USA > Connecticut > New London County > Lebanon > Early Lebanon. An historical address delivered in Lebanon, Conn. > Part 3
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The store of Jonathan Trumbull, which has since been called the War Office, and which, as you know, is still standing, was the center from which the soldiers of this vicinity, who at this time went to the relief of Boston, were supplied. And it is said, the Governor of the colony, his sons, his son-in-law, Wm. Williams, labored with a crowd of neighbors and friends in pre- paring and hastening forward these supplies .*
In the battle of Bunker Hill, the 17th of the subse- quent June, Lebanon was represented. Capt. James
* See Note-Trumbull House, and War Office-Appendix.
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HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
Clark with resolute haste collected a company in this vicinity and hurried to the scene of action. On hear- ing the call, men at once left their work and made ready for the expedition. "Miller" Gay, as he was familiarly called, was needed as a drummer. He left his hoe standing in the row where he was hoeing, and went to the house to consult his wife. She said go, and he started the next morning with the company.
They reached the low ground of Charlestown Neck on the afternoon of the 16th, having marched ninety miles in three days. The balls from the enemy's ships whizzed by them and rolled at their feet. One of the men, thinking he could stop a rolling ball, instantly put out his foot, which the ball instantly took off.
In an orchard somewhat protected by the hill, Capt. Clark found three companies without officers-one from Connecticut and two from Massachusetts. He ordered them to fall into line, and led them upon the hill to join the other troops ; and he and his men assisted in throwing up intrenchments on the night of the 16th, and fought in the engagement of the next day.
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The year before his death, when he was in his ninety- fifth year, Col. Clark-known then under this title- was one of the forty survivors of the battle who were present at the laying of the corner-stone of the Bunker Hill monument, by LaFayette in 1825, on the fiftieth anniversary of the battle. LaFayette, who during the war had repeatedly been in Lebanon, specially noticed Col. Clark, and in the warmth of his Frenchman's heart kissed him ; and on hearing of his three days' march from Lebanon, and of his pressing into the engage- ment, said to him, " You was made of goode stoof."
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EARLY LEBANON.
The number of men whom this town sent into the war of the Revolution, it is now impossible to deter- mine, so many of the rolls of companies are wanting. Some who have given most attention to the papers existing, and to all the evidence, estimate that there were periods when as many as five hundred were serving in the army at the same time. Some served for short terms-three months, six months-some were minute-men, called out when the towns along the coast, New London and New Haven, were menaced or attacked. This would be one to about every eight of the inhabitants at that time. The quota of this town for the last war, from 1861 to 1865, was 206; and the population in 1860 being 2,174, this would be one to about every ten of the inhabitants. About one hundred actually went from this town, one to every twenty-one of the inhabitants.
The town records furnish abundant evidence of the resolute effort made to meet the demands for men, -- which came year after year as the war went on and tasked the resources and endurance of the Colonies,- and to provide for the families of those absent in the army.
In the later stages of the war, when a given number of men was called for, the number capable of bearing arms had been reduced, and the enthusiasm which in the beginning had prompted men to enlist had sub- sided, the able-bodied men of the town between the ages of fifteen and fifty-five were divided into classes of the same number-ten-and each class was re- quired to furnish a man.
After the religious services on the Sabbaths, and on
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HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
Thanksgiving and Fast days. especially in 1777, con- tributions for the suffering soldiers were received in the meeting-houses ; when jewelry, and every article of clothing and provisions were presented, and the ladies. as individuals, and in concert, with the discreet and earnest Madam Trumbull encouraging them, and set- ting them an example, bore their part in these contri- butions.
