USA > Connecticut > New London County > Norwich > History of Norwich, Connecticut, from its settlement in 1660, to January 1845 > Part 22
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24
A Fourth Congregational church, which ought now to rank as third, was organized in the village of Greene- ville, Jan. 1, 1833, with twenty members. A meet- ing-house was built the same year. Rev. John Storrs installed March 12, 1834. Dismissed April 7, 1835. Rev. Stephen Crosby elected pastor by an unanimous vote, in 1837, but never installed, on account of the stagnation of business at that period, which gave a temporary check to the prosperity of the place. He continued to officiate as pastor, till his death, in June, 1838. Rev. Alphonso L. Whitman, the present pastor was installed Dec. 4, 1838.
A Fifth Congregational church, consisting princi- pally of a colony from the second, was gathered in Chelsea, June 1, 1842. Rev. Mr. Child was installed pastor Aug. 31, the same year. The society are now engaged in erecting an edifice for public worship, of Chatham free stone, in the gothic style, to have a tower in the corner 135 feet high. Estimated expense, $13,000.
321
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
BAPTISTS.
The earliest members of this denomination in Nor- wich, appear to have come from Groton, where the first congregation of Baptists in Connecticut was gathered. At least they imbibed their sentiments in that place. The first meetings were held about the year 1770, but the denomination increased very slowly, and though a small church was soon organized, they had no regular minister till 1800. On Christmas day of that year, Elder John Sterry was ordained pastor, and Mr. Dewey Bromley, deacon. The ceremonies were performed in the Congregational church at Chelsea. The first meet- ing-house was built in 1803, in West Chelsea.
Elder Sterry continued their pastor till his death in 1823. His successor was Elder William Palmer ; and to him succeeded Rev. S. S. Mallery, who was installed July 9, 1834. Mr. Mallery remained with them but a few years, and since his dismission they have had the successive ministrations of Rev. Josiah Graves, Rev. Russell Jennings, and Rev. M. G. Clarke. The soci- ety is now small, and is a second time under the charge of Rev. William Palmer. The present meeting-house occupied by this society was erected in 1830.
A Second Baptist church was gathered in Chelsea in 1840, and Rev. M. G. Clarke installed their pastor. A meeting-house was built the next year. This church now consists of about four hundred members.
Norwich has given birth to two of the most eminent men of the Baptist church, in America :- Rev. Isaac Backus, of Middleborough, Mass., and Rev. Thomas Baldwin D. D. of Boston. These were both descended from the first stock of Norwich proprietors. Dr. Bald- win was born at Norwich in 1753. The venerable Dr. Lord, of the town plot, was his grand-uncle. He remov- 2S
-----
322
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
ed in early life to New Hampshire, and there joined the Baptist connexion. At the age of thirty, he was ordained an evangelist, and was for many years a faith- ful and laborious itinerant preacher. He was after- wards invited to Boston, where he settled, and by inde- fatigable study and exertion, attained a high rank as a preacher, and confessedly stood at the head of the Baptist denomination in New England.
He died in 1825, aged seventy-one years.
The Rev. Isaac Backus, a distinguished Baptist cler- gyman, of Middleborough, Mass., was the son of dea- con Joseph Backus, of Norwich, and born in 1724. His mother was a strenuous separatist. He was him- self educated for a Congregational minister, but went over to the Baptist communion, with the greater part of his church, in 1750, and by his influence and writings contributed greatly to the establishment and prosperity of the Baptist cause in America. He died in 1806, aged eighty-two, having been a preacher nearly sixty years.
METHODISTS.
A grave-stone in the Chelsea burial ground is erected to the memory of Mrs. Thankful Pierce, relict of Capt. Moses Pierce, " the first member of the Methodist Epis- copal church in Norwich, who like Lydia, first heard the preachers and then received them into her house." This lady, while on a visit to some relations in Tol- land in the year 1796, met with the Rev. Jesse Lee, a noted preacher in the Wesleyan connection, and became deeply interested in his preaching ; and shortly afterwards, on his way to Boston, Mr. Lee stopped at Norwich, and preached the first Methodist sermon there, in her house. Other preachers followed, and classes were soon formed both at Chelsea and Bean
323
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
Hill. At the latter place, Capt. James Hyde and Mr. William Lamb were the most noted among the carly converts. In Chelsea, the society enjoyed for a while the fostering care of Mr. Beatty, a resident of the place, at whose house there was always preaching once a fortnight. But in 1804, Mr. Beatty, with several of his friends and their families, removing to Sandusky, the society seemed to be threatened with utter extinction, the only members of note that remained being two aged women-Mrs. Pierce and Mrs. Davison. They were however kept together, and their numbers enlar- ged, principally through the exertions of a young man, who became an exhorter, class leader, and finally a local preacher in their connection. This was Rev. D. N. Bentley, who for thirty years may be regarded as the main pillar of the Methodist church in Chelsea. In 1811, a new class was formed, and a chapel built on the wharf bridge, which was swept off and destroyed by a freshet of the river, in the spring of 1823. The next church was erected at the Falls village, and thither the members from the Landing resorted for public worship, forming but one church and society, till 1835. A large and convenient edifice was then erected in East Chelsea, and a separation took place. Previous to this, the society on Bean Hill had erected a church, and a fourth has since been built at Greene- ville. These are all flourishing, though not large societies.
