History of Litchfield county, Connecticut, Part 78

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 78

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"South of Curtis', and about midway of the hill on the west side of the road, stood the log house of Deacon Moses Lyman, from Northampton, Mass. His son, Col. Moses Lyman, afterwards built the present brick house now owned by the Hon. Moses Lyman, on the spot where stood the house of Deacon Lyman. This first house was built upon elevated underpinning, and the windows were made high in the walls of the house, to prevent the Indians from firing into the windows in case the family were in- vaded by them. But this Deacon Moses Lyman was eut off in the midst of his years, and in the midst of his usefulness, Jan. 6, 1768, aged fifty-five. Ile had a protuberance of the bone in one of his limbs, sub- mitted to amputation, and after one month's slow but incessant bleeding he expired. I have seen a printed sermon, delivered on the occasion of his death, by the Rev. Mr. Newell, which shows that the church and

town were in mourning by this bereavement. They felt, as did the young prophets at Elijah's removal, that the Lord had taken away their head man from among them. And from all that I can learn of the aged now living concerning him, he was a great bless- ing to the town. He came from Northampton, then the centre of theology and active piety in New Eng- land. He had sat under the ministry of the cele- brated Jonathan Edwards, seen and felt the power of those great revivals, and he was eminently prepared to bless a new settlement. Whatever his hand found to do of benevolence and usefulness he did with his might; and as a beneficent Providence had given him the ability to bless, so he imparted. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon him, and he caused the widow's heart to sing for joy ! His rest is undoubtedly glorious ! We have with us to-day three grandchildren of this man, Moses, Samuel, and Eras- tus Lyman. He has here a great-great-grandchild, who is the tenth Moses Lyman in regular succession, and the first son born in each successive family, and the first-born in every family, with one exception. It has been said that Town Hill received its name on account of the early impression that there would be the centre of the town. It is more probable they thought that might be the centre of a south parish, when the north part of the town became a parish and the southwest part became settled. At the north side of this Town Hill we find a collection of water called Dog Pond. This received its name from the simple fact that Deacon Nathaniel Baldwin, of the north part of the town, lost his dog there by drowning in 1738. The circumstances are not mentioned, but it is probable that the event occurred while the old hunter was in the chase. Leaving Town Hill on the north side, and passing east towards Samuel Pettibone's, now Thomas Griswold's, and just before we reach the bottom of the hill, we see a saw-mill, a little at our right, on the south side of the road, which is supplied with water taken by a small canal, from the natural channel made by the waters which flow from Dog Pond. This mill was built in 1742, by Benjamin Phelps and others. Proceeding on eastwardly by Samuel Pettibone's, and crossing the meadow pre- visely as the road now runs, we shall come to the house of Zacheus Griswold, from Windsor. Ilis house stood a very little north of the present house of the widow and heirs of John Griswold. He was the father of all those inhabitants of this town who have borne the name Griswoldl. He lived more than one hundred years, and his wife attained to just one hun- dred. Ilis daughter-in-law, the wife of his son, Giles Griswold, still survives, and has attained to her ninety- ninth year. A little farther to the north and we come to the house of Abel Phelps, from Simsbury. It stood a few feet southeast from the present dwelling of Beebe Wadhams. He and his son Abel ocenpied the house for many years. Proceeding north, we do not find a habitation until we reach the residence of

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Capt. Samuel Thomson, from New Haven. His house stood on the west side of the north and south road, near the present store of Moses Lyman, Jr. The road from West Street came into Middle Street where it now does, and, proceeding east by the first meeting- house, at the old ash-tree, proceeded directly to East Street, and came out nearly opposite to the road that comes in from Torrington. On the south side of this east and west road, and ten rods east of Mechanic's Hall, on Middle Street, lived Amos Thomson, from New Haven. Deacon Gideon Thomson, Samuel Thomson, and Amos Thomson were all brothers, or near relatives. Proceeding north on Middle Street till we come to the garden now improved by Simmons Scovil, and here we find the site of the dwelling of Rev. Mr. Heaton, the first minister of the town. This garden belongs to the honse and lot now owned by Nelson Wadhams, of Canada Village. There was no other house between Mr. Heaton's and the second meeting-house already described. At this date there was no road directly east from the meeting-house, and none directly west. There was no house from Amos Thomson's to East Street, and none on Beach or Lucas Hill. There was a road open to West side, so called, but no house from the meeting-house till we come to the house of Timothy Tuttle, which stood on the east side of the road, nearly opposite to the pres- ent house of his granddaughter, Mrs. Huldah Tuttle. He was an original proprietor in the town, from Wal- lingford, and reared a numerous family. Some thirty or forty rods north of Tuttle's we come to the house of Daniel Richards, from Hartford, of whom we have already spoken. His house stood a little northwest from the present three-story Hudson house. He was the grandfather of the present Russel Richards.

