History of New London county, Connecticut : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 166

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 166


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).


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127 | Part 128 | Part 129 | Part 130 | Part 131 | Part 132 | Part 133 | Part 134 | Part 135 | Part 136 | Part 137 | Part 138 | Part 139 | Part 140 | Part 141 | Part 142 | Part 143 | Part 144 | Part 145 | Part 146 | Part 147 | Part 148 | Part 149 | Part 150 | Part 151 | Part 152 | Part 153 | Part 154 | Part 155 | Part 156 | Part 157 | Part 158 | Part 159 | Part 160 | Part 161 | Part 162 | Part 163 | Part 164 | Part 165 | Part 166 | Part 167 | Part 168 | Part 169 | Part 170 | Part 171 | Part 172 | Part 173 | Part 174 | Part 175 | Part 176 | Part 177 | Part 178 | Part 179 | Part 180 | Part 181 | Part 182 | Part 183 | Part 184 | Part 185 | Part 186 | Part 187


457


Warsaw, schooner.


341


Autumn, schooner


181


Boston, schooner.


220


Cincinnati, schooner


=


71


=


The frigate and sloop-of-war then set the Russian colors, and sent a boat to the "Hero," and when along- side the lieutenant presented an invitation from his commander for Capt. Palmer to go on board, which he accepted, and found that their ship was on a voy-


=


Newburyport, schooner


311


678


HISTORY OF NEW LONDON COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.


age of discovery around the world, sent out by the Emperor Alexander of Russia.


After an interesting interview, followed by an invi- tation from Capt. Palmer to the Russian admiral to visit Yankee Harbor, where the American fleet lay, where he might procure water and refreshments, which he declined, complimenting Capt. Palmer on the fine appearance of his vessel, adding that he thought he had discovered some new land, but now here we are in the presence of an American vessel. But his as- tonishment was yet more increased when Capt. Pal- mer informed him that away in the dim distance might be seen an immense extent of land. Capt. Palmer while on board the frigate was treated in the most friendly manner, and the commodore was so forcibly struck with the circumstances of the case that he named the coast far away to the south Pal- mer's Land, and by this name it is recorded on the Russian and English charts and maps. The Stoning- ton fleet returned richly laden with fur, and went back again the next season to the same latitude. Capt. Palmer, in the sloop "James Monroe," a vessel of eighty tons or more, traced his new-discovered land, finding the shore barred by fast ice firmly attached to the shore; after coasting eastward he returned to the fleet, and with them to Stonington, richly laden with furs. Soon after Capt. Palmer was joined by his younger brother, Alexander S. Palmer, who accom- panied him on several voyages, and both became distinguished navigators.


Capt. Nathaniel Palmer rose to a high position among the importers of New York, and gained their confidence to an unlimited extent, superintending the construction of their ships for the European and China trade, notably the "Great Republic." He was known and respected not only in this country but in Europe.


The scaling business so successfully begun by Capt. Fanning, Capt. Palmer, Charles T. Stanton, and others did not prove to be as profitable as the whaling busi- ness.


The following is an incomplete list of the vessels employed by Stonington and Mystic men in the sealing business :


Brig Frederick


Capt. Benjamin Pendleton.


Ifersilia ...


Bogatar.


E. Fanning. P. Shetfield.


Schooner Free Gift


Express.


Charles P. Williams. ..


Brig Enterprise.


.Stiles Stanton and Joseph E. Smith.


Schooner Eveline.


Joshua Pendleton.


Courier.


Edward Phelps.


Carolina


Summerset, elph. oil ..


.Pendleton & Faxon.


Thomas Hunt


Joseph N. Hancox. 46


Charles Shearer!


Brig Henry Trowbridge.


Schooner Montgomery


Joseph Cottrell, Agent.


Plutarch 44


J. E. Smith and Stanton Sheffield owned and suc- cessfully operated a marine railway at Stonington


Borough for several years, and finally sold it to the railroad company for terminal facilities.


Bridges and Ferries .- Stonington is the southeast town in the State of Connecticut, and is bounded on the south by Fisher's Island Sound, on the east by Paw- catuck River, separating it from the State of Rhode Island, on the north by North Stonington, and on the west by Mystic River, separating it from the town of Groton. While the sound and rivers furnished the planters with an abundant supply of shell and float- ing fish, the rivers obstructed the cross town travel and the planters in going east and west, and necessi- tated bridges and ferries.


