Blown Apart: Powder Mill Explosions, 1833
When the ground shook that March afternoon in 1833, the people of Canton, Connecticut, and the neighboring towns thought the earth itself had split apart.
In the early nineteenth century, the manufacture of gunpowder was one of the most perilous trades in America. The slightest spark, a stray ember, or the friction of machinery could bring instant ruin. The Hazard, Loomis & Company powder mill of Canton—formerly operated as Mills & Laflin, the latter a native of Southwick, Massachusetts—would learn this truth at tremendous cost.
The Ground Shakes — March 22, 1833
Late in the afternoon of Friday, March 22, 1833, around five o’clock, the powder mill lay quiet. The works had recently been rebuilt and reopened after an explosion roughly six months earlier, but on this day, the mill was closed for repairs. Situated along the Farmington River, the glazing mill held between sixty and one hundred kegs of powder—an immense and deadly stockpile.
What occurred in those final moments before the blast remains unknown. But the result was unmistakable: a thunderous explosion that shook the countryside. Witnesses miles away likened it to an earthquake. When the smoke cleared, the mill lay in ruins. A man and a boy lay dead, and a third, mortally wounded, would follow them within hours.
Among those killed instantly was William Weatherbee, a 26-year-old innkeeper from Southwick, who served as foreman at the mill. The force of the blast so thoroughly dismembered him that his limbs were hurled across the landscape, and his head was shattered into fragments too small to be recovered.
Also killed was Weatherbee’s young son, Charles, only five or six years old. The child’s remains were discovered some fifteen rods (roughly 250 feet) from the mill—a scene witnesses described as horrid. A workman named Mr. Keep survived the initial blast but succumbed to his injuries about three hours later.
The remains of William and Charles Weatherbee were gathered and brought back to Southwick for burial. The loss was deeply felt in the town where the Weatherbee family was well-known.
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| Weatherbee Gravestone - Southwick Cemetery |
Déjà Vu: June 20, 1833
The company’s response was swift. Within months, the mill was reconstructed on the same foundation, reopened, and restaffed. Mr. Drake of Westfield, Massachusetts, was engaged as the new foreman.
Less than three months later, on June 20, 1833, the rebuilt mill exploded again with tremendous force. Three people were killed: Mr. Drake, and two workmen, Mr. Stocking and Mr. Keeney. The blast obliterated the building—timbers, shingles, and fittings hurled fifty to sixty rods in every direction. Only fragments of Drake’s remains were recovered—his heart, thigh, brain, feet, and a few other parts. Like Weatherbee before him, his head could not be found. Authorities believed it was swept into the Farmington River.
Mr. Stocking was found many yards distant, his clothing completely removed from his body. Mr. Keeney was discovered alive in an orchard several rods to the west, grievously burned and missing a leg; he died shortly after being found. One witness reported that a victim struck the ground with such force that his body rebounded twice, leaving pieces of flesh on the earth where he fell.
—A story preserved by the Southwick Time Machine
Edited Out/Author's Additional Research Notes
Packing House Explosion — November 1836
The Loomis, Mills & Company maintained a packing house in Canton. It exploded in November 1836. That blast shivered doors and windows in dwellings as far as half a mile away. By fortunate circumstance, no lives were lost that time, though the damage was considerable.
The Loomis, Mills & Company maintained a packing house in Canton. It exploded in November 1836. That blast shivered doors and windows in dwellings as far as half a mile away. By fortunate circumstance, no lives were lost that time, though the damage was considerable.
Augustus George Hazard partnered with the Loomis brothers in the manufacture of gunpowder. Hazard later bought the Loomis brothers out and greatly expanded the business. The Hazard Powder Company was a major player in gunpower. It was taken over by rival DuPont (corporation) following Mr. Hazard's death. When the government broke up DuPont (antitrust laws), the Hazard Powder Company merged with Hercules Powder Company.
Hazardville, Connecticut (now part of Enfield, Connecticut) is named for August Hazard. His company had roughly 125 powder mills there.
A massive explosion in 1913 - was the final blow to the Hazard Powder Company. Almost every building in Hazardville was either leveled or damaged in the blast. Two people were killed instantly, several were injured - at least seven severely.