Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-08-06


carrying on my arm. That overcoat
was lot of trouble until after board
ed this trolley; but on the trip across
to Waterbury, found it very comfort
able. And another thing that was
quite noticeable, was the sociability OF
the people. One way or another they
managed to strike up conversations,
and by the time l got to Waterbury,
I began to realize that I was again
among folks very much like those at
home, and long before left the beau
tiful little city, l was everlastinsly
convinced Of it.
The purpose of my Journey to Wa
terbury was to visit an old friend OF
my fathers, Mr.. John w. Hill, and as
there Is quite an interesting little sto-
ry in connection with this friendship,
I will digress long enough to refer to
it. It dates back to the days Of nulli-
fication or thereabouts. After South
Carolina adopted protective tariff law
to keep out the manufactures Of 9TH
er states, Rhode Islanders began to
send experts down to South Carolina
to look after their business here. The
eams was to manufacture the parts IN
Connecticut, ship them to South Car
olina, knocked down, and let the ex-
perts here set them up and label them
as manufactured in South Carolina"
The Hill family came down for the
purpose Of establishing a clock facto-
nv and John w. Hill, the oldest son,
was then a boy Of about years. He
remained here until 1874, his father
returning to Connecticut when he was
about II years Of age. Among his
most intimate boyhood playmates'
were the late L. M. Grist and Daniel
OLeary, the latter brother OF Mr.
g. H. O'Leary, still Of Yorkville. Some
years after the war, at the request OF
his mother, Mr. Hill wrote to the post
master here to find out about some
family in which Mrs. Hill had been
interested. The postmaster turned the
letter over to my father, who furnish
ed the desired information and wound
UP with a postscript asking: Are
you the same little tow-headed John
Hill used to go fishing with as q
boy?" Mr.. Hill replied that he was
and the correspondence developed fur
ther that the two were on opposite
sides of a very unpleasant little affair
down at Hilton Head, where my father
was among the party that sought to
keep the crowd that Mr.. Hill was with
from taking Port Royal. The two gen
tlemen continued the correspondence
and in 1876 my father visited Mr.. Hill
at Waterbury. Since fathers death, the
correspondence has been kept up be-
tween Mr.. Hill and other members OF
the family, and from the time decided
to take a trip north, felt strong de-
sire to go to Waterbury.
1 have no hesitation in saying that
l am glad 1 made the trip. Although
Mr.. Hill Is past rs years old, l found
Mr.. Hill still younger in spirit than
most men of 40 and an altogether
agree bile and delightful gentleman
OF course, he called me by my first
name from the beginning, and before
| had been with him two hours, he
commanded me to call him John
There was a something, however, that
would not let me do that, and we COM
promised on my calling him Uncle
john" which to him, was all the
same. Mr. Hill has lived in the town
of Waterbury to see the population
grow from about 10000 in the early
thirties when he was born, to about
70, 900 now, and for seventeen years OF
his life was postmaster. He knows
almost everybody in the city who is
worth knowing and everybody knows
him. 1t Is easy to understand there
fore how a visitor who goes to Water
bury as the guest Of John w. Hill will
have the opportunity to meet as many
Of the leading people as he cares to
see, and also chance to go through
such of the big manufacturing plants
as may strike his fancy.
Everybody down this way knows
Connecticut as the original home OF
the wooden nutmeg, and Waterbury IL
known all over the world as the birth
place of the famous watch Of that
name. Although quite well aware
that both propositions were hoary
chestnuts. l could not refrain from
mentioning them occasionally, and the
effect was generally the same. Wher
you mention the nutmeg, the result is
humorous grin, and when you speak
Of the Waterbury watch, the grin 1;
very dry. The look upon the wooder
nutmeg as a good joke on the other
fellow; but the Waterbury watch they
consider as a pretty grim joke or
themselves. They are proud of one
and ashamed Of the other. or course
the Waterbury watch was a wonder
in its way That a watch that would
actually keep some kind Of time could
be made and sold for a dollar was