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Bryan, succeeded to this business in 1864 and enlarged it. When, in turn, his own sons continued in business, they eventually merged with other seed companies and called their group the Associated Seed Growers with the main office in New Haven. In the 1960's Asgrow built an office overlooking the Wilbur Cross Parkway in Orange. In 1971 this attractive building was sold to the Harvey Hubbell Company, maker of electrical equipment.

Another seed business was started by Stiles D. Woodruff upon his return from the Civil War on the farm which he purchased from Lyman Treat. In 1890 his sons, Frank C. and Watson S., joined the business which was then called S. D. Woodruff and Sons. A branch store was opened in New York City under Frank's management while Watson ran the home office in Orange. Stiles died in 1906 and his two sons continued in business until the death of Watson in 1930. The business was sold by Frank in 1944 to Hugh Laird and Eric Dahlberg. The Woodruff Seed Warehouse stood on Old Grassy Hill Road on the old New Haven-Derby Railroad line next to the large home built by Watson S. Woodruff. The warehouse is now the only apartment building in Orange.

Another factory existed on the Derby Turnpike in the 1800's, a checkerboard factory located in the area of the present Daisy Hill Greenhouses.

The oldest, continuing business establishment in Orange was purchased on October 20, 1885, from Franics Trowbridge of Milford by Everett B. Clark of the Clarktown area mentioned earlier. The original bill of sale, now in the possession of Walter Clark of Grassy Hill Road reads:

Bill of Sale of Grafting Wax Business- Oct. 20th 1885 Received this day of Everett B. Clark $250.- Two hundred and fifty Dollars - being amount of money paid by him to Francis Trowbridge for purchsae of his Grafting Wax business, together with all rights and titles to the Secret.
Francis Trowbridge
per W. Cecil Durand Atty.

Clark's Trowbridge Brand grafting wax is currently being manuractured and sold by Walter E. Clark & Son, and the business has been in continuous operation for a period of 87 years.

Plague of 1859

From March to May in 1859, a plague of diptheria struck the town and most of those who contracted the disease were children. The illness lasted from one to two weeks ending in death. Few people had the courage to enter the homes to assist in burying the dead. Two young men, Alpheus Merwin and Stiles D. Woodruff, were active in thie manner and helped to bury most of those who died during the epidemic.

In 1861 William Chauncey Russell set up a meat route in Orange. Mr. Russell was in the wholesale-retail meat business and he also picked up the mail from the New Haven Post Office and delivered it to the home of Sidney F. Oviatt who had been appointed Postmaster on April 4, 1861. The Ecclesiastical Society of Orange decided to remodel the church-on-the-green in 1864 and the completed job cost $3,650. Even then building costs were rising as the original church building had cost just over $2,000 in 1809.

[picture caption] Walter E. Clark III pours grafting wax into a mold for a product he manufactures and distributes nationwide under the Trowbridge brand name. The firm, in the Clark family since 1885, is the oldest continuing business establishment in Orange.