USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Meriden > Years of Meriden 150: published in connection with the observance of the city's sesquicentennial, June 17-23, 1956 > Part 5
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However, many Connecticut men did "rush off." Of the 300 Connecticut Englishmen in the army of 1,000 raised for the Narragansett campaign, there were a few from this section. Some served in the disastrous Swamp Fort fight in Rhode Island. Some years later land was given to the veterans in recognition of military service. One of these was Samuel Hough, father of James who built the Meriden mill later known as Baldwin's in the north- eastern section. His land in lieu of a pension or the more modern
43
MERIDEN IN THE WARS
"GI benefits" was in the Norwich section of Connecticut where he lived at the time of his enlistment.
Only one Meriden man is listed as being in the Louisburg expedition in 1745. He is Samuel Royce, son of Captain Ezekial who is recorded as having made a death claim after his son died in New London upon his return from Cape Breton. Quite a few Meriden-Wallingford names are on the rolls of the French and Indian Wars as participating in the Fort Ticonderoga campaign, - names familiar in our history such as Daniel Hough, Benjamin Curtis, Abraham Hall, Moses Curtis, Isaac Cook, Jr., and Benj. Rexford.
Before recounting Meriden's part in the Revolution, the small part played in the War of 1812 by local people can be quickly told. This was not at all a popular cause in any part of New England. Trade was too important to the inhabitants tasting the early success of their manufacturing and merchandising talents. The embargo on the port of Boston was a serious setback. Never- theless a number of Meriden men enlisted for military service although there is no indication that they were ever actively engaged against the enemy. Their duty was apparently guard work in New Haven or New London, and even that was of short duration.
The colonists' ties with England, which had been stretched taut for some years, reached the breaking point in 1775. The news of Paul Revere's ride, the night of April 18, and of the following day's fighting at Lexington and Concord spread like wildfire throughout the colonies. Patriots hesitated no longer and eager men hurried towards Boston. One company of 38 men, under Captain John Couch, went from Meriden. These men were out only seven days, hardly time to go to Boston and return. They doubtless received notice while on the march that their services were not needed. One Samuel Kilbourn rendered an account "for ferrying across Connecticut River at Hartford in the Lexington alarm Capt. Couch, of Meriden, with 18 men, 4 hourses and 1 waggon. Also Capt. Cook of Wallingford."
Captain John Couch, probably Meriden's outstanding Revolu- tionary War hero, had come here in 1746 and bought a farm from Aaron Lyman. He was, therefore, not a young man at the outbreak of hostilities. He built his house on what is now the junction of Wall and North Wall Streets. The Ransom Baldwin
44
MERIDEN IN THE WARS
place (1828) was once part of Captain Couch's farm.
Shortly after the Lexington alarm the Legislature issued the first call for troops. The regiment was recruited in New Haven county, and about September 28, 1775, it marched to the Northern Department and took part in operations along Lakes George and Champlain. In this campaign Captain Isaac Cook, of Wallingford, commanded a company in which there were about ten Meriden men, including Lieut. John Hough and Sergt. Samuel Hall.
In the expedition to Lakes George and Champlain, referred to above, many of the soldiers were taken sick and the following bills were paid by the state for medical attendance to Meriden men. Dr. Insign Hough presented a bill for going after Benjamin Austin to Stillwater, N. Y., on October 30, 1775:
To Horse hire 130 miles at 2d per mile £1-1-8
To my time 8 days at 3/8 per Day £1-4-0
To cash paid expenses on said Journey 18-5
Simeon Perkins presented a bill for bringing home his appren- tice, Jared Benham, from beyond Albany.
Lieut. Joseph Shailer was taken sick at Putney, Vermont, after the campaign and "was tended 16 days" at an expense of £1-10-0 and then was obliged to hire a man and a horse to bring him home, a distance of 190 miles, at an expense of £6-16-18.
