Hartford

“ Surrounded by a large family of uncommonly beautiful and promising children, these three households formed a delightful circle, often meeting in social festivals, and comprising a remarkable range and variety of age, accomplishments, and wisdom.
The kindness received from all was to me a source of wondering gratitude. Whatever of interest could be found in our walks or rides, was carefully shown me. Hartford had then but about five thousand inhabitants, and though unable to boast of the edifices now so imposing, displayed the nucleus of a fair and prosperous city. ”

“ Pleasantly situated on the Connecticut River, and enjoying now the advantage of exclusive legislation for the State, Hartford is destined to become one of the most important cities of New England. [Pg 208]
Authors, artists and publishers have ever found Hartford a fruitful field for the development of brains and enterprise. It is, perhaps, not exaggeration to say that in no other city of the United States of the same size is there so large a proportion of the population devoted to literature. ”

“ The man stands at the window of the house in Hartford, looking down the still, New England street, but the inner eye sees only the northwest coast, the waterfalls on the sides of the sea ravines, the dark trees, and the crests of snow. He alone, of all the American world, has seen the unknown land; he alone can guide his fellow-adventurers of the young republic to the wealth that waits the gathering of the bold. ”

“ Hartford itself has greatly altered—I might say improved—for it has been beautified and adorned by many magnificent buildings, and the population has increased. These I see and appreciate; but I feel more sensibly than these, other changes which come home to my heart. A new and different people seem to move in the streets. ”

“ On either side of the jeep were the fields of sunflowers, silent in the twilight calm. In a few moments the cool winds from the sea would flow into the land, stirring the billions of heart-shaped sunflower-leaves into the whisper that filled the evening and early-morning hours of Kansas.
His heart filled with hope and hopelessness, feeling like a happy suicide, Hartford sang to himself as the sunflower heads and leaves tattooed against his windshield. Pioneers! O Pioneers he sang, the anthem of the Axenites, the fellowship he was leaving forever:
Lo, the darting bowling orb! ”

“ A people that have no history are the happiest, therefore we may assume that Hartford was a happy and flourishing town during the remainder of the colonial period, and even{521} during the Revolution there is but little to tell of Hartford. Its situation, so far removed from the seacoast, secured it from the attacks of the British troops, and it was for that very reason a safe and desirable place for the meetings of Generals Washington and Rochambeau, when they wished to arrange the plans for the campaigns that ended with the surrender of Yorktown. ”

“ Political friends’ll do it sometimes. It’s pretty often done, one way or another.’
I shall always entertain a very pleasant and grateful recollection of Hartford. It is a lovely place, and I had many friends there, whom I can never remember with indifference. We left it with no little regret on the evening of Friday the 11th, and travelled that night by railroad to New Haven. ”

“ Then for another two weeks it wandered on from one small town to another, up and down New York State and through the doldrums of Connecticut, tacking to and fro like a storm-battered ship, till finally the astute and discerning citizens of Hartford welcomed it with such a reception that hardened principals stared at each other in a wild surmise, wondering if these things could really be: and a weary chorus forgot its weariness and gave encore after encore with a snap and vim which even Mr. Johnson Miller was obliged to own approximated to something like it. ”

“ At Hartford occurred in 1687 the meeting of Edmund Andros and the Connecticut officials (see Connecticut) . Hartford was first chartered in 1784, was rechartered in 1856 (the charter of that date has been subsequently revised) , and in 1881 was made coterminous with the township of Hartford. The city was the literary centre of Federalist ideas in the latter part of the 18th century, being the home of Lemuel Hopkins, John Trumbull, Joel Barlow and David Humphreys, the leading members of a group of authors known as the “Hartford Wits” ”

“ The Hartford grammar school, founded in 1638, long managed by the town and in 1847 merged with the classical department of the Hartford public high school, is the oldest educational institution in the state. In Farmington Avenue is St Joseph’s cathedral (Roman Catholic) , the city being the seat of the diocese of Hartford.
During the 18th century Hartford enjoyed a large and lucrative commerce, but the railway development of the 19th century centralized commerce in New York and Boston, and consequently the principal source of the city’s wealth has come to be manufacturing and insurance. ”

“ So I and Brum started out of the City, on the way towards Hartford, Connecticut, with the intention of walking no more than six miles a day along the sea coast. What a glorious time we had; the people catered for us as though we were the 40 only tramps in the whole world, and as if they considered it providential that we should call at their houses for assistance. ”

“ WE may be permitted to take a certain pride in the fact that most strangers who sojourn for a time among us express admiration and liking for the town. There has been, however, one historic and notable exception. A young man named Percival who visited us in 1815, the year of his graduation from Yale College, did not care for Hartford at all and, moreover, did not hesitate to proclaim his distaste in some of the verses he was then engaged in writing. ”

“ Dealing with the question geographically, in the right American way, we descend to Hartford obliquely by way of Springfield, Massachusetts, where, in a little city of fifty thousand, a newspaper of metropolitan influence and of distinctly literary tone is published. At Hartford while Charles Dudley Warner lived, there was an indisputable literary centre; Mark Twain lives there no longer, and now we can scarcely count Hartford among our literary centres, though it is a publishing centre of much activity in subscription books. ”

“ But that was long ago, when people who lived twenty miles away from Hartford went to the city scarcely twice in a dozen years,—in the good old days of turnpikes, stage-coaches, and wayside taverns, before rail-roads were built to carry all the trade to great, overgrown towns and cities. ”

“ WINDSOR, a township of Hartford county, Connecticut, U.S.A., on the Connecticut and Farmington rivers, adjoining the city of Hartford on the N. Pop. (1890) 2954; (1900) 3614, 596 being foreign-born; (1910) 4178. Area about 27 sq. m. It is served by the New York, New Haven & Hartford railway and by electric lines to Hartford and to Springfield, Massachusetts. ”

