USA > Vermont > Windsor County > Norwich > A history of Norwich, Vermont > Part 8
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The Sharon Baptist church above mentioned appears to have possessed a stronger vitality. Under the ministrations of Rev. James Parker (a deacon of the church, who in 1805 had been ordained as pastor, and was thenceforward actively engaged as a Baptist preacher until the close of a long and busy life in 1839) the church held its own in a sort of nomadic existence, worshipping in schoolhouses and private dwellings for forty years, until in 1833 it built a small but tasteful meeting house at West Norwich (Beaver Meadow), near which lo- cality a considerable portion of its communicants then resided. After the death of Mr. Parker, the Rev. J. S. Herrick supplied the church about a year, and was formally ordained over the church and society
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EPISCOPAL CHURCH, NORWICH VILLAGE ERECTED 1852
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THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH AT NORWICH
in 1840. Stated meetings continued to be held from this time on- ward for thirty years, during which period several ministers were settled and dismissed. In 1871, the church and society having be- come much weakened from deaths and removals, meetings were dis- continued at Beaver Meadow, and the following year the society per- manently removed to Sharon village, where it erected its second meet- ing house and where it still worships. The disused church building at West Norwich was, in 1875, taken down and the materials used in the construction of a parsonage at Sharon. During the thirty years existence of the church at Beaver Meadow, about 125 persons were added to its membership. A list of Baptist ministers at Beaver Meadow, with their terms of service as far as we have been able to ascertain them, is as follows: Rev. James Parker, previous to 1839; Rev. J. S. Herrick, 1839-1842; Rev. J. Crowley, 1842-1846 ; Rev. Philip Chamberlin, 1846-1860; Rev. A. W. Boardman, 1862 -; Rev. W. L. Coburn, 1864-1865; Rev. C. D. Fuller, 1868-1869.
A small Episcopal church was organized at Norwich as early as 1835, chiefly through the exertions of Doctor Ira Davis. Between 1846 and 1850, services were held occasionally in different parts of the town, conducted by Professor Hill of Dartmouth College, and others. In 1851 Doctor Edward Bourne, an Episcopal clergyman, be- came president of Norwich University, and from that time regular services were held in the village until the removal of the University to Northfield in 1866,-first in the chapel of the University, and after 1863 in a small church building erected that year just south of the parade ground of the University. This edifice was provided largely by the efforts of Mrs. Charlotte Rogers, daughter of Colonel William Barron, and from contributions obtained by her abroad. * Since the removal of the University, Episcopal services have been held but oc- casionally in Norwich, the completion of an elegant and commodious church edifice at Hanover in 1874, within one mile of the village, rendering it easy for the small society still existing here to attend worship there.
*For several years services have been held regularly up to the present time- 1905.
CHAPTER IX
NORWICH IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR
The sources of information in regard to the part taken by the town in the Revolutionary struggle are few and scanty. The earliest al- lusion in the town records to this important epoch of the country's history, is found in the election of a Committee of Safety at the annual town meeting, March 11, 1777. This committee was five in number : Deacon Joseph Smalley, Samuel Hutchinson, John Hatch, Captain Hezekiah Johnson and John Hopson. There is much reason to be- lieve, however, that this was not the first Committee of Safety that acted for the town; but was a new committee selected to conform to a recommendation made to the towns in Cumberland and Gloucester Counties by the Convention at Westminster which declared the inde- pendence of Vermont the preceding January .* It is pretty certain that a company of militia was organized in Norwich as early as the year 1774 or 1775. Of this company Peter Olcott was chosen Captain and Thomas Murdock, Ensign, doubtless by the votes of the men en- rolled in the same. The company was probably a purely voluntary organization of patriotic young men, in Colonel Seth Warner's regi- ment of Rangers in 1775, in the continental service. Colonel Timothy Bedell, of Haverhill, N. H., also raised a regiment the same year for service in Canada. Fresh regiments were enlisted early in the spring of 1776, by both Colonel Bedell and Colonel Warner. Again on the 7th of March Colonel Morey writes to the New Hampshire Committee of Safety: "Some recruiting officers from Colonel Warner's party [regiment] have enlisted a considerable number of fine men-they had the money to pay bounties" (forty shillings to each man). Probably Norwich contributed more or less to fill the ranks of each of the above named military bodies, though their names and number cannot now be ascertained. At this time and during most of the Revolutionary
*Governor and Council, Vol. I, p. 47.
NORWICH IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR
War, the New Hampshire Grants seem to have been a general recruit- ing ground for officers from the New England states in quest of soldiers. As no organized state government existed at that time on the territory west of the river, the town received no credit for these scattering enlistments and no local records remain to show their num- ber or term of service.