John Austin, of Wallingford, presented a bill for going for his sick son, Amos, six miles this side of Albany.
A soldier on his way home from the campaign was taken sick at Edward Collins' home, on North Colony Street, in Meriden, and could go no farther, so there he remained helpless for six weeks, with Dr. Insign Hough and Dr. Isaac Hall attending him, and Mr. Collins furnishing nurses and watchers. The quantity of rum and brandy administered to this sick man was prodigious during the two weeks when he was "worst." He finally recovered and went on his way, but his name is not given in the bill.
In the siege of Boston, which took place after the Battle of Bunker Hill, the only official record of service from Meriden is that of Captain John Couch. He was in Colonel Wadsworth's regiment which reached there towards the end of January, 1776. Probably there were with him several more Meriden men he had commanded during the Lexington alarm, but the names of only two have come down to us - Ezekiel Rice and Samuel Scovil. Letters from Ezekiel Rice, Joseph Rice and Joseph Shailer (or
45
MERIDEN IN THE WARS
Shaylor), written while they were soldiers in the Revolution, are quoted in Curtis's A Century of Meriden.
This Joseph Shailer served continuously in the army from the beginning to the end of the war and attained the rank of first lieutenant. He was in the battles of Long Island, White Plains, and took part in the storming and capturing of Stony Point under "Mad" Anthony Wayne, on July 15, 1779. His home was on Gravel Street, a little south of Baldwin Avenue. He later moved to Ohio.
After the British evacuated Boston, General Washington and his army set out for New York. Captain Couch was at that time in Col. Bradley's battalion in General Wadsworth's brigade which "was stationed the greater part of the summer and early fall of 1776 at Bergen Heights and Paulus Hook (now Jersey City). In October it moved up the river to the vicinity of Fort Lee, then under General Greene's command. In November most of the regiment was sent across the river to assist in defending Fort Washington, which on the fall of the fort November 16, was captured with the entire garrison." Captain Couch was taken prisoner, together with the following Meriden men in his com- pany: Gideon Ives, John Pierce, Samuel Rice, Jonathan Hall, Benjamin Austin, Gideon Rice, Stephen Atwater, Moses Hall, and possibly Nathaniel Yale.
Captain John Couch was in a British prison on Long Island for some time after this capture. In the State Library at Hartford, in Revolutionary War Documents, Vol. XII, are preserved various receipts for money conveyed by the state to men in prison on Long Island, 1777. John Couch's name is among the number of those signing. He evidently gained his freedom during the year, for he appears as captain of a company in a militia regiment ordered to Peekskill in 1777.
Isaac Hall Jr., son of Dr. Isaac Hall, was apparently captain of a company of militia which was, in 1776, attached to a regiment of Light Horse. In 1777 he was in service in New York and "parts adjacent," and in 1779 it is recorded that some men were detached from "Capt. Isaac Hall's company to go to Greenwich." His name also appears on the roll of those doing service in the British invasion of New Haven in 1779.
Divan Berry was second lieutenant of a company in Wads- worth's brigade, and was at Fort Washington, but it does not
46
MERIDEN IN THE WARS
appear that he was captured. Later that same year he was at Ticonderoga under General Gates. In 1779 he was a captain on coast guard duty near Greenwich, during the time of the British expedition up the Sound under General Tryon. In 1780 he was a captain in the 17th regiment.
John Hough, mentioned before as a lieutenant in Captain Cook's company in 1775, did service in this state during the years 1776 and 1777. In 1779 he was captain of a company which served in the Tryon invasion, and in 1780 he was a captain in the Seventh militia regiment. In the month of October, 1777, Lieut. Colonel Baldwin's regiment of militia was ordered to the Hudson at Fishkill to aid the Continental army. They were out perhaps 30 days, and probably saw no active service. In this regiment, besides this same Lieut. John Hough, were Captain Bezaleel Ives and Captain Dan Collins.
