USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Norfolk > History of Norfolk, Litchfield County, Connecticut, 1744-1900 > Part 46
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"Mr. Benjamin Maltbie lived on the old line of the Greenwoods turnpike, a short distance east of Timothy Gaylord's tavern. He married Abigail, daughter of Reuben Munger. They had eleven children, most of whom went west. His son Elon spent most of his life on this place and died there."
"Mr. Edmond Akins, son of Mr. Henry Akins, lived on the green, the first house south of the meeting-house, where Mr. Elizur
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Dowd now lives (1857). He was a lawyer; had a son who went to Ohio, and a daughter who married Mr. Ashley, and lived in Hills- dale, N. Y."
Mr. Auren Roys lived in a house that stood where Rev. Dr. Eldridge's house now stands. He was a son of Mr. Nathaniel Roys, who earlier had lived where Mr. Daniel Burr and then his son, Mr. Silas Burr, lived. Nathaniel Roys died in 1832 in his 100th year.
Auren Roys was a goldsmith, and the later part of his life a druggist. For a time he had his 'apothecary shop,' as it was called, in the gambrel roofed house just north of Dr. Benj. Welch's, and later he lived in the house just north and in the rear of the meet- ing-house, and had his little shop just at the north-east corner of the house. This house was torn down about 1895. Dr. Royce, or Pa Rice, as he used to be called, had but one child, a daughter, who married a Mr. Salmon, and lived in Richmond, Mass. He was the author of the only history of Norfolk that has as yet been pub- lished, reference to which and quotations from which in this book will be often found. He was for nearly forty years Town Clerk and also Ecclesiastical Society's Clerk, until old age and impaired health forced him to resign. The remarkably neat, careful way in which for all those years he kept the record of the town and society is an enduring evidence of the character of the man-"Faithful in that which is least, faithful also in much." A few still remain who remember that row of saints, seatmates for many years, in the seat next north of the pulpit in church, who were always there, always sang every hymn, always showed that they were in a devout frame of spirit, and rarely fell asleep during the sermon. They were Dr. and Mrs. Roys, Mrs. Mary Gaylord, and Mrs. Lucy Case. Of them, if of any who ever lived upon earth, in the opinion of the writer it could be said, "Behold, Israelites indeed, in whom is no guile."
One or two well authenticated anecdotes will prove that "Man wants but little here below." In a Society's meeting in this town the question being discussed was, How much does a minister really need to support his family for a year? and different ones were asked how much of the standard meat,-pork, which was almost the only meat used,-do you use in your family? One re- plied, "In our family of three the past year we used eighteen pounds of meat."
The same man came in one hot summer's forenoon from work- ing in his garden, and in the presence of one of their neighbors said, 'Mother, I feel wearied, and I think it will be necessary that I have some luncheon.' He went to the pantry and brought out a tablespoon filled with custard, sat down, and with a teaspoon ate
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his luncheon with great apparent satisfaction, and when his repast was finished remarked, 'I feel very much refreshed.'
Dr. Auren Roys died Sept. 19, 1858, aged 85.
Mrs. Roys died Sept. 16, 1853, aged 82.
Another son of Nathaniel Roys, named David, was a gold- smith.
Mr. Ebenezer Burr, who was one of the original proprietors and first settlers of the town, lived just at the south end of the green, his first house having doubtless been built of logs; his second house, of the lean-to style, having stood a few rods south of what was later the Darius Phelps, and still later the Benjamin Crissey house. Mr. Burr was for some years a prominent man in town and church affairs; for a number of years after the organization of the town he was the town Treasurer, and was one of the committee who petitioned the Colonial Assembly for the incorporation of the town, which was granted in 1758, so that the inhabitants might have town privileges and enjoy the preaching of the gospel. He was the fourth generation from Benjamin Burr, the founder of the Hart- ford branch of the Burr family; son of John Burr of Farmington, Ct., where he was born July 9, 1712. His sons were Ebenezer, Oliver, Daniel and Aaron. Their descendants at one time were quite numerous in this town. There are five descendants of Daniel Burr in town at present, males of the name Burr, and a larger number bearing other names.
Ebenezer Burr died March 12, 1794, aged 82. Upon his tomb- stone in the Centre Cemetery is the inscription, "He shall come to his grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season."
Ebenezer Burr Jun., lived for a time on the old Goshen road, in what was later Stephen Tibbals house, still later Joel Beach's house, which stood not far from the site of the present Bridgman mansion. This house was probably built by Cornelius Brown, just at the foot of Burr Mountain, as it was called. He was a man who, according to the records, held several town offices. His entry into public life was made Feb. 3, 1762, when in town meeting it was 'Voted to give Ebenezer Burr Jun., five shillings to sweep the meeting-house and take care that the doors and windows are shut till the annual meeting next December.'
