USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Norfolk > History of Norfolk, Litchfield County, Connecticut, 1744-1900 > Part 2
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
New York once more began to read. Once more the drums beat. Silence! exclaimed Fletcher. Drum, drum, I say, shouted Wadsworth, adding, as he turned to Fletcher, If I am interrupted again I will make the sun shine through you in a moment. Fletcher was intimidated and went back in haste to New York, notwithstanding his threat not to do so until he had seen the King's order obeyed. The affairs of the colony advanced, marked by no occurrence that it would be proper to notice in so brief a sketch as I intend this to be.
Remember, the blessings which we enjoy cost a great deal. How much thought, deliberation, enterprise,-how much toil and suffering; how many minds and hearts and hands co-operated.
It is wonderful, also, to notice the indications of Divine interposition. How remarkably is that evident in raising up men just suited to the emergency, and bringing them on the spot at the critical moment. Were wisdom and sagacity required, the Winthrops, the Davenports, the Hookers, the Eatons were at hand. Did the emergency demand boldness and prompt action, then men like Captains Mason and Wadsworth started up. How much reason, then, for con- gratulation that the planting and early care of the colony was entrusted to such hands. But it was not the distin- guished leaders in council or in the field alone who were animated by the right spirit. The great body of the men whose names are not distinguished were the genuine material out of which to lay the foundations of a great nation. The intelligent yeomen, the high-hearted, virtuous women of that day, sustained and encouraged those whom they put in advance. But what was the secret of their wisdom and energy? They feared God. They saw clearly their rights and duties, and, trusting in Him, they had but little dread of men or kings.
They were respectful to legitimate authority; they obeyed the laws; but then they could not endure injustice and oppression.
It is plain that this colony and the other colonies were in
BUTTERMILK FALLS.
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
training for independence. This they did not know, al- though we can now see how certainly it was so. While colonies they in fact governed themselves. They came to regard it not as a privilege but as a right to do so. They were eminently a religious people. In all emergencies, before taking an important step, they looked to God. They set apart a day of fasting and prayer for Divine guidance. They did this when their charter was in danger. They did it when they were threatened by the Indians. O, that more of their spirit now animated us, their descendants, who have entered upon the great inheritance that they have be- queathed to us. When there is wrong in high places, when those in power decree unrighteous judgments, while we are doing everything else that our duty prescribes, let us also pray to the God of our fathers."
II,
SALE AND SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWN -BUILDING THE MEETING HOUSE.
BY REV. JOSEPH ELDRIDGE, D.D.
On Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 1857, Dr. Eldridge delivered his second discourse on the "History of Norfolk." This date was a few weeks after the beginning of the "Re- vival of 1857," in which he was most deeply engrossed, and to which he makes reference.
He said: "Last Thanksgiving Day I commenced a history of Norfolk, and gave one installment, which consisted of a brief sketch of the history of the state previous to the set- tlement of this place. Another installment I shall give on this occasion, but it will be more brief and imperfect than I could wish, owing to the fact that, being much occupied for a few weeks past, I have had but very little time to devote to its preparation.
The unsettled lands in the northwest part of this state were for a number of years the subject of a violent contro- versy. The parties in the controversy were the Colony of
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
Connecticut en the one hand and the towns of Hartford and Windsor on the other. Sir Edmond Andross, the emissary of James II., was expected in the country armed with authority to vacate the charter of the colonies of New Eng- land. In anticipation of this visit, and to secure the unsold lands from his rapacity, the Colony of Connecticut, by the act of its Legislature, passed January 26, 1686, made the towns of Hartford and Windsor the following grant: 'This court grants to the plantations of Hartford and Windsor those lands on: the north of Woodbury and Mattatuck, and on the west of Farmington and Simsbury to the Massachu- setts line north, to run west to Housatonic or Stratford river, provided it be not, or part of it, formerly granted to any particular persons, to form a plantation or village.'
