Silas Bronson 

Born: 15 Feb 1788 Waterbury, West Farms, (now Middlebury), CT Died: 24 Nov 1867 New York City, NY FATHER Elijah Bronson MOTHER Lois Bunnell

Silas Bronson oil painting hanging in Silas Bronson Library in Waterbury, CT

Silas Bronson
by Susan Brooke
Aug 2021

Most of the biographies below says Silas had a limited grammar school education and worked as a carpenter before moving to Georgia. (1)  There is a record of him paying property taxes in Richmond, George in 1828. He moved back to New York City about 1830.  By the time of his death in 1867 he was worth more than a million dollars. (2) He left $200,000 to the city of Waterbury to establish a public library. (3) The various biographies indicate he did not travel back to CT during his adult life or see much of his relatives.  (4) However, he left $15,000 to each of his siblings and also to each of his nieces and nephews. (5)

Sources

(1) Richmond, George Taxes 1828

(2) Biography found on site of Silas Bronson Library

Thanks to a profoundly generous private donation, Waterbury’s public library was founded in 1868. A wealthy New York City merchant, Silas Bronson, left $200,000 in his will to the City of Waterbury for the creation of a public library. This was an enormous sum of money in that time period, equivalent to tens of millions of dollars today.

Although he had lived in New York City for decades, Bronson was originally from Waterbury, growing up on his family’s farm on Breakneck Hill (now part of Middlebury, but at the time part of Waterbury). Born in 1788, Bronson had only a limited grammar school education and, after four years of working as a carpenter, moved to Georgia to pursue greater opportunities as a merchant. After fifteen years in Georgia, Bronson relocated to New York City in 1830, setting up a business importing and selling textiles and related goods to retailers. By the 1850s, Bronson had retired from the import business and focused on commission work.

During the 1830s, Bronson lived next to his older brother, Isaac, on Park Place in Manhattan. Isaac Bronson was a surgeon during the Revolutionary War, after which he became a banker, associating closely with Alexander Hamilton, the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. Isaac was one of the nation’s first investors, trading in U.S. government securities. He eventually became one of the chief money lenders in New York City and, in 1828, was one of the eleven wealthiest New Yorkers. Isaac and his wife, Anna, spent half the year in New York and half the year in Fairfield (their Connecticut estate is now Fairfield Country Day School).

In an 1845 directory of Wealthy Citizens of New York, Isaac Bronson’s estate was valued at $2.5 million, making him one of only two dozen millionaires in New York City; the wealthiest, John Jacob Astor, was worth $25 million. Silas Bronson, by then a retired merchant, was worth $150,000 – significantly less than his brother’s estate, but still a considerable amount of money at that time. Silas was able to grow his small fortune through investments, primarily through New York State bonds. Toward the end of his life, he served as a Director of the American Exchange National Bank of New York, alongside another Waterbury-born businessman, David Hoadley (son of the architect of the same name). By the time of Silas Bronson’s death in 1867, he was worth more than a million dollars.

Bronson was a lifelong bachelor. With no family to care for, or to care for him, later in life he maintained apartments in New York City’s best hotels. From 1853 until his death, Bronson lived at the St. Nicholas Hotel on Broadway. The St. Nicholas, which opened in 1853, was the premiere hotel in New York City, the first to cost more than $1 million to construct, with gleaming white marble floors, ceiling frescoes, and ornate chandeliers. As a permanent resident of the hotel, Bronson was able to enjoy the latest innovations—gas lighting, dumbwaiters, central heating, flush toilets, hot water, and steam-powered washing and drying machines in the laundry.

Bronson’s will left much of his fortune to his nieces and nephews, as well as $25,000 to the New York City Hospital. Influenced by his friend, Matthew Vassar, who left $350,000 to found Vassar women’s college, Silas Bronson bequeathed $200,000 to the City of Waterbury for the creation of a public library, making education available for all. Bronson’s will specified that the library bequest was “for the promotion of the education and intelligence and general information of the inhabitants of the City of Waterbury.”

Bronson’s bequest became the start of the Bronson Library Fund and was, at the time, the largest library fund in the state. The revenue generated from its investment was enough to cover the library’s operations for decades. The Silas Bronson Library, named for its founding benefactor, opened on April 1, 1870 with a collection of 11,500 books.

