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 48
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Clothing for Continental soldiers was furnished by the majority of the families in town, but provisions were often late in arriving to home consumers. We find in 1780 that Major Smith was " paid in cash to make him good for his not having the money seasonable" £139-3-4, and "to Provision purchased for his family to make up the arrears of the year 1779 £169-15; Ambrose Potter is credited for paying Samuel Camp {150," to make him good upon the account of his family not being supplied in season. The accounts of expenditures remaining to us are too imperfect to be summarized. Scores of citi- zens received money to provide for soldiers'families, but seldom do we find any intimation of the individual family cared for. Ezekiel Sanford (a soldier) had a child that must have called forth the sym- pathies of the public, for it is twice referred to in the records as a "poor child." In April, 1779 there was "paid to Capt. Nathaniel Barnes for Ezekiel Sanford's wife for encouragement for her to take care of her poor child {21-6," and in July of 1780 Ezekiel was
* Gifts had been made to the First Church by Joseph Lewis and I think by other men. The following inter- esting portion of Stephen Hopkins' will relates to the " Poor in the town." The will had been probated nine years at this date : "Also it is my will that twenty pounds lawful money out of my estate be put upon interest within a convenient time after my decease to be in bank for the use and benefit of the poor in the town of Waterbury without limitation of time, the interest of which to be distributed annually at the discretion of the selectmen of the town of Waterbury for the time being, who are hereby fully empowered in trust with rela- tion to said legacy to be let out, collected, received and disbursed, and act in law for the purpose above said- but that the charitable end of this legacy may be fully known and answered, and not perverted for the use of such poor as are slothful, vicious or unwholesome members of society, it is understood to be my will and is hereby ordered that the interest to be annually distributed shall be limited and confined to such as are in the full communion in the regular orthodox churches in this town, which hold and worship according to the method settled, established and now generally practiced in this colony.
Stephen Hopkins." Woodbury Probate Records, Vol. 6, p. 177.
In the year of which we are writing, the interest of the above gift was one pound and four shillings- paid to the town by Thomas Hickcox, Jr.
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"allowed for keeping his poor child eight months," at the rate of four shillings a week.
The first purchase of provisions for a soldier's family in 1778, was made by Capt. Jotham Curtis, who received from the town £12 for that use. This was quickly followed by the expenditure of large sums for provisions, and also for "clothing for Continental soldiers." Moneys were dispensed for specified purposes as "bounties, provis- ions, cloathing," and, in addition, "by order of the select men," and, " by order of the committee." In 1778 the State repaid the Town £1677-17-9 "for defraying the charges of those that supplyed the soldiers' families last year."
In 1780 our Committee of Supplies received from the State £5464. In Connecticut throughout its life as a colony, and as a state during its first war, there was but one standard of values- that of provisions. Is there any other to-day? At this time the people were taxed almost beyond endurance. The taxes within one twelvemonth were the following : Nov. 16, 1780, a rate was laid of six pence in provisions, or double in States' money; the following January, eight pence in States' money. This is the last recognition of paper currency in our taxation. On the same day a tax was laid of three half-pence, payable in provisions; June 21, four pence, in silver or Gold,* or good merchantable beef cattle at prices which had been named by the Assembly; July 9, three pence lawful silver money, or provision, or clothing at prices fixed by legislation.
As a result of oppressive taxation and in return, every man lived, so far as he could, upon the Town and the State. There seemed to be no other resource. War is robbery. Government robbed the people; of men, so that it was with difficulty that crops could be planted or garnered; of provisions, until famine was at the doors of the inhabitants, and within the armed camps; of money, until in one instance in Waterbury it reached a point where Joseph Atkins paid fourteen pounds of Continental money for a debt of seven silver shillings. This was near the time when the last of the two hundred millions of dollars in Continental bills had been issued. Connecticut bills of credit stood at ten for one at the time when Continental bills stood at thirty for one-the one being silver. A transaction for cash meant concurrent payment. Town transac- tions with individuals are variously estimated-in Continental money, States money, hard money, old money, cash, and silver- even counterfeit money was abundant.
Through the courtesy of Mr. Elisha Leavenworth we have the records of Ezra Bronson, Esq., as town treasurer during several
* The first mention of this metal found in our records.
