USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > East Granby > Newgate of Connecticut : its origin and early history : being a full description of the famous and wonderful Simsbury mines and caverns, and the prison build over them > Part 2
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It was enacted that the bills should be received for dues and taxes, "at one shilling on the pound better than money." Taxes were imposed providing for the redemption of the whole amount within two years. The promptness with which the colony met their own bills, is noticeable when contrasted with the unavailing efforts of the Continental
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Congress, to sustain the value of their paper money, which was issued in the Revolution .*
RECENT MINING.
The work at Simsbury mines was carried on at various periods until 1773, more than seventy years, through wars and rumors of wars, and by a variety of forces ; by free labor, and by slave labor; by private enterprise, and by chartered companies ; and, subsequently, by prison labor. Vast sums had been expended in the business, and then they were abandoned for the space of about half a century, for prison occupation.
In 1830, to the surprise of all, another resurrection of mineralogists was announced at the old prison mines. A company of gentlemen from New York, with Richard Bacon of Simsbury, formed the Phoenix Mining Company, obtained a charter, and purchased of the State the whole prison property, including the mines, and about five acres of land, for the sum of one thousand two hundred dollars. They expended many thousand dollars in digging extensive levels, building furnaces, and constructing engines and machinery, to facilitate their operations in raising, pounding, and smelting the ore. They carried on the business for some time, but owing to a reverse in the financial affairs of the country and other causes, the mines were again abandoned.
The old mines were suffered to repose again in quiet for about twenty years, when the note of preparation for working was once more heard. A new company was formed in 1855, called the Connecticut Copper Company, which prosecuted the business for about two years. They found the average
* To illustrate the ruinous depreciation of continental currency, I quote an extract from a letter written by Hezekiah Munsell of East Windsor. He says : "In 1781, in the months of Feb'y or March, I drove a team to Boston with a load, and brought one back for a merchant in Springfield, Mass. I had a five cattle team. Returning home I staid in Roxbury one night ; my team was fed, I had one meal and lodging; my bill in the morning was two silver dollars, and continental money had so depreciated that I paid it in the round sum of $140 for that single night's entertainment."
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yield of metal about ten per cent., and some masses of ore were taken out which produced over forty per cent. of copper. The deeper the descent, the richer appeared to be the quality of the ore. The chief obstacle to success appeared to be, not the lack of a fair percentage of metal, but in extracting it by the ordinary process of separating and fluxing ; and for that purpose the company erected ten of Bradford's separators, at a great expense, and also two steam-engines for grinding, and for working the separating machines. The business has been suspended for about twenty years ; but it is believed by many that with the aids of science, improved machinery, and sufficient capital, it may yet result profitably, and that Copper Hill may at no distant day, share some of the fame of the mines of Lake Superior.
The author has a specimen of pure copper extracted from the ore by Prof. Charles T. Jackson, formerly of Boston ; also his process of analysis made in 1825, and sent to Hon. Samuel Woodruff, of East Granby, at his request.
" The Copper ore from East Granby, is composed of two distinct parts, the ore of a bright green color, which is the Carbonate of Copper ; the other of a dark steel gray which is Antimonial Gray Copper. The specific gravity of the mass is 3.08.
ANALYSIS.
A. Two hundred grains, taken in equal quantities from each part of the specimen, were reduced to an impalpable powder and digested in a matrass repeatedly with two ounces of Nitro Muriatic Acid, until all the copper was dissolved; the silex remaining, after being well washed and ignited weighed 163 grains.
B. A pellicle which formed on the surface of the above solution proved to be sulphur, and weighed 4 grains.
C. The solution of copper etc., in Nitro Muriatic Acid was then evapora- ted to dryness and the dry mass again dissolved in concentrated Sulphuric Acid, the solution diluted and decanted, a white precipitate was observed at the bottom of the matrass which, when collected proved to be Sulph. Antimony which, on being decomposed gave 2 grains of Metallic Antimony.
D. The solution of copper in Sulphuric Acid was then poured into a proper vessel, and a polished cylinder of iron was introduced. In twelve hours the copper was precipitated in a metallic state around the cylinder. Collected, washed, and dried, the copper weighed 30 grains.
