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HARTFORD

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Originally appearing in Volume V13, Page 34 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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HARTFORD , a See also:

city and the See also:capital of See also:Connecticut, U.S.A., the See also:county-seat of Hartford county, and a See also:port of entry, coterminous with the township of Hartford, in the See also:west central See also:part of the See also:state, on the W. See also:bank of the Connecticut See also:river, and about 35 M. from See also:Long See also:Island See also:Sound. Pop. (189o), 53,230; (1900), 79,850, of whom 23,?58 were See also:foreign-See also:born (including 8076 Irish, 2700 Germans, 2260 Russians, 1952 Italians, 1714 Swedes, 1634 See also:English and 1309 English Canadians); (1910 See also:census) 98,915. Of the See also:total See also:population in 1900, 43,872 were of foreign parentage (both parents foreign-born), and of these 18,410 were of Irish parentage. Hartford is served by two divisions of the New See also:York, New Haven & Hartford railway, by the Central New See also:England railway, by the several electric lines of the Connecticut See also:Company which radiate to the surrounding towns, and by the steamboats of the Hartford & New York Transportation Co., all of which are controlled by the N.Y., N.H. & H. The river, which is navigable to this point, is usually closed from the See also:middle of See also:December to the middle of See also:March. The city covers an See also:area of 17.7 sq. m.; it is well laid out and compactly built, and streets, parks, &c., are under a city-See also:plan See also:commission authorized in 1907. It is intersected by the sluggish See also:Park river, which is spanned by ten See also:bridges. A See also:stone See also:arch See also:bridge, with nine See also:arches, built of See also:granite at a cost of $1,700,000 and dedicated in 1908, spans the Connecticut (replacing the old Connecticut river bridge built in 18i8 and burned in 1895), and connects Hartford with the See also:village of See also:East Hartford in the See also:town-See also:ship of East Hartford (pop. moo, 6406), which has important See also:paper-manufacturing and See also:tobacco-growing interests. The park See also:system of Hartford is the largest in any city of the See also:United States in proportion to the city's population. In 1908 there were 21 public parks. aggregating more than 1335 ,LCres.

In the extreme S. of the city is See also:

Goodwin Park (about 200 acres); in the S.E. is See also:Colt Park (io6 acres), the See also:gift of Mrs See also:Elizabeth Colt, the widow of See also:Samuel Colt, inventor of the Colt revolver; in the S.W. is See also:Pope Park (about 90 acres); in the W. is Elizabeth (Too acres); in the E., along the Connecticut river front, is See also:Riverside (about 8o acres); and in the extreme N. is Keney Park (68o acres), the gift of See also:Henry Keney, and, next to the See also:Metropolitan Reservations near See also:Boston, the largest park in the New England states. Near the centre of the city are the Capitol Grounds (27 acres; until 1872 the campus of Trinity See also:College) and See also:Bushnell Park (41 acres), adjoining Capitol Park. Bushnell Park, named in See also:honour of See also:Horace Bushnell, contains the See also:Corning Memorial See also:Fountain, erected in 1899 and designed by J. See also:Massey Rhind, and three See also:bronze statues, one, by J. Q. A. See also:Ward, of See also:General See also:Israel See also:Putnam; one, by Truman H. See also:Bartlett, of Dr Horace See also:Wells (1815—1848), the discoverer of See also:anaesthesia; and one, by E. S. See also:Woods, of See also:Colonel See also:Thomas Knowlton (1749—1776), a patriot soldier of the See also:War of See also:Independence, killed at the See also:battle of Harlem Heights. On the Capitol Grounds is the state capitol (See also:Richard M. Upjohn, architect), a magnificent See also:white See also:marble See also:building, which was completed in 188o at a cost of $2,5J4,000.

