June 7, 1968

The presenceof a copper mine in the Highland Park area of Manchester has beenknown for years, and many of Manchester's older citizens can recallexploring in the horizontal shaft which had its origin along the bankof the stream behind the Case Brothers Paper Mill. It has been calledthe Wyllys Copper Mine because at one time it was on the property ofEphraim Wyllys who owned a considerable amount of land in this area,and after whom which Wyllys Street is named. Ephraim Wyllys has beenassumed to be a possible descendant of George Wyllys of Hartford, oneof the early Governors of Connecticut, but definite genealogicalproof of this association has not been established.

MatthewSpiess and Percy Bidwell, in their History of Manchester, mention theWyllys Copper Mine in two instances. The first is in the chapter onIndians where reference is made "to a deed of the copper mine."Unfortunately a careful search of the town records in Hartford failedto reveal any mention of a deed to a copper mine, and the origin ofthis information is unknown or, at least, buried with the authors ofManchester's history. Apparently the mine was in a section south ofHighland Park know as Woarokieskquas, the name of a Podunk maidenwho, with two other women, Wunne-Hutunah and Seutaubrisk, sold landto Richard Burnham in the year 1673. In this connection it isinteresting to note that the General Court of Hartford in 1660ordered that "no white man should buy any land of the Indians inorder to avoid misunderstandings." However, by doing so the whiteslater became "proprietors" and were taken into account in thedistribution of the lands in the so-called Five Mile Tract.

The secondmention of the copper mine in Spiess and Bidwell's History ofManchester is in the chapter on Colonial Life in Orford Parish: "Acopper mine at Highland Park had been in operation previous to theyear 1762. Governor Thomas Fitch, in his letter to the Commissionersfor Trade and Plantations, dated September 7 of the same year,writes: "Some copper mines have been in diverse parts of the Colonyopened, but after considerable expense and labor, provingunprofitable became wholly neglected." There was another copper minein Bolton, owned by the Reverend Timothy Woodbridge, which hementions in his will. The copper mine at Highland Park and landsadjacent were reserved in the original distribution of land and heldas state property for many years."

In the year1663 the so-called Five Mile Tract, later to be known as OrfordParish (1773), and still later was Manchester (1823), was purchasedfrom Chief Joshua, the third son of Uncas the Mohegan sachem, byMajor Talcott of Hartford for a group of Hartford and Windsor men. In1682 the Five Mile Tract was deeded to the Town of Hartford. Nothingwas done with this land until 1731 when it was divided into fivetiers and the land distributed to the proprietors. In a map in theTown Hall of Manchester, date 1731, the "mine lot" is noted in tiertwo, abutting the properties of Mr. Holyook and Samuel Benton. In asubsequent redistribution of the land in the Five Mile Tract in 1753the "ursurpers" were closed off, two hundred acres were reserved for"any minister who shall settle in the area" and the place where thecopper mines were was to remain undivided "to lye for the generalbenefit of the proprietors."

It isapparent from the foregoing history of the Highland Park area ofManchester that the presence of copper ore was known in the late 17thcentury and was probably worked by someone unknown in the early 18thcentury. No records are in existence of any company organized formining purposes in this area prior to the year 1848 despite the factthat there is abundant evidence that mining efforts had been made inthe early seventeen hundreds.

Interest inmining in New England dates back to at least 1651 when John Winthrop,Esquire, of Pequett, wrote a letter encouraging the search forminerals and metals in the Colony, and specifically mentions thepresence of lead near Lynn, Massachusetts, and iron nearNewberry.

Thedifficulty of mining in Manchester in the early seventeen hundredsmay be appreciated by quoting a bit of the history of the Simsburymines:

(From History of Connecticut, Osborne)

In 1707 the famous Simsbury -- or Granby then a part of Simsbury -- copper mine was discovered and granted the first mining charter in America. It was worked for seventy years but with more adversity than success, in spite of the richness of the ore. Because of imperfect knowledge and machinery, lack of drainage and the cost of pumping which was carried on day and night by neighboring farmers, the enterprise failed. Moreover, the British Parliament did not permit refining in the Colonies, and although shiploads of ore were sent to England, the cost of transportation wiped out the profits. A certain amount of refining, however, was done secretly by German workmen, and Joseph Higby, an ingenious blacksmith, struck some coins called "Granby coppers."

