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学流心
Gc 974.602 N83d 1359868
M. L
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
m 3 1833 01151 3600
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Courtesy of Manugian
HISTORIC NORWALK GREEN
Across this strip of land the first settlers passed, it is believed ; through here the British soldiers marched to the Battle of the Rocks on France street : through here the stage coach dashed on its way to the Connecticut House ; from this point the little band of Norwalkers left to found Norwalk, Ohio ; churches and schools have come and gone; new homes have replaced the old; the Green remains one of the prettiest spots in Norwalk, fraught with memories of the past.
THE
ROMANCE OF NORWALK
By Elsie Nicholas Danenberg
SECTIONAL HISTORY SERIES
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THE STATES HISTORY COMPANY 156 Fifth Avenue New York City
COPYRIGHT 1929 BY THE STATES HISTORY COMPANY
Printed in the United States of America
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1359868
Dedicated to
ALFRED S. O'BRIEN My Inspiration
LEIGH DANENBERG My Consolation
Thanks Due
Norwalk Public Library Miss Margaret Wilson
South Norwalk Public Library
Miss Ella Lindeberg
This History has Appeared Serially in Part in the Evening Sentinel
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. INDIAN INFLUENCE I
II. COMING OF THE WHITE MAN
7
III. PURCHASE OF NORWALK
20
IV. FIRST SETTLERS .
35
V. EARLY PROBLEMS
51
VI. GROWTH OF TOWN .
63
VII. BOUNDARY DISPUTES
71
VIII. FIRST INN-FIRST SCHOOL .
80
IX. OFFSHOOTS OF NORWALK
92
X. NORWALK IN 1750 .
IOI
XI. FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR
III
XII. GOVERNOR FITCH OF NORWALK
I2I
XIII. REVOLUTIONARY WAR BEGINS .
I34
XIV. TORIES IN NORWALK
146
XV. BURNING OF NORWALK 152
XVI.
REBUILDING THE TOWN
I72
XVII.
STAGE COACH DAYS
179
XVIII.
PAPERS-PAUPERS
193
XIX. WAR OF 1812 200
XX. PROSPEROUS DAYS
208
XXI.
TRANSPORTATION
213
XXII.
BANKS - CHURCHES
226
·
vi
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
XXIII. SCHOOLS . 244
XXIV. NORWALK IN 1850 262
XXV. HATTING . 270
XXVI. CIVIL WAR 291
XXVII. PEACE AND PROGRESS 306
XXVIII. "OLD WELL," SOUTH NORWALK 320
XXIX. LIBRARIES-TELEPHONES 326
XXX. OYSTER INDUSTRY 34I
XXXI. LETTERS-LIGHTS 369
XXXII. "THE BRIDGE," NORWALK
381
XXXIII. CONSOLIDATION 387
XXXIV. WORLD WAR 396
XXXV. ISLANDS-CLUBS 414
XXXVI. MODERN NORWALK
APPENDICES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
·
482
INDEX
485 ·
424
447
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Historic Norwalk Green .
. Frontispiece
Indian Map of Connecticut .
Facing Page 4
Ludlow Castle, Ludlow, England
66
20
Norwalk's Original Homelots
46
Map of New York-Connecticut Boundary Dispute
76
Yankee Doodle House in Norwalk, Connecticut
I16
Yankee Doodle House in Rensselaer, New York Old Connecticut House
116
Fitch House on East Avenue .
162
Railroad Disaster .
66 66
222
Early Crofut and Knapp Factory .
274
First Oyster Steamboat
66 66
274
Route of Norwalkers in Civil War
300
Horse Car on West Avenue
328
Early South Norwalk Library .
328
Oyster Grounds under State Jurisdiction .
66
364
Oyster Grounds under City Jurisdiction .
366
Norwalk Islands
416
Aerial Map of Norwalk
66
424
Modern Norwalk .
66
444
66
162
INDIAN INFLUENCE
CHAPTER I
Significance of Indian in Local History-Origin of Norwalk Red Man-Appearance-Habits and Customs-Charac- ter and Temperament-Aid to White Man-Illnesses Suffered-Causes of Decline.
THE vehement, implacable hatred of two Indian chieftains for each other, the slaughter house battle in the murky Pequot swamp just a few miles from here, and the apprizing eye of one Roger Ludlow, were determining factors in the long chain of circumstances which led up to the purchase of Norwalk, February 26, 1640. Years of romance and ad- venture, of blood-curdling battles, of destructive fires, of starvation struggles, of peace and prosperity,-the progres- sive city in which we live today has been through them all. Norwalk was an accident.
