USA > Connecticut > New London County > Lebanon > Early Lebanon. An historical address delivered in Lebanon, Conn. > Part 2
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EARLY LEBANON.
From 1730 to 1760 Lebanon must have gained rapidly in population and wealth. The colony of Connecticut had greatly prospered. In 1730 the number of inhabitants, according to a census then taken, was 38,000, and about 700 Indian and Negro slaves, and 1600 Indians. In 1756 twenty-six years later, the population of the colony, consisting then of seventy-nine towns and settlements, was 130,612; an increase of 90,312; and Lebanon then had a popula- tion of whites 3,171, and blacks 103; total 3,274. Only five towns in the Colony had a larger population, viz., Middletown, the largest, 5,664; Norwich, 5,540; New Haven, 5,085; Fairfield, 4,455; and Farmington, 3,707 ; Hartford had only 3,027. In 1774, the year before the battle of Lexington, there were but seventy- six towns and settlements in the colony ; some of the smaller settlements having been given up: the popu- lation of the Colony had increased to 198,010. The population of this town was then, whites, 3,841, blacks, 119, total 3,960, the largest population the town has ever had. Only six towns in the colony then had a larger. In 1784 the population of the state had grown to 208,800, and Lebanon had, whites, 3,837, four less than ten years before; blacks, 94, 25 less than sixty years before. Total loss, 29. Only eight. towns then had a larger population ; New Haven having the largest, 7,960.
In 1775 only eight towns had a larger grand list than this town, it being then £41,600, equal to 8130,300 ; the pound then being $3.33}. The grand list in 1876 was $1,185,047. Though the population has diminished, the grand list has largely increased.
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HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
The population of the town in 1870 was 2,211, an increase on that of the two preceding decades; in 1804 Columbia, with a population of about 600, was set off from this town; it now has a population of 891; add this to the present population of the town and the total is 3,162; showing a total diminution of 798 since 1774, within the territory then consti- tuting Lebanon.
As we have said, the thirty-five or forty years pre- vious to 1774, were a period of great prosperity to the town. Men of character and enterprise came in and grew up here. Capt. Joseph Trumbull came here from Suffield about 1704, evidently without any con- siderable means; for when he bought the place which had been occupied by Rev. Joseph Parsons, he mort- gaged it for the sum of £340. He had vigorous traits, became a planter and trader, and at length had a ship which carried cargoes of his own, or belonging to his family.
A fact, which comes to us on good authority, illus- trates the temper of the man. His business often called him to Boston, and some times he went as a drover; and he would meet Rev. Mr. Wells, who had been pastor here, whose parishioner he had been, and
who now lived in Boston. Mr. Wells was a little shy of him, and evidently avoided him, now and then, in his plain and perhaps dusty attire, as not quite in trim to be familarly recognized by a Boston gentleman. When Mr. Wells came here, where he still owned property, and (meeting Mr. Trumbull) accosted him as an old acquaintance, the latter refused to shake hands
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EARLY LEBANON.
with him, and turned away saying, "If you don't know me in Boston, I don't know you in Lebanon."
Trumbull's son, the future governor, after being graduated at Harvard College in 1727, went into busi- ness with his father, and became a merchant, and en- gaged extensively in commerce-the war office now standing being his store. He, and the firms to which he belonged, owned ships which traded with London and Bristol, England, Hamburg, Germany, and the West Indies, and took in their cargoes at New London and Stonington, and at Haddam on the Connecticut river.
All the trades were carried on here, and it became an important business center. Cloth, leather, boots and shoes, saddles and harnesses, axes, hoes, scythes, and barrels were made here. Among the town officers appointed every year, was an inspector of leather.
The town appointed Jonathan Trumbull to obtain from the General Assembly leave to hold and regulate fairs and market days; and they were held twice a year. These streets, now so quiet, were a place of concourse and bustle, of exhibition and traffic, which the people of surrounding towns frequented, and to which traders came from a distance ; Trumbull being engaged in wide commerce and large business.
And after 1743 there was a renowned school here, which Trumbull was active in establishing, and was controlled by twelve proprietors, and which was kept for thirty-seven years by Master Nathan Tisdale. It became so widely known, that it had scholars from the West Indies, from North Carolina and South Carolina and Georgia, as well as from the more north- ern colonies. At one time it had students from nine .
