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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 06750 5195
.7
GC 974.602 M588VA
Middletown
and
The American Revolution
BY
ALBERT E. VAN DUSEN
Middletown
and
The American Revolution
by
ALBERT E. VAN DUSEN
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF HISTORY
THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT
PRINTED BY JAMES D. YOUNG COMPANY
1950
PUBLISHED BY THE ROCKFALL CORPORATION OF MIDDLETOWN AND THE MIDDLESEX COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY AT THE TIME OF THE TERCENTENARY CELEBRATION OF THE CITY OF MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT 1950
The Corporation and the Society gratefully acknowledge the privilege which Professor Albert E. Van Dusen gives them in printing this History which he especially prepared for this occasion.
PLAN OF MAIN STREET, MIDDLETOWN, SHOWING THE BUILDINGS AND OCCUPANTS, FROM ABOUT 1770 TO 1775.
(By JOSEPH BARRATT, M. D., Middletown, Sept. 1836.)
Easter Wetmore, Tavern. -Bassett, Farmer. ROAD TO HARTFORD.
John Bacon, Farmer and Constable ......
Philip Mortimer, Rope Maker.
Duncan Mackintire, Barber ......
Avenue of button wood trees. ......
Capt. Cotton, Ship Master ..
-Sanford Thompson, Ship Master,
-- Samuel Bull, Merchant.
Alexander Kieth, Rope Maker .--
Philip Mortimer's Ropewalk .= Capt. Gleason, Slave Dealer. ..
..... Wait Plum, Joiner.
~· Bezaleel Fisk, Town Clerk."
Some shanties about this corner. WASHINGTON ·Col. Jabez Hamlin. ...
"Capt. Ward, Ship Master. STREET. Jacob Sebor, Merchant.
Joseph Wright, Farmer. ... Jacob Goodwin, Sea Captain. .-
1Geo. Starr, Sea Captain and Merchant ...
Nathaniel Shalor. .---
.__ Giles Hall, Ship Master.
Dr. Elliott Rawson ......
--- Col. Matthew Talcott, Merchant & Farmer. STREET.
COURT
Richard Hall, Ship Master .....
... Samuel Johnson, Shoe Maker.
-Timothy Bigelow's Tavern."
:John Stocken, Iron Works ......
D-Joseph Southmayd, Farmer.
Joseph King, Silversmith .... PARSONAGE
STREET.
Ely, Tanner and Shoe Maker ....
E -- Capt. Doan, Ship Master.
Stewart, Farmer.
-- Adino Pomeroy, Tanner.
$John Ward ...
_. Capt. Thomas Goodwin.
Ephraim Fenner, Tavern ...... ICaleb Fuller .....
-.- William Southmayd, Saddler .!
-- Return Melgs, Hatter.
Timothy Boardman, Joiner ....... Zac Paddock, Joiner .....- Elisha Clark, Trader ......
... Deacon Clark, Apothecary.
4 -- General Parsons.
ROAD TO NEW HAVEN.
Episcopal Church.
· First mayor of the city, 1784. t Built by H. Brown, a hatter. # Built by Giles Hall. § Built in 1678; afterwards occupied by Wensley Hobby, the first post master in the town : the post office was kept where he resided.
! Mr. Fuller was a schoolmaster, minister, constable, storekeeper, and kept tavern about 6 months. " The office of town clerk of Middletown has been in this family 114 years. ·· Gen. Washington put up at this tavern.
The letter a, at the head of Main street, shows the spot, or very near it, where the first meeting house was erected. b, town house.
(From Barber's Historical Collections, p. 508)
--- James Cornwall, Farmer.
... George Phillips, Merchant.
Elisha Brewster, Tavern Keeper. ....
.--- Richard Alsop, Merchant & Ship Owner.
.... Dr. Walker, Slave Dealer.
MIDDLETOWN AND
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
N THE three-hundredth anniversary of Middletown's founding, it seems appropriate to recall some of the more stirring years in the long history of the town. Perhaps no period of the three centuries possesses more intrinsic interest and special significance than that of the American Revolution, 1775-1783. In common with most of the large American towns, Middletown found its pattern of life severely jolted and shaken by the bitter fight for independence. Fortunately for the townspeople no "Redcoats" ever marched through the streets, but many citizens faced them on grim battlefields elsewhere.
BACKGROUND OF THE REVOLUTION
The American Revolution appeared to break out suddenly in the famous skirmishes at Lexington and Concord in April 1775. In reality the war came only after several decades of growing misunderstandings and tensions, as Connecticut, in common with her neighbors, exhibited occasional strong opposition to British policies. Passage of the Stamp Act of 1765 produced immediate reactions. Middletown greeted the news of the Act with energetic protest, as this account indicates.
