USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Waterbury > The town and city of Waterbury, Connecticut, from the aboriginal period to the year eighteen hundred and ninety-five, Volume I > Part 47
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Of my political sentence I leave the readers of these lines to judge. Perhaps it is neither reasonable nor proper that I should declare them in my present situation. I cannot take the last farewell of my countrymen without desiring them to show kindness to my poor widow and children, not reflecting on them the manner of my death. Now I have given you a narrative of all things material concerning my life with that veracity which you are to expect from one who is going to leave the world and appear before the God of truth. My last advice to you is that you, above all others, confess your sins, and prepare yourselves, with God's assistance, for your future and Eternal state. You will all shortly be as near Eternity as I now am, and will view both worlds in the light which I do now view them. You will then view all worldly things to be but shadows and vapours and vanity of vanities, and the things of the Spiritual world to be of importance beyond all description. You will all then be sensible that the pleasures of a good conscience, and the happiness of the near prospect of Heaven, will outweigh all the pleasures and honours of this wicked world.
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, have mercy on me and receive my spirit. Amen, and Amen.
MOSES DUNBAR,
Hartford, March 18th, A. D., 1777.
[A true copy by Sylvanus Cooke.]
It is believed that Moses Dunbar was hung from a tree that stood on the hill, and on or near the site of the Trinity College buildings. It is said that Moses Dunbar's widow, when an aged woman, pointed out the tree to her friends, saying: "That is the tree on which my poor first husband was hung." It is said that at the moment when the execution took place a white deer sprang from the near-by forest and passed directly under the hanging vic- tim. This tradition is pretty firmly established. Dr. Bronson tells us that "the gallows in a public place was kept standing for a long time as a warning to others."
In January, 1777, John Slater, who was constable, took up six runaway Tories at Waterbury and guarded and transported them to Hartford, "by order of authority," receiving twenty-five pounds and fourteen shillings for his services. In February, two thousand men
437
WATERBURY IN THE REVOLUTION.
from Connecticut were summoned to Peekskill. The quota of the Ioth Regiment was 288 men, which made three fuil companies of ninety-six men each. Nehemiah Rice [Royce] was appointed Ist lieutenant in Capt. David Smith's company in Chandler's regiment, and Lieut [Benjamin ?] Baldwin was transferred from that com- pany to Capt. [Jabez] Botsford's, in Col. Swift's battalion. Stephen Matthews was captain and Amos Hickox, Jr. lieutenant in the same battalion. Much of the service of the above battalion was in the Northern department.
In April, 1777, the Governor and Council of Safety desired and requested the Connecticut towns to hold meetings for the purpose of considering what measures to take for raising soldiers for the Continental army. Waterbury held its meeting and engaged "to give each non-commissioned officer and soldier, to the number of one hundred and thirty-one, who should voluntarily enlist into either of the eight battalions then being raised in the State,* for the term of three years, or during the war, twelve pounds lawful money annually." Six pounds was to be paid on enlistment, or secured on demand, and six pounds at the end of every six months during ser- vice. To raise this amount, a tax of one shilling on the pound was laid, and it was to be collected within one month. A committee was appointed -any two members of it with full power to give security for the town to enlisting soldiers, and to draw money from the treasury for that purpose. Private donations had already been made to men who had "engaged in the standing army." To those who had received such donations and would give receipts to the town for such sums as had been received (which sums were to be credited upon the first six pounds due), it was promised that the twelve pound annual premium should be given. The moneys which had been contributed by individuals were to be credited to the con- tributors on the shilling-rate. Lest the shilling-rate should be oppressive to certain individuals, the selectmen were directed to make abatements of rates on such persons as were poor and ought to be abated. A number of the abated rate bills, under this act, remain. It must be remembered that this was the time when small-pox had gotten beyond the control of the selectmen. I do not know that any record remains of its work in the town centre, but we know that at Westbury, Mrs. Noah Richards, Mrs. Edward Scovil, Jr., young Abel Doolittle, Nathaniel Welton, young Montgomery [?] Pendleton, [Sarah Judd] the wife of Captain Benjamin Richards, Capt. Nathaniel Arnold, and Samuel, son to Lieut. Samuel Brown,
* This is the first allusion to Connecticut, as a State, in the records.
