USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > The memorial history of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1884, Vol. II > Part 55
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65
Captain Chester was at this time but twenty-six years old. He was made colonel in June, 1776, and his regiment participated in some of the most important battles of the war. Lieutenant Webb, then but twenty-two years old, was soon thereafter an aide-de-camp on Washing- ton's staff, with the brevet rank of briga- Warning Selle dier-general. He was active in the cam- paign of Long Island. In December, 1777, he was captured by a British frigate while on board a transport bound for Shetucket and Southold, in an expedition having for its object the destruction of the enemy's stores at those places. He was not released from his parole until 1781, and so the country was carly deprived of his valuable services. He was the father of the late General James Watson Webb, and grandfather of General Alexander S. Webb, now president of the College of the City of New York.
It is noteworthy that no less than five members of the Goodrich family were in this company at Bunker Hill. The two Rowlandsons were descendants of the Rev. Joseph Rowlandson, a former minister at Wethersfield. Two men in this company, to wit, Gershom Smith and Roger Fox, were killed at Bunker Hill. A third, Wilson Row- landson, died in prison at Boston. Lawrence Sullivan was taken prisoner.
Wethersfield companies were in most of the important engagements from Charlestown to Yorktown. One complete muster-roll of such a company, that of Captain Elijah Wright, at White Plains, in June, 1778, is herewith given in full : -
Captain : Elijah Wright.
First lieutenant : Isaac Goodrich.
1 See Frothingham's " Siege of Boston," Humphrey's " Life of Putnam," etc.
475
WETHERSFIELD.
Second lieutenant : Jonn Francis.
Sergeants : Benajah Boardman, Elizur Talcott, Selah North, and Francis Nicholson.
Privates : Amasa Adams, John Andrus, Amos Buck, Thomas Bidwell, Leon- ard Boardman, Jonathan Brooks, Elijah Brooks, Elisha Baxter, Giles Bulkeley, David Bidwell, Ephraim Bidwell, Elizur Brooks, Ebenezer Curtis, William Curtis, Nathaniel Churchill, Matthew Covill, Roger Clapp, Asa Fox (transferred to Con- nental army), Justus Francis, Jesse Goodrich, Josiah Griswold, Matthew Hale, Enett (!) Hollister, Stephen Hurlburt, James Hatch, Asahel Hollister, Levi Loveland, Alvan Montagne, Nathan Nicholson, John Pitkin, Joseph Steele, David Stillman, Jesse Sanford, Thomas Brooks, Zion Wentworth, Silas Hurlburt, Elizur Hubbard, Roswell Goodrich (tifer), John Kirkham (drummer), Thomas Stanley, Reuben Taylor, Asahel Taylor, Joseph 'Taylor, George Tryon, Elisha Welles, Elisha Wetherell, Joseph Wheeler, Asa Wright, David Wright, Joshua Welles, Ezekiel Winchell, Ebenezer Wright, and Waitstill Dickinson.
Colonel Chester's was one of the three Connecticut regiments at White Plains engagement.
Besides those in Connecticut regiments, many Wethersfield men were in the Regular or Continental army of the United States. Below is a list containing sixty-three names of men in that army credited to Wethersfield. It was found a few years ago, by Mr. Charles J. Hoadly, our State librarian, among some papers formerly belonging to William Williams, of Lebanon : --
Aslıbel Riley. Hezekiah Knote (Nott ?). Joseph Waters.
Abner Andrews.
Thomas Holmes.
Jabez Sizer.
Moses Belden.
Gideon Goffe.
Charles Treat.
Jonathan Miller.
Moses Hatch.
Caleb Miller.
Diek Loomis.
David Lindsay.
William Morrison.
Thomas Wilson.
Abraham Belden.
Daniel Sizer.
Simeon Holmes.
Joseph Treat.
Peter Mohawk.
Waitstill Dickinson.
Benjamin Dix.
Simeon Griffin.
John Kirkham.
Ichabod Goodrich.
Thomas Morgan.
Asher Russell.
Joseph Johnson.
Zebulon Mygatt.
