USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Cornwall > Historical records of the town of Cornwall, Litchfield County, Connecticut; > Part 35
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The prosperous period of the mission closed 1763; when an extensive Indian outbreak revived suspicion and ill will. There is no evidence of special hostility to the mission at Scatacook, but it lost heavily in numbers, and the last missionary, Edward Thorpe, was withdrawn in 1770. It is supposed that some of the Scata- cook converts joined the Indian congregation which was moving westward to Ohio.
I believe that the richest earthly harvest which sprang from seed sown here was gathered at Gnadenhuetten, Ohio, on the night of March 8, 1782, when nearly one hundred Moravian Indians spent the night confessing their sins one to another, in praying to their Father, and praising their Saviour. They were now watch- ing with him in their Gethsemane, and Judas Iscariot was at hand too. Men who had given them assurances of friendship as false as the traitor's kiss, proceeded, as soon as day came, to seize and butcher them. Of the victims of this massacre only one is cer- tainly known to have been from Kent: Christian, daughter of Gideon Mauwehu; but nineteen others bore the names of baptized Scatacooks, of whom no other trace is found.
The Kingdom of Heaven was strengthened and beautified by their faithfulness unto death.
THE INDIAN TRAIL FROM LITCHFIELD TO WEA. TOGUE (SALISBURY).
BY GEO. C. HARRISON.
The points absolutely established about the old Indian trail from Litchfield to Weatogue are: First, the one near the top of the hill easterly from the residence of 'Theodore R. Ives. This point, a bounds - the N. W. C. of the 2d L. Ist D). in Cornwall, sur-
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veyed in 1738, " which is on a ledge a little south of the path that leads from Litchfield to Weatogue." I infer that the path ran from there northwesterly about in the direction of the North Cornwall Church. From the bounds above named I think it fol- lowed very nearly the lay of the old highway from that point to Goshen, since tradition says there was a wigwam which was burned, with two children, which stood under the shelter of the hills west of the house where my grandfather Edward lived, and as that was a warm and sheltered place, and a natural resort for game, with fine springs, it must have been a camping ground. I have numerous arrowheads, of various patterns and of different kinds of stone, war points, etc. We thought it nothing un- common to find them in almost every lot we plowed.
Another point absolutely defined is the S. E. C. of the 33d L. 3d D., laid to Joseph, father of Ethan Allen, which reads: " to bounds near the old path called Weatogue Road "; this point is about half way from the old Washington turnpike to the house now occupied by Abel Beauty and in or near the present highway.
Another point of said trail definitely fixed is in a lay of land to John Jeffery in 8th Div., which point is very near the present highway leading around the north side of Red Mountain. There may be other points in some of the surveys that refer to it, but this establishes the general course of the trail.
From the first-mentioned bounds the trail probably took a northwesterly course to the Housatonic River, passing through the present farm of Sam'l Judson Adams. The abundance of arrow- heads marks it as a frequent resort of the Indians.
1
COLLEGE LAND.
At a General Assembly holden at New Haven (on Thurs- day, the 12th day of October) in His Majesty's English Colony of Connecticut, in New England, in America, Anno Regni Regis Georgii, Magnae Brittanicæ, etc., Annoque Dom. 1732, upon the memorial of Rev. Samuel Andrew, Eliphalet Addams, Elisha Williams, etc., trustees of Yale College :
" This Assembly do grant and order that in each of the five townships laid out on the east of Ousatonuck River there shall be laid out in one entire piece three hundred acres of land, to be
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HISTORY OF CORNWALL.
laid out at a distance from the several town plotts, which tracts of land containing in the whole fifteen hundred acres shall, when laid out, be, by a Patent under the seal of this Colony, granted and confirmed to the trustees of said College, to have and to hold to them and their successors, Trustees of the said College, for the only and sole use, benefit, and behoof of said school forever, and to no other use."
On the 6th and 7th days of January, A. D. 1737-8, John Han- cock, according to the above-written grant, laid out in the middle township three hundred acres of land near the southeast corner of said township for the trustees of Yale College, which three hun- dred acres is in length three hundred rods and in breadth one hun- dred and sixty rods.
PESTHOUSE.
This was an old house belonging to A. Parmalee. It stood not far from the road leading from North Cornwall to the hollow east of the Burnham House. It was used in 1777, and Parmalee built a new house. Inoculation was practiced at that time, pro- ducing a mild form of smallpox, giving the same immunity as having the disease in the natural way. The patients remained at the pesthouse till recovery and thorough disinfection .*
The discovery of vaccination by Dr. Edward Jenner in 1796, by which the same immunity was secured with comparatively little inconvenience, has removed the necessity of a pesthouse.
