Completion of the Naugatuck Rail Road in 1849 was essential to Waterbury's transformation. Having an affordable, efficient, and safe way to travel to New York City made Waterbury's economic growth possible. The town's population hovered around 3,000 people during the early 1800s. By the time the train arrived, the population was growing rapidly. By 1850, the town's population was just over 5,000 people and by 1860, it reached 10,000 people.
M. Richardson
M. Richardson may have been Waterbury's first jeweler, operating a store in the center of town during the mid-1840s. I have not yet been able to find any further information about him.
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| M. Richardson advertisement, Waterbury American, 6 September 1845 Silas Bronson Library microfilm |
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| M. Richardson advertisement, Waterbury American, 11 October 1845 Silas Bronson Library microfilm |
Clark M. Grumman
Clark M. Grumman (c. 1828 - 1875) and his wife, Catharine Brady Grumman, were originally from Norwalk. Grumman appears to have moved to Waterbury in 1849, opening up a store in the center of Waterbury. I have not yet found any sign of him in Waterbury after 1850. By 1865, he was back in Norwalk.
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| Grumman's advertisement, Waterbury American, 11 January 1850 Silas Bronson Library microfilm |
In 1850, Grumman hired Matthew T. Richards, a skilled watchmaker from New York City, to repair watches in Waterbury. Richards, born about 1810, lived with the Grummans when he first arrived in Waterbury and was listed on the U.S. Census for 1850 as Matthew Richardson.
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| Grumman advertisement, Waterbury American, 28 June 1850 Silas Bronson Library microfilm |
Grumman's advertising focused on comparing his business favorably to jewelers in New York City, assuring Waterbury's affluent families that they could find the same goods and services right here at home.
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| Grumman advertisement, Waterbury American, 26 July 1850 Silas Bronson Library microfilm |
Grumman's store was located at the corner of East Main and South Main Streets. There have been several different buildings on that corner since then. The entire block is now a single building, the Brown Building.
James R. Ayres
The most successful of Waterbury's early jewelry store owners was James Russell Ayres (1819-1889). Ayres was born in Pound Ridge, NY and apprenticed with a jeweler and watchmaker in Bedford, NY. He worked for one year in Stamford, then another seven years in Peekskill, NY.
Ayres arrived in Waterbury in January 1849 and opened up his business in the center of town. He was also active in real estate -- Ayers Street is named after him, although the spelling was changed at some point. The Ayres family is buried at Riverside Cemetery. (Anderson, The Town and City of Waterbury, Vol. III, pp. 718-719)
In 1851, Ayres relocated his business to a brick building constructed for him on Bank Street at Exchange Place.
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| Ayres relocation advertisement, Waterbury American, 12 December 1851 Silas Bronson Library microfilm |
When Ayres relocated his business, there were no street numbers. The location would eventually become 38 Bank Street. The numbering was changed during the 1890s and again during the 1900s, eventually becoming 42 Bank Street (I've included maps below to clarify, since the numbering is confusing).
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| Detail, Map of Waterbury, 1852 Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center, Boston Public Library |
A photograph from 1888 shows a gorgeous Italianate style building on the site of Ayres store on Bank Street. Ayres' building is the one on the far right, with arched windows and one round window, in the photo below.
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| Detail
of a photo taken after the blizzard of 1888. Ayres' building is on the right with the arched windows and
ornate cornice. By 1888, it was the H. G. Chatfield jewelry store. The building was constructed in 1851. Collection of Connecticut Historical Society, 1981.93.15 |
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| Bank Street looking south from Exchange Place, 1857 The National Magazine, October 1857, p. 196 |
Postcards from the early 1900s show the building without its ornate cornice.
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| Detail, Postcard view of Bank Street from Exchange Place, published by Alfred A. Adt, 1905 Collection of Silas Bronson Library |
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| Postcard view of Exchange Place (cropped), c. 1905 Collection of Silas Bronson Library |
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| Detail of Postcard view of Exchange Place, c. 1905 Collection of Silas Bronson Library |
The Ayres jewelry store building might still be standing, but it has been so severely remodeled it's completely unrecognizable. Another possibility is that it was torn down and rebuilt on the same footprint during the early 1900s. An aerial view of 42 Bank Street today, a wide two-story building, shows a double roof to the single building, suggesting that existing structures were modernized into the single building we see today.
The composite image below shows the jewelry store highlighted in red, first in the 1890 Sanborn Insurance Atlas when it was 38 Bank Street, then in the current Google aerial view of 42 Bank Street. The storefront is now a Boost Mobile. Whether or not anything remains of the original Ayres building, other than the footprint, is unknown.
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| Composite images showing the location of Ayres' jewelry store. |
A photograph of the building location taken in 1987 shows an Art Deco facade from perhaps the 1930s covering what used to be three separate buildings. The Ayres jewelry store location was still a jewelry store, David Jewelers.
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| Bank Street, detail from a photograph taken circa 1987 for a Mattatuck Museum slideshow, "Exploring Architecture" |
A portion of the stucco on the current building fell off in 2020, revealing the Art Deco facade underneath.
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| Facade of the current building standing on the site of James Ayres' store, August 2020 |
Ayres arrived in Waterbury with a significant amount of money to invest in starting up his new business, complete with a new building. Waterbury was an up-and-coming town in 1849. Ayres may have been lured here by the newly finished Naugatuck Rail Road and the promise of Waterbury's bright future.
Like Grumman, Ayres advertised the hire of a skilled watch repairman from New York City. Although he didn't advertise the man's name, Ayres noted that he had apprenticed in England, indicating a high level of skill and experience.
