USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Norwalk > The romance of Norwalk > Part 16
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"Voted that this town is opposed to the petition of the Middlesex Society to the General Assembly praying to be incorporated into a Town, because the Town of Norwalk by repeated mutilation is already reduced below the ordinary limits of a town and because a majority of that portion of
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the Inhabitants included in the limits of the proposed town are desirous to continue in the town of Norwalk."
April 30, 1819 Norwalk showed signs of weakening in her self-surety, by a town record under above date, similar to that of May 11, 1818, except that the words "A majority of that portion of the inhabitants" were changed to read "a very considerable proportion of the inhabitants." April 29, 1820 found Norwalk still in opposition. But Darien, after its heroic struggle of 16 years or more, at last suc- ceeded in gaining recognition and in that year was organized a town. In 1821, Darien named its first representative to the General Assembly, Thaddeus Bell.
CARE OF NORWALK POOR
About this time, 1803, the problem of the care of the poor and the aged aroused the town to action. Hitherto residents had cared for their own unfortunates. In cases where the penniless one had neither kith nor kin, it was cus- tomary for church groups to provide support. But the town was growing and the charitable minded people of Norwalk, who up to this time had been supporting any and all who seemed in need, found the burden growing too heavy for them. So in December, 1803, Thomas Belden, William Betts and Samuel Burr were appointed a committee to confer with some of the neighboring towns respecting the building of a home for the poor. Thus was born the idea of a county almshouse. John Hanford, Thomas Belden, Samuel Burr or Burrall were named to look over the land "north of Selleck's Dam." A year later, the committee ap- pointed to confer with neighboring towns about the project, reported in part .:
"That it is expedient for said towns, Norwalk, Fairfield and Weston, to unite and erect a house for the accomplish- ment of the aforesaid object, that the poor of said towns may be supported within said house under good regulations at about one third of the present expense, and that said
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house together with its necessary furniture will cost about $1,000. Your committee therefore beg leave to suggest that in persuing and accomplishing said object the following plan will best serve the interest of said towns.
"That said house be built by said towns in proportion to their lists and that a tax of 7 mills on the dollar will be sufficient for said object.
"That it will be for the interest of said towns to purchase a lot of land somewhere between Saugatuk bridge and Beer's trip hammer in Wilton, on or near the line between the towns sufficient in quantity to accommodate said house, which may also be purchased with the avails of said tax."
The several towns were to contribute to the maintenance and support of the house in proportion to the number of poor sent there by each town. It was suggested that a committee of two be appointed by each of the towns, the gen- eral committee to have full power to buy the land, erect the house, adopt the plan and lay out the tax. When finished, the house and lot were to belong to the towns in such pro- portion as they had contributed to the expense. Wilton asked to be included in the plan and was accepted.
In closing, the committee, "hoping that the Towns will not think that the committee have wantonly assumed on them to dictate but that circumstances of the case required it," proposed: That the above report be accepted, that a com- mittee be appointed to carry out the above plan; that a tax of seven mills on the dollar be laid; and that a collector be appointed. The town fathers followed the advice of the committee : William Betts and Samuel Burrall were named to carry out the plan, the necessary tax was voted laid, and John Everslee named collector.
Just a year later the building committee reported that plans were complete. They asked and received permission to go ahead with the ordering of the furniture. One more year passed and in December, 1806, it was decided to name an agent to supply the poorhouse and to manage the concern. In 1809 William Betts was ordered to get in touch with
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Fairfield, Wilton and Weston on the matter of establishing a workhouse in connection with the poorhouse.
Just what happened to this county almshouse we do not know for certain. Little more appears about it in the town records until 1832 when Samuel B. Warren and Lewis Greg- ory were named a committee to confer with the other towns "concerning the erection of a poorhouse and workhouse in said district." Meantime, several men had been named, through the years, "to prosecute for claims which this Town has against other towns for the support of their Poor." Conjecture is that the county almshouse plan was a failure because of the neglect of the several towns to pay their share of the expenses, leaving the main burden to Norwalk, the originator of the idea.
At any rate, we find that in 1846 Thomas Butler, A. E. Beard and Jonathan Camp were named "to ascertain facts in relation to the erection of a Town Alms House." Nor- walk decided that as long as she was being called upon to expend so much money for the poor and aged, that money might as well be spent on her own unfortunates. She there- fore planned to have her own poorhouse. Three years later, $3,000 was appropriated from the town treasury to purchase a farm and erect buildings in Norwalk to be used as a poor- house. It was increased to $4,000 in October 1849. Two years after, 1851, it was decided that the almshouse should also be a workhouse and a house of correction. Harsh rules and regulations were laid down, under date of March 14, 1851, and no talking, no entertainment, no letter writing and no spitting were allowed.
Another story was added to the almshouse and work- house in 1852 and it was decided to erect a building to be used as a pest house when necessary. In 1862 it was voted to erect a building 20 by 24 on the almshouse property for a workshop and lodging room. Seven years later, the num- ber of the town poor having increased so fast, the town fathers were called upon to choose between enlarging the almshouse or building a new one.
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PRESENT POOR FARM
In 1871 the town came to the conclusion that it would be best to sell the 17 acre town farm with the buildings thereon and to build another almshouse on a new 13 acre tract about a quarter of a mile from the first institution. This is the present Naramake home which is situated on Strawberry Hill ave., between King and County sts. It was built by A. Golding, now deceased, father of Miss Ruth Golding, clerk of the Probate court in the office of Judge Henry Gregory. The almshouse which preceded this one was located in the same vicinity. Upon the building of the new almshouse, the old one was moved several blocks to a point on Strawberry Hill, between Tierney st. and Walter ave. It is now occupied as a residence by Charles Low. The present town poorhouse, which, in spite of its age is in fair condition, might do well with a little interior decora- tion or cheerful trimming, as it now seems possessed of an unusually bare and forbidding atmosphere. There are now at the Naramake home some 20 or 30 men and about six or seven women.
WAR OF 1812
CHAPTER XIX
Norwalk Burns With Patriotism-Passes Fiery Resolution Against Homeland-Rest Of New England Cold-Har- bor Here Closed To Shipping-Local Soldiers In War- Icy Summer Sweeps Over Country
NORWALK may have been slow to exhibit any signs of patriotism at the commencement of the War of the Revolu- tion, but when the War of 1812 broke out, she could hardly conceal her ardor. So strongly did the Norwalkers feel in the matter that under date of September 25, 1812, they drew up in town meeting, a set of Resolutions which burned so hotly with the fire of patriotism that they would have scorched the whiskers off King George had he come any- where near them. Full of scathing sarcasm, the writing re- veals a cankerous bitterness toward the one-time mother country, and a desire to set before the world in black and white the insults which Norwalk felt the United States had suffered, in an effort to rouse to action other communi- ties in the country which were not manifesting as great a degree of patriotism as Norwalk felt they should.
New England, and Norwalk especially, because it was a prominent sea port had cause to feel bitterness against England. Shipping and fishing, the two greatest industries in the New England states had suffered serious interference from foreign countries since the year 1805. At that time Fox's blockade which closed French ports from Ostend to Brest to American vessels was in force. After that came various blockades which refused to allow the passage of American ships: Napoleon's Berlin decree of 1806; Eng- land's hated "Orders in Council" which extended Great
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Britain's blockade to every European port from Copenhagen to Trieste; and the Napoleonic decree of December, 1807.
In 1807 Jefferson pushed his Non-Importation act of 1806 in the Embargo Act of 1807. For a while all foreign com- merce ceased; few boats came into Norwalk, few went out. New England grew fretful, sullen and then rose in anger against the Embargo. Protest resolutions from the states flew fast and thick to Washington. Even Governor Trum- bull of Connecticut felt that the Federal government was in the wrong. When he received a letter from the Secretary of War asking that the governor assign "militia officers of known respect for laws" to aid in the enforcement of the embargo, he refused the request. He then called the legis- lature together and said : "Whenever our national legislature is led to overleap the prescribed bounds of their con- stitutional powers, on the state legislatures in great emer- gencies, devolves the arduous task, it is their right, it becomes their duty, to interpose their protecting shield be- tween the right and liberty of the people and the assumed power of the general government." The legislature an- nounced its approval of the sentiment. It was this speech of Governor Trumbull's which caused the Norwalk fathers to state in their resolution that they felt deep regret that the administration of the state should refuse aid to the gen- eral government and should "seek for constitutional difficul- ties to sanction their evasions."
June 18, 1812, the United States declared war on Great Britain. A black pall descended upon New England when this news was received. Church bells were tolled as in death; flags were lowered to half mast-everywhere it seemed, except in Norwalk. Here there was great rejoicing and the leaders in the community expressed themselves as being glad that at last the United States had come to its senses and decided no longer to stand England's insults. It was such feeling which provoked the stirring resolution by the town fathers in September, 1812.
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The Norwalk resolution follows :
"Whereas Europe has long been engaged in a bloody and vindictive war in which the rights of neutral nations have been made the sport of legalized perfidy and sacrificed with wanton barbarity, the supreme and sanctioned law of nations trampled under foot and right and power unidentified. (word not certain) And whereas the right and interests of the United States have been totally disregarded in the savage exterminating war of the Belligerants particularly England, in open defiance of law, usage and the acknowl- edged rights of Nations, has claimed the empire of the Ocean and made it her teritory, and with haughty domina- tion sits at home, marks out the water and the land, Inter- dicts now a City, now an Empire and now a continent, say- ing to each distant nation, hither to shalt thou come and no further.
"England has kidnapped, impressed and imprisoned, known citizens of the United States compelling them to fight her battles and shed her brothers' blood.
"England has insulted our flag, outraged our territory and in peace shed the blood of our fellow citizens.
"England with piratical hardihood has seized, condemned and pocketed millions of our property in ways practiced by none but by Arabs and Algerines.
"England has broken her public faith in scornfully dis- avowing the Act of her accredited Minister.
"England has proposed and eluded negotiation with more than Carthagenian duplicity till her Syrian Song of Recon- ciliation and peace is perfectly nauseating, we must defend our rights or bid them an eternal farewell. .
"France beholding our patient acquiesence and the rich plunder of her rival has followed suit, uttered her interdicts, come in for a share of the gain, and our property and our rights are treated abroad as free plunder. These glaring outrages we have seen and have felt year after year till numbers have been ruined by their losses and commerce
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nearly driven from the ocean. Laws the most sacred, rights the most invaluable afford no protection.
"The closing communication of the Minister of England demands as the only ground of respecting our rights that we compel the Emperor of France to do what we have neither the right to demand nor power to enforce. Under these long endured and encreasing evils, War on the part of England, Peace on ours, America having committed her cause to God, has declared war, a war in defense of our essential rights, therefore Resolved :
"I. That the national Government in declaring war against Great Britain has done right.
"2. That at this critical season the welfare of the country imperiously demand the united aid of the whole community.
"3. That we pledge our property, our character and our lives to aid the general Government till the object of the present war be obtained, to wit, a safe and honorable peace. '4. That we view with indignation the wrongs done us by both Belligerants, and as we now resist the one are equally ready to resist the other.
"5. That if Great Britain be as she is called, the bulwark of our Holy Religion, she is of the same Religion with us now just as she was with our fathers, when they fled from her fires and faggots kindled to roast them alive.
"6. That the thought of rending this fair country is big with horror and meets universal execration, foreign and domestic .... (word blurred) only excepted.
"7. That the Orders in Council are repealed in name only, not in principal nor in fact.
"8. That we feel deep regret that the Administration of this State should refuse their aid to the general Government, seek for Constitutional difficulties to sanction their evasions.
"9. That amidst the accumulated outrages heaped upon this much injured Country we have a perfect right to choose our antagonist.
"IO. That present suffering is infinitely preferable to future and eternal degradation.
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"Voted that the foregoing be recorded in the Town Jour- nal, signed by the Moderator and Clerk and printed in the Mercury at Hartford and the Republican Farmer at Bridge- port.
"Barnabas Marvin, Moderator "Jacob Osborn, Town Clerk."
This fiery outburst was in direct contrast to the feelings expressed by the rest of New England. But then Norwalk had to be "different." During the Stamp Act revolt when the rest of the country was up in arms, and fire and riots were on every hand, Norwalk remained steadfast on the side of King George. In the beginning of the Revolution she continued to believe that the colonies should bow to England, nor did she turn patriotic until the signing of the Declaration of Independence. When the War of 1812 broke out however, Norwalk was in the foremost ranks of patriotism, feeling so strong in the matter of support of the United States government that she caused to be written the set of resolutions previously quoted. This, in direct contrast to the remainder of New England which saw in the war only great financial losses and crippled shipping, and which roundly criticized the Federal government for drag- ging the country to the battlefront.
NORWALK SHIPPING SUFFERS
Each year of the War of 1812 found more and more American ports closed to shipping, and each year found more and more boats tied to Norwalk wharfs, because they had "no place to go." November 27, 1812, Great Britain declared the first American blockade, including the Dela- ware and Chesapeake bays. In March of the following year the blockade was extended to New York, Charleston, Port Royal, Savannah and the Mississippi. The whole of Long Island Sound together with every port southward to Florida was blockaded on November 16, 1813. Norwalk, of course, was sadly affected by this new turn of affairs,
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caught like a rat in a trap. The British Commodore Hardy and his "Liverpool Packet" made the blockade doubly sure by patroling the waters here. He and his Packet practically annihilated commerce in Long Island Sound.
By this time the New England towns had commenced to talk about secession. There is no telling what might have happened had not the Americans glimpsed hope on the hori- zon in the signing of peace between Great Britain and France, May 31, 1814. Alas, this treaty only gave Great Britain more opportunity to harass the Americans and she immediately declared a blockade of the whole American coast. The New England ships could not even get from port to port among their own states. In such manner did the "carrying trade" spring up, by means of which farm and vegetable produce, goods of all kinds and fish, were carried overland in wagons. So matters continued for sev- eral months and then the night before Christmas, December 24, 1814, peace was signed in Ghent, Belgium. Then was there much rejoicing in Norwalk and ships which had not left the harbor since 1812 or 1813 once more set their sails for foreign ports.
Norwalk furnished its quota of soldiers during the War of 1812. Only the militia were called and none suffered loss. According to the records, given in "Norwalk 250 years ago," 108 Norwalkers served and few of them were in the service any length of time. For the sake of record, their names are given as follows. In the militia :
Andrew Akin, John Akin, Samuel Akin, Daniel T. Bar- tram, Plum Bearsley, Holly Bell, Ammon Benedict, Asa Benedict, Lewis Bennett, David Betts, Philo Betts, Andrew Bigsby, John Bigsbee, Isaac Bishop, corp., Samuel Bissa, Joseph Boughton, captain; Isaac Bouton, Thomas Brady, musc .; Charles Brown, Lemuel Camp, John Cannon, Ros- well Ceed, Corp .; Isaac Church, James Clock, lieut. ; David Comstock, Alanson Cowley, Bud Finch, Cyrus Fitch, Corp., Stephen Fitch, Horace Gills, musc .; Isaac Gred, John Greg- ory, John Griffith, Thomas Hanford, Seeley Hason, Ira Hoyt, Ralph Hoyt, ensign; Samuel Hoyt, Stephen Hoyt,
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Walter B. Hoyt, Ebenezer Hyatt, Charles Jarvis, corp. Uriah Johnson, William Johnson, Oliver Jones, Joseph Kee- ler, sergt .; Ezaih Kellogg, James S. Kellogg, Matthew Kel- logg, sergt .; John Knapp, corp .; Benjamin Little, Jacob Little, David Lockwood, corp .; Nehemiah Lockwood, lieut. col .; and Ira Marvin, sergt .; Raymond Mathews.
Daniel Nash, John W. Nash, Nathan Nash, Conrad Newkirk, sergt .; David B. Nichols, Lewis Perry, Charles Raymond, George A. Raymond, Jabez Raymond, Uriah Raymond jr., Thomas Raymond, Waters Raymond, Isaac Rockwell, David Scofield, Richard Scott, sergt .; Nearza Scribner, Lyman Seeley, Frederick Selleck, Wray Sellick, Corp .; James Seymour, sergt .; Uriah Seymour, corp .; Samuel B. Skidmore, corp .; Chapman Smith, Charles Smith, musc .; Frederick Smith, Henry Smith, Ebenezer Smith. ยท James Smith, Joel Smith, John L. Smith, corp .; Joseph St. John, Stephen St. John, Henry Street, William L. Street, John Strut, sergt .; Samuel Strut, Adam Swan, second lieut. Uriah Tailor, Isaac Warren, Lewis Waterbury, Charles Weed, David Weed, George Weed, Henry Weed, Jarvis Weed, James B. Weed, John L. Weed, Scudder Weed, Sellich Weed, Sergt .; William Weeks, Lewis Whitney, sergt .; Matthew Wilcox, William Wilcox, sergt .; John Wireman and Joseph Wood.
Enlisted men : Henry Allen, Ethus Barthis, Moses Beers, Seth Bouton, Lewis Brown, Samuel Buttery, George El- wood, Shubael Elwood, sergt .; Philo Hoyt, Abel Hubbell, sergt .; Isaac E. Johnson, Joseph Knapp, corp .; Charles Lawrence, Daniel Nutting, corp .; Adam Parker, Zery Stevens and John Webb.
"COLD SUMMER"
A "cold summer" swept over the country in 1816 bringing with it sudden frosts, snow and even ice and leaving in its wake devastation on every side in crippled farms, with corn,
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grain and every green thing black and frozen. Norwalk, with its many little farms of grain and vegetable produce keenly felt the disaster, and in many homes during the fol- lowing winter were experienced bare cupboards. Food was scarce and exorbitantly high in price and in many cases nigh unobtainable. The next spring the farmers faced the pros- pect in securing seed for their summer crops, of traveling long distances south, and then they had to pay prices which could not but devour the profits for that year's crops.
This "cold summer" of 1816 is described in the Hart- ford Times as follows: "There are old farmers in Con- necticut who remember it well. It was known as the year without a summer. The farmers used to refer to it as 'eighteen hundred and starve to death.' January was mild, as was also February, with the exception of a few days. The greater part of March was cold and boisterous. April opened warm but grew colder as it advanced ending with snow and ice and winter cold. In May, ice formed half an inch thick, buds and flowers were frozen and corn killed. Frost, ice and snow were common in June. Almost every green thing was killed and the fruit was nearly destroyed. Snow fell to the depth of three inches in New York and Massachusetts and ten inches in Maine.
"July was accompanied with frost and ice. On the fifth, ice was formed of the thickness of window glass in New York, New England and Pennsylvania, and corn was nearly all destroyed in certain sections. In August, ice formed half an inch thick. A cold, northern wind prevailed nearly all summer. Corn was so frozen that a great deal was cut down and dried for fodder. Very little ripened in New England, even here in Connecticut and scarcely any in the middle states. Farmers were obliged to pay $4 and $5 a bushel for corn of 1815 for seed for the next spring plant- ing. The first two weeks of September were mild, the rest of the month cold and blustering with good sleighing. De- cember was quite mild and comfortable."
PROSPEROUS DAYS
CHAPTER XX
Norwalk Progresses In Spite Of Drawbacks-Town Ex- pands-New Roads Built-Community Is Thriving Center In 1819-Hartford Is Smart Social Center- Wire Factory Is Established In Georgetown.
NORWALK prospered after the War of 1812. It grew in shipping, in farming, in factory output, in homes, in popu- lation, in area. As its area expanded, so did the length of its highways, and the early years of the nineteenth cen- tury reveal many calls upon the town treasury for lengthen- ing, widening, grading and repairing of roads. The records are full of petitions from residents in various parts of the town who desired repairs or improvements to their roads, than which there were no worse. There were two reasons, for the deluge of petitions: first the fact that Norwalk had "growing pains"; second, the fact that this was the hey- day of the stage coach. Each year saw an improvement in its equipment, efficiency and speed. It demanded better roads and its demands were backed by the townspeople who had grown weary of mudholes and ruts. The town was not prepared; in fact, it would have been impossible for the town to have satisfied all the petitions anyway for they all came at once. Many quarrels arose as a result of the dis- satisfaction which followed the negating of petitions. Time and again we find in the town records, that the General Assembly at Hartford had found it necessary to step in and to order this road fixed or that forgotten as the case might be.
But Norwalk prospered just the same. And she ex- panded, industrially and intellectually. New books, letters,
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newspapers, the stage coaches and the boats kept her in constant touch with the outside world and she profited by her acquired knowledge. New ideas came to the commun- ity, new ideas in custom, in reform, in dress. At this time, the Empire dress, which had long flowing lines and a short waist with no particular pressure on any part of the body, was popular for women. It was quite unlike the tightly laced and boned bodied dresses of the previous centuries. Other "in 'innovations" came here. The early nineteenth cen- tury saw the introduction of lefts and rights in shoes and the use of shoe blacking. Hitherto, a concoction of lamp- black, suet and tallow wax had been the habitual cleaning material.
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