 The organization extended to the town level, as farmers' clubs sprouted locally starting in Middletown in 1842.In 1839 as head of the U.S. Patent Office, Hartford resident Henry Leavitt Ellsworth secured the first Congressional appropriation in support of agriculture and established a bureau supporting the industry.Leavitt is regarded as the father of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which was created in 1862 four years after his death.