The enclosed slip of copper weighs 23 grains-7 grains having been lost in fusing it into a button and drawing it into this form.
CHARLES T. JACKSON."
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From the preceding analysis it appears that the specimen yielded fifteen per cent. of pure copper.
PROFESSORS SILLIMAN'S SURVEY OF THE MINES.
A geological examination of Newgate Mines, was made by Prof. B. Silliman, four years ago, with a view to future working, and a report made to the Hon. Ezra Clark, the proprietor, from which the following extracts are made :-
" The vitreous copper is almost the only variety of ore of that locality, and is the only one of any economical importance. The yellow copper, the common Cornish ore, I have not seen here.
The composition of the vitreous ore in 100 parts is in round numbers, Copper 80, Sulphur 20. The variegated ore yields 69 parts copper in 100, and the yellow copper 32 parts in 100. It will be seen therefore that the ore of your mine is one of the most valuable description. The extent to which openings have been made north and south is about 800 feet, and from east to west from 250 to 300 feet. There are three parallel galleries from north to south, with numerous cross-cuts from east to west. These galleries have been made for the purpose of extracting the ore, but they embrace unbroken masses of the deposit which are now ready to be taken down by the miners. Of the extent of this deposit in depth, nothing can be known beyond the 250 to 300 feet now explored.
Result of the assay of three samples taken from the mines.
Best ore with seams of vitreous copper, 20.319 per cent.
Mottled ore in rusty sandstone, 14.370 “
Granular rock with vitreous copper, 8.190 “ "
Average of the samples,
14.029 “ "
The average of the Cornish ores, England, is 7 to 8 per cent."
IMPRISONMENT OF THE TORIES.
Can then the verdure of these blissful plains Conceal the Caves where penal Rigor reigns ! Where the starved wretch, by suffering folly led To snatch the feast where pampered plenty fed ; Shut from the sunny breeze and healthful skies, On the cold, dripping stone, low, withering, lies ; Torn from the clime that gave his visions birth, A palsied member of the vital earth ! If the sweet Muse, with nature's best control, Can melt to sympathy the reasoning soul,
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She bids thee rend those grating bars away, And o'er the dungeons break the beam of day : Give the frail felon with laborious toil, To pay the penance of his wasted spoil.
Hear his deep groan, heed his repentant prayer, And snatch his frenzied spirit from despair ;
Nor let those fields, arrayed in heavenly bloom, Blush o'er the horrors of a living tomb !*
These caverns were first occupied as a place for the con- finement of Tories about the beginning of the American Revolution. What an astonishing train of events followed, and how distant from the thoughts of the British company of miners, the idea that they were actually hewing out prison cells, for the lodgement of their friends, the Tories of America !
The Colony of Connecticut first used the caverns as a permanent prison in 1773. A committee had been appointed by the general assembly to explore the place, who reported that by expending about thirty-seven pounds, the caverns could be so perfectly secured, that "it would be next to impossible for any person to escape." Whether their opinion was well founded, the reader may judge by the subsequent escapes, insurrections, and massacres which are recounted in the following pages. The total expense of purchasing the property, with the remaining lease of the mines, and fortifying the place, amounted to three hundred and seventy-five dollars.
An act was passed prescribing the terms of imprisonment. Burglary, robbery, and counterfeiting were punished for the first offence with imprisonment not exceeding ten years ; second offence for life. The keeper of the prison was authorized to punish the convicts for offences, by " moderate whipping, not exceeding ten stripes, and by putting shackles and fetters upon them;" and it was intended to employ them at labor in the mines ; which they did, to a considerable extent.
* Extract from a poem written by a lady of Boston, in 1797, after visiting the prison. It indicates the great notoriety and formidable character which Newgate had obtained, in the opinion of the benevolent and gifted poetess.
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At first the number of Tories confined in the caverns did not exceed five or six, and these were guilty of various crimes against the government. But as time developed events, the numbers increased to between thirty and forty.
