USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Danbury > History of Danbury, Conn., 1684-1896 > Part 4
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Such was the vicinity when Mr. Robbins, having delved for weeks into the mystery of the past, spread out the treasure under the sounding-board of the Congregational pulpit on that afternoon in January, 1801. He took for his text the fourteenth verse of the first chapter of Genesis : " And God said, Let there
REV. THOMAS ROBBINS.
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HISTORY OF DANBURY.
be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night ; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years."
THE SERMON.
" The original Indian name of this place was Pahquioque. The first settlement of this town was begun in the summer of the year 1684. The settlers came that year and began some im- provements, in buildings, sowing grain, and other things neces- sary. Some of the families moved here that summer, and con- tinued through the winter ; others did not move till the spring following. It may therefore be said that the first permanent set- tlement was made in the spring of the year 1685 by eight families. The names of the men were Thomas Taylor, Francis Bushnell, Thomas Barnum, John Hoyt, James Benedict, Samuel Benedict, James Beebe, and Judah Gregory. They lived near together, at the south end of Town Street, " beginning at the south end ; Tay- lor, Bushnell, Barnum, and Hoyt lived on the west side ; the two Benedicts, Beebe, and Gregory on the east. All except James Beebe came from Norwalk. He was from Stratford. They pur- chased their lands from the Indian proprietors. Mr. Taylor had seven sons, from whom all of that name now in town descended. Mr. Bushnell had a family of seven daughters, but no son. There have therefore been none of the name in this town since, only as it is still borne up in several Christian names. Mr. Barnum had five sons, from whom are the families of that name. Mr. Hoyt left six sons, who are the ancestors of the families of that name now living. Mr. James Benedict left three sons, from whom are a part of the Benedict families which survive, particularly those in which the Christian name James frequently occurs. His eldest son James was the first English male child born in town. The sons of Samuel Benedict were four. From them are those families of Benedicts in which the Christian name Samuel is often found. Soon after these first families settled here, Daniel Benedict, a brother of the other two of that name, came and became a settler. He was not one of the first, as has been sup- posed. He left but one son, Daniel.+ From him are the fam- ilies in which that Christian name is often found, of whom there
* Main Street.
+ Daniel Benedict, Jr., married Rebekah, daughter of Mr. Thomas Taylor.
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HISTORY OF DANBURY.
are as many families now in town as from either of the others. Mr. Beebe had two sons, James and Samuel. From his two sons sprang the families of Beebes now in town. The sons of Samuel moved to Litchfield, and afterward began the settlement of the town of Canaan. Mr. Gregory had two sons, from whom are the numerous families of that name.
" One of the first settlers after the first eight families was Dr. Samuel Wood, a regular-bred physician, born and educated in England. Able and skilful in his profession, he was very useful in the town for many years. From him are the families of that name now in town. Mr. Josiah Starr came to this town from Long Island, soon after its first settlement. He had six sons, from whom the many families of that name have descended. Joseph Mygatt, from Hartford, afterward married Elizabeth, daughter of Benjamin Starr, eldest son of Josiah, and settled in this town, from whom are the families of that name. The fam- ilies of Picket, Knapp, and Wildman are ancient families in the town, the latter of whom are now very numerous. Some of the grandsons of the original settlers are now living. Mr. David Taylor, of Weston, and Mr. David Benedict, of this town, are grandsons of Mr. Thomas Taylor. Mr. David Shove is a grand- son of Mr. Bushnell. Captain Comfort Hoyt, Thaddeus Bene- dict, Esq., Mr. Isaac Benedict, and Mr. Joseph Beebe, the two latter of Bethel, are grandsons of the first settlers Hoyt, the two Benedicts, and Beebe. Mr. Abel Barnum, who died about a year ago at New Fairfield, was the last grandson of the first settler Barnum. The last grandson of the first settler Gregory was Samuel Gregory, Esq., who has been dead about eighteen years.
" The first settlers having purchased their lands of the Indian owners, became proprietors of the town. The town was surveyed in February, 1693, by John Platt and Samuel Hayes, of Nor- walk. The survey bill declares the length to be eight miles from north to south, and the breadth six miles from east to west. At the session of the General Assembly in May, 1702, a patent was granted, giving town privileges to the inhabitants and proprietors of Danbury. The patentees named are James Beebe, Thomas Taylor, Samuel Benedict, James Benedict, John Hoyt, and Josiah Starr. In this act the boundaries were fixed according to the former survey.