It was not the realization of golden air castles of ad- venturer or explorer; nor the heavenly haven of persecuted religious sects; nor the culmination of the green pastured dreams of settler or homesteader. Rather it was the victim of circumstances. Had there been no Pequot Indian War, it is quite possible that there would have been no Norwalk ; perhaps another town by another name, founded by another group of settlers, but not the city which we know today. The Indian background bore a tremendous significance on the early days of Norwalk. Its influence will never fade. Today we still have with us, Indian graves and burial grounds ; Indian relics and souvenirs ; clubs and organizations founded in memory of Indian heroes, and the names of In- dian chieftains on every road and highway. So important a role did the aboriginal play in the history of this city, that
I
2
ROMANCE OF NORWALK
it is impossible to understand or to get into the spirit of the romantic story of the founding of Norwalk, unless acquaintance is first made with the events which preceded that founding and with the original bronze-skinned settlers who roamed the woods and fished the waters here, long be- fore the white man drove his first log cabin stake into the ground.
Years may come and years may go but history goes on forever. Dip behind the current pages of Norwalk's ro- mantic history for a moment. Travel back through the last few centuries to the time when men were men and women wore three woolen petticoats! What tales, thrilling, dra- matic, comic and weird, are hidden in those dry and yellowed pages !
We wonder how many Norwalkers know: That Uncas the brave and the bold, Uncas the cruel and the crafty, Indian chieftain, whose name we have been taught to revere be- cause he befriended the English, was in reality a traitor and a scoundrel, who warred against his own flesh and blood to appease a selfish pride, and who used the white man to satisfy a grasping ambition? That this section of the country was once known as the Lord's Waste? That Norwalk was founded by a lawyer, the first of his profession to come to the colonies? That Barnum, the father of all Barnums in America, lived here? That during the latter part of the seventeenth century, Norwalk was nearly lost to Connecticut in an altercation between this state and New York over a boundary line? That Norwalk did not approve of the Rev- olutionary War and did not turn patriotic until the signing of the Declaration of Independence? That the town was once a stage coach center? That South Norwalk, when it became a city, numbered only 2,000 persons and was the smallest in the United States? That for 25 years the west- ern end of the city boasted a post office labeled "Rowayton," and a railroad station called "Five Mile River Landing," because the inhabitants couldn't agree on which name the village should bear? That Norwalk was the first in the
3
INDIAN INFLUENCE
country to use steam in the oyster industry? That the first derby hat in the United States was made in this city?
So many thrilling tales, so many interesting truths have been rediscovered by a search into Norwalk's past life, that it is difficult to know just where to put them all. Not just cold historical facts; not just bare numbers and names; but in addition, some of the color of the early times; the reds, whites and blues of patriotic years; the vivid crimsons and purples of spilled blood and of royalty; the pastel shades of tranquil rural community life; the comfortable browns and greys of later peaceful years,-these the writer has striven to weave into the patterned story of Norwalk.
ORIGIN OF NORWALK INDIANS
Tawny skinned, broadshouldered, dark eyed, were the first Norwalkers. But from where did they come? Histor- ies are at variance concerning the origin, number and names of tribes of the Indians who lived in this community. Consensus of opinion, however, is to the effect that the Norwalk Indians were Mohegans, probably independent tribes of that great family. Their relation to the Pequots and to the other Indian tribes and branches in Connecticut, necessitates a little reverse trip into the Indian history of the country. The Pequots and Mohegans here, were apparently of the same race as the Mohicans, the Mohegans and the Mohicanders, all of whom lived on the banks of the Hudson river. When housing conditions became too congested, in the early part of the seventeenth century, they came to Con- necticut. Various histories have estimated the number of redskins in Connecticut at the time the whites arrived to be between 6,000 and 20,000. A conservative estimate would be about 12,000.
The Pequots occupied the southeastern part of the state from the coast back about twelve miles. Their most north- ern community included the Mohegan tribe of the same blood as themselves. The entire territory covered about
4
ROMANCE OF NORWALK
500 square miles, reaching from the Niantic or Nehantic river on the west to the Paucatuck river on the east in Rhode Island.
The various Narragansett tribes and branches which were distributed in small bands throughout the central and west- ern parts of the state included: The Nipmunks and Nipnets, Western Nehantics, Podunks and Poquonnocs, Sicaoggs, Naiogs, Hockanums, Wangunks or Wangums, and south- west of the latter a tribe governed by Montowese; Ham- monassetts, Sepous or Tunxis ; Quinnipiacs in territory which now supports towns from Madison to Milford; Wepawaugs and Paugussetts in what are now Huntington and Stratford; Unkowas in Fairfield.
