USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > A biographical history of the county of Litchfield, Connecticut: comprising biographical sketches of distinguished natives and residents of the county; together with complete lists of the judges of the county court, justices of the quorum, county commissioners, judges of probate, sheriffs, senators, &c. from the organization of the county to the present time > Part 4
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A friendly club was soon established, which assembled once. a week for the discussion of questions on proposed subjects, legal, philosophical, and political. Trumbull, though fully employed in the duties of his profession, was one of its most active members. The fate of the revolution being now event- ually decided by the capture of Lord Cornwallis and his army, the friends of the author urged him to complete the poem of McFingal, and having obtained his promise, they immediately put in circulation a subscription for the work. Thus situated, he employed his leisure hours in revising the first half of the poem, which he divided into two Cantos, and in composing the
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last. The whole was finished, and the first edition published: at Hartford, before the close of the year 1782. As no author at that period was entitled by law to the copy right of his pro- ductions, the work soon became the prey of every bookseller and printer, who chose to appropriate it to his own benefit, Among more than thirty different editions, one only, at any subsequent time, was published with the permission, or even, the knowledge of the author.
Our author thus introduces his hero and his subject ;
When Yankies, skilled in martial rule, First put the British troops to school ; Instructed them in warlike trade, And new manœuvre of parade- The true war-dance of yankee-reels, And manual exercise of heels; Made them give up, like saints complete, The arm of flesh, and trust to feet, And work, like christians undissembling, Salvation out, with fear and trembling ; Taught Percy fashionable races, And modern modes of Chevy-chases : From Boston, in his best array, Great 'Squire McFingal took his way, And graced with ensigns of renown, Steered homeward to his native town.
His high descent our heralds trace To Ossian's famed Fingalian race ; For though his name some part may lack, Old Fingal spelt it with a Mac ; Which great M'Pherson, with submission , We hope will add, the next edition.
His fathers flourished in the highlands Of Scotia's fog benighted islands ; Whence gained our 'Squire two gifts by right, Rebellion and the Second-sight.
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Of these the first, in ancient days, Had gained the noblest palm of praise, 'Gainst kings stood forth, and many a crown'd head With terror of its might confounded, Till rose a King with potent charm His foes by goodness to disarm, Whom every Scot and Jacobite Straight fell in love with at first sight ; Whose gracious speech, with aid of pensions, Hushed down all murmurs of dissensions, And with the sound of potent metal, Brought all their blustering swarms to settle .. Who rained his ministerial mannas, Till loud Sedition sang hosannahs ; And good Lord Bishops and the Kirks United in the public works.
For these our 'squire among the valiant'st Employed his time and tools and talents ; And in their cause with manly zeal, Used his first virtue, to rebel ; And found this new rebellion pleasing As his old king-destroying treason. Nor less availed his optic slight, And Scottish gift of second-sight. No ancient sybil famed in rhyme, Saw deeper in the womb of time ; No block in old Dodona's grove, Could ever more orac'lar prove. Nor only saw he all that was, But much that never came to pass ; Whereby all prophets far outwent he, Though former days produced a plenty , For any man with half an eye, What stands before him may espy, But optics sharp it needs, I ween, To see what is not to be seen,
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In another part of the same canto, our author thus hits a 'class of men in each of the professions which is not even yet extinct;
And are there in this freeborn land, Among ourselves a venal band, A dastard race, who long have sold Their souls and consciences for gold- Who wish to stab their country's vitals, If they may heir surviving titles -- With joy behold our mischief bre wing, Insult and triumph on our ruin ? Priests who, if Satan should sit down To make a Bible of his own, Would gladly for the sake of mitres, Turn his inspired and sacred writers ; Lawyers, who should he wish to prove His title to his old seat above, Would, if his cause he'd give 'em fees in, Bring writs of Entry sur disseisin, Plead for him boldly at the session, And hope to put him in possession ;
Merchants who, for his kindly aid,
Would make him partner in their trade, Hang out their signs in goodly show, Inscribed with " Beelzebub & Co." And Judges, who would list his pages, , For proper liveries and wages ; And who as humbly cringe and bow To all his mortal servants now ? There are -- and shame with pointing gestures,
Marks out the Addressers and Protesters ; Whom, following down the stream of fate, Contempts ineffable await, And public infamy forlorn, Dread hate and everlasting scorn.