" The first justice of the peace who was appointed was Mr.
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HISTORY OF DANBURY.
James Beebe. The first town clerk was Mr. Josiah Starr. For many years after this time there were Indians living in town, who held their lands separate from the English people by known bounds. It does not appear that they were ever troublesome ; but in the time of the wars, which were in the early part of the century, in which the French used great exertions to excite the enmity of the natives against the English settlements, it became necessary to provide some means of security. The house of Mr. Samuel Benedict, at the southeast corner of the street, and the house of Rev. Mr. Shove, on the eminence near where the two former meeting-houses stood, were placed in a posture of de- fence. When they were apprehensive of danger, all the families used to repair to these two houses, especially nights. But it does not appear that they ever had any serious alarm. In October, 1708, it was enacted by the General Assembly that gar- risons should be kept at Woodbury and Danbury, if the council of war should judge expedient. It thence follows that this was then a frontier town, but we have no account that any garrison was ever maintained here at public expense.
" The western part of the town, called Miry Brook, and the eastern part, which now composes part of the town of Brook- field, were settled within a few years after the centre. Many parts in the middle of the town, which are now very fertile and prolific, were considered by the early proprietors as not worth cultivation. Some of them, therefore, went from four to seven miles for land to raise their ordinary crops.
" One of the early inhabitants in this town was John Reed, a man of great talents and thoroughly skilled in the knowledge and practice of the law. He possessed naturally many peculiari- ties, and affected still more. He is known to this day, through the country, by many singular anecdotes and characteristics, under the appellation of 'John Reed the Lawyer.' The first representative from this town to the General Assembly was Mr. Thomas Taylor. He was for many years a useful man in the town, and died January, 1735, aged 92. He continued the long- est of any of the first settlers. The second justice of the peace was Mr. Josiah Starr. He held the office but a short period. He died January 4th, 1715, aged 57. The next to him in office was John Gregory, son of Judah Gregory, one of the first set- tlers. James Beebe, Jr., was successor in office to his father,
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HISTORY OF DANBURY.
who died April 22d, 1728, aged 87. It is noticeable that James Beebe, the father and the son, each bore the several offices of justice of the peace, captain of the militia, and deacon of the church. The father having commanded the military company of the town for many years (said to be thirty), on his resignation led them to the choice of a successor, which fell upon his son. The fifth justice of the peace was Thomas Benedict, son of James Benedict, a first settler. Samuel Gregory, son of John Gregory, the former justice, was next appointed to that office. The next to him was Comfort Starr, youngest son of Josiah Starr, Esq. These seven justices of the peace are all that have been in town prior to those now living." It is worthy of remark that in five instances that office has been sustained by father and son. The town clerks have been in succession : Josiah Starr, Israel Curtis, Thomas Benedict, Thaddeus Benedict, Major Taylor, and Eli Mygatt. The Probate District of Danbury was established by act of Assembly, October, 1744. It then contained the towns of Newtown, Ridgefield, New Fairfield, and Danbury. Reading and Brookfield have since been added. Before that time this town belonged to the district of Fairfield. The first judge was Thomas Benedict, Esq. He held the office until his death in 1775. The present judget was then appointed.
"Comfort Starr, Esq., who died May 11th, 1763, in the fifty- seventh year of his age, left to the town a donation of £800 law- ful money for the support of a perpetual school in the centre of the town, to be under the direction of the civil authority and selectmen ; the instructor to be capable of teaching reading, writing, arithmetic, and the Latin and Greek languages. In the general wreck of paper currency during the Revolutionary War, the fund depreciated to the sum of £488 12s. 9d., which now remains. In April this school was converted into a 'School of Higher Order,' agreeably to an act of Assembly passed May, 1798.
