USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Litchfield > Sketches and chronicles of the town of Litchfield, Connecticut : historical, biographical, and statistical : together with a complete official register of the town > Part 22
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Litchfield contains four incorporated Ecclesiastical Societies and twenty-cight School Districts. The societies are, Litchfield, South Farms, Northfield, and Milton. The Naugatuck Railroad runs through the entire length of the township from north to south-the Litchfield Station being about four miles from the Court House.
The population of Litchfield in 1756, was 1,366; in 1774, it was 1,554; in 1800, it was 4,287; in 1810, it was 4,639. From this time, the tide of emigration began to set so strongly westward that our population commenced decreasing. In 1820, tlie census-taker gave us 4,610; while in 1850, our population was but 3,987.
In hotly contested elections, more than 1,000 votes have been polled in this town.
Though the population of the Town has thus decreased, the Borough has gradually increased its numbers, and has been constantly improving in rural beauty.
In 1848-'9 the New England Mining Company commenced mining for copper in the " Pitch," four miles south-east of this viilage; and about the same time, another company with the famous P. T. Barnum at its head, began digging in the same vicin- ity. Both these companies were unsuccessful. Barnum, in his examination before his creditors in New York, put down as one item of loss, " $10,000 sunk in a Litchfield copper mine."
In other parts of the town, however, miners have met with better success. About two miles north-east of the village, on the form of Mr. Beach, a shaft has been sunk 25 feet in depth, by Messrs. Sedgwick and Buell. The vein or lode is 14 feet in width, composed of pure quartz, with a slight mixture of felspar. In thuis vein is found a very pure gray Copper Ore, yielding by analysis 79 1-2 per cent. of copper. A bevel has been driven 140 fect, which whe completed, will intersect the vein at 50 feet in depth. In this vein are also found great quantities of small pure garnets, which are as yet too small to be made valuable as articles of commerce. This vein, bearing nearly a north and south direction, can be traced for a distance of three miles. On the farm of Mr. Gilbert, half a mile from this location, was recently found an old shaft, 15 feet deep, which is supposed to have been sunk long before the Revolution. This has been cleaned out, and sunk 30 feet upon a small vein of iron and copper run- ning together. The quantity of copper found is not yet sufficient to render the dig- ging profitable-the mine having been but partially developed.
The lands of the Connecticut Mining Company, on Prospect Mountain, promise an abundant return for funds invested and labor performed. Disinterested parties who have visited these lands, and others who have analyzed and smelted their copper, nickel and silver ores, pronounce the per centage of pure metal to be ninch greater than that of some the celebrated English mines. The enterprize is this company deserves and will receive a rich reward.
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HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD.
Litchfield Borough Corporation.
At the May Session of the Legislature of this State, 1818, the inhabitants of this village presented their memorial, praying for a Borough Charter. In their petition they state that "the houses are as contiguous as they are in many of our cities ; that the Public Schools, which for many years have been established in this village, make a great addition to its ordinary population;" that on account of their local situation and compact settlement, they are, as they conceive, in an unusual degree exposed to injury from fire," &c. The application was successful; and the petitioners and their associates, residing within the limits prescribed, " were constituted and declared to be forever thereafter, a body corporate in fact and in name, by the name of the Cor- poration of the Village of Litchfield." The powers vested in the corporation were similar to those of the ordinary borough charters of this state, viz., to levy taxes for the purchase of fire-engines, fire-hooks, ladders, and such other improvements as should be deemed necessary to protect the village against fires; to order and direct in all matters relating to side-walks, shade-trees, and the sinking of public wells and pumps; to restrain cattle, sheep, and geese from running at large in the public high- ways; and to pass such by-laws and regulations, with suitable penalties attached, as might, from to time, be thought necessary for the attainment of the objects contem- plated in the charter. The officers designated in [the act of incorporation, were, a President, Treasurer, and Clerk, (who were in all cases to be chosen by ballot,) a Collector of Taxes, and a number of Fire- Wardens not to exceed ten, together with such other officers not enumerated as should be [necessary to carry the by-laws and the provisions of the charter into effect. In case the collector should refuse or neglect to collect the tax according to the tenor of the warrant committed to him, the Presi- dent must "issue his warrant directed to the Sheriff of the county of Litchfield, or his deputy, to distrain the sums or rates neglected by such collector to be collected, to be paid out of the estate of said collector." The Assessors were to be appointed by the County Court.