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"In the following lines McFingal exercises his faculty of "" second sight," in foretelling the doom of Britain and the ris- ing glory of America. Are not his predictions relative to our 'own country, already verified ?
Now view the scenes in future hours, That wait the famed European Powers. See where yon chalky cliffs arise, The hills of Britain strike your eyes ; Its small extension long supplied By vast immensity of pride, -- So small, that had it found a station In this new world at first creation, Or were by Justice doomed to suffer, And for its crimes transported over, We'd find full room for't in Lake Erie, or That still larger waterpond, Superior, Where North on margin taking stand, Would not be able to spy land. No more, elate with power, at ease She deals her insults round the seas ; See dwindling from her height amain, What piles of ruin spread the plain ! With mouldering hulks her ports are fill'd And brambles clothe the cultured field. See on her cliffs her Genius lies, His handkerchief at both his eyes, With many a deepdrawn sigh and groan, To mourn her ruin and his own ! While joyous Holland, France and Spain, With conquering navies rule the main, And Russian banners wide unfurled, Spread Commerce round the eastern world. And see (sight hateful and tormenting,) Th' American empire proud and vaunting, From anarchy shali change her crasis, And fix her powers on firmer basis, To glory, wealth and fame aseend, Her commerce rise, her realms extend.
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Where now the panther guards his den, Her desert forests swarm with men, Her cities, towers and columns rise, And dazzling- temples meet the skies ; Her pines, descending to the main, In triumph spread the watery plain, Ride inland lakes with favoring gales, And crowd her ports with whit'ning sails; Till to the skirts of western day, The peopled regions own her sway.
These brief extracts will give the reader some idea of the style and manner of this greatest of American Satires-a po em which Blackwood called "the Hudibras of the new world." " McFingal" is a burlesque epic of some thousands of lines, directed against the enemies of American liberty, and holding up to particular scorn and contempt, the tories and British officers, civil, military and naval, then in this country. It is a merciless satire throughout. Whatever it touches, it trans- forms ; kings, ministers, lords, bishops, generals, judges, ad- mirals, all take their turn, and become in the light or associa- - tions in which they are exhibited, alternately the objects of our merriment, hatred, or scorn: So wedded is the author to this vein of sarcasm, that even McFingal himself, the professed friend of England and champion of the tories, is made in fact the scoffer of both them and their cause. The story of the po- em may be thus briefly stated : the hero, a Scotchman and justice of the peace in a town near Boston, goes to a town meeting, where he and one Honorius make speeches at each other through two whole cantos. At the end of the second canto, the meeting breaks up tumultuously ; and the people gather round a liberty pole, erected by the mob. Here Mc- Fingal makes a violent speech of near two hundred lines, at the end of which he is pursued by the whigs, and brought back
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to the liberty pole, where the tory constable is swung aloft, and McEingal tarred and feathered. The latter is then set at liberty ; he goes home, and at night makes a speech to some of his tory friends in his cellar, extending through the rest of the poem, leaving only room to tell that the mob broke off the address in the middle by assaulting the house, and McFingal escaped to Boston.
After the peace in 1783, in consequence of mobs and insur- rections in various parts of the country, the public became sen- sible of the want of an efficient general government, and a protracted contest ended in the adoption of the federal con- stitution. During most of this exciting period, several of the principal literary characters of the State were resident in Hart- ford, and gave to the friends of order whatever assistance could be afforded by their publications. The principal work they produced wasa series of essays entitled "American Antiquities," first printed in the gazettes of New Haven and Hartford, and re-printed in other newspapers in almost every part of the Un- ion. At this time public curiosity had been awakened by the discovery of ancient Indian fortifications, with other relics, which were considered as proofs that this country had once been inhabited by a people highly advanced in the arts of civ- ilized life. The story of the emigration of Madoc, with a body of Britons and Welch, about the year 800, and of an existing tribe of their descendants in the interior part of the continent, was revived and circulated. These writers assumed the fie- tion, that in digging among the ruins of one of those forts, an ancient heroic poem in the English language was found. The essays consisted of supposed extracts from that poem, (which they styled, The Anarchiad,) accompanied with critical re- marks in prose. Colonel Humphreys, who had seen a similar work in England, called The Rolliad, ascribed to Fox, Sheri- den, and their associates, was the first proposer of the design. Most of the essays were written in concert. The writers were'
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Humphreys, Barlow, Dr. Lemuel Hopkins, and our author. The publications of these gentlemen were supposed at the time to have had considerable influence upon the public taste and opinions ; and, by the boldness of their satire, to have checked and intimidated the leaders of disorganization and in- fidel philosophy.
