stagecoach enterprise, including its many stockholders. Two Meriden men, both large property owners in West Meriden, were influential in backing the plan to run the railroad through that section. They were Major Elisha A. Cowles and Judge James S. Brooks, who sold part of their holdings to help the railroad establish its right of way. With an eye for future possibilities, they had assisted in pushing the bill of incorporation 69 THE RAILROAD, PAST AND PRESENT through the State Legislature, and were well prepared for the later moves. Judge Brooks was an especially interesting figure. At the age of 12, he had been bound out to a tavern keeper in Haddam, but ran away after he had been threatened with a beating. He trudged the 25 miles to Meriden with all his belongings wrapped in a bandana, and his sister, who lived here, took him in. For a time, he worked on a farm in Westfleld. He spent his spare hours studying and finally was admitted to the Connecticut Bar. Gradu- ally, he accumulated considerable property, and his farm, through which the railroad was to run, was known as one of the finest in Meriden. In selling land for the right of way, he made an astute move, for, as business began to develop in West Meriden, he was able to subdivide his property into business and residential streets. Today, many of Aderiden's business blocks stand on the original farm site. The First Congregational Church is located on land once owned by him, and the factories and business blocks on State Street are also placed on the Brooks farm lands. Brooks Street took its name from the judge. Until her death in 1949, his granddaughter, Miss Sarah Collins, lived in a little brown house, filled with heirlooms, at the side of the tracks. This property has gone the way of other old landmarks, so many of which were effaced as business advanced. An old cow barn stood for years on Miss Collins' property, converted into a garage. A viaduct was incorporated into the deed to the railroad company so that the judge's cows could be driven under the tracks to their pastures. The judge, when selling his land, insisted on a provision that all passenger trains stop in Meriden, and this proviso has been brought forward at times when the railroad was considering curtailing the number of station stops for express trains. Rockney's History of New Haven County states that the first depot was in Rogers Hotel from 1840 to 1842, when it was moved across the street to the rear of Conklin's Hotel beside the railroad track, where the "Railroad Refectory" contained the ticket office and a waiting room for passengers. A paper prepared by Allen B. Squire, when paymaster of the New Haven Railroad, contradicts this version. Addressing the original Meriden Historical Society in 1894, Mr. Squire stated that the first passenger station in Meriden was on what is now Railroad Avenue, and was in connection with Capt. Conklin's Hotel, which fronted on Main 70 THE RAILROAD, PAST AND PRESENT Street. This building, he reported, was destroyed by fire, and the station waiting room was temporarily located in the northeast corner of the building which stood at the corner of East Main and South Colony Streets. Major Cowles and Dr. Isaac Hough owned the land and the building, which was later remodeled into a hotel run by Hervey Rogers. In its later history, it was known as the Rogers Block and contained Connors' Segar Store and a shoe-shining establishment, until it was torn down to permit the widening of the corner which is now the beginning of the Loop. In November 1842, Nelson Merriam and H. M. Foster issued a poster bearing the picture of the hotel which then occupied the corner of East Main Street and Railroad Avenue, part of the land on which the present Cherniack Building stands. It showed the "Railroad Refectory" protruding beyond the rear of an engine, with the freight station opposite, where the present railroad platform is located. The poster announced "respectfully" to "friends and the public generally" that this "new and spacious establishment, eligibly located at the Depot of the Hartford and New Haven Railroad, is now open for the reception of Company." It boasted that "the House has been furnished throughout with New Furniture, and every arrangement has been made for the comfort and conveni- ence of guests." Particular attention, it stated, "will be devoted to Parties of Pleasure," and boasted that a "Refectory is con- nected, where a variety of Refreshments are prepared for the accommodation of PASSENGERS BY THE CARS." The advertisement was signed by N. Merriam and H. M. Foster, proprietors. Like Judge Brooks, Major Cowles was a prosperous local businessman who could look into the future and see visions of even greater prosperity. The two men had engaged in a joint transaction some years before the railroad route was planned. They had bought seven acres, including the site of the present Derecktor Building at the corner of West Main and Colony Streets. In 1831, they conveyed to the town a strip of land 20 feet wide on the west side of Colony Street as far as the present Wilcox Block to widen the street from a narrow road to its present width. Both became directors of the new railroad, and Judge Brooks was acting president in 1856 and signed the annual report in 1859. Eli Butler was a director in 1868 and in 1909 John 71 THE RAILROAD, PAST AND PRESENT L. Billard was a director. After the lease of the Boston and Maine Railroad, Charles F. Linsley and Mr. Billard were directors of that railroad. All these connections of local men with railroad enterprise arose from the spadework done by the Cowles-Brooks combination of interests in the early period. South of Main Street, the railroad traversed the land it had purchased from Major Cowles. North of Main Street, it ran over property bought from Judge Brooks. Major Cowles, one of the incorporators, served as a director for a number of years. The line between New Haven and Meriden was the first link in this section of the New York, New Haven & Hartford railroad system. For a year after this link was completed, stagecoaches carried the passengers on to Hartford. Eventually the Hartford & New Haven, as it was called, combined with the later-built Hartford and Springfield, and finally with the New York & New Haven to form the New York, New Haven & Hartford. The New York end was completed in 1849. In 1847, Judge Brooks was elected president of the Springfield, Hartford and New Haven Railroad, which had its southern terminus at Belle Dock, New Haven, where connections were made with New York and other places by steamboat until train service to New York was established. But in the Meriden of 1838 these possibilities were only guessed. The tracks ran here and stopped, and business began to gather in that neighborhood. A tavern was not the ideal location for a station, although it did offer accommodation to travelers in the way of quick refresh- ments. Dr. Hough and the Major could compete with the Central Tavern uptown on rather favorable terms, for the trains could hold more passengers than the stagecoaches, but the stages ran more frequently than the trains at the beginning of this new era. The railroad at the start was a great novelty. The puffing locomotive seemed like a great monster from another world. People were awed by its appearance and the clamor of its coming. Horses plunged and reared as they came near the crossing. John Ives, who was to become a prosperous dry-goods merchant when he grew up, often told the story of the day when he first heard the steam engine whistle. He was then a boy on a farm in the southeast district. The whistle blew as the train came through Holt's Hill cut, and John ran home in fright to tell his mother 72 THE RAILROAD, PAST AND PRESENT that some great beast was making terrible sounds in the woods. But it didn't take long for the feeling of strangeness to wear away, as the business possibilities in connection with the railroad's location were recognized. Meanwhile, the railroad was making some progress in its own operations. The income for the first three months was $15,500, which dropped to $8,000 during the next three months when the Connecticut River was open. During the first summer, receipts were $8,500, giving a gross income of $32,000 for the first nine months. The road had four locomotives, valued at $18,000 for the lot. Five four-wheel freight cars were valued at $1,500. In the summer of 1845, T rails were substituted for the old iron bars on the southern part of the line. During 1843, a little more than $1,000 was expended in Meriden for station and depot improvements. In 1846, the fare was reduced from a little more than four cents to three cents a mile. In 1850, a branch track from Berlin to Middletown was placed in operation. In the same year, double track was laid from Meriden to Berlin. A second track was laid on the southern portion of the road about 1852, and in 1854 double tracking of the whole main line was completed. The business center of Meriden was to be well started toward its present development before the railroad was to have a station of its ownjln 1854, the railroad bought from William Hale for $3,000 a tract of land then known as the Hale "garden plot." It faced Colony Street and extended through to the railroad tracks. On this land, the present site of the Colony Building, a brick station was erected which was to be used for 28 years. The place was later known as Winthrop Square. Surrounding the station was an open plaza, where large elm trees flourished on the Colony Street frontage. Majestic elms lined Colony Street at that period, and remained undisturbed for many years. They survived the leisurely horse-and-buggy era, and were removed only when they were recognized as an obstacle to the curbside parking of automobiles in front of Colony Street stores. But parking was no problem in the nineteenth century, and the railroad plaza was not congested with traffic. Merriam's hackstand near the station drew its patronage from the trains. It was the 73 THE RAILROAD, PAST AND PRESENT forerunner of the taxicab companies which compete for business near the present station. In 1864, fire destroyed most of the buildings on the east side of Colony Street, and the station was badly damaged. It was repaired and continued in use for 19 more years. When a new passenger station was built in Wallingford in 1878, Meriden was envious. Agitation was begun for a new station here, and the railroad decided to meet the local demands. In 1865, a new freight station had been erected on State Street extension, and the site occupied by the old freight station, across the tracks from the old passenger station, was chosen as the site for new passenger facilities. The new station was much larger than the station which now serves Meriden. It had a mansard roof and cupola, two almost inevitable details of the florid architectural style of the period. Along the side nearest to the tracks ran a long platform covered with a canopy upheld by iron struts. The interior was poorly lighted and the general effect was depressing, especially so after the building was allowed to run down in the course of the years. But in the seventies, when all was new, the station was regarded as one of the finest on the line. The Winthrop Hotel was built not long after the big station was opened to the public. A private way between the depot and Colony Street was established along the southerly border of the tract on which the old station stood, and the public was quick to take advantage of the short cut. The narrow passage provided a convenient route between the station and the hotel. The hotel porters trucked trunks and baggage over it for many years. This sort of traffic has ceased, but the passage is still used by many pedestrians, and any hint that it might be closed has always aroused a storm of protest. As the years passed, pride in the station declined. More than 20 years ago, sentiment began to gather for a new station better suited to Meriden's needs. The old station was too large for the volume of passenger traffic served, railroad officials admitted. It was also dingy and unattractive in all respects, and all too little attention was devoted to keeping it clean. Eventually, local efforts to induce the railroad to build a new station were successful. The present brick building, a much more compact structure, was erected in 1942, and formally opened on 74 THE RAILROAD, PAST AND PRESENT September 21 of that year. It contained all the necessary facilities, including an attractive waiting room. Combined with it is a comfort station, built at city expense, and operated by the city for the convenience of the public. A small building for the Railway Express agency was built at the north end of the railroad area. Considerable thought was devoted to improving this area to provide easy access to the station while interfering as little as possible with the flow of traffic on State Street. A wide sweep of concrete-paved driveway leads to the side of the building on the east, and there is room here for the Hartford, New Haven, and Middletown buses to take on and discharge passengers when connecting with trains. A division separates this driveway from State Street, giving a place for one taxi stand. Another taxicab company is allowed to use space along the platform south of the station. On the north side of the building is a railroad parking area, where short-time parking is permitted. But the great increase in traffic in the last ten years has produced new problems in connection with the station's location, and the proposal to re- locate it, which arose in 1955, was an attempt to solve them. If the plan had gone through as outlined, the present freight station on State Street Extension would have been converted into a passenger station. The International Silver Company offered to purchase from the railroad the site of the passenger station and the adjacent land bordering its own property. Part of the land thus acquired was to be re-sold to the city for an off-street parking area. The Public Utilities Commission refused to approve this transaction, believing that the new passenger facilities to be provided would be inferior to the existing facilities. Its action appears to have put a period to the negotiations. Such problems as these were more than a century away from the stuggling railroad of the 1840's. They were still undreamed of when the railroad attained a virtual monopoly on transportation here at the close of the Civil War. But there were other problems just as serious. The railroad had given a new aspect to Meriden. It had fostered the growth which was to result in the incorporation of the city in 1867. But the growing pains were acute, and some of them, local industrialists and businessmen believed, were due to the highhanded way in which the railroad was being managed. 75 the railroad, past and present The Short Lines The first attempt to break the railroad monopoly came in 1869, when a special town meeting appointed a committee to seek pas- sage through the Legislature of a bill to authorize the town to subscribe $100,000 to the capital stock of a proposed Meriden and Cheshire Railroad. A little later, the town of Cheshire authorized a subscription to the same enterprise. At that time, the only independent north and south railroad was the New Haven and Northampton Railroad, the Canal line, and it was probable that the proposed line was to connect with it and thus form a new route to New York, which would provide competition and lower rates. But the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad acquired control of the Canal line, and the scheme for the Meriden and Cheshire Railroad was effectually blocked. The local manufacturers were still determined to find some way of beating railroad rates, which they considered discriminatory. The cost of bringing in coal and heavy supplies was a heavy burden on manufacturing. A proposal was advanced to build a railroad from Meriden to the Connecticut River at Cromwell, there to connect with boat and barge service on the river to New York and ports along the Atlantic coast. The announcement of this plan in 1881 triggered immediate and unexpected results. The Consolidated, as the New Haven Road was then known, reduced freight rates to Meriden by 25 per cent. Local businessmen were warned that this was just a trick, and that the advantages might be only temporary. Sentiment for a competitive railroad con- tinued strong, and one of Meriden's foremost industrialists did all that he could to encourage it. This man was Horace C. Wilcox, pioneer and leader in the rapidly growing silver industry. The original capitalization of the proposed road was set at $300,000 of which $230,000 was pledged before the first organization meeting. Mr. Wilcox declared himself ready to take any remaining stock, but he hoped that the stock could be spread throughout the business com- munity. About 150 citizens of the Meriden area attended the initial meeting July 5, 1882, when 17 directors were elected, who, a few days later, elected Mr. Wilcox as the president of the line. The air was full of optimism. One newspaper comment was: 76 THE RAILROAD, PAST AND PRESENT "It is fair to hope that the sound of the locomotive whistle will be heard on the road before the snow flies." This was the summer of 1884, when the route of the new line was being mapped. The railroad was actually built during the following eight months, with terminal facilities established in Cromwell. At this end of the line, there was some dispute over the terminus site, but it was finally decided to place the passenger and freight station and the yards between Camp and Center Streets, the site now occupied by the New Departure Division of General Motors. The right of way skirted Brookside Park, then called Camp's Meadow, and the south edge of Pratt's Pond. The road purchased 40 freight cars, one passenger coach, and one light engine, planning to buy a heavy engine later. On April 1, 1885 the State Railroad Commission made a trip over the line and pronounced it fit for service. On April 6, service actually began. The timetable gave the trains 35 minutes to make the run to Cromwell, with flag stops at Highland, Smith's crossing and Westneld. There were three round trips daily, timed to connect with the Hartford-New York boats on the Connecticut River. If shippers got their freight to the Meriden station by 5 p.m. it would be delivered in New York the next morning. The Meriden and Cromwell line also tried to foster passenger traffic by advertising excursions to New York via the Hartford and New York steamboats. Such excursions were popular in the eighties, and the down-river runs attracted large crowds. One favorite run was via the steamer "Sunshine" to Sag Harbor, Shelter Island, and Niantic. There was also a "circular" trip, by way of Cromwell, the river run, and back by boat to New Haven, leaving New York at 3 p.m., and reaching Meriden by the "steamboat train" at 9 p.m. This gave a day in New York and consumed a little more than 24 hours. The initial success of the Meriden and Cromwell line, which was able to show a small profit after nine months of operation, produced many proposals for extensions to New Britain, Plain- ville, Wallingford, and even New Haven, as well as to Bristol, Waterbury, and Middletown. "The one with the most steam behind it," according to Glover A. Snow whose exhaustive article on the subject of early railroads in this vicinity was published in the August 1953 issue of Transportation, was "a projected extension to Waterbury." 77 THE RAILROAD, PAST AND PRESENT In Waterbury, this proposal led to citizens' meetings, stock- selling efforts, and a bid for legislative approval of consolidation of the Meriden and Cromwell with the projected Meriden and Waterbury railroad. It was pointed out that the Consolidated freight rates were actually higher than they had been before the announced 25 per cent reduction in 1881. And they had prac- tically been frozen at high levels by the original Interstate Com- merce Commission Act of 1887. But, when it came to picking up a share of the check for the new line, Waterbury citizens held back. The road was financed with great difficulty, and Meriden had to take a much larger part of the investment than originally contemplated. The new line took off from the Meriden and Cromwell tracks east of Twiss Pond in Meriden, went under Britannia and Broad Streets, passed over North Colony Road just north of the old city line, bridged the tracks of the New Haven, then turned southwest and crossed numerous streets. Iron bridges were used at North Colony Street, the crossing over the Consolidated, and at Gracey, Kensington, and Lewis Avenues. Beyond Lewis Avenue, the tracks were almost at street grade, but overpasses were erected at street crossings. Land was purchased north of West Main Street for a passenger station, yards, engine house, shops, and turntable. The most difficult feat of construction was in laying the tracks from West Cheshire to Summit, a distance of three miles, with an elevation reaching 549 feet. Before the line could be completed, Horace C. Wilcox had to rescue the financing by pouring into it much additional capital of his own. He and other Meriden men dominated the enterprise, although Charles Dickenson of Waterbury was elected president. There were many squabbles over the right of way between the new railroad and property holders along the route. After numerous delays, one of them occasioned by the famous blizzard of 1888, the Waterbury line was finally completed in the spring of that year. On May 24, 1888, the Meriden and Cromwell and the Meriden and Waterbury were consolidated as the Meriden, Waterbury and Connecticut River Railroad Com- pany. Horace C. Wilcox was elected president of the combined lines. Among the directors were Abiram Chamberlain, later governor of Connecticut, and George R. Curtis, both of Meriden. 78 THE RAILROAD, PAST AND PRESENT The road earned seven per cent for its investors the first six months it was in operation. A large volume of freight traffic barged up the river to Cromwell was carried over the new line. But the next six months told a different story. In March 1889 the directors authorized an issue of $400,000 in second mortgage bonds to obtain more capital. The expense of operating the Meriden-Waterbury part of the line had proved much heavier than was expected. Horace C. Wilcox again found the needed funds. The waiting room and ticket office at the West Main Street station were opened June 17, 1889. But for passengers it was a crude type of railroading. If a car went off the track, a rather frequent type of accident, the people aboard had to get off and walk or catch a ride in a horse-drawn vehicle. There were no telephones with which to summon aid. After the death of Horace C. Wilcox, August 26, 1890, the road was without its strongest source of support. The Wilcox estate held $176,000 and the Meriden Britannia Company, of which he was president, $100,000 of the total capital invested, or $276,000 of the $375,000 in stock which represented the invest- ment of Meriden stockholders. The road was mortgaged for $1,000,000. The subsequent chapters in the line's history told a sad story. In 1892, a syndicate headed by New York and Boston financiers with large railroad interests obtained control, but several Meriden men, including Mr. Chamberlain and Mr. Curtis remained on the board. The New York, New Haven & Hartford and the New York & New England railroads were both suspected of having a hand in the deal, but the Consolidated spokesmen said they didn't want it. Later, it was discovered that the New York & New England had obtained a lease, but its validity had to be tested in the courts. Somehow the road struggled along, but the New York & New England went into bankruptcy and its assets were sold. As a result, the New Haven obtained control, and all the special rates for which Meriden had fought were abrogated. The purpose of the line had been defeated. For two years, operations ceased, and the line was threatened with the loss of its charter. This brought action, and a new corporation was formed in 1898 under the name of the Middle- town, Meriden & Waterbury Railroad Company. Ownership was 79 THE RAILROAD, PAST AND PRESENT in the hands of "friends of the New Haven Railroad," which really controlled the line. The section between Westfleld and Cromwell was abandoned. Trains were run into Middletown from Westfleld over the Middletown-Berlin branch of the New Haven instead of going into Cromwell. The first train from Meriden to Waterbury went over the line on December 5, 1898. Mixed trains of freight and passengers were run, and there was considerable traffic. From 1902 on, the line was operated under direct lease by the New Haven. By 1906, much of it had been electrified, and high- speed cars were used. Instead of running to the West Main Street station, a connection was made at Brookside Park with the city trolley tracks on Pratt Street, and the New Haven Road's Meriden station was the terminus for the Middletown interurban cars. The Meriden to Middletown service was operated by the Connecticut Company, the street railway subsidiary. The Meriden to Water- bury part of the road had not been electrified with the rest of it, and service was cut on that line until it finally went out of operation on June 24, 1917. Meriden to Middletown hourly service was continued until 1927, when buses took over. But trolley service ran as far as Westfield until 1932. Most of the roadbed of the old line, which furnished so many picturesque incidents in the history of Meriden transportation, is now covered over with trees, bushes, and weeds. Hikers still tramp along parts of the right of way, but only the old-timers among the walkers realize that they are passing along the route of an ambitious venture, which had its high moments, but flopped when the demand which brought it into being finally ceased. 80 CHAPTER FOURTEEN fWWWW Industry of the 19 th Century "Such is the surface of our town, so much of it covered with rocky and barren ridges, or with swamps unfit for tillage, that if we had remained exclusively an agricultural town, our popula- tion would not have increased, probably for the last thirty years, and our pecuniary circumstances would have been equally cramped. . . . one who was acquainted with this place 35 years ago, wearing every appearance of stagnation and dilapidation, must, with high gratification, contrast that decay with the life, thrift and taste now so characteristic of Meriden." So wrote G. W. Perkins, historian of early Meriden in 1849, when the industrial life of the community was in first bloom. Whether or not the poverty of the land was the main incentive, it is certain that the trend of occupations was away from agricul- ture and toward manufacturing in the 1820's and the 1830's, and that industry had been established as the chief source of livelihood here by 1845. In that year, the records of the time showed that 640 Meriden men, out of a population of about 3,200, were engaged in manufacturing. The town had grown by more than 1,000 residents in the previous 20 years, but growth was much more rapid after that, and the growth of industry was the principal reason. The early stages of manufacturing here began with the appli- cation of waterpower to turn the wheels of crude machinery for finishing goods. The plants were scattered along the reaches of Harbor Brook, from near its sources in the eastern part of the town to where it joined the Quinnipiac. In 1825, these little establishments included a carding and filling mill for processing wool brought from surrounding towns, placed nearly where the brook crosses the Middletown road; the sawmill of Asahel Baldwin near the Westneld road, and a grist mill close at hand; the ivory comb factory of Howard Pratt & Co. near the New Haven and Hartford turnpike; the door latch factory of Isbell & Curtis about two miles farther downstream; and a sawmill at the crossing of the old Hanover Road, the last on Harbor Brook 81 INDUSTRY OF THE 1°TH CENTURY before it joined the Quinnipiac. Sodom Brook had no industries. Another tributary of the Quinnipiac was the little stream of Crow Hollow which gave power to the brass works of Lauren Merriam and the ivory comb works of Walter Webb & Co. Near the Cheshire border, the power of the stream was utilized by Henry Griswold for the manufacture of bone buttons. At Hanover, the abundant water power turned the wheels of the factory of Brooks & Tibbals, who made augers. Half a mile below was the plant of Sanford Parmelee & Co., manufacturing augers and skates. The factories just enumerated comprised the whole list of Meriden plants in 1830 that were operated by auxiliary power, except the tannery works of John Butler at the corner of Liberty and Broad Streets, and the pewter works of Ashbil Griswold at his residence on Griswold Street, each of which used a horse attached to a sort of merry-go-round to move light machinery. In addition to the products of these factories were the products turned out in little shops which were family affairs. The Curtis family especially was noted for its production of pewter table- wares. Nearly every Curtis, man and boy, acquired skill at this trade. Several larger shops produced tinware, including Patrick Clark & Sons of Clarksville, Goodrich & Rutty, south of the center, and Noah Pomeroy on the east side. This was the type of goods marketed by the peddlars with their wagons. These family businesses laid the foundation for the great industry which was to give Meriden the name of the Silver City. But Meriden was not a silver town in 1840. Its chief industry at that time was the manufacture of ivory combs, with tinware J a close second. The tinware apprentices worked 12 hours daily for about 75 cents, and their wages were considered high. Julius Pratt & Company, successor to Howard Pratt & Co., became the leader in the comb industry. To this plant the great elephant tusks, weighing from 60 to 80 pounds apiece, were brought to be processed into combs in about 20 operations. Blanks were fed to automatic machines which stamped out the combs complete. In the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D. C, is a solid ivory cane with gold mountings made by Julius Pratt & Co. and presented by the firm to President John Quincy Adams. The plant of Walter Webb & Co., at first in Crow Hollow and later at Hanover, was a Pratt auxiliary, with purchases and sales 82 INDUSTRY OF THE 19TH CENTURY for a joint account. In 1848, the Pratt factory was destroyed by fire, and the Webb plant operated night and day for more than a year to supply the demand for ivory combs, showing a profit of 100 per cent on the invested capital. The Pratt plant was rebuilt and continued in operation until profits went out of the ivory comb business due to the substitution of cheaper and eventually more satisfactory materials. At one time, three fourths of the ivory combs made in America were turned out by the Pratt interests. There was a constant search here during the 40's and 50's for products that would sell easily from peddlars' wagons. Carpetbags, hoop skirts, and balmorals, a kind of woollen skirt, were turned out by Jedediah Wilcox. A peculiar article of neckwear called a "stock" was once manufactured extensively by Allen and Hezekiah Rice. It was made of silk or satin over a framework of bristles, three or four inches wide, and clasped with a buckle at the back of the neck. Ira Twiss & Brother built a factory at the head of Prattsville Pond late in the 30's, and there turned out wooden wheels for clockworks. These clocks were distributed by peddlars who took care not to visit the same home twice, for expansion and contraction of the wooden works made the clocks erratic time- keepers. This industry declined rapidly after Chauncey Jerome of Bristol in 1835 devised machinery with dies for stamping out clock wheels, and thus furnished a springboard for the manufac- ture of cheap clocks that would really keep time. The Bradley & Hubbard Mfg. Company here turned out brass clock wheels for a brief period about the middle of the century. Meriden could establish a claim to priority in the manufacture of table cutlery, but the industry here was 16 years in developing. Julius Pratt & Co. had made bone handles for this type of ware, brought to the United States by two Englishmen, Evans and Longdon, in 1836. At first, production was "farmed out" to convict labor at Wethersfield Prison in an attempt to overcome the differential between the cost of American and English labor, but the effort proved a failure. Walter Webb & Co. at Hanover acquired the process, and the firm of Pratt, Ropes, Webb & Co. was formed in 1845 to turn out the product. Ten years later, the Meriden Cutlery Company was organized to continue with the line, and bone-handled table cutlery remained an important 83 INDUSTRY OF THE 1°TH CENTURY Meriden product for a long period. But large-scale manufacture here awaited the introduction of steam power. According to Julius Pratt, who returned to Meriden for the Centennial celebration in 1906, the first steam engine used here was installed before 1840 by Remick K. Clarke in his small tinning factory, which was destroyed by fire shortly afterward. Charles Parker, who founded the Charles Parker Company in 1832, the only manufacturing concern of that period which has survived to the present day, is credited with being the first successful user of steam power here. As late as 1847, he was still the only local user of steam to turn factory wheels. But the practical application of steam was not the only "first" for Charles Parker. His name stood for pioneering enterprise in many fields. He was public spirited throughout his long career, and ahead of his time in the quest for civic improvement. He was one of the group which turned Meriden from a little country town into an incorporated city, and he became its first mayor. Mr. Parker was born on June 2, 1809 in Cheshire, and was "bound out" to work on a farm. In 1828, he came to Meriden and was hired by Patrick Lewis to make coffee mills. In December 1829, he went into business for himself with a capital of $70, taking a contract for 1 3 months to make coffee mills for Lewis & Holt. By 1831, he had accumulated enough capital to purchase land near Broad Street and build a shop which was finished in 1832. The original power plant of the shop was a blind horse hitched to a pole sweep, and the horse plodded hour after hour in a circle in the rear of the shop. The principal product of this small enterprise was coffee mills. In 1844, in an enlarged plant powered by steam, Mr. Parker is reported to have been the first local manufacturer to plate spoons and forks. Some holloware was also made. Another enterprise with which he was connected was the manufacture of steam engines, printing presses, and machinists' tools. In this he was jointly engaged with Oliver Snow, an ingenious mechanic. There was also the C. and E. Parker Company which made brass and iron castings. By 1860, the various concerns in which Mr. Parker was interested employed about 1,000 men and 100 women, with a monthly payroll of S3 0,000 to $40,000, large-scale business for those times. 