The history and genealogies of ancient Windsor, Connecticut, Vol. I, Part 37

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Hartford, Conn., Press of the Case, Lockwood & Brainard company
Number of Pages: 1038

USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Windsor > The history and genealogies of ancient Windsor, Connecticut, Vol. I > Part 37

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Mrs. Warner, in her sketch of Bloomfield ( Mem. Hist. Hartford Co.). thus speaks of the Wintonbury schools and their customs: "The public schools of the parish were, for a long time, under the care and control of the Ecclesiastical Society, and great deference was paid to the period- ical visits of the parish pastor. When he entered the room, the scholars were all compelled to rise and make obeisance. Country-school educa- tion in those days was mostly summed up in the three R's, but the reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetie, with the never-omitted spelling, and for the girls sewing on sheets, and often bedquilts, were taught with thorough- ness. The teaching of little children, in the carly part of the century, began with a series of questions as to their names and those of their parents, their age, what town, parish, county, State, and country they lived in, the name of each pastor of their town, the Governor of the State and the President of the United States. . . Early in the present century the school had a remarkable teacher, a Mr. Lucas, who aroused the greatest enthusiasm in his pupils, and who closed his one winter with a brilliant exhibition in the church, of the play of Pizarro - . Priest Miller' reluctantly consenting. The schools were generally kept by male instructors in winter, and by female in summer. One of the teachers-an old gray-haired man, and college-bred, which was a rare thing in those days -had the habit of getting his queue done over during . noon spell' by one of the girls of his 'fore class.' An inter- esting old lady, Mrs. Wealthy Gillet Latimer Thrall, who lived all of her nearly one hundred years in Bloomfield, used to tell her grandchildren how frightened she was the morning she was promoted to this class,

301

HISTORY OF ANCIENT WINDSOR.

when the master rapped with his ruler on the desk, and announced before the school that henceforth she was to take her turn at that angust task. Her fingers trembled so that she could scarcely tie the black ribbon, as she stood behind the master, sitting by the big open fire, keeping order during . noon-spell." This same little girl had such a good memory for grammar-all the grammar they had in those days was in the fore- part of the spelling-book -that her teacher delighted in taking her about the streets and into the houses, of evenings, to show off : where her listeners would exclaim, . What a pity she isn't a boy" I her last days. when her strong mind began to give way, in wandering back to her childhood, she would repeat sentence after sentence from those old spelling-book pages. After she was grown and married, she and her husband kept Thrall Tavern, in the Old Farms district, for forty years, and in her old age she never wearied of telling how they once entertained Lafayette at dinner, with a hundred other guests: delighting her eager grandchildren with all the particulars as to looks, and dress, and bill of fare. Her husband had the first chaise ever nsed in Bloomfield."

A Wintonbury Library Society was formed in January, 1793.

Revolutionary War. - Wintonbury's share in this war is embraced within the history of the town of Windsor. Capt. Lemuel Roberts, who resided within that portion of the parish originally comprised in Sims- bury, has left "A Noate of those who marched at the Lexington alarm, April, 1775, viz. :

Capt. Lemuel Roberts, Left. Abram Pinney, Sgt. Aaron Pinney, Corp'l Levi Pinney,

Rubin Fullar, James Eno, Amaziah Barber.

Alexander Marshall. 1 Corp'l William Adams.

Tradition says that when the war began nearly every man in the

1 town was drafted : and that, during the hard times following the war. there was no coffee used and but little tea : only occasionally a pound of sugar, and but few potatoes were raised. The connon diet at this period was boiled beef and pork : children eating the broth, which was thickened up with bread and beans -- given to them in a single dish, around which they gathered, and into which they dipped with their spoons.

Traces of Negro Slavery are found in Rev. Mr. Bissell's private church record - as thus, in 1754, " died, Fortune, a negro seryt, who he- longed to John Hubbard, Jr., and but a little time before his death was Jona. Smith's " : and, in 1772, is recorded the baptism of " Casar, a ne- gro servant of mine." There were but few slaves, however, and their bondage was of the mildest form.

305

WINTONBURY, OR FIFTH SOCIETY IN WINDSOR.

Indians. - " Traces of an Indian reservation still exist in the Old Farms district. A native of Bloomfield remembers how a family of Mo- hegans used to come and settle down to their basket-making by Old Farms Brook under the hill, on his father's farm. They would say to the little boys that all the land belonged to them, and they could get their basket-stuff wherever they liked. This was as late as 1820." _ Mrs. Warner. (In this connection, see our note on page 130.)