Dea. Mars says: "Opposite of Auren Roys, Capt. Darius Phelps, son of Mr. John Phelps, lived. He tore down the old house and built the house where Mr. Crissey now lives, a few rods north of where the old house was. He kept a tavern here for many years. He married Mary Aiken, Their children were Wilcox and Darius, mentioned elsewhere, and probably others." Mrs. Phelps, called by many people 'Aunt Mollie,' was a unique character. She was a
EBENEZER BURR
SILAS BURR
B. W. CRISSEY
FRANKLIN ENG CO
RALPH BROWN
1
PLUMB BROWN
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very constant attendant at church. One Sunday some trouble with her foot prevented her wearing her shoe, and so kept her at home. A large number of friends and acquaintances came to her house to spend the intermission between services, as usual, and the greeting from each one was, 'Why, Aunt Mollie, are you sick? You wasn't at meeting! When she had beard the same thing and explained until it had become monotonous she said, 'Half the people don't go to meeting half the time, but if I stay home half a day the whole town is in an uproar.'
The Masonic Fraternity often held their meetings in the ball- room at Capt. Phelps' tavern. Aunt Mollie was not wholly in favor of the order. Candidates for initiation used often to come into her sitting room and wait to be called up to pass through the ordeal. One night a young man sat waiting to be called, and Mrs. Phelps said to him, 'Are you going to join the Masons?' He as- sented, when presently she said, 'Then I must have my part ready.' So she stirred up the great bed of coals in the fireplace, brought in her gridiron and put it heating, raising it almost to a white heat. The young man thought that was proof positive that he should have to sit on a red-hot gridiron, as he had heard was the case. He very soon started out, not waiting to be called for initiation.
Capt. Darius Phelps died in 1818, aged 66.
His wife, Mary Aiken Phelps, died Feb. 16, 1846, aged 87.
"Mr. Isaac Balcom lived for a time in the house south, at the foot of the hill, near the brook." This house was built and occupied as a 'spinning house' for some years, as is mentioned elsewhere. In 1815 Major James Shepard came to Norfolk from Winsted and built a tannery on the brook, a little north of the old Robbins House, not far from the present Robbins School-house. He lived in the old 'spinning house,' long known as Mrs. Nettleton's house, now the home of Mrs. Peter Curtiss, and with a Mr. Starr did quite a business here for several years. In 1820 he deeded to Benjamin C. Cross "the land where I now live, with the dwelling-house and other buildings, bounded E., N. and S. on Darius Phelps, W. on highway, and one other piece where my tanhouse stands, bounded east and north on the highway, south and west on Joseph Battell's land. Said last piece has a barn and tanhouse standing thereon. Both pieces contain about two acres."
Major Shepard came to Winsted from New Hartford about 1800, with Col. Hosea Hinsdale, with whom he was associated in the tanning business until 1810, when, in company with Asahel Miller, he built the original tannery on the site of the George Dudley tannery. He came to Norfolk in 1815 and continued in the tanning business until 1820, when he commenced keeping a hotel in the house built and formerly kept by Capt. Ariel Lawrence,
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just opposite Dr. Welch's residence. A little later he bought of Aaron Hosmer the farm and tavern which was built by Josiah Pettibone, near Haystack brook. Here he kept hotel and was largely interested in the Hartford and Albany stage line, his house being a stopping point for all the stages. He lived here the re- mainder of his life and died in 1846, aged 71. He married a Miss Rockwell.
Their children were: John Andros, born 1802; kept the Shepard Hotel at the northwest corner of the green the greater part of his life. Laura Seymour, born 1804; died unmarried. James Hutchins, born 1806, for many years a merchant in this town; a very earnest Christian man, a staunch supporter and the main pillar of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He never married. Late in life he went to Wisconsin, where he died, February, 1895, aged 89.
Eliza, who was born in 1808, married Mr. Alfred Dennis of Newark, New Jersey, a prominent business man, a dealer in leather, in which business he amassed a large fortune. He was the first man to have a residence for summer only in Norfolk, having bought soon after 1850 the house which is now the parsonage, which he rebuilt in very fine style.
Samuel Shepard, born 1812; married a sister of Mr. Alfred L. Dennis. Kept the Beardsley House in Winsted several years. Died in Norfolk in 1872. His son, Edward Shepard, is a Professor in Drury College at Springfield, Missouri.