84 Residence Frederick M. Stevens, Jr. 304 Parker Avenue, built 1743 Residence Carter H. White 203 Eaton Avenue, built circa 1785 FALLS Plain DIVISION. February 49? ■* 90 j&lS? *5*^ ^i /& » * 7ziertzicW Curtis Home for Aged Women First Methodist Church Temple B'Nai Abraham Masonic Temple Elks' Clubhouse The Bradley Memorial Home ^Uj»4J!! Corner of Campus, Connecticut School for Boys FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS On August 2, 1851, the first actual deposit, amounting to $100, was made by Asahel H. Curtiss. The first loan was to Wesley M. Johnson on house and land at the corner of Liberty and Center Streets. In 1854, the bank moved to the Coe building on the southwest corner of East Main and Broad Streets, next to the Center Congre- gational Church. This building stood until 1894, when it was condemned and torn down to widen the corner. In 1864, the bank moved to the Town Hall, and used its vault for the safekeeping of its securities. In 1870, E. E. Curtiss, Eli Butler, and I. C. Lewis, a committee appointed to obtain a new location, recommended the purchase of the P. J. Clark property, at the corner of East Main and Veteran Streets. The bank occupied the west store in this building until 1882, when the building was moved back on Veteran Street and a new structure erected in its place. This brick block remained the bank's quarters until July 1925, when the new banking house erected at East Main and Crown Streets was formally opened. From 1851, the following have served as presidents of the Meriden Savings Bank: Enos H. Curtiss, 1851-1854; and again from 1857 to 1862; Benjamin H. Catlin, from 1854 to 1857; Edwin E. Curtiss, from 1862 to 1881; Levi E. Coe, from 1881 to 1903; John L. Billard, from 1903 to 1914; Eugene A. Hall, from 1914 to 1923; John G. Nagel from 1923 to 1941, and Llewellyn A. Tobie from 1941 to date. Like all chartered Connecticut savings banks, the Meriden Savings Bank is a mutual institution, owned by its depositors. Its assets, as of December 31, 1955, were $23,485,682.03. Through mortgage loans made on local property it has contributed greatly to the growth of the city during its life span of nearly 105 years. The City Savings Bank The City Savings Bank was organized in 1874. The original incorporators were Joel H. Guy, Charles L. Upham, John C. Byxbee, Jared R. Cook, John D. Billard, John Tait, H. L. Schleiter, George W. Smith, William H. Miller, A. C. Wetmore, RatclirT Hicks, J. S. Wightman, Randolph Linsley, William Lewis, E. B. Everitt, and Gilbert Rogers. Joel H. Guy was the first president, and upon his death in 1881, John D. Billard was elected to the presidency, serving until his 213 FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS death in 1902. Charles L. Rockwell, who had been treasurer, was his successor. Frederick H. Billard succeeded Mr. Rockwell as president, and held that office until 1944, when he was elected to the office of chairman of the board of directors. Harold L. Wheatley, who has served the bank continuously since 1898, was chosen to succeed him. Mr. Billard held the office of chairman until his death. Mr. Wheatley continued as president until the annual meeting on January 19, 1955, when Henry L. Ketelhut, who had been asso- ciated with the bank for 35 years, was elected president, and Mr. Wheatley became chairman of the board. The first annual meeting of the bank was held July 1, 1875, when deposits of $20,418.03 were reported, with 185 separate accounts. Assets as of December 31, 1955 were $12,760,162.37. The bank has always assisted in home financing for responsible persons on a sound basis, and its mortgage loans have done much toward building the community to its present size. Steadily increasing deposits over the years testify not only to the thrift of Meriden people, but to their satisfaction in the service rendered. The Meriden Trust and Safe Deposit Company Quartered in the same building with the Connecticut Bank and Trust Company and the City Savings Bank, the Meriden Trust and Safe Deposit Company was organized in 1889 by Walter Hubbard, Charles L. Rockwell, Charles F. Linsley, Isaac C. Lewis, John L. Billard, Nathaniel L. Bradley, John D. Billard, George R. Curtis, and Charles Parker. These men, all community leaders of their time, had in mind the growing need for a permanent institution to act as executor, administrator, guardian, and trustee of estates. A special charter was obtained from the legislature incorporating the company. Isaac C. Lewis was the first president, succeeded in turn by Walter Hubbard, Charles L. Rockwell, and W. B. Church, who still holds the presidency. The company has gained a wide reputation for careful, responsible management of estates. Serving on its board today, as in the past, are men identified with some of the most important interests in the city. The vault, with full safety equipment, offers complete safety- deposit protection. The assets of the company, as of December 31, 1955, were 214 FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS $319,145. Trust funds amounting to $23,429,090 were under the care of the institution on that date. The Meriden Permanent Savings and Loan Association The Meriden Permanent Building and Loan Association was organized September 28, 1888. The change in name, substituting the word "savings" for "building," was made last year. The association was incorporated in 1889. The incorporators were Dr. C. H. S. Davis, Orlando Burgess, John Webb, W. W. Mosher, Robert Bowman, William H. Miller, William G. Hooker, W. H. Bulmer, Thomas Vernon, Charles L. Hinman, Albert Furniss, Oliver McCarthy, William H. Neibour, E. G. Pepper, Charles C. Powers, Benjamin Page, H. K. White, E. A. Chapman, and Frank A. Camp. O. W. Burgess became the first president, John Webb, secretary, and W. W. Mosher, treasurer. The first quarters were in the old Byxbee Block in 1889. In 1894, the offices were removed to the Wilcox Block and remained there until the present banking building on Colony Street was constructed. The building was opened for business on March 17, 1922. Leonard S. Savage, who retired in 1929, was secretary of the institution for 38 years. He died in 1932. W. M. Miles was president at the time when the present building was opened, succeeding D. F. Powers in that office in 1922. After the death of Mr. Miles in 1938, Irving J. Meiklem was elected president to succeed him, and still holds that office. Albert J. Lirot is vice president and secretary. In 1950, the banking quarters of the institution were completely remodeled. The front and main floor were rebuilt, and a new facade and vestibule were installed. An addition was also con- structed at the rear. A new vault was another feature of the modernization program. On April 1, 1955 an important addition to the association's property was recorded when it took title to land and buildings on Colony Street between its headquarters and the driveway of the Post Office on the north. On the property was the office building of the W. H. Squire Company, which it vacated, removing to 204 Colony Street. The old Collins residence, which had been remodeled for office tenants, was part of the deal concluded with the Meriden Title Finance Corporation, Mrs. Robert A. Squire, and Mrs. Roger W. Squire. 215 FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS The Collins home was long the residence of Miss Sarah E. Collins, who died in 1949. It was built the year she was born, 1859. The land on which it stood was originally part of the Brooks farm, a portion of which was sold by Judge James S. Brooks, Miss Collins' maternal grandfather, to provide the railroad with a right of way. In September 1955, the association received a permit to erect a $71,000 one-story addition to its facilities, on the land purchased in April. Removal of the Collins home provides space for a 37-car parking lot. A drive-in window for the convenience of share- holders and savers, reached by means of a horseshoe-shaped driveway, is a feature of the plan. The new addition joins the building on the north side. The assets of the association have increased by more than $5 million in the last four years, making the expansion necessary. As of December 31, 1955, they were >,991,315.17. First Federal Savings and Loan Association The First Federal Savings and Loan Association was originally the Fourth Meriden Building and Loan Association, formed in 1900. The late Fred Mills was president for many years, and was succeeded after his death by his son Stanley Mills. Leo E. Weis- leder was elected president in 1935. He was succeeded by H. Dudley Mills, who had long been executive secretary of the association. The original office was part of the office of the W. H. Squire Company, when it was located in the Byxbee Block, and collec- tions were made there on Tuesday nights. Later, offices were located in the Morse and Cook Block and the Hall and Lewis Building, now the Cherniack Building. Steadily increasing business produced the need for a larger and permanent home, and the association in 1926 purchased a building on Church Street from Lew Aailler, building contractor, who had used it as his own headquarters. The building was remodeled, and served until it was decided in 1940 to erect a new building on the site, and the old building was razed. The formal opening of the new banking quarters took place on July 12, 1941. It is a modified Georgian type, of brick con- struction, with limestone and artificial stone trim. At the time, 216 FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS the facilities were thought to be ample, but expansion was required in less than a decade. In 1949, plans were announced by Mr. Mills to construct an addition to double the floor space of the institution, by utilizing the entire rear parking lot and drive- way, thus gaining space 30 by 40 feet. Space in the front formerly occupied by offices was added to the lobby. The completely remodeled building was opened in April, 1950. In 1936, the conversion of the Fourth Meriden Building and Loan Association into the First Federal Savings and Loan Associa- tion of Meriden took place, when a charter was issued by the Federal Government, gaining more diversified plans of savings, and insurance of all accounts. A direct mortgage reduction plan was instituted at that time. In his annual report on January 18 this year, Mr. Mills pointed out that the association, entering its 55th year, had increased its savings accounts to more than three times the total of 10 years ago. At the end of 1955, savings amounted to 117,951,503.60, with 18,500 savings accounts in Meriden and the branch in Cheshire operated by the institution. Assets as of December 31, 1955 were $21,109,992.94. 217 CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE Retail Business Meriden is a shopping center for this part of Connecticut. Located almost exactly in the geographical center of Connecticut, on the main line of the New Haven Railroad, with bus service from all directions and excellent highways and parkways to and through the city, its accessibility is a prime advantage for area shoppers. But accessibility by itself does not account for the large volume of business done annually by Meriden retail stores. Local mer- chants are, for the most part, alert and progressive. Nearly every older store in or near the center has been altered in recent years to bring it up to date. Many new stores have come into the retail picture since the end of World War II. The style element in merchandise has become increasingly important. Prices and values compare favorably with the offerings presented in much larger cities. Courteous consideration for the customer's needs is stressed everywhere. The city has cooperated with the merchants by providing convenient municipal parking areas on Church Street, in the new yard between South Grove Street and Butler Street, on South Colony Street, and on Colony Street north of the Post Office. In addition, there are parking areas in connection with a number of stores and privately operated yards where parking space is available for a small fee. The curbs in the business district are metered, to prevent the monopolization of space and give short-time shoppers a place to park. The Merchants' Bureau of the Chamber of Commerce, to which 45 local business firms belong, conducts various shopping events throughout the year and helps to keep retail standards high. It is not the purpose of this volume to list all of the Meriden stores which have come and gone in the last 150 years, or even to mention all that are here at present. Space does not permit any such enumeration. The best that can be done is to give briefly the histories of some of the older establishments. 218 RETAIL BUSINESS Upham's Department store is by far the oldest of these. It traces its origin back to "Squire" Eli Birdsey, shrewd pioneer of the uptown district, who opened a store near the intersection of Broad and East Main Streets in 1836. When the business center drifted westward, the firm of Ives, Upham & Rand opened a store on Colony Street. This was soon after the Civil War, when Col. Charles L. Upham and Lieut. Philip C. Rand became partners of John Ives, who had worked for Mr. Birdsey in the uptown store. When the Winthrop Hotel Block was erected in 1883, the store moved there, and, in 1909, purchased land to the north and erected a large addition. Additional land to the north of the building was acquired in 1913. Col. Upham, who had served brilliantly in the Civil War, who had held the office of mayor, and who had taken part in many civic enterprises, died in 1929. The business was carried forward by his three sons, Charles L., Francis C, and William H. Upham. Boynton's, Inc., large ready-to-wear store for men and boys, was founded in 1902 as the Besse-Boeker Company. For many years, it was at 19 Colony Street. In 1920, the present four-story and basement building was erected on the site of the old Meriden Y.M.C.A. building. Arthur E. Boynton came here soon after the business was opened, and became the resident managing partner. The store was then known as the Besse-Boynton Com- pany. Carlton P. Spear, Mr. Boynton's half-brother, became associated with the firm, and united with him in purchasing the business from the estate of Lyman Besse in 1930. Later, Clarence E. Carr obtained an interest, and Mr. Spear's son, Lewis M. Spear, also became an executive in the business. Samuel L. Beloff founded the Styletex Company in 1920, and became one of Meriden's most enterprising merchants in the women's apparel business. His first store was at 19 Colony Street, in the store which had been vacated by Besse-Boynton. In 1941, he purchased the G.A.R. block on Colony Street, and remodeled it into a handsome store of the latest design, later adding the store just to the north of these premises. Mr. BelofT's sons, Arthur and Marvin, are active in the management of the business. Hamrah's moved to their present location, 19 Colony Street, after occupying a store in the Cherniack Building, then the Hall & Lewis Building, for a number of years. The business, conducted by several members of the Hamrah family, handles household 219 RETAIL BUSINESS linens, draperies, lingerie, imported novelties and many other lines. Charles Hamrah conducts an establishment at 75 South Colony Street devoted to rugs, other floor coverings, and rug renovation. The Reed-Holroyd Company, 7 Colony Street, has a long history dating back to the time when Howard Bros, furniture store occupied the same location. This business was purchased early in the century by the Reed Housefurnishing Company which, in turn, was absorbed by the present company, which also operates stores in Wallingford and Middletown. The Cherniack Company, another old firm, which began as a fur establishment 69 years ago, purchased the Hall & Lewis building in 1941 and remodeled it to provide quarters for its fur and fashion shop at 2 Colony Street, as well as for its fur-fashion- ing and fur-renovation business. The block is now known as the Cherniack Building. The New York Dress Goods Store at 25 Colony Street is the outgrowth of the dry goods business founded in 1917 by the late Samuel Umansky. It was originally located at 42 West Main Street. The present store, with basement, was opened in 1919. The Meriden Furniture Company, 55 Colony Street, was established in 1890 by F. J. O'Neil and C. E. Flynn as O'Neil & Flynn who, in addition to dealing in furniture, conducted an undertaking business. Fred J. Winder was later taken into the firm. Both of the original partners died, and Mr. Winder sold out his interest in the business, which is now conducted by Herman Gold. The John F. Butler Company, now known as the Butler Paint Company, at 51 Colony Street, is an even older concern. It was established in 1876 under the name of Butler & Larkin. The original place of business was in the Hicks Building on Colony Street, next to the old Meriden House. Later, it was in the Wilcox Block. The present building was erected in 1894 by Mr. Butler in conjunction with O'Neil & Flynn. In 1907, William O. Butler, son of the founder, became connected with the business which he still operates. The history of Emerson & Whitney, 43 Colony Street, began in 1884, when the New England Boot and Shoe House was founded by J. H. Warshauer. Since 1922, the business has been located in the Colony Building. It was one of the original tenants 220 RETAIL BUSINESS when the building was erected in that year. Jepson's Book Store, 31 Colony Street, was established in 1910 by Miss Louise J. Jepson. The first store was at Crown and East Main Street. In 1915 it moved to 4 Colony Street, in the Meriden House Block. For a time it was at 7 West Main Street, just around the corner. In 1922, another move took place, into the new Colony Building, which had just been completed. The most recent move, made several years ago, was to the present location. Stockwell's, 36 Colony Street, is another old business. The Boston & Meriden Clothing Company was doing business at 34 and 36 Colony Street in 1906. In 1915, the business was conducted as the A. T. Gallup Company. By 1920, it had become Gallup, Stockwell & Co., and the present name was adopted when Harry Stockwell, long associated with the business, bought out the Gallup interests in 1935. George F. Lewis and Harold J. Wuster- barth took over the business after Mr. Stockwell's death, and Mr. Lewis in 1956 became the sole proprietor. Michaels Jewelers is the successor to Michaels-Maurer, a firm which opened a store at 21 West Main Street in 1926. The business actually dates back to 1900, when A. Michaels began business in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The present large store is at 17 Colony Street. Most of the stores on West Main Street are products of more recent times, although a few had their origins many years ago. John F. Molloy, stationer, 20 West Main Street, is one of these. He began business in 1904 at 5ll/2 West Main Street. From there, he moved to the Meriden House Block, then to the Byxbee Block, and from there to 8 West Main Street. As the business assumed larger proportions, especially in the distribution of newspapers and periodicals, he found further expansion necessary, and purchased the building in which the store is now housed, with loading facilities opening on Hanover Street. The building was remodeled, and an addition was constructed running through to the street in the rear. Stanley McGar, associated with Mr. Molloy, is part owner, and the structure is now known as the Molloy- McGar Building. The Ailing Rubber Company at 12 West Main Street was established here in 1912 next to the present location of the Reed-Holroyd Company on Colony Street. In 1919, it was moved to the present location. 221 RETAIL BUSINESS The greatest change on West Alain Street in recent history occurred in 1941, when seven blocks of property on the south side of the street, extending from the Connecticut Bank and Trust Company building to Katt Bros, store were sold to the Tishman interests of New York City and several large stores were con- structed to take the place of the old stores which were razed. The only exception was the Sugarman Block, which had been opened in 1937. New companies were formed to hold the properties and erect and lease the new stores. Occupying the stores built at that time are Genung's, Inc., one of a series of stores operated in New York state and Connecticut by the same firm; the W. T. Grant Company, which moved from across the street to the largest of the new stores on the south side of the street; Nugent's Dress Shop, Berley's, and the Miles Shoes Company. The Genung store has nearly 30,000 square feet of floor space and the Grant store contains 32,000 square feet. E. F. Powers Shoe Store was at 27 West Main Street at the time of the Centennial. Years later, it moved to 6 West Main Street. Manning & Conwell's Shoe Store, which had been located on Colony Street, took over the business at this location. Church & Morse were at 8 West Main Street in 1906, remaining there until 1925, when their hardware business was removed to 25 South Colony Street, where the premises were completely remodeled, with two stores thrown into one. Church & Morse was established in 1872 under the firm name of Church & Sprague, and was reorganized under the present name in 1879. The J. C. Penney Company, one of the large system of stores operated throughout the country under that name, has been established here since 1928 at 43-45 West Main Street. The F. W. Woolworth Company, formerly on Colony Street, moved to 35 West Main Street, when the ground floor of the Derecktor Building at Colony and W7est Main Streets was com- pletely remodeled. The block in which the store is located was purchased this year by Maurice Zuckerman, owner of the Woman's Shop in the same building. The changes in the Dereck- tor Building included a large store for the Liggett company, and a store with entrances on Colony Street and West Main Street for Kresge's. The business of the J. Lacourciere Company at 55 Grove Street was founded in 1900. It is one of the oldest stores in the 222 RETAIL BUSINESS city handling paints and artist's supplies. Bullard, Fowler & LaPlace, Inc., 75-79 West Main Street, was established in 1926 by Irving M. Fowler, H. M. Bullard, and S. R. LaPlace of Deep River. All three of the founders have since died, but the furniture business has been continued. Brown's Department Store, 54 West Main Street, was founded in 1932 by Aaron Brown, who began the business as the Meriden Bargain Store at 58 West Main Street. The store was later expanded to take in the stores at 54 and 56 West Main Street, and the present name was adopted. The Growers Outlet at 82 West Main Street was started in 1934 in a building erected by the Griswold, Richmond & Glock Company, an old Meriden firm long since disbanded. At 20 Pratt Street, the men's clothing business of Harry Israel, Inc., dates from the business established by the late Harry Israel in 1904 at 64 1/2 East Main Street. Since his death, it has been conducted by his brother, William Israel. The present large store was opened in 1928, and has been remodeled several times since. Also on Pratt Street is the firm of Oscar Gross & Sons, men's and boys' clothiers, at No. 28, a store which was originally known, when it was at 76 West Main Street 50 years ago, as Hyman & Gross. Since the death of Oscar Gross, the business has been conducted by his two sons, Samuel and Louis J. Gross. The store has been greatly enlarged under their management. One of the oldest stores in the downtown section is Little, Somers & Hyatt at 77 East Main Street which was started in 1872 by Hubert Little as H. Little & Co. When J. E. Somers joined the firm, the name was changed to Little & Somers. The present name was adopted in 1883 when I. B. Hyatt bought an interest. Willard C. Hyatt is the active head of the concern, which specializes in paints, artists' materials and decorating. Wusterbarth Bros., 82 East Main Street, was founded in 1900 on Miller Street, and was for many years at 45 Pratt Street until it removed to the present location in 1930. Originally dealing in sporting goods, it has specialized in toys in recent years. Broderick & Curtin's Pharmacy, established 1886, was at its present location, 42 East Main Street at the time of the Centennial. It is now owned and operated by Thomas Joyce. Charles J. Hayek's jewelry store, 17 East Main Street, is successor to the store once conducted by A. Langner at 20 West 223 RETAIL BUSINESS Main Street, which later became Langner & Hayek, and remained under that name until Mr. Hayek took over the business, which is now operated by his son, Charles J. Hayek, Jr. Uptown Section In the vicinity of Broad and East Main Streets, the original shopping district, are stores with histories running far back into the past. The J. F. Raven Hardware Company, 294 East Main Street, had its origin when Eli C. Birdsey engaged in the hardware business in 1854 in the same location. Upon Mr. Birdsey's retire- ment in 1917, the present company was formed, with J. F. Raven, Carl E. Raven and Guy Dutton in the active management. Carl E. Raven today is the head of the business. Fred L. Yale started in the grocery business in 1878 in the Coe Block next to the Center Congregational Church, a building torn down before the beginning of this century. The business was later moved to the Barnes Block on East Main Street, and finally to the present location, 298 East Main Street. Elwood Yale succeeded his father as the head of the concern, and his two sons, Frederick E. Yale and Oliver M. Yale, have long been associated with him in the business. The Lynch Drug Company, 298 East Main Street, was founded in 1868 by E. Lyman Marvin, and was the third drug store to be established in the city. In 1870, Mr. Marvin bought out the store of Davis & Greenfield at the present location. He was succeeded by his stepson, Willis N. Barber in 1891, who conducted the business until 1919, when his interest was purchased by Raymond M. Lynch, who took his brother William into partnership. The business changed hands in 1952, when the Lynch brothers sold out their interests to Walter J. Kopcza, Frank V. Chester, and Bernadine S. Potrepka of Southington. Anthony Mercaldi's shoe repair shop at 302 East Main Street, known as the American Shoe Repairing Company, has been in business for more than half a century. Anthony P. Mercaldi, Jr. is associated with his father in the business. Construction Firms Meriden has a number of long established construction firms which have acquired far more than a local reputation. They do a large volume of business annually in many states. 224 RETAIL BUSINESS The Lane Construction Corp., 965 East Main Street, occupies the large administration building erected for it in 1951 near the Wilbur Cross Parkway. The business was started in 1890 by John S. Lane, then of Hartford, who erected a stone-crushing plant on land leased from Bartholomew & Coe. Mr. Lane's first road work was in Windsor Locks that same year, and, from this start grew the present large business, which executes contracts throughout New England, New York, and in Pennsylvania. The Lane Construction Corp. was organized in 1902 to take over the road building department. The company has built hundreds of miles of excellent roads, including the new type of super-high- ways, airports and other work of a similar nature. Arthur F. Eggleston is president of the firm, and also of John S. Lane & Son, Inc., which includes the quarry interests. The H. Wales Lines Company, builder and distributor of building materials, with offices and yards at 134 State Street, is successor to George Bassett, who began business in 1843. He sold out to Perkins & Lines in 1864. From this small beginning grew the extensive business which has erected thousands of buildings in towns and cities scattered through several states. The late H. Wales Lines, who joined the business as a young man with experience in bricklaying, had a large part in the growth of Meriden. The business became H. Wales Lines & Co. in 1878, and the present company was formed ten years later. Nearly every important building in Meriden erected during the nineteenth century, and many in this century, were built by this firm. The present City Hall was one of its contracts. Charles S. Phelps, long associated wtih Mr. Lines, is chairman of the board, and Carl R. Langer is president. The L. Suzio Construction Company, another large contracting firm, was founded by the late Leonardo Suzio in 1896. Many large highway contracts in Connecticut are the work of the Suzio organization. The L. Suzio Concrete Company, an affiliated concern, supplies ready-mixed concrete, and has a plant on Westfield Road. Henry D. Altobello is president and treasurer of both companies. Another old contracting firm is the James T. Kay Company, 127 State Street, which specializes in plumbing and heating. It was founded in 1872 by the late James T. Kay, and has been conducted for many years by his son, Frank E. Kay. 225 RETAIL BUSINESS The G. R. Cummings Roofing Company, 198-210 State Street, has carried out important contracts in many states. The business was established in 1899 by the late G. R. Cummings, and the present company was incorporated in 1921. It has one of the most modern and complete plants of the kind in the country. George R. Cummings, son of the founders, is president and treasurer. C. N. Flagg & Co., Inc. was organized in 1910 to do steam- fitting and plumbing contracting for larger buildings. Plant modernization became a specialty, together with wholesale piping and supplies. The firm has handled large contracts in many states. Its warehouses are at the corner of Griswold and Cambridge Streets, and the general offices were moved recently to Elm Street. Since the death of Charles N. Flagg, the founder, Peter Flagg, his son, has been the executive head of the concern. Building Supplies In the field of building supplies, the Lyon & Billard Company, founded in 1847, is the oldest concern. It was established by John D. Billard and George W. Lyon at 13 South Colony Street. In 1873, John L. Billard, son of John D., was admitted to partnership. The business was incorporated in 1878. John L. Billard became president in 1902. He retired in 1923, when he was succeeded by A. J. White as president. The Meriden Lumber Company at 174 State Street was started in 1859 by Lyman & Clarke. The firm later became Clarke & Converse and, still later, Converse and Seymore. The business was incorporated in 1890 under its present name. W. F. Terrell, the present general manager and treasurer, became associated with the company in 1922. Charles H. Cuno is president, and Herbert J. Reeves vice president and secretary. After a fire, which wiped out most of the yard two years ago, it has been completely rebuilt. 226 CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX Parks and Playgrounds The Hanging Hills overlooking the city and visible in almost every part of it are a constant reminder that Meriden possesses one of the most beautiful recreation areas in the entire country. These hills, known as East Peak and West Peak, are located on the western boundary of Hubbard Park, comprising approxi- mately 1,200 acres of carefully kept woodland, lake, and stream, with playgrounds, tennis courts, swimming and wading pools, flower gardens, and picnic spots among their attractions. An extensive state park runs along the western ridge of mountains adjoining the land owned by Meriden. Hubbard Park does not stand alone. Spotted throughout the city are other conveniently located parks and playgrounds, each serving principally for a particular section, but open to all residents, young and old. In 1899, by an amendment of the city charter, the first park commission was created and placed in charge of all the parks. The playgrounds, as they developed, were administered separately under a recreation commission until the two boards were com- bined February 3, 1950 as the Meriden Park and Recreation Commission with four members. A full-time park superintendent and a director of recreation work together in supervising the care and maintenance of the parks and playgrounds, and guiding the activities of the planned program. During the summer months, the playgrounds are staffed by well qualified leaders and assistants. Lifeguards are stationed wherever there is public bathing, and free instruction in swimming is furnished to children and adults. Hubbard Park Most of the land in Hubbard Park was presented to the city by the late Walter Hubbard, who was president of the Bradley & Hubbard Mfg. Company, later absorbed by the Charles Parker Company. He gave it outright, with no strings attached, except that everything connected with the park was to remain free for the people of Meriden, and that no concessions for profit were 227 MERIDEN PARKS AND PLAYGROUNDS ever to be allowed within the park area. In spite of sporadic efforts to obtain permission for refreshment stands on a commercial basis, the wishes of the donor have never been violated. This complete freedom from all types of commercialism is one of the principal charms of the park for nature lovers. Mr. Hubbard created a trust fund of $50,000, the interest on which was made available toward the upkeep of the park. Clarence P. Bradley, the son of his business partner, Nathaniel Bradley, set up a trust fund of equal amount in the terms of his will. Today, the sum realized from these two funds annually defrays only a small part of the expense of maintaining the park, due to the extensive improvements which have been made and the increasing cost of caring for the facilities. But the donor spent largely during his lifetime to develop the park according to his ideas. The outlay from his own resources amounted to between $400,000 and $500,000. Beginning in 1897, he cleared the land in the lower park, built numerous roads and trails and constructed Mirror Lake. The tower on East Peak, known as Castle Craig was another of his projects. It was patterned after the towers built by the Turks along the Danube River in the 12 th century. These jutting, precipitous formations which overhang the pleasant valley of A4eriden date from the glacial age, and are of especial interest to geologists. But East and West Peaks, for the average resident, have interests far separated from scientific research. West Peak was once the site of a number of summer homes. The first to build on the top of the mountain was W. H. Catlin, whose cottage was occupied for a number of years by Police Sergeant Herman Schuerer. Wilbur H. Squire built a spacious home later used by the Y.W.C.A. during the summer. The site was sold in 1939. Cornelius J. Danaher, Sr. erected a summer residence on the mountain, which he and his family used for 35 years. Mr. Danaher also acquired about 40 acres of land near the summit, and 60 acres in addition on the plateau below the peak. Others who owned cottages on the mountain were Fred Hotchkiss and Thomas H. Burkinshaw. Some who had bought land did not build. Nearly all traces of the little colony have disappeared. Mr. Danaher once proposed the construction of an electric railway to the top of the mountain, but the proposal was defeated 228 MERIDEN PARKS AND PLAYGROUNDS in a city referendum, mainly on the ground that the water in the reservoirs at the base might become contaminated. There are now three radio stations on West Peak. The first constructed is owned by Station WDRC of Hartford, one of the first stations in the country to send out frequency modulation broadcasts. It is located on land purchased from Mr. Danaher. Station WMMW owns a station on the peak, which also does FM broadcasting. It was built on land obtained from the late Levon Kassabian. Station WATR-TV of Waterbury also owns and operates a station on the peak. The Kassabian family still has a cottage on the mountain, the only one remaining of the numerous residences which were built for use there in the summer. Mr. Danaher has disposed of all his mountain holdings. He sold about 100 acres of land to the State of Connecticut as a State Park which remains as a reservation under state control. For a number of years, the state has maintained an observation tower there, used for spotting forest fires. It is manned during the seasons where the danger of fire in the woodlands is considered most serious. A beautiful winding road leads to the summit of East Peak, where the land in the vicinity of the tower has been leveled and turned into a hard-surfaced parking area for the automobiles of sightseers. Fireplaces for picnickers are close at hand. But many come just for the view, which comprises the wide range of territory from Mount Tom in Massachusetts to Long Island on the south. Long Island Sound is visible on a clear day from the top of the tower, which is reached by a flight of iron steps. The city spreads out from the lower fringes of the park, with part of the reservoir system in the foreground, and the high land on the eastern edge of Meriden at the extreme range of vision in that direction. The edges of this vantage point are protected by a stone balustrade and railing. There are several alternate routes up the mountainside. The more rugged of these are fit only for the hardiest of hikers, but there are easier paths for those with less climbing ability. One route is by way of the Fairview drive at the south end of Merimere Reservoir to the rest house half-way up the mountain, and from there up a steeper trail to the summit. For many years, motor vehicles were forbidden in the park, 229 MERIDEN PARKS AND PLAYGROUNDS but those were horse-and-buggy times, when a leisurely drive in the family carriage was a favorite form of recreation. Large numbers of automobiles now pass through the park or halt by the roadside, and the parking area near Mirror Lake is always crowded with cars on week ends, winter and summer. The lake itself is a focal point for all-season activities. Swimming is not permitted there, and has not been allowed for many years, although at one time the lake shore was a public bathing beach. Fishing is also forbidden, except once a year in the spring, when the "fishing derby" is held for boys and girls, with a long list of prizes for different age groups. Hundreds of children take part in this event annually. In the spring, the whole lower park is a mass of bloom with thousands upon thousands of daffodils of many varieties. They spread out among the trees bordering the lake and approach the edges of the roadway, forming a sight which draws crowds of visitors, some of whom come for long distances to enjoy this lovely display. But this is only the season's opener. As it advances, the scene changes as more and more varieties of flowers burst into bloom under the skillful nursing of the park crews supervised by Mr. Barry. Some of the beds which have been developed show elaborate arrangements of plants and flowers developed by the expert gardeners. In the fall, a magnificent display of chrysanthemums, grown in the park greenhouses, is another attraction. Plant culture in the park began in 1948 when the greenhouse was built by park employees. Well-kept tennis courts are a feature of the park. They are open to all local tennis players during the season, but reservations must be fitted into a tight schedule due to the large number desiring to play. One of the most widely used facilities ever installed in the park is the Lions Club swimming pool, dedicated July 8, 1951. The Meriden Lions Club initiated this project and raised the funds to make it possible. Its members not only contributed liberally themselves, but conducted a campaign