The first meeting of the inhabitants of the Borough under the charter, was held on the 17th of June, 1818, at which the following officers were elected, viz., Hon. FRED- ERICK WOLCOTT, President; Dr. WILLIAM BUEL, Treasurer; and JOSEPH ADAMS, Clerk. A committee of five was appointed to prepare a code of By-Laws for the Borough, viz. Seth P. Beers, Julius Deming, Asa Bacon, Phineas Miner, and Ozias Lewis. At an adjourned meeting holden on the 20th of June, it was voted to choose a Bailiff by ballot; and Dr. Abel Catlin was elected to that office. Benjamin Tall- madge, Asa Bacon and Charles L. Webb, were appointed a Committee of Inspection; and Ashbel Marsh was chosen Key Keeper.
These gentlemen constituted the first list of officers of our corporation. It is sad to note the inroads which death has made in their ranks in the lapse of forty years. The President, Treasurer, Clerk, and Bailiff, together with Messrs. Deming, Miner, Tallmadge and Bacon, are all with the dead.
At the regular annual meeting in September, 1818, Judge Wolcott was re-elected President; Dr. Buel, Treasurer; and Mr. Adams, Clerk; Messrs. Roger Cook, Am- brose Norton, Moses Seymour, Jr., Oliver Goodwin and James Trowbridge, were chosen Fire Wardens. At an adjourned meeting, Asa Bacon, Esq., was chosen Bailiff; Charles L. Webb, Leonard Goodwin, Jonathan Carrington, and Ambrose Norton, Assistant Bailiffs; and Leonard Goodwin, Collector.
The first Board of Assessors consisted of Erastus Lyman, Esq., Gen. Morris Woodruff, and John N. Guun, Esq. The amount of the Grand List of the Borough, Oct., 1818,) as returned by the Assessors, was $128,913.65.
In 1820, the Hon. Uriel Holmes was elected President of the Borough. In 1824, he was succeeded by Dr. William Buel, who held the office for twelve years. His suc- cessors have been the Hon. Phineas Miner, Joseph Adams, Esq., Dr. J. G. Beckwith, Garwood Sanford, Henry B. Graves, and P. K. Kilbourne, F. D. Beeman, and John H. . Hubbard.
In 1823, the second general assessment of the village was made by Samuel Sey- mour, Frederick Wolcott, and Jonathan Carrington, Esqrs., (gentlemen appointed for that purpose by the County Court,) and did not differ materially in amount from that made in 1818. The assessment of 1835 amounted to $140,627; that of 1853, to $143,525; showing a gradual increase in the actual value of the real estate of our vil- lage, from the date of its incorporation to the present time.
The village now (1859) contains something over 200 dwellings, stores, offices, and shops; 4 houses of Public Worship, three of which have chapels annexed; a Court House, Jail, and County House; two Banks, one Savings Bank, one weekly news- paper, three Hotels, an Insurance Office, three Public Halls in addition to the Town Hall and Court Room, three High Schools, (one for young ladies and two for young gentlemen;) also, it is the residence of five clergymen, seven physcians, and ten lawyers, exclusive of those who have summer residences here.
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SOROUGH OF LITCHFIELD.