Its exterior is adorned with statues and busts of Connecticut statesmen and carvings of scenes in the See also:

history of the state. Within the building are regimental flags of the See also:Civil War, a bronze statue by Olin L. See also:Warner of See also:Governor See also:William A. See also:Buckingham, a bronze statue by Karl See also:Gerhardt of Nathan flak, a bronze tablet (also by Karl Gerhardt) in memory of See also:John See also:Fitch (1743—1798), the inventor; a portrait of See also:Washington, See also:purchased by the state in ',Soo from the artist, See also:Gilbert See also:Stuart; and a See also:series of oil portraits of the colonial and state See also:governors. The elaborately carved See also:chair of the See also:lieutenant-governor in the See also:senate chamber, made of See also:wood from the historic See also:Charter See also:Oak, and the See also:original charter of 1662 (or its duplicate of the same date) are preserved in a See also:special vault in the Connecticut state library. A new state library and supreme See also:court building and a new state armoury and See also:arsenal, both of granite, have been (1910) erected upon lands recently added to the Capitol Grounds, thus forming a See also:group of state buildings with the Capitol as the centre. Near the Capitol, at the approach of the memorial bridge across the Park river, is the Soldiers' and Sailors' memorial arch, designed by See also:George See also:Keller and erected by the city in 1885 in memory of the Hartford soldiers and sailors who served in the See also:American Civil 'War. Near the centre of the city is the old town square (now known as the City See also:Hall Square), laid off in 1637. Here, facing See also:Main See also:Street, stands the city hall, a beautiful example of Colonial See also:architecture, which was designed by See also:Charles See also:Bulfinch, completed in 1796, and until 1879 used as a state capitol; it has subsequently been restored. In Main Street is the See also:present edifice of the First See also:Church of See also:Christ, known as the Centre Congregational Church, which was organized in See also:Cambridge, See also:Massachusetts, in 1632, and removed to Hartford, under the leadership of Thomas See also:Hooker and Samuel Stone, in 1636. In the adjoining See also:cemetery are the See also:graves of Thomas Hooker, Governor William Leete (1603—1683), and Governor John Haynes, and a See also:monument in memory of Too See also:early residents of Hartford. In the same thoroughfare is the Wadsworth Atheneum (built in 1842; enlarged in 1892—1893 and 1907) and its See also:companion buildings, the Colt memorial (built in 1go8 to accommodate the Elizabeth Colt See also:art collection) and the See also:Morgan art See also:gallery (built in 1908 by J.

Pierpont Morgan in memory of his See also:

father, See also:Junius Morgan, a native of Hartford). In this group of buildings are the Hartford public library (containing 90,000 volumes in 9o8), the Watkinsofi library of reference (70,000 volumes in 1908), the library of the Connecticut See also:historical society (25,000 volumes in 1908) and a public art gallery. Other institutions of importance in Hartford are the American school for the See also:deaf (formerly the American See also:asylum for the deaf and dumb), founded in 1816 by Thomas H. See also:Gallaudet; the See also:retreat for the insane (opened for patients in 1824); the Hartford See also:hospital; St See also:Francis hospital; St Thomas's See also:seminary (See also:Roman See also:Catholic); La Salette Missionary college (R.C.; 18g8); Trinity college (founded by members of the See also:Protestant Episcopal church, and now non-sectarian), which was ,.-7-L.c.-- Cape See also:Hartebeest (Bubalis cama). chartered as Washington College in 1823, opened in 1824, renamed Trinity College in 1845, and in 1907–1908 had 27 instructors and 208 students; the Hartford Theological seminary, a Congregational institution, which was founded at East See also:Windsor See also:Hill in 1834 as the Theological See also:Institute of Connecticut, was removed to Hartford in 1865, and adopted its present name in 1885; and, affiliated with the last mentioned institution, the Hartford School of Religious Pedagogy. The Hartford See also:grammar school, founded in 1638, long managed by the town and in 1847 merged with the classical See also:department of the Hartford public high school, is the See also:oldest educational institution in the state. In Farmington See also:Avenue is St See also:Joseph's See also:cathedral (Roman Catholic), the city being the seat of the See also:diocese of Hartford. During the 18th See also:century Hartford enjoyed a large and lucrative See also:commerce, but the railway development of the 19th century centralized commerce in New York and Boston, and consequently the See also:principal source of the city's See also:wealth has come to be manufacturing and See also:insurance. In 1905 the total value of the "factory" product was $25,975,651. The principal See also:industries are the manufacture of small arms (by the Colt's Patent See also:Fire-Arms Manufacturing Co., makers of the Colt revolver and the See also:Gatling See also:gun), typewriters (Royal and Underwood), automobiles, bicycles, cyclometers, carriages and wagons, belting, cigars, See also:harness, machinists' tools and See also:instruments of precision, coil-piping, church See also:organs, See also:horse-See also:shoe nails, electric equipment, See also:machine screws, drop forgings, hydrants and valves, and engines and boilers. In 1788 the first woollen See also:mill in New England was opened in Hartford; and here, too, about 1846, the See also:Rogers See also:process of electro-See also:silver plating was invented. The city is one of the most important insurance centres in the United States.

