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Gc 974.602 Sa34m 1771779
M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01125 7331
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SALISBURY CONNECTICUT CANNON !
REVOLUTIONARY WAR
By Louis F. Middlebrook
NEWCOMB & GAUSS CO., Publishers Salem, Mass., U. S. A. 1935
1.71779
JONATHAN TRUMBULL Governor of Connecticut from 1769 to 1784
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Middlebrook, Louis Frank, 1866- Salisbury Connecticut cannon, revolutionary war. by Louis F. Middlebrook. Salem. Mass., Newcomb & Gauss co .. 1235. 3 p. 1., 03 p. front., illus. plates, ports .. map. 21. "Limited edition, 202 coples. no: 291."
GHILF CARD
1. Firearms industry and trade - Salisbury, Conn. 2. Salisbury. Conn .- Hist .- Revolution. 3. Ordnance-Manuf. 4. C. S .- Army -- Ord- nance and ordnance stores. 5. Connecticut-Hist .- Revolution. Title.
35-9:70
Library of Congress
UF534.CSM15
G 4605
€
Copy 2. Copyright A S1548 1352, 623.42007461 :
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64605
DEDICATED To my great grandfather Captain Stephen Middlebrook of Stratford, Connecticut, Watch & Ward Company Revolutionary War.
-L. F. M.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
JONATHAN TRUMBULL, GOVERNOR OF CON- NECTICUT
·
frontispiece
PAGE
SITE OF SALISBURY CANNON FOUNDRY
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SALISBURY IRON WORKS circa 1854
9
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PORTRAIT OF CAPT. SAMUEL FORBES, IRON-
MASTER
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EIGHTEENTII
CENTURY BLAST FURNACE
24
CONSTRUCTION OF CANNON MOLD OR SHELL .
26
DRYING OF CANNON MOLD OR SHELL
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27
A SHIP'S GUN AND ITS CARRIAGE
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35
BORING MILL
37
.
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SWIVEL PATTERNING
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39
TRUNNIONS, PATTERNS AND ORNAMENTS
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40
MINIATURE, COL. JOSHUA PORTER
46
A 6-POUNDER GUN .
48
·
AY ISTH CENTURY GUN NAMED "HANKS" .
50
IRON SWIVEL GUN .
51
Two SWIVEL GUNS FROM YORKTOWN
52
BLUNDERBUS SWIVELS
53
·
FOREWORD
T HAT the Colonists, with the possible exception of those in Connecticut, were unprepared and without munitions of war in 1775 is an undis- puted fact. What meagre supplies were acquired to begin with were either seized or captured in combat until other ways and means to produce them were found.
It is not generally known that, on April 28, 1775, nine days after the actual outbreak of hostilities occurred at Lexington and Concord, when Hancock's express riders had brought the news to Connecticut, three hundred pounds (£300) were taken out of the Colonial treasury of Connecticut by Silas Deane of Wethersfield, Samuel Wyllys of Hartford, Samuel Holden Parsons of Lyme, Thomas Mumford of Groton, and Adam Babcock of New London, without the knowledge of the Assembly, in order to plan and · finance the secret expedition under Ethan Allen with a small force of eighty-three men for the purpose of surprising and seizing the British post at Ticon- deroga, for which they gave promissory notes. (£510 more were taken in like manner from the Connecticut treasury May 15th and 17th for the necessary ex- penses of the party, their support, and sustenance after the raid.) The object of that sudden and daring expedition was to acquire the enormous amount of warlike stores, especially the cannon, that were in the possession of the enemy at that post, for use of the Provincial forces.
