1819-1888 Lorenzo Blackstone
Lorenzo Blackstone was born in Branford, CT, in June 1819 and was a direct descendant of William Blackstone, the first settler of Boston. He was educated in local schools. His business skills were demonstrated early in his career when he traveled to Liverpool, England, in 1842 and established a commission house for the sale of American products. He became the first to introduce goods such as boots and overshoes from the Goodyear Rubber Company into Great Britain.
His business continued to grow, and soon he was distributing merchandise throughout Europe and as far away as Australia. In 1846, he became the exclusive distributor for products from the Hayward Rubber Co. of Colchester, CT., and soon after invested in their stock. The sale of rubber boots and overshoes generated several hundred thousand dollars annually.
In 1855, Lorenzo returned to Branford, where he continued to operate his business through a branch office. Influenced by his brothers-in-law (the Nortons), Governor Buckingham, and other officers of the Hayward Rubber Co., Mr. Blackstone moved to Norwich. He made that thriving city his permanent home. In 1859, he sold off his business in Europe and began investing heavily in the manufacture of cotton goods.
Mr. Blackstone purchased the burned-out Blashfield factory in Dayville, CT, and replaced it with a larger brick cotton mill capable of 10,000 spindles. The business was named Attawaugan Mills. Business demand enabled expansion and the addition of equipment, which increased total capacity to 28,000 spindles. In 1865, he enlarged the business with the purchase of adjacent water privileges owned by Leonard Ballou and erected another mill with an eighteen-thousand-spindle capacity. He purchased the Amsbury privilege and erected another weaving mill at that site.
The Attawaugan Manufacturing Co. was solely owned and operated by Mr. Blackstone, together with his brother-in-laws, Henry B. Norton, Timothy P. Norton, and William T. Norton. The company had a combined annual output of 9,000,000 yards. In 1870, the company purchased the Totokett Mills in Occum, which produced woolen goods, and converted them to a cotton manufacturing facility with a capacity of 14,000 spindles, 300 looms, and an annual production of 2,000,000 yards of cloth. In 1877, it built the Pequot Mills in Montville. The 1865 Norwich Board of Trade listed Blackstone’s yearly income at $41,000. The tremendous success of Lorenzo Blackstone’s mills provided many jobs and prosperity to the surrounding community.
As a successful capitalist, Lorenzo was interested in various other corporations. He was the director of the Ponemah Mills Manufacturing Company. He was the president of the Chelsea Savings Bank and the Thames National Bank, and served as a director of the Chicago and Alton Railroad of Illinois. Mr. Blackstone also had an active public spirit and interest in the welfare of Norwich and its citizens. He was a trustee of the Norwich Free Academy and served as alderman of the city for several years, as well as a member of the Court of Common Council for several years. From 1866 to 1870, he served as mayor of the town, and from 1878 to 79 served in the state senate.
In October 1842, he married Emily, daughter of Asa Norton, of Branford. Their family consisted of James De Trafford, Harriet Belle, Ellen Frances, William Norton, and Louis Lorenzo, all of whom lived in Norwich.
Following his death, the operation of his manufacturing enterprises was carried on by his two sons.
1819-1896 Willis Rogers Austin
Willis Austin, the son of John Punderson Austin, was born in Norwich in January 1819. He was educated in the legal profession and graduated from Yale Law School in 1849, shortly after which he went to Texas. He intended to stay and open a law office. He became interested in cotton and developed a successful cotton business. He left this business and relocated to Philadelphia, where he entered the banking industry.
Following several successful years, he retired and began traveling. Willis traveled extensively throughout this country and then left for three years to explore Europe and Asia. Upon his return, he settled in Norwich, CT, the city of his ancestors.
1820-1896 John W. Stedman
John Stedman was born in Enfield, Connecticut, in April 1820. His family moved to Hartford. At twelve years of age, having lost his father, he left school to earn his living. John found work in the printing office of P. Canfield. Four years later, the office was consolidated under the name of Case, Tiffany & Burnham.
John remained until August 1844, when he moved to Norwich after purchasing The Norwich Aurora newspaper. He remained in the printing and publishing business for thirty years, at the time the longest anyone had ever been engaged in that business in this country. The Aurora ceased publication in 1878.
In 1850, John Stedman was appointed by Governor Seymour as bank commissioner of the State. In 1852, he was elected to the same office by the General Assembly. Other public distinctions rapidly followed this. In 1852, he was a member of the Baltimore convention that nominated Gen. Pierce for the Presidency.
In 1853, he was appointed postmaster of the city of Norwich and reappointed in 1857 without opposition. He was a member of the city’s Board of Education for many years, serving as its president, and also a member of the city’s Common Council for several years. In 1873, he was appointed to the Legislature as a member of a special commission to investigate and report on the state’s savings banks. His last appointment was as state insurance commissioner in 1874, and again in 1877 as insurance commissioner. Mr. Stedman was elected treasurer of the State Savings Bank of Hartford, which necessitated his removal from Norwich to Hartford.
In 1859, he wrote The Norwich Jubilee,” a book that chronicles the 200th Anniversary celebration of the founding of Norwich.
John had a reputation as a friendly man, both in heart and manner, and was constantly sought out for advice and aid by the people of Norwich.
1821-1897 Charles Young
Charles Young was born in Bavaria, Germany, in September 1821. He assisted his father with the work on their farm and attended school until the age of fourteen. From his elder brother, he learned the cutlery trade and followed this profession until the age of twenty-two, when he entered the German army, in which he served for the next six years. When war broke out between Bavaria and Prussia, Bavaria was defeated, and Charles Young, a Bavarian officer, was forced to flee his native country to avoid capture.