As early as 1712, Capt. Joseph Saxton, of Stoning- ton, and Capt. John Babcock, of Westerly, prepared and circulated a brief to raise funds by subscription " for the building a good cart bridge over Pawcatuck River, to be erected and finished within eighteen months."


On the 8th day of April, 1712, the Governor and Council of Connecticut, sitting at New London, gave their consent to this method of collecting money for the erection of said bridge. It is not known when this bridge was completed, but as the conditions of the brief required it to be finished within eighteen months, it doubtless was completed within the time limited, else the subscriptions to the bridge fund could not have been collected. In 1720 this bridge needed repairs, and the General Assembly sitting in New Haven in October passed an order,-


" that there be paid out of the Public treasury the sum of ten pounds towards the good repairing of the one half of the bridge betweene the towns of Stonington and Westerly, in such manner and specia as the rates of this colony for defraying the public charge shall hereafter be paid in, and the remainder of the charge of the repairing of the said half shall be paid by the town of Stonington; and that the selectmen of said town shall take effectual care that the said half part of said bridge be well repaired forthwith.


" And whereas the town of Stonington are at no great charge about the bridges in the county and within their town. in comparison of what many other towns are, 'tis therefor ordered by this court, that after the said half part of the bridge is well repaired, it shall always be main- tained, and kept in good repair by the said town, untill this Court shall order otherwise."


The town of Stonington not relishing the idea of being compelled to keep the bridge in repair, and be- lieving it to be the duty of the colony and not of the town, neglected to repair it, nor did the colonial au- thorities move in the matter at all until the October session of the General Assembly of 1721, when they passed this act,-


"Whereas this Assembly has been certified that the bridge between Stonington and Westerly is so far gone out of repair, that the limbs and arms of travellers are endangered thereby, notwithstanding the provision made formerly by this Assembly for repairing it in conjunction with the Government of Rhode Island, upon which nothing has yet been done, and whereas the Governor upon Correspondence with the Government of Rhode Island, for that end has received a letter from Isaac Thompson, Esq., of Westerly, a justice of the peace, signifying that the Assenilly of Rhode Island has offered fifteen pounds to be drawn out of the Treasury, of that colony for repairing half the said bridge, and that he has the order of that government to cause the said money to bo applied to that service, if this government shall agree to repair the other half of the same. It is therefore ordered that fifteen pounds in the whole shall in


1 Lost at sea with all her crew.


Sarah


"


Express


679


STONINGTON.


like manner be drawn out of the Treasury of this Colony for the said end, and that it shall be put into the hands of Mr. John Noyes and Mr. Stephen Richardson of Stonington, who are hereby empowered to apply the said money to the said end, in conjunction with the said Thompson, or any other person who shall be employed, to apply the like sum to the repair of the said bridge on the behalf of the Government of Rhode Island.


"And the said Mr. Noyes and Mr. Richardson are hereby ordered to use their best endeavors to cause the said repairs to be made as soon as may be, and in the mean-time to endeavor that the said bridge may be so barricaded at each end as to prevent the hurt which travellers are in danger of."


Though the government of Rhode Island had as- sumed the liability of repairing one-half of said bridge, yet the colony of Connecticut did not intend by the act of their Assembly to expend more than ten pounds in repairing the bridge, so they supplemented their act of 1721 by the following proviso :


" And whereas it was ordered by this Assembly in October last, that the town of Stonington should be at all the charge for repairing one half of the said bridge above the sum of ten pounds, which was then ordered to be drawn out of the public treasury for that end.


"It is now ordered that instead thereof the townsmen or selectmen of said Stonington, do raise, in the usual manner upon the inhabitants of said town the sum of five pounds in money, and cause the same to be paid into the treasury of this colony at or before the first of May next."