After the adoption of the federal constitution, Trumbull was first called to act in a public capacity-he having been appoint- ed State's Attorney for the County of Hartford in 1789. In 1792, he was elected a Representative from Hartford to the State Legislature, where he took an active and influential part in their deliberations and debates ; particularly in obtaining an enlargement of the funds and an alteration of the charter of Yale College: But the increasing burden of his employ- ments, public and professional, again impaired his health, and at length reduced him to the lowest stages of nervous debility. He spent the summers, for two or three successive years, in taking long journeys and visiting the most noted mineral springs, in quest of health, but in vain. In 1795, he resigned the office of State's Attorney, and declined all public business. In November 1798, he experienced a severe fit of sickness, from which, contrary to expectation, he escaped with his life, and which appeared to form the crisis of his nervous disorders. His convalescence, though slow, was favorably progressive ; and as, during his long confinement, he never relinquished his habits of reading, nor his attention to public affairs, he was enabled, on his return to society, to resume his førmer rank in his professional and official employments.
In May 1800, Trumbull was again a member of the Legis- Jature ; and during the following year, he was chosen a Judge of the Superior Court of the State of Connecticut. From this period he declined any interference in politics, and applied himself exclusively to the duties of his office -- being of opinion that the character of a politician and political writer were in-
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consistent with the station of a Judge, and destructive of the confidence of suitors in the impartiality of judiciary decisions: In 1808, he received from the Legislature the additional ap- pointment of a Judge of the Supreme Court of Errors. He was happy in the society of his brethren of the bench, and the Courts of the State were at no period more respectable for le- gal science, or more respected for the justice and integrity of their adjudications.
To these offices he was annually appointed until May 1819, when he, with all his associates on the bench, were removed from office-a State Constitution having been adopted, and a new party having risen into power.
He was for several years Treasurer of Yale College, from which institution he subsequently received the honorary degree. of Doctor of Laws.
Trumbull continued his residence in Hartford until 1825, when he removed to Detroit, Michigan, and there spent the remainder of his days in the family of his daughter, Mrs. Woodbridge, (wife of the distinguished Senator and Governor. Woodbridge.) He died in Detroit in 1831.
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SETH WARNER.
This renowned warrior and successful leader in the civil commotions amidst which the foundations of a sister State were laid, was born in Roxbury, then a parish of Woodbury, in the year 1743. Without any advantages for an education beyond those which were found in the common schools of those. times, he was early distinguished by his energy, sound judg- ment, and manly and noble bearing. In 1763, his father, Dr. Benjamin Warner, removed with his family to Bennington, in the New Hampshire Grants, the second year after the first set- tlement of the town. 'The game with which the woodsaboun- ded at once attracted the attention of young Warner, and he was soon distinguished as an indefatigable, expert and success- ful hunter. About this time a scene began to open, which gave a new direction to his active and enterprizing spirit-the controversy between New York and the settlers upon the New Hampshire Grants had commenced. As a general outline of the history of this controversy has been given in the biograph- ical sketch of Ethan Allen, it will be referred to again only so far as may be necessary to illustrate the principal events in the life of Colonel WARNER.
