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of the 
 
 Coton of Hitciifteltr, Connecticut 
 17204920 
 
 COMPILED FOR THE 
 LITCHFIELD HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 BY 
 
 Alain Ci White 
 
 UTCHHELD, CONN. 
 
 ENQUIRED 
 PRINT *>- 
 19 2 
 

 Gift 
 
To 
 
 GEORGE MORRIS WOODRUFF, 
 
 who, as a citizen of Litchfield 
 
 and as President of the Historical Society, 
 
 IjreserA^es the interest 
 
 in the traditions of the Town 
 
 begun by his great-great-uncle, 
 
 JAMES MORRIS, 
 
 and continued by his father, 
 
 GEORGE CATLIN WOODRUFF, 
 
 this book is dedicated 
 
 with admiration and esteem. 
 
pvcUcc 
 
 At a meeting of the Litchfield Historical Society, held on October 6, 1919, 
 Miss Cornelia B. Smith, Miss Esther H. Thompson and Miss Florence E. Ennis 
 ■vvrere appointed a Committee to prepare a History of Litchfield in connection 
 with the Bi-Centennial celebration planned for August, 1920. On November 
 10, this Committee asked me to undertake the work for them ; and it was 
 found necessary to have the manuscript ready for the printer to begin work 
 in January. At first it appeared that it would be a serious handicap to 
 endeavor to prepare a book of this character in so short a time ; but as the 
 work progressed it has proved in some ways a distinct advantage. 
 
 In the first place, the nature of the book has more or less shaped itself. 
 There were clearly several things which the time-limit precluded the possi- 
 bility of attempting ; but which otherwise would have required consideration. 
 It was not practicable to undertake what might be called a biographical 
 history. Litchfield has been fortunate in having had, in proportion to its 
 population, a large percentage of men and women, many still living, whose 
 biographies would be of general interest. To collect and classify these 
 was clearly impracticable. It will be found, therefore, that many of our 
 important names, past and present, are mentioned only casually, and in some 
 cases not at all. Consequently, by the necessities of the case, this book is 
 strictly the story of the township, and not the story of the individual 
 inhabitants. 
 
 Again, it was impossible to attempt more than a compilation from sources 
 readily at hand. These sources, fortunately, were numerous, taken together 
 astonishingly complete, andj what is especially important, in the main admir- 
 ably written. Many chapters have written themselves by the simple process 
 of quotation, and the temptation to rewrite such parts, which would have 
 been no gain to the reader, has been removed by the pressure of the work. 
 
 The task, therefore, was to compile the story of the town on the founda- 
 tion afforded by the earlier Histories of George C. Woodruff, 1845, and 
 Payne Kenyon Kilbourne, 1859, with such elaboration as suggested itself, 
 bringing the book more nearly to date. These two Histories are quoted 
 throughout, the name : Woodruff or Kilbourne, followed by the page num- 
 ber, being a sufficient reference. The Statistical Account of Several Towns 
 in the County of Litchfield, by James Morris, while much shorter in its 
 contents, is also of extreme importance because of its early date. It forms 
 pages 85 to 124 of a book called : A Statistical Account of the Towns and 
 Parishes in the State of Connecticut, published by the Connecticut Academy 
 of Arts and Sciences, Volume i, Number i, New Haven, 181 1. It appears, 
 however, that Morris' section was not written until between 1812 and 1814, 
 and that probably it was bound into the volume in 1815, the earlier date 
 being retained on the title page. This little work must always remain the 
 starting point for the historian of Litchfield. Morris, Woodruff and Kil- 
 
viii PREFACE 
 
 bourne laid little stress on the period after the Revolution, which to us 
 now is one of the most interesting parts of the story. Fortunately other 
 writers have supplemented this deficiency. 
 
 The work of Dwight C. Kilbourn on the Bench and Bar, 191 1, with the 
 many lights it throws upon the Litchfield Law School, and the Chronicles 
 of a Pioneer School by E. N. Vanderpoel (Mrs. John A. Vanderpoel)^ 1903, 
 with its fascinating picture of the life of Litchfield in the days of Miss 
 Pierce's Academy as revealed in the diaries and letters which she has col- 
 lected ; the many graphic little sketches and anecdotes compiled by Rev. 
 George C. Boswell in his Book of Days, 1899 ; Miss Alice T. Bulkeley's His- 
 toric Litchfield ; two works important for tracing Litchfield genealogies, 
 George C. Woodruff's Residents of Litchfield, written in 1845, but not 
 published till 1900, and Charles T. Payne's Litchfield and Morris Inscriptions, 
 1905 ; the many volumes dealing with single families or individuals^ such as 
 the splendid Wolcott Memorial, 1881, the two editions of the Memoirs of 
 Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge, 1858 and 1902, and the Lyman Beecher Auto- 
 biography, 1866; the records of exercises on particular occasions, including 
 the County Centennial of 1851, and the Presentation of the Litchfield Law 
 School to the Historical Society in 191 1; the War literature, comprising the 
 Litchfield County Honor Roll of the Revolution, published in 1912 by the 
 Mary Floyd Tallmadge Chapter, D. A. R,, and the two Histories of the 
 Litchfield County Regiment in the Civil War, by Theodore F. Vaill, 1868, 
 and Dudley Landon Vaill, 1908; the published Sermons, especially those of 
 a memorial nature; the several works on the County; the publications of the 
 Litchfield County University Club ; the books dealing only in part with 
 Litchfield, Hollister's History of Connecticut, 1858, on the one hand, or the 
 Personal Memories of E. D. Mansfield, 1879, on the other; the collections 
 of County or State Biographies, such as Payne K. Kilbourne's Litch- 
 field Biographies, 1851, and the Leading Citizens of Litchfield County, 
 1896; the files of the newspapers which have been published in Litch- 
 field, and of the Morris Herald and the Northfield Parish Paper ; the 
 files of the Litchfield Historical Society, embracing the manuscripts of 
 lectures, bound and unbound selections of letters, scrap-books and other 
 collections, such as the Record Book of the Seth F. Plumb Post, No. 80, 
 G. A. R., and the box of Civil War papers left by Dwight C. Kilbourn : — all 
 these and others make up a body of material as rich as the most omnivorous 
 lover of Litchfield's history could desire. There are even novels with their 
 scenes laid in Litchfield and their incidents based on the history of the town 
 and the character of its people, notably Harriet Beecher Stowe's Poganuc 
 People and Jennie Gould Lincoln's An Unwilling Maid. 
 
 This book, then, is only a digest of so much of this material as time 
 has permitted the sifting of, supplemented by contributions from, and the 
 help of, many members of the Litchfield Historical Society and other persons. 
 
 I have been fortunate in securing the collaboration, throughout the 
 preparation of the work, of Miss Dorothy Bull, who in particular has writ- 
 ten the chapters on the Revolutionary War and on Modern Litchfield; and 
 the assistance of Miss Florence Elizabeth Ennis and Miss Ethel M. Smith. 
 Miss Ennis has written the chapter on the World War and has compiled 
 
Rev. Storrs O. Seymour, D.D., late President, and Hon. George M. 
 Woodruff, President, Litchfield Historical Society 
 
Captain Edgar B. Van Winkle, late Treasurer, 
 Litchfield Historical Society 
 
PREFACE ix 
 
 five sections of the Appendix. Miss Smith has prepared the two other 
 sections of the Appendix, and has rendered valuable and constant assist- 
 ance in seeing the book through the press. To Miss Elizabeth Kenyon Coit, 
 also, are due hearty thanks for aid in preparing a part of the manuscript. 
 
 Help in matters of detail has been given by so many persons, that it is 
 impossible to acknowledge all. I wish, however, to thank' in particular 
 Hon. George M. Woodruff, President, and Mrs. John A. Vanderpoel, Vice- 
 President and Curator, of the Litchfield Historical Society, for their con- 
 stant help, encouragement and suggestions in the work; Dr. Arthur E. 
 Bostwick for the contribution of the original reminiscences forming Chapter 
 22; Mr. Albert M. Turner, Mr. Herman Foster, Miss Edith L. Dickinson, 
 and Mrs. Henry C. Alvord, for materials relating respectively to Northfield, 
 Bantam, Milton, and Morris; Mrs. John Laidlaw Buel (Elizabeth C. Barney 
 Buel), for the loan of three manuscript lectures; Professor Henry S. Munroe 
 and Miss Mary Perkins Quincy, for the use of their Lectures on the Trees 
 of Litchfield ; Mr. Frederick K. Morris, for an account of the geological 
 history of the region ; Professor James Kip Finch, for information regard- 
 ing the local topography; Miss Anna W. Richards, for material relating to 
 the Congregational Church ; Miss Esther H. Thompson, for reminiscences 
 of former days ; Mrs. Dwight C. Kilbourn, for access to her husband's 
 Library; Mr. R. Henry W. Dwight, for an account of the early Mission 
 movement in the County; Miss Cornelia Buxton Smith, Rev. William J. 
 Brewster, Hon. Thomas F. Ryan, Mr. Travis A. Ganung, Mr. George H. 
 Hunt, Mr. Frederick Deming, Mr. George C. Woodruff and the Wolcott 
 and Litchfield Circulating Library Association, for the loan of books and 
 manuscripts ; Miss Clarisse C. JDeming, Miss Mabel Bishop, Mrs. L. P. 
 Bissell, Mr. Cornelius R. Duffie, and Mrs. George McNeill, for the loan 
 of photographs ; the Mary Floyd Tallmadge Chapter, D. A. R., for per- 
 mission to quote from the Honor Roll of Litchfield County; Mr. Howard 
 W. Carter, Secretary of the Litchfield County University Club, for permis- 
 sion to quote from the publications of the Club ; and Miss Mary Alice 
 Hutchins, Assistant Curator of the Litchfield Historical Society, for much 
 help and many valuable suggestions during my researches at the room of the 
 Society. Finally I am indebted to the courtesy of the Litchfield Enquirer, 
 and in particular to the energy and unflagging interest of its superintendent, 
 Mr. S. Carl Fischer, for preparing the work in the limited time available, 
 and to Mr. George C. Woodruff, editor and proprietor, for much assistance 
 in proof-reading. 
 
 In quoting directly from older texts^ the original spelling has been pre- 
 served, no matter how incongruous to the modern eye. The punctuation 
 has, however, sometimes been modified. 
 
 Absolute accuracy in a work so hastily compiled is improbable, and 
 notification of any errors that are discovered will be much appreciated. 
 Supplemental material relating to the history of the Town will always be 
 welcomed by the Litchfield Historical Society and all contributions of such 
 material will be filed for future use. As the history of a community is 
 embodied not only in books but in the objects that have played a part in 
 the life of the community, the reader is urged to visit the rooms of the 
 
X PREFACE 
 
 Society, if this volume awakes in him a desire to understand more fully 
 the spirit of the two centuries here described. Contributions of new 
 objects of historic or scientific interest are always valued and are assured 
 a permanent place in the collections of the Society. 
 
 A. C. W. 
 Litchfield, Conn., May 17, 1920. (^ 
 
XTable of Contents 
 
 1. Introductory 1 
 
 2. The Settlement of Litchfield 7 
 
 3. The Indians 16 
 
 4. The Church on the Green - 27 
 
 5. Colonial Days - - - 38 
 
 6. The Age of Homespun, hy Horace Bushnell - - - 50 
 
 7. Litchfield in the Revolution, by Dorothy Bull - - - 65 
 
 8. The Golden Age 92 
 
 9. The Litchfield Law School 98 
 
 10. Miss Pierce's School - - - - - - - - 110 
 
 11. Amusements 121 
 
 12. Industries and Merchants; Newspapers .... 128 
 
 13. The Wolcott Family 141 
 
 14. Slavery 151 
 
 15. The Temperance Movement 156 
 
 16. Federalists and Dentocrats 162 
 
 17. Trees and Parks ; Domestic and Wild Animals - - - 168 
 
 18. South Farms; the Morris Academy; Northfield; Milton; 
 
 Bantam 178 
 
 19. The Churches: the Third and Fourth Congregational 
 
 Churches ; the Episcopal Church ; the Methodist Church ; 
 the Baptist Church; the Eoman Catholic Church; the 
 
 Cemeteries 195 
 
 20. The Old Order Changes 204 
 
 21. The Civil War 217 
 
 22. Impressions and Post-Impressions, hy Dr. A. E. Bosticick 230 
 
 23. The World War, by Florence E. Ennis ■ - - - 245 
 
 24. Modern Litchfield, by Dorothy Bull 263 
 
 APPENDIX— By Florence E. Ennis and Ethel M. Smith - 271 
 
 "TT 
 
%i8t of llUustrations 
 
 1. Plan of the Village of Litchfield, 1720-25 _ - - Frontispiece 
 
 2. The Rev. Storrs O. Seymour, D.D., late President, 1893-1918; 
 
 and the Hon. George M. Woodruff, President, 1918- , of 
 
 the Litchfield Historical Society _ _ - . . viii 
 
 3. Captain Edgar Beach Van Winklei, late Treasurer, the Litchfield 
 
 Historical Society, 1895-1920 ------ ix 
 
 4. Mrs. John A. Vanderpoel, Vice-President and Curator, the Litch- 
 
 Historical Society, 1898- , Portrait by W. J. L. Foster - xvi 
 
 5. The Bronson Store, 1819; First Home of the Litchfield His- 
 
 torical Society, 1893-1901 ; now occupied by the Sanctum 
 Club, 1906- -_--_----- I 
 
 6. The Litchfield Hills, from Chestnut Hill ; Photograph by Wil- 
 
 liam H. Sanford _____._- 4 
 
 7. Bantam Lake from the North; Photograph by Wm. H. Sanford 5 
 
 8. North Street . . _ . 14 
 
 9. South Street; Photograph by W. H. Sanford - - - - I5 
 
 10. Primeval Oak, still standing West of the Gould House on North 
 
 Street; Photograph by W. H. Sanford - - - - 24 
 
 11. Litchfield from Chestnut Hill; from Barber's Historical Collec- 
 
 tions, 1836 ----------25 
 
 12. The Second Congregational Church, 176^, from a sketch by Miss 
 
 Mary Ann Lewis, copied by E. N. Vanderpoel ; from Chroni- 
 ' cles of a Pioneer School. (The building in right of picture 
 is the Mansion House!) _____-- 32 
 
 13. The Rev. Lyman Beechen, Pastor of the Congregational Church, 
 
 1810-1826 ---------- 33 
 
 14. Ebenezer Marsh House, 1759. Site of the Wolcott and Litch- 
 
 field Circulating Library _____-- 48 
 
 15. Samuel Sej^mour House, 1784. Now St. Michael's Rectory - 49 
 
 16. The First Episcopal Church, formerly situated a Mile west of 
 
 the Center, 1749. From a drawing by Chas. T. Payne - 58 
 
 17. The Rev. Truman Marsh, Rector of St. Michael's, 1799-1829 - 59 
 
 18. Governor Oliver Wolcott), Signer of the Declaration of Inde- 
 
 pendence. Portrait by Ralph Earle, 1782; From the Wol- 
 cott Memorial _____---- 68 
 
 19. Mrs. Oliver Wolcott, (Laura Collins). From the Wolcott 
 
 Memorial. Painted by Enis, 1782. ----- 69 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xiii 
 
 20. Major Moses Seymour. From a Portrait by Ralph Earle, in the 
 
 collection of Hon. Morris W. Seymour - - - - 78 
 
 21 .The Moses Seymour House, 1735. Site of Residence of Hon. 
 
 George M. Woodruff -- 79 
 
 22. Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge ; from a Portrait by Ralph Earle, in 
 
 the collection of the Litchfield Historical Society - - 86 
 
 23. Mrs. Benjamin Tallmadge. (Mary Floyd, after whom was named 
 
 the Mary Floyd Tallmadge Chapter, D. A. R.) From a Por- 
 trait by Ralph Earle, in the collection of the Litchfield His- 
 torical Society -_.---^--87 
 
 24. The Tallmadge House, 1775. Residence of Mrs. John A. Vanderpoel 92 
 
 25. Milestone erected near Elm Ridge by Jedediah Strong, 1787 - 93 
 
 26. View of the Center about i860, showing Mansion House, 1800, 
 
 and the Second Court House, 1798 ----- 96 
 
 27. Preparing the Winter's Woodpile for the Mansion House - 97 
 
 28. Chief Justice Tapping Reeve, from an Engraving by George Catlin 100 
 
 29. Moving the Reeve Law School from its original location on 
 
 South Street to West Street in 1846 ----- loi 
 
 30. Judge James Gould. Portrait by Waldo. From Hollister's 
 
 History of Connecticut _-____- 104 
 
 31. The Gould Law School, after it was removed one mile west of 
 
 the Center on the Bantam Road and used as a Tenement. 
 
 It has since been destroyed by fire ----- 105 
 
 32. The Tapping Reeve House, 1774; later owned by Hon. Lewis 
 
 B. Woodruff, and now the Residence of his grandson, Lewis 
 
 B. Woodruff (Jr). -------- 108 
 
 32- The James Gould House, built in 1760 by EHsha Sheldon; later 
 the Sheldon Tavern, where General Washington visited ; 
 afterwards owned by Senator Uriah Tracy, son-in-law of 
 Judge Gould ; Professor James M. Hoppin of Yale bought 
 the house in 187 1 from Judge Gould's daughter. It is now' 
 owned by Hon. John P. Elton, and it has recently been 
 rented as a summer home by Mr. and Mrs. E. H. Sothern 
 (Julia Marlowe) -------- lop 
 
 34. Miss Sally Pierce - - - - - - - - -112 
 
 35. The Litchfield Academy, 1827 - - - - - - -113 
 
 36. Miss Lucy Sheldon (Mrs. Theron Beach). From a Miniature by 
 
 Anson Dickinson, born in Milton, 1779, afterwards a dis- 
 tinguished miniaturist in New York City - -< - - 116 
 
 37. Miss Lucretia Deming. From a Miniature by Anson Dickinson 117 
 
 38. The United States Hotel. Formerly and now again known as 
 
 Phelps' Tavern - - - - - - - - -122 
 
 39. Dr. Daniel Sheldon - - -- - - - - - 123 
 
 40. Julius Deming Esq. _-__.-_-- 1^6 
 
xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 41. The Lindens, built by Julius Deming in 1793; later occupied by 
 
 his daughter, Miss Lucretia Deming;, and afterwards by his 
 grandson, Hon. J. Deming Perkins ; now the Residence of 
 the Misses Kingsbury ---_-___ 137 
 
 42. George C. Woodruff (Jr.), Editor of the Litchfield Enquirer - 140 
 
 43. Frederick Wolcott Esq. Portrait by Waldo, 1835. From the 
 
 Wolcott Memorial -___-__. j^i 
 
 44. The Wolcott House, built in 1753, by Governor Oliver Wolcott 
 
 Senior ; later enlarged by his son, Frederick Wolcott, now 
 
 the Residence of Miss Alice Wolcott. From an old Print. - 150 
 
 45. The Wolcott House, from a modern Photograph in the Book 
 
 of Days ______-_-- 151 
 
 46. The First National Bank, showing the Drug Store taken down in 
 
 1914 and replaced by the Annex occupied by the Litchfield 
 Savings Society - - - - - - - - -166 
 
 47. Governor Oliver Wolcott Jr. From a Crayon Sketch by Rem- 
 
 brandt Peale. From the Wolcott Memorial _ _ _ 167 
 
 48. The Beecher Elm, marking the appro;ximate location of the 
 
 Beecher House, which is no longer standing - . - 170 
 
 49. The Whipping-Post Elm and Litchfield County House and Jail, 
 
 erected 1812 and added to 1896 ------ 171 
 
 50. Morris Woodruff. From a Portrait by Anson Dickinson - - 178 
 
 51. Maplehurst, the Residence of Horatio Benton in South Farms, 
 
 later the South Farms Inn, demolished 1917 - _ - 179 
 
 52. The old Marsh House, Northfield Hill ----- 184 
 
 53. The Major David Welch House, Milton, 1745 - - - - 185 
 
 54. The Third Congregational Church, 1827-29; removed to the Tor- 
 
 rington Road in 1873, and known as Armory Hall; now 
 Colonial Hall - --194 
 
 55. The Fourth (Present) Congregational Church, 1873 - - - 195 
 
 56. The Third (Present) St. Michael's Episcopal Church, 1851 - 198 
 
 57. The Fallen Steeple at St. Michael's Church, April 11, 1894 - 199 
 
 58. The Second (Present) Methodist Church, 1885 - - - - 200 
 
 59. Interior of the Second (Present) St. Anthony's Roman Catholic 
 
 Church, 1888 201 
 
 60. The Blizzard of March 12, 1888, showing the Snowdrift near the 
 
 House of Dr. Henry W. Buel ____.- 206 
 
 61. South Street after the Ice Storm of February 20, 1898 - - 207 
 
 62. Hon. George C. Woodruff -------- 210 
 
 63. The Centennial Celebration of Litchfield County, 1751 ; from an 
 
 old Print ----------211 
 
 64. Chief Justice Origen Storrs Seymour ----- 214 
 
 65. Judge Lewis B. Woodruff - 215 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xv 
 
 66. Dwjght C. Kilbourn ---------220 
 
 67. Presentation of Colors to the Nineteenth Connecticut Infantry, 
 
 by Hon. William Curtis Noyes, September 10, 1862 - - 221 
 
 68. Charge of the Second Connecticut Heavy Artillery at the Battle 
 
 of Cold Harbor, June i, 1864. From an old Print in D. 
 
 Vaill's The County Regiment --...- 224 
 
 69. The Triumphal Arch on East Street, August i, 1865 - - - 225 
 
 70. Hon. J. Deming Perkins _-_-.___ 232 
 
 71. Dr. Henry W. Buel ---------233 
 
 "72. Judge Edward W. Seymour ------- 238 
 
 T2>. Mrs. Edward W. Seymour (Mary Floyd Tallmadge) - - 239 
 
 74. Mrs. John Laidlaw Buel (Elizabeth C. Barney Buel), State 
 
 Regent, Daughters of the American Revolution - - - 248 
 
 75. Charles H. Coit, Chairman, Liberty Loan Campaigns - - - 249 
 
 76. Dr. John Laidlaw Buel, Chairman, American Red Cross Home 
 
 Service Bureau -___.---- 260 
 TJ. The Morgan-Weir Post, American Legion : Front row, standing 
 left to right : Eugenio Cucchi, Gino Valmoretti, Frank B. 
 Weir, William L. Herbert, T. Joseph Kelly, James H. Catlin, 
 Clarence E. Perkins, Colombano Sassi, William Mooney, 
 Albert W. Clock, William F. Slawson, William M. Foord; 
 Second row, standing left to right : Thomas F. Weir, Charles 
 H. Turkington, James E. Conroy, Charles I. Page Jr., Clif- 
 ford H. Danielson, Sutherland A. Beckwith, Macklin Cun- 
 ningham, William D. Roberg, Alexis Doster, E. Carroll 
 Johnson, James L. Kirwin, PhiHp W. Hunt, Arthur D. 
 Deacon, Archibald A. MacDonald, John F. Barrett, Thomas 
 Carr, James W. Drury, Edward J. Brahen, Frederick Noz- 
 zioli, Clarence F. Ganung, Edward A. Brennan, Edwin B. 
 Perkins, Thomas J. Knox, Timothy F. Higgins, James F. 
 Burke, Albert S. Fabbri -- 261 
 
 78. Frederick Deming Esq. - - - - - - - - - 266 
 
 79. The Ruins of the Mansion House and Business Block, after the 
 
 Fire of June 11, 1886 -- 267 
 
 80. John Arent Vanderpoel _____--_ 270 
 
 81. The Noyes Memorial Building, showing the Sign-Post Elm. 
 
 Built in 1901, enlarged in 1906. Home of the Wolcott and 
 Litchfield Circulating Library, and of the Litchfield His- 
 torical Society - - - - - - - - -271 
 
 82. Rear-Admiral George Partridge Colvocoresses - - _ _ 272 
 
 83. Colvocoresses Day, November lo, 1899. Presentation of Sword 273 
 
 84. Hon. Morris Woodruff Seymour ------ 274 
 
 85. The Ozias Seymour House, 1807. Later occupied by Chief 
 
 Justice Origen S. Seymour ; now residence of Hon. Morris 
 
xvi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 W. Seymour --------._ 275 
 
 86. Hon. James P. Woodruff, Judge of Court of Common Pleas, 1920 300 
 
 87. Philip P. Hubbard, Town Treasurer, and Hon. John T. Hub- 
 
 bard, Judge of Probate, 1920 ------ 301 
 
 88. Miss Cornelia Buxton Smith, Clerical Assistant to the Clerk of 
 
 the Superior Court, 1920 - - - - - - - 304 
 
 89. Frank H. Turkington, Sheriff, 1920 ------ 305 
 
 90. John H. Lancaster, County Commissioner, 1920 - - - - 306 
 
 91. Board of Selectmen* 1920. Seated: H. M. Richards, P. C. Burke, 
 
 H. T. Weeks ; standing: C. L. Dudley, W. M. Murphy - - 307 
 
 92. George H. Hunt, Town Clerk, 1920 ------ 308 
 
 93. Hon. Thomas F. Ryan, Postmaster, 1920 ----- 309 
 
 94. Parade of the Litchfield Fire Company, July 4, 1892 - - - 334 
 
 95. Picnic of the Sanctum Club, 1910 : Front Row. seated : J. C- 
 
 Barnard, R. C. Swayze, Dr. J. E. Keller, Dr. J. L. Buel, 
 William H. Sanford ; Second Row, seated : S. L. Husted Jr., 
 Rev. S. O. Seymour, D.D., William G. Wallbridge, Seymour 
 Cunningham, William Ray, H. R. Towne, L. A. Ripley, 
 Rev. John Hutchins, A. R. Gallatin ; Third Row, seated : 
 J. H. Bronson, Col. A. E. Lamb; standing: B. S. Clark, 
 John Lindley, William Colgate, G. M. Woodruff, Frank 
 Blake, E. D. Curtis, J. P. Elton, C. H. Coit, A. A. Kirkham, 
 C. R. Duffie, C. T. Payne, Abbott Foster, H. B. Lewis - 335 
 
 96. Floyd L. Vanderpoel, President, Trumbull-Vanderpoel Company 340 
 
 97. William T. Marsh, President, Litchfield Water Company - - 341 
 
 98. Hon. Winfield Scott Rogers, Chairman, Bantam Ball Bearing- 
 
 Company -----.---_ 342 
 
 99. Miss Nellie M. Scott, President, Bantam Ball Bearing Company 343 
 100. View of the Center, about i860 ------- 350 
 
 loi. View of the Center, 1920 -------- 351 
 
 102. Country Road in Winter, Litchfield. Photograph by William 
 
 H. Sanford ---------- 360 
 
Mrs. John A. Vanderpoel, Curator, Litchfield Historical Society 
 
CHAPTEK I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 The town of Litchfield is the county-seat of Litchfield County, 
 Connecticut, and is situated among the Litchfield Hills, which form 
 the south-eastern foothills of the Berkshires. The Soldiers' Monu- 
 ment in the Center Park stands in Latitude 41° 44' 48'' North, Longi- 
 tude 73° 11' 25" West of Greenwich. The exact elevation of the 
 Center ahove sea-level has, strangely enough, not been accurately 
 determined. The Government survey in 1889 gave an approximate 
 elevation of 1,080 feet, while a later private survey showed 1,113 
 feet; but as other points on the Government map are decidedly too 
 high, and some on the private map somewhat too low, the dis- 
 crepancy is still unexplained. It would be a simple matter to 
 determine, as the Engineering classes at Camp Columbia, the sum- 
 mer school of Columbia University, which is located at the southern 
 end of Bantam Lake, have brought a series of very accurate 
 measurements as far as the north end of the Lake. 
 
 The highest point in the township is the summit of Mount Tom, 
 with an actual elevation of 1,291 feet; the figure 1,325, given in the 
 Government's topographical map of 1889, is therefore not at all 
 exact. 
 
 The original area of the township, which included the present 
 town of Morris, and also a large tract of land set off to the Town 
 of Torrington in 1866, was 71.9 square miles. The present area is 
 48.6 square miles. 
 
 The largest natural sheet of water in Connecticut, Bantam Lake, 
 lies in part in the township. Before the separation of Morris, 1859, 
 it lay entirely in the town limits. The Lake varies about seven 
 feet in surface elevation between low water and flood, namely 
 between 892.5 and 899.7 feet above sea level. At a surface elevation 
 of 893.5 feet, the students of Camp Columbia have determined its 
 area to be 916 acres, its maximum length 2% miles and its maximum 
 width yg miles, the length of the shore line 91/3 miles, the average 
 depth 16.1 feet, and the capacity 4,800,000,000 gallons. 
 
 The name, Litchfield, is supposed without reasonable doubt to 
 be derived from Lichfield, the Cathedral city of Staffordshire, 
 England; but no tradition is preserved as to why the name was 
 given. Much iiilc has been spent, to little purpose, to explain why 
 the letter T has been added in the name of our town. Usually its 
 insertion is laid to an inaccurate clerk at Hartford; but it is not 
 at all necessary to suppose such an explanation. We shall see, in 
 our quotations from the early records, how variable all spelling 
 
2 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 was luitil after 1750, and this was tlie case in England as much, or 
 nearly as mucli as in New England. In the English records of the 
 early Seventeenth Century, Lichfield is spelled Litchfield very fre- 
 quently; and there is still a small village of Litchfield in the north- 
 ern part of the county of Hampshire. In Windsor, where so many 
 of our first settlers came from, we find resident about 1700 a 
 certain John Wichfield, whose name was also often spelled Witch- 
 field and gradually took this form exclusively. On the whole it 
 appears that a simijle philological cause would explain the change 
 as plausibly as any other. Be that as it may, all the other later 
 towns of the same name in the United States have adopted our 
 spelling, as well as several families of the name. 
 
 The Indian name of the region was Bantam, a name whose deri- 
 vation will be discussed elsewhere. The first explorers called the 
 region by several different names. Sometimes it was the New 
 Plantation, sometimes it was the Western Lands, sometimes the 
 Western Wilderness, and sometimes the Greenwoods. The last 
 name, derived from the great tracts of both pitch-pine and white- 
 pine which were native, is particularly pleasing and we must 
 regret its disappearance locally. The country around New Hart- 
 ford is still spoken of infrequently by this name, and a trace of the 
 old Greenwoods Turnpike from Hartford to Canaan, through Nor- 
 folk, is still preserved in the designation of one of the Norfolk 
 streets. 
 
 The geologic history of Litchfield is extremely interesting, as is 
 that of every region where some of its varied pages can still be read 
 by those qualified to do so. We are, however, concerned so urgently 
 with the story of the last two-hundred years, that the hundreds of 
 millions of years preceding must be dismissed in the remainder of 
 this brief introductory chapter. The details given are summarized 
 from an admirable account of this geologic history specially pre- 
 pared by Frederick K. Morris, of the Department of Geology of 
 Columbia University. 
 
 The oldest type of rocks around Litchfield may be that called 
 the Becket Gneiss, Avhich covers a large area to the north, notably 
 in Torrington, Winchester, Norfolk and Colebrook, and to the south- 
 west, Avest of Mount Tom, into Warren and New Milford. These 
 rocks tell of an old sea into which, in the modern way, rivers poured 
 their muddy waters. This sea covered all the parts where this 
 Gneiss is now found, and doubtless stretched on elsewhere, so that 
 all of our town would have been fine sailing. For untold years 
 mud was deposited by the rivers, and limestone was forming too; 
 but whether the limy matter was made by live organisms or was 
 simply a chemical precipitate cannot be determined. The muds 
 and limes cemented into rock, in level-lying, orderly strata, layer 
 hardening upon layer. 
 
 Then began a very slow thrusting and folding and lifting of the 
 earth's crust, which with succeeding ages modified the shore line of 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 3 
 
 our sea and built up mountains possibly as liigh as the Kockies 
 now are. No trace of these mountains survives in the shapes of 
 our Litchfield Hills, which shapes are of infinitely more recent 
 origin, as we shall see. The importance to us of these older, vastly 
 greater mountains lies in the fact that their formation, thrusting 
 great masses of rock away from the center of the world, released 
 the pressure which heretofore had kept more or less rigid the deep, 
 hot interior of the earth. This rich material from within, the 
 molten sources of our present granites, together with the eager 
 gases and vapors we associate with. volcanoes, came jjushing towards 
 the surface ever more insistantly and searchingly as the pressure 
 was more and more relieved. They filled the natural crevices 
 between the upthrust rocks, until perhaps some great mass of this 
 upthrust, stratified rock was completely surrounded by the molten 
 matter from below. With nothing to support it, the mass would 
 sink engulfed into the underlying liquid depths, and, for aught now 
 known, the liquids and gases may have reached the surface and 
 built noble volcanoes. 
 
 The chief work of the dissolved vapors from within, in the 
 Litchfield region, was not however volcanic. The most volatile 
 substances, water, fluorine, boron, and the rest, were concentrating 
 in the upper chambers of the molten realms below, with an outward 
 pressure quite beyond our conception. Eeaching at last the old 
 sedimentary bottom of our ancient sea, now upthrust into moun- 
 tains, they soaked into the rock as into a sponge, between its beds 
 and its mica flakes, in large and small streaks, until the bedded 
 rock and the molten visitors were blended so inextricably, that 
 to-day one's hand, in many places, may cover a dozen alternations 
 of rock tyi^e; while elsewhere long streaks of large-crystaled, glitter- 
 ing rock may be found cutting through the native rock for hundreds 
 or thousands of feet. Such streaks are called Pegmatites, and bring 
 many of the rarer minerals from great depths to within our reach 
 long after their formation. 
 
 The so-called Becket Gneiss, then, is a compound of the old 
 sediment first described and of the various igneous or molten infil- 
 trations and saturations to which it was subjected. Eare traces 
 of the original sediment are still found. According to the Con- 
 necticut State Geological Survey's Eeport, 1906, the oldest clear 
 sediment consists of what is called the "Poughquag Quartzite and 
 Schist", which is mapped by Prof. Eice and Dr. Loughlan as sur- 
 roimdiug Bantam Lake, except on the West and North-west. There 
 are exposures of it also on the road toward Mount Tom. 
 
 Litchfield itself lies upon the next rock to be described. This 
 is the Hartland Schist, which was originally undoubtedly a 
 sediment, partly limestone, partly sandstone, but mostly clay shale. 
 It, too, has undergone profound burial, great heating, and complex 
 injection by igneous fluids. It is more markedly modified than 
 the Poughquag Schist. It is a light colored mica-schist, silvery 
 smooth when fine-grained, crystalline and glittering when the mica 
 
4 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 flakes are large. It is full of garnets, none of whicli are of gem- 
 quality, but many are decidedly handsome. Blue and white blade- 
 like crystals of Kyanite, three inches long, and brown, double-ended 
 crystals of Staurolite, an inch long, are common. 
 
 Among the oldest invaders in these original sediments are the 
 dark igneous rocks that once were black masses of basalt or trap. 
 These quite possibly date from an igneous invasion even older than 
 the one described for the Becket Gneiss, an invasion characterized 
 by dark molten rocks instead of by light ones. These black rocks 
 were changed by the squeezing of the earth's crust during the moun- 
 tain making into the sheeted, streaked, dark, pepper-and-salt rocks 
 now called Amphibolite Gneiss or Schist. Mount Tom and Little 
 Mount Tom are made of it, and there is a patch of it west of the 
 road from Litchfield to East Morris. 
 
 North of Mount Prospect lies another great belt of yet another 
 schist, the Berkshire Schist, probably younger than the Becket 
 Gneiss. The problem of the relative ages of the schists is indeed 
 a profoundly difficult one, still far from satisfactory settlement. 
 All the tentative tables that have been published, such as those of 
 the Connecticut State Geological Survey, are liable to revision at 
 any time. All we can say with certainty is that it all happened 
 very long ago, and that the present complex folding and thrusting 
 of these oldest rocks are evidence that the mountains they tell of 
 formed, at one time or at different times, a great area of many 
 ranges. Beyond the old sea which preceded these mountains we 
 are powerless to look. 
 
 Now followed a third great series of events, the shifting of 
 shallower seas over the land, the patient downwear of the first 
 great mountains, the later sinkings and re-elevations of the land. 
 The changes came so gradually that perhaps the world from century 
 to century seemed not much less stable then than it does to us to-day. 
 The changes, too, involved so vast an area than no one region con- 
 tains more than a fraction of its record. The rocky mass of Mount 
 Prospect is possibly a witness of this period. It is a dome of 
 molten rock, of a different and, it would appear, a much later type 
 than its neighbors. The hill contains many varieties of igneous 
 rocks, some light, some dark in color, among which are found the 
 half melted fragments of those earlier rocks already described, which 
 the uprising liquid masses broke off and engulfed. Here are the 
 oldest limestones, too, but wholly changed by the hot juices that 
 have attacked them. Here, finally, are the ores which caused so 
 much excitement about 1860; these were among the last ingredients 
 to crystalize and were brought last of all to their present resting 
 places by the molten energies from within. All this may have 
 happened at about the time that the Appalachians were being folded 
 and uplifted, the time also when the leisurely dinosaurs were about 
 to start on their upward evolution. 
 
 The next period lies almost wholly outside of the Western High- 
 land. It includes the making of the red sandstones and the red 
 
^^^,. 
 
 < 
 < 
 
 I-H 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 5 
 
 and dark shales of the Coimecticut Valley Lowland. It was the 
 time when the dinosaurs were becoming numerous and large. But 
 for Litchfield the importance of the age lies in the occurrence of a 
 renewed and extended volcanic activity, the last outburst of vol- 
 canism known anywhere between New England and the Eocky 
 Mountains. Dark lavas, rich in iron-bearing minerals, were injected 
 into the earth's crust and poured liberally upon its surface from 
 Nova Scotia to Virginia; and some found their way through the 
 crust in our township, a part of this last crop of igneous rocks. 
 
 In the following age arose a new series of mountains, of a shape 
 and structure like the present mountains of Utah and Nevada, 
 which must not be confused with those earlier mountains when the 
 schists were made. This renewed splitting and tilting of the 
 earth's crust necessarily left many cracks and zones of crushed 
 stone called faults, into which, as well as into the less frequent 
 earlier cracks, we bore hopefully for artesian water. 
 
 Then came two geologic periods, during which the slow attrition 
 of weather and time wore the mountains down again into one great 
 level plain, upon which roamed the last of the dinosaurs. The 
 remarkably even sky-line of our hilltops to-day marks where the 
 level of this plain used to be, for our hilltops are all that is left 
 of the surface of the plain. 
 
 During the next age, a slow" uplift, with many and long halts, 
 raised the whole plain, enabling the rivers and streams to cut their 
 present deep valleys inch by inch. Our hills, as we know them, 
 are the foundations of the ancient mountains, the remnants of the 
 great plain in which the valleys have been carved by erosion. None 
 of our hills are the direct result of a special upthrust. But they 
 trend north and south exactly as did the mountains of which we 
 see the roots. 
 
 There was only one more period in the making of our landscape, 
 the time of the ice-age, that most recent great event in geologic 
 history. A sheet of ice thousands of feet thick moved out over the 
 continent from centers in Canada. The part that crossed Western 
 Connecticut melted upon I^ong Island. It has been asserted that 
 it was not less than 1,500 feet thick where it passed over New Haven. 
 Such a masterful glacier would freeze into its mass and carry 
 along with it every particle of soil from the land it traversed; it 
 would even attack the bed rock and tear out large and small blocks 
 by simply freezing fast to them and ripping them out of their places as 
 it moved gradually onward. The hills that form Long Island's 
 backbone are the general dumping place of whatever materials, 
 from fine clay to huge boulders, the melting ice still retained at its 
 journey's end. 
 
 As the ice melted back from off the country, it deposited sheets 
 and piles of bouldery soil over all the land it had once covered. All 
 the soil of Connecticut, except recent swamps and river bottoms, 
 was laid down by the glacier, or by streams of melting water gush- 
 ing from the ice, or in lakes formed and held in by dams of ice 
 
6 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 across valley outlets. Sometimes the valley outlets were dammed 
 by glacial drift, wliicli remained after tlie ice had melted; then the 
 lalies were permanent or gradually subsided into swamps. Most 
 conspicuous of the glacial formations are the shoals of boulder clay 
 formed under the ice, much as an overloaded river builds long 
 shoals in its bed. The ice glided over these deposits, smoothing 
 and slicking them, plastering them with fresh material and model- 
 ing them into long, oval, gently rising hills. Such hills we call 
 Drimilins, and they are among Nature's most graceful forms. Their 
 long axis lies in the direction in which the ice moved, just as the 
 river-shoal is elongated parallel to the water current. There are 
 many Drumlins about Litchfield, notably on all sides of Bantam 
 Lake, except on the south. Signs of the glacial action are about 
 us on every hand: the stray boulders, like the famous Medicine 
 Eock on Chestnut Hill ; the peat swamps, like the one on the land of 
 the Litchfield Water Company, where great deposits have been 
 dumped ; the beds of sand or gravel, deposited bj the streams within 
 the ice sheet, or as the deltas of streams rushing out of it; Bantam 
 Lake itself, which, with its tributary ponds, covered a much larger 
 tract than it does now, probably including South Plain, Harris 
 Plain and the Little Plain. These and others testify to us con- 
 stantly of the past history of Litchfield. 
 
 We must turn now to the story of the last two-hundred years, 
 but let us not forget as we go about the roads and fields of our 
 township that we can read, in the whale backs of our drumlin hills, 
 in the level sky-line which was once the level plain, in the uplifted 
 edges of bedded rock which are the roots of once mighty mountains, 
 in the shining schists that were once sea-bottom clays and have 
 been as it were through water and fire, and everywhere in the sheets 
 and streaks and greater masses of molten volcanic crystalline rock, 
 an infinitely greater story wherein the onlj'^ measures of time are 
 the thicknesses of deposited strata, the periods of mountain build- 
 ing, the forever unknowable periods of the patient wearing down 
 again of the mountains by the rivers and waves and weather, 
 periods in which the pulse of years beats too rapidly to be counted 
 and into which our whole two centuries will ultimately merge as an 
 undistinguished instant. 
 
CHAPTEK II. 
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OP LITCHFIELD. 
 
 The following statement of tlie conditions prevailing before 1715 
 in the region in Connecticut, in which Litchfield is situated, is from 
 Kilhourne, pp. 17-18: "In 1630, about ten years after the landing of 
 the pilgrims on Plymouth Eock, the Avhole of the territory of the 
 present State of Connecticut was conveyed by the Plymouth Com- 
 pany to Kobert, Earl of Warwick. On the 19th of March, 1631, the 
 Earl executed the grant since known as the Old Patent of Connecti- 
 cut, wherein he transferred the same tract to Viscount Say and Seal, 
 Lord Brooke, John Hampden, John Pym, Sir Eichard Saltonstall, 
 and others. In the summer of 1635, the towns of Hartford, Wethers- 
 field and Windsor, on the Connecticut Eiver, first began to be settled 
 by emigrants from the vicinity of Boston. Still a year later, the 
 Eev. Thomas Hooker and his congregation made their celebrated 
 journey through the wilderness, from Cambridge, Mass., to Hartford, 
 where they took up their permanent residence. In 1637, the Pequot 
 War was begun and terminated, resulting in the expulsion and 
 almost total annihilation of the most formidable tribe of Indians 
 in the colony. 
 
 "The first Constitution adopted by the people of Connecticut 
 bears date, January 15, 1638-9. This continued to form the basis 
 of our colonial government untjl the arrival of the Charter of 
 Charles II., in 1662, when it was nominally superceded. Alternate 
 troubles with the Dutch and Indians kept the settlers, for many 
 3^ears, in a perpetual state of discipline and alarm. But while the 
 political commotions in the old world sometimes agitated the other 
 American colonies, the people of Connecticut had from the first felt 
 that their civil rights were guaranteed to them beyond the reach 
 of any contingency. The Eoyal Charter was but a confirmation of 
 privileges which they had long enjoyed. l^o king- appointed Gov- 
 ernor or Council annoyed them by their presence or oppressed them 
 by their acts; but the voters were left to choose their own rulers 
 and enact their own laws. Indeed, the influence of the crown was 
 for a long period scarcely felt in the colony. On the accession of 
 James II., however, in 1685, the whole aspect of affairs was changed. 
 It was soon rumored that His Majesty had determined to revoke all 
 the charters granted by his predecessors. The arrival of Sir Edmund 
 Andros at Boston, in December 1686, bearing a commission as Gov- 
 ernor of New England, was an event not calculated to allay the 
 apprehensions of the people of Connecticut. His reputation was 
 
8 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 that of a selfish, grasping despot, bent upon enriching himself and 
 immediate friends at the expense of the colonists. At this time, 
 the entire region now known as the County of Litchfield, except a 
 solitary settlement at Woodbury, on its southern frontier, was an 
 unexplored wilderness denominated the Western Lands. To save 
 these lands from the control and disposal of Andros, the Legisla- 
 ture granted them to the towns of Hartford and Windsor, at least 
 so much of tliem as lay east of the Housatonic Eiver. When the 
 usurpations of Andros were over and the Charter had found its 
 way back from the hollow of the oak to the Secretary's office, the 
 Colonial Assembly attempted to resume its title to these lands; but 
 the towns referred to steadfastly resisted all such claims. The 
 quarrel was long kept up, but no acts of hostility were committed 
 until efforts were made to dispose of the tract. Collisions then 
 became frequent. Explorers, agents and surveyors, of one party, 
 were summarily arrested and expelled from the disputed territory 
 by the contestants." 
 
 In May 1725 a mob broke open the Jail in Hartford and liberated 
 the prisoners therein. Kilbourne and others have usually assumed 
 that this occurred in connection with the arrests in the Western 
 Lands; Frederick J. Kingsbury, in an address before the Litchfield 
 Historical Society, 1909, attributed the riot to other causes, adding, 
 however, that "while the Litchfield disturbance was not "the imme- 
 diate cause of the jail delivery, the feeling engendered by it had 
 doubtless infused a spirit of disregard for colonial legislation which 
 made the jail delivery more easy than it might otherwise have been." 
 
 However this may be, a compromise was presently arrived at 
 between the colony on the one hand and the towns of Hartford and 
 Windsor on the other, by which title to the territory of the Western 
 Lands was divided between the claimants of both parties. The 
 township of Litchfield was included in the share assigned to the 
 towns of Hartford and Windsor. Meanwhile, the towns were not 
 waiting the consent of the colony, but, as we have seen, were pro- 
 ceeding with explorations and settlements on their own responsi- 
 bility, and were endeavoring to substantiate their claims by pur- 
 chases of the Indian rights to different parts of the Western Lands. 
 
 "As early as the year 1657", (Woodruff, p. 7), "I find certain 
 Indians of the Tunxis or Farmington tribe conveyed to William 
 Lewis and Samuel Steele of Farmington, certain privileges, as 
 appears by the following copy of their deed: 
 
 "This witnesseth that we Kepaquamp and Querrimus and 
 Mataneage have sould to William Leawis and Samuel Steele of 
 ffarmington A p sell or a tract of land called Matetucke, that js to 
 say the hill from whence John Standley and John Andrews brought 
 the black lead, and all the land within eight niylle of that hill on 
 every side; to dig; and carry away what they will and to build in 
 jt for ye use of them that labour there; and not otherwise to improve 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 9 
 
 ye land. In witness wliereof wee have hereunto set our hands, and 
 thos Jndians above mentioned must free the purchasers from all 
 claymes by any other Indyans. 
 
 Witnes ; John Steel. William Lewis, 
 
 february ye 8th 1657. Samuel Steele. 
 
 The mark 
 febru ye 8th 
 
 of Kepaquamp. 
 1657. 
 
 The mark 
 febru ye 8th 
 
 of Querrimus. 
 1657. 
 
 The mark 0/ 
 february ye 8 
 
 Mataneage. 
 1657." 
 
 This title was confirmed fifty seven years later, August 11, 1714, 
 by a quit-claim deed to the same parties and their heirs by the 
 Indians of these same tribes then living. The deed is given in 
 full in Woodruff's History, pp. 9-11. It is extremely quaint, but 
 not sufficiently important to the story of Litchfield to reprint here 
 entire. It begins: 
 
 "To all christian people to whom these presents shall come, 
 Pethuzso and Taxcronuck with Awowas and ye rest of us ye sub- 
 scribers, Indians belonging to Tunxses or otherwise ffarmington jn 
 theyer majesties Colony of Connecticut jn New England send greet- 
 ing", and continues to reconvey the Hill whence the black lead 
 came. Just where this hill known as Mattatuck was has caused a 
 good deal of discussion. Woodruff most plausibly supposed it to 
 be in the southern part of Harwinton, embracing that town and 
 also some portion of Plymouth (then Mattatuck or Waterburj) and 
 Litchfield, possibly what we now know as Northfield and Fluteville. 
 Certaiji it is that on the 11th of June 1718, the Farmington claimants 
 relinquished whatever rights they held under these two deeds to 
 Hartford and Windsor, and in lieu thereof received one-sixth of 
 the whole township of Litchfield in fee. 
 
 Meanwhile Hartford and Windsor had been busy getting a title 
 
10 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 of their own to the township. The affairs of the Western Lands, 
 (Kilbourne, p. 19), were "transacted by committees. In 1715, these 
 towns took the initiatory steps towards exploring that portion of 
 the wilderness now embraced within our corporation limits, and 
 purchasing whatever rights the natives possessed to the soil. It 
 would be interesting to know who was the first individual of the 
 Anglo-Saxon race that ever visited the localities so cherished by us 
 all. The earliest record evidence is contained in an entry in the 
 first Book of Eecords in our Town Clerk's ofilce, which is as 
 follows : 
 
 "The Town of Hartford, Dr. 
 
 To John Marsh, 
 May 1715, For 5 days, man and horse, with expenses, 
 in viewing the Land at the New Plantation, £ 2 
 
 The Town of Hartford, Dr. 
 
 Jan. 22, 1715-6, To 6 days journey to Woodbury, to 
 treat with the Indians about the Western Lands, 
 by Thomas SSeymour, 
 To expenses in the journey, 
 
 The Town of Hartford, Dr. 
 
 To Thomas Seymour, Committee, 
 
 May 1716, By 2 quarts of Bum, i 
 
 Expenses at Farmington, 
 
 Expenses at Waterbury, 
 
 Paid Thomas Miner towards the Indian purchase. 
 
 Expenses at Woodbury, 
 
 Expenses for a Pilot and protection, 
 
 Fastening horse-shoes at Waterbury, 
 
 Expenses at Waterbury, 
 
 Expenses to Col. Whiting, for writing 40 deeds, 
 
 " to Capt. Cooke for acknowledging IS deeds, 
 
 " to Ensign Sejanour, 
 
 " at Arnold's, 
 
 " by sending to Windsor, 
 
 August 4, 1718.— Sold 11 lots for £ 
 
 Expenses for writing 20 deeds, to Mr. Fitch, 
 
 " to Capt. Cooke for acknowledging deeds, 
 
 "for making out a way, 
 
 at Arnold's, 
 
 " to Thos. Seymour for perambulating north 
 
 line 
 " at Arnold's, 
 
 £ 1 4 
 1 14 
 
 
 9 
 
 £ 2 18 
 
 9 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 9 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 7 10 
 
 
 
 2 11 
 
 
 
 1 10 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 
 1 10 
 
 
 
 18 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 49 10 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 
 
 1 6 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
37 17 
 
 9 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD ii 
 
 Feb. 10, 1718. — At a meeting of tlie Committees, then sold 
 16 lots reserved by Marsh, for Hartford's part, 
 At same meeting, paid by John Marsh for expenses. 
 At same meeting, loss of money by mistake in acc't., 
 April 14, 1719. — A meeting of the Committees, expenses 
 April 27. — At a meeting of the Committees, expenses. 
 
 By the earliest of these entries, we learn that John Marsh was 
 sent out from Hartford to view the lands of the New Plantation, in 
 May 1715. He may, therefore be regarded as emphatically the 
 pioneer explorer of this township". 
 
 Dwight C. Kilbourn, in the Connecticut Quarterly, September 
 1896, has given us a most pleasing account of this memorable trip, 
 which could to-day be made in a morning's ride. "So John Marsh 
 left his wife, Elizabeth Pitkin, and their seven small children, to 
 spy out this land rumored to be so wonderful, and started on what 
 seemed to him a perilous journey, for the Indian lurked behind the 
 forest trees ready for his scalp. He had had in his Hadley birth- 
 place too intimate an acquaintance with their methods to think 
 lightly of their presence, and then there were bears, panthers, and 
 other unpleasant companions likely to greet him. With his horse and 
 flint-lock musket he started, — the first dozen miles through Farming- 
 ton to Unionville was through a settled country, with good farms and 
 houses, then crossing the Tunxis and entering the wilderness of 
 Burlington, he could only follow over the hills the trails of the 
 hunters and trappers, and wind his way from one summit to another 
 as best he could, through the deep valleys and gorges of Harwinton. 
 Beaching the Mattatuck he forded it a little below the i)resent 
 railroad station at East Litchfield, at the old fording place, and 
 began to climb the steep ascents to Chestnut Hill, and arrived 
 there as the sun was beginning, to hide itself behind the moun- 
 tains beyond. Before him was as beautiful a panorama as mortal 
 eye could rest upon, — the Lakes sparkling in the sunset, and the 
 broad meadows around them with the newly started grass, a living 
 carpet of emerald spreading before him for miles with here and 
 there a fringe of fresh budding trees, all inviting the weary traveler 
 to rest and refresh himself. Descending the hill he crossed the' 
 river near South Mill, and pitched his camp for the night near 
 the big spring at the southern end of Litchfield Hill, where, a few 
 years later he chose his home lot. 
 
 "All of this fair region which he had seen was called by the 
 Indians 'Bantam', and comprises large portions of the present 
 towns of Litchfield, Morris, Bethlehem, Washington, Warren, and 
 Goshen; and for three days he explored the beautiful, fertile hills 
 and plains. The Indians were friendly, the fish plenty, game 
 abundant, and the spicy perfumes of the opening buds and wild 
 blooming flowers wafted to his old Puritan heart a new sense that 
 softened his soul and let hun enjoy for once his natural blessings; 
 instead of encountering dangers and tribulations, his journey had 
 
12 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 been one of rest and pleasure. On the fifth day he returned to 
 Hartford. What report he made of his trip is not now known. 
 That he made a favorable report is almost certain, for the next 
 January Thomas Seymour was sent to Woodbury to treat with the 
 Indians about these Western Lands, was gone six days, and suc- 
 ceeded so well in his negotiations that John Minor, the noted magis- 
 trate of ancient Woodbury, executed a deed of land, from eleven 
 Indians, covering substantially the township of Litchfield as origin- 
 ally laid out". 
 
 This deed is given herewith in full, from Woodruff's History, 
 pp. 13-15. "To all people to whom these presents shall come — 
 Know ye that we CHUSQUNNOAG, COEKSCREW, QUIUMP, 
 MAGI^ASH, KEHOW, SEPUNKUM, PONI, WONPOSET, SUCK- 
 QUNNOKQUEEN, TOWEECUME, MANSUMPANSH, NOEKGNO- 
 TONCKQITY — Indians natives belonging to the plantation of Pota- 
 tuck A\dthin the colony of Connecticut, for and in consideration of the 
 sum of fifteen pounds money in hand received to our full satisfaction 
 and contentment, have given granted bargained and sold and by 
 these presents do fully freely and absolutely give grant bargain sell 
 and confirm, unto Colo William Whiting, Mr. John Marsh, and 
 Mr. Thomas Seymour, a Committee for the town of Hartford, — 
 Mr. John Eliot, Mr. Daniel Griswold, and Mr. Samuel Eockwell, a 
 Committee for the Town of Windsor, for themselves, and in the 
 behalf of the rest of the Inhabitants of the Towns of Hartford and 
 Windsor, — a certain tract of Land, situate and lying, north of 
 Waterbury bounds, abutting southerly, partly on Waterbury and 
 partly on Woodbury, — from Waterbury Eiver westward cross a 
 part of Waterbury bounds, and cross at the north end of Woodbury 
 bounds to Shepaug Eiver, and so notherly, in the middle of Shepaug 
 Eiver, to the sprains of Shepaug Eiver below Mount Tom, then run- 
 ning up the east branch of Shepaug Eiver, to the place where the 
 said Eiver runs out of Shepaug Pond, from thence to the north end 
 of said Pond, then east to Waterbury Eiver, then southerly as the 
 Eiver runs, to the north end of Waterbury bounds upon the said 
 Eiver; which said Tract of Land thus described. To Have and to 
 Hold, to the said Col. William Whiting, Mr. John Marsh, and Mr. 
 Thomas Seymor, Mr. John Eliot, and Mr. Daniel Griswold, and 
 Mr. Samuel Eockwell, Conunittees for the Towns of Hartford and 
 Windsor, as aforesaid, in behalf of themselves and the rest of the 
 Inhabitants of said Towns, to them, their heirs and assigns, to 
 use occupy and improve, as their own proper right of Inheritance, 
 for their comfort forever; together with all the privileges, appur- 
 tenances and conditions to the same belonging, or in any wise appur- 
 taining. And further, we the said Chusqunnoag, Corkscrew, Qui- 
 ump, Magnash, Kehow, Sepunkmn, Poni, Wonposet, Suckqunnok- 
 queen, Toweecume, Mansumpansh, and Norkgnotonckquy, owners 
 and proprietors of the above granted Land, do for ourselves and our 
 heirs, to and with the above said William Whiting, John Marsh, 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 13 
 
 Thomas Sejnuor, John Eliot, Daniel Griswold, and Samuel Eock- 
 well, committee as aforesaid, them, their heirs and assigns, covenant 
 and engage, that we have good right and lawful authority, to sell 
 the above granted land, — and further, at the desire and request of 
 the aforesaid committee, and at their own proper cost and charge, 
 will give a more ample deed. 
 
 And for a more full confirmation hereof, we have set to our 
 hands and seals, this second day of March, in the second year of his 
 Majesties Eeign, Annoq. D. 1715. 
 
 Memorandum; before the executing of this instrument, it is to 
 be understood, that the grantors above named have reserved to 
 themselves a piece of ground sufficient for their hunting houses, 
 near a mountain called Mount Tom. 
 
 Signed sealed and deliv 
 ered in our presence. 
 
 Ohusqunnoag cii-> his mark, [l.s.] 
 Weroamaug D his mark. Corkscrew rj his mark, [l.s.] 
 
 Wognacug L^\ liis mark. 
 
 Tonhocks -4- his mark. 
 
 John Mitchell 
 Joseph Minor. 
 
 Quiump Q^ his mark, [l.s.] 
 
 Magnash \ his mark, [l.s.] 
 
 Kehow ry his mark, [l.s.] 
 
 Sepunkum ^ his mark, [l.s.] 
 
 Poni 
 
 his mark, [l.s.] 
 
 Wonposet ^^^ his mark, [l.s.] 
 
 Suckqminockqueen /^ Ms mark, [l.s.] 
 
 Taweeume^^^^ his mark, [l.s.] 
 
 Mansumpansh 
 
 t 
 
 his mark, [l.s.] 
 
 The Indians that subscribed and sealed the above said deed, 
 appeared personally in Woodbury, the day of the date thereof, and 
 acknowledged the said deed to be their free and voluntary act and 
 deed. Before me JOHN MINOK, Justice." 
 
 The Committees, named in this deed, conveyed all their interest 
 in said Lands, to the Towns of Hartford and Windsor, bj Deed 
 dated August 29, 1716. 
 
 "The title to this Township", continues Woodruff, p. 16, "having 
 been entirely vested in the Towns of Hartford and Windsor, and in 
 
14 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 certain inhabitants of Farmington; in 1718, a company was formed 
 for the settlement of the Town. The Township was divided into 
 sixty rights or shares, three of which were reserved for pious uses. 
 Purchasers having been found for the remaining fifty-seven shares, 
 on the twenty- seventh of April, 1719, deeds of conveyance of that 
 date, were made, by committees of the Towns of Hartford and Wind- 
 sor, and certain inhabitants of Farmington, conveying to the pur- 
 chasers the whole plantation called Bantam, Exclusive of the 
 three rights reserved for pious uses, the consideration paid for forty- 
 eight of the shares was £229.10.0., in bills of public credit. That 
 paid for seven shares was £31.4.0. The deeds of the above fifty-five 
 shares, are recorded on our Eecords. How much was paid for the 
 remaining two shares, which were purchased by John Marsh, does 
 not appear. The three home lots, with the divisions belonging 
 thereto, forming one twentieth of the whole plantation, devoted to 
 public purposes, were, one home lot with the divisions and commons 
 thereto pertaining, to the first minister, his heirs forever; one, to 
 the use of the first minister and his successors; and one for the 
 support of the school. As the Township included about 44,800 
 acres, the cost per acre did not exceed one penny three farthings. 
 
 "It was provided in the Deeds, that, 'the Grantees or their sons, 
 should build a tenantable house on each home lot, or on their 
 division, not less than 16 feet square, and personally inhabit them, 
 by the last day of May 1721, and for three years ensuing; and do 
 not lease or dispose of their share for five years hereafter, without 
 consent of Inhabitants or first Planters'. 
 
 "The title thus acquired, was immediately after still further 
 confirmed by Act of Assembly in May, 1719, as follows: 
 
 "At a General Assembly holden at Hartford, May, A. D. 1719: 
 Upon the petition of Lieut. John Marsh of Hartford, and Deacon 
 John Buel of Lebanon, with many others, praying liberty, under 
 committees appointed by the towns of Hartford and Windsor, to 
 settle a town westward of Farmington, at a place called Bantam : 
 
 "This Assembly do grant liberty, and full power, unto the said 
 John Marsh and John Buel and partners settlers, being in the 
 whole fifty-seven in number, to settle a town at said Bantam; the 
 said town to be divided into sixty rights, three whereof to be 
 improved for pious uses in said town. And the other fifty- seven 
 shall be, as soon as may conveniently be, settled upon by the under- 
 takers, or upon their failure, by others that may be admitted. Said 
 town to be in length, east and west, eight miles three quarters and 
 twenty eight rods, and in breadth seven miles and a half, being 
 bounded eastward by Mattatuck Eiver, westward the bigger part 
 upon the most western branch of the Shepaug Kiver, and south by 
 Waterbury bounds and a west line from Waterbury corner unto 
 Shepaug Eiver; said town to be known by the name of Litchfield, 
 and to have the following figure for a brand for their horse kind. 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 15 
 
 viz : 9, And the same power and privileges that other towns in this 
 Colony do enjoy, are hereby granted to said town'. 
 
 "A Patent was afterwards granted to these Proprietors, dated 
 May 19, 1724, which may be seen in the Appendix. 
 
 "The township was originally divided into sixty home lots of 
 fifteen acres each, as near as could conveniently be done, and any 
 deficiency there might be, was made up to the owner of the deficient 
 lot, elsewhere; and still farther divided from time to time, into 
 Divisions and Pitches of 4, 20, 60, and 100 acres. 
 
 "A few individuals commenced the settlement of the town in 
 the year 1720. In the year 1721, a considerable number, chiefly 
 from the towns of Hartford, Windsor and Lebanon, moved on to the 
 tract." Kilbourne says, p. 28, that the first settlers who came in 
 1720 were Capt. Jacob Griswold, from Windsor, Ezekiel Buck, from 
 Wethersfield, and John Peck, from Hartford. 
 
 "The choice of home-lots", continues Woodruff, p. 19, "was 
 decided by lot. The first lot selected was about half a mile south 
 of the Court House, and next to Middle Street or Gallows Lane". 
 All these selections of lots are shown in Plate I, as well as the 
 names of the old streets. The second choice was half a mile still 
 further south; the third three quarters of a mile west of the Court 
 House, the site of the present Elm Kidge. The eleventh choice was 
 the lot thirty rods next west of the County Jail corner, which sub- 
 sequently the Town voted, was not fit for building a house upon. 
 The Library corner on South Street was the twenty -fifth choice. The 
 County Jail corner on North Street was the thirty third choice. 
 Ten lots were selected on Chestnut Hill, on both sides of the road. 
 
 "The home lot of the first minister, was located on the corner 
 of North and East Streets, where now stands the house owned by 
 Miss Edith D. Kingsbury; and the twenty acre division appurtenant 
 thereto, was laid adjoining on the north. The home lot and twenty 
 acre division for the use of the first minister and his successors, 
 adjoining on the north; and the home lot and twenty acre division 
 for the school, adjoining the latter on the north. 
 
 "The highway from Bantam river, running westerly through 
 the village, was laid out twenty rods wide, and called Meeting House 
 Street, now called East and West Streets. That now called North 
 Street, twelve rods wide, was called Town Street. That now called 
 South Street, eight rods wide, was called Town Hill Street. That 
 now called Gallows Lane, twenty eight rods wide, was called Middle 
 Street. That now called Lake Street, four rods wide, was called 
 South Griswold Street; and that now called North Lake Street or 
 Griswold Street, eight rods wide, was called North Griswold Street. 
 That now called Prospect Street, twenty rods wide, but soon reduced 
 to seventeen rods, was called North Street. 
 
 "The first Church, Court House, and School House stood nearly 
 in the center of Meeting House Street, the Court House about oppo- 
 site the center of Town Street, the Church east, and the School 
 House west of the Court House". 
 
CHAPTEE III. 
 
 THE INDIANS. 
 
 According to DeForest (History of the Indians of Connecticut, 
 1852), Litchfield County was, before the coming of the white men 
 into the State of Connecticut, 1630-1635, almost a desolate wilderness, 
 so far us human habitation was concerned. He estimates that the 
 Indians in the whole State at that time did not exceed six or seven 
 thousand, and that these were clustered in small groups along the 
 shores of the Sound and along the larger rivers, where the lands 
 were best adapted for corn and where they could depend largely 
 on fishing for their food supply. The occasional raids of the 
 Mohawks from the Hudson River were a further discouragement to 
 the Connecticut tribes from inhabiting the western forests of the 
 State. As the white men arrived in increasing numbers, the Indi- 
 ans were pushed back into the western wilderness, so that probably 
 their numbers in Litchfield County increased very much between 
 1630 and 1720; but their total numbers in the whole State decreased 
 proportionately much more. Many were killed in the Pequot, 
 Philip's, and the French and Indian wars ; while those who withdrew 
 into the western wilderness found the lands much poorer for corn 
 and the fishing greatly inferior. 
 
 "At the time of the Litchfield settlement, therefore", says Albert 
 M. Turner of Northfield, "the woods were not by any means full of 
 Indians; and though Litchfield was for some years a true frontier 
 town, the settlement became immediately too strong to fear being 
 overcome by them. All the same the terrors of Philip's war must 
 have been constantly present in the thoughts of the colony", and 
 we shall see presently something of their fears and alarms. 
 
 Cothren (History of Ancient Woodbury, 1854), gives by far 
 the most detailed account of the Pootatuck tribe, tracing them back 
 to 1639. Their principal encampment was near the mouth of the 
 Pomperaug Eiver, so named by the English after their sachem, Pom- 
 peraug, who died ten or twelve years before the arrival of the 
 first settlers in 1673. The Wyantinucks, of New Milford, he con- 
 siders also a branch or clan of the Pootatucks, and their sachem 
 in 1720 was Weraumaug, whose name appears in the Litchfield deed 
 of 1716 as a witness. At least three of the signers of that deed seem 
 to have signed earlier grants to Woodbury settlers, though the spell- 
 ing of the names varies somewhat. Thus Corkscrew in earlier deeds 
 appears to have been called Cocksure. 
 
 Probably the Bantams, like the Wyantinucks, were mere out- 
 lying fringes of the Pootatucks. The Scatacooks of Kent, who were 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 17 
 
 the last Indians in the County, did not exist as a tribe until 1735, 
 when they were collected from various scattered remnants by Mau- 
 wehu, himself a. Pequot and a wanderer. 
 
 The chief relics of the Indians to-day are the arrow-heads, which 
 are still turned up occasionally by the plough. Thirty years ago 
 they were very common, though now they are rarely found. An 
 admirable collection of these, from different sources, will be found 
 in the latchfield Historical Society's rooms, embracing many differ- 
 ent shapes and colors. Occasionally the arrow-head was grooved in 
 such a way as to make the arrow rotate, so that its flight would be 
 more direct and its effect on entering the body more deadly. Usually 
 however rotation was provided for by the feathering. Occasionally 
 larger objects, pestles and mortars, spearheads, axes, bowls and 
 rude knives have been found. A fine collection was unearthed in a 
 grave or deposit by the late Amos C Benton, when he opened the sand- 
 pit west of his residence on the South Plain. In the autumn of 1834 a 
 piece of 'aboriginal sculpture* was found, of which a long account is 
 given in the Enquirer of October 2, 1834, beginning, "A discovery of a 
 singular carved stone image, or bust, representing the head, neck 
 and breast of a human figure, was made a few days since on the 
 Bantam River, about forty or fifty rods above the mill-dam, half a 
 mile east of this village". Kilbourne, p. 66, says that this curious 
 relic is preserved in the Cabinet of Yale College. Since this was 
 written, unfortunately, all trace of the image appears to have 
 been lost. It is not in the Peabody Museum, nor is there any 
 record of its accession. 
 
 One other relic of the Indians survives in their signatures to 
 the deeds of their lands. These Kilbourne omitted as being mere 
 scrawls. We have copied them from Woodruff's History. Possibly 
 some at least were individual marks, like a brand. Certainly in 
 some of the Woodbury deeds, Nonnewaug's mark is quite plainly 
 a snowshoe, and perhaps some of those on our deeds have their 
 meaning if we could read them. At any rate, these marks, how- 
 ever rude, were made by the red man himself, and add a distinctive 
 touch to the deeds. 
 
 In his Centennial Address, 1851, Judge Church spoke I'ather 
 bitterly of these deeds, p. 26 : "There are other monuments", he said, 
 "to be sure, of a later race of Indians; but they are of the white 
 man's workmanship: the Quit-claim deeds of the Indians' title to 
 their lands! These are found in several of the Towns in the 
 County, and upon the public records, signed with marks uncouth 
 and names unspeakable, and executed with all the solemn mockery 
 of legal forms. These are still referred to as evidence of fair pur- 
 chase! Our laws have sedulously protected the minor and the 
 married woman from the consequences of their best considered acts ; 
 but a deed from an Indian, who knew neither the value of the land 
 he was required to relinquish, nor the amount of the consideration 
 
I? THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 he was to receive for it, nor the import nor effect of the paper on 
 which he scribbled his mark, has been called a fair purchase!" 
 
 Certainlj'^ the price of fifteen pounds paid to the Indians for the 
 township of Litchfield does not seem a munificent sum now-a-days; 
 but it can easily be pointed out that the Indian himself had no legal 
 title to the lands he was conveying, that the lands were of no value 
 to him except for hunting and that he distinctly reserved for his 
 own use the best hunting land, that on Mount Tom. Surely, when 
 we recollect the general treatment of the American Indian by the 
 whites, the Litchfield deeds may be considered as a model of fairness ! 
 In connection wtih the Indians' reservation of rights on Mount 
 Tom, it should be explained that this name probably means the 
 Indians' mountain, Tom being the generic name applied by early 
 settlers to any Indian, just as the English soldier is called a Tommy, 
 though for quite a different reason doubtless. Possibly, Tom was 
 an affectionate diminutive of Tomahawk? Certainly, the expres- 
 sion Indian Tom is found not infrequently in old writings. Here 
 is an anecdote from the Monitor, January 30, 1787: "The Indian 
 tribes consider their fondness for strong liquors as a part of their 
 character. A countryman who had dropped from his cart a keg 
 of rum met an Indian whom he asked if he had seen his keg on the 
 road; the Indian laughed in his face, and said: "What a fool are 
 you to ask an Indian such a question; do not you see that I am 
 sober? Had I met with your keg, you would have found it empty 
 on one side of the road, and Indian Tom asleep on the other". 
 
 Of direct adventures with the Indians only two authenticated 
 stories are preserved, both by James Morris, in his Statistical 
 Account, pp. 96-97: "In May, Captain Jacob Griswould, being alone 
 in a field, about one mile west of the present court-house, two Indi- 
 ans suddenly rushed upon him from the woods, took him, pinioned 
 his arms and carried him off. They travelled in a northerly direc- 
 tion, and the same day arrived in some part of the township now 
 called Canaan, then a Avilderness. The Indians kindled a fire, and 
 after binding their prisoner hand and foot, lay down to sleep. Gris- 
 would fortunately disengaging his hands and his feet, while his 
 arms were yet pinioned, seized their guns, and made his escape into 
 the woods. After traveling a small distance, he sat down, and 
 waited till the dawn of day; and although his arms were still 
 pinioned, he carried both the guns. The savages awoke in the morn- 
 ing, and finding their prisoner gone, immediately pursued him; 
 they soon overtook him, and kept in sight of him the greater part 
 of the day, while he was making his way homeward. When they 
 came near, he turned and pointed one of his pieces at them: they 
 then fell back. In this manner he travelled till near sunset; when 
 he reached an eminence in an open field, about one mile north-west 
 of the present court-house. He then discharged one of his guns, 
 which immediately summoned the people to his assistance. The 
 Indians fled, and Griswould safely returned to his family. 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 19 
 
 "The capture of Griswould made the inhabitants more cautious 
 for awhile; but their fears soon subsided. In the month of August 
 of the year following (1723) , Joseph Harris, a respectable inhabitant, 
 was at work in the woods alone, not far from the place where 
 Griswould was taken; and being attacked by a party of Indians, 
 attempted to make his escape. The Indians pursued him; and find- 
 ing that they could not overtake him, they shot him dead, and scalped 
 him. As Harris did not return, the inhabitants were alarmed, and 
 some search was made for him; but the darkness of the night 
 checked their exertions. The next morning they found his body 
 and gave it a descent burial. Harris was killed near the north 
 end of the plain, where the road turns towards Milton, a little east 
 of a school house, now standing; and for a long time after this 
 plain was called Harris Plain". It is said that the body of Harris 
 was found at the foot of a large elm near the corner of the plain. 
 This elm has long since disappeared; a younger tree now stands 
 alone near the same spot, and bears a small tablet. A monument 
 to Harris was placed in the West Cemetery in 1830 by popular 
 subscription. 
 
 "There has been but one instance of murder in this town", wrote 
 Morris further in 1814, p. 98, "since its first settlement, and that was 
 perpetrated by John Jacobs, an Indian, upon another Indian, in the 
 month of February, 1768. The murderer was executed the same 
 year". This murder created so much excitement, that a distinguished 
 divine from Farmington, Timothy Pitkin, was asked to preach a ser- 
 mon to the condemned man before the execution. This remark- 
 able discourse has been preserved in an old pamphlet, described at 
 length by D wight C. Kilbourn, (Bench and Bar, 1909, p. 341). 
 
 In spite of the fact that the Indians did no serious damage to 
 the inhabitants, beyond the murder of Harris, the possibility of 
 trouble was always present. The condition of Litchfield in its 
 very first years is well described by Kilbourne, p. 37, "Here and 
 there, little openings had been made in the primeval forest, by the 
 axes of the settlers. Forty or fifty log cabins were scattered over 
 the site now occupied by this village and its immediate vicinity. A 
 temporary palisade stood where our court-house now stands, and 
 four others were erected in more remote parts of the town for the 
 protection of the laborers at the clearings: all soon to give place to 
 stronger and more permanent structures. The nearest white settle- 
 ments were those at New Milford on the south west and at Wood- 
 bury on the south, both some fifteen miles distant. An almost 
 unbroken wilderness stretched westward to the Dutch settlements 
 on the Hudson, and northward two hundred and fifty miles to the 
 French villages in Canada. Without mail or newspapers, and with 
 no regular means of communication with their friends in the older 
 towns, they seemed indeed shut out from the world, and dependent 
 on their own little circle for intellectual and social enjoyment. la 
 
20 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 it to be wondered at, that some of the first proprietors should have 
 fled from scenes so uninviting and hazardous, even at the risk of 
 forfeiting the lands they had purchased? 
 
 "In the autumn of 1722, a war had broken out between the 
 Province of Massachusetts and the Eastern Indians, and in a short 
 time its direful influences were felt in Connecticut, some of which 
 have already been adverted to. The savages on our borders, many 
 of whom had previously manifested a peaceful and conciliatory 
 spirit, gave evidence that their professions of friendship were not 
 to be relied upon. In the spring of 1723, the Committee of War, 
 in Hartford, sent a military corps to keep garrison at Litchfield. At 
 this time, there were about sixty male adults in the town, a large 
 proportion of whom had families". (See the lists of original pro- 
 prietors and of first settlers in tlie Appendix). 
 
 ''Such was the apprehension of danger from the Indians, during 
 this period, that while one portion of the men were felling the for- 
 ests, plowing, planting or reaping, others, with their muskets in 
 hand, were stationed in their vicinity to keep guard". We cannot 
 help thinking, however that the picture is a little exaggerated, when 
 Kilbourne adds, "The yells of the Indians at the war-dance, an omi- 
 nous sound, were heard on the distant hills, and at midnight their 
 signal-fires on Mount Tom lit up the surrounding country with their 
 baleful gleam". Be that as it may, in August 1723 the murder of 
 Harris made the settlers keenly alive to their danger. A meeting 
 was held immediately "to consider of and agree upon some certain 
 places to fortify or make Garrisons for the safety and preservation 
 of the inhabitants". At this meeting it was resolved to build four 
 outlying Forts, to supplement the one on the site of the present 
 court-house. Nearly two years later, at a Town meeting. May 10, 
 1725, "it was voted and agreed, that there shall forthwith be erected 
 one good and substantial Mount, or place convenient for sentinels 
 to stand in for the better discovering of the enemy and for the safety 
 of said sentinels when upon their watch or ward; that is to say, 
 one Mount at each of the four Forts that were first agreed upon and 
 are already built in said Town, which Mounts shall be built at the 
 Town's cost, by order and at the discretion of such men as the Town 
 shall appoint to oversee and carry on the above said work. At the same 
 meeting. Voted, that Joseph Kilbourn shall take the care of build- 
 ing the Mount at the North Fort, and Samuel Culver shall take the 
 care of building the Mount at the East Fort, and Jacob Griswold at 
 the West Fort, and Joseph Bird at the South Fort". 
 
 A letter from John Marsh to Governor Talcott written at this 
 time has happily been preserved. It will be noted that an exchange 
 of letters between Litchfield and Hartford once in twenty months 
 was taken as a matter of course at this time: 
 
 "Litchfield, June ye 1, 1725. To ye Hon'ble John Talcott, Gov'r. 
 Sir: Knowing full well ye interest that you, our lawful governor, 
 dothe feel and hath often exprest about our little settlement in this 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 21 
 
 wilderness, I am moved to write you about our affairs once morew 
 Since I was honored by writing to you aboute twentie months ago, 
 our four fourts or Garresons have been built, all but some mountes 
 for the convenience of Sentinnels, The Garreson at the west our 
 townes men have named fourte Griswold, and the north one fourt 
 Kilbourn because of the godly men who helped most to bild them. 
 The other fourts one at the south end of the town and on Chestnut 
 Hill, These Garresons have done our settlers great good in quiet- 
 ting their fears from the wild Ingians that live in the great woods. 
 
 "But we have been so long preserved by God, from much ha rm, 
 and we praise his nam for it, and take hope for the time to come. 
 Many of our people morne for there old home on the Great Kiver, but 
 they are agread not to go back, 
 
 "About the moundes at the fourtes. I am enstructed by ye 
 select men to make known to you their desires that the CoUony shall 
 pay for them. 
 
 "With many and true wishes that God will preserve you and his 
 CoUony for the working out of his good pleasure, I am yours most 
 truly, John Marsh, Town Clerk". 
 
 Of these forts, Morris wrote , p, 94, "Between the years 1720 
 and 1730, five houses were surrounded with palisadoes. One of 
 these stood on the ground near the present court-house; another 
 about half a mile south; one east, and one west of the centre; and 
 one in South Farms. Soldiers were then stationed here, to guard 
 the inhabitants, both while they were at work in the field, and 
 while they were attending public worship on the Sabbath". 
 
 These forts, however, were not considered adequate to protect 
 the settlement during these critical years. "On the 1st of April, 
 1724", Kilbourne, p. 39, "John Marsh was chosen agent of the town 
 'to represent their state to the General Assembly concerning the 
 settlement and continuing of their inhabitants in times of war and 
 danger'. 
 
 "In May, the subject of the Indian disturbances in this quarter 
 occupied much of the time and attention of the Council of War and 
 of the Legislature, The Indians on the western lands were ordered 
 to repair immediately to their respective places of residence, and 
 not to go into the woods without Englishmen in company with them, 
 'nor to be seen, contrary to this order, anywhere north of the road 
 leading from Hartford to Farmington, Waterbury, and so on to New 
 Milford'. They were warned to submit to this order on pain of 
 being looked upon as enemies, and treated accordingly. Two hun- 
 dred men from Hartford, Wethersfield, and Windsor, were directed 
 to hold themselves in readiness to march at the shortest notice; and 
 sixty more from each of the counties of New Haven, Fairfield and 
 New London, with their proper officers, were called for to supply 
 the garrisons at Litchfield and New Milford, when the soldiers then 
 at those posts should be withdrawn. Friendly Indians were to be 
 
22 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 employed in scouting with the English, and twenty pounds each were 
 to be paid for the scalps of the enemy Indians. An effective scout was 
 to be kept marching in the woods north of Litchfield between Sims- 
 bury, Westfield and Sackett's Farm, (Sharon). The thirty two 
 men, sent on to scout from Litchfield were directed to be drawn off 
 in ten days". During the Legislative Session of May 1725, Nathaniel 
 Watson, of Windsor, and Matthew Woodruff, of Farmington, each 
 presented a petition for a bounty for having shot an Indian during 
 the preceding summer, while in the King's service at Litchfield. 
 
 Among the papers on file in the office of the Secretary of State 
 is the following memorandum made by Governor Talcott (Kil- 
 bourne, p. 41). 
 
 "A brief account of the minutes of the Council of War Book, of men 
 sent into the service this summer, from May 24, to October 6, 1724: 
 
 After the Assembly rose^ ten men were sent to Litchfield, till June 24, 
 
 June 25 — Four men sent to Litchfield from Hartford. 
 
 June 30 — Major Burr sent ten men^ and Major Eles ten men, to New 
 Milford and Litchfield. 
 
 July 2fj — Six men sent from Woodbury to keep garrison at Shepaug 
 twenty days. 
 
 August 18 — Fifteen men were improved in scouts under the command 
 of Sergt. Joseph Churchill, at Litchfield and New Milford; have orders 
 sent to the Sth instant of October to draw off and disband. 
 
 October, 1724. JOSEPH TALCOTT." 
 
 At the General Assembly, in May 1725, Joseph Churchill, of 
 Wethersfield, mentioned in the preceding paragraph, presented a 
 Memorial, stating that he had served for fifteen weeks at Litchfield, 
 but had received no pay for Sundays. He therefore asked pay for fif- 
 teen Sundays. This was granted in the Lower House, but lost in the 
 CJouncil. 
 
 "By our Town Becords it appears", (Kilbourne, p. 42), "that on 
 the 15th of October, 1724, a Memorial to the General Assembly was 
 agreed upon and ordered to be signed by John Marsh, in the name 
 of the town, and sent to New Haven by the hand of Timothy Collins, 
 to be delivered to the Court. This Memorial is not on record in Litch- 
 field, but is fortunately preserved among the files in the Secretary's 
 office in Hartford. It is an impressive and interesting document, 
 and eloquently details the trials and perils encountered by our 
 fathers : 
 
 "A Memorial of the distressed state of the inhabitants of the Town 
 of Litchfield, which we humbly lay before the Honorable General Assembly 
 now sitting in New Haven : 
 
 May it please your Honors to hear us in a few things. Inasmuch as 
 there was a prospect of the war's moving into these parts the last year, the 
 Governor and Council — moved with paternal regards for our safety — ordered 
 Garrisons forthwith to be erected in this town. In obedience thereto, laying 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 23 
 
 aside all other business, we engaged in that work, and built our fortifications 
 without any assistance from abroad, whereby our seed-time in some measure 
 was lost, and consequently our harvest this year small. The seat of the 
 war in this colony (in the whole course of the concluding summer), being 
 in this town, notwithstanding the special care taken of us by the Honorable 
 Committee of War, and the great expense the colony has been at for our 
 security^ yet the circumstances of our town remain very difficult in several 
 respects. The danger and charge of laboring abroad is so great, that a 
 considerable part of our improvable lands remote from the town lie unim- 
 proved, whereby we are greatly impoverished, so that many of our inhabitants 
 are rendered incapable of paying their taxes which have been granted for 
 the settling and maintaining of our ministry and building a meeting-house, 
 which we are yet destitute of, whereby that great work seems to be under a 
 fatal necessity of being neglected. 
 
 Many of our Inhabitants are drawn off, which renders us very weak 
 and unable to defend ourselves from the common enemy, and the duties 
 of Watching and Warding are become very heavy. 
 
 By reason of the late war, our lands are become of little value, so 
 that they who are desirous of selling, to subsist their families and defray 
 public charges which necessarily arise in a new place, are unable to do it. 
 Your humble petitioners therefore pray this Honorable Court would be 
 pleased to take thought of our difficult circumstances, and spread the gar- 
 ment of pity over our present distress^ which moves us to beg relief in 
 several respects : 
 
 1. That our deserting proprietors, who do not personally inhabit, may 
 be ordered to settle themselves or others upon their Rights, which will not 
 only be an encouragement to those that tarry, and render our burden more 
 tolerable, but prevent much charge to the colony. 
 
 2. That our Inhabitants may be under some wages, that they may be 
 capable of subsisting in the town, and not labor under the difficulty of war 
 and famine together. 
 
 3. That some addition be made to the price of billeting soldiers, especi- 
 ally for this town, where the provision, at least a greater part of it, hath been 
 fetched near twenty miles for the billeting of soldiers this year. 
 
 4. That some act be made concerning Fortified Houses, that the peo- 
 ple may have free liberty of the use of said Houses as there is occasion. 
 
 5. That there may be an explanation of the Act of the Governor and 
 Council made the last summer, which obliges every proprietor of a home 
 lot to attend the military, by himself or some other person in his room, as 
 the law directs, in case a person hath fifty pounds in the public list; for 
 many of our deserters have put off their home lots and some of their lands, 
 so that many of them have not a whole Right or a home lot in this place, 
 and so escape execution upon that act. 
 
 As to the Indians hunting in our woods, we submit to your Honors' 
 ordering that affair as in your wisdom you shall think best for us. 
 
 All of which we humbly recommend to the consideration of this Honor- 
 able Assembly, and ourselves your servants desiring Heaven's blessing to 
 rest upon you, and that God Almighty may be with you, to direct in all 
 
24 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 weighty affairs which are before you, and make you rich blessings in your- 
 day and generation, your humble petitioners shall, as in duty bound, ever 
 pray. 
 
 JOHN MARSH, 
 
 In the name and by desire of the rest". 
 
 Another petition was presented by John Marsh and others at 
 the next Legislative Session, May 1725; this and the Kesolutions 
 adopted as a result by the General Assembly are given at length by 
 Kilbourne, pp. 43-46. It will be sufficient to reprint here the follow- 
 ing Eesolutions, passed by the General Assembly at the spring ses- 
 sion of 1725, 
 
 "This Assembly, taking into consideration the diflficulties of the Town 
 of Litchfield in this time of trouble with the Indians, and that sundry per- 
 sons claiming Rights in said Town are not resident in the same, have there- 
 fore Resolved : 
 
 1. That each person claiming a Right or Rights in said Town, that 
 shall not be constantly residing in said Town, shall pay and forfeit, towards 
 defraying the public charges in defending the same, the sum of thirty 
 pounds per annum for each Right he claims, and so pro rata for any time 
 he shall be absent without allowance from Capt. Marsh, John Buel and 
 Nathaniel Hosf ord, or any two of them ; and by the same rule of propor- 
 tion for part Rights. And if any such claimer shall neglect payment of 
 the said forfeiture at the time and to the Committee hereafter appointed in 
 this Act, the said Committee are hereby fully empowered to sell so much of 
 the lands in Litchfield claimed by such non-resident person, as will answer 
 the sum so forfeited ; and all sales and alienations made of such Lands by 
 the Committee, shall be good for the holding the same to the grantees and 
 their heirs forever. And this Assembly appoint Major Roger Wolcott, 
 Capt. Nathaniel Stanley, Esq., and Mr. Thomas Seymour, a Committee to 
 take account of all forfeitures that shall arise by force of this act, and 
 upon the non-payment of the same, to make sale of the Lands as aforesaid. 
 
 And it is further ordered. That all such forfeitures shall be paid to the 
 said Committee at the State House in Hartford, on the first Monday in 
 June, which will be in the year 1726; and the said Committee are to deliver 
 all such sum or sums as they shall receive by force of this Act, unto the 
 Treasurer of this Colony, taking his receipt for the same — the said Com- 
 mittee to make their accounts with the Assembly in October, provided never- 
 theless that the Right of Joseph Harris is saved from any forfeiture by 
 force of this Act- And it is further provided, that if any such claimer 
 shall keep an able-bodied soldier in said Litchfield, who shall attend duty 
 as the Inhabitants do, such claimer shall be excused for his non-residence 
 during such time. 
 
 2. And it is further enacted. That all houses that are fortified in said 
 Town, shall be free for the use of the people and soldiers in the garrison. 
 
 3. That the Inhabitants of said Town shall be allowed five shillings and 
 sixpence per week for billeting soldiers. 
 
 4. That Mounts shall be built in the Forts that are already made in 
 said Town, at the public cost of the Colony. ... 
 
Primeval Oak 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 2$ 
 
 5. That all able-bodied young men that are dwellers in said Town and 
 are eighteen years old and upwards, and have no right to any Lands in 
 said Town, and shall constantly reside therein until October next, and do 
 duty with the Inhabitants, shall be allowed three shillings per week out of 
 the Public Treasury, until October next, unless the Committee for the War 
 in Hartford shall order to the contrary for part of said time. 
 
 6. That every able-bodied man that is fit for service to the acceptance 
 of the commissioned officers, that hath a Right in said Town, and shall 
 constantly reside therein and do his duty according to the command of the 
 captain until October next, shall be allowed out of the Treasury eighteen 
 pence per week, unless the Committee for the War shall order to the con- 
 trary for part of the time". 
 
 Tliere was another side of the matter, which affected the incon- 
 venience of the men drafted to help in the garrisoning of Litchfield, 
 as we find from another petition submitted to Governor Talcott in 
 May 1725: 
 
 "To the Honorable Joseph Talcott, Governor of His Majesty's Colony 
 of Connecticut — Whereas, When your humble Petitioners were impressed 
 to come up to Litchfield to keep garrison, we were encouraged by our offi- 
 cers to come, because it was but for a little while we should be continued 
 here, just till the Inhabitants could get their seed into the ground. That 
 business being over, and our necessity to be at home being very great, we 
 humbly pray your Honor to dismiss or exchange us by the beginning of 
 June ; whereby your Honor will greatly oblige your Humble Petitioners. 
 
 JOSEPH ROSE, 
 Litchfield, May 23, 1725. In behalf of the rest". 
 
 "During the summer of 1725", (Kilbourne, p. 47), "the war with 
 the Eastern Indians still continued, though it does not appear that 
 the people of Litchfield suffered in consequence, except in being kept 
 in a state of suspense and anxiety, 
 
 "It is not until a year later, October 1726, that the records give 
 indication that any immediate danger was again apprehended by 
 the people of this Town. At this date, 'upon news that the Indian 
 enemy were coming down upon our frontier', it was resolved 'that 
 there be forthwith thirty effective men raised in the towns of New 
 Haven and Wallingford to march to Litchfield, to be under the 
 direction and command of Capt. John Marsh, of Litchfield, for the 
 defense of said town — twenty of whom shall be raised in New 
 Haven, and ten in Wallingford; and that a Sargeant march with 
 them directly from each of said towns; and that the Major of the 
 County make out his orders to the Captain in said town accord- 
 ingly'. 
 
 "Twenty effective men were at the same time ordered immediately 
 to be raised in Milford, and marched to New Milford, to be under the 
 command of Capt. Stephen Nobles, for the defence of that town. Cap- 
 tains John Marsh and Stephen Nobles were directed at once to 'send 
 forth small scouts, to call and in the name of the Assembly to com- 
 
26 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 mand all the friendly Indians to retire to their respective towns or 
 places where they belong, and not to be seen in the woods except 
 with l^nglish men'. The friendly Indians were to be employed for 
 the defense of the frontiers and for scouting, and were to be paid 
 eighteen pence per day while engaged in the latter service and 
 twelve pence per day for warding and keeping garrison in tovms. 
 Five men were directed to be sent from Woodbury for the defense 
 of Shepaug until the danger should be over". 
 
 This was the last serious alarm caused by the Indians, but 
 (Kilbourne, p. 68), "Other Memorials, of a later date than those 
 given, complain of the difficulties which the settlers still encountered, 
 and asked for legislative interference in their behalf. Indeed for 
 more than thirty years after the Garrisons were erected, they were 
 resorted to with more or less frequency, by individuals and families, 
 on account of apprehended danger. One of these Garrisons stood 
 on Chestnut Hill and was remembered by Elisha Mason, who died 
 in Litchfield on May 1st, 1858". 
 
CHAPTEB IV. 
 
 THE CHURCH ON THE GREEN. 
 
 The earliest records of the town of Litchfield are found in the 
 Record Book of the Proprietors in Hartford and of the Town Meet- 
 ings in Litchfield. This old manuscript covers all the ground from 
 1715 to 1803. The long narrow pages are often difficult to decipher 
 from age and from the unusual characters of the ancient caligra- 
 phy. It is without doubt the most valuable and curious single 
 volume in our town. Through the wise forethought of our Town- 
 Clerk, George H. Hunt, these old pages have been faced with trans- 
 parent silk and strongly bound, and may be consulted by those inter- 
 ested at the Court House. They should be examined by all who 
 are curious about old Litchfield history. 
 
 The Proprietors' meetings occupy one end of the book and the 
 Town meetings the other. Apparently the first entry of a town 
 meeting is undated. "Deacon John Buel and Nathaniel Smith were 
 appointed a Committee to hire a minister, and to 'make and gather 
 a rate* to pay him for his services among us'. This Committee 
 employed Mr. Timothy Collins, of Guilford, a young licentiate who 
 had graduated at Yale College in 1718. At the next Meeting, held 
 November 6, 1721, it was voted, 'that Mr. Collins be forthwith called 
 to a settlement in this place in the work of the ministry'; and it 
 was stipulated that he should receive fifty-seven pounds per year for 
 four years, and thereafter, as follows: 'the fifth year, sixty pounds; 
 the sixth year, seventy pounds ; the seventh year, eighty pounds ; and 
 so to continue at eighty pounds per year' so long as he should remain 
 in the pastoral office. It was also agreed to pay him one hundred 
 pounds previous to the 1st day of July, 1722, and to furnish him with 
 firewood". (Kilbourne, p. 28). 
 
 "The amount of his firewood for a series of years was by vote 
 to be eighty cords per annum. This provision, very liberal for the 
 times, was accepted by Mr. Collins on December 12, 1721 ; he entered 
 upon his labors, was ordained on June 19, 1723, and continued to be 
 the minister of the Congregational Society till the 15th of November 
 1752, when he was dismissed. He afterwards continued here, acting 
 as a Justice of the Peace, and in the practice of Medicine, and died 
 in 1776". (Woodruff, p. 21). 
 
 Timothy Collins is referred to as eccentric, but we shall never 
 know what his peculiarities were. On the whole he does not appear 
 to have been the right man to start the new colony. Dissension 
 arose, first over pecuniary, and then apparently over personal, mat- 
 
28 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 ters. His salary was liberal, as Woodruff says, but doubtless his 
 expenditures were considerable also. He claimed that it was insuf- 
 ficient; and a long and bitter discussion arose, which lasted for the 
 greater part of his stay. Naturally the population did not want 
 higher rates, and they were already burdened with many charges. 
 The foundation of an Episcopal Society as early as 1745 was probably 
 due in part at least to disaffection with Mr. Collins. It is at least 
 noteworthy that in December of that year a Committee was appointed 
 "to eject Mr. Collins from the Parsonage Eight". The year before 
 this, 1744, the Town voted "not to make any rate for Mr. Collins 
 under present difficulties", and at the same time a Committee was 
 appointed to treat with him respecting his salary and "absence from 
 the work of the ministry". On two occasions, 1751 and in 1753, 
 after his withdrawal from the ministerial office, charges were brought 
 against him before the Consociation and in Town Meeting, for 
 unfaithfulness in his office. Both were protested against, but the 
 pecuniary troubles lasted for a few years longer. Mr. Collins had 
 his supporters, as well as his detractors, as is shown by his subse- 
 quent election to various civil offices, such as Lister and Selectman; 
 and it should be noted that the only lawsuit brought against him 
 was decided in his favor. In 1755, he was appointed Surgeon of 
 one of the Connecticut Eegiments in the Expedition against Crown 
 Point. 
 
 "In April 1723, the inhabitants voted to build their first Church ; 
 and the house was finished within three years. It was built in a 
 plain manner and without a steeple. Its dimensions were 45 feet 
 
 in leng-th and 35 in breadth At the raising, all the adult males in 
 
 the whole township, being present, sate on the sills at once. In 
 the year 1760, the inhabitants agreed to build their second church; 
 and completed it in 1762. Some time after a bell was procured", 
 (Morris, p. 96). 
 
 As George C. Woodruff says, p. 26, it was probably in view of 
 the construction of the first Meeting House, that the town voted, 
 December 9, 1723, that "whosoever shall sell or tranceport any pine 
 boards out of the Town, shall forfit ten shillings per thousand". 
 
 The first church stood in Meeting-House Street, a little to the 
 north of its center, and nearly opposite the northern extremity of 
 Town Hill Street (South Street), as it now runs. 
 
 The second church was near the same site, and was 63 feet 
 long and 42 feet wide. After its completion, the old church was 
 sold at auction in November 1762. 
 
 This second church was the most justly celebrated of any of the 
 two dozen or more church edifices that have been erected within our 
 town limits. Here were enacted the most stirring home scenes 
 of the Revolution; here Judah Champion preached for nearly fifty 
 years; and here Lyman Beecher thundered against intemperance. 
 Here the law students and the girls of the Litchfield Academy wor- 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 29 
 
 shipped; here were the pews of all the distinguished families of 
 the town. 
 
 Inside, it was not at all a church such as we would recognise 
 to-day. Of it Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote: "To my childish eye, 
 our old meeting-house was an awe-inspiring thing. To me it 
 seemed fashioned very nearly on the model of Noah's Ark and Solo- 
 mon's Temple — Its double row of windows ; its doors, with great 
 TTOoden quirls over them; its belfry, projecting out at the east 
 [west?] end; its steeple and bell; all inspired as much sense of the 
 sublime in me as Strasbourg Cathedral itself; and the inside was 
 not a whit less imposing. How magnificent, to my eye, seemed the 
 turnip-like canopy that hung over the minister's head, hooked by a 
 long iron rod to the wall above! and how apprehensively did I con- 
 sider the question what would become of him if it should fall! 
 How did I wonder at the panels on either side of the pulpit, in 
 each of which was carved and painted a flaming red tulip, with its 
 leaves projecting out at right angles, and then at the grape-vine, in 
 bas-relief, on the front, with exactly triangular bunches of grapes 
 alternating at exact intervals with exactly triangular leaves. The 
 area of the house was divided into large square pews, boxed up 
 with a kind of baluster work, which I supposed to be provided for 
 the special accommodation of us youngsters, being the loophole of 
 
 retreat through which we gazed on the remarkabilia of the scene 
 
 But the glory of our meeting-house was its singers' seat, that 
 empyrean of those who rejoiced in the mysterious art of fa-sol-la-ing. 
 There they sat in the gallery that lined three sides of the house, 
 treble, counter, tenor and bass, each with its appropriate leader 
 and supporters. There were generally seated the bloom of our 
 young people, sparkling, modest and blushing girls on one side, 
 with their ribbons and finery, making the place as blooming and 
 lively as a flower-garden, and fiery, forward, confident young men 
 on the other". (Autobiography, Vol. I., p. 211). 
 
 The pews opened onto two aisles, which ran up and down the 
 church, the seats occupied the other three sides of each pew, so that 
 when the pews w^ere full one-third of the congregation were seated 
 with their backs to the pulpit. 
 
 The first church was never heated, though individual members 
 of the congregation would bring their own foot-stoves in very cold 
 weather. No stove was introduced into the second church until 
 1816, when there occurred the great Stove War, about which much 
 has been written. Kilbourne, p. 165, quotes the account of the 
 editor of the Hartford Courant, who claims to have been a pro- 
 tagonist in this famous struggle: "Violent opposition had been made 
 to the Introduction of a stove into the old meeting-house, and an 
 attempt made in vain to induce the Society to purchase one. The 
 writer was one of seven young men who finally purchased a stove, 
 and requested permission to put it up in the meeting-house on trial. 
 After much difficulty, the Committee consented. It was all arranged 
 on Saturday afternoon, and on Sunday we took our seats in the 
 
30 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 Bass, rather earlier than usual, to see the fun. It was a warm 
 November Sunday, in which the sun shone cheerfully and warmly 
 on the old south steps and into the naked windows. The stove 
 stood in the middle aisle, rather in front of the Tenor Gallery. 
 People came in and stared. Good old Deacon Trowbridge, one of 
 the most simple-hearted and worthy men of that generation, had 
 been induced to give up his opposition. He shook his head, however, 
 as he felt the heat reflected from it, and gathered up the skirts of 
 his great-coat as he passed up the broad aisle to the Deacons' Seat 
 Old Uncle Noah Stone, a wealthy farmer of the West End, who sat 
 near, scowled and muttered at the effects of the heat, but waited 
 until noon, to utter his maledictions over his nut-cakes and cheese 
 at the intermission. There had in fact been no fire in the stove, 
 the day being too warm. We were too much upon the broad grin 
 to be very devotional, and smiled rather loudly at the funny things 
 we saw. But when the editor of the village paper, Mr. Bunce, came 
 in, who was a believer in stoves for churches, and with a most 
 satisfied air warmed his hands by the stove, keeping the skirts of his 
 great-coat carefully between his knees, we could stand it no longer, 
 but dropped invisible behind the breastwork. But the climax of 
 the whole was when Mrs. Peck went out in the midst of the service! 
 It was, however, the means of reconciling the whole society; for, 
 after that first day, we heard of no more opposition to the warm 
 stove in the meeting-house". 
 
 Once they became accustomed to the stove, even the opponents 
 to its introduction must have appreciated its warmth in the very 
 cold weather. The services were very long, and were continued in 
 the afternoons. The congregation went home for a meal between 
 the two services, but those from out-of-town had to rely on the 
 hospitality of those near the church, or on the convenience of the 
 Sabbath-day Houses, Sabbaday Houses, as they were colloquially 
 called. 
 
 "At a town meeting, December 1753, liberty was voted to Isaac 
 Hosford and others 'to erect a house for their convenience on Sab- 
 bath Days, east of the meeting-house'. In January 1759, liberty 
 was granted to John Farnham to 'set up a Sabbath-Day House in 
 the highway a little north of the School House'. Capt. Edward 
 Phelps erected a similar house in the middle of East Street nearly 
 opposite the present Congregational church; and still another wa« 
 remembered by the late Elisha Mason, which stood on the south 
 side of East Street, near the present Hinsdale house. . . . These 
 houses generally consisted of two rooms, each about twelve feet 
 square, with a chimney between them and a fire-place in each room; 
 and in such cases were erected at the expense of two or more 
 families. If the cold was extreme the hired man or one of the 
 sons might be sent foi'ward in advance of the family, to get the 
 room well warmed before their arrival. The family, after filling 
 the ample saddle-bags with refreshments, took an early start for 
 the sanctuary. Calling first at their Sabbath-Day House, th^ 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 31 
 
 deposited their luncheon. At noon, they returned to their room, 
 with perhaps a few friends. The fire was re-kindled, the saddle- 
 bags were brought forth and their contents placed upon a prophet's 
 table, of which all partook- The patriarch of the household then 
 drew from his pocket the notes he had taken of the morning ser- 
 mon, which were fully reviewed, all enjoying the utmost freedom 
 in their remarks. All then returned to the church. Before start- 
 ing for home at the close of the afternoon service, they once more 
 repaired to their Sabbath House, gathered up the saddle-bags, saw 
 that the fire was left safe, and in due time all were snugly seated 
 in the sleigh, and bound homeward". (Kilbourne, p. 74). 
 
 "The subject of seating the meeting-house often came up for 
 action in town meeting and produced not a little commotion. Vari- 
 ous standards were used in other towns to secure a fair seating list, 
 such as, Long public service. Dignity of descent. Rank in the Grand 
 List, Age, and Piety. In December 1735, a Committee was appointed 
 in Town Meeting to proceed as follows: 'Every man's list for four 
 years past shall be added together, and every man's age be reckoned 
 at twenty shillings per year, to be added to his list; and for them 
 that have not four lists, they shall be seated by the last list, or 
 according to the discretion of the committee'. The Committee pro- 
 ceeded according to these instructions, but the result did not suit. 
 Their doings were ordered to be set aside; on April 12, 1736, a new 
 committee was appointed, with no other instructions than to act 
 in accordance with their best judgment. Their action, for a won- 
 der, was acquiesced in"., (Kilbourne, p. 58). 
 
 ''All ecclesiastical as well as school affairs were transacted in 
 town meeting until the year 1768. The Second Ecclesiastical Society 
 having been incorporated in South Farms in 1767, the First Society 
 met for the; first time. May 9, 176S. There was little done at these 
 Society's meetings, from year to year, except to appoint officers, 
 Committees and Choristers. Now and then w^e find an entry of a 
 different character. Thus, December 1772, measures were 'taken for 
 coloring the meeting-house and putting up Electrical Rods'. At 
 the same meeting, the Society's Committee were directed 'not to let 
 the Town's stock of Powder and Ball to be stored in said house'." 
 (Kilbourne, p. 173). To this Miss Esther H. Thompson (Water- 
 bury American, March 8, 1906) has added the following reflections: 
 "This measure may have been taken because some of the more con- 
 servative men were not quite sure whether increasing safety or 
 danger might be the result of the other vote to provide Electrical 
 Rods for the church! When we remember the comparative isola- 
 tion of our town and the slowness with which changes of any kind 
 were then effected we are surprised at the intelligence and enterprise 
 of our former townspeople as shown by this record of December 
 1772, only 20 years after Benjamin Franldin, far away in Phila- 
 delphia, was flying his first kite to bring down lightning from the 
 skies, and only 17 years after his invention of the lightning rod! 
 Ninety years later, when in the v/inter of 1861-2, the Third Con- 
 
32 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 gregational church was struck by lightning it is curious that dam- 
 age should have been caused by a defective lightning conductor, 
 possibly the identical rod of heavy links that had served on the old 
 church!" 
 
 After Mr. Collins had left the church, in February 1753, the 
 Town voted to call the Kev. Judah Champion, of East Haddam, a 
 graduate of Yale 1751, and to offer him two thousand pounds in old 
 tenor money for his settlement, and a yearly salary of eight hundred 
 pounds, old tenor money. 
 
 Mr. Champion accepted the call, was ordained July 4, 1753, and 
 continued in the ministry till 1798. His salarj^ was continued till 
 his decease in 1810, in his 82nd year. For the purpose of paying 
 the settlement of Mr. Champion, it was voted, on June 14, 1753, to- 
 lease to him so much of the Parsonage Eight as should be necessary 
 for that purpose, for the term of 999 years. And on January 15, 
 1754, a lease of the home lot and twenty acre division adjoining,, 
 was given to Mr. Champion, in consideration of said settlement. 
 This land was known later as the glebe land, and the title is pre- 
 served in the name of the house oAvned by Mrs. W. W. Kockhilly 
 which is called The Glebe. 
 
 In personal appearance, Judah Champion is described as shorty 
 erect, with an elastic gait; he had a frank, open countenance, that 
 bespoke his sincerity and fearlessness. He exercised unbounded 
 influence over his parish. As a preacher, he was ardent and elo- 
 quent, though he is said to have lacked somewhat of 'discrimination 
 in his theology'. This was so severe a fault in those days, that 
 Dr. Bellamy, the great theologian of Bethlehem, once jocosely said 
 that 'he would like to have brother Champion made over again'. 
 During his pastorate, 1753 to 1798, 280 persons were added to the 
 church upon the profession of their faith; he officiated at 2,142 
 baptisms, 658 marriages, and 1,530 funerals. 
 
 The subject of the minister's salary still gave continued trouble^ 
 owing to the fluctuating currency. Judah Champion was so uni- 
 versally beloved, however, that the matter was never allowed to- 
 make the personal difficulty which it had caused with Timothy Col- 
 lins. In 1779, the Society, in an endeavor to stabilize his salary,, 
 voted to pay him seventy-five pounds sixteen shillings, as a year's 
 salary, "in the following articles at the prices affixed. Wheat at 
 four shillings per bushel; Eye at three shillings; Indian Corn at 
 three shillings; Flax at sixpence per pound; Pork at twenty -five 
 shillings per hundredweight; Beef at twenty shillings per hundred- 
 weight; Tried Tallow at sixpence per pound; Lard at fivepence; 
 Oats at one shilling per bushel". 
 
 Mr. Champion's successor was the Eev. Dan Huntington, a 
 tutor at Yale College. He was ordained in October, 1798. "During 
 his ministry, a remarkable religious awakening overspread this and 
 the adjacent parishes, resulting in the conversion of about three 
 hundred persons among the different denominations of Litchfield. 
 

 i." Tif--i.i-e/.t .iif,r, Sr'ri.^ ^, //67.. ;/«/»« ^./..« n, li^y 
 
 .^1 J»*i its,- //;it.»-'/; ijwf 
 
 LJ--*i ^irf iJ^^ S~.'fj^fS Ji.. i'%^-i^x^ *'^ ?>J. ... 
 
 The Second Congregational Church, 1762 
 
 From a Sketch by Miss Mary Ann Lewis 
 
Rev. Lyman Beecher 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 33 
 
 'This town', says Mr. Huntington, 'was originally among the num- 
 ber of those decidedly opposed to the movements of former revival- 
 ists; and went so far, in a regular church meeting called expressly 
 for the purpose under the ministry of Mr. Collins, as to let them 
 know, by a unanimous vote, that they did not wish to see them. 
 The effect was, they did not come. The report circulated, that 
 Litchfield had 'voted Christ out of their borders'. It was noticed 
 by some of the older people, that the death of the last person then a 
 member of the church, was a short time before the commencement 
 of our revival'." (Kilbourne, p. 174). 
 
 Again the difficulties of salary arose, and finally in 1810, Mr. 
 Huntington decided to leave, though with much mutual regret. In 
 March, 1810, the Society voted a unanimous call to the Kev. Lyman 
 Beecher, which was accepted, and he was installed on May 30, 1810. 
 Litchfield was so fearful that the salary might be inadequate to a 
 preacher of the reputation which Ljanan Beecher had already estab- 
 lished at East Hampton, that it awaited his arrival with some 
 trepidation. Happily all turned out for the best, and the sixteen 
 years of Beecher's pastorate were memorable ones for the town. 
 