The design of this conveyance was that these towns, that had never purchased these lands and had no ground of claim to them, should hold them for the colony until those days of trouble and danger should be past. But on the arrival of better times the towns of Hartford and Wind- sor set up a claim to all these lands, basing it on the afore- said grant, and proceeded to make sales of portions of them. A bitter controversy sprung up, threatening serious consequences. In October, 1722, the Assembly being in session at Hartford, individuals who had taken possession of lands under titles derived from Hartford and Windsor, were arrested as trespassers, and imprisoned at Hartford. A mob collected, broke open the jail, and released them.
Anticipating the most disastrous consequences from the continuance of the controversy, the Assembly, two years afterwards, 1724, appointed a committee to take the whole subject into consideration, and report some mode of amicably adjusting the difficulty. This committee at the end of two years reported that the lands be equally divided between, or half go to the colony and the other half to the towns of Hartford and Windsor. This report was substan- tially adopted by the Assembly, May, 1726, and subsequently secured by patent to Hartford and Windsor, the eastern half of the disputed lands, viz., that portion of them east of
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
Litchfield, Goshen and Norfolk, and reserved to the colony the western half, viz., Goshen, Norfolk, Canaan, Cornwall, Kent and Salisbury.
The question of title being settled, the Assembly pro- ceeded to survey and divide into townships its lands.
Norfolk, as thus laid out, is nine miles long, from north to south, and four and a half broad on an average from east to west, and is estimated to contain 22,336 acres of land.
The town was originally divided into fifty-three rights of land, each containing, on estimation 400 acres. Three of these rights the state reserved,-one for the benefit of schools, one to aid in the support of the minister, and one to be given in fee to the first orthodox minister who should be settled in the town.
Soon after these five towns, Goshen, Norfolk, Canaan, Kent and Salisbury, were laid out, the trustees of Yale College applied to the Assembly for a grant of land in aid of the institution, and in 1732 the Assembly made a grant of 1500 acres to the trustees-300 acres in each town.
The town of Norfolk was offered for sale at Hartford, the second Tuesday of April, 1738. No purchaser appeared. In 1742 it was again offered, at Middletown, but was not found to be in great demand, owing, probably to the fact that there were in the market lands of better quality in towns more eligibly situated. In May, 1750, the Assembly ordered what remained undisposed of to be sold at auction at Middletown the December following, but all of the rights were not sold till about four years later.
The town was incorporated in 1758, and then contained twenty-seven resident families. Each proprietor of a right was required to settle one family on his right within five years. In about three years the number of families in- creased to sixty, and soon after to seventy. Some of the original purchasers of rights, on seeing the land, forfeited their first payment of forty shillings on a right. The por- tions so relinquished were re-sold. The first town meeting was holden December 12, 1758. There were forty-four legal voters present.
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
I would here remark that I have been furnished with the genealogies of several families, and should be obliged for any others. These ought to be appended to the history of the town; also as full sketches as possible of individuals that have been any way eminent.
The important matter of religion received early atten- tion. The town and ecclesiastical society were one and the same body at that early day, and continued to be so for more than fifty years.
The first sermon delivered in the town was preached by a Rev. Mr. Treat, December 20, 1758. A Rev. Mr. Peck was hired the January following, 1759, and supplied the pulpit, or the people, with preaching for some time, for the meeting house was not then commenced.
In 1760, March 31, they invited Rev. Noah Wetmore to settle with them, but for some reason the Ecclesiastical Council did not approve of him, and the business fell through. The same year, 1760, after a probation of several months, they invited Rev. Jesse Ives to settle with them in the gospel ministry, but before the arrangement was consummated, in a personal interview with one of his pro- spective parishioners, the Rev. Mr. Ives lost his temper, and made use of some expression that disgusted the man, and when made known, the people also, and put a stop to the proceedings looking to his settlement here in the ministry.