He came to America in 1849, bringing with him his bride of only four weeks, Phillipena Young. They sailed from France to New York, a voyage which took thirty-one days.
Two days after landing in New York, the young couple came to Norwich, CT, where Charles learned the trade of molder at Vaughn’s foundry, while his enterprising wife, Phillipina, obtained work as a seamstress. Her skills were immediately recognized. As a popular dressmaker, she often worked from early morning until late at night, contributing to the family’s savings that would eventually lead to financial success.
* Place cursor over the image to magnify
In April 1864, during the Civil War, the Youngs purchased the corner building at Main and Franklin Streets in downtown Norwich. Over time, they acquired the surrounding buildings, and the block became a landmark known as Young’s Block.
The original building was removed in 1949, and a new building was erected in its place; however, the Young’s Block designation continued. The new building was leased for 99 years to the Annular Investors’ Corporation of Danbury, CT. In time, the building was subleased to F. W. Woolworth Company, which guaranteed the income.
In the summer of 1871, Charles Young and Phillipina purchased the residence at 34 East Town Street. The property, which comprised 7 acres, belonged to the estate of William W. Cutter, M.D., and is more widely known today as the Samuel Huntington Homestead. Mr. Young built greenhouses and made other improvements, operating the property as a fruit and flower farm. There, Mr. Young made a home until about a year before his death, when he was taken ill and removed to a hospital in Hartford.
Mrs. Young was a talented businesswoman who significantly increased the family fortune during her seventeen years of widowhood. She remained alert, without the need of spectacles, and traveled often to New York to conduct real estate business until her death in September 1916 at ninety-one. The beautiful vault she erected for her husband’s remains she now shares with him.
Charles and Phillipina had one daughter who died after only two days. Both were Lutherans.
Charles Young died in his residence on May 27, 1897, and his wife, Phillipina Young, died there on September 13, 1916, at the age of ninety-one.
1821-1899 Hugh Henry Osgood
Hugh Osgood (along with a twin sister, Jane E. Osgood) was born in October 1821 in Southbridge, Massachusetts. He came to Norwich at age ten to live with an uncle. He was soon joined by his parents and lived in an apartment in Young’s Block. Hugh found employment with a drug store, Samuel Tyler & Son, on Water Street. It was here that he learned the drug business. In March 1842, along with his uncle, Dr. Charles Lee, he opened a drugstore under the name of Lee & Osgood. Dr. Lee remained a part of the business until he died in 1865. Hugh Osgood continued in the industry, which prospered far beyond all expectations, until he died in 1899.
Mr. Osgood’s interests branched out to other businesses. He was president of the Uncas Paper Co., the Goodwin Cork Co., the Dime Savings Bank, and the Sterling Dyeing & Finishing Co. of Sterling Ct. He was also president of the Worchester Thread Co. and the Glasgow Yarn Co. until American Thread Co. absorbed them. For a time, Mr. Osgood was president of the Norwich Bleaching, Dyeing & Printing Co. and in 1887 was quoted as saying, “The yards of cloth turned out by the Norwich Bleaching Dyeing and Printing Company equal 28,408 miles and would extend around the world with about 4,000 miles to spare”.
In 1900, the company merged with the United States Finishing Co. of New York and continued to operate in Norwich until 1958, when it relocated to the southern United States. Hugh Osgood was a director of the Thames National Bank, the First National Bank, the Ashland Cotton Co., the Norwich Gas & Electric Co., the Yantic Woolen Co. and the Richmond Stove Co. Hugh promoted the Norwich Bulletin and was president of the Bulletin Association and Bulletin Co. He was an organizer and first president of the Norwich Board of Trade.
In public life, he was a strong promoter of the city and served as mayor from 1875 to 1886. Several building projects were completed under his administration, including the Norwich city sewer system and the fire alarm telegraph system. His interest in education was reflected in his forty-year tenure as treasurer of the Central School District and his status as a Fellow of the Corporation of Norwich Free Academy. During the Civil War, Hugh was active in raising troops for the Grand Army of the Republic and served as Colonel on Governor Buckingham’s staff throughout his term.
Socially, Hugh Osgood was an organizer of the Kitemaug Association, the Norwich Club, and a member of the Arcanum Club. He was an active member of the Somerset Lodge, No. 34, Free and Accepted Masons; St. James Lodge, No. 23, Free and Accepted Masons; Royal Arch Masons of Franklin; Franklin Council No. 3, Royal and Select Masters; Columbian Commandery No. 4, Knights Templar; and all the Scottish Rite bodies. He was a trustee of the Masonic Temple corporation bonds.
Hugh Osgood was an active member of Park Congregational Church. Following his death, the parish house was dedicated in his memory by his wife, Mary Ruth Lee, in November 1902.
In October 1899, Mr. Osgood and his wife left Norwich to travel to Niagara Falls to attend a national wholesale druggist’s convention. Upon their return trip, Hugh developed a cold, and the couple stopped at Manlius, near Syracuse, New York, where his wife’s family lived. His illness progressed into pneumonia, and Hugh Osgood died on October 22.
The news of his death caused a flood of universal grief in Norwich. Many townspeople turned out to meet his remains upon arrival at the train depot. During the funeral on October 26, businesses in town remained closed. The Norwich courthouse bell was tolled for half an hour at noon. The first time such an honor was ever paid to a private citizen. Numerous resolutions of sympathy were passed by the organizations with which he had been connected and were subsequently published in Cooley’s Weekly on Friday, October 27, 1899.