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years of the war. For the Danbury alarm, Stephen Hopkins fur- nished 3 bushels of wheat, Ebenezer Hoadly I, John Hopkins I and 16 lbs. of pork, Joseph Hopkins, Esq. 38 pounds of pork, "found for the militia when they went to Danbury," by one cow valued at £13-10 in States money, Moses Cook " 1212 1b. of pork," Timothy Porter 20 1bs., Benjamin Baldwin 20 lbs., "that went to Danbury," and John Thompson is credited "by a horse going to Danbury in a team." In 1778 Dr. Lemuel Hopkins is credited with doctoring one Robert Cooper and his wife; Peter Welton went to Hartford "to request liberty to carry the soldiers' clothing to the camp," at a cost of £3, but Joseph Hopkins, Esq., at the same date "went to New Haven with the clothing." In the same year Silas Constant lent six shillings in silver to hire soldiers for Horseneck, and Amos Prichard carried a sick soldier to Southington. The same sick soldier was probably kept by Josiah Bronson, for at the same date he is credited for keeping a sick soldier and "getting one pint and a half of wine and tending." The same poor fellow was attended by Dr. Abel Bronson, as we find him allowed "by a bill for Docktring a sick soldier who lived at Lieut. Bronsons." Elizabeth Skinner boarded a lame soldier two weeks in the same year. "Sick soldiers" had become such a burden to the people living along the "Continental road running east and west through Waterbury " that in July, 1780, the selectmen were directed by the town " to prepare a memorial to the General Assembly, asking that a provision be made for cost arising by soldiers when sick on the road to and from the army belonging to this State." Four months before the memorial was ordered, the town had bought of Joseph Beach, for fifteen shillings, " a piece of ground for a burying yard." This was our present East Farms cemetery, and it is said that the earliest burials there (before the purchase of the land by the town) were of soldiers who, worn out and ill, had reached the tavern close by-kept during the war by Joseph Beach-and there had died.
The confusion and distress of the period is stamped upon the town records. Entries were evidently made from detached minutes of town meetings, some of which seem to have been lost or left unrecorded. Ezra Bronson was unable to do the work required of him, and Michael Bronson assisted, and the result is to be regret- ted.
In 1779 Esqr. Judd was paid £9 for "his journey to Lebanon for lead; John Trumball, Jr., and Joseph Hopkins, Esq., sent in bills for attending the convention;" David Taylor went to Hartford "to exhibit a cloathing bill, was allowed £6 "for damage done a gun in the public service," and furnished house room and dinners for the
WATERBURY IN THE REVOLUTION. 449
selectmen. They were ordinarily entertained by Ezra Bronson, his accounts being strewn with scores of dinners for public officials; but other men, notably Col. Baldwin, furnished "meals" for selectmen and the civil authority.
In 1780 David Turner is credited "for two days service warn- ing people to give in account of their grain;" Michael Bronson "pur- sued after some waggons to Breakneck," furnished 1212 pounds of lead, and bailed two pots; Joseph Hotchkiss went to Guilford for salt; Dr. Roger Conant, deceased, is credited for services; Dr. John Elton for doctoring Mrs. Clark and Joseph Griffith; Dr. Osee Dut- ton and Dr. Timothy Porter are paid for services; widow Mary Clark kept the selectmen two days, and widow Huldah Richards was one of the women who furnished clothing. In this and other years dozens of men are credited with "paying Solomon Tompkins," but no hint is obtained of the nature of the obligation; Joel Blakslee brought a hogshead of clothing from New Haven; Thomas Bron- son, Jr., went to Salem after tents; Thaddeus Bronson furnished wheat flour and pork "for the militia;" Aaron Benedict was paid "for expenses for the team transporting for the militia marching to West Point" £251; Eliasaph Doolittle furnished froo " to provide for some poor people"-and in evidence of the severity of the weather, Peter Welton was "allowed for carrying the corpse of John Welton to the grave in that extreme season in the snow 96 dollars "-rendered £28-16-0. (Jan. rith "the extremity of the sea- son " prevented a town meeting). In July, Enoch Scott and others assisted the county surveyor in measuring the town, and in October he "numbered the people." These acts were in reference to the formation of the Societies of Northbury and Westbury into the township of Watertown.
In 1781 Lemuel Nichols was credited "by a bill for cash paid out in silver for transporting provisions to Fishkill £4-5-11;" the widow Clark was paid "for keeping a yoke of cattle that was going to Fishkill; " Zera Beebe spent the fourth of October making tents; James Bronson went to camp to procure evidence; Ephraim Warner lost a chain in transporting provisions to Fishkill; William Rowley fulled five blankets; Gideon Hikcox and Silas Constant lent the town six shillings in silver to hire soldiers for Horseneck. In March, Joseph Hotchkiss is credited for packing and coppering the provisions that went to Danbury, and Aaron Benedict transported " for the army " to West Point .* Among the unusual items found
* Young Watertown when only two or three months old furnished her men (ordered for the relief of West Point) under Lieut .- Col. Benjamin Richards, 707 pounds of wheat flour, and beside other stores, 514 pounds of salt pork. Waterbury furnished the tents and provisions, and the tents were conveyed to Ridgefield-40 miles-by "2 teams, 4 cattle each."
