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 9
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47
Sarah Roselle Merwin,
Henry A. Wadhams,
Emily E. Merwin,
66
Frederick A. Lucas,
Harriet M. Beach,
Nancy Clark Ives,
Maria Norton,
Elisabeth Hunter Tompkins, Alice Lyman,
Alice E. Rouse,
Mary Ives,
Cora C. Wadhams,
Phebe E. Scoville,
H. Seymour Eldridge,
1867
Delia H. Norton,
1 Emogene Cook Eldridge, Alice Lucas,
Enos B. Pratt,
Julia Pooler Palmer,
16
Willard E Gaylord,
66
Elisabeth Palmer Carr,
Moses Cook, Jr.,
Mary Patterson Allyn.
Frances E. Beach,
Lydia A. Wadhams Gallup,
Samuel A. Bartholomew,
66
Harriet E. Wadhams Page,
David Lucas, 1863
Elisabeth Mauny McKeeman, Henry H. Ives,
Orcelia Wadhams,
Eunice Johnson Ives,
William Sharley,
Jane W. Gallup,
Abner H. Wadhams,
Moses W. Gallup,
16
Sarah E. Wooster Allyn, Mary L. Huxley,
1 Sarah McCaw Barton, Maria Wadhams Lawton,
Harriet Gibbs Pelton,
Willard N. Wadhams,
Anna L. Beach,
Mary J. Ives,
Mary A. Duffee,
1861
Anna E. Palmer Wooster, Fannie Palmer,
Frederick G. Crandall, Garrett Rynders,
1866
6
1 Harriet Cole Smith,
1 Susan Grew Bingham,
1 George G. Crandall,
1 Mrs. Frances Doubleday,
Eunice Davis Lucas,
HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
109
Name.
When Admitted. 1867
Name.
Moses A. Wadhams,
James Leonard,
Joseph F. Lawton,
Joseph A. Lucas,
Milo Bartholomew,
Clarence N. Brewster,
Norman T. Wadhams,
Edward M. Norton,
Daniel W. McKeeman,
14
May Aleida Norton,
George Herald,
..
Anna L. Norton, Phebe Wooster,
Sarah B. Norton,
May L. Beach,
Mary E. Thompson Hurlbut,
Eva Stoddard,
Laura C. Johnson Beach,
Amy L. Gaylord,
Henrietta J. Wadhams,
Eliza Herold,
James S. Wadhams,
Jennie Herold,
Stephen Allyn. James P. Vaill, Sarah Lyman,
Mary Pratt,
Robert I. Allyn,
1868
Ella Barton,
Wilbert M. Allyn,
May Beach,
1 Edwin White,
11
Frances P. Ludington,
1 Mrs. Laura White,
Lucy Ludington,
1 David Lyman, Mrs. Sarah Lyman, Edwin A. White,
1869
Willis Ives,
60
I Charles C. Allyn,
..
Alice Hunter,
Wilbert W. Norton,
1870
Nellie Wadhams,
66
Helena Cook Marx,
..
Myra L. Palmer,
4
1 Rebecca Miner Vaill, Charles E. Smith,
1871
Mary G. Hall,
66
1 Rev. Timothy A. Hazen,
1872
1 Auguste Strottman, 1877
1 Emma S. Hammond,
1 Sarah A. Ices Hazen, Erwin R. Wadhams, Francis N. Barton, Henry R. Harris, Roxana M. Herald,
1873
1 Anna S. Bentley, Sarah F. Bentley, Lilian E. Bentley,
Irena B. Smith,
1 Jerusha H. Lamphier,
Cornelia B. Smith,
1 Lois W. Bentley, Lavinia E. Wadhams,
1878
Eugene P. Norton,
1874
Edwin Pratt,
Eliza Pratt,
Alice A. Barnum,
1875
1 Mary P. Cottrell, Mary E. Beach,
1 Mary N. Whiting,
1880
1 Wife of Edmund J. Apley,
Luella T. Ostrum,
1 Addison J. Palmer, Amanda C. Brooks,
Hattie Bartholomew, Minnie N. Allyn,
Seneca Cottrell, Sarah T. Davis,
1876
George L. Lamphier, 1882
1 Mary L. Wells,
1 Walter Smith,
1 Daniel H. Bentley, Mary B. Seaton, Anna L. Allyn,
1883
1 Adelle Smith,
1 Lenora Stocking, 1879
1 Edmund J. Apley,
1 Alice L. Carlisle, Delton Ostrum,
1881
Lizzie M. Stewart, John C. Haines, Nellie W. Calkins, Lizzie F. Strottmann,
..