The house mentioned above "at the foot of the hill near the brook," where Mr. Cross, Major James Shepard, and later "the Widow Nettleton" lived for many years, and which is now the home of Mrs. Mary Aiken Curtiss, was built about 1790 for a "spinning-house" by a number of the prominent families of the town at that day, among them being Rev. Mr. Robbins, Mr. Giles Pettibone Jr., Mr. Grove Lawrence, and others. The ladies of the town, some of them, had their flax wheels placed there; power was brought from the brook to run their wheels, and these ladies did their spinning there instead of at their homes, where they had to furnish "foot-power" to run their wheels. Mrs. Julia Pettibone, who died in 1876 at the age of 89, often told her friends that when a child she used to go there with her mother and take care of the baby while her mother was spinning.
Dea. Mars says again: 'After leaving the house where Ebenezer Burr, Jr., lived, the road went south over the hill. There were three houses before the road came out, near where the railroad now crosses the Goshen road. Zebadiah Johnson, the father of Mr. Samuel Johnson, lived in the first house south of Mr. Burr's. This place has since been known as the Dutton and the Wooster farm.
'Next on the old road Mr. Aaron Brown lived. He went to
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Ohio and all his family.' This house was on the Spaulding farm, the old site being clearly visible still. Aaron Brown was the son of Titus Brown, one of the first settlers of the town, and a soldier of the Revolution. He died on this place in February, 1802, aged 88. His son, Titus, Jr., died May, 1782. Aaron was his only son who lived to maturity. He married Lucy Sturdevant and moved to Ohio in 1814. Their children were: Rhoda, born 1785; died 1797. Aaron, Jr., born 1789. Titus, born 1792. Ezra, born 1795. James Sturdevant, born 1801.
'Mr. Edmund Brown lived next south. I think he had no chil- dren.' Mr. Edmund Brown was one of the early settlers of the town; son of Abraham Brown of Coventry. The land records of this town show a deed of land to him in December, 1757, and an- other in January, 1758. He was born in 1735. Married Anna Burr May 9, 1764. They had no children, and he adopted his nephew, Edmund Brown of Manchester, who came to Norfolk to live with his uncle in about 1784, and who became a prominent resident of the town.
Edmund Brown, the elder, lived on the Goshen road, a short distance north of where the Winchester road branches off. His wife survived him a number of years.
The old house place, called the 'Aunt Anna place,' and a large rock by the side of the railroad track called the 'Aunt Anna Rock,' are still pointed out by those living in the neighborhood. From Edmund Brown and Titus Brown, the early owners, Brown moun- tain received its name, and more recently was named Sugar Hill, which name it still bears.
'In the fork of the roads where the Winchester road branches off, Mr. Ebenezer Cole lived. The house is still standing. He tended the gate towards Winsted in the latter part of his life, and from there went to Salisbury, where he died.'
'Mr. Ebenezer Norton's house, which has been torn down, stood next south, on the east side of the road, north of the Samuel John- son place. Some of Mr. Norton's grandchildren are still here (1857), the children of Esq. Edmund Brown.'
Mr. Ebenezer Norton was an early settler in the town. He married, December 24, 1769, Content Dowd, daughter of Cornelius Dowd, formerly of Goshen. Another daughter, Mabel Dowd, mar- ried Isaac Holt. Ebenezer Norton, Sen., died May 15, 1833, aged 91. His wife died December 17, 1824, aged 73. Their children were Chandler Dowd, who died in this town, unmarried, aged 29. Elisha, Isaac, Sally, Philura, and Mabel Holt, who married Esq. Edmund Brown, mentioned elsewhere, and Ebenezer, Jun., who married Philomela Parmeter. While their children were quite young they joined a large party and all moved, 'treked,' the Boers would say,
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to the Western Reserve,-the Connecticut lands in Ohio. They traveled all the way by ox teams, but after reaching their destina- tion Mr. Norton was not satisfied with the outlook, and he soon returned with his wife and little flock to Norfolk.
Not long after his return he died, and his sister, Mrs. Edmund Brown, interested herself in the care and maintenance of his family, who had been deprived of their principal natural protector. His son, William, was killed when a young man in the Seminole war in Florida. Chandler was a successful business man, who spent his life in Pompton, New Jersey. His daughter, Rebeckah, married Mr. John Gray of Stepney, Ct. 'His daughter, Sarah, married Mr. John Wayland of Trumbull, Conn. They had one son, Chandler Norton Wayland, who when a young man entered the Elton Bank- ing Company of Waterbury, and there continued until 1875, when he became president of Holmes, Both and Haydens, very extensive brass manufacturers, of Waterbury, and since that year has had his winter home in New York. In various positions of responsi- bility Mr. Wayland has exhibited unquestioned fidelity and dili- gence, and achieved a marked success. He has a beautiful summer home on one of the Thimble Islands, in Long Island Sound, which is a place of resort for his artist friends, authors and musicians. He is a musician of cultivated talent, possesses refined literary tastes, and a facile pen.'
