History of Litchfield county, Connecticut, Part 159

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 159

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" Early in the century Gen. David Humphreys, a na- tive of Derby, a man of genius, a soldier of the Revo- lution, who had been an aide of Washington, became the representative of this government at the Court of Spain. He there conceived the idea of importing into this country the fine-wooled Spanish merino sheep. IIe embarked his own fortune in the enter- prise. To forward his plans he built a factory for the manufacture of fine wool goods at Rimmon Falls, afterwards known as Humphreysville, and now Sey- mour, but which should have retained the name of its founder. He was not pecuniarily successful ; nevertheless the country owes him a debt of grati- tude, and the enterprising business men and farmers of Watertown were among the first to engage enthu-

siastically in his plans. The merino sheep were brought and bred here, and to this day the name of Watertown and the flock of Stephen Atwood is cele- brated wherever merino sheep are known.

" A gentleman who has made agriculture and fine cattle a study, and who has traveled all over the world, once told me that he had seen more fine teams of working oxen in the streets of Watertown than he had ever seen in any other place in all his travels. These, of course, were the famous 'Connecticut Reds,' of which Watertown may be said to have been the birthplace, and in the breeding of which Mr. Jacob Blakeslee and others have borne a conspicuous part.

"I have been anxious to present some personal sketches of the men who were most active during this period in building up the young town. I have only been able to get two or three, but perhaps others may be added later. Among the business men of the town, Younglove Cutler was one of the first to open a store in the settlement. Whether he preceded Wait Smith or no, I am unable to say, but they are the two pio- neers in the business of merchandising. Mr. Cutler was born in Killingly, Conn., in 1750. Having a stepmother, he was induced at the age of ten years to pack all his possessions in a handkerchief, and, without one cent in his pocket, to strike out and seek his fortune, adopting as his motto, 'Go West, young man,' selecting Westbury as his future home. He worked about for the farmers for a while as he could find employment, but I soon hear of him trading in a small way as a peddler. Next opening a small store in the south part of the house now owned by Dr. John De Forest, where he traded evenings and worked out through the day, which house must have been built not far from 1783, since that is the year in which he bought the land on which the house stands. The large show windows can now be seen under the verandah. Afterwards he built a wood store, where he traded for many years. The building was after- wards removed and the brick store built on its site by Mr. Benjamin De Forest, now occupied by Mr. Me- Neil. He was successful in business, being, as I un- derstand, industrious, energetic, temperate, frugal, and acquired, for those days, a handsome estate, a considerable part of which was lost toward the close of his life by indorsing. He became a large land- owner and stock-breeder, and was particularly inter- ested in the Spanish merino sheep, procuring his flock from Gen. Humphreys, whose importations date 1802. Mr. Cutler sold one ewe for one thousand dol- lars, and her unborn lamb for five hundred dollars more. To his great chagrin the ewe dropped twins, thus involving to him a loss of five hundred dollars as he always claimed. From his flock it is said sprung the 'Stephen Atwood sheep,' now so celebrated through the country. He died in 1816.

"John H. and Benjamin De Forest, brothers and natives of Huntington, Conn., came to Watertown and entered into mercantilo business in 1803, first in

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HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

a small way in the northeast corner room of the house now occupied by Mr. Lewis, but soon moved to the store owned and formerly occupied by Mr. Cutler, which stood on the ground where the brick store now stands, occupied by Mr. McNeil. There they suc- cessfully pursued the business of country merchants till 1817, when the partnership was dissolved. The business in those days was principally a barter trade; but little money was in circulation. No cash was paid out directly for produce; contracts were made with a few of the larger farmers to bring in their pork, butter, cheese, and grain, which were the principal products of the farm, and receive on the 1st day of April in each year one-quarter to one-third cash, the remainder to be taken in 'store pay.' The pork, but- ter, cheese, and grain were all sent by teams to New Haven. No Waterbury market in those days.