The first alarm from an apprehended attack upon the inhabitants of the upper Connecticut followed immediately the hasty and disas- trous retreat of the American army from Canada in the early summer of 1776, leaving the northern frontiers exposed to the inroads of the British and their Indian allies. Naturally, quite a panic ensued, and many of the settlements most exposed were partially abandoned. But there was immediate organization for mutual defense through the Committees of Safety of the several towns on both sides of the river .- To show the prompt and businesslike way in which the Revolutionary fathers met the crisis, we transcribe the proceedings of a meeting held at Hanover, July 5th, 1776 :
"At a meeting of several adjacent towns, viz .: Lyme, Hanover, Lebanon, Thetford, Norwich, and Hartford, at the College Hall, on Friday the fifth day of July, 1776-
"Chose Amos Robinson [of Hartford] Clerk.
"Chose Dea. Nehemiah Estabrook, [Lebanon], Moderator.
"Voted, To raise fifty men exclusive of officers to repair to Royalton, to fortify that Town and scout from thence to Onion River and New- bury.
"Voted, To appoint one Captain and two Subalterns.
"Voted, To appoint Mr. David Woodward [of Hanover] Capt.
"Voted, To appoint Mr. Joshua Hazen [of Hartford] 1st Lieut.
"Voted, To appoint Mr. Abel Lyman 2nd Lieut.
"Voted, To appoint a Committee of three men to direct the building of the Fort at Royalton, and furnish sd fort with all necessary supplies.
"Chose Esq. Joel Marsh (Hartford), Mr. Isaac Morgan, (Sharon) and Maj. John Slapp (Lebanon) to be sd Committee.
"Voted, to raise 250 men exclusive of officers to go to Newbury to fortify, scout and guard there for three months unless sooner dis- charged.
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HISTORY OF NORWICH
"Voted, To appoint Capt. Abner Seeley [of Thetford] Majr of the last mentioned Department.
"Voted, To divide sª 250 into four Companies.
"Voted, To appoint Mr. Levi Willard,* Mr. Oliver Ashley and Mr. Samuel Paine [Lyme] to be Captains.
"Voted, That the Captains appoint their Subalterns.
"Voted, To appoint a Committee of three men to direct and order the affairs of the Newbury Department.
"Voted, That Col. [Jacob] Bayley, Col. [Chas.] Johnson and Col. [Peter ] Olcott be sd Committee.
"Voted, That this Committee engage that the officers and soldiers in both the afore mentioned Departments be honorably paid for their services.
"Voted, To dismiss this meeting-it is accordingly dismissed .- "AMOS ROBINSON, Clerk."
We give an intercepted letter from a prominent tory in Thetford to Benjamin Brooks of Claremont, showing the views and expectations of the Loyalists in the upper valley of the Connecticut at the time of Burgoyne's invasion :
" THETFORD, June 17, 1777.
"SIR-I would inform you that I have just received Intelligence from Canada, and they are a making all preparations to come down, and I would have you all stand in readiness to help; your arms are all ready for you and will be sent to some secure Place, so that you may have them, and I will let you know where in a few days you may expect to receive them. I would have you encourage all friends for Government not to give back, and let everything be kept as a profound secret, for our Lives depend upon it ;- for if the plan should be discovered, we are gone, and if there are any more that have sworn allegiance to the King since I talked with you, I should be glad to know it, for I must make a return how many men we can raise. I hear that Captain Sumner, [Benjamin of Claremont] is laid under Bonds since I saw you there ; I hope he won't be discouraged, and if he made any Progress I should be glad to know it. I hope in six weeks we shall be able to clear all our friends from Bonds and Imprisonment; - For God's sake let everything be carried on with secrecy, and I doubt not thro' the justness of our cause we shall overcome the Dammed Rebels.
" So I remain a true friend to Government. "To Captain Benjamin Brooks."
*Levi Willard was a graduate of Dartmouth College of that year (1776), in the same class with Abel Curtis of Norwich, and undoubtedly the same person to whom Mr. Curtis addressed the letter quoted in Governor and Council, Vol. VIII, pp. 298-300, shortly after said Willard had deserted to the enemy in the summer of 1777. The letter is curious and well worth reading. Levi Willard served with the British army in Canada, returned to Vermont some time after the close of the Revolutionary War, and died in obscurity and disgrace at Sheldon, Vt., in 1839, in the eightieth year of his age.
