History of Fairfield County, Connecticut : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 80

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) comp. cn
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1572

USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > History of Fairfield County, Connecticut : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 80

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The Rev. Hezekiah Gold, of Stratford, graduated at Harvard and labored in his native town more than thirty years.

Rev. Hezekiah Gold, of Cornwall, married Abigail Sherwood, of Fairfield, for his second wife. He was a farmer as well as minister, and it is reported "that he could lay more green rail-fence in a day than any of his parishioners." His eldest son, Thomas, gradu- ated at Yale, and was a lawyer at Pittsfield, Mass .; he acquired wealth and held an honorable position. His residence was the finest in the village. Here stood the old clock on the stairs, the subject of a poem written by H. W. Longfellow, a grandson-in- law of Mr. Gold.

Hon. Thomas R. Gold graduated from Yale in 1786; he stood at the head of the bar in Central New York. For about twenty years he represented New York in the Congress of the United States. He contributed largely to the North American Review.

Dr. Samuel W. Gold graduated at Williams Col- lege in 1814, and studied at Yale, where he in 1834 received the honorary degree of M.D. He practiced medicine from thirty to thirty-five years, and then re- turned to Cornwall and with his son, T. S. Gold, es- tablished Cream Hill Agricultural School, which was a success twenty-four years. He was State senator in 1847 and 1859, and Presidential elector in 1857.

T. S. Gold graduated at Yale in 1838, established the agricultural school with his father in 1845, and taught twenty-four years. He was chosen secretary of the State Board of Agriculture at its organization, in 1866.

Considering the whole family, Maj. Nathan Gold and his descendants, it is seen that from Fairfield have emanated a distinguished and honorable family, who have been devoted largely to public service, and have preserved an unsullied reputation.

Ellen Burr Gould married a Continental officer ; she was twenty-eight, he seventy-three. He dying, she married another much older than herself, and, he dy- ing, married another; so she had three Continental officers for husbands. She failed to secure a pension on account of remarrying, but Congress, through the intercession of Hon. Thomas Osborne (see "Colo- nial," 8), made a special act in her case, so that she secured her pension at last.

2. The Burr Mansion .- Tradition says that it was built about 1700 by Chief Justice Peter Burr, one of the earliest graduates from Harvard. He was chief

justice of Connecticut, and once lacked but a few votes of becoming its Governor.

The house stood somewhat back from the main street, on a slight eminence, beneath a canopy of elms, and, with its dormer windows, its projecting gables and ivy-covered wings, presented quite the appear- ance of a baronial structure, the effect of which was increased by its wide hall with its heavy oaken stair- case, or by its ancient chambers with their tiled fire- places and heavy oak panelings.

At the time of the Revolution, Thaddeus Burr, a grandson of Peter Burr, a gentleman of culture and ample cstate, owned it. He, like many of the colo- nial gentry, exercised a princely hospitality. The ancient chroniclers recorded with pride that General Washington, in his journeys to and from Boston, was his frequent guest. Franklin, Lafayette, Otis, Quincy, Watson, Governor Tryon, Dr. Dwight, and the poet Barlow are on the house's dead-roll of famous guests. There Trumbull and Copley dreamed and painted, the latter doing full-length portraits of his host and hostess, which are preserved in the family. Governor Hancock was married there; Madam Hancock died there ;* Aaron Burr passed many of his youthful days beneath its roof as the guest of his cousin, Thaddeus Burr, and is there buried with the illustrious dead.

Burr's family was of the " bluest" blood of New England, and had been seated in Fairfield for gene- rations. His father, the Rev. Aaron Burr, the famous Princeton scholar and divine, was a native of Fair- field. Judge Peter Burr, before mentioned, was his great-uncle ; Col. Andrew Burr, who led the Connec- ticut regiment in the brilliant attack on Louisburg in 1745, was a cousin, and his family for generations had filled the various offices of state, from deacon in the Puritan churches to magistrates and judges of the courts. Nor can one of those who believe in the ancient traditions of the village be made to admit that Burr was any other than a bitterly-persecuted man, who suffered the fate of those who came into the world a hundred years before their time. Here is recorded the dramatic incident of which the old mansion was the theatre :

"One sunny morning in April, 1775, as Thaddeus Burr, Gold Sellick Silliman, and Jonathan Sturgis, members of the town committee of war, were engaged in earnest coversation on the porch, a horseman, breathless with haste, dashed through the town, and threw himself from his steed almost at the feet of the three committee men, with an expiring effort to thrust towards them a packet covered with broad seals, and fell back ex- hausted upou the steps of the porch. Silliman broke the packet, and after a glance at its contents turned with flashing eye to the eager citi- zens who had gathercd. 'Friends,' said he, 'news from your king : hear it ;' and read :

