News and history from your museums December, 2009 Issue

Tobacco Farming

Tobacco farming was a major source of income in Enfield and much of the Connecticut River valley for many decades. The work was and still is hard, hot, and sometimes dangerous. Men, women, and – in the days before child labor laws – often very young children worked in tobacco fields and barns to earn critical income to support their families. Scenes from early twentieth century tobacco farming are shown on this page and page 6.

The photos on this page were taken by Lewis Wickes Hine in August of 1917 for the National Child Labor Committee and are from the archives of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

Above: the 1917 title on this photograph reads “leaf-boys 9 and 9 and 11 years old, Cybalski [sic] Tobacco Farm. Location: Hazardville, Connecticut.” Despite summers filled with hard work the boys look healthy and at least one has a smile on his face.

Left: “Interior of tobacco shed, Hawthorn [sic] Farm. Girls in foreground are 8, 9, and 10 years old. The 10 yr. old makes 50 cents a day. 12 workers on this farm are 8 to 14 years old, and about 15 are over 15 yrs. Location: Hazardville, Connecticut.” Also visible in the photo are at least five or six older women, but the total number of adult workers at the farm is not given. Close examination of the photo reveals no smiles.

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Enfield Historical Society Winter 2009–2010 Calendar of Events

Monday, Jan. 25, 2010

Show & Tell With Special Guest Presenter Author Laurie Tavino – 7:00 P.M. at the Enfield American Baptist Church. Show & Tell is the meeting where you provide the program. Bring your favorite antique, collectible, or heirloom and the story behind it. Bring something that is a mystery to you and perhaps someone at the meeting will be able to answer your questions about it. Or, simply share a story about Enfield’s past. This Show & Tell will be extra special, as author, artist, and Suffield native Laurie Tavino will bring part of her extraordinary exhibit about the extended neighborhood that encompassed East Suffield and Thompsonville and that was created and held together by the old 1893 iron bridge between those villages. Laurie’s exhibit was featured at the Kent Memorial Library in Suffield not just once, but twice by popular demand. Laurie used the photos and stories she gathered for the exhibit to write her book, Suffield’s Old Bridge Neighborhood. More than just nostalgic looks at this special neighborhood, the exhibit and book document many facets of local history, from the impact of the Connecticut River on the area and the ways it was harnessed and used – the canal, ferries, and bridges – to the ways the many ethnic groups who immigrated here shaped both Suffield and Thompsonville socially and economically. Even if you saw the exhibit before, you will want to attend this meeting, as Laurie will share some of her favorite stories of the neighborhood and would love to hear your stories too! And, Laurie will have signed copies of her book available for purchase.

Monday, Feb. 22, 2010

Commercial Ice Harvesting in New England – 7:00 P.M. at the Enfield American Baptist Church. Dennis Picard of Storrowton Village Museum returns with another interesting and educational program. Perhaps you have seen the collection of ice cutting equipment on display in the basement of the Old Town Hall Museum and have wondered just how the tools were used, or even why they were needed at all. Do you remember the days before refrigerators – or at least before everyone could afford one? Did you have an “ice box” and need to have regular deliveries from the ice man? If you did, you probably know that the ice often came from lakes or ponds, where it was cut in the winter and stored in ice houses for those hot summer days. But did you know that New England ice was shipped all over the world? There will be lots to see and learn at this program. Best of all, the meeting is inside where it is nice and warm, unlike the frozen, windy ponds and lakes where the ice was cut! Dennis Picard has been a museum professional in the “Living History” field for thirty years. He has authored many articles on the lifestyles and folkways of New England and has also served as a consultant for many Historical Societies and Museums. He has held the position of Assistant Director and Director at several sites including Fort Number Four in Charlestown New Hampshire, the Sheffield Historical Society in the Massachusetts Berkshires and presently at Storrowton Village Museum in West Springfield Massachusetts.

Monday, Mar. 22, 2010

Annual Meeting – 7:00 P.M. at the Enfield American Baptist Church. Plans are currently being finalized for this meeting. Details will be in the February newsletter, along with the slate of candidates for the 2010–2011 term. Elections are held each year at the Annual Meeting. Please contact Tony Secondo at 860.749.7993 if you are interested in serving in one of the many offices or committees that keep our organization running. You can also contact us at our e-mail address mkm-of-enfct@att.net if you prefer.

Monday, Apr. 26, 2010

Regular Meeting – 7:00 P.M. at the Enfield American Baptist Church. Program to be announced. Details will be in the next newsletter, our local newspapers, and our calendar of events on our Web site at www.enfieldcthistory.org.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Regular Meeting – 7:00 P.M. at the Enfield American Baptist Church. Program to be announced. Details will be in the next newsletter, our local newspapers, and our calendar of events on our Web site at www.enfieldcthistory.org.

Programs are subject to change. Check www.enfieldcthistory.org or area newspapers for schedule and program changes and other event announcements. To find out if a meeting is cancelled due to weather tune to WTIC AM 1080 radio or watch WFSB channel 3.

Remember – All meetings are at the Enfield American Baptist Church on Post Office Road!