Middletown, Nov. 2d, 1765
Yesterday being the day prefixed to enslave America, by an un- righteous and oppressive , some of the principal gentlemen of this place, to shew the sense they had of their native liberty and freedom . . . met together, and agreed that the bell should toll all day with the tongue muffled; that minute guns should be discharged, and a pendant hoisted half-staff high, before the town house, which was accordingly done. All the vessels in the harbor had their pendants struck half-mast high. The gentlemen being met about noon, drank several loyal healths; and among the rest this was toasted - Liberty, property and no stamps - Confusion to all enemies of liberty, &c. In the evening, the young people dressed three images: two of them were dressed very grand; one in an arm chair, representing a late ignoble lord; the other, waiting on him, in a private conference, holding up a piece of parchment to him, with these words wrote in large characters, "Let's inslave America with
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stamps." Behind them on the stage, was a most forlorn image, with a fierce countenance, representing the D-1, with a speared fork in his right hand, and a lanthorn in his left . ... The whole scene was over about ten o'clock; when the said images were taken off the stage and treated with the ignominy their o-1 deserved, then burnt, and their ashes were stamped into the earth. Not less than eight hundred joined in this affair; and, notwithstanding the number of all ranks, the whole was conducted and concluded with the utmost decency and good order. It would be amiss to omit, that our young children, that can hardly speak, have already learnt this lesson well - Liberty, Property and no Stamps - which they sing along the streets.1
Perhaps it would not be disrespectful to suggest that many of the young patriots obviously greatly enjoyed striking their "blows" against tyranny!
A lull in the imperial struggle came in the early 1770's. The town records for the period reveal preoccupation with local affairs. In 1773 came the Boston Tea Party to which the British answered with the Coercive or "Intolerable" Acts of 1774. With the arrival of General Gage and his regular troops, popular opinion in the New England Colonies began to mount to fever pitch.
On June 15, 1774, over five hundred citizens of Middletown met to protest the rigorous British measures. They solemnly resolved to support any steps taken by a general Congress or by the State. The meeting chose Richard Alsop, Titus Hosmer, and Matthew Talcott as the local committee of correspondence2 - a pivotal body in keeping alive the spirit of opposition.
Even before the First Continental Congress met in the fall of 1774 public opinion in the town seems to have favored forthright action. When the Massachusetts delegates to the Congress stopped overnight in Middletown, they received visits from Richard Alsop, Dr. Eliot Rawson, Benjamin Henshaw, and many others. They assured the visitors that Middletown would support all actions taken, even to a complete stoppage of trade with the British, a significant stand for a town with important overseas trading interests.3
The Continental Congress quickly passed the non-import and non-export agreement, often called the Association. The General Assembly in its next session strongly urged all Connecticut to obey the new agreement.
1. John Warner Barber, Connecticut Historical Collections (New Haven, 1838), p. 512.
2. David D. Field, Centennial Address (Middletown, 1853), p. 65. Samuel Adams had launched the first committee of correspondence at Boston in 1772.
3 . Ibid., p. 66.
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Middletown acted promptly at the end of the year to implement the Association. It set up a committee of seventeen men
to inspect the Conduct of th[e] Inhabitants of this Town, touching the Said Association a[nd] see the same duly observed and kept, to publish the Nam[e] of any willful Transgressor of said Association . . . 4 Among the committee members were such local notables as Titus Hosmer, Matthew Talcott, Philip Mortimer, Jehoshephat Starr, and George Phillips.5 The very prominence of the committee's roster undoubtedly helped to solidify public opinion behind the Association. The town records, at least, give no indication of any widespread violation of the Association. After the actual outbreak of war the town annually chose a committee of inspection with similar duties.6 The group chosen at the annual meeting on December 27, 1779, for example, totalled seven, of whom Colonel Comfort Sage, Wensley Hobby (Postmaster), and Oliver Hubbard were particularly well known.7
EARLY MILITARY ACTIVITIES
The exciting news of the skirmishes at Lexington and Concord reached Middletown in a few hours and produced an immediate reaction. The local light infantry company recently organized under Captain Return Jonathan Meigs8 assembled hurriedly and marched off, fifty-six strong, to the Boston area. Simultaneously the newly-formed "troop of horse" under Captain Comfort Sage, over fifty strong, gathered and proceeded more rapidly to the same scene. In addition, a small group of seventeen men marched under Lieutenant Amos Hosford. Altogether at least 124 men from Middletown hastened to Boston as a result of the Lexington Alarm.9 When no further fighting developed in the next few days, the militiamen from Middletown and elsewhere returned home. The first call to arms had required only five days' service for Sage's "troop of horse" and eight days for Meigs' light infantry. Later the
4. Middletown Town Votes, Vol. II, 1735-1798 (hereafter cited as "Town Votes"), 342-343.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid., II, 346, 350, 385.
