USA > Connecticut > Windham County > History of Windham County, Connecticut, Volume II, 1760-1880 > Part 58
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" Mr. Crandall, if you go to your daughter's you are to be fined $100, for the first offence ; $200 for the second, and double it every time; Mrs. Cran- dall, if you go there, you will be fined and your daughter Almira will be fined, and Mr. May and those gentlemen from Providence (Messrs. George and Henry Benson), if they come there will be fined at the same rate. And your daughter, the one that established the school for colored females, will be taken up the same way as for stealing a horse, or for burglary. Her prop- erty will not be taken but she will be put in jail, not having the liberty of the yard. There is no mercy to be shown about it ! "
But while this law encouraged Miss Crandall's enemies it increased the number and strengthened the determination of her friends and supporters. Among many letters of approval and sympathy addressed to Mr. May came one from Arthur Tappan, expressing his entire approbation of the course that had been pursued, encouraging Miss Crandall to maintain her position, and offering to bear all the forth- coming legal expenses. These friendly offers were followed by per- sonal intercourse, giving great aid and comfort. Finding that the little band with all its heroism was almost overborne by the storm of abuse and invective, and especially by misrepresentations which they were not allowed to rectify, Mr. Tappan made immediate arrange- ments for the publication of a newspaper in Brooklyn, "to the advo- cacy of all human rights in general, and to the defence of the Canterbury school and its heroic teacher in particular." Mr. Charles C. Burleigh of Plainfield was secured as its editor, and under his able leadership the fiery little Unionist soon took the field and struck most telling blows for Miss Crandall and Abolitionism. Thus encouraged and supported Miss Crandall went calmly on with her school, unterrified by the threats and denunciations of her adversaries. Previous to this she had skillfully foiled their first legal approaches. On June 27, she had been summoned before Justice Adams on charge of violating a statute law of the State of Connecticut. Her counsel gave in a demurrer to the complaint, admitting the facts true, and submitted to the finding of the Court without argument. The sum 63
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HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.
needful to be pledged as surety for her appearance before the County Court for trial was named by the Court, but to the astonishment of her acensers no one appeared to give bonds for her, and they were forced to the disagreeable necessity of taking her to Brooklyn jail, to the very room occupied by Watkins the night preceding his execu- tion. The result of this ingenious stroke of policy was far more favorable than had been anticipated by its projectors. Miss Crandall immured in a murderer's cell for the crime of teaching colored girls made a most vivid and startling impression upon the popular mind. Many who had before blamed her for disturbing the peace of Canter- bury, were shocked at this alleged outrage. An intrusive, troublesome woman was thus transformed into a martyr. It was in vain that her accusers protested that the imprisonment was entirely voluntary and nominal, the cell a good room furnished with every comfort, that a female friend passed the night with her and both were released the following day. The story of her unjust imprisonment was noised in every direction, and unquestionably had great influence in awakening sympathy in her behalf and strengthening anti-slavery sentiment.
The anger and mortification of the Canterbury leaders at having their weapons thus turned against them made them more bitter in opposition, and more zealous in preparation for the approaching legal contests. The first trial was held before the County Court, Angust 22. Jonathan A. Welch conducted the prosecution, aided by Andrew T. Judson and Ichabod Bulkley. Calvin Goddard, W. W. Ellsworth and Henry Strong appeared for the defence, retained by Mr. May at the expense of Mr. Arthur Tappan. The constitutionality of the law under which Miss Crandall was arraigned was the point at issue. It was claimed by the defence that this newly enacted law conflicted with that article of the Federal Constitution, which allowed to citizens of each State all the privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States. The proseention denied that blacks were or could be citizens of any State. Both positions were defended with much ability and adroitness. In his charge to the jury Judge Eaton gave as his opinion, " that the law is constitutional and obligatory on the people of this State," but the jurors were unable to agree. In October, the case was tried before the Superior Court of Windham County upon the same grounds and with the same counsel. In an able and elaborate charge, Judge Daggett maintained the constitutionality of the law, and declared that to his mind " it would be a perversion of terms, and the well known rule of construction to say that slaves, free blacks or Indians, were citizens within the meaning of that term as used in the Constitution." His overpowering influence gained the verdict and judgment was pronounced against the defendant. Her counsel then
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appealed to the Court of Errors, before which tribunal a final trial was held July 22, 1834, when the arguments on both sides were reiterated with all possible ingenuity and eloquence. The Court reversed the decision of the Supreme Court upon the ground of "insufficiency of the information," which omitted to allege that the school was set up without the requisite license. The legal question as to the constitutionality of the law was thus left undecided.