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HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
of the thirteen colonies. Tisdale was a genius in his profession, and carried the school to the highest stage of prosperity which it ever reached. This helped the intelligence and high character ; the activity and pecu- niary thrift of the place.
As a result of this and other agencies, this town had for many years some of its sons in courses of liberal education, and one hundred and twenty-two are known to have received college degrees. The strong interest in education which long prevailed here accounts for the fact that so many of its sons and daughters have risen to eminence.
And from the first, Lebanon has been active in military enterprises. While this town was never directly menaced by the Indians, the frontier towns of this colony, and of the colony of Massachusetts were ; and this town was required to aid in the common defense. As early as 1709, Mr. Jedediah Strong, one of the original settlers, and an ancestor of the Strong family which remained and still has representatives here, was killed in an expedition against the Indians, near Albany. This colony sent troops to the defence of the county of Hampshire, Mass., in which, in 1704, the Deerfield massacre occurred, and which was exposed to the incursions of the French and Indians.
In 1709, in an expedition against Canada, in Queen Ann's war, the proportion of troops from this colony was 147, and the quota of Lebanon eleven.
In the wars in which the mother country was en- gaged at this period, the colonies were involved ; in the Spanish war of 1739 ; in King George's war ; a war
* See Note-Indian School-Appendix.
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EARLY LEBANON.
with France in 1744, in which Louisburg, in Cape Breton, a very strong place, termed the Gibraltar of America, was taken ; in the French and Indian war which began in 1755, and ended in 1763 with the con- quest of the whole of Canada. During these wars the seas were infested with hostile ships, and the colo- nists were exposed on every side. The colonies learned how to raise troops, to equip and supply them, and to tax themselves in order to pay them, and thus were in most important training for the crisis now just before them. The drums used at Bunker Hill were the same which had been used at the capture of Louisburg.
Lebanon, as a town, was among the foremost in this colony, in the part it bore in these enterprises and testings. In 1739, Jonathan Trumbull, then young, was commissioned Lieut .- Colonel of a regiment raised for an expedition against Canada ; he was afterwards Colonel, and early had experience in recruiting, furnish- ing, and moving troops. The people of the town were patriotic and spirited.
On the surrender of Quebec, in 1759, they observed the general thanksgiving, and Dr. Solomon Williams' jubilant sermon on the occasion was published. He says : " For more than seventy years our enemies have been designing our ruin, and formed and projected a settled design to encompass us, unobserved, with a string of forts from Canada to the Bay of Mexico." He regards " the conquest of Quebec, the capital of Canada, as of more importance than has ever been made by the English since England was a nation." He states his reasons, and calls upon the people tri- umphantly to praise Him who has given such success.
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HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
Of course a people thus trained, in such a temper, and having such leaders as there were here, in Jonathan Trumbull, William Williams, and others, were all ready, when the mother country began to encroach on the liberties of the colonies, to resist and to main- tain their rights.
When in October, 1765, Governor Fitch proposed to take the required oath to enforce the Stamp Act, and called upon his " Assistants" to administer it to him, Trumbull was among those who resisted and re- monstrated. The governor urged that their allegiance to the king ; the oath of their office ; the safety of the charter of the colony, and their personal safety, de- manded, that they administer the oath, and aid in the execution of the act. Trumbull was ready with the reply, that the act was in derogation of the rights of the colony ; in violation of the common privileges of English subjects ; and that they had also sworn "to promote the public good and peace of Connecticut, and to maintain all its lawful privileges ; " and these they would treacherously sacrifice by submitting to the demand now made upon them.
When five (the requisite legal number out of the twelve,) were found ready to administer the oath, Trumbull refused to be present to witness its admin- istration ; and taking his hat, hastened from the chamber, leading the six other Assistants, who with him, had stood firm. This, with other clear and coura- geous conduct, showed him to the colonists, as fitted to be their first magistrate, and to have their interest in his hands; and he was chosen governor in 1769. He already had large experience in public affairs. 1
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EARLY LEBANON.
