History of Litchfield county, Connecticut, Part 113

Author: J.W. Lewis & Company (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1532

USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > History of Litchfield county, Connecticut > Part 113

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

"June 9, 1762 .- Voted, To lay forty acres oo a right hy pitching."

Since that time they have passed several votes giv- ing right to make further pitches :

" Dec. 18, 1754 .- Voted, We lay a tax or rate on the forty-uine rights purchased, of eight pounds a right, to be paid in bills of credit of the old tenor, to defray expenses, &c.

" May 21, 1755 .- Voted, To lay a rate or tax of £9 ou each of the 49 rights, &c., payable in billa of credit of the old tenor.

" Nov. 29, 1757 .- Voted, Our Committee for laying land, &c., shall be allowed 38. 6d. a day, chain men 2s. Gd., and work on the road from 1 May to 1 Octr, 28. 3d. a day. That we will lay out 150 daye' work on the road the coming season.

"Feb. 22, 1757 .- Voted, To appropriate a piece of ground for the burial of the dead, being the same now used for that purpose, about half a mile North of the Centre.

" Voted, To give the mill privilege, about a quarter of a mile North of the centre Meeting-Ilunse, and a certain number of acres of land to the person who would build a grist-mill and have the same ready for Grind- ing by the first day of Septr next, and keep said mill in good repair."

Joshua Whitney accepted the offer, and began to build, but it was not completed for some time, and was finished by Abel Phelps about 1760.

" May 2, 1759 .- Voted, To give 8 acres of land to the person or per- sons who would build an 1rou work a few rods North of the grist-mill, and have it ready to make Iron within four years."

Daniel Lawrence, Jr., Thomas Day, and Samuel Ransom accepted the offer, and began to build, but the works were not completed until 1766.

THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION,

The sympathies of the people here were from the first strongly with the patriots, and against the Ministerial usurpations, and June 30, 1774, the town ratified hy vote the resolves passed by the representatives of the colony at Hartford the previous May. At the same time they voted to send relief to their " poor and dis- tressed brethren at Boston," which was then under blockade. September 30th a rate of one half-penny on the pound was laid to procure a town stock of powder, and on December 26th they accepted with equal readiness the articles of agreement passed by Congress the previous September, and voted to abide by them, "not one appearing in the negative." These resolves were chiefly to abstain from importing any articles from Great Britain, or exporting to them, to discontinue the slave trade, and to encourage in

general frugality, economy, and industry. Promi- nent among the items was the agreement to abstain from that execrable herb, English tea, on which a duty had been paid. A committee of faithful men were charged by the town with the duty of seeing that the resolves were not broken.

When the English fired the first shot of the war at Lexington, in April, 1775, the militia all through New England started for the scene, and remote Norfolk was not behind the rest,-Capt. Timothy Gaylord with twenty-four men started for Boston. They were needed but a short time, and were soon sent home. These vol- unteer efforts, before the army was organized, showed the temper of the people. One other deserves men- tion : everybody has heard of Col. Ethan Allen's famous surprise and capture of Ticonderoga and Crown Point,-" in the name of the Lord Jehovah and of the Continental Congress,"-but not all are aware that that expedition was originated by Con- neetieut men at Hartford, most of whom were in the Legislature, and still fewer know that Norfolk was represented in it, not indeed by a man, but by a horse. Capt. Edward Mott, of Preston, was sent with sixteen men from Hartford to take these forts, and ordered to gather more among Warner's men in Berkshire, and among the "Green Mountain Boys" under Allen at Bennington. Of course speed was essential to insure success. Norfolk was directly in their path to Berkshire, and when they reached the town one of their horses gave out, and Mott applied to your selectmen for an- other. Samuel Knapp, grandfather to the present justice of the peace, was the prompt and patriotic man who complied with their request. His horse was loaned, being first appraised at sixteen pounds ten shillings, Mott paying fifteen shillings cash down. On the return of the animal, a few weeks later, bear- ing ample evidence of having been to war, the ap- praisers judged that the owner ought to receive five pounds, "the horse being so much damnified." The bill was sent into the colony treasurer, with the fifteen shillings honestly deducted, and was promptly paid. Knapp's receipt for four pounds five shillings is still extant at Hartford.