In June, 1761, Rev. Ammi R. Robbins was invited to preach as a candidate. On the 16th of September following he received a unanimous call to settle with them in the ministry. As an inducement to accept their invitation, they offered Rev. Mr. Robbins the right of land reserved by the Assembly for the first minister settled in the place, and £62 10s. lawful money per annum for the first two years of his ministry, and afterward £70 lawful money per annum. Rev. Mr. Robbins accepted the proposal and was ordained October 28, 1761. At a town meeting holden six years after- wards, the consent of Rev. Mr. Robbins having been ob- tained, it was voted that the salary of £70 which had been previously paid in lawful money should thereafter be paid
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
in produce, to wit., pork, beef, wheat, rye, Indian corn, iron, cheese, tallow, either or all of them, at a reasonable price; and it was further voted that the town should appoint annu- ally five men as committee to agree with Rev. Mr. Robbins as to the price of the aforesaid articles; and in case the said committee and Rev. Mr. Robbins could not agree upon the price, then the committee and Mr. Robbins should choose three judicious, indifferent men to determine the price. This last committee was to be chosen as follows: Mr. Robbins should select one, the committee one, and in case the minister and town committee could not agree as to the third, then the two so selected shall choose the third. This arrangement was carried out during a period of more than forty years.
The history of the erection of the first meeting-house throws a good deal of light upon the pecuniary condition of the people of the town, and also their zeal and perseverance in their endeavors to provide for themselves the stated means of grace. This first house stood very nearly where this house now stands. In dimensions it was fifty feet by forty, and of suitable height for galleries, without a steeple. In 1759, two years previous to the settlement of Mr. Rob- bins, the house was raised and covered. In 1761, the year of his ordination, it was underpinned and the lower floor laid. Such was its condition when he was ordained in it. In 1767 the gallery floor was laid; 1769 the lower part of the house and the pulpit were finished. January 2, 1770, it was, in the words of the time, dignified and seated; that is, the places to be occupied by those of various ages determined, and individuals located in them, as is done now. The next year the galleries were completed, and a cushion for the pulpit procured. The outside was painted the color of a peach blossom.
This house was removed 1813. At the time of its erec- tion and for years afterward it was so shut in by hemlock and maple trees that to one coming from the south it was not visible till he had reached the lower part of the present green, which was much encumbered with rocks. In this
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
building, while it was in process of erection as well as after completion, the people assembled summer and winter. No attempt to warm it was thought of. Attendance on public worship was in a sense required, for the town appointed certain persons whose duty it was to see that every one should attend who was without valid excuse, and also that every family be furnished with a copy of the Holy Scrip- tures.
The church had no bell, and in those days clocks and watches were not very common. Some method of appris- ing the people when the hour for public worship had ar- rived was necessary. Accordingly I find in the town records that at a town meeting held June 24, 1760, the selectmen of the town were required to appoint some suitable person to give some suitable signal for the time to meet for public worship. This signal was for some time the blowing of a horn.
Near the meeting-house there were erected what were called Sabbath-day-houses. There is a record of a vote granting leave to John Turner, Jedediah Richards, William Walter, Eli Pettibone and Nehemiah Lawrence to build a Sabbath-day-house and a horse-house on a part of the land that had been purchased as a site for the meeting-house. Voted also to grant the same leave to any other inhabitants of the town. The object of these houses was to furnish the owners of them, and such friends as they were disposed to invite, with a warm retreat in winter during the interval between the forenoon and afternoon public services. These houses generally consisted of two rooms, ten or twelve feet square, with a chimney in the center and a fireplace in each room. They were generally built at the expense of two or more families. Dry fuel was kept in them ready for kindling a fire. On the morning of the Sabbath the owner of each room deposited in his saddle-bags, (for there was not a wheel vehicle for horses in the town until a comparatively recent period), the necessary refreshment for himself and family, and started early for church. He first called at the Sabbath-day-house, deposited his luncheon, built a fire, and
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
then at the hour of worship they went to the meeting-house and endured the cold during the morning services. At noon they returned to the Sabbath-day-house, the contents of the saddle-bags were displayed on a little table, and all partook. Then at the time of the afternoon service they repaired again to the meeting, and if the weather were very severe they warmed themselves again at the Sabbath-day-house before setting out for home; extinguished the fire, locked the door an.d went their ways.
