History of New London county, Connecticut : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 118

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1317

USA > Connecticut > New London County > History of New London county, Connecticut : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 118

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It is added, "The above was unanimously voted and resolved. Attest, William Williams, clerk; and is recorded to perpetuate the sense the town have of their Liberties, etc., etc., by William Williams."

Here is the very spirit and tone of the Declaration of Independence, and this was six years before the Declaration of Independence was made; and these resolves and this declaration are as worthy of the town as that important instrument is of the country. And they do perpetuate the sense the town had of their liberties, and will perpetuate it; for those resolves have gone down into history, and were embodied, in- deed, in the men who acted here. They reveal the hand of the firm, fiery patriot, William Williams. They were undoubtedly drafted by him, as they are in his handwriting in the town records.

It shows the earnestness which then prevailed here, that in August of the same year, 1770, a town-meet- ing was called in reference to sending delegates to a general meeting of the mercantile and landed inter- ests at New Haven, to consider proper measures to support the "non-Importation Agreement," 'and the alarming conduct of New York in violating the same.

They voted unanimously to send two delegates to this convention. Made choice of William Williams and Joshua West, Esqs., a committee or representa- tives to the same. They then voted and passed the following declaration, instruction, and resolve, viz. :

"That it is the opinion of the inhabitants of this town that the non- Importation Agreement (so called) which has taken place in the Amer- ican Colonies,-is a virtnous, salutary and Patriotic measure, generously designed and powerfully tending to procure a redress of our grievances in the removal of the unconstitutional duties on America, and the most likely to prove effectual of any lenient, moderate, and lawful measures that can be devised,-to ensure that great and important end,-in which, We our country and all Posterity are and will be deeply interested and concerned ;- so that the political salvation of the country and a practical approbation of the principles which induced our Fathers' first emigra- tion hither- seem to depend on and be deeply connected with a strict adherence to and steady perseverance in that noble and generous reso- lution."

" That the conduct of the inhabitants of New York who had been famed for strict adherence to said Agreement, in falling from and violating the same, is very alarming, and gives the most sensible concern ; as a union of sentiment and practice of all the Colonies is of great importance to tho common interest of the whole, and that in our opinion, all prudent and lenient measures ought to be used to recover them to their former at- tachments, which, if they should fail of success, They ought in our opinion to be considered lost to every generous sentiment, and all dealings and commercial connection with them broken off by every Friend of his Countrie's welfare, but that (so far as to us appertain) we refer to the Wisdom and Prudence of the General Meeting of the Mercantile and Landed interests, to be holdon at New Haven, the 13th of September next, and we hereby instruct you, Gentlemen, to attend such meeting, to conform yourselves to our sentiment in the premises as before ex- pressed.

" And it is further voted and resolved that we will continue to adhere to the true spirit and meaning of said non-Importation Agreement, and that we will not purchase any Goods, Wares, or Merchandise of any per- son or persons in this or any neighboring town who hath or shall im- port the same contrary to said agreement, or hath or shall have pur- chased of such importer or such imported goods, but shall and will treat such person or persons with an utter neglect and contempt, which so base and perfidious a conduct justly deserves."

" The foregoing being unanimously passed, etc., They made choice of Dr. John Clark, Wm. Williams, Mr. Josiah Rockwell, Mr. Benjamin Bill, Capt. Elijah Sprague, Mr. Charles llinckley, Dea. Samuel Bartlett, Mr. Ansel Clark (persons from the different parts of the town) to ob- serve and inspect the conduct of all Persons in this town respecting their violating the truc intent and meaning of said non-Importation Agree- ment, and to use all lawful and prudent measures to prevent the same, and in their prudence and discretion, when they judge requisite, to pub- lish the Names of such Person or Persons, if any shall be found, who have violated and counteracted the same, and as occasion shall require, to correspond with the Committees of neighboring Towns for the like salutary purpose and design."

"Then - was asked whether he had purchased or not Tea of a Rhode Island importer; he owned he had tea from Rhode Island, etc., but yet he would not purchase any more there, or otherwise contrary to Agreement, etc., and would store what he had, etc., and thereupon the Town voted it satisfactory and dismissed."