Ezekiel Winchell.
John Forbes.
Edward Brown.
Stephen Dormonte.
Richard Bacon.
John Dowl (?). Joshua Cone.
Stephen Kellogg.
Moses Griswold.
Josiah Robbins.
Seth Montague.
Solomon Williams.
William Weare (Weir ?).
Jared Bunce.
Samuel Welles.
Asa Andrus.
Daniel Ward.
Samnel Kirkham.
Isaac Palmer.
Joshua Welles.
Levi Latimer.
Jared (?) Goodrich.
Josepli Rowlandson.
Edmond Weatherhead.
Ebenezer Stoddard.
Caesar Freeman. William Clark.
Samuel Weaver.
Simeon Griffin.
Elijah Boardman.
Jonathan Dallibier (Delli- ber ?).
Some of the foregoing were officers. Solomon Williams was cap- tain of a company at White Plains. Some had served in Connecticut war-regiments. Abner Andrews was a slave, freed by John Wright and Luke Fortune on condition of serving in the army. Cæsar Free- man was freed by Elias Williams on the same condition. Others whose names do not appear in the above list were set free on the same terms. Dallibier (sometimes spelled Dallapy) was probably of Huguenot extrac- tion, and in French was De l'Épée, - now Delliber.
Richard Belden.
Curtis Crane.
476
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
We cannot attempt to give even an approximate mortuary record of the Revolutionary soldiers until rolls at Washington, not now accessi- ble, can be examined. These rolls are now being copied pursuant to a resolution of Congress.
During the Revolutionary period the town promoted the general cause by many votes, - choosing committees to raise clothing, blankets, provisions and stores to be forwarded to soldiers in the service.
Many special taxes were laid for soldiers' bounties, etc. The final vote is that of April 28, 1783, which provided that the selectmen pro- cure a barrel of powder " for the purpose of firing field-pieces or cannon on account of the joyful News of Peace."
The writer has, with much care, prepared the following list of those Wethersfield men to whom military commissions were issued from the General Assembly for service in the War of the Revolution. Most of them were in the "Connecticut Line" of the Continental army. Those to whom commissions were issued from the Continental Congress, as officers of the Regular army of the United States, and officers of the " Alarm List," are not included in this list.
April, 1775. In General Spencer's Second Regiment of volunteers : John Chester, captain of the Ninth Company ; Barnabas Deane, first lieutenant ; Ste- phen Goodrich, second lieutenant ; Charles Butler, ensign.
July, 1775. Dr. Josiah Hart, surgeon's mate of Colonel Parsons's regiment. He was afterward surgeon. After the war he became one of the first settlers of Marietta, Ohio.
May, 1776. Roger Bull, ensign ; John Hanmer, first lieutenant of a company to be raised for " the defence of this and adjoining colonies."
June, 1776. John Chester, colonel of a regiment for service in New York. Josiah Robbins, second lieutenant of Second Company in Third Regiment. Jona- than Buck, ensign. John Hurlburt, Jr., first lieutenant in Second Company in Chester's (Sixth) battalion ; Chester Welles, captain of Third Company ; Edward Bulkeley, first lieutenant in the same.
October, 1776. Solomon Welles, lieutenant-colonel ; Chester Welles, captain ; Ebenezer Wright, Joseph A. Wright, and Joseph Webb, first lieutenants in the Eighth Battalion of volunteers ; Ezekiel P. Belden (and Abraham Wright ?), sec- ond lieutenants ; Simeon Belden, ensign.
November, 1776. Samuel Welles, first lieutenant ; Nathaniel Churchill, ensign in Second Battalion ; Roger Riley, captain ; Elijah Wright, captain. Isaac Goodrich, first lieutenant in Third Battalion.
December, 1776. Hezekiah Welles, captain ; John Belden, lieutenant ; Chester Welles, ensign. The battalion was under command of Colonel Noadiah Hooker.
May, 1777. Ezekiel Williams, a commissary of prisoners. Nathaniel Church- ill, second lieutenant ; John Francis, ensign.
