The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-09-23
PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF TIPPECAN0E. AND
 TYLER TOO CAMPAIGN
George Q. Ellis, 96 Years of Age Tells o1
 Events in This State 75 Years Ago

passage of the bankruptcy act gave business men a chance to go ahead again. I knew of one man who came | to Waterbury after failing for $20O,- | merchant and finding it impossible to resume business he came back to the old farm at Waterbury and work ed, hunted and fished until the panic was over when he returned to New
 York and made $100,000 in two years The recovery was rapid and soon ev-
 cry wheel in Waterbury was turning and there was a rush of business. We thought Waterbury was do- ing g. big business at that time but it was very small in comparison with what is now done there. I can re-
 member the registry list of the town well. Of all the names on this list 75 years ago I am the only one who remains. A few months ago there were three of us: Elisha Leaven-
 worth who died at the age of 97 this year and a MT. Hayward whose first name I cannot at this moment re- call. He was 101 when he died.
 Waterbury did business entirely with New Haven at that time and the whole commerce of the town was carried on with two pairs of horses
 driven by Daniel Chipman, long since
 alternate days, hauling the brass and
 spelter from New Haven and return
 ing with the finished product. The
 only railroads in New England at that
 time was the Boston and Providence
 and a short private line in the vicin-
 ity. Chipman did all the banking
 for the town taking the deposits with
 him on his trips. The principal pro-
 ducts of the mills then were sheet
 brass, brass wire and buttons. No
 coal was used in the manufactures at that time. Wood and charcoal
 <,,S@ S<xI@1 f,v~ ~1 %11Sry T
 gave employment to large number
 of choppers and coal burners. Thou
 sands of bushels of charcoal was used
 every year in the muffles and long after coal had come into use for gem
 eral work it was believed that char coal was the only possible fuel for the mufflers.
 We had an exciting time in the Harrison & Tyler campaign in 1840. A party of 20 or 30 men went to New Haven in a big wagon to attend one of the big meetings held there. The wagon was appropriately decorated and big barrel of cider occupied the rear end of the wagon. There was tap Tn it, too Big crowds attend ed the meeting and the city was fi1l- ed with people from surrounding towns Ogden Hoffman of New York light-haired man and one of the most noted orators of his time. The en- thusiasm at this meeting was some thing beyond the usual run even at this time when campaigns were more interesting than at present. Hof- man held his audience by the magic of his eloquence. He was followed by Leslie Coombs of Kentucky one of the most famous stump speakers of his time. He was a little man, and smarter than lightning. He kept his hearers in a roar of laughter all the time and met, every sahie from the audience with his ready wit.
 Well we elected Tippecanoe and country began to recover, William Henry Harrison died month after his inauguration and Tyler took the chair Since then Waterbury has grown to be a city of over 70,00O and the business of the town has in- creased a thousand fold. Railroads have taken the place of Dan Chip mans two teams and Waterbury has her own banks. Coal has taken the place of wood and charcoal in every department of the industries of the town and steam has supplanted wa ter in many instances as a motive power. With all these changes I doubt if the people of the town are any happier than they were in 1840 although the town is now very veal thy I expect to visit Waterbury dur ing the next five years and see what changes are. being made there."
 Mr. Ellis lives quietly at Columbus Farm with his daughter. He is the of George O., Miss Eleanor and Henry Lines. The late George O. Lines was the son of MT. Ellis daughter