* Her stone contains : "This stone was erccted by Thaddeus Burr and Eunice Burr to the memory of their dear friend, Mrs. Lydia Hancock, relict of the Honourable Thomas Hancock, Esq., and daughter of Dan- iel Hinchman, Esq., of Boston, whose remains lie here interred, having retired to this town from the calamities of War during the Blockade of her native city in 1775, just on her return to the re-enjoyment of an ample fortune. On April 15th, 1776, she was seized with the apoplexy, and closed a life of unaffected piety, universal benevolence, and exten- sive charity, aged 63."

321

FAIRFIELD.

"' WATERTOWN, WEDNESDAY MORNING, "' Near 10 of the Clock.

"'To ALL FRIENDS OF AMERICAN LIBERTY : Be it known that this morning before break of day a brigade, consisting of abont one thousand or two thousand men landed at Phipps' Farm, at Cambridge, and marched to Lexington, where they found a company of our colony militia in arms, upon whom they fired without provocation, and killed six men and woundod four others. By an express from Boston we find another brigade are now npon the march from Boston, supposed to be abont one thonsand. The bearer, Trail Bissell, is charged to alarm the country quito to Connecticut, and all persons are desired to furnish him with freshi horses as they may bo needed. I have spoken with several who have seen the dead and wounded.

"'J. PALMER, "' One of the Com. of S'y.'

" Before sunset the Fairfield train-band, nearly ono hundred strong, set out on its march to Boston."

To this mansion of historic fame, in May, 1775, came Miss Dorothy Quincy, daughter of Edmund Quincy, of Boston, who had moved for three years as the belle of the polite circles of that town, and who was now the affianced bride of Governor John Han- cock. A few weeks before, she had witnessed the battle of Lexington from her chamber-window, spir- itedly refusing to obey Governor Hancock's command to return to Boston. But, now that her native city had assumed the aspect of a beleaguered town, she had consented to pass the summer in Fairfield, be- neath the roof of her father's old friend, Thaddeus Burr, where she spent the stirring days of that event- ful summer in the ancient village, whiling away the time as best she might. She rode, she sang, she boated; she feasted with the young people at the beach; she flirted with the village youths; she wrote letters, some of which yet exist, to her friends; and every fortnight the lumbering mail-coach brought her a packet from Philadelphia addressed in the bold handwriting of John Hancock.

In the autumn the marriage of Governor Jolin Hancock, president of the Continental Congress, and Miss Dorothy, daughter of Edmund Quincy, of Bos- ton, occurred. Here were Governor Hancock, who accomplished such an act as led King George to set a price on his head; he rode up to the mansion-house, attended by a retinue of gentlemen, delegates, and others, returning to their homes, followed by a more glittering train, with prancing steeds and costly equipage, with coachmen and footmen in livery, and attended by gay cavaliers on horseback, the friends of the bride. There were Edmund Quincy and his friends of Boston, grave sober men and matrons of high degree, and gallant young cavaliers, attending the stately maidens, the companions of Miss Dorothy. Hartford and New Haven, which were then the seats of refined and cultured society, contributed to the train of worth and beauty; the Governor and his staff also honored the scene. There was a courtly throng, which might have graced a royal palace, and the costumes would have been presentable at the court of King George himself. The toilets were elaborate; the coiffures sprinkled with diamond-dust, the long-waisted gowns, the shimmer of silks and

satins, the ribbons, laces, and ruffles, the gems that sparked on wrists and bosoms, the glossy quenes, the plum-colored coats and velvet small- clothes, the white silk stockings, the elaborate ruffles at wrist and throats, added lustre to the occasion. Here the Rev. Andrew Eliot, revered by every one of Fairfield's sons, performed the ceremony. This was the last merry-making ever held within its walls. During the four years of war which followed it was the scene of many secret councils of the patriot leaders, and in the British descent on Fairfield in 1779 was burned by order of Governor Tryon .*

Edmund Quincy was eminent in public life, and became judge of the Supreme Court in 1718. Sulli- van pronounced John Hancock "one of the greatest men of his age." The honor which encircled his name received added lustre from his wife. She was a leader of taste and fashion in the best circles of society. Governor Hancock came to Fairfield for safety, and was in concealment with Samnel Adams. It was not deemed safe for Mr. Hancock to return, that the marriage might take place in Boston. While in concealment their meals were privately conveyed to them, and they were kept in strict seclusion.