October, 1777. Mr. Jonathan Deming, commissary. In the Third Brigade (Putnam's) at Fishkill and Peekskill.
May, 1779. John Francis, lieutenant.
January, 1780. David Deming, lieutenant.
As the names of the towns in which the appointees resided were not generally given, it is possible that in a very few cases a name has been omitted which should be credited to Wethersfield, and that some so credited belong to persons bearing the same name in other towns. It is probable that more United States commissions were issued than State commissions ; but we have no list of the former.
-
477
WETHERSFIELD.
Among the earliest advocates of privateering was Barnabas Deane of Wethersfield. On the 27th of November, 1775, he wrote to his brother Silas, then a member of the Continental Congress : " In case American privateers are to be allowed to take British property in the West Indies, . . . If you think there is a probability of permission from Congress, pray attempt it : as those persons desirous of adven- turing are very impatient to be informed," etc.
The authority was granted : and on the 22d of January following Barnabas writes : "I propose setting out this afternoon for Saybrook, to engage carpenters, timber," etc. "Pray get the plan of the ship completed, and send it by first hand." It is probable that the vessel was built at Rocky Hill ; but perhaps at the yard by the Cove in Weth- ersfield. In the course of the year 1776 Mr. Deane became the owner of the privateer sloop " Revenge," carrying eight guns and a crew of sixty-four men. The " Revenge" is supposed to have been one of several vessels destroyed by the British in the Penobscot in 1779.
Ashbel Riley was owner, and probably master, of two privateers, - the " Ranger," 1776, having fourteen guns and twenty men, and the "' Snake," 1778, four guns and twenty men. Captain JJustus Riley, Sr. (brother of Captain Ashbel ?), in 1778, had the sloop " Hero," six guns and forty men. He was an old trader to the West Indies, as were his sons Justus and Roswell.
Ozias Goodrich, in 1778, had the schooner " Humbird," four guns, twenty men ; Joseph Combs (or Coombs), in 1778, had the schooner " Independence," four guns, fifteen men (captured by the British ?) ; Joseph Bulkeley (Rocky Hill), in 1780, had the schooner " Experi- ment," twelve guns, forty men. Captain Samnel Stillman. in 1780, had the brig " Jason," ten guns, twenty-five men. His brother, Captain Allyn Stillman, did a large transportation business for the State. He imported most of the salt, and some other supplies of war. They were sons of Nathaniel, and grandsons of George Stillman, the settler. Moses Tryon, in 1781, took charge of the " Jason " above mentioned. He afterward became a captain in the United States navy. Captain Thomas Newson, a native of England, in 1782 had the sloop " Lash," ten guns and fifteen men. He is said to have been brutal, and was suspected of having killed his slave Dolly with an axe.
Captain William Griswold, of Rocky Hill, was the owner of the brig " Minerva," built at that place. This vessel had the reputation of being the stanchest in the colony. She was chartered and an arma- ment put upon her by the colony in 1775, and served as a vessel of war both in the State and national service. Captain Giles Hall, of Middletown, was in command of her most of the time.
The Revolutionary period furnished no more hospitable a mansion than that of the Webbs, known as Hospitality Hall. It is next north of the Silas Deane house. Joseph Webb, Sr., bought the place, in 1752, from Major Samuel Wolcott, 2d, for £2,800 (old tenor), with a " dwelling-house, barn, shop, and other buildings."
But while, probably, the Wolcott house was a fine old mansion, as befitted a member of the famous Wolcott family, it is more than likely that Webb demolished it, and in 1752 or 1753 built this famous house. It was originally red ; otherwise, excepting that
478
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
the front porch was altered many years ago, it remains as it was built.