UNIVERSALISTS.
The first organization of this denomination as a society was in 1820. A meeting-house was erected in 1822, in which services were held, though with fre- quent interruptions, for a few years. The society then very much declined. In 1838, a church was regularly
324
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
organized, and a new edifice for public worship was completed in 1841, on the site of the old one. The position is beautiful, the structure a pleasing one to the eye, and finished in handsome style.
Since 1838, the church has been under the charge of three successive pastors. Rev. Henry Lyon, Rev. J. V. Wilson, and Rev. R. O. Williams.
It is understood that this society are Unitarians in doctrine, and believe that all punishment is confined to this life.
In 1844, a small Roman Catholic Church was built in Norwich, between Chelsea and Greeneville.
NORWICH CITY.
Norwich was one of the five cities incorporated by the Legislature, at the May session, in 1784. The boundaries included the First or Town Plot society and Chelsea.
The Mayor was at first chosen for an indefinite term. The succession is as follows :
1. Benjamin Huntington ; elected July 13, 1784, and held his office till he resigned, 1796.
2. John McLarran Breed; elected April 18, 1796. Mr. Breed was a distinguished lawyer and an estima- ble man. He was descended from Allen Breed, who emigrated from England in 1630, and settled at Lynn, Massachusetts. Gershom Breed, the first of the name in Norwich, appears on the records as early as 1750. He engaged in commerce and merchandize, and was a useful and active citizen. His three sons were John McLarran, Shubael and Simcon, all now numbered with the dead. Mr. Mayor Breed died after a long and distressing illness, in June, 179S.
3. Elisha Hyde ; elected June 11, 179S, and served till his death. Mr. Hyde was a lawyer of considera-
325
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
ble repute, and a man of great urbanity and kindness of heart. He was born in 1751, and died December 16, 1813. His wife was Ann, daughter of Amos Hallam, of New London. They had two daugh- ters but no son. His youngest daughter Ann Maria, died soon after her father at the age of twenty-four. Of this lovely and accomplished maiden, a memoir was published by the companion of her youth-" who from life's opening pilgrimage had walked with her in the intimacy of a twin-being."*
4. Hon. Calvin Goddard ; elected February 7, 1814, and held the office until 1831. Mr. Goddard was born at Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, in 1768. After being admitted to the bar in 1790, he settled at Plainfield, Connecticut. In 1801, he was elected a member of Congress, and was re-elected a second and third time, but resigned his seat in 1805. Two years afterwards, he removed to Norwich, having purchased that beauti- ful seat which includes in its domain, the burial ground of the Mohegan Sachems. In 1815, he was elected a Judge of the Superior Court, and held it till displaced three years afterwards by the changes consequent upon a political revolution in the State.
Since the year 1831, the Mayor has been annually elected.
5. Hon. James Lanman ; elected June 6, 1831, and held the office three years. Mr. Lanman's father emi- grated from Plymouth, and settled in Norwich about the year 1750. In 1764, he married Sarah Coit, of Preston. His sons were James, Peter, Samuel and Joseph. Mr. James Lanman engaged in the practice of law in his native town, and filled several important public offices, among which was judge of the Superior Court, and Senator in Congress.
* I .. Huntley, now widely known as Mrs. Sigourney.
28*
-
326
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
6. Francis A. Perkins ; elected June 1834; served one year.
7. Charles W. Rockwell, June 1835 ; three years.
8. Charles J. Lanman, 1838; one year.
9. William C. Gilnian,
1839;
10. John Breed, 66 1840 ; two years.
11. William P. Greene,
1842 ; one year.
12. Gurdon Chapman, 1843, and is now
Mayor.
Whenever the commerce of the United States has been embarrassed, Norwich has suffered greatly. The ycar IS11 was a period of mercantile disasters all along the sea-board. A subscription was taken up in Chel- sea that year, to aid the inhabitants of Newburyport in their greater distress.
