USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Norwalk > The romance of Norwalk > Part 13
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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
NORWALK IN FLAMES
Promptly at 6 in the morning, Tryon gave the order for the burning of Norwalk. The first home to receive the torch, according to old records, was the "house where John Day now lives," near the old steamboat wharf in South Norwalk. As the flames spread from house to house, the crackling of the wood, mingled with the roar of the cannon and the fire of muskets in various parts of the town, rudely broke the quiet and peace of that sunny Sabbath morning.
At the time that he gave the order for the burning of Norwalk, Tryon, according to his own official record of the catastrophe, said he sent his soldiers through the streets of Norwalk, issuing a proclamation of pardon to inhabitants, with an invitation to return to their allegiance to the King. He also said that he assured protection and safety to all those who offered no resistance to his men. General Tryon in his statement, added that he had placed soldiers in front of numerous of the homes in order to protect the inmates and to prevent the destroying of their houses but that the colonists abused the protection, and insisted on firing on the very soldiers sent to guard them, with the result that he, Tryon, found himself forced to burn the homes in order to save his own men. There does not seem to be any sound
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substantiation for such allegations. The householders, al- most without an exception, left the soldiers alone, neither lifting a hand against their enemies, nor speaking a word of rebuke, yet their homes were razed, their valuables and ancestral relics taken, and in many cases, their persons abused.
Only six houses were spared along the line of British march, advance and retreat, four on the east and two on the west side of the harbor, although some 30 homes in all were saved. These were, for the most part, off the main roads over which the soldiers passed. Altogether, So dwel- ling houses, (though some histories say 132) both churches, Congregational and Episcopal, 87 barns, 22 storehouses, 17 shops, four mills, five vessels, and practically all storages of wheat, hay and grain in the town, were burned to the ground. The enemy destroyed all the salt pans along the coast, towed every available whaleboat out of the harbor, took all the town's magazines and stores for its own army, and burned every vessel moored in the river or to the docks, before departing for good at 2 on that memorable Sunday afternoon.
"BATTLE OF THE ROCKS"
But before the British were able to accomplish the com- plete destruction of Norwalk, they were forced to undergo a very unpleasant time, between the hours of 10 and 12, Sunday morning, July 11, 1779, at the hands of the Nor- walkers, in the "Battle of the Rocks" above France street. During the morning the militia and the continental troops headed by Generals Samuel Parsons and Oliver Wolcott had gathered on the hill near "The Rocks" from where they continually fired on the enemy at Grumman's Hill, East avenue. In order to drive them from their position Tryon sent a large body of troops to The Rocks. The British soldiers, who anticipated very little trouble, were surprised and chagrined at the very warm reception handed them by the valiant Norwalkers. It is judged that the two forces
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came together, even while Norwalk was burning, in France st., at 10 in the morning and that hot fighting continued until high noon.
General Parsons, who had been sent to Norwalk by Gen- eral George Washington, to take charge of the militia here, had evidently arrived in time to place in position on the hill near The Rocks the battery of six cannon, brought from Salisbury by Thaddeus Betts two years previous. With Gen- eral Wolcott, who came to Norwalk to supervise the con- tinental troops, he was firmly intrenched on the hill and ready for what might happen. The British, not expecting to be met by any very active resistance were thoroughly surprised to find that most of the manhood of Norwalk had gathered there to defy them.
For two long, hot hours the forces battled, with the militia and continental troops of less than 400 patriot soldiers, pitted against more than half Tryon's 2,500 trained troops. Ardently, vigorously, the Norwalkers fought, with cool and well planned decision, wasting neither shot nor man. Al- though, according to Captain Stephen Betts' statement, Tryon's men succeeded in gaining mastery of the field, yet the British were ordered to retreat at noon and very shortly they were on their way back to Fitch's Point.
Tryon, in his official report, said that he retired his men in two columns to the place of disembarkation, unassaulted, at 2 in the afternoon. But such does not seem to have been the case, if the word of old inhabitants, passed down through family history, may be taken for aught. What seems to have been nearer the truth, was that the Norwalk- ers harassed the British from the time they landed until the time they left, giving them uncomfortable times at Flax- hill, at Pudding Lane (Main street) and at France street, and that when the British retreated, the volunteers, the con- tinentals and the town militia clung to Tryon's rear until he was within sight of the spot where he had landed the previous evening.