Professor BENJAMIN SILLIMAN, LL. D., of Yale College, in 1820, published in his Journal of Science, an account of a Journey through New England. Of this vil- lage he says :
" Litchfield Hill is a beautiful spot. One principal street, (intersected, however, by some cross streets,) extends more than a mile in length, and contains a collec- tion of very handsome houses, with gardens and court-yards. The houses and appendages are generally painted white; and it is rare to see so considerable a number of houses in a country town, where nearly all apparently belong to the gentry. In England, such a town would be a wonder; and here, connected as it is with the rich agricultural country which surrounds it, swelled into beautiful hills and scooped into luxuriant vallies, everywhere crowned with lively verdure and with cul- tivated fields-it presents a very interesting and gratifying spectacle."
COUNTY OFFICERS, PROFESSIONAL MEN, MERCHANTS, &c., RESIDING IN THE BOROUGH OF LITCHFIELD-1859.
HIGH SHERIFF .- Leverett W. Wessells.
DEPUTY SHERIFF .- Edward O. Peck.
COUNTY CLERK .- Frederick D. Beeman.
COUNTY TREASURER .- Charles L. Webb.
JUSTICES OF THE PEACE .- Charles Adams, John H. Hubbard, Henry B. Graves' George C. Woodruff, P. K. Kilbourn, Edward W. Seymour, Frederick D. Beeman, Wm. L. Ransom,'G. A. Hickox.
MEMBERS OF THE BAR .- Seth P. Beers, (retired from practice,) Origen S. Scy- mour, (Judge Superior Court, ) George C. Woodruff, John H. Hubbard, Gideon H. Hollister, Henry B. Graves, George W. Beers, William L. Ransom, E. W. Seymour, Frederick D. Beeman, George A. Hickox.
PHYSICIANS .- Josiah G. Beckwitlı, A. S. Lewis, George Seymour, David E. Bost- wick, Henry W. Buel, Eliada Osborn. Orson Buel, Botanic.
CLERGYMEN .- Leonard W. Bacon, pastor 1st congregational church ; H. N. Hudson, Rector St. Michael's church; James Richards, D. D., Principal Elm-Park Collegiate Institute; Joshua D. Berry, Rector Episcopal church, Plymouth; William Howard, pastor 1st Methodist church.
MERCHANTS .- Charles L Webb, J. G. Beckwith, W. F. & G. H. Baldwin, Silas N. Bronson, Wm. Wheeler, C. Rinchart, Charles F. Bishop, Theodore S. Sedgwick, A. C. Smith, George Munger, Frederick D. McNiel, Wm. H. Braman, L. O. Meafoy, Wm. Munson, Henry W. Adams, Samuel Clock. Thomas H. Richards, Edward Coe.
DENTISTS .- E. W. Blake, Edward Crossman.1
Daguerreotypist-Jesse L. Judd.
Jewellers .- Reuben Merriman, Christian Rinehart.
Furniture Ware-house .- David C. Bulkeley.
Dealer in Stoves, gc .- Garwood Sanford.
Meat-Markets .- Robert Merriman, Egbert T. Warner.
The professional men now residing in other parts of the town are-Rev. David L. Parmelee, pastor congregational church in South Farms; Rev. George J. Harrison, minister congregational church in Milton; Rev. J. R. Williams, Rector St. Paul's, Bantam Falls, and Trinity, Milton; Rev. Jackson Ganun, pastor of the Baptist church in Bantam Falls; Rev. Hermon L. Vaill, retired congregational minister. Dr. Garry H. Minor, South Farms; Dr. D. B. W. Camp, Northfield; Dr. James K. Wallace, Bantam Falls.
[Of tlic 14 practicing physicians in this town thirty years ago, (1829,) two only re- main among us, Dr. Beckwith, of this village, and Dr. Minor, of South Farins. ]
[From the Litchfield Monitor.]
LITOHFIELD, March 29th, 1785 .- " Died on the 27th inst., in this town, Mrs. Sarah McNeil, wife of Capt. Archibald McNcil, in the 73d year of her age. She shared largely in the vicissitudes of fortune. In her native country she was brought up under casy affluent circumstances. In crossing the Atlantic they were shipwrecked, lost their only child, and an affluent fortunc. . By the Divine blessing upon their inde- fatigable industry, they procured a handsome interest. To her, emphatically, be- longed that character of a virtnous woman, Prov. xxxi. She was very steady and devout in her attendance upon divine worship and ordinances-was exemplary pious, and hopefully died in the Lord. Her works do follow her."