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NORWICH IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR
This letter is copied from "New Hampshire State Papers, Vol. VIII, p. 589." No signature is appended to the same, and it is prob- able that from prudential reasons none was affixed by the writer. The disquieting effect upon the patriots of the discovery of such persons in their midst, can easily be imagined; and if their identity was shown, it is probable they were waited upon by the local Committee of Safety without much delay. There is considerable reason to be- lieve, however, that the above letter was written by Thomas Sumner, Esq., of Thetford.
From "Vermont State Papers" we learn that the "General As- sembly of the Freemen of Vermont," at a session of that body held previous to April 30, 1778, ordered the confiscation of the estates of "the enemies of this State and the United States living within this State, who have distinguished themselves by repairing to the enemy, or other treasonable conduct," etc. The same Act provided for one or more Courts of Confiscation to carry into effect the provisions of that order. As a result of this enactment the following order by a Court of Confiscation sitting at Norwich, was issued :
"NORWICH, May, 1775.
"By the Governor and Council of the State of Vermont.
"The Court appointed to confiscate and make sale of the estates of such as are gone, and have been to the enemy, having attended to that business, and advised all persons to appear and show cause, if any they had, why the estates hereafter named, should not be confiscated to the use of this State; and whereas no reasons do appear, and on the contrary, evidences appearing which clearly set forth their crim- inality :-
"Therefore,
"In consequence of the depositions, and by our knowledge of many circumstances concurring therewith, whereby it appears to this Court that the estates of. ought to be, and they hereby are confiscated to the use of this State; and we do accordingly appoint, and authorize Ensign Hosford and Samuel Smith, commissioners to make sale of said estates (except so much as is hereinafter excepted) and audit the accounts which may be brought against the several estates, under the direction of the Judge of Probate of the district in which said estates lie, who is hereby directed to make return, both of
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HISTORY OF NORWICH
the money received and the accounts exhibited, to the Council of said State, under oath of office, and to administer the oath of office to the said commissioners; and either of said commissioners are hereby em- powered to administer oaths to any person who shall offer said ac- counts for settlement; and also to give deeds in behalf of this State, to the purchasers of said forfeited estates.
"The estates to be excepted, are, first, the hundred acre lot on which now lives; and, secondly, the hundred acre lot now in the possession of the wife of
"And the judge of probate, together with the said commissioners, are hereby authorized to grant relief to any person or persons, suffer- ing on account of the above forfeitures, as they, in their wisdom, shall see fit.
"By order of Court, "PAUL SPOONER, Clerk."
By courtesy of the late Honorable Hiram A. Huse, former State Librarian of Vermont, we are in possession of a copy of Account Cur- rent between Abel [Ensign] Hosford and Samuel Smith (the com- 1 lissioners appointed by the foregoing order of the Court), and the state of Vermont. The persons named in the account were, with one exception, residents of Thetford, and that one not of Norwich. It is an interesting document, though not connected with the early history or town save from the fact that it was the outcome of an order of a Court of Confiscation in session in Norwich. We will give it a place in the latter part of this volume.
The following is a copy of an order for draft of the militia :
" NORWICH, 22nd Sept., 1777
" SIR.
" Pursuant to your orders of 21st Inst., I have called the Militia of this town together and drafted a part of the same, to march without loss of time as they shall be directed. . Their names as follow :
"John Slaughter, Adjt, John Wright, Sargt, Israel Brown, Joseph Bartlett, Samuel Wright, John Reccord, Seth Johnson, Elisha Baxter, Elisha Waterman, Joseph Ball, Samuel Partridge, Elias Partridge, Dole Johnson, Samuel Curtiss, Asahel Moredock, John Hopson, Elijah Baldwin, Elisha Brown, Gersham Bart- lett, Jur, Samuel Brown, Jur.
" Certified by Solomon Cushman, Lieut.
"To Colo Peter Olcott."
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NORWICH IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR
ROSTER OF THE REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS AT NORWICH I COMMISSIONED OFFICERS
Peter Olcott, Colonel; Thomas Murdock, Major; Lyman Potter, Chaplain; John Slafter, Adjutant; Joseph Lewis, Surgeon's Mate in Gen. Arnold's Expedi- dition against Quebec; Elisha Burton, Captain; Timothy Bush, Captain; Nath1 Boardman, Captain; Paul Brigham, Cont. Service, 1777-1781, Conn. line; Solomon Cushman, Cont. Service Col. Bedel's Regt .; Elijah Gates, Captain; Nathaniel Seaver, Captain; Joseph Hatch, Cont. Service, commissioned by New York; Abel Curtis, Captain; Benjamin Burton, Lieutenant; John Hopson, Lieute- nant; Roswell Morgan, Lieutenant; Elisha Partridge, Lieutenant; James Smalley, Lieutenant, Cont. Army, Warner's Regt.