29
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in 1782 is one relating to the universal difficulty in obtaining salt. Joseph Hotchkiss went to Guilford after salt, and Nathaniel Merrils received money "towards his journey after salt."
Among the mysteries of Capt. Ezra Bronson's accounts Agur Mallory appears. Of him we gather that a man of that name paid taxes here in 1774. In 1778 Capt. Gideon Hotchkiss sent in a bill to the town "for services in looking a place and moving Agur Mal- lory," and for "meat, milk, sider, apple butter, firewood, grain and other articles furnished for him;" October 12, 1779, Capt. Josiah Terrill received £46 "for twenty days' service in looking after Agur Mallory when at the Pool." In November of the same year Titus Hotchkiss served "nine days in assisting him home from the Pool, at Nine Dollars per Day, £24-6-o." Dec. 6, 1779, John Hopkins is credited with "a sheet to put over Agur Mallory when he went to the Pool," and Capt. Thomas Fenn "for the service of a horse to the Pool." In 1780 Jude Hoadly made "a horse litter to carry him on;" Timothy Wetmore is credited "by a Bill for 8 Days' service going to the Pool with him;" Enos Warner went "up to the Pool" with him at the same date, and for three or four years Agur Mallory is "moved " again and again, and must have proved a costly invalid for the town until in 1782 Mary Mallory apparently came to Water- bury, and after keeping him three months asked the town to reward her with the modest sum of four pounds. Nothing further has been noticed regarding Agur Mallory.
In the town accounts, many times repeated, can be found the expression : " By service done for the town." No intimation is to be gained of its nature. "Provisions for soldiers' families " and "Cloathing for soldiers " and "Sundry articles for soldiers" or for soldiers' families are found on every page-interspersed with "a cow," or "a sheep," "a pair of stockings " or "a blanket." Rates are " turned " and flour, corn, rye and oats are furnished-to be paid for; the bridges appear in some form on every page, and the follow- ing facts regarding the hiring of soldiers are found.
The troubles and difficulties attending the hiring of soldiers after 1779 were almost insurmountable. Enthusiasm had vanished. Patriotism was not dead, but it slumbered and slept-worn to a weariness that nothing but the near approach of danger, like the attacks upon the near-by towns, could arouse to new action. When, in January of 1780, Waterbury was required to furnish thirteen soldiers for the army for three years, they could not be obtained, and a compromise was made for one year-the town engaging "to pay half the bounty or wages which should be engaged by them in provision or clothing at the prices which such articles commonly
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sold for in the year 1774, and the other half in lawful money or Bills of Credit equivalent to such sum of provisions or clothing at the time of payment." Other inducements were offered, such as an immediate supply for the needs of soldiers' families. In July, ten other soldiers were required, and in November the town was classed or divided, by an Act of Assembly, to facilitate the raising of sol- diers. Capt. Ezra Bronson was made "Purchasing Commissary to receive the provisions to be collected for the use of the Continental army and forces raised for the defense of the State, upon a six- penny rate" (by Act of Assembly). He was to provide casks and see the same well put up. If any man refused to meet this rate, he was to be made to pay double in States money. A few men did refuse, but they paid double. The town appointed forty-three men to inspect the provisions thus collected, among whom were Col. Phineas Porter, Lieut .- Col. Benjamin Richards, and Major Jesse Curtis. The date of the above appointment was March 20, 1780. It was an important meeting. The last rate in Continental money was laid-three shillings on the pound; the Church of England was denied any future income from the sale of lands given by the proprietors in 1715, and the town voted to prefer a memorial to the General Assembly, praying that the Societies of Westbury and Northbury should be incorporated into a separate town, and be annexed to the County of Litchfield. The conditions offered by Waterbury were simple and few. The new town was to pay one- half of the expenses of rebuilding a bridge over the river on the Woodbury road in the same form as then erected, and half the expenses of supporting one Agur Mallory; it was required to quit claim all right and title to the public school and ministerial moneys -in consideration for which it was to hold all the unsold town lands within its borders; all military stores and the camp equipage belonging to the town of Waterbury were to be equally divided between the two towns, when the new one should be incorporated. With respect to the dividing lines, a committee composed of men from each society in the township was to meet and determine the division and report to the next meeting, but the line was not defi- nitely established for several years.