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| James R. Ayres advertisement, Waterbury American, 11 January 1850 Silas Bronson Library microfilm |
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| Ayres advertisement, Waterbury American, 28 June 1850 Silas Bronson Library microfilm |
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| Ayres advertisement, Waterbury American, 7 March 1851 Silas Bronson Library microfilm |
Ayres' jewelry store was robbed in the middle of the night in March 1851, the burglars cutting a hole in the store's wood shutters and removing the iron bolts on the inside. After entering through the back window, they then had to break down the door to the front of the shop. They took the most valuable items they could, leaving the cheaper items in the showcases. They failed to break into the safe where Ayres kept his customer's watches being repaired and the store's most valuable merchandise.
This was the largest burglary ever committed in Waterbury up to this point, causing the local newspaper to declare that "the country swarms with villains in all directions." Ayres offered a $50 reward for "the detection of the thief" and the return of the stolen property, which was valued at three or four hundred dollars.
The inventory of stolen goods included two dozen portmonies, two dozen gold pens and pencils, four dozen silver pencil cases, over 100 gold rings, silver spectacles and spoons, gold pens, and customer's jewelry being customized or repaired. ("Burglars About! Store Robbed!," Waterbury American, 28 March 1851)
The thieves were caught in the fall. John Riggs and Franklin Goldsmith, both in their late teens or early twenties, were arrested and sent to New Haven for trial. Part of the goods they stole were retrieved from them. (Hartford Daily Courant, 13 November 1851)
After robbing the jewelry store, Riggs and Goldsmith visited several states. Riggs even went on a trip to the West Indies. Unfortunately for the thieves, they returned to Waterbury and Ayres received an anonymous letting him know about Riggs' involvement. Both of the young men were arrested and confessed soon after. Riggs led Constable D. T. Munger to a cave near Hancock Brook in Waterville where he had hidden a number of the stolen items. He refused to show Munger where another cave was located, in case he might need it someday. ("The Ayres Store Robbery," Waterbury American, 14 November 1851)
Ayres handled the theft with great humor, running an advertisement thanking the "scoundrels" for "their condescension in not opening his Iron Safe, thereby preserving him all his customers Watches and a portion of his Jewelry... thus enabling him to serve his real friends and customers without much interruption." (Waterbury American, 28 March 1851)
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| Ayres advertisement, Waterbury American, 28 March 1851 Silas Bronson Library microfilm |
As he restocked his store, Ayres described the burglary as a "rapid disposal" of his stock. (Waterbury American, 28 March 1851) By April 4, his supply was fully replenished and Ayres returned to business as usual.
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| Ayres advertisement, Waterbury American, 28 March 1851 Silas Bronson Library microfilm |
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| Ayres advertisement, Waterbury American, 4 April 1851 Silas Bronson Library microfilm |
Ayres is sometimes listed in directories of craftsmen and silversmiths, as he stamped some of his merchandise. A coin silver spoon bearing Ayres' stamp is currently for sale on eBay.
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| Ayres spoon listed on eBay by moviemaker201 |
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| Ayres spoon listed on eBay by moviemaker201 |
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| Ayres envelope cameo, private collection, American Silversmiths website |
Ayres' store was a fixture in Waterbury as the town grew into a city. Located on Bank Street in downtown, the Ayres store supplied customers with all the latest high quality goods from 1849 to 1872.
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| Ayres advertisement, Waterbury American, 25 December 1863 Silas Bronson Library microfilm |
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| Ayres advertisement, Waterbury American, 24 December 1869 Silas Bronson Library microfilm |
During the 1860s, Ayres merged his business with Theodore Ives Driggs and Charles F. Hendee, keeping the Ayres Jewelry Store operating while expanding into pianos and other musical instruments. Ayres' jewelry store was on the second floor of the Bank Street building, with the pianos on the ground floor.
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| Ayres advertisement, Waterbury American, 4 September 1868 |
Ayres remained in business in Waterbury until 1872, when he retired to a farm in Orange, near the Woodmont train station in Milford. Ayres and his son Russell, an attorney, worked to turn Woodmont into a summer resort and were responsible for naming the borough. (Anderson, Vol. III, p. 718, 811)
Ayres sold his business in Waterbury to Homer F. Bassett and Charles F. Elliott, who continued to operate the jewelry store on the second floor of the Bank Street building. Bassett was also employed at the time as the head of the Silas Bronson Library.
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| Bassett & Elliott advertisement, Waterbury American, 1 October 1872 |
Bassett & Elliott in turn would sell the business to H. & D. Wells. Wells then sold the business to H.G. Chatfield & Co. in 1887. Photos of Bank Street after the blizzard of 1888 show the Chatfield store building and sign, which was designed as a giant watch dial sticking out from the side of the building.
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| The Chatfield jewelry store building is the second from the right. The style of the building suggests it was constructed during the 1850s, when James Ayres had his store at this location. "After the Blizzard, March 12 & 13, 1888," Photo by Spencer's Gallery, Waterbury Collection of Mattatuck Museum |
J. Domnau
In 1853, J. Domnau opened a jewelry store on Bank Street. I have not yet found any information other than the advertisement in the Waterbury American newspaper.
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| J. Domnau advertisement, Waterbury American, 9 December 1853 Silas Bronson Library microfilm |
Simon Mayer
Simon Mayer (1811-1883) was a Jewish immigrant who arrived in New York in 1852. He moved to Waterbury in 1854, then briefly to Cleveland, Ohio where he was naturalized in 1857. By 1860, Mayer had settled in Hartford, where he had extended family operating jewelry and clothing stores.
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| Simon Mayer advertisement, Waterbury American, 21 April 1854 Silas Bronson Library microfilm |
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