“ At Hartford lives Mrs. Sigourney, the graceful American poetess. She is a pious member of one of the Congregational Churches. Mr. Hosmer kindly took us to call upon her; and we were greatly pleased with our brief visit.
At 2 P.M. we left with regret this delightful little city, and shall always cherish a grateful remembrance of the Christian kindness and hospitality with which we were treated. In all the States we met with nothing to be compared, in all that was pleasing, to the two cities of Connecticut—New Haven and Hartford. ”

“ Hartford made a fine appearance, with its large brick buildings, the masts of its numerous vessels, and its picturesque boats gliding hither and thither over the blue waters. We drove a short distance up the main street to the mansion of the late Colonel Jeremiah Wadsworth, the favorite nephew of my deceased benefactress. It is the residence of his widow, and two of his sisters, quite advanced in years ”

“ No braver regiment ever went out from our city or State. Made up mostly of Hartford men, born and cradled under the very branches of the Charter Oak, we knew well what would be your history, and we watched with pride your firm and steady ranks, as you filed along these streets. As we followed with anxious eye the steamer winding down the Connecticut, bearing its precious freight, with the Stars and Stripes streaming in the wind, we felt a security and an indebtedness, which we now have all come to acknowledge. ”

“ Hartford's ends were very weak, as I have said, and Bridgeport's were very strong. The other linemen from Hartford were superior to their opponents, and the backs of both teams were about equal in skill. The interference of both elevens was strong, and there was less fumbling done than in any game I have seen this fall. Hartford showed commendable pluck, and displayed not the slightest discouragement when they left the field at the end of the first half with the score 16-0 against them. They died game, and need not feel ashamed of being the losers. ”

“ The lover of drink in America, especially our German fellow citizens, are emphatic in their denunciation of the liquor laws of the United States. They ought to live in England a little while to appreciate the privileges they have at home. Hartford, Connecticut, is, I believe, a paradise to those who live there. One old lady who was born and had always lived in Hartford, came to die—an impertinence of Nature, as all Hartford people firmly believe. People should die in other places, but not in Hartford. ”

“ Procuring special transportation, we reached Hartford at eight o'clock. Being a Hartford regiment, the citizens had made extensive arrangements to welcome us, but the 18th Connecticut had arrived that morning by boat and while their attention was drawn towards them, the Sixteenth suddenly entered the Asylum street depot. The news soon reached the State House Square, and the bell was rung, and by the time the regiment was in line the Governor's Guard, City Guard, and Colt's Band were on the "double quick," and thousands of citizens were hurriedly approaching the depot. ”

“ Harriet had now to leave her many friends in Hartford and the relatives in Litchfield and Nut Plains. Her two brothers, William and Edward, were now established preachers, and Henry Ward and Charles were in college. The sister next older than herself, Mary, was married and was living in Hartford. To separate from all these loved ones and go out into a far distant land was very hard. ”

“ Continuing the trip from Albany to Buffalo, we leave Utica in the morning, and proceed by what is called the old turnpike to New Hartford. The road is moderately level, but is sandy in places, and when out of the village limits the rider will, of course, take to the side path. Passing through New Hartford, and taking the right fork at the western extremity of the town, run on to Kirkland through Middle Settlement, a distance of five and a quarter miles. Here the road for the first three miles is moderately good, and there is a cinder side path for part of the distance. ”

“ This put the ball right under New Britain's goal, with only three yards for Hartford to gain—and they gained it. There is considerable doubt as to whether under even the strictest interpretation of the rules there was any foul tackling; and so the decision created a feeling of dissatisfaction and uncertainty which did not improve the manners of the players on either side. Hartford played good football, however, and deserved the victory. Their work was snappy from the beginning, and the visiting players took advantage of their superior weight to rip holes in their opponent's line. ”

“ Within ten years, about twenty thousand Englishmen, mainly Puritans, crossed the Atlantic, and took up their abode in New England. In the ecclesiastical system each church was self-governing, except as the General Court was over all. There were no bishops, and the liturgy was dispensed with in worship.
SETTLEMENT OF CONNECTICUT.—After the Dutch had built a trading-post on the site of Hartford, people from Plymouth formed a settlement at Windsor, on the Connecticut, six miles above. From Boston and its neighborhood, there was a migration which settled Hartford. ”

“ Chester Adams, of Hartford, brought to the college some $65,000, the largest gift thus far from any individual. In 1872, after much discussion and hesitation, the trustees decided to accept the offer of the city of Hartford, which desired to purchase the college campus for a liberal sum, that it might be offered to the State as a site for the new capitol, the college reserving the right to occupy for five or six years so much of the buildings as it should not be necessary to remove. ”

“ Hartford has increased largely in population during the last decade, and the numerous trolley lines that have been built, running like the spokes of a wheel into the surrounding country, have contributed much to the prosperity of the city. Many handsome residences have been built, new streets have been laid out, and our city appears to have entered upon a career that promises increased wealth and success. ”

“ After two hours and a half of this odd travelling (including a stoppage at a small town, where we were saluted by a gun considerably bigger than our own chimney) , we reached Hartford, and straightway repaired to an extremely comfortable hotel: except, as usual, in the article of bedrooms, which, in almost every place we visited, were very conducive to early rising. ”

“ Hartford became every day a better horseman, or rather camelopardist. He in fact rejoiced in opportunities to leap-frog into his saddle, fit his feet and legs into the leather gambadoes, and go hailing off into the hills to recruit men and material. He carried with him the radio he'd salvaged from his safety-suit, and could from time to time pick up First Regiment transmissions. The bitcher from his suit was useful in training large numbers of recruits on the blowgun range, and would be used when the Kansan guerrillas took the field against the troopers. ”