104 
 
L_^ 
 
The Old Chimney Stacks 
 
 OF 
 
 East Haddam, 
 
 « 
 
 Middlesex County, Connecticut, 
 
 o 
 r 
 
 BY 
 
 1 
 
 rrt (SHOSFORD B. NILES, 
 
 iC^ Author of Genealogy of 
 
 ";;< THE NILES FAMILY. 
 
 Ci. New York : 
 
 LP"\^ & CO., Book and Job Printers 
 "^ No. 2IO Fulton Street. 
 
 18S7 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 This little book is largely a compilation and re- 
 vision of serial chapters commenced by the author in 
 the East Haddam Advertiser^ in 187 1, under the 
 same title. It makes no pretensions to literary 
 merit, and therefore has no claim upon the world 
 at large. It is a brief record of the early history of 
 East Haddam, and describes the prominent char- 
 acters who figured therein, their toils, their perse- 
 verance, their homes — so many of which are repre- 
 sented by the old chimney piles dotted here and 
 there all over the town. These numerous ruins of 
 former homes suggested the work to the writer 
 while taking the census of 1870. The information 
 was gathered in fragments and this explains the 
 fragmentary character of the work. It gives the 
 genealogies of such old families as I have been 
 able to obtain. That it may interest not only the 
 present residents of the good old town, but the 
 thousands who have wandered away and still claim 
 it as their ancestral home, is the earnest wish of 
 
 the 
 
 Author. 
 
C O N 1' E N T S 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 
 
 P AOK. 
 
 Early Settlement — Chapman, 
 
 9 
 
 CHAPTER H. 
 
 
 East Haddam Eandino.', 
 
 ^5 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 
 Millino'ton, . . . - - 
 
 JO 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Moodns, - - - - - - - 25 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Moodus Noises, - - - - - 28 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Middlesex County, - - - - - 32 
 
 CHAPTER VH. 
 
 First Congregational Society, - - - 38 
 
 CHAPTER VHI. 
 
 Millington Ecclesiastical Society, - - 41 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Milliiig'ton Congregational Church, - - 47 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Hadlyme — Hungerford — Willey Families 55 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Leesville, - - - - - - 63 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Baptist, Methodist and Episcopal Churches, 68 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Cemeteries, .---.. y^ 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Ackley — Palmes — ^Parker — Harris — Martin, 79 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 Goodspeeds — Boardmans, - - - 84 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 Green Family ..--.. go 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Gideon Higgins, ----- 95 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Brainard — Gates — Gelston, - - -100 
 
CONTENTS. Til 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Cone, - ------ 105 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 Hall — Smith, 112 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 Spencer Family, - - - - - 117 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Prominent Men, - - - - - 126 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 Prominent Men — Continued, - - - 129 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 Statistics, - - - - - - i35 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 Industries, ------ 139 
 
The Old Chimney Stacks of East Haddam, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Early Settlement— Chapman. ' - 
 
 A stack of stoneF, a dingy wall, 
 
 O'er which the shadows cling and creep, 
 A path on which no shadows fall, 
 
 A door-step where long docJc-leaves sleep; 
 A broken rafter in the grass, 
 
 A sunken hnarth-stoiie stained and cold; 
 Naught left but these, fair home, alas ! 
 
 And the df*ar memories of old. - 
 
 Descriptions of the ruins of Tyre, and Nineveh, 
 and Thebes, and those other ancient cities which 
 flourished thousands of years ago, though often re- 
 peated, are always interesting. Notwithstantlin^ 
 they existed in a time so remote that the mind-.ean 
 scarcely fathom the dim distance, we love to con- 
 template their broken pillars and crumbling walls: 
 to muse over their fallen towers and shattered 
 hearth-stones; we love to unearth the buried 
 secrets of their former existence, and reflect that 
 all these relics were once associated with other men 
 and women who had hopes, and impulses and as> 
 spirations like our own. The treasures which the 
 
lEO THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 dead leave behind them are always precious in our 
 «yes, and their handiwork, their inventions, the 
 evidences of their daily pursuits, are always full of 
 interest. And it is with these facts in view that in 
 a few chapters upon the old landmarks that form 
 the only connecting links which bind us to our 
 ancestors in whose footsteps we follow along the 
 dim pathway of life, the writer hopes to interest 
 those who cling to the memories of their native 
 town. 
 
 East Haddam may be justly regarded as one of 
 the oldest, as it is one of the largest towns in the 
 State. Its diversified scenery, its bracing atmos- 
 phere, and its early historic associations have made 
 the town an object of admiration to travellers, and 
 of love to her sons and daughters. And she has 
 reared many worthy sons who have graced the 
 high pursuits of life; and of the virtue and beauty 
 of her daughters she may well be proud. 
 . The tract of land of which East Haddam is a 
 part, extending from Chatham line to Chester 
 Cove, and reaching six miles easterly and westerly 
 ■froiu the river, was purchased from four Indian 
 ikings, in 1662, for thirty coats of a value not ex- 
 -ceeding one hundred dollars. The tract thus pur- 
 cha.sed was taken up by twenty-eight persons, 
 mostly young men from the vicinity of Hartford, 
 who settled in the northern part of this land on the 
 west side of the river. 
 
 ■ About six years after, the privileges of a town 
 ^ve^e granted the colony, and the tract was called 
 Haddam, from Haddam in England. 
 
OF EAST H ADD AM. II 
 
 This was about the twentieth town formed in the 
 State. No settlement was made on the east side 
 of the river till some two years later, or about 1670. 
 All the inhabitants on both sides formed one socie- 
 ty until 1700, when they formed two societies, but 
 it was not till 1734 that the town was divided 
 agreeably to the divisions of the societies; the west 
 society retaining the name of Haddam while the 
 east took the name of East Haddam. The first 
 settlement of East Haddam was begun at Creek 
 Row, about the year 1670, over two hundred years 
 ago. The first house, it is said, stood a few rods 
 northeast of the site where Mason Gates' house 
 now stands. Quite a number of houses were 
 erected in this vicinity, and were occupied by the 
 Gateses, the Brainards, and the Cones, and the 
 same family names are peculiar to this neighbor- 
 hood. Fields, in his history, claims that the settle- 
 ment at the Creek Row commenced in 1685, which 
 appears to be an error, as from a document found 
 in the colony records, it is certain that " Robert 
 Chapman had a dwelling-house in East Haddam 
 north of the Creek Row, in 1675." It .seems to be 
 conceded on all sides that the settlement at Creek 
 Row was first; then it must have commenced as 
 early as 1670. Besides, as the land was purchased 
 and the settlement commenced in Haddam in 1662, 
 it is hardly supposable that twenty-three years 
 would pass before any attempt was made to settle 
 the east side of the river. 
 
 Among the earliest settlers of Saybrook was 
 Robert Chapman. The name Chapman is of Saxon 
 
12 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 origin, meaning " chap-man," "market-man," a mon- 
 ger or merchant. A large class of surnames among 
 the Anglo-Saxons is derived from trades or occu? 
 pations. Robert Chapman came from Hull, in 
 England, in 1635, and was one of the company sent 
 over by Sir Richard Salsonstall to take possession 
 of a large tract of land near the mouth of the Con- 
 necticut River, under the patent of Lord Say-and- 
 Seal. He was then eighteen years old, and was 
 one of the band of adventurers who established 
 the fort at Saybrook. He was a man of exemplary 
 piety. His parents were Puritans. That he was a 
 person of influence in the town of Saybrook is evi- 
 dent from the fact that he was for many years 
 Commissioner of Saybrook, and was elected as 
 their deputy to the General Court, forty-three ses- 
 sions. He was therefore a member of the Legisla- 
 ture of the State at more sessions than any other 
 man from the settlement of Saybrook to the pres- 
 ent time. Mr. Chapman was likewise a soldier, as 
 we find by the records of the General Court at 
 Hartford, Oct. 14, 1675 ; 
 
 Mr. Robert Cliapinaii is by this Court appointed Capt'n 
 of the Traine Band of Saybrook during the present commo- 
 tion with the Indians. 
 
 Mr. Chapman was a large land-holder, not only 
 in Saybrook, Haddam, East Haddam, but in He- 
 bron; there he owned forty-five hundred acres, 
 which he received as one of the legatees of the 
 Uncas. This land was given by will, in equal 
 parts, to his three sons, John, Robert and Nathan- 
 iel. He settled on a tract of land at Oyster River, 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. 13 
 
 which has descended in the line of the youngest 
 son of each family, and is now occupied by George 
 W. Chapman, Esq., who is the youngest of the fifth 
 •generation, Robert Chapman, Jr., second son of 
 the first settler, was born in Saybrook in 1646. 
 He owned at his death over two thousand acres of 
 land in Saybrook, East Haddam and Hebron. 
 Robert Chapman, 3d, was born April 19, 1675, and 
 was one of the first settlers in East Haddam. He 
 was a large land-holder. One of his daughters 
 married a soldier of Haddam Neck, and received 
 two hundred acres of land as her portion, which 
 has remained in the family to the present time, the 
 owners now being two brothers, W. C. and H. N, 
 Selden, Their farm is inclosed by over five miles 
 of street fence — one hundred acres being sur- 
 rounded by highways. James Wilbur Chapman, 
 grandson of the last named Robert Chapman, and 
 of the seventh generation from the first settlers, 
 was born August 8, 1802, and resided on, and 
 was the owner of the farm which has remained in 
 the family ever since it was first taken up. It has 
 been deeded but once, and then to Robert W., 
 having heretofore descended to the heirs by will. 
 Caleb Chapman was also a large land-holder in 
 East Haddam. He gave his land to his three sons, 
 Timothy, Ozias and Timothy 2d. The latter set- 
 tled on the spot where Amasa Day now lives. The 
 farm was subsequently sold to Phineas Gates, who 
 was related to the Chapman family by marriage. 
 He sold it to Julius Chapman, after whose death it 
 was sold at auction and purchased by Mr. Day. 
 
14 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 Timothy settled where Robert Day now Hves; 
 Ozias where Wm. S. Gates lives. Ozias had nine 
 sons and six daughters. Joseph Emmons, and Mr. 
 and Mrs. Daniel Lord are among his direct descend- 
 ants. Sylvester, the oldest of Ozias' sons, acquired 
 considerable property from his wife. He lived in 
 the first house north of the Congregational Church, 
 which was then considered quite a stately resi- 
 dence. He kept a store, which stood a few rods 
 south of his house. He was also a Justice of the 
 Peace in the town for a number of years. John 
 Chapman, the eldest son of Robert, the first settler,, 
 settled at Goodspeed's Landing, his home standing 
 on the spot where the Gelston House now stands. 
 He established the ferry across the river at that 
 place, which has always remained private property^ 
 and until within a few years retained its original 
 name of Chapman's Ferry. 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. 15 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 East Haddam Landing. 
 
 The first dwelling house in East Haddam Land- 
 ing was erected in 1743. A market for produce 
 was opened about the same time, and a storehouse- 
 built, which stood on the spot now occupied by 
 Dr. Harris' barn in front of Tyler's store. A large- 
 storehouse stood on the site of the store and just 
 back of the ledge of rocks stood a hotel with a 
 piazza on the river front. During the revolution- 
 ary war many soldiers on their way from the east- 
 ern part of the State to the North River forces 
 made this a favorite route and stopped at this pub- 
 lic house. Later, the house in which Ashbel Ray 
 now lives was the principal public house, and callecF 
 " The Blacksmith's Arms." The name was painted 
 in rude letters upon a swing sign, suspended high 
 between two posts that may have formed the orig- 
 inal gallows of Haman. It was further illustratecF 
 by a bent muscular arm, wielding a blacksmith's; 
 hammer. The present generation remember the- 
 Landing as a beautiful village with a row of fine- 
 houses, at the summit of a gently rising green, and 
 two neat white fences making two parallel roads 
 and terraces, which, in contrast with the bokl,. 
 abrupt mountain behind presented one of the most 
 attractive and picturesque scenes on one of the 
 most charming of rivers. 
 
j6 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 The most central, perhaps, of the dwellings, was 
 the one alluded to above. It was then the resi- 
 dence of Capt. James Green, and its high stone 
 stoop facing both ways bespoke hospitality almost as 
 plainly as its gaily painted sign. The brick house 
 next north of this is a fine building of more recent 
 date, and belonged to the Captain's son, Timothy. 
 Next beyond stands the former residence of his 
 ■daughter Nancy (Mrs. Jared Spencer, Esq.,) and 
 further on (the site of the bank building) was the 
 forge and then the residence of Oliver Green. The 
 next house to the " Arms " on the south side was 
 the residence of Capt. Green's brother.in-law, Mr. 
 Thomas Marshall. Next south lived his son Rich- 
 avd ; next to that his daughter Hannah, Mrs. 
 Joseph Hungerford. These buildings have been 
 metamorphosed into the Maple Wood Music Sem- 
 inary, and of the two generations who made music 
 and uproar (opera) there, is now but an occasional 
 visitor. Here then in the midst of his children 
 lived Captain James Green, and just over the way, 
 as first postmaster of East Haddam, he presided 
 over that ei'ent in New England — the mail arrival 
 and distribution. His descendants have nearly all 
 left their native town, and have prospered and 
 maintained the honor of the family name in the 
 busy world of trade and progress, but they have 
 never forgotten the old town, to which they return 
 every summer, like pilgrims to their native shrine. 
 Ihe family genealogy will be given in another 
 <;hapter. 
 
 Down near the steamboat clock, Noali Uurkley 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. IJ 
 
 erected a large store and built up quite an exten- 
 sive wholesale and importing trade with the West 
 Indies. He owned a large farm in Millington, 
 where he raised mules, which he used to send out 
 in his vessels and exchange for molasses, sugar, etc. 
 He bought the brick hotel built by Samuel Lord, 
 where the Champion House stands, and accumu- 
 lated considerable money. Like many others, he 
 was wooed and won by the tempter in the person of 
 Roswell C. Peck, who induced him to invest in a 
 banking speculation in New York. 
 
 He lost his property and went to Chicago, then 
 in its infancy, and again became rich and well 
 known as the *' Miser Money Lender." 
 
 Ship building was begun at the Landing some 
 time during the Revolutionary War, and formed 
 quite an important branch of business till within a 
 few years. Several coasting and generally two or 
 three sea vessels were owned here. In the year 
 1815, there were launched from this yard two brigs 
 and three schooners. A few years later this branch 
 of business was carried on, but less extensively, at 
 Chapman's Ferry. At this time there was a gen- 
 eral store near the Center Congregational Church, 
 on the main road from Moodus to Hadlyme. Shad 
 fishing has been carried on to quite an extent since 
 the early settlement of the town, and for the last 
 ■seventy years has been quite profitable. Previous 
 to this time this delicacy was hardly appreciated. 
 
 Salmon River, which enters the Connecticut at 
 the Landing, derives its name from the large num- 
 ber of salmon formerly caught from it, but for 
 
18 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 many years none have been found, and the cele* 
 brated fishermen at the Cove have now to rely on 
 the small fry. 
 
 The original settlers of East Haddam laid out 
 the town into nine sections of three-fourths a mile 
 square, and the roads running north and south 
 were made that distance apart as boundaries for 
 the same. In this " lay out," convenience and 
 topography seem to have been of little account. 
 Any one familiar with our roads will readily notice 
 this observance of distance. 'J'he same distance is 
 also observed to a certain extent in the roads run- 
 ning east and west. 
 
 "East Haddam and Colchester Turnpike," extend- 
 ing from " East Haddam Landing to Colchester 
 meeting house," was granted in October, 1809, with 
 a capital stock of v$6,288. About the 3xar 1806 
 a post-road was established from Middletown, 
 through Chatham, to East Haddam Landing, and 
 thence to New London. A turnpike from Nor- 
 wich to New Haven, through East Haddam, was 
 granted in 181 7. 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. 1 9 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 MiLLlNGTON. 
 
 According to Field's History, the first settler in 
 Millington was Jonathan Beebe, from New Lon- 
 don, who settled by the Long Pond about 1704, 
 and was soon joined by several persons, who have 
 now descendants in East Haddam. They settled 
 west of the pond, on the hill about the Hayward 
 farm, recently owned by Rowland Allen. Some 
 traces of their houses still remain, yet most of them 
 are completely obliterated. Except at this spot, 
 there were no inhabitants in Millington until about 
 1732-3-4, when families moved into it by the name 
 of Arnold, Barnes, Brainard, Chapman, Church, 
 Cone, Emmons, Fuller, Gates, Olmsted and Spen- 
 cer, from East Haddam parish ; of Harvey and 
 Hungerford, from Hadlyme ; of Clarke, from 
 Haddam ; of Greaves, from Colchester ; and 
 Stewart, from Voluntown ; Daniel Smith, from 
 some part of Plymouth Colony ; Lemuel (iriffin, 
 from Lyme, and Thomas Fox, from Colchester, 
 settled here not long after. Millington Society 
 was for a number of years the most thickly settled 
 and influential portion of the town. In 1810 there 
 were 172 dwelling houses in that Society, while in 
 the first Society there were but 167. There were 
 also a number of stores and a large local business 
 
20 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 carried on, Millington being the centre of trade 
 for quite a large tract of country. 
 
 With scarcely a solitary exception, those who 
 now remain are tillers of the rugged soil, and are 
 noted for their frugality, industry and hospitality. 
 But alas ! the growing tendency of the age to cen- 
 tralize in the cities and villages, and the tempting 
 allurements of the South and West have shorn the 
 town of much of her ancient renown. Many of her 
 children sleep in her hillside graves, and many 
 more' have wandered far and wide ; but none of 
 them find happier hours than when they return to 
 meet the hearty welcome of their native home. 
 Sixty years ago the Middle or Green School Dis- 
 trict numbered 69. The same district now has 
 about one-third of that number. At the same 
 time, the West District numbered 5 1 ; it now num- 
 bers but 13. 
 
 The Old Chimney Stacks form quite a prominent 
 feature of the landscape. In Millington, the tan- 
 yard at McLean's, which once carried on a large 
 business, is now a mass of ruins. Just east of the 
 yard is the cellar over which stood the house of 
 Nathan Beebe, an uncle of Manly, and great uncle 
 of Sherman Beebe. 
 
 Sherman broke loose from the old farm and 
 went to California in its early days, where he pros- 
 pered, and returned to buy the large farm he now 
 occupies in North Millington. He has seven sons, 
 and is one of the towns heaviest tax-payers. 
 
 Just west of the tan-yard, near the Dutton barn 
 (s(j-called), stood another house, and a short dis- 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. 21 
 
 tance north, on the. Colchester road, are ruins 
 which mark the residences of families of Elys and 
 Fullers. 
 
 A half-mile south, on the corner, stands what is 
 called the old Auger Stack, and farther on, near 
 Alexander's shop, lived Deacon Diodate Lord. 
 
 The Austin Beebe house is comparatively a late 
 ruin. This corner, now so deserted, seems to have 
 been quite a settlement many years ago. A store 
 was kept here by Timothy Spencer, and just north, 
 on the old stony road leading to Long Pond, lived 
 Isham Fuller and Dr. Nye. The latter moved 
 away and afterwards gained considerable renown. 
 The old house below Deacon Ackley's was built by 
 one Williams, one of the early settlers. " Wall 
 street," the old road running north from the Green, 
 is now entirely deserted. The store built by 
 Ephraim Warner, near the entrance, and where 
 considerable business was carried on, was long- 
 since converted into Mr. Joseph Arnold's horse- 
 shed. A short distance north was Ephraim War- 
 ner's house, and further north, but short distances 
 apart, stood the Marsh house, the Burke house, 
 the Ephraim Arnold house, the Plum house, the 
 Hall house, the Beri Gates house, and the Wickham 
 house. 
 
 Here large families were raised, and the street 
 formed an important thoroughfare of the town. 
 Now, grass and weeds grow over its travelled 
 paths ; green mounds of house-leek, and rude piles 
 of stone and mortar are the only evidences of for- 
 mer civilization. A goodly portion of the north 
 
2 2 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 part of Millington Society was owned and occupied 
 by the Arnolds — Ephraim, John and Joseph. The 
 latter was the father of Isaiah Arnold, and the 
 grandfather of Samuel and Joseph, Jr. Samuel 
 has four children living, viz.: Fluvia, married L. 
 W. Cone ; Nancy, married Charles Miner ; Eme- 
 line, married W. 1.. Fuller; William lives in Brook- 
 lyn, Long Island. 
 
 Joseph, Jr., has one son, Joseph H., who married 
 Harriet M. Swan, who died early in 1879. She 
 left two children, Dwight and Fred, but the latter 
 has since died. 
 
 The old road leading southeast from Millington 
 Green, or rather the road branching off from this 
 to Chapman's Mills, was in early days a main 
 thoroughfare, upon which several families lived, 
 but which is now lonely, deserted and almost 
 impassible — its silence seldom broken save by an 
 occasional ox-cart rattling over the stones, or by 
 the sharp crack of the hunter's gun. The terminus 
 of the road, however, presents attractions which 
 richly repay a rough and toilsome journey. The 
 wild and romantic beauty of the scenery about 
 Chapman's Mills is not surpassed by those historic 
 spots about which volumes have been written. 
 The pond here is the source of Eight-Mile River, 
 which empties into Hamburg Cove. It starts with 
 two separate outlets from a rocky island, and joins 
 about a half-mile below. Both streams leap down 
 rocky ledges over one hundred feet high, with a 
 roar that can be heard far away. The grist mill, 
 upon the right branch, has gone to ruin, but the saw 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. 23 
 
 mill has been kept in running order. Between the 
 two mills, on the island, stands the house now 
 occupied by Cyrus W. Chapman, so that the place 
 still retains the name of its original owner. It was 
 owned and occupied for several years by Col. A. T. 
 Niles, and here the writer spent many '* happy 
 hours of childhood." 
 
 Following the river from the point of its quiet 
 and peaceful reunion, at tiie foot of the Falls, down 
 over Kettle Hill, so called from the unfathomable 
 circular holes in its rocky crest; along the old coal- 
 pit, whose once black pit is now white with birches; 
 by the rough chimney pile which marks the little 
 house where Benjamin Banning raised nineteen 
 children, whose exploits at "diving from mullin 
 stalks into the dew " surprised many a morning 
 teamster ; through the Hop-Yard, with its tall 
 evergreens, its frowning precipices, and its Devil's 
 Cave, and we reach the " Plain " with a feeling 
 that we have journeyed through the wilderness and 
 finally reached the promised land. The " Plain " 
 forms the southeast corner of the town, and a part 
 of Millington Society. 
 
 The traveller here fnids a j^leasing landscape, 
 with thrifty and well-cultivated farms, whicli were 
 originally owned by settlers from the adjoining 
 town of Lyme. The old chimney stack, which 
 occupies so prominent a position just north of 
 Nathan Jewett's, was known as the (jrififin house, 
 where lived Edward Dorr Griffin, 1). D., President 
 of Williamstown College. The old Jewett home- 
 stead is just beyond the bridges over the Tyme 
 
24 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 Line. Returning to Millington Green, and taking 
 the Hadlyme road south, we soon come to the old 
 Spencer chimney stack, where lived Gen. Joseph. 
 Spencer, of Revolutionary fame, w^ho will receive 
 notice in a future letter. Here, too, David Brain- 
 ard, the celebrated missionary, spent several years 
 of his youth. Nearly opposite the Spencer place 
 is the Williams' place, where lived Dr. Datus Wil- 
 liams, a prominent physician of the town. He 
 afterwards moved in near the Center Church, 
 where he died a few years since. His son, George 
 G., President of the Chemical Bank, New York 
 City, has enlarged and beautified the place till it is 
 now one of the finest in the town. He occupies it 
 as a summer residence. A few rods south of the 
 Spencer place is the I>yman place, where Dr. 
 Lyman lived, who was for many years pastor of 
 the Millington Church. In the woods, near Bald 
 Hill, about two miles south of Millington Green, 
 are the remains of an old house where lived one 
 Will Fox. Near by is the Oakley house, where 
 lived Dr. Root, father of Francis G. Root, of Lees- 
 ville. Dr. Root afterwards lived at the Warner 
 house, on Potash Hill. 
 
