USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Bristol > Bristol, Connecticut : "in the olden time New Cambridge", which includes Forestville > Part 6
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50
and all of which time her fd mafter is to provide for her in Sicknefs and health according to her Dignety & at the End of the above-fd Term her fd mafter is to give her two good Sutes of apparel fiting to all parts of her Body and for the well & faith - fully executing this obligation we Set our hands and Seals this 22nd of June AD 1771
in prefence of us
Jofeph Byintun
Temporence Jearom
Abigail Deming [SEAL.]
William Jearom [SŁAL. ]
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BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT
BLANKET, SPUN, DYED AND WOVEN BY ABIGAIL PECK, WHO SHOT THE LAST BEAR SEEN IN BRISTOL. LOANED BY MISS M. A. CARPENTER.
ABIGAIL PECK, "THE BEAR GIRL."
BY ALICE M. BARTHOLOMEW.
One summer Sabbath in seventeen hundred and forty-eight or nine, a bear came down Wolcott Mountain to the cornfields near Goose Corner.
There it was seen by the twelve year old daughter of Deacon Zeb- ulon Peck, who was caring for her younger brothers and sisters, and preparing the family dinner, while the parents attended divine service.
The brother, younger, and Abigail, both wished to shoot it; but age and deputed authority won for her the distinction.
Later she married Hezekiah Gridley, Jr., who was captain of the Bristol militia during the Revolution, and led his men to New Haven to assist in repulsing General Tryon.
Their daughter, Abigail Gridley, wove the blue and white blanket seen on page 59.
It is of wool and linen in the "Double Bow-knot" pattern.
59
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OR "NEW CAMBRIDGE."
BLUE AND WHITE BLANKET WOVEN BY ABIGAIL GRIDLEY, OWNED BY MISS ALICE M. BARTHOLOMEW.
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BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT
Katherine Gaylord, Aproine.
FIRST PRIZE, BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH NATIONAL SOCIETY DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
DEDICATED TO KATHERINE GAYLORD CHAPTER.
BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT.
WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED* BY FLORENCE E. D. MUZZY, ORGANIZING REGENT.
* We regret that the limited space will not permit the reproduction of Mrs. Muzzy's charming illustrations that appeared in the original.
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OR "NEW CAMBRIDGE."
NOTE BY THE AUTHOR.
T HE story of Katherine Gaylord, as here given, has been carefully compiled from every available source, in the attempt to present under one cover as complete and accurate an account as possible of this tragedy of the American Revolution. Dealing especially with Katherine Gaylord, Heroine, and the events with which she had personal connection, its scope must necessarily be historical and bio- graphical, rather than genealogical. The Gaylord history shows the descent of Aaron Gaylord from William, who came to New England 1629-30.
The line of Katherine Cole Gaylord, from Henry Cole, is briefly traced as follows, by Mr. Milo Leon Norton:
1. Henry Cole, of Sandwich, Massachusetts (on Cape Cod), moved to Middletown, Connecticut, in 1643; married Sarah Ruscoe, 1646; had 4 children; removed to Wallingford, Connecticut, where he died 1676; Sarah Ruscoe Cole died in Saybrook, Connecticut, 1688.
2. William, youngest son of Henry Cole, born 1658; married Sarah , and lived in Wallingford.
3. James, son of William Cole, born March 7, 1707, in Wallingford; married Catherine Wood, of Windsor, Connecticut, January 20, 1742; lived in Harwinton and in New Cambridge, Connecticut; died in New Cambridge, September 16, 1803. He is often mentioned on the records.
4. Katherine Cole was born in Harwinton, Connecticut, Novem- ber 28, 1745; her birth is given upon the Harwinton records as "Cath- eren," daughter of James and Catheren; and we find the name variously spelled, Catherine, Katherine and Caty. The Daughters of the Amer- ican Revolution, upon the adoption of the name, voted also to adopt the spelling already put in print by her descendants, and to use the name Katherine. She married Aaron Gaylord about 1763; lived, after her marriage, at "New Cambridge in Farmington," now Bristol; moved to Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania; returned to New Cambridge; and finally moved to Burlington, Connecticut, where she died, 1840, leaving three children, Lemuel, Phebe and Lorena. Nearly all of the facts con- cerning Katherine's life have come to us through the descendants of Lorena. A little was learned from Mrs. Sylvia Kirkpatrick, descendant of Lemuel; and an item or two from Mr. W. E. Frisbie. descendant of Phebe; otherwise, all facts come from the family and friends now resid- ing in that part of the country where the last days of the heroine were spent.