How impossible it is for us, in quiet Lebanon, as it now is, to picture what Lebanon was, and what trans- pired here, during the years of the war-the Gor- ernor of the State residing here, the counsellor and friend and efficient helper of Washington ; the Coun- cil of Safety, which aided the Governor and wielded extensive powers in the conduct of the war in this State, and in this part of the country, holding here nearly all of its more than twelve hundred sessions, held during the war ; messengers from the army, and from Washington, arriving at and leaving the War Office, bringing and carrying away dispatches; the Governor, with the agencies he employed, engaged in procuring and forwarding provision, clothing, and military supplies, and these streets often crowded with activity of this sort; for seven months at one period the Duke de Lauzun's legion of French cavalry here, some of them in barracks in a lot on the right of the Colchester road, called "Barracks lot," others of them on the Common, a little north of where we are assembled, where still can be seen remains of their ovens and camp utensils ; the soldiers now and then stealing wood, and a sheep, a pig, and convicted and punished ; a deserter shot ; the Duke and higher officers
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EARLY LEBANON.
having quarters in the house (on the corner) in its original form, now occupied by Asher P. Smith, and some of the officers at Alden's tavern ; these gentle- manly officers, in their leisure, flirting with the fair maidens of the place ; gay festivities, at which distin- guished guests from abroad were present, frequently occurring ; review of troops; Washington repeatedly here to consult with the Governor; La Fayette here, according to Stuart in his life of Trumbull ; Gen. Knox, Dr. Franklin, Samuel Adams, John Adams, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, and others.
Lebanon was certainly then a center of dignity and influence-was the military headquarters of this part of the country.
With its other important contributions to the War of Independence, this town contributed, in Jonathan Trumbull, a laborious and efficient war Governor-at the beginning the only loyal Governor; to whom Washington gave distinguished confidence-on whom he relied in the most trying emergencies ; a man dis- creet, far-seeing, inflexible in following his convictions ; eminently God-fearing, and a true patriot ; in William Williams, a member of the Continental Congress in 1776-7, and again in 1783-4, a signer of the Declara- tion of Independence, ardent, self-sacrificing, passionate in his devotion to his country ; one hundred years ago to-day he represented this State-represented this town-in that great proceeding in Independence Hall, Philadelphia; in Joseph Trumbull, a commis- sary-general, and the first commissary-general of the national army, whose brilliant career was cut short by an early death, hastened by his strenuous devotion
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HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
to his difficult duties in organizing this department of the army ; in John Trumbull, an aid-de-camp to Wash- ington, an adjutant-general to General Gage, and a painter who acquired a distinguished reputation from his delineation of national scenes, and from his por- traits of distinguished men of the revolutionary period ; in Jonathan Trumbull, Jr., a paymaster to the northern department of the army, a first aid-de. camp and private secretary to Washington-a mem- ber of his family and enjoying his high esteem. Cap- tain James Clark commanded a company in the battle of Bunker Hill, and was in the battles of Harlaem Heights and White Plains. Lieutenant Andrew Fitch was in the battle of Bunker Hill, and in the service to the close of the war. John Wheelock, son of presi- dent Wheelock of Dartmouth College-afterwards himself president-served as lieutenant-colonel in the continental army, and was a member of the staff of General Gage.
Lebanon has done well in the men, whom in different periods it has furnished-six Governors of States, five of them of this State, who held the office thirty- seven years, and one of them, (William A. Bucking- ham) a second war Governor and a worthy successor of the first ; resolute, indefatigable, large-hearted, vig- orous, and upright in administration, and of a charac- ter to command universal esteem and affection :- Trumbull and Buckingham-names that honor the town-honor the state-honor the nation. In all the list of honored men from the beginning have there been abler, better Governors than the Trumbulls, Bissel, and Buckingham ? Four senators in Congress ; 1
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EARLY LEBANON.
seren representatives in Congress, and one of them, Jonathan Trumbull, Jr., Speaker of the Second Con- gress ; five judges of higher courts, and two Chief Justices ; a colored man in Prince Saunders, con- nected for a time with Dartmouth College, who was minister from Hayti to Great Britain, and attorney- general of that government; and a large number of ministers of the gospel, and other professional men.
From this hasty sketch, it is seen that this town has a rich, noble history ; such as a few towns can pre- sent. It has an honored name, and we as citizens may be proud of what it has been, and has done. As we trace from the first those who lived and acted, and what has transpired here ; the scenes enacted on this ground ; it all becomes sacred ground. Every part of the town ; every nook and corner ; has associations and memorials which it is instructive and kindling to study. These ancient bounds which mark the lines of the original tracts that constituted the territory of the town ; these ancient dwellings, some of which have stood a hundred and fifty-and some a hundred and sixty-five years-yet stand to-day; firm and fair ; recall- ing the distinguished families that have occupied them ; these farms, suggesting by the names which the " lots" of some of them retain, their former and early pro- prietors ; this broad street ; and these memorials of the revolutionary period ; these societies and churches, dating far back ; make all this town, to those who have open eyes, enchanted ground. While prosecuting these enquiries into our history, I have been aston- ished, that I have lived so long amid these localities,
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HISTORICAL SKETCH.
the theater of such a past, and have been so little moved and elevated.