438
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
all died from that disease between the 26th of March and the 19th of May, 1777.
We have been compelled to ignore the great and stirring events of the war, and have made no mention of Washington's Christmas night crossing of the Delaware and his subsequent success in New Jersey-of his six-months' dictatorship that he might reorganize the army-of his proclamation commanding all persons who had taken the oath of allegiance to Great Britain "to deliver up their protec- tions and certificates and take the oath of allegiance to the United States." Full liberty was, at the same time, granted to all persons to withdraw themselves and families to the enemy's lines, but the edict had gone forth that any man found enlisting soldiers for a Tory regiment should, on conviction, be executed as a spy. It was the edict of General Washington, as dictator-general, under which Moses Dunbar was to remove his family to Long Island, and under which he was executed.
This was also the period when " Dear Mother England " took to herself the confusion and shame and lasting infamy of treating helpless prisoners with atrocious inhumanities-beginning with Gen. Lee as her victim and continuing until her work culminated in suffocating fifteen hundred starving men, within a few weeks, in her prison-ships. Under the circumstances, there was nothing left for the United States but to avail itself of the law of retaliation. Accordingly, the prisoners who were abroad on parole, were called in, and subjected to imprisonment. April 17th, Waterbury secured 625 lbs. of gunpowder. On the 26th, Gen. Tryon fell upon Danbury, where three regiments were gathered, awaiting orders. Military stores had also been collected there, which were destroyed by the enemy. It was estimated that 1800 barrels of beef and pork, 800 of flour, 2000 bushels of grain, 1790 tents, 100 hogsheads of rum, and clothing for a regiment, were taken or destroyed, accompanied by the burning of houses and the murder of inoffensive inhabitants. It is easy to picture the consternation in Waterbury at this event. Her soldiers must have responded to the alarm, but I have not found other evidence of their deeds than the following autograph receipt among my papers :
Waterbury 9th of April A. D. 1778 then received of Lieut. Col: Jonathan Bald- win Sixteen pounds Twelve shillings & two pence Lawful money to Pay the officers & Soldiers belonging to the Company under my command for their servis in the alarm at Danbury in the month of April A. D. 1777. Received by me
Moses Foot Lt.
There is also " A Roster for Col Cooks Regt August 21 A. D. 1777," giving the following list of the captains of 29 companies in that regiment. They are :
439
WATERBURY IN THE REVOLUTION.
THE NUMBER OF ABLE MEN IN EACH COMPANY.
Capt. Samuel Camp,
Capt. Ephraim Cook, 29
40
Charles Norton, .
4I
Benjamin Richards,
32
James Robinson,
26
Phineas Castle,
20
Ambrous Hine,
26
66 Sam11 Bronson,
38
Caleb Hall,
41
Jesse Curtis, .
I4
Bezeliel Ives,
49
Stephen Seymour,
7
Oliver Stanley,
63
Isaac Bronson,
I8
66 John Couch,
26
John Woodruff,
4I
66 Dan Collins,
28
Nathaniel Barns, 23
Nathaniel Bunnel, .
33
John Lewis,
40
Miles Johnson,
29
Josiah Terril,
IO
Miles Hull,
26
.. Jotham Curtis,
12
66 Jesse Moss, .
29
66 Joseph Garnsey,
29
Stephen Yale,
34
Of the above 877 men, 434 marched with Lieut .- Colonel Baldwin to Fishkill in October, as would appear from an "Abstract of money paid as a bounty at Fishkill in Oct., 1777." The men were to receive one pound each (see Record of Conn. Men in the War of the Revo- lution, p. 523), but there is also the following abstract among my papers, which I give, and from which it would appear that the above service was for twenty-seven days :
A Pay Abstract for the 10th Militia Regt from the State of Connecticut com- manded by Lt Colo Baldwin for service at Fish Kill in Oct' 1777-
NO. MEN.
