Historic Towns of the Connecticut River Valley (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: first ships built in the Colony. She was in command of Captain Larabee, and Samuel Smith owned the largest share in the ship. Boats were built on the site of Deming's yard for about 200 years. In 1672, there was another yard started, just to the north of the Rocky Hill landing, where a thriving business was carried on and a considerable number of vessels were built. The commerce of Wethersfield was chiefly fur-bearing pelts and pipe- staves; the former were shipped to Europe and the latter to the West Indies. Among the more notable sea-captains were the following: in the Still- man family were, Otis Southmayde, George, Simeon, Francis, Charles, Allyn, and Joseph Stillman, who was the grandfather of Massachusett's fine patriot of the Revolutionary days, James Otis. Other men who were connected with the sea as captains or merchants, were William Griswold, Joseph Webb, Justus Riley and Barnabas Deane. Some of the greatest industries of the State of Connecticut, either originated in Wethersfield, or were started by natives of that village. To begin with the most primitive manufacturing interests, it is probable that the dam across Mill Brook?sometimes called Sucker Brook ? built by Leonard Chester, in 1637, to store water for turning the wheel of his gristmill, was the first dam built in the Connecticut Valley. The great britannia works of Meriden with its present allied industries, was founded by Ashbel Griswold, who was born in that portion of Wethersfield that is now Rocky Hill. About the year 1785, Captain Thomas Danforth, of Rocky Hill, manufac- CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, WETHERSF1ELD. tured articles of tin and pewter. The greater portion of his goods were sent to the Southern States. Young Griswold, one of Captain Danforth's apprentices, went to Meriden in 1808, and ...