USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Goshen > History of the town of Goshen, Connecticut, with genealogies and biographies based upon the records of Deacon Lewis Mills Norton, 1897 > Part 14
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When he was soundly sleeping, she removed the other covering, and taking the strong linen sheet upon which he was lying, wrapped it close around him and sewed it fast to- gether. When all things were thus prepared, and having at hand several rods of no mean dimensions, she applied them thoroughly. The poor husband begged as for his life, but
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she thought it best to finish well what she had begun, before she released him. The precise effect of this correction is not known, but, so far as learned, they were well agreed in after life.
THE SPINNING MATCH.
This was a trial among the ladies of Goshen, to see which could excel in spinning linen on a one-handed wheel. It is supposed to have taken place about 1770. The understanding was, that each might spin 24 hours, and be helped to reel yarn, etc. The struggle was extensive through the town, but not all upon the same day. It seems to have been first tried among the married; then among the unmarried.
The wife of Captain Isaac Pratt seems to have excelled among the married ladies. Her husband prepared her dis- taffs and reeled her yarn till she made six runs. In this stage of the business, the husband very prudently put his veto upon further proceedings; and remained inflexible, notwith- standing her remonstrances. The poor woman sat down and cried.
Several others did well. The wife of Stephen Tuttle made out 5 runs. Several others four runs. Experience, the first wife of Ebenezer Norton, and her sister Olive, that married Abraham Parmelee and Doctor Titus Hull, were among those who engaged in the contest in the chamber of their father's house. When they finished, it is said that the marks of bloody fingers in the stairway in their passage below attested the severity of their labors.
But Lydia Beach excelled them all. She was a daughter of Deacon Edmund Beach, of East street, born October 28, 1749. Her distaffs were all prepared, her yarn reeled, and even her food put in her mouth. She spun from daylight until nine o'clock in the evening. Her yarn showed 7 runs, equal to 32 days' work.
The sequel of the story is, that Jesse Buell, eldest son of
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HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
Captain Jonathan Buell (of Goshen, South end), became ena- moured of the maiden and took her to himself; after which she became the mother of three sons and five daughters.
THE HARD WINTER.
The hard winter began early in December, 1779. There was a constant succession of storms of snow and wind, and for six weeks the water was not known to drop from the eaves of the houses. The snow became so deep that some orchards were filled to that extent that scarcely a twig was visible. The fences were nearly all covered. The house of John Thompson, on the west side of East street, was so covered that a passage two or three rods in length was tunneled from the door to the road. In March, the snow was four feet deep in the woods; and so hard that oxen could go anywhere. At the usual time for making maple sugar, the fences were generally covered, and the snow hard. Many sheep and a few cattle were buried, and lost. A great many houses were buried in the snow. The meetings were usually held on the Sabbath, but many times none could attend except as they went on snow shoes. These were made at the time by Lieutenant Cyprian Collins, and several old horses were killed for their hides, which were used in stringing them. The grain was drawn to mill on hand sleds and grinding was extremely difficult. The care of cattle, the getting of a little wood, and the going to mill comprised pretty much all that was done. Fortunately, there was no scarcity of fodder, and although the getting of cattle to water was out of the question, still, by removing part of the roof of his barn, the farmer could feed them, and the cattle soon learned that the eating of snow supplied the place of drink. The storms of snow and wind continued until the latter part of March, when the weather became more moderate, and the snow was melted gradually by the sunshine, without flood. The succeeding spring was not unusually late.
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HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
THE GREAT HAIL STORM.
This storm occurred July 15, 1799, and continued about fifteen minutes. It was some four miles in width, and it was most severe in the middle. The timber and fruit trees within the two miles of its centre were much injured, and some orchards nearly destroyed. In a grove of chestnut trees, scarcely a green leaf was seen after the storm. The ground was covered, not only with leaves, but with branches broken off by the hail, some of them so large that it must have re- quired a force almost equal to the strength of a man to pull them off. The shingles on the dwelling and barn of Robert Palmer, were so split as to be entirely ruined. A man exposed to the storm a few minutes, was so terribly beaten that his head was covered with blood, and his whole body much bruised. The gardens were wholly destroyed, and in meadows where the grass had not been cut, hardly any remained. Mr. Isaac Baldwin, who lived at the time on Ivy Mountain, stated that a hail stone came through the glass on one side of his house and bounding from the floor, passed through a pane of glass on the other side. Birds, squirrels, and woodchucks were frequently found dead after the storm.
THE BURNING OF THE BLUE HOUSE.