OF EAST HADDAM, 25 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MOODUS. 
 
 Mood us is a contraction of the Indian word 
 Machimoodus, meaning " place of noises." For- 
 merly the place was also called Mechanicsville, and 
 was quite insignificant as compared with Milling- 
 ton and the Landing, till within a few years. Now 
 it is the most industrious and thickly settled por- 
 tion of the town. An old teacher gives a descrip- 
 tion of the place in 1815 : 
 
 Assuming the boundaries to be the house of Wilbur Chap- 
 man on the west, Wigwam Brook on the south, the Alanson 
 Gates house on the east, and the Methodist Church on the 
 north. There were eleven dwellings and other buildings as 
 follows : 
 
 The house of Mr. Chapman was then occupied by his 
 grandfather, Robert B. Its roof was flat and covered with 
 earth, from which sprang up a sparse vegetation and protected 
 by a balustrade. There was a square-roofed building on the 
 opposite side, then occupied by Erastus Chapman. These 
 were white, standing out in strong contrast of color from all 
 other buildings in the vicinity. On the stream just south of 
 the road, and approached by a gate near where the road to the 
 Neptune Twine Mills is now opened, was a saw-mill, and just 
 below a carding mill and clothiers w^orks, in one of which the 
 rolls were prepared for the wheel, and in the other, the cloth 
 was colored and dressed. 
 
 East of the Chapman house, on the same side, was the 
 house of Ozias Chapman. Next came the house near the 
 stream, occupied by ' Old Mr. Hurd,' who was on active duty 
 at the Grist ]Mill when over ninety years of age. The stream 
 
26 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 was crossed by a bridge of planks a little above the present 
 arch. Its position necessitated a curve in the road as we 
 approached it, and an unfortunate young man who had passed 
 an evening with a young lady in the neighborhood, on taking a 
 straight course for home, instead of following the curve, found 
 himself with a broken arm among the rocks in the stream. 
 
 East of the bridge, occupying the ground where Smith's 
 (Bodies') factory now stands, was the grist mill, with its overshot 
 wheel, where boys waiting for their grists would look upon the 
 mimic rainbows, and fancy their resemblance to those described 
 in their 'American Preceptor,' as rising from the spray of 
 Niagara. 
 
 " Passing east to ' The Plain ' the next building was a dilap- 
 dated old house occupied by Phineas Gates, which soon gave 
 way to the dwelling occupied by Mr. Day. Across the street, 
 in the house now occupied by Mr. Richmond, was Dr. Joseph 
 Cone. This was only about two-thirds of its present dimen- 
 sions. Quite a distance south was a small brown house, and a 
 little south of that a small old house and a shoemaker's shop, 
 and small building on the hillside sloping towards Wigwam 
 Brook. East, on the Uashan Road, was the Alanson Gates 
 {Daniel Lord) house, unpainted and the grounds unadorned. 
 The street through the ' Plain ' was wider than it is now by 
 mearly the depths of the yards on the east side, and was wholly 
 destitute of trees. From Mr. Day's the road ' up town * 
 •descended the hill in a northerly direction. The stream was 
 ■crossed by a bridge similar to the one described, and the road 
 wound .araund and came out at the foot of the hill south of the 
 .cemetery. Just north of the bridge referred to was a path 
 running to .the east parallel with the stream, which passed a 
 long, low building known as the ' Old Malt House,' then 
 •curved and terminated at the grist mill, which stood where the 
 itwine mill now stands. This patli was the only approach to 
 tthe mill, and ^\■as so obstructed b)- a point of rocks that it 
 could be passed only on horseback, and then the boy had to 
 keep to the middle of it or his grist would be pushed off by the 
 •rocks, or the corner (^f the mill. On the knoll, north of the 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. 27 
 
 mill, stood a one-story, gabled roof house, for the accommoda- 
 tion of the miller. This finishes the catalogue of buildings in 
 Moodus in 18 15. 
 
 The first step in advance was the erection of the 
 stone mill and store, and other necessary buildings. 
 
 The first school house in Moodus was built in 
 1828. Previous to that the children were divided 
 between Red Lane and *' Up Town " districts. 
 
 Moodus, at the present time, is the center and 
 most populous portion of the town. This has 
 arisen from its fine water privileges, on which have 
 been built several large cotton factories. 
 
28 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 MooDus Noises. 
 
 The Indians which inhabited the place were 
 numerous, of a fierce and warHke character, and were 
 remarkable for the worship of evil spirits. They 
 called the town Machimoodus, which means, in 
 English "the place of noises." A very suitable 
 name, because of the noises or quakings which 
 were familiarly called " Moodus Noises." The 
 noises sometimes resemble the slow thunder, at 
 others the rattling of musketry or the discharge of 
 cannon. They have been the subject of much dis- 
 cussion, and many theories have been advanced 
 about their origin. An old Indian's reason was 
 that " the Indian's God was very angry because 
 the Englishman's God came here. Many persons 
 credit the report of a transient person named Doc- 
 tor Steele, from Great Britain, who, hearing about 
 these noises, came here and dug up two pearls, 
 which he called carbuncles. He told the people 
 the noises would be discontinued for many years, 
 as he had taken away their cause, but as he had 
 discovered other smaller ones, they would be heard 
 again in the process of time. Notwithstanding the 
 absurdity of this prophecy, it seemed to prove itself 
 correct, for the noises did cease for many years, 
 but finally returned. The Doctor was a myste- 
 rious sort of a person, and in order to allay the 
 
OF EAST HA 1)1) AM. 29 
 
 fears of the simple and terrified inhabitants, arising 
 by reason of the noises, attempted many magical 
 operations, and for this purpose took possession of 
 a blacksmith's shop, which stood on the hill north- 
 west of the Atlantic Duck Mill, in which he worked 
 night and day, excluding all light so as to prevent 
 any prying curiosity from interfering with his 
 occult operations. He claimed that the carbuncle 
 had grown to a great size in the bowels of the 
 rocks and must be removed. The Doctor finally 
 departed, and has never been heard of since. 
 From this circumstance arose this ballad, by John 
 G. C. Brainard, editor of the Hartford Minor : 
 
 MACHIT-MOODUS. 
 
 .See you, upon the lonely moor, 
 
 A crazy building rise ? 
 No hand dares venture to open the door — 
 No footstep treads its dangerous floor — 
 
 No eye in its secret pries. 
 
 Now why is each crevice stopped so tight ? 
 
 Say, why the bolted door ? 
 Why glimmers at midnight the forge's light ? 
 All day is the anvil at rest, but at night 
 
 The flames of the furnace roar. 
 
 Is it to arm the horses' heel, 
 
 That the midnight anvil rings? 
 Is it to mould the ploughshare's steel. 
 Or is it to guard the wagon's wheel. 
 
 That the smith's sledge hammer swings ? 
 
30 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 The iron is bent, and the crucible stands 
 
 With alchymy boiling up ; 
 Its contents are mixed by unknown hands, 
 And no mortal fire e'er kindled the brands 
 
 That heated that cornered cup. 
 
 O'er Moodus river a light has glanced, 
 
 On Moodus hills it shone ; 
 On the granite rocks the rays have danced. 
 And upwards those creeping lights advanced 
 
 Till they met on the highest stone. 
 
 Oh ! that is the very wizard place, 
 
 And now is the wizard hour. 
 By the light that was conjured up to trace, 
 E'er the star that falls can run its race. 
 
 The seat of the earthquake's power. 
 
 By that unearthly light, I see 
 
 A figure strange, alone, 
 With magic circlet on his knee. 
 And, decked with Satan's symbols, he 
 
 Seeks for the hidden stone. 
 
 Now upward goes that gray old man. 
 With mattock, bar and spade — 
 The summit is gained and the toil begun, 
 And deep by the rock where the wild lights run, 
 The magic trench is made. 
 
 Loud, and yet louder was the groan, 
 
 That sounded wide and far ; 
 And deep and hollow was the moan 
 That rolled around the bedded stone. 
 
 Where the workman plied his bar. 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. 3^ 
 
 Then upward streamed the brilliant hght— 
 
 It streamed o'er crag and stone ; 
 Dim looked the stars and the moon that night, 
 But when morning came in her glory bright, 
 
 The man and the jewel were gone. 
 
 But woe to the bark in which he flew 
 
 From Moodus rocky shore — 
 Woe to the captain and woe to the crew, 
 That ever the breath of life they drew, 
 
 When that dreadful freight they bore. 
 
 Where is that crew and vessel now ? 
 
 Tell me their state who can. 
 The wild waves dashed o'er the sinking bow- 
 Down, down to the fathomless depths they go- 
 To sleep with a sinful man. 
 
 The carbuncle lies in the deep sea. 
 
 Beneath the mighty wave ; 
 But the light shines up so gloriously 
 That the sailor looks pale and forgets his glee. 
 
 When he crosses the wizard's grave. 
 
 Many theories have been advanced as to the 
 cause of these noises. One is that there is a sub- 
 terranean passage leading from a large cave near 
 Mt. Tom to the sea, and that the noises are pro- 
 duced by certain delicate combinations of wind and 
 tide. A more reasonable explanation of their 
 cause is, that there exist mineral or chemical com- 
 binations, which explode many feet below the 
 earth's surface. The jar produced by the noises is 
 like that of exploded gunpowder. 
 
32 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Middlesex County. 
 
 Middlesex County was formed in the year 1785. 
 Previous to that time the inhabitants of the several 
 towns repaired to the courts in the counties to 
 which they previously belonged, when a resort to 
 law was necessary to obtain redress. Several gen- 
 tlemen from these towns appear, from the records 
 of the Colony and State of Connecticut, to have 
 seats in the Courts of Hartford, New London, and 
 New Haven counties, previous to the formation of 
 Middlesex County. Hon. Joseph Spencer, of East 
 Haddam, was Justice of the Quorum for Hartford 
 County from May 1778 to 1779. As previously 
 mentioned, Gen. Dyer Throop, of East Haddam, 
 was the first Judge of the Middlesex County Court. 
 
 Among the Justices of the Quorum from the 
 same county there were from East Haddam, Jabez 
 Chapman, Esq., from 1795 ^o 1802 ; Col. Eliphelet 
 Holmes, from 1802 to 1817; Col. Josiah Griffin, 
 from 1 81 7 to 181 8. 
 
 The State's Attornies for the county from its 
 formation to the year 1820 were : Hon. Asher Mil- 
 ler, of Midletown, from 1785 to 1794; Hon. Samuel 
 W. Dana, of Middletown, from 1794 to 1797 ; Hon. 
 J. O. Moseley, of East Haddam, from 1797 to 1805 ; 
 Hon. S. T. Hosmer, of Middletown, from 1805 to 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. ^;^ 
 
 1815 ; Matthew T. Russel, Esq., of Middletown, 
 from 1815 to 1818 ; Major Andre Andrews, of 
 Middletown, from 181 8. 
 
 The Sheriffs of the county were : WilUam W. 
 Parsons, of Middletown, from 1785 to 1791; Enoch 
 Parsons, Esq., of Middletown, from 1791 to 1818 ; 
 J. Lawrence Lewis, Esq., of Middletown; from 1818 
 to 1827; Gideon Higgins, Esq., of East Haddam, 
 from 1827 to 1830 ; Linus Coe, of Middletown, 
 from 1830 to 1839 ; Charles Arnold, of Haddam, 
 from 1839 to 1845 i Charles Stevens, of Clinton, 
 from 1845 ^o 1 85 1. Since that time the office has 
 been held by Dr. Burr, of Killingworth, Curtis 
 Bacon, of Middletown, Charles Snow, of Deep 
 River, J. L Hutchinson, of Essex, the present in- 
 cumbent, and Arba Hyde. 
 
 The Probate District of East Haddam was 
 formed in October, 1741, and embraced the towns 
 of Haddam, East Haddam, Colchester, Hebron, 
 and that part of Middletown (now Chatham) lying 
 south of the Salmon River. Haddam was taken 
 from this and united to a new district in 1752, and 
 Hebron in 1789. Colchester has remained a part 
 of this district till within a few years. The first 
 Judge of this Court was Hon. John Bulkley, of Col- 
 chester, from 1 741 to 1753 ; Hon. James Spencer, 
 of East Haddam, from 1753 to 1789. In 1776, 
 while the latter was out of the State, Daniel Brain- 
 ard, Esq., of East Haddam, was appointed to act as 
 Judge, while Judge Spencer was connected with 
 •the armies of the United States. Isaac Spencer, 
 
34 THE OLD CHl.MNEY STACKS 
 
 Esq., of East Haddam, succeeded James Spencer, 
 and held the office for twenty-nine years. 
 
 I'he following persons were appointed Justices 
 of the Peace, or, as they were formerly called. 
 Commissioners, for East Haddam, at the time of 
 the formation of the County: Gen, Dyer, Throop, 
 Col. Jabez Chapman, Israel Spencer, Timothy 
 Gates. 
 
 In 1815 there were 421 families in town, divided 
 among the religious denominations as follows : 
 Congregationalists, 286; Episcopalians, fifty-five; 
 Baptists, seventy-two; Methodists, eight. 
 
 Our great-grandfathers drew rather nicer distinc- 
 tions between right and wrong than their innocent 
 descendants of the present day. A little of the old 
 leaven than with which they vitalized their laws 
 would not be unhealthy for present use, while 
 many of their enactments would be somewhat im- 
 practicable. I copy from an old Connecticut JRegis- 
 fer, dated 1793, an " Act to be read at the opening 
 of every Freemen's Meeting." 
 
 '' Be it enacted^ etc., That if any person shall en- 
 deavor to persuade or influence any other person 
 or persons in giving their vote or suffrage for any 
 Member of the Legislature by offering to any per- 
 son or persons any written vote or votes for that 
 purpose without being first thereto requested, such 
 person so offending shall pay a fine of forty shill- 
 ings, for the use of the Town Treasury." 
 
 Following the above are several " Acts " of like 
 import. 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. 35 
 
 Here are some of the Acts for putting in execu- 
 tion good and wholesome laws for restraining irre- 
 ligious practices and disorders : 
 
 ''Be it enacted, etc., That the Selectmen from 
 time to time shall diligently enquire of all House- 
 holders how they are furnished with Bibles, and if, 
 upon such enquiry, any Householder be found 
 without one Bible at least, then the Selectmen shall 
 warn the said Householder forthwith to procure 
 one Bible at least for the use and benefit of their 
 Families respectively ; and if the same be neglected, 
 then the said selectman shall make return thereof 
 to the next authority, who may deal with such 
 Householder's Family according to the directions 
 of the Law relating to the educating and governing 
 of children. * * And the Constables and Grand 
 Jurymen in the respective Towns shall, on the 
 evenings after the Lord's Day and other public 
 Days of Religious Solemnity, walk the street and 
 duly search all places suspected for harboring or 
 entertaining any People or Persons assembled con- 
 trary to law." 
 
 Another act provides that '' it shall be the duty 
 of the Selectmen to see that all families are sup- 
 plied with a suitable number of Orthodox Cate- 
 chisms and other good Books of practical Godli- 
 ness and the like." 
 
 The circumstances under which the early settlers 
 were placed rendered it necessary that they should 
 be trained in the use of firearms, and local military 
 organizations were to be found in all parts of the 
 
30 THE OLD CHIMNtV STACKS 
 
 country. In the earlier history of the town com- 
 l^anies of East Haddam belonged to the 12th Reg- 
 iment. In 1776 East Haddam and Colchester 
 were formed into the 24th Regiment. A company 
 from Hadlyme belonged to the 33d Regiment. 
 
 The different commanders of the 24th Regiment 
 from East Haddam were Gen. Dyer Throop, Jabez 
 Chapman, David B. Spencer, Gen. Epaph Cham- 
 pion, Jon. O. Moseley, Josiah Griffin and Jonah 
 Gates. 
 
 In 18 1 6 there was a general reorganization of the 
 Militia throughout the State, which was preserved 
 till within a few years. It is within the memory of 
 our young men that " Training Days," were great 
 events in the history of the town, from which all 
 other events were dated. Soldiers with their tall 
 hats and taller plumes, dressed in showy uniforms, 
 met in companies in the different societies in town, 
 once a year, where they were drilled in the manual 
 of arms — marched in sections, platoons, and by 
 company, and dismissed after several general dis- 
 charges of musketry. How the boys reverenced 
 those famous soldiers! The greatest scalawag in 
 town, upon these occasions, was transformed into a 
 hero, in their eyes, as long as he wore the regi- 
 mentals. Among the early captains of the com- 
 panies were : 
 
 East HaddaxM North Comfanv. — Samuel Olm- 
 sted, Stephen Cone, Thomas Gates, Daniel Gates, 
 Caleb Chapman, John Percival, Joshua Percival, 
 Gen. Dyer Throop, Jonathan Olmsted, Jonathan 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. 37 
 
 Kilbourn, Jehial Fuller, Levi Palmer, Abner Hale, 
 Dea. Caleb Gates, Elisha Cone, Darius Gates, 
 Darius Brainard, William Palmer. 
 
 East Haddam South Company. — John Chap- 
 man, John Holmes, Nathan Smith, Jabez Chap- 
 man, Daniel Cone, Bezaliel Brainard, Dea. James 
 Gates, Matthew Smith, Maj. Daniel Cone, Col. 
 David Spencer, Elijah Ackley, Gen. E. Champion, 
 Jeremiah Smith, Robert Cone, Samuel P. Lord, 
 Richard Green, Joseph Church, Samuel Crowel. 
 
 Millington North Company. — Joseph Arnold, 
 William Church, John Willey, Enoch Brainard, 
 Amasa Dutton, John Arnold, Noadiah Emmons, 
 Nathaniel Lord, Maj. N. Emmons, Aaron Fox, 
 Oliver Church, Diodate Lord, Hezekiah Loomis, 
 Manley Beebe. 
 
 Millington South Company. — Jared Spencer, 
 John McCall, Aaron Cleaveland, Jonah Cone, Wil- 
 liam Cone, Ebenezer Dutton, Nathan Jewett, John 
 Chapman, Joseph Gates, Robert Anderson, Amos 
 Randal, Col. Josiah Griffin, Diodate Jones, Samuel 
 Morgan, Gardner Gallop, Uriah Spencer, David G. 
 Otis, Jon. Beckwith, Berah Beckwith. 
 
 Hadlyme Company. — Dea. Chris. Holmes, Eph. 
 Fuller, Eb. Spencer, John Shaw, Col. Eliph 
 Holmes, Zach. Hungerford, Abraham Willey, Eb. 
 Holmes, Jab. Comstock, Chas. Spencer, Newton 
 Marsh, Ben. Crosby, Rob. Hungerford, Chauncey 
 Beckwith, Calvin Comstock, Ozias Holmes. 
 
 (The above is taken largely from Field's 
 History.) 
 
38 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 The First Congregational Society. 
 
 The inhabitants on this side of the river began 
 to act as an ecclesiastical society about 1700. The 
 first church formed January 6th, 1704. First 
 meeting house stood near Isaac Ackley's in the 
 street. It was thirty-two feet square, and was five 
 years in building ; used twenty-three years. Sec- 
 ond house, finished in 1728. It stood in the street, 
 near Henry Thompson's. The third, or present 
 church, was dedicated November 27th, 1794, and 
 to this day wears the same coat of shingles. The 
 first minister in the Society was Rev. Stephen 
 Hosmer, who died June i8th, 1749, aged 70. He 
 lived nearly opposite Vine B. Star's, at the Creek 
 Row. 
 
 The following was copied from a manuscript in 
 the possession of Joshua Green, M. D., of Groton, 
 Massachusetts : 
 
 A DISTICH, 
 
 Occasioned by ye marriage of Mr. Robert Hosmer, of 
 East Haddam, and Mary Green, the only daughter of Timothy 
 Green, of New London (Oct. yt 31st, 1745.) 
 
 COMPOSED 1!V HER FATHER. 
 
 Thro' the Divine favour, b(;th the Brides-grooms' parents and ye 
 Bride's Parents are yet living, and consented to this marriage. 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. 39 
 
 I. 
 You now in marriage have joined hands 
 
 And are become Bridegroom and Bride, 
 'Tis God who has incUned your hearts 
 
 So very near to be ally'd. 
 
 II. 
 Having passed thrt)Uoh your SingleState 
 
 And entered on ye married one, 
 New Duties you'll find springing up 
 
 And always calUng to be done. 
 
 And now, my Son, I you Intreat 
 Be ever tender to your wife. 
 
 And you, my daughter, I exhort, 
 To love your husband as y'r Life. 
 
 i\' 
 
 May both of you Examples be. 
 And be adorned with every Grace 
 
 Be circumspect in y'r whole Walk 
 And know ye duties of y'r Place . 
 
 I wish you Joy in this y'r Choice, 
 And Sorrow too, if God sees best. 
 
 Which shall promote y'r real Ciood, 
 And fitt you for eternal rest. 
 
 And Isaac took Rebecca, and she became his wife, and he 
 loved her.— 6^^^. xxiv., 67. 
 
 There was a marriage in Cana of Galilee, and both Jesus 
 was called and his disciples to the marriage.— Jo/m ii., i-2. 
 
 And her neighbors and her cousins rejoiced with her.— 
 l.'uke i, 5-8. 
 
40 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 Rev. Joseph Fowler succeeded Mr. Hosmer. 
 He was born in Lebanon ; installed May 15th, 
 1751; died 1771, aged 48. 
 
 Rev. Elijah Parsons, born at Northampton, 
 Mass. Graduated Yale 1768 ; installed October 
 28th, 1772 ; died January 17th, 1827, aged 79. 
 
 His son, Isaac Parsons, succeeded him. Born in 
 Southampton, Mass. Graduated Yale 1811 ; or- 
 dained October 23d, 1816 ; dismissed April ist, 
 1856 ; died August 21st, 1868, at the house of 
 Robt. W. Chapman, in Mood us. 
 
 He was succeded by Rev. Silas W. Robbins. He 
 was born in Dorset, Vt.; graduated at Wesleyan 
 University, in 1847 ; installed October i6th, 1856 ; 
 dismissed 187 1, He is now located at Rockville, 
 Connecticut. 
 
 The present pastor is Rev. Solomon McCall, 
 who is a native of Lebanon, Ct.; graduated at 
 Yale 185 1 ; was pastor in Old Saybrook, Ct., from 
 December, 1853 to November, 187 1 ; installed in 
 East Haddam June 5th, 1872. 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. 4I 
 
 CHAPTER A'lII. 
 
 MiLLiNGTON Ecclesiastical Society. 
 