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HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD.
Temperance in Litchfield Seventy Years Ago.
[Said to have been the earliest Temperance Organization in the world.]
" 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 Dis- tilled Spirits, is undoubtedly an evil of this kind. It is obvious to every person of the smallest observation, that from this pernicious practice follows a train of evils difficult to be enumerated. 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 relief 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 private 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 his efforts to reform a practice which leads so many to poverty, distress, and ruin. Whereupon we do hereby associate, and mutu- ally agree, that hereafter we will carry on our business without the use of distilled Spirits 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 com- mon simple drinks of our own production.
Ephraim Kirby, Timothy Skinner,
Archibald McNeil, Abraham Bradley,
David Buel,
I. Baldwin, Jr.,
Julius Deming,
T. Reeve,
Benjamin Tallmadge,
Collier & Adam,
Uriah Tracy,
Tobias Cleaver,
Ebenezer Marsh,
Amos Galpin,
Moses Seymour,
Thomas Trowbridge,
Samuel Marsh,
S. Shethar,
James Stone,
Solomon Buel,
Samuel Seymour,
Bryant Stoddard,
Daniel Sheldon,
Abraham Peck,
Ozias Lewis,
Frederick Wolcott,
Lawrence Wessells,
Nathaniel Smith 2d,
Elijah Wadsworth, Alexander Catlin,
John Allen,
Reuben Smith, Lynde Lord,
Arthur Emmons.
By Necessity and on Principle, in consequence of little experiment and much ob- servation, I have effectually adopted and adhered to the salutary plan herein pro- posed during several months past, and am still resolved to persevere until convinced that any alteration will be productive of some greater good, whereof at present I have no apprehensions whilst Human Nature remains the same.
Litchfield, 9th May, 1789.
J. STRONG."
Slavery in Litchfield.
From sixty to eighty years ago, many of the wealthy people in this town owned negro slaves. Some were voluntarily emancipated by their owners; while others were liberated by the laws which have from time to time been passed on the subject. In 1800, the census shows only seven slaves in this town. The 'institution' is now extinct among us, though some who were born slaves are still living here.
The following document, executed by the first Governor Oliver Wolcott, we find on our town records :
" Know all men by these presents, that I, OLIVER WOLCOTT, of Litchfield, in the state of Connecticut, in expectation that my negro servant man, Cæsar, will, by his industry, be able to obtain a comfortable subsistence for himself, and that he will make a proper use of the freedom which I hereby give him, do discharge, liberate, and set free, him, the said Cæsar, and do hereby exempt him from any further obli- gations of servitude to me, my heirs, and from every other person claiming any au- thority over him, by, from, or under me. And that my said servant, whom I now make free, as aforesaid, may be known hereafter, by a proper cognomen, I hereby give him the name of Jamus, so that hereafter he is to be known and distinguished by the name of Cesar Jamus. As witness my hand and seal, in Litchfield, November twenty-third day, A. D. 1786.
In presence of MARY ANN WOLCOTT,
OLIVER WOLCOTT. [L. S.]
FREDERICK WOLCOTT.
John Welch,
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VIEW OF THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION AT LITCHFIELD-1851.
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CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION, ETC.
LITCHFIELD COUNTY CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
ON the 13th and 14th days of August, 1851, the One Hundredth anniversary of the organization of Litehfield County was celebrated with appropriate ceremonies in this village. A Committee of Arrangements had been previously appointed in each town in the county-that for Litchfield consisting of the Hon. Samuel Church, George C. Woodruff, Esq .. Rev. David L. Parmelee, Hon. William Beebe and Jonathan Buel, Esq. The following gentlemen composed the Central Committee, viz., Hon. Seth P. Beers, (Chairman,) Hon. Origen S. Seymour, G. H. Hollister, Edwin B. Webster and Wm. H. Thompson, Esqrs., all of Litchfield: Col. Robbins Battell, of Norfolk, Hon. David C. Sanford, of New Milford, and Rev. Jonathan Lee, of Salisbury.
