USA > Connecticut > New London County > Norwich > History of Norwich, Connecticut: from its possession by the Indians, to the year 1866 > Part 38
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Undoubtedly there were some among the audience who did not cordially sympathize with these patriotic proceedings, and would therefore be stig- matized as tories and grumbletonians. The brothers Robertson, printers of the Norwich Packet, were perhaps of this number. We may join with them Mr. Thomas Leffingwell and Mr. Benjamin Butler, both men of talent and respectability, who remained loyal to the king during the whole contest. They were of course exposed to many insults, public and pri- vate, prosecuted, imprisoned, threatened with the skimmerton, and their goods impressed.
Mr. Butler was arrested and imprisoned in 1776, on a charge of "de- faming the Honorable Continental Congress." His trial came on before the Superior Court at New London, and the fact being proved, he was prohibited from wearing arms, and declared incapable of holding office.
Mr. Butler regarded this sentence with indifference. He was a man of strong sense and original humor, and his company was much sought after on that account. He died of a lingering disease in the year 1787. A few years before, while in good health, he had selected a sapling, to have his coffin made of it when it should grow large enough ; but finding that it increased too slowly, he had the coffin constructed of other wood, and
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kept for a long time this affecting memento of his end constantly in his chamber. As he pined away, he would frequently put his hands upon his knees and say, "See how the mallets grow !" He lies interred in the Norwich grave-yard ; his wife Diadema, and his two daughters, Rosamond and Minerva, repose by his side. "Alas, poor human nature !" is the ex- pressive motto engraved by his own direction upon his head-stone .*
Col. Eleazar Fitch, whose home was in Lebanon, but who was inti- mately connected, socially and in the way of business, with Norwich, was also a noted loyalist. He had served in the French war under British officers, and was devotedly attached to the king's service. He therefore resisted the uprising in favor of liberty, and went into exile, settling at St. John's, New Brunswick. The wives of four citizens of Norwich, viz., Ebenezer Backus, Erastus Backus, Ebenezer Whiting, and Hezekiah Perkins, were his daughters.
A little later in the same season, Norwich Green witnessed another Sabbath excitement growing out of the conflict that had commenced. On the 6th of August, 1775, a courier arrived in the midst of divine service, and proclaimed in the meeting-house porch that three men-of-war and eleven transports had appeared in the Sound, and were plying near Fish- er's Island, just opposite New London harbor. The exercises ceased, the congregation rushed forth, and in the course of an hour a throng of able- bodied men were on their way to New London, prepared to assist in repelling an attack if any should be made.
It proved to be a foraging expedition sent out by the British, who then occupied Boston. The enemy destroyed all the shipping that came in their way, plundered Fisher's Island and the neighboring coast of Long Island of their stock, and departed.
* Minerva Denison, the wife of Commodore John Rodgers, was a grand-daughter of Mr. Butler. She was born at Norwich in 1784. The present Commodore John Rogers, U. S. N., is her son.
CHAPTER XXXI.
NORWICH DURING THE SEVEN YEARS WAR FOR LIBERTY. 1775-1783.
IN November, 1775, Dr. Benjamin Church was sent by Gen. Wash- ington under a strong guard to Gov. Trumbull at Lebanon, with an order from Congress that he should "be closely confined in some secure gaol in Connecticut, without pen, paper, or ink, and that no person should be allowed to converse with him, except in the presence and hearing of a magistrate or a sheriff of the county where he should be confined, and in the English language, until further orders."
Gov. Trumbull directed that he should be kept in custody at Norwich, in charge of Prosper Wetmore, sheriff of New London county. Here he was detained during the winter in strict and cheerless seclusion. Mr. Edgerton, the gaoler, was directed to build a high picket fence around the prison, and even within this inclosure Dr. Church was not permitted to walk but once a week, and then with the sheriff at his side. This was harsh discipline to a man accustomed to a luxurious, independent style of living.
Dr. Church was a Beston physician of considerable literary ability, who had written songs and delivered orations in favor of American liberty, and had been a member of the Provincial Congress in 1774. He was an associate of Warren and other patriots ; but in September, 1775, a letter written by him in cipher to his brother in Boston was intercepted and the contents found to be of a character so questionable that he was arrested and tried for holding a treasonable correspondence with the enemy. The letter, though it contained no positive treason, seemed to emanate from one who was feeling his way to treachery and dishonor.