 The following is the first record of the society of 
 Millington : "At a society meeting warned accord- 
 ing to directions of ye law, to be holden on ye third 
 day of December, Anno Domini, 1733, at ye man- 
 sion house of Jonathan Chapman, in ye parish of 
 Millington, in ye town of Haddam, John Bulkley 
 was chosen Moderator at said meeting, and James 
 Cone was chosen Clerk and sworn to a faithful dis- 
 charge of his office by John Bulkley, justice of the 
 peace. Samuel Emmons, Samuel Olmstead, and 
 Matthias Fuller were chosen society committee. 
 Also, it was voted that ye society will engage some 
 suitable person to preach ye gospel to ye people in 
 this society ; also, it was voted that the committee 
 as above said shall apply themselves to ye Rev. 
 Mr. Hosmer for his advice and directions in their 
 endeavors to engage some person to preach 
 among them as aforesaid." 
 
 The meetings of the society were held at the 
 house of Mr. John Chapman for a number of 
 years. As near as I can ascertain, his house stood 
 near the lower part of the hop yard. The Rev. 
 Mr. Hosmer, alluded to in the above report, was at 
 that time pastor of the church in the first society. 
 It appears by the records that the society made 
 several applications for preachers before they sue- 
 
42 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 ceeded in having a permanent settlement. The 
 first rehgious services were held for a considerable 
 period in a house standing near the " Burke 
 House," on Wall street. It appears that the first 
 call for preaching was given a Mr. Williams, for at 
 a meeting held December, 1734, it is recorded, 
 '^ that ye society will not give Mr. Williams forty 
 shillings a day for preaching ye gospel to ye peo- 
 ple in said society." At a society meeting held 
 March 7th, 1735, it was voted that the committee 
 be instructed to engage the services of the Rev. 
 Mr, Hosmer, and, in case he refused, to apply to 
 the Rev. Nathaniel Brainard. 
 
 At the same time there was voted the sum of 
 seventy pounds a year for the support of the min- 
 istry. June 30th, 1736, the society applied to the 
 Rev. Mr. Brown, and engaged him to preach the 
 gospel for two months at thirty-five shillings a day. 
 At a subsequent meeting, held in September, 1736, 
 the society voted a call to Rev. Timothy Symmes, 
 and as an inducement it was '' further voted that 
 ye society will give Mr. Symmes three hundred and 
 twenty pounds towards his settlement, and thirty 
 pounds in labor towards building him a house, also 
 one hundred pounds salary and find him his fire- 
 wood ; and that ye society will clear, break up, 
 fence, and sow with wheat, two acres of land, the 
 first year Mr. Symmes is an ordained minister in 
 said society, and also plant out one hundred of 
 apple trees on said land ye next spring after it is 
 sowed with wheat." 
 
OF EAST HADDAiM. 43 
 
 This call was accepted by Mr. Symmes in a letter 
 dated October 26th, 1736. It appears from the 
 records of these early days of the society that the 
 good people were early risers and transacted their 
 business in the early part of the day, for their 
 society meetings were generally adjourned " to ye 
 hour of eight of ye clock in the morning." 
 
 It seems that perfect harmony among the mem- 
 bers of the society was as rare a virtue a hundred 
 3'ears ago as now. For a number of years the 
 society suffered by a division arising from a differ- 
 ence, partially doctrinal, but more from different 
 views in regard to forms. Finally, at a society 
 meeting, held the 17th of April, 1776, "it was voted 
 not to oppose a number of said parish who call 
 themselves Old Fathers and Dissenters of New 
 England, if they should apply to the Hon. General 
 Assembly of this colony to be made a district 
 Ecclesiastical Society." 
 
 Several legacies were granted to the society from 
 time to time. The first one was bequeathed by 
 Mr. Samuel Gates, who died August 21st, 1801, of 
 two hundred and sixty dollars. 
 
 A farm was also given by Mr. Simeon Chapman, 
 who died March 31st, 1813 ; but to be used by his 
 children during life. This bequest amounted to 
 four thousand two hundred and eighty dollars. 
 
 A legacy of fourteen hundred and forty dollars 
 was also left by Thomas Beebe, who died June 6th, 
 1 81 6. He was a son of Dr. Beebe, who lived a 
 short distance southeast of the Estabrook house. 
 
44 1"HE OLD CHIiMNEY STACKS 
 
 A part of the old chimney still remains. Dr. Beebe 
 was a strong Tory during the Revolutionary War, 
 and made himself so obnoxious that a party headed 
 by Capt. Aaron Fox took him from the house one 
 night and gave him a coat of tar and feathers, 
 
 Thomas, the legator, was not religiously inclined, 
 and it is said that he did not make his bequest 
 because he loved the society more, but that 
 he loved his family less. Capt. Aaron Fox was for 
 a number of years captain of the Millington militia. 
 His grandfather, Ebenezer, was one of the earliest 
 settlers of Millington. He was one of three 
 brothers who came from England. One of them 
 settled in Massachusetts, one in Rhode Island, and 
 Ebenezer in Foxtown, where he built a log house 
 near the old house built by Aaron Fox, and now 
 owned by Matthew Fox. The brothers occasion- 
 ally visited each other, taking the journey through 
 the wilderness on horseback, their wives riding 
 behind them. 
 
 A portion of the house where Ebeneezer, a son 
 of Aaron, recently died, was built by Enoch 
 Arnold, about one hundred and fifty years ago. 
 People came from a great distance to the raising. 
 It was covered with white-oak clap boards, securely 
 fastened with wrought nails. Two of the original 
 rooms still remain. The Old Chimney Stack, just 
 west of Charles Swan's, is what remains of a house 
 built and occupied by Brockway Beebe, and later 
 by Josiah W, Willey. Turner Miner came from 
 New London about the year 1770, and erected a 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. 45 
 
 house where Charles Swan hves. The place was 
 subsequently bought by Rufus Swan, who gave it 
 to his son Wheeler. Turner Miner married a 
 daughter of General Joseph Spencer by his second 
 wife. The wife of Deacon Jeremiah Hutchins and 
 Mrs. James Stranahan are daughters of Mr. Miner, 
 and consequently granddaughters of Gen. Spencer. 
 Rev. Nathaniel Miner, who preached in Millington 
 for a number of years, is a nephew of Turner 
 Miner. 
 
 The old Estabrook house, on Millington Green, 
 and long known as the parsonage, was built by 
 Rev. Hobert Estabrook, who came from Canter- 
 bury and settled in Millington. Preached and died 
 there in 1766. Hobert 2, born 1748, at Millington. 
 Moved to Lebanon, N. H., and died in 1839, aged 
 91. He married Hannah Paddleford, who died 
 May 24th, at Chatham, Conn. 
 
 Children : 
 
 Hannah, married Hurlbert Swan ; she died Sep- 
 tember 1 8th, 1 83 1, aged 57. 
 
 Jerusha, born September i8th, 1775 ; died March 
 31st, 1863 ; married Ira Gates. 
 
 Mary, died in infancy ; Mary 2, married George 
 Little, of Pennsylvania ; she died September 13th, 
 1836. They had four sons, who are lawyers, prom- 
 inent in their profession and well off. One resides 
 in Tunkhannock, Pa.; one in Towanda ; one in 
 Montrose, and one in Bloomsburg. They all have 
 sons who are lawyers. 
 
 Annie married Ambrose Niles about 1780, 
 
46 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 Children : Wm. H., founder of the Sejitinel and 
 Witness of Middletown. He and his three chil- 
 dren are dead. His widow, aged 84, lives with the 
 writer at Whitestone, N. Y. Col. Aaron Tarbox 
 Niles married Rachel Ann Harris, of Millington. 
 Had five children. All the family except the writer 
 died many years ago. 
 
 Annie Estabrook Niles, married second, John 
 Markham, of Chatham, in 181 2. She died in 1849, 
 aged 71. He died in 1852, aged 96. Their de- 
 scendants mostly live in Chatham. 
 
 Olive Estabrook died young. 
 
 Hobert 3, born May 9th, 1787, married Ascenath 
 Harvey, of Millington. In November, 1827, he was 
 appointed Commissioner of Lands, 16,000 acres be- 
 longing to the Connecticut School Fund, and moved 
 to Newfield, N. Y. He died at Havana in 1872. 
 Children : Robert, resides at Newfield. His chil- 
 dren live near by. Rhoda married a Rockwell ; 
 Mary, an Alexander ; Isaac, a Smith ; Clara, an 
 Allen ; Addie is unmarried and lives at home. 
 
 George, son of Hobert, lives at Andover ; Her- 
 man lives at Ithaca ; has one son, William. 
 
OF EAST HADDAM, 47 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 MiLLiNGTON Congregational Church. 
 
 The first meeting house was erected in Milling- 
 ton in 1743. It was fifty by forty feet, and stood 
 on the Green, a few rods south of the present 
 church. The building of the present house was 
 proposed in Society meeting, January 21st, 1832, 
 when it was '' voted that the Society build a meet- 
 ing house 32 feet by 44, from 16 to 18 feet posts, 
 with a steeple not exceeding 60 feet in height." 
 The house was built by Mr. Edward Worthington 
 and dedicated to divine service on the 23d of Jan- 
 uary, 1833. The Society tendered Mr. Worthing- 
 ton a vote of thanks for faithful discharge of his 
 work. For the excellent bell on the church the 
 Society were mainly indebted to John Chapman 
 and William H. Cone — to the former for his liberal 
 subscription ; to the latter for his great activity in 
 the matter. 
 
 The first minister in Millington was Rev. Tim- 
 othy Symmes, of Scituate, Mass., who was ordained 
 December 2d, 1736. Dr. Field says: "In the 
 great revival of religion which spread in New Eng- 
 land a few years after his ordination, his feelings 
 were extravagantly raised, and he prosecuted his 
 work with a zeal not according to his knowledge. 
 This gave rise to difficulties which ended in his 
 dismission in 1743." 
 
48 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 He was succeeded by Mr. Hobart Esterbrook, 
 son of the Rev. Mr. Esterbrook, of Canterbury. 
 He graduated at New Haven in 1736, and was or- 
 dained in Millington, November 20th, 1745. He 
 was a steady, judicious and faithful minister, and 
 is remembered with respect and affection by his 
 people. He died January 28th, 1766, in the 50th 
 year of his age and 20th of his ministry. (For a 
 record of their descendants see chapter eight.) His 
 first wife was Miss Hannah Williams, of Mansfield, by 
 whom he had two daughters, who died young. 
 His second wife was Jerusha Chauncey, daughter 
 of the Rev. Isaac Chauncey, of Hadley, Mass., by 
 whom he had four children. She died June 17th, 
 1776, aged 62 years, and was buried beside her hus- 
 band in Millington burying ground. 
 
 The next minister in Millington was Mr. Diodate 
 Johnson, who was ordained July 2d, 1767. He 
 was a son of the Rev. Stephen Johnson, of Lyme, 
 was educated at Yale College, where he took his 
 first degree in 1764, and became a tutor. En- 
 dowed with superior genius and learning, and 
 animated with fervent zeal for his work, he entered 
 the ministry with the fairest prospects of useful- 
 ness. His labors, however, was soon ended, for 
 consumption closed his life January 15th, 1773, at 
 the early age of 28. He was sitting in his chair 
 reading an article in " Doddrige's Rise and Pro- 
 gress," entitled " A Meditation and Prayer suited 
 to the Case of a Dying Christian," when struck 
 with death. 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. 49 
 
 Rev. Eleazer Sweetland was installed May 21st, 
 1777. He was a native of Hebron, and graduated 
 at Dartmouth College, in 1774. He died March 
 25th, 1787, aged 36 years, much beloved and re- 
 spected by all who knew him. He left a wife and 
 three children, who moved soon after from Mill- 
 ington. 
 
 Rev. William Lyman, D. D., was ordained De- 
 cember 13th, 1787. He maintained his pastoral 
 relation with the church at Millington for thirty-five 
 years, and was known as one of the most popular 
 and eloquent preachers in this part of the country. 
 He had a powerful voice, an easy flow of words, 
 and all his writings were stamped with vigor and 
 power. In the latter part of his ministry he be- 
 came afflicted with hypochondria. This, with his 
 independent manner, finally aroused an opposition 
 among his people, and at a society meeting held 
 on the 23d of May, 1822, it was voted "that a 
 committee of five be appointed to consult the in- 
 terests of the society, especially as it respects our 
 relations with Dr. Lyman as our minister." Wil- 
 liam Cone, Esq., Deacon N. B. Beckwith, Deacon 
 Israel Cone, Russel Dutton, Esq., and Captain 
 Hobart Esterbrook, were appointed as said com- 
 mittee. The committee reported against the Doc- 
 tor, and on the last Wednesday in August, at a 
 meeting of the Ecclesiastical Council, the relation 
 between pastor and people was dissolved. His 
 farewell sermon, replete with denunciations of the 
 sins and shortcomings of his flock, was delivered 
 
50 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 with such vigor and eloquence that the long years 
 which have intervened have failed to obliterate its 
 impressions from the minds of those who heard 
 him, and his hymn about the conspiracy of " wicked 
 men " was in keeping with his sermon. Many 
 anecdotes are related of Dr. Lyman's dry humor 
 and eccentricity, which he often carried to the 
 pulpit. 
 
 In his day the temperance agitation had scarcely 
 commenced, and the indulgence of the social glass 
 among the higher class was much more common 
 than now. The clergy and the elders were wont 
 to meet and discuss grave matters over their toddy 
 with a freedom that would be quite scandalous in 
 these days. Mr. Elijah Parsons used to call regu- 
 larly upon an old lady of the same name who lived 
 where Charles Babcock now resides in the Landing 
 and get his mug of " flip." The old lady, knowing 
 his hours, used to have her ^' flip-iron " hot, and 
 concoct his favorite beverage with dexterity and 
 skill. Dr. Lyman and Rev. Mr. Vail, of Hadlyme, 
 who were his cotemporaries, were wont, at regular 
 intervals to meet him at the " Blacksmith's Arms," 
 (the house north of Maplewood Seminary), and 
 discuss grave matters belonging to their profession 
 over their " mugs of flip." So, too, in those days, 
 the General Assembly used to open with an elec- 
 tion sermon, which furnished an occasion for a gen- 
 eral gathering of the clergy throughout the State. 
 Great dinners were furnished at the expense of the 
 State, and '^ Santa Cruz " was a prominent feature 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. 51 
 
 of the bill of fare. It is related of Dr. Lyman that 
 at an Ecclesiastical Council held in Westchester, 
 when the company, being invited to refresh them- 
 selves at the sideboard, one of his ministerial 
 brethren suggested that their first refreshment 
 should be to wash off the dust of travel, the Doctor 
 decided the matter by the following epigram : 
 
 Our fathers of old 
 First washed their eyes, 
 And then their throats ; 
 But we, their sons, more wise, 
 Will wash our throats, 
 And then our eyes. 
 
 One day, being met on the street by a friend, he 
 was accosted with : 
 
 " Good morning. Doctor ; what is the news ?" 
 
 " There is great news," replied the Doctor ; " I 
 just saw a man up here at Boardman's store swal- 
 lowing a dozen ax-helves !" 
 
 " I declare! how did he do it ?" 
 
 " Why, it seems very easy ; he had traded his 
 helves for liquor, and when I left he had poured 
 nearly all of them down his throat." 
 
 At a time of great drought the Doctor arose in his 
 pulpit one morning and prayed for rain in this 
 wise : " Oh, Lord, we pray Thee to send down 
 copious and refreshing showers, that the parched 
 earth may revive and bring forth grass— /^^^^^•^^•'" 
 
 Dr. Lyman moved to Western New York, where 
 he died several years ago. Soon after his dismis- 
 sion a wonderful revival of religion occurred in 
 
52 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 Millington, under the ministry of the Rev. Mr. 
 Saxon, called to this day by the good people of 
 Millington *' The Great Revival." 
 
 Dr. Lyman was succeeded by the Rev. Hermon 
 Yail, who was ordained April 6th, 1825. In Sep- 
 tember, 1827, Mr. Vail asked for a dismission from 
 his pastoral charge, which was granted by the Ec- 
 clesiastical Council soon after. For nearly three 
 years afterwards the society was without any regu- 
 lar pastor. In 1830, the Rev. Nathaniel Miner 
 received a call from the society, which he declined, 
 principally on account of the dilapidated condition 
 of the old meeting house. He occupied the pul- 
 pit, however, as a stated supply for three years, 
 and was installed as their regalar pastor May 28th, 
 1833, which was after the erection and dedication 
 of the new meeting house. 
 
 Mr. Miner was born in Stonington, Connecticut, 
 educated at the " Literary and Theological Sem- 
 inary " of Bangor, Maine, and received the hon- 
 orary degree of Master of Arts from Amherst Col- 
 lege in 1840. He was ordained at Chesterfield 
 (Montville), October, 1826 ; went to Millington 
 from Bozrahville in 1830. His salary was at first 
 $375, then $450, and finally $500 per year. Near 
 the close of his ministry in Millington a small farm 
 was purchased, formerly owned by Rev. Hobart 
 Esterbrook, and on it was erected what is now 
 known as the Millington parsonage. 
 
 Mr. Miner married Emeline S. Ransom, of 
 Salem, by whom he had five children. Three of 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. 53 
 
 them are living, "two are not and yet are." He 
 was dismissed from his pastoral charge in Milling- 
 ton at his own request by the Middlesex Consocia- 
 tion at their annual meeting held at Essex, October, 
 
 1858. Since that time he has resided in Salem, and 
 has retired from active service. 
 
 Mr. Miner occupies a large space in the affec- 
 tionate remembrance of his parishioners. As a 
 minister, he was ever earnestly devoted to the ser- 
 vice of his Master, and the welfare of his flock ; as 
 a neighbor, his genial kindness, his sociability, and 
 the hospitality of his home made his religion a 
 practical reality instead of an abstract theory. 
 For the young (and in this relation the writer's 
 recollection of him will always add pleasure to 
 memory,) he ever had a kind word and a helping 
 hand, which wielded an influence for good. 
 
 Mr. Miner was succeeded by Rev. A. C. Beach, 
 from Wolcot, Conn. He was born at Orange, N. 
 J.; a graduate of Yale College, in 1835, and was 
 installed as pastor of the church in Millington in 
 
 1859. He was dismissed in 1876, and was suc- 
 ceeded by the Rev. Mr. Griswold, who is still in 
 charge. 
 
 The deacons of the Congregational Church in 
 Millington since its organization have been as 
 follows : 
 
 Name. Elected. Died. Age. 
 
 Samuel Emmons, Oct., 1736 
 
 Daniel Gates, Oct., 1736 
 
 Gen. Jos. Spencer, Nov. 20, 176? Jan. 13, 1789 75 
 
 Samuel Button, July 4, 1771 Dec. 30, 1790 87 
 
54 
 
 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 Name. 
 
 Elected. 
 
 Died. Age. 
 
 Ebenezer Dutton, 
 
 Feb. 26, 1778 
 
 Moved to Lebanon 
 
 Benjamin Fuller, 
 
 Feb. 26, 1778 
 
 Nov. 10, 1815 93 
 
 Nathaniel Cone, 
 
 May, 1789 
 
 Apr. 15, 1790 78 
 
 Barzillail Beckwith, 
 
 June 4, 1790 
 
 Feb. 22, 1818 79 
 
 Isaac Spencer, 
 
 April I, 1796 
 
 
 
 Diodate Lord, 
 
 Aug. 26, 1816 
 
 Moved awaj'. 
 
 Israel Cone, Jr., 
 
 April 17, 1818 
 
 
 
 Nathaniel Beckwith, 
 
 April 17, 1818 
 
 1858 — 
 
 Wm. E. Cone, 
 
 Moved to Moodus. 
 
 Deacon in ist Congre- 
 gational Church. 
 
 Samuel Arnold, 
 
 April 30, 1 84 1 
 
 Now in office. 
 
 Epaphroditus Gates, 
 
 Aug. 27, 1858 
 
 
 Charles Miner, 
 
 
 Now in office. 
 
OF EAST HADDAM . 55 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 HaDLVME. HUNGERFORD AND WiLLEY FAMILIES. 
 
 The Society of Hadlyme was formed from East 
 Haddam Society, and Eyme Third Society, in 
 October, 1742. About two-thirds of the Society is 
 in East Haddam. The meeting house was erected 
 soon after. The church was organized with ten 
 male members on the 20th of June 1745? at the 
 house of Lieut. John Comstock, and on the i8th of 
 September following the P.ev. Grindal Rawson was 
 installed its pastor. Here is a copy of the original 
 record : 
 
 " Att a General Assembly holden att New Haven, 
 on the 14th Day of October Ano: dom — 1742 — 
 Upon the memorial of Isaac Willey, Stephen 
 Scovil, John Comstock and other members of the 
 first Society in East Haddam and the third Society 
 in Lyme prefered to this Assembly in May Last 
 and the Report of the Comitte thereon — to this 
 Assembly in their present Sessions proposing that 
 ye memorials : st be formed into a Distinct Society 
 for Carrying on ye worship of God a-mongst them- 
 selves according to ye Bounds &c — Limits therein 
 Specified. This Assembly Do Enact Decree and 
 Order That ye said Isaac Willey, Stephen Scovil, 
 John Comstock and the Rest of the Inhabitants of 
 the Parrish hereafter Described be and they are 
 
56 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 here by Imbodyed and made one Distinct Ecclesi- 
 astical Society by the name of Hadlyme, and that 
 ye Bounds thereof to be as follows viz Beginning at 
 a Whiteoak Tree Standing by the Great River be- 
 ing accounted ye bounds between Lyme and East 
 Haddam thence Running Southerly to William 
 Clemans In eluding Mr. Selden's farm by the River 
 thence Eastward from said Clemans house unto ye 
 house where Consider Tiffany now lives including 
 that house thence running northwesterly to the 
 South East corner of James Masses farm thence 
 Running northeasterly by s'd Masses his Land to 
 the Repouted bounds of East Haddam. Then be- 
 ginning at s'd Whiteoak Tree by the River from 
 thence Extending one mile and three quarters 
 north To the River and from the Extreem of that 
 Extent Easterly to James Booge's house including 
 s'd house thence Easterly to Elijah Ackley's house 
 including s'd House thence East unto the Line of 
 Millington Parrish and from thence Southerly By 
 s'd Millington Line unto the Line between s'd East 
 Haddam and Lyme and by Last mentioned Line 
 unto Mose his Land aforesaid. 
 
 Teste George Wyllvs, Secretary." 
 At a meeting held " May ye 28, 1745 it was then 
 and their voted that wee Will Give ye Rev. Mr. 
 Rawson towards building his house in s'd society 
 if he Settles in the work of the ministre a-mongst 
 us the sum of one hundred pound old tenor in 
 Labour to be payd in the time that we way his 
 settlement." 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. 
 
 57 
 
 Mr. Rawson was born at Mendon, Mass.; re- 
 ceived the degree of A. B., at Harvard in 172S, 
 and was settled several years at South Hadley, 
 He was a plain preacher, gifted in prayer, remark- 
 ably social, and had an uncommon talent in recon- 
 ciling parties at variance. He died March 29, 
 1777, in the 70th year of his age and the 2 2d 
 of his ministry in Hadlyme. His wife was 
 Dorothy Chauncey, daughter of the Rev. Isaac 
 Chauncey, of Hadley. She died November 15th, 
 1870, aged 70 years. They had seven children, al: 
 of whom, with one exception, died before their 
 parents. The Hadlyme parsonage — the large 
 brown house on the hill now occupied by E. \\\ 
 Mather — was built about 1746. Mr. Rawson lived 
 here during his ministry. Afterwards his son.. 
 Rev. E. G. Rawson, brought up a large family — in 
 fact, for over one hundred years it was the home of 
 the ministers. 
 
