USA > Connecticut > New London County > Norwich > History of Norwich, Connecticut, from its settlement in 1660, to January 1845 > Part 16
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Old Deacon Tracy, too, is assisted up those stairs and takes his seat by his minister, that his deaf ears may receive some few of the words of salvation.
Below the pulpit, in the broad aisle, are chairs and cushioned benches, where a few old people sit; the gallery is filled with the young, and with a choir of singers, which though mainly made up of young peo- ple, have several grave men and women for their leaders.
The services commence ; the sermon contains many pointed allusions to the critical state of affairs, and eyes sparkle and hearts throb, as the pastor sanctifies the cause of liberty by mingling it with the exercises of religion, and justifies resistance to oppression by argu- ments from scripture. Just as the sermon is finished, a loud shout is heard upon the plain, the trampling of a hurried horse, an outcry of alarm, which brings the audience upon their feet : uproar enters the porch, the bell is violently rung, several persons rush into the body of the church, and amid the confusion nothing can be heard ; but " a battle! a battle has taken place on - Bunker Hill : the British are beat ; hurrah ! hurrah !"' The meeting is broken up amid noisy shouts of " Huz- zah for Boston ! Huzza for liberty !" The audience rush out upon the plain, and gather round the panting courier : his despatches are read aloud,-rejoicing and indignation, patriotism and military fire, hatred of British tyranny and defiance of British power take
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the place of those quiet devotional feelings, with which they assembled together.
That night, bells were rung, cannons were fired, bonfires blazed far and wide, and the Tree of Liberty was decked with triumphant devices. Enlistments too were begun, arms were burnished, addresses made, and tories insulted ; nor even by these and a hundred other exuberant demonstrations of excited feeling, could the agitated minds of the people be scarcely appeased.
Among the audience that day, was a poor German basket-maker, named John Malotte, a deserter from the English army that took Canada, some few years before, who, wandering through the wilderness, had come down into the northern part of Norwich, and there pursued the humble occupation which he fol- lowed in his native land, before he had been impressed as a soldier, and sent away to fight the battles of a for- eign power. He was at this time but a spectator of the enthusiasm of others, but he too loved liberty ; he treasured up the scene, and more than forty years after- wards, described it for the amusement of a child, in such vivid colors, that the above picture is but a remem- bered transcript of his recollections.
Among the audience that day, were doubtless two, if not more, who did not sympathize in these patriotic proceedings, and were therefore stigmatized as tories and grumbletonians, viz : Mr. Thomas Leflingwell and Mr. Benjamin Butler, both men of talent and respecta- bility, who remained loyal to the king during the whole contest. They were of course exposed to many insults, public and private, prosecuted, imprisoned, threatened with the skimmerton, and their goods impressed. Mr. Leflingwell was the fourth, in a right line, from the first settler of that name. Mr. Butler emigrated from
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Hampton. He was arrested and imprisoned in 1776. on a charge of " defaming 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 inca- pable 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 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 expressive motto engraved by his own direction, upon his head- stone. His family removed from Norwich, to Oxford, N. Y. The accomplished lady of Commodore John Rogers, was one of his grand-children.
In April, 1776, the army from Boston, on their route to New York, passed through Norwich. Here General Washington, by appointment, met Gov. Trumbull. They dined together at Col. Jedidiah Huntington's, and Washington proceeded that evening to New Lon- don.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Continuation of Revolutionary Events.
THOUGH not on the sea-board, nor particularly exposed to invasion, the bustling scenes of war were exhibited in various parts of Norwich.
Dr. Church, a prisoner of the Continental Congress, having been delivered by Gen. Washington into the hands of Gov. Trumbull for safe keeping, the latter directed him to be confined in the gaol at Norwich. He was accordingly conveyed thither and given into custody of Prosper Wetmore, Esq. Sheriff of New Lon- don county. The orders respecting him were strict and minute. He was to be debarred the use of pen, paper and ink; no person was allowed to converse with him except in the English language, and in pres- ence and hearing of a Magistrate or the Sheriff; and he was not to go out of a close prison but once a week, and then only with the Sheriff in person. Subsequent- ly for his further security, a high fence with pickets was built around the gaol. He was kept in Norwich from Nov. 1775, to the 27th of May 1776, and then by order of Congress was transported under charge of the Sheriff to Watertown, Massachusetts.
Other prisoners of war, occasionally in large bands, were brought hither for confinement.
