History of Litchfield county, Connecticut, Part 93

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 93

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).

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

MORRIS.

Geographical-Topographical-Pioneer Settlement-Parish of South Farma Incorporated-History of Congregational Church-The Adveot Society-James Morris and Morris Academy-Incorporation of the Town-First Town-Meeting-Officers Elected-Extracts from Societies' Recorde-Representatives from 1860 to 1882-Military Record.

THE town of Morris* lies south of the centre of the county, and is bounded as follows : on the north and east by Litchfield, on the south by Watertown and Bethlehem, and on the west by Washington. Its sur- face is very hilly, the most elevated portion being twenty-five feet higher than the highest point of Litchfield Hill.

The town was early known as South Farms, in the southern part of Litchfield, and is believed to have

* Named in honor of James Morris.

Russell Stone

389

MORRIS.

been settled prior to August, 1723. The parish of South Farms was incorporated in 1767.

The first birth in Litchfield was a son to Zebulon Gibbs, at South Farms.

In this part of the town, and on the spot occupied by the barn of Mr. David Benton, was one of the four forts built to protect the inhabitants against the ineur- sions of the Indians.

CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.

At first the people of South Farms worshiped with the people at Litchfield, but there was early mani- fested a tendency to draw asunder, and in 1743, twenty-one years after the organization of the church at Litchfield, it was voted to have an orthodox min- ister here for three months during the winter season. In October, 1748, the Legislature granted them win- ter privilege, for three months, which in 1761 were increased one month; and an act was passed author- izing the inhabitants of South Farms to build a meeting-house, and tax themselves for the purpose, and to exercise all the powers of an ecclesiastical society for this one-third of the year, at the same time being exempted from one-third of their tax for ecclesiastical purposes at Litehfield. About this time they secured from the town of Litchfield a separate burying-ground. From year to year they voted to improve, or hold up their winter privileges, beginning the services with January. The place of meeting was at first movable, sometimes in a school-house and sometimes in private houses.

In 1753 there were only thirty families in South Farms.

Rev. Mr. Bartlett was the first minister stationed here on record. Rev. Mr. Dickinson was here from 1755 to 1767. The following ministers seem to have been their winters' supply : Noah Wadhams, Stephen Heaton, Ebenezer Gauls, Andrew Rowland, John Richards, and Jonathan Bird.

In 1764 the first meeting-house was built. It was a small affair, only thirty-five by twenty-five feet, and nine-feet posts. It was located nearly opposite the blacksmith's shop at the Centre. With a new meeting- house and an increasing population, they finally suc- eceded in being set off, and organized themselves as a separate religious society in 1767, at which time they had seventy families. In 1768 a church was organized with thirteen male members. Rev. Peter Starr sup- plied the pulpit in 1772. The first settled pastor was Rev. George Beckwith, a graduate of Yale College in 1766. IIe was ordained Oct. 22, 1772. He married for his wife a Miss Merot, of this place. He was dis- missed in 1781. Mr. Caleb Hotchkiss, a graduate of Yale in 1766, was employed here from May 7, 1781, to April 1, 1784. Ile died in 1784.

In 1785 a new meeting-house was built fifty-eight by forty-two and twenty-five feet high. It was located on the green opposite Mr. S. M. Ensign's house. Rev. Daniel Brimsmade supplied the pulpit during 1785.

