USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Hamden > The history of Hamden, Connecticut, 1786-1936 > Part 6
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The Colonial Period
The Sunday watch in and around the meetinghouse was the responsibility of the militia. Squadrons of the training band took turns at this duty, and their seats in the meetinghouse were conveniently located at the rear. The guardsmen wore their brown homespun, knee breeches, and long woolen stockings, with powder horn and bullet pouch slung over their shoulders and matchlock musket in hand, ready to repel attacks of the Indians. Every man who was not a militiaman was obliged to carry his sword to meeting.
The Wars with France early in the eighteenth cen- tury increased the importance of the militia. Joseph Cooper was named an ensign in charge of "the com- pany or train band att the North Parrish of the town of Newhaven" in May, 1733, "in the sixth year of the Reign of Our Sovereign Lord George the Second, King of Great Britain"; the commission was signed by "Jos- eph Tallcott, Esq. Governour and Commander-in- Chief of His Majesty's Colony of Connecticut in New England." Thomas Wilmot was confirmed lieutenant in the Sixth Company Train Band in New Haven in I727.
On June 25, 1747, Captain Caleb Alling of the Sec- ond Company of the Second Regiment, Connecticut Volunteers, ordered the clark* of the Company, Caleb Hotchkiss, to impress eight men for service at Sheffield and Stockbridge. These eight seem to have been selected: Asa Alling, Jonah Attwater, Matthew Gil- bert, Jr., Ezekiel Hotchkiss, Daniel Lash, Jabez Mun- son, Daniel Alling, and Joseph Woodin. These six appear to have been alternates: Joseph Munson, Isaac
* Every Train Band had a clark whose duty it was to keep record of every man from sixteen to sixty.
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The History of Hamden
Bradley, Hezekiah Hotchkiss, Nathaniel Mix, Caleb Sperry, and Daniel Woodin.
In 1739, it was ordered that the military companies of New Haven, Milford, Branford, and Derby be made into one entire regiment, the Second.
The Eighth Train Band of New Haven was in existence in Mount Carmel in 1754, with Daniel Brad- ley captain, and Waite Chatterton lieutenant. Most of the troops of the Revolutionary period and the few preceding years who came from the territory which was eventually Hamden, were enrolled in the Second Regi- ment, of which the colonel was Roger Newton in 1759 and 1767, Edward Allen in 1771, and Edward Russell in 1779, in which year the lieutenant-colonel was Heze- kiah Sabin. Daniel Bradley was captain of the Fifteenth Company of this regiment in 1759, and in that year he addressed to the General Assembly the following letter, most interesting in its spelling:
Mount Carmel, May the 3 Day 1759
To the Honerable Genralle Asembley to be Holden at Hartford on the 10 Day of May 1759, Gentlemen, in pursuance of my order from Cornal Nuton [Colo- nel Newton] after Du warning given to all within my Limits who have a Right to vote for officers being met together, on the 16 Day of april 1759 I Led my Com- pany to the Chose of an Insine which Have by a Cleare majority Chose Mr. Amos Bradley theire Edest seir- gant to be theire Insine.
In May, 1760, Jonathan Ives commanded the Fif- teenth Company, with Amos Bradley lieutenant and Jacob Atwater ensign. Ives was still captain in 1764.
In 1761 there was a record of land "leased in Mount Carmell for a Training place," from Jason Bradley,
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The Colonial Period
Stephen Cooper, and Stephen Goodyear to Jonathan Ives, one and a quarter acres and thirty-two rods.
Jacob Atwater and Samuel Atwater held the office of captain in 1770, Stephen Goodyear in 1773, and Jesse Goodyear in 1777. Bazel Munson led the Company in 1779, and the unit was still in existence in 1788, when William C. Smith was elected ensign.
In the Library of Congress is a manuscript copy of band music which was once the property of the Bellamy Band of Mount Carmel, Connecticut. It contains a march entitled "Col. Bellamy's March." Perhaps it was inspired by a warm, convivial entertainment in his tav- ern for the militiamen of his regiment.