" During the time of their partnership the older brother, Jolın, went several voyages to sea as super- cargo and part owner. On one of these voyages he visited Spain and brought away a lot of merino sheep, among the earliest of the kind ever introduced into this country, which proved both profitable to the owners, and of immense value to the farming interests of the United States. A while after the introduction of these sheep the speculation in them ran so high that single merino bucks and ewes were sold for fifteen hundred dollars and sixteen hundred dollars each. On another voyage, during the war of 1812, and while England and France were also at war, he sailed for France with a cargo of codfish. Had they arrived safely the vessel would have netted a large profit to her owners, but just as they sighted port the vessel was cut out by a British privateer, the vessel and cargo confiscated, and the crew thrust into the celebrated Dartmoor prison, where they were confined several months. After a while Mr. De Forest, who was noted as an adept with the pen, wrote a very plausible letter to the British admiralty, and so 'pulled the wool' over the eyes of the officers as to his intentions and destination that they liberated him and the crew.

"During his residence in Watertown, John H. was much interested in politics and civil affairs. He was the principal trying justice for many years, and repre- sented the town in the State Legislature for five ses- sions, from 1809 to 1815. About the year 1819, John H. went to Humphreysville (now Seymour) and pur- chased the principal water-privilege there, and the old mill foundry built and occupied by George Hum- phrey as a woolen-factory, converted it into a cotton- mill, where he successfully pursued the business of cotton manufacture till his death, in 1839.

" After the dissolution of partnership in 1817, Ben- jamin continued the business till 1825, when he gave it up to Eli Curtiss, who had been his clerk. During this time, while on a trip to New York to purchase goods (there being no drummers in those days), he saw a bundle of palm-leaf lying on the wharf. The thought occurred to him that a hat might be made of it similar

to the Panama. He purchased a bundle of palm- leaf, and also a Panama hat, and brought them home. He offered a prize of fifty dollars to any one who would find out how to braid them. Mr. Anson Beebe, of Northfield, and lately of Westville, took the prize. He came to Mr. De Forest's, and for weeks instructed large numbers of women and girls in the art of braid- ing. The manufacture progressed slowly for want of material. So difficult was it to obtain the plant in New York that an agent was finally sent to the West Indies to procure it and to arrange for a future supply. The manufacture became a success, and large numbers of women and girls in this and the neighboring towns mnade it their principal business, much to their profit. This branch of manufacture, begun here in Water- town in this small way, is now extensively prosecuted by machinery in various parts of the country, and a hat that once cost two dollars or three dollars is now sold for fifty or sixty cents.

" A short time before Mr. De Forest left the mer- cantile business he united with Aaron Benedict and others in forming a company for the manufacture of gilt buttons, with a capital of six thousand five hun- dred dollars, which was the commencement of the Benedict & Burnham Manufacturing Company of Waterbury. Mr. De Forest became salesman of the new company, principally in New York and Boston, till 1837, when he retired in consequence of ill health, and died in 1859.

" During the period covered by the sketches just given the town had grown in wealth and refinement. Elegance, and even luxury, as luxury was then counted, was found among its inhabitants. The peo- ple were able to give their sons and daughters all the advantages of education which the country afforded, and many young men went forth from the old town who made names for themselves in all parts of the country.

"So long as agriculture was the principal interest of the State the young town steadily gained on the old one in wealth, enterprise, and importance. For some reason which I have not had time to investigate, the old town seems to have held its own in population somewhat remarkably,-perhaps it had that prolific gift for which poverty is proverbial.

" During the twenty years from 1815 to 1835, Con- necticut passed from an agricultural to a manufactur- ing State. The opening of the wheat-lands of the West, and a variety of other causes which I have not time to enumerate, wrought this change; and the in- habitants of the old town of Waterbury, who had been compelled by the poverty of their soil to exer- cise their wits in order to live, now found use for them in a profitable direction. Very soon the tide was turned, and the ambitious young men of Water- town began to look to the lower valley as a place to exercise their gifts. The current of emigration was reversed, and the De Forests, Eltons, Buckinghams, Merrimans, and many others now brought their cap-

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ital and enterprise back to the older town. There the farmers soon began to find a market for their produce, and a place of investment for their surplus gains. There their sons became captains of industry ; and where the sons went there went the daughters also."

