USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Stamford > History of Stamford, Connecticut : from its settlement in 1641, to the present time, including Darien, which was one of its parishes until 1820 > Part 17
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At the head of our civilians stood the honorable Abraham Davenport, a man of college education, long familiar with the public service in civil life, well grounded in such legal learning as enabled him, with no misgivings, to rely upon the essential justice of the revolutionary cause, endowed, more than most men, with an instinctive reverence for what was right and an inflexible purpose to insist upon it, and what was of scarcely less value to him for the part he was called to act, the inheritor of a large estate, and the father of an educated and now influ- ential family who thoroughly sympathized with him in his espousal of the patriot cause.
Side by side with him, ready to the utmost of their means to sustain any measures which might promise to aid them in as- serting the rights of the colonies against the unjust demands of the crown, stood the substantial citizens of the town-the · Hoyts, and Hollys, and Loekwoods, and Knapps, and Scofields,
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and Smiths, and Seelys, and Warings, and Waterburys, and Webbs, and Weeds.
Nor were we without military men for the emergency. There were the Waterburys then known as senior and junior, the former long a colonel in the continental service who had earned some reputation for good judgment and military ability in the field, and the latter soon to earn by his personal fitness for it, the rank of general of brigade ; and also the two Webbs, father and son, the one now a colonel, to test and prove his claim still more fully in several well fought battles of the pending strife, and the other to pay the forfeit of his active and not unmerito- rious service with his own imprisonment and death. Then there was the spirited Joseph Hoyt, the leader of our minute men, who only needed to hear that patriot blood had been shed at Lexington, to fly to our exposed metropolis for its defense, and who was so soon to become the fighting colonel of our fighting seventh ; and then our captains and lieutenants and ensigns, and, still more needed and helpful than they, our long list of resolute privates, honoring the name of all our principal Stam- ford families and cheerfully girding themselves for manliest de- fense of their homes. Thus with one brigadier, two or more colonels, a half dozen captains, a full dozen lieutenants, with a number of commissaries and agents of the military power, sus- tained by a gallant band of the rank and file of the army for independence, Stamford, in spite of the special temptations to the opposite course, maintained her honor in that great struggle which made these British colonies forever free from the dicta- tion and greed of an unscrupulous foreign power.
An incident occurred in March, 1774, which might seem to forebode indecision and weakness among the patriots of the town. A special town meeting had been called to appoint de- legates to the convention to be held, March 27th in Middletown. After the meeting was opened by the appointment of Colonel Abraham Davenport, moderator; it was voted that the town will appoint a committee to meet at Middletown on the last
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Weduesday in March, instant, there to consult proper measures to be pursued to evade the evils which the town apprehend they are in danger of concerning Susquehannah."
After this vote, which for aught that appears was unanimous, Capt. Fyler Dibble and Dr. John Wilson were appointed the committee. The meeting adjourned to meet again on the 11th of the following month to hear the report of the committee. At the appointed time the adjourned meeting was held. The town make an appropriation to cover the expenses of the committee and vote, that the petition recommended by the Middletown Convention, should be signed by the town clerk, Samuel Jar- vis, in the name of the town, and forwarded to the Assembly at its next Session.
This petition was a lengthy argument framed iu the interests of the Pennsylvanians against the claims of Connecticut to the territory then held by her citizens and subject to her authority. The convention authorizing it, was made up of delegates from only twenty-three of the sixty-three towns belonging to the state; and their action received but little sympathy from the mass of the people. Their petition was couched in terms indi- cating an excessive loyalty to the English government and a readiness to abide by almost any decision of the crown. Mr. Ingersoll of Pennsylvania, was later an avowed tory. Captain Dibble and Mr. Jarvis of Stamford also enrolled themselves among those loyal still to the king ; and it would seem that the Stamford people, in mass, were by this action committed to the side of the crown against the revolution, whose beginnings were already felt and seen.