Jenette L. Pratt,
1 Anna H. Stewart,
Sarah E. Gaylord, Maria Daines,
Cynthia White,
Anna Bushy,
Louise Stewart,
Andrew Marx,
May Wadhams,
May Maine,
..
Franklin E. Wadhams,
Wife of Robert Allyn,
When Admitted. 1876
Emeline Beecher Cook,
Celia Pratt,
Hattie Blakeslee,
Mrs. George Johnson,
110
HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
Name.
When Admitted. 1883
Name.
When Admitted. 1890
1 Daniel B. Lord, I Susan A. Lord,
Julia S. Hibbard, .
1 May B. Lord,
..
Faith Sanborn,
1 Davis Morse,
1884
Susie Vaill Wadhams,
May G. Morse,
Lucy Burr Wadhams, 66
Andrew W. Barton,
Julia May Decker,
William A. Wadhams,
James R. Decker,
Ida J. Lamphier,
Julia A. Decker,
Ella L. Bentley,
George H. Decker, ..
May L. Crandall,
Alson Morris,
1891
Ada L. Lamphier,
Joseph P. Wadhams,
Julia E. Wadhams,
Kate L. P. Humphrey,
1892
Laura J. Beach,
Frederick J. Vaill,
Louise W. Norton,
Alta C. W. Vaill,
Erastus A. Wadhams,
Cornelia T. Palmer,
Florence V. Green,
John M. Wadhams, Jr.,
1893
Lizzie G. Barton,
Mary H. Wadhams,
William Behr,
Austin Allyn,
Mary P. Lucas,
Ruby Sanborn, James A. Stewart,
1894
Nellie L. Allyn,
George C. Stewart,
Lucy E. Allyn,
Hattie May Stewart,
George Stewart,
L. W. Curtiss (expelled),
Charles F. Green,
Jane Beardsley Curtiss,
Elizabeth Merwin,
Morris A. Tuttle,
Charles A. Siddell,
Julia E. M. Tuttle,
Susan Rose,
Lilian M. Morris,
1 Anson G. Stocking,
Louise H. Wooster,
1 Sarah, wife of Anson,
Volney E. Merwin,
1895
1 Sarah Stocking,
1885
Gertrude Merwin,
Elizabeth Cook,
Mrs. Sarah L. Merwin,
1 Alice Stewart,
1886
Margaret Swartwout,
Anna L. Wadhams,
E. D. Whitaker,
Caroline P. Porter, Bertha E. Lord,
Emile Thoman,
A. G. Hibbard,
1890
May Tuttle,
Mrs. John H. Wadhams,
Stephen Allyn,
William J. Bushy,
..
Roy Kimberly,
..
Frederick Dickinson,
Eleanor C. Porter,
Ella C. Beach,
William F. Decker, 66
May P. Wadhams,
Emma C. Beardsley,
Abraham Swartwout,
Elinor Tripp,
Eliza M. Whitaker,
1896
Catherine Cook,
Mrs. V. E. Merwin,
.
111
HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
.
SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
For a long period of years the members of the Congrega- tional Church residing in the north part of the town had de- sired to be organized into a church. The bad roads, obstructed as they often were in winter by immense drifts, had made it very difficult for them to reach the Centre, or for their pastor to reach them. Records of the town and of the Ecclesiastical Society, furnish abundant evidence of discussion and resolve looking to the lessening of this difficulty.
In the year 1828 a way seemed to be opening out of the difficulty, and the residents in North Goshen, with the ap- proval of the Church in the Centre, resolved that another church should be formed. The following letter was addressed to the church in Goshen.
" Goshen, Sept. 2, 1828.
Beloved Brethren:
United by the grace and the providence of God with you in church fellowship, we have often taken sweet counsel to- gether, and together have often sat at the table of our common Lord. But, in consequence of our local situation, ourselves and the families with which we are connected have suffered inconveniences, incapable during our connection with you of a remedy. Having now, in the course of providence, a pros- pect of being able to form and maintain a separate church or- ganization, by which these inconveniences may be obviated, and the interests of religion, by the blessing of God, greatly promoted, we ask leave to withdraw from your particular fel- lowship with the view of uniting in the formation of a new church. We request that you will give us a testimonial, cer- tifying our Christian character and regular standing; and also
112
HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
that as soon as we shall become members of another church your personal watch and care over us will cease.