Dr. Church was kept in Norwich until the 27th of May, 1776, when by order of Congress he was sent to Watertown, Mass. About the same time he obtained permission to retire to the West Indies, but the vessel in which he embarked was never heard of afterwards.
Norwich and some other towns in the eastern part of the State, remote from the sea-coast, were often charged with the safe-keeping of tories and other prisoners of war. Items like the following may be gathered from newspapers and public records :
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Aug. 26, 1776. Last Saturday a number of gentlemen tories* were brought to New London and sent from hence to Norwich.
-Ten persons arrested at New York and first imprisoned in Litchfield gaol have been transferred to Norwich.
Feb. 22, 1777. John L. C. Rome Esq. of New York, confined as a tory at Norwich, was released on his parole to return on request of the Governor and Council.
In August, 1776, the sheriff removed from New London to Preston twenty persons arrested in Albany for toryism. They remained at Pres- ton for several months, and were allowed to live as they chose at their own expense, most of them paying for their board by their labor. The tory prisoners at Norwich were often distributed in private families and allowed their liberty within certain limits.
In March, 1782, a company of sailors, eight or ten in number, that had been taken in an English privateer, and sent up from New London for safe-keeping, broke out of jail in the night, and after lurking three or four days in the woods uncaught, succeeded in reaching New London, and by stealth got possession of a fine new coasting-sloop, just fitted for a voyage and fastened to one of the wharves, with which they escaped,
The large number of tories arrested during the earlier years of the war suggests one of the great trials that beset the patriot cause : secret enemies, opponents at home, were like thorns in the side, or serpents in the bosom. They were often arrested, but seldom kept long in durance. After the detention of a few days or weeks, they were generally dismissed, on giv- ing bonds to return when called for, or upon taking oath not to bear arms against the country or to aid and comfort the enemy in any way.
In the summer of 1775, a battery or redoubt was built below the Land- ing on Waterman's Point. Benjamin Huntington and Ephraim Bill were directors of the work, but the labor was mostly performed by Capt. Lyon's company of militia,t that had been sent to Norwich on an alarm of inva- sion from vessels prowling in Long Island Sound. When the work was completed, four six-pounders were brought from New London, and a reg- ular guard and watch kept. For further defence of the place, two wrought iron field-pieces and several other pieces of ordnance were mounted, manned, and placed in the charge of Capt. Jacob De Witt.
William Lax established a manufactory of gun-carriages in town, and succeeded so well as to be employed by the State to furnish apparatus for
* In the accounts of the State Pay Table there is a startling item of £658 10s. 2d., drawn by J. Huntington of Windham, for rum and coffee, furnished to prisoners nnder his charge in August, 1777. This might lead us to conclude that either these gentlemen tories were very numerous, or that they were slightly luxurious in their habits and had . uncommonly indulgent wardens. But it is probable that the amount is given in a de- preciated currency.
t Capt. Ephraim Lyon of Col. Putnam's regiment.
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much of the cannon used by them. Elijah Backus, Esq., at his forges upon the Yantic, manufactured the ship anchors used for the State's armed vessels, two of which weighed 1200 lbs. each. He afterwards engaged in the casting of cannon. Samuel Noyes made and repaired guns and bay- onets for the light-infantry.
Capt. Ephraim Bill, of Norwich, was in the service of the State as a marine agent, and Capt. Jabez Perkins as contractor and dispenser of the public steres. The Governer and Council of Safety sometimes held their sessions in town.
Norwich was admirably situated to serve as a port of refuge to which vessels could retire and discharge their cargoes in safety. In July, 1775, the brig Nancy, owned by Josiah Winslow, a well-known royalist of Bos- ton, having on board eighteen or nineteen thousand gallons of molasses, was forced by stress of weather into Stonington harbor. It was no sooner known at Norwich that she had anchored near the coast, than her capture was decreed. Without waiting for the State authority, but with the sanc- tion of the Committee of Inspection, a spirited band of volunteers, in a large sloop commanded by Capt. Robert Niles, proceeded forthwith to Stonington, where they took possession of the vessel, and brought her, with the cargo, round to Norwich. They then made report of the affair to the Governor and Council, who approved of their proceedings, and sequestered the prize for the use of the State.