Wintonbury parish, in 1802. contained 176 dwelling-houses and about 1,050 souls. There were then four taverns in the parish, one saw-mill. one fulling-mill, one grist-mill, with two sets of stone, and one gin dis- tillery, erected that year. (For agricultural products, see chapter on Bloomfield.) At one period, many years ago, the Brothers Brown made drums, including toy-drums, and Capt. Filley manufactured tin-ware. which was sold by peddlers in Vermont. Among the things of Winton- bury's past, at one time or another, were two sash and blind factories and an oil well ; but, for some time past, carriage and wagon-making has been Bloomfield's only manufacture.

The Old Burying Place of Wintonbury (now Bloomfield), originally a small clearing in the north end of the forest which stretched back a long distance from the first meeting-house, contains many exceedingly quaint inscriptions, of which we present the following specimens :

Upon a low brown stone, in the extreme north corner, is this :

" llere lies ye Body of Luce the Daugher of Sergut Isaac Skinner who Died Febry ye 23rd 1739-40 aged 18 year

this was ye first Person that was Burried Here "

"Mrs. ANNA MEECHAR | Daughter of Widow | Samantha Cook, Died July 3, 1808.

" Sixteen years I lived a maid, Two years I was a Wife, Five hours I was a mother, And so I lost my life. My babe lies by me, as you see, To show no age from Death is free."

"MIRE, daughter of Widow Semantha Cook, Died Feb'y 15, 1808, Aged 12 years.

"One day in health I did appear Next day a corpse, fit for the bier."

" In Memory of HEZEKIAH GOODWIN, A. M., & Preacher of the Gospel; Son to Mr. Stephen Goodwin & Mrs. Sarah Goodwin, who departed this life Jany 19% A. D. 1767. in y+ 27 Year of his Age. His Epitaph composed by himself, upon his deathbed is as follows :

VOL. I .- 39

306

HISTORY OF ANCIENT WINDSOR.

"Ilow short, how precarious, how uncertain -is Life! How quick ye Transi- tion from time to Eternity. A Breath, a Gaspe, a Groan & lo we are seen no more! And yet on this point, Oh alarming thought, on this slender point turns a vast Eternity."

" In Memory of Mr. JONAH GILLETT, who Died May ye 21, 1782, in ye 75 Year of his Age.

"My kindred Dear as you draw near Don't think that Death's a jeast, Remember you are mortal too Must pass the Solemn Test."

" This monument to the memory of PELETIAH ALLYN, who d. Feb. 5, 1821, in the 24th year of his age, was erected by the Congregational Society of Wintonbury, of which he was a member. Mr. Allyn early arrived at maturity, in the powers of his mind, and was possessed of more than ordinary energy and decision of character. In the testamentary disposal of his estate, good judgment and benevolence were happily united. After several legacies to individuals, he gave £200 for foreign missions, 100 an- nually forever for the relief of the industrious poor of Wintonbury, 30 annually for the support of religious psalmody in the Congregational Society, and 200 to 270 annually forever for the support of the gospel in the same society."

Daidamia, Mahala, Lodesea, Loviey, and Climena, are among the curious female names, and Reuel, Abi, Amaziah, Zerniah, and Defer, among the maseuline names found in this cemetery.

The new cemetery was opened in 1856.

Diseases common to the parish : these, according to Rev. Mr. Miller's Ms. Hist. Account of Wintonbury, before alluded to, were pleurisy, con- sumption, dropsy, slow or long fevers, bilious and nervous fevers, dysen- tery, and hoarse canker. According to this authority, in the western part of the society, on a large brook (which has a dead current, being at the bottom of the mountain, and its banks being boggy and of black earth and coarse grass) the inhabitants dwelling on the road parallel with it have in some seasons been peculiarly subject to slow fever, or to dysen- tery, neither of which, however, appeared at the same time. In 1775, dysentery raged fearfully on this street, attacking almost every person. That year fifty-two persons died in the society, of whom fifteen died he- fore July 19th, when the dysentery first appeared. Of the other thirty- seven, who died between this date and the next spring, thirty died on this street, which then contained only thirty-three houses. Other parts of the Society suffered but little.

In the fall of 1792, the dysentery again raged on the same street, and many died, while but few were ill in other portions of the society and continued to rage until the following January, despite early frosts and snows.

From January 1, 1792-1801, inelusive, there were 163 deaths in the parish. Of this number

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WINTONBURY, OR FIFTH SOCIETY IN WINDSOR.

48 persons died under 2 years of age.

between 2 and 20 years of age.

20 and 40 ..

40 and 70 ..

70 and 80

80 and 85

85 and 90

64 at age of 93.

4 4

94.

97.