TOTAL NO. DAYS.
AMOUNT OF WAGES.
Lieut Colo Baldwin
I
27
I6
4
Majr Porter
I
23
II
IO
Chaplain Stores
I
27
Adjt Hough
I
27
IO
2
6
Qutr Master Hickox
I
27
7
5
9
Surgeon Elton [John]
I
27
13
IO
Surgn Mate Gaylord
I
27
IO
I6
Sergt Majr Foster.
I
27
2
8
IO
Qut" Mastr Scott.
I
27
2
3
3
Captains Samuel Bronson
60
I620
I30
II
6
B. Richards
60
1335
II3
2
2
Caleb Hall
60
1480
II5
I
7
J. Moss
60
I539
I27
IO
2
J. Robinson
59
I35I
I06
II
32
O. Stanley
59
1348
IIO
I
4
N. Barns.
60
1327
109
17
6
P. Castle
62
1519
123
19
3
E. Cook
6I
I473
I20
I
I
Elisha Hall, .
40
66
Thomas Fenn, 33
440
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
In the thirteen Waterbury companies belonging to this regi- ment on the 22d of August in the next year but 221 men are returned as fit for duty, of which number 99 seem to have been drafted upon four or more subsequent calls. This account makes evident the depletion of the regiment by service, enlistments into the army, and the casualties of war.
When Danbury was raided, Washington's army was still in win- ter quarters at Morristown, where it remained until May. General Burgoyne was in Canada, preparing to invade the States with "seven thousand troops, a train of artillery, and several tribes of Indians," with the design to advance from the north and cut off communication between New England and the Southern States. In anticipation of this attack, the New England militia had been arriv- ing from day to day at Ticonderoga and at Mount Independence- which were opposite to each other on the lake, at a distance of over twelve hundred feet. The two fortifications were connected by a floating bridge, which had been constructed through enormous labor and at great expense (and in part by Connecticut men). Twenty-two piers had been built in the lake-that part of it some- times called South Bay-and between the piers were fifty-foot floats, fastened together with iron chains and rivets. On the north side of the bridge was a large-timbered boom, well-bolted and riveted, and the boom was still farther strengthened by a double iron chain. This bridge was thought to form an impenetrable bar- rier to the passage of any vessel that might attempt it. On Mount Independence, which was strongly fortified and supplied with artil- lery, was the hospital where so many of our soldiers were suffering. While our Waterbury men in Col. Cook's regiment had been hasten- ing northward to defend Ticonderoga and Independence from the expected enemy from the north, our Lieut-Col. Baldwin, with his regiment, was going or had gone to the Highlands to perform a similar service in preventing the enemy from passing up the Hud- son river to assist Burgoyne. From Fort Montgomery and Fort Clinton on the west bank, a boom and chain, on the same principle as the one on Lake Champlain, extended across the river. Properly protected by a sufficient number of troops at the forts, the barriers across Lake Champlain and the Hudson would have proved effective, but the men of Fort Montgomery and Fort Clinton had been called off to help Gen. Gates in the north, and Gen. Putnam at Peekskill had but a small force to guard the stores. Such was the condition of affairs at Ticonderoga and on the Hudson when early in July Burgoyne came down upon the Americans, whether for siege or assault, it was not known. To their astonishment, he ascended
44I
WATERBURY IN THE REVOLUTION.