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2 SALISBURY CONNECTICUT CANNON
The conception of this raid was accredited to Col. Samuel Holden Parsons1 of Lyme (1737-1789), who drew into conference his fellow conspirers immediately after the general alarm from Boston had reached Connecticut. The final adjustment of their action did not take place until May, 1777, when the following resolution is found recorded in Volume 1, pages 292-3, of the Public Records of Connecticut :-
"Upon the memorial of Samuel Holden Parsons Esq"., shewing to this Assembly that in April 1775, the memo- rialist together with Colo Samuel Wyllys, Mr. Silas Dean and others did undertake the surprizing and seizing the enemies post at Ticonderoga without the knowledge of the Assembly, and for that purpose did take a quantity of money from the treasury, for which they gave their promissory receipts, and that the whole
1 Samuel Holden Parsons, American soldier, b. Lyme, Conn., 14 May, 1737; d. near Marietta, Ohio, 17 Nov. 1789. He was graduated from Harvard in 1756, admitted to the bar 1759, and practiced law at Lyme, Conn. For 18 years he was a member of the Connecticut State Assembly, and is accredited with originating the idea of a General Co- lonial Congress. At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War he was appointed Colonel and stationed in Massa- chusetts. He planned the capture of Ticonderoga, exe- cuted by Col. Ethan Allen, and after the evacuation of Boston by the British was transferred to New York, where he participated in the battles of Long Island, Harlem Heights, and White Plains, and later served under Wash- ington in New Jersey. He was a member of the Board which tried Major John Andre, and in that year was promoted Major General, and succeeded to the command of Israel Putnam, which he held until the close of the War. After the War he resumed his law practice, and was appointed by Washington in 1789 the first Judge of the Northwest Territory, and took up his residence near Marietta, Ohio, where he died the same year.
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of said moneys were expended in said service; praying that said receipts may be canceled and given up, as per memorial on file : RESOLVED by this Assembly, that said receipts given as aforesaid be delivered up to . the memorialists or some of the persons who executed them, to be cancelled, upon their exhibiting and lodging with the Committee of Pay-Table the accounts and vouchers of their disposition and expenditure of the sums contained in said receipts, which are as follows, viz: One receipt dated 15th May 1775, for £10: 0: 0 signed Samuel Bishop, junr of New Haven, William Williams (of Lebanon) and Samuel H. Parsons; one receipt dated 28th April 1775, for £200-0-0 signed Thomas Mumford, Samuel H. Parsons, Silas Dean and Samuel Wyllys; one receipt dated same 28th April 1775 for £100-0-0, signed Thomas Mumford, Adam Babcock, Samuel H. Parsons and Silas Dean; and also one other receipt dated May 17, 1775, for £500-0-0, signed Joshua Porter (of Salisbury), Thomas Mumford, Jesse Root (of Coventry), Ezekiel Williams (of Weathersfield), Samuel Wyllys and Charles Webb of Stamford. And it is further resolved, that the Committee of Pay-Table upon receiving the said accounts and vouchers of the expenditure of said monies charge the amount thereof to the Continent, and that the amount of the sums con- tained in said receipts be allowed the Treasurer in ac- count with this State on his delivering up said receipts pursuant to this resolution."
The cannon and munitions were sorely needed, and the efforts and prompt action of these men of Connecticut form one of the most prominent features in American History. The Inventory2 of the results of that notable expedition follows :--
2 Lossing's Field Book, Amer. Rev.
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120 pieces of cannon
2 10" mortars
1 howitzer
1 cohorn
50 swivels
10 tons of musket ball
3 cart loads of flints
30 new gun carriages
A quantity of shells
100 stands of arms
2 brass cannon
10 casks of powder and
48 prisoners of war, who with their commanding offi- cer Capt. De la Place were brought down to Hartford gaol and there confined
These stores were surrendered with the fortress, to Ethan Allen, on May 10, 1775, - 20 days after the battle at Lexington.