William Norval
John Matthews
Theron Baldwin
Silas Humphrey
Horatio A. Norton
Henry Kimberly
Chester Curtiss
Stephen Humphrey
Rene Ann Bailey
Beulah Norval
Hannah Baldwin
Mary C. Humphrey
Sarah L. Humphrey
Abigail Foot
Olive Humphrey
Abigail B. Ludington
Sarah Osborn
Ruth Hurd
Eliza Humphrey
Lucretia A. Baldwin
Abigail R. Foot
Huldah Welton
Rhoda Wilcox
Maria Beach
Sylvia Kimberly
Pamelia Thompson
Lois Norton
Susan Norval
Sarah Austin
Sarah Humphrey."
The following testimonial was given to the subscribers of the foregoing communication:
" This certifies that the following persons are members of the Congregational Church in this town, and in good standing. As they have it in view to form a new church, and with this in view, have requested a testimonial of their Christian charac- ter and regular standing, the church voted to grant their re- quest.
Their formation into a new church will be considered their regular dismission from us.
Done by vote and in the name of the church. Francis H. Case, Pastor.
Goshen, Sept. 24, 1828."
(Here follow the names attached to the preceding paper.)
A meeting of the persons thus dismissed was held Septem- ber 26, 1828, when the Rev. George Carrington and Mr. The- ron Baldwin were appointed agents to appear before the Con-
113
HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
sociation of this district, to meet at Winsted, on the 30th of September, and request them to organize the parties dismissed into a church. Their request was granted by the Consociation and a committee was appointed to organize the church.
The following is the report of the committee.
" The Committee appointed by the North Consociation of Litchfield County, for the purpose of organizing a church in the north part of Goshen, assembled in Goshen, Oct. 7th, 1828.
Present Rev. William Andrews, Rev. Ralph Emerson, Deacon Noah Rogers, Brother David Frisbie, Junior. Rev. Walter Smith and Rev. George Carrington being present, were invited to sit with the Committee and assist in the public exercises. Mr. Andrews was chosen Moderator and Mr. Emer- son scribe. The public exercises at the formation of the church were as follows:
Prayer, by Mr. Smith.
Sermon, by Mr. Andrews.
Reading of Articles, Confession of Faith and Covenant, with an address to the church by Mr. Emerson.
Concluding Prayer, by Mr. Carrington.
Attest, R. Emerson, Scribe."
Mrs. Submit Curtiss, having a letter of recommendation from the church in Winchester, was received and included by the committee of the Consociation, with the aforesaid persons in the formation of the church; all of whom, as named in the . letter of dismission, with the exception of John Matthews, were present and assented to the Confession of Faith and Cov- enant. The name of John Matthews does not again appear upon the records which indicates that he never entered into covenant with the church. The Articles, Confession of Faith and Covenant of the First Church, from which all excepting one of the members of this church were dismissed, were adopted without alteration.
8
114
HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
An Ecclesiastical Society, organized upon the principles and agreeably to the usages of the Congregational Churches in the State of Connecticut, had been formed several months previous to the organization of the church, and the Rev. George Carrington, an Evangelist, had been employed by the committee of the society, to labor with them in the ministry of the Gospel for eight months, ending on the first day of Decem- ber, 1828. The precise date of the society's organization is not known.
The existence of the Church extended over a period of about twenty years. Their house of worship was a wood build- ing, situated on the hill a short distance northwest of what is known as the "Ludington place." It was a small building, never entirely finished. The history of the church may be condensed as follows: October 19, 1828, Silas Humphrey was elected Deacon. October 19, the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was observed for the first time, and Andrew, child of Henry and Sylvia Kimberly, was baptized. November 9, Abigail B. (Ludington) Wilcox was dismissed to the church in North Greenwich. June 17, 1829, the church voted to join with the society in inviting the Rev. George Carrington to become their pastor. He had been acting pastor since the or- ganization. He was promised a salary of four hundred dollars. Silas Humphrey, Asaph Hall, and Horatio A. Norton were the committee of the society, and William Norval and H. A. Norton of the church. He accepted the call and the record goes on to say: "By an agreement between the committees of the two societies and churches in Goshen, the said Churches and Societies united in calling the Consociation for the install- ation of the Rev. Grant Powers over the First Church and So- ciety and of the Rev. George Carrington over the North Church and Society, on Thursday, Aug. 27, 1829. The Con- sociation met on Wednesday, the 26th, at 4 o'clock P. M. The Rev. Grant Powers was installed pastor of the First Church at 10 o'clock A. M., of Aug. 27th. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon
115
HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
of the same day the Rev. George Carrington was installed pastor of the North Church and Society. The exercises at his installation were as follows :-
Introductory Prayer by the Rev. Geo. E. Pierce, Harwin- ton.