'Mr. Joseph Plumbley lived where Mr. Samuel Johnson, and later his son, Harvey Johnson, lived, south of Ebenezer Norton's, on the Goshen road. They had but one child. They moved to Stephentown, N. Y.' Mr. Plumbley married Dolly, daughter of Titus Brown. They both lived to be over ninety years of age.
'The next were the Moses families, on south up the hill.' Joshua Moses, Jr., who was born in Simsbury, Feb. 24, 1727, came to Nor- folk, bought a piece of land of Joseph Mills in May, 1759, built a log house just south of what was known as the Thomas Moses place,-the present summer residence of Dr. A. S. Dennis; went back to Simsbury, married Abigail Terry, and brought her to Nor- folk on horseback, she riding on a pillion, and here they spent their lives. Their children were: Joshua 3d, who spent his life in this town; Abigail, who married Reuben Palmer, lived and died here; Jesse, who married Esther Brown, sister of Esq. Edmund Brown, and moved to Canaan Valley; Thomas, mentioned below; Ruth, Jonah, and Jonathan. The five sons married and settled for a time 'within the sound of their father's dinner horn.' Thomas Moses spent his life on his father's original place. He married Abigail Brown, a sister of Esq. Edmund Brown, and they reared a family of five sons and five daughters. Salmon, the eldest, born Dec., 1792, became a physician of note at Hoosick, N. Y. A letter written
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when a young man, to his mother, will be found below. Thomas Jr., Ralph, and Benjamin all died early in life. Benjamin Moses' daughter, Mrs. Hiram P. Lawrence, now resides in Winsted. Hiram also was a physician of note, at Petersburg, N. Y.
The daughters: Julia married Nathaniel Oviatt. Betsey, born October 1, 1805, married Halsey Hulburt. They settled in Medina County, Ohio, and became prominent, prosperous people. Mrs. Hulburt never returned to visit her early home. She lived to be 92
years of age. An account of her one trip to Ohio will be found below. Eunice married George Brown. Lived in Brooklyn, N. Y. Abigail married Lauren Foote. Ruth married Harlow Roys. Lived in Brooklyn, N. Y.
The following extract from a letter of Betsey Moses Hulburt will give an idea of what a journey to eastern Ohio from Norfolk was, nearly seventy years ago:
Westfield, Ohio, May 30, 1831.
Dear Sister:
We arrived at Westfield the fourteenth day after leaving home, rather fatigued. We set sail from near Albany Wednesday P. M. and arrived at Buffalo the next week Thursday; were on the canal- boat nine nights. The boat was very heavily loaded and we made but slow advance. We took the steamboat at Buffalo Friday morn- ing and landed at Cleveland Sabbath morning; from there hired a man to carry us to Westfield. It was said there was rising of five hundred passengers with their baggage, besides fifteen or twenty horses on the boat. It was very stormy going up the lake, and the boat so loaded that I was obliged to have my chest and one of the boxes on the upper deck. The water soaked through one end of the box and wet my linen most through; my bonnet likewise. The cover to the Bible was dampened through, but I think not much injured. I was very seasick coming up the lake, and for three days after I landed. I like the country quite as well or better than I expected. Have not been homesick in the least. The wheat looks beautiful and promises a fine harvest. They organized a Presbyterian Church here Tuesday, with twenty-seven members. It is not probable that they will have preaching much of the time. All the company I have days is my little white kitten, hopping about as lively as a cricket. Adieu for the present.
Miss Julia Moses, Norfolk, Conn. BETSEY HULBURT.
This was considered pretty rapid travelling, as it formerly took six weeks to make the journey to Ohio from Connecticut with ox teams. Now, 1900, the journey described in this letter can be made in less than twenty-four hours. Think of being on a canal-boat nine nights in making the trip from Albany to Buffalo. Now it
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would not be called a fast train that would require nine hours between Albany and Buffalo, three hundred miles.
Mrs. Hulburt, the writer of the above letter, never returned to her old Norfolk home, but in her Ohio home lived to see her great- grandchildren, and died in 1897, at the age of 92 years.
FROM A LETTER OF DR. SALMON MOSES TO HIS MOTHER.