Among the old citizens of the parish, honorable mention must be made of Capt. DAVID W. GRANT, "who, for many years in the early part of this eentury kept the State and town poorhouse, and left a handsome fortune to his son Wadsworth, who erected the rough-stone house in the western part of the present Bloomfield, and was known as a most liberal- minded man. HIRAM ROBERTS, of one of the oldest families in Winton- bury, was the merchant of the parish, in his day - a leading man, and twiee a representative to the State Legislature -a man of unusual judg- ment and integrity. Among other leading men - several of them eap- tains in the War of 1812, some representatives in the Legislature, and nearly all established farmers, and who died at a good old age - were ELIHU MILLS, who is remembered never to have failed of being in his scat at church twenty minutes too early, and who was always the last to give up the eustom of standing during prayer : ELIJAH GRISWOLD, a noted singing-master. and one of the two publishers of an early singing- book, the Connecticut Harmony, printed about 1800, the engraved eop- per-plates and letter-press for which are still in existence ; the three BIDWELL brothers ; the HITCHCOCKS and BROWNS : Captains LORD, GOOD- WIN, FILLEY, LOOMIS, and ROWLEY (which last outlived his military com- patriots ) who, in turn. had drilled the old militia company which mustered from 120 to 150 men ; and was disbanded just long enough before the Civil War for it to find only raw recruits." - Mrs. Warner.

CHAPTER XVII. WINDSOR'S SHARE IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 1775-1783.

TT might have been presumed that the colonies, in retiring from a war in which they had borne so conspicuous and loyal a part, and from which they had themselves derived but little benefit, would have received from their sovereign some mark of approbation, or at least of indulgence. But that sovereign was weak, and his ministerial advisers were unprinci- pled and short-sighted. They found the treasury empty and the national debt increased by recent wars to almost seven millions of dollars. Their subjects at home were already alarmed and grumbling at the increased burden of taxation which seemed to await them. It was then that Grenville's facile brain conceived the idea, ungenerons as it was unwise, of taxing the colonies by levying new duties upon their imports. This was the " one straw too much which broke the camel's back." The col- onists, who had sacrificed thousands of their best lives and treasures, and whose frontiers had for so many years been constantly drenched in blood, could not bear this new burden. From one and all arose a unani- mous protest against " taxation without representation." A few wise men foresaw and plainly represented the danger, but their advice was wasted on the grasping ministers of England. The Stamp Aet was passed on the 22d of March, 1765, and this " entering wedge for the dis- memberment of the British empire" was accompanied with the explicit declaration "that it was intended to establish the power of Great Britain to tur the colonies." It was received in America with overwhelming feeling of resentment. Alarmed and abashed at the outbreak of deter- mined opposition which it provoked, the government of Great Britain repealed the act. Hardly had the rejoieings of the grateful colonies over this event ceased before the unwise and unjust acts of the ministry again plunged the country into alarm and discontent. An act enforcing the quartering of a royal army in their midst, and at their expense, was followed by another, levying duties upon paper, glass, paints, lead, and tea imported by them. In both these acts the principle involved was the same as in the Stamp Act, and was as firmly resisted by the colonies. These manifestations of revolt. however, as well as the plain words of

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WINDSOR'S SHARE IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR, 1774.

many wise and noble minds, even in parliament itself, were unheeded by the blindly infatuated ministers of the British government. America was in constant and open revolt, but one after another these hated measures were forced down her throat. It is true that a bill was passed in 1770 repealing the duty on all articles but ted. It was too late. For on that very day was enacting in the streets of Boston the tragedy of the Boston Massacre. Then came two years of outward quiet, but really of seething unrest. Again, in December, 1773, the smoldering fire burst out anew, and Boston harbor witnessed the destrnetion of several cargoes of tea by a disguised but orderly band of patriots. Roused and enraged, the English ministry now passed the famous Boston Port Bill. This bill, providing for the removal of customs, courts of justice, and all government officers from Boston to Salem, and for the "complete dis- continuance of all landing, discharging and shipping of wares and mer- chandise at Boston, or within the harbor thereof," came into effect on the first of June, 1774. Its effect was instantaneous. "The utter pros- tration of all business soon produced great distress in the city. The rich, deprived of their rents, became straitened, and the poor, denied the privilege of labor, were reduced to beggary. All classes felt the scourge of the oppressor, yet the fortitude and forbearance of the inhabitants were most remarkable." The sympathy of the whole country was aroused. for, although the blow was aimed at Boston as "the ringleader in every riot," it was keenly felt in every colony. And this sympathy evinced itself not only in words and encouraging resolves, but in substan- tial tokens of attachment to the sufferers. From Georgia came sixty- three barrels of rice and seven hundred and twenty dollars in specie. The town of Windham, in Connecticut, sent a large flock of sheep; and from every quarter contributions of wheat and grain, pork and money, came pouring in. Even the great eity of London, in its corporate capac- ity, sent one hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the relief of the poor in Boston. "The people of Marblehead and Salem offered the Bos- ton merchants the free use of wharves and stores, for they scorned to enrich themselves at the expense of their oppressed neighbors! A com- mittee was appointed in Boston to receive and distribute donations, and, in the midst of martial law, the suffering patriots were boll and unyielding."

