Joseph Langdon & Company

Joseph Langdon, son of Reuben Langdon, was born into the dry goods business. His father was a dry goods merchant, owning a store at 359 Main Street in Hartford, Connecticut. There is some dispute over the date Reuben Langdon started his business: one source states it was 1817, while another states it was 1823. It is unclear when Joseph Langdon took over from his father. One source states it was in 1829, at which point Joseph Langdon would have been 17 years old. Whatever the date, the dry goods store passed from father to son sometime in the first half of the nineteenth century. In 1885, Langdon retired and the store was sold to C.W. Cook and C.S. Hills, and was renamed Cook & Hills.