USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Fairfield > This is Fairfield, 1639-1940 > Part 9
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Earlier the patriots of Fairfield had collected supplies for the relief of the suffering in Boston and had also arranged for the transportation of these supplies. A note of appreciation from these troubled people in Boston was received by the Townspeople. It read:
Boston November 24th 1774
Gentlemen:
The Testimony which the Patriotic Inhabitants of the Town of Fairfield have given of their Attach-
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ment to the Common and Glorious Cause of Liberty by their liberal Donation of Seven hundred and fifty bushels of Grain by Capt. Thorp has afforded much comfort as well as Seasonable Relief to their friends in Boston; who are now suffering under the cruel Rod of Ministerial Tyranny and Oppression.
The Sympathy of our friends is a great Support to us under our Tryals, notwithstanding the great- ness and Severity of them; and we trust through the favour of our God we shall be enabled to persevere in our Opposition to the Enemies of America, and so Answer the Hopes and Expectations of our friends of whose generous Donations, we trust we shall ever retain a grateful sense.
We are particularly obliged by the assurances you give us, that you are not insensible of our suf- ferings, and the hope you express that you shall yet Consider your Selves bound to afford us such Succour and Relief as your Circumstances and our wants may demand.
May a kind Providence bountifully reward your liberality and kindness and the Blessings of him that was ready to Perish come down and rest on the Heads of the generous Inhabitants of the Town of Fairfield.
We hope the inclosed Acco't of the manner in which the Committee are distributing the Donations of our Friends and Benefactors in whose Cause (as well as our own) this Town is Suffering will meet with your Approbation as it will afford great Satis- faction to
Your Obliged Friends & Humble Serv'ts Henry Hill by order of Committee of Donations
To Jona. Sturges
at Fairfield
634 Bush'll Rye
11 Bush'll Wheat
750 Bushels
Recd. 3 Pr Shoes of Capt. Thorp
Address on Letter of Thanks from Boston
To Mr. Jonathan Sturges and others Committee for Collecting Donations in the Town of Fairfield, Connecticut. P Fav'r Capt. Stephen Thorp.
The above is a true Copy of the Orig'll Letter & Superscription. December 19th 1774.
Recorded p. Nathan Bulkley Town Clerk
The next year it was voted to add Elnathan Williams as a Committeeman to procure a place of parade in the North Fairfield Parish and the Daughters of Liberty had organized themselves into a relief society. Home spun clothing of all sorts and knitted garments were donated to the needy in Boston.
Elijah Abel was appointed Captain, Peter Hendrick Lieutenant and Seth Silliman Ensign of the First Train-Band of Fairfield.
David Dimon was appointed Captain, Eli- phalet Thorp Lieutenant, and Samuel Penfield Ensign of the Second Train-Band of Fairfield.
Ebenezer Burr was established Lieutenant and
Ebenezer Hill Ensign of the Train-Band of Greenfield.
Each town was to receive a double quantity of powder, ball and flints.
Fairfield men Thaddeus Burr, Samuel Squire, David Dimon, Ebenezer Banks of Greenfield, Abijah Sterling of Stratfield, Andrew Rowland, Dr. Frances Forgue, Albert Chapman of Greens Farms and others were given responsibilities for the Colony and the State.
About 8 o'clock on the morning of April 22, 1775, a messenger brought the news of Lexing- ton to Fairfield.
The Honorable Thaddeus Burr, High Sheriff of the County, was standing on the porch of his mansion, (the Burr Mansion-Old Post Road), discussing with Colonel Silliman and Mr. Jona- than Sturges the prospects of War when a horse- man galloping down the street came to a sudden halt in front of the three members of the Town Committee of Correspondence. He handed Mr. Burr a scroll upon which was written:
To All Friends of American Liberty : Be it known that this morning (April 19th) before break of day a brigade consisting of about one thousand or two thousand men landed at Phipp's farm Cambridge, and marched to Lexington, where they found a com- pany of our Colonial Militia in arms, upon whom they fired without provocation, and killed six men and wounded four others. By an express from Bos- ton we find another brigade are on the march from Boston, supposed to be about one thousand. The bearer Trail Bissell is charged to alarm the country quite to Connecticut and all persons are desired to furnish him with fresh horses as they may be needed. I have spoken with several who have seen the dead and the wounded.
J. Palmer
One of the Committee of Sy.
That document-with a postscript signed by the Fairfield Committee being added-was for- warded immediately to New York and Philadel- phia. Thus the session of the Town Committee of War on Thaddeus Burr's front porch ended by sending out a call to arms. From this time forth, the Burr mansion was a center of vigorous, patriotic propaganda for the Independence of the Colonies.