During this period affairs in Canterbury had remained in the same vexed and unhappy condition, the opponents of the school waxing more impatient and violent, and teacher and scholars bearing indignity and annoyance with unabated spirit and fortitude. So far as can be ascertained the school was well-sustained and prosperous. The pupils were docile, affectionate and studious, eager to improve their hardly- won advantages. William HI. Burleigh and his sister assisted for a time as teachers, and it is their testimony as well as Miss Crandall's that these colored girls " made as good if not better progress than the same number of whites taken from the same position of life." Miss Crandall's sister Almira, was constantly with her and assisted in teach- ing, a very lovely, active and efficient young woman, " possessing a great heart, loving everybody and being loved by all." Storms might rage without the walls but all was peace and harmony within. They had like other scholars their " gala-days" and exhibition exercises. On one such occasion, called a Mental Feast, four of the youngest pupils dressed in white sang with great sweetness this story of their trials, composed by their teacher :---
" Four little children here you see, In modest dress appear ; Come, listen to our song so sweet, And our complaints you'll hear.
'Tis here we come to learn to read, And write and cipher too ;. But some in this enlightened land Declare 'twill never do.
The morals of this favored town, Will be corrupted soon, Therefore they strive with all their might, To drive us to our homes.
Sometimes when we have walked the streets Saluted we have been, By guns, and drums, and cow-bells too, And horns of polished tin.
With warnings, threats and words severe They visit us at times, And gladly would they send us off To Afrie's burning climes.
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Our teacher too they put in jail, Fast held by bars and locks ! Did e'er such persecution reign Since Paul was in the stocks ?
But we forgive, forgive the men, That persecute us so, May God in merey save their souls From everlasting wo !"
As time went on they gained some outside sympathy. Esquire Frost and others who embraced anti-slavery principles, ceased to molest if they did not openly encourage. Debarred by public sentiment and the voice of the trustees from the Congregational house of worship, they found admission and friendly welcome among the Friends at Black Hill, and the Baptists at Packerville. Religious services in their own house were exposed to unseemly interruption, as when the Rev. Mr. Potter of Pawtucket was preaching, and a elamorous rabble assailed the house with volleys of rotten eggs and other missiles.
But however harmless and even praiseworthy the Canterbury school may have appeared to a dispassionate spectator, to the great majority of the people of the town it was the embodiment of all evil and blackness. When after all their efforts and months of wearisome delay the suit at law so eagerly prosecuted had come to naught, and all prospect of legal relief was indefinitely postponed, they felt that they could endure it no longer. Legally, if we can; foreibly, if we must-was the prevailing sentiment. One morning early in Septem- ber, Miss Crandall's house was found to be on fire but the flames were more easily extinguished than the resultant controversy which like the constitutionality of the Black Law was never definitively decided. Miss Crandall and her friends insisted that from the position of the fire when first discovered it could not have been kindled from within, and her opponents were equally positive in maintaining that it could not have been done outside. A very respectable colored man from Norwich, who had been mending a clock in the room in which the fire broke out, was made the victim of popular vengeance. To his utter astonishment he was seized by a writ and brought before Judge Adams, and though the evidence against him was utterly tri- fling was committed for trial, the enemies of Miss Crandall insinnating that she had instigated this act as a pretext for abandoning the school which had become burdensome to her.