"Passing onward to the northwest till we cross the outlet of Narshapogge Pond, we come to the house of Caleb Beach, standing near where Russel Richards' house now does. He was from Wallingford. At the Barnam house, south of the West-side graveyard, lived Daniel Harris, Jr., from Wallingford. No de- scendants in town. A little west from the last-men- tioned place, and in the present garden of Lewis C. Wadhams, on the east side of his house, stood the house of Benjamin Deming, from Middletown, father of Wait, Elias, and Jonathan Deming. Still farther north, about sixty rods, on the east side of the road, stood the house of Thomas Marvin, from Litchfield. He was an original proprietor in the town, but did not remain long here. Near the house long occupied by Philo Collins, and now by William Miles, stood the house of Benajah Williams, from Stonington, an original proprietor in two rights. He did not remain long in town, but sold his large and beautiful farm, of more than four hundred acres, to Ephraim Williams, of Wethersfield, whose son, Jacob Williams, came and lived on it. Pursuing this road north until we come to the present new house of Acros Lawton, we come to the house of Jonah Case, from Simsbury, an orig-

inal proprietor. From this house north all was wil- derness and no road. There was no house north of the meeting-house and west of Humphrey's lane until we came to West-side Street, already described. We must return back then to the Centre, and before we go to East Street we must visit the beautiful hill of An- drew Norton, Jr., three-fourths of a mile southeast from this house. On the east declivity of this hill, on the south side of the road, and about fifteen rods east of the old house of Andrew Norton, Jr., stood the house of Lenus Ward, from Wallingford. In the autumn of the year of which we are now speaking- 1745-Ward sold out to William Walter, who brought up a family there, and from him the Walters in Goshen have descended. At a little later date than the time of which we are speaking came David Norton, from Durham, and built a house on the north side of the road, on the top of the hill, almost on the same spot where now stands the new house of Andrew Norton, Jr. He was a young man of unusual enterprise and of substantial character. He was the father of David, Eber, Oliver, John, Anna, Alexauder, Andrew, Wil- liam, and Miriam, three of whom continue to this present time, Alexander, Andrew, and Miriam. He was, however, taken away in the midst of life and usefulness. He was greatly interested in the building of the third meeting-house in 1769. On Monday .he labored very hard in getting in large stones for the foundation of that house. He was taken suddeuly ill, and died on Thursday, aged forty-four; so that, like David of old, he was not permitted to see the house his heart was fixed upon. Not only his family, but the town felt their bereavement.

" At the south end of East Street we come to the place of Cyprian Collins, the fourth son of Rev. Timothy Collins, of Litchfield. In the spring of this year Rev. Mr. Collins purchased land at that place, and some time afterwards sent his son Cyprian to clear the land and build upon it, with the promise of a future deed. The first house of Cyprian Collins stood on the west side of the road, near the horse-shed of Capt. Timothy Collins, His second house was the one now owned and occupied by Capt. Timothy Col- lins. This Cyprian Collins had a numerous family, and was the ancestor of all who bear the name of Collins in this town. He had following children, Am- brose, Triphena, Amanda, Philo, Anna, Lauranda, Rhoda, Cyprian, Phebe, and Tyrannus, and all these lived to become heads of numerous families. Cyprian Collins was a frugal and an industrious man, and a firm patriot in the Revolution. In the early period of his life he owned the covenant, as it was called, and brought his children to baptism, and was always a regular attendant on divine worship. And here it may not be inappropriate to remark, for the benefit of the rising generation, that the practice of receiving persons of moral life into a half-way relation to the church had obtained extensively in New England at that day. The applicant for this relation was required

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to profess his belief in the fundamental principles of the gospel promise to lead a sober life, and to train up his household in the things of religion. If he would do this he might bring his children to baptism, and yet not consider himself a member of the church or come to the communion-table, and not even con- sider himself a regenerate person. This will explain what we have further to say of Mr. Cyprian Collins. Notwithstanding he had owned the covenant, had his children baptized, and ever been a regular attendant on the instituted means of grace, yet in old age his attention was powerfully arrested to the spiritual con- cerns of his soul ; he realized that he was a great sin- ner, cast himself upon the mercy of the Saviour, and, as we trust, obtained eternal life. At the age of seventy-five years he made a public profession of re- ligion, and to the close of his life gave pleasing evi- dence that he was indeed a child of God.