After a time they were permitted to sit at the din- ner-table with the family, in expectation of a com- fortable repast. Before they had partaken of the tempting food a farmer came in, greatly excited, requesting the host to lend him his horse and chaise to go for his wife, as "the British were coming." This news dispersed the feasters. Adams and Han- cock were hurried away to their hiding-place, and Mrs. Hancock was wont to say it was always a matter of wonder to her what became of that dinner, for none who sat down to it ever tasted it. The alarm, however, was a false report, but there was a time when the enemy's balls reached the house that sheltered them. :

When her first child was two weeks old Mrs. Han- cock was conveyed on a bed with it to her carriage, to travel from Boston in the winter to Philadelphia, in company with her husband, then chosen president of the first Congress. She often spoke of his reluc- tance, from natural modesty, to accept the office. While he hesitated one of the members clasped him around the waist, lifted him from his feet, and placed him in the chair of state.t

At the burning of Fairfield, "Mrs. Burr, the wife of Thaddeus Burr, Esq., high sheriff of the county, resolved to continue in the mansion-house of the family and make an attempt to save it from the eon- flagration. The house stood at a sufficient distance from other buildings. Mrs. Burr was adorned with all the qualities which give distinction to her sex, possessed of fine accomplishments and a dignity of character scarcely rivaled, and probably had never

* Charles Burr Todd, in the " Burr Mansion," in the New York Evening Post, Jan. 7, 1879.

+ Mrs. Ellet's Queens of American Society.

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HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

known what it was to be treated with disrespect, or even with inattention. She made a personal appli- cation to Governor Tryon in terms which, from a lady of her high respectability, could hardly have failed of a satisfactory answer from any person who elaimed the title of a gentleman. The answer which she actu- ally received was, however, rude and brutal, and spoke the want not only of politeness and humanity, but even of vulgar civility. The house was sentenced to the flames, and was speedily set on fire. An attempt was made, in the mean time, by some of the soldiers, to rob her of a valuable watch, with rich furniture; for Governor Tryon refused to protect her as well as to preserve the house. The watch had been already conveyed out of their reach, but the house, filled with everything which contributes either to eomfort or to elegance of living, was laid in ashes.

" While the town was in flames a thunder-storm overspread the heavens just as the night came on. The conflagration of near two hundred houses illu- mined the earth, the skirts of the clouds, and the waves of the Sound with a union of gloom and gran- deur at once inexpressibly awful and magnificent. The sky speedily was hung with the deepest darkness wherever the clouds were not tinged by the melan- eholy lustre of the flames. At intervals the lightning blazed with a livid and terrible splendor. The thun- der rolled above. Beneath, the roaring of the fires filled up the intervals with a deep and hollow sound which seemed to be the protracted murmur of the thunder, reverberated from one end of heaven to the other. Add to this convulsion of the elements, and these dreadful effects of vindictive and wanton devas- tation, the trembling of the earth, the sharp sound of muskets occasionally discharged, the groans, here and there, of the wounded and dying, and the shouts of triumph; then place before your eyes crowds of the miserable sufferers, mingled with bodies of the militia, and from the neighboring hills taking a farewell pros- pect of their property and their dwellings, their hap- piness and their hopes, and you will form a just but imperfect picture of the burning of Fairfield. It needed no great effort of imagination to believe that the final day had arrived, and that, amid this funereal darkness, the morning would speedily dawn to which no night would ever succeed, the graves yield up their inhabitants, and the trial commence at which was to be finally settled the destiny of man." *

"There was also in Fairfield pleasant society. Thaddeus Burr, Esq., was a principal inhabitant and a man of wealth, especially before his large mansion was burned and his property devastated by the British, in July, 1779. He then converted a store or warehouse into a dwelling, and it was a neat and com- modious mansion. Mr. Burr was hospitable, and his wife was an accomplished lady. The place is mem-

orable, having been a favorite resort of Dr. Dwight, afterwards president of Yale College. He was then minister of Greenfield, and gave celebrity to that hill both by the splendor of his talents and pulpit elo- quenee and by the academy for the instruction of the youth of both sexes, which he established and con- ducted for a series of years with great success.