But more extensive war measures were now on foot. While Washington was investing Boston, after the battle of Bunker Hill, an expedition to Canada was also planned, and placed under Gens. Schuyler and Montgomery. To this Connecticut sent two regi- ments, and one of them, under Col. Hinman, was recruited from this part of the State, in which the first regular Norfolk soldiers were enlisted, in May, 1775, for seven months. Their captain was Jolin Watson, of Canaan. We have the names of at least twenty of his company who were from this town, and there were probably more. They participated in the siege of St. John's, and in a variety of other ac- tions. Three of them were with Ethan Allen in his brave, though irregular and foolhardy, attempt to take Montreal by surprise, September 25th of that

470

HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

year, and were taken prisoners with him. Their names were Peter Noble, Ebenezer Mack, and Levi Barnum.

Peter Noble was a sharer of Ethan Allan's priva- tions. They were kept in irons during much of their captivity, and experienced constant indignity and insult from those who had the care of them. They were shipped from Quebec to England, and thence to Ireland, and were kept there some time, being con- stantly threatened with hanging. They were finally sent back to this country as prisoners of war, in a fleet which anchored in Cape Fear Harbor, North Carolina. Noble, either by nature or by association with Allen, was a plucky fellow, and embraced his first chance to escape from his vessel, the "Sphynx," while at anchor, and, by what Allen describes as " ex- traordinary swimming," reached the shore in safety, and thence made his way home as best he might, and was probably the first to give information concern- ing the harsh treatment received by the prisoners. Through his affidavit, Daniel Mack, father of Ebene- zer Mack, above mentioned, was enabled to draw his son's back pay ; and on learning, at a later time, that the latter was still a prisoner at New York, sent him on a portion of the money, by the aid of which he made his escape and reached home in safety, after fourteen months' imprisonment.

Meantime, the Canada campaign was vigorously prosecuted ; but the difficulties were great, the troops poorly disciplined and ill fed, suffering much from smallpox and dysentery, and many a Norfolk boy in this first campaign lost his health or his life from these causes. Montreal was taken, but the attack on Quebec, late in December, failed, and the gallant Montgomery's death sent a thrill of discouragement through the land. The British troops in Canada, however, were few, and early in 1776 the work was pushed again, in order to reduce the province before reinforcements could arrive from England. The Norfolk men had been discharged, with the other Connecticut troops, when their time was out, in December, but their ardor was not cooled. A new regiment was enlisted in this part of the State, to serve in Canada for a year from Feb. 1, 1776, of which Charles Burrall and Nathaniel Buel, of Salisbury, were made colonel and lieutenant-colonel, and John Sedgwick, of North Cornwall, major. Titus Watson, of Norfolk, who had been lieutenant the previous year, was made captain, and gathered a company largely composed of Norfolk men, and many of them his old comrades. This was a large contribution for the town to make, and, crowning the whole, Mr. Robbins was given up to become chaplain for the regiment. He was earn- estly patriotic, but the controlling motive which led him to go was his desire to advance the moral and spiritual interests of the men while exposed to the demoralizing influences of the war. His diary dur- ing the campaign, which has been published, reveals this very clearly. His work among the sick and

wounded, his manner of alluding to the preaching services he held, his sadness at the numerous excesses that passed before his eyes, his discouragement at see- ing petty rivalries and animosities among the officers, burdened his mind quite as much as his anxiety for the result of the conflict. He was not at all a " fight- ing chaplain,"-indeed, some of his contemporaries appear to have considered him somewhat deficient in the strictly soldierly qualities,-but he was faithful to his duties so long as be continued in the service, and was respected among his brother officers. Lieut .- Col. Buel was a specially intimate friend, and they tented together much of the time.

This campaign was a disastrous failure, and entailed unusual hardship, as well as discouragement, on the soldiers. This regiment suffered greatly from small- pox, camp fever, bad generalship, and poor accommo- dations on their way to the front. When they reached Dechambalt, within forty miles of Quebec, the arrival of the English fleet with reinforcements turned the whole army back on the 7th of May, and the utmost that could be done was to cover the retreat so that it would not become a rout. This disorderly falling back of a dispirited and sickly army increased the hardships of all. They withdrew from point to point, making a stand occasionally and skirmishing with the enemy, but were finally obliged to retire up Lake Champlain, and were defeated in two naval actions in the autumn, and were barely left with force enough to hold Ticonderoga and Crown Point during the winter. The Norfolk men suffered greatly during these events, and Chaplain Robbins, utterly unused to such hardships, was soon worn out, and was obliged to return home twice during the summer to recruit his strength. On his second furlough, about August 1st, he wrote as follows, which indicates at once his patriotism and his piety :

"I am peculiarly unfitted for the duties of a chaplain on account of my bilious constitution. I envy Mr. Avery (a brother chaplain) his health. He will go through the hospital, when pestiferous as disease and death can make it, with a face as smooth as a baby's, and afterward an appetite as healthy as a wood-chopper. I cannot. After inhaling such diseased breath am sick and faint; besides, their sorrows take hold of me. I would not shrink from the work. Our war is a righteous war ; our men are called to defend their country ; whole congregations turn out, and the ministers of the gospel should go and encourage them when doing duty, attend and pray for and with them when sick, and bury them when they die. I hope to return to my work."

