USA > Connecticut > Windham County > History of Windham County, Connecticut > Part 97
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A full military company was formed in Ashford in 1722, with John Perry for captain, Benjamin Russel for lieutenant and Joshua Kendall for ensign. During these years the people suffered much from Indian alarms, and constant fears stimulated watchfulness to be ready for any outbreak of savage hostility which might appear. Captain Perry proved himself an efficient and courageous officer, and several times furnished the govern- ment important information. To prevent as much as possible their approaches under false pretenses Indians were forbidden to hunt in the woods north of the road from Hartford, through Coventry and Ashford, to New Roxbury. A military watch was ordered to be held in Ashford and a scout maintained in the northern part of the town. By these precautions the settlers were protected in a measure, and no disastrous attack of the Indians was experienced.
The population of the town now steadily increased. Joseph Bosworth bought land of Corbin in the eastern part of the town in 1718, and Elias Keyes followed in 1722. In the latter year Edward Sumner of Roxbury, a brother of Samuel Sumner of Pomfret, with two associates bought a thousand acres of land of James Corbin in the eastern part of Ashford. As an induce- ment to them to settle upon this wild tract of land Mr. Corbin further offered to cover and finish a building, the frame of which already stood upon the land, using boards and shingles, erect a stack of chimneys and finish four rooms within the house and then to deliver annually to them four barrels of good
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cider for four years, they to find barrels and send them to his house in Woodstock. Thomas Eaton of Woodstock, a brother of Jonathan Eaton of Killingly, settled in Ashford in 1723. In 1725 Robert Knowlton of Sutton purchased a large tract of land in the southwest part of Ashford, now included in the Knowlton neighborhood, and at once settled upon it, laying out a road on the east side of his farm and freely giving it to the town.
In May, 1725, James Corbin petitioned the general assembly for a patent of confirmation for certain lands in Ashford in place of lands which had been taken from him by the annexation of a strip of Ashford land to the town of Willington. The annex- ation of that strip to that town had prevented his taking up the twenty-five hundred acres assigned him in the settlement of his claim with Ashford. On the other hand the New Scituate tract, which was now held by Colonel John Chandler, contained 2,476 acres more than the deed called for. Corbin now petitioned that this surplus might be granted to him. A committee ap- pointed by the general court found that the New Scituate land was over measured, and that body on hearing the case decided that the petition of Corbin should be granted, with the proviso, " that all the claimers that have regulated themselves according to the order of the committee in 1719 shall not be prejudiced thereby."
With the commotions created by contests and litigations over the possession of lands and the blighting effects of drouth and other unfavorable conditions, which discouraged the progress of improvement, the town made slow headway with the elements of a growing community. But the completion of the minister's house and the meeting house was persevered in. The assembly had granted the town repeated exemption for many years from paying colony taxes. But whatever financial discouragement assailed them, the people were firm in their determination to maintain the standard of public morals, as far as providing laws and punishments could effect this. A set of " stocks " was erect- ed on the green, in front of the meeting house door, and the town was prompt in prosecuting individuals who neglected their families and thus threatened to bring charges upon the town. Benjamin Russel and others were allowed to build a pound on the meeting house green at their own cost and charge. As for- eign cattle continued to trespass upon the commons the town appointed men to drive them out, and in 1734 it was voted, " That
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· any inhabitant of Ashford that shall take into possession, care or oversight, any neat cattle that don't belong to an inhabitant of Ashford, other than his own proper estate, from the first of April to August, shall forfeit ten shillings to the town for each and every head of neat kine so taken." A cemetery was laid out in 1734. At that time James Beekman, Joseph Whiton and Robert Knowlton were appointed a committee "to lay out a quarter acre of land for a burying place at ye west end of ye town, where people have been buried." A burial place was also ordered in the east of the town. In 1732 the town began to pay colony charges. The rate list of estates for that year amounted to £4,609, 9s. Captain John Perry and Philip Eastman were now chosen to represent the town in the general assembly, and they were continued in that capacity for several years. Up to about this time for many years the town had been in the habit of pay- ing a bounty of twenty shillings a head for every wolf killed. It appears that by the year 1735 the country was so completely rid of these wild animals that the last bounty of this kind was paid in that year.
