Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/502

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488 HARTFORD sane, chartered in 1824, is situated on a com- manding eminence just outside the city, sur- rounded by about 17 acres of ground pleasantly laid out in gardens and walks. The main edi- fice is of freestone plastered over with cement. The number of officers and attendants, Jan. 1, 1874, was 32 ; of patients, 139. The Hartford hospital was incorporated in 1854; the build- ings with the grounds, 7 acres in extent, cost $188,495 60; the 'hospital has accommodations for 100 patients, and possesses a permanent fund of $153,500. The Hartford orphan asy- lum was established in 1833. Among other charitable organizations are the Hartford dis- pensary, the city missionary society, the Con- necticut home missionary society, the Connec- ticut Bible society, and the missionary society of Connecticut, organized in 1798, "to Chris- tianize the heathen in North America, and to promote Christian knowledge in new settle- ments in the United States." There are 90 unincorporated societies for benevolent, social, and other purposes, including 10 lodges of freemasons, 3 of odd fellows, and 20 temper- ance societies. The county jail, situated in Pearl street, has 96 cells. A new building is in course of erection further N. Among the educational institutions, the most prominent is Trinity college (Episcopal), founded in 1823, and having in 1873-'4 17 professors and in- structors, 94 students, and a library of 15,000 volumes. The buildings, comprising three stone halls, called respectively Seabury, Jarvis, and Brownell, occupy (1874) a site on the W. side of Trinity street, adjacent to the city park. The grounds, however, have been sold to the city, the trustees reserving the right to use them until April, 1877, with the exception of Brownell hall, a portion of which has been demolished to make room for the new state house. A new site for the college, about a mile south of the present one, has been pur- chased. (See TRINITY COLLEGE.) The theo- logical institute of Connecticut (Congregation- al) was chartered in 1834, and in 1873-'4 had 3 professors, 18 students, and a library of 7,000 volumes. The Hartford female seminary, found- ed in 1823, had in 1872 3 instructors and 123 Eupils. There are 13 select schools. The town i divided into 10 school districts. The num- ber of public school houses in 1873 was 16, containing 105 rooms and 5 halls; number of teachers, 128 ; children of school age (4 to 16), 9,138; whole number registered, 6,905; aver- age attendance, about 4,000. The total expen- diture for school purposes was $171,814 46, of which $91,674 85 was for teachers' wages. The two evening schools had 10 teachers and 501 pupils. The high school was established by vote of the town in March, 1847, and the first building was completed in December of that year. A new building, one of the finest school edifices in the country, was erected in 1869 on a handsome site a short distance S. W. of the union depot. It is 100 by 85 ft. in its external dimensions, and consists of two sto- ries surmounted by a Mansard roof, with a raised basement. On the N. E. corner is a tower 120 ft. high, containing a clock and an observatory, and on the S. E. corner is another tower 68 ft. high. It was constructed of brick and stone, at a cost of about $102,000, and will accommodate 409 scholars. The number of teachers in 1873 was 15 ; of pupils, 404. The number of volumes in the school libraries is about 3,000. The schools are under the super- vision of a board of 9 visitors, besides which there is a committee for each district and the high school. The Hartford grammar school, the oldest educational institution in the state, was first endowed with a gift of land by Wil- liam Gibbins in 1655, and about 10 years after- ward received a considerable sum from the estate of Governor Edward Hopkins. It was incorporated in 1798. The scholars must pur- sue a classical course of study. Tuition is free. Since the organization of the high school, the grammar school has practically formed part of the classical department of that institution, though governed by its own board of trustees. There are 4 daily and 8 weekly newspapers, and 3 monthly periodicals, of which one is published by the students of Trinity college. The Wadsworth athenaeum, in Main street, is a castellated granite building, 100 ft. long by 80 ft. deep in the centre and 70 ft. deep on the wings, with central towers 70 ft. and corner buttresses 56 ft. high. Its cost, over $60,000, was defrayed by the contributions of citizens. In this building are the reading room and li- brary (containing 23,000 volumes) of the young men's institute ; the rooms of the Connecticut historical society, which possesses a library of 16,000 volumes; the Watkinson library (27,- 000 volumes) ; and a gallery of valuable paint- ings and statuary. The state library contains 12,000 volumes. The Connecticut school of design was chartered in 1872. There are 26 churches, of which 11 are in Main street within a distance of a mile, and 7 chapels. The num- ber of religious societies is 40, viz. : 5 Baptist, 1 Catholic Apostolic, 1 Church of Christ, 12 Congregational, 8 Episcopal, 2 Jewish, 4 Meth- odist, 1 Presbyterian, 2 Roman Catholic, 1 Second Advent, 1 Spiritualist, 1 Unitarian, and 1 Universalist. Besides the Sunday schools connected with the churches, there are 3 mis- sion Sunday schools, with 60 teachers, 470 pu- pils, and libraries containing 1,000 volumes. The corner stone of a Roman Catholic cathe- dral to be erected on Farmington avenue was laid in 1873. Hartford was first settled in 1635 by emigrants from Newtown (now Cam- bridge), Mass., and from Dorchester and Wa- tertown, many of whom had come originally from Braintree, England. The present locality of Hartford was called by the Indians Suckiaug. The first settlers named it Newtown; but in 1637 it was formally called Hartford, after Hertford, England, the birthplace of the Rev. Samuel Stone, one of the first pastors of the settlement. In 1633 the Dutch had erected a