He did so, but soon gave out again, and was dis- charged November 1st, as being unable to continue. The following spring a radical change took place in the conduct of the war. No more short enlistments were made, but the Continental line was organized, for which each State was required to furnish a certain quota, and they were enlisted for three years or the war, bounties being offered by Congress, and often by the States also. Upwards of thirty enlisted for that term from Norfolk in the early part of 1777, and a large share of them were in the regiment of Col. Heman Swift, of South Cornwall, and served under Washington in the battles of the next three years, in

471

NORFOLK.

· the vicinity of New York and New Jersey. Norfolk's number for the Continental line was kept up till the close of the war. But besides these there were oc- casions of special alarm, when the militia were called ont and served for short terms, as in the burning of Danbury, and especially when Burgoyne marched from Canada and sent terror into New England by re- taking Ticonderoga and Crown Point, in July, 1777. The plan was to sever New England from the rest of the country by a march down the valley of the Hud- son, to form a junction with Gen. Clinton from New York. Litchfield County, being so near the line of march, was thoroughly roused, and Norfolk sent her militia along with the rest, who were present at the famous surrender of Burgoyne's army at Saratoga in October. More traditions now remain in the town concerning that battle and its consequences than con- cerning any other during the war. A portion of the surrendered army passed through here on their way to Hartford, and were encamped for a time on the green. There were among them both English and Hessians. It is said that Mr. Robbins and other citi- zens gave the soldiers liberty to sleep in their barns. Two Hessians remained behind when the rest left. One was sick, and was kindly cared for by a good mother in Israel, Mrs. Michael Mills, until he died. The other married and settled here.

After this battle New England was at quite a re- move from the scene of active operations, and Nor- folk's soldiers were at a distance from home until peace was concluded. The sending of soldiers, how- ever, was not the only contribution of the town to the war. Besides all the indirect privations of hard times, heavy taxation, and an irredeemable currency, the home department of the service was not a slight one. A special committee was appointed to take care of the families of the three years' men, and, moreover, individuals made great sacrifices in bringing home and caring for their sick and wounded relatives. The work of keeping their quota full was not easy, and required constant attention from the town officers. During the winter of 1777-78, Washington's army, in camp at Valley Forge, was in distress for sufficient clothing, and Col. Heman Swift wrote to the towns of Kent, Sharon, Canaan, Cornwall. Norfolk, and Goshen, from which his regiment was recruited, asking for help for the men at once. Norfolk moved promptly, and gathered a quantity of woolen clothing, as fol- lows : 32 pairs overalls, 32 pairs shoes, 59 pairs stock- ings, 35 pairs mittens, 32 tlannel shirts, 2 frocks. The whole were valued by the government at £162 68. 9d., and were sent on at once to the great relief of the sol- diers.

The furnace at Salisbury furnished the government with cannon and ball and other army supplies, the transportation of which often gave employment to the townspeople. Nine Norfolk men, with their teams, were engaged in the autumn of 1776 in carry- ing cannon and ball from Salisbury to Hartford. In

1781 the town, according to an order from the Legis- lature, gathered a quantity of commissary stores for the army, and deposited them at a convenient place for safe-keeping. The next year it was found that for some reason these provisions were damaged in keeping, and the loss was estimated at fifty pounds. A heavier loss than this, however, was occasioned in 1777-78, when the camp fever, now called dysentery, became prevalent and carried many to the grave. The number of burials in town-recorded by Mr. Rob- bins-for 1777 is 56, for 1778 is 37, against 12 in 1776 (besides 8 in the army) and 9 in 1775, while there were but 6 in 1779 and 9 in 1780 .* Verily those years, which were called the midnight of the Revolu- tion, were also years of domestic darkness at your fathers' firesides.