 The Rev. Joseph Vail succeeded Mr. Rawson, 
 and was installed February 9th, 1780. He re- 
 tained his pastoral charge more than .fifty years. 
 He was succeeded by Rev. R. S. Crompton about 
 1835. Mr. Crompton was secceeded by Rev. George 
 Carrington, S. A. Loper, E. B. Hilliard, D. W. Zel- 
 ler. The following notice was cut from the C(?/i;i. 
 Fa/. Advertiser in 1885 : 
 
 "Rev. Stephen A. Loper, of Hadlyme, died in 
 Hartford, on Friday of last week, at the ripe age of 
 84 years and six months. Nearly a half century 
 ago Mr. Loper was the pastor of the Congrega- 
 
58 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 tional church at Middle Haddam, after which he 
 was for many years pastor of the Congregational 
 Church in Hadlyme. For several years past he has 
 lived with his daughter, Mrs. Lynde Selden, at the 
 last-named place." 
 
 The deacons in the church since its organization 
 were : 
 
 ' Samuel Dutton, Christopher Holmes, 
 
 Samuel Cooby, Col, Samuel Selden, 
 
 Israel Spencer, Esq., Jabez Comstock, 
 Israel S. Spencer, Israel Dewey, 
 
 Ithamer Harvey, Selden Warren, 
 
 Elijah Comstock, Samuel C. Selden, 
 
 V. A. Tiffany, Isaac Chester, 
 
 Joseph Selden, William C. Spencer. 
 
 Almond Day, 
 
 Notwithstanding the formation of this society 
 was nine years after the formation of Millington, 
 jriettlements were made here much earlier, or about 
 the time of the settlement of the C'reek Row. 
 
 Thomas Hungerford moved to this parish from 
 New London, with his three sons, as early as 1692. 
 He was soon followed by Isaac Willey and his 
 three sons, also from New London. John Holmes 
 THioved here from the same pUice in 17 10, and 
 Thomas Harv'ey from England, and John Marsh 
 from Ma.ssachusetts were also early inhabitants. 
 The Hungerfords, Willeys and Holmes seem to 
 :have taken firm root in the soil, as their descend- 
 ants are now quite numerous here, and "■ own and 
 possess " a large portion of the land. Thomas 
 
OF EAST HAD!) AM. 59 
 
 Hungerford was a blacksmith, and in consideration 
 of his trade the society of East Haddam gave him 
 a section of land. His house stood at the corner 
 of the road east of Asa Hungerford's, near the Oid 
 Bone Mill. He was the first selectman of the town 
 of East Haddam. He died about 17 14, and was 
 buried in the Cove Burying Ground. The three 
 sons who accompanied him hither were named 
 Thomas, John and Green. At that time Thomas 
 2d was married, and had one child. Later he was 
 a sea-faring man, and when at home, lived with 
 and took care of his father. On his return from his 
 last voyage at sea, he was taken sick at New Lon- 
 don, where he died in 1750. His descendants 
 left town. John, the second son of the elder 
 Thomas, married Deborah Spencer about 1701. 
 He died in 1748, and was buried in Hadlyme bury- 
 ing ground. He had two sons, Robert and Thomas. 
 Robert built a house which stood where Drury 
 Holmes now lives, in which he resided till his 
 death. He married Grace Holmes about 1730. 
 His children were Robert, John, Zackariah, Elijah, 
 l>eborah, Anna and Silence. 
 
 Robert 2d married in 1776. His children by his 
 second wife were as follows : 
 
 Robert 3d, born in 1777. 
 
 Joseph E., born in 1784, 
 
 William, born in 1786. 
 
 Lovica, born in 1789. 
 
 Ansel ist, born in 1792. 
 
 A.sa, born in 1795. 
 
6o THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 Richard, born in 1798, 
 
 Ansel 2d, born in . 
 
 Rebecca, born in 1804. 
 
 Ansel ist died about the year 1800. Richard 
 was killed by a falling tree in 1815. Ansel 2d and 
 Rebecca Ely are now living in Hadlyme. 
 
 John, the brother of Robert 2d, served in the 
 French and Indian wars. Captain Zackariah mar- 
 ried Lydia Bigelow, and built the house where 
 William E. now lives; he was grandfather of William 
 E., Zachariah 3d, John B. Hungerford and Roswell 
 S. Cone, our present townsmen. 
 
 Green Hungerford, the son of the elder Thomas, 
 moved to Millington about 1730, where he became 
 one of the leading men of the society. 
 
 He married Jemima Richardson, and built a 
 house at 'Tator Hill, where Norris Rathburn's 
 house now stands. He had a son Green, who oc- 
 cupied the old homestead, which subsequently be- 
 came used as a public house, and the headquarters 
 of the militia for a number of years. The widow 
 of Green married Matthias Fuller, the father of 
 Richardson Fuller. The grandchildren of Green 
 2d are Reed Anderson, Lord W. Cone's mother, 
 Richard Hungerford's mother, and Mrs. Olcot 
 Harris. 
 
 Isaac Willey came from New London with Thomas 
 Hungerford, and also settled in Hadlyme with his 
 three sons, Isaac, John and Abel. They owned 
 land from the Connecticut river, extending back 
 several miles along the line of the town of Lyme. 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. 6l 
 
 All the Willeys in East Haddam are descendants 
 from this family, though they are not now as nu- 
 merous as formerly, many of them having moved 
 from the town. 
 
 Abel settled in the southern part of Hadlyme, 
 upon the old homestead. 
 
 John's children were named Joseph, Jonathan 
 and Allen. Joseph 2d married Irene Banning in 
 1764. Their child, Temperance, born 1768. Jon- 
 athan married Mary Bates in 1758. Their children 
 were : 
 
 Susanna, born in 1758. 
 
 Mary, born in 1761. 
 
 Jonathan 2d, born in 1763, 
 
 Clement, born in 1765. 
 
 Azubah, born in 1767. 
 
 Elles, born in 1769. 
 
 Hannah, born in 1771. 
 
 Keziah, born in 1773. 
 
 The children of Allen were Abraham, John and 
 Judah. 
 
 Captain Abraham married Susanna Beckwith in 
 1773. Their children were : 
 
 Anna, born in 1773. 
 
 Ethan Allen, born in 1776. 
 
 Mehitable R., born in 1780, 
 
62 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 Barak, born in 1782. 
 
 Susanna, born in 1785. 
 
 Abraham Wolcott, born in 1788. 
 
 Ethan Allen Willey was the father of Judge 
 Willey, William Willey and Mrs. Orren Warner, of 
 East Haddam. Mehitable R., the sister of Ethan 
 Allen, married a Chapman, and was the mother of 
 Robert W. Chapman, Esq. 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. 65. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Leesville. 
 
 One of the first settlers of Leesville was Capt. 
 Jonathan Kilburn, whose house stood on the hilL 
 near the present schoolhouse. The Captain was a 
 man of considerable influence in his day. He. 
 seems to have been enterprising, eccentric, and in- 
 genious. The mill-house near the present Lees- 
 ville dam stands over what was then called '' Sal- 
 mon Hole," a deep hole from which were caught 
 large numbers of salmon. The large chasm in the 
 ledge, just east of this house, is a monument of 
 Capt. Kilburn's perseverance, he having burned it 
 out by the use of fire and water. He then built a 
 trough from a spring on the hill some distance east 
 of the village to the bank which towered above the 
 present school-house, and by thus washing away 
 this mountain of sand and sending it through the 
 chasm, filled up '' Salmon Hole," and made the 
 fertile garden spot around the old mill house. 
 Afterwards he erected a dam across the river where 
 the present dam is, and about the year 1765 built 
 an oil mill, the first in the State, near where the 
 present cotton mill stands. 
 
 In his old age, Capt. Kilburn became considera- 
 bly involved, his principal creditors being the Lords, 
 who were, for those times, wealthy merchants, liv- 
 
^4 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 ing at the Landing, and to whom fickle fortune 
 transferred the old man's property. George Lord 
 lived where Richard Gelston now resides, Samuel 
 Lord built the brick hotel which subsequently be- 
 came the Champion House. George and Richard 
 Lord moved to Leesville, and through their energy 
 and means this splendid water privilege became 
 partially developed. Over the oil mill they erected 
 a woolen factory and a clothier's works, where they 
 fulled and dressed their cloth. They also had a 
 bark mill, and erected a saw mill, carrying eight 
 saws, and sawing a length of seventy feet. The 
 woolen mill had five spinning machines, and con- 
 sumed about ten thousand pounds of wool annu- 
 ally. The place arose to the dignity of a name, 
 and was called Lord's Mills. A cotton factory was 
 next erected at the same spot. 
 
 On the night of the 30th of March, 1815, these 
 mills, with a large portion of their contents, were 
 consumed by fire, occasioning a loss of about twen- 
 ty-five thousand dollars. The origin of the fire 
 v^-as never ascertained, but from some circumstances 
 which subsequently came to light, suspicions were 
 directed to the crew of a British vessel which lay 
 near the mouth of the river, the English being at 
 that time bitterly opposed to American manufac- 
 tures, then in their infancy. 
 
 Notwithstanding this heavy loss, the Lords, the 
 sunmier after, erected a fine brick building, 65x35, 
 four stories high, with a loft in the garret. Into 
 this they introduced machinery for the manufac- 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. = 
 
 tare of woolen cloth, using sixteen thousand pound: 
 of wool a year. 
 
 In 1816, they introduced five hundred cottor 
 spindles, which they afterwards increased to tw( 
 thousand. They also had in this building a ma 
 chine room, where all the wood, brass, and iroi 
 machinery were made and repaired for the estab 
 lishment. 
 
 Fortune's wheel finally turned disastrously fo 
 the Lords. Owing to severe losses they were forcec 
 to mortgage their property heavily to the State o 
 Connecticut, and a foreclosure was the result. Th( 
 place was purchased by the sons of Dr. Samuel H 
 B. Lee, of New London, who gave to it the nam< 
 which it still retains. The Lees afterwards sole 
 the mills to Enoch and Samuel Parsons. Sooi 
 afterwards a company was formed, consisting o 
 Parsons, Chapman, D. B. Warner, and S. S. Card 
 After holding the property about eight years, the^ 
 sold it to Ackley Cowdrey, through whose agenc; 
 a joint stock company was formed. 
 
 About twenty-two years ago, the new mill wa 
 destroyed by fire, and on the ruins was erected tin 
 present mill, which is owned by the East Haddan 
 Duck Company, and run for the manufacture o 
 cotton duck. It uses about two hundred thousanc 
 pounds of cotton per year. 
 
 The Lords went from Leesville to New Connec 
 ticut, which they purchased. It appears that at om 
 time Richard and George became so disastrously 
 involved by their losses at Leesville that they wen 
 
66 THE OLD CHLMNEY STACKS 
 
 sent to jail for debt. Three of the daughters mar- 
 ried Burroughs, one of them a Member of Con- 
 gress. Samuel went to Spain and brought a load 
 of gold, as he called it, to this country. The ore 
 upon being assayed did not prove to be the genu- 
 ine article, yet the cargo was found not entirely 
 worthless. It brought considerable money, but a 
 fraction, however, of what its owners anticipated. 
 
 Of the Kilburn family, Jonathan 2d went to Kil- 
 lingworth. Jonathan 3d is now in Middletown; 
 owns the Farmers' and Mechanics' Hotel. Aaron 
 worked for some time in a silversmith's shop, run 
 by one Wm. Johnson. He now resides in New 
 Haven. 
 
 The original Capt. Kilburn left another endur- 
 ing monument to his memory in the shape of a 
 large stone basin, capable of holding two or three 
 barrels of water, which now stands as it has stood 
 for years in front of the old Kilburn House. Capt. 
 K. dug out this solid rock, placed it there as a res- 
 ervoir, drilled a hole through the bottom, and con- 
 nected it with the spring on the hill by a wooden 
 pipe composed of bored logs. Into this cool res- 
 ervoir for many years there bubbled up a spring of 
 pure cold water, affording a convenience and a com- 
 fort which our farmers of the present day seldom 
 enjoy. 
 
 The Leesville of to-day is a pleasant village of 
 about fifteen families, the heads of which are wor- 
 thy citizens, noted for honesty, frugality, and — 
 Democracy. 
 
OF EAST H ADD AM. 67 
 
 During all the Republican administrations of the 
 past twenty-five years, it has had to depend on s 
 democratic post-master or close the office. 
 
 The large house in the centre of the village — alsc 
 a centre of hospitality — has for many years been 
 occupied by Mr. Charles Wright and his stalwart 
 sons. John A. Wright kept a store here for many 
 years. At present (1886), he is located at Thorn- 
 dyke, Mass., and has recently been appointed post- 
 master at that place. 
 
6S THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Baptist, Methodist amd Episcopal 
 Churches. 
 
 The Baptist Church in East Haddam was orig- 
 inally '' The Third Baptist Church in Colchester." 
 The Church was organized at the house of David 
 ]\Iiner, November 2 2d, 1809. The first meeting 
 was held at Bulkley Hill school house December 
 15th, 1809 — preaching by Elder Eliada Blakesley. 
 Among the familiar names of the early members 
 are John and GuyBigelow, Daniel Bulkley, Anson 
 Ackley, Seth Hayes and Turner Miner. The 
 church prospered and increased in numbers not- 
 withstanding they had no regular place of worship, 
 services being held in the school house and occa- 
 sionally at the house of some member for sixteen 
 3-ears. The first meeting in East Haddam was held 
 at the school house in the northwest district De- 
 cember 2 2d, 1825. Soon after, on the 15th of De- 
 cember, the first meeting was held in their new 
 meeting house on the East Haddam and Colches- 
 ter Turnpike, where Ransom Rathburn now lives. 
 About this time the name was changed to ^' The 
 Baptist Church of Colchester and East Haddam." 
 The first sermon in the new meeting house was 
 preached by Elder Stanwood, from the text : " One 
 thing have I desired of the Lord, and that will I 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. 69 
 
 seek after, that I might dwell in the house of the 
 Lord." Changes in place of worship, and the erec- 
 tion of new meeting houses are not generally pro- 
 ductive of harmony in any denomination. It 
 seems that this change was no exception to the 
 general rule, for cases of discipline, for contempt 
 against some of the most prominent members, be- 
 came quite frequent soon after the removal. In 
 fact, during the fifty years that have elapsed 
 since that time this society has been particularly 
 prominent in its intestine strifes. The last strife, 
 but a year or two since, wherein the Beebe faction 
 was arrayed against the Brooks and Stark faction 
 in the civil and ecclesiastical courts. Injunctions 
 and counter injunctions, more potent than the 
 Pope's bulls, closing the doors of the church for 
 months ; a fight which was widely known and dis- 
 cussed as the " Moodus Church war," is fresh in the 
 memory of every townsman. The first pastor of 
 the new church was Alvin Ackley, June 19th 1827. 
 June 1 8th, 1833, Amos Watrous, and on September 
 3d, 1845, Thomas N. Dickinson were set apart 
 as preachers of the Word. August ist, 1844, it was 
 voted to sell the meeting house in Millington, and 
 put the avails in a building for public worship in 
 Mechanicsville (Moodus). On the 21st of Septem- 
 ber following, the church was organized, under the 
 name of the " Central Baptist Church in East Had- 
 dam." New articles of faith were adopted, and 
 since that time the place of worship has been at 
 their new house in Moodus. 
 
yO THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 The first pastor of the church in Mood us was 
 Elder Bela Hicks, whose successors have been as 
 fnllows : 
 
 Rev. A. J. Watrous, Elder Knapp, Levi Wakeman. 
 
 June iSth, 1854 — Elder James M. Phillips. 
 
 August 31st, 1856 — Elder A. Watrous. 
 
 May 3d, 1858— Rev. A. V. Dimmock. 
 
 September 6th, 1862 — Rev. Mr. Haven. 
 
 ]\larch 25th, 1866 — Rev. Thomas Attwood. 
 
 April 30th, 1867 — Rev. Percival Matthewson. 
 
 May 8th, 1870— Rev. C. N. Nichols. 
 
 The present parsonage was purchased in 1868 
 for two thousand dollars. 
 
 " The M. E. Church of the Mechanicsville Sta- 
 tion " was organized, and the church erected upon 
 its present site about 1834. It is under the con- 
 trol of the Providence Conference. The Presiding 
 Elders of the district have been as follows : 
 
 l>aniel Dorchester, 1835-37 Erastus Burton, 1860-6^ 
 
 Asa U. Svvinerton, 1838-41 (leorge U, Carpenter, 
 William Livesey. 1842 1863-64 
 
 Ralph W. Allen, 1843-46 }'arden T. Keeney, 1865-69 
 
 Erastus Benton, 1847-50 George W. Brewster, 18 70 
 
 Bartholomew Otherman. H. .S. Smith, 1870-73 
 
 1851-54 Anthony Palmer, 1873-74 
 
 Levi Daggett. 1855-56 James H. Nutting, 1874-77 
 
 Anthony Palmer. 1S57-58 A, W. Paige, 1877-78 
 
 )>. W. Blood, 1859-60 A.E.Anthony, 1S78 
 
 The following is the list of preachers : 
 
 Freeman Nutting, 1835 Warren Emerson, 1853-54 
 
 Amos Simpson, 1835 J.F.Sheffield, 1855 
 
 David Todd, 1S36-37 N. Cioodrich, 1858-59 
 
OK EAST HADDAM. 
 
 John F. Blanchard. 
 
 1S37 
 
 H. W. Conant, 
 
 i860 
 
 
 James Nichols, 
 
 1838 
 
 Burnham, 
 
 i860 
 
 
 Solomon Cushman, 
 
 1S3S 
 
 L. D. Bentley, 
 
 1861 
 
 
 Theodore W. Gile, 
 
 1839 
 
 C. M. Alvord, 
 
 1862- 
 
 -63 
 
 Charles C. Barnes, 
 
 1841 
 
 ¥. H. Brown, 
 
 1864 
 
 
 Moses Stoddard, 
 
 1841 
 
 (;. W. Wooding-, 
 
 1S65- 
 
 -67 
 
 William Simmons, 
 
 1S46 
 
 Joel B. Bishop, 
 
 1S68 
 
 
 ]'.. L. Saver. 
 
 lS47 
 
 William Turkinton, 
 
 1868- 
 
 -69 
 
 Menry Torbu^h, 
 
 1S49 
 
 J. N. W^orcester, 
 
 1870 
 
 
 i '.CO. \V. Brewster, 
 
 1S50 
 
 II. S. Smith. 
 
 1871 
 
 
 R. .\ll)iston, 
 
 1S51-52 
 
 
 
 
 The Episcopal Society was formed April 27th, 
 1791, in consequence of a division among the peo- 
 ple of the First Congregational Society respecting 
 the location of their present meeting house. In 
 1792 the Rev. Solomon Blakeley was placed ovei 
 the Society as deacon, and a year later was placec 
 in full orders. He labored with this and neigh 
 boring societies for more than twenty years. H( 
 i^ioved to St. James Church, New London, ii 
 1S15. Returned, and again became rector fron 
 1818 to October 8th, 182 1. The rectors who sue 
 ceeded him were as follows : 
 
 Rev. Seth Paddock, during part of the year 1822 
 
 Rev. William James, from October 8th, 1822 
 until January 29th, 1827. 
 
 Rev. Peter (1. Clark, two-thirds of the time fron 
 November 8th, 1827, until May, 1833. 
 
 Rev. Stephen Beach, from June 20th 1833, unti 
 hits death, January 14th, 1838. 
 
 Rev. William G. Hyes, from June, 1838, unti 
 November ist, 1838. 
 
72 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 Rev. Charles W. Bradley, from February loth, 
 1839, until August 2d, 1840. 
 
 Rev. Albert G. Isaacs, (deacon) from August tO' 
 November, 1840. 
 
 Rev. Thomas G. Salter, from March 21st, 1841, 
 until November 21st, 1842. 
 
 Rev. Alex. Burgen (deacon), from November 
 28th, 1842, until December nth, 1842. 
 
 Rev. Henry DeKoven (deacon), was appointed 
 minister October 29th, 1843, ^^^^ resigned Septem- 
 ber I St, 1844. 
 
 Rev. Alpheus Geer, from September ist, 1844,. 
 until April 12th, 1852. 
 
 Rev. George W. Nichols, from May 19th, 1852, 
 until April 12th, 1853. Again, from July id. 1854^ 
 until September 30th, 1855. 
 
 Rev. B. F. Taylor, from December, 1853, to 
 July, 1854. 
 
 Rev. Gilbert B. Hayden, from September 30th, 
 1855, until September 17th, 1856. 
 
 Rev. Michael Scofield, from September to No- 
 vember, 1856. 
 
 Rev. H. B. Hitchings (deacon), from 1857, until 
 November ist, 1862. 
 
 Rev. Henry T. Gregory, from November, 1862, 
 until April 13th, 1868. During liis pastorate the 
 present parsonage was built. 
 
 Rev. E. C. Gardner, from October, 1868, until 
 1872. 
 
 Rev. George Rumsey, from February 7th, 1872,, 
 until October, 1884. 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. 73 
 
 Rev. A. T. Parsons succeeded Mr. Rumsey, and 
 is still in charge (1886). He is a graduate of 
 Trinity College and Berkley Divinity School. 
 
 Inscription on the bell of St. Stephens Church : 
 
 " Ano de 815, 
 Serudo Prion E. I. V., 
 P. Du Miguel Villa 
 Mueva Procunador, 
 
 El V. Du Josef 
 Estavana. A. D. 815. 
 
 Som do, Prion E. J. V. P. Du Miguel Villa 
 Mueva Procunador, Elv. Du Josef Estavano." 
 
 TRANSLATION. 
 
 The Prior, being the most Rev. Father 
 
 Mio-uel Villa Mueva, The Procurator, the most 
 
 Rev. Father Jose F. Estevan-Corvalis has 
 
 made me. Made in the year A. D. 815. 
 
 It hung many years in a Spanish Monastery, 
 and was taken down during the wars of Napoleon 
 I. It is said to be the oldest bell in the United 
 States. 
 
74 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Cemeteries. 
 
 For many years after the settlement of the town 
 the people carried their dead across the river to 
 Haddam for burial. Not far from the year 1700, 
 a party of mourners, bearing their dead, crossed 
 the Cove and the narrow peninsula of Haddam 
 Neck, and attempted to cross the river. It had 
 overflowed its banks and the floating ice rendered 
 a passage impossible. Slowly and sadly the pro- 
 cession retraced its steps through the snow, and 
 buried its dead in the forest in a romantic spot a 
 little back from the Cove. This person was Mrs. 
 Arnold, a great, great aunt of Mrs. Elijah Bing- 
 ham. Thus commenced the Cove burial ground, 
 and the place is now know^n as " Grave Yard 
 Point." It is situated about one and a half miles 
 north of the Landing, and a little west of William 
 O. Brainerd's. Although the spot has twice been 
 cleared of wood within ninety years, large trees 
 stand beside the rude grave stones as if to offer 
 their protection, and throw over the spot their sol- 
 emn shade. The brown stones, covered with the 
 moss of time, are adorned by the traditional angels 
 having the usual round heads with wings protrud- 
 ing from the ears. In a prominent part of the 
 cemetery is a moss-covered tabular monument with 
 
OF EAST HADDAM 75 
 
 this inscription: "Under this tombstone lyeth in- 
 terred the body of the Rev. Stephen Hosmer, the 
 first Pastor of the First Church of Christ in East 
 Haddam, who departed this Hfe the i8th day of 
 Tune, A. D., 1749, and in the 70th year of his age, 
 And at his right hand lyeth Mrs. Sarah Hosmer 
 his beloved consort, who departed this life Septem- 
 ber ye 30th, A. D. 1749, and in the 67th year of hei 
 
 age. 
 
