USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Litchfield > History of the town of Litchfield, Connecticut > Part 4
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Extract from a Letter of Governor Tryon to Lord George Germain. " Ship Duchess of Gordon, >
Off' Staten Island, 14th August, 1776. 5
" The confederate Colonies have declared themselves inde- pendent States. Enclosed is a printed copy of their declar- ation of Independency, which was published through the streets of New-York the middle of last month, where the King's statue has been demolished, as well as the King's arms in the City Hall, the established churches shut up, and every vestige of Royalty, so far as has been in the power of the Reb-
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els, done away. The persons of the Mayors of the cities of York and Albany, Judges, Counsellors, Magistrates and prin- cipal gentlemen of the country that are not in rebellion, seized and secured, and even down to the meanest planters persecu- ted and tyrannized over.
The whole armament destined for this part of America, ex- · cept the last division of the IIessions, being now assembled here, I expect, by the courage and strength of this noble army, tyranny will be crushed and legal government restored."
Tyranny was indeed crushed and legal government restored, but not precisely in the manner anticipated by Gov. Tryon.
A paper read before the New-York Historical Society, in October 1844, by George Gibbs, Esq., gives this further ac- count of the representative of his Majesty.
" ACCOUNT OF THE STATUE OF GEORGE III., FORMERLY STANDING IN THE BOWLING GREEN, NEW YORK.
Most of the members are probably aware that an equestrian statue of King George III. stood upon the Bowling Green, in this city, prior to the Revolution, and was overthrown soon af- ter its commencement. I believe, however, that its subsequent fate has never been recorded, and having in my possession a paper giving authentic information on the subject, I have sup- posed that the royal effigy might be worth a brief obituary.
Holt's (New York) Gazette, as quoted by Mr. Dunlap, gives the following notice of its erection :
' August 21st, 1770, being the birth day of Prince Frederick, the father of George III., an elegant equestrian statue of his present Majesty, George III. was erected in the Bowling Green, near Fort George. On this occasion the members of his Maj- esty's Council, the City Corporation. the Corporation of the Chamber of Commerce, the Corporation of the Marine Socie- ty, and most of the gentlemen of the City and army waited on his honor, the Lieutenant Governor C. Colden, in the Fort, at his request ; when his Majesty's and other loyal healths were drank under a discharge of thirty-two pieces of cannon, from the Battery, accompanied with a band of music. This beauti- ful statue is made of metal, (Dunlap says by way of parenthe-
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sis, ' the writer did not on such an occasion like to say what metal represented his royal majesty, the best of Kings ; it was lead') being the first equestrian one of his present majesty, and is the workmanship of that celebrated statuary, Mr. Wilton of London.'
Symptoms of disloyalty, betokening revolution I presume, soon manifested themselves in the rude treatment of the effigy, for on the 6th February, 1773, (13th Geo. III. Ch. 1580,) an act was passed 'to prevent the defacing the statues which are erected in the city of New York.'
Upon the above account of Holt's, Mr. Dunlap observes :
" This statue stood till sometime in 1776. I saw it in 1775. In 1776 it was thrown down, and tradition says converted into bullets to resist his gracious majesty's soldiers when sent to en- force the doctrine of ' the sovereignty of British Parliament over the Colonies in all cases whatsoever,' the doctrine of Mr. Pitt, Lord Chatham, which he died in an effort to enforce. The pedestal stood until long after the Revolution. No fragment of the horse or his rider was ever seen after its overthrow, and so completely had the memory of this event (the erecting the only equestrian statue ever set up in New York) been lost, that I have never found a person who could tell me on what occa- sion it was ordered, or when placed in the Bowling Green.'
In fact so much was the statue forgotten. that Watson in his sketches (p. 30,) has entirely mistaken the personage repre- sented. Speaking of the overthrow, he says with a curious re- vival of tory feeling : ' My friend, Mr. John Baylie was present in April, '76, and saw the degrading spectacle. He saw no decent people present ; a great majority were shouting boys. The insult, if so meant, was to the dead, as the statue was of George II., our most gracious King.'
Some cotemporary notices of the destruction of this effigy have been pointed out to me, which I will cite, and which will show that Watson was wrong not merely as to the person, but as to the time of its occurrence, which was immediately after the news of the declaration of Independence. The first is from a book of general orders issued by Washington, the origi- nal of which is in the possession of the Society. It is as follows :
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'July 10. Tho' the General doubts not the persons who pulled down and mutilated the statue in Broadway last night, acted in the public cause, yet it has so much the appearance of riot and want of order in the army, that he disapproves the manner and directs that in future these things shall be avoided by the soldiery and left to be executed by proper authority.'