"I will here remark, that in 1745 there was no road from Litchfield to meet East Street road, for I find that at a town-meeting in 1749 a committee was raised to ' treat with Litchfield men about their lay- ing a road to meet our East-side road.'

"Leaving the place of Cyprian Collins, and pro- ceeding north, we come to the house of Benoni Hills, standing near the northwest corner of the present barn of the late Samuel D. Street. The road then ran west of this barn. Benoni Hills was the father of Zimri and Col. Medad Hills. About nine rods west of the present house of William Lyman, the late residence of Capt. Jonathan North, and west of the road as it then ran, stood the house of Joseph North, from Farmington. He was the father of Dr. Jo- seph North, Ezekiel North, and others. This house was palisadoed, or fortified, against the Indians. A little farther north, and just where the barn stands which was lately owned and improved by Dudley IIenderson, stood the house of Capt. Samuel Hinman, an original proprietor, from Litchfield. This house was built in the fall of 1738. About thirty rods north of Hinman's and a little south of the turnpike road, as it comes into East Street from Sharon, stood the house of Stephen Goodwin, from Simsbury. Here Goodwin kept tavern some years. Afterwards he built about twenty rods southeast, and there he kept a tavern. Of this man we shall hear again when we come to the war of the Revolution. A few feet north of the present brick house of Joseph Goddard, built hy Birdsey Norton, Esq., stood the log house of Deacon Ebenezer Norton, from Durham. A few years afterwards he built the house which stood a little northwest of the present brick house, and in this he lived until his decease. This Deacon, or Es- quire, or Col. Norton, for he bore these several titles at the same time, was a distinguished character in his day. No man, perhaps, with the exception of Deacon Moses Lyman, was ever more loved and honored by the people of this town than he. He was a member of the General Assembly twenty-six sessions, in times

that tried men's souls. And he would have been called to discharge those duties still longer, but his increasing infirmities induced him to decline all pub- lic services. He married Elizabeth, the daughter of Deacon Nathaniel Baldwin, of this town, and their children were Miles, Aaron, Elizabeth, Ebenezer, Rachel, Marana, Nathaniel, Olive, and Birdsey. They have three grandchildren now living in town, Abra- ham Norton, Deacon Lewis M. Norton, and Elizabeth M., the wife of Joseph Goddard. He departed this life March 15, 1785, aged seventy. She died April 16, 1811, aged eighty-nine. Their descendants at the time of her death were two hundred and eight. Four of them were great-great-grandchildren.

" About thirty rods north from the house of Deacon Ebenezer Norton, and a little northeast of the red house once occupied by Deacon Samuel Norton, and now owned and occupied by Adam Bently, stood the log house of Samuel Norton, from Durham. This house was palisadoed against the Indians. Ebenezer, Samuel, and David Norton were brethren, the sons of Samuel Norton, of Durham.

" Proceeding north we come to the dwelling of Na- thaniel Stanley, from Farmington. His log house stood about two rods northwest from the northwest corner of the present house, so long occupied by his grandson, William Stanley, and his great-grandson, Deacon George Stanley, but now owned by Adam Bently. He came to this town in 1742, and purchased the lot of Joseph Hickock. He died March 2, 1770, attaining to more than ninety years.

" A few rods northeast of the East Street burying- ground, on the east side of the road, stands the same house which stood there in 1745, and is one of the oldest houses in the town. It was originally the house of Barnabas Beach, eldest son of Capt. John Beach. Daniel Miles, Esq., succeeded Mr. Beach. It was long known as the residence of Samuel Chapin, Esq., and is now the home of widow Emily Chapin. On the same side, nhout twenty rods southeast of the dwelling of Jesse Beach, stood the house of Adna Beach, second son of Capt. John Beach. He had a numerous family, was once a representative to the General Assembly, and was the grandfather of Jesse Bench. A little north of the house occupied by Nor- man Austin, on the same side of the way, stood the house of Edmund Beach, the third son of Capt. John Beach. His family was numerous. I'pon the death of Deacon Ebenezer Norton, he was chosen to succeed him in the office of deacon. Three times he was sent a representative to the General Assembly. His house has remained until recently, and its place may yet be seen.