But a few months will show how erroneous such a conclusion would be. We shall find ample record to show, that during that long struggle, the great majority of our townsmen were heartily and self-sacrificingly for the war. Before the opening of hostilities on the eventful 19th of April, 1775, our citizens had expressed themselves unequivocally for the patriot eause. The insolence of the erown, exhibited in the arbitrary and ty-
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rannical acts which disgraced the records of the English parlia- ment from the time Grenville, in 1763, accepted Jenkinson's Stamp Act as the legal process for collecting revenue in America, down to that most odious coercion act which closed the port of Boston, had most effectually schooled the great mass of Ameri- can citizens to an earnest and impassioned resistance to any further demands of the English government. Henceforth, not even the former concessions to the crown would be allowed; and the people of the several colo nies, needed only a few months of mutual interchange of opinions and purpose to be fully pre- pared for their irrevocable declaration of independence. To prepare the way for that declaration, the voice of Stamford was not wanting. The Boston Port Bill had been passed and great suffering was the result. Our patriot citizens felt that the in- sult and injury done to Boston was also intended for themselves and all who had ventured to question the right of the British parliament to issue and enforce such demands; and they would not meanly shrink from an open espousal of the cause which had already brought down the vengeance of the crown upon their suffering brethren. Accordingly they met on the 7th of October, 1774, in the town house, which proving too small for the patriot band, they immediately adjourned to the meeting house, when the following minute was promptly passed.
"The inhabitants of this town sensibly affected with the distress to which the town of Boston and province of Massachusetts Bay are subjected by several unconstitutional acts of the British parliament ; * * * * boping to convince the people of this continent that notwithstanding our long si- lence we are by no means unwilling to join with our sister towns to assert our just rights and oppose every design of a corrupt ministry to enslave America, do declare that we acknowledge our subjection to the crown of Great Britain and all the constitutional powers thereto belonging as esta- blished in the illustrious house of Hanover ; that it is our earnest desire that the same peaceable connexion should subsist between us and the mo- ther country as had subsisted for a long time before the late unconstitution- al measures adopted by the parliament of Great Britain ; and we hope that some plan will be found out by the general congress to effect the reconcilia- tion we wish for ; yet we are determined by every lawful way to join with our sister colenies resolutely to detend our just rights : *
* " that we are pleased that a congress of deputies from the colony is now met at Philadel- phia, and relying upon the wisdom of that body we declare that we are ready to adopt such reasonable measures as shall hy them be judged for the general good of the inhabitants of America."
.
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HISTORY OF STAMFORD.
This action testifies to the heartiness with which our towns- men entered upon the great struggle against the encroachments of the mother country. Before the opening of the war the peo- ple had been prepared for it. And when the news of the first battle at Lexington and Concord reached the town it was fo und ready with a prompt response. New York, then rapidly ad- vaneing in importance, was thought to be in especial danger from an invasion of the enemy. Joseph Hoyt of Stamford, who had now for about twenty years been in military life enlisted immediately a company of thirty men and started for the city. As no immediate danger was apprehended to the city the com- pany returned to Stamford and reported only eight days service.
The bill of service thus rendered, would in these days be deemed a model for economy. I append it in full.
Whole pay for men's time,
£20 8 4
Cash expended by Capt. Hoyt on the march, 3 12 0
Cash expended by Lient. Webb, 0 17 0
Cash expended by Lient. Ezra Loekwood, 069
A sloop with part of the company and 12 men be- longing to Greenwich, under Capt. Hoyt, from New York to Stamford,
£2 11 9
Capt. Hoyt's horse hire,
0 12 6
£28 8 4
The Ezra Loekwood here reported as lieutenant, is enrolled on the company list as a private. All of the names are found in our alphabetical list.
But not thus easily were our townsmen to meet . their obliga - tions to the patriot cause. On returning Captain Hoyt coul- menced raising another company, for the continental service wherever needed. By the sixth of July, he had organized a company of seventy-five men who were reported ready for duty. The names would indicate that nearly all of them were Stam- ford men. This second company continued in the service until December 24, 1775, and the entire cost of the service rendered
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by them was reported as one thousand one hundred and thirty - nine and a half pounds sterling.
