USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Norfolk > History of Norfolk, Litchfield County, Connecticut, 1744-1900 > Part 1
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X
THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
INTERIOR OF CHURCH-DR. ELDRIDGE'S PULPIT.
974.6 C 86
1744-1900
HISTORY OF NORFOLK
LITCHFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT
OPENING CHAPTERS BY REV. JOSEPH ELDRIDGE, D.D.
COMPILED BY THERON WILMOT CRISSEY, L. L.B.
221497
EVERETT, MASS. MASSACHUSETTS PUBLISHING COMPANY 1900
THIS BOOK IS REVERENTLY DEDICATED TO THE
MEMORY OF MY HONORED PARENTS, AND FORMER TOWNS-PEOPLE, - .
"THE DEAR OLD FOLKS I LOVED LONG AGO."
THERON WILMOT CRISSEY.
Y.8
PREFACE.
" Of making many books there is no end."
" O that mine adversary had written a book." - HOLY WRIT.
Some years ago, in searching out family genealogy, the want of a history of my native town became to me apparent. As bits of Norfolk history were from time to time discovered, in books and elsewhere, such items were preserved, and the accumulation began. A de- sire to learn many things from those whose memories and traditions go back to the early part of this cen- tury took hold upon me, and knowing full well that upon those around whom the shades of evening have gathered, soon the sun will set, and their remem- brances be forever beyond our reach, an effort to ob- tain these things through correspondence was made, with results not altogether satisfactory.
In June, 1899, I came 'home' and soon took up in earnest the work of preparing a history of Norfolk. The encouragement and kindly assistance of a large number of the present residents of the town, and for- mer residents as well, has made the difficult, perplex- ing task a pleasure. Mention by name cannot well be made of the large number who have put me under lasting obligation for their kind assistance. Some of them have done for others and for me what they could do, and have 'entered into their rest.' Mention should be made of the kindness and assistance, great and manifold, rendered by the family of Dr. Joseph El- dridge, which has made possible the publication of
iv.
PREFACE.
this volume. Access has been given to the many rare, valuable manuscripts which were prepared and left by Dr. Eldridge, which have been indispensable in compiling this history. So, in a measure, my purpose has been accomplished, of preserving in permanent form some record of the lives and work of the past generations, upon whom the curtain has fallen and shut them from our sight.
It has been a pleasure to recall and mention, if nothing more, the names of some of those who have walked these streets in former times; have dwelt in these homes; have heard the same Sabbath bell, and gathered for worship in these temples; have sat in the same seats in church which we now occupy; their eyes have looked upon these same beautiful landscapes of valley and mountain; their feet have climbed these everlasting hills where they, too, have looked out and up, and adored the great Creator and Ruler of all. And they are gone.
Such as it is, suggestive,-not exhaustive,-with some errors which should not have been,-it is sent forth on its mission, in the hope that it may be of in- terest and help to all of its readers some of the time.
THERON WILMOT CRISSEY.
NORFOLK, CONN., September 1, 1900.
CONTENTS.
I. BY REV. JOSEPH ELDRIDGE, D. D. 2
PAGE A Glance at the History of Connecticut Prior to the Set- tlement of Norfolk.
II. BY DR. ELDRIDGE.
11
Sale and Settlement of the Town - Building the Meeting-
House.
III. BY DR. ELDRIDGE.
20
Events of Interest in the Town up to the Time of the Revolutionary War.
IV. Connecticut's Early Town System - Settlement of Towns in Litchfield County - Grant of the "Western Lands" to Hartford and Windsor-Controversy Between the Colony and Those Towns - Organization of Litchfield County - Sale, Settlement and Incorporation of the Town.
V. 49
How the Original Title to Land was Obtained - Propri- etors' Meetings - Dividing and Drawing Land-Eighty Acres of Land Voted for an Iron Works.