" At an early period in the town, of which the year cannot
* Those who have been appointed to the office of justice of the peace since those above mentioned are Hon. Joseph P. Cooke, Daniel Taylor, Thaddeus Benedict, Samuel Taylor, Eli Mygatt, Thomas Taylor, James Clark, Elisha Whittlesey, Tim- othy Taylor, and Thomas Taylor, Jr. Daniel and Samuel Taylor are since dead, and Thaddeus Benedict is not now in office. The remaining seven are. [Note to Mr. Robbins's edition.]
+ Hon. Joseph P. Cooke.
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HISTORY OF DANBURY.
now be ascertained, a malignant nervous fever prevailed, by which numbers of the inhabitants died. Aside from that there never was any prevalent epidemic in the town till the year 1775. In that year a dysentery raged with great fury in all parts of the town. The number of deaths in the town during the year was about one hundred and thirty, of which eighty-two were within the limits of the first society. Says Mr. Baldwin, in his Thanksgiving sermon of that year : 'No less than sixty-two have been swept away from within the limits of the society in less than eleven weeks, the summer past, and not far from fifty in other parts of the town. Much the greater part of this num- ber were small children. A terrible blow to the rising genera- tion ! ' A remarkable fact occurred that year. A military com- pany of about one hundred men was raised in town and ordered to the northern army on Lake Champlain. When they went it was viewed by their friends as next to a final departure. At the conclusion of the campaign they all returned safely, and found that great numbers of their friends at home had sank in death. The disorder subsided before their return .*
"The town was again visited with the same disorder in the year 1777, but it was far less malignant and mortal than before. In the autumn of the year 1789 the influenza spread throughout the country. This town was visited in common with others ; few persons escaped the disorder, yet in very few instances was it mortal. In the following spring, 1790, the same disease again spread abroad ; it was less universal and much more severe than before. Many of the persons died of it in this and most of the towns through the country. In the years 1793 and 1794 the scarlet fever spread considerably, but was not mortal but in a few instances. The small-pox has never been but little in this town, and there are now few or no towns in the State where a less population of the inhabitants have had that disorder than in this.
" In the latter part of the year 1776 the commissioners of the American army chose this town for a deposit of a quantity of military stores. Large quantities of flour, meat, and various kinds of military stores were collected and deposited here. In April, 1777, Governor Tryon, of blazing memory, set out from
* A strong evidence that the disorder was not brought from the army, as was generally imagined.
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HISTORY OF DANBURY.
New York with a detachment of two thousand men, for the pur- pose of destroying the Continental stores in this town. They landed at Compo Point, in the town of Fairfield, and marched, without interruption, directly to Danbury. There was in the town a small number of Continental troops, but without arms. They with the inhabitants generally withdrew from the town as the enemy approached. The enemy entered the town on Satur- day, April 26th, at about three o'clock in the afternoon. They soon began those cruelties and excesses which characterize an unprincipled and exasperated enemy. Several persons were in- humanly murdered. One very valuable house, with four persons in it, was burnt immediately. The utmost inhumanity was com- mitted upon all except the persons and property of the Tories. The next morning, before the king of day had arisen, the un- happy inhabitants who remained in the town saw the darkness of night suddenly dispelled by the awful blaze of their dwell- ings. The enemy, fearful of their retreat being cut off, rallied early on the morning of the 27th, set fire to the several stores and buildings, and immediately marched out of town. Nineteen dwellings, the meeting-house of the New Danbury Society, and twenty-two stores and barns, with all their contents, were con- sumed. The quantity of Continental stores which were con- sumed cannot now be accurately ascertained ; accounts vary con- siderably. From the best information which can be obtained there were about 3000 barrels of pork, more than 1000 barrels of flour, several hundred barrels of beef, 1600 tents, 2000 bushels of grain, besides many other valuable articles, such as rum, wine, rice, army carriages, etc .* The private losses were estimated by a committee appointed for the purpose, £16,184 17s. 10d.
" Generals Wooster, Arnold, and Silliman immediately collect- ed such a party of inhabitants as they were able, and effectively annoyed the enemy on their retreat to their shipping. A spirited action was fought at Ridgefield the same day they left this town, in which Major-General Wooster received a mortal wound. He was brought to this town, died on the 29th, and was interred in the common burying-place. Congress resolved that a monument should be erected to his memory, and made the necessary grant. The charge was committed to his son, who has never fulfilled it.
