USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Meriden > An historic record and pictorial description of the town of Meriden, Connecticut and men who have made it > Part 22
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The estate was found to be insolvent and in the Colonial Records of Connec- ticut2 at the May session appears the following :
"Upon the memorial of Thankful Cooper, administratrix on the estate of Doc- tor Ebenezer Cooper, late of Wallingford, deceased, shewing this Assembly that the debts due from said estate surmounts the moveable estate the sum of two hundred twenty six pounds eighteen shillings, and a penny: and praying for lib- erty to sell lands &c."
The court empowered Capt. Samuel Hall to dispose of so much of the real estate as was necessary and he sold the homestead to Enos Curtis: he in turn on Dec. 17, 1744, sold to David Ives "114 acres with a dwelling house, barn, well and pump, standing thereon, being the homestead the late Dr. Ebenezer Cooper last dwelt in : bounded west by Divan Berry north by Benj. Ives and east and south by highways."3 Doubtless, the old physician lies buried in the cemetery on Meeting House Hill.
The second physician, Dr. William Hough, has been mentioned so often and so recently that it hardly seems necessary to add to what has been said except to note that he was a brother of James Hough, who owned the grist and saw mills where Baldwin's Mills are now situated. He was born in a house which stood somewhere on the farm now called the Joseph Hough property just within the Wallingford line and south of the Yale farms on Yale avenue. Dr. Hough left more mining impressions on the old records than medical memories in the parish. He was the uncle of Daniel Hough, as has been mentioned. He removed to Cheshire parish and later to Haddam; he was living in the latter place in 1755.
Of the third physician, Dr. Alexander Wolcott, a few notices have appeared. He owned a farm here in 1735 through the heart of which ran Gravel street. It
1 Dr. Davis' History, p. 144.
2 Vol. VIII., p. 523.
3 Wallingford land records Vol. XI., p. 272.
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EARLY HISTORY.
is not certain that he lived here ; at any rate for a very short time only ; a brief sketch of him appears on page 112.
Of the fourth physician, Dr. Isaac Hall, considerable is known. He is called by Mr. Perkins and Dr. Davis, Meriden's first physician. This was, doubtless, because the others had died or moved away so very long ago that all memory of them had been utterly lost, even in the time of Dr. Isaac I. Hough, who doubtless gave Mr. Perkins some of his facts.
Dr. Isaac Hall was the son of Jonathan Hall and was born probably in the village of Wallingford on July 1I, 1714. He married Nov. 5, 1739, Mary Moss. The writer cannot find that he owned land in the parish of Meriden until Oct. 13,
HIM
ISAAC HALL, OR ROLLIN S. IVES HOUSE.
1758, when he bought of Ephraim Hough, eight acres of land at Dog's Misery and doubtless built his house at that time which stood perhaps two hundred feet north of the present home of Rollin S. Ives, on Paddock avenue. The old site can still be seen at the corner where Misery Bar road bends to the northeast. It is said that the road has been changed and that it formerly ran just east of this house. Mr. Ives' house is said to have been built by Isaac Hall, the son of the doctor, perhaps about the year 1770. It is a dignified old farmhouse, large and commanding, and is in an excellent state of preservation.
, t
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A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.
The writer has had the privilege of a careful examination of an old account book1 once kept by Dr. Hall. A portion only is left, but sufficient to show that his practice took him at various times to Cheshire, Guilford, Westbury, Middle- town, Middlefield, Northford, Durham and even Hebron. His charge always included travel to the patient which varied according to the distance. In Meriden the item is usually charged at one shilling. The medicine was a separate item, and included such drugs as elixir camphire, hypochondriac pills, universal pills, War- wick powders, Elixir Proprietatis (commonly called nowadays Elixir Pro.), Bit-
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PAGE FROM ISAAC HALL'S ACCOUNT BOOK.
ter powder, stinking drops (probably asafetida), rhubarb, contrayerva, viperane, salts of amber, etc. Among the list of patients we find the names of Deacon Eben- ezer Cowles on Oxhill, Stephen Perkins, whose house stands at the corner of Parker avenue and Ann street, William Merriam of Pilgrims' Harbor, Lazarus Ives, Samuel Penfield, John Hall, Elisha Scovill and Daniel Baldwin.