The church was organized in 1760, the year previous to the settlement of Rev. Mr. Robbins, and consisted of only twenty-three members.
While thus providing themselves the means of religious instruction and improvement, and evincing such a sense of the importance of Christian institutions, though at the beginning the number of professors was not relatively large, the early inhabitants of this town were also alive to the value of education. Their interest in schools is very mani- fest from the records of the town, but their means were very limited and there was much to be done. The Bible, the New England Primer, Dilworth's Spelling Book and an elementary arithmetic called the Schoolmaster's Assistant were the school books in use. The children learned to write sometimes on birch bark and sometimes on paper, which was then a very scarce article. Ink was made of berries of sumach, and inkstands from the tips of cattle's horns.
It is very difficult for us to imagine the actual condition of things during the early periods of the history of the town. The face of nature has undergone a great change. A large portion of the hills and valleys were covered with a dense forest. The roads were few compared with what they are now; narrow, and for the most part in miserable condition.
They were bordered by the forest. The cleared portions were like patches on the general landscape.
The population was much shut up from the world at large. The state of the roads between towns rendered com- munication difficult. All teaming was done by oxen. No-
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
body used a horse except for riding under the saddle and pillion.
Cloth of every description was manufactured in the family. There was no cotton in use. Woolen and linen were the staples. The wool was carded, spun, woven and dyed at home. The flax was hatcheled and spun and woven there also. The old-fashioned foot-wheels are yet to be found in the garrets of many houses.
Communication by letters between different towns and different parts of the country was slow and uncertain. It was customary if a person was going to Hartford, Simsbury or elsewhere, for him to give out word some time before- hand, that any who might wish to send by him might have an opportunity to do so. The Hartford Courant was the only newspaper received by anybody for many years. It was brought by a post-boy, who rode on hoseback, once a week. There was no post-office in this town till 1803. The mail route from Hartford to Hudson was established some years previous. The mail was carried on horseback, and the letters for Norfolk were left at North Canaan post-office. Michael F. Mills, Esq., who died this year, was the first postmaster in this town. He had a table with a drawer divided into two compartments, one for letters to be sent and the other for those received. The information of events in different parts of the country travelled slowly, and it was often in the form of rumor, of which none had means of arriving at the exact truth. Intelligence from England was many months in reaching the colonies; and yet at the very time when the settlement of the town was commenced events of the most stirring character were taking place. The old French war was in progress. The colonies were exerting themselves to the utmost in aid of the mother country. Canada was in the hands of the French. In 1755 four expeditions were planned in England against the French on this continent: one against Fort du Quesne, at the forks of the Ohio; one against Nova Scotia; one against Crown Point, and one against Fort Niagara. Two of these expeditions were successful, and two proved failures. That
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
against Crown Point was one of the successful expeditions. The Connecticut troops, one thousand, under Major General Lyman of Goshen, were there. In that year Connecticut sent two thousand troops into the field. The next year she raised 2500. In 1758 Connecticut Colony voted to raise 5000 troops and £30,000, lawful money. The next year she raised the same number of troops and £50,000. It was thus, in the midst of such events, that our fathers laid the founda- tions of society here.