Two Meriden slaves served in the Revolution. One was Chatham Freeman, who undoubtedly assumed this surname when he became free. He was the slave of Noah Yale, and the story is that he was offered his freedom if he would go to war in place of one of Mr. Yale's sons. Chatham served the enlistment, returned home and was freed. The second slave was Black Boss who belonged to Abel Curtis. On a report of the town of Wallingford 1779 in the State Library, appears the name of Boston negro, next to the name of Chatham negro.
As the first enthusiasm of the war wore away it was found necessary to make an inducement for men to join the army. Accordingly, on March 31, 1777, it was "voted, that the town will give a Bounty to those that engage in the Continental service. Voted that each soldier that engages in the Continental service for the quota of Wallingford shall be paid by the town the sum of five pounds lawful money by the year for three years unless sooner Discharged: to be paid by the beginning of each year."
This payment of bounty was carefully recorded, and in April, 1779, the town reported to the State War Department a list of all those to whom bounties had been paid. A second report was made in December, 1779 and at various times lists were furnished of those soldiers whose families were assisted by the town during their absence in the field.
Several references have been made to the British expedition up the Sound, under General Tryon. This is probably as close as the
47
MERIDEN IN THE WARS
war came to Meriden, since New Haven is nearer than Danbury. The enemy came to anchor in New Haven harbor about midnight on Sunday, July 4, 1779. No doubt beacon fires and scurrying horsemen soon carried the news through the surrounding country, and probably by daybreak of the fifth, the various militia com- panies in this and adjoining parts of the state were on the march to New Haven.
The British troops, about 3,000 strong, were landed at daybreak on the east and west shores, and New Haven was soon in posses- sion of the enemy. Several buildings were fired, a number of people were killed, and numerous outrages were committed. On the East Haven side there were many encounters with the local militia and sharp fighting a good part of the day. The swiftly gathering companies from up the state soon convinced the British that their position was untenable and on the evening of the sixth they embarked and set sail for New York, stopping on the way at Fairfield and Norwalk, where they committed greater devasta- tion and havoc than at New Haven.
Two companies of militia from Meriden marched to New Haven, probably starting on the morning of July 5th. One was under the command of Captain Dan Collins and the other under Captain John Hough.
No doubt other Meriden men saw service in the Continental army, but their names in the official records can not be positively identified as belonging to men from this vicinity. The lack of a middle name, an almost universal custom at the time, and the failure to give in the records the addresses of the great majority of the soldiers, makes it generally unwise to assume an address.
Today in the Curtis Memorial Library hangs a large bronze plaque containing the following inscription and names:
48
MERIDEN IN THE WARS
IN MEMORY OF THE SOLDIERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 1775-1783 - PARISH OF MERIDEN - ERECTED BY THE SUSAN CARRINGTON CLARKE CHAPTER DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
JUNE 1906
Capt. John Couch
Nathaniel Douglas
Isaac Rice
Capt. Divan Berry
Chatham Freeman
Gideon Rice
Capt. Israel Johnson
Phineas Hough
Wait Rice
Capt. Isaac Hall
Moses Hall
Justus Rice
Lieut. Joseph Shailer
Jonathan Hall
Jotham Rice
Sergt. Samuel Hall
David Hall
Solomon Rice
Sergt. Ezekiel Rich
Isaac Hall, Jr.
Joseph Rice
Stephen Atwater Abner Andrews
Gideon Ives
Benjamin Rexford, Sr.
Isaac Atwater
Isaac Livingston
Benjamin Rexford, Jr.