Knowledge of the Indian tribes from Fairfield down to the New York line seems very scarce. Several historians insist that there were few, if any, Indians living in this vicinity before 1643, at which time large numbers of redskins fled to Connecticut shores from their homes on Long Island and on the banks of the Hudson, to escape the hostility of the Dutch.
On the other hand, Roger Ludlow made his first business transactions with the Indians in Norwalk in 1640, finding - large numbers of them here at that time. It may be that the transfer of Indian population from the Hudson river and from Long Island to Norwalk commenced before 1643: it may be that there were goodly numbers of Indians here before 1640, Indians who, because of their quiet and peace- ful nature caused little commotion and therefore lived un- noticed. It is pretty safe to assume at any rate, that the "children of the forests" who greeted the first Norwalk settlers were of mixed population, probably wandering bands of Narragansetts and independent tribes of Mohegans, the greater number being Mohegans.
CHARACTERISTICS
The Indian men in this section of the country were tall, graceful and well developed with high cheek bones, thin
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MAP OF CONNECTICUT
Showing Distribution of Indian tribes in the state about the time of the purchase of Norwalk in 1640. Note the occupants of that section which now includes this city and other cities and towns in Fairfield county.
ACHAUD R
NAUGATUCK
WANGUMS
WANGUNKS
QUINNIPIAC R.
HOUSATONIC RIVER
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PODUNK R.
CONNECTICUT
PEQUABULK &
5
INDIAN INFLUENCE
lips, black eyes, widely separated, coarse hair worn in greased coxcomb style, broad noses and of a skin color, tawny, in- clining to red. The women for the most part were short and clumsy. The slim graceful Indian maiden of whom so much has been written was of very short duration, that is to say, she didn't stay slim and graceful very long. Heavy work and unceasing labors caused her to become dumpy and muscular at an early age. The women did the cooking, all the household tasks, the labor in the fields, the tanning of the hides, the making of the mats, the weaving of the cloth and countless other things.
Erroneously enough, the Indian male has invariably been pictured as a lazy good-for-nothing who married in order that he might have all the comforts of home without working for them. Quite the contrary was the true state of affairs. He hunted and fished in all weathers and all dangers; he battled for his wife and family, and if necessary, gave up his life without a murmur. He provided the skins used for clothing and bedding; constructed the canoes; built the granary, where the tribal corn was stored; drew the maple sugar from the trees; worked in the quarries for the flint and stone for household utensils; made all his own war im- plements. The division of tasks was not unequal. In his home the Indian was kind. Custom rather than natural cruelty dictated that the woman should be a slave and a les- ser creature in the family circle. The brave who did not provide for his wife and children was an outcast from the ranks of all good Indians.
Gentle was the Indian to his sons and daughters. Never did he beat them. Rather, he reasoned with them and at- tempted to persuade them into what was right. The colon- ists considered the red man very lax in his parental discipline, but they did not realize that in this one instance, the science of child up-bringing, if in no other, they were far outdis- tanced by the red man. A curious practice of many Ameri- can histories seems to be the omission of mention of many of the good deeds the Indian performed for the white. His-
6
ROMANCE OF NORWALK
torians set forth the tales of the "bloodthirsty redskin" but are unusually silent when it comes to a record of the aborig- inal's good Samaritan acts. The Indian taught the colonist how to plant corn, how to hunt, how to notch the trees for maple sugar, how to fish through the ice and countless other things. And when the white man's supply of food touched the bottom of the barrel, the Indian offered a share of his own parched corn savings.
DECLINE
There were many reasons for the Indians' decline in Con- necticut, one of the strongest being a lack of good doctors. It is curious that nowadays it is very common to hear people remark : "Wonder why we have so much sickness? Look at the Indian how healthy he was!" As a matter of fact he had both rheumatism and appendicitis, though they may have been known under different names. In addition, he suffered from sore throat, pleurisy, quick consumption and acute stomach trouble, the latter caused by overeating. Toothache was very common, the only remedy being extrac- tion. Roger Williams said that although the Indian might endure unmentionable torture in wartime, a toothache con- verted him into a perfect baby and made him cry like a child.
Among the other causes of the Indians' decline in num- bers were: Coming of the white man with his destruction of the Indian home; dangers of the hunt; cruelties of the winter with its ghost of starvation; continual warring and fighting, one tribe with another; lack of sanitation; domes- tic animals occupied a place in the wigwam; attendance of women in the hunting and fighting parties; Indians, being poorly fed into the bargain, like wild animals, each succeed- ing generation was less active and less productive. The women's work in the fields also contributed to this end. It is not clear how the children of the forest attained the great numbers which they boasted of at one time.