PHYSICIANS.

The first physician in this town was Dr. John War- ner, one of the earliest settlers. Others have been as follows : Thomas Foot, Benjamin Hull, James Elton, John Elton, Samuel Elton, Reuben S. Woodward, Norman Bull, John De Forest, Garwood H. Atwood, Allyn M. Hungerford, Samuel Catlin, Jr., Henry H. Hart, Walter S. Munger, and Rev. F. B. Woodman .*

MEN OF PROMINENCE, ETC.

The following persons, born in Watertown, have distinguished themselves as men of talent :

John Trumbull, poet ; died in Detroit, Mich. Ebenezer Foote, attorney ; died in Albany, N. Y. Samuel A. Foote, attorney, Geneva, N. Y.

Samuel W. Southmayd, attorney, Watertown; died in Watertown, 1813.

Matthew R. Dutton, professor of mathematics, Yale College ; died in New Haven, July 17, 1825.

Henry Dutton, attorney, New Haven, and Governor of Connecticut in 1854.

William E. Curtis, attorney, New York City.

The oldest person who has ever lived in Watertown as a permanent resident was Mrs. Rebecca Prindle, widow of Mr. Noah Judd, and granddaughter of Jonathan Prindle, one of the first settlers. She was baptized by the Rev. John Trumbull a few days after his ordination, being the first child baptized in the place. She died March 19, 1838, aged ninety-nine years.

In the winter of 1800 a Mrs. Clark, who for a time had lived with her friends in this place, was carried to Cornwall, Vt., in a sleigh, being then one hundred years of age. She was known to have lived three or four years after.

The first male child born in Watertown was Mr. James Welton, who died May 18, 1812, aged eighty- nine.

Thomas Matthews, Esq., who died Sept. 6, 1798, aged ninety-eight, was the person who trimmed with a pocket-knife the tree known as " The Large Elm."

The first one-horse wagon ever owned in Water- town was purchased by Rev. Chauncey Prindle, in or about 1805.

The oldest house in this town is the one owned and occupied by Mr. Andrew Darrow, supposed to have been built between 1730 and 1735. The next is the one known as the "Trumbull House," in which John

Trumbull, the celebrated author of "McFingal," was born, April 24, 1750.

LAWYERS.

The following sketch of the lawyers of Watertown is taken from an address delivered by the late Hon. William E. Curtis, of New York, at the Watertown centennial celebration, June 17, 1880 :

" Eli Curtis, who graduated in the class of 1777 at Yale College, and who lost an arm in the war of the Revolution, was the first member of the legal profes- sion that settled in Watertown. Tradition speaks favorably of his courage and services as an officer of the Revolutionary army, of his merits as a lawyer, and the public positions which he held indicate his appreciation by his fellow-citizens. In the brief list of subscribers to Kirby's 'Law Reports,' published at Litchfield in 1789, the first, or among the first, pub- lished in America, his name appears; also that of Samuel Southmayd, the father of Samuel W. South- mayd, the lawyer; also the name of Thomas Fenn, Esq., the ancestor of Amasa J. Parker, and other lawyers of eminence and sterling merit ; and also the names of Daniel Potter, Esq., and David Smith, Esq. This subscription-list, both here and over the country, is worthily represented to-day in the third and fourth generations of the subscribers. Hon. Eli Curtis re- moved from Watertown, and died in 1821. Samuel W. Southmayd was born in this town in September, 1773. He was the great-grandson of the Rev. John Southmayd, of Waterbury, who himself was the great-grandson of Sir William Southmayd, of the county of Kent, England. He studied law at Litch- field, and was admitted to the bar in 1795. In 1809 he received the honorary degree of A.M. from Yale College. He carly acquired the esteem and conf- dence of his townsmen, whom during his brief life he represented seventeen times in the Legislature. He soon rose to eminence in his profession. His law library, mneh of which came into my father's posses- sion, contained most of the valuable English reports and treatises of his day, which, enriched by notes and addenda in his beautiful handwriting, indicate to this day how accomplished and learned he was as a law- yer. He died March 4, 1813.

