USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Farmington > Farmington town clerks and their times (1645-1940) > Part 8
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The Rev. Samuel Peters, of Hebron, whose history of Connec- ticut, written in London just after the War of the Revolution and read today more for amusement than for serious study, vented some of his general disapproval of Connecticut in a special blast at Farmington when he said:
"Farmington burnt the act of Parliament in great contempt by their common hangman, when a thousand of her best inhabi- tants were convened for that glorious purpose of committing treason against the king; for which vile conduct they have not been styled a pest to Connecticut, and enemies to common sense, either by his Honor or any king's attorney, or in any town meeting. We sincerely wish and hope a day will be set apart by his Honor very soon for fasting and prayer throughout this colony, that the sins of these haughty people may not be laid to our charge."
The Rev. Mr. Peters, who called himself "A Gentleman of the Provence" and included his own so-called "Blue Laws" in his A General History of Connecticut was seeing the windows of his church in Hebron broken and having his cloth- ing rent at about this time, which may account for his taking his notes of Connecticut history and his opinions of the moment to London for safer keeping until they could be set to paper.
The Farmington inhabitants were very busy. At their meet- ing June 15, Solomon Whitman recorded the following minutes: "Att a very full Meeting of ye Inhabitants of ye Town of Farmington Legally warned & held in sd Farmington ye 15th day of June 1774 Colonel John Strong Moderator
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"Voted that ye act of Parliament for blocking up ye Port of Boston is an invasion of ye Rights & Privileges of every American & as such we are Determined to oppose the Same with all other such arbitrary and tyranicall acts; in every suit- able Way & Manner, that may be Adopted in General Congress: to ye Intent we may be instrumental of Securing, and Trans- mitting our Rights, and privileges Inviolate, to the Latest Posterity.
"That ye fate of American Freedom, greatly dependant on the Conduct of the Inhabitants of the Town of Boston in ye Present Alarming Crisis of Publick Affairs; We Therefore en- treat them by every thing that is Dear & Sacred to Preserve with unremitted Vigilence & Resolution till their Labour shall be Crowned with the desired Success.
"That as Many of the Inhabitants of the Town of Boston, must in a short time be reduced to the utmost Distress, in Consequence of their Port Bill; We deem it our Indespensable Duty by every proper & effectual Method to Assist in affording them speedy Relief -
"In pursuance of which Fisher Gay, Selah Heart, Stephen Hotchkiss Esqs and Messrs Saml Smith, Noadiah Hooker, Amos Wadsworth, Simeon Strong, Jeames Persivall, Elijah Hooker, Matthew Cole, Jona Root, Josiah Cowles, Daniel Lankton, Jona Andrus, Jona Woodruff, Aaron Day, Timothy Clark, Josiah Lewis, Hezk Gridley Jr., Asa Upson, Amos Barnes, Stephen Barns Jr., Ichabod Norton, Joseph Miller, William Woodford, Jedediah Norton Jr., Gad Stanley, John Lankton, Elnathan Smith, Thom Upson, Elisha Booth, Saml North Jr., Thom Hart & Rezen Gridley be a Committee with all convenient Speed, to Take in Subscriptions Wheat, Rye, Indian Corn & other provisions, of ye Inhabitants of this Town; & to collect and Transport ye same to the Town of Boston; there to be Delivered to the Selectmen of the Town of Boston, to be by them Distributed at their Discretion to those who are incapacitated, to procure a Necessary Sustinance in Con- sequence of the late apprehensive Measures of Administration.
"That Wm Judd, Fisher Gay, Selah Heart, & Stephen Hotchkiss Esqs Messrs John Treadwell, Asahel Wadsworth,
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Jona Root, Saml Smith, Ichabod Norton, Noahdiah Hooker, & Gad Stanley be and they are Hereby Appointed a Commttee to Keep up a Correspondence, with the Towns of this and the Nabouring Colonys; and that they forthwith Transmit a Copy of the Votes of this Meeting, to the Commttee of Correspond- ence for the Town of Boston, and also Cause the same to be Made Publick -'
At a meeting of the inhabitants the third Tuesday of Sep- tember the Selectmen were instructed to "purchase thirty-six barralls of Powder with what is already Provided to be added to the Town Stock for ye use of ye Town." Also "the Selectmen be directed to Procure Ten Thousand French Flints to be added to the Town Stock for the use of the Town."
They also voted "that the several constables should have a large staff provided for each of them with the King's Arms upon them." The authority of the king was still supreme.