 " Sweet souls we leave you to your rest, 
 
 Enjoy your Jesus and your God, 
 
 Till we from bands of clay released, 
 
 Spring out and climb the shining road." 
 
 Near this is another slab of brown stone witl 
 this inscription: " Here lieth the body of Thoma 
 Gates, Justice of the Peace, April ye 20th, 1734 
 in ye 70th year of his age." Also, another slal 
 recording the death of Dea. Daniel Brainerd 
 who died 1743." Beside this stands a handsom 
 stone for those days, which has remained in a goo< 
 state of preservation, and records the death 
 Capt. Joshua Brainard, who departed this life Ma 
 the 13th, A. D. 1755, in the 84th year of his age. 
 In a line with this, stand rude brown stones whic 
 mark the graves of Nehimiah, Lucy, Uri and- Har 
 nah Brainard, and at the end of the line stands th 
 only marble stones in the yard. They mark th 
 graves of Bezaliel Brainard and Lydia his wife 
 They were the grandparents of Wm. O. and Abb 
 Brainard who own the ground. Here, too, is th 
 resting place of the Cones, the Ackleys, Arnold 
 
76 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 Olmsteads and many old families of the town, A 
 more pleasant or romantic spot than this can hardly 
 be found. Moodus and the Landings, instead of 
 each having a cemetery, should have united and pur- 
 chased this spot for a common burial ground. 'J'he 
 distance from either place is convenient. Nature, 
 history and tradition have already made it an in- 
 teresting spot; it would only have needed the em- 
 bellishments of art, to make it a retreat of which 
 the town might well be proud. One cannot wan- 
 der through this silent city of the dead, without 
 his mind reverting to the time, when its occupants 
 roamed over these hills and possessed our present 
 homes. Their rude boats were moored beside the 
 ruder canoes of the Indians in the snug harbor 
 afforded by the Cove, or glided in friendly rivalry 
 over the peaceful waters of the Connecticut. But 
 one generation removed from their Puritan fathers, 
 they inherited their virtues and their faith, and 
 were loyal subjects of their God and King. At 
 last, weary with life's toils they laid down to sleep 
 beneath these pleasant shades, and for nearly two 
 centuries the din and confusion of progress and 
 civilization have failed to disturb their silent re- 
 pose. The mourner who was wont to visit this 
 retreat with a secret yet melancholy pleasure comes 
 now no more. The flowers and shrubs which once 
 fringed these lowly graves, and which the hand of 
 friendship delighted to cherish, are replaced by 
 those of Nature's own bestowing, for God has not 
 forgotten them. " He sends the golden beams of 
 
OF EAST H ADD AM, 77 
 
 the morning to shine upon the tree-tops with re- 
 freshing cheerfuhiess, and the lingering tints of 
 evening to hover over them with a tranquilizing 
 glow." The other grave yards in East Haddam 
 were laid out or commenced as follows: 
 
 Old Yard in Hadlyme, 1723. 
 
 Long Pond Yard, 1726. 
 
 MoodusYard, 1748. 
 
 Meeting House Yard in Hadlyme, 1750. 
 
 Bashan, 1760. 
 
 'Tater Hill, 1760. 
 
 Near Millington Green, 1764. 
 
 Eight Mile River, 1769. 
 
 Landing, 1773. 
 
 Mt. Parnassus, 1774. 
 
 Centre Cong. Church, 1778. 
 
 Wicket Lane, 1793. 
 
 There is probably no more healthy town in the 
 State, the air and water being uncommonly pure. 
 Some of the old accounts refer to periods when 
 virulent diseases prevailed throughout the town, 
 but of nothing very serious. Within a few years 
 past, malaria has prevailed, to some extent, along 
 the river, and in fact it has prevailed throughout 
 the whole State. In the year 1775, there were over 
 forty deaths in the town ; in the year following, 
 more than fifty. The population of East Haddam, 
 in 1800, was 2,805. '^'^"'e total number of deaths in 
 the town for ten years after was 614, or an average 
 of over sixty each year, being a much larger aver- 
 
78 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 age of mortality than has existed since that time. 
 In 1870, the population was but 2,952, or 147 more 
 than it was at the beginning of the century. The 
 number of deaths during the year ending June ist. 
 1870, was 5.4, or an average of i in 55 persons. 
 Twenty of those deaths were caused by consump- 
 tion, six from typhoid fever, two were accidental. 
 The other deaths resulted from diseases pertaining 
 to childhood and old age. Twenty-two of the 
 number were under twenty-three years of age ; 
 eleven over seventy ; seven over eighty, and one 
 over ninety years. Thus while two-fifths failed to 
 reach the average of human life, more than one- 
 third passed the three-score years and ten alloted 
 to man by the Creator. 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. 79 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 AcKLEY— Palmes—Harris— Martin. 
 
 The old road running east from the Col. Orrio 
 Warner farm was formerly a main thoroughfare, 
 and on it lived several of the old families. On 
 the spot where Henry Martin now lives were raised 
 three generations of Ackleys. Three brothers by 
 the name of Ackley came over from England about 
 1740 Elijah built the house where Abby Ann 
 now lives solitary and alone, over one hundred and 
 thirty-five years ago. It has always remained m 
 the family. Alvin Ackley died there about twenty- 
 five years ago, aged eighty-five. Several members 
 of the family moved West. Julius Ackley died 
 here recently. The farm originally extended up to 
 the Wicket Lane School House. Enoch and Jere- 
 miah Ackley came from Chatham. The latter ac- 
 quired a comfortable home at Goodspeeds, and 
 has been one of Boardman's managers for many 
 years. Enoch bought the Alfred Gates place, half- 
 way between the two landings, and moved there 
 about 1867. He was an eccentric and withal a 
 pooular character. He lived with great frugality 
 and appeared to be working hard to get out of 
 debt. He was a regular man-of-all-work for the 
 neighborhood. If a man wanted some coal shov- 
 eled in, snow paths made, or a ditch dug ; if a 
 
8o THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 housewife wanted her carpets shaken, or her rooms 
 whitewashed, Enoch was the man to do it. When 
 he could not get a job he played checkers. If he 
 had invented a family coat-of-arms it would prob- 
 ably have been a shovel and whitewash brush en- 
 graved on a checker-board, with a rooster for the 
 crest. He was without personal pride, yet he was 
 proud of his four pretty daughters, and they were 
 popular girls. He was genial, obliging and well 
 liked — but " poor." When he died, three years 
 ago, he was found to be worth about one hundred 
 and twenty- five thousand dollars! 
 
 The house now owned by Christopher Brockway 
 was called the Samuel Palmes' place — Palmes died 
 there at the age of ninety-five. His son Guy, the 
 father of Oliver, John and Sarah, died recently at 
 the residence of his daughter, in Colchester, having 
 reached nearly one hundred years. The family is 
 of Scotch descent, its ancestors in this country 
 having first settled in New London. Samuel was 
 a tanner, and when a young man, worked and 
 learned his trade at a tannery on the farm known 
 as "Palmes Place." The old vats still exist. He 
 subsequently built a tannery and dwelling house 
 on the river road just north of Shailor Cone's. 
 Just below Abby Ann Ackley's is an old chimney 
 where once lived Joe Warner, who was the grand- 
 father of Joseph Warner of Hadlyme. Running 
 east from the Ackley farm is an old road known as 
 Pike's Lane. On this road lived one Thomas 
 Riley, who, in his younger days, according to tra- 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. bl 
 
 dition, sailed over the seas with Capt. Robert Kidd. 
 Farther east, on the road leading from Mt. 
 Parnassus to Hadlyme, is the old Parker home- 
 stead, now owned and occupied by Ozias Parker, 
 the youngest son of a large family. His brothers 
 all left the town in their early days to seek their 
 fortunes, and were very successful. John lives in 
 Madison, Conn.; has one son. Elial lives in Deep 
 River. Avery is a jeweler in Flemington, N. J.; 
 he has two daughters and one son. His oldest 
 daughter married Henry A. Fluck, a popular lawyer 
 of Flemington. Acenath, their only sister, married 
 Aaron T. Niles, and after his death married Russell 
 Babcock, of North Lyme. She is now a widow. 
 Ozias has several times represented the town in the 
 State Legislature, and has worthily filled the most 
 important town offices. His oldest son, Francis, 
 graduated at Wesleyan University, and is now a 
 promising lawyer in Hartford. 
 
 Further north, on the same street, are remains of 
 the homestead of the Andrews family. The owner 
 of the farm moved about the year 1810 to Ohio, 
 which was then considered the far West. His 
 nephew become a popular and eloquent preacher 
 of the Congregational faith, and about the year 
 1870 was called to the charge of the first Congrega- 
 tional Church in East Hampton, Conn. 
 
 Harris. 
 
 In an old red house on the Ripley Tracy farm 
 on Mt. Parnassus, lived Samuel Harris, who moved 
 
82 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 there from Salem early in the present century, 
 Selden Harris, of Montville, was born there in 1809. 
 He afterwards moved to Salem and Westchester^ 
 but returned to Millington, and bought what is now 
 the town farm of William Cone, Esq., in 1828. 
 After living there just twenty years, he sold the 
 farm to the town, and moved to the Swan farm ad- 
 joining, where he died in 1851. His wife was 
 Anna Otis, of Salem. She survived him but a few 
 years. Their children were: Selden, Rachel Ann, 
 Lydia, Harriet, Nathaniel and Elizabeth. Selden 
 married Mercy Baker, of Montville. They died 
 childless. Rachel Ann married Col. Aaron T. 
 Niles. They had three sons and two daughters. 
 Hosford B. is the only living representative of the 
 family. Harriet died at the age of twenty. I,ydia 
 married James Ely Swan. They had one son and 
 four daughters. James, the son, married Julia 
 Doane and moved to Colorado in 187 1, where he is 
 now a successful farmer. His wife is dead. He is 
 the only living representative of the family. Of 
 the daughters, Pernella married David Emmons; 
 Harriet married Joseph H. Arnold; Catharine 
 married Sherwood Cone ; Caroline married Frank 
 W. Swan. All of them died in the early prime of 
 life of consumption. Dr. Nathaniel, now living at 
 the Landing, has long been well known as the lead- 
 ing physician of the town. He married Juliet Ma- 
 son, of New London. She died in 1874, leaving 
 ten children. Elizabeth Harris married Ephraim 
 Martin, and lives on the Dyer Emmons place in 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. 
 
 Millington. They had two children: Harriet died 
 young. Anna married Charles Clark and lives in 
 Millington, on the William Ayres farm. 
 
 Martin. 
 
 Jonathan Martin, a weaver, came over from Eng- 
 land and settled near Lyman Newbury. The old 
 cellar is now filled up. He had nine sons — Jona- 
 than, William, Ephraim, Elihu, Peter, Samuel, 
 David, Joseph and 
 
 Jonathan 2d's children were Jonathan, Elihu, 
 Joseph, Esther, Mable, Oliver, Richard, Henry and 
 \Vells. 
 
 William's were Hannah, Robert, William, Justin, 
 George, David, Lucy, Charles, Warren, Nancy and 
 Edwin. 
 
 Peter's were Julianna, Palmer, Maria, Janette, 
 Almira, Henry, Edward, Ripley and Abby. 
 
 David's were Emma, Cone, George, Harriet and 
 Isaac. 
 
 Joseph's were Margaret, Niles, Ephraim, Esther, 
 EdgajT, Isabella and Datus. 
 
 Samuel's were Mary, Samuel, Harlow, Henrietta, 
 Adaline, Hezekiah, Ellen and Catharine. 
 
■84 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 GOODSPEED — BOARDMAN. 
 
 Nathan Goodspeed moved to East Haddam from 
 Earnstable, Cape Cod, Mass., between 1775-80, 
 bought the lot on which the Gelston House stands, 
 and built a commodious two-story house thereon. 
 He raised three children, viz.: Nathan, Joseph, and 
 Anna. Nathan married and occupied the home- 
 stead. He left one daughter, Jerusha, who married 
 Oliver Allen, of Norwich, and is now living in San 
 Francisco or its vicinity. They have one son, Anna 
 married Samuel Gilbert, of Hebron. Died about 
 i860, leaving one son, Nathan Gilbert, who resides 
 in Norwich. Joseph married Laura Tyler, of Had- 
 dam, about 181 2, and raised six children — George 
 E., William H., Joseph F., Nathan T., Mary Anne, 
 and Sophia. The only survivor of this family is 
 William H., who is still an active business man of 
 about sixty-three years, occupying the residence of 
 his late father, who died at the age of sixty. His 
 mother died at the age of forty-two, his brother 
 George at fifty, his sister Mary Anne at forty, 
 Sophia at twenty-four, Joseph and Nathan both at 
 twenty-six. 
 
 Joseph Goodspeed was a clerk for the Rev. Solo- 
 mon Blakeley, in a store in front of the lot now 
 occupied by the Gelston House. After his marriage 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. 85 
 
 he carried on a store for several years in Haddam, 
 hiring for that purpose a room in Timothy Shailor's 
 house. He finally built a good-sized building which 
 he used for a dwelling and store. Soon after this, 
 Mr. Blakeley, wishing to give up his interest in mer- 
 cantile business and being desirous of bringing his late 
 favorite clerk back to East Haddam, persuaded 
 him to buy out his stock of goods and lease 
 the store. Mr. G. at once accepted the propo- 
 sition of his friend, and moved back into the old 
 store about 1814. He soon did a very thrifty busi- 
 ness, and became a formidable rival of the staid old 
 merchants of the Upper Landing. One of them so 
 chafed over the growing popularity of the new store 
 that he called upon its proprietor and notified him, 
 through his position of first Selectman, that the store 
 was on the highway and must be moved. Mr. G. 
 replied that he knew one corner extended on the 
 old highway about two feet, but was still five or six 
 feet from any part of the road that was used — that 
 the building had stood there over fifty years with- 
 out complaint from any one, and that he would not 
 attempt to move the building, but would move out 
 of it as soon as he could make other arrangements. 
 He was then ordered to move the building within 
 twenty days, or the town would move it for him. 
 When his good neighbor left, Mr. G. saddled his 
 horse, and in two hours had contracted with Darius 
 Dickinson aud the Messrs Bailey in Haddam for the 
 erection of the store recently moved from the site 
 now occupied by the new store, and in just forty- 
 
86 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 two days it was opened with the largest stock of new 
 goods which had ever been introduced into the town. 
 
 Thus commenced a feud between the two villages 
 which was kept up to a certain extent for many 
 years. Indeed, even now there is an absence of 
 that loving kindness, neighborly generosity, and 
 mutual affection which Christian teachers enjoin and 
 of which poets sing. 
 
 Mr. Goodspeed was a hard-working merchant, up 
 early and late, and managed to draw not only from 
 the best trade in town, but also sold goods to people 
 of the adjoining towns. In fact, the new store of 
 1816 attracted as much attention as the magnificent 
 new one of 1876, or sixty years later. George E. 
 Goodspeed died in 1863. His widow, whose maiden 
 name was Nancy G. Hayden, still resides at Good- 
 speed's Landing. Their son, Joseph H. is in a good 
 position in Boston. Georgiana lives with her mother, 
 and George E. is at school in New Haven. William 
 H. Goodspeed married, in Baltimore, Miss Louise 
 M. Robbins, formerly of Rocky Hill. She died 
 young, leaving two children, William R., the present 
 proprietor of the new store, and Louise R., who re- 
 sides with her father in the family house, built by 
 her grandfather Goodspeed in 1838. This house 
 stands upon the site of the old Col. Chapman house, 
 that the Chapman family occupied for many years, 
 and afterwards by Rev. Mr. Blakeley, the son-in-law 
 of Col. Chapman. It was occupied next and last 
 by Jos. Goodspeed, who, after living in it twenty 
 years, moved it across the street and attached it to 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. 87 
 
 the then called Belden's Hotel. Subsequently, when 
 the Gelston House was built, the old Chapman 
 House was sold to (Udeon Higgens, who took it 
 ■down, and out of a part of it built the house where 
 he resided at the time of his death in 1878. After 
 Col. Chapman's death, the most of the large farm 
 he owned came into the hands of his sons-in-law, 
 Rev. Stephen Blakeley and Capt. Oliver Attwood. 
 In 1 83 1, Mr. Jos. Cloodspeed bought that part of 
 the farm owned by Mr. Blakeley, and since their 
 father's death, George and William have bought of 
 the heirs of Oliver Attwood nearly all the farming- 
 land left by him, and to-day the old Chapman farm 
 •of 200 acres is in better condition than ever before. 
 The owner, Wm. H., seems to enjoy farming, though 
 one would naturally think he had enough to do with- 
 out it. He claims that he likes to employ all the 
 men he can keep at work, and was never happier than 
 when he had 138 men at work on the following ves- 
 sels in his yard in 1863: The steamers "Charles 
 Binton," "El Cid," "Sunshine," "Silver Star," 
 ^' Sentinel," " Gen. Lyon," and schooners " Meteor " 
 and " Early Bird." This work^ with the building of 
 the engines, etc., employing about 250 men in New 
 London, Mystic, and New York, kept him so busy 
 for a year or more that his average time for sleep 
 was only four or five hours out of the twenty-four^ 
 Even now he remains in his office till 9 p. m., reads 
 one or two hours, and is invariably in his office be- 
 fore five o'clock in the morning. He is also Vice- 
 President and General Manager of the H. & N. Y. 
 
88 THE OLD CHniNEY STACKS 
 
 S. Boat Co., a corporation with a capital of ^400,000, 
 owning five steamers and a large property in real es- 
 tate. Mr. Good speed has two children, Wm. R. and 
 Louisa. Wm. R. has built one of the finest stores 
 in the county, at Goodspeed's Landing, and carries 
 on an extensive business in general merchandise. 
 
 Note : — The main points of the above sketch were fur- 
 nished the writer by Wm. H. Goodspeed in 1875. He died 
 Jan. ist, 1S82. His daughter Louisa died Oct. 21st, 1880. 
 
 BOARDMAN. 
 
 Thomas Curtis Boardman, born at Wethersfield,, 
 Conn., March 29th, 1798, came to Millington in 1815, 
 as clerk for Noah Bulkley, in a store standing on the 
 north side of the Green. He and Aaron T. Niles 
 ran the same store for a while in partnership. 
 
 He moved to East Haddam Landing in 1836, and 
 lived in the old "Tinker House," was elected cashier 
 of the East Haddam Bank, the same year, and held the 
 position till his sudden death September i8th, 1865. 
 He was on the steamboat dock at East Haddam,. 
 when the Hartford steamer landed. The wooden 
 cleat through which the cable ran, split as the boat 
 strained upon it in the high wind, and the piece 
 struck him on the head and breast. He fell dead at 
 the feet of the writer. 
 
 Mr. Boardman married Sophronia, daughter of 
 Hon. Wm. Palmer, by whom he had five children,, 
 four of them born in Millington. 
 
 Julia S., now living unmarried. 
 
 William B., married Georgiana R. S. Turner, of 
 Boston. Have one daughter, Georgiana Chickering,. 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. 89 
 
 named after the founder of the celebrated piano 
 firm. They live in New York City. 
 
 Dorothea Amelia, died in 1842. 
 
 Francis married Mary Douglas. Children: Ad- 
 die Minnie ; Jeanie Douglas ; Charles William. 
 
 Isabella Palmer ; drowned in Connecticut River 
 in 1866. 
 
 Ellen Douglas. 
 
 Clarissa S. died in infancy. 
 
 Addie married Luther B. Williams of Rocky Hill. 
 They have four children: Charles W. married Car- 
 rie Welch, of New Haven ; Jeanie married Wilbur 
 S. Comstock. 
 
 Dorothea Amelia, 2d ycungest daughter of Thos. 
 Boardman, married Wilson C. Reynolds, of Lyme. 
 He was post-master at East Haddam for 19 years. 
 They have a fine residence at East Haddam, be- 
 tween the two Landings. Have three children : 
 Gertrude Palmer ; Elsie Boardman ; Harry Wilson. 
 Mrs. T. C. Boardman died in 1866. 
 
90 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Green Family. 
 
 James Green was born at Barnstable, Mass., Sep- 
 tember 17th, 1728. His father was William Green, 
 of the same place, who died January 28th, 1756, 
 aged over 70. His mother was Desire, daughter of 
 John Bacon, Esq., also of Barnstable. His parents 
 were married March 25th, 1709, and had seven 
 children. Warren, the eldest, afterward removed 
 to Middletown, Conn. The second, fourth and 
 fifth were Desire, Sarah and Mary. The third 
 child, William, also removed to Middletown. 
 John, the sixth child, removed from Barnstable, 
 but the records do not say whither. Some author- 
 ities say that James, the subject of this sketch, was 
 engaged in the old French war ; if so, he was quite 
 young, for he was but seventeen years old at the 
 time of the expedition against Louisburg. James 
 Green removed to East Haddam, where he married, 
 February 13th, 1754, Ruth, daughter of John and 
 Elizabeth (Winslow) Marshall. Mrs. James Green 
 was born at Freetown, Mass., April ist, 1737, and 
 lived in a house on the river bank, just north of 
 one now occupied by Mr. Matthew Hubbard. I 
 find among the East Haddam law records the fol- 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. 9I 
 
 lowing, which shows a determination to settle and 
 identify himself with the place as a landed pro- 
 prietor : 
 
 1758, Aug. 4. Deed of land. Noah Smith, Jr., 
 of Norwich, to James Green, of East Haddam. 
 Book vi. 
 
 1759, ^ov. 29. ;^^ of Geo. II. Deed of land of 
 Nathaniel Tyler, to James Green- 
 
 1765, Apr. 24, Richard Alsop to James Green. 
 Consideration ^60. 
 
 1765, Oct. so. Jabez Chapman to James Green. 
 Consideration ,-£60. Deed of property southwest 
 of Green's lot. 
 
 1770, Jan. 20. Siivanus Tinker to James Green. 
 Consideration ^60. Deed of land, wharf, and half 
 the store house house erected thereon. 
 
 1773 (13 Geo. III.). Ely Warner of Hartford to 
 James Green. ^30. 
 
 1774 (14 Geo. III.). Richard Christopher to 
 James Green. 
 
 1777, May 32. Humphrey Lyon to James 
 Green, 
 
 1778, Nov. 10. Jehial and Rhoda Sexton, of 
 Waterbury, to Mr. J. Green. 
 
 1779, Mar. 16. Seth Willey to James Green. 
 j^yS los. Deed of land in Hadlyme. 
 
 1783, Oct. 4. Josiah Griswold, Middletown, to 
 Capt. James Green. 
 
 1784, Nov. 15. Caleb Gates to Capt. James 
 Green. 
 
92 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 1786, May 4. Zachariah Chapman to Capt, 
 James Green. 
 
 Thirteen purchases of realty in that day and 
 place, and all within twenty-eight years, is unusual, 
 and there was bnt one sale, which was to Epaphro- 
 ditus Champion, for ^^20, 6s. 8d., September 4th, 
 1786. He was not thirty years old when he pur- 
 chnsed his first real estate in East Haddam, and he 
 died possessed of all except the piece sold to Gen. 
 Champion. There is no record of the regiment to 
 which he was attached, except that it was a cavalry, 
 and he was with it as captain in some engagements 
 during the war, probably in the year 1776. 
 