7. Ibid., II, 385. One man excused. The other members were Andrew Campbell, Adino Pomroy, and Samuel Bull.
8. At the May, 1774, session the General Assembly had consented to the petition of Meigs and others of Middletown to be formed into a light infantry company of sixty men as part of the Sixth Regiment of the Colonial Militia. The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut (hereafter cited as "C. R."), XIV, 296.
9. Record of Service of Connecticut Men in the War of the Revolution (hereafter cited as "Rec. Conn. Rey.") (Hartford, 1869), p. 17.
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State approved a bill for £ 177. 14s. 4 d. presented by Middletown for the services of the 124 men.10 The so-called "Lexington Alarm" thus opened Middletown's military experience in the Revolution. While the episode redounded to the credit of the town, it did not provide in any sense an actual "baptism by fire" for the local men. It undoubtedly, however, did stimulate patriotism, the martial spirit, and a greater awareness of the complex problems facing all American colonists.
More prolonged terms of service soon faced Middletown men. Upon a special early call of the General Assembly in the same spring a regiment was raised to go to the Continental Camp around Boston. It had a heavy representation from the Middletown area. Serving on the staff under Colonel Spencer of East Haddam were Major Meigs, Adjutant Charles Whiting, and Surgeon's Mate, Daniel Southmayd. The Fourth Company of the Regiment was Middletown's own, under Meigs. Most of the five officers and ninety-five non- commissioned officers and privates served from early in May 1775 until discharge late in December.11 There was no fighting involved- merely steady siege service-but it afforded the first experience with Continental forces.
For a few volunteers from the siege forces, however, the shooting war soon began. After the bold capture of Fort Ticonderoga in May, 1775,12 many Americans favored an expedition into Canada. Upon approval of the plan, General Richard Montgomery organized thirteen companies of volunteers, mostly New Englanders. Connecticut's quota consisted of one company in which Middletown had at least two representatives; namely, Major Meigs on Benedict Arnold's staff, and Lieutenant Abijah Savage of the Connecticut Company. Lieutenant Savage was captured in the ill-fated attack on Quebec, December 31, 1775, and held a prisoner until his exchange in January 1777.13 In other campaigns, also, Middletown men were captured by the British. The treatment of prisoners often fell far short of the
10. Archives, Revolutionary War, First Series (hereafter cited as "A. R. W."), III, docs. 22, 632. Middletown ranked well in "man-days" of service among the towns which sent militiamen to Massachusetts. Seventeen towns had higher totals and thirty-two, lower. A. R. W., III, doc. 632.
11. Rec. Conn. Rev., pp. 45, 48, 49.
12. Samuel Holden Parsons, whose family came to Middletown in the War, but who himself settled here only at the end of the struggle, played an important role in planning the Ticonderoga campaign. In this study, however, Parsons will not be considered as a Revolutionary Middletown figure.
13. Rec. Conn. Rev., p. 91.
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standards expected in eighteenth-century warfare. The petition of a Middletown soldier in 1778 reflected this sad aspect of the struggle.
On the memorial of Samuel Clark of Mid[d]letown, a soldier in Colo. Bradley's regiment, shewing to this Assembly that he was one of the unhappy men taken at Fort Washington by the enemy and confined in New York untill the month of December, 1776, and then allowed with a number of other persons almost dead to come out on parole, and that he with the help of his friends reached home in a very weak and sickly condition and was necessitated to expend £ 9 12 2 for doctoring and refreshments; praying to have the same refunded out of the public treasury: Resolved by this Assembly, that the memorialist receive out of the treasury of this State the aforesaid sum of £ 9 12 2. . . . 14
Despite the hardships of war Middletown remained firm in the fight for freedom. In fact, the patriotic fires apparently burned in more than the hearts of the young men of Middletown!
About sixty aged gentlemen at Middletown, (as was the case in other towns in Connecticut) formed themselves into a company to attain the military art, with a determination of preserving the liberty of their country; the drummer of said company was over eighty years of age, and was as much engaged and alert as in his younger days.15
LOYALISTS AND PRISONERS
Many States faced a serious Loyalist, or Tory, problem during part or all of the War. Connecticut had only a relatively small number of Loyalists, but they were dangerously concentrated in Fairfield County, especially in Ridgefield and Newtown.16 Middle- town, however, never had any appreciable number of Loyalists. Not a single Middletown inhabitant, for instance, appears in the long list of Connecticut Loyalist owners whose property was confiscated.17
An undated petition to the selectmen of Middletown suggests, however, that some disaffection existed.