Now and then he bleeds a patient, and finally we encounter an entry that fairly takes the breath away when we remember that in those days no merciful anaesthe-
1 Through the courtesy of Ives W. and his sister, Miss Ellen Hart.
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EARLY HISTORY.
sia had been discovered to comfort the poor sufferer. On September 17, 1770, he was called to the home of Ebenezer Hubbard, of Middlefield, for which he charged "travel 4s" and then comes the gruesome item "to burning his wifes cancer twice Is." This probably involved nothing more or less than searing it with a red hot iron.
In those days smallpox was dreaded even more than it is to-day .; one terrible scourge devastated the parish of Cheshire in 1732 when eighteen people died in a few weeks. The disease was always a possibility and every known precaution was used to avoid it. The usual remedy for rendering a person immune was in- oculation and it was a custom to form neighborhood parties and take the infection together. In the Oliver Rice homestead is preserved a recipe to be taken during inoculation, of which the following is a copy :
."A Receipt for the preparation for the Small Pox
Take one Pound of Blue Flagg root pound it well boil it in a Gallon of Water to a paste, strain it through a lawn, then add to its fourth Manna, then half the Whole Castle soap Mix it well and make into Pills somewhat less than a small pea-A Dram is a dose for a grown Person-Take a Pill each morning after In- noculation till the Symptoms come on."
In the Connecticut Journal for Jan. 31, 1793, appears the following adver- tisement :
"Inoculation. The Subscribers beg leave to inform the public That they are carrying on the business of Inoculation at the house of Col. Isaac Cook, a place extremely well situated for the purpose about one mile east of the meeting house- Any person desirous of receiving the infection may depend on the utmost punc- tuality and attention by their most obedient servants
Aaron Andrews and Bilious Kirtland"
"Wallingford Jan 22 1793"
The writer has been told that Dr. Isaac Hall for a time carried on an inocu- lating establishment in a house that once stood on High Hill in the southeastern part of Meriden.
He died March 7, 1781. His inventory included
Books on Physick, £18 20
Medicines and bottles, £20 0 7
His son Jonathan was also a physician and probably practiced for a short time in Meriden and removed to New Hartford, N. Y., in 1787.
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A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.
In the Middlesex Gazette, under date of March 16, 1793, appears the following notice :
"Inoculation-The subscribers who the last season, inoculated in company for the Small Pox, are now carrying on the same in the eastern part of Meriden, six miles west of this city (Middletown) at Matthew Yales House, very convenient for that purpose. The same successful method will still be pursued-whoever wishes to receive the Infection by Inoculation, will have the closest Attention paid them, by the Publics humble servants John Dickinson William B. Hall Middletown Jan 12 1793
N. B. Apply to said Dickinson or Hall, in this city or at Brenton Hall's Esq near the Pest House."
There is a tradition in the Julius Hall family that there was formerly a pest house located on High Hill road a little east of its junction with Thorp avenue, and it probably was the house mentioned in the advertisement. Brenton Hall's home was in the extreme eastern part of Meriden, and to a person in Middletown it would be near the pest house.
The introduction of vaccination in Meriden took place in 1814.1 At a town meeting held April 23rd of that year it was "voted to appoint a committee of two persons in each district to introduce the kine pock innoculation into this town.
Dr. Isaac I. Hough and Dr. Theophilus Hall for the Center district.
Partrick Clark and Matthew Foster, N. W. district.
Phinehas Hough and Eleazer Scovel, N. E. district. Samuel Baldwin, Jr., and Ira Hall, E. district. Othniel Ives and Ivah Curtis, S. E. district.
Ichabod Wood and Moses Cowles, S. W. district. Dan Andrews and Levi Allen, W. district. John Plymert, Plymert district.
Voted That any person who is inoculated in this town for the Kine Pock by Dr Fancher may have the priviledge of being innoculated for the Small Pox free of expense under the Superintendance of Physicians of this town.".
Dr. Theophilus Hall was a grandson of the Rev. Theophilus and was born in Meriden April 20, 1773. He married Mar. 24, 1803, Bethia, daughter of Eph- raim and granddaughter of Benjamin Merriam, whose farm house stood where the Meriden House is located. He occupied the parson's old homestead. Not
1 In Dr. Rufus W. Matthewson's address at the 86th Annual Meeting of Middlesex Co. Medical Soc. in April 1877 it is stated that "in 1801, a few months after 1st vaccination on this Continent, Dr. Jonathan Hall with Dr. Insign Hough introduced vaccination in this vicinity beginning with a Mr. Pad- dock of Meriden and a Mr. Bradley of Middletown, who were induced to become subjects for experiment and in view of the uncertainty of the results the physicians agreed to attend the men each on alter- nate days for 3 weeks."