"Dr. Dwight generally rode down two or three miles on horseback on Saturday afternoon to pass those hours of relaxation and take tea with his friends, Mr. and Mrs. Burr. His conversation was equally entertaining and instructive,-a feast for both mind and heart."t

Jehue Burre was born in England about 1600, and died in Fairfield about 1670. He left four sons,- Jehu, John, Nathaniel, and Daniel.

Jehu married (1) Mary Ward, of Fairfield; (2) Esther, widow of Joseph Boosey, of Westchester, Conn. They had several children, of whom was Judge Peter Burr, who graduated from Harvard in 1690, having entered in 1686. He taught school in Boston for some years, then studied law, after which he settled in Fairfield to practice. In 1700 he com- menced his public eareer, which he continued till his death. He was several times auditor of the colony. He was also deputy for Fairfield, Speaker of the House, and justice of the peace in 1701; judge of Probate Court, 1723-24; judge of County Court, 1708- 24, except 1713; judge of the Superior Court, 1711- 16 ; chief judge of the Supreme Court, 1712, 1723-24. This last year (1724) he performed the duties of audi- tor, assistant judge of Probate, judge of County Court, and chief judge of the Superior Court. He was major of the Fourth Regiment. In 1702 he was on a com- mittee with Capt. Nathan Gold and others to " en- deavor to arrange an amicable agreement with the government of Rhode Island respecting the settle- ment. of the line between Connecticut and Rhode Island." He, withi Capts. Gold, Curtis, Wakeman, Judson, Olmsted, and Stiles, was elothed with full powers "to consult, advise, direct, and command in all things necessary for the defense of Her Majesty's subjects, and carrying on the war against the common enemy." (See Burr Genealogy.)

From the records, Peter Burr and Nathan Gold were two very prominent officers. It would require many pages to tell of the various public enterprises they had charge of or took important part in.

In private life Judge Peter Burr was universally beloved and respected. As a public man he exerted an influence for good in the colony not exceeded, and rarely equaled, by that of any of the fathers of the Commonwealth, and in ability, attainments, and pub- lic services he was eclipsed by none. He lies in Fair- field old burying-ground. This is the last tribute to his memory :

* Dr. Dwight's Travels, vol. iii. p. 512.

+ Life of Benj. Silliman, vol. i. p. 24.

323

FAIRFIELD.

" Here lyes interred ye Body of yc Honoblo Poter Burr, Esq', Aged 56 years and 9 months, who Departed this Lifo December tho 25th Anno 1724."

He left four children, among whom was Thaddeus, who married Abigail, daughter of Jonathan Sturges, of Fairfield. They left five children ; among them was Abigail, born in 1729. Her tombstone, in Fair- field old ground, contains :

" Here lics buried the Body of Mrs. Abigail Hall, Wife of Lyman Ilall, M. A., Daughter of Thaddeus Burr, Esq', dicd July 8, 1753, aged 24 years. Modest, yet free, with innocence adorned, To please and win by art and nature formod, Benevolent and wise, in virtuc firm, Constant in Friendship, in Religion warm, A partner tender, nnaffected, kind, A lovely form with a moro lovely mind,- The scene of life, tho' short, sho improved so well No charms in human forms could more excel. Christ's life her copy, Ilis puro life her guide, Each part she acted, perfected, and dy'd."

Lyman Hall was one of the signers of the Declara- tion of Independence, born in Connecticut in 1725, died in Georgia in 1790. He graduated at Yale in 1747, studied medieine, and removed, in 1752, to South Carolina, and the same year to Sunbury, Ga., where he engaged in the practice of his profession. At the opening of the Revolution he was influential in in- ducing Georgia to join the Confederacy. In 1775 he was chosen a member of Congress, and was re-elected annually till 1780. Georgia had in the mean time fallen under the power of the British, who confiscated all his property. He was elected Governor of Georgia in 1783, and served for one term; after which he re- tired from public life .*

Another of their children was Thaddeus, Jr. At the age of twenty he graduated from Yale with the degree of A.M., which also was conferred by the Col- lege of New Jersey. He married Eunice Dennie, and then spent ten years in scholarly and social pursuits and in the management of his large estates. His first part in public life was as deputy for Fairfield. He was also justice of the peace, and in 1779 was high sheriff of the county. In 1775 he was a member of the town committee of war. In 1788 he was a dele- gate, with Jonathan Sturges, from Fairfield to the State Convention at Hartford, called to ratify the new Constitution of the United States and steadily voted to adopt that instrument.