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But did you know... The Simplex Manufacturing Company moved from Granby, Connecticut to Thompsonville in 1908, lured by a large, existing factory building and an offer from the Thompsonville Board of Trade to help finance the move to the tune of slightly under $800 (apparently enough to move a factory in 1908). Six of the company’s directors visited the vacant Stockinet Mill on September 19 of that year and must have been pleased with what they found, as the plant was in operation and reported to be working overtime by March of 1909 producing machines for affixing stamps and labels to envelopes, as well as coin separating machines

Unfortunately, the Simplex story was like that of many other companies at the time (and perhaps today too). Newspapers described their products as excellent or “perfect,” the demand high, the prospects nothing but good. Yet the company quickly failed. The factory closed on February 14, 1912, leaving about 30 employees without work. Thompsonville’s Mark W. Bushnell was appointed receiver by Judge Reed of the Connecticut Superior Court soon afterward. Less than two weeks later, New York attorney Martin C. Ansorge, a federally-appointed receiver, took over from Bushnell. By that time “creditors alleged that the company has liabilities of $66,000 and assets of $7,500 and that there are about 165 creditors.” Simplex’s problems were blamed on “inside dissentions” and an inept board of directors, not its products. On July 10, 1912, the factory was sold to the Extensive Manufacturing Company of New York for $5,000. The Simplex stockholders, many local, lost all of their capital investments in the sale.

The new company had better success and by 1916 was looking for more space for its now 70 employees. Local investors were sought to finance the purchase of a larger facility, but eventually Simplex closed its factory in Thompsonville. Other businesses, including the Hartford Carpet Company, used the building over the years, and it was owned by the VFW when it was torn down in 1998.

At least three photo postcards were published showing the Simplex Manufacturing Company. Above: A circa 1909 postcard showing the factory on Asnuntuck Street. The Dye House bridge is visible at right. Some of the men near the building are playing catch, while the remainder appear to be watching, or perhaps engaging in the baseball tradition of heckling the pitcher. Below: This postcard of the Simplex Mfg. Co. Assembling Department is filled with great details. The men at left are seated at drill presses, while those at right are hunched over their benches performing some manual tasks. The machinery is powered by overhead shafts, pulleys, and belts, which may have been driven by water flowing through a turbine and raceway that ran under the building to Freshwater Brook. Electric light fixtures, little more than bare bulbs with metal shades, hang from their cords over each worker’s station. Other employees, perhaps from the office, stand at the back of the room.

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Right: The Simplex Mfg. Co. produced coin sorters, stamp and label affixing machines, and other similar devices. United States Patent 952,439 was issued on March 15, 1910 to Charles Fancher of Thompsonville and James Burt of Brooklyn, NY and was assigned to the Simplex Manufacturing Co. of Thompsonville. This patent was for a “machine for affixing stamps and labels” and is likely the machine referred to when the Hartford Courant reported that Simplex received “a contract for the completion and delivery of 150 postage stamp attachment machines daily from August 1, 1909, to August 1, 1912, which will net the company nearly $400,000 yearly. The machine is a newly adopted one used in sticking postage stamps to envelopes and Drummond & Co. of New York will take the machines as soon as manufactured, for the period named.” Perhaps the contract was not as profitable as reported, as the Simplex Manufacturing Company was in receivership by March of 1912.

Left: This illustration is from a promotional booklet for the “The Simplex” filing machine, from the Extensive Manufacturing Company of New York, N. Y., “Factory: Thompsonville, Conn.” Extensive Mfg. Co. purchased the Simplex Mfg. Co. after Simplex failed in 1912

According to the booklet, “The SIMPLEX Combination Bench Filer and Metal Hacksaw is a machine designed to take the place of hand filing and drill work, such as is required in making dies and other particular machine work. It is practically two perfect machines in one, and whether used as a filing machine or metal jigsaw, it is the best machine produced. Bolted securely to the top of a work bench, with table overhanging edge its full diameter, the base of machine occupies a bench space of only eight inches, and the driving shaft is at top of machine, thus leaving bench clear of belts and counter-shafts. It drives either the file or saw rapidly in a vertical position, with the cut on the down stroke, and has a quick return motion, exactly imitating the motions used in hand filing, only the stroke is more regular and accurate.”

To prove the quality and usefulness of The Simplex, numerous users from across the country were listed in the booklet. The Stanley Works in New Britain, Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, the Packard Motor Car Co. in Detroit, Underwood Typewriter Co. in Hartford, and the Springfield Armory are some of the names readers will likely recognize.

Cost for “The Simplex” was $85 plus shipping from Thompsonville. Included in the price were many accessories, including counter-shaft, belt-shifter, work-hold-down attachments, file-holding collars, hacksaw frame, guide rollers, jeweler’s saw frame, punch filing attachment, and wrenches!

