USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Fairfield > The history of Fairfield, Fairfield County, Connecticut, from the settlement of the town in 1639 to 1818, Vol. II > Part 29
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The Rev. John Goodsell, after a long and honored ministry at Green- field Hill, died December 26, 1763, in the fifty-seventh year of his age. He was succeeded by the Rev. Seth Pomeroy .*
1764. A special General Assembly was called by Governor Fitch to meet at New Haven, January 18th, when two letters were laid before the Assembly from the Right Honorable Earl of Halifax, one of his Majesty's secretaries of state, and General Gage, commander-in-chief of his Majesty's forces in America, requesting that five hundred men be raised to invade the Indian territories " & to punish them for their per- fidious conduct." The Assembly objected to this request as " not being. expedient at present; but referred the contents of the letter to a special adjournment of the court, to be held the second Tuesday in March." The Assembly met at Hartford, March 8th, and although the colony was in no way exposed by its situation, yet, for promoting his Majesty's interests and to assist in putting an end to the great mischief done by the savages, it was agreed that two hundred and sixty-five men and officers should be raised by enlistment with all possible dispatch, to march to such
* Appendix-Genealogical.
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places in North America as General Gage should judge proper. . 1 bounty of five shillings was granted to each enlisting officer, and four pounds in bills of credit to each non-commissioned officer and man who should provide his own clothing. Each officer and soldier was provided with one month's pay in advance, besides a blanket and suitable knap- sack for the service.
The treasury " being in no wise able to supply " the money needed to equip and pay the men, it was ordered that seven thousand pounds should be issued in new bills of credit, to redeem which a tax of one penny three farthings was levied on all taxable polls and estates in the colony, according to the list to be brought in 1766, and to be paid into the treasury by the last day of December, 1767 .* Dr. Ebenezer Jessup of the west parish of Fairfield served as surgeon in this battalion.+
David Rowland, Esq., was appointed one of a committee to settle with the traders for hospital supplies for the use of the Connecticut troops in the last campaigns.
During the sitting of this Assembly a committee was appointed " to take into consideration what they should think expedient for the As- sembly to do, in order to prevent the revival of the act of parliament laying a duty on foreign sugars & molasses." Jonathan Trumbull, Esq., one of the committee, was requested to ask Governor Fitch "to thank Richard Jackson, Esq., our Agent in London, for his efforts to prevent this tax." A committee was also appointed " to collect such reasons & arguments in behalf of the colony " that they should deem for her best interests against this tax.# This spirit towards the colonies had existed for some time, and was therefore not unexpected; but like many other impositions, the fathers of the colony resolved to use every persuasive argument before resorting to force.
The industries of the colony had been so prosperous that, having a greater supply of home goods than they needed, they had ventured to export iron, hides, leather and hats to the old world with handsome profits, until England, fearing such competition would affect her own industries, discouraged their importations. " In such numbers were hats manufactured, it was argued, that unless some restraint was put upon them, they would soon supply the whole world."
* Col. Rec. Conn., Vol. XII, 233. + Col. Rec. Conn., Vol. XII, 249. Hist. of Fairfield, I, p. 360.
# Col. Rec. Conn., Vol. XII, p. 240.
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[1764
The law enacted at the spring Assembly for the relief of insolvent debtors was repealed.
The usual spring General Assembly met at Hartford on the second Thursday in May, when Judge Ebenezer Silliman was present as an As- sistant, and Mr. David Rowland and Captain David Burr as deputies from Fairfield. Ebenezer Silliman, Esq., was chosen one of the Judges of the Superior Courts of the colony. David Rowland was made Judge of the County Courts and of the District Probate Court of Fairfield.
Israel Putnam, who had been one of the bravest and most valuable officers in the army for several years, was now commissioned lieutenant- colonel of the colony forces raised this year .*
Mr. David Burr was made captain of the second train-band of Fair- field.
A letter was read from Mr. Jackson, the colony's agent in London, dated March 10, 1764, " relative to creating a revenue in America." The Assembly " Resolved, that Ebenezer Silliman, George Wylys & Jared Ingersoll, Esqs.," be a committee to assist the Governor "to collect & set in the most advantageous light all such arguments & objections as may justly & reasonably be advanced against creating & collecting a revenue in America, more particularly this colony, and especially against effecting Stamp Duties, &c." Copies of their remonstrances were or- dered to be printed, some of which were to be transmitted to their agent, Mr. Jackson, in London, and the residue kept and dispersed throughout the colony. t
The reinforcements sent out against the western Indians during the spring and summer were in most opportune time, and fought with such courage under Colonels Bouquet and Bradstreet that the Indians, being wholly routed at all points, agreed to terms of peace most advantageous to the English.