An original portrait of Thaddeus Burr, and also of his wife, by Copley, is owned by Mr. J. S. Burr, of Brooklyn. He (Thaddeus Burr) died in Fairfield in 1801, aged sixty-five, and lies among the "colonials;" his wife died in 1805, aged seventy-five. The stones are richly carved, but contain only the simple inscrip-

tion found over a person in far more common walks in life.

Another of Thaddeus and Abigail Sturges Burr's children was Gershom, born in 1744, who married Priscilla Lothrop, of Plymouth, Mass. Their son, Gershom, Jr., married (1) Susannah Young, of Strat- ford; (2) Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. Andrew Eliot, pastor of the Prime Ancient Church in Fairfield. They had nine children.

This Gershom Burr died in New York in 1828; he was a man of prominence in the State and was briga- dier-general of the militia from 1816 to 1824, when he resigned. Among his children are Jonathan Sturges Burr, born in Fairfield, but who went to New York City in 1825, when there was unwonted activity in commerce owing to the opening of the Erie Canal. Mr. Burr found employment as book-keeper with Hinton & Moore, ship-chandlers and dealers in paints and oils, which position he occupied for years, then began business on his own account. Subsequently he was a partner with two or three persons, and then his brothers Arthur, Frederick, and himself formed the firm Burr, Waterman & Co., in the manufacturing of patent blocks, which business became lucrative. Mr. J. S. Burr was head and senior member from 1844 to 1877, when he withdrew. In 1842 he removed to Williamsburgh, where he has been identified with the social, political, financial, and educational interests of the community, of which he has been a modest but conspicuous and influential member. He was elected to the Board of Finance, in which he served with ability and fidelity.

When the consolidation of Williamsburgh and Brooklyn occurred (in 1855) Mr. Burr was appointed a member of the Board of Education, of which he was one of the most useful men for twenty-three years. He is deeply interested in schools, and has devoted much time and energy to public service in this line.

When the Williamsburgh Savings-Bank was estab- lished, Mr. Burr was one of the original trustees. It now has a capital of nearly fourteen million dollars, and enjoys the confidence of its depositors. He is now, and has been for years past, one of the vice- presidents. When the Republican party was formed he was active in the councils of the local organiza- tions, and aided very much in the prosecution of their particular objects. He has also been treasurer in the Reformed Church for more than thirty years.

The following letter is from Mr. J. S. Burr, and ex- plains itself:

" 178 SOUTH 9th St., BROOKLYN, E. D. "Sept. 1, 1880.

"MRS. BURR PERRY :

"DEAR MADAM,-It gives me pleasure to comply with your request, and accordingly proceed to furnish yon with such recollections of affairs relating to the court and justicians of Fairfield as may come within the scope of your plan. I am prond to claim n birthright in whatever con- cerns tho good name and famo of the dear old town, county, and State with which all my earliest associations in life were formed, and the momory of which has added happiness to my riper years.

" It is known that the town of Fairfield was for a long while tho capi- tal, so to speak, of the county. In it was the court-house, where the

* Sco Appleton's Cyclopædia, vol. viii. p. 400.

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HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

judges of various grades dispensed the justice which is the bulwark of society.

"Judges Tappen Reeve, chief, with Mitchell and Edmonds, associates, formed, I believe, the high court in my earlier boyhood. On the days the court was to be in regular session it was the custom for the judges to meet in some place assigned, and the jurors in another, on opposite sides of the green, in the centre of which stood the court-house. On the hour for opening court the bell was well rung. Then presently the high sheriff, Mr. Ebenezer Dimon,* with his staff of office, issned forth fol- lowed by the judges. Direetly after came the jurymen, led by the town constable, Mr. Nathan Beers. As the procession entered the court-room the sheriff with clear and distinct voice announced the approach of the judicial dignitaties. Silence then fell on all; not a whisper was heard until the judges and jury had been duly seated. Judge Reeve then, leaning forward over the desk, with slow and measured speech, would say, ' Mr. Clerk, open this court.' That official-Col. David Burr, a portly bald-headed man of fine presence and commanding dignity-then addressed the sheriff: 'Mr. Sheriff, make proclamation ;' whereupon the sheriff discharged the duty in form and manner following: 'Oh yes! Oli yes! this Superior Court is now open. All persons having any eause or action pending will take duc notice thereof.' Then came the order from the bench : 'Mr. Clerk, call the jury.' That having been done, the parties to the immediate case in hand were summoued to answer, or the calendar was followed.

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History of Fairfield County, Connecticut : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 80

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) comp. cn Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co. Number of Pages: 1572

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) comp. cn
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1572