soliciting the support of the entire community. The money thus raised went far toward the construction of the pool, and the city cooperated to complete the project, which is maintained at city expense. Many types of 230 MERIDEN PARKS AND PLAYGROUNDS pools were examined before the plan reached final form. The pool as built has proved most satisfactory. It contains 200,000 gallons. During the season, the water is continuously purified. Thousands enjoy the facilities during the summer. Swimming classes and water events are held there. The pool is under constant supervision by qualified attendants employed by the city when it is in use. So great was the success of the swimming pool in the park that the Lions Club has been besieged with requests from parents on the east side to undertake the construction of a pool in that part of the city. On March 2 of this year, the Meriden Lions Welfare Project, Inc. announced that it would build the "Wishing Pool" for east side children, using the same plans that have proved so satisfactory in Hubbard Park. The Lions Club also sponsored and raised funds for the con- struction of a wading pool in the park for younger children, replacing the old wading pool which had become obsolete. It was opened in 1954. Camp Hubbard, a day camp for Meriden children, is maintained in the park during the summer by the Recreation Department. The Junior Chamber of Commerce constructed a shelter there in 1953. Buses carry the children to the park daily during the camping season, where they enjoy supervised play, and learn woodcraft and handicraft from the camp's staff of instructors and attendants. Band concerts in the park have become increasingly popular in recent years. A rustic band shell, placed at the foot of the natural amphitheater which slopes gradually down the crest of the hill overlooking the busiest portion of the park's activities, is an ideal spot for such concerts. A rustic bandstand at the foot of the hill has proved inadequate for the use of the Meriden City Band, made up of members of the local union of musicians, who have given these concerts free of charge for years, with the help of an appropriation from their national headquarters. In 1954, a cam- paign was started to raise funds for a music shell. With the help of the city, the new shell was constructed for the Sesquicentennial. One interesting feature of the park is a large slab bearing dinosaur footprints which are a reminder of the antediluvian monsters who once roamed this vicinity. Under rules adopted in 1953, Hubbard Park is closed from 231 MERIDEN PARKS AND PLAYGROUNDS 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. No commercial vehicles are allowed at any time. The speed limit within the park is 15 miles per hour. In winter, when the ice is pronounced safe, Mirror Lake is an ideal place for skating. The park crews clear the ice as soon as possible after every snowstorm. Lights are strung up for night skating, and the surface is thronged whenever conditions are favorable. A pavilion beside the lake furnishes shelter and a place where skates may be put on in comfort. Nearby is a playground, with swings and other equipment. Tables and chairs are placed at various vantage spots. On the western shore of the lake is an area much favored by picnickers. Near this area are the shelters for the flock of mallard ducks which lives in the park, under the protection and care of James Barry, park superintendent, and his helpers. The ducks show few signs of wildness in the carefully guarded life to which they have become accustomed. City Park City Park is the oldest park in the city. It has been in existence since 1880, and was formerly much more largely used than at present, especially in the years when public band concerts were presented there from a bandstand built for that purpose. Bounded by Bunker Avenue, Franklin Street, Park Avenue and Warren Street, City Park is mainly a haven for residents of the vicinity. There are nine acres within these boundaries. Some of the park's large trees fell victims to the hurricanes of 1938 and 1944, but enough of them remain to provide delightful shade in summer. The lawns are a playground for the numerous children of the neighborhood. During World War II, after a long attempt to find a suitable location for quonset huts to be set up as accommodations for the overflow of war workers, it was decided to place some of them in City Park. After the war, when the housing situation was some- what relieved, the huts were removed. Brookside Park Brookside Park, like Hubbard Park, is a monument to the gener- osity of Walter Hubbard, who purchased the land in 1901 and turned it over to the city for park purposes. It contains 13 acres and extends from Camp to Broad Street on both sides of Harbor 232 MERIDEN PARKS AND PLAYGROUNDS Brook, a distance of nearly three quarters of a mile. The brook flows through the entire park, and is kept in its channel by retaining walls for part of the distance. At one point, near the lower end, a bathing pool furnishes fun for children in summer. A bathhouse stands beside the pool. A wading pool and some playground equipment add to the pleasures of the park for younger children. Baldwin's Beach Before the Lions Pool in Hubbard Park was constructed, Baldwin's Pond had practically a local monopoly as a place for public swimming and bathing. Near the end of North Wall Street, it may also be reached from the prolongation of Britannia Street into Westfield Road. The city maintains a sandy beach beside the pond. Bathhouses are provided, and there is also a refreshment stand. Within easy swimming distance from shore, there is a float equipped with a diving tower. Swimming is under careful supervision by a staff employed by the Recreation Depart- ment. The pond is drained every season, and the water is tested frequently, as a sanitary precaution, after it has been refilled. Other Recreation Areas A beach at Beaver Pond is leased by the city to provide additional bathing facilities during the summer months. Dossin Park, below Hanover Pond, at the intersection of Coe Avenue and the road to Cheshire, was named for the late Oscar Dossin, who served Meriden for many years as a recreation com- missioner. A beach and bathhouse were constructed there for the use of the public, but tests revealed that the water was impure, and swimming was forbidden. The old Red Bridge, just below this point, is a spot where many residents of the older generations swam as boys, long before tests of the water at public bathing places became mandatory. Athletic Fields The city has seven athletic fields: Columbus Park, on Lewis Avenue, 10 % acres; Washington Park, 11 acres; Ceppa Field, 4% acres; North End Field, 1 l/2 acres; South Meriden Field, 7 acres; Bronson Avenue Field, 2 % acres; Legion Field, 4 acres (leased by the city for a 10-year period). Some of these fields have been 233 MERIDEN PARKS AND PLAYGROUNDS extensively developed. Washington Park has tennis courts and a field house, where a caretaker resides. Kindergarten classes are conducted there. Ceppa Field, named for the late Monsignor Ceppa of St. Stanislaus Church, which formerly owned the property, is equipped with lights for night baseball and football. The lights, gift of the International Silver Company, were formerly installed at Insilco Field. Twenty-three persons under the supervision of Bernard Sprafke, director, compose the personnel for the eight-week play- ground period. Only two school playgrounds are used in con- nection with this program: the Hanover School in South Meriden and the Benjamin Franklin School on the west side. Park Department employees are Irving Danielson, assistant to James Barry, park superintendent; William Remy, caretaker at City and Brookside Parks, who is assisted by Joseph Carabetta; John Erickson, Guido Bertagna, Fred Rudolph and Durwood Tompkins. Four of the men are stationed at Hubbard Park, but are moved to other areas as work is required. Lawrence Fraser is caretaker of Washington Park and John Borek is caretaker of Ceppa Field. During the summer, the following are engaged to take care of the extra work load: Fred Schlette, Legion Park; Michael Amoroso, Columbus Park; John Patrucco, Little League Field (on Britannia Street); Edward Everard, Bronson Avenue Field. A new field in South Meriden will be opened for the first time in the summer of 1956. It is on Meadow Street and borders on Hanover Pond. The area has been graded and seeded during the last two years. A backstop will be set up there, and a diamond will be constructed for baseball games. 234 CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN The Meriden Post Office Meriden Post Office, which now has receipts totaling one million dollars a year, from five different stations, began in 1806 when President Thomas Jefferson appointed Amos White as the first postmaster. The postal service was established in the city the same year it separated from Wallingford, in a building owned by Patrick Lewis at Broad and East Main Street. The present Federal Building at 87 Colony Street was built in 1902 at a cost of more than $100,000. There is a classified post office, "Station A", at 231 East Main Street, and three contract stations: No. 1 at 445 Colony Street, No. 5 at 120 Springdale Avenue, and the South Meriden Station at 1 Main Street. A parcel post annex and garage at 141 Grove Street was opened in February 1955 for all parcels and the 14 government trucks. An addition to the Federal Building was completed in 1934. Joseph R. Ferrigno has been postmaster since March 17, 1955. He was acting postmaster from August 1, 1953 to 1955. Assistant postmaster is Maurice J. Looby, and superintendent of mails is John E. Doherty. The first postmaster, Amos White, was succeeded after several years by Patrick Lewis, owner of the post office building, who served until 1812. President Andrew Jackson appointed Levi Yale who was postmaster for 12 years. The post office moved in 1828 to what is now 641 Broad Street, near Dayton Place. President William Henry Harrison appointed Richard Dowd who died after serving six months as postmaster. He was succeeded by Walter Booth who served three years under President John Tyler. In 1844 the businessmen of "West Meriden" agitated for their own post office. This was established in 1 845 on the Guy property on West Main Street, with Joel H. Guy as postmaster until 1849. Ira N. Yale was named "East Side" postmaster in 1845 by President James K. Polk in 1845 but died after three years and was succeeded by Almerson Ives. President Zachary Taylor appointed Hiram Hall who moved the operation to a brick 235 THE MERIDEN POST OFFICE building just for post office purposes. President Millard Fillmore appointed Asha H. Curtiss and in 1853 Hiram Hall was appointed for the second time and died in office. President Franklin Pierce appointed Bertrand Yale, who served seven years until President Abraham Lincoln reappointed Asha H. Curtiss. The post office was moved to the Franklin Hall Building, near the Congregational Church on Broad Street. In 1865, Linus Birdsey, appointed by President Andrew Johnson, transferred the post office back to its old site. Meanwhile, Noah A. Linsley was appointed West Meriden postmaster by President Pierce, and moved the post office to 21 West Main Street on the property of the F. J. Wheeler Company. When Joel Guy returned as postmaster in 1853, he moved it again to the south side of West Main Street, and later to the present site of the Connecticut Bank and Trust Company, 14 West Main Street. Samuel B. Morgan served from 1858 to 1861, then George W. Rogers was appointed by President Lincoln. Postmaster Rogers moved to a brick structure at the corner of Colony and West Main Street, but the building was later destroyed by fire. A room was taken at 13 Colony Street, and in 1865 Wallis Bull was appointed postmaster. The following year, the operation was moved again to 37 Colony Street, in the north room of the old Byxbee Block. The East Side post office was transferred after the Civil War to John Ives' brick house at 489 Broad Street. In 1869, President Ulysses S. Grant appointed Lon Hall, who served for eight years, 1869 to 1877. His brother, William F. Hall, was appointed by President Rutherford B. Hayes, and in 1880 the post office was moved to 320 East Main Street, now known as "Station A." The name "Meriden Post Office," the then official designation of the East Side or uptown post office, was moved to the West Side post office. The West Side post office had moved in 1877 to the Hill Building on Winthrop Square after the appointment of Erwin D. Hall by President Hayes. In 1880 the post office was in the Wilcox Block. The next postmasters were William H. Miller, 1886-1890; Henry Dryhurst, 1890-94; and 1898-1914; John J. Anderson, 1894-98; John F. Penders, 1914-23; James J. Fitzpatrick, 1923-36; and John J. Scanlon, 1936-53. 236 THE MERIDEN POST OFFICE Receipts in 1906, the Centennial year, were $75,000, with 20 carriers and 18 clerks. In 1951 delivery service was extended to South Meriden. 237 CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT Public Institutions The Meriden Hospital The completely modernized Meriden Hospital of today is the result of a program which started in 1942 and culminated when the new addition was opened in 1952. Actually, the improvements did not cease at that point, but have been almost continuous since, and new goals appear at intervals above the horizon to keep pace with the needs of the area served. Since 1942, capital expenditures total approximately $2,400,000. The new building raised the capacity of the hospital to 220 beds and 48 bassinets, or more than double its previous capacity. After it had been placed in service, in March 1952, the old building at the rear was completely remodeled and re-equipped to match the new facilities, providing a hospital plant which compares favorably with any hospital of its size. Although the first movement toward expansion began in 1942, it was impossible to begin construction during the war period, even after plans had been accepted and the necessary funds had been raised. There were further impediments in the period im- mediately after the war, principally the shortage of structural iron, steel, and other building materials. The first step was to build a new laundry and power house with surplus capacity looking far into the future. Then came the major structure, which had been planned with infinite care, and in consideration of the standards relating to the number of beds per thousand of popula- tion as set up by the U. S. Department of Public Health to provide for the areas of Meriden and Wallingford. During several periods since it was placed in use, the hospital has operated at full capacity. The history of the Meriden Hospital dates back to 1874 when Dr. James L. Terry, working in conjunction with Dr. E. T. Bradstreet, enlisted the aid of Mrs. Abiram Chamberlain in raising money for the establishment of the institution. As the result of a meeting in the Town Hall, attended by many physicians, and 238 PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS presided over by Mayor E. J. Doolittle, the mayor was authorized to seek a charter from the state legislature. The charter was granted by the General Assembly in January 1885. The next important step was taken in December of the same year, when a meeting was held at which Horace C. Wilcox, Seth J. Hall, Charles Parker, Walter Hubbard, Nathaniel L. Bradley, E. J. Doolittle, the Rev. J. H. Chapin, Levi E. Coe, and George R. Curtis were elected directors of the newly formed corporation. Six years were spent in settling upon a suitable site. The first location chosen was the Camp property, an octagonally shaped house on Franklin Street. But negotiations to purchase it were unsuccessful. Meanwhile, 18 physicians, irked by the delay, signed a petition urging the construction of an entirely new building. In 1892, after long deliberations, the directors authorized the purchase of the Jared R. Cook home on Cook Avenue, a mansard- roofed house built about 1872. The hospital continued to use this structure until it was torn down in 1923 to make room for new construction at that time. The house was extensively remodeled for hospital purposes, and various civic organizations participated in furnishing it, including the City Mission Society, the Women's Christian Temperance Union, and societies of the First Congregational Church. Dedication took place December 21, 1892. The Women's Auxiliary, with an executive committee of 15 members, had an important part in the operation of the hospital. The membership of the committee was eventually increased to 40, and it continued to supervise the management of the hospital until 1920, when the institution had grown so large that the by-laws were changed to create an executive board of five members of the board of directors to take charge. The first medical staff was appointed with the aid of the Meriden Medical Society in March 1 894. Among the well-known attending physicians and surgeons were Doctors E. T. Brad- street, H. W. Delesdernier, J. D. Eggleston, N. Nickerson, S. Otis, A. W. Tracy, A. H. Fenn, F. P. Griswold, O. J. D. Hughes, H. A. Meeks, A. Ploetz, E. W. Smith, J. L. Gartland, E. W. Pierce, E. A. Wilson, F. H. Monroe, G. A. Peck, and William Galvin, together with a consulting staff of Doctors G. H. Wilson, C. H. S. Davis, John Tait, and E. C. Newport. The first matron was Mrs. Alice Baumann, who was succeeded 239 PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS in 1896 by Miss Bessie Livingston Webb. At that time, the medical staff was given full control over all nurses. An addition to the hospital was completed in 1905, providing an operating room, two wards, four private rooms, a diet kitchen, a large basement, and living quarters on the top floor for the staff. Again, many civic organizations assisted by providing equipment and furnishings. In 1910, N. L. Bradley, then president of the board of directors, and Mrs. Bradley purchased a house at 171 Cook Avenue and donated it to the hospital, completely furnished, to provide quarters for the nurses of the institution. Clarence P. Bradley, their son, donated $5,000 in 1915 for an addition to the nurses' home. The first X-ray equipment was installed in 1913 under the direction of Dr. L. F. Wheatley. In 1918, Miss Bessie Etter was appointed to the newly created position of superintendent of the Nurses' Training School. The need for additional nursing accommodations was met in 1920, when a house next to the nurses' home was purchased, remodeled, and opened as a dormitory. Two more homes, at 12 and 16 King Street, were purchased the same year. By 1920, the need for enlarging the hospital had become urgent, and a campaign to raise $300,000 for this purpose was begun. The goal was oversubscribed by more than $300,000. A Wallingford man, Edwin H. Brown, was made an incorporator in recognition of Wallingford's contribution, and Wallingford has had a voice in the hospital's direction since that time. The new building was completed and occupied in 1924. By 1929, the hospital had again outgrown its accommodations for nurses. Clarence P. Bradley saved the situation with a gift of $150,000 for a new nurses' home which was constructed in 1929 and named after the donor who had made it possible. The tremendous growth of the Meriden Hospital was reflected in its financial statement for the last fiscal year, ending September 30, 1955, which showed a net operating revenue of $1,388,727.98. Operating expenses were $1,429,441.50. The operating loss of $40,713.52 was offset by other income of $72,233.24, including state and municipal grants, the Community Fund, endowment funds, and miscellaneous. The hospital has nearly 400 full and 240 PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS part-time employees, exclusive of students in the Nurses' Training School. Warren L. Mottram, a Wallingford man, is president of the Meriden Hospital. The medical board is headed by Dr. Michael J. Conroy. Dr. David J. Cohen is director of medicine; Dr. Francis GiurTrida, director of surgery; Dr. Hoyt C. Taylor, director of obstetrics and gynecology. Dr. Richard Breck and Dr. Donald Badner are members at large. Howard F. Saviteer has been business administrator since 1945. Practically all of the physicians in Meriden and many in Wallingford have staff appointments, and use the hospital's facilities. World War II Veterans' Memorial Hospital Even before World War II had ended, the question of a suitable memorial to those who had given their lives had been raised here, and discussion developed on all sides. Mayor Francis R. Danaher took the first step toward the solution of the many problems in connection with this subject when he appointed on March 13, 1946 a committee to recommend what he called a "living memorial." William H. Rybeck, a lieu- tenant colonel in the U. S. Army during the second World War was named to head this committee, which consisted of represen- tatives of 12 veterans' organizations and a 47-man citizens' group. A poll of this committee endorsed the "living memorial" idea, but there were many proposals as to the form which it should take. In July 1946, it was decided to take a poll of the public to obtain guidance. A planning and survey committee, a finance committee, and a publicity committee were also set up. Of all the proposals which had been submitted, the proposal to erect a Memorial Hospital gained the strongest support. After months of exhaustive study, the committee voted 42 to 6 in favor of a Memorial Hospital. Incorporated in the plan pro- posed was a Memorial Chapel, in which would be placed, eventu- ally, photographs of the 147 Meriden men who lost their lives in the conflict; the photos to be as nearly alike in format as possible. The original plan was to build a small 100-bed hospital, but the plan was revised, reducing the number of beds to 50, with the idea that the grounds selected as a site should be large enough to permit expansion. 241 PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS The United Veterans' Council and the allied group of citizens which had been incorporated in December 1951 as the Memorial Hospital Association proceeded carefully, guided by advice from many sources. A site was chosen on Paddock Avenue, which was purchased by the association and donated to the City of Meriden. Douglas Orr, well-known architect, a native of Meriden, drew the plans. A campaign for pledges was started, and approximately a quarter of the city's population agreed to contribute. Through the association, a bill was presented to the state legis- lature, authorizing the City of Meriden to build and operate the hospital, and to appropriate $600,000 for that purpose, the money to be provided through a bond issue. This special act was passed May 15, 1951, subject to approval in a city-wide referendum. The voters of Meriden endorsed the project in the referendum of June 26, 1951. Ground for the hospital was broken in November 1952. Movable equipment to the value of $74,000 was to be supplied by the association. An amendment to the original act later authorized the purchase of movable equipment from the balance of the $600,000 avails of the bond issue after payment for the hospital's construction. The system set up for the hospital's government was that it be managed by a board of trustees appointed by the Court of Common Council. The five-member board was to serve for five years, and the terms of members were staggered to create a vacancy for a new chairman each year. The board was to serve as a building committee during construction, with the help of the city engineer, the building inspector, and two members of the council, one from each major political party. An advisory committee of not more than 30 was a feature of the act's provisions, but, after its appointment, members com- plained that it was not called into consultation by the trustees for many months. Recently, as a result of these complaints, the advisory com- mittee was activated, and provided with a constitution and by-laws as a separate body. It has the power to advise without being summoned, and to submit to the council, at the close of each calendar year, a report explaining its activities and the advice offered. The term of each member of this board was set at three years, with the terms of 10 members expiring each year, 242 PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS to be replaced by 10 others. The equipment fund has been swelled by the proceeds of minstrel shows and other events. The Association on June 26, 1951 organized the Ladies Auxiliary, which was later incorporated as the official Memorial Hospital Auxiliary. Members of the Auxiliary have made large contributions through the proceeds of card parties and entertainments held under their auspices. More than 2,000 patients at the time of this writing had received treatment at the Memorial Hospital, since it was dedicated July 18, 1954, and many paid tributes to the quality of surgical, medical, and nursing care rendered by it. Dr. David P. Smith, first president of the Memorial Hospital Association, is chief of staff. The Memorial Chapel idea was carried out as planned, and the photographs of the Meriden men who died in World War II confront all those who enter the hospital. As a "living memorial" the hospital is representative of the spirit of the community which it serves. The Bradley Home The Bradley Home for the Aged, 320 Colony Street, was made possible through a bequest in the will of the late Clarence P. Bradley, who died in 1935. He left his entire property on Colony Street, where his own residence was located, as a site for the home, and set up funds for its establishment and maintenance. In his will, he expressed the wish that the dwelling be revamped as a permanent home for "aged and indigent men and women inhabitants of this state, preferably those belonging to Meriden." The home was chartered by the state in March 1936, and was opened for residents the following month. The board of trustees later acquired land for a new quadrangle by purchasing for $425,000 the Wilcox property just to the north. On it stood the home built by Horace C. Wilcox and occupied for years by his grandson, Roy C. Wilcox. New buildings were erected to house 80 residents. The cost was defrayed entirely from the funds of the Bradley estate. Acceptance of applicants is based on need, and also on the ability of the individual to adjust to the living conditions at the home, which have been made as pleasant as possible, with a minimum of regulations. 243 PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS The home itself, and the grounds which surround it, are exceptionally beautiful. Howard E. Houston, later elected mayor, came from the New York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor to become the first superintendent of the Bradley Home. During Air. Houston's military service in World War II, Mrs. Wilma ML Frost was placed in charge until his return. Mr. Houston returned to the position after his discharge from the service, and continued to function during his terms as mayor. Gov. John D. Lodge appointed him State Welfare Commissioner, but in December 1955 he resigned the commissionership and the superintendency of the Bradley Home to take an appointment as deputy director of the U. S. Foreign Operations Administration mission to India. The present director of the Bradley Home is Dr. Cole B. Gibson, who took the position after his retirement as superinten- dent of Undercliff Sanatorium. Undercliff Hospital Undercliff Hospital, until recently known as Undercliff Sana- torium, is a state institution, nestled protectively under the "hanging hills." The movement which led to its creation began here in 1907, instituted by members of the Central Labor Union, who were concerned about the increasing number of cases of tuberculosis among factory workers. A campaign to raise funds for a sanatorium was started. A tag day and three-day carnival in City Park in 1909 brought in some of the money needed — enough to make a start. The old almshouse off Capitol Avenue was used at first. In 1910, the institution was turned over to the jurisdiction of the State of Connecticut. For the next ten years, Undercliff cared mainly for tubercular children, with advanced methods of treatment which won national recognition. Meanwhile, new buildings were constructed, and the institution was expanded in many ways. An infirmary was built in 1930. During the period of WPA projects, further additions were made, including a new administration building, hospital, school building, and nurses' quarters. The capacity of Undercliff was raised considerably at that time. Again the institution was caring mainly for adult patients. From 1917 to 1954, Dr. Cole B. Gibson was superintendent 244 Meriden Y.M.C.A. Meriden Y.W.CA. < cu o a is o 6 C - 4-1 C3 O X 0> H Meriden Boys' Club (Under construction in 1956) Meriden Girls' Club (The former O. H. Piatt residence. Addition projected.) Administration Building, UnderclifT Hospital American Legion Home, Legion Park, South Meriden Municipal Parking Yard, Church Street Pratt Street, from East Main Street West Main Street Colony Street at the Christmas Season President Harry S. Truman speaks in Crown Street Square — 1952 RECORD-Souftmi The Record-Journal Plant PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS and medical director. Under his administration, Undercliff grew from a small cluster of wooden buildings to its present large proportions. Pioneer studies in the causes and treatment of tuber- culosis were made during these years. In 1954, a new chapter in Undercliff history began. The institution became the Undercliff Hospital unit of the Commission on the Care and Treatment of the Chronically 111, Aged and Infirm. Dr. Paul Mason de la Vergne, who had been associated with Dr. Gibson for many years, was appointed as the new superintendent to succeed him upon his retirement. Approximately 200 patients are currently receiving the benefits of the institution. Connecticut School for Boys The Connecticut School for Boys is today an example of the many changes in theory and practice in the treatment of juvenile delinquency. The methods which prevailed when it was founded more than 100 years ago have completely disappeared. The school was started in 1850 at a time when there were only three or four similar institutions in the entire country. The General Assembly in 1851 provided $10,000 for the purchase of a site in Meriden. The land on Colony Street just south of the present Bradley Home property, was purchased, and the first building was erected. Many local citizens contributed. The first boys were admitted in 1854. They were housed in five cottages, each holding 50 boys. George E. Howe was the first director. The boys were kept under rigid supervision and treated as prisoners, with harsh discipline administered for infractions of the rules. Manual training was introduced in 1900, when Charles Merriam Williams, a superintendent with more liberal theories, was at the head of the school. The boys wore gray pantaloons and blue jackets turned out in the school's workshops. In 1921, the legislature appropriated $530,000 for improvements at the school. This was the beginning of a new system of housing in cottages with a more homelike atmosphere than that provided previously. However, charges of cruelty and incompetence were leveled against the school in 1930, while Edward Boyd was director. After his forced resignation, Roy L. McLaughlin, the present 245 PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS director was appointed to the position, and a new regime began. One of the first changes under Mr. McLaughlin was in the form of clothing worn by the boys. No longer were they forced to wear a garb which made them conspicuous. The extensive building program instituted a little later provided the school with an entirely new campus, which was attractively landscaped. New educational courses were instituted. Academic and vocational training were combined to prepare the boys to become self-supporting and good citizens after leaving the school. Creative expression was encouraged. The print shop began to publish a school paper, the Hilltop Hubbub, which has been continued. Today, the methods employed at the Connecticut School for Boys have made it a model widely imitated throughout the country. And most of its graduates have made good use of their training to build successful, law-abiding careers. Curtis Memorial Library As early as 1796, Meriden had a small subscription library with a total of 153 volumes, but it was discontinued in 1809, and there are no records to indicate the extent of its growth by that time. Several other attempts to start a public library during the nine- teenth century failed. The first successful effort occurred in 1898, when the Meriden Public Library was established with funds raised by the Thursday Morning Club, an organization of Meriden women which is still in existence. They sponsored a series of successful lectures to make the project possible. On January 30, 1899, they opened a reading room in a house on the site of the Masonic Temple. In 1900, Mrs. Augusta Munson Curtis, widow of George R. Curtis, offered to spend $5,000 on the site for a public library and to contribute $25,000 toward the erection of the building if the city would agree to appropriate $3,000 annually for main- tenance. A special town meeting on March 12, 190! accepted the offer, and the Curtis Memorial Library was erected at the location chosen, at the corner of East Main and Pleasant Streets at a cost of approximately $750,000 for building, site, and equipment. The design by Richard Williams, New Haven architect, is classical, in the Greek tradition. Miss Corinne A. Deshon was the first librarian. She had been 246 PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS in charge of the previous Meriden Public Library, and was well equipped for the position which she filled until her retirement in 1927, when she was succeeded by Miss Martha Bartlett. Miss Bartlett served for 18 years, retiring in 1946. She was succeeded by Ransom L. Richardson, who undertook a program of expan- sion, the effects of which are still visible. James L. Hillard followed Mr. Richardson, and served until his acceptance of a position with the U. S. Military Academy at West Point. Miss Marion Cook is now in charge of the library's services. The need for a branch library on the west side was stressed as early as 1930 by Miss Bartlett, but there were many delays before branch facilities were finally opened in September 1945 in the Professional Building at West Main and Maple Streets. Since its opening, this branch has more than doubled its original circulation of about 30,000 books annually. The library also maintains eight stations in the schools. The use of the library has shown continuous gains in almost every category of circulated materials. In the city's annual report, published last year, the total circulation of volumes lent for home use was 231,035, and, for the whole year of 1955, this figure was materially increased. The library maintains a reference service, and is microfilming its newspaper files. A collection of musical recordings and a wide selection of art books are among the materials available in its departments. Its collection of children's books is among its more popular features. Large numbers of school children make use of its facilities. The Curtis Home The Curtis Home on Crown Street was founded by the late Lemuel J. Curtis, who provided the funds for its construction. It was erected in conjunction with the work of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church. The first building was dedicated in 1884 as a home for children. Mr. Curtis died in 1888, leaving funds for the maintenance of the institution, and also making it possible to erect another building for the care of elderly women. The second structure was built in 1894. In 1905 an addition was constructed as a facility for manual training for the boys in the home. The same building was later 247 PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS converted into a gymnasium. In 1950, it became a 2 5 -bed infirmary for the women residents. Thirty children and 36 women now live at the Curtis Home. A homelike atmosphere prevails at the institution, which is under the supervision of Miss Helen Stevens. 