. . , VI. First Town Meeting - Locating, Building, Dignifying and Seating the Meeting-House - Raising Money and Material.
61
VII. 72
Early Customs and Habits-Organization of the First Church - Settlement of Rev. Ammi R. Robbins.
VIII.
78
The Revolutionary War -Names and Service of Norfolk Men in the Army - Chaplain Robbins' Journal.
33
vi.
CONTENTS.
IX.
PAGE 122
Rev. Mr. Robbins' Half-Century Sermon.
X. . 141
Centennial Anniversary in 1844 - Address by Rev. Thomas Robbins, D. D.
XI. 155
Formation of Norfolk Ecclesiastical Society in 1813- Establishment of the Ecclesiastical Society Fund in 1817 - Purchase of the First Organ in 1822.
XII. 177
Sketch of Rev. Ralph Emerson, D. D., Ordained and In- stalled as Pastor, June, 1816 - Dismissed, October, 1829. ( See Appendix.)
XIII.
177
Sketch of Mrs. Z. P. Grant-Banister -Her Early Life in Norfolk - Record as a Teacher. "She Originated Hol- yoke Seminary."
XIV. 190
Building the Present Meeting-House - Ascertaining the Centre of the Town by Survey -Names of Contributors.
XV. 196
"The Two Villages," by Mrs. Rose Terry-Cook -The Cemeteries of the Town -Remarkable Longevity.
XVI. 202
Litchfield County Centennial in 1851- Oration by Judge Samuel Church- Address by Dr. Horace Bushnell.
· XVII. 211
Severe Winters and Great Snows -The Blizzard of 1888 - The Ice-Storm of 1898.
XVIII. 219
Killing a Panther- Treed by a Bear- A Wolf-Hunt- Fires near and in the Meeting-House.
XIX. · . Manufactures and Manufacturers-A Large Number of Enterprises.
223
CONTENTS.
vii.
XX.
PAGE 262
Norfolk Merchants - Schools -The Park.
XXI.
294
Period Prior to the Civil War- Anti-Slavery Society - Norfolk Men in the War of the Rebellion -Sketch of Ad- jutant Samuel C. Barnum- Sketch of Colonel George Ryan.
XXII.
Highways - A Railroad Through Norfolk -Struggle as to its Location - Dr. Eldridge Before the Commissioners.
XXIII. · 354
The Whipping-post - First Post-office -Temperance Or- ganizations - Culture of Silk -Indian Story - Norfolk Banks -Prices Current, 1778 -Colored People - Eleva- tions -Singing Schools - Anecdotes -Old Pastorates- Census Reports - Norfolk Brick - The French War - War of 1812-Strong Fund -Probate District - Whitefield in Norfolk - Reminiscences of Dr. Eldridge, by Ex-Gover- nor Cooke - Masonic Centennial - Sketch of Norfolk, by S. H. D.
XXIV.
392
Sketch of Rev. Ammi R. Robbins, by His Son - Madame Elizabeth Robbins -Rev. Thomas Robbins, D. D .- Rem- iniscences by Mrs. Mary Robbins-Kasson.
XXV. 404
The Rev. Joseph Eldridge, D. D .- Sketches, by President Porter, of Yale College; by Rev. Joseph F. Gaylord ; by Dr. W. L. Gale-Farewell Services -Obituary Notices - Sketch of Mrs. Sarah Battell Eldridge- Miss Cynthia L. Fosket - Presentation of Communion Service.
XXVI. 445
Sketch of Joseph Battell, Esq .- Mrs. Sarah Robbins- Battell - Joseph Battell, Jun .- Mrs. Irene Battell Larned -Robbins Battell-Mrs. Urania Battell-Humphrey - Miss Anna Battell - Philip Battell -Mrs. Ellen Battell- Eldridge.
XXVII.
