USA > Connecticut > New London County > A modern history of New London County, Connecticut, Volume II > Part 16
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This, in brief, is the story of the potteries of Norwich; some who read may be interested enough to look over the old jugs, jars and bottles in attics or cellars, which have been displaced by some more modern utensils, and may be rewarded by finding some token or mark which will indicate the approxi- mate time of their making. Not every town can boast of a pottery, and so if the piece of pottery or stoneware tells its own story of having been "made in Norwich," then indeed is the finder the fortunate possessor of a specimen of one of the vanished industries of Norwich.
THE SILVERSMITHS OF NEW LONDON COUNTY
The craftsmen of a country are one of the best indications of its growthi and prosperity. When New England was first settled, only the barest neces- sities were obtainable, and for many years old inventories revealed very humble circumstances. But as time passed and the population increased and trade with the old country became easier, the home soon showed the effects of the increasing demands. Then, as now, people of means would obtain from New York or Boston articles of superior workmanship and material, but the people in general were content to patronize a workman near home. Many fine examples of the skill of New York or Boston silversmiths may be seen in New London county, but interest in the old families of the county, and much of the silver used by them, is enhanced by a knowledge of the old gold or silversmiths of the section. Much interest was aroused by an exhibit of old silver held by the New London County Historical Society on February 8, 1912, in Slater Hall, Norwich. Many of those who attended the exhibition went home to examine their old silver, and found to their delight that they were now able to identify the maker.
Old silver has a fascination peculiarly its own-its sheen, its unmistak- able touch, its shape and design, the many forms in which it appeared and the unusual ways in which it was used-each has its charm, and the joy of pos- session grows deeper when something is known of the craftsman who made it. or when some incident in connection with its inception is told. New London county may well be proud of the number of gold and silversmiths who appear on its records and of their work which still remains. So in this sketch of the silversmiths are linked some old families, their homes, and their workmanlike beads upon a chain of their own making.
Rene Grignon was the first goldsmith of whom anything is known in Norwich, Connecticut, and is said to have been the second in the colony ; he was here as early as 1708, when he presented to the First Church of the town
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a bell which was "thankfully accepted." He was received as a regular inhabitant in 1710, and in 1711 he purchased land in the southwestern part of the town; in December, 1711, he is called "Rene Grignon of Norwich, Goldsmith," and in other deeds is called "captain." He occupied a house owned by the Huntingtons, on the corner of the present North Washington and East Town streets, which has since been torn down.
Miss Perkins, in her "Old Houses of Norwich, Connecticut," writes, "Capt. Rene Grignon was a French Huguenot who came to this country in the latter part of the seventeenth century and joined the French settlement at East Greenwich, Rhode Island. Driven from thence with the rest of the settlers by persecution, in 1691 he went to Oxford, Massachusetts, and when that French settlement was abandoned after the Indian massacre of 1696, he moved to Boston, where he was at one time 'Ancien,' or elder of the French church. In 1699 an attempt was made to re-establish the French settlement at Oxford and many of the former inhabitants returned. * * In 1704 occurred the Deerfield massacre, and the French at Oxford, thoroughly alarmed and disheartened, again abandoned the settlement, and it was prob- ably soon after this date that Captain Grignon came to Norwich."
He died in 1715, his wife having passed away not long before. On March 17, 1714-15, he appcars on the land records of Norwich as "goldsmith," and made his will the twentieth of the same month. He gives to Capt. Richard Bushnell, one of his neighbors, his silver-hilted sword, double-barreled gun and pistols, and appoints him executor. To Daniel Deshon, a young French Huguenot in his employ, he wills "all my Gooldfmith Tools and Defire he may be bound out to fome suitable person in Boston till he arrive at the age of twenty-one years; To learn the trade of a Goldfmith and I also give him Ten pounds to be paid him when said Daniel comes of age." He gives "To my man James Barett the Time I have in him and direct my Executor to make him free as soon as I shall be Interred." He remembers Jane Jearson, alias Normandy, and bequeaths the remainder of the estate to "my dear and well-beloved friend, Mary Urenne." The inventory of the estate of "Rene Grignon, of Norwich, Gentleman," was taken March 28, 1715, and shows that besides the goldsmith trade, he carried a large variety of other goods. Among the articles enumerated were "rare jewels of gold, 316 precious stones, pearls and precious stones, bags of bloodstones and others, gold, gold dust, plate and bullion, bullion, a box of chirurgeon's instruments, taylers sheers, locks, pew- ter, dozen verspective glasses, wigs, hair, cambric, cotton and tow cloth, need- les, thimbles, shoe buckles, leather gloves, girdles, hatbands, silk, jack knives, other kinds of knives, various kinds of spices, ivory combs, spirit vitrioll, drugs of many kinds, and numerous other articles." Also "Mrs. Grignon's apparel, £32." Besides the house and land in the western part of the town, he owned "five lotts in Voluntown." That he had a large and widespread custom is evidenced by the fact that debts were due to the estate from persons in Wind- ham, Colchester, Lebanon, Plainfield, Ashford, Derby, New London and Groton. On the records of the New London county court are many actions for debt brought by the executor to recover the money due. His inventory recalls that of Samuel Gray of New London, and like that estate, when every-
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thing was settled, there was very little left. Two pieces of silver believed to have been his work are still extant; one of them, a cup, is shown in "Early Silver of Connecticut and Its Makers," by George M. Curtis (facing page 47). His mark was "R. G." crowned, a stag (?) passant below, in a crowned shield, and, judging from these pieces, he was an excellent workman.