The Seventh Company is mentioned in records of 1781, when Charles Alling was captain and Jabez Tur- ner lieutenant. Alling was a resident of what later be- came Hamden, and he had just been the lieutenant of the Seventeenth Company. The Twelfth Company is mentioned in records of 1784, when Allen Ives was captain, and 1788, when Hezekiah Bassett was lieuten- ant and Hezekiah Dickerman ensign.
The Seventeenth Company is better known because its boundaries, added to those of Mount Carmel Parish, formed the Town of Hamden. . The formation of the Company was authorized in a letter from Colonel Roger Newton to Captain Amos Hitchcock of the Fifth Com- pany, saying that "whereas there is a third military company . . . out of the Fifth Company and the First Military Company," the captain was directed to hold an election of officers. At the election, on April 27, 1767, Lieutenant John Woodin was elected captain; Stephen Ford lieutenant; and John Gill ensign.
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The History of Hamden
Captain Woodin retired on account of his age in 1769, and Stephen Ford commanded the unit until 1771, when he too retired, having been in "a low and declining state of health" and with "little or no hopes of recovery." The membership of the Company, which was always an "alarm company" (or in our language home guards), at that time was as follows:
Stephen Ford, Capt., John Gill, Lt., Elisha Booth, Ensign; Samuel Cooper, Hezekiah Tuttle, drummers; Caleb Alling, Moses and Joseph Gilbert, and Moses Ford, corporals; Zadock, Amos and Abraham Alling, Timothy Cooper, Dan Carrington, Hezekiah Dicker- man, Jonathan, Nathaniel and Daniel Ford, Michael Gregson, Lemuel, Daniel, Matthew, Amos and Sackett Gilbert; John Gorham, Nathaniel Heaton, Jr., John Hubbard, John, David, Nathaniel, Jabez and John Munson, Jr., Job Potter, Abel Stockwell, Thomas, Daniel and Josiah Talmadge, Gordain Turner, Japhet Tuttle, James and Timothy Bassett, and Israel and Silas Woodin, privates.
The Captain of the 17th Company in 1771 was John Gill, Moses Gilbert in 1775, Caleb Alling in 1778, John Gilbert in 1779, and in 1785, Stephen Munson, Jr., and Stephen Ford, Ensign.
The Twelfth, Fifteenth, and Seventeenth Companies appear to have held the status of training bands or alarm companies throughout the Revolution, and did not see action except during the British invasion of New Haven in July, 1779. But the officers and men were continu- ally being transferred to units of the Continental Army.
THE REVOLUTION
At the time of the Lexington alarm in 1775, Captain Benedict Arnold, then commander of the Governor's
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The Colonial Period
Foot Guards, called out his company, wishing to start at once for Lexington to join the Continental Army as volunteers, and about forty of the members made ready to leave. When the New Haven town authorities re- fused to furnish the men with ammunition, Arnold drew his men up in order outside the windows behind which the selectmen sat, and announced that if the keys were not given him in five minutes' time, they would force open the doors and take what they wanted. The town fathers saw fit to yield to the threat, and gave up the keys.
Jonathan Mix, whose wife inherited the estate called "Cherry Hill," where he at one time lived, was a mem- ber of the New Haven Cadets, and also belonged to the company which marched to Lexington. He went with the Connecticut militia to New York in 1775 to destroy the press of the Tory newspaper known as the New York Gazeteer, published by James Rivington. Mix was with the first naval expedition to the Bahamas, which captured New Providence, a place of refuge for many of the Loyalists. He sailed as captain of marines, was captured, and was a prisoner on the Jersey Prison Ship.
Other Hamden men who marched to Lexington were Samuel Atwater, Hezekiah Dickerman, John and Theo- philus Goodyear, and Ebenezer and Benjamin Warner. The last of these named was in Arnold's Company, and also took part in the siege of Boston. Aaron Tuttle en- listed at the age of seventeen. Jonathan and Isaac Alling served throughout the whole war. Others in the Continental Army were Joseph Peck, Bazel Mun- son, Lazarus Ives, and Elijah Wolcott.