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EARLY HISTORY.
much is known of his life here and he died at the age of 42 on Sept. 26, 1815, in Lenox, Mass., where he had gone on a visit.
Dr. Insign Hough, son of Daniel, the blacksmith, was born in the old house at the corner of Ann and Curtis streets on Sept. 1, 1746, and began to practice in 1769. In 1792 he bought of the heirs of Samuel Hall the house which he soon turned into an inn, known at first as Hough's tavern and later as Central tavern or hotel, which stood at the corner of Broad and East Main streets, and now re- placed by the residence of Francis Atwater. Here he combined the professions of medicine and tavern-keeping. He was successful in both callings. He had apparently retired from business of all kinds some time before his death in 1813, his mantle falling on his son, Dr. Isaac I. Dr. Insign has been described as of a genial and lively dis- position, and quite slight in body, al- though his son was a man of enormous proportions, weigh- ing at one time fully 350 pounds.1
Dr. Isaac I. Hough was a man of influence in the community, enter- ing largely into the industrial enter- prises of the town, and his success as a physician was excel- lent.
DR. ISAAC I. HOUGH.2
His face indi- cates character and strength, and his enormous bulk is in evidence in the por- trait. He was born in 1781 and never married. He died in Meriden Feb. 26, 1852. Many people still living remember the bluff old doctor and his kindly ways. His size made it nec- essary that every ar- ticle of furniture he used should be built especially for him. His chair was so large that an ordi- nary person was lost in it. If calling on His
any one he always found it necessary to have two chairs to sit in. coffin was made several years before his death and stored in a loft in his carriage house. Many anecdotes are still told of him and the following is a good one on the doctor: His friend Captain Roswell Cowles occupied a house that stood on the site of the old town hall ; he was a mason builder and also made the tombstones of the town, his stoneyard being located on the site of the George R. Willmot place, on the opposite side of Main street. One day in
1 Mrs. Breckenridge in her Recollections of a N. E. Town writes entertainingly of her grand- father, Dr. Insign, and her uncle, Dr. Isaac I. Hough.
2 From an oil painting in the possession of Miss Ida C. Tibbals.
1
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A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.
passing the place, Dr. Hough saw the captain standing in his stoneyard, and drawing up his horse to the side of the road, began to chat, and finally remarked, "Well, Captain, I suppose you keep a stone for each person in town, duly in- scribed with the name, and date of birth, and are only waiting to fill in the date of death." "Yes," said the captain, "that's right, but in the case of your patients, I can calculate the date of death so closely that it isn't necessary to leave it blank."
His tavern at the corner of Broad and Main streets was a famous place, and known the country round; it stood just half way between Hartford and New Haven on the old turnpike, and was the headquarters for stage coach passengers, for here horses were changed and a stop was made for meals, and his acquaint- ance with travelers, of course, was large and he knew many of the prominent figures of this and other states. Although, of course, liquor was dispensed at his bar he never drank himself, and, in fact, used his influence to dissuade others from the practice. In Dr. Davis' History of Meriden is a verse that was composed and told to the doctor to his great enjoyment.
"Dr. Hough, he keeps good stuff, And lives just under the steeple By hook or by crook, he keeps his good looks And takes the cash from the people."
It was largely through Dr. Hough's efforts that the turnpike from Meriden to Middletown was built in 1809; he and Hezekiah Rice of the latter place being the incorporators. Late in life Dr. Hough lived for a short time in what is now known as the Rogers' block, corner South Colony and Main streets. He died in the house owned by Henry C. Butler on the site of which dwelling now stands the First National Bank building. In 1825 he formed a partnership with Dr. Wyllys Woodward.
Dr. Woodward was born in Southington in 1801 and graduated from Yale Med- ical school in 1823 and soon after located in Meriden. He died Mar. 31, 1842.
The following is a list of physicians who succeeded those named, and while they were of a considerably later date, still it is so long since they were among those living that the present generation has almost forgotten them.
Succeeding Dr. Woodruff was Dr. Benjamin Catlin, for nearly forty years active in this community, and one of the foremost citizens of the town. Dr. Wm. H. Allen was a conspicuous figure during the decade from 1840 to 1850 and Dr. Gardner Barlow from 1845 to 1850 is still remembered by many of the older inhabitants. Dr. Edward W. Hatch for a number of years, until 1858, was an active practitioner, when he became superintendent of the State School for Boys. In. 1850 Dr. Timothy F. Davis began to practice in the town and for eighteen years was an active and prominent physician.