Sermon by Rev. William Andrews, of South Cornwall.
Installing Prayer, Rev. Pitkin Cowles, North Canaan.
Charge, by the Rev. Hart Talcott, Warren.
Right Hand of Fellowship by Rev. Wm. R. Gould, Tor- rington.
Charge to the Church and Congregation by Rev. Freder- ick Marsh of Winchester.
Concluding Prayer, by the Rev. Grant Powers.
Benediction by the Pastor."
Mr. Carrington resigned the pastorate September 9, 1833. On November 17, 1835, it was voted to give the Rev. Guy Carleton Sampson a call to become pastor, and from the record dated January 3, 1836, it appears that he sustained such a relation. It reads: " The sacrament of the Lord's Supper was this day administered by the Rev. Mr. Sampson, for the first time since his labors commenced among this people." June 8, 1837, Mr. Sampson asked to be dismissed, the Church granted bis request and appointed a committee to attend the Consociation and lay before that body its doings, from which it would seem that he had been installed.
In January, 1838, the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered by the Rev. Asahel Gaylord, and it was not until September, 1839, that it was again administered by the Rev. Salmon J. Tracy. It does not appear that the church had any regular supply for several years. In 1841 the Lord's Sup- per was twice celebrated, the ordinance being administered by the Rev. Chester Colton; once in 1842, the clergyman not named. It was administered in July, 1846, by the Rev. Fred- erick Marsh, of Winchester, and the record goes on to state
116
HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
that he " preached to the church and society 20 sabbaths at $3.00 a sabbath," and administered the sacrament of the Lord's Supper three times during that period.
During the life of the church, as covered by its record, seven persons were received into its membership on confession of faith, and six others were received, the manner of reception not being recorded.
The last item reads:
" 18th Sept. 1847.
"N. Sheldon was appointed delegate to meet with the North Consociation in Litchfield Co. on Tuesday, 28th inst. & did so meet with the same.
N. Sheldon, Clerk."
The following persons served the church in the office of Deacon: Silas Humphrey, Doctor Horace V. Beach, and Miles Hart.
.
117
HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
CHAPTER IX.
THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION.
Ar the session of the General Assembly, held in May, 1774, when the colonies were arousing and organizing against the oppressive acts of the British government, the officers for three regiments were appointed; Ebenezer Norton of Goshen, being appointed and commissioned a Lieutenant-Colonel.
At a town meeting, held September 20, 1774; Colonel Ebenezer Norton, moderator.
Captain Sill, Stephen Goodwin, Asaph Hall, David Hud- son, Sr., and Captain Buell were chosen a committee of cor- respondence, to correspond with the committee in this county and colony relating to the present alarming situation of our affairs in North America.
Dec. 12, 1774.
" The town taking into consideration the resolves and as- sociation of the Continental Congress held at Philadelphia in September last, came into the following votes, viz .: That the resolves and declarations concerning the liberties of the sev- eral governments in North America - come into by said Congress - are just, and founded in the law of God, of Na- ture and the English constitution, and the particular privi- leges granted to the several colonies aforesaid by their re- spective charters: and that this town will use their utmost en- deavor in all lawful ways to secure and defend the same to ourselves, and hand the same down to the latest posterity: and that we approve and acquiesce in the association and agree- ment come into by said Congress, and resolve to keep the same inviolate ourselves and use our true endeavor that others shall do the same."
118
HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
At the taking of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, on the 10th of May, 1775, by volunteers under Colonel Ethan Allen and Colonel Benedict Arnold, the town was represented by Asaph Hall. (This is on the testimony of Mr. David Hart, who died in 1845, aged 89.)