The following extract from a letter of Salmon Moses, then a young physician, a son of Thomas Moses and Abigail Brown-Moses, his wife, cannot fail to interest some who may read this book, showing, as it does, that thoughtful young men then as now had their struggles, questionings, doubts and fears:
Hoosick, N. Y., August 25th, 1820.
"Dear Mother:
I received yours dated July 3rd, by which I find that you are anxious to be acquainted with my affairs, and the effects they pro- duce on my mind when not so prosperous as I could wish. As it respects business, I have as much as I could expect in my circum- stances. I have had no unfortunate cases in practice, but on the contrary some fortunate ones. However, I find that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding,-nor yet favour to men of skill. Though I have spent many years in getting knowledge and understanding, I find that it is of little worth in the minds of the people, without riches.
A poor man may by his wisdom save the lives of hundreds of his fellow creatures, even a whole city, yet that same poor man is not remembered. His wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard, because he is a poor man. See Ecclesiastes 9th, 14, 15 and 16th verses.
Such is the vanity and folly of people in these days that they imagine knowledge consists in wealth, and will pass by a dozen poor but wise men to hear the opinion of a rich man who is an ignoramus. I would not have you infer from this that I am losing ground, but that if I could have the appearance of having a little property it would be of great importance to me ;- but if the fates do otherwise determine, I do not intend to run crazy about it. I do not wish or intend to have any persons involve themselves in diffi- culty on my account, for I had rather suffer myself than be the cause of the suffering of others.
From your obedient son,
SALMON MOSES."
To Mrs. Abigail Moses."
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It appears that in her reply this mother referred her son to Ps. 1:6; Ps. 33, 20 to 22; Job 17:9; Proverbs 4:18; I Peter 1, 3 to 5.
Joshua Moses 3d, son of Joshua 2d, who was the first settler in this town of the Moses name, was born July, 1762, lived on the hill east from the Esq. Edmund Brown place, and died there Au- gust, 1820. He married Elizabeth Balcom, whose father came from Simsbury and settled on an old road that ran south from the Moses place through to where Mr. Meeker settled, in what was called Meekertown. The old Balcom house place is still plainly visible; many of the old apple trees still stand there, and the cur- rant bushes bear their yearly crop of fruit, although the house itself has been gone for more than half a century, and the occupants are all forgotten. A small pond half a mile or so south of this old place is still called "Balcom pond," from this Mr. Balcom. It is sometimes called "Dolphin pond," also, from an Indian named Dolphin who once lived near there. This pond is the source of the Naugatuck river.
The other sons of the first Joshua in this town were Jonathan, Jesse, and Jonah. The five sons originally 'settled within the sound of their father's dinner-horn,' but the three just mentioned moved away from town. Joshua Nelson Moses, son of Joshua 3d, lived on his father's old homestead until middle life, when he sold out to Curtiss Bradley, bought the old John Strong farm next north from the Thomas Moses place, where he died in 1858, aged 57.
'Next on the old Goshen road that went on from the Moses place over the hill was Mr. Asa Burr. His daughters, Diantha and Polly, are living in town (1857).' Mr. Asa Burr was a grandson of Ebenezer Burr Sen., mentioned elsewhere. The last descendant in this town of Mr. Asa Burr was gone at the death of Mrs. Mary Oakley Beach and her son, William Burr Beach.
Down the hill east from the Asa Burr place, where Mr. Joseph Bruey now lives, Captain John Bradley lived in the early days of the town. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, was at Saratoga at Burgoyne's surrender, and served in other campaigns. Mr. Norman Riggs remembered him well. Capt. Bradley had sons, Sylvester and Edward Curtiss, who were for a time well known in this town until they moved away. One daughter of Captain Bradley married Mr. Solomon Curtiss, a native of this town, and another daughter married Mr. Almon Howe of Canaan.
'The next house south from the Asa Burr place, on the old Goshen road, was that of Cornelius Brown.' He was a son of Cornelius Brown, who was one of the first settlers in Norfolk. He was born in Windsor, Jan., 1740, and came to Norfolk when only three or four years old. He married Mary Loomis; their children were Reuben, Abijah, Luman, Susanna, and Uriah. He died April 25, 1821, aged 81.
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Reuben Brown, born July 13, 1779, lived and died on the place where his father, Cornelius Brown, lived; married Huldah Griswold Oct. 2, 1805. Their children were five sons and four daughters. One son, William, died young, unmarried. The eldest, Seth Gris- wold, lived and died a short distance south from the place of his birth, and a son who bears his father's name lives on the same place.
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