It has been said that in 1776 many people in New Haven were British sympathizers. Doubtless all those
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The History of Hamden
who were supporters of the Anglican (later called Epis- copal) church were loyal to the king, and because of the feeling of patriots against them, Anglican services were discontinued in New Haven in 1776. The only known instance of sympathy for Britain in Hamden is the case of Lemuel Bradley, who went over to the British forces. His wife, Esther, was sister to the famous president of Yale, Dr. Ezra Stiles, in whose diary was noted Aug- ust 24, 1779: "Noon sailed my sister Esther Bradley, with her five children, in a Flag for Long Island where her husband is, having joined the enemies of the United States."
Dr. Stiles and Dr. Timothy Dwight were strong sup- porters of the colonial cause, as were all Congregational ministers. Massachusetts and Connecticut were settled by people who fled from the ecclesiastical tyranny of the Anglican church, and Congregationalists feared that Anglican prelates would attempt to control colonial religion and close the independent churches.
Dr. Trumbull of North Haven invited men of his congregation to enlist, and forty-six did. In 1776 a bri- gade was called for, to reënforce Washington's army which was desperately trying to hold New York against a vastly superior force-the muster roll of the Fifth Battalion was in Dr. Trumbull's handwriting. A com- pany of sixty Hamden and North Haven men (thirty- seven of them from Hamden) was formed, and he was its chaplain. In 1777 he was captain of a company of volunteers. Most preachers had an interest in politics, and many spoke from the pulpit for the colonial cause. A Torrington pastor (N. Roberts) prayed: "Great God, we pray Thee remove that Lord North from office by death or otherwise."
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The Colonial Period
The Mount Carmel Ecclesiastical Society records show a collection of taxes beginning in 1758 with a farthing rate, which became by 1777 a sixpence on the pound. In 1778 the records read: "Collector of taxes not to take Continental money issued May 21, 1777 and April 18, 1778." The next year rates were "payable in Continental bills." There was no national treasury, and during the war, 1775-79, the Congress issued quanti- ties of paper money which fell rapidly in value. In 1779 a paper dollar was worth only two or three cents, and was the basis for the common expression "not worth a Continental." The heaviest losers were the soldiers, who had been paid in this paper money.
Reverend Nathaniel Sherman was an ardent patriot in the war, and when Congress made desperate plea for funds, he responded by investing the money he had re- ceived from the sale of his home (£600) in a loan to the government, confident that it was secure. When he was later in serious financial straits due to the government's inability to pay, he was granted his demands against the Mount Carmel Church by the General Assembly in 178I, and it was readily paid by a Society who forgot their former animosity in their appreciation of his pa- triotism.
In 1780 the Mount Carmel Society accepted "3 d. on the pound in hard money or its equivalent in circu- lating currency of the country."
A bill rendered to Caleb Mix by Joseph Peck, inn- keeper, in 1779 lists
six meals of vitls at two shillings
five bools of tody at 18 pence per boole
two botls of wine at 8 shillings per botl To your bill in Conentiel money at three Dolers or at a shilling hard money.
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The History of Hamden
A record of unshaken financial credit throughout the war was typical of Connecticut, along with the name "provision state" given her by Washington, who also coined the name of "Brother Jonathan" by so calling Governor Jonathan Trumbull. Perhaps also typical of Connecticut were the attempts at smuggling, even in defiance of the state government.
In 1786 Samuel Bellamy and Chauncey Dickerman of Mount Carmel attempted to recover a cargo which had been seized by state authorities in 1780. They had secured permission from Governor Jonathan Trumbull to take to Rhode Island a shipload of rye, Indian corn, beans, and flour, and bring back a cargo of salt for New Haven and Cheshire. They chartered a small sloop and brought it to Middletown, hiring Alling Ives of Mount Carmel, "a sea-faring man," to load it. In September, 1780, the contents of the sloop were confiscated under the embargo laws. The state authorities claimed that the vessel's load was much greater than the permit called for and a search brought to light some tierces of flour, some cheap shoes, and other articles not named, and some cheese which was hidden under the grain. Bellamy and Dickerman never got back their goods, nor compensation for them.
In August, 1778, Lieutenant John Gilbert was authorized by the General Assembly to transport by land fifty bushels of home-manufactured salt to New York, and to bring back flour for the benefit of the manufacturers of New Haven and Branford.