II ENLISTED MEN
Amos Ames, Private; Parke Avery, Private, (Pensioned in 1808); Elijah Baldwin, Private; Jonathan Ball, Private; Joseph Ball, Private; Gershom Bartlett, Jr., Private, (2 enlistments); Jonathan Bartlett, Private; Joseph Bartlett, Private; Elihu Baxter, Private; Cyrus Brewster, Private; Ebenezer Broughton, Private; Elisha Brown, Private (2); Israel Brown, Private; Samuel Brown, Jr., Private; Elijah Brownson, Private; Daniel Buck, Private, lost an arm at Bennington, 1777; Elijah Burnap, Private; Jacob Burnap, Private, died in the army of Gen. Gates, Sept. 23, 1777; John Burnap, Jr., Private; Jacob Burt, (Pensioner), came in after the war; Josiah Burton, Private, in Cont. Army, 3 enlistments, wounded at Sara- toga, 1777; Henry Burton, Private, served in Conn .; Nath1 Burwash, Private; John Bush; Sylvanus Chadwick, Private; Samuel Coit, Private, in Conn. Militia; James Crary, Private; John Crary, Private; William Crary, Private; Samuel Curtis, Private; Joseph Cushman, Private, Cont. Army, 4 y ars, 2nd Conn. Regt .; Moses Davis, served in Cont. Army; Prince Freeman, Private; Cornelius Gilbert, Private; Cornelius Gilbert, Private; Eleazar Goodrich, Private; Hezekiah Goodrich, Private; John Goodrich, Private; Josiah Goodrich, Jr., Private; Adrian Hatch, Private; Benjamin Hatch, Private; William Hovey, Private; Jerome Hutchinson, Private; John Hutchinson, Private, served in Cont. Army, died at Philadelphia, 1778; Abner Hubbard, Capt. in Conn. Troops; Ebenezer Jaquith, Private; Dole Johnson, Private; James Johnson, Private, Cont. Army, 4 years, Conn. Troops; Calvin Johnson, Private, Cont. Army, Conn. Troops; Hezekiah Johnson, Jr., Private; Seth Johnson, Private; Joseph Loveland, Private; Nathaniel Messenger, Private; Gershom Morse, Private; Gershom Morse, Jr., Private; Job Morse, Private; Asahel Murdock, Private; Israel Newton, Private; Daniel Nye, Private; Elias Partridge, Private; Ephraim Partridge, Private, died a prisoner in Canada; Samuel Partridge, Jr., Private; Jeremiah Percival, Sergt .; Samuel Poole, (Pen- sioner), came to Norwich after the war; John Reccord, Private; John Sargent, Jr., wounded, prisoner in Canada, 1781-2; Conant B. Sawyer, Private, in Cont. Army, Conn. Regt .; Calvin Seaver, Private; Jonathan Spear, Private, in Cont. Army, died in N.J .; Joshua Spear, Sergt .; Aaron Stimson, Sergt .; Joel Stimson, Sergt., (Fifer);
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HISTORY OF NORWICH
Peter Thatcher, Jr., Private; Samuel Thatcher, Private; Lyman Tolman, Private; Elijah Tracy, Private; Joseph Tucker, Private; Joseph Vinsen, Private; Eli Wash- burn, Sen., Private; Daniel Waterman, Jr., Private; Elisha Waterman, Private; Elijah Waterman, Private; Levi Waterman, Private; Samuel Waterman, Private; Eli White, Sergt .; Joel White, Private; Solomon White, Private; Jonathan Whit ing, Private; Caleb West, Private; Timothy Wilmot, in Conn. Troops; James Wilson, Private, wagon master; John Wright, Private; Samuel Wright, Sergt.
The deaths of fifty-four (all that are known) of the above Revolutionary soldiers, that occurred after the year 1800, show an average longevity of over eighty years. The last to die was Deacon Israel Newton, 1856, 93 years.
Samuel Coit, 1851, 89 years; James Crary, 1849, 86 years; Jerome Hutchinson, 1848, 86 years; Joseph Tucker, 1840, 89 years; Joseph Cushman, 1848, 89 years; Hezr Goodrich, 1848, 91 years; Benjamin Burton, 1847, 92 years; Daniel Nye, 1844, 84 years.
CHAPTER X
NORWICH IN THE SECOND WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN
In the spring of 1812, war with Great Britain again seemed im- minent. Causes of complaint against the aggressions of the British government had existed for a long time, and the irritation was now increasing on all sides. It did not seem possible that actual war could much longer be postponed, although public opinion in the United States was still far from unanimous for an immediate appeal to arms.