 In a former chapter is described the different 
 residences of his sons and daughters at East Had- 
 dam Landing. Capt, Green was a leading citizen 
 of the town. There were annual elections then, 
 and we find Capt. James Green was chosen 
 " Brander of Horses" December 5th, 1766, and 
 every year to 1773. Every year from this until 
 1789 he held important offices in the town. Allu- 
 sion has been made, in a former chapter, to a forge 
 near the spot where the Old Bank now stands. It 
 was there he made guns during the war, which 
 echoed the notes of the Declaration of Indepen- 
 dence on many a battle field to the satisfaction of 
 his present rebel associates, if not of his late royal 
 master, and East Haddam was all rebel. As early 
 as June 30th, 1774 it voted unanimous for a De- 
 claration, and June 6th, 1778, adopted unanimously 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. 93 
 
 the Articles of Confederation. Tiiey were prompt, 
 generous and patriotic in furnishing arms, money 
 and men. 
 
 Mrs, Ruth Green was baptised and they both 
 entered the communion March 7th, 1773, at the 
 meeting house of the First Society. Capt. Green 
 died March nth, 1809, and his widow November 
 27th, 1816. They were both buried in the Land- 
 ing Cemetery. The old stones, which were falling 
 to decay, were replaced with a marble slab by the 
 sons of Capt. Green, with inscriptions as follows : 
 
 SACRED 
 TO THE MEMORY OF 
 
 CAPTAIN JAMES GREEN, 
 
 WHO DIED MARCH II, 180O 
 JE 80. 
 
 ALSO OF 
 
 MRS. RUTH, 
 
 WIFE OF CAPTAIN JAMES GREEN, 
 WHO DIED NOV. 27, 1S16 
 JE. 79 
 
 They had eleven children, all born at East Had- 
 dam, to wit ; 
 
 Hannah Green, born March 14th, 1755. 
 
 Ruth, born May 2d, 1756 ; died January 21st, 
 1791. 
 
 James, born April 8th, 1758. 
 
 William Aug., born August 26th, 1760. 
 
94 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 Benjamin, born August 31st, 1762. 
 Richard, born March loth, 1765. 
 Ann (Nancy), born P'ebruary 13th, 1768. 
 Timothy, born August 13th, 177 1 ; died March 
 March 19th, 1775. 
 
 OHver, born August i6th, 1773. 
 Timothy 2d, born July 3, 1776. 
 Wilson, born July loth, 1780. 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. 95 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Gideon Higgins. 
 
 Gideon Higgins, for over sixty-eight years a highly 
 respected resident of East Haddam, died in that town 
 on the first day of August, 1878, in the ninety-sixth 
 year of his age. His prominency in all the civil 
 affairs of the town, during so lengthy a period of 
 time, entitles him to more than a passing notice 
 in these pages. He was born in the town of Had- 
 dam, Conn., in that portion known as " Turkey 
 Hill," on the 8th day of September, 1782. His 
 parents, Hawes and Lucinda (Bushnell) Higgins, 
 were of good repute in the community in which they 
 lived. He was, from early youth, deeply impressed 
 with the advantages of a good education, and, al- 
 though in his boyhood, he saw but few opportunities 
 to gratify his desire for information, yet those few he 
 zealously improved. About three months at school 
 each year was spared to him from his labor at farm- 
 ing, and at his father's trade of house and ship- 
 building, until he arrived at the age of eighteen years, 
 when he, for a brief time, attended school in Chester, 
 under the instruction of the Rev. Mr. Mills. He lived 
 in the town of his nativity until the age of twenty- 
 two, when he went to the city of New York. This 
 
96 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 was about the year 1804, when that city numbered 
 only 75,000 inhabitants. He remained there about 
 two years engaged in ship building. At the expira- 
 tion of that time he returned to Haddam, and in 
 1808 was made an Elector of the State of Connec- 
 ticut in that town. He was married June 3d, 1809, to 
 Ann Wright, daughter of William Wright, of Chat- 
 ham, Conn., with whom he lived in the happiest rela- 
 tions until the time of her death, August 2d, 1852. 
 They had five children, William W., Lucinda A., wife 
 of Nathan Tyler, Catharine, Eliza M., wife of James 
 M. Welch, and Mary S. Of these only one is now 
 living — Catharine — who still lives in the old home- 
 stead at East Haddam. Mr. Higgins removed with 
 his wife to East Haddam, November loth, 1810, and 
 commenced housekeeping in the house where the late 
 Richard S. Pratt resided at the time of his decease. 
 He became, during his residence in his native town, 
 a member of the State Militia, and finally, in 1810, was 
 chosen Captain of the Haddam Town Company, which 
 position he held for the three succeeding years. When, 
 during the war of 181 2, the British troops made an 
 attack upon and burnt our vessels at Essex, he, with 
 nirje others from this town volunteered, armed them- 
 selves, and took a row-boat for the scene of destruc- 
 tion, and, for a short time, took part in the attack 
 upon the invaders, but soon after their arrival 
 darkness ensued and enabled the Englishmen to 
 make their escape with two men killed — one of 
 whom was a lieutenant in rank. 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. 97 
 
 In 1813, he removed his family to "Chapman's 
 Landing," or '^ the Ferry," by both of which names 
 it was then called — now universally known as 
 " Goodspeed's Landing" — into the house then 
 called the " Dr. Percival House." It stood on the 
 site of the house where Whitby M. Smith now lives. 
 Here he pursued his trade of "master ship builder" 
 for many years, having a large force of men in his 
 employ. In the year 1815 he purchased the land 
 on which he erected the house which was his place 
 of residence up to the time of his death. It was an 
 unpromising piece of ground, but persevering in- 
 dustry made it a comfortable and pleasant home for 
 over sixty-three years. 
 
 He, at various times filled responsible positions of 
 public trust. He was a Deputy Sheriff of Middle- 
 sex County from October 3d, 1818, to June ist, 
 1823. By the General Assembly of the State, in 
 whom was vested the appointing power at the time, 
 he was made the Sheriff of the county in 1827, which 
 office he occupied for three years. In the years 
 1826 and 1827 he was elected to the lower House 
 of the General Assembly, and subsequently also 
 represented East Haddam during three other ses- 
 sions of that body. From 1838 to 1842 he was a 
 Commissioner of the County Court, and in 1834, one 
 of the Judges of that Court. He was Judge of 
 Probate for the District of East Haddam during 
 the years 1844 and 1845. 
 
 Numerous minor offices of responsibility and 
 
98 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 public trust in the gift of his fellow townsmen did 
 Judge Higgins fill during his useful existence, cover- 
 ing nearly a century. It is sufficient to say that he 
 performed the duties connected with them all cred- 
 itably to himself and to the entire satisfaction of the 
 public. He was sought for important private trusts 
 and discharged them with perfect fidelity. His ad- 
 vice upon business matters and on law questions was 
 considered valuable and his judgment was univer- 
 sally approved. 
 
 Politically, he was with the Whig party, and was a 
 member of the Republican party from its organization. 
 
 He was always persistent and positive m the sup- 
 port of his political convictions, and never, except 
 on very isolated occasions, when he was unavoidably 
 prevented, did he omit to express his political faith at 
 the ballot box in Electors' and Town Meeting. In 
 fact his devotion to this duty of every citizen was 
 very noteworthy. Being a radical anti-slavery man, 
 he took great satisfaction in all proper measures 
 looking to the emancipation of the slave, and was 
 ever prepared to extend such assistance as lay in his 
 power in the prosecution of that object. He was a 
 man of courage — moral, intellectual and physical — 
 and uncompromising in his convictions of duty. 
 He never waited to learn the opinions of others in 
 order to modify the expression of his own and shape 
 them to some private advantage, but spoke as he 
 thought, with a high sense of right, which always 
 guided his sensibilities. 
 
« OF EAST HADDAM. 99 
 
 He was a practical temperance man, in every 
 respect, at no time indulging in any of the physical 
 excesses which impair or destroy health. With an ac- 
 tive, energetic temperament, he possessed remarkable 
 powers of physical strength and endurance. His 
 arrival at the ripe old age of ninety-six years, in 
 the possession of his mental faculties, and with an 
 extraordinary amount of physical vigor for that age,, 
 was evidence of a healthy constitution, wisely pre- 
 served. At the age of ninety-five he shot a mis- 
 chievous squirrel upon the top of one of his pear 
 trees, and one week previous to his death, which 
 resulted from an attack of dysentery, he was cutting 
 the grass in his orchard w^ith the briskness of a 
 much younger man. 
 
 His private character was without a stain. His 
 integrity was unquestioned. To his excellence as a 
 citizen he added a true Christian character, which 
 he manifested in profession and practice. 
 
 Although favoring the Second Adventist doctrine^ 
 he was free from the taint of sectarian bigotry, and 
 cordially welcomed all manifestations of a Christian 
 life. 
 
 His old Bible, so long and faithfully used, bears 
 upon each page evidences of how diligently it was 
 perused, and how well it was loved, and with its 
 teachings in his heart, he closed his earthly career 
 with great hope and assurance of eternal life. 
 
lOO THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 Brainard — Gates — Gelston. . 
 
 Among the early settlers from Haddam was 
 Daniel Brainard, Jr., who settled at the lower end 
 ■of the Creek Row, near the spring just below the 
 Royal Ayres place. His father, Daniel, came from 
 England when eight years of age, and was the an- 
 cestor of the Brainards in this country. He settled 
 in Haddam in 1662, and was a prosperous and in- 
 fluential man, a justice of the peace in the town, 
 and a deacon in the church. The family is very 
 numerous in this part of the country, and has 
 always ranked among the highest in wealth and 
 influence. Two doctors, Daniel and Hezekiah, were 
 eminent physicians ; Thomas, Israel, Timothy G., 
 Elijah and Nehemiah were popular ministers of the 
 gospel ; Hon. Jeremiah and Hon. Hezekiah gained 
 much distinction as legislators and judges ; while 
 David and Rev. John earned world-wide renown as 
 missionaries among the Indians. The two latter were 
 children of the Hon. Hezekiah. Their older sister 
 married Gen. Joseph Spencer, of Millington, in 
 whose family David, the eminent missionary, lived 
 for four years. David's labors were for a long time 
 with the Lenni-Lenape and other tribes along the 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. lOI 
 
 Delaware River. The finest church in Easton, Pa.^ 
 is Brainard Church, a fitting monument to his name 
 and fame. 
 
 Daniel Brainard, the original settler, had eight 
 children, as follows : Daniel, Jr., Hannah, James, 
 Joshua, William, Caleb, Elijah and Hezekiah. All 
 the Brainards in this country are said to be descen- 
 dents of these children. Of our townsmen, Wil- 
 liam O. and Abby Brainard, Mrs. Silas Nichols, 
 Judah and Benjamin Lewis, Milton, John, and 
 Frank Brainard, and many of the Days in W^est- 
 chester, are descendents of Daniel, Jr. The Gates' 
 descended from Hannah. Joshua Brainard's resi- 
 dence is marked by the oM cellar mound just south 
 of Selden Brainard's, and from this branch de- 
 scended Col. Orren Warner, Brainard Emmons, 
 Miss Lucretia Brainard and Mrs. Blakeman. Joshua 
 was commander of the first military company 
 formed in East Haddam. Erastus and Silas, the 
 Portland quarry owners, are descendants of James. 
 Selden T. Brainard, David B. and George Sexton, 
 of East Haddam. Fisk and Henry Brainard, of 
 Haddam Neck, and Cornelius Brainard, of Higga- 
 num, are descendants of William. Caleb was the 
 ancestor of David Brainard, of East Haddam. 
 Mrs. Francis Palmer is a descendant of Elijah. 
 John G. C. Brainard, a brilliant writer, Editor 
 of the Hartford Mirror and author of a book of 
 poems, from which the poem " Matchit Moodus," 
 in Chapter V. was copied, was also a native of 
 
I02 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 this town. The estate of Daniel Lord, deceased, 
 is a part of the farm formerly owned by George 
 Gates, and later by Phineas. The old house stands 
 a little north of the present dwelling. The house 
 owned by Aristarchus and Seth Daniels, was built 
 by Joseph Gates in 1774: its peaked roof still at- 
 tracts attention, and in its youth, it must have been 
 considered quite a stately edifice. It was first de- 
 signed for a court house, and afterwards made over 
 into a tavern. It was purchased in 1804 by the 
 Daniels, who came from Haddam Neck. Joseph 
 Gates, its builder, was the son of Joseph Gates, 
 born in 1722. In regular descent by this line come 
 Orren and Epaphroditus, also Uri, the brother of 
 Orren. The latter Joseph was also the father of 
 Bazaleel Gates, who was the father of Brainard, 
 Hannah, and Beriah. All of the above, of the last 
 generation, have died within the last ten years. 
 The homestead of the elder Joseph stood a little 
 north of the large house where Uri lived and died, 
 and which was built by his father. The house pur- 
 chased of Brainard and Hannah by George I. Kipp, 
 was built by Bazaleel in 1800. The old road on 
 which it stands, now closed for many years, was 
 once a main thoroughfare from Moodus to Bashan. 
 
 Deacon Maltby Gelston, a farmer in Bridgehamp- 
 ton, L. I., during the Revolution, fled with his 
 family as refugees from British rule to East Had- 
 dam. He occupied a house standing on the bank 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. I03 
 
 of the Connecticut River, near tlie one recently 
 built by David Watrous. A part of the old founda- 
 tion can still be traced. After the war closed he 
 returned to his farm on Long Island. William 
 Gelston, his seventh child, on his return from the 
 war in the year 1781, married Asenath Sayres, 
 daugher of Matthew Sayres, who was then one of 
 the largest land owners in the town of East 
 Haddam. He erected the large house near the 
 Episcopal Church, in the year 1760. William 
 Gelston, soon after his marriage, purchased the 
 property on which the Gelston House now stands, 
 where he lived until 1826. A part of the old man- 
 sion is now attached to the present house. 
 
 Through purchase, and inheritance by his wife, 
 he became possessed of a large tract of land, and 
 for convenience he concluded to move. He bought 
 of wSamuel Crowel, the house now occupied by the 
 Gelston family. Soon after moving here in 1826 
 he sold his place at the Ferry to Joseph Goodspeed. 
 
 More than twenty years ago the Gelston House 
 Company was formed, the largest stockholders of 
 the Company being Hugh Gelston, of Baltimore, 
 and George S. Gelston, of Fort Hamilton, two sons 
 of William Gelston. The present hotel was built 
 and named the Gelston House. Mr. Gelston reared 
 a family of seven sons and three daughters. He 
 was sheriff for twenty years and filled many town 
 offices. He died at the age of eighty-five. His son 
 AVilliam followed him as the possessor of the landed 
 
I04 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 estate, and died in 1875, at the age of eighty- 
 nine years. He left four children, Maltby, John, 
 Mrs. West, of NewLondon, and Lucy. 
 
OF EASl' HADDAM. I05 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Cone. 
 
 Daniel Cone, bom in 1626, came over from Edin- 
 boro, Scotland, and settled in Haddam with his four 
 sons, in 1670. He left one son in Scotland. The 
 family moved to East Haddam a few years after- 
 wards, built a log hut, and settled on the farm re- 
 cently purchased of Jonathan Cone, by Benjamin 
 Edwards. Until this transfer, it has remained in the 
 Cone family. Daniel died in 1706, and was buried 
 m Haddam. His sons were Daniel, Jared, Stephen 
 and Caleb. One of them retained the homestead ; 
 one settled on the spot where Zachary Cone now 
 lives ; one near Palmer Place, now owned by Mrs. 
 Doane ; the other near Elijah Warner's. The home- 
 stead finally came into the possession of Capt. 
 Stephen, who, in turn, bequeathed it by will to 
 Stephen, John and Reuben. Capt. Stephen was 
 buried in the Methodist cemetery, in 1752. He oc- 
 cupied a house standing a few rods east of the one 
 above referred to. It was demolished a few years 
 aa-o. He erected a new dwelling on a spot about ten 
 rods north or the present house, the foundations of 
 which are now completely obliterated. The house 
 was two stories in front and one in rear. The set- 
 
I06 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 tiers in those early days used to assemble at times 
 and surround the wolves, starting as far as Middle 
 Haddam, and driving them down on the Neck, where 
 they became good targets for the hunters. 
 
 Stephen used to interest his grandchildren by re- 
 lating how the family often sat on the back door-step 
 and listened to the howling of the wolves as they 
 were driven through the forest. At that time the 
 highway used to run from Fuller's Landing, near 
 Scofield's, in an easterly direction, and struck the 
 Moodus road, near Oliver Emmons'. The house 
 where Edwards now lives stands directly in this old 
 highway. The property next descended to Stephen 
 and Thomas Cone. Thomas occupied the land where 
 Chloe Cone now lives. She was a direct descendant, 
 her father being Joshua,who was the son of Joel, who 
 was the grandson of Thomas. Stephen third retained 
 the old place, which from him descended to Elisha, 
 thence to Elisha second, thence to Stephen, thence to 
 Jonathan. The Thomas branch is now represented 
 by Chloe, and her nephew Theodore. Theodore 
 served in the rebellion as Colonel in the Confederate 
 army, and is now practicing law in Georgia. The 
 daughters of Stephen and Thomas intermarried with 
 the Gates, Fullers, Chapmans and Williams, thus 
 creating a relationship which extends to nearly all 
 the old families in town. 
 
 Zachary, Robert S., Wm. E., George, and the late 
 Helen Cone, of Millington, are direct descendants 
 of Jared by different branches. Zachary married 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. I07 
 
 Elizabeth, daughter of the late Rev. Isaac Parsons, 
 and retains the old place. A. Jared, Jr., moved to 
 Millington, married a daughter of the early Matthew 
 Smith ( see Smith family ) and settled on the Bala- 
 hack road, which runs west from Edwin Emmons. 
 The old chimney stack still stands. Then, the road 
 now running by Ephraim Martin's did not exist. 
 The old road was several rods west of the present 
 one, but terminated near the same point. 
 
 Jared died in 1742, Nehemiah, his son, lived at the 
 Christopher Marsh place, and died in 1819. His 
 children were Mary, Newel, Statira, Sarah, Jared, 
 Lucy and Betsey. 
 
 George, the father of Helen R. and George, Jr. 
 lived here. Helen R., left Millington in 1838, and 
 has been in the wholesale fruit business, near Ful- 
 ton Ferry, New York, for about forty years. George, 
 Jr., died in Georgia. 
 
 Deacon William E. Cone, is a son of Newel. He 
 has always resided in East Haddam, has often repre- 
 sented the town in the State Senate and House of 
 Representatives, has filled the most important town 
 offices, and always performed his duties with great 
 fidelity. His only son, William A., has recently 
 built a new residence at Goodspeed's Landing, where 
 he is engaged in the insurance business, representing 
 some of the best companies in the country. William 
 R. Cone, president of the ^tna Bank, Deacon 
 James E. Cone, and the late Sylvanus F. Cone, of 
 Hartford, were from East Haddam. 
 
Io8 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 The following" notices were cut from the Connecti- 
 cut Valley Advertiser^ in 1886. 
 
 OBITUARY. 
 
 Syi.vanus F. Cone. 
 
 Mr. Sylvanus Y . Cone, brother of Deacon James E. Cone 
 and William R. Cone, president of the .(^tna Bank, died yes- 
 terday morning at 7 o'clock, of typhoid and malarial fever, at 
 his residence on Warrenton street, Hartford. Mr. Cone was 
 born in East Haddam, in August, 1814, and moved to this city 
 in 1835, since which time he has resided here continually. He 
 always took a warm interest in public affairs, rarely, or never 
 failing to exercise his rights as a citizen. He was for many 
 years a member of the board of selectmen as well as an asses- 
 sor, and filled other important trusts, ahva)'S performed his 
 duties with scrupulous fidelity. He was possessed of a most 
 genial and kindly disposition, retaining his youthful feelings 
 and appearance to a wonderful degree, and was esteemed and 
 beloved by a large circle of friends and acquaintances. He 
 leaves a wife and four sons, Joseph H., William E., and John 
 B. Cone of this city, and Augustus F. Cone, who resides in 
 Cincinnati, and one daughter. Miss Ella B. Cone. 
 
 DEATH OF WILLIAM E. CONE. 
 
 Deacon William E. Cone, one of the aged residents of our 
 village, and in days gone by, one of the prominent men of the 
 town, died on Saturday evening last. He was born in Milling- 
 ton eighty years ago last September, and nearly all of his four 
 score vears had been passed in his native town. For many 
 vears he was the general manager for W. \\. Nichols & Co., 
 twine manufacturers of this village, and his business ability 
 was recognized and his counsel sought by many. He repre- 
 sented the town of East Haddam in the Legislature of 1862 ; 
 was re-elected in '63, and was a member of the Senate from 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. I09 
 
 this senatoral district ( then the nineteenth) in 1865 and '66. 
 He had also at various times held minor positions of trust 
 within the gift of his townsmen. His poHtical opponents were 
 not poHtical enemies, for his candor, under all circumstances, 
 won the respect of those who, perhaps, were at variance with 
 him. He was a faithful and willing worker in the cause of 
 temperance, and though not over demnostrative, his broad in- 
 fluence was ever for the right. He early in life united with 
 the church, and for thirtj'-seven years he had been one of the 
 deacons of the First Congregational Church of this town. He 
 was a man careful in his judgment ; a true Christian, and his 
 death was the closing of a well-spent life. The funeral ser- 
 vice was held Thursday afternoon, at the Methodist Church, 
 and was conducted by Rev. S. McCall, assisted by Revs. S. 
 W. Robbins, of Manchester, G. \V, Wright and J. B. Cou- 
 ncil. The large number present on the occasion, notwith- 
 standing the severe rain storm prevailing at the time, bore evi- 
 dence of the great respect in which the deceased was held in this 
 community. It is a fact worthy of mention, that during the 
 long life of Deacon Cone, probably no man in town had kindly 
 officiated as funeral director on so many occasions. 
 
 Of the early settlers, near Elijah Warner's, Isaac 
 Cone was a direct descendant and owned the farm 
 extending from Bald Hill to Miner Gillett's, and 
 lived where G. R. Tracy now lives. The mother of 
 Timothy Holmes and Mrs. Hubbard Ayres are also 
 direct descendants of this branch. The family name 
 of this branch in East Haddam seems to have be- 
 come extinct with the death of Robert D. Cone, for 
 many years a school teacher. He was a bachelor 
 and lived for several years with Jonathan Clark. 
 
 The old gambrel-roofed house, standing on the old 
 road, running west from Daniel Peck's, was Erastus 
 
no THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 Cone's. He was the uncle of Lord Wellington, 
 Erastus' father was Israel, who was the son of 
 Israel. The father of William H. and Charles, was 
 Samuel Cone, who lived where Wm. C. Gates now 
 lives. Just east of Gates, is an old chimney, which 
 marks the house where lived Samuel's father, Dea- 
 con Nathaniel. One of his sons went to East 
 Hampton, and from him the present Cones in 
 Chatham descended. Nathaniel was elected deacon 
 of Millington church, about one year before his 
 death, which occurred April 15, 1790. He had 
 eight sons in the Revolutionary war. Helon Cone 
 settled in Foxtown, among whose rocks he delved 
 out quite a fortune. He left by will ten thousand 
 dollars in trust, to be loaned at lov/ rates of inter- 
 est to deserving young men of the town, the prin- 
 cipal and accumulated interest to be so used for- 
 ever. Time would render the possibilities of such 
 a fund beyond computation, and he was advised 
 that such a provision would hardly stand the test of 
 law. He revised it and demised that when the 
 sum shall reach seventy-five thousand dollars it 
 shall be applied to the building of a free academy 
 in Millington Society. He died in 1S78. His 
 nephew, William H., son of Samuel, died three 
 years before. He was the largest land owner in 
 the town, and for many years exerted a great influ- 
 ence in town affairs. He left one son, ^VTllian Ly- 
 man, now living on INIillington Green. Thus it 
 may be seen that Israel and Samuel formed differ- 
 
OF EAST HADDAM, III 
 
 ent branches of the orighial family, but all of the 
 name of Cone in the United States, forming nu- 
 merous and wide-spreading branches, may trace 
 their origin to that same old trunk, which is repre- 
 sented by our Daniel Cone, who settled in Haddam, 
 in 1670. 
 