Salt was an interesting commodity in the Revolution, valued for its use as a preservative as well as a season- ing. The Mount Carmel Ecclesiastical Society in 1777 was apparently delegated to give a share of salt, doled
8 I
The Colonial Period
out by Samuel Atwater, to everyone who took the oath of fidelity to the State of Connecticut. If, in 1778, John Gilbert, authorized by the General Assembly, was tak- ing home-manufactured salt to New York to trade for flour needed by local manufacturers, it seems strange enough that Governor Trumbull permitted Bellamy and Dickerman, in exact reverse order, to send flour to Rhode Island to be exchanged for a cargo of salt, needed by New Haven and Cheshire! Could the Brit- ish invaders in the year between have had an effect on the local supply of salt? Gilbert, who was later captain of the Seventeenth Company, became in December, 1776, a lieutenant of the Company formed by Reverend Benjamin Trumbull of North Haven. Of this Com- pany Joel Bradley became second lieutenant.
Throughout the war, the British made many attacks on coastal towns, and New Haven did not escape. The British authorities thought that Connecticut should be punished for her notable activities in the rebellion. She had more soldiers in the field than any other Colony except Massachusetts, she supplied the army abundantly with agricultural products and manufactured articles, as well as arms and ammunition, and her coast-town privateers preyed on British shipping.
New Haven had been planning an Independence Day celebration on July 5, 1779 (the Fourth coming on Sun- day), so when Dr. Ezra Stiles, looking through a tele- scope in the tower of a Yale building, saw the British fleet coming and gave the alarm-many at first thought the excitement was a part of the celebration. It was soon all too evident that the British were invading New Ha- ven. Many wisely hid their treasures and others fled to East and West Rocks. There was a pitiful handful of
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The History of Hamden
soldiers at home to make any resistance, but the Seven- teenth Company was among those rushed to the defense of the town, and was in the thick of the fight at "Ditch Corner," now the corner of Orchard and Goffe Streets.
John Gilbert, grandson of Matthew, was captain of the Company, and upon receipt of the news mounted his horse and rallied his men to meet the British. Eleven of his men were killed, including his brother Michael; and he himself and many others were wounded. When the British captain ordered him to surrender, Gilbert asked if they would be treated as prisoners of war. When the answer was, "No, you damned rebel," accompanied by an order to a soldier to shoot him, Captain Gilbert said, "We'll never surrender," and shot the officer; whereupon he was killed. The inscription on his monu- ment reads:
In memory of Capt. John Gilbert, a gentleman of reputation, beloved and esteemed in life, and lamented in death, who fell in defense of his country, being slain by the British troops when they plundered this town July 5, 1779, in the 48th year of his age.
Two men of the Seventeenth Company, John and Timothy Bassett, who lived near Shepherd's Brook, heard the alarm of the British invasion and hurried to join the defenders, carrying the muskets which they had used in the service of the Continental Army. Both were wounded in the encounter, Timothy so seriously that he was thought by his brother to be dead. Aided by peo- ple living near the scene of action, and with difficulty brought home in the family chaise, he was slowly re- stored to health. Later he served as a selectman of Hamden from 1802 to 1808.
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The Colonial Period
THE SEVENTEENTH COMPANY LIST "Pay Rool of Capt. Caleb Alling's Company Edward Russells Regiment Served in New Haven"
No. Days in Service Wages Due
Caleb Alling, Capt.
3
7 0 0
Samuel Humaston, Lieut.
3
4 16 0
Charles Alling, Ens.
3
3 12 0
Philemon Potter, Sgt.
2
I
18 5
Titus Mansfield, Sgt.
2
I
18 5
Timothy Dickerman, Sgt.
2
I
18 5
Asa Todd, Sgt.
I
19 21/2
Joel Ford, Sgt.
2
1 18 5
Samuel Woodin, Corp.
I
17 7
Wm. Denslow, Corp.
2
1 15 2
Isaac Hubbard, Corp.