Norwich, as had been her wont in Revolutionary times, again let her voice be heard when great public and national interests were being agitated before the people. At the close of a town meeting held June 18, 1812, a paper was presented to the meeting containing the preamble and resolutions which we copy below. On account of the great length of the preamble, we are obliged to abridge it consider- ably. The document was obviously drawn up with much care by some person familiar with the political history of the country. After some debate the clerk was directed to read the paper. A spirited discus- sion ensued, and the preamble and resolutions were finally adopted by a large majority, as true in their statement of facts and expressive of the sense of the town on the question at issue. It was voted that the same be put on record in the town clerk's office. A final clause appended to the fourth resolution denouncing in severe terms as ene- mies of their country that portion of the Federal party who were at that time most unsparing in their criticisms of the war policy of Presi- dent Madison, and the measures of Congress then pending to procure redress, was rejected by a decisive vote.
PREAMBLE
"When we behold our country on the very verge of war, the true patriot cannot help passing in mind the whole catalogue of injuries
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HISTORY OF NORWICH
and wrongs that our country has experienced both from England and France."
Here follows a lengthy and spirited arraignment of England, be- ginning with the persecutions which drove the Pilgrim fathers across the sea in 1620, and enumerating a long series of abuses, exactions, and oppressions which the colonists had endured from British tyranny during the whole colonial period, and which resulted at last, in 1775, in revolt and successful revolutions.
The charges and complaints are set forth in rigorous language, and in their comprehensiveness remind the reader of the well-known re- cital so admirably formulated in the Declaration of Independence. We quote again from the record :
"Great Britain, after experiencing defeats and delays in subduing the colonies, in 1782 acknowledged them independent of the mother country and entered into a treaty with them as an independent nation possessed with every attribute of national sovereignty, and made a solemn engagement to regulate her conduct towards us consonant to these her professions. But stung with pride and governed by some evil magic spell she has not ceased to violate her plighted faith-im- pressing our seamen, notwithstanding the most earnest remonstrances of our government. She has not ceased to vex our lawful commerce in every sea; She has crimsoned the waters at the mouths of our rivers with the blood of our citizens; Her naval officers have insulted our Government and disregarded our municipal laws and regulations, even at the very threshold of our national sovereignty. She has excited the savages to make war upon our defenceless frontiers.
In the midst of the most ostensible show of negotiation, she has sent her emissaries and spies into our most populous cities and towns to encourage our own citizens to resist the laws, promote civil war, and has offered her aid in dismembering the integrity and union of these states. And to fill up the black catalogue of wrongs, her public min- isters sent to reside near our Govt have in more instances than one endeavored to make our own citizens believe we have no neutral rights, and attempted to palliate the wrongs of their own government, mag- nifying complaints against our own, denying us justice, and with a hollow, false profession of friendship turned a deaf ear to all our reasonable and just complaints. France also in her turn
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NORWICH IN THE SECOND WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN
has not been behind in violating our national rights. She has unjustly plundered our merchants of many millions of their property, burnt many of our vessels on the high seas, and under the most frivolous pretences delays entering into any adjustment of our just and reason- able claims against that government for the wrongs we have received at her hands. And we do fully believe Congress would be justified in declaring war against both France and England."
RESOLUTIONS
"Resolved, that we have full confidence in the Chief Executive of the United States, and Heads of Departments, and in a majority of both Houses of Congress, and we fully believe that the measures which appear to be pursued by them are suitable and proper, and if ad- hered to with unanimity, will terminate to the honor and interest of the United States.
"Resolved, that we consider the Embargo not only wise and politic, but absolutely necessary to save and keep our property at home and call home what was abroad; and in case our government had been so forgetful as to have omitted so prudent a measure, our merchants would have had good reason to censure the neglect.
"Resolved, that we consider it the duty of every good citizen to support his own government in all its just demands upon a foreign Power; and we consider that our claim upon Great Britain to rescind her Orders in Council, to remunerate our merchants for the unjust spoliation upon their lawful commerce, for the restoration of our seamen, and the pretended right of search, are all just causes of com- plaint and war against that Powr-and we do most solemnly pledge ourselves, our property, and our all, in support of our government in demanding justice of Great Britain.
"Resolved, that we regard many of our citizens who differ from us in politics as honest, good men who have the good of their country at heart, but for want of correct information err in judgment.
"To such we can cheerfully extend the hand of charity, and believe that when they are better informed they will walk with us in any measures to retrieve the honor and interest of the country."
It is a curious coincidence that on the very day that the foregoing Preamble and Resolutions were being discussed and voted on in the Norwich town meeting the Congress of the United States at Washs
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