* From a slip of paper inclosed in A Body of Divinity, by Samuel Willard, folio 1726.
"Dr. Ward from Middletown inoculated 26 the first class (or day) and 70 the second class. Lieut. Parmalee and all his family had the disease."
Malignant fever. - From a blank leaf of Richard Baxter's Catholic Theology, folio, London, 1675 -
CORNWALL, CONN., 1813.
"In the year 1812 there was a strange and very malignant fever broke out in New Milford, and continued to rage there for many months. The next year it reached this town, where in less than three months forty fell victims to it, and spread itself over the greater part of the N. E. states. Many thousands were carried off by it and many families were broken up."
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SLAVES.
SLAVES.
FROM TOWN RECORDS.
Edward, or Ned, son of James and Patience, negroes born at New Milford March 9, 1789, all said negroes being then the prop- erty of Mr. Benjamin Buckingham, now the property of Heman Swift, Esq., of Cornwall; Peony, daughter of the same persons, born Oct. 6, 1791, the property of Heman Swift, Esq.
Gen. Heman Swift was Judge of Court of Common Pleas for Litchfield county. Served in the French and Indian wars and in the Revolutionary war, and was a personal friend of Washington ; died in 1814.
" On the 27th of January, in the year 1797, my wife took from my sister in Bennington, state of Vermont, a black girl three years old the April ensuing, named Omia; she is adopted as my child and entitled to the same freedom at the same age as my children are."
JOHN SEDGWICK.
JUDAH KELLOGG, EsQ., Town Clerk.
Received and recorded Oct. 5, A. D. 1801, by Judah Kellogg, town clerk.
The foregoing is a true copy of the record executed by Wil- liam Kellogg, town clerk.
Rev. Hezekiah Gold had two slaves, that were trusted and cared for as important members of the family. Traditions of the pleasant relations that existed between master and servant still survive.
I remember several old slaves in Goshen, where Old Chloe died in the poorhouse in 1831 at reputed age of 110 years, but ac- cording to more credible testimony, nearer 120 years. As children we often visited her, bearing some little present. Old Bill and old Phil attained advanced age, about 90 years.
Prince was a successful farmer. He began to feel social ostracism, and was disciplined by the church of which he was a member, because he would not attend church and sit in the negro pews, which both in the gallery and main floor were apart from the rest.
The oldest son of old Ben Powers went to Liberia, and be- came a successful merchant there. He revisited Goshen in modern times.
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HISTORY OF CORNWALL.
Old Sol, oldest son of old Phil Rowe, with whom I played in my boyhood, went to Litchfield, and enjoyed respect in that aristo- cratic town for his personal character and dignified appearance. Another descendant of Phil became a useful minister in the South. Old Phil amused the boys in reciting stories of suffering in slavery ; but generally they received kind treatment and in return rendered faithful service.
CEMETERIES.
The old cemetery near the road leading from Cornwall Centre to West Cornwall still remains neglected, though the selectmen have been directed by a vote of the town to enclose and protect it. Most of the bodies interred there have been removed.
The one near the village of Cornwall is well cared for by the fund of $1,000 left by the late J. C. Calhoun to the Cornwall Cemetery Association.
Mrs. Emily Sedgwick Welch has left a fund of $600 to the town to provide care for the Hollow cemeteries.
At the Cornwall reunion held at the lake Aug. 19, 1899, a temporary organization was formed to arrange for the permanent care of the cemeteries. Membership, $1.00 annually; T. S. Gold, president ; Victory C. Beers, vice-president ; Benjamin Sedgwick, secretary and treasurer. A call was issued for a meeting to make permanent organization, but there was no attendance.
In response to invitations sent out the president has received $18, which has been expended on the North Cornwall cemetery, and more is needed. The secretary has collected about the same amount, which still remains on hand. The cemetery south of Cornwall Bridge and the one south of Cornwall remain neglected. Nothing has been received from those sections of the town.
VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT.
The Cornwall Village Improvement Society was founded in 1899 through the active adoption of a suggestion of the pastor of the First Church by Hon. John Sedgwick, Chief Justice of the Superior Court in New York city. Mr. Sedgwick had recently bought and improved the Gold house on the north side of the
LIBRARY. 369
Green; and he drew up its constitution, but declined its presi- dency.