In obedience to the order of 1721, the selectmen of Stonington, acting in conjunction with the Rhode Island authorities, repaired the bridge so as to make it passable. It was a slim concern, barely wide enough for a single ox-team to pass, but as all the travel of those days was on horseback (except by ox- team), it answered very well the purpose for which it was designed. The bridge then repaired lasted for about ten years. The town of Stonington still adher- ing to their belief that a bridge uniting two colonies should be erected and kept in repair by the colonies, and not by the town, that simply furnished the ground for the abutment thereof to rest upon, so they refused to repair the west end of the bridge, until it became unsafe and almost impassable, when, in 1731, the Gen- eral Assembly of the colony of Rhode Island passed an act relative to said bridge as follows : " Upon the petition of Capt. Oliver Babcock and Capt. William Clark, setting forth to this Assembly the necessity of rebuilding Pawcatuck bridge, which is now quite gone to decay, and rendered impassable either for man or horse; and praying that a sufficiency of money may be drawn out of the general treasury for rebuilding this government's part thereof. It is voted and enacted that there be allowed and drawn out of the general treasury a sufficiency of money for building the one half of said bridge, in case the colony of Con- necticut will build the other half, and that the colony of Connecticut be acquainted therewith." This act of the Assembly of Rhode Island was transmitted to Connecticut, and at the May session of its General Assembly the following act was passed : "Upon consideration had on the act of the General Assembly of the colony of Rhode Island, respecting the build- ing of a bridge over Pawcatuck River, ordered by this Assembly, that the secretary of this colony send a


copy of that act of this Assembly to the secretary of the colony of Rhode Island, made at this session in October, 1720, wherein the town of Stonington is or- dered for the future to keep in repair one half of the bridge over Pawcatuck River at their own charge; and that the town of Stonington take notice thereof and conform themselves accordingly." The town of Stonington did not readily yield to the act of the As- sembly, nor did they repair the bridge as ordered for several years. They were strengthened in their posi- tion by the act of the General Assembly of Rhode Island in assuming the entire expense of one half of the bridge on the part of that colony. They reasoned that if the colony of Rhode Island should build or re- pair the east end of the bridge, then the colony of Con- necticut should build and repair the west end of the bridge ; but the colony of Connecticut thought other- wise ; they said that because the town of Stonington was subject to less expense than most other towns in the colony on account of bridges that they should build and maintain one-half of the bridge over Pawcatuck River, no matter what the colony of Rhode Island should do in the premises. The town of Stonington still refused to repair said bridge, but the colony of Connecticut was equally determined that they should repair it at their own expense. This state of things continued until 1734, when at the October session of the General Assembly, and after a protracted discus- sion of the subject-matter, the following preamble and act was passed :


" Whereas this Assembly did at their session at New Haven, in October, 1720, order the sum of ten pounds to be paid out of the public treasury of this Colony toward repairing the half of the bridge between the towns of Stonington and Westerly, and the remainder of the charge thereof to be paid by the town of Stonington, and that the selectmen of said town should take effectual care that said half part of said bridge should be always maintained and kept in good repair by said town of Stonington until this Assembly should order otherwise. And whereas the said selectmen of Stonington have been very negligent in said affair, for want of some suitable provision in said act to enforce it, notwithstanding the little charge they are at to maintain any other bridges on the country roads. Be it therefore enacted by the Governor, Council, and Represen- tatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That in case the said town of Stonington shall not meet and complete the one half of said bridge within nine months next after, any one of their selectmen being dnly certified of the readiness of the Government of Rhode Island, or town of Westerly, to join with them in said affair, then the treasurer of this Colony upon due certification thereof shall immediately send forth his warrant directed to the Constable of said Stonington, requiring him to levy and collect of the inhabitants of said Stonington the sum of three hundred pounds, which sum so collected shall be paid to said treasurer by said Constable of Stonington within three months after his receiving said warrant, in order to be improved to the use aforesaid, and in case the said town of Stonington shall not main- tain and keep in due repair according to the aforesaid act, the one half of said bridge, after it is thus erected, they shall forfeit the sum of fifty shillings per week, to be collected in manner aforesaid, and it is further enacted that a copy of this act be forthwith transmitted to the Governor of Rhode Island."


This act of the General Assembly of Connecticut settled the matter, and during the years of 1734 and 1735 the said bridge was widened and substantially rebuilt by the colony of Rhode Island and the town of Stonington, stood for a good many years. About ninety-five years ago the Stonington approach was


680


HISTORY OF NEW LONDON COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.


raised and one of the sluices removed, shortening the wood-work some twenty-five feet. With repairs of timber and plank, the bridge so remained until 1873, when it was widened and sidewalks appended, and in this condition remains at present, subject to occa- sional repairs.


