USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Fairfield > Centennial commemoration of the burning of Fairfield, Connecticut, by the British troops under Governor Tryon, July 8th, 1779 > Part 1
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Fairfield Centennial Commemoration
1779-1879.
HISTORICAL DISCOURSE,
POEM,
ADDRESSES AND CORRESPONDENCE.
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1779-1879.
CENTENNIAL COMMEMORATION
OF THE
BURNING OF FAIRFIELD,
CONNECTICUT,
BY THE
BRITISH TROOPS UNDER GOVERNOR TRYON,
JULY 8th, 1779.
NEW YORK : A. S. BARNES & CO., PUBLISHERS AND BOOKSELLERS, III AND 113 WILLIAM STREET. 1879.
OFFICERS:
REV. SAMUEL OSGOOD, D.D., LL.D., SAMUEL MOREHOUSE, WM. A. BEERS,
President.
Treasurer.
Secretary.
VICE-PRESIDENTS :
FREDERICK BRONSON, MORRIS W. LYON.
HENRY J. BEERS.
SAMUEL GLOVER.
HENRY W. CURTISS.
A. W. SANFORD.
H. W. POPE. CHARLES CARTER.
DAVID TRUBEE. D. M. REDFIELD. HENRY L. MILLS.
JAMES R SMITH. FREDERICK MARQUAND.
EDWIN SHERWOOD.
JONATHAN GODFREY.
GEORGE BULKLEY.
ANDREW P. WAKEMAN.
BURR OSBORN. DAVID BEERS. ALBERT TURNEY. WILLIAM BURR.
J. G. MOREHOUSE. BENJ. PENFIELD.
J. M. MOREHOUSE. LEWIS BURR. ALANSON ALLEN. ZALMON B. BRADLEY. HENRY BRADLEY. ANSON BIBBINS.
FREDERICK STURGES. O. W. JONES. HENRY ROWLAND.
THEODORE SALTUS. REV. P. S. McCABE.
EDMUND HOBART ISAAC JENNINGS. BURR BARTRAM. JAMES A. COLE. GEORGE A. PHELPS.
HON. P. T. BARNUM. HON. S. P. BEARDSLEY. PASCHAL SHEFFIELD. FRANCIS D. PERRY.
JULIUS PIKE. STEPHEN MOREHOUSE. EPHRAIM H. BURR.
MOSES G. BETTS.
CHAS. B. WAKELEY.
C. H. FRENCH. OLIVER BURR. T. M. BANKS. CHAS. ROCKWELL.
MARSHALS:
JULIAN W. CURTISS. HARRY MILLS. HERBERT KNAPP. H. N. KNAPP.
WM. B. GLOVER. WALTER JENNINGS. EDWARD TAFT. HENRY J. BEERS, JR.
COMMITTEES,
EXECUTIVE :
O. B. JENNINGS. SAMUEL MOREHOUSE. HENRY C. STURGES. SAMUEL ROWLAND,
FREDERICK BRONSON. FRANCIS BULKLEY.
AUGUSTUS JENNINGS. JOHN H. GLOVER. CHAS. H. PHELPS. BARLOW HILL. DAVID TRUBEE. MORRIS W. LYON.
FINANCE :
SAMUEL MOREHOUSE. BARLOW HILL. SAMUEL OSGOOD. AUGUSTUS JENNINGS.
MUSIC-(INSTRUMENTAL:)
WM. A. BEERS.
DAVID TRUBEE.
MUSIC-(VOCAL:)
JOHN H. WOOD.
ANDREW WAKEMAN
DECORATION :
HENRY C. STURGES. FREDERICK BRONSON. CHARLES H. PHELPS.
ENTERTAINMENT :
O. B. JENNINGS.
ISAAC JENNINGS.
FRANCIS BULKLEY. M. W. LYON.
DAVID TRUBEE.
C. H. PHELPS.
COMMITTEES :
PLATFORM, SEATS AND TABLES.
O. B. JENNINGS.
ISAAC JENNINGS.
SAMUEL MOREHOUSE. SAMUEL ROWLAND AUGUSTUS JENNINGS.