"The anecdotes and traditions of his career have almost faded away, but his example as a patriotic citizen, a kind-hearted man, and a learned and hon- orable lawyer, may exert an influence when his name even is forgotten. He was a bachelor, but died, sur- rounded by the kindred of relatives awaiting the change, as the late Dr. Samuel P. Elton described it to me, with the calmness of a philosopher and the resignation of a Christian. Soon after the death of Mr. Southmayd a committee was appointed at a meet- ing of citizens to invite Mr. Holbrook Curtis, then practicing law in Newtown, to remove to Watertown. He accepted this invitation, and remained until his death, in 1858. He was in 1813 twenty-six years of

* Of the physicians mentioned above, Dr. John Elton was In practice twenty-four years, and Dr. Samuel Elton fifty-eight years. The latter died Doc. 8, 1858. Dr. John De Forest practiced fifteen years, and Dr. Allyn M. Hungerford has been in active practice since 1844, nearly forty years.

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HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

age, having graduated from Yale in 1807. During his long period of practice he had the respect and confidence of the community. He was many times a member of the Legislature, a judge of probate, and also a judge of the County Court. Cultivated and scholarly in his tastes, he possessed that rare gift of memory that apparently placed at his command for any occasion the Bible, Shakspeare, Hudibras, Black- stone's 'Commentaries,' and Chitty's 'Pleadings,' and a mass of tradition and anecdote. But his life is so fresh in your memories that it is unnecessary, perhaps not becoming, that I should say more of him, yet I cannot refrain from saying, as his son, how grateful I shall ever be to his friends and neighbors, who, in the weary hours of his declining life, watched over and cheered and comforted him, and whose kindness, ever extended to me and mine, makes the very sight of these hills dear to me."

The present resident lawyer is Curtis B. Atwood.

THE WAR OF 1812.

In the old town records, under date of May 20, 1811, is recorded the following :

" A cirenlar lotter from the Chamber of Commerce in the City of New Haven, nod also a Letter from the Selectmen of the Town of New Haven bearing sundry resolves of that town was Receivd and Re'd, after which the following were unanimously adopted by Vote (viz.) :

" Resolved, That as Freemed under a free Government, we have a Con- stitutional right to nddress our Rulers, state to them our grievances, and in Respectful Terais request a Removal of TheDi.

" Resolved, As sense of this Meeting, that the restrictions on Commerce adopted and improved by the General Government of the United States for a number of years Past is the principal Canse of our Present em- barrassment.

" Resolved, That the restrictione heretofore laid on our Commerce have been Tested by Experience and Prove that as Coercive Measures upon the grent Beligerante of Europe they are futile. That instead of injuring they are benefitial to them, whilst the injury is felt only by ourselves, and that ne Perseverance in those measures serves only to weaken onr own strength and disgrace ns in the eyes of other Nations.

" Resolved, That we Consider the General Assembly of thia State the Guardian of our Rights and Liberties, and that n Petition be presented to their Honorable body now in Session, praying them to make use of such menns as they, in their wiedom, shal Think best to prevail upon the General Government to repeal and abandon the restrictive Anti-Com- mercial System so injurious to the interest of this State.

" Resolved, That we approve of the opinion expressed in the Circular letter from the Selectmen of the town of New Haven, and of the Chan- ber of Commerce of the City of New Haven.

" Resolved, That the Select Men in helinlf of the Town Sigo the Peti- tion to the General Assembly, which has been Red and approved io this Meeting, and that the Representative from this towo be requested to present the same."

EVERGREEN CEMETERY.

In 1854 some of the citizens of Watertown united in an association to procure and arrange another place of burial besides the one which had been used from the earliest settlement of the town. A piece of land containing four and a half acres, a short distance north of the Centre, was purchased for twelve hundred dollars, and in part graded and laid out into lots. On Monday, Sept. 4, 1854, it was dedicated with appro- priate services, and an address delivered by Hon. Samuel A. Foote, of Geneva, N. Y.