This house was so called from its having been painted a lead color. It stood over the same cellar, where the house of Robert Palmer was built on East street, at the place anciently called, " The Centre East and West Highway." The house was built by John North, then late from Farmington, between 1745 and 1763. He had been a merchant in a small way, while living in the house.
The house was burned on Saturday, June 6, 1767. It was occupied at the time, by three young men and their wives, Fisk Beach, John Carrington, and Clark Royce. Fisk Beach, with his wife and child were absent, visiting Uri Hill, West
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HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
street, Clark Royce was also absent, and James Royce, his brother, unmarried, was a boarder there at the time, and had a place in the garret where he worked at his trade, a cabinet maker. When the storm commenced, John Carrington and wife, the wife of Clark Royce, Rhoda Thompson, and James Royce, were the only persons in the house.
Martin Willcox, son of John Willcox, Sr., had that day been framing a barn for Matthew Grant, of Torrington. He was called " The Giant," on account of his size and strength. He had been married to Ruth, daughter of Benjamin Ives, but now he was a widower and childless. Seeing the storm . rising he hastened to reach home if possible. He was hailed by William Stanley, who had been at work clearing the land on the east side of Beech Hill, but was unwilling to stop, and hurried on until he came to the blue house, when the stormn compelled him to go in.
The appearance of the sky at this time is said to have been unusual and awfully sublime. The storm was tre- mendous, with a constant blaze of lightning and roar of thun- der. The house was struck by the lightning, apparently in three or four places at once, and was almost immediately all on fire.
Willcox and James Royce were killed by the lightning, and all were struck down. John Carrington was the first to come to his senses and seized his wife and carried her to the barn, on the west side of the road. He then ran down the street, to the house of Deacon John Beach, crying, " We are all dead." On returning to his wife he found her clothes on fire. Her back was badly burned by the lightning, or the fire of her clothes, or both. At the time the house was struck Mrs. Carrington was ironing clothes. The iron she had in her hand was thrown from her. The wife of Clark Royce commenced carrying out furniture, regardless of the dead men; but it is supposed that she had not recovered her senses.
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HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
Willcox remained motionless in his chair, until it was burnt out from under him, when his body fell down. Some timbers falling, broke his legs, and they were both burned off to the place of fracture, so that the stumps only were left below the knees.
Charles Humphrey, and others, got there before the frame fell, and with long poles, to which hooks were attached, pulled out the bodies before the falling of the whole frame. The rain was falling in torrents, but this did not prevent the house from burning rapidly. It was a good house, two stories high. The bodies, or what remained of them, were removed to the house of the next neighbor on the north, Mr. John Thompson, where the funeral was attended the next day. Mr. Newell preached a sermon from the text: "Man knoweth not his time." There was a great concourse of people, men, women, and children, from Goshen, Norfolk, Torrington, and Corn- wall. The burial was in the East Street graveyard, but no tombstone marks the place.
THE TRIPLETS.
The following is from the Phrenological Journal, 1858 .- " Mrs. Sybil Ludington, Mrs. Sarah Bushnell and Mrs. Susan Grennell, are three sisters, born in Goshen, Conn., in 1788. Their parents were Gideon and Anna (Beach) Hurl- but. Their father was accidentally killed, by being drawn into the cog wheels of a grist mill, when they were nine months old. The three sisters removed from Goshen when they were about eighteen years of age. Since then they have lived in different parts of the country, mostly, if not entirely, upon farms. Their personal appearance is striking; - Mrs. Gren- nell and Mrs. Bushnell resemble each other so much, that even Mrs. Ludington has mistaken the one for the other. They are all in excellent health, which I suppose is owing to having good constitutions, and the fact that they are never idle.
·
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HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
Though in comfortable circumstances, they are always busy about some profitable and healthy employment.
Mrs. Grennell has had four children; Mrs. Bushnell nine, and Mrs. Ludington one child."
At the time the foregoing was written, they were seventy years of age.
JUSTICE OF THE PEACE.
It appears from the dockets of the first Justices that liti- gation was not unknown at an early day. Ebenezer Norton was among the first, or, nearly the first, of the men appointed to this office. Later, and after the State organization, some of these officers were known as " Justices of the Quorum." Bird- sey Norton held this office from 1809 to 1812; and Moses Lyman, from 1815 to 1817. The office would be called, at the present time, " Associate Judge of the County Court."
From the docket of Ebenezer Norton, we make the follow- ing extracts.
"At a Justices Court Held in Goshen in Litchfield County feb- ruary the 21st AD 1775 Present Ebenr Norton Justice of Peace for sd County Ruben Sweet of winchester in sd County Personally ap- peared and Confest himself Guilty of Playing Cards Contrary to the Statute Law of this Colony on the 16th Day of March Last Past at the Dwelling House of Joseph Horskins In Torrington in sd County: whereupon this Court Gives Judgment for the sd Ruben Sweet to Pay a fine of 13 /4 Lawfull money to the Treasurer of the Town of sd Torrington together with one Shilling Cost.