248 CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE Organizations The scope of this volume does not permit a resume of all Meriden organizations. There are scores of clubs, fraternities, church groups and other associations in addition to those mentioned in this chapter. The histories presented here constitute only a limited selection, dictated largely by the arbitrary boundary of allotted space. Meriden Community Fund The Meriden Community Fund was organized in 1929 by a group of public spirited citizens in recognition of the growing problem created by the multiplicity of fund-raising drives for local welfare organizations. The value of most of these causes was not questioned, but some of them were failing to obtain the support they deserved because appeals came too frequently. It was also becoming more and more difficult to round up volunteer canvassers, because many persons were being asked again and again during the same year to undertake this kind of work. The Community Fund, by combining the major appeals, was able to perform the same tasks much more effectively and, in addition, to furnish assurance to the public that its contributions would be carefully and openly accounted for and put to the best possible uses. Since the year of its establishment, the Community Fund has raised $3,909,078 in its annual campaigns. The amount raised in the 1956 campaign was $181,450 for the 15 agency members, including the Boy Scouts, Boys' Club, Diocesan Bureau of Social Service, Family Service Association, Girl Scouts, Girls' Club, Meriden Hospital, Public Health and Visiting Nurse Association, "News from Home," Salvation Army, St. Rose Community Center, Y.M.C.A., Y.W.C.A., Meriden Community Fund and Council, U. S. O. The active management of the Community Fund is controlled by its executive and budget committees which function at regular meetings and special meetings called throughout the year. The 249 ORGANIZATIONS office is in charge of a salaried director, who is usually present to furnish detailed information at committee meetings. The budget committee scrutinizes thoroughly the budgets submitted by each agency member, and the campaign goal is arrived at after all budgets have been surveyed and approved. On the board of directors, each agency in the Fund is represented, and there are also 25 members at large. The annual meeting is held in April, when officers are elected, together with six new board members to replace those whose terms are expiring. Approximately 135 citizens make up advisory groups which are called into consultation during the year. The Meriden Y.M.C.A. The Meriden Y.M.C.A. dates back to 1866, but its organization was probably influenced by the presence of the Meriden Young Men's Institute established in 1853. The Institute's outstanding accomplishment was to arrange for the visit of Henry Ward Beecher, famous orator, to deliver an address at the dedication of the Town Hall. The first meetings of the Y.M.C.A. were held in the rooms of a local church, where lecture programs were presented. During the first year, $7,000 was raised to make it possible to obtain permanent quarters in the building which stood where Boynton's Inc. is now located. In 1872, a paid secretary was engaged to administer the program. As the result of a compaign in 1875, the association obtained more than $20,000 to erect a new building on the same site as the quarters which it had been occupying. Contributors were assured that for 50 years, dating from the Y's establishment, it would be used only for Y.M.C.A. purposes. In 1885 the first general secretary was hired. The position was filled by the janitor who had cared for the rooms. In the same year, a telephone was installed. Later, facilities for baths were provided, although the board feared they might overflow, causing damage to the building. In 1895, the first petition was presented for bowling alleys. The Lincoln Street tennis courts were added to the association's facilities in 1901. A proposal to erect a new building was brought before the directors in 1907, but 14 years were to elapse before this goal was reached. The necessary funds were finally raised in 1921, and 250 ORGANIZATIONS the present building on West Main Street was erected, providing facilities for all Y.IVLCA. activities, and a dormitory which has been fully occupied almost from the time when it was opened. But much rearrangement has been necessary, and many new facilities have been added up to the present. Further expansion is being planned for the near future. The association's membership has increased from year to year, and its services to members have increased correspondingly, while its work in education and the direction of youth activities has grown also. The war, with its attendant gasoline shortage, saw the passing of the Y Community Forum, which, for 11 years, had attracted an average of 1,000 persons for each series. It also saw the establishment of a teen-age project which has enrolled each year an average of 1,000 young persons for 40 Saturday nights, with an average attendance of 300 at each meeting of the Co-Ed Night Club. Since 1941, the association has invested $73,920 in capital improvements. A city- wide campaign for complete modernization will be conducted in April 1957. The Meriden Y.W.C.A. The Meriden Y.W.C.A. had its origin in the Young Woman's League formed here in 1 890 under the sponsorship of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. In March 1893, the society was reorganized as the Y.W.C.A., with Mrs. C. H. Youngs as president. At first the Y.W.C.A. had its headquarters in BushnelPs Block, 77 West Main Street. Classes in practical nursing, gymnastics, bookkeeping, German, grammar, and writing were formed, and an employment bureau was opened. In 1894, larger quarters were occupied in the same building. The Y.W.C.A. became affiliated with the national organization about that time. The day nursery was started in 1895. In 1897, a vacation house was opened on West Peak, which was occupied during the summers for a long term of years. The present buildings on Crown Street were erected and dedicated in 1908, and the day nursery was continued at that location. In 1940, the nursery was discontinued. Occupancy of the dormitory has continued high. Many clubs with special purposes, formed within the organi- 251 ORGANIZATIONS zation, fit into the Y.W.C.A.'s extensive program for girls and women. Meriden Boys' Club The Meriden Boys' Club, affiliated with the national organization of Boys' Clubs, was founded in 1888. From the beginning, it has provided a place for the recreational activities of teen-age boys, with facilities for sports and games and other varied interests. Its headquarters at 9 Veteran Street have long been recognized as inadequate, and the movement to erect a new club began as far back as the 1930's. Plans matured in 1955, and a campaign was undertaken to raise a building fund of $250,000. This goal was oversubscribed to the extent of about $40,000. Construction of the new building, on a site at the corner of Colony and Washing- ton Streets, opposite the Meriden Post Office, is now well advanced. The club has a membership of more than 1,000 boys. Joseph F. Coffey is the director. Meriden Girls' Club The Meriden Girls' Club was launched in October 1919, spon- sored by the Meriden Woman's Club, and intended originally to promote worthwhile activities among older girls. Later, girls in the younger age brackets became eligible as members. For some years, the club occupied rented quarters on Colony Street. In 1937, it moved into the Italian- American Club building on Grove Street. In 1951, the club fell heir to the Piatt home on Lincoln Street, residence of the late Senator Orville Piatt, and occupied for many years by his widow. The club moved into these new quarters in 1953, but soon found that the space was inadequate for its expanded activities. In February 1956, a campaign was launched to raise a building fund of $75,000, which will permit the construction of a well-designed addition. Miss Betty Rice is executive director of the club. Boy Scouts The Boy Scout movement in Meriden began after the national movement started in 1910. Its 46th anniversary was celebrated in February 1956. The Central Connecticut Council, Boy Scouts of America, now has a membership of more than 2,000 boys and adults in the area of its jurisdiction, which includes Meriden, 252 ORGANIZATIONS Wallingford, and Southington. It is the sixth oldest council in Connecticut. John G. Nagel was the first president. The first professional executive director was E. D. Curtis, in 1916-17, followed by John D. Roberts. 1917-1939. Since that time, Harry S. Hanson has served as executive director. Girl Scouts The Meriden Girl Scout Council was formed 26 years ago, and affiliated with the national organization which celebrated its 44th anniversary in March this year. The council is divided into four districts, with from 15 to 30 troops in each district, each under a chairman assisted by troop organizers and consultants. The first troop was organized in Meriden in 1918. There were 13 troops when the council was incorporated in 1929. Today there are 78 troops with 1,665 girl and adult members, 200 more than last year. Mrs. Louis Desrochers is president. Fourteen new troops, Brownie, intermediate and senior, have come into existence since last year. They are sponsored by churches and schools, some schools having two or three units. Camp Glen Echo off Paddock Avenue is sponsored by the council. It is a summer day-camp conducted for six weeks each season. Mrs. Catherine F. McNulty is executive director. The first director was Mrs. Emily Greely. Public Health and Visiting Nurse Association The Meriden Public Health and Visiting Nurse Association is the outgrowth of the Working Men's Free Bed Fund, which was organized here in 1907 for tuberculosis control. In 1908, it became the Meriden Anti-Tuberculosis Association, and obtained support through five-cent weekly deductions from the pay of factory employees willing to subscribe. In 1910, the name was changed to the Meriden Tuberculosis Relief Association, and the first visiting nurse was employed. Distribution of Christmas seals also began at that time. A group from the association helped in remodeling the old town farm building, a project which was the genesis of Undercliff Sanatorium. In 1922, the association com- bined with the Visiting Nurses to form the present organization. Miss Elizabeth Bigelow was the first director, serving until her 253 ORGANIZATIONS death in 1941, when Miss Jessie Halbert, the present director, was appointed to the position. Salvation Army The Salvation Army was first organized in Meriden in 1911, when the Citadel was built on Pratt Street. In 1940, in the will of Mrs. James A. Curtis, funds were provided for the construction of an addition which was dedicated in 1941. The front section was remodeled, and a new wing was erected at the back, with a gymnasium and basketball court on the second floor, showers and lockers. In charge in 1956 is Capt. John J. Phelan. Meriden Chamber of Commerce The Meriden Chamber of Commerce is the outgrowth of the Meriden Board of Trade, which was organized in May 1896, and incorporated in 1902. In 1908, it was reincorporated and united with the Meriden Business Men's Association. It continued under that name until 1915, when the name changed to the Meriden Chamber of Commerce, Inc. First president of the Business Men's Association was Frank E. Sands. First secretary, in 1908, was Albert A. May. In 1915, offices were established in the Hall & Lewis Building, now the Cherniack Building, and remained there for many years. H. N. Clark became executive secretary in 1917. Charles A. Newton became executive secretary in 1932, and has held that office up to the present, with the exception of a period during World War II, when Hollis D. Immick served as temporary secretary while Mr. Newton was with the War Production Board in New Haven. The Chamber of Commerce has helped to promote the best business and industrial interests of Meriden from the beginning, and has succeeded in bringing many new industries here. Affili- ated with it is the Merchant's Bureau, which has its own officers. Bernard D. Kasack is president of the Chamber of Commerce and E. W. Graffam is chairman of the Merchant's Bureau. Junior Chamber of Commerce Organized after World War II to encourage civic enterprise and promote community betterment, the Junior Chamber of Commerce is an active group of business and professional men in 254 ORGANIZATIONS the younger age brackets. It has sponsored annual products shows, collected food and clothing for flood victims, and assisted in numerous campaigns. Each year it honors the "Young Man of the Year" selected through widely distributed ballots. Another of its goals is to foster safe driving by teen-agers. The Manufacturers' Association The Manufacturers' Association of Meriden was organized in June 1919 and incorporated in 1920 to consider questions of manufacturing interest and encourage cooperation and industrial progress. The principal Wallingford manufacturers affiliated with the group, and the association serves both communities, a fact which was recognized by the addition of Wallingford to the name. William J. Wilcox is executive secretary, and offices are main- tained at 43 Vi Colony Street. The Employers' Association, an even older organization, kept a separate identity until 1942, when the two organizations were merged. The late Clifford R. Gardinor was the first president of the Manufacturers' Association, serving in 1920, 1921 and 1922. The late Charles G. Phelps of Wallingford was the first secretary, and held the position until his death in 1925. Mr. Wilcox, the present secretary, assumed his duties in 1926. The association has taken part in many worth-while civic projects for the benefit of Meriden and Wallingford, and was active in the promotion of building in periods of housing shortage. In addition to Mr. Gardinor, the following have served as president: W. H. Walther, Charles H. Cuno, William F. Handel, Glover Snow, Parker B. Allen, Milton L. Gearing, Albert W. Savage, Clifford I. Packer, W. Oden Hughart, John R. Sexton, Robert W. Clark, William H. Grinold, Philip B. Watson, Harry T. Burgess, and Norman J. Stringer. Mr. Stringer holds the office at present. United Veterans' Council A movement for an organization to include all groups of Meriden war veterans was started in 1945, when 10 posts and chapters gathered at the invitation of Charles L. Upham Camp, Sons of Union Veterans, to discuss the feasibility of the plan. From this beginning, the United Veterans' Council resulted, and has been 255 ORGANIZATIONS active for the last 10 years. It was largely instrumental in the successful campaign for the World War II Veterans' Memorial Hospital, and has also loaned its influence to other local efforts on the behalf of veterans. Every veterans' organization in Meriden is included in its membership, which embraces the following: Sons of Union Veterans, Charles L. Upham Camp No. 7; United Spanish War Veterans, Charles B. Bowen Camp; Veterans of Foreign Wars, La Croix Murdock Post No. 585; Yankee Division Veterans Association, Feegel-Tyler Chapter; the American Legion, Meriden Post No. 45; Jewish War Veterans, Post No. 92; Italian-iVmerican World War Veterans, D'Amico Post No. 7; Marine Corps League, Silver City Detachment; Adilitary Order of the Purple Heart, Meriden Chapter; Disabled American Veterans, Chapter 6; Polish American Veterans, Meri- den Post; Catholic War Veterans, A4ount Carmel Post No. 1053; Catholic War Veterans, St. Joseph Post No. 1106; Catholic War Veterans, St. Rose Post No. 1116; Catholic War Veterans, St. Laurent Post No. 1135; Catholic War Veterans, St. Mary Post No. 1136. Also the following women's auxiliaries: Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, Italian-American War Veterans, Marine Corps League, Disabled American Veterans, Polish American Veterans, Gold Star Association. American Legion, Meriden Post 45 Post 45, American Legion, was founded September 18, 1919, two days after Congress granted a charter to the national Legion organization. For several years, it occupied the Coe home on East Main Street, and remained at that location until 1923, when the property was sold to become the site of the Masonic Temple. The W. G. Warnock property at 212 Colony Street was pur- chased, and continued to serve as the post's headquarters until 1946, when the Legionnaires decided that it would be inadvisable to remodel it, and it was sold to provide new headquarters for the Meriden Public Health and Visiting Nurse Association. Tem- porarily, the Legion established quarters in the Winthrop Hotel while plans for a new home were being discussed. Several proposals were considered and rejected before Mar- chand C. Blatchley, post commander at the time, announced on 256 ORGANIZATIONS July 19, 1950 the signing of contracts for a Legion Home on property acquired at the former site of Hanover Park in South Meriden which was rechristened Legion Park. The building was designed by Lorenzo Hamilton, architect, and was planned to furnish modern accommodations for all Legion activities. The new home in Legion Park was dedicated May 20, 1951 with appropriate ceremonies. Since then, it has been the scene of many events of the active Legion program. It is used also by the Legion Auxiliary, which was founded about a year after the post was established. Sons of the American Revolution Captain John Couch Branch No. 2, Connecticut Society, Sons of the American Revolution, held its first meeting in the Winthrop Hotel on Feb. 28, 1893. Present were H. Wales Lines, E. J. Doo- little, Arthur Proudman, W. W. Lee, Charles Rockwell, S. S. Peck, M. F. Griswold, M. B. Schenck, LeGrand Bevins, George C. Merriman, George E. Savage, and George N. Bowers. A com- mittee of five was named to draw up a constitution and by-laws and to apply to the Connecticut Society for a charter, which was soon granted. Service Clubs Seven active service organizations, all with national affiliations, have contributed much to Meriden's civic welfare in the years since the first service club was organized here. The Meriden Rotary Club, chartered April 1, 1921, was the first service club in the city. The Meriden Lions Club was organized in 1923, and chartered a year later. The Meriden Exchange Club was also organized in 1923, and received its charter March 25, 1924. The Meriden Kiwanis Club was established here in 1930. These were the pioneer service clubs for men. Service clubs for women began nationally as far back as 1919, when Zonta International was formed. The Meriden Zonta Club was organized in 1935. Soroptimist International of Meriden was chartered in 1949. The Unison Club is another service organization. It was founded here in 1953. 257 organizations Women's Organizations Ruth Hart Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, was the sixth chapter in Connecticut, and was organized in 1893. Mrs. Levi E. Coe was its first president. It has the perpetual care of Meeting House Hill Burying Ground. Susan Carrington Clarke Chapter, D. A. R., was organized in 1895. Mrs. Kate Foote Coe was its first regent. The Meriden Colony of the National Society of New England Women was formed in 1927, a branch of the national society which began in 1895. The City Mission Society, organized in 1886, through the efforts of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, is Meriden's oldest women's organization. But the Meriden Charity Club also has a long history. It was established in 1897 by 12 high school girls, members of a whist club, who sought an outlet for their time and energies in charitable work, and has been continuously active since that time. The Meriden Woman's Club, largest of the women's organiza- tions, was organized in 1917. First president was Mrs. William Rice Smith, and the charter membership included 325 women. The Thursday Morning Club, mentioned elsewhere for its con- nection with the foundation of a public library here, helped the new club in sponsoring lectures. Since that time, the activities of the club have been many and varied in worth-while causes. The Meriden Junior Woman's Club started in April 1947, with Mrs. Marion Hawkins as its first president. Its membership is limited to 250 women in the lower age brackets. The Meriden Business and Professional Women's Club, an affiliate of a national organization, was chartered in 1953. The Home Club The Home Club, 128 Colony Street, was located originally in the Byxbee Block on Colony Street. In May 1893 it voted to erect the present building, which was designed and furnished for its own needs. In 1946, the club instituted an $80,000 building program, under which the building was completely remodeled, and an addition measuring 18 by 44 feet was constructed in the rear. The dining room was greatly enlarged and the kitchen was nearly trebled 258 ORGANIZATIONS in size. The bar was relocated. Facilities were provided for serving meals to wives and guests of members. Luncheon and dinner service is available on week days. The club has a membership of more than 300, among which many leaders of the business and industrial community are represented. The Turner Society The Turner Society, one of Meriden's oldest organizations, was organized in 1866. A young group of German immigrants formed it to continue the gymnastic exercises they had practiced in their native land. Originally, there were 46 members, but the member- ship grew rapidly as similar groups were launched throughout New England. In 1868 a house on State Street Extension was obtained and remodeled as Turner Hall. Eventually, larger quarters were found on Pratt Street, and later on Butler Street. During the 80's and 90's and in the early part of this century, Turner competitions on a state-wide basis were frequent. A large meeting was held here during the Centennial, when hundreds took part. In recent years, the organization has concentrated on choral singing. The singing groups have won a number of prizes in competitions with similar groups throughout the state. Meriden Lodge No. 35, B. P. O. E. Meriden Lodge No. 35, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, received its dispensation on June 19, 1885, and was instituted the following week on June 26, in Grand Army hall. The formal charter was granted December 12, 1886. There were 27 charter members. The lodge continued to meet in Grand Army hall until a room was fitted up for its purposes in the Cashen building on State Street. Later, it moved into quarters in the Wilcox Block, and met in Colonial hall for a number of years. The next change in location was to a brick addition in the rear of the old Richmond home on East Main Street. In 1922, a committee was named to start a building fund. The present clubhouse, opened in 1928, marked the culmination of more than five years of fund-raising activities. It is a substantial brick building, conveniently planned for the Elks' purposes, handsomely furnished, and completely equipped throughout. 259 ORGANIZATIONS The order has made many civic contributions during its long existence, mainly of a charitable and patriotic nature. It has a large and active membership in the community. Masonic Lodges The members of the Masonic fraternity in Meriden long held their meetings in the Palace Block, but sought for years to find ways and means of erecting a temple for all branches of the organization. A committee of 50 Masons was appointed in 1921 to take the necessary steps toward this project. In 1923, it sub- mitted a petition to the state legislature to authorize the Masonic Temple Foundation with a capital stock of $25,000 to be held in equal shares by the following Masonic bodies: Meridian Lodge No. 77, Center Lodge No. 97, Keystone Chapter No. 27, Hamilton Council No. 22, and St. Elmo Commandery, No. 9. The founda- tion charter was granted and ratified by all these bodies. The incorporators, after receiving this authority, purchased the Coe property on East Main Street then occupied by the American Legion. A successful campaign for funds followed, and the present Masonic Temple, designed by Walter T. Arnold, was erected by the H. Wales Lines Company. Mr. Lines, a prominent Mason, had been identified with the movement for a temple from the begin- ning. Ground for the building was broken on May 4, 1927 by Eli C. Birdsey, president emeritus of the Foundation. The temple was dedicated November 10, 1928, and has since served as head- quarters for all the Masonic bodies in Meriden. On November 10, 1952, the mortgage on the property was burned by Frank E. Kay, who had then served 25 years as president of the Masonic Temple Foundation. Knights of Columbus Silver City Council No. 2, Knights of Columbus, was the second council to be instituted in the largest Roman Catholic fraternal society in the world. The institution took place on May 16, 1883. The Rev. Fr. A. Van Oppen of St. Laurent's Church was the first chaplain, and the organization met for a time in the basement of the church. Later, it moved into quarters in the Wilcox Block. As the organization grew and strengthened, its members became determined to possess their own home. This goal was realized with the purchase of the dwelling at 377 Broad Street. It was 260 ORGANIZATIONS remodeled and suitably furnished, and was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies on June 12, 1949, when the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Joseph M. Griffin, permanent rector of St. Rose Church, delivered the dedicatory address. Eagles The Fraternal Order of Eagles has a commodious clubhouse at 66 Crown Street. A large addition was erected in 1937, and there have been several enlargements since that time, with a complete renovation of the interior, and complete facilities for the organi- zation's many activities. One of Meriden's older fraternal societies, it has a large and active membership. Falcons Falcon Nest 68 was organized in 1906 by a group of Polish- American residents, and is observing its fiftieth anniversary in the same year as Meriden's Sesquicentennial. The first president was Stanislaus Iwanicki. The Falcon Athletic Association has a club- house at 43 Olive Street, built in 1912. Falcon Park, 210 Westfield Road, was opened in 1949. It is a large tract, comprising an athletic field, with adjacent club building and pavilion. The first buildings erected there were burned in February 1951, and have since been replaced. Moose Club The Moose Club maintains headquarters at 138 Colony Street, formerly the home of George W. Lyon, which was purchased by the local chapter of the Loyal Order of Moose in 1933. 261 CHAPTER FORTY Meriden Churches Broad Street on a Sunday morning presented a goodly spectacle as the 19th century reached the half-way mark. The five churches which mothered many of the present houses of worship were ranged between East Alain and Charles Streets, on what is now the Memorial Boulevard. Coaches and carriages filled with prominent citizens from all areas of the town congregated in the area, and hundreds more of the humbler parishioners made the weekly pilgrimage on foot. On the corner where it still stands was the Center Congrega- tional Church, composed of members who had decided to reorgan- ize and continue their worship at this historic spot when the First Congregational Church was established in the present downtown area. Next to it stood, and still stands, the First Baptist Church. Just south of this the xMethodist Society had erected a house of worship. Saint Andrew's Parish had just built a new structure of Gothic design at the corner of what is now Charles Street. To the south of this the newly organized Roman Catholic Church, dedicated to St. Rose of Lima, held worship in the building formerly used by the Episcopal congregation. The First Congregational Church's new building on Colony Street was the first to reflect the surge of growth to the west. It was used until 1876, when the present building, a block to the north of it, was completed. This new edifice cost $175,000 and was recognized throughout the state as an outstanding example of church architecture. Extensive remodeling and redecoration were undertaken in 1929 in preparation for the church's 200th anniversary. A building program to add room for educational and church-sponsored community activities and to modernize existing facilities is cur- rently being carried on. Church records list the names of 2 1 ministers who have served the church in its 225 years. Outstanding among them in more recent times is that of the Rev. Dr. Albert J. Lord, who ministered to the congregation between 1903 and 1938. The present pastor 262 MERIDEN CHURCHES is the Rev. William F. Edge, who began his duties in 1951. The Center Congregational Church has continued to carry on its program of worship, education, and good works in the lovely old building on Broad Street which is widely recognized as typical of the best in early 19th century churches. In the 1870's the growth of the congregation made necessary a building program which extended the building 20 feet to the west, adding a new lecture room and parlors. Further improvements were made in the 1890's and again in 1916. The Rev. Ray Marcus Miller is the present pastor. In 1847 the Baptists moved into their new church next to the Center Congregational Church building. The house of worship of the First Baptist Church is another example of the best in post-colonial architecture, and one of which its members are justly proud. For many years it maintained the Olive Branch Chapel as a mission school and it has been generous in the spiritual and financial support which it has provided for its offshoots which grew into separate churches as the city expanded. Its pastor is the Rev. Fred L. ShifTer. Less than 20 years after the completion of its stone church on Broad Street, the parishioners of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church decided to construct a new building farther to the west to meet the growing trend in that direction. Much of the present edifice, standing diagonally across from the entrance to the City Hall, was built with stone from the razed church. The new building was dedicated in 1867 and has served the congregation, with improve- ments and modernizations, until the present day. Extensive modernization and redecoration were completed in 1953. St. Andrew's was served by the Rev. Giles H. Deshon from 1850 to 1883 and by the Rev. Arthur T. Randall from 1883 to 1926, a total of 76 years. The Rev. John S. Kromer is the present rector. Methodism established a permanent station in Meriden in 1847, and until 1867 the congregation was housed in the meeting house on Broad Street. In that year a large stone church was built on the present site at the corner of East Main and Pleasant Streets and was in use until it was destroyed by fire in 1941. In 1912 the Rogers Memorial Building was erected to house parish activities, at a cost of $50,000. The early history of the First Methodist Church is marked • 263 MERIDEN CHURCHES by more than one instance in which its members showed their generosity and gave their support to people of other denomina- tions that were struggling to establish themselves. After the disastrous fire which wiped out the church and severely damaged the memorial building, the congregation of St. Paul's Universalist Church across the street showed the same kind of generosity in return when they shared their Sunday worship services with the homeless Methodists. The new Methodist Church which rose on the site of the old was completed in 1949, at an estimated cost of $285,000. It is a beautiful edifice of brick and white-painted wood, colonial in inspiration, and an outstanding addition to the group of public buildings which clusters around this area. With the opening of the railroad in 1839 a new contingent of A^eriden citizens began to arrive. To minister to their spiritual needs St. Rose Church, the mother Roman Catholic parish of Meriden, was organized in 1848, with missions in Wallingford, Cheshire and Southington attached. Regular services were held in the building on Broad Street purchased from the Episcopal congregation until 1856, when a church at the present location on Center Street was built. Even before removal to the new building, the church had begun parochial school classes for its children. During the first quarter-century in the new location a new parochial school was built, along with a convent and a chapel for the Sisters of Mercy who came from County Clare, Ireland, to teach in the school. Enlargements were made to house the growing membership in 1868 and again in 1882. In 1883 the parish was the fourth largest in the state. The present church edifice was formally consecrated in 1926. Another milestone of this period was passed with the erection of St. Rose Community Building. A program of building and enlargement is currently in progress under the direction of the Right Reverend Monsignor Joseph M. Griffin, permanent rector of St. Rose Church since 1947. Authentic records place the founding of the South Meriden Methodist Church in 1851, when meetings were first held in the village schoolhouse, and an ecclesiastical society was formed. The Methodist Preaching House was built the same year at the cost of $1,333, with the ground floor of the building to be rented as living quarters for the sake of economy. Until 1871 preaching was done on a supply basis by students 264 MERIDEN CHURCHES at Wesleyan. Later a regular supply minister serving several parishes officiated. The first resident minister was appointed in 1884. Currently occupying the pulpit is the Reverend Kenneth B. Welliver. Extensive improvements and enlargements over the years have enabled the church to carry on community responsi- bilities as well as serving as a house of worship. Formerly known as St. Paul's Universalist Church, the First Universalist Church was formally chartered in 1854. In 1860 a small wooden building was erected at the present site on the corner of Norwood and East Main Streets to house the growing congregation. The society was placed on a permanent basis in 1862. Rapid growth of the congregation during the 1880's resulted in the need for a larger church and the present massive edifice was dedicated in 1893. The old building was removed to the corner of Norwood and Liberty Streets and was used temporarily for town and city offices after the Town Hall burned in 1904. In the years since the new century began, the church has received valuable gifts and bequests from its members which have enhanced its beauty and usefulness, and has been renovated and modernized. The Rev. William E. Gardner is the present minister. The Main Street Baptist Church began its ministry in 1860 when 14 members of the First Baptist Church were granted letters of dismissal to start a West Meriden Baptist Church. Its location at the corner of Crown and East Main Streets is a reflection of the shifting population and growth in the city subsequent to the coming of the railroad. Its early years during the Civil War were hard, but by 1868 the chapel which had served early worshippers was supplanted by the brick building which still stands today and which is the oldest church building in the center of the city. The present name was assumed when the old name of West Meriden went out of ordinary usage. During its history it has done outstanding work with young people and has welcomed Baptists coming to Meriden from foreign lands. Russian Baptists from Meriden and surrounding communities are among the members of the congregation today. Present pastor at the church is the Rev. William V. Allen. St. John's Lutheran Church was founded in 1865, just after the end of the Civil War, by citizens of German descent, and its first 265 MERIDEN CHURCHES meeting was held in the courtroom at the Town Hall. The Pennsylvania Synod, which had encouraged the Meriden Lutherans in their attempts to set up a congregation, sent a pastor and in 1867 the first church was built and dedicated. Membership increased rapidly and an addition was soon necessary. In 1886 a parochial school was opened, which was to continue until it was finally closed last year. English services were instituted and the parish hall was built and equipped during the 37-year pastorate of the Rev. S. F. Glaser, who began his dutes in 1900. The Rev. Adolph H. YVismar is the present pastor. Another group of German immigrants founded the Liberty Street Baptist Church, which was organized in 1874 as the "Ger- man Baptist Society.'' Ten years of meetings in private homes had preceded the church's formal establishment. A site on the corner of Liberty and Twiss Streets was purchased, and the small con- gregation erected the building which is still used today. Change to the present name occurred after the First World War, at which time English was adopted for use in the church's wider ministry. During the last 30 years extensive alterations and improvements have been made to the church and parsonage. The present pastor is the Rev. August Lutz. In 1880, St. Laurent's Roman Catholic Church was organized to minister to the needs of the many French-Canadian and Ger- man Catholics who had worshipped at St. Rose's. The Rev. Alphonsus John Henry Van Oppen, who spoke German, French, and English, was the first pastor and served for almost 40 years. The church building on Camp Street was begun and its basement put into use in 1881, and the completed structure was blessed in 1888. By 1894 a parochial school building, a convent, and the rectory had been completed. The present pastor, Rev. Edward A. Mathieu, assumed his duties in 1945, and is the fourth to have charge of the parish since its foundation. Many improvements on the school and the convent, and the complete renovation of the exterior of the church have been made during his pastorate. Trinity Methodist Church was organized in answer to the city's downtown and westward growth. Its first meetings in 1885 were held in the Y.M.CA. building, then located on Colony Street, and it made arrangements to share with the South Meriden Methodists the services of their preacher. In 1887 a chapel was 266 MERIDEN CHURCHES completed and opened for worship on West Main Street, just east of Butler Street and the minister was put on a full-time basis. Growth of the church membership in the ensuing years led to the purchase of the present site on West Main Street