Interest inmining in Connecticut was encouraged, and in October 1718, an act topromote the improvement of the copper mines within this colony waspassed, with the following preamble:

(An act to promote the improvement of the copper mines within this colony)

For as much as the copper mines within this Colony, by the orderly and effectual management of them, may in time to come be of great use and advantage, not only to the immediate proprietors and undertakers therein, but also to this and neighboring Provinces in general, although at the present they be of small advantage to anybody, and a fruitless expense of money to the proprietors and undertakers: Therefore to remedy the same, and for the more orderly and effectual management of the said copper mines, and to encourage, countenance and gratify the undertakers therein.

The actenabled companies to be formed and stock sold in order to defray thecosts of exploration, excavation, etc.

Theimportance of mining in the Colonies was also emphasized by grantingmilitary deferment to mine workers, and is mentioned in the ColonialRecords of Connecticut, May 1712.

(Colonial Records of Connecticut -- May 1712)

"This Assembly, for the encouragement of William Partridge, Esquire, of Newberry, Mr. Jonathan Belcher, of Boston, merchant, both of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, in their opening copper mines within this Colony, do grant, that all such operators, artificers, miners, and labourers, (who do not belong to this Colony) which may be improved by them or their agents in that said work, shall be exempted from all military duties for the term of four years, to be granted from the end of this present assembly."

The mostexhaustive account of copper mining in Connecticut is a work entitled"Connecticut's Iron and Copper" by Charles Rufus Harte, and verylittle mention is made of the Wyllys Copper Mine. Harte quotes theReverend S.W. Robbins who wrote the chapter on Manchester in "TheMemorial History of Hartford County' and in speaking of HighlandPark:

"Here the stream falls sixty-five feet over the rocks into the valley below, grass covered, and enclosed for some distance by wooded bluffs - a miniature Yosemite- admired by all observers. At the base of these bluffs are excavations that have been made for ore (sulphide of copper) which being found in limited quantity was supposed to indicate the existence of valuable mines."

Marie deValcherville, writing in the Connecticut Quarterly in 1825 mentionsthat "The Wyllys mines were operated to some extent in the first halfof the century (19th), and one across the brook from the stillremains open for the investigation of those who have the temerity toexplore its depths."

CharlesShepard in "A Report on the Geological Survey of Connecticut"published in 1837 noted, "Several ores of copper are known to existin Connecticut, and extensive mining operations have been conductedwith a view to this metal, but it still remains an uncertaintywhether a sufficient quantity of copper has been realized toreimburse the expenditures thus far made, although the indicationsare highly favorable to the existence of valuable mines in thestate." He discussed the various types of copper ore found inConnecticut, and states that the green malachite form is the varietyfound in the Wyllys mine. "Another deposit was wrought about themiddle of last century (1750), and has been reworked to some extentwithin a few years, situated in Manchester, on the land of E. Willis,and included in gneiss, through which specular iron and iron pyritesare disseminated. A pit was formerly sunk into the rock on the hill,and at its foot nearby, a level was carried in for a distance ofseveral rods."

Shepardcautions the individual or small groups to resist any desire toengage in mining in the following words:

"Their discovery however as it probably will be by much scientific research and by more or less of hazard, and demanding as it must large pecuniary resources, should in no case be attempted by or individuals of limited means, who, should they engage in these enterprises, would be likely in nearly every instance not only to fail of success but finally to be overwhelmed by embarrassment and ruin. Undertakings of this nature must be kept to joint stock companies of ample capital, by whom the highest degrees of practice, skill and science will always be commanded, and where the shares are so great that adventurers are scarcely affected by temporary losses. Such associations are already beginning to be organized in the country, and will increase in number as the value of copper rises, and as soon as our people become better informed regarding the success of English companies."