At the regular town meeting held December 12, 1774, Col. John Strong moderator, in addition to choosing the town officers for the year and giving their attention to whether hogs should run at large, who should be tything men and branders of horses, when the meadows should be burned over in the spring, whether crops should be grown in the highways, a com- mittee to remove nuisances from the highways (with the ex- ception of a cyder mill, which might remain for two years), establishing a boundary line between this town and Walling- ford, taking proper action in the case of the Town vs. Widow Sarah Chester, receiving the report of the Committee on Cor- respondence and the report of the Committee on Subscriptions for the Town of Boston, the inhabitants also voted to approve and adopt the Doings of the Continental Congress held in Philadelphia September 5 last. But two of the inhabitants "utterly refused to Vote for the same and do therefore consider them - Matthias Leaming and Nehemiah Royce - enemies to their Country & as such we will according to the Resolution of ye Congress from this day forward withdraw all Connection from them untill they shall make publick Retraction of their Principals & Sentiments in ye matters aforesaid."
Matthias Leaming was prosecuted for his refusal to accept
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the way of his countrymen. His lands were confiscated and his family was in want. In later years efforts were made by Rev. Timothy Pitkin, pastor of the Church, Col. Noadiah Hooker and other prominent men of the town to have the Gen- eral Assembly assist him in his old age. The treasury of the state at the close of the war was in no condition to assist its appellant; rather, was it expected that the people of the state would assist the treasury, and Matthias Leaming died unaided. He was buried in the Main Street Cemetery. His marker is faced toward the east rather than with the other markers to the west, this mark of disapproval still lingering after the war, and his stone is inscribed "In Memory of Mr. Matthias Leam- ing Who hars got Beyond the reach of Parcecushion. The Life of man is Vanity." Julius Gay says, "It is not so much the me- morial of an individual as of a lost cause. Its position, facing in opposition to all the other stones, is itself a protest. Mat- thias Leaming was a Tory, or, as he preferred to be called, a Loyalist."
In his "A History of Bristol, Conn.", Epaphroditis Peck devotes an entire chapter to another Tory or Loyalist as he also preferred to be called. Moses Dunbar of Bristol gave his life in his efforts in behalf of the ruling country, but of more interest to us now, is the saner viewpoint which comes with the passing years.
Mr. Peck says: "Connecticut takes a just pride in her hon- orable history, but no name ranks so high on her hero roll as that of Nathan Hale. The universal admiration for his char- acter and career seems to grow with the years, and his immortal words on the scaffold 'I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country' have come to be not only a state but a national bugle call of inspiration.
"It may be presumptuous to try to set any name beside his; but it may at least increase our state pride to know that Con- necticut gave a young man to the other side of the revolutionary struggle whose career in many ways paralleled Hale's. Each of them was a Connecticut farmer's boy; each reached the rank of captain, Hale in the Colonial army and Dunbar in the King's army; each accepted a dangerous assignment to secret
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service within the enemy's territory; and each was captured and punished by death on the gallows."
Dunbar was brought before Solomon Whitman as justice of the peace in the Town of Farmington, with the incriminating evidence against him and remanded to the Superior Court at Hartford. He was convicted and sentenced to be hanged for high treason against the State of Connecticut. He was exe- cuted March 19, 1777, on a gallows erected at Gallows Hill near the present site of Trinity College.
A scholarly and judicial analysis of the laws on which Dunbar was convicted, as well as a careful and painstaking history of the Dunbar family, to be expected of Mr. Peck, closes thus: "As we think of this young man of thirty, leaving three children to be fatherless, motherless and exposed to hatred and persecu- tion for their father's sake, a wife married but a few months and a child yet unborn, and meeting death for the faith which he had deliberately adopted and the King to whom he believed his loyalty was due, we can take pride that Connecticut youth exhibited heroic devotion and calmly accepted martyrdom on the loyalist as well as on the patriotic side."
This, no doubt, motivated the Farmington men who sought to aid Matthias Leaming.
The Committee of Inspection of fifty-two men, with addi- tions from time to time as appointed in town meeting, immedi- ately went about their duties as laid out in the Eleventh Article of the Association of the Continental Congress. The list of mem- bers of the committee was a representative one, bearing names that had long been carved on the Farmington roll of honor. The committee kept a record of its meetings, a part of which was found in the possession of the Rev. Edward A. Smith late of Farmington. It is called Register of ye Votes and Proceedings of ye Committee of Inspections for the Town of Farmington. It opens with a copy of the town vote authorizing the com- mittee.