 He has left us his own first Impressions of his reception. (Auto- 
 biography, Vol. I., p. 185) : "I found the people of Litchfield 
 impatient for my arrival, and determined to be pleased, if possible, 
 but somewhat fearful that they shall not be able to persuade me to 
 stay. The house yesterday was full, and the conference in the 
 evening, and , so far as I have heard, the people felt as I have told 
 you they intended to. Had the people in New York been thus pre- 
 disposed, I think I should not have failed to give them satisfaction. 
 My health is good, and I enjoy good spirits some time past; am 
 treated with great attention and politeness, and am becoming 
 acquainted with agreeable people". 
 
 The following notice of Lyman Beecher is abbreviated from 
 Morgan's Connecticut as a Colony and as a State, Vol. IV., pp. 285- 
 286 : "... Lyman Beecher, great father of great children, who, on the 
 bleak Litchfield hills and in the seething discussions of Boston, 
 brought up his children in such fashion that they became a power 
 for good in their generation. 
 
 "Possibly his life did not seem to him successful; it was at 
 least full of struggle. Descended from one of the original settlers 
 of New Haven, he Avas graduated from Yale in 1797, and after a 
 brief settlement in Easthampton, Long Island, went to Litchfield, 
 where he remained for sixteen years. Dr. Beecher was a preacher 
 of powerful sermons, rather than a writer of monumental works. . . 
 Removing to Boston as the pastor of the Hanover Street Church, 
 he encountered the Unitarian movement in its aggressive stage; 
 and so strong was the feeling against such rebutting influences as 
 his that when his church burned doAvn, the firemen refused to put 
 out the fire. Again at Lane Seminary, Cincinnati, he struggled for 
 twenty years to found a Western institution, only to be defeated at 
 
34 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 last by the triumphant pro-slavery party. Here, all unknown, were 
 influences that were shaping the future Uncle Tom's Cabin. Dr. 
 Beechers sermon on Duelling at the time of Hamilton's death at 
 the hands of Aaron Burr, was very impressive; and his Views 
 on Theology, and Political Atheism were read with much attention, 
 Dying in 1863, he sleeps in New Haven, the place of his birth". 
 
 E. D. Mansfield wrote of him, (Personal Memories, p. 138) : "His 
 house was just across the street from Mrs. Lord's, where I boarded, 
 and as my window was on that side of the house I used often to 
 see him and hear his violin, of which he was very fond, sending 
 forth merry tunes. It is said that he would return from a funeral 
 and send forth the quickest airs from his fiddle. He was of the 
 most cheerful temperament He was called the 'great gun of Cal- 
 vinism', and it seemed to me the very irony of fate to see him tried 
 ten years after by the Presbytery of Cincinnati for heresy in Cal- 
 vinistic Theology". 
 
 Theodore Parker once said that Lyman Beecher was the father 
 of more brains than any other man in America. Little can be 
 said here of these children, as only their childhood was spent in 
 Litchfield. The lives of Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry Ward 
 Beecher, Isabel Beecher Hooker, the pioneer of women's rights, 
 Thomas Beecher, and the rest belong elsewhere. We may at least 
 give an anecdote of each of the first two during their lives in Litch- 
 field. 
 
 It was while a pupil at Miss Pierce's Academy that Harriet 
 Beecher first distinguished herself in the literary line. At a public 
 exhibition of the school, three of the best compositions of the year 
 were read aloud by the teacher. "When my turn came", she wrote 
 in after life, "I noticed that my father, who was sitting on high by 
 Mr. Brace, brightened and looked interested, and at the close I 
 heard him ask, 'Who wrote that composition?' 'Your daughter, Sir,' 
 was the answer. It was the proudest moment of my life". The 
 subject of this essay by so young a child is perhaps the most 
 remarkable part of the story. It was : 'Can the Immortality of the 
 Soul be proved by the light of Nature?' 
 
 Clarence Deming had many stories of the Beechers. which he 
 collected from David C. Bulkley and William Norton. He has 
 described the Henry Ward Beecher of Litchfield as a stout, florid 
 youngster of the stocky type, running around in short jacket, with 
 a fresh and rather moonish face, fair hair, pretty closely cropped 
 above, but with one of those curls plastered before the ear which 
 our ancestors used to style 'soap-locks', from the chief agent used 
 in their construction. 
 
 "A little way back from their school", Mr. Deming used to tell, 
 '•was an old barn with full hay mow, where the boys played during 
 recess. On the crest of the mow, Henry built himself a ridge of 
 hay into the rough likeness of his father's pulpit. By making a 
 hole behind it, he lowered himself so as to bring the pulpit's edge 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 35 
 
 to his chest; in some way he got hold of an immense pair of blue 
 goggles, which gave him a most whimsical air. Then he would 
 mount his airy perch, and begin his sermon to his school mates; 
 he used no articulate words, but a jargon of word-sounds, with 
 rising and falling inflections, wonderfully mimicking those of his 
 father. The rotund phrasing, the sudden fall to solemnity, the 
 sweeping paternal gesture, the upbrushing of the hair, were all 
 imitated perfectly by the son. At the end of this novel service, by 
 way of benediction, he would take off the goggles, dash away the 
 front of the pulpit, double himself up and roll down the slope of 
 the hay mow into the midst of his merry congregation". 
 
 Harriet Beecher was born in Litchfield, June 14, 1811, and 
 Henry Ward Beecher, June 24, 1813. The Beecher house was the 
 s^ene of many happy days with all the children. Here too occurred 
 some of those famous showers, of which the minister's home was 
 the recipient in those generous old days. Catherine Beecher has 
 left us an account of one of these, in the Beecher Autobiography, 
 Vol. I., p. 325: "The most remarkable and unique of these (demon- 
 strations of the affection of his parishioners after his wife's death) 
 was what in New England is called the minister's wood-spell, when, 
 by previous notice, on some bright winter day, every person in 
 the parish who chooses to do so sends a sled load of wood as a 
 present to the pastor. On this occasion we were previously notified 
 that the accustomed treat of doughnuts, and loaf-cake, cider and 
 flip, must be on a much larger scale than common — When the 
 auspicious day arrived, the snow was thick, smooth, and well packed 
 for the occasion; the sun shone through a sharp, dry and frosty 
 air; and the whole town was astir. Toward the middle of the 
 afternoon, runners arrived with news of the gathering of the 
 squadrons. Mount Tom was coming with all its farmers; Bradley- 
 >alle also; Chestnut Hill, and the North and South settlements; 
 while the Town Hill gentry were on the qui vive to hunt up every 
 sled and yoke of oxen not employed by their owners. Before sun- 
 down the yard, and the lower rooms of our house were swarming 
 with cheerful faces. Father was ready with his cordial greetings, 
 adroit in detecting and admiring the special merits of every load as 
 it arrived. The kind farmers wanted to see all the children, and 
 we were busy as bees in waiting on them. The boys heated the 
 flip-irons, and passed around the cider and flip, while Aunt Esther 
 and the daughters were busy in serving the doughnuts, cake and 
 cheese. And such a mountainous wood-pile as rose in our yard 
 never before was seen in ministerial domains!" 
 
 In this connection we will reprint the following account of a 
 shower to the second minister at South Farms, from the columns 
 of the Litchfield Monitor, May 16, 1798. It has already been 
 quoted by Elizabeth C. Barney Buel, (Mrs. John L. Buel), in her 
 admirable essay, The Spinning- Wheel, 1903: "On Wednesday the 
 second instant, visited at the house of the Rev. Amos Chase about 
 60 of his female friends parishioners, who made the very acceptable 
 
36 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 presentation of seventy run of Yarn to his family. In the course 
 of the decent and cordial socialities of the afternoon, the ladies 
 were entertained hy their pastor with a sermon adapted to the 
 occasion, — from these words. Gen. XXXI. 43, 'What can I do, this 
 day, unto these my daughters?'" 
 
 Clarence Deming has told many anecdotes of the elder Beecher, 
 as well as of his children. Several have to do with two of his 
 chief characteristics, his absent-mindedness and his love of fishing, 
 and one combines both; sometimes when the hour for a week-day 
 service came, he would still be down on the Little Pond, a mile 
 away, in his boat, the Yellow Perch. Then would follow the hasty 
 dash up the hill behind his pastoral nag. At the end of one of 
 the hasty returns, it is related that a small fish dropped from his 
 coat tail pocket as he mounted the pulpit stairs. 
 
 Lyman Beeclier's sermons were never inferior; but they were 
 long, as was the wont of the day, and Mansfield has told us that 
 they were also sometimes dull, but always likely to become inspired 
 again with a fresh burst of eloquence. "The long, closely argumenta- 
 tive discourses of 100 years ago", says Miss Esther H. Thompson, 
 in the Water bury American, 1906, "while drilling the hearers to be 
 close listeners and deeply logical thinkers, most certainly were 
 wearisome. An old friend remembered the time w^hen on warm 
 summer afternoons frequently men took off their coats in church 
 and sat in their shirt-sleeves. One of our own earliest memories 
 is that of a good old neighbor, who, following the custom of long 
 ago, often walked by to church with no coat, only a vest and the 
 whitest of shirtsleeves. Farmers, wearied with the week's unceas- 
 ing toil, found their best clothes and cramped position on hard 
 seats all too trying for them easily to keep awake. As sleep 
 threatened to overpower them, one and another man would arise, 
 shake his cramped and tired legs, stretch well his arms above his head, 
 then fold them over the top of the pew door, while he stood for a 
 little time before settling down again in his seat, refreshed to endure 
 the remainder of the service. All was so decorously and solemnly 
 done, and the occurrence so common, that no one thought of smil- 
 ing or criticising. N^or was it unusual for many a wearied woman 
 to take her handkerchief, a corner of her shawl, anything, to cushion 
 the hard rest for her head on the seat back in front of her, and 
 soothe eyes and brain by a change of position. The much ridi- 
 clued carrying of dried orange peel, 'meetin' seed' (fennel and carro- 
 way) to be frugally distributed among the family and munched 
 during service time, was almost an act of devotion, a visible struggle 
 to keep awake and receive the benefits of the exercises. In still 
 earlier times the same end was accomplished through the services 
 of a Tithing man, who with long pole, spiked at one end, and with 
 knot or squirrel tail at the other, would prick or tickle into wake- 
 fullness the sleepy or punch into submission the disorderly. Tithing 
 men continued to be appointed for all the churches in town till 
 after 1815". 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 37 
 
 Lyinan Beecher was very much liked and admired throughout 
 his stay. CoL Tallmadge, especially, was always endeavoring to 
 do something to give him satisfaction. In the last years of Rev. 
 Dan Huntington's ministry, he was instrumental in obtaining the 
 Christening Bowl for the church, and in 1825 he and Julius Deming 
 purchased the Communion service which is still in use. 
 
 With the departure of Lyman Beecher, the old Church on the 
 Green was taken down, and the third church erected on the site of 
 the present Congregational church. We have lingered on the old 
 churches for several reasons. In the first place their ministers, 
 especially Judah Champion and Lyman Beecher, were very remark- 
 able men; but further than this, the early Congregational church 
 in New England was typical of the whole population. It was 
 the established church, so far as there has ever been any such in our 
 country. The church affairs were voted upon in town meetings, the 
 rate to maintain the church was laid alike on all citizens until the 
 first steps in toleration began to be taken, and politics even found 
 their way into the pulpit. The North and South Consociations, 
 which included all the parishes in the County, were reputed to 
 have a great power in the nominations for local and state officials. 
 And finally the customs of this church were the customs of all the 
 people. They gave the early settlers of Litchfield much of their 
 character. 
 
 To quote the explanation of Arthur Goodenough, made in a like 
 case: in The Clergy of Litchfield County, published by the Litch- 
 field County University Club, 1909, p. xiii, "From my own point of 
 view I excuse myself in part for the lack of proportion in treatment 
 by assuming that the Congregational ministry was a part of the 
 indigenous element which made Litchfield County to differ from the 
 rest of the world, and so to be worthy of special mention, while those 
 of other name represent the invasion of a cosmic influence that is 
 making us like other people". 
 
 The great changes which were to take place in Litchfield in the 
 thirties were foreshadowed by nothing more strongly than by the 
 passing of the church from the individual position it held in the 
 Green to its himibler setting on the street, where houses and stores 
 could command positions on an equal footing. As though loath to 
 go, the old spire, which had been considered unsafe, showed an 
 unexpected strength. Even after half of its timbers were out and 
 ropes had been attached to it and carried long distances in all 
 directions, a line of a hundred men and boys and two yoke of oxen 
 could not move it at all. Then the remaining great timbers, one by 
 one, were sawed, till the last support was gone, and the graceful 
 spire trembled, tottered, then suddenly sprang forward, turning a 
 somersault, and fell burying its point deep in the ground close by 
 the large west door. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 COLONIAL DAYS. 
 
 The first meeting of the inhabitants of Litchfield for the elec- 
 tion of Town Officers Avas held on December 12, 1721, and resulted 
 as follows: 
 
 John Marsh, Town Clerk. 
 
 John Buel, Nathaniel Hosford, John Marsh, Selectmen. 
 
 John Collins, (Caulkins?), Grand Jure. 
 
 William Goodrich, Constable and Collector. 
 
 Benjamin Gibbs, Thomas Lee, Surveyors. 
 
 Eleazer Strong, Samuel Root, Fence Viewers. 
 
 Daniel Culver, Haj^ward. 
 
 Joseph Bird, Collector of Minister's Bate. 
 
 The only other business done at this meeting was to admit an 
 inhabitant, Joseph Kilbourn, of Wethersfield, who had recently pur- 
 chased two Rights, one-thirtieth of the whole township, from two of 
 the original proprietors, who had evidently been discouraged from 
 coming to Litchfield to take up their own Rights. It is interesting 
 to notice that newcomers had to be passed upom As Woodruff has 
 pointed out, p. 27, "the first inhabitants were peculiarly careful 
 that none but persons of good character should be permitted to 
 settle among them. If a stranger made a purchase in the planta- 
 tion, a proviso was sometimes inserted in the deed, that the Inhabit- 
 ants should accept of the purchaser, and that he should run 'the 
 risk of trouble from the Grand Committee'. On the 1st of April, 
 1724, it was voted that 'the Commite of hartford and Windsor 
 Chouce Inhabitance. In Cace any new are brought into town, and 
 the town judg them not holsome, then to be Judged by indifrant men, 
 and by them Judged Good inhabitance, the cost to be paid by Litch- 
 field, if not the cost to be paid by the Commite that made Choice of 
 said Inhabitantse'," 
 
 This vote was a wise one, as it insured the growth of the settle- 
 ment through the accession of a fine group of pioneers. Henry 
 Ward Beecher bore testimony later to the character of these men, 
 in a passage quoted by Emily Noyes Vanderpoel, (Mrs. John A. 
 Vanderpoel), Chronicles of a Pioneer School, p. 29: "The early 
 settlers were men of broad and liberal mould, and began their 
 work upon this hilltop in a characteristic fashion. They laid out 
 their streets and staked off the village common, with such generous 
 breadth that they remain the delight of residents and the admira- 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD ' 39 
 
 tion of strangers to this day. They made such liberal provision for 
 education and religion that the settlement soon became noted for 
 the excellence of its schools and the commanding influence of its 
 pulpit". 
 
 It is probable, as stated elsewhere, that the wide streets were 
 planned more for the convenience of the cattle than the delight of 
 the residents and strangers ; but the result to us is the same. In the 
 early days, the streets were considerably wider even than they now 
 are, as may be seen by pacing off the measurements given in a pre- 
 vious chapter. The hill was very swampy, from the hardpan sub- 
 soil, so that when the trees had been cleared alders grew up rapidly 
 in the streets. Part of the hill, at least, was said to be an alder 
 swamp even at the time of the arrival of the settlers. Just how- 
 far this was so cannot now be determined. There is a legend that 
 part of the swamp, about where Crutch's Drug-Store now is, or a 
 little to the north, was so boggy that the line of South Street, Town 
 Hill Street as it was then called, was laid out to the east to avoid 
 it, so that North Street and South Street to-day are not a continu- 
 ous line. There is another tale of a very large oak, somewhere in 
 the area of our present Center Park, so beautiful, that the settlers 
 laid out North Street, ToAvn Street as they called it, to the west, to 
 avoid having to cut it. Neither of these stories is entirely con- 
 vincing. The line of the streets at first had no resemblance what- 
 soever to their course at the present day. Their width was so 
 broad, that the present Library Building would have encroached 
 materially into the theoretical roadway. Through this wide 
 expanse of alders and grass and hummocks wound along at first 
 nothing more than a footpath, then came a variety of footpaths, one 
 on either side of the tract and others crossing it where convenient. 
 Gradually regular roads were developed, not much more than wheel 
 tracks going up and down the tract, with a wide green belt of grass 
 between. This double driveway extended along both North and 
 South Streets, it is said, while oddly enough, on East and West 
 Streets, which then constituted Meeting House Street and which 
 to-day is divided by the parks into two streets, one by the stores 
 and one bj the County House, was then just one Street, running 
 past the Meeting House, the School House and later the Court 
 House. The story of the big oak is further rendered improbable by 
 the settlers' hard struggles with the forest in general. Their only 
 use for trees was to cut them down. The probable explanation of 
 the discontinuity of the two streets running north and south is 
 simjdy that it was most convenient to follow the natural crest of 
 the hill in a more or less winding fashion, and that when later on 
 the actual driveway was straightened out it would not adjust itself 
 into one continuous line. As the line was broken anyway by the 
 buildings then in the Green, this did not matter very much at the 
 time. 
 
 It is difficult to think of our beautiful streets as still so unkempt 
 in the period of the Eevolution, that little Mary Pierce, a younger 
 
40 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 half-sister of Miss Pierce who kept the Academy, got lost in the 
 alder bushes when sent across the street on an errand to a neigh- 
 bor's house. 
 
 The streets have been narrowed from their great early width 
 by repeated town votes, granting strips of land to the abutting 
 house-owners for the purposes of front yards. The earliest houses 
 were built right on the road. As new strips of land have been 
 given up by the town some of the nev/er houses have been built out 
 onto this sometimes restricted land. A case in point is the house 
 now owned by Miss Thurston on North Street. When this property 
 was last transferred, it was found that a part of the dwelling was 
 on restricted land, so that the town could have insisted on its being 
 moved back. The matter was, however, arranged more simply by 
 a release of the restriction. 
 
 The widest of all the streets was the present Gallows Lane, 
 which was then called Middle Street and as we have seen was laid 
 out 28 rods wide. The present name was not given until after 
 May 8, 1780, when Barnet Davenport, a young man from Washing- 
 ton, who had committed several murders, was executed there. 
 
 Eoads outside of the immediate center were also laid out gradu- 
 ally, though it would appear that there was no established con- 
 nection for two years between what really constituted two separate 
 settlements, one on Litchfield Hill and one on Chestnut Hill. On 
 December 26, 1722, it was voted to lay out a highway from Bantam 
 Eiver to the Chestnut Hill home lots, "in the range where the foot- 
 path now is". This vote was so popular that another town meet- 
 ing was held the next day, December 27, 1722, at which it was voted 
 "to lay out a highway from John Marsh's home lot to the south 
 bounds; and the highway by Mr. Collins house to be continued to 
 the north bounds; and the highway running east to be extended 
 to the east bounds; and west, or south-west, from Thomas Pier's, 
 according to the best skill of the Committee; and the highway run- 
 ning north from Pier's, to be continued to the north bounds". 
 
 The holding of town meetings on two consecutive days, as in 
 the case just mentioned, was due sometimes to the rule requiring 
 the adjournment of these meetings at the coming of evening. "No 
 act of the town should stand in force", so ran the vote, "that was 
 passed after day-light failed to record it". This regulation lasted 
 for a long time; the only reference found to its abrogation is at a 
 Town meeting of January 3, 1782, when it was voted that "the 
 Selectmen bring in candles so that further business may be done 
 this evening". 
 
 Sometimes the convenience found in this singular regulation has 
 a slightly ironical flavor, as when, on April 14, 1731, it was "Voted, 
 after dark, that Mr. Collins have the choice of pews for himself and 
 family". Taking into account the many difficulties encountered in 
 seating the meeting-house and the debatable popularity of Timothy 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 41 
 
 Collins, it looks as though the meeting was reserving to itself a 
 loophole of escape if the minister took an advantage of this vote 
 which was not to the general liking! 
 
 Many of these early votes are quaint to our eyes. Sometimes 
 the spelling appears grotesque to us: "Voted to ajurn this meeting 
 to to morah Sun half an hour High at Night" ; "Voted that ye owners 
 of schoolers sent to school for time to come shal find fire wood for 
 je schooll". Sometimes it is the character of the business trans- 
 acted that constitutes the quaintness : "Voted liberty to Mr, Collins, 
 to erect a Blacksmith's Shop joining to his fence the backside of the 
 meeting-house"; "Voted that James Morris and Nathaniel Goodwin 
 be added to the Nuisance Committee"; "Voted a Committee to 
 assist the Clerk in perusing the town votes and to conclude what 
 shall be transcribed into the town book, and what not"; "Voted 
 unanimously to grant permission for the Small Pox to be com- 
 municated and carried on by Innoculation on Gillets Folly so called, 
 it being a Peninsula or neck of land belonging to Stephen Baldwin 
 in the Northern part of the Great Pond". 
 
 This last vote is from the town meeting of March 11, 1783, and 
 takes us back to the terrible Small-pox scare that passed over the 
 whole country during and at the close of the Revolution. For a 
 time the columns of the Monitor were filled with notices of physici- 
 ans offering to inoculate in different parts of the county, though it 
 would appear that the practise of inoculation in our town was care- 
 fully restricted and supervised during the whole period of twenty 
 years that Pest-houses were continued. 
 
 Several applications for new establishments, if they deserved 
 so high-sounding a name, are found in the votes of the Town. 
 
 April 7, 1783: "A Petition of sundry Inhabitants of South 
 Farms praying for Liberty to set up Inoculation for the Small Pox 
 on Marsh's Point being read and considered was negatived", 
 
 October 15, 1798: "Uriah Tracy was chosen Moderator. At 
 which Meeting there was a written request exhibited by several 
 Gentlemen of said Town of Litchfield, praying for the establish- 
 ment of two or more Pest Houses in the Western part of the said 
 Town for the greater convenience of inoculation to the people I'esid- 
 ing in the Western part of the South Farms Society and so in the 
 Society of Milton. Voted not to add to the nimiber of Houses 
 already assigned by said Town for said purpose". 
 
 The most elaborate description in the records of the conduct 
 of these houses is contained in another vote, which may be quoted 
 at some length, as showing the nature of such an early Hospital, 
 and the fear of contagion which surrounded it: 
 
 March 20, 1797: "Voted that permission be, and the same is, 
 hereby granted to the civil Authority and Selectmen of the Town 
 to give liberty for the Small Pox to be communicated by inoculation 
 at the house of Daniel Lord, standing on Chestnut Hill, purchased 
 by him of the heirs of Michael Dickinson, also the house of Ros- 
 
42 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 well Harrison, lately the property of Thomas Harrison: Places in 
 the Town and at no other Place; and the Hospitals so to be opened 
 shall be governed by the following rules and regulations and such 
 others as the Civil Authorities and the Selectmen shall from time 
 to time adopt, to wit: 
 
 "First, that limits be proscribed over which the Person infected 
 shall not be suffered to go. 
 
 ''Second, that the limits thus proscribed do not extend within 
 forty rods of any public road except those necessary to be improved 
 for said Purpose on which signals shall be placed at least the afore- 
 said number of rods from each side of said Hospital by which Per- 
 sons may acquaint themselves of the Business. 
 
 "Third, that Captain William Bull and James Morris, Esqr,, 
 he and the same are hereby appointed Overseers to appoint or 
 approve of the Nurses or Tenders necessary to be employed, to give 
 orders respecting the Time the Persons infected, their Nurses and 
 Tenders, shall continue in the aforesaid Hospital, and also respect- 
 ing their changing and coming out, and such other order and direc- 
 tion as shall be judged most expedient (for) preserving the inhabit- 
 ants from taking the Infection, for which service a recompense shall 
 be paid by those concerned. 
 
 "Fourth, that no Person thus infected be suffered to depart with- 
 out first obtaining from said Conmiittee or some Physician by them 
 appointed a Certificate giving his or their Approbation. 
 
 "Fifth, and that each Person before inoculation do procure good 
 and sufficient Bonds to answer the Penalty of the Statute in such 
 case made and provided: that he or they will strictly comply with 
 all and singular the foregoing Kules and Regulations and such 
 others as the Civil Authority and Selectmen shall adopt, which 
 Bonds shall be taken by the aforesaid Overseers. 
 
 "Sixth, that the several Physicians shall also procure Bonds for 
 security against spreading the infection through their means and 
 not to inoculate anyone who shall not procure a Certificate from 
 one or more said Overseers, 
 
 "Seventh, that the Nurses and Tenders shall also procure Bonds 
 not to admit any Person in said Hospital without the consent of the 
 Overseers and to use all due attention to prevent the spreading the 
 same through their means or neglect". 
 
 We have no record of any casualties in Litchfield from the 
 Inoculation, fortunately, but may of the people were infected. The 
 beautiful and sprightly Mariann Wolcott, about whom we shall 
 write more presently, was one of these, as we learn from a letter from 
 her father, Gov. Oliver Wolcott Sr., to Mrs. Wolcott, March 22, 
 1777: "I have this instant rec'd a Letter from Dr. Smith, of the 12th, 
 wherein he tells me that you and the children have been inoculated 
 for the Small Pox, and that he apprehended you was so far thro' 
 it as to be out of Danger, casualties excepted, — News which is very 
 agreeable to me, as I have for some time been much concerned lest 
 you should take the infection of that distressing Disease unpre- 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 43 
 
 pared- I perceive that Mariana has had it bad; he writes, 'very 
 hard'. I am heartily sorry for what the little child has suffered 
 and very much want to see her. If she has by this lost some of her 
 Beauty, which I hope she has not, yet I well know she might spare 
 much of it and still retain as much as most of her sex possess". 
 (Wolcott Memorial, p. 168). 
 
 In another letter from Dr. Keuben Smith to Oliver Wolcott Sr., 
 dated April 17, 1777, is preserve<l an account of the origin of the 
 scare : 
 
 "Some soldiers having brought home the small pox, I found a 
 nimiber had ventured upon innoculation without making proper pro- 
 vision that it might not spread in the town. The people were much 
 divided; some warmly engaged for innoculation, others as warmly 
 opposed. Unhappily for me, I was chosen one of the Selectmen this 
 year and was therefore under a necessity of interposing in the 
 matter; and thought best, as it was against law, neither to encour- 
 age or oppose, but endeavor to bring it under a proper regulation, 
 in which, however, I failed of the wished for success, our counsels 
 being very much divided. Several having taken in the natural 
 way from those that were inocxdated, Captain Marsh was engaged 
 to crush innoculation wholly ; and some people have been so unreason- 
 able as to say Mr. Strong was both for and against it. Be that as 
 it may, it served as a game. Both had like to have been losers." 
 
 No accurate record has been preserved as to who Avas the last 
 survivor of the original settlers of Litchfield. Supply Strong, the 
 father of Jedediah Strong, lived to the age of 90, and died in 1786; 
 but it is possible that others lived to a later date. Among the 
 children whom the settlers brought with them into the wilderness, 
 should be mentioned Zebulon Gibbs, who was only nine years old 
 when his father, Benjamin Gibbs, came to Litchfield in 1720. He 
 died in 1803, at the ripe age of 92 years. It so happened 
 that the first male child born in the settlement was his younger 
 brother, Gershom Gibbs, born July 28, 1721. We recognize in the 
 latter's name the old Puritan knowledge of the Bible ; for in Exodus, 
 11.22, it is written: "And she bare (Moses) a son, and he called 
 his name Gershom : for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange 
 land". In the Revolution. Gershom Gibbs, Avas taken a prisoner 
 by the English at Fort Washington, and died in prison. The first 
 white child born in Litchfield was Eunice, the daughter of Jacob 
 Griswold; she was born on March 21, 1721, and was afterwards the 
 wife of Captain Solomon Buel. 
 
 Certainly the tAVO most prominent of this gallant band of men 
 were John Marsh and John Buel, of Avhom Ave will quote the follow- 
 ing accounts from Kilbourne, p. 70: 
 
 "John Marsh had long been a prominent citizen of Hartford 
 before he interested himself in the Western Lands; and from the 
 time when he came out to 'view the new plantation' in May, 1715, 
 till about the year 1738, his name was intimately associated with 
 
44 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 the liistorj of Litchfield. He served this town in the various 
 offices within her gift during the entire period of his residence here. 
 While an inhabitant of Hartford, he was often a Kepresentative in 
 the Legislature, a Justice of the Peace, an Associate Judge of the 
 County Court, and a member of the Council of War. He returned 
 to Hartford from Litchfield in his old age, and died there. He was 
 interred in the old Burying Ground back of the Center Church. His 
 children remained in this town, and his descendants here and else- 
 where are very numerous. 
 
 "John Buel was about fifty years of age when he became a 
 resident of this town, and had previously filled the office of Deacon 
 of the church in Lebanon. He was repeatedly elected to almost every 
 office within the gift of his fellow citizens, besides being appointed 
 on nearly all the most important Committees. As a Deacon in the 
 Church, Captain of the Militia, Selectman, Treasurer, Kepresenta- 
 tive, and Justice of the Peace, he discharged his duties efficiently and 
 faithfully. A brief anecdote,. as given by Mr. Powers, in his Cen- 
 tennial Address at Goshen, will serve to illustrate the benevolence 
 of his character: In the winter of 1740-41, a man came from Corn- 
 wall to purchase some grain for himself and family, who were in 
 great need, and was directed to Deacon Buel. The stranger soon 
 called, and made known his errand. The Deacon asked him if he 
 had the money to pay for the grain. He answered affirmatively. 
 'Weir, said the Deacon. 'I can show you where you can procure it'. 
 Going w-ith the stranger to the door, he pointed out a certain house 
 to him saying, 'There lives a man who will let you have grain for 
 your money. I have some to spare, but I must keep it for those 
 who have no money'. Deacon Buel died April 6, 1746, aged 75 years. 
 His wife survived him 22 years. Both were interred in the West 
 Burying Ground". 
 
 These two leaders of Litchfield Avere associated in every move- 
 ment for the progress of the town. On the 6th of February 1722, the 
 use of the stream of Bantam Kiver and thirty acres of land was 
 voted to them, on condition that they would erect a Grist Mill and 
 keep the same in order. And it was they again who were directed 
 to petition the General Assembly the same year "for liberty to set 
 up a church and society in Litchfield". 
 
 They were also among those appointed to negotiate a settlement 
 of the boundary line between Litchfield and Waterbury. The sev- 
 eral boundaries of the township continued to be a cause of dispute 
 for over fifty years, but as the bounds as finally adjusted appear to 
 be satisfactory to-day, and wholly a matter of course, it is not neces- 
 sary to review all the transactions that took place in detail. The 
 bounds on the east and west being formed by the Naugatuck and 
 Housantonic Kivers, there was little question as to their where- 
 abouts. But on the north and south, the various white oak trees 
 and trees with stones about them which are mentioned in the Town 
 Patent were naturally open to increasing variety of interpretation 
 as the years passed. The North line was run by Eoger Sherman, 
 
"THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 45 
 
 afterwards a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He lived 
 in New Milford, and was appointed County Surveyor of tlie then new 
 County of Litchfield in 1754, and his manuscript account of our 
 northern boundary is still preserved. The determination of the 
 southern bounds was a more disputatious business and no one of 
 such distinction was involved in its settlement. After the settle- 
 ment of the Waterbury boundary in 1722, the Woodbury boundary 
 remained in dispute for some twenty years. A committee of Litch- 
 field men 'perambulated' this part of the wilderness in 1727 with a 
 committee from Woodbury. In 1728, two Agents were chosen to 
 act in the 'controversy'. In 1731, they were re-appointed to enquire 
 "what light can be had concerning our line". Taxes were laid in 
 the same year and again in 1742, to defray the expenses involved in 
 all this perambulating and searching. As no one could know 
 where such a line did run, there never having been any carefully 
 defined line anyway, the matter dragged on, and apparently adjusted 
 itself in the end, for no definite record of the settlement has sur- 
 vived, though the line is now happily established somehow. When 
 Old Judea was set off from the town of Woodbury in 1779, under its 
 present name of Washington, the boundary came up once more, the 
 inhabitants of the new township arbitrarily changing the line in 
 their petition for an incorj^oration so as to include within their 
 limits all of Davies' Hollow and the adjoining sections of Mount 
 Tom. At first the Litchfielders, in great excitement, resolved to 
 defend their claim before the General Assembly, appointing Andrew 
 Adams to appear for them. Finally, perhaps because of the strong 
 Episcopalian sentiment in that region, which was not considered any 
 too desirable at a period when the Church of England and the 
 tories were always linked together, it was decided not to oppose 
 the change in the line, and Colonel Adams was again appointed, 
 this time to appear before the General Assembly with a petition 
 that Washington be allovvred to "regulate the line of the town" in 
 its own way. 
 
 The boundaries of South Farms were established and defined 
 in 1767; those of Northfield in 1794; and those of Milton in 1795, 
 when each of those separate parishes was organized. Much later, 
 in 1859, South Farms was set off as a distinct township under the 
 name of Morris. 
 
 '•It is an interesting fact", (Kilbourne, p. 61), "that the tovn\ 
 of Goshen was organized at the house of Deacon John Buel in West 
 Street. On September 27, 1738, the proprietors of Goshen, then 
 called New Bantam, met there, and again on the following day, 
 when the organization of the town Avas completed. Dating from 
 this day, the Centennial anniversary of Goshen was celebrated on 
 September 28, 1838, on which occasion an interesting historical 
 discourse was delivered by the Kev. Grant Powers. Several of 
 the original proprietors of Goshen were residents of Litchfield". A 
 fuller account of the meetings held in Deacon Buel's house is given 
 in Kev. A. G. Hibbard's History of Goshen, 1897, pp. 31-35. 
 
46 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD' 
 
 Rivalry between Woodbury and Litchfield again developed in 
 connection with the establishment of the new County, and thia time 
 Goshen was also a rival, not to speak of Canaan and Cornwall. 
 The rivalry was over the location of the County Seat, which was 
 established finally in Litchfield, and the County was called Litch- 
 field County, Woodburj' had of course no chance to be made the 
 County Seat, because of its remote position, but it took the oppor- 
 tunity to try to organize a separate County, or to be re-annexed to 
 Fairfield County. These and later attempts of the same kind were 
 not successful. The claims of Goshen to be the County Seat were 
 much more considerable, chiefly because of its central position in 
 the territoiy. Several families who were coming into these parts 
 at that time moved to Goshen in the expectation that its claims to 
 leadership would be successful; among those who did so, and who 
 ciime to Litchfield when, in 1751, the matter was finally decided, 
 was Oliver Wolcott, who was appointed the first High Sheriff. The 
 County Treasurer was John Catlin; the County Clerk was Isaac 
 Baldwin; one of the Associate Judges was Ebenezer Marsh; all of 
 Litchfield; the remaining County officers and Judges were from 
 other parts of the County. 
 
 The formation of the County was a most important event for 
 the prosperity of Litchfield; legally, commercially, socially, and 
 indirectly educationally, much of the success and prestige of Litch- 
 field dates from this time. All the Courts for the County met in 
 Litchfield, including the Supreme Court of Errors, and the Superior 
 and County Courts. These Courts all continued to meet in Litch- 
 field and not elsewhere in the County until 1873. In that year 
 thirteen of the towns in the County, but not including Litchfield, 
 were constituted a Judicial District, known as the District Court 
 for the First District of Litchfield, with sessions at Winchester 
 (the Courts sitting at Winsted), Canaan (the Courts sitting at 
 Falls Village), and New Milford. This Court was abolished in 
 1883 and the Court of Common Pleas for Litchfield County consti- 
 tuted with sessions at Litchfield and the three towns just named. 
 In 1881 the District Court of Waterbury was given jurisdiction 
 over several towns in this County. In the same year Litchfield 
 County was included with Hartford, Tolland, Middlesex and Wind- 
 ham Counties in the first judicial District of the Supreme Court 
 of Errors with sessions only at Hartford. In 1897 an act was 
 passed providing for sessions of the Superior Court at Litchfield* 
 New Milford and Winchester. These changes have greatly reduced 
 the importance of Litchfield as a judicial center in the last fifty 
 years. 
 
 The importance which the formation of the new County gave 
 to Litchfield led to a singular contrast, for we find Litchfield in 
 the position of a County Seat, with its courts and other business, 
 yet with no newspaper, no mail-service, no means for passenger 
 travel ! 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 47 
 
 It was a life that centered within itself to a degree that we 
 •can with difficulty picture to-day. The condition of the roads, so 
 far as there were any roads, prevented travel except on horseback, 
 save when the snow made sleighing a possibility. Kilbourne says, 
 p. 166; "Horses were trained to carry double; and it was not an 
 uncommon thing to see father, mother and at least one child mounted 
 on the same horse. Long journeys were sometimes taken with this 
 triple load. For years after the Old Forge, in the western part of 
 the town, was erected, the ore for its use was brought from the iron- 
 mines of Kent in bags slung across the backs of horses; and the 
 bar-iron manufactured there, was bent in the form of ox-bows and 
 carried to market on horseback. Oxcarts and ox-sleds were com- 
 mon, and journeys of hundreds of miles were not infrequently made 
 in these tedious vehicles. Many of the ambitious and hardy young 
 men of this town, who emigrated to Vermont, to the Genesee CJountry, 
 and to New Connecticut, went on foot, each carrying a pack, in 
 which was enclosed, as an indispensable part of his outfit, a new 
 ^xe. Some who thus went, became men of wealth and distinction. 
 
 "There was no public conveyance between Litchfield and the 
 neighboring or more remote towns, for a period of nearly seventy 
 years after the settlement of the place commenced. As early as 
 1766, it is true, William Stanton was a post-rider between Litch- 
 field and Hartford; but as it is said that his journeys were per- 
 fonned on horseback, the inference is that he did not make a practice 
 of carrying passengers ! Indeed, during the Revolution, all regular 
 t'ommunication between the interior towns was suspended, even 
 where it had before existed; but expresses were sent hither and 
 thither, as the exigencies of the hour might demand. Litchfield 
 was on the great inland route from Boston to New Yoric, as well 
 ^s on that from Hartford to Westpoint, so that the travel through 
 the town was very great. 
 
 "The establishment of a weekly paper in this village, in 1784, 
 -s^eemed to call for some method of obtaining and circulating the 
 news. There was not a Post-Office or a Mail Route in the County 
 of Litchfield; and how the subscribers contrived to get their papers 
 mar well be regarded as a mystery by the publishers of our day. 
 In 1789, Jehiel Saxton, a post-rider between New Haven and Lenox, 
 I>assed through this town on his route, at stated intervals. In 
 1790, another of this interesting class of primitive lv:;tter-carriers and 
 ■orrand-men, commenced his long and lonely rides over the almost 
 interminable succession of hills, between the Litchfield Court-House 
 and the city of New York, leaving each place once a fortnight. That 
 was a proud day for Litchfield — perhaps for New York also!" 
 f Kilbourne, p. 167). 
 
 It is readily conceived that in such a state of isolation, the early 
 settlers of Litchfield were more immediately concerned with laying 
 out the Little Plain, where the West Cemetery now is. and with 
 draining the adjacent swamps along the river into four acre meadows 
 for the use of those who were working up their herds, than with th« 
 
48 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 great concerns of the outer world. Kilbourne notes that the First 
 French War, 1744-1748, came and went without leaving a trace on 
 our minute book of the town meetings. The matter of the new 
 County, which was just then coming up, was a business of vastly 
 greater importance to the town than how a war which was in pro- 
 gress at such a distance should be decided. 
 
 When the Last French War, 1755-17G3, began, Litchfield had 
 developed so rapidly as to be ready to do its share from the begin- 
 ning. At the start of the war, Connecticut raised a force of a 
 thousand men, and this was gradually increased to five thousand, 
 which was maintained through all the campaigns. Unfortunately, 
 but a single list of the soldiers raised in Litchfield during this 
 period has been preserved, and many of the names on it are of men 
 who came to Litchfield to enlist. This is the pay-roll for Capt. 
 Archibald McNeile's Company, in the second regiment of Connecti- 
 cut Forces, for the year 1762, which is on file in the office of the 
 Secretary at Hartford. This list is reprinted in the Appendix. 
 Some of the officers who received commissions in these years were 
 undoubtedly at the War, but it is no longer possible to say which 
 ones. The list of these is as follows: 
 
 1756: Captain Solomon Buel; ■ 
 
 1757: Colonel Ebenezer Marsh; Captain Isaac Baldwin; Lieu- 
 tenant Joshua Smith ; Ensign Abner Baldwin ; 
 
 1758: Ensign Zebulon Gibbs; Captain Archibald McNeile; 
 
 1760: Lieutenant Stephen Smith; Lieutenant Eli Catlin; 
 
 .1761:. Lieutenant Isaac Moss; Lieutenant Josiah Smith; Lieu- 
 tenant Asa Hopkins; Ensign Gideon Harrison; Ensign David Lan- 
 don; 
 
 1762: Ensign Lynde Lord. 
 We also know that Timothy Collins was Surgeon of one of the 
 Connecticut Eegiments at the battle of Crown Point. The only nar- 
 rative "of service is the very laconic one made by Zebulon Gibbs: 
 "I was active in the French War in the year 1756 till the year 1762, 
 I was conductor of teams and horses, by which means I obtained 
 the title of Captain". 
 
 The names of the more prominent settlers and those of the men 
 of action in the wars of the time will not, however, paint for us a 
 true, or complete picture of those early days. More than any other 
 period that has followed it was a tiuie whose real character was 
 typified in those who were not men and women, as we say, of action. 
 In his Centennial Sermon in 1851, the Eev. Horace Bushnell pointed 
 this out in what is reallj^ an address describing the life of the 
 times, which for beautj^ of style, not less than for truth of obser- 
 vation and dignity of thought, is probably the finest address that 
 has been delivered at any time in our town. The changing fashions, 
 if the word can be used of Sermons, have not made The Age of 
 Homespun one whit less striking than it was the morning the 
 
hJ 
 
 K 
 
 w 
 
 ^^v^iBfiti 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 49 
 
 great Divine delivered it. The same humanizing influence which he 
 brought to his interpretation of the old Calvinistic theology and 
 which made his preaching appear so advanced to the Hartford of 
 eighty years ago will be found in his kindly, yet always just, analy- 
 sis, of Colonial life as it existed in our town and those like it. The 
 address is better history than the Historical Address delivered the 
 preceding day; it is better history than ever we can hope to write 
 in this book; and in reprinting it herewith we can only regret that 
 it has been necessary somewhat to abbreviate it. The Sermon in 
 full will be found on pages 107-130 of the Centennial Book published 
 in the same year, 1851. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE AGE OF HOMESPUN. 
 BY HORACE BUSHNELL. 
 
 [Extracts from a discourse, delivered at Litchfield, on the occasion 
 of the County Centennial Celebration, 1851.] 
 
 It has often occurred to others, I presume, as to me, to wish that, 
 for once, it were possible, in some of our historic celebrations, to 
 gather up the unwritten part, also, of the history celebrated; thus 
 to make some lit account, of the private virtues and unrecorded 
 struggles, in whose silent commonalty, we doubt not, are included 
 all the deepest possibilities of social advancement and historic dis- 
 tinction I think you will agree with me, that nothing is more 
 
 appropriate than to offer some fit remembrance of that which heaven 
 only keeps in charge, the unhistoric deeds of common life, and the 
 silent, undistinguished good whose names are written only in 
 heaven. In this view, I propose a discourse on the words of King 
 Lemuel's mother: — 
 
 PEOV. 31: 28. ''Her children rise up and call her blessed". 
 
 This Lemuel, who is called a King, is supposed by some to 
 have been a Chaldee chief, or head of a clan; a kind of Arcadian 
 prince, like Job and Jethro. And this last chapter of the Proverbs 
 is an Eastern poem, called a "prophecy", that versifies, in form, the 
 advice which his honored and wise mother gave to her son. She 
 dwells, in particular, on the ideal picture of a fine woman, such as 
 he may fitly seek for his wife, or queen; drawing the picture, doubt- 
 less, in great part, from herself and her own practical character. 
 "She layeth her hands to the spindle and her hands hold the distaff. 
 She is not afraid of the snow for her household; for all her house- 
 hold are covered with scarlet. Her husband is known in the gates, 
 when he sitteth among the elders of the land. She openeth her 
 mouth in wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness. She 
 looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread 
 of idleness". Omitting other points of the picture, she is a frugal, 
 faithful, pious housewife; clothing her family in garments prepared 
 by her industry, and the more beautiful honors of a well-kept, well- 
 mannered house. She, therefore, it is, who makes the center of a 
 happy domestic life, and becomes a mark of reverence to her 
 children : — "Her children rise up and called her blessed". 
 
 A very homely and rather common picture, some of you may 
 fancy, for a queen, or chief woman; but, as you view the subject 
 more historically, it will become a picture even of dignity and 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 51 
 
 polite culture. The rudest and most primitive stage of society 
 has its most remarkable distinction in the dress of skins; as in 
 ancient Scythia, and in many other parts of the world, even at the 
 present day. The preparing of fabrics, by spinning and weaving, 
 marks a great social transition, or advance; one that was slowly 
 made and is not even yet absolutely perfected. Accordingly, the 
 art of spinning and weaving was, for long ages, looked upon as a 
 kind of polite distinction; much as needle work is now. Thus, 
 when Moses directed in the preparation of curtains for the Taber- 
 nacle, we are told that "all the women that were wise-hearted did 
 spin with their hands". That is, that the accomplished ladies who 
 understood this fine art, (as few of the women did), executed his 
 order. Accordingly, it is represented that the most distinguished 
 queens of the ancient time excelled in the art of spinning; and the 
 poets sing of distaffs and looms, as the choicest symbols of princely 
 women- If I rightly remember, it is even said of Augustus, him- 
 self, at the height of the Roman splendor, that he wore a robe that 
 was made for him by Livia, his wife. ^ 
 
 You perceive, in this manner, that Lemuel's mother has any but 
 rustic ideas of what a wife should be. She describes, in fact, a 
 lady of the highest accomplishments, whose harpsichord is the distaff, 
 whose piano is the loom, and who is able thus, by the fine art she 
 is mistress of, to make her husband conspicuous among the elders 
 of the land. Still, you will understand that what we call the old 
 spinning-wheel, a great factory improvement, was not invented till 
 long ages after this; being, in fact, a comparatively modern, I believe 
 a German or Saxon, improvement. The distaff, in the times of 
 my text, was held in one hand or under one arm, and the spindle, 
 hanging by the thread, was occasionally hit and twirled by the other. 
 The weaving process was equally rude and simple. 
 
 These references to the domestic economy of the more ancient 
 times, have started recollections, doubtless, in many of you, that 
 are characteristic, in a similar way, of our own primitive history. 
 You have remembered the wheel and the loom. You have recalled 
 the fact, that our Litchfield County people down to a period com- 
 paratively recent, have been a people clothed in homespun fabrics — 
 not wholly, or in all cases, but so generally that the exceptions may 
 be fairly disregarded. In this fact I find my subject. As it is 
 sometimes said that the history of iron is the history of the world, 
 or the history of roads a true record, always, of commercial and 
 social progress, so it has occurred to me that I may give the most 
 effective and truest impression of Litchfield County, and especially 
 of the unhistoric causes included in a true estimate of the century 
 now passed, under this article of homespun; describing this first 
 century as the Homespun Age of our people. The subject is homely, 
 as it should be; but I think we shall find enough of dignity in it 
 as we proceed, even to content our highest ambition; the more, that 
 I do not propose to confine myself rigidly to the single matter of 
 spinning and weaving, but to gather round this feature of domestic 
 
52 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 life, taken as a symbol, or central type of expression, whatever is 
 most characteristic in the living picture of the times we coniniemo- 
 rate, and the simple, godly virtues, we delight to honor. 
 
 What we call History, considered as giving a record of notable 
 events, or transactions, under names and dates, and so a really 
 just and true exhibition of the causes that construct a social state, 
 I conceive to be commonly very much of a fiction. True worth is, 
 for the most part, unhistoric, and so of all the beneficent causes and 
 powers included in the lives of simple worthy men: causes most 
 efficient, as regards the well-being and public name of communities. 
 They are such as flow in silence, like the great powers of nature. 
 Indeed, we say of history, and say rightly, that it is a record of 
 e-vents: that is, of turnings out, points where the silence is broken 
 by something apparently not in the regular flow of common life; 
 just as electricity, piercing the world in its silent equilibrium, hold- 
 ing all atoms to their places, and quickening even the life of our 
 bodies, becomes historic only when it thunders; though it does noth- 
 ing more, in its thunder, than simply to notify us, by so great a 
 noise, of the breach of its connections and the disturbance of its 
 silent work. Besides, in our historic pictures, we are obliged to 
 sink particulars in generals aud so to gather, under the names of a 
 prominent few, what is really done by nameless multitudes. These, 
 we say, led out the colonies ; these raised up the states and communi- 
 ties ; these fought the battles. And so we make a vicious inversion, 
 not seldom, of the truth; representing as causes, those who, after 
 all, are not so much causes as effects, not so much powers as instru- 
 ments, in the occasions signalized by their names : caps only of foam, 
 that roll conspicuous in the sun, lifted, still, by the deep underswell 
 of waters hid from the eye. 
 
 Therefore, if you ask, who made this Litchfield County of ours, 
 it will be no sufficient answer that you get, however instructive and 
 useful, when you have gathered up the names that appear in our 
 public records and recited the events that have found an honorable 
 place in the history of the County, or the Kepublic. You must not 
 go into the burial places, and look about only for the tall monuments 
 and the titled names. It is not the starred epitaphs of the Doctors 
 of Divinity, the Generals, the Judges, the Honorables, the Govemora, 
 or even the village notables called Esquires, that mark the springs of 
 our successes and the sources of our distinction. These are rather 
 effects than causes; the spinning wheels have done a great deal 
 more than these. Around the honored few, here a Bellamy, or a 
 Day, sleeping in the midst of his flock ; here a Wolcott, or a Smith ; 
 an Allen, or a Tracy; a Reeve, or a Gould; all names of honor: 
 round about these few, and others like them, are lying multitudes of 
 worthy men and women, under their humbler monuments, or in 
 graves that are hidden by the monumental green that loves to freshen 
 over their forgotten resting place; and in these, the humble but good 
 many, we are to say are the deepest, truest causes of our happy 
 history. Here lie the sturdy kings of Homespun, who climbed 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 53 
 
 among these hills, with their axes, to cut awaj room for their 
 cabins and for family prayers, and so for the good future to come. 
 Here lie their sons, who foddered their cattle on the snows, and built 
 stone fence while the corn was sprouting in the hills, getting ready, 
 in that way, to send a boy or two to college. Here lie the good 
 housewives, that made coats every year, like Hannah, for their 
 children's bodies, and lined their memory with catechism. Here 
 the millers, that took honest toll of the rye; the smiths and coopers, 
 that superintended two hands and got a little revenue of honest 
 bread and schooling from their small joint stock of two-handed 
 investment. Here the district committees and school mistresses; 
 the religious society founders and church deacons; and, withal, a 
 great many sensible, wise-headed men, who read a weekly newspaper, 
 loved George Washington and their country, and had never a thought 
 of going to the General Assembly! These are the men and women 
 who made Litchfield County. Who they are, by name, we cannot 
 tell: no matter who they are: we should be none the wiser if we 
 could name them ; they themselves none the more honorable. Enough 
 that they are the King Lemuels and their Queens, of the good old 
 times gone by: kings and queens of Homespun, out of whom we 
 draw our royal lineage. 
 
 I have spoken of the great advance in human society, indicated 
 by a transition from the dress of skins to that of cloth — an advance 
 of so great dignity, that spinning and weaving were looked upon as 
 a kind of fine art, or polite accomplishment. Another advance, 
 and one that is equally remarkable, is indicated by the transition 
 from a dress of homespun to a dress of factory cloths, produced by 
 machinery and obtained by the exchanges of commerce, at home or 
 abroad. This transition we are now making, or rather, I should 
 say, it is already so far made that the very terms, "domestic manu- 
 facture", have quite lost their meaning; being applied to that which 
 is neither domestic, as being made in the house, nor manufacture, 
 as being made by the hands. This transition from mother and 
 daughter power to water and steam power is a great one, greater 
 by far than many have as yet begun to conceive: one that is to 
 carry with it a complete revolution of domestic life and social man- 
 ners. If, in this transition, there is something to regret, there is 
 more, I trust, to desire. If it carries away the old simplicity, it 
 must also open higher possibilities of culture and social ornament. 
 The principle danger is, that, in removing the rough necessities of 
 the homespun age, it may take away, also, the severe virtues and the 
 homely but deep and true piety by which, in their blessed fruits, 
 as we are all here testifying, that age is so honorably distinguished. 
 Be the issue what it may, good or bad, hopeful or unhopeful, it has 
 come; it is already a fact, and the consequences must follow. 
 
 If our sons and daughters should assemble, a hundred years 
 hence, to hold another celebration like this, they will scarcely be 
 able to imagine the Arcadian pictures now so fresh in the memory 
 of so many of us, though to the younger part already matters of 
 
54 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 hearsay more than of personal knowledge or remembrance. Every- 
 thing that was most distinctive of the old homespun mode of life 
 will then have passed away. The spinning wheels of wool and 
 flax, that used to buzz so familiarly in the childish ears of some 
 of us, will be heard no more for ever: seen no more, in fact, save 
 in the halls of the Antiquarian Societies, where the delicate daugh- 
 ters will be asking, what these strange machines are, and how they 
 were made to go? The huge, hewn-timber looms, that used to 
 occupy a room by themselves, in the fann houses, will be gone, cut 
 up for cord wood, and their heavy thwack, beating up the woof, 
 will be heard no more by the passer by; not even the Antiquarian 
 Halls will find room to harbor a specimen. The long strips of 
 linen, bleaching on the grass, and tended by a sturdy maiden, 
 sprinkling them each hour from her water-can, under a broiling 
 sun, thus to prepare the Sunday linen for her brothers and her own 
 wedding outfit, will have disappeared, save as they return to fill a 
 picture in some novel or ballad of the old time. The tables will 
 be spread with some cunning, water-power Silesia not yet invented, 
 or perchance some meaner fabric from the cotton mills. The heavy 
 Sunday coats, that grew on sheep individually remembered, more 
 comfortably carried in warm weather on the arm, and the specially 
 fine-striped, blue and white pantaloons, of linen just from the loom, 
 will no longer be conspicuous in processions of footmen going to 
 meeting, but will have given place to showy carriages, filled with 
 gentlemen with broadcloth, festooned with chains of California 
 gold, and delicate ladies holding perfumed sun shades. The churches 
 too, that used to be simple brown meeting houses, covered with 
 rived clapboards of oak, will have come down, mostly, from the 
 bleak hill tops, into the close villages and populous towns, that 
 crowd the waterfalls and the railroads; and the old burial places, 
 where the fathers sleep, will be left to their lonely altitude: token, 
 shall we say, of an age that lived as much nearer to heaven and 
 as much less under the world. The change will be complete. 
 Would that we might raise some worthy monument to a state which 
 is then to be so far passed by, so worthy, in all future time, to be 
 held in all dearest reverence. 
 
 It may have seemed extravagant, or fantastic, to some of you, 
 that I should think to give a character of the century now past, 
 under the one article of homespun- It certainly is not the only, or 
 in itself the chief article of distinction; and yet we shall find it to 
 be a distinction that runs through all others, and gives a color to 
 the whole economy of life and character, in the times of which we 
 speak- 
 Thus, if the clothing is to be manufactured in the house, then 
 flax will be grown in the plowed land, and sheep will be raised in 
 the pasture, and the measure of the flax ground, and the number 
 of the flock, will correspond with the measure of the home market, 
 the number of the sons and daughters to be clothed, so that the 
 agriculture out of doors will map the family in doors. Then as 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 55 
 
 there is no thought of obtaining the articles of clothing, or dress, 
 by exchange; as there is little passing of money, and the habit of 
 exchange is feebly developed, the family will be fed on home grown 
 products, buckwheat, Indian, rye, or whatever the soil will yield. 
 And as carriages are a luxury introduced only with exchanges, the 
 lads will be going back and forth to the mill on horseback, astride 
 the fresh grists, to keep the mouths in supply. The meat market 
 will be equally domestic, a kind of quarter-master slaughter and 
 supply, laid up in the cellar, at fit times in the year. The daughters 
 that, in factory days, would go abroad to join the female conscrip 
 tion of the cotton mill, will be kept in the home factory, or in that 
 of some other family, and so in the retreats of domestic life. And 
 so it will be seen, that a form of life which includes almost every 
 point of economy, centers round the article of homespun dress, and 
 is by that determined. Given the fact that the people spin their 
 own dress, and you have in that fact a whole volume of characteris- 
 tics. They may be shepherds dwelling in tents, or they may build 
 them fixed habitations, but the distinction given will show them to 
 be a people who are not in trade, whose life centers in the family, 
 home-bred in their manners, primitive and simple in their character, 
 inflexible in their piety, hospitable without show, intelligent with- 
 out refinement. And so it will be seen that our homespun fathers 
 and mothers made a Puritan Arcadia among these hills, answering 
 to the picture which Polibius, himself an Arcadian, gave of his coun- 
 trymen, when he said that they had, "throughout Greece, a high and 
 honorable reputation; not only on account of their hospitality to 
 strangers, and their benevolence toAvards all men, but especially on 
 account of their piety towards the Divine Being". 
 
 Thus, if we speak of what, in the polite world is called society, 
 our homespun age had just none of it: and perhaps the more of 
 society for that reason, because what they had was separate from 
 all the polite fictions and empty conventionalities of the world. I 
 speak not here of the rude and promiscuous gatherings connected 
 so often with low and vulgar excesses; the military trainings, the 
 huskings, the raisings commonly ended with a wrestling match. 
 These were their dissipations, and perhaps they were about as good 
 as any. The apple paring and quilting frolics, you may set down 
 if you will, as the polka dances and masquerades of homespun. If 
 they undertook a formal entertainment of any kind, it was com- 
 monly stiff and quite unsuccessful. But when some two queens of 
 the spindle, specially fond of each other, instead of calling back 
 and forth, with a card case in their hand, agreed to "join works", 
 as it was called, for a week or two, in spinning, enlivening their 
 talk by the rival buzz of their wheels and, when the two skeins were 
 done, spending the rest of the day in such kind of recreation as 
 pleased them, this to them was real society, and, so far, a go6d 
 type of all the society they had. It was the society not of the 
 Nominalists, but of the Eealists; society in or after work; spon- 
 taneously gathered for the most part, in terms of elective affinity: 
 
56 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 foot excursions of young people, or excursions on horse back, after 
 the haying, to the tops of the neighboring mountains; boatings, on 
 the river or the lake, by moon light, filling the wooded shores and 
 the recesses of the hills with lively echoes ; evening schools of sacred 
 music, in which the music is not so much sacred as preparing to be; 
 evening circles of young persons, falling together, as they imagine 
 by accident, round some village queen of song, and chasing away 
 the time in ballads and glees so much faster than they wish, that 
 just such another accident is like to happen soon; neighbors called 
 in to meet the minister and talk of both worlds together, and, if he is 
 limber enough to suffer it, in such happy mixtures, that both are 
 melted into one. 
 
 But most of all to be remembered, are those friendly circles, 
 gathered so often round the winter's fire: not the stove, but the fire, 
 the brightly blazing, hospitable fire. In the early dusk, the home 
 circle is drawn more closely and quietly round it; but a good 
 neighbor and his wife drop in shortly, from over the way. and the 
 circle begins to spread. Next a few young folk from the other 
 end of the village, entering in brisker mood, find as many more 
 chairs set in as wedges into the periphery to receive them also. And 
 then a friendly sleigh full of old and young, that have come down 
 from the hill to spend an hour or two, spread the circle again, 
 moving it still farther back from the fire; and the fire blazes just 
 as much higher and more brightly, having a new stick added for 
 every guest. There is no restraint, certainly no affectation of style. 
 They tell stories, they laugh, they sing. They are serious and gay 
 by turns, or the young folks go on with some play, while the fathers 
 and mothers are discussing some hard point of theology in the min- 
 ister's last sermon; or perhaps the great danger coming to sound 
 morals from the multiplication of turnpikes and newspapers! 
 Meantime, the good housewife brings out her choice stock of home 
 growTi exotics, gathered from three realms, doughnuts from the 
 pantry, hickory nuts from the chamber, and the nicest, smoothest 
 apples from the cellar; all which, including, I suppose I must add, 
 the rather unpoetic beverage that gave its acid smack to the 
 ancient hospitality, are discussed as freely, with no fear of conse- 
 quences. And then, as the tall clock in the corner of the room 
 ticks on majestically towards nine, the conversation takes, it may 
 be, a little more serious turn, and it is suggested that a very happy 
 evening may fitly be ended with a prayer. Whereupon the circle 
 breaks up with a reverent, congratulative look on every face, which 
 is itself the truest language of a social nature blessed in human 
 fellowship. 
 
 Such, in general, was the society of the homespun age. It was 
 not that society that puts one in connection with the great world 
 of letters, or fashion, or power, raising as much the level of his 
 consciousness and the scale and style of his action; but it was 
 society back of the world, in the sacred retreats of natural feeling, 
 truth and piety. 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 57 
 
 Descending from the topic of society in general to one more deli- 
 cate, that of marriage and the tender passion and the domestic felici- 
 ties of the homespun age, the main distinction here to be noted is, 
 that marriages were commonly contracted at a much earlier period 
 in life than now. Not because the habit or the time was more 
 romantic or less prudential, but because a principal more primi- 
 tive and closer to the beautifu^l simplicity of nature is yet in vogue, 
 namely, that women are given by the Almighty, not so much to 
 help their husbands spend a living, as to help them get one. Accord- 
 ingly, the ministers were always very emphatic, as I remember, in 
 their marriage cermonies, on the ancient idea, that the woman was 
 given to the man to be a help, meet for him. . , . What more beauti- 
 ful embodiment is there, on this earth, of true sentiment, than the 
 young wife who has given herself to a man in his weakness, to make 
 him strong; to enter into the hard battle of his life and bear the 
 brunt of it with him; to go down with him in disaster, if he fails, 
 and cling to him for what he is; to rise with him, if he rises; and 
 share a two- fold joy with him in the competence achieved; remem- 
 bering, both of them, how it grew, by little and little, and by what 
 methods of frugal industry it was nourished; having it also, not as 
 his, but theirs, the reward of their common perseverance, and the 
 token of their consolidated love 
 
 The close necessities of these more primitive days connected 
 many homely incidents Avith marriage, which, however, rather 
 heighten the picturesque simplicity than disparage the beauty of its 
 attractions. The question of the outfit, the question of ways and 
 means, the homely prudence pulling back the heroics of faith and 
 passion only to make them more heroic at last; all these you will 
 readily imagine. 
 
 I suppose many of my audience may have heard of the dis- 
 tinguished Christian minister, still living in the embers of extreme 
 old age, who came to the point, not of a flight in the winter,) (Taut 
 of marriage, and partly by reason of the Revolution then in pro- 
 gress, could find no way to obtain the necessary wedding suit. 
 Whereupon, the young woman's benevolent mother had some of 
 her sheep sheared and sewed up in blankets to keep them from perish- 
 ing with cold, that the much required felicity might be consummated. 
 
 But the schools, — we must not pass by these, if we are to form a 
 truthful and sufficient picture of the homespun days. The school- 
 master did not exactly go round the district to fit out the children's 
 minds with learning, as the shoe-maker often did to fit their feet 
 with shoes, or the tailors to measure and cut for their bodies; but, 
 to come as near it as possible, he boarded round (a custom not yet 
 gone by), and the wood for the common fire was supplied in a way 
 equally primitive, by contribution of loads from the several families, 
 according to their several quantities of childhood. The children 
 were all clothed alike in homespun ; and the only signs of aristocracy 
 were, that some were clean and some a degree less so, some in fine 
 white and striped linen, some in brown tow crash ; and, in particular, 
 
58 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 as I remember, with a certain feeling of quality I do not like to 
 express, the good fathers of some testified the opinion they had 
 of their children by bringing fine round loads of hickory wood to 
 warm them, while some others, I regret to say, brought only scanty, 
 scraggy, ill-looking heaps of green oak, white birch, and hemlocks 
 Indeed, about all the bickerings of quality among the children, 
 centered in the quality of the wood pile. There was no complaint 
 in those days of the want of ventilation; for the large open fire- 
 place held a considerable fraction of a cord of wood, and the win- 
 dows took in just enough air to supply the combustion. Besides^ 
 the bigger lads were occasionally ventilated, by being sent out to cut 
 wood enough to keep the fire in action. The seats were made of the 
 outer slabs from the saw-mill, supported by slant legs driven into 
 and a proper distance through augur holes, and plained smooth on 
 the top by the rather tardy process of friction. But the spelling 
 went on bravely, and we ciphered away again and again, always 
 till we got through Loss and Gain. The more advanced of us too 
 made light work of Lindley Murray, and went on to the parsing, 
 finally, of the extracts from Shakespeare and Milton, till some of 
 us began to think we had mastered their tough sentences in a more 
 consequential sense of the tenn than was exactly true. . . . 
 
 Passing from the school to the church, or rather I should say 
 to the meeting house, (good translation, whether meant or not, of 
 what is older and more venerable than church, namely synagogue) , 
 here again you meet the picture of a sturdy homespun worship. 
 Probably it stands on some hill, midway between three or four 
 valleys, whither the tribes go up to worship, and when the snow- 
 drifts are deepest go literally from strength to strength. There is 
 no furnace or stove, save the foot-stoves that are filled from the 
 fires of the neighboring houses, and brought in partly as a rather 
 formal compliment to the delicacy of the tender sex, and sometimes 
 because they are really wanted. The dress of the assembly is mostly 
 homespun, indicating only slight distinctions of quality in the wor- 
 shippers. They are seated according to age, the old king Lemuels 
 and their queens in the front near the pulpit, and the younger Lem- 
 uels farther back, enclosed in pews, sitting back to back, impounded, 
 all, for deep thought and spiritual digestion; only the deacons, sit- 
 ting close under the pulpit, by themselves, to receive, as their dis- 
 tinctive honor, the more perpendicular droppings of the word. 
 Clean round the front of the gallery is drawn a single row of choir, 
 headed by the key-pipe, in the center. The pulpit is overhung by 
 an august wooden canopy, called a. sounding board: study general 
 of course and first lesson of mystery to the eyes of the children, 
 until what time their ears are opened to understand the spoken 
 mysteries. 
 
 There is no affectation of seriousness in the assembly, no manner- 
 ism of worship ; some would say too little of the manner of worship. 
 They think of nothing in fact save what meets their intelligence and 
 enters into them by that method. They appear like men who have 
 

 Pill! 
 
 
 -^ ,si n « 1 
 
 ii!ii illili 
 
 n 
 
 
 Oh > 
 
 o 
 
 -% 
 
Rev. Truman Marsh 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 59 
 
 a digestion for strong meat, and have no conception that trifles more 
 delicate can be of any account to feed the system. Nothing is dull 
 that has the matter in it, nothing long that has not exhausted the 
 matter. If the minister speaks in his great coat and thick gloves 
 or mittens, if the howling blasts of winter blow in across the assem- 
 bly fresh streams of ventilation that move the hair upon their 
 heads, they are none the less content, if only he gives them good 
 •trong exercise. Under their hard and, as some would say, stolid faces, 
 great thoughts are brewing, and these keej) them warm. Free will, 
 fixed fate, fore-knowledge absolute, trinity, redemption, special grace, 
 eternity: give them anything high enough, and the tough muscles 
 of their inward man will be climbing sturdily into it ; and if they go 
 away having something to think of, they have had a good day. A 
 perceptible glow will kindle in their hard faces, only when some 
 one of the chief apostles, a Day, a Smith, or a Bellamy, has com^ 
 to lead them up some higher pinnacle of thought, or pile upon 
 their sturdy mind some heavier weight of argument : fainting never 
 under any weight, even that which, to the foreign critics of the dis- 
 courses preached by them and others of their day, it seems impossi- 
 ble for any, the most cultivated audience in the world, to have sup- 
 ported. Oh, these royal men of homespun, how great a thing to 
 them was religion ! The district school was there, the great Bellamy 
 is here, among the highest peaks and solitudes of divine govern- 
 ment, and between is close living and hard work, and they are kings 
 alike in all! 
 
 True there was a rigor in their piety, a want of gentle feeling; 
 their Christian graces were cast-iron shapes, answering with a hard 
 metallic ring, but they stood the rough wear of life none the less 
 durably for the excessive hardness of their temperament, kept 
 their families and communities none the less truly, though it may 
 be less benignly, under the sense of God and religion. If we find 
 something to modify, or soften, in their over-rigid notions of Chris- 
 tian living, it is yet something to know that what we are they have 
 made us, and that, when we have done better for the ages that 
 come after us, we shall have a more certain right to blame their 
 austerities. 
 
 View them as we may, there is yet, and always will be, some- 
 thing magnificent, in their stern, practical fidelity to their prin- 
 ciples. . . . 
 
 Kegarding now, the homespun age as represented in these pic- 
 tures of the social and religious life, we need, in order to a full 
 understanding, or conception of the powers and the possibilities of 
 success embodied in it, to go a step farther; to descend into the 
 practical struggle of common life, and see how the muscle of energy 
 and victory is developed, under its close necessities. 
 
 The sons and daughters grew up, all, as you will perceive, in the 
 closest habits of industry. The keen jockey way of whittling out 
 a living by small bargains sharply turned, which many suppose to 
 be an essential characteristic of the Yankee race is yet no proper 
 
6o THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 inbred distinction, but only a casual result, or incident, that per- 
 tains to the transition period between the small, stringent way of 
 life in the previous times of home-production, and the new age of 
 trade. In these olden times, these genuine days of homespun, they 
 supposed, in their simplicity, that thrift represented work, and 
 looked about seldom for any more delicate or sharper way of getting 
 on. They did not call a man's property his fortune, but they 
 spoke of one or another as being worth so much; conceiving that he 
 had it laid up as the reward or fruit of his deservings. The house 
 was a factory on the farm, the farm a grower and producer for 
 the house. The exchanges went on briskly enough but required 
 neither money nor trade. No affectation of polite living, no languish- 
 ing airs of delicacy and softness in doors, had begun to make the 
 fathers and sons impatient of hard work out of doors, and set them 
 at contriving some easier and more plausible way of living. Their 
 very dress represented work, and they went out as men whom the 
 wives and daughters had dressed for work; facing all weather, cold 
 and hot, wet and dry, wrestling with the plow on the stony-sided hills, 
 digging out the rocks by hard lifting and a good many very prac- 
 tical experiments in mechanics, dressing the flax, threshing the rye, 
 dragging home in the deep snows the great wood pile of the year's 
 consumption; and then, when the day is ended, having no loose 
 money to spend in taverns, taking their recreation, all together, 
 in reading, or singing, or happy talk, or silent looking in the fire, 
 and finally in sleep, to rise again, with the sun, and pray over the 
 family Bible for just such another good day as the last. And so they 
 lived, working out, each year, a little advance of thrift, just within 
 the line of comfort. 
 
 The picture still holds, in part, though greatly modified by the 
 softened manner of indoor life, and the multiplied agencies of emi- 
 gration, travel, trade and machinery. It is, on the whole, a hard and 
 over-severe picture, and yet a picture that embodies the highest 
 points of merit, connects the noblest results of character. Out of 
 it, in one view, come all the successes we commemorate on this fes- 
 tive occasion- 
 No mode of life was ever more expensive; it was life, at the 
 expense of labor too stringent to allow the highest culture and the 
 most proper enjoyment. Even the dr^ts of it was more expensive 
 than we shall ever see again. Still it was a life of honesty, and 
 simple content, and sturdy victory. Immoralities, that rot down 
 the vigor and humble the consciousness of families, were as much 
 less frequent, as they had less thought of adventure, less to do 
 with travel, and trade, and money, and were closer to nature and 
 the simple life of home. 
 
 If they were sometime drudged by their over-intense labor, still 
 they were kept by it in a generally rugged state, both of body and 
 mind. They kept a good digestion, which is itself no small part of 
 a character. The mothers spent their nervous impulse on their 
 muscles, and had so much less need of keeping down the excess, or 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 6i 
 
 calming the unspent lightning, by doses of anodyne. In the play 
 of the wheel they spent fibre too, within, and in the weaving, wove 
 it close and firm. Be it true as it may, that the mothers of the 
 homespun age had a severe limit on their culture and accomplish 
 ments. Be it true that we demand a delicacy and elegance of man- 
 ners impossible to them, under the rugged necessities they bore. 
 Still there is, after all, something very respectable in good health, 
 and a great many graces play in its look that we love to study, even 
 if there be a little of "perdurable toughness" in their charms. How 
 much is there, too, in the sublime motherhood of health! Hence 
 come, not always, I know, but oftenest, the heroes and the great 
 minds gifted with volume and power, and balanced for the manly 
 Tirtues of truth, courage, persistency, and all sorts of victory. It 
 was also a great point, in this homespun mode of life, that it imparted 
 exactly what many speak of only with contempt, a closely girded 
 habit of economy. Harnessed, all together, into the producing pro- 
 cess, young and old, male and female, from the boy that rode the 
 plough-horse to the grandmother, knitting under her spectacles, 
 they had no conception of squandering lightly what they had all 
 been at work, thread by thread, and grain by grain, to produce. 
 They knew too exactly what everything cost, even small things, not 
 to husband them carefully. Men of patrimony in the great world, 
 therefore, noticing their small way in trade, or expenditure, are 
 ready, as we often see, to charge them with meanness, simply be- 
 cause they knew things only in a small way; or, what is not far 
 different, because they were too simple and rustic, to have any con- 
 ception of the big operations, by which other men are wont to 
 get their money without earning it, and lavish the more freely because 
 it was not earned. Still this knowing life only in the small, it 
 will be found, is really anything but meanness. 
 
 Probably enough the man who is heard threshing in his barn 
 of a winter evening by the light of a lantern, (I knew such an 
 example), will be seen driving his team next day, the coldest day of 
 the year, through the deep snow to a distant wood lot, to draw 
 a load for a present to his minister. So the housewife that higgles 
 for a half hour with the merchant over some small trade, is yet one 
 that will keep watch, not unlikely, when the school master, board- 
 ing round the district, comes to some hard quarter, and commence 
 asking him to dinner, then to tea, then to stay over night, and 
 literally boarding him, till the hard quarter is passed. Who now, 
 in the great world of money, will do, not to say the same, as much, 
 proportionally as much, in any of the pure hospitalities of life? 
 
 Besides, what sufficiently disproves any real meanness, it will 
 be found that children brought up in this way to know things in the 
 small, what they cost, and what is their value, have in just that 
 fact one of the best securities of character and most certain elements 
 of power and success in life; because they expect to get on by 
 small advances followed up and saved by others, not by sudden leaps 
 of fortune that despise the slow but surer methods of industry and 
 
62 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 merit When the hard, wiry-looking patriarch of homespun, for 
 example, sets out for Hartford, or Bridgeport, to exchange the little 
 surplus of his year's production, carrying his provision with him 
 and the fodder of his team, and taking his boy along to show him 
 the great world, you may laugh at the simplicity, or pity, if you 
 will, the sordid look of the picture; but, five or ten years hence, this 
 boy will like enough be found in College, digging out the cent's worth 
 of his father's money in hard study; and some twenty years later 
 he will be returning in his honors, as the celebrated Judge, or 
 Governor, or Senator and public orator, from some one of the great 
 States of the Kepublic, to bless the sight once more of that vener- 
 ated pair who shaped his beginnings and planted the small seeds of 
 his future success. Small seeds, you may have thought, of mean- 
 ness; but now they have grown up and blossomed into a large 
 minded life, a generous public devotion, and a free benevolence to 
 mankind. 
 
 And just here, I am persuaded, is the secret, in no small degree, 
 of the very peculiar success that has distinguished the sons of 
 Connecticut and, not least, those of Litchfield County, in their migra- 
 tion to other States. It is because they have gone out in the wise 
 economy of a simple, homespun training, expecting to get on in 
 the world by merit and patience, and by a careful husbanding of 
 small advances; secured in their virtue by just that which makes 
 their perseverance successful. For the men who see the great in 
 the small and go on to build the great by small increments, will 
 commonly have an exact conscience too that beholds great princi- 
 ples in small things, and so will form a character of integrity, before 
 both God and man, as solid and massive as the outward successes 
 they conquer 
 
 I have wished, in particular, to bring out an impression of the 
 unrecorded history of the times gone by. We must not think that 
 the great men have made the history. Bather it is the history that 
 has made the men. It is the homespun many, the simple Christian 
 men and women of the century gone by, who bore their life struggle 
 faithfully, in these valleys and among these hills, and who now 
 are sleeping in the untitled graves of Christian worth and piety. 
 These are they whom we are most especially to honor, and it is good 
 for us all to see and know, in their example, how nobly fruitful and 
 beneficent that virtue may be, which is too common to be distin- 
 guished, and is thought of only as the worth of unhistoric men. 
 Worth indeed it is, that worth which, being common, is the sub- 
 structure and the prime condition of a happy, social state, and of 
 all the honors that dignify its history: worth, not of men only, but 
 quite as much of women; for you have seen, at every turn of my 
 subject, how the age gone by receives a distinctive character from 
 the queens of the distaff and the loom, and their princely mother- 
 hood. Let no woman imagine that she is without consequence, or 
 motive to excellence, because she is not conspicuous, Oh, it in 
 the greatness of woman that she is so much like the great power*) 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD ($3 
 
 of nature, back of the noise and clatter of the world's affairs, tem- 
 pering all things with her benign influence only the more certainly 
 because of her silence, greatest in her beneficence because most remote 
 from ambition, most forgetful of herself and fame; a better nature 
 in the world that only waits to bless it, and refuses to be known 
 save in the successes of others, whom she makes conspicuous; satis- 
 fied most, in the honors that come not to her, that "Her husband is 
 known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land!". . . 
 Men and women of Litchfield County, such has been the past; 
 a good and honorable past! We give it over to you: the future 
 is with you. It must, we know be different, and it will be what you 
 make it. Be faithful to the sacred trust God is this day placing in 
 your hands. One thing, at least, I hope ; that, in these illustrations 
 I have made some just impression on you all of the dignity of work. 
 How magnificent an honor it is, for the times gone by, that when 
 «o many schemes are on foot, as now, to raise the weak; when the 
 friends of the dejected classes of the world are proposing even to 
 reorganize society itself for their benefit, trying to humanize punish- 
 ments, to kindle hope in disability, and nurse depravity into a 
 condition of comfort, (a distinction how magnificent!), that our 
 fathers and mothers of the century passed had, in truth, no dejected 
 classes, no disability, only here and there a drone of idleness, or a 
 sporadic case of vice and poverty; excelling, in the picture of social 
 comfort and well-being actually realized, the most romantic visions 
 of our new seers. They want a reorganization of society! — some- 
 thing better than the Christian gospel and the Christian family 
 state! — some community in hollow-square, to protect them and coax 
 them up into a life of respect, and help them to be men! No, they 
 did not even so much as want the patronage of a bank of savings 
 to encourage them and take the wardship of their cause. They 
 knew how to make their money, and how to invest it, and take 
 care of it, and make it productive; how to build, and plant, and 
 make sterility fruitful, and conquer all the hard weather of life. 
 Their producing process took everything at a disadvantage; for they 
 had no capital, no machinery, no distribution of labor, nothing but 
 wild forest and rock; but they had metal enough in their character 
 to conquer their defects of outfit and advantage. They sucked honey 
 out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock. Nay, they even seemed to 
 want something a little harder than nature in her softer moods 
 could yield them. Their ideal of a Goshen they sought out, not in 
 the rich alluvion of some fertile Nile, but upon the crest of the 
 world, somewhere between the second and third heaven where Provi- 
 dence itself grows cold, and there, making warmth by their exercise 
 and their prayers, they prepared a happier state of competence and 
 wealth, than the Goshen of the sunny Nile ever saw. Your con- 
 dition Avill hereafter be softened, and your comforts multiplied. Let 
 your culture be as much advanced- But let no delicate spirit that 
 despises work, grow up in your sons and daughters. Make these 
 rocky bills smoothe their faces and smile under your industry. Let 
 
64 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 no absurd ambition tempt you to imitate the manners of the great 
 world of fashion and rob you thus of the respect and dignity that 
 pertain to manners properly your own. Maintain, above all, your 
 religious exactness. Think what is true, and then respect your- 
 selves in living exactly what you think. Fear God and keep His 
 commandments, as your godly fathers and mothers did before you, 
 and found, as we have seen, to be the beginning of wisdom. As 
 their graves are with you, so be that faith in God, which ennobled 
 their lives and glorified their death, an inheritance in you, and a 
 legacy transmitted by you to your children. 
 
CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 LITCHFIELD IN THE REVOLUTION. 
 BY DOROTHY BULL. 
 
 The liardy life of the Age of Homespun and the severe discipline 
 of the Colonial Wars, prepared the people morally and physically 
 for the severer test to come, in which the new nation "conceived in 
 liberty"' vras to be horn. Out of that background of vigorous and 
 earnest life came the great figures of the founders of o\ir nation and 
 the sturdy army of citizen soldiers, who were to preserve and renew 
 the fine tradition of their race. 
 
 Let us picture our village at the close of the French War, with 
 its streets still unkempt, its houses more widely scattered than now, 
 its people vigorously engaged in the occupations of the pioneer 
 farmer, and cherishing, no doubt, new hopes of peace and prosperity. 
 Already the little town had taken its place in the life of the Colony 
 as the County Seat of a new County. The first Court House and 
 Jail were built, and Oliver Wolcott, then a young man in the middle 
 thirties, had taken up his duties as High Sherilf and built his house 
 on South Street. Elisha Sheldon- had come from Lyme, and after 
 a service of seven years as Associate Judge of the Court of Com- 
 mon Pleas for the county, had been elected to the Connecticut Legis- 
 lature as a member of the Upper House. Jedediah Strong had 
 graduated from Yale, and was shortly to begin his career, as '-petti- 
 fogger and politician''. Bezaleel Beebe had returned, at the age of 
 twenty-one, from four years' service in tlie Colonial wars, and set- 
 tled on the Beebe homestead, north of Bantam Lake, with his young 
 wife Elizabeth Marsh, the (hiugkter of Captain John Msirsli. Young 
 . Judah Champion had begun ten years before, his energetic pastorate 
 of the First Society of the Congregational Church, and the new 
 Meeting House on the Oreen had just been finished. Into this atmos- 
 phere of industry aiud peace came in 17(;5 tlie first rumble of the 
 approaching storm. 
 
 Between Great Britain and her colonies stretclied three thous- 
 and miles of "unplumbed, salt, estranging sea". Between the minds 
 of the British Government and of the settlers of the New World 
 lay nnmeasured spaces of •'unplunibed, salt, estranging tlionglit". 
 The Home Goverinnent Vv^as concerned chiefly with its own credit, 
 with the low state of the exchequer after the recent A^'ars, and with 
 dreams of empire. The Stamp Act seemed a simple solution of the 
 first two questions, and a reasonable assistance in the third. The 
 Colonies were prospering. They were protected by the Crown. 
 Why sliould they not share the expenses of the Crown? The Colo- 
 
66 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 nies thought otherwise. They had borne their full share of the 
 successive Colonial Wars and the burden had not been a light one, 
 to men still engaged in the task of subduing the wilderness. But, 
 aside from the hardship of the tax itself, they felt that it was potent 
 with danger to the liberties so hardly acquired and cherished through 
 the changing fortunes of Colonial history. These liberties they 
 felt to be their rightful heritage as Englishmen. They would not 
 relinquish them. Kilbourne tells us p. 82, of the instant indigna- 
 tion aroused by the Stamp Act in this State and town. "The Legis- 
 lature of Connecticut", he says, "protested against it, and finally 
 agreed upon an address to parliament, which was sent to the colo- 
 nial agent in London, with instructions 'firmly to insist on the 
 exclusive right of the colonies to tax themselves'. The^ people 
 everywhere were excited and the measure was freely discussed 
 and boldly denounced at the corners of the streets, in popular 
 assemblies, and in town meetings. The more resolute and reckless 
 of the populace formed themselves into secret organizations called 
 'The Sons of Liberty', with the design of preventing the use of the 
 stamjied paper by a summary j^rocess if necessary. In this town 
 there was probably no difl'erence of opinion on the main question at 
 issue. On matters of minor importance the people did not always 
 agree. The Connecticut Conrant of February 10th, 1766, contains 
 a communication dated at Litchfield on the 1st of February of that 
 year, Avhich is as follows: 
 
 'At the desire of several of the Towns of this County, by their Agents 
 chosen and sent here for that Purpose, a Meeting was called of the Free- 
 born Sons of Liberty, to meet at the Court-House in this Town ; and being 
 assembled to the Number of about forty or fifty Persons — proceeded upon 
 the Business for which they met. And notwithstanding the great Opposi- 
 tion they met with, from Colonel E r M h and one S n 
 
 S e, (whereby the Meeting was much hindered,) yet they came to the 
 
 Choice of five Gentlemen, who were to act as Agents, and are to join the 
 Gentlemen from the other Towns in the County, who are to meet here, 
 at a general County Meeting, to be held on the second Tuesday of February, 
 1766, at ten o'clock in the forenoon ; when it is expected they will come to 
 such Resolves as thej' shall think most Conducive to prevent the Thing we 
 fear from ever taking Place among us. The Meeting would have been 
 conducted with the utmost good Agreement and Dispatch, had it not been 
 for the Gentlemen mentioned above, who employed all their Power to 
 render it abortive, not only by consuming the Time in long and needless 
 
 Speeches, (wherein Mr. M h especially discovered to all present, an 
 
 inexhaustible Fund of Knowledge, by several new-coined Words, unknown 
 in the EngHsh Language before,) but they also opposed by their Votes 
 almost every Motion that was made to forward it.' " 
 
 Although the difference of opinion here recorded was probably, 
 over minor matters, — very possibly a question of policy rather than 
 principle, — it was undoubtedly a fore-runner of those more serious 
 differences which were to continue thoughout the war, with all the 
 intensity and bitterness consequent to civil strife. '"There were . . . 
 in this town", says Kilbourne, p. 114, "as elsewhere throughout the 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD ^y 
 
 land — honorable, influential and conscientious men— who, while 
 they openly disapproved of many acts of the parliament were yet 
 warmly attached to the royal cause. They looked upon revolution 
 as not only treason to their sovereign, but predestined to be ruinous 
 to all who might engage in it; and they chose to suffer what they 
 regarded as only temporary evils, rather than rush into the vortex 
 of war for redress". Among these people the Episcopalians wex'e 
 peculiarly bound by every tie of affection and necessity to the mother 
 country. Litchfield was still a "missionary station". The Eector 
 of St. Michael's received a portion of his salary directly from the 
 ''Venerable Society in England for Propagating the Gospel in For- 
 eign Parts". For the members of the Church of England, "inde- 
 pendence not only involved a political separation from Great Britain, 
 but a severance of an ecclesiastical bond of union which they had 
 long regarded as indispensable to their prosperity if not to their 
 very existence as a church". (Kilbourne, p. 115). Many of them 
 therefore were opposed to the Kevolution and feeling ran high. 
 The incident of the stoning of St. Michael's by revolutionary troops 
 is described elsewhere. In the bitter alchemy of war the elements 
 of national character were to be divided and fused anew. No 
 tie could escape the fire. "Friends, neighbors, and even households 
 became divided and estranged". (Kilbourne, p. 116). 
 
 In 176G, however, only the most far-seeing could have dreamed 
 of revolution. Only three years before, Benjamin Franklin, in a 
 pamphlet on the wisdom of retaining Canada rather then Guada- 
 loupe as a prize of war, had assured the people of Great Britain 
 that the colonies would never "unite against their own nation . . . 
 which 'tis well known tliey ail love much more than they love one 
 another". (Eve of the Eevolution. Becker, p. 5). In the Con- 
 necticut Courant of February 24th, 1766, appears the record of that 
 Litchfield County Meeting heralded in the issue of the 10th. "In 
 their declaration", says Kilbourne, p. 83, "the purest sentiments of 
 patriotism and loyalty, are blended with a love of good order and a 
 regard for the supremacy of the law, Avhicli are remarkable for those 
 times. The people of Litchfield were no friends of mob-laAV, even 
 when mobs were fashionable elsewhere. Separation from the 
 
 mother-country, was a subject which had not then been breathed 
 audibly, even if it had been thought of by the most zealous patriot". 
 The "declarations" are given in full by Kilbourne, pp. 83-86. They 
 begin with the folloAving preamble, in which it is interesting to 
 note that the people rest their case upon their heritage as English- 
 men, "the unalterable basis of the British Constitution", in which 
 they had so just a pride. Preamble: 
 
 "At a Meeting of the Inhabitants of almost all the Towns in Litch-; 
 field County, convened by their Agents in Litchfield on the second Tuesday 
 in February 1766, for the Purpose of giving the clearest Manifestation of 
 their fixed and most ardent Desire to preserve, as far as in tliem lies, those 
 inherent Rights and Privileges which essentially belong to them as a Free 
 People, and which are founded upon the unalterable Basis of the British 
 
68 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 Constitution, and have been confirmed by the most solemn Sanctions — and 
 of their readiness to promote (according to their Ability) the public Peace 
 and Happiness, which have been greatly disturbed by the most alarming 
 Infringements upon their Rights the following Sentiments were unanimously 
 agreed in". 
 
 The declaration here continues through seven articles to 
 emphasize the unconstitutionality of the Stamp Act, and while 
 expressing most faithful allegiance to the Crown, declares (Article 
 II) : 
 
 "That thej^ conceive to keep up in their brightest View the first Prin- 
 ciples and Origins of the English Government and strictly to adhere to the 
 primary Institutions of it, is the only sure Way to preserve the same, and 
 consequently the Prerogative of the Crown, and the Civil Liberties of the 
 Subject, inviolate". 
 
 They add also (Article VI) : 
 
 "That God made Mankind free, (as being essential to their Happiness) 
 and as, by His Blessing the Advantages of English Liberty have been handed 
 down to them from their most virtuous and loyal Ancestors, so they will 
 endeavor, by all reasonable Ways and Means within their Power, uprightly 
 to preserve and faithfully to transmit the same to their Posterity". 
 
 From this premise thej^ continue to Article IX: 
 
 "That if any Stamped Papers shall be imported into any Part of this 
 Colony (which they most cordially wish might never be,) they hope the 
 speediest public Notice thereof may be given, that the same may be pre- 
 served UNTOUCHED for His Majesty". 
 
 They further warn the authorities that if anyone has repre- 
 sented the people of the Colony as acquiescing in the Act in ques- 
 tion, such representation h^s been made either through extreme 
 ignorance or deliberate malice. The strength and gravity of pur- 
 pose of the best spirit of the time is manifest in this document, 
 together with a moderation and sobriety, which as Kilbourne has 
 noted, is truly remarkable. Thus in Article XI, we find: 
 
 "That they will never suffer any Jealousies to arise in their Minds, that 
 any Person in this Colony is unfriendly to its Civil Liberties, except upon 
 the fullest, clearest, and most undeniable Evidence". 
 
 and in Article XIII: 
 
 "That whereas some very ignorant or dissolute Persons may, in this 
 time of Perplexity, be disposed to commit Outrages against the Persons or 
 Property of others, or to treat with Disrespect and Insult the civil Authority 
 of this Colony; They do therefore, hereby solemnly declare, that Nothing 
 (except a Privation of their Liberties,) could or ought to fill their Minds 
 with a deeper and more fixed Resentment than such Conduct — and that they 
 will ahvays be ready and willing to assist and support, to the utmost of 
 their AbiHty, the public Magistrates, in preserving, in the greatest Purity, 
 the Peace and good Order of the Public". 
 
wwmm!ssmss:m3mf^;e?im^simmsmw3 
 
 Governor Oliver Wolcott 
 
V'Sht'^'f^'-n- /&^<^ 
 
 7 
 
 
 a^ f''V^?sfe««Jo 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 69 
 
 The Stamp Act was repealed in this year, but matters were in 
 no wise mended. Continued imposts were made on articles imported 
 from England; indignation in the Colonies increased; and finally a 
 merchant's agreement was made, known as "the non-importation 
 agreement". This, however, proved to be something of a boomerang, 
 and Avas "shamefully violated", says Kilbourne, p, 86, by the mer- 
 chants of New York. Thereupon Connecticut summoned a "General 
 Convention of Delegates from all the towns in the Colony", to be held 
 in New Haven on September IStli, 1770, "to take into consideration 
 the perilous condition of the country, to provide for the growth 
 and spread of home manufactures, and to devise more thorough 
 means of carrying out the nonimportation agreement". To this 
 Convention Captain John Osborn and Jedediah Strong were sent 
 as Delegates from Litchfield by vote of a town meeting. 
 
 About this time also, the Connecticut Legislature took steps to 
 improve the condition of the militia of the Colony; "why", says Kil- 
 bourne, p. 87, "they were scarcely themselves aware". Officers who 
 had served with ability in the French War, now received advance 
 commissions. Among these were Oliver Wolcott of Litchfield, "who 
 had commanded a company in the north in 1748, and was now com- 
 missioned as Colonel; and Ebenezer Cay, a resident of Sharon but 
 a native of this town, who was raised to the rank of Lieutenant 
 Colonel". (Kilbourne, p. 87.) Kilbourne further remarks in this 
 connection: "These officers, by long service Avith the commanders in 
 the Standing Army of England, had learned whatever was worth 
 knowing in their system of military tactics, while they had failed to 
 learn their inefficiency, i:)rocrastination, and punctilious regard for 
 etiquette". How just an estimate this is of the British officer of 
 the period, it is difficult to judge. There is no doubt that during 
 the French Wars the troops frequently suffered from the stupidity 
 of their officers; while Lord Howe and others in the Eevolution 
 often failed to follow up their successes. The pernicious practice 
 of selling commissions must have worked havoc in any army. 
 Nevertheless, some able men were undoubtedly attracted to military 
 life, and it is no derogation of our own army to assume that the 
 forces to which it was opposed for seven years, were in many cases 
 officered by men of intelligence, energy and devotion. 
 
 Stupidity in high places, however, Avas to work its inevitable 
 mischief in British- American relations. All the indignation of 
 the Colonists, all reasonable remonstrance of the wiser heads on 
 both sides of the Atlantic, failed to break doAvn the stubborn com- 
 placency of the King and his ill-chosen advisors. Oppressive 
 measures continued. Eesistance increased in proportion. Shortly 
 after the "Boston Tea Party", and the subsequent blockade of Boston 
 Harbor, we find the inhabitants of Litchfield issuing the following 
 document, which Woodruff, p. 32, credits to OliA'^er Wolcott. 
 
 "The Inhabitants of . Litchfield, in legal Town Meeting assembled, on 
 the 17th day of August, A. D. 1774, taking into consideration the Distress to 
 
70 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 which the Poor of the Town of Boston may likely be reduced by the opera- 
 tion of an Act of the British Parliament for Blocking up their Port, and 
 deeply commiserating the unhappiness of a brave and loyal People, who are 
 thus eminently suffering in a General Cause, for Vindicating what every 
 sensible virtuous American considers an essential Right of this Country, 
 think it is their indispensable Duty to afford their unhappy distressed 
 brethren of said Town of Boston, all reasonable Aid and Support. And 
 this they are the more readily induced to, not only as the Inhabitants of 
 said Town are thus severely condemned for their reluctance to submit to an 
 arbitrary, an unconsented to, and consequently unconstitutional Taxation, 
 but the whole of the great and loyal Province of the Massachusetts Bay 
 have been condemned unheard, in the loss of their Charter Privileges, by 
 the heretofore unknown and unheard of Exertions of Parliamentary Power, 
 which they conceive is a Power claimed and exercised in such a manner as 
 cannot fail of striking every unprejudiced mind with Horror and Amaze- 
 ment, as being subversive of all those inherent, essential and constitutional 
 Rights, Liberties and Privileges which the good people of this Colony have 
 ever held sacred, and even dearer than Life itself, nor ever can wish to 
 survive ; not only every idea of Property, but every Emolument of civil Life, 
 being thereby rendered precarious and uncertain. 
 
 "In full confidence, therefore, that no Degree of Evil thus inflicted on 
 said Town and Province, will ever induce them to give up, or betray their 
 own and the American Constitutional Rights and Privileges, especially as 
 they cannot but entertain the most pleasing Expectations that the Commit- 
 tees of the several North American Provinces, who are soon to meet at 
 Philadelphia, will in their wisdom be able to point out a Method of Conduct 
 effectual for obtaining Redress of those grievances — a Method to which 
 (when once agreed upon by said Committee) this Town will look upon 
 it their duty strictly to attend. And in the Mean Time, earnestly recommend 
 that Subscriptions be forthwith opened in this Town, under the care of 
 Reuben Smith, Esq. Capt. Lynde Lord, and Mr. William Stanton, who are 
 hereby appointed a Committee to receive and forward to the Selectmen 
 of Boston, for the use of the Poor in that Place, all such Donations as 
 shall be thereupon made for that Purpose ; as also to correspond with the 
 Committee of Correspondence there or elsewhere, as there may be Occa- 
 sion. 
 
 "We also take this Opportunity publicly to return our Thanks to the 
 members of the Honorable House of Representatives of this Colony, for 
 their patriotic and loyal Resolutions, passed and published in the last 
 Assembly on the Occasion, and order them to be entered at large on the 
 public Records of this Town, that succeeding Ages may be faithfully furnished 
 with authentic Credentials of our inflexible attachment to those inestimable 
 Privileges which We and every honest American glory in esteeming our 
 unalienable Birthright and Inheritance". 
 
 Four montlis later, we find tlie Town appointing a Committee 
 "for tlie Purposes mentioned in the Eleventh Article of the Associa- 
 tion Agreement of the Grand Continental Congress in Philadelphia, 
 5th of September last, and Approved, Adopted, and Eecommended 
 by the General Assembly of this Colony at their session in October 
 last". 
 
 Kilbourne explains, p. 91, that the "Article" herein referred 
 to, provides for "Committees of Inspection" in each city and town, 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 71 
 
 "whose business it shall be attentively to observe the conduct of 
 all persons touching this Association; and when it shall be made to 
 appear that any person has violated its articles, they are to cause 
 their names to be published in the Gazette, to the end that all such 
 foes to the rights of British America may be publicly known and 
 universally contemned as the enemies of American Liberty, and 
 thenceforth we break off all dealings with him or her". Committees 
 of Insjjection were also appointed at the Town Meetings in 1775 and 
 1776. 
 
 In 1775 the storm broke. Early in this year, David Welch, 
 whose house still stands near Milton on the Litchfield road, was in 
 command of a company called into active service. In April he 
 was commissioned as Major in Colonel Hinman's regiment. In this 
 same month a lieutenant's commission was given to Bezaleel Beebe, 
 whose four years service in the French War and rank of Ensign 
 under Archibald McNeile, entitled him to consideration as a soldier 
 of some experience. Fisher Gay of Farmington, a native of Litch- 
 field, was among those commissioned in March by special session 
 of the Legislature, receiving the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. In 
 May the country was stirred by the capture of Ticonderoga by Ethan 
 Allen and his "Green Mountain Boys", that hardy band of pioneer 
 adventurers, trained in the rough school of border warfare, in the 
 boundary disputes of New York and New Hampshire. Allen 
 was born in Litchfield, and this, Litchfield was now glad to remember, 
 though his family had taken him at the age of two to the neighboring 
 town of Cornwall, and there and in Sharon he passed his boyhood. 
 Lieutenant Crampton who was with him at Ticonderoga and entered 
 the fort at his side, was also a native of Litchfield, and lived here, 
 Kilbourne tells us, p. 93, for a large part of his life. Ticonderoga, 
 because of its position as a key to the northern waterways, was a 
 place of considerable strategic importance and its capture was a 
 triumph for the American arms. On the day following, the gar- 
 rison at Crown Point, with all its military stores, was also sur- 
 rendered to the Americans under Colonel Warner, a native of Kox- 
 bury in this county. In June came the news of Bunker Hill. At 
 this time young Aaron Burr had been living in Litchfield for more 
 than a year, at the house of his brother-in-law Tapping Keeve, read- 
 ing history and absorbing all the passionate thought and feeling 
 of the time. He now determined to enlist, and September found 
 him serving as a private soldier in Arnold's remarkable expedition 
 through the wilderness to Quebec. After enduring unimagined 
 hardships of cold, privation and illness, and overcoming almost 
 insurmountable obstacles in the unfriendly forests of the north, the 
 expedition arrived near Quebec, diminished in numbers, depleted 
 in strength, and bitterly in need of reinforcement. General Mont- 
 gomery was at that time at a post beyond the British lines, waiting 
 for the arrival of Arnold and his men. It was necessary to inform 
 him of their dangerous situation. To do this a messenger must go 
 through the enemy lines. Burr volunteered for this service, and 
 
72 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 disguised as a priest, succeeded iu fulfilling his mission, undetected. 
 We hear of liim later tlirougli a letter of Judge Keeve's, (quoted by 
 Kilbourne, p. 93) as an aide to General Montgomery in the unfortu- 
 nate attack on the city. "During this year also", says Kilbourne, 
 rather quaintly, (the capitalization is his) "Jedediah Strong was 
 appointed a Commissary to purchase Horses for the Army; and 
 Oliver Wolcott was chosen a member of the continental congress". 
 
 While Litchfield men were serving abroad, the people at home 
 were not idle. In his sermon on Judah Champion, the Eeverend 
 Frank J. Goodwin quotes an anecdote characteristic of the spirit 
 of the time, and of that ardent patriot and preacher: 
 
 ••Oiio pleasant Sabbath morning, the congregation had gathered 
 together and had just commenced the morning hymn, when through 
 the still streets, there came the sharp clatter of horses hoofs — 
 always so ominous at that time, of tidings from the army. As usual 
 when the courier arrived in any town on the Sabbath he made 
 straight for the 'meeting house'. Reaching the door, he dismounted, 
 and flinging the bridle over the horse's neck, entered the building. 
 The singing ceased, and every eye was turned on the stranger as 
 he walked up the broad aisle and ascended the pulpit stairs. He 
 handed Mr. Champion a paper, who, with a smile of triumi3h on his 
 face, arose and read 'St. Johns is taken'. It must be remembered 
 that this place (which was the key of Canada) had been besieged 
 six weeks, till people began almost to despair of its ever being taken. 
 The noble pastor, the moment he had finished the sentence, lifted 
 his eyes to heaven and exclaimed: 'Thank God for victory'. The 
 chorister, sitting opposite the pulpit in the gallery, clapped his 
 hands and shouted: 'Amen and Amen!' For awhile the joy was 
 unrestrained, but the pastor soon checked it by saying: 'There is 
 something more to be heard.' He then read a lengthy conmiunica- 
 tion, stating that the army was in a suilering condition. It was 
 now the latter part of November, and there, on the borders of 
 Canada, the winter Avas already setting in, and yet the troops were 
 about to march for Quebec to undergo the rigors of a winter cam- 
 paign. It described in vivid language their suffei'ing condition. 
 They Avere destitute of clothing, without shoes or stockings, and 
 yet Avere ordered to traverse the frozen fields of the north. 
 
 ''The touching description lost none of its pathos as read by 
 the pastor and commented on by him at its close. When he had 
 finished there Avas hardly a dry eye in the house. Especially the 
 Avomen were overcome with emotion. As soon as the congregation 
 Avas dismissed, a few prominent ladies Avere seen to gather round 
 the young pastor Avith eager countenances. They Avere evidently 
 asking him some questions, and it Avas equally evident, from his 
 beneA'olent smile and nodding head, that he Avas answering them 
 satisfactorily. Soon they began to move rapidly among the other 
 Avomen that, in turn, gathered into groups in earnest conversation. 
 After a little while they all dispersed to their homes. When the 
 congregation assembled for afternoon service not a Avoman Avas in 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD ^^ 
 
 the Church. The wives, mothers and maidens had laid aside their 
 Sabbath apparel and drawn forth their spinning wheels, set in 
 motion their looms, and brought out their knitting needles and 
 hand cards, and the village suddenly became a hive of industry. 
 On that usually still Puritan Sabbath afternoon there now rung 
 out on every side the hum of the wheel and the click of the shuttle- 
 sounds never before heard in Litchfield on the Sabbath day, and 
 which contrasted strangely with those of prayer and praise in the 
 adjoining sanctuary. Yet both believed that they were serving 
 God, The women were working for those brave patriots who 
 were about to march, destitute and barefoot, over the frozen ground 
 to strike for freedom. Many years after, when a venerable old 
 man, Mr. Champion was asked by his grand-daughter how he could 
 approve such a desecration of the Sabbath. He turned on her a 
 solemn look and replied simply: 'Mercy before sacrifice!'" 
 
 It is typical of the tragic embitterment of war as well as the 
 sternness of the Puritan faith, that we are later to find this generous 
 spirit engaged with all the ardor and eloquence of his nature in 
 the famous imprecatory prayer against the enemy. It is, however, 
 comforting to remember that, while theoretically the enemy was 
 accursed and a just object of hate, in actual practice the fiery little 
 pastor found him simply a man and a brother; and while he was 
 with the army in the north, he cared as faithfully for the sick and 
 wounded of the British Army as for our own. "Such was his zeal 
 and self-sacrifice". Dr. Goodwin tells us, "that the British officers, 
 as well as our own, returned him their warmest thanks". 
 
 The year of 1776, which was to be such an eventful one for the 
 Colonies, began in Litchfield with the enlistment by Bezaleel Beebe, 
 now a captain, of a company, under orders for the defense of New 
 York. The news was received with great enthusiasm. Kilbourne 
 tells us, p. 94, that one man when he heard it "started on a run for 
 the Captain's headquarters, fearing the roll Avould be full before he 
 could reach there", and that "Captain's Beebe's orders reached him 
 on a Sunday, and the following Saturday, the company had been 
 raised, armed and equipped, and were on their march toward Fair- 
 field". We quote here the enlistment agreement given by Kil- 
 bourne, p. 94. 
 
 "We the Subscribers, being convinced of the Necessity of a bodj' of 
 Forces to defeat certain Wicked Purposes formed by the instruments of 
 Ministerial Tyranny, do solemnly engage ourselves and enlist as Private 
 Soldiers, in a Regiment to be Commanded by Colonel Andrew Ward, Jr., 
 under the command of Major General Lee, for the Term of Eight Weeks 
 at the utmost from the Day we March from Fairfield, which is the place 
 of Rendezvous; the Honorable Major General Lee having given his Word 
 and Honor that we shall not be Detained a single Daj' after said Term. 
 Dated at Litchfield, 2ist day of January, 1776". 
 
74 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 The following list for appraisal, is also interesting as an 
 example of the simplicity of military organization at that time. 
 
 Litchfield, 26tli January, 1776 
 
 "We, being requested to apprise the Arms belonging to Capt. Bezaleel 
 Beebe's Company, in Col. Andrew Ward's Regiment, going on an expedition 
 to New York under the command of General Charles Lee — we accordingly 
 apprized the same, being first duly sworn, viz., 
 
 Elihu Harrison's Gun, Bayonet and Cartridge Box. in his own hands. 
 (Figures omitted), 
 
 Roger N. Whittlesey's Gun in the hands of Briant Stoddard. 
 
 Joseph San ford's Gun, Bayonet and Belt in his own hands. 
 
 Nathaniel Allen's Gun, Bayonet and Belt in his own hands. 
 
 Obed Stoddard's Gun, bayonet. Cartridge box and belt. 
 
 Joshua Smith's Gun in his own hands. 
 
 Zebulon Bissell's Gun in his own hands. 
 
 James Woodruff's Gun carried by Stephen Brown. 
 
 Phineas Goodwin's Gun, bayonet and belt. 
 
 Whiting Stanley's Gun carried by James Crampton. 
 
 Oliver Woodruff's Gun carried by himself. 
 
 Hezekiah Agard's Gun carried by John Lyman. 
 
 Jedediah Strong's Gun, bayonet and belt carried by Wm. Patterson. 
 
 Lieut. Jonathan Mason's Cartridge box. 
 
 Samuel Canfield's Gun carried by himself. 
 
 Noah Garnsey's Gun carried by T. Weed. 
 
 Sergt. Benjamin Bissell's Gun and Bayonet carried by himself. 
 
 Asa Osborn's Gun and Cartridge box carried by himself. 
 
 Jedediah Strong's Gun carried by Benjamin Taylor. 
 
 Jedediah Strong's Gun carried by Frederick Stanley. 
 
 Reuben Smith, Esq's Gun, Bayonet, Case and Belt, carried by Capt. 
 Beebe. 
 
 Capt. John Osborn's Gun carried by Moses Taylor. 
 ABRAHAM BRADLEY, 
 THOMAS CATLIN, 
 OBED STODDER, Appraisers on Oath. 
 
 Stodder is probably a misprint or variant for Stoddard, as Obed 
 Stoddard is one of the signers of the enlistment agreement. 
 
 The short term of enlistment was characteristic of the period, 
 and made the conduct of the war immeasurably more difficult. In 
 an address before the Litchfield Historical Society, on the occasion 
 of its semi-centennial, William Webster Ellsworth quotes in this 
 connection, General Washington's remarks at the time of the siege of 
 Boston: "It is not in the page of history, to furnish a case like 
 ours; to maintain a post within musket shot of the enemy without 
 powder, and at the same time to disband an army and recruit another 
 within that distance of twenty odd British regiments". These 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 75 
 
 short enlistments were probably due, in part, to the hope, so gener- 
 ally held in the first stages of any war, that "it can't last long". 
 Moreover, in a country chiefly agricultural and self-dependent, the 
 able-bodied men were needed at home to produce the necessities of 
 life; and the young farmers, habituated to thinking first of the 
 needs of their farms, and unused to the discipline of organized war- 
 fare, probably could not conceive the necessities of the occasion. 
 "The French and Indian Wars", Mr. Ellsworth tells us, "had been 
 conducted with Arcadian simplicity, and it had been the custom to 
 cease fighting in the winter and go home to feed the stock". Never- 
 tlieless, as the war continues, we find the same men enlisting again 
 and again for active service. 
 