466
Hopestill Welch and Family - Benjamin Welch, Sen., M.D., and Family - Asa G. Welch, M.D .- Benjamin
329
viii.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Welch, Jun., M. D. - James Welch, M. D. - William W. Welch, M. D .- John H. Welch, M. D. - Samuel Cowles - Henry Cowles, D. D .- Louisa Welch Pettibone - Pro- fessor William H. Welch, M. D. LLD .- Ephraim Guiteau, M.D. - Frederick M. Shepard-Mrs. Laura Hawley- Thurston - Rev. Reuben Gaylord.
XXVIII.
Physiography and Geology of the Town; by Professor William H. Hobbs - The Flora of Norfolk; by Professor J. H. Barbour and others.
XXIX. 503
Brief Sketches of Early Settlers of the Town and Their Descendants -Mention of a Large Number of Families and Individuals, as learned in a great number of ways. ( See Index of names.)
XXX. 579
First and Other Church Organs - Memorial Windows and Tablets -The Methodist Episcopal Church -The Catholic ' Church of the Immaculate Conception '- The Episcopal ' Church of the Transfiguration ' - The Baptist Church.
XXXI. 591
Concluding Chapter -Modern Norfolk - The Robbins School-The Norfolk Library - The Eldridge Gymnasium - Battell Memorial Fountain - The Village Hall - Norfolk Downs - Norfolk Water Company- Newspapers - Photo- graphy - Summer Residents.
NORFOLK'S NECROLOGY. 603
List of Deaths of Male Heads of Families, 1762 to 1846 - Record of Deaths of Adults from 1840 to 1900-Town Clerks-Town Treasurers -Probate Judges -First Sel- ectmen -List of Representatives and Senators from Nor- folk to the General Assembly from 1777 to 1900.
APPENDIX. 621
494
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER
BY
REV. JOSEPH ELDRIDGE, D.D.
A GLANCE AT THE HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT BEFORE THE SETTLEMENT OF THIS TOWN.
"A History of Norfolk, from 1738 to 1844, by Auren Roys," containing eighty-nine pages, was pub- lished in 1847. Dr. Eldridge had been pastor of the church here since April, 1832. In 1856 he announced his purpose of writing a fuller history of the town, and of delivering chapters of it to his people as a discourse upon Thanksgiving days, from year to year. The following introductory chapter was given as a dis- course by Dr. Eldridge, Thanksgiving Day, November, 1856, and by the great kindness and courtesy of his family, is given here, from the original manuscript.
HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
145 Ps., 4. "One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts."
"All history is instructive. History teaches by example. It is a record of the developments of Divine providence. No history is more instructive or interesting than that of our own country. It recounts the labors, toils, and sufferings of our own ancestors. It narrates those events which have contributed to determine the social and political condition in which we find ourselves. The history of the United States has one special advantage and attraction; it is au- thentic. The origin of most of the states and nations of Europe is involved in much obscurity. Our own can be traced back, clearly and distinctly to its earliest begin- nings. There are ample, reliable materials for the history of the colonies.
Then the events of our history are of the most striking character. Highly interesting in themselves, they are be- coming still more so by the promise which they hold in regard to the future.
Our general history has an interest for the whole world. It is peculiarly instructive and interesting to our country- men. Local histories are important as furnishing the ele- ments of general history, and they have peculiar attractions for those born and reared in the places themselves. It is a duty of filial piety, as well as gratitude to the supreme dis- poser of events, to gather up, and preserve, and transmit all the memorials we can, of the labors, trials, and achieve- ments of those who have preceded us on the spot where we dwell. We have entered into their labors. We reap the results of their enterprise, forecast, and efforts. We sit. under the shadow, and eat the fruits of the tree which they planted.
3
HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
As a preliminary to a history of Norfolk, a glance at that portion of the history of Connecticut prior to the settlement of this town appears to be desirable.