The tory molasses, as it was called, proved a valuable acquisition. It was doled out to hospitals, and used as a medium of exchange for public pur- poses. Molasses was a commodity which could only be obtained by cap- ture, and the want of it was one of the home felt privations of the war .*
The scarcity of sugar and molasses continued for several years. Va- rious were the substitutes contrived. Corn-stalk molasses is no myth or caricature, but a veritable resource of those trying times, and probably the best substitute that was brought into use. The stalks were cut when the ears of cern were just ripe for roasting or boiling, thrown into a mill, the juice pressed out and then boiled down until it became a tolerable syrup. It served at least to satisfy the natural craving of the appetite for saccha- rine matter, some portion of which in food seems to be requisite both for nourishment and delight.
In October, 1775, another merchant vessel was seized under circum- stances similar to those of the Nancy. She had a cargo of 8,000 bushels
* By the side of this fact, an order of the Governor and Council, May 4, 1777, for the distillation of 40 hhds. of molasses inte New England rum does not appear very · creditable. But spiritucus liquors were then regarded as absolutely necessary to the highest physical efficiency of soldiers and laboring men. Feb. 28, 1777, the Governor and Council ordered 250 hhds. of West India and New England rum to be purchased to supply the troops of the State. Hinman, 419, 441.
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of wheat, shipped at Baltimore for Falmouth, England, and was steering toward Stonington in distress, having lost her mainmast in a storm, when she was seized by an armed schooner belonging to the colony, and con- ducted to Norwich to secure her from recapture. She was subsequently sold for the benefit of the country.
A very great evil experienced during the war, was the high price of salt, and the difficulty of procuring it at any price. It was almost im- possible to get a sufficiency to put up provisions for winter's use. The State government was obliged to send abroad for supplies of this neces- sary article, and distribute it to the various towns. It was then appor- tioned by the selectmen to the distriets in proportion to their population, and again dealt out by a committee to individuals.
. Whenever a quantity of salt was obtained, it was disposed of with great care and consideration. One of the State ernisers having taken 300 bushels, it was deposited at Norwich, and in April, 1777, the Governor and Council directed Jabez Perkins to dispose of it to inhabitants of Con- neetieut only, to allow no family to purchase more than half a bushel, and small families to be supplied with less in proportion .*
Three years before the peace, salt was six dollars per bushel and bohea tea two dollars per pound, and this in fair barter, not continental bills. Common cream-colored cups and saueers were two dollars per half-dozen. Many persons in comfortable circumstances drank their daily beverage out of glazed earthen mugs.
The scarcity of wheat was a still greater calamity. Norwich of course shared in the general dearth, but the winter of 1777 appears to have been her only season of actual deficieney and short allowance. The authorities were obliged to enforce a strict serutiny into every man's means of sub- sistenee, to see that none of the necessaries of life were withheld from a famishing community by monopolizers and avaricious engrossers. Each family was visited, and an account of the grain in their possession, com- puted in wheat, was taken. The surplusage, down to the quantity of four quarts, was estimated. One hundred and twenty-six families were at one time reported deficient, viz .:
" 42 up town, 26 down town, 12 West Farms and Portipang, 2 Newent and Hano- ver, 9 East Society, 27 Chelsea, 8 Bozrah."
The following certificate is also upon record, and though without date, belongs to this season :
This may certify, that the whole number of inhabitants in the town of Norwich is hungry ; for the quantity of grain computed in wheat is scanty ; the deficiency amounts. to a great many bushels, as pr return of the selectmen unto my office, agreeable to the act of assembly. Certified by GALETTIA SIMPSON.
* Hinman's Am. Rev., p. 431, 441.
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
These facts in regard to the scant supply of the necessaries of life apply only to the earlier years of the war .* After 1780, the tide turned, and in Norwich, at least, the farms prospered, the mechanic arts flourished, and there was almost a superabundance not merely of the means of living, but of articles of luxury and display.
Those who remained at home, as well as those who went into actual service, were often called on to perform military duty. When most of the able-bodied men were drawn off, a Reformado corps was established, consisting of those whose age, infirmities, or other circumstances, would not allow them to become regular soldiers, and endure the fatigue of the camp, but who were willing to go forth on a sudden emergency.