* Dr. Robbins's account of the losses in this town is certainly far short of the truth
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HISTORY OF DANBURY.
His grave still remains, and probably ever will, without a stone to tell posterity where he lies. Notwithstanding the public loss of this town, it was still used as a deposit for Continental stores through the war. A guard for security was maintained the whole period. A great hospital was also kept in this town from March, 1777, till the termination of the war, in which great numbers died. In the autumn of 1778 a division of the army, consisting of four brigades, under the command of General Gates, was quartered in this town for a few weeks. Small detachments of the army were here occasionally afterward.
"The people of this town were united in one society till the year 1754. At that time a part of the town, with a part of the towns of New Milford and Newtown, were incorporated a society by the name of Newbury. The society of Bethel, which is wholly in this town, was incorporated by act of Assembly, 1759. In May, 1761, a small part of the town, with a part of the town of Ridgefield, was incorporated a society by the name of Ridgebury.
" A public library was established in this town in the year 1771, which afterward consisted of about one hundred volumes. In the conflagration of the town the books, except a few which were out, were consumed. It remained in such a mutilated state till March, 1795, when it was dispersed. In January, 1793, a num- ber of inhabitants formed and signed a constitution for a library company ; $1.75 was paid on each share, and laid out for the purchase of books. An annual tax, generally of half a dollar upon a share, has been regularly applied for the purchase of books judiciously chosen. The library now contains two hun- dred volumes. Should the same care in enlarging and preserv- ing it continue, it promises to be a respectable and useful collec- tion. A library was founded at Bethel about the year 1793, which now contains one hundred volumes and is increasing.
"By an act of the General Assembly, passed in May, 1784, this town was made a half-shire of the county of Fairfield. From that time to this the courts have met alternately in Fair- field and Danbury. A court-house and jail were built in the town, with some assistance from the neighboring towns, the year following-the sum of £318 was raised by a tax, the remainder by subscription. In the year 1791 the first jail was consumed by fire, after which a second one was built, more valuable and secure. The expense was defrayed by the product of a lottery.
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HISTORY OF DANBURY.
" A census of this State was taken in the year 1756. We know of no earlier enumeration of the inhabitants having been made. At that time the whole number was 130,611 ; the num- ber in Fairfield county was 20,560 ; the number in this town was 1527. Another census was taken in January, 1774. The State then contained 197,856 inhabitants ; the county of Fairfield, 30,150 ; the town of Danbury, 2526. By the census of 1790 the population of the State was 237,946; the number in Fairfield County was 36,230 ; in this town it was 3026. This was after the town was diminished by the society of Newbury being incor- porated a town. In the census of the year past, returns from the whole State have not been made ; the county of Fairfield is found to contain 38,160, and the town of Danbury 3274 inhab- itants. The number of towns in the State in 1756 was 73, in 1774 it was 76, in 1790 it was 98, in 1800 it was 106.
" A printing-office was established in this town in March, 1790. A weekly news print has been regularly published from that time to this on demi paper ; it has generally been, as it is at present, respectable for good principles and information. The number of papers issued at first were but one hundred ; there have been as many as two thousand ; the usual number has been about one thousand. In June, 1793, a second paper was pub- lished in town, which continued several months.
RUSSELL HOYT.
SAML. WILDMAN.
MAJ. SETH COMSTOCK.
OLIVER BURR.
NIRAM WILDMAN.
AMOS MORRIS.
COL. PRESTON GREGORY.
MAJ. WM. B. HOYT.
CHAPTER V.
THE SERMON (CONTINUED).