But while there were some who professed to believe that Miss Crandall had set fire to her house no one ever accused her of breaking in her own windows. This occurred September 9, 1834. It was late in the evening, the family was preparing for bed when a number of men armed with heavy iron bars stole noiselessly around the house
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and at a given signal simultaneously raised the bars, and with all the force they could muster beat and dashed in the windows. The suddenness and violence of the assault, and the exposure to which they were subjected, completely unnerved this household of defenceless women, and even Miss Crandall quailed at this manifestation of deadly hatred and unscrupulous ruffianism. After a night of sleepless agita- tion, Mr. May was summoned "to the scene of destruction and the terror-stricken family." A consultation was held. It was evident that Miss Crandall's enemies were bent upon breaking up the school. In the absence of any security against further assault it seemed useless and fool-hardy to prolong the unequal contest. Mr. May announced the decision to the trembling pupils, and as soon as possible they dispersed to their several homes. A short time before Miss Crandall had married Mr. Calvin Philleo, and as soon as she could dispose of her property and make needful arrangements, she too left Windham County forever. "Thus ended," says Mr. May, "the generous, dis- interested, philanthropie Christian enterprise of Prudence Crandall."
Canterbury's exultation over its downfall was somewhat marred by the method of accomplishment. With the object probably of justify- ing her course in the eyes of coming generations, an elaborate " Preamble and Resolutions " was prepared the following year, adopted by vote of the town and inscribed within its records. After expressing their views as to the dangerous nature and tendency of Abolitionism, and the character of the institution located within their town "by the combined efforts and energies of Buffum, Tappan, Garrison and May,"
" Resolved, That the Government of the United States, the Nation with all its institutions, of right belong to the white men who now possess them, they were purchased by the valor and blood of their Fathers, and must never be surrendered to any other nation or race of men.
Resolved, That our appeal to the Legislature of our own State in a case of such peculiar mischief was not only due to ourselves but to the obligations de- volving upon us under the Constitution. To have been silent would have been
participating in the wrongs intended. The manner that protection was afforded by the Legislature of the State is a sure guaranty that in future should the imposing attempt be repeated here, or elsewhere within our State, that attempt would be met with protection to our fellow-citizens as it has been afforded us. In the open defiance of the laws of the State, and in the abusive manner we have been assailed because we sought that protection, we see displayed the temper and motive which hitherto have characterized this organized foe of our common country.
Resolved, That the effects produced by such efforts upon the peace of the Union are exactly those which every reflecting mind must have anticipated when it beheld the spirit of oppression and IMPOSITION with which this com- bined force erected their standard of rebellion upon onr soil; and when their counsel in a Court of Justice in their behalf declared as a matter of right that they would fix their establishment upon Canterbury in defiance of law, we saw more than ever the necessity of the appeal we had made, and now we rejoice that the appeal was not in vain."
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HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.
Looking back upon this memorable episode after nearly half a century, we also can rejoice that in this as in numberless other instances " the wrath of man" so signally subserved the purposes of God and the highest interests of humanity. Miss Crandall did not succeed in teaching many colored girls but she educated the people of Windham County. Not only did every act of violence awaken corres- ponding sympathy but in the resultant agitation and discussion mind and conscience were enlightened. The law by which blacks were debarred from educational privileges in Connecticut, was a most powerful motor in effecting their final emancipation. The statement enforced and reiterated with so much clearness and decision that by the constitution of the United States blacks never could be citizens, awoke a spirit of inquiry and resistance that was never satisfied until an amended Constitution gave them the rights and privileges of citizenship. As the slavery question came into politics it was found that many in Windham County were opposed to its further extension. A large majority of her citizens supported the Free Soil and Republi- can parties. Her vote gave to Connecticut many a Republican victory, and her voters were the first in the State to repudiate Judge Daggett's decision, and give to its colored inhabitants the rights and privileges of freemen. Connecticut's final verdict upon the constitutionality of the Black Law was shown by its quiet disappearance in a revision of her Statutes.
IV.
CANTERBURY. PLAINFIELD. VOLUNTOWN. STERLING.
Y THE business interests of Canterbury were not unaffected by these agitations. Previous to the Crandall outbreak they had received much attention from public-spirited citizens. Projected business en terprises were largely discussed. In 1825, the representatives were instructed to use their influence in favor of a petition for liberty to erect dams across the Quinebang for manufacturing purposes. In the following year the town voted :-
" That we highly approve of the contemplated canal* on the Quinebaug River, connecting our manufacturing and agricultural interests, opening a ready market for our surplus productions, and calling for our energies and enter- prise."