This was evidently a hot place for Tories and half- hearted patriots.

The people here were in the midst of the events which were now hastening the great crisis of the Revolution, and were keenly alive to them. The day on which the infamous Boston Port Bill took effect, the 1st of June, 1774, was noted through the colonies. In Philadelphia muffled bells tolled ; in Virginia it was observed as a day of fasting, and the people thronged the churches. Through the Hartford Cour- ant of June, 1774, from a correspondent in Lebanon, we learn something of what was occurring here :

" LERANON, June 2, 1774.

" Yesterday being the 1st of June, the day on which the cruel edict of the British Parliament respecting the town and port of Boston took place, was observed here with marks of distinction. The bells of the town early began to toll a solemn peal, and continued the whole day. The town-house door was hung with black, with the act affixed thereto,

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and the shops in the town were all shut and silent, their windows cov- ered with black, and other signs of distress.

"Towards evening a respectable number of freeholders of the place and others (upon short notice) appeared at the Town-House, where the act was publicly read and observed upon, when the following address was made and resolutions unanimously passed :

"'Gentlemen, the occasion of our meeting is interesting and solemn. I hope we are niet together with dispositions suitable to the occasion. We are now, my brethren, to determine whether we will tamely submit to every act of cruel oppression or indignantly reject, and with manly resolution remoustrate to every instance of unjust power, by whatever hand attempted. Persuaded you cannot hesitate one moment in the choice of the alternative, I will propose the following resolutions :

"' That we do all at this time heartily sympathize with our brethren of Boston in the scenes of distress which this day opens upon them.

"' That we view with the utmost indignation the cruel act of unjust power which introduces this distress.

"'That we consider them as suffering under the hand of ministerial vengeance for their noble exertions in the cause of liberty, the common cause of all America.

"' And, That we are heartily willing and desirous to unite our little powers in whatever general measure shall be thought best for the se- curity and permanency of the just rights and privileges of our country, being determined, as far as we are able, to stand fast in the liberties wherein God has made them (us) free, and at the same time would nnite our ardent supplications to our Almighty Helper, the Great Father of the distressed, that American Councils may be directed by His wisdom to these measures that shall be most conducive to the desired end.'"

The speech and the resolutions bear the impress of the mind of Rev. Dr. Solomon Williams, father of William Williams, who in his old age retained his patriotic fervor, and dying the 29th of February, 1776, left to the town a sum of money to be used in aiding the cause of the colonies.

Such sympathy with the wrongs and distress of Boston, a sympathy universal through the country, and expressed in forms so impressive, so adapted to touch the popular feeling, powerfully tended to alien- ate the colonies from the mother-country, and to unite them as one people for the common resistance and defense.

The people of the town could pass resolutions, practice vigilance within their limits, and express by words sympathy for Boston, and they could do more. The alarm consequent on the battle of Lexington, April 19, 1775, stirred the citizens here as deeply as in any other place in the colony. It is said that on the Sabbath subsequent a messenger rode here on a foaming steed, entered the meeting-house in the midst of the services of worship, and beckoning for atten- tion, announced that the blood of their brethren had been spilled in battle and the crisis had come. The services were soon suspended, and the beat of drum called the citizens to take up arms and go to the as- sistance of those who were resisting the troops of Gen. Gage. This traditional incident, which comes to us on good authority, we can readily believe to have occurred.

An account of moneys paid by the colony to forty- nine towns for services and expenses in this Lexing- ton alarm shows the whole amount to be £7824. The sum paid to Lebanon was £339 0s. 6d., more than was paid to any other town, with two exceptions : Windham receiving £378 158. 5d., and Woodstock

£352 13s. 3d., these towns being nearer the scene of action.

The store of Jonathan Trumbull, which has since been called the War Office, and which is still stand- ing, was the centre from which the soldiers of this vicinity who at this time went to the relief of Boston were supplied; and it is said the Governor of the colony, his sons, his son-in-law, William Williams, labored with a crowd of neighbors and friends in preparing and hastening forward these supplies.