On the 17th of September in this year (1780) "General Washing- ton with the Marquis de la Fayette and General Knox with a splen- did retinue," left the camp at Tappan (about thirty miles below West Point) for Hartford. This was with little doubt one of the occasions when Washington passed through Waterbury. His object was to confer with the commanding officers of the French fleet and army (6000 men) which had recently arrived at Rhode Island. He
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was absent from camp nine days, during which time Major Andre made the fatal journey to West Point or its vicinity, to confer with Benedict Arnold. The express, sent to meet General Washington with the direful news of Arnold's treasonable interview (gained by Andre's capture), taking a different road, failed to meet him. If it were not for this failure, we might think that this was the occasion fitting the tradition which tells us that General Washington once rode 100 miles in one day.
In 1781 when Gov. Tryon with a detachment of British troops marched from King's Bridge to Horse Neck (a former horse pasture for the town of Greenwich) every effort was made to raise soldiers for the defense of that point. Waterbury's quota-Westbury and Northbury having departed from it-was seven men. Abraham and David Wooster refused to pay their proportion toward hiring a recruit in the class to which they belonged. David Welton, Henry Grilley, Stephen and Timothy Scovill also neglected or refused to pay-but they were obliged "to pay double."
Waterbury was called upon for sixty-nine soldiers after Water- town was incorporated. Eighteen of the number were required early in 1781 and were to serve one year from the following March, at Horse Neck, and were " to be had on as reasonable terms as they could be procured." The eighteen men were not to be had. Is it surprising, when "under their complicated distresses " officers and men were exhausted ? The confidence of the army in public prom- ises was chilled almost unto death, and despair had taken the place of patience and fortitude. All that the army asked was "a perma- nent and comfortable support." Regimental officers were contin- ually resigning and exclaiming: "Let others come and take their turn!"
It was during this winter that Col. Elisha Sheldon's regiment of dragoons (240 men and 140 horses) was quartered for a time in Waterbury. There being insufficient accommodation, the town asked that the regiment might be quartered elsewhere, as "no army supplies were kept here."
The eighteen men were not secured on the 6th of March, and some suitable person was empowered to "get them any other way that should be judged best." It would seem by a subsequent "diffi- culty " which arose, that Seba Bronson and William Leavenworth were permitted to obtain soldiers on this occasion. Six of the above soldiers were Eli Rowley, Asa Chittenden, Ezekiel Porter, Toto Cornelius (secured for "£18 cash in States' money and he to receive his wages"), Zebulon Miller and Daniel Williams. May 7, 1781, Eli Rowley is credited "by Entering the Public Service for
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the Defence of Horse Neck and is to be paid three pounds per month, hard money-the obligation given by Samuel Scott, Jr." To or for Asa Chittenden, Eli Bronson gave the obligation. A week later a call came for ten footmen and one horse and horseman for the post at Horse Neck. To secure men, the town promised that the wages offered by the State "should be paid in silver punctually (one recorder [Michael Bronson] has it perpetually) at 6-8 per ounce, or an equivalent in Bills of Credit." Eli Bronson and Joseph Atkins were made town agents and empowered to procure the men and give them "such further sums as they should think proper, if to be had by April Ist." Jacob Sperry was appointed to procure three ox teams, drivers, and carts for Continental service. June 21, the town held another meeting "for the purpose of contriving ways and means for procuring the town's quota of soldiers for Horse Neck and the Continental army." Capt. John Welton was given "full power to hire seven men" and reward them with "hard money, provisions or neat cattle." The seven men were obtained apparently without great difficulty or delay, and the following events probably influenced the men who enlisted.
In May, General Washington had again journeyed to Con- necticut to meet Count de Rochambeau, and in all probability passed through Waterbury at that time. It was on or about June 2Ist-the date of the town meeting when the seven men were to be hired "for hard money, provisions or cattle"- that the French army under General Rochambeau marched through Waterbury, on its way to meet Washington's army near King's Bridge. What welcome travelers the bonny Frenchmen must have proved themselves as they journeyed on, for they paid all their expenses in hard money, committing no depredations, and treating the inhabitants with great civility and propriety. The officers wore " coats of white broadcloth trimmed with green, white under- dress, and hats with two corners, instead of three, (like the cocked hats worn by American officers). Sixteen months later the same army again passed through Waterbury. An old inhabitant told Dr. Bronson (as given in page 359 History of Waterbury, 1858), that the soldiers marched two and two, and when the head of the column had disappeared beyond the hill at Capt. George Nichols, (the Dr. James Brown house, still standing), the other extremity had not come in sight on West Side hill. What a picture of Waterbury in 1781 that bit of description affords us! One could stand on the East Main Street hill, above its intersection with Mill street, and have an unobstructed view to the top of West Side hill.