An immense crowd of returning emigrants from the county, and others, were pres- ent. The great Tent belonging to Yale College was spread on the West Park, under which the public services took place-consisting of an Historical Address, by the Hon. Samuel Church, LL. D., of Litchfield, the then Chief Justice of the State; a Dis- course, no ' The Age of Homespun,' by the Rev. Horace Bushnell, D. D., of Hartford, a native of Litchfield; and a Poem, by the Rev. John Pierpont, of Medford, Mass. also a native of this town.
The following were the Officers of the Day:
Gen. DANIEL B. BRINSMADE, of Washington, President. Gen. R. C. Abernethy,
Hon. Roger H. Mills, John Buckingham, Esq., Hon. Charles B. Phelps,
? Vice Presidents.
Hiram Goodwin, Esq., Major-General William T. King, of Sharon, Chief Marshall. Col. William F. Baldwin, of Litchfield, and 21 others, Marshals.
On the second day of the celebration, addresses were made under the Tent by the Hon. Messrs. Daniel S. Dickinson, Amasa J. Parker, F. A. Tallmadge, David Buel, George W. Holley, George Gould, Henry Dutton, &c. Letters were read, songs and hymns were sung: old acquaintances were renewed, and new one formed; and, though friends and strangers came in thousands, the hospitality of our people proved abundant. The 13th and 14th of Augest, 1851, are days that will long be remembered in our local calender.
[ The drawing on the opposite page, was made by Mr. JULES BUSCH, (a native of Dresden, Germany,) who, in 1851-'2, was a teacher of Drawing, etc., in this village. He was subsequently a Professor of the Fine Arts in the State Normal School. On his return from a visit to his native country in the autumn of 1858, he perished at sea, with 500 others, by the burning of the steamship Austria.
ZEBULON GIBBS' NARRATIVE.
[Zebulon Gibbs was born in Windsor Aug. 19, 1711; died in Litchfield Jan. 8, 1803. ]
" MEMOIRS OF CAPT. ZEBULON GIBBS .- Some memoirs of my life may not be un- interesting. I came to Litchfield in the year 1720, then being in my tenth year. There were then but three families living within the limits of Litchfield, viz., John Peck, Captain Jacob Griswold, and Ezekiel Buck. Said Griswold was taken by two Indi- ans in the month of May, 1722, and carried as far as Canaan; and in the succeeding night, when the Indians were aslcep, said Griswold took their guns and made his es- cape, and returned to the town next day-though he was followed by the Indians within sight of the houses thien standing on the now town plat. In the same year, in the month of August, Joseph Harris was killed and scalped by the Indians. On the day that said Harris was killed, I was solicited by him to go with him out to the Plain west of the town, to drive his team; but as there was no guard going that day to that part of the town, I refused to go with him. He then went alone; but when the news came into town that Harris was killed, there was an alarm made, and the people rallied out in search of liim, and I was the first who found him dead.
I am now the oldest man living in the county of Litchfield, save one. I attended the first funeral that was ever attended in this town, of a white person. I have been a mighty hunter in my early life; I have killed five Deer in this town in one day.
I went up to Ticonderoga in the late revolutionary war, with Colonel Hinman. I was active in the French War in the ycar 1756, till the year 1762. I was n conductor
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HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD.
of teams and horses, by which means I obtained the title of Captain. I married about the age of 21, and lived with my wife 62 years, and she died-by whom I had nine children; three died young, and six lived to settle in the world in the marriage state. I have had 48 grandchildren, 133 great-grandchildren, and sundry of the 5th genera- tion, but the number I cannot ascertain. I am now 91 years old. I have enjoyed a firm constitution. I was able the last summer to mow and reap, and very probably shall do some this season.
