Not only was Litchfield on the main lines of travel, but it was a commercial and industrial centre. The “Gazetteer of the States of Connecticut and Rhode Island” for 1810 says: “The most important manufactures in the town is that of iron of which there are 4 forges, 1 slitting mill and one nail factory. There are 1 cotton factory, 1 oil mill, 1 paper mill, 2 cording machines, 6 fulling mills, 5 grain mills, 18 saw mills, 5 large tanneries, besides several on a small scale. 2 comb factories, 2 hatters shops, 2 carriage makers, 1 cabinet furniture maker, 3 saddlers and a number of house carpenters, joiners and smiths and other mechanics.” The population then was 4,639. There were 4 companies of militia and “16 mercantile stores.” The writer mentions a mineral spring of chalybeate and sulphureous water within one half mile of the Court House—which had been found very efficacious in curing disease. An iron foundry was situated on the east side of the upper end of North Street, about where the house of the Misses Van Winkle now stands. It was owned and run by Morse and[14] Carrington. A very superior quality of ore from Salisbury or Kent was here made into anchors, the first and best in the country. To the north of this were grist and fulling mills which used the water of the little river to turn their wheels. Wool was “fulled,” as the term is, for hats that were made and sold on South Street by Ozias and Major Moses Seymour. This hat factory was afterward moved to the west of the town and owned by Messrs. Braman and Kilbourne. The first leather pocketbooks in this country were made by Erastus Lord in Baltimore. He moved to Litchfield and continued to make them at his house on the south side of Prospect Street, where Mr. MacMartin now lives. A piece of fine workmanship in the way of a jewel casket made by him is still in the possession of his descendants. There was a cotton mill near the present bridge at the foot of South Street. Its owner built the house now occupied by Mr. Crandall. Not far off was a papier maché factory. Excellent brass goods were made somewhere in the town, as specimens of andirons, latches, etc., are now in evidence. They are advertised with other goods in the current newspapers. There were also extensive dye works for yarns and cloths of different kinds. Coaches were made at a factory on Chestnut Hill. Furniture was made by a number of persons. Among them were Silas E. Cheney, David Bulkley, and George Dewey, who was noted for his fine carving. He often added his name. There was a well known goldsmith who must have been a man of genial nature, as he went by the name of “Uncle Billy” Ward. It is not long since a silver spoon was dug up in the north part of the village which bore his name. There was a jeweller by the name of Merriman. There were a number of publishers, Thomas Collier being a prominent one. He established an early newspaper, the Monitor, in 1784, and continued to publish it for many years.