Ebenr Norton Justice of Peace.
the one Shilling Cost is Paid Exn is Granted on this Judgment
December the 6th AD 1775.
the King vs mathew Conner at a Justices Court Held in Goshen in Litchfield County April the 7th AD 1775 Present Ebenr Norton, Justice of Peace for sd County: Matthew Conner a Trancient Person now Residing in sd Goshen was Brought by Special writ on file Dated the 31 Day of December Last to answer unto the Complaint of william Stanley Grandjurer in and for sd county who Complains in the name of our Lord the King
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HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
against the sd Conner for Breach of Law for that he the sd Conner was found Drunkeu in sd Goshen on or about the 21 Day of De- cember Last as Per Complaint on file Dated the 30th Day of Decem- ber AD 1774 the Delinquent Plead not Guilty as Set forth in sd Complaint this Court having Examined evidence Produced in Court: is of the opinion that the Delinquent is guilty as set forth in sd Complaint and therefore Gives Judgment for the sd matthew Con- ner to Pay a fine of Six Shillings Lawfull money to the Treasurer of the Town of sd Goshen for the use of sd Town and Cost of Prose- cution Taxed at 7, 6 Lawfull money and Stand Committed till it was Complyd with
Ebenr Norton Justice of Peace
the Cost is Paid but not the fine
The King vs Seth Hayden
At a Justices Court Held in Goshen in Litchfield County June the 13th AD 1775 Present Ebenr Norton Justice of Peace for sd County Seth Hayden of sd Goshen appeared in Court and Confest himself guilty of Breach of Law by Playing wispering in the time of Public worship in the meeting House in sd Goshen on the 19th Day of April Last it being the Day of the Public fast in the Colony as set forth in the Complaint on file Dated the 24 Day of April Last: whereupon this Conrt Gives Judgment for the sd Hayden to Pay a fine of 3 Lawfull money to the Treasurer of the Town of sd Goshen for the use of sd Town and Cost of Prosecution Taxed at 2/ Lawfull money
This Judgt is Satisfyed
in Cash
Ebenr Norton Justice of Peace
On "Jenewary Je Sth Day 1776" George Rex " is made the Plaintiff in two suits for " Breach of Sabbath." each Defendant " Con- fest himself Gnilty," paid his fine and George the King was " satis- fyed."
The last appearance of the King as Plaintiff was as fol- lows :- in all later trials for offences the State is the Prose- cutor:
the King vs Eben Shepard
At a Justices Court Held in Goshen in Litchfield County March the 6th AD 1776 Present Ebenr Norton Justice of Peace for sd County Eben Sheapard of Winchester in sd County was Brought by Special writ on file Dated the 24th day of Jenewary 1776 to answer unto the complaint of Samuel - of sd winchester one of the Grandjureours of sd County who Complains under his sd office oath against the sd Sheapard for being Guilty of Cursing Abel Wet-
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HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
more of sd Winchester on or about the 13th Day of December Last as Per Complaint on file Dated the 23 Day of Jenewary AD 1776: the Defnt Plead that sd Complaint ought to abate and be Set aside be- cause it was not Set forth in sd Complaint that the Defnt was Guilty of Profane Cursing &c this Court haveing heard and Considered the Pleas of the Deft Give Judgment that sd Complaint abate and be Set aside and that the Defent Pay the Cost of Prosecution Taxed at 14/11 Lawfull money
Eben Norton Justice of Peace this Judgment is Satisfyed in Cash
Elias Deming sues John North for defamation and re- covers " forty Shillings Lawfull money Damage." This was probably a case of odium medicum.
In 1778 Jesse Wilkinson of Winchester " Confest himself Guilty of feloniously Taking and Stealing of Ruhm out of the hogslicad of Ruhm then in sd winchester at or near the house of m$ Hanah Avery in sd winchester Belonging to m' Oliver Hanchet."
There were many cases of complaint for " Profane Swear- ing, Profaning the Sabbath, Drunkenness, steeling a hive of Bees," and similar offences. A suit was brought against a man on account of sheep claimed to have been killed by his dogs, in which judgment was rendered as follows :-
" This Court having Examined the Evidence Produced in Court and heard and Considered the Ples of the Parties is not Satisfied and Convinced that the Defents Sd Doggs Did not Kill and Destroy the Pints Sd Sheep and therefore Gives Judgment for the Defent to Render and Pay unto the Plat the Sum of Fifteen Shillings Lawfull money."
