USA > Connecticut > New London County > A modern history of New London County, Connecticut, Volume I > Part 17
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The restoration of peace in 1815 was an occasion of general rejoicing. Our enemies became friends, and receptions, balls, and public rejoicings sig-
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nalized the event, in which the officers of the British squadron cordially par- ticipated, and who were as cordially received by the citizens of the town. Such was the close of the war of 1812.
We extract from Miss Caulkins' history the following accounts of early enterprise :
The first regular line of steamboats from New York to New London was established in 1816. On the 28th of September in that year, the "Connecticut" (Bunker) arrived from New York in twenty-one hours, which was regarded as a signal triumph of steam, the wind and a swell of the tide being against her. In October the regular line commenced, making two trips per week to New Haven. The "Fulton" (Captain Law) was running at the same time between New York and New Haven. The price of passage was five dollars to New Haven, and from thence to New York, four dollars. Steam pro- pellers, carrying principally freight, but some passengers, commenced navi- gating the Sound in 1844. The first was the "Quinebaug."
In one respect New London stands in honorable connection with the history of steam navigation. Capt. Moses Rogers, the commander of the steamship "Savannah," the first steam vessel that ever crossed the Atlantic, and Capt. Stevens Rogers, sailing-master of the same and brother-in-law of the captain, were both natives of New London. The "Savannah" was built in New York, under the direction of Captain Rogers, for a company in Savannah, and was a full-rigged ship of about 350 tons burden, and fur- nished with an engine of eighty or ninety horse-power, by which she made about eight knots to the hour. She sailed for Savannah, May 26th, 1819, for the sole purpose of making the grand experiment of ocean steam navigation. Mr. Scarborough, of Savannah, one of the company that owned the steamer, asserted that they had no other object in view; that anticipating the use of steam-enginery in that line, and having a surplusage of profit on hand from some successful operations of the company, instead of dividing it, they built and fitted out the "Savannah," in order to give to America the honor of making the first attempt to navigate the Atlantic by steam.
The passage to Liverpool was made in twenty-two days, fourteen by steam and eight by sails, the latter being used solely through the prudence of the captain to save the consumption of fuel, lest some emergency might occur and the supply be exhausted. From Liverpool the steamer proceeded to Copenhagen, and from thence to Stockholm and to St. Petersburg. At these ports she excited universal admiration and interest. Lying at anchor like a public vessel, with no business to accomplish, no port charges to defray, RO cargo to take on board, her stay was a continued reception of visitors, and her whole passage through the Baltic might be likened to a triumphant pro- cession. Bernadotte, King of Sweden, and the Emperor of Russia, with their nobles and public officers, not only came on board to examine the wonderful American steamer, but tested her performance by short excursions in the neighboring waters. On the return home, the last place left in Europe was Arendel, in Norway, from whence the passage to Savannah was made in twenty-five days, nineteen by steam and six by sails.
Capt. Moses Rogers gained his experience as a steam engineer on the Hudson river, where he had been engaged in some of the earliest experiments in propelling vessels by steam. After his return from the voyage in the "Savannah," he took command of a steamboat running on the Great Pedee river, and died suddenly at Cheraw, South Carolina, September 15th, 1822, at the age of forty-two years.
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Capt. Stevens Rogers is now an officer of the customs in New London, and from him the foregoing account of the first voyage by steam across the Atlantic is derived. He has in his possession a massive gold snuff-box pre- sented to him by Lord Lyndock, an English nobleman who took passage in the steamer from Stockholm to St. Petersburg, through an arrangement made for him by Mr. Hughes, the American Minister at the Swedish court. On the inside of the lid is the following inscription: "Presented by Sir Thomas Graham, Lord Lyndock, to Stevens Rogers, sailing-master of the steam-ship- 'Savannah,' at St. Petersburg, October 10th, 1819."
Capt. Moses Rogers, among other costly presents, received from the Emperor of Russia an elegant silver tea-urn. The log-book kept during this voyage is deposited in the National Institute at Washington.
The development of New London county since the Civil War days has been mostly along the lines of manufacturing, though many of our smaller towns are still chiefly agricultural in their interests. Special articles have been prepared on many topics, but in general it may be said that our enter- prises are characterized by their variety. The main industries are cotton and woolen manufactures, with many others of great importance, among them the making of quilts, of leather goods, of paper, of bleaching and printing, of shipbuilding, the making of engines, of velvet, of machinery of many sorts, of cutlery, of guns, of hardware, of birch and witch hazel oils, of menhaden oil, of silk, of soap, of lace, and many other articles too numerous to mention. The inventive genius of the Connecticut Yankee has been re- vealed in our county as clearly as in the rest of the State.