JAMES S. COLE. CARRIAGES.
SAMUEL ROWLAND.
PRINTING, ADVERTISING AND INVITATIONS.
WM. A. BEERS, (Ex-officio.)
PUBLICATION :
SAMUEL OSGOOD. JAMES K. LOMBARD.
SAMUEL MOREHOUSE. WILLIAM A. BEERS.
LADIES COMMITTEE :
MRS. HUNTINGTON, - - PRESIDENT.
MRS. H. T. CURTISS.
MRS. CHAS. PHELPS. MRS. FRED'K BRONSON. MRS. S. MOREHOUSE. MRS. SAM'L GLOVER. MISS SUSAN HOBART. MISS DORA BULKLEY.
MRS. A. V. S. SCHENCK. MRS. GEORGE BULKLEY. MRS. THEO. TURNEY. MRS. T. BROOKE.
MRS. BURR PERRY. MISS ABBY NICHOLLS. MISS HANNAH HOBART. MISS R. ROWLAND.
MRS. SAM'L OSGOOD
MRS. W. A. BEERS.
MRS. J. K. LOMBARD
MRS. A. B. JENNINGS.
MRS. R. A. CURTISS.
MRS. HENRY L. MILLS.
MRS. BENJ. BETTS.
INTRODUCTION
The mind of our time is becoming decidedly his- torical, and the idea is gaining ground that in the study of man, as of nature, the knowledge of facts is the best way to ascertain principles and to order conduct. We Americans are entering generously into this movement. With us, in our literary career, history has come in advance of poetry, and, of late, the whole nation has formed itself into a history class, and for three years our people have been read- ing together their Centennial records, and are to keep it up for four years to come, until the festival of peace in 1883. As a nation we celebrated the great Centennial of 1876, and each town has been earnest to add its own testimony to whatever has been im- portant in its own annals. The people of the old Town of Fairfield joined with the whole country in that jubilee, and in due time, Fairfield makes this unpretending offering of its own local record to the common treasury of patriotism.
We know very well that our most conspicuous date is not of a jubilant character, and that it notes not a victory, but a disaster. We therefore called the occa- sion not a celebration but a commemoration, and we determined to have a quiet, thoughtful, neighborly, and patriotic reunion, without noise and revelry, with due remembrance, in prose and poetry, of the great
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calamity of a hundred years ago, with wholesome lessons from able speakers upon the duties and hopes of good citizens, with sufficient hospitality to refresh and cheer our guests in the mid-day interval, and with patriotic and devout music to stir and uplift the assem- bly. We mean to be wholly honest with ourselves and our friends, and to let the occasion speak for itself without any sham, clap-trap or pretension. The task of preparation was divided between effi- cient committees, and its own duty was assigned to each proper quarter. The result more than gratified our anticipations. The commemoration appears to have been pleasing, impressive, instructive and whole- some, without a single incident to mar its harmony, without the least sign of disorder, with the hearty concurrence of all classes of our residents, and a large attendance of visitors, and with a certain ear- nest attention and genial fellowship, that did honor alike to hosts and guests, and will be gratefully asso- ciated with the future of the town and neighborhood.
It is due to the principal speakers, especially to the author of the historical address, to have it understood that Fairfield has other records than those of disaster and that since the destruction of its chief buildings, its residents have not only been able to restore its beauty, but in conspicuous cases, as the published addresses testify, they have written their names upon the culture and history of the nation. It is perhaps well enough known what eminence the Fairfield clergy have won, but the records of the bench and
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bar have been far less known. It is interesting to read in the REV. DR. BEARDSLEY'S Life and Times of Wil- liam Samuel Johnson, that on the 9th of January, 1812, while the Supreme Court was sitting in Fair- field, Dr. Johnson walked in and took a seat at the bar. "The presence " says a cotemporary, "of this venerable and celebrated counsellor, who has often been styled THE FATHER OF THE BAR IN CONNECTICUT, and who has probably not appeared in a court of justice for twenty-seven years, attracted the attention of all who were present." Shortly after the adjourn- ment, the legal men who were there appointed a committee to express their respect for him in his private and his public character, and Dr. Johnson made a handsome reply. The names of Samuel B. Sherwood, Roger M. Sherman, Matthew B. Whittle- sey and James Gould appear on this Committee, and show how strong a hold Fairfield had upon the legal mind of that day.