The gloomy scenes of the war with England fol- lowed. Even the coasters and small craft in Long Island Sound were subject to great risks, and frequently captured. The commerce of Norwich was entirely destroyed ; nor has the enterprize of the citizens since that period ever returned to this channel. It has sought out other sources of prosperity.
In May, 1813, the frigates United States and Mace- donian, together with the sloop of war Hornet, were driven into New London harbor by a superior squadron of the enemy, and blockaded during the remainder of the war. The vessels were at length partially dis- mantled, and conveyed up the Thames river as far as Carter's or Walden's island, at the mouth of Poque- tannok cove, within three miles of Norwich, and there laid up till the conclusion of the war. Great and well- founded alarm, for fear of a sudden invasion, at this time existed in Norwich, and at no time since its settle- ment has it been so seriously threatened. Had the British succeeded in their attack upon Stonington,
327
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
there is little doubt but they would have made a sud- den descent upon Norwich. A great number of mer- chant vessels were laid up in the harbor-three ships of war were in the immediate neighborhood-the many valuable manufactories of cotton, wool, flour, &c., that were carried on in Norwich-the ship-yards, the public arsenal, &c., all combined to fix the eye of the enemy upon it, and at the close of the year 1814, its situ- ation was deemed very critical, and the minds of the in- habitants were filled with terror and anxiety. A petition was forwarded to the Commander-in-Chief for a military force to be stationed in or near the place, for its pro- tection. But happily the treaty of peace put an end to these alarms.
The news of peace came so suddenly, that it threw the whole country into transports of joy ; all was en- thusiasm and ecstacy, and the rejoicings exceeded any thing ever before witnessed in America. The grateful tidings reached Norwich, February 13, 1815, and the citizens gave vent to their boundless joy in mutual congratulations, shouts, cannonades and illu- minations : rockets flew up from the hills, salutes were fired from the ships in the river, and these were echoed from the fortresses at New London, and those again were responded to from the British blockading squad- ron at the mouth of the river, till the whole adjacent country was made glad with the tidings.
The winter had been distinguished as a season of severe frost; loaded sleds traveled on the bosom of the Thames in perfect safety; and for several weeks persons might skate all the way from Norwich to New London upon the river. But as soon as peace was proclaimed, preparations were made to revive business. With the first loosing of the waters, the small craft. spread their light wings; the larger vessels that had
32S
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
taken refuge in the port were speedily equipped, the released ships of war proceeded down the river, and the whole ocean was again open to American enter- prize.
1818. A Constitution of the State of Connecticut was formed by a State Convention, at Hartford, in August. Previous to this the laws and government of the State had been based upon the Charter of Charles II., granted in 1662. The new Constitution was sub -. mitted to each town separately, and being accepted by the majority, was ratified.
It was laid before the town of Norwich in October. The votes in favor of it were 194; against it 74.
The next subject which agitated the town related to the location of the courts. The inhabitants of Chelsea demanded that the sessions should thenceforward be held in their quarter of the town.
The contention on this subject continued many years, and reached its height in 1826 and 1827, when a strong desire to divide the town existed in the northern por- tion of it, and petitions to that effect were presented to the Legislature.
The question with respect to the location of the courts was three times brought before the General As- sembly, and fully discussed, and twice tried in the Superior Courts, the decision being each time in favor of their remaining where they were. But in the ses- sion of 1833, the Assembly voted to refer the whole subject to the representatives of the county of New London. These met in the City Hall, at Chelsea, September 19, and carried the question of removal, fifteen to eight. All opposition on the other side ceased from this time, and the transfer was made in peace. The struggle had continued about twenty-seven years.
The northern section of the town petitioned the Leg-
329
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
islature to be separated from " the city," which was granted. The city limits since that period comprise only Chelsea and the Falls, with a section upon the river, extending to Trading Cove Brook.
The Town House was erected in 1829, at an ex- pense of $9000.
September 25, 1833, the city of Norwich ceded to the county of New London the use of the City Court Room, and all the other rooms and appurtenances thereunto attached, for the use of the courts. The city also procured a lot and erected a jail, at their own cost, and ceded them to the county.
In 1838, the jail and jail-house, which was situated on the summit of the hill overlooking the port, were burnt to the ground. The fire originated in the cell of a prisoner confined for theft, and was kindled by him with a candle which he obtained from his wife. His design was merely to burn out the lock of his cell door. that he might effect his escape, but before he could complete his work, the fire got beyond his control ; the light was discovered, the alarm given, and all the inmates rescued. But from the difficulty of obtaining water, nothing could be done to arrest the destructive element.