About the middle of the last century Ashford reached a con- dition of some prominence and activity. Many new settlers had gained a residence here. Ebenezer Byles, on becoming of age, settled on land which had been purchased by Josiah Byles in 1726, about a mile west of Ashford Green. William Knowlton purchased a farm of four hundred acres in the western part of Ashford. This was in after years divided between his sons Dan- iel and Thomas, who, after serving brilliantly in the French war, engaged with equal ardor in cultivating their land and dis- charging the ordinary civil and military duties of good citizens. Ephraim Lyon removed from Woodstock to the eastern part of the town, and was greatly esteemed as a man of shrewdness and sound judgment. Daniel Dow, of Voluntown, settled north of the "green," with a rising family of great promise. David Bolles, of New London, established himself near the present Eastford village, with a license to exercise "the art and mystery of tan- ning leather," and great skill and experience in working up the same into serviceable shoes. Stephen Keyes, Theophilus Clark, and Amos Babcock were admitted freemen prior to 1760. Sam- uel Woodcock, of Dedham, succeeded to the farm once held by Jacob Parker, and Jedidiah Dana to that formerly of John Paine. The remaining part of the Stoddard tract fell to Martha, daugh-
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ter of Anthony Stoddard, and wife of Captain John Stevens, of Boston, who, in 1757, laid it out and divided it into thirty-one lots or farms, which were sold to John Chapin, Abel Simmons, James Parker, Robert Snow and others. A large and valuable farm, near the site of the present Phoenixville, known as the Beaver Dam farm, was retained and occupied by Captain and Mrs. Stevens, and brought under a high state of cultivation. President Stiles, journeying through Ashford in 1764, was very much interested in Captain Stevens' agricultural operations. He reported him as holding six thousand acres of land in the town ; having thirty acres of hemp growing, which required but one man to attend, but employed thirty men in pulling time; and expecting a harvest of twenty tons of hemp and two hundred bushels of seed. The people of the town testified to their re- spect for these distinguished residents by voting that Captain John Stevens and his family should have liberty to sit in the ministerial pew at church during the pleasure of the town. Cap- tain Benjamin Sumner, Captain Elisha Wales, Elijah Whiton and Amos Babcock were prominent men in the town at that time. The tavern keepers licensed in 1762 were Benjamin Sumner, Joseph Palmer, Benjamin Clark, Jedidiah Fay, Ezra Smith, Samuel Eastman and Elijah Babcock. Solomon Mason had a grist mill, and Amos Babcock kept a store.
The town officers elected in 1760 were: Amos Babcock, Eben- ezer Byles, Jedidiah Dana, Captain Benjamin Sumner, Ezra Smith, selectmen; Mr. Byles, town clerk and treasurer; Ezekiel Tiffany, constable and collector for the west end of the town; Samuel Holmes, constable and collector for the middle of the town; Benjamin Russel, constable and collector for the east end of the town, and also collector for colony rates; Timothy East- man, Josiah Spalding, Benjamin Carpenter, Amasa Watkins, Samuel Allen, Jedidiah Dana, Stephen Abbot, John Bicknell, Benjamin Walker, Jonathan Chaffee, Job Tyler, Benjamin Clark, David Chaffee, William Preston, surveyors of highways; Jona- than Burnham, Josiah Eaton, fence viewers; Benjamin Clark, Josiah Holmes, Benjamin Russel, Jedidiah Blanchard, Asaph Smith, listers; Nehemiah Smith, Jonathan Burnham, grand jur- ors; Josiah Rogers, Stephen Snow, William Chub, tithingmen; Benjamin Russel, brander, pound keeper and collector of excise; Caleb Hende and Josiah Chaffee, branders and pound keepers; Samuel Snow, sealer of weights and measures; Asaph Smith, sealer of leather.
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As a glimpse of some of the difficulties which beset the people of Ashford in those days the following memoranda, made by the town clerk in one of the books of record, are interesting:
"The 5th day of May, 1761, a very stormy day of snow, an awful sight, the trees green and the ground white; the 6th day, the trees in the blow and the fields covered with snow.
"The 19th day of May, 1763, a bad storm of hail and rain, and very cold, following which froze ye ground and puddles of water.
" The 17th day of October, 1763, it snowed, and ye 18th in ye morning the trees and the ground were all covered with ice and snow, which made it look like ye dead of winter."