"At a meeting of Town of Farmington in annual Town Meet- ing on ye 12th day of Dec., 1774, upon a motion made, Voted, (only two dissentient) that this Town do approve of ye Asso- ciation of ye Continental Congress as ye wisest Expedient for
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restoring and securing ye violated Rights of British America - and pursuant to ye IIth article of said Association, unani- mously Voted - 2nd, That Messrs. William Judd, John Tread- well, Noadiah Hooker, Peter Curtiss, Asahel Wadsworth, Timothy Root, Stephen Dorchester, Matthew Cole, Stephen Norton, Joseph Wells, Elijah Hooker, John Allen, John Lee, Jonathan Root, Eldad Lewis, Timothy Clark, Daniel Lankton, Josiah Cowles, Asa Bray, Eliakim Peck, Asa Upson, Amos Barnes, Hezekiah Gridley, Dan Hill, Joseph Byington, Timothy Thompson, Ichabod Norton, Joseph Miller, Noah Hart, Gad Stanley, Ladwick Hotchkiss, John Lankton, Noah Stanley, Stephen Barnes, Thomas Upson, Aaron Harrison, Joseph Beecher, Simeon Hart, Titus Bunnell, Simeon Strong, Seth Wiard, William Wheeler, Royce Lewis, Asahel Barnes, Eben- ezer Hamlin, Hezekiah Wadsworth, Thomas Lewis, Resin Gridley, Timothy Hosmer, Martin Bull, Joseph - Jonathan-, be a Committee of Inspection to transact all those matters that belong to them, according to ye true sense and design of ye Congress in sd Article expressed.
"Whereupon sd Committee met ye same day at ye house of Mr. Amos Cowles, Inholder of sd Town, when they unani- mously Voted that Mr. William Judd should be Moderator, and Mr. John Treadwell Clerk of said Committee.
"Voted, that Messrs. William Judd, John Treadwell, Noadiah Hooker, Asahel Wadsworth, Gad Stanley, and Jonathan Root, be a committee to prepare a general Plan of Agreement, as well for Explanation of sd Association as for forming our Con- duct thereon, and to make their Report at ye next Meeting of the Committee.
"Dec. 26th (1774) the Committee being met according to Adjournment they came into ye following Resolution, 4th, That ye Plan agreed on by ye Committee appointed to draw up a Plan to be presented to this Committee, and by them reported be adopted as a suitable Plan of Agreement to be subscribed all ye Members.
"Voted 5th, That this Committee is foreclosed from pre- senting Mr. Nehemiah Royce, a Person politically excommuni- cated from schooling his Children as usual by Vote of ye Town.
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"Voted, That Messrs. Jonathan Root, Timothy Hosmer, Ladwick Hotchkiss, Gad Stanley, Matthew Cole, Hezekiah Wadsworth, John Treadwell, and Noadiah Hooker, be a Com- mittee to repair to New Cambridge and there to answer with Persons suspected to be unsound in their political sentiments, or such of them as shall see cause to attend on sd Committee to reclaim in a pacific way to a sense of their duty as far as lies in their Power.
"Voted, 7th, That this Committee be adjourned to Monday ye 9th day of January next, then to meet at ye House of Mr. Asahel Wadsworth of this Town at one o'clock in ye afternoon."
January 9th (1775). The Committee being met according to Adjournment voted as follows:
"That no Person shall be proceeded against by this Com- mittee, or be liable to Punishment for any supposed breach of ye Association of Congress until he shall have a Notification from this Committee setting ye Charges laid against him, and desiring him to appear if he sees Cause before this Committee or any select Committee by this Committee appointed to vindi- cate himself against ye Allegations laid against him.
"That Mr. Jonathan Root, Capt. Noadiah Hooker, and Mr. William Judd, be appointed as Delegates to attend ye County Meeting of ye several Inspecting Committees therein on ye 25th day of Instant January.
"That this Committee have Authority delegated from ye Town to take up ye Matter of Matthias Leaming and Nehemiah Royce, Persons excommunicated by vote of ye Town in same Manner to all Intents and Purposes as ye Town had not pro- ceeded against them.
"Jan. 16, (1775) ye Committee met according to Adjournment.
"Voted, That Messrs. Stephen Norton, Simeon Hart, Daniel Lankton, Joseph Byington, Staphen Barnes, Noah Stanley, Ichabod Norton, have Power whenever it shall appear to ye Major Part of ye Members of this Body belonging to each Society respectively upon Examination of Witnesses or other- wise, that any Person within said Societies has violated ye Association of ye Continental Congress, to make out a Citation to said Person, requiring him if he sees Cause to attend upon
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ye Committee at ye Time and Place mentioned in said Citation to answer to ye Charge exhibited against him before sd Com- mittee.