 In May of this year, Kilbourne tells us, p. 96, "a regiment was 
 ordered to be raised for the defense of the State, *to be subject to 
 join the continental army, if so ordered by the Governor'. Captain 
 Beebe was appointed to the command of one of the companies of 
 this regiment, with Jesse Cook for 1st lieutenant and James Watson 
 for 2d lieutenant. Lieut. Watson was soon transferred to another 
 corps and John Smith of Litchfield was commissioned in his place". 
 Some information concerning the members of this company is given 
 in sundry accounts and memoranda among the papers of Captain 
 Beebe; quoted by Kilbourne, p. 97. "August 9, To cash paid for 
 CO fin for Ira Stone; 'Lieut, John Smith was discharged from the 
 army in Xew York'; 'John German was dismissed from my com- 
 pany by order of a General Court Martial, July 9, 1776'; ' Aug. 9,^ 
 James Beach died about 8 o'clock in the morning'; 'Sept. the 5th, 
 10 o'clock at night, Samuel Gleason died'; in the account with Joel 
 Taylor — 'Paid one dollar to Zebulon Taylor to deliver to the mother 
 of the above Joel Taylor, deceased, it being cash that was with him 
 when he died'; 'Sept. 27, 1777, Received of Capt. Beebe 22 shillings 
 for mileage from Philadelphia to Litchfield. (Signed,) Abraham 
 Haskins'. From the account of Gershom Gibbs— 'Received of Capt. 
 Beebe three dollars that belonged to my husband and son which 
 was part of the money sent to them whilst prisoners in New York, 
 (Signed,) Tabitha Gibbs'. From the account with Nathaniel Allen 
 —'Sept. 27, 1777, To cash left with Joseph Agaid to be paid to Mrs. 
 Allen that was left with me when Mr. Allen died'. From the 
 account with Phineas Goodwin — 'To back rations 16 days at Fort 
 Washington, '&c., 
 
 Kilbourne gives us, pp. 98-101, a more complete account of the 
 fortunes of some of these men, and others who enlisted from Litch- 
 field. We quote it with some few abridgements. 
 
 "About the 1st of November, 1776, thirty-six picked men, were 
 placed under the command of Capt. Beebe and set to Fort Wash- 
 ington to aid in its defense. This post, together with Fort Lee on 
 the Jersey shore, commanded the mouth of the Hudson, and was 
 hence regarded by the enemy as a tempting prize. In anticipation 
 of an attack, the works had been strengthened and reinforced. At 
 the critical time, the Fort and Harlem Heights were manned bv 
 
76 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 two Pennsylvania Regiments commanded by Colonels Magraw and 
 Shea, Eawlin's Eiflemen from Maryland, some of the militia of the 
 flying camp, and a few companies detailed from the Connecticut Regi- 
 ments. On the 15tli of November, Sir William Howe summoned 
 Colonel Magraw, (who had the chief command of the garrison), 
 to surrender. That brave oificer — acting under the immediate 
 advice of Generals Putnam and Greene, responded, that he would 
 defend himself to the last extremity. On the morning of the 16th 
 the attack was commenced at four different points nearly at the same 
 moment. . . . The assailants were provided with excellent trains of 
 artillery, which were brought to bear with effect. The attack was 
 prosecuted with extraordinary energy and spirit, and the Americans 
 continued to defend themselves until resistance became fruitless. 
 During a recess in the fight, the garrison was again summoned to 
 surrender; and after a brief consultation with the officers, Magraw 
 capitulated. The entire American force, amounting to two thousand 
 six hundred men, surrendered as prisoners of war. During the siege, 
 the enemy lost about twelve hundred, and the Americans about four 
 hundred. . . . 
 
 "The terms of the capitulation were regarded as liberal and 
 honorable on the part of the victors, and highly favorable to the 
 vanquished. The manner in which those terms were violated, and 
 set at naught, by the miscreants into whose hands the unfortunate 
 prisoners were placed, is without parallel in the history of the revo- 
 lutionary struggle. Crowded, with hundreds of others, into the 
 Sugar-House and on board the Prison-Ships, without air or water 
 and for the first two days without food, contagion and death were 
 the natural consequences. The dysentery, small-pox, and other 
 terrible diseases, broke out among them, and very few of the whole 
 number survived the terrible ordeal- On the 27th of December, 
 1776, an exchange of prisoners took place. Only eleven of Captain 
 Beebe's Company were able to sail for Connecticut. Six of these 
 died on the way home. The remainder of those who were living 
 at that date, being too ill to be removed, were left behind — where all 
 (except Sergeant Mather), died within a few days, most of them 
 with the small-pox. Here follow the names of these "picked men". 
 The notes appear to have been added by Captain Beebe at the differ- 
 ent periods corresponding with the dates": 
 
 "An Account of the Prisoners' Names mid Places of Confinement". 
 
 Sergt. Cotton Mather — returned home. 
 
 Sergt. David Hall — died of the small-pox on board the Grosvenor, Dec. 
 
 II, 1776. 
 Elijah Loomis — died. 
 
 Gershom Gibbs — died on board the ship, Dec. 29, 1776. 
 Timothy Stanley — died on board the ship, Dec. 29, 1776. 
 Amos Johnson — died Dec. 26, 1776. 
 Timothy Marsh — died on his way home. 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD n 
 
 Barnias Beach — died on his way home. 
 
 Samuel Vaill — died on board the Grosvenor, Dec. 27, 1776. 
 
 Nathaniel Allen — died of small-pox, Jan. i, 1777. 
 
 Enos Austin — died of the small-po?^, Dec. 4, 1776, in the evening. 
 
 Gideon Wilcoxson — died. 
 
 Thomas Mason — reached home, 
 
 Alexander McNeil — died. 
 
 Daniel Smith — died in New York, of small-pox, Jan. i, 1777. 
 
 Noah Beach — reached home. 
 
 Daniel Benedict — reached home. 
 
 Isaac Gibbs — died Jan. 15, 1777. 
 
 Oliver Marshall — died on his way home. 
 
 Solomon Parmely — went on board the ship, and I fear he is drowned 
 
 as I cannot find him. 
 David Olmsted — died Jan. 4, 1777. 
 Jared Stuart — died Jan. 26, 1777, in the morning. 
 John Lyman — died Jan. 26, 1777. 
 EHsha Brownson — died on his way home. 
 
 The above Prisoners are at Livingston's Sugar House. 
 
 Zebulon Bissell — died in Woodbury, on his way home. 
 Aaron Stoddard — died Jan. 12, 1777. 
 John Parmely — died Jan. 15, 1777. 
 Joel Taylor — died Jan. 9, 1777. 
 ^james Little — reached home. 
 
 Phineas Goodwin — died Jan. 5, 1777. 
 
 The above at the Church called the North Church. 
 
 Oliver WoodruflF — reached home. 
 Remembrance Loomis — died on his way home. 
 The above at Bridewell. 
 
 Corporal Samuel Cole, 
 Teremiah Weed, 
 Joseph Spencer, 
 John Whiting, 
 
 Were either killed or made their escape from Fort Washington, on the' 
 1 6th of November, 1776. 
 
 "Probably no similar instance of mortality", says Kilbourne, 
 "occurred during tlie entire war. Only sios survivors out of a com- 
 pany of thirty six hale and hearty young men, is a percentage rarely 
 reached, even in the most fatal engagements". 
 
 "Captain Beebe", he adds, "was allowed the limits of the city 
 on his parol of honor", and "was accustomed to visit his men daily, 
 so long as any remained, and did whatever he was allowed to do, 
 to alleviate their wretched condition". 
 
78 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 The ill-treatment of prisoners was one of the saddest aspects 
 of the war, and one calculated to arouse the most bitterness. 
 Another Litchfield company had been raised in June 1776, part of 
 six battalions ordered from Connecticut by the General Assembly, 
 to reinforce the army in New York. Of this company Abraham 
 Bradley was Captain, Tillej^ Blakesley, 1st Lieutenant, Thomas Cat- 
 lin, 2d Lieutenant, and James Morris Jr., Ensign. "Among the 
 'Wolcott Papers','' Kilbourne tells us, p. 102, "is preserved the fol- 
 lowing Deposition made on the 3d of May, 1777, before Andrew 
 Adams, Esq. J. P., by Lieutenant Thomas Catlin: 
 
 " 'That he Avas taken Prisoner by the British Troops on New 
 York Island, September 15, 1776, and confined with a great number 
 in close Gaol, eleven days; that he had no sustenance for forty-eight 
 hours after he was taken ; that for eleven whole days they had only 
 about two days' allowance, and their pork was offensive to the smell. 
 That forty-two were confined in one house, till Fort Washington 
 was taken, when the house was crowded with other Prisoners ; after 
 which they were informed they should have two-thirds allowance— 
 which consisted of very poor Irish Pork, Bread hard, mouldy and 
 wormy, made of canail and dregs of flax-seed. The British Troops 
 had good bread. Brackish water was given to the Prisoners, and 
 he had seen $1.50 given for a common pail of water. Only between 
 three and four pounds of Pork was given three men for three days. 
 That for near three months, the priA'^ate soldiers were confined in 
 the Churches, and in one were eight hundred and fifty; that about 
 the 25th of December, 1776, he and about tAvo hundred and tAventy 
 five others Avere put on board the Glasgow at New York to be 
 carriod to Coiinecticut for exchange. They Avere on board eleven 
 days, and kept on black, coarse broken bread, and less pork than 
 before. TAventy eight died during these eleven days! They were 
 treated Avith great cruelty, and had no fire for sick or Avell. They 
 were crowded betAveen decks, and many died through hardship, ill 
 usage, hunger and cold'." 
 
 Even alloAving for the fact that the standards of the day were 
 rougher than our oAvn, that sanitary measures Avere little under- 
 stood, and that the British Avere under the disadvantage of conduct- 
 ing operations on foreign soil, we cannot exonerate from the charge 
 of deliberate cruelty, the officers in charge of the rcA^olutionary 
 prisons. No part of the story of our revolution, hoAvever, can be 
 Justly told, that represents the enemy as inherently base, or the 
 characters of the Avarring peoples as essentially antagonistic. They 
 were bred to the same tradition, inheritors of centuries of common 
 life. It is*interesting to remember that in the year in Avhich the 
 American Colonies declared themselves a Free Nation, the City of 
 London raised a A^oice of protest against the prosecution of the war. 
 
 The war, hoAvever, continued ; and Litchfield's part in it became 
 increasingly important. In July 1776, Oliver Wolcott had signed 
 the Declaration of Independence. Shortly after this, when the 
 British captured New York and all communications between New 
 
Major Moses Seymour 
 
ffi 
 
 o 
 
 K 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 79 
 
 England and Pennsylvania were forced onto a northerly route to 
 the Hudson and so down beyond the western highlands, Litchfield, 
 Ij'ing on the most direct route to the American posts on the river, 
 became an important military depot, which it remained until 1780. 
 "The depot for provisions'', says Kilbourne, p. 117, "stood on the 
 premises now occupied by Dr. Buel's sanitarium, in North Street, 
 where a building was erected for that purpose sixty feet long and 
 two stories high. On the site of the present Court House, was 
 erected a building of similar dimensions as a depot for other mili- 
 tary stores. A workshop for the army (which was also sixty feet 
 in length and two stories high), stood on the north side of East 
 Street, just west of the Burying Ground. At each of the places 
 here designated, a military guard was stationed night and day — the 
 roll being called — the soldiers drilled, and the guard set, at stated 
 intervals, with as much precision as would have been observed by 
 an army encamped in the vicinity of the enemy. The stores and 
 provisions deposited here, were for much of the time under the gen- 
 eral superintendence of Commissary William Eichards of Elizabeth- 
 town, X. J. Ashbel Baldwin, a native of this town, graduated at 
 Yale College in 1776, and soon received the appointment of Quarter- 
 master and Avas stationed liere. He remained at his post between 
 two and three years, when he received an honorable discharge, and 
 was succeeded in office by Oliver Wolcott Jr., wlio graduated in 
 1778". 
 
 Prisoners of war were also often sent to Litchfield and were 
 kept in the Jail on East Street. "The location being so far inland, 
 and so distant from any navigable stream", says Kilbourne, p. 112, 
 ^'it was thought they would be less liable to be discovered and res- 
 cued here, than at Hartford, New Haven or Boston". Among the 
 prisoners detained here at various times were the Hon. William 
 Franklin, royal Governor of New Jersey, loyalist son of Benjamin 
 Franklin ; and Mr. Matthews, the English Mayor of New York. The 
 latter was in the custody of Captain Moses Seymour, in which he 
 thought himself happy; and whose courtesies he requited by the 
 gift of the "pleasure-carriage" elsewhere referred to. The unfortu- 
 nate Mayor, however, was not destined to a quiet captivity. He 
 was the storm-centre of many rumors, and was at one time removed 
 from Litchfield for fear of his life. Later he was returned and 
 subsequently made his escape. George C. Woodrufl' in his Centen- 
 nial Address, delivered in 1876, states that tradition had it, "that 
 the public authorities did not well know how to deal with his case, 
 and that one day when he 'walked abroad for the benefit of the 
 ail*', (as he was iiermitted to do), he neglected to return; very much 
 to the satisfaction of all concerned in his detention". 
 
 In the summer of 1776, occurred the CA^ent, so dear to local tradi- 
 tion, when the leaden statue of George the third, torn from its gilded 
 glory on Bowling Green, was brought to Litchfield and turned into 
 rebel bullets by a few of the women and young people of the town. 
 Tliis Avas done, it is supposed, at the instance of Oliver Wolcott, who 
 
8o THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 had just returned to Connecticut from Philadelpliia, and was 
 always keenly alive to the needs of the army. Among his papers 
 was found the following account of the cartridges made on this occa- 
 sion. 
 
 Mrs. Marvin, 3456 cartridges. 
 
 " " on former account, 2602 
 
 6058 
 
 Kuth Marvin on former account, 6204 
 
 Not sent to court house 449 packs, 5388 
 
 11,592 
 
 Laura, on former account, 4250 
 
 Not sent to court house 344 packs, 4128 
 
 8378 
 
 Mary Ann, on former account, 5762 
 
 Not set to the court house 119 packs, 
 out of which I let Colonel Perley Hov/e 
 have 3 packs, 5028 
 
 10,790 
 
 Frederick, on former account, 708 
 
 Not sent to court house, 19 packs, 228 
 
 93() 
 
 37,754 
 Mrs. Beach's two accounts, 2002 
 
 Made by sundry persons, 2182 
 
 Gave Litchfield militia, on alarm, 50 
 
 Let the regiment of Col. WigglesAvorth have 300 
 
 Cartridges, No. 42,288 
 
 Overcharged in Mrs. Beach's ac<ount, 200 
 
 42,088 
 
 Woodruff, p. 47, says of this, "the late Hon. Judge Wolcotf,. 
 who figures in the account as 'Frederick', and who was a boy at 
 the time, informed me a few years ago that he well remembered 
 the circumstance of the statue being sent there, ixvA that a shed 
 was erected for the occasion in an apple orchard adjoining the 
 house, Avhere his father chopped it up with the wood axe, and the 
 'girls' had a fi'olic in running the bullets and making them up into 
 cartridges. ... 
 
 "The estimation in which lead was held in those days may be 
 imagined from the fact that the above account of cartridges is filed 
 carefully among returns of troops, accounts of requisitions upon 
 the states, and issues of bills of credit". 
 
 In October of this year, Oliver Wolcott was reappointed a mem- 
 ber of the Continental Congress; and Drs. Reuben Smith and Setii 
 Bird were appointed by the Legislature to serve on a committee "to 
 examine all ]>ersons in this State that should be offered as Surgeons 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 8i 
 
 or Surgeons' Mates in the continental army or navy, and if found 
 qualified, to give tliem certificates". Andrew Adams was appointed 
 with others, to cause the arrest of all suspected persons, and those 
 dangerous to the liberties of America. 
 
 In December, the Legislature appointed Tapping Eeeve and 
 Lynde Lord on a committee "to rouse and animate the people", and 
 endeavor to procure the enlistment of volunteers for Washington's 
 army. A company was forthwith raised in Litchfield, and the fol- 
 lowing officers were commissioned: Nathaniel Goodwin, Captain; 
 Alexander Waugh, Lieutenant; and Ozias Goodwin, Ensign. At 
 the same session. Colonel Wolcott was promoted to the rank of 
 Brigadier General, and given the command of the Fourth Brigade. 
 
 This winter was a profoundly trying time for the American army. 
 Mr. Ellsworth tells us that Fiske considered the attack on Trenton 
 the most critical point in Washington's career, for the terms of 
 service of the greater part of his men expired on NeAv Year's Day, 
 and had the attack failed it would have been almost impossible to 
 fill his ranks again. "In that dark hour", says Mr. Ellsworth, 
 "New England did her duty and sent all the troops she could raise 
 to create a diversion in the neighborhood of New York. Judge 
 Tapping Eeeve . . . was one of those who went . . . and served as 
 an officer until the news of the victories of Trenton and Prince- 
 ton brought assurance that Washington's army Avas safe for a time". 
 
 Through all changes of manners and modes of Avarfare, the 
 essential problems of war remain the same; armament, food, cloth- 
 ing and shelter for the army; means of raising money; provision 
 for the families of soldiers; regulation of prices; — our revolutionary 
 fathers knew them all. 
 
 "Early in 1777", says Kilbourne, p. 113, "orders Avere issued for 
 raising eight battalions in Connecticut for the continental service, 
 'to serve for three years or during the war'." (The necessity for 
 long enlistments had been brought home to the people). "Ninety 
 two soldiers for these battalions were ordered to be raised in Litch- 
 field". In March we find the tOAvn voting as follows: 
 
 "Voted that the families of such soldiers belonging to this town who 
 shall undertake in the Continental Army in the Connecticut Battalions, and 
 have not time and opportunity to lay out their money, and make proper pro- 
 vision for their families in their absence ; be supplied with necessaries at the 
 prices stated by law on reasonable request and lodging money therefore, . . . 
 agreeable to an order and Recommendation of the Hon. the Governor and 
 Council of Safety of the i8th March, 1777. 
 
 "Also, Voted strictly to adhere to and jointly and severally endeavor td 
 enforce, support and maintain the Law regulating prices as recommended 
 in said proclamation". 
 
 In April, they further voted to pay out of the town treasury "to 
 each soldier that should enlist for the term specified, the sum of 
 twelve pounds per annum", in addition to their pay from the State 
 or Federal Government. 
 
82 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 Town votes of a similar nature are recorded tlirougliout the 
 war. In those days the town was far more than now the unit 
 of government, and the town vote regulated many things that are 
 now controlled by the State or Nation. 
 
 In this year of 1777 the people began to feel the inevitable 
 reaction from the first enthusiasm of the war. A letter, quoted by 
 Kilbourne, pp. 107-110, from Dr. Eeuben Smith to Oliver Wolcott, 
 then attending Congress in Philadelphia, gives us a vivid picture 
 of the doubts and discoiiragements of the time. Kilbourne reminds 
 us that "considerable allowance must be made for the personal and 
 political prejudices of the writer"; and that "the insinuation in 
 regard to Major Welch" is "ungenerous and uncalled for"; that 
 aside from his active service in the field, that gentleman had been 
 again and again elected to public offices, at times when the "least 
 suspicion of Toryism" would not be tolerated. The letter follows: 
 
 Litchfield, 17 April, 1777. 
 
 Hon'd Sir — Your favor of the ist instant came to hand the iSth, and I 
 now sit down to give you the desired information, though ignorant of any 
 proper conveyance. 
 
 At the Town Council in January, John Marsh, 3d, and Daniel Rowe, 
 were objected to as Innholders; upon which Captain John, who is this year 
 one of the Selectmen, moved that Marsh might be called in, which was 
 agreed to. He accordingly came in, and acknowledged the several charges 
 in substance, and openly declared that in his opinion America had better 
 settle the dispute on the best terms they could obtain from Great Britain ; 
 that the further we proceeded, the deeper we should get in the mire, (his 
 own words,) and must finally submit. Captain John tried to help him out 
 by putting some questions which would admit of ambiguous answers ; but 
 the young man was too open and frank in his answers;, and accordingly was 
 left out, as was Rowe. Captain Seymour and David Stoddard were put in 
 their room. 
 
 The latter end of January I joined the army under General Wooster, 
 and retreating soon after in a stormy night, was over fatigued, fell sick, 
 was carried up to Horseneck and there discharged, and returned home some- 
 time in February. . . . 
 
 I can't recollect that March produced anything very remarkable except 
 the struggle about the small-pox. 
 
 April is a month of great importance and expectation. Several appeared 
 by the suffrages to be candidates for election at the Freemen's Meeting. 
 Mr. Adams came in first; and, after many rounds, Mr. Strong just carried 
 it against Captain Bradley. Captain John Marsh fell much short of the 
 number I expected. Major Welsh, who for some time has appeared a cool 
 friend of the American causey, was observed to have nearly all the tory 
 votes. So much for Deputies. The Constables for Litchfield were Lieu- 
 tenant Mason, (since dead,) Alexander Catlin, Briant and David Stoddard. 
 Lieutenant Mason was appointed in the winter service, was seized with a 
 pleurisy at DeLancey's Mills, (Westchester,) sent over to Rochelle, and 
 when we retreated from Fort Independence, was removed to Mamrock, 
 where he died the same day. His eldest son, who was with Captain Beebe 
 at Fort Washington, came home about the same time in a very miserable 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 83 
 
 condition, and is since dead. Captain Beebe and Lieutenant Jesse Grant 
 still remain in captivity. It was said, after our success at Trenton and 
 Princeton, that we were abundantly able to exchange all our prisoners ; and 
 certain it is, that we have numbers in hand, and yet our people are held 
 prisoners. Is there not somewhere a neglect? May these partial ills be 
 productive of universal good? Has my honored friend any bright prospects? 
 Has he any cordial for one almost in the Nadir of Despondency? Public 
 spirit and virtue exist with «s only in idea. Almost every one is pursuing 
 his private gain, to the entire neglect of the public good. Our proportion 
 of the continental army, I believe, is not half completed. Men will not 
 enlist, and if drafted only for six weeks, (as has lately been the case,) they 
 will rather pay a fine of five pounds. Thirteen men were the other day 
 drafted in Captain Marsh's company to go to Peekskill and to be held but 
 six weeks after their arrival. Not one has gone or intends to go. This 
 town met last week and voted £12 premium for every one that should 
 enlist into the continental army for three years or during the war ; but I 
 cannot learn that one man has enlisted since. This day orders came to 
 town from the Governor and Council of Safety to fill up the Eight Battalions 
 immediately, by drafting men out of the militia and alarm companies, till 
 the 1st of January ; but it will not be done, as a fine of five pounds will 
 excuse from going. 
 
 Our money is continually depreciating. This week, John Collins sold 
 two yoke of oxen for £95, which might have been bought a twelve month 
 past for £20 per yoke. Every necessary article is continually rising in price, 
 which proves a fatal discouragement to men's engaging in the service ; for 
 if they go, their families (say they) must unavoidably suffer and starve, as 
 their bounty and pay will not procure them the necessary support. 
 
 Monday, 28th April. — Finding no opportunity of forwarding the fore- 
 going, direct, it has lain by until this time, and now send it to the Post Oflfice 
 in Hartford with the following addition : 
 
 Intelligence was brought to town last Saturday afternoon, that twenty- 
 four Transports were come to a place called Compo, between Fairfield and 
 Norwalk, and that the troops were landing. About two o'clock next morn- 
 ing, an Express came from New Milford, who informed that the troops 
 landed to the number of three thousand, with some light field-pieces, and 
 proceeded direct to Danbury, where they arrived without the least opposi- 
 tion on Saturday at two o'clock in the afternoon, took possession of our 
 stores and the town, which was said to be in flames when the Express came 
 away. The people with great spirit turned out immediately from all our 
 towns, but I fear to little purpose; for if they fired the town Saturday 
 afternoon, they will get on board their shipping before our people get down. 
 Last night advice was brought that the enemy was landing at New Haven 
 on Saturday night, but I imagine it to be only a feint in order to prevent 
 their retreat being cut ofif. We have heard nothing from Danbury since the 
 departure of our people. The Tories are grown very insolent, but I believe 
 they will not dare attempt anything openly with us. 
 
 Mrs. Wolcott and family are well. Oliver is gone to Danbury. My 
 haste must apologize for abruptness. &c. 
 
 I am, Sir, Your Humble Servant, 
 
 REUBEN SMITH. 
 
84 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 "Oliver" herein referred to is, of course, tlie younger Oliver 
 Wolcott, then seventeen yeiirs old, and a student at Yale. He was 
 in Litc'lifield at the time of the Alarm, and Kilbourne tells us, p. 110, 
 how awakened at night, he armed himself and set out, at once, with 
 his mothers charge, "to conduct like a good soldier". 
 
 Evidently Dr, Smith's pessimism concerning the spirit of the 
 people was unfounded, or else the historian Gibbs Avas misinformed; 
 for the latter tells us, that the fourteen men who left Litchfield 
 on this occasion, were "■the last in Litchfield capable of hearing 
 arms". 
 
 Woodruff, pp. 3940, quotes a second letter of Dr. Smith's, dated 
 Max 12th of this year, in which he Avrites more fully of the Alarm. 
 
 "Sunday morning, 27th April, about one o'clock, we were 
 alarmed; our people turned out spiritedly; came up with rear of 
 the enemy about eleven the next day, a little below Wilton Meeting 
 House, and pursued them aboard their ships, Paul Peck was killed 
 in the last attack on the enemy. Levi Peck, Thomas Peck's son, 
 was Avounded in the shoulder about the same time; in Wilton, Ozias 
 Goodwin was Avounded in the arm, and Salmon Buel had one of his 
 thighs broken, and the other shot through with the same ball. 
 
 The infamous Daniel Griswold, came into the western part of 
 the Town, the morning before the alarm, and was there concealed 
 till Monday, and took off to join the ministerial army, David Kil- 
 born, Benjamin Kilborn's son Cha's, Isaac Kilborn's son Abraham, 
 and Samuel Kilborn son to Giles Kilborn, Jonathan Smith, Jr., 
 and his brother Elisha, (who was enlisted in the light horse.) 
 David Joy, Ephraim Bates, Benjamin Doolittle, Josiah Stone, and 
 John Davies' youngest son David, and one John Beach of Wood- 
 bury who lived at Josiah Stone's. 
 
 The Wednesday following they were taken, (except Benjamin 
 Dootlittle, and Charles Kilborn, who it is said Avere killed in 
 attempting to escape,) and Avere carried to Derby, where they Avere 
 tried by a Court Martial, and GrisAvold Avas sentenced to be hanged; 
 Avhich sentence Avas executed the Monday following, at New Haven. 
 The rest AA'ere pardoned, upon their enlisting into the Continental 
 Army <luring the War. ..." 
 
 Of Paul Peck, alluded to in the Letter of Doct. Smith, it is 
 said, "he Avas the most expert hunter of the time in AA^hich he lived. 
 At the Danbury Alarm, he put his large Gun in order, and foUoAved 
 the enemy to Compo, on their retreat, and took a station behind a 
 stone Avail, and every shot told, until he Avas rushed upon by the 
 enemy, avIio took his gun from him and dashed his brains out with 
 it." He Avas killed April 28th, 1777, aged about scA^enty -five years. 
 
 Kilbourn tells us, j). Ill, that "Father Mills the eccentric clergy- 
 man of Torringford, Avishing on one occasion to illustrate the cer- 
 tain and irrcA^ocable doom of the Avicked, told of a timid Berkshire 
 fox that started on a trip to the Sound", and "having safely passed 
 the snares, and hunters, and hounds, that beset his Avay, he became 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 85 
 
 careless, proud and self-conceited. 'He enters Fat Swamp at a 
 Jolly trot, head and tail up, looking defiance at the enemies he has 
 left so far behind him. But O, the dreadful reverse: In the midst 
 of his haughty reverie, he is brought to a sudden and everlasting 
 stop IN ONE OF PAUL PECK'S TEAPS!'" 
 
 Of Griswold, Kilbourne says, p. 116, that he was reputed to 
 be "a young man of good character and energy, and was not unpopu- 
 lar with a large class of whigs. Perhaps, by the bloody code of war, 
 he ought to have suffered death as a traitor for enlisting soldiers for 
 the king's service; though it is a fact beyond dispute, that there 
 were among the king's troops, in that very contest, whole regiments 
 of 'Royal Americans', as they were styled. Many of the leading 
 Avhigs of Litchfield were open in their condemnation of the action 
 of the Court Martial in this instance, and the event probably did 
 not advance the republican cause in this town". 
 
 In June of this year, the town witnessed the passage of foui- 
 companies of Sheldon's Horse, under the leadershij) of Major Ben- 
 jamin Tallmadge, bound to reinforce General Washington at his 
 headquarters, at Morristown. Kilbourne suggests, p. 150, that it 
 was probably on this occasion that the troops attended public wor- 
 ship in the old Meeting House, and that Judah Champion offered 
 the prayer, before referred to, which is given in Hollister's History 
 of Connecticut, Vol. II, pp. 390: 
 
 "O Lord, we vicAv with terror and dismay the enemies of Thy 
 holy religion. Wilt Thou send storm and tempest to toss them 
 upon the sea, and to overwhelm them in the mighty deep or to 
 scatter them to the uttermost parts of the earth. But, peradventure, 
 should any escape Thy A^engeance, collect them together again, O 
 Lord! as in the hollow of Thy hand, and let Thy lightnings play 
 upon them. We do beseech Thee, moreover, that Thou do gird 
 up the loins of these Thy servants who are going forth to fight Thy 
 battles. Make them strong men, that 'one shall chase a thousand, 
 and two shall put ten thousand to flight'. Hold before them the 
 shield with which Thou wast wont in the old time to protect Thy 
 chosen people. Give them swift feet, that they may pursue their 
 enemies, and swords terrible as that of Thy destroying angel, that 
 they may cleave them down when they have overtaken them. Pre- 
 serve these servants of thine, Almighty God! and bring them once 
 more to their homes and friends, if Thou canst do it consistently 
 with Thine high purposes. If, on the other hand. Thou has decreed 
 that they shall die in battle, let Thy Spirit be present with them, 
 and breathe upon them, that they may go up as a sweet sacrifice into 
 the courts of Thy temple, where are habitations prepared for them 
 from the foundations of tliq world". 
 
 Sheldon's Regiment of Horse, says Kilbourne, p. 128, "was 
 Washington's favorite corps, and continued to act under his imme- 
 diate direction till the Treaty of Peace was signed — constituting at 
 once his messengers, his body-guard, and his agents for the accom- 
 
86 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 plishment of any enterprise, however desperate". Colonel Sheldon, 
 commander of the regiment, "had been for some twenty years a 
 resident of Litchfield, and his troops were raised almost exclusively 
 in this vicinity. Captains Moses Seymour, Stanton and Wads- 
 worth, of this town, commanded companies in this corps — Captain 
 Stanton being at the same time Paymaster of the Eegiment. Major 
 Tallmadge was one of Sheldon's most efficient Majors". 
 
 Tallmadge is one of the most attractive and dashing figures of 
 our revolutionary history. He was later to establish himself in 
 Litchfield, and enter into business enterprise and public affairs with 
 the same adventurous enthusiasm with which he conducted himself 
 in the war. He always held a high place in the esteem of the 
 people. He joined the army early in 1776 and became a Captain 
 of Dragoons later in that year. His company was mounted entirelj^ 
 on dapple-greys, and Kilbourne tells us, p. 150, that with their black 
 straps and bear-skin holster covers they "looked superbly". Their 
 commander was at this time a young man of twenty three. A 
 sketch of him by Colonel TrmnbuU, shows, under the plumed helmet 
 of the Dragoon, a high-bred sensitive face, clear-eyed, confident and 
 gallant. His service throughout the war fulfilled this promise. 
 
 During the summer of 1777, the depot at Litchfield was actively 
 employed in receiving and transmitting supplies. We can imagine 
 the bustle and excitement of the little town with the passage of 
 troops and supply trains. Kilbourne gives us, pp. 117-118, an 
 account of this activity. "On the 30th of June, Governor Trumbull 
 wrote to General Wolcott, informing him that a team would be 
 sent to Litchfield loaded with powder, lead and flints, and request- 
 ing him to send a team to Salisbury for a load of cannon-shot, to 
 be forwarded to Hartford by returning teams. By a subsequent 
 record of the Council of Safety, it appears that on this occasion, 
 there were sent to Litchfield seventeen hundred pounds of gun- 
 powder, two thousand pounds of lead, one thousand flints, and three 
 hundred pounds of caiuion-powder. 
 
 "On the 23rd of July following, an order was drawn on David 
 Trumbull, for twenty five pounds, five shillings and tenpence, in 
 favor of John and Daniel Dewey, 'for carting powder and lead from 
 Lebanon to Litchfield' ". 
 
 In the following month. New York appealed to New England 
 to come to their aid, and Dr. Goodwin tells us, p. 11, that "the com- 
 mittee of the town of Litchfield transmitted by return post on 
 August 4th, 1777, the following reply: 
 
 "Yours of the First Instant respecting the alarming Situation 
 of our northern affairs never reached us before this moment. 
 Surely, Gentlemen, we shall never be backward in affording every 
 Possible aid in our power for the Belief of the County of Albany. 
 We are not so narrow and Contracted as not to extend every assist- 
 ance as well to the Inhabatents of a sister state as to those of our 
 own; nor do we imagine that we our selfs can long be safe whilst 
 
Col. Benjamin Tallmadge 
 
 From a Portrait by Ralph Earle 
 
Mrs. Benjamin Tallmadge 
 
 From a Portrait by Ralph Earle 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 87 
 
 Desolation and Conquest over spread your State. In short our 
 Feelings are such that Ave would run every Hazzard, and risque 
 every danger, for you that we should for ourselves". 
 
 In August, also, according to Kilbourne, p. 118, "General Wol- 
 cott wrote to the Governor and Council, stating that he had ordered 
 all the effective men of Sheldon's Horse and Humphrey's regiment, 
 (who had not been called to duty under the recent act, and were 
 liable to be called out of the State), to march immediately to Peeks- 
 kill, well provided with arms, and Avith forty days' provisions. The 
 General's course was approved, and an order was directed to be 
 drawn on the State Treasurer, in his favor, for the sum of £1,000. 
 About the same time, Sheriff Lord was directed to procure from 
 the merchants of Litchfield county, for the use of the army, four 
 hogsheads of rum, six hogsheads of sugar, and two thousand pounds 
 of coffee, at a stipulated price. If the merchants refused to furnish 
 the goods at the price named, the Sheriff was ordered to take the 
 articles wherever he could find them, at the appraisal of two or 
 three judicious freeholders and to make return of his doings to the 
 Council. 
 
 "In September, Litchfield was established by the Council, as 
 the place of rendezvous for the Sixth Brigade, and Major Beebe Avas 
 stationed here as the recruiting officer for the Brigade. 
 
 "Late in the autumn of this year, a large proportion of the 
 military stores, taken at the capture of Bourgoyne, Avere deposited 
 here". 
 
 The capture of Bourgoyne brought new hope to the Americans. 
 One of the British officers, wounded at Saratoga, said, when he 
 heard the fate of the day: "Then the contest is no longer doubtful, 
 America Avill be independent. I have fought earnestly for my King 
 and Country, but the contest is ended". This officer was a prisoner 
 in the custody of Captain Moses Seymour, whose troop of horse 
 was in that memorable engagement. 
 
 Captain Seymour's account of the dinner given by the American 
 officers to Bourgoyne and his associates after the surrender is 
 recorded by Kilbourne, p. 158: "The utmost courtesy and good feel- 
 ing prevailed on the part of the principal officers, and the responses 
 to the sentiments given were hearty and enthusiastic. At length. 
 General Bourgoyne was called upon for a toast. Every voice was 
 for the moment hushed into the deepest attention, as he arose and 
 gave: 'America and Great Britain against the world!' The response 
 which foUoAved may be imagined". 
 
 In spite of the success at the North, however, the army in Penn- 
 sylvania had suffered double defeat on the Brandywine and at 
 Germantown, and these losses were followed by the bitter Avinter 
 at Yalley Forge. It was a dark day for the young nation. Neverthe- 
 less, the people were grimly determined to adhere to their cause. In 
 January, 1778, the town of Litchfield confirmed by vote the Articles 
 of Confederation and Perpetual Union betAveen the States. 
 
88 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 In this winter we hear again of Tallniadge, who was stationed 
 with a detachmen of dragoons, as an advanced corps of observation 
 between our army and that of the enemy. He Avrote to Washington 
 constantly at this time of the need of money and the difficulty of 
 procuring the supplies necessary for his troops. 
 
 Later in 1778, he was transferred to service along the Sound, 
 and began his private correspondence with Washington and his 
 organization of an Intelligence Service, which he was to continue 
 throughout the war. His letters of this period which are pre- 
 served in the Litchfield Historical Society are very interesting, 
 showing the care and attention which lie gave to detail, combined 
 with the imagination to conceive extended plans. He also shows 
 a consideration for his subordinates remarkable in so young an 
 officer. 
 
 Throughout the year 1779, he wrote nearly every month, arrang- 
 ing to receive and pass on intelligence through men posted behind 
 the British lines. A code was established and some sort of special 
 ink, requiring a stain, was used. Early in this year, he spoke of 
 the j)ossible end of the war: there were certain significant move- 
 ments of the enemy; Tories were selling their land. In September, 
 he conducted a successful raid on Lloyd's Neck, to break up a band 
 of freebooters, who from this shelter near a strong British post 
 had been plundering the Connecticut shore. In spite of the success 
 of this particular raid and the capture of nearly the entire band of 
 marauders, the plundering of the coast was to be an annoyance till 
 the end of the war, and Tallmadge was continually combatting it. 
 
 The hope of peace held in the early part of 1779 was not to be 
 realized; and in 1780 we find Tallmadge still conducting operations 
 on the Sound. 
 
 Meanwhile, the army at Morristown was in great distress after 
 a severe Avinter, and Washington appealed to Governor Trumbull 
 for aid. His messenger was detained but a short time, when Gov- 
 ernor Trumbull placed a sealed letter in his hand, directed to Gen- 
 eral Washington, announcing that on a certain day he would 
 receive at Newburgh, by a wagon train from Hartford, two hundred 
 barrels of flour, one hundred barrels of beef, and one hundred bar- 
 rels of pork. Washington's comment on opening the letter was: 
 "If the Lord would make windows in heaven, might this thing 
 be". And when the provisions arrived on the day appointed, he 
 said: "No other man than Governor Trumbull could have procured 
 them, and no other state than Connecticut would have furnished 
 them". This train passed through Litchfield, where additional sup 
 plies were obtained. Colonel Henry Champion, the father of the 
 Rev. Judah Champion and of Mrs. Julius Doming, accompanied the 
 train, in charge of a drove of cattle, which were tolled across the 
 Hudson by the side of small boats. 
 
 In Litchfield, in this year, the town did everything possible 
 to encourage recruiting and to help the army. It is interesting to 
 see the effort made to neutralize for the soldier the high cost of 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 89 
 
 living, b}"^ a town vote to "malve good to him his Forty Shillings per 
 Month, by such addition to the Pay he shall receive from the State 
 or the United States as shall make said Pay sufficient to purchase 
 as much Provisions as Forty Shillings would have done in 1774". 
 
 Besides the visits at various times of Lafayette, Kochambeau 
 and other generals, those of General Washington stand out in the 
 traditions of Litchfield. In September, 1780, he arrived here on 
 his way from Hartford to West Point, and according to Gibbs was 
 entertained at General Wolcott's house. The following morning 
 he proceeded westward. It was on his arrival at West Point from 
 this journey that the historical breakfast occurred, at which the 
 treason of Benedict Arnold was revealed. On the evening before, 
 September 23, 1780, near Northcastle, Major Tallmadge Avas busily 
 engaged in unraveling the mystery of Arnold's associate, John 
 Andre, who in the guise of John Anderson had been captured by 
 three militiamen. Tallmadge discovered the identity of Andre and 
 suspected the treachery of Arnold. If his recommendations to 
 Colonel Jameson, his superior officer, had been acted upon, Arnold 
 would never have escaped. 
 
 Andre remained a prisoner in Tallmadge's custody until the 
 time of his execution. During this brief period a warm attach- 
 ment sprang up between the two young men. Years later Tall- 
 madge wrote: "I became so deeply attached to Major Andre, that 
 I can remember no instance where my affections were so fully 
 absorbed in any man. When I saw him swinging under the gibbet, 
 it seemed for a time as if I could not support it". 
 
 Shortly after this tragedy, Tallmadge was on duty again along 
 the Sound; and in November he made a successful attack on Fort 
 George on the south side of Long Island. In 1781 he actively con- 
 tinued his Intelligence Service, and secured plans of the enemy's 
 works at various points. He also arranged for Count Eochambeau, 
 then at Newport, to communicate with the secret agents and to use 
 their services, for which the Count was to provide the necessary 
 money. On May 2, 1781, Tallmadge wrote to Washington from 
 Wethersfield concerning this latter arrangement. On May 18th Wash- 
 ington made the following entry in his diary: "Set out this day for 
 an interview at Wethersfield with the Count de Eochambeau and 
 Admiral Barras. Eeached Morgan's Tavern, 43 miles from Fish- 
 skill Landing, after dining at Col. Vanderberg's May 19th. 
 
 Breakfasted at Litchfield, dined at Farmington, and lodged at Weth- 
 ersfield at the house of Mr. Joseph Webb". 
 
 Whether Washington visited Litchfield a third time is uncer- 
 tain ; but on one of his visits he lodged at the Gould house on North 
 Street, then occupied as a tavern by Samuel Sheldon. Captain 
 Salmon Buel remembered going early in the morning, with about 
 fifty of his school fellows, to see the renowned commander on this 
 occasion. "A company of horse-guards was drawn up before the 
 house waiting for him; but, as he was not ready to start, the 
 guards rode down North Street and for a considerable distance out 
 
90 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 West Street, returning in a short time to the Gould House. The 
 General now came out, mounted his horse, and the cavalcade pro- 
 ceeded down South Street, perhaps to enable him to pay his respects 
 to General Wolcott". (Kilbourne, p. 130). 
 
 During the last three years the center of military operations 
 had shifted to the south, and it was there in this year 1781 that 
 the decisive battle of the war was fought. "When Cornwallis was 
 forced to retreat toward the north, after his engagement at Guilford 
 Court House, North Carolina, he took a position at Yorktown. 
 LaFayette had been sent by Washington against him and he held 
 the British in check while the grand coup of the war was accom- 
 plished. The commander-in-chief, with his army from the High- 
 lands of the Hudson, including several Connecticut regiments, was 
 making a feint as if to attack New York; his enemy's weak position 
 on the York peninsula developed — the French fleet was investing it 
 on one side — and Washington, by a swift movement, marched south- 
 ward, and on the fourth anniversarj^ of Bourgoyne's surrender, our 
 Litchfield county men heard the British bands play 'The World 
 Turned Upside Down', as the army of Cornwallis laid down its 
 arms". (W. W. Ellsworth: Semicentennial Address before the 
 Litchfield Historical Society). 
 
 It is part of the tragic necessity of war, and the suspicions 
 engendered by it, that the machinery once set in motion cannot 
 easily be brought to a stop; so, though the surrender of Cornwallis 
 meant that American independence was assured, a state of war con- 
 tinued, through the succeeding year and well into 1783. In the 
 spring of 1782, the town of Litchfield voted to raise recruits by a 
 sort of selective draft, decided on in 1781, by which the town was 
 divided into classes, each class being responsible for i)rocuring a 
 certain number of recruits. In March of this year three citizens 
 of the town were assessed "on examination by the civil authorities 
 and selectmen, agreeable to law, for each a son gone to the enemy". 
 
 In the mean time, there was still a certain amount of unrest 
 along the Sound; and Tallmadge was engaged in communicating 
 intelligence, and through the first months of 1783 reported frequent 
 skirmishes between British and American small craft on those 
 waters. On March 29th he received rumors of peace, which were 
 confirmed two days later. He immediately requested i3ermission to 
 be among the first to enter New York, in order to protect the Secret 
 Service men, whose position, by reason of its necessary concealments, 
 would be misunderstood by patriots more openly engaged. 
 
 It is a tribute to the good sense and good feeling of the people, 
 that a number of British soldiers became residents of Litchfield 
 after the war, and some of them died here leaving families. There 
 was also the deserter Kichard Morris, who with his brother Eobert, 
 left the British ranks to serve with the Americans under Captain 
 Beebe. John Gatta, a Hessian, unwillingly impressed in the King's 
 forces, who had deserted in New York and served in a New York 
 regiment, also came subsequently to Litchfield, where he lived for 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 91 
 
 fifty years and married the grand-daughter of Timothy Collins. 
 
 Litchfield was quick to begin the readjustments permitted by 
 peace and to return to normal life. 
 
 In October, 1783, the town voted to adjust the claims of the non- 
 commissioned officers and soldiers who had served in the eight bat- 
 talions of Connecticut, and to whom a bonus had been previously 
 granted by vote. This task, with the depreciation of currency, must 
 have been a formidable one. An example of the light in which 
 Continental money was considered is given in Kilbourne's account, 
 pp. 160-161, of the experience of Elisha Mason, the last of Litch- 
 field's Kevolutionary soldiers. "On one occasion, at the expiration 
 of a term of service, he was discharged on the Hudson, and paid 
 off in Continental currency. Starting homeward on foot, he reached 
 D anbury, where he spent the night. In the morning, on attempt- 
 ing to settle his bill, his Continental money was refused. He offered 
 larger and still larger sums, and finally tendered bills to the 
 amount of forty dollars, for lodging and meals; but the landlord 
 refused to take the money on any terms. Mr. Mason was finally 
 compelled to pawn his rifle to cancel his indebtedness. As his wages 
 were but eight dollars per month, he thus offered the avails of five 
 months' services for his keeping for twelve hours. 
 
 A sufferer from the depreciation of the currency, on a larger 
 scale, was Julius Deming, who had served throughout the war *as 
 Commissary officer. At one time, when money was urgently needed, 
 for the purchase of cattle, he advanced to Colonel Champion, his 
 superior officer, four Loan Office Certificates for $400 in cash, 
 amounting in all to $1,600. Besides this his commissions from 
 the Government, on purchases made by him aggregating $1,493,209, 
 amounted to $28,247,96, which represented his income during three 
 years of service. When the day of payment came, and he received 
 Continental currency worth 1 to 70 or 72, the amount of his loss 
 can easily be figured, as his commissions, large though they appear, 
 amounted to less than half of his actual loan to Colonel Champion. 
 
 In the latter part of 1780, Mr, Deming came to Litchfield, and in 
 1790 built the house on North Street known as "the Lindens". In 
 1784, Major Tallmadge had established himself in his house on the 
 other side of the street, bought two years before. Here the two 
 distinguished men, long to be associated in business enterprises, 
 enjoyed the years of prosperity in the "Golden Age" of Litchfield's 
 history, to which each contributed so much. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE GOLDEN AGE. 
 
 The Eev. Dan Huntington, who was pastor in Litchfield from 
 1798 to 1809, wrote of the town as it was when he first came here: 
 "A delightful village, on a fruitful hill, richly endowed with schools 
 both professional and scientific, with its venerable governors and 
 judges, with its learned lawyers, and senators, and representatives 
 both i]i the national and state departments, and with a population 
 enlightened and respectable, Litchfield was now in its glory". 
 
 We have indeed reached the golden age of our town, the years 
 following the Eevolutionary War and the first three or four decades 
 of the Nineteenth Ceutur}^, an amazing period for a small village, 
 not so much because of the inhabitants of prominence at the time, 
 as because of their achievements, because of the pioneer work they 
 did in so many different directions. Here, as we so proudly remem- 
 ber, was the first Law School, the only one at that day conducted in 
 the English language in any country ; here too was the first school for 
 the higher education of girls in America; here were the first mani- 
 festations of the temperance movement; here were taken the first 
 steps in the work of foreign missions; here were printed the first 
 Reports of law cases; here were the beginnings of the spirit which 
 led to the increased independence of married women under the Law; 
 here were conducted some of the pioneer industrial experiments in 
 the state. From the intellectual leadership of the Law School to 
 the pioneer manufacture of elastic suspenders is a long interval, 
 which Litchfield filled with energy and competence, until about 1840 
 the valleys throughout Connecticut conquered the hilltops and left us 
 only the memories of our achievements. 
 
 But the social, intellectual and commercial leadership of Litch- 
 field was attained under circumstances so unusual, that the story 
 reads like a romance. Still secluded from the great world of the 
 cities, Avithout mails or roads adapted to passenger traffic, with its 
 rigorous climate and the interminable hills, Litchfield won its way 
 forward step by step. It became a pioneer in so many and such 
 important directions because its population were pioneers. There 
 were no drones in Litchfield; the same energy that was converting 
 the forests into meadows was being exercised by a few leading 
 spirits towards converting the rude settlement at the center into 
 a polished and noteworthy society, in which Washington and Lafay- 
 ette could be received as equals. It was the triumph of the puritan 
 spirit, brave, unyielding, severe to itself and just to others; if we 
 think that it was a religion too concentrated upon doctrine and too 
 
The Jedediah Strong Milestone at Elm Ridge, 1787 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 93 
 
 hard upon the individual, must we not yet confess that it made 
 Litchfield within a hundred years a place looked up to far and wide. 
 Litchfield was a town of happy gaiety as well as of severe learning 
 and work, it had every i)hase of life represented, except that of 
 scandal. It was sometimes called a staid old town and a prim vil- 
 lage, but those who called it such are quite forgotten now, while 
 the memory of the golden age will always be fresh. 
 
 Apart from the indomitable character of the settlers, two chief 
 elements entered into the success of the town. The first was the 
 formation of Litchfield County with the importance given to our 
 legal life by the sessions here of such frequent Courts ; and the other 
 was the capture of New York hj the British in the Eevolution, 
 which threw all the business of the War onto the northern highway 
 from Boston and Hartford to West-Point passing through our vil- 
 lage. When Washington, at some crisis, would call upon Governor 
 Trumbull for help. Brother Jonathan never failed him and the help 
 and supplies would either be sent on forthwith from the stores in 
 Litchfield or they would pass through the town from points further 
 to the east. Every man in Litchfield was in the War; when the 
 last fourteen men were sent to help in the defence of Danbury they 
 included the boys of sixteen and the old men of seventy five. Happily 
 no such need has ever come again to our country and our town ; but 
 it was the need that made our town, in the sense of its prosperity. 
 With the close of the War achievement came with a great rush, that 
 swept before it all the obstacles of location and all the handicaps 
 of our belated start. It may have been another half a dozen years 
 before the government would give the town a post office, but the 
 town was starting its own newspaper and its own Law School within 
 one year, it was starting its own trade and training its own men to 
 become Governors and chief justices for the state, and Senators for 
 the United States. 
 
 A half mile from the center, on the Bantam Koad, at Elm Kidge, 
 is still standing the old white marble stone, which reads: 
 
 30 Miles to 
 
 Hartford. 
 
 102 Miles to 
 
 New York, 
 
 J. Strong, 
 A. D. 1787. 
 Jedediah Strong, as we shall see, was not a citizen representative 
 of Litchfield at its best; but he had the Litchfield spirit. The only 
 thing that separated Litchfield from other cities was distance, which 
 in turn could always be expressed in miles. 
 
 When it became apparent that a government post-office would 
 be slow in coming, it was local enterprise that decided to hasten the 
 day by the establishment of its own office, so that in January, 1791, 
 we find the Monitor issuing the following advertisement: 
 
94 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 "Post-Oifice Establishment. The Public, particularly Gentle- 
 men in the Town and Vicinity of Litchfield, having some time 
 lamented the want of a regular and weekly Intercourse with the City 
 of Hartford, by a Post immediately from this Town — are respect- 
 fully assured, that a Post in conjunction with Mr, Isaac Trow- 
 bridge, the Eider from New York, will start from this Office for 
 Hartford regularly, once a week, commencing on Monday next, the 
 31st inst. This Establishment has met the Sanction and Concur- 
 rence of Mr. Trowbridge; and the Undertakers will be subject to the 
 same Eegulation and Responsibility required by the Postmaster 
 General, Consequently, every Duty annexed to the Business will 
 be strictly and pointedly observed, 
 
 "And that the Public may be better accomodated, and derive a 
 safe Repository for their Letters, &c,, a Post-Office is opened at 
 Collier's Printing Office — at which place all Despatches, to be trans- 
 mitted through the medium of either post, must be deposited. Dur- 
 ing the Winter, (till the 1st of May next,) the Post from Ncav York 
 will ride once a fortnight, and arrive on Tuesday evenings; com- 
 mencing the 5th of the ensuing month. Those who have Business 
 or Letters are requested to leave their directions at this Office, for 
 New York on Tuesday, for Hartford on Saturday Evenings, preced- 
 ing the days of departure; as the Posts will positively start at an 
 early Hour. Letters Avill be received at this Office for any part of 
 the United States". 
 
 The establishment of this private Post gave the necessary spur 
 to the Govermnent, which in a year opened a Post Office in the 
 town. This formed one link on the Post Road from New York to 
 Hartford, passing through White Plains, Northcastle, Salem, Pound 
 Ridge, Ridgefield, D anbury. New Milford, Litchfield, Harwinton and 
 Farmington. At first the Litchfield office was the only one in the 
 County, and it is interesting to read the advertisements of unclaimed 
 letters, like the following, which shows only six letters unclaimed 
 for the whole county for a period of three months : either the number 
 of letters was very small or the interest in obtaining them was so 
 great that every one was diligently called for: 
 
 "List of Letters at the Post Office in Litchfield last quarter: 
 Noble Bostwick, Ncav Milford; Justus Cook, Northbury; David Fan- 
 cher, Watertown; Reuben and John Miner, Winchester; Jonathan 
 Werden, Salisbury. B, Tallmadge, P. M. Litchfield, Nov. 1, 1792". 
 
 "Within the half-dozen years next succeeding this date", Kil- 
 bourne, p, 169, "commenced what may be characterized as the Era 
 of Turnpikes and Stage-Coaches, which continued in its glorj'^ for 
 something over forty years. During this period, very much was 
 done to improve the routes of travel and to facilitate communication 
 of town with town. Turnpike Companies were organized in all parts 
 of the State, and turnpike stock was regarded by capitalists as a 
 safe, profitable and permanent investment. The Litchfield and New 
 Milford Turnpike Company was incorporated in October, 1797; 
 the Litchfield and Harwinton Company, in October, 1798; and the 
 
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THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 95 
 
 Litchfield and Canaan Company, in May, 1799. Then followed 
 Straits' Turnpike, from Litchfield to l^ew Haven, the Litchfield and 
 Cornwall, the Litchfield and Torrington, and the Litchfield and Ply- 
 mouth Turnpikes, — so that, in due time, it became almost impossible 
 to get into or out of our towai without encountering a toll-gate. Four- 
 horse Stage Coaches gradually came into use from the time that 
 Turnpikes became general; and ultimately Congress enacted that 
 the U. S. Mails should be thus conveyed on all the principal routes. 
 Litchfield noAV became an important center of travel. Daily lines 
 of Mail Stages were established between this village and Hartford, 
 New Haven, Norwalk, Poughkeepsie and Albany". 
 
 "There is also a turnpike", Morris, p. 93, "on the eastern bound- 
 ary, running contiguously to Mattatuck or Waterbury river, uniting 
 with the Straits turnpike at Salem, and running to Massachusetts 
 line, through Winchester and Colebrook. As the rivers and rivu- 
 lets are small, the Bridges are not worthy of a particular descrip- 
 tion. The expense of keeping them in repair amounts to between 
 two and three hundred dollars annually". 
 
 Mrs. E. N. Vanderpoel has preserved a number of the advertise- 
 ments of the Stages in her Chronicles of a Pioneer School, including 
 a long one in verse, pp. 22-23. We will only quote one of these, in 
 which the emphasis is laid upon no night travelling ; One doubts its 
 advantages on reading further that the stage leaves at 3 A. M. No 
 wonder the passengers used to sit up all night for fear of being left 
 behind, especially when they w^ere school girls going on their vaca- 
 tions : 
 
 "New Arrangement. Litchfield, New Milford, Danbury and 
 Norwalk Mail Stage. This Stage leaves Josiah Park's Hotel, Litch- 
 field, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 3 in the morning, 
 passing thro' New Preston, New Milford and Brookfleld and arrives 
 at Danbury to lodge: leaves Danbury next morning for Noi'walk 
 and arrives in time for passengers to take the steam boat for N. York. 
 No Night Travelling. Fare through to New York 3.25. Eeturning 
 Takes the Norwalk passengers at Danbury on Monday, Wednesday 
 and Friday morning, and arrives in Litchfield the same day. For 
 seats apply at the Bar at Park's Hotel, Litchfield, H. Barnes, Pro- 
 prietor, November 10, 1829". 
 
 A special importance was given to taverns by the increase of 
 Stage Coaches, as the transient business which followed was added 
 to the regular visitors coming to the town. Besides these, there 
 w^ere the scholars at the two schools, sometimes over a hundred from 
 other places, far and near, to be cared for, so that the houses which 
 were not used as Inns, were often converted into boarding houses, 
 and almost every house took in at least one boarder. 
 
 Some of the taverns were special!}' successful and popular. 
 There was Grove Catlin's Hotel, built about 1800, and later con- 
 verted into the Mansion House. This remained an Hotel till the fire 
 of 1886, and stood on the present site of Crutch & Marley's Drug 
 Store. It figures prominently in Plate 26, and in Plate 27 is shown 
 
96 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 one of the typical old village scenes, the preparation of the annual 
 Mansion House wood-pile. The logs were hauled in by teams, and 
 then a considerable number of men were employed to saw up the 
 pile, all at one time. For some years the pile used to stand out on 
 the street. 
 
 The house now owned by the Phelps House Corporation on East 
 Street, next but one to the corner of North Street, was built by John 
 Collins in 1782. He Avas a son of Timothy Collins, but he evidently 
 thought that keeping a tavern would be more profitable than follow- 
 ing in his father's footsteps in the church, and he opened the house 
 as an Inn from the beginning. The bar was in the south west front 
 room, with the ball room directl}^ overhead. 
 
 In 1787, David Buell built the present Phelps' Tavern. This 
 popular and well-known hostelry is to-day probably the oldest Hotel 
 in point of continuous service now standing in the County, if not 
 in the State. Yerj few country hotels have entertained so many 
 distinguished men and women. As originally built the entire top 
 floor was a ball-room, in which was given the famous Ball to Lafay- 
 ette in 1824. A fuller description of this room will be found in the 
 chapter on Amusements. The tavern was sold to John Phelps, 
 under w^hose regime it first became so well known. 
 
 The house on the east side of South Street, now OAvned by Mrs. 
 Esther T. Champlin, was built by Benjamin Hanks in 1780. It was 
 first used as an Hotel by Josiah Parks, in the late 20's. George 
 BoUes later kept a tavern there, and built the addition to the south. 
 Mr. Wadliams of Goshen was the last person who continued it as an 
 hotel, and it passed into the possession of A. C. Smith in the early 
 50's. Mr. Smith made the division between the north and south 
 sections. 
 
 On North Street, a famous hostelry was Sheldon's Tavern, now 
 the residence of John P. Elton. It is the second oldest house now 
 standing in the Borough. It was built in 1760 by Elislia Sheldon, 
 who came to Litchfield in 1753 with several other residents of Lyme, 
 including Lynde Lord and Reynold Marfan. Judge Sheldon was 
 Associate Judge of the Court of Common Pleas from 1754 to 1761, 
 when he was elected a member of the Council at Hartford. He 
 served in this position till his death in 1779. On his death, his 
 son Samuel Sheldon converted the house into a tavern. It was pur- 
 chased by Uriah Tracy, who made it his home till his death in 1807. 
 
 The first Court-House was built in 1752, and stood in the center 
 of the present Center Park, between the Church and the School. The 
 second Court-House was built on the site of the present Court-House 
 in 1797. Julius Deming acted for the town in its construction and 
 the contract was awarded to Alexander and Moses Catlin. The 
 contract and plans for its erection are preserved by the Litchfield 
 Historical Society. It is described in the contract "to be 40 feet 
 in front, 60 feet deep and 25 feet posts, with a flat roof to rise 1-5 or 
 2-9 with four columns in front supporting a peddiment & a Cupola". 
 
 The School-house was built in 1732. There had been, at first. 
 
X 
 
 u 
 
 ii ^ 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 97 
 
 a good deal of discussion as to whether the Center School should be 
 on Litchfield Hill or on Chestnut Hill, but once the matter was set- 
 tled it appears to have given no further trouble. In the days of 
 the golden age, the town had been divided into school districts, 
 Avhich af one time reached the surprising number of 28, each with 
 its own small school. And in addition there were a variety of 
 private schools. In 1798, the care of the Schools passed into the 
 hands of the First School Society, a body which remained in charge 
 uutil 18.55, when the management was taken over again directly by 
 the town. The Society also had charge of the Burying Grounds. 
 It was directed by many of the prominent men of the town, in the 
 form of a Committee, which probably corresponded very closely to 
 the present School Board. On this committee we find the names of 
 Lyman Beecher, Benjamin Tallmadge, Frederick Wolcott, Julius 
 Deming, Moses Seymour, Uriah Tracy, and many others. Their great 
 <'oncern, at least in the earlier years, was to obtain enough books 
 that were alike. 
 
 For a time, about 1798, there was a Public Library, and some- 
 Avhat later a Litchfield Lyceum, Avith lectures. Debates and weekly 
 meetings. 
 
 Such, very briefly, Avas the setting in Avhicli the years of the 
 Golden Age were to unfold, as we will now trace in a series of chap- 
 ters dealing with its several distinct aspects. 
 
CHAPTIDR IX. 
 
 THE LITCHFIELD LAW SCHOOL. 
 
 As we look back to the clays of the Litchfield Law School, 1784- 
 1833, it stands out as the most important single feature in the History 
 of our town. The picture we have of it in our minds is likely, 
 however, to be somewhat fragmentary. The outer side of the pic- 
 ture, what we call the picturesque side, is apt to dwarf the inner 
 meaning of this remarkable achievement. We are likely to have 
 in mind the charming account of the students' life left us in the 
 Personal Memories of E. D. Mansfield, pp. 126-128: 
 
 "We breakfasted from seven to eight in the morning, and at 
 nine went to the lecture-room to hear and take notes of Judge 
 Gould's lecture. The founder of the Litchfield LaAv School was 
 Judge Tapping Eeeve, and, if tradition is correct, few better men 
 liave ever lived, and scarcely any one was then better known to the 
 bar. He was the author of a Treatise on Domestic Relations, which the 
 lawyers admired, but said was not law, on account, I believe, of its 
 leaning too much to women's rights, a fault which would not be 
 found with it in this day. At the time I arrived in Litchfield, 1823, 
 Judg'» Reeve had given up the law school to Judge Gould, who had 
 been his partner, and he soon after died. He was a man rather 
 noted for eccentricities. After the death of his first wife, he mar- 
 ried his housekeeper, a most respectable woman, however, dis- 
 tinguished for piety and benevolence. He was quite absent-minded, 
 and one day he was seen walking up North Street, with a bridle 
 in his hand, but without his horse, which had quietly slipped out 
 and walked off. The Judge calmly fastened the bridle to a post, 
 and walked into the house, oblivious of any horse. It was under the 
 teaching of Judge Reeve that such men as John C. Calhoun and John 
 M. Clayton, of Delaware, were law students. The school was iioat 
 under the sole care of Judge Gould. At nine o'clock we students 
 Avalked to the lecture-room, with our note-books under our arms. We 
 had desks, with pen and ink, to record the important principles and 
 authorities. The practice of Judge Gould was to read the prin- 
 ciple from his own manuscript twice distinctly, pausing between, 
 and repeating in the same manner the leading cases. Then Ave had 
 time to note down the principle and cases. The remarks and illus- 
 trations we did not note. After the lecture Ave had access to a law 
 library to consult authorities. The lecture and references took 
 a!>out two hours. Those of us Avho Avere in earnest, of Avhom I was 
 one. immediately returned home, and copied out into our lecture- 
 b(!(>ks all the principles and cases. My lecture-books made five 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 99 
 
 volumes. The lectures, the references, and the copying took me, on 
 an average, from nine o'clock until three or four o'clock, with the 
 intermission of near an hour for dinner. Five to six hours a day 
 employed in this manner was my regular work at Litchfield, and 
 very seldom was a day missed. At four o'clock in the afternoon I 
 was generally at leisure, and that was usually employed in walking 
 or riding, sometimes in visiting. We prolonged our rides in sum- 
 mer time, having taken an early tea, into the starlit shades of 
 night. In the long days of summer no candles were lit in the 
 farm-houses of Connecticut. When the deep twilight came, every 
 family had gone to rest as completely as the chickens to their roosts ; 
 but when the dawn of day came, they were up; and when we lazy 
 students were at breakfast, they had done hours of work. Such 
 were the Connecticut farmers of that day". 
 
 These happy days of study, under circumstances unequalled at 
 that time, the distinguished men who then crowded our streets, (men, 
 rather, who were to be distinguished in the years to be) , the kindly, 
 lovable figure of Tapping Reeve, and the more serious Gould, made 
 the Law School the prominent feature of the town's life, unless we 
 give precedence to the charm and beauty of the girls' school. Mrs. 
 William Curtis Noyes has described the scene as an eye-witness, 
 (Vanderpoel, p. 28) : "Imagine these now quiet streets with red 
 coaches rattling through them, with signs of importer, publisher, 
 goldsmith, hatter, etc., hanging on the shops with young men arriv- 
 ing on horseback to attend the law school and divide their attention 
 between their studies of the law and studies of the prettj^ pupils of 
 the Female Academy. Then there were some gay bloods from the 
 South so much at home in the town that they disported themselves 
 in pink gingham frock coats!" 
 
 We will return again to this picturesque side of the Law School ; 
 but first it is important to try and summarize the real meaning of 
 its achievement. To do so, we must go back to a survey of the 
 legal practices before the Eevolution, and see just Avhere the study 
 of law came into the general plan. Taking the country as a whole, 
 the law then occupied a very different position from what it does at 
 the present day. There was much less wealth, proportionately: so 
 much less, that it is hard for us to realize the difference. In con- 
 sequence, there was much less litigation of a strictly business char- 
 acter. On the other hand, the body of the law was much less defined ; 
 there were no law reports, till the day of our own Ephraim Kirby, 
 1789 ; Constitutional Law, naturally, did not exist ; and the interpre- 
 tations of the Common Law were the subject of much difference of 
 opinion. Even more than to-day, the success of a lawyer depended 
 on his individuality, and the roll-call of the lawyers of the County at 
 Ihe time, as given for instance in the Centennial Address of Judge 
 Church, 1851, pp. 54-59, shoAvs an aggregation, the average merit of 
 whom is amazing when we take into account the difference in the 
 I>opulation of the County as a whole and the difference in wealth. 
 Our concern is only with the la-svyers of the township. 
 
100 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 Our most distinguished lawyer at the period of the War, was 
 Andrew Adams. He was born in Stratford, 1736, and came to Litch- 
 field in 17G4. He was one of our Eepresentatives to the General 
 Assembly, 1776-1781, after which date he became a member of Con- 
 gress. In May, 1793, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Superior 
 Court of the State, in which office he died, November 27, 1797. Of 
 him, Morris wrote, p. 110: "As a lawyer, few exceeded him; especially 
 in managing causes before a jury. He was an able judge". The 
 Monitor mentioned it as a sad coincidence that he and Governor 
 Oliver Wolcott Sr., the two highest dignitaries of the State, residing 
 on the same street of the same Adllage, were lying at the point of 
 death at the same time. Governor Wolcott survived his distin- 
 guished neighbor only four days, dying on December 1, 1797. (Bench 
 and Bar, p. 217). 
 
 Eejniold Marvin came to Litchfield from Lyme in 1751, and was 
 appointed King's Attorney in 17()-1. He' was a distinguished lawyer, 
 but the coming on of the War led liini to resign his office, and there 
 is no record that he remained in practice. His sympathies appear 
 to have been strongly with the cause of Indei)endence, He died 
 in 1802. Another temporarily successful la^vyer, Jedediah Strong, 
 who is mentioned elsewhere, also died in 1802. 
 
 John Allen, wlio is also mentioned elsewhere, was born 1763 and 
 died in Litchfield in 1812. He was a member of the Council and of 
 the Supreme Court of Errors of the State and member of the Fifth 
 Congress. 
 
 Isaac Baldwin, who came to Litchfield from Milfoi'd, and mar- 
 ried a daughter of Timothy Collins, was an active lawyer for many 
 years prior to his death in 1805. He was County Clerk forty two 
 years. Town Clerk thirty one years. Clerk of the Probate Court 
 twenty nine years, not to speak of some ten terms in the General 
 Assembly and other services. 
 
 To this distinguished company, in 1772, came Ta])ping Eeeve. 
 He was the son of the minister at Brookhaven, Long Island, where 
 he was born in 1744. He was a graduate of Princeton, 1763. 
 
 He not only proved himself a successful lawyer from the first, 
 but a striking personality. The Avord striking is perhaps mislead- 
 ing, for there was nothing obtrusive about him. And yet it is coi'- 
 rect, for he won affection, interest, sympathy, without effort. Men 
 liked to be with him. Years later, Lyman Beech er exclaimed of him, 
 (Autobiogra])liy, p. 216) : "Oh Judge Eeeve, what a man he was! 
 When I get to heaven, and meet him there, what a shaking of hands 
 there will be!" 
 
 "The rules of court, at this time, in Connecticut, required as a 
 condition of admission to the bar, tAvo years of study Avith a practic- 
 ing lawyer in the state, by those Avho had been graduated at a col- 
 lege, and three years by all Avho had not been". (Simeon E. BaldAvin, 
 Great American LaAvyers, James Gould, 1909, p. 460). 
 
 It is not to be wondered at that many young men Avere coming 
 to Litchfield, and to all parts of Litchfield County, for these two 
 
Tapping Reeve 
 
 From an Engraving by George Catlin 
 

THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD loi 
 
 years of study. So, in 1780, we find Noah Webster, of the Dictionary, 
 coming to Litchfield to study with Jedediah Strong. 
 
 Another young law student was Ephraim Kirby, who studied 
 his two years with Reynold Marvin, and afterwards married the 
 daughter of his teacher. Kirby was born in Litchfield in 1756. He 
 was a man active in body and in intellect. After being admitted to 
 the bar, he took a prominent part in local political affairs. He was a 
 democrat. He represented Litchfield a dozen or more times in the 
 General Assembly. On the election of Jefferson to the Presidency 
 in 1801, "Col. Kirby was appointed supervisor of the national revenue 
 for the State of Connecticut. Upon the acquisition of Louisiana 
 the President appointed him a Judge of the then newly organized 
 territory of New Orleans. Having accepted the station, he set out 
 for New Orleans, but died on the way, aged 47 years". (Bench and 
 Bar, p. 170). He is remembered especially as the compiler of the 
 first Law Eeports, which he published under the title: Reports of 
 Cases Adjudged in the Superior Court, from the year 1785 to 1788. 
 The manuscript of this epoch making work is now in the Litchfield 
 Historical Society. It was the model on which the states of Con- 
 necticut and Massachusetts based the Eeports they published a year 
 or two later, which have since then been universally followed. 
 
 The majority of young law students, more and more, drifted to 
 Tapping Reeve; and then they stopped drifting, and came long dis- 
 tances purely to be under his influence. 
 
 Among the first was Aaron Burr, his own brother-in-law, whose 
 sister Sally Burr he had married before coming to Litchfield. She 
 was the daughter of President Burr of Princeton, where Tapping 
 Reeve had first met her. Aaron Burr studied in the Reeve office till 
 the War broke out, and he was a frequent visitor in Litchfield after- 
 wards. Here he met Mrs. Theodosia Prevost, whom he afterwards 
 married. 
 
 The most distinguished of these early students was Uriah Tracy, 
 who represented Connecticut in the United States Senate from 1800 
 until his death in 1807. He was born in Norwich, 1754, and gradu- 
 ated at Yale in 1778. He studied with Tapping Reeve in 1780 and 
 was admitted to the bar the next year. He was a Major-General 
 in the War, and Representative in Congress from 1793 until he 
 became Senator. When in Litchfield he lived on North Street, in 
 the house built 1760 by Col. Elisha Sheldon, from whom he bought 
 it. At his death it passed to his son-in-law, Judge Gould, from 
 whose estate, in turn, it was bought by Professor James M. Hoppin; 
 it is now owned by John P. Elton. 
 
 Uriah Tracy, such is fame, is now remembered chiefly for a 
 couple of repartees. "Few have had more wit, or used it more 
 pleasantly", said James Morris of him ; but others describe the sting 
 of his witticisms as dreaded by his adversaries. 
 
 Much discussion has been aroused concerning one of his sayings 
 and to whom it referred. I quote it from Mansfield, (p. 124) : "He 
 was standing on the steps of the Capitol, which you know looks 
 
102 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 down Peiuisylvania avenue, when a drove of mules was coming up. 
 Randolph, who was standing by him, said: 'There, Tracy, are some 
 of your constituents'. "Yes, sir', said Tracy, 'they are going to 
 Virginia, to keep school'." Mellowed by a hundred and twenty 
 years, such a story becomes a classic; and it is entirely proper to 
 debate whether the retort Avas at the expense of Randolph, or of 
 Rhett of South Carolina, or of the Representative from North Caro- 
 lina, or from Georgia. Each has its advocates. Of the seventeen 
 times the story has been noticed in the preparation of this book, wo 
 find the advantage inclines slightly to Virginia, with North Caro- 
 lina a close second. 
 
 As the years passed and the number of his students increased, 
 the change^in Tapping Reeve's method of instruction became more 
 marked; but it would be difficult to say exactly at what moment 
 the Law School as such began. The date usually accepted is 1784; 
 though, in his Funeral Sermon, p. 10., Lyman Beecher says that he 
 commenced regular lectures in 1782. The date is not important; 
 the important thing is the revolution in the method of instruction. 
 Governor Baldwin styles these lectures as constituting not only the 
 first Law School in America ; but he adds, p. 455, that no other then 
 existed "In any English speaking country, for the Inns of Court 
 had long ceased to be seats of serious instruction and the 'schools' 
 of Oxford and Cambridge were little but a form". 
 
 The LaAv School made an immediate appeal. The Revolution 
 left many young men in search of work, as every large war has 
 done. Trade was at a low ebb, and many turned to the law which 
 was already overstocked. The Law School made it easier and 
 cheaper to get an excellent legal education than could be obtained 
 elsewhere, and the students came not only from all parts of Con- 
 necticut, but in due course from every state in the Union. The 
 reputation of the students who went out from the School and the 
 personality of Tapping Reeve added to the magnetic power of the 
 institution. Connecticut itself felt the effect of the School the 
 most; the proportion of lawyers grew out of keeping with their 
 numbers in other states, and several of our best men began to go 
 into other parts of the country. Governor Baldwin says that in 
 1798 there were 120 practising lawyers in the State, and adds the 
 amusing opinion of Jedediah Morse, (American Universal Geogra- 
 phy, 1796, Vol. I., pp. 453, 463), that, although these all found 
 employment and support, "it was really because the people of the 
 state were of a peculiarly litigious spirit, and 'remarkably fond of 
 having all their disputes, even those of the most trivial kind, settled 
 according to law'." 
 
 In this year 1798, the Law School entered on its second and 
 more important phase. Heretofore Tapping Reeve had conducted 
 the school entirely alone. He held it in the little building adjoin- 
 ing his South Street house, now owned by Lewis B. Woodruff. This 
 little building is now the property of the Litchfield Historical Society, 
 which acquired it in 1911, through the public spirit of Dwight C. 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 103 
 
 Kilbourn and Mrs. John A. Vanderpoel, after it had been removed 
 from its first site to West Street and was again in danger of being 
 taken down. In the years prior to 1798, Reeve had taught upwards 
 of 200 men, but his ways were so informal that he kept no catalog 
 of their names. In that year he was appointed a Judge of the 
 Superior Court, becoming the Chief Justice of the State in 1814. It 
 was now necessary for Judge Reeve to have an assistant, and he 
 chose James Gould, who had graduated in his School the same 
 year. 
 
 James Gould was born in Branford, December 5, 1770. He was 
 graduated at Yale in 1791, and delivered the Latin Salutatory Ora- 
 tion, the highest scholastic honor for the graduating class. From 
 1798 to 1816 he gave his entire energies to the Law School, only prac- 
 tising as a lawyer in the holiday intervals. In May 1816, he was 
 appointed Judge of the Superior Court and Supreme Court of Errors. 
 In 1820, after he withdrew from the bench, he received the degree of 
 doctor of laAvs from Yale. 
 
 HoUister gives us the following account of him, (History of 
 Connecticut, Vol. II., pp. 602-3) : "Judge Gould was one of the 
 most finished and competent writers who have ever treated upon 
 any branch of the English jurisprudence. His great Avork upon 
 Pleading is a model of its kind. . . . He had at first contemplated 
 writing a much more extended treatise, but while he was preparing 
 the materials for it, the appearance of Chitty's work on the same 
 title induced him to change his plan. As it was presented to the 
 public, Gould's Pleading is, therefore, only an epitome of the original 
 design, but for clearness, logical precision, and terseness of style, it 
 does not suffer in comparison with the Commentaries upon the laws 
 of England. 
 
 "As a lawyer. Judge Gould was one of the most profoundly 
 philosophical of that age. He carried into the forum the same 
 classical finish which aj^pears upon every page of his writing. It 
 would have been as impossible for him to speak an ungrammatical 
 sentence, use an inelegant expression, or make an awkward gesture, 
 in addressing an argument to the jury, as it would have been for him 
 to attempt to expound the law when he was himself ignorant of it, 
 to speak disrespectfully to the judge upon the bench, or to exhibit 
 any want of courtesy to the humblest member of the profession who 
 might happen to appear as his opponent. His arguments also, like 
 his writings, were expressed in the most brief forms in Avhich a 
 speaker can convey his thoughts to his hearers. He seldom spoke 
 longer than half an hour, and the most complex and important cases 
 never exceeded an hour". 
 
 The greatest possible difference of character existed between the 
 two Judges. To quote Baldwin again, p. 463: "It was feeling that 
 predominated and ruled the character in Reeve, and intellect in 
 Gould. Their students respected both, but they loved only one. 
 The commonplace book of a girl who was at Miss Pierce's School in 
 1811 shows entries by each. Judge Reeve describes her affectionately 
 
104 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 as 'my Lucy', quotes a verse from a hymn, and urges upon lier atten- 
 tion the subject of personal religion. Judge Gould gives a few lines 
 from Pope's Iliad". And again, p. 468469: "Judge Eeeve's method 
 of instruction was based on written notes, from which he lectured 
 with frequent off-hand explanations and illustrations of a colloquial 
 nature. His thoughts often outran his utterance, and he would 
 leave a sentence unfinished to begin another, as if distracted by 
 what one of his students described as a 'huddle of ideas'. Judge 
 Gould clung closely to his manuscript, from which he read so slowly 
 that the students, each seated at a separate desk, could write down 
 everything that was uttered. This each was expected to do then 
 and there. The notes thus taken, and also those made at Judge 
 Eeeve's lectures, the students afterwards copied with care into 
 large folio volumes. They filled in all five of these, the pages of 
 which measured about nine and a half by seven and a half inches. 
 The notes of those which Judge Eeeve had been accustomed to give 
 before the accession of Mr. Gould could be contained in one or more 
 volumes of much smaller size". 
 
 The achievement of the School is perhaps best seen by compar- 
 ing the course of study offered after 1798 with the reading usual for 
 students in private offices prior to 1784. In those days they "studied 
 some forms and little substance, and had within their reach but few 
 volmnes beyond Coke's and Wood's Institutes, Blackstone's Com- 
 mentaries, Bacon's Abridgment, and Jacob's LaAv Dictionary; and, 
 when admitted to the bar, were better instructed in pleas in abate- 
 ment, than in the weightier matters of the Law". (Church's Cen- 
 tennial Address, p. 50). 
 
 Theodore D. Woolsey, in his Historical Discourse at the Semi- 
 centennial of the Yale Law School, p. 8, gives the following list of 
 the subjects studied at the Litchfield Law School, together with the 
 number of pages of note-books occupied by each: 
 
 Lectures by Reeve : Master and Servant, 44 pages ; Baron and Feme, 92 ; 
 Parent and Child, 48; Guardian and Ward, 10; Executors and Adminis- 
 trators, 69 ; Sheriffs and Gaolers, 41 ; Evidence, 72 ; Bills of Exchange and 
 Promissory Notes, 120; Insurance, 122; Charter Parties, 5; Joint Owners of 
 Vessels, 2; Partnership, 7; Factors, 6; Stoppage in Transitu, 2; Sailors' Con- 
 tracts, 2; Powers of Chancery, 51; Criminal Law, 64; Estates upon Condi- 
 tion, 83 ; Modes of Acquiring Estates, 23 ; Devises, 57. 
 
 Lectures by Gould: Municipal Law, 50; Contracts, 113; Fraudulent Con- 
 veyances, 33 ; Bailments, 55 ; Inns and Innkeepers, 9 ; Covenant-Broken, 42 ; 
 Action of Debt, 9 ; Action of Detinue, 2 ; Action of Account, 9 ; Notice and 
 Request, 3; Assumpsit, 31; Defences to Actions, 72; Private Wrongs, 74; 
 System of Pleading, 232 ; New Trials, 27 ; Bills of Exceptions, 4 ; Writs of 
 Error, 18; Practice in Connecticut, 68; Real Property, 115; Title by Deed, 40; 
 Actions for Injuries to Things Real 46. 
 
 Charles G. Loring, in 1851, at a meeting of the Story Association 
 of the Harvard Law School, gave a picture of the Litchfield School 
 which is well worth quotation: 
 
Judge James Gould 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 105 
 
 "It will, probably, be news to . . . many . . . here, that thirty 
 eight years ago, which to many here seems a remote antiquity, there 
 existed an extensive Law School in the State of Connecticut, at 
 which more than sixty students from all parts of the country were 
 assembled. ... I joined it in 1813, when it was at its zenith, and 
 the only prominent establishment of the kind in the land. The recol- 
 lection is as fresh as the events of yesterday, of our passing along 
 the broad shaded streets of one of the most beautiful of the villages 
 of New England, with our ink-stands in our hands, and our port- 
 folios under our arms, to the lecture room of Judge Gould, the last 
 of the Eomans, of Common Law lawyers; the imj)ersonation of its 
 genius and spirit. It was, indeed, in his eyes, the perfection of 
 human reason, b}^ which he measured every principle and rule of 
 action, and almost every sentiment. Why, Sir, his highest visions 
 of poetry seemed to be in the refinement of special pleading; and to 
 him, a non sequitur in logic was an oifense deserving, at the least, 
 fine and imprisomnent, — and a rej)etition of it, transportation for life. 
 He was an admirable English scholar, every word was pure English, 
 undefiled, and every sentence fell from his lips perfectly finished, 
 as clear, transparent and penetrating as light, and every rule and 
 principle as exactly defined and limited as the outline of a building 
 against the sky. From him we obtained clear, Avell defined, and 
 accurate knowledge of the Common Law, and learned that allegiance 
 to it was the chief duty of man, and the power of enforcing it upon 
 others his highest attainment. From his lecture room we passed 
 to that of the venerable Judge Eeeve, shaded by an aged elm, fit 
 emblem of himself. He was, indeed, a most venerable man, in 
 character and appearance, his thick, grey hair parted and falling in 
 profusion upon his shoulders, his voice only a loud whisper, but 
 distinctly heard by his earnestlj^ attentive pupils. He, too, was 
 full of legal learning, but invested the law with all the genial enthu- 
 siasm and generous feelings and noble sentiments of a large heart . . . 
 and discanted to us with glowing eloquence upon the sacredness and 
 majesty of laAv. He was distinguished by that appreciation of the 
 gentler sex Avhich never fails to mark the true man and his teach- 
 ings of the laAv in reference to their rights and to the douiestic 
 relations, had great influence in elevating and refining the senti- 
 ments of the young men who were privileged to hear him. As 
 illustrative of his feelings and manner upon this subject, allow me 
 to give a specimen. He was discussing the legal relations of mar- 
 ried women; he never called them however by so inexpressible a 
 name, but always spoke of them as, 'the better half of mankind', or 
 in some equally just manner. When he came to the axiom that 
 'a married woman has no Avill of her own', this, he said, Avas a 
 maxim of great theoretical importance for the preservation of the 
 sex against the undue influence or coercion of the husband; but, 
 although it was an inflexible maxim, in theory, experience taught 
 us that practically it was found that they sometimes had wills of 
 their own, most happily for us. We left his lecture room the very 
 
io6 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 knight-errants of the law, burning to be the defenders of the right 
 and the avengers of the wrong; and he is no true son of the Litch- 
 field School who has ever forgotten that lesson". 
 
 Judge Eeeve's efforts to improve the rights of married women 
 bore fruit, but not till many years later, in the work happily of 
 another Litchfield man, Chief Justice Charles B. Andrews, through 
 whose efforts was enacted in 1877 the statute that in our state women 
 are not responsible to their husbands in the transfer of property, 
 either real or personal. 
 
 The fruits of the Litchfield Law School are found of course in 
 the records of its students. And we have only to turn to the 
 list of names in the Appendix, to find what these fruits have been. 
 The list is very incomplete. In the first place it includes none of 
 the students of the first fourteen classes; then, although all later 
 names were preserved, the achievements of the various graduates 
 were known only in a fortuitous way. There was no organization 
 of alumni to keep track of what the men were doing. A catalog 
 was printed in 1828, and a supplement in 1831. In 1849, the catalog 
 was reprinted, with the addition of the ranks and positions attained 
 by certain graduates, compiled by George C. Woodruff. Later manu- 
 script notes were made by Lewis B. Woodruff", and still later find- 
 ings are given in Kilbourn's Bench and Bar. Collating all these 
 sources, we find that there Avere 1,015 students in all, of whom 805 were 
 at the School after 1798, whose names appear in the catalogs. The 
 men of these later classes achieved in the aggregate the positions of 
 distinction which follow : Vice-Presidents, 1 ; Members of the Cabinet. 
 5; U. S. Senators, 17; Members of Congress, 53; Diplomats, 5; Asso- 
 ciate Justices U. S. Supreme Court, 3; Judges U. S. District or Cir- 
 cuit Courts, 4; Chief Justices of States, 7; Associate Judges of the 
 Superior Courts of States, 27; Other State Judges, 15; Governors of 
 States, 10; Lieutenant-Governors of States, 7; State Secretaries of 
 State, 2; State's Attorneys, 3; State Chancellors, 3; Vice-Chancel- 
 lors, 1; Speakers of the House of Kepresentatives of States, 4; Col- 
 lege Presidents, 3. Their names and a few others will be given in 
 the Appendix. 
 
 Many other graduates doubtless achieved definite work, which 
 cannot be recorded by a title. Prominent among these we may men- 
 tion the picturesque figure of Junius Smith, who was born in Plymouth 
 in 1780 and graduated at the Litchfield Law School in 1803. "In 
 1832, he interested himself in the cause of trans-Atlantic steam 
 navigation, convinced that the ocean could be crossed by steam. He 
 was met Avith incredulity. He undertook to charter a vessel for 
 an experiment but had no success. He tried to organize a company 
 but men of science declared that no steamer could survive the terrible 
 storms that sweep the Atlantic. Not a single share of stock was 
 taken. Notwithstanding this, he persevered. His indomitable will 
 conquered, and in 1838, the Sirius, a steamer of 700 tons, sailed from 
 Cork on the 4th day of April, and reached New York on the 23rd, 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 107 
 
 the first vessel that steamed her way across the Atlantic". (Atwater: 
 History of Plymouth, 1895, p. 179)! 
 
 Horace Maim was born in 1796, in Franklin, Mass. He was in 
 the class of 1822 at the Law School. His career as an educator 
 diates from 1837, from Avhich time to his death, he worked for the 
 cause of education with constant intensity, holding conventions, 
 lecturing, introducing many reforms, planning and inaugurating 
 the Massachusetts Normal School System. He virtually revolu- 
 tionized the common school system of the country. He died in 1859. 
 
 The two most distinguished of all the graduates were both 
 Southerners, John C. Calhoun and John M. Clayton, both of whom 
 became Secretarj'^ of State, and the former, Vice-President of the 
 United States. It is always a source of speculation how far the 
 later successes of such men can be traced to the stimulating influ- 
 ence of Litchfield Hill in their most impressionable years. We can 
 at least join with Morris W. Seymour, (Address at the Presentation 
 of the Litchfield Law School, 1911, p. 25), in the fervent prayer that 
 the seeds of secession were not sowed in young Calhoun by the views 
 held by many men in Connecticut at the time, 1804-5, when he was 
 in Litchfield. That this doctrine was undoubtedly widely discussed 
 here appears from Governor Baldwin's essay, p. 485 : "In 1829, Judge 
 Gould took an active part in a controversy that followed the publi- 
 cation in 1827 of Jefi'erson's letter to Governor Giles, stating that 
 John Quincy Adams had told him that designs of disunion were 
 meditated in New England early in the century. Uriah Tracy had 
 been mentioned as one of those Avho were engaged in them. Judge 
 Gould wrote to those of the leaders among Connecticut Federalists of 
 the Jeffersonian era who still survived, for their recollections as to 
 this matter, and published them with caustic comments on the 
 assertions of President Adams in a lengthy communication to a 
 New York newspaper. (Henry Adams, New England Federalism, 
 pp. 93-106). It was a vigorous and loyal effort to vindicate the 
 memory of his father-in-law; but other letters from other sources of 
 earlier date, that have since come to light, seem to show that Adams 
 was substantially in the right. While there was no definite plan 
 of secession, the right to secede was certainly asserted, and the 
 policy of a resort to it advocated in 1804 by not a few Federalist 
 leaders, and among others by Judge Reeve, in confidential corres- 
 pondence with Tracy". (H. C. Lodge, Life and Letters of George 
 Cabot, p. 442). 
 
 Among the Litchfield men, who received their training at the 
 Law School, were Aaron Burr Reeve, 1802, the promising young 
 «on of Tapping Reeve, who died prematurely in 1809 ; Seth P. Beers, 
 1803; Oliver S. Wolcott, 1818, the son of Oliver Wolcott Jr.; Origen 
 S. Seymour, 1824; George C. Woodruff, 1825; Lewis B. Woodruff', 
 1830. 
 
 Daniel Sheldon, the son of Dr. Sheldon, Avas in the first Gould 
 class, 1798. He was afterwards Secretary to Albert Gallatin in 
 Paris, when the latter was Minister there. An interesting account 
 
io8 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 of liis experiences is given in Mrs. Edgar B. VanWinkle's paper, A 
 Litchfield Diplomat, read before the Litchfield Historical Society in 
 1904. 
 
 The Law School was never incorporated. "Judge Eeeve's share 
 in the work of the Law School was not large after he left the bench, 
 and he withdrew from it altogether in 1820, although Judge Gould 
 continued to pay him a third of the net receipts from tuition, annu- 
 ally. . . . His place was supplied after a few years by bringing in 
 Jabez W. Huntington, a member of the Litchfield Bar and one of the 
 alumni of the school, who continued his connection with it as long 
 as it was maintained, then becoming an Associate Justice of the 
 Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut, and subsequently a Senator 
 of the United States. 
 
 "At this period the regular course of study at the school was 
 completed in fourteen months, including two vacations of four weeks 
 each, one in the spring and one in the autumn, $100 was charged 
 for the first year of tuition and $60 for a second, which, of course, 
 if pursued to the end, consisted largely of the repetition of lectures 
 previously heard. Few students ever remained more than eighteen 
 months. After the retirement of Judge Eeeve the courses were 
 re-arranged under forty-eight titles. Judge Gould occupied from 
 an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half in lecturing daily. 
 Eeported cases were still comparatively few, and he aimed to notice 
 all that were of importance decided in the English Courts. The 
 students were expected to examine some of these for themselves dur- 
 ing the remainder of the day, and to accompany each lecture course 
 by parallel readings in standard text-books. One or two moot 
 courts were held weekly. Judge Gould presiding. The briefs of 
 counsel were carefully prepared together with the opinion of the 
 court. There was an attorney-general elected by the students. . . . 
 It was, indeed, often no easy matter for an instructor in such a 
 school to keep so far ahead of his pupils that they would always be 
 forced to acknowledge his superior authority. Many of them were 
 practicing lawyers who came there for a year to round out their 
 professional education. . . . 
 
 "From 182(5 the Law School began to decline quite rapidly. The 
 publication of Swift's Digest and Kent's Commentaries made its 
 whole theory of instruction antiquated. The Harvard Law School 
 had been founded in 1817, and that of Yale in 1824. No unendowed 
 private institution can long maintain a competition with one sup- 
 ported by permanent funds and forming part of an established uni- 
 versity. But six students were in the entering class of 1833. Judge 
 Gould's health had been slowly breaking down for years, and the 
 time had evidently come to close the school. He had been able to 
 maintain it so long only by the aid of a son who sometimes read his 
 lectures to the class, and of a young la\N^er of Litchfield, whose 
 assistance in addition to that of Mr. Huntington, was occasionally 
 invoked, Origen Storrs Seymour, afterwards Chief Justice of Con- 
 necticut". (Baldwin, pp. 481-487). 
 
J 
 
 'A 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD log 
 
 In its later years, the Scliool was conducted in a second little 
 building, adjoining tlie Gould house on ^orth Street, just as the 
 Eeeve Law School adjoined the house on South Street. During the 
 intermediate period, when the school was at its height, both build- 
 ings were in use. The Gould Law School was later carried out a 
 mile or more on the Bantam Eoad, where it was converted into a 
 tenement at the sharp turn in the roadway. 
 
 There is something very distinctive about these two small build- 
 ings, which have contributed so unpretentiously and so successfully 
 to the legal history of our country. They fitted into the simple direct 
 life of Litchfield, and served to convey to the young men who studied 
 in them something of this simple, direct manner. And beyond all, 
 was the kindly, paternal image of Judge Eeeve himself, the real 
 soul of the School, though in many respects Judge Gould was the 
 more important teacher. So generous, so chivalrous, his memory 
 will be treasured when some greater names are forgotten. An anec- 
 dote told by Catherine Beecher sums up in a sentence his respect for 
 and devotion to all Avomankind, namely, "that he never saw a little 
 girl but he wished to kiss her, for if she was not good she would be ; 
 and he never saw a little boy but he wished to Avhip him, for if he 
 was not bad he would be". (Autobiography, Vol. I., p. 224) . 
 
CHAPTEE X. 
 
 MISS PIERCERS SCHOOL. 
 
 "'It was about the middle of June, 1823", we read in the Personal 
 Memories of E. D. Mansfield, p, 122, "that my father and I drove up 
 to Grove Catlin's tavern, on the Green, of Litchfield, Connecticut. 
 It was one of the most beautiful days of the year, and just before 
 sunset. The scene was most striking. Litchfield is on a hill, 
 about one thousand feet above the sea, and having fine scenery on 
 every side. On the west rises Mount Tom, a dark, frowning peak; 
 in the south-west. Bantam Lake, on whose shores I have often 
 walked and ridden. In the north and east other ridges rolled away 
 in the distance, and so, from Litchfield Hill, there is a varied and 
 delightful prospect. One of the first objects which struck my eyes 
 was interesting and picturesque. This was a long procession of 
 school girls, coming down North Street, walking under the lofty 
 elms, and moving to the music of a flute and flageolet. The girl8 
 were gaily dressed and evidently enjoying their evening parade, in 
 this most balmy season of the year. It was the school of Miss 
 Sally Pierce, whom I have mentioned before, as one of the earliest 
 and best of the pioneers in American female education. That scene 
 has never faded from my memory. The beauty of nature, the love- 
 liness of the season, the sudden appearance of this school of girls, 
 all united to strike and charm the mind of a young man, who, how- 
 ever varied his experience, had never beheld a scene like that". 
 
 Sarah Pierce was born in Litchfield on June 26, 1767, and died 
 on January 19, 1852. Her father was John Pierce, of Litchfield, 
 by trade a potter. He was twice married, and had a large family. 
 The names of eleven of his children are preserved, but probably 
 there were several others. Sarah was the youngest child by his 
 first wife, Mary Patterson. Upon the death of the father in 1783, 
 at the early age of 53, the care of this large family devolved in great 
 measure on the eldest son, John Pierce. He was born in 1752, and 
 at the time of his father's death was contemplating marriage with 
 a Miss Ann Bard. This naturally made him anxious that some 
 others at least of the family should become more self-supporting than 
 their ii»mediate prospects in Litchfield made possible. He there- 
 fore had the very happy thought that Sarah should become a teacher. 
 She had a mind naturally quick, but no special aptitude for teach- 
 ing had yet been recognized in her. It was a random shot appar- 
 ently, but a most important one, not only for the family, but for 
 Litchfield and the whole history of the higher education of women. 
 •Tohn Pierce -Jr. was evidently a man of vision, developed, as were 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD iii 
 
 so iaany, by the imperative needs of the Revolution. He had been 
 thirteen years in the paymaster's department of the army, a friend 
 of Washington, and an able officer, leaving the army with the rank 
 of Colonel. He recognized at once that however apt his sister might 
 become at her books, she would require a dignity and presence, 
 before she could become a successful teacher of girls from the larger 
 cities, such as she herself could hardly hope to learn in the Litch- 
 field of 1784. Twenty years later it would have been a very differ- 
 ent story. He therefore sent her to New York in April 1784, and his 
 instructions to her are most interesting: "The short time you have 
 and the many things you have to learn, occasions me to wish you 
 would employ every moment for the purpose, I hope you will not 
 miss a single dancing school, and that you will take lessons from 
 Capt. Turner at other times, pray get him and Katy your friend, to 
 instruct you in everything in walking standing and sitting, all the 
 movements of which tho' they appear in a polite person natural, are 
 the effects of art, while country girls never attend to and which 
 you had best take the utmost pains, or you will never appear 
 natural & easy in. I am somewhat fearful that your old habits 
 at your age can not be so thoroughly removed, as to give place to a 
 natural careless genteel air, and which totally hides all the art of it. 
 The Books I left with you I wish you not to read much in town, I 
 want you to study the fashions, the art of pleasing to advantage and 
 for this purpose to spare no necessary expense, and if you do not 
 appear as genteel as any of the girls it will be your own fault, you 
 must however pay a great regard to economy & always remember 
 that every Dollar takes so much from my future prospects, on 
 which you know that not only yours but mine and all our families 
 happiness depends". (Vanderpoel, p. 347). 
 
 Col. Pierce was married in 1786 and died in 1788. The cares 
 of the family through these years fell on Sarah and her sisters, 
 and the plans for teaching could not be put into action until 1792. 
 She continued her studies at odd times through this period, never 
 for a moment forgetting what her life work was to be; and, when 
 she took her first pupil in the dining room of her house, she was 
 fully equipped, both mentally and as her brother would have said 
 socially, to guide her school from this humble beginning to the full 
 heights of its future importance. 
 
 Mrs. E. N. Vanderpoel, the great-grand-daughter of Col. Tall- 
 madge and one of Litchfield's artists, has written the story of Miss 
 Pierce's Academy in a fascinating volume: The Chronicles of a Pio- 
 neer School, edited by Elizabeth C. Barney Buel, 1903. Her book is 
 quoted from throughout the present work, but this chapter on the 
 School can be but a very incomplete abridgement of parts of it. The 
 Chronicles should be read by every person interested in Litchfield, 
 MS the diaries and letters and other papers reprinted therein open 
 up a picture of the life of the whole town in those days of the Golden 
 Age which no chapters like ours can in any manner indicate. 
 
112 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 Tin.) School passed tlirougli three x)liases. First it was con- 
 ducted at the ''old red house" built about 1750 by Zebulou Bissell 
 near the site of the })resei)t CoHgrei;;ttioual Parsonage. This was 
 the Pierce homestead at this tiiue. and the little diiiitig room served 
 comfortably as a scliooi room until the number of pupils begjvn 
 very niucli to increase. 
 
 By 1798 (Vanderpoel, p. 19) the school had become of sufficient 
 importance to interest the prominent men of the town to build 
 a suitable building for Miss Pierce. It was then dignified by the 
 name of the Female Academy. The subscription list was headed 
 by Tapping Keeve, who contributed $40. 26 other names appear 
 on the list, the total subscribed being $385. The Academy stood 
 inmiediately below the old house. In 1803, Miss Pierce built her- 
 self a new house, still further south, the house and the Academy 
 occupying the present Underwood grounds. The old house was 
 then occupied by Miss Pierce's sister Susan, who had married James 
 Brace, and her family. The second and most successful period of 
 the school was conducted in this second building, the first Academy. 
 
 In 1827, it was decided to increase the scope of the school by 
 the erection of a new Academy, with the incorporation of the insti- 
 tution under a board of Trustees. A company was formed, known 
 as the Litchfield Female Academy, of which Frederick Wolcott was 
 the President, with a capital not to exceed $7,500. Of this 40 
 shares of $15. each were given to Miss Pierce in exchange for the 
 land and previous building of the Academy. A new subscription 
 was taken up, and 67 shares of $15. each were subscribed for. Ill 
 due course the new Academy was constructed. After the close of 
 the school, sometime after 1855, it was removed to the Beecher Lot, 
 corner of North and Prospect Streets, where it was occupied for 
 some j^ears by the boys' scliool of the late Rev. James Richards D. D., 
 known as the Elm Park Collegiate Institute. Henrj^ R. Jones of 
 Brooklyn converted it into the present residence of his family after 
 he purchased the corner about 1882. The Beecher House adjoining 
 was bought by Dr. Henry W. Buel about 1872 and removed to 
 Spring Hill, where it now forms a part of the group of buildings. 
 
 The Pierce-Brace house was torn down to be rei)laced by the 
 present Parsonage, and the Pierce house was torn down about 1896 
 to make way for the present Underwood house. Thus all traces 
 of the Academy are now scattered. 
 
 Corresponding to this development of the outward and visible 
 character of the Academy, there was a steady development in its 
 educational i^olicy. 
 
 At first the number of pupils was small, the studies very simple. 
 From the start we find that Miss Pierce had a high idea of what 
 girls should be taught. Her ideal was to train them in all the same 
 studies that a boy would be taught. She began Geography and 
 History from the first, both then innovations in girls' schools. At 
 times the lessons were perhaps above the heads of the children. In 
 
.;^tf|S!; 
 
 Miss Sally Pierce 
 

 
 The Litchfield Academy, 1827 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 113 
 
 the diary of an early pupil, Julia Cowles, aged eleven, we read: 
 "June 30, 1797. Went to school, told History, sewed some. Miss 
 Sally says that I have been a pretty good girl this week. I have 
 not been offended this week. I have helped Aunt Lewis almost 
 every day this week. . . . July 6. I do not recollect any History 
 that we read to day only that there was one Punic war. . . . July 13. 
 I do not recollect any of the History read to day only that Hanibal 
 died. . . . July 21. Attended school, read Historj^ Danced last 
 evening, enjoyed the intended pleasure. . . . July 26. Attended 
 school forenoon painted. I dont know a word of the Histor5\ 
 P. 31. I stayed at home". 
 
 Miss Pierce's sympathy with her pupils was proverbial. Per- 
 Imps it was stimulated by the death of one of these, little Nancy 
 Cutler, during the second year of the school, August 1793. Miss 
 Pierce took the little child back to her mother, who afterwards 
 Avrote: "September 3, 1793: The amiable Miss Pierce is going home. I 
 fear I shall be still more lonely, but I will try to be cheerful!. I 
 esteem Sally for her goodness of heart. She is a good Girl and 
 I think I shall not forget her kindness to me or the attention she 
 paid that much loved child". (Vanderpoel, p. 9). 
 
 Miss Pierce was twenty five years old when she began the school. 
 She never lost her sympathj^ with her girls. She never asked them 
 to do any work Avhich she was not ready to share, nor to undertake 
 any exercise which she was not ready to join in, nor to have any 
 amusements which she did not lead. When she found that the 
 Histories in vogue Avere dull to her girls, she set out and wrote 
 others herself. Her Histories, dating from 1811 to 1818, were com- 
 piled in the form of questions and answers, which she claimed to 
 be the form most easily imbibed by children, and were intended "to 
 intermix moral with historical instruction". 
 
 This first period of the school lasted till the building of the 
 first Acad'emy, in 1798. It was the tentative period, the period of 
 growth. 
 
 The second period Avas one of fruition. Pupils were coming in 
 large numbers. We hear of a hundred and thirty in one year, while 
 the total for the whole forty years of the school was afterwards 
 estimated by Miss Pierce's nephew, John Pierce Brace, as having 
 been three thousand.. The assistance of her sisters was no longer 
 sufficient for the carrying on of the school, and different teachers 
 were called in to help. The chief of these was the nephcAV just 
 mentioned, John Pierce Brace, who lived next door. To prepare 
 him to be her assistant. Miss Pierce had sent him to college at 
 Williams. He appears to have been a born educator like his 
 aunt, and to have held as she did that women deserved the same 
 standards of education as men. The program of the school now 
 became greatly enlarged. The studies of chemistry, astronomy and 
 botany were added to those of history and geography. The fine 
 accomplishments of music, dancing, singing and embroidery, of draw- 
 
114 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 ing and painting were retained. John Brace was an enthusiast in 
 the natural sciences and Harriet Beecher Stowe used to refer to 
 his keeping up "a constant conversation on the subject". 
 
 There are a number of amusing references to his passion for 
 these subjects. In her diary, for June 2, 1822, Mary L. Wilbor 
 wrote, (Vanderpoel, p. 236) : "Mr. Brace had all his bugs to school 
 this P. M. He has a great variety, two were from China, which were 
 very handsome, almost all the rest were of Litchfield descent, and he 
 can trace their pedigree as far back as when Noah entered the 
 ark". Another pupil, Caroline Chester, wrote in 1816, (Vander- 
 poel, p. 152) : "I went to Mr. Brace's, where I spent the evening 
 most agreeably and saw a plenty of butterflies and spiders". The 
 cult of natural science invaded the law school, possibly by way of 
 furnishing another subject of common interest. That rollicking 
 diarist and law-student, George Younglove Cutler wrote October 24, 
 1820, (Vanderpoel, p. 202) : "A mineralogical compliment from Dr. 
 A. S. M. in return for a box of stones sent him — which I collected 
 from the neighboring stone walls, etc., 'horizontalizing them' to use 
 his expression, much to the disadvantage of the agricultural inter- 
 ests in this part of the country". 
 
 The course of study at this time, 1821, has been preserved in 
 the papers of Miss Sarah Kingsbury, (Vanderpoel, p. 233) : "Morses 
 Geography, Websters Elements, English Grammar, Miss Pierces 
 History, Arithmetic through Interest, Blair's Lectures, Modem 
 Europe, Eamsey's American Kevolution, Natural Philosophy, 
 Chemistry, Paley's Moral Philosophy, Hedge's Logic and Addision 
 on Taste". 
 
 In this second period, the Academy was the leader in the educa- 
 tion of women throughout the country. The third period, after the 
 construction of the enlarged building, was not so fortunate. Misa 
 Pierce, in 1827, was sixty years old, and though she retained her 
 interest and much of her vitality, could not put into the work all 
 her earlier energy; and John Pierce Brace, in the winter of 1831-32, 
 was offered and accepted the position of principal in the Female 
 Seminary at Hartford. He had been the assistant of Miss Pierce 
 for eighteen years, becoming more and more a dominant factor in 
 the work, and his departure marked the beginning of the end. In 
 1833 Miss Pierce asked to resign, and the Trustees appointed Miss 
 Henrietta Jones as principal. She had been a pupil of the school, 
 and a teacher for five years. In 1844, the Trustees made applica- 
 tion to the Legislature for a change in the charter, so that the build- 
 ings could be used for both sexes. In 1849 the use of the Academy 
 was tendered to the Normal School. Finally in 1856 the Trustees 
 wound up the corporation, selling the property back to Miss Mary 
 I*ierce, a much younger half-sister of Miss Sally, who in the last 
 years had assisted in the conduct of the school. Miss Sally Pierce 
 lived almost to the close of the school, dying in 1852, at the ripe 
 age of eighty five years. 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 115 
 
 "She Avas small in person", wrote her friend, Gideon H. HoUis- 
 ter, in his History of Connecticut, "of a cheerful, lively tempera- 
 ment, a bright eye, and a face expressive of the most active benevol- 
 ence. She was in the habit of practicing herself all the theories 
 that she taught to her pupils, and, until physical infirmities con- 
 fined her to her room, would take her accustomed walk in the face 
 of the roughest March wind that ever blew across our hills". 
 
 The life such a woman oifered to her pupils was certainly an 
 inspiration. It meant doubtless much more than the mere teaching 
 could; for although the scholarship was so high we do not hear 
 that the graduates achieved any great reputations in science or in 
 learning in their after lives. But they did achieve, many of them, 
 very happy lives, the seeds of which are certainly to be traced to 
 Litchfield. It is not enough to say that many of them became 
 engaged to Law students, whom they afterwards married. What 
 really counted was the influence of Miss Pierce, the influence of 
 the Litchfield culture, the health of the climate, the habit of right 
 thinking developed by the courses, and the cheerful life of the 
 school. 
 
 In the next chapter will be found an outline of their more formal 
 amusements, but something should be said here of the everyday life. 
 Few of the girls lived at Miss Pierce's house; the great majority 
 of those who were not Litchfield girls boarded around. There were 
 several fairly large boarding houses, like Aunt Bull's on Prospect 
 Street, and nearly every house took one boarder or two. In many 
 cases the scholars from Miss Pierce's and the students from the 
 Law School boarded in the same house. 
 
 Pleasant as the school life was, it was governed by very regu- 
 lar rules, and it is a little surprising to us how strictly these were 
 enforced. Probably this had much to do with everything running 
 so smoothly. Here are some of the rules of 1825, (Vanderpoel, p. 
 255): 
 
 "You are expected to rise early, be dressed neatly and to exercise before 
 breakfast. You are to retire to rest when the family in which you reside 
 request you. You must consider it a breach of politeness to be requested 
 a second time to rise in the morning or retire of an evening. 
 
 "It is expected that you attend public worship every Sabbath, except 
 some unavoidable circumstance preventi, which you will dare to present as a 
 sufficient apology at the day of judgment. 
 
 "Your deportment must be grave and decent while in the house of God; 
 all light conduct in a place of worship is not only offensive to God but an 
 indication of ill breeding; and highly displeasing both to the good and the 
 ■polite. 
 
 "Every hour during the week must be fully occupied either in useful 
 employments, or necessary recreation. Two hours must be faithfully 
 devoted to close study each day, while out of school : and every hour in 
 school must be fully occupied. The ladies where you board must mention 
 if you do not study your two hours each day. 
 
ii6 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 "You must suppress all emotions of anger, fretfulness and discontent. 
 
 "No young lady is allowed to attend any public ball, or sleigh party till 
 they are more than i6 years old. 
 
 "Speaking or moving once in school hours either with or without lib- 
 erty will take off a part of the extra — unless they move to recite or prac- 
 tice, or write at the tables — Speaking more than once will take off the whole 
 extra and often give you a quarter of a miss. 
 
 "You must not walk for pleasure after 9 o'clock in the evening. A 
 reward will be given to those who do not waste any money, books, clothes, 
 paper or quills, during the term. To those who have their studies per- 
 formed at the proper time. To those who have not been peevish, homesick, or 
 impolite. To those who always attend meeting or church. To those who 
 never write carelessly". 
 