In the battle of Bunker Hill, the 17th of the sub- sequent June, Lebanon was represented. Capt. James Clark with resolute haste collected a company in this vicinity and hurried to the scene of action. On hear- ing the call men at once left their work and made ready for the expedition. "Miller" Gay, as he was familiarly called, was needed as a drummer. He left his hoe standing in the row where he was hoeing, and went to the house to consult his wife. She said go, and he started the next morning with the company.

They reached the low ground of Charlestown Neck on the afternoon of the 16th, having marched ninety miles in three days. The balls from the enemy's ships whizzed by them and rolled at their feet. One of the men, thinking he could stop a rolling ball, put out his foot, which the ball instantly took off.

In an orchard somewhat protected by the hill Capt. Clark found three companies without officers, one from Connecticut and two from Massachusetts. He ordered them to fall into line, and led them upon the hill to join the other troops ; and he and his men assisted in throwing up intrenchments on the night of the 16th, and fought in the engagement of the next day.

The year before his death, when he was in his ninety-fifth year, Col. Clark-known then under this title-was one of the forty survivors of the battle who were present at the laying of the corner-stone of the Bunker Hill monument by Lafayette in 1825, on the fiftieth anniversary of the battle. Lafayette, who during the war had repeatedly been in Lebanon, specially noticed Col. Clark, and in the warmth of his Frenchman's heart kissed him; and on hearing of his three days' march from Lebanon, and of his pressing into the engagement, said to him, " You was made of goode stoof"

The number of men whom this town sent into the war of the Revolution it is now impossible to deter- mine, so many of the rolls of companies are wanting. Some who have given most attention to the papers existing and to all the evidence estimate that there were periods when as many as five hundred were serving in the army at the same time. Some served for short terms,-three months, six months ; some were minute-men, called out when the towns along the coast, New London and New Haven, were me- naced or attacked. This would be one to about every eight of the inhabitants at that time. The quota of this town for the last war, from 1861 to 1865, was

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HISTORY OF NEW LONDON COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

206; and the population in 1860 being 2174, this would be one to about every ten of the inhabitants. About one hundred actually went from this town, one to every twenty-one of the inhabitants.

The town records furnish abundant evidence of the resolute effort made to meet the demands for men,- which came year after year as the war went on and tasked the resources and endurance of the colonies, -and to provide for the families of those absent in the army.

In the later stages of the war, when a given number of men was called for, the number capable of bearing arms had been reduced, and the enthusiasm which in the beginning had prompted men to enlist had sub- sided, the able-bodied men of the town between the ages of fifteen and fifty-five were divided into classes of the same number, ten, and cach class was re- quired to furnish a man.

After the religious services on the Sabbaths, and on Thanksgiving and fast-days, especially in 1777, con- tributions for the suffering soldiers were received in the meeting-houses, when jewelry and every article of clothing and provisions were presented, and the ladies, as individuals and in concert, with the dis- creet and earnest Madame Trumbull encouraging them and setting them an example, bore their part in these contributions.

How impossible it is for us in quiet Lebanon, as it now is, to picture what Lebanon was and what trans- pired here during the years of the war, the Governor of the State residing here, the counselor and friend and efficient helper of Washington; the Council of Safety, which aided the Governor and wielded exten- sive powers in the conduct of the war in this State and in this part of the country, holding here nearly all of its more than twelve hundred sessions held during the war ; messengers from the army and from Washington arriving at and leaving the War Office, bringing and carrying away dispatches; the Governor, with the agencies he employed, engaged in procuring and forwarding provisions, clothing, and military sup- plies, and these streets often crowded with activity of this sort ; for seven months at one period the Duke de Lauzun's legion of French cavalry here, some of them in barracks in a lot on the right of the Colches- ter road, called "Barracks lot," others of them on the Common, a little north of where we are assembled, where still can be seen remains of their ovens and camp utensils ; the soldiers now and then stealing wood, and a sheep, a pig, and convicted and punished ; a deserter shot; the duke and higher officers having quarters in the house (on the corner), in its original form, now occupied by Asher P. Smith, and some of the officers at Alden's tavern; these gentlemanly officers in their leisure flirting with the fair maidens of the place; gay festivities, at which distinguished guests from abroad were present, frequently occurring ; reviews of troops; Washington repeatedly here to con- sult with the Governor; Lafayette here, according to

Stuart in his "Life of Trumbull"; Gen. Knox, Dr. Franklin, Samuel Adams, John Adams, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, and others.