MYSTIC BRIDGE .- During the early settlement of the towns of Stonington and Groton, Mystic River was crossed by ferry-boats from Elm Grove Cemetery, in Stonington, to the Burrows' Half-way House, in Groton. Later, and down to the present century, the crossing was by ferry-boats from Parker's village, in Groton, over the river to Pistol Point, in Stonington. At the General Assembly of 1819 the Mystic Bridge Company was chartered as follows :


" Resolved by this Assembly, That George laley, Nathaniel Clift, Jere- miah Haley, Ebenezer Denison, Manasseh Miner, William Stanton, Ambrose D. Grant, Jeremiah Holmes, and such others as may be asso- ciated with them, be and they are hereby incorporated and made a body politie, by the name of the ' Mystic Bridge Company,' and by that name may sne and be sued : that said company shall have a clerk, who shall record all votes and by-laws of said company, and be sworn to a faithful discharge of his duty, and who shall be appointed by the president and directors of said company : that the said company shall choose a presi- dent and two directors, who, or a major part of them, shall manage all the concerns of said company. The stockholders of said company shall hold their first meeting on the second Monday of July next, at the dwelling-house of Ebenezer Denison, in said Stonington; and said meet- ing shall be warned by the petitioners before named, by publishing no- tice thereof in the Connecticut Gazette, printed in New London, two weeks successively before said second Monday of July ; and when met, the said company shall choose the aforesaid officers, who shall continue in office until others are chosen in their place and accept their appointment, and said company, when so as aforesaid formed, shall immediately raise suf- ficient money to erect a bridge across said river at the place already des- ignated by the committee who have reported thereon ; and when the commissioners on said bridge shall have accepted the same, they shall give the company a certificate of the same, adjust the accounts and all the expenses incurred relative to said bridge, and give them a certificate of the amount due said company ; and said company shall continue to keep up and maintain said bridge in good repair; and to reimburse them their expenses, with ten per cent. interest on the sums expended in erecting said bridge, shall have right and they are hereby authorized and empowered to erect a gate on or near said bridge, at which gate said company shall have right to collect for crossing said bridge the following toll, viz. :


"For each coach or hack, or other four-wheeled carriage, drawn cts. m.


by two horses abreast. 25 0 Each additional draft horse. 3 0


Each chaise, sulkey, or other wheeled carriage drawn by one horse ...


12 Additional draft horse


5 Each wagon drawn by two horses, loaded 12 5 3 0 is


Each light wagon drawn by one horse, with two persons or less. 8


Additional horse .. 3


Each loaded cart or wagon drawn by four beasts. 12 5


6


2


2


0 Man and horse. 5


() Foot person


3 Drift horse Neat cattle .. 2 0 0 0 0 Mules.


2


Sheep or swine, each ..


1


0


" Resolved, however, and it is hereby resolved, that the aforesaid rates of toll shall not be collected from persons traveling to attend public wor- shlp, funerals, or town, society, or freemen's meetings, and returning therefrom: officers and soldiers going to or returning from military duty ; persone going to or returning from mill for the use of their fami- lies ; all of which persons shall be exempted from paying toll, as afore- raid.


" Blonds shall be given to the Treasurer of this State to his acceptance on or before the last day of August next, in the penal sum of five thou- sand dollars, conditioned that said bridge shall be built by said company


to the acceptance of said commissioners by the first Monday of Septem- ber next, and in default of such bond this grant shall be void.


"The stock of said company shall consist of fifty shares, which shall be transferable on the books of said company, and each member of said company, present at any legal meeting thereof, shall have power to give one vote for each share standing in the name of such member, and the said stockholders, at any legal meeting, shall have power to direct, by major vote, the amount to be paid from time to time on the shares of said capital stock ; provided, that this act may be altered, revoked, or amended at any time hereafter at the pleasure of the General Assembly.


" The road on the west side of Mystic River, leading from the Mystic bridge to the old road, as laid and reported by the committee to this As- sembly at the last session, remain as laid by said committee till it comes six rods on the land of Ambrose H. Grant, and be thence discontinued ; that the former committee, viz., Moses Warren, William Randall, and Jolin O. Miner, be reappointed to lay out a road from the place last mentioned, where said road is discontinued, to the village at Parker's Ferry, four rods wide, and assess the damages to the owners of the land over which the road may pass, and report to this or some future Assem- bly."