The history of this town ought to be written. A full history, thoroughly prepared, and in the hands of every family, would exert an influence which could not be measured, to elevate the aims, inspire the ambition, and ennoble the lives of those who dwell here. To prepare and give us such a history, would be a grand means of making the present generation, and coming generations, worthy successors of those past.
We cannot live on what those before us have achieved. We must do something ourselves, or be the more dishonored in the contrast. We must have something of their energy, intelligence, public spirit, love of country, religion. Our relative importance as a town, has diminished ; our population is not likely to increase. But we can make these ridges and valleys smile under an intelligent and thorough industry ; we can raise up men, and continue to furnish the state, and the nation, with governors and senators, and judges and ministers of the Gospel, and cultivated and noble women.
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In order to this, we must have the means of educa- tion ; a vital matter for us. Our fathers are note- worthy, for the early and continued attention they gave to education, and for the schools they maintained, which started their own children in a course of learn- ing and made them intelligent citizens, and prepared so many of them for the higher institutions of learn- ing, and drew here others from distant places to enjoy the advantages of the best schools and a cultured com- 4*
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EARLY LEBANON.
munity. The connection of this fact with the emi- nence of so many, born here, and with the position the town reached in the state and nation, we do well closely to consider. We need a permanent school of high character, in which all the children of the town, the rich and poor together, can be educated and stimu- lated, and furnished to reputable and useful lives. Such a school would promote our pecuniary thrift, as well as our intelligence, and be an element in assur- ing, not perhaps our former prominence, but a true and laudable prosperity.
May the future of this goodly town of Lebanon be as honored, and as worthy of honor, as has been its past.
APPENDIX.
For many years I have been aware that the real his- tory of our town was too little known. In my habitual researches-antiquarian, historical, and especially genea- logical-among the archives of the state and towns, and other historical archives and libraries, I have been made more and more conscious that there was a treasure of wealth in the past history of Lebanon, buried from the light of the present age, and lost to the memory, or even tradition, of most of the present generation of the town itself. The preceding "Historical Address " has happily unearthed many of these buried treasures, and rescued them from oblivion; and the occasion has seemed to de- mand of me, also, some further contribution to our local history, from sources and materials in my possession, or within my reach, which might thus be better preserved. Hence this Appendix. But the mine of materials for such a history of our ancient town, as its merits deserve- especially, through the trying period of the Revolution- is by no means yet exhausted.
Most of the appended Notes have been prepared as ref- erences, to further elucidate subjects referred to by Rev. O. D. Hine, in his most valuable and interesting Address; and for the historical verity of these, as well as of all the other historical and biographical Notes, I am alone responsible. The tabulated matter, so largely added, is the joint labor of both; but the tedious and perplexing task of transcribing, with scrupulous accuracy and discrimination, from the town records, the lists of town and local officers, ancient births, marriages, etc., etc., which add so essentially to the value of the volume, has been patiently and carefully performed by him; myself assisting only in collating and tabulating his transcripts in proper form to print.
N. H. M.
HARTFORD, CONN., August, 1880.
APPENDIX.
NOTE-A.
TOWN STREET TITLE.
There is in existence, a " PROPRIETOR'S BOOK," con- taining a record of the officers and meetings of the original proprietors from 1706 to 1786. And there is preserved a record of a meeting, as late as Feb. 28, 1810; when William Williams was chosen Moderator, and Eliphalet Metcalf, clerk and treasurer, in the room of the late Governor Trumbull, deceased, [the second Gov. Trumbull, who died, Aug. 7, 1809,]-and sworn according to law, by William Williams, Justice of Peace.
PROPRIETORS' MEETING, FEB. 1810. -- Transcripts.