Benjamin Austin
Phineas Lyman
Thomas Spencer
Jared Benham
Asaph Merriam
Nash Yale
Samuel Collins
Ephriam Merriam
Nathaniel Yale
Ebenezer Cowles
Boston Negro
Waitstill Yale
Joel Cowles Joel Hall Rufus Hall
John Pierce
Nathaniel Yale
Israel Hall
Jotham Hall
MILITIA
Capt. Dan Collins Lieut. James Hough
Jesse Merriam
Phineas Hall
William Merriam
Enos Hall
Ens. Brenton Hall
Joseph Merriam
Marshall Merriam
Amasa Merriam
Sergt. Amos Ives Corp. Daniel Janes Corp. Ezra Rice Sanborn Ford Yale Bishop
Stephen Perkins
Elisha Merriam
Elisha Scovil
Caleb Merriam Daniel Mekye
John Barnes
Lieut. Nathaniel Merriam Wyllys Mekye Ens. Thomas Foster
John Morgan
James Cabon
Sergt. Joseph Edwards
Simeon Perkins
Abel Curtis
Sergt. Jonathan Yale
John Robinson
Timothy Foster
Sergt. Comfort Butler
Samuel Rice
Daniel Hall
Sergt. Giles Griswold
Elijah Scovil
Moses Hall, Jr.
Willys Bishop
David Scovil
Bezaliel Ives
Asa Brown
Moses Way John Yale
Timothy Ives
Edward Collins
Samuel Johnson
Elisha Curtis
Abner Way
Benjamin Merriam
Giles Foster
Amerton Yale
John Ives
Ozias Foster
Jesse Merriam
John Miles
Jeremiah Farrington
Daniel Yale
Titus Merriam
Caleb Merriam
Samuel Merriam
Capt. John Hough
John Couch
Benjamin Hart
Levi Robinson
Many of these Revolutionary soldiers are buried in the old cemetery on Broad Street. Here in 1931, a boulder with a bronze tablet listing their names, was erected by the Captain John Couch Branch, Sons of the American Revolution.
49
CHAPTER NINE
Old Customs, Old Ways and Progress
PERHAPS IT would be interesting to consider what life was like in these old homes a hundred and fifty or two hundred years ago. Since Meriden was an isolated farming community - a suburb, really, of Wallingford - most of the homes were of the simple farmhouse type. Inside, as we have seen, there were often pleasing details, such as good paneling and attractive bannisters and cupboards. But the clapboards were nailed directly to the studding and, in the early houses, boards were used instead of plaster on the inside of the outside walls. In winter how the wind and cold must have whistled through the cracks! Blazing fires were kept burning in great fireplaces, but rooms were still draughty and cold. The bedrooms must have been almost unbear- able. No wonder warming pans and feather beds were considered necessities.
Merely keeping alive was, in many respects, quite a difficult matter. Besides the hazards of Indians and wild animals, there was a great lack of medical knowledge, and physicians of any kind were few. The mortality rate was much higher then than now, particularly among young mothers. In reading over old records, it is very noticeable that many men had two, three, and sometimes even four wives.
A woman was almost an economic necessity for a man, in those days, when she was not only his companion and the mother of his children, but when it was she, alone and unaided by any outside help or any mechanical gadgets, who kept his house clean, prepared every morsel of food he ate, and made every stitch he wore. Nearly every household had its great wheel for spinning wool and its small, or flax, wheel for making linen thread; plus a loom for weaving this thread into sheets, table linen, and cloth for underwear for the entire family. The wool, also, had to be woven into material, out of which the wife made suits for her husband and clothes for herself and the children.
There were, in addition, socks to be knit from the carded wool. Until about 1810 nearly all materials for common wear were
50
OLD CUSTOMS, OLD WAYS AND PROGRESS
homemade. Besides all this, the housewife had to make her own pillows, feather beds, soap, and candles. Candle making was a serious affair. At first they were made by "dipping," then tin moulds came into use and a number of candles could be poured at one time. Even so, candles were used with the greatest economy. In the realm of food, the lady of the house, of course, churned butter, made cheese, baked bread, dried and salted food for the winter, and helped with the butchering, the chickens, and the vegetable garden. The old adage, "Women's work is never done," was certainly true then.