A third company was raised here early in the Spring of 1776. In one of the pay-rolls of this company it is called the " Com- pany of Col. David Waterbury, in the regiment of forces of the United colonies under command of Colonel David Water- bury." On the list David Waterbury is enrolled as colonel and captain, and Sylvanus Brown as captain and lientenant. The number of days service is appended to the names, and this will indicate the company in the alphabetical list at the end of this chapter.
In the summer of 1776, we were also represented in the service by a part, at least, of another company under Captain Webb, who were stationed in New York city. How many other com- panies or parts of companies were raised in Stamford, we have no means of knowing. Our catalogue of revolutionary men at the end of this chapter, will doubtless fail to report many who honored Stamford in the war. Every record, it is believed, which our town and State can now furnish has been carefully examined to complete it; and every local record has been sought for the purpose of reporting fully all engagements and skir- mishes and every form of military movement here, during the struggle. But Stamford was not destined to become the thea- ter of any general engagement between the opposing armies. A few excursions of small detachmeuts of the British troops, and more frequent sallies from their loyal holds on the Island, or from their tolerated tory homes in the town, of the still trusty subjects of the crown, constituted all the warlike en- terprises which disturbed the quiet of the town. No British army, it is believed, ever crossed the entire breadth of the terri- tory, and probably, never more than a single brigade of the patriotie troops at a time, were quartered here. Once, at least, after the memorable repulse of the revolutionists at Horseneck, and that still more memorable feat of the daring Putnam, in his fearless flight to Stamford for aid, the British did probably in-
27
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HISTORY OF STAMFORD.
sult the extreme borders of our soil; but the gallant general had so far ontstripped them. as to have rallied our townsmen in sufficient numbers with the aid of the garrison in our fort, to meet them and turn their invasion into a precipitous retreat. Once, also, probably, was the eastern margin of our patriot town deseerated with the stealthy tread of British armed men; but their safety demanded a hurried return to the transports which had landed them, and so the town was spared the rav- age they had designed.
The following letter from our most distinguished townsman, is authentie respecting the standing of two other of our citizens, and shows how our people managed their foreign commerce during the war :
Stamford, Dec. 8, 1775.
RESPECTED SIR,-Mr. Selleck and Mr. Bates, two of my neighbors own a vessel of abont fifty tons, with which they are desirous to make a voyage to the West Indies, to carry cattle and provisionsand bring back military stores, if a permit can be obtained of your Honor, for the performance. I suppose that is expected that Mr. Bates will go Master, if the vessel is per- mitted to go. I believe he may be depended on ; and I do not know a man better calculated for the business. The vessel is said to be a prime sailor.
We have but a few pounds of powder in our town stock, and I believe it will be universally agreeable to the inhabitants of the town, thet a permit should be granted. At the desire of Mr. Bates, I write this. He informi- me that Mr. Selleck will apply to your Honor for the permit, and will give bond, if required, for the faithful conduct of the master. Mr. Selleck is a man of considerable interest, and his bond will be quite sufficient.
I am with the greatest esteem and respect, your Honor's most obedient and humble servant,
HON. Gov. TRUMBULL.
ABRAM DAVENPORT,
But the most extensive invasion of the town by the British and their loyal abettors here, occurred Sunday, July 22, 1781. The leaders in that sacriligious foray were from among the tories of the eastern part of the town, and their depredations and cap- tures were confined to their own neighbors and friends. During the night preceding they had crossed the Sound from Lloyd's neck in seven boats, and stealthily seereted themselves, about forty in number, in a swamp a few rods south of the meeting house, waiting the gathering of the congregation for their nsual worship Providentially several of the leading patriots were
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not at church in the morning, and the attack was delayed. In the afternoon the unsuspecting citizens had taken their seats as usual. The services had commenced. Dr., then Mr. Mather, was in the pulpit which he had now occupied for nearly forty years, and it was undoubtedly his earnest patriotism which had led to this attack. Its object was to capture that fearless preacher of treason, and the leaders of his people whom he had so effectually seduced from their loyalty. Suddenly the house was surrounded and the summons to surrender was issued, in the well known voice of their neighbor, Captain Frost. Small chance had been left for the congregation to escape. Yet, a single old lady, thoroughly patriotic and as thoroughly plucky, marched through their encircling line, Four youths who had noticed the incipient move of the tory invaders, had also made proof of their agility and were out of reach of the sentinel's shot. One other lad, a son of the officiating minister, ventured also an attempt at escape. Seizing his hat he started for the door where he encountered a leveled gun, and the insulting ex- elamation, " there, I've got you now"! "Not yet," he quietly said, as he struck down the gun and leaped from the door. Nor was the sentinel quiek enough to cut short his flight, though the shot which was meant to do it, left its sear, life-long, on his heel. And now commenced in earnest the work of tory re- venge. With derisive jeers, the venerable pastor was called down from the pulpit to lead his congregation in a very differ- ent service.