on the corner of Cook Avenue, and the erection of the church building which is still in use was completed in 1895. Numerous improve- ments and enlargements have been made since. The Rev. Robert Stith, pastor, resigned in March of this year. All Saints' Episcopal Church on West Main Street is another church built to serve the increasing parish to the west. Services were first held in this part of town in 1885 by the rector of Saint Andrew's, and the number that attended soon outgrew the private homes and other quarters in which they met. A bequest from the widow of a former rector was the basis of the building drive for the new church, and parishioners of Saint Andrew's were generous in their support of the new parish. The church was built and consecrated in 1893 and has subse- quently been enlarged and improved. For many years the rectors of All Saints' have also served as priests-in-charge of St. John's Episcopal Church in Yalesville. The Rev. Richard Elting is at present the rector of All Saints'. Next to the Methodist Church on East Main Street, across from the City Hall, and one of the cluster of religious edifices in this area, Temple B'Nai Abraham's location is an effective reminder of the friendship and brotherhood of Meriden's religious institu- tions. It was completed in 1952 and is an impressive brick building for worship and community service, with a large wing containing classrooms where the Hebrew language and traditions are taught. The first Hebrew religious society was organized informally in 1887, 15 years after the first Jewish families came to Meriden. Two years later an official charter was obtained and in 1891 the first synagogue was erected on Cedar Street. The cornerstone for a new and larger place of worship, also on Cedar Street, was laid in 1908 and this building served until the erection of the present Temple. Rabbi Albert Troy is the present spiritual leader. Holy Angels' Church in South Meriden was built in 1887 as a mission church to care for the spiritual needs of members of St. Rose Parish living in that area. It was made a separate parish in 1888. The Rev. Eugene A. Moriarty has been pastor of Holy Angels' 267 MERIDEN CHURCHES since 1950. His predecessor was the Rev. Walter A. McCrann, who served the parish for more than two decades. The church has grown in recent years and a chapel in the basement of the church and two classrooms in the rectory have been added to accommodate the expansion. Extensive new building plans are in a formative stage. Plans for the erection of the Roman Catholic church in Yalesville have been under the direction of the South Meriden parish. The Parker African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church was begun as a missionary service conducted in local homes to care for the spiritual needs of Meriden's Negro families in the 1880's. It is named for Charles Parker, Meriden's first mayor, who contributed generously to the founding and construction of the church on Court Street. Outstanding in its rolls of pastors is Mrs. Zoe Walters who served the church from 1930 to 1945. Membership has reflected the number of Negro families in Meriden which for many years was very small but which has increased rapidly since 1942. A building program to increase the church's beauty and facilities for service is being planned. The present pastor is the Rev. George C. Battle. Founded by newly arrived Swedish immigrants who wanted a spiritual home in which their native language was spoken, the Park Avenue Baptist Church began its ministry as the Swedish Baptist Church. For a time its services were held in a small hall on Britannia Street and at the Main Street Baptist Church. The present building was completed and dedicated in 1890. Since 1923 enlargement of the membership to include people of many national backgrounds has caused the use of English in all church services. The Park Avenue Church has over the years shown special interest and devotion to the fields of foreign service and to youth organizations. Under the ministry of the present pastor, the Rev. Herbert R. Peterson, who has served since 1932, extensive improvements and additions to the church have been made. The Evangelical Lutheran Immanuel Church was organized by a group previously affiliated with St. John's Lutheran Church. Immigrants of German descent, they wanted a church where their own language was spoken and English services were first intro- duced into the church and Bible School in 1910. A church 268 MERIDEN CHURCHES organization was set up in 1889 and the present site on the corner of Cook Avenue and Hanover Street was settled on for a church location. The First Lutheran Church of Southington sought affiliation and the two congregations worshipped as one parish until 1914. The Rev. C. Reinhold Tappert served as pastor in the early years, from 1889 to 1912. On New Year's Eve, 1917, fire destroyed the church com- pletely. For several months services were conducted in the parish house of St. John's, and later a building on West Main Street was rented. Immanuel's parishioners decided to begin their re- building program with a parish house, which was completed in 1920. The main church building was dedicated in 1925. Further improvement and expansion was accomplished under the leader- ship of Rev. George A. Hagedorn, who came here as pastor in 1943 and served until his death in December 1955. The Rev. Oscar Werner then became supply pastor. Meriden residents of Swedish birth formed the religious society which became Augustana Lutheran Church. The first meetings in 1889 resulted in the formal organization of the Swedish Evan- gelical Lutheran Church of Meriden and the purchase in 1891 of the present church site on Center Street. Ground was broken for the new church in 1895 and the men of the parish did much of the work of erecting the building. It served until 1934, when it was destroyed by fire. Plans for new building began at once. It was finally completed in 1939, the congregation worshipping in the basement while building and fund-raising went forward. The present program of worship and service is carried on under the pastorate of Rev. Charles R. Bomgren who began his duties in 1952. St. Mary's Parish was founded in 1890 to serve as the spiritual home of the German Catholics who had previously worshipped at St. Laurent's. A wooden edifice was built on Church Street to serve as church, parochial school, and convent and was dedicated in 1891. The cornerstone of the present church building was laid in 1912 on the site of the first wooden church, which was moved to Grove Street to make room for it. Solidly built of brick and Gothic in design, it was completed in 1913. Since its beginning, St. Mary's has been under the care of four regular pastors. One, the Rev. Nicholas F. X. Schneider, served for nearly 35 years until his death in 1935. During the last two 269 MERIDEN" CHURCHES decades important expansion has gone forward. The combined school, convent, and parish hall were erected in 1937, and a new rectory has been added. The present pastor, the Rev. B. J. Butcher, has served since 1949. Italian Catholic residents of Meriden, living mainly on the west side, were provided with their own place of worship when in 1894 a wooden church was erected for their use on Goodwill Avenue. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church held its worship services in this building until 1935 when plans for badly needed expansion matured to produce the present church building on Lewis Avenue. It is of yellow brick faced with artificial stone, and is a free adaptation of the Lombard style of architecture seen in central Italy. During the pastorate of the Rev. Walter J. Lyddy, who served from 1930 to 1947, the church acquired by purchase from the city a parochial school building which has the only complete junior high school program among the city's parochial schools. The Rev. John J. Kelly is the present pastor. By 1895 St. Rose parish had increased in numbers and in area so that services for people on the west side of Meriden were being held on West Main Street, in a building purchased from the Trinity Methodists. In 1901 St. Joseph's parish was formally authorized, to serve that part of Meriden west of the railroad. The cornerstone for the new church, between Goodwill and Lewis Avenues on West Main Street, was laid in 1902, and the former chapel was put to use as a parochial school. A continuous program of building and improvement has marked St. Joseph's progress. The school building was dedicated in 1915 and numerous expansions and modernizations have been carried on in the church plant since. Four pastors have served in the direction of the church since its founding. The Rev. John T. Lynch, the first pastor, served until his death in 1924 and Mon- signor Jeremiah T. Duggan was pastor from then until 1944. The present pastor is the Rev. Thomas B. McGarry. St. Stanislaus' Roman Catholic Church, the first Polish Catholic church in Connecticut, has grown and prospered in serving Meriden families of Polish descent. In 1880 there were only ten of these, who began meeting in the basement of St. Rose Church. By 1892 they had become a separate congregation, meeting in 270 MERIDEN CHURCHES their own wooden church building which had been completed on the corner of Jefferson Street. In 1906 the Rev. John L. Ceppa began his duties at St. Stanis- laus', duties which were to continue through the growing years of the new church and which ended only with his death in 1948. The present church building, a brick edifice of Gothic design, on an eminence at the corner of Pleasant and Olive Streets, was dedicated in 1908. In 1915 the new parochial school building was completed. During Father Ceppa's long pastorate, improvements and enlargements totaling in cost more than half a million dollars were made and paid for. Among them were the convent and St. Stanislaus Community Center, which includes an auditorium with a gallery accommodating 1,200 persons. Ceppa Field, sold to the city in 1941, was used for some years by the church as a play- ground and athletic field. Father Ceppa was elevated to the Monsignori in 1943. The Rev. Stanislaus F. Nalewajk, who began his pastorate in 1948, is at present in charge of the parish. Current plans call for a new convent of 30 rooms to be begun this year. Further additions to the parochial school are also being planned. First Church of Christ Scientist of Meriden was organized in 1899. Services were held in a succession of rented halls as the membership and attendance grew. In 1922 the first meeting was held in the present brick edifice at Bradley Park. The Meriden church serves the surrounding area including Wallingford, Southington, and Cheshire. It maintains a reading room, serving members and the public, at 37 East Main Street. Mrs. Edith Lipke Ulisney is president of the organization, Mr. Howard B. Preble serves as First Reader, and Mrs. Elizabeth Sembler is Second Reader. In 1911 Sts. Peter & Paul Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church was established, under the pastorate of the Very Reverend Seraphim Oblivantseff and the church building on Bunker Avenue was completed the following year. Under the direction of the Very Reverend Alexander Pogrebniak, who officiated at the church between 1933 and 1948, a parish and community building was erected in 1939. July of 1955 saw ground broken for a new church building which is currently under construction. Plans call for completion and dedication in July of this year. The Rev. John Mason is the current pastor. 271 MERIDEN CHURCHES Meetings which led to the founding of the first Italian Baptist Church were begun in the year 1909 when the minister of the First Baptist Church held meetings for the people in the Spring- dale Avenue area, bringing with him Sunday School teachers from his own and from the Main Street Baptist Church. The organiza- tion continued meeting in Columbus Hall under the leadership of its first pastor, the Rev. Rolando Giuffrida, until the present building was completed in 1912. Recent improvements to church property include the purchase of a parsonage in 1945 and the installation of an organ and chimes in 1946 as a war memorial. In 1954 the men of the church redec- orated and modernized the kitchen and Sunday School rooms. The Rev. Samuel Binch is the present pastor. St. Nicholas Parish serves the spiritual needs of the Byzantine Rite Catholics of Meriden. The parish was organized in 1914 and land was purchased for the church site in the same year. Until the church building was completed the members of the parish worshipped at special services organized for them at St. Joseph's Church. Ground was broken for the new church in 1919, and the official dedication of the building took place in 1921, during the pastorate of Father Vladimer Michalich, the first resident pastor. The acquisition of a rectory in 1923 and recent additions and improvements to the church property mark its growth. The present pastor is the Rev. Peter P. Kichinko, who assumed his duties in August, 1955. Mt. Hebron Baptist Church is a Negro congregation organized in 1945. It is currently meeting in a building at 21 Veteran Street but plans are under way for the construction of a regular church building. The Rev. F. H. Hicks who has officiated since 1951 is the third pastor of the church. Jehovah's Witnesses, established for some years at Kingdom Hall on Grove Street, have recently completed a substantial brick meeting house on Coe Avenue, erected largely through labor supplied by members of the congregation. Meriden's Seventh Day Adventists hold regular weekly services at 32 Crown Street. The Salvation Army offers regular religious services as part of its program. 272 CHAPTER FORTY-ONE Meriden Schools; 1 860-1 956 Although the history of Meriden schools begins almost with the first establishment of a settlement in this area, free public schools as we know them did not come into being until 1863. During the 18th century the parish acted in its annual meetings in the capacity of a town meeting, appointing school committees, mapping out school districts, and laying taxes for the support of the schools. In December of 1773, for example, it was voted "to lay a Rate of one farthing upon the pound for ye use of schools and each quarter or school to have their proportion of said money according to ye list of each quarter." "Ye Society Committee" voted in 1776 to "call in ye loan & excise money that belongs to ye Parish for the use of schools next March & let it out with good security to be paid yearly to said committee for use of schools only. . . ." The parish was divided into seven school districts in 1791, presumably with the purpose of establishing seven separate school- houses. These were designated as southeast, east, northeast, northwest, west, southwest, and center. As the town grew these districts were subdivided until in the mid-nineteenth century a total of thirteen was recorded. During the years before 1863 Meriden's schools were public but they were not free. The responsibility for maintaining and financing each school fell to the district in which it was located, with little help or supervision from the town. Most of the cost seems to have been made up by tuition charged on a per pupil basis although the practice of making payment in kind, from firewood for the schoolhouse stove to board and lodging for the teacher, probably took the place of a cash payment in many instances. In 1863 the town voted that "all the public schools of the town shall be free, and the expense of said schools, heretofore defrayed from the avails of rate bills, shall be paid by the town." It was also voted to increase the educational tax from three tenths to one 273 MERIDEN SCHOOLS; 1860-1956 and one twentieth of a mill on the dollar so as to cover all the expenses of the several districts. This modified district plan which was to remain in force for nearly a quarter of a century was devised to keep the primary responsibility and control of the schools directly in the hands of the surrounding neighborhood, reserving certain important powers and checks to the town and the state. Under it the voters of each district elected each year a committee of one or more men to hire teachers and to run the schools. The voters of the town at large elected a Board of School Visitors to approve teacher hiring, to examine choice of textbooks, and to oversee the condition of the schoolhouses. The Board of Visitors and the town selectmen acted as a joint board of finance for the schools and recommended an appropria- tion by the town sufficient to provide each district with funds for ordinary running expenses, including teachers' salaries, pay- ment for janitors, and fuel. Building and maintenance of the schoolhouses was left in the hands of the districts, which set up organizations for this purpose staffed with collectors, treasurers, and auditors. Most of the duties of the Board of Visitors were carried out by the man designated Acting Visitor. This official was paid a small salary and his duties resembled in a limited area those of a modern school superintendent. He visited the schools, made recommenda- tions to the district committees, and evaluated the teachers and their work. Control of the purse-strings was the power which the Acting School Visitor and, through him, the Board could invoke to improve district school conditions if it was deemed necessary. However, withholding town tax money from the districts was a drastic move, bound to stir up a storm, and Visitors only used it as a last resort, after important recommendations had been repeatedly and flagrantly ignored. Such a situation arose over the schoolhouse in the Farms district, which Visitors repeatedly criticized and condemned over a period of years. Finally, in May of 1879, the district committee was officially notified that "no further appropriations of school money would be made until the accommodations were made satisfactory." By September a new building had been erected by the citizens of the district and was ready for use. 274 MERIDEN schools; 1860-1956 The official Visitors' Report of 1864-65 draws a clear profile of the Meriden school system two years after the town assumed control of its finances and made schooling free to all children. The experiment was hailed by the Visitors as^ an outstanding success. Through the new system a fairer distribution of the economic burden was attained. Already increased attendance was evident. Children in Meriden between the ages of four and sixteen numbered 1,675, an increase of 137 from the previous year. An Academy and four private schools enrolled 250 of these children. During the year, 1,128 students were registered in the public schools. The winter term served 968 children, with an average attendance of 757. In the summer term 948 were enrolled, with an average attendance of 751. Three male and 21 female teachers were employed. Reading was the most-studied subject in the curriculum, with a total of 1,112 students applying themselves to it during the two sessions. Arithmetic came next, with geography a trailing third. Grammar attracted only 111 students. History enrolled 77 students, while physiology and philosophy enrollment hovered around 25. Fifteen students studed Latin, eight wrestled with algebra, and one was learning bookkeeping. Special praise was given to the "Grand Spelling Match" which was held at the Town Hall on two successive evenings. The programs of vocal music in several of the schools, daily reading of the Bible in class, and "light gymnastics" were also commended. It is worth remarking, for the sake of those who consider today's youth uniquely ungovernable, that the need for "firm govern- ment" is stressed as an ideal not always achieved in the schools of the 1860's. "We have found that those schools where teachers kept a daily report of deportment appeared the best," observed the Visitors. In assessing the work of each individual teacher, the report is both specific and succinct. Of one unfortunate teacher in the intermediate department of the Corner School it is recorded for posterity that "though a Normal School scholar and an estimable lady, (she) did not seem to restore the interest and bring the school up to a desirable standard." School finances as managed by the Visitors in the report are a model of tidiness and exactitute. Receipts from the state school 275 MERIDEN schools; 1860-1956 fund of $1,892.90 plus $399.13 from the Town Deposit fund and $4,500.95 from the educational tax add up to $6,792.98. Expendi- tures of $5,761.25 for teachers' salaries plus $1,031.73 for fuel and other expenses total in expenditures $6,792.98. A legacy from even more halcyon days is the mention of the Town Deposit fund. This is a memorial of the country's first venture into federal aid to education, originating in 1836. In this year our thrifty forefathers were faced with an overflow in the United States treasury to the amount of 28 million dollars. This money Congress lent to the states to be put out at interest. Connecticut divided her share, $763,661, among the towns, creat- ing the Town Deposit fund, the proceeds of which should be "forever" devoted to school purposes. The rising population of the state's school children plus a falling interest rate have cut this fund so that it is today only a token of a frugal past. But back a century ago it was not to be scorned. It made a sizable part of the amount of money available for each potential pupil of the population which was $4.05. The amount actually spent, on a per-pupil registered basis, for a student's education in Meriden was $6.00. Already, with the free school system only two years old, the shape of schools to come casts its shadow over the 1864-65 report. The Corner School, in the present downtown area at Church and Colony Streets, held one-third of all the pupils in Meriden and was growing rapidly. A new building would soon be needed. The pressing demand for a central high school was obvious. A move to do away with the districts and to give the entire school management to the town had been voted down, as it would be repeatedly in the next 25 years, but its merits were expounded by the Visitors. The report closes on a note still familiar to us in 1956: "The facilities for education are not commensurate with the increase of population in the town." During the decade from 1860 to 1870 the population of Meriden spurted from 7,426 to 10,571. Increased school attendance in the years following 1863 was marked. In that year 57 per cent of the children of school age were registered in the schools, and among these the attendance averaged 66 per cent. The Connecticut v compulsory education law passed in the 1870's required three months at least of education each year for all children between 276 President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Meriden — October, 1936 Left to right in car: Meriden Senator Francis T. Maloney, President Roosevelt, Mrs. Roosevelt, Gov. Wilbur Cross tdbpP^fe President Theodore Roosevelt visits Meriden in 1903 tlMtl I X The Charles Parker Company The Miller Company c u C o c "c/5 > 5 4-1 u a Oh Q The Napier Company Cuno Engineering Corporation . -:: t The Lane Construction Corporation The Connecticut Telephone & Electric Corporation Meriden Permanent Savings & Loan Association Addition Addition to East Main Branch, Connecticut Bank & Trust Company meriden schools; 1860-1956 eight and fourteen. In 1874 attendance of those registered in the Meriden schools rose to 8314 per cent. The need for new school buildings was immediate and acute. Happily, a healthy spirit of rivalry sprang up among the districts, which vied with each other in their efforts to build bigger and better schools. During the _182Q!s came the first real departure from the little-red-schoolhouse concept of buildings and teaching. In the Center and Corner districts were built brick structures which by dint of counting the half-submerged base- ments and the gabled attic rooms could be labeled as containing four stories. Two-story buildings were erected in the West and Hanover districts. Prattsville built the North Broad Street School, an eight-room building described as a "model." In 1879-80 the town distributed to the district treasurers for school operation $29,647.23. The districts raised $11,877.17 by taxes and $2,053 by loans, less than half what the town appropriated. The early 1880's saw another wave of population increase and the erection of more substantial two-story brick buildings to meet it. The South Broad Street School and the Samuel Hunting- ton School on King Street belong to this period. Several private schools flourished in the early and mid 1800's. The Meriden Academical Association in 1848 sold shares for the purchase and reconditioning of the old Baptist Church on the northeast corner of Broad Street, and for many years it served as a private school and a cultural center. The base- ment was rented for business purposes and the hall for traveling shows such as "Tom Thumb" and the "Indian Exhibition" in 1849. It was much in demand for meetings of civic and fraternal groups and religious and political meetings. The stockholders never received any dividends from their investment and frequently collections had to be taken at stock- holders' meetings to meet small deficits. The school was run with no attempt to make money; the rent charged to the teacher was sometimes as high as $25 a quarter. The teacher ran the school independently, with what books and equipment he happened to own, and made his living by charging tuition. It was closed in 1869 when the newly built Center School proved more attractive to students in the area. From 1847 to 1853 the Meriden Institute acquired a high 277 MERIDEN schools; 1860-1956 reputation in secondary school training. It was located on the north corner of Church Street, fronting Colony Street. The building was later bought by the district to house the Corner School and the Institute removed to King Street, where it operated for some years. In 1869 four private elementary schools were reported in operation. The popularity of the private schools diminished as public school buildings and educational techniques were improved during the next two decades. A private school conducted by Mrs. A. S. Booth enjoyed continued popularity and in 1894 had 111 pupils. From 1879 till 1903 the German- American School Association taught children of German descent in a private institution designed to keep them familiar with the German language. The school was housed in a building on Liberty Street. Enrollment of pupils in the German- American school ran between 60 and 100 pupils. As early as 1864, the second year in which a free town school system was in operation, the need for a central high school was pointed out by the Visitors. Some secondary school work was offered in most of the district schools but with one room and one teacher, often poorly trained, serving all the children it must have taken an exceptionally gifted and determined student to profit by advanced studies. Prior to this time the privately run Meriden Institute served the needs of most of Meriden's secondary school students. The Corner District School, installed in the old Meriden Institute building on the corner of Church and Colony Streets, had by 1864 an enrollment of 275 pupils and three teachers and was the largest in the town. It was reported that this was the only thoroughly graded school in the town which "receives children in the elements and takes them through the successive stages of the common and higher English branches and also enables them to avail themselves of the facilities of a classical education." This building burned and was replaced in 1868 by a large brick structure erected on what is now the municipal parking lot. At this time a regular high school department was organized in it and by 1880 pupils from other districts were flocking here forv their secondary school education. High School Avenue owes its name to Meriden's recognition of the Corner School's training. 278 MERIDEN SCHOOLS; 1860-1956 A senior department was also organized at the South Center School and served more advanced students from other districts. The fight for a Meriden High School was a long and stubborn one. Finally in April, 1881, the town skirted the controversial title by voting $3,000 with which to start a "Central school" and the second floor of the German-American school on Liberty Street was leased for classes. Henry S. Pratt was the first principal. Applicants had to pass an examination for admission. Of the 73 applicants, 54 passed and 51 actually entered the school in September. A special committee of five was elected yearly by the town at large to administer the affairs of the High School as long as the school district plan remained in force. High school subjects were discontinued in all district schools. It is worth noting that Albert B. Mather, who began his teaching career in the Corner School in 1869 and was largely responsible for the success of its high school department, received recognition of his ability when, a few years after this, he was appointed Meriden's second superintendent of schools. In 1882 the name "Meriden High School" was formally bestowed on the school, which graduated its first class of 13 members in 1883. The annual town meeting of that year voted to appropriate $50,000 to procure a site and erect a high school building. Later the sum was raised to $80,000. The High School on the corner of Catlin and Liberty Streets was formally opened in 1885 although its interior was not completely finished till 1890 when the number of students justified the use of all the rooms. Meriden citizens took great pride in this first High School. The Century of Meriden in 1906 describes it as "This beautiful and imposing structure (into which) were incorporated the best ideas of beauty and utility of design, and the best materials and workmanship." Numerous gifts, large and small, from private citizens are recorded. Especially praised was its library which was reputed to be one of the best in the state. The early 1890's saw another increase in population with more school building to meet it. This is the period of the school with the central octagonal corridor with rooms opening from it and enclosed pupils' wardrobes. The old John Barry School, still in use on Columbia Street, is the surviving example of this type. In 1896 another major reform, long and stubbornly fought for, 279 MERIDEN SCHOOLS; 1860-1956 was finally accomplished. Since the beginnings of free schools on the district system, Visitors and education officials had advo- cated the abandonment of the districts and the consolidation of all schools under the town.^'Our schools should be equal as well as free or we shall lose the benefits of experience and progress," was the way the Visitors put it in 1863 j The Visitors made a similar recommendation which was again turned down in 1869. Echoes of the battle can be detected in the reports of 1875 and 1877. Only five votes provided the margin by which the change was finally authorized in 1896. Under the new terms the town assumed the property and indebtedness of the districts and became respon- sible for all school costs. A committee of twelve men was designated to handle all school business and act as School Board, with an executive officer with the title of superintendent chosen to administer school affairs. At the time of consolidation the town school committee reported the total value of all school property as being $234,987.42 though the combined reports of the district committees would have put it as $413,548. The indebtedness of the districts assumed by the town was $61,010.45, with ready assets listed at $2,488.91. Some money had long been received from the state for school purposes. The beginning of state aid can be traced to the sale of Western Reserve lands in Ohio which yielded Connecticut more than two million dollars. This was invested for the benefit of the schools and was portioned out on a per capita child basis. In 1871 it provided $1.20 per scholar. In 1891, with more children in the schools, and a lower interest rate, it was 75 cents. Total state aid in that year, appropriated from the civil fist, was $1.50 per scholar. In 1905 state aid had risen to $2.25 per child. Evening school classes are first mentioned in 1872, when 127 pupils were registered. In 1874-75 the selectmen refused the use of rooms for class use and the project was given up. Edward C. Wheatley conducted a school for the West district in 1882-83 without any assistance from the town. State aid for evening schools was forthcoming in 1886 and there ensued a boom in enrollment. Four hundred ninety-eight pupils were registered and the average attendance per night was 249. This was more than double the enrollment in Hartford and one third again that of New Haven. The town contributed liberally MERIDEN schools; 1860-1956 in financial support. Men teachers received $2.50 per evening and women $1.50. The next year attendance dropped to an average of 102 per session and the year after that to 45. The school was discontinued the following year. In 1893 the state passed a law which required towns of 10,000 or more to maintain evening schools and appropriated $3.00 per average pupil membership on a 100-night basis for their support. The city had evidently lost its enthusiasm for evening schools because a threat of mandamus was required before one was opened. It was conducted by Mrs. Adele S. Booth with the help of scholars from her own private school, from the High School, and even from the Central Grammar School, and in its attempts to find quarters it led a roaming existence. Its cost to the city was only $300 a year. Use of the High School was authorized in 1905 and teachers from the day school were appointed. This support was reflected in the enrollment which reached 338, representing 29 nationalities. In 1912 the evening school was active with an enrollment of 491. The wave of immigration was reflected by the number of recent arrivals eager to learn the language and the ways of their new home. One hundred thirteen students were recorded in the non-English speaking classes and 131 in the non-English reading and writing. Thirty-five of the students had their origins in Germany, there were 25 from Sweden, 36 from Russia, 61 from Poland, 64 from Italy, and 64 from Austria. In 1905 when school superintendent William P. Kelly reviewed the history of the schools for the Century of Meriden, the town owned 1 8 school buildings, nine of which were of brick. Ten had eight rooms or more, one had six rooms, four had four rooms, and three one-room schools were still in operation in the outlying districts. The total income to be expended for this year was $115,980, which included a special appropriation of $10,000 which was to furnish free textbooks to the pupils for the first time. The first drawing supervisor had been appointed in 1896 and singing had been introduced under a supervisor in 1898. The first kindergarten was established at the Franklin Street School in 1903. Willis J. Prouty has been principal of the High School, where he had previously served as a math instructor, since 1899. Average attendance at the High School climbed between 1897 and 1905-06 from 241 to 258. The entering class in 1897 numbered 281 MERIDEX schools; 1860-1956 110, with 31 continuing to graduation and ten of that number continuing their education at college or some other institution after they left high school. In 1905-06 the size of the entering class shrank to 99, but the number graduating rose to 38, and 14 continued their post-high-school education. School finances, according to Mr. Kelly, were complex. "The first selectman pays all the bills from the appropriation as fast as they are approved by the school committee, but turns over the money for salaries in a lump sum each month to the clerk of the school committee, who attends to paying the employees, who are on salary. "The treasurer of the school committee receives the library grant from the state of $270 a year and a like amount of town funds from the first selectman. These are increased by a few tuition fees and other small sums. His receipts for 1904-05 were $848.58 and his expenditures for books and apparatus were $776.74. "The principal of the High School collects tuition from non- residents, and with it buys books for the High School library. "Thus, at the present time, four different persons receive, disburse, and account for the money used by the schools." A $150,000 bond issue was authorized in 1905 for new school construction and for additions and modernizations of existing buildings. West Grammar School, still in use as Lincoln Junior High, is today's memorial to that building program. By 1911 the public school enrollment was 4,433. The cost of transporting public school pupils was listed as: wagons, $750, electric cars, $359. iMeriden dentists volunteered their time and services in this year to examine all children's teeth, classifying 1,648 mouths as "bad," in need of immediate attention. The presence of 314 "exposed nerves" and 69 "ulcers" was discovered. The census revealed that 714 children, 15 per cent of the school enrollment, were working instead of attending school. By 1915 this figure had been reduced by 65 per cent. In 1907-08 the annual school cost per child was $38.60. By 1914 it had climbed to $42.35 and in 1916 it was $50.48. It was $89.64 in 1920, 112 per