The Decoration Committee carried out their pur- pose of cheering and enlarging the fellowship of the occasion by displaying the flags of the great nations of the world, especially remembering France, our ally of old, and England, once our enemy, but now our friend, and as such invited to our assembly, alike by our note to her Minister and by placing her flag near our own, an act which mingled courtesy to the mother country, with a quiet and dignified intimation that America, once so feeble, is now great enough to honor the great of the earth by her hospitable regard.
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The Committee of Publication send this record of the commemoration forth to the people of Fairfield, in the hope that it is but the beginning of the good work of town enterprise and public spirit. Perhaps in 1889, when this town will have completed its quarter of a thousand years, and the nation will hold the Centennial of its established Constitution and the inauguration of Washington, its first President, the commemoration may be remembered in a more grand and festive celebration. Perhaps after a cen- tury, in 1979, copies of this pamphlet will be read by Fairfield people, who can recall what their grand- fathers said to them about the day, July 8th, 1879, that we now commemorate.
SAMUEL OSGOOD, JAMES K. LOMBARD, SAMUEL MOREHOUSE, WILLIAM A. BEERS,
Committee of Publication.
ORDER OF EXERCISES.
I. MORNING.
Reception of the Governor and Staff at the Depot. ASSEMBLY ON THE GREEN, 11 O'CLOCK A. M.
Prayer. During which the Old Flag of thirteen stars will be at half-mast, in token of sympathy with our ancestors.
Singing of Commemoration Hymn.
Raising of the Old Flag, and display of the colors of England and America, in token of reconciliation and good will.
National Airs of both Countries, By the Band.
Historical Address,
Singing,
By REV. E. E. RANKIN, D. D. By UNITED CHOIRS.
Original Poem,
REV. JAMES K. LOMBARD. II. NOON.
Intermission.
During which there will be a Concert by Band and Luncheon on the Green.
111. AFTERNOON.
Singing,
WHITTIER'S CENTENNIAL HYMN.
Address, .
By REV. SAMUEL OSGOOD, D. D., L.L. D.
Singing,
By THE UNITED CHOIRS. BY THE BAND.
Music,
Addresses,
BY GUESTS.
Music,
BY THE BAND.
Escorting the Governor to the Depot.
I-MORNING.
The President, immediately upon the arrival of the procession with the Governor and the escort at the Green, called the assembly to order in these words :
" We meet, fellow citizens and friends, here to-day under a cloudy and not wholly promising sky, and our pleasant town is threatened by water, as she was threatened a century ago by fire. But now, as always, our New England pluck is equal to the hour. Whether wet or dry, we are here in the spirit of our stout old fathers and mothers, and the Yankee heart knows not only how to rise, like the Phenix, from its ashes, but like the dove from the deluge. It looks as if we might be compelled to hold our exercises in the church, the old Church of the Prime Ancient Parish, of which the orator is pastor. In that case, and in any event, it is well for us, here, in presence of our Chief Magistrate and under God's heaven, to make our position sure by saluting the good old flag of the Union, with loyal hearts and to the music of the Star Spangled Banner."
After the band had played that National air, the President announced that the sky promised better weather, and that the assembly would continue to keep their places in the open air. "First of all, we give glory to our God and the God of our fathers,
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and ask His blessing upon ourselves and our children.' The Rev. B. G. Relyea, of Green's Farm, formerly the West Parish of Fairfield, offered the prayer of com memoration, and the order of the day was carried out.
COMMEMORATION HYMN. FAIRFIELD, CONN.,
I779.
JULY, 8TH, 1879.
" Thou shalt bless the Lord, thy God, for the good land, which He hath given thee."-DEUT. 8-10.
Father, whose tender care, All we, Thy children, share, Bless Thou our town.