In November, 1775, Gen. Henry Knox brought down 55 cannon, 2500 pounds of lead, and a barrel of flints from Ticonderoga to Cambridge on ox sleds ; some of these cannon went to Dorchester Heights and were there used in bombarding the British positions, which eventually caused the evacuation of Boston in March, 1776. More cannon from Ticonderoga found their way to the coast positions and posts established by the Colonists for defense. A letter from Joshua Huntington of Norwich to the Congress written in February, 1776, includes the following appeal :-
"I also request that the Matter of furnishing Cannon for securing the Harbour of New London might not be delayed. It is the only Harbour in this Colony & I think it of utmost importance to us to have it Strongly Fortified & that without Delay. I know of no way to procure Cannon So Readily as to bring them from Ticonderoga. Wish I had an order from Congress for about Fifteen or Twenty from Eighteen
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to twenty four pounders. I would Soon have them Down. Would Willingly Leave all other Business at this Time. I am afraid it will be Delayed Untill it is Too Late. Pray Exert your Self in this matter. Not only the preservation of New London & Norwich but the Safety of the Whole Country may depend on it, & in fact it may prove a Vast Saving to the Continent, in keeping open a Channel for bringing forward Flour and other provisions from the Westward. I mention above that I wish had an order for Cannon." 3
The cannon were apparently "brought down," as according to a letter4 from Andrew Huntington to his brother Joshua August 12, 1776, he states that a part of Col. Finney's Regiment with teams were sent to Ticonderoga and that he had advanced £25 in cash to six of the men to carry them to "Ticondiroga."
Long before this time, however, plans had been made by Governor Trumbull and his Council of Safety, for the casting of cannon and shot at Salisbury.
These necessities were scarce, although some of them had been purchased in the French and Dutch West Indies and brought in as ballast. Eighty-one cannon and an enormous amount of accessories had also been brought into New London by Commodore · Hopkins in April, 1776, captured at New Provi- dence.5 - L. F. M.
3 Huntington Papers, Conn. Hist. Soc.
4 Ibid.
5 Maritime Connecticut, Vol. 1, pp. 11-12.
SALISBURY CONNECTICUT CANNON
T HIS work will be concentrated upon a special subject which does not seem to have been particularly considered in histories pertaining to the Revolutionary War.
The Colony of Connecticut was amply though quietly prepared for the coming struggle. Perfect unanimity prevailed. It was unnecessary to recon- struct the government as was done in Massachusetts Bay, or to depose the Governor as was done in all the other Colonies. A Council of Safety was immediately set up to administer everything that was necessary to set in motion the preparations that had already taken form. It was a firm governing body with headquarters at Lebanon, 25 miles north of New London, and was composed of many of the Colony's most able men. Eleven hundred and forty sessions6 were held there in Jonathan Trumbull's little "War Office" (still standing and previously used as a country store). It was there that couriers arrived with dispatches, and, with orders from that place, hurried away for New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Providence and elsewhere. Here were written the orders by the faithful secretary of the Council, John Porter, for the field and camp, and plans made for the raising of troops, establishment of fortifications at New London and along the Con- necticut coast line, fitting out of war vessels and privateers, the purchasing of provisions, disposing 6 Miss Ellen C. Williams of Lebanon.
6
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COL . JOSHUA PORTER
RICHP SMITH
STORE
OLD TURNPIKE
FURNACE HILL
FURNACE POND
STREET
ALLEN
COL. ETHAN ALLEN
FURNACE LOT
POND
SITE OF REVOLUTIONARY WAR CANNON FOUNDRY AT SALISBURY, CONNECTICUT Courtesy of Malcolm D. Rudd, Lakeville, Ct.
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SALISBURY CONNECTICUT CANNON
of prisoners, and providing munitions of war. Powder mills had been erected at Windham and operated by Col. Jedediah Elderkin and Nathaniel Wales, - at East Hartford by William Pitkin, - and at New Haven by Isaac Doolittle.
The cannon and shot were cast at the Salisbury Furnace. Here was the extensive ore bed of iron, - brown hematite, - owned and occasionally operated by one Richard Smith, a Royalist and merchant who fled to Boston at the outbreak of hostilities. The discovery of this ore dates back to the early part of the 18th century after the land had been granted to Daniel Bissell of Windsor.