Soon after April 19, 1775, 50 of Fairfield's militia under Captain David Dimon were hastily marching to Boston.
On June 28, Washington passed through Fair- field enroute to Cambridge where he was to take up command of the Continental Army. While in Town, he stopped at the Burr Mansion.
On July 6, the Continental Congress ordered
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Benjamin Franklin to establish a line of mile stone posts for the purpose of further communi- cation and intelligence along the Post Road.
Franklin, who had been appointed Postmaster General in 1753, had already established some milestones in the colonies before this directive of Congress was given him. One belief states that Franklin covered the entire route in a chaise with a contrivance of his own invention attached to the wheel which registered the distance trav- eled. As each mile was checked off, a large stone was erected. Some bore his initial F and stated the number of miles to the next most populated town. Another idea credits his chaise being fol- lowed by a cart with heavy stones that were dropped at every mile and later being set by a group of men while a third opinion stresses the belief that stones from near-by fields were placed by the several towns according to the direction of Mr. Franklin. At any rate, regardless of the method the mileage of one mile from one stone to the other is correct and has stood the weight of time. The location of these stones often be- came the site of an Inn or a Tavern along the route. No two stones are alike.
In addition to the Colonial Stones, or pre- Revolutionary War ones which are referred to as the Franklin Stones proper, there were those ordered in 1775 of the intermediate period, and lastly those of the turnpike era from 1795 to and into the 19th century.
In 1950 only six Colonial stones remained between Fairfield and New Haven.
In Fairfield today there is just one1. On the Old Post Road, just east of the Sherman Par- sonage where Mr. and Mrs. Charles O. C. Sloane, Jr., now live, is the 23 mile stone. The inscrip- tion has the irregular appearance and is the most westerly stone bearing the inscription of New Haven
23 Miles to N.H.
A picture of this stone is in the picture sec- tion of this book.
Stones 22 miles and 21 miles were standing in 1939 but are no longer in existence. The 22 mile stone was located in a tangle of bushes a little east of the Handy-Harmon Company. The
21 mile stone was on the outskirts of Bridgeport. The 20 mile stone on North Avenue opposite the old Parade Ground at the corner of North and Brooklawn Avenues still stands. This was, of course, part of Fairfield at the time the stones were placed. This last stone bears the letter F and it it believed to be the only one remaining with Franklin's initial.
Well-back to the troubled days of 1775.
It was too dangerous to send provisions and ammunition by water at this time. Fairfield was supplying an abundance of food, stores and clothing to the troops in and about Boston, as well as those in Albany who were preparing for an invasion in Canada. The Town was also well represented with Officers and recruits in the forces of the "United Colonies of North Ameri- ca".
During all of this anticipation of War, Fair- field was the scene of the wedding of Miss Doro- thy Quincy and Honorable John Hancock, Presi- dent of the Continental Congress. Miss Quincy, a daughter of Edmund Quincy Esq. of Boston, had been sent from that city during the siege to the home of Honorable Thaddeus Burr. The ceremony took place on the evening of the 24th of August 1775 before a host of friends and relatives with the Reverend Andrew Elliott, pas- tor of the First Church of Christ performing the ceremony.
The 19th of September 1775 was set aside as a public day of prayer and fasting and Fairfield, along with the other coastal towns, were to pre- pare for the injured and ill by providing neces- sary housing and equipment.
Little protection had been given to Fairfield until the 16th of February 1776 when the Gen- eral Assembly voted that 25 able bodied volun- teers should erect works of defense at Fort Black Rock (on Grover's Hill) and that each should receive 8 pence per day for their provision and support. One ton of powder was to be sent to Fairfield.
Gold Sellick Silliman was commissioned a Colonel of the first battalion to be sent to the relief of New York and in May was appointed Colonel of the Regiment of the Horse which was called out at this time.
In July 1776, a sum of £200 was granted to Lieutenant John Mills, Commander of the party at Black Rock Fort as the first month's pay for the group stationed there.
That was the month when on the 4th the Dec- laration of Independence was adopted and the
1 In Southport on King's Highway just around the corner from Oxford Place in front of the former site of the Hawkins house-1772. there is a marker which is said to be a Franklin stone. Some wonder if it really is for there is no writing on it at all and it seems quite different from the Franklin stones.
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United States of America became a reality in the World.
The next month the Selectmen of the Town were given liberty to purchase two of the colony cannon from the furnace at Salisbury for use of the Fort at Fairfield-viz-one twelve pounder and one eighteen pounder or two twelve pound- ers and one ton of shot suitable for the cannon.