-
COMING OF THE WHITE MAN
CHAPTER II
Block Discovers Norwalk Islands-Connecticut Towns Set- tled- War With the Indians-Great Swamp Fight Near Here-End of Pequots-Sassacus the Hero and Uncas the Traitor.
ANTAGONISTIC though the Pequots and Narragansetts were, hating each other with the most intense hatred, yet the two tribes might have continued to live on in Connecticut for many centuries, had not England decided to colonize America. In 1614 Adrien Block, Dutch navigator, sailed up the Long Island shore in the good ship "Restless." He passed the Norwalk river and named the group of islands at its mouth the "Archipelagoes." The Housatonic river he named "The River of the Red Mountain," and the great Connecticut, "Fresh River." In such manner was Connecti- cut "discovered."
In June, 1633, Governor Van Twiller of the New Nether- lands sent Jacob Van Curler and party into the Connecticut valley. They sailed up the river as far as what is now Hartford and Windsor and purchased land from the In- dians, from Wopigwooit, Grand Sachem of the Pequots, and father of our own Sassacus. The trading post "Good Hope" was erected and the Indians made an agreement that they would trade with the Dutch, live peacefully and stop fighting among themselves. This was a rash promise on the part of the Indians who could no more keep from fighting among themselves than they could give up eating. Everything would have been lovely, only the Narragansetts who right- fully belonged in the territory sold by the Pequots to the Dutch, and who had been ousted by the Pequot intruders,
7
8
ROMANCE OF NORWALK
felt that they might at least be accorded the right to trade with the Dutch. The Pequots, however, greedy as usual, felt differently about it and squabbles ensued. The Pequots ended by killing some of the Narragansetts who came to the post to trade. As a punishment for this breech of faith, the Dutch put to death, Wopigwooit, grand sachem of all the Connecticut Pequots. As a result, Sassacus, his son, of whom a great deal will be heard later, since he played a large part in the early history of Norwalk, ascended to the noble post of sachem of all sachems. Then followed the settling of several towns, for many preceded Norwalk. In 1633, William Holmes from the Plymouth colony took charge of a trading post established right near the Dutch post "Good Hope" by a group of Plymouth colony explorers. Holmes purchased his property not from the Pequots but from the Narragansetts, whom he considered the rightful, though ejected owners of the land. This was a fine thing for Holmes to do, but a very undiplomatic one, as events will prove, for it offered a distinct though unintentional insult to the most powerful tribe of Indians in the country. In the fall of 1634, the first log cabins were raised in what is now Wethersfield; in the summer of 1635, Windsor was settled; in October, 1635, Hartford; and a little later, Say- brook. In the bitter winter that followed many of the Connecticut colonists perished. Ill prepared for the struggle which they had to face, they died by the score from the in- tense cold, from starvation.
During this time, the white men were having their first taste of Indian troubles. In the summer of 1633, Captain Stone, a dissolute young Virginian, who had anchored his ship in the Connecticut river, was murdered. Although the real motive of the crime was never revealed, it was thought by the English that Stone's death was in retaliation for the death of Wopigwooit, the Pequot's sachem. From that time on, there were constant killings, first on one side and then on the other between the Pequots and the English, both trying to avenge themselves.
9
COMING OF THE WHITE MAN
WAR WITH THE INDIANS
Meantime, the Narragansetts made peace with the Eng- lish. Not so the Pequots. Their hatred aroused, they de- termined to fight to the bitter end. In face of such an atti- tude, the general court at Hartford decided then and there to declare war against the Pequot Indians. May 11, 1637, the court called a levy of 90 men on the three towns : Hart- ford was to furnish 42; Windsor, 30; and Wethersfield 18. John Mason was named commander in chief. Each town was to provide a certain amount of food for the warriors and in addition there was to be: "one hogshead of beer for the captain and the Mr. (perhaps minister) and sick men. If there be only three or four gallons of strong water, two gallons of sack" (variety of wine). It is said that many found themselves able to get on the "sick list" at least for a time. Provision was made for the payment of the soldiers, although this was not done until after the war. Sunday fight- ing was not paid for, yet it is doubtful if any real fighting took place on the Sabbath. The common soldier received about $9 a month; sergeant, $12; lieutenant, $20; captain, $40.