I
1 15 2
David Atwater
I
16 0
Daniel Abbott
I
16 0
Zopher Atwater
2
I 12 0
Isaac Bradley
I
16 0
Joseph Ball
2
I 12 0
John Gill
I
16 0
Mathew Gilbert
I
16 0
Nathaniel Heaton
2
I
12 0
Thos. Leek
2
I
12 0
Richard Mansor (Munson? )
2
I
12 0
Timothy Potter
2
I 12 0
Joseph Potter
I
16 0
Abraham Turner
I
16 0
Enoch Turner
I
16 0
Jabez Turner
2
I
12 0
Ely Woodin
I
16 0
Joseph Dorman
I
16 0
John Gilbert
I
16 0
Israel Woodin
I
16 0
Sam Woodin
I
16 0
Silus Woodin
I
16 0
.
Clothing issues included coats, vests, cloth overalls, baize overalls, shirts, hose, shoes, large blankets, small
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The History of Hamden
blankets, baize blankets, socks, watch coats; and hats, shoe buckles, breeches, leather caps, linen overalls, and frocks.
CAPTAIN CALEB MIX
An unusual case of official mercy and group affection occurred in 1780. Charges were brought against Cap- tain Caleb Mix by the lieutenant and the ensign of the Fifth Company, Second Regiment, claiming that on July 20, 1779, he made out a false and undue payroll of his said company for their services at the time of the inva- sion of the enemy, by inserting the names and drawing the pay for men who did not belong to said company, and others that were never in service, and unjustly de- frauding many of the soldiers out of a great part of their wages, pocketing the same for himself.
The General Assembly investigated the charges and deemed him guilty. He was cashiered and reduced to the ranks in May, 1780. Mix asserted that "not even my enemies have accused me of cowardice or want of exertion." He said, "I judged it expedient not to pay the privates the full amount."
The Fifth Company met supposedly to choose a suc- cessor, but instead, forty-six members signed a memo- rial to the General Assembly asking that Mix be rein- stated, calling him "a man of bravery, activity, and zeal- ous attachment to the cause of his country," and blaming him for "misapprehension rather than badness of heart." On March 5, 1781, it was reported that Mix had been elected captain by a majority of six votes.
Every year on Memorial Day, bright little flags wave above the graves of the gallant men who gave their lives for the independence of their country-flags placed by members of the American Legion, who have
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The Colonial Period
so good reason to remember those who served before them, and in whose footsteps they so gladly followed when they were needed. The little flags may fade and droop in wind and weather through the years, but they symbolize remembrance-revitalized as each year comes again-remembrance and gratitude that never fade, from those who live to enjoy freedom won at such a cost.
The following list of Revolutionary War dead buried in Hamden cemeteries was compiled in 1934 by James S. Hedden, for the G. A. R .:
REVOLUTIONARY DEAD IN HAMDEN CEMETERIES
Hamden Plains
Cpl. Rev. Caleb Alling
Eliada Hitchcock
Capt. Charles Alling
Capt. Hezekiah Johnson
Ichabod Alling
Timothy Leek
Timothy Andrews
Capt. David Leek
John Bassett
Jabez Munson
Joseph Benham
Levi Munson
Lt. Elisha Booth
Joseph Tuttle
Enos Bradley
Amos Warner
Nathaniel Crittenden
Benjamin Warner
Daniel Dorman
Benjamin Warner
Cpl. Moses Ford
Ebenezer Warner
John Gorham
Capt. Javan Woodin
David Hitchcock
Mount Carmel
Aaron Bradley
Lt. Amos Bradley
Hezekiah Dickerman Lt. Isaac Dickerman, Gen. Wadsworth's Brigade
Amos Bradley
Daniel Bradley
James Dickerman
David Bradley
Capt. Jonathan Dickerman, Ist
Simeon Bristol
Sgt. Samuel Dickerman
Waite Chatterton
Joel Hough
Ensign Amos Dickerman
Amos Peck
Chauncey Dickerman
Joel Todd
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The History of Hamden
Centerville
Capt. Asa Atwater
Capt. Stephen Goodyear
Enos Atwater
Titus Goodyear
Capt. Jacob Atwater
Capt. Alling Ives
Capt. Samuel Atwater
Elam Ives
Hezekiah Bassett
Ezra Ives
Timothy Bassett
Capt. Jonathan Ives
Joel Cooper
Hezekiah Warner
Capt. Jesse Goodyear
Samuel Warner
Whitneyville
Amos Bassett Capt. Stephen Ford
Capt. Moses Gilbert Capt. James Peck
Abraham Cooper Cpl. Joseph Gilbert
Lt. Samuel Humiston
State Street John Potter Timothy Potter
Josiah Mansfield David Hitchcock
Hamden Census Amos Potter
Killed at the Invasion of New Haven Graves Not Found
Aaron Bradley
Eldad Parker
Joseph Dorman
Michael Gilbert
Sgt. Ezekiel Hotchkiss
Asa Todd (descendant of Christopher Todd of the Mill) Elisha Tuttle
John Kennedy
Isaac Pardee
Silas Woodin Samuel Woodin
Capt. John Gilbert was buried at Evergreen Cemetery in New Haven.
