The Empty Chair: An Old Family Story Debunked

The Central Tavern, bought by Lewis in 1826

What’s the idea of an empty chair? It was an expression often used in the 19th century to refer to someone who left home for war or another reason, and never came back. It was used widely in the Civil War on both sides to refer to that young man (or men) who didn't return from war. 

In my family we have a very long memory. It probably comes from living in one place for many generations. I grew up hearing about the two empty chairs in the Lewis branch of my family, my father’s mother’s ancestry. The first one is my gr. gr. gr. grandfather, Partrick Lewis. He was a merchant and business owner in Meriden, Connecticut in the 1830’s. The second was his son, George H. Lewis, who enlisted in the 15th Connecticut Regiment in 1862 during the Civil War. He never came home. More on George Lewis later. I grew up with the story that Partrick Lewis didn’t trust his partner, Elias Holt. He gave a substantial amount of money to an apprentice, Charles Parker. When Holt had left town with whatever he could get his hands on, Lewis went back to Parker to get his money and Parker claimed he had never given him anything. As a result Lewis went bankrupt, moved to Iowa to homestead, and died. This was the family story. My father heard it from his grandfather, Samuel Lewis, who was himself a grandson of Partrick.

There’s only one problem.

It didn’t happen that way.

Charles Parker was no saint. He had a reputation for cheating people when he could get away with it. But he didn't cheat my ancestor.

And, Elias Holt didn’t skip town. 

Partrick Lewis was a young industrialist in burgeoning Meriden, Connecticut in the late 1820’s and early 1830’s. He and a partner, Elias Holt, opened a store around 1826, building a brick building to house the store. Business must have been good. In 1826 Lewis bought what is now known as the Central Tavern (no longer standing) for $6000, mortgaging most of that amount. The Central Tavern was on the site of what is now an auto parts store. He ran another store, it seems, in the ell of the tavern. In 1832 he and Holt bought a small factory in the center of Meriden and opened a factory making coffee mills and coffee pots made of britannia ware (now known as pewter). It was harder than lead and business owners found, once electroplating was invented, that britannia ware easily took on silver plating.

It looks like things were good for awhile. In 1830 Lewis built what was the first substantial mansion in town at the head of Broad and East Main Streets. If anyone wanted to impress the neighbors that would be the place to do it. East Main Street goes up a steep hill to meet Broad Street. The house was right at the intersection.  The 1830 House, as it came to be called, was quite a fancy place. It had eight fireplaces, and a incredibly oversized Greek Revival portico in front. There’s a grocery store there now. I can remember when it was being torn down in 1964. We were all in the car and my father stopped the car and went over to the site. He told the foreman that his ancestor had built the house, and asked if he could take some pieces of wood. The foreman agreed, and he took away some sections of beams and interior woodwork. For years Dad used a couple of pieces of the beams as foot rests. I am using one right now for that purpose.

The intersection of Broad and East Main Streets was the center of town in the 1830's. Anyone who has grown up in Meriden knows that the center of downtown now is the intersection of West Main and Colony Streets, down the hill from Broad Street. That's because the railroad went in in the 1840's. Prior to that the low section that is now downtown was actually rather swampy, with Harbor Brook running through it. Part of the brook has been uncovered in recent work downtown. But in the 1830's Broad Street was the place to be. The major businesses were located there, and to have a house at the center of it was to make quite a statement.

The economic conditions of the 1830’s provide the context for Patrick Lewis’ rise and fall. He and Elias Holt started the company up in 1830 at a time when many startup manufactories took advantage of a rosy economic forecast. Lewis appears to have been the dominant partner, assuming the debt himself. It also seems likely that he provided boarding facilities for at least some of his employees, for his household in the 1830 census comprises 22 people, only five of which would have been his immediate family. Most are men between the ages of 20-29.

The economy depended on the sale and purchase of real estate. Then as now, real estate transactions were an indicator of the health of the economy. The factor driving the real estate market in the 1830’s was the availability of public land for sale beginning in 1833. There had been land available at times before then, but with the opening of the Wisconsin Territory in 1833 the purchase of federal land skyrocketed.

One other factor helped drive the economy. The issuing of specie (paper money) by state banks made it possible to conduct transactions without cash, a term which at the time meant only coin.  Availability of gold, silver and copper for coinage fluctuated. 

It didn't last, though. In fact it only lasted four short years.

By 1833 it is clear that Lewis & Holt were in trouble financially. Lewis mortgaged just about everything he owned to keep the business afloat. It’s hard to say what the problem was. My guess is that a good part of the problem was that they tried to get too big too quickly. That’s a story that never grows old.  The debts piled up. Lewis was now taking out bridge loans to tide them over until he could sell previous promissory notes. It may have helped short term, but in the end it wasn’t enough.  

His financial problems didn’t start with the business. It actually started with the purchase of the Central Tavern in 1826. He was only 24 and newly married. Buying such a large property and mortgaging it right away was risky and the money he earned back from the lease may not have covered the mortgage. His lifestyle once he built the palatial home on Broad street was extravagant as well. His account book, held at the Meriden Historical Society, contains many entries for fancy fabric for clothing. One entry is for the purchase of twelve yards of Italian silk for $1 a yard. That would be a steal in today’s world but at the time it would have been a huge amount—$34.44 a yard in today’s money, which would not be unusual today, and a total today of $413.28. 

In January, 1834 Lewis and Holt were taken to court for non-payment of debts totaling $9,000, which in today’s money would be about $315,000. It’s pretty difficult to recover from that. Their firm was dissolved by mutual consent on September 20. Noah Pomeroy, the principal plaintiff, took the house and store as payment of the debt and put it up for sale as indicated by the above ad.

Partrick Lewis limped along for a couple of years.  Noah Pomeroy, one of their chief creditors, took charge of the sale as seen in the classified ad above. He sold the mansion to another local merchant, Eli Birdsey, whose family lived in it for over a century. 

 

Next time I'll look at the rapid growth of the Wisconsin Territory and the Panic of 1837.