The Green had just been graded anew by subscription, in which O. G. Walbridge of Brooklyn, N. Y., Judge Sedgwick, Mr. J. E. Calhoun, and the Beers brothers were chief movers. The society proceeded to erect and maintain street lamps, grade walks, mow the lawns all over the village of Cornwall, and sometimes graded or repaired roads, cared for trees, etc., etc. It has a fund of five hun- dred dollars, the bequest of Deacon Silas C. Beers, and is sus- tained by a membership fee of one dollar yearly, and by private subscriptions, or the profit on entertainments given. Deacon Beers was its first president, and was succeeded, after his death, by Rev. E. C. Starr; Whiting J. Wilcox secretary and John E. Calhoun treasurer from its organization.
The West Cornwall Village Improvement Society, organized in 1903. William Oliver, president; D. L. Smith, secretary and treasurer.
LIBRARY.
The Cornwall Library Association was organized in the study of Rev. E. B. Sanford (historian of Connecticut), Oct. 2, 1869. It had already had a short informal existence. Its origin was chiefly due to Mrs. Harriet (Clark) Monson, who for twenty years served as librarian - until her death.
The late John C. Calhoun subscribed fifty dollars at its found- ing, and at his death in 1874 bequeathed to it a fund of two thousand dollars.
It had its location in various places in its early days, especially in the house of Samuel J. Gold, but soon became indebted to the late Frederick Kellogg, Esq., for quarters in his office, to which he built an addition for its accommodation.
The late Deacon Silas C. Beers bequeathed to its fund an additional five hundred dollars, subject to a life use.
A membership fee of three dollars entitles one to vote in its meetings, a yearly payment of one dollar opens the library to his use, and there are other arrangements for the young people and occasional patrons. The regular taxpayers number fifty or sixty. In this, less than a quarter of a century, a library of above three
3
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thousand volumes has been gathered, and about four hundred pamphlets: some four hundred devoted to history or biography, three hundred to works of reference and reports, nearly nine hundred to fiction, one hundred and fifty to travel, and the remaining four or five hundred to poetry, science, bound magazines, and miscellany. A comparison with the experience of other libraries shows that the reading of the Cornwall people is much less in the department of fiction than is usual as compared with other classes of books.
Within the last three or four years an attempt has been made, with unexpected success, to gather a historical collection, particu- larly of books and other writings by those who have been con- nected with Cornwall. Already very many are represented by complete sets of their productions, and others by some specimen, but there are not a few who have only promised, or of whose works nothing can yet be procured. Among this collection are, for ex- ample, books, pamphlets, or manuscripts by or about such natives of Cornwall as Prof. Ebenezer Porter, D.D., of Andover, Mass., Rev. Dr. William Jackson of Dorset, Vt., Major-General John Sedgwick, U. S. A., Rev. Messrs. John C. Hart, Dwight M. Pratt, Samuel Scoville, W. G. Fennell, and others, and Miss Celia A. Gardner, and Ernest Whitney. Residents of the place include General Swift, Deacon Clark, with his rhyming geography, Rev. Herman Daggett, with his American Reader, and a long list of others, besides various pastors with their printed sermons or more pretentious volumes. Many who spent part of their lives here, especially their youth, have contributed largely to this department of the library: General Ethan Allen, Rev. N. J. Burton, D.D., and pre-eminently the Andrews brothers, of whom President J. W. Andrews, D.D., LL.D., of Marietta, is represented by thirty numbers, and the other five taken together require yet more space. President T. D. Woolsey, D.D., LL.D., of Yale, has deserved his place in the collection by a residence of twenty summers; Rev. J. M. Ludlow, D.D., L.H.D., by writing his " King of Tyre " here; artist W. H. Moser by his more recent establishment in a home among us, and Rev. Lyman Beecher's sermon at the funeral of Obookiah must not be omitted.
The Cornwall Mission School is represented by addresses, letters, reports, biographies, and the like, by over twenty-five members or officers of the school, and relating to three or four
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THE BEERS BEQUEST.
times as many of them. Photographs and newspaper clippings, and many other memorials, not only of the school but of note- worthy persons and places, and of all the dwellings in the village of "South " Cornwall, are included in the collection; and yet there is doubtless much material lying in dusty attics or on un- used bookshelves that would be prized among these treasures gath- ered for those who follow us.
The Rev. E. C. Starr adds to the foregoing a request that I would "alter to suit myself." This will only be to commend the useful and successful work of Mr. Starr in improving this library by collecting from various sources much literary work of Cornwall that otherwise might be lost.
Miss Mary Whitney is the librarian.
Mr. Starr has commenced a collection of specimens illustrating the geology of Cornwall and vicinity, and desires to include other departments of natural history.