Lebanon was certainly then a centre of dignity and influence, and was the military headquarters of this part of the country.

With its other important contributions to the war of independence, this town contributed in Jonathan Trumbull a laborious and efficient war Governor,- at the beginning the only loyal Governor,-to whom Washington gave distinguished confidence, on whom he relied in the most trying emergencies, a man dis- creet, far-secing, inflexible in following his convic- tions, eminently God-fearing, and a true patriot; in William Williams a member of the Continental Congress in 1776-77, and again in 1783-84, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, ardent, self- sacrificing, passionate in his devotion to his country, one hundred years ago to-day he represented this State, represented this town, in that great proceeding in Independence Hall, Philadelphia; in Joseph Trum- bull a commissary-general, and the first commissary- general of the national army, whose brilliant career was cut short by an early death, hastened by his strenuous devotion to his difficult duties in organ- izing this department of the army ; in John Trum- bull an aide-de-camp to Washington, an adjutant- general to Gen. Gage, and a painter who acquired a distinguished reputation from his delineation of national scenes and from his portraits of distin- guished men of the Revolutionary period; in Jona- than Trumbull, Jr., a paymaster to the northern de- partment of the army, a first aide-de-camp and private secretary to Washington, a member of his family, and enjoying his high esteem. Capt. James Clark com- manded a company in the battle of Bunker Hill, and was in the battles of Harlem Heights and White Plains. Lieut. Andrew Fitch was in the battle of Bunker Hill, and in the service to the close of the war. John Wheelock, son of President Wheelock, of Dartmouth College, afterwards himself president, served as lieutenant-colonel in the Continental army, and was a member of the staff of Gen. Gage.

Lebanon has done well in the men whom in differ- ent periods it has furnished,-six Governors of States, five of them of this State, who held the office thirty- seven years, and one of them (William A. Bucking- ham) a second war Governor, and a worthy successor of the first; resolute, indefatigable, large-hearted, vigorous, and upright in administration, and of a character to command universal esteem and affection ; Trumbull and Buckingham ! names that honor the town, honor the State, honor the nation. In all the list of honored men from the beginning have there been abler, better Governors than the Trum- bulls, Bissel, and Buckinghams? Four senators in Congress ; seven representatives in Congress, and one of them, Jonathan Trumbull, Jr., Speaker of the Second Congress ; five judges of higher courts and

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two chief justices; a colored man in Prince Saunders, connected for a time with Dartmouth College, who was minister from Hayti to Great Britain, and attor- ney-general of that government; and a large number of ministers of the gospel and other professional men.

CHAPTER XLIX.

LEBANON -- (Continued). . REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS.

French Troops at Lebanon-Count Rochambeau-The Bourbonnois-A Deserter Shot-Mrs. Anna Hyde and the Assassin-Governor Trum- bull's House and War Office-Council of Safety-Trumbull-Sketch of the Family-Its Various Members-The Tomb of the Trumbulls.

French Troops at Lebanon .- Count Rochambeau was at Lebanon about the 1st of June, 1781, with five sparkling regiments of Bourbonnois on their march from Newport, R. I., to join the American army on the Hudson, and camped in Lebanon about three weeks. The Duke de Lauzun, with his legion of about five hundred mounted Hussars, was also quar- tered here from about Dec. 1, 1780, to June 23, 1781. Their barracks were on the slope of the hill west of the Trumbull house, and near the rivulet above the pond. A gay June for Lebanon was there when these six brilliant French regiments, with their martial bands and gorgeous banners, were daily displayed on the spacious and lovely village green. Gen. Wash- ington himself reviewed Lauzun's legion here on the 5th of March of that year, and highly complimented them and their commander on their appearance and discipline. He spent three days in Lebanon at the time in a long and close conference with Governor Trumbull, and it is believed that this conference re- lated to the plan of the Southern campaign, which resulted in the surrender of Cornwallis and his army and led to the final termination of the war, and that this confidential disclosure of that plan was one of the first which was made to any one, and was most heartily approved and encouraged by promises of efficient support by, Governor Trumbull. This plan was afterwards confidentially considered and perfected at a joint council of the American and French chief commanders, held at the " Webb House," in Wethers- field, on the 21st and 22d of May following.1

