History of Windham County, Connecticut, Part 13

Author: Bayles, Richard M. (Richard Mather)
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: New York, Preston
Number of Pages: 1506

USA > Connecticut > Windham County > History of Windham County, Connecticut > Part 13

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down a steep hill-side, the building having been sold to a private party. A great crowd of people were present, to help as help on such occasions is generally furnished. With the help of nearly a hundred oxen they had started the building down its perilous descent when a chain broke. In accordance with the custom in such cases, treat was demanded, but the purchaser of the build- ing, being a temparence man, refused. High words and threats followed, but they failed to bring forth the "treat." Finally the men became so huffed that they decamped, taking their oxen with them, leaving the meeting house suspended. But there were temperance men enough in the vicinity, and they quickly rallied and the removal of the building was carried forward to completion, without a drop of liquor.

At the anniversary of the Windham County Temperance So- ciety, July 4th, 1830, Reverend Daniel Dow was the orator of the day. At the following anniversary, that of 1831, which was held at Pomfret, a stirring and eloquent address was delivered by Doctor Wilbur Fisk of Wesleyan University. For several years the work of temparence reform was carried forward by this society with unabated vigor. Meetings were frequently held, both in the meeting houses and in the different school houses, and the question was kept thoroughly agitated and the people were instructed. Successive presidents of the society were, after Mr. Frost, George S. White, Solomon Payne and An- · drew T. Judson. In 1834 the membership numbered 635, which number may have increased somewhat in later years, but was probably never greatly augmented.

CHAPTER X.

PUBLIC CHARITIES AND CORRECTIONS.

The Towns' Poor .- Early Methods of dealing with Dependents .- Increase of Burdens by the French War .- Meagre Fare and Accommodations .- Emi- gration and Temperance decreases the Burdens .- Present Costs and Manage- ment of the Poor .- Children's Temporary Home .- Its Management and pres- ent successful Work .- The Record of Crime in Windham County .- Capital Punishment .- Execution of Criminals .- Elizabeth Shaw, Caleb Adams, Samuel Freeman, Oliver Watkins .- Other notable Crimes .- Jail Buildings .- Their Occupants .- Removal from Windham to Brooklyn .- Official Keepers. Statistics of the present Jail.

T T HE poor ye have always with you ;" yet in the early days of Windham county history there was little call for pub- lic aid. In a certain sense, everybody was poor. Even those who owned farms and houses had few ways of gaining money. The old and feeble, idiotic and insane, were cared for by their own families if it were in any way practicable. An amended act of assembly, May, 1715, expressly provided that the relations of such poor impotent persons, in the line or de- gree of father or grandfather, mother or grandmother, children or grandchildren, shall relieve such poor persons, . . . on pain that every one failing therein shall forfeit twenty shillings for every month's neglect, etc. Much neighborly sympathy and aid lightened these heavy burdens. If through age or misfortune any of the stated inhabitants of the town became greatly im- poverished, their fellow townsmen considered these circum- stances and in many cases granted relief from taxpaying and public burdens. Their charity, however, began and ended at home. For stragglers, vagabonds, transients, there was no re- lief nor mercy. Citizens harboring such strangers for even a few days without certifying the selectmen of the town were liable to fine or heavy damages. New comers preparing to set- tle in a town were subjected to severe scrutiny, and if they could not give good account of themselves, or seemed likely to prove "unwholesome" or undesirable inhabitants, they were