On October 31, 1776 it was voted at Town Meeting
That a guard of 26 men to guard the town night- ly and every night to be set in manner following, viz: four to patrol from Sasco River to Cable's Mill and four from said Sasco River to the Mill River and four from the Mill River to the Pine Creek and six to patrol from sd Pine Creek to the Ash House Creek so called and in the Town Streets and four at Stratfield.
Voted that each of the guard have 3 shillings a night for their service.
Voted ye guard be taken out of ye Prime Society, Greens Farms, Greenfield and Stratfield.
The order for the recruits from Greenfield was issued on November 4 and a copy of it is in- cluded here:
To the Sheriff or his Deputy or either of the Constables of Fairfield County Greetings: In the name of the Governor & Company of Said Colony of Connecticut you are hereby commended forewith to warn and notify cight sufficient men from and with- in the limits of Captain Jonathan Dimon's Militia Company or such other able-bodied men not in the Militia rolls living in Greenfield parish in said county to appear at Captain Eliphilet Thorp's in said Fairfield at eleven o'clock in the evening of said day armed with each man a good gun and bayonet a quarter of a pound of good powder and one pound of bullets fit for their guns and three good flints and to serve as a watch or guard and to patrol on ye Sea Shore from Kinsey's Point to Sasco Creek from that time until the rising of the sun tomorrow and in like manner in every succeeding night til you shall be ordered to cease which watch are to take up and secure all suspicious persons and them hold until they shall be brought before Attorney to be examined and carefully inspected and take special care of all water crafts belonging to any person or persons and you are to signify to such watch or guard that they may not fail at their peril. Dated at Fairfield 4th day of November 1776.
Samuel Wakeman r Ebenezer Banks Joseph Strong John Allen Daniel Andrews Joseph Strong Joseph Wakeman Ebenezer Banks
Justices of the Peace
Selectmen
Fairfield was ordered to raise 20 men com-
manded by a Lieutenant and one Sergeant and soon five more men were ordered added to the battery for one year.
The town business continued to go on amid all of the prevailing anxiety and seven towns- men (or selectmen) were chosen that year.
On February 17, 1777 at the Town Meeting held in the Schoolhouse with Thaddeus Burr Esq. as Moderator, it was:
Voted yt Nathan Wheeler, Jr. be Constable ye present year in the room of Seth Down deceased.
Voted yt Nathan Wheeler, Jr. be Collector of ye Town Rate the present year in ye Parish of North Fairfield in ye room (in place of) Azariah Odell de- ceased and have 40 shillings for his service.
In March 7, 1777, the Governor ordered that a company of 32 men should be raised and sta- tioned at Fairfield.
The enemy's ships were now frequenting the Sound waters about Fairfield and on April 2, 1777 preparations for War were made at a Town Meeting.
PREPARATIONS FOR WAR
A Town Meeting Legally warned and held in Fairfield April 2d. 1777.
Voted that Jonathan Sturges Esqr. be Moderator of the Meeting.
Voted yt Gershom Hubbell be Selectman the year ensuing in the room of Ebenezer Banks Esqr. de- ceased.
Voted yt the Proportion of soldiers to be furn- ished in this Town for the Continental Service be made out according to the alarm List and Muster Rolls in Each Society.
Also voted yt ye Selectmen make out the said Proportion of Soldiers in Each Society and Notify the Captains of the alarm List & Muster Rolls there- of.
Voted that this Town doth Engage and promise such Soldiers as shall undertake in the Continental Service belonging to this Town and not have Time and Opportunity to lay out their money and make proper provision for their families (such as have any) that their said families on their reasonable re- quest, shall be supplied in their absence with neces- saries, at the prices stated by Law: on such Soldiers lodging or from time to time remitting money to the Committee to be appointed for that purpose and without any additional Expense.
Also voted yt the Selectmen be a Committee to provide for Soldiers' families according to the above vote.
Those who served received payment accord- ing to their service and the Constable kept the accounts.
Fairfield 9th June 1777
To Dan'l Sherwood, Constable,
You are desired to deduct from the Rates of those persons noted in this book who served when
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warned at the Rate of three shillings per night and be particularly careful that none be paid who did not serve; also keep a particular account of every person who neglected going on guard when warned. per order Selectmen Test, Thaddeus Burr, Selectman
It was further voted that year that the Select- men provide some suitable house for the recep- tion of such persons who might be infected with Small Pox. Stephen Thorp, who had been ap- pointed a captain, allowed his house at Mill River opposite Sasco Hill to be used by persons who had been innoculated with the Small Pox, which had proved a source of danger to the nearby guard house.