(3) As found in the Silas Bronson Public Library in Waterbury, CT (written by Dr. Joseph Anderson) Silas Bronson, born in the West Farms section of Waterbury on February 15, 1788, left his native town first to the South and later to New York City.  Though he seldom returned to Waterbury after his boyhood, he remembered it will affection as evidenced by the bequest of $200,000 for the founding and support of a free public library.  Since 1869, public library service in Waterbury has emanated from the Silas Bronson Library. One of eight children, born into a family of modest means, he received a limited common school education.  He worked for four years as a carpenter and joiner, after which he moved to Georgia where he spent fifteen years as a merchant.  In 1830, he moved back north, engaging in the business of importing and jobbing dry goods. Bronson was an intimate friend of Matthew Vassar who founded Vassar College in Poughkeepsie.  Inspired by Vassar's philanthropy, he determined to provide for an institution of learning that would endure through the ages.  He died November on 24, 1867, and in February 1868 the Common Council of Waterbury appointed a committee to recommend a course of action in regard to the receipt and use of his bequest.  A Board of Agents was formed for the management of the library fund, and the first location of the new library was on Leavenworth Street facing the Green. In 1894, a handsome brick, terra cotta and tile structure in the Italian Renaissance style, was opened on Grand Street as the Silas Bronson library, and continued to provide service for nearly 70 years.  By the 1960's, the building was deemed no longer adequate and a campaign for a new library was initiated by Librarian Emelyn Trimble.  The old four-story structure was demolished and, in 1968, replaced by the current library, designed by architect Joseph Stein. A portrait of Silas Bronson, painted by Horace Johnson, may be seen in the lobby of the library.  Below it a bronze tablet designed by Dr. Joseph Anderson pays tribute to the man whose philanthropy gave Waterbury a public library "to encourage and sustain good order and sound morals."

(4) The obituary of Silas Bronson THE GOOD FORTUNE OF WATERBURY Hartford Daily Courant: Dec 3, 1867 -- Mr. Brunson's father was Elijah Bronson, his mother, Lois daughter of Stephen Bunnell of Wallingford. They were married March 10th, 1778.  Silas, the second child, was born February 15, 1788.  The History of Waterbury, which gives his portrait, says: - His father (a Middlebury farmer) having a large family, it became necessary for the children, at an early age, to look out for their own support.  Silas had only a limited common school education, and for four years followed the trade of a carpenter and jointer.  Not satisfied with his future prospects, he resolved to try his fortune in the state of George, where he followed the mercantile business for fifteen years.  In the year 1830, he removed to the city of New York, commencing the business of importing and jobbing dry goods merchant.  In 1835 he suffered severely from the memorable fire of that year.  But by great energy and perseverance he soon overcame his losses.  As his business increased, his health becoming somewhat impaired, he gave up his dry goods business, and has for the last few years devoted himself to a commission business. While he was a minor, Mr. Bronson was for a time a clerk in the store of J. and L. Hurlbut, in Winchester.  He was not far from twenty-one years old when he went to Augusta, George, and engaged in mercantile business as the History affirms, and he must have been there more than fifteen years.  He was never married, and he lived somewhat estranged from his relatives and did but little for them, and, in fact, we suppose, knew but little about them during much the greater part of his life.  There is some doubt as to whether he has ever been in Connecticut since he first went south.  The fact that he left more than three-fourths of his large property to those relatives will be another agreeable surprise to some persons.  Mr. Bronson was a very intelligent man, and always bore the reputation of being a very honest and honorable merchant, as we are informed. The bequest to Waterbury was made very recently in a codicil.

Hartford Daily Courant Dec 3, 1867

(5) Will of Silas Bronson
Will dated 5 Oct 1859
Probated 11 Dec 1867

From the will of Silas Bronson "First, I direct the payment of my debt, if any and funeral expenses. I also authorize and direct my executors to purchase, fence and otherwise improve a cemetery lot and erect a proper monument therein, and to pay the expenses out of my estate. Second. I give and bequeath to each and every of my nephews and nieces the children of my deceased brothers Giles Bronson and Selah Bronson my brothers Amos Bronson and Elijah Bronson and my sisters Irena Hull, Sabra Blake and Polly Wheeler the sum of (15,000) fifteen thousand dollars. The number of said nephews and nieces is believing to be twenty five and the aggregate amount of said legacies will consequently be ($375,000) Three hundred and seventy five thousand dollars."