One of the last general agitations with which the town of Ash- ford was disturbed, before the great upheaval of the revolution, was an outbreak of land controversy, with respect to the claims of James Corbin and his legal representatives. This broke out afresh about the year 1769. At that time the Corbin claims were represented by Benjamin and Ashael Marcy. An appeal was taken to the assembly, and all the actions of town and assembly since 1719 were reviewed at great length. The assembly de- cided that 910 acres were still due to Corbin under the settle- ment of 1719, and 375 acres more under the patent of 1725, which they interpreted as being an addition to the settlement of 1719, and the Macys were authorized to take up land to the amount of such deficiencies, from the commons of the town. But when they began to act under this authority the town prosecuted them in the superior court, and obtained a verdict against them. The Macys then appealed again to the assembly, and that body re- versed the decision of the superior court, restoring the Macys to the possession of the land and reimbursement of costs. Thus the question rested until the events of the revolution gave the people questions of deeper import to absorb their attention.
As early as 1767, when the oppressive acts of parliament were being discussed as vital questions in the colonies, Ashford held a meeting December 14th, and appointed some of its trustworthy citizens, Elisha Wales, Benjamin Clark, Benjamin Russel, Elijah Whiton and Benjamin Sumner, "to be a committee to corres- pond with other committees in the county and elsewhere, to encourage and help forward manufactures and a spirit of indus- try in this government." In regard to the non-importation agreement of 1769, and the violation of it by some, the people of
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this town, in response to a call for a convention of delegates at New Haven, in 1770, to consider the public welfare in regard to the matter, gave the following expression of their sentiments:
"Our utmost effort shall be put forth in vindication of the Non-importation Agreement, as a measure without which the safety and prosperity of the Colonies cannot be supported.
" That peddlers who, without law or license, go about the country selling wares, are a nuisance to the public, and, if in our power, shall be picked up and put to hard labor, and compelled to earn their bread in the house of correction.
"We highly resent every breach of the Non-importation Agreement, and are always ready to let our resentment fall upon those who are so hardy and abandoned as to violate the same.
" It is our earnest desire that every town in this Colony, and in every Colony in America, would explicitly and publicly dis- close their sentiments relating to the Non-importation Agree- ment and the violations thereof.
" That the infamous conduct of the Yorkers in violating the patriotic engagements of the merchants, is a daring insult upon the spirit and understanding of the country, an open contempt of every benevolent and patriotic sentiment, and an instance of treachery and wickedness sufficient to excite astonishment in every witnessing mind, and.we doubt not but their actions will appear infamous till the ideas of virtue are obliterated in the human mind, and the advocates of liberty and patriotism are persecuted out of the world.
" That if the people of America properly attend to the concern of salvation, and (unitedly) resolve upon an unshaken persever- ance in the affair of non-importation till there is a total repeal of the revenue acts and an ample redress of American grievances, we shall be a free and flourishing people.
" In consequence of the above resolutions we have chosen Captain Benjamin Clark to attend the general meeting of the mercantile and landed interests at New Haven-the sense of the town as above-and to use his utmost influence to establish in the most solid and durable form the Non-importation Agreement."
At the same meeting a committee, consisting of Elisha Wales, Benjamin Clark and Samuel Snow, was appointed to see that no trade in imported goods was carried on in Ashford in violation of the non-importation agreement.
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Later on, when the war clouds began to thicken, in the summer of 1774, Ashford appointed as its committee of correspondence, to act with similar committees from other towns, for the general good, the following men : Jedidiah Fay, Captain Ichabod Ward, Captain Elisha Wales, Benjamin Sumner, Amos Babcock and Ingoldsby Work. Sympathy was expressed on behalf of the blockaded and oppressed Boston people by following the exam- ple of Windham in sending a fine flock of sheep for the relief of the distressed city. During the troublous years of the war Ashford suffered in common with other towns of the county, and contributed her share of men and means to carry forward the common cause. The sound sense of political economy with which her people were inspired is shown in the following instructions given October 3d, 1783, by Ashford town meeting, to Simeon Smith and Isaac Perkins, her representatives in the assembly :
"1. Oppose all encroachments of Congress upon the sover- eignty and jurisdiction of separate States, and the assumption of power not expressly vested in them by Articles of Confedera- tion.
"2. Inquire into the very interesting question whether Con- gress was authorized by the Federal Constitution to grant half- pay for life, and five years full pay to officers --- and if the measure be ill-founded, attempt every constitutional method for its removal.
"3. Promote a strict inquiry into public and private expendi- tures, and bring to a speedy account delinquents and defaulters.