Webb died in 1761, at the early age of thirty-five years. His widow, in 1763, married Silas Deane. She died in 1767, and Deane then married a daughter of Colonel Gurdon Saltonstall, and, as I sup- pose, occupied the house he had built adjoining Webb's. Webb left a
THE WEBB HOUSE.
son Joseph, who in 1775 was about twenty-six years of age, and an enterprising merchant and trader to the West Indies. In 1774 he married Abigail, a sister of Colonel John Chester. His brother, Brevet Brigadier-General Samuel Blatchley Webb, was,' in 1775, but twenty- two years old ; and these two brothers, Joseph and Samuel B., for some years occupied the homestead formerly their father's. The original Webb house is in fair condition, and the north front chamber is said to be in the same state as when it was occupied by General Washington.
These details are given for the purpose of settling the question, Who did the honors of the household when Washington and other dignitaries were entertained in the Webb house ? The answer must be, Mrs. Joseph Webb, nee Abigail Chester. And these acts of hospi- tality are characteristic of a family which produced such chivalrous men as Major John Chester, his son Colonel John Chester, and his grandson the second Colonel John Chester.
Washington's first visit to the Webb house, and to Deane's, next south, was on June 30, 1775, when on his way to take command of the army at Cambridge. With him were Major-General Charles Lee and other military officers. On the 22d instant Mr. Deane had written from Philadelphia to Mrs. Deane at Wethersfield : " This will be handed you by his Excellency General Washington, in company with General Lee
am M. Nibb 1
479
WETHERSFIELD.
and retinue. Should they lodge a night in Wethersfield, you will accommodate their horses, servants, etc., in the best manner, at the taverns ; and their retime will, likely, go to Hartford." It is said that Stillman's Tavern entertained some of Washington's attendants.
Governor Philip Skene, of New York, who had been arrested in Philadelphia as a Loyalist, stopped here, the bearer of letters from Mr. Deane, while on his way as a prisoner to Hartford, where he was to be incarcerated, in July, 1775. Another Briton, a prisoner likewise, was entertained by Mrs. Webb April 1, 1776. This was Major Chris- topher French, of the Twenty-second Regiment of the Royal Army. French's diary says, referring to this event : " Dined with General Put- nam at Mr. Webb's, of Wethersfield. He [the General] is about five feet six inches high, well set, and about sixty-three years old; and seems a good-natured and merry man."
Whether Washington called at the Webb house while at Hartford in September, 1780, is a matter about which there is some doubt. As to the visit of May 19, 1781, there never has been any question. Washington set out from his headquarters, at New Windsor, on the Hudson River, according to his diary, on the 18th of May. The entries are as follows : -
" May 18th. Set out this day for the interview at Wethersfield, with the Count de Rochambeau and Admiral Barras. Reached Morgan's Tavern, forty- three miles from Fishkill Landing, after dining at Colonel Vanderberg's.
" 19th. Breakfasted at Litchfield, dined at Farmington, and lodged at Wethersfield, at the house of Joseph Webb.
" 20th. Had a good deal of private conversation with Governor Trumbull, who gave it to me as his opinion that if any important offensive operations should be undertaken, he had little doubt of our obtaining men and provisions adequate to our wants. In this Colonel Wadsworth and others concurred.
" 21st. Count de Rochambeau, with the Chevalier de Chastellux, arrived about noon. The appearance of the British fleet under Admiral Arbuthnot, off Block Island, prevented attendance of Count de Barras.
" 22d. Fixed, with Count de Rochambeau, the plan of the campaign.
" 23d. Count de Rochambeau set out on his return to Newport, while I prepared and forwarded dispatches to the Governors of the four New England States, calling on them, in earnest and pointed terms, to complete their Continen- tal battalions for the campaign, at least, if not for three years or the war," etc.
In Washington's private account appears this item : -
" May. To the Expence of a journey to Weathersfield, for the purpose of an interview with the French Gen1 & Adm', specie expended in this trip, - £35 18s."
At the May session, 1781, the General Assembly appropriated £500 to defray the expense "to be incurred in quartering General Washington, General Knox, General Duportail, Count de Rochambeau, Count de Barras, and the Chevalier de Chastellux, and their suites, in Wethersfield."