Two of the descendants of Lorena, Mrs. Mary P. M. Brooks and Mrs. Helen M. B. Potter, have written personal recollections of the tale, as told them by their grandmother. The record of Mrs. Brooks is in print [see "Gaylord-Wyoming"] and it was from this, first of all, that the Katherine Gaylord Chapter, proved the worth of their heroine when her name was presented to them by their first vice-regent, Mrs Mary Seymour Peck. Miner's History of Wyoming is authority for statements concerning the condition of affairs in the Valley at the time of Katherine's residence there.
The names of five of the eight men present at the funeral services of Katherine Gaylord have been found by Mr. Norton, as follows: Warren Bunnell, Martin L. Goodwin, David W. Goodwin, Lemuel Bunnell, John Buck.
Miss M. J. Atwood, first recording secretary, and Miss C. L. Bow- man, first historian of the Chapter, have also rendered valued aid in this work. To all of these, and to any other who has extended the helping hand, the writer begs to express her sincere thanks.
FLORENCE E. D. MUZZY.
Bristol, Connecticut, December, 1898.
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BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT
KATHERINE GAYLORD, HEROINE.
B EAUTIFUL Wyoming-fair Wyoming! Not iron-bound, like these rocky New England shores; but smooth and fertile- easy to till, rich in harvest! Come, let us go!
How often, may we believe, did Katherine Gaylord listen. to these and like persuasions before she could bring herself to say: "Whither thou goest, I will go!" and to leave the loved, rock-bound. New England for the lovely but fearsome home in the wilderness. It . could not have been an easy thing to do, for "only he is strong whose strength is tried," and the time had not yet come to prove her mettle.
The tale of much contention for this most desirable abiding place is oft-told. Over its beautiful woods and streams hovered an atmosphere of strife and hate. The aborigines fought for it among themselves, and when the white man came, fought for it with him.
Later, untrustworthy Indian sales, and ignorant, invalid grants by Royalty added to the confusion of property rights. Finally the country came to be claimed at one and the same time, by the Six Nations, Penn- sylvania and Connecticut.
In 1768, Connecticut formed here a town, calling it by the suggestive name of Westmoreland.
This was divided into townships five miles square, each to be given to "forty" settlers who should agree to remain there, improve and pro- tect the property. The first forty arrived in 1769 at Wyoming (called by the red man "Waugh-wau-wame," shortened by the white into "Wau-wame," and anglicized later into Wyoming).
In 1770 the forty began the famous "Forty Fort" at Kingston town- ship, Westmoreland, but were interrupted by the Pennamite war. Five times were the Yankees expelled by the Pennsylvanians, and five times came back with true Yankee grit to "man their rights." The comple- tion of Forty Fort followed the cessation of hostilities. This was built of upright timbers, closely set. A row of cabins, many of them con- taining several rooms, was ranged against the timbers within; while again within this circle of homes was an open space or parade large enough for the drilling of an entire company. In one of these cabins Katherine Gaylord had afterward a home.
The fort held one store, and a mill, consisting of a samp-mortar made of a burned log, with a pestle worked by a spring-pole. Before 1773, Westmoreland had called a minister, and a doctor had migrated thither. A tax was laid to support free schools; a land office was estab- lished, and military organization not neglected. The soil was prolific, sheep and cattle plentiful, food and clothing abundant. Peace seemed at last to brood over the beautiful valley, while back in New England the war-cloud hung low. No wonder one "Forty" followed another so rapidly.
In April-May, 1775, Katherine Gaylord, in her Connecticut home saw her husband, at the call for troops after Lexington Alarm, march to the front-Boston and vicinity. Detachments of the brigade to which Aaron Gaylord belonged took part in the battle of Bunker Hill. It is probable that he was among them, as he was afterwards appointed to-
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OR "NEW CAMBRIDGE."
lieutenancy, this entry being found in Connecticut Records, May, 1777: "Aaron Gaylord established by the Assembly to be lieutenant of Third Company, Twenty-fourth Regiment." At the expiration of his term in December, he returned to his home in New Cambridge, now Bristol, Connecticut.
Early in 1776, hearing no doubt wonderful tales of fertile Wyoming, he moved to the "Far West," with his wife, Katherine Cole, and their three children, Lemuel, Phebe and Lorena-the oldest, Lemuel, being about eleven at that time.
It is supposed, though not recorded, that they joined one of the "Forties" continually going out. The journey, occupying about three weeks (time enough, in these rapid-transit days, to cross the continent itself three times, or travel half way round the world!) was made on horseback, with all their worldly goods.
