Background
James Brewster was born on August 6, 1788 in Preston, New London County, Connecticut, the son of Joseph and Hannah (Tucker) Brewster.
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James Brewster
Edit Profilephilanthropist railroad builder Civic leader carriage maker
James Brewster was an American carriage-builder, railway-promoter, philanthropist, and civic leader. James Brewster was one of businessmen who started the first railroad for the area of Connecticut, running between New Haven and Hartford. He also established Brewster & Company, specialized in the manufacture of fine carriages.
Education
A farm lad, James had some slight schooling in his native town, and in 1804 was apprenticed to learn the wagon-maker's trade with Charles Chapman of Northampton, Massachussets.
Career
In 1809, on reaching his majority, James Brewster set out for New York by way of New Haven, where he took a job in a wagon-shop he had chanced to visit, and where in 1810 he opened a little shop of his own.
From colonial days, heavy coaches had been built in this country for the town or traveling use of the well-to-do, but in 1810 the American carriage-building industry had yet to be developed. Chaises, sulkies, and one-horse wagons were the common forms of private conveyance.
"Brewster wagons" soon became favorably known; and after this beginning, Brewster started in to build vehicles that in finish and general workmanship should equal those of English make. He turned out not only buggies but phaetons, victorias, coaches, and other forms of equipage, and before long was specializing in fine construction.
He was one of a group of New Haven citizens that projected a railway between New Haven and Hartford and obtained a charter for it (May 1833). The charter empowered the company to use "the power and force of steam, of animals, or of any mechanical or other power or any combination of them. " The rails originally laid for this road--the first opened in the state--were imported from England at a cost of $250, 000, which sum, considerable in that stage of American railroading, Brewster personally guaranteed. For four years he was president of the new company, in whose financing he greatly aided and whose interests were his chief concern during that period.
He then resigned and again (1838) became active in the carriage business. This enjoyed a steady growth; and Brewster, in the language of one biographer, "accumulated a handsome competency. "
Achievements
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James Brewster is said to have sent to Charleston the first paneled carriage delivered by an American builder for Southern use. His output set the styles in a field in which he had been the pioneer. The spread of turnpikes naturally tended to increase the demand for lighter four-wheeled vehicles. In addition to his New Haven manufactory, Brewster established in New York (1827) a warehouse and a repairshop. Brewster successfully branched out to produce their own automobiles, as well as supplying bodies for Rolls Royce at their Long Island City location. Notable clientele included Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, August Belmont, J. P. Morgan, John Jacob Astor, Andrew J. Cassatt (brother of artist Mary Cassatt), William Rockefeller, Henry Clay Frick and Pierre Lorillard. For more than fifty years James Brewster was an important factor in the welfare and progress of New Haven. He gave an orphan asylum to the town and provided for much-needed improvements in the local almshouse. Of all American carriage manufacturers, none was as highly regarded for design, finish and quality as Brewster & Company. They won many awards for outstanding workmanship, including the Legion d’Honneur (Legion of Honor) at the 1878 Paris Exposition (3rd World’s Fair). In appreciation for this achievement the Carriage Builders’ National Association presented them with a gold enameled Tiffany & Company plaque and autograph book signed by leading American carriage builders, both now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. At his death James Brewster was characterized as one of the best citizens New Haven or any other city ever had.
Views
Probably his chief service was in connection with his efforts toward bettering the condition of the workmen employed in his own and other manufactories. He extended the street system and widened streets that already existed at his own expense. He also presented to Yale a mineralogical cabinet and equipped a company of Civil War volunteers.
He prohibited the use of liquor in his shop--a decided innovation at that time--and was a constant advocate of temperance. He built Franklin Hall, with an auditorium for evening addresses, and defrayed the cost of annual lecture courses there given on scientific subjects. In these and other ways he helped to attract employees of the better class to New Haven and to raise the standard of living in the community.
He was civic minded, so that was the reason why he extended and widened city streets. He also tried to create better working conditions for those who worked in his factory and in other similar establishments.
Connections
James Brewster was married to Mary Hequembourg Brewster.
- Father:
- Joseph Brewster
- Mother:
- Hannah (Tucker) Brewster
- collaborator:
- Paul Steinbeck
- collaborator:
- Herman Stahmer
- collaborator:
- John Gribbon
- Daughter :
- Mary Elizabeth Brewster Pease
- wife :
- Mary Hequembourg Brewster
- Son :
- James Benjamin Brewster
- Son :
- Henry Brewster
Talented draftsmen employed by the Brewster & Company firm included Paul Steinbeck, Herman Stahmer and John Gribbon.
1812–1886
1791–1868
1817–1902
1824–1887