Liberty had her friends among the people of our town of Windsor, who were not unmindful of their suffering brethren, and the town govern- ment of Windsor at this period was in the hands of men of influence - who were straightforward, brief, earnest, and business-like in all their actions. These characteristics are very plainly impressed on all the records and correspondence of the town during the revolutionary strug- gle, and are in marked contrast to the eloquent and somewhat wordy

310

HISTORY OF ANCIENT WINDSOR.

style of expression which is displayed in the East Windsor records. Yet in feeling, patriotism, and attachment to the cause of freedom, both towns were emphatically " shoulder to shoulder." In the correspondenee of the committee for the relief of the Boston sufferers by the Port Bill we find the following letter.1 It tells its own story with a straightforward brevity which characterizes the official actions of the town during this period.

MR. JONATHAN MASON,

WINDSOR, March 20, 1775.

SIR: We being appointed by this town to receive donations for the poor of Boston, and as we understand you are one to receive them, have directed Capt. Smith to deliver you what grain we have collected for that purpose, viz., 391 bushels rye, 89} bushels corn, and half barrel of pork.

We are your humble servants, JAMES HOOKER. OLIVER MATHER.

Meanwhile the troops in Boston were daily augmenting, until it was one vast garrison. Insulted by the presence of the soldiery, their rights invaded and trampled upon, the people of Massachusetts, and with her the united colonies, were preparing to strike a blow at the coil of despot- ism which was gradually surrounding them. Every fresh act of oppres- sion was met by scornful and dignified yet determined resistance. Every hour seemed pregnant with impending collision. It eame on the 19th of April, 1775. In the grey dawn of morning, on the village green of Lex- ington, a handful of rustie patriots undauntedly awaited the approach of an advaneing column of British troops. One hour later, on that village green, lay eight patriot corpses, and from their blood, still welling ont upon the dewy sod, there had gone forth a cry for vengeance which all America heard. Through the length and breadth of the land bell responded to hell, and watchfire to watchfire, and everywhere the people were in arms. "Throughout New England the news was rapidly earried by horse 'express' from town to town. It was despatched to Connecti- eut by the Massachusetts Committee of Safety at Watertown during the progress of the fighting, or near 10 o'clock of Wednesday morning, April 19th. 'The bearer, Israel Bessel, is charged to alarm the country quite to Connectient, and all persons are desired to furnish him with fresh horses as they may be needed.' During Thursday, the 20th, the news was circulating through the eastern part of the colony. The people of Windham County received it generally by noon. It reached Governor Trumbull, at Lebanon, by eleven. It was doubtless at Hartford by night, at New Haven on the following evening."- Ree. of Conn. Men in the War of the Revolution.

1 Mass. Hist. Snc'y Coll., 4th Series, iv. 266.

311

WINDSOR'S SHARE IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR, 1775.

The people of Windsor had just paid the last sad tribute of respect to their beloved pastor-perhaps they even yet stood by the side of the open grave-as a mounted messenger came "spurring in hot haste" from Hartford, bearing the news of the battle which had been fought the day before.

It was as the first lightning flash in the approaching storm, not wholly unexpected, but none the less startling; and as the intelligence spread quickly from mouth to mouth, and from family to family, it everywhere awoke an instantaneous activity. The signs of grief gave place to the sound and bustle of warlike prepara- tion. Brave THOMAS HAYDEN was The Hayden quickly in the saddle, bearing the news to Suffield as fast as his steed could carry him. On every side there was "hurrying to and fro " ; in every home the agitation of sudden de- parture and the tremulous tones of farewell words. Ere many hours had elapsed an "alarm party " of twenty-three men, under command

Pathe Hayden 0

of Capt. NATHANIEL HAYDEN, had left Windsor on their march to Lexington. The following are the names of those gallant sons of Windsor who first responded to the call of Liberty, copied from the orig- inal pay list, signed by each member of the party. The figure after each name denotes the number of days in service, as given by the Rec. of Conn. Men in Rev. War (official); as are also those names and ranks, which are starred.