The last extract we make from this docket is in a different handwriting from any which precede it.
" At a Justice Court held in Goshen Dec. 9th 1782
present Ebenezer Norton Justice of Peace for sd County Charles Thrall Seth wetmore Stephen Fyler Sam Wetmore Roger Marshal and Ambrose Marshal all of Toronton in sd County appeared in Court and each of them Confest before sd Court that they were guilty of breach of pease for that on or at the 30th day of Oct Last past they each of them in a Tumultuous and offensive manner rode into and
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HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
through the Meeting House iu Torrington and also on sd day did in a like tumultuous and offensive manner Vandue one Fire Shovel in the Highway near the dwelling House of the Rev. Mr. Noah Merwin in said Torronton
this Court having Examined Sundry Evidences in the Cases give Judgment that each of the above sd Delinquents pay a Fine of Five Shillings Lawfull to the Treasurer of sd Town of Goshen and Cost of Judgment Taxed at one Shilling each
Eben Norton Justice of Peace.
Charles Thrall Seth Wetmore and Saml Wetmore have Paid the fine and Cost against them Ambrose marshal hath Paid his fine and Cost December the Sth AD 1783 Execution was Granted against Ste- phen fyler on the above Judgment."
The General Assembly passed an Excise Law, at the Ses- sion held in January, 1783. Under this law the following persons applied for licenses on the dates named.
Doctor Jesse Carronton, May 1, 1783, applied for and re- ceived license to sell certain goods on which the State had laid an Excise Tax, "except such Sperituous Liquors in less Quantityes than one Quart."
John Carronton the same day.
William Goodwin, May 8, 1783.
Fisk Beach, June 10, 1783.
Daniel Miles, September 5, 1783.
Allyn Smith, Dec. 6, 1784.
THE MANOR.
In some old memoranda that came into my possession there were references to " the Manor," but nothing was to be found in the Norton or Town records that would throw any light upon what was referred to, or its location. It was in- timated to me, by Benjamin F. Pettibone, Esq., of Winches- ter, that Mrs. Victory C. Hart might help me to the light I was looking for. I wrote Mrs. Hart, who forwarded my letter to Mr. Orlo E. Wadhams, West Torrington, and he informed his aunt, Emily Loomis, a lady 82 years old, of my wish, and she has written the following, which, probably, includes all that we shall ever know about " The Manor."
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HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
" The place called The Manor is in Goshen, except a short distance over the line, in Torrington. When I first knew the place, a little over seventy years ago, I supposed that the first settlers must have so named it. There were there four good houses. The Hills lived in the house at the west end of the pond, two families of Parmelee lived on the north side, and in the house at the east there lived, at the time I first remember, a Mr. Hart, great grandfather of the Hart family at Hart Hollow. He had a saw mill and a grist mill on the pond stream." She gives a different account of the drowning of " Old Whist." He had a hut in the lot west of the pond, and one morning his canoe was seen bottom up, his cap floated ashore, but he was never seen again." (See previous page " The Manor.")
The following shows the amount of the Grand Lists, dur- ing the twenty years, between 1755 and 1775. It is given in pounds, as it was before the day of reckoning values in dollars.
1755,
6,252
1756,
6,878
1757,
7,439
1758,
7,705
1759,
7,453 .
1760,
. 7,455
1761,
.
8,166
1762,
. 8,492
1763,
8,589
1764,
8,779
1765,
9,461
1766,
9,749
1767,
10,588
1768,
10,658
1769,
. 10,624
1770,
11,016 -
1771,
11,385 .
1772,
. 12,460
1773,
10,991
1774,
. 11,989
1775,
12,661
.
·
·
.
·
.
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HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
We presume that this represents, in part, the increasing value of property as it was being improved by new buildings, fences, etc., and to a greater extent the fact that new settlers were coming in and more of the land was being brought under cultivation.
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HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
CHAPTER XII.
THE HUDSON COLONY, BY DAVID HUDSON.
Hendric Hudson, who discovered the Hudson River in 1609, named his youngest son David; and for seven genera- tions the youngest son of each youngest son bore the same name .- David Hudson, born in Branford, Conn., came to Goshen with his father's family, about 1764; married Anna, daughter of David Norton, December 23, 1783; resided here until after the birth of his seventh child. Early in the year 1800 he moved his family to the town of Hudson, in what is now Summit County, Ohio.
The following account of the settlement of Hudson is taken from an address of S. A. Lane, Esq., on the occasion of the 90th Birthday anniversary of Mrs. Anner Maria Hudson Baldwin, the first white child born in the town, the daughter of David Hudson - October 28, 1890.