 These eiglit rules were supplemented by fifteen others, so that 
 conduct was well defined. The regulation about deportment in 
 church brings to mind the Eeminiscences of Miss Esther H. Thomp- 
 son, (Vanderpoel, p. 297), who tells about "the feuds between Miss 
 Pierce's scholars and the farmers' daughters — more especially that 
 peculiar class of young American girls who were 'living out' — the 
 'help' — in village families. These girls, usually the most ambitious 
 of their family, made more independent by self support, gaining 
 influence in proportion to the polish acquired by intercourse with 
 village people, easily dominated all of their set, and together were 
 a strong band. The school girls were supercilious, the help aggres- 
 sively arrogant — and both classes equall}'^ proud and uncomjiromis- 
 ing. Many a battle was fought on Sunday as well as on week 
 days. All around the gallery walls of the old church on the 
 Green was a row of square pews fenced in with the conventional 
 high lattice work, while in front were two rows of benches. Many 
 of the young people of ithe congregation chose to sit there where 
 they were more free from the restraining presence of their seniors. 
 Sometimes one part of the gallery would be considered the special 
 choice, sometimes another, but out girls and school girls would 
 never freely mingle! . When one pew was monopolized by school 
 girls for a noticeable length of time the out girls would come early 
 some Sunday and pack the seats. Then Avould foUoAV pin pricking, 
 pinching and punching through the lattice — and the incensed school 
 girls would bide their time to preempt the out girls' places". 
 
 There was a certain rivalry also between the out of town school 
 girls and the Litchfield girls who did not attend the school. Timothy 
 Pierce, one of the half-brothers of Miss Sally, wrote in 1800, (Van- 
 derpoel, p. 378) : "School consisting of 15 only — now there are so 
 few I hope that the native ladies of Litchfield may stand some 
 chance for a part at least of the attention of Mr. Keeve's students". 
 
 The rivalry was very friendly on the whole, and the Litchfield 
 people were certainly very hospitable to the girls who came from 
 other places. They were constantly invited out and appear to 
 have reciprocated by being just as nice as they could be. The rule 
 about being home at nine was sometimes a source of difficulty. On 
 
Lucy Sheldon 
 
 From a Miniature by Anson Dickinson 
 
Miss Lucretia Deming 
 From a Miniature by Anson Dickinson 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 117 
 
 one occasion Margaret Hopkins, one of the pupils, went to spend the 
 evening at Aunt Bull's. She was one of the few pupils who roomed 
 at Miss Pierce's own house. A law student of the party put back 
 the hands of the clock so that when one of the number took Margaret 
 back to her house, it was quite shut up. After much knocking, 
 Miss Pierce came to the door in night-cap and gown, candle in 
 hand. (Vanderpoel, p. 289). On another occasion, Caroline Chester, 
 whose acquaintance we have already made, and who was living at 
 the house of Dr. Sheldon, was at a large party at the Wolcott's: 
 "When the clock struck nine, the girl was carrying around the 
 wine, and I too well knew if I was not at home, the family would 
 be displeased. I spoke to the lady who sat next to me and said 
 I must go, and she said it would be extremely improper in her 
 opinion for me who was the youngest in the room to go first, because 
 if I went, all would go. At about half past nine Miss Burr rose to go, 
 and all the company followed her example. It was very cold and 
 as I crossed the green, the wind blew and I thought, what can be 
 keener? but I found when I reached home that a keener blast 
 awaited me, a blast which will never no never be erased from my 
 memory. I opened the door with a trembling hand, no one was in 
 the room, but soon Dr. came. My heart throbbed violently, and 
 he said — why are you home at this late hour? 1 told my excuse, 
 he interrupted me by saying that it was but a poor excuse. . . . He 
 concluded by saying that if I ever staid out again he certainly 
 would lock the door if it was after nine. . . . and thus did I pay for 
 my whistle". (Vanderpoel, p. 153). 
 
 These stories are worth quoting, if only as a picture of Puritan 
 traits, still surviving only 100 years ago. Something of the same 
 character is found in the ejaculation of another pupil, Mary L. 
 Wilbor, in her diary, 1822, "I went to the Post Office with Miss 
 Averill but we did not go in, for it was very much crowded with 
 gentlemen, I do not think it is quite proper for us to go to. the 
 post-office so often but still continue going!" (Vanderpoel, p. 235). 
 
 Dr. Daniel Sheldon, who was so strict with Caroline Chester, 
 was by no means an exception. He was universally beloved as 
 Good old Doctor Sheldon. "Dear old Dr. Sheldon", wrote Henry 
 Ward Beecher, in Litchfield Eevisited, 1856, "We began to get well 
 as soon as he came into the house; or if the evil spirit delayed a 
 little, 'Cream-o'-tartar' with hot water poured upon it and sweetened, 
 finished the work. He had learned long before the days of home- 
 opathy, that a doctor's chief business is to keep parents from giving 
 their children medicine". 
 
 Of him, E. D. Mansfield Avrote: "When he had just graduated 
 from a medical college, he had an attack on his lungs, and was sup- 
 posed to be fast going into consumption, and was saved by what may 
 be called heroic treatment. He went to Litchfield to practice medi- 
 cine, which involved much riding on horseback, and he began taking 
 opium, until he took incredible quantities. Nevertheless it cured 
 him; and he recovered from the habit of taking opium as resolutely 
 
ii8 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 and bravely as he liad began it. He survived all danger of early 
 death, and lived to be eighty four years of age, quietly and j^eace- 
 fuUy declining, until he passed from this life as gently as the setting 
 star. One of his sons was secretary of legation in France, and 
 one was a very successful merchant in New York. I was indebted 
 to him for a comforting assurance, when we students were charged 
 with being uncommonly 'fast'. There were more than fifty law 
 students boarding in Litchfield, many of them of wealthy families, 
 and many of them from the South. Of course, there must be some 
 amusement, and often the midnight air resounded with the songs 
 of midnight rioters, and sometimes stories were circulated to the 
 students' disadvantage. After hearing some remarks on the 'fast' 
 students, I met Dr. Sheldon walking, and said to him: 
 
 " 'Doctor, they say we are the worst students ever were in 
 Litchfield'. 'Pooh! pooh!' said the doctor, 'they are not half so 
 bad as they were in my day'. So I was comforted with the idea 
 that we were not casting shame on those venerable Puritans, who 
 had condescended to become our ancestors. Be this as it may, I 
 greatly enjoyed those evening sleigh rides, and those country sup- 
 pers, when we would ride off to Goshen, or Harwinton, or other 
 village, and order our turkey and oysters, served up with pickles 
 and cake, and then set Black Caesar to play jigs on a cracked fiddle. 
 But the grand occasions was something beyond this, when we got 
 sleighs and fine horses, and buffalo robes, and foot-stoves, and 
 invited the belles of Litchfield, who never hesitated to go, and set 
 off to the distant village to have a supper and dance. 'I seldom 
 danced, and some of the girls did not, but there were always some 
 who did, and we had jolly times". (Personal Memories, p. 135). 
 
 The school girls came in for the evening rides, though the nine 
 o'clock hour had to be carefully watched. Here is another extract 
 from Caroline Chester under date January 1, 1816. It will be 
 noticed that there was no full school holiday on New Year's day, as 
 indeed there was none on Christmas at Miss Pierce's: "Went to 
 school with a determination to improve all in my power, recited in 
 History without a mistake, in the afternoon went to Mr. Bradley's 
 tavern with Hannah Huntington, John and Mr. O. Wolcott, W. T. 
 and Mary. Had a most delightful ride, returned with Hannah to 
 tea, in the evening took a sleigh ride and returned home about nine. 
 Had a great many wishes that I might have a Happy New Year". 
 (Vanderpoel, p. 152). The two Wolcotts here mentioned were the 
 two sons of Oliver Wolcott Jr. 
 
 Another occassional event were the serenades. We quote again 
 from Mary L. Wilbor, July 4, 1822: We were sweetly serenaded by 
 B. and S. and L. as we suppose but we were so very unfortunatd 
 as not to hear it. When Miss Mary told us of it this morning we 
 were quite astonished that we could be so stupid as not to hear it. 
 It must have been quite romantic, for I never saw a more delightful 
 evening". Fortunately another opportunity came, the very night 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD lig 
 
 before her school career was over, August 29, 1822: ''In the night 
 we were awoke by music which appeared to be very near us. We 
 instantly arose and found it to be Mssrs. Loring Burgess and Sulli- 
 van with flutes which were played with much skill and sweetness. 
 But all the pleasures of Litchfield could not render it possible for 
 me to remain there and in the morning I took my melancholy 
 departure". (Vanderpoel, p. 240). 
 
 Catherine Cebra Webb, another scholar, tells an anecdote in 
 point here: "Old Grove Catlin kept the Hotel in Litchfield, and had 
 a daughter Flora, who was quite a belle. The law students used 
 to quiz him about his daughter's popularity, and he said, "Yes, my 
 daughter Flora is assassinated most every night" (meaning sere- 
 naded)", (Vanderpoel, p. 150). 
 
 The serenade always involved a flute, whatever other accom- 
 paniment might be provided for the singers. This recalls the flute 
 and flageolet which accompanied the girls on their walks, but we 
 have no clue as to who was the player on these daily excursions. 
 Among the village boys at this time, Keuben Merriman, the silver- 
 smith, had a son who was a great devotee of the flute. Merrinian's 
 shop was next the third Congregational Church, which had just 
 been erected. One day his son climbed the steeple and mystified 
 the whole toAvn with his silvery notes floating down from the 
 heavens. 
 
 It would be pleasant to recall here some of the many girls 
 who studied at Miss Pierce's. The school catalogs and other lists 
 preserve the names of some hundreds of the three thousand who 
 attended in the forty years of Miss Sally's own direction; but space 
 prevents any extended notices. Here in 1825 studied Lucy M. Wood- 
 ruff, who married Origen S. Seymour. Many indeed are Litchfield 
 names, the Buels, the Wolcotts, the Seymours, the Bacons, the Dem- 
 ings. Here too came from Sharon the two Canfield sisters, about 
 1814, Julia, whom the law students called the Lily of the Valley, 
 from her fair skin and want of color, and Elizabeth Hannah, who 
 was called the Eose of Sharon, from her beauty and her birthplace. 
 She married Frederick Augustus Tallmadge, the son of Col. Tall- 
 madge. He became one of the foremost citizens of New York, Presi- 
 dent of the State Senate, member of Congress, Eecorder of the City, 
 and first Police Commissioner of New York. 
 
 One of the most charming of the students must have been Mary 
 Peck, who for a time was instructor in the school and later married 
 E. D. Mansfield. She took a foremost part in the life of the school, 
 in the plays written by Miss Pierce. Unfortunately no diary of 
 hers remains, as her reputation for sprightly fun would have insured 
 its interest to us, but she has left us an album full of autographs 
 of the prominent Litchfield people of 1827. We must not forget 
 the daughters of Dr. Sheldon, Charlotte, who has left us a very 
 delightful diary, especially Important for its early date, 1796, and 
 Lucy, who also has left us a diary, 1801. There is a pleasant touch 
 
120 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 in one of the latter's letters to her brother, telling of a trip made 
 to Magara, with her father and Miss Pierce, which will be cherished 
 by all true Litchfielders who feel that travel can show no fairer and 
 better place to live in : "Though we have passed through many pleas- 
 ant towns and villages yet as we entered Litchfield Miss P. and I 
 agreed that we had not seen one that would compare with it — in 
 neatness — and none pleasanter. Father jumped out of the stage 
 and said 'Home is home, if ever so homely!'" (Vanderpoel, p. 64). 
 Lucy Sheldon married Theron Beach of Goshen. She liA^ed in 
 her father's house on North Street, and attained the great age 
 of 101 years, having been born June 27, 1788, and having died April 7, 
 1889. There have been many very old people in Litchfield, but the 
 palm is carried away from all competitors by the mother of Judge 
 Andrew Adams, who, as Morris tells (p. 107) : "was born in Strat- 
 ford, in the year 1698 ; and died in this town in the year 1803 ; aged 
 105. She lived in three centuries; and was of a pleasant temper, 
 amiable manners, temperate habits, and regular in all her deport- 
 ment". After considering such cases, one can see that the opinion 
 of Seth P. Beers was well-grounded, when he said, that the critical 
 period in the lives of the Litchfield people Avas between the ages 
 of ninety nine and one hundred years! 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 "The customs and manners of tlie first settlers of Litchfield 
 were plain and simple. Their clothing was of their own domestic 
 manufacture; and their food of their own raising. Foreign luxu- 
 ries were scarcely made use of till about the year 1750. Their amuse- 
 ments were of the athletic kind. When young people of both sexes 
 assembled together for amusement, they employed themselves prin- 
 cipally in dancing, while one of the company sung. The first use 
 of the violin in this town for a dance was in the year 1748. The 
 whole expense of the amusement, although the young people gener- 
 ally assembled, did not exceed one dollar; out of which the fiddler 
 was paid. When this instance of profusion took place, parents and 
 old people exclaimed, that they should be ruined by the extravagance 
 of the youth. In the year 1798, a ball, with the customary enter- 
 tainment and variety of music, cost about $160., and nothing was said 
 about it. Such has been the difference in the manners of Litch- 
 field, within half a century. It is not inferred from this differ- 
 ence, that our youth are at present more vicious than formerly; but 
 it serves to show a material difference in the wealth and character 
 of the people". (Morris, pp. 97-98). 
 
 ISTaturally the Law School and the Female Academy were prin- 
 cipally responsible for the great increase in dancing, which carried 
 all Litchfield with it, especially around holiday times. As early 
 as 1786, six years before Miss Pierce's School was opened, Mariann 
 Wolcott wrote to her brother, Frederick : "Litchfield, August 23. ... 
 I have been dancing all the forenoon, and my hand trembles so, I 
 can hardly write intelligibly. We dance again, this evening; and 
 we all wish for your company. Mean time, you are poring over 
 some antiquated subject, that is neither instructive nor entertain- 
 ing. You cannot say so of our dancing; it is 'an amusement that 
 profits the mind'." (Wolcott Memoirs, p. 324). 
 
 After Miss Pierce's School was in full swing, many so-called 
 balls were given in the schoolroom under her patronage, the invita- 
 tions to attend them being of course highly prized by the law 
 students; they Avere however much simpler affairs than the Law 
 students gave in return, and probably it was a Law Student dance 
 which cost $160., in 1798. The Students Balls, as they were usually 
 styled on the invitations, were given in Phelps' Assembly Room, the 
 third story of Phelps' Tavern, which was modernized by Rufus King 
 in the 60's and denominated the United States Hotel, but which has 
 now happily regained its old name of Phelps' Tavern, under the 
 
122 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 ownership of Eugene L. Phelps. The Assembly Koom was very 
 lofty, the arched ceiling running up under the mansard roof. There 
 was a music balcony at the east end, and around the sides of the 
 room ran a broad and comfortable divan, with red moreen cushions, 
 the seat itself lifting on hinges, in sections of about four feet, the 
 box beneath furnishing a neat and convenient receptacle for head 
 dress, shawls and wraps, the latter usually a cloak, the most favore<l 
 being a red broadcloth. In this manner, the modern cloakroom was 
 dispensed with. 
 
 The invitations to the Students Balls were printed on the backs 
 of playing cards, as can be seen by the curious collection of these 
 which is preserved in the rooms of our Historical Society. The 
 backs of cards were then plain white, and were utilized by printers 
 when needing blanks,for lack of anything better. The faces of 
 these playing cards are printed from the coarsest wood engraving, 
 roughly colored. 
 
 The balls were given nominally to commemorate anniversaries, 
 and are so designated on the invitations, as Litchfield Ball, New 
 Year's Ball, Birthnight Ball (Feb. 22), Exhibition Ball (in May, at 
 the closing of the winter term of Miss Pierce's school), Independence 
 Ball, Thanksgiving's Ball, and the like. They were in charge of 
 Committees, the members of which issued the tickets, endorsing their 
 names on them, to make themselves responsible for the bearers. 
 The hour named is invariably Six O'clock, alike in summer and in 
 winter, out of deference doubtless to Miss Pierce's nine o'clock cur- 
 few rule. The scholars under sixteen from the Academy could not 
 attend, but Miss Pierce compensated for this by furnishing a list 
 of 'eligibles' to the Students' Committee at the beginning of each 
 term. 
 
 In addition to these Balls, there were frequent Cotillion parties 
 given in private houses. (J. Deming Perkins, in Litchfield Enquirer, 
 April 21, 1904). 
 
 No theatricals were ever held in Litchfield till after the Eevolu- 
 tion. Puritan principles would have been set too strongly against 
 anything of the kind, even if the experience and talent necessary to 
 carry them out had existed. The only thing at all related were the 
 occasional Exhibitions by the scholars of the many and varied 
 schools which have had their brief existences in the town. Thus, 
 the Monitor for March 30, 1791, has this paragraph: "Yesterday, 
 Mr. Hitchcock's students presented themselves before a public audi- 
 ence, at the meeting house, and exhibited various specimens of 
 improvement in Beading, Writing, and Declamation, to general 
 satisfaction. The lads were from eight to twelve years of age. 
 Select pieces from the purest authors were spoken upon the stage, 
 and with more propriety than the most sanguine could have expected". 
 
 After the Kevolution and the founding of the Law School, man- 
 ners changed so much and the infusion of a new spirit was so strong, 
 that it is no surprise to find theatrical performances beginning 
 almost at once. 
 
(^' 
 
 >'-t 
 
 ' i • , ="v 
 
 ^ 
 
 Dr. Daniel Sheldon 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 123 
 
 The first we read of were in May, 1785, when a series of several 
 performances was given, "the principal characters being sustained 
 by students of Yale College". (Kilbourne, p. 163). Of these the 
 Monitor wrote, "Distinguished Merit and literary Ability were so 
 evidently conspicuous and amply displayed on the Occasion, as 
 would have done Honor to a British Theatre". 
 
 Miss Pierce's sympathies extending to her scholar's play as well 
 as to their work, she wrote for them not only Histories, as we have 
 already seen, but several plays of a highly religious or moral char- 
 acter. Miss Edgeworth, in her most solemn moments, never per- 
 petrated anything more pointed with stimulating morals. To us it 
 is inconceivable that girls of sixteen could relish depicting the plays 
 of "Kuth", "The Two Cousins", and "Jephthah's Daughter", but they 
 were great events. All lessons and other occupations were given 
 up during the period of preparation. Catherine E. Beecher says 
 of these plays, (Autobiography, Vol. I., pp. 227-229) : "A stage was 
 erected, scenery was painted and hung in true theatre style, while 
 all the wardrobes of the community were ransacked for stage 
 dresses. 
 
 "On one occasion of this sort father came in late, and the house 
 being packed, he was admitted by the stage entrance. Either from 
 fun or accident, just as he was passing over the stage, the curtain 
 rose, and the law students spied him and commenced clapping. 
 Father stopped, bowed low, amid renewed clapping and laughter, 
 and then passed on to his seat. 
 
 "It was in this way that dramatic writing and acting became 
 one of the 'nothings' about which I contrived to be busy and keep 
 others so. Various little dramas were concocted and acted between 
 the school sessions in wintry weather. And after a while, when 
 nearly grown up, we got up in the family, very privately, quite an 
 affair of this kind. I turned Miss Edgeworth's Unknown Friend 
 into a drama, and for some weeks all the children old enough to 
 take part, and several school-girls boarding with us, were busy as 
 bees preparing for rehearsal. It was kept a profound secret till 
 the appointed evening, when father and mother wondered who built 
 a fire in the large parlor, and then still more how it happened that 
 so many neighbors and students called all at once. Then suddenly 
 the dining-room door was opened, and all invited in, while a mysteri- 
 ous curtain was descried at the farther end. The curtain rose, 
 and forthwith the actors appeared, and completed the whole enter- 
 tainment amid 'thunders of applause'. The next day, however, as 
 we expected, we were told that it was very well done, but we must 
 not do so any more". 
 
 The only professional performance that we hear of, was one of 
 'Shakespeare's Plays' given in Mr. Buel's Ball Eoom, in November, 
 1789, by a company of strolling actors. (Kilbourne, p. 164). 
 
 If strolling actors were a rare event, it is surprising how many 
 miscellaneous entertainments, or exhibitions, came to Litchfield in 
 
124 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 these days. They do not strictly belong in a History of the town, 
 but they give so curious a light on what was considered amusement 
 in those days, and some of them sound so delightfully absurd in 
 themselves, that- a few extracts may be quoted, covering the forty 
 years from 1787 to 1827. They are all taken from advertisements, 
 and whether they all materialized or how they were received is now 
 not to be known. 
 
 Monitor, July 16, 1787: "By permission— Mr. Pool, The first 
 American that ever exhibited the following Equestrian Feats of 
 Horsemanship on the Continent, Intends performing on Wednesday 
 next in Mr. Buel's orchard, in Litchfield. The performance to begin 
 at half past four o'clock in the afternoon, if the weather will permit, 
 if not, the first fair day after. A clown will entertain the Ladies 
 and Gentlemen between the feats". Seven events are specified, all 
 growing more and more elaborate and wonderful, "after which Mr. 
 Pool will introduce two extraordinary Horses, who at the word of 
 command, will lay themselves down and groan, apparently through 
 extreme sickness and pain. The entertainment will conclude with 
 the noted droll scene, the Taylor riding to Brentford. Tickets 
 may be had at Mr. Buel's and at the place of performance, price 
 ls.6d. He beseeches the Ladies and Gentlemen, who honor him with 
 their presence, to bring no dogs to the place of performance". 
 
 Monitor, November 24, 1789 : Advertisement of John Brenon : "In 
 the curious and ingenious art of dancing on the Slack- Wire. Begins 
 precisely at 6 .o'clock,tickets at ls.6d. Children 9d. First he bal- 
 ances a straw or a single tobacco pipe on the wire, second balances 
 a sword on the edge of a wine glass, third goes through a hoop on 
 ditto, fourth beats a drum on ditto; the whole of his performance 
 being collected from different parts of the globe where such amuse- 
 ments are in repute would be too long for this advertisement, his 
 ground balancing being past description. Mrs. Brenon walks the 
 Slack- Wire and performs many other feats never before attempted 
 by an American Lady". 
 
 Monitor, February 16, 1791: "To the Curious. To be seen 
 at Charles Marsh's stable, a few rods south of the Court -House, till 
 Thursday evening, Two Camels, Male and Female, from Arabia. 
 These stupendous animals are most deserving the attention of the 
 curious, being the greatest natural curiosities ever exhibited to the 
 public on this continent. They are twenty hands high, have necks 
 four feet long. ... a large high bunch on their backs, and another 
 under their breasts, in the form of a pedestal, on which they support 
 themselves when lying down, they have four joints in their hind 
 legs, . . . will travel 12 or 14 days without drink, and carry 15 
 hundred weight. . . . are remarkably harmless and docile, and will 
 lie down and rise at command". 
 
 Witness, February 19, 1806: New Museum of Wax Work. 
 "Street respectfully acquaints the ladies and gentlemen of Litchfield 
 and vicinity, that he has opened, at the house of Mr. Charles But- 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 125 
 
 ler, a large and elegant collection of wax flgures, as large as life". 
 Among the various characters advertised are, "an elegant figure of 
 the grand Bashaw of Tripoli", and a "Likeness of Mr. Ephraim 
 Pratt, aged 120 years. This singular man is represented as giving 
 his property to a stranger in preference to his own family". 
 
 The same year, in connection with the Litchfield Festival of the 
 Democrats, there was advertised in the Witness, July 30, 1806: In 
 connection with the Kepublican Celebration of the 6th of August, a 
 live elephant will be exhibited at the house of Grove Catlin from 
 7 A. M, till sunset. Among other tricks announced, this animal 
 was trained to draAV corks, to the astonishment of the Spectators. 
 Was this the original elephant of the G. O. P.? 
 
 Poster in the collection of the Litchfield Historical Society, 
 August 17, 1827: "The Aerial Phaeton. The subscriber intends 
 erecting on Litchfield Hill by the first day of September! next an 
 Aerial Phaeton. The design of the machine is to afford an agree- 
 able pastime to ladies and gentlemen. It consists of Four Car- 
 riages each supported by Two Arms, which are attached to an Axle- 
 tree in the centre. They are turned by a Propelling Machine, and 
 will carry eight persons at once, two in each carriage, Avho will in 
 regular succession be raised to the distance of Fifty Feet in the 
 air, at a rate of velocity equal to ten miles a minute, or slower, as 
 suits the wishes of those occupying the carriages, and all with per- 
 fect ease and safety. This method of recreation and amusement has 
 been highly recommended by the most eminent Physicians in the 
 United States, and Avill be found the best mode for taking an airing, 
 by those whose lives are sedentary, that can be practised. The 
 place where it is to be erected, is airy, the prospect extending wide, 
 and being relieved by all the variety of hill and dale. Every atten- 
 tion will be paid to company, and all things done 'decently and in 
 order'. John H. Montgomery, Inventor and maker of the Aerial 
 Phaeton. Price 12^ per mile — children, half price". 
 
 There were many outdoor amusements. One of the great events 
 of the year was training day, when the local militia had their chief 
 display. Here is an account from the Monitor, October 3, 1792: 
 "Yesterday, the company of Cavalry, commanded by Capt. Elihu 
 Lewis, well mounted and equipt, and two foot companies, under 
 Capts. Stone and Seymour, principally in uniform, mustered on the 
 parade of this town, and diverted several hundred spectators by a 
 variety of evolutions and firings, much to the honor of their respec- 
 tive corps. Harmony and good conduct pervaded the Avhole, and 
 no accidents occurred. Tho' a day of apparent glee, yet few, if any, 
 were the disciples of Sir Kichard — the head and legs of most were 
 capable of performing their accustomed duties". 
 
 We are fortunate in having two glimpses of Training Day, from 
 the diaries respectively of one of the girls and one of the law Stu- 
 dents. Eliza A. Ogden writes on September 24, 1816 : "Friday it was 
 general training and there was no school in the morning. I went down 
 
126 thf: history of litchfield 
 
 to the school house and saw them on the parade. In the afternoon I 
 went down to Miss Jones, to see the sham, fight. I liked it very well". 
 Younglove Cutler, September 21, 1820, tells the story with his usual 
 more considerable snap: "To begin this great day was powdered. 
 Huzza! here we go, the defenders of our country — but lo my horse 
 has fallen under me & I am with my sword in the dirt & he (care- 
 ful creature) is bounding in his turn over me without harming a 
 hair of my head — now I am appearing to great advantage — now the 
 girls are falling in love with me — now at dinner. Mr. Such a 
 thing whom Lyman & myself saw at the ball & Mr. Law — both 
 from Georgia there — now it is afternoon & and I am bounding about 
 — now running our people — now my horse is fatigued — now it is 
 night — now I am dancing at the ball. . ." (Vanderpoel, pp. 165; 200) . 
 
 But there could not be balls and trainings every day. In 
 winter we have already read of the sleigh rides. There was the 
 skating also, though nothing is said of the school-girls going on the 
 ice, perhaps because of the reputed danger. Our lakes and the 
 river have claimed their victims indeed at all periods, four drown- 
 ings having occurred prior to 1814, and a relatively large number 
 since. Morris gives an account of these early accidents, pp. 99-100: 
 "The first was John Kilby, a foreigner, who fell out of a small canoe, 
 while crossing the Great Pond alone, on the 10th of September, 1787. 
 The second was a son of James Wickwire, who, on the 11th day of 
 December, 1793, fell through the ice, while playing on the Great 
 Pond with his school-mates. On the evening of the 16th day of 
 December, 1812, William H. Bennett, of South Carolina, aged 16 
 3^ears, and William Ensign, aged 14, school-mates, then members of 
 Morris Academy, were drowned in the Great Pond. The moon 
 shone brightly. As others were skating, they ran into a glade. 
 An alarm was immediately given, and every exertion made to find 
 their bodies, but they could not be found till they had been under 
 water about one hour. Attempts were then made to resuscitate them, 
 but in vain. They were amiable youths, fond of each other, and 
 in a very melancholy manner united in death". 
 
 In summer, there were walks, occasional driving excursions, 
 trips on Bantam Lake, not to speak of the earlier and more rural 
 Husking parties, Apple-bees, Raisings, Quiltings, Spinning parties, 
 and of course the Weddings. 
 
 In the days of the Academy, the walks were principally to Pros- 
 pect Hill, where there was then, as later, an Echo Rock, and to 
 Love's Altar, a shady nook by the stream below the hill back of 
 the Frederick Wolcott house. Mary Peck, of the Pierce School, has 
 left us delightful colored sketches of these in her album, preserved 
 in our Historical Society. They are well worth looking up in the 
 reproductions given in Mrs. E. N. Vanderpoel's Chronicles, pp. 246 
 and 248. 
 
 "Mr. Lord had built a bowling alley on the west side of the 
 Prospect Hill road for the benefit of the pupils of both schools, so 
 we can picture these walks combined with lively bowling matches. 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 127 
 
 much like tliose of later days that were held in the old bowling alley, 
 hack of the United States Hotel". (Vanderpoel, p. 32). 
 
 Finally Bantam Lake offered its attractions, made available by 
 a few boats to be rented for fishing, and occasionally by more pre- 
 tentious craft for excursions. The following advertisements are 
 reprinted from Vanderpoel's Chronicles, p. 33: 
 
 Monitor, August 24, 1795: "This subscriber informs the public, 
 and particularly those who either for health or pleasure are dis- 
 posed to enjoy the water, that he has thoroughly repaired that com- 
 modious, prime sailing Pleasure Boat, the Pond Lily; and that she 
 will ply from the northern to the southern shore every day in the 
 week, (wind and weather permitting). She has good accommoda- 
 tions for Passengers; and Ladies and Gentlemen, wishing to indulge 
 in a few hours of healthy and agreeable pastime, will be cheerfully 
 waited upon. Select companis from the town and country, are 
 solicited to afford themselves this pleasant relaxation from business ; 
 and on seasonable notice to the Skipper of the Boat, every required 
 attention is promised them, by their devoted, humble servant. James 
 Lee". 
 
 "The new and elegant Horse boat, Bantam, having been recently 
 built for the express purpose of accommodating j)leasure parties 
 on the Bantam Lake is now completely prepared to accommodate 
 ladies and gentlemen who may wish to take advantage of this safe 
 and neat mode of taking a trip upon our pleasant waters. Parties 
 wishing to engage the boat for a trip, must give two days notice to 
 the subscriber residing at the north end of the Lake. Harmon 
 Stone, Litchfield, June 27, 1826". 
 
 "Bantam Lake, (Great Pond, so-called), being a place of much 
 resort, the subscriber has fitted up a small establishment, located 
 on the shore of the northeast extreme of said Lake, in neat order, 
 for the accommodation of those gentlemen and ladies who may wish 
 to spend a few hours on and about this beautiful sheet of water. 
 Frederick A. Marsh, May 28, 1829". 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 INDUSTRIES AND MERCHANTS. 
 
 It was not till the close of Litchfield's Golden Age that the cen- 
 tralizing tendency of Connecticut industries became marked. Prior 
 to 1840, all the hill towns of the State had a number and variety 
 of local industries far in excess of what they ever had after that 
 date. In Litchfield this was peculiarly the case, because of the 
 important position occupied by the town at the intersection of 
 several main lines of travel. Elizabeth C. Barney Buel read a 
 most comprehensive paper on the Industries of Litchfield County 
 before the Scientific Association in October 1904, from which the 
 following outlines of some of the more important and interesting 
 activities have been takem 
 
 A general view of local industries is given in the Gazetteer of 
 the States of Connecticut and Khode Island, 1810. "The most 
 important manufacture in the town is that of iron, of Avhich there 
 are 4 forges, 1 slitting mill and 1 nail factory. There are 1 cotton 
 mill, 1 oil mill, 1 paper mill, 2 cording (carding?) machines, 6 full- 
 ing mills, 5 grain mills, 18 saw mills, 5 large tanneries, besides sev- 
 eral on a small scale; 2 comb factories, 2 hatter's shops, 2 carriage 
 makers, 1 cabinet furniture maker, 3 saddlers, and a number of 
 house carpenters, joiners, smiths and other mechanics". Morris^ 
 p. 89, repeats this list, adding "1 machine for making wooden clocks 
 and 1 cotton manufactory". 
 
 This list, however, by no means exhausts the catalog of Litch- 
 field's industries, even at that early date. The advertisements in 
 the early Monitors and in the other newspapers refiect an active 
 commercial life beginning at once after the close of the Eevolution. 
 Certainly the army stores gathered in Litchfield during the War 
 involved the presence here of many merchants and emphasized the 
 important geographical position of the town, as it then was. Situ- 
 ated at the intersection of the road from Boston and Hartford to 
 New York with that from New Haven to Albany, the market, at 
 least for certain commodities, was much more than a local one. 
 In the first issue of the Monitor, December 21, 1784, there are only 
 three Litchfield advertisements: that of William Russell, stocking 
 weaver, from Norwich, England, who announced that he Avas ready 
 to make "worsted, cotton and linen Jacket and Breeches Patterns, 
 men's and women's Stockings, Gloves and Mitts"; that of Zalmon 
 Bedient, barber, who offered cash for human hair, at his shop a 
 few rods north of the court-house; and that of Cornelius Thayer, 
 who carried on the business of brazier at the shop of Col. Miles 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 129 
 
 Beach in North Street, at which shop the jeweler's and silversmith's 
 business "is carried on as usual by said Beach". Ten or fifteen 
 years later these three pioneer advertisements had increased in 
 number to fill three columns or more, setting forth enterprises of 
 every variety. 
 
 The iron industry is mentioned by the Gazetteer as of the chief 
 importance. One foundry stood near the site of Miss Van Winkle's 
 house on North Street, owned by Kussell Hunt and Brothers. The 
 ore was brought from Kent and Salisbury, in winter on sleds and 
 in summer on pack horses in leather bags. 
 
 There was a slitting mill in Bantam, where the first rolling 
 and slitting for nails was done by machinery by a secret process. 
 Bantam can also boast the first machine-made harness buckles. 
 
 In Milton there was a puddling furnace owned by Hugh Welch. 
 In 1860 this was bought by one Hinchcliff, and converted into the 
 shears shop. 
 
 A forge Avas located in Bantam near the site of the factory of 
 Flynn and Doyle. 
 
 In the Monitor, February 15, 1797, is told the first industrial 
 disaster of the toAvn. "On Monday the pressure of water and ice, 
 on the stream leading out of the Great Pond, was so great that it 
 swept off the dam, bridge and iron-house belonging to Mssrs. Wads- 
 worth and Kirby, at their slitting and rolling mill. Their loss is 
 estimated at $2,500, including the suspension of their business the 
 present season. The damage to the public at large will be much 
 greater than the individual loss. The great quantity of Cash 
 put in motion by this factory has a sensible effect on the circulating 
 mediimi of this and the neighboring towns. All persons concerned 
 in the manufacture of Iron have strong reasons to lament this mis- 
 fortune". Fortunately, a notice in the issue of February 27 
 announces that by the great exertions of the firm and "the generous 
 assistance of their friends" they "have nearly repaired the damage 
 and that on Thursday of the present week the}^ will be again in 
 motion". 
 
 In Bantam lived a certain Phineas Smith, nailor, who advertised 
 in the Monitor for "one or two faithful Workmen at hamnier'd 
 Nails". These hammered nails were possibly the handmade nails 
 that are pulled with such difficulty out of the oaken beams of our 
 oldest houses. They were of such value that cai'penters of old never 
 threw them away, but carefully straightened out the used ones and 
 preserved them for future use. 
 
 The building industry had a famous representative in Giles Kil- 
 bourn, who built the church erected in 1796 on the hill opposite 
 the Burying Ground at Bantam by the seceding Episcopalians of 
 the western part of the town, who, during the ministry of Kev. 
 David Butler, organized the Second Episcopal Society of Litchfield. 
 Giles Kilbourn died September 13, 1797, and his funeral was the first 
 
130 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 in the new church. He built the houses now occupied by Mrs. 
 Vanderpoel, Mrs. Harrison Sanford and Charles H. Coit. 
 
 Joiners were frequently advertised for by our old cabinet 
 makers, many of whom signed their names to their work, like artists 
 or silver- smiths. They had a right to do so, for their work was 
 hand-wrought and artistic. One of the most noted of these men 
 was Silas E. Cheney, who died in 1820. David Bulkley and George 
 Dewey Avere partners, tAvo doors west of the County House, and their 
 carving became famous far beyond the limits of the township. 
 They were succeeded about 1839 by Bulkley and Cooke. 
 
 John Mattocks, a Windsor chair maker, half a mile west of the 
 center, advertised in 1797, taking in exchange for his work "Bass 
 wood Plank proper for chair seats". Near him and at the same 
 period, Nathaniel Brown, house joiner, made "Windsor, flddle-back, 
 dining-room, parlor, kitchen and children's chairs". 
 
 Also in 1797 appears the advertisement of Oliver Clark and 
 Ebenezer Plumb Jr., who "Have taken the shop lately occupied by 
 Mr. Ozias Lewis, in the main South Street, a few rods below Mr. 
 Kirby's, — where they intend (if properly encouraged) to furnish 
 every description of Cabinet Work, elegant and common to fancy 
 on agreeable terms. They make Heart-back Cherry Chairs from 
 7 to 9 dollars each; Windsor ditto from 8s. to 15s. each. Pungs 
 and Sleighs, of any model, on short notice. All kind of Stuff fit 
 for Cabinet or Shop Avork, receiA^ed in payment". The taking of 
 produce or raAv material in payment for manufactured articles is a 
 frequent feature of the old advertisements, due to the scarcity of 
 circulating coin in the years folloAving the KcA^olution. In 1799, 
 Oliver Clark was at Avork alone at the same shop, adA^ertising 
 "swell'd and straight sideboards, bureaus, chairs, etc., of mahogany, 
 cherry and other stuff highly finished; and finishing buildings in the 
 most approved style of architecture". 
 
 The trade of carriage making was a prominent one. There was 
 a carriage factory at Milton OAATied by Ealpli P. Smith's father and 
 uncle, located below the Blake Grist-mill. At a A'ery much earlier 
 period coaches were made at a factory on Chestnut Hill, every part 
 of the carriage being manufactured on the spot. In 1839, William 
 Clark manufactured "Carriages, Pedlar and Pleasure Wagons of 
 all kinds" to order "one door north of the Congregational Church", 
 and in the same year Ambrose Norton had a carriage shop further 
 up North Street on the Avest side. North Street Avas essentially 
 the business street in those days, and the street also on AA'-hich the 
 greatest merchants lived, especialh^ Benjamin Tallmadge and Julius 
 Deming, each of whom had his store immediately south of his house. 
 In his Statistical Account, Morris enumerates the carriages in use, 
 presumably in the spring of 1812 as "1 phaeton, 1 coachee and 46 
 two-wheel pleasure carriages!" and adds, p. 92, "Waggons, drawn 
 either by one or tAvo horses, are much used by the inhabitants. The 
 first pleasure carriage, a chair, was brought into this toAAOi by 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 131 
 
 Mr. Matthews, mayor of New York, in the year 1776, and is still 
 in use here: the first umbrella in the year 1772". 
 
 Still another carriage factory was located at the foot of West 
 Hill, before the tan-yard which was there for so many years. 
 
 Tanning was an extensive industry, together with other manu- 
 factures involving the use of skins and leather. Caleb Bacon adver- 
 tised. Monitor, May 29, 1799, for a boy "14 or 15 years old as an 
 Apprentice to the Shoemaking and Tanning Business". Morocco 
 leather was produced here in those energetic days, and used for 
 hats, witness another Ad. of the same Caleb Bacon, in the Witness, 
 July 1, 1806: "The subscriber takes this method to inform his 
 customers and the public that he is now carrying on the morocco 
 manufactory in Litchfield half-a-mile north of the Court House 
 on the great road leading from New Haven to Albany, where he 
 offers for sale in large or small quantities Eowan Morocco suit- 
 able for Shoes or Hats, finished in the neatest manner by some of 
 the best workmen on the continent. Also a few real Coat Skins, 
 Kid Bindery, etc.. Cheap for cash or raw materials, such as Oak 
 and Hemlock bark. Hides, calf and sheep skins, sumac of this year's 
 growth (the time to crop which is July and August) and must be 
 dried like hay free from rain or any wet. Hatters and shoemakers 
 will do well to call and see for themselves". 
 
 There were saddlers and harness makers in large numbers. 
 But leather was used for many other purposes less to be expected. 
 Erastus Lord made the first leather pocket-books in this country. 
 "He moved to Litchfield", Vanderpoel, p. 24, "and continued to make 
 them at his house on the south side of Prospect Street, where Mr. 
 MacMartin now lives". His son, Augustus A. Lord worked with 
 him and later by himself, and finally moved to the center and con- 
 fined himself to book-binding. For a time his business was very 
 varied, as shown by an advertisement in the Enquirer, May 6, 1844: 
 "Blank Book Manufactory. A. A. Lord manufactures to order, 
 Kecords, Ledgers, Journals, Day Books, Waste Books, Grand List 
 Books, Writing Books, Memorandums, etc. etc. at his manufactory 
 in Prospect St. He also manufactures Pocket Books of every 
 description, Among which are Pocket Books, Portfolios, Bill Books, 
 Memorandum and Merchants' Pocket Books, Gents' and Ladies' 
 Dressing Cases, etc. Book Binding in all its variety executed in the 
 most thorough manner. All of the above articles made of the best 
 of stock, and the workmanship equal to any in the country". 
 
 In the Monitor, November 3, 1795, Thomas Trowbridge advertised 
 for "two or three journeymen Shoemakers who if steady and faith- 
 ful will find immediate employ and sufficient wages". His business 
 was extensive, as is evidenced by an anecdote told of Col. Tall- 
 madge. The latter was most particular as to his dress, and con- 
 tinued to wear the small clothes and long stockings of the Kevolu- 
 tionary period long after other men had donned trousers. A neces- 
 sary accompaniment of this costume was a pair of elegant high 
 
132 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 top boots. He once took sucli a pair to Trowbridge's shop and asked 
 him if he could repair them. Mr. Trowbridge assured him that 
 he could, but the Colonel was still doubtful as to his ability: "I 
 bought those boots in New York", he said, "and they are exceedingly 
 choice". "And I made those boots in Litchfield", was Trowbridge's 
 answer, "and sold them to the New York trade. I guess I can 
 mend them!" And the Colonel was satisfied that he could. 
 
 Hats were made not only out of Morocco, but from beaver and 
 lamb's wool. Turning again to the Monitor, August 15, 1798; 
 "Shear'd Lamb's Wool, Proper for Hatter's use, paid for in cash at 
 the store of Timothy and Virgil Peck; — who manufacture and have 
 for sale Hats of i^rime and inferior quality". And just below 
 this: "Sam. Seymour and Ozias Seymour" also announce that they 
 have beaver hats for sale and pay cash for lamb's wool and for 
 "Lambskins with the wool on". There were fulling mills beyond 
 the North Street iron foundry, where wool Avas fulled "for hats made 
 and sold on South Street by Ozias and Moses Seymour. This hat 
 factory was afterwards moved to the west of the town and owned 
 by Braman and Kilbourne". (Vanderpoel, p. 24). 
 
 Wool was a very important conmiodity; and wool carding had 
 to be carefully supervised. In the Witness, June 10, 1806, we find 
 S. Strong & Co., announcing that they had "again employed Jerry 
 Eadcliffe to superintend their carding machine, lialf a mile south 
 of Capt. Bradley's Tavern. As Mr. Eadcliffe's skill in the business 
 of carding is well known in this neighborhood nothing need be 
 said on that point. Our customers are informed that their work 
 will be warranted well done, conditioned that those who have cause 
 of complaint inform us previous to spinning the wool — otherwise no 
 allowance will be made. Wool for carding may be left at Moses 
 Seymour Jr's store or at the Machine". In 1805, Jerry Eadcliffe 
 had been "carrying on the business of cloth dressing at Marsh's 
 Mills, half a mile east of the Court House". 
 
 "Wool spinning", continues Mrs. Buel, whose notes we are 
 closely following, "was still done at home, although these other 
 steps in the process of cloth-making, such as the preparation of the 
 wool for the wheel, the dyeing of the yarn and the weaving of the 
 fabric had already begun to pass into the factory or the hands of 
 specialists". Wool wheels are advertised: "Notice to Farmers. 
 Cradle and Wheel Manufactory. The subscriber has located him- 
 self one mile and a half west of the Court House on Harris' Plain, 
 so-called, where he has on hand Grain Cradles with Scythes or with- 
 out. Also, Wool Wheels and Eeels. On hand, a few dozen Patent 
 Wheel Heads, with Cast Steel Spindles. . . . Elias Bissell". 
 
 There are many advertisements of the dyeing business. At the 
 clothier's works of Sam. Nevins about a mile north of the Meeting 
 House, cotton and linen yarn Avere dyed blue. In 1806 (Witness) 
 "Euth Cooper having obtained a complete skill in blue dyeing from 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 133 
 
 Louis Perkins, proposes to carry on the Business in the East part 
 of this town". 
 
 Marsh's Mills, at the foot of East Hill, were owned by Ebenezer 
 Marsh and later by Thomas Addis, Clothier, who, according to his 
 advertisements, "executes all branches of the trade including weav- 
 ing". 
 
 In the last years of the eighteenth century we get an interesting 
 announcement in the Monitor, December 2, 1798, showing not only 
 the low ebb of the clothiers' business, but an early attempt at a 
 commercial pooling of prices : "Notices to Clothiers. The Clothiers 
 of the County of Litchfield are requested to meet at Mr. David 
 Buel's, in Litchfield, on the third Monday of December instant at 
 1 o'clock, P. M. The sufi'ering interest of the trade, in common with 
 other artizans, by means of their labour bearing an inadequate pro- 
 portion to the rate of Produce, etc., requires immediate remedy; and 
 the object of the meeting being principally to establish uniformity in 
 prices, it is hoped every person interested will punctually and point- 
 edly attend". 
 
 David Buel, here mentioned, was a man of many enterprises. He 
 was for a time joint publisher with Thomas Collier of the Monitor; 
 dealt in ladies' Stuff Shoes; exchanged sole leather for cash or 
 flax; and Avas the Litchfield Agent for one of the State lotteries, for 
 raising money for public works, as was then the unquestioned cus- 
 tom in pious Connecticut. 
 
 Flax was still abundantly raised. Ephraim Kirby and Benja- 
 min Doolittle owned an oil-mill where they "exchange the best Lin- 
 seed Oil for Flax Seed". (Monitor, January, 1798). In 1805 Moses 
 Seymour Jr., also ran an Oil Mill. 
 
 There was a cotton mill near the foot of South Hill, owned by 
 Samuel Sheldon, a brother of Colonel Elisha Sheldon, and near it 
 was a papier mache factory. Julius Deming started a paper mill 
 in Bantam, in which Elisha Horton, who took part in the Boston 
 Tea Party, was the foreman. Samples of the paper made by him 
 are in the collections of the Litchfield Historical Society. 
 
 In Milton there v/as a button mill opposite the grist mill, while 
 grist mills were dotted throughout the country. "Anti-Come-Off 
 Coat and Pantaloons Buttons, a new article", were advertised at 
 A. P. P. Camp's, in the Enquirer, June 3, 1841, but history is silent 
 as to whether they were locally made. 
 
 About 1842 Simeon S.. Patterson came to Litchfield with his 
 family from New Preston and, with his eldest son James G. Batter- 
 son, established and for some years maintained a marble yard on 
 the East side of Meadow Street. Specimens of their work can still 
 be seen in some of the Litchfield houses. From Litchfield they 
 removed to Hartford, where James G. Batterson became one of the 
 leading business men. He organized, and for many years was 
 President of, the Traveler's Insurance Company. He was the 
 builder of our present State Capitol, and of many other public build- 
 ings in Hartford and elsewhere. 
 
134 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 Eecord also survives of a brick-yard lialf-a-mile west of the 
 Court House, where in 1798 John Kussell offered bricks in lots of 
 from 15,000 to 50,000. There was also a piano factory about a 
 mile Avest of town; at least a depression in the ground is shown 
 where such a factory is reputed to have stood. 
 
 It is a pity that the memory of many such curious old enter- 
 prises is quite lost. One would also like to know what became of 
 the silk worms which Jedediah Strong advocated in prose and 
 verse, some of which he claimed to be raising at his Elm Kidge 
 house. 
 
 A highly successful business at one time was that of the gold 
 and silversmiths. Samuel Shethar, Isaac Thompson, Keuben Mer- 
 riman, Timothy Peck, William Ward and Benjamin Hanks were the 
 best known of these workers in gold, silver and brass. Some of 
 their silver spoons are still in use. In 1903, the Mary Floyd Tall- 
 madge Chapter, D. A. E., held a large and interesting exhibit of 
 locally owned silver, including specimens by several of these men. 
 They were nearly all active somewhere between 1795 and 1805. 
 Among many other things, Shethar manufactured those silver 
 Eagles, the nation's arms, which were the emblem of the Federalists 
 and were worn in the hat by both men and Avomen during the bitter 
 war between the Federalists and the Democrats. Undoubtedly these 
 sold well in Litchfield in 1806. Another of these men, Benjamin 
 Hanks came from Mansfield, Conn., to this town in 1778, remain- 
 ing only till 1785, when he returned to Mansfield. While here he 
 was a clock and Avatch maker, and contracted for and put up the 
 first clock in the city of New York: on the old Dutch Church, 
 Nassau and Liberty Streets. The clock Avas unique, having a Avind- 
 mill attachment, his own patent, for Avinding itself up. 
 
 We should not overlook the many industries of Northfield in the 
 old days. These include, since 1798, spinning wheels, clocks, tin- 
 ware, linen goods, nails, brick, cider brandy, flutes, Avagons, car- 
 riages, coffins, leather goods, try squares, clothespins, knitting 
 machines, butter and cheese, harness snaps, and cutlery, of which 
 only the last survives. 
 
 To sum up the commercial industries of the Golden Age in 
 Litchfield we are fortunate in having an accurate summary of those 
 still active in 1845, at the very end of the period. This is found 
 in a book prepared by Daniel P. Tyler, Secretary of State at Hart- 
 ford, from the returns of the local assessors, entitled "Statistics of 
 Certain Branches of Industry in Connecticut for the year ending 
 October 1, 1845". The abbreviations used are: C. for capital; E. 
 for employee; F. for female; M. for male; and V. for value. 
 
 Woolen Mills, 2; machinery, 2 setts; wool consumed 11,000 lbs; 
 satinet m'd, 11,000 yds; V. $8,000; fiannel m'd, 2,981 yds; V. 
 $1,490.50; woolen yarn m'd, 500 lbs; V. $300; C. $6,000; M.E. 7; F.E. 3. 
 
 Casting Furnace, 1; Avare cast, 30 tons; V. $2,250; C. $5,000; 
 E. 7. 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 135 
 
 Paper Factory, 1; stock consumed V. $3,500; paper m'd V. $8,000; 
 C. $15,000; E. 10. 
 
 Musical Instrimieiit Factory, 1; V. of ni's, $8,000; C. $15,000; 
 E. 16. 
 
 Saddle, Harness and Trunk Factory, 1; V. of m's, $1,000; C. 
 $500; E. 2. 
 
 Plat and Cap Factory, 1; No. m'd 2,000; V. $3,000; C. $1,000; 
 E. 6. 
 
 Car, Coach and Wagon Factories, 7; V. of m's, $21,900; C. 
 $10,900; E. 31. 
 
 Soap and Candle Factory, 1; soap m'd, 100 bbls; V. $300; tal- 
 low candles m'd, 600 lbs; V. $50; E. 1. 
 
 Chair and Cabinet Factory, 1; V. of m's, $3,000; C. $2,000; E. 5. 
 Tin Faotories, 2; V. of m's, $4,000; C. $2,000; E. 3. 
 Linseed Oil Mill, 1; oil m'd, 2,000 gallons; V. $2,000; C. $2,000; 
 E. 1. 
 
 Tannery, 1 ; hides tanned, 1,765 ; leather m'd, V. $5,605 ; C. $5,650 : 
 E. 7. 
 
 Boots m'd, 1,286 pairs ; shoes, 2,167 pairs ; V. $7,500 ; E. 20. 
 Bricks m'd, 110,000; V. $500; E. 1. 
 Snuff, Tobacco and Segars m'd, V. $1,400; E. 2. 
 Lumber prepared for market, V. $3,079. 
 Firewood prepared for market, 4,549 cords; V. $9,098. 
 Flouring Mills, 4; C. $8,000. 
 Marble made into grave stones, V. $3,000; E. 3. 
 Suspenders m'd, 6,300 doz; V. $26,100; C. $5,000; M. E. 9; F. 
 E. 50. 
 
 Mittens and Gloves m'd, 800 doz; V. $4,800; C. $4,000; E. 4. 
 Sperm oil consumed in factories, 192 gals; V. $192. 
 Sheep, all sorts, 3,278; V. $2,570; wool produced, 15,714 lbs; V. 
 $5,499.90. 
 
 Horses, 565; V. $16,273; neat cattle, 4,969; V. $51,231; swine, 
 2,714; V. $21,604. 
 
 Indian Corn, 24,777 bu; V. $20,564.91; wheat, 55 bu. V. $82.50; 
 rye, 8,748 bu, V. $7,260.84; barley, 226 bu. V. $136.80; oats, 29,920 bu; 
 V. $12,566.40; potatoes, 46,713 bu; Y. $11,678.25; other esculents, 
 36,713 bu; V. $6,118.83. 
 
 Hay, 7,830 tons; V. $93,960; flax, 1,046 lbs; V. $104.60. 
 Fruit, 32,710 bu; V. $400; buckwheat, 9,316 bu; V. $4,658. 
 Butter, 126,314 lbs; V. $18,947.10; cheese, 352,262 lbs; V. $21,135; 
 honey, 1,000 lbs; V. $100; beeswax, 100 lbs; V. $28. 
 
 Benjamin Tallmadge, Julius Deming and Moses Seymour were 
 perhaps the three largest merchants in the town. The picturesque 
 figure of Col. Tallmadge directs attention to him in particular. 
 
 Henry Ward Beecher Avrote of him: "How well do we remember 
 the stately gait of the venerable Colonel of Revolutionary memory! 
 We don't recollect that he ever spoke to us or greeted us, — not 
 because he was austere or unkind, but from a kind of military 
 reserve. We thought him good and polite, but should as soon have 
 
136 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 thouglit of climbing the church steeple as of speaking to one living 
 so high and venerable above all boys!" (Litchfield Eevisited, 1856). 
 Col. L. W. Wessells has also left us a boy's impression of him: 
 ''When a small boy, I have often seen him on horseback, a remark- 
 ably handsome figure and splendid horseman. He wore small 
 clothes and top boots, with shirt ruffled at bosom and wrists, and 
 we urchins looked upon him as something very nearly God-like. 
 He made me a present of the first cock and hen of the Poland 
 variety ever brought to Litchfield, and I was, of course, inflated 
 with pride and the envy of every boy far and near". (Connecticut 
 Quarterly, September, 1896). 
 
 In his Personal Memories, p. 135, E, D. Mansfield wrote of him: 
 "He was one of the gentlemen of the old school, with the long queue, 
 white-topped boots, and breeches. After the war he had retired to 
 Litchfield, and was one of the most marked as well as dignified 
 men who appeared in that aristocratic town. When the Western 
 Eeserve of Ohio was set off to Connecticut and sold for the school 
 fund, he became a large owner of lands there, and a township was 
 named after him". 
 
 Col. Tallmadge was in business with his brother, John Tall- 
 madge, who lived in Warren, and was postmaster there. The wide 
 range of goods covered in their importations is proved by a single 
 one of their many advertisements in the Monitor, November 7, 1792: 
 
 ''Cheap Goods! The subscribers having supi)lied their stores at 
 Litchfield and Warren, with a large and general assortment of Euro- 
 pean and West-Indian Goods, now offer them for Sale at a very 
 small advance for pay in hand, or on a short credit. Besides a great 
 variety of other articles, not mentioned, they have on hand a large 
 assortment of : Twill'd plain and striped Coating ; Superfine and low 
 priced Broadcloths; London Kersemiers; Scarlet, crimson and green 
 Baizes, double and single; Yellow and white Flannels; Kattinetts, 
 Shalloons, Antiloons; Durants and Tammies, twill'd and plain, of 
 various colors; Moreens, Taboreeus, Joans; Black Kussell, Calli- 
 manco, Sattinette, Lastings, Velvets, Thicksetts and Cords, Twil'd 
 and plain; Fustians, Janes; Hat Linings, Scarlet, blue and light 
 colored Shagg; Wildbores, Cordurett and Camblett of various col- 
 ors ; Elegant tanibour'd vest patterns ; Toylonetts ; silk, cotton, hemp 
 and thread Hose, ribb'd and plain; Chintzs, Callicoes, Furniture 
 ditto. Printed Linen, diversified in figure and quality; Best India 
 Sattin, wide and narrow, twill'd, plain and vellum Modes; Sarsa- 
 nettes, silk and thread, wide and narrow, edging and laces; Chinz 
 and purple Shawls; Eibbons of all colors and qualities; Furs and 
 Trimmings; etc., etc., etc., etc., any or all of which will be sold by 
 the piece, pattern, or single yard. Also a very general assortment 
 of Ironmongery and Hardware; a very extensive and general assort- 
 ment of crockery and Glass Ware; 6 by 8 and 7 by 9 Window Glass; 
 Looking Glasses handsomely gilt; large Family and smaller Bibles; 
 Testaments and Psalm Books; Websters Institutes, by the gross, 
 
%.. 
 
 Julius Deming 
 
K 
 
 H-1 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 137 
 
 dozen or single book; Allum; Copperas; White and Ked Lead; Span- 
 ish White and Spanish BroAvn; Kedwood; Logwood; Fustick and 
 Nickaragua; Hyson, Shushong and Bohea Teas, by the chest or 
 smaller quantity; Loaf and Brown Sugars, by the Hund. or lb.; 
 Chocolate; Ginger; Pimento; Pepper; Snuff; Tobacco; Cotton Wool; 
 Indigo; Old Spirits, St. Croix, St. Vincents and Grenada Bum, Wine 
 of different qualities, and molasses. Best Holland and Geneva, do 
 Nantz Brandy, by the Hogshead, pipe, bbl, or gal. For further 
 particulars please to call on the subscribers, Benj. Tallmadge and 
 Co." 
 
 Both Col. Tallmadge and Julius Deming made their importations 
 direct from abroad, which was very unusual in those days, and 
 would be enterprising today. Together, on one occasion, they 
 imported a cargo of horses from England, to improve the stock in 
 this country. Julius Deming himself went abroad to select goods; 
 on his trip home he was wrecked, and wisely decided never to go 
 near salt water again. This did not prevent his joining witL Oliver 
 Wolcott Jr. and Col Tallmadge, however, in a far-reaching enter- 
 prise, the Litchfield China Trading Co. This was after the expira- 
 tion of Oliver Wolcott's term as Secretary of the Treasury of the 
 United States in 1800, when he took up his residence in New York. 
 Each partner contributed an equal share, but the Company was 
 directed principally from New York. They purchased the ship 
 Trident, as their first vessel, and commenced shipping Pillar Dollars, 
 the only available export to China at the time, bringing back the 
 usual products of that country. The company was a successful 
 one, but was dissolved in 1814, possibly as a result of the Embargo 
 Act of 1812-13. 
 
 After this Oliver Wolcott returned to Litchfield, and was active 
 in various enterprises with his brother, Frederick Wolcott. They 
 were associated in the improvement of agriculture and the introduc- 
 tion of improved breeds of stock, particularly the Devon and Dur- 
 ham cattle and the Merino sheep, of both of which they were 
 importers. (Wolcott Memorial, p. 318). 
 
 His services as Governor again interrupted his commercial ven- 
 tures at home, but when his terms aggregating ten years were fin- 
 ished he once more undertook an extensive experiment. This was 
 the manufacture of woolen cloth at Wolcottville (Torrington). 
 Although this was disastrous financially, it was the foundation of 
 the present industrial prominence of our neighboring borough. The 
 experiment terminated in a lawsuit, which was tried in Litchfield 
 before Judge David Daggett. The Judge was an ardent Federalist, 
 and the jury was opposed politically to Wolcott. It was at this 
 trial that Judge Gould made his last appearance as Counsel. He 
 conducted the case against Wolcott, and carried the Jury with him. 
 Judge Origen S. Seymour, then a young man, attended the trial, 
 and felt that Judge Daggett's conduct of the case was partisan. 
 On reviewing the matter, however, in later years, he not only modi- 
 fied, but reversed his opinion". (Book of Days, i>. 184). 
 
138 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 Newspapers. 
 
 The following notices of the several newspapers issued in Litch- 
 field are taken from the Catalogue of the Litchfield Historical 
 Society, 1906: 
 
 WEEKLY MONITOK AND AlklEKICAN ADVEETISEE. Collier 
 and Copp, Printers. Began Dec. 21, 1784, The Monitor, with 
 variation in name and size of paper, continued for twenty two 
 years. On Sept. 15, 1788, Thomas Collier, who had been for 
 some years the sole printer, associated with him one Adam. 
 April 27, 1789, the partnership was dissolved and the paper 
 suspended until Nov. 17, 1789, when Collier again became the 
 printer. Jan. 18, 1792, the Monitor was published by Collier 
 and Buel, who continued until the last issue of the paper, 1807. 
 
 WITNESS. Selleck Osborn and Timothy Ashley, Editors and Pub- 
 lishers. Began Aug. 14, 1805. Discontinued, 1807. 
 
 LITCHFIELD GAZETTE. Charles Hosmer and Goodwin, Printers. 
 Began March 13, 1808. Discontinued May 17, 1809. 
 
 LITCHFIELD JOURNAL. Published by I. Bunce. This was a 
 non-partisan paper, but proved unsuccessful, and upon May 12, 
 1819, the Litchfield Republican was commenced. In 1821 the 
 Miscellany, in continuation of the Litchfield Republican 
 appeared in a smaller size sheet than the former paper. This 
 continued until Feb. 2, 1822, when 'for one year from this date 
 the profits arising from the circulation of this paper are 
 bestowed on a young man of this village in order to assist in 
 completing his education'. The Miscellany, or Juvenile Folio, 
 was "published on Feb. 9, 1822. The following is taken from 
 the 6th of March 1822: 'The Miscellany or Juvenile Folio is 
 published at I. Bunce's bookstore by the proprietor. The profits 
 of the circulation are for one year transferred to Henry Ward. 
 Terms, 871/2 cents at the ofi'ice. No paper to be discontinued 
 until arrearages are paid'. On July 31, 1822, H. Ward 'abandons 
 the paper' and for a time there was none published. I. Bunce, 
 as publisher and editor, on Sept. 9, 1822, commenced the publi- 
 cation of the American Eagle, which was moved to New Haven 
 on March 7, 1826. 
 
 THE DEMOCRAT. Melzar Gardner, Publisher. Began Nov. 3, 
 1833. Discontinued Sept. 13, 1834. 
 
 THE SUN. John M. Baldwin, Publisher and Printer. This paper 
 commenced on Feb. 7, 1835, and continued under the same man- 
 agement until Sept. 9, 1837, when S. G. Hayes became printer and 
 publisher. From June 9, to Oct. 6, 1838, it was discontinued, 
 and the last issue of the paper is April 20, 1839. 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 139 
 
 THE MEKCUEY. C. E. Morse and Co., Printers. This paper 
 began its existence on Jan. 16, 1840, and on Aug. 20, 1840, was 
 sold to Josiah Giles, who became editor and publisher. The 
 Mercury was discontinued on April 7, 1842. Josiah Giles began 
 on Jan. 20, 1844, the publication of the Democratic Watchman, 
 which was discontinued the same year. 
 
 LITCHFIELD EEPUBLICAA^. J. K. Averill began the New Mil- 
 ford Kepublican in 1845, and the next year moved to Litchfield 
 where he continued his paper under the name of Litchfield Eepub- 
 lican. He afterwards, 1856, moved to Falls Village, and con- 
 tinued his paper as the Housatonic Eepublican. After he 
 moved away, W. F. and G. H. Baldwin continued the paper as 
 publishers and proprietors. With the 13th number Henry 
 Ward appeared as editor, but in 1853 Albert Stoddard became 
 editor and publisher, Avith Henry Ward as associate. On Sept. 
 14, 1854, Franklin Hull was publisher, Avith himself and Henry 
 Ward as editors, and on April 4, 1856, Franklin Hull assumed 
 full charge as editor and publisher. 
 
 LITCHFIELD SENTINEL. Published in Litchfield by John D. 
 Champlin Jr., as editor. Vol. No. 1, is dated 1865. Champlin 
 continued as editor until February 2, 1866, when he associated 
 with him George H. Baldwin, who published the paper. On 
 February 3, 1867 Champlin again took charge of the paper and 
 continued it alone until April 30, 1869, when Solon B. Johnson 
 took up the paper as editor. John E. Farnham bought the 
 paper in 1869, and continued the publication until May 7, 1875. 
 
 THE LITCHFIELD ENQUIEEE. The Litchfield County Post was 
 established in 1825 by Stephen S. Smith from Poultney, Vt. 
 He disposed of the establishment to Joshua Garrett, who after 
 publishing the Post for a few weeks sold out to Henry Adams. 
 In 1829, Mr. Adams changed the name of the paper to the 
 Litchfield Enquirer, which it still bears. During this time 
 it was a five-column folio. It was the only regular paper 
 published in Litchfield county. Mr, Adams was drowned while 
 fishing in Bantam Lake and was the only editor who died "in 
 the harness". He was immediately succeeded by his brother, 
 Chas. Adams, in 1843, In October, 1845, the paper was sold 
 to Payne Kenyon Kilbourne, who conducted it until "ill health 
 caused by many arduous duties caused him to sell" in March, 
 1853. The new proprietor, H. W. Hyatt, changed the heading 
 from plain block style to the same as the text which has been 
 used ever since. In March, 1856, the size was changed to a 
 larger sheet. On Sept 4, 1856, he sold to Edward C. Goodwin. 
 On May 1, 1858, Chas. Adams again took the editorship and 
 associated with him Henry E. B. Betts. Oct. 13, 1859, James 
 Humphrey Jr., bought the paper, and his foreman was Alex- 
 ander B, Shumway, who held that position under succeeding 
 
140 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 owners practically up to the time of his death, February, 1912, 
 excepting- when he was in service during the Civil War. Mr. 
 Humphrey enlarged the paper to seven columns, a little smaller 
 than the present paper. In 1865, the paper passed into the 
 hands of Wing and Shumway, under whose management it 
 remained for one year, when Geo. A. Hickox bought the paper 
 and secured Mr. Wing as editor. One year later Mr. Hickox 
 commenced the duties of proprietor and editor, which he con- 
 tinued for twenty five years and changed its size. In 1891 
 he sold the paper to O. K. Dufifie Jr. In October, 1894, it 
 was sold to George C. Woodruff, who has since continued the 
 paper. Mr. Woodruff immediately changed the make-up of the 
 paper and in February, 1918, enlarged it to its present size of 
 eight pages of six columns each. 
 
George C. Woodruff (Jr.), Editor Litchfield Enquirer 
 
'^■r^' J^ 
 
 
 'M- 
 
 "* .' -i" ' -1» 
 
 
 Frederick Wolcott 
 
CHAPTEE XIII. 
 
 THE WOLCOTT FAMILY. 
 
 In his Memorial Address about tlie late Governor Koger Wol- 
 cott of Massachusetts, Senator Henry Cabot Lodge said of the Wol- 
 cott family: "We have one of the rare instances of a family which 
 starting in America with a man of fortune and good estate always 
 retained its position in the community. In the main line at least 
 it never encountered the vicissitudes which attend nearly all families 
 in the course of two hundred and fifty years. The name has never 
 dropped out of sight, but was always borne uj) by its representa- 
 tive in the same place in society as that held by the founder. More 
 remarkable still, in almost every generation there was at least one 
 of the lineal male descendants of the first immigrant who rose to 
 the very highest positions in military, political and judicial life. 
 The list of Judges, Governors, Generals, Cabinet officers and mem- 
 bers of Congress in this pedigree is a long and striking one. From 
 the days of the Somersetshire gentleman to those of the present 
 generation, which has given a Governor to Massachusetts and a bril- 
 liant Senator from Colorado to the United States, the Wolcotts, 
 both as soldiers and civilians, have rendered service to their country;, 
 as eminent as it has been unbroken. . . . Here is a long roll of honor 
 where the son felt that he would be unworthy of his father if he 
 did not add fresh lustre to the name he bore by service to his state 
 and country either in the hour of trial or in the pleasant paths of 
 peace". 
 
 This was the heritage of Oliver Wolcott Sr., when he first came 
 to Litchfield in 1751; just as it has been the heritage of every mem- 
 ber of the family before and since. He belonged to the fourth 
 generation of Wolcotts in this country, the original settler, Henry 
 Wolcott, who came over from Somersetshire in 1630, being his great- 
 grand-father. His father was Eoger Wolcott, Governor of Con- 
 necticut from 1750-54. So far as we can now tell, the attention of 
 Roger Wolcott was first directed towards Litchfield in 1725, when 
 John Marsh and others presented their Memorial to the General 
 Court asking that the non-resident Proprietors of the town be made 
 responsible for their share of its defence and support. Major 
 Roger Wolcott was appointed to the Committee to consider the 
 Memorial and soon after, when non-residents who failed in their 
 duties to the new settlement were to be deprived of their rights in 
 the town, he was appointed chairman of the Committee "to take 
 account of all forfeitures that shall arise by force of this act, 
 and upon the non-payment of the same, to make sale of the lands" 
 
142 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 in question. Later he purchased a farm on South Street, includ- 
 ing the present Wolcott property and considerable land on the 
 other side of the Street. No account remains of his having been in 
 Litchfield in person, though it would seem very probable that he 
 had been here, either in connection with his appointment of 1725, 
 or to visit his farm, or to visit his son after the latter came to 
 Litchfield in 1751. 
 
 Roger Wolcott died May 17, 1767. In his Will, dated July 18, 
 1761, he left to Oliver "all my land in Litchfield, and all my land 
 in Hartford, and all my land in Colebrook, and all my land ia 
 Windsor that lies in the Equiuelent to him & his heirs forever. I 
 also give him my Silver Can". 
 
 Oliver Wolcott Sr. began his career as a physician. When ii, 
 seemed probable that the seat of the new County would be fixed at 
 Goshen, he went there and began practice, but as sooh as the County 
 Seat was established at Litchfield he came here. He was chosen 
 Sheriff of the new County, 1751. 
 
 The following account of him is given by his friend, James 
 Morris, (p. 108-9) : "He was born in Windsor, December 1726. . . . 
 He represented the town in the General Assenibly, in the year 
 1770. In the year 1772, he was chosen a member of the Council. 
 In 1772, he was appointed Judge of Probate, for the district of 
 Litchfield. In the year 1774, he was appointed Judge of the Court 
 of Common Pleas. In the year 1775, he was chosen a Represnta- 
 tive in Congress, and was present at the declaration of Indepen- 
 dence. He continued a member of the Council till the year 1786, 
 and was then chosen Lieutenant Governor of this State. In 
 
 this office he continued till the year 1796, and was then chosen 
 Governor; and in this office he died December 1, 1797. The 
 
 duties of all these stations, he discharged with unshaken integrity 
 and firmness; courted favors from no man, and neither sought, 
 nor obtained, any end by intrigue, or from interested motives. 
 He was singularly modest, and even diffident, in his intercourse 
 with men, in the common walks of life. Those who best knew^ this 
 gentleman, well knew that the highest trust Avas never improperly 
 placed in him. Two questions only were asked by him, while discharg- 
 ing the duties of the several offices of high responsibility which he 
 held, viz, What is right? and, Wliat is my duty? He possessed a 
 benevolent heart, and was warm in his friendships; a firm friend 
 to order; a promoter of peace; a lover of religion; and a tried, 
 unshaken friend to the institutions of the Gospel. He was an 
 indefatigable student ; and neither wasted his time nor his words. 
 His mind was clear and penetrating; his views of political sub- 
 jects, just and comprehensive; his discernment of the wisest means 
 to promote the best ends, ready and exact; and his acquaintance 
 with science, particularly with Theology, extensive. He had a 
 remarkable talent at investigations, and nothing satisfied him but 
 proof. He has left a name, which is a sweet savor to his surviving 
 friends". 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 143 
 
 1^0 mention of Oliver Wolcott Sr. is adequate, whicli fails to 
 speak of his wife, Lorraine, or Laura, daughter of Capt. Daniel 
 Collins, of Guildford. She was related, though not closely, to 
 Timothy Collins, the first minister in Litchfield. She was a 
 
 woman of remarkable strength of character and executive ability. 
 Oliver Wolcott's long absences in the discharge of his many varied 
 duties were made possible primarily by her capable handling of 
 the home. She cared for the children, directed the servants and 
 slaves, managed the farm, kept up the hopes of her circle through 
 the most trying days of the Eevolution, with an unshaken faith 
 and energy which it is not easy to picture to-day. 
 
 There were five children. Oliver, born 1757, who died an infant ; 
 Oliver, born January 11, 1760; Laura, born 1761, who mar- 
 ried William Mosely of Hartford; Mariann, born 1765, who mar- 
 ried Chauncey Goodrich of Hartford, afterwards Lieutenant-Gov- 
 ernor of the State; and Frederick, born November 2, 1767. 
 
 Oliver Wolcott Jr. left an autobiographical sketch of his boy- 
 hood in Litchfield, written when he was over seventy years old, 
 which is so interesting both as a picture of Litchfield from a boy's 
 point of view, and as a picture of the boy who was to become so 
 distinguished, that it is unfortunate that it cannot be included here 
 entire. It Avill be found in the Wolcott Memorial, pp. 222-227, and 
 should be read by all, especially the account of his trip to New 
 Haven. 
 
 "My Mother and Grandmother learned me to speak early; I 
 could read before I was four years old, and was proud of my 
 acquirements. The School House was in the street near the N. W. 
 corner of my Father's Home-Lot, and was about twenty rods from 
 home. The street was nine or ten rods wide, and the hillocks were 
 covered with Avhortleberry bushes, which were tall enough to hide a 
 young man or boy from observation. It was an excellent place for 
 truants, and used for that purpose by many of the larger Boys 
 of the School. When I had attained the age of six or seven years, 
 I was told that it was time for me to go to School, and was flattered 
 by my Mother that my learning exceeded that of Boys twice my 
 age. I was accordingly dressed in my Sunday habit, and set out, 
 Avhip in hand, on a Monday morning. I was the smallest and 
 most slender boy who appeared, with a pale face and white hair. 
 The Master was a stout, rough man, and I think it probable that he 
 was a foreigner. When I was called before him, he, judging from 
 appearances, took me between his knees, and with a ferule and 
 Dilworth's Spelling Book in his hand, offered to instruct me in 
 spelling words of several sjdlables. My astonishment and indigna- 
 tion exceeded all bounds; I considered it as the greatest possible 
 indignity. I had no conception that a Schoolmaster, whom I deemed 
 a great personage, could be so ignorant as not to knoAV that I 
 could read in the Testament. I remained mute, and stifled my 
 proud sobs as well as I was able. The Master supposed that he 
 
144 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 had put me too far forward, and turned me back to words of one 
 syllable. My Avrath increased, and I continued silent. He tried 
 me in tlie Alphabet; and as I remained silent, he told me that 
 I came to learn to read, and that I must repeat the words after 
 him, or he Avould whip me. He actually struck me, supposing me 
 to be obstinately mute; my sobs nearly broke my heart, and I was 
 ordered to my seat. Some of the boys tried to console me, and 
 others laughed. I left the School with the most decided disgust, 
 resolved never to enter it again. 
 
 "I evaded going to School as long as possible; and when I did 
 go, I hid myself in the bushes. At length the Master enquired why 
 I had left the School. This brought out my explanation; and 
 such were my hori'or and antipathy, that my parents judged it 
 proper to excuse me, and I was soon sent to another School, kept 
 by a Miss Patterson, whose mild and conciliating manners attracted 
 my affections, ... At about eleven years of age I went to the Gram- 
 mar School, which was kept by Nathaniel Brown Beckwith, a 
 graduate of Yale College. ... I was far from being a student. One 
 of the eldest and stoutest Boys was still less so; he and the Master 
 were attached to Fishing and Hunting. Trouts, Partridges, Quail, 
 Squirrels both grey and black, and in the season Pigeons and Ducks, 
 were in great abundance. To these sports all our holidays were 
 devoted, and I engaged in them with great alacrity, in which the 
 Master joined on the footing of an equal. In this course I con- 
 tinued till, in the summer of 1773, Master Beckwith pronounced me 
 fit to enter College. ... 
 
 "When I got back to Litchfield", he had made the trip to New 
 Haven and wisely decided not to enter the College for another year, 
 "it took a long time to recount all the wonders I had seen, — the 
 grandeur of New Haven, its numerous Streets, beautiful Trees, 
 Shrubbery and Flowers in the House Yards, the Vessels at the 
 Long Wharf, and the peculiar dress and language of the Mariners. 
 With one of these I had formed an involuntary acquaintance, which 
 cost me a shilling. The wharves of a mud harbor presented no 
 prospect of the Sea; to mend my prospect, I climbed a part of the 
 way up one of the strands, when I felt a Sailor below me, who was 
 tying one of my legs to Avhat I considered a rope ladder. He did 
 it mildly and silently. As I could move neither up nor down, I 
 soon began to lament, which brought my companions to my aid. 
 They desired the Sailor to untie and let me down. He enquired 
 who I was, and why I had climbed his Vessel without his liberty. 
 I assured him that I intended no harm, and was ignorant that I 
 was doing wrong; that I was a boy from the Country, and having 
 seen the sea on coming to New Haven, I was desirous of seeing its 
 shores. The sailor said, that as it was the first time I had been 
 on board a Sea Vessel, and had seen and smelt the Salt Water, I 
 ought to pay what he called beverage; that he would require but 
 a Shilling, though if I was a Scholar, he would exact three Shillings. 
 I agreed with joy to his demand, and was instantly let down, amidst 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 145 
 
 the hearty laughter of his comrades; it seemed no unusual occur- 
 rence, so my friends joined in the joke. The Sailor told me that 
 no person ought to pay twice, and that if I found myself tied up 
 again, and called upon him, he would see me liberated without 
 expense. When I had recounted my travelling News to my School 
 Mates, I was advised to resume my Studies, and repeat my travel- 
 ling Stories out of School hours, which I thought but reasonable. . . . 
 
 "I had now passed the infantine period, and was between thir- 
 teen and fourteen years of age. I was no longer a Child, but a 
 Boy, and hoped soon to be a Man. I found myself useful to my 
 Mother. I could drive Cows to and from Pasture, ride the Cart 
 Horse to Mill, bring in light wood and chips for the kitchen lire, 
 and rock the Cradle, when necessary. . . . 
 
 "Sunday was to me the most uncomfortable day of the Week, 
 from the confinement in dress and locomotion which it imposed 
 on me. After Prayers and Breakfast, I was taken by my Mother 
 to the Wash Tub, and thoroughly scrubbed with Soap and Water 
 from head to foot. I was then dressed in my Sunday Habit, 
 which, as I was growing fast, was almost constantly too small. 
 My usual dress, at other times, was a thin pair of Trousers, and a 
 Jacket of linsey-woolsey; and I wore no shoes, except in frosty 
 weather. On Sunday morning, I was robed in a Scarlet Cloth 
 Coat with Silver Buttons, a white Silk Vest, white Cotton Stock- 
 ings, tight Shoes, Euffles at the Breast of my Jacket, and a cocked 
 Beaver Hat with gold lace Band. In this attire I was marched 
 to the Meeting House, with orders not to soil my Clothes, and to 
 sit still, and by no means to play during meeting-time. 
 
 "Parson Champion succeeded Parson Collins, our first Minister, 
 Doctor, and Justice of the Peace. Mr. Champion was a pleasant, 
 affable man, and a sonorous, animated Preacher. I liked loud 
 preaching, and suffered only from the confinement of my Sunday 
 dress. Mr. Champion not unfrequently exchanged Sunday services 
 with a neighboring Parson, whose performances were most uncom- 
 fortable. They were dull, monotonous, and very long; in the after- 
 noon they frequently extended to two hours. As I was not allowed 
 to sleep during nieeting-time, my sufferings were frequentlj^ extreme. 
 
 "After service, new toils awaited me. Our Sunday was in fact 
 the old Jewish Sabbath, and continued from sunset to sunset. In 
 the interval, from the end of services in the Meeting House till 
 Sunset, my Father read to the Family from the Bible or some 
 printed Sermon, and when he had done, I was examined by my 
 Mother in the Assembly's Shorter Catechism. When this task was 
 ended, I Avas allowed to resume my ordinary Habit. It exhilarates 
 my spirit, even at present, to think of the ecstacies I enjoyed when 
 I put on my Jacket and Trousers, and quit my Stockings and Shoes. 
 I used to run to the Garden LaAvn or into the orchard; I would 
 leap, run, lie down on the grass, in short, play all the gambols of a 
 fat calf, when loosened from! confinement". 
 
146 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 After liis services in tlie Eevolution, lie left Litchfield in 1781 
 and ''i)roceeded to Hartford, wliere lie accepted a clerksMp in the 
 office of the Commissioners of the Pay Table. The following year 
 he was appointed one of the board. In May 1784 he was selected 
 one of the commissioners to adjust the claims of Connecticut against 
 the United States; his colleagues were Oliver Ellsworth and Wil- 
 liam Samuel Johnson. 
 
 "The abolishment of the Commissioners of the Pay Table caused 
 him to be appointed in 1788 Comptroller of Public Accounts; this 
 office he resigned to become Auditor of the United States Treasury. 
 He was afterwards made Comptroller and in the spring of 1791 he 
 declined the presidency of the United States Bank. On the resig- 
 nation of Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury in 1795, 
 Governor Wolcott succeeded him, holding the office until November 
 8, 1800. Two years later he removed to New York City, engaged 
 in mercantile pursuits, ammassed a fortune, and became the first 
 president of the Bank of North America. After the close of the 
 second war with England, he returned to his native town, where 
 in company with his brother he founded large woolen mills near 
 Torrington. For ten consecutive years he was elected to the 
 gubernatorial chair; on his retirement from this office, he returned 
 to New York City, where he died June 1, 1833. Governor Wolcott 
 was the last survivor of Washington's Cabinet, and the last link in 
 the chain that represented the principles of the founders of the 
 republic". (Connecticut as a Colony and a State, by Forest Mor- 
 gan, 1904, Vol. Ill, pp. 108-9). 
 
 The late Hon. Joseph Hopkinson, one of his distinguished 
 political associates, thus wrote respecting him: — 
 
 "Oliver Wolcott was a man of a cheerful, even playful, disposi- 
 tion. His conversation was interesting and earnest, but gay unless 
 the occasion was unfit for gaiety. He enjoyed a good joke from 
 himself or another, and his laugh was hearty and frequent. He 
 delighted in the discussion of literary subjects, and the works of 
 distinguished authors, and was particularly fond of poetry. . . . His 
 domestic life was most exemplary; his greatest happiness was in 
 his family, with the friends Avho congregated there. His devotion 
 to the business and duties of his office was severe and unremitting. 
 He possessed, in a high degree, a very rare qualification, the capacity 
 for continued hard work, and was in everything systematic and 
 orderly. His attachments to his friends were strong and lasting, 
 never taxing them with unreasonable exactions. He was open and 
 direct in all his dealings, without duplicity or intrigue in any- 
 thing; his sincerity was sure, he deceived nobody. His political 
 opinions were the honest convictions of a man of undoubted integrity, 
 of distinguished intelligence and high attainments, and, above all, 
 of a true and sincere lover of his Country". (Wolcott Memorial, 
 p. 307). 
 
 His home in Litchfield, during the short periods of his resi- 
 dence there, was always the scene of a large hospitality of which he 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 147 
 
 was the presiding genius. He lived in the house built in 1799 by 
 Elijah Wadsworth on a part of the Wolcott farm. Pie enlarged 
 the house considerably in 1817. The house was later that of Col. 
 George B. Sanford, and is now owned by Mrs. Harry G. Day. 
 
 We insert here a quotation from a 'Letter of Digestion' of that 
 day, written by Josiah Quincy, Boston, September 30, 1801, after 
 a visit to the house: "Sir; We reached home in four days from 
 Litchfield, and found nothing terrible on the Hartford side of your 
 hills; nothing which the recollection of the attention and pleasure 
 we had received from our visit did not make appear trifling 
 obstacles. It is imjDossible for Mrs. Quincy and I (sic) not to 
 reckon the time passed at your house as the most delightful part 
 of our excursion, as well as not to dwell upon your promise to give 
 us in the Spring, by a long visit, a chance of returning a few 
 of those many kindnesses which you and Mrs. Wolcott found means 
 to extend in so short a time. ..." 
 
 The fact that Governor Wolcott had been elected on the Demo- 
 cratic or Toleration ticket set him apart a little from some of the 
 most uncompromisingly Federalist ; families. The second Mrs. 
 Lyman Beecher, on first coming to Litchfield (December 1817) wrote 
 of him: "The Governor resides here. He has honored me with a 
 call. He is a Toleration man. Comes half a day to meeting and 
 no more, . . . We heai'd the Governor was going to invite us to his 
 house, but at a party where we went, he did not like our manage- 
 ment of closing the evening with prayer and singing, and so has 
 given it up". 
 
 Oliver Wolcott Jr. married in 1785 Elizabeth, only daughter of 
 Capt. John Stoughton. They had five sons and two daughters, 
 but with the death of the sons, three of them in infancy, and of 
 two grandsons, his male line reached an untimely end. 
 
 Mrs. Oliver Wolcott Jr. was a very beautiful and charming 
 woman. When he announced his engagement to his father, the 
 elder Wolcott answered: "Litchfield, January 10, 1785, Sir: Your 
 letter of the fourth instant is received. The Character of the 
 young Lady, whom you mention as the Object of your Affection, 
 justifies your Choice, and receives the Approbation of your Par- 
 ents. And if you shall wait upon her here, when you shall come to 
 see us, it will increase the pleasure of the Visit. Yours, Oliver 
 Wolcott". 
 
 The testimony to her beauty is uniA^ersal. In the diarj' of 
 Caroline Chester, a pupil at Miss Pierce's in 1816, (Vanderpoel, p. 
 153), we read: "Mrs. Wolcott called and very politely asked Mrs. 
 Sheldon to permit me to take tea with her. . . . The party was 
 large. Though Mrs. Wolcott was the only married woman in the 
 room, yet no one would have thought her the oldest for she looked 
 very beautiful". 
 
 She "belonged to a class of women of whom Connecticut could 
 then boast many, whose minds were formed, and habits of reflection 
 directed by men; and without coming within the category of female 
 
148 , THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 politicians, they had been almost from childhood familiar with 
 questions of public and general interest. An anecdote of Uriah 
 Tracy, whose sarcasms were of old dreaded alike in the Senate Cham- 
 ber and the drawing-room, has been preserved, commemorative at 
 once of Mrs. Wolcott's attractions and his own peculiar wit. Mr. 
 Liston, the British Minister, who was thorougiy English in his 
 ideas, on some occasion remarked to him: 'Your countrywoman, 
 Mrs. Wolcott, would be admired even at St. James'. 'Sir', retorted 
 the Senator from Connecticut, 'she is admired even on Litchfield 
 Hill!'" (Gibbs, Federal Administration, Vol. I, p. 162). 
 
 That Litchfield girls and women are unusually beautiful is a 
 statement the truth of which has been confined to no single gener- 
 ation. We are as proud of it to-day, as ever was Mr. Tracy. It is 
 interesting to trace the growth of the observation of this happy 
 phenomenon. In the diary of a Law student, George Younglove 
 Cutler, August 18, 1820, (Vanderpoel, p. 195), we read: "Evening, 
 Miss Tallmadge here — is certainly elegant — there is no such woman 
 in New Haven — Litchfield is certainly an extraordinary place for 
 beauty — the mountain air gives them the expression of health & 
 that is the principal ingredient". 
 
 We think too that perhaps even Lyman Beecher had heard about 
 the ladies of Litchfield, for immediately after arriving here, March 
 5, 1810, he wrote at once to reassure Mrs. Beecher: "There are many 
 agreeable women here, but none so handsome or pleasing as to 
 occasion a momentary wandering of my heart from the object where 
 it has so long and with such satisfaction rested". (Autobiography, 
 Vol. L p. 190). 
 
 Good, faithful Mr. Beecher; all the newcomers to Litchfield 
 have not been as constant ! When James Gould first came to Litch- 
 field, he was present one day at the Court House. Uriah Tracy 
 was in the Court room, and watched the handsome young lawyer 
 with admiration. He asked him to lunch, at his home where possi- 
 bly his daughter surprised him by monopolizing some of Mr, 
 Gould's attention. We can let Mariann Goodrich tell the rest, 
 just as she wrote it to her favorite brother, Frederick Wolcott, in 
 1794, (Wolcott Memorial, p. 333) : "New Haven folks, especially 
 the women, are most terribly angry at Mr. G. for quitting Miss W. 
 They say he has been engaged to her seven years, and now he writes 
 her a civil letter informing her that he has been so unfortunate as 
 to fall in love with Sally T., and cannot possibly fulfill his promise 
 to her Ladyship — and so wishing her a great deal of happiness he 
 bids her adieu. I had several reasons for taking the man's part, 
 which I did with some zeal. I told them it had always been an 
 established practice with the Litchfield Ladies to steal the hearts 
 of all the Gentlemen who came here, and that I thought a New 
 Haven Lady must have a degree of modest assurance to expect 
 to keep her sweet-heart after he had seen the Litchfield beauties!" 
 
 The friendship between the charming and very sprightly Mari- 
 ann Wolcott and her brother Frederick continued as warm after 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 149 
 
 she married Chauiicey Goodrich, and their letters form one of the 
 most fascinating chapters in the delightful Wolcott Memoirs. They 
 are not adapted for quotation in a history concerned primarily with 
 Litchfield, and we must turn rather to speak of Frederick Wolcott 
 as a citizen. He is described as having been a very retiring and 
 modest man, almost diffident, taking after his father in that respect, 
 but in the discharge of many public duties in Litchfield he was 
 very active. He was for instance our County Clerk for forty three 
 years, surpassing his immediate predecessor, Isaac Baldwin by just 
 one year of service. These two men held the office consecutively 
 from the formation of the County, 1751, until the year before Fred- 
 erick Wolcott's death, 1836, eighty five years in all. Frederick Wol- 
 cott was also Judge of Probate for forty one years. He declined 
 the nomination for Governor of the State on two occasions, when 
 it was tendered him by a convention of his political friends; in both 
 cases their final nominee was elected. Probably no man in the 
 State had a stronger hold on the confidence and regard of his fel- 
 low-citizens. He felt that his health was inadequate to the cares 
 and responsibilities of positions more important than the many 
 which he discharged so well. He also loved his home in Litch- 
 field and was loath at any time to leave it and the pleasures of his 
 family life there. He lived in his father's house, which, after 
 having been out of the family for some years, is now owned by 
 his grand-daughter. Miss Alice Wolcott of New York. 
 
 Frederick Wolcott was twice married, first in 1800 to Betsey, 
 daughter of Col. Joshua Huntington of Norwich, who died in 1812, 
 and in 1815 to Mrs. Sally Worthington Cooke, daughter of Kev. 
 Samuel Goodrich. He had four daughters and five sons. One of 
 the latter was the donor of the fund which made possible the estab- 
 lishment of the Public Library here. 
 
 His four daughters and his second wife were especially known 
 for their many varied charms. Mrs. Wolcott was fitted for Yale 
 College when she was twelve years of age, and cried because she 
 could not enter that institution. In Litchfield, with her daughter 
 and three step-daughters she is said to have "sat as a queen sur- 
 rounded by her maids of honor". 
 
 Of the four Wolcott girls, E. D. Mansfield, wrote, (Personal 
 Memories, 1879, pp. 129-130), "One of my temptations to an after- 
 noon walk was to meet the girls, who, like ourselves, were often 
 seen taking their daily walk. Among these, were the Wolcotts, the 
 Demings, the Tallmadges, the Landons, and Miss Peck, who after- 
 wards became my wife. ... Of the Wolcotts there were four, and 
 I think now, as I did then, that I never beheld more beautiful 
 women than were Hannah and Mary Ann Wolcott. Many a time 
 have I met them on North Street when it was a pleasure to look 
 upon them, with the clearest complexions of white and red, the 
 brightest eyes, with tall and upright forms, and graceful walk. 
 These ladies would have attracted admiration in any place of the 
 world. The two other Wolcotts were also very handsome". 
 
ISO THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 Mary Ann Wolcott, who afterwards was very liappily married to 
 Asa Whitehead of New Jersey, must not be confused with her 
 charming Aunt, Mariann Wolcott Goodrich. At this time, 1820, 
 Mary Ann had an unfortunate love affair with Henry W. Livingston, 
 a very wealthy Law student from ISTew York. "T remember", writes 
 George Y^'ounglove Cutler, (Vanderpoel, p. 197-8), "when he first 
 went to Litchfield, I was in his room opposite M. A.'s door, we 
 were looking out and saw them — she & the amiable Hannah — L. 
 remarked, 'I suppose these young ladies, i. e. the ladies of this 
 village, depend upon law students for their husbands — I will be 
 very careful they do not ensnare me' — within three weeks he was 
 engaged to M. A. & talked to me of Father W." 
 
 The engagement was summarily broken a few weeks later. "It 
 is probably the interference of friends", continued Cutler, "who 
 have caused the mishap in this case — if I was an Emj)eror I would 
 hang such a man". Though the affair caused a great excitement 
 at the time, Mary Ann Wolcott was undoubtedly fortunate and she 
 took the experience with the spirit characteristic of her family. Six 
 weeks later Cutler could write: "A charming visit at Mary Ami 
 W's — how interesting! how beautiful! how much improved in her 
 personal appearance. I could not help telling her my opinion — In 
 return she reciprocated my compliments — which I always like — 
 she is one of the finest looking females I ever saw". 
 
CHAPTEK XIV. 
 
 SLAVERY. 
 
 The question is sometimes asked whether slaA^'ery was ever gen- 
 eral in Litchfield. We find no evidence that it was. After the 
 Kevoiution slaves were still employed quite generally in the North, 
 but the majority of families in our town were not in a position to 
 keep slaves, even if they had been inclined to do so. Probably the 
 greatest number of slaves here was during the ten years following 
 the war. In 1800, there were only seven left in the town, and 
 probabl}^ the last one was emancipated soon after that date. The 
 sentiment in the North was undergoing a rapid change at this time. 
 Earlier, the keeping of slaves had been a matter of course; but at 
 this date, both law and sentiment were turning with increasing 
 momentum against the custom. George C. Woodruff, in his Eesi- 
 dents of Litchfield, gives a list of 29 slaves, with their owners' 
 names, and their dates of birth, ranging from 1777 to 1801. 
 
 Two Tallmadge receipts for young slaves are preserved. One 
 is a bill of sale from John Shethar for 36 pounds for a negro boy 
 named Prince, seven years old, dated May 19, 1784. The other is 
 a bill of sale from Ezra L'Homniedieu, for a negro girl named Jane, 
 thirteen years old, dated March 10, 1787. 
 
 In the Wolcott household, the slaves, and later the free colored 
 servants were apparently numerous. There is an interesting letter 
 from Oliver Wolcott Jr., to his mother, written from New York two 
 months after the marriage of his sister Mariann: ''I can easily 
 judge", he says in part, "from my own feelings, that your own 
 situation, since the removal of my Sister, must be in some respects 
 lonely and disagreeable. But as you will be able to hear frequently 
 from her, and must be perfectly satisfied with the character of Mr. 
 Goodrich, I feel not so much anxiety on that account, as from the 
 multiplied attention which joxi will give to the family servants, 
 with which you are burdened. I must request that your humanity 
 to them be not so particular as to suffer your health to be impaired 
 on their account. If any measures consistent with propriety can 
 be taken, to prevent an increase of that kind of trouble, it is surely 
 your duty to attempt them". (Wolcott Memorial, p. 237, Letter of 
 December 21, 1789). 
 
 It would appear from this letter that the Litchfield slaves were 
 very kindly looked after. This is confirmed by the lack of notices 
 in the press of run-away slaves. Only one of these is established: 
 In the Witness for October 23, 1805, John Bird of South Farms 
 
152 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 advertised a $20. reward: "Kan away on tlie 21st instant about 
 midnight, a man slave, by name Tom, wbo has long lived with my 
 father, Doct. Bird", This advertisement was continued weekly 
 for upwards of three months, so that Tom probablj^ was not found. 
 
 In the Monitor of June 7, 1797, David Welch of Milton adver- 
 tised for the return of "a mulatto servant Jep 21 years old, about 
 five feet 7 or 8 inches high, understands the trade of a Bloomer, will 
 probably seek employment in that business". But this was not 
 necessarily a slave. 
 
 The consideration of the Litchfield slave owners in liberating 
 their slaves when they considered them able to look out for them- 
 selves is shown in the following document of the elder Oliver Wol- 
 cott, notable also for its early date: 
 
 "Know all men by these Presents that I Oliver Wolcott of Litch- 
 field in the State of Connecticut in expectation that my negro Servant 
 Man Caesar will by his industry be able to obtain a comfortable 
 subsistence for Himself and that he will make a ijroper use of the 
 Freedom which I hereby give him Do Discharge liberate and set 
 free him the said Caesar and do hereby exempt him from any further 
 Obligation of servitude to me my heirs and from every other person 
 claiming Authority over him by from or under me — and that my 
 said servant whom I now make free as aforesaid may be known 
 hereafter by a proper Cognomen I hereby give him the name of 
 Jamus so that hereafter he is to be known and distinguished by the 
 name of Caesar Jamus. As Witness my Hand and Seal in Litch- 
 field November 23, A. D. 1786". 
 
 As the slaves were freed they became in many cases useful and 
 desirable members of our community. At least three figure on the 
 Honor Roll of the Eevolution. These are Cash Africa, George 
 Negro, and Jack Negro. The name of the first of these is so unusual 
 that we would gladly know more of him. After the War, May 19, 
 1788, we find a contract between him and Col. Tallmadge for services. 
 One Jeph Africa lies in the East Cemetery, and the stone is still 
 legible: "Here lies the body of Jeph Africa, servant of the Rev. 
 Judah Champion, who died June the 5tli, 1793". This stone appears 
 to have caught the eye of Nathaniel Hawthorne when he visited 
 Litchfield in 1838, though if it be the same one he misread it; the 
 page he devotes to Litchfield is so interesting as giving his impres- 
 sions that it is here quoted at length, though concerned with matters 
 not immediately pertinent to the story of Africa: (Am. Notebooks, 
 Wayside Edition, p. 201). 
 
 "In Connecticut, and also sometimes in Berkshire, the villages 
 are situated on the most elevated ground that can be found, so that 
 they are visible for miles around. Litchfield is a remarkable instance, 
 occupying a high plain, without the least shelter from the winds, 
 and with almost as wide an expanse of view as from a mountainr 
 top. The streets are very wide, two or three hundred feet, at 
 least, with wide, green margins, and sometimes there is a wide 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 153 
 
 green space between the two road tracks. Nothing can be neater 
 than the churches and houses. The graveyard is on the slope, and at 
 the foot of a swell, filled with old and new gravestones, some of 
 red freestone, some of grey granite, most of them of white marble, 
 and one of cast-iron with an inscription of raised letters. There 
 was one of the date of about 1776, on which was represented the 
 third-length, bas-relief portrait of a gentleman in a wig and other 
 costume of that day; and as a framework about this portrait was 
 wreathed a garland of vine-leaves and heavy clusters of grapes. 
 The deceased should have been a jolly bottleman; but the epitaph 
 indicated nothing of the kind. 
 
 "In a remote part of the graveyard, remote from the main body 
 of dead people, I noticed a humble, mossy stone, on which I traced 
 out 'To the memory of Julia Africa, servant of Eev.' somebody. 
 There were also the half obliterated traces of other graves, without 
 any monuments, in the vicinity of this one. Doubtless the slaves 
 here mingled their dark claj^ with the earth. 
 
 "At Litchfield there is a Doctor who undertakes to cure deformed 
 people — and humpbacked, lame, and otherwise defective folk go there. 
 Besides these, there were many ladies and others boarding there, 
 for the benefit of the air, I suppose". While on this digression, it 
 should be added that the hospital for cripples here referred to was 
 at the present Mrs. W. H. Sanford house. It was established in 
 1832 by Dr. Alanson Abbe. 
 
 Of the Africa family we know nothing further. In the Wood- 
 ruff list we find a slave, Cash, belonging to Col. Ebenezer Marsh. 
 It may be that he accompanied Col. Marsh to the War, and so 
 gained his position on the Honor Eoll. Col. Marsh had another 
 slave, Nim, the first colored man in town, reputed to have killed 
 three deer at one shot. 
 
 Evidence of Litchfield's reputation for generous treatment of 
 slaves, if any were needed, is furnished by the story of Old Grimes, 
 here abbreviated from Kilbourn's Bench and Bar, pp. 329-330: 
 
 William Grimes was a run-away slave who came to Litchfield 
 about 1808, and became a general servant to the students at the 
 Law School. Judge Eeeve had acquired a reputation for defend- 
 ing fugitive slaves, and several came here simply from hearing about 
 him. Grimes was thrifty and bought a piece of land west of the 
 Fire Department building, to which he moved a small building 
 which he used as a barber shop. His former master found him 
 out some fifteen years later and attempted to recover him. He was 
 obliged to dispose of his property through his friends, Dr. Abel 
 Catlin and William H. Thompson, who used the proceeds to purchase 
 his freedom. He left Litchfield and removed to New Haven, where 
 he continued to serve the students at Yale College. He published 
 a sketch of his life, and always seemed to enjoy his own picturesque- 
 ness. When Albert G. Green, of Ehode Island, afterwards United 
 States Senator, was a student in Litchfield, he had the reputation 
 
154 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 of being a great rhymester. Old Grimes liearing of tliis importuned 
 him to write a poem about him, which he did, and which became 
 famous as an epitaph written before the fact. Kilbourn gives nine 
 stanzas and there were perhaps more; here are four of them: 
 
 Old Grimes is dead — that good old man, 
 !/ We ne'er shall see him more; 
 
 He used to wear a long black coat 
 All buttoned down before. 
 
 He lived in peace with all mankind, 
 
 In friendship he was true; 
 His coat had pocket-holes behind. 
 
 His pantaloons were blue. 
 
 But good old Grimes is now at rest, 
 
 Nor fears misfortune's frown; 
 He wore a double-breasted vest. 
 The stripes ran up and down. 
 
 His neighbors he did not abuse. 
 
 Was sociable and gay; 
 He wore large buckles on his shoes. 
 
 And changed them every day. 
 
 The last survivor of the freed slaves around Litchfield was 
 probably Tom Jackson, a former slave of Col. Tallmadge, who lived 
 with his Avife and a daughter on the Milton Road. He died there 
 some time after 1857, 
 
 Another class of servants, both white and colored, were known 
 as Indented Servants. These were persons who sold their services 
 for a definite period of time in return for a cash contract or some 
 other equivalent. We find many of these old contracts. "Indenture 
 for Mistic boy, named Ebo, from his mother to Benj. Tallmadge, 
 April 7, 1785"; and again "Indenture between Benjamin Tallmadge 
 and Euth Woodhull for services, November 25, 1788". More often 
 young boys were indented as apprentices, pledging a certain period 
 of service, in return for the teaching of a trade. Occasionally, men 
 or boys who wished to come over to this country, sold themselves 
 to the ship captains for their passage across the Atlantic. They 
 were called Redemptioners. On arrival their pledged service in the 
 form of an indenture would be resold by the captain at auction 
 or private sale. Col. Matthew Lyon, who figured in public life as 
 Congressman from Vermont and Kentucky, was an Irish boy who 
 came over in this manner. He was sold for a pair of stags, valued 
 at 12 pounds, to Hugh Hannah of Litchfield, and he stayed here 
 for ten years before going to Vermont. He died August 1, 1822. 
 
 Many apprentices ran away, and the columns of our early papers 
 often contained advertisements for their return. They were prob- 
 ably troublesome enough to their masters, and the small amounts 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 155 
 
 of tlie rewards offered may indicate that the masters were not 
 especially keen for their return, the advertisements being put in 
 merely out of duty to the parents who had indentured them. The 
 smallest reward noticed is for a girl : "Ran away from the subscriber 
 on the 6th instant, an indented girl, 12 years old, by the name of 
 Sarah Moss. She has blue eyes, light hair, and is hard of hearing. . . 
 Whoever will return said Girl to the Subscriber shall have twenty 
 cents reward and no charges paid. All persons are forbidden har- 
 boring said girl on penalty of the Law. Reuben Webster. Litch- 
 field, Aug. 9, 1805". (Witness). 
 
 Indented servants could be sold, like slaves, for the unexpired 
 terms of their contracts. We close this account of the servant 
 problems of 120 years ago with a sample advertisement for a sale 
 of this character: 
 
 "For Sale. Eight Years and Six Months Service of an indented 
 Mulatto Girl, at the expiration of which period she will be 21 
 years and 6 months old. She is of middling size, strong and healthy, 
 and has been brought up to housework. Her present owner not 
 having sufficient employ for her, she will be sold on easy terms at 
 the moderate price of 34 pounds, payable by instalments, in sheep 
 or young cattle, for two thirds, the residue in cash. Inquire of the 
 Printer", (Monitor, October 18, 1797). 
 
CHAPTEK XV. 
 
 THE TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT. 
 
 On May 9, 1789, a Temperance Association was formed in Liteli 
 field in an endeavor, as tlie pledge signed on that occasion states, 
 "to reform a practice which leads so many to poverty, distress 
 and ruin". Such an Association would be of interest to us in 
 any event owing to the very early date at which it was formed; 
 but it gains added significance because it can be considered as pre- 
 paring the soil in which Lyman Beecher, thirty seven years later, 
 initiated his far more famous crusade against intemperance. It 
 is perhaps well to say a little more about this pioneer movement 
 than would be necessary had it led no further. 
 
 In those early days drinking was considered an absolute neces- 
 sity if only to counteract the rigorous climate of our hill country. 
 Thus, for example, the very year of the Temperance Association, 
 Oliver Wolcott Sr. writes from Litchfield in a letter of advice to 
 his son, Oliver Jr., when the latter first went to New York as 
 Auditor of the National Treasury, (Wolcott Memorial, pp. 185-6) : 
 "November 24, 1789, Sir; . . . Your Service will be complicated and 
 arduous . . . You may therefore safely indulge yourself with as 
 much Exercise and Eelaxation, as will be necessary for your 
 Health. Endeavor to preserve the mens sana in sano corpore, by 
 indulging at times a certain Vacancy of Thought, etc. As to your 
 Mode of Living, I need say but very little; your Habits of Temper- 
 ance will render it unnecessary, only this you will recollect, that 
 there are many old Men in Connecticut, who have drank Cider for 
 three quarters of a Century, who are active and almost blooming, 
 and exempt from all Gout, Kheumatism, and Stone; while the drink 
 ers of beer and Spirits die soon, and in misery. Simple Diet and 
 fermented Liquors, except rich Beer, will with the moderate use 
 of water, be always found to be best, especially for sedentary 
 persons". 
 
 It was not thought possible for the average workman to keep 
 his health without a very considerable amount of rum or cider to 
 restore the vitality consumed in his physical work; the non-laboring 
 class also assumed that it could not live through a Litchfield wintei; 
 without a large consumption of stimulants. It was a matter of 
 much concern some years when the apple crop had been small, and 
 when orchards at best were limited, how the necessary supply of 
 cider was to be obtained. Among the letters of Oliver Wolcott Jr. 
 to his brother, Frederick Wolcott, in the Litchfield Historical 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 157 
 
 Society, is one from Washington specially urging liim to get an ade- 
 quate supply from Harwinton while it was still possible to buy 
 cider there. 
 
 Even at the raising of the Meeting Houses no work could be 
 done without a liberal distribution of rum. The classical instance 
 of this occurs in connection with the raising of the second Church 
 by the South Farms Society in 1785. In April of that year, the 
 Society voted, "that the meeting house committee shall have good 
 right to furnish Rum, Grindstones, and Eopes sufficient for framing 
 the meeting house according to their best discretion". And in June 
 of the same year, the Society appointed an Overseer, to direct the 
 issue of liguor at the raising, and voted, "that the overseer shall 
 give two drams per day to the spectators, one a little before noon, 
 the other a little before night". They entered upon the work with 
 Buch spirit, that the Meeting House was finished in twenty weeks 
 after they began the frame. This distribution was a regular part 
 of all community movements. The first attempt to do away with 
 it was in connection with the raising in 1829 of the third Congre- 
 gational Church, three years after Lyman Beecher had preached his 
 Temperance Sermons, and it was not a success. "A hogshead of 
 small beer had been brewed in the cellar of Galpin and Goodwin's 
 store, across the street, an innovation which did not meet with 
 popular approval. There was a crowd of people around the church 
 cellar, but not enough hands could be found who would lift even 
 the ground timbers into place. When the strike was seen to be 
 thoroughly 'on' Dr. William Buel asked William Norton and some 
 other boys to go to his store and bring over a certain box, which 
 the lads found to be very heavy. When the doctor opened it and 
 the company saw a case of liquors, there were plenty of men ready 
 to handle the largest timbers! The last day when the spire was 
 raised there were two or three Shaker tubs of rum punch set at 
 the east end of East Park with little tin cups near by. . .". (Miss 
 Esther H. Thompson in Waterbury American, March 8, 1906). 
 
 The Association of 1789 was naturally the subject of a good 
 deal of banter. An echo of this appears in one of the sprightly 
 letters of Mrs. Chauncey Goodrich (Mariann Wolcott) to her brother 
 Frederick Wolcott (Hartford, August 13, 1793) : "I hope you will 
 attend to Papa's health and encourage him in moderate exercise and 
 to live generously. It is supposed that Mr. Sherman and Gen. Wol- 
 cott brought on their disorders by too great temperance in living. 
 I hope our Father will be a comfort to himself and a blessing to 
 us for a long time. My duty and Love to him and to my Mother". 
 (Wolcott Memorial, p. 331). 
 
 But there was another side to the picture, in the men, some 
 of them, as it happened, very prominent ones, who fell victims to 
 intemperance; and unquestionably it was these examples that led 
 to the inception and growth of the temperance movement. The 
 most signal case was that of Jedediah Strong. 
 
158 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 The picture of Judge Strong drawn for us by Kilbourne (pp. 
 147-150) is not an attractive one, but liis story at least deserves 
 pity. He was born in Litchfield in 1738, and spent his whole life 
 here; he graduated at Yale in 1761, and v/as the second native of 
 Litchfield to receive a collegiate degree. He first studied divinity, 
 but, being early elected to a town office, he abandoned his studies 
 for the more congenial pursuits of a politician. With only his own 
 skill to help him, he soon acquired and long maintained a political 
 ascendency second only to that of Wolcott and Adams. An imperi- 
 ous will, an affectation of power and a faculty of making himself 
 popular all contributed to his success. His diminutive figure, limp- 
 ing gait, and unpleasant countenance were in some measure atoned 
 for by his promptness and tact in the discharge of the public busi- 
 ness. He was a good penman, then an important qualification, 
 familiar with legal forms, and held possibly as many public offices 
 for as long terms as any of our citizens. Many of these will be 
 found in the Ajjpendix. His habit of intoxication graduall}^ grew 
 on him and led him to poverty and degradation. He is said at 
 one time to have been a beggar and a charge on the Town. He was 
 twice married, his daughter. Idea Strong, remaining to the last his 
 chief comfort. He died in 1802, and was buried in the West Bury- 
 ing Ground, but no trace of his grave remains. 
 