The ground has since been planted with evergreens,

and the chaste and elegant family monuments and stones, reared by affection to perpetuate the memory of the departed, have greatly beautified this place of the dead.

The first interment in this cemetery was that of Miss Sarah B. Atwood, daughter of Mr. Hinman At- wood, who died Aug. 28, 1854, aged twenty-one years.

LIST OF DEATHS.

The following is a list of deaths in Westbury and Watertown from March, 1741, to 1800:

1741 .- Ilannnh, wife of William Scovill; danghter of Jonathan Foot ; daughter of Nathaniel Arnold; son of Ebenezer Richards; daughter of Ebenezer Richards; child of James Bellamy ; son of Obadiah Scott.

1743 .- Son of Mr. Millard, of Cornwall.

1744 .- Stephen Scott; Hannah, wife of Jonathan Scott; Abigail, daughter of Stephen Scott ; Mary, wife of Richard Seymour; wife of Tim- othy Judd; child of Timothy Judd.

1745 .- Mary, daughter of Samuel Ilicox, Jr .; Daniel IJowe; Elizabeth, daughter of Daniel Hlowe; Jonathan Scott; Mary, daughter of Ebenezer Warner; James, son of James Brown, Jr.

1746 .- Naomi, wife of Samuel Frost; child of Jonathan Scott, Jr .; Zadoc, son of David Scott; Ellen, daughter of John Warner, Jr.

1747 .- Margery, wifo of Stephen Judd; child of Rev. John Trumbull; Ebenezer, son of Ebenezer Warner; Mary, wife of Ebenezer Warner; Patience, daughter of David Scott; Widow Sarah Scott; wife of James Smith.

1748 .- Nathno, son of David Scott; Sarah, daughter of Samuel Weed; Rebecca, wife of Deacon John Wnroer; Lydia, daughter of Jonathan Foot; child of Thomas Doolittle.

1749 .- Wife of Mr. Rice, of Wallingford; David, son of David Scott; Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. J. Trumbull; David, son of Thomas Doolittle; Thomas, son of Thomas Doolittle; Sarah, daughter of Jonathan Prindle; Abigail, daughter of Thomas Cole; Amos, son of Amos Hicox ; Daniel, son of Stephen Judd ; Mary, secood wife of Stephen Judd ; Mary, daughter of David Aodrus; James, son of Thomas Ilickox ; Mary, daughter of Samuel Hickox, Jr .; Loje, wife of Chleb Clark ; Sarnh, daughter of Stephen Scott; Eunice, daughter of Phineas Matthews; Betsey, daughter of Edmond Tompkins; Elihu, son of Silas Johnson.

1750 .- Dinah, daughter of Nathaniel Arnold, Jr .: Sarah, danghter of Nathaniel Arnold, Jr .; Ebenezer Warner; Bethuah, daughter of Samuel Thomas; Stephen, son of Ebenezer Warner; Widow Terrill, of Woodbury; Elizabeth, wife of Nathaniel Aroold; Widow Hannah Judd; Thomas Wood; David, 600 of David Scott; David Scott's colored womao; Martha, wife of William Andrus; Joha, son of Ebenezer Warner.

1751 .- Deacon John Warner; Daniel Stow; Rachel, daughter of .Joseph Garosey; Abigail, daughter of Peter Welton; George, son of Peter Welton ; son of Jamies Brown, Jr .; wife of Capt. William Judd.

1752 .- Wife of Ezra Terrill; child of Ezra Terrill; Elizabeth, wife of William Scovill; Phebe, wife of John Thomas; Mercy, daughter of Amos lliekox ; Ilannah, daughter of Caleb Clark.

1753 .- Child of Samuel Frost; Hannah, wife of Samuel Frost; Bede, wife of Nathan Bronson; Andrew, colored man of Solomon Morse ; child of Daniel Tyler; child of Josiah Wetmore; Na- thaniel Arnold; Stephen, son of Stephen Matthews; Daniel, son of Stephen Welton.