The buildings have been re-constructed on an en- Jarged plan, and though the taste which located such an establishment in the most conspicuous part of the city, may be questioned, yet the buildings themselves are pleasing objects in the perspective.
The city has also suffered severely from other fires. In 1833, the paper mill of R. & A. Hubbard, and a cotton factory and store belonging to Williams' Manu- facturing Co., at the Falls, were destroyed by fire.
In the summer of 18-14, a large factory was burnt at Greeneville.
330
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
In February, 1844, two extensive fires broke out within a few weeks of each other. By the first, fout stores belonging to A. H. Hubbard, and Boswell's row, containing several stores and a dwelling house, all on Main street, together with a store-house on Shetucket street, were consumed. In the second, two three-story houses on Franklin Square were destroyed, together with several other buildings of less importance.
Norwich goes far before any other town in the State in the value of its manufactures. According to the report made by the Assessors to the Secretary of the State in 1839, the value of goods manufactured in the preceding year, was $1,150,205. The town next to it in manufactures is Manchester, which was estimated at $695,500.
INCORPORATED MANUFACTURING COMPANIES.
" Thames Manufacturing Co., 1823 : for the manufactur- ing of cotton, woolen and iron : empowered to hold fifty acres of land : capital not to exceed $300,000, shares $500. In 1825, this Company was anthorized to increase its capital to $500,000, and the quantity of land to 500 acres.
Quinebaug Manufacturing Co. : 1826; for making cotton and woolen goods; capital not to exceed $1,000,000, shares $1000.
Shetucket Manufacturing Co, : 1826 ; for manufacturing iron : capital not to exceed $500,000, shares $500.
Yantic Manufacturing Co. : 1826 ; for manufacturing wool- en and cotton goods ; capital not to exceed $30,000, shares $100.
Norwich Manufacturing Co. : 1828; for manufacturing cotton or woolen goods ; capital $100,000, shares $100; empowered to hold land not exceeding 500 acres.
Norwich and New York Manufacturing Co .: 1829; for manufacturing cotton and woolen goods; capital $200,000, shares $500.
Norwich and Preston Iron Co. : 1829 ; for manufacturing castings, bar iron, nails, &c. ; capital $100,000, shares ยง500.
331
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
Greeneville Manufacturing Co. : 1833 ; for manufacturing woolen and other goods which may be deemed advantageous to the Company ; not to occupy more than fifteen acres of land; capital not to exceed $50,000, shares $100.
BANKS, &C.
Norwich Mutual Assurance Co : incorporated in 1795.
Norwich Bank : 1796. Capital stock not less than $75,000, nor more than $200,000 ; shares $100.
Norwich Marine (now Fire) Insurance : 1803. Capital not less than $50,000 : shares $50. The name and charac- ter was changed in 1818; the object thenceforth being con- fined to insurance against losses by fire. Capital not less than $100,000 ; nor more than $300,000.
Norwich Savings Society : 1824.
Thames Bank : 1825 ; 2000 shares of $100. This bank succeeded to the business and privileges of the Norwich Channel Co. which had been incorporated in 1805.
Norwich Market, at Chelsea Landing : 1825. Capital not to exceed $10,000.
Quinebaug Bank: 1832; 5000 shares of $100 each. This bank was required to subscribe, as soon as organized, to the Boston and Norwich Railroad Company, $100,000, being one thousand shares.
Quinebaug Canal Bank was incorporated in 1827, but never went into operation.
Merchants Bank : 1833 ; 3000 shares of $100 each, with the privilege of increasing'to 5000. A bonus was required of this institution, for the improvement of navigation in the Thames, not exceeding $30,000 ; afterwards altered to ten per cent. on the capital stock actually called in.
Merchants Insurance Co .: 1834. Capital not less than $100,000, nor more than $300,000 ; shares, $100. This company insures against disasters by sea, and losses by fire, on all kinds of mixed and personal estate.
Mechanics Society : for aiding destitute members and their families Capital not to exceed $20,000.
332
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
-
POPULATION.
In 1830, the population was 5,170-in 1840, 7,239, of whom 4,200 were within the city limits. Males, 3,368, females, 3,871. The number of electors regis- tered Oct. 15, 1844, was 1,383; which, allowing one in seven to be voters, would indicate a population at the present time not much short of 10,000.
NEWSPAPERS.