The bridge was erected under the charter, and main- tained by the company as a toll-bridge down to 1854, when the towns of Stonington and Groton, at town- meetings legally warned and held for that purpose, voted to buy the bridge and franchises of the com- pany for eight thousand dollars, two thousand dollars in addition having been subscribed by the citizens of the villages of Mystic Bridge and Mystic River. Deacon B. F. Langworthy and Capt. John Holbridge, the representatives of the town of Stonington for that year, were charged with the management of the mat- ter before the Legislature in connection with the rep- resentatives of the town of Groton. During the ses- sion of the General Assembly for 1854 the following enabling act was passed, "authorizing the Mystic Bridge Company to sell their bridge:"


" Resolved, That the towns of Stonington and Groton be, and they hereby are authorized to purchase of the Mystic Bridge Company their bridge and drawbridge over the Mystic River, between said towns, at the price of eight thousand dollars; and in case said bridge shall be so purchased, the president of said company shall lodge a certificate to that effect in the office of the Secretary of State. And from and after the time said purchase shall be made, said bridge shall be and remain a public bridge, free for public travel, and shall be forever supported, and main- tained by said towns of Stonington and Groton together, with the draw therein, at their joint expense; and said draw shall always be maintained at not less than its present width, and the same facilities shall be afforded for the navigation of said river through said draw at the like joint ex- pense of said towns as are now furnished by said bridge company.


" And after said purchase shall be perfected, and said certificate lodged on file as aforesaid, the said bridge company shall be discharged from all liability for or on account of said bridge, and deprived of all right to col- lect toll for the passage of the same."


At a town-meeting legally warned and held on the 7th day of August, 1854, it was voted that Asa Fish and Richard A. Wheeler be a committee to join with the selectmen or committee of the town of Groton, appointed for the purpose of receiving the transfer of the Mystic bridge and all of its appurtenances from the Mystic Bridge Company to the towns of Groton and Stonington, in pursuance of a special act of the Legislature for that purpose, and in accordance with the vote of this town, passed May 12, 1854; also that they pay to the said company the sum of four thousand dollars, with interest from the 1st day of April, 1854, deducting the net tolls for the same time, and that


empty. G


2


Additional draft beasts, each.


0 0 = empty 66


681


STONINGTON.


the selectmen are to draw their orders on the town treasurer for the necessary amount to liquidate and pay the liability of the town of Stonington for the purchase of said bridge, and to employ a suitable per- son in connection with the town of Groton to tend the draw in said bridge and care generally for the same.


CHAPTER LXXXV.


STONINGTON -- (Continued).


BANKING AND RAILROAD INTERESTS.


THE first effort of the citizens of Stonington to ob- tain banking facilities was in the year 1805. A few prominent men associated themselves under written articles, which, when approved and adopted by the Legislature, were designed to become the funda- mental articles of the constitution of the bank, as follows :


" ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT between the subscribers to the Washington Bank, to be established in Stonington, Connecticut, are as follows :


" ARTICLE Ist .- The capital stock of the bank shall consist of not less than fifty thousand, nor more than one hundred thousand dollars, and shall consist of one thousand shares of fifty dollars eaclı.


" ARTICLE 2d .- The subscription shall be payable in four equal pay- ments, the first to be made on the 1st day of March next, when the sub- scription shall be closed, the second on the 1st day of May, the third at the distance of three calendar months from the second, and the fourth at the distance of three calendar months from the third, unless the directors shall think best to suspend or postpone the payment of the fourth pay- ment such time or times as the directors may think proper, in which case the directors shall give reasonable notice to the stockholders. The payment to be made in silver or gold coin current in the United States. If there shall be any failure of the first payment on any share, the sub- scription for such share shall be void. If there be any failure of the sec- ond payment, the first shall be forfeited to the bank, and the subscription shall be void; and in case of any failure of the third and fourth payment of any shares, the money paid in previously to such failure on said shares shall be forfeited to said bank and the subscription be void.


"3d .- The capital of the company shall not be employed otherways than in the ordinary course of banking business, and shall not trade in anything except bills of exchange, gold, negotiable notes, or silver bullion, or in sale of goods pledged for money lent and not' redeemed in due time, or in lands taken for debts previously contracted, nor shall the corporation take more than at the rate of six per cent. for or upon its leans.


"4th .- The stock of said corporation shall be assignable or transferable only at the bank by the stockholder owning such stock, or by his agent or attorney duly authorized for that purpose, in such way, manner, and under such regulations as may be instituted by the laws of said corpora- tion.




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.