Theodore Davenport

When Theodore Davenport started in the rolling mill business in the Roxbury-Stillwater area of Stamford in 1825, he was thirty-three years old. First of his name in the family, son of Major John Davenport and grandson of the first Abraham, Theodore purchased about seventy acres of land, together with the grist mill and saw mill thereon. He entered into a business relationship with William Lacon to operate a rolling mill, but the arrangement was short-lived.

Davenport & Lacon, partners, agreed to disagree. The property was ordered sold in Superior Court and Mr. Davenport became purchaser and sole owner. He acquired a new partner, one Jonathan D. Weeks, a shrewd businessman. The firm became the prosperous Davenport & Weeks Rolling and Wire Mills.

In 1827 by deed from Peter Scofield, they flooded an area on the east side of the road, raised the old dam and built a lower dam for the wire mill. They bought land on both sides of the road, up to what later became the Borglum property and also to the south. The firm merged with the Stillwater Company in 1835 and thereafter the upper mill drew larger wire, such as rake teeth, while iron rolling was done at Stillwater Mill.

Sixty single men, mostly Irish, lived at the company boarding house. There was a blacksmith, stables, a slaughter house, a barn with a granary, a sawmill and tenements.

Theodore married 21 year old Harriet Chesebrough of New York City in 1833 when he was 41. Their son, also named Theodore, joined his father in the rolling and wire mills business. In addition to their thriving enterprises, the elder Davenport followed his families’ tradition of community leadership and service. His name appears in the enabling act of the Connecticut State Legislature for the creation of the Borough of Stamford in 1830, after which he served as a Borough Warden for five years. A deacon in the Congregational church, he was the first president (1851-1854) of the Stamford Savings Bank and is reported to have contributed much to its success. He also served on the first board of Woodland Cemetery.

Theodore Davenport died in September 1884, aged 92, at the home of his son, Theodore. He is interred in Northfield Cemetery, Stamford, the burying ground given to the Congregational church by his grandfather, Abraham Davenport.