Comstock, Ferre & Co.

Comstock, Ferre and Co.. Seeding the Nation Since 1811. , The American commercial seed industry began in 1784 when David Landreth, a Scottish immigrant in Philadelphia began to sell bundles of seeds to new farmers. Following Landreth’s endeavors, the Shakers began packaging seed in paper packages for sale in the beginning of the 19th century., Simeon Belden House , Wethersfield’s seed business started in 1811 when Joseph Belden advertised “New Garden Seeds of the Growth of 1810” followed in 1820 by James Belden’s opening of “Wethersfield Seed Gardens” at 249 Main St. , with gardens, seed houses, and barns stretching along what is now Church Street, all the way to Garden Street. Many of these outbuildings (plus several houses) were destroyed by fire in 1834 prompting Wethersfield to purchase its first fire engine. The Belden House, built in 1767, survived the fire preserving its historic doorway. The doorway is an original broken scroll pediment that is unique to the Connecticut River Valley., Comstock, Ferre and Co. , Franklin and William Comstock purchased the Seed Gardens in 1838. The Comstocks had contact with a Shaker village located in nearby Enfield. William adopted their idea of packing seed and designed the scroll border still used on the company’s packets today. Comstock took on Henry Ferre as a partner in 1845 and changed the name to Comstock, Ferre and Co. Ferre was also a prominent merchant in the local onion trade. The company’s seed gardens filled acres throughout Old Wethersfield, the Great Meadows and Griswoldville., Comstock’s traveling seed merchants distributed commission boxes of Wethersfield seeds from the southern states to the Mississippi River and westward. At each stop, they picked up last year’s boxes and collected payments., Stephen F. Willard began work at Comstock in 1871 as a traveler and delivered seeds to general stores throughout New England. From 1889 to 1924 he served as president of the company. In the 20th century the company was operated by four generations of the Willard family until it was sold in 1991 to Pierre Bennerup, owner of Sunny Border Nurseries, who continued the company’s interest in heritage seeds. In 2010, Jere and Emilee Gettle, owners of Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company, purchased the company continuing the proud tradition of the oldest continuously operated seed business in the country.