"Messrs. Matthias Leaming and Nehemiah Royce being regularly cited before this Committee to answer to ye Com -- plaints exhibited against them were called to appear before ye Committee and upon non-appearance, Voted, that ye Consid- eration of ye whole Matter respecting these Persons should be deferred till ye Meeting next after ye Meeting of ye several Committees of ye County.
"That those who go into ye Pastime of Horseracing, gaming, Cock-fighting, Exhibition of Shows, &c., as expressed in ye 8th Article of ye Association of ye Congress, are guilty of a violation of sd Association.
"January 30, 1775, The Committee being met according to Adjournment Voted that Mr. James Persaville, Merchant of this Town, having bought and sold Goods higher than usual by his own Confession has been guilty of a violation of ye Asso- ciation.
"That this Committee do upon a Confession made, and promise of Amendment by said Percival for his fault in pur- chasing and selling sundry articles of English Goods at higher prices than is consistant with ye true sense of ye Association, and upon his promising as far as he can to deposit ye sur- plussage of ye money over and above what they would have amounted to if sold at his usual Prices into ye Hands of such Person or Persons as shall by this Committee be appointed to receive ye same to be appropriated to ye Use of ye Poor of ye Town of Boston, and upon such Confession and Retraction being made public restore to sd Percival full and compleat Charity.
"That if it has already or in time to come may happen that any Person or Persons, Inhabitants of any of ye neighboring Towns have refused or shall refuse to acceed to or in any Way or Manner violate ye doings of ye Continental Congress, it shall be ye duty of ye Inhabitants of this Town to withdraw all kinds of Connexion from such Person or Persons, and as Members of this Committee we will use our best Endeavors
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that ye Inhabitants punctually adhere to this vote and practice accordingly.
"That it is highly important that all Venders of Goods and Merchandise within this town be desired as soon as may be to make out and to render to this Committee an Inventory of all and singular ye articles of Goods or Merchandize they have either disposed of since ye Ist day of December 1773, or have now on hand, with their Number or other marks whereby said articles or any of them have been usually rank'd or distin- guished, together with ye Prices they have sold them at for ready Pay and their Usual Advances for Credit since said Ist day of December 1773, or do now sell them, and also ye Names of ye Persons any of such Goods or Merchandise have been purchased of since ye first day of December 1773, to ye Intent they may be in the most effectual Manner prevented selling such Goods or Merchandize hereafter at higher prices than they have been accustomed to since above mentioned Ist day of December 1773 contrary to ye Association of ye Continental Congress, or if they should that they may be detected and brought to condign Punishment.
"That all Venders of Goods or Merchandize within this Town shall hereafter each for himself render a particular Ac- count to three or more of this Committee being present to take such Account of every article of such Goods or Merchandize as shall be purchased by them and brought into this Town with their numbers or other Marks of Distinction, and likewise of ye Place where and ye Persons of whom said Goods or Mer- chandise were purchased before any of ye Packages thereof are broken, and it is expected ye Purchaser upon ye Receipt of any such Goods or Merchandize will notify three or more as aforesaid of this Committee to be present to take such account to ye true Intent and Meaning of this Vote."
March 15, 1775, Voted, "That Mr. Timothy Root be ap- pointed to exhibit a Complaint against Capt. Solomon Cowles and Martha his wife for making use of Tea contrary to ye Association.
"That Messrs. Stephen Dorchester, Asahel Wadsworth, Timothy Root, Peter Curtiss, Noadiah Hooker, Timothy
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Hosmer, John Treadwell, Martin Bull, John Lee, Stephen Norton, John Allen, Jonathan Root, Daniel Lankton, Timothy Clark, Thomas Upson, Amos Barns, Hezekiah Gridley, Icha- bod Norton, Joseph Miller, Noah Hart, Noah Stanley, Gad Stanley, Ladwick Hotchkiss, Simeon Hart, Joseph Stone, Titus Bunnell, Stephen Barnes, Thomas Upson, and Joseph Beacher be appointed to give Licenses for the use of Tea to such persons within their respective Societies, as shall appear to ye whole to each Society belonging that are here particularly named to be under absolute necessity for ye same.
"That Matthias Leaming be advertised in the Public Ga- zette for a contumacious violation of ye whole Association of ye Continental Congress, and that Messrs. John Treadwell, Peter Curtiss, Noadiah Hooker, and William Judd to do ye same accordingly."
March 23, 1775, "That ye Confession exhibited and sub- scribed by Capt. Solomon Cowles and Martha his wife for ye offence of using Tea contrary to the Association is satisfactory provided ye same be made public.