The men and older youths of the congregation were drawn up two and two in marching order, and tied arm to arm. The pastor was ordered to the front, alone, to lead the march. All was now ready for the start. The valuable articles of jewelry, found on both the men and women had been appropriated by the excellent captain. Every horse needed for the invading band had been taken, and the women and children consigned to the care of the rear-guard, until the captors with their pris- oners and spoil should be well under way. The orders are given, and, driven by their former neighbors and the venial sol-
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HISTORY OF STAMFORD.
diery of the British power, some forty-eight of our townsmen were hurried away to the boats awaiting them at the shore. They were thence taken over to Lloyd's Neck. Here they found, not congenial friends, but many of their life-long neigh- bors and kindred, whom the revolution had alienated and made their open and bitterest enemies. But they were soon disposed of. Twenty-four of the number were released to return home on parol. The remainder, twenty-six in number, were ordered on board a brig and confined below deck. They were taken to the Provost prison to New York city, where they endured every conceivable indignity. Here they were kept until the 27th of the following December, when those of them who survived the horrors of that confinement, nineteen in all, were exchanged.
We have in Dr. Dwight's travels, the following account of the sufferings to which Mr. Mather was subjected during this imprisonment.
" This venerable man was marched with his parishioners to the shore, and thence conveyed to Lloyd's Neck. From that place he was soon marched to New York and confined in the Provost prison. His food was stinted and wretched to a degree not easily imaginable. His lodgings cor- responded with his food. His company, to a considerable extent was made up of a mere rabble, and their conversation, from which he could not re- treat, composed of profaneness and ribaldry. Here, also, he was insulted daily by the Provost marshal, whose name was Cunningham, -a wretch remembered in this country, only with detestation. This wretch, among other kinds of abuse, took a particular satisfaction in announcing from time to time to Dr. Mather, that on that day, the morrow or some time, at a little distance, he was to be executed. But Dr. Mather was not without his friends, however, who know nothing of him, except his character. A lady of distinction, having learned his circumstances, and having obtained the necessary permission, sent to him clothes and food, and comforty with a liberal hand."
I hoped to be able to make out a complete list of the men who were carried away in this expedition of the British and tories. No contemporaneous records, within my reach, have enabled be to do so.
But if there were no great engagements between large armies within this territory, it must not be inferred that the town was unaffected by the war. Every neighborhood in the town, and almost every year of the war, witnessed events of greater or less importance, which contributed according to their measure,
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towards the great result. In many ways the loyalty of our people was testified, and they who were never in arms, were called at times, to show a soldier's courage. They who seemed to do least in furtherance of the cause, made often the most costly sacrifices of affection and treasure to its success.
The little, every day contributions, which really constitute the most unequivocal testimonies to a people's spirit and power, are not of a character to seek or win publicity. No diary of the times reports them. No actor publishes them. They come unheralded and pass by unchronicled. Nevertheless they are neither unknown nor forgotten. Their influence is felt, and that influence determines the people's destiny.
Let us gather some of these floating waifs of our revolution- ary period. They come down to us with the authority of chance-saved letters perhaps, preserved, no one knows how, in spite of our proverbial waste of all this most precious material for human history. They have been tossed about and along on mere tradition, it may be, yet so credibly preserved, as to war- rant our fullest confidence, or they were intrusted to the faith - ful guardianship of some memento of transmitted love, voiceless indeed, yet with a language that can never be misunderstood.