As far as is known, but two Norwalk men were killed, one
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captured and one wounded in the local Revolutionary battle, while according to a report by General Tryon, 20 British were killed, 96 wounded and 32 missing or unaccounted for. It is a significant fact, and at least a little consolation, to know that no sooner had Tryon recrossed the Sound, than he was called before Sir Henry Clinton, British Commander in Chief, and forced to apologize for his conduct in Nor- walk, and for his needless destruction of property here.
General Tryon also experienced an uncomfortable mo- ment at the hands of General Parsons from whom he re- ceived a scathing letter after the burning of Norwalk. The letter was in answer to one sent Parsons by Tryon, June 18, 1779 before the attack on this city, in which Tryon said: "Surely it is time for rational Americans to wish for a reunion with the parent state and to adopt such measures as will most speedily effect it."
In his reply under date of September 7, 1779, Parsons said he would have written sooner had he not "entertained some hope of a personal interview with you in your descents upon the defenseless towns of Connecticut to execute your master's vengeance. . . . But your sudden departure from Norwalk and the particular attention you paid. to your personal safety when at that place, and the prudent resolu- tion you took to suffer the town of Stamford to escape the conflagration to which you had devoted Fairfield and Nor- walk, prevented my wishes on that head. This, I hope, will sufficiently apologize for my delay in answering your last letter."
There appears to be a great diversity of opinion among the historians as to the hour and the day on which General Samuel Parsons arrived in Norwalk for the battle during the Revolutionary War. Some insist it was Saturday, July IO, 1779 or even before; others that it was Sunday, after the burning had commenced; still others that it was Monday, when the destruction was accomplished. Practically all the historians include the names of both Parsons and Wolcott in their accounts of the battle near the Rocks, so it might
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be just as well to give Parsons credit for a good Sunday's work, morning and afternoon, here in Norwalk.
Both General Washington and Governor Trumbull did everything in their power to prevent the destruction of Norwalk. Washington, at the time, was in the Hudson Highlands. Although the British thought to draw him from his fastness by an attack on a defenceless town, Washing- ton was smarter than they and refused to budge. Proof of the General's clear sightedness is the fact that on July 15, 1779, four days after the burning of this place, the Americans under Wayne, by direction of Washington, suc- ceeded in carrying Stony Point. From that day, the fate of the British was sealed. Thus did Norwalk unconsciously assist in bringing to a speedy and victorious close, the War of the Revolution. Washington had his choice between rushing to the defense of Norwalk as the British hoped he would, and probably losing all he had gained in the Hudson Highlands, or of sacrificing Norwalk to the great cause, by merely giving it what small protection he could. He chose the latter and sent Parsons.
While Washington was planning his best for Norwalk, Governor Trumbull was making all preparations to avert the doom. July 8, 1779 he wrote by express to General Oliver Wolcott in Litchfield ordering him to hasten to south- western Connecticut. July 11, the Governor, all unaware that Norwalk was even then burning, addressed a letter to Brigadier General Glover of the Continental troops at New London, requesting him to go forward to Norwalk. The following morning Glover made all preparations to advance, not knowing that Norwalk was already in ashes.
NORWALKERS KILLED
Jacob Nash and John Rich or Lick, were the two Nor- walkers killed in the Battle of Norwalk while John Waters was severely wounded. Fountain Smith was taken prisoner. Jacob Nash, it appears, once a resident of Norwalk, also at
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one time lived in Ridgefield. From the latter place he went: to Ballston Spa, New York. He returned to Ridgefield! when war broke out and came to Norwalk at the time Tryon! appeared on the scene. During the battle at France street: he received a mortal wound. When Captain Betts ordered him to be cared for, he said: "It is over with me; help somebody else," and died.
John Rich or Lick, who also died, and John Waters, who was badly wounded, are both discussed by Captain Stephen Betts in his testimony delivered before Thaddeus Betts, Justice of the Peace, July 26, 1779:
"John Waters, a Continental soldier fell into ye enemy's hands, delivered up his arms and begged for life. But ye enemy, notwithstanding, assaulted him with a bayonet, with which they stabbed him in sundry places and then one of them presented his Piece and aimed (as ye captain sup- posed) at his body, but missing that ye ball shattered his arm. Whereupon finding no quarter he made a strong effort to escape which he happily effected. Soon after ye above accident, John Lick or Rich, another Continental soldier, was shot so as to fall and as ye enemy were nigh and crowded fast on our People, he desired Captain Betts to leave him, as they could not take him off without ye greatest hazard. Captain Betts saw Lick no more but says Captain Eels of Col. Wylly's regiment told him he saw Lick after ye enemy had retreated, about two hours after Captain Betts saw him. He was then dead and ye top of his skull torn off, supposed to be blown off by a musquet to dispatch him, and further saith not."
Deaf Fountain Smith of Norwalk was carried off by the British when they burned this town. Mr. Smith, a cooper by trade, occupied a farm on Raymond street, "just off East avenue near the old schoolhouse." Early on that Sabbath morning, Mr. Smith was strolling about his garden, coatless, enjoying the soft summer sunshine. Deafness kept him home. Of a sudden he was seized from behind, his hands tied at his back and he was marched down the
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street without more ado, a British prisoner. When the enemy left Norwalk, Smith was taken aboard and later thrown into a miserable prison in New York. Not long afterwards at the age of 54, he died of the hardship. His wife lived to be 93, and it was said that thereafter, she never sat at table with anyone who professed royal sympa- thy. Smith's remains were not brought back to Norwalk.
Of the British losses, it is difficult to find any definite in- formation. It is known that some of the dead were buried by Garth and his men in the vicinity of Flaxhill. Of what happened to the others, or how many actually lost their lives, there does not seem to be much substantial proof. One historian offers only the simple statement that the loss was little on both sides, one tall British soldier being killed near John Raymond's and another, shot by Seth Abbott.
HOMES IN ASHES
Norwalk's losses during Tryon's stay here were far greater by flame than by bullet. Many lovely old houses were burned to the ground, chief among them being the homestead occupied by Governor Thomas Fitch on East ave. The main portion of the residence, which is now the home of Miss Sarah Fitch, 173 East avenue, was reduced to charred wood, only the kitchen wing being saved. For some time after the fire, the Fitch family lived in this wing. When the new home was built, the wing was saved and served as an addition to the residence. It may still be seen on the rear of the house, 173 East avenue.
Most, of the Governor's library effects, diplomas and papers and household contents were lost. A seal and two articles of jewelry were saved and bequeathed to a descend- ant, while a silver tea service which belonged to him and which was secreted in the chimney of his home was rescued and pieces of it are now held by different descendants. An antiquated tea kettle which swung and sung on an antiquated crane in the chimney also escaped the flames, being of iron,
OLD CONNECTICUT HOUSE
Famous Inn of stage coach days, according to story, which stood for many decades on the corner of Main and Wall streets. Later the same building was occupied by the old Boston Store. A new business block was erected on the site in 1929.
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FITCH HOME ON EAST AVENUE
The rear portion of this house, 173 East ave., is a section of the original home of Governor Thomas Fitch. The residence was burned when the British came to town, only the kitchen wing being saved. To that wing, now in the rear of the house, a new front was built. Miss Sarah Fitch now lives there.
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and is still preserved. Elbirt W. Fitch of 179 Flaxhill road has in his possession a cane which once belonged to Governor Fitch. In each generation the cane has come into the pos- session of the eldest son in the family.
Mrs. John Darrow of 30 West Main st., owns a land deed which Governor Fitch signed in 1753, be- fore he was made governor, of course. She also has a copy of the funeral sermon given at the time of the executive's death, the sermon having been made up in small pamphlet form shortly after. In her home Mrs. Darrow has a spoon which was secreted in the well on the property of Commodore John Cannon on East avenue, where the Fred Lockwood place is now being torn down. The well in which the spoon and other silver was hidden stood just east of the water hydrant in front of the house. She owns also a plate which was secreted in the chimney of the Cannon house when the British came to town. The house was of immense size for those days, with a chimney large enough to take care of a whole ox, with room for game and poultry on spits besides.
Mrs. Darrow also has a historical connection with the so-called "Oscar W. Raymond place" at 195 East avenue. Mrs. Darrow is a descendant of Samuel Fitch, brother to Governor Thomas Fitch. The house was formerly owned by Jonathan Fitch, grandson of Samuel, and it came straight down the line to Mrs. Darrow, great-grand-daughter of Jonathan Fitch. When the British general set Norwalk afire, the enemy soldiers put the match to the home at 195 East avenue. But the job was badly done and the blaze only charred part of the place. Additions have since been built on to the residence, but the rear of the house is very old and some of the original shingles, placed there before the Revolution, still remain. Mrs. Darrow's mother was a Raymond and her father was Oscar W. Raymond, last owner of the home. It was sold by the daughter's family some eight years ago, after having been in the family for 116 years.
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In addition to the large amount of valuable property lost by the Governor during the fire, the entire library collection of Rev. Stephen Buckingham, Norwalk pastor, was destroyed by flames, full 50 years after the poor man's death. There were nearly 1,000 books in the collection, brought from London, and the loss represented one from which Norwalk could hardly expect to recover in very short time. Books in those days were rare and expensive.
Among other buildings which were destroyed by the fire was St. Paul's Episcopal church on the Green and the old farmhouse on Water st., believed by some to have included on its property the "old well" after which the lower part of the city was once called. South Norwalk was termed Old Well for many years.
THIRTY HOUSES ESCAPE
It will be remembered that about 30 houses were saved or rather escaped burning during the raid. One of these was the Bissell house, which stood on the corner of Mill hill and Park st., and is now the site of Le Cordon Bleu restaurant. During Revolutionary times it was the home of Thomas Belden and later the residence of Governor Bissell, according to Hall. When Tryon came to town, Belden's housekeeper, in a fever of anxiety about the property under her care, ran across the Green to ask advice of Mrs. St. John, whose house stood where Morgan ave., and East ave. join. It was Saturday night and Mrs. St. John was preparing her bread for baking in the brick oven. In burst the housekeeper to ask Mrs. St. John if she were going to stay. The latter answered no, that she meant to "get out of the way." Thereupon the housekeeper answered that she intended to plead with Tryon to save the house as he had once stayed there overnight. Mrs. St. John seeing her decision, said with true New England thrift: "If you are going to stay, take my dough" and so the housekeeper re- turned bearing the burning oven wood and the bread. Later, the housekeeper succeeded in saving her master's home, by
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pleading with Tryon. The British put out the flames which were already licking the walls. Meanwhile, Mrs. St. John and her husband and family, with what effects they could carry, went up into the woods at East Rocks. They took with them a bedstead which they set up and slept on. With them also they took provisions and a cow which provided milk during the short stay in the woods. The St. John house was in the vicinity of the Grumman house, close to the foot of Grumman's hill.
On Main st., in a section then called Mill Plain, was the Gould Hoyt homestead which was saved from the flames through the efforts of Mrs. Hoyt, a former Fairfield lady, who had known General Tryon in the days of peace. Curiously enough it is said that the first ice cream made in Norwalk was served at the Hoyt table. It was of pure cream, flavored and frozen.
Through the efforts of slaves, who were members of the household, the Benjamin Isaacs house which stood on the corner of Wall st. and Isaac st., was saved. The Anson Quintard house on Water st., once a handsome residence, was also spared. On West ave., near Berkley st., was the former home of John Belden of Revolutionary times. It was saved due to the fact, so it is said, that General Garth stored ammunition there during his short stay in Nor- walk. Isaac Belden's house, on West ave., now owned by the Catholic club, was built just after the Revolutionary war, on the site of his father's homestead.
Through a lucky accident, the Reuben Mott house, on Belden ave., was saved. British soldiers broke into the milk room at the back of the house, helped themselves to the milk and then set fire to the shelves in the storeroom. It so happened that there was no floor in the place, and when the burning shelves fell, they simply struck the damp earth and smoldered out. The former home of Dr. and Mrs. Frederick J. Morrison, 502 West ave., corner of Maple st., was formerly the home of Congressman Ebenezer J. Hill, father of Mrs. Helena Hill Weed of Wilson Point,
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Mrs. Elsie Hill Levitt of Ridgefield, and Miss Clara Hill, now of Mexico. The house itself is on the site of the former Deacon Thomas Benedict home, where Garth's Tory soldiers stopped to refresh themselves on that eventful Sunday morning, July 11, 1779, with wine and cider, placed on the stoop for the Norwalk guards. Back of the house, off Maple st., was a large well, now covered over. Here Washington and Lafayette on their way to and from Boston, are said to have stopped. The tale is told of the manner in which they sat around the curb of the great well and ate their lunch. The well supplied the Benedict home and later the Hill home, with water. Deacon Benedict was quite a well-to-do man, with farm, house, store, cider mill and distillery. His home was temporarily saved from fire, because Garth placed some of his wounded men in it. The store, cider mill and distillery, the British destroyed. Later, they even made an attempt to burn Benedict's house, but as soon as they retreated the people rallied and put out the fire.
Belden Selleck's was another home saved, not because the soldiers didn't make an attempt to burn it, but because they were in too much of a hurry. The house of Dr. Rogers, distinguished physician, which stood on Town House Hill, was not saved, but several articles in it were, including a silver headed cane, the gift of Governor Fitch, and the Rogers coat of arms. Piles of black smouldering wood which represented all that remained of quaint little green and white colonial homes; ruins of mills and stores like horrid dead blotches on the fresh, green landscape; charred flower gardens; miles of burned grain fields; the useless pars of sunken ships still discernible above the waters near the docks; the prostrate bodies of dead horses and cows too slow to escape the enemy's torch; streets strewn with wreckage and debris from battle splintered homes and from the effects of the fleeing villagers; a gaunt chimney here; a metal church bell there; such was Norwalk after the passing of Tryon.
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SOLDIERS RETURN HOME
The patriot army, with the exception of a small force at West Point, was disbanded November 3, 1783, and Nor- walk soldiers hurried home as fast as ever their horses or their legs could carry them. Norwalk took an active part in the Revolutionary War, a very active part, Bancroft the historian says: "Norwalk sent more men to the Revolu- tionary War in proportion to its population than any town in the 13 colonies." Of the companies which went to the front and of the fields on which they fought, C. F. Hallock, has the following to say, in the book, "Norwalk After 250 Years :"
"The War of the Revolution was now upon our people and from 1775 to 1783 Norwalk was well represented, for the Colonial Army in the spring of 1775, the Fifth Regiment was mainly recruited from Fairfield County, and Norwalk sent a company. The officers of this company were Capt. Matthew Mead, First Lieut. Levi Taylor, Second Lieut. William Seymour. There were a large number of the citizens of Norwalk, but we are unable from the records to obtain the names of all those who enlisted from Norwalk. This company saw very severe service during its seven months' campaign. Again in 1777 we were called upon to furnish another regiment from Fairfield county. This regiment was called the Fifth Regiment, Conn. line and in it Norwalk was again represented by nearly a whole com- pany, who were to serve three years or during the war. This regiment saw severe service, was engaged at the battle of Germantown, October, 1777, wintered with Washington at Valley Forge, winter of 1777 and 1778; was at battle of Monmouth, June, 1778; wintered at Redding, Conn., winter of 1778 and 1779, in what is now Putnam Park. Our men in this regiment were kept constantly on the move from this time until the expiration of their term of service. We find it impossible to obtain from the records the names and the number of men from Norwalk who participated in
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the War of the Revolution. But enough is found to warrant us in saying that whatever of patriotism we may have in our blood today we came honestly by it from the example of the heroes of the Revolution."
When in April, 1775, the battle of Lexington and Con- cord was fought, a young Norwalk boy found himself in the vicinity of Lexington and the battle ground. He was Captain Stephen Betts. Captain Betts fought heroically in the Battle of Bunker Hill, and he did not leave Mas- sachusetts until the British embarked under General Howe and said goodbye to Boston. We find him later in the battle of Norwalk.
Through the efforts of the Norwalk chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the graves of many of the soldiers, interred in the Union Cemetery, the Town House Cemetery, the East Norwalk Cemetery, the Roway- ton Cemetery and the Pine Island Cemetery have been identified.
Some of them are as follows: In the Union Cemetery : Hezekiah Betts, sergeant; Dr. Jonathan Knight, surgeon's mate; Silas Betts, private. Town House Cemetery: Isaac Betts, private; John Betts, private; Jesse Bedient, private ; Jabez Gregory, captain; Stephen Hoyt, private: Jarvis Kel- logg, private; Hezekiah Lockwood, private; Nathan St. John, private; Enoch Scribner, sergeant and ensign; Stephen St. John, private; James Selleck, private.
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