About the time Captain Rene Grignon was carrying on the goldsmith business in Norwich, Samuel Gray had a similar trade and store at New London. He was born in 1684, in oBston, Massachusetts, son of and Susanna Gray of Boston. He married Lucy Palmes, daughter of Major Edward and Lucy (Winthrop) Palmes, and granddaughter of Governor Winthrop, but did not long survive his marriage. Hempstead records in his Diary, under date of May 25, 1713, "Mr. Small Gray Died. had been Sick a Long time." He was buried in the "Ancient Buriall Place of New London," and the "most elaborately wrought stone in the place is erected to the mem- ory of Samuel Gray, who married Lucy, the daughter of Major Palmes. It is of purplish slate, small in size but thick, with a very skillfully carved border : "Here Lyes ye body of Mr. Samuel Gray, Aged 28 years and 7 months. Decd May ye 25th, 1713." As in the case of Capt. Grignon, what is known of his goldsmith business is learned from the inventory of the estate. For that early day, it was very valuable. Among the items were: 99 oz. of plate in 3 tankards, 3 cups, I spoon, 6 forks (this last an unusual item) ; more plate in buckles and buttons; 76 oz. of plate; 21/2 oz. of gold "wanting 40 gr."; silver plate, more gold plate, chafing dish ; "Gold Smith tooles and Implements with a parcel of enamel ; some Gold and Silver filings with other Small tooles, with a parcel of Charcoal." Listed under "Shop Goods" appeared "blue cotton, red cotton, buckram, linen, calico, kersey, crape, muslin, broadcloth, gloves, 1000 pins, lace, fans, knives, forks, scissors, buttons, needles, brass thimbles, chocolate grater, ribbon, silver lace, beads, spices, a barrel and one- half of molasses not good," silver sarvet, pewter, etc. The total amount was $539, but the debts amounted to $405. Samuel Gray had made his will before his marriage, leaving his estate to his mother, Susanna Gray, of Boston, widow; the widow Lucy Gray appealed from this will, and the mother ap- pointed her son "John Gray of Boston aforesaid, goldsmith," as her attorney. A settlement was reached by the mother (who seems to have received the goldsmith tools) and the widow, who later married, as second wife, Samuel Lyndes of Saybrook, Connecticut. She had no issue by either husband.
John Gray came to New London in 1713 to settle his brother Samuel's estate; married there on October 21, 1714, Mary Christophers, daughter of Richard Christophers of New London, one of the most prominent men of the town. He continued the business of his brother, having a shop of assorted wares, and pursued his trade of goldsmith. He lived only a few years after coming to New London, dying in January, 1720, at the age of twenty-eight years. He, too, was buried in the oldest cemetery in New London, where a stone still bears the inscription : "Here lies the body of Mr. John Gray, who died January ye 14th. 1720, aged twenty-eight years." The inventory of his estate included silver buttons, silver buckles, nine ounces of silver, etc. His estate was divided equally between his widow and his mother, Susanna Gray
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of Boston. Among the articles set off to his mother were "The gold smiths tooles, viz: bellows, anvil, Hammers, files and Implements of various sorts all belonging to the trade," and valued at six pounds. It is from these inven- tories that much is learned of the tools used by a goldsmith of early times. The widow married for a second husband, in 1721, Jonathan Prentis, of New London.