Doubtless she found it hard enough, even with the strong arm of her husband to hew her path; but looking back upon it, in her terrible journey home three years later, Katherine Gaylord must have felt that, measured by suffering, the way out was ease and comfort, in comparison.
They settled in Forty Fort, and lived the usual frontier life of more · or less poverty and deprivation. Katherine related in after years much of that life to her children and grandchildren, but many of her tales are faded and lost in the mists of the past. Viewing however, the self- sacrificing life of women as a whole, in those hard days, we may come better to understand her own; for surely she was never one to sit idly by, while others toiled.
From the remembered tales of her own lips, then, and from the recollections of others, we can see her, in addition to the care of her own home and family, toiling in fort or field, while the men were away upon public service; planting, garnering grain, husking corn, making hay; riding miles to mill, with laden steed, waiting for the wheat to be ground, and bringing it home at night through long stretches of darkening forest; and, later even making the salt-petre used in the manufacture of powder. for public defense.
When dry-goods were gone, and money failed, she fashioned gar- ments from her own clothing, that her children might attend school. One hardly knows whether to laugh or cry over the untoward fate of Phebe's new gown, made from her mother's red flannel petticoat! This, having been hung out upon a line to dry, fell a victim to a lawless ma- rauder from neighbor Roberts' pig pen, and Phebe was left lamenting! Let us hope that good Mistress Roberts possessed an extra flannel petti- coat of brilliant hue, which was made a free will offering in behalf of Phebe's education. Every mother knows that there could have been no limit to the daily acts of self-denial which the frontier mother practiced.
Those who remember Katherine Gaylord unite in describing her as small and frail of build, or at least, of hardly medium stature; with blue eyes, brown or fair hair, delicate complexion, and fine features: hardly our ideal of a rugged pioneer woman. Power of spirit cannot always be gauged by power of body, nor force of character by outward seeming. In old age she is described by one still living, who knew her well, as a "very intelligent, agreeable and highly respected" person in her community.
It would seem that the family had friends in Wyoming for history states that a brother of Aaron "who died in the service" had settled there.
In December, 1777, six months before his death, Aaron Gaylord is upon the Westmoreland records as one of the appointed "fence-viewers" for the ensuing year. In those days of few and uncertain boundaries, this must have been an important work.
The valley now, 1776 to 1778, held hundreds of homes, with barns, stacks of grain and everything in plenty, agriculturally considered.
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BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT
The commercial status is partly shown by the following list of prices:
Men's farm labor, three summer months, per day 5s 3d
Women's labor, spinning, per week. . 6s
Making horse shoes, and shoeing horse. 8s
Taverners, best dinner .. 2s
Taverners, mug of flip, with 2 gills rum
4s
Good yarn stockings, a pair.
10s
Beaver hats, best. 4£
Tobacco, in hank, or leaf, 1 pound.
Good check flannel, yard wide. 8s
9d
Winter-fed beef, per pound. 7d
Good barley, per bushel. Ss
Dozen eggs. 8d
Shad, apiece 6d
Wyoming was an extreme frontier, the key to a large territory beyond. The Six Nations were within a few hours' canoeing, and nearly all the able bodied men of the valley were now, 1778, called to help save their country-leaving their own homes to possible destruction. An outbreak seemed impending.
Given these conditions, it was an unaccountable fact that Congress. did not respond to the appeals sent now by the helpless settlers for pro- tection. Those remaining did all they could. They went to the field with rifle, as well as hoe. They sent out scouting parties to watch the Indian trails and report weekly. In this service Aaron Gaylord must have shared
In May the scouts began to encounter the savages; although it had previously seemed the enemy's policy to remain in hiding, apparently fearing-as it proved-to alarm the settlers and cause the recall of the two companies from the seat of war before the Six Nations were ready for the attack.
Now and then small squads of Indians, covered with paint, would land before the fort, making warlike demonstrations, to the great alarm of those within.
People from the outer settlements began to come into the forts. Congress was again notified that an attack was imminent; but still the Wyoming companies were not allowed to return. Appeals to justice, mercy or policy seemed to have no effect upon Congress in its strange obtuseness to the dreadful peril of the colonists. About thirty Wyom -. ing soldiers did return "with or without leave," but even then, the num- ber of fighters was appallingly small.
It is probable that it was at this time of confusion and absence of regular officers, that Aaron Gaylord was appointed temporary com- mander of the fort, in accordance with the account given by Katherine to her children; but in the absence of official record, we are obliged to pass this by as tradition.