At a later town meeting it was
Voted yt1 the Selectmen be a Committee to pro- cure clothing for the soldiers in Continental service belonging to this town according to an order of ye Governor and Council of Safety of this State. dated September 12, 1777
Also voted:
Yt Captain David Hubbell, Captain John An- drews, Hez. Hubbell, Major Jabez Hill, Dan'll Dun- can and Nath'll Wilson be a Committee to assist ye Selectmen in procuring the above mentioned cloth- ing.
The Soldiers' clothing was made of tow cloth primarily and consisted of a shirt and a pair of trousers. Their tents too were made of this ma- terial. Tow is the coarse or broken fibers of flax, hemp or jute prepared for spinning by scutch- ing or beating. These uniforms were of heavy, coarse, rough material at best. Tow linen of today is a coarse linen.
The Town .
Voted yt Seth Seely, Major Jabez Hill, Jonth. Lewis, Eben'r Jesup, Capt. Eben'r Hill, Daniel An- drews and Thaddeus Burr, Esqr. be assessors.
Voted yt Gold Selleck Silliman Esqr. as agent for the Town, prepare a Memorial to ye General As- sembly in October next, praying said Assembly to Appoint a Committee to enquire into the Damage done to the Inhabitants of this Town by the Minis- terial Army when they went to Danbury in April last past.
When the British attacked Danbury, they had plundered the houses of some of the in- habitants of Fairfield, taking almost everything they found. They had taken their horses and cattle and really left them in distressing circum- stances. It was at this point that General Silliman and the Fairfield Militia first met Governor Tryon.
William Wheeler in his Journal had this to say about the Danbury Raid:
1 Yt stands for "that".
DANBURY RAID
April 24, 1777
18 sails landed at Compo. 2500 men who marched up through Greenfield and North Fairfield to Dan- bury stayed there one night-destroyed the stores of provisions-Our people collected and General Arnold built a breastwork in Ridgefield and with 250 men stopped the whole Army for 15 minutes -on our side Colonel Gould and a considerable number were killed.
The next month John Hancock, who had just resigned after serving two years as President of the Continental Congress, passed through Fair- field en route to Boston with a group of light dragoons.
Fairfield's closeness to the War continued and on December 29, 1777 the following vote was accepted :
TOWN MEETING-December 29, 1777
Voted yt the Selectmen procure an Account of all ye Inhabitants of this Town that have enlisted into the Continental Service & for how long a time & also of all foreigners: And of all ye Inhabitants of sd Town & foreigners yt have been hired into sd Service and for how long a time and also of the Persons who hired them.
Just four days later another town meeting was called and the Articles of Confederation were endorsed. Three hundred copies were received by the town and were distributed to the inhabi- tants.
A Town Meeting held in Fairfield on Fryday ye 2d Day of January A:D: 1778. According to the above adjournment The former Moderator Gen'll G.
Voted that this Meeting do approve of the Arti- cles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. Agreed upon by the Continental Congress: and do desire the Assembly of this State to Authorize their Dele- gates to Ratify the same in Congress in behalf of this state.
Voted yt Isaac Bennett and Hez. Bradley be a Committee to assist the selectmen in providing for the families of soldiers who are in the Continental Service.
These were anxious days for the early settlers and in February at:
A Town Meeting Legally warned and held in Fair- field February 2d. 1778.
Voted yt Gold Selleck Silliman Esqr. be Modera- tor of this meeting.
Voted & Agreed yt there be forty-two men enlist- ed to keep guard on the sea coasts at Stratford: and the same number at McKensies Point1: and the same number at Frost Point & the same number at Com- po: that six men mount guard at each of the above
1 McKensies Point, or Kenzie's Point as it is known to the senior residents, lies east of the old Tidemill on Mill River in Southport at the foot of Sasco Hill.
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mentioned places every night at sunset and continue there until sunrise ye next morning: And that each man have six shillings per night when in Service.
Also voted yt ye Selectmen enlist men for sd guards and make out their Rotations and give them directions respecting their Service.
Voted yt ye Town do desire that the Alarm post, for the Militia to Repair in Case of an Alarm, be the places of Parade in the first Society and in Stratfield: And at Jesup Wakeman's in Greens Farms.
The necessities of the Town were maintained throughout all of this anxiety. A special tax of £2500 was set aside in the Town Treasury for the purpose of repairing and mending the bridges. Ansel Truby was given permission to build a house near Applegate's gate. The Tax Rate was 6 shillings on the pound and "Capt. Nath'll Seely was given Liberty to build a Pound near his Dwelling house at his own cost." Twenty jurymen rather than 14 were now being ap- pointed.