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peremptorily ordered to depart. It is traditionally affirmed that some families which in time attained good position and wealth were at first " warned out of town." It was thought wiser policy to pay constables' bills for " traveling after such persons to warn them out of town " than to run the risk of a longer sojourn. Yet, with all their care, impositions were not always evaded. One Christian Challenge, a wandering beggar woman, having been "rode over on the Sabbath day, either wilfully or care- lessly," brought "extraordinary charges" upon Norwich and Windham. The case of Peter Davison, the idiot son of a wid- owed mother, having her residence in Mortlake manor (now Brooklyn), involved Pomfret in troublesome and expensive con- troversy. Mortlake having no town officers, Mrs. Davison ap- plied to the selectmen of Pomfret for aid, whereupon it was voted in town meeting "That we are not obliged by law nor conscience to take the charge upon ourselves, . . . and if she do offer to impose the same upon the town, we desire the selectmen to follow her in the law as a trespasser at the town charge." The poor boy was then hustled off to Norwich, his birthplace, but as "it was none of their business," the town officers straight- way sent him back to Pomfret. The matter was finally referred to the newly organized court of Windam county, June, 1726, which affirmed that it " had no power or authority to assign said idiot to any particular place or provide for his future support ;" and thus he was left in charge of needy relatives. Another "distracted person," Robert Culborn, who had the added mis- fortune of living upon disputed territory, was bowled back and forth between Windham and Canterbury, each town refusing to assume his support-a process little calculated to modify his dis- traction. In ordinary cases, where the claim of the applicant was undisputed, the selectmen of a town took charge of such persons or families as needed help, procuring nurse and med- ical attendance, and speeding them on their way as soon as cir- cumstances permitted. As, for example, Joseph A.'s wife, of Woodstock, " unable to take care of herself and in a suffering condition," the selectmen having taken care of her at the town's cost, these officials were desired "to take the prudentest care, and move her as soon as they can, and keep her husband to work, as the law directs."

The public charges brought upon the towns by the French and Indian war, together with the support of French refugees

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who were distributed among them, made the care of their own poor more burdensome. The large town of Killingly was especially burdened, so that it was compelled to raise a tax of a penny a pound for the support of its poor-persons taking charge of such poor receiving their pay in specie, i. e., in corn, rye, wheat, beans, pork and flax, at specified price. Between 1765 and 1770, an almost simultaneous attempt was made by the sev- eral towns to procure a permanent home for the poor, which home was also to be a workhouse that idle and dissolute persons might be put therein and employed ; but it is doubtful if in any town these efforts were successful.

The number of poor claiming and receiving public aid was largely multiplied after the war of the revolution, while the re- sources of the towns were proportionately crippled. To many disabled veterans, war widows and fatherless children were now added the victims of intemperate drinking, which had become very prevalent during that period. The towns found it exceed- ingly difficult to find places in private homes for all that needed them. Many who had places of residence and friends to care for them, but no means of support, received aid from the public treasury toward vital necessities, rum and medical attendance. The strictest economy was observed in all these expenditures. The selectmen were emphatically enjoined "to let out the poor to the lowest bidder." Pomfret, with unusual consideration, en- acted "to make the best disposition of the poor for their comfort and the least expense to the town by putting them to one man or otherwise." The custom then came into vogue of "putting up the poor at vendue " on town meeting days, to be bid off by such as were willing to assume the charge. Prices varied from one and sixpence to five shillings a week, according to the in- firmity of the subject or the work that could be gotten out of him. This practice, though perhaps less inhuman than appears on the surface, was distasteful to the towns, and continual efforts were made to secure a permanent home for those who were public charges. Pomfret was apparently the first to succeed in these efforts, voting in 1796 "to build a house for the poor on land belonging to the town, now occupied by William Stone- to be 60x14 feet, 4 rooms, one story high, 2 stacks of chimneys, 2 cellars-Selectmen to have charge of the same." Other towns succeeded in time in buying or hiring houses for the accommo- dation of their poor, entrusting their care to the man who

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"would do it cheapest." It is doubtful if the comfort of the poor was enhanced by thus bringing them together under one keeper or master. "Poorhouses" they were in every sense of the word. "How do you like your new home?" was asked of old Martha Sousaman, the last Indian in Killingly, taken to the poorhouse when her wigwam was blown over. "Pretty well," she answered, " 'cos they live just like Injuns." The adminis- trative policy of those days was stern and rigid. Drunkenness, laziness, shiftlessness, brought the great majority to the poor- house, and justice demanded that they should bear the penalty. That innocent women and children should suffer for the sins of husbands and fathers was but in accordance with Divine com- mand and prophecy. To pamper paupers was inexpedient if not wrong. A bare living for those who would starve without aid was all that justice demanded of the towns. Under this Gradgrind theory the poorhouses were administered with little or no regard for the comfort and well-being of their inmates. Men, women and children, the deceased, vicious, imbecile and lunatic, were huddled together in cramped, unhealthy quarters and supplied with the cheapest and plainest articles of food. The very thought of the town's poorhouse was a terror to the respectable poor, who would suffer extremity of want before yielding to this dire necessity. Yet cases of actual abuse and ill usage, such as were common in English workhouses or in larger cities in our own country, were apparently unknown. The selectmen, if harsh, were honest and conscientious in their treatinent, and as in other New England communities, “ neigh- bors " served as self-appointed " vigilance committees," eager to spy out and report any act of abuse or neglect.