Salisbury is about 63 miles northwest of Hartford, in the corner of the State. It was first settled by Dutch from New York about 1720. The New England settlers came to the town about 1740, and it was incorporated in 1741. The mining of the iron ore found in the vicinity soon became an important industry, and during the entire Revolu- tionary War much of the cannon and shot for the several Colonies was cast at Salisbury. Surface ore had been dug and used in that locality by various artisans and blacksmiths in their forges as occasion- ally discovered references guardedly indicate, because it was not considered strictly loyal or legal to use iron except when it had been properly acquired by importation from the Mother Country. The Colonists were more or less handicapped and were what might be termed "illicit traders" if they availed themselves of needed commodities without having first "ren-
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dered unto Caesar . . . ". But the Constitution of the Colony of Connecticut had been adopted in 1639, and its Charter followed in 1672, both defended and preserved. Rights were granted by both documents, so that the Colony in this respect was perhaps better off than some of the others, and many of the Colonists felt their advantages more consoling and useful.
The entire Works, including ore beds, limestone, woodlands for charcoal, and the blast furnace itself, were all properly confiscated by the new State, and placed under the management of Col. Joshua Porter of Salisbury (now Lakeville), who was appointed as overseer March 18, 1776, and given legislative authority to engage the necessary personnel with which to operate the important industry of cannon casting for the use of State and nation.
This iron blast furnace was the "single instance of a furnace, the only one in the Colony for making pig iron" referred to by Governor William Pitkin December 5, 1766, in his report to the Lords Com- missioners for Trade and Plantations at London, --- and Chief Justice Samuel Church, LL. D., was correct in his statement delivered at Litchfield in August, 1851, when he said that no manufacturing interest was prevalent in northwestern Connecticut much before the Revolutionary War. The policy and laws of Great Britain had discouraged this. But the rich iron mine which had been early discovered in Salisbury could not lie neglected. Iron was indispensable. The ore bed there had been granted by the Colonial Assembly to Daniel Bissell
.4.
,
THE SALISBURY IRON WORKS Circa 1854
Courtesy Malcolm D. Rudd, Lakeville, Ct.
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SALISBURY CONNECTICUT CANNON
of Windsor as early as 1731 and produced a better quality of iron than any imported from abroad or found elsewhere at home. The manufacture of bloomed iron in small quantities, in the region of the ore, commenced before the organization of some of the towns in what later became Litchfield County, and as later shown by various deeds of conveyance granted and recorded in the Salisbury Town Records, when it became a town.
The ore bed in Salisbury was set off and referred to as Lots Nos. 18 and 19, First Division. The map of this famous ore bed is very complicated and bewildering, as discovered in the papers of Samuel Forbes, Esq., of Canaan (1729-1827).7
The first deed appears in Book 1, at page 139, when Benjamin White conveyed Lot 19 to Samuel Bellows December 27, 1742-3. On March 4, 1745-6, Samuel Bellows deeded the ore on the easterly part of Lot 19 to George Holloway (Book 2, page 30).
Thomas Lamb, who came from Pascotanck County, Province of North Carolina, may have acquired access to the ore by means of some agreement with Daniel Bissell, as evidence indicates that he erected a forge at Lime Rock as early as 1734, and his experiment was soon followed by others in Salisbury, Canaan, Cornwall, Kent, Norfolk and Colebrook, the ore being transported from the beds to the several forges in leathern sacks on horses. Bar iron, there- fore, became a sort of circulating medium of trade,
7 Papers of Everett E. Lyles.
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SALISBURY CONNECTICUT CANNON
and promissory notes were oftentimes made payable in iron rather than in money.
Who else, if anyone, owned or acquired the ore between 1734 and December 27, 1742, when Benja- min White owned it, has not been' determined.
The next transfer of the ore appears in Book 3 at page 534, when Ann Holloway, on September 24, 1759, deeded all of the ore that she owned on the easterly part of Lot 19 to Robert Livingston, Jr., an iron-master living at Albany and owning iron works at Ancram over the New York border.