Of individual prominent men in the home depart- ment of the Revolutionary service, Col. Giles Petti- bone deserves mention, who was the leading spirit in carrying out all the measures required. He held ser- eral offices in town during the whole eight years, and was put upon most of the committees raised upon matters pertaining to the war, besides serving as rep- resentative at four sessions of the Legislature. He was also himself at different times in the service at the front. He is mentioned only as captain, and finally major, during the Revolution; his title of colonel would therefore seem to have been obtained at a later period as an officer of the militia.

Jacob Spaulding, the ancestor of the present Spaul- ding families here, did perhaps more still. "Ile had himself been in the French war, and was present at the taking of Quebec by Gen. Wolfe. His two sons, Isaac and Daniel, his only children, were Revolution- ary soldiers; but, not content with that, he hired a man at eight dollars per month all through the war, and took care of his wife and two children. He onee collected one hundred and twenty cattle and took them to the army, five of which were his own con- tribution. His house was also a retreat for sick and wounded soldiers ; thirty were sent to him on one or- casion to be kept for the winter, and were so well cared for that twenty-eight went back to the army in the spring." Such was the spirit of the town in the Revolution.

A complete list of the Revolutionary soldiers of the town it is impossible to prepare at this distant day, yet one hundred and twelve names have been found of those who are known to have been in the service, though this includes some who served for short terms as militia only. The pay-rolls have in some cases been lost, and it is particularly regretted that that of Capt. Titus Watson's company, who went with Mr.

* Dr. Roys, in his history, atates that 66 wore swept off by the camp die- temper in 1777, and 38 by the same disorder in 1778. An these figures correspond almost exactly with the whole number whom Mir. Robbina buried in those years, Dr. Roya would appear to have fallen into errur. for it Is next to Impossible that every death in town for two years should have been caused by dysentory.

472

HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

Robbins to Canada in 1776, has not beeu found. After the return of the first three years' men in 1780, the town sent, at the requisition of the colony, thirty- one additional men in the Counecticut Line, besides at least fifteen as militia for a short time. The names of these have not been found, and many of those who previously enlisted are unknown. It is safe to infer, therefore, after making all due allowances for re-en- listments, that the town furnished one hundred and fifty men for the service. Now the population of the town in 1774 was nine hundred and sixty-six, in 1782 twelve hundred and forty-three; taking the average for the period as eleven hundred, which includes women and children, we have the fact that one-sev- enth of the whole population were Revolutionary soldiers for longer or shorter periods. This was a very large proportion.

REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS.

This list has been gathered from a variety of sources, and is by no means complete. It does not follow that a given man served only during the term given below. It has been thought best to record what is actually known, and leave the rest for further investigation by any who are interested. Of some it is only known that they were afterwards pensioners. The two sons of Jacob Spaulding do not appear here, as they re- sided over the line, in Massachusetts, and therefore do not couut for Norfolk.

Rav. A. R. Robbins, chaplain in Burrell's regiment from March 18, 1776, to Oct. 31, 1776, in Canada.

Ozias Bingham, served in Canada May, 1775, to Sept. 3, 1775; was put in jail at Litchfield for debt the next winter, and in order to be re- leased enlisted in Col. Ileman Swift's regimeot Feb. 2, 1776, and ou application to the Legislature was permitted to leave jail and join the regiment npon hia giving a note for the debt.

Levi Barnum, in Canada in the campaign of 1775; waa takeo prisoner with Ethan Allen, and sent to England in irnos, and returned only after great hardships.

Peter Noble, sulisted in May, 1775, in John Watson's company, Hin- man's regiment, and was taken prisoner with Allen, as above.

Ebenezer Mack, of same regiment, was alao taken prisoner with Allen, and remained in close confineoient nineteen months, was sick much of the time, lost all his baggage, was carried to Quebec, to England, and Ireland, thence to Cape Fear, S. C., Halifax, and finally New York, wbeace he escaped, and came home in April, 1777.

Jesse Tobey, sergeant, Hinman's regiment, May, 1775, to Sept. 28, 1775. Samuel Hotchkiss, private, Ilinman's regiment, May, 1775, to Sept. 28, 1775.

Roger Orvis, private, Hinman'a regiment, May, 1775, to Nov. 20, 1775. Jasper Murray, private, Hinman's regiment, May, 1775, to Nov. 20, 1775. Daniel Pettibone, private, llinman'a regimsot, May, 1775, to Nov. 20, 1775.

Andrew Lester, private, Ilionian's regiment, May, 1775, to Nov. 20, 1775, besides answering Lexington alaro.