In April and May, 1775, enlistments were made in a com- pany commanded by Captain John Sedgwick of Cornwall Hol- low. This company was raised chiefly from Goshen and Tor- rington. The names of the Goshen men were obtained from an account book kept by Capt. Sedgwick, with additions by Deacon Timothy Buell, one of the company. They are as fol- lows:
James Thompson, Lieutenant. John Musson, or Munson.
Charles Wright, Sergeant.
Jacob Williams.
Isaac Miles, Corporal.
Jeremiah Hurlbut.
Edmund Beach, Drummer.
Jonathan Wheadon.
Timothy Buell.
John Hobbs.
Ebenezer Shephard.
Jonathan Deming.
Ichabod Tuttle.
Abel Butler.
Lent Mott.
George Dear.
Ambrose Beach.
Timothy Knapp.
Thomas Wire.
William Starr.
David Wright.
Brewin Baldwin.
Freedom Wright.
Theodore Andrews.
Samuel Kellogg.
Samuel Hayden.
Jacob Williams, Jr.
Seth Hayden.
Asaph Hall was First Lieutenant in the Sixth Company of the Fourth Regiment, of which Benjamin Hinman, of Woodbury, was Colonel, raised on the first call for troops, April-May, 1775, and recruited mainly in Litchfield County.
Captain Sedgwick's was the Eighth company in the same regiment.
Upon the surprise of Fort Ticonderoga, May 10, 1775, Governor Trumbull ordered this regiment to march as soon as
119
HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
possible to secure that post and Crown Point against recapture. A request to this effect was also made by the Continental Con- gress. The regiment reached Ticonderoga in June and Col. Hinman assumed command until the arrival of General Schuy- ler. It took part in the operations of the northern department until the expiration of term of service, December, 1775. The regiment suffered much from sickness. The soldiers enlisted from Goshen all returned, with the exception of Thomas Wire who died from camp distemper on the march up.
The company started on the march May 31, 1775. They stopped the first night at Canaan, where Captain Sedgwick re- ceived intelligence, before leaving the next morning, that his house had been consumed by fire during the night. The com- pany went forward under Lieutenant Thompson while Captain Sedgwick returned to care for his family. Such was the in- terest and the public spirit at the time, that in one week the timber was cut, hewed, framed, and raised for the house in which his son Benjamin Sedgwick resided in 1841, 70 years later. The Captain returned to the army in a few days, but being taken sick with a fever was soon obliged to leave. The last survivor of this company was Deacon Timothy Buell, who died at E. Bloomfield, N. Y., 1850.
It is not known that there was any one from Goshen at the battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775. Mr. Ambrose Collins, who died in 1839, said that John North, Jr., at the time 27 years old, was among the 1100 men dispatched by General Washington from Cambridge, under Colonel Arnold, for Que- bec. It was not known what company he was in. He lived through that severe expedition and returned. His name does not appear on the pages of Connecticut in the Revolution, and the presumption is that he enlisted in some other State.
120
HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
1776.
A regiment was raised early in 1776, on the continental basis, to serve in the Northern Department under General Schuyler. It reinforced the troops besieging Quebec under Arnold and Wooster, and after the retreat from that position, in April, 1776, was stationed at Ticonderoga and vicinity, where the men suffered severely from small pox. This regi- ment was under Colonel Charles Burrall, of Canaan. One of the companies was under Captain Luther Stoddard of Salis- bury, and one under Captain Titus Watson, Norfolk. In each of these companies were men from Goshen. The rolls are incomplete, and we are compelled to rely upon testimony of survivors. The account which follows was given by Mr. Am- brose Collins, in 1839.
In Captain Stoddard's company there were the following Goshen men.
Thomas Converse, Ensign.
Samuel Richmond, Orderly Sergeant. Died.
Lewis Hinman.
Nathan Norton.
Ambrose Collins.
George Dear.
Asher Smitlı.
Nathan Carter.
Seth Hills.
John Musson. Died.
In Captain Watson's Company :-
John Riley, Lieutenant. John Walter.
Samuel Kellogg. John Thompson.
Leverett Kellogg. Died.
Thomas E. Munson.
Seth North.
Joseph Butler.
Seth Hayden. Died. John Beach, and
Ambrose Beach. Died. Israel Beach, sons of Jacob Beach. Jeremiah Hurlbut. Died. Justus Squire.