It is probable that this was the most important military conference of the war. There were present with Washington Generals Knox, Duportail, and others, who accompanied him from New York ; General the Marquis de Chastellux and Field-Marshal de Rochambeau, from the French army at Newport; Governor Jonathan Trumbull, from
480
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
Lebanon : Colonel Jeremiah Wadsworth, of Hartford ; Colonel Sam- uel B. Webb, of Wethersfield; and others. Neither Lafayette nor De Grasse, of course, could be present. A military escort of Hart- ford and Wethersfield companies, under command of Captain Fred- erick Bull, of Hartford, attended Washington, and escorted him to Colonel Chester's house in Broad Street. The General visited Mr. Webb's tannery ; and a few years ago a flax-breaker used to be shown on the same premises, with which the General practised the breaking of flax-stems.
The campaign, the plan of which was "fixed " (to use Washing- ton's words) at the Webb house, was that which resulted in the siege and capture of Yorktown and the close of the war. The house is now owned by a son of the late Judge Martin Welles.
The writer has not been able to prepare a complete list of the Wethersfield soldiers engaged in the last war with England : but a partial list will be found in the following-named, all from the muster- roll of Captain Jared Strickland's company, in the "First Detached Regiment of the United States," for Connecticut : sergeants, George Crane, Joshua Goodrich, Robert Welles, Jr. ; corporals, Hiram Fox, Epaphras Andrews; fifer, William Holmes ; drummer, John Pran ; privates, Samuel Ames, George Adams, William Blinn, Hezekiah Butler, Joseph Blinn, Elias Blinn, Russell Butler, Thomas Coleman, John Cole- man, Samuel Coleman, 2d, David Dickinson, William Flint, Jasper Goodrich, Levi Holmes, Jr., Charles Hurlburt, Asa Sawyer, Thomas M. Luce, Joseph Mitchell, James Smith, Jr .. Amos Sanford, James Treat, David Tryon, Jesse Vibbert, Elisha R. Welles, Humphrey Wood- house, Joseph Wright, Lewis Williams. Further inquiry would probably show that quite a number of the remaining names on this muster-roll are those of Wethersfield men.
Some were taken by the British from privateers. Two such Weth- ersfield men died in the noted prison at Dartmoor, England. They were Simeon Clark, Jan. 24, 1813, from the " Snapdragon," and James Williams, Jan. 14, 1815, from the." Caroline."
I am unable to learn that among the few who served from this State in the Mexican War, - not more than one company in all, --- any were from Wethersfield.
In the War of the Rebellion Wethersfield furnished more than her proportion of troops for the maintenance of the Union. The rolls of the adjutant-general's office show that two hundred and thirty-two officers and enlisted men were credited to Wethersfield ; but there should be added to the list the names of those who, having removed, were credited to other towns within and without this State. and there should be deducted the names of those who were natives of other places. The latter would include a considerable number who were convicts from the State prison. Against the names of these convict-soldiers will generally be found the memorandum, " Deserted." Among the officers were Dr. A. S. Warner, surgeon of the Sixteenth Regiment ; John B. Clapp, adjutant of the same ; the Rev. John M. Morris, chaplain of the Eighth; Edward G. Woodhouse, lieutenant in the Twenty-second. In the navy were some eight or ten men from Wethersfield. Sherman W. Adams was an assistant-paymaster in sea service.
481
WETHERSFIELD.
One of the first vessels built in this colony was the " Shipp Tryall," in 1648, at Thomas Deming's yard, by the then river's side, now the southeast shore of the Cove. Samuel Smith was a principal owner of it. One Larrabee was the master. Christopher Fox, of Wethersfield, was the " boatswayne." When he died, in 1650, his nautical books and instruments were appraised at £3. A ship-yard was maintained here down to a period within the recollection of people now living.
A yard of five acres in extent was laid out by the town a little above the landing at Rocky Hill, in 1672. Many vessels were built there. Among them was the famous brigantine " Minerva," of Captain William Griswold, of Rocky Hill, then Stepney.