" A little at the north of the old house now spoken of, on the same side of the way, opposite to the house of Eber Bailey and north of the road running east, stood the house of Capt., or Deaeon John Beach, the place already spoken of as the one where the Rev. Mr. Heaton was ordained. This was the old hive

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where issued nearly all the families bearing the name of Beach in this town. Deacon John Beach was from Wallingford, an original proprietor in two rights, and came to this town in 1738 with nine sons, Barnabas, Adna, Edmund, Linus, Amos, Jacob, John, Roys, and Baldwin. Being thus blessed with a quiverful of arrows, he commanded respect. First and last he sus- tained all important offices in the town. Four times he represented this town in the General Assembly. We may suppose that Deacon Beach, with his nine sons, would not, in the first instance, erect a mean cabin. This, with the considerations that there was no meeting-house fitted to the occasion of an ordina- tion in 1740; that there was no road from East to Middle Street worthy of being called a road; and that East Street was at that time more thickly inhab- ited than any other section of the town, is explana- tory why Mr. Heaton was ordained at the house of Deacon John Beach. I will remark here, that Deacon John Beach had a brother, Samnel, who settled in Litchfield, and gave name to the north and south street that is called Beach Street. He was the pro- genitor of those families of that name in that neigh- borhood. I will also say that Jacob Beach, the sixth son of Deacon John Beach, was the father of the present Francis and Julius Beach, whose joint ages amount to one hundred and fifty-six years, and are with us to-day.

"From Deacon John Beach's house we proceed north till we come to the garden of Robert Palmer, on the east side of East Street and on the south side of the road leading eastward, and there stood the house of Samuel Towner, from Waterbnry. He was an original proprietor, but did not remain long in town. Just north of Towner's house, and near the spot where Robert Palmer's house now stands, stood the house of John North, from Farmington. He did something as a merchant there. He built what was called the blue house, deriving its name from the color of its paint. It stood precisely on the spot where now stands the house of Robert Palmer. This house was struck by lightning in the afternoon of the 6th of June, 1767, in a tremendous tempest of light- ning, thunder, and rain. All were struck down in the house, and two men, James Rice and Martin Wil- cox, were killed. This Martin Wilcox was a young man, pions and much beloved. The house seemed instantly on fire in various places, and the bodies of these men were nearly consumed before they could be taken from the flames. The terror produced by this Providence was so great that the ancients speak of it with awe to the present day. About twenty rods at the north of the blue house, on the west side of the road, stood the house of John Thomson, Jr., from Wallingford. His father was the original proprietor. John Thomson was the progenitor of the Thomsons in the north part of the town.

" North of John Thomson's, and fifty rods southeast of the yellow honse built by Asaph Hall, Esq., stood

the log house of Elkanah Hall, from Wallingford. His father, David Hall, was the original proprietor in two rights, but he never lived in Goshen. He after- wards was killed by a ball at Fort George, in the old French war. Asaph Hall, Esq., succeeded Elkanab at the log house, and lived there until he built the yellow house, and there lived until his death, abont thirty-eight years ago. Asaph Hall was a talented inan, and possessed the confidence of the people of this town. Twenty-four times between 1773 and 1792 he sat in the General Assembly. He was then called Capt. Hall. For many years he sustained the office of magistrate, and was a firm friend to his country.

" And now we come to the house of Deacon Na- thaniel Baldwin, one of the first characters of that day. Ile was originally from Guilford, but came first to Litchfield, and at the settlement of this town he purchased two rights and came to Goshen in 1739. His house stood on the west side of East Street, and on the south side of the narrow road leading to Hum- phrey's lane, a few rods southwest from the brick house of Asaph Hall. He was eminently a man of God, and was highly esteemed both in the church and in the town. Twice was he sent to the General As- sembly. He was at first a deacon in the church at Guilford, then at Litchfield, and as soon as the church was organized here he was appointed one of their first deacons. He married, while yet in Guilford, Eliza- beth, the sister of Abraham Parmele, the progenitor of all the Parmeles in Goshen. Deacon Baldwin, his wife, and his eight children all had a standing in this church, and although all of them have long since gone from this world, yet our faith sees them mem- bers of the church triumphant and glorified, the father saying, 'Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me!' The names of their children were Nathaniel, Elizabeth, Samuel, Brewen, Anne, Sarah, Lucy, and Rachel. The late Isaac Baldwin, of this town, was the son of Nathaniel Baldwin, and grandson of Deacon Nathaniel Baldwin.