Teach us to walk aright,
Fill our souls with Thy light,
And aid us by Thy might, Wrong to tread down.
Ever Thy mercies reign, Ever through joy and pain Feel we Thy hand, That led through flame and strife, Through years with anguish rife,
Up from death into life Our noble land.
Breathe forth Thy blessing, Lord ! Fix in each heart Thy word, Truth undefiled. O'er the joined flags above
May Thine own Spirit move Binding with lasting love Mother and child.
Tune-Italian Hymn.
HISTORICAL ADDRESS, by REV. EDWARD E. RANKIN, D. D.
In the summer of 1637, the coming of English soldiers into this region became the occasion for founding this town in the wilderness. A hundred and forty-two years later, and just a century ago, another army under the same flag made it to pass through the ordeal of fire.
In commemorating the latter event we are remind- ed of the former and it is fitting to give some attention to the years in which Fairfield was forming its charac- ter and history before its conflagration.
The savage Pequot tribe had filled the hearts of many in the colonies with dismay and dread. In the hostile measures pursued for its destruction some of the chief magistrates of Connecticut were commission- ed to accompany the troops sent out to conquer the subtle foe. Their counsel it was thought would assist in directing the valor of the soldiers and bring the protracted conflict to a close.
Thus it came to pass that when Capt. Mason push- ed his way to this hitherto unexplored portion of the colony, Roger Ludlow, its deputy Governor, who had held the same office in Massachusetts and was now living in Windsor accompanied the troops.
The battle, fought two miles from the place we now occupy, brought an end to the merciless war.
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After silence had settled over Sasco Swamp, amid whose tangled thickets most of the Indian warriors had been slain, the opportunity was used to explore the country near to the scene of battle. This result- ed in the return of Mr. Ludlow with eight or ten families from Windsor, to make here their permanent abode.
They were soon joined by others from Watertown and Concord in Massachusetts, and thus within a few years the Indian settlement of Un-quo-wa became the English town of Fairfield.
A purchase of the territory lying north of the sound and reaching seven miles along the coast was fairly made by Ludlow. Some remaining claim of the friendly tribe of natives, who were in no way connect- ed with the hostile Pequots, was in 1670 extinguished in a bargain made by the town through the agency of one of its people, Mr. Jehu Burr.
The town records, although by no means complete, run through many years, during which the civil autho- rity controlled ecclesiastical affairs, and all the town meetings were held in the house where Divine service was performed. From the measures taken at these meetings we can form some idea of the difficulties by which these early inhabitants were surrounded. They offered a bounty of twenty shillings for every wolf killed in the town and one shilling for every fox. They passed stringent laws to punish vagrancy, they voted upon the acceptability of every applicant for residence within their precincts. Some they refused
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to receive, some who were already here and guilty of misconduct they ordered to depart. The magistrate, minister and teacher were compensated for their services by the grant or sale of common lands and a new distribution of these public lands was made from time to time in proportion to the possession already obtained and the number of children in the house- hold. The calls for untiring diligence were constant and pressing. Those long and narrow lots reaching back for miles must needs be brought under cultivation by clearing, stubbing, ditching and fencing before they could be used for meadow, pasture or arable land. There were roads to lay out, bridges to build, water courses to be turned into the mill dam, barns, dwell- ings, school houses and churches to be erected and much needful furniture to be made. Shingles had to be planed and nails wrought by handiwork. All this and much more of similar labor called for the exertion both of brain and muscle in those primitive days of Fairfield's industry and thrift. Nor were the women idle. The flocks, largely depended on for family sup- plies came under their care. From the clipping of the wool to its transfer as a finished garment upon the persons of their husbands, their children or them- selves, womens' fingers were kept busy, while in the washing, carding, spinning, weaving, dyeing, cutting and the sewing, dames and damsels of those days be- came adepts. The lard and candles, the soap and sul- phur matches, the butter, cheese and bread all were home made. Have I not said enough to show you that
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both on the farm and within the dwelling there were all the elements needful for self reliance and strength ? In the absence of a piano, the music of the loom and spinning wheel doubtless lulled many a Fairfield baby to sleep. From these beginnings of agriculture and in the foundation arts of the mason, carpenter, smith and miller, the town made onward progress until it became a port of entry for foreign goods, while the destruction of no less than forty-eight shops and stores in 1779 makes clear the increase of its com- merce and manufacturers.