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Famous Evangelists Update Last issue’s article about two famous evangelists who visited Thompsonville in 1908 ended with several questions, including who were Billy Sunday, Dwight L. Moody, and Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman? Reader Carole Pyne of the Somers Historical Society provides some answers:

“Bill Sunday and Dwight L. Moody were famous preachers all over this country. D. L. Moody (1837-1899) was an American evangelist who founded the Northfield Schools in Massachusetts, Moody Church and Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, and the Colportage Association. Billy Sunday (1862-1935) was an American evangelist born in Iowa. A professional baseball player in the National League, he was saved in 1886. [He was] associated with J. Wilbur Chapman from 1893 to 1895. An evangelist from 1896 to 1935, he made an attack on liquor the mainstay of his campaign. Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman (1859-1918) was an American evangelist, revivalist and pastor. John Wilbur Chapman was born in Richmond, Indiana.”

Thank you Carole for this information!

Hazardville Institute Memories Needed

Reader Wally Bridge recently e-mailed us with a few of his memories of the Hazardville Institute: “I remember that there were plays [and] minstrel shows performed in the auditorium. A local dentist (Reginald Stowe) used to show 16mm sound movies there occasionally. I think that there might have been a kitchen in the building downstairs, which served meals for special occasions.”

Wally would like to see an article about the Hazardville Institute and we think that would be a great idea. We are also sure that many of you have your own memories of the Institute and we would like you to share them with us for an upcoming issue of the Enfield Historical Society newsletter. Please mail or e-mail your stories to the newsletter address at the bottom of this page.

June Mystery Photos –

Can You Handle The Suspense? Last issue, we promised to print in this issue the information readers sent us about photos published in our June issue. The photos were taken by the Prickett family of Hazardville and show three unidentified houses. Unfortunately, your editor has not had time to investigate all of the information provided by readers Polly Brown, Dave Henry, and Wally Bridge, who are still waiting to see their names in this newsletter, so they will have to wait a little longer, and you will have to wait to see what they said.

Visit Us The Old Town Hall Museum 1294 Enfield Street Enfield, CT 06082 860.745.1729 Sundays May thru October 2:00 – 4:30 P.M. The Martha Parsons House Museum 1387 Enfield Street Enfield, CT 06082 860.745.6064 Sundays May thru October 2:00 – 4:30 P.M. The Wallop School Museum 250 Abbe Road Enfield, CT 06082 Check our calendar for open house dates On the Web: www.enfieldcthistory.org Contact Us The Enfield Historical Society, Inc. P.O. Box 586 Enfield, CT 06083

E-mail: MKM-OF-ENFCT@att.net Join Us Be a part of the Enfield Historical Society! To join, send your name(s), address, telephone number, e-mail address, and desired membership type to: Enfield Historical Society Membership, 31 Bridge Lane, Enfield, CT 06082. Include a check or money order payable to “Enfield Historical Society” for the membership amount for your requested membership type from the list below. Please print clearly. Everyone is welcome!

Individual...........$10.00 Supporting...... $100.00 Family*..............$15.00 Life**............... $250.00 Contributing ......$20.00 Corporate ....... $200.00 Sustaining.........$40.00 Benefactor...... $500.00 * Family memberships include children under 21. ** Life memberships are for individuals only. The Enfield Historical Society Newsletter is one benefit of joining, and is mailed to members in February, May, September, and November. Questions, requests, and suggestions about its content should be sent to:

Enfield Historical Society Newsletter 31 Bridge Lane Enfield, CT 06082 E-mail: mkm-of-enfct@att.net 860.745.3835

Copyright © 2009 by the Enfield Historical Society, Inc. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission of the Enfield Historical Society, Inc.

EHS Newsletter • December 2009 • 6

Tobacco Farming (continued from page 1)

Colonel Hazard’s mansion was located on Enfield Street across from the driveway of today’s Enfield High School. The land behind the mansion was just one of many places where tobacco was raised during the golden years of tobacco farming in Enfield. The circa 1907 postcard at right shows tobacco cutting at the “Hazard Place” in a scene that is not so different from tobacco cutting today. All you need do is replace the wagon wheels with rubber tires, the horses with a tractor (perhaps a 50 year old tractor at that!), and the workers with migrant workers and perhaps a few teenagers, and you have a picture of tobacco cutting in Enfield today.

The circa 1906 postcard at left shows a different tobacco farm in Enfield, this one identified as William Henry’s Place. Despite the caption, no actual tobacco cutting seems to have taken place, and the necessary wagons for removal of the cut tobacco are nowhere to be seen. Do any of our readers know if there is a name for the wagons or trailers on which the tobacco was hung when it was cut? Other than tractors, what was used to pull the tobacco trailers in more recent decades? Do you have any photographs you could share with our readers? What other memories of tobacco farming do you have? We are preparing to update the tobacco farming exhibit at the Old Town Hall museum and need your help!

At right is yet another postcard that shows tobacco cutting in Enfield. Or does it? Exactly the same postcard was published with the caption “Tobacco Cutting, Suffield, Conn.” While this postcard accurately portrays one phase of tobacco farming in Enfield, it may also be deceiving the viewer. We very likely will never know where the scene in this postcard actually was – Enfield, Suffield, or some other town. This postcard highlights the care that historians must take when basing historical research on postcards. It also reminds us that perhaps we should take a closer look at the two cards above. Are they really where they purport to be? Can we confirm the locations based upon the buildings shown?