"That ye Evidence exhibited against Nehemiah Royce for refusing to accede to ye Association of Congress is not sufficient to justify ye Committee in advertising sd Royce in ye Gazette.
"That ye Committee appointed to advertise Matthias Leam- ing defer ye execution of that Business until the next adjourn- ment &c."
August 12, 1775, "Upon a Motion whether this Committee are obligated to examine unto ye Conduct of those who labored on ye Continental Fast, and to proceed against them according to the demerit of their offence as Violators of sd Association - Voted in ye Affirmative.
"September II, 1775, ye Committee of Inspection being met according to adjournment took into Consideration ye Case of Job Whitcomb, Ezekiel Carrington, Barzillai Lewis, John Lowry and Charles Ledyard who being accused of labouring on ye Continental Fast voluntarily appeared before ye Com- mittee and acknowledged ye Charge and upon their subscribing a Confession offered him by sd Committee, and consented
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that it should be made public - Voted that ye same be es- teemed satisfactory.
"Voted that we will take up ye matter of Mr. Samuel Scott for suffering people to work upon the Continental Fast it being in ye opinion of this Committee worthy their attention, at which Meeting it was ye unanimous opinion of ye Committee at ye next Freeman Meeting to request a Dismission from ye office it being too burthensome to be executed by them for a longer time, and that another Committee be appointed in their room."
Here pages of the record are missing, but a new committee was appointed and acted on cases appearing before it. We find next that a traveler who had stayed at Captain Solomon Cowles' tavern and had accepted tea there, had been sum- moned before the Inspection Committee.
The page reads: "- he not in the least apprehending what was served up before him was Indian Tea, and that as soon as he had discovered ye deception he immediately abstained from it - which Plea being duly weighed by ye Committee was voted to be satisfactory."
"Voted, That Dea. Seth Lee and Dea. Noah Porter be ap- pointed in ye room of Lieut. Elijah Porter to present all such persons within their Limits as shall appear to have violated ye Association agreeable to ye 12th Resolve of ye former Com- mittee.
"Jan. 29, 1776. Ye Committee met according to adjournment when a complaint was exhibited against Jesse Fuller for laboring on ye Continental Fast, who neglecting to appear ye Com- mittee proceeded to ye Examination of Evidence in ye Case, but as but one witness testyfied in Point ye further considera- tion of ye matter was deferred to a further opportunity.
"At ye same time a complaint was exhibited against Samuel Warren, Lydia Orvis, Hannah Andrus, and Prudence Buck, all of Farmington, for making use of India Tea contrary to ye Continental Association - when ye said Samuel Warren and Prudence Buck appeared in Compliance with the Citation and acknowledging the fact charged against them, they subscribed the following Confession, viz: we ye subscribers freely acknowl-
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edge we have violated ye Association of the Continental Con- gress by making Use of India Tea; sensible of ye ill conse- quences of such a Practice we do freely express our sorrow for ye same, and do give the strongest assurance of our Determi- nation hereafter strictly to adhere in every Regard to ye Con- tinental Association.
Signed Samuel Warren Prudence Buck.
"But as ye above said Lydia Orvis and Hannah Andrus did not see Cause to make their Appearance ye Committee pro- ceeded to examine Witnesses in ye Case and found that they are guilty according to ye Complaint, but being willing to exer- cise Lenity towards them thought proper that they should have another day to appear, if they should see cause before ye Committee to answer for themselves.
"At ye same time Lieut. Ebenezer Orvis in a contemptuous manner intruded upon the Committee and unimpeached de- clared that he had drank India Tea contrary to ye Association and that he did it with a View that he might have it to tell of. Whereupon the Committee Voted that said Orvis is guilty of a flagrant violation of ye Association; accordingly a Confession was drawn up for him to subscribe and publish, which he re- fusing to comply with, ye further Consideration of ye matter was deferred till ye next adjournment."
At a later meeting "ye Authority and Selectmen of ye Town" were called in to advise with the Committee.
March II, 1776, the Committee "Voted that Lieut. Ebenezer Orvis be Advertised in ye Gazette as an Enemy to his Country. Voted that Mrs. Lydia Orvis and Hannah Andrus be advertised in ye Public Gazette as Enemies to their Country, ye publica- tion to be deferred until after ye County Meeting hereafter to be held at Hartford."
Monday April 22, 1776. "Lieut. Ebenezer Orvis who had been Advertised in Pursuance of ye vote of ye Committee appeared before ye Committee and presented a Confession for publication which was voted Satisfactory."
A cup of tea at that time was the sum and symbol of all their wrongs, their taxes, and their war. That no heads fell in some
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