. .. And as Stephen Ranney and Widow Mary Bigelow Innkeeper in Middletown, are justly suspected as dispos'd to Aid, and Assist those that are our Enemies, of which their Houses have been Receptacles; And have entertain'd at unseasonable hours of Night known Enemies to their Country; for these and many more Reasons Pray that they may be
14. Public Records of the State of Connecticut (hereafter cited as "S. R"), I, 498. 15. Royal R. Hinsman, A Historical Collection . .. of the Part Sustained by Connecticut during the War of the Revolution (Hartford, 1842), p. 47.
16. Otto Zeichner, Connecticut's Years of Controversy (Chapel Hill, 1949), pp. 182-184, 201-203.
17. A. R. W., XXXIV, "Confiscated Estates". At least two parcels of land in Middletown were confiscated, but they belonged to a New York and an ex- Norwich inhabitant respectively. Ibid., XXXIV, doc. 132; also S. R., II, 427; III, 449.
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restrain'd immediately from keeping Tavern. And that some Restrictions be laid on those Persons sent here from other parts, and their Associates who are suspected being Enemies to the United States of America, or be remov'd out of this Town. . . 18
No less than forty-five persons signed the petition - Chauncey Whittlesey, Ebenezer Sage, David Starr, Seth Wetmore, Jr., and Wensley Hobby being among the signers. No record of further action has been found.
The town's reputation for loyalty and its interior location led early in the War to the quartering in town of various prominent Loyalists, including ex-Governor William Franklin of New Jersey. Franklin, himself, had asked permission to move from Wallingford to Middle- town, which the Council of Safety granted. At the same time the Council voted that none of the prisoners at Hartford or Wethersfield be permitted any longer to go into Middletown except by a special license from the Governor.19 Perhaps procedures had been too lenient. In December 1776, for example, seven Loyalists in Middletown and two in Windham were permitted by the Council of Safety to return home to New York City when they promised not to give intelligence to the enemy nor to take up arms against the United States, and to return to Connecticut on request.20
Normal safeguards apparently were inadequate to curb the energetic Franklin. He became a center of Loyalist propaganda, and assiduously distributed the proclamations of the Howe brothers, as well as some of their promises of protection.21 The rumor spread that some members of the General Assembly had accepted the protection documents.22 In any event Middletown patriots soon had had enough of ex-Governor Franklin. At the town meeting of January 7, 1777, they voted that Captain Samuel Russell, Colonel Comfort Sage, and Seth Wetmore, Jr., be a committee to present a petition to Governor Trumbull to "remove Said Governor Franklin ... for Safety of this
18. MS. (undated) in box entitled "Connecticut Towns, Li-Newt", at Connecticut Historical Society.
19. C. R., XV, 482.
20. S. R., I, 152.
21. The Howe brothers issued proclamations calling upon all Americans to pledge their loyalty to the King and to give up the Patriot cause. In return the Howes offered certificates of pardon and protection by British arms.
22. Titus Hosmer, then in Philadelphia as a delegate to Congress, evinced much concern over Franklin's pernicious deeds in Middletown. Hosmer asked William Williams to seek factual proof of the claim that three members of the General Assembly had received "protections" from Franklin at Middletown. Hosmer to Williams, June 22, 1777, Burnett, Letters of Members of the Continental Congress, II, 362 n.
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Town & State."23 Word of Franklin's machinations, meanwhile, had reached the Continental Congress and caused that body to take vigorous countermeasures. A resolve of Congress on April 22, 1777, took cognizance of Franklin's dangerous activities and requested Governor Trumbull to order Franklin into close confinement without access to other persons or writing materials.24
Eight days later the Council of Safety considered a Congressional resolution and voted to convey Franklin to Litchfield with full in- structions for the sheriff there.25 Doubtless Middletown was over- joyed to see the last of him! Little more was heard of dangerous Loyalist prisoners at Middletown for the remainder of the war.
SOME SIGNIFICANT LEADERS
The two most outstanding revolutionary political figures of Middletown undoubtedly were Titus Hosmer and Jabez Hamlin. Each left an indelible imprint not only upon Middletown but also upon the wider American scene.
Hosmer, a Yale graduate of 1757, settled in Middletown about 1760 and undertook the practice of law. He married Lydia Lord in November 1761.26 Hosmer rapidly forged to the front in his pro- fession, and won various public positions of responsibility. He served as one of the town's two representatives in the General Assembly from October 1773 until May 1778, at which time he was elected an Assistant in the Upper House.27 Known as a Moderate Whig in his politics,28 he served on the local committee of correspondence set up in 1774.