cent over the 1914 figure. After a quarter of a century of operation the Meriden High School was bulging at the seams. A poem by a member of the 282 MERIDEN SCHOOLS; 1860-1956 class of 1911 described the crisis: "Our school is overcrowded quite And something must be done For being packed in like sardines I tell you isn't fun. The classes in geometry Are hooked upon the walls; And Cicero and Caesar Are murdered in the halls. Now won't the citizens, humane, Please vote us a new school! And if they will we promise that We'll try to keep each rule." This moving plea was finally answered when a site was secured near the corner of Pleasant Street, and the opening of the present High School building was solemnized in 1913. The financial statement for 1917 shows a total of $209,982 spent, and a budget of $251,025 was requested for the year 1917-18. The average size of classes at this time was 34, with an 18-pupil average at the High School. A marked improvement in the drop-out rate in the upper grades was evident over a ten-year period. During the first two decades of the twentieth century a steady rise in teachers' salaries is evident, paralleling the rise in the cost and standard of living. In 1906 the beginning salary for teachers was $400, with a $40 per year increase to a top of $560 or $600 dependent on the taking of some additional education courses. By 1908, $480 was set as the minimum and $720 the maximum for grade school teachers. Women who taught at the High School could look to a top of $950 while men could qualify for posts paying as high as $1,600. In 1915 the maximum was $760 in the grades with a top of $800 set for the eighth grade. Women principals found their salaries pegged at $1,000. The 1917 schedule called for a $580 starting salary which ran to a top of $900 for eighth grade teachers. Salaries for women teachers in the High School were between $750 and $1,200 with the maximum for men at $1,700. Women who were heads of departments were paid $1,350 and men received $1,850. Forty-two per cent of the budget increases 283 MERIDEN SCHOOLS; 1860-1956 due to teacher salaries occurred between 1911 and 1917. Meriden ranked fifth among 67 cities in the East of comparable size in 1920 in regards to median salary, with a minimum of $1,000 and a maximum for men teaching in the High School of $2,500. Open-air classes were begun in 1918 in part of the old Church Street School to serve pupils with a history of personal or family tuberculosis and those who were underweight and in poor physical condition. They were a popular educational feature of the times. The cost to the city in that year was $7,292.18. In 1920, 53 children were registered in the open-air classes. The Meriden Trade School opened its doors in September, 1918. Designed to meet the needs of the young men of Meriden and surrounding communities for training in the mechanical arts, it was organized by agreement with the State Board of Education which furnished equipment and materials and paid the teachers. Meriden provided and maintained the building, furnished the heat, light, and power, and paid half the janitors' fees. Located in a factory building on the east end of Charles Street which was rented by the city, the school offered machine work, carpentry, electrical work, and drafting. Later in the year, courses in auto mechanics and pattern making were made available. The regular course, designed to be completed in two years, consisted of six hours of shop work and two of academic a day. A three-year cooperative course with the High School made it possible to attend that building in the mornings, complete the requirements for training in a trade in the afternoons, and receive a diploma from both institutions. Other schedules were possible through arrangements with employers. The School Board report for 1920 features a picture of a complete six-room house built by Trade School boys under the supervision of their instructors. One hundred forty-five students were registered in the day courses that year and 150 in the evening. The need for a new, more adequate building was already being pointed out. Since the consolidation of the school districts under the town, school policy had been directed by a board composed of 12 members, half of whom were appointed by each political party. The size of the group as well as its obvious political allegiances and the fundamental split which this caused was a continuing handicap to effective operation. The need had long been evident MERIDEN SCHOOLS; 1860-1956 for a smaller elective school board which would be answerable directly to the voters and which would be in a position to make decisions and to act with responsibility. In 1921 Meriden's new city charter was approved by the Legis- lature and embodied in it was the provision for a Board of Educa- tion consisting of five members elected by the voters to serve on a staggered schedule, each holding office for six years. The new school board was voted into existence with the ratification of the charter and at the same time the last traces of the old school district system were obliterated. As the Board was set up then and continues to operate, it is n responsible for planning school policy which is executed by the superintendent. The Board hires all teachers and other personnel, accepting recommendations from the superintendent and from other administrators. It is also responsible for maintenance of buildings and their use, and for insurance. It decides on what courses are to be offered or dropped. The yearly school budget is contructed by the Board and it approves all bills which the school system incurs. However, the Board of Apportionment and Taxation must approve the budget, and can and has cut it when it deems fit. State aid for Meriden schools goes into the general city treasury, not directly into a separate category of school funds. The Board of Education meets twice a month, sometimes oftener, and serves without pay. Currently its members are also serving on the School Building Committee. Although candidates for the Board of Education run for election on the tickets of the two major parties, the Board has achieved a reputation for acting nonpolitically and most members tend to forget party labels in dealing with school problems. In this attitude they are carrying on the tradition of the many Meriden citizens who over the last century and a half have labored selflessly and intelligently, without pay, for the betterment of their community and its schools. Hint of a controversy which is still legally unsettled in Con- necticut and which probably will always continue to some degree came in April of 1922. Although the Board of Education is and has always been an organ of the State Department of Education and is required by law to carry out the state's statutes on educa- tional matters, it is the province of the city government to provide 285 MERIDEN" SCHOOLS; 1860-1956 the money by which this is accomplished. The conflict arises when the Board of Education votes a policy which requires funds to implement and the Board of Apportionment and Taxation refuses to appropriate these funds. State Education Commissioner Meredith pointed out to the Board at that time that school committees are state agents bound to carry out the intent of the state statutes regardless of financial support. He advised the Board that if the town refuses to give the money they, the Board, may "incur debt and if necessary take the matter into the courts." The argument this time, as on other occasions, was over the matter of a raise in teachers' salaries. Junior ROTC on a compulsory basis for the High School was instituted in 1921 at the request of the War Department. Carried on till 1922, it was discontinued because of overcrowding and lack of facilities. With the High School on half sessions, and the use of obsolete and inadequate buildings, including the Church Street School, stirring criticism, another major building program was planned. At its beginning the city was at 55 per cent of its debt limit. Names of famous historical personages were given to the schools in 1923, after some years of discussion. Contests were run among the school children who wrote essays advancing the causes of their favorite Revolutionary War heroes. Of the names chosen, only the High School's of "George Washington" refused to stick. Diplomas were issued under the title to the graduating classes of 1924 and 1925 but "Meriden High School" was too deeply ingrained in the city's tradition, and in 1926 it reasserted itself. Also dropped was the name "Robert xMorris" for the South Meriden school. When the old building burned in 1932 the new one which replaced it was christened "Hanover" by common consent. The Nathan Hale School on Lewis Avenue was sold to Mount Carmel Church in 1942 and not until the new school on Baldwin Avenue was built did this popular and appropriate hero again possess a memorial. By 1925 the outlines of the Meriden school system as it is today had emerged. Jefferson Junior High School was built. The old West Grammar School was enlarged with the addition of a wing containing an auditorium-gymnasium and room for shop work, and was renamed Lincoln Junior High. These two schools took all seventh, eighth, and ninth grade pupils in the city except those 286 MERIDEN schools; 1860-1956 in South iMeriden, who continued to attend the local school for seventh and eighth grades until 1934. Jonathan Trumbull School opened, the first elementary school to have a permanent stage, and took over the pupils from North Broad and Franklin Street Schools which were then closed. Adoption of the junior high school system was a sign of the changing philosophy of education. By 1921 the first experiments in the approach to teaching which has become known as "pro- gressive" were stirring the city to controversy. A policy was introduced whereby pupils were promoted not only on the basis of work completed in each grade but of ability to do more advanced work as shown by tests. A number of students whose test work ranked high were jumped a grade or half a grade. High-ranking students in the eighth grade were given ninth grade work to do and allowed to enter high school as sophomores. Another new idea was the introduction on an experimental basis by School Superintendent David Gibbs of the "platoon" system. This scheme divided the children of the lower grades into two equal groups, one of which studied academic subjects while the other used the gym, attended assemblies, or engaged in singing or drawing. It was designed to increase the capacity of school facilities. At the High School an experiment was in progress by which the students were divided into fast, medium, and slow classes so that each group could progress to best advantage. The junior high schools reflected the new philosophy of edu- cation which shifted the emphasis away from total concentration on academic subjects and undertook to provide a general cultural and citizenship background along with vocational training for the majority of young people who would not go to college. By evolving a program which would better meet the needs of early adolescents, educators hoped to combat the high drop-out rate. Dr. Gibbs resigned in 1926 while the controversy over his educational innovations was still raging. He was succeeded by C. C. Thompson. By 1927 there were 5,814 pupils enrolled in the public schools, reflecting the high birth rate of the World War I years, and again the cry was raised for new buildings to relieve overcrowding. The Roger Sherman School, opened in 1929, was built on Liberty Street, and the John Barry Annex, now the main building, went up on Columbia Street. In 1927 the Church Street 287 MERIDEN schools; 1860-1956 School was finally closed and the land on which it stood returned to the city. Until now school health had been largely the province of the Child Welfare League, a public service organization supported by public contributions. In 1924 this organization reported that an examination of all high school girls had been completed. High school boys were examined the next year and an inordinate number were found to be afflicted with flat feet. It was suggested that the wearing of sneakers might cause this. The League reported in 1928 that because of lack of funds it would be unable to carry on its work and the Board of Education appropriated $11,792 for this purpose. It also accepted a dental clinic outfit which had formerly been the property of the League and the next year a dental hygienist was engaged. The year 1930 marked the passing of one of childhood's most cherished privileges. The system of no-school signals was dropped and it became the responsibility of the parents to determine when the weather was too bad to allow children to attend school. The High School had the doubtful distinction in 1931 of offer- ing the shortest school day of any high school in the state. An addition was once more discussed but because of the depression, the Board decided instead to house the overflow of students in the old Central Elementary School. On June 9 the State Trade School moved into its new building on Miller Street when it was accepted by the state. It was rechristened the Wilcox Technical School. Nicholas Moseley took over the duties of superintendent in 1932. In spite of a continued climb in enrollment the school budget was cut by $100,000 to $538,973, mostly by reducing teachers' salaries. September of 1934 found a total enrollment in public and parochial schools of 8,568. It was voted to close two old schools in the outlying districts, one, the city's oldest, the Southeast School on Paddock Avenue which had been built in 1800. In a move to consolidate elementary schools in the face of dropping enrollment in the lower grades, the Willow Street School was closed and sold to the Polish Knights of the Blessed Virgin. The High School was put on half sessions. There was continued talk of a need for new high school facilities and of an addition to the Trade School, but no action was taken. 288 MERIDEN schools; 1860-1956 Controversy over "progressive" versus old-fashioned educa- tional methods flared again in the mid 30's. It was pointed out that modern teacher training stressed the newer methods which were being reflected in public school teaching. In 1938 Mr. Moseley resigned, to be replaced by Raymond N. Brown. Under Mr. Brown a return to the more traditional ways of teaching was encouraged. Evening school enrollments climbed rapidly during the depres- sion years. Many recent high school graduates were among the 784 registered in 1933. The enthusiasm and enterprise which characterized Meriden's program were highly praised by the state authorities. The high point was in 1934 with a registration of 947. In 1935, 600 were registered, 150 of them in the non-English classes. The cost to the city per pupil per evening was less than ten cents. The Trade School addition was completed in 1937. After 75 years of operation, the North Colony Street School was closed in 1940 because of dropping enrollment in the area and was sold to the International Silver Company. Teacher salaries, which had been cut during the depression, were on their way up again, running from a starting rate of $1,251.25 to a top for executive positions of $5,000. Most fell within the $1,500 to $2,500 range. In 1943, the low birth rate of the depression years was reflected in an enrollment of 4,494. The Board of Education was praised in 1946 for providing special refresher courses in the summer for returning veterans. This program was discontinued in 1947 when the need for it passed. Average cost per school child at this time was $177.36 per year compared with a state average of $161.08. The rule barring married teachers from employment was questioned for the first time, and was destined soon to be abandoned as the growing teacher shortage made it impractical. The maximum in this year for teacher salaries below the administrative and super- visory level was set at $2,800 to $3,900 depending on training and length of service. By 1947 the increased birth rate of the war years began to be reflected in school enrollments and it was obvious that a major school building program would be necessary. No major building had been undertaken since 1926. The city appropriated $35,000 in 1948 to recondition the old High School building at the corner of Liberty and Catlin Streets, for use as an Annex. The Welfare 289 MERIDEN SCHOOLS; 1860-1956 Department was moved out, making the Annex available for classes in commercial subjects and the High School was put on single session again. The elementary school building program got under way in 1948 with a half million dollar bonding issue for the Roger Sherman Annex. Six classrooms, an auditorium-gymnasium, a lunch room with kitchen facilities, lavatories, and additional office space were provided. Similar educational facilities were included in the new 12 -room Israel Putnam School on Parker Avenue and the 16-room Benjamin Franklin School. A $1,200,000 bond issue financed these buildings which were opened in 1951. Badly needed expansion of the Hanover School was help up in 1951 when bonding authorities objected to the restrictive clause in the city charter barring capital improvements in the outer tax district. The necessary change in the charter was ratified and the Hanover addition opened its doors in 1954. An addition to the John Barry School of 12 rooms and additional facilities was completed in 1953, and four rooms were added to Jonathan Trumbull. The continued growth of school population made necessary the construction in 1955 of a four-room addition to the Parker Avenue Israel Putnam School and the construction of the new Nathan Hale School on Baldwin Avenue. No bonding was necessary for the Israel Putnam addition which was paid for out of current revenue. The Nathan Hale School has 16 classrooms but its extra-classroom facilities, which are not the equal of those in other newly constructed schools, reflect an attempt by the city to economize in the face of continued demand for expansion. A bond issue of $600,000 was issued for construction of this school. The Roger Sherman addition to the Annex, opened in 1949, cost $506,256, with state aid to the extent of $162,153 returnable over a 17-year period. It has 12 rooms. Benjamin Franklin School, opened in 1951, contains 17 rooms and cost $542,982, with $165,000 to be paid by the state over a 20-year period. The new Israel Putnam School on Parker Avenue, opened in 1951 with 12 rooms, cost $484,013, with $120,000 returnable by the state during 20 years. Four rooms which were built as an addition to this school and opened in September, 1955, were financed by an appropriation by the city of $100,000. Not yet 290 MERIDEN schools; 1860-1956 accepted by the state, the new rooms are expected to receive about $36,000 in state aid, payable over a five-year period. Four rooms added to Jonathan Trumbull School in 1952 were built at a cost to the city of $192,400, with $59,414.80 returnable in state aid over the following 20 years. The John Barry School addition, opened in September of 1953 and containing 12 rooms, was built at a cost of $632,035, with $158,335.40 returnable in state aid over a 20-year period. South Meriden's Hanover School addition, opened in 1954 and consisting of 10 rooms, cost $498,849.20 plus a sewer assessment levied by the city of $37,841.55, part of which will be recovered as additional users connect with the sewer line. State aid for Hanover, payable over 20 years, comes to $154,334.80. Costs are incomplete as yet for the Nathan Hale School on Baldwin Avenue, consisting of 14 rooms plus two kindergartens and due for use in September, 1956. It is estimated that state aid may run to around $156,000. Meriden is currently faced with a need for secondary school expansion as higher enrollments make themselves felt in the upper grades. When the High School opens in September it will be operating at full capacity, and even with continued use of the obsolete Annex, half sessions will be necessary by 1957, if no new building is available. The junior high schools are above capacity currently and face the alternatives in September, 1956 of going on half sessions or housing some classrooms in temporary quarters. Planned to meet the need are two new high schools, one on Coe Avenue on the west side of Meriden and one on the east side, capable together of handling the projected enrollment of at least 2,400 foreseen for the mid 1960's. The present High School would then be converted for use as a junior high school. Lincoln Junior High stands in need either of rebuilding or of enlargement and drastic modernization and Jefferson is also slated for improvement. The bill for Meriden taxpayers may run as high as six or seven million dollars, with state aid defraying the balance of the cost. Meriden's school building program since 1949 has been under the direction of the School Building Committee. This group was appointed by Mayor Howard Houston in accordance with a state statute passed in that year. At the request of bonding authorities, it handled financing for the Roger Sherman addition. Enlarged in 1950, it now includes the five members of the Board 291 MERIDEN SCHOOLS; 1860-1956 of Education, a member from the Court of Common Council, one from the Board of Apportionment and Taxation, the Building Inspector, a representative from the PTA, and three members chosen from the public at large who, by custom, are often engi- neers. Appointments are made by the mayor. So well did the committee fulfill its function that it continued to operate during the whole of the elementary school building program. Late in 1953 a question arose over its standing because at the time of the original appointments no term of office had been set for its members. This oversight was remedied when the council voted that the members serve two-year terms from the time of appointment. Elementary school buildings in use in 1956 are: Jonathan Trumbull, opened in 1925 and added to in 1952; Israel Putnam on Parker Avenue, built in 1951, with a four-room addition completed in 1955, the old Israel Putnam School on South Broad Street, built in 1884 and since enlarged by six rooms; the new Ben- jamin Franklin School on West Main Street; Hanover in South Meriden, built in 1937 and enlarged and modernized in 1954; Sam- uel Huntington School on King Street, built in 1887 and recondi- tioned in the mid 20's; the old John Barry on Columbia Street, built in 1894 and slated for closing as soon as enrollments permit; the John Barry Annex plus the new building which was completed in 1953; Roger Sherman, built in 1929 and enlarged in 1949; and the new Nathan Hale School, scheduled for use in September of 1956. There are two junior high schools: Jefferson on the east side, built in 1926; and Lincoln, originally constructed for use as a grammar school in 1905 and converted to its present use by addition of a wing in 1926. The High School on Pleasant Street was opened in 1913. Meriden's total, school plant, including sites, buildings, and equipment, is at present valued at $7,862,500. Currently, Meriden teachers receive a starting salary of $3,400 with the maximum for those with a bachelor's degree set at $5,400. Further raises are probable as the city struggles to meet the teacher shortage and to retain its position in a state-wide competitive situation. Report cards in the elementary grades reflected modern theories of education when traditional marking was abandoned in 1951. Seeking to give information on individual effort and achievement as well as on pupils' standing in relation to the class, authorities 292 MERIDEN schools; 1860-1956 adopted a system which graded each subject in relation to the pupil's effort plus an indication of his class standing. This was found to be confusing and in 1955 a return was made to the more orthodox method, with a special section provided to acquaint parents with students' working habits and general levels of accomplishment. All elementary schools except the old Israel Putnam on South Broad Street and the Samuel Huntington have hot lunch pro- grams, open to children within walking distance of the schools as well as to bus children. The program shares in the Federal Surplus Food arrangement and is self-supporting except for initial capital investments of kitchen equipment. Stimulated by the growing need for school expansion, branches of the Parent-Teacher Association which had been dormant since the mid-3 0's were reformed from 1948 on. PTA's are active in all the elementary schools and the two junior high schools while the High School has its equivalent in the Fathers' Club. Their influence has been felt beyond the traditional area of better understanding between parents and teachers. Through the PTA Council, a consultive body made up of representatives of the Meriden branches, information on school building needs and plans has been relayed to members and the public, which has resulted in better understanding of and support for Meriden's school needs. Since 1950 the health of all Meriden school children has been the province of the Health Department. Previous to that time the public school health program was under the control of the Board of Education while the Health Department provided health services to the parochial schools. This program began in 1923, with the appointment of one full-time nurse and one part-time physician to work with non-public school children. The present program employs the services of a school health advisor, a supervisor of nurses, eight school nurses and two dental hygienists, all on a full-time basis, and six physicians and two dentists part-time. Dr. John E. Stoddard, who served as medical advisor and physician for athletics at the High School from 1912 to 1954 on a voluntary basis, is currently school health advisor. Since the reorganization in 1950, a health manual to serve as a comprehensive guide for all health procedures and activities has 293 MERIDEN schools; 1860-1956 been prepared and accepted and the standards for health service in public and parochial schools have been equalized. A daily screening of all pupils is carried out, hearing tests are made, and nurse-teacher conferences are featured. High School students are offered tuberculin tests and chest X-rays. Vaccination against smallpox has been made compulsory for all pupils entering school. Immunization against diptheria, whooping cough, and tetanus is recommended and offered at school clinics but is given only after written consent by the parent. Fluoride treatment for the teeth of children in the lower grades has been made available, and a Salk vaccine program against polio is partially completed. School nurses are trained and equipped to help children who suffer illness and accidents at school, but an important segment of their effort is devoted to educational work which will improve pupils' general health level and teach them to avoid disease and accident. To this end they try to work closely with teachers and parents on health education projects and to follow up and inter- pret health tests on pupils involving such factors as sight, hearing, dental conditions, and the like, with a view to their correction. September, 1955, found 6,635 registered in Meriden's public schools, an increase of 422 over the previous year. A count of preschool children revealed 800 five-year olds, 985 three-year olds, and 1,053 one-year olds, suggesting that expansion beyond what is presently planned may eventually be necessary. 1,000 students are registered at the High School, 1,419 in the junior highs, and 4,216 in the elementary schools. A total of 357 persons are employed by the school system, of whom 257 are teachers. In addition there are ten principals, three vice-principals, five super- visors, 41 custodians, and 39 serving as clerks, librarians, and cafeteria workers. Wilcox Technical School, run by the state on buildings con- structed and maintained by the city, had an enrollment last year of 325, with 25 teachers. Students devote half their time here to non-shop courses, choosing their shop training from a list which includes mechanical drafting, auto mechanics, machine, electrical, carpentry, silversmithing, printing, sheet metal, tool and die, and ornamental design. Several girls are currently enrolled in the ornamental design course. According to the Connecticut Public Expenditure Council, Meriden's per pupil cost for the school year ending in 1955 was 294 MERIDEN SCHOOLS; 1860-1956 $250.60, a rank of 80th among 169 Connecticut towns. The school budget for 1956 is $1,912,290.30 plus $254,387.50 in interest and school bond payments. Meriden currently receives $58.75 per pupil in state aid. In February of 1956, evening school enrollment totaled 831, of whom 52 were in classes for the foreign born, 508 were in the general division, and the rest were in co-sponsored activities which included navigation, the Savings and Loan Institute, and the Investment Forum. In 1955 George Magrath became Superintendent of Schools, replacing Dr. Malcolm Rogers who had served from 1949. Mark Bollman took over the post of principal of the High School vacated by Mr. Magrath, and J. Ormonde Phelan assumed the duties of administering the adult evening school, carried out since 1927 by Mr. Bollman. The parochial school of St. John's Lutheran Church closed its doors in 1955 after more than 70 years of service. It was founded in 1886 with an enrollment of 27 scholars and in 1905 nearly 200 scholars were meeting for instruction in classrooms in the lower part of the church. The spreading of the parish membership and the problems of transportation and traffic hazards were among the prime factors in the decision to discontinue the school. St. Laurent's parochial school began with the arrival from Nicolet, P.Q., Canada of five Assumption nuns to teach the children of the parish. Classes were begun in the basement of the church but by 1894 enrollment had risen to 300 and larger quarters had become necessary. A brick structure of six rooms was completed in 1903 and has since been enlarged. Teaching is still done by the Sisters of the Assumption, who have established an American novitiate at Petersham, Mass. Enroll- ment at St. Laurent's as of September, 1955, stood at 318 students, with nine teachers. French grammar and church doctrine are stressed in the school's curriculum. St. Mary's parochial school opened in 1896, six years after the founding of the parish. Its pupils were and continue to be taught by the Notre Dame Sisters of Baltimore, Md., of whom there are at present four at the school. The present building which has five classrooms, houses also the parish hall and the convent and was constructed in 1937. Currently, 166 students are enrolled in the classes at St. Mary's 295 MERIDEN SCHOOLS; 1860-1956 which cover the first through the eighth grades. The school stresses a well-rounded basic educational program and possesses a well-stocked library of film strips for the enrichment of regular classroom work. The story of Meriden's parochial schools begins in 1855, seven years before free public schools were established by the town. In this year classes for Catholic children were started in the base- ment of the church building at the corner of Broad and Olive Streets which St. Rose's parish had bought from the Episcopal congregation. By 1860 the school was able to move to the new church building at the present location on Center Street, which had been enlarged and provided with basement rooms for this purpose. During these early years, students were instructed by lay teachers under the direction of the pastor. A new school building was constructed on Liberty Street in 1872, and later moved to the rear of the present building. To staff the school, the church arranged to have a band of four Sisters of Mercy obtain permission from their motherhouse in Ennis, County Clare, Ireland, to come to Meriden. A chapel was built for them in 1887 and an addition to the convent was constructed in the same year. Today the school consists of 12 classrooms, with the facilities of St. Rose Community Building available for gymnasium and other activities. Classes range from the first through the eighth grades, and are taught by eight Sisters of Mercy from the Mt. St. Joseph motherhouse in Hartford and four secular teachers. September, 1955, showed an enrollment of 433 children. Teaching stresses the three "R's" plus the fourth — Religion. A school orchestra has been formed to participate in the Parochial School Music Festival. Generous oversubscription by parishioners to a school building fund has made certain the construction of a new eight-room addition to the school plant. The addition will make possible a much larger enrollment and ninth-grade instruction is also planned, along with increased junior high school facilities. St. Stanislaus' parochial school opened its doors in 1897 with one teacher and an enrollment of 20 scholars. By 1905 the enroll- ment had climbed to 120 pupils, another room was added, and two teachers gave instruction, one in Polish and one in English. After the new church was built at its present location on Olive 296 MERIDEN schools; 1860-1956 Street, the former church building was used as a parochial school. The new school, built at the present location, was completed in 1915, of Gothic design to conform to the architecture of the church. Its teachers are Sisters of St. Joseph whose motherhouse in at St. Stevens Point, Wisconsin. St. Stanislaus is Meriden's largest parochial school, with 703 scholars enrolled in classes which run from the first through the eighth grades. Current plans call for further expansion of the school, to meet the increasing enrollment. When St. Joseph's Church completed its new building on West Main Street, the former chapel on the corner of Butler Street which the congregation had purchased from the Trinity Metho- dist Church was put to use as a parochial school. By 1905 instruction in the first through the sixth grades was being carried on in five rooms by the Sisters of Mercy from the Convent of St. Bridget, with an enrollment of 260 pupils. Early in 1915 work began on the present parochial school, located in the block adjoining the church, and the building was dedicated in the same year. At about the same time a parochial residence was built on Goodwill Avenue and a convent was pro- vided for the Sisters of Mercy. Extensive improvements including an enlargement of the playground have been made since. Enroll- ment at St. Joseph's in September, 1955, was 350 pupils, under the direction of nine teachers. Classes range from kindergarten through eighth grade. In 1944, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church purchased from the city the Nathan Hale School on Lewis Avenue and arranged for its conversion into a parochial school. The building has been renovated to make it more fire resistant, and classes are taught from kindergarten through the ninth grade. Twelve classrooms are in use, with the ninth grade, the only one in the city taught in a parochial school, employing three of them for its commercial and classical instruction. Students are taught by ten Religious Teachers Filippini from the motherhouse in Morristown, New Jersey. A lay teacher is in charge of the kindergarten. Italian is taught throughout the school in addition to the regular school subjects. Special attention is given to recent arrivals from Italy who speak little or no English; 14 of these students have been enrolled during this year. All students from fifth grade up are enrolled in Civics clubs which are chartered 297 MERIDEN schools; 1860-1956 with and receive material from the Catholic University of America. Emphasis is on local and national problems of govern- ment and community living. Holy Angels' Church in South Meriden has acquired about eight acres of land on Meadow Street as the eventual site of a new church plant which will include for the first time a parochial school. 