112 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 Hall and Smith. 
 
 The old house where Jedediah Hall died, a few 
 years since, has remained in the Hall family since 
 the early settlement, until its recent sale. Here 
 Dyer's father, Samuel Hall, carried on his trade of 
 scythe-making in a shop near Oliver Clark's. He 
 was a man of considerable influence. His wife w^as 
 a spry little woman, with complexion quite dark. In 
 her day slavery was not extinct even in Connecticut, 
 and it is related of her that a stranger, who came to 
 see Mr. Hall, mistook her position and accosted her 
 with the question: ''Where is your master?" ''I 
 wish you to understand, sir," she replied, "that I 
 have no master but God." Thomas Hall lived a 
 short distance east of the Dyer Hall house, at the 
 corner of the Town Hill road, near Bashan Pond. 
 The old chimney stack still remains. The old road 
 leading from Oliver Palmes' to the Halsey Brown 
 place is an ancient land-mark. Here, at the north 
 end of the road, lived many of the Spencers, and 
 near the south end lived several families of Smiths^ 
 the ancestor of them all being Matthew, who 
 came from Lyme to East Haddam on the 6th day 
 of November, A. D. 1706, at the age of 22. He 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. II3 
 
 located on the spot where Alden now Hves. Soon 
 after coming here he married Sarah Mack, and built 
 a house a short distance east of the present house. 
 There he, and afterwards his son Matthew, Hved till 
 the year 1778, when the present house was built by 
 Matthew Smith second. 
 
 From him it was bequeathed by will to Jeremiah^ 
 his third son. From him Jeremiah, Jr., purchased 
 it in 1802, and from thence it came to the present 
 heirs, being the fifth generation in direct descent, 
 and making one hundred and seventy years that the 
 place has remained in the family. The present 
 house stands to-day as it was built over a hundred 
 years ago. A tall and stately mansion, it overlooks. 
 all the dwellings of the plain. Then, in the scarcely 
 broken wilderness, it must have been regarded as 
 some lordly manor, the center of the rude civiliza- 
 tion of the place and times, as it was the birth- 
 place of a numerous and influential family. Mat- 
 thew Smith and Sarah Mack had eight children, as 
 follows : 
 
 Mary, married Joseph Cone. 
 
 Ruth, married Jared Cone. 
 
 Lydia, married Josiah Arnold. 
 
 Sarah, married Thomas Rogers. 
 
 Susanna, married Nehemiah Tracy. 
 
 Elizabeth, died unmarried. 
 
 Thomas, married Hannah Gates, Feb. 9th, 1737. 
 
 Matthew 2d, married Sarah Church, January 
 i6th, 1745. 
 
TI4 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 Matthew Smith, ist, died December 6th, 175 1, 
 aged 67, and was buried at the Cone burying 
 ground. Sarah, his wife, died January i8th, 1755, 
 aged 71, and was buried by his side. 
 
 Matthew 2d, born A. D. 1722, and Sarah Church 
 had seven children, five sons and two daughters, as 
 follows : 
 
 Asa was born 1747. He died when about 21. 
 He was found dead near the residence of the late 
 William H. Aynes, where he went to attend a social 
 gathering in the evening. He was not found until 
 after a search of two days, and then but a short dis- 
 tance from the house. The cause of his death is 
 to this day wrapped in mystery. 
 
 Elizabeth, born November 12th, 1750; married 
 Oliver Ackley. 
 
 Matthew 3d, born May 12th, 1753 ; married 
 Aseneth Anable in December, 1777. 
 
 Azariah was born in 1755. He died in 1778, and 
 was buried in the Smith burial ground. 
 
 Jeremiah was born March 29th, 1758, and was 
 married to Temperance Comstock June 17th, 1784, 
 and by will became possessor of the old home- 
 stead. 
 
 Calvin was born in 1760 ; married Anna Anable 
 January 15th, 1784. In company with Matthew, 
 his brother, he moved to Middlefield, in Western 
 Massachusetts, where tiiey raised large families. 
 Their descendants, yet living in that vicinity, are 
 numerous and very respectable. 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. II5 
 
 Sarah, was born in 1762 ; she married John Park 
 and removed from the town. 
 
 Returning to Jeremiah, who married Temper- 
 ance Comstock, we find that they had seven chil- 
 dren — four sons and three daughters — as follows : 
 
 Jeremiah, Jr., was born November 21st, 1786, 
 and married Ruthy Ackley April 27th, 1809. 
 
 Temperance was born October 27th, 17S8 ; mar- 
 ried Joseph Ackley, October 27th, 1805 ; died 
 February 29th, 181 2. 
 
 Sophia was born May 13th, 1793; she married 
 Joseph Brainard. 
 
 Abner C. was born March 29th, 1796. He mar- 
 ried Electa Warner, and now resides a few rods 
 south of the old homestead. 
 
 Erastus was born April 19th, 1799. He married 
 Ann Allen, and resides with his son William on Mt. 
 Parnassus. 
 
 Julia J. was born July 8th, 1801. She married 
 C. C. Gates, and is now living in Mood us. There 
 are two branches of the Smith fapiily in this vicin- 
 ity, both of which, however, descended from the 
 first Matthew. The divergence commenced with 
 Thomas, his son, who built'a house nearly in front 
 of the Halsey Brown house, on the corner of the 
 road leading to Aristarchus Daniels. The remains 
 of the old cellar are yet visible. He had three 
 sons — Matthew, Thomas and Samuel. Matthew 
 subsequently built the house a little north of the 
 old homestead, where Fluvia now lives, by which 
 
Il6 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 family it was inherited. Matthew 2d, of this 
 branch, had twelve children, six sons and six 
 daughters. The latter married as follows : 
 
 Hannah married Stephen Fuller. 
 
 Lydia married Jabez Fuller. 
 
 Thankful married Irad Fuller. 
 
 Esther married Josiah Gates. 
 
 Olive married Jonas Sparks. 
 
 Dorothy married William Palmer. 
 
 Matthew lived and died on the old place. Asa 
 located in Moodus, where Emory Lewis now lives, 
 and was the father of AV^atrous B. and Asa, Ji'- 
 Jonah moved West, where he died. The other sons 
 died when children. Of our townsmen, Alden and 
 Edmund, it will be observed that the former is a 
 descendant of the first branch, the latter of the 
 second, or Thomas, branch. Most of Alden's 
 relations moved to Massachusetts ; Edmunds to 
 Missouri. 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. II7 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Spencer Family. 
 
 Sergeant Jared Spencer, of ^' The New Town," 
 Cambridge, Mass., then of Lynn, and afterwards 
 one of the first settlers of Haddam, Conn., made 
 Ensign Sept. 1675, by the Council of Hartford, 
 had eleven children. 
 
 SECOND GENERATION. 
 
 2. Samuel Spencer, (sixth child of Jared Spencer), 
 of Millington. M. ist. Hannah, widow of Peter 
 Blachford, (or Blachfield), also widow Thomas 
 Hungerford, New London, and daughter Isaac 
 Wiley, of New London, 1673. M. 2d. Marriam, 
 widow of John Wiley, of Haddam, and daughter 
 of Miles Moore, New London, 1689. Mirriam 
 Spencer survived her husband, who died August 
 7, 1705, leaving four children. 
 
 THIRD GENERATION 
 
 3. Deacon Isaac Spencer (son of Samuel), bap- 
 tized Dec. 24, 1704, married Mary Selden, October 
 2, 1707. She was born 5 Mar., 1689 ; her parents 
 were Rebecca (Church) Selden, from Hadley, Mass. 
 Isaac Spencer was chosen deacon of ist Ch., E. H., 
 June 26, 1734, and died Feb. 10, 1751, aged 71 
 years ; they had children, viz. : 
 
Il8 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 Mary, b July 24, 17 10, 
 
 Rebecca, b Aug. i, 171 2, 
 
 Joseph, b Oct. 3, 17 14, bapt. Jan. 17 15. 
 
 Esther, b Dec. 16, 1716, 
 
 Jared, b Nov. 5, 1718, bap. Dec. 7, 1718, 
 
 Ehhu, b Feb. 12, 1721, afterwards Rev. Elihu 
 Spencer, of the College of N. Y., and father of 
 Mrs. Jonathan Dickinson Sargeant, whose son, 
 Jno. Sergeant, b 1780, was candidate for Vice Pres. 
 U. S., 1832. 
 
 Isaac, b May 3, 1723, 
 
 Mehitable, b May 29, 1725, 
 
 Hannah, bap. Nov. 26, 1727, 
 
 Anna, b Nov. 29, 1729, 
 
 Israel, b Jan. 30, 1731-32, m Eliza Marsh, Oct. 
 18, 1753- 
 
 FOURTH GENERATION. 
 
 Hon. Joseph Spencer, (eldest son of Isaac), mar- 
 ried Aug. 2, 1738, Martha, dau. Hon. Hezekiah and 
 Dorothy (Hobart) Brainard. Joseph Spencer was 
 admitted to church at Miliington, March 23, 1746. 
 He was Assistant (Senator) Conn., 1774 and 1775 ; 
 Judge of Probate 1775. "June 30, 1774, in town 
 meeting duly warned — Hon. Joseph Spencer 
 chosen moderator, a unanimous vote was recorded 
 for a Declaration of American Rights." "Jan. 6, 
 1778, Articles of Confederation were unanimously 
 adopted." He presided on this occasion also, and 
 frequently besides. (E. H. Records.) In May, 
 1778, he was made a member of the Council of 
 
OF EAST HADDAxM. II9 
 
 Safety. In the Colonial army 1756, he was a 
 Major, and afterwards Colonel, and must have 
 served with some distinction, for at the commence- 
 ment of the war with Great Britain, the State of 
 Connecticut turned immediately to him as a leader, 
 and the Assembly, in the month of March, 1775, 
 appointed " Col. David Wooster a Major General, 
 and Col. Joseph Spencer, and Israel Putnam to be 
 Brigadier Generals," thus making him second in 
 rank in the State. 
 
 The war had now actually begun, and Washing- 
 ton had been chosen Commander-in-Chief. Con- 
 gress proceeded to appoint four Major-Generals 
 and eight Brigadier-Generals : they named Ward 
 C. Lee, Schuyler and Putnam for the former posi- 
 tions, and Pomeroy, Montgomery, Wooster, Heath, 
 Joseph Spencer, Thomas, Sullivan and Greene for 
 the latter, thus making Spencer's rank tenth in the 
 Colonial army ; but there is nothing which touches 
 a soldier quicker than to see his subordinates placed 
 above him, and there is nothing so destructive to 
 discipline as such promotions, except for cause. 
 Many felt this besides Spencer, who was at first so 
 offended that he left camp, but was soon induced 
 to return. Gen. Seth Pomeroy, the senior Briga- 
 dier, refused to serve, and Spencer took rank next 
 to Putnam in the army at Boston. In the division of 
 the army by Washington into three grand divisions, 
 the command of the right wing, on Roxbury 
 Heights, was given to Gen. Ward, the senior Major 
 
I20 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 General, and with him were associated Spencer and 
 Thomas, the ranking Brigadiers. 
 
 In August 1776, Spencer was commissioned a 
 Major-General by Congress. 
 
 I have never seen a portrait or likeness of any 
 kind of Gen. Spencer, and this is the more strange 
 from the fact that John Trumbull, son of the pat- 
 riot Gov. Trumbull, of Conn., first went into the 
 army with Spencer, and it was during the time he 
 was with him that he made those drawings of the 
 enemies' works which won the favorable notice of 
 Washington, and secured him the position of aide- 
 de-camp on the staff of the Commander-in-Chief. 
 Trumbull painted most of the military and public 
 men of that day, but seems to have omitted Spen- 
 cer. 
 
 Spencer's was the last brigade which left Boston 
 for New York ; this was on the 4th of April, 1776. 
 
 During the occupation of New York, Spencer 
 occupied a redoubt on the present Pike street, 
 between Munroe and Cherry streets, called Spencer 
 Redoubt. He also held the left at Harlem, of the 
 line of defense extended across the citv from the 
 Hudson to the Harlem at McGowan's Pass. These 
 various positions are now so covered up by the 
 march of population and the growth of the city, 
 that they are past recognition, except the pass at 
 the northern extremity of Central Park. 
 
 On the 29th of August, 1776, Washington called 
 a council of war on Long Island, at the Dutch 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. I2X 
 
 Stone Church, near the junction of the present 
 Fulton and Flatbush avenues in the city of Brook- 
 lyn. The following officers were present, viz. : 
 Washington, Putnam, Spencer, Mifflin, McDougal, 
 Parsons, Scott, Wadsworth and Parsons, and on the 
 yth of September the question as to the expediency 
 of retaining New York city came before the council, 
 and the majority voted to retain it. On the 12th of 
 September, however, it resolved on the evacuation, 
 with only three dissenting votes, which were given 
 by Heath, Joseph Spencer and James Clinton. 
 
 Maj. Gen. Spencer was soon after placed in com- 
 mand of all the American forces in the State of 
 Rhode Island, and July 11, 1777, Maj. Gen. Pres- 
 cott, the English commander, fell into his hands as 
 a prisoner of war. He was treated kindly by his 
 captor, and in a short time was sent to Gen. Wash- 
 ington, who exchanged him for Gen. Chas. Lee, a 
 prisoner since Dec. 1776. 
 
 Gen. Spencer arranged an expedition in Sept., 
 1777, which was actually embarked, to cross to 
 R. I., and surprise the enemy. At the last moment, 
 having learned that the English commander was 
 apprised of his plans, he countermanded the order. 
 The facts proved that he had acted rightly, for the 
 enemy had determined to allow them to land, and 
 then by destroying their boats, to cut off their re- 
 treat and make them prisoners. Congress ordered 
 an investigation into the affair, to ascertain why the 
 expedition was not prosecuted, and Spencer in 
 
122 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 ^indignation at the implied censure, resigned his com- 
 mission, and Gen. SuUivan was sent to R. I. to suc- 
 ceed him. On the 30th of August, 1778, Spencer 
 assisted in SuUivan's retreat, and this seems to have 
 been his last military service. He then returned 
 to his home on the banks of the Connecticut, and 
 "doubtless intended to remain there ; but his native 
 -State had not forgotten him, and he was elected to 
 represent it in Congress. 
 
 He married a second time in 1756, Hannah 
 Brown, of Waterbury, widow of Mr. Southmaid ; 
 she united with the church, Dec. 13, 1788. 
 
 I find in the E. H. town Records, ** Col. Jos. 
 Spencer was elected deacon of the Millington 
 Society, Nov. 20, 1767 ;" afterward the record shows 
 that ''he was excused from service during the Re- 
 volution," and again, ''re-elected April 4, 1788." 
 The last town record reads, " Hon. Jos. Spencer, 
 died Jan. 13, 1789, aged 74," — to be exact, 74 years, 
 .3 mos., and 10 days. He had by his first marriage 
 three daughters and two sons, and by the second 
 .marriage four sons and four daughters. 
 
 FIFTH GENERATION. 
 
 (5) Martha Spencer, (daughter Hon. Jos.) b May 
 •8, 1739 ; ^^^^ F^t). 24, 1739-40. 
 
 (5) Martha Spencer, (daughter Hon. Jos.) not 
 'entered among the births recorded at Millington ; 
 juarried June 14, 1759, Joseph Cone, Jr., who was 
 born in E. H., Nov. 2, 1735 5 they had five child- 
 ren : Conant Cone, b July 6, 1760, was father of 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. 1 23 
 
 Spencer H. Cone, D. D., the eminent Baptist divine 
 of N. Y, City, some years since. The second child, 
 Alice, was born Feb. i8, 1762, and the others, Pru- 
 dence, John and Martha, were baptized Sept. 8, 1868. 
 
 (5) Anne Spencer, (dau. Hon. Jos.) bapt. MiUing- 
 ton, March 30, 1746. 
 
 (5) Joseph Spencer, (son Hon. Jos.) bapt. Milling- 
 ton, July 22, 1750 ; he married . I have 
 
 a record of but one child (6) Elizabeth Spencer 
 who married Hon. Lewis Cass, Major-General U. 
 S. A.., Governor of the State of Michigan, U. S. 
 Senator, and Secretary of War in the Cabinet of Presi- 
 dent Jackson, 1831 to 1837. — He was Democratic 
 Candidate for President against Zachary Taylor. 
 
 (5) Nehemiah Spencer, (son Hon. Jos.) bapt. Mill., 
 Dec. 24, 1752. 
 
 (5) Millicent Spencer, (dau. Hon. Jos.) bapt. Mill., 
 March 20, 1757 ; joined the church April 5, 1789 ; 
 m. Dec, 18, 1813, Rev. Elijah Parsons, pastor of the 
 First Society at E. Haddam. 
 
 (5) Hon. Isaac Spencer (son of Hon. Jos.) bapt. 
 Dec. 9, 1759, married Lucretia, daughter of Harris 
 Colt. Mr. Spencer was for many years Treasurer 
 of the State of Connecticut. 
 
 Jared Spencer, Esq., (son Hon. Jos.) born June 
 5, 1762, a twin, bapt. Mill. July 25, 1762. At the 
 age of twenty-two he graduated (A. B.) from Yale 
 College in the class of 1784, after which he fitted 
 himself for his profession as Counsellor at Law, 
 which he practiced until his death. He married 
 
124 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 Nov. 29, 1789, Ann Green (church records say 
 Nov. 30.) She was the sixth child of Captain 
 James and Ruth Marshall Green, born 13th Feb. 
 1768, bapt. Mar. 14, 1773, joined the church June 
 5, 1796, and died Nov. 11, 1855, aged 87 years and 
 nine months. Esquire Spencer perished in a snow- 
 storm Nov. II, 1820, aged 58, leaving him surviving 
 four children, one, an infant, having died in 1802. 
 
 (6) Nancy b. May 29, 1791, bapt. July 6, 1796, 
 joined the church May i, 1814, married Capt. 
 Thomas Bruce, of Portland, Conn, left two children. 
 
 (6) Richard Green bapt. May 4, 1800, removed 
 to Canada where he married Sophia Lake, of Ver- 
 mont. He died of cholera 1834, leaving one son. 
 
 (6) Mary (Polly) b Sept. 12, 1793, bapt. July 3, 
 1796, died Sept. 7, i860, aged 66. 
 
 (6) Lucretia b Sept. 12, 1793, bapt. July 3, 1796, 
 died April 26, 1858, aged 6;^. These ages are from 
 the tomb stones, and if the dates are correct the 
 former lacked but 5 days of 67 years, and the latter 
 was 64 years, 7 months and 14 days. 
 
 (5) Mary Spencer (dau. Hon. Jos.) born June 5, 
 1762, bapt. July 25, 1762, a twin, married Turner 
 Miner. 
 
 (5) Seth , Spencer (son Hon. Jos.) bapt. Jan. 
 20, 1765. 
 
 (5) Hannah Spencer (dau. Hon. Jos.) bapt. Nov. 
 15, 1767, married Rev. Mr. Skinner. 
 
 (5) Betty Spencer (dau. lion. Jos.) bapt. Mar. 18, 
 1770, married Selden Warner. 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. 1 25 
 
 (5) Nehemiah Spencer (son Hon. Jos.) bapt. May 
 24, 1772, married Feb. 14, 1793, Betsy Swan. 
 
 (For the above genealogy of the Spencer family, I 
 am indebted to Mr. Richard H. Green, of Brooklyn.) 
 
126 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 CHAPTER. XXII 
 
 Prominent Men. 
 
 The readers of the Old Chimney Stacks, have 
 probably observed that East Haddam, and particu- 
 larly Millington, has been the birth-place or resi- 
 dence of many prominent men, whose names 
 have been illustrious in connection with our national 
 and state governments ; men who have adorned 
 the higher and nobler professions of life ; men, 
 and women too, to whom we can refer with pride. 
 Many of them sleep in our church yards, though 
 dead, yet living ; many went forth and have never 
 returned from the fields where they so nobly toiled; 
 some still live to adorn their chosen professions. I 
 will now record some of the prominent names 
 which occur to me, and regret that I am unable to 
 make the list complete. 
 
 Hon. Joseph Spencer, whose history is here given, 
 was a native of Millington, and lived and died at 
 the Old Stack, just south of Lyman Cone's. His 
 brother, Rev. Elihu Spencer, of the College of 
 New Jersey, was born in Millington. His grandson, 
 John Sargeant, was candidate for Vice President of 
 the United States, in 1832. 
 
 Rev. Spencer H. Cone, the eminent Baptist Di- 
 vine, was born in Millington, just south of E. F. 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. 1 27 
 
 Peck's. For a number of years he stood at the head 
 of the Baptist church in New York City. 
 
 Elizabeth Spencer, daughter of Joseph, Jr., of 
 Millington, beeame the wife of the Hon. Lewis- 
 Cass, candidate for President in 1848. 
 
 Hon. Isaac Spencer, of Millington, was for many- 
 years Treasurer of the State of Connecticut. 
 
 David Brainard, the eminent Missionary among: 
 the Indians, was a brother of Hon. Joseph Spen- 
 cer's wife, and resided several years in Millington,, 
 when a youth. 
 
 One of the most remarkable men of the age, was. 
 Dr. Eliphalet Nott, who lived during several years of 
 his boyhood on the old road running north from the- 
 old Austin Beebe House in Millington. He lived 
 here with relatives, having been left an orphan at 
 quite an early age. During his early life he had to. 
 endure many of the hardships of poverty. For 
 want of shoes he was forced to go barefooted most 
 of the year. When quite young, he had am 
 unquenchable thirst for knowledge, and, notwith- 
 standing his limited opportunities, and the obsta- 
 cles he had to encounter, at the age of nineteen he- 
 stood the examination for the degree of Master of 
 Arts, and actually had the degree conferred upon 
 him by Brown's University without his having at- 
 tended college a single day. He chose the vocation^ 
 of the ministry, and after the usual three years" 
 study, was ordained at the age of twenty-two. He 
 was married soon after, and with his bride, on horse^ 
 
128 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 back, started off on their wedding-trip to what was 
 then the far West. They stopped and made a set- 
 tlement at the new village of Cherry Valley, about 
 fifty miles west of Albany. Soon after his settle- 
 ment, the fame of his talents reaching Albany, he 
 was invited to become the pastor of one of its 
 principle churches, which invitation he accepted. 
 While here, he preached that famous sermon upon 
 the death of Hamilton, which attracted universal 
 attention, and which still ranks as one of the most 
 eloquent and striking ever delivered in the United 
 States. Seven years after he came to Albany, he 
 was called to the presidency of Union College, in 
 the building up and management of which he dis- 
 played talents for business that would have sufficed 
 for the government of a nation. He was also the 
 inventor of the famous " Nott Stove " for burning 
 coal, the patents of which procured a vast revenue, 
 so that when he died, he was one of the richest 
 men in the State of New York, west of Albany. 
 