Mount Defiance, dragging, it is said, his cannon over the tree tops, thus holding the American fortifications at his mercy, as Defiance commanded both Ticonderoga and Independence. In the night, the almost instant flight of the American army was accomplished. The sick and wounded, a few hospital stores, as many cannon, tents, and provisions (of which but twenty-days' supply were in the forts), as could be thrust into five galleys and two hundred batteaux, started in flight, but Burgoyne's forces burst the bridge between the forts and followed the Americans, who were forced to abandon artillery, stores, and even their sick and wounded. On the 19th of Septem- ber in the battle of Stillwater, and at Saratoga, both Lieut .- Col. Baldwin and Major Porter were present. Col. Thaddeus Cook's orderly book, "in possession of the Worcester Antiquarian Society, reports among those present, the Lieut .- Col., the Major, and others, but gives no names." In Major Porter's orderly book, I find the fol- lowing, under date of Aug. 20th, 1777: "The Rank of Each Com- pany in the 10th Regiment of Militia and the names of Each Offi- cer. Field Officers, Col. Thaddeus Cook, Wallingford; Lieut .- Col. Jonth" Baldwin, Waterbury; Maj" Phineas Porter, Waterbury," and as the battle of Stillwater occurred only a month later, there prob- ably had been no change in the regimental officers. From Dr. Bronson, it appears that Lieut. Michael Bronson acted as adjutant of Col. Cook's regiment, and particularly distinguished himself in the above battles. In October, Sir Henry Clinton, with his forces, appeared on the North river, before the forts Montgomery and Clinton, and demanded of the brothers Clinton, their commandants, a surrender. Being refused, an assault was made and the forts taken, but a part of the garrisons escaped, leaving about two hun- dred and fifty men killed, wounded, or prisoners. At the same time, General Putnam, guarding with insufficient troops the stores and provisions at Peekskill, was forced to retire from his position.
The above is only the faintest glimpse of the reverses that were continually befalling our army and cutting off in their youth the sons of New England. In 1777 nearly three thousand Americans were slain, or wounded, or made prisoners, before October.
In the history of our town-meetings it is highly probable that no more jubilant one was ever held than that of Oct. 22, 1777, for the news must have reached the town that five days before, the British army, under Burgoyne, had surrendered, at Saratoga. No wonder is it that the good men, with "Timothy Judd, Esq", chosen mod- erator and Abner Johnson Clerk Pro temporary," on the "Request of the Governor and Council of Safety requesting sundry articles of clothing for the Continental soldiers," responded, by appointing fif-
442
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
teen gentlemen to carry the request into execution. They were Eli Bronson, David Taylor, Moses Cook, Peter Welton, Abraham Andrews, Samuel Hikcox, Phineas Royce, Esq., John Dunbar (the father of Moses), Caleb Barnes, Joseph Sutliff, Jr., Daniel Alcox, Simeon Hopkins, Samuel Lewis, Esq., Gideon Hotchkiss and Ira Beebe. The selectmen were to take the money out of the treasury or otherwise provide to procure the clothing required, which was. for each non-commissioned officer and soldier belonging to such town, one shirt or more, one hunting frock, one pair of woolen over- alls, one or two pair of stockings, and one pair of good shoes. The selectmen afterwards presented an account against the State, show- ing that Waterbury provided at this time, "115 woolen shirts, in which were 26212 yards of shirting; 24 linen shirts, with 65 yards of linen; 133 hunting frocks [after Washington's suggestion in Major Porter's orderly book] having 366 yards of toe cloth in them; 130 pair of over halls, having 30534 yds fulled cloth; 184 pairs of stock- ings; 127 pairs or shoes; and 5 sacks of toe cloth for transporting clothing." It will be remembered that Waterbury promised to give a bounty of twelve pounds a year to 131 men who should enlist into the Continental army for three years or for the war, and it was for these men that this clothing was to be provided. Many of them were in Chandler's regiment, and a goodly number in Capt. David Smith's company. These men of ours had recently passed through the battle of Germantown, and the cold nights of autumn were upon them, and the winter at Valley Forge lay just before them.