Early in 1776, Capt. McCall and Lieut. Jacob De Witt enrolled and organized a fine company of Veteran Guards for home service, and defence of the State, should it be invaded. These were well equipped with arms in readiness for sudden emergencies. On the 12th of Angust, 1776, Gov. Trumbull issued an order to Capt. McCall to convene his company, and enlist as many as were willing, and to make up with others a company, not less than 93, and march immediately to New York, in the most con- venient manner by land or water, and there join the 19th regiment of Connecticut militia. This order was in consequence of a pressing requisi- tion from Gen. Washington for reinforcements.
The Veteran Guards were subsequently often called ont on short tours of duty upon alarms near the sea-coast, at New London, Lyme, or Ston- ington.
In 1779, a company under Capt. Ebenezer Lathrop, and another under Capt. Ziba Hunt of Newent, performed tours of duty at New London.
In 1777, Connecticut raised eleven regiments : nine for Continental service, and two for the defence of the State. Col. Jedidiah Huntington and Col. John Durkee of Norwich commanded two of the Continental regiments.
The army was in a great measure dependent upon importations from France, for a sufficiency of arms and ammunition. The following vote of the Governor and Council of Connecticut alludes to a fresh supply of these necessary equipments :
Sept. 26, 1777. It was voted that Maj. Gen. Huntington should be desired to cause to be made up 15,000 musket cartridges fitted to the new French arms provided for the use of the Continental army, and pack them in bunches of 18 cartridges each and lodge them in some safe place in the town of Plainfield.t
* At this very period of greatest scarcity, there was at least one distillery in opera- tion in the town, as we learn from the records of the War Committee, or Council of . Safety, Dec. 11, 1777, to wit :
" The Governor was desired to grant a license to. Caleb Huntington of Norwich to distil from rye, the spirit called Geneva, to supply the inhabitants of the State as far as he could, provided he retail the same at a reasonable price, not to exceed 15s. per gal- lon."
t Hinman's Rev. War.
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
In the earlier periods of the contest, the town's quota of soldiers was always quickly raised, and the necessary supplies furnished with prompt- ness and liberality. The requisitions of the Governor were responded to from no quarter with more cheerfulness and alacrity. In September, 1777, when extraordinary exertions were made in many parts of New England to procure tents, canteens and clothing for the army, many householders in Norwich voluntarily gave up to the committee of the town all that they could spare from their own family stock, either as donations, or where that could not be afforded, at a very low rate. The ministers of all the churches, on Thanksgiving day, exhorted the people to remember the poor soldiers and their families.
Every year while the war continued, persons were appointed by the town to provide for the soldiers and their families at the town expense ; but much also was raised by voluntary contributions. The following items from contemporary newspapers furnish examples :
" On the last Sabbath of December, 1777, a contribution was taken up in the several parishes of Norwich, for the benefit of the officers and soldiers who belonged to said town : when they collected
386 pr. of stockings, 227 pr. of shoes, 118 shirts, 78 jackets, 48 pr. of overalls,
208 pr. of mittens,
11 buff caps,
15 pr. of breeches,
9 coats,
22 rifle frocks,
19 handkerchiefs and £258 17s. 8d. in money, which was forwarded to the army. Also collected a quantity of pork, cheese, wheat, rye, Indian corn, sugar, rice, flax, wood, &c. to be distributed to the needy families of the officers and soldiers. The whole of which amounted to the sum of £1400."
Norwich, Feb. 15, 1779.
Yesterday a contribution was made at the Rev. Dr. Lord's meeting, for the distressed inhabitants of Newport, which have lately arrived from Providence, when the sum of three hundred dollars was collected for their relief.
March, 1780.
Mrs. Corning (wife of Mr. Joseph Corning now a prisoner with the enemy) being destitute of necessary clothing for her children, a number of the ladies of Chelsea, of the first character and respectability, appointed a day on which they assembled and spent the same in spinning, after which they presented Mrs. Corning with the yarn to a considerable amount.
The situation of New London was one of constant alarm, in which all the surrounding towns participated. It was menaced in December, 1776, when the hostile fleet found a rendezvous among the small islands in the Sound, previous to taking possession of Newport. All the militia in the eastern part of the State turned out to oppose the expected descent. It was observed, as band after band marched into New London, that na
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company, in order and equipments, equaled the Light Infantry of Nor- wich, under the command of Col. Chr. Leffingwell. Many times during the war, the militia were summoned to New London or Stonington, on the appearance of an armed force, or the rumor of one. If a hostile ves- sel entered the Sound, no one knew its commission, and the alarm was quickly spread from the seaboard into the country. The dreaded foe per- haps hovered near the coast a few hours, made some startling feints, and then passed away. Orders were given and countermanded, and the wea- ried militia, hastily drawn from their homes, returned again without hav- ing had the satisfaction of seeing the enemy, or of arriving on the spot before the danger was over.