In March at
A Town Meeting Legally warned and held in Fairfield March 25th: 1778.
Voted yt Capt. Hezekiah Hubbell be Moderator of this Meeting.
Voted yt the Selectmen keep up the guards on the Sea Coasts until the first Day of June next at the Cost of the Town.
The coastal towns lived in constant fear of the enemy and Fairfield furthered its activities with winter quarters being provided the soldiers who were guarding the town and subscriptions were taken in the town toward supplies to carry on the War. A company of volunteers was raised and a company of 24 men was ordered to be stationed in Fairfield, John Odell, Lieutenant, to be in charge of these "24 mattrosses".1
The selectmen were charged with the respon- sibility of supplying needed clothing for the soldiers.
A Town Meeting Legally warned and held in Fairfield April 27th: A:D: 1778.
Voted yt Thads. Burr Esqr. be Moderator of this Meeting.
Voted yt Sturges Lewis, Capt. Job Bartram, Seth Seely, Joseph Hide, Moses Sherwood, David Hub- bell, Increase Bradley Esqr., Sam'll Wakeman Esqr. and Isaac Bennett be a Committee to provide Cloth- ing for the officers and soldiers in the Continental Army belonging to this Town according to an Act or Resolve of the General Assembly passed on the second Thursday of January last past.
Voted yt the Selectmen be directed to borrow such sums of Money as may be necessary to pur- chase the Clothing for ye officers and Soldiers till the same can be had out of the Treasury of this State.
In the Fall, the Selectmen requested addition- al powder and ball as the previous supplies had been exhausted. A company from Fairfield was ordered to Newport. Thirty pounds of musket powder and twenty pounds of lead were sent. General Silliman was directed to fit up a small vessel to cruise the Sound and to arrange for provisions to supply an appropriate guard for the battery at Fairfield.
A Town Meeting held in Fairfield December 23d 1778.
Voted yt Dan'll Lacey be surveyor of Highway ye year ensuing.
Voted and Agreed yt Increase Bradley Esqr., Messrs. John Hide, Del. Bennett, Stephen Wakeman, James Bennett, Sam'll Squier Esqr., Thads. Wake- man, John Wakeman, Jur. Peter Smith, Colo. Jona- than Dimon, David Silliman, Nathan Wheeler, Jr., Benjamin Lacy and Seth Seeley be a Committee to provide for officers and soldiers wives and families who are in the Continental Service belonging to this Town.
Voted and Agreed yt the Salt at Mill River be- longing to the Town be disposed of by the direction of the Selectmen for the purpose of Supplying the families of officers and soldiers in the Continental service with necessaries.
Voted and Agreed yt Capt. Job Bartram, Messrs. Seth Seely, Richard Hubbell, Jr., Joseph Hide, Moses Sherwood, Increase Bradley Esqr., David Williams, Sam'll Wakeman, Esqr. and Mr. Isaac Bennett be a Committee to provide Clothing for the officers and soldiers belonging to this Town in the Continental Service according to a late act or Re- solve of the General Assembly of this state.
Governor Trumbull appointed December 30 as a day of Thanksgiving in Connecticut.
A company of 50 men were ordered to be stationed at Fairfield and a bonus of eight pounds was offered to any enlisted man who would furnish himself with a blanket, a bayonet and firearms. They were also to be exempt from taxes until August for this self-equipping. The monthly pay for this company was to be-a captain £18, a lieutenant £12, a sergeant £7 4s, a corporal £6 12s, a drummer and a fifer £6 12s, and a private £6. Two armed vessels were also planned for immediate cruising of the Sound. Captain Samuel Smedley of the Ship "Defense" was ordered to sail on an expedition on the Sound against the enemy. This ship owned by the State, had first been officered in 1776 by Eben- ezer Bartram as First Lieutenant (who soon re-
1 Mattrosses-a soldier in a train band next to the gunner, to assist them in loading, firing and sponging the guns. They car- ried fire-locks and marched with the store wagons as guard and assistants. Sometimes sailors and marines who sleep in hanging- mats or hammocks were also called mattrosses.
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tired because of infirmity ) and Samuel Smedley as Second Lieutenant. In 1777 at the age of 24 Samuel Smedley became Captain of the "De- fense" and Joseph Squire, also of Fairfield, became Lieutenant of Marines. The majority of the original crew came from Fairfield or Strat- ford. During its career of three years, this ship, which was less than 100 feet long, took 600 prisoners and 12 prizes. The latter which were listed to her credit were:
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