The next is in a letter from Ebenezer Hazard to General Gates, dated July 12th, 1776, which will be found among the . Gates papers, also in the Society's Collection, and is as follows :
'The King of England's arms have been burned in Phila- delphia and his statue here has been pulled down to make mus- ket balls of, so that his troops will probably have melted majesty fired at them.'
Another is in a letter from New York, of July 11th, 1776, published in the New Hampshire Gazette of the 20th.
'New York, July 11. Last Monday evening the equestri- an statue of George III., with tory pride and folly raised in the year 1770, was by the Sons of Freedom laid prostrate in the dust, the just desert of an ungrateful tyrant. The lead where- with this monument is made is to be run into bullets, to assim- ilate with the brains of our infatuated adversaries, who to gain * a peppercorn, have lost an empire. Quem Deus vult perdere, prius dementat. A gentleman who was present at the ominous fall of leaden majesty, looking back to the original's hopeful beginning, pertinently exclaimed in the language of the angel to Lucifer ' If thou be'est he ; but ah, how fallen ! how chan- ged ! ! ''
A note to this letter by the editor marks the allusion to Lord Clare's declaration in Parliament, that a peppercorn in acknowl- edgement of Britain's right to tax America, was of more impor- tance than millions without it.
The destruction of the statue is also alluded to and incor- rectly attributed to General Washington in a smutty tory pro- duction, entitled ' The Battle of Brooklyn, a farce in two acts, as it was performed on Long Island, on Tuesday, the 27th day of August, 1776, by the Representatives of the Tyrants of of America assembled at Philadelphia : New York, printed for J. Rivington, in the year of the Rebellion, 1776.'
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Betty, a servant of 'Lady Gates,' is represented as compli- menting General Washington in this wise :
Betty. 'Lord ! Lord ! mem, did he not make codfish of them all at Boston ! and has he not seen tory men rid upon rails at New York by the tailors and coblers of the town ? And more, my Lady, did he not order the King's statue to be pulled down and the head cut off ? For God's sake, mem, what would'st have of a hero ?'
Lady G. 'Codfish at Boston ! It is really an odd term Betty ; but he did no more than that old fool Putnam would have done. His not forbidding that insult to humanity at New York, was countenancing an act of barbarism, and none but a little minded barbarian would have suffered the arts to be tram- pled under foot as he did, in the case of the king's statue.'
Mr. Stephen's (Incidents of Travel in Russia, &c., vol. 2, p. 23,) mentions having met with a curious memorial of its des- truction, and at an out of the way place. This was a gaudy and flaring engraving in a black wooden frame, representing the scene of its destruction, which he found in a tavern at Chi- off, in Russia. 'The grouping of the picture,' he says, 'was rude and grotesque, the ringleader being a long negro, stripped to his trowsers, and straining with all his might upon a rope, one end of which was fastened to the head of the statue and the other tied round his own waist, his white teeth and the whites of his eyes being particularly conspicuous on a heavy ground of black.' How this picture found its way to Russia, it would be difficult to imagine ; it would certainly be not less a curiosity here than there.
The document I have mentioned gives an account of its re- maining history in a shape which history seldom assumes, that of an account current. It is preserved among the papers of General, afterwards Governor, Oliver Wolcott, of Connecticut. It is a statement of the number of cartridges made from the materials of the statue by the ladies of Litchfield, and is in these words :-
Mrs. Marvin,
3456 cartridges.
on former account, 2602
6058
Ruth Marvin on former account, 6204
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Not sent to court house 449 packs, 5388
-
11,592
Laura, on former account, 4250
Not sent to court house 344 packs, 4128
8378
Mary Ann, on former account,
5762
Not sent to the court house 119 packs,
out of which I let Colonel Perley Howe have 3 packs, 5028
10,790
Frederick, on former account,
708
Not sent to court house, 19 packs, 228
936
37,754
Mrs. Beach's two accounts,
2002
Made by sundry persons,
2182
Gave Litchfield militia, on alarm,
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Let the regiment of Col. Wigglesworth have
300
Cartridges, No.