Detachments from the Continental army frequently passed through Norwich. In 1778, a body of French troops, on the route from Provi- dence to the south, halted there for ten or fifteen days, on account of sick- ness among them. They had their tents spread upon the plain, while the sick were quartered in the court-house. About twenty died and were buried each side of the lane that led into the old burying-yard. No stones were set up, and the ground was soon smoothed over so as to leave no trace of the narrow tenements below.
Gen. Washington passed through Norwich in June, 1775, on his way to Cambridge. It is probable that he came up the river in a packet boat with his horses and attendants. He spent the night at the Landing, and the next day pursued his journey eastward. In April, 1776, after the evacuation of Boston by the enemy, the American troops being ordered to New York, came on in detachments by land, and crossing the Shetucket at the old fording-place below Greeneville, embarked at Norwich and New London, to finish the route by water. Gen. Washington accompanied one of the parties to Norwich, and met Gov. Trumbull by appointment at Col. Jedidiah Huntington's, where they dined together, and the General that evening resumed his route to New York, going down to New London by land.
The inhabitants also had an opportunity of seeing La Fayette, Steuben, Pulaski, and other distinguished foreigners in our service. There were some who long remembered the appearance of the noble La Fayette, as he passed through the place on his way to Newport. He had been there before, and needed no guide ; his aids and a small body-guard were with him, and he rode up to the door of his friend, Col. Jedidiah Huntington, in a quick gallop. He wore a blue military coat, but no vest and no stockings ; his boots being short, his leg was consequently left bare for a considerable space below the knee. The speed with which he was trav- eling, and the great heat of the weather, were sufficient excuses for this negligence. He took some refreshment and hastened forward.
At another period, he passed through with a detachment of 2,000 men
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under his command, and encamped them for one night upon the plain. In the morning, before their departure, he invited Mr. Strong, the pastor of the place, to pray with them, which he did, the troops being arranged in three sides of a hollow square.
Nearly fifty years afterwards, Aug. 21, 1824, the venerable La Fayette again passed through Norwich. Some old people, who remembered him, embraced him and wept ; the General wept also.
At one time during the war, the Duke de Lauzun's regiment of hussars was quartered in Lebanon, ten miles from Norwich. Col. Jedidiah Hunt- ington invited the officers to visit him, and prepared a handsome entertain- ment for them. They made a superb appearance as they drove into town, being young, tall, vivacious men, with handsome faces and a noble air, mounted upon horses bravely caparisoned. The two Dillons, brothers, one a major and the other a captain in the regiment, were particularly distinguished for their fine forms and expressive features. One or both of these Dillons suffered death from the guillotine during the French Revolution.
Lauzun was one of the most accomplished but unprincipled noblemen of his time. He was celebrated for his handsome person, his liberality, wit, bravery ; but more than all for his profligacy. He was born in 1747, inherited great wealth and high titles, and spent all his early years in alternate scenes of dissipation and traveling. He engaged in no public enterprise till he came to America and took part in the Revolutionary contest. The motives which actuated this voluptuous nobleman to this undertaking are not understood; very probably the thirst for adventure, and personal friendship for La Fayette. He had run the career of pleas- ure to such an extent that he was perhaps willing to pause awhile and restore the energy of his satiated taste. Certain it is, that he embarked in the cause of the Americans with ardor, bore privations with good tem- per, and made himself very popular by his hilarity and generous expend- iture.
After Lauzun returned to Europe, he became intimate with Talleyrand and accompanied him on a mission to England in 1792, where one of his familiar associates was the Prince of Wales, afterwards George IV. On the death of his uncle, the Duke de Biron, he succeeded to the title, quar- reled with the court, and became a partizan of the Duke of Orleans. Afterwards he served against the Vendeans, but being accused of secretly favoring them, was condemned, and executed the last day of the year 1793. Such was the future stormy career of this celebrated nobleman, who, as already mentioned, in the midst of friends and subordinates, enjoyed the banquet made for him by Col. Huntington. After dinner the whole party went out into the yard in front of the house, and made the air ring with huzzas for Liberty ! Numerous loungers had gathered around the fence
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