Perhapsmindful of Shepard's admonition that mining calls for a corporateenterprise and a sharing of the risks, the land containing the WyllysCopper Mine was leased by Ephraim Wyllys to Isaac R. Barbour, ofWorcester, Massachusetts, on October 25, 1848 as follows:

"ThisIndenture made and entered into this the 25th day of October 1848, byand between Ephraim Wyllys of Manchester in the County of Hartfordand State of Connecticut, on the one part, and Isaac R. Barbour ofWorcester in the County of Worcester, Massachusetts, on the otherpart. Witnesseth:-

"That thesaid Wyllys, for himself, his heirs and assigns, in consideration ofthe covenants and agreements, on the other part, herein expressed hasdevised, leased and to farm-let and by these presents both devise,lease and to farm-let to the said Barbour his, the said Wyllys's,Mine Hill so-called and all that part of his farm on which he nowresides, lying west and north of the said highway, for the purposesof mining, searching, exploring, and excavating for copper ores andother mineral substances.

"To have andto hold to him the said Barbour, his heirs, executors, administratorsand assigns, to the exclusion of all other parties, the mining rightsherein specified, so long as the covenants and agreements herein onthe other part expressed are complied with; together with the rightto use one acre of land in the meadow west of the Hill or elsewhereon the granted premises and the water power, and to erect, maintainand remove, at pleasure, any buildings, machinery or shops, wantedfor mining purposes; the right of way, to and from any shaft orshafts that may be sunk, to the highway, by the nearest and bestcourse, at the same time subjecting the said Wyllys to as littleinconvenience as may be.

"And the saidBarbour, for himself, his heirs and assigns, that he, the saidBarbour, will keep fair and full records of all receipts andexpenditures accruing in working the mine or mines that may be openedon said land, to be set, all reasonable times, open to the inspectionof said Wyllys and to pay to said Wyllys five per cent of the netprofits resulting from the working of said mine or mines, for thefirst ten years; seven and a half per cent of such profits for thenext ten years; and ten per cent of such profits ever thereafter aslong as the lease continues, said rents to be due and to be paidsemi-annually, on the first day of March and the first day ofSeptember in each and every year. Also he engages to pay a yearlyrent of one hundred dollars for the use of the water power, the oneacre of land and other surface rights herein granted, said rent to bepaid semi-annually on the first days of March and September in eachand every year. And in case this rent on these stipulated portions ofprofits are not all times paid within thirty days after they becomedue and are demanded, the lease and all rights under it areforfeited. The lease is also to be forfeited by the suspension ofordinary mining work for more than one year at a time unless the saidBarbour shall pay the stipulated semi-annual rents of fifty dollarsin March and September for use of water power and land as provided.But if these last named rents are paid the lease shall continue inforce whether the works are suspended or not.

"The Lesseeshall also pay damages to Lessor for any unnecessary injury don totimber fences, buildings, or growing crops of Lessor, by parties inthe employ of Lessee and while so employed. Also to be required tofill up any excavations he may make on cultivated land and abandoned.Also, to keep the cart path, which he may use, in good order and keepup a good gate at the head of it on the highway. He is also to havethe right to use more than one acre of land if wanted for miningpurposes by paying a reasonable compensation for the same and tofollow any mineral veins that may be found into lands east and southof the road or any part of the lands of said Wyllys.

"It is herebyfully understood that the said Wyllys retains the full use of thegranted premises for agricultural purposes except what may benecessary for the full enjoyment of the mining rights hereingranted.

"And the saidWyllys, for himself, his heirs, executors, and administrators andassigns, covenants with the said Barbour, his heirs, executors,administrators, and assigns, to warrant and defend the rights andprivileges herein granted against all demands and claimswhatsoever."