When the eyes of the people are opened to all the glories of creation in the mineral, vegetable, and animal world, country life will no longer be called dull and uninteresting, and education in common things in the district schools will take the place of ab- stract truths that are beyond the comprehension of childhood. The wonders of creation are as interesting to children as Aladdin's Lamp, and vastly more useful as a foundation for habits of ob- servation, a never-failing source of joy and benefit.
THE BEERS BEQUEST.
Menzies Beers, who came to Cornwall from Stratford in 1817, soon after attaining his majority, joined the First Church in January, 1821, among a score of others, of whom one was the Cherokee Steiner, another the future wife of the Cherokee Bou- dinot, a third the mother of two missionary teachers among the Cherokees. This was in the days of the Foreign Mission School, when Indian boys from Georgia were being schooled in it, and when the shoes made by the Beers brothers had been marketed in that state for a decade. From that date, probably, is to be reck- oned the family interest in missions. It was especially in defer- ence to the wish of their father that his sons purposed to give the property of the family to that object, and that the purpose was carried out by the will of their last survivor. Menzies Beers
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HISTORY OF CORNWALL.
married Laura, daughter of Captain John Pierce, who had all the frugality of that family, which was well known for the two seemingly inconsistent traits of careful saving and liberal giving. There were but two children, John Welles and Silas Curtis, neither of whom married. John W. was a manufacturer and merchant, representative, selectman, and for many years chorister, ever promptly at his post to lead the singing with a sweet tenor voice. Silas was farmer and merchant, deacon, judge of probate, town clerk, and treasurer. Menzies Beers died in March, 1888, John in December, 1889, Mrs. Beers in November, 1890, and Silas C. March 31, 1892. By his will, which was drawn up as had been agreed between him and his brother, besides personal legacies, five hundred dollars was given to the Cornwall Library Association, an equal amount to the Cornwall Village Improvement Society ; five thousand dollars to the First Ecclesiastical Society, fifteen thousand dollars, the buildings now occupied by the Cornwall school, and the land now used as their ball-ground, to trustees for the main- tenance of a school, and the rest of the estate to the American Board of Missions, American Missionary Association, and Ameri- can Home Missionary Society. These shared equally in the $126,405.79 which was left when a contest over the will was settled in 1895. Deacon Beers said in his last days that he did not bequeath money for a town hall because he intended to build it himself, a good purpose left unfulfilled by his somewhat sudden death. This large estate was the slow acquisition of a family of four in a small country village by careful saving for about seventy- five years. It was not unaccompanied by giving from first to last ; for many years a load of hay is said always to have been sent to the pastor; and he sometimes asked, in response to an appeal, " How much shall I give?" But above all, the secret of success with the family of " M. Beers & Sons " was care not to spend or waste, such a care as would enable many another family to give bountifully year by year, or " at the end of days."
WEST CORNWALL LIBRARY ASSOCIATION.
Established, 1900; membership, $1.00 annually; number of volumes, 500.
This is a choice selection of books suited to the demands of the community, and is worthy of general patronage.
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LIBRARY OF REV. HEZEKIAH GOLD.
LIBRARY OF REV. HEZEKIAH GOLD.
Catalogue of that part of the library of the Rev. Hezekiah Gold of Cornwall, and of his father, Rev. Hezekiah Gold of Stratford, which is now in possession of T. S. Gold :
The arrangement of list is according to the size of the volumes. Some are in good preservation, others have seen hard usage and have lost some leaves.
MANTON, Dr. Thomas. Died Oct. 18, 1677. Sermons upon the 119th Psalm. Folio, 1107 pages, with an index of 20 pages. Printed for Brabazon Aylmer at the Three Pigeons against the Royal Exchange in Cornhil.
MANTON, Dr. Thomas. 4th vol. of sermons. Preface signed Vin. Alsop, 1694. Folio, 1238 pages, followed by an alphabetical list of 12 pages.
WILLARD, Samuel, the reverend and learned late pastor of the South Church in Boston and vice-president of Harvard Col- lege in Cambridge in New England. A complete BODY of DI- VINITY in two hundred and fifty expository lectures on the As- sembly's Shorter Catechism. Folio, 915 pages. Boston in New England. Printed by B. Green and S. Kneeland for B. Eliot and D. Henchman and sold at their shops, 1726.
PHILLIPS, Edward, Gent., Compiler. The new WORLD of WORDS, or Universal English Dictionary, 6th Edition, by J. V. Philobibl. Folio (not paged, about 1,000 pages). London. Printed for J. Phillips at the King's Arms in St. Paul's Church- yard, H. Rhodes at the Star, the corner of Bride-Lane, in Fleet- Street, and J. Taylor at the Ship in St. Paul's Churchyard, 1706.