" The late Brewen Baldwin was grandson of Deacon Nathaniel Baldwin, and son of Samuel Baldwin. But the late Daniel, Stephen, and Elisha Baldwin were grandsons of Timothy Baldwin, of Guilford, brother of Deacon Nathaniel Baldwin. On the east side of the road, and nearly opposite to Asaph Hall's brick house, on the north side of the road which leads to Hart Hollow, stood the house of John Smith, from Farmington. Here he commenced trading, and was the first merchant in the town. After about two years he removed to the Towner house, just sonth of Robert Palmer's, and next he came to the lot on which Eras- tus Lyman, Esq., now lives. He bnilt a large honse between Mechanic's Hall and the house of Esquire Lyman, afterwards called the Kettle house. He for some years made potash on the little stream at the foot of the hill, east of this house, and from this cir- cumstance the stream derived its name, Potash Brook. The little children who resort to this place in the

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summer months, when out of school, to catch tad- poles, or porwigles, may remember how they come to say, 'Come, let us go to the Potash.' Abigail, the daughter of this Mr. Smith, married the Rev. Abel Newell, the second minister in the town.

" We return to East Street, and proceeding north from Smith's house we come to the present store of Putnam Bailey. Here stood the house of Timothy Stanley, the brother of Nathaniel Stanley, of whom we have spoken. He came into town in the summer of 1742, from Farmington. His descendants are nu- merous, but are scattered abroad in the several States. From this house there was a highway existing in name, a little distance north of the present house of Collins Baldwin, but the whole country north and east was yet in possession of the tenants of the forest. Nature vegetated, blossomed, matured, and fell with- out the friendly hand of culture, and without impart- ing directly a single blessing to civilized life.

"In Humphrey's lane, as it is called, a road run- ning parallel with East Street, south of the north meeting-house and a little west of East Street, there were two families. On the west side of this lane, about ten rods from where the road from the meeting- house comes into the lane, stood the house of John Wilcox, from Farmington. Daniel Wilcox, from Simsbury, was the original owner. The posterity of this John Wilcox have now become numerous. John Flavel Wilcox is his descendant. The other family in this street was Samuel Humphrey. His house was thirty or forty rods south of Wilcox, on the east side of the road as it now is, but on the west as it then was. Humphrey was an original proprietor from Simsbury. He had eighteen children by four wives, -ten sons and eight daughters,-and his posterity are very numerous, and have ever well sustained the repu- tation of their worthy progenitor. Indeed, it is thought that the descendants of this Samuel Hum- phrey are more numerous, by far, than the descend- ants of any other man who ever lived in Goshen.

" We have now but one more location to notice. It is that of Abraham Parmele, from Guilford. His father was the original proprietor, but never came here to live. ITis son came on at the settlement of the town. His house, when built, stood about one hundred and thirty rods northwest of Whist Pond, on the north and south road running west of the pond, and near where the east and west road from Robert Palmer's comes into the Pond road. The first year he labored on this lot all alone, but boarded with his uncle, Deacon Nathaniel Baklwin, of East Street. The next year he had a wigwam and boarded himself; and he had a bed, too, for returning from Guilford in the spring of that year, he brought with him a bag of grass-seed, which was far more elastic and downy than the floor of his cabin. On this he reposed at night, secure from the wolves that howled around his tene -. ment. It is said of young Parmele, that his axe was heavy but he knew it not. It fell thick and strong.

The sound thereof was from early morn until the stars appeared, and the sturdy sons of the forest lay around him as windfalls ! But although he was thus enjoying single-blessedness in the stillness, grandeur, and sub- limity of a deep forest, yet it seems he did not think it good for mau to live alone always, and believed there must be a helpmeet for him somewhere. In the summer of 1745 his house went up, an indication of a revolution in his domestic establishment, and in May, 1746, Mary Stanley, the fourth daughter of Na- thaniel Stanley, of East Street, was legally constituted associated head of the establishment. This was an honorable and a happy union. They had ten chil- dren ; nearly all of them, with the parents, became pious, and two of the sons entered the gospel min- istry. This was the father of our much-loved friend and father in the town, Nathaniel Stanley Parmele, who still survives the successive attacks of the most formidable disease which falls upon our race, apo- plexy. I have several times mentioned Whist Pond, in the vicinity of Mr. Parmele's. This pond derives its name from an old Indian of that name, who came every year alone from Farmington, and spent the season in hunting around the pond, and fishing and bathing in it, but who was finally drowned in its waters. I will here remark that Gun-Stock Brook, in the north part of the town, derived its name from the fact that curly maple grew plentifully upon its banks, which was much used during the war of the Revolu- tion in the manufacture of stocks for muskets.

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History of Litchfield county, Connecticut, Part 78

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