Deserter Shot .- While Lauzun's legion of hus- sars were quartered in Lebanon, in the winter of 1781, some depredations by his troop were committed upon the poultry, pigs, and sheep of the inhabitants, one of the latter being taken from the fold of even good old Parson Williams. When these complaints reached

the ears of the duke, in view of the fact that the people of the whole town had vied with each other in extending the most cordial hospitalities and furnish- ing the most abundant supplies to this whole corps, their chivalrous commander was deeply mortified, and resolved on its summary suppression. A few of the suspected hussars, from fear of consequences, deserted from camp and fled into the country. One of the more prominent of these was soon after recaptured and brought into camp about nightfall. A court- martial was immediately ordered, by which the sol- dier was tried that same evening, convicted of deser- tion, and sentenced to be shot, and was shot at sun- rise the next morning in the presence of the whole corps, who were ordered out to witness the execution. This summary example effectually ended all further depredations.

It is this legend that an ingenious writer of ro- mance has quite recently seized upon as the founda- tion of a very fairly written sensational story of love and mystery about this deserter and a mythical Pru- dence Strong, which was published in the New York Sun and extensively copied by other papers.

Mrs. Anna Hyde and the Assassin .- The story of the encounter between Mrs. Anna Hyde, the worthy housekeeper of Governor Trumbull, and a suspected assassin of the Governor is well supported by authentic tradition. One evening this good woman was greatly alarmed at the sudden entrance of an un- known man, in the guise of a mendicant, who stoutly persisted in seeing the Governor, then ill and in bed. She knew that to have gained entrance to the house the man must have eluded the sentinels on guard. She well knew, what all knew, that a price had been set upon the Governor's head by British authority ; that he had often been threatened with assassination by malignant Tories and their emissaries ; and he re- cords in his own diary that once, while at Newton, a malignant there said "he would kill him as quick as he would a rattlesnake;" and believing that the purpose of the intruder was the assassination of the Governor, the brave lady at once, seizing the large kitchen shovel in one hand and the tongs in the other, made such a vigorous onslaught upon him that he fled for safety and escaped in the dark from capture.

War Office-Council of Safety .- The house of Governor Trumbull stood originally and until 1824 on the north corner of Town Street and the Colches- ter road, on the present site of the Lyman house, and the War Office was west and near it, on the Colchester road. In the winter of 1823-24, Solomon Gilbert, who in 1821 had bought the premises of John Cham- pion, removed both the house and office a few rods farther north, to the place where they are shown in the accompanying view, and added the portico to the front of the office. The view is taken from a very accurate sketch by Barber in 1836. The Governor's house still remains there in good preservation, but the War Office was again removed, in 1844, a few rods farther north,

1 Gen. Washington enters in his diary, dated at Wethersfield, May 20, 781 : " Had a good deal of private conversation with Governor Trumbull, vho gave it to me as his opinion that if any important offensive opera- ions should be undertaken, he had little doubt of obtaining men and provisions adequate to our wants."

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HISTORY OF NEW LONDON COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

where it now stands. In this office Governor Trum- bull conducted his great commercial business, and through the war of the Revolution the Council of Safety, or War Council of the colony, held most of its sessions here, and it became by force of circum- stances not only the military but also the naval head- quarters of all the land and marine forces of the colony during that war. Governor Trumbull was

FI+

TRUMBULL HOUSE AND WAR OFFICE.

by virtue of his office commander-in-chief of all the land forces, and by special act of the General As- sembly in 1775 he was also made commander-in- chief of all the naval forces, with power to issue com- missions, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and to establish prize courts. Here also was one of the chief centres of communication between New England and the Southern colonies, and especially between the Northern and Southern armies.

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History of New London county, Connecticut : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 118

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1317

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1317