A battery and redoubt was built below the Landing on Waterman's point, for the defence of the place against invasion by way of the river : four six-pound-
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ers from New London were planted here, and a regu- lar 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 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 pounds each. He afterwards engaged in the casting of cannon.
In the summer of 1776 a row galley was built at Chelsea for the State, by Capt. Jonathan Lester. Her dimensions were " sixty feet keel, eighteen feet beam, five feet hold, and seven inches dead rising." The whole expense was £861, 16s, 6d. She was named " The Shark," and the command given to Capt. The- ophilus Stanton, of Stonington. Capt. Harding, of the armed brig " Defence," and Capt. Robert Niles, of the armed schooner "Spy," both belonged in Nor- wich. After the completion of the Shark, Capt. Les- ter with twenty-five carpenters under him, was sent by the Governor to Crown Point to build batteaux for the Lake, in compliance with a request of Gen. Schuyler. The Shark, in July 1776, at the urgent request of Gen. Washington, was sent to New York and left subject to his orders.
In 1777, Congress ordered two frigates to be built in Connecticut, under the direction of the Governor and Council of Safety, one of 36 guns, the other of twenty- eight. The former was built at Gale Town, between Norwich and New London, under the superintendence of Capt. Joshua Huntington.
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'The Oliver Cromwell, owned by the State, was built at Saybrook, 1776, by Capt. Uriah Hayden, assist- ed by Capt. Harding. Its first commander was Capt. William Coit; but he having resigned, Capt. Timothy Parker, of Norwich, was appointed to the command in September, 1777.
Capt. Ephraim Bill, of Norwich, was in the service of the State as a marine agent, and Capt. Jabez Per- kins, as contractor and dispenser of the public stores. The Governor and Council of Safety sometimes held their sessions in town. From these details it will be evident that the earlier years of the war, were seasons of very general stir and enterprize in Norwich.
In 1777, Connecticut raised eleven regiments ; nine for Continental service, and two for the defence of the State. Col. Jedidiah Huntington and Col. John Dur- kee of Norwich, commanded two of the Continental Regiments. On the decease of Gen. Wooster in that year, Jabez Huntington, Esq., (previously the second Major General,) was promoted to the office of Major General over the whole militia of the State. The five sons of Gen. Huntington, were all in the service of the country during the greater part of the war, either as commissaries, purchasers, or soldiers in actual ser- vice. Col. Jedidiah Huntington raised some battalions for continental service, to serve during the war or for three years ; these were distinguished by a British uni- form ; the State having appropriated to them a quan- tity of English red coats, taken in a prize vessel.
In the earlier periods of the contest, the town's quo- ta of soldiers was always quickly raised, and the necessary supplies furnished with promptness and lib- erality. The requisitions of the Governor were responded to from no quarter with more cheerfulness and alacrity. In September 1777, when extraordinary
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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, cxhorted the people to remember the poor soldiers and their families.
In January 1778, a general contribution was made through the town for the army. The ladies, with great industry, assembled to make garments, and bring in their gifts. The whole value of the collection was placed at a low estimate at £1400-[Continental mon- ey, probably ; real value, uncertain.]
" Cash, £25S ; pork, cheese, wheat, rye, sugar, corn, rice, flax, and wood in considerable quantities ; 386 pair of stock- ings, 227 do. of shoes, 11S shirts, 78 jackets, 48 pair over- alls, 15 do. breeches, 208 do. mittens, 11 buff-caps, 9 coats, 12 rifle frocks, and 19 handkerchiefs."
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.
Those who remained at home as well as those who went into actual service, were often called on to per- form 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 regu- lar soldiers, and endure the fatigue of the camp, but who were willing to go forth on a sudden emergency. The situation of New London was one of constant alarm, in which all the surrounding towns participa-
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ted. It was first 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 no company, in order and equipments, equalled the Light Infantry of Norwich, under the command of Col. Chr. Leffingwell. The veteran guards also turned out at this time under Capt. John McKall; they were soon after ordered to New York. Many times during the war, the militia were summon- cd to New London or Stonington, on the appearance of an armed force, or the rumor of one. If a hostile vessel entered the Sound, no one knew its commis- sion, and the alarm was quickly spread from the seaboard into the country. The dreaded foe perhaps hovered near the coast a few hours, made some start- ling feints, and then passed away. Orders were given and countermanded, and the wearied 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 Providence to the south, halted there for ten or fifteen days, on account of sickness 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.