To be ready perhaps to take advantage of the expected opening,
* Calvin Goddard, Esq., was president, Esquire John McClellan, vice- president, Adams White, Jun., secretary and treasurer of the " Association for constructing a canal from Norwich to Massachusetts," which was much
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CANTERBURY, ETC.
Capt. David Butts, Solomon Payne, Elisha Chaffee, Isaac Backus and Rufus Adams, were appointed a committee to inquire what measures can be taken to promote domestic manufacturing and agriculture. Their report, April 6, 1829, reveal a touch of Morus Multicaulis epi- demic. It strongly recommended the cultivation of the mulberry tree, as well adapted to the soil and not impoverishing it ; labor required in the production of silk performed by hands not suitable for ordinary farm work ; also the reclaiming of hedges and sterile pastures-the shade of the maple tree being supposed to impart both sweetness and nutriment to the grass beneath-also, the manufacture of wagons, plows, scythes, hoes, rakes, pitchforks, chairs and cabinet work, but tons, wire-sieves, bricks, hats, augers, combs, corn-brooms, cards, sad- dles, harnesses, spools and bobbins. Aiding the spirit of enterprise, and encouraging honest industry by example as well as precept, the committee entertained the confident hope that they should see the town rising into a more prosperous condition, honorable to themselves and profitable to their children. Confused perhaps by the multiplicity of objects presented, the town contented itself with offering a reward of fifteen dollars "to the first person who shall produce upon any single farm in Canterbury in one year the greatest quantity of silk not less than fifteen pounds from mulberry trees, raised in this town from the seeds." Several manufactories were already in successful opera-
favored by the river towns. Various obstacles delayed the work till a more efficient mode of communication was suggested. The Windham County Ad- vertiser, January 25, 1832, after publishing a list of projected railroads in other States, thus summons Connecticut to action :-
"Are the citizens of Connecticut to sit idle while these stupendons operations are going forward and do nothing ? Massachusetts may extend her road to onr line on the north, and Rhode Island, to our line on the east, and here they must stop. Passengers must leave their flying machinery, and pass through the land of steady habits, at the rate of two miles an hour. Is there no enterprise here ? Is this sleep to be perpetnal ? Remember fellow- citizens, that unless Connecticut does something evincing a regard for the good of our population, that population will take up their march, and will go onward until more congenial spirits are found. The people of New England have a work to perform, or lose their glory. Where ean this work be com- menced with more propriety than down the valley of the Quinebang ? Sup- pose a Rail Road were constructed from New-London to Worcester, what an intercourse would be opened between Boston and New-York? The expense will be but little, compared with that of a canal, and the means are adequate, and the object is worthy of deep consideration. We now have a Canal Charter, why not convert this Canal into a Rail Road ? Norwich has an interest which should call out her citizens, and every other town on the route has an interest which ought to secure their operation. During the winter a meeting will be held at some convenient place, to take up this subject in earnest."
In the following May the Boston, Norwich and New London Railroad Company was incorporated, and the Act of 1827, incorporating the Quinebaug Canal Company repealed.
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HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.
tion. Flourishing foundry works were carried on in the north part of Westminster Parish by Isaac Backus and Nathan Allen, which were facilitated by the Brooklyn and Windham turnpike. Samuel Hough and D. F. Eaton engaged successfully in axe-making : George Justin fabricated scythes and axes in his blacksmith's shop in South Canter- bury ; Perez Austin made and repaired wagons and carriages : Phin- ehas Carter continued his cooper's work ; Stillman G. Adams carried on the bat-manufacture in place of Deacon Simms now removed to New York State. Job Rood, the ingenius coffin-maker. exercised his inventive powers upon window-blinds. Sufficient domestic cloth was yet made to keep Kingsley's and Foster's fulling-machines and clothier's works in active operation. Cotton manufacturing was still carried on in Fenner's factory, and Canterbury shared with Plainfield the rising promise of Packerville. Local improvements received due attention. A house and farm to furnish a home for the poor was purchased in 1829, and a committee chosen to direct improvements in the burial- ground. Canterbury Probate Court was constituted in 1835, Chester Lyon, judge.