" WE now proceed to relate, in a concise manner, a sketch of the ecclesiastical history of the town. The time when a church was first organized in town cannot be exactly determined ; it was probably at the ordination of the first minister. The first minister in this town was Rev. Mr. Shove, a very pious and worthy man, who was very successful in his exertions for the promotion of peace, virtue, and true religion, so that the general peace and union in his time are proverbial at this day. He was ordained in the year 1696, and died October 3d, 1735, aged 68. The town was destitute of a settled minister but a short time. In a few months the church and people, in great harmony, in- vited Mr. Ebenezer White to settle with them in the ministry. He was accordingly ordained March 10th, 1736 .* Universal har- mony prevailed between the people and their minister for more than twenty-five years. The people of the town were considered by all the neighboring towns as eminent for morality and relig- ion, for regularity of conduct, and for constant attendance on the institution of Christianity, though it is to be lamented that there has never been any special revival of religion in this town from the first settlement. In the great awakening which spread through the land in the years 1740 and 1741, which was probably the most signal effusion of divine grace this country has ever experienced, this town was mostly passed over. In the great revival of religion in two years past, in the northern part of this State and many other places, which is doubtless the greatest display of divine grace, excepting the one before mentioned, which has taken place in this country the past century, this and the neighboring towns seem to have possessed no share. These considerations call for serious contemplation and humility.
" It is supposed, on good grounds, that the first meeting-house
* The records of the Eastern Consociation of Fairfield County.
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HISTORY OF DANBURY.
was built prior to Mr. Shove's ordination. Its dimensions were about forty feet in length and thirty feet in breadth. It is re- markable that after the frame was raised every person that belonged to the town was present and sat on the sills at once. The second meeting-house was built about the year 1719. Its dimensions were fifty feet in length and thirty-five feet in breadth. In 1745 an addition of fifteen feet was made to the whole front of the house.
" About the year 1762 religious controversy began in this town, and was carried to a great extent for many years. It is pre- sumed that in no town in this State has there been more religious contention than in this. It is hoped that the flame is now mostly buried, never to break forth again. At the time above mentioned, Mr. White having altered his sentiments and preach- ing in several particulars, some uneasiness arose among his peo- ple. The efforts of several ecclesiastical councils to heal the division proving ineffectual, it finally issued the dismission of Mr. White from his pastoral charge, March, 1764. A major part of the members of Mr. White's church joined with him in deny . ing the jurisdiction of ecclesiastical councils, and renouncing the form of church government established by the churches in this State. The remaining part, who signified their adherence to the ecclesiastical government, were established and acknowledged by the two consociations of Fairfield County, convened in coun- cil, as the first church in Danbury. Soon after this Mr. White and his adherents separated from the church and society, and formed a separate church. They were generally denominated 'Mr. White's adherents.' In October, 1770, a number of the inhabitants of the town, individually named in the act, princi- pally those who composed this separate church, were incorpo- rated a society by the name of 'New Danbury.' Prior to this they built a good meeting-house-its dimensions about fifty feet by forty-in the year 1768, which was consumed in the general conflagration of the town. In the same year Mr. Ebenezer White was ordained a colleague with his father over that church.
" In the year 1764 Mr. Robert Sandeman, a native of Perth, in Scotland, a man of learning, of great genius and art, and according to his views of divine truth, a man of strict piety, who had had some correspondence with Mr. White and some other minister in this country, came from Scotland and landed at
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HISTORY OF DANBURY.
Boston. He came to this town near the close of the year 1764. After tarrying several weeks he returned to Boston, where he soon organized a church. He came again to this town and gath- ered a church, July, 1765 ; he died and was buried in this town, April 2d, 1771, aged 53. The principal doctrines which he taught were similar to those of Calvin and Athanasius, which have been received in all ages of the Christian Church. His dis- tinguishing tenets were that faith is a mere intellectual belief ; his favorite expression was, ' A bare belief of the truth.' 'That the bare work of Jesus Christ, without a deed or thought on the part of man, is sufficient to present the chief of sinners spotless before God.' He maintained that his church was the only true church then arisen from the ruins of Antichrist, his reign being near to a close. The use of means for mankind in a natural state he pretty much exploded. In the year 1772, the Sande- manian church in this town moved to New Haven. In July, 1774, several persons who had been members of that church, together with a number that belonged to the society of New Danbury, united and formed a Sandemanian church. That con- tinued and increased for many years, till March, 1798, when they divided into two churches, which still continue. There are also a few individuals at Bethel who compose a third church ; they all adhere, essentially, to the doctrines and practices which were established by their founder.
" The society of New Danbury continued regularly, though constantly diminishing, till July, 1774, when the Rev. Ebenezer Russell White with a number of the society united with the Sandemanians. Public worship was maintained irregularly afterward for two or three years, till the society finally expired.
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