I cannot boast of holding many places of office and trust in this town, though I have been a Nuisance Committee above forty years, and have endeavored to be faithful in removing encroachments from the highways. But the young ones are now rising up, and think they know more than the old man: but I am alive yet, though I have ex- perienced almost everything but death.
Litchfield, June 30, 1802."
ZEBULON GIBBS.
The Press and Politics.
On Tuesday, December 21, 1784, was issued in this town the first number of " The Weekly Monitor, and American Advertizer," printed by Collier & Copp, "in the south end of the Court House." It contains only three Litchfield advertize- ments, viz .. 1. That of William Russell, Stocking Weaver, [from Norwich, England,] who announced that he was ready to make "worsted, cotton and linen Jacket and Breeches Patterns, men's and women's Stoekings, Gloves, and Mitts." 2. That of. Zalmon Bedient, Barber, who offers cash for human Hair, at his barber's shop " a few rods north of the Court House in Litchfield." 3. That of Cornelius Thayer, Brazier, . who gives notice that he carries on business at the shop of Col. Miles Beach, in North street-at which shop the Jewelers' and Silversmith's business " is carried on as usual by said Beach."
The Monitor was continued for a period of 22 years: for 16 years of which, it had no rival in the town. It was printed on a sheet about one-third the present size of the Litchfield Enquirer-with course type, and coarse blue paper. A single compositor might have set the type in a single day for all the new matter which was contained in some of the weekly issues. Yet it is a most interesting epitome of the olden times. From it we are able to glean very many facts and events in the history of this town and county, which are preserved no where else. Until after the advent of the present century, both the town and county were federal in their politics; and the Monitor was was at once the organ and the oracle of the federal party in this region.
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In August, 1805, two young printers-Messrs. Sellick Osborn and Timothy Ashley -came to this town and established THE WITNESS, a violent democratic newspaper. The Witness was edited by Mr. Osborn, who, though a man of talents and energy, was a most unscrupulous partizan and bitter satirist. Though there was a formida- ble minority of democrats in the township at this time, Litchfield Hill was the strong- hold of Federalism. Tallmadge, Reeve, Wolcott, Deming, Gould, Tracy, Holmes, Allen, Aaron Smith, Rev. Messrs. Champion and Huntington, and indeed nearly all the leading men of the village, were Federalists, and looked upon Jefferson as an infi- del and reprobate. Subsequent to the Presidential Election of 1800, (which resulted in the choice of Jefferson to the Presidency,) the partizan sermons and prayers of Messrs. Champion and Huntington of the congregational church had driven several of their church members (including Deacon Lewis) to Episcopacy. On one occasion, after a political sermon from Parson Huntington, his venerable colleague, Father Cham- pion, prayed first and fervently for " thy servant the President of the United States" (John Adams;) and concluded thus-" And, O Lord! wilt thou bestow upon the Vice President (Jefferson) a double portion of Thy grace, for Thou knowest he needs it !" The summary withdrawal of so many members, caused the first church no little em- barrassment. A formal expulsion was proposed; but some of them occupied high social positions, and others were nearly allied to remaining members. The matter was finally adjusted by a simple withdrawal of the " watch and fellowship" of the church from the the seceders. The feeling of hostility between federalists and democrats was such that prominent men living the same neighborhood refused to recognize each other when they met; federal ladies refused even to make formal calls at the houses of their democratic neighbors; and the children of federalists were forbidden to as- sociate with those of the hated democrats. Such was the state of feeling on Litchfield Hill when The Witness opened its batteries on the ranks of Federalism. At first, its saults were treated with contempt. Osborn grew bolder, more bitter, and more per- sonal-gathering up and parading before the public the foibles or follies (real or man- ufactured) of the principal men of the village, against whose honor no word of suspi- cion had before been breathed. Charges and insinuations of hyperisy and crime were
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