The title to the land and right of Robert, earl of Warwick, was the first proprietary of the soil under a grant from the Council for New England. March 19, 1631, he ceded it by patent to Lord Say and Seal, Lord Brook, John Hampden and others. Before any colony could be established under their authority, individuals, headed by William Holmes of Plymouth had, September 1633, erected a trading house at Windsor. The June previous to the arrival of Holmes, the Dutch from Manhattan, had established themselves at Hart- ford, having purchased twenty acres of land of a Pequot chief,-built a fort and mounted a couple of cannon. They claimed Connecticut, and never wholly relinquished their claims until 1664. The fur trade with the Indians was then very lucrative. The Dutch purchased of the Indians annually ten thousand beaver skins. In 1634, a few men from Watertown, Mass., came and erected huts at Wethers- field, which is the oldest town in the state. In 1635 a number of men came from Dorchester to Windsor, and erected log houses. Other men from Watertown did the same at Wethersfield. In the autumn, having completed these preparations, these men returned to Mass. for their families, and on the 15th of October there set out about sixty men, women and children with horses, cattle and swine. More than a hundred miles of wilderness through which no roads existed, whose streams were without bridges, and whose sole inhabitants were Indians and wild beasts, had to be traversed. Dr. Trumbull says, "after a tedious journey, through swamps and rivers, over moun- tains and rough ground which were passed with great difficulty and fatigue, they arrived at their place of destina- tion. But the journey had consumed much time, and the winter set in earlier than usual. To add to their embarrass- ment and trials, the provisions designed for the winter, and their household utensils, had been sent around by water and were expected to be brought up the Connecticut River.
4
HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
Some of the vessels that were freighted with these goods were wrecked in the sound. The rest were prevented ascending the river by the ice. The condition of these families was forlorn. In this emergency thirteen men set out to retrace their way back to Boston. Seventy, men, women and children, left Windsor and Wethersfield, and in dead of winter made their way from fifty to sixty miles to the mouth of the river, to obtain their provisions, but not finding them, they embarked in a vessel lying there and sailed for Boston and arrived in a few days. Yet in the opening of the next year, 1636, the budding of the trees and the springing of the grass were signals of a greater emigra- tion to Connecticut. The principal caravan commenced its march in June. Thomas Hooker, the light of the western churches, led the company. It consisted of about a hundred souls, many of them accustomed to affluence and the ease of European life."
Bancroft says, "They drove before them numerous herds of cattle, and thus they traversed on foot the pathless forests of Massachusetts, advancing hardly ten miles a day through the tangled woods, across the swamps and numer- ous streams and over the high lands that separated the several intervening valleys, subsisting as they slowly wan- dered along on the milk of kine, which browsed on the fresh leaves and early shoots, having no guide through the un- trodden wilderness but the compass, and no pillow for their nightly rest but heaps of stones. How did the hills echo with the unwonted lowing of herds. How were the forests enlivened by the loud and fervent piety of Hooker. Never again was there such a pilgrimage from the seaside to the beautiful banks of the Connecticut. The emigrants had been gathered from the most valued citizens, the earliest settlers and the oldest churches of the Bay. Of this com- pany, some settled at Windsor, some at Wethersfield, but the larger portion with Hooker took up their residence at Hartford."
In 1638, in the month of April, the New Haven Colony, headed by Rev. John Davenport and Theophilus Eaton,
5
HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
arrived at that place, called by the Indians Quinnipiack. The emigrants passed their first Sabbath with appropriate services under a branching oak, large enough to shelter the whole company, men, women and children. Governor Eaton was elected Governor of New Haven Colony, twenty-three years. The constitution which they adopted, or the planta- tion covenant into which they entered, was in these words: "That as in matters concerning the gathering and ordering of a church, so also in all public affairs that concern civil order, they would all of them be ordered by the rules which the Scriptures held forth to them."
January 14, 1639, the Hartford Colony perfected its political institutions, and by voluntary association formed a body politic. According to that constitution the elective franchise belonged to all members of the towns who had taken the oath of allegiance to the commonwealth. The magistrates and legislature were chosen annually by ballot, and the representatives were apportioned among the towns according to their population. John Haynes was the first Governor of Hartford Colony.