"4. Use your endeavors that vacant lands be appropriated for the general benefit of the United States.
" 5. Pay particular attention to the regulation and encourage- ment of commerce, agriculture, arts and manufactures.
"6. We instruct you to use your influence for the suppression of placemen, pensioners and all unnecessary officers.
"7. Also, to use your influence to promote the passing an act in the Assembly to enable Congress to lay an impost on the importation of foreign articles.
" And, finally, we instruct you to move in the Assembly that the laws for the promotion of virtue and good manners and the suppression of vice, may be attended to, and enforced, and any other means tending to promote a general reformation of manners."
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The population of Ashford in 1775 was 2,228 whites and 13 negroes. The grand list at that time amounted to £17,273, 11d. 3d. Captain Benjamin Sumner was at that time a very prominent citizen of the town. Josias Byles succeeded Isaac Perkins as town clerk and treasurer, in 1780. The selectmen in 1783 were Esquire Perkins, Captain Reuben Marcy, Captain David Bolles, Lieutentant John Warren and Edward Sumner. Other officers then were: David Brown, Jedidiah Ward, Ebenezer Bosworth, Ebenezer Mason, constables and collectors ; Ephraim Lyon, Joshua Kendall, Ephraim Spalding, Amasa Watkins, Jacob Chapman, Thomas Ewing, Jonathan Chaffee, Timothy Babcock, Isaac Kendall, Captain Samuel Smith, Medina Preston, John Loomis, Ephraim Walker and Stephen Snow, highway surveyors; Medina Preston, Samuel Spring, Abel Simmons, Deacon Chapman and Josias Byles, grand jurors. At this time the selectmen were directed to provide a work- house in which idle, lazy and impotent persons were to be taken care of and under the direction of the selectmen they were to be put to work. A committee was at the same time appointed to look after schools.
One of the memorable events in the history of Ashford was the visit of General Washington, while on his presidential tour in 1789. Leaving Uxbridge before sunrise, Saturday, November 7th, they breakfasted at a tavern kept by one Jacobs, in Thompson -- the well-known half-way house between Boston and Hartford-and thence proceeded on the road to Pomfret. Major Jackson and Private Secretary Lear occupied the state carriage with the president, and four servants followed on horseback. No one knew of the coming of such a distinguished party through the town, so the people were not prepared to see him, and only those who happened to be in the way were for- tunate enough to get a glimpse of the nation's chieftain.
At Grosvenor's, in Pomfret, they paused for refreshment and rest, and to inquire for General Putnam, whom Washington had hoped to see here, and which indeed had been one of the objects in coming this road, but finding the distance to his residence too great to be covered without disarranging his plans, Washington abandoned the idea of seeing Putnam, and continued on the main road eight miles further, to Perkins' tavern in Ashford, where he remained over the Sabbath. The diary of the president speaks of this tavern as "not a good one," a remark which he
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frequently found appropriate to the taverns he found on his way, and as he was not writing for publication he had no scruples against candidly noting it in his private memorandum. Tradition gives few details or incidents of this visit. Washington, it is said, attended church, and occupied the most honored seat in the house of worship, and Mr. Pond and the town officials doubtless paid their respects, but the Sabbath-keeping etiquette of the time did not permit any formal demonstration, and he was probably allowed to spend the day in peace and quiet after his own taste. His visit here is said to have aroused the jealous indignation of the people of Windham town. They declared in reference to the president that he had "gone back and stole away from ye people, going by a by-road through Ashford to avoid pomp and parade."
Ashford was favored with a post office as early as 1803. David Bolles, Jr., was appointed first postmaster. The usual repre- sentatives of the town in assembly about that time were William Walker, Abel Simmons, Jr., Josias Byles and John Palmer. An instance of the natural aversion to anything like corrupt meas- ures in political campaigns, with which the people were imbued is seen in the fact that the election of Mr. Jason Woodward in 1802 was contested on the ground that he had obtained it "by distributing liquor ; had treated the selectmen with four bowls of sling, and given to the people about his store four bottles of liquor," but fortunately for him and the credit of the town, the charges were not substantiated in the evidence. In the census of 1800 this town is reported as having a population of 2,445, and a grand list of $61,367.41.