An interesting chapter (for which we have not space) might be given concerning the sea-captains and merchants of the last century. We must content ourselves with simply mentioning some of them. Captain Joseph Stillman (grandfather of James Otis, the Massachu- setts patriot) was a prominent sea-captain, as was his son, Captain Allyn Stillman. Otis, George, Francis, and Simeon Stillman were sea- captains ; and Charles and Southmayd Stillman, both young mariners, were lost at sea, as was Otis also. Prominent merchants and captains were Joseph Webb, Barnabas Deane, William Griswold, and Justus Riley. The latter was one of the owners of the brig " Commerce," whose famous career is given in Captain James Riley's "Narrative." Other sea-captains and masters of whaling-vessels are too numerous to be mentioned here.
The great bulk of the foreign trade was in the exportation of beaver, deer-skins, pipe-staves, lumber, bricks, grain, beef, pork, and fish (the last three articles salted), horses, flax-seed, and onions. The imports were mainly of " European goods," salt, rum, molasses, and sugar, and " West India goods " in general. Wethersfield was, by Congress, made a " port of delivery " in the Middletown district in 1799, and so remains to-day.
The most ancient fishery is probably that now Buck's, at the Cove. It is noted for its "herring " (alewife) production. Hundreds of bar- rels of alewives are packed and salted here annually. In the trade, they are known as herrings.
A salmon and shad fishery on the west shore of the river, below Pratt's Ferry road, was the subject of a contest for its control in the legislature in 1767. Certain people in Glastonbury claimed it; but the legislature confirmed its title in John Russell, of Wethersfield, the owner of the land.
At Rocky Hill the " Five Nations," a little north of the ferry at that place, has been a noted shad fishery from ancient times.
The account of allotment of lands, of the establishment of highways, commons, cemeteries, river landings, wharves, and taverns, will be found elsewhere. There remain certain other matters of a public or quasi public character to which a brief space will be devoted.
The village of Wethersfield was incorporated in 1822.
The Hartford and New Haven Turnpike, chartered in 1798, and the Middlesex, chartered in 1802, each had a gate in Wethersfield. They were discontinued about 1850 and 1872 respectively.
A passenger wagon-express via Wethersfield village and Beckley Quarter, from Hartford to New Haven, was conducted by Captain John VOL. II .- 31.
482
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
Munson, of New Haven, beginning in 1717. In favorable seasons he made one round trip per week.
A mail stage-route from Hartford to New Haven via Wethersfield, Rocky Hill, Middletown, and Durham, existed down to 1850 or later. Afterward it became a Hartford and Durham line, and then a Hartford and Middletown line down to 1871. The Hartford and New Haven Turnpike was a stage-route until the opening of the railroad. Between Hartford and Wethersfield an onibus line, making tri-daily trips, existed from 1852 to 1862.
The depot at Newington, on the Hartford and New Haven Railroad, was not built until some years after that road was opened, which was in 1839. On the Hartford, Providence, and Fishkill Railroad a station was established at Newington in 1850. On the Hartford and Connecticut Valley Railroad depots were built for Wethersfield and Rocky Hill in 1871, for South Wethersfield in 1872. The horse-railroad between Hartford and Wethersfield was opened in 1862-1863.
The post-office at Wethersfield was established in April, 1794, Thomas Chester postmaster ; that at Rocky Hill in October, 1802, Isaiah Butler postmaster ; that at Newington in February, 1828, Amos Fairchild post- master ; that at South Wethersfield in April, 1873, Lyman Hewitt post- master.
Drainage companies were authorized by the legislature as follows : To drain swamp (west of Wolcott Hill ?), in 1712; to drain lands south and west of present Prison Street, in 1726. The Great Swamp was drained the same year by a new channel across the road to the river ; hence originated Folly Brook. The Wet Swamp, west of Wolcott Hill, Gooseberry Swamp, and Hog Meadows were drained in 1761. In 1771 and 1786 Fearful Swamp was drained ; in 1828, the tract between Pratt's Ferry road and the Causeway.
Special attention will be called to only two dams. The " Reservoir," at Griswoldville, was first formed in 1716 by a dam across Deming's meadows, to store water for Chester's mill. The dike was raised and strengthened by the Griswoldville Manufacturing Company in 1837.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.