One Philip Chatfield seems to have been an owner of the ore also, as a deed is found recorded in Book 3 at page 605, dated November 25, 1760, by which he conveyed all the ore he owned on the eastern part of Lot 19, to Robert Livingston, Jr. Chatfield had evidently acquired possession of the ore perhaps as a quick speculation, for at page 608, Book 3, is found the record of a transfer to Chatfield under date of December 2, 1760, of all the rights of one John Reed of Stamford to Lot 19 receiving the ore on one acre. Robert Livingston, Jr., had already disposed of his holdings to John Reed by deed which, however, did not get recorded until March 30, 1761, although conveyed the previous year.
On November 16, 1761, John Reed conveyed to Samuel and Elisha Forbes of Canaan, the so-called "Chatfield" ore bed, consisting of one acre of ore on Lot 19, and the "first bounds" of Lot 18 ore bed was attached to the above deed.
The next transfer appears recorded in Book 3,
CAPT. SAMUEL FORBES Iron-master
(By courtesy of Everett E. Lyles)
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SALISBURY CONNECTICUT CANNON
page 764, when Lennerd (sic) Owen, Elijah Owen and Eliphalet Owen, all of Salisbury, deeded to Col. John Hazelton of Uxbridge, Massachusetts Bay Colony, and Samuel and Elisha Forbes of Canaan, and Ethan Allen of Cornwall, the privilege of cutting and coaling two thirds of the proper coal wood standing on a tract of land purchased of Thomas Lamb of Pascotanck County, North Caro- lina, said wood tract located on Taconnick Mountain about 3763 acres,-said deed from Lamb dated May 27, 1761, -- "the wood to be cut and the brush piled up according to husbandry,," and the Owens brothers agreed never to build any Iron Works or Furnace that would damnify the said Hazelton, Forbes's or Allen, and gave full liberty to the latter to build a Furnace on said land and to use the water in the ponds to carry the Furnace. This deed is dated January 8, 1762, and is witnessed by John and Ann Hutchinson.
The first Furnace for the production of cast iron was built at what is now Lakeville in 1762 by Col. John Hazelton, Capt. Samuel Forbes, and Col. Ethan Allen of Ticonderoga fame, and "Squire" Samuel Forbes became the prominent factor as the original iron master in that section of Connecticut. He was born at Simsbury November 10, 1729, went to Canaan with his father, John Forbes, in 1743, married Lucy Pierce of Canaan August 23, 1754, and had several children. He died at Canaan, Connecticut, November 27, 1827, aged 98 years.8
8 Papers of Everett E. Lyles.
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This furnace at Salisbury (Lakeville) was operated for some time by this partnership, but was sold to Charles Caldwell of Hartford and George Caldwell of Salisbury, who continued the industry until December, 1768, when several deeds appear trans- ferring their interests to Richard Smith, merchant, of Boston, who had also acquired other interests in an iron works at Colebrook, where "refined" iron, or steel, was manufactured for making tools.
Difficulties were encountered in adjusting the conveyances from the Caldwells, due to incumbrances with others from whom loans had been negotiated. These difficulties were overcome by Capt. William Tiley of Hartford, who acted as attorney for Richard Smith, and succeeded in having an execution granted by the Assembly's decree dated April 18, 1772, in answer to a petition made in May, 1770. A quit- claim deed also appears from Ezekiel Williams, Esq., of Wethersfield (a claimant).