 Already in 1789 his habit of intemperance was proverbial, and 
 it is possible that the Association was formed in part at least to 
 try to give him the support of his fellow townsmen in an attempt to 
 reform himself. It is at least noticeable that while the other signers 
 put all their names together at the foot of their pronouncement, 
 Judge Strong signed a separate statement after them. The original 
 pledge is given at length in Woodruff's History, p. 50. Among the 
 signers were Ephraim Kirby, Julius Deming, Benjamin Tallmadge, 
 Uriah Tracy, Ebenezer Marsh, Moses Seymour, Daniel Sheldon, 
 Tapping Eeeve, Frederick Wolcott, Lynde Lord, and John Allen. 
 
 The separate pledge of Judge Strong was as follows: "By 
 Necessity and on Principle, in consequence of little experiment and 
 much observation, I have effectually adopted and adhered to the 
 salutary plan herein j^roposed during several months past, and am 
 still resolved to persevere until convinced that any alteration will 
 be productive of some greater good, whereof at present I have no 
 apprehension whilst Human Nature remains the same". 
 
 His good resolves were of short duration. In 1790 he was 
 arrested for ill treatment on the charge of his second wife, Susannah, 
 daughter of George Wyllys, then Secretary of State at Hartford. He 
 was afterwards sued by her for a divorce, which she obtained, the 
 trial being held in New Haven. In spite of all his misfortunes, 
 he remained something of a character to the end, and we may per- 
 haps quote from his Will, dated March 31, 1801, as it is one of the 
 most unconventional ever filed in this Probate District. It is 
 mainly occupied with pious refiections and counsels addressed to his 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 159 
 
 daughter. "And finally", lie adds, "tliat worldly wealth or earthly 
 estate which it has pleased the Universal Proprietor to conmiit to 
 my temporary care and stewardship on the sublunary, probationary 
 theatre, (or the remnant fragments after so much spoliation of envy, 
 Covetousness, Oppression, or whatever mistake in extreme career of 
 permitted liuman vicissitude), my most mature and deliberate 
 option and volition is, that disposition be made as follows: I 
 recommend, give and bequeath, to my beloved daughter, Idea Strong, 
 my Bibles and inferior Orthodox Treatises on Keligion and Morality, 
 or relative or appertaining to Vital Piety or Practical Godliness, 
 and all other Books, Pamphlets or Manuscripts, except Ptouiances, 
 if any be left extant, which I have long since, (though not soon 
 enough), intentionally consigned or destined to deserved oblivion 
 in native shades of chaos". The amount of his worldly wealth, 
 says Kilbourne, as per inventory, was $96.66; while as an offset to 
 this, claims against him to the amount of a few hundred dollars 
 were sent in. 
 
 No good purjjose can be served by detailing the circumstances 
 of all those who were in the minds of the men who kept alive the 
 temperance movement between the original j)ledge of 1789 and the 
 Beecher Sermons of 1826. Eeference should however be made to 
 another very distinguished lawyer, John Allen, a signer of the 
 pledge of 1789, who in his last years yielded to intemperate habits, 
 and lost his business and wealth, dying at the farmhouse north of 
 Town to which he retired. 
 
 He was a striking figure, in many respects the veiy antithesis 
 of Judge Strong. David S. Boardman, in his Sketches of the Early 
 Lights of the Litchfield Bar, 1860, describes him as follows: "He 
 was six feet four or five inches high, very erect and with an atti- 
 tude and walk well calculated to set off his full stature, and though 
 quite lean, weighed full 230 pounds. His countenance was strongly 
 marked and truly formidable, his eyes and eyebrows dark, his hair 
 dark, what little he had, and indeed his whole appearance was cal- 
 culated to inspire dread rather than affection. His manner and 
 conversation were, however, such as to inspire confidence and respect, 
 though little calculated to invite familiarity, except with his inti- 
 mates, of v.iiom he had few, and those, knowing the generous and 
 hearty friendship of which he was capable, were usually much 
 attached to him and ready to overlook all his harsh sallies, imputing 
 tlieni to the 'rough humor which his mother gave him'. His feelings 
 were not refined, but ardent, generous and hearty. His friendships 
 were strong and his aversions equally so ; and his feelings were all of 
 the great sort". He was born in Great Barrington, Mass., in 1762. 
 After teaching school in Germantown, Penna., and in New Milford, 
 he came to the Law School in Litchfield, and remained here for the 
 rest of his life. He attained a high eminence, but was content to 
 confine his practice almost entirely to Litchfield County, though he 
 
i6o THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 practiced in other parts of the State in special cases of importance 
 to which he was called. 
 
 It would appear that his case influenced Lyman Beecher to a 
 consideration of the temperance question, just as that of Jedediah 
 Strong influenced the men who formed the Association of 1789. 
 Another influence on Beecher was furnished by the conditions he 
 found within the church itself, especially in connection with what 
 was then considered a necessary form of hospitality at such gather- 
 ings as the Ordination of new ministers. Here is the description 
 he has left us of the first ordination he attended after coming to 
 Litchfield, that of Mr. Hart in Plymouth, (Autobiography, I., pp. 
 245-6) : 
 
 "At the ordination at Plymouth, the preparation for our crea- 
 ture comforts, in the sitting-room of Mr. Hart's house, besides food, 
 was a broad sideboard, covered with decanters and bottles, and 
 sugar, and pitchers of water. There we found all the various kinds 
 of liquors then in vogue. The drinking was apparently universal. 
 This preparation was made by the Society as a matter of course. 
 When the Consociation arrived, they always took something to drink 
 round; also before public services, and always on their return. As 
 they could not all drink at once, they were obliged to stand and 
 wait as people do when they go to mill. There was a decanter of 
 spirits on the dinner table, to help digestion, and gentlemen partook 
 of it through the afternoon and evening as they felt the need, some 
 more and some less; and the sideboard, with the spillings of water, 
 and sugar, and liquor, looked and smelled like the bar of a very 
 active grog-shop. None of the Consociation were drunk; but that 
 there was not, at times, a considerable amomit of exhilaration, I 
 cannot a ft" rim. When they had all done drinking, and had taken 
 pipes and tobacco, in less than fifteen minutes there was such a 
 smoke you couldn't see. And the noise I cannot describe; it was 
 the maximum of hilarity". 
 
 A temperate man himself, Lyman Beecher had never been an 
 advocate of total abstinence. "Two leading members of his own 
 church", says Miss Esther H. Thompson, Waterbury American, 
 February 22, 1906, "Capt. Wadsworth and Deacon Bradley, kept a 
 tavern and a grocery store in Bantam, where fermented and dis- 
 tilled liquors flowed freely as was then the universal custom in such 
 places. Unseemly carousals were common, in one of which there 
 was a battle wherein salted codfish figured as weapon, adding 
 thereby no dignity to the church, and deeply grieving the wife of 
 Capt. WadsAvorth, who was the sister of Deacon Bradley. She was 
 a woman of superior intellect, deep piety, and early became a 
 believer in total abstinence. It is said that her influence was 
 potent in arousing Dr. Beecher to see and to preach against the evil 
 of intemperance. But he was especially led to sentiments so 
 much in advance of the age by the scruples of his friend and 
 parishioner, Hezekiah Murray, from the Pitch. This man owned 
 a Still. Noticing the evil effects of its product on the young men 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD i6i 
 
 of the neighborhood, he forbad his o\\ti sons to drink from it. Then 
 he questioned, 'if distilled liquor was bad for his children, was it 
 right to put it before the sons of his neighbors?' and he came to 
 Dr. Beecher for advice. At first the minister, in accordance with 
 the almost universal opinion of the time, argued strongly in favor 
 of moderate drinking. But the subject was before him and 'would 
 not down'. After weeks of careful thought and study, there 
 
 thundered from the pulpit the memorable Six Sermons on Intemper- 
 ance, which we ai-e told were afterwards extensively circulated on 
 both sides of the Atlantic, and started a movement which has 
 never stopped". 
 
 No man in the country was more earnest or fearless in his 
 attacks on anything which he had definitely decided for himself to 
 be an abuse. He had previously, in 1806, while at East Hampton, 
 after the Burr-Hamilton duel, led the attack against the then uni- 
 versal custom of dueling. This reform, strange as it may seem to 
 us to-day, was considered a more radical departure than his later 
 crusade in behalf of temperance, but that story is not a part of the 
 History of Litchfield. 
 
 Of the Six Sermons themselves, we need speak only in Dr. 
 Beecher's own words; "I didn't set up for a reformer any more than 
 this: when I saw a rattlesnake in my path, I would smite it", and 
 elsewhere, (Autobiography, II., p. 35) : "I wrote under such power 
 of feeling as never before or since. Never could have written them 
 under other circumstances. They took hold of the whole congre- 
 gation. Sabbath after Sabbath the interest grew and became the 
 most absorbing thing ever heard of before. A wonder: of weekly 
 conversation and interest, and, when I got through, of eulogy. All 
 the old farmers that brought in wood to sell, and used to set up 
 their cart-whips at the groggery, talked about it, and said, many 
 of them, that they would never drink again". 
 
 With the Six Sermons and the departure of Lyman Beecher 
 the same year for the wider field of his activities in Boston, the 
 question of temperance passes out of the History of Litchfield. 
 
CHAPTEK XVI. 
 
 FEDERALISTS AND DEMOCEATS. 
 
 In Litchfield, as in every other community, party spirit has 
 from time to time run high, in connection with local, state and 
 national elections. In general, no special interest attaches to these 
 incidents once the questions which have been at issue are settled. 
 Only in one instance has the storm of party feeling in Litchfield 
 had an effect outside the borders of the township. This was the 
 bitter fight betAveen the Federalists and the Democrats, Avhich first 
 reached high water mark in 1806, in the imprisonment at Litchfield 
 of the Democratic editor of the Witness, Selleck Osborn; which had 
 its effect upon the establishment in 1814 of the Phoenix Bank in 
 Hartford, with its branch in Litchfield, now our First National 
 Bank; and which culminated with the election in 1817 of Oliver 
 Wolcott Jr. as the first Democratic Governor of Connecticut and 
 the ratification of a new Constitution for the State in the follow- 
 ing year. 
 
 The election of Jefferson as President in 1801 had started the 
 tide of party feeling running higher throughout the country than 
 at any time since the Kevolution. Perhaps this feeling was less 
 marked in Connecticut than elsewhere; for in this State the govern- 
 ment Avas solidly Federalist, and while every act of the new party 
 was met with condemnation, the Democrats were treated more with 
 disdain than opposition. The Democrats were however a rising 
 force everywhere, and they had no intention of neglecting Con- 
 necticut. They were well organized, they had complete faith in 
 Jefferson and in themselves, and where they thought it advisable 
 they were absolutely careless of the methods they used to arouse 
 feeling and to win votes. At this day it seems as if much of the 
 feeling was due as largely to the methods they used as to the actual 
 principles involved. 
 
 One of the dominant strongholds of Federalism, in this strongly 
 Federalist State was Litchfield. Moses SejTUOur was at first the only 
 citizen of prominence who was a Democrat, though many of the 
 younger men and very many of the workers in the mills were Demo- 
 crats. Practically all the men of the families of Avealth were Federal- 
 ists. The Congregational church was also strongly Federalist. Orig- 
 inally the so-called religion tax, which Avas a part of the regular tax, 
 was applied exclusively to the benefit of the Congregational church 
 throughout the State. In many parts of the State, as in Litch- 
 field there Avas no other church. Since 1729 other sects could pay 
 their religion tax for the support of their OAvn ministers instead 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 163 
 
 of all having to pay for the Congregational preacher, and later each 
 denomination was allowed to pay its tax in its own way and at 
 separate rates. "In effect, the Congregational was the 'established 
 church' of Connecticut. There were the outward symbols too, as 
 witness the election-day services for generations in the First Church, 
 Hartford, Avhen all the Congregational clergy in the state marched 
 in the procession with state officers and soldiery; and there never 
 was an election sermon by aught except a Congregationalist till 
 that by Dr. Doane the year of the new constitution, 1818". (First 
 Century of the Phoenix Bank, pp. 14-15). 
 
 It is not to be Avondered at then that politics got into the pulpit. 
 Years before, when Jefferson Avas elected as the Vice-President with 
 John Adams, Judah Champion prayed for "Thy servant, the Presi- 
 dent of the United States", and then added fervently, "Oh! Lord, 
 wilt Thou bestoAV on the Vice-President a double portion of Thy 
 grace, for Thou knowest he needs it". 
 
 The Episcopal Church, corresponding with the Church of Eng- 
 land Avas generally considered as being a Tory body, and to carry 
 on the distinction, it Avas usually identified with the Democratic 
 party. The distinction between the tAvo churches was of course not 
 a true one, hoAA'^ever conA^enient politically, for in the Revolution 
 there Avere happily patriots in every church, and later the Demo- 
 crats Avere found in increasing numbers in every church. The best 
 Americans were too sensible to share in these distinctions. "The 
 church of St. Michael in Litchfield, Avas a mark (in the Revolution) 
 for the maliciously disposed; and its Avindows stood as shattered 
 monuments of the vengeance of adversaries. When General "Wash- 
 ington passed through Litchfield the soldiers to evince their attach- 
 ment to him thrcAV a shoAver of stones at the windoAvs; he reproved 
 them, saying: 'I am a Churchman, and Avish not to see the church 
 dishonored and desolated in this manner'." (Mrs. Anna Dickinson, 
 in Saint Michael's Centennial Pamphlet, ISTov. 5, 1845, Appendix). 
 
 When, after Jefferson's election to the Presidency, the Demo- 
 crats determined on the systematic iuA^asion of Connecticut, they 
 staged a series of political rallies, Avliich they called Festivals. Of 
 these Tapping Reeve wrote, (The Litchfield Festival, 1806) : "It has 
 been fashionable ever since the organization of the Democratic party, 
 for their leaders to appoint public meetings and festiA'als, Avhich 
 all are iuAdted to attend, and on AA^hich great numbers constantly 
 do attend. Thus in March, 1801, a festival in honor of the election 
 of Mr. Jefferson as President, and Mr. Burr as Vice-President, Avas 
 holden at Wallingford; in 1802 a like festiA'al Avas hoi den also at 
 Wallingford; in 1803 at NeAV Haven; in 1804 at Hartford to cele- 
 brate the purchase of Louisiana; in 1806 at Litchfield to celebrate 
 the independence of the United States; and in 1804 a great number, 
 denominated the representatives, from 97 towns were convened at 
 New Haven by order of the then State Manager to devise means for 
 forming a ncAV Constitution for this State". 
 
i64 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 The festival in Litchfield was elaborately staged. Timothy 
 Ashley, an editor, was sent to Litchfield, where he started a news- 
 paper, the Witness, on August 14, 1805. He was evidently not 
 considered sensational enough, for presently another editor was sent, 
 Selleck Osborn. Together, the two men made a tremendous stir. 
 Apparently Ashley did the work in the office on South Street, while 
 Osborn furnished the sensations. He started in with a rush that 
 would have done justice to the most radical or sensational paper 
 ever published since, evidently trying to draw out the Federalists 
 to some action which would lay them open to criticism. The more 
 prominent citizens always appeared under nick-names: Col. Benja- 
 min Tallmadge figured as 'Billy Bobtail', Judge Gould as 'Jimmy 
 Dross'; and Julius Deming as the 'Crowbar Justice', so called on 
 account on a supposedly rigid insistence on justice in the matter of 
 the price of a crowbar bought from a political opponent as they came 
 out of a tempestuous town-meeting. (Miss Thompson in Water- 
 bury American, March 1906). The nicknames given to some other 
 residents of the town and printed weekly in the Witness were such 
 as could not appear in print to-day. Osborn began to achieve 
 results promptly, as might have been expected. Going into the 
 Tallmadge store one day and beginning to criticise everything in 
 sight, one of Col. Tallmadge's sons caught up a horse-whip and 
 sailed into him with a will. This was a great success for Osborn, 
 and the Witness made the most of it. But more was needed. 
 Eventually the chance came. Julius Deming lost his temper com- 
 pletely and brought a libel suit against both editors. The result 
 was inevitable. Judgment was brought against both men and they 
 were subjected to a fine. In default of payment they were com- 
 mitted to the County Jail. ^ Ashley was not so ready to play the 
 martyr as Osborn, and was sc>t)n liberated. "I prefer the imprison- 
 ment of the body to that of the mind", contemptuously replied 
 Osborn, when the opportunity to regain his freedom was offered 
 him. The Democrats noAV took up the cudgels for Osborn, and he 
 was proclaimed a political martyr. The news of his incarceration 
 reached other States, and Democrats elsewhere expressed their sym- 
 pathy and gave their support to the effort to make political capital 
 out of the incident. It was announced that Osborn's health was 
 suffering from confinement in a damp and loathsome cell, and this 
 was printed in the columns of Democratic journals published far 
 from Litchfield. The Democrats appointed a committee to visit 
 the Jail, to learn the true situation. Just what secrets of the 
 Jail the Sheriff revealed, or whether there were any to be revealed, 
 will never be known; but the committee reported that Osborn was 
 confined in the same room with two criminals, charged with capital 
 offences; they reported that the walls were ragged stone work, and 
 the air damp; they asserted that his health was failing. From 
 this time forward the committee made regular visits to the Jail 
 and issued weekly Bulletins through the Witness. In vain the 
 Sheriff, John E. Landon, denied the truth of the reports; the story 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD ' 165 
 
 of Osborn's persecution went abroad throughout the land. It was 
 decided to have a demonstration in his honor on August 6, 180G, 
 and this was worked up into the Festival already mentioned. It 
 was a great day for the Democrats in the history of Litchfield. 
 After early salutes by guns and music, there was a parade of troops 
 and civilians. In the procession were United States Cavahy, 
 Militia from Massachusetts, distinguished public officials so far as 
 they proved available. Osborn had the opportunity to enjoy the 
 demonstration in his own behalf. The procession marched past 
 the Jail, which occupied the site of the present School-house, with 
 bared heads. Opposite his window a salute was fired. 
 
 Notwithstanding the hatred with which many of the Congre- 
 gationalists regarded Democracy, the Society had generously offered 
 the use of the meeting house for the occasion. Here occurred an 
 unfortunate incident. The Eev. Judah Champion and his colleague, 
 Dan Huntington, had taken their places to hear the exercises, when 
 the chairman of the day, Joseph L. Smith, (son-in-law of Ephraim 
 Kirby and Euth Marvin, and himself afterwards the father of the 
 celebrated Southern General Kirby Smith), rudely came up to the 
 two ministers and is said to have insulted them and forced them to 
 leave the building. 
 
 After the spread-eagle exercises in the meeting house, the com- 
 pany adjourned to the green opposite the Jail, where a collation was 
 served. Here Selleck Osborn had the privilege of looking from his 
 window and hungrily enjoying the feast spread in his honor, but 
 out of his reach. Seventeen toasts were drunk during the after- 
 noon to the accompaniment of martial music and cannon shot. The 
 first of these was "Selleck Osborn! the Later Daniel in the lions' 
 den. He is teaching his persecutors that the beasts cannot devour 
 him!" 
 
 With the Festival, the work of the Witness had been achieved. 
 The Democrats had won the notoriety they desired, not to speak of 
 the votes. The paper was continued for a few months to reap 
 the benefits of the advertising. Then it was discontinued, Selleck 
 Osborn's fine was paid, and he left for other fields of endeavor. 
 
 The bitterness remained. As a single example we quote from 
 Boardman's Sketches of the Litchfield Bar, the laconic answer of 
 John Allen to an inquiry of him, why he took the Aurora, the 
 County democratic paper: "He replied it was because he wanted 
 to know what they were about in the infernal regions". 
 
 Litchfield again figured in the political situation in 1814, when 
 the charter of the Phoenix Bank was being sought in Hartford. 
 This was opposed by the Hartford Bank, then the only one in the 
 city, which naturally feared the competition. The cry that the 
 Phoenix Bank was to be a Democratic and an Episcopal institution 
 was raised, and it was found that the support of the Litchfield 
 •epresentatives and business men would help materially in laying 
 ')prehension, as their conservatism was known. In return, Litch- 
 
i66 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 field asked for and obtained a brancli banii, witli privileges of 
 deposit as well as of discount, then unusual privileges for a brancli. 
 The charter was obtained and Col. Benjamin Tallmadge became 
 the first President of the Litchfield Branch. In 1865 the First 
 JS'ational Bank was organized as the successor of the branch bank, 
 with Edwin McNeill as the first President. The Phoenix Bank of 
 Hartford and the Litchfield Bank now rank sixth in order of length 
 of continuous operation in the State. 
 
 The granting of the charter was called the Toleration Act by 
 the Episcopalians. If the name of their church had before been 
 made an argument against the granting of the charter, they argued 
 that when the charter was granted their party deserved the credit. 
 Hitherto, every attempt of an Episcopalian to attain office had 
 been opposed. So much was this the case in the years following 
 the Eevolution that the Kev. James Nichols, the Episcopal clergy- 
 man, "presented an address to the General Assembly asking for 
 the appointment of a prominent churchman, Daniel Landon, as Jus- 
 tice of the Peace, 'wishing', as the petition reads, 'the favor of a 
 justice of the peace to adorn the Society'." (Rev. Storrs O. Sey- 
 mour, in Clergy of Litchfield County, 1909, p. 127). 
 
 The cry of Toleration really turned Connecticut into a Demo- 
 cratic State. It made an appeal to many conservative men, who 
 had only been disgusted by such demonstrations as that of Selleek 
 Osborn. When Oliver Wolcott Jr., after his return to Litchfield, 
 was asked to become the Democratic candidate for Governor in 
 1817, his surprise was considerable. His family were all Federal- 
 ists, he himself had been a member of the Cabinet of both the Fed- 
 eralists Presidents; his house had been the meeting ground for the 
 Federalists in Philadelphia and in Washington, especially of course 
 for those from New England, and this at a time when the division 
 of political parties at the seat of government in their social inter- 
 course was more decided than it has ever been since, 
 
 OliA^er Wolcott would never have run on a Democratic plat- 
 form of the 1806 brand, but Toleration brought in issues with which 
 he and many others were in hearty sympathy. These he outlined 
 in his inaugural address to the General Assembly, Mslj 1817. This 
 address found its way to the London Times, and though at that 
 particular time, few things American found any favor in England, 
 yet that conservative paper printed it at length (July 8, 1817). The 
 editor adds; "When we look at the simplicity and dignity of its 
 manner, the beauty of its style, the purity of its language, the 
 elegance of its diction, and the originality of the composition, we 
 have no hesitance in saying, that we consider it one of the most 
 splendid State Papers that have ever yet appeared". 
 
 Successful as Wolcott's administration was from the beginning, 
 the election was bitterly contested. This was especially true of 
 his home town. He wrote of it to his son-in-law, George Gibbs, 
 April 7, 1817, "Our Election has been held here this day. In this 
 Village Gov. Smith had 222, and your himible servant 322 votes. 
 
^v> 
 
 ^, 
 
•4#i^ 
 
 Governor Oliver Wolcott Jr. 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 167 
 
 I own that I am pleased with obtaining the majority in this Town, 
 as every possible exertion has been made to oppose me. I know 
 that seven eighths of the Town are pleased with the result, though 
 many of them dare not confess it". 
 
 Of his administration we cannot properly speak in this book, 
 but mention should again be made of the State Constitution which 
 was adopted the following year, 1818, by the General Assembly. He 
 was the president of the Convention which prepared this admirable 
 document, and is said to have written the greater part of it him- 
 self. It provided at length an adequate Constitution for our State, 
 which was then in the anomalous position of being known to many 
 as the Constitution State, (from the circumstance of its having 
 adopted in 1639 the first of the Colonial Constitutions, which became 
 the model for all later State Constitutions), and yet of having no 
 proper Constitution of its own, to meet the changed conditions of 
 a free government. 
 
 Of the provisions of the new Constitution, none seemed at the 
 time more radical to the Federalists than what they considered the 
 disestablishment of the Congregational Church, "It was as dark 
 a day as I ever saAv", wrote Lj^man Beecher, "The odium thrown 
 upon the ministry Avas inconceivable. The injury done to the 
 cause of Christ, as Ave then supposed, was irreparable. For several 
 days I suffered what no tongue can tell for the best thing that ever 
 happened to the State of Connecticut. It cut the churches loose 
 from dependence on State support. It threAv them wholly on their 
 own resources and on God". 
 
 We may leave this glimpse of the most important political 
 moment in the history of Litchfield with the wise Avords of George 
 C. Woodruff (p. 56) : "A spirit of liberality has in general existed 
 betAveen different religious sects, and a feeling of good will between 
 all classes. Party spirit it is true has prevailed among political 
 partisans, and formerly embittered to some extent social inter- 
 course. But notwithstanding the calumny Avhich at different times 
 has been heaped upon different individuals, and upon opposing 
 parties, its effect has been temporary, and after the heat of contest 
 has subsided, men have learnt the injustice of which they have been 
 guilty, and that neither all that is excellent is to be found exclu- 
 sively with the one party, nor all that is bad exclusively with the 
 other. And if any there are who disbelieve a truth so obvious, 
 they receive, in this respect, no countenance from those whose 
 opinions are worthy of regard". 
 
CHAPTEE XVII. 
 
 TREES AND PARKS, 
 
 The trees of Litchfield are its crowning beauty to-day. It is 
 hard to picture the village, especially North Street and South 
 Street, before the elms had been planted there. The early settlers 
 were so greatly concerned with the clearing of their fields that they 
 naturally gave no thought to the planting of new trees for decora- 
 tive purposes. Indeed the story goes that when Oliver Wolcott Jr. 
 began to set out trees along the Litchfield streets, one of the 
 by-standers, an old man who remembered the early days of struggle 
 against the forest, exclaimed: "We have worked so hard in our 
 day, and just finished getting the woods cleared off, and now they 
 are bringing the trees back again!" 
 
 From very early days a few persons foresaw the desolation that 
 would follow if all the trees were cut, not to mention the economic 
 loss if no future wood supply was provided for. In the Monitor 
 for January 3, 1798, is reprinted an article which sounds a warning 
 in this direction, adding: "Would it not be a regulation well deserv- 
 ing the attention of the General Court, to require every town to 
 plant the sides of the public roads with forest trees? . . . The plant- 
 ing quick growing trees, as Willow, Lombardy Poplar, Balm of 
 Gilead, etc., certainly deserves attention. Even the elms, ash-trees, 
 button-woods and maples will pay for planting by their growth". 
 
 Coming down to the influences which prompted the planting of 
 our streets, we find two men giving actual inspiration to this work, 
 besides the individual interest of the men who at different times 
 did the planting. These men were James Hillhouse of New Haven 
 and Lyman Beecher. 
 
 James Hillhouse had planted great numbers of the elms in 
 New Haven, which gave the name of the City of Elms to that place. 
 He interested many of the Yale students in the work he had done, 
 which was already showing results, and when Oliver Wolcott Jr. 
 returned from the College, he brought with him the inspiration 
 that started the movement of tree planting here. 
 
 The influence of Lyman Beecher was very much later, after a 
 great part of the work had already been accomplished. It is worth 
 recording, however. On July 18, 1824, Catharine Beecher wrote to 
 her brother Edward: "Yesterday I heard two of father's very best 
 sermons. The afternoon sermon perfectly electrified me. I wish 
 it could be heard by all young men in the country. Among other 
 things, he exhibited the ways in which they might do good, and the 
 blessedness of it. We saw a small specimen of its effect this after- 
 noon, when, in playful obedience to some exhortations to a laiidable 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 169 
 
 public spirit, a party of our young townsmen turned out to trans- 
 plant forest trees wherever they are needed through our streets", 
 (Autobiography, Vol. II., p. 15). 
 
 The story of our trees has been told several times. Miss Mary 
 Perkins Quincy read a paper on their history before the Mary 
 Ployd Tallmadge Chapter, D. A. E. in 1901, accompanying a tree- 
 jnap of the Borough, which is framed in the rooms of the Litchfield 
 Historical Society. This was also accompanied by a paper by Prof. 
 W. E, Britton, entitled Tree Notes. Prof. Henry S. Munroe, in 
 1919, read a paper before the Litchfield Garden Club, on the Age 
 of the Litchfield Trees. The following incidents connected with 
 the planting of our ti'ees are selected from the mass of informa- 
 tion furnished by these admirable Essays. 
 
 When Oliver Wolcott returned from New" Haven under the 
 influence of James Hillhouse's exhortation to plant trees he set 
 out thirteen Button-wood or Sycamore trees to commemorate the 
 thirteen states of the new Eejiublic. Of these only one survives: 
 "Connecticut", happily enough, which stands in front of the Eoman 
 Catholic Church. The large sycamore on East Street, near the 
 Library, is believed by some to be another of this planting; but this 
 is improbable if only because no name has come down for it. Nearly 
 all, too, were planted along South Street, though the exact sites are 
 uncertain. Soon after the planting of these Sycamores, an illness 
 which attacked this kind of tree killed many of those then standing 
 in various parts of town, and turned the attention of the planters 
 chieflly to ejms. These grew in many of the outlaying swamps and 
 could be brought in to town on the shoulders. Oliver Wolcott Jr. and 
 his brother, Frederick Wolcott, about 1790, planted many of the elms 
 now so beautiful along both sides of South Street. There is a 
 legend that they omitted to plant any in front of the house occupied 
 by Eeynold Marvin, the King's Attorney, now owned by Mrs. H. G. 
 Mendenhall, because of the unpopularity of his Tory views. The 
 story is doubtful, owing to the friendship of the Wolcott and Marvin 
 families; we know at least that at the melting of the bullets in 
 the Wolcott orchard, the ladies of the Marvin household ran the 
 largest number of bullets to be used in defence of the American 
 cause. Further, there are now elms in front of this house, but 
 it may be true that they are of smaller size and of later date. 
 
 John C. Calhoun is the next distinguished name among the 
 planters of the Litchfield elms. He was graduated at the Law 
 School in 1805. He had the happy thought to set out a few 
 elms in front of the houses where he boarded, first at the corner 
 of West and Spencer Streets, and then on Prospect Street, where 
 Mr. MacMartin now lives. This was then owned by Eeuben Web- 
 ster, and Hosea Webster, the host's little son, used to tell many 
 years later how he held the trees when Calhoun planted them. 
 Only one of the Calhoun trees survives on Prospect Street and one 
 on West Street. 
 
170 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 At about the same time, the Misses Pierce, who built their own 
 house on the site of the present Underwood House on North Street 
 in 1803, planted several maples on their frontage on the street. 
 Two of these survive. Their growth has been less rapid than 
 that of the Calhoun Elms, which now average 113 inches, while the 
 maples average only 91 inches, in circumference. 
 
 In 1812, there was an encampment of soldiers on the Bantam 
 Koad, a little east of the residence of Milo Beach. During their 
 stay here the men planted a double row of elms bj^ their camp, a 
 number of which are flourishing. 
 
 In 1825, James K. Gould, a son of Judge Gould, and Origen S. 
 Seymour, then just graduated from Yale, planted elms on the east 
 side of North Street, from the corner up as far as the present resi- 
 dence of Charles H. Coit. Two are standing west of Miss Edith 
 
 D. Kingsbury's house on the corner, one on the lawn at the entrance 
 of the Misses Kingsbury's house, and a fourth before the Coit house. 
 
 In 1850, Miss Lucretia Deming, the daughter of Julius Deming, 
 planted the row of Lindens before the Deming house, now the home 
 of the Misses Kingsbury, from which the house takes it name. 
 She also planted many of the trees of various varieties in the 
 grounds. The oak grove was planted from acorns somewhat later. 
 
 One of the most devoted lovers of trees in Litchfield was Gideon 
 H. HoUister. He was the author of the Histoiy of Connecticut, 
 published in 1855, a monumental work, much of which was written 
 while he lived at the Tallmadge house. Like Calhoun, he had the 
 happ3^ faculty of setting out trees wherever he lived ; and fortunately 
 he lived in many different houses, some rented and some owned 
 by him. Many of the fine trees in the grounds and along the 
 Street, at the Lindley and Mendenhall houses on South Street and 
 at the Vanderpoel and Frederick Deming houses on North Street 
 were planted by him while he was living in these respective places. 
 He also set out a row of elms on East Street near the Colvoco- 
 resses house, though it does not appear that he lived there. The 
 trees in front of the Vanderpoel house were set out by Col. Tall- 
 madge and William Curtis Noyes. 
 
 "Hardly could a more touching legacy", says Miss Quincy, 
 "have been left to Litchfield than the long row of elms by the road- 
 side across Harris Plain. In the year 1862, the young men who 
 lived West of the Center, remarkable for their enterprise and known 
 as the flower of the town, were among those who went to the Civil 
 War. Before they left they planted these memorial trees as their 
 last gift to their home district. Among these young men were 
 
 E. Goodwin Osborn, Lyman J. Smith Jr., Francis Barber, the Vaills, 
 the Plumbs, the Wadhams, and Captain George W. Mason". 
 
 It was the father of one of these men, Lyman Smith Sr., a 
 prominent merchant, who planted the beautiful elms from which 
 Elm Eidge received its name, 
 
 A number of Memorial Trees have been planted in recent years, 
 but until time has given fuller size to the trees and hallowed the 
 
w 
 
 m 
 
The Litchfield County House and Jail, 1812, and 
 Whipping-Post Elm 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 171 
 
 occasions which they coininemorate they can hardly claim individual 
 mention. Exception should be made for the little evergreen on 
 the grave of William W. Kockhill, in the East Burying Ground, 
 which was sent from China in 1915 by Yuan Shi Ki, as a Memorial 
 to one who did so much to help that unfortunate country at a very 
 difficult moment. 
 
 It is impossible to enumerate here all our historic trees; the 
 orchards have not yet been mentioned. There have been many in 
 the town, due at least in part to the popularity of cider in the 
 olden days. Some of the old trees from the orchard of Lynde Lord 
 are still alive at the end of Tallmadge Avenue. There is an 
 old apple tree behind the house of W. G. Eosbach, which is the 
 only smwivor of a large orchard planted by Oliver Wolcott, Sr. 
 Frederick Wolcott, who inherited this part of his father's property, 
 was annoyed by the boys stealing fruit from the out-lying parts 
 of the orchard. One transgressor boldly carried a bag of stolen 
 apples to the Wolcott house, and offered them for sale. Frederick 
 Wolcott, recognizing the apples as coming from his orchard, was 
 so enraged that he ordered most of the trees cut down. (Miss 
 Esther H. Thompson, Waterburj^ American, 1902). 
 
 When the buildings were taken out of the Commons, between 
 1820 and 1827, attention began to be directed to the beautifying of 
 this part of town. In 1835 the sum of $600 was subscribed for 
 grading, fencing and setting out trees in the village parks, and the 
 work was completed in 1836. The Center Park was the thought 
 of Miss Mary Pierce, the younger sister of Miss Sarah Pierce. This 
 land was originally the parade ground of the militia, and it was 
 There that Col. Francis Bacon used to drill his Company. In the 
 East Park Henry L. Goodwin had a large share in the planting and 
 care of the trees; while twenty years later, George M. Woodruff, 
 on his return from Yale College in 1858, planted about 50 more 
 elms, completing the work. The West Park was planted by the 
 late David Bulkley, the cabinet maker and antiquarian. 
 
 There are three other elms that should be mentioned, though 
 it is not recorded who planted them, these are the Whipping Post 
 Elm, the Beecher Elm, and the Sign Post Elm. The Whipping 
 Post Elm, by the County House, is the largest elm in the town, and 
 according to Professor Munroe is probably older than the Eevolu- 
 tion and possibly close on 200 years old. Gen. Wessells used to tell 
 of seeing a man tied to the tree ,and given forty lashes save one, as 
 was the custom, probably about 1815. The second largest elm in 
 town is the Beecher Elm, which has a circumference of 1461/2 inches 
 compared with 150 inches for the Whipping Post Elm. This marks 
 the approximate site at the corner of North and Prospect Streets 
 of the old Beecher House. The Sign-Post Elm, at the corner of 
 South and East Streets, is not as large as the otlier two, or as 
 several others in the town, but it has the historic interest of having 
 
172 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 advertised on its calm flank tlie legal notices and of having seen 
 conducted in its shadow the Sheriff's sales of many years. 
 
 The elms of Litchfield have filled with unconscious happiness 
 not only those so fortunate as to live near them, but the many 
 visitors to Litchfield, who carry away the memorj^ of their splendor. 
 They are trees to come back to, and are the first subject spoken of 
 by Henry Ward Beecher, in his Litchfield Eevisited, 1856: "The 
 morning after our arrival in Litchfield Ave sallied forth alone. The 
 day was high and wide, full of stillness and serenely radiant. As 
 we carried our present life up the North Street, we met at every 
 step our boyhood life coming down. There were the old trees, but 
 looking not so large as to our young eyes. The stately road had, 
 however, been bereaved of the buttonball trees, which had been 
 crippled by disease. But the old elms retained a habit peculiar to 
 Litchfield. There seemed to be a current of wind which at times 
 passes high up in the air over the town, and Avhich moves the tops 
 of the trees, while on the ground there is no movement of wind. 
 How vividly did that sound from above bring back early days, 
 when for hours we lay upon the windless grass and watched the 
 top leaves flutter and marked how still were the under leaves of 
 the same tree!" 
 
 The healthy condition of our elms to-day, when in some towns 
 they have suffered so much from droughts and other causes- is 
 attributed to the subsoil of hardpan, deposited by the glacier on so 
 many of our hilltops, causing those occasional swamps which still 
 surprise us as existing in apparent defiance of the law of gravita- 
 tion. The elm is a swamp tree, growing most luxuriantly on the 
 banks of our streams, and its roots find a congenial environment in 
 the subsoil swamp of Litchfield Hill, below the level to which the 
 drainage has as yet been carried. 
 
 DOMESTIC AND WILD ANIMALS. 
 
 In Colonial times, animals, both domestic and wild, were a 
 matter of much more general concern than they now are. To-day 
 one's own domestic animals are a source of pleasure or profit to one's 
 self only, and if we go fishing or hunting it is again for our own 
 pleasure. We no longer are concerned in town meetings with the 
 restraint of our neighbor's geese or boars, nor do we offer bounties 
 for wolves and rattlesnakes. Yet time was when these were very 
 serious matters. It may be an exaggeration, but not a very great 
 one, to say that not a town meeting was held prior to the Eevo- 
 lution and for twenty years afterwards but one or more votes came 
 up about animals. The great source of discussion was the use 
 of the Commons. Our streets, which delight us by their breadth, 
 were then even wider than they are to-day; but this width was not 
 entirely a matter of foresight, as is sometimes supposed, when our 
 first settlers are given credit for having visualized our broad road- 
 ways, lined with beautiful rows of trees. Trees were not thought 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 173 
 
 of befoi-e the Eevolutioii, as has been seen, beyond being- considered 
 a nuisance in the fields, to be cleared as rapidlj^ as possible. The 
 wide streets were j)rimarily planned as a grazing place for the 
 live stock, especiall}^ at night, when they could be brought in from 
 the outlying pastures, and herded safely out of reach of the prowling 
 red man. 
 
 The liicket fences, now an object of occasional ornament, and 
 the chestnut rail fences, now entirely disappeared from our streets, 
 were then an essential part of any home, which the fence-viewer 
 required to be kept up to the proper standard of strength. After 
 the erection of one's own log cabin and of the meeting house, not 
 even the garrisons against the Indians took precedence over the 
 fences in point of urgency of construction. 
 
 At the town meeting on December 17, 1722, it was Voted, "That 
 the swine shall run at large upon the comone and every man whose 
 swine shall do damage to any neighbors shall paj' the damage 
 whether there be fence or no till the first of May next and after 
 that time the owner of swine shall haA^e liberty to have said fence 
 proved hy the fence viewers and if not lawfuU fence not to pay 
 damage". 
 
 The hayward had full charge of the commons and of the pound, 
 and the fence viewers were the court of appeal when the animals at 
 large did any damage. Neither was an official greatly to be 
 envied. 
 
 Votes were passed regulating in turn every kind of animal and 
 fowl, the sentiment one year being for the greatest possible liberty 
 and another for the greatest possible restraint. Many of these 
 votes appear laughable to us. Some of them foUoAv: 
 
 Town Meeting, April 7, 1783: Voted that no Hogs be suffered 
 to go at large on the Highways or elsewhere in this Town after the 
 twentieth instant without being well ringed in the nose or snout on 
 penalty of Forfeiture of two shillings lawful money and Poundage 
 for each Hog so found at large without being ringed as aforesaid 
 and in order to prevent Mischief by such Hogs voted that Capt. Solo- 
 man Marsh, Capt. Lynde Lord, Ens. Ozias Goodwin, Ozias Lewis, 
 and John Horsford be a Committee to carry this vote into effectual 
 execution. 
 
 Town Meeting, May 12, 1783: A^oted to restrain Horses from 
 running at large on the Highways and Commons. 
 
 Town Meeting, December 8, 1791: Voted to restrain Boars from 
 running at large after they are three months old under forfeiture 
 of three shillings lawful money. Voted to restrain the Earns in 
 this Towii from the 10th of September to the 1st of November for 
 the year ensuing. 
 
 Town Meeting, December 15, 1801: Voted to repeal the Vote 
 making Hogs free Commoners under certain restrictions iJassed 
 April 1796. 
 
 Town Meeting, November 26, 1805: Voted that all Geese taken 
 Damage Feasant after this date shall be liable to be impounded 
 
174 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD ; 
 
 and the Proprietor shall pay to the Person impounding said Geese 
 six cents per head damages. 
 
 Town Meeting, November 11, 1806: Voted that to a former law 
 or vote passed in this Town in November last respecting Geese the 
 same penalty and restriction be added to restrain Turkies and that 
 they be proceeded with accordingly. 
 
 With so many animals at large together in our streets the 
 question of individual ownership Avas a very pressing one. Owner- 
 ship was determined primarily by branding, and in the original 
 title to the toAvn given by the General Assembly in May 1719, a 
 special brand, the figure 9, was assigned to Litchfield, But in 
 addition each individual had his or her separate brand. Charles 
 Shepherd Phelps, in his charming Rural Life in Litchfield County, 
 published by the Litchfield County University Club, 1917, gives a 
 number of these brands, thus: "A cross on the off ear taken out". 
 "As the marks on record increased", (p. 21), "the style of the mark- 
 ing became more complicated, as, a cross cut on the off ear and a 
 slit in the cross of the near ear and a slit in the under side of the 
 near ear. 
 
 "The taking of stray animals, and their impounding and sale 
 when not claimed by the owner, was also common, as shown by 
 the foUoAving, copied from the Litchfield town records: Tavo red 
 yearlen heffers marked with a cross in the off ear and one black 
 yearlen lieffer Avith some Avliite upon the rump, white under boUy 
 and sum Avhite upon the inside of the hind leggs — also marked with 
 a cross in the off" ear — which heffers are in the custody of Thomas 
 Lee and have been prized by his desire on the 27th day of NoA^ember 
 last by us, by the sum of three pounds and fifteen shillings, by us 
 John BaldAvin, Joseph Bixy. The above named heffers are put 
 upon record this fifth day of December Anno Domini 1723". 
 
 A good many advertisements of strayed cattle are given in the 
 early Monitors, sometimes with curious identification marks, of 
 which the folloAving is a sample, (Monitor, November 14, 1796) : 
 "Strayed from the subscriber some time in July last, a yearling 
 Steer, marked Avitli a swalloAv tail in the off ear, tAA^o half pennies the 
 under side of the near ear, and a slit in the end of the same; of a 
 red colour, Avhite face, red hair round his eyes. Whoever will 
 take up said steer and give information thereof, shall be well 
 rewarded by David Beach". The etymology of the word ear-marlcs 
 is sufficiently apparent here. 
 
 Litchfield has always been a good dairying country, and the 
 amount of live stock has probably been large front the earliest 
 days. The only mention of the purchase of any stock in the tOAvn 
 records, is the appropriation on January 1, 1722, of 30 shillings 
 advanced by the ToAvn towards obtaining three bulls for the Town 
 use. Morris, p. 90, says that there Avere shorn in this town in May 
 and June 1811, 6,784 sheep. 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 175 
 
 The end of the Common and the beginning of Litchfield's Park 
 system dates from about 1820. The buildings were taken out of 
 the Green about the same time, the last one to go being the second 
 Congregational church, which was taken down in 1827, the year after^? 
 the departure of Lyman Beecher. Although the alder swamps 
 had probably been drained considerably before this date, the center 
 of the streets were still unsightly, full of loose stone and brush, 
 together with the little mounds with whortleberry bushes which 
 Oliver Wolcott Jr. said the truants from school hid behind. About 
 1820, the citizens got permission to enclose the center of Meeting 
 House Street, in connection with some of the tree planting which 
 was then becoming popular, and the day of the public pasture gradu- 
 ally came to a close. At first many ludicrous and stonny scenes 
 and wordy battles occurred when the haywards attempted to confine 
 the trespassing cattle, but changes come quickly and by the time 
 the Parks were more formally laid out, say 1835, the old Commons 
 was already almost forgotten. 
 
 Turning to the wild animals, we read in Morris, p. 88, ''Many 
 years after the settlement of this town, deer, bears, and wild tur- 
 keys, were numerous. Deer and bears have been taken by hunters 
 between the years 1760 and 1770, and turkeys at a later period. 
 Wild-cats occasionally visit us, and destroy sheep and lambs. A 
 small tract near the north-east part of this town is rough and ledgy, 
 and affords them a refuge from hunters and their dogs. Con- 
 siderable mischief was done by them in the winters of 1811 and 1812". 
 
 "There are j)ersons yet living", (Kilbourne, p. 02), "who remem- 
 ber when bears and Avolves were hunted in Blue Swamp, and deer 
 and wild turkeys Avere frequently seen within two miles of the 
 Court House; when Indians, in companies of twenty or thirty, were 
 accustomed to make their annual visits to this town, encamping on 
 Pine Island, or along the Lake-shore, the men employing themselves 
 in hunting and fishing, while the squaws made and peddled baskets 
 and brooms. Foxes, minks, musk-rats, rabbits, woodchucks and 
 raccoons are now frequenty trapped within the limits of this town- 
 ship". 
 
 Bounties were offered in the earliest days of the settlement for 
 killing wolves and rattlesnakes. Thus, at a Town Meeting, May 
 16, 1740, we find "Voted, that whosoever shall kill and distroy any 
 rattlesnakes within the bounds of the Town any time before the 
 10th day of December next, bringing the tayl and som of the flesJi to 
 any one of the Select men of the Town shall have three pence for 
 each snake". We do not, however, find any appropriations made 
 of town funds for the payment of these bounties, and the catch 
 was probably small. To-day, it is said that no Battlers exist 
 between the jSTaugatuck and Housatonic Rivers, though they are 
 said to be found on the further side of both those rivers on rare occa- 
 sions. However, one fine haul of snakes is reported in the 
 Monitor, December 3, 1787, "A few days since, in this town, upwards 
 
176 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 of Three Hundred and Forty Snakes of every species excepting tlie 
 rattle, were found sheltered under a nieadoAv bog; where, it is 
 suj)posed, they had taken up winter quarters". 
 
 The only mention of wolves in the Monitor occurs in 1806, when 
 four are reported to have been killed in Norfolk, very probably 
 these were the last in the County. The residence of Bertram Lewis, 
 at the foot of Brush Hill, is known as Wolf Pit Farm, the Wolf 
 Pit having at one time been made there by Captain Joseph Vaill, 
 who built this, the oldest house in the township (now much 
 remodeled), in 1744. Miss Alice Bulkeley, Historic Litchfield, 1907, 
 p. 12, describes the construction as "simple, but effective; an exca- 
 vation in the ground was surmounted by heavy logs so arranged that 
 they would fall upon and crush a wolf when it tugged at the bait 
 fastened at a figiire 4 trap underneath". 
 
 Eegarding bears, the tradition is that the last one was killed 
 long ago after being treed into the big oak back of the residence of 
 John P. Elton on North Street, Avhich itself is supposed to be the 
 last survivor of the primeval forest remaining within the borough 
 limits. Amos Benton, the father of Horatio Benton, used to tell 
 that in 1774, when he was three years old, a bear passed but a few 
 rods from him while he was playing near the brook by his home. 
 The alarm was given and his father and some of the neighbors 
 started in pursuit, but did not succeed in killing it. 
 
 The only animal which, after being locally exterminated, has 
 returned to us is the deer. "Captain Salmon Buel, now in his 
 ninety second year", wrote Kilbourne in 1859, "has seen wild deer 
 in the SAvamp between his residence and the village". For about 
 a hundred years no deer were seen; they Avere protected for ten 
 years previous to 1917, throughout the state, and returned in con- 
 siderable numbers, presumably from the Adirondacks, wintering suc- 
 cessfully in our SAvamps. 
 
 "The fish in our waters are A^arious", Morris, p. 88, "In the 
 Great, Little and Cranberry Ponds, and their tributary streams, 
 no trout have ever been taken. The fish in these waters are eels, 
 perch, roach, suckers, shiners, red-fins, and bullheads or cat-fish. 
 In the winter of 1809, twenty eight pickerel were taken in a pond 
 in SouthAvick, near Granby, transported in casks of water by sleighs, 
 and put into the Cranberry Pond. Their progeny now begin to be 
 taken in considerable numbers. What effect they Avill have in 
 destroying the former occupants, remains to be proved. Probably 
 the shiners, red-fins, and smaller perch will many of them be 
 destroyed; yet it is thought that the pickerel Avill be a valuable 
 acquisition". 
 
 A previous experiment with pickerel was authorized in April 
 1779, when Capt. John Marsh was granted by the ToAvn the exclu- 
 sive Pickerel Fishing rights in the Loon or Cranberry Pond, "pro- 
 vided he shall at his own expense procure pickerel to breed and 
 propagate therein in a reasonable time". It seems however that 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 177 
 
 110 advantage was taken of this privilege. How successful the 
 pickerel have been since 1809 needs no comment. Tliej were for a 
 long time the great fish of Bantam Lake, being known as Bantam 
 Shad. More recently black bass were put into the Lake, and are 
 now the chief aim of the fishermen. Other fish have been put into 
 our waters on several occasions, the latest experiment being the 
 salmon trout in 1919 bv the Connecticut Fish Commission. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 SOUTH FARMS, MILTON, NORTHFIELD AND BANTAM. 
 
 Until 1859, the present township of Morris formed an integral 
 part of Litchfield, and was an important factor in our population 
 and acreage. In 1810, its population was 1,238, probably the largest 
 figure it attained. When the towns were divided, the population 
 is estimated at 675. 
 
 The early history of this parish has been well told by Wood- 
 ruff, pp. 53-55 : "In May 1740, the Inhabitants of South Farms peti- 
 tioned the Legislature, to be annexed to the north Society of Wood- 
 bury, now Bethlehem. A committee of the Town of Litchfield was 
 appointed to oppose it, and the application was unsuccessful. Ser- 
 eral attempts were made to procure their incorporation as an Ecclesi- 
 astical Society, which did not succeed till 1767, when an act of the 
 Legislature for that purpose was passed. In 1753, there were 
 but 30 families in the parish; when it was incorporated it con- 
 tained 70. 
 
 "But the Legislature long before that time granted the Inhabi- 
 tants power to maintain the public worship of God among them for 
 three months during the winter, and this right was called the 
 'Winter Privilege'. They thereupon exercised the ordinary powers 
 of an Ecclesiastical Society. Their first meeting for such purposes 
 was holden on the 23d Nov. 1748, at the house of Capt. Thomas Har- 
 rison . . . and Public Worship was held in different sections, at the 
 School and Private Houses. The first School House was voted to 
 be built in 1747. Twenty pounds was given from the Town Treasury 
 for that purpose". 
 
 There are two Cemeteries in the limits of the South Farms 
 parish. The older, for which liberty was granted in 1747, is now 
 known as the Morris Cemetery", and lies on a hill, with slope to the 
 southAvards. Some of the graves near the road are marked by 
 very old stones, many well-nigh illegible. The first person buried 
 in this grave-yard was James Stoddard, who was killed at the 
 raising of a dwelling in March 1749. In connection with the 
 funerals at this Burying Ground, a vote of the Society, passed March 
 14, 1759, survives, which is one of the most singular examples of 
 old orthography in any of our records. This was, "to pay Charles 
 Woodruff six shillings for ye Bears to carry ye Dead". 
 
 The second Cemetery was authorized in 1776, in Footville or 
 West Morris. "The sanctity of burial places". Woodruff, p. 54, 
 "seems not to have been very highly regarded"; for the deed from 
 Thomas Waugh of the land to be used specifies that "said Thomas 
 
!SK 
 
 Morris Woodruff 
 
fc 
 
 PQ 
 
 1:4 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 179 
 
 Waugh his heirs and assigns shall have good right forever to enclose 
 said Burying Yard, and use it for pasturing, provided, he or they 
 shall keep up and maintain convenient bars for the people to pass 
 and repass, for the purpose of burying their dead". 
 
 "In the year 1764", Morris, p. 104, "the inhabitants agreed to 
 build their first church. It was only one story high, 34 feet by 
 32". The original vote of the Society authorizing this church gives 
 slightly smaller proportions, as follows: "25 by 35 ft. with 9 ft. 
 posts provided Justice Gibbs will do it by Dec. 1st, for seventy 
 pounds ten shillings, plank body, clapboards on the outside, 10 win- 
 dows of 24 panes 6 by 8 inches, floor well lined, sealed with pine, 
 one doar, point the cracks between the planks with clay, decent 
 pulpit, one-half to be paid in proc. bills ( ? ) , and one-half in specie". 
 Later voted "A Quchion" and later "two pairs of stairs and foarms 
 were built in the gallery". 
 
 "The greatest puzzle", Morris Herald, September, 1899, "was 
 the gallery in a church with posts only 9 feet high. Probably the 
 space under the roof was included in the room and the gallery was 
 at the end, with the gallery floor dropped a little below the plates". 
 
 A second church, more suitable in size to the needs of the grow- 
 ing commtinity and to use all the year, instead of for the winter 
 privileges only, was planned as early as 1774, but the War pre 
 vented its construction until 1785. It was a more pretentious 
 structure than most churches of that day. The main entrance was 
 a high double door over which was a large carved pine apple and 
 other carved work. (Morris Herald, January, 1900). "Over the 
 pulpit was the inevitable sounding board, described as a Turkish 
 minaret, surmounted by a scarlet tulip. On each panel of the base 
 of the sounding board was a carved bunch of grapes, and on the 
 front of the pulpit, which was over six feet in height, were five 
 ix)ws, three bunches each, of carved bunches of grapes, a bright 
 purple in color and two grape leaves to each bunch, of natural size. 
 On wood work behind the pulpit were two narrow green stripes, 
 surmounted by scarlet tulips. There was but one stairway for 
 the pulpit, on the left side, while down in front of the pulpit was 
 the deacons' seat. The seats were arranged on three sides of the 
 square pews, so that one third of the people would sit back to 
 the minister. In the early days the people were seated according 
 to social position, which was determined by wealth chiefly. This 
 custom provoked jealousies and, in 1827, it was voted that the 
 congregation should be 'seated by age without regard to list' . . . 
 In a great gale of wind in 1822, the steeple was blown down and 
 the bell broken. In 1824, a stove was for the first time set up 
 in the church. . . . The church stood in an exposed spot and in spite 
 of the stoves in severe Aveather it was impossible to heat the church, 
 and it was taken down in 1844 and the present Church took its 
 place. When it was torn down. Dibble Smith, an intense Uni- 
 versalist, obtained the old pulpit and took a part of it to the match 
 
i8o THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 shop located where the Waterbury Reservoir iioav is and had it 
 made into matches. He said they ought to burn well, for the 
 pulpit must be well seasoned by the brimstone theology preached 
 in it". 
 
 The Rev. David Lewis Pannelee was the pastor in South 
 Farms from 1841 until after the parish had become a separate town- 
 ship, and he was largely instrumental in having the third church 
 built. He was greatly interested in the parish, and was the largest 
 subscriber to the church, and gave the sum of $1,000. for the con- 
 struction of an adjoining chapel. He was very strict in the observ- 
 ance of the Sabbath, and used to feed his horse on Saturdays to 
 last over the day. South Farms has been fortunate in having 
 such leaders as he was, and still more in James Morris of the 
 Morris Academy. 
 
 Under the direction of the latter, the first Library in the town 
 of Litchfield was founded in South Farms in 1785. "In the year 
 1791, a constitution was formed; and the proprietors became more 
 numerous. The library consists of between 300 and 400 volumes 
 of well-chosen books, of ancient and modern history and divinity" 
 (Morris, p. 106). 
 
 A debating society, formed in 1842, should also be mentioned. 
 This was the Ladies' and Gentlemen's Society of South Farms for 
 Moral and Intellectual Improvement. It had a large membership, 
 and had an active but short existence of six years. Among the 
 subjects debated, we find the following: "Has the introduction of 
 manufacturing establishments into our country as a whole been 
 injurious to public morals?" This Avas decided in the affirmative. 
 "Is matrimony more conducive to happiness than celibacy?" This 
 also was answered in the affirmative. The last subject recorded is: 
 "Is the credit system beneficial to the community?" This seems 
 to have been too much for the society, which never met again. 
 
 THE MORRIS ACADEMY. 
 
 In addition to the Law School and Miss Pierce's Academy, 
 there was within the then limits of the town a third educational 
 institution, more modest in its scope, yet which achieved important 
 results. This was the Academy of James Morris in South Farms. 
 He was born January 19, 1752. He himself has told us of its 
 scope in the Statistical Account, written in 1812-4, (p. 105) : "An 
 Academy was begun in South-Farms, in the year 1790; in which 
 are taught the Latin and Greek languages, English grammar, 
 arithmetic, mathematics, rhetoric, logic, and moral philosophy. Sev- 
 eral gentlemen within the parish and in the town of Litchfield built 
 the house by subscription, at the expense of $1,400. More than 1,400 
 scholars, of both sexes, have been members of this school. More 
 than 60 of these have entered Yale and other colleges. The school 
 still continues. It was originally instituted for the purpose of 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD i8i 
 
 improving tlie manners and nioi'als of youths, and of attracting 
 their attention from frivolity and dissipation". 
 
 The achievement of the results here so modestly described was 
 not an easy one. To build up in the conditions then prevailing, 
 as we shall see, in South Farms, an educational center capable of 
 influencing the entire community and of sending out graduates with 
 the ideals of John Pierpont, John Brown of Osawatomie, Samuel J. 
 Mills, Jr., and at least two of the sons of Lyman Beecher, was a 
 work requiring a remarkable personality in its founder, and there 
 is no question that Mr. Morris was a remarkable and splendid 
 man. 
 
 We are fortunate in that he left a narrative in manuscript, 
 extracts from which have been printed in Morris Herald (March 
 1900), in the Memoirs of the Long Island Historical Society, (Yol. 
 III., 1878, part 2, pp. 172-4), and in Johnston's Yale in the Eevolu- 
 tion, (pp. 74-77 and 138). 
 
 The extracts which have been printed are chiefly concerned with 
 his services in the Eevolution. He served from 1776 to the end of 
 the war, with rank of Captain. He was a prisoner for over three 
 years after the battle of Germantown, the experiences which he 
 narrates being of much interest. We must, however, conflne our- 
 selves to a few quotations telling of his early life in South Farms 
 and the starting of his life work. He began his Memoirs with 
 these words: "In looking back to my early childhood I can well 
 recollect that I was very much attached to my book ... In my 
 youthful days I had an ardent desire to have a public education 
 and my ultimate desire was to be a minister, but being the only 
 son of my father he could not brook the idea of my leaving him 
 for that purpose. He meant that I should be his earthly prop". 
 
 When he was eighteen his, father acceded to his wishes for an 
 education in so far as to say "that if I would go and sled home a 
 certain quantity of wood that he had drawn off a piece of fallow 
 ground the preceding summer I might go and try what I could 
 do in the study of Latin, I then exerted myself, and in about a 
 fortnight I had sledded home sixty loads of wood and loaded and 
 unloaded the same". He then went and spent the winter with 
 the minister in an adjoining town, tutoring especially in Latin. In 
 the spring of 1770 he was called home to study under the minister 
 in South Farms: "But", he says, "I made little progress, for every 
 day I was interrupted; it was constantly said, James, you must 
 go and bring some wood, you must get some oven wood and split 
 it fine, you must go and bring up the old mare, your mother wants 
 to ride out, you must go and fetch the cows, the pigs are in the 
 garden, you must go and get them out". In spite of every difficulty 
 he persevered, entered Yale, graduated in 1775, and began the study 
 of theology. He did not consider himself fitted to be a minister, 
 however, and after his return he and his wife, Elizabeth Hubbard 
 of Middletown, made their home with Mr. and Mrs. Morris, Senior, 
 both of whom were now in failing health. It was a restricted life 
 
i82 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 for tlie young couple. "My parents being advanced in the waning 
 of life chose retirement, my mother especially could not be broken 
 of her rest or be disturbed of her sleep. We often had evening 
 visitors and they would often stay till after nine o'clock, and some 
 noise would be made either in conversation or when they bid me 
 good night and went out of the house. The next morning my 
 mother would complain that she was so disturbed that she did 
 not sleep, and that she could not have it so, that I should send off 
 my company before nine o'clock. Finding my situation growing 
 unpleasant, yet at the same time feeling disposed to do everything 
 in my power to soothe the pillow of age and to render the con- 
 dition of my beloved parents comfortable, I consulted my father on 
 the subject and I informed him that I had it in contemplation to 
 purchase the house and lands where I now live". It was not long 
 before Morris found that he needed more land, but he had not the 
 money to buy it. "But", he says naively, "a kind providence had 
 hitherto always found a way of escape for me when I was either 
 in difficulty or in danger. In June 1789, God was pleased to 
 remove my dear father by death. A considerable sum of money 
 and cattle were placed in my possession by which I was enabled to 
 free myself from debt without any embarrassment. Thus I was 
 prospered in my worldly concerns, though the removal of my father 
 was a grievous stroke to me in the dispensation of providence". 
 
 He was much distressed at the condition of the people about 
 him. "The church in this place was made up of numbers of 
 ignorant, unprincipled and unexemplary men. They voted in 
 church meeting that conversion should be no terms of communion 
 at the Lord's Table, and this society ratified the same vote. Pro- 
 fane swearing and open Sabbath breaking and drunkenness were 
 not uncommon among professors of religion. The young people 
 were clownish, ignorant and uncivil in their recreation and amuse- 
 ments. They consisted chiefly of noisy and jovial mirth. 
 
 "The first effort that I made", continues Mr. Morris, "was to 
 attract the attention of the children in the several schools". As 
 an incentive he offered a prize to each of the eight from the several 
 districts who should perform best in a public examination. Taking 
 a continued interest in the school children, he began courses for 
 them after school hours in English grammar and geography. "The 
 young ladies were my first pupils; I took more pains with them in 
 the outsetting in giving counsel than I did to the others because 
 experience had taught me in my travels through the United States 
 that in every town or village where there was a chaste or virtuous 
 set of young ladies there was a decent class of young men". 
 
 He met with much opposition at first; people envied him for his 
 position and hated him for his reforms. The opposition increased 
 until in 1794 the Church took up the matter. A council was called 
 and some of the neighboring churches sent delegates. The charge 
 against him was that of disturbing the public peace. One of the 
 witnesses testified that he occasionally walked home at night with 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 183 
 
 his young lady pupils, Nevertheless the council acquitted him. 
 After this his school prospered and steadily increased. In 1803 the 
 people of the Society and other friends in Litchfield built him the 
 house which was called the Academy. When the district of South 
 Farms was set off as a separate township in 1859, the residents paid 
 James Morris a deserved tribute in giving his name to the town, 
 and thus honoring the memory of his sturdy character and of all 
 he did for the conmiunity and for the world in Morris Academy. 
 The value of his work appears when we contrast the early conditions 
 in the community with the somewhat remarkable intelligence and 
 character of the citizens in the years when the influence of the 
 Academy came to be fully realized. It appears also in the large 
 number of men from other parts of the country who were educated 
 here and have filled important positions in the world. A few of 
 his pupils especially have exerted a wide influence. 
 
 John Pierpont was born in South Farms on April 6, 1785. 
 After studying at the Morris Academy, he went to Yale (Class of 
 1804). He studied law at the Litchfleld Law School. He became 
 one of the most distinguished pastors of the Unitarian Church, 
 occupying the pulpit of the HoUis Street Church in Boston from 
 1819 to 1845. He was also widely known as a poet in those days, 
 and composed the Poem for the Litchfield County Centennial in 
 1851, which he recited with much effect. He was a vigorous anti- 
 slavery advocate, and carried on the temperance crusade begun by 
 Lyman Beecher. The freedom with which he expressed his opinions 
 regarding the temperance cause led to a bitter controversy. While 
 not strictly pertinent to the history of Litchfield, the following may 
 be quoted as showing something of the spirit of the times: 
 
 "The cellar of his church was used by some of his parishioners 
 who were engaged in the wholesale liquor business, to store their 
 goods. Eeport says it was John Pierpont who wrote the following 
 lines : 
 
 There's a spirit above, 
 
 And a spirit below; 
 A spirit of love. 
 
 And a spirit of woe. 
 The spirit above is the Spirit Divine, 
 
 But the spirit below is the spirit of wine". 
 
 (Morris Herald, April 1899). 
 
 John Brown was born in Torrington on May 9, 1800. He came 
 to the Academy with his brother Salmon about 1816 or a little later, 
 and remained only one year. "He was not very popular with the 
 other pupils; this may have been due to certain unamiable traits 
 of character for which he admits his brothers criticised him, or 
 simply to his conscientiousness of behavior. His disposition to 
 attempt to right wrongs in a summary way appeared even at that 
 early day. His younger brother Salmon was guilty of some offense 
 for which he thought he ought to be punished, 'If Salmon had done 
 
i84 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 this at home', lie said to the teacher, 'father would have punished 
 him. I know he would expect you to punish him now for doing 
 this, and if you dont I shall'. That night, more in sorrow than in 
 anger, he gave him a severe flogging". (Morris Herald, Jan. 1899). 
 
 Salmon Brown was for a time in the employ of Morris Wood- 
 ruff. His grandson, George M. Woodruff, tells that on one occa- 
 sion, Morris Woodruff, upon his return from the legislature, was 
 much annoyed to find that some of his directions concerning farm 
 work had not been carried out. Upon which Salmon consoled him 
 by saying: "Gin'ral, Gin'ral, don't you know that if a man wants 
 anything did, he must did it hiself?" We are not sure whether 
 this anecdote speaks very well for the teaching of grammar at the 
 Morris Academy! 
 
 Through his life Morris showed a deep interest in his fellow 
 men, not only in the scholars directly in his charge. This character- 
 istic led him to be greatly interested in missions ; the mission school 
 of the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions being 
 first connected with Morris Academy. The Litchfield County Foreign 
 Mission Society was the first organized auxiliary of the Board, and 
 dates from 181L James Morris was largely instrumental in its 
 undertaking, and was its Secretary from its inception until his 
 death. About 1816 he founded a mission school at South Farms, 
 which in May 1817 was transferred to Cornwall, where it became an 
 object of great interest as an experiment before untried. The school 
 was founded as a result of the finding in 1809 of a young Sandwich 
 Island boy, Henry Obookiah, on a doorstep at Yale College. He 
 was cared for by Kev. Edwin Welles Dwight, then a resident gradu- 
 ate at Yale, Samuel J, Mills Jr,, who had been a pupil of James 
 Morris at the Academy, became the companion of Mr. Dwight in 
 New Haven, and so was deeply interested in the heathen boy and 
 conceived the idea of educating him as a missionary to his native 
 land. Graduall.y the idea grew of a school for native foreign mis- 
 sionaries; and when at last the school was opened at South Farms, 
 Mr. Dwight became the first principal. On April 1, 1817, he wrote 
 to his mother from the school : "I came at the request of the agents 
 of the Heathen school to take charge of the Owhyhee boys. It is 
 established by the board of commission of foreign missions and 
 not long hence to have a very important connection with all our 
 ])laiis and efforts to spread the gospel. The object is to furnish 
 a place for collecting and instructing all the heathen youth that 
 may be throAvn upon our country or sent to this country for educa- 
 tion. Of the Owhyheeaus, three or four are pious. It is very 
 evidently God's design to prepare some of these young men to return 
 as missionaries and interpreters to their own country". Samuel J. 
 Mills Jr. did not live to see the success of the school. In 1818, 
 on the return journey from Africa, whither he had gone to explore 
 the West Coast with a view to founding a colonization project, he 
 died at the early age of thirty five. In his short life, through his 
 many and varied pioneer services for the cause of foreign missions, 
 
o 
 
 c 
 
 > 
 
 :r 
 
 ^ 
 
 ffi 
 
ID 
 
 O 
 
 K 
 5 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 185 
 
 he won the reputation of being the Father of American Missions. 
 He is buried in Torringford, where he was Ijorn. 
 
 After removing to Cornwall the school grew very rapidly. The 
 catalog of 1820 showed that the scholars were chiefly natives of the 
 Sandwich Islands, one from Tahiti, one from the Marquesas, one 
 Malay. There were also several American Indians. The school 
 was discontinued in 1827, as it was found better to train native 
 missionaries in their own lands. The detailed history of the school 
 does not belong in this book. The life of Obookiah was written by 
 Mr. Dwight in 1818, the work passing through 12 editions, the last 
 in 1867. K. Henry W. Dwight, the biogi'apher of his grand-father, 
 has estimated that these several editions, in three languages, num- 
 bered not less than 50,000 copies, an enormous amount for those 
 days. But the little seed of foreign missions, sowed in South 
 Farms, cannot be counted in numbers, and though the story is 
 virtually forgotten to-day its influence has been enormous. 
 
 In connection with this mission work, we notice that under the 
 inspiration of James Morris and Morris Woodruff in South Farms, 
 and of Julius Deming, Benjamin Tallmadge, Tapping Eeeve and 
 others in Litchfield, the support of Litchfield to the general Board 
 was on a very liberal scale. "In the first years of the American 
 Board for Foreign Missions its prospects were dark, and its supplies 
 dubious. T^Tien the annual collection from Litchfield County first 
 came into the Treasury of the Board, relieving it from some existing 
 embarrassment, Dr. Worcester exclaimed 'I bless Grod for making 
 Litchfield County'." ( Semi-Centennial of the Litchfield County 
 Foreign Mission Society, 1861, p. 25). The contribution from Litch- 
 field in the spring of 1813, the first remittance, was $1,354.11, truly 
 a large one for the time, as the entire receipts of the Board for 
 that year from the whole country were only $11,361.18. 
 
 James Morris was taken ill Avhile visiting the Mission School 
 in Cornwall, and died on his way home, at Goshen, April 20, 1820. 
 The work at his Academy was continued after his death by a Mr. 
 Chapman, and in 1831 Samuel Morris Ensign, 1804-1888, became 
 principal. He was a distinguished educator, and drew large num- 
 bers of pupils from the then western states, such as Ohio. The 
 building of the Academy was torn down in 1892. For the last few 
 years it had been used as a barn, the school being conducted in the 
 home of Mr. Ensign. Some years before the latter's death the 
 Academy practically ceased to exist. 
 
 NORTHFIELD. 
 
 The south-eastern part of our township, now known as North- 
 field, was first settled about 1760, but not incorporated as a parish 
 until 1794. The parish, as laid out, included a part of Thomaston, 
 then known as Northbury, or the north section of Plymouth. The 
 name Northfield is a compound of the first syllable of Northbury and 
 the last syllable of Litchfield. 
 
i86 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 Tradition says that the first settlers were John Humaston and 
 Titus Turner, both of whom came from New Haven. Humaston 
 built a sa\^Tnill on the stream just east of the cemetery, where a 
 mill still stands, though not the same one. Here he sawed the 
 lumber for the first frame house, which stood on the site of the 
 present Post Office until it was burned in 1904, with the former 
 Post Ofl'ice just to the east. Turner's log house stood about a 
 quarter mile west, on the south side of the present main street, but 
 facing south on the earlier road. 
 
 James Marsh was the first child born in the settlement, Septem- 
 ber 22, 1762. 
 
 Prior to 1794, the settlement was called South-East Farms. The 
 first recorded meeting of a Society was October 15, 1789, at which it 
 was voted to hire a minister for the winter season of six months. 
 
 In 1791, application was made for liberty to have a burying 
 ground. The first location was not satisfactory and was not used. 
 On May 6, 1795, John Humaston made a gift to the Society of half 
 an acre, on the present site, and this tract has been twice subse- 
 quently added to. He reserved to "Himself, his heirs and assigns 
 forever the right of feeding said Ground". 
 
 Northfield is the only section of our township in which the 
 Episcopal church was built before the CongregationaL The First 
 Episcopal Society of Litchfield Southeast Farms was organized at 
 the house of John Humaston on September 5, 1793. Thirty six 
 persons were enrolled as members at this meeting. The first church, 
 45 by 34 feet, was built on the Green, where the Soldier's Monument 
 now stands, facing south, with a door at the west end also, and 
 was completed in 1795. Eev. Joseph E. Camp officiated for a short 
 time, addressing the Episcopalians in the morning and the Congre- 
 gationalists in the afternoon. This building was consecrated as 
 Trinity Church on October 19, 1836, by Thomas Church Brownell, 
 Bishop of Connecticut. The present church was begun in 1865 and 
 consecrated as Trinity Church on Februarj' 10, 1866, by John 
 Williams, Bishop of Connecticut. 
 
 By gift of Mrs. Bennett Humiston in 1899 the Society acquired 
 the house adjoining the church on the south, which has since been 
 used as a rectory. Here the Eev. Adelbert P. Chapman, the rector 
 from 1901 to 1917, conducted for several years a small Sunmier 
 Home for Girls for the preventative treatment of Tuberculosis, an 
 admirable charity, carried on with great devotion. 
 
 The Ecclesiastical Society of Northfield was incorporated at the 
 session of the General Assembly, October 1794, the name being 
 changed to the Congregational Society of Northfield in 1859. The 
 Society was organized at the house of William Washburn at a 
 meeting on January 1, 1795, with 14 enrolled members. Later in 
 the year it was voted to adopt 'Deacon Button's plan' for a meeting- 
 house, 50 by 38 feet. The building was commenced in 1796, but not 
 completed for use until 1803. It stood on the top of jSTorthfield 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 187 
 
 Hill, a quarter of a mile north of the present Green, The present 
 church was dedicated February 6, 1867. 
 
 The Society is endowed through a trust fund of $10,000., received 
 from the estate of Asa Hopkins, who died in 1838. He lived on the 
 East Hill, where he began at a very early date the manufacture of 
 wooden clocks; later he began the manufacture of flutes at Flute- 
 ville; and finally removed to New Haven, where he again manu- 
 factured clocks. 
 
 By the bequest of William L. Gilbert of Winsted, a native of 
 Northfleld, who died in 1890, tlie Society received the sum of $4,000. 
 for a parsonage, to include a room for a free Librarj^ for which 
 the further sum of $8,000. was given. This building is located 
 opposite the church, and was completed in 1896. The Librarian, 
 from 1893 to 1907, was Levi S. Wooster, to whose faithful work in 
 building up the Library, Northfleld is revj largely indebted for the 
 fine collection of 5,500 books noAV included. Eev. Wallace Humiston 
 is the present Librarian. 
 
 The first school, Litchfield District No. 14, was established in 
 1774. The school stood east of the road about half way from the 
 present Congregational church to the top of the hill above. All 
 traces of it disappeared long ago. In 1797, the Ecclesiastical 
 Society appointed a committee which laid out the following districts : 
 Center, Hopkins, Marsh, Fluteville, Mill and Guernsey Hill. Of 
 these, Hopkins has long been abandoned, and Guernsey Hill more 
 recently; while Mill is now in the town of Morris. A new building 
 was furnished by Daniel Catlin about 1840 for use of the Center 
 district, which the town later acquired and which is still standing, 
 opposite the present Center School, built in 1885. 
 
 There have been at least two important private schools. Rev. 
 Joseph E. Camp, during his long ministry with the Ecclesiastical 
 Society, 1795-1837, fitted many boys for college. One of these was 
 John Pierpont, who also studied at the Morris Academy. 
 
 Deacon John Catlin opened a private school in the old tavern 
 of Jacob Turner about 1845. Among his pupils were Senator O. H. 
 Piatt, Judge Edward W. Seymour, Rev. Storrs O. Seymour, D. D., and 
 James G. Batterson of Hartford, builder of the State Capitol. 
 
 There has been a Post-Office in Northfield since about 1836, 
 when Daniel Catlin was postmaster. Prior to this time a weekly 
 mail was delivered to the settlers by the rider to Hartford from 
 Litchfield, beginning January 24, 1791. 
 
 About 1794 the mail was left at the store of Turner and Wood- 
 ruff, and the trips were made twice weekly. Shortly after 1800, 
 the mail was left at the tavern of Jacob Turner, which was a way 
 station for the overland mail from Hartford to Albany. This house 
 still stands, being the second house north of the Congregational 
 Church. 
 
 Of the many industries which have been located in Northfield, 
 the only one now active is the Northfield Knife Co., which was 
 
i88 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 incorporated in 1858, with John S. Barnes as President and Samuel 
 Mason as Secretarj^, leasing and later buying the plant of an earlier 
 factory, the Northfield Manufacturing Co. Barnes was succeeded 
 as President by Mason, and in 1865 by Franklin H. Catlin, with 
 J. Howard Catlin as Secretary' and Treasurer. The business was 
 rapidly built up, and has attained an enviable reputation for the 
 finest grade of pocket cutlery. Exhibits were made at the World's 
 Fairs at Philadelphia, 1876; Paris, 1878; Chicago, 1892; and Buffalo, 
 1901; prizes being received at each. At Buffalo, over a thousand 
 styles of knives were shown. In 1919, the name and plant were 
 sold to the Clark Brothers Cutlery Co., of Kansas City. 
 
 Among the natives of Northfield, John Pierpont Humiston should 
 be mentioned as the inventor of the first duplex telegraph instru- 
 ment. He was born 1816, a grandson of John Humaston, and was 
 apprenticed as a boy to a local carriage maker. He bought his 
 last year of service for $342.50, for which amount he gave his note. 
 After working in New Haven and Seymour, he turned his attention 
 to electricity. His invention of the duplex telegraph allowed four 
 messages to be sent over one wire, two each way. He also invented 
 machines for the quick writing and receiving of telegraphic charac- 
 ters. He sold his patents to the American Union Co., at the time 
 of the Civil War, and after many years in the courts realized only 
 $5,000., for patents which have proved of great value. The diffi- 
 culty was caused by the Government taking over the American 
 Union's lines, and that Company selling out to the Western Union. 
 The latter Company did not recognize Humiston's claim, and 
 although after a long lawsuit he obtained a verdict for $16,000., 
 the amount was greatly reduced by costs. Mr. Humiston died in 
 Northfield at the age of 88, in 1904, and was at the time of his 
 death the oldest resident of the village. 
 
 The facts relative to Korthfield have been furnished by Albert 
 M. Turner, the Field Secretary of the Connecticut State Park Com- 
 mission. It is interesting to notice the important part that he and 
 Horace Bushnell, also a native of our township, (he was born in 
 Bantam in 1802), have played in the development of Connecticut 
 parks. 
 
 Horace Bushnell was the originator of the project to make a 
 public Park in the center of the city of Hartford. After a long 
 fight for such an innovation, his plan was successfully carried 
 through in 1854, the park now bearing his name. This was the 
 first time that an appropriation of public funds was made in the 
 state, and very possibly in the nation, for the j^urchase of land 
 for park purposes. Heretofore, such parks or reservations as 
 existed had been set apart out of public land or out of private gifts. 
 It is hard to realize to-day, when millions of dollars are being spent 
 annually by municipalities, states and the nation, for the purchase 
 of land for park purposes and for the establishment of public forests, 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 189 
 
 how recently and witli what difficulty the tirst appropriation of 
 the kind was made, 
 
 Albert M. Turner, as Field Secretary of the State Park Com- 
 mission, has been the chief instrument in carrying out the extensive 
 plans of that body since its formation in 1913. This State was 
 one of the last to have a Park Commission, but it has made up for 
 lost time by its Avise and energetic action. It is also interesting 
 to note that the first gift to the Commission of land was made by 
 Mrs. <i. A. Senft", of New York, of a tract on Mount Tom, lying 
 partly in Litchfield, and partly in Morris and Washington. The 
 tower at the summit of Mount Tom is included in the area of this 
 park. It was constructed in 1888, from a design by Professor Henry 
 S. Munroe, of the Department of Mining of Columbia University 
 and a summer resident of Litchfield; the tower is 30 feet high and 
 was modeled after an oil well tower and was so well designed and 
 built that it is still in service at the present time, having withstood 
 the high winds and storms of 32 years. The tower is 1,291 feet 
 above sea level at its base. 
 
 MILTON. 
 
 The village of Milton was settled from Litchfield about 1740. 
 Some settlers also came from New Milford, notably David Welch, 
 who built the oldest house now standing there, located at the 
 entrance to the village on the Litchfield road. It dates from 1745 
 and is the oldest house anywhere in our township, with the single 
 exception of the Vaill House, at the foot of Brush Hill, which is 
 a year older, but extensively remodeled. The Welch house is now 
 known as the Bissell House, as it was the home of William Bissell, 
 who was Captain of the Litchfield Company in the Litchfield County 
 Eegiment in the Civil War. The house in Milton now known as the 
 Welch House is situated at the farther extremity of the village and 
 dates from 1774. This belonged to another branch of the same 
 family. 
 
 There was no church in Milton, which was at first known as 
 West Farms, until 1795, Avhen the Parish was set off and incor- 
 porated, including j^arts of the townships of Goshen, Cornwall and 
 Warren. The building of the Episcopal Church was begun in 
 1802. Morris says, p. 105, that neither of these churches was com- 
 pleted in 1814. The Episcopal church is said to have been com- 
 pleted in 1827, and to have been dedicated in 1837. The bell was 
 added in 1843, a gift from Garry Welch and Hugh P. Welch. There 
 has also been a Methodist church in Milton, which was moved to 
 Bantam some years ago and converted into a dwelling. 
 
 The Burying Ground lies nearly a mile west of the village, in 
 a sheltered valley, enclosed by a substantial wall of quarried stone. 
 Charles T. Payne says, p. 174, that no record of the date when this 
 Cemetery was laid out remains, beyond the evidence of several 
 tombstones of the; Eevolutionary period. It is spoken of in a deed 
 
igo THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 of 1790, but is probably of considerably earlier date. Additions 
 were made to it in 1813 and 1872. 
 
 "Within the parochial limits of Milton", says Morris, p. 105, 
 "there are five saw-mills; two grist-mills; two iron works; one trip- 
 hammer; one carding machine for wool; one machine for manu- 
 facturing wooden clocks; one waggon-maker; two turners; two shoe- 
 makers; six whole school districts; and six school-houses, in which 
 schools are kept through the year, by males in the winter season, 
 and by females in the summer. The price for schoolmasters, is 
 from 9 to 12 dollars per month and their board; for school-mistresses, 
 from 5 to 6 shillings per week and their board". By the concen- 
 tration of industries in the valleys and by the centralization of the 
 schools, this long list of a century ago is reduced to one mill and 
 one school. 
 
 The Shepherd Knapp Fresh Air Home, which is located on the 
 hill east of the village of Milton, was founded in 1905 by Mrs. 
 Shepherd Knapp of Litchfield and New York, in memoiy of her 
 husband. It is maintained as a branch of the New York Tribune 
 Fresh Air Fund, and gives happy summer outings of two weeks 
 each to a thousand or more city children every year. 
 
 Among the citizens of Milton should be mentioned one of the 
 Kevolutionary soldiers of the village, John Griswold, whom Eliza- 
 beth C. Barney Buel, in her lecture to the Litchfield Scientific Asso- 
 ciation, on the Industries of Litchfield, describes as the maker of the 
 first model of an "iron Monitor". This he tested out on Milton 
 Pond, so that it cannot have been very large. He never did any- 
 thing with his invention, and heard of Ericsson's earliest experi- 
 ments with an iron turreted ship only two days before he died, 
 December 22, 1847. Ericsson's experiments did not bear fruit until 
 the real Monitor was constructed, fifteen years later. 
 
 BANTAM. 
 
 The following account of Bantam has been summarized from 
 data specially contributed by Herman Foster of that Borough. 
 Originally the name Bantam was given to the whole district, covering 
 so extensive an area that our Goshen was known as New Bantam 
 prior to its settlement in 1738. When our to^vnship was denomi- 
 nated Litchfield in 1715, the name Bantam was used in a constantly 
 more restricted sense, until at one time only the Lake and the 
 Falls carried on the name. The remainder of the present village, 
 towards the West, was known as Bradleyville, from the Bradley 
 family, several branches of which were prominent here in the early 
 Nineteenth Century. Here the old Bradleyville Tavern was the 
 Mecca for excursions of the young people from Litchfield, and one 
 of the regular stopping places for the four horse coaches from New 
 York and Danbury. 
 
 The origin of the name Bantam has caused much perplexity. 
 Morris and Woodruff attribute it without question to an Indian 
 origin. Kilboume suggested that it might have been derived from 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 191 
 
 an East Indian Bantam in Java. This remote town, being known 
 to the early English traders as a wild region, inhabited by a race 
 of barbarians, would, according to the KUboume theory, naturally 
 have lent its name to a similar tract in the New World. His theory 
 has always been interesting, but never entirely convincing. It should 
 not be dismissed without a study of the various arguments he pre- 
 sents, which space prevents our reproducing here. We may add a 
 curious circumstance to the evidence he presents, namely that, when 
 Ohio was being settled largely from Connecticut after the sale of 
 the Western Eeserve lands, two of the villages near Cincinnati 
 were called respectively Bantam and Batavia. They are nearer 
 indeed to one another in Ohio than their namesakes are in Java, 
 and the Bantam unquestionably came by way of our township. 
 There are also, for those who seek a remote ancestor, a Cape Ban- 
 tam in Indo-China, and a village of Bantama in the Gold Coast of 
 Africa. 
 
 This plurality of barbarian Bantams suggests that the word 
 is perhaps a corruption of some native jargon as heard by English 
 «ars, and this brings us back to the older hypothesis that it sprung 
 from some phrase of our own Indian tribes. One interesting sup- 
 position says that Pe-an-tum meant a Praying Indian, referring to 
 some early local chief converted perhaps by the first Moravian mis- 
 sionary visits into the Wilderness from the Dutch settlements 
 beyond the Hudson. Unfortunately for such a tradition, no Mora- 
 vians came to our parts until ten years or more after the name 
 Bantam was in general use, and even then it is doubtful if they 
 came any nearer than to New Milford. The sum total of the 
 discussion is that we shall never know more of the etymology of 
 Bantam than of that of the later name for the township, Litchfield. 
 New evidence is more likely to confuse than to explain. 
 
 The outlet of Bantam Lake, as it approaches the present village 
 of Bantam, tumbles nearly one hundred feet in the course of three- 
 quarters of a mile, in which distance there were at one time six 
 dams furnishing water power for as many varied industries. After 
 leaving Bantam, the stream races on down the hills and through 
 the valleys, until its waters finally are merged in the Shepaug Eiver, 
 passing on into the Housatonic River, and thence into Long Island 
 Sound- 
 
 This wealth of Avater power has made Bantam potentially the 
 richest section of the township. Recognition of the advantages 
 presented was slow in coming. In the chapter on the older indus- 
 tries, we found here little beyond the paper mill and the other mills, 
 not notably in advance of those elsewhere in the town. As the indus- 
 tries of Connecticut began to pass from the hilltops to the valleys 
 in the forties, Bantam was still comparatively neglected. In 1876, 
 C. F. Flynn and William Doyle formed the firm of Flynn and Doyle, 
 took over the business of the earlier Litchfield Carriage Company, 
 and, until 1911, carried on an extensive manufacture of carriages, 
 
192 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 wagons and sleighs, reaching in some years an output of $40,000. 
 Their products were of a high standard and their market extended 
 far beyond the state. In 1911, the Company was merged into the 
 Flynn and Doyle Co., which was continued until the death of Mr. 
 Flynn. Mr. Doyle carried on the business for another year, until 
 1918, when it was discontinued. In April, 1919, the factory was 
 taken over by the Bantam Auto Eepair Station. 
 
 It was not till about 1900 that the great growth of Bantam 
 began. In twenty j'ears the population has grown from 400 to 
 1,000, actually stemming the tide of declining population which for 
 over a century has steadily been depleting the whole township. If 
 our resident jiopulation is again to increase materially, the impetus 
 will probably continue to come mainly from this growing industrial 
 center. Besides the Flynn and Doyle Co., should be mentioned the 
 Litchfield Electric Light and Power Co.; the Connecticut Electric- 
 Co., manufacturers of electric fixtures; the Trumbull- Vanderpoel 
 Co., manufacturers of electric switches; and the Bantam Ball Bear- 
 ing Co., manufacturers of ball and roller bearings. Further 
 particulars regarding the business of these several plants will be 
 found in the Appendix. 
 
 Another extensive industry of quite another kind is situated 
 just outside of Bantam, on the north-west shore of the Lake. This 
 is the Berkshire Ice Co., whose long trains pull out daily in the 
 summer, carrying concentrated relief from the Litchfield Hills to 
 the larger cities to the southwards. Some idea of the work done 
 by the Company on the Lake during the coldest days of the winter 
 may be gathered from the single fact that it takes forty acres of 
 ice one foot in thickness to furnish the 75,000 tons required to fill the 
 ice-house of the Company. In the harvesting of ice, the electricity 
 furnished by the harnessing of the Bantam Falls does the work 
 of great bodies of men. 
 
 The village of Bantam has been incorporated as a Borough 
 since 1915. The incorporation was due to the energies of W. S. 
 Kogers, when he was a member of the state legislature, and it has 
 resulted in furnishing the village with many advantages, such as 
 sidewalks, sewers, fire protection, and the like. Mr. Eogers has 
 been in many respects the presiding genius of Bantam. The pros- 
 perity enjoyed by the Bantam Ball Bearing Co., has been translated 
 by him into terms of civic improvement which have benefited the 
 Avhole community. About five years ago, he purchased the present 
 Borough Hall from the old Bantam Village Improvement Society, 
 and made it a gift to the borough. It is largely used for borough 
 uses and for social entertainments. During the war it furnished 
 indoor drilling space for the Bantam platoon of the Litchfield 
 Home Guard, 
 
 Other gifts of Mr. Kogers have been made in connection with his 
 factory and the welfare of his employees, which has always been a 
 prime consideration with him and his assistant. Miss Nellie M. Scott. 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 193 
 
 The recreation theatre and club-room in the new building of the fac- 
 tory is also used for certain entertainments of the churches, and for 
 moving picture plays for the school-children, and for other popular 
 purposes. An Athletic Field is also one of the assets of Bantam, 
 through this company, with its baseball teams, a gun-club, and 
 similar organizations. 
 
 Besides its extensive manufacturing growth. Bantam is also 
 gaining in prestige through its nearness to the Lake. While the 
 summer resort region of the Lake, with its several Hotels, numerous 
 boarding houses, boys' and girls' camps, and many private camps, 
 is over the border in the town of Morris, the railway connection 
 for the district is principally through Bantam, which also furnishes 
 extended shopping facilities. 
 
 Originally, Bantam Falls and Bradleyville were divided like 
 the rest of the town into several school districts, each with its 
 separate school building. In 1893 the new central school in Ban- 
 tam was opened, replacing the several scattered older little build- 
 ings by a large and commodious edifice, which for some years 
 Bernard M. Eoberg, Miss Josephine Mitchell, and Miss Baker have 
 made one of the most successful and popular schools in the town. 
 The old Bradleyville schoolhouse has now been converted into a 
 hen house by Teed Loveland. 
 
 Bantam's churches have been of the Episcopal, Methodist and 
 Baptist denominations. It is significant that there has been no 
 Congr^ational church, so that the village was not set off as a 
 separate parish, as were Milton, Northfleld, and South Farms. This 
 undoubtedly contributed to retard the growth of the settlement, 
 from the subordinate position so long occupied by the other denomi- 
 nations. 
 
 St. Paul's Episcopal church, as is told elsewhere, was born 
 of a temporary division in the First Episcopal Society. It was 
 located opposite the Bantam Burying Ground, and completed in 
 1797. It was a building 50 by 36 feet, with a steeple, deep galleries, 
 and an old fashioned high pulpit and sounding board, with all of the 
 antique surroundings corresponding to the age of its erection. The 
 new church, somewhat to the west, was built in 1843, and consecrated 
 the following year. Additions have since been made to it, including 
 a fine chancel with ornamental windows and a beautiful pipe 
 organ. The pastor of St. Paul's shares the pulpit in Milton. 
 
 The Baptist church in Bantam is not at present in use for ser- 
 vices. The Methodist church, however, which was built in 1901, 
 is very active, with a membership of over one hundred. The church 
 is a handsome one, free of debt, with an attractive home for its 
 pastors, and with a record of earnest endeavor which is leading to 
 continued growth. 
 
 It has seemed better to treat of the outlying villages of the 
 town separately in this chapter, so as to indicate something of their 
 individual characters, but their history is really inextricably inter- 
 
194 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 woven in that of tlie whole township. Many details regarding each 
 of these outlying districts will therefore be found elsewhere, in the 
 general accounts of the industries of the town, of its churches, and 
 of the parts played by the citizens in our wars. Many of the 
 names of the heroes of each village appear only under the combined 
 Honor KoUs of the whole towniship. Exact statistics for a sub- 
 division are not available, and after all the separate villages still 
 form, save for the loss of South Farms, one township. Litchfield 
 claims as its sons Horace Bushnell, who was born in Bantam, and 
 John Pierpont, who was born in South Farms, ahead of any other 
 ministers born on its soil, excepting Henry Ward Beech er; and the 
 future of the township, as well as its past, is dependent on a united 
 growth, which will be brought closer by the gradual improvement in 
 the roads between villages, and in the organizations, like the Farm 
 Bureau, which unite the corresponding interests of the separate 
 sections. 
 
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CHAPTER XIX. 
 THE CHURCHES. 
 
 THE THIRD AND FOURTH CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES. 
 
 Ill 1827 the First Ecclesiastical Society voted to erect a new 
 church, on the site occupied by the present (fourth) Congregational 
 Church. The church was completed in two years, and dedicated 
 on the same day that the installation took place, July 15, 1829, of the 
 new pastor, Rev. Laurens P. Hickok, A copy of Park Street 
 Church of Boston, standing high above a flight of massive granite 
 steps, with tall pillared porch, it was a well built, imposing edifice. 
 It stood until the building of the fourth church in 1873; it was 
 then moved to the Torrington Road, where for many years it was 
 known as Armory Hall, while about six years ago it was bought 
 by George Barber and the name changed to Colonial Hall. It is 
 used as a public Hall for general purposes and more particularly 
 for a Moving Picture Theatre. 
 
 The first pipe-organ of the Society was installed in August 1829. 
 It was made by Jackson, in New York, and was sent by boat to 
 New Haven, from whence it was brought in three great loads. It 
 was the gift of Jabez W. Huntington, William H. Tliompson, and 
 Dr. Sheldon. 
 
 The Congregational Church has been fortunate in having a 
 long series of devoted ministers, the names of a few of whom are 
 especially connected with Litchfield. Admirable biographies of 
 them are to be found in a scrap book of the Church compiled by 
 Miss Anna W. Richards, and preserved in the collections of the 
 Litchfield Historical Society. 
 
 Miss Richards' father, Rev. George Richards, was the pastor 
 of the church from 1860 to 1865, during the troubled days of the 
 Civil War. He assisted largely in moulding the loyal public 
 opinion of Litchfield, and stood steadfast and strong in maintain- 
 aiice of our endangered institutions. 
 
 Rev. Allan McLean, who was minister from 1875 to his death 
 in 1882, is remembered as a man of high literary gifts as well as 
 of a sympathetic and kindly nature. On October 1, 1876, he 
 delivered an address on the History of the Litchfield church, which 
 remains a valuable source of information about the early years 
 of the parish. 
 
 His successor, Rev. Charles Symington, was the pastor from 
 1883 to 1894. Like the Rev. Allan McLean, he died before he was 
 
196 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 forty five years of age, while in the full Adgor of his ministry, much 
 lamented by his parishioners and fellow-townspeople. 
 
 The Eev, John Hutchins, who succeeded him, was his brother- 
 in-law; he was a deep student and his researches had a wide range, 
 covering the fields of astronomy and natural history. His love of 
 flowers and birds, and his knowledge of them, was very extensive, 
 and his influence was especially helpful in stimulating additions to 
 the scientific collections now owned by the Historical Society. He 
 died on February 20, 1915. 
 
 The modern Gothic church now used by the Society was built 
 in 1873, and the Chapel in the same year. The prayer, at the dedi- 
 cation services, was ofi'ered by Kev. Laurens P. Hickok, who had 
 dedicated the previous church in 1829, forty four years before. 
 
 THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 
 
 The following account of the early days of the Episcopal Church 
 in Litchfield is from Kilbourne's History, pp. 177-182: 
 
 "In 1735, John Davies, of Kinton, Hertfordshire, England, pur- 
 chased a tract of land in the south-west comer of the township, 
 and not long after took up his abode in that wild and unfrequented 
 region. He was warmly attached to the doctrines and forms of 
 the Church of England, and was for some time the only Episcopalian 
 in Litchfield. The unpopularity of Mr. Collins, of the Congre- 
 gational Society, at length induced several of the leading members 
 of his congregation to withdraw themselves from his ministry and 
 to look elsewhere for religious instruction. On November 5, 1745, a 
 meeting was called at the house of Captain Jacob Griswold at 
 which the First Episcopal Society of Litchfield was organized. The 
 first service after the English ritual was performed in this town 
 by the Eev. Dr. Samuel Johnson, President of King's (now Columbia) 
 College in the city of New York. At an adjourned Town-meeting, held 
 February 16, 1747, it Avas voted, that 'those who declared themselves 
 members of the Church of England last year, shall be discharged 
 from paying two-thirds of the Kate that was made for them to pay 
 the last year'. This was one short step towards Toleration. In that 
 year John Davies deeded to the Episcopal Society in Litchfield a 
 tract of land situated about one mile west of the present Court 
 House, containing 52 acres. This deed was in the form of a lease, 
 for the term of 999 years, for the use of the 'Society for Propagating 
 the Gospel in Foreign Parts', for which there was to be paid 'one 
 pepper- corn annually, at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch- 
 angel, if lawfully demanded' The first church edifice of the 
 
 Parish was raised upon this tract, April 23, 1749. It was covered; 
 seats, pulpit, reading desk and chancel were made; and it was used 
 in this condition for about twenty years before it was finished. It 
 was named St. Michael's, ^yy request of Mr. Davies". This church 
 stood on the south side of the Bantam Koad, about a mile from the 
 center, at the top of the hill beyond the little Hatters' Brook. From 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 197 
 
 the notes published with the Centennial Sermon of the Kev. Isaac 
 Jones, November 5, 1845, it would appear that the original gift of 
 Mr. Davies included about fifty acres, that Daniel Landon gave a 
 second tract of fifty acres adjoining, and that Mr. Davies bought 
 two acres more, so as to give the Society access to the Brook. Kil- 
 bourne says the gift of Daniel Landon was 50 acres "lying west- 
 ward of the Great Pond, near a mountain called Little Mount Tom". 
 However this may be, when the church was given up for the one 
 built on South Street in 1810, all the outlying land of the church 
 was sold and the proceeds invested for the benefit of the Society. 
 
 "In 1749, John Davies, Jr., the only surviving son of the first 
 benefactor of the parish, came over from Hertfordshire, with a wife 
 and several young children, and settled near his father, south-west 
 of Mount Tom, at a place still known as Davies Hollow. As he 
 was a gentleman of good estate and an ardent churchman, his 
 arrival was regarded as an important accession to the Episcopal 
 Society. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Powell, was 
 verj'^ reluctant to leave her native land. That she should have 
 regarded her new home in the wilderness as cheerless and lonely, 
 compared with the scenes she had left, is not to be wondered at. In 
 writing home to her English friends, she is said to have described 
 herself as 'entirely alone, having no society, and nothing to asso- 
 ciate with but Presbyterians and Wolves'. The reader may be 
 interested in the fact, that though the wolves long since disappeared 
 from Davies Hollow, some of her own descendants are now num- 
 bered among the sect of Christians which she seems to have regarded 
 with such abhorrence. 
 
 "From the organization of the society in 1745, to 1754, they were 
 without a settled minister. The Kev. Drs. Mansfield, Johnson, 
 Cutler and Beach, occasionally officiated here; and in the absence 
 of a clergyman, prayers were sometimes read by Mssrs. Davies, 
 Landon and Cole. The first rector of St. Michael was the Kev. 
 Solomon Palmer, who had been pastor of the Congregational Church 
 in Cornwall from 1741 to 1754. In March of the preceding year, 
 to the great surprise and grief of his people, he on the Sabbath 
 publicly announced himself an Episcopalian in sentiment. He 
 soon after sailed for England, where he was ordained Deacon and 
 Priest; and returned to this country^ during the same year, 1754, 
 bearing a commission from the Venerable Society as missionary for 
 Litchfield, Cornwall and Great Barrington". 
 
 Owing to the disfavor with which the Church of England was 
 looked upon during the Kevolution, St. Michael's was closed for 
 three years, and re-opened in 1780. The Kev. James Nichols was 
 the rector at the time, and resumed his duties when the church was 
 re-opened. The Society from that time gradually increased in 
 numbers and in public favor. On the 26th of October, 1784, it 
 was incorporated by an Act of the General Assembly, and thereupon 
 it was duly organized according to law. 
 
198 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 The Kev. James Nichols was the last man who Avent from Con- 
 necticut to England to secure ordination, and his successor, Kev. 
 Ashbel Baldwin, a native of Litchfield, was the first man to be 
 ordained in the United States, upon the return of Bishop Seabury, 
 who had gone to Scotland to be consecrated. The ordination was 
 held at Middletown, August 3, 1785. 
 
 In 1796, a large number of Episcopalians residing in the west- 
 erly part of the town seceded and formed the Second Episcopal 
 Society. In 1803, the two Societies were amicably re-united, and 
 so continue at the present time. During this interval of disunion 
 the Second Society built itself a church opposite the Cemetery 
 in Bantam, which became known as the Old West Church and was 
 occupied for Avorship until 1843; when a new edifice was built a 
 short distance farther west. The new church was called St. Paul's. 
 
 The churches of St. Michael in Litchfield, St. Paul's in Bantam, 
 and Trinity in IVEilton, all form pa rt of the First Episcopal Society ; 
 while Trinity Church in Northfield belongs to a separate society. 
 
 In 1810 there was still no Episcopal Church within the present 
 limits of our Borough. This served to help in retarding the 
 growth of the congregation, and in that year it was decided to 
 give up the original church and to build on the site now in use. 
 This second St. Michael's cliurch was retained until 1851; when the 
 third church was built on the same site. A fourth church, in 
 stone, is in course of erection at the time of writing, 1920, a gift 
 to St. Michael's Parish from Henry E. Towne, in memory of his 
 wife, Mrs. Cora White Towne. 
 
 The history of the Litchfield parish during the nineteenth 
 century was uneventful. One of the rectors, Eev. H. N. Hudson, 
 who was in charge from 1858 to 1860, is remembered for his 
 Shakespeare studies, his edition of the Plays having remained the 
 standard American edition for many years. Part of his great 
 work was carried out while he was resident here. 
 
 On April 11, 1894, in a great storm, the steeple of the church 
 was blown over. It was not replaced. 
 
 No mention of St. Michael's parish would be adequate which did 
 not speak of the Eev. Storrs O. Seymour, who was the rector from 
 1879 to 1883, and again from 1893 to 1916, and Eector Emeritus until 
 his death in 1918. Dr. Seymour, was born in Litchfield in 1836, the 
 son of Judge Origen Storrs Seymour. He was educated at Andover, 
 and graduated from Yale in 1857, and from the Berkeley Divinity 
 School in 1861. During the years that he Avas absent from Litchfield 
 he was successively rector of parishes in Milford and Bethel, Conn., 
 Pawtucket, E. I., and NorAvich and Hartford, Conn. He was a member 
 of the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Connecticut from 1876 
 until his death, and Avas the chairman of the Committee since 1896. 
 He received the Honorary Degree of D. D. from Trinity College in 
 1897. He was also for many years a Trustee of Berkeley DiAdnity 
 
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 ''^^^^^^■m^^'^^^^^^S^^'^^^f^^'^^^^^'^*^*^^^*'^'**'''^^*^^ '^*'"" 
 
 The Third (Present) St. Michaei/s Episcopal Church, 1851 
 
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THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 199 
 
 School, The affection which Dr. Seymour inspired in everyone in 
 Litchfield, in his church and outside of it, is a recent and tender 
 memory. 
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 Of the beginnings of Methodism in Litchfield, Kilbourne tells 
 us the following, pp. 183-184: -'In June, 1790, the Rev. Freeborn 
 Garretson, one of the ablest and most earnest Apostles of Method- 
 ism in America, visited Litchfield on his way from the Hudson 
 river to Boston. He was at that time Superintendent of the North- 
 ern District, and, in his itinerant journeyings, was almost invariably 
 attended by his colored servant, Harry, who was himself a licensed 
 preacher of no mean distinction. They traveled together on horse- 
 back apparently vieing with each other in their zeal for the pro- 
 motion of the cause of their common Master. On Wednesday, June 
 23, (as we learn from Dr. Stevens' Memorials of Methodism), Mr. 
 Garretson "rode seven miles to Litchfield, and was surprised to 
 find the doors of the Episcopal church open, and a large congre- 
 gation waiting for him. He discoursed from the Avords: 'Enoch 
 walked with God', and believed good was done. He left Harry to 
 preach another sermon, and went on to the centre of the town; the 
 bell rang, and he preached to a few in the Presbyterian meeting- 
 house, and lodged with a kind churchman". On the same day, Mr. 
 Garretson wrote in his diary: "I preached in the skirts of the town, 
 
 where I was opposed by , who made a great disturbance. I 
 
 told him the enemy had sent him to pick up the good seed, turned 
 my back on him, and went my way, accompanied by brothers W. and 
 H. I found another waiting company, in another part of the town, 
 to Avhom I declared: 'Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish'. 
 In this town we have given the devil and the wicked much trouble; 
 we have a few good friends". On his return from Boston, Mr, 
 Garretson again preached in Litchfield, Friday, July 13, 1790". 
 
 The Eev. Geo. C. Boswell adds. Book of Days, p. 99: "It is 
 pleasant to remember that the Episcopal and Congregational 
 churches in Litchfield were open to the early itinerant. His 
 
 colaborers in other parts of the State did not generally fare so 
 well". 
 
 Kilbourne, continuing, says: "The Litchfield Circuit was organ- 
 ized during the spring of 1790, aiul embraced the north-western sec- 
 tion of Connecticut. . . . On July 21, 1791, the famous Bishop 
 Asbury preached in the Episcopal church in this toAvn. In refer- 
 ence to his visit here, he wrote: 'I think Morse's account of his 
 countrymen is near the truth; never haA^e I seen any people who 
 could talk so long, so correctly and so seriously about trifles. . . . ' 
 
 "In 1837, a handsome church edifice was erected by the Method- 
 ists, in Meadow Street, Avhich Avas dedicated on July 27 of that 
 year. The dedication sermon Avas preached by Professor Holdich, 
 of the Wesleyan University; and an appropriate discourse was 
 delivered by the Rev. Mr. Washburn. 
 
200 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 "The late Eev. Horace Agard and the Eev. Joseph L. Morse are, 
 so far as I can learn, the only natives of the town who have become 
 Methodist ministers". 
 
 In 1885 the present Methodist church on West Street was built 
 to accomodate the increasing congregation, and the old church was 
 converted into the Masonic Hall of St. Paul's Lodge, No. 11, F. and 
 A. M. 
 
 In addition to the church in the center, there have been three 
 other Methodist churches in the town, one at Milton and one near 
 Mount Tom, but the use of these two is at the present time dis- 
 continued. The third is the Methodist church in Bantam, an 
 account of which is given elsewhere. 
 
 THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 
 
 There is at the present moment no Baptist church in active 
 use within the township. The Clergj^ of Litchfield Gounty tells of 
 very early churches in ISTorthfield and in Footville, the westerly 
 part of South Farms; but both of these have disappeared long ago. 
 Their only successor still standing is the building of the Baptist 
 church in Bantam. The Baptist Society of Bantam Falls was 
 formed on January 18, 1853, with ten charter members. This 
 society was merged, January 4, 1891, into the Baptist Society of 
 Bantam, Conn., which continued to hold services until about 1903. 
 In 1908, a new and very unusual opportunity came to this church. 
 The opening of a saloon was contemplated opposite the factory of 
 the Bantam Anti-Friction Co., now the Ball Bearing Co. Relying 
 on the law that no saloon can be opened within a given distance of 
 a church, W. S. Rogers, with characteristic energy, offered to bring 
 the Baptist church up from its location near the falls to a position 
 on South Street, near the factory. On June 19, 1908, a committee 
 was appointed by the church to make arrangements with Mr. Rogers, 
 and soon after the little building began its march up the hill into 
 its new field of action. It was nearly two weeks upon the road, 
 and appropriately rested on the two Sundays of its journey in 
 turn opposite to the Methodist church, which had developed through 
 the separation of a group of members from the Baptist Society itself, 
 and then opposite to the Episcopal church of St. Paul. On its 
 new site and under a new environment, it renewed its activities, 
 with new members, new financial support and a new social order of 
 affairs. In May, 1909, Ray H. Legate was called to the pulpit, and 
 services were conducted under several pastors until 1915, when the 
 services were discontinued. During the European War, the build- 
 ing was turned over to the Bantam branch of the Litchfield Chapter, 
 American Red Cross, where yoeman service was performed by the 
 ladies of Bantam. 
 
 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 
 
 "The first Catholics to come within the confines of Litchfield 
 were three Acadians, the victims of English oppression. Sybil Shear- 
 
fl, 
 

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 ^ 
 
 Ph 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 201 
 
 away, one of them, married Thomas Harrison in 1764 and their 
 descendants are still residents of Litchfield". (Kev. J. H. O'Don- 
 nell, History of the Diocese of Hartford, 1900, p. 293). 
 