Nathaniel Field, private, Hinman's regiment, May, 1775, to Nov. 20, 1775, and Lexington alarmı.

Freedom Wright, private, Hinman s regiment, May, 1775, to Sept. 4, 1775, and Lexington alarm.

Abraham Beach, private, Hinmad'a regiment, May, 1775, to Sept. 6, 1775, aod Lexingtoo alarmı.

Jehiel Hull, private, Hinman's regiment, May, 1775, to Nov. 20, 1775; also served five months in 1780, in Swift's regiment, Capt. Converse's company, at the Highlands.

Amariah Plumb, answered Lexington alarm; was private in Canada campaign, May, 1775, to Nov. 20, 1775, during which he was wounded at the siege of St. John's and his thigh-bone broken, was captured, and held as a prisoner there a few days, till the fortress aurrendered,

then made his way home with great difficulty; received twenty-five pounds special grant from the State, aod died March 1, 1778.

Jotham Parker, served under Hinman from May, 1775, to Nov. 20, 1775, as private; re-enlisted as captain of teams in 1777, in the commissary department, and served a long time.

Darius Phelps, served May, 1775, to Sept. 7, 1775.

Eden Mills, served in latter part of the war.

Jededialı White, pensioner.

Ephraim Coy, served some time, and afterwards deserted.

Charles Walter, io Connecticut line three years, Bradley's regiment. Eleazar IIolt, present at Burgoyne's surrender.

Nicholas llolt, enlisted in 1775 in Watson's company; took amallpox in crossing Lake George and leaped into the water, which caused the disease to settle in his hip and made him Jame for life.

Stephen Holt, present at Burgoyne's surrender in October, 1777, and also at burning of Daobury.

Thomas Curtis, enlisted February, 1776; took smallpox in the army, died, and was buried at Stillwater, N. Y .; also had marched after Lexington.

Hopestill Welch, probably in French war, as well as Revolution. Salathiel Dunbar, May, 1775, to March 19, 1776. Josialı Ilotchkiss.

Solomon Curtia, a short term, when under age, in latter part of war.

Titus Watson, lieutenant in John Watson's company, under Hiomao, in 1775; captain io Burrell's regiment, February, 1776, to February, 1777; and afterwards was captain in Col. Heman Swift's regiment for three years; also marched after Lexington.

Joho Trowbridge, private, May, 1775, to Nov. 26, 1775, in Hinman's regi- ment ; afterwards enlisted in Connecticut line for three years, where he was corporal.

Moses Turner, corporal, Connecticut line, was in service three years, April, 1777, to April 6, 1780.

Elijab Knapp, corporal, Connecticut line, three years.

Aaron Aspinwall, private, Connecticut line, three years. Asahel Adams, private, Connecticut line, three years.

Caleb Aspinwall, private, under Hinman, May to Sept. 6, 1775, in Canada, and marched after Lexiogtoo, aud in Connecticut lins thres yeara.

Joel Ilamblin, private in Connecticut lins three years.

Nathan Tubbs, private in Connecticut line thres years. Levi Norton, private in Connecticut line three years.

Reuben Stevens, private in Connecticut line three years.

Samuel Orvis, private in Connecticut lina three yeara.

Caleb Sturtevant, private in Connecticut lios three years. John Walter, private in Connecticut lins three years.

Elnathan Seward, private in Connecticut lins three years. Abraham Knapp, private in Connecticut line three years.

Rufus Trall, private in Connectiont line three years; also five months

and nine days, in latter part of 1780, at Highlande.

James Benedict, Jr., a minor, enlisted in May, 1777, for three years, in

Titus Watson'a company, Heman Swift'a regiment; marcbed to Peekskill, takeo sick, suffered much, tried to march, reached White Plains and Rye, sick again ; no frienda to help him there, and was finally brought home to Norfolk at his father's expense with a broken constitution ; Assembly granted him special relief.

Hiland Hall, in Connecticut lios for three years; was deputy commia- sary.

Bates Turner, in Connecticut lios April, 1777, to April, 1780, and after- wards in short levy, five and a half months, at Highlands, July to December, 1780.

Silas Cowles, in Connecticut line for three years.

Edward Fuller, in Connecticut lins three years.

William Turner, in Connecticut lios three years.

Jonas Hubbard, in Coonscticut line three years.

Lemmel Sperry, in Connecticut line three years.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Litchfield county, Connecticut, Part 113

Author: J.W. Lewis & Company (Philadelphia, Pa.) Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1532

Author: J.W. Lewis & Company (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1532