In the legislature Hosmer devoted his time to a variety of duties on committees dealing with such matters as production of lead and sulphur, buying flax and axes for public use, investigating Yale's problems, auditing State accounts, and procuring fire-arms and gun-locks.29 A signal honor came in election to the small Connecticut delegation to the Interstate Providence Convention in December 1776;
23. Town Votes, II, 351. Early in January 1777 Franklin had sent a strong letter to Governor Trumbull "remonstrating in terms more sharp than decent" against the Governor's failure to answer an earlier letter. Fanklin wanted to return to his family. The Council, with Hosmer one of the four present, advised the Governor not to accede to the request. S. R., I, 154.
24. Journals of Congress, II, 121.
25. S. R., I, 217.
26 Eight children were born of this union, of whom seven survived the father. Middletown, Births, Marriages, Deaths, II, 217.
27 Field, Centennial Address, pp. 97-98.
28. Zeichner, Connecticut's Years of Controversy, p. 167.
29 C. R., XV, 17-18, 199, 482. S. R., I, 217, 424; II, 412.
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and to one at Springfield the next summer.30 The Conventions met to discuss and recommend action on some of the economic and political problems created by the War.
The State regularly chose Hosmer as one of its spokesmen in the Continental Congress, although he actually served only during the summer of 1778.31 His trenchant comments on the behavior of many members have a modern note!
Nine States make a Congress, some States have delegates so very negligent so much immersed in the pursuit of pleasure or business, that it is very rare we can make a Congress before near eleven o'clock ... and those who occasion the delay are callous to admonition and reproof .... When we are assembled several gentlemen have such a knack at starting questions of order, raising debates upon critical, captious, and trifling amendments, calling for the previous question, and other acts {so] that ... precious time is lost, and the public business left undone.32
From time to time Hosmer attended meetings of the Governor's Council of Safety, which more than any other group handled the day-by-day problems of the wartime State. He was especially active in this way early in 1777 both at Middletown, and at Lebanon, the usual rendezvous. Hosmer took his duties seriously, especially the tedious aspects, as the Council minutes plainly reveal: "Mr. Hosmer stayed in town, was employed all Monday writing letters, &c."33
In 1780, after lengthy discussion, Congress decided to establish a special court of appeals to handle final appeals of all cases involving captures at sea. George Wythe of Virginia, William Paca of Mary- land, and Titus Hosmer were chosen as the first judges. In February Hosmer received official notification of his election to this important tribunal.34 He never undertook the challenging new duties, for he died suddenly on August 4, 1780, at only forty-four years of age. Thus Middletown lost one of its most illustrious citizens at the height of his career.
In many ways Jabez Hamlin's Revolutionary career resembled that of Titus Hosmer. Hamlin too was prominent as a civil rather
30. Hosmer was in distinguished company. Eliphalet Dyer, Nathaniel Wales, and Richard Law were fellow-delegates at Providence; Roger Sherman and Samuel Huntington, at Springfield. S. R., I, 585, 601.
31. The legislature normally elected five delegates to the Congress and hoped that at least three would be in attendance. C. R., XV, 136 (e. g.). Sometimes, however, it was difficult to keep even one member there.
32. Titus Hosmer to Governor Trumbull, August 31, 1778, Edmund G. Burnett, Letters of Members of the Continental Congress, III, 394-396.
33. S. R., I, 152-216, passim.
34. Burnett, op. cit., V, 12, 19, 24-25.
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than as a military leader. He was active in the legislature, although in the small Upper House, rather than the Lower House. He served as Judge of the Hartford County Court and of the Pro- bate Court for the Middletown District.35 One finds frequent references to membership on important committees dealing with print- ing of "bills of credit", the lead mine, sulphur, Mohegan Indians, and revision of the militia laws.36 From time to time he sat with the Governor's Council of Safety. In the military line of endeavor he got only as far as being appointed lieutenant in a company of the Militia in October 1776.37 By and large, Hamlin's record in the Revolution was filled with hard, unspectacular work for a Patriot cause. When Middletown was incorporated as one of the first four cities of the State in 1784, Hamlin became the first mayor - ample evidence of the high regard of his fellow-townsmen.
Among the other Middletown personalities who deserve recog- nition for Revolutionary services are Richard Alsop, Benjamin Henshaw, Elijah Hubbard, Nehemiah Hubbard, Samuel Russell, Comfort Sage, and Chauncey Whittlesey.
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