Less than oneyear later, on September 28, 1949, Augustus Whitlock and FrederickHennell purchased the lease of Isaac Barbour in the name of theManchester Mining Company:

"Know all menby these presents that we, Augustus Whitlock and Frederick Hennell,of the City and State of New York, Trustees of the Manchester MiningCompany, for and in consideration of the sum of one dollar, lawfullymoney of the United States, to us duly paid by the "Manchester MiningCompany" of Manchester, County of Hartford and State of Connecticut,have sold and by these presents, do grant, convey, assign, transferand set over unto the said Manchester Mining Company a certainIndenture of Lease, bearing date the twenty-fifth day of October inthe year One Thousand and Eight Hundred and Forty Eight, made byEphraim Wyllys of Manchester in the County of Hartford and State ofConnecticut, on the one part, and Isaac R. Barbour of Worcester, inthe County of Worcester, Massachusetts, on the other part - andrecorded in Manchester Records of Lands Book 4th, page 331, October25, 1848, and which said Indenture of Lease was assigned by the saidIsaac R. Barbour unto us, the said Augustus Whitlock and FrederickHennell, Trustees, by assignment - bearing date the Eighteenth day ofJanuary, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Forty Nine ad recorded inManchester Records of Land Book 7th, 13th, (page), March 17th, 1849,with all and singular the rights, privileges, benefits, profits anadvantages thereof and with all and singular the premises thereinmentioned and described and the buildings thereon, together with theappurtenances. To have and to hold the same unto the said ManchesterMining Company, their successors and assigns from the day of the datehereof for and during all the rest-residue and remainder yet to comeof and in the terms, and any renewals or extensions thereof mentionedin the said Indenture of Lease. Subject, nonetheless, to the rents,covenants, conditions and provisions therein also mentioned. And wedo hereby covenant, grant, promise and agree to and with the saidManchester Mining Company that the said assignments, premises now andfree and clear of and from all former and other gifts, grants,bargains, sales, leases, judgments, executions, back rents, taxes,assignments and encumbrances whatsoever except a certain mortgageupon the lands described in said Lease with other lands to secure thepayment of Five hundred dollars executed by Ephraim Wyllys to or heldby the Savings Bank of Hartford.

"In WitnessWhereof we have here unto set our hands and seals this Twenty Eighthday of September in the year One Thousand Eight Hundred and FortyNine."

No financialreports or progress reports of any kind were ever issued by theManchester Mining Company, and it was liquidated in 1860 for failureto file reports.

Interest inmining in Manchester was revived in 1901 when a second ManchesterMining Company was formed.

"Theundersigned being a majority of the directors of the ManchesterMining Company, a corporation organized under the Statute Laws of theState of Connecticut, regulating the formation of joint stockcorporations, and located in the town of Manchester, Country ofHartford, in said State, in pursuance of said Statute Laws, herebycertify as follows: To wit:-

"1st. The following is a true copy of the articles of associationof the Manchester Mining Company:

Articles of Association of the Manchester Mining Company.

The undersigned hereby associate as a joint stock corporation under the Statute Laws of this State by articles of agreement as follows:

Article I. The name of said Corporation shall be the Manchester Mining Company.

Article II. The capital stock of said corporation shall be three thousand dollars and said capital stock shall be divided into one hundred and twenty shares of twenty-five dollars each.

Article III.The purposes for which said corporation is formed are the following, to wit: Exploration, discovery ad gaining information relating or pertaining to Metallurgy, Geology, Geography and Chemistry, finding, acquiring, buying, selling, mining and dealing in ores, metals, rock, clay, sand and soil, and to manufacture any product which ores, metals, rock, clay, sand or soil enter, also to buy, sell, own real estate, personal estate, water rights; machinery, and means of transportation, necessary and convenient for the prosecution of said business.

Article IV. The Statute Laws of the State of Connecticut relating to joint stock corporations are made a part of these articles and are hereby particularly referred to, and the corporation hereby organized and established under and pursuant to said Statute Laws, shall have all powers, and proceed according to regulations described and specified therein.