As westward emigration, the temperance reform, enlarged business operations and multiplied manufactories diminished the number which demanded public aid, their condition was greatly improved. Pomfret again took the lead as early as 1820 in voting to purchase real estate for the benefit of the poor, and one by one the other towns fell into line in purchasing a town farm, furnishing a permanent home for all that needed it, and healthful exercise for those who were not disabled. The style of living was gradually improved, the sick and aged better cared for, old people indulged with an occasional cup of tea and even allowed to sweeten it. Within the present generation there is a return to the old method of helping needy poor in their own

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homes, so that the number of permanent residents at the several poorhouses is much reduced, especially in the farming towns. These permanent inmates are almost invariably of pure New England stock, Catholics, foreigners and colored people prefer- ring to be cared for by their own churches or by their family and society connection. A few disabled, or superannuated or im- becile men and women find comfortable homes and thoughtful care in the houses provided by the towns. Insane or dangerous persons are now transferred to the State Lunatic Asylum; chil- dren are sent to their special Home, provided by the county. The number of these permanent residents in the old farming towns averages less than ten in each. Woodstock, with a popu- lation of 2,639, paid for her poorhouse in 1887, $1,196.47; for outside poor, $1,653.98. Thompson, population 5,051, paid for poorhouse in 1888, $1,157.70; for outside poor, $1,901.69. In towns where manufacturing prevails the conditions are changed, and a much larger number require temporary aid. Killingly is especially noted for its interest in her permanent beneficiaries, numbering among her institutions an annual New Year's visit to the poorhouse. The foreign element in Willimantic, its large manufactories and abnormal growth bring very heavy ex- penses upon the town of Windham, especially in relation to its poor. Thirteen insane and idiotic persons are supported by the town. During the past year an average of forty-one per- sons was maintained at the almshouse at the cost of $5,667.10. A large number of outside poor were also assisted in various ways, costing the town $2,510.54. Convenient buildings have been provided and great pains have been taken to make the Windham almshouse a model institution.

For many years the condition of children growing up in the poorhouses of Connecticut was exceedingly unfavorable. Not only was it impossible to give them proper physical, mental or moral training, but the continued association with a class of worn out, diseased, demoralized and sometimes degraded town charges, was in every way depressing and unsalutory. It seemed almost a miracle that such children should rise above their surroundings, and in too many cases they were graduated from the poorhouse to the reform school or penitentiary. It was the policy and practice of the selectmen to find homes for these homeless children, but in many cases they were seriously injured before removal. The state board of charities interested

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itself in their behalf and by persistent agitation procured the passage of a legislative act in 1883, providing that each county in the state should establish a home for orphan or homeless children by January 1st, 1884, and appropriating $1,000 to each county to start and furnish the same, and empowering the ccun- ty commissioners to purchase or hire property for that purpose.

Windham county was one of the first in the state to take ad- vantage of this act and opportunity. Messrs. J. D. Converse, Thompson, and E. H. Hall, Willimantic, county commissioners, visited several towns in search of a suitable location, and made temporary choice of the house of H. O. Preston, Putnam Heights, where the home was opened November 20th, 1883, un- der charge of Mr. and Mrs. Preston. Three children from Thompson were the first admitted and during the first year the number continued very small. Town officers and tax payers, already burdened with heavy charges for the poorhouse, out- side poor and other expenses, opposed the new institution as an unnecessary outlay, and the general public was slow to appre- hend its value. One or two special cases of relief to children suddenly left destitute opened the eyes of some, and the im- proved condition of the children as seen at the annual meeting deepened the good impression. When it was understood that the home was intended as a temporary abiding place, and that the children therein cared for were much more readily adopted into suitable families, and much more likely to grow up into use- ful members of society, the prejudice wore away, and the towns began to send their poorhouse children more freely. During the three years' continuance at Putnam Heights under the faith- ful care of Mr. and Mrs. Preston the children's home gained in public favor and the number of applicants steadily increased. In August, 1886, the county had the good fortune to receive a deed of the Giles farm in Putnam, with all its buildings and im- provements, and a good supply of water at house and barn, for the very moderate sum of $4,250. Although so far north in the county, yet the easy access to the railroad center at Putnam vil- lage, connecting by railroad and mail stage with most of the towns, makes the location very convenient and accessible. Sub- sequent addition of kitchen and dormitories, with a steam heater and modern conveniences, make a very complete and beautiful establishment, with ample grounds and play-rcom, most admir- ably adapted to its purpose. Mr. John D. Converse assumed the