Innovations and projects were little favored by residents of the more remote districts, who long preserved the customs of preceding genera- tions. Farmers who came to church with fine horses and carriages and were rated as men of large substance, still lived in primitive fashion, wearing home-made clothing and eschewing household luxuries. The "meeting-suit " was expected to serve for many years, if not a lifetime. One quaint resident was married three times in the same blue. brass- buttoned coat, and after sixty years'service he was finally buried in it. His economy was matched perhaps by that of the good woman who made a single nutmeg last a lifetime, keeping it done up in velvet which she shook over her cake and pudding. Among Canterbury eccentricities was Capt. John Clark, who lived nearly 101 years. He retained to the last his autocratic authority, governing his elderly daughters as if they were children .*
* This venerable person, who is said to have assisted in turning ont the tea at Boston Ifarbor, preceded by nine years another distinguished Revolution- ary veteran who had done good service at Bunker Hill. A tablet in Cypress Avenue, Mount Auburn Cemetery, commemorates the virtues and public services of Captain Josiah Cleveland, born at Canterbury, Dec. 3, 1753, " He served his country faithfully through the whole war of the Revolution. He fought her battles at Bunker Hill, Harlaem Heights, White Plains, Trenton, Princeton, Monmouth and Yorktown. He sustained an unblemished reputa- tion, and lived in the practice of every christian virtue. He loved, feared, and served God. In the ninetieth year of his age he journeyed nearly five hundred miles from his home (Owego, N. Y.) to be present at the celebra- tion of the completion of the monument on Bunker Hill. He lived to witness that remarkable spectacle. He was satisfied. He laid down quietly and yielded up his breath near the scene of his first conflict with the enemies of his country." He died at Charlestown, Mass., June 30, 1843.
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PLAINFIELD, ETC.
Mr. Meech was succeeded in 1822, by Rev. Thomas J. Murdock- "a model of a man, a scholar, a Christian and a minister."-who ex- erted a most salutary influence in the community. Thomas Coit, Luther Paine, Fitch Adams, John M. Francis, and other influential men, now united with the church. Aente disease terminated this valu- able life and ministry in 1826, to the great grief of church and society. A marble slab in the North Burying Ground still testifies their " respect for his memory and exalted virtues." His name was also preserved in the fine library of books left for public use. Rev. James R. Wheelock was installed in 1827. but only remained in charge two years. Rev. Dennis Platt, somewhat noted as a revival worker, served a somewhat longer period, and received many into the church. The pastorate of Rev. C. J. Warren was equally brief. Episcopal service was frequently performed by Rev. George S. White after his removal to Canterbury, and in 1827, "St. Thomas Parish" gained a name but scarce " a local habitation." Its existence was however recognized for several years. Westminster Society was called to part in 1824 with its beloved pastor, Rev. Erastus Larned, in the fiftieth year of his age and twentieth of his ministry. The succeeding pastorate of Rev. Israel Rose was marred by exceptional unpleasantness, but with the advent of the Rev. Asa King, the former harmony returned. His faithful labors were blessed as in previous fields, by the upbuilding of the church and the strengthening of good influences. His efforts in behalf of temperance were ably seconded by leading men in his society, especially Isaac Backus, Esq., the enterprising manager of the Foundry, now one of the leading men of the town, and by Dr. Isaac Clark, a man of fine education and most excellent spirit, who had succeeded to the medical practice of Dr. Johnson. Westminster's first post-office was opened by l'eter Spicer in 1836. The old Separate church had now breathed its last and its meeting-house was falling to pieces. Methodists main- tained worship in the centre of the town.
A new religious interest had developed in the southeast corner of the town in connection with the building up of Packerville. The Andrus Factory privilege passed in 1818 into the hands of Daniel Packer and Daniel Lester of Preston, and after a few years manufac- turing operations were resumed under the management of Mr. Packer. Buildings were repaired and enlarged, new machinery introduced, a village started into life. As usual in such rapid up-growths bad elements at first predominated. Sundays were given over to drinking, horse-racing and kindred amusements. Captain Packer was greatly impressed by the prevailing irreligion and vice, and resolved "that he would use the utmost of his exertions and influence, not only to have the word of the Lord regularly dispensed but a house of worship 64
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