As early as 1794 policies were issued by the Hartford Fire Insurance Company (chartered in 181o). In 19o9 Hartford was the See also:

home city of six fire insurance and six See also:life insurance companies, the principal ones being the Aetna (fire), Aetna Life, See also:Phoenix Mutual Life, Phoenix Fire, Travelers (Life and See also:Accident), Hartford Fire, Hartford Life, See also:National Fire, Connecticut Fire, Connecticut General Life and Connecticut Mutual Life. In 1906 the six fire insurance companies had an aggregate capital of more than $ro,000,000; on the 1st See also:January 1906 they reported See also:assets of about $J9,000,000 and an aggregate surplus of $30,000,000. In the See also:San Francisco disaster of that See also:year they paid more than $15,000,000 of losses. Since the fire insurance business began in Hartford, the companies of that city now doing business there have paid about $340,000,000 in losses. Several large and successful foreign companies have made Hartford their American headquarters. The life insurance companies have assets to the value of about $225,000,000. The Aetna (fire), Aetna Life, Connecticut Fire, Connecticut Mutual Life, Connecticut General Life, Hartford Fire, Hartford Life. Hartford See also:Steam See also:Boiler Inspection and Insurance Co., National Fire. Orient Fire, Phoenix Mutual Life and Travelers companies have their own homes, some of these being among the finest buildings in Hartford. The city has also large banking interests. The first See also:settlement on the site of Hartford was made by the Dutch from New See also:Amsterdam, who in 1633 established on the bank of the Connecticut river, at the mouth of the Park river, a fort which they held until 16J4.

The township of Hartford was one of the first three original townships of Connecticut. The first English settlement was made in 1635 by sixty immigrants, mostly from New Town (now Cambridge), Massachusetts; but the main See also:

immigration was in 1636, when practically all the New Town See also:congregation led by Thomas Hooker and Samuel Stone joined those who had preceded them. Their settlement was called See also:Newtown until 1637, when the present name was adopted from See also:Hertford, England, the birthplace of Stone. In 1636 Hartford was the See also:meeting-See also:place of the first general court of the Connecticut See also:colony; the Fundamental Orders, the first written constitution, were adopted at Hartford in 1639; and after the See also:union of the colonies of New Haven and Connecticut, accomplished by the charter of 1662, Hartford became the See also:sole capital: but from 1701 until 1873 that honour was shared with New Haven. At Hartford occurred in 1687 the meeting of See also:Edmund See also:Andros and the Connecticut officials (see CONNECTICUT). Hartford was first chartered in 1784, was rechartered in 1856 (the charter of that date has been subsequently revised), and in 1881 was made coterminous with the township of Hartford. The city was the See also:literary centre of Federalist ideas in the latter part of the 18th century, being the home of Lemuel See also:Hopkins, John See also:Trumbull, See also:Joel See also:Barlow and See also:David See also:Humphreys, the leading members of a group of authors known as the " Hartford Wits "; and in 1814–1815 the city was the meeting-place of the famous Hartford See also:Convention, an event of See also:great importance in the history of the Federalist party. The War of 1812, with the See also:Embargo Acts (1807–1813), which were so destructive of New England's commerce, thoroughly aroused the Federalist leaders in this part of the See also:country against the National See also:government as ad-ministered by the Democrats, and in 1814, when the See also:British were not only threatening a general invasion of their territory but had actually occupied a part of the See also:Maine See also:coast, and the National government promised no See also:protection, the legislature of Massachusetts invited the other New England states to join with her in sending delegates to a convention which should meet at Hartford to consider their grievances, means of preserving their resources, See also:measures of protection against the British, and the advisability of taking measures to bring about a convention of delegates from all the United States for the purpose of revising the Federal constitution. The legislatures of Connecticut and Rhode Island, and town meetings in See also:Cheshire and See also:Grafton counties (New See also:Hampshire) and in See also:Windham county (See also:Vermont) accepted the invitation, and the convention, composed of 12 delegates from Massachusetts, 7 from Connecticut, 4 from Rhode Island, 2 from New Hampshire and 1 from Vermont, all Federalists, met on the 15th of December 1814, See also:chose George See also:Cabot of Massachusetts See also:president and See also:Theodore See also:Dwight of Connecticut secretary, and remained in See also:secret session until the 5th of January 1815, when it adjourned sine See also:die. At the conclusion of its See also:work it recommended greater military See also:control for each of the several states and that the Federal constitution be so amended that representatives and See also:direct taxes should be apportioned among the several states " according to their respective See also:numbers of See also:free persons," that no new state should be admitted to the Union without the concurrence of two-thirds of both Houses of See also:Congress, that Congress should not have the See also:power to See also:lay an embargo for more than sixty days, that the concurrence of two-thirds of the members of both Houses of Congress should be necessary to pass an See also:act " to See also:interdict the commercial intercourse between the United States and any foreign nation or the dependencies thereof " or to declare war against any foreign nation except in See also:case of actual invasion, that " no See also:person who shall hereafter be naturalized shall be eligible as a member of the Senate or See also:House of Representatives of the United States, nor capable of holding any civil See also:office under the authority of the United States," and that " the same person shall not be elected president of the United States a second See also:time; nor shall the president be elected from the same state two terms in See also:succession." After making these recommendations concerning amendments the Convention resolved: " That if the application of these states to the government of the United States, recommended in a foregoing See also:resolution, should be unsuccessful, and See also:peace should not be concluded, and the See also:defence of these states should be neglected, as it has been since the commencement of the war, it will, in the See also:opinion of this convention, be expedient for the legislatures of the several states to appoint delegates-to another convention, to meet at Boston in the state of Massachusetts on the third See also:Thursday of See also:June next, with such See also:powers and instructions as the exigency of a crisis so momentous may require." The legislatures of Massachusetts and Connecticut approved of these proposed amendments and sent commissioners to Washington to urge their See also:adoption, but before their arrival the war had closed, and not only did the amendments fail to receive the approval of any other state, but the legislatures of nine states expressed their disapproval of the Hartford Convention itself, some charging it with See also:sowing "seeds of dissension and disunion." The cessation of the war brought increased popularity to the Democratic See also:administration, and the Hartford Convention was vigorously attacked throughout the country. Hartford was the birthplace of See also:Noah See also:Webster, who here published his Grammatical Institute of the English See also:Language (1783-1785), and of Henry See also:Barnard, John See also:Fiske and See also:Frederick See also:Law See also:Olmsted, and has been the home of Samuel P. See also:Goodrich (See also:Peter Parley), George D.

Prentice, Harriet See also:

Beecher See also:Stowe, Charles See also:Dudley Warner, Samuel L. Clemens (See also:Mark See also:Twain) and Horace Bushnell. More than too See also:periodicals have been established in Hartford, of which the oldest is the Hartford Courant (1764), the oldest newspaper in the United States. This paper was very influential in shaping public opinion in the years preceding the War of Independence; after the war it was successively Federalist, Whig and Republican. The Times (semi-weekly 1817; daily 1841) was one of the most powerful Democratic organs in the See also:period before the middle of the 19th century, and had See also:Gideon Wells for editor 1826-1836. The Congregationalist (afterwards published in Boston) and the Churchman (afterwards published in New York) were also founded at Hartford. See Scaeva, Hartford in the Olden Times: Its First See also:Thirty Years (Hartford, 1853), edited by W. M. B. See also:Hartley; and J. H. Trumbull, Memorial History of Hartford County (Boston, 1886).

For the Hartford Convention see History of the Hartford Convention (Boston, 1833), published by its secretary, Theodore Dwight; H. C. See also:

Lodge, Life and Letters of George Cabot (Boston, 1877) ; and Henry See also:Adams, Documents See also:Relating to New England Federalism (Boston, 1877).

End of Article: HARTFORD

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