Rev. Amos Chase, of Cornish, N. H., a graduate of Dartmouth College, was ordained here June 27, 1787. He studied theology with Rev. Levi Hart, of Gris- wold, whose daughter Rebecca he married ; she was a granddaughter of Dr. Bellamy, of Bethlehem. Mr. Chase was second cousin of the late Chief Justice Chase. He was dismissed June 15, 1814, after a pastorate of twenty-seven years. Rev. Asahel Nettle- ton, the revivalist, preached here for several months in 1814. Rev. William R. Week, a graduate of Princeton College, and former teacher in the aea- demy here, received a call to settle in 1815, but de- clined. Rev. Amos Pettengill was installed here April 17, 1816; born in New Haven, a graduate of Harvard in 1807, he was cotemporary with Dr. Lyman Beecher, at Litchfield. He was dismissed January, 1822. Rev. Henry Robinson, a graduate of Yale in 1811, and of Anderson Theological Seminary in 1816, was ordained here April 30, 1823. He was dismissed Oct. 27, 1829. Rev. Vernon D. Taylor was installed here Jan. 26, 1831. During his brief min- istry of two years seventy-five were added to the church. He was dismissed Feb. 7, 1833. He was succeeded by Rev. James F. Warner, who was or- dained July 31, 1833, and dismissed Aug. 12, 1834. Rev. Ralph S. Crampton was installed here Dec. 3, 1834, and dismissed June 7, 1836. From June, 1836, to 1837, Rev. Stephen Hubbell supplied the pulpit here, and Rev. B. Y. Messenger from 1837 to 1838; Rev. Richard Woodruff supplied the pulpit here from 1838 to 1841; Rev. David L. Parmelee was installed here Aug. 25, 1841, where he remained pastor for twenty- four years, until the time of his death, which occurred June 27, 1865. In 1844 the present meeting-house was built at a cost of two thousand five hundred dollars, and in 1856 the Conference room at a cost of one thousand dollars.

South Farms was set off from Litchfield and in- corporated as the town of Morris in 1859. Rev. H. H. McFarland, a graduate of Yale, supplied the pul- pit here for two years from 1869, the church being without regular supply for two years, Rev. Mr. Par- melee occasionally officiating. Rev. Cyrus W. Pickett, a graduate of Yale, was employed two years. On May 1, 1867, Rev. Daniel D). Tompkins MeLaughlin, a graduate of Yale in 1837, and of Union Theological Seminary, New York, 1842, was installed here. In the early part of his ministry here the parsonage was secured at a cost of three thousand one hundred and twenty dollars. He was dismissed in 1871. Rev. Richard Gidman supplied the pulpit here from June 0, 1872, to July 1, 1875. Rev. Edwin Leonard came here Jan. 1, 1876. 1Ie is a graduate of Bowdoin Col- lege in 1847, and of Bangor Theological Seminary in '1850.

THE ADVENT SOCIETY

erected a chapel in the western part of the town in 1871, and maintain weekly services. Joseph Curtiss was their first prencher.

390

HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

Among the old inhabitants are the names of Gibbs, Ensign, Marsh, Harrison, Hull, Benton, Camp, Em- mons, Ray, Pierpont, Woodruff, Farnham, and Whit- tlesey.

JAMES MORRIS AND MORRIS ACADEMY.

James Morris was born in Litchfield South Farms, Jan. 19, 1752, graduated at Yale College in 1775, and soon after commenced the study of divinity with Rev. Dr. Bellamy, of Bethlehem, Conn. In May, 1776, while preceptor of the grammar school in Litchfield, he received from Gov. Trumbull an ensign's com- mission in the Connecticut troops for a six-months campaign in New York, which he accepted. In 1777 he was promoted as first lieutenant. In May he joined the army at Peekskill, and from there he marched in September with the army, under the im- mediate command of Gen. Washington, to Philadel- phia. He was captured at the battle of Germantown, and detained as a prisoner of war for a period of three and a quarter years. He was liberated Jan. 3, 1781. After this he accompanied the army under Washing- ton to Yorktown. At the close of the war he re- turned to Litchfield South Farms, and here spent the remainder of his life. In 1795 he was elected deacon of the church. He was often elected as representa- tive to the Legislature of the State, and held other important offices in the town. In 1790 he commenced a school in South Farms, which gradually extended its representation and influence until Morris Academy became celebrated throughout the country. While under his care more than sixty of his pupils entered college, and nearly fifteen hundred children and youth had been members of it, from twelve different States of the Union, and from the Islands of St. Thomas and Bermuda. The academy was incorpor- ated in 1819, and between 1790 and 1812 had more than fourteen hundred pupils of both sexes. He was assisted by able instructors, and many men of mark graduated here, among whom were John Brown, of Ossawatomie and Virginia fame, Rev. Dr. Edward Beecher, Rev. John Pierpont.