The settlers in this area must have found an abundance of game, but as early as 1760 there was a colonial law forbidding the killing of deer from the first of January to the first of August. The penalty was four pounds for every offense. Several times, in old inventories, wild pigeon nets were mentioned. This indicates that people took advantage of the great annual flights of these birds, no doubt for food and to use the feathers for beds and pillows.
Every family lived on the produce of its farm or by the proceeds of some useful trade, which was secondary to the work of tilling the soil. Among the various families there was little difference in the value of their possessions. There was no great wealth anywhere. Mr. Perkins speaks of the almost complete lack of money or circulating medium. In 1706 the entire circulating cash in gold and silver in the colony was only about 2,000 pounds. And, of course, there were no banks in existence. Bartering produce was the accepted method of doing business.
Life was hard, in those early days, and pleasures were few. Even though the all-day church attendance seems severe to us, it provided a welcome change from the drudgery and monotony of the rest of the week. And the "nooning," particularly in summer, when it took on the air of a solemn and sedate picnic, gave the women almost their only opportunity to get together.
In fact, the church, with its attendant ceremonies, provided most of the social life known at that time. There were the dinners and balls at the ordination of the minister, and the feasts, as at Thanksgiving (Christmas then did not count at all) and at weddings and funerals. At this time relatives and friends came from afar, and were expected to stay and partake of the funeral baked meats which custom required must be lavishly provided.
Outside of this feasting, the funerals were dreary, indeed. The
51
OLD CUSTOMS, OLD WAYS AND PROGRESS
coffins, outlining as nearly as possible the shape of the body, were made by the nearest carpenter. Sometimes they were clumsily lined, but usually not; occasionally they were stained or painted a crude blue color, but most often the wood was left untouched. The term "bearers" was a literal one, because the coffin, with its burden was carried on men's shoulders the entire way to the roughly dug grave. Not a flower was ever used; it would have seemed indecorous to try to lighten the gloom of death.
A quaint custom which has been lost with the years is described by Mrs. Breckenridge: "The very greatest and most important of all social functions was the ordination dinner and the ordination ball that followed. Both for the dinner and ball a liberal supply of liquors was supposed needful and proper. The last ordination ball given in Meriden was in 1803 when the Rev. Erastus Ripley was ordained. This ball was given in the old tavern ball-room. The last real ordination dinner was given when the Rev. Charles Hinsdale was installed in 1823. This dinner was at his own house situated on Broad Street. At this feast onions held an honorable and conspicuous place, and liquors were so copiously provided that it was whispered a prominent member of society became quite incoherent in conversation. ... Ordination balls were very serious and stately divertisements, and very rigid and formal etiquette was observed; also, critical attention was given to the dancing steps."
Naturally, these grand affairs did not happen often, and there was very little entertainment, as we think of it, in the lives of early Meridenites. There was scarcely even any reading material available to them. The Bible, of course, was read and reread, partly perhaps because of the scarcity of other books. The few printing presses in the colony printed sermons of eminent preachers. These were widely circulated and read. One of these was a sermon of the Rev. Theophilus Hall, delivered on August 10, 1760, entitled, "A Saving Faith Scripturally Explained." The annual almanac was a popular publication, since it provided reading for the entire family and served, besides, as a farmer's log book and weather predictor.
There were few children's books, other than the New England Primer. But by 1796 Meriden had a small subscription library of 153 volumes, mostly relating to divinity and theology. It is
52
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The Meriden City Hall
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3
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Broad Street in 1889 First Baptist and Center Congregational Churches at left; Central Tavern in background. Brick building on corner beyond churches is Coe Block razed in the 1890's
World War I Monument and Memorial Boulevard, looking south past the historic white churches
Broad Street in 1956
書主莓社
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Theophilus Hall house, later the Central Tavern
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Andrews Homestead, 424 West Main Street Built circa 1760
Interior Andrews Homestead Meriden Historical Society hostesses in 18th century costumes
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Meriden Center about 1834 looking north from junction of Curtis and Broad Streets (From Barber's Historical Collections of Connecticut)
Curtis Street elms, as they were
1711 Club Inn 677 North Colony Street, built 1711
Residence Dr. Sherburne Campbell 1074 East Main Street, built before 1772
Map prepared by Joseph P. Beach of Cheshire
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1849
SOUTH
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MITFORD
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569
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1640 GUILFORD
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NM01 37 00 1 W
Original plan of the Town of Wallingford
after the original by Perkins , Lithography. 128 Fulton St. N.y.