When the three hundred and forty-two chests of tea were thrown into the sea at Boston, in 1773, and that port closed by an Act of Parliament, so great was the excitement, and so indignant were the people, particularly in Massachusetts and Connecticut, on account of British oppression, that the use of tea and all commodities imported in British vessels and subject to duty, was prohibited. The duty on tea was so particularly obnoxious, that it was considered a contraband article of household comfort. True, the contrast in the times may appear rather curious, for at this day, a housekeeper would be judged by common consent deserving incarceration in the mines, or some other place, for not allowing the article to be used. Our ancestors knew no half-way policy, and seldom adopted dilatory measures to carry their points. Tea-vessels, if then kept at all, were kept out of sight; tea- pots were run into musket-balls, and they were the kind of currency with which the people dealt with old England.
The following incident from Dr. Stiles's History of Ancient Windsor, shows the marked spirit of the times :
" At an early period in the Revolutionary struggle, and before the war had fairly commenced, some of the Tories (of whom there were a few in Windsor) happened one day to come across Elihu Drake, then a lad about eight years old, and partly in earnest, and partly in a joke, endeavored to compel him to say, God save the King. Failing of success, they tried to intimidate him by threatening him with a ducking in the river. But the boy still stoutly refused. Becoming somewhat enraged at the young rebel, they carried their threat into execution, and thrust him under water, but as they pulled him out spluttering and choking, the only exclamation which he uttered was a fervent God d-n the King. Again, and again was the little martyr thrust under, but each time the same reply was all they could extort from him, and they were obliged to release him with many hearty curses for his stubbornness. At the age of twelve, this young hero accompanied his father into the war, in the capacity of waiter."
The following from the Connecticut Journal, in 1775, fur- ther illustrates the spirit of animosity against the Tories :
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" The Riflemen on their way from the Southern colonies through the coun- try, administer the new-fashioned discipline of tar and feathers to the obstinate and refractory Tories that they meet on their road, which has had a very good effect here [in New Milford]. Those whose crimes are of a more atrocious nature, they punish by sending them to Gen. Gage. They took a man in this town, a most incorrigible Tory, who called them d-d rebels, &c., and made him walk before them to Litchfield, which is 20 miles, and carry one of his own geese all the way in his hand; when they arrived there, they tarred him, and made him pluck his goose, and then bestowed the feathers on him, drummed him out of the company, and obliged him to kneel down and thank them for their lenity."
Public opinion in some of the colonies against those who favored the mother country was very rigid, authorizing any person even to shoot them if they were found beyond the limits of their own premises, and one was shot in the town of Sims- bury, another was hung publicly in Hartford and the gallows was left standing for some time to intimidate other Tories. Those who possessed not the hardihood thus summarily to dispatch a neighbor when he declined to fight for the coun- try, or for purchasing foreign goods, adopted the more humane expedient of applying to the Committee of Safety* in the town, who penned them up in the caverns where they could at least leisurely examine the evidence of British labor, though not allowed the blessed boon of being governed by British laws. The following extract is from the biography of the celebrated Bishop Griswold :-
" As an instance of the manner in which not only the clergy but others of the church were watched, I will here insert the account given me on my visit to Simsbury, of the proceedings against Bishop Griswold's father. For a time this worthy man was arraigned almost daily before the Commit- tee of Vigilance, and straightly questioned as to the most common actions of his life; but as nothing was actually found against him, the committee contented themselves with forbidding him to go beyond the limits of his own farm. This, however, as his farm was something of a little territory, gave him space for exercise, particularly as he was a home-keeping man, and sel- dom left his farm save of a Sunday for church.
* In some towns they were termed Committee of Inspection. They constituted what we should call a Committee of Vigilance, and their duties were of a very peculiar and delicate nature-"a patriotic and searching espionage into the principles, actions, and private affairs of every member of the community, without regard to station, profession, or character. It was
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His uncle (Rev. Roger Viets), however, being a public man and more closely associated in public opinion with the interests of the royal cause, was not only more closely watched, but also more rigorously treated. He was naturally of a very kind and charitable disposition, and to the suffering was ever ready to extend relief. It happened that, at midnight one time, some men who it afterwards appeared were endeavoring to elude pursuit, called at his house and asked for charitable aid. Lodging he dared not give them. Food he could not refuse. Of this charitable deed some circum- stances led the authorities into a suspicion, and being accused of it he would not deny what he had done; and for that act of benevolence, whieli, as he believed, the law of God required, he was condemned to be imprisoned, and was many months confined in jail at Hartford."