42,288
Overcharged in Mrs. Beach's account, 200
42,088
The original account is in General Wolcott's hand writing, and is endorsed 'an account of the number of cartridges made.' There is no date to it, nor is there mention made by him of the fact of their being made from the statue, but a memorandum added by his son, the last Governor Wolcott, explains it as fol- lows :-
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"N. B. An equestrian statue of George the Third of Great Britain, was erected in the city of New York on the Bowling Green, at the lower end of Broadway; most of the materials were lead, but richly gilded to resemble gold. At the begin- ning of the revolution this statue was overthrown. Lead be- ing then scarce and dear, the statue was broken in pieces, and the metal transported to Litchfield as a place of safety. The ladies of this village converted the lead into cartridges, of which the preceding is an account. O. W.'
The Mrs. and Miss Marvin and Mrs. Beach, mentioned in the paper, belonged to families who yet reside in Litchfield ; the other persons named were the two daughters and the youngest son of General Wolcott.
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Litchfield, it may be noticed, was, during the war, a place of great importance as a military depot. After the capture of New York by the British in 1776, all communication between New England and Pennsylvania was turned to the westward of the Highlands on the Hudson, and the troops and stores were usually passed through that village as a point on the most · convenient route to the posts on the river yet in possession of the Americans. General Wolcott, who was a member of the Continental Congress, lived there, and during the intervals of his congressional attendance, was constantly occupied in rais- ing troops to supply the requisitions of Washington, Putnam and Gates. It appears from his letters that he returned to Connecticut shortly after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, of which he was one of the signers, and it is probable that the statue was transported there at his instance, immediately after its destruction. Of its identity as the mate- rial for the cartridges above mentioned, there can be no doubt. The late Governor Wolcott, on graduating from Yale College in 1778, was appointed to an office in the quartermaster's de- partment, under General Greene, and was posted at Litchfield, in charge of the stores there. His opportunity for knowing the fact, as mentioned in his note, was therefore certain. The late Hon. Judge Wolcott, moreover, who figures in the account as 'Frederick,' and who was a boy at the time, informed me a few years ago that he well remembered the circumstance of the statue being sent there, and that a shed was erected for the occasion in an apple orchard adjoining the house, where his father chopped it up with the wood axe, and the 'girls' had a frolic in running the bullets and making them up into cartrid- ges. I suppose the alarm of the militia, on which some were distributed, was Tryon's invasion in 1777, when Danbury was burnt. On this occasion fourteen men, the last in Litchfield capable of bearing arms, were started at midnight to aid in re- pulsing the enemy.
The estimation in which lead was held in those days may be imagined from the fact that the above account of cartridges is filed carefully among returns of troops, accounts of requisitions upon the states, and issues of bills of credit.
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This incident in revolutionary history might, had it found its way to him, have well barbed a shaft at King George from Peter Pindar's own bow ; and we may suppose, from the grave attempts at waggery in the extracts above given, that a great deal of wit of one kind and another was expended on the occasion. I suspect that the monarch, could he have lis- tened to the gossip over the melting ladle, might have exclaim- ed with Richard,
. Let not the heavens hear these tell tale women Rail at the Lord's anointed.' "
At a meeting of the Inhabitants of Litchfield, on the 6th of January 1778, to take into consideration the articles of Confed- eration, and perpetual Union, between the States, it was "Vo- ted, unanimously, that the said articles of Confederation be ap- proved, and that the Representatives of said Town be instructed to use their influence and vote in General Assembly, to invest the Delegates of this State, with competent powers ultimately in the name and behalf of this State, in Continental Congress, to subscribe and confirm the said articles of Confederation and perpetual Union between the said States."
It seems the sins of the children were visited upon their fathers.
" At a Town Meeting holden on the 25th of March, 1782, Stephen Stone, Elijah Griswold, and Benjamin Kilborn, hav- ing lately been assessed on examination by the Civil Authority and Selectmen, agreeably to Law, for each having a son gone to the enemy, and having requested a hearing in Town Meet- ing. and being heard accordingly, the question was proposed relative to said Stone in particular, and the Town by vote did not discharge said assessment."
At a Town Meeting 2d April 1782, " on the question wheth- er Stephen Stone shall be acquitted from his assessment, &c., Voted in affirmative. Whereupon Elijah Griswold and Benja- min Kilborn, requesting the Town to release them from the assessment, Voted to raise the whole number of recruits requi- red of this Town for continental service. by Tax," &c.
NOTE .- Chas. Kilborn and Bury Dinlittle, (mentioned in the Letter of Doct. Smith,) escaped. Kilborn went to Canada, and died a few years since ; Doolit- tle is still living in western New York
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From the State Records it appears that-
Aug. 1, 1776. Letters from the Convention of New-York sent by Mr. DePeyster, respecting the prisoners sent from New-York to Litchfield Jail were read ; and thereupon order- ed that the Mayor of New-York should be brought to Hart- ford, and there confined. Gilbert Forbes and William Forbes were directed to be confined in Litchfield jail, and the other ten to be taken to Norwich jail.