President Dwight, of Yale College, in his "Trav- els," gives the following interesting facts relative to this parish and the academy :

"Immediately above Watertown lies South Farms, the sonthern part of Litchfield. This perish is principally a collection of hills, which are high, moist, and excellent grazing-ground. The surface is pleasant, the houses good farmers' dwellings, of which a little village is formed around the church. The inhabitants are industrious and thrifty, and distin- gnished for good morals, good order, and decency of deportment. A flourishing academy has been raised of late, almost solely by the efforts of James Morris, Eeq., who is at once its founder and preceptor. This gentleman, soon after he had finished his education at Yale College, be- came an officer in the American army, in which he continued through- out the Revolutionary war. After the peace, his parents and hie patri- mony being in this place, lie was induced to establish himself here for life. At his retorn he found the inhabitants less enlightened and less refined than those of many other parts of the State. What in this coun- try is perhaps singular, they regarded him, both as a man liberally edu- cated and as an officer, with suspicion and alienation. At the same time he perceived, with not a little mortification, that they were in many in- stances ignorant and vicious. As he had been absent from his early

youth, his influence among them was to be created. With a disposition which cannot be enough commended, he determined to commence in form the work of a general reformation. After various experiments, sufficiently discouraging, among these who had arrived at middle age, he turned his attention to their children, and hoped, by communicating to them the advantages of a well-directed education, to furnish their minde with both knowledge and virtue, and thus to transform their character into amiableness and worth. For this henevolent purpose he founded the institution which I have mentioned. In this academy it has from the first been the commanding object to inculcate the best principles of morality and religion, and to require of the students unex- ceptionable depertment. The youthis of both sexes usually assembled here, from various parts of the country, are in number from forty to seventy. Mr. Morris has had the satisfaction of seeing his expectatione more than realized. Not only were the benefits of his design realized by the inhabitants of South Farms, but they are spread also through most parts of the country, and extensively through this and the neigh- boring States. This is one among the proofs furnished by experience of the power possessed by an individual of spreading around him, if prop- erly disposed, the best blessing of society."

Morris has an underlying strata of rock, cropping out continually at the surface. It is almost entirely free from low, swampy land; the air is pure, and free from all malaria, with good soil and excellent water, and very healthy, as the following statistics, compiled for the last five years, indicate. During this time but 55 persons have died in town ; average number per year, 11. During these five years but 6 persons have died of consumption contracted here. In five years deaths into which paralysis entered as a factor were 8; deaths from old age, or into which old age was a factor, 7; casualty, 4; cancer, 4; heart-disease, 3; dropsy, fever, diphtheria, and pneumonia, each 2; all other diseases, each only 1; average age at time of death, 55 years; 3 were over 90, viz., 91, 92, 93; 11 were 80 or over; 13 were 70 or over; 8 were 60 or over; 4 were 50 or over; 2 were 40 or over; 8 were 30 or over; 4 were 20 or over.

INCORPORATION OF THE TOWN-FIRST TOWN- MEETING.

Morris was incorporated iu 1859, and the first town- meeting was held June 27, 1859, when the following officers were elected: Phineas McCary, Moderator ; William H. Lawrence, Town Clerk ; W. L. Smeddley, Treasurer ; Alanson J. Pickett, David Benton, George A. Smith, Selectmen ; Joseph C. Peck, Daniel W. Waggoner, Frederick B. Hand, Constables; Alvah Clark, David Bentou, C. H. Alvord, Grand Jurors ; William M. Ensign, Samuel W. S. Shelton, William B. Ames, School Visitors; Nelson Edmonds, Henry Steel, Assessors; Ezra Judd, Charles A. Ensign, Bateman Smith, Board of Relief; Newton Smith, Garry H. Miner, Henry R. Ray, Justices of the Peace; Alanson J. Pickett, First Representative.

EXTRACTS FROM RECORDS.

The following are extracts from the records of South Farms society : March 14, 1759, the society voted " to pay Charles Woodruff six shillings for bears, to carry ye dead." In 1769 it was voted, " that we think the sealing ordinances are equaly sacred, and any person that is qualified for one is qualified for both." In 1770, " voted that we approve of the church vote,

DAN THROOP.