87
The Colonial Period A TRAGEDY AT THE MILL POND
The Mill Pond at Todd's Mill was known as Sabine's Pond, and Lieutenant Colonel Hezekiah Sabine's house stood beside it. Here the wife of the pastor of the White Haven Church on New Haven Green, Jonathan Edwards the younger, was accidentally drowned in 1782. Two reports of the tragedy, one by the president of Yale College, Dr. Ezra Stiles, the other appearing in the Connecticut Gazette, illustrate the austerity of the funeral ritual and the verbosity of the daily newspaper. President Stiles made the following notations in his Diary:
JUNE 24, 1782. This day Mrs. Edwards, consort of the Rev. Jonathan Edwards of this town, was drowned, her horse with her, along in a chaise plung- ing into a mill pond two miles from town. She was taken up an hour after, the water 15 ft. deep. AE. 34. JUNE 25. This afternoon we attended the funeral of Mrs. Edwards. The corpse was carried to the meet- inghouse where was a crowd assembled, among others eleven ministers, seven of whom had lost their wives. Mr. Whittlesey made the first prayer, the 89th psalm was sung, ("Think on feeble man"); I preached on Philip 1, 2 ("For me to live is Christ, to die is gain") ; Mr. Street prayed, the funeral thought was sung, and a blessing concluded the solemnity. The procession then moved from the meetinghouse to the burying ground, --- first the bearers who were civilians, not ministers, then the corpse, the mourners, the ministers, the sisters of the church and the females, and the males. A very large body. Mr. Edwards spoke at the grave.
The Connecticut Gazette reported the funeral obse- quies in this manner:
NEW HAVEN. Last Monday morning about 9 o'clock, Mrs. Mary Edwards, consort of Rev. Mr.
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The History of Hamden
Jonathan Edwards of this town, was drowned in Mr. Sabine's mill pond. . . . Her funeral was attended yesterday, when an animated and exceedingly tender sermon was preached to a very numerous and solemn audience, by the Rev. Dr. Stiles. Her remains were followed to the grave by the most numerous procession ever seen in this town; which gave an ocular demon- stration that she lived desired and she departed univer- sally lamented.
THE SEPARATION FROM NEW HAVEN
As the Revolutionary War was closing, the parishes of New Haven became more than ever restive to be set aside as separate towns, and New Haven herself was not in an unreceptive frame of mind to a plea for such separation, for she had begun to feel her parishes to be burdensome in many ways, chiefly for the support of bridges in Mount Carmel and North Haven.
The first parish to take active steps toward separa- tion from New Haven was East Haven, in 1780. Spe- cial agents representing New Haven opposed in town meeting the application of Amity and Bethany for town privileges; but when North Haven and Mount Carmel, after conferring together about the advisability of ask- ing to be set up as a distinct town, also followed their sister parishes in requesting separation, the town voted its consent to four petitions, February 12, 1781 .* A committee of the town of New Haven, appointed to re- port a plan for the division of the town, advised "that the societies of North Haven and Mount Carmel be made into a separate and distinct town, and that the
* Amity became Woodbridge, the name chosen in honor of the minister of the first church there.
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