He had fourteen times represented this town as deputy to the General Assembly, and had three times filled the office of Speaker ; had been chosen Assistant for twenty-two years ; had been for one year side judge, and for seventeen years chief judge, of the County Court of Windham county ; had been for nineteen years Judge of Probate for the Windham district ; had been once elected an assistant judge, and four times Chief Justice of the Superior Court of the colony ; and for four years had been Deputy Governor. He held the office of Governor fourteen years, and till within two years of his death.
William Williams was more impulsive and ardent, and fitted to inspire others with enthusiasm. With tongue and pen and estate, he gave himself to the cause of the colonies. During the gloomy winter of 1777, he sent beef, cattle, and gold, to Valley Forge, saying, " If independence should be established, he should get his pay, if not, the loss would be of no account to him."
With such men active here, we are prepared to find on the town records, resolutions like the fol- lowing :
At a town meeting held 7th Dec., 1767, a letter re- ceived from the selectmen of Boston, as to the oppres- sive and ruinous duties laid on various articles, and calling for union in some common measures of relief, "Jonathan Trumbull, the selectmen, and others were appointed a committee, by themselves, or in concert with committees from neighboring towns, to consider and devise such measures and means, as may more effectually tend to promote and encourage industry,
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HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
economy, and manufactures." Under these oppres- sions, bearing heavily on it as a Port, Boston appealed to Lebanon ; and this town came into full sympathy and concert with it.
At the freemen's meeting, Monday, April 9. 1770, on occasion of the " Boston massacre," which occurred the previous 5th of March, after the transaction of other business, "they met, and voted, and passed a draft of resolves or declaration of the sense of the rights and liberties which we look upon as infringed by parliament-and promoting manufactures, etc."
The following are the resolves, or declaration :
"The inhabitants of the Town of Lebanon in full Town-meeting assembled, this 9th day of April, 1770, -now and ever impressed with the deepest and most affectionate Loyalty to his excellent Majesty, George the 3d, the rightful king and sovereign of Great Brit- ain, and of the English American Colonies,-and also being most tenderly attached to and tenacious of the precious Rights and Liberties to which, as English subjects, we are by birth and by the British constitu- tion entitled, and which have also (been ) dearly earned by the treasures and blood of our fore-fathers. and transmitted as their most valuable Legacy to us their children: In these circumstances, we view with the most sincere grief, concern, and anxiety the sufferings and distresses to which this country is subjected and exposed,-in consequence of measures planned by a few artful, designing men, unhappily of too much influence; and adopted by the Parliament of Great Britain ;- the action and tendency of which is to deprive these Colonies of their free and happy consti- tions, and reduce them to a state of bondage ;- Meas- ures which as the event will more fully show,- equally hurtful and pernicious to the British nation ;-
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EARLY LEBANON.
particularly we deplore the unhappy fate of the town of Boston, in being so long subjected to a grievous imposition of a standing army quartered upon them, -induced by the false and malicious representations of the late governor Hutchinson and others of odious and detestable memory ;- which, though they have not been able, agreeable to the designs of our enemies, to awe the inhabitants or the country into a tame sur- render of these liberties,-have been the authors of a great variety of Evils and Distresses to that most loyal people. and lately (the 5th of March last) of the barbarous Murder of a number of the inhabitants of that Town. But in the midst of these calamities, we have occasion to rejoice in the union and harmony which continues to prevail throughout the American Colonies, and in their firm and fixed attachment to the principles of Loyalty and Liberty :- and Do hereby declare our high approbation and grateful acknowl- edgement of the generous self-denying and truly Pat- riotic spirit and Conduct of the respectable Merchants throughout the Colonies,-in refusing to import Brit- ish manufactures into this distracted and impover- ished country, until it shall be relieved of these Bur- dens and Grievances,-of which we so justly com- plain ; and while we esteem and respect those who have made so generous and noble a sacrifice, as true friends and lovers of their country, We also abhor and detest the Principles and Conduct of the Few, who from sordid motives, have refused to come into so salutary a measure, and Do hereby declare and Resolve that they and their merchandise shall be treated by us with the contempt and Neglect, which their unworthy Behavior most justly deserres: and We do further Declare and Resolve, that we will to the utmost of our Power incourage, countenance, and · promote all kinds of useful manufactures in the country and among ourselves,-to the end that we may soon be able, by a proper use of the Bounties of 1
فلان
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HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
Providence in the rich production of the American soil, to furnish ourselves with the necessaries and comforts of life, -without any longer depending for them on the Mother country ;- who are also putting it out of our power, and seem to have forgotten her relation; and to prefer the hazard of obtaining from us the forced and unnatural submission of slaves,- to the certain, durable, free, cheerful, and immensely advantageous Dependance and subjection of Children."