The account of early newspapers is likewise of interest. The first news- paper of the town bore the following title: "The New London Summary, or The Weekly Advertiser, With the Freshest Advices, Foreign and Domestic."
At the close of the paper was the notification, "Printed by Timothy Green." It was a folio sheet ; the size of the page about twelve inches by eight, with two columns of print. The heading was adorned with an orna- mented cut of the colony seal, with the escutcheon of the town added by way of crest, viz., a ship in full sail. The first number was issued August 8th, 1758. The editor died August 3d, 1763, and the paper was discontinued. 2. "The New London Gazette," with a stamp of the king's arms, appeared in November, 1763. The size was considerably increased, the print arranged in three columns, and the price 6s. per annum, one-half to be paid on the delivery of the first number. This was in fact the same paper under another name, being a continuation by Timothy Green, nephew and assistant of the former publisher; but as the numerical series of the summary was not con- tinued, the numbers being commenced anew, it may be classed as another paper. It was soon enlarged in size, and the name changed in the course of a few years to "The Connecticut Gazette." This had been the title of the first newspaper in the colony, established in New Haven, 1755, by James Parker and Co., John Holt, editor, but discontinued in 1767, and there being then no paper in the colony bearing that title, it was adopted by the pro-
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prietor of the New London paper. In 1789 Mr. Green took his son Samuel into partnership with him, and the "Gazette" was issued by Timothy Green and Son to 1794, when Samuel Green assumed the whole business. In 1805 he retired a while from the paper, and it was issued by Cady and Eells (Eben- ezer P. Cady and Nathaniel Eells). In May, 1808, it was resumed by Green, and continued to January, 1838, when it passed for two years into the hands of John J. Hyde, who was both editor and publisher. In 1840 it reverted to the former proprietor, or to his son, S. H. Green, and was conducted by the latter to July, 1841. The next editor was A. G. Seaman, by whom it was continued about three years, after which the existence of the "Gazette" en- tirely ceased. It had been issued regularly under the name of the "Gazette" for more than eighty years.
We would here notice that the Spooner family, which is connected with the history of newspapers in this country, was linked both by marriage and occupation with the Greens. Judah P. Spooner and Alden Spooner, early printers in Vermont, were sons of Thomas Spooner (who came to New London from Newport in 1753), and brothers-in-law of Timothy Green. Alden Spooner (2d), son of the first-named of the brothers, was a native of New London. He is known as the editor of the "Suffolk Gazette," published at Sag Harbor from 1804 to 1811, and of the "Long Island Star," which he conducted from 1811 to his death, a period of about thirty-five years.
Charles Miner, long a noted printer in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, obtained his knowledge of the business in the "Gazette" office at New London. He was for a number of years a member of Congress, and has left an endur- ing memorial of his talents and research in the "History of Wyoming," of which he is the author.
Green's "Connecticut Register" was first published in 1785, and again in 1786; it was then intermitted for one year, but has regularly appeared every year since, making, inclusive of 1852, seventy-six volumes .*
After the year 1750, the Greens annually printed an "Almanac or Astro- nomical Diary." The first numbers were prepared by James Davis, and calculated for the meridian of New London. Next to the series of Davis, they reprinted the "Boston Almanac" of Nathaniel Ames, until 1766, when Clark Elliott, a mathematician and instrument maker who had settled in New London, commenced an independent series of almanacs which were at first published with his own name but afterward with the assumed one of Edmund Freebetter. This change is said to have been caused by a mistake which Elliott made in one of his astronomical calculations, which so much disconcerted him that he refused ever after to affix his name to the almanac. He died in 1793, and Nathan Daboll, of Groton, began his series of almanacs with that year, which were continued by him during his life, and have been
* Col. Samuel Green, for so many years editor and proprietor of the "Gazette," though no longer a resident in New London, is still living (1852), eighty-four, realizing that happy enjoyment of health, cheerfulness and prosperity which is designated as a green old age.
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prepared by successors of the same name and family to the present year, 1852.
