James Brewster Biography 1788 – 1866

JAMES BREWSTER (1788 – 1866)
[summarized with excerpts from The New York Coach-Maker’s Magazine 1858 and other sources]

BORN: Preston, Connecticut, Aug. 6th, 1788
DIED: 1866
SIBLINGS: Second of eight children
WIFE: Mary Hequembourg (m. September 18, 1810, d. 1868)
EDUCATION: Diploma from the Hampshire Mechanics’ Association

“Educated at the common school of his native place, and early taught the rigid principles of morality characteristic of the earlier settlers of New England, and, although, to use his own language, “feeble in early life, encountering in his minority as many trials as any who heard him — fatherless and with but little outward assistance — and laboring constantly for half a century, yet his natural force is not materially lessened,” and he attributes it as “all owing to temperance, and practicing upon that trite saying: ‘Habits, good or bad, are powerful things.'”

1804 – at 16 years old – “was apprenticed to Col. Charles Chapman, of Northampton, Mass., to learn the ‘art, mystery, and trade’ of carriage-making. In this same shop, we believe, Messrs. James Goold, now of Albany, and Jason Clapp, of Pittsfield, Mass.”

“Mr. Brewster is an example of what economy of time will do when applied to study. He tells us he made it a rule to read one hour each day, after working his twelve hours; for, during his apprenticeship and while conducting business for himself, it was his custom, from the 20th of September to the 20th of March, to work four evenings every week, and always to average seventy-two hours in the week. In Mr. B.’s case we have another proof that often a very trifling circumstance in a man’s history may change the programme he has marked out for himself, and prove to him the flowing of a tide in his affairs, which, if followed, will lead him on to a fortune.”

180? – Receives a Diploma from the Hampshire Mechanics’ Association

“Having honestly served out his apprenticeship at Northampton, and become a journeyman, he found circumstances rendered it necessary for him to limit his whole personal expenses to forty dollars per year, so as to be able to save something to set up in business with for himself.”

1809 – September – On his way to New York, stops in New Haven and takes a position at John Cook’s carriage shop as a journeyman.

1810 – Starts a business on the corner of Elm and High streets and then moves to Orange street. He then opens a branch in New York on Broad Street.

18?? – Moves from Orange street into “The New Township,” a suburb of New Haven.

1855 – Opens an Orphan Asylum and later donates to the city of New Haven.

185? – Builds Brewster Hall

“Such has been the luck of Mr. B. (we would call it industry, prudence and economy), that now in his advanced years his personal happiness is promoted in having it in his power to assist others. We may sum up all in the words of a letter to us, from one intimately acquainted with him for more than forty years: ‘In my judgment, Mr. Brewster stands unrivaled by any man living, or that has ever lived in this city (New Haven), for public enterprise and philanthropy he is a practical Christian of a noble stamp.’ May he long live to enjoy the fruits of his labor and the esteem of his fellow-citizens.”

sources: http://archive.org/stream/reportspresented11newh#page/13/mode/1up https://archive.org/stream/newyorkcoachmake11858stra#page/2/mode/1up http://books.google.ca/books?id=FPO_iwMOD5QC&pg=PA154&lpg=PA154&dq=james+brewster++Mary+Hequembourg&source=bl&ots=QS58hwh09D&sig=p-8WDRLxO7HgoDkKkt9dU_0Kioo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=l9BnUoTbIqbZ2wWK6YGgBw&ved=0CEUQ6AEwBTgK#v=onepage&q=james%20brewster%20%20Mary%20Hequembourg&f=false