In December, 1777, to provide for the families of soldiers in the Continental army, Capt. Stephen Matthews, Thomas Dutton, Jona- than Scott, Benjamin Munson, Dan" Bronson, Capt. John Welton, John Thompson, Wait Hotchkiss, Dan" Sanford, Sam" Scovill, Thomas Fauncher, Capt. Sam" Porter, Gideon Hickcox, Stephen Warner, Samuel Judd, Jr., Isaac Prichard, Aaron Benedict, Aaron Dunbar and Josiah Rogers were chosen, and thirty-eight surveyors of highways were appointed. In Jan., 1778, the "Representatives " were directed to petition the General Assembly for two more select- men than the law then admitted; a rate was laid of six pence on the pound, to be collected by the first of March, and nine men were appointed to collect it; to provide clothing for the soldiers, were chosen Joseph Hopkins, Esq., James Porter, Jr., Silas Hotchkiss, David Taylor, Isaac Merriam, Lot Osborn, Theophilus Baldwin, Samuel Parker, Capt. Stephen Seymour, Charles Cook, Charles Upson, Josiah Rogers, Ira Beebe, Ashbel Porter, and Ebenezer Por- ter, Jr. When we consider the great number of officers selected, we must also consider the expanse of territory covered by the town-
443
WATERBURY IN THE REVOLUTION.
ship, and the exigencies of our men at Valley Forge. Clearing for- ests with bare feet in December snows, without blankets, with little food, and no money; building log-huts on the cleared ground, with benumbed fingers and chilled hearts; falling down under the enforcing hand of illness, with no pillowing tenderness to soften the fall-such was the fate of some of our soldiers. No wonder is it that Waterbury appointed fifteen men to gather clothing. It is perhaps unnecessary to mention in this connection the unappointed women, who spun and wove by daylight, and knit by moon and candle light for the bleeding feet and freezing bodies of their beloved ones, "gone to the army."
The entire number who wintered at Valley Forge from our town I am not able to name. Sylvanus Adams, John Saxton, Ezekiel Scott, Ezekiel Upson, Lue Smith, Joseph Freedom, Mark Richards, Joel Roberts, Elisha Munson, Elisha Hikcox, and William Bassett were there, and under the command of Capt. David Smith. Nearly all of the above were young men-one of them, John Saxton, a boy not yet seventeen, and Mark Richards was but a few months older. As three-fourths of the soldiers of the Continental line wintered at Valley Forge, it will appear that a large number of our men were among the "thousands" who "were without blankets, and, after the fatigues of the day, were obliged to warm themselves over fires all night, having neither small clothes, shoes, or stockings." Half-rations for weeks in succession, four or five days together without bread, and as many without beef or pork-three thousand soldiers at one time too ill to perform military duty in a camp of eleven thousand men-with a powerful, well-fed, well-conditioned enemy within twenty miles, enjoying all the comforts that Phila- delphia afforded. Could patriotism bear more or further go? Out from that camp came, in June of 1778, the soldiers who fought the battle of Monmouth with the Royal forces then retreating from Philadelphia to New York on a day when the heat was so intense that many soldiers in both armies died from that alone. It is said that "the tongues of the soldiers were so swollen, that they could not be retained in their mouths." A Waterbury woman, Millisent, the daughter of Lieut .- Col. Jonathan Baldwin, fed the soldiers of Washington's army all that day, cooking for them from morning till night all the provisions that she could procure .*
* A little later-her father, having gone to New Jersey to escort his daughter home, she being then the widow of Isaac Booth Lewis-they were on the return journey (Col. Baldwin having one of her two children on his horse, and Mrs. Lewis the other child on her horse) when in fording a stream, the current bore Mrs. Lewis's horse from its feet, and carried it down stream. Expecting to be drowned, she managed to throw her child safely to the bank, and subsequently escaped herself.
444
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
On the 19th of Jan., 1778, Waterbury held an adjourned meeting :
For the Purpose of Taking into Consideration the Articles of Confederation, the former moderator not attending, the meeting made choice of Thomas Matthews Esq' to Lead in said meeting. Then the meeting proceeded to read and consider said Articles of Confederation, and approved of the first, second, third and fourth. As to the fifth article it is the mind of this meeting that the Power of Choosing Delegates to Congress is invested in the People, on this condition we concur, also approve of the sixth and seventh. As to the Eighth Article, the Method of Propor- tioning the Tax for supplying the Common Treasury is not satisfactory; as to the Ninth Article where it mentions the Number of Land forces made by Regulations from each State for its Quota in proportion to White Inhabitants in Such State, we had rather chuse it should be in Proportion to the Number of free subjects in Each State, also approved of the 10th IIth 12th & 13th Article. After going through the whole of said Articles, the whole was Put to Vote and passed in the affirmative Excepting the above Exceptions & reserves. the meeting Dismist.