298 CHAPTER FORTY-TWO Buildino- Meriden Building construction in Meriden since World War II has never been fully able to keep pace with the demand. The city has been spreading out in all directions to an extent almost beyond the conception of the earthbound observer. Only from the air, on a clear day, can the city's growth be seen in one wide panorama, with its network of new streets in the outskirts, and new develop- ments crowning every hill. In 1955, a total of 1,167 building permits was issued, with a valuation of $8,652,048, which by no means represents the full value of these properties, which is always listed at only a proportion of actual cost. Included in this figure were the new International Silver Company factory and administration building on South Broad Street, listed at $4,000,000; the Meriden Boys' Club, listed at $200,000, and the new church of St. Peter and St. Paul, listed at $134,000. Of the total permits last year, 320 were for one-family units, valued at $2,721,335. In each of the last Rvq years, this rate of growth has been maintained. Most of the homes built were for one-family occupancy. Exceptions were the Chamberlain Heights development, which has been occupied for the last two years, the Yale Acres, another moderate rental development of much the same type, with multiple family apartment buildings, and the Johnson Farms development in South Meriden. A survey of Meriden building, taken in the fall of 1955, showed an increase of more than a million dollars in building permits over the preceding 12 months. Residential construction alone was half a million dollars ahead for the same period. The Meriden Planning Commission has had the task of examin- ing plans for new developments to make sure that they meet the requirements of the city, with respect to the layout of streets, the character of the structures proposed, and many other details. Zoning regulations must be adhered to, and variances are only granted for the best of reasons. When zoning was first instituted here, nothing could be done 299 BUILDING MERIDEN about the disorganized growth which had taken place for much longer than Meriden's first century. The regulations were for the future, and they proved invaluable, especially in recent years. Revision of the local building code, a project in long prepara- tion, has been completed, and should prove of material assistance in keeping building construction orderly and of a character in keeping with the best interests of the city. Mechanical installations of all types are well covered in the code. Heating, air conditioning, oil burners, plumbing, and electri- cal work are carefully inspected. Boards of examiners have been established, each board consisting of a master tradesman and two journeymen, each of the two having had at least 10 years experi- ence. A Building Department representative sits as an ex officio member. These boards conduct examinations for those seeking licenses as master tradesmen or journeymen, and recommend in writing to the building commissioners what action should be taken on each application. There is a further regulatory group — a board of appeals, with authority to affirm, modify, or reverse a decision of the building commissioners when acting upon an appeal. A further application may be submitted by an aggrieved person to the Court of Common Pleas for the area within 15 days after the filing of the board's decision. In this manner, the city is attempting to maintain high standards for the protection of Meriden's future, and to avoid the repetition of mistakes which may have been made in the past. 300 CHAPTER FORTY-THREE The Sesquicentennial The first step toward the observance of Meriden's 150th birthday was taken on February 18, 1955 when the Merchants' Bureau of the Meriden Chamber of Commerce submitted a petition to Mayor Altobello and the Court of Common Council asking that a Sesquicentennial committee be named to embrace all interests in the community. The mayor approved the idea and the council gave its endorse- ment. Parker B. Allen was named general chairman, and the formation of committees began almost at once. An elaborate framework of organization was drawn up, resembling in many respects the plans for the Centennial celebration of 50 years ago. The dates selected for the Sesquicentennial were June 17-23 of the current year, and city-wide participation was assured from the start. Invitations were sent far and wide to former residents, and many wrote back almost at once to state that they were coming. The program adopted designated Sunday, June 17, as Church Day; Monday, June 18, as School Day; Tuesday, June 19, as Industrial Day; Wednesday, June 20, as Governor's Day; Thurs- day, June 21, as Celebrity Day; Friday, June 22, as Homecoming Day; Saturday, June 23, as Community Day. Special events in keeping with these designations were arranged. This book was prepared as one phase of the program, its cost underwritten from the $28,000 fund approved by the council for the expenses of the 150th anniversary observance. No profit will be realized by any member of the committee which prepared it, and receipts from its sale will be paid into the fund. 301 Index Abbott, Emma, 128 Abele, Francis H., 193 Abele, Robert P., 193 Ackroyd, W. E., 179 Adams, John Quincy, 82 Aldrich, Malcolm E., 193 Alexander, W. S., 150, 212 Allen, Levi, 29 Allen, Lew, 203 f. Allen, Parker B., 178, 255, 301 Allen, Walter, 204 Allen, William V., 265 Aloia, Lewis V., 164 Altobello, Henry D., 102, 152, 159, 175, 225, 301 "Amelia" (launch), 117 American Lady's Preceptor, 53 Amoroso, Michael, 234 Anderson, John J., 236 Anderson, Leslie H., 146 Anderson, Mary, 128 Anderson, Verner, 146 Andrews, Abner, 49 Andrews, Moses, 13 f., 22 f. Andrews, Samuel, 13 Andrews Homestead Committee, 23 Angevine, Norman, 146 Antietam, battle of, 96 Appomattox, surrender at, 98 Archaeological Society of Connecticut, 7 Archer, H. A., 25 Arnold, Owen B., 100, 201, 210 Arnold, Walter T., 260 Athletic fields: Bronson Avenue Field, 233 f.; Ceppa Field, 233 f.; Columbus Park, 233 f.; Legion Field, 233 f.; North End Field, 233; South Meriden Field, 233; Washing- ton Park, 233 f. Athorne, Albert R., 191 Atwater, Francis, 203 f., 211 f. Atwater, Isaac, 49 Atwater, Stephen, 46, 49 Austin, Benjamin, 45 f., 49 Austin, John, 45 Automobiles, 125 ff. Aviation Commission, 160 Babcock, Sam, 135 Badner, Donald, 241 Bailey, Stephen, 21 Baker, Ellis B., 105, 198 f. Baker, "Home Run," 134 Baldwin, Lieutenant Colonel, 47 Baldwin, Asahel, 81 Baldwin, L. G., 86 Baldwin, "Preacher," 15 Baldwin, Ransom, 44 Baldwin, Raymond E., 187 Baldwin, S. W., 208 Baldwin, Samuel, 28 Baldwin, Simeon, 60 Bambax, James, 146 Bangall, 19, 28. See also East Meriden Baranski, Leonard, 191 Barber, Arthur L., News from Home, 184, 188 Barber, John W., Connecticut Historical Col- lections, 20, 35 Barber, Willis N., 224 Barbour, Samuel L., 91 Bario, John H., 100 Barker, Arthur Alfred, 94 Barnard, W. L., 115 Barnes, Asa, 24 Barnes, Eli, 161 Barnes, John, 49 Barnes, John R., 212 302 Barnes, Moses, 161 Barnikow, Frank, 136 Barry, Jack, 134 Barry, James, 230, 232, 234 Barsneck, Fred M., 146 Bartlett, Harris S., 210 Bartlett, Martha, 247 Bassett, George, 225 Battle, George C, 268 Baumann, Alice, 239 Beach, Samuel N., 103 Beebe, DeLloyd E., 149 Beecham, Joe, 136 Beecher, Henry Ward, 250 Begley, D. M., 212 Beierle, Emil E., 191 3elcher, Andrew, 4, 18, 62 Belden, James E., 100 Beloff, Arthur, 219 Beloff, Marvin, 219 Beloff, Samuel L., 219 Bemis, Leslie C, 146 Benham, Jared, 45, 49 Benham, Welcome E., 31, 33 f., 36, 62 Berberich, John W., 147 Berger, Robert, 25 Bergeron, Joseph E., 191 Berlin, Conn., 3 ff., 34 f., 73 Berry, Divan, 28, 46, 49 Berry, Ephraim, 27 Bertagna, Guido, 234 Berwick, William F., 191 Besse, Lyman, 219 Bevins, LeGrand, 257 Bibeau, Henry C, 156 f., 212 Bieluczyk, Edward, 191 Biesak, Arthur J., 191 Bigeiow, Elizabeth, 253 Billard, Frederick H., 214 Billard, John D., 211, 213 f., 226 Billard, John I., 71-2 Billard, John L., 198, 201, 213 f„ 226 Binch, Samuel, 272 Bingham, Darius, Jr., 86 Birdsey, Alanson, 62 Birdsey, Eli C, 29, 62, 219, 224, 260 Birdsey, Linus, 236 Bishop, Welles, 191 Bishop, Willys, 49 Bishop, Yale, 49 Blachuta, Vincent J., 191 Black Boss, 47 Blatchley, Marchand C, 256 Blish, Roger D., 199 Biiss, E. A., 179 f. Bliss, William E., 180 Blocks, buildings, and other properties: Allen house, 29; Andrews homestead, 22 ff.; Archer's Corners, 25; Bailey house, 21; Baldwin house, 28, 44-5; Baldwin's Mill, 43; Barnes Block, 224; Belcher house, 64; Belcher Tavern, 21, 32, 55; Berry house, 27; Birdsey house, 29, 62; Board of Trade Building, 179; Brooks farm, 216; Bush- nell's Block, 251; Butler house, 29; Byxbee Block, 215 f., 221, 236, 258; Cahill Block, 129; Camp property, 239; Cashen Build- ing, 259; Castle Craig, 228; Central Build- ing, 208; Central Tavern, 33, 35 ff., 54, 63, 72, 144; Chamberlain Heights, 162, 299; Charter Oak Fire House, 105; Cher- niack Building, 71, 216, 219 f., 254; Circle Hall, 194; Citadel, 254; City Hall, 225; Club Inn, 21; Coe Block, 224; Coe Build- ing, 213; Coe farm, 24; Coe house, 256; Coe property, 260; Cold Spring Home, INDEX 162; Collins Block, 207; Collins house, 29; Collins residence, 215 f.; Colonial Hall, 259; Colony Building, 73, 142, 199, 220 f.; Columbus Hall, 272; Conklin's Hotel, 70; Connecticut Bank and Trust Co. Build- ing, 222; Cook house, 239; Corrigan's Corner, 4; Cowles' stone-cutting yard, 63; Curtis house, 22, 25-6, 247-8; Derecktor Building, 71, 222; Dunn house, 34; Farms district, 274; Federal Building, 235; Fel- lows farm, 101; Franklin Hall Building, 236; G.A.R. Block, 219; Gale Terrace, 162, 185; Gilbert-Belcher farm, 3-4; Grand Army Hall, 259; Guy house, 29; Guy property, 235; Hall house (Ives house), 28; Hall and Lewis Building, 216, 219 f., 254; Hart house, 25; Hicks Building, 220; Hill Building, 236; Holt Hill Bridge, 38; Hough farm, 25; Hough house, 54; Hough's Tavern, 55, 60; Italian-American Club Building, 252; Ives house, see Hall house; Johnson Farms, 162, 299; John- son house, 24, 55; Journal Hall, 143; Legion Home, 257; Lonigan Building, 197; Loop, 71; Lyceum Building, 39; Lyon and Billard property, 189, 199; Martin's Hall, 194; Masonic Temple, 246, 256, 260; Meriden House, 220; Meriden House Block, 221; Meriden Institute Build- ing, 278; Meriden Opera House, 112; Meriden Roller Skating Rink, 113; Merriam house, 29; Milking Yard, 11, 56; Molloy- McGar Building, 221; Morse and Cook Block, 199, 216; Moses Andrews home- stead, 13; Moses Hall, 49; Mother Goose Farm, 27; Nabb's Folly, 33; Norton house, 34; Palace Block, 88, 114, 260; Piatt house, 252; Plumb house, see Rice house; Plum's Tavern, 63; Pomeroy house, 28; Professional Building, 247; "Railroad Re- fectory," 71; Raven farm, 7; Rest Home, 27; Rice house (Plumb house), 25, 28 f., see also Royce house; Richmond house, 259; Rogers Block, 103, 189; Rogers Ho- tel, 70 f.; Rogers Memorial Building, 263; Royce (Deacon Robert) house, 25; Russell Building, 203; St. Rose Community Build- ing, 264, 296; St. Rose Community Center, 249; St. Stanislaus Community Center, 271; Sugarman Block, 222; Taylor farm, 101; Terrace Garden, 116; Town Hall, 238, 265, 275; Turner Hall, 259; Veterans' Ad- visory Center, 190; W. G. Warnock prop- erty, 256; Washington Park Field House, 150; Watrous farm, 132, 175; Welfare Building, 190; Wilcox Block, 127, 129, 199, 215, 220, 236, 259 f.; Wilcox prop- erty, 243; Winthrop Bar, 121; Winthrop Hotel, 74, 132, 199, 256 f.; Winthrop Hotel Block, 219; Winthrop Square, 73, 141, 199, 236; Yale Acres, 162, 299; Yale houses, 22, 27-8, 29; Yost Block, 125; Y.M.C.A. Building, 219, 266 f. Blue Laws, 5 Bogacz, Menceslaus, 191 Bogucki, Joseph, 188, 195 Bolden, Harry, 133 Bolles, Frank G., 103 Bollman, Mark, 295 Bomgren, Charles R., 269 Bonarek, Frank, 147 Booth, Adele S., 278, 281 Booth, Edwin, 128 Booth, Walter, 209, 212, 235 Booth, Walter, General, 36 Borek, John, 234 Boston, 2, 35, 44 Bournique, Constantine J., 147 Bowe, Wallace F., 125 Bowen, Charles B., 108 ff. Bowers, George N., 257 Bowman, Robert, 215 Boyd, Edward, 245 Boynton, Arthur E., 219 Bradford, Joseph, 127 Bradley, Clarence P., 112, 228, 240, 243 Bradley, Colonel, 46 Bradley, Daniel, 26 Bradley, Elisha K., 94 Bradley, Ernest T., 195 Bradley, Harriet, 26 Bradley, Helen, 96 Bradley, Nathaniel L., 201, 214, 228, 239 f. Bradley, Mrs. Nathaniel L., 240 Bradley Home for the Aged, 112, 185, 243-4, 245 Bradstreet, E. T., 116, 157, 238 f. Brainard, E. K., 115 Brainard, J. E., 114 Brandenberger, James H., 191 Branford, 6 Brasyl, Walter, 133 Brechlin, Fred Emil, 191 Breck, Richard, 241 Breckenridge, Frances A., Recollections of a New England Town, 14 ff., 39, 52 ff., 56, 60, 67 Brenner, Felix E., 147 Briscoe, Nicholas, 147 Bristol, 77, 83 Broad Street Cemetery, 39 Brooks, D. Warren, 179 Brooks, James S., Judge, 69 ff., 208 f., 216 Brooks, Mary, 96 Brown, Aaron, 223 Brown, Asa, 49 Brown, Edwin H., 240 Brown, George, 115 Brown, Raymond N., 289 Brown, Richard H., 147 Bruel, Alvin C, Jr., 179 Brusie, John N., 183 Bryant, Charles, 115 Buckingham, Governor, 95 Budzinack, Frank, 191 Buffalo Bill, 128 Bull, Wallis, 236 Bull Run, battle of, 95 Bullard, H. M., 223 Bulluss, John B., 147 Bulmer, W. H., 215 Bunting, James E., Jr., 171 Burbank, Henry G., 147 Burdacki, Theodore, 165 Burgess, Harry T., 176, 255 Burgess, Orlando, 215 Burke, E. J., 120 Burke, Henry J., 195 Burke, William H., 193 Burkinshaw, Thomas H., 228 Burney, Fanny, 53 Burnside Expedition, 96 Bush, Fenner, 53, 208 Business and industrial firms: Aeolian Co., 120; Alderman Motor Co., 126; Ailing Rubber Co., 221; American Shoe Repairing Co., 224; American Silver Co., 91, 174; Armour plant, 203; Barbour Silver Co., 91; Barbour Silver Plate Co., 174; Barker and Finnegan, 94; Bartholomew and Coe, 225; R. Bemont and Son, 171; J. D. Ber- gen Co., 120; Berley's, 222; Besse-Boeker Co., 219; Besse-Boynton Co., 219; E. A. Bliss Co., 120, 179; Boston and Meriden Clothing Co., 221; A. Bowe and Son, 125; Boynton's, Inc., 219, 250; Bradley and Hubbard Mfg. Co., 83, 120, 178, 227; Broderick and Curtin's Pharmacy, 223; Brooklyn Thermometer Co., 171; Brooks and Tibbals, 82; Brown's Department Store, 223; Budd Motors, 126; Bullard, Fowler and LaPlace, Inc., 223; Butler and 303 INDEX Larkin, 220; Butler Paint Co., 220; Cali- fornia Wine Co., 120; Chandler-Evans Corp., 171; Cherniack Co., 220; Church and Morse, 222; Church and Sprague, 222; Patrick Clark and Sons, 82; Clarke and Converse, 226; J. B. Coggins Mfg. Co., 87; Colt Patent Firearms Co., 169; Con- necticut Breweries Co., 120; Connecticut Electric Equipment Co., 29; Connecticut Gas Products, 171; Connecticut Record Mfg. Co., 171; Connors' "Segar" Store, 71; Converse and Seymore, 226; Couch and Benham, 86; G. R. Cummings Roof- ing Co., 226; Cuno Engineering Corp., 179; Davis and Greenfield, 224; Danaher Bros., 126; Daylight Mfg. Co., 171; Derby Silver Co., 91; Doolittle Box Co., 170; E. J. Doolittle Truck Co., 104; Ellmore Silver Co., 171; Emerson and Whitney, 220; Evans and Longdon, 83; C. N. Flagg and Co., 226; D. W. Flint, Inc., 126; Forbes Silver Co., 91; Foster Merriam and Co., Inc., 87; Franklin Dress Co., 171; G. H. French and Co., 171; Fritz Bros., 169; Fuller and Wood, 197; Gallup, Stockwell and Co., 221; A. T. Gallup Co., 221; General Electric Co., 171; Genung's, Inc., 222; Gilmartin and Day, 126; Gil- martin Motor Sales Corp., 126; Girard and Garvey, 133; Goodman Bros., 171; Goodrich and Rutty, 82; W. T. Grant Co., 222; Griswold, Richmond and Glock Co., 223; Oscar Gross and Sons, 223; Growers Outlet, 223; Hall, Elton and Co., 91 f.; A. J. Hall Co., 169; J. R. Hall Co., 170; Hamrah's, 219; Handel Co., 120, 170; Handley Bros. Co., 170; Harrissier, Lee and Bros., 133; Hartford Silver Plate Co., 91; Charles J. Hayek's Jewelry Store, 223; Helmschmied Mfg. Co., 169; Herco Art Mfg. Co. (successor to H. E. Rain and Co.), 171; Holmes and Edwards Silver Co., 91; Horton Printing Co., 128; T. D. Hotchkiss Co., 171; Howard Bros., 220; Howard Pratt and Co., 81; Hull Printing Co., 92; Hyman and Gross, 223; Interna- tional Silver Co., 75, 90 f., 159, 169, 172-5, 176, 186, 234, 289, 299; Isbell and Curtis Co., 81; Harry Israel, Inc., 223; Ives, Upham and Rand, 219; Jepson's Book Store, 221; Jennings and Griffin Mfg. Co., 168 f.; A. H. Jones, 168 f.; Journal Publishing Co., 204; Katt Bros., 222; Julius Katt, 169; James T. Kay Co., 225; Kelsey Co., 168 f.; Kennedy and Ragone Co., 169; Kresge's, 222; J. La- courciere Co., 222; Lambson Specialty Co., 171; Landers, Frary and Clark, 169; Lane Construction Co., 225; John S. Lane and Son, Inc., 225; Langner and Hayek, 224; LaPierre Mfg. Co., 91, 174; W. H. Leaman Co., 171; Lemke and Reiske, 170; Lewis and Holt, 84; S. C. Lewis, 169; Liggett's Drug Store, 121; Liggett Co., 222; H. Wales Lines Co., 199, 204, 225, 260; Little and Somers, 223; Little, Somers and Hyatt, 223; H. Little and Co., 223; William J. Luby, 169; Lutz Co., 171; Lyman and Clarke, 226; Lynch Drug Co., 224; Lyon and Billard Co., 226; Maltby, Stevens and Curtiss Co., 92; Manhattan Silver Plate Co., 91; Manning, Bowman and Co., 168 f., 182; Manning and Con- well's Shoe Store, 222; Max's Automotive Service, 126; Meriden Auto Station, 125; Meriden Bargain Store, 223; Meriden Bedding Co., 171; Meriden Braid Co. (suc- ceeded by Pioneer Braid Co.), 168-9; Meriden Brewing Co., 120; Meriden Bri- tannia Co., 79, 88 ff., 104 f., 120; Meri- den Bronze Co., 120; Meriden Buffing Co., 171; Meriden Curtain Fixture Co., 168; Meriden Cutlery Co., 83, 120, 168 f.; Meriden Electric Light Co., 170, 198; Meriden Electroplating and Finishing Co., 171; Meriden Fire Arms Co., 168; Meriden Foundry Co., 171; Meriden Furniture Co., 220; Meriden Gas Light Co., 90, 170, 198; Meriden Gravure Co., 92, 169; Meriden Jewelry Mfg. Co., 169; Meriden Lumber Co., 226; Meriden Machine and Tool Co., 169; Meriden Malleable Iron Co., 174, 181; Meriden Optical and Jewelry Co., 169; Meriden Park Co., 119; Meriden Precision Screw Products, 171; Meriden Press and Drop Co. (successor to A. H. Merriman), 169; Meriden Record Co., 202, 204; Meriden Rug Co. (now Perry Rug Co.), 170; Meriden Silver Plate Co., 91, 174; Meriden Theater Co., 129 f.; Meri- den Title Finance Corp., 215; Meriden Welding Co., 171; Meriden Wireframe Co., 171; Mero Mfg. Co., 171; Metallic Potters Co., 171; Max Merklinger, 169; Merriam Metal Patterns and Model Works, 169; Michaels Jewelers, 221; Middleton Plate Co., 91; Michaels-Maurer, 221; Mil- ler Bros. Cutlery Co. (Meriden Knife Co.), 168 f.; Edward Miller Co., 86, 120, 169, 177-8, 188, 199; Miller-Johnson, Inc., 171; Miles Shoe Co., 222; Miner, Read and Tullock, 197; John F. Molloy, 221; Mono- watt Electric Corp., 171; C. F. Monroe Co., 120, 168 f.; Morehouse Bros., 168 f., 171; Morse and Cook, 203; Mosher's Drug Store, 112; Muirson Label Co., 171; Napier Co. (formerly Napier-Bliss Co.), 179-81; Nestle Lemur Co., 172; New De- parture Division, General Motors, 77, 126, 151, 170, 175-7, 187, 195; New England Boot and Shoe House, 220; New Eng- land Pottery Co., 169; New England Westinghouse Co., 138, 169; New Mil- ford Electric Light Co., 198; New York Dress Goods Store, 220; J. J. Niland Co., 169; T. Niland and Co., 120; Norwich Cutlery Co., 91; Nugent's Dress Shop, 222; Nutmeg Press, 171; Elias Oefinger, 169; O'Neil and Flynn, 220; Oregon Sil- ver Co., 171; Packer Machine Co., 171; W. J. Packer Mfg. Co., 171; Parker and Casper Co., 90 f.; C. and E. Parker Co., 84; Charles Parker Co., 84 f., 169, 178-9, 199, 227; Charles W. Parker (printer), 171; N. W. Parks Co. (purchased C. E. Schunack Co.), 171;- Sanford Parmelee and Co., 82; Peerless Mfg. Co., 170; Pen- field Mfg. Co., 169; J. C. Penney Co., 222; Perkins' Blacksmith Shop, 63; Perkins and Lines, 225; Perry Rug Co. (formerly Meriden Rug Co.), 170; James N. Phelps and Co., 205; Phillips Mfg. Co., 171; E. F. Powers Shoe Store, 222; Pratt, Ropes, Webb and Co., 83; Pratt and Whitney Aircraft Division, United Aircraft Corp., 182; Howard Pratt and Co., 82; Julius Pratt and Co., 57, 82 f.; Price Pattern Shop, 171; Production Equipment Co., 171; Puffe Tool and Die Co., 171; R. and H. Machine Shop, 171; H. E. Rain and Co., 170 f.; J. F. Raven Hardware Co., 224; Reed-Holroyd Co., 220 f.; Reed House furnishing Co., 220; Remington Arms Co., 85; Remo Co., 170; Republican Publishing Co., 201 f.; Rich Display and Plastics, 171; Rockwell Silver Co., 170 f.; Rogers and Bro., 91, 174; Rogers Bros., 88 ff., 173; Rogers Cutlery Co., 91; Rogers and Hamilton Co., 91; Rogers, Smith and Co., 90 f.; C. Rogers and Bros., 91; William Rogers Mfg., 91 f.; Rose Window Products, 172; Rowley Mfg. Co., 91; Rubber Spe- 304 INDEX cialty Co., 171; Sales Service Institute, 174; J. H. Sanderson, 170; Saviteer Me- morial Works, 170; J. Schaeffer Co., 171; M. B. Schenck Co., 169 f.; Charles E. Schunack Co., 169 f.; John R. Sexton Co., 171; Shaw Paper Box Co., 171; Henry E. Shiner Co., 171; Silver City Crystal Co., 182; Silver City Glass Co., 169 f., 182; Silver City Plate Co., 91; Simpson, Hall, Miller and Co., 91 f.; Simpson Nickel Co., 91; Sonora Record Co., 171; Southington Cutlery Co., 91; Stockwell's, 221; W. H. Squire Co., 215 f.; Standard Cutlery Co., 171; Styletex Co., 219; L. Suzio Concrete Co., 225; L. Suzio Construction Co., 145, 225; Hyman Tanger Co., 171; W. H. Thompson Candy Co., 170; Tillinghast Silver Co., 170 f.; Tishman interests, 222; Henry B. Todd, 170; Vincenzo Torchia, 171; Tredennick Paint Mfg. Co., 170; Ira Twiss and Bro., 83; Universal Music Co., 170; Upham's Department Store, 219; Vacuum Specialty Co., 170; Vocalion Organ Co., 170; F. J. Wallace, 169 f.; F. L. Waller Co., 171; Waterbury Clock Co., 170; Watrous Mfg. Co., 91; Curtiss Way Co., 92; Lysander R. Webb and Co., 205; Walter Webb and Co., 82 f.; Web- ster and Brigmann, 169 f.; E. G. Webster and Son, 91, 174; Western Union Tele- graph Co., 199; Westport Electric Light Co., 198; F. J. Wheeler Co., 236; Frank Wheeler and Son, 169 f.; William Wheeler Co., 169 f; White, Bottrell and Page Co., 170; Frank M. Whiting Co., 171; Whitney and Rice, 179; Wilcox and Evert- sen Co., 91, 174; Wilcox Realty Co., 94, 116; Wilcox Silver Plate Co., 86, 90 f.; Wilcox and White Organ Co., 91, 120, 169 f.; E. C. Wilcox Corp., 171; J. Wilcox and Co., 86; Wolf's New Process Abrasive Wheel, Inc., 170; Woman's Shop, 222; Woodbury Electric Light Co., 198; F. W. Woolworth Co., 222; Wusterbarth Bros., 223; Yale Grocery Store, 224; Andrew Young and Sons, 170; Youngberg Bros., 171 Butcher, B. J., 270 Butler, Albert, N., 119 Butler, Comfort, 29, 49 Butler, Eli, 71, 100, 208, 213 Butler, Henry C, 208 Butler, Hiram, 100 Butler, Joel I., 209 f. Butler, John, 62, 82 Butler, John F., 105, 220 Butler, William K., 94 Butler, William O., 220 Buttner, Howard F., 210 Byczynski, Joseph J., 191 Byxbee, John, 100, 104 f., 213 Byxbee, Theodore, 95 Cabon, James, 49 Cahill, C. W., Ill, 129 f. Cahill, Joseph, 191 Cahill, William J., Jr., 130, 152, 159 Caivano, Albert, 191 Call, James C, 147 Cambridge, Mass., 1, 36 Camp, Amos, 16 Camp, Elah, 212 Camp, Frank A., 215 Camp Glen Echo, 253 Camp Hubbard, 231 Campbell, Sherburne, 28 Canary, Daniel J., 115 Cannatelli, Vincent S., 191 Cape Breton, 44 Carabetta, Joseph, 234 Carr, Clarence E., 219 Carr, Steve, 136 Carroll, Michael B„ 163, 183 Carron, Mike, 133 Carrozella, William J., 191 Carter, Robert W., 115 Caruso, Enrico, 132 Casey, Edward, 147 Cashen, Homer F., 147 Cashen, John T., 191 Castelow, Alderman, 144 Cat Hole, 4, 19, 35, 150 Cat Hole Mountain, 4 Catholic University of America, 298 Catholic war veterans' organizations: Mount Carmel Post No. 1053, 256; St. Joseph Post No. 1106, 256; St. Laurent Post No. 1135, 256; St. Mary Post No. 1136, 256; St. Rose Post No. 1116, 256 Catlin, Benjamin H., 212 f. Catlin, W. H., 228 Cedar Creek, battle of, 96 Centennial, 122-4, 168, 222, 237, 259, 301 Ceppa, John L., 234, 271 Chamberlain, Abiram, 78 f., 106, 115, 124, 198, 208 Chamberlain, Mrs. Abiram, 238 Chancellorsville, battle of, 96 Chapin, J. H., 239 Chapman, E. A., 215 Charles 11,5 Chaya, Paul Carl, 191 Cheeney, Charles H., 115, 126 Cheshire, 6 f., 25, 31, 76, 82, 84, 106, 197, 201, 208, 217, 233, 264, 271 Cheshire Academy, 42 Chester, Mr., 20 Chester, Frank V., 224 Church, Robert G., 157 Church, Samuel O., 100 Church, W. B., 214 Church of England, 14 Churches: All Saints' Episcopal, 267; Bap- tist, 12-13, 41, See also First Baptism- Center Congregational, 12, 15, 36, 41, 53, 62, 213, 224, 262, f.; Congregational, 66, 236; Episcopal, 13, see also St. Andrew's Church; Evangelical Lutheran Immanuel, 268 f.; First Baptist, 12, 262 f., 265, 272; First Church of Christ Scientist, 271; First Congregational, 12, 70, 127, 239, 262; First Lutheran Church of Southington, 269; First Methodist, 154, 263, 267; First Methodist Episcopal, 15; First Universalist (St. Paul's), 154, 264 f.; Holy Angels' (South Meriden), 267, 298; Italian Bap- tist, 272; Kingdom Hall, 272; Liberty Street Baptist, 266; Main Street Baptist (West Meriden Baptist), 210, 265, 268, 272; Methodist, 15; Methodist Preaching House, 264; Mt. Hebron Baptist, 272; Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, 270, 286, 297; Park Avenue Baptist (Swedish Baptist), 268; Parker African Methodist Episcopal Zion, 268; St. Andrew's Episcopal, 14, 29, 105, 154, 247, 262 f., 267; St. John's Episcopal (Yalesville), 267; St. John's Lutheran, 265, 268, 295; St. Joseph's, 272, 297; St. Laurent's, 260, 266, 295; St. Mary's, 269- 70, 295; St. Nicholas (Byzantine Rite Catholics), 272; Sts. Peter and Paul Rus- sian Orthodox Greek Catholic, 271, 299; St. Rose, 261 f., 264, 270, 296; St. Stan- islaus, 234, 270-1, 296-7; "Salt Box," 13; South Meriden Methodist, 264; Swedish Evangelical Lutheran (Augustana Luth- eran), 269; Temple B'Nai Abraham, 154, 267; Trinity Methodist, 266, 270, 297 Cianfarani, Aristide B., 145 Ciasulli, Carl J., 191 City Government, divisions of: Board of Apportionment and Taxation, 155, 160, 285 f., 292; Board of Assessors, 160, 163; 305 INDEX Board of Building Commissioners, 160; Board of Education, 23, 154, 160, 189, 280, 284, 285, 288 f., 292 f.; Board of Electrical Examiners, 160; Board of Oil Burner Examiners, 160; Board of Plumb- ing and Heating Examiners, 160; Board of Public Safety, 160, 166; Board of Public Welfare, 160, 162 f.; Board of School Visitors, 274, Report of, 275; Board of Tax Review, 163; Building De- partment, 166, 300; Building Inspector, 292; City Auditors, 163; City Clerk, 161; City Comptroller, 163; City Planning Commission, 160; City Treasurer, 163; Department of Health, 160, 161-2, 293; Engineering Department, 163; Fire De- partment, 164-6; Jury Commission, 160; Park and Recreation Commission, 160, 227; Police Department, 163-4, 166, Records Division, 164; Police and Fire Signal Department, 164 f.; Post Office, 235-7; Recreation Department, 231, 233; Water Department, 162; Welfare Commis- sion, 160, 162; Welfare Department, 290; Zoning Board of Appeals, 160, 163 Civic committees and service organizations: Boy Scouts, 249, 252-3; Boys' Club, 203, 249, 252, 299; Charity Club, 130; Child Welfare League, 288; Citizens Committee on Sub-Standard Housing, 160; City Mis- sion Society, 239; Civil Defense Council, 160; Commission on the Care and Treat- ment of the Chronically III, Aged and Infirm, 245; Diocesan Bureau of Social Service, 249; Employers' Association, 255; Family Service Association, 249; Girl Scouts, 249, 253; Girls' Club, 249, 252; Investigation Committee on Comic Books, 160; Junior Chamber of Commerce, 231, 254-5; Junior ROTC, 286; Manufacturers' Association, 255; Merchants' Bureau, 254, 301; Meriden Academical Association, 277; Meriden Anti-Tuberculosis Associa- tion, 253; Meriden Board of Trade, 129, 254; Meriden Business Men's Association, 254; Meriden Chamber of Commerce, 129, 156, 176, 183, 218, 254, 301; Meriden Historical Society, 13, 22 ff., 59, 70; Meri- den Housing Authority, 160, 162; Meriden Medical Society, 239; Meriden Planning Commission, 299; Meriden Teachers Asso- ciation, 149; Meriden Tuberculosis Relief Association, 253; Meriden War Council, 140; Parent-Teacher Association, 292 f.; Parking Authority, 160; Public Celebra- tions Commission, 160; Public Health and Visiting Nurse Association, 249, 253-4, 256; Public Utilities Commission, 75; Red Cross, 185, 187; Salvation Army, 249, 254, 272; School Building Committee, 160, 285, 291; Service clubs (Exchange Club, 257; Kiwanis Club, 257; Lions Club, 230 f., 233, 257; Rotary Club, 257; Soroptimist International, 257; Unison Club, 257; Zonta Club, 257); War Council, Volunteer Office, 190; War History Office, 190; Women's Christian Temperance Union, 239, 251; Y.M.C.A., 187 ff., 249, 250-1; Young Men's Institute, 207, 250; Y.W.C.A., 228, 249, 251-2; Young Woman's League, 251 Civil War, 67, 75, 85, 89, 93 ff., 219, 236, 265 Clark, George M., 210 Clark, H. N., 254 Clark, Lewis E., 212 Clark, P. J., 213 Clark, Robert W., 255 Clark, William S., 149 Clarke, Remick K., 84 Clarke, Susan C, 49 Clarksville, 82 Cocoa Kid, 135 Code of the City of Meriden, Connecticut, 160 Coe, Andrew J., 155 Coe, Calvin, 24 Coe, John W., Ill, 115 Coe, Kate Foote, 258 Coe, Levi E., 155, 210, 213, 239 Coe, Mrs. Levi E., 258 Coffey, Joseph F., 252 Coggins, J. B., 87 Coggins, Leslie, 87 Cohen, David J., 241 Cold Spring, 19 Cole family, 1 1 Collins, Aaron L., 86, 100 Collins, Captain, 41 Collins, Dan, 47 ff., 58 Collins, Eddie, 134 Collins, Edward, 29, 45, 49 Collins, Jonathon, 21 Collins, Joseph H., 147 Collins, Robert T., 176 Collins, Sally, 34 Collins, Samuel, 49 Collins, Sarah, 70 Collins, Sarah E., 216 Collins, William, 114 Collins family, 1 1 Columbian Exposition, 198 Columbian Orator, 41 Community Fund, 185, 240 Cone, S. L., 86 Congregational Society, 27 Connecticut Agricultural Society, 119 Connecticut Colony, 5 Connecticut Co., 80, 112 Connecticut Light and Power Co., 125, 149, 196 ff. Connecticut Organ, 205 Connecticut Public Expenditure Council, 294 Connecticut Telephone and Electric Co., 181- 2, 195, 199 Connecticut Whig, 205 Connors, J. J., 178 Conroy, Michael J., 241 Convent of St. Bridget, 297 Cook, Isaac, 44 f., 47 Cook, Isaac, Jr., 44 Cook, Jared R., 100, 213 Cook, Louis M., 191 Cook, Marion, 247 Cooke, Joseph A., 152 Cooper, William J., 191 Corradino, Louis J., 191 Costello, Harry, 135 Couch, John, 44, 46, 49, 58 Court of Common Council, 155, 157, 161, 163, 166, 175, 242, 292, 301 Court of Common Pleas, 300 Cowing, Frank L., 105 Cowles, E. B., 198 Cowles, Ebenezer, 49 Cowles, Elisha A., 69, 209 Cowles, Joel, 49 Cowles, Major, 71 f. Cromwell, Conn., 76, 79. 116, 182, 197 Crooker, Arthur H., 191 Crow, C. Frederick, 177 Culbert, "Goodman," 10 Culver, Joshua, 30 Cummings, G. R., 226 Cummings, George R. (son of G. R.), 226 Cuno, Charles F., 179 Cuno, Charles H., 179, 226, 255 Cuno Foundation, 24 Curran, Jerome F., 191 Curry, John J., 176 Curtis, A. Morse, Jr., 191 Curtis, Abel, 47, 49 306 INDEX Curtis, Amasa, 62 Curtis, Arthur M., 115 Curtis, Asahel, 22, 59, 100, 213 Curtis, Augusta Munson, 91, 246 Curtis, Benjamin, 25 f., 44 Curtis, E. D., 253 Curtis, Edwin E., 26, 86 Curtis, Elisha, 49 Curtis, Enos, 86 Curtis, Floyd, 211 Curtis, George M., 59, 61, 90 f. Curtis, George Munson, and Gillespie, C. Bancroft, A Century of Meriden, 21, 31, 46, 62, 95, 123, 279, 281 Curtis, George R., 22, 78 f., 86, 89 f., 152, 214, 239, 246 Curtis, Homer, 67 Curtis, Mrs. James A., 254 Curtis, Jesse M., 147 Curtis, Lemuel J., 86, 88, 100, 247 Curtis, MacRae, 178 f. Curtis, Moses, 44 Curtis, Nathaniel, 26 Curtis family, 82 Curtis Memorial Library, 91, 100, 154, 160, 246-7 Curtiss, Asha H., 236 Curtiss, Edwin E., 212 f. Curtiss, Enos H., 212 f. Curtiss, John, 92 Cushing, Charles E., 191 Customs, 50 ff. Cyphers, Joseph G., 147 Daboll's "arithmetic," 40 Dahlke, Henry A., 191 Daily News, 206 Daily Republican, 104 D'Amico, Lorenzo, 147 Danaher, Cornelius J., Sr., 116, 134, 228 f. Danaher, Francis R., 101, 109, 134, 152, 158, 166 f., 183, 187 f., 241 Danaher, John A., 134 Danbury, 48 Danielson, Irving, 234 D'auria, Ronaldo F., 191 Davenport, Fanny, 128 Davenport, John, 2 f., 6 Davis, C. H. S., History of Wallingford, Meriden and Cheshire, 3, 6, 19, 97, 152, 215, 239 Davis, Jefferson, 94 Davis, Wilbur F., 155 Day, John F., 126 Daybill, Mark, 191 De la Vergne, Paul Mason, 245 Dearborn, John H., 191 DeBussy, Wales L., 144, 152 De Cantilion, Joseph, 140 Deep River, 223 Deforest (expert on Conn. Indians), 6 Delavan, Marcus L., 205 Delavan, Thomas, 127 Delavan, Mrs. Thomas, 127 ff. Delesdernier, H. W., 239 DeLuca, William, 147 Dennie, John, 21 Derecktor, Esidor, 130 Derecktor, Nathan, 130 Derecktor, Samuel, 130 De Sandre, Antonio, 147 Deshon, Corinne A., 246 Deshon, Giles H., 263 DeVoe, Eddie, 133 Dibble, Donald, 193 Dibble, William, 188 Dickenson, Charles, 78 DiFrancesco, John, 177 Dilworth, Spelling Book and Schoolmaster's Assistant, 38 Dlugolenski, Anthony, 191 Doak, James H., 198 Dodd, Samuel, 90 f. Doherty, John E., 235 Donovan, Daniel J., 142, 144, 152 Donovan, Derrick, 193 Doolittle, Edgar J., 104, 152, 209, 239, 257 Doolittle, Horace F., 144 Doran, John J., 147 Dossin, Oscar, 233 Douglas, Nathaniel, 49 Douglas, Stephen, 93 Douksza, Walter J., 191 Dowd, Richard, 235 Dowling, Eddie, 133 Dowling, Frank R., 191 Dowling, Robert M., 157 Drucquer, Harry, 165 Dryhurst, Henry, 62, 236 Duggan, Jeremiah T., 270 Dunham, Bill, 133 Dunn, Judge, 34 Dunne, Thomas P., 157 Dupont, Lorenzo, Jr., 193 Dupuis, George E., 191 Durante, Jimmie, 187 Dutton, Dudley A., 211 Dutton, Guy, 224 Dworak, Frank, 147 East Cemetery, 15 East Haven, 6 ff., 48 East Meriden, 86 Eaton, Theophilus, 3, 6 Eddy, Julianne, 41 Edge, William F., 263 Edison, Thomas A., 198 Edwards, Clarence, 146 Edwards, Fred H., 162 Edwards, George C, 91 Edwards, Jonathan, 63 Edwards, Joseph, 49 Eggleston, Arthur F., 225 Eggleston, J. D., 239 Elting, Richard, 267 Englehart, Adam, 125 Englehart, Leon J., 125 Erickson, John, 234 Etter, Bessie, 240 Evarts, L. C, 115 Evening Monitor, 206 Evening Press, 206 Evening Recorder, 206 Everard, Edward, 234 Everitt, E. B., 94, 213 Fagan, Lois Z., 179 Fagan, Paul F., 149 Falcon Athletic Association, 261 Folk, Manfred R., 191 Falls Plains, 20 Faricelli, Herman B., 191 Farmington, 8 Farrington, Jeremiah, 49 Feegal, John R., 139, 183 Felix, Joseph H., 147 Felix, Lois, 135 Fellowcraft Minstrels, 130 Fenn, A. H„ 239 Ferraro, Joseph, 147 Ferrigno, Joseph R., 235 Ficken, Alderman, 144 Fielding, Henry, 53 Fielding, John F., 147 Fillmore, Millard, 236 Financial institutions: City Savings Bank, 207, 210 f., 213-14; Connecticut Bank and Trust Co., 207, 209-11, 214, 236; Connect- icut Bankers' Association, 124; First Fed- eral Savings and Loan Association, 207, 216-17; First National Bank, 209 ff.; Fourth Meriden Building and Loan Asso- ciation, 216 f.; Hartford-Connecticut Trust Co., 209 ff.; Home National Bank and Trust Co., 90, 115, 127, 207-9; Home 307 INDEX Owners' Loan Corporation, 149; Meriden National Bank, 209 f.; Meriden Perma- nent Savings and Loan Association, 207, 215-16; Meriden Savings Bank, 204, 207, 212-13; Meriden Trust and Safe Deposit Co., 207, 210 f., 214-15; Phoenix State Bank and Trust Co., 209; Puritan Bank and Trust Co., 204, 207, 211-12; Savings and Loan Institute, 295 First Congregational Society, 11, 127 First Universalist Society, 28 Fiske, John, 2, 5, 7 Fitzgerald, E. A., 197 Fitzgibbons, Thomas M., Jr., 191 Fitzpatrick, James J., 236 Fitzpatrick, Jimmie, 136 Fitzpatrick, William H., 177 Flagg, Charles N., 149, 226 Flagg, Mrs. Charles N., 26 Flagg, Peter, 226 Flagg family, 26 Flynn, C. E., 220 Flynn, Harold H., 163 Ford, Roger M., 102 f. Ford, Sanborn, 49 Fort Sumter, 94 Fort Ticonderoga campaign, 44, 47 Foster, Albert, 87 Foster, Charlotte, 161 Foster, Giles, 49 Foster, H. M., 71 Foster, Homer, 161 Foster, Matthew, 161 Foster, Ozias, 49 Foster, Thomas, 49 Foster, Timothy, 49 Foster family, 11 Fowler, Irving M., 223 Fowler, Robert W., 191 Fox, C. F., 212 Francis Moloney Scholarship Committee, 160 Frary, James A., 86, 88, 208 Frary, James D., 90 Fraryville. See North Meriden Fraser, Lawrence, 234 Fraternal and social organizations: Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks, Meri- den Lodge No. 35, 259-60; Connecticut Federation of Cyclists, 114; Connecticut Fifers' and Drummers' Association, 124; Daughters of the American Revolution, 49; Falcon Nest 68, 261; Fraternal Order of Eagles, 261; German-American Society, 113; German Baptist Society, 266; High- land Country Club, 116; Home Club, 124, 258-9; Knights of Columbus, Silver City Council No. 2, 260; League of American Wheelman, 114; Loyal Order of Moose, 261; Masonic lodges (Center Lodge No. 97, 260; Hamilton Council No. 22, 260; Keystone Chapter No. 27, 260; Meridian Lodge No. 77, 260; St. Elmo Commandery, No. 9, 260); Meriden Golf Club, 116; Meriden Lawn Tennis Club, 115; Meriden Light Guards, 95; Meriden Wheel Club, 114; Meriden Woman's Club, 252; Polish Knights of the Blessed Virgin, 288; Put- nam Phalanx of Hartford, 124; Turner Society, 259. See also Women's auxiliaries Fredericksburg, battle of, 96 Freeman, Chatham, 27, 47, 49 Frost, Wilma M., 244 Fulton, Robert, 37 Furniss, Albert, 215 Gaffey, Francis E., 191 Galvin, William, 239 Gardinor, Clifford R., 157, 172, 255 Gardner, Warren F., 203 Gardner, William E., 265 Gordon, Carl A., 191 Gartland, J. L., 239 Garvey, Eddie, 133 Garvey, Patrick, 100 Gates, General, 47 Gearing, Charles M., 175 Gearing, Milton L., 176, 255 Gearing, Raymond W., 191 Geary, H. S., 198 Gerschefski, Fred J., 147 Gervais, Robert J., 193 Gettysburg, battle of, 96 Gibbons, George, 205 Gibbs, David, 287 Gibney, Hugh R., Jr., 191 Gibson, Cole B., 244 f. Gibson, Wilber W., 211 Gigli, 132 Gilbert, Jonathan, 4, 18 f. Gilmartin, John, 126 Gilmartin, John, Jr., 126 Giuffrida, Francis, 241 Giuffrida, Rolando, 272 Gladwin, Russell S., 152 Glaser, S. F., 266 Gleason, Lawrence, 191 Glock, Charles C, 211 Goffe, Solomon, 21 Gold, Herman, 220 Goldsmith, David, 147 Gompers, Samuel, 194 Goodrich, Charles A., Stories on the History of Connecticut; Designed for the Instruc- tion and Amusement of Young Persons, 20 Goodsell, Buell, 115 Gorman, Joseph L., 147 Gracey, Burton A., 193 Gracey, Howard T., 191 Graffam, E. W., 254 Graham, William F., 201 f., 205 f. Granby, 65 Grant, U. S., 98, 236 Gravel, Joseph C. M., 193 Grawemeyer, L. Melvin, 177 Greely, Emily, 253 Greenbacker, Joseph A., 157 Greene, General, 46 Gregory, Robert, 191 Grieco, Michael J., Jr., 191 Griffin, Joseph M., 261, 264 Grinold, Robert W., 191 Grinold, William H., 255 Griswold, Ashbil, 82, 85 f., 212, 209 Griswold, F. P., 239 Griswold, Giles, 49 Griswold, Henry, 82 Griswold, M. F., 257 Gross, Louis J., 223 Gross, Oscar, 223 Gross, Samuel, 223 Gudain, Leonard, 165 Gudebrod, Louis, 94 Guilford, 2, 176 Guy, Joel H., 62, 100, 209, 211 ff., 235 f. Guy, Orchard, 29 Hadley, Joseph A., 198 Hagadon, William, 103, 164 Hagedorn, George A., 269 Haggerty, Dennis, 132 Haggerty, Jack, 132 Halbert, Jessie, 254 Hale, Nathan, 147 Hale, William, 73 Hall, Abraham, 44 Hall, Almon, 28 Hall, Arthur E., 115 Hall, Benjamin, 19, 28 Hall, Brenton, 49 Hall, Daniel, 3, 11, 49 Hall, David, 30, 49 Hall, "Deken," 10 Hall, Edward B., 109 308 INDEX Hall, Enos, 49 Hall, Erwin D., 236 Hall, Eugene A., 213 Hall, Fanny, 28 Hall, George L, 155 Hall, Harold C, 166-7 Hall, Hiram, 235 f. Hall, Howard B., 157 Hall, Isaac, 28, 45 f., 49 Hall, Isaac, Jr., 46, 49 Hall, Israel, 28, 49 Hall, Joel, 49 Hall, Jonathan, 46, 49 Hall, Jotham, 49 Hall, Joseph E„ 147 Hall, Lon, 236 Hall, Moses, 46 Hall, Moses, Jr., 49 Hall, Phineas, 28, 49 Hall, Rufus, 49 Hall, Russell, 28 Hall, Samuel, 45, 49 Hall, Seth J., 155, 239 Hall, Theophilus, 12, 16,52 Hail, Wilbur B., 120 Hall, William F., 236 Hallbach, Robert H., 163 Hallmere Reservoir, 101 Halls Family, 11 Halstein, Robert, 191 Hamden, 6 Hamilton, Alexander, 2 Hamilton, C. A., 91 Hamilton, Lorenzo, 144, 257 Hamrah, Charles, 220 Handel, William F., 255 Hanover, 20, 25, 82 f. Hanover Dam, 150 Hanson, Harry S., 183, 253 Harlow, Dana, Jr., 191 Harrison, William Henry, 235 Hart, Benjamin, 25, 49 Hartford, ff., 3, 20, 31, ff., 35 f., 42 f., 69, 72, 88 f., 92, 106, 124, 134, 280 Hartford Courant, 8 Hastings, F. N., 126 Havell, Wayne G., 191 Hawkins, Marion, 258 Hayden, Harry, 209 Hayek, Charles J., Jr., 224 Hayes, Rutherford B., 236 Hedgpeth, T. Valmonte, 200 Heidel, Marion P., 26 Hess, Herman, 210 Hicks, F. H., 272 Hicks, Ratcliff, 213 Higbee or Higby, Edward, 4, 30 Higgins, David, 157 Higginson, Leroy C, 147 Highland, 77 Hiker Memorial, 109 Hillard, James L, 247 Hiller, William G., 109 Hinman, Charles L, 215 Hinman, Franklin E., 205 Hinsdale, Charles, 52 Hitchcock, Nelson, 147 Hofmeister, Donald A., 191 Holman, John, 183 Holmes, Harold, 188 Holmes, John, 37 Holt, I. L, 199 Hooker, Thomas, ff., 3 Hooker, William G., 215 Hookerites, 3, 5 Horan, Owen, 105 Horton, August W., 191 Hospitals: Meriden Hospital, 189, 238-41, 249; Undercliff Hospital (Undercliff Sana- torium), 244-5, 253; World War II Vet- erans' Memorial Hospital, 158 ff., 241-3, Association, 242 f . Hotchkiss, Fred, 228 Hough, Daniel, 26, 44 Hough, Ensign, 26 Hough, Insign, 45, 60 Hough, Isaac, 53, 71, 72 Hough, Isaac I., 36 Hough, James, 43, 49 Hough, John, 45, 47, ff. Hough, Phineas, 49 Hough, Samuel, 43 Hough, William, 25 Hough, Warren, 191 Houston, Howard E., 94, 152, 158, 244 Howe, George E., 245 Howell, George M., 155 Hubbard, Herman E.. 209, 212 Hubbard, Walter, 100, 214, 227, f., 232, 239 Hughart, W. Oden, 255 Hughes, O. J. D., 239 Hugo, O. C, 179 Hull, S. A., 201 Hutchinson, W. F., 115 Hyatt, Isaac B., 105, 223 Hyatt, Willard C, 223 Hyde, Joseph, 1l4 Immick, Hollis D., 254 Independent, 206 Indians, 6 ff. Industry, 81 ff.; since 1900, 168 ff. Investment Forum, 295 Isbell, Harlow. 