Nathan Daboll was a self-taught mathematician. He compiled an arith- metic which was extensively used in the schools of New England, and a system of practical navigation that was also highly esteemed. He opened a school in New London for the common and higher branches of mathematics, and the principles of navigation. He died in Groton, March 9th, 1918, aged sixty-eight.
3. "The Weekly Oracle, printed and published by James Springer, oppo- site the Market," was the title of a newspaper commenced at New London in October, 1796, and continued four years.
4. "The Bee, printed and published by Charles Holt." This paper was commenced June 14th, 1797, and discontinued June 30th, 1802. The editor immediately issued proposals for publishing a paper with the same title at Hudson, New York. "The Bee" may therefore be considered as transferred to that place. This paper was a prominent organ of the Democratic party, and under the administration of the elder Adams the editor was arrested for a libel, tried by the United States Court then sitting at New Haven, and under the provisions of the sedition law condemned to six months' imprison- ment and to pay a fine of $200. Charles Holt was a native of New London ; he died in Jersey City, opposite New York, in August, 1852, aged seventy- eight.
5. "The Republican Advocate," established in February, 1818, continued about ten years. It was first issued by Clapp and Francis (Joshua B. Clapp and Simeon Francis), but after four or five years the partnership dissolved. Francis removed to the west, and for a number of years published a news- paper in Springfield, Illinois. Clapp continued the "Advocate" alone until about the close of the year 1828, when he sold the establishment to John Eldridge. The latter changed the name to "The Connecticut Sentinel," but the publication was not long continued.
6. "The People's Advocate, and New London County Republican." This paper was commenced August 26, 1840, with the immediate object in view of promoting the election of William Henry Harrison to the presidency. The proprietor was Benjamin P. Bissell. The editor for 1840, John Jay Hyde; for 1841, Thomas P. Trott. Bissell then took the whole charge of the paper till his death, September 3d, 1842. In 1843, J. G. Dolbeare and W. D. Man- ning appeared as associate editors and proprietors, but the next year Dol- beare assumed the sole editorship. In November, 1844, he commenced the first daily paper published in New London; it was a folio sheet, the page twelve inches by nine, and called "The Morning News." In April, 1848, the "Advocate" and the "News" were merged in the "Weekly and Daily Chron- icle," which, commencing a new series of numbers and bearing a different name, must be considered as altogether a new undertaking.
7. "The New London Democrat" was commenced March 22d, 1845, by J. M. Scofield and S. D. Macdonald; but the second editor retired with the publication of the forty-fourth number. January Ist, 1848, Scofield, in con-
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nection with the "Democrat," commenced a daily paper entitled "The Morn- ing Star." He has since emigrated to California, having assigned his whole printing establishment, January Ist, 1849, to D. S. Ruddock, the present editor and proprietor of the "Star and Democrat."
8. "The New London Weekly and Daily Chronicle" were first issued in May, 1848, by C. F. Daniels and F. H. Bacon, an association which continued for three years. Since August, 1851, C. F. Daniels has been sole editor and proprietor.
The above are all the serial publications of the town that have been continued long enough to count their existence by years. Transient under- takings for a special purpose, and some occasional papers not issued at regular intervals have been omitted.
The following passage is selected from an article by Miss Charlotte M. Holloway, written in 1897:
New London fairly teems with well authenticated anecdotes of the Revo- lution, and it is hard to pass through the older part of the town without find- ing objects of interest ; but the Revolutionary part of local history has been so thoroughly covered that but passing mention can be made of the houses which stood in that period.
On Main street are the Guy Richards, corner Main and Richards streets; the Red Fox Tavern, where Washington stopped in 1756; the Episcopal par- sonage, the home of Mather Byles; and the Burbeck house, all between Fed- eral and Masonic streets. The latter was the home of Maj .- Gen. Henry Burbeck, brevet brigadier-general of the United States army, the founder of the United States Military Academy, and second chief of artillery, and the man who did so much to bring that branch of service to its splendid rank. He served with distinction in the Revolution, was a personal friend of Wash- ington, served with great distinction as chief of artillery to General Wayne in the war with the Miamis, was thanked in general orders, and in 1800 was in military command of all the Atlantic seaboard and Eastern and Middle States, with his headquarters at Washington, and in 1801 began the Academy at West Point. After a faithful, continuous service in the most useful and arduous labor for the advancement of the army, he was retired, and devoted himself to his home in New London. On July 4, 1846, he was made president of the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati. He died in October, 1848, and the Cincinnati erected the fine shaft to his memory in Cedar Grove. The town had a taste of his quality. It had decreed that the three elms which stand before the house should fall. The General determined they should not, and when he placed himself before them, gun in hand, and swore to shoot the first who touched them, he persuaded the selectmen that he was right. Within the old house now dwell his sons, William Henry, a member of the Cincinnati and the Sons of the American Revolution; John; and Charlotte, who is nearing one hundred years, an honorary member of the Lucretia Shaw Chapter, D. A. R., which has three daughters of Revolutionary soldiers on its list.