The war with the French and Indians was carried on with great loss of men and money. It has been estimated "that thirty thousand lives were sacrificed, & about sixteen millions of dollars, of which only five millions were repaid by Great Britain." But the colonists had been taught in the severe school of military discipline which they had under- gone for years, to now feel not only how strong they were, but well prepared for any future emergency.
* Col. Rec. Conn., Vol. XII, pp. 249, 250. t Col. Rec. Conn., Vol. XII, 256. # Weber's Outlines of Universal History, p. 354.
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The advance of civilization had been carried into the far west, along the Delaware, Hudson and Ohio Rivers. West of the Alleghanies emi grants in search of fertile lands found new homes, and villages soon sprang up full of life and industry. The whole country took on new life. and trade and commerce flourished in all the principal towns and cities of the colonies. Printing presses and newspapers flourished. and the industries of raw silk and linen were carried on with success. Literature received a fresh impetus, " & the metaphysical writings of Jonathan Edwards slowly acquired a European reputation. The fame of Dr. Ben jamin Franklin was carried by his brilliant discovery of electricity, to the bounds of the civilized world." Like the silence which heralds the dawn of a new era, men and women intuitively perceived that the youth- ful days of the country had passed, and they had reached the days of independent liberty of manhood and womanhood.
The wars in which England had been engaged for many years on the Continent, in the Orient, the islands of the sea and in North America had involved her in an enormous debt of seven hundred millions of dol lars. Some of her prominent men in parliament cast a jealous and evil eye upon the prosperity of the American colonies, and argued that. as they were now reaping the benefit of their expenditures in America, they should help to pay off this debt. The great expense entailed upon the colonies by Great Britain was not a matter of consideration with them for a moment. Another administration had succeeded that of Sir Wil- liam Pitt. The Chancellor of the Exchequer. Lord Grenville, with the assistance of Lord Bute, now proposed a stamp act to replenish the depleted exchequer of Great Britain.
The General Assembly met at New Haven, October 11th. To pre- vent persons from voting in society or parish meetings to which they did not belong, each society was ordered to choose a treasurer, who should have the same power as a town treasurer; and that if any person not duly qualified to vote for choice of officers, granting rates or any affair he should be fined the sum of fifteen shillings.
The committee appointed in May, with Judge Ebenezer Silliman, to prepare an address to the Parliament of Great Britain, giving general and special reasons and objections to a bill proposing certain Stamp Duties in North America, now laid before the Assembly a firm and manly protest to be sent to parliament, which they exhibited in a pamphlet entitled. " Rea- sons why the British Colonies in America should not be charged with
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internal taxes, &c." The Assembly having approved the reasons and arguments set forth in this pamphlet, ordered them to be sent to Mr. Jackson, the colony's agent in London, and by him to be laid before the parliament .*
Mr. Jared Ingersoll, who had the previous year visited England in behalf of the Susquehanna Company, and who was at this time again on a voyage thither, was by letter appointed to assist Mr. Jackson, " by his good advice in matters which might concern the colony." Mr. Ingersoll returned home the next July with the appointment of Stamp Distributor for Connecticut. t
Mr. John Burr was established captain, Mr. Benjamin Fairweather lieutenant, and Mr. Abel Seeley ensign of the train-band in the society of Stratfield. #
The taxable estates of Fairfield were valued at £58,814 5s. 2d.
An account of the sums emitted in paper money in bills of credit since January, 1749, was prepared, to be sent to the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, as well as the amount in sterling received from England from time to time, with the taxes levied each year upon the colony during the war to redeem the bills of credit. §
1765. The General Assembly met at Hartford, May 9th, when Judge Ebenezer Silliman was present as an Assistant, and Mr. David Rowland and Captain David Burr as deputies. Judge Silliman was appointed one of the Judges of the Superior Court, and David Rowland, Esq., Judge of the County Courts and District Probate Court of Fairfield.
Mr. David Coley was established lieutenant, and Mr. Nathan More- house ensign of the train-band of Norfield, in the town of Fairfield in the Fourth Regiment. Mr. Talcott Bulkley, lieutenant, Mr. Hezekiah Sturges ensign of the second train-band in the town of Fairfield, Mr. Henry Lyon lieutenant, and Mr. Gershom Morehouse ensign in the train-band of the east division of the parish of Reading, and Mr. Gideon Hurlburt ensign in the west society of Fairfield.