Meantime the Pequot Indians had been exterminated, in 1637. This warlike tribe had from the first exhibited a hostile spirit towards the English. They had committed several murders.
Capt. John Mason, with ninety English, attacked Fort Mystic at daylight, May 28, 1637. It was set on fire, and in one hour above six hundred Indians, men, women and chil- dren, perished. This terrible blow struck dismay into the hearts of the other tribes, and secured peace to the colonists for a long period. When the colonies were first established in Connecticut, Charles I. sat on the British throne. The King and Archbishop Laud were exercising political and ecclesiastical despotism in Great Britain, and proceeded to take measures to restrain the freedom enjoyed in the colo- nies. But soon the troubles commenced in England that brought that monarch to the block. He was succeeded by the Protector, Oliver Cromwell. During this whole period affairs at home so absorbed attention that the colonies
6
HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
were pretty much left to themselves. In 1660 the monarchy was re-established, and Charles II. was raised to the throne of his ancestors. The colonists, hearing of his accession to the throne, were desirous of obtaining his sanction to their title to their lands. The Connecticut or Hartford Colony sent the younger Winthrop as their agent. He obtained a charter,-the celebrated charter of Charter Oak memory. The charter connected New Haven with Hartford as one colony, of which the limits were from the Narragansett River on the east to the Pacific Ocean on the west. This was the foundation of the claim of Connecticut on Western Lands, whence originated our School Fund. This charter, so ample in its grant of territory, was equally comprehen- sive in the powers of government which it conferred. They were allowed to elect their own officers, to enact their own laws, to administer justice without appeals to England, to inflict penalties, to confer pardons, and, in a word, to ex- ercise every power, deliberative and active. It contained no provision for the interference of the British government in any event whatever. This charter was granted to Winthrop as agent of the Hartford, or, as it was called, the Connecti- cut Colony, but it embraced all the territory of the New Haven Colony, and virtually nullified its independent political existence. This gave to that colony some dissatis- faction, but in 1664 the two were united under one govern- ment; and it was doubtless to soothe this feeling of jealousy that it was arranged that the Legislature should meet alternately at Hartford and New Haven.
The united colony continued to grow. It was left very much to itself during the reign of Charles II.
February 6, 1685, James II., a bigoted Catholic and a political tyrant, ascended the throne of Great Britain. So eager was he to interfere with the rights and privileges enjoyed by the colony of Connecticut under the charter granted them by Charles II., the brother of James II., that early in the summer of 1685, the year of his coming to the throne, a quo warranto was issued against the Governor and Company of Connecticut, citing them to appear before
7
HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
the King within eight days of St. Martin's, to show by what right and tenure they exercised certain powers and privi- leges. The Colony petitioned the King to withdraw the writ of quo warranto. Instead of complying with the prayer of the Colony, the next year, 1686, July 21, Edward Ran- dolph, an old and dreaded enemy of the Colony, made his appearance in the Colony, armed with two writs, which he delivered to Governor Treat. Other writs of like character were served on the Governor, one of them requiring the defendants to appear before the King within eight days of the purification of the Blessed Virgin.
The movements on the part of the King created much anxiety in the Colony. The charters of Massachusetts and Rhode Island had been taken away. A general government had been appointed over all New England, Connecticut excepted. This government was instituted on a commis- sion, and Joseph Dudley was named President of the Com- missioners. President Dudley had addressed a letter to the Governor and Council of Connecticut, advising them to resign their charter into the King's hands. They did not deem it advisable to follow this advice. Ere long Dudley was removed from the office of Royal Governor of New England, and the man appointed to succeed him was the notorious Sir Edmond Andross, who arrived in Boston December 19, 1686. He immediately sent a letter to the Governor and Company of Connecticut, informing them that he was commissioned by the King to receive their charter if they were disposed to give it up to him. But the charter was not given up. He exhorted them not to render it necessary for him to resort to any compulsory measures. In October, 1687, the General Assembly convened as usual and held their regular session at Hartford. On Monday, October 31, 1687, Sir Edmund Andross, attended by several members of his council and other gentlemen, surrounded by a body guard of about sixty soldiers, entered Hartford wth a view of siezing the charter.