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The following items relating to the passage of portions of the army through Waterbury are given by Dr. Bronson, and are undoubtedly authentic. He refers to the main east and west road through Waterbury, as communicating with Hartford and Middle- town eastward, and with Fishkill and the Hudson river by way of Break Neck hill in Middlebury westward, and says that teams for carrying goods and supplies ran frequently and regularly to and from Fishkill. It was, he adds, the most southern of the traveled roads at a safe distance from the sea. The following statements could not, with him, have been mere traditions, for he had personal knowledge of the men who were participants in the events narrated. "In the fall of 1777, after the capture of Burgoyne, a detachment of the American army with the enemy's splendid train of artillery passed through Waterbury to the eastward. They pitched their tents and encamped for the night on Manhan meadow, just above the bridge. Many people visited the ground to see the beautiful brass pieces all ranged in line. Gen. La Fayette at one time, attended only by his aids, lodged at the house of Capt. Isaac Bron- son-at Break Neck-who then kept tavern. The host introduced him to his best chamber in which was his best bed, but La Fayette caused the feather bed to be removed, saying : "Straw for the sol- dier," and made the straw underbed his couch for the night. He also on one occasion stopped at the house of Esq. (Joseph) Hopkins, then "the most prominent civilian in the place." Dr. Bronson also confirms the statement-made elsewhere, that General Washington passed through Waterbury on his way to Hartford. He makes mention of Gen. Knox as being with him, but does not speak of La Fayette, who was of the party. "The splendid retinue " is referred to as "a somewhat numerous escort." He adds that General Wash- ington rode a chestnut colored horse, came across Break Neck, and returned the salutations of the boys by the roadside. His dig- nity of manner, set off by his renown, made a durable impression on all who beheld him. He dined with Esq. Hopkins, who made many inquiries, and at last became decidedly inquisitive. After reflecting a little on the last question, Washington is said to have said : "Mr. Hopkins, can you keep a secret ?" "I can." " So can I," the General instantly replied.
The passage of the French Army through our town in 1781, or in 1782, was marked by an encampment on Break Neck hill where it remained over one day to wash and bake. In consequence, all the wells in the neighborhood were drawn dry, and the French army had an opportunity to test the quality of the water in Hop brook. In 1781 the same army, impeded in its march to the westward by
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rain and freshets,* encamped two or three days in Southington. The place of its encampment at that time is well established, as well as that of a second encampment of the same army on French hill in the same town. The rows of "white washed " Sabbath Day houses were of interest to the Frenchmen, who thought them the remains of a military encampment.t
The first recorded case of inoculation į for small pox in Water- bury was performed by Charles Upson in February, 1782-the patient being Ezra Mallory, who was taken care of three weeks by Wait Hotchkiss. Almost simultaneously with this case, the town gave, during forty-eight days, permission to all males in the town over ten years of age, and to all persons living on the east and west Continental road, "to take the infection of small pox by way of inoculation." A committee was appointed of fifteen men ("the Rev. Mr. Mark Leavenworth " being one) whose duty it was "to give orders respecting the time when the infection should be taken, the house or houses where the patients should live, the tendance, the time of their cleansing and the time of their release from restric- tions-and to take whatever precautions should be deemed expedi- ent for preserving the inhabitants from taking the infection." A few days later, it was ordered that the latest day for inoculation should be March 20th instead of April Ist. Cases of inoculation for the disease that gave such distress and trouble to the soldiers in camp, and the inhabitants of towns everywhere, were frequent before the time when in 1784, Dr. Abel Bronson petitioned the town to name a place "healthy, convenient and secure " where he might build a house to receive patients for inoculation. Under suitable restrictions, the consent of the town was gained, and Dr. Abel Bron- son established a hospital for that purpose, in Middlebury. The only portion of the building which remains is a single door, which was removed to a house occupied by the late Burritt Hall. It is covered with the names of patients who there endured the pains and penalties of inoculation. Of the number are "Sheldon Malary, Ezekiel Birdsey, Sam" D. H., Huntington, April 24, 1792; Jared Munson, Harry Edwards, Richard Skinner, Alfred Edwards, Samuel Wheeler, John Newton, of Washington, 1795; H. Marshall, Asa Green, Macomber Allis, Johnson, 23; Samuel Southmayd, Jr., Hodly, Clark, Sheldon Clark, Leavit T. Harris, and John Gilcrist." Two
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