We cannot for a moment doubt the noble intentions of the American patriots in the severity of those measures, for the results are now universally acknowledged, and generally appreciated. If at the commencement of their struggles for liberty, they had permitted those emmissaries to raise a ques- tion as to the right of independent government, and had suffered them to prowl about unmolested, spreading the fuel of disaffection, a civil, instead of a national war must have followed. The proud eagle of Liberty would not so soon have risen over this land of plenty, and the reveille of Brit- ish soldiery would have told misfortune's tale,-a government of force. Well would it be for us their descendants if like them we could appreciate the blessings of liberty, of our happy form of government, and the value of mutual peace and union of this great confederacy of States!
necessary to know how each man stood affected towards the war-whether his feelings were enlisted in his country's behalf, or whether secretly or pub- licly he was aiding the enemy." If any individual fell under suspicion of the people, the committee were immediately notified, and they forthwith repair- ed to the person and demanded an avowal of his sentiments. If found to be lukewarm or indifferent to the liberal cause, he was closely watched. If a Tory in sentiment, he was remanded to Newgate. The dividing line of principle was positive and distinct. On the royal side, the British officials proclaimed those to be outlaws who favored the cause of the rebels, and pronounced free pardon to such as ceased their resistance, or espoused the cause of Royalty. Besides this it is said they gave secret protection-papers to those applying for them on the score of friendship. These acts of the British impelled the colonist to take the most rigorous measures in self- defense.
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At this day, it seems to us hardly possible that any con- siderable number could have been found so indifferent to the possession of liberty as to oppose their countrymen in arms, struggling for freedom, and the inalienable rights of man. We are prone to regard them as inhuman, deluded beings, unworthy to live. But let us pause a moment, yield a little to our charity, and consider the state of the country at that time, and some of the influences by which they were surrounded. The Tories were aware that in the history of the world, every people who had attempted the experiment of a free representative form of government, although in some cases for a while successful, yet in the end had most positively failed in their hopes and plans ; their struggles had only ended in loss of power by the many, and usurpation of it by the few. From the history of the Republics of Greece in early Europe, through the long vista of twenty-four cen- turies, the plebeian people had striven through toil and blood, only to bend their necks at last to the yoke of some powerful chieftain in war. The colonists and their ancestors had suffered and bled in the Indian wars, afterwards in wars with the French, and with French and Indians combined; and their mother England had been an ally who had assisted them in their defence, and to whom they still looked for aid in emergency. Many also, were bound by the ties of near kin- dred to friends across the ocean. Those in civil power received their authority direct from England, and many of the clergy were commissioned by the Church of England, from which also they received their chief support, All of them, doubtless, were inclined by early education and prejudice, to prefer a kingly to a republican government, and they dreaded the troublesome responsibility of beginning the contest for a change, well knowing that an ignominious death awaited them in case their experiment failed. In the words of our Declaration of Independence, "all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed."
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On the other hand, they are censurable for opposing in- dependence, because the oppression of British tyranny had planted them or their fathers upon the inhospitable shores of a new world. They had generously expended their blood and treasure for the maintenance of the Crown, and had obeyed its mandates by assisting in the war against France, which resulted in the acquisition of a vast territory to the English nation. Their trade had been monopolized by her ; then, when prudence would have dictated a relax- ation of authority, the mother country rose in her demands, and imposed heavy taxes to pay off a national debt of more than $700,000,000. The idea should have been discarded, that a small island, more than two thousand miles distant, should hold in bondage, without representation, a territory on this continent, large as the whole of Europe, and destined to equal it in population. They should have remembered too, that citizens of the early Republics, pos- sessed not our advantage of historical experience of other Republics, to point out the faults of free government by which they could avoid their errors, and adopt their benefits; and no well-defined system of confederated states, with a constitution limiting the just powers of government, had ever been devised. The masses in early ages were ignorant, superstitious, and heathenish ; they were crammed into dense cities and villages, which are the hot-beds of vice and corruption ; while on the contrary, the inhabitants of America could glean wisdom from the history of past ages, and commune with the great and mighty dead. They possessed abundance of territory for all; plenty of room in which to develop their free energies, and afford to all uneasy spirits a medium in which to expend their surplus gas, in the moral atmosphere of a continent. They could realize the sentiment :
" No pent up Utica contracts our powers, For the whole boundless Continent is ours."