Dan Throop was a son of Benjamin and grandson of Joseph Throop, who was one of the first settlers of Litchfield County. Joseph Throop was of Scotch de- scent; was born in 1715; married Deborah Buel, sister of John Buel, one of the original proprietors of Liteh- field ; they came from Lebanon, where he lived until 1747, when he purchased land in Litchfield (South Farms), now Morris, where he raised a large family, several of whom emigrated to the Western States. IIe was identified with many of the early improvements of Litchfield. Soon after he came he erected a saw-mill on a stream running through his land, which is said to have been the first in Morris. The present mill, which is the fourth on that site, is using the dam he built. Some time later be bought land on the Bantam River, near where the Morris station of the Shepaug Railroad now is, and built a grist-mill, which was also one of the first mills in the county. The first mill he built was on a stream running by his log house, where he put up a small water-wheel which furnished power to drive the flax spinning-wheel of his wife. This pioneer couple lived to a good old age. He died Oct. 1, 1799, aged eighty-four; and his wife Feb. 11, 1811, aged ninety- four. Their children were Deborah, born April 22, 1741; Joseph, born April 22, 1743; William, born Dec. 26, 1745; Elizabeth, born Jun. 10, 1747; Dan, born Nov. 18, 1718; Benjamin, born Sept. 13, 1752; Martha,

horn JJuly 12, 1765; Rhoda, born June 10, 1758; Samuel, born Nov. 8, 1760.

Benjamin married Mary Burgess, and remained on Iand given him by his father. He was a " Minute-Man," and was called to Danbury at the time that place was burned by the British. Their children were Samuel, born Ang. 12, 1776; Irena, born Jan. 14, 1778; Calvin, born Sept. 19, 1779; Polly, born Dec. 8, 1782; Benjn- min, born Dec. 19, 1784; Joseph and Deborah, born April 8, 1788; James, born Jan. 19, 1791 ; Julina, born Nov. 29, 1793; Dan, born April 28, 1796; Abigail, born June 8, 1798.

Dan Throop, whose portrait necompanies this sketelı, married Olive Smith, Jan. 1, 1818, daughter of David Smith. He served in the war of the Revolution ; was brought home sick to his father's, in Litchfield. Dan Throop was a farmer, a man highly respected for his upright character and integrity. He lived and died upon the old homestead of his grandfather, and where his widow now resides with her son George. Monroe, the oldest son, lives upon the adjoining farm. They are carriage-makers and mill-wrights, and are among the most respected and reliable men of the town.

The children of Dan and Olive Smith Throop were Monroe, Altha, Elizabeth, Charles, George, Mary, Mor- ris, and Amelia.

P. W. CAMP.

Lyman & Griswold

391

MORRIS.

viz., that conversion should not be a term for admission for church communion." In 1776 the town granted to Thomas Waugh, and his heirs forever, the right to use a certain burying-ground in South Farms for pas- turing, " provided he or they shall keep up and main- tain convenient bars for the people to pass and repass for the purpose of burying their dead." In 1785 a new and commodious church was erected. In April of that year the society voted that "the meeting-house committee shall have good right to furnish rum, grindstones, and ropes sufficient for framing the meeting-house according to their best discretion ;" and in June an overseer was appointed to direct the issue of liquor at the raising, and a vote at the same time was passed that said overseer "shall give two drams a day to the spectators, one a little before noon, and the other a little before night."

REPRESENTATIVES FROM 1860-81.

1860-61, William B. Amies; 1862, A. J. Pickett; 1863, Horatio Benton; 1864, Garry II. Miser ; 1865, Sidney Peck ; 1866, Alvah Clark ; 1867, Chauncey H. Alverd; 1868, William Deming; 1869, Sidney Peck ; 1870, Samuel M. Ensign; 1871, Phineas B. Kandel; 1872, D. W. Waggoner; 1873, Garry H. Miner; 1874, Andrew W. Marsh ; 1875, Nelson Edwards; 1876, Hlemer Stoddard; 1877, Andrew W. Marsh ; 1878, Jemes M. Benton; 1879, Frank Il. Turkington ; 1880, leary II. Waugh ; 1881, Lucius E. Munson.