The land reserved by the Pequonnock Indians at Golden Hill in Stratfield had for some few years been a matter of dispute between their descendants and persons who had seized and occupied them as their own.
* Col. Rec. Conn., Vol. XII, p. 299. + Col. Rec. Conn., Vol. XII, p. 300.
# Col. Rec. Conn., Vol. XII, p. 302. § Col. Rec. Conn., Vol. XII, p. 339.
| Col. Rec. Conn., 12, 348, 350, 351, 353.
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The Indians therefore petitioned the Assembly in 1703 for a restoration of their lands. "One Tom Sherman, his wife Eunice Sharon, & Sarah Sharon, Inchan natives of Pequonnock, represented that they, together with many other Indoms long since dead or dispersed into other places, were lawfully seized of about eighty acres of land at a place called Golden Hill in said Pequonnock ; that they had many year enjoyed the same till some few years past, when said lands were all, except about six acres thereof, laken from them, & they thereof unjustly dissiezed by Gamaliel French & sundry other ; & that in August, 1763, one Richard Hall bad unjustly seized the remaining six acres, to their grievous wrong & injury. They therefore prayed the Assembly to grant them a restoration of their lands."
The Assembly appointed a committee to examine and to report as soon as convenient the best thing to be done for the relief of the Indians. **
A special Assembly was convened at Hartford by Governor Fitch, September 19th, to take into consideration a proposition " from the several other governments on this continent, to send a committee to act with them. in presenting a petition to the Parliament of Great Britain. against their acts for levying duties & taxes on the colonies." Jonathan Trumbull, Esq., Eliphalet Dyer, William Samuel Johnson and David Rowland, or any two of them, were appointed commissioners to attend the proposed congress to be held in New York on the first Tuesday of October following. A letter of instructions was given the commissioners. " that they should take care to form no such junction with the other commissioners as will subject you to the major vote of the commissioners present." They were also instructed to make a report of the resolu- tions of the commissioners to the General Assembly for their approbation and acceptance. +
Mr. Jared Ingersoll did not find his office of Comptroller of the Port of New London from the Commissioners of his Majesty's Customs in the Plantations, as well as Stamp Distributor, one of the most pleasant. In his letters relating to the Stamp .Ict, Mr. Ingersoll says, " he suffered the indignity of being burned in effigy in many towns in the colony." In consequence of this and other divers tumultuous assemblies, " to the disturbance of the peace & terror of his Majesty's liege subjects," the Governor was requested to issue a proclamation, commanding " the offi- cers of the colony to suppress all riots, tumults & unlawful assemblies, &; that all his Majesty's liege subjects should aid & assist them in enforc- ing the laws against such gatherings."+ This tax incluided stamped
* Col. Rec. Conn., Vol. XII, p. 367. + Col. Rec. Conn., Vol. XII, p. 410. # Col. Rec. Conn., Vol. XII, p. 411.
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papers, for all judicial proceedings and clearances at the custom-houses of bills of lading. The colonies were obliged to find quarters and all neces- saries for the sustenance of soldiers sent into and stationed within their borders for the enforcement of arrests and punishment for acts of mutiny.
It is, therefore, no wonder that meetings of indignation were held in many of the towns. Societies were formed throughout the country under the name of the Sons of Liberty for the purpose of suppressing The Stamp Act, and to compel its officers to resign their appointments, as they had resolved that no stamp should be sold in the colony, and that all stamped paper should be seized wherever it could be found. Com- panies of men in New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and New Jersey soon joined the Sons of Liberty, until the society became a body of immense strength.
Town meetings were held to protest against the Stamp Act, which was carried in procession and burned. Pamphlets and sheets of paper ridiculing the ministry and chief magistrates and ministers suspected of favoring it were circulated openly and secretly, with dark threats of revenge against oppression. Mr. Ingersoll was forced to resign his office of Stamp Distributor after he had made every effort to hold it .* The distributors of Stamp Acts met with even more opposition in Massa- chusetts, and they, with all the other officers appointed to enforce it in the American colonies, were forced to resign their offices. James Otis of Boston eloquently set forth the rights of the colonists, while Jonathan Trumbull was the master spirit of charter rights in Connecticut. In Virginia Patrick Henry made an impassioned and eloquent address, in which he argued that the sole right to tax the colonies was vested in the General Assembly, in which he was warmly sustained by the people.