Article V. Each subscriber to these articles agrees to take the number of shares annexed to his name of the capital stock of said corporation, each share to be the par value of twenty-five dollars as aforesaid, and to be paid for in cash at the time of subscription.

Article VI. The said corporation is located in the town of Manchester, County of Hartford, and State of Connecticut.

Dated at said Manchester, this 8 day of February, AD 1901.

Subscriber's Name	Residence	Number of Shares
Thomas H. Weldon	Manchester, Ct.	6
Charles E. Norton	Manchester, Ct.	6
James B. Foyer	Manchester, Ct.	3
Byron F. Darling	Manchester, Ct.	24
Clarence Heidacker	Manchester, Ct.	24
Jerry Dwyer	Manchester, Ct.	12
Charles Roemer	Bloomfield, Ct.	24
Edward House	Manchester, Ct.	12
Charles O. Treat	Manchester, Ct.	6
Charles O. Treat	Manchester, Ct.	3
		120

"2nd. Said articles of association were, as the 9 day of February,AD 1901, published at full length in the Manchester Herald, anewspaper published in Hartford County, the same being the county inwhich said corporation is located.

"3rd. The names and residences of the subscribers to the capitalstock of said corporation and the amount of stock taken by each is asfollows:-

Names of Stockholders	Residence	Number of Shares
Thomas H. Weldon	Manchester, Ct.	6
Charles E. Norton	Manchester, Ct.	6
James B. Foyer	Manchester, Ct.	3
Byron F. Darling	Manchester, Ct.	24
Clarence Heidacker	Manchester, Ct.	24
Jerry Dwyer	Manchester, Ct.	12
Charles Roemer	Bloomfield, Ct.	24
Edward House	Manchester, Ct.	12
Charles O. Treat	Manchester, Ct.	6
Charles O. Treat	Manchester, Ct.	3
		120

"4th. The amount of capital stock actually paid for in cash isThree Thousand Dollars.

"And in further pursuance of said Statute Laws, we cause thiscertificate to be deposited with the secretary of this state and aduplicate thereof with the town clerk of the town of Manchester, inwhich said corporation is to transact its business.

Dated at said Manchester this 9 day of February, AD 1901.

Byron F. Darling )

Jerry Dwyer ) Directors

Edward House )

This secondeffort at mining was also a failure in that it failed to file anyreports and was liquidated out of existence.

An anonymouswriter in the Waterbury Republican of February 28, 1937 made thiscolorful account of copper mining in Connecticut:

"Behind the history of copper in Connecticut lies a legend of dead men's ambitions and dead men's failures studded into suicide and possible murder, almost as colorful as the stories that came back from California in the late 40's or from Alaska many years later.

"Nuggets of pure copper fermented lush dreams of quick fortunes; huge corporations floated stock issues to elevate pay-dirt from the banks of nearby ridges, crevices, foreclosures, tears and heartaches, rejuvenated old folks disillusioned youths, all stalked the highways and home fires during the peak years of Connecticut's mining century. The whole drama of mining from debacle to death unfolded before our grandfathers' and fathers' doors."

To this dayit remains a mystery as to who originally excavated the Wyllys CopperMine, but it is probably safe to say that it was, no doubt, done bysome enterprising early settlers in Hartford. The presence of thebeautiful deep apple or emerald green maladchite ore was undoubtedlyknown to the Indians as the outcroppings along the banks of thestream or, at least, the old workings of the mine are still apparenttoday.

Today thevertical pits have been filled in, and the entrance to the horizontalshaft of the mine is almost concealed by a landslide. The floor ofthe shaft of the mine is covered with water, and inside no supportsare in evidence.

It is morelikely that the was never profitable and was alternately abandonedand reworked from time to time until this fact was finallyestablished.

Charles E. Jacobson Jr., M.D.

45 Wyllys St.

Manchester, CT