 In the fiftieth year of his presidency, he gave to 
 Union College as a permanent endowment, the sum 
 of six hundred and ten thousand dollars. He held 
 his position for sixty-one years, and died in the 
 ninety-third year of his age. 
 
 Born before the Revolution, inheriting an almost 
 perfect bodily constitution, with talents of the highest 
 order, which were used only for the benefit of mankind 
 he lived to see the close of the Rebellion, bequeathing 
 to the world a name and a fame that will never die. 
 
OF EAST HADDAM 12 9 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 Prominent Men Continued, 
 
 East Haddam boasts of the unusual honor of 
 having two members of Congress at one time, both 
 of whom were elected for several terms under the 
 old law for electing Congressmen by general ticket. 
 These were Gen. Epaphroditus Champion and 
 Jonathan O. Mosley. Gen. Champion lived at the 
 old Tyler Place in East Haddam Landing. He was 
 a member of the General Assembly in 1793. He 
 had command of the 24th Regiment of the Connec- 
 ticut State Militia, before his election to Congress. 
 
 The following letter from General George Wash- 
 ington to General Champion, of this town, will be 
 read with interest. At the date given. General 
 Champion was commissary general of provisions 
 for the army. The original letter is in the posses- 
 sion of Harvy J. Brooks, Haddam Neck: 
 
 Camp Valley Forge, Ffb. 17th, 1778. 
 Sir : — The present situation of the army is the most melan- 
 choly that can be conceived. Our supplies of provisions of the 
 flesh kind for some time past have been very defficient and irregu- 
 lar. A prospect now opens of absolute want, such as will 
 make it impossible to keep the army much longer from disolu- 
 tion, unless the most vigorous and eflfectual measures are pur- 
 sued to prevent it. Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland are 
 
130 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 now entirely exhausted. All the beef and pork already col- 
 lected in them, or that can be collected, will not, by any means, 
 support the army one month longer. Further to the southward 
 some quantities of provisions have been procured ; but if they 
 were all on the spot, they would afford but a very partial and 
 temporary supply. The difficulty of transportation is great. 
 The distance will not allow it to be effected by land carriage ; 
 and the navigation up Chespeak Bay is interrupted by the ene- 
 my's vessels, which makes it very precarious when we shall get 
 any material relief from that quarter. If every possible exer- 
 tion is not made use of there, to send us immediate and ample 
 supplies of cattle, the most fatal consequences most ensue. I 
 have much confidence in your zeal and activity, and trust, upon 
 this occasion, they will be exerted in a peculiar manner, to hurrj- 
 on to camp all the cattle you may be able to purchase. 
 I am, sir, your most obedient servant, 
 
 Geo. Washington. 
 Henry Champion, Esq. 
 
 Ei'APHRODiTUS Champion's list, for 1S13 : 
 
 I head $60, 2 cows $14, 2 horses, |io, |20 I94.00 
 
 50 acres mowing and clear pasture, a $1.34 67.00 
 
 37 " brush pasture and wood land, a .34 12. 5S 
 
 I Phaeton $100, one chaise say $30 130.00 
 
 I silver watch fio, one clock i|20 30.00 
 
 1 house II fire places, a $5 55oo 
 
 2 one-story stores, $10 20.00 
 
 30 oz. plate a $1.11 a 6 pet 5.33 
 
 3, 700 dollars bank stock a 3 pet 11 1 .00 
 
 1524.91 
 
 Col. Mosley lived but little over a mile north of 
 
 Gen. Champion, on the place now owned by Wm. J. 
 
 Morgan. He was a lawyer, and held the office of 
 
 State's Attorney for Middlesex County from 1797 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. I3I 
 
 to 1805. He was elected to Congress for several 
 terms ; had held command of a regiment of State 
 Militia, and was also a Justice of the Peace in town 
 for a number of years. His grandaughter is the 
 wife of Hon. Hiram Willey. His grandson, Wm.O. 
 Mosley, resides in Hadlyme. His father, Thomas 
 Mosley, was quite a popular physician; was a mem- 
 ber of the State Medical Association, and was also 
 a Justice of the Peace. Timothy Green, to whom 
 allusion has been made in a former chapter, a resi- 
 dent of the Landing, was afterwards elected to 
 Congress under the District System. These mem- 
 bers all proved themselves a credit to the Town, 
 County and State. Captain Green, the father of 
 Timothy, was identified with the early history of 
 the town, as a large landed proprietor was Captain 
 of a company in the Rebellion, the first postmaster 
 in East Haddam, and held many other positions of 
 trust. 
 
 The Emmons family which settled on the P^ast 
 Haddam and Colchester turnpike, where Ralph 
 Stark now resides, furnished several prominent men. 
 Among them were Rev. Nathaniel Emmons, who 
 settled in Boston, and acquired a national reputa- 
 tion for power and eloquence as a Congregational 
 minister; and Ichabod, his brother, who moved to 
 Berkshire County, and became somewhat noted as 
 a politician. He was sent to the Legislature for 
 many years, and many anecdotes are related of his 
 wit and humor. He declared at one time, that he 
 
132 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 should continue going to the Legislature until he 
 had "secured a tax on ministers and jackasses," 
 which were then about the only exemptions, and he 
 kept his word. 
 
 Edward Dorr Griffin, who was born near Nathan 
 Jewett's, became a brilliant light in the ministry, a 
 Doctor of Divinity, and President of Williamston 
 College in Massachusetts. His brother, George 
 Griffin, became equally brilliant as a lawyer, and was 
 for many years a member of the bar in New York 
 City, where he amassed a fortune of several hundred 
 thousand dollars by legitimate practice alone. As a 
 birth-place and residence of the legal fraternity. 
 East Haddam has been quite famous. In addition 
 to those where reference has already been made, I 
 will mention such names as I can recall to mind. 
 
 Gen. Dyer Throop was the first judge of the 
 County Court for Middlesex County. He held the 
 office from 1785 to 1789. Previous to this, he held 
 the office of Justice of the Peace. At the close of 
 the Revolutionary War, he commanded the 24th 
 Regiment of Connecticut Militia. He died June 4? 
 1789, at the age of 51. 
 
 Francis M. Cone, who died in Georgia a few 
 years since, ( the oldest son of Joshua Cone,) was, 
 perhaps, one of the most brilliant men ever raised 
 in this town. He was a distinguished lawyer, after- 
 wards elected to the office of Judge of the Supreme 
 Court, in the State of Georgia, which position he 
 filled with great credit. 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. I33 
 
 William Hungerford, was born in Hadlyme. He 
 graduated at Yale College in 1809, and chose the 
 profession of the law. After practicing for some 
 years in his native town, he removed to Hartford, 
 where he resided at his death. He wore the honor- 
 able title of LL. D., and stood for many years at 
 the head of the Hartford bar. 
 
 Wm. D. Shipman was a native of Chester; taught 
 school in New Jersey, where he married ; studied 
 two years for the ministry. He afterwards moved 
 to East Haddam, where he studied and practiced 
 law for four years, residing in the house now occu- 
 pied as the northern part of Maplewood Music 
 Seminary. In 1850 he removed to Hartford, and in 
 1853 was appointed U. S. District Attorney. He 
 has for some years held the position of Judge of 
 the U. S. Court for the District of Connecticut. 
 
 Hon. Eliphlet A. Bulkley, resided at the same 
 house, which took the name of the " Bulkley 
 House." He practiced law for several years in 
 East Haddam, where he had good success. He 
 afterwards moved to Hartford, where he con- 
 tinued his practice and became very wealthy. He 
 graduated in Yale College, in 1824, and is placed 
 upon the records of the Lionian Society as the "Hon. 
 Eliphalet Adams Bulkley, Pres. Soc. Fellow Y. C. 
 Sen. Conn., from East Haddam." 
 
 Moses Culver, of East Haddam, read law with 
 E. A. Bulkley ; was admitted to the bar in this 
 County, in 1845; commenced practice in Colchester 
 
134 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 same year, and continued there till 1846, when he 
 opened an office in East Haddam. While here 
 he held the office of Judge of Probate, and U. S. 
 Commissioner for several years ; represented the 
 town in the General Assembly in 1854. In May, 
 1856, he moved to Middletown, and in 1856 or 
 '58 was appointed State's Attorney, which position 
 he held very creditably for six years. In i860, he 
 represented the Town of Middletown in the Gen- 
 eral Assembly. And in 1874 was appointed Judge 
 of the Superior Court. Judge Culver died recently 
 in Middletown. 
 
 John C. Palmer, another prominent lawyer of 
 Hartford, and President of the Sharp's Manufac- 
 uring Co., was raised in East Haddam, where he 
 practiced law for many years. 
 
OF EAST H ADD AM. 1 35 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 The following statistics of the wealth and agri- 
 cultural products of the town, also the list of offi- 
 cers which form the political machinery necessary 
 to run a Connecticut town, may interest some of the 
 old people who have long resided in other States : 
 
 Population of the town in 1870, 2,952. 
 
 Divided by estimation as follows : 
 
 First Society, 2,140, Second Society, 571, Third Society, 241 
 
 No. of Families 534 
 
 " " Dwellings 484 
 
 " " Colored persons 38 
 
 " " Persons over 80 35 
 
 Death by Consumption 20 
 
 " " Typhoid Fever 6 
 
 " " other causes 28 
 
 Rate of mortality to population i in 73 
 
 No. of stores 17 
 
 " " Hotels 3 
 
 " " Churches 6 
 
 " " Cotton factories 14 
 
 I Sash and Blind factory, i manufactory of wagon materials, i 
 spoon manufactory, i silver-plating factory, i coffin trimmings 
 factory, i cigar manufactory, i axe helve and i box manufac" 
 tory — 
 
 Machine Shops 3 
 
 Blacksmith Shops 5 
 
 Sawmills 7 
 
 Gristmills 4 
 
136 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 Value of Real Estate $1,342,250 
 
 " " Personal Estate 1,523,324 
 
 Total $2,865,574 
 
 No. of Horses 313 
 
 " " Milch Cows 842 
 
 " " Working Oxen 63S 
 
 " " other cattle 113S 
 
 " " Sheep 1 564 
 
 " " Swine 477 
 
 Value of Live Stock $166, 143 
 
 Bushels of Wheat raised 115 
 
 " Rye " 1181 
 
 " Oats " 5586 
 
 " " Buckwheat raised 1115 
 
 " " Potatoes " 19429 
 
 " " Corn " 10439 
 
 Pounds of Tobacco " 66849 
 
 " " Butter " 60651 
 
 " " Cheese " 48S5 
 
 " " Hops " 91 
 
 " " Honey " 707 
 
 Tons of Hay raised , 5425 
 
 Gallons of Sorgham raised 226 
 
 " Wine " 294 
 
 " Milk sold 7440 
 
 Value of farm productions $191,701 
 
 Value of animals slaughtered 36,895 
 
 The grand levy of East Haddam for 188415 as 
 follows : 
 
 616 houses $326,640 
 
 30,435 j4 acres 268,369 
 
 682^ mills 197, 130 
 
 360 horses 17,955 
 
 1,763 neat cattle 37,369 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. I37 
 
 Sheep 1,733 
 
 223 carriages Q.290 
 
 Watches and jewelry 3, 880 
 
 Musical instruments 4,705 
 
 Furniture and books 1,460 
 
 Bank and other stocks 238,489 
 
 Railroad and other bonds 23,950 
 
 Amount in trade 27,950 
 
 Investments in manufacturies 46,550 
 
 " " Commerce 8,800 
 
 Money at interest 85,834 
 
 • * on hand, 1 1 ,072 
 
 Not specified 25,124 
 
 10 and 20 per cent, added 23,825 
 
 $1,365,110 
 Deducted by Board of Relief 7,283 
 
 Total grand levy $1,357,827 
 
 There is an increase of the total of $1,492 over 
 last year. There seems to be 2^ less houses than 
 last year ; 7 7^4 acres of land less, lys mills, 33 
 horses, 303 neat cattle and 19 carriages. Of values: 
 land, $4,462 less than last year; horses, $1,082 less; 
 neat cattle, $5,782 less; carriages $190 less. 
 
 The officials of the town, elected annually, are as 
 follows : 
 
 Three Selectmen. 
 One Town Clerk. 
 One Treasurer. 
 Three Assessors. 
 Three Board of Relief. 
 One Collector. 
 
138 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 One Town Agent. 
 
 One Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths. 
 
 Two Registers of Voters. 
 
 One Agent Town Deposit Fund. 
 
 One Treasurer Town Deposit Fund. 
 
 Five Constables. 
 
 Six Grand Jurors. 
 
 One Sealer of Weights and Measures. 
 
 Six Hay wards. (Called in the vernacular "Hog Howards.") 
 
 Four Key Keepers. 
 
 Two Inspectors of Wood and Lumber. 
 
 Twelve Sextons. 
 
 Two Gangers. 
 
 Four Members Board of Education. 
 
 One Auditor. 
 
 One School Fund Treasurer. 
 
 Six Justices of the Peace. 
 
 One Judge of Probate. 
 
 In addition there are two Commissioners of Fer- 
 ries, who hold office by appointment, and a Deputy 
 Sheriff, who is a County officer. A Keeper of the 
 Town's Poor is appointed by the Selectmen. The 
 Board of Health, Fence Viewers, and some other 
 minor positions are held by virtue of the elective 
 offices. Then, each of the seventeen school dis- 
 tricts has its set of officials — Committeman, Collec- 
 tor and Clerk. So there are about offices enough 
 to go around. 
 
 The present Judge of Probate of East Haddam, 
 Julius Attwood, is the longest in the office of any 
 Judge in the State, having held it for thirty con- 
 secutive years. 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. I39 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Industries. 
 
 Though the plough, the axe and the ox-wagon 
 may be regarded as the leading emblems of East 
 Haddam industry — the two latter being an adjunct 
 of the ship-building trade — the spindle, the loom and 
 the crucible have borne an important part. The for- 
 mer implements, many years ago, began to rust, 
 by reason of the exodus of so many young men 
 from the rugged hill sides to the busy centres of 
 civilization. The population however has been 
 kept about evenly balanced by the immigration of 
 skilled artisans to fill the busy mills, which fine 
 water privileges made possible and profitable. 
 
 The cotton manufacturing interests have cen- 
 tered about Moodus, which, with Leesville, has 
 maintained twelve cotton factories for several 
 years. The metal industry has been located at 
 Goodspeed's Landing. The various enterprises 
 will only be briefly summarized. 
 
 The oldest cotton mill in Moodus was the 
 " Granite Twine Mill," erected in 1815. 
 
 The mill now owned by Harper Boies, and 
 known as the Yankee Twine Mill, was established 
 by Capt. Asa Smith, in 181 9. He was succeeded 
 by Watrous B. Smith. After many vicissitudes, 
 
I40 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 caused by reverses of fortune, and destruction by 
 fire, the property passed into the possession of 
 Harper Boies, the present owner, who, by good 
 management, has made it a valuable plant. 
 
 Brownell's Mill was started by Brownell <5c 
 Co., in 1825, when they erected a wool carding and 
 cloth dressing building on the site of the present 
 mill. Edward P. Brownell died in 1875, and the 
 business has since been conducted by Charles E., 
 his son. 
 
 Stanton S. Card was one of the pioneers in the 
 manufacturing interests of Moodus. He built the 
 mill just south of the "Yankee Twine," and the 
 Southern Mill towards the Cove. 
 
 In 1840, Jonathan O. Cone, and Emory Johnson, 
 sons-in-law of Mr. Card, organized as Card ^ Co. 
 Mr. Card died in 1867. Mr. Cone sold the upper 
 mill to Albert E. Purple, who has ably managed it 
 ever since. Mr. Johnson took the lower mill. He 
 also, about i860, built the " Neptune Twine Mill," 
 a large structure between the two former, and has 
 since run them both quite successfully. The Nep- 
 tune Mills employ some thirty hands, with a 
 monthly pay roll of about $1,000. A shop for the 
 manufacture of coffin trimmings, also several 
 dwellings, have been erected by Mr. Johnson. The 
 place has been localized by having a post office and 
 a name — Johnsonville. 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. I4I 
 
 The Union Manufacturing Co. was organized in 
 1829. The New York Net and Twine Co. is an 
 outgrowth of the Smith Manufacturing Co. In 
 1869 it was reorganized as the "Nichols Co." 
 Ebenezer Nichols, born 1770, was one of the 
 founders of seine twine manufacturing. His son, 
 William E., was born in 1806. He studied medi- 
 cine, but abandoned the profession for manufac- 
 turing. He invented and obtained a patent for 
 " Patent or hand-laid Twine," out of which he got 
 rich. In 1869, he associated with him Demorest 
 and Joralmon, of New York City, and Z. E. Chaffee, 
 of Moodus, and the " Nichols Co." became the 
 " New York Net and Twine Co." Dr. Nichols 
 built a fine residence just south of the Center Con- 
 gregational Church. He was for many years one 
 of the largest tax-payers in town. Deacon William 
 E. Cone was for many years his efficient business 
 manager. 
 
 The Moodus Manufacturing Co. was organ- 
 ized in 1848 by Harvey & S. B. Chace, of Valley 
 Falls, Mass. They manufactured print cloths, and 
 their works, which are probably the most extensive 
 in the town, stand at the junction of Moodus 
 River and Wigwam Brook. The business was, for 
 many years, superintended by Wm. H. Crowning- 
 shield. 
 
 The Atlantic Duck Mill was incorporated in 
 1851, with a capital stock of $10,000, which was 
 
142 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 afterwards increased to $50,000. It stands near the 
 Falls, and is the second mill on the stream. 
 
 The Williams Duck Co. was organized in 
 1855, with a capital stock of $30,000, which was 
 afterwards increased to $38,000, all paid in. It is a 
 fine property, nominally managed by Jehial Wil- 
 liams, but practically by Mr. John Barber, under 
 whose able supervision, it is "run for all it is 
 worth." 
 
 The East Haddam Duck Co. is fully de- 
 scribed in Chapter XI. 
 
 The works have been for many years superin- 
 tended by Mr. Nelson Bowers, a gentleman of good 
 business ability, and prominent in town affairs. 
 
 The Pine Brook Duck Co., across the Haddam 
 line, was organized by Daniel Wetherell, in 1861. 
 It was destroyed by fire in 187 1. 
 
 Boardman & Son, Spoons, Plated Ware, etc. 
 Luther Boardman, born in Rocky Hill, commenced 
 manufacturing britannia spoons in a small building 
 in Chester ; moved to East Haddam in 1842. Their 
 extensive works are located at Goodspeed's Land- 
 ing. When in full operation they employ fifty 
 operatives, with a monthly pay roll of $3,000. 
 Mr. Boardman has been prominent in town and State 
 affairs. His son, Norman L., was admitted to the 
 firm soon after he became of age, and has always 
 
OF EAST HADDAM. 143 
 
 been active in the management of the business. 
 He married the oldest daughter of Daniel B. War- 
 ner and built a fine residence near his father. 
 Both father and son and their wives are always 
 liberal in works of practical benevolence, and are 
 widely known throughout the State. 
 
 James S. Ray, a native of Haddam, worked at 
 Boardman's for a number of years, and about 1852 
 started for himself in a small shop at Goodspeed's 
 Landing. Being shrewd, and having an inventive 
 genius, he prospered and "builded greater" until 
 he established a fine business in spoons, forks, 
 coffin trimmings, etc. Some years ago he bought a 
 farm on the hill overlooking the village, put up a 
 fine residence and devoted himself to farming. He 
 also built a yacht, and spends considerable time in 
 summer on the water. Boardman and Ray are 
 neighbors and good friends. The former always 
 has a good team and enjoys riding. He seldom or 
 never steps in a boat. He had rather swim. Ray 
 will have nothing to do with a horse. When he 
 cannot go in his boats he will walk. 
 
 '' Many men of many minds," says the old copy- 
 book. 
 
 Wilbur J. Squire, after many years labor, in- 
 vented and perfected a machine for knitting gill- 
 nets. He commenced manufacturing in a small 
 shop at Goodspeed's about 1872. He afterwards 
 
144 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 erected a nice building, and, having a monopoly, 
 did a fine business. He sold out, in 1885, ^^ ^ 
 Boston company. 
 
 Charles A. Chester, after running a shingle 
 mill for many years, at Hadlyme, put up a mill for 
 turning all kinds of handles, about 1870. 
 
 lodges, etc. 
 
 Columbia Lodge, No, 26 F. & A. M., was es- 
 tablished in 1794, and is one of the oldest in the 
 State. The first communication was held at 
 Oliver Attwood's Hall, where Martin Watrous's 
 store now stands. Meetings were also held in 
 the dwelling now occupied by Dr. Harris. The 
 present membership is about sixty-five. Its lodge 
 room is over Pratt's store at East Haddam Land- 
 ing. 
 
 Middlesex Lodge of L O. O. F. was institu- 
 ted April 2 2d, 1840, in Moodus, at the house now 
 ODCUpied by William Gates. For many years it has 
 been in a flourishing condition, and has done a great 
 deal of charitable work. None of its sick members 
 ever want for nursing or money. It maintains a 
 good library which is well patronized. Its rooms 
 are over Seward's (formerly Smith's) store, at 
 Goodspeed's. 
 
OF EAST H ADD AM. 1 45 
 
 The Bank of New England was organized in 
 1854. Changed to National Bank of New England, 
 in 1865. Its capital is $130,000 — surplus, $40,000. 
 Julius Attwood, Pres., Thomas Gross, Jr., Cashier. 
 
 The Moodus Savings Bank was incorporated 
 in 1867. — It has prospered from the start. 
 
 The Connecticut Valley Advertiser was 
 founded in 1869 by E. Emory Johnson. It was 
 first published at the residence of the owner 
 and afterwards moved to the basement of the 
 Machimoodus House, where these chapters were 
 published in their original form. About 1873, it 
 was purchased by Joseph E. Selden, who has since 
 managed it very successfully. It is one of the most 
 popular country papers in the state. The editorial 
 sanctum is in a new building on the Plain, opposite 
 the Baptist church. 
 
 Maplewood Music Seminary was established 
 at East Haddam Landing by Prof. Dwight S. Bab- 
 cock, about 1865. For twelve years it was con- 
 ducted with marked success, and filled with ladies 
 from all parts of the country. The site and build- 
 ings occupied are referred to in Chapter III. Be- 
 tween the two dwellings, a large Opera House was 
 built with all the modern appointments. The course 
 was a full and thorough one, and the operas give 
 
146 THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS 
 
 by the school at the close of each term attracted 
 friends of the school and pupils from all directions. 
 The severe attack of malaria, which visited the 
 river towns a few years ago and entered nearly 
 every household, was fatal to the school. With a 
 loss of patronage, financial- difficulties followed, 
 and the property passed into other hands, much 
 to the regret of every citizen. The malarial 
 troubles have now (1887) to a great extent abated, 
 and certain business interests which have long 
 been quiet are also looking more healthy. The 
 various "shops" at Goodspeeds are feeling the 
 effects of better times, and the hum of the 
 cotton factories in Moodus is more pronounced. 
 When ship-building revives as a nationl industry, 
 there is reason to believe the two Landings will 
 feel its influence. 
 
 The peculiar soil necessary to the raising of 
 the finer qualities of seed-leaf tobacco was dis- 
 covered a few years ago in many East Haddam 
 farms, and materially adds to the income of the 
 owners. 
 
 May prosperity and happiness still attend the 
 good old town ! So say we all. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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