As to the Colebrook works where "refined" iron was made, this little plant was evidently one referred to by Governor William Pitkin in his report to London, as "works for refining said pigs into bar iron, which fall short of supplying the inhabitants with a sufficiency of iron - also one refinery for steel, but not sufficient to supply the inhabitants with that article." The Colebrook plant was an extremely isolated one, difficult to get to, and from, with its product. Just when it was acquired or originated has not been determined, but evidence is found that Smith petitioned the Assembly in May,
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1771, for a new highway from the dwelling of Seth Smith in New Hartford, northwest by the side of the Farmington River, through New Hartford and through the township of Barkhamsted and by the Iron Works of Richard Smith, to meet the highway near the dwelling of Joseph Rockwell of Colebrook, about 8 miles. Nothing was done and the petition was renewed in May, 1772. Nothing was done at that session, but in May, 1774, the new road was authorized by Act of the Assembly, and this opened a fair artery for the marketing of his refined iron or steel. The tools for boring cannon and other purposes were made at Colebrook. At the opening of the Revolution, Smith returned to England leaving these iron or steel works in charge of his clerk, one Jacob Ogden,9 a native of New Jersey, who carried on the work of refining iron at Colebrook during the War. Ogden was born November 10, 1749, married in 1772 Jerusha Rockwell, daughter of Joseph Rockwell of Colebrook. He died March 30, 1825. These iron works were burned August 30, 1781. Ogden then removed to Hartford, where he carried on as a merchant. He was a vestryman of Christ Church in Hartford and was a liberal subscriber towards its erection.
On August 20, 1779, he filed a "memorial" with the Council of Safety in session at Lebanon, - to have ten men exempted from a draft in the army until the succeeding January, as follows: "Resolved, - That William Denison, Charles Mc-
9 Ogden Genealogy.
2
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SALISBURY CONNECTICUT CANNON
Carly, John Mead, Charles Day, Peter Codman, John Johnson, William Marshall, John Bates, William Ransom, and Chief Colman an Indian from Oblong (N. Y.) be exempted from any draught till the first of January next (unless upon a general alarm) or their leaving said Ogden's service." (Vol. 2, Records of Connecticut, page 387.)
Again, at Hartford April 23, 1780, - "Upon the petition of Jacob Ogden of Colebrook shewing to this Board that he hath employed a number of hands in the steel and iron manufacture works at said Colebrook, principally foreigners, and that it is impracticable for him to carry on said business so necessary at this time for the public in general, and of the utmost utility to the inhabitants of this state, unless he and his workmen can be exempted from drafts during the time they are employed in said service and praying that they may be, Resolved, by this Board that the memorialist and to the number of eleven of his workmen, being principally foreign- ers, be and they hereby are exempted from detach- ment to serve either in the militia or Continental Army while employed and actually serving in said works for the year ensuing."
These iron or steel works were also confiscated by the Council of Safety, and tools of all sorts were made there until the place was destroyed by fire.
Governor Trumbull and his Council took first action toward the use of the Salisbury Furnace for providing the necessary munitions of war on January 9, 1776, as it was reported to be "in good repair and
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capable of being improved to the great advantage of the public by manufacturing iron, casting cannon &c." Col. Jedediah Elderkin of Windham was appointed as a: "Committee" to investigate, and reported his findings to the Council January 29, 1776. And on February 2, 1776, the Council voted to take over and improve the Furnace, and reappointed Colonel Elderkin as their agent to again go to Salisbury, accompanied by his son Bela, and do everything necessary, and to arrange for the coal and wood and 50 acres of land near the Furnace belonging to Mrs. Hamlin and Mrs. Whittlesey. Governor Trumbull (Feb. 3, 1776) lent Elderkin £100 to enable him to do the necessaries at the Furnace in preparation for the casting of cannon. And on February 16, 1776, Lemuel Bryant of Middleborough, Massachusetts Bay, was employed as cannon founder, David Carver, Zebulon White, and David Oldman were engaged as moulders, - "and if any more moulders be brought, to go to Salisbury before April 1st 1776." Ou March 18, 1776, Col. Joshua Porter was voted "Chief Provider and Over- seer of the Works." The Governor and Council, however, had a general superintendence over this important industry during the entire seven years of the War, and, as Stuart says in his Life of Jonathan Trumbull, published in 1859, - "It is plain from the memorials that remain, that his energy particu- larly prompted its success. Much of the time he had an express-rider running from his own door at Lebanon, to bear his own, or the orders of himself
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