The next goldsmith of whom anything is known in New London was Daniel Deshon, born about 1697. He was an apprentice of Captain Rene Grignon of Norwich, who in his will made the following provision for him : He gave "To Daniel Deshon all my Gooldfmith Tools and I Defire he may be bound out to fome suitable person in Boston till he arrive at the age of twenty one years, to learn the trade of Goldsmith. I also give him Ten pounds to be paid when said Daniel comes of age." He settled in New London, where he married Ruth, daughter of Christopher Christophers, Esq. He died in November, 1781 ; his wife died in 1775. Three of their sons were prominent in the War of the Revolution. Both are interred in the old burying ground in New London. The Deshon family were prominent in New London for many years, the wife, Ruth, being a descendant of Elder William Brewster, of the "Mayflower."
Pygan Adams was born March 27, 1712, in New London, son of the Rev. Eliphalet and Lydia (Pygan) Adams of New London, and grandson of the Rev. William Adams of Dedham, Massachusetts, by his first wife, Mary Manning.
Rev. Eliphalet Adams was for many years pastor of the First Congrega- tional Church in New London, and here his son Pygan was one of the dea- cons. Captain Pygan Adams held many prominent positions in his town, and represented the district in the General Assembly of the colony, most of the sessions between 1735 and 1765. He was at one time overseer of the Mohegan Indians, and one of the builders of the New London lighthouse. He is mostly mentioned as a merchant, but in a deed executed in 1736 his father called him a goldsmith, and as it is always interesting to learn something of a man from his cotemporaries, the following items are given from the "Diary of Joshua Hempstead" of New London, 1711-1758:
1735, July 9 I pd Pygan Adams 37s for I pr of Gold Buttons & mending the Link of the other pr & he had the old link of them I lost. (Page 290.) 1738, March 15, I went in to Town & bot 2 axes of Mr. Saltonstall & Some Plate Buttons of Pygan Adams. (Page 332.)
1744, March 24 Got my Watch mended by Pygan adams the main Spring being broke. (Page 423.)
He was perhaps one of the best craftsmen of his kind in Connecticut; a fine porringer, with the mark "P. A.," a rat-tailed spoon and tankard, owned in Lyme, and several fine spoons owned on the eastern end of Long Island, are attributed to him, as no other silversmith with these initials is known. He died in July, 1776; the Rev. Robert Hallam, D.D., was one of his descend- ants.
Of the goldsmith, Theophilus Burrill or Burrell, nothing is known except
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what is learned from Hempstead's Diary above quoted. Under date of Jan- uary I, 1738-39, he writes : "Mond fair & Exceeding Icy Slippery. the ground is al like Glass. I was at the Town meeting and ye Choice of Taverners & Theophilus Burrell a Goldsmith aged about ( ) Died with Convulsion fitts. he belonged to Boston but hath Sojourned in Town 2 or 3 years. January 3 Burll buried." (Page 344.) Probably it was the same man who was so badly affected during that teriffic thunderstorm of August 31, 1735, of which Hempstead tells on page 293 of the Diary, when several people were killed by the lightning, and others were seriously injured "& one Burrell a Stranger in the Gallery by ye Stairs on ye East Side (of the church) were al Struck & by bleading & propper means they Recovered."
For some years after the death of Capt. Rene Grignon in 1715, no record of a goldsmith in Norwich has been noted. In 1750, Capt. Charles Whiting leased some land from Daniel Tracy, "opposite Col. Jedediah Huntington's," and here had his shop. He was born in 1725, the son of Charles and Elizabeth (Bradford) Whiting, a descendant of Major William Whiting of Hartford, Connecticut, and of Governor William Bradford of Plymouth, Massa- chusetts. In 1749 he married Honor, daughter of Hezekiah and Honor (Deming) Goodrich, of Wethersfield, and lived in Huntington lane. Captain Whiting died in 1765, as on August 6 of that year administration on his estate was granted to the widow, Honour Whiting. The inventory included "Spoon- punches, money scales, nest of weights, burnishers, draw plates, rings, silver seals, silver cost buttons, brass stamps, silver jewels, 17 pwt of gold," etc. His mark, or specimens of his work are not known.
Of several of the gold and silversmiths of the time, only brief glimpses are vouchsafed. One of these is Samuel Post, born February 12, 1736, in Norwich, son of Samuel and Sarah (Griswold) Post. He is said to have practised his trade in New London, but went south after the Revolutionary War, and has not been further traced. Another was a Boston silversmith stopping in New London, of whom Hempstead notes, 1758: "Jan 27 Fryd a man belonging to Boston a Silversmith a Journeyman Died of a Consumption. his name was Richardson." "Saturd 28 fair and very cold .- Richardson buryed, a wife & I child at Boston." (Page 698.)
William Adgate was born in Norwich in 1744, and died there in 1779: he married in 1767 his step-sister, Eunice Waterman, and lived on the Town street, now North Washington street, just above the Lowthorpe meadows, where he had his goldsmith's shop.