It will be remembered that the colonial government of New York not only claimed exclusive civil jurisdiction over the set- tlers on "the Grants," but even assumed a right of property in the soil ; consequently the New York sheriffs, constables, ma- gistrates, &c., were constantly being sent into the disputed territory, to dispossess those settlers who had not purchased their right from Governor Tryon. It was to resist these ar-
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bitrary acts, and this assumption of civil power, that the acen Mountain Boys formed themselves into a military compact, constituted their own courts of judicature, and not unfrequent- ly executed "summary justice" upon the agents of what they regarded as a foreign government. In all these border feuds, extending through a series of years, Seth Warner and Ethan Allen were the acknowledged leaders and champions of a band of patriots as heroic and self-sacrificing as any that the world ever saw. Twins in fame, and fellow-pioneers in the cause of American freedom, they suffered and triumphed to- gether -- together they were declared outlaws, and hunted like wild beasts through the mountain-forests-side by side they fought the battles of independence-and side by side their names are written high in the niche of human glory.
Previous to 1770, many acts of violence had been commit- ted by both of the billigerent parties ; but it was not until this year that the Governor of New York attempted to enforce his authority over the Grants by resort to military force. The Green Mountain Boys having learned that the Sheriff of Albany county was on his way to their settlements with 750 armed militia, immediately organized a military association, of which Allen was appointed Colonel commandant, and Seth Warner, Remember Baker, and others, were appointed Cap- tains. The Sheriff and his force, having advanced at night up- on the dwelling of a settler, were suddenly surprised by the Mountaineers in ambush, and the whole posse ingloriously fled without a gun being fired on either side. The settlers were not again disturbed for some months, but in the mean time they occasionally met for exercise and discipline. John Monro, in a letter to Governor Tryon, says, " The rioters have established a company at Bennington, commanded by Captain Warner, and on New Year's day [1771] his company was re- viewed, and continued all day in military exercise and firing at marks,"
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On the 27th of November, 1771, the Governor of New York issued a proclamation offering a reward of £20 each, for the arrest of Warner, Allen, and Baker. On the 22d of March following, John Monro, moved by a hope of the reward and a desire for notoriety, resolved to attempt the arrest of Baker. Having collected ten or twelve of his friends and dependents, he proceeded to the house of Baker in Arlington, before day- light. The intruders broke open his door, rushed upon and wounded him by a cut across his head with a sword, and hav- ing bound him, he was thrown into a sleigh and conveyed with the greatest speed towards Albany. The news of this trans-, action being sent by express to Bennington, Warner with nine others immediately mounted their horses and set off at full speed, determined to intercept the "Yorkers"; and they did overtake them before they reached the Hudson. On the first appearance of the pursuers, the abductors threw the prisoner overboard and fled. Finding Baker nearly exhausted by his sufferings and loss of blood, they refreshed him, dressed his wounds, and conveyed him home, to the great joy of his family and neighbors.
Shortly after this, Monro made an attempt to arrest Warner. While Warner, in company with a single friend, was riding on horseback in the vicinity of Monro's residence, he was met by Monro and several of his dependents ; a conversation ensued, in the midst of which Monro seized the bridle of Warner's horse and commanded those present to assist in arresting him. Warner, after vainly urging him to desist, struck Monro over the head with a dull cutlass and leveled him to the ground. Though stunned and disabled for the time, he received no per- manent injury, and the spectators manifesting no disposition to interfere, Warner passed on without farther interruption.
Finding the settlers intractable, the government of New York next endeavored to bring them to terms by negotiation ; but failing in this also, they resorted to threats and intimida-
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tion. A law was immediately passed, threatening " death without benefit of clergy" against any one who should wilfully "'oppose any civil officer of New York in the discharge of his official duty." At the same time, Governor Tryon issued a pro- clamation, increasing the reward for the arrest of Warner and Allen to £50 each. This sanguinary law, as well as these proffered bribes, were simply themes of derision to the sturdy settlers. No Green Mountain Boy ever fell into the hands of the enemy during the continuance of this controversy.
Warner, having thus been engaged as a prominent leader of these Mountaineers in defence of their property against the oppressive acts of the Royal Government of New York from the year 1763 to 1775, was perfectly prepared to enter heart and soul in the defence of his whole country against the oppressions of the Royal Government of Great Britain. Ac- cordingly, we find him in the very commencement of the Rev- olutionary War, engaged in the enterprize against the enemy's posts on Lake Champlain.