No sooner had war been declared than there appeared in Hartford, Uncas, Pequot chieftain, who had rebelled against Sassacus, when the latter became Grand Sachem of the Con- necticut sachems, upon the killing of his father, Wopigwooit, by the Dutch. Uncas had not only rebelled against Sassa- cus, he had caused the northernmost community of the Pequot tribe, the Mohegans, to secede, and to gather under his leadership, as an independent band of Indians. With 70 stalwart Mohegan warriors at his command, Uncas of- fered himself to the English in their war against their enemy, now also his, the Pequots. The English, who needed all the aid they could muster, gladly accepted the offer. Thus does Uncas, the second of the two great Indian sachems destined to play stellar roles in the story of Norwalk, make his formal bow in Connecticut history. Help came to the English un-
IO
ROMANCE OF NORWALK
expectedly from another direction just about this time, when the Massachusetts colony sent down a detachment of 200 men, while the Plymouth colony sent 40. Captain Daniel Patrick, sometimes called Partrick, who later turned out to be one of the purchasers of Norwalk, was in charge of the latter band. He was sent overland.
Meantime, May 20, 1637, Captain Mason with the 90 Englishmen allotted him by the Hartford court, and the 70 Indians, given him by Uncas, started down the river from Hartford in three small vessels. Mason went to Saybrook and then to the shores of Narragansett, Rhode Island, to see Canonicus and Miantonomoh, two Narragansett chieftains, who stood in high repute among both the English and the Indians. Mason's plan was to go up through the Narra- gansett land and to attack the Pequots in their own country, from the rear. It is interesting from now on to trace the course the English followed in tracking the Pequots across the country from east to west to the final grave of the proud Indians in the Pequot swamp, close to Norwalk.
Mason traveled on to Nehantic where he was joined by many Nehantics and Narragansetts, the total force now numbering about 500. Traveling west, they reached the Paucatuck River and there discovered unmistakable signs of recent Pequot camps. The men pushed on and learned that there were two large forts controlled by the enemy near at hand, and that Sassacus, great sachem of the Connecticut Pequots was guarded in one of them. So the English camped about a half mile north of the head of the Mystic river, right near the first Pequot camp. Then on June 5, 1637, "just before dawn when man sleeps heaviest, and the favorite time of the Indians themselves to war and surprise a camp," the English attacked the first fort.
Here in an enclosure were about 70 wigwams. The white men dashed into the settlement, surrounded the tented homes on all sides and completely surprised the Indians, who were still dreaming. The braves rushed out and commenced at- tacking the English with bows and arrows, poisoned hatchets
II
COMING OF THE WHITE MAN
and tomahawks. Mason found it necessary, in order to prevent his men from being annihilated, to fire the wigwams, with the result that hundreds of Pequots were roasted alive. To the very last, the trapped Indians, in terror, fury and agony, fought with their bows and arrows until their birch- woods were too scorched to bend. Then in a frenzy, they tore their clothes and hair, some of them crazily leaping into the smoldering embers which already held the charred bod- ies of their loved ones, wives, mothers and children.
MISERY OF THE PEQUOTS
After this terrible blow, the Pequots held a consultation. Their biggest camp had been burned to the ground and hundreds of their people lost. Should they flee the country ? Or follow the English and attack them again? Or declare war on the Narragansetts and appease their desire for ven- geance in that manner? After a solemn council fire discus- sion, Sassacus announced that he would carry war into the Narragansett camp first and that then he would set about annihilating the English. The first step would be the aban- donment of their present homes, and the second, the seeking of a hiding place, until the right time to strike presented itself. And so, mournfully and slow of step, they burned to the ground all that remained in the old fortress and every- thing in the new, which they could not carry, and prepared to depart from their homes.
The Indians traveled down to Quinnepauge, New London, on the first lap of their journey. Some lagged by the road- side ; some were left behind; others deserted when they found fertile fields and thick forests, but the main body at whose head were Sassacus, Grand Sachem, and Mononotto, also a sachem, kept on through the woods and the meadows, weary, discouraged and in a deplorable condition. The Pe- quots suffered on that journey, as they had never suffered before. It was early June, nights were cold and rainy; they had no shelter and little to eat. One by one their numbers
[2
ROMANCE OF NORWALK
decreased. The stalwart braves, trained to hardship, could stand the rough trip. The women, unused to such gruelling travel, could not, and the little children sickened and died. With lowered brows the men watched the round bronze faces of their little sons and daughters grow thin and lined and with many a curse on tightened lips, they laid the worn- out bodies of the children, who but a short time before had played in mock battles about the campfire, in rude graves dug by the roadside. Surely their cup of misery was full, and they vowed eternal vengeance against the palefaces who had heaped such trouble upon their heads.
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