"It was voted that Eliphalet Metcalf, Esq., Major Zabdiel Hyde, and Col. Jacob Loomis, be of the Com- mittee, together with the survivors of the former Com- mittee, (William Williams and William Huntington,) to warn Proprietors' meetings, and to do and perform all the services and business proper for the Committee of said Proprietors, and for which the former Committees have been chosen, that is needful and expedient to be done."
TOWN MEETING.
" At the annual town meeting, Nov. 8, 1809, the select- men were empowered to sell to adjoining proprietors all such land in the high way as is not necessary for the accom- modation of the public. Jan. 31, 1810, the town instructed the select men to dispose of the land they had surveyed
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EARLY LEBANON -APPENDIX.
between the meeting-houses, -which they thought not necessary for the public travel." To this action of the town. the proprietors presented the Protest which is found below, dated Feb. 8th, 1810.
PROPRIETORS' MEETING.
" Whereas the inhabitants of the Town of Lebanon, at a meeting held by them on the 31st of Jan. last. did with- out law, or right, as we apprehend, vote and agree to take up, discontinue, dispose and sell, for their own benefit,- part of the land called and used for high way, being the Town Street so called, which has from the beginning, down to this present day, been used for high way, and common land, for pasturage and feeding for the poor, and also sundry other pieces of land for high ways."
"Now therefore we the subscribers, original Proprietors of the common and undivided land in the 5 mile propriety in sª town, and legal representatives of such proprietors, in behalf of themselves and with the presumed and certain consent of the rest, who are scattered and removed into various Towns and Places, do object, declare and protest against sª vote, as inexpedient, improper and unlawful and for reasons assigned."
" First, that sd Town street land is not; nor ever was the property of sª town or the inhabitants thereof, very few individuals accepted, who may legally represent the said original purchasers and proprietors, and say that sª Town street was never laid out for high way by order of the Town or any Select-men, but was originally reserved and laid (out) by a Com' of their own body, and sª proprietors always considered it as their own property, all that was unnecessary for high ways; and ever kept meetings, clerks, committees, treasurers, and Records of many doings of theirs, respecting sª town street and many high ways, and the disposition of many strips of land: sª laying or reserving sª wide street, was before the town was incorporated, and any name or office of any Select men existed here, so that the Town would have no right to discontinue or alter it, or any part of it, but if necessary to be done, it must be by order of the County Court; and the avails of it belong to the Corporation or Person to whom the fee of the land did belong." 1
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TOWN STREET TITLE.
"The s' Proprietors have ever considered it as their own property, and have exercised many acts of owner- ship of the same, more than 100 years, as by the book of records may appear; which never was questioned until now. And at their meeting in March, 1758, the elder Gov' Trumbull moderator, (as of all the meetings in his day,) they voted and agreed to divide the common land lying in the woods, with all such small strips as may be found lying within this Propriety, save only the common land lying in the main Town street, from Capt. Samuel Huntingtons, to Mr. John Popes. And it was provided by law, that whatever part or interest the aforesd Proprietors, by custom as well as deed, have in any common or un- divided land in any Town, which they have not by their free consent as before expressed, or otherwise disposed of, or suffered to be divided or disposed of, shall be allowed and taken to be their proper estate, and that no person whatsoever, by becoming an inhabitant of such town, or by any other means against, and without the consent of such Proprietors, shall be taken or esteemed to have any estate, title, right, or interest therein."
"Further. all the laws which mention the subject are clearly in our favor ;- So that it was the opinion of Gov' Trumbull the elder, who was always clerk or moderator in their meetings; and of the late Gov' Trumbull, who was till his death, clerk of sd meetings and of all others, -that the right of said Proprietors could never be taken away.
And we would caution any, if any there be, willing to purchase any of sd land, not to proceed; for their title will surely be contested.
Wmn. Williams, Israel Loomis,
Wm. Huntington,
Samuel Bailey,
Comfort Brewster,
James Bayley,
Eliphalet Metcalf, Simon Loomis.
Caleb Abel, jun',
John Loomis,
Zabdiel Hyde,
Isaac Gillet,
David Trumbull,
John Clark,
William Lyman,
James Clark,
Daniel Dewey,
Eliphalet Huntington.