Thus we have Waterbury's independent and expressed opinion upon the national " Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union " agreed upon by Congress, and quite in advance of that of the Connecticut Legislature.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
BOUNTIES-CLOTHING FOR CONTINENTAL SOLDIERS-SUPPLIES FOR SOL- DIERS' FAMILIES-TAXES-CONTINENTAL MONEY-CONNECTICUT BILLS OF CREDIT-TOWN TREASURER'S ACCOUNTS-ON THE CON- TINENTAL ROAD-EAST FARMS BURYING-YARD-JOSEPH BEACH'S TAVERN - EVENTS IN 1779-1783 - HIRING SOLDIERS FOR HORSE NECK-THE SOCIETIES OF WESTBURY AND NORTHBURY INCORPOR- ATED AS WATERTOWN-MISCELLANY-DIARY OF JOSIAH ATKINS- JUDAH FRISBIE-WATERBURY MEN WHO SERVED IN THE WAR OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
T HE formula for enlistment into the Continental army-for which town bounties were paid at the rate of six pounds for every six months-has not been met, but there lies be- fore me the following receipt :
Waterbury, August the 10th, 1777 : Rec'd of the Treasurer of the Town of sd Waterbury the sum of five Pound Lawful money for the Purpose of going into Pub- lick service and Joining the Regiment under the Command of Colo Comfort Sage at the Piks Kills in the Room of one that has Paid in their fine. Recd by me
Silvanus Adams.
So far as known to the writer, there are no records of bounties paid before Jan. 12, 1778. In 1778 and 1779 we find seventy-eight first, ninety-three second, and ninety-five third bounties paid. Josiah Atkins seems to have been the first man to receive a third bounty. It must be kept in mind that only the soldiers of the Con- tinental line (who entered for three years, or for the war) were the recipients of the above town bounty .*
Doubtless many bounties were paid not specified as such, but only those thus designated are numbered, although soldiers' names frequently appear with six pounds paid in connection therewith. In some instances, a man received his six bounties at the same time. The first bounties paid in 1778 were on January 12th to Thomas Dutton, for Jonathan Davis, and for Thomas Merchant. Stephen Welton, Jr., was the third recipient, Ebenezer Brown the fourth,
*After the close of the war, suits were brought by a number of persons who claimed that they were num- bered with the 131 and had not been paid. I have one in which Samuel Lewis of Watertown claims that'he "enlisted at Waterbury, May 24, 1777, in Capt. David Smith's company in Col. [John] Chandler's regiment and was counted with the 131 men entitled to receive a bounty." Waterbury and Watertown being the defendants, (in this case) the suit probably grew out of the separation of the towns.
446
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
and, in April, bounties were given to George Prichard, Jr., Jonah Mallory, Isaac Cleveland, Samuel Smith, David Wells and David Punderson. The first man to receive his second bounty was Caleb Scott-his father, Gideon, receiving it in his name.
In Dec. of 1777, the town lent £207 "to the committee to pur- chase clothing for soldiers in the Continental army ;" but collec- tions and " fines for not going into Publick service " were paid in, so that by May 5th, there was a little balance left in the treasury. In November and December of 1777 £472 was received in fines, and this was before the currency became greatly depreciated. In March or April, 1778. James Bronson made a journey to Pennsylvania, for the town, at the cost of ££8-10-9, which the record refers to, as "being a present made to the Town " by him. It is notable as being the only "present" made to the town that is on record to date .* Everything was conducted by " our fathers " on business principles, The town was exacting, its citizens equally so.
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