The Hempstead house, built and fortified in 1678, is the third oldest in the State. It was the home of Sheriff Hempstead, famous for his skill and courage, and of the Joshua whose diary is such a mine of gossip and informa- tion. It is preserved faithfully, as it was known to generations of Hemp- stead, its quaint interior unmarred by modern touch by its owner, the well-
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OLD TOWN MILL, NEW LONDON.
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known author, Mary Bolles Branch, a descendant of Hempsteads. The old stone house wreathed with ivy, its neighbor, was built by Huguenots, in 1697. On the plateau of Manwaring Hill, commanding a magnificent view of the Sound, a site of surpassing beauty, stands the old Manwaring manor. Since 1660 the land has been in possession of the family. No one has read Miss Caulkins' "History of New London" without being impressed with the limpid clearness of her style and the pleasant humor which made her digress occasionally from the dry-as-dust pathway of fact to pluck some of the fra- grant flowers of tradition. Frances Manwaring Caulkins was born in New London, April 26, 1795, and died here, February 3, 1869. Through her father she was a descendant of Hugh Caulkins, who came with Richard Blinman, the first minister of the colony. On her mother's side her ancestry was noted in early English history, Sir Ranulphus de Manwaring being justice of Ches- ter in 1189-99; another, Sir William, was killed in the streets of Chester, defending Charles I., October 9, 1644. For thirty generations the Manwarings held Over Peover, the family seat. Her father died before she was born, and her uncle, Christopher Manwaring, a gentleman noted for generosity, culture and literary tastes, was exceedingly fond of his talented niece, aiding her with his library, and for seven years she dwelt with him. When she desired to teach, he set apart a room, still called her schoolroom. He married for his second wife Mary Wolcott, a noted beauty, and daughter of the famous Wol- cott family. The widow of his son, Dr. Robert Alexander Manwaring, Ellen Barber Manwaring (daughter of Noyes Barber, for eighteen years Congress- man from this district, the friend of Henry Clay, Daniel Webster and William Henry Harrison, who was to have had him in his cabinet), occupies the mansion with her only son, Wolcott B. Manwaring.
No landmark in New London is more interesting than its old mill. The following poem by M. G. Brainard, in the "New London Day," is rich in suggestion :
THE OLD MILL AT NEW LONDON
The same old mill that Winthrop built; Few were the men that saw it rise; Today it passes on their life, Transmitted through the centuries.
In quietude this lowly house Has stood beside the peaceful glen, And seen the busy years go by, Full of the toils of busy men.
Has stood through revolution's blood Recorded Arnold's guilty raid, And looked on England's ships of war, From out its oft secluded shade;
Has seen our churches and our schools With tower and spire rise one by one; Has heard the chimes of Sabbath bells Ring out their call from sire to son.
Has heard the rising city's din, The railroad's shriek, the steamboat's call, Yet never through the tumult lost The dash of its own waterfall.
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And men have come and men have gone, Houses been built and homes laid low; And now, the same old mill-stone turns E'en as two centuries ago.
How many through this wild ravine Have wandered in their youthful day, And where the water rushed between, Have skipped from rock to rock their way.
Then, from the miller's humbler door, With borrowed cup, have rushed in haste To where the ever-flowing trough Poured for each thirsty lip a taste.
How many by the placid pond, The little wharf, the dainty bridge, Have watched the willows as they dipped Their fringes in the water's edge.
Or, lingering near this quiet spot In the soft moonlight pale and still, Have listened to the water's gush And drank the peace of the old mill.
Some changes-'tis not all the same; The years could never leave us all ; Time's footsteps make their impress felt, However silent be their fall.