Feb. 8th, 1810.
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EARLY LEBANON -APPENDIX.
TOWN MEETING.
"Feb. 19, 1810, at a special meeting, the town voted, to rescind the votes passed at its former meeting, respecting selling and disposing of certain portions of land in the highways. And this was the sole business done at the meeting."
NOTE .- The present title to this common, or village green, still exists, unquestionably, as I think, in the legal heirs and assigns of the fifty-one original proprietors and their present living representatives; and not in the town, nor in the adjoining proprietors; but subject, by dedication and user, to a paramount right in the public at large, to its perpetual use and enjoyment, as a public park or common. - N. H. M.
NOTE-B.
"NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION."
None of the older towns in Connecticut, were ever organized under any formal act of incorporation. The early settlements, during the first century, were made by a few pioneer families, in such new places as seemed to offer the best advantages for a plantation. The new settlers, being thus removed beyond the pro- tection and jurisdiction of the older settlements, were compelled, for their own safety and good order, in their isolated condition, to become " a law unto them- selves." In many cases, these new plantations, from one cause or another, proved to be failures, and after a few years were abandoned ; but when successful they attracted new comers, and the permanency of the settlement became better assared.
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"NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION." 49
One of their earliest desires was, to secure the advantages of religious instruction, and the offices of a Christian minister among them. The next was, usually, to obtain authority to choose certain civil offi- cers ; and as they increased in numbers they desired that a certain territory, of proper size and description of boundaries, should be assigned to them and invested with "town priveleges." Application for each of these was made from time to time, to the General Assem- bly, as they were severally needed ; and they were usually approved-the permission given, and the privi- ilege granted by a short and simple " Order " of the Assembly.
Take the case of Lebanon as a common example of the simple brevity of these important proceedings.
Oct. Session, 1697 .- "Ordered by this Court that the new plantation situate to the westward of Norwich bounds shall be called Lebanon."
Oct. Session, 1700 .- " Free liberty is by this Assembly granted to the inhabitants of Lebanon, to embody them- selves in church estate there; and also to call and settle an orthodoxe minister to dispense the ordinances of God to them ; they proceding therein with the consent of neighbor churches, as the laws in such cases doth direct."
Same Session, 1700 .- " This Assembly doth grant to the inhabitants of the town of Lebanon, all such immunities, privelidges and powers, as generally other towns within this colony have and doe enjoy."
But these embryo settlements were never at first called upon to contribute any share of the public ex- pense of the Colonial Government, even although invested with " town priveleges." The settlers were mostly poor in property, and surrounded and envel- oped as they were by an unbroken forest, it 'required all their powers and energies to win from the unsuh-
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EARLY LEBANON -APPENDIX.
dued soil, even the common necessaries of subsistence. In a few years, as the clearings were enlarged, the tillage increased, and crops became more abundant, the General Assembly would enquire, by a committee, whether they were not able to bear a portion of the pub- lic burdens, and if they found they were, an assessment of their property was ordered, and a tax levied thereon, in common with the other towns. Take again, the town of Lebanon as a common example of the order- ing of the General Assembly in this matter, and note that at this date, the town had been organized with full powers and privileges for four years, and yet never taxed.
Oct. Session, 1704 .- "This court doe order that the plantations of Lebanon, Mansfield, Canterbury and Plain- field, be listed as other townes and plantations in this colo- nie are, and for performance of said worke, doe appoint the selectmen and constable or constables in each planta- tion, forthwith upon receit hereof, to demand and take the rateable estate reall and personall, as the lawe directs, in their respective plantations, and perfect said lists with all convenient speed, and transmit the same to the Colonie Secretary, to be inrolled in the publick records in order to be transmitted to the Treasurer, that thereby he may give forth his warrants for the levying their shares of the Colonie charge."
Whereupon, and without any other authority or permission whatever, the towns chose one or two rep- resentatives, who, at the next session, walked boldly into the General Assembly and took their seats among the members, unchallenged and unquestioned ; repre- sentation being the common right, resulting insepar- ably from taxation ; a right settled by the universal custom from the beginning, not only in this colony, but in every colony in New England, and probably the
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