During The Great Depression,

Newtown Was Spared The Worst

By Jan Howard

The Wall Street stock-market crash of 1929 precipitated the Great Depression, the worst economic downturn in the history of the United States. It had devastating effects on the country, causing failed businesses and the collapse of financial institutions. Thirteen million people, one-quarter of the workforce, were unemployed in 1932.

Despite effects elsewhere in the nation, however, Newtown was spared the worst economic problems of the Great Depression. Because of the continuing demand for inexpensive summer and permanent housing for commuters, property values held, and the population of the town was on the rise after a 1900 to 1930 decline.

The self-sufficiency of an agriculture-based economy made it possible for Newtown’s residents to survive, not without some hardship, but at least without the dire poverty experienced by many people who lived in cities.

At a time when most towns and cities in the United States could not afford a new building for any purpose, Newtown was breaking ground because of donations by its benefactress, Mary Hawley.

In fact, on July 22, 1932, a Newtown Bee story noted that although Newtown had felt the “wave of depression” which had swept the entire country, the community had been fortunate in holding and even increasing realty values and populations.

The story noted the community had been found to be a fertile field for the sale of building materials, home water systems, and electrical appliances, which homeowners wanted, and that ultimately led to increased value of their homes.

There was one sign of economic decline in town, however — the discontinuation of passenger rail service. The Hawleyville rail stop was closed completely in 1932, and all service was abandoned in 1936. This caused a marked decrease in vacation business in Newtown.

Another sign of the Depression was that the former Sunrise Hotel on Toddy Hill Road, which was located north of today’s entrance to Ashlar of Newtown, became a hotel for transients.

In May 1934 a Bee story reported on the lease of the former Sunset Hill Hotel property on Botsford Hill by Mr Hinkle of the National Folding Box Company of New Haven to the Federal Transient Bureau of the Federal Emergency Relief Commission.

The story noted that a force of men was already getting the building ready for a Federal Transient Camp to accommodate 200 men. Captain John Ramsey of New Haven was in charge and was directing the improvements. A mess hall was erected, and there were several carloads of lumber on the ground, The Bee noted.

During prosperous times it was estimated that there was in the United States a transient population of four million men. When the Depression set in, this was increased to ten million men. It had been found that cities and towns or local organizations, such as the Salvation Army, could not care for this great army of unemployed.

The federal government had established registration offices for these camps in New London, Stamford, and Bridgeport. The men received dental and physical care and were sent to shelters provided by the government in New Haven, Hartford, and New London. When found physically fit, they were sent to these transient camps.

The men were required to work 24 hours a week for room and board and for three additional hours of work they received 90 cents to provide them with tobacco.

The camps were run on a semimilitary basis. Capt Ramsey, it was reported, would have four assistants, and they would also operate the farm and maintain a dairy.

Entertainment and outdoor games and sports were provided for the men. In August of 1934, Allison P. Smith and Judge Edward S. Pitzschler gave an entertainment at the Federal Transient Camp that was received with an enthusiastic reception by the men of the camp. Judge Pitzschler and Mr Smith kept the men in constant laughter, and were applauded again and again.

Newtown’s citizens, though not greatly affected by the Depression, did what they could to help others who were not quite as fortunate.

In January 1932, Sooky, a movie featuring Jackie Cooper, was shown at the Edmond Town Hall theater as a benefit for the unemployed.

Women in Newtown volunteered as seamstresses for the American Red Cross. Mrs Lily E. Bentley, chairman of the local branch, appointed a committee with Mrs George B. Beers as chairman to take charge of the work.

Between November 13, 1932, and February of 1933, they completed 25 layettes of 20 pieces each, or 500 garments for infants, and 25 pajamas for 10-year-old children. As many as were needed were kept in Newtown, and the remainder of the items were donated to Bridgeport.

The material for the garments had come from the American Red Cross, which had received 500,000 bales of raw Farm Board cotton in the summer of 1932 from Congress. The question for the Red Cross was, “How can this be converted into clothing for the unemployed?” It was a complex problem that was solved by October 1, 1932, when the Red Cross distributed more than 36 million yards of cotton cloth to more than one-half of the counties in the nation. Thousands of Red Cross women volunteered to work, and their work made it possible to get the garments done promptly so they could be sent to people who needed the help.

The Red Cross sewing bees in Newtown were held at the Congregational Church every two weeks. The church had donated its parlors for the sessions, in addition to two sewing machines. The Woman’s Guild of Trinity Church and Mrs William Kimball also donated machines.

The government chipped in, and in June 1932 Newtown’s quota of government flour arrived in town. Needy families could receive the flour by applying to the selectmen or visiting nurse and signing necessary papers.

In February 1933, Newtown received two additional allotments of flour from the American Red Cross, and local residents rose to the occasion, distributing some 400 bags of 24 pounds each as well as helping the needy with wearing apparel.

The officers of the local Red Cross were, in addition to Mrs Bentley, Mrs Carl Le Grow, vice chairman; Mrs Alice Mead, secretary; and H. Carlton Hubbell, treasurer.

In January 1934 Selectman Blackman received 60 pounds of butter, 80 pounds of beans, and 110 pounds of pork for distribution among the town’s poor and needy.

Local farmers also stepped forward to help, such as Selectman Stanley J. Blackman who said he would contribute a case of milk a day for the poor from his own dairy for a month and longer if a need appeared to be apparent.

The bottled milk was to be left at the Morris and Shepard store where those who needed it could secure a quart a day. There was only one stipulation: the person taking a bottle home had to return it to the store to secure another quart of milk the following day.

The new Republican Club sponsored a charity dance in March 1933 with the proceeds to aid needy families. The Board of Managers of Edmond Town Hall donated the use of the gymnasium for the party, and A.E. Bevans donated his orchestra for the evening.

The committee members were John C. Beers, Mrs Raymond L. Hall, Mrs Arthur Vining, Mrs E.M. Peck, Mrs George C. Canfield, Miss Mabel Greenman, Miss Mary B. Naramore, Henry A. Bourgenez, William E. Blake, and John J. Carmody.

Tables for cards were set up, and ice cream and cake were for sale.

On December 5, 1933, 92 men registered with the selectmen under the Civil Works Administration program. Of this number 23 were put to work on December 7, putting gravel on the roads. This was Newtown’s quota, which was cut in half from 46.

Selectman Blackman said at that time that there were at least 200 unemployed men in Newtown, eager to go to work if work were obtainable. He felt a larger number would have registered had they been fully acquainted with the facts.

The Civil Works Administration was established under President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal in 1933 to create Make Work jobs. In 1934, it was replaced by the Federal Emergency Relief Act.

The New Deal consisted of government financed building and infrastructure projects, such as road building, designed to relieve unemployment and provide a boost to the economy.

Also in December of 1933, unemployed teachers were advised that they could register for unemployment under the Federal Grant for Relief work in Education.

(Historical information in this story was obtained in Directions and Images by the League of Women Voters, and Newtown Remembered: An Oral History of the 20th Century, edited by Andrea Zimmermann and Daniel Cruson with Mary Maki.)