David Greenleaf was a goldsmith who lived in Norwich from 1761 to 1769; he was born July 13, 1737, in Bolton, Massachusetts, son of Dr. Daniel and Silence (Marsh) Greenleaf. In 1763 he married Mary Johnston, of New London North Parish, now Montville, Connecticut, daughter of Samuel John- ston of Chesterfield Society, in New London. This Mary Johnston has been called daughter of Stephen and Mary (Kinne) Johnson, and also of Ebenezer and Deborah (Champion) Johnson, but a deed from David Greenleaf and wife Mary, then living in Windham, Connecticut, in 1778, shows that she was the daughter of Samuel Johnston of New London; this family then spelled the name "Johnston," in distinction from the Johnsons.
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In October, 1761, David Greenleaf of Norwich, "Gooldsmith," purchased a piece of land on the Town street, "near Christopher Leffingwell's Shop." About 1769 he moved to Lancaster, Massachusetts, where he was living in March, 1772, but soon after went to Bolton, Massachusetts; in Windham and Coventry, Connecticut, in 1778. He died in Coventry, December 13, 1800. His wife Mary died in Hartford, at the home of her son, David Greenleaf, May 1, 1814. His trade-mark was "D. Greenleaf," and articles made by him are owned in Norwich.
Samuel Noyes was born November 3, 1747, in Groton, son of William and Sybil (Whiting) Noyes. His grandfather, Deacon John Noyes, had mar- ried as second wife Mrs. Elizabeth Whiting, so he probably learned the goldsmith's trade from his uncle, Captain Charles Whiting of Norwich. He married, in 1770, Abigail Harding, and set up his goldsmith's shop not at the Green at Norwich Town, where his uncle had located, but at "the Landing," as that portion of Norwich was called, and which by that time had begun to be settled as a business and residential section of the town. His advertise- ment appeared in the "Norwich Packet and the Weekly Advertiser," for September 22, 1779: "Wanted, as an Apprentice to the goldfmith and jew- eller's bufiness, an active BOY, of about 14 or 15 years of age-For further particulars, enquire of SAMUEL NOYES in Norwich Landing. Auguft 31. 1779."
In 1777 he bought some land in the East Society of Norwich, "at a place called Pauquetannock Village, near the Head of the Cove Called by that name," and here he lived. This locality is always a puzzle to students of Norwich history ; at the time of Noyes' purchase, Poquetannock, as it is still called, was in the bounds of the town of Norwich, but in 1786 was set off to the town of Preston, and the dividing line between the town of Norwich and the part of Groton now included in Ledyard, went through the village. The Noyes family would naturally have attended the Congregational church at Long Society (still so known) on the east side of the Shetucket river, but instead they were members of the Episcopal church, as told by the following item taken from Long Society Church records : "Norwich Jany 23: 1786. This is to Certifie that Samuel Noyes Late of Norwich Deceased was at his Death and for Several Years before a professor of the Episcopal Church. Certified by John Tyler, Minister of the Episcopal Church in Norwich." This certifi- cate was given so that the widow would not have to pay a church rate to both churches.
A gold or silversmith often worked at other trades, and it is stated that in 1775 Samuel Noyes made and repaired guns and bayonets for the light infantry. He was buried in Christ Church burying ground, and a stone bears the inscription : "In memory of Samuel Noyes, son of William Noyes, who died July 24th, 1781, in the 33d year of his age."
Probably the most prominent silversmith of his day in Norwich was Thomas Harland, who was born in England in 1753, came to New England in 1773, and appeared in Norwich, Connecticut, that same year ; he married Hannah Clark, daughter of Elisha and Hannah (Leffingwell) Clark, the mother being of the old Leffingwell family. The house built and occupied
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by him at Harland's corner is one of the picturesque old houses of the town. He was an experienced goldsmith, having served, according to the English custom, a long apprenticeship. At first he called himself a watch and clock maker from London; he had his shop near the store of Christopher Leffing- well, and seems to have immediately secured a large and constantly increasing trade. He advertised extensively and employed ten or twelve hands con- stantly. It is said that his annual output was two hundred watches and forty clocks. Clocks made by him are still in use; one of them stands in the hall in the Harland homestead. His skill as a silversmith is well demonstrated by some beautiful old pieces in possession of the family-a heavy silver ladle ; a porringer, with a cover, which was unusual ; spoons, large and small, with a dainty shell design on the handle. His talent was also demonstrated in another direction ; when the town of Norwich wanted a fire engine, he drew plans and assisted in carrying them out.