 "It is not until January 1759", (Kilbourne, p. 77), "that our 
 town records make any allusion to these people. At this date it 
 was 'voted that the Selectmen may provide a house or some suit- 
 able place in the town, for the maintenance of the French'. In the 
 County Treasurer's book, also, occurs the following entry, 'To paid 
 John Newbree for keeping William Dunlap and the French persons, 
 54s. 6d. which the County allowed, and R. Sherman, Justice of the 
 Quorum, drew an order dated April 25, 1760, as per order on file* ". 
 
 "From this time on we find no trace of Catholicity in Litchfield 
 until the period when Irish emigration was at its height. Irish 
 people settled here in the rural districts and devoted themselves to 
 the pursuits of agricultural life. ... 
 
 "The first priest to visit Litchfield was the Rev. John Smith, of 
 Albany, who made a missionary tour through this section of the 
 State in 1848 on horseback, seeking out and ministering to the 
 Catholics whom he might find hera On one of these tours he 
 tarried at Litchfield and said Mass, but where, has passed from 
 remembrance. Bishop O'Reilly visited Litchfield on February 
 25, 1851, as his journal informs us. ... 
 
 "The second Mass was said in the house occupied at the time 
 by John Ryan, on the west side of North Lake Street. This historic 
 Mass was said by Rev. Philip Gillick in 1853, in the presence of 
 twenty persons. At this time, or at least in the same year, was 
 solemnized the first Catholic marriage in Litchfield, Father Gillick 
 officiating". (Diocese of Hartford, p. 293). 
 
 A convert to the Catholic faith, born in Litchfield, Miss Julia 
 Beers, purchased a small building, in 1858, which now forms part 
 of the pastoral residence. The present dining room of the house, 
 she arranged with altar and seats, and here Mass was said at fre- 
 quent intervals until 1861, when increasing numbers made removal 
 to the Court House necessary. In 1868, the first church was com- 
 pleted. During these years and until 1882 the pastors of Winsted 
 served the people of Litchfield. On September 8, 1882, Litchfield 
 was made an independent Parish, with the Rev. M. Byrne the first 
 resident pastor. During the administration of Rev. Timothy M. 
 Sweeney, the present Church was built, at a cost of $23,000. 
 
 As auxiliaries to the pastors of St. Anthony's parish, Miss Beers 
 and another convert. Miss Emma Deming, labored zealously to pro- 
 mote the welfare of the Church and its congregation. Miss Beers, 
 in the last years of her life, lived in Rome, where she is buried. 
 
 CEMETERIES. 
 
 The work of Charles T. Payne, Litchfield and Morris Inscrip- 
 tions, 1905, was published at the suggestion and with the support 
 of Dwight C. Kilbourn. It gives a complete and admirable state- 
 
202 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 ment of all the Cemeteries and private Burying Grounds in the 
 original limits of the township, together with transcripts of all the 
 inscriptions down to 1900, which were legible when the collection 
 was made. Particulars regarding the several Cemeteries in South 
 Farms, Northfield, Milton, and Bantam are given elsewhere from 
 this same source. We will quote here the notes of Mr. Payne on 
 our West and East Cemeteries, pp. 8, 54. 
 
 "The West Burying Ground is the earliest of the Burial places 
 in Litchfield, and its establishment was nearly contemporaneous 
 with the founding of the Town. The first notice of it appears in 
 Vol. I of the Land Kecords, as follows: 
 
 " 'An acompt of the High Ways in Litchfield in 1723 . . . the 
 2d high way Eumiing East and West between Samuel Smedly his 
 home Lott and the WidoAv alien's home Lott of twenty eight Bods 
 in bredth Sixty Bods West and then is twelue Bods Wide down to 
 the swamp and then is laid out but six rods Wide thorou the swamp 
 Which highway runs on the West side of the letle plain buting 
 north upon Land Laid out to John Gay to make up the fifteen acres 
 for his home Lott and so continuel a West Line until it comes to 
 the SAvanij) or flooded Lands and all the Land upon the letele playn 
 South of said highway to the swamp or flooded land Avhich is not 
 yet Laid out is Eesarued and Laid out for a burying place. Which 
 highway at the West End of the litle plain or burying place runs six 
 Bods Wide throro the swamp and across the hill called buck's Neak 
 With the same corce and bredth until it comes to the pine plain 
 Which high Way is Called by name of Middiel Street'. 
 
 "Here were interred nearly all of the pioneers of Litchfield and 
 the yard remained the principal burying ground of the Town until 
 the Bevolution. 
 
 "Early in the Nineteenth Century a large tract was added on 
 the Western side". The Eoman Catholic Cemetery adjoins this 
 upon the West. 
 
 "The East Burying Ground has become the largest of the ceme- 
 teries in the township, although it was the third one to be estab- 
 lished, and was at first, as is noted below, a part of the highway 
 set apart for the purpose. It lies half a mile east of the court-house. 
 The followi}ig record in the first town book is of interest: 
 
 "'September 26, 1754 ...At the same Meeting Messrs. Samuel 
 Culver Joshua Gari'itt & Edward Phelps were chosen committee to 
 lay out a Burying Place in the East Side of the Town where & how 
 much they shall think proper'. 
 
 "The laying out of this ground is recorded in the land records 
 under date pf January 12, 1755. . . . 
 
 "In 1837 the yard was enlarged upon its Avestem side by an 
 addition of sixteen rods. The next year further extension was made 
 on the northern side, and the town voted a part of the highway for 
 the same purpose. The stone wall in front of the ground on East 
 Street was built about 1850 by subscription. 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 203 
 
 "Within fifteen years a corporation known as the Litchfield 
 Cemetery Association has purchased a tract of land between the 
 ancient yard and Torrin^on Eoad and has laid it out with much 
 care. Many fine monuments have been erected upon the new 
 ground. 
 
 "In the southeast corner of the old burying yard lie a great 
 number of Kevolutionary soldiers who died during the war, and 
 were buried here without any distinguishing marks". 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE OLD ORDER CHANGES. 
 
 Frederick Wolcott died at Litchfield on Sunday morning, May 
 28, 1837. The funeral Sermon was preached by the pastor of the 
 Congregational Church, Rev. Jonathan Brace, who said in closing: 
 " ... He is gone, and he is the last of his order. Reeve has been 
 carried out before him. ..." 
 
 And in the Personal Memories of E. D. Mansfield, p. 125, after 
 reading of the Wolcotts, Tallmadges, Seymours, Buels, Tracy, and 
 others, we come on this passage: "All this is gone, and nothing can 
 illustrate the evanescent state of our society more than the changes 
 which it has undergone in many of the old places in the old states. 
 However excellent or able may be the people who live in Litch- 
 field now, there is no such social gloiy, no such marked superiority 
 there, as that which distinguished the noted people of Litchfield in 
 the generation just passing away, when I came upon the stage. 
 The change in people, manners, and conditions is quite as great 
 as the change in the dress of gentlemen. When I was a law 
 student, 1823, a few old gentlemen still retained the dress of the 
 Revolution. It was a powdered queue, white-topped boots, silk 
 stockings, and breeches with buckles. I can remember to have seen 
 David Daggett, chief justice, and a half dozen others, walking in 
 the streets with this dignified dress. It is in vain to say that the 
 present dress is at all equal to it, in what ought to be one of the 
 objects of good dress, to give an idea of dignity and respect. The 
 man who is now inside of a plain black dress, with unpretending 
 boots, may be as good a man, as able a man, as he in white-topped 
 boots and breeches, but he is not respected as much, for he no 
 longer assumes as much. He has become only one of a multitude 
 instead of being one above a multitude". 
 
 Certainly great changes have come upon Litchfield; we have 
 only to compare the wilderness of 1720, with a few settlers dwelling 
 in their log huts, without flour to bake bread, without even an 
 apple or adequate seeds to raise vegetables; with the social, educa- 
 tional, commercial center of 1820, when the chief magistrate of 
 the State lived in Litchfield, and the teachings of Lyman Beecher 
 were to be heard twice every Sunday. Or again we have only to com- 
 pare this Litchfield of 1820 with the summer resort of 1920, when 
 we no longer give out an influence important far beyond the County, 
 but instead receive and welcome those from outside our borders, and 
 give them a measure of recreation and health, to do which we seem 
 particularly adapted. 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 205 
 
 Such changes as these are very hard for us to realize. Barely 
 two lifetimes, as lifetimes are counted in Litchfield, have passed in 
 the course of these changes. Keuben Dickinson, a resident of Mil- 
 ton, was born in Massachusetts in the year 1716, four years before 
 the settlement of Litchfield; he died in Milton on November 5, 1818, 
 at the age of 102 years. His great-grand-nephew, Edwin Perry 
 Dickinson was born in Milton on January 4, 1821, and is now living 
 there, in good health, in his one-hundredth year. 
 
 As we look back, it is not possible to say, this period ends here, 
 or that period begins there. But we make such generalizations, 
 knowing them to be inaccurate, so as to have some measure, even if 
 the measure be inexact, of the transitions our town has passed 
 through. As a matter of fact, the transition is constant. Our 
 town has never stood still. Each year definite links with the past 
 are broken, and new links with the future are being made. We 
 do not know what the future is to be, so we do not recognize the 
 importance of the new links; and we never have the true perspective 
 of the immediate past, so we do not notice the parting links. It 
 is only at the death of a man, whose life has been noteworthy, as 
 was that of Frederick Wolcott, or after a radical change, such as 
 Mansfield noted, has become a completed fact, that we speak of the 
 old order changing. That is the shortcoming of history, and if we 
 speak of the year 1840 marking an important point in the story of 
 our town, Ave do so only because it is the end of a decade, and a 
 time somewhere near which certain influences, already long sinci 
 waning, seem to have entirely ceased, and others, already apparent, 
 first become dominating. 
 
 Of the passing influences, one w^as that of the men who had 
 been young and active in the days of the Kevolution, men built in a 
 large mould, as it seems to us, or rather developed to a great pitch 
 of efficiency and piiblic responsibility by the necessities of their 
 young manhood. On June 1, 1833, Oliver Wolcott Jr. died; on 
 March 7, 1835, Benjamin Tallmadge died; on May 28, 1837, Fred- 
 erick Wolcott died; on January 23, 1838, Julius Deming died; on 
 May 11, 1838, James Gould died. The old institutions of Litch- 
 field also changed in this period: the Law School w^as closed in 
 1833; on October 31 of the same year, Miss Gimbred became the 
 principal of the Litchfield Academy in the stead of Miss Sarah 
 Pierce. Tapping Eeeve, Moses Seymour, Uriah Tracy had died at 
 dates much earlier. Lyman Beecher had been called to a larger 
 field in Boston in 1826. 
 
 But the change was not alone in the passing of a few men. 
 The whole population of Litchfield was involved. As we have not 
 yet referred to the numerical population of the township, a few 
 figures may be in order here. 
 
 In 1756, the inhabitants of Litchfield township, including South 
 Farms, numbered 1,366. The population of the state was 130,012. 
 
2o6 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 Litchfield was tlie 35tli town in i)opulation in tlie state, and included 
 about 1 per cent, of the total number of inhabitants. 
 
 The growth was rapid. In 1774, we had 2,544 inhabitants; 
 in 1782, 3,077; in 1800, 4,285. Litchfield was then the 10th town in 
 the state. In 1810, the population was 4,639; about 2 per cent of 
 the total for the state; and the town was the fourth in point of 
 population in the whole state. Only New Haven, Hartford and 
 Middletown were larger; but the remarkable thing is that New 
 Haven, the largest of all, was only half as large again as Litch- 
 field, its population being 6,967. 
 
 Then came the turn in the tide. In 1820, the population had 
 declined just a little to 4,610; but we had lost fourth place to 
 Groton. In 1830, Norwich and Saybrook passed us, and we were 
 seventh, with 4,456. In 1840, Bridgeport, Danbury and New Lon- 
 don passed us, leaving us the 10th town, with 4,038. In 1850, the 
 decline had reached 3,953. In 1860, owing to the separation of 
 South Farms, we fell to the 39th place in the state, with only 3,200 
 inhabitants. Since then the population has not greatly changed, 
 though it reached the lowest figure of all at the last census: 1870, 
 pop. 3,113; 1880', pop. 3,410; 1890, pop. 3,304; 1900, pop. 3,214; 1910, 
 pop. 3,005. At this last date we had fallen to the 64th township 
 in the state, with only one-quarter percent, out of a total popula- 
 tion for the state of 1,114,756. In other words, in just a century, 
 we have fallen from fourth to 64th place, and our population rela- 
 tive to that of the state has fallen from two per cent, to one-quarter 
 per cent. It should be added that there are in the state 168 town- 
 ships altogether. 
 
 It is possible that the low water mark of 1910 will be found 
 later to be the change in the tide. If so, it will be due solely to the 
 growth of Bantam as a manufacturing center. 
 
 There is another great change to be noticed about our popula- 
 tion. If we contrast the quaint statement of Morris, p. 95, "Only 
 two European families have settled in Litchfield; they came from 
 Ireland, and were respectable", with the constantly increasing for- 
 eign element at present, we shall get a real idea of the difference 
 in the population. It is impossible to give any figures in this con- 
 nection, because so many of our citizens of foreign birth have 
 become Americanized, that no one can say who the foreigners now 
 are. This is the happy solution of the immigration question, but 
 it does not alter the fact that the people of the town are now in 
 great part of other races than they were in 1820. 
 
 There is another change to be considered, at about this time, 
 which may seem a singular one to the reader; and that is the 
 importance of the weather. The weather of course has not changed, 
 but the way we consider it has. Our winters are proverbially 
 severe. Philip P. Hubbard, whose house is located at the foot of 
 East Hill, near the river, where low temperatures are produced by 
 the atmospheric conditions, sometimes two or three degrees lower 
 
m 
 
 
 . V ■ -a».. •■:«s4i , ^.4 .jsfc 
 

 Uh 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 207 
 
 than on tlie Hill, has observed a mean low temperature of about 
 fifteen degrees below zero for a considerable period of years; while 
 the extreme in severe winters has been 27 below. The severity 
 of the climate is not due to these intensely cold spells, because they 
 usually occur with crisp, suimy weather, and an absence of wind. 
 The most severe weather occurs when the temperature is slightly 
 above the minimum, but when high gales are raging, not infre- 
 quently attaining 80 miles an hour, and sometimes even more. The 
 exposed condition of the Hill affords little shelter from such gales, 
 and when they are accompanied by drifting snow, or the destructive 
 ravages of an ice storm, (see Plate 64), the experience is one to be 
 remembered. 
 
 One of the earliest great storms we read about was that on 
 Thanksgiving Day, 1779, when young John Cotton Smith, Governor 
 of the State in 1814, was a visitor with his father at Tapping 
 Eeeve's house on his way from Sharon to New Haven, (Smith, 
 Colonial Days and Ways, 1900, pp. 301-307) : "We found the roads 
 badly drifted long before we reached what is now Ellsworth. At 
 that point we had to leave our sleigh, while we pursued our journey 
 on horseback. In those days no one travelled in any sort of a 
 vehicle without taking along saddles for use in emergency It 
 was dark before we reached Litchfield and the snow-laden wind 
 was piercingly cold. . . . During the night the storm increased in 
 violence and in the morning it was impossible to see many feet from 
 the door on account of the whirling masses of a snow so hard, dry 
 and powdery that it cut into the face like fine iron filings. ... In 
 traversing the short distance from the house to the barn to attend 
 to the wants of our animals, over a path hardly more than twenty 
 yards long and partly sheltered by the wood-shed, we were almost 
 blinded and bewildered. . . . On Wednesday the sun rose bright and 
 clear over a dazzling desert of snow. The lower windows of most 
 of the houses were hidden beneath great piles of drift. In some 
 cases even the second story windows were hidden, or only visible 
 through openings in the drift like the hooded bastions of some icy 
 fort. . . . Fences and shrubs were obliterated. Trees, some looking 
 like mountains of snow and some like naked and broken skeletons, 
 arose here and there. And in the village only rising wreaths of 
 smoke told that life existed in the half buried houses. The Meeting 
 House spire was on one side decked by the icy snow with fantastic 
 semblances of marble statuary over which the new long, black light- 
 ning rod had been twisted by the wind until it looked like a Chinese 
 character. . . . By nine o'clock we climbed out of an upper story 
 window upon the hard crust of frozen snow and started off with 
 no other burden than the light, but cumbersome snow shoes attached 
 to our feet, and a small roll fastened to each of our backs". 
 
 A still earlier storm is told about, without the date, during 
 which Timothy Collins' wife, who became a physician like her 
 husband, when the latter left the church, was called to Goshen. 
 
208 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 No other means of conveyance being possible, she was drawn all 
 the way thither on a hand sled by two men, relatives of the patient. 
 No effort was made to keep the roads open, even in the Center. As 
 late as the Kevolution, occurs this vote, at a Town Meeting April 
 10, 1780: "The question being proposed whether the Selectmen 
 shall allow pay for making SnoAv Paths or Highway in the Winter? 
 Voted in the Negative". 
 
 Our storms often begin early in the winter and are met again 
 late in the spring. Noah Webster, in his Diary, p. 561, speaks of 
 a considerable fall of snow. May 8, 1803, adding, "In Litchfield the 
 ice was half an inch thick; but the trees not foi*ward enough to 
 suffer any injury". 
 
 On March 22, 1837, there began a two days' ice storm which is 
 said to have done damage in the town to timber and orchards to 
 the extent of $100,000. During the winter of 1872-1873, Wil- 
 
 liam Norton came to church on runners for twenty consecutive 
 Sundays, a good record for the snow and for Mr. Norton too. 
 (Book of Days, p. 57). The most destructive ice-storm was on 
 February 19-20, 1898, when every tree in the town is said to have 
 suffered. Many were snapped off ten or fifteen feet from the 
 ground. Millions of icicles hung from the electric wires, which 
 sagged in great loops and finally broke. The very blades of grass 
 stood up stalagmites of ice. (Book of Days, p. 37). A year later, 
 another great storm swept over the country, Februarj^ 13, 1899: 
 "After a week of bitterly cold Aveather, when the mercury at its 
 highest was only a few degrees above zero, and at its lowest threat- 
 ened to disappe-^o" altogether, the blinding snow of a great storm 
 filled the air. Drifts ten feet high were common enough; in some 
 cases, the snow reached to second-story windows. From Monday 
 noon till Wednesday night, Litchfield was under the snow block- 
 ade". (Book of Days, p. 33). 
 
 The winters of Litchfield are not all like this. The great 
 storms are the exception. Many weeks are clear, bright, with a 
 crisp snoAv that invites one out, or with the wonderful black ice on 
 the Great Pond, which makes such memorable skating for the 
 enthusiasts. Our rollicking diarist, George Younglove Cutler, gives 
 a delightful account of a real winter night out-of-doors, (Vander- 
 poel, pp. 204-205) : "November 28, 1820. Went to Waterbury & 
 tomorrow morning before daylight, shall be obliged to be off in the 
 cold — thro' the snow on horseback to Litchfield — all for this vex- 
 atious law — cursed be the day when I first turned my face towards 
 the fields of litigation. 
 
 "November 29. It was no killing thing either. Much worse 
 would it be to hang. For the moon was bright, the snow full of 
 reflection, I full of breakfast, & Nate full of fire. While the cocks 
 of the country crowed about us for musick & the stars shot this 
 way and that about the heavens, as if making a display of fire- 
 works for our amusement. All was silent. As we rose the hills 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 209 
 
 & look back upon the far distance which ran down the valley 
 to the south east, the two extremes of the splendor of the united 
 powers of snow and moonbeams & the contrasted darkness of the 
 deep ravines into which light would not penetrate, filled the whole 
 view"'. 
 
 To return, now, to the argument that the winters of Litchfield 
 have assiuned an importance different from that they played a 
 century ago, we should note that people are no longer content to 
 travel considerable distances on horseback, or on snowshoes, or to 
 be pulled for miles on hand-sleds. If our motors cannot go through 
 we are greatly distressed. Even in the day of carriages and sleighs, 
 the winters' drifts of Litchfield were dreaded. Gradually the win- 
 ters have contributed more than would at first seem credible to the 
 change of life in many of our residents. The call to the cities 
 has been, in a small measure at least, accelerated, by the desire to 
 avoid the cold and the discomfort. The same is apparent in our 
 summer residents, who, even if they be persons of complete leisure 
 and robust health, would rarely think of spending a winter here. 
 Notice the closed houses of North Street and South Street on a 
 morning of mid-winter. By actual count, more than half are 
 closed, the larger percentage being on North Street. On Prospect 
 Street, every house will be found desolate. The same holds in the 
 outlying districts, where the large and small countryplaces are 
 growing up, as distinguished from the old farms. 
 
 But the great call to the cities was due to the growth of manu- 
 facturing towns in the State. It is strange to-day to think of 
 Litchfield, not being passed by Bridgeport and Danbury until 1840. 
 But once passed, what a rush there has been! How the little 
 manufactures have left our hill towns and clustered in the valleys! 
 
 In still another respect, and one certainly not anticipated at 
 the time, Litchfield was destined to drop behind. This was as a 
 center of traffic. When the rail-roads came, they were hailed as a 
 great innovation, a great developer of traffic and of trada But 
 the railroads have left Litchfield high and dry, as they have many 
 another hill town. We lost in a few years all the through stage 
 traffic between Boston and Hartford and New York, between New 
 Haven and Albany; and all that came in its stead was the long 
 ride to New Milford, or later to East Litchfield, or later still the 
 restless tossing of the Shepaug, with its solitary passengers, fast 
 asleep, when the good old engine pulls its way at length into the 
 terminus at the foot of Litchfield Hill. 
 
 On February 11, 1840, the very year we have taken to mark 
 the changed conditions, the Housatonic Kailroad was opened as 
 far as New Milford. With the building of this road, the New 
 York and Albany stage, which used to roll through our streets at 
 unearthly hours in the morning, is heard no more. (Book of Days, 
 p. 33). In 1849, the first passenger train to Winsted over the 
 Naugatuck Kailroad went through on September 22. Our own 
 
210 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 Sliepaug Valley Kailroad was not opened until January 1, 1872. 
 This was constructed largely as a result of the energetic public 
 spirit of EdAvin McNeill. He had been a successful railroad builder 
 elsewhere and returned to his former home in Litchfield in 1863. 
 He first tried to have a road put through from Waterbury to the 
 north, not far from the center, by the Boston and Erie Eailroad. 
 He saw clearly that what Litchfield needed was a through road, 
 which would connect it with various parts by a service of adequate 
 speed. He was unsuccessful in this, and finally determined to get 
 a branch road from Bethel and Hawleyville to Litchfield. The 
 story of the construction of the road is an unfortunate one through- 
 out. A great deal of money was suidi in the line, and the traffic, 
 being purely local, has never resulted in any success of operation. 
 It has been a great convenience to Litchfield and to all the towns 
 along the line; but it has never developed the trade or the extensive 
 passenger traffic which a through line would have done. To-day 
 it is much shorter to go to many points of the state by motor, 
 for instance to Hartford, than by train. Many men in Litchfield 
 supported Mr. McNeill, with money and influence; all cannot be 
 named, but J. Deming Perkins and Henry E. Coit should be men- 
 tioned. 
 
 As these changes gradually came about, it is interesting to con- 
 sider Avhat new characteristics were developed. One of these is 
 especially important, the growth of a historical spirit. Up to 1840, 
 very little attention was paid to the historj' of the town. The 
 only actual pamphlet on the subject was the often quoted Statistical 
 Account of James Morris, and this, if we want to be very exact, was 
 written in Soutli Farms. In Litchfield, the life was so busy and 
 so much Avas being accomplished by the citizens, many of them away 
 for considerable periods, that the retrospective, or shall we call it 
 the contemplative, spirit had little opportunity. There were some 
 diaries kept, of course, and the toAAOi records, but very little his- 
 torical material Avas accumulated. Then Ave find an extensive and 
 sudden outburst of the historical spirit. 
 
 This AA^as led by George C. Woodruff and Payne Kenyon Kil- 
 bourne, both of Avhoni appear to haA-^e begun their researches into 
 the history of the toAvn about 1840. Kilbourne's early interest 
 began through researches into the Revolutionary history; while 
 Woodruff's AA^as at first largely concerned with local genealogy; but 
 both soon extended their interest to cover the Avhole field of Litch- 
 field history. 
 
 George C. Woodruff Avas the son of Morris Woodruff and Can- 
 dace Catlin, he Avas born December 1, 1805 and died November 21, 
 18S5. Of him Charles B. AndrcAvs said: "Erect in figure, and 
 singularly robust; ahvays of the firmest health; ahvays at AA^ork 
 and never seemingly fatigued; nothing in nature so typified him 
 as an oak Avhich has Avithstood eveiy vicissitude of storm for a 
 century of time". (Address before the Litchfield Bar). He served 
 
Hon. George C. WoooRUFr 
 
I ■< 
 
 u 
 
 u 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 211 
 
 lor several terms in the Legislature and represented this district 
 in the 37th Congress in Washington. He did a great deal for the 
 town through his constant public spirit; but he will be remembered 
 perhaps chiefly on account of his extensive historical studies. 
 Through these he affected everything that can at any future time 
 be written about the toAvn. He was astonishingly accurate in his 
 researches, and the statements he has made, even in a minor way 
 do not have to be verified, as do nearly all historical statements, 
 even those of Kilbourne. 
 
 l*ayne Kenyon Kilbourne was ten years younger, having been 
 born in 1815. From 1845 to 1853 he was editor of the Enquirer, 
 and in 1859 he set up in type his own history. His historical inter- 
 est was developed at an unusually early age. He had a very agree- 
 able literary style, but he appears sometimes to have been hasty 
 in his researches. The two men supplemented one another in an 
 unusual degree, and between them covered the ground of Litch- 
 field history, at least down to 1800, so thoroughly that little has 
 been left for later investigation. Kilbourne liked the news value 
 of his researches. He never misses an anecdote, and there are 
 passages in his History which are not very relevant to Litchfield, 
 but which make very good reading. He took his dates where he 
 found them, without caring seriously if a minor slip did follow. 
 George C. Woodruff, on the other hand, never passed a fact, which 
 the best evidence obtainable did not corroborate. No trouble was 
 too great if it led to increased accuracy. 
 
 Woodruff's History dates from 1845. The same year he com 
 piled his manuscript Genealogical Eegister of the Inhabitants of 
 Litchfield, from 1720 to 1800. Twenty years later, he went over 
 the whole ground again, to check up his results. 
 
 It is hard for us, wiio have been brought to an interest in local 
 history, to realize what the publication of Woodruff's book meant. 
 It directed the thoughts of a large number of people to their own 
 town, with a tide of results of which the present Bi-Centennial is only 
 a minor phase. Before this time there had been no Centennials. 1820 
 came and went \Aathout a word about the founding of the town. Yet 
 within a year of 1845, fruits were already appearing, in the Marsh- 
 Buel picnic. The families of tAvo of the leading founders of the Town, 
 John Marsh and John Buel, were A^ery numerous. As to the Buels 
 it is enough to quote from the tomb- stone in the West Cemetery, 
 on the grave of Mrs. John Buel: "She died Nov. 4, 1768, aged 90; 
 having had 13 children, 101 grand-children, 247 great-grand- children, 
 and 49 great-great-grand children; total 410. 336 survived her". 
 
 A story is told of the number and prominence of these two fami- 
 lies in connection with the old grist-mill at the foot of East Hill. 
 The miller used to call any stranger who same to the Mill, Mr. 
 Marsh; if surprise was manifested he would correct himself and 
 say Biiel, and seldom made a mistake. 
 
212 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 The reunion of the two families was held at the grove on the 
 north east end of Bantam Lake, on September 3, 1846. A chart, 
 showing the complete genealogies of the two families was prepared 
 by George C. Woodruff, and a Historical address was read by Origen 
 Storrs Seymour. The account of the day is given in the Litchfield 
 Republican, September 10, 1846, while interesting reminiscences of 
 it were given in the Enquirer for November 1, 1906, by the Eev. 
 Storrs O. Seymour, D.D. A register of those present on the day was 
 kept by Mr, Woodruff, which shows 581 names of descendants, and 
 doubtless some others had to leave without being registered. 
 
 Of the Buel family, Capt. Salmon Buel may be mentioned hei*e, 
 as he lived to be over 100 years old. He celebrated his hundredth 
 birthday on Sunday, June 9, 1867, by attending service at the Con- 
 gregational Church, the large congregation rising as he entered, 
 then uniting in singing the doxology to Old Hundred, after which 
 was read the ninety-first Psalm. 
 
 In 1845, was held also the Centennial of St. Michael's Church, 
 a historical Sermon being preached by Rev. Isaac Jones. This was 
 printed in pamphlet form, with considerable other historical 
 material relating to the early years of the church. 
 
 Payne Kenyon Kilbourne published his first historical work in 
 1851, a volume of Litchfield Biographies. These are concerned with 
 the whole County, and only in part with our town; but they show 
 his pleasant style and foreshadow his great work, the History 
 of 1859. 
 
 In 1851, too, was held the County Centennial, which occu- 
 pied two days, August 13 and 14. A volume of 212 pages 
 was published after the celebration, which includes the speeches 
 and a full account of the ceremonies. The most aiithoritative of 
 the addresses was the Historical review of the century by Chief 
 Justice Samuel Church, LL.D. He was a native of Salisbury, but 
 became a resident of Litchfield in 1845 and remained here till his 
 death in the autumn of 1854. His address was a valuable addition 
 to the grooving historical material of the neighborhood, especially 
 as to the legal lights of the County. 
 
 Each of these events stimulated others; the next one being the 
 Centennial of the North and South Consociations of the Congre- 
 gational Church, which was held on July 7 and 8, 1852. Here again 
 there was a historical address, delivered by the Rev. David L. 
 Parmalee, pastor of Litchfield South Farms. 
 
 Four years later, in 1856, the movement culminated in the forma- 
 tion of the Litchfield County Historical and Antiquarian Society, 
 which after a while became dormant and then in 1893 was revived 
 and re-organized as our present Litchfield Historical Society. At 
 the meeting of organization held in the Court House on April 9, 
 1856, the Introductory Address was delivered by Gideon H. Hollister, 
 who was then living in Litchfield and had just published his valuable 
 History of Connecticut. The first board of officers included Seth 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 213 
 
 P. Beers, President; George C. Woodruff, First Vice President; and 
 Payne Kenyon Kilbourne, Secretary. 
 
 Seth P. Beers was a native of Woodbury, where he was bom 
 July 1, 1781. He was a graduate of the Law SchooL He held 
 many public positions, including that of State's Attorney, and he 
 served in four sessions of the State Legislature, of which he was 
 consecutively Clerk and Speaker. His great service to the State, 
 however, was as Commissioner of the School Fund, from 1824 to 
 1849. The School Fund was made up from the sale of the Western 
 Keserve lands in Ohio, which then belonged to the State of Con- 
 necticut. Mr. Beers visited these lands, making the journey mainly 
 by canal. He was a most successful administrator of these funds, 
 which in his hands were increased from the original amount pro- 
 duced by the sale of the lands in 1793-95 of $1,200,000. to $2,049,- 
 482.32. He also increased the revenue of the fund from $72,000. to 
 $133,000. in round numbers. 
 
 "He was a self-made man and, mindful of his own early strug- 
 gles, aided and encouraged many young men here and elsewhere to 
 a successful career. Professor Henry A. Beers of Yale is his 
 grandson". (Book of Days, p. 111). Mr. Beers had the interests 
 of Litchfield always at heart, and at his death left a legacy to the 
 Episcopal Churches of Litchfield, Bantam and Milton of $35,000. 
 
 The publication of Kilbourne's History in 1859 marks the climax 
 of this Historical period. It summarized all that had gone before, 
 and gave final form to what then seemed the completed story of 
 Litchfield. After the writing of this book, there was nothing left 
 for others to do but to quote from it. The gathering clouds of 
 Civil dissension also led men's thoughts away from new researches. 
 A great amount has been published in the last sixty years about 
 Litchfield, but it is surprising how much goes back direct to Kil- 
 bourne. Since the formation of the new Historical Society in 
 1893, however, a new direction has been given to local research, 
 and the many able papers read before the Society from time to 
 time have testified how fruitful the field still is. 
 
 After 1859 and before the War, there was celebrated one more 
 anniversary in Litchfield, the Semi-Centennial of the Litchfield 
 County Foreign Mission Society, 1861. In the years between the 
 end of the War and the formation of the Historical Society, the 
 chief event of this character was the celebration, on July 4, 1876, of 
 the Centennial of American Independence, on which occasion George 
 C. Woodruff delivered an admirable review of the period, concerned 
 chiefly with the share our town had taken in the Revolution. It 
 was very appropriate that Mr. Woodruff should end, as he had 
 begun, this first period of the historical study of the town. The 
 second period includes all the work of the members of the Historical 
 Society, and is still far from complete. It embraces also valuable 
 work done by members of other organizations, notably the Mary 
 Floyd Tallmadge Chapter, D. A. R., and the Litchfield Scientific 
 
214 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 Association, which in 1919 was merged with the Historical Society. 
 
 In speaking of this period of Litchfield, the name of Origen 
 Storrs Seymour is constantly in the mind. He did not take an 
 active part in the historical movement, which we have chosen as 
 the key-note of the time, beyond delivering the Historical address 
 at the Marsh and Buel picnic of 1846, but his interest in such 
 matters was always keen. He was born in Litchfield, February 
 9, 1804, was graduated at the Law School, was Speaker of the House 
 of Eepresentatives at Hartford, was a member of the 32nd and 33rd 
 Congresses in Washington, and was Judge of the Superior Court 
 of the State for eight years, beginning in 1855. In 1870, he was 
 chosen Associate Judge of the Supreme Court of Errors, and in 
 1873 he was chosen Chief Justice, which position he held till he 
 reached the constitutional limit of age. After 1874, he served on 
 many judicial and legislative Committees, the most important of 
 which were the Commission to adjust the boundary line between 
 this state and New York, and the Commission to simplify the 
 methods of civil procedure in the state. The last public office which 
 he held was a seat in the State Legislature, in 1881, the year of his 
 death, being virtually unanimously elected thereto by his fellow 
 townsmen. He died on August 12, 1881. He was married to 
 Lucy M. Woodruff, daughter of Gen. Morris Woodruff, in 1830. 
 
 Judge Seymour came to the bar at a time when it was strongly 
 represented throughout the County. The lawyers here at that 
 time were Phineas Miner, Seth P. Beers, Asa Bacon, Jabez W. 
 Huntington, Truman Smith, and David C. Sanford. 
 
 There remains a final aspect to be considered in our study of 
 the changes which passed over Litchfield about the middle of the 
 last century. This was the Mining craze. It seems to us to-day 
 as though hardly any place could be found offering less opportunity 
 for mining than Litchfield, and yet all sorts of undertakings were 
 launched here. It looks almost as though, the legitimate means 
 of commercial enterprise having in great part failed with the 
 centralizing of the manufacturing establishments in the valleys, 
 the methods of quackery were resorted to in the hope of drawing 
 some commercial profits from the town. It is fortunate that 
 most of these schemes were undertaken by outsiders. It was at 
 any rate appropriate that one of these strange speculations should 
 have been launched by the great American circus man, P. T. Bar- 
 num. He purchased a farm in the Pitch about 1848, together 
 with many mining rights, and began to dig for copper. Two shafts 
 were sunk, besides $10,000., or so Barnum claimed, when the opera- 
 tions failed, and the creditors took over the property. In 1902, 
 Thomas A. Edison sent two mining experts to look at the site, but 
 they were wiser than Barnum and did not recommend operations 
 here. 
 
 John T. Hubbard, who has made a full study of the various 
 mines and mining ventures in Litchfield, in a lecture before the 
 Litchfield Scientific Association, December 13, 1905, told of an 
 
Chief Justice Origen Storrs Seymour 
 
JuDGt Lkwis B. Woodruff 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 215 
 
 earlier effort to obtain mineral in the Pitch. This was the New 
 England Exploring and Mining Co. It had a capital stock of 
 $100,000., bnt never achieved anything beyond running a tnnnel into 
 the hillside south of the Pitch road. 
 
 The belief in the value of Litchfield's mineral resources was 
 hard to down. In Kilbourne's History, Ave find this hopeful spirit, 
 characteristic of the period, well exjiressed, p. 249: "In other parts 
 of the town miners have met with better success. About two miles 
 north-east of the village, a shaft has been sunk 25 feet in depth, by 
 Albert SedgAvick and John W. Buell. The vein or lode is 14 feet 
 in width, composed of pure quartz, Avith a sligjit mixture of 
 felspar. In this A^ein is found a A^ery pure grey Copper Ore, yield- 
 ing by analysis 79i/2 per cent, of copper. A bevel has been driven 
 140 feet, Avhich when completed, will intersect the vein at 50 feet 
 in depth. In this A'ein are also found great quantities of small 
 pure garnets, AA^hich are as yet too small to be made valuable as 
 articles of commerce. This vein, bearing nearly a north and south 
 direction, can be traced for a distance of three miles. Half a mile 
 from this location, Avas recently found an old shaft, fifteen feet 
 deep, Avhich is supposed to have been sunk long before the Rca^o- 
 lution. This has been cleaned out, and sunk thirty feet upon a 
 small A'ein of iron and copper running together. The quantity 
 of copper found is not yet suflficient to render the digging profitable, 
 the mine having been but partially developed, 
 
 "The lands of the Connecticut Mining Co., on Prospect Moun- 
 tain, promise an abundant return for funds invested and labor 
 performed. Disinterested parties, who have visited these mines, 
 and others who have analyzed and smelted their copper, nickel, and 
 silver ores, pronounce the percentage of pure metal to be much 
 greater than that of some of the celebrated English mines. The 
 enterprise in this company deserves and Avill receiA^e a rich reward". 
 Surely no prospectus could yield much better promise than this 
 formal statement of Kilbourna Judge Hubbard adds, however, 
 "As 10 per cent, is a paying ore, it is unfortunate that Mssrs. Sedg- 
 wick and Buell did not mine more of their 79i/^ per cent. ore". 
 
 Another venture of these two enterprising men carried them to 
 the land now owned by the Connecticut Junior Republic, where 
 they sank a shaft 45 feet deep in the woods west of the buildings. 
 Nothing Avas found in the shaft beyond Iron pyrites. 
 
 Various companies have been incorporated to do mining in 
 the town, chiefly on Prospect, but it is not worth the space to say 
 much about them. Yet one likes to linger on such possibilities 
 as The American Mining Co., with a capital stock of $100,000., 
 for its Litchfield mine, this company being located at Windsor, 
 Vermont, in 1850. Then there was the Litchfield County Mining 
 and Quarrying Co., incorporated by the state Legislature in 1860, 
 with a modest capital of $300,000. 
 
2i6 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 In 1860 also the Connecticut Mining Co., obtained a very favor- 
 able charter from the Legislature, They bought two mining rights 
 on Prospect Mountain and issued $200,000 of stock, much of which 
 was successfully placed in Philadelphia, This was the company 
 of which Kilbourne thought so well. Later the stock was increased 
 by another $200,000; buildings on the Mountain were constructed; 
 and offices opened in the present brick building of Woodruff and 
 Woodruff. In a prospectus, the promoters compared the mines to 
 Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp. But quarrels arose within the 
 company, as the monies raised were apparently not all put into the 
 mines. To-day nothing remains to show, but a rather deep mud- 
 hole. 
 
 In 1864, the Nickel Mining and Smelting Co., was organized 
 under the laws of the State of New York, with a capital of 
 $600,000. They purchased the rights to mine on the west slope of 
 Prospect Mountain, and evidently were concerned with actual min- 
 ing rather than with the sale of stock. Some nickel was indeed 
 taken out of the mountain, and it is said that it was sold to the 
 Government and used to make the nickel cents which were in cir- 
 culation before the nickel five-cent piece was placed in use. Event- 
 ually, the venture shared the fate of the other Litchfield mines. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR. 
 
 The changes which we have traced in the development of Litch- 
 field, were never more marked than in the contrast between the 
 days of the Kevolution and those of the Civil War. In both wars 
 Litchfield gave of her best; but the martyrdoms of the Prison Ship 
 in the Revolution were only one side of the picture; there were 
 also the romantic adventures of Col. Tallmadge, the signing of the 
 Declaration of Independence by the elder Wolcott, the melting of 
 the bullets, the capture of Ticonderoga by Litchfield-bom Ethan 
 Allen, the stores in the village streets, the passing of troops on 
 their dapple greys, and of long munition trains. It was a 
 
 period of suspense and excitement, but the excitement was always 
 stimulating. In the Civil War, there was little but the sus- 
 pense, Litchfield was too far from the seat of war to be directly 
 involved, and the young men, whom she sent in hundreds as they 
 were called for, fought and died without the glory of any historic 
 personal achievement. Their names are treasured as heroes on 
 our monuments in the Center and in Northfield; but they do not 
 appear in the histories. The service was all the greater because 
 it was so inconspicuous, just a unit in the vast operations of 
 <xeneral Grant. 
 
 In the Revolution, Litchfield had sent 504 men into service, 
 while in the Civil War our Honor Roll only includes 280 names, 
 besides 44 men who enlisted and yielded to the temptation so uni- 
 versal in this particular war and deserted. The difference in 
 numbers is partly accounted for by the greater population of Litch- 
 field in the Revolution, when our territory included an extra thous- 
 and inhabitants in South Farms; it is also partly accounted for 
 by the inclusion in the Civil War Roll only of the men who actually 
 were residents of Litchfield when they enlisted, while the Revolu- 
 tionary Roll includes also those who were connected with the Town 
 before the War or afterwards. 
 
 It is not possible to estimate how many Litchfield men died in 
 the Revolution. We know that, out of 36 men taken prisoners at 
 Port Washington, only six survived, but probably this was the 
 only engagement where large losses followed. In the Civil War, 
 approximately 77 men died in the service, from wounds, disease or 
 other causes. Of these 52 names are on our monument, and the 
 remaining 25 have been obtained from the Record of Connecticut 
 Men in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865, published by the author- 
 ity of the General Assembly, 1889. The proportion of deaths 
 
2i8 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 among the Litchfield men was therefore very high, and testifies to 
 their gallant action. 
 
 From the declaration of War, enlistments began from the 
 Town; but it was not till after the close of General McClellan's 
 disastrous Peninsula Campaign in 1S62, when President Lincoln 
 issued his memorable call for 300,000 more men, that a concerte<l 
 effort was made here or elsewhere to stimulate enlistment on a 
 large scale. 
 
 Appropriations to cover supplies for all volunteers and sup- 
 port for their families, when needed, were made by the Town from 
 the earliest dates of the War. The first appropriation made was 
 of $5,000. on May 2, 1861. This was to be expended according to 
 the judgment of a Committee consisting of Jason Whiting, William 
 F. Baldwin and Philip S. Beebe. On November 23, 1801, a Town 
 Meeting Avas held to instruct this Committee more in detail, and 
 it Avas voted to give each volunteer a bonus of $7. at the time of his 
 being mustered in. On January 20, 1862, it was voted to continue 
 payments for the support of soldiers' families, subject to a refund 
 from the State. 
 
 Then, on July 3, 1862, came the Proclamation of Governor 
 Buckingham, urging the State of Connecticut to raise a minimum 
 of seven new Keginients. The response of Litchfield County was an 
 entire Kegiment, of w^hich we shall speak at length presently. 
 
 Another result of the Proclamation was the immediate increase, 
 at a Town Meeting on July 25, 1862, in the Bounty for each volun- 
 teer from $7. to $100. The payment of these bounties upon enlist- 
 ment caused some men to volunteer for no purpose beyond obtain- 
 ing the bounty, and was one of the causes, though only one, of the 
 many desertions throughout the army, of which it has already been 
 seen that Litchfield was also a victim. 
 
 Besides the call for 300,000 men for three years or the dura- 
 tion of the War, President Lincoln now made another call for 
 300,000 men for nine months' serA'ice. To meet this call, the Litch- 
 field bounty was increased at a Tow^n Meeting on September 8, 1862, 
 to $200. for each volunteer, previous volunteers receiving the differ- 
 ence between this sum and their former bounties. 
 
 On March 3, 1863, Congress passed the Conscription Law% assign- 
 ing to Litchfield a quota of 40 men. At a Town Meeting, July 25, 
 1863, it was voted to appropriate and borrow the sum of $12,000., 
 and to pay $300. towards each man who volunteered or was drafted 
 to fill this quota of 40 men. This was America's first experience 
 with the draft law, and it was not popular. "Great, strapping 
 men, who before the Avar had always boasted of their bodily puis- 
 sance, and who were never suspected, before or since, of having any 
 other disease than a rush of pusillanimity to the heart, came 
 limping and hobbling into town, and Avith touching earnestness 
 inquired for the office of Dr. BeckAvith, who Avas dealing out cer- 
 tificates of exemption from military duty to the mob that day and 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 219 
 
 night besieged his doors". (Vaill, Nineteenth Connecticut Volun- 
 teers, p. 15). The provision that substitutes could be provided 
 by drafted men, under certain restrictions, does not require detailed 
 explanation here. 
 
 Another quota of 60 men was called for from the town, as a 
 part of President Lincoln's call in January 1864 for 500,000 men; 
 and again in November 40 men were called for. These appear to 
 have been the last men raised by the draft in Litchfield, though 
 volunteers were at all times encouraged, though not as generously 
 as before, owing probably to the fact that the draft machinery 
 greatly facilitated obtaining the necessary men. The payments 
 voted at different times to different groups of men were as follows: 
 Jan. 18, 1864: $50.; Feb. IS, 1864: $80.; March 28, 1864: $100.; 
 Aug. 1, 1864: $500.; and Nov. 22, 1864: $150. At the close of the 
 War, the injustice of such varied bounties was recognized, and 
 on July 8, 1864, it Avas voted to pay to each Litchfield soldier or his 
 family, excepting of course the deserters, a further sum wherever 
 necessary to bring the bounties received up to a minimum of $200. 
 This vote, however, was repealed at a special Town Meeting called 
 for the purpose on August 5, 1865 and we do not find that any 
 further effort was made to equalize the bounties. The total cost 
 of all the payments was upwards of $50,000.00; some part of which 
 was repaid by the Government, under the Conscription Law. The 
 net cost to the Town, of the payments and bounties, was in the 
 neighborhood of $31,000.00. 
 
 We are fortunate in having two histories of the Litchfield 
 County Regiment. One was written soon after the War by 
 
 Theodore F. Vaill, who was Adjutant of the Regiment, and pub- 
 lished by him in 1868: History of the Second Connecticut Volun- 
 teer Heavy Artillery; Originally the Nineteenth Connecticut Volun- 
 teers. It is a volume of 366 pages, and is considered one of the 
 most accurate of the regimental histories of the war. It is now 
 out of print and exceedingly rare; we have heard of only three 
 copies being preserved in the town of Litchfield. It was therefore 
 appropriate for the Litchfield County University Club to bring out 
 a new history by Dudley Landon Vaill, a son of Adjutant Vaill, 
 entitled The County Regiment, 1908. This has liberal quotations 
 fi-om the earlier book, and puts the material into modern form. 
 We quote the following account of the formation of the Regiment 
 fi-om the volume of Adjutant Vaill, pp. 9-16: 
 
 "On the 22nd of July, 1862, the people of 'Mountain County' gave 
 authoritative expression of their spirit and purpose in a County 
 Convention at Litchfield, at which resolutions were unanimous y 
 passed declaring that an entire regiment should be raised within the 
 county, and urging the several towns to offer a bounty of $100. to 
 each volunteer. The Convention also unanimously recommended Lev- 
 erett W. Wessells for the Colonelcy, and requested the Governor to 
 rendezvous the new regiment at Litchfield. The project of raising 
 
22a THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 the Nineteenth, thus fairly set on foot, was pushed forward with the 
 utmost vigor. The offer of a commission to anyone who should enlist 
 forty men proved a great incentive to effort, and every young man 
 who contemplated enlisting was straightway beset with a persistent 
 horde of rival drummers, each armed with a persuasive tongue and 
 a marvelous list of inducements. Nine companies were soon filled 
 to the maximum, and some of them had several to spare. Colonel 
 Wessells received his commission on July 25, and on August 13 
 issued a circular directing all officers recruiting for the Nineteenth 
 Connecticut Volunteers to bring their squads into camp at Litch- 
 field on August 19 or as soon thereafter as practicable. 
 
 "On the appointed day the Litchfield Company assembled at the 
 Town Hall. The men who composed it arranged themselves in two 
 rows, each man standing so very erect that his spine described an 
 inward curve painful both to himself and the spectator; and having 
 by much tuition been able to master the evolution known as 'right 
 face', the procession proudly moved with Captain Bissell at its head, 
 to Camp Button, on Chestnut Hill, so named in honor of Lieutenant 
 Henry M. Button, of the Fifth Connecticut Volunteers, who had 
 fallen at Cedar Mountain only ten days before. Upon arriving, they 
 found a supply of bell-shaped tents awaiting them, which were soon 
 pitched in regular order, under the supervision of Luman Wadhams, 
 who had seen service in the Eighth; and before night the dwellers 
 in the surrounding country, and far away on the hills, were turning 
 their eyes towards the snow-white canvas that marked the first and 
 only military encampment that had been seen within their borders 
 since ancient times. . . . 
 
 "On August 21, seven Companies with nearly seven hundred imen 
 marched into Litchfield, and after halting for refreshments at the 
 Town Hall, where the ever patriotic ladies had lavishly provided 
 for their entertainment, proceeded to camp . . . Company I arrived 
 on the 24th of August; and a few days later the commandants of 
 the nine Companies were each required to furnish a quota for the 
 formation of a tenth Company, (K), which was thus made up of 
 recruits from 25 different towns. And so the Nineteenth was 
 encamped. In order to raise it Litchfield County had given up 
 the flower of her youth, the pride and hope of hundreds of her 
 families ; and they had by no means enlisted to fight for a superior 
 class of men at home. There was no superior class at home. In 
 moral qualities, in social worth, in every civil relation, they were 
 the best that Connecticut had to give. More than ^//y of the rank 
 and file of the regiment subsequently found their way to commissions, 
 and at least a hundred more proved themselves not one whit less 
 competent or worthy to wear sash and saber if it had been their 
 fortune. It was the intelligent obedience, the soldierly bearing, the 
 self respect, the faithfulness, the wounds and blood of the enlisted 
 men of the Nineteenth Infantry, afterwards the Second Artillery, 
 that averted defeat or secured victory for the cause of the Union 
 
DwiGHT C. KiLBOURN 
 
u 
 
 PL, 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 221 
 
 upon more than one desperate field, and that purchased stars for 
 more than one pair of shoulders. 
 
 "Camp Button was a beautiful spot, but no place for a regiment 
 to learn its hard and ugly trade. Fond mothers and aunts raked 
 the position with a galling and incessant fire of doughnuts, apples, 
 butter, pies, cheese, honey, and other dainties not conducive to the 
 suppression of the rebellion, and citizens thronged the streets and 
 environs from morning till night. Lieutenant Colonel Kellogg was 
 impatient at this state of things, and well he might be. The actual 
 command had devolved on him from the first. Colonel Wessells being 
 occupied with matters appertaining to the organization and outfit of 
 the regiment, and he feared lest he should be called into fight with 
 the men all innocent and raw as they were, for Lee was in Mar)'- 
 land, and the rumbling of the storm that shortly afterward burst at 
 Antietam and Sharpsburg could plainly be heard. . . . 
 
 "On the 10th of September tJie regiment marched to the village 
 to receive an elegant stand of colors from Mrs. William Curtis 
 Noyes and to listen to a presentation address by her husband, then 
 in the zenith of his power and fame. On the 11th, the regiment 
 was mustered, by Lieutenant Watson Webb, into the service of the 
 United States and on the 15th, having formed in line, and given 
 three parting cheers for Camp Button, the long and firmly treading 
 battalion, consisting of 889 oft'icers and men, moved to Litchfield Sta- 
 tion where a train of 23 cars stood ready to take them to New 
 York. The deep interest everywhere felt in the Mountain County 
 Eegiment was attested by crowds of people at the stations and all 
 along the railway and by white handkerchiefs and white hands that 
 waived us a farewell and a blessing from window and verandah 
 and hilltop. ..." 
 
 Leverett W. Wessells, the first Colonel of the Nineteenth, was 
 born in Litchfield, July 28, 1819. He enlisted on July 25, 1862, and 
 was commissioned Colonel on the same day. He held the following 
 offices: Colonel commanding Second Brigade, Befense of Washing- 
 ton, South of the Potomac, and was honorably discharged September 
 15, 1863, at Washington, B. C, resigning by reason of ill-health. He 
 was appointed Provost Marshall of the Fourth Bistrict of Con- 
 necticut, February 9, 1864, and was finally discharged October 5, 
 1865, by reason of the ending of the War. He died April 4, 1895, at 
 Dover, Bel. His brother. General Henry W. Wessells, was also a 
 distinguished soldier, having served in the Mexican War, with the 
 rank of Major. In the Civil War, he Avas Major of the Sixth Con- 
 necticut Infantrj^, 1861; Colonel, Eighth Eegiment Kansas Volun- 
 teers, 1861; Brigadier General of Volunteers, 1862; and Brigadier 
 General, TJ. S. A., March 13, 1865; he retired from the military ser- 
 vice on January 1, 1871. 
 
 It is not within the scope of this work to follow the Nineteenth 
 Regiment completely through its campaigns in active service; but 
 mention should at least be made of the names of the actions in which 
 
222 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 it took so gallant a part, and the storj- of Cold Harbor must be 
 told more in full. 
 
 "For more than a year and a half the regiment was numbered 
 among the defenders of the Capital, removing after a few months 
 from the immediate neighborhood of Alexandria and being stationed 
 among the different forts and redoubts which formed the line of 
 defence south of the Potomac. ... It was in November 1863, that the 
 War Department orders were issued changing the Nineteenth 
 Infantry to a regiment of heavy artillery, which Governor Bucking- 
 ham denominated the Second Connecticut. Artillery drill had for 
 some time been part of its work, and the general efficiency and good 
 record of the regiment in all particulars was responsible for the 
 change, which was a welcome one, as the Artillery was considered a 
 very desirable branch of the service, and the increase in size gave 
 prospects of speedier promotion". (Dudley Vaill, pp. 19, 21). 
 
 On May 17, 1864, the summons came, which the Second Heavy 
 Artillery had almost ceased to expect, after its long period of 
 immunity. 
 
 "The preceding two weeks had been among the most eventful 
 of the war. They had seen the crossing of the Eapidan by Grant 
 on the 4th, and the terrible battles for days following in the Wilder- 
 ness and at Spottsylvania, depleting the army by such enormous 
 losses as even this war had hardly seen before. Heavy reinforce- 
 ments were demanded and sent forward from all branches of the 
 service; in the emergency this artillery regiment was summoned to 
 fight as infantrj', and so served until the end of the conflict, though 
 for a long time with a hope, Avhich survived many disappointments, 
 of being assigned to its proper work with the heavy guns". (Dudley 
 Vaill, p. 25). 
 
 When the regiment reached the front, Grant was in full march 
 towards Eichmond, and for a week the regiment was put through 
 a series of forced marches v/liich tried the oldest A^eterans Avho were 
 in the same corps and which to the inexperienced Second Artillery 
 was almost beyond endurance. At first they were overburdened 
 with their baggage, but they soon threw down by the roadside every- 
 thing that could be spared and much that should not have been 
 spared. Over $20,000. worth of the private property of the men was 
 thrown aside, besides great quantities of government rations. With- 
 out proper food, foot-sore, and without sleep, the regiment struggled 
 on, sometimes getting its only nourishment from the dry corn picked 
 up by the wa}'^ and eaten raw. 
 
 The first contact with the enemy came at a skirmish at Jericho 
 Pord, on the North xVnna River, on May 24, resulting in the death 
 of one man and the wounding of three others. 
 
 On May 31, the regiment reached Cold Harbor. Exhausted with 
 fatigue, they slept on the ground where they stopped, careless of the 
 evident preparations for battle which General Grant was obviously 
 making, by the concentration of great bodies of men. Their stupor 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 223 
 
 was such, that even when they were told of the expected engagement 
 by their commander, Colonel Kellogg of New Hartford, they were 
 unable to understand his meaning. It was happy for them, per- 
 haps, that this was the case, for had they known what was in store 
 for them on the morrow even their short rest must have been denied 
 them. 
 
 At five o'clock in the afternoon of June 1, 1864, the untried 
 Second Connecticut Heavy Artillery, moving in three battalions of 
 four companies each, was marched out of the breast-works to help 
 in dislodging the enemy from their entrenched positions at Cold 
 Harbor. The first battalion, including Company A, the Litchfield 
 company, was sent across an open field, with the colors in the 
 <;entre, and easily passed the first line of rifle pits, which was 
 abandoned at its approach. The confederate soldiers had made a 
 barrier of pines and saplings in front of their main line of breast- 
 works, which proved practically impassable. As the battalion came 
 up to it, unsupported on either side, the enemy's musketry openetl. 
 The fire passed overhead, and they fell to the ground to avoid further 
 volleys. "Several men were struck, but not a large number. It 
 is more than probable that if there had been no other than this front 
 fire, the rebel breastworks would have been ours, notwithstanding 
 the pine boughs. But at that moment a long line of rebels on our 
 left, having nothing in their own front to engage their attention, 
 and having unobstructed range on the battalion, opened a fire which 
 no human valor could withstand, and which no pen can adequately 
 describe. It Avas the work of almost a single minute. The air 
 was filled with sulphurous smoke, and the shrieks and howls of more 
 than two hundred and fifty mangled men rose above the yells of 
 triumphant rebels and the roar of their musketry. 'About face', 
 sliouted Colonel Kellogg, but it was his last command. He had 
 already been struck in the arm, and the w^ords had scarcely passed 
 his lips when another shot pierced his head, and he fell dead upon 
 the interlacing pine boughs. Wild and blind with wounds, bruises, 
 noise, smoke, and conflicting orders, the men staggered in every 
 direction, some of them falling upon the very top of the rebel para- 
 pet, where they Avere completely riddled with bullets, others wander- 
 ing oft' into the Avoods on the right and front, to find their way to 
 death by starvation at Andersonville, or never to be heard of again". 
 (Theodore Vaill, p. 63). 
 
 The second battalion, behind them, could give no support, for 
 fear of shooting right into their OAvn men. There was however no 
 suggestion of retreat at any point, and, indeed, in a lull in the 
 firing, several hundred of the enemy came across the parapets and 
 surrendered. Through a misunderstanding, the credit of their cap- 
 ture Avas given to other units. 
 
 As the hours passed through the terrible night, the regiment 
 held the ground that had been gained. The enemy under cover of 
 the darkness vacated their breast\A^orks, and A\'hen at three o'clock 
 
224 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 in tlie morning other troops were sent to relieve the Second Regi- 
 ment, the troops which in ten hours had been converted into veterans 
 turned over to them the position which was to remain the front 
 during the rest of the stay until Grant's sudden movement began 
 against Petersburg. 
 
 For twelve days, the regiment was more or less in constant 
 action, but the fighting was so much less severe than on the fateful 
 First of June, that it need hardly be mentioned. Indeed that first 
 engagement was the most serious that the regiment saw at any 
 time of the war. Its loss in that one night was greater than that 
 of any other Connecticut regiment in any single battle, "The 
 record of Cold Harbor, of which all but a very small proportion was 
 incurred on June 1st, is given as follows: Killed or died of wounds, 
 121; wounded, 190; missing, 15; prisoners, 3". (Dudley Vaill, p. 37). 
 This total of 329 casualties, in a regiment of 1,800 men, fell with 
 special force on the Litchfield company. Of 33 men who were 
 killed or digd from wounds during the whole service of this company, 
 29 fell at Cold Harbor, all but two on the night of June 1st. The 
 Litchfield men among these 29 were the following: Corporal Albert 
 A. Jones ; Lyman J. Smith, Jr. ; Eobert Watt ; John Iffland ; Willard 
 H. Pannalee; Almon B. Bradley; Patrick Eyan; Captain Luman 
 Wadhams (died of Avounds) ; CorporaH George Wilson Potter; 
 Corporal Charles Adams, Jr.; Corporal Apollos C. Morse; Andrew 
 J. Brooker; Amos H. Stillson. 
 
 Other Litchfield men killed the same night, in other companies^ 
 were Michael Bray; John Handel. 
 
 On June 12, 1864, the regiment moved to Petersburg, where it 
 remained until July 9th. For the next two months or more it 
 took part in the maneuvers under General Sheridan of the Shenan- 
 doah Valley campaign, having its severest battle at Winchester on 
 September 19, where its efficient work at a moment of crisis turned 
 an impending defeat into an important victory. Three days later,^ 
 the raiment was sent against the fort on Fisher's Hill, considered 
 the Gibraltar of the Valley, which they scaled and captured, with 
 a loss of only four men killed. The enemy were taken completely 
 by surprise and driven it was thought for all time out of the 
 Valley. 
 
 The confederate General, Early, took advantage of the with- 
 drawal of Sheridan's forces, to re-occupy Fisher's Hill, and the 
 Second Connecticut found itself ordered back to Cedar Creek, where 
 it arrived on October 14th. Five days later, the dramatic battle, 
 which bears this name, was fought, and again the Second Connecti- 
 cut had a proud and successful part in it. After an apparent 
 defeat of the Union forces, which at one moment threatened to 
 become an irretrievable rout, the tide of the battle turned, and 
 ended in a complete victory which marked the successful conclusion 
 of the Shenandoah Valley Campaign. 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 225 
 
 At Cedar Creek as at Winchester, the regiment had large losses, 
 but for the Litchfield men they were proportionately much smaller 
 than in the fateful battle of Cold Harbor. Corporal Franklin M. 
 Bunnell was wounded at Winchester early in the day, but continued 
 to fight with his company until just before the close of the battle. 
 He died six days later at Jarvis Hospital, Baltimore, Corporal 
 John L. Wilcox was shot at the battle of Cedar Creek in the side 
 and back. The shot was not found until the third day: when it 
 was removed a hemorrhage developed and he died on the way 
 from the Valley to Baltimore, October 28. These were the only 
 two men from Litchfield in the Litchfield Company who were killed 
 after the battle of Cold Harbor. 
 
 For two months after Cedar Creek, the regiment saw no more 
 fighting. It w^as again joined to Grant's army, and on February 
 5 and 6, 1865, was engaged in the action at Hatcher's Eun. Then 
 came another period of inaction, and then the final engagement, 
 which began with the attack on Fort Stedman, March 25, and ended 
 with the capture of Petersburg on April 3, 1865. The Second Con- 
 necticut afterwards claimed to have been the first regiment to enter 
 the city, but they did not carry their colors when they marched 
 against it, and those of another unit were raised above the city. 
 The same day, the regiment started in pursuit of Lee's army, and 
 had reached a point close to Appomattox Court House, when the news 
 reached them of the surrender there on April 9, of all that was left 
 of Lee's forces to General Grant. 
 
 The terrible news of Cold Harbor fell upon the families and 
 friends of the Litchfield men like a thunderbolt. For months the 
 letters that came from the South had told only of inaction. Then 
 suddenly came the ncAvs that the regiment was on the march, and 
 within two weeks the rumor of a great battle was received. It 
 was impossible to get names or correct particulars. The chief link 
 with official bureaus was through John H. Hubbard, who was then 
 Congressman in Washington. He was an ardent administration 
 man, and Lincoln used to call him Old Connecticut; but even Wash- 
 ington could give no sure information, when many of the wounded 
 were still lying outside the lines. Long afterwards, Mrs. Hubbard 
 wrote, (Book of Days, p. 87) : "You can have no idea of the intense 
 anxiety in the days following Cold Harbor. It was the same after 
 every great battle in which Litchfield troops were engaged. The 
 telegraph wires had more news than they could carry. It was 
 impossible to get details. All we knew was, that a terrible battle 
 had been fought and that a great number were either dead or 
 wounded. As Mr. Hubbard was Congressman, our house was a 
 rendezvous for people hoping or fearing for news. They would 
 often stay till late at night. I particularly remember one woman 
 from Goshen who waited till eleven o'clock, and then went home, 
 cheered with the thought that no news was good news. She had 
 
226 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 just gone home, when we received word that her husband was among 
 the slain". 
 
 And George Kenney wrote, (Book of Days, p, 88) : "Such 
 funerals as we had in those days! I had the stage line then and, 
 when the war was over, I brought up from the ISTaugatuck station 
 all that were left from a company that went from this town. I 
 carried them all up in one stage drawn by four horses". 
 
 The heaviest toll, proportionately, was taken of the families 
 who lived in the district west of the center. Here within a small 
 radius Avere six farm-houses to Avhich one or more of the men who 
 had gone to the war were brought back dead. Three sons of the 
 Wadhanis family, who lived in the house west of the road across 
 Harris Plain, were killed in the space of fourteen days. On May 
 28, 1864, the Second Connecticut happened to be near the Fourteenth 
 Connecticut. Captain Luman Wadhams went to headquarters, 
 requesting permission to go and see his brother in the latter regi- 
 ment. It was given. When he returned, the Colonel asked him 
 if he had found him. "I found lie was killed day before yester- 
 day", was the sad reply. Four days after. Captain Luman Wad- 
 hams was killed, and both of them died without knowing that their 
 younger brother, Edward, a Sergeant in the Eighth Connecticut, had 
 been killed at Fort Darling on May 16. 
 
 So in Litchfield, when Deacon Adams had been over to break 
 the news of the death of one of the brothers, he was on his way back 
 to the village when he was told that another had fallen. 
 
 When the widow of Captain Luman Wadhams learned of her 
 loss, the desire came to her to go herself to the South and help in 
 nursing those who were still fated to go through the experience of 
 her husband, those who were to linger from their wounds for a few 
 days, and perhaps die when some little care beyond what the doctors 
 had to give would have saved them. The number of nurses was 
 very restricted, totally inadequate according to the standards of the 
 present; and it is another source of pride for Litchfield to know 
 that one of its women went and did such good work for the soldiers. 
 She joined Sheridan's army at Winchester, where her husband's 
 regiment had fought in August and where one of the larger field 
 hospitals was situated. One of the letters which she wrote soon 
 after her arrival is preserved, and is worth quoting to show the 
 conditions of the day: 
 
 "October 31, 1864, To the Rev. George Eichards. Dear Friend: 
 As you were the means of obtaining for me a place here I thought 
 I would tell you how I am passing my time in my new home, that 
 is if a tent can be called a home, and that it can I am sure many 
 will testify. I reached this place the day after Sheridan's last 
 battle, the 19th. I found the place in a state of great commotion: 
 many had, on the news of a repulse, packed up their goods, some 
 had left, some were running distracted, not knowing what to do 
 or where to go : but it is of the wounded I must tell you. I reported 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 227 
 
 immediately on arriving to the Medical Director, who informed me 
 I had arrived just in time, as they were expecting fifteen hundred 
 wounded in a short time. I was sent to the Nineteenth Corps Hos- 
 pital for a few days, as I was needed more there at that time. I 
 must tell you of my initiation. I had not slept since leaving Wash- 
 ington, but you may well guess sleep was far from my thoughts. 
 The doctor told me to prepare myself with a basin, towel, etc., and 
 left me with another lady to await the coming of the ambulance 
 train. Now I think it would be impossible to describe my feelings, 
 while sitting there waiting. I had thought it over many times at 
 home before leaving, how I should bear the sight of those poor, 
 wounded, dying men, and I knew my after efforts depended a great 
 deal on it. The train came, they brought them in on stretchers, 
 and placed them on straw beds on the floor of the church, as thick 
 nearly as they could lie. And I, I went to work, washing first, 
 feeding next, then the surgeon asked me 'could I dress wounds?' I 
 told him I would try, and I did. And not until near morning did 
 I leave those poor, wounded, dying men. I never stopped to ask 
 myself how I was bearing it, never thought to cry, never felt like 
 it, I only felt these men were suffering and I must help them, and 
 I, if I were to go home to-morrow, I should thank God that I had 
 come, if only for that one night. I had, as you will remember, 
 taken a few lessons in bandaging at Columbia College Hospital at 
 Washington before coming. I found that of great service to me. 
 There was not an arm, head, leg, or any wound even, I shrank from, 
 however bad it was. There was one poor boy, that had his right 
 eye entirely shot away, and his left was so filled with blood, dirt 
 and powder he thought that was gone too, as he told me: 'I am 
 blind, Lady, blind for my flag'. But by frequent bathing in cold 
 water he can see a very little. I hope to be able to restore that 
 eye entirely. His nose is nearly half gone. Another has his left 
 lung laid entirely bare, you can look in and see the beating and 
 working of that delicate machinery, but there he lies, uumurmur- 
 ingly, patiently awaiting his death. Of course many have lost legs, 
 arms, and some both, some seem almost literally riddled with shot. 
 I asked one dear boy, covered with wounds, where he Avas wounded. 
 He replied: 'All over, Lady', and sure it seemed so; he was hit with 
 a piece of shell in his head, a horrible gash, then a ball had entered 
 his left side, passed entirely through his body and had fractured 
 his right arm. He is now doing well. I might tell of many such 
 cases, but you will not care to be wearied. Others, apparently 
 slightly wounded, have since died, many more must. They are 
 sending them as fast as possible to Martensburg, and then on to 
 Baltimore. We are crowded here, but I think it would have been 
 better to have kept them a few days, for the poor boys were so near 
 gone that forty died on the way to Martensburg, and twenty in the 
 cars before reaching Harpers' Ferry. They were brought from 
 Newtown, a distance of eight miles from here and six from Cedar 
 
228 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 Creek, and we fed them here without taking them from the ambu- 
 lances, and they sent them on to Martensburg, making in all 23 miles 
 without resting. We have better accommodations here than at first ; 
 I am now at the Sheridan Hospital. It is half mile out from 
 Winchester on a rise of ground and seems doing finely, many must 
 die. They have all done for them possible, ..." 
 
 The men of the western part of town were known as the Flower 
 of Litchfield, and it was appropriate that one of them should have 
 given his name to the local Post of the Grand Army of the Eepublic. 
 This was Seth F. Plumb. He was killed at Fort Harrison, Va., on 
 September 29, 1864. He was a member of the Eighth Connecticut, 
 in the same Company E in which Edward Wadbams was the Cap- 
 tain. He was a deeply religious man; and was participating with 
 other members of the regiment in a service of prayer, when the 
 orders came to charge across an open field upon Fort Harrison. The 
 Fort was captured, but he was killed in the attack. He always 
 considered his soldier life as a religioas duty for his country. He 
 was buried at Bermuda Hundred, between the bodies of two young 
 comrades who like himself had just been promoted for personal 
 bravery. At the request of his father, his body was later brought 
 to Litchfield by his friend Joseph H. Vaill, and lies buried in our 
 West Cemetery. 
 
 The Seth F. Plumb Post, No. 80, Department of Connecticut, 
 was formed in 1884. Its records were kept by Dwight C. Kilbourn, 
 who was First Lieutenant of Company C in the Second Connecticut. 
 He was wounded in both arms at the battle of Winchester, Septem- 
 ber 19, 1864, but was able to rejoin his regiment in three months. 
 He died at his home in East Litchfield, in 1914, at the age of 77 
 years. Mr. Kilbourn was by nature a historian; he had the his- 
 torical sense, as will be testified by all who have read his admirable 
 Bench and Bar. He wrote many minor works and articles; but 
 it is not generally known that he also wrote a history of the town. 
 This had just been completed at the time of the fire of 1886, in which 
 his law office was burned, together with his large library and the 
 manuscript of his great work. He afterwards gathered together 
 a new and valuable library, but he did not re-write the history. 
 
 The war records of the individual men, whose names are kept 
 in proud remembrance on our Honor Eoll, cannot be given in detail 
 here. It was honorable service, performed with ready willingness. 
 There was little of romance or of the unusual, little that varied 
 from the hard routine of the soldier's life. We do however read 
 of one case of a Litchfield boy, Lyman E. Sweet, who captured three 
 prisoners of the enemy "with a coffee-pot" at the second battle of 
 Hatcher's Eun, but even here we are deprived of the details of this 
 marvelous exploit! 
 
 For Litchfield the real end of the War was on August 1st, 1865, 
 on which day the soldiers of the Second Eegiment and others 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 229 
 
 returned from camp. About three hundred of the County Kegi- 
 ment were present. The Triumphal Arch stood on East Street, 
 near the side of the present Library, making a gateway to Litchfield 
 as the men arrived from the East Litchfield Station. There was a 
 parade, and speeches. The whole town was decorated to welcome 
 the men. 
 
 Two monuments have been erected in the Town to the memory 
 of the men who fell in the Civil War. The one in Northfield is of 
 red sandstone, and was erected by the citizens of that village directly 
 after the end of the Avar, and is said to have been the first of the 
 Soldiers' Monuments to be completed in the country. The one in 
 Litchfield stands in the Center Park. It is of white marble, and 
 bears the names of 52 soldiers, including the 8 names which are on 
 the Northfield Monument. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 IMPRESSIONS AND POST-IMPRESSIONS. 
 BY DR. ARTHUR E. BOSTWICK. 
 
 My boyhood was spent in Litchfield until I went to college in 
 1877. After an absence of many years, with but occasional visits, 
 I returned about 1911 as a householder and a member of the sum- 
 mer colony. I am therefore in the unusual position of being able 
 to describe the Litchfield of the early 70's as seen through a boy's 
 eyes, and to note the changes that have occurred in our town between 
 1870 and 1920, without having my impressions dinmied by too great 
 a familiarity with the intervening years. Changes, which have 
 come so gradually as to be almost unnoticed by the permanent resi- 
 dents of Litchfield, present their cumulative effect to the returned 
 absentee with a startling reality. Though these changes may be 
 relatively small, who can tell but that the flight of fifty years may 
 one day be seen to have had its importance in the great historical 
 picture of our American civilization? Part of my notes on this 
 head have already been used hj me in a lecture before the Litch- 
 field Historical Society on "Changing Litchfield", delivered on 
 September 1, 1914, and reported in the Enquirer of the following 
 day. 
 
 Litchfield in the early 70's was a pretty good place for a boy 
 to grow up in. Here lived an unusually large number of persons, 
 of all ages and degrees, whom it was stimulating to know. Among 
 those who impressed themselves early on my boyish memory, were 
 George C. Woodruff and his wife, the latter known to her numerous 
 band of relatives and to very many others as "Aunt Sophy". Greorge 
 C, as he was usually called, (the family name Avent without saying), 
 was a lawyer and a gentleman of the old school: the perfect incar- 
 nation of stern Puritan justice and uprightness, a terror to evil- 
 doers, forbidding sometimes even to the Just, but full of humor and 
 kindliness under his shell. I stood in awe of the stern exterior and 
 I was half terrified and half scandalized when my mother, who had 
 known him as a good friend, many years before I was born, used 
 to venture upon persiflage in conversation with him. I well recol- 
 lect a controversy on the subject of Contentment, which was renewed 
 between them at each casual meeting. Stopping her in the street, 
 Mr. Woodruff would fix her with his eye and quote with a sternness 
 that almost withered me where I stood: "Contentment with Godli- 
 ness is great gain". To which my mother rejoined: "Yes, and 
 'to die is gain'; and so Contentment is only a living death!" All 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 231 
 
 of wliich gave, and still gives, me food for tlioiight. I have always 
 thought that her husband's mask of sternness worried Aunt Sophy 
 a little. She knew him as he was, and she would fain have had 
 others do likewise, — especially hojs of ten. 
 
 Another of the Litchfield great ones of this era w^as Origen S. 
 Seymour, afterwards Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court. 
 Judge Seymour's eyesight had been weak from boyhood and the 
 completion of his college course was dependent on the services of a 
 companion to read his lessons to him. In later life, on the Bench 
 or elsewhere, he always sat with closed eyes when listening intently. 
 This sometimes gave rise to misunderstanding, as when a newly 
 inducted rector of St. Michael's remarked, after his first sermon, 
 that Judge Seymour seemed to have enjoyed it, as he was sound 
 asleep all the time! As a matter of fact the Judge could probably 
 have reproduced that sermon, if required, with a good deal more 
 fidelity than it deserved. Judge Seymour was kind to boys, and 
 I remember several conversations with him in his study at the South 
 Street house. He told me once how he went to Ncav Haven on 
 horseback, to pass his Yale entrance examination. He and a com- 
 panion had but one horse between them, and used the method of 
 ''ride and tie", by which one rode ahead for a specified distance and 
 the other followed on foot; having covered the distance agreed 
 upon, the first tied the horse to a tree and himself proceeded to 
 walk; when the second reached the horse he mounted, overtook his 
 companion, rode ahead of him, tied the horse in turn, and so matters 
 went until the end of the journey. It was effective and economical, 
 but somewhat unsociable, it always seemed to me. 
 
 When retired for age. Judge Seymour was Chief Justice of the 
 State Supreme Court of Errors. We have had two Litchfield Chief 
 Justices in my day, the other being Governor Charles B. Andrews, 
 our only Governor since the days of the Wolcotts. 
 
 Edwin McNeill was the first approach to anything like a 
 financial magnate that our little town had ever known. A farmer's 
 boy, of that dour but extremely competent Scotch strain that has 
 left its impress all over our land, he became an eminent civil 
 engineer, amassed what was then a fortune, and failing in health 
 returned to live on Litchfield Hill. He bought from Gideon H. 
 HoUister the house on North Street now owned by Frederick Dom- 
 ing and proceeded to remodel it on a scale of luxury then unheard 
 of, including a billiard-room, a hot-air furnace, and running water. 
 He was a force in Litchfield while he lived, and his infiuence upon 
 it persists to this day. Almost alone he pushed through the direct 
 railway connection with New York against great difficulties. 
 
 I do not recollect anyone who ever occupied precisely the same 
 relation to a tOAvn as that held during my boyhood and for many 
 years afterward by J. Deming Perkins. Wealthy patrons are not 
 unknown to New England towns, but Mr. Perkins' services to 
 Litchfield were not precisely of this type. He was continually 
 giving, in no spectacular way, things that he knew by observation 
 
232 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 were needed by the village and unlikely to be acquired by it through 
 public channels. This was the more welcome at that time because 
 the old village organization had fallen into abeyance and had not 
 been revived in its present borough form. There was no way in 
 which Litchfield could raise money by taxation, except as a town- 
 ship; and the residents of Bantam, Milton and ISTorthfield were not 
 at all likely to contribute to the betterment of Litchfield village. 
 So, when Litchfield streets were dark, and lanterns on the elms did 
 not seem to fill the bill, Mr. Perkins ordered lamp-posts from New 
 York, set them up on the conspicuous corners around the Green 
 and paid a man to fill and light the lamps until the Village Improve- 
 ment Society took the job from his hands. He became the Presi- 
 dent of the V. I. S., and was its good genius and constant adviser. 
 I well remember how proudly he used to tell us that the color of 
 the new lamp-posts, white with green trimmings, was precisely that 
 of the posts on Fourth Avenue in New York, the first metropolitan 
 thoroughfare that the countryman used to see when he issued in 
 wonderment from the portals of the old New Haven station at 
 27th Street, where the Madison Square Garden now stands. 
 
 When a badly frayed banner ceased to disgrace our hundred- 
 foot mast on the Green and w^as replaced by a bright new one, we 
 did not need to ask who had bought and paid for it. And it was 
 under his auspices that the V. I. S. raised the money to build tar 
 pavements over the town, setting a fashion that still persists. The 
 Enquirer used to comment proudly every week on the fact that "the 
 tar rolls steadily westward", or northward or southward, as the 
 case might be. The money was raised, not by a "drive", which 
 would have "driven" most of us out of town, but by a series of enter- 
 tainments of all i^ossible kinds. In organizing these, Mr. Perkins 
 was active and invaluable, and his experience was always available. 
 When we wanted a new stage curtain, he sent out and bought strips 
 of cloth in claret and buff and had them assembled in exact imita- 
 tion of a Vienna concert-hall curtain. When anything was to be 
 done that required money, experience, judgment or hard work, his 
 was the name first in our minds, and he never failed us. Of Mr. 
 Perkins' other and great services to Litchfield this is not the place 
 to speak ; but the fact that he was the first president of the Shepaug 
 Eailroad reminds me that I must not overlook the great part that 
 this institution played in our lives in the 70's. 
 
 The history of almost every railroad is worth writing. Will 
 that of the Shepaug ever be set down? From start to finish it 
 was a fight. When Edwin McNeill was making the preliminary 
 surveys, he was confronted time and again by angry farmers who 
 objected to the proceedings as trespass. When it comes to a con- 
 sciousness of the rights of land proprietorship, the average Con- 
 necticut farmer makes an English Duke look "like thirty cents". 
 On one occasion the opposing farmer bore a shot-gun, and threat- 
 ened to use it; Mr, McNeill calmly vaulted the fence, saying: "Come 
 on boys; I have smelt powder before!" The farmer did not shoot. 
 
S ;»'«>. ..'r«« ^ ^,H.JT -rra^r- 
 
 Hon. J. Deming Perkins 
 

THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 233 
 
 Later came the fight to induce the to^viis along the route to subscribe 
 for the stock. This raged in the town meetings and is best described 
 in John D. Champlin's Chronicles of Sirrom, (Morris spelled back- 
 ward), first printed anonymously in the Sentinel, of which Champ- 
 lin was then editor. As a piece of semi-political pamphleteering, 
 this takes high rank. 
 
 But we boys did not really get into the game until actual con- 
 struction work began at our end of the line. Eecognizing the value 
 of the stimulation of interest by visualization, Mr. Perkins even 
 had rails teamed over from East Litchfield, so that they could be 
 laid here before the arrival of the outfit from Hawleyville. We 
 were interested spectators of the work from the early day when 
 Miss Lucretia Deming's ice-house was split in two by the work- 
 men's picks, to the triumphant hour when the whistle announcing 
 the arrival of the Waramaug at the foot of West Hill brought out 
 our whole population. It will be remembered that the names of our 
 three locomotives: Shepaug, Waramaug, and Weantinaug, moved a 
 jealous neighboring sheet to remark, that they augured well for the 
 future. 
 
 Then began the fun for us boys. Things were new and rules 
 were slack, and we rode on the engines of construction trains as 
 much as we pleased. I even remember seeing Eph Mower standing 
 at the throttle upon occasion. Of course we knew intimately all 
 conductors, brakemen, engineers and firemen. What Litchfield boy 
 was not proud to number among his friends the redoubtable Al 
 Paul? Al was a Welshman, and worth knowing. If Eoosevelt 
 shook hands habitually with his faithful engineer and fireman, we 
 went him one better; we adored ours, they were as heroes and demi- 
 gods to us. Putting up the hand brakes, there were no air brakes 
 then, became a standard sport with us. All this was educational, 
 although if we had suspected that it was, doubtless we should have 
 turned to something else. 
 
 In my boyhood, Litchfield had lately been a purely American 
 community, by which I mean one inhabited almost solely by families 
 of English descent. There were only half a dozen negroes or so, 
 and the Irish had only recently begun to come in, I remember no 
 other exotic races. This accounts for the fact that individual mem- 
 bers of these two races play a large part in my memories. The 
 negroes were not employed as house servants, or in general outdoor 
 work about houses. They were not coachmen or gardeners, but 
 were manual laborers on outside jobs. In the South, black and 
 white boys play freely together. What the Southerner is particular 
 about is not social contact, but social status. The latter did not 
 worry us, but there were onlj^ two negro boys, as I recollect, who 
 associated with us. One was Charles Nicholas Doute, a West 
 Indian, brought here as a servant by the McNeills. His French 
 accent and queer ways amused us, and caused him to be graded in 
 a class by himself. The other was Sam Rowe, the son of Solomon 
 Eowe, sexton of St. Michael's Church. The Eowes were altogether 
 
234 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 a notable family. Their hospitality was without stint, and their 
 little shack, already bursting with the Eowe family, was warranted 
 to hold as many guests as applied for admission. Sol was a wit. 
 When a certain young rector, who had business interests in New 
 York, used to absent himself from his duties, so frequently as to 
 cause remark, Sol said, "I can always tell when Mr. X. is going 
 to be away, for the Sunday before he always preaches from the text : 
 'It is expedient that I should leave you' ". 
 
 The Eowes, I believe, had been Northern for some generations. 
 A great contrast were the Elliots, who came from the South Avith 
 Jack, the head of the family, after the Civil War. These were 
 negroes of the real Virginia plantation variety. Jack presided at 
 the rear of the Congregational organ, during the pastorate of the 
 Kev. Mr. Elliot, which led some wit to remark that there was an 
 Elliot blowing at each end of the Church. 
 
 About the only other colored families in toAvn were the Harri- 
 sons and the Jacksons, and I can pass over neither. The Jacksons 
 have already been mentioned as the last family whose ancestor had 
 been a Litchfield slave. As known to me, they were Aunt Lucy 
 and Crazy Caroline. The latter was really out of her mind and 
 used to parade the streets with corn-silk curls and a small branch 
 for a parasol. Aunt Lucy was a colored Mrs. Partington. On 
 being asked once where she was going, she replied: ''Oh, just around 
 the corner to explode". On another occasion she expressed her 
 pleasure on the receipt of some gift by remarking: "I am not only 
 gratified, but highly mollified". Meeting on the street Gideon H. 
 Hollister, who had just been appointed to the Haytian mission by 
 President Johnson, she thus addressed him: "Well, Mr. Hollister I 
 I hear you've been appointed minister to Hayti! Well, I hope 
 you'll preach to 'em, and convert 'em all!" To one who inquired if 
 she were comfortably situated, she replied: "I have everything that 
 heart could wish in full bloom, and some in maturity!" 
 
 As for the Harrisons, they were brothers. Miles and Ej^aphro- 
 ditus, Paiphe for short. Paiphe was a great bulky, lumbering 
 giant, in demand where brute strength was required, and ready to 
 shout out rough badinage at any boy who would take it. If any- 
 one should be surprised at this extended treatment of the so-called 
 menial classes, I would remind him that these classes bulk ven^ 
 large in the experience of children. In a village like Litchfield, the 
 boys are acquainted with all the cooks and all the hired men, and 
 many of them, to be sure, are well worth knowing. 
 
 As I have said, we were just beginning to know the Irish. They 
 lived in a colony at the foot of East Hill, then known as Lavinville; 
 for the Lavin family formed no inconsiderable part of it, and the 
 family was one of standing and influence. Patrick Lavin, the head 
 of it, had begun, many years before in Ireland, his education for 
 the priesthood. I know not why or how it was interrupted, but 
 it was an awesome thing for a boy to have a man making his 
 garden, who had studied Latin. 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 235 
 
 At this time the Irish in Litchfield were all domestic servants 
 and day laborers. Their advance, here and elsewhere, in a single 
 generation, is one of the most notable changes in our country with 
 which I am familiar. I never knew a finer lady in temperament 
 and manners than old Mrs. Lavin. She was the soul of considerate 
 politeness. On one occasion I had achieved, in a course of lessons 
 in draAving, what I considered a masterpiece in the form of a 
 picture of a barrel, with orthodox perspective and shading. I ran 
 to show my result to Mrs. Lavin, who was washing clothes. She 
 dried her hands, took the drawing and admired it for some time. 
 Then she said: "My, my! but isn't it fine! Sure, it's a church, isn't 
 it?" Now, the drawing was really not so bad; but Mrs, Lavin's 
 eyesight was failing. I have always loved her for her desire to 
 say the right thing. 
 
 Two generations made a difference. Possibly also saying the 
 right thing, but from a different standpoint and in a different way, 
 Mrs. Lavin's little granddaughter, carving knife in hand, chased 
 Charlie Belden, who had said "shoo" to the family rooster, down 
 East Street, shouting the while this bloody threat: "I'll cut the 
 one head off ye!" That suggestion of a possible cranial plurality 
 always amused me. 
 
 Our colored Mrs. Partington, described above, was not our only 
 one. Decidedly "male, white and 21", was Ed Peck, who filled, for 
 what now seems to have been a large part of my boyhood, the office 
 of jailer in Litchfield. Huge of frame, kindly of speech, popular 
 with one and all, Ed could rarely say exactly what he meant. Put 
 forward to utter a few words of thanks, when a delegation, of 
 which he was a member, had been entertained at lunch, he said 
 briefly: "Gentlemen; I thank you very kindly for your handsome 
 coalition". And in narrating his part in the contribution of a 
 fund for some suffering brother or sister, he went on: "So I 
 mounted down off my horse and put in my poor pitiless mite". 
 
 I was particularly interested in our two newspapers. In the 
 first place I have always been intrigued by print, and secondly I 
 was intimate with both editors. George A. Hickox, of the Enquirer, 
 was my next door neighbor, and John D. Champlin Jr., of the 
 Sentinel, was my first cousin. He lived at the Mansion House, and 
 his sanctum there was the literary Mecca of my early yeai*®. The 
 Enquirer and the Sentinel carried a line of good-humored political 
 badinage in those days that was rather better than some modern 
 equivalents. The Sentinel had several editors after Champlin went 
 to New York, and it finally passed out; but the Enquirer lives on 
 forever. Mr. Hickox made it a valuable sheet in a literary wa3\ 
 His editorials and book reviews would have done credit to The 
 Nation; but the average rural subscriber, doubtless, did not know 
 that; and as an original War-Democrat his post-war Eepublicanism 
 was regarded by some as not over stalwart. I well remember a 
 review of Froude's Caesar that was a masterpiece; but all he got 
 for it was the following skit from the Winsted Herald: "The Litch- 
 
zzd THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 field Enquirer prints a two-column obituary of the late Julius 
 Caesar. The deceased was much thought of in Litchfield". I 
 believe that my proximity to Mr. and Mrs. Hickox, as a boy, was 
 rather more important to me, from a purely educational point of 
 view, than the fact that I afterward went to college. The Hickoxes 
 were not original Litchfielders. Mr. Hickox was from Washington, 
 and his wife was a South Carolinian. For me the intellectual 
 center of Litchfield was in their house, next to ours on East Street, 
 still owned by their daughter. There one could hear discussed 
 intelligently science, religion, literature and politics. Mr. Hickox 
 was also a fine musician ; and we had at that time a very creditable 
 musical ensemble: Dr. William Deming, first violin; Dr. Gates, 
 viola; Mr. Hickox, 'cello; Julius Deming, double bass; to which 
 were often added brass and wood-winds, as represented by flute and 
 comet. The playing of these musicians went far to form our 
 musical taste. 
 
 Dr. Howard E. Gates was also organist of St. Michael's. He 
 frequently went into the church to practice, and as he was prone to 
 forget his key, he left a window unfastened that he might use it as 
 an emergency entrance. One afternoon he proceeded to enter the 
 church in this way, and had forced about half his body through 
 the narrow w4ndow when he chanced to look up and saw to his 
 astonishment that Mr. Perry stood at the reading desk, conducting 
 evening prayer, in the presence of a numerous congregation. It 
 was Lent, a fact that had escaped the absent-minded doctor. Dr. 
 Gates afterward said that what chiefly riveted his attention was 
 the face of Mrs. Perry, in the foregroimd, gazing at his burglarious 
 efforts with a look of fascinated horror that he never forgot. Some 
 kind friend sent an account of this incident to The Police Gazette 
 of New York, and this classic sheet issued a full page picture of 
 it, in which St. Michael's was expanded to about the size of St. 
 Patrick's Cathedral and was filled with a worshiping multitude, 
 while no feature of the method by which the doctor was gaining 
 admittance was allowed to lack in sensationalism. 
 
 In my boyhood there was much boasting about the excellence of 
 the Connecticut common school system, based on the fund that was 
 the proceeds of the sale of the so-called Western Eeserve in Ohio. 
 I used to wonder why, if our free schools were so fine, we should 
 see no local evidence of the fact. We had in Litchfield one District 
 School, situated on West Street, and differing only in size from such 
 rural district schools as those on South Plains and Harris Plains. 
 Nobody went to it, who could afford a term's tuition at the Insti- 
 tute, whose building now forms part of the Henry E. Jones resi- 
 dence on North Street. My memory does not go back to the days 
 of the Kev. James Eichards, who used to throw inkstands at the 
 boys and otherwise give way to an ungovernable temper. Mr. 
 Eichards deserves mention in this connection on account of his 
 talented granddaughter, Mrs. Craigie, whose novels, written in 
 London, under the pen-name of John Oliver Hobbes, are of a high 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 237 
 
 order of literary excellence and have doubtless been read by many 
 Litclifielders wlio do not know the author's connection with our town. 
 
 My first memories of the Institute are of the time when it was 
 revived after a brief period of coma by Edwin McNeill, Dr. Buel, 
 Henry E. Coit, and others, who had large families of children and 
 hesitated to take advantage of the Free School system, as it then 
 was. At this period I was interested chiefly in the primary depart- 
 ment, and Miss Sarah Bronson was my instructor. 
 
 In the 70's no one's education w^as considered complete in Litch- 
 field unless he or she had studied French, — a tribute to the waning 
 pre-eminence of that tongiie in the world of polite letters. The 
 schools taught no languages but the dead ones, so we depended on 
 private tutors. The Frenchmen and Frenchwomen who filled this 
 office in Litchfield formed an unbroken succession of character 
 studies. They taught us a little French and a great deal about 
 the characteristics of the French people. 
 
 There was little Mamselle Brun, like a small dried apple, who 
 had rooms at Stephen Trowbridge's, where the Playhouse noAV 
 stands. She said once, with a toss of her head: "What a differ- 
 ence zere is be-tween Madame B. and myself! She is all dignity* 
 while / am all grace and ease!" 
 
 Then there was old M. Laslier, noted for his frequent trans- 
 Atlantic trips. His benevolent Litchfield friends would subscribe 
 enough to send him to his dear Paris, where his relatives, after a 
 brief visit, would invariably ship him back to us. His income 
 from Litchfield students of French was not large, and it was 
 currently reported that in his room in the Beckwith block he lived 
 on something like an onion a day: there is no doubt about the 
 onion, though I will not swear to the day. He was fain to eke 
 out his income in various ways; once, for instance, by delivering 
 a lecture on Lafayette, in what was then known as the "old church",^ 
 now the moving picture palace. Dressed in solemn black he rose, 
 before a select audience of his Litchfield friends, tiptoed to the 
 edge of the platform, closed his eyes, and began to recite the Lord's 
 Prayer, while his auditors did not quite know how to take it. In 
 the course of the lecture occurred this passage: "About zees time, 
 a gr-r-eat misfortune happen to Lafayette. He loss his gr-ran- 
 mothair!" Loud shouts of laughter from the audience, to the amaze- 
 ment and disgust of the lecturer. 
 
 Of a different stamp was the debonair M. Laloux, of an age to 
 touch the liearts of the susceptible. At the opening meeting of hi» 
 first class, he divided the members into grades, and when Anna 
 Hubbard alone was left he said genially: "Mees Hubbard, you may 
 split yourself up anyway you like!" Laloux was anxious that his 
 English should be both classy and up-to-date, and when his use of 
 slang caused laughter, he Avould inquire in all seriousness: "Aha! 
 Ees not zat in use in ze best circles?" 
 
 An educational institution not intended as such, but function- 
 ing on the whole in the direction of righteousness, was the County 
 
238 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 court house, then our ouly temple of justice. New Milford, Falls 
 Village and Winsted had not then arisen as rival centers. We 
 attended many of the trials diligently. To watch a real story 
 unfold before one's eyes, to see the actual characters and hear them 
 tell what they had seen or experienced, and later to listen to the 
 impassioned pleas of the opposing counsel and the calm summing 
 up of the judge, followed by the breathless "waiting for the ver- 
 dict", — all this goes far ahead of any novel I have ever read, or 
 any play I ever saw. That at any rate, was the way we felt in 
 the 70's. Of course the story thus unfolded was always one of 
 crime or misdemeanor, though we took it all impersonally. The real 
 protagonists, in our eyes, were the lawyers: the judge was too 
 remote and chill to be regarded in that capacity. We naturally 
 took sides with the local talent: Henry B. Graves, Edward W. Sey- 
 mour, Solon B. Johnson. I was a little doubtful about Johnson, 
 because he edited the Sentinel, a Democratic sheet, and I was a 
 Republican, but his wit was something that could be matched at the' 
 Litchfield bar neither before nor since. 
 
 I well remember him in his defence of Green, an alleged wife- 
 poisoner. He was pouring out the vials of his sarcasm on some 
 luckless physician, who had testified that he had prescribed the 
 application of ice for the wife, who had admittedly died of an over- 
 dose of strychnine, whether administered by her husband or not. "Once 
 upon a time", narrated Johnson, "a workman who was tamping a 
 blasting charge with a crowbar had the misfortune to set it off; and 
 the bar was driven through his body, half protruding on either side. 
 A doctor was summoned, who gave the following opinion: 'My good 
 man, if I leave that bar there, you'll die. If I pull it out, you'll 
 die. But I'll tell you w^hat I'll do. I'll give you a pill that will 
 melt it where it is!" Johnson went on to say: 'Our friend here 
 would doubtless have prescribed — ice'." For such passages as these 
 we waited, holding our breaths, while Solon B. was speaking. His 
 basso-profundo voice and preternatural solemnity, together with his 
 stature of about six feet three, added to the effect. 
 
 Edward W. Seymour was my Sunday School teacher and as 
 such I revered and loved him. He was rather belligerent in court, 
 and on one occasion when he was on a side that I had previously 
 made up my mind was the wrong one, I was so torn between con- 
 flicting emotions that I almost resolved to frequent the halls of 
 justice no longer. We always took sides and debated the cases 
 among ourselves with some heat. 
 
 Politics bulked somewhat more large in our lives in the 70's 
 than it does, I think, in those of the boys of to-day. The Civil War 
 had recently ended, and our political ideas expressed themselves 
 largely in military form. Why this should have been the case more 
 in 1870 than in 1920, when a much greater war has just ended, possi- 
 bly some sociologist will explain. Each political party had its 
 semi-military marching organization, and we had ours in imitation 
 of our elders. I recollect parading on the North Street sidewalk 
 
Mrs. Edward W. Seymour. (Mary Floyd Tallmadge) 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 239 
 
 and shouting: "Hurrah for Hawley! Get out for English!" These 
 being respectively the Republican and Democratic candidates for 
 Governor. I had no doubt whatever that Joseph R, Hawley was 
 good and that James E. English was wicked. My Democratic boy 
 friends held precisely the opposite opinion. How much present 
 day political feeling is any more logical? The old-fashioned elec- 
 tion-day Avould have scandalized the modern Litchfielder, I am sure. 
 We boys were allowed to make lists of the voters, as they deposited 
 their ballots, so that the political committees could check them up; 
 and we proudly supposed that we were performing an official func- 
 tion of some sort. As the day wore on, our mothers kept us 
 indoors, for the outlying voter was bent on painting the town red 
 before he returned to his rural home, and he often succeeded in so 
 doing to the point of actual riot. 
 
 Just as our elections have become more orderly, so the spirit 
 of order has spread in other directions. Litchfield has spruced 
 up. She gives more attention to-day to the things that please the 
 eye. In the late 60's, she was what we should now call slovenly. 
 Her lawns were uncut, her citizens thought more of the value of 
 an acre's crop of hay than of the pleasures of looking upon closely 
 cropped SAvard. Her yards were fenced, for there were not infre- 
 quently stray animals in the streets and the Town Pound was 
 something more than a name. By night the streets were dark, and 
 the possession of a hand lantern or two was a necessity in every 
 well-regulated family. Those distant lights, with their irregular 
 motion, compounded of the lantern's own pendulum swing and the 
 forward progress of him who held it, were familiar sights in those 
 days. Even after Mr. Perkins' shocking innovation of lamp-posts, 
 and even after the V. I. S. had encouraged private lights on the 
 tree trunks, the individual lantern still retained its popularity. It 
 is hard to realize the revolution wrought by electricity in our noc- 
 turnal habits, here and elsewhere. 
 
 In the winter we walked in the street. When we trace back 
 the sequence of causes, we come again to the Town Pound, oddly 
 enough. An occasional stray horse, cow, or pig, meant a fence to 
 keep them out; a fence, when the snow flies, acts precisely like the 
 snow-guards along the western railroad lines: it slows up the air 
 current, which drops its burden and builds up a drift along the 
 obstacle. These drifts were, with us, often higher than the fences, 
 and when hard we walked on them. Cleaning off the sidewalks 
 would have inA'olved a continuous cut through impacted snow; 
 hence Ave walked in the middle of the street, and Avelcomed the ox- 
 sleds with their loads of wood, then the fashionable fuel, which 
 broke the road for us. The Borough regulations noAV require the 
 removal of snoAV, but the householder may thank the present infre- 
 quency of wandering beasts for the possibility of fence-removal that 
 has made our streets like parkways and incidentally abolished the 
 worst of the drifts. 
 
240 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 In general, Litclifield's aspect is more colonial to-day than it 
 was in 1870. People Avere proud then of the old houses, but never 
 thought of keeping up their general effect in new constructions. 
 We think Ave have an artistic sense now-a-days. Perhaps we have, 
 but I fear that our racial history is all against it. Just now it is 
 fashionable to be guided by artistic motives, but it is the fashion, 
 not the art, that we obey primarily. In the Revolutionary days, 
 it was the fashion to build houses such as the Georgian architects 
 were building in the old country. That the motive was fashion, 
 not an appreciation of the beautiful, is sufficiently proved by the 
 fact that when fashion shifted to ugliness Ave began at once, Avith 
 these colonial gems before our very eyes, to build probably the 
 ugliest structures that the eye of man has ever rested on. We are 
 clearing them away noAv; scroll-saAV decoration and pseudo-gothic 
 construction are going to the scrap heap, but that we have become 
 incapable of similar atrocities in the future I fear to believe. We 
 are no more original uoav than Ave Avere then; but Ave are imitating 
 the old models, which chance, heaven be praised, to be the better 
 ones. 
 
 So Ave may see in Litchfield streets to-day more good colonial 
 architecture than Ave did fifty years ago, although Ave may also see 
 some houses Avhich, beautiful and costly as they may be, are not in 
 accord with its traditions. As for our church buildings, they are 
 all architecturally bad, and our one beautiful example of colonial 
 work we have tucked off in a corner, Avhere it shelters a movie shoAV. 
 This is the saddest thing I know about Litchfield. In the early 
 70's it is a fact that the old colonial buildings were covertly sneered 
 at or regarded with amused tolerance. We felt toAvard them like 
 the western visitor to the Philadelphia Exposition of '76, who, as 
 related by the late Dr. William Deming, exclaimed to him dis- 
 appointedly: "I thought they Av^ould have some up-to-date buildings; 
 these old Greek things must be three hundred years old!" 
 
 I have said above that in Avinter Ave Avalked in the streets. A 
 good snow surface, hardened by passing runners, is not a bad 
 pavement, but it is sadly dependent on temperature. The snow 
 turned to slush and the frozen earth to mud, in mid-street, long 
 before the disappearance of the snoAV banks Avhich buried our 
 sidewalks. Then it Avas irksome to walk abroad. I have seen 
 laboring vehicles up to the hubs, I speak literally, in soft mud, 
 almost anywhere on North or South Streets. Not even an attempt 
 to improve the roads with gravel was made until the 80's, and the 
 macadam came much later. Even then we lived in flying and 
 floating dust until the prevalence of motor traffic, only a few years 
 ago, forced the use of oil and the preparations of tar, Avhich though 
 odorous and dirty in themselves have possibly contributed more to 
 our general comfort and cleanliness than any other improvement of 
 the last half century. These good roads, thanks to an enlightened 
 state policy, are creeping out through the country in all directions. 
 Fortunately for those who come among us for rest and enjoyment, 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 241 
 
 they are almost all scenic highways, as well as serving for com- 
 merce, their primary purpose. I do not know a section of the Union 
 where one may follow the ordinary channels of communication with 
 so great a certainty of seeing pleasing and constantly changing 
 views. 
 
 All the things that I have mentioned, repaired, restored and 
 cleaned buildings, shaven lawns, well lighted streets, hard, dust- 
 less roads, combine to produce on the visitor the impression of a 
 well kept park, that old Litchfield gave in a much less degree. 
 What is the cause of the change? Many persons would answer, 
 wealthy summer visitors. But this does not go to the root of the 
 matter. The change is due to a development of community feeling 
 and civic self-respect in which the influence of the summer resi- 
 dent with wealth and taste has been an undoubted factor. No one 
 can take stock of the houses on North and South Streets without 
 seeing that the number occupied in summer only has greatly increased. 
 Yet it is true that the civic spirit of which I have spoken began 
 to show itself long before the increase of summer residents. It first 
 showed itself in the Village Improvement Society, which gave us 
 shaven lawns, street crossings, concrete sidewalks, street lights, and 
 best of all a conviction that these things were good and a deter- 
 mination to have more of them. It cropped out later in the willing- 
 ness of our citizens to put good money into improved railway com- 
 munication, sewerage, water and lighting. Whether public or 
 private enterprise was the immediate cause, the underlying impulse 
 was the same, a quickened community consciousness, acting under 
 the spur of intelligent leadership and itself reacting to raise up 
 and stimulate new leaders. In all this, of course, the men of 
 means and good taste who have made Litchfield their siunmer home 
 have played a capital part; but it should be noted that these are 
 very largely Litchfielders themselves, by ancestry or by long resi- 
 dence. This town has been fortunate in its summer visitors. Many 
 a place has been ruined by them. Litchfield appears to be so con- 
 stituted that the sort of people it does not want do not like it and 
 would not live here under any circumstances. The exact reason 
 for all this will bear study; a passing mention is all that we can 
 give it here. It is surely noteworthy that without putting up the 
 bars, Avithout formally creating a park or a club or anything of the 
 kind, this village has always been able to secure the citizens it 
 wants and to exclude undesirables. 
 
 Is this tendency toward the replacement of all-year residents by 
 summer visitors a good thing or not? That depends on what we 
 desire for Litchfield. In Torrington or Waterbury it would be a 
 very bad thing. Imagine, if you can, 60 per cent of the residents of an 
 industrial town turned out of their homes to make room for semi- 
 annual occupants! There could be no successful industrial life 
 under such conditions. If you want Litchfield to be an industrial 
 town, you will conclude that the change is bad for it also. Even 
 as it is, movement in this direction may have gone far enough. 
 
242 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 None of us, I think, Avoiild like to see every house on North and 
 South Streets closed every winter. Permanent residential families 
 are needed here to carry on the Litchfield social and community tra- 
 ditions, but without the yearly access of other citizens from with- 
 out, these traditions would be more apt to grow flat, stale and 
 unprofitable. This presupposes, of course, free social intercourse 
 between permanent and temporaiy residents, and this has always 
 been the rule unless the temporary residents are unworthy. There 
 has never been any distinction here between visitors and towns- 
 people. I used to be afraid of it and I remember a symptom or 
 two in times now happily long passed. It is not altogether because 
 Litchfield people have always been socially acceptable. They have 
 been that of course; but I have been in old New England towns 
 where families of as good birth, breeding and education as ours were 
 placed in the disagreeable position of being looked down upon by 
 persons of extremely doubtful urban antecedents, whose wealth had 
 enabled them to create a social machine which rolled over that of 
 the old fashioned residents as a veritable car of Juggernaut. The 
 reason is rather that so many of our most influential summer resi- 
 dents have themselves been Litchfielders by birth or ancestry, 
 that many of the houses left vacant in the winter have been old 
 family mansions, links between the permanent society of the village 
 and its summer social fabric. A visitor at the Hotel was heard 
 to remark recently that she desired to attend a function at the 
 Club House, in order "to see what a real country audience looked 
 like". If she had done so, she would have seen a gathering com- 
 posed partly of New Yorkers, and residents of other cities, and 
 partly of those who dwell in Litchfield the year round; but I doubt 
 if she would have been able to distinguish between them, certainly 
 not by their long chin-whiskers and the hayseeds in their hair. 
 
 The community feeling, of which I have already spoken, has 
 doubtless been strengthened by the very fact that so many persons 
 have thus loved Litchfield as a community rather than any par- 
 ticular persons in it, or any particular locality in it. Our feeling 
 of affection for it is rather a compound than a sum; we have the 
 people, and the houses, and the elms, and the hills, but the result- 
 ing feeling is related to these in the same way that the properties 
 of a chemical compound are related to those of its constituents. 
 No one can taste in salt the chlorine or the sodium that compose it. 
 Now the fact that so many persons have always regarded Litchfield 
 in the community sense must have had the effect of increasing and 
 developing community feeling in its citizens. I believe that this feel- 
 ing has been and is being transmitted to the younger generation 
 and I see no reason why it should die out, though it may be modi- 
 fied. It is quite evidently modified indeed by a factor that is 
 changing the whole of modern life. I refer to the possibility of 
 rapid transit by automobile. The motor has contracted our maps 
 in the same proportion that it has extended our facilities. Comparing 
 what the scientists call the hour curves of travel of a half centurv 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 243 
 
 ago, Avith those of the present, we find that the time grade of our 
 neighborhood has been completely altered since my boyhood. Then 
 the first hour circle, for most of us, would have passed through 
 Bantam, about half way to Torrington, and a mile this side of East 
 Litchfield. For those of us who had horses at command it would 
 have lain somewhat further out. But to-day, how the lines have 
 sprung apart! The first hour line of the automobile may pass 
 beyond New Milford on one side and two-thirds of the way to Hart- 
 ford on the other. The second may lie partly outside the State. 
 
 The result of this state of things is that for the present gener- 
 ation the environs of Litchfield have broadened out well over the 
 State, overlapping and intermingling with those of many other 
 cities and towns. We thought of Litchfield as our all; to them 
 it is merely a center, a place from which to start and to which to 
 return. Their knowledge of it is vastly more extensive than ours 
 was; but ours was more intensive. They know how to get from 
 Harwinton to Farmington; we knew how to walk across country 
 to Prospect Mountain and the quickest way from HoUister's Bridge 
 to Chestnut Hill. They know the broad topography of the coun- 
 try in many counties, the lay of hill ranges, the valleys and streams ; 
 we knew every path, the stones in all the brooks, almost every tree, 
 within a narrow radius of a few miles. I do not know that either 
 knowledge is better than the other; each differs from the other, 
 that is all. 
 
 Their Litchfield is not quite ours; but the change here is not 
 objective, but subjective, though it has been brought about by a 
 material factor, the invention of machinery for rapid transporta- 
 tion. I see no reason why the extended Litchfield should bar out 
 the intimate knowledge of immediate surroundings. In many 
 cases it seems to have done so; in some few it has not, and I hope 
 that its permanent effect will be to add to our opportunities, not 
 simply to substitute one set for another. 
 
 In only one respect can I see that the old intimate and inten- 
 sive knoAvledge of the country, of which I have spoken, has held 
 its own. Our people, young and old, know the river well, between 
 the Little Pond and the Lake. They know it better than we did. 
 We went in row-boats from one pond to the other; they start with 
 their flock of canoes from the canoe-house. Here is a sport into 
 which speed cannot enter, and its continued popularity is a hope- 
 ful sign. But elsewhere, as I have said, the Speed King sits on 
 his throne. 
 
 It is in line with our community life that we have become 
 '"socialized" in many ways unknown to our ancestors. In my boy- 
 hood, the churches were the chief social as well as religious organi- 
 zations. Now we have clubs for old and young, and for both 
 together. In my boyhood the ever present gang instinct showed 
 itself in the formation of temporary groups, but these were unknown 
 to our elders as well as unnoticed by them. A club to which old 
 and young alike should belong would have been unthinkable; such 
 
244 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 clubs indeed were unlieard of anywhere in onr country in that day. 
 Their advent is an indication that everywhere, and not in Litchfield 
 alone, we are moving in this country toward a more coherent social 
 organization. But the existence of bodies of the kind we now have 
 in so small a community as ours, is evidence, it would seem, that 
 this movement has gone further and struck in deeper in Litchfield 
 than in other places. 
 