It is added; "The above was unanimously voted and resolved. Attest Wm. Williams, Clerk ; and is recorded to perpetuate the sense the Town have of their Liberties &c. &c. by William Williams."
Here is the very spirit and tone of the Declaration of Independence ; and this was six years before the Declaration of Independence was made; and these resolves and this Declaration are as worthy of the town, as that important instrument is of the country. And they do perpetuate the sense the town had of their liberties, and will perpetuate it; for these re- solves have gone into history, and were embodied, - indeed, in the men who acted here. They reveal the hand of the firm, fiery patriot, William Williams; they were undoubtedly drafted by him, as they are in his hand-writing in the town records.
It shows the earnestness which then prevailed here, that in August of the same year, 1770, a town-meeting was called in reference to sending delegates to a gen- eral meeting of the mercantile and landed interests at New Haven, to consider proper measures to sup- port the "non-Importation Agreement," and the aların- ing conduct of New York in violating the same.
They voted, unanimously, to send two delegates to 3*
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EARLY LEBANON.
this convention ; made choice of Wm. Williams and Joshua West, Esqrs., a committee, or representatives to the same. They then voted and passed the follow- ing Declaration, Instruction, and Resolve, viz. :
"That it is the opinion of the inhabitants of this town that the non-Importation Agreement (so called) which has taken place in the American Colonies,-is a virtuous, salutary and Patriotic measure, generously designed and powerfully tending to procure a redress of our grievances in the removal of the unconstitu- tional duties on America, and the most likely to prove effectual of any lenient, moderate, and lawful measures that can be devised,-to ensure that great and important end,-in which, We our country and all Posterity are and will be deeply interested and con- cerned ;- so that the political salvation of the country and a practical approbation of the principles which induced our Fathers' first emigration hither-seem to depend on and be deeply connected with a strict adherence to and steady perseverance in that noble and generous resolution."
" That the conduct of the inhabitants of New York who had been famed for strict adherence to said Agree- ment, in falling from and violating the same, is very alarming, and gives the most sensible concern ; as a union of sentiment and practice of all the Colonies is of great importance to the common interest of the whole, and that in our opinion, all prudent and lenient measures ought to be used to recover them to their former attachments, which, if they should fail of suc- cess, They ought in our opinion to be considered lost to every generous sentiment, and all dealings and com- mercial connection with them broken off by every Friend of his Countrie's welfare, but that (so far as to us appertain ), we refer to the Wisdom and Prudence of the General Meeting of the Mercantile and Landed interests, to be holden at New Haven, the 13th of
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HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
September next, and We hereby instruct you, Gentle- men, to attend such meeting, to conform yourselves to our sentiment in the premises as before expressed.
"And it is further voted and resolved that we will continue to adhere to the true spirit and meaning of said non-Importation Agreement, and that we will not pur- chase any Goods, Wares or Merchandise of any person or persons in this or any neighboring town, who hath or shall import the same contrary to said agreement, or hath or shall have purchased of such importer or such imported goods, but shall and will treat such person or persons with an utter neglect and contempt, which so base and perfidious a conduct justly deserves."
" The foregoing being unanimously passed, etc., They made choice of Dr. John Clark, Wm. Williams, Mr. Josiah Rockwell, Mr. Benjamin Bill, Capt. Elijah Sprague, Mr. Charles Hinckley, Dea. Samuel Bartlett, Mr. Ansel Clark (persons from the different parts of the town ), to observe and inspect the conduct of all Persons in this town respecting their violating the true intent and meaning of said non-Importation Agree- ment, and to use all lawful and prudent measures to prevent the same, and in their prudence and discre- tion, when they judge requisite, to publish the Names of such Person or Persons, if any shall be found, who have violated and counteracted the same, and as occa- sion shall require, to correspond with the Committees of neighboring Towns for the like salutary purpose and design."