WEST
Ground
Burying
4
4 Joseph Benham
3 Samt Munson.
3 Samuel Hall
2 Nath + Merriman
2 Samuel Cooke
1 NaTht Merriman
1 Nath+ Merriman
CROSS HIGH WAY the first laid out.
6 Rev. Samt Street
5 James Eaton
4 Daniel Sherman
3 Abrahain Dowlittle
SOUTH END.
Reserved for a Planting field .
2. John Mois S! 1. John Bracket
fix acres of land .
Each "Houfe Lot" contains
Land laid out for purposes other than Building or HoujeLots.
COLONY ROAD From Hartford To New Haven The first highway laid out in The State
NORTH
END.
18 Samuel Rice
18 Benjamin Levis 37. Nath& Rice.
17 Nehemiah Rice
16 Thomas Yale
16 David Tuttle
15 Samuel Rice.
15 Thomas Hall.
14 Thomas Curtis
14 Samuel Thorp.
13 Simon Tuttle
13 Daniel Hopper 12 John Mix
Common Field
11 John Peck
11 Jeremiah How
10 John Miles
10 Joseph Lines
9 Sam Andrews
9 Zachariah How
8 Nathan Andrews
8 Nath' How
T Samuel Brown
2 Samuel Potter G Eleazur Peck
6 Ins Herriman.
5 Ministry
5 John Hall
Wilderness.
Blue H12
FARTS
QUINNIPIAC RUNT D-
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FARM
WEST
"have
12 Jo . Lines
LONG
By vote of ye Town
MaPYME VILLIAGE.
1638 2 11 - Indian
1645,
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Fields
HIGH
WAY
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1660
MERIDEN
1650
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8400 ML:
WOLLATIE
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Common Field
Common
OLD CUSTOMS, OLD WAYS AND PROGRESS
likely that this collection was housed in the basement of the old meeting house where the Center Church now stands. In the early part of the nineteenth century the only private libraries of any size were owned by Dr. Isaac Hough and Mr. Fenner Bush. Among the doctor's collection were the works of such English authors as Smollet, Fielding, Richardson, Sterne, Dean Swift and Fanny Burney. The American Lady's Preceptor, published in Baltimore in 1821, was another favorite of the doctor's niece, Mrs. Breckenridge, who says that he and Mr. Bush bought all the new books as they came out.
In that far-off day, people in this little parish had no idea what was happening in the outside world until long after it had occurred. There was no newspaper, letters were extremely rare, and news was brought only by travelers going through, perhaps from Hartford or Boston to New Haven or even to Wallingford for, in the early days, it was considered one of the large towns in the colony.
That our town was not a place given to luxury may be assumed from descriptions of living conditions in Perkins' Historical Sketches. Mr. Perkins stated that in 1802 there was but one carpet in all of Meriden. According to Mrs. Breckenridge, carpeted parlors were common by 1836, but she questioned if there were a dozen homes in town at that time where carpets were in use in the living room.
We have come to think of these early settlers as exceedingly strict and righteous, but apparently they, too, had their small vices. In 1647 the colony ordered that no person under twenty years of age should use any tobacco without a certificate from a physician; and no others although addicted to its use, unless they were ten miles from any house, and then not more than once a day. Cider was the common beverage of the country, although some beer was drunk. Among some old records this strange entry was found, "It is ordered that there shall be one good hogshead of beer for the captain and minister."
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