A number of taverns were kept during the early years of the century, by Messrs. Clark, Richmond, Palmer, Preston, Burn- ham, Howe, Woodward and others. In 1818 there were in the town eight mercantile stores, six grain mills, nine saw mills and five tanneries. Josias Byles was still continued in the office of town clerk, and David Bolles and his son retained the post office. The town now had seven churches, and some man- ufacturing was carried on. Four carding machines had been set up in different parts of the town. Rufus Sprague, Edward Keyes, John N. Sumner, Benjamin and Mason Palmer were incorporated in 1815 as the Sprague Manufacturing Company, for the manufacture of cotton wool into yarn or cloth. Read, Steb- bins & Co., engaged in a woolen factory, advertising the same
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year for eight or ten young men to learn to card, spin and weave. Benjamin Palmer also engaged in the manufacture of tin ware, which he offered, of any description, plain or ja- panned, as low as any one in the state.
A probate district was organized here and the office estab- lished in Ashford village in 1830. David Bolles was made probate judge, but he died during the year mentioned, and the office was then placed in the hands of his successor in legal practice, Ichabod Bulkley.
In the march of modern improvement and change, Ashford seems to have suffered somewhat. Railroads have evaded this section. Her advantage of position on the great thoroughfare of New York and Boston travel by turnpike and wagon road is a thing of the past. But Ashford may cherish an honorable record in the past, and many honorable names in the country have had their ancestral roots here. Her living sons are found everywhere outside of their own town. One of these wander- ing sons, who achieved success and fortune, has shown his inter- est in his birthplace by devising liberal things for its benefit- leaving it the sum of six thousand dollars, the income of which is to be expended upon its musical and intellectual culture. The Babcock Brass Band, with facilities for continued improve- ment, the Babcock Library, free to all the inhabitants of the town, have resulted from this considerate bequest of Archibald Babcock, late of Charlestown, Mass. With such substantial re- membrances from those who owe it allegiance, it may be hoped that the home of Knowlton, Dana, the Notts, the Bolleses, and other illustrious sons, will continue to maintain an honorable position among its sister towns.
In the early years of settlement the Connecticut Path was the only recognized highway or thoroughfare by which this town was approached or had communication with the outside world. But the need of more accommodations in the line of roads and bridges was soon felt, and commendable effort was made to sup- ply this need. In 1728 it was voted "that the town will butt the west end of the lower or south bridge over Bigelow River from the land part to the stream with solid work with stones, or logs, or both, and if the bridge over the stream be judged de- fective, then to build it all anew." All the inhabitants of the town were warned to assist in repairing this bridge. A cart bridge over Bigelow river was also ordered " by Humphrey's
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saw mill," as well as a bridge over Mount Hope river, on the Hartford road. Another bridge was ordered to be built " over the great brook by Daniel Bugbee's meadow," and also a horse bridge over Mount Hope river, in Corbin's land.
During the years that followed the town was greatly inter- ested in the improvement of its public highways. Toward the close of the century a committee was appointed to confer with a committee appointed by the assembly "to lay out a highway from East Hartford to Massachusetts or Rhode Island line." The Boston Turnpike Company was incorporated in 1797, and within two or three years the great Boston and Hartford turnpike, running through Mansfield, Ashford, Pom- fret and Thompson, was completed and opened to the public. James Gordon, Shubael Abbe and Ebenezer Devotion were ap- pointed to oversee repairs, gates and collections on this road. About half a mile to the east of Ashford village, this road con- nected with another great turnpike leading to Providence, con- structed a few years later by the Connecticut and Rhode Island Turnpike Company. Unlike some other towns, Ashford made no opposition to these improvements, but willingly paid the needful impost to gain better accommodations and increased travel. Daily stages passing to and fro over these roads gave the town quite a busy air. Chaises and other vehicles were now coming into vogue. A large amount of freight was carried over the turnpikes. The numerous taverns needed to supply the wants of travelers and teamsters were kept by Jedidiah Fay, Benjamin Clark, Isaac Perkins, Josiah Ward, William Snow, Josiah Converse, Stephen Snow and Samuel Spring. The Wood- stock and Somers turnpike was completed during the early years of the present century, as was also the Tolland County turnpike, which intersected the Boston and Hartford turnpike, two miles west of Ashford village. Travel on these thorough- fares was stimulated by the war of 1812, and by the manu- facturing industries of neighboring towns. Stages were daily passing to and fro over the various roads, and at the junction of the Boston and Providence turnpikes a continuous line of vehi- cles as far as the eye could reach could frequently be seen.
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