67 Israel, Harry, 223 Israel, William, 223 Ives, Almerson, 235 Ives, Amos, 49, 152, 155 Ives, Bezaleel, 16, 47, 49 Ives, Eli, 100 Ives, Gideon, 46, 49 Ives, John, 49, 72, 219, 236 Ives, Lazarus, 26 Ives, Leland, 6 Ives, P. T., 143 Ives, Rollin S., 28 Ives, Timothy, 49 Ives, William J., 100 Ives Familv, 1 1 Iwanicki, Stanislaus, 261 Jackson, Andrew, 36, 62, 235 Jackson, Charles W., 147 Jackson, Ira W., 127 f. Jacobs, William, 167 Jacques, Jean, 127 Janes, Daniel, 49 Januschak, 128 Jefferson, Joseph, 128 Jefferson, Thomas, 2, 235 Jehovah's Witnesses, 272 Jepson, Louise J., 221 Jerome, Chauncey, 83 Jobin, Harold, 191 Johnson, Andrew, 236 Johnson, Dan, 64 Johnson, Foster M., 157 ff. Johnson, Israel, 24, 49 Johnson, Samuel, 49 Johnson, Sherman G., 123 Johnson, Wesley M., 213 Jones, Delbert, 108 Jopson, H. Raymond, 147 Jordan, C. T., 178 Jourdan, Albert S., 198 Journal Press, 92 Joyce, Thomas, 223 Kaczynski, Adam, 147 Kafka, George J., 191 Kalinowski, Anthony, 147 Kaminsky, Walter W., 191 Kantack, Frederick H., 147 Kapitzke, William, 191 Kaplan, Louis "Kid," 135 f. 309 INDEX Kasack, Bernard D., 254 Kassabian, Levon, 229 Katz, Max, 126 Kay, Frank E., 225, 260 Kay, James T., 225 Keeler, Reverend Mr., 41 Keeney, Raymond, 108 Kelly, John J., 270 Kelly, Norman P., 191 Kelly, William P., 281 f. Kelsey, William A., 201 f., 212 Kenmere Reservoir, 101 Kennedy and Kramer (dance team), 132 Kennedy, James, 132-3 Kensington parish, 33 Kent, 8 Kent, Carl T., 200 Kenwood Camp, 150 Ketelhut, Henry L, 214 Ketelhut, Otto C, 147 Keys' Brigade, 95 Kichinko, Peter P., 272 Kidder, Robert S., 183, 191 Kilbourn, Samuel, 44 Killeen, James C, 147 King, C. Win, 114 King, Francis, 209 King, Henry T., 114, 141, 143, 152, 159, 211 King, Jesse M., 147 King Philip's War, 8, 43 King, Ray E., 211 Kirby, Ernest, 190 Kirby, John B., 25 Kline, Edward J., 147 Kneath, H. E., 212 Knell, David M., 191 Koczon, Edward J., 191 Kolek, John, 191 Konopka, Frank P., 191 Koozmitch, Walter, 191 Kopcza, Walter J., 224 Korean War, 193 ff. Kounaris, Nick, 132 Kowalski, Joseph, 147 Kramer, Danny, 135 Kroeber, Robert, Jr., 191 Kroll, Alfred, 179 Kromer, John S., 263 Kruth, Hugo W., 147 Kurcon, Walter L, 164 Kuta, Matthew P., 163 Labor organizations: American Federation of Labor, 194 f.; Central Labor Union, 194 f., 244; Connecticut Federation of Labor, 194; Council of Industrial Organi- zations, 195; Electrical Workers Union, 195; International Typographical Union, 206; Knights of Labor: Buffers and Pol- ishers Assembly, 194; Mechanics Assembly No. 2501, 194; United Auto Workers, local 987, 195 LaCroix, Henry E., 147 Landry, Henry C, 191 Lane, Arthur S., 209 Lane, John S., 225 Lane, John W., 114 Longer, Carl R., 225 Langner, A., 223 LaPierre Manufacturing Co., 174 LaPlace, S. R., 223 LaRochelle, Ernest A., 147 LaRo;a, John R., 191 Lawrence, Silas, 37 Lawton, Burton L., 181, 210 Learmont, Everett E., 147 Learned, Charles A., 198 Lebo, Howard, 191 Leconte, Robert, 142 Ledyard, 8 Lee, Robert E., 98 Lee, W. W., 257 Leining, Warren H., 193 Lepack, Walter, 191 Levit Family, 11 Lewis, George F., 221 Lewis, H. J., 91 LeT52 ilTf C" 22' 62' ^ 88 *•' 95, 10°' Lewis, Jared, 100 Lewis, Patrick, 62, 84, 235 Lewis, R. W., 205 Lewis, William, 213 L'Heureux, Robert, 206 Liber, Benjamin L., 191 Library Board, 160 Liebreich, Oscar, 177 Lillement, 113 Lincoln, Abraham, 93 f, 236 Lines, H. Wales, 152, 225, 257, 260 Linsley, Charles F., 72, 198, 201, 214 Linsley, Noah, 236 Linsley, Randolph, 213 Lirot, Albert J., 215 Little, Hubert, 223 Livingston, Isaac, 49 Lizzi, James V., 147 Lockwood, H. DeForest, 140 Lodge, John D., 158, 244 Logan, J. W., 115 Logoyke, Alexander, 191 Long Island, battle of, 46 Longstreet, General, 96 Looby, Maurice J., 235 Lord, Albert J., 262 Louisburg expedition (1745), 44 Louisi, Michael, 147 Luby, William J., 157 Luca, Ernest, 191 Lucas, William L., 105 Lucchini, Victor E., 24, 157 Ludlow, Roger, 5 Ludsier, Lionel J., 191 Lutz, August, 266 Lyddy, Walter J., 270 Lyman, Aaron, 44 Lyman, Harry W., 157 Lyman, Phineas, 49 Lyman, William W., 86, 88 Lynch, John T., 270 Lynch, Raymond M., 224 Lynch, William, 224 Lynes, Robert E., 191 Lyon, George W., 100, 226, 26 Lyon, Humphrey, 95 Mabbett, J. H., 206 MacArthur, Douglas, 193 Mack (McGillicuddy), Connie, 134 Mackensie, Mrs. William, 33 Macri, George S., 191 Madona, Joseph Paul, 191 Magrath, George, 295 Maine, sinking of, 108 Majewicz, Joseph, 191 Maletta, Anthony, 191 Malm, John J., 192 Malone, Henrietta, 41 Malone, Nestor, J., 192 Malone, William F., 192 Moloney, Francis T., 134, 146, 148 f., 152, 166 f. Moloney Memorial Scholarship, 166-7 Maltby, Chapman, 92 Money, Francis R., 192 Manning, Thaddeus, 182 Markham, Augustus C, 100 Marvin, E. Lyman, 224 Mason, John, 271 Mason, John F., 192 Masonic Temple Foundation, 260 Massachusetts Bay Colony, 5 Mather, Albert B., 115, 279 310 INDEX Mathieu, Edward A., 266 Mattabesitt Tribe, 6, 8 f. May, Albert A., 254 May, Earl C, Century of Silver, 34 McCafferty, LeRoi, 133 McCarthy, Edward T., 147 McCarthy, Oliver, 215 McCarthy, Paul E., 192 McConnel, Murray, 179 McCrann, Walter A., 268 McGar, Frank H., 139 McGar, Stanley, 221 McGarry, Thomas B., 270 McGlew, John T., 195 McHugh, J. A., 120 Mclnnis, Stuffy, 134 McKenzie, George C, 147 McKenzie, William T., 212 McKinley, William, 108 McLaughlin, Roy L, 245 f. McMahon, Dennis, 136 McMahon, Patrick F., 130 McMasters, Wells, 114 McNulty, Catherine F., 253 McNutt, Paul V., 186 f. Mederick, Marchand, 171 Meeks, Arthur, 125 Meeks, H. A., 239 Meeting House Hill Burying Ground, 258 Meeting houses, 10 ff. Meiklem, Irving J., 215 Meiklem, Leonard F., 147 Meiklem, Wesley J., 192 Mekye, Daniel, 49 Mekye, Wyllys, 49 Memorial Boulevard, 143 ff., 266 Memorial Chapel, 241, 243 Mercaldi, Anthony P., 224 Mercaldi, Anthony P., Jr., 224 Meredith, (State Education Commissioner), 286 Meriden, Conn.: incorporation, 1; origin, 4, 11; early spellings of name, 4;origin of name, 18; number of early families, 30; separation from Wallingford, 58 ff.; first town meeting, 59; postmasters, 62; first town clerk, 62; first mayor, 84; city gov- ernment before 1900, 99 ff.; first chief of police, 103; first chief of fire depart- ment, 105; succession of mayors, 152; population, 154; government, 152 ff.; designation as nation's ideal war com- munity, 185-7; first postmaster, 235 Meriden "All Stars," 137 Meriden Banner, 94, 205 Meriden Chronicle, 205 Meriden City Band, 231 Meriden Community Fund, 249-50 Meriden Evening Times, 206 Meriden Journal, 117 f., 187, 201 ff., 203-4 Meriden Lions Welfare Project, Inc., 231 Meriden Literary Recorder, 104, 205 f. Meriden Morning Record, 202 Meriden News-Digest, 206 Meriden Record, 187, 190, 201-3. Meriden Record-Journal, 133, 193, 206 Meriden Republican, 201, 203, 205 Meriden Resolutes, 117 "Meriden Riot," 66, 68 Meriden Star, 206 Meriden Theater, 127 ff. Meriden Theater (South Broad Street), 132 Meriden Transcript, 205 Meriden Visitor, 205 Meriden Warwickshire, England, 18 Meriden Weekly Mercury, 205 Meriden's Centennial Celebration, 123 Merimere, 64 Merimere Reservoir, 101, 229 Merriam, Amasa, 49 Merriam, Asaph, 49 Merriam, Benjamin, 49 Merriam, Caleb, 49 Merriam, Dorrance, 192 Merriam, E. A., 155 Merriam, Elisha, 49 Merriam, Ephriam, 49 Merriam, Jesse, 49 Merriam, Joseph, 49 Merriam, Lauren, 82 Merriam, Marshall, 49 Merriam, N., 71 Merriam, Nathaniel, 29, 49 Merriam, Nelson, 71 Merriam, Samuel, 49 Merriam, Sidney, 21 Merriam, Titus, 49 Merriam, William, 49 Merriam Family, 11 Merriman, George C, 257 Merriman, Howell, 208, 212 Merz, Harold F., 210 f. Mesiak, Stanley, 147 Meskell, Pat, 137 Methodist Society, 15, 262 Metropolitan Opera Co., 121, 132 Mezzanotte, Nicholas, 147 Michaels, A., 221 Michalich, Vladimer, 272 Middletown, 6, 73, 77, 80, 87, 116, 182, 197, 220 Miles, John, 49 Miles, W. M., 215 Miles, Wallace A., 152 Miller, D. Henry, 95 Miller, Edward, 86 f. Miller, Freddie, 133 Miller, Glenn, 187 Miller, Hezekiah, 86 Miller, John F., 125 Miller, Lew, 216 Miller, Max E., 114 Miller, Ray Marcus, 263 Miller, Richard, 27 Miller, Spencer H., 183 Miller, William H., 213, 215, 236 Millington, Henry J., 177 Mills, Fred, 216 Mills, H. Dudley, 216 f. Mills, Herbert, 212 Mills, Lewis S., Story of Connecticut, 34, 36 Mills, Stanley, 216 Milton brothers, 132 Mines, 64 ff. Mingrino, Paul, 192 Miramont, Wallace, 21 Mitchell, Albert, 171 Mix, Silas, 209 Modjeska, 128 Mohawk Tribe, 7 Molloy, John, 26 Molloy, John F., 221 Molon, Michael, 192 Monroe, F. H., 239 Monson, Samuel, 17 Montowese, 4, 6 Moran, John L., 195 Moran, William, 200 Morelli, Joseph, 192 Morgan, John, 49 Morgan, Samuel B., 236 Moriarty, Eugene A., 267 Morning Call, 206 Moroney, John F., 183 Moroney, Thomas J., 163 Morse, H. W., 212 Moscaletis, Sylvester, 212 Moseley, Nicholas, 288 f. Moses, Linus, 105 Mosher, W. W., 215 Mottram, Warren L., 241 Moyer, Donald W., 192 311 INDEX Mrozek, Joseph, 147 Mueller, George W., 147 Munson, Craig D., 172 f. Munson, George D., 91 f., 172 Munson, John, 88 Murden, William E., 176 Murdock, Daniel E., 147 Murdock, Frederick L, 125, 211 Murdock, George B., 155 Muzyczka, Benjamin, 192 Nagel, John G., 213, 253 Nalewajek, Walter, 147 Nalewajk, Stanislaus, F., 271 Napier, James H., 180 Narragansett Tribe, 43 National Guard, 124, 138 ff., 183 National Preceptor, 41 Neebe, Frederick, L, 195 Negro, Boston, 49 Neibour, William H., 215 Nellis, Charles, Jr., 133 Nessing, Julius A., 192 New Britain, 77, 132 New Dam, 102 New England Primer, 38, 52 New England Testament, 39 New Haven, 4, 31 f., 34 ff., 42, 48, 66, 69, 72, 77, 94, 109, 129, 135, 139, 198, 200, 204, 246, 254, 280 New Haven Colony, 2 f., 5 New Haven, "republic" of, 2 New London, 44 New Town, See Cambridge, Mass. New York City, 35 Newport, E. C, 239 Newspapers. 201 ff. Newton, Charles A., 183, 254 Niantic, 77, 108 Nickerson, N., 239 Niewiadomski, Stanley J., 192 Nitsche, Arthur, 192 Nizza, Lawrence C, 8 Noon, Edward, 177 North, Curtis L., 212 North Haven, 6 North Meriden, 86 North Stonington, 8 Northern Literary Messenger, 205 Norton, J. S., 127 Norton, Jedediah, 22 Norton, Junius, 209 Norwich, 44 Notre Dame Sisters, 295 Nurawski, Stanley, 147 Oblivantseff, Seraphim, 271 O'Brien, Charles L., 162 O'Brien, Frank J., Jr., 193 O'Brien, Russell P., 192 O'Connell, Maurice, 192 O'Conner, James J., 184 O'Donnell, William L., 147 Old Bethel, 15 "Old Fry," 33 Old houses, 21 ff. O'Neil, F. J., 220 Orange, 6 Orr, Douglas, 242 Orzech, Stanley, 192 Otis, Albert I., 103 Otis, S., 239 Otto, Henry C. L., 206 Owsianik, Joseph F., 193 Packer, Clifford I., 188, 255 Page, Benjamin, 152, 215 Palmer, Charles S., 143 Paluconis, Dominic, 192 Pancho Villa, 138 Panciera, Arthur, 192 Paone, Raphael, 147 Parker, Charles, 15, 57, 84, 86, 95 f, 99 f, 102 f., 152, 201, 212, 214, 239, 268 Parker, J. H., 90 Parker, John, 95 Parker, Julius, 19 Parker, Wilbur F., 125 Parker's Engine Co. No. 3, 104 Parker's Hose Co. No. 3, 104 Parks and playgrounds, 277 ff. Parochial School Music Festival, 296 Parrish, Everett, 192 Patrucco, John, 234 Patten, Harold K., 147 Patzold, H. L., 125 Payne, Ruth E., 161 Peck, G. A., 239 Peck, S. S., 257 Peeck, Eliezer, 30 Penders, John G., 236 Penny Press, 206 Pepper, E. G., 215 Pequot Tribe, 7, 66 Pequot War, 8, 43 Perkins, Charles S., 127, 209 Perkins, George W., Historical Sketches of Meriden, 15, 18, 30, 32, 51, 61, 63 f 67, 81 Perkins, Herbert T., 192 Perkins, Simeon, 45, 49 Perkins, Stephen, 49 Perkins, W. H., 86 Pershing, John J., 138 Peterson, Herbert R., 268 Petrucelli, Leonard A., 164 f. Phelan, J. Ormonde, 295 Phelan, John J., 254 Phelps, Charles G., 255 Phelps, Charles S., 225 Philadelphia, 36 Pierce, E. W., 115, 239 Pierce, Franklin, 236 Pierce, John, 46, 49 Pinkos, Theodore J., 192 Piace names, 18 ff. Plainville, 77 Piatt, James P., 115 Piatt, Orville H., 95 f., 98, 205, 252 Ploetz, A., 239 Plum, Seth D., 63 Plumb, William W., 29 Plymouth Colony, 5 Podgurski, John, 192 Pogrebniak, Alexander, 271 Pohl, Irving C, 192 Poli, S. Z., 129 ff. Polk, James K., 62, 235 Pomeroy, Noah, 19, 28, 82, 209 Ponselle, Carmela, 132 Ponselle, Rosa, 121, 132 Pooley, E. J., 114 Port Royal, expedition to, 96 Post, Edwin M., 91 Post, John D., 41 Potrepka, Bernadine S., 224 Potts, John, 133 Powers, Charles C, 215 Powers, Clarence S., 212 Powers, D. F., 215 Prann, C. Perry, 162 Pratt, Henry S., 279 Pratt, Julius, 84, 93, 208, 212 Prattsville, 277 Preble, Howard B., 271 Press- Recorder, 206 Proudman, Arthur, 257 Prouty, Willis J., 115, 281 Przywara, Bronislaus, 192 Psalter, 38 Ptak, Walenty, 147 Public institutions, 238 ff. Puit, Adam, 4 Pulaski, Joseph S., 192 Pulver, H. Leslie, 147 312 INDEX Punty, Mrs. Edward, 27 Quinlan, Alderman, 144 Quinnipiac Tribe, 6 ff. Quinnipiack, 2 Race, Mrs. William H., 26 Radio Stations: W.D.R.C., Hartford, 229; W.M.M.W., Meriden, 182, 229; W.A.T.R.- TV., Waterbury, 229 Radtke, Arthur J., 192 Rahner, Charles, 192 Railroads: Boston and Maine Railroad, 72; Consolidated Railroad (New Haven), 76, 78; Hartford and New Haven Railroad, 71 f.; Hartford and Springfield Railroad, 72; Meriden and Cheshire Railroad, 75; Meriden and Cromwell railroad line, 76, 78; Meriden Horse Railroad, 90, 111; Meriden, Waterbury and Connecticut River Railroad Co., 78; Meriden and Waterbury Railroad, 78-9; Middletown, Meriden, and Waterbury Railroad Co., 79; New Haven and Northampton Rail- road, 75; New Haven Railroad, 70; New York and New England Railroad, 79; New York and New Haven Railroad, 72; New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, 72, 75, 79 f., Ill, 218; Spring- field, Hartford, and New Haven Rail- road, 72 Railway Express, 75 Rainer, Luise, 187 Rand, Philip C, 219 Randall, Arthur T., 263 Randall, H. B., 182 Raven, Carl E., 224 Raven, J. F., 224 Recican, William J., 147 Reed, William D., 127 f. Reeves, Herbert J., 173, 226 Rehm, Arthur A., 147 Reilly, Robert, 192 Reilly, Thomas L, 109, 116, 129, 143, 152, 156, 194, 203 f. Religious Teachers Filippini, 297 Remy, William, 234 Retail business, 218 ff. Revere, Lee F., 173 Revere, Paul, 44 Revolutionary War, 44-9, 60 Rexford, Benjamin, 44, 49 Rexford, Benjamin, Jr., 49 Reynolds, John, 194 Reynolds, John D., 209 Ribicoff, Abraham, 159 Ricci, J. M., 131 Ricci, Leo, 131 f. Ricciardi, Philip, 179 Rice, Abel, 29 Rice, Allen, 83 Rice, Betty, 252 Rice, Ezekiel, 45 Rice, Ezekiel, Jr., 25 Rice, Ezra, 30, 49 Rice, Gideon, 46, 49 Rice, Hezekiah, 83 Rice, Isaac, 49 Rice, Joseph, 45, 49 Rice, Jotham, 49 Rice, Justus, 49 Rice, Reuben, J., 114 Rice, Robert S., 28 Rice, Samuel, 24, 46, 49 Rice, Silas, 28 Rice, Solomon, 49 Rice, Wait, 49 Rice family, 25 Rich, Ezekiel, 49 Richardson, Ransom L., 247 Richardson, Samuel, 53 Ridley, Edwin W., 192 Riggs, Luther G., 205 f. Riker, A. Lawrence, 182 Ripley, Erastus, 52 Roads and Travel, 30 ff. Roark, Edward A., 105 Roberts, Charles A., 100 Roberts, John D., 253 Robinson, Donald T., 190, 192 Robinson, John, 49 Robinson, Joseph, 177 Robinson, Levi, 49 Robinson, Robert I., 192 Robinson family, 11 Rockney, History of New Haven County, 70 Rockwell, Charles, 257 Rockwell, Charles F., 157, 211 Rockwell, Charles L., 198, 214 Rockwell, George, 91 Rockwell, William F., 201 Rogers, Asa, 89 Rogers, George W., 236 Rogers, Gilbert, 211 ff. Rogers, Hervey, 71 Rogers, Joseph E., 192 Rogers, Malcolm, 295 Rogers, Simeon, 89 Rogers, William, 89 Rogoz, Joseph R., 165 Rollins, George, 133 Rooney, Pat, Sr., 128 Roosevelt, Franklin D., 148, 183 Ropes, David N., 212 Roraback, J. Henry, 198 Rosi, James, 192 Royce, Ezekial, 44 Royce, Samuel, 44 Royce family, 1 1 Roys, Samuel, 10 Rudolph, Fred, 234 Runge, Kenneth C, 192 Russell, Sol Smith, 128 Rust, T. S., 114 Rybeck, William H., 241 Ryder, Elisha, 199 Rzegocki, Theodore J., 192 St. Arnauld, Earl L., 147 St. Onge, Edward O., 192 St. Onge, Joseph F., 192 Saleski, Joseph C, 192 Salisbury, 65 Saltonstall, Henry W., 212 Sands, Frank E., 140, 203 f., 254 Savage, Albert W., 255 Savage, George E., 257 Savage, Leonard S., 215 Saviteer, Howard F., 241 Savoys, The, 132 Sawyer, Bertrand K., 192 Scanlon, John J., 126, 236 Scarfo, John V., 192 Schaefer, Francis J., 192 Scharmer, Carl A., Jr., 192 Schenck, M. B., 257 Schenck, William A., 157 Schleiter, H. L., 213 Schlette, Fred, 234 Schneider, Nicholas F. X., 269 Schools: Benjamin Franklin, 23, 234, 290, 292; Center School, 39, 277; "Central School," 279; Central Grammar, 281, 288; Church Street, 284, 286 f.; Connecticut School for Boys, 245-6; Corner District, 278 f.; evening classes, 280-1, 289; Frank- lin Street, 287; Hanover (Robert Morris), 234, 286, 290; High School Annex, 289- 90; Israel Putnam, 290, 292 f.; Jefferson Junior High, 286, 291 f.; John Barry, 279, 287, 290 ff.; Jonathan Trumbull, 287, 290 ff.; Lincoln Junior High (West Grammar), 282, 286, 291 f.; Meriden High School, 134, 136 f., 167, 279, 281-4, 286, 288 ff.; Meriden Institute, 277 f.; 313 INDEX Meriden Trade, 284; Nathan Hale, 286, 290 ff., 297; North Broad Street, 277, 287; North Center School, 39-41; North Colony Street, 289; Nurses' Training School, 240 f.; of Adele S. Booth, 278, 281; of Edward C. Wheatley, 280; of German-American School Association, 278 f.; Roger Sherman, 287, 292, (Annex, 290 ff.); St. John's Parochial, 295; St. Joseph's Parochial, 297; St. Laurent's Parochial, 295; St. Mary's Parochial, 295 f.; St. Rose's Parochial, 296; St. Stanis- laus' Parochial, 296-7; Samuel Hunting- ton, 277, 292 f.; South Broad Street, 277, 292; South Center, 279; Southeast, 288; Stone Schoolhouse, 39; Wilcox Technical (State Trade), 136, 288 f., 294; Willow Street, 288 Schuerer, Herman, 228 Schultz, C. A., 182 Schultz, C. W., 182 Schultz, R. A., 182 Schultz, W. M., 182 Schunack, C. E., 212 Scott, Roy, 179 Scovil, David, 49 Scovil, Elijah, 49 Scovil, Elisha, 49 Scovil, Samuel, 45 Seekamp, Robert W., 7 Seeley, George, 1952 Sembler, Elizabeth, 271 Sesquicentennial, 122, 231, 261, 301 Setterling, Einer C, 198, 200 Seventh Day Adventists, 272 Sexton, John R., 255 Seymour, F. J., 86 Shailer, Joseph, 45 f., 49 Sharp, Hattie, 133 Shepard, Odell, 6, 9; Connecticut Past and Present, 18 f. Shepley, G. N., 115 Sheridan's Army, 96 Shiffer, Fred L, 263 Shippee, Lester E., 210 Siaflas, Thomas J., 147 Silliman, Benjamin, in American Journal of Science, 19 Simpson, Samuel, 88 Simsbury, 43, 64 Sisters of The Assumption, 295 Sisters of Mercy, 264, 296 f. Sisters of St. Joseph, 297 Sklar, Mr. and Mrs. Ezak, 132 Sklar, George, 132 Slagle, Frederick, R., 177, 188 Slater, Morris, 133 Slavery, 66 ff. Smith, Blanche, Hixson, 202 Smith, David P., 142, 243 Smith, E. E., 157 Smith, E. W., 212, 239 Smith, Edwin, 202 Smith, Frank D., 212 Smith, George, 177 Smith, George W., 213 Smith, Kenneth E., 192 Smith, Stephen L., 152, 157 Smith, Wayne C, 202 Smith, Mrs. William Rice, 258 Smithsonian Institution, 82 Smollett, Tobias Co., 53 Snow, Glover A., 77, 255 Snow, Oliver, 84 "The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts," 13 Sokel, George J., 209 Somers, J. E., 223 Song of Meriden, xi Sothern, E. H., 128 South Meriden, 25, 107, 171, 234 f, 237, 257, 267 f., 287, 298 f. Southern New England Telephone Co., 105, 145, 199 Southington, 186, 197, 201, 224, 253, 264, 271 Sowheag, 6 Spanish War, 108 ff. Spear, Carlton P., 219 Spear, Lewis M., 219 Spencer, Thomas, 49 Spicer, Ernest W., 109 Spinelli, James V., 192 Sports celebrities, 134 ff. Sprafke, Bernard, 234 Springfield, Mass., 36 Spruce Glen, 7 Squire, Allan B., 31, 33, 70 Squire, Mrs. Robert A., 215 Squire, Mrs. Roger W., 215 Squire, Wilbur H., 114, 228 Stafinski, Theodore T., 192 Stamford, 2 Staniland, Horace G., 147 Stanley, George W., 59 Staszewski family, 22 State Board Department of Education, 284ff. State Employment Service, 199 State Guard, 184 State Railroad Commission, 77 Sterne, Laurence, 53 Stetson, Albert L., 114 Stevens, Elizur Seneca, 92 Stevens, Evarts C, 172 f. Stevens, Frank A., 114 Stevens, Frederick M., 172 Stevens, Frederick M., Jr., 27 Stevens, Harry A., 114 Stevens, Helen, 248 Stevens, John B., 173 Stevens, Maltby, 172 f. Stillman, A. B., 94, 205 Stith, Robert, 267 Stockwell, Harry, 221 Stoddard, John E., 161, 293 Stormy Point, battle of, 46 Storts Welding Co., 171 Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 128 Strauss, Robert M., 193 Stremlau, Julius C, 194 Stretch, Harlan J., 147 Stringer, George L., 173 Stringer, Norman J., 255 Suffolk, siege of, 96 Sullivan, Joseph A., Jr., 192 Summer, George C, 147 Summit, 78 "Sunshine" (steamer), 77 Sutliff, John, 87 Surowiecki, Walter, 136 Suzio, Leonard, 119, 225 Swamp Fort, battle of, 43 Swider, John, 147 Swift, Jonathan, 53 Szymaszek, Edward J., 192 Tait, John, 213, 239 Talcott, John, 4 Tappert, C. Reinhold, 269 Taylor, Hoyt C, 241 Taylor, Stephen, 209 Taylor, Zachary, 235 Teagle, Donald J., 192 Terrell, Claude, 121 Terrell, W. F., 226 Terry, James T., 238 Tetreault, Albert J., 192 Theaters: Air Dome Theater, 132; Bijou Theater, 132; Capitol Theater, 131; Com- munity Playhouse, 130 f.; Crystal Theater, 132; Delavan Opera House, 127f.; East Main Street Poli Theater, 131; Fox-Poli Palace, 131; Life Theater, 131; Loew PoH 314 INDEX Palace Theater, 130 f., 187; Meriden Poll Palace, 131; Poli Theater, 129 f.; Star Theater, 132 Thomas, E. R., 91 Thomas, O. F., 91 Thomas, Samuel, 91 Thompson, C. C, 287 Thompson, Denman, 128 Thompson brothers, 66 Tobie, Llewellyn A., 213 Tolles, A., 132 Tompkins, Durwood, 234 Topographical features, parks, and playing fields: Allen Hill, 7, 34; Baldwin's Beach, 233; Baldwin's Pond, 233; Beaver Pond, 33, 233; Black Pond, 20, 101 f.; Blue Mountains, 35; Bradley Park, 116, 271; Broad Brook, 101; Brookside Park, 77, 112, 135, 232-3, 234; Camp's Meadow, 77; Ceppa Field, 271; City Park, 232, 234, 244; Columbus Park, 149 f.; Connecticut River, 37, 73, 75; Crow Hollow, 19, 82; Dog's Misery, 11, 20, 28, 30; Dossin Park, 233; East Main Street Hill, 62; East Peak, 227 ff., Foster Lake, 102; Golden Parlor Mine, 64; "Green Swamp," 33; Hanging Hills, 20, 64, 227, 244; Hanover Park, 112, 116 f., 124, 136, 194, 257; Hanover Pond, 113, 233 f.; Harbor Brook, 4, 20, 63, 69, 81 f., 176, 203, 232-3; Hemlock Grove, 116; Holt's Hill, 72; Hubbard Park, 190, 227-32, 234; Insilco Field, 234; Johnson Hill, 101; Legion Park, 257; Little League Field, 234; Little Plain, 20; Meeting House Hill, 7, 11, 20; Mining Hill, 64; Mirror Lake, 228, 230, 232; Mt. Lamentation, 4, 7, 9, 20; Mt. St. Joseph, 296; Mt. Tom, 229; Napier Park, 181; Peat Works Pond, 7; Pilgrim's Harbor, 4, 11, 20, 30, 32; Pratt's Pond, 77, 83; Quinnipiac River, 7, 69, 81 f, 107, 117; Red Bridge, 7, 233; Sag Harbor, 77; Shelter Island, 77; Smith's Crossing, 77; Sodom Brook, 82; Twiss Pond, 78; Wallace's Bridge, 112; Walnut Grove, 56, 64, 115; Washington Park, 150; West Mountain, 100 f.; West Peak, 24, 150, 227 f., 251 Tracy, A. W., 152, 239 Tracy, John, 105 Transportation (journal), 77 Tredennick, C. H., 129 Tremaine, Burton G., 177 Tremaine, Burton G., Jr., 177 Trigilio, Joseph J., 192 Trostel, Harold C, 192 Trottier, Emil J., 147 Troy, Albert, 267 Trumbull, 8 Trumbull, John H., 146 Tryon, General, 47 Tryon, C. Howard, 204 Tunxis Tribe, 8 Twiss brothers, 57 Tyler, John, 235 Tyler, Samuel, 139 Tyler's Division, 95 Ulbrand, William J., 147 Ulisney, Edith Lipke, 271 Ulysses, George, 132 Umansky, Samuel, 220 Underwood, Joseph C, 147 United Colonies of New England, 5 Upham, Charles L., 94, 100, 152, 213, 219 Upham, Francis C, 94, 219 Upham, William H., 219 Van Buren, Martin, 36 Van Nostrand, George, 103 Van Oppen, Alphonsus John Henry, 260, 266 Vernon, Thomas, 215 Veterans' Organizations: American Legion, Meriden Post No. 45, 142, 150, 256-7, 260; Disabled American Veterans, Chap- ter 6, 256; Grand Army of the Republic, 124, 143; Italian-American World War Veterans, D'Amico Post No. 7, 256; Jewish War Veterans, Post No. 92, 256; Marine Corps League, Silver City Detachment, 256; Military Order of the Purple Heart, Meriden Chapter, 256; Polish American Veterans, Meriden Post, 256; Sons of the American Revolution, 49; Captain John Couch Branch No. 2, Connecticut Society, 257; Sons of Union Veterans, Charles L. Upham Camp No. 7, 255 f.; United Serv- ice Organizations, Meriden Center, 184 f., 188 f.; United Spanish War Veterans, Captain Charles B. Bowen Camp, 109, 124, 256; United Veterans' Council, 242, 255-6; Veterans of Foreign Wars, La Croix Murdock Post No. 585, 256; Vet- erans' Service Commission, 188; Yankee Division Veterans Association, Feegoi- Tyler Chapter, 256. See also Catholic War veterans' organizations; Virginia, siege of, 96 Wadsworth, Colonel, 45 Wadsworth, General, 46 Wadsworth, Joseph, 43 Wallingford, 1 ff., 6, 10 f., 32, 38, 47, 50, 58 ff., 74, 77, 92, 124, 132, 174, 186, 201, 220, 235, 238, 240 f., 253, 255, 264, 271 Wallingford Purchase Lands, 10-11 Walnut Grove Cemetery, 25 Walsh, "Big Ed," 135 Walsh, James F., 166 f. Walsh, Young Ed, 135 Walters, Zoe, 268 Walther, Eric A., 211 Walther, W. H., 255 Waltz, Sammy, 135 War of 1812, 44 Warner, Charles, 104 Warner, "Pop," 136 Warnock, Julia Lansing Hull, 203 Warnock, Thomas H., 202 f. Warshauer, J. H., 220 Washington, George, 35 f., 46, 60 Washington, William H., 147 Washington Engine Co. No. 2, 104 Washington Hose Co. No. 2, 104 Waterbury, 24, 77 Waterman, Moses, 95 Watrous, W. H., 91 f. Watson, Philip B., 255 Way, Abner, 49 Way, Moses, 49 Wayne, Anthony, 46 Webb, Bessie Livingston, 240 Webb, John, 25, 215 Webster, Noah, New Speller, 41 Weeks, George W., 205 Weisleder, Leo E., 216 Welliver, Kenneth B., 265 Wendover, Sanford H., 204 Wentworth, Teddy, 132 Wentworth, Vesta, 132 Werner, Oscar, 269 Wesleyan University, 264 West Cheshire, 78 West, E. E., 152 West Meriden, 12, 62, 69, 153, 235, 265 Westfield, 77, 80, 176 Westhaver, H. N., 182 Wethersfieid, 21, 32 f. Wethersfield Prison, 83 Wetmore, A. C, 208, 213 Whalon, William R., 192 Wheatley, Edward C, 280 Wheatley, Harold L., 214 Wheatley, L. F., 240 Wheeler, Stanley B., 147 315 INDEX Whisler, J. E., 182 White, A. J., 226 White, Amos, 62, 235 White, Carter H., 24, 55, 202 White, H. K., 215 White, Henry F., 147 White, Russell, 25 White family, 25 White Plains, battle of, 46 Whiting, Samuel, 58 Whiting family, 11 Whitney, Benjamin, 16 Whitney, William H., 139 Wieszcholek, Peter, 147 Wightman, J. S., 213 Wifcox, Albert H., 32, 114 Wilcox, Dennis C, 87 f., 90, 100 Wilcox, Ernest C, 181 Wilcox, Frank N., 22 Wilcox, Frederick P., 91 Wilcox, George H., 88, 91, 172 Wilcox, H. S., 62 Wilcox, Horace C, 75, 78 f., 86 ff., 90 f., 100, 127, 152, 172, 201, 239, 243 Wilcox, Jedediah, 83, 86, 100 Wilcox, Roy C, 34, 172, 243 Wilcox, William J., 188, 255 Wilkinson, Charles E., 147 Williams, Charles Merriam, 245 Williams, Jack, 192 Williams, John R., 212 Williams, Mildred R., 144, 146 Williams, Richard, 246 Wilson, E. A., 239 Wilson, G. H., 95, 152, 239 Wilson, O. G., 205 Winder, Fred J., 220 Winslow, Carlton H., 179 Winston, Robert, 205 Winthrop, John, 1 f., 5 Wismar, Adolph H., 266 Women's Auxiliaries: American Legion, 256 f.; Disabled American Veterans, 256; Gold Star Association, 256; Italian-Amer- ican War Veterans, 256; Marine Corps League, 256; Memorial Hospital, 243; Meriden Hospital, 239; Polish-American Veterans, 256; Veterans of Foreign Wars, 256 Women's organizations: Business and Pro- fessional Women's Club, 258; Charity Club, 258; City Mission Society, 258; Daughters of the American Revolution, Ruth Hart Chapter, 258; Susan Carrington Clarke Chapter, 258; Junior Woman's Club, 258; National Society of New England Women, Meriden Colony, 258; Thursday Morning Club, 246, 258; Woman's Club, 258; Women's Christian Temperance Union, 258. See also Service Clubs, Women's Auxiliaries. Woodbridge, 6 Woodbridge's "geography," 40 Wooley, Harry, 147 Working Men's Free Bed Fund, 253 Works Program Administration, 244 World War 1, 118, 129 f., 138 ff., 169 f., 180 f., 197, 287 World War I Memorial, 143 ff. World War II, 116, 151, 171, 174, 176, 179 ff., 183 ff., 195, 218, 232, 241, 254, 299 Worley, Edgar, 192 Woronick, Bronislaus, 192 Woronick, Julius (Great Mephisto), 135 Wright, Colonel, 96 Wright, Dexter R., 95 Wunsch, Herbert A., 192 Wusterbarth, Carlton W., 192 Wusterbarth, Harold J., 221 Y Community Forum, 251 Yale, Abel, 29 Yale, Amerton, 49 Yale, Bertrand, 236 Yale, Charles, 57 Vale, Daniel, 49 Yale, David, 27 Yale, Elwood, 224 Yale, Fred L., 224 Yale, Frederick E., 224 Yale, Hiram, 57 Yale, Ira N., 235 Yale, Joel, 22 Yale, John, 22, 49 Yale, Jonathan, 49 Yale, Levi, 62, 235 Yale, Lewis, 212 Yale, Moses, 29 Yale, Nash, 49 Yale, Nathaniel, 46, 49 Yale, Noah, 26 f., 47 Yale, Oliver M., 224 Yale, Samuel, 31, 209 Yale, Thomas, 26 f. Yale, Waitstill, 49 Yale, William, 209 Yale family, 1 1 Yale University, 132 Yalesville, 34, 115, 145, 267 f. Young, H. C, 208 Young, Matilda A., 190 Young, Richard H., 192 Youngs, Mrs. C. H., 251 Zabel, Emil W., 147 Zajac, Ben, 136 Zavaglia, Raymond, 192 Zawacki, Frank A., 192 Zebora, Rudolph J., 192 Zeitung, Alpeck, 172 Zimmer, Charles, 164 Zimmer, Rodney, 165 Zlotowski, Victor Leo, 192 Zubler, Joseph, 193 Zuckerman, Maurice, 222 Zuckerman, Stanley, 184 Zuraw, Edward J., 192 316 Sesquicentennial Celebration Week June 17-23, 1956 SUNDAY, JUNE 17th CHURCH DAY - RELIGION Master of Ceremonies — Parker B. Allen, General Chairman President , Charles Parker Co. A.M. Special Services, All Churches 8-8 p.m. Open House Ground Observer Corps., G. O. C. Post, Buckwheat Hill P.M. 12-8 p.m. Open House, Aleriden Historical Society, Andrews Homestead 2-5 Arts & Crafts Association Exhibition, Horace Wilcox Technical School 2- 5 Open House, Meriden Hospital, Cook Avenue 2- 5 Open House, Memorial Hospital, Paddock Avenue 2:30 Band Concert, Hubbard Park 3: 30 Official Opening of Meriden Sesquicentennial Celebration — General Chairman — Hubbard Park Invocation Address — Mayor Dedication of Music Shell Benediction Choral Group Singing 7 Pet Show, Columbus Park 9:15 Fireworks, Columbus Park MONDAY, JUNE 18th SCHOOL DAY - EDUCATION Master of Ceremonies — Attorney George E. McGoldrick President, Meriden Board of Education Visitation of public and parochial schools all day, especially by former students and teachers. Special Sesqui exercises A.M. 8- 8 p.m. Open House, Ground Observer Corps., G. O. C. Post, Buckwheat Hill 9-9 Special Displays, Curtis Memorial Library P.M. 12-8 p.m. Open House, Meriden Historical Society, Andrews Homestead 6-12 midnight Silver City Side Show & Rides, Columbus Park 1 Open House, Y.M.C.A. 2- 5 Arts & Crafts Association Exhibition, Horace Wilcox Technical School 3 Tennis Match C. C. I. L., Hubbard Park 4 Golf Tournament (local), Municipal Golf Course 6:30 Exhibition Softball Game, Washington Park 7 Preview Meriden Industrial Exhibit, State Armory 7- 9 Arts & Crafts Association Exhibition, Horace Wilcox Technical School 7:15 Sesqui Social, City Hall Auditorium 7:30 Coronation of Miss Sesquicentennial, Insilco Field 8 Block Dance, John Barry School Yard 8:30 Historical Pageant, Insilco Field TUESDAY, JUNE 19th INDUSTRIAL DAY Master of Ceremonies — Norman J. Stringer President, The Manufacturer's Association of Meriden and Wallingford, Inc. A.M. 8- 8 p.m. Open House Ground Observer Corps., G. O. C. Post, Buckwheat Hill 9- 9 p.m. Special Displays, Curtis Memorial Library P.M. 12-8 p.m. Open House, Meriden Historical Society, Andrews Homestead 12-12 midnight Silver City Side Show & Rides, Columbus Park 1 Open House, Y.M.C.A. 2-5 Arts & Crafts Association Exhibition, Horace Wilcox Technical School 2-10 Industrial Exhibit, State Armory 3 Tennis Match C. C. I. L., Hubbard Park 3:30 Elementary School Track Meet, 1, 2, and 3 grades, Washington Park 3:30 Junior High School Track Meet, Ceppa Field 4 Golf Tournament (local), Municipal Golf Course 8 Choral Festival, Music Shell, Hubbard Park 9 Sesqui Dance, City Hall Auditorium WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20th GOVERNOR'S DAY Master of Ceremonies — Judge Denis T. O'Brien, Jr. A.M. 8- 8 p.m. Open House Ground Observer Corps., G. O. C. Post, Buckwheat Hill 9- 9 p.m. Special Displays, Curtis Memorial Library P.M. 12-8 p.m. Open House, Meriden Historical Society, Andrews Homestead 12-12 midnight Silver City Side Show & Rides, Columbus Park 1 Open House, Y.M.C.A. 2-5 Arts & Crafts Association Exhibition, Horace Wilcox Technical School 2-10 Industrial Exhibit, State Armory 3 Tennis Matches C. C. I. L. (finals), Hubbard Park 3 High School Track Meet, Ceppa Field 3 Elementary School Track Meet, 4, 5, and 6 grades Washington Park 4 Golf Tournament (local), Municipal Golf Course 6 Invitation Softball Teams, Washington Park 6 Exhibition Water Ballet Teams, Hubbard Park Swimming Pool 7-9 Arts & Crafts Association Exhibition, Horace Wilcox Technical School 8:30 Historical Pageant, Insilco Field 9 Brothers of the Bush Rock and Roll Dance, City Hall Auditorium THURSDAY, JUNE 21st CELEBRITY DAY Master of Ceremonies — Former Mayor, Attorney Francis R. Danaher A.M. 8- 8 p.m. Open House Ground Observer Corps., G. O. C. Post, Buckwheat Hill 9- 9 Special Displays, Curtis Memorial Library P.M. 12-8 p.m. Open House, Meriden Historical Society, Andrews Homestead 12-12 midnight Silver City Side Show & Rides, Columbus Park 1 Open House, Y.M.C.A. 2-5 Arts & Crafts Association Exhibition, Horace Wilcox Technical School 2-10 Industrial Exhibit, State Armory 3:30 Doll Carriage Parade, Washington Park 3:30 Marble Contest, Washington Park 3:30 Bicycle Races, Washington Park 4 Golf Tournament (local), Municipal Golf Course 6 Invitation Softball Tournament, Washington Park 7- 9 Arts & Crafts Association Exhibition, Horace Wilcox Technical School 8:30 Historical Pageant, Insilco Field 8 Block Dancing, John Barry School Yard FRIDAY, JUNE 22nd HOMECOMING DAY Master of Ceremonies — Former Mayor William J. Cahill, Jr. A.M. All Day, Family Reunions and Visitations to Points of Interest about the City 8- 8 p.m. Open House Ground Observer Corps., G. O. C. Post, Buckwheat Hill 9- 9 p.m. Special Displays, Curtis Memorial Library 10-5 p.m. Static Displays, Local Airport P.M. 12-8 p.m. Open House, Meriden Historical Society, Andrews Homestead 12-12 midnight Silver City Side Show & Rides, Columbus Park 1 Open House, Y.M.C.A. 4 Golf Tournament (local), Muncipal Golf Course 6 Softball Tournament (Semi-finals), Washington Park 8 Meriden Symphony Orchestra, Music Shell, Hubbard Park 8 Block Dance, John Barry School Yard SATURDAY, JUNE 23rd COMMUNITY DAY Master of Ceremonies — Arthur F. Eggleston President, The Lane Construction Corporation A.M. 8- 8 p.m. Open House Ground Observer Corps., G. O. C. Post, Buckwheat Hill 9-12 Special Displays, Curtis Memorial Library 9 Local Golf Tournament (Semi-finals), Municipal Golf Course P.M. 12-8 p.m. Open House, Meriden Historical Society, Andrews Homestead 12-12 midnight Silver City Side Show & Rides, Columbus Park 1 Open House, Y.M.C.A. 2 Sesqui Parade 9 Senior Sesqui Ball, State Armory 9 Junior Sesqui Ball, Crystal Ballroom SUNDAY, JUNE 24th CARRY-OVER ACTIVITIES 8- 8 p.m. Open House Ground Observer Corps., G. O. C. Post, Buckwheat Hill 9 Golf Tournament Finals (local), Municipal Golf Course 9- 5 p.m. Model Airplane Meet, Columbus Park 10 Softball Tournament Finals, Washington Park y University of Connecticut Libraries