The last of June, the Senecas and other Indians to the number of six or seven hundred, with four hundred British provincials and a num- ber of tories, descended the river, landed twenty miles above the fort, crossed the valley, and murdered several settlers.
A prisoner taken by them was sent to the fort, demanding its sur- render, which was refused.
A council of war was immediately held at the fort, at which the majority argued that, as no help could be expected, the massacre of the fort's company was only the question of a few days; and that the only possible way of salvation was to attack and defeat the enemy.
A small minority, of which Aaron Gaylord was one, opposed this plan, feeling that it was worse than folly to venture out, knowing nothing of the strength of the invaders; but being overruled, Aaron Gaylord prepared to go with the others, saying: "I will go, for I would rather die than be called a coward in such a time as this."
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OR "NEW CAMBRIDGE."
WEST STREET, 1907
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This street is two hundred and twenty-one years old, and is the only street in the borough which lies in the highway of the original layout, its generous width alone bearing evidence of its descent from the colonial assembly .* Probably through this thoroughfare Katherine Gaylord passed many times, and it seems fitting to illustrate this street first of all of the streets, and in this place. Great care has been taken to make the information as correct as possible. Each picture is num- bered from 1 on, and then follows the street number (except in cases where the houses are not numbered). O signifies owner, R resident. This explanation applies to all of the street pictures which will follow throughout this work.
WEST ST.
2
4
5
7
(1) No. 531, Seth Barnes O; (2) No. 520, Oscar Perrault R; Frank P. Dowd R; (3) No. 516, Mrs. Henry Hutchinson (); (4) No. 509, rear Sam'l Winchester R; (5) No 513, L. H. Mix R; (6) No. 511, John Le Febore R; Geo. Fortin R; (7) No. 509, Mrs. Jane Carroll O; (S) No. 504, L. Henderling R; Chas. Crocker R; (9) No. 501, Mrs. John Elton R, Edward H. Elton R, H. S. Elton R.
*Mary. P. Root's The Founders and Their Homes, or A Century Sketch of the Early Bristol Families 1663 to 1763.
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BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT
One account states that they started early the following morning, July 3, 1778, but the history of Wyoming says that they went out at noon, marched four miles, and formed a line of battle near Fort Winter- moot, where the fighting began at four in the afternoon; and the anx- ious listeners at the fort could tell that the battle was on. Miner's His- tory gives this in detail.
During the half hour of open fighting they drew near to the river, and when about eighty rods away, with Menockasy Island a mile dis- tant, it was suddenly discovered that they were surrounded by Indians who had remained stealthily in ambush until they had passed. They had fallen into the trap. A hideous battle yell, repeated six distinct times, coming from every side, told the dreadful truth.
An order to wheel and face the rear was misunderstood as an order to retreat to the fort, which was clearly an impossibility. In the con- fusion thus occasioned, resistance to such overwhelming numbers was fatal, and so the battle ended and the massacre began; while the help- less listeners at the fort, realizing a change and fearing the worst, waited in vain agony for those who would never come again. Only now and then an exhausted, bleeding straggler would stagger in to tell his heart- rending story.
Menockasy Island offered their only hope, and many sprang into the river to swim across. A few escaped, but many were butchered as they swam, or shot in the thigh and reserved for torture, or happily, killed as they surrendered! In their frenzy, men shot old friends in cold blood, and one tory was seen deliberately to shoot his own brother.
The leaders of the two armies were of the same name-Butler- and were said to belong to one family.
Out of three hundred who went forth, over half were murdered; comparatively few falling in battle.
A detachment of thirty-five men arrived at the fort at evening, but too late. An attempt to concentrate the people of the valley at the fort was a failure, as fugitives were seeking the swamps and woods in every direction. With one company of one hundred women and children there was but one man. Few had provisions. "Children of misery, baptized in tears," were born and died in the wilderness and swamp.
About nine in the evening there came to Katherine Gaylord in the fort a worn-out fugitive-a neighbor of the fort cabins. He brought to her a hat, narrow brimmed, high crowned-with a bullet hole through the top-her husband's!
He told her all she ever knew of his death. Together the two men had crossed to Menockasy Island closely followed by the savages. It was nearly dusk, and the neighbor, running ahead, secreted himself under an uprooted tree, screened by bushes. An instant later Aaron Gaylord ran by, hotly pursued by the Indians. He was almost immed- iately overtaken and scalped. The savages returned, peering here and there, but in the gathering gloom soon gave up their search and disap- peared.