The company of Captain Stoddard was the first to arrive at Quebec. They left Goshen on the first or second of Feb- ruary about noon, and reached Salisbury the second day,
121
HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
where the company was collected and from whence they went on. Cyprian Collins, with a " three cattle " team and sled ac- companied them nearly to Albany, conveying their baggage. One of the soldiers has reported the contents of his knapsack as follows: " A small bible and some other small books, two linen and two woolen shirts, one blanket, two pairs of cow- hide shoes, one pair of moccasins, three or four pairs of stock- ings and one silk neck-handkerchief." He wore a pair of laced boots. No uniforms were worn except by the officers. The company stayed one night at Albany, the next day marched to Fort Edward and Fort George, staying over night at the latter place, then to Ticonderoga and Crown Point. They marched upon the lake, a good road, well-frozen except a part of the way where water was upon the ice. At night they went to the shore, but found no house. Cut down two maple trees, falling side by side, then laid in wood between them and built a fire the whole length of the trees. The snow was more than two feet deep. The hemlock trees were plenty, and these they cut and laid the boughs upon the snow in rows on each side of the fire. Their supper was eaten of what each one had with him; little cakes, biscuit, and some small pieces of pork. When this was done the men wrapped themselves in their blankets, " lay down and slept some." Had a good warm fire, but it was pretty cold weather. Went on from there to St. Johns and to Chamblee, and lay there in the fort one night, then took the Sorel river and followed it on the ice to the river St. Lawrence. After reaching the Sorel, and as they went down the St. Lawrence they pressed the Canadians with their teams to carry their baggage. They went down the St. Lawrence to the fort at Rochambeau. It was but one day's journey to the Plains of Abraham. John Musson died at Rochambeau.
They arrived at the Plains of Abraham just at night; the weather was intensely cold and Ambrose Collins, who had no overcoat, stood sentry two hours that night.
122
HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
The soldiers were billeted at the houses of Canadians; the Goshen boys, with Lieutenant Converse and some others, 15 in all, were billeted on a family of French Canadians. The house was a small one, built with hewn logs, and plastered outside and inside and had a stove. Here they were inocu- lated for the small pox, but it was too late as they had been exposed to it at almost every place on the way, and it was not long before they were all down with the disease in the natural way. The old lady of the house, who was very kind, came round with a loaf of bread and a bowl of spirits, cut off a piece of the width of two fingers, dipped it in the spirits, and gave each a piece to send out the disease. The only medicine was the bark of the butternut tree. There was neither physi- cian nor medicine chest. The sick men lay all about on the floor, kept from freezing by the stove and wrapped in their blankets. For food they drew some rations of beef, believed to be " horse beef," and broiling it on the stove ate it, when compelled by hunger to eat. Sometimes they drew a little pork, and occasionally they had a little good bread, but usually their bread was dry and hard. There was great difficulty in getting food, as all the provisions had to be brought over the way they had themselves come.
The men had arrived there the last day of February. The ice having just gone out of the river, on the night of the fifth of April, three ships of war came up the river, compelling a retreat, and on the morning of the sixth an order was given to that effect. At that time the snow was deep, but hard, and the walking upon it was good. The soldiers were so far recov- ered that nearly all of them were able to walk, though some of them were very weak. Lieutenant Converse, who had the disease very severely, was left behind, they never expecting to see him again. In the Revolutionary Records of this State, he is reported as " left behind in retreat from Quebec, April, 1776." The sick were sent on forward. The British soldiers followed, and the ships also went up the river, firing upon
123
HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
them as the road lay by the side of the river. None of the Goshen soldiers were hurt by the fire from the ships, the banks of the river being high.
At Three Rivers, they met Colonel Burrall, who was coming on to join his regiment. Colonel Burrall procured a boat, large enough to carry 12 or 15 persons, and it was filled at once. Ambrose Collins was in the bottom of the boat wrapped in a blanket, unable to do anything. In the night they run upon rocks, and finally finding themselves in a grove of trees, the river having overflowed its banks, they landed and found a house where they remained until the next morning. They went up the Sorel River as far as possible, being com- pelled by the rapids to leave the boats at Sorel, they walked to the village of Chamlee. Here they were ordered 15 miles down the river to St. Johns, from that place coming on to Crown Point, and thence to Ticonderoga. Here they remained during the summer, the soldiers being employed in clearing some land and building fortifications. It is probable that it was while the soldiers were employed here that Asher Smith and Seth Hills deserted and came home. Colonel Medad Hills, the father of Seth, carried them back immediately, and on account of his pleading with their officers they were not pun- ished.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.