During all these early years there was peace within its borders, only once interrupted by an early speck of threatened war. In 1653 our neighbors of the Manhadoes were suspected of efforts to incite the Indians to massacre the white inhabitants of these New England settlements. The authorities of the colonies at first appeared to favor the suggestion of a war against the Dutch, but soon wisely abandoned the project. This change of policy did not suit the views of our chief townsman, Mr. Ludlow. He urg- ed the people of Fairfield and some dwelling in Stam- ford, to prepare for such a war, on their own account, and he was made General of a small army organized here. The project was brought to naught by colonial authority, and on account of this discomfiture Mr. Ludlow took his departure from us and made a new home in Virginia. Thus Connecticut and Fairfield alike were losers of an honest and capable man, who had held high offices and performed much useful
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work. His chief faults appear to have been an impe- rious temper and undue confidence in his own opinion. His home here cannot be definitely ascertained, but is supposed to have been not far from the present residence of Mrs. Benson.
In connection with this mention of a small army, home-made as were the most of our productions, I will speak of another military spectacle in our town that appeared about ninety years later. In 1768, a portion of his majesty's 48th Highlanders were quar- tered here. The town meeting took pity upon our Gaelic guests whose short breeks left their knees un- coverd to the biting cold, and with other supplies raised by tax, they voted {23 to furnish wood for the High- land troops.
This passing notice of military topics would not be complete unless allusion were made to that institution of every Connecticut town the Trayne band with its drillings six days every year, begun at eight o'clock in the morning, often with the solemnity of prayer.
Into a minute description of other institutions of those early years I cannot enter.
We learn from the provisions made in town meet- ings for the support of the teacher that schools were soon established.
The Prime Ecclesiastical Society was co-existant with the town and the only other religious organiza- tion near the centre was that of the Church of Eng- land, which had its distinct beginning here in 1724. In explanation of the statements already made of the
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amount of business carried on, we must remember that Fairfield village was the centre of a large and growing farming community. A few farms nearly connected with it, were all that then existed of Mill River, now known as the flourishing borough of Southport. As for our enterprising neighbor on the Pequonnock, her few scattered houses as yet had given no presage of the business capacities latent within her, of the vast factories that have since supplied the world with their destructive and useful productions, nor of the gorgeous spectacles that go forth thence to astonish and delight the nations. To show how early the fruitfulness of Bridgeport soil was under- stood, I quote from the Fairfield town records of May, 7, 1719 the following item : "The town grants unto the Rev. Mr. Cooke of Stratford the whole right in the herbage of Golden Hill, both meadow and upland, which grant to continue during the town's pleasure."
In the grand list of 1775, where one-hundred and sixty-nine towns are enumerated, Fairfield stands seventh in taxable wealth. Her political and social powers were also great. Her representatives carried the point in the General court, of having twelve jurors instead of six in judicial trials. Mr. Ludlow had been the first man to codify the laws of the col- ony, and the general intelligence and integrity prevail- ing in the town made it a place of attraction to virtuous and cultivated people.
As wealth increased, society became more polished.
.
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The mild system of New England slavery lightened some of the burdens of the household. The children of these servants were baptized and religiously educa- ted, and among the few who died by the bayonets of British soldiers in '79, one was a negro servant.
I beg to present to you a few names then familiar in the households of Fairfield, the greater part of which I have found upon the marriage records of Rev. Mr. Eliot.
They are Toney, Tego, Callico, York, Priamus, Primus, Titus and Prince, married respectively to Dorcas, Sue, Dinah, Kate, Luce Jute, Nance and Phillis. In addition to these may be mentioned Marrimo, Parrot, Pompy, Sambo, Boston, Lyd, Floro, Tama, Dolphin and Dran.