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superintendency of the home November 1st, 1886, when the chil- dren were removed to the new building. The present number of children under his care is 22, which is about the average. During the past year 24 were admitted and 15 placed in private homes. The whole number received since the institution of the home is 83. The children attend school at the public school house near by, and are intelligent and tractable. Many of them attend church and Sabbath school at the Baptist church in Thompson with Mr. and Mrs. Converse. It would be hard to find a company of happier and healthier children. They wear no uniform, no badge to mark them from other children unless it be their superior good behavior. One only needs to contrast them in thought with the forlorn specimens seen in the ordinary poorhouse to appreciate the good results of this philanthropic institution. It is almost an ideal home, where homeless outcasts receive most kind and judicious care, training and instruction, and one which Windham county will value more and more. . Each town has the privilege of appointing a lady visitor, who is allowed full liberty of inspection and suggestion. The annual meeting of all officials connected with the home, together with town officers and any persons specially interested, is made a very pleasant occasion. All its affairs are seen to be administered with wise forethought and economy, the board for children re- ceived from the towns, and the profits of the farm, paying all ordinary expenses.

The court records of Hartford and New London before the erection of Windham county preserve no heavier charges against the inhabitants of its infant towns than such rude as- saults and misdemeanors as are incident in any early settlement, with the one exception of Ashford. Joseph Wilson, a young farmer of that town, while wrestling with a neighbor, John Aplin, over a disputed game at pennies, received an inward in- jury which caused his death in a few days. The jurors sum- moned on inquest gave verdict : " That Wilson came to his death by some strain, or wrench, or blow, or fall, or broke something within his body. We all conclude that was the occasion of his death-John Aplin being with him when he received hurt Dec. 28, 1720."

Aplin was at once indicted on the charge of manslaughter and bound over for trial before the superior court at Hartford, the leading men of the town giving bonds for his appearance.

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Though clearly free from any charge of design or malice, yet being also clearly accessory to Wilson's death, great fears were entertained as to the result of the trial. The situation of the young man called out deep sympathy and compassion-" grieved and broken at heart that he should have been in such a manner instrumental in the death of his friend," and yet exposed to severe penalty. The dying man had himself absolved Aplin from intentional blame, and even his wife "did reckon one as much to blame as the other." Neighbors and friends interested themselves strenuously in his behalf, especially urging that he might not be sent to the dismal, fireless jail at Hartford to await his trial. A letter forwarded to Governor Pitkin by Captain John Fitch, of Windham, from old friends who had known him from childhood and testified to his "peaceable and quiet con- versation," obtained this boon. Aplin was allowed to remain in Ashford till his trial, March 21st, 1721, when he was acquitted and discharged. The tenderness and humane consideration manifested in this instance were very rare at that period.

The first criminal trial after the organization of Windham county resulted in conviction and execution. Elisabeth Shaw, of Canada parish (now Hampton), Windham, was publicly exe- cuted December 18th, 1745, for child murder. She was a poor, simple minded girl, decidedly lacking in mental capacity. Noth- ing is known of the circumstances of the case except that, hav- ing given birth secretly to a living child, she contrived to get away with it and leave it hidden in a ledge of rocks not far from her residence. Her father, a straight laced Puritan, suspected, watched her, and perhaps unable to force her to confession, him- self preferred accusation to the town authorities. Search was made and the dead body found. The grand jurors found Elisa- beth Shaw guilty of murder, and committed her for trial. This was held September 17th, 1745, Roger Wolcott, chief judge. The facts of the case were easily proved-" that Elisabeth Shaw did secretly hide and dispose of her living child in the woods in said Windham, and did cause to perish said child." Extenu- ating circumstances had no weight. The mental or physical condition of the unfortunate girl seemed not to have been taken into consideration, and the supreme penalty of the law was pro- nounced against her. No public effort was apparently made to obtain remission or commutation of sentence. In those stern days the rigid enforcement of law was deemed the only safeguard