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Gen. Washington several times passed through, but never stopped longer than three or four hours at a time. The inhabitants also had an opportunity of sce- ing La Fayette, Stuben, Pulaski, and other distinguish- ed foreigners then 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, Gen. Jedidiah Huntington, in a quick gallop. He wore a blue mili- tary coat, but no vest and no stockings ; his boots being short, his leg was consequently left bare for a consid- erable space below the knee. The speed with which he was travelling, 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 detach- ment of 2000 men under his command, and encamped them for one night upon the plain. In the morning, before their departure, he invited Mr. Strong, the pas- tor 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, August 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 was quartered for a few weeks in Lebanon, ten miles from Norwich. Col. Jedidiah Huntington invited the officers to visit him, and prepared a hand- some entertainment 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
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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 un- principled 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 friend- ship for La Fayette. He had ran 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 temper, and made himself very popular by his hilarity and generous expenditure.
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 asso- ciates was the Prince of Wales, afterwards George IV. On the death of his uncle, the Duke de Biron, he suc- ceeded to the title, quarreled with the court, and be- came a partizan of the Duke of Orleans. Afterwards he served against the Vendeans, but was accused of secretly favoring them, condemned, and executed the last day of the year 1793. Such was the future stormy carcer of this celebrated nobleman, who, as already mentioned, in the midst of friends and subordinates,
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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 Huz- zas for Liberty! Numerous loungers had gathered around the fence to get a sight of these interesting for- eigners, with whom they conversed in very good Eng- lish, and exhorted to live free, or die for liberty.
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 impossible to get a suffi- ciency to put up provisions for winter's use .*. The State government was obliged to send abroad for sup- plies of this necessary article, and distribute it to the various towns. It was then apportioned by the select- men to the districts in proportion to their population, and again dealt out by a committee to individuals.
Another scarce article was molasses. But in 1776, the people of Norwich, hearing that a vessel laden with molasses had arrived at Stonington, which be- Jonged to a family unfriendly to the cause of freedom, they immediately collected a spirited company of men, and 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 molasses was doled out to hos- pitals, and used for various public purposes. Forty hogsheads were distilled for the use of the soldiers ; thirty were sent to Portipaug, West Farms and New Concord, for safe keeping. The tory molasses, as it
* Mr. Butler, willing to have a little sport with his neighbors, put up a sign over his shop door one day, " Hard money to let, and old pork to sell." This of course brought every passer-by to a stand, these be, ing the two articles not to be found in the place.
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was called, was at that time considered a valuable acquisition.
The scarcity of wheat was a still greater evil. The authorities were obliged to enforce a strict scrutiny into every man's means of subsistence, to see that none of the necessaries of life were withheld from a famish- ing community by monopolizers and avaricious en- grossers. Each family was visited, and an account of the grain in their possession, computed 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 Porti- paug, 2 Newent and Hanover, 9 East Society, 27 Chelsea, 8 Bozrah."
The following certificate is also upon record.
" 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.
It is well known that during the Revolutionary war attempts were made to regulate the prices of articles by public statutes, in order to reduce the quantity of the cir- culating medium. In Connecticut prices were fixed by the civil authorities of each town, in all cases not determined by acts of Assembly. The list of articles to which the selectmen affixed prices, in the year 1778, will furnish data to show the various kinds of business then pursued in the town, as well as the current ex- penses of living. The following is an abstract.
" Farming Labour varied according to the season of the year, from 3s. 6d. pr day to 5s. 3d.
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Women's labor : nursing 9s. pr week; house work 5s. 3d. ; tailoring_2s. 4d. pr day ; spinning 1s. 2d. pr run.
House carpenters, joiners and painters, 7s. pr day.
Ship-carpenters, master-builders, 10s. 6d., finding them- selves.
Masons Ss. 9d .; master-riggers 7s.
Tailors, for making a full trimmed coat 21s., vest and breeches each 10s. 6d.
Paper-makers, finding themselves, if foreman 31s. 6d. pr week ; under workmen 26s. 6d.
Comb-makers; Horn combs 1s. 9d. ; crooked do. the same; ivory small tooth combs from Is. to 5s.
Tape-makers ; broad tape pr piece 6s. ; narrow 4s.
Block-making ; blocks for vessels 33s. pr inch, &c.
Coopering : Heart-white-oak hhds. 21s .; common white oak 17s. 6d. ; common black oak 14s. ; flax-seed tierces 5s. 3d. ; barrels from 6s. to 7s.
Button-making : best silver plaited coat buttons 6s. pr doz., &c.