He died in 1807, and the inventory of his estate is most interesting in the number and make of the watches, &c .; also the large number of books in his library was an unusual collection for those days, and included a large number of French works. Among his apprentices were David Greenleaf, Nathaniel Shipman, William Cleveland, grandfather of President Grover Cleveland. perhaps Joseph Carpenter, and others. Eli Terry, of clock fame, and Daniel Burnap, the clock-maker and silversmith of East Windsor, Con- necticut, were also his apprentices. A descendant, Henry Harland, was a well known author, who wrote under the nom de plume of "Sidney Luska."
Jonathan Trott was born in 1734, and was a jeweler and goldsmith in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1772; in 1778 he was in business in Norwich, Con- necticut, where on April 12, his son, George Washington Trott, was bap- tized at the First Church of that town. He also kept the tavern on Norwich Town Green, later known as the Peck tavern ; he is said by the Hon. Charles Miner, a native of Norwich, but later of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to have been an ardent patriot, and one of Mr. Miner's earliest recollections was the thunder of the cannon in front of the tavern when peace was proclaimed in 1784.
In the "Connecticut Gazette" of December 18, 1783, Jonathan Trott, Innholder, of Norwich, has a notice to the effect that the meeting of the Medical Society of New London County would be postponed by adjournment till January, 1784. On the 22nd of same month he was one of the signers for a charter for the city of Norwich. Before 1790 he had removed to New London, where he died October 4, 1815, at the age of 81 years. His wife was Elizabeth Proctor, and one of his sons was named John Proctor Trott. Sev- eral pieces of his work remain to testify to his skill as a silversmith. Two of his sons, Jonathan Trott, Junior, and John Proctor Trott, followed their father's trade. Jonathan, Jr., died February 17, 1813, aged 42 years. There is said to be owned in Lyme a tea-set of the style popular about 1810, and bearing the mark, "I. T.," which was ascribed to this younger Jonathan.
John Proctor Trott was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1769, learned his trade of his father, and removed with him to New London. In 1793 John P. Trott and William Cleveland bought a parcel of land in New London, on
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the street leading from the court house to the market, Cleveland selling his part in 1794 to Trott. This same year, Trott and Cleveland purchased another parcel of land. John P. Trott married, December 11, 1796, Lois Chapman, daughter of Capt. Joseph Chapman, of Norwich; both are buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery in New London. Their home stood where the Mohican Hotel now stands; in the deeds the lot was referred to as Hill's or Erving's lot. Miss Caulkins, in her "History of New London, Connecticut," published in 1852, writes: "Where the Trott mansion now stands is supposed to have been the place where stood the house of Charles Hill, fortified in the time of the Indian War. The present house was built by Samuel Fosdick, at the head of Niantic river, but taken apart, brought into town, and erected in 1786. It has been occupied by J. P. Trott, its present owner, more than half a century " In the second edition of the "History of New London," under the heading of "New London in 1860," she adds, "The Trott house, an ancient building on State street, antique and venerable in its appearance, but of post-Revolution- ary date, was taken down in 1854. It stood at the corner of Meridian street, a site occupied in the infancy of the town by the house of Mr. Charles Hill, which was one of the six fortified houses of King Philip's War in 1676." Next to the Mohican Hotel, on Meridian street, is an old house with an old garden, which its occupants say was built by John P. Trott; they also say that his shop was on State street, between where Perry & Stone have their jewelry store, and the corner of Bank street, long called Keeny's corner. A consid- erable number of articles of silver made by him bear his mark, "JPT," in cap- ital letters, or "JPT" in script. Trott & Cleveland advertised in 1792, and Trott & Brooks in 1798.
Robert Douglas was born in New London, in 1740, and in 1766 he adver- tised that his silversmith's shop was next door to Capt. Titus Hurlbut's, and that he made shoe and knee buckles, chapes and tongues, buttons, stones, crystal rings, sparks, and cyphered earrings. He died at Canterbury, Con- necticut, while on his way home from Boston to New London, in 1776, while serving his country in the War of the Revolution.
John Gardiner was another goldsmith of New London; he was born October 7, 1734, in New London, Connecticut, the son of Dr. Jonathan and Mary (Adams) Gardiner, and grandson of Rev. Eliphalet Adams, and a descendant of the Gardiner family of Gardiner's Island. He probably learned the trade of his uncle, Pygan Adams; he died in 1776, and his inventory filed in 1777 includes a long list of silversmith's tools, among which were two stamps used as his trade-mark, "J : Gardner" in a rectangle. The silver cup belonging to the Berkeley Divinity School is an example of his skillful workmanship.
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