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of morality. A doubtful tradition hints that Elisabeth's stern father, repentant too late, hurried on to Hartford and procured a reprieve from the governor, but that a sudden storm brought on a freshet, which delayed his return until after the execution. On the appointed day a gallows was set up on a hill a mile south- west from Windham Green. An immense crowd of spectators gathered there to meet the mournful procession, reaching from hill to jail, headed by the cart in which upon her coffin sat the condemned victim, praying continuously "Oh Jesus, have mercy upon my soul !" through the dreadful "death march " and the prescribed religious ceremonies. One official entry completes the harrowing chronicle : " Allowed Mr. Sheriff Huntington, for cost and expense of doing execution on Elisabeth Shaw, £29, 5s."

The second murder reported in Windham county was com- mitted by Anne, a negro girl twelve years of age, owned by Mr. Samuel Clark, of Pomfret, in November, 1795. While playing with her master's daughter, Martha, a little girl of five years, she was made so angry by some trifling circumstance, " not hav- ing the fear of God before her eyes, but moved by the Devil," that she snatched a sharp knife that chanced to be near her and cut the child's throat so that she bled to death almost instantly. With remarkable coolness and cunning she immediately rushed out and gave the alarm, crying out that "a shack had killed little Martha." Her story was at first believed by the distressed household and neighbors, but suspicious circumstances appear- ing, a skillful cross-examination elicited the truth. Anne was taken to Windham jail, tried, convicted and sentenced. Thirty- nine lashes were inflicted upon her naked body, the letter M stamped upon her hand, and she was confined for life within the jail limits.

Eight years later another child was murdered in Pomfret, un- der circumstances of cool deliberation and settled malice. This occurred in the little neighborhood now known as Jericho, in Abington parish, near the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Reuben Sharpe, a kindly elderly pair, uncle and aunt to the whole com- munity. Childless themselves, they often cared for homeless children, and according to a frequent custom had bound them- selves to the care of Caleb Adams, a motherless boy of weak intellect and morbid temper, whom they treated with great kind- ness. When Caleb was about seventeen years old they took a younger boy into their family, Oliver Woodworth, nephew to

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Uncle Reuben, a very bright and winning little fellow, who.nat- urally became the pet of the household. Caleb's jealous disposi- tion was excited by the attention paid to Oliver, and his spleen was further aggravated by the pranks and tricks of the little boy, who took a childish delight in teasing his surly comrade. One day when Caleb was pulling beans in the field, Oliver came out to him with his sled and asked him to go a-graping with him, and agreed at first to wait for him and help him on his job, but soon became tired of it and asked him for his sled, which Caleb had put over the wall. Upon Caleb's refusal, Oliver went him- self for the sled, whereupon Caleb snatched it away and flung it up into an apple tree, telling the boy that if he got it again he would be sorry for it. Oliver immediately pulled it down, and doubtless looked defiance at the big boy who was trying to master him. Caleb at once determined to kill his childish ad- versary, and laid his plans accordingly. Quite possibly the murder of Martha Clarke, which he must have heard discussed, might suggest to him this way of ridding himself of a trouble- some rival. Calmly and pleasantly he now volunteered to go at once for the grapes, first helping to get a new tongue for the sled. The delighted boy went with him back to the house, helped grind the butcher's knife and carry the implements for his own destruction, and went gaily prattling with his compan- ion into the deep woods, when a blow from the axe stunned and felled him.

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History of Windham County, Connecticut, Part 13

Author: Bayles, Richard M. (Richard Mather) Publication date: 1889 Publisher: New York, Preston Number of Pages: 1506

Author: Bayles, Richard M. (Richard Mather)
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: New York, Preston
Number of Pages: 1506