BAXTER, Richard. Catholic Theologie; Plain, Pure, Peaceable ; for PACIFICATION of the Dogmatical Word Warriours. Folio, 637 p. London. Printed by Robert White for Nevill Simmons at the Prince's Arms in St. Paul's Churchyard, 1675.
The books of the New Testament, according to the account of the Catholic Church. Title page and others of the first and last pages missing. Folio, 752 pages. Spelling would place it in early part of 17th century.
PEMBLE, William. Vindica gratia, A Plea for Grace. Folio, 590 pages. Bound in same volume, "A Brief Introduction to Geography," "An Essay de Sensibus Internis," in Latin, 48
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pages; "A Summe of Moral Philosophy," 49 pages. Oxford. Printed by William Hall for Joh: Adams, Edw: Forrest, and Joh : Forrest, 1658.
NEAL, Daniel. History of the Puritans, vol. 2d, 900 pages. Title page wanting. This book belonged to John Cornwall, 1786.
BARCLAY, Robert. An Apology for the True Christian Di- vinity, being an Explanation and Vindication of the Principles and Doctrines of the people called QUAKERS. The 7th edition in English. London. Dedicated to King Charles II. Printed by W. Richardson and S. Clark and sold by the booksellers of Lon- don and Westminster, 1765. 574 pages, Svo.
Berry Street Sermons. Faith and Practice represented in 54 sermons on the Principal Heads of the Christian Religion, Preached at Berry Street, London, by I. Watts, D.D., D. Neal, M.A., J. Guyse, D.D., S. Price, D. Jennings, D.D., J. Hubbard. London, 1757. 2 vols., 8vo.
Davies' Sermons, Rev. Samuel, A.M., late president of the college at Princeton, N. J. London, 2d ed., 1772. 2 vols., 8vo.
GOODWIN, Thomas. A Childe of Light walking in Darkness. 128 pages, 8vo. No date, but very old.
Confession of Faith. Dedication to the Right Honorable the Lord and Commons Assembled in Parliament. The Humble Ad- vice of the Assembly of Divines, now by authority of Parliament sitting at Westminster. Concerning a Confession of Faith. 8vo, 278 pages. Lacks title and preface ; old.
Sermons by various persons, and letters of Mrs. Gerrish.
Boston, 1736.
THE CORNWALL SCHOOL.
In 1848 the building known then as the Alger Institute was completed and occupied as a school. Its projector and principal was Rev. Edward Warren Andrews, who had been pastor of the " Broadway Tabernacle " church in New York. It was named after Charles Alger, a subscriber for the building. After a few years of marked success it was sold to Dr. Wait R. Griswold, who, not prospering, sold to Rev. Ira Pettibone. The latter carried on a successful school for several years, and then sold to Rev. LaFayette Dudley, who soon changed it into a summer board- ing house.
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POPULATION.
Later it was purchased by Mr. Beers and sons, who built a separate schoolhouse and rented the property to Rev. S. L. Frost. He conducted the school for some years under the title of the Housatonic Valley Institute. Mrs. C. H. Guiou followed, chang- ing the hitherto boys' school to a young ladies' seminary.
Deacon Beers left the property to trustees (at his death in 1892) for school purposes .* At that time it was under the management of Mrs. Storer. Miss May L. Phillips was em- ployed by the trustees during a contest of the Beers will, after which Messrs. McFarland and Arnold, and later Messrs. McGaw and Bragdon, carried it on as a boys' school again.
Recently extensive changes have been made, steam heat intro- duced, a large gymnasium constructed, and Rev. Allyn K. Foster, Th.M., A.M., with excellent assistants, has taken the property, filled all available space with pupils, and is giving a high standing to "The Cornwall School," for which an additional building has been erected.
POPULATION.
By the census of 1756 Cornwall had a population of 500. This rapidly increased each succeeding census until 1850, when it reached its maximum of 2,041. A regular decline since shows the number in 1900 to be 1,175. How is this to be accounted for? Up to the date of the highest population Cornwall lived on its own resources. It fed and clothed its own people, warmed and housed them, and had a surplus of products for market that supplied all outside necessities. These were salt and a few other groceries, and some silks and other dry goods, and expenses for education. We raised our own corn, wheat, oats, and rye, and made our own meal and flour, our own cloth, woolen and linen, our own leather, made our own boots and shoes, hats and gar- ments; our own shingles and lumber was sawed in our own sawmills ; our own cabinet-makers made our furniture, coopers our barrels and tubs, our forges made our own iron, and our black- smiths made all horseshoes and nails, door trimmings for houses and
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