Capt. NATHAN'L HAYDEN, 5, Corp'I CORNELIUS RUSSELL, 5,

EZRA IIAYDEN. 5. OLIVER HAYDEN, 5,

Sgt .* THOMAS HAYDEN, 5,

Sgt .* REUBEN DENSLOW, 5,

MARTIN DENSLOW, 5,

Sgt. SAMUEL GIBBS, 24, WILLIAM DAVIS, 24,

LEMUEL WELCH, 24.

EBENEZER WOOLWORTH, 24.

GERSHOM WEST, 13 (George *),

OLIVER LEE, 5,

WILLIAM THRALL, Jr., 13,

WILLIAM PARSONS, 24,

JOHN ALLYN, 5, JOHN ALLYN, Jr., 5, JOHN ROBERTS, 14, ELIJAH STOUGHTON, 5, EBENEZER FITCH BISSELL, 3,

Sgt SAMUEL WING, 5, ELEAZUR GAYLORD, 5,

DAVID THRALL, 5,

NATHANIEL STANLEY, 13,*

BUCBEE, 13 .*

They left Windsor about 21st of April, and the receipt is signed July 18, 1775, which was probably about the time of their return. The ex- penses of the expedition were about £69 15%. 6d.

The struggle for independence was now fairly commenced. The capture of Fort Ticonderoga by Ethan Allen, " in the name of Jehovah

312

HISTORY OF ANCIENT WINDSOR.

and the Continental Congress," on the 10th of May, and the hotly con- tested battle of Bunker Hill in June following, inspired confidence in the patriot arms, and committed them to a war from which there was no retreat.

In connection with the Ticonderoga affair we find ( Off. Ree. Conn. Men in Rev. War, p. 32) the following receipt given by one James Easton of Pittsfield, who was engaged at the capture of " Ti." and who returned to Connectient for powder :

WINDSOR, May 27th day, A.D. 1775.

Then I the subscriber did receive of Henry Allyn, Esq., five hundred weight of Gun Powder, on account of the Connect' Colony, to be transported to Ticonderoga with all possible speed."

JAMES EASTON.

The first item which appears upon the records of Windsor relative to the Revolutionary war is the appointment, in December, 1775, of a

1 Committee of Inspection, composed of the following persons, all of them eminent citizens and true patriots :

Doctor ALEXANDER WOLCOTT,

JOSIAH BISSELL,

Capt. JAMES HOOKER,

ROGER NEWBERRY,

Capt. JOSIAH PHELPS. Ensign JONATHAN FILLEY,

HENRY ALLYN, Esq.,

Lieut. PELATIAH MILLS.

Mr. JOAB GRISWOLD,

The chief duty of this committee was of a peculiarly delicate nature, warranted only by the circumstances of the times. It was nothing more or less than 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 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 publicly he was aiding and abetting the enemy. Lukewarmness in action, an un- guarded word, or an equivocal deed, was sufficient in those days of trial to excite distrust ; and woe to the unlucky man, whatever his rank in life, who fell under the suspicion of " the people ". Undoubtedly many innocent persons were unjustly suspected, yet, on the whole, the influ- ence of this Vigilance Committee was as salutary as it was certainly necessary.

After the battle of Bunker Hill the American army commenced the construction of various fortifications and defenses upon the heights adjacent to Boston, which was held by the British troops. Upon these lines, which were situated on Winter and Prospect Hills, at Roxbury, and from thence to the Charles River, the troops were mostly engaged during the fall and winter of 1775-6. Quite a number of Windsor men are known to have been here, under Gen. Putnam, but their names can- not be fully ascertained.

313

WINDSOR'S SHARE IN THE REVOLUTION, 1765.

The voluntary mustering in the Alarm of April 19th was speedily followed (April-May) by the first authorized call for troops. The Assembly was convened, and met May 6th, and enacted that one-fourth of the colony militia should be forthwith enlisted. This apportionment represented about 6,000 men, who were distributed in six regiments of ten companies each. with a full complement of field, staff, and line officers, and to be commanded by a major-general and two brigadier-generals, each of whom was also to take command of a regiment, as colonel. At the July session of Assembly two more regiments, somewhat smaller, were ordered, making eight in all - total of about 7,400-term of ser- vive seven months -officers all appointed by the Assembly.

In the 2d of these regiments ( Gen. Spencer's ) ROGER Exos, of Windsor, appears as Lient .- Colonel.

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The history and genealogies of ancient Windsor, Connecticut, Vol. I, Part 37

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909 Publication date: 1891 Publisher: Hartford, Conn., Press of the Case, Lockwood & Brainard company Number of Pages: 1038

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Hartford, Conn., Press of the Case, Lockwood & Brainard company
Number of Pages: 1038