The second Newspaper established in Norwich, was " The Weekly Register." It was commenced in 1790, by Thomas Hubbard, on the town Plain. Six years afterwards, Mr. Hubbard removed to the Landing, and issued his paper under the designation of " The Chel- sea Courier." It has been continued to the present time, with slight variations of the title, and now bears the name of " The Norwich Courier." Several other Newspapers have been commenced in the place, and through the influence of temporary causes, or the power of editorial talent, have obtained a transient share of public patronage, but after an ephemeral life have dis- appeared. Such was the fate of
The True Republican, by Sterry & Porter,
The Native American, by Samuel Webb,
Norwich Republican, by J. T. Adams.
The News Jist, in Jan. 1845, stands as follows :-
1. The Norwich Courier, published weekly and tri- weekly-by D. E. Sykes.
2. The Norwich Aurora, commenced 1836-by J. Holbrook ; now conducted by J. W. Stedman.
3. The Spectator, commenced in 1842-by J. Cooley.
4. The Norwich Gleaner, commenced 1845-by B. F. Taylor.
-
333
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
MISSIONARIES.
The Foreign Mission Society of Norwich and vicin- ity, was organized in 1812. In October, 1844, it held its thirty-second anniversary.
In September, 1843, the American Board of Com- missioners for Foreign Missions, held their annual meeting at Norwich. There was a peculiar appropri- ateness in the assembling of this great association at that place, as Norwich has always been distinguished, not only for her generous contribution of funds towards the support of missions both foreign and domestic, but for the more costly offerings of numerous sons and daughters to the promotion of the cause.
-
The following is supposed to be a correct list of the missionaries that have gone out from Norwich. About twenty of them were natives, and the others were for a considerable period residents of the town, before enter- ing upon the duties of the missionary. Two of them, it will be seen, belong to an earlier period than the organization of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. One is attached to a Methodist mission ; one is an Episcopal clergyman in the employ of the Colonization society, and twenty-four have been in the service of the American Board of Commission- ers for Foreign Missions :
Year. Names. Mission.
1766. Rev. Samuel Kirkland, Oneida.
1761. Rev. Samsom Occum, (Mohegan, )
1812. Rev. Samuel Nott, Jr., Mahratta.
1812. Mrs. Nott, (Roxana Peck, )
1819. Rev. Miron Winslow, Ceylon. 66
1819. Mrs. Winslow, (Harriet L. Lathrop,)
1820. Mrs. Palmer, (Clarissa Johnson, ) Cherokee.
1821. Rev. William Potter,
1825. William H. Manwaring, 66
1826. Mrs. Gleason, ( Bethiah W. Tracy,) Choctaw.
29
334
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
Year. Names. Mission.
1827. Rev. Jonathan S. Green, Sandwich Islands.
1827. Mrs. Gulick, (Fanny H. Thomas,)
1833. Mrs. Smith, (Sarah L. Huntington, ) Syria.
1833. Mrs. Palmer, (Jerusha Johnson, ) Cherokee. 1833. Mrs. Hutchings, (Elizabeth C. Lathrop, ) Ceylon.
1833. Mrs. Perry, (Harriet J. Lathrop,)
1833. Rev. Stephen Johnson, Siam.
1835. Rev. James T. Dickinson, Singapore.
1835. Rev. William Tracy, Madura.
1835. Mrs. Hebard, (Rebecca W. Willimas,)
Syria. 1836. Mrs. Cherry, (Charlotte H. Lathrop, ) Madura.
1836. Rev. James L. Thomson, Cyprus.
1839. Mrs. Sherman, (Martha E. Williams, ) Syria.
1839. Mrs. Brewer, (Laura I. Giddings, ) Oregon.
1839. Mrs. Cherry, (Jane E. Lathrop, ) Ceylon.
1840. Rev. Joshua Smith,
Africa.
1843. Miss Susan Tracy.
Choctaw.
1844. Miss Lucinda Downer,
RAIL ROAD.
The Norwich and Worcester Rail Road Company was formed in 1832 ; the Legislatures of Connecticut and Massachusetts each granting a charter for that portion of the road which lay within their respective States. These two companies were united by the said Legislatures in 1836, the whole capital amounting to $1,700,000. The length from the steam-boat land- ing in Norwich, to the depot at Worcester, is fifty-eight and nine tenth miles, eighteen of which is in Massa- chusetts. The materials used, and the workmanship were all of the best kind, and it is believed to be a road of as solid and durable construction as any in the country. It was first opened through the whole dis- tance, in March, 1840.
Just beyond Greeneville in Norwich, the road forms a curve of 1,000 feet radius along the banks of the Shetucket, affording a fine view of the river, the bridge and adjacent country. Three miles from the city, at the Quinebaug Falls, the company were met
GREENVILLE, FROM PRESTON.
335
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.