Agreements were entered into " not to purchase nor to import any more goods from England until the Stamp Act should be repealed." Associations were also formed "to use only American manufactured goods, & to increase the supply of wool by ceasing to eat lamb or mutton."
A congress of the committees of nine colonies met in New York, October 7th, when, in a remarkably firm yet forcible manner, they agreed to publish a declaration of the Rights and Grievances of the colonies, and to send an address to the King and memorials to the two
* Hollister's Hist. Conn., Vol. II, pp. 133-140.
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Houses of Parliament. They claimed all the rights and privileges of British subjects, and specially the right of not being taxed without then consent. This Congress continued in session a little more than a week; a leading feature of which was that it gave gentlemen attending it " the opportunity to become acquainted with each other, & to pledge their mutual support for the interests of the colonies."
The General Assembly met at New Haven, October 10th, and con- tinued by several adjournments until after the report brought in by the Commissioners who attended the Congress held in New York. The proceedings of the Congress were endorsed by the Assembly, and they authorized Eliphalet Dyer. William Samuel Johnson and David Row- land, Esqs., as their commissioners, " to sign the petition for & in behalf of this colony."
Governor Fitch was requested "to forward the petitions to Great Britain (in order that they may be duly presented), together with a proper certificate of the appointment of said commissioners, & the doings of this Assembly."
A letter was sent to the colony agent, Richard Jackson, Esq., advising him to further the petitions " with his utmost influence, skill & ability ; & to leave no possible means unattempted to secure success in so in- teresting a matter." It was stated to him, " that Connecticut was firmly persuaded that the power lately exercised by Parliament of imposing taxes on the colonies without their consent, & extending the jurisdiction of the court of admiralty beyond its ancient limits, is inconsistent with the principles & spirit of the British Constitution, & an infringement of the essential liberties of the colonists, & we can by no means be content that you should give up the matter of right, but must beg that you would in all proper occasions claim & firmly insist upon the exclusive rights of the colonies to tax themselves, & the privileges of trial by jury; & to maintain these principles in the most effectual manner possible, as what we can never recede from. The arguments from inconvenience & the fatal consequences, both to Great Britain & the Colonies, which must flow from this exercise of Parliamentary power, are obvious, & will no doubt be also fully insisted upon by you." He was instructed to avail himself of all arguments, hints and materials furnished him by the Gov- ernor, and in every other way " to place the rights of the colonies and the inconvenience of parliamentary taxation in the most striking point cf light." He was also desired to correspond and unite with them, " for 17
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obtaining a repeal of the last acts of Parliament, so grievous to the Colonies."*
Declarations and Resolves were voted and passed with but very few dissenting voices. These resolutions consisted of eleven in number and are of the highest credit to the fathers of Connecticut. +
The committee appointed to inquire into and settle the claims of the Pequonnock Indians, reported
" That they had found the Indian reservation at Golden Hill in the possession of Richard Hall, Aaron Hawley, Gamaliel French, Joseph Booth, Ezra Kirtland, the Rev. Robert Ross, Mary Burret, Elisha Burret, Daniel Morriss, John Burr, Jr., Samuel Porter, & Sarah Booth, the widow of Joseph Booth, deccased; & that they had satisfied & settled with the Indian claimants by giving them a certain piece or parcel of land called Nimrod Lot, # containing about twelve acres, with the spring at the point of Golden Hill aforesaid, bounded westerly by an highway, eastwardly by Pequonnock river, northerly by Jabez Sumner's land, & sontherly by a cove & common land, also about eight acres of wood- land at Rock Hill, to be purchased for them by the petitioners, they also paying to them, the said Indians, thirty bushels of Indian corn, & three pounds worth of blankets." The Assembly ratified this agreement, and ordered the petitioners to carry it out to the satisfac- tion of Thomas Sherman, his wife, and Eunice and Sarah Sharon, natives of Pequonnock. Thomas Hill, Esqr., the guardian of the Indians, was ordered to see this agreement settled before the last of January, as well as to receive from the petitioners the sum of £52 IIS. 2d. in order to defray the charges of the Indians in prosecuting the matter. §
The taxable estates at Fairfield were valued at £61,325 4s. 9d. The following order for a public fast was given :
Considering the present peculiar & perplexing situation of public affairs relating to this colony, & the dark aspects of Divine Providence with regard to our most dear & valuable rights & privileges ; & of the difficulties & distresses we are or may be involved in, Governor Fitch is requested to issue a proclamation as soon as may be convenient by appointing a day of public Fasting & Prayer, to be attended in this colony, fervently to implore divine aid, direction & wisdom as the melancholy state of affairs require."