MILITARY RECORD .*

Barlow Marshall, 8th Regt .; enl. Feb. 23, 1864; died Aug. 2, 1864. Elijah Marshall, 8th Regt. ; enl. Feb. 23, 1864 ; must, out Dec. 12, 1865. Leander Marshall, 8th Regt .; enl. Feb. 23, 1864 ; died Aug. 25, 1864. P. Gray, 8th Regt .; enl. Nov, 17, 1864.

E. Gleason, 9th Regt .; enl. Feb. 17, 1864; disch. Aug. 3, 1865.

A. Rueggur, 10th Regl .; enl. Dec. 18, 1864; disch. Aug. 25, 1865.

W. Laughlin, 11th Regt .; enl. April 21, 1864; disch. Dec. 21, 1865. M. Laughlin, 11th Regt .; enl. April 21, 1864,

C. Foster, 11th Regt. ; enl. April 22, 1864; disch. Dec. 21, 1865.

E. L. Green, 13th Ilegt .; enl. Feb. 20, 1862; disch. Oct. 28, 1862.

J. M. Pierpont, 11th Regt .; com. Nov. 27, 1861, first lieutenant; pro. to captain ; disch. Nov. 12, 1862.

J. L. Iline, 11th Regt .; enl. Oct. 25, 1861 ; disch. Jan. 26, 1863. Charles Curtis, 23d Regt. ; enl. Sept. 15, 1862; disch. Ang. 31, 1863. William Scofield, 23d Regt .; eal. Sept. 2, 1862; drowned March 8, 1863. L. Smilth, 23d Regt. ; enl. Sept. 15, 1862; disch. Aug. 31, 1863. A. K. Taylor, 23d Regt .; enl. Sepl. 15, 1862; disch. Aug. 31, 1863.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

PHINEAS W. CAMP.

Phineas W. Camp was born June 9, 1809, on the farm where he now resides, in the town of Morris (formerly Litchfield South Farms). His father, Abel Camp, was born at the same place. This was the original settlement of the family in Litchfield, and was made by Abel Camp, the grandfather of Phincas W., who came from Waterbury, where he was born, July 11, 1748. HIe came to Litehfield when a young man ; married Sabra Marsh. Their children were Rebecca, born March 24, 1769; Sabra, born June 6,

1771; John, born March 19, 1773; Eunice, born Jan. 30, 1775; Phineas, born June 11, 1777; Lydia, born June 9, 1780; Susan, born May 8, 1782; Abel, born Dec. 28, 1787. Mr. Camp was a carpenter hy trade, a man of good judgment and strong common sense ; he commenced poor ; raised a large family. Phineas died when a young man. Mr. Camp lived to see all the other children married and well settled in life. He died May 8, 1825, leaving a good name and an ample competency for his family. His father's name was also Abel, and in his old age came to Litchfield to live with his son, where he died at an advanced age.

Abel, the youngest son of Abel Camp, received such educational advantages as were afforded by the common schools and Squire Morris' academy. When a young man he began teaching school win- ters ; he became quite famous as a teacher. Was a member of the Congregational Church, and took an active part in all church work, and was a deacon for many years; a man highly respected for integrity and personal worth. He married Deziah Pease, Feh. 22, 1808. Their children were Phineas W., born June 9, 1809; Harriet Mariah, horn April 15, 1811 ; Augustus P. P., born March 31, 1818. Abel Camp died Aug. 26, 1826, and his wife Aug. 26, 1876, on the farm where he was born, which has passed to the possession of their oldest son, Phincas W. Camp, who married Louisa B., daughter of Samuel McNeil, of Litchfield, March 18, 1835. The McNeils are of Scotch-Irish descent, and trace their genealogy to three brothers, -Archibald, Alexander, and Adam, who came to America previous to 1737. Archibald was a captain in the French war. IIe married Sarah Johnson, of Antrim, Ireland, of a noble family. They had four sons : the eldest was Archibald, born July 17, 1738 (as per town book of Litchfield); Isaac, the second son, was the father of Samuel, and grandfather of Mrs. Camp.