Aug. 26, 1776. Last Monday, David Matthews, Mayor of the City of New-York, was brought from Litchfield, and on Friday was returned to Litchfield, to remain under the care of Capt. Moses Seymour.
Feb. 11, 1777. John Marsh 3d, of Litchfield, applied for liberty to take Mark Prindle of Harwinton, (a tory at Mans- field,) and him have before the Court at Litchfield, in discharge of his bail bond, given for said P'rindle in another case ; which was granted by the Governor and Council, with their order to return said Prindle after his trial, to Amariah Williams in said Mansfield.
April 30, 1777. An order from Congress was received, to confine Gov. Franklin, without pen, ink, or paper ; and direct- ed him to be conveyed under guard, by the Sheriff of Hartford County, forthwith to Litchfield jail.
Sept. 19, 1777. An order on the pay table was drawn in favor of Lynde Lord, Esq., for £100 towards the expense of the guard placed over Gov. Franklin.
Jan. S, 1778. Upon the information of the State Attorney against John Marsh, a Cornet in a troop of horse under Capt. Moses Seymour, for disobedience of orders, the committee found the facts true as stated, and found that he had recently taken the oath of fidelity and declared his willingness to serve his country, risk his life and fortune in its defence, &c. The Assembly ordered said Marsh to pay the cost taxed at £8.14.5, and the complaint dismissed.
Jan. S, 1778. The Assembly allowed Salmon Buell, of Litchfield, who was wounded in the Danbury expedition, by a ball in both his thighs, 200 for his relief.
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THE NEWBERRY
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CHAPTER VIII.
Not many years after the establishment of our National In- dependence, symptoms of disaffection to the arbitrary and cru- el reign of Alcohol began to manifest themselves. But to the present generation belongs the honor of organizing an extend- ed and regular force to repel his attacks. Many brilliant vic- tories have been achieved, and it may reasonably be expected that the same generation will witness his final overthrow. Honor to those engaged in this struggle for a second Indepen- dence.
Below is a copy of the original pledge of a Temperance As- sociation formed in Litchfield more than fifty years since. It shows at how early a day, public attention here was directed to the dreadful evils of Intemperance, and is interesting on ac- count of its antiquity, and the number of distinguished men who adopted the pledge. Among the signers were men of wealth, integrity and benevolence, and some who have filled high places in our State and Nation.
"So many are the avenues leading to human misery, that it is impossible to guard them all. Such evils as are produced by our own folly and weakness are within our power to avoid. The immoderate use which the people of this State make of Distilled Spirits, is undoubtedly an evil of this kind. It is ob- vious to every person of the smallest observation, that from this pernicious practice follows a train of evils difficult to be e- numerated. The morals are corrupted, property is exhausted, and health destroyed. And it is most sincerely to be regretted that from a mistaken idea that distilled spirits are necessary to laboring men, to counteract the influence of heat, and give re- lief from severe fatigue, that a most valuable class of citizens have been led to contract a habit of such dangerous tendency. Hence arises the inability to pay public taxes, to discharge pri- vate debts, and to support and educate families. Seriously considering this subject, and the frowns of Divine Providence in denying many families in this part of the country the means of a comfortable subsistance the present year, by failure of the principal crops of the earth ; we think it peculiarly the duty of every good citizen to unite ins efforts to reform a practice which leads so many to poverty, distress and ruin. Whereup- on we do hereby associate, and mutually agree, that hereafter
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we will carry on our business without the use of distilled Spir- its as an article of refreshment, either for ourselves, or those whom we employ, and that instead thereof, we will serve our workmen with wholesome food, and common simple drinks of our own production.
Ephraim Kirby,
Archibald McNiel,
Timothy Skinner,
Abraham Bradley,
David Buel,
I. Baldwin Junr.
Julius Deming,
T. Reeve,
Benj'n Tallmadge,
Collier & Adam,
Uriah Tracy,
Tobias Cleaver,
Ebenezer Marsh,
Amos Galpin,
Moses Seymour,
Thomas Trowbridge,
Samuel Marsh,
S. Shethar,
Jaines Stone,
Soloman Buel,
Samuel Seymour,
Briant Stoddard,
Daniel Sheldon,
Abraham Peck,
Ozias Lewis,
Frederick Wolcott, .