24I
EARLY HISTORY.
In or about the year 1850, Dr. H. A. Archer moved to Meriden and at first located in the house now occupied by Dr. Tait. He became well known in the community and afterwards moved to the old Robt. Royce place in South Farms, where he continued his profession.
In the issue of the Connecticut Whig April 7, 1854, appears the prospectus of the Meriden Water Cure Company. The responsibility for the institution was Dr. Archer's but John, Charles and Edmund Parker and others were financially inter- ested in the undertaking, and the sanatorium was located in the present homestead of Dr. Tait. A start was made with a flourish of trumpets and much was expected of the hospital, but the project was short-lived and soon died a natural death.
Dr. Grove Herrick Wilson came here during the hard times of 1857 and soon built up a lucrative and successful practice, and the balance of his life was passed in Meriden. He was of the homeopathic school.
Dr. Asa H. Churchill came here in 1858, and for many years was in active practice, but during the latter part of his life practically gave up his profession and followed another calling. Dr. Chas. J. Mansfield was a physician here for many years with a very large and lucrative practice and had a host of friends and fol- lowers. He died a comparatively young man a few years ago.
Dr. John Tait has been active in the practice of his calling for more than fifty years in this town, and from 1854 to 1870, Dr. James Wylie, a brilliant and tireless physician, ministered to a host of people, many of whom still remember his successful career. Dr. N. Nickerson, a faithful and conscientious physician, who, although still with us, came here long enough ago to be classed among these mid-century physicians, is too well known to need extended comment.
Biographies of other physicians of more recent date will be found in another part of this volume.
16
1 1
242
A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.
CHAPTER XIV.
As has been already stated, it is not probable that there was ever an Indian settlement in any part of the territory of Meriden. Nevertheless, Indians fre- quently resorted here for game, and in journeying from the Tunxis Valley or the country about Hartford to the waters of the Sound at New Haven, they followed a trail which led through this valley in the general line of Colony street.
There were, however, Indians living in Meriden after it had become a separate parish-probably a few stragglers from some tribe, perhaps of the Quinnipiacs at East Haven. There is a tradition in the Julius Hall homestead on Murdock avenue, that during cold weather two or three of these stragglers were in the habit of coming to the home of Daniel Hall, the first of Wallingford's pioneers in the Dogs' Misery Country, and asking to be allowed to warm themselves before the white man's fire. These red men were said to live somewhere northwest of the old homestead.
Mention has been made of a large bowlder lying on the bank of Harbor Brook about a quarter of a mile east of Gravel 'street, which is called Phebe rock. It is said to be so named because the phebe birds build nests in the crevices of the rock.
But there is a deed on file in the Wallingford land records1 which indicates that the word Phebe formerly was used to locate a certain tract of land in the vicinity of this rock. It was a part of the Penfield farm that had previously been the property of Dr. Alexander Wolcott. Nathaniel Penfield on Mar. 16, 1774, leased to Joseph Shaylor, a tract of land containing one acre and ninety rods that was bounded west on what is now Gravel street and east on Phebe Quive land. At that time there was no one in the parish of Meriden of that name owning land, and never had been. Besides, this strip of land was wholly in the farm of Nathan- iel Penfield ; his neighbor on the east being Daniel Baldwin. This name sounds very much like that of an Indian. Two or three persons whose opinions are of weight in such matters were consulted and each one thought it the name of an Indian woman. Now was there ever in Meriden an Indian woman named Phebe ? The records of Rev. Theophilus Hall were consulted, and the suspicion was con- firmed. In his record of baptisms are found the following entries :
"May 9 1737 Baptized Phebe an Indian woman privately upon a sick bed."
On May 14, 1737, in the parson's record of deaths appears :
"Died Phebe an Indian Woman in my house."
1 Vol. 19, p. 445.
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EARLY HISTORY.
On Feb. 20, 1744, the following entry was made :
"Died Phebe an Indian child in my house." Doubtless, a child of the first Phebe.
The day after the death of the first Phebe occurs :
"May 15 1737 Baptized my Indian children Patience and Anthony."
Again on Dec. 27, 1741 :
"Died an Indian child at Mr Sanfords."
While one person's opinion is as good, perhaps, as another's in such a ques- tion, where absolute proof is impossible, still there is a very plausible inference suggested by these facts.
