The Press., 1905-09-20
HISTORY OF THE SAVINGS BANK
OF STAFFORD SPRINGS.

| Whether in the life. of an individ
ual, community or an institution,
fifty years covers a period of time
filled with eventful happenings. Trag-
edy, comedy and all the varying
moods of the drama of human exist
ence are bound to be brought out,
play their brief parts and disappear
from the stage of action. The old
men of the early years pass off the
field, the middle aged become the old
men of the period, the young men
come to their most aggressive age,
while the youth begin to put forth
the confident hopefulness incident to
inexperience. Fifty years, counting
backward from this year of our Lord
nineteen hundred and five, are years
big with events the like of which
previous history fails to make record,
and such as the human mind views
in retrospect and considers in compar-
ison with bewildering amazement.
Leaving aside all reference to the
CIlduR6S
velous, momentous, sublimely grand
and inspiring as they have been-ma-
terial sufficient to fix our attention,
sober our levity, flatter our vanity
found right within our boundaries
and upon field we f1atter ourselves
we know full we'll; and yet that
field carries history rapidly passing
a history which if portrayed with
the power and pen of a Scott, or the
skill and vividness of a Reade, would
attract the attention and thrill the
minds of a vast body of readers.
Fifty years ago the Springs House
sheltered and entertained men and
women of national repute and poll
ticians who welded great power.
families of wealth and culture from
southern cities frequented these hills
and valleys, and registered their hu-
man property on the books of the
Springs House as "colored servants. "
Regard for the abolition sentiment,
then beginning to show good growth
in New England, caused these visit
ors at the Springs to respect public
sentiment in a measure and defer to
the same by designating their slaves
servants. - Fifty years ago the in
FAINT industries of the country had
gained foothold in Stafford, and the
manufacture of cotton and wooden
goods, machinery and small tools were
beginning to infuse new life and hope
into a community that but few years
before could boast of not a score of
houses and no established business but
that of the widely known sanitarium
the Stafford Springs House. The
New London, Willimantic and Pal
mer railroad had only got into fairly
good working condition. The post
office had but recently been brought
to the Springs village from Stafford
Hollow. An off shoot of the Congre-
gatiOnal church on the Street. had
erected a church edifice "down by the
Pool" The Methodists had opened a
new church near where the Josiah Con-
verse house now stands. Dea. Porter
had forced the construction of a new
two-room school-house in the east
district, on the present ground and
part of the Beckwith Gard Co. prop
erty, and Capt. Farley Converse had
countered him by getting a similar
school building in the west district,
ON the premises now occupied by
Kingsbury's monumental works. The
Green mill, later the Mineral Springs
Manufacturing Co. mills, had been
enlarged, the Converseville mill, now
the Warren Wooden Co. plant, had
been built and got we'll into oper-
alton, and the Springs began to as
sumo the appearance of a growing
hamlet. No sidewalks, no graded
streets, no street lights, no water
works, no fire organization, no public
library, no news room and not half
dozen daily papers taken in the place.
The Stafford bank had just been or
ganized, and the task of going to
Hartford for money with which to
make the three months settlement
with employees had hardly ceased
Simeon Newton had been brought
from Rhode Island to act as cashier
of the new bank, in the office of the
Granite Mill Co., then standing on
the ground now occupied by the north
wing of the Central Wooden Co.'S mill.
In May, 1855, the matter of bank
for savings was discussed by few
leading men, with the result that an
organization under a statute entitled
g An act authorizing the establish
ment of savings and building associa-
tions" was formed, and called the
Stafford Springs Savings Bank"
The capital stock was fixed at $50,
OOO-5OO shares of 800 each. A
mong the original subscribers were
A. W. Porter, 10 shares; Farley Con-
verse, 10; George M. Ives, 100; Dan
iel Lord, 20; Merrick Marcy, 40; L.
W. Crane, 20; Harvey Merrick, 10;
Charles r. Ryder, 10; J. R. Flynt,
10; Sylvester T. Preston, 10; AnseI
Arnold, 10; Smith & Gilbert, 10;
NJ. B. Harvey, 20; D. F. Fairman,
10; ]. H. Bolton, 10; John Fuller,
10; Philo Brown, 10; CLARK H.
Grant, 3; Jared CLARK, 5; Asa Pat
ten, 5; Billings Grant, 10; Harvey
Walker, 20; Simeon Newton, 80; Eli
jah M. Carpenter, 10; William Smith,
10; Wallace G. Fowler, >, and some
smaller subscribers. The first meet
ing of the new bank was held June
80, 1855, in the office of the Granite
Mill Co., also then the office of the
Stafford bank. The books were opened
and business began at this meeting.