The Assembly was in session when he arrived, and he was received with all outward respect by the Governor,
8
HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
Council and Assembly. Andross entered the Legislative hall, in presence of the Assembly demanded the charter, and declared the government that was then acting under it to be dissolved. Governor Treat remonstrated against this arbitrary proceeding. He recounted the history of the early settlement of the colony, the trials and privations endured. He portrayed their wars with the Indians, and said it would be like giving up life itself now to surrender the charter that secured to them rights and privileges so dearly bought and so long enjoyed.
The time wore on; the shades of evening gathered around the Legislative chamber, still the charter did not make its appearance. Sir Edmond became impatient. Lighted candles are brought in. The Governor and his assistants appear to yield. The charter is brought in and laid upon the table in the midst of the Assembly. In an instant the lights were all extinguished and the room wrapped in total darkness. Not a word was spoken; the silence was as pro- found as the darkness. The candles were re-lighted, but, strange to tell, the charter had disappeared. All search was in vain. Sir Edmond Andross smothered his wrath as well as he could, and in the following strain announced the dissolution of the Colonial Government:
"At a General Court at Hartford, October 31, 1687, His Excellency, Sir Edmond Andross, Knight, and Captain Gen- eral, and Governor of His Majesty's territories and do- minions in New England, by order of James II., King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, the 31st of October, 1687, took into his hands the government of the Colony of Connecticut, it being by His Majesty annexed to Massa- chusetts and other colonies under His Excellency's Govern- ment. Finis."
But where was the charter? What had become of it?
As soon as the lights were put out Capt. Wadsworth seized the charter and carried it out of the room. Secretly he flew to the friendly tree and deposited it in the hollow of its trunk. That event took place nearly two hundred years ago. The old oak, as we have all heard, has fallen. It was
9
HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
an old tree at that time, and it survived it nearly two hun- dred years. What changes took place around it and in the world from the day when it sprung from the acorn to the day of its fall.
Before Governor Willys came to America he sent forward his agent to prepare a place for his reception. While they were felling the trees upon the hill on which Willys after- ward lived, he was waited on by some Indians of South Meadow, who came to remonstrate against the cutting down of a venerable oak that stood upon the side of the mound now consecrated to freedom. It has been said this was the guide of our ancestors for centuries as to the time of planting corn. When the leaves are the size of mouse's ears, then is the time to put the seed into the ground.
That tree, says Hollister, in his history, was the Charter Oak.
The colony was soon relieved of the rule of Andross, for in 1688 a great revolution took place in England. James II. was ejected from the throne, and William, Prince of Orange, and Mary ascended it. Governor Treat resumed his office and things went on as before, and this course re- ceived the sanction of the Government in England. Still the crown wished to have the command of the militia, claim- ing it as a royal prerogative. The King conferred it on the Governor of New York. The Legislature and people re- sisted, and sent a messenger with a petition to the King. Fletcher, Governor of New York, was impatient to exercise this power. He soon made his appearance in Hartford, and ordered its militia under arms, that he might beat up for volunteers for the army. The train bands were assembled, and William Wadsworth, the senior Captain of the town, walked in front of them, busy in exercising them. Fletcher advanced to assume command, ordering Bayard of New York to read his commission and the royal instructions. Captain Wadsworth then ordered the drums to be beaten. The petulant Fletcher commanded silence. He had said to Governor Treat, I will not set my foot out of the colony till I have seen his majesty's command obeyed. Bayard of
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