 The opinion has been expressed that the greatest change in 
 Litchfield is a liberalization of thought and habit, a loosening of 
 the bonds in religion and morals, a reaction in fact from Puritanism. 
 This is perhaps true, but it is not peculiar to Litchfield, and if 
 we take a broad enough view we need not attach supreme impor- 
 tance to it. These things swing in cycles. There are always 
 Puritans and always Cavaliers. Changes mean only that there 
 is a slight shifting of majorities, whereby now one and now the 
 other is in the ascendancy. 
 
 Possibly some may think that this attempt to tell of the changes 
 in Litchfield has succeeded only in showing that it has changed 
 very little, perhaps not at all. I shall not feel that I have failed 
 altogether, even if this is the conclusion. Human nature is eternally 
 the same, and its manifestations cannot vary greatly with the years. 
 Whatever our changes have been, they are essentially human, and 
 our lack of change is human also. Litchfielders will be men and 
 women for many a year to come, and we may hope and expect 
 that they will continue to be the type of men and women that have 
 honored Litchfield in the past, the outcome of an honest and 
 sturdy stock, shaped by an environment that they and their ancestors 
 have loved, and that can never, we are proud to think, turn out an 
 inferior product. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE WORLD WAR. 
 
 BY FLORENCE ELIZABETH ENNIS. 
 
 It is difficult to look back upon the past few years as a "period" 
 in our history, the events are so recent that it seems only yester- 
 day that we were doing as a matter of course, all the things here 
 recorded, because our one thought was that "we must win the war". 
 The sympathy of our town was so whole-heartedly with the Allies, 
 that from the outbreak of the war in Europe in August, 1914, we 
 felt that we were with them spiritually in the great struggle, and 
 it was with a deep sense of relief that we took our place beside 
 them in 1917. 
 
 The first evidence of our sjonpathy for the Avar victims was an 
 appeal for funds, issued by the Litchfield Red Cross Chapter on 
 August 13, 1914, which met with a generous response. The first 
 relief work done in our town was started by Miss E. D. Bininger, 
 who gathered together a group of women to make garments for 
 the wounded Belgians. 
 
 On September 5, 1914, a very successful Lawn Fete was given 
 for the benefit of the Red Cross at Kilravock Farm, the home of Mr. 
 and Mrs. Louis A. Ripley. The fete was organized by Mrs. William 
 Woodville Eockhill and her general committee, Mrs. John L. Buel 
 and Mrs. Ripley. Mr. and Mrs. Rockhill had just returned to 
 Litchfield to live, having lived abroad while Mr. Rockhill was in 
 the diplomatic service. 
 
 The day of the fete was all that could be desired, and it was 
 estimated that about 1,300 persons attended, many coming by auto- 
 mobile from distant parts of the state. The diversions furnished 
 by the committee were varied enough, to suit all tastes, and 
 included a Gymkhana, a ball game (which Litchfield lost to Water- 
 town) , dancing, a baby show, fortune telling, a horse race, a shoot- 
 ing gallery and lawn games. A special feature, which was much 
 admired, was the charmingly arranged enclosure of the Garden 
 Club, wherein Avere sold i)lants, flowers, seeds and garden imple- 
 ments. 
 
 The Litchfield Enquirer issued a souvenir edition, in honor of 
 the occasion, emblazoned with the Red Cross emblem, Avhich was 
 sold on the grounds. Many new members were secured for the 
 Red Cross. The sum of $4,000 was sent to the Red Cross National 
 Headquarters, $1,600 of which represented the proceeds of the fete, 
 and the remainder donations. 
 
246 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 A second Lawn Fete was held a year later at Kilravoek Farm, 
 also for the benefit of the Eed Cross, and was under the direction 
 of Mrs. Eipley and Mrs. Gordon W. Buriiham. Again onr uncer- 
 tain New England Aveather, which has been known to spoil the best 
 laid plans, was on its good behavior. Besides booths for the sale 
 of fancy articles, an excellent vaudeville performance was provided, 
 the hit of the afternoon being a minstrel show, given by our leading 
 citizens. A boxing match was a great attraction and was watched 
 with absorbed attention by a surprising number of our Litchfield 
 matrons. The Boy Scouts gave an exhibition and drill, and were 
 as always of great assistance in many ways. A prize was awarded 
 to the best couple in a dancing contest, and was presented by Mrs. 
 E. H. Sothern (Julia Marlowe), our distinguished siunmer visitor. 
 $1,500 was raised for the Red Cross. 
 
 During the summer of 1916, Miss Harriet C. Abbe organized 
 regular sessions for the making of hospital garments and surgical 
 dressings for the Allies. When Miss Abbe left in the fall for her 
 winter home, this work was taken over by the Litchfield Chapter 
 of the Eed Cross, under the direction of Mrs. Charles H. Coit, who 
 served as chairman of the Production Committee from this time 
 until June, 1919. 
 
 As the Litchfield Chapter has, like so many institutions in our 
 town, so long and honorable a career behind it, it is necessary here 
 to go back and briefly outline its history up to 1914. Organized 
 in May, 1898, as Red Cross Auxiliary No. 16, our Chapter has the 
 distinction of being the oldest Red Cross organization in Con- 
 necticut. 
 
 The Auxiliary was started for the purpose of helping the 
 soldiers in the Spanish- American War, and produced 3,646 hospital 
 garments, and raised $708.10 during the summer of 1898. These 
 amounts are interesting, as later we shall see the enormous figures 
 which were piled up in money and output, after we had been trained 
 to think in millions. 
 
 The Auxiliarj^ was re-organized in October, 1900, as Auxiliary 
 No. 5, of the American National Red Cross, which had b}^ this time 
 secured the protection and recognition of the United States Govern- 
 ment for its insignia. On July 11, 1905, it was again re-organized 
 and the Auxiliary became Sub-Division No. 1, of the Connecticut 
 Branch. In March 1910, the Sub-Division became a full fledged 
 chapter with jurisdiction over the entire county, and it was as 
 the Litchfield County Chapter that we began our war work in 1914. 
 
 The Red Cross work rooms have been housed in various places. 
 Some of the earliest meetings were held in the Town Hall. For the 
 succeeding summers, the Lawn Club was put at the disposal of the 
 Chapter, by the owner, Mrs. John A. Vanderpoel. The Community 
 Center room was used for the first Avinter, when cold weather made 
 the Lawn Club uninhabitable ; for the following winters the Sanctum 
 Club gave up the second floor of its club house to the workers. 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 247 
 
 In 1916 the war still raged on, and "preparedness" became tlie 
 great issue. Hobart Guion, George Guion, Edward Pikosky, E. 
 Dunscomb Sanford and Frank Barrett organized a military com- 
 pany, which Avas called the "Litchfield Kifles", and which met once 
 a week for business and drilL Edward Pikosky, who had been a 
 drillmaster in the United States Army, and Lieut. Robert F. Jack- 
 son, TJ. S. A. (retired), trained the company. 
 
 At the same time another company sprang into existence, the 
 "Litchfield Light Horse", with thirty members, and the weekly 
 drills under the supervision of George Guion and Edward Pikosky 
 became quite a picturesque feature of our quiet streets. These com- 
 panies were i>urely civic and had no connection in any way with 
 the state or federal governments. 
 
 Litchfield's daughters believed in "preparedness" as well as her 
 young men, and a number of them joined the Eifle Club, becoming 
 so proficient that they were regarded as a real bulwark against the 
 Huns, should Litchfield ever be invaded. It is perhaps well to add, 
 that while the Eifle Club held many of its meetings for practice In 
 the "lock-up" of the Court House, no damage was done to building 
 or members. 
 
 Our town was well represented at both Plattsburg Officers' 
 Reserve Camps, in 1916 and 1917, several of our young men receiv- 
 ing commissions. 
 
 In February 1917 came the severing of diplomatic relations 
 with Germany, and Ave kncAv it Avas only a question of time when 
 the United States would take her place Avith the Allies. Acting 
 upon instructions from National Headquarters, the Litchfield Chap- 
 ter of the Eed Cross called a public meeting and took the necessary 
 steps to put the chapter on a war basis. 
 
 The period Avhich folloAved AA^as a time of painful anxiety Avhile 
 the whole country Avaited for Avar to be declared with Germany. The 
 state of tension Avhicli Ave all felt is shown by the foUoAving 
 telegram, signed by Mrs. John L. Buel, as State Eegent of the 
 D. A. R., and about thirty men, representing all the business and 
 professional interests of the toAvn: "The following citizens of Litch- 
 field, Conn., ask for positive stand for Avar Avith Germany to pre- 
 serve national safety and honor"; and sent to President Wilson, 
 Senator Frank B. Brandegee and Congressman James P. Glynn. 
 
 A state of Avar Avith Germany was declared on April 6, 1917, 
 and the machinery for putting the nation on a Avar footing Avas 
 set in motion. With our bo,ys enlisting for service overseas, the 
 older men welcomed the opportunity for patriotic service in the 
 home town, and the Governor's call for the formation of a Con- 
 necticut State Guard (popularly known as the "Home Guard") 
 was quickly ansAvered. A company of 63 infantry and IS calvary 
 was mustered in by Captain Henry H. Saunders of Norfolk, on 
 May 24. With the formation of the Home Guard the "Litchfield 
 Riflles" and the "Light Horse" Avere disbanded. 
 
248 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 With our entry into the war, the conservation and distribution 
 of food became a matter of first importance. We were told that 
 "food will win the war, don't waste it", in every mail, by every 
 newspaper, and from every space where it was possible to hang 
 a poster, and accordingly conservation became the order of the 
 day. Our town clerk, George H. Hunt, received instructions from 
 the Governor to appoint local Food Supply Committees, and thus 
 began an era of canning. The Committee on Canning appointed 
 by Mr. Hunt was merged with the Home Economics Committee of 
 the Farm Bureau, Mrs. Philip P. Hubbard, chairman. A sub- 
 committee, on Canning and Labor (an excellent title) with Miss 
 Harriet M. Kichards as chairman, worked valiantly to conserve sur- 
 plus fruit and vegetables. A volunteer force was organized and 
 canning was done for individual customers, supplies were laid in 
 for the school lunch room, and goods were prepared for sale. The 
 work was partly done in the school kitchen and partly in the rooms 
 of the Farm Bureau. Miss Amy Thurston, Mrs. William S. Plumb, 
 and many others helped to make this work the great success it was. 
 
 All the organizations in town did their bit in one way and 
 another to help "win the war". The Garden Club gave demonstra- 
 tions in the preparation of food, did much publicity work in the 
 interests of conservation, distributed war recipes, and held sales of 
 fruits and vegetables which might otherwise have been wasted. 
 These "French Markets" as they were called, were held on the 
 Green and the booth was an attractive sight. 
 
 The Mary Floyd Tallmadge Chapter of the D. A. E., cooperated 
 heartily in all the local war work, besides carrying on the special 
 lines of work undertaken by their organization. In the making of 
 surgical dressings, in knitting, in food conservation, in the salvage 
 of materials needed by the Government (such as the fruit pits which 
 were collected for use in the manufacture of gas masks), and in 
 the support of all the Liberty Loan Campaigns and all the numer- 
 ous drives for money, the members proved themselves true daugh- 
 ters of those sturdy pioneers who laid the foundations of the 
 democracy we were fighting to save. 
 
 Mrs. John L. Buel was appointed a member of the Women's 
 Committee of the State Council of Defense, representing the Daugh- 
 ters of the American Eevolution, and was elected first vice-president 
 of the Committee. The chairman of the Local Committee for Litch- 
 field was Mrs. F. A. Stoddard. 
 
 Under this Local Committee of the State Council of Defense, 
 a splendid food show was given on April 18, 1918, in the Town Hall, 
 to demonstrate what could be done with the substitutes we were 
 asked to use instead of our accustomed foodstuffs. The exhibits 
 were not only attractive to the eye, but were absolutely convincing 
 as to the possibilities of war cookery, as each visitor was given a 
 paper plate and spoon and allowed to discover for himself how 
 delicious food could be, and yet be within the bounds we were asked 
 
Mrs. John Laid law Buel, State Regent, D. A. 
 (Elizabeth C. Barney Buel) 
 
 R. 
 
J 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 249 
 
 to keep by Mr. Hoover, the Food Commissioner. Brilliant posters 
 (without the posters these years of war would have been drab 
 indeed) set forth much useful information. In the evening lec- 
 tTires were given by Miss Hays of Storrs Agricultural College and 
 by Miss Bronson of the Farm Bureau. 
 
 An all-day Victory Conference was held in Litchfield on May 
 8, 1918, by the State Council of Defense, under the direction of 
 Mrs. Stoddard and her Local Committee. 
 
 The "gasless Sundays" which we were asked to observe were 
 well respected. ''Wheatless days" and "meatless days" were scru- 
 pulously kept, and most of the clubs in town gave up refreshments 
 at their meetings, or if a cup of tea was served, all were asked 
 to supply their own sugar. "War gardens" were the fashion, 
 and with the great scarcity of labor a unit of the Women's Land 
 Army, poj^ularly known as "farmerettes", which was stationed in 
 Litchfield, proved of real value. 
 
 The first Liberty Loan Campaign was inaugurated by a meet- 
 ing of representatives of all the women's organizations in town, 
 called by Mrs. John L. Buel, who had been appointed chairman of 
 the Women's Committee for the Loan. Plans were made to canvass 
 the town, and a mass meeting arranged for June 10, 1917. At this 
 public meeting, which was held in the Congregational church, on 
 Sunday afternoon, Charles H. Coit, chairman of the Liberty Loan 
 Committee explained the business side of the Loan, and patriotic 
 speeches were made by Eev. Frank J. Goodwin, D.D. and Mrs. 
 Goodwin. 
 
 The district covered by the Committee for this Loan was Litch- 
 field, Morris, Bethlehem, Washington, Warren, and Goshen; and 
 the total subscriptions were $69,050. 
 
 The second Liberty Loan was tremendously helped by the rally 
 held on October 25, 1917, which was planned and carried out by 
 Edward H. Sothern. $155,000 had been subscribed before the Eally, 
 and the amount subscribed at the meeting was $98,750. The pro- 
 gram consisted of patriotic music, recitations by both Mr. and 
 Mrs. Sothern, and the reading of the Honor Roll of those Litchfield 
 boys who were in the sersdce of the country. 
 
 The district covered by the second Loan Avas the same as the 
 first, a quota was given of $146,000; and total amount subscribed 
 was $305,450. , 
 
 The special feature of the third Liberty Loan Campaign was a 
 patriotic rally held at Colonial Hall, April 8, 1918, with Judge 
 Robert W. Munger as the speaker of the occasion. The singing 
 was led by Thomas F. Ryan. 
 
 Bantam held its own rally for this Loan, under the direction 
 of Winfield Scott Rogers and Miss Nellie M. Scott; and the occa- 
 sion was a great success. 
 
 For the third Loan the district was changed to the town of 
 Litchfield, the quota was $150,500; and the amount subscribed, $217,- 
 
250 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 750, sliows that our town had gone "over the top" again. It is a 
 matter of pride, that as far as is known, Litchfield has never failed 
 to fill, and more than fill, the quotas which have been set for her, 
 in any of the many drives. 
 
 Litchfield was aAvarded an Honor flag for this Loan and an 
 interesting celebration marked the raising of the flag. There were 
 several four-minute speeches, Mr. Eogers being the first speaker in 
 honor of Bantam's splendid record. The flag was raised by Miss 
 Nellie M. Scott of Bantam, assisted by Mr. Coit. The assistance 
 was so vigorous that the rope was pulled out, leaving Old Glory 
 flying at the toi^ of the pole with only one halyard. Louis J. 
 Goodman Jr. came to the rescue, "shinnied" up the pole, and brought 
 down the flag. The exercises then proceeded according to schedule. 
 
 A "community sing" was held on the Green on Saturday, Sep- 
 tember 29, 1918, at noon, at the request of the New England Liberty 
 Loan Committee, to mark the ofi'icial opening of the fourth Loan. 
 The singing was led by Judge Ryan, assisted by Albert J. Haus- 
 mann, bugler. 
 
 The district for the fourth Loftn was again the toAvn of Litch- 
 field, the quota was $315,000, and the amount subscribed $437,000. 
 
 The Victory Loan in May, 1919, was not marked by any special 
 features. House to house canvassing by the Avomen of the town 
 was done for all five Loans, and the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts 
 helped greatly in the campaigns. 
 
 For the fifth or Victory Loan the district remained the town of 
 Litchfield, the quota was $237,000, and the amou.nt raised $297,300. 
 
 The first Red Cross War Fund Drive for $100,000,000 followed 
 immediately after the first Liberty Loan campaign, and was held 
 the week of June 18-25, 1917. John H. Lancaster was appointed 
 chairman of the drive. The territory covered by the Chapter was 
 in a state of readjustment, and in April, 1917, the word "County" 
 had been dropped from the name as it no longer applied, many 
 sections of the jurisdiction formerly covered having left the Chap- 
 ter. The quota for the Litchfield Chapter was $15,000, and tire 
 total amount collected was $26,076.53. 
 
 Tlie second War Fund Drive held by the Red Cross for a second 
 fund of $100,000,000 was held in May 1918. By this time the terri- 
 troy covered by the Litchfield Chapter was thoroughly organized 
 and was hard at work answering the ever increasing orders for 
 more and more output. The quota was again $15,000 and the sum 
 of $34,433.75 was raised. Twenty five per cent, of this amount was 
 retained by the Chapter for the work in surgical dressings. 
 
 The work of the Red Cross increased enormously with our 
 entrance into the war. To Mrs. Coit, as chairman of the Produc- 
 tion Committee, to Mrs. Charles N. Warner, supervisor of knitting 
 and refugee garments; to Mrs. John Dove, supervisor of hospital 
 garments; and to their faithful workers is due the credit for the 
 production of 242,578 surgical dressings, 5,953 knitted articles, 3,734 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 251 
 
 hospital garments, 2,407 refugee garments from October 1916 to 
 October 1919. The Junior Bed Cross, under the leadership of Mrs. 
 William J. Dykes, produced 3,447 refugee garments in addition to 
 those mentioned above. 
 
 With the increasing war work the clerical work of the Chapter 
 became so heavy that a central office was a necessity. While the 
 Executive Committee was still looking in vain for office room, 
 Judge Kyan generously offered the use of a room in his building, 
 which was supplied with all the equipment needed, such as type- 
 writer, telephone, etc. The offer was gratefully accepted, and the 
 executive secretary held regular office hours from August 1918 till 
 the following June. The room is still occupied by the Chapter. 
 
 These were days of much public speaking, there was so much 
 that the people needed to know about, and so much that they were 
 expected to do, when it had been told to them. The Litchfield War 
 Bureau and the Litchfield Grange arranged a patriotic rally for 
 February 28, 1918, and Prof. Charles M. Bakewell of Yale Univer- 
 sity told us from his personal experiences something of the real 
 nature of our enemy. This was one of the finest war talks heard 
 in Litchfield, and the occasion Avas also memorable by the dedica- 
 tion of the Grange Service flag with its seven stars. 
 
 With our joining the Allies, the display of Old Glory became 
 almost universal, and nearly every house carried the colors. As 
 our boys departed to help "make the world safe for democracy", 
 another flag began to be seen. This, the "service flag", hung in the 
 window and indicated by the blue star on the red-bordered white 
 field that a member of the household had left it for the country's 
 service. More than one house in our town bore a service flag with 
 three stars on it. Each church had its flag showing the number of 
 its young men who were in the ariny or navy. 
 
 On April 27, 1918, through the generosity of one of our residents, 
 the people of Litchfield were given the privilege of hearing the 
 soldier-poet, John Masefield, talk on "The War and the Future". 
 No one who heard Mr. Masefield will ever forget the quiet way 
 in which he gave picture after picture of the war in all its horror, 
 and when the tension seemed more than one could bear, lightened 
 it with a flash of the characteristic humor of the Tommies. After 
 his lecture Mr. Masefield read some of his poems. No admission 
 was charged, Mr. Masefield turning over his fee to the Bed Cross. 
 
 A second lecture was given by Mr. Masefield on July 30, under 
 the auspices of the Historical Society, for the benefit of the Bed 
 Cross. 
 
 A campaign for the sale of War Saving Stamps, beginning 
 June 28, 1918, was conducted by Thomas F. Byan, Chairman of 
 Litchfield township. A thorough canvass was made and pledges 
 were secured from 2,656 adults over 14 years of age, covering pur- 
 chases of $8,330 par value of stamps, and minimum pledges of 
 $21,395 more during the coming year. The quota of 88 per cent. 
 
352 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 reached in Litchfield was the highest recorded anywhere in the 
 state, in respect to the total number of registrations, making Litch- 
 field the banner town. 
 
 In order to finish the account of the drives held in Litchfield, 
 we will jump to November 1918, and the campaign for funds held 
 by the seven war relief agencies, and known as the United War 
 Work Campaign. When the Red Cross first asked for $100,000,000 
 it seemed as if the high water mark in giving had been set, but the 
 seven agencies, combining in one drive, asked for the sum of $250,- 
 000,000 to complete their war obligations. The seven agencies were 
 the Y. M. C. A., the Y. W. C. A., the Knights of Columbus, the 
 Jewish Welfare Association, the War Camp Community Service, 
 the American Library' Association and the Salvation Army. In 
 spite of the fact that the Armistice had just been signed, with the 
 inevitable let-down of enthusiasm for war work, the quota of $11,- 
 250 was exceeded; the sum raised amounting to $11,491.45. 
 
 During the preceding summer, Mrs. L. P. Bissell had collected 
 by means of a "Crucible", articles and jewelry of gold and silver. 
 The contents of the Crucible was sold for the sum of $200 and the 
 money given to the War Camp Community Service fund. 
 
 Rev. William J. Brewster was the chairman of the Near-East 
 Drive, 1919, the quota was $4,600 and $5,867.33 was subscribed. 
 
 Besides these drives which have been described in detail, num- 
 erous lesser drives were held, such as the three membership drives 
 of the Red Cross: the two clothing drives for the sufferers in 
 Europe; a "Linen Shower" for the French hospitals; a drive for 
 associate members for the Boy Scouts ; the same for the Girl Scouts ; 
 for the Y. M. C. A. and the Y. W. C. A.; for books and magazines 
 for the soldiers; so that scarcely a week passed without an oppor- 
 tunity to show one's generosity and patriotism. 
 
 In all that was done to "keep the home fires burning" it must 
 be understood that the school children did their full share. Through 
 the Junior Red Cross and through the general war work of the 
 town, they were brought into direct contact with the great needs of 
 the time, and responded as our future citizens should. 
 
 The task of collecting and preserving the history of the Litch- 
 field men who served in the great war, will be done by the two posts 
 of the American Legion, which have been formed in Bantam and in 
 Litchfield. There has not been time since the return of the men 
 and the formation of the Posts to do more than make a beginning 
 of this work. At the present writing, one of our men, Robert K. 
 Munroe, is still with the engineers at Coblenz. 
 
 With the exception of one group of men who sei'ved together 
 in the 102nd Infantry the Litchfield boys were scattered through 
 the forces, and were in many different branches of the service. 
 Lieut. T. A. Langford, in the Marines, was wounded twice and saw 
 much heavy fighting. Among those in the aviation section, were 
 Allan Trumbull, Alexis Doster, Henry L. Page, James Kirwin, 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 253 
 
 Edward P. Heath. Those who served as medical officers were Dr. 
 Charles H. Turkington, Dr. Charles I. Page, Jr., Dr. Nelson Lloyd 
 Deming, and Dr. John E. Keller. Dr. William Champion Deming, 
 a former Litchfield man, also served in the Avar. 
 
 During the summer of 1917 the Selective Draft had been put 
 in operation, William T. Marsh serving on the Board. The first 
 six men left for Camp Devens at Ayer, Massachusetts, on September 
 9. From time to time other groups left, and were wished God- 
 speed by those who gathered to see them off, many of whom went with 
 the boys to Torrington, where they entrained. The Red Cross saw 
 that the men were supplied with knitted comforts and gave them 
 a farewell supper before they left. A Smoke Club was organized by 
 the business men of the town to supply the boys with tobacco. 
 
 With our men in the training camps, on the high seas, and in 
 the trenches, the State Council of Defense made an appeal that 
 our celebration of the Fourth in 1918, should be not only "safe and 
 sane", but of such a character that all the elements of the com- 
 munity would be drawn together in a common observance of the 
 day. The committee in charge decided upon an old-fashioned 
 picnic, and invited the people of Morris, Goshen and Bethlehem to 
 join us. The day started with a fine parade in which many organi- 
 zations of the town were represented and a special feature was 
 made of the floats, prizes being given for the best. 
 
 After the parade all gathered on the Green, hunted up 
 the lost members of their party and settled under the shade of the 
 trees to enjoy a picnic lunch. As the people sat together in thi^ 
 "folksy" way, the thought of the boys with the colors made an under- 
 current of sympathy and neighborliness. 
 
 After the lunch the exercises were held in the West Park, the 
 Hon. Porter H. Dale of Vermont making the address. The usual 
 Fourth-of-July thunder shower lent a touch of excitement to the 
 day. 
 
 Of those who went from Litchfield, some had already at this 
 time made the supreme sacrifice for their country. There were in 
 all ten service flags in our town, which were entitled to change the 
 blue star for the gold star of honor. 
 
 The first man to give his life was Howard C. Sherry, who died 
 of pneumonia at Camp Johnston, Florida, on January 16, 1918. 
 Eobert P. Jeffries died of the same disease on January 20, at Camp 
 Gordon, Georgia. A military funeral was held for Howard Sherry 
 at the Methodist church, and on the following day. a similar ser- 
 vice was held at St. Paul's church in Bantam, where Robert Jef- 
 fries had lived. The Home Guard and a delegation from the Red 
 Cross attended both services. 
 
 Corporal Frank A. Morgan, Co. M., 102 Reg., was the first man 
 to enlist from Litchfield. Twice rejected because of underweight, 
 he did not give up, and was able to enter the service when the 
 weight limit was lowered. The first to volunteer, Morgan was the 
 
254 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 first man to lay down his life in battle. His mother, Mrs. G-. 
 Durancl Merriman received the following letter, giving the circum- 
 stances of his death: "Your son, Corporal Frank A. Morgan was 
 killed June 20, 1918, near Mandres in the Toul sector. He was 
 killed by the concussion of a shell; even though he died instantly, 
 there was not a mark on him. . . . When we first went into the line 
 he acted as a runner between the platoon and company headquarters 
 and did his work so well that I proposed his name to the company 
 commander as one to be made corporal at the first opportunity, and 
 I am sure that had he lived he would have continued to win promo- 
 tions. He is buried in an American Military Cemetery and the 
 flag he fought for floats over his grave, while by his side are com- 
 rades who with him have paid the supreme price". 
 
 A letter which Corporal Morgan wrote to his mother expresses 
 the splendid spirit with which our forces met their baptism of fire. 
 
 "Somewhere in France. 
 My dearest beloved Mother: 
 
 Well I have not written to anyone now for a week but it seems 
 like a month. We will be in our rest camp in a few days so I'll 
 write a nice long letter. Just received three letters from you and 
 you know I always love to hear from home and Mother. Also got 
 a letter from Chas. I am sitting outside writing this letter and 
 several of the fellows are doing the same. It has been a "perfect 
 day". Saw some nice flower gardens here and pansy beds. Sum- 
 mer comes early. We have also had some nice air raids today. 
 One German plane was brought doAvn burning. Air raids are as 
 regular as the clocks in most parts of France. But they never 
 do any harm. It is pastime for us to lay on the ground and 
 watch them dip and duck around in the sky. 
 
 You have probably heard by this time that the 102nd made a 
 good showing on the line. We will show the enemy what it is to 
 provoke the "Stars and Stripes". Now I can tell you that I've 
 been in the first line trenches, face to face with Fritz. The first 
 time Ave were in for five days, then we came out for five and went 
 in again. The first time we didn't lose a man. But the second 
 time we had our first experience with gas. We went in with 
 230 men but returned with a fcAV less. Of course we mourn the 
 loss of our comrades. But you need not worry about me for I'm 
 safe with the company. You know what Sherman said? Well 
 you can promise the world I said he was right. You know it will 
 mean business this summer. But we want simimer to come any- 
 waj' and have it over. I Avould like to be sitting under the old 
 apple tree this simimer, but I will next year believe me. You tell 
 everybody I say this is Fritz's last try and it is bound to fail. . . . 
 Glad you are all well and happy and there's no reason w^hy you 
 shouldn't be for I am. 
 
 Well I can't write much more as it is getting late, lights out 
 at nine o'clock. And whatever you do don't worry about me. May 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 255 
 
 God protect me till we meet again for I'm sure we will. Write 
 soon and often to your loving son, 
 
 FRAISX A. MOEGAN" 
 
 Thomas F. Weir and his brother James were privates in the 
 same regiment, the 102nd. Thomas Weir gives the following 
 account of the action in which his brother was killed: "At the 
 start of the Chateau Thierry drive they went over the top at 5:30 
 A. M. and went into woods the other side of the starting position. 
 They relieved the Marines, with Marines on left and French on 
 right; the position was in a horse shoe. The company went ahead 
 and had to wait for the French. They went back and went ahead 
 again without barrage. Co. H. was in the 2nd batallion. Enemy 
 artillery fire was very heavy, 2nd battalion in support, 3rd battalion 
 ahead and 1st in reserve. The company was in open field kneeling 
 down in close formation, a German big shell came over and landed 
 200 yards away. A piece landed beside the two Weir boys and 
 hit James between the eyes. Eoy Hotchkiss helped to carry out 
 and bandage James, who was taken to the 103rd Field Hospital at 
 La Ferte and buried there". 
 
 In a letter written by James Weir to the Smoke Club, he 
 shows that he too had that "old Kew England spirit all rigit". 
 
 "Co. H., 102nd U. S. Inf. 
 March 29, 1918. 
 
 Smoke Club of Litchfield: 
 
 As I have a fcAV minutes I want to write and thank the people 
 of Litchfield for their smokes, as I must say they are more than 
 appreciated. I don't know what I would have done without them, 
 not only the cigarettes, but the Enquirer also. 
 
 I am glad to be able to say we have been in the trenches for 
 a long time and you can tell all the boys I will be home for that 
 Labor Day parade, as the boys are all in trim and ready for any- 
 thing that comes up. They have that old New England spirit all 
 right. This is said to be the best regiment in France, bar none. 
 Not so bad for the boys from Connecticut. We are all feeling fine 
 and waiting patiently for a shot at the Kaiser, and not a bit afraid 
 of their old Springflelds, when they say we are doing our bit, too. 
 It is rather a ticklish job, but the boys don't mind it in the least. 
 
 You can imagine the shrapnel bursting over head and big shells 
 whizzing on all sides of us. We just laugh and watch to see if 
 we can see them going through the air. We have had many close 
 calls. One old six inch shell dropped about four feet from me, 
 but it was my luck it was dead and didn't go off, so I made up my 
 mind I was going home when it didn't get me that time. . . . 
 
 The boys from home are all fine — Tom and Matt Brennan, Matt 
 Hotchkiss, Howard Brown and all the rest of the boys. Trusting 
 all my Litchfield friends are in the best of health and thanking 
 vou again for the cigarettes, I remain as ever, 
 
 JAMES WEIR" 
 
256 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 Private August Guinchi of the Coast Artillery 56tli Regiment 
 died of typhoid fever on October 31, 1918, resulting from the effects 
 of gas. Private Guinchi was gassed while driving a tank. He is 
 buried in the American Battle Area Cemetery at Langres, Depart- 
 ment of Haute-Marne. 
 
 Another victim of disease, Clayton A. Devines, died of Spanish 
 Influenza in camp at Jacksonville, Florida. A memorial service 
 was held at the Congregational church on December 1, 1918. 
 
 Joseph Donohue Avas a Junior Republic boy who served with 
 the 102nd, Co. D., and was killed in action on July 23, 1918. 
 
 Roy E. Cornwell who died on shipboard en route to France, 
 had lived in Litchfield for some time and had been a member of 
 the Home Guard. He enlisted from Elizaville, N. Y., the home 
 of his father, but as he had been so identified with Litchfield he is 
 included in our list of those who lost their lives in the war. 
 
 Henry Cattey was a Xorthfield boy, who lived in the Marsh 
 district. He was killed in action, but it has not been possible to 
 obtain details of his death. 
 
 Pio Zavotti, like August Guinchi, an Italian, but an American 
 when his adopted country needed him, is supposed to have been 
 killed in action. He had lived in Litchfield for several years and 
 worked at the Rijjley farm, and gave Litchfield as his address 
 when he went into the army. 
 
 About fifty former citizens of the Junior Republic were with 
 the American Expeditionary Forces. Those who died in action 
 and are not included in the ten from Litchfield, as they had their 
 homes elsewhere, are: Timothy O'Connor, Xornian Stein, and 
 Roger Wilson. Lieutenant Timothy O'Connor, Co. M., 108th 
 Infantry, had many friends in Litchfield who will be proud of 
 the gallantry of his death. He was cited for bravery, in the fol- 
 lowing words: "2nd Lieut. Timothy O'Connor (deceased) for great 
 personal courage and inspiring qualities of leadership while in 
 command of his company. Even after being mortally wounded, 
 this ofi'icer's last words were for the men to continue their attack. 
 This was in the battle of La Salle River, France, October 17, 1918". 
 
 We have now to record the honors earned by one of our men, 
 who, happily, recovered from his wounds. Lieut. Joseph R. Busk 
 was cited on June 20, 1918, in these words: "The following action 
 of 2nd Lieut. J. R. Busk, Inf. R. A. 38th Infantry, is mentioned as 
 deserving particular commendation as showing the determined effort 
 of this officer to accomplish at all hazards a mission on which he 
 had been sent: On the night of June 16-17, 1918, this officer was 
 designated to cross the Marne River with a patrol for the purpose 
 of capturing and bringing back a prisoner, by surprising any of 
 the enemy who were moving; he had not accomplished the mission 
 after having waited until almost daylight; when he boldly entered a 
 wood supposed to be occupied by the enemy, where he encountered a 
 hostile detachment which fired on his patrol and severely wounded 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 257 
 
 him". Lieut. Busk was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross 
 for "Extraordinary heroism in action east of Chateau Thierry, 
 France, June 17, 1918. Despite the coldness of the water, the 
 swiftness of the current, and the presence of the enemy on the 
 opposite bank, Lieut. Busk completed a personal reconnaissance of 
 the enemy's position by swimming the Kiver Marne, after which 
 he took a patrol across the river in boats and obtained valuable 
 information regarding the movements of the enemy". 
 
 Lieut. Busk was further honored by King Albert I, of Belgium, 
 who conferred upon him the Ordre de la Couronne, with the rank 
 of "chevalier". 
 
 Charles A. Whitbeck, a driver in Bat. D., 12th Field Artillery, 
 2nd Div., saw 21 months 15 days of active seiwice and was in most 
 of the engagements at Chateau Thierry, Soissons, Champagne, St. 
 Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne. Whitbeck was with the army 
 of occupation which marched into Germany, and spent the winter 
 there. At Soissons on July 21, 1918, Battery D. Avas between the 
 2nd and 3rd line backing up the French, 1st Moroccan Division. 
 The position was on low ground and was observed by the Germans 
 from a high hill. A big barrage was placed on the battery and 
 they had to retire, leaving the guns. Volunteers Avere asked for, 
 two cannoneers and tAvo di*iA'ers, including Whitbeck, Avere chosen. 
 The IMajor of the battalion led them in, and one piece and caisson 
 were rescued. 
 
 On May 27, 1919, Whitbeck received the Croix de Guerre with 
 silver star. The citation, translated into English, is as foUoAvs: 
 "Upon the approval of the Commander-in-Chief of the American 
 Expeditionary Forces in France, the Marshal of France, Com- 
 mander-in-Chief of the Armies of the East, recommends by order 
 of the Division : Private Charles A. Whitbeck, Battery D, 12th Field 
 Artillery, 2nd Division: On July 21, 1918, near Vierzy, in the face 
 of a violent bombardment, he attached a gun-limber to a disabled 
 field-piece, so that this field-piece could be draAvn to the rear". 
 
 James KirAvin, Avho enlisted in the regular army and was 
 assigned to the 126th Aero Supply Squadron, Avas on the Tuscania 
 when she Avas torpedoed. For some time it was not known in Litch- 
 field that he Avas among the surA^ivors. Sergt. KirAvin giA^es this account 
 of his experience: "The morning of February 5, the order for life 
 belts was given. At the time the convoy was in the North Chan- 
 nel off the Irish coast, the position of the Tuscania was central, 
 the other ships forming a circle around her. About 5:30 the order 
 came, 'troops up on D deck'. At 5:30 there Avas a terrible shock, 
 not so much of an explosion, as of a dull bloAV. The ship seemed 
 to jump high in the air, and hang there quivering for a time before 
 it fell back into the Avater, where it bobbed about very much like 
 a cork and Avith a decided list to starboard. The lights went out 
 at the time of the explosion and the darkness seemed shot with 
 tongues of fire. The atmosphere seemed dense Avith a strong odor 
 
258 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 like that of burniug celluloid. I liad been assigned to No, 9 boat, 
 but when 1 reached that station I found both 7 and 9 stations 
 had been blown away, as the torpedo struck directly beneath them. 
 "Everyone answered a call for volunteers to launch boats. The 
 men were taken off 7 and 9 stations and for the next two hours 
 were on the hurricane deck, launching the boats, the last of which 
 that could be cast off were lowered at 8:15; and there were still 
 one thousand men on board. 
 
 "The water was full of men, some swimming, but many of them 
 dead or dying. We had about resigned ourselves to going down 
 with the ship, the men were singing, 'Where do we go from here, 
 boys', when word was passed to go down on B deck. Of course 
 we hurried more than is usual in the army. Three destroyers 
 had returned and had taken off everyone except those who had been 
 on the boat deck. The cry was 'slide down the rope and keep 
 your eyes up'. After I reached the destroyer I looked over the 
 side and saw those who didn't make her. I shall always be sorry 
 I didn't obey orders". 
 
 Kirwin was landed at Buncrana Island, Ireland, suffering with 
 concussion and was cared for by the British troops stationed there. 
 It is not possible to give an account of the other Litchfield men 
 who saw active service overseas. George H. Hunt, the Town Clerk, 
 has recorded all the discharge papers which have been turned in to 
 him, but those on file represent only a small part of the number 
 who went from Litchfield, and the work of the Post Historians has 
 only just beg-un. 
 
 During those terrible years before we Avent into the war, when 
 America Avas pouring our her wealth to help suffering Europe, her 
 young men and Avomen Avere seeking opportunities for personal ser- 
 vice in the hospitals and in the camps of the Allies. 
 
 Three of our Litchfield men did ambulance work in France, 
 afterwards serving in the A. E. F.: Guy H. Eichards AAdth the 
 American Ambulance Service; Elmore McNeill Bostwick and Fred- 
 erick W. Busk Avith the Norton-Harjes Ambulance Section No. 5, 
 Avhich Avas decoi-ated by the French Government. 
 
 Eejected on physical grounds by the U. S. A., du Val Allen 
 joined the Norton-Harjes Ambulance Section No. 646, Avhich was 
 attached to the famous French "Blue Devils" and to the Moroccan 
 Division. Allen Avas hit on the head by a piece of shell and 
 rendered unconscious for several hours, contracting pno'unonia fwmi 
 the exposure, and also narroAvly escaped death in a bombed hos- 
 pital. Section No. 646 AA-as honored four times by the French 
 Government, receiving the Croix de Guerre and the Medaille Mili- 
 taire. 
 
 Shepherd Knapp, formerly of Litchfield, noAv a clergyman at 
 Worcester, Mass., spent a year in France under the Y. M. C. A., for 
 six months of this time being stationed at Aix-les-Bains, the famous 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 259 
 
 resort, which was turned into a "rest-place" for the American 
 troops, and re-christened by the men, "Aches and Pains". 
 
 Archibald M. Richards also gave his services to the Y. M. C. A. 
 and was stationed at Paris for over a year, as assistant manager 
 of the hotel run by the "Y" for its secretaries. 
 
 In 1916, Willard Parker Lindley spent several months in France 
 assisting the work for blinded soldiers, under Miss Winifred Holt. 
 
 The Litchfield women who served in the war, enlisted under 
 our own Government, were Marion Crutch and Elsie Koser, army 
 nurses; Mildred McNeill, reconstruction aid; and Irene Crutch, Mae 
 Brahen, Clare Brennan and Evelyn Deacon, yeowomen. Elizabeth W, 
 McNeill was employed as a Civil Service stenographer in the Army. 
 
 The women who did war work overseas were: Cecil Cunning- 
 ham (now Mrs. Alexis Doster), who served for six months as an 
 auxiliary nurse in the French hospitals; and Amy Eichardson 
 Thurston and Frances Elliot Hickox, who were Y. M. C. A. canteen 
 workers, their duties including many activities from scrub woman 
 in the kitchen to cashier in the hut. Miss Hickox remained in 
 France until after the Armistice, and chaperoned a group of brides, 
 who had been married to American soldiers, on her return trip 
 to this country. 
 
 The false report on November 7, 1918 that the Germans had 
 signed the Armistice, which caused so many premature celebrations 
 all over the country, did not gain credit in Litchfield, thanks to 
 the editor of the Litchfield Enquirer, who pinned his faith to the 
 Associated Press. At three o'clock on the morning of November 
 11, the Torrington factory whistles were heard blowing, and the 
 news quickly spread that "Der Tag" had come at last. The Court 
 House bell gave the local signal and soon all the church bells 
 joined in, ringing out the tidings in a perfect medley of noise. 
 
 The firemen manned the chemical engine, and started out on a 
 procession all over the Borough, a crowd quickly gathered, and 
 soon about 200 men, women and children were in line, headed by 
 the Stars and Stripes. They marched down South Street, and at 
 the invitation of the rector, Mr. Brewster, into St. Michael's church, 
 where the people with deep emotion, sang together the Doxology and 
 the national anthem, and gave thanks with grateful hearts that the 
 long terrible years of conflict were ended at last. 
 
 Out again on the Green, a bonfire was built, and while it was 
 burning brightly impromptu speeches were made. The day dawned, 
 soft and mellow, as a November day sometimes is. About seven 
 o'clock there was a little let up for breakfast, but the bells never quite 
 ceased ringing. The dignified village of Litchfield had a dishevelled 
 look on that morning, very unlike its usual trim appearance. 
 Papers, confetti, the remnants of the bonfire littered the center and 
 plainly showed that the town had been up all night celebrating. 
 
 Refreshed by breakfast, every one who could get there, hastened 
 
26o THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 to BaBtam to join tlie parade. A band, provided by tlie forethought 
 of W. S. Eogers led the procession, which included about sixty 
 automobiles. Another pause came for the noon-day meal, then 
 came the Litchfield parade, in which Bantam joined. The marchers 
 were headed by Frank H. Turkington, and the Home Guard, the 
 D. A. E., the Bed Cross, the fire departments, the Boy Scouts and 
 the Girl Scouts, the service flag of St. Anthony's carried by young 
 women, and many automobiles were in line, a coffin dedicated to 
 the Kaiser was a special feature. 
 
 Litchfield's enthusiasm did not spend itself with these demon- 
 strations, but finished the day with a patriotic "sing" on the Green 
 in the evening, patriotic speeches and an appeal for the United War 
 Work Campaign, which was then in progress. 
 
 The Armistice was signed, but we soon found that we must 
 "carry on" a while longer. Bed Cross work was revised to meet the 
 needs of the destitute people of Europe, and, rejoicing that surgical 
 dressings were no longer necessary, the workers put their energies 
 into the making of refugee garments and refugee knitting. The Home 
 Service Section, under Dr. John L. Buel, was to continue its 
 work until the very last man had solved his difficulties and been 
 re-adjusted to civilian life again. 
 
 Week after Aveek, some khaki-clad man would appear in the 
 streets, to be surrounded at once by people anxious to shake his 
 hand, and to compliment him on his splendid physical condition. 
 Celebrations occurred, quite spontaneous in character, in the form 
 of bonfires and bell ringings, as the men returned from overseas. 
 It was felt that these individual celebrations were not enough, and 
 that the whole town should join in welcoming home the men, and 
 in some permanent form express its appreciation for their services 
 in the war. Accordingly the chairman of the War Bureau, George 
 C. Woodruff, appointed a committee to make plans for such a 
 ceremony, and for a permanent memorial to our men. 
 
 It was decided to celebrate the coming Fourth of July as "Wel- 
 come Home Day" and to erect a monument on the Green, bearing on 
 a bronze tablet the names of those who served in the war. 
 
 The celebration really began with the bonfire in the center, on 
 the 3rd of July, at midnight, following a custom which dates back 
 more than half a century. ^Vhen the morning of the Fourth came, 
 it proved to be one of those days of which Litchfield is occasionally 
 guilty, when the temperature registers in the nineties; but because 
 the day was given over to honoring those who had endured so much, 
 eveiyone felt ashamed to complain of mere weather. 
 
 The great feature of the day was the parade, which was headed 
 by First Selectman Patrick C. Burke, Warden George C. Ives, Bur- 
 gesses Charles Biglow, Dr. C. N. Warner and W. S. Plumb in an 
 automobile. The veterans of the Civil War followed. Then came 
 
Dr. John Laidlaw Buel 
 
< 
 
 Ph 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 261 
 
 Major Eobert F. Jackson, Marshall, and his aids, preceding the 
 men in khaki, whom we were honoring. They were 80 strong, and 
 represented both army and navy. The Boy Scouts aeted as escort. 
 Then followed delegations and floats from all the local organi- 
 zations; the Eed Cross, the Knights of Cohimbus, St. Anthony's 
 T. A. & B., the Fire Department, the Orange, and many others. 
 
 After the parade came the picnic lunch under the trees, follow- 
 ing the plan of the previous year. The soldiers were provided with 
 an ample lunch in the West Park. 
 
 In the early afternoon the program of the day was given, with 
 Admiral Colvocoresses presiding. Mrs. E. H. Sothern recited with 
 deep feeling the splendid words of the Battle Hymn of the Eepublic, 
 and the address was made by Dr. Talcott Williams, Dean of the 
 Columbia School of Journalism. The great moment of the day 
 came when the Memorial Monument was unveiled. Instead of a 
 formal speech of dedication, E. H. Sothern read Alan Seeger's Ode 
 to American soldiers fallen in France, which had been written for 
 the celebration of our Fourth by the city of Paris in 1916, by which 
 time the poet had already added his life to those he commemorated. 
 The American flag was taken from the monument by the selectmen 
 in reverent silence, followed by a prayer of dedication by Dr. H. G. 
 Mendenhall. The ceremony was concluded by the singing of America. 
 
 The monument which is erected on the center Green, diagonally 
 across from the Court House, is of granite, six feet high; and bears 
 a bronze tablet 45 by 35 inches, with 168 names, ten with the gold 
 star of supreme sacrifice. Above the names is this inscription: 
 
 '*In Honor of 
 
 The Men of Litchfield 
 
 Who Eendered Service In 
 
 The World War 
 
 1917-1919" 
 
 Below the names : "This Tablet is erected by the Town of Litchfield". 
 
 The home coming celebration closed with a dance for the sol- 
 diers in the Lawn Club. 
 
 Two Posts of the American Legion, which is an organization of 
 veterans of the World War, have been formed in our town: the 
 Morgan-Weir Post named in honor of the first two men to be killed 
 in action, and in Bantam, a post named in honor of Eobert P. 
 Jeffries. 
 
 The story of our town during these years of war, may fittingly 
 close with mention of the ceremonies held on Washington's Birth- 
 day, 1920, at Colonial Hall, under the auspices of the Morgan-Weir 
 Post, for the distribution of Certificates issued by the French Grov- 
 ernment to the families of those Americans who died in the war. 
 
262 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 On the certificates is an engraving of the monument erected by the 
 French to the memory of our dead. Inscribed on the monument 
 are the words of Victor Hugo : 
 
 "For those who devoutly died for their country 
 
 It is right that the people come and pray at their tombs", 
 
 and it was in a spirit of devotion and reverence that the people 
 of Litchfield gathered together for this service in their memory. 
 
CHAPTEE XXIV. 
 
 MODERN LITCHFIELD. 
 BY DOROTHY BULL. 
 
 A subscriber to Punch once wrote in complaint to the editor, 
 "Punch is not what it once was". "My dear fellow", the editor 
 replied, "it never has been". The story is a consolation to the 
 writer of modern history. Forms of life are forever changing, the 
 forces of life remain much the same, and persist with amazing 
 vigor through periods of dearth and disaster. 
 
 Litchfield's position in the life of the nation has greatly changed 
 since the days of the Eevolution. The development of the manu- 
 facturing industries of the East, the opening up of the resources of 
 the West, have shifted the centres of national activity. Yet the 
 town is in no sense the empty shell of past tradition. It is a 
 vigorous self-respecting community, making a worthy contribution 
 to the continuity and strength of American character. In common 
 with most other American towns, it has changed in the past sixty 
 years from a homogeneous community, in which the dominant factor 
 was Anglo-Saxon, to a conmiunity in which nearly every nation of 
 Europe and some of Asia are represented. In this fact are both 
 opportunity and danger. In so far as the little towns can assimilate 
 the foreign elements of their population, and maintain wholesome 
 American traditions and standards of living, so far will the nation 
 grow in unity and strengtli. 
 
 The recent war has shown us beyond doubt that the American 
 "melting pot" does not always melt. But it has also shown us 
 how strong and how sincere have been the pledges of loyalty given 
 by innumerable adopted sons. It remains for the native born to 
 keep alive and bright his altar fires, that the immigrant may know 
 at what shrine he worships. 
 
 In times of national crisis, national ideals and the good and 
 evil forces of national life appear clear cut and vivid. In the 
 years of peace the greater issues are hidden in the pleasant haze of 
 a fruitful summer; but it is in the slow process of these years that 
 the national character takes shape for good or ill. 
 
 What of Litchfield in the long years of peace following the 
 Civil War? It is too soon to estimate the lasting qualities of those 
 years; but in the brief survey possible here, we may gain 
 some understanding of the character of the people and the dominant 
 
264 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 elements of the coimnuiiity life. These elements for the past sixty 
 years may be roughly divided under five heads: The physical char- 
 acter and climate of the region; the agricultural interest; the sum- 
 mer colony; the nineteenth centuiy immigrant; and the growth of 
 community spirit. 
 
 The influence of climate on national character is too intricate 
 a subject to be discussed here. Its influence on the occupation and 
 resources of Litchfield people is evident throughout their history. 
 It does not seem to have changed much during the period of which 
 we write. In the records of the local papers every third or fourth 
 winter is a winter of intense cold and heavy snows. On occasion 
 there are tumultuous freshets in the spring and autumn, carrying 
 away roads and bridges and flooding low lying meadows. In the 
 sunmier there are violent thunder storms, with curious electrical 
 freaks and an aftermath of burning bams. Between these cata- 
 clysms of nature stretch long days of golden beauty. The beauty 
 of the country, the clear freshness of the upland air, have attracted 
 to Litchfield the svmimer visitors, who have contributed much to the 
 material prosperity of the town and not a little to the richness 
 of its tradition. As Dr. Bostwick has jjointed out, Litchfield 
 has been peculiarly fortunate in having as summer residents peo- 
 ple who were already attached to her by natural ties of inheritance 
 or sentiment. 
 
 It is of course the physical character and climate also, which 
 detennine the agricultural interests of the conununity and the 
 direction they take. These interests are on the whole the most 
 stable in the community life, and while the farms have frequently 
 changed hands and markets have shifted, agriculture still remains 
 the dominant interest of the town. Immediately after the war 
 there existed a flourishing Agricultural Society, and a horse show 
 and fairs were held on the ground at the lower end of South Street. 
 In 1889, the Grange was founded, and has ever since been a source 
 of education to the community as well as a natural centre of social 
 enjoyment for people engaged in kindred pursuits. The Harvest 
 Festivals of the last twenty years, with their exhibits of fruit and 
 flowers, and the prizes offered to children in the schools for the 
 best arrangement of wild flowers, have all contributed to the benefit 
 of the community; and the masquerades and dramatics have 
 increased good fellowship. 
 
 Besides the nimierous small farms in the township, there have 
 been a number of large enterprises, backed by considerable capital 
 and able to experiment with thoroughbred stock and scientific horti- 
 culture. The first of these was Echo Farm, on Chestnut Hill, 
 bought by F. Eatchford Starr in 1873 and developed as a dairy 
 farm with thoroughbred Alderney and Jersey cattle. Starr was 
 the first man to introduce into America the bottling of milk for 
 shipment and distribution. There were shipping stations at Ban- 
 tam and Lake, as well as at Litchfield; and in 1881, four thousand 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 265 
 
 quarts were shipped daily from these three stations. In 1886 the man- 
 agement of this fann was placed in the hands of The Echo Farm 
 Company. It was later abandoned and in 1910 was bought by 
 H. S. Chase, of Waterbury, and now furnishes the Chase KoUing 
 Mills in that town with milk for their operatives. Other large 
 farms have in the i)ast twenty years made a specialty of choice 
 fruit and vegetables or thoroughbred cattle. The sight of Dr. 
 Buel's Eed Devon bull going to the Danbury fair is one not easily 
 forgotten; and it is not long since North Street was familiar with 
 the sight of four little girls, each mounted on a Welsh pony of the 
 Fernwood breed, followed by a groom and the smallest of possible 
 colts. 
 
 Despite the advent of the automobile, there have always been 
 in Litchfield lovers of horses; but in the eighties and nineties 
 horses were a ruling passion. Trotting races with sleighs on 
 North Street were popular in the winter, and in the heyday of the 
 summer season there was a fashionable driving hour from four until 
 seven in the afternoon. Favorite drives in the eighties were to 
 the towers on Mohawk and Ivy Mountains, from which there were 
 beautiful views. Here cabins had been built with historical relics to 
 attract the curious, and refreshments were on sale for hungry 
 youth. The Enquirer gives us a list of the stables kept in 1891; 
 from which we quote: 
 
 J. Deming Perkins 
 "The Lindens" — Mrs. Perkins' health does not permit her often to avail 
 of the facilities which the stables at this place possess, but her daughter 
 Miss Edith, thoroughly enjoys driving her pair of brown cobs, "Derby" and 
 "Ascot", which she handles with perfect skill, before her Brewster cart. We 
 noticed a brown roadster "Barney", in one of the commodious stalls. 
 Livery, dark blue, drab and silver. The stables at this place are most 
 conveniently arranged, being finished in Georgia pine and black walnut. 
 Peter Matthews has charge of the establishment. A straw mat made 
 by the dexterous fingers of Peter, with a border representing the national 
 colors stretches across the stable immediately in the rear of the iron lat- 
 ticed stalls, the turned locust posts being finished with "pelicans" in Old 
 Country style. 
 
 Sydney Dillon 
 President Union Pacific Road, "Vaill Cottage" — Mr. Dillon of late years 
 has become so attached to Litchfield that he gives a large portion of his 
 summer to it. He is fond of a good horse, and we notice likes to drive 
 a different pair each day. Sometimes it is his large team of dapple grays, 
 with their fine knee action ; again he will be seen with his coal black pair, 
 with their splendid flowing tails, the animals alike as two peas, and not 
 infrequently with his light stepping cross match, a black and bay. Livery, 
 dark blue and silver. 
 
 J. Mason Hoppin 
 New Haven — We can scarcely remember ever having seen Mason Hop- 
 pin on foot except on the occasion when he covered himself with glory in 
 the baseball match between the married and single men. Not only morning 
 
266 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 and afternoon, but also in the evening he is on the drive with some one of his 
 three horses. He is seen on the road rigged either single, double or tandem, 
 but he is in best form when driving his dapple grays, "Dick" and "Tim", 
 to his Brewster bugg}'. Peter Scanlan attends to details here. 
 J. Warren Groddard 
 New York, "Fernwood" — This stable, the building itself of granite and 
 a model of convenience, contains a large number and variety of fine car- 
 riages and horses, perhaps the most stylish turnout among them being Mr. 
 Goddard's dog cart, hung very high, to which he drives his tandem team, 
 "Paris" with "Vim" in the lead, and trained to work there, with which he 
 easily rattles off eight miles an hour over the hills. Mourning livery. 
 Henry W. Buel, M. D. 
 Spring Hill — The doctor for many years has raised his own driving 
 horses, which he has rare facilities for doing on the extensive acres which 
 comprise his estate. Individually he works his favorite yellow bay. His 
 daughters, however, drive to a neat phaeton some one or other of the 
 numerous fine animals in the stables. Frederick Trail has for many years 
 had control of the stables. 
 
 Mrs. John H. Hubbard 
 This lady, the widow of our late Congressman, can be seen of a pleasant 
 afternoon on our thoroughfares driving a quiet bay. Her son, John T., the 
 lawyer, indulges his taste for horseflesh in the line of the Morgan breed, of 
 which he possesses several fine specimens of growing stock. 
 Archibald B. Duffie 
 New York — Mr. Duffie, who is exceedingly fond of horseflesh, has 
 quartered at Pratt's stable, in charge of Jim Malloy, four magnificent ani- 
 mals — a pair of dark bays, a blooded Kentuckian and a sorrel. His stylish 
 turnouts are almost daily seen on our thoroughfares. 
 I*7ewcomb C. Barney 
 New York, "Uplands" — So fine a place as this must needs have a good 
 stable. Mrs. Barney's carriage is not often seen in the village, but Miss 
 Barney's neat cart is a daily ornament on the grounds of the Lawn Club. 
 Livery, blue and silver.. 
 
 Mrs. Henry B. Coit 
 Since the removal of her son, Mr. Chas. H. Coit, to Hartford, where he 
 has entered the firm of Geo. P. Bissell & Co., we have missed him upon 
 our roads. His sister. Miss Katie, however, thoroughly enjoys a drive 
 behind her favorite bay. 
 
 Mrs. J. William Wheeler 
 New York, "Belair" — Park phaeton, mahogany bays. Miss Wheeler 
 drives a pony (rumble) phaeton, drawn by a handsome sorrel pony. Mourn- 
 ing livery. 
 
 Henry E. Jones 
 Brooklyn, N. Y., "Sunnymead"— A pair of dark bays with flowing tails 
 to a light summer carriage. Mr. Jones, however, is most frequently seen 
 driving in his favorite natural wood buckboard, to which he works a most 
 serviceable roadster. 
 
w 
 
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 1 ^ 
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 ! < 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 267 
 
 Mrs. William H. Maxwell 
 
 New York, "Kenmore" — Mrs. Maxwell's stables contain several horses, 
 but her favorite pair is a cross match, a bay and a gray. 
 
 Frederick Deiuing 
 
 At this place we found a steady-going family horse, and also a good- 
 grained saddle pony, on which his son takes daily exercise. 
 
 Mrs. William Curtis Noyes 
 
 New York — Mrs. Noyes is very regular in her drives, seldom omitting 
 an afternoon. Her daughter, Mrs. Vanderpoel, is occasionally seen in a 
 high dog cart. Livery, blue and silver. 
 
 The Misses Van Wiiikle 
 
 New York — Very stylish Victoria, yellow bay cobs. Livery, blue and 
 silver. 
 
 The above list by no means comprises all the pleasure equipments of 
 the village, for we should have mentioned Mrs. Chas. Burrell's splendid bay, 
 which, when before her stylish phaeton, equals any of the above named ; then 
 there is Miss Clarissa Pratt, with her black pony "Bucephalus" and Brewster 
 buggy; Miss Clara Kenney, with her white pony and phaeton, and Mr. 
 Jesse L, Judd, now one of our retired business men, with his large bay 
 horse and carriage, and Mr. Chas. B. Bishop and Warden Marshy each of 
 whom may be seen on our driveways almost any day. 
 
 The livery business of the town is mostly done by Pratt's stables, which 
 work seventy-three horses in the livery department, aside from the extensive 
 sale stables attached, and Barber Bros., whose stables, though not so extensive, 
 yield to none in quality of stock. 
 
 There were at one time three hotels in the borough and numer- 
 ous boarding houses, which Avere well filled. Coaching parties 
 frequently drove through, and the town must have worn an air of 
 holiday-making, both gay and charming. 
 
 It is pleasant to think of the Victorian ladies of the sixties and 
 seventies who played croquet or practiced archery in East Park, 
 or in the eighties watched the four young gallants, who inspired by 
 Mason Hoppin, endeavored to graft polo on the American stock. 
 Canoeing also came in at this period; lawn tennis was played on 
 private courts and a club was projected, which later developed into 
 the Lawn Club on West Street, for many years the scene of tennis 
 tournaments for the Connecticut state championship. 
 
 It is interesting to note the changing fashion in amusements 
 and outdoor sports. The first velocipede came in 1869, but the 
 bicycle fever did not reach its height until the nineties. In 1893, 
 E. G. Trowbridge, of Torrington, is said to have ridden three hun- 
 dred miles by bicycle in two days. In 1896, there were two hun- 
 dred bicycles owned in Litchfield and in the following year a bicycle 
 club was formed. Baseball of course was always popular among 
 all the elements of the community, though it could not have been 
 a fine art in the latter sixties, as in 1866, we find recorded a game 
 in which the score was 77 to 16. In 1870, there existed a Tar and 
 Gamboge Baseball Club of which four members were colored and 
 there were at various times numerous teams in the town together 
 
268 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 with many unorganized aspirants, so that we find in the papers 
 many complaints of ball playing on the green. 
 
 The winter also was not without its amusements. In the seven- 
 ties, they were less sophisticated than those of a later period. 
 Spelling matches were much in vogue among the older people as 
 well as the young ones and there were even competitions between 
 towns. It is particularly interesting to discover that in 1883, 
 roller skating was the popular amusement. Armory Hall was 
 used as a rink and fancy skaters came to perform there. In 1886, 
 a Toboggan Club was established by some of the young people of 
 the town and a slide was built on Prospect Hill. The young people 
 of outlying towns as far away as Woodbury shared in this sport. 
 On one occasion, a fete was held at the slide with rockets, bombs, 
 torches and Chinese lanterns, and supper was afterwards served 
 at Armory Hall. Sleighing and ice skating were always popular 
 when the season served and at various times hockey teams were 
 organized which practiced on the Mill Pond and occasionally played 
 matches with other organizations from neighboring towiis. Skiing 
 and snow-shoeing have also had their devotees and have sometimes 
 been necessary by virtue of the severe weather. One of the most 
 remarkable trips on snow shoes taken by a Litchfield man was that 
 of Alex Baldwin in the blizzard of February, 1902. He came by train 
 from Hartford to Terryville, on snow shoes from Terryville to Thom- 
 aston, by train to East Litchfield and on snow-shoes home. 
 
 Fishing and hunting are always open in season to the country- 
 dweller. Football has held intermittent sway but has never claimed 
 great popularity in Litchfield. In the early nineties, a hare and 
 hound club was organized and herein was heralded the coming 
 of the new woman, for "the young ladies adopted a dress which 
 made it possible for them to cross streams and climb fences". The 
 runs of the club Avere sometimes as much as eight miles. In the 
 latter nineties, golf came in and has continued with varying popu- 
 larity, to the present day. "Paper Chases" on horse-back were also 
 popular for a brief period, in the last decade. There has always 
 been much sociability and many clubs of various sorts have sprung 
 into existence. Among these the Sanctum on South Street holds 
 a distinctive place. In the nineties there was an extremely active 
 and clever Dramatic Club, and an excellent minstrel troupe. Other 
 dramatic entertaiimients have centered in the Grange, in societies 
 of the various Churches and in sporadic benefit performances for 
 some general interest of the moment. It is a study in modes and 
 manners to look over the programs. In these days of "Jazz", we 
 may sigh for the halcyon days of Pinafore; but "Curfew shall not 
 ring tonight" is a world well lost. There were also at one time a 
 drum corps and a band, and much interchange of hospitality with 
 similar organizations in other towns. The singing club concerts 
 conducted by Mr. Arthur Woodniff of Washington, in which Wash- 
 ington and Litchfield have united in giving concerts, have been 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 269 
 
 unique and popular entertainments for fifteen years. Dancing we 
 have always had with us. It has passed through many phases from 
 the waltz mania of the seventies, through the "Germans" of the 
 eighties, the two-steps of the nineties, the fox-trots of the tAventieth 
 century. Nor has the town been wholly dependent upon its own 
 resources for entertaimnent. Traveling circuses have set up their 
 tents on the ball ground, and traveling troupes and shows have been 
 until recently frequent visitors at Phelps' Opera House or Armory 
 Hall. Now the ubiquitous "movie" has replaced them, both in 
 Litchfield and Bantam. 
 
 Bantam brings us at once to the new element in Litchfield's 
 development. It is the groAvth of the manufacturing industry there 
 that has added so much in recent years to the foreign population 
 of the township, though the Irish were, of course, the first of the 
 "nineteenth century immigrants" to come to Litchfield in any large 
 numbers. The building of St. Anthony's Church in 1867 shows that 
 they were by that time a well established part of the communitj^ 
 From that time on, in their growing prosperity in trade, in the fairs 
 for the churcli, their minstrel shows and St. Patrick's Day dances, 
 they have made their definite contribution to the community life. 
 In 1898, a minstrel joke was current in the town. "Where was 
 Litchfield a hundred years ago? In Ireland, the greater part of 
 it". In 1879 a gang of Italian laborers was employed on the 
 Goddard farm, and about ten years later others came to work on 
 the new water system. Whether or not any of these men remained 
 as permanent residents, this was the beginning of further changes 
 in the population of the town. There are now many Italians in 
 Litchfield, contractors, laborers and operatives; and of late a num- 
 ber of Slavs have come to work in the factories at Bantam and 
 in some cases on farms. There have been for many years several 
 families of German and Scandinavian origin; the first Chinaman 
 appeared in 1877; and there are now several Greeks. So much for 
 the typical New England community of the twentieth century. 
 
 Dr. Bostwick has spoken of the growth of community feeling and 
 public spirit in the last half century. It is interesting to trace 
 it in its various manifestations. 
 
 It is natural that one of the first community enterprises after 
 the Civil War should have been the plan to erect a suitable memorial 
 to the dead. This monument, referred to in Chapter 21, was erected 
 on the green in 1874. In 1894 a soldiers' monument was also erected 
 in the West Cemetery, and later a granite "marker" was set up on 
 ChestJHit Hill to mark the site of Camp Diitton, where the men 
 encamped before leaving for the scene of war. For many years the 
 Seth F. Plumb Post of the Grand Army held festivals on the anni- 
 versary of Lee's surrender and suitable ceremonies on Memorial Dnj. 
 As their numbers decreased the reunions on "Appomatox Day" were 
 abandoned; and while they continued to keep Memorial Day, it was 
 perhaps natural, that to the general public it should become merely 
 
270 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 another holiday, so that in the same year in which the monument 
 was erected in West Cemetery an entertainment was given on this 
 day at which a farce was presented. About twenty years later a 
 di£ferent feeling arose, and a Memorial Day Association was formed 
 to plan suitable ceremonies for the day, which has recently regained 
 its old significance. 
 
 One of the earliest enterprises after the war was the Shepaug 
 Valley Eailroad. The charter was applied for in 1866, and the Town 
 in 1868 subscribed for a block of the stock. In 1872 trains were 
 running, but were discontinued for repairs in March. The time- 
 table at this period scheduled trains to leave Litchfield at 8:30 and 
 arrive at Hawleyville at 11:30, at which point they connected with 
 the liousatonic Eailroad. The length of the journey, how- 
 ever, does not seem to have disturbed the patrons of the new 
 road, for in 1879 excursions to Coney Island by boat from Bridge- 
 port were popular. In these days of motors the glory of the rail- 
 roads has faded, but in 1894 the "parlor car" run for the summer 
 passenger service, is glowingly described in the Enquirer. Its 
 woodwork was of quartered oak, its upholstery a "beautiful light 
 blue". Litchfield never knew the intermediate stage of rapid 
 transit between the steam railroad and the automobile. Agitation 
 for a trolley connection from Torrington or the towns further south 
 to Bantam Lake occurred frequently; but the project was always 
 defeated. With the coming of the cheap automobile we are made 
 safe from such an invasion. 
 
 The telegraph came to Litchfield permanently in the seventies, 
 the telephone in the eighties. The part the latter has played in 
 knitting the community together is a large one. Not only has it 
 made easy the neighborly visits by telephone which are possible in 
 a rural community where wires are not perpetually busy; but it 
 has made us increasingly conscious of ourselves as units in a group. 
 
 Of other public improvements, Dr. Bostwick has also spoken; 
 the increased tidiness of the village, the labors of the Village 
 Improvement Society for good walks, drainage and lighting. All 
 these things were in good time attained through the efforts of public 
 spirited people. 
 
 Schools have always held an important place in Litchfield life. 
 A number of successful private institutions have existed here, but 
 in a community of this size and character the chief interest must 
 and should centre in the public schools. The improvement of the 
 school system was much discussed in the eighties, and the need of 
 a new school building in the Village. Then came the disastrous 
 fires of 1886 and 1888. The first, beginning in the wooden build- 
 ings on South and West Streets swept westward and was stopped 
 at a brick building thirty feet west of the Court House. With no 
 organized Fire Department, and no water supply but the neighbor- 
 ing wells, the people energetically fought the fire, protecting them- 
 selves from the heat bv wet umbrellas. The loss, only partially 
 
Mr. John Arent Vanderpoel 
 
The Wolcott and Litchfield Circulating Library. 1900, 
 AND THE Sign-Post Elm 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 271 
 
 covered by insurance, was about $60,000; and (what more nearly 
 touched the local pride) the temporary removal of the Courts. The 
 school-house was also destroyed, so the question of a new building was 
 settled, and the present site on East Street bought, and shortly 
 after built upon. Temporary barracks were erected for the 
 
 merchants, rebuilding was begun at once, a brick block erected and 
 the motto was "business as usual". The new buildings had been 
 completed only a few months when the second fire swept over the 
 business area spared two years earlier and also destroyed the newly 
 erected Court House. 
 
 In the following year the installation of the water system was 
 begmi, a Fire Company was oi'ganized, and in 1891 the company was 
 assembled to test the new mains. Then Mr. Deming Perkins came as 
 usual to the fore and presented to the Borough the use of a 
 beautifully equipped building, to serve not only as a shelter for the 
 apparatus but as a club for the men. A pool room, reading room 
 and even a hospital were provided, and the Fire Department has 
 been ever since not only a protection to the town but a source of 
 enjoyment to its members and to the community at large. For a 
 number of years a weather bureau signal station was also main- 
 tained at this building and the weather flags were familiar to the 
 people of the town. Pool matches, bowling contests, parades and 
 entertainments have originated there, and it is even claimed that the 
 exchange of hospitality with New Milford's Hose Company did much 
 to alleviate the slight tension caused by rival claims of the towns 
 concerned to the honor of being the County Seat. A few years 
 ago the efficiency of the Department was further increased by the 
 gift of a motor chemical engine, presented by Mrs. Godfrey and 
 Miss Coe. 
 
 In 1862 a reading room had been established in the town with 
 a membership fee of $5.00 a year. This was called the Litchfield 
 Library Association, but when Mr. J. Huntington Wolcott, of Boston, 
 father of Governor Eoger Wolcott, generously contributed $300. for 
 the purchase of books, the name was changed to the Wolcott Library 
 Association. The Wolcott family's interest in the libraiy was mani- 
 fested also by other generous gifts at various times. In 1870 a 
 circulating library was started independently, with a handful of 
 books. In 1881, through the courtesy of Mr. George C. Woodruff, 
 the two libraries Avere sheltered under a common roof in two rooms 
 of "the brick building" on South Street. Ten years later the pres- 
 ent commodious library building was planned and presented to these 
 associations by Mr. John A, Vanderpoel, as a memorial to his 
 grandmother, Mrs. William Curtis Noyes. He did not live to see 
 it finished. In 1003, the two libraries were merged under the 
 name of The Wolcott and Litchfield Circulating Library Associa- 
 tion. Since that time Miss Katharine Baldwin has been Librarian, 
 and it is largely due to her judgment and faithful work that the 
 library ranks as a model of what the public library of a small 
 
272 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 village should be. There have been many generous gifts to the 
 association, notably the Maghee Memorial of $10,000. presented by 
 Mr. William Colgate, and the Kepair Fund of $3,500, raised by Mr, 
 Abbott Foster, who devoted much of his energj^ to the improvement 
 of the library. In 1907 a wing was added to the library build- 
 ing by Mrs. Vanderpoel to complete the plan projected by her 
 son. In the wing are housed the collections of the Litchfield 
 Historical and Scientific Societies. Other societies which have 
 contributed to the broadening of community interest are the 
 Daughters of the American Eevolution, the Men's and Women's 
 Forums, the Garden Club and the Needle and Bobbin Club. The 
 Mary Floyd Tallniadge Chapter of the Daughters of the American 
 Revolution was organized about twenty years ago and has been 
 active in collecting records, preserving relics of our revolutionary 
 and colonial history, holding exhibits and aiding and abetting other 
 organizations in undertakings to further the public good. The two 
 Forimis, founded respectively in 1910 and 1914, have served to stimu- 
 late the exchange of opinion and crystalize their common thought. 
 The Garden Club, Avhich is only a few years old, besides encourag- 
 ing an interest in gardening, has shared in various measures for 
 beautifying the town, and has recently become the manager of the 
 old club on West Street, which it is to control as a Playhouse for 
 the benefit of the communitj^ The Needle and Bobbin Club, which 
 is younger still, is collecting examples of the arts of the needle and 
 bobbin, and offering prizes in the schools for skill in these arts. 
 
 Other organizations of a slightly different character contribut- 
 ing to the common good, are the Litchfield County Farm Bureau, and 
 the District Nursing Association. The Farm Bureau was estab- 
 lished in 1914. Its objects as stated in its constitution are: "to 
 promote the development of the most profitable and permanent 
 system of agriculture; the most wholesome and satisfactory living 
 conditions; the highest ideals in home and community life; and a 
 genuine interest in the farm business and rural life on the part 
 of the boys and girls and young people". The Nursing Association 
 was founded a few years earlier largely through the efforts of Miss 
 Harriet M. Eichards. In 1914 it affiliated with the Public Health. Ser- 
 vice of the Red Cross. It has done much excellent work in dissemin- 
 ating information, providing relief and instituting medical inspection 
 in the schools; and it supports a nurse who does public health nurs- 
 ing throughout the township at a very moderate fee. When Mrs. 
 Philip Hubbard and Miss Adelaide Deming organized the Domestic 
 Science classes in the school, the Nursing Association cooperated 
 with them to make possible the hot school luncheon for the children. 
 When the influenza epidemic struck Litchfield in the autumn of 
 1918, Miss Richards, ably seconded by her colleagues in the asso- 
 ciation, secured permission to use the ncAv Country Club as a 
 hospital, borrowed beds and bedding, secured extra nurses, and con- 
 centrated there the patients, who otherwise would have been scat- 
 
Rear-Admiral George P. Colvocoresses. (Retired) 
 
u 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 273 
 
 tered about the township, inadequately cared for, because of the sheer 
 physical difficulties of the situation. On this occasion Miss Miriam 
 Hubbard did yeoman service by supplementing the inadequate kit- 
 chen of the club, cooking food daily at home and sending it to the 
 hospital, Avhile many other people contributed their services in 
 numerous ways. In the days before America's entry into the war 
 and the direction of all energies to war service, the association also 
 stood sponsor for a ''Community Centre", at which numerous classes 
 were conducted by a number of volunteer workers. This activity 
 ceased Avhen war was declared. 
 
 Through the good will of some of her residents, Litchfield has also 
 been a centre for welfare enteii^rises of a general nature. In 1900, 
 Miss Mary Buel left her property on the Goshen road to the organiza- 
 tion now known as the Connecticut Junior Kepublic. Originally a 
 branch of the institution at Freeville, N. Y,, the Connecticut Kepublic 
 has thriven and prospered through the interest and generosity of its 
 friends. The object of the Kepublic is to train boys for citizen- 
 ship through the practise of self-government under wise super- 
 vision. Litchfield people have always been interested in the Kepub- 
 lic and there is a Litchfield Aid which contributes to its support. 
 The students of the summer camp of the Columbia School of Mines 
 at Bantam Lake have for a number of years given entertaimnents 
 at Litchfield for its benefit ; and there have been notable private con- 
 tributions. Among these are the excellent and attractive build- 
 ings erected in 1916-1917, for which Mr. Cass Gilbert contributed 
 the plans, and the expenses of building were met by Mr. William 
 Colgate and Mr. Roswell P. Angier of New Haven. 
 
 We have spoken of the year's between the Civil and European 
 Wars as fifty years of peace. They were however broken hj the 
 brief excitement and passing anxiety of the war with Spain. The 
 Red Cross was of course active in relief. The number of Litchfield 
 men in military service is not accurately known. Gail Beckwitli 
 and Edward Wilson enlisted. Daniel Hine and James O'Rourke 
 were with the regulars. Harold and George Colvocoresses served. 
 Major Wessells who distinguished himself at Santiago, was of 
 Litchfield parentage. But the chief pride of Litchfield in the war was 
 the distinguished service of Admiral — then Lieutenant-Commander — 
 George P. Colvocoresses, who was executive officer of the Concord at 
 Manila Bay. He was later transferred to the Olympia and returned 
 to America with Admiral Dewey in the autumn of 1899. His return 
 to Litchfield was a gala occasion for the town. The people pre- 
 sented him with a sword, and though he had made the request that 
 the ceremonies might be "as simple as possible", the towi\ held 
 high holiday. Houses were gay with flags and bunting, salutes 
 were fired, there was a bonfire, a parade and appropriate speeches; 
 
274 THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 and in the evening serenades by the band, illuminations and fire- 
 works. A memorial oak was planted by the Admiral with a silver 
 trowel, ordered for the occasion by Miss Mary P. Quincy. 
 
 In the course of sixty years many people have come and gone 
 in Litchfield; new houses have been built and old ones altered and 
 restored, and many have changed hands. Of all the houses built 
 in this time none perhaps was more picturesquely begun than that 
 of Miss Mary Quincy, for which the corner stone was laid with 
 ceremony, and beneath which is buried a box containing family 
 papers and heirlooms. 
 
 Of the people who lived in the houses it is difficult for the 
 present writer to speak. There are many people now living in the 
 town who knew and loved them, and to whom the distinguished men 
 and gracious women and all the undistinguished eager life of the 
 time is not something written in a book, but a keen and vivid 
 memory. Yet here and there in the printed word we find some 
 glimpse of the living spirit. When Deming Perkins died "all the 
 bells tolled for him". A friend of Mrs. Noyes wrote, "The roses 
 in her garden and every good cause will miss her". Against the 
 background of changing events we see in the records of the day, the 
 distinguished figures of George C. Woodruff, Judge Origen S. Sey- 
 mour, Judge Edward W. Se^nnour, Governor Charles B. Andrews 
 and the winning personality of Dr. Henry Buel. Those of us fortunate 
 enough to remember Mrs. Edward Seymour dancing the "first dance" 
 in a room full of young people, will long delight in that memory of 
 grace and distinction. Nor shall we forget the delicate vivacity 
 of Mrs. Storrs Seymour or Dr. Seymour's unaffected kindliness. 
 Old age in Litchfield is a gracious thing and many people have lived 
 in vigor beyond the four score years allotted. Golden weddings 
 have been frequent. In the Woodruff and Seymour families there 
 were six such anniversaries between 1879 and 1919. The first 
 was that of Mr. and Mrs. George C. Woodruff. Mrs. Woodruff was 
 the sister of Judge Origen S. Seymour and Mrs. Seymour of Mr. 
 Woodruff. In 1880 Judge and Mrs. Seymour kept their anniver- 
 sary. In 1910 Mr. and Mrs. George M. Woodruff celebrated theirs; 
 in the following year Dr. and Mrs. Storrs O. Seymour; in 1913, 
 Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Woodruff and in 1919, Mr. and Mrs. Morris 
 W. Seymour. 
 
 Greek legend tells us that there were once two old people, true 
 lovers, to whom the gods were kind, and when they had come to old 
 age they were turned into trees, to bear winter and summer together 
 and shelter forever the home they had loved. It is far from Litch- 
 field Hill to the slopes of Parnassus. Yet in Litchfield, also, the 
 trees bear witness to the spirit of the men who were here before 
 us, who planted the young saplings and dreamed of beauty. 
 
 The two hundred years of Litchfield's history are only an eddy 
 
Hon. Morris W. Seymour 
 
THE HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD 275 
 
 in the wind that blows clown the years. What our time shall add 
 to that record is as yet uncertain. Yet human life is forever a 
 miracle. Our lives are touched by the spirits of the past, 
 
 "And the joy we felt will be a part of the gloi'y 
 
 In the lover's kiss that makes the old couple's story". 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 BY 
 
 FLORENCE ELIZABETH ENNIS 
 
 ETHEL M. SMITH 
 
 assisted by 
 
 ELIZABETH K. COIT 
 
Table of Contents 
 
 A. HONOR ROLL 
 
 1. Last French War 1762 
 
 2. War of the Revolution 1775-1783 
 
 3. Civil War 1861-1865 
 
 4. European War (1914) 1917-1918 
 
 B. CLERGYMEN. 
 
 1. Congregational Church. 
 
 2. Protestant Episcopal Church 
 
 3. Methodist Episcopal Church 
 
 4. Baptist Church 
 
 5. Roman Catholic Church 
 
 C. U. S., STATE, JUDICIAL, COUNTY AND TOWN OFFICIALS 
 
 1. a. United States Senators from Litchfield 
 1). Members of Congress. 
 
 2. a. Governors of Connecticut 
 
 b. Members of the Council 
 
 c. Members of the State Senate 
 
 d. Representatives 
 
 e. Delegates to Constitutional Conventions 
 
 3. a. Judges of Superior Court and Supreme Court of Errors 
 
 b. Chief Justices of Supreme Court of Errors 
 
 c. Presiding Judges of Court of Common Pleas 
 
 d. Associate Judges of Court of Common Pleas 
 
 e. Judges of Court of Common Pleas 
 
 f. Judges of Probate 
 
 g. Commissioners of Superior Court 
 h. Justices of the Peace 
 
 5. a. Sheriffs of the County 
 
 b. Clerks of the Superior Court 
 
 c. County Treasurers 
 
 d. Prosecuting Attorneys 
 a County Commissioners 
 
 6. a. Selectmen; b. Tovt^n Clerks; c. Town Treasurers; 
 d. Postmasters. 
 
 D. CIVIL LISTS 
 
 1. Original Proprietors 
 
 2. First Settlers 
 
 3. Selected List of Students at Law School with Offices held. 
 
 E. BUSINESS AND PROFESS ION AI^1920. 
 
 F. ORGANIZATIONS OF LITCHFIELD ACTIVE IN 1920 
 
 G. LIST OF HOUSES AND STORES IN THE BOROUGH 
 H. PATENT OF THE TOWN OF LITCHFIELD 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 281 
 
 A. HONOR ROLL. 
 
 1. Last French War. 
 
 The following names are copied from "A Pay-RoU for Capt. 
 Archibald McNeile's Company, in the Second Regiment of Connecti- 
 cut Forces, for the year 1762", which is on file in the Secretary's 
 Office, Hartford. It is not to be inferred that all the members of 
 Captain McNeil's company belonged in Litchfield. Some in the 
 list are recognized as residents of neighboring towns. 
 
 Archibald McNeil, Capt. 
 
 Isaac Moss, ist Lieut. 
 
 Increase Moseley, 2nd Lieut. 
 
 Elisha Blinn, Ensign 
 
 Thomas Catlin, Sergt. 
 
 Nathaniel Taylor, Sergt. 
 
 Bezaleel Beebe, Sergt. 
 
 Hezekiah Lee, Sergt. 
 
 Archibald McNeil Jr., Sergt. 
 
 Roger Catlin, Corp. 
 
 William Drinkwater, Corp. 
 
 Nathan Stoddard, Corp. 
 
 James Lassly, Corp. 
 
 Daniel Barnes, Drummer 
 
 Jacob Bartholomew, Drummer 
 
 Charles Richards 
 
 Samuel Warner 
 
 Samuel Gipson 
 
 Joseph Jones 
 
 John Barrett 
 
 John Barrett Jr. 
 
 WilHam Forster 
 
 Francis Mazuzan 
 
 Thomas Wedge 
 
 Reuben Smith 
 
 Jeremiah Osborn 
 
 Benjamin Landon 
 
 Isaac Osborn 
 
 Robert Coe 
 
 Adam Mott 
 
 Asahel Hinman / 
 
 Roswell Fuller 
 
 Daniel Grant '' 
 
 William Emons 
 
 Moses Stoddard 
 
 Gideon Smith 
 
 Hezakiah Leach 
 
 Adam Hurlbut 
 
 Jeremiah Harris 
 
 Eli Emons 
 Alexander Waugh 
 Orange Stoddard 
 Ezekiel Shepard 
 Ozias Hurlbut 
 Daniel Harris 
 John Collins 
 Solomon Palmer 
 Jonathan Smith. 
 Jonathan Phelps 
 John Cogswell 
 Mark Kenney 
 Aaron Thrall 
 Timothy Brown 
 Roswell Dart 
 William Bulford 
 James Manville 
 Benjamin Bissell 
 David Nichols 
 Ichabod Squire 
 Comfort Jackson 
 Elisha Walker 
 Amos Broughton 
 Nathaniel Lewis 
 Levi Bonny 
 Thomas Barker 
 Samuel Drinkwater 
 Asahel Gray 
 Eliakim Gibbs 
 Samuel Peet 
 Ephraim Smedley 
 Edmund Hawes 
 Silas Tucker 
 Robert Bell 
 Thomas Sherwood 
 Ephraim Knapp 
 Titus Tyler 
 Thomas Williams 
 Justus Seelye 
 
282 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 James Francier 
 George Peet 
 Nathaniel Barnum 
 Adonijah Roice 
 Elisha Ingraham 
 Daniel Hurlbut 
 Ebenezer Blackman 
 Domini Douglas 
 Amos Tolls 
 
 Thomas Ranny 
 Daniel Hamilton 
 Asahel Hodge 
 Daniel Warner 
 Titus Tolls 
 John Ripner 
 Caleb Nichols 
 John Fryer 
 Ebenezer Pickett 
 
 2. War of the Eevolution, 1775-1783. 
 
 The following list is taken from the Honor KoU of Litchfield 
 County Revolutionary Soldiers, published in 1912 by the Mary 
 Floyd Tallmadge Chapter, D. A. R., under the editorship of Miss 
 Josephine Ellis Richards. The authorities for the service of each 
 man will be found in that monumental work, and are therefore not 
 repeated here. The various cemeteries in the township where cer- 
 tain of the men are known to have been buried have been added. 
 These names have been obtained since the publication of the Honor 
 Roll, by another committee of the Mary Floyd Tallmadge Chapter, 
 of which Miss Cornelia Buxton Smith was the chairman. The 
 abbreviations are as follows: B. for Bantam, E, for East, F. for 
 Footville, H. for Headquarters, M. for Milton, Mo. for Morris, N. for 
 Northfield, W. for West. 
 
 *Lived elsewhere at the time of the^war; f Prison Ship Martyr; 
 :^Prison Ship Survivor. 
 
 Adams, Col. Andrew (W) 
 
 Africa, Cash 
 
 Agard, Hezekiah 
 
 Alcock, Giles 
 *Allen, Gen. Ethan 
 *Allen, Heman 
 
 Allen, John (E) 
 +Allen, Nathaniel 
 
 Aston, Sergt. Elida 
 
 Atwell, Oliver 
 
 Bacon, Ebenezer 
 
 Bacon, Nathaniel 
 
 Baldwin, Abner 
 
 Baldwin, Ashbel (Mo.) 
 
 Baldwin, Isaac (E) 
 
 Baldwin, James (E) 
 
 Baldwin, Samuel W. 
 
 Barns, Ambrose 
 
 Barns, Amos 
 
 Barns, Benjamin 
 
 Barns, Daniel 
 
 Barns, Sergt. Enos (F) 
 
 Barns, Enos 2d 
 
 Barns, Enos 3d 
 
 Barns, Moses 
 
 Barns, Orange (F) 
 
 Bates, Ephraim 
 
 Batterson, Stephen 
 *Beach, Barnias 
 
 Beach, Maj. Miles 
 
 Beach, Miles 
 fBeach, Noah (W) 
 
 Beach, Wait 
 
 Beach, Zophar 
 
 Beebe, Col. Bezaleel (W) 
 
 Beecher, Burr (N) 
 
 Bend, John 
 
 Benton, Belah 
 
 Benton, Nathaniel (W) 
 
 Bill, Elijah 
 
 Bingham, Ozias 
 
 Birge, Benjamin (H) 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 283 
 
 Birge, Beriah (H) 
 
 Birge, James (M) 
 
 Bishop, Luman 
 
 Bissell, Archelaus (W) 
 
 Bissell, Benjamin Sr. (W) 
 
 Bissell, Sergt. Benjamin 
 
 Bissell, Calvin (W) 
 
 Bissell, John (M) 
 
 Bissell, Luther (W) 
 •f-Bissell, Zebulon (W) 
 
 Blake, Richard 
 - Blakesley, Samuel (N) 
 
 Bottom, John 
 
 Bradley, Aaron (E) 
 
 Bradley^ Capt. Abraham 
 *Bradley, Daniel (E) 
 *Bradley, Capt. Phineas 
 
 Bricks, John (Breck) 
 
 Bristol, Isaac 
 
 Brown, Joseph 
 *Buel, Asahel 
 
 Buel, Isaac 
 
 Buel, Jonathan 
 
 Buel, Salmon (W) 
 
 Buel, Solomon (W) 
 
 Buell^ Lieut. Peter (E) 
 
 Bull, Lieut. Aaron 
 
 Bull, Asa (W) 
 
 Bull, George 
 
 Burnham, Asa 
 
 Burnham,, Wolcott 
 
 Burr, Aaron 
 
 Byer, Return 
 
 Canfield, Abial 
 *Camp(, Abel (Mo.) 
 
 Camp, Eldred 
 *Camp, Ezra (Mo.) 
 
 Catlin, Abel 
 
 Catlin, Capt. Alexander 
 
 Catlin, Ashbel 
 
 Catlin, Bradley 
 
 Catlin, David 
 
 Catlin, Capt. Eli 
 
 Catlin, George 
 
 Catlin, Isaac (M) 
 
 Catlin, Phineas 
 
 Catlirk, Putnam 
 
 Catlin, Samuel 
 
 (Ratlin, Capt. Theodore 
 
 Catlin, Lieut. Thomas Jr. (E) 
 
 Catlin^ Uriah (N) 
 
 Chamberlin, William 
 
 Champion, Rev. Judah (E) 
 
 Chase, Sergt. Lot (W) 
 
 Churchill, Oliver 
 *Clark, Abel (Mo.) 
 
 Cleaveland, Diah (Dyer) 
 
 Clemmonds, Abijah 
 
 Cluff, Isaac (Clough) 
 
 Coe, Levi (W) 
 
 Coe, Zachariah 
 
 Collens, Charles (Mo.) 
 *Collins, Cyprian 
 
 Columbus, James 
 
 Colyer, Joseph 
 
 Cone, Lieut. Abner 
 
 Cook, Oliver 
 
 Cowl, John 
 
 Cramton, Elon (E) 
 
 Crampton, Lieut. James (Cram- 
 ton) (E) 
 
 Crampton, Lieut. Neri 
 
 Craw, Reuben 
 
 Crosby, Simon "' 
 
 Culver, Abel 
 
 Culver, Ashbel (Asabel) 
 
 Culver, Reuben 
 *Culver, Solomon 
 
 Curtis, Zarah 
 
 Davis, Samuel 
 *Dear, George 2nd 
 *Deming, Julius (E) 
 
 Dennison, Chauncey (H) 
 
 DeWolfi, Levi (Mo.) 
 
 Dickinson, Friend 
 
 Dickinson, Oliver (M) 
 
 Dixon, George 
 
 Douglas, Col. William 
 
 Emmonds, Arrings 
 
 Emons, A. (Abner or Arthur) 
 (Mo.) 
 
 Emons, Isaac 
 
 Emons, Phineas (Mo.) 
 
 Emons, William 
 
 Fancher, Rufus 
 
 Farnam, Corp. John (Mo.) 
 
284 
 
 APPE 
 
 ,NDIX 
 
 Farnam, Seth (Mo.) 
 
 Goslee, Solomon (B) 
 
 Fitch, 
 
 Ebenezer 
 
 Gould, John 
 
 Foote, Capt. Aaron 
 
 Grant, Ambrose (E) 
 
 Fox, 
 
 Aaron 
 
 Grant, Elihu 
 
 Frost 
 
 Joel 
 
 Grant, Isaac 
 
 Galpii 
 
 1, Amos (W) 
 
 Grant, Lieut. Jesse 
 
 Garnsey, Noah, (Guernsey) (N) 
 
 Grant, Joel 
 
 *Gatta, 
 
 John I. 
 
 *Grant, Roswell 
 
 *Gay, 
 
 ^ieut. Col. Ebenezer 
 
 Graves, Alexander 
 
 *Gay, ( 
 
 Col. Fisher 
 
 Graves, Ezekiel 
 
 Gibbs 
 
 Aaron 
 
 Graves, Sylvanus 
 
 Gibbs 
 
 Lieut. Benjamin (Mo.) 
 
 Green, Jacob 
 
 Gibbs 
 
 Eliakim 
 
 Griffis, Corp. James 
 
 fGibbs 
 
 Gershom 
 
 Griswold, Jacob 
 
 Gibba 
 
 Gershom Jr. 
 
 Griswold, James (W) 
 
 fGibbs 
 
 Isaac 
 
 Griswold, John (M) 
 
 Gibbs 
 
 Ithamar 
 
 Griswold, Jonathan (F) 
 
 Gibbs 
 
 Lemuel (Mo.) 
 
 Griswold, Midian (B) 
 
 Gibbs 
 
 Moore (More, Moah) (M) 
 
 fHall, Sergt. David 
 
 Gibbsi 
 
 Oliver 
 
 Hall. John (M) 
 
 Gibbs 
 
 Remembrance 
 
 Hall, William 3rd (Mo.) 
 
 Gibbs 
 
 Simeon 
 
 Hamilton, George 
 
 Gibbs 
 
 Solomon (W) 
 
 Hand, Timothy 
 
 Gibbs 
 
 Sergt. Spencer 
 
 *Hanks, Benjamin 
 
 Gibbs 
 
 Timothy 
 
 Harrison, Daniel 
 
 *Gibbs 
 
 Trumpeter Truman 
 
 Harrison, David (Mo.) 
 
 *Gibbs 
 
 Capt. Wareham 
 
 Harrison, Sergt. Elihu (Mo.) 
 
 Gibbs 
 
 William 
 
 Harrison, Jacob 
 
 Gibbs 
 
 William Jr. 
 
 Harrison, Lemuel 
 
 Gibbs 
 
 Zadok (Zadock) 
 
 Harrison, Solomon 
 
 Gibbs 
 
 Zebulon 
 
 Harrison, Thomas Jr., (Mo.) 
 
 Gilber 
 
 t, Asa 
 
 Hart, Tucker 
 
 Gilber 
 
 t, Sergt. Joseph 
 
 Haskin (s), Abraham 
 
 Guilbt 
 
 ;rt, Abner (Gilbert) 
 
 Hawley, Peter 
 
 Gilletl 
 
 , Asa 
 
 Hays, Elijah 
 
 Gilletl 
 
 , Sergt. John 
 
 Hays, Zenas 
 
 Gilletl 
 
 , Othniel 
 
 Heath, Thomas 
 
 Goff, 
 
 Joseph 
 
 Henshaw, William Jr. 
 
 Goodr 
 
 ich, William 
 
 Herick, Amos 
 
 *Good\ 
 
 vin, Jesse 
 
 Hitchcock, Abel 
 
 Good^ 
 
 vin, Sergt. Joseph 
 
 Hodgkis (Hotchkiss?), Samuel 
 
 Good\ 
 
 vin, Capt. Nathaniel (Mo.) 
 
 Holcomb, Phineas 
 
 Goodv 
 
 irin, Sergt. Nathaniel Jr. (Mo.) 
 
 Hopkins, Harris (N) 
 
 Good^ 
 
 vin. Ensign Ozias (W) 
 
 Horsford, Isaac 
 
 -)-Good\ 
 
 vin, Phineas 
 
 *Horton, Elisha (B) 
 
 Good^ 
 
 vin, Solomon 
 
 Hotchkiss, Sergt. Stephen 
 
 Good\ 
 
 vin, Uri (Mo.) 
 
 Hough, Thadeus 
 
 Goodv 
 
 vin, Corp. William 
 
 *Hunt, Russell 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 2^5 
 
 Jackson, Jonathan 
 
 Jennings, William 
 f Johnson, Sergt. Amos (Mo.) 
 
 Johnson, Benjamin (B) 
 *Johnson, Eliphalet 
 
 Johnson, John 
 
 Johnson, Rufus 
 
 Johnson, Zechariah 
 
 Jones^ Lieut. Eaton (E) 
 
 Jones, Harris 
 
 Jones, Samuel 
 
 Judson, Jacob 
 
 Keeney, Mark 
 
 Kelcy, Peter 
 
 Kelley, John 
 
 Kent, Darius 
 
 Kilborn, Abraham 
 
 Kilborn, David (B) 
 
 Kilbournv Giles (W) 
 
 Kilbourn, Jehiel 
 *Kilbourn, Capt. John 
 
 Kilbourn, Joseph 
 
 Kilbourn, Roswell 
 
 Kilbourn, Samuel 
 
 King, Sergt. David 
 • Kirby, Lieut. Ephraim 
 
 Knapp, Sergt. Jared 
 *Lamson, Daniel (Mo.) 
 
 Landen, Daniel (W) 
 
 Landon, Ebenezer 
 
 Landon, Hazia 
 
 Landon, James 
 
 Landon, Reuben 
 
 Landon, Seth (W) 
 
 Laraby, Asa 
 
 Laraby, Willet 
 
 Lerow, John, (Lerrow, Larow) 
 
 Lewis, Benjamin 
 
 Lewis, Ezekiel 
 
 Lewis, Capt. John 
 
 Lewisv Joseph 
 
 Lewis, Sergt. Nathaniel 
 
 Lewis, William 
 
 Linsley, Abiel 
 
 Linsley, Solomon 
 
 Linsley, Timothy 
 :{:Little, James 
 Little, Fifer Samuel 
 
 Little, William 
 
 Lord, Lynde (W) 
 fLyman, John 
 
 Manjent, Nicholas 
 *Mansfield, Capt. Joseph (Mo.) 
 
 Marsh, Capt. John (E) 
 •j-Marsh, Timothy 
 
 Marshall, Elisha 
 fMarshall, Oliver 
 
 Mason, Ashbel 
 
 Mason, Elisha (E) 
 
 Mason, John 
 
 Mason, Lieut. Jonathan 
 
 Mason, Joseph (N) 
 
 Mason, Corp. Luther 
 :j:Mason, Thomas -— - 
 
 Mazuzen, Mark 
 
 McDaniel, Anthony 
 
 Mclntire, Henry 
 
 McNeil, Adam 
 
 McNiel, Archibald Jr. (E) 
 fMcNiel, Alexander 3d (E) 
 
 Meleck, Ebed 
 
 Merrill, Nathaniel (Nathan) 
 
 Mix, Eli 
 
 Morris, Capt. James (Mo.) 
 
 Morris, Richard 
 
 Moss, Levi (Levy) (N) 
 
 MosSi Linos 
 
 Moulthrop, Moses 
 
 Munger, Daniel 
 
 Negro, George 
 
 Negro, Jack 
 
 Norton, John 
 -2^0dell, William 
 
 Olcott, Giles 
 fOlmstead, Capt. David 
 
 Orton, Azariah 
 
 Orton, Darius 
 
 Orton, Eliada 
 
 Orton, Gideon 
 
 Orton, Lemuel 
 
 Orton, Samuel 
 
 Osborn, Ethan 
 
 Osborn, Isaac (W) 
 
 Osborn, Jeremiah 
 
 Osborn. Capt. John (W) 
 
 Osborne, Capt. Eliada (W) 
 
286 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 Owen, Thomas 
 
 Page, Abel 
 
 Page, Asa 
 
 Page, Daniel (M) 
 
 Palmer, Benjamin 
 
 Palmer, Chileon 
 
 Parmeley, Lieut. Amos 
 
 Parmeley, Joel (Parmelee) 
 f Parmeley, John (Parmelee) 
 f Parmeley, Solomon (Parmelee) 
 
 Parker^ Isaac 
 
 Parker, Dr. Joseph (Mo.) 
 
 Parsons, Eliphaz (M) 
 
 Peck, Ashabel (Mo.) 
 
 Peck, Elijah 
 
 Peck, John Jr. (F) 
 
 Peck, Levi 
 
 Peck, Moses 
 
 Peck. Paul (W) 
 
 Peck, Philo (W) 
 
 Peck, Reeve 
 
 Phelps, Edward 3d, (E) 
 
 Phelps, John (E) 
 
 Phillips, Gideon 
 
 Pierce, John 
 
 Pilgrim, Thomas (W) 
 
 Plant, Stephen (W) 
 
 Plant. Timothy 
 
 Plumb (e), Ebenezer 
 
 Plumb, Henry 
 
 Pond, Beriah 
 
 Post, Corp. Ward 
 
 Potter, Joel (H) 
 
 Price,, Paul 
 *Ranney, Maj. Stephen 
 
 Ray, William (Mo.) 
 
 Reeve, Tapping (E) 
 
 Rich, Amos 
 
 Rich. Caesar 
 
 Riggs, Corp. Jeremiah 
 
 Roberts, Thomas 
 
 Robins, John 
 
 Rogers, Joseph 
 
 Ross, Simeon 
 
 Rosseter, Samuel 
 
 Russell, John 
 
 Royal, John 
 
 Sacket, Buel 
 
 Sales, William 
 
 San ford, Jonah (Mo.) 
 
 Sanford, Joseph (Mo.) 
 
 Sanford, Moses 
 
 Sanford, Oliver 
 
 Sanford, Solomon 
 
 Sanford, Zaccheus 
 
 Seelye, Benjamin 
 
 Seelyci, David 
 
 Seelye, Ebenezer 
 
 Seelye, John 
 
 Seelye, Seth 
 
 Seelye, Zadok 
 
 Seymour, Maj. Moses (E) 
 
 Seymour, Capt. Samuel (W) 
 *Sheldon. Col. Elisha (W) 
 
 Sheldon, Thomas 
 
 Shelley, John (Alias Kelley) 
 
 Shethar, Capt. John 
 
 Simpson, John 
 
 Smith, Gen. David (E) 
 *Smith, Ensign Eli (E) 
 
 Smith, Elisha 
 
 Smith, Henry 
 
 Smith, Sergt. Jacob (N) 
 
 Smith. John (E) 
 
 Smith, Jonathan Jr. 
 
 Smith, Joshua Jr. 
 
 Smith, Moses 
 
 Smith, Nathaniel 
 
 Smith, Dr. Reuben (W) 
 
 Smith, Stephen 
 
 Spencer, Ephraim (W) 
 
 Sperry, Enoch 
 
 Stanard, Samuel 
 
 Stanley, Earl 
 f Stanley, Timothy 
 
 Stanton, Capt. William 
 
 Stevenson, Adam 
 
 Stewart, Daniel 
 
 Stocker, Thadeus 
 fStoddard, Aaron 
 
 Stoddard, Capt. Bryant (Mo.) 
 
 Stoddard, Lieut. David (W) 
 
 Stoddard. Daniel (B) 
 
 Stoddard, Jesse (B) 
 
 Stoddard, Obed 
 
 Stone, Benjamin 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 287 
 
 Stone, Ira 
 
 Stone, Jonah (B) ^ 
 
 Stone, Josiah (Alias Joseph) 
 
 Stone, Levi 
 
 Stone, Seth 
 - Stone, Sylvanus (Sylvenus) (W) 
 ::}:Stone, Thomas (B) 
 
 Strickland, David 
 
 Strong, Jedediah 
 -f-Stuart, Jared (Steward) 
 
 Sweet, John 
 *Tallmadge, Maj. Benjamin (E) 
 
 Taylor, Benjamin 
 
 Taylor, Ebenezer 
 
 Taylor, Elisha (E) 
 -f-Taylor, Joel 
 
 Taylor, John 
 
 Taylor, Moses 
 
 Taylor, Simeon 
 
 Taylor, Capt. Zebulon and 
 
 Thomas, Joseph 
 
 Throop, Benjamin (F) 
 
 Todd, Samuel 
 
 Tracy, Uriah 
 
 Tracy, Silas 
 
 Trowbridge, Isaac 
 
 Trumbull, Ezekiel (Mo.) 
 
 Tuttle, Levi 
 
 Underwood, James 
 -j-Vaill, Samuel 
 
 Vaughn, John 
 
 Vaughn, Samuel 
 
 Wadsworth, Gen. Elijah 
 
 Wadsworth, Epaphras 
 ^Wallace^ Nathaniel L. 
 
 Wallace, Corp. Richard (E) 
 
 Warren, Abijah (Ahijah) 
 
 Waugh, Capt. Alexander 
 
 Waugh, Joseph 
 
 Waugh, Capt. Samuel (F) 
 
 Waugh, Dr. Thadeus (F) 
 
 Way, Asa (N) 
 
 Way, Ira 
 
 Way, John 
 
 Way, Selah (Seeley) 
 
 Webster, Benjamin Jr. (E) 
 
 Webster, Charles 
 
 Webster, EHjah 
 
 Webster, Justus (W) 
 
 Webster, Michael 
 
 Webster, Obed 
 
 Webster, Reuben (E) 
 
 Webster, Corp. Stephen (E) 
 
 Webster, Timothy Jr. (E) 
 *Weed, Ezra 
 
 Welch, Maj. David (M) 
 
 Welch, Lieut. John (M) 
 
 Welch, John 2nd 
 
 Wetmore, David 
 
 Whittlesey, Roger N. (Mo.) 
 
 Wickwire. Grant (F) 
 
 Wilcox, Philemon 
 
 Wolcott, Gen. Oliver (E) 
 
 Wolcott, Oliver Jr. (E) 
 
 Woodcock, Sergt. Samuel 
 
 Woodruff, Andrew 
 
 Woodruff, Baldwin 
 
 Woodruff, Benjamin Jr. 
 
 Woodruff, Charles Jr. (Mo.) 
 
 Woodruff, Jacob (Mo.) 
 
 Woodruff, James (Mo.) 
 
 Woodruff, John 
 
 Woodruff, Sergt. Jonah 
 :]:Woodruff, Oliver 
 
 Woodruff, Philo 
 
 Woodruff, Samuel 
 
 Woodruff, Solomon 
 
 Wooster, Ephraim 
 
 Wooster, Lemuel (W) 
 
 Wright, James 
 
 Wright, Ensign Jonathan (M) 
 
 3. Civil War, 1861-1865. 
 The following list has been prepared from the "Kecord of Con- 
 necticut Men in the War of the Rebellion", compiled by authority 
 of the (General Assembly and published in 1889; and from manu- 
 script records of Dwight C. Kilbourn and of the Seth Plumb Post, 
 G. A. E. The names of one man from the township who was dis- 
 lionorably discharged and of 43 who deserted have been omitted 
 
288 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 from this Honor Roll. The following abbreviations have been used : 
 *Men who served in the 2nd Reg. Conn. Volunteers Heavy Artillery; 
 fMen killed or who died while in ser\'ice; :}:Men who served in the 
 2nd Reg. Conn. Volunteers Heavy Artillery, and who were killed 
 or who died while in service. 
 
 :}:Adams, Corp. Charles Jr. 
 
 Addis, Frederick A. 
 
 Allard, Joseph 
 
 Alvord, Sergt. Edgar A. 
 
 Anderson, James 
 *ArnoId, William 
 *Atwood, George E. 
 *Atwood, Josiah 
 *Atwood, Minot M. 
 f Baker, William 
 fBaldwin, George W. 
 *Ball, Charles H. 
 *Banker, Corp. Hubert 
 fBanker, Philo 
 fBarber, Charles 
 fBarber, Francis E. 
 ^Barber, Frederick 
 
 Barber, Henry H. 
 :|:Barber, Norman B. 
 *Barnes, Nelson H. 
 •f-Barse, Eliot 
 fBeach, Jerome B. 
 *Beach, Thomas W. 
 
 Beardsley, Edson C. 
 *Belden, John A. 
 ^Benedict, John 
 
 Benedict, William 
 *Bierce, Alexander 
 
 Birge, Cornelius 
 *Bissell, Leonard C. 
 *Bissell, Corp. Lewis 
 :{:Bissell, Rufus M. 
 *Bissell, Capt. William 
 
 Blakeman, Corp. James 
 *Blakeslee, George P. 
 
 Bluecher, George 
 fBooth, Corp. George F. 
 :|:Bradley, Almon B. 
 ^Bradley, George 
 *Bradlej', Hiram 
 ^Bradley, Muse. Joseph D. 
 *Bradley, Leonard O. 
 f Bradshaw, William 
 
 :}:Bray, Michael 
 :};Brooker, Andrew J. 
 
 Brown, John 
 
 Brown, William 
 *Buell, Appollos W. 
 
 Bulkeley, Charles A. 
 fBulkeley, William S. 
 
 Bunnell, Wagoner Albert 
 :}:Bunnell, Corp. Franklin M. 
 f Bunnell, Henry H. 
 
 Burke, Corp. Michael 
 
 Buxton, Sergt. Ezekiel 
 ■*Cable, Corp. Henry T. 
 
 Cable, Corp. William H. 
 fCamp, Joseph E. 
 ifCandee. David M. 
 
 Carter, Charles 
 f Castle, Charles L. 
 
 Castle, Grove E. 
 fCastle, Morton 
 fCatlin, Charles 
 fChapel, Alonzo 
 fClark, Corp. Sylvanus M. 
 
 Cogswell, Edward 
 
 Cohen, Isaac 
 
 Conroy, Thomas 
 
 Cook, Corp. Roger W. 
 f Cooley, Hiram T. 
 *Cooper, Sergt. John H. 
 
 Crow, Asahel 
 
 Culver, Charles 
 
 Curtiss, Evits H. 
 
 Dains, George 
 
 Daley, John 
 
 Davidson, Ira A. 
 '^Davis', 2nd Lieut. Calvin L. 
 
 Davis, Sergt. William W. 
 
 Delliber, Charles W. 
 *Deming, Adj. Charles J. 
 
 Deviney, Michael 
 fDickinson, Thomas 
 f Dixon, Muse. Thomas 
 fDorman, Owen 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 289 
 
 fDutton, 1st Lieut. Henry M, 
 *Dwyer, Sergt. Edward 
 fEdwards, Corp. James 
 *FarreI, Sergt. Patrick 
 
 Fellows, Henry M. 
 fFerris, Smith W. 
 