While probably phebe birds build nests around the lonesome old rock, still they cannot have given the name of Phebe Quive to the land adjoining. The fancy is liable to arise in one's mind that an Indian woman of this name was a squatter on the land, that she became very ill and that the good parson went to see her and told her of the danger of death without faith in Christ and signaliz- ing that faith by the act of baptism ; that then he took her from her rude shelter to his house where she died five days later, but not until she had his promise to baptize her children, which he proceeded to do the day after her death.
Children for years have been in the habit of going to this rock on excursions. Perhaps they used to visit the Indian woman there in the old days, and the survival of the custom was simply a habit, for children are always imitative and like to do what their predecessors have done. It is possible with such suggestions to let one's imagination run riot ; it is a harmless form of amusement, but as these annals should deal only with actual facts as recorded, it is beyond the province of the writer to attempt to weave a romance.
In the vicinity of New Haven at the time Wallingford was settled, viz. 1670. there lived an Indian named Rum Tom. He seems to have been a peculiar old fellow who was always getting into trouble through his love of firewater. There are several entries on the records of the county court of his being brought before the grand jury on the charge of drunkenness and wanton mischief. His invar- iable plea was that some white man had sold him either "cyder" or rum, and that he had partaken of it intending no harm. Both the white man and Rum Tom were invariably fined and commanded to do so no more. On one occasion he very nearly caused the death of Isaac Royce, of Wallingford, who afterwards owned a large tract of land at Milking Yard or Royce's farms. We will let Isaac tell his own story as he did to the court on Nov. 8, 1676.
"Isaac Royce of Wallingford complained yt as he was going home the 6th this instant betweene Sunsett and day light shutting in he saw fire upon the playnes
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A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.
& coming towards it & pretty neare there was a gun shott off & he heard the bullitts fly but how neare to him he knew not & it appeared to be Rum Tom as he saw after. Rum Tom being called to answer Sª That he strucke fire but he was sorry he did soe : he Sª he had drunke two cups of cydar that he scarce knew what he did: after much debate with him about it Rum Tom was dismist & or- dered to pay Isaac Royce for his dayes attendance & charge at the ordinary."
This was positively Rum Tom's last appearance, and the facts above recorded comprise all the information the writer has been able to glean relating to Indians in Meriden and Wallingford.
NEGRO SLAVES.
There is no fact in our early history more difficult to realize at this day than that our ancestors were holders of negro slaves and that they bought and sold them as they did horses and cattle.
Any one, however, who burrows among ancient papers and documents is liable at the very beginning of his researches to run against the evidence so forcibly, and the facts accumulate so rapidly that he is soon almost persuaded that all the early property owners were slaveholders.
Such is not the case, however, but slaves were sufficiently numerous in Meri- den and Wallingford as elsewhere in Connecticut, to make this phase of colonial life a very interesting one. It was a general custom all over the country and in- deed wherever the negro was domiciled.
The earliest record that the writer has been able to discover of a negro slave belonging to a Meriden man is contained in the will of that "trusty friend," Na- thaniel Royce, dated April 1, 1718, and proved in the probate court on June 15, 1726. One clause in the will bequeaths to his wife his negro woman.
The records of vital statistics kept by Rev. Theophilus Hall abound in bap- tisms of the children of negro slaves, and in accounts of deaths and burials.
They were as carefully recorded as those relating to white people, although with perhaps a little less dignity. For instance, we meet with such entries as "March I 1741 baptized London servant of John Webb," "Sept 12 1742 baptized Primus servant of Lazarus Ives," "April 24 1748 baptized negro child of John Merriam." There are just twenty of these entries.
The parson also recorded the deaths or burials of thirty-four negro servants entered as, for instance :
"1737 Aaron Lymans negro."
"May 7 1741 Dyed Ebenzr Sanfords negro boy."
"October 1746 two negro twins of Lemuel Hough."
"Dec 20 1746 London servant to John Webb."
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EARLY HISTORY.
"June 8 1758 my negro child Gin."
"June 29 1758 my negro child Rose."
On the other hand although the baptisms and deaths are so carefully entered, one will look in vain in Mr. Hall's notes for a record of the marriage of a negro couple. In fact, there are only three or four such notices in the town records of Wallingford. Perhaps slave couples were married by a justice of the peace, but that there was a marriage service is beyond question. That the marriage was performed in a different manner from those of white people might seem possible if one can believe that there is a kernel of truth in the following tradition :
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