" Then - was asked whether he had purchased or not Tea of a Rhode Island importer ; he owned he had tea from Rhode Island, etc., but yet he would not purchase any more there, or otherwise contrary to Agreement, etc., and would store what he had, etc., and thereupon the Town voted it satisfactory and dis- missed."
This was evidently a hot place for tories and half- hearted patriots.
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EARLY LEBANON.
The people here were in the midst of the events which were now hastening the great crisis of the Rev- olution, and were keenly alive to them. The day on which the infamous Boston Port Bill took effect, the 1st of June, 1774, was noted through the Colonies. In Philadelphia, muffled bells tolled ; in Virginia, it was observed as a day of fasting, and the people thronged the churches. Through the Hartford Cour- ant, of June, 1774, from a correspondent in Lebanon, we learn something of what was occurring here :
LEBANON, June 2, 1774.
" Yesterday being the 1st of June, the day on which the cruel Edict of the British Parliament respecting the town and port of Boston took place, was observed here with marks of distinction. The bells of the town early began to toll a solemn peal, and continued the whole day. The town-house door was hung with black, with the Act affixed thereto, and the shops in the town were all shut and silent, their windows cov- ered with black, and other signs of distress.
" Towards evening a respectable number of free- holders of the place, and others (upon short notice) appeared at the Town-House, where the Act was pub- licly read and observed upon, when the following ad- dress was made, and resolutions unanimously passed.
"'Gentlemen, the occasion our of meeting is interest- ing and solemn. I hope we are met together with dis- positions suitable to the occasion. We are now, my brethren, to determine whether we will tamely submit to every act of cruel oppression, or indignantly reject, and with manly resolution, remonstrate to every in- stance of unjust power, by whatever hand attempted. Persuaded, you cannot hesitate one moment in the choice of the alternative, I will propose the following Resolutions.
"'That we do all at this time heartily sympathize
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HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
with our brethren of Boston in the scenes of distress which this day opens upon them.
"' That we view with the utmost indignation, the cruel act of unjust power which introduces this distress. . "' That we consider them as suffering under the hand of ministerial vengeance for their noble exertions in the cause of liberty, the common cause of all America.
"'And, That we are heartily willing and desirous to unite our little powers, in whatever general measure shall be thought best for the security and permanency of the just rights and privileges of our country. Be- ing determined as far as we are able, to stand fast in the liberties wherein God has made them (us) free, and at the same time, would unite our ardent suppli- cations to our Almighty Helper, the Great Father of the distressed, that American Councils may be directed by His wisdom, to these measures, that shall be most conducive to the desired end.' "
The speech and the resolutions bear the impress of the mind of Rev. Dr. Solomon Williams, father of Wil- liam Williams, who, in his old age retained his patri- otic fervor, and dying the 29th of February, 1776, left to the town a sum of money to be used in aiding the cause of the Colonies.
Such sympathy with the wrongs and distress of Boston, a sympathy universal through the country, and expressed in forms so impressive, so adapted to touch the popular feeling, powerfully tended to alienate the colonies from the mother country, and to unite them as one people for the common resistance and de- fence.
The people of the town could pass resolutions, practice vigilance within their limits, and express by words sympathy for Boston ; and they could do more.
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EARLY LEBANON.
The alarm consequent on the battle of Lexington, April 19th, 1775, stirred the citizens here as deeply as in any other place in the colony. It is said that on the Sabbath subsequent, a messenger rode here on a foaming steed, entered the meeting-house in the midst of the services of worship, and beckoning for attention, announced that the blood of their brethren had been spilled in battle, and the crisis had come. The services were soon suspended, and the beat of drum called the citi- zens to take up arms and go to the assistance of those who were resisting the troops of Gen. Gage. This traditional incident which comes to us on good author- ity, we can readily believe to have occurred.
An account of moneys paid by the colony to forty- nine towns for services and expenses in this Lexing- ton alarm, shows the whole amount to be £7,824. The sum paid to Lebanon was £339 0s. 2d .; more than was paid to any other town, with two exceptions: Windham receiving £378 15s. 5d., and Woodstock £352 13s. 3d. ; these towns being nearer the scene of action.
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