 Fish .Charles J. 
 
 Fisher, Sergt. Charles C. 
 
 Fisher, Edward E. 
 
 Fisher, Corp. George F. S. 
 
 Flynn, George 
 fForfe, Jacob 
 
 Foster, Thomas H. 
 
 Fuller, Corp. Granville B. 
 
 Gafifneyi, Patrick 
 *Gibbs, Corp. Henry G. 
 
 Gilbert, Francis C. 
 *Goslee, Q. M. Sergt. Charles F. 
 f Goslee, Hugh S. 
 
 Griswold, Edward 
 *Griswold, Silas M. 
 
 Guirard, Peter 
 fGutterman, Muse. John 
 fHale, Walter 
 *Hall, William J. 
 
 Hallock, Loren 
 
 Hammer, Ernst 
 :}:Handel, John 
 
 Harris, William H. 
 
 Hart, Joseph 
 ■*Healy, Anson W. 
 ^Hempstead, Wagoner Edward S. 
 :};Hempstead, 2nd Lieut. George B. 
 
 Herbert, Sergt. Garrett 
 
 Herbert, Patrick 
 *Herbert, Thomas (On Rolls as 
 
 Hurlbut) 
 *Hinsdale, Q. M. Sergt. Charles W. 
 *Hotchkiss, Henry W. 
 fHubbard, Horace 
 ^Hubbard, Joseph S. 
 
 Hull, Corp. Levi H. 
 *Hull, William H. 
 
 Hurd, George H. 
 :j:Iflfland, John 
 *Jennings, Frederick T. 
 
 Johnson, John 
 
 Johnson, Lewis 
 f Johnson, Plumb 
 :{:Jones, Corp. Albert A. 
 fKarrier, Jerry (On Rolls as Jere- 
 miah Kelleher) 
 •j-Kearn, Jacob 
 
 Kelly, John 
 *Kilbourn, ist Lieut. Dwight C. 
 *Kilbourr^, Myron E. 
 
 Kinley, John M. 
 
 Lampman, Charles V. 
 •f-Lampman, Luman 
 
 Lampman, Corp. Robert 
 
 Landon, Charles M. 
 
 Lawrence, Morton B. 
 
 Linsburg, John 
 *Malath, Peter 
 
 Marshall, Charles 
 *Mason, Capt. George W. 
 *Mason, Corp. Henry H. 
 *Mason^ Sergt. Henry W. 
 fMason, Thomas 
 
 Matthews, Warren W. 
 
 May, Frank 
 
 Mayo, Henry 
 fMcElroy, Henry 
 
 McGee, Thomas 
 fMcKinley, 2nd Lieut. Thomas H. 
 *Merriman, Charles 
 f Miller, John 
 :{:Minor, Henry M. 
 
 Moore, Charles J. 
 
 Moore, John 
 
 Moore, William 
 :}:Morse, Corp. Appollos C. 
 
 Munger, Trueworthy 
 
 Munson, Walter D. 
 
 Murray, Muse. Warren B. 
 *Myer, Philip 
 
 *Nettleton,Musc. Albert R. 
 :}:Newbury, Nelbert P. 
 fNewcomb, Francis A. 
 fNichols, Jerome 
 
 Nichols, John P. 
 
 Nightingale, Frederick 
 
 Norris, Corp. William H. 
 *Northrop, Rollin R. 
 +Norville. William H. 
 
290 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 '^Oakes, Corp. Eben L. 
 
 O'Brien, James 
 :}:Osbofne, Sergt. Maj. Goodwin E. 
 *Parker, Frank 
 
 Parker, Joseph H. 
 f Parks, Joseph P. 
 
 Parmalee, Cornelius 
 
 Parmalee, EH , 
 
 :}:Parmalee, Willard H. 
 ^Parmalee, William K. 
 :j; Parmalee, Watson 
 
 Parrit, Frank 
 
 Payne, Henry 
 
 Peacock, Patrick 
 :}:Peck, Albert A. 
 *Peck, Capt. Edward O. 
 
 Perkins, Charles 
 :j:Perkins, Edwin F. 
 *Perkins, Harvey B. 
 *Perkins, Norman B. 
 
 Peters, James T. 
 fPlumb, 2nd Lieut. Seth F. 
 *Plumb, William H. 
 *Pond, Edwin W. 
 *Pond, Ferris 
 
 Pond, George L. 
 *Pond, Corp. Seth C. 
 :{:Potter, Corp. George W. 
 
 Provost, Rufus 
 
 Redding, Thomas 
 *Reed, Chaunccy F. 
 *Reed, Joseph P. 
 fRichmond, Edward S. 
 
 Rodgers, John 
 
 Root, George 
 fRuby, Sergt. James H. 
 :}:Ryan, Patrick 
 
 Ryne, Corp. William 
 
 Sanford, Set-gt. Edwin B. 
 *Sanford, Theodore G. 
 
 Schmidt, Henry 
 
 Scoville, Ezekiel 
 *Scoville, Sergt. Harry 
 ^Sedgwick, ist Lieut. John E. 
 *Shumway, Capt. Alex. B. 
 
 Shumwaj', Fred'k D. 
 
 Smith, 1st Lieut. Edward B. 
 :}; Smith, Lyman J. Jr. 
 
 ^Smith, Whiting P. 
 *Smitb, Sergt. WiUiam S. 
 ^Spencer, Sergt. Hiram S. 
 
 Starks, George 
 iflStillson, Amos H. 
 *St. John, Jason 
 
 Stone, Sergt. Alva 
 ^Stone, 2nd Lieut. George D. 
 
 Stone, Chaplain Hiram 
 *Sweet, Lyman E. 
 
 Taylor, Lyman 
 
 Taylor, Sergt. Samuel S. 
 
 Terrill, George 
 
 Terryl, Luther A. 
 
 Thomas), Charles 
 
 Thomas, Sergt. Edward O. 
 fThompkins, Enos 
 
 Throop, Corp. Monroe 
 
 Titus, Gilbert 
 *Tompkins, Jackson 
 f Tompkins, John 
 
 Tompkins, Ralph H. 
 
 Tracy, Abel C. 
 fTreat, Frederick W. 
 
 Vaill, Q.M. Sergt. Joseph H. 
 *Vaill, Adj. Theodore F. 
 :{:Volusen, Caralf 
 
 Wade, Henry 
 fWadhams, Sergt. Edward 
 fWadhams, Henry W. 
 :}:Wadhams, Capt. Luman 
 
 Wakefield. William C. 
 
 Waldron, WilHam 
 
 Warren, Charles 
 :{:Watt Robert 
 *Waugh, George F. 
 fWebster, Frederick B. 
 *Wedge, Corp. Curtis P. 
 *Weeks, Luther L. 
 
 Wells, Major Frank 
 
 Wessells, Bvt. Brig.-Gen. Henry W. 
 *Wessells, Col. Leverett (e), W. 
 
 West, Henry G. 
 *Whaples, Sergt. Charles O. 
 *Wheeler, Charles G. 
 
 Wheeler, George W. 
 
 Wheeler, Q. M. Sergt. Stiles A. 
 
 Wheeler, Muse. Walcott 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 291 
 
 *Whiting, Corp. Seth 
 J:Wilcox, Corp. John L. 
 *Williams, Sergt. Henry 
 
 4. European War, 
 
 Allen, du Val 
 Allen, Paul Jr. 
 Andrews, Leslie F. 
 Axelby, Stanley 
 Axelby, William 
 Bachman, Charles I. 
 Baldwin, George H. 
 Baldwin, Robert L. 
 Baldwin, Thomas C. 
 Barrett, John F. 
 Beach, William M. 
 Beckwith, Sutherland A. 
 Bostwick, Elmore McN. 
 Brahen, Edward J. 
 Bramer, Hugo 
 Brennan, Edward A. 
 Brennan, Garrett F. 
 Brennan, Matthew E. Jr. 
 Brewster, James 
 Brown, Ernest W. 
 Buell, Carleton L. 
 Buell, John S. 
 Bull. Ludlow S. 
 Busk, Frederick W. 
 Busk, Joseph R. 
 Burke. James F. 
 Burkei, John N. 
 Cameron, John 
 Campomaggi, Giovanni 
 Carlson, Gustav A. 
 Carr, Thomas 
 Catlin, James H. 
 Cattey, Henry E.* 
 Catteys Lucien H. 
 Clark, William B. 
 Clock, Albert W. 
 Clock. Frederick E. 
 Clock, Henry W. 
 Colvocoresses, Harold P. 
 Ccnroy, James E. 
 Cornwell, Roy E.* 
 Cucchi, Eugenio 
 Cunningham, Macklin 
 Curtiss, Burdette 
 
 fWooster, David B. 
 Yemmansv William H, 
 
 (1914), 1917-1918. 
 
 Curtiss, Erwin M. 
 Curtiss, Eugene F. 
 Conable, Samuel M. 
 Danielson, Caleb R. 
 Danielson, Clifford H. 
 Deacon, Arthur D. 
 Deming, Nelson L, 
 Deming, Robert C. 
 Dempsey, Charles J. 
 Devines, Clayton A.* 
 Dickinson, Frederick G. 
 Donohue, Edward J. M. 
 Donohue, Joseph* 
 Doster, Alexis 
 Doyle, Francis L. 
 Doyle, Lawrence F. 
 Drumrn, Otto C. 
 Drury, James M. 
 Drury, John F. 
 Edwards, George L. 
 Fabbri, Albert S. 
 Fairgrieve, Robert P. 
 Farnetti, Primo 
 Finan, William J. 
 Fritz, Ernest G. 
 Fusaroli, Umberto 
 Ganung, Charles R. 
 Ganung. Clarence F. 
 Goodman, Wesley L. 
 Gugnoni, Lazaro 
 Gugnoni, Filipo 
 Guidi, Ugo 
 Guinchi, Arnold 
 Guinchi, August* 
 Hallock, Francis J. 
 Handlowich, Daniel 
 Handlowich, Michael 
 Handlowich, Stephen 
 Harney, John M. 
 Harney, William M. 
 Harris, Charles P. 
 Harris, Thaddeus W. Jr. 
 Hatheway, Curtis R. Jr. 
 Hausmann, Joseph A. 
 
292 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 Hayes, Michael 
 Hazen, Ruel 
 Heath, Edward P. 
 Higgins, Hubert A. 
 Higgins, Timothy F. 
 Hotchkiss, CHfford T. 
 Hoyt, Lewis H. 
 Hunt, Philip W. 
 Jeffries, Bruce S. 
 Jeffries, Robert P.* 
 Johnson, Edward C. 
 Johnson, Oliver H. 
 Keller, John E. Jr. 
 Kelly, Thomas J. 
 Kirbyi, Leo F. 
 Kirwin, James L. 
 Knox, Robert J. 
 Knox, Thomas J. 
 Koser, Henry J. 
 Landon, Alva 
 Landon, Robert W. 
 Langford, Thomas A, 
 MacDonald, Archibald A. 
 MacDonald, Malcolm E. 
 Marchi, Carlo 
 Matson, Frederick R. 
 McBride, Alphonse 
 Meramble, Eugene W. 
 Mooney, John J. 
 Mooney, William 
 Moore, Clifford F. 
 Morgan, Frank A.* 
 Morey, Charles H. 
 Munroe, Robert K. 
 Naser, Peter F. 
 Nozzioli, Frederick 
 Page. Carlisle W. C. 
 Page, Charles L Jr. 
 Page, Henry L. 
 Panaytatos, Peter 
 
 Parsons, Evans C. 
 Perkins, Benjamin T. 
 Perkins, Clarence E. 
 Perkins, Edwin B. 
 Peacocke, William D. 
 Pepper, Charles V. 
 Ray, Charles M. 
 Richards, Guy H. 
 Roberg, William D. 
 Robinson, Leonard G. 
 Salocks, Andrew 
 Santi, Aurelio 
 Sassi, Colombano 
 Schmidhausler, Arthur 
 Selvic, Alf 
 Sepples, Charles L. 
 Shanley, William L. 
 Sherry, Howard C* 
 Short, Richard A. 
 Slattery, John J. 
 Snyder, Edward L. 
 Terek, Andrew V. 
 Tompkins, Frank L. 
 Trumbull, Allan T. 
 Turkington, Charles H. 
 Umberti, Emelio 
 Valmoretti. Gino 
 Van Winkle, Edgar B. Jr. 
 Weik, John 
 Weir, James V.* 
 Weir, Frank B. 
 Weir, Thomas F. 
 Westerberg, Carl F. 
 Wheeler, Clarence M. 
 Whitbeck, Charles A. 
 Wiggin, Frederick H. 
 Wooster, Harold A. 
 Yovmg, Ivar J. 
 Zavotti, Pio* 
 
 *Killed or died in service. 
 
 B. CLEEGYMEN. 
 
 1. Congregational Church. 
 
 a. Litchfield. 
 
 Timothy Collins 
 Judah Champion* 
 Dan Huntington 
 
 I 723-1 752 
 
 I 753-1 798 
 1798-1809 
 
 Lyman Beecher, D.D. 1810-1826 
 
 Daniel L. Carroll, D.D. 1827-1829 
 
 Laurens P. Hickok, D.D. 1829-1836 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 293 
 
 Jonathan Brace, D.D. 1838-1844 
 
 Benjamin L. Swan 1846- 1856 
 
 Leonard W. Bacon, D.D. 1856-1859 
 
 George Richards 1860-1865 
 
 William B. Clark 1866-1869 
 
 Henry M. Elliott 
 Allan B. McLean 
 Charles Symington 
 John Hutchins 
 Frank J. Goodwin, D.D. 
 
 ^Became Rector Emeritus, 1798, Died 1810. 
 
 b. South Farms. 
 
 George Beckwith 
 
 
 I 772-1781 
 
 Amos Chase 
 
 
 1787-1814 
 
 William R. Weeks 
 
 , D.D. 
 
 1815-1816 
 
 Amos Pettingill 
 
 
 1816-1822 
 
 Henry Robinson 
 
 
 I 823 -I 829 
 
 Vernon D. Taylor 
 
 
 1831-1833 
 
 c. Xorthfield 
 
 [. 
 
 Joseph Eleazer Camp 
 
 I 795- 1837 
 
 Campbell 
 
 
 
 Snow 
 
 
 
 Salter 
 
 
 
 Ransome 
 
 
 
 Russell 
 
 
 
 Mosely 
 
 
 I 837- I 844 
 
 J. S. Dickinson 
 
 
 1844-1851 
 
 Lewis Jessup 
 
 
 1851-1854 
 
 Noah Coe 
 
 
 1854-1856 
 
 Stephen Rogers 
 
 
 1856-1859 
 
 James Richards, D.D. 
 
 1859-1860 
 
 Erastus Colton 
 
 
 1861-1864 
 
 
 Wallace Humistc 
 
 d. Milton. 
 
 
 Benjamin Judd 
 
 
 I 802- I 804 
 
 Abraham Fowler 
 
 
 1807-1813 
 
 Asahel Nettleton, D.D. 
 
 1813- 
 
 Levi Smith 
 
 
 1825- 
 
 Ralph Smith 
 
 
 1841-1844 
 
 John F. Norton 
 
 
 I 844- I 849 
 
 Herman L. Vaill 
 
 
 I 849- I 85 I 
 
 Francis Williams 
 
 
 1851-1853 
 
 James Noyes 
 
 
 1853-1854 
 
 James F. Warner 
 Ralph S. Crampton 
 Stephen Hubbell 
 B. Y. Messenger 
 Richard Woodruff 
 David L. Parmalee 
 
 E. N. Tucker 
 Hiram Gates 
 
 Elias Sanford, DD., LL.D. 
 S. G. W. Rankin 
 M. J. Callan 
 William Howard 
 H. Augustus Ottman 
 Edward C. Starr 
 Joseph Kyte 
 Fred Louis Grant 
 Giles F. Goodenough 
 James A. McKeeman 
 Alexander S. Baillie 
 1918- 
 
 George Harrison 
 Aurelian Post 
 Wesley E. Page 
 Joseph D. Prigmore 
 Pearl E. Mathias 
 Thomas A. Williams 
 Miss M. E. Millen* 
 Eugene Richards 
 ^Missionary in charge. 
 
 2. Protestant Episcopal Cliurcli. 
 
 a. Litchfield. St. Michael's Parish. 
 
 I 870- I 874 
 1875-1881 
 1883-1893 
 1895-1915 
 191S- 
 
 1833-1834 
 1834-1836 
 1836-1837 
 1837-1838 
 1838-1841 
 1841-1859 
 
 1864-1866 
 1866-1871 
 1871-1873 
 1873-1874 
 1874-1875 
 1875-1877 
 1877-1881 
 1881-1887 
 1887-1894 
 1895-1905 
 1907-1914 
 1915-1916 
 1916-1917 
 
 1854-1893 
 1894-1895 
 1896-1903 
 1904-1906 
 I 906- I 907 
 1908-1912 
 1912-1914 
 1914-1919 
 
 Solomon Palmer 
 
 I 754- I 763 
 
 David Butler, D.D. 
 
 I 794- I 799 
 
 Thomas Davies 
 
 I 763- I 766 
 
 Truman Marsh 
 
 I 799- I 829 
 
 Solomon Palmer 
 
 I 766- I 770 
 
 Isaac Jones* 
 
 1812-1826 
 
 James Nichols 
 
 1775- 
 
 John S. Stone, D.D.* 
 
 I 826- I 829 
 
 Ashbel Baldwin 
 
 1785-1793 
 
 William Lucas 
 
 1829-1832 
 
294 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 Samuel Fuller, D.D. 
 William Payne, D.D. 
 Samuel Fuller, D. D. 
 Benjamin W. Stone, D.D 
 John J. Brandegee, D.D. 
 Junius M. Willey 
 H. N. Hudson 
 
 I 832- I 837 
 1838-1845 
 I 845- I 849 
 1849-1851 
 1851-1854 
 1855-1858 
 1858-1860 
 William J. Brewster 1916- 
 
 *Associate Rector; f Became Rector Emeritus, died 1918. 
 
 William S. Southgate 1860-1864 
 
 William S. Perry 1864-1869 
 
 C. S. Henry, D.D. 1870-1873 
 
 G. M. Wilkins 1874-1879 
 
 Storrs O. Seymour, D.D. 1879-1881 
 
 L. P. Bissell, D.D. 1882-1893 
 
 Storrs O. Seymour, D.D.f 1893-1916 
 
 b. Bantam and Milton, St. Paul's and Trinity Churches. 
 
 David G. Tomlinson 
 
 1831-1835 
 
 J. A. Wainwright 
 
 1860-1861 
 
 Amos Beach 
 
 1836-1837 
 
 J. D .Berry 
 
 1864-1866 
 
 Hilliard Bryant 
 
 1837-1840 
 
 William L. Peck 
 
 1866-1871 
 
 Emery M. Porter 
 
 1842-1843 
 
 Hiram Stone 
 
 I 873- I 903 
 
 Frederick D. Harriman 
 
 1848-1850 
 
 J. H. Jackson 
 
 1904-1905 
 
 George W. Nichols 
 
 I 850- I 85 I 
 
 John 0. Ferris 
 
 1905-1908 
 
 Asa Griswold 
 
 1852- 
 
 Clarence H. Beers 
 
 1908-1912 
 
 Daniel E. Brown 
 
 1853-1857 
 
 Robert Van K. Harris 
 
 1912-1914 
 
 John R. Williams 
 
 1858-1860 
 
 Thaddeus W. Harris 
 
 1915-1918 
 
 Arthur 
 
 B. Crichton IQIQ- 
 
 
 c. Northfield. Trinity Church. 
 
 
 Alexander V. Griswold 
 
 1795-1804 
 
 J. F. George* 
 
 
 David Baldwin 
 
 1804- 
 
 Frank A. Sanborn* 
 
 
 Russell Wheeler . 
 
 1806- 
 
 William Johnson* 
 
 
 Roger Searle 
 
 1807- 
 
 Fred C. Lee* 
 
 
 David Welton 
 
 1808- 
 
 Edward C. Johnson* 
 
 
 Frederick Holcomb 
 
 1811-1835 
 
 Edgar L. Sanford* 
 
 
 William Watson 
 
 1835-1837 
 
 David L. Sanfordf 
 
 1885- 
 
 Thomas W. Snow 
 
 1837-1839 
 
 Edward C. Johnson* 
 
 
 Isaac H. Tuttle 
 
 I 839- I 840 
 
 Irving P. Johnson* 
 
 
 Frederick Holcomb 
 
 I 840- I 845 
 
 Storrs 0. Seymourf 
 
 1887- I 890 
 
 Abel Ogden Jr. 
 
 I 845 -I 846 
 
 Irving Johnson* 
 
 
 Joshua D. Berry 
 
 I 847- I 848 
 
 William E. Hookerf 
 
 1890- 
 
 George W. Nichols 
 
 I 848- I 850 
 
 William H. Hutchinson* 
 
 
 Ruel H. Tuttle 
 
 I 850- I 85 I 
 
 S. Wolcott Linsley* 
 
 
 Asa Griswold 
 
 1851-1852 
 
 Arthur T. Parsonsf 
 
 1891-1899 
 
 Frederick Holcomb 
 
 I 852- I 862 
 
 Anthon T. Gesner* 
 
 
 William J. Pigott* 
 
 I 862- I 863 
 
 Arthur Gammock* 
 
 
 Benjamin Eastwood 
 
 1864- 
 
 John Gammock* 
 
 
 Henry C. Stowell 
 
 1865-1866 
 
 Alfred J. Nock* 
 
 
 C. CoUard Adams 
 
 1867-1868 
 
 Albert L. Whittaker* 
 
 
 Frederick Holcomb 
 
 I 869- I 872 
 
 William H. Jepson* 
 
 
 William Bostwick 
 
 I 872- I 878 
 
 George H. Buck 
 
 1900-1901 
 
 Storrs 0. Seymourf 
 
 I 878- I 885 
 
 Adelbert P. Chapman 
 
 1901-1917 
 
 William S. Sayre* 
 
 
 Hamilton B. Phelpsf 
 
 1918- 
 
 -»Lay : 
 
 Reader; -j-In 
 
 Charge. 
 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 295 
 
 3. Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 a. Litchfield. 
 CircTiit Preachers who served Litchfield, 1790-1844. 
 
 Samuel Wigton 
 
 
 James M. Smith 
 
 
 Henry Christie 
 
 1790- 
 
 David Miller 
 
 
 Matthias Swain 
 
 
 Julius Field 
 
 1822- 
 
 James Covel 
 
 1791- 
 
 Daniel Brayton 
 
 
 Philip Wager 
 
 
 Elbert Osborne 
 
 1823- 
 
 James Coleman 
 
 1792- 
 
 Arnold Schofield 
 
 
 Lemuel Smith 
 
 
 Elbert Osborne 
 
 1824- 
 
 Daniel Ostrander 
 
 1793- I 796 
 
 Eli Barnet 
 
 
 William Thacher 
 
 1797-1799 
 
 John Love joy 
 
 1825-1826 
 
 Aaron Hunt 
 
 1800- 
 
 E. Washburne 
 
 
 Peter Moriarty 
 
 1801-1805 
 
 F. W. Sizer 
 
 
 Nathan Emory 
 
 
 Asa Bushnell 
 
 1827- 
 
 Samuel Cochran 
 
 1806- 
 
 E. Washburne 
 
 
 Aaron Hunt 
 
 
 Asa Bushnell 
 
 1828- 
 
 Jonathan Lyon 
 
 1807- 
 
 Bradley Silleck 
 
 
 Henry Eames 
 
 
 Wells Wolcott 
 
 
 Andrew Prindle 
 
 1808- 
 
 L. C. Cheney 
 
 1829- 
 
 Laban Clark 
 
 
 Bradley Silleck 
 
 
 Reuben Harris 
 
 1809-1810 
 
 Milo Chamberlain 
 
 
 James Coleman 
 
 
 David Stocking 
 
 1830- 
 
 Arnold Schofield 
 
 1811- 
 
 Luther Mead 
 
 
 James Coleman 
 
 
 Lerman .A Sanford 
 
 1831- 
 
 B. Grififen 
 
 1812- 
 
 A. S. Hill 
 
 
 W. Swazey 
 
 
 0. Stare 
 
 1832-1833 
 
 Gad Smith 
 
 
 C. W. Turner 
 
 
 J. Reynolds 
 
 1813- 
 
 D. Plumb 
 
 1834- 
 
 W. Swazey 
 
 
 C. Chittenden 
 
 
 J Reynolds 
 
 
 L. Gunn 
 
 
 T. Thorp 
 
 1814- 
 
 I. Abbott 
 
 1835- 
 
 Samuel Cochran 
 
 
 C. C. Keys 
 
 1836- 
 
 B. Hibbard 
 
 
 Gad N. Smith 
 
 1837-1838 
 
 J. Dayton 
 
 1815- 
 
 S. W. Scofield 
 
 1839- 
 
 Samuel Cochran 
 
 
 S. W. Scofield 
 
 
 Cyrus Culver 
 
 1816- 
 
 Thomas Ellis 
 
 
 E. P. Jacob 
 
 
 Jason Wells 
 
 
 J. J. Matthias 
 
 1817- 
 
 S. W. Law 
 
 1840- 
 
 Datus Ensign 
 
 
 Francis Donnelly 
 
 
 Ezekiel Canfield 
 
 1818-1819 
 
 Lewis Gunn 
 
 
 Nathan Emory 
 
 
 S. W. Scofield 
 
 1841- 
 
 Smith Dayton 
 
 1820- 
 
 Jason Wells 
 
 
 E. Washburne 
 
 
 Thomas Geralds 
 
 1842- 
 
 Smith Dayton 
 
 1821- 
 
 David L. Marks 
 
 1843- 
 
296 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 
 
 Eesident 
 
 Pastors. 
 
 
 David L. Marks 
 
 1844- 
 
 W. L. Douglas 
 
 1879- 
 
 William Dixon 
 
 1845- I 846 
 
 John Cromlish 
 
 1880- I 88 I 
 
 Joseph Henson 
 
 I 847- I 848 
 
 T. I .Watt 
 
 I 882- I 883 
 
 William B. Hoyt 
 
 1849-1850 
 
 Robert Wasson 
 
 1883-1885 
 
 Nathan C. Lewis 
 
 1851-1852 
 
 Benjamin F. Skidder 
 
 1886-1888 
 
 H. N. Weed 
 
 1853-1854 
 
 James H. Lightbourn 
 
 1889- 
 
 D. W. Lounsbury 
 
 1855-1856 
 
 David MacMullin 
 
 1890- 
 
 William Howard 
 
 1857-1858 
 
 G. C. Spencer 
 
 1891-1894 
 
 Albert Booth 
 
 I 859- I 860 
 
 George C. Boswell 
 
 1895-1898 
 
 Joseph Vinton 
 
 1861-1862 
 
 William H. Wakeham 
 
 1899-1900 
 
 William Lawrence 
 
 I 863- I 864 
 
 William W. Gillies 
 
 1901-1902 
 
 Joseph 0. Munson 
 
 I 865- I 867 
 
 William L. Miller 
 
 1903-1904 
 
 Sylvester Smith 
 
 I 868- I 870 
 
 Robert W. Jones 
 
 190S- 
 
 A. P. Chapman 
 
 1871- 
 
 Ridgway F. Shinn 
 
 1906-1911 
 
 James Taylor 
 
 1872- I 873 
 
 Charles S. Gray 
 
 1912- 
 
 W. S. Morrison 
 
 1874- 
 
 J. A. Swann 
 
 1913-1914 
 
 George A. Graves 
 
 1875-1876 
 
 William M. Warden 
 
 1915-1918 
 
 W. H. McAllister 
 
 I 877- I 878 
 
 William B. Pruner 
 
 1919- 
 
 b. Bantam. 
 
 
 
 
 W. H. McMorris 
 
 I 896- I 899 
 
 M. Harwood 
 
 1908-1911 
 
 T. A. Wade 
 
 I 899- I 900 
 
 H. S. Crossett 
 
 1911-1913 
 
 D. V. Teed 
 
 1900- 
 
 B. S. Miller 
 
 1913-1915 
 
 A. H. Birch 
 
 1900- I 902 
 
 A. J. W. Mowatt 
 
 1915-1917 
 
 A. R. Davies 
 
 I 902- I 905 
 
 E. L. Copley 
 
 1917-1919 
 
 W. L Reed 
 
 I 905 -I 906 
 
 Robert Thorne 
 
 1919-1920 
 
 J. B. Smith 
 
 I 906- I 908 
 
 H. A. Studwell 
 
 1920- 
 
 4. Baptist Church, 
 a. Bantam Falls. 
 
 1857-1862 
 I 863- I 867 
 1867-1871 
 1871-1875 
 I 876- I 878 
 I 878- I 881 
 
 E. B. Elms 
 G. D. Reid 
 Ray H. Legate 
 J. L. Deming 
 Herman Foster* 
 C. W. Davis 
 
 Jackson G. Ganun 
 
 C. N. Potter 
 J. Fairman 
 
 D. F. Chapman 
 
 E. D. Bowers 
 H. G. Smith 
 
 *Lay Preacher. 
 
 5, Koman Catholic Church. 
 
 a. Litchfield. St. Anthony's Parish. 
 Visiting Missionary Priests. 
 
 Rev. John Smith 1848 Rev. Thomas F. Hendricken 
 
 Bishop O'Reilly 1851 Rev. Lawrence Mangan 
 
 Rev. Philip Gillick 1853 Rev. Peter Kelly 
 
 Pastors of Winsted in charge, 1861-1882. 
 Rev. Daniel Mullen Father Leo da Saracena O. S. 
 
 Rev. Philip Sheridan Father Anacletus O. F. M. 
 
 1091-1096 
 
 1903- 
 
 1909- 
 
 1910- 
 
 1911-1912 
 
 1914- 
 
 1854 
 1856 
 
 1857 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 297 
 
 Kesident Priests. 
 
 Rev. M. Byrne 1882-1883 Rev. Patrick Finnegan 1889-1896 
 
 Rev. Joseph Gleeson 1883-1885 Rev. Peter Skelly 1896-1910 
 
 Rev. Timothy M. Sweeney 1885-1889 Rev. John L. McGuinness 1910- 
 
 C. UNITED STATES, STATE, JUDICIAL, COUNTY AND TOWN 
 OFFICIALS FKOM LITCHFIELD. 
 
 1. a. United States Senators. 
 
 First Chosen 
 Uriah Tracy 1796 Truman Smith 1849 
 
 b. Members of U. S. Congress. 
 Uriah Tracy 
 John Allen 
 
 Benjamin Tallmadge 
 
 Uriel Holmes 
 
 Jabez W. Huntington 
 
 Phineas Miner 
 Truman Smith 1839-1843, 
 Origen S. Seymour 
 George C. Woodruff 
 John H. Hubbard 
 1882-1886 
 
 I 834- I 83 5 
 1845-1849 
 
 1851-1855 
 1861-1863 
 1863-1867 
 
 I 793- I 790 
 1797-1799 
 1801-1817 
 1817-1818 
 I 829- I 835 
 Edward W. Seymour 
 
 2, a. Governors of Connecticut. 
 Oliver Wolcott 1796-1797 Oliver Wolcott Jr. 
 
 Charles B. Andrews 1879-1881 
 
 b. Members of tlie Council. 
 
 chosen 
 Elisha Sheldon 1761 Jedediah Strong 
 
 Oliver Wolcott 1771 Tapping Reeve 
 
 Andrew Adams 1781 John Allen 
 
 Frederick Wolcott 1810 
 
 c. Members of the State Senate. 
 
 Elected by General Ticket. 
 
 chosen yrs. 
 
 John Welch 
 
 ct System. 
 Gideon H. Hollister 
 Charles B. Andrews 
 Edward W. Seymour 
 Seth Pratt 
 Edwin McNeill 
 1893- 
 
 d. Members of the House of Representatives, 1740-1919. 
 Two sessions were held yearly, May and October, indicated as 
 
 (1) and (2), until 1819; one session was held yearly from 1819 to 
 1887; since then sessions have been biennial. 
 •^Members of a second May session held in I745- 
 
 Frederick Wolcott 
 
 1819 4 
 
 Seth P. Beers 
 
 1824 I 
 
 
 Under Disti 
 
 Phineas Miner 
 
 I 830- I 83 I 
 
 William Beebe 
 
 1845- 
 
 Francis Bacon 
 
 1849- 
 
 Charles Adams 
 
 1851- 
 
 Charles 0. Belden 
 
 185s- 
 
 
 J. Deming Perkins 
 
 I8I7-I827 
 
 chosen 
 1789 
 1792 
 1800 
 
 chosen yrs. 
 1825 7 
 
 1856- 
 
 1868-1869 
 
 1876- 
 
 1877:1888 
 
 1880- 
 
298 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 Joseph Bird 
 
 1740(1); 43(2)-45(i); *45(2)-46; 49(0- 
 
 Ebenezer Marsh 
 
 1740(1) ; 41-44(1) ; 45(1) ; 46; 48-52(1) ; 54; 55(2). 
 
 
 58; 59(2)-66; 67(2)-68(i); 69; 17(1); 84; 85(2)- 
 
 
 88; 90(1). 
 
 John Bird 
 
 1740(2); 43(1) ; 48. 
 
 John Buel 
 
 1740(2); 41 (i). 
 
 Samuel Culver 
 
 1741(2). 
 
 Jacob Griswold 
 
 1742. 
 
 Edward Phelps 
 
 1744 (2) -45(1); *45(2). 
 
 Isaac Baldwin 
 
 1745(1); 6i(2)-64(i); 65-66(1); 82(2); 84(1). 
 
 Thomas Harrison 
 
 1747; 49(2)-52(i); 53(2); 54 (2). 
 
 Joseph Sanford 
 
 1747. 
 
 Joseph Kilbourn 
 
 i752(2)-53(i). 
 
 Benjamin Webster 
 
 i752(2)-54(i); 55 (I). 
 
 Peter Buell 
 
 1755(1); S6-57(i)- 
 
 Elisha Sheldon 
 
 1755(2) ; 57(2)-6i(i). 
 
 Jacob Woodruff 
 
 1759(1); 68(2). 
 
 Oliver Wolcott 
 
 1764(2); 67(1); 68(2); 70(2). 
 
 John Marsh 
 
 1766(2); 68(1); 71(1); 72(2); 74(0. 
 
 Abraham Kilbourn 
 
 1769-70. 
 
 David Welch 
 
 1770(1); 72,; 74(2)-75(i); 80(2). 
 
 Jedediah Strong 
 
 i77i(2)-8o(i); 81-83(1); 85-86; 87(2)-88(i); 89. 
 
 Lynde Lord 
 
 I77i(2)-72(i). 
 
 Abraham Bradley 
 
 i775(2)-76(i); 83(2); 85(1). 
 
 Andrew Adams 
 
 i776(2)-8i(i). 
 
 Bezaleel Beebe 
 
 i78i(2)-82(i) ; 83(1) ; 92(2) ; 93(2) ; 95(2). 
 
 Isaac Baldwin Jr. 
 
 1783(2); 84(2). 
 
 Ebenezer Benton 
 
 1781(1). 
 
 Uriah Tracy 
 
 i788(2)-92(i); 93(1). 
 
 Julius Deming 
 
 1790(2) -91(1); 98(1). 
 
 Ephraim Kirby 
 
 i79i(2)-92(i) ; 94-95(1); 97; 98(2)-i8oi(i). 
 
 Solomon Marsh 
 
 1792(2). 
 
 John Allen 
 
 1793-95(1) ; 96. 
 
 Moses Seymour 
 
 i795(2)-97; 98(2)-99(i) ; 1801 ; 02(2) ; 06(1) ; 10-12(1) 
 
 James Morris 
 
 1798(1); 1800(2); 02(1); 03-05(2). 
 
 John Welch 
 
 i799(2)-i8oo(i) ; 01(2). 
 
 Frederick Wolcott 
 
 1802(1) ; 03(1). 
 
 Uriel Holmes 
 
 1803 (2) -05; 06(2) -07; 14 (2). 
 
 Norman Buel 
 
 1806(1). 
 
 Aaron Bradley 
 
 i8o6(2)-o8(i) ; 10. 
 
 Aaron Smith 
 
 1808-09; 11-14(1). 
 
 Nathaniel Goodwin 
 
 1808 (2) -09. 
 
 Morris Woodruff 
 
 i8i2(2)-is(i) ; 24-26; 29-30; 36-37. 
 
 William Beebe 
 
 i8i5(i)-i6; 27-28; 33. 
 
 Jonathan Buel 
 
 i8i5(2)-i7. 
 
 Ephraim S. Hall 
 
 i8i7(i)-i8(i). 
 
 Stephen Russell 
 
 1818; 30-31; 34- 
 
 Phineas Lord 
 
 i8i8(2)-i9; 36-37. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 299 
 
 Seth P. Beers 
 Phineas Miner 
 David Marsh 
 Reuben Webster 
 Jabez W. Huntington 
 Truman Smith 
 Elihu Harrison 
 Asa Hopkins 
 Samuel Buel 
 William Ray 
 Frederick Buel 
 E. Champion Bacon 
 Origen S. Seymour 
 Enos Stoddard 
 Elisha S. Abernethy 
 Dan Catlin 
 Charles Adams 
 George Seymour 
 Samuel P. BoUes 
 William L. Smedley 
 Christopher Wheeler 
 George C. Woodruff 
 Thomas M. Coe 
 Josiah G. Beckwith 
 William Newton 
 Philip S. Beebe 
 Samuel Brooker Jr. 
 Garry H. Minor 
 Edward Pierpont 
 Henry B. Graves 
 William Bissell 
 Edward W. Seymour 
 Daniel Stoddard 
 George H. Baldwin 
 Jacob Morse 
 George A. Hickox 
 George M. Woodruff 
 Everett H. Wright 
 T. R. Sedgwick 
 D. E. Bostwick 
 T. L. Saltonstall 
 Eli D. Weeks 
 T. Leander Jennings 
 J. B. Hopkins 
 Henry Frisbie 
 N. W. Beach 
 Ransom Newton 
 Julius Deming 
 
 1820-23. 
 
 1823 ; 27 ; 29 ; 35. 
 
 824-25; 46-47. 
 
 826. 
 
 828. 
 
 831-32; 34. 
 
 832; 35- 
 
 833. 
 
 838-39. 
 
 838-39. 
 
 840-41; 54. 
 
 840-41. 
 
 842-43; 49-50; 1881. 
 
 842-43. 
 
 844. 
 
 844-45. 
 
 845. 
 
 846-47. 
 
 848; 54- 
 
 848. 
 
 849-50. 
 
 851; 66; 74. 
 
 851. 
 
 852-53; 56-57; 69. 
 
 852-53. 
 
 855; 62. 
 
 855. 
 
 856. 
 
 857. 
 
 858; 67-68; 76-77; 79; 
 
 858-59; 78. 
 
 859-60; 70-71. 
 
 860. 
 
 861. 
 
 861. 
 
 862; 89. 
 
 863; 65; 72. 
 
 863-64. 
 
 864. 
 
 86s. 
 
 866. 
 
 867; IT, 1913. 
 
 868. 
 
 869. 
 
 870. 
 
 871. 
 
 872. 
 
 873. 
 
^00 
 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 Charles D. Wheeler 
 
 1873. 
 
 
 James B. Newcomb 
 
 1874. 
 
 
 William Deming 
 
 1875-76. 
 
 Garner B. Curtiss 
 
 1875; 
 
 82. 
 
 Charles B. Andrews 
 
 1878. 
 
 
 Leverett W. Wessells 
 
 1879: 
 
 87. 
 
 Gideon H. Hollister 
 
 1880. 
 
 
 Harry demons 
 
 1880; 
 
 87. 
 
 Frederick S. Porter 
 
 1881. 
 
 
 Willis J. Beach 
 
 1882. 
 
 
 F. Ratchford Starr 
 
 1883-84. 
 
 William H. Doyle 
 
 1883; 
 
 1907. 
 
 Edward E. Champlin 
 
 1884; 
 
 97. 
 
 Alvah A. Stone 
 
 1885. 
 
 
 Asahel Morse 
 
 1885. 
 
 
 Seth Pratt 
 
 1886. 
 
 
 Frank A. Shepard 
 
 1886. 
 
 
 Walter S. Judd 
 
 1891; 
 
 93- 
 
 William T. Marsh 
 
 1891; 
 
 93; 95; 1907. 
 
 George Kenney 
 
 1895. 
 
 
 George W. Mason 
 
 1897. 
 
 
 James P. Woodruff 
 
 1899; 
 
 1903. 
 
 John H. Harrigan 
 
 1899. 
 
 
 John T. Hubbard 
 
 1901 ; 
 
 03. 
 
 Fred'k A. Stoddard 
 
 1901 ; 
 
 09. 
 
 Samuel Trumbull 
 
 1905. 
 
 
 Francis M. Coe 
 
 1905. 
 
 
 James T. Sedgwick 
 
 1909; 
 
 11; 13- 
 
 John W. Ravenscroft 
 
 1911 ; 
 
 17. 
 
 W. Burton Allen 
 
 1915- 
 
 
 Winfield S. Rogers 
 
 1915. 
 
 
 Fremont M. Granniss 
 
 ' 1917. 
 
 
 Willis 0. Perkins 
 
 1919. 
 
 
 George C. Ives 
 
 1919. 
 
 
 e. Delegates to Constitutional Conventions. 
 
 Oliver Wolcott Jr.* 1818 Charles B. Andrews* 1902 
 
 Seth P. Beers 1818 *President. 
 
 3. a. Judges of Superior Court and Supreme Court of Errors. 
 
 Andrew Adams 1789-1798 J. W. Huntington 1834-1840 
 
 Tapping Reeve 1798-1815 Origen S. Seymour 1855-63 ;i870-i874 
 
 James Gould 1816-1819 Charles B. Andrews 1882-1901 
 
 Samuel Church 1833-1854 Edward W. Seymour 1889-1892 
 
 b. Chief Justices of the Supreme Court of Errors. 
 
 Andrew Adams 1793-1798 Samuel Church 1847-1854 
 
 Tapping Reeve 1814-1815 Origen S. Seymour 1873-1874 
 
 Charles B. Andrews 1889-1901 
 
Hon. James P. Woodruff, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, 1Q20 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 301 
 
 c. Presiding Judges of tlie Court of Common Pleas. 
 
 County of Litchfield. 
 
 Previous to 1819, this Court consisted of one Presiding Judge 
 and four Associate Judges, called "Justices of the Quorum". From 
 1819 to 1839, there were but two Associate Judges, instead of four. 
 From 1839 till the abolition of the Court in 1855, there were no 
 Associate Judges — the County Commissioners being their successors. 
 Oliver Wolcott 1773-1786 Elisha S. Abernethy 1846-1847 
 
 d. Associate Judges of the Court of Common Pleas. 
 
 
 
 
 chosen 
 
 
 chosen 
 
 Ebenezer Marsh 
 
 
 
 1751 
 
 Uriel Holmes 
 
 1814- 
 
 Elisha Sheldon 
 
 
 
 1754 
 
 John Welch 
 
 1819 
 
 Jedediah Strong 
 
 
 
 1780 
 
 Morris Woodruff 
 
 1829 
 
 
 Hugh 
 
 P. 
 
 Welch 
 
 1836 
 
 
 e. Judges of the Court of Common Pleas. 
 The Court of Common Pleas was re-established in 1883. 
 James P. Woodruff 1914- 
 
 f. Judges of 
 District organized 
 Legislature until 1851. 
 
 Ebenezer Marsh 
 Oliver Wolcott 
 Frederick Wolcott 
 Elisha S. Abernethy 
 Phineas Miner 
 Ralph G. Camp 
 Elisha S. Abernethy 
 Ralph G. Camp 
 Elisha S. Abernethy 
 Charles Adams 
 Oliver A. G. Todd 
 Henry B. Graves 
 
 John 
 
 g. Commissioners of the 
 
 First Chosen 
 
 Seth P. Beers 
 Frederick D. Beeman 
 John H. Hubbard 
 P. K. Kilbourne 
 William L. Ransom 
 Edward W. Seymour 
 William F. Baldwin 
 Henry M. Dutton 
 George M. Woodruff 
 G, H. Hollister 
 
 Probate, District of Litchfield, 
 in 1747. Judges appointed annually by the 
 Since elected annually by the People. 
 
 1747-1772 Oliver A. G. Todd 1852-1853 
 
 1772-1796 George C. Woodruff 1853-1854 
 
 1796-1837 Charles Adams 1854-1857 
 
 1837-1838 George C. Woodruff 1857-1858 
 
 1838-1840 Charles Adams 1858-1868 
 
 1840-1842 George H. Baldwin 1868-1869 
 
 1842-1844 George M. Woodruff 1869-1872 
 
 1844-1846 Henry R. Morrill 1872-1873 
 
 1846-1847 George M. Woodruff 1873-1906 
 
 1847-1850 James P. Woodruff 1906-1907 
 
 1850-1851 John T. Hubbard 1907-1913 
 
 1851-1852 Thomas F. Ryan 1913-1915 
 T. Hubbard 1915- 
 
 Superior Court from Litchfield. 
 
 First Chosen 
 
 Jason Whiting 1862 
 
 D. C. Kilbourn 1867 
 
 J. G. Beckwith 1867 
 
 Charles O. Belden 1869 
 
 Charles Adams 1869 
 
 H. R. Morrill 1870 
 
 i860 F. S. Porter 1870 
 
 i860 John R. Farnum 187 1 
 
 i860 Charles H. Henry 1872 
 
 1862 B. J. Smith 1872^ 
 
304 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 Henry M. Dutton 
 George M. Woodruff 
 Edwin B. Webster 
 Charles D. Wheeler 
 Aaron Baldwin 
 William Coe 
 Henry S. Griswold 
 S. H. Dudley 
 F. A. Marsh 
 A. J. Pierpont 
 
 F. S. Porter 
 James Richards 
 Charles B. Andrews 
 George Guernsey 
 Chester Goslee 
 David Stoddard 
 Garry G. Porter 
 Charles Booth 
 
 L. T. Gilbert 
 J. B. Hopkins 
 Dwight C. Kilbourn 
 S. O. Meafoy 
 John McNeil 
 
 E. P. Moulthrop 
 
 T. Leander Jennings 
 Eli D. Weeks 
 Seth Pond 
 Frederick Chittenden 
 
 G. W. Bement 
 Thomas M. Saltonstall 
 G. B. Curtiss 
 
 A. B. Hallock 
 Elbert G. Roberts 
 S. B. Johnson 
 Henry R. Morrill 
 J. R. Farnum 
 Noah W. Beach 
 Samuel G. Beach 
 Darius P. Griswold 
 John A. Hall 
 William Deming 
 D. G. Turney 
 Howard Catlin 
 Henry Morse 
 
 F. W. Wessells 
 Anson C. Smith 
 Charles B. Anderson 
 D. C. Griswold 
 Willis G. Barton 
 
 860 
 860 
 861 
 861 
 862 
 862 
 862 
 862 
 862 
 862 
 862 
 862 
 864 
 864 
 864 
 864 
 864 
 866 
 866 
 866 
 866 
 866 
 866 
 866 
 866 
 
 870 
 
 870 
 870 
 
 871 
 872 
 
 874 
 
 874 
 874 
 874 
 874 
 877 
 877 
 877 
 877 
 877 
 877 
 878 
 878 
 
 C. Merriman 
 Francis N. Barton 
 Horatio P. Griswold 
 Henry H. Prescott 
 Charles C. Moore 
 Isaac Hutchinson 
 Walter S. Judd 
 Holmes O. Morse 
 Eugene M. Meafoy 
 Isaac B. Pond 
 Charles I. Page 
 Francis N. Benton 
 Charles F. Baldwin 
 John T. Hubbard 
 Frederick Koehler 
 Elbert P. Roberts 
 Charles L. Blake 
 Arthur Morse 
 Leonard L. Munson 
 Charles B. Bishop 
 Frank M. Barnes 
 Arthur D. Catlin 
 Henry S. Coe 
 George W. Mason 
 Henry B. Peck 
 Chester Thomas 
 Edgar F. Wedge 
 Frank H. Earle 
 Thomas Hinchliff 
 Sidney D. Moore 
 Clifford C. Newbury 
 Henry T. Peck 
 Robert L .Rochfort 
 Marcus D. F. Smith 
 Charles W. Talcott 
 Charles D. Burrill 
 Patrick C. Burke 
 James P. Catlin 
 Cornelius R. Duffie Jr. 
 Charles D. Kilbourn 
 L. L. Munson 
 William H. Plumb 
 Henry W. Wessells 
 James P. Woodruff 
 Charles W. Biglow 
 Henry L. Coe 
 Samuel J. Cone 
 Ithamar T. Dickinson 
 Hiram N. French 
 
Mtss Cornelia B. Smith, Clerical Assistant 
 TO THE Clerk of the Superior Court, 1920 
 
•^Sfes. -A-^^ 
 
 I'^KANK H. TUKklNGTuN, SuERIFF, 1920 
 

 APPENDIX 
 
 305 
 
 John H. Harrigan 
 
 1896 
 
 Frank B. Mason 
 
 1907 
 
 Lewis C. Hotchkiss 
 
 1896 
 
 Elgin G. Clock 
 
 1908 
 
 James H. Morse 
 
 1896 
 
 Charles S. Nearing 
 
 1908 
 
 William J. Hall 
 
 1898 
 
 Walter E. Seelye 
 
 1908 
 
 John Hurley 
 
 1898 
 
 Job H. Scott 
 
 1908 
 
 Charles R. Iffland 
 
 1898 
 
 Edgar D. Beach 
 
 1910 
 
 William T. Marsh 
 
 1898 
 
 Willis 0. Perkins 
 
 1910 
 
 Edward Donohue 
 
 1900 
 
 George H. Hunt 
 
 1912 
 
 Wheaton F. Dowd 
 
 1900 
 
 William Gibbs 
 
 1914 
 
 Frederick S. Stoddard 
 
 1902 
 
 John H. Lancaster 
 
 1914 
 
 Almon B. Webster 
 
 1902 
 
 Charles D. Kilbourn 
 
 1915 
 
 Frederick A. Blatz 
 
 1906 
 
 Winfield S. Rogers 
 
 1916 
 
 Frank H. Earle 
 
 1906 
 
 Frederick L. Tharp 
 
 1916 
 
 Edward T. Harris 
 
 1906 
 
 George C. Woodruff 
 
 1916 
 
 David Johnson 
 
 1906 
 
 Lyman J. Booth 
 
 1918 
 
 John J. Karl 
 
 1906 
 
 F. North Clark 
 
 1918 
 
 Thomas F. Ryan 
 
 1906 
 
 William L. Ravenscroft 
 
 1918 
 
 Floyd 
 
 L. Vanderpoel 1918 
 
 
 5. a. Sheriffs of Litchfield County. 
 
 
 First Chosen 
 
 
 First Chosen 
 
 Oliver Wolcott 
 
 1751 
 
 Albert Sedgwick 
 
 1834 
 
 Lynde Lord 
 
 1772 
 
 Leverett W. Wessells 
 
 1854 
 
 John R. Landon 
 
 1801 
 
 Henry A. Botsford 
 
 1866 
 
 Moses Seymour Jr. 
 
 1819 
 
 George H. Baldwin 
 
 1869 
 
 Ozias Seymour 
 
 1825 
 
 Frank H. Turkington 
 
 1907 
 
 b. Clerks of 
 
 the Superior Court. 
 
 
 Isaac Baldwin 
 
 1751-1793 
 
 Frederick D. Beeman 
 
 1851-1854 
 
 Frederick Wolcott 
 
 1793-1836 
 
 Henry B. Graves 
 
 1854-1855 
 
 Origen S. Seymour 
 
 I 836- I 844 
 
 Frederick D. Beeman 
 
 1855-1860 
 
 Gideon H. Hollister 
 
 I 844- I 846 
 
 William L. Ransom 
 
 1 860- 1 887 
 
 Origen S. Seymour 
 
 I 846- I 847 
 
 Dwight C. Kilbourn 
 
 1887-1914 
 
 Gideon H. Hollister 
 
 1847-1850 
 
 Wheaton F. Dowd 
 
 191S- 
 
 c. County Treasurers. 
 
 
 
 John Catlin 
 
 1751-1761 
 
 George A. Hickox 
 
 1863-1875 
 
 Elisha Sheldon 
 
 1761-1779 
 
 William C. Buel 
 
 1875-1887 
 
 Reuben Smith 
 
 1779-1801 
 
 George E. Jones 
 
 1887-1896 
 
 Julius Deming 
 
 1801-1814 
 
 Charles E. Wilson 
 
 1896-1899 
 
 Abel Catlin 
 
 1814-1842 
 
 Frank W. Humphrey 
 
 1899-1909 
 
 Charles L. Webb 
 
 1842-1863 
 
 Philip P. Hubbard 
 
 1909- 
 
 d. Prosecuting Attorneys. 
 
 King's Attorneys. 
 
 Reynold Marvin 1764 Andrew Adams 
 
 1772 
 
3o6 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 
 State's Attorneys. 
 
 
 Andrew Adams 
 
 
 Uriel Holmes Jr. 
 
 
 Tapping Reeve 
 
 1788 
 
 Seth P. Beers 
 
 1820 
 
 Uriah Tracy 
 
 1789 
 
 Samuel Church 
 
 1825 
 
 John Allen 
 
 1800 
 
 David C. Sanford 
 
 1840 
 
 Daniel W. Lewis 
 
 
 John H. Hubbard 
 
 1849 
 
 e. County 
 
 Commissioners. 
 
 
 Stephen Deming 
 
 1856- 
 
 John J. Karl 
 
 1905-1913 
 
 William F. Baldwin 
 
 1862-1863 
 
 W. J. Bissell 
 
 1913- 
 
 John H. Lancaster 
 
 1915- 
 
 
 6. a. Selectmen. 
 
 
 
 
 First Chosen 
 
 
 First Chosen 
 
 John Marsh 
 
 1721 
 
 John Marsh 
 
 I7SS 
 
 Joseph Kilbourn 
 
 1722 
 
 Solomon Buel 
 
 1756 
 
 Jacob Griswold 
 
 1725 
 
 Archibald McNeill 
 
 1756 
 
 John Buel 
 
 1726 
 
 John Farnham 
 
 1757 
 
 Joseph Bird 
 
 1727 
 
 Josiah Grant 
 
 1757 
 
 Samuel Culver 
 
 1731 
 
 Nathaniel Culver 
 
 1758 
 
 David Baldwin 
 
 173s 
 
 Abel Barnes 
 
 1758 
 
 John Gay 
 
 1736 
 
 Jacob Woodruff 
 
 1760 
 
 Joshua Garrett 
 
 1737 
 
 Oliver Wolcott 
 
 1 761 
 
 Josiah Walker 
 
 1737 
 
 Joseph Mason Jr. 
 
 1761 
 
 Joseph Mason 
 
 1737 
 
 Reynold Marvin 
 
 1762 
 
 Daniel Allen 
 
 1737 
 
 Timothy Collins 
 
 1763 
 
 Joseph Gillett 
 
 1738 
 
 Lynde Lord 
 
 1768 
 
 Benjamin Webster 
 
 1738 
 
 Mark Prindle 
 
 1769 
 
 Edward Phelps 
 
 1738 
 
 David Welch 
 
 1769 
 
 Joseph Kilbourn Jr. 
 
 1740 
 
 Seth Bird 
 
 1770 
 
 Ebenezer Marsh 
 
 1740 
 
 John Osbom 
 
 1770 
 
 Joseph Sanford 
 
 1743 
 
 Jedediah Strong 
 
 1770 
 
 Moses Stoddard 
 
 1743 
 
 Abraham Bradley 
 
 1773 
 
 John Catlin 
 
 1744 
 
 Reuben Smith 
 
 1776 
 
 Supply Strong 
 
 1744 
 
 A. Buel 
 
 1777 
 
 Joseph Birge 
 
 1745 
 
 Miles Beach 
 
 1777 
 
 James Kilbourn 
 
 1746 
 
 Bryant Stoddard 
 
 1778 
 
 Abraham Kilbourn 
 
 1746 
 
 Bezaleel Beebe 
 
 1778 
 
 Thomas Harrison 
 
 1746 
 
 Archibald McNeil Jr. 
 
 1779 
 
 Peter Buel 
 
 1746 
 
 Jonah Sanford 
 
 1780 
 
 A. Goodwin 
 
 1747 
 
 John Stoddard 
 
 1780 
 
 William Marsh 
 
 174/ 
 
 Jesse Kilbourn 
 
 1782 
 
 Thomas Catlin 
 
 1748 
 
 Isaac Baldwin 
 
 1782 
 
 Samuel Beach 
 
 1748 
 
 James Stoddard 
 
 1783 
 
 Isaac Bissell 
 
 1751 
 
 Heber Stone 
 
 1784 
 
 Daniel Landon 
 
 1753 
 
 Timothy Skinner 
 
 1784 
 
 Ezra Plumb 
 
 1754 
 
 Elihu Harrison 
 
 1784 
 
 Elisha Sheldon 
 
 1754 
 
 Roger Marsh 
 
 178s 
 
 Ebenezer Taylor 
 
 1754 
 
 Seth Landon 
 
 1785 
 
 Benjamin Gibbs 
 
 1754 
 
 Philemon Murray 
 
 1786 
 
John H. Lancaster, County Commissioner, 1920 
 
33 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 307 
 
 Roger N. Whittlesey ] 
 
 787 
 
 George M. Buel 
 
 1833 
 
 Noah (?) Garnsey ] 
 
 [790 
 
 Rufus Pickett 
 
 1833 
 
 Julius Deming ] 
 
 791 
 
 John Garnsey 
 
 1833 
 
 David Kilbourn ] 
 
 792 
 
 Tomlinson Wells 
 
 1833 
 
 Ozias Lewis i 
 
 [792 
 
 Levi Frisbie 
 
 1834 
 
 Nathaniel Goodwin i 
 
 [795 
 
 Albert Sedgwick 
 
 1835 
 
 Samuel Seymour 
 
 [797 
 
 Samuel Wright 
 
 1836 
 
 John Landon ] 
 
 [798 
 
 George Dewey 
 
 1836 
 
 James Marsh ] 
 
 [799 
 
 Abner Landon 
 
 1836 
 
 John Welch ] 
 
 [799 
 
 Edward Pierpont 
 
 1836 
 
 Ephraim Kirby 
 
 [799 
 
 John A. Oviatt 
 
 1838 
 
 Stephen San ford 
 
 [801 
 
 William Coe 
 
 1838 
 
 Norman Buel 
 
 [802 
 
 Isaac Tuttle 
 
 1838 
 
 Aaron Bradley 
 
 t8o3 
 
 Henry S. Griswold 
 
 1839 
 
 Aaron Smith 
 
 [803 
 
 Norman Kilbourn 
 
 1840 
 
 Peter Sherman 
 
 t805 
 
 Jason Whiting 
 
 1840 
 
 Ephraim S. Hall 
 
 [810 
 
 Eli Curtis 
 
 1841 
 
 Jonathan Buel ] 
 
 811 
 
 Truman Gilbert 
 
 1 841 
 
 James Birge 
 
 [811 
 
 David Benton 
 
 1841 
 
 Peck Clark 
 
 [81S 
 
 Reuben M. Woodruff 
 
 1843 
 
 Stephen Russell 
 
 [81S 
 
 Sidney Peck 
 
 1843 
 
 Phineas Lord 
 
 [816 
 
 William Bissell 
 
 1843 
 
 Joseph Birge 
 
 [817 
 
 Edward Garnsey 
 
 1844 
 
 Ozias Lewis Jr. 
 
 [817 
 
 Charles Jones 
 
 1845 
 
 Philo Moss 
 
 [817 
 
 Prentice Parkhurst 
 
 184s 
 
 Simeon Sanford 
 
 [817 
 
 Heman Beach 
 
 1846 
 
 David Westover 
 
 [818 
 
 Frederick Buel 
 
 1846 
 
 Samuel A. Merwin 
 
 [819 
 
 Henry R. Goslee 
 
 1846 
 
 Enos Stoddard 
 
 [820 
 
 Lyman Webster 
 
 1846 
 
 Morris WoodruflF 
 
 [820 
 
 William Newton 
 
 1846 
 
 Levi Catlin 
 
 [821 
 
 Stephen Moss 
 
 1846 
 
 David Marsh 
 
 [821 
 
 Jacob Morse 
 
 1847 
 
 Julius Griswold 
 
 [822 
 
 Murray Kenney 
 
 1847 
 
 Reuben Webster 
 
 [822 
 
 Josiah G. Beckwith 
 
 1847 
 
 Charles Seymour 
 
 1825 
 
 Sherman P. Woodward 
 
 1849 
 
 William Beebe 
 
 1825 
 
 'Henry Frisbie 
 
 1851 
 
 Benjamin Griswold ] 
 
 [825 
 
 Willis Stone 
 
 1851- 
 
 John Bird 
 
 1826 
 
 George A. Smith 
 
 1852 
 
 Stephen Deming 
 
 [827 
 
 Frederick M. Blakeslee 
 
 1853 
 
 Gad Guild 
 
 1827 
 
 A. S. Lewis 
 
 1854 
 
 Ashbel Wessells 
 
 [828 
 
 Levi Heaton 
 
 1854 
 
 Roswell Harrison 
 
 1828 
 
 Abraham C. Smith 
 
 1855 
 
 William Harrison 
 
 1830 
 
 Andrew W. Marsh 
 
 1857 
 
 Asa Hopkins 
 
 1830 
 
 Jacob Morse Jr. 
 
 1857 
 
 Isaac Newton 
 
 [831 
 
 Anson C. Smith 
 
 i8S7 
 
 William Tuttle 
 
 1832 
 
 Daniel Stoddard 
 
 1857 
 
 Putnam Kilbourn 
 
 1832 
 
 Garry H. Minor 
 
 1858 
 
 Samuel P. Bolles 
 
 1832 
 
 Royal A. Ford 
 
 1859 
 
3o8 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 
 
 Edward Hopkins 
 
 1859 
 
 Russell W. Fitch 
 
 
 1885 
 
 Isaac Morse 
 
 i860 
 
 J. K. Adams 
 
 
 i88s 
 
 Everett H. Wright 
 
 i860 
 
 Ithamar T. Dickinson 
 
 
 1887 
 
 George H. Baldwin 
 
 1863 
 
 Moses W. Doyle 
 
 
 1890 
 
 George Guernsey 
 
 1863 
 
 Charles Merriman 
 
 
 1890 
 
 Joseph A. Newbury 
 
 1863 
 
 Fremont M. Grannis 
 
 
 1891 
 
 Garner B. Curtiss 
 
 1864 
 
 Samuel Trumbull 
 
 
 1894 
 
 Erastus Moulthrop 
 
 1865 
 
 Newton G. Tyler 
 
 
 1894 
 
 Charles D. Wheeler 
 
 1865 
 
 John L. Plumb 
 
 
 1894 
 
 Andrew J. Pierpont 
 
 1865 
 
 Fred F. Clark 
 
 
 1895 
 
 Chester C. Goslee 
 
 1866 
 
 Christian B. Iffland 
 
 
 1895 
 
 Francis M, Hale 
 
 1868 
 
 Patrick C. Burke 
 
 
 1896 
 
 Horace Nichols 
 
 1868 
 
 Edgar D. Beach 
 
 
 1896 
 
 Frederick B. Hand 
 
 1868 
 
 Louis J. Goodman 
 
 
 1898 
 
 Charles Adams 
 
 1872 
 
 George W. demons 
 
 
 1899 
 
 Anson B. Beach 
 
 1872 
 
 Edward Crutch 
 
 
 1900 
 
 Harry demons 
 
 1872 
 
 William H. Plumb 
 
 
 1900 
 
 CliflFord C. Newbury 
 
 1872 
 
 Edward T. Harris 
 
 
 1901 
 
 Frederick S. Porter 
 
 1874 
 
 William Gibbs 
 
 
 1901 
 
 John McNeill 
 
 1874 
 
 Robert J. Landon 
 
 
 1901 
 
 Darius C. Griswold 
 
 1875 
 
 Truman Catlin 
 
 
 1902 
 
 Theodore S. Sedgwick 
 
 1877 
 
 Charles L. Dudley 
 
 
 1903 
 
 William R. Keeler 
 
 1877 
 
 Edson L. Perkins 
 
 
 1903 
 
 Lewis C. Hotchkiss 
 
 1878 
 
 Terrance B. Doyle 
 
 
 190S 
 
 Charles T. Page 
 
 1879 
 
 William T. Marsh 
 
 
 1906 
 
 Malachi Tracy 
 
 1880 
 
 George H. Hunt 
 
 
 1908 
 
 Thomas C. Goslee 
 
 1880 
 
 William T. Doyle 
 
 
 1913 
 
 William J. Hall 
 
 1880 
 
 Leman S. Brundage 
 
 
 1913 
 
 Jerome D. Wheeler 
 
 1881 
 
 Hector M. Richards 
 
 
 1914 
 
 H. G. Tyler 
 
 1881 
 
 George R. Crutch 
 
 
 1916 
 
 Charles B. Bishop 
 
 1884 
 
 Henry T. Weeks 
 
 
 1917 
 
 Cornelius Murphy 
 
 i88s 
 
 William M. Murphy 
 
 
 1919 
 
 b. Town Clerks. 
 
 
 
 
 John Marsh 
 
 1721-1730 
 
 George H. Baldwin 
 
 1858- 
 
 -1862 
 
 John Bird 
 
 1730-1735 
 
 Charles J. Deming* 
 
 1863- 
 
 
 Joseph Bird 
 
 I 735-1736 
 
 E. Grossman 
 
 1863- 
 
 1865 
 
 John Bird 
 
 1736-1738 
 
 George M. Woodruff 
 
 1865- 
 
 1868 
 
 Joshua Garrett 
 
 1738-1742 
 
 Charles 0. Belden 
 
 i868- 
 
 1871 
 
 Isaac Baldwin 
 
 1742-1773 
 
 Willis J. Beach 
 
 1871- 
 
 1882 
 
 Jedediah Strong 
 
 I 773- I 789 
 
 Charles C. Moore 
 
 1882- 
 
 1883 
 
 Moses Seymour 
 
 I 789-1826 
 
 George C. Woodruff 
 
 1883- 
 
 1884 
 
 Elihu Harrison 
 
 1826-1836 
 
 Walter S. Judd 
 
 1884- 
 
 1886 
 
 Samuel P. Bolles 
 
 1836-1840 
 
 Edward E. Champlin 
 
 1886- 
 
 1903 
 
 Sylvester Galpin 
 
 1840-1841 
 
 John J. Karl 
 
 1903- 
 
 1911 
 
 Samuel P. Bolles 
 
 1841-1854 
 
 George H. Hunt 
 
 1911- 
 
 
 Charles O. Belden 
 
 1854-1855 
 
 
 
 
 Charles A. Hickox 
 
 1855-1858 
 
 ■^Resigned 
 
 
 
George H. Hunt, Town Clerk, 1920 
 
- 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 309 
 
 c. Town Treasurers. 
 
 
 
 John Bird 
 
 1721-1736 
 
 Ebenezer Marsh 
 
 r8oi-i8o3 
 
 Joseph Bird 
 
 1736-1738 
 
 James Gould 
 
 1803-1811 
 
 John Buel 
 
 1738-1751 
 
 Samuel Buel 
 
 1811-1836 
 
 William Marsh 
 
 1751-1755 
 
 Isaac Lawrence 
 
 1836-1841 
 
 Supply Strong 
 
 1755-1763 
 
 George Dewey 
 
 1844-1845 
 
 Joshua Garrett 
 
 I 763- I 768 
 
 George C. Woodruff 
 
 1845-1846 
 
 Reuben Smith 
 
 I 768- I 770 
 
 Francis Bacon 
 
 1846-1847 
 
 Abraham Bradley 
 
 I 770- I 776 
 
 George C. Woodruff 
 
 1847-1851 
 
 William Stanton* 
 
 1776- 
 
 Frederick D. Beeman 
 
 1851-1854 
 
 Samuel Lyman 
 
 1776-1777 
 
 Lemuel 0. Meafoy 
 
 1855-1856 
 
 Reuben Smith 
 
 1777-1783 
 
 William F. Baldwin 
 
 1856-1859 
 
 Abraham Bradley 
 
 1783-1787 
 
 Frederick D. McNeill 
 
 1859-1860 
 
 Moses Seymour 
 
 1787-1789 
 
 George M. Woodruff 
 
 1860-1906 
 
 Ebenezer Marsh 
 
 1789-1790 
 
 Frank W. Humphrey 
 
 1906-1910 
 
 Timothy Skinner 
 
 I 790- I 792 
 
 Philip P. Hubbard 
 
 1910- 
 
 Abraham Bradley - 
 
 I 792-1794 
 
 
 
 Benjamin Tallmadge 
 
 1794-1801 
 
 *Resigned 
 
 
 d. Postmasters. 
 
 1. Litchfield. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Appointed 
 
 
 Appointed 
 
 Benjamin Tallmadge 
 
 
 1792 
 
 Riverius Marsh 
 
 1861 
 
 Frederick Wolcott 
 
 
 
 Howard E. Gates 
 
 1866 
 
 Moses Seymour Jr. 
 
 
 
 Willis J. Beach 
 
 1886 
 
 Charles Seymour 
 
 
 
 Seth Pratt 
 
 1889 
 
 George C. Woodruff 
 
 
 
 Julius Deming 
 
 1893 
 
 Jason Whiting 
 
 
 
 Almon E. Fuller 
 
 1897 
 
 Reuben M. Woodruff 
 
 
 
 Seth Pratt 
 
 1902 
 
 Leverett W. Wessells 
 
 
 
 Rudolph Karl 
 
 1910 
 
 George H. Baldwin 
 
 
 1853 
 
 Thomas F. Ryan 
 
 1915 
 
 2. Northfield. 
 
 
 
 
 Daniel Catlin 
 
 
 1836 
 
 Frederick S. Porter 
 
 
 Samuel Merwin 
 
 
 
 J. Howard Catlin 
 
 1880 
 
 William Newton 
 
 
 
 Leonard L. Munson 
 
 1886 
 
 Levi Heaton 
 
 
 
 James P. Catlin 
 
 1887 
 
 John Catlin 
 
 
 i860 
 
 J. Howard Catlin 
 
 1914 
 
 3. Bantam. 
 
 
 
 
 William S. Plumb 
 William P. Grossman 
 
 Julia M. Buell 
 William P. Grossman 
 
 1893 
 1897 
 
 George W. Fairgrieve 
 
 1909 
 
310 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 D. CIVIL LISTS. 
 
 1. Original Proprietors. 
 This list contains the names of all the "original proprietors" 
 of the township. 
 
 From Hartford: 
 *John Marsh (2 Rights) 
 Samuel Sedgwick Jr. 
 Nathaniel Goodwin 
 Timothy Seymour 
 *Paul Jeck Jr. 
 *Jofeeph Mason 
 
 Nathaniel Messenger 
 ^Benjamin Webster 
 *Joshua Garrett 
 Windsor : 
 Samuel Forward 
 Thomas Griswold Jr. 
 *Jacob Gibbs 
 *Joscph Birge 
 *Benjamin Hosford 
 Farmington : 
 John Hart 
 Timothy Stanley 
 *John Bird 
 *Joseph Bird 
 Samuel Lewis 
 Ebenezer Woodruff 
 Samuel Root 
 Nathaniel Winchell 
 Hezekiah Winchell 
 Colchester : 
 *Joseph Gillett 
 New Milford : 
 Jonathan Buck 
 
 W ether sfield : 
 *William Goodrich Jr. 
 *John Stoddard 
 *Ezekiel Buck 
 *Jacob Griswold 
 
 'Lebanon : 
 *John Buel (2 Rights) 
 
 Edward Culver 
 *Hezekiah Culver 
 *Thomas Lee 
 *Eleazer Strong 
 *Supply Strong 
 
 Caleb Chapel, (2 Rights) 
 *Thomas Treadway 
 
 John Caulkins 
 Stratford : 
 
 Ezekiel Sanford (2 Rights) 
 *Nathan Mitchell 
 *Thomas Pier 
 
 John Mann 
 
 Joseph Peet 
 
 Samuel Somers 
 Taunton, Ms. : 
 *Nath'I Smith (2 Rights) 
 
 John Collins 
 
 Ephraim French 
 
 Woodbury : 
 
 *Josiah Walker 
 
 *Samuel Orton 
 
 *Joseph Waller 
 
 Isaac Judson 
 
 *These proprietors became settlers in the town. The Eights 
 of a few others were settled upon by the sons of the first purchasers ; 
 others sold out their interest to persons who became permanent; 
 while a few forfeited their shares by neglecting to comply with the 
 terms of the purchase. 
 
 2. First Settlers. 
 The following are the names of those who are regarded as "first 
 settlers" — or persons who became residents of the town during the 
 first three years of settlement: 
 
 Nehemiah Allen, Coventry Joseph Bird, Farmington 
 
 Joseph Birge, Windsor John Bird, Farmington 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 311 
 
 Samuel Beebe, Danbury 
 John Baldwin, Stratford 
 Ezekiel Buck, Wethersfield 
 John Buel, Lebanon 
 Daniel Culver, Lebanon 
 Samuel Culver,Lebanon 
 Hezekiah Culver, Lebanon 
 Timothy Collins, Guilford 
 John Catlin, Hartford 
 James Church, Hartford 
 Joseph Gillett, Colchester 
 Abraham Goodwin, Hartford 
 Joshua Garritt, Hartford 
 William Goodrich, Wethersfield 
 Jacob Griswold, Wethersfield 
 John Gay, Dedham, Ms. 
 Benjamin Gibbs; Windsor 
 Jacob Gibbs, Windsor 
 Benjamin Hosford, Windsor 
 Joseph Harris, Middletown 
 Joseph Kilbourn, Wethersfield 
 
 Thomas Lee, Lebanon 
 John Marsh, Hartford 
 Joseph Mason, Hartford 
 Nathan Mitchell, Stratford 
 Samuel Orton, Woodbury 
 Edward Phelps, Windsor 
 Thomas Pier, Stratford 
 Paul Peck Jr., Hartford 
 John Peck, Hartford 
 John Stoddard, Wethersfield 
 Eleazer Strong Lebanon 
 Supply Strong, Lebanon 
 Joseph Sanford, Stratford 
 Lemuel Sanford, Straford 
 Nathaniel Smith, Taunton, Ms. 
 John Smith, Taunton, Ms. 
 Samuel Smedley, Woodbury 
 Thomas Treadway, Lebanon 
 Benjamin Webster, Hartford 
 Josiah Walker, Woodbury 
 Joseph Waller, Woodbury 
 
 Nathaniel WoodruflF, Farmington 
 
 3. List of Students at tlie Law School, selected from the 805 
 names in the catalogues of 1828, 1831, 1849, with the 
 public offices held by them. 
 
 No register of the students at the Law School prior to 1798 
 has been preserved, though it is said that the nmnber up to that 
 time was 210, and we know that many of these were of distinction 
 at least equal to any in the following list. 
 
 Date Entered. 
 
 1798 Henry W. Edwards, Conn : U. S. Senator and Gov. of Conn. 
 
 1798 Horatio Seymour, Conn. : U. S. Senator Vt., LL.D. 
 
 1798 Daniel Sheldon, Conn. : Sec'y of Legation to France. 
 
 1798 Henry Baldwin, Conn. : Judge Sup. Ct, U. S. Member of Cong., Penn. 
 
 1798 Richard Skinner, Conn. : Chief Justice, and Gov. of Vt. 
 
 1800 Joseph L. Smith, Conn. : Judgq, East Florida. 
 
 1801 Joseph Barnes, Mass. : Judge, Penn. 
 1801 Benjamin Swift, Vt. : U. S. Senator. 
 1801 Ogden Edwards, Conn. : Judge, N. Y. 
 
 1801 EHsha Phelps, Conn. : Member of Congress. 
 
 1802 William Woodbridge, Ohio: U. S. Senator. 
 
 1803 Eldred Simkins, S. C. : Lieut, Gov. of S. C, and Member of Congress. 
 
 1803 Seth P. Beers, Conn. : Speaker H. R. Conn, and Com. of School Fund. 
 
 1804 Alfred Cuthbert, Ga. : Member of Congress and U. S. Senator. 
 
 1805 John M. Felder, S. C. : Member of Congress. 
 
 180S John C. Calhoun, S. C. : Member of Cong, and Sen., Sec'y of War, 
 Sec'y of State, and Vice Pres. U. S., LL.D. 
 
312 APPENDIX 
 
 i8os John A. Collier, Conn, : Member of Congress, N. Y. 
 
 1805 Lemuel Whitman, Conn.: Member of Congress. 
 
 1805 Samuel Howe, Mass.: Judgei, Mass. 
 
 1805 Virgil Maxcy, Md. : Charge d'Affaires to Belgium. 
 
 1806 Samuel Church, Conn.: Chief Jus. of Conn., LL.D. 
 
 1806 Marcus Morton, Mass. : Judge Sup. Court, Lieut. Gov. and Gov. Mass. 
 
 1806 Theron Metcalfe Mass.: Judge Sup. Court, Mass. 
 
 1806 Royal Hinman, Conn.: Secretary of State, Conn. 
 
 1806 Joel Crawford, Ga. : Member of Congress. 
 
 1807 Timothy H. Porter, N. H. : Member of Congress. 
 1807 Perry Smith, Conn. : U. S. Senator. 
 
 1807 Moulton C. Rogers, Del. : Judge, Penn. 
 
 1807 John A. Cuthbert, Ga. : Member of Congress. 
 
 1808 Jabez W. Huntington, Conn. : Member of Congress and U. S. Senator, 
 
 Judge Sup. Court, Conn. 
 
 1808 Charles De Menou, Md. : Charge d'Affaires of France at Washington. 
 
 1808 Silas Robbinsi, Conn. : Judge, Kentucky. 
 
 1808 John P. Cushman, Conn. : Member of Congress, and Judge, N. Y. 
 
 1808 Jonathan Hunt, Conn.: Member of Congress. 
 i8og Ebenezer Young, Conn. : Member of Congress. 
 
 1809 Levi Woodbury, N. H. : Judge and Gov. N. H., U. S. Senator, Sec. 
 
 of Navy and Treas., Judge Sup. Court, U. S. 
 i8og John Pierponts, Conn.: Clergyman, Poet. 
 1809 Henry W. Dwight, Mass. : Member of Congress. 
 
 1809 William Tenney, N. H. : Memb er of Congress. 
 
 1810 William D. Martin, S. C. : Member of Congress. 
 
 1810 Garrick Mallery, Penn.: Judge of Sup. Court, Penn., LL.D. 
 
 1810 William C. Gibbs, R. L: Gov. R. L 
 
 1810 Charles S. Todd, Ky. : Minister to Russia. 
 
 1810 Edward F. Tatnall, Ga. : Member of Congress. 
 
 1810 James Booth, jun., Del.: Chief Justice of Delaware. 
 
 1810 Henry Shaw, N. Y. : Member of Congress. 
 
 1810 James G. King, N. Y. : Member of Congress. 
 
 181 1 William W. Ellsworth, Conn.: Member of Congress, Judge Sup. Court, 
 
 Gov. Conn., LL.D. 
 181 1 Milo L. Bennett, Conn.: Judge Sup. Court, Vermont, LL.D. 
 181 1 Henry L. Ellsworth, Conn.: Commissioner of Patents, U. S. 
 1811 Frederick Augustus Tallmadge, Conn.: Member of Congress, N. Y., 
 
 Recorder City of N. Y. 
 181 1 Samuel S. Phelps., Conn.: Judge Sup. Court, Vermont, U. S. Senator. 
 
 181 1 Andrew D. W. Bruyn, N. Y. : Member of Congress. 
 
 1812 Benjamin Howard, Md. : Member of Congress. 
 1812 George B. Holt, Conn.: Judge, Ohio. 
 
 1812 Abraham Hasbrook: Member of Congress N. Y., Pres. Rutgers Col- 
 lege, N. J., LL.D. 
 1812 George B. Porter, Penn.: Gov. Michigan. 
 1812 Isaac T. Preston, Vir. : Judge Sup. Court, Louisiana. 
 1812 Kensey Johns, jun., Del: Member of Congress, Chanc. of Delaware. 
 
APPENDIX 313 
 
 1812 Roger Sherman Baldwin^ Conn.: Gov. Conn., U. S. Senator, LL.D. 
 
 1812 Albert C. Greene, R. I. : U. S. Senator. 
 
 1813 Edward King, N. Y. : Speaker House of Rep., Ohio. 
 1813 Oliver S. Halsted, N. J.: Chancellor of New Jersey. 
 1813 Elisha Whittlesey, Conn.: Member of Congress. 
 1813 Peleg Sprague, Mass.: U. S. Senator. 
 
 1813 Augustus B. Longstreet, Ga. : Judge Sup. Court Ga., LL.D., Pres. of 
 
 University of Miss., and College of S. C. 
 1813 Charles Hawley, Conn.: Lieut. Gov. Conn. 
 
 1813 Moses Chapin, Mass. : Judge New York Court. 
 
 1814 Chester Ashley, N, Y. : U. S. Senator. 
 
 1814 Ebenezer Jackson, Jun., Ga. : Member of Congress. 
 
 1814 Timothy Childs, Jun., Mass. : Member of Congress 
 
 1814 John C. Nicholl, Ga. : Judge Sup. Court Ga., and U. S. Dist. Judge. 
 
 1815 John Pitcher, N. Y. : Lieut. Gov. N. Y. 
 
 181 5 William S. Holabird, Conn. : Lieut. Gov. Conn. 
 
 1816 Thomas F. Foster, Ga. : Member of Congress. 
 1816 Thaddeus G. Holt, Ga. : Judge Sup. Court, Ga. 
 
 1816 WiUiam W. Boardman, Conn.: Member of Congress. 
 
 1817 John M. Clayton, Del. : Chief Jus. Del., U. S. Sen,, Sec. of State, LL.D. 
 1817 Truman Smith, Conn.: Member of Congress and U. S. Senator. 
 1817 Lucius Q. C. Lamar, Ga. : Judge Supreme Court, Ga. 
 
 1817 Hiram P. Hunt, N. Y. : Member of Congress. 
 
 1817 William C. Dawson, Ga. : Judge of Sup. Ct. Ga., U. S. Cong, and Sen. 
 
 1817 Charles H. Carroll, N, Y. : Member of Congress. 
 
 1817 John Y. Mason, Vir. : Mem. of Cong., Dist. Judge, Gov., Sec. of Navy. 
 
 1818 Charles Chapman, Conn.: U. S. Attorney for Conn. 
 1818 William T. Gould, Conn.: Judge Georgia. 
 
 i8;8 Walter S. Franklin, Penn. : Clerk H. R., U. S. 
 
 1818 Chester P. Butler, Penn.: Member of Congress. 
 
 1818 Thomas T. Whittlesey, Conn.: Member of Congress. 
 
 1818 Eli H. Baxter, Ga. : Judge Circuit Court. 
 
 1819 William B. Lawrence, N. Y. : Charge d' Affaires at London. 
 
 1819 Frederick Whittlesey, Conn.: Member of Cong., Vice Chanc. and 
 Judge Sup. Court, N. Y. 
 
 1819 Hopkins Halsey, Ga. : Member of Congress. 
 
 1820 Samuel W. Oliver, Ga. : Speaker H. R., Ala. 
 1820 Noyes Billings, Conn. : Lieut. Gov., Conn. 
 
 1822 Horace Mann, Mass.: Member of Congress, Educator. 
 
 1822 Theron R. Strong, Conn. : Member of Cong., Judge Sup. Court, N. Y. 
 
 1823 Thomas Kinnecut, Mass. : Lieut. Gov. Mass. 
 
 1823 Eugenius A. Nesbitt, Ga. : Member of Congress, Judge Sup. Court, Ga. 
 
 1823 Washington Poe, Ga. : Member of Congress. 
 
 1823 William J. Bacon, N. Y. : Judge Sup. Court. 
 
 1823 Henry W. Greene, R. I. : Chief Jus. Sup. Court, and Chanc. of N. J. 
 
 1823 John M. Holley, Jun., Conn. : Member of Congress. 
 
 1824 John P. Jackson, N. J.: Speaker H. R., New Jersey. 
 1824 William V. Peck, Conn. : Judge Ohio. 
 
314 APPENDIX 
 
 1824 Samuel Ames, R. I. : Chief Justice R. I. 
 
 1824 Origen S. Seymour, Conn. : Member of Congress, Judge Sup. Court 
 
 and Supreme Court of Errors, Chief Justice of Conn., LL.D. 
 
 1825 Elias W. Leavenworth, Mass. : Sec. of State, N. Y.„ Member Cong. 
 1825 Josiah Sutherland, Jun*, N. Y. : Mem. Cong., Judge Sup. Court, N. Y. 
 1825 Anson V. Parsons, Mass. : Judge Sup. Court, Penn. 
 
 1825 George C. Woodruff, Conn. : Member of Congress. 
 
 1825 John Pierpont, Conn. : Chief Justice, Vermont. 
 
 1826 Willis Hall, N. Y.: Attorney General, N. Y. 
 
 1826 William D. Pickett, N. C. : Judge Sup. Court, Ala. 
 
 1827 George S. Catlin, Conn. : Member of Congress. 
 1827 George Gould, Conn. : Judge Sup. Court, N. Y. 
 
 1827 Augustus C. Hand, Vt. : Judge Sup. Courts N. Y. 
 
 1828 George W. Clinton, N. Y. : U. S. Attorney. 
 
 1828 Henry P. Edwards, Conn, : Judge Sup. Court, N. Y. 
 
 1829 Gideon Hall, Conn. : Judge Sup. Court. 
 
 1829 Henry W. Seymour, Conn.: Member of Congress, Minis, to Russia. 
 
 1830 Ward E. Hunt^ N. Y. : Judge Ct. of Appeals, N. Y., U. S. Supreme Ct. 
 
 1830 Lewis B. Woodruff, Conn. : Judge Sup. Court, N. Y., Court of Appeals, 
 
 Circuit Judge U. S. for Districts N. Y., Conn, and Vt. 
 
 1831 Philo C. Sedgwick, Conn. : Sec'y of State of Conn. 
 1833 Augustus R. Wright, Ga. : Judge Sup. Court, Ga. 
 
 E. BUSINESS AND PEOFESSIONAL— 1920. 
 
 ANTIQUE FURNITURE 
 Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe — Smith, Ralph P. and Harris, Thomas 1892 
 
 ARTESIAN WELL DRILLERS 
 Whitehill, W. W. and Son 19" 
 
 ARTS and CRAFTS 
 The Gift Shop— Sanford^ Miss Margaret S. ' 1919 
 
 AUTO REPAIR SHOPS 
 
 Johnson, Carroll IQIP 
 
 Bantam Auto Repair Shop— Baldwin, J. W. and Phelps, E. O. Bantam 1919 
 
 (Successors to Fljmn & Doyle) 
 
 AUTO SUPPLIES and LIVERY 
 Cowan, Joseph 1917. Parsons, E. D., Bantam 1916 
 
 BARBERS 
 
 Brunetto, M. A., Bantam 1916 Mayer, Joseph 1900 
 
 Sepples, William 1914 
 
 BLACKSMITHS 
 
 Brennan, Patrick 1917 Morse, W. Beach 1913 
 
 (Successor to A. K. Taylor) 
 
APPENDIX 31S 
 
 COAL, WOOD and TRUCKING. 
 
 Newcomb & Barber— Newcomb, F. U. and Barber, C. P. 1918 
 
 (Successors to Marsh & Newcomb) 
 
 COBBLERS 
 Donohue, Thomas 1867 Guinchi, Mrs. A. 1906 
 
 CONFECTIONERY STORE 
 The Palace Confectionery— Theophilos, George 1905 
 
 CONTRACTORS and BUILDERS 
 Deacon, George D. 1913 Landon, Robert J., Bantam 1895 
 
 Hotchkiss, Fdk. A., Bantam 1900 Switzer, George J. 1894 
 
 Schusters Wolf 1910 
 
 CONTRACTOR and MASON 
 Da Ross, John 1912 Dean, George B. 1880 
 
 CREAMERY 
 Beach, Milo D. 1900 
 
 DENTISTS 
 Fenn, H. H. 1888 Spain, William C 1918 
 
 DOCTORS 
 
 Buel, John L. 1890 Page, Charles I. Jr. 1897 
 
 Deming, Nelson L. 1907 Sedgwick, James T. 1887 
 
 Marcy, Robert A. 1908 Turkington, Charles H. 1910 
 
 Warner, Charles N. 1897 
 
 DRUGGISTS 
 Crutch & Marley — Crutch, Aaron and Marley, William 1918 
 
 (Successors to Crutch's Pharmacy) 
 Wheeler Drug Co. — Kaehrle, Alfred; Sepples, John and Sepples, 
 
 Richard (Successors to Wheeler's Pharmacy, established 1870) 1918 
 
 DRY GOODS MERCHANTS 
 
 Bissell, W. Jerome 1888 Granniss, W. G. 1881 
 
 (Successor to Granniss & Elmore) 
 
 EDITORS and PRINTERS 
 The Progressive Printery — Smith, Sheldon, Bantam 1919 
 
 Litchfield Enquirer — Woodruff, George C. 1894 
 
 ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS 
 Morse, Harry B. 1915 Turkington, William E. 1907 
 
 FISH, FRUIT and VEGETABLES 
 Moraghan, Martin J. 1909 
 
3i6 APPENDIX 
 
 FLORIST 
 Mattson, Clifford C. 1918 
 
 FRUIT and VEGETABLES 
 
 Brunetto, M. A. (Successor to Eugene Small)v Bantam 1916 
 
 FURNITURE DEALER and FUNERAL DIRECTOR 
 
 Smith, George A. (Successor to A. E. Fuller) 1897 
 
 GARAGE 
 
 Johnson, Herbert E. 1913 
 
 GENERAL STORES 
 
 Ackerman, Jacob (Successor to H. T. Register), Milton 1916 
 
 Catlin, J. Howard (Successor to L. L. Munson), Northfield 1917 
 
 Morey & Perkins — Morey, A. C. and Perkins, Willis; Bantam 1912 
 
 (Successors to Watts & Morey) 
 
 Platts, Raymond (Successor to James Catlin), Northfield 1915 
 
 GRAIN and FEED 
 
 Dickinson, I. T., Milton 1892 Seelye, P. M., Bantam 1908 
 
 The Wadhams Co. — F. L. and Son (Successors to E. C. Snowman) 1913 
 
 GROCERS 
 
 Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. 1917 Anderson, W. H., Bantam 1915 
 
 Chapin & Birk — Chapin, J .and Birk, E. (Successors to W. G. Granniss) 1919 
 Lynch, H. F. — (Successor to C. W. Hinsdale) 1916 
 
 HARDWARE and PLUMBING 
 
 Allen, W. B.— (Successor to E. B. Allen Co.) 1884 
 
 Moraghan, M. V. 19H 
 
 HARNESS MAKER 
 
 
 Franzosi, Alfredo 
 
 1914 
 
 HOTEL 
 
 
 Phelps' Tavern — Phelps, Eugene L. 
 
 191 1 
 
 ICE 
 
 
 Litchfield Ice Co.— Crutch, George R. 
 
 1919 
 
 INSURANCE 
 
 
 Clark, F. North 1914 Kirwin, James 
 
 1919 
 
 Clock, Elgin 1899 Mason, Frank B. 
 
 1900 
 
 LAUNDRY 
 
 
 The Sunshine Laundry — Barber, T. Lynn 
 
 1919 
 
 Ching, George 
 
 1916 
 
APPENDIX 317 
 
 LAWYERS 
 
 Hubbard, John T. 1883 Ryan, Thomas F. 1905 
 
 Lancaster & Foord — Lancaster, WoodruflF, George M. 1859 
 
 John H. 1910 Woodruff, James P. 1893 
 
 Foord, William M. 1919 
 
 MASON SUPPLIES and TRUCKING 
 
 Goodman, Louis J. 1900 
 
 MEAT DEALERS 
 
 Hannon, John J. 1908 Watson, F. I., Northfield 1919 
 
 Kilbourn Brothers — Kilbourn, Carl and Kilbourn, Harry; Bantam 1918 
 
 The Standard Market, Weir, Edward J. (Successor to D. H. Burns) 1912 
 
 MEN'S FURNISHINGS and SHOE STORE 
 Denegar, L. R, 1886 Smith Brothers 1916 
 
 MILLINER 
 Biglow, Mrs. H. F. 1899 
 
 MOVING PICTURES 
 Barber, George 1913 Retallick, Thomas; Bantam 1919 
 
 PAINTERS and DECORATORS 
 
 Bergin, William F. 1912 Potter, E. F. 1898 
 
 Herbert), William 1919 Rosbach, W. G. 1887 
 
 Oviatt, William; Bantam 1914 Devins, Edward 1907 
 
 PHOTOGRAPHERS 
 Karl Brothers — Karl Brothers 1900 
 
 PRINTERS 
 Karl, Ernest 1900 
 
 REAL ESTATE 
 Duffie, C. R. 1901 Roberts, Mrs. Marion P. 1919 
 
 RESTAURANTS 
 
 Artikis, Louis 1918 Theophilos, George 1908 
 
 Manlakes, Nick; Bantam 1919 
 
 TAILORS 
 Aragona, T. 1919 
 
 TRUCKING 
 Richardson, Levalli; Bantam 1916 
 
 VULCANIZING 
 Kelly, Joseph 1919 
 
3i8 APPENDIX 
 
 F. OKGANIZATIONS. 
 
 ST. PAUL'S LODGE, :N^0. 11. 
 FEEE AND ACCEPTED MASONS. 
 
 Organized as St. Paul's Lodge, No. 16, by charter granted June 
 13, 1781; incorporated March 4, 1881, as St. Paul's Lodge, No. 11. 
 
 From Act of Incorporation; "That the officers and members of 
 St. Paul's Lodge, No. 11, of Litchfield, Free and Accepted Masons, 
 and such other persons as may succeed them or become members 
 thereof, be and they hereby are constituted a body corporate and 
 politic, by the name of St. Paul's Lodge, No. 11, of Litchfield, to be 
 located in Litchfield, for the purpose of aiding indigent, sick and 
 infirm Free Masons, and their widows and orphans, and by that 
 name may receive by gift or devise, purchase, take, hold and con- 
 vey real or personal estate necessary and convenient for such 
 purposes, to an amount not exceeding ten thousand dollars..." 
 
 
 Past Masters. 
 
 
 Ashbel Baldwin 
 
 1781- 
 
 782 
 
 Alexander B. Shumway 
 
 1868-1870 
 
 Benjamin Hanks 
 
 1782- 
 
 786 
 
 Elbert G. Roberts 
 
 1870-1871 
 
 Jonathan Kettle 
 
 I786-] 
 
 788 
 
 Samuel W. Ensign 
 
 1871-1872 
 
 Julius Deming 
 
 1788-] 
 
 790 
 
 Edson Staples 
 
 1872-1874 
 
 Isaac Baldwin Jr. 
 
 1790- 
 
 793 
 
 William Deming 
 
 1874-1875 
 
 Ephraim Kirby 
 
 1798-1 
 
 799 
 
 Elbert G. Roberts 
 
 1875-1876 
 
 Isaac Baldwin Jr. 
 
 1799-1 
 
 801 
 
 Charles H. Piatt 
 
 I 876- I 878 
 
 Ephraim Kirby 
 
 1801-] 
 
 803 
 
 Walter K. Peck 
 
 I 878- I 879 
 
 Aaron Smith 
 
 1803-1 
 
 806 
 
 James J. Newcomb 
 
 1879-1880 
 
 Peter Sherman 
 
 1806-] 
 
 808 
 
 Alexander B. Shumway 
 
 1880-1881 
 
 Aaron Smith 
 
 1808-] 
 
 812 
 
 W. Jerome Bissell 
 
 1881-1882 
 
 Roger Cook 
 
 1812- 
 
 [814 
 
 Alexander B. Shumway 
 
 I 882- I 883 
 
 Lucius Smith 
 
 1814- 
 
 815 
 
 Eugene W. Meafoy 
 
 I 883- I 884 
 
 Elijah Adams 
 
 1815-1 
 
 816 
 
 W. Jerome Bissell 
 
 1884-1886 
 
 Lucius Smith 
 
 1816- 
 
 [819 
 
 George E. Jones 
 
 1886-1887 
 
 David Marsh 
 
 1819- 
 
 [822 
 
 William R. Coe 
 
 1887-1888 
 
 James Winship 
 
 1822- 
 
 [823 
 
 William T. Marsh 
 
 1888-1890 
 
 Phineas Lord 
 
 1823- 
 
 [824 
 
 Weston G. Grannissf 
 
 1890-1891 
 
 Phineas B. Taylor 
 
 1824- 
 
 [828 
 
 William T. Marsh 
 
 1891-1892 
 
 Frederick Buel 
 
 1828- 
 
 831 
 
 Neal D. Benedict 
 
 1892-1893 
 
 Heman W. Childs 
 
 1831- 
 
 [837 
 
 William H. Wheeler 
 
 1893-1894 
 
 Samuel Buel 2d 
 
 1837-1 
 
 843 
 
 Austin S. Wheeler 
 
 1894-1896 
 
 Stephen Deming 
 
 1843-1 
 
 846 
 
 Wheaton R Dowd 
 
 1896-1898 
 
 Charles L. Webb 
 
 1 846-] 
 
 849 
 
 William S. Plumb 
 
 1898-1899 
 
 Phineas B. Taylor 
 
 1849-1 
 
 850 
 
 Edwin R Potter 
 
 1899-1901 
 
 Frederick Buel 
 
 1850-] 
 
 852 
 
 C. I. Page Jr. 
 
 1901-1902 
 
 Frederick D. Beeman 
 
 1852- 
 
 1854 
 
 George C. Woodruff 
 
 1902-1903 
 
 David E. Bostwick* 
 
 1854- 
 
 [866 
 
 William S. McLaren 
 
 1903-1904 
 
 Eli D. Weeks 
 
 1866-1 
 
 868 
 
 William E. Turkington 
 
 1904-1905 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 319 
 
 George C. Woodruff 1905-1906 
 
 C. J. Ramsey 1906-1908 
 
 E, F. Potter 1908- 1909 
 
 R. F. Shinn 1909-1910 
 
 J. P. Woodruff 1910-1911 
 
 E. B. Perkins 1911-1912 
 
 Harold K. Switzer, Master 1919- 
 T. Lynn Barber, Senior Warden 
 Brandt B. Conklin, Junior Warden 
 W. Jerome Bissell, Treasurer 
 W. S. Plumb, Secretary 
 Elton R. Skilton, Senior Deacon 
 
 George Barber 
 Harry B. Morse 
 J. L .Buel 
 N. A. Dains 
 M. Z. Westervelt 
 C. D. Kilbourn 
 
 1912-1913 
 1913-1914 
 1914-1915 
 1915-1916 
 1916-1917 
 1917-1919 
 
 Charles F. Deno, Junior Deacon 
 Robert W. Landon, Senior Steward 
 C. T. Hotchkiss, Junior Steward 
 E. F. Potter, Chaplain 
 W. Beach Morse, Tyler 
 *Grand Master 1864; fi909. 
 
 DAKIUS CHAPTER, NO. 16. 
 EOYAL AECH MASONS. 
 Organized October 19, 1815. 
 
 Past Hig 
 Roger Searls 1815 
 
 William Deming 
 A. B. Shumway 
 Edson Staples 
 E. W. Meafoy 
 
 W. E. Turkington. Capt. of the Host 
 W. G. Granniss, Principal Sojourner 
 Albert E. Conklin, Royal Arch Capt. 
 William Miller, 2nd Vail 
 
 Priests. 
 
 W. F. Dowd 
 
 W. J. Bissell 1882-85, I 
 
 Brandt Conklin, High Priest 
 
 William Crutch, King 
 
 E. L. Phelps, Scribe 
 
 Archibald E. MacDonald, 3rd Vail 
 
 Wilbur B. Morse, Tyler 
 
 George R. Crutch, Secretary 
 
 W. G. Granniss, Treasurer 
 
 1920 
 
 Frederick Buel 
 
 Charles O. Belden 
 
 W. G. Granniss 
 
 William Crutch, Right Illustrious 
 Deputy Master 
 
 Albert E. Conklin, Principal Con- 
 ductor of Work 
 
 BUEL COUNCIL NO. 20. 
 
 EOYAL AND SELECT MASONS. 
 
 Organized May 12, 1853. 
 
 Thrice Illustrious Masters. 
 
 1853 A. B. Shumway 
 
 W. J. Bissell 
 1892- 
 W. E. Turkington, Secretary 
 W. J. Bissell, Treasurer 
 E. L. Phelps, Capt. of the Guard 
 Aaron Crutch, Conductor 
 
 W. B. Morse, Tyler 
 
 EPHEAIM KIEBY CHAPTEE, NO. 75 
 
 OEDEE OF THE EASTEEN STAE. 
 
 Organized May 3, 1910. 
 
 The Order of the Eastern Star exists for the purpose of giving 
 practical effect to one of the beneficent puri^oses of Freemasonry, 
 
320 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 wliicli is to provide for the welfare of the wives, daughters, mothers, 
 widows, and sisters of Masons. 
 
 Worthy Matrons. 
 Hattie E, Mason 1910-1911 Florence L. C. Lynch 1916- 
 
 Anna B. Plumb 1912-1913 Edith H. Crutch 1917-191S 
 
 Orah E. Kaehrle 1914-1915 Anna B. Plumb iQip- 
 
 Frances I. Barber, Associate Matron Anna A. Marley, Treasurer 
 Evaleen M. Switzer, Secretary 
 
 LITCHFIELD GKANGE NO. 107, 
 
 PATKONS OF HUSBANDRY 
 
 Organized November 13, 1889. 
 
 The aim of the Patrons of Husbandry is to promote interest in 
 agriculture, and cooperative buying and selling; to develop a better 
 and higher manhood and womanhood, to suppress personal, local, 
 sectional, and national prejudices, all unhealthy rivalry and selfish 
 ambition, as well as to bring the farmers in various parts of the 
 country into closer contact with each other. 
 
 Masters. 
 
 George W. Mason 
 
 I 889-1891 
 
 Frederick A. Stoddard 
 
 1903-1904 
 
 John Q. Ames 
 
 891-1893 
 
 Fred B. Plumb 
 
 1904-1906 
 
 Charles D. Kilbourn 
 
 I 893-1894 
 
 Wilbur F. Webster 
 
 1906-1907 
 
 William H. Plumb 
 
 I 894-1895 
 
 E. W. Bigelow 
 
 1907-1909 
 
 Whitman S. Osborn 
 
 I 895-1896 
 
 George F. Sanford 
 
 1909-191 I 
 
 William B. Morse 
 
 1896-1898 
 
 Fred L. Tharp 
 
 1911-1912 
 
 Frederick A. Stoddard 
 
 I 898-1899 
 
 Willey D. Buell 
 
 1912-1914 
 
 Fred L. Tharp 
 
 I 899-1901 
 
 George B. Stoddard 
 
 1914-1916 
 
 Joseph H. Putnam 
 
 I 901 -1903 
 
 Lewis A. Osborn 
 
 1916-1918 
 
 Joseph 
 
 D. Coffin 
 
 1918- 
 
 
 Leonard Dickinson, Overse 
 
 er 
 
 Frederick A. Stoddard, 
 
 Secretary 
 
 William 
 
 B. Morse 
 
 Treasurer 
 
 
 BEACON GEANGE 
 
 NO. 118, 
 
 PATRONS OF HUSBANDRY. 
 
 Northfield. 
 
 Organized October 14, 1890. 
 
 Masters. 
 
 
 L. G. Humphreville 
 
 1890-1892 
 
 C. S. Hulme 
 
 1906-1907 
 
 E. A. Hopkins 
 
 1892-1894 
 
 Henry Gill 
 
 1907-1909 
 
 L. G. Humphreville 
 
 1894-1895 
 
 C. S. Nearing 
 
 1909-1910 
 
 H. B. Peck 
 
 1895-1897 
 
 Henry Gill 
 
 1910-1911 
 
 E. A. Hopkins 
 
 1897-1900 
 
 R. A, Goodwin 
 
 1911-1914 
 
 C. S. Nearing 
 
 1900-1902 
 
 Harry Borgeson 
 
 1914-1915 
 
 E. A, Hopkins 
 
 1902-1904 
 
 C. S. Hulme 
 
 191S-1917 
 
 Charles S. Hulme 
 
 1904-1905 
 
 R. A. Goodwin 
 
 1917- 
 
 E. A. Hopkins 
 
 1905-1906 
 
 
 
 Charles S. Hulme, Secretary 
 
 F. M. Blakeslee, Treasurer 
 
APPENDIX 321 
 
 ST. ANTHONY'S COUNCIL NO. 56, KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS. 
 
 Organized June 21, 1890. 
 
 In addition to insurance, the Knights of Columbus seek to unite 
 men of the Koman Catholic Church upon a common plane of devo- 
 tion to God, to church, and to country. The principles of the Knights 
 of Columbus are included under the headings of Charity, Unity, 
 Fraternity, and Patriotism. 
 
 Grand Knights. 
 Michael Kirwin 1890-1919 William W. Sepples IQIQ- 
 
 Edward A. Brennan, Deputy G. K. Martin J. Bierne, Fin. Secy. 
 
 Albert J. Hausmann, Rec. Sec. Matthew E. Brennan, Treasurer 
 
 John J. Weir, Chancellor Rev. J. L. McGuinness, Chaplain 
 
 Thomas F. Ryan, Advocate Frank L. Doyle, Inside Warden 
 
 THE EMMA DEMING COUNCIL NO. 265 
 
 CATHOLIC WOMEN'S BENEVOLENT LEGION. 
 
 Organized August 1, 1907. 
 
 The Emma Deming Council No. 265 is a fraternal and insur- 
 ance society. 
 
 Presidents. 
 Mrs. Alice Maguire 1907-1908 Miss Mary V. Kirwin 1913-1915 
 
 Miss Mary V. Kirwin 1908-1910 Mrs. Mary R. Phelps 1915-1916 
 
 Miss Margaret Hausmann 1910-1912 Miss Mary V. Kirwin 1917- 
 
 Mrs. Alice Maguire 1912-1913 
 
 Mrs. Mary R. Phelps, Vice-Pres. Miss Leonie Rey, Treasurer 
 
 Miss Katheryn Burns, Secretary Mrs. Joanna Meagher, Collector 
 
 ST. ANTHONY'S E. C. TOTAL ABSTINENCE and BENEVOLENT 
 
 SOCIETY. 
 
 Organized February 20, 1916. 
 
 St. Anthony's Eoman Catholic Total Abstinence Society is part 
 of the great organized movement known as "The Catholic Total 
 Abstinence Union of America". The motto of the organization is 
 moral suasion. With prohibitory laws, restrictive license systems 
 and special legislation it has nothing whatever to do. 
 
 The Litchfield branch of this society has rooms for social and 
 organization purposes in the Bishop Block on West Street. 
 
 Presidents. 
 P. C. Burke 1916-1917 Hubert A. Higgins iQi?" 
 
 Dennis Carr, Vice-Pres. James Rogers, Rec. Sec. 
 
 Bernard T. Nolan, Sec. and Treas. 
 
322 APPENDIX 
 
 SOCIETA ITALIANA DI MUTUO SOCCORSO DI LITCHFIELD. 
 Organized December 1, 1918. 
 An Italian mutual benefit society. 
 
 Presidents. 
 Alfredo Franzosi 1918-1919 Tullio Aragona 1919- 
 
 Primo Strada, Vice-Pres. Gino Valmoretti, Fin. Sec 
 
 Frank Valeri, Rec. Sec. Frank Fabbri, Treas. 
 
 MAEY FLOYD TALLMADGE CHAPTER, D. A. R. 
 Organized November 17, 1899. 
 
 The objects of this Society are: 
 
 1. To perpetuate the memory of the men and women who 
 achieved American Independence, by the acquisition and protection 
 of historical spots, and the erection of monuments ; by the encourage- 
 ment of historical search in relation to the Revolution and the pub- 
 lication of its results; by the preservation of documents and relics, 
 and of the records of the individual services of Revolutionary 
 soldiers and patriots, and by the promotion of celebrations of all 
 patriotic anniversaries. 
 
 2. To carry out the injunction of Washington in his farewell 
 address to the American people, "to promote, as an object of prim- 
 ary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge", 
 thus developing an enlightened public opinion, and affording to 
 young and old such advantages as shall develop in them the largest 
 capacity for performing the duties of American citizens. 
 
 3. To cherish, maintain, and extend the institutions of Ameri- 
 can freedom, to foster true patriotism and love of country, and to 
 aid in securing for mankind all the blessings of liberty. 
 
 Regents. 
 Mrs. John Laidlaw Buel 1899-1908 Mrs. Edward W. Seymour 1909-1917 
 Mrs. Short Adam Willis 1908-1909 Mrs. George C. Woodruff 1917-1919 
 
 Mrs. William Scott Plumb 1919- 
 Miss Clarisse C. Deming, Vice-Regt. Miss Elizabeth Deming, Corres. Sec. 
 Miss Cornelia B. Smith, Registrar Mrs. Robert A. Marcy, Treasurer 
 
 Mrs. Martin G. Wright, Rec. Sec. Mrs. Elbert B. Hamlin, Historian 
 
 Mrs. Alex. T. VanLaer, Chaplain 
 
 SETH F. PLUMB POST, NO. 80, G. A. R. 
 
 Organized May 1886. 
 
 A national association of veterans of the Civil War. "On June 
 1917, the records of the Seth F. Plumb Post, No. 80, Dept. of Conn., 
 were formally turned over to the Litchfield Historical Society by 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 323 
 
 the Commander, L. D. Leonard, and other officers of the Post, the 
 officers of the Historical Society having kindly consented to place 
 them in their archives for preservation. The Seth F. Plumb Post 
 was practically disbanded at this time, although the few remaining 
 members continued to attend Memorial Day Services". Note by 
 Admiral G. P. Colvocoresses, added to the last record book of the 
 Post. 
 
 Leverett W. Wessells 
 
 1887- 
 
 J. W. Wheeler 
 
 1896- 
 
 A. B. Shumway 
 
 1888- 
 
 Charles Merriman 
 
 1897- 
 
 L. D. Leonard 
 
 1889- 
 
 Charles W. Hinsdale 
 
 1898-1899 
 
 John Q. Ames 
 
 i8qo- 
 
 W. K. Stockbridge 
 
 1899-1902 
 
 W. H." Plumb 
 
 1891- 
 
 Edgar A. Alvord 
 
 1903- 
 
 H. T. Cable 
 
 1892- 
 
 A. B. Shumway 
 
 1903- I 90s 
 
 T. A. Smith 
 
 1893- 
 
 S. A. Whittlesey 
 
 1906- 
 
 George W. Mason 
 
 1894- 
 
 George W. Mason 
 
 1906-1909 
 
 D. C. Kilbourn 
 
 1895- 
 
 L. D. Leonard 
 
 1909-1916 
 
 MORGAN-WEIPv POST, No. 27, AMERICAN LEGION. 