What a story of family affection and family exposure the fol- lowing narrative tells. During the war the family of Capt. John Holly was living in the house now owned by Samuel Leeds, Esq., on Clark's hill. Among their most precious trea- sures was a quarto bible, an elegant edition for those times, printed in London in 1763. This bible had been given to Miss Holly, afterwards Mrs. David Waterbury, at the early age of five years for the ease and correctness with which she read one of the chapters in Chronicles, filled with scripture names. When the family, for their earliest patriotism were exposed to stealthy depradations both from British and tory vengeance, the bible was carefully buried in the back yard with other family trea- sures. There it remained through the war. When it was ex- humed, it was found in good condition excepting the heavy
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HISTORY OF STAMFORD.
clasps upon it, which had been rusted off. That old bible still remains a precious relict in the possession of Mrs. Abigail H. Seely, a daughter of Mrs. Waterbury, and its story shows what trials belonged to the period of our revolutionary war.
And now let us see how the war entered our families in ano- ther way, taking off their sons to the field, or to garrison ex- posed points, wherever needed. The following stray letter is one of thousands written during the war from the town, but this has survived the fate of the most of the rest. It was writ- ten on a half sheet of coarse foolscap, now, of course, brown with age; and directed in a large fair hand " to Silas, Thaddeus and Bates Hayt, in Capt. Webb's company, in Main street, near the chapel, New York. Per. favor of Henry Marshall." The entire letter, for which I am indebted to Mr. John Holmes of New Hope, recently deceased, is as follows :
STAMFORD, Aug. 20, 1776.
DEAR CHILDREN,
We recived Bates' Letter of Aug. 19th, and greatly rejoice to hear of your welfare. We gladly improve the present opportunity of writing to in- form you that we are all well ; and that we send a pail of butter, two pounda of which belongs to Bates, one pound to Henry Wix and the re- mainder to Silas and Thaddeus. We should have been glad to send you potatoes if to be had. We send you some sauce, which you must distri- bute. Henry Wix has some by himself. After wishing you the Divine pro- tection, we remain your affectionate parents,
ABR'M HATT. HANNAH HAIT.
P. S .- " Mr. Merceir has applied to me for your horse, bridle and sad- dle ; and if you are willing to part with him you will inform me thereof. I sball be willing to make you a present of my horse, a new saddle and bri- dle and a watch in lien thereof."
What a revelation of neighborhood estrangement and its cure is found in this morceau of our family history.
The Jarvis family were excellent and prominent people here, but their affections were with their king, rather than with his rebellious subjects. When therefore it seemed necessary that this family should be sent over the line, Capt. Samuel Loek.
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wood of Greenwich was appointed to execute the order. This he did with the ready zeal of a revolutionary patriot ; and of course his officiousness alienated the two families. No loyal Jarvis could thenceforth endure one of the notoriously rebell- ious Lockwood tribe. But the years roll on and work strange cures, as well as aggravate maladies not to be healed. A grand- son of the inexorable captain was won to a surrender by the maidenly graces of a grand-daughter of the courtly royalist, and so far at least the old feud was healed, as the family of our worthy citizen judge Ferris will attest.
Take also this illustration of the restoration of confidence and affection on the return of peace.
Captain Slason and deacon Joseph Mather, while on guard one night in the eastern part of the town, recognized two of their former neighbors, now tories, landing with a boat load of contraband goods, with which to drive a profitable trade with the knowing ones in that neighborhood. The captain and dea- con at once take possession of the men and their boat. Going eagerly to the work of landing the choice goods which in the process became their prize, they incantiously left their muskets on the shore. Naturally enough, Smith, one of the tories, seiz- ed the captain's gun and called upon his comrade to take the deacon's ; and so, they could make themselves more than even with their captors. But the stalwart captain was not so to be trifled with. Springing from the boat, he dashes down with a single blow the exulting tory, and remains master of the field. The end remains to be told. After the war was over, the tory Smith remaining here, by due course of nature came to his end. The doughty captain, who had so signally humbled him, spent his last years as the happy husband of the reconciled and hap- py widow.
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