The Assembly granted to David Rowland, Esq., the sum of forty- seven pounds nineteen shillings and nine pence, over and above what he had already received for his expenses and service in attending the late Congress in New York. The same allowance was granted to the other two delegates.
At the close of the year the Stamp Act was practically set aside, and the usual routine of business carried on. The Governor and Judges took no steps to enforce the Stamp Act. All Europe sympathized with the colonies. At the head of a large party in Great Britain against this un- * Col. Rec. Conn., Vol. X1I, pp. 420-421. + Col. Rec. Conn., Vol. XII, pp. 420-425.
# Nimrod, the name of a Pequonnock Sachem. § Col. Rec. Conn., Vol. XII, p. 432.
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just taxation was the great statesman and orator William Pitt, after wards Earl of Chatham, who was a powerful advocate of the rights of the colonies. He was supported in his views by Lords Camden and Mansfield. These gentlemen, in vehement debate, set forth the tax bill as " absolutely illegal." Lord Camden declared " that taxation and repre sentation are inseparably united. God hath joined them & no British parliament can put them asunder."
Dr. Benjamin Franklin, who had " undergone a memorable examina- tion in July, 1765, before the House of Commons, declared that the Act could never be enforced."
1766. The Stamp Act was repealed March, 1766, to the great joy and relief of the colonies. At the same time a bill was passed, declaring the power and right of parliament to bind the Americans, " in all cases whatsoever," which was regarded as a pretext or connivance to save the honor of the government. Indemnity was demanded and readily paid by Massachusetts and New York, "for the officers of the crown who had suffered in the late riots."
The ecclesiastical controversies still continued at Fairfield. and the Rev. Mr. Beach of Reading, in 1765, as secretary of the S. P. G., wrote that he was engaged with the Independent Ministers " against Anti- nomianism & enthusiasm, which rage among the Independents," and that none of his people " were afflicted in any degree with Deism."
The clergy of the Church of England throughout the colony and country were under the protection of the British Society for the Propa- gation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, and were generally supported by that society. They regarded the uprising against Great Britain at this time as seditious and disloyal. The Rev. Mr. Beach of Reading was a staunch advocate for loyalty to the King's decrees. On the 2d of April the Rev. Mr. Lamson thus wrote to this Society from Fairfield: " that anarchy & disloyalty prevailed throughout the country in general: & that the missionaries were urging their parishioners to be loyal to the mother country by submission & quiet deportment ": by which means they " had been exposed to the insults of the enemies of the Church & state, & threatened with having their houses pulled down over their heads "; on the 22d of April the Rev. Mr. Beach wrote, "that he had not been without fear of being abused by a lawless set of men, who style themselves the Sons of Liberty & who call us enemies to our country, Jacobites, &c."
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The Rev. Mr. Buckingham of Green's Farms died in May of this year, after a ministry of over twenty-four years. He was succeeded by the Rev. Dr. Hezekiah Ripley, who was ordained pastor over the parish February II, 1767 .*
The General Assembly met at Hartford on the second Thursday in May. The names of Governor Fitch and Judge Ebenezer Silliman no longer headed the list chosen this year as magistrates by the Assembly, for the following reasons : Governor Fitch, with others of his councillors, fearing that they would jeopardize the charter of the colony, thought it would be wiser, although they in every way disapproved of the Stamp Act, to take the oath required by Parliament. For this reason the Gov- ernor proposed that they should all take the Stamp Act oath. Colonel Jonathan Trumbull in indignant tones refused to even witness such a proceeding, and walked angrily out of the room followed by most of the Assistants, only four members of the council remaining, who administered the oath to the Governor. In consequence of this mistake of judgment on the part of Governor Fitch and those who administered the oath to him they were not re-elected the next year.t Governor Pitkin was elected in place of Governor Fitch. It would have been far wiser had they all awaited a reply to their letter of the May Assembly sent to the King and Parliament. The people were in no mood to trifle with the tyrannical course of Great Britain. "Right, Liberty & Freedom " were now their watchword. They had experienced enough of British general- ship, unwise and cruel conduct to the Indians and ignorant and brutal methods of warfare with them, with the loss of thousands of valuable lives and large sums of money, to resort to any expediency. Besides, they had learned through the vicissitudes of war their own strength, and they now rose in that strength to resist tyranny of any kind whatsoever.
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