Morning journal and courier., 1890-11-14
ro.r,, HAVEN ANNALS.

NORTH HAVEN ANNALS. The Toyyn,s Big Industry-Au About worth Haven Brick Making From the Earliest History of tho Town Down to the Present Time-A Very Interesting Review We'll Begun Millions Upon Millions of Brick. \
 NUMBER 55.
 Foremost among the industries of the town must be placed the manufacture of brick. Almost from it's first settlement there has scarcely been a time when this branch of labor has not been carried on. One cannot fix the exact year when bricks were first made in New Haven colony. Atwater, in a list of "house holders" ]" 1641-3, mentions "a brickmaker." At ssEast Farms" (now Cedar HilD and vicini- ty, we know Governor Theophilus Eaton had brickyard, for at his death-1658- sshis farm by the brick kilns'' was trans ferred to Thomas Yale. The Yale posses sions (except in the case of NathanieD cov- cred large areas between Cedar Hill and the present southern boundary line be- tween Hamden and North Haven. It is probable that the ancient yards lay within New Haven limits.
 But few brick came into the parish for some years after it's settlement. The earli est chimneys, if not of logs and clay, were constructed of stone. Later, chimney tops were laid of brick, but not generally till some time after 170O, and it was a hundred years still later than this date when this material began to be used in the underpinning of houses. There are some indications that the first brick used in the parish adorned the top of the chimney of the Wetmore par sonage in 171S. The dimensions of those preserved out of this old structure furnish l the evidence.
 According to the colonial records the earliest legislation concerning this manu- facture was made at the October session of the general assembly in 1885. It was to this effect:
 saThis court being informed that there is e variety of sizes used in the makeing of bricks which is @ great damage to those who have oc future the length of the bricks shall bee | inches, and their breadth flower inches and halfe, and that they bee two and g half inches | thick and that the upper side of all molds tha are used to make bricks in are toe bee shoe | with iron; and whosoever shall put to sale any brick that are not according to this order shal | forfeit shillings per thousand. CD
 This act was complied with withou doubt in this parish. The writer-has un earthed several specimens of these mann moth brick from various mounds where l dwellings stood a century and half ol two centuries ago. Some of them approach however, nearer three inches in thickness than two and half, as prescribed above They are made entirely of pure clay and l present marked contrast in every fsatur to those of the present day.
 The above act remained in force nearl, one hundred years, or until ITO. In thi l year it was amended as follows: eThat fo the future all bricks made within this col ony for sale shall be full eight inches il length, four inches in breadth and tw inches thick, any law or custom to tn contrary notwithstanding. "9
 So far as this act was concerned eithe stock of brick of the old dimensions wa kept on hand or it's restrictions were vic lated, for Nathaniel Stacy (see paper A builded his house (now James G. Mans feld's) about 1780, and in the recent demo ition of the old chimney these forbidde brick were mainly found
 Concerning pioneer brick making in tn parish, the writer disputes the claim tha to Abraham Seeley belongs the honor. should be credited to Nathaniel Thorp, j1 l 1Alb youAS AAuA Wub UAO SOAA Ol ANabA0AlS Thorp, the settler, and born in 1895. H died in 1725 and was buried in the ol cemetery. In the inventory of his estat mention is made of s'House and Lands an ye bricks and bords" It does not appes he was married unless Eliza -, wh united with the Rev. Isaac Stiles churc in 1728, was his wife; at any rate, he ha no children, for his property was divide among his brothers and sisters. Nose his brother, secured t'the brickyard" an at the 1atter's death it was set to his sol Abel Thorp, who sold it to Jesse Andrew in 1910.
 This chain of circumstances seems ent tied to more credence than the mere trad
 ton which would accord the credit to Sc , ley. Further Seeley died in 1794 an
 granting him the longest average of lif
 would not fix his birth before 1710. B
 sides he came from Holland, where
 learned his trade, so that, all things co
 sidered, Nathaniel Thorp, jr., had be-
 making brick in North Haven some yea
 before Seeley ever touched these shores. When Seeley did arrive, or shortly afte he set up brickyard at Muddy river.
 did not require large capital or an exts . sive plant in those days. A bed of ola
 and few hundred feet of boards made
 the fixtures of a brick yard. Two or thr
 men and boy comprised the workil
 force and the hours of labor were det. 5 mined more by chance than method. Fl s was in the beginning of things. The 5, was little demand for the manufactur /; l article, and this in part was supplied IF the imported stock frequently broug
 from England as ballast in that day. n Later on, in 1750 or thereabouts, bri s dwellings began to be constructed. Sto Ina was discarded for the new material in t. construction of chimneys. The fiji
 Fifth district in 1759 This was locat
 on the plains, "Wallingford plains'
 they were sometimes termed. The bri
 for this dwelling were made in n e long abandoned yard directly on the Ii !" of the Consolidated railroad and nor D. west of the residence sometime since | cupied by Captain W. R. Marihugh. ] s. clay came from an adjacent bank. Sa e. was exceeding plentiful, as visit to u u locality demonstrates, but the anci, rs brick show but very little traces of ,e They are nearly pure clay, holding tn m ar color perfectly and hard as flint.
 This building is in fair preservation. at quaint "gambrel roof" with four chimn. ts and conspicuous position has earned fol - a wide reputation os a land mark betwt
 New York and Boston. It is equivalent
 five stories in height, and on it's south, gable appears laid in black brick, visi 5 many rods, tho initials of the builder 6 date of erection:
 B
 This venerable pile is not without it's = nance During the war of the revolut
 it was noted stopping place and he quarters of the patriots. It has been property of Dennis Thorpe for over fl years, and in it the writer is proud to h, : been born.
 After few years at Muddy river See
 removed his works to near Sacke ! Point At his death he was succeeded