But I cannot go on further at present. We see much to commiserate in their condition, but also much to admire in their spirit and temper. Difficulties are good for men if they are of the right metal. It is in part to their very trials and hardships that our fathers were indebted for their practical energy and good sense. Thus they were prepared under Providence. to act so well their part, not only for them- selves but for their descendants, for their country, and for the world. I hope to continue this narrative hereafter. The day calls for the exercise of gratitude. To some it may seem that in the present condition of the country we have much reason for humility and penitence, but scarcely any for thanks. How abundant have been the harvests of the year everywhere; how general the prevalence of health; how undisturbed the land from serious internal dissensions, or threatening dangers from without. Does not all this furnish material for gratitude to the author of all our mercies. The very calamities that press upon the land, properly viewed, may be discovered to be mercies. The country was running mad in its eager haste for gain. Every- thing tended to materialize and degrade the feelings. The power of mammon was becoming greater and greater. Not only all elevated thoughts and sentiments were being crushed out, but under such influence crimes of every hue, fraud, deception, embezzlement, were becoming rife, and the public mind was coming to be accustomed to them as matters of course. A rebuke of some sort seemed to be necessary, something of sufficient force and extent to make a deep and general impression. By our follies and excesses
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
we, as a people, have brought upon ourselves such a rebuke in the Providence of God. The lesson will cost much, but let us hope that it will be worth much to individuals, to communities and to the land. It should lead men to reflec- tion on something else than mere gain, and prepare the way for a general revival of religion in the country. No blessing could be more precious. If such be the design of God, as I think there are grounds to hope, then we may indeed thank God for our very troubles." (How truly pro- phetic were these words.)
III.
EVENTS OF INTEREST IN THE TOWN UP TO THE TIME OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
BY REV. JOSEPH ELDRIDGE, D.D.
The next chapter in the history of this town, written by Dr. Eldridge, was delivered as a discourse on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 1859, as follows:
"In recounting the history of this place, I had reached, when I last spoke on the subject, the period of the 'Old French War,' as it was called; the war which England car- ried on against France from 1756 to 1763, and in which, aided by the colonies, she made conquest of Canada, wrest- ing entirely from the French government the whole of that vast territory. For this war, that resulted so favorably for Great Britain, the Colony of Connecticut had furnished, in proportion to her population and means, a larger number of soldiers and more money than any other colony; and as evidence of the strong sympathy of the colonies with the mother country, a day of public thanksgiving was observed throughout New England, on account of the success that had crowned the British arms. It is worth while to notice this circumstance, as we shall then be able to see how un- reasonable and how short-sighted were those measures adopted by the British government, that in a little more than ten years after the close of the French war, drove the
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VIEW FROM GYMNASIUM.
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
colonies into rebellion, and led on to the war of the Revolu- tion. In this interval between 1763 and 1775, the affairs of the town gradually improved.
The population increased, the lands were bought up, roads in different directions were laid out and opened. It is remarkable in looking over the town records to observe how much more frequently town meetings were holden than at the present time. There was a great deal of public busi- ness coming up and demanding attention. Then every- thing connected with the Ecclesiastical Society was done by the town. I will quote a few votes passed in town meet- ing that will serve as well as anything to assist us in re- calling those times. In a town meeting held in Norfolk April 23, 1762, lawfully assembled, Mr. William Walter, moderator, voted: That we will join with the town of Goshen in preferring a prayer to the honorable General Assembly to be holden in Hartford on the 14th day of May next, for liberty for a lottery to raise £100, lawful money, to be laid out in making and repairing public highways in said town of Norfolk. Voted, that Capt. Samuel Petti- bone of Goshen be agent for said town to put in a prayer for said town, and manage the affair at the said Assembly for said town.
This would indicate the scarcity of money.
At an adjourned meeting of the inhabitants of the town of Norfolk lawfully assembled December 9, 1765, Capt. Abraham Camp, moderator, it was put to vote whether the town would do anything further towards finishing the meeting house. The house was begun in 1759, and in 1765, when the question of doing anything towards finishing it was put to vote in town meeting, it was voted that they would do something towards finishing it. It had been enclosed and floored, but was yet without regular slips, without a pulpit, and without any galleries. It was voted that a rate of two pence on the pound should be raised on the list of 1765, to be paid in good and merchantable pine boards, to be delivered at the meeting-house in said Norfolk at £1, 4s, per thousand, or in good bar iron
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
at £1, 4s, per hundred pounds, to be delivered at the said meeting-house, all at or before the 5th day of Sep- tember next, to be used and disposed of toward finishing said meeting-house; and Messrs. Joseph Seward, Giles Pet- tibone and Daniel Humphrey were chosen a committee to receive said boards and iron, and improve them for said use. Mr. Samuel Cowles was chosen a collector, to collect said rate.
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