After these servants of earthly masters I will next name the ministers who officiated in the Fairfield churches in 1779. The prime ancient society had for its pastor Andrew Eliot, son of Andrew Eliot, D. D., of Boston, who was invited here from a steward- ship at Harvard, Captain Abel having gone on horse- back to Boston to convey to him a call. He was ordained June 22d, 1774, and after a useful ministry of more than thirty-one years, fell asleep among his people, September 26th, 1705. .
During the war he was a zealous advocate of In- dependence and his account of the scenes of the 7th and 8th of July is probably the most graphic narrative that has come down to us of the events we commemo- rate to-day. Mr. Eliot was a scholar of distinguished
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ability, and under his instruction the late Prof. Benj. Silliman was prepared to enter Yale College at a very early age.
The Rev. John Sayre was minister of the Episcopal church, having previously served a Parish in Newburg. He was a decided loyalist and in the great excitement of those times he had been for a season banished from his home and parish. But many of the most respectable of the towns-people, both within and out- side of his church, although they had no sympathy with his political opinions, esteeming him as a Godly and useful minister, procured his recall. On the 7th of July, after the firing had begun and the flames had been kindled, Mr. Sayre appeared among the people with the British General's address, and by this action aroused great indignation against himself.
He entreated from Gen. Tryon the exemption of the town from the flames. Failing in this, he begged that a few houses including his own and that of Mr. Eliot, might be spared. For these he obtained a written protection, but the paper proved useless, and both of these ministers were involved with the most of their townsmen in the total loss of their property. Mr. Sayre, with his wife and eight young children, stripped of every earthly possession, excepting the clothes they were wearing, found refuge on board the British fleet, and after serving a church in Nova Sco- tia, he closed his earthly ministry. A similar calam- ity of fire was suffered by Rev. Hezekiah Ripley, the able and excellent pastor of the Green's Farm's.
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church. Dr. Ripley served for a time as chaplain in the Continental army, and had a long and honored pastorate at Green's Farms.
The most prominent physician here in those years was Dr. Francis Forgue. He had married the charm- ing widow of Mr. Dennie, and lived in the home left to her by her first husband, near the site of Mrs. John Sanford's house. As a county seat, Fairfield offered an attractive home for the legal profession. Promi- nent among our lawyers, was Judge Jonathan Sturges, whose home was near the present junction of the Railway and Mill Plain road. He was active in all town affairs, and became one of the members of the Congress of 1789, the first that greeted Washington as president of the United States. Another eminent lawyer was Gold Selleck Silliman, whose dwelling yet stands on Holland Hill. He is better known to us in a military capacity, having served in the battles of Long Island, White Plains and Ridgefield. To him had been assigned the command of the militia in this county, and his skill as a General was so highly appreciated that Sir Henry Clinton employed a small company of tory soldiers to make him prisoner. They came, eight in number, from a whale boat, with which they had crossed from Long Island, leaving it in charge of the ninth of their band, hid in the sedges of Black Rock. Stealthily feeling their way up the steep hill at mid- night they forced a passage into the dwelling and secured the prize. Gen. Silliman was deacon in the old Fairfield church and had in charge the vessels to
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be used on that Sabbath which had already begun at the hour of sunset. With great presence of mind, he cast one of his wife's garments over these utensils, thus screening them from observation, and then, with his son William, took his unwilling march to enter upon a year's captivity. This was on the first night of May, '79, and his enforced absence during the coming July, caused the command to be devolved at that season upon Col. Samuel Whiting, of Stratford, who bravely fulfilled the duties thus imposed.
With Gen. Silliman's name is associated that of Lieut. Col. Abraham Gold, the home of whose ances- tors and descendants has belonged to the family more than two hundred years. These two had fought in the same fields of battle. The latest occasion of their warlike companionship was at Ridgefield, in April, 1777, where Gen. Worster was mortally wounded and Col. Gold was slain. His home was where the main street turns northward toward Stratfield, Stratford and New Haven, a part of the old King's highway between New York and Boston, the lower road now leading to Bridgeport not having been opened at that time.
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