Weaving : shirting width 2s. 4d. pr yd. ; yard wide linen 1s. 5d., &c.
Clothiers : Fulling, shearing, and dying with Am. dies, 2s. pr yd.
Currying and Tanning Leather : calf-skin 3s 6d .; curry- ing side 5s. 3d.
White oak bark per cord 32s .; black oak 2Ss.
Pewterers : Pewter quart pots 6s. 5d .; pint pots -4s. 4d.
Weaving stockings : men's pr pair 6s. 4d. ; women's 5s. 6d .; breeches patterns 10s. 10d.
Black-smith's work : plow irons 1s. 6d. pr lb. ; anchors 10d. 2qr. do., &c.
Wool cards pr pair 10s.
Saddlers : Good hunting saddle, leather housing, 105s. Women's saddles, common sort £8, 15s. Plain bridles Ss. 9d
Good beaver hats £3. 3s. Felt hats 12s.
Foot wheel complete 31s. 6d. Woolen wheel and spindle 17s. 6d.
Post writing paper pr quire 2s. Sd. Foolscap 3s.
Fire wood : In Town Plot, walnut pr cord 22s. ; oak 18s. 6d. ; at the Landing, at people's doors, pr cord 24s. ; oak 20s. ; in Newent, fire wood pr cord 10s. 6d .; West Farms wood pr load 6s. &d. ; Sth society 5s. 3d., &c.
Hay per ton in Town Plot and Landing, ( English herd
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grass,) £3. 18s. Flanders pr ton £3. 25 pr cent. added in winter.
Good sheeps wool 3s. per lb. Well dressed flax 1s. 6d.
Good mutton and veal .5d. per lb. ; turkeys and fowls 6d .; geese and ducks 5d. ; store swine 3}d.
Checked flannel, yd wide, 5s. ; checked linen do. 5s.
Men's yarn stockings pr pair 7s.
Potatoes, in the fall, 1s. 9d. pr bu. ; winter and spring, 2s. 7d.
Cider pr bbl, 9s. ; drawn off in the spring 15s.
Chocolate pr lb. 10s .; Hard soap Js. 2d. : Rice &d.
Allspice and ginger 3s.
River oysters 3s. per bu., 1s. 2d. pr qt.
Fresh bass and perch, at the Landing, 33d. pr lb.
Boat fare between Norwich and N. London, single person,
2s. 6d .; freight for hhd 6s. ; barrel 1s. 6d.
Pressed hay, at the Landing, pr ton, £5, 5s. Od.
Horse hire pr mile, for journey, at Landing 7d.
Goldsmiths : making gold necklace 35s. ; wrought gold pr dwt. 7s. ; Buckles, best open work, 21s. ; Table spoons, plain, 5s. 3d. ; Tea spoons 2s. Sd .; reversed and carved in proportion.
Best stock buckles 14s .; Knee buckles 14s. ; silver pr oz. wrought 9s .; Cleaning watches 5s. 3d.
Taverners : gill of Rum 1s., N. England do. &d. ; mug of flip or toddy made with W. India rum 2s. 6d., N. Eng. do. 1s. 8d. ; meal of victuals 1s. 9d. ; pottle oats 6d .; bowl sour punch 3s. ; best Madeira wine pr bottle 1Ss. ; French brandy and foreign Geneva 2s. pr gill. Signed per order,
SIMON TRACY, Chairman.
SAMUEL TRACY, Clerk.
" April 7, 1777. Voted, strictly to adhere to the law of the State regulating the prices of the necessaries of life ; and we do resolve with cheerfulness to exert our best endeavours within our sphere, to support the honor of that good and sal- utary law.
Dec. 29. Voted, that the town consider the articles of confederation and perpetual union proposed by the Continen- tal Congress wise and salutary."
1778. Abstract of instructions to the representatives of the town .-
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" 1. To use their influence to have taxes more equitable.
2. To have bills of credit called in.
3. Forfeited estates confiscated.
4. The yeas and nays on all important questions published.
5. Profane swearing punished by disability to sustain offices.
Oct. 1. Voted, to present a memorial to the General As- sembly, praying for a just and equitable system of taxation and representation."
Extract from the memorial :-
" The Poll-tax your memorialists consider at the present day, an insupportable burden on the poor, while a great part of the growing estate of the rich is by law exempt from taxation. The present mode of representation is also ob- jected to by your memorialists. They believe all who pay taxes and are of sober life and conversation, ought to have a voice in all public communities, where their monies and prop- erties are disposed of for public uses."
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