Lawrence Wessells,
Nathaniel Smith 2d,
Elijah Wadsworth,
John Allen,
Alexander Catlin,
John Welch,
Reuben Smith, Lynde Lord,
Arthur Emmons.
By Necessity and on Principle, in consequence of little ex- periment and muck observation, I have effectually adopted and adhered to the salutary plan herein proposed during several months past, and am still resolved to persevere until convinced that any alt ration will be pro luctive of some greater good, whereof at present I have no apprehensions whilst Human Nature remains the same. J. STRONG."
Litchfield, 9th May 1780.
In December 1785, the town voted to lease to the adjoining proprietors of the land on the west side of Town Street, a strip of land 24 feet in width from the west side of the highway, and that "one express and immutable condition on which said land shall be leased is, that no person shall have liberty on any pretense whatever, to erect any building thereon, other than a good handsome fence, and if any building should at any time be so set thereon, it shall be lawful for any person to demolish or remove the same." This strip is now occupied chiefly as court yards. Similar votes were subsequently passed relative to Meeting House Street.
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" Miss Sarah Pierce opened a School in this town for the instruction of Females, in the year 1792, which has very justly merited and acquired a distinguished reputation."* The school continued under her superintendence for nearly forty years, and its reputation has since been well sustained by her suc- cessors. It was incorporated in the year 1827, by the name of " The Litchfield Female Academy."
" The Hon. Tapping Reeve, one of the Judges of the Supe- rior Court, commenced a Law School in Litchfield in the year 1784; and continued it, under his own tuition, till the year 1798. At this period, 210 young gentlemen had been stu- dents in his School, and qualified for admission to the Bar. In the year 1798, James Gould, Esq. became joint instructor with Judge Reeve ; and from that time to March, 1812, 264 young gentlemen were educated here-in the whole, 474. Without doing injustice, it may be safe to remark, that the science of Law has been more systematically taught in this School, than in any other of the kind in the United States."*
Judge Reeve and Judge Gould continued to be joint instruct- ors till the year 1820 ; after which, Judge Gould lectured alone, being assisted in examinations by the Hon. Jabez W. Huntington. Judge Gould closed his Lectures in the year 1833. More than 550 gentlemen received their professional education at this school after March 1812; making in the whole over 1024. This school always enjoyed a deservedly high reputation : such as the talents and extensive legal at- tainments of the gentlemen who conducted the institution were calculated to give it. Young gentlemen from every section of our nation were educated here, and not a few have been dis- tinguished as Statesmen and Jurists.
The village of Litchfield was incorporated in May 1818, and by its charter has the usual powers and privileges of a Bo- rough. Its limits are about one mile and three fourths in length, north and south, and about one mile in breadth, east and west.
A Branch of the Phoenix Bank at Hartford, was established here in the year IS1.1.
. Morris' Statistical Account.
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The " Litchfield Mutual Fire Insurance Company" was in- corporated in the year 1833.
The present Court House was erected in the years 1797 and 1798, and the present Goal and County House in the year 1812.
A few years since, "an Indian relic was found about half a mile east of the Court House, near Bantam River. It is a rude sculpture of brown stone, nearly the size of life, repre- senting a female with head and shoulders, and extending down to the waist. It is now deposited at Yale College, New-Haven."
CHAPTER IX.
In May 1740, the Inhabitants of SOUTH FARMS petitioned the Legislature, to be annexed to the north Society of Wood- bury, (now Bethlem.) A committee of the Town was appoint- ed to oppose it, and the application was unsuccessful. Sever- al attempts were made to procure their incorporation as an Ec- clesiastical Society, which did not succeed till 1767, when an act of the Legislature for that purpose was passed. In 1753, there were but thirty families in the parish : when it was in- corporated it contained seventy.
But the Legislature long before that time, granted the In- habitants power to maintain the public worship of God among them for three months during the winter, and this right was called the " Winter Privilege."
They thereupon exercised the ordinary powers of an Ecclesi- astical Society. Their first meeting for such purposes was hol- den on the 23d Nov. 1748, at the house of Capt. Thomas Har- rison. Josiah Strong was chosen Moderator, and Jacob Wood- ruff, Clerk. Their meetings were warned by posting notices on trees in different parts of the Society. Their preachers, be- fore the settlement of Mr. Beckwith, were, the Rev. Messrs. Bartlet, Dickeson, Heaton, Richards, Eells, Hart, &c. And
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