Some little, low, deserted room, With lacy cobwebs hanging o'er Some widening rifts among the laths Show what was once that is no more.
And still the water wends its way With rush and gush of happy sound, And throws its arch of sparkling spray, And pushes the big wheel around.
Long may the ancient mill-stone grind! Long may the ancient mill be seen ! Long wave the trees, long flow the pond ! Long rest the rocks in their ravine!
Long, through the narrow, open door And little window o'er the wheel, May sunshine gleam upon the floor O'er golden heaps and bags of meal.
Soft be the touch of rushing time, Swift as they need the prompt repairs; Reverent the care shall pass thee on As thou hast been, to waiting years.
CHAPTER VI
THE CITY OF NORWICH
Its Founding-First Settlers-Development of the Town-During the Revolution- Reminiscent Letters from Former Residents-Beginnings of Manufacturing-Early Newspapers-The Jubilee of 1859-Abraham Lincoln Visits the City-Roll of Noted People-Description of the Town by Henry Ward Beecher.
The following is from the pen of Edmund Clarence Stedman :
THE INLAND CITY (1851)
Guarded by circling streams and wooded mountains Like sentinels round a queen, Dotted with groves and musical with fountains, The city lies serene.
Not far away the Atlantic tide diverges, And, up the southern shore Of gray New England, rolls in shortened surges, That murmur evermore.
The fairy city! not for frowning castle Do I extol her name; Not for the gardens and the domes palatial Of Oriental fame;
Yet if there be one man who will not rally, One man, who sayeth not That of all cities in the Eastern valley Ours is the fairest spot ;
Then let him roam beneath those elms gigantic, Or idly wander where Shetucket flows meandering, where Yantic Leaps through the cloven air,
Gleaming from rock to rock with sunlit motion, Then slumbering in the cove; So sinks the soul from Passion's wild devotion, To the deep calm of love ..
And journey with me to the village olden, Among whose devious ways Are mossy mansions, rich with legends golden Of early forest days ;
Elysian time ! when by the rippling water, Or in the woodland groves, The Indian warrior and the Sachem's daughter Whispered their artless loves ;
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Legends of fords, where Uncas made his transit, Fierce for the border war, And drove all day the alien Narragansett Back to his haunts afar;
Tales of the after time, when scant and humble Grew the Mohegan band, And Tracy, Griswold, Huntington and Trumbull, Were judges in the land.
So let the caviler feast on old tradition, And then at sunset climb Up yon green hill, where, on his broadened vision May burst the view sublime !
The city spires, with stately power impelling The soul to look above,
And peaceful homes, in many a rural dwelling, Lit up with flames of love ;-
And then confess, nor longer idly dally, While sinks the lingering sun, That of all cities in the Eastern valley Ours is the fairest one.
The town of Norwich is bounded on the north by Sprague and Franklin, on the east by Lisbon and Preston, on the south by Preston and Montville, and on the west by Bozrah and Franklin. The original town of nine miles square has lost its area by the setting off of Bozrah, Franklin and Lisbon in 1786, and by the loss of a portion of the present Preston in 1687. The deed of the town land was executed by Uncas, Owaneco, and Attawanhood June 6, 1659, and reads as follows :
Deed of Norwich.
Know all men that Onkos, Owaneco, Attawanhood, Sachems of Mohegan have Bargined, sold, and passed over, and doe by these presents sell and pass over unto the Towne and Inhabitants of Norwich nine miles square of land lying and being at Moheagan and the parts thereunto adjoyneing, with all ponds, rivers, woods, quarries, mines, with all royalties, privileges, and appur- tenances thereunto belonging, to them the said inhabitants of Norwich, theire heirs and successors forever-the said lands are to be bounded as followeth. (viz.) to the southward on the west side of the Great River, ye line is to begin at the brooke falling into the head of Trading Cove, and soe to run west norwest seven miles-from thence the line to run nor north east nine miles, and on the East side the afores'd river to the southward the line is to joyne with New London bounds as it is now laid out and soe to run east two miles from the foresd river, nor norwest nine miles to meet with the western line. -In consideration whereof the sd Onkos, Owaneco and Attawanhood doe acknowledge to have received of the parties aforesd the full and juste sum of seventy pounds and doe promise and engage ourselves, heirs and succes- sors, to warrant the sd bargain and sale to the aforesd parties, their heirs and successors, and them to defend from all claimes and molestations from any
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