The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-03-17

] AetiiAiS bNAiAhistI AAoNltiG PCGAl P0H1Nu " 1 Stonington, which experienced gentle
 boom under the influence of fair tides l and favoring gales, and forged to the ! front with an enumeration of 5.427. And Hartford, too, was making rapid strides toward the crossing line. He. population at the beginning of the first decade of the century was 5,347, only | ninety behind Stonington. We feel sure that if the enterprising ancestors of the present enterpriaing inhabitants of this place had known before the cen
 sus takers began their work that nine ty-two people were needed to put Hartford in the lead as the first town in population the ninety-two would have been discovered. But at any rate we
 led New Haven by one hundred and
 ninety, having risen from thirteenth to
 second, which was glory enough for
 one year and good omen for the be-
 ginning of the century. New London
 was the fourth town, having 5,15O hu-
 man beings to its credit.
 By 1850 New Haven had forged to the
 front and the inquisitive enumerators found 20,345 people to answer to their
 calls, while Hartford was in second
 place with 13,555 and Norwich was
 third with 10,265. Where was Bridge
 port all this time? She was simply
 part of Stratford until 1921, when she
 parted company with the old town, and
 her first appearance as a separate entity
 in the census roll was, therefore, in
 1880, when Bridgeport was one of the
 little towns with 2,S00. It was some
 time before she really struck her pres ent gait, although we must believe that even in those early days she was begin ming to develop the cheek that has since formed so prominent characteristic. It was not until after the war that It. tie Bridgeport really put on long trous-
 err
 The four smallest towns in the state in point of population in 1756 were
 Barkhamsted Hartland, Norfolk and Harwinton. There were in Barkham- eted in those days just eighteen people. Hartland had twelve. Off1ce-holding in these towns must have been a cinch then. Whether the population of those places was comprised in one family the record does not show, but it is not at all unlikely, as families used to go in those days. Hartland, the smallest town then, seems to cherish its first distinc- ton, for it had but 505 people in\ 1S90 Norfolk had eighty-four in 1756, and af- ter over century of progress enrolled the proud number of 1,546 Harwinton started with 250 and landed with both feet in 1890, showing a total of 943 as a result of its long wrestle with time and tide
 I is curious to notice that good | many towns have less population now than they had in 1756. This is due in many cases to the division of territory, | and therefore does not indicate that the particular locality has been going back ward. But it is interesting to note the differences In the figures just the same. We find that Ashford went down from 2 population of 1,245 in 1756 to 778 in 1890, Bolton dropped from 766 to 452, Ca naan from LIDO to 970, Canterbury from I,260 to 947 Fairfield from 4,455 to 3,S6S, Farmington from 3,7O7 to 3,179, Hebron from 1855 to l. 039 Killingworth from -,45S to 5S2, Lebanon from BETA to 1,670, Lyme from 2,956 to 977, New Fairfield rom 7l3 to 670, Pomfret from 1,727 to All, Saybrook from 1881 to 1,4S4, Sims )ury from 2,245 to 1874, Stratford from ,658 to 2,608, Union from 800 to 431, Nethersfield from 24S3 to 2,271, and Windsor to 2,125 in 1774 and never recov- red from the shock. Wethersfleld rev slowly till it reached the zenith in SS0 since which time 1t has barely ,eld it's own.
 Perhaps the most curious instance of
 dead standstill is afforded by the town f Voluntown. In 1756 there were ex- ctly 1,04S people there. By hard work nd persistent effort it had increased hat number in 1890 by twelve. It grew ntil 1790, but then gave it up in de- pair. No town has a more even record han VoluntoWn.- Post.