In the year 1796, Gen. Moses Cleveland, in whose honor the present magnificent city of Cleveland was named, Judge Joshua Stow, afterwards the proprietor of Stow township, and others, were employed by the Connecticut Land Company to survey the lands of the Western Reserve, east of the Cuya- hoga and Tuscarawas rivers, into townships. In the distri- bution of these lands in 1798, township number four, in range number ten, fell to David Hudson, Birdsey Norton, Nathaniel Norton,* Stephen Baldwin, Benjamin Oviatt, and Theodore Parmelee. These were all residents of Goshen.
Early in 1799, for himself and his co-proprietors, Mr. Hud- son determined to visit their new possessions, with the view of
* Nath. Norton had removed to East Bloomfield, N. Y., in 1789.
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HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
preparing them for settlement. Taking with him his eleven- year-old son, Ira, Jesse Lindley, William McKinley, and Mr. and Mrs. Thadeus Lacey and their two young children, he started, by wagon from Goshen, April 23, 1799.
Hiring three additional men en route - Joseph Darrow, Jonah Meacham, and Richard Blinn - Mr. Hudson reached Bloomfield, Ontario County, N. Y., the home of one of his co- proprietors - Mr. Nathaniel Norton - on the 5th day of May. Here he remained eleven days, completing his outfit; here, also, falling in with Mr. Benjamin Tappan, the pro- prietor of Ravenna township - a member of the first State Legislature of Ohio, in 1803; afterwards presiding judge of Court of Common Pleas, United States District Judge for Ohio, and United States Senator from Ohio, from 1839 to 1845 - Mr. Hudson and Mr. Tappan joining forces for the balance of the journey. Mr. Tappan furnished one yoke of oxen and Mr. Hudson two yoke and two cows, which were started through the wilderness in charge of two of Mr. Tap- pan's and one of Mr. Hudson's men - following the Indian trail to Buffalo; thence along the shore of Lake Erie, to near where Painesville now is, and thence, on marked township lines, to their destination.
The main party proceeded by wagon, to Geandiquot ( "Gondigut ") Bay, on Lake Ontario, where, with their sup- plies, they embarked in open boats previously provided, the boy Ira, Mr. and Mrs. Lacey and their two children being left with the team and a portion of the supplies, to work their way overland as best they could.
Starting from "Gondigut " Bay, May 16, six days were consumed in reaching Niagara. Here all their effects, in- cluding their boats, had to be transported by hand around Niagara Falls, to a safe distance above the rapids.
Making but slow headway against the swift current of the river, filled as it was with floating ice, on reaching Buffalo
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HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
Creek their further progress was stayed by an ice gorge at the mouth of the Niagara, in the language of Mr. Hudson in his diary, " fully twelve feet high."
Though the gorge soon broke, leaving Lake Erie free from ice, strong head winds detained them here three days. Find- ing that the winds were strongest during the day, they deter- mined to travel at night. Starting forward again, on the even- ing of May 29th, by rowing, poling, and towing, the fleet finally reached the mouth of Conneaut River, June 5th in comparative safety.
Mr. Hudson's fine sense of justice, coupled with great kindness of heart, and a species of grim humor, is well illus- trated by his method of dealing with the first authentic labor strike on the American continent, which occurred on this no- table journey. His man Lindley demurred against doing this night work, claiming that he had hired out to work in the daytime only. Pleasantly conceding the correctness of Mr. Lindley's claim, Mr. Hudson permitted him to sleep through the night while he and the rest of his men worked with might and main to stem the winds and waves which beset them. The next morning, however, on lying by for the day, opposite Cat- taraugus Swamp, Mr. Hudson furnished Mr. Lindley with an axe, and set him to felling trees and chopping them up into cord wood, while the others were taking their needed rest. After a few hours of this rather monotonous labor, the ludi- crousness of the situation - chopping and piling cordwood hundreds of miles from any civilized settlement - as well as the unreasonableness of the stand he had taken, seemed to dawn upon the mind of Mr. Lindley. Humbly apologizing to Mr. Hudson, and promising to take his turn at the oar at night, when necessary, Mr. Hudson relieved the recalcitrant from his unpleasant task, and thenceforth he had no more willing and faithful man in his employ than Jesse Lindley.
Soon after leaving the mouth of the Conneaut River, on
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HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
the evening of June 5, the wind suddenly changed to the north, assuming the proportions of a furious gale, which drove the fleet on shore, filling one boat with water, thoroughly drenching its passengers and cargo, and staving a hole in the bottom of another, through which a large part of their potatoes and other supplies were lost in the lake.
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