The man in hiding dared not venture forth until after dark, although he knew by the sound that his friend lived for some time.
At length, creeping cautiously out, his foot struck against the hat of the comrade who had fallen a sacrifice to savage hate. Hastily se- curing it, he brought it with him to the heart-broken wife at the fort-a last relic of a life that was past!
Before he went out to his death Aaron Gaylord had counseled long with his wife, and had formed careful plans for her flight, should he never come back. Even after mounting his horse he had ridden back :again to his own door, and, handing her the wallet which contained all the money he had in the world-a few dollars only-said: "Take this, if I never return it may be of some use to you." .
That he never would return, seems to have been firmly impressed upon the hearts of both husband and wife. The children, Lorena and
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OR "NEW CAMBRIDGE."
WEST ST.
10
12
I
13
18
IG
(10) No. 502, C. F. Pettibone R, A. S. Pettibone K; (11) No 492, Mrs. Wm. D. Bromley 0; (12) No. 480, Mrs. Catherine Fish (); (13) No. 471, W. B. Chapin O, A. J. Rawson R; (14) No. 452, Leroy T. Hills O, Wm. M. Hills R ( No. 80 Race St.); (15) No. 461, E. W. Gay- lord O (at one time Methodist parsonage); (16) No. 449, Henry L. Hinman R, No. 451, Geo. R. Webster R; (17) No. 443. H. J. Forsyth R. No. 445, David Cormand R; (18) No. 441, Mrs. Lillia II. Linsley O. Henry L. Phelps"R.
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BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT
Lemuel, afterward related to their children his thoughtfulness in this planning. Lemuel remembered his father as he sat upon his horse giv- ing final directions; and how, in obedience to his father's wish, he went at once to a distant pasture and brought in their horses to the fort.
"For," said Aaron Gaylord simply, but with a thought covering their entire future, "you may need them."
Katherine bade him good bye as a pioneer woman should bravely and hopefully without in spite of the sinking heart within; but she seemed to know they would meet no more in this life.
"Great strength is bought with pain." There was no time for tears.
Recalling his wishes and plans she hurriedly made ready for instant flight. Upon one horse she hastily packed clothing and provisions; upon the other the four were to ride alternately. Family tradition, however, records that, because of a sudden lameness, Lemuel was forced to ride much of the way, and Katherine herself walked.
Shortly after midnight they rode out of the fort into the horrible blackness beyond, into pathless woods, amongst "savage beasts and still more savage men;" a veritable hades through which they must pass or die! Long, weary, unmarked miles stretched out before her, while. he to whom "her heart had turned out o' all the rest i' the warld" was suddenly gone to the land that is afar off; his body, that was so dear. lying uncared for, behind her in the wilderness. Think of it "oh, women, safe in happy homes."
Little Lorena never forgot that awful moment, and years after would vividly recall it to her grandchildren. "I was Lorena," she would say impressively, "and I was the youngest, only seven years old; and I remember but one incident of that night. As my mother, sister and myself, mounted upon one horse, and my brother (fourteen years of age) leading the other, went out from the fort into the darkness, mother turned, and speaking to her neighbors whom she was leaving behind, said: 'Good-bye, friends! God help us!' Her voice was so unnatural that I looked up into her face. I shall never forget the expression I saw there. It was white and rigid, and drawn with suffering that might have been the work of years instead of hours. It was so unlike my mother's face that I hid my own in her garments."
Others went out also, fugitives from their own; but from these Katherine and her pitifully helpless little group were almost immediately separated, each seeking safety in the way that seemed best to himself. .Some elected to remain at the fort, and these were present at the sur- render the following day. Investigation has proved that the many tales of atrocities done at the surrender are in a great measure untrue, as but one murder was committed, although the Indians could not be kept from plunder. After the withdrawal of the British forces, however. a few days later, the savages began an unchecked career of pillage, fire and murder; until those who had remained, hoping the worst was over, were forced to abandon the settlement, which was not fully re-established until December, 1799.
At daybreak Katherine had reached the thick recesses of the forest, but could see from afar the smoke of burning homes, and knew her flight had been none too hasty. All day long they hurried on. The first night they came upon a settler's deserted cabin, which sheltered then. The three succeeding nights and many others they camped under the primeval forest trees, where, said Lorena, "we tired children, feeling secure with our heads upon mother's lap, slept soundly, while she watched the long night through, listening to the howling of the wolves and hear- ing in every rustling leaf the stealthy tread of an Indian." How pa- thetic their trust! how overwhelming the burden thrust so suddenly upon the frail shoulders of the slender young mother!
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