1754 .- Samuel, son of Rev. John Trumbull; Jonathan Foot ; Hannah, child of David Scott; David Strickland ; Moses Bronson ; David, son of David Andrus.

1755 .- Elizabeth, wife of John Welton; William Scovill; child of James Brown; Sarah, daughter of Ebenezer Judd.

1756 .- Child of Edmond Tompkins, Jr .; child of Amos Hickox; Levi, soo of John Judd; Millicent, daughter of Jonnthan Garnsey, Jr .; Huldah, daughter of Richard Seymor; Joanna, daughter of Richard Seymor; Abigail, daughter of Deacon Jonathan Garnsey ; child of Ebenezer Seymor.

1757 .- Child of Benjamin Stillwell; child of John Painter ; wife of Ben- jamin Wetmore; child of Thomas Dutton ; child of Josiah Wel- ton ; son of Thomas Hammond; child of Elam Brown ; child

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of James Doolittle; twin child of Eliphaz Scott; Dinah, wife of James Doolittle ; twin child of Eliphaz Scott; wife of John Cole.

1758 .- Josiah Welton; child of John Strickland; Noah Arnold; Asa, son of Ebenezer Richards; child of Stephen Matthews; James Hammond, John Adkios, both drowned together ; child of Na- than Woodward ; Ebenezer Richards.

1759 .- Ezekiel Scott; Hagar, colored girl of Rev. Mr. Trumbull ; child of Wait Scott : Reuben, son of Thomas Dutton; Phebe, daughter of Nathan Coles ; Olive, daughter of Ebenezer Fout ; Luther, son of Benjamin Richards ; Martha, daughter of Daniel Scott ; Giles, son of Deacon Timothy Judd; Elizabeth, daughter of Daniel Scott.

1760 .- Wife of Moses Cook ; child of Daniel Clark ; child of Ebenezer Judd; James Brown ; colored boy of James Doolittle; Grace, daughter of Nathan Woodward ; Thomas Richards; Thankful, wife of Thomas Hammond ; wife of Thomas Doolittle; Betbel Garnsey ; Widow Sutliff; Widow Doolittle.

176I .- Child of Thomas Hickox, Jr. ; child of Josiah Stow ; colored boy of Deacon J. Garosey ; child of Rev. John Trumbull; wife of Samuel Garnsey ; child of Nathaniel Edwards.

1762 .- Child of Ebenezer Foot; Dr. Daniel Scott ; Daniel Scott ; Timothy, son of Timothy Foot; colored woman of Amos Ilickox ; Milli- cent, daughter of Timothy Judd ; William, son of James Reyn- olds ; Frederick, son of James Reynolds.

1763 .- Child of Timothy Williams; colored boy of Capt. E. Scovill ; child of Noah Griggs; Millicent, second wife of Timothy Judd; Pruce, daughter of David Scott; wife of David Andrus; Timothy, son of Timothy Judd; child of David Audrus; child of Jamies Reyn- olda; child of James Fancher; child of Dorcas Fulford ; Gideon, son of Ambrose Hickox ; Ebenezer Foot; Phineas Matthews.

1764 .- Lois, wife of Thomas Hickox, Jr .; Roswell, son of David Turner; Joseph Garnsey ; Sarah, daughter of Thomas Hammond ; Molly, daughter of Allen Lake; Abel Doolittle (of smallpox).

1765 .- Wife of Noah Griggs ; Widow Conklin ; daughter of Gideon Peck ; Capt. Samuel Hickox ; wife of Jonathan Robbarts; Joseph, son of Thoomna Hammond : wife of Samuel Garnsey; son of Daniel Clark ; child of Joho Merriam.

1766,-Colored boy of Elnathan Judd; child of William Mancer ; colored child belonging to Elnathan Judd; Joseph Richards ; Daniel, sou of Stephen Matthews; child of Daniel Brown ; child of Amos Garnsey ; child of Edmoud Lockwood; Abigail, wife of Edmond Lockwood; child of Daniel Bishops ; child of Jonuthan Rob- barts; child of Joshua Morse.

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History of Litchfield county, Connecticut, Part 159

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