A writer says :-
"Of the Tories who engaged actively in the war against American
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independence, their subsequent history was for the most part a melan- choly one. Probably not more than half of those who fled the coun- try ever returned, and those who did were mostly broken-down men reduced to poverty, laden with the odium of having made war upon their country, and in many cases stained with vice and adicted to habits which sent them to an early grave. It was one of the questions which most impeded the negotiations for peace between the States and Great Britain in 1783,- What should be done with these Tories. Several thousand had removed to Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, and most of whom were in circum- stances of extreme destitution. It was, at first insisted by the British negotiators, that Congress should grant pardon to all political offenders of this sort, restore their confiscated estates, and remunerate them for the losses they had suffered. This was refused, on the ground : First; that Congress only liad authority under the articles of Confederation to recommend measures to the several States. Secondly ; that these men had encouraged the British to prosecute the war, and many of them had personally engaged in plundering and ravaging the country, and ought rather to be made to render compensation, than to receive it. Thirdly ; that the the confiscated estates of the Tories had been sold and re-sold, often divided and could not now be restored without endless litigation. And finally, that in the impover- ished condition of the country, it was impossible to pay its own meritorious soldiers. The matter was finally compromised by inserting three articles into the treaty, to the effect that the loyalists (or Tories) should not be debarred from collecting debts due them before the war; that Congress would recommend to the States to restore confiscated property as far as possible, and that no future confiscations should be made or prosecutions begun. These terms were at length reluctantly agreed to by Great Britain,
The recommendations of Congress to the States were, however, ineffectual, as it was probably expected they would be.
Connecticut would not consent to restore the property of such as has been engaged in burning Danbury, Fairfield, and other sea-coast towns. The same was true in other states, Let England, they said, pay us for the wanton injuries she has inflicted, before she asks compensation, for the traitors by whom it was done. Failing thus in securing relief from the States for her refugees, Parliament undertook the duty for themselves. A commissioner was appointed by England to ascertain the losses incurred by their friends, and about fifteen and a half million dollars was appropriated for their compensation."
Besides this, many of the loyalists of America received subsidies and pensions from the British government during their lives, some received large grants of lands, and some half-pay as military officers.
THE FIRST KEEPER OF NEWGATE
was Capt. John Viets, who resided near by, and who supplied
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them daily with such food and necessaries as were required. His bill, as recorded for one year, in 1774, is as follows:
" Captain John Viets, Master, as per his bill for services, boarding workmen and providing for prisoners, &c., 291. 5s. 10d."
At that time no guard was kept through the day, but two or three sentinels kept watch during the night. There was an anteroom or passage, through which to pass before reach- ing their cell, and the usual practice of Capt. Viets, when he carried their food, was, to look through the gates into this passage, to observe whether they were near the door, and if not, to enter, lock the door after him, and pass on to the next. The inmates soon learned his custom, and accordingly prepared themselves for an escape. When the captain came next time, some of them had contrived to unbar their cell door, and huddled themselves in a corner behind the door in the passage, where they could not easily be seen, and upon his opening it, they sprang upon him, knocked him down, pulled him in, and taking the key from his possession, they locked him up and made good their escape. What were the captain's reflections on his sudden transition from keeper to that of prisoner is not stated, but he probably thought, with Falstaff, " discretion is the better part of valor," and that he must adopt, in future, more prudent measures. His absence was soon perceived by his family, who came to his relief. The inhabitants around rallied immediately, and gave chase to the absconding heroes, and finally succeeded in capturing nearly the whole of them. Several were taken in attempting to cross the Tunxis or Farmington River, at Scotland Bridge, a few miles south; sentinels having been stationed at that place to intercept them. Some-Santa Anna like-took refuge upon trees, and there met with certain capture. An aged and respected matron, then a child and residing but a few rods from the prison said to the author that, "the news of their escape and capture spread as much terror among the children in the neighborhood as if they had been a band of midnight assassins."
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