Phineas W. Camp is a farmer by occupation, an active and consistent member, a Sunday-school teacher, and deacon in the Congregational Church. His children are Lewis A., born April 15, 1836, mar- ried Lizzie James ; Samuel P., born Sept. 18, 1839, married Mary E. Kenney; Cornelia L., born Feb. 14, 1841, married Virgil H. McEwen. All live in Seymour, Conn.

LYMAN L. GRISWOLD.

Lyman L. Griswold, son of Jonathan Griswold and Betsy Barnes, was born on the farm where he now resides, in the town of Morris, Litchfield Co., Conn., June 20, 1818. His grandfather, Jonathan Griswokl, was a resident of Haddam, Conn., and came to Washington, Litchfield Co., Conn., where he married Elizabeth Weeks, of that town. Soon after their marriage, and before the Revolutionary war, they settled in Litchfield, now known us Morris. They

* For list of Nineteenth Regiment, see Chapter V.

392

HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

were farmers by occupation, as the most of their de- scendants have been. He was a teamster during the Revolutionary war, and his eldest son, Midian, was a soldier in the same. Mr. Griswold died in March, 1821, and his wife survived him some two years. Their children were as follows, viz. : Midian, Mary, Nabby, Adda, Lottie, and Jonathan, Jr.

Jonathan, Jr., was born in Morris, formerly Litch- field, Conn., June 10, 1775; married Betsy, daughter of Amos Barnes, and to them were born the following children, viz .: Mary A., wife of Samuel Catlin ; George W., John O., Horace B., Lyman L., and Frederick A .; all are dead except three. Mr. Gris- wold was a farmer in limited circumstances; in politics he was a Whig and Democrat. Mr. and Mrs. Griswold were members of the Congregational Church of South Farms. She died Sept. 7, 1846, and he died March 27, 1861.

Lyman L. Griswold, the immediate subject of this sketch, was the home boy. His advantages for an education were such as the common schools of his day afforded. Soon after the death of his father he came in possession of the home farm, which consisted of eighty-four acres, to which he has kept adding from time to time until to-day he owns some one hundred and eighty-eight acres. He married Rachel Prindle, daughter of Warren Prindle, of Cornwall, Conn., March 25, 1844. She was born Sept. 28, 1823. They have six children, viz .: Dwight, William (both farmers), Caroline M., Matilda, Phehe A., and Bertha E. In politics he has always been a strong defender of the old Democratic principles as taught by Jeffer- son and Jackson. He has held nearly all the offices in his town, with credit to himself and satisfaction to his constituents. He is a man of great energy and indomitable perseverance. He has always practiced the most rigid economy, and resides still on the farm of his ancestors. He is a man esteemed by all. As a citizen and farmer, he is regarded oue of the leading men of Morris.

ABEL C. TRACY.

Abel C. Tracy was born in the town of Washington, Litchfield Co., Conn., Jan. 15, 1820; grandson of Capt. Silas Tracy, who kept a public-honse at New Preston at an early day.

His father, Francis Tracy, married Clarissa, daugh- ter of Abel Clemens, who lived and died on "Mount Tom," in Litchfield. Abel C. Tracy was the youngest of six children, and less than three years of age when his father died, leaving the family in limited circum- stances. By the energy and courage of the widowed mother the children were kept together until they were old enough to earn their living.

At the age of eleven years Abel C. left the maternal home to earn a livelihood for himself, and from that time has been entirely upon his own resources. He has by industry and sagacity so managed his affairs

as to take rank among the substantial and influential men of his town. The business of his life has been that of a farmer. He has a fine farm, with pleasant surroundings; this has been secured by his own exer- tions. His first money was earned by working at thirty dollars per year. When twenty-five years of age he had saved seven hundred and fifty dollars. At that time lie purchased the farm where he now resides, and with that money made the first payment; has since added other lands, erecting fine buildings, etc.

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 93

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