The reduction of Ticonderoga and Crown Point having been secretly resolved upon, in 1775, by the Legislature of Connecticut in concert with several of the most eminent men in other parts of New England, a Committee was appointed to proceed to the frontier towns, ascertain the strength of the garrisons, and, should they think proper, raise men for their capture. At Pittsfield, Massachusetts, the Committee were joined by Colonel Easton with about fifty volunteers ; and at Bennington, by Colonel Allen and his Green Mountain Boys. On reaching Castleton, May 7th, a council of war was held, and Ethan Allen, James Easton, and Seth Warner, were ap- pointed to command the expedition. The surprise and capture of Ticonderoga by Allen, on the 10th of May, are familiar to every American. Warner had succeeded in crossing the lake with his men, just in time to find that the garrison had sur- rendered. As soon as the prisoners were properly secured,
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Warner set out with a detachment of inen take Crown Point. Strong head winds drove back the boats, and the whole party returned the same evening. The expedition was, however, renewed on the following day, and the result was all that could have been desired. The men were made prisoners, and one hundred and thirteen cannon were captured. Just previous to this, Colonel Allen had sent a messenger to Captain Baker, who was at Onion River, requesting him to join the army at Ticonderoga with as large a number of men as he could as- semble. Baker obeyed; and when he was coming up the lake, he met two small boats, which had been despatched by the enemy from Crown Point to carry intelligence of the re- duction of Ticonderoga to St. Johns and Montreal, and solicit reinforcements. The boats were seized by Baker, and he ar- rived at Crown Point just in time to unite with Warner in tak- ing possession of that post.
Crown Point, next to Ticonderoga, was the strongest and most important garrison on Lake Champlain. For many years previous to 1759, it had been in possession of the French. In that year, an expedition was fitted out by the British Govern- ment, comprising 18,000 men, and arms and ammunition in proportion, for the express object of capturing these two for- midable fortresses. The command of the expedition was giv- en to Sir Jeffrey Amherst, who succeeded in accomplishing the object deemed so desirable by his King. They remained in possession of the British from that time until they were cap- tured by the invincible Warner and Allen and the heroic spir- its under their command,
Congress subsequently ratified these doings, and ordered that all the officers and soldiers who marched against the for- tresses on Lake Champlain should receive the same pay that they would have been entitled to had they belonged to the continental army.
The soldiers, having served out their time, now returned
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home ; and Warner and Allen were forthwith sent to the con- tinental congress, by the people of the Grants, for the especial purpose of soliciting authority to raise a new regiment, and to obtain the necessary funds for paying off the soldiers recently disbanded. In both these objects they were successful. They were welcomed by Congress with great cordiality, were for- mally introduced on the floor of the House, and each in an address stated the objects which had called them to the seat of government, and communicated such information as was desired by the members. They then repaired to the congress of New York, where they were received with the same consid- eration, notwithstanding they were objected to by certain members on the ground of their being outlaws.
The delegates having concluded their mission, returned to their friends. The committees of the several towns assembled at Dorset to choose officers for the new regiment, which was to be commanded by a lieutenant-colonel. Seth Warner was chosen lieutenant-colonel, and Samuel Safford major. Dr. Jared Sparks, in his biography of Ethan Allen, commenting upon the result of this election, says, " Whether Colonel Allen declined being a candidate, or whether it was expected that the regiment would ultimately have a colonel and that he would be advanced to that post, or whether his name was omitted for any other reason, I have no means of determining." The subjoined extract from a communication from the Hon. Daniel Chipman, of Vermont, to the author of this volume, will solve the query. Referring to the above passage from Sparks, he justly remarks, " This, it is obvious, is calculated to lessen the real merit of Warner with posterity. To prevent this false impression, they should be informed that in the conven- tion which met at Dorset on the 27th of July, 1775, for the purpose of nominating field officers, Warner was nominated by a vote of 41 to 5; and this was a fair expression of public opinion of the two men at that time." Allen was a candidate
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for the office, as appears by his letter to Governor Trumbull, written 'shortly after, in which he says he was overlooked be- cause the old men were reluctant to go to war. For a bold, desperate, off-hand enterprise, Allen was invariably the leader selected ; but in choosing a commander for a long and doubt- ful campaign, where coolness, perseverence, and patient endur- ance, united with patriotism, bravery and tact, were deemed requisite to success, Warner was preferred.
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