USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Norwalk > The romance of Norwalk > Part 9
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stock in the company, if such it might be called, evidently got nothing for their trouble and their life savings but empty pocketbooks and sore hearts.
Hurd, in the history, says that the mine is at present (his history being dated 1882) owned by heirs of John Hurlbutt, deceased. Azar Belden appears to have come into the prop- erty after Ressique, and before Hurlbutt.
Of him it is said :
"Captain Azar Belden was a large landowner, who first introduced merino sheep into this section of the state. He was a man also of some military renown. Soon after the Revolutionary War, some Englishmen called on Mr. Bel- den, with a view of working the mine.
"Everything was soon arranged between the two parties. They put up their machinery which was a common windlass worked by hand and soon commenced business in a small way, digging to a depth of about 150 feet. They built a small shanty in the woods nearby, where they lived and where during the nightime, they coined a considerable amount of bullion. They kept their silver hid from the vigilance of officers and sightseers. After having worked the mine for some time they suddenly absconded, taking their treasure and about five barrels of ore with them. Nothing further was done in regard to this mine until a few years ago, (late 1880's) when a party from New York came up and had it reopened, it having been filled up to near the surface. They carried off specimens of the ore, but have never returned to resume work."
MID-CENTURY HOME LIFE
By the middle of the eighteenth century, Norwalk boasted houses all of which were framed, and some of which were even two full stories in height. They were built on heavy oak timbers, eighteen inches in diameter. The rafters were extremely large and supported slit sticks called ribs which were laid across at regular intervals and fastened with tough
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wrought nails. Oak clapboards smoothed with a shaving knife covered the ribs. Inside, rooms were about seven feet high with plastered walls. Square or diamond shaped win- dows, opening outwards, much after the manner of modern casement windows, double oak planked doors, and chimneys, often with a base twelve feet square, were features of the homes in 1750 in Norwalk.
Imported goods and some very excellent home manufac- tured products now took their places in the homes. There were fluted decanters and wineglasses in the place of the tankards; there was brassware on the heavy tables and side- boards and real mahogany in the "parlor." Shops had ap- peared in Norwalk by this time, and so the good house- wives were able to supplement the stores in their own attics by purchases at the corner grocer.
Meals had now become more elaborate affairs, were very substantial, and often quite heavy, at least the modern stom- achs might find them so. Breakfast usually consisted of a soup made of salt meat and beans, seasoned with savory herbs. This was called bean porridge. Beer and cider were the beverages. Dinner invariably included a large Indian pudding with an appropriate sauce for the first course. After this came boiled beef or pork and perhaps wild game with potatoes. Turnips and other vegetables followed, succo- tash in season, and samp and pumpkins in the fall. Supper, usually referred to as tea, was also a substantial meal though often cold, with an occasional variation of cakes made of corn meal, rye or buckwheat. Potatoes, au naturel, are now an accepted and popular dish. Such has not always been the case. In fact, in the early days of the American colonies, no one ate the "queer roots." They were looked upon as rather useless, unhealthy, even poisonous, and very difficult to pre- pare. It was said: "if a man ate them every day he could not live beyond seven years."
If meals had become elaborate in this vicinity by the mid- dle of the eighteenth century, so had dress. Both men and women were roundly criticized from the pulpit for their ex-
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travagance. The men were scored for their exaggerated wigs which the ministers termed "bushes of vanity." The women were scored for their outlandish hair styles, espe- cially. Coiffeurs at this time, 1750, featured huge rolls that no ordinary hat would fit. Accordingly, the milliners devised a sort of head cape with "draw string," called a "calash." This was usually of brown or green silk, extended by whale- bones through the shirrings.
About this time, dresses were of camlet or moire, the watered camlet over stiffened petticoats made of durant, a close grained woolen material, being greatly in favor. "Fall- ing whisks" of fine linen or lace, at neck and wrists were popular. How did fashions reach Norwalk, or the colonies, for that matter? There were no large dress house repre- sentatives making flying trips to Paris; there were no fashion magazines being sent here from France. Travel of all kinds was slow and news was slower. America first received its Paris fashions from France by way of London. Parisian dressmakers gowned miniature jointed dolls in the very latest styles, shipped them to England, which country in turn sent them on to America. The dolls, complete to millinery and coiffure, arrived in this country every four or five months and all the mantua makers made haste to copy the latest ideas for their wealthy patrons.
FEW HOLIDAYS
There were plenty of fancy clothes to wear on holidays, but unfortunately the government didn't allow the colonists very many holidays on which they might flaunt their gay attire. As a matter of fact there were only two public days for the people: fast day and Thanksgiving. Christmas was scarcely observed, certainly not as we observe it today, until late in the 18th century. Back in those old days in Norwalk when Indian footsteps and wild animal trails ran side by side with the new wagon and chaise ruts, Christmas was a very bleak day indeed, minus the proverbial jolly old Santa Claus,
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the sleigh bells, the plum puddings, or the stockings on the hearth. This condition resulted from the fact that the holy days of the English church were abhorrent to the early colo- nists, just as everything connected with the English church was abhorrent to them, and so they rigidly forbid public cele- bration of any kind on the 25th of December.
In 1659, after Norwalk had been settled about 8 years, the celebration of Christmas in any form was looked upon as a deadly sin. It was to the people, in the words of Shakes- peare, "the bug that feared them all." The very name smacked to them "of incense stole and monkish jargon." By the time the year 1786 had rolled around in Norwalk, we find that Christmas was being appropriately celebrated, at least as we understand the term, in church and home. One of the early records of St. Paul's Episcopalian church speaks of the worshippers of 1786 who flocked to the church for the mid-night service until the yard was "black with people." Candles burned in every pane of the nave ; the deep tones of the church bell rang out clear and sweet across the frosty air and in the words of the record, Christmas "set its warm kiss upon the inner man of the heart." From the hour of lighting the candles on Christmas eve, all work on the part of the farm hands was suspended for the next twelve days. Well, that wasn't such a bad holiday.
Christmas may have meant nothing to the early colonists here, but Thanksgiving certainly did, for it was the one great festival of the year. Weeks before the time came, the event was anticipated by old and young alike. Thanksgiv- ing was announced in church on the Sunday preceding the day itself, generally in late November. The minister read the governor's proclamation, and no sooner had the good folk returned home, than preparations were commenced. During the week, every member of the family labored from morn till night, storing vegetables, killing fowls, making clothes, for Thanksgiving was a time of dressing up as well as eating up; and baking dozens of pies. Not all of the lat- ter were eaten on Thanksgiving Day. The majority were
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stored in the attic or barn, frozen solid all winter, and came out just as fresh, with the violets in April, as the day they were made.
Picture a Norwalk home on a frosty Thanksgiving morn- ing in the year 1750. Long before the sun rose, every mem- ber in the house was out of bed. The Goodwife saw to it that no one lingered over the porridge breakfast and soon the little clapboard house had been given its last cleanup and brushup before the arrival of the company. The company included all the relatives in the neighborhood, for no one thought of eating Thanksgiving dinner alone. It was a family affair, pure and simple. Little Silas had his neck and ears scrubbed until they matched the cherry preserve in color; young Fan put on her new lace scarf, and the Goodman brought from out its hiding place his best beer and cider. The male members of the family spent the early part of the day in public worship, the boys twitching in their seats waiting for the last amen, the men looking on, with generous good nature, for once.
At home, all was hustle and bustle. The great table was set in the center of the floor, the snowy linen and the best silverware being placed upon its surface. Huge logs were piled in the fireplace and the house gave forth an air of com- fort and supreme well being. At last the great moment ar- rived, all sat down to table, the blessing was said and every- one "fell to." There was cod and shell fish of several kinds for "appetizers." Clam chowder and oysters often formed part of the meal, too. Then came great plates of deer meat, chicken, puddings and roast turkey. Roast pig and apple sauce with pigeon pasties, heaped the overloaded table to groaning point. All sorts of vegetables, and corn and barley loaves, added to the tastiness of the first courses. Deserts included so many different kinds of pies that it would take a month to mention them all. In addition there was plum porridge, dotted with bits of toasted crackers, hasty pudding eaten with butter and treacle, and great baskets of grapes
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and nuts. All this was topped off with barrels of golden beer and cider.
After the dinner the men grouped themselves in one cor- ner and talked over cattle and farm problems while the women did their "washing up." Later, everyone gathered around the fireplace, told stories, sang songs, roasted nuts over the glowing logs and related strange tales in the shadow of the tallow candle light. By and by when the little ones began to nod and the evening waxed late, the family Bible was brought out and the head of the house, in hushed, emo- tional voice, gave thanks to the good Lord for a full harvest. The nine o'clock curfew bell suddenly startled the members of the gathering out of their reveries. The elders jumped up and hastily sought hats and wraps; sleepy children were bundled off to bed. At last the guests were ready to depart, including Grandpa with his third scarf knotted high about his ears and Grandma in her long cloak, fur muff, two pairs of woolen stockings and felt boots. Cheery goodbys were said and the guests trailed off across the frozen earth under the moonlit sky chattering gaily as they wended their way homeward, and looking forward to a comfortable winter when the growling wolf would be far from the door.
Husking bees, apple paring parties, quilting bees, sleigh rides, straw rides, balls and weddings were other annual festivities in addition to the celebration of Thanksgiving, enjoyed by the colonies.
Funerals might well be added to this list, not because they were actual festivities but because they were really en- joyed by the colonists. Funerals were quite imposing, espe- cially if the deceased was a personage of some importance and there were always gifts and refreshments. Gloves, rings and scarfs were the usual presents offered the mourners. If a pauper was buried, the town complied with the custom, giving away articles and charging them to the town.
Last but not least, there were the fast days, always public holidays, which relieved the monotony of the colonists' lives. The fast days were designated by the general court or by
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the governor, at irregular intervals, because of some present catastrophe or threatened calamity. No food was cooked on the fast days, nor did the exemplary members of the church eat any regular meals till after the sun went down. Public worship similar to Sunday services was held, and the time was spent in self examination, humiliation and prayer.
CUSTOM OF "BUNDLING"
Other quaint practices were in vogue about 1750 in Con- necticut and of course in Norwalk, besides the custom of giv- ing presents at funerals. There was for instance, the habit of "bundling."
The dictionary gives to the term bundling, the definition of : "to sleep or lie on the same bed without undressing; said of a man and woman, especially lovers." As a custom it was found in remote localities in New York as late as 1804, and in Pennsylvania, in 1845. One Van Corlear writes that he occasionally stopped in the villages to eat pumpkin pies and to bundle with the Yankee lassies.
It is thought the custom originated during the severe win- ters when it was almost impossible to keep the houses warm, or even above freezing point. The older folks, who went to bed early, banked the fires for the night before retiring and within an hour or so, the once comfortable living room, had become a very chilly place. In order to keep warm, the young folks, fully dressed of course, crawled under the covers and continued their wooing. This, with the knowledge and assent of their parents. How queer are customs! The young maiden of those days would have been roundly de- nounced had she dared to show one tenth of the leg exposed to view these days, yet bundling was in perfect good form.
FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR
CHAPTER XI
England and France Declare War-Acadians Come Here- Many Local Men Go to Front-Colonel Thomas Fitch Distinguished Soldier-Dispute Over Yankee Doodle House in Norwalk and Yankee Doodle House in New York.
A red letter year, in the history of Norwalk was 1754, for it marked the ascendency to the highest office in the state, that of governor, of one of Norwalk's own sons, Thomas Fitch. Of his life, his family, his characteristics, his acts in office and his accomplishments, we shall speak later.
No sooner had Fitch removed his household from Nor- walk to Hartford than the French and Indian war troubles commenced, and Connecticut found itself once more muster- ing men to send to the front. Hostilities had existed be- tween the French and English in America for one year before England formally declared war on France, May 18, 1756.
Several months before this declaration, Connecticut re- ceived word that there would shortly be sent to the colony, a portion of the 7,000 French Catholics, Acadians, who were then being driven by the British from their peaceful homes in Nova Scotia, and who were to be distributed along the coast from New Hampshire to Georgia. In October, 1755, the General Assembly at New Haven passed an act looking to the reception and disposal of whatever Acadians might be sent here. January 21, 1756, 300 Acadians were landed
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at New London and on May 22, another transport arrived at the same port with many sick and dying of smallpox.
"Though unwelcome guests, the General Assembly of Connecticut gave evidence of its desire to provide for the maintenance of its hapless charges," says Rev. J. H. O'Don- nell in his history of "The Diocese of Hartford." "The conduct of Connecticut in dealing with the exiles was in marked contrast with the cold, cheerless, and unchristian methods adopted by Massachusetts."
At its session in January, 1756, the General Assembly at New Haven voted on the distribution of the Acadians, a certain number being sent to each town in the colony. Nor- walk was to take 12. Norwich and New Haven took the most, 19 apiece. The lowest number taken by any town was three. The selectmen in each town were directed to "Take care of, manage and support them as tho' they were inhabitants of such town, according to the laws of this Colony."
The expenses incidental to the support of the French exiles from the time of their arrival at New London till they had reached their respective destinations were to be borne by the colony and we find that Norwalk sent in a bill under date of March II, 1756, as follows :
"To Norwalk Selectmens Bill Transporting french people from Fairfield, one pound, six shillings."
In spite of the instructions of the General Assembly that these unfortunate, unhappy people, homeless, depressed and bereft of all their worldly goods, should be cared for and supported in the towns to which they were sent "as tho' they were inhabitants",-in many of the Connecticut villages and towns, the Acadians were badly served, were not only fre- quently treated as paupers but were bound out to the most menial service. We do not know what happened to them in Norwalk for the records do not say. We only hope that the town fathers extended them the helping hand to which their natural generosity would prompt them.
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NORWALKERS IN WAR
Immediately after the declaration of war between Eng- land and France, May 18, 1756, Connecticut commenced shipping men to the front just as fast as she could muster them, adding to the regiments she had already sent to the aid of England in 1755. Norwalk cheerfully shouldered her burden in both expenses and soldiers during the war.
There were Norwalkers in the expedition to Cape Breton, in the battle of Quebec, when both the brave English General Wolfe and the brave Frenchman, General Montcalm fell, mortally wounded; in the skirmishes at Crown Point, at Ticonderoga and at Montmorency and in the capture of Louisburg.
The Connecticut Historical Records, volumes nine and ten, reveal the names of the following officers: 1755, Thaddeus Mead, fourth company, first regiment, second lieutenant under Captain Nathan Payson of Hartford. 1755, Samuel Hanford, captain, fifth company, fourth regi- ment. 1756, Thaddeus Mead, appointed commissary in the third regiment, March, 1756, for the forces raised for the expedition against Crown Point, March, 1756. 1756, Daniel Fitch, second lieutenant, tenth company, fourth regi- ment under Captain Moses Stoddard of Litchfield. 1757, Thaddeus Mead, lieutenant under Captain Pevey Fitch of Stamford. This was in the expedition against Fort William Henry, in August, 1757. 1757, Samuel Marvin of Norwalk, first lieutenant under Samuel Handford, captain, in the expe- dition against Fort William Henry. A footnote says that: "one hundred of the above named (the soldiers in the com- pany) rode horses from Norwalk."
Thaddeus Mead, 1759, captain, ninth company, third regi- ment, Connecticut troops. 1759, Levi Taylor, ensign, twelfth company, third regiment under Captain Reuben Fer- ris of Greenwich. 1759, Thaddeus Mead, captain, tenth company, third regiment. Mead commanded this company which included two sergeants, three corporals, 63 privates
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who had served in previous campaigns, and 28 new men, probably in addition to the commissioned officers. A foot- note is to the effect that: "Captain Mead is said to have been killed during the campaign, probably in August." (Mead Family.) That Mead was most active in the cam- paigns is evidenced by the number of times his name, with different forces, appears in the records. Daniel Belden of Norwalk was wounded while in service in 1758. Mathew Mead was a quartermaster from March 27 to November 21, 1758, in the fourth regiment.
In addition there was the famous Colonel Fitch of Nor- walk, son of Governor Thomas Fitch. During the war, in the early years, he commanded four regiments encamped at Greenbush, before Albany. Later in the war, Fitch was named senior colonel and commanded sixteen Colonial regi- ments. Four of these came from Connecticut, two from New York, two from New Jersey, eight from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.
While her soldiers were giving their life's blood at the front, during the French and Indian War, Norwalk, behind the lines, was energetically taking care of her own private end of the struggle. The town records show that on No- vember 2, 1757, it was voted at meeting that the residents of the community tax themselves a penny on the pound for all rateable estate, in order to care for the 350 regular sol- diers scheduled to be stationed in Norwalk. The soldiers erected winter quarters here and remained in town through- out the cold months. Men and women in the settlement cheerfully supplied the soldiers with all they needed, denying themselves when necessary.
Throughout the war, this community proved itself un- questionably loyal to king and country. The drain on pocket- books and manhood, caused no murmur of dissatisfaction. The king called, England needed Norwalk, and Norwalk was ready and willing to do all she could. The war ended with the signing of a preliminary peace pact in Paris, No-
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vember 3, 1763. Final signing took place February 10, 1764.
YANKEE DOODLE HOUSE HERE
The name of Colonel Thomas Fitch, son of Governor Thomas Fitch, has come down to us through history, as being something more than honorably mentioned in connec- tion with the French and Indian War. Tradition has it, that Col. Fitch was the originator, or perhaps it would be better to say, the cause of the origin of the famous song, "Yankee Doodle." It is said that when Fitch marched his ragged men into Albany to meet the English during the French and Indian War, a British army surgeon, Dr. Rich- ard Shuckburg, by name, composed the song in derision of the badly dressed Colonial soldiers. The song "took" and shortly all the troops were singing it. To perpetuate the honor, linked with the name of Colonel Thomas Fitch, the home in which the brave officer lived in East Norwalk, was forthwith called "Yankee Doodle" house, which name it still bore when it was torn down in 1917.
However, Norwalk is not to be allowed to enjoy her memories without dispute, for there are other cities in the United States, which claim to harbor the real and original Yankee Doodle House. Chief among these is Rensselaer, New York. Rensselaer offers Fort Cralo, supposedly the oldest building in the country, having been erected in 1642, as its claim. Local tradition in that section has it that Dr. Shuckburg was attached to the fort at the time he composed "Yankee Doodle" and that he wrote the words of the song within the fort.
Which city has the right to claim ownership of the real Yankee Doodle House ? Rensselaer, the place in which the song is said to have been composed ? Or Norwalk, the place from where the cause of all the hubbub is said to have come? The writer, in an endeavor to ferret out some in- formation on the subject, made inquiries at the New York state library in Albany, the Rensselaer library at Rensse-
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laer, New York; the New York public library in New York City; the Stamford, Norwalk and Bridgeport libraries, and the Connecticut State library at Hartford.
Let us see first what can be offered in Norwalk's favor. Mrs. J. E. Russell of 9 Putnam ave. is in possession of an old clipping which tells how Col. Fitch and his soldiers left Norwalk. It is in part as follows :
"Elizabeth Fitch came out of the house with her brother Thomas and looked with dismay at the strangely costumed 'cavalry' straggling along the road. 'Oh,' she cried, 'you should have uniforms of some kind.' She hurried into the chicken run at the rear of the house and emerged a few minutes later with a handful of feathers. 'Put these in your hats,' she commanded, 'soldiers should wear plumes.' And the solemn New Englanders grinned sheepishly and obeyed. With these feathers as the sole badge of their hastily as- sumed profession, Connecticut's militia took the trail for Al- bany. Dr. Shuckburgh, when he saw them said: 'Now stab my vitals, they're macaronis, every one of them!' He used the slang of the day for a fop, an exquisite."
Historian Charles Selleck, author of Selleck's "Norwalk" tells the generally accepted story of Fitch and Yankee Doo- dle and says that "in derision of the appearance of his (Fitch's) command, an English officer wrote, near East Albany, the wordy jargon, Yankee Doodle." Rev. Augustus Beard, D.D., of Main st., is of the opinion not only that Col. Fitch of Norwalk was responsible for the song "Yan- kee Doodle Came To Town Riding on a Pony" but "that the horse thus made immortal also came from Norwalk." In addition, the "Colonial and Revolutionary Homes of Wilton, Norwalk, Westport, Darien and vicinity," gives the story of Fitch and the Yankee Doodle House as being similar to that quoted above.
This house, home of Colonel Thomas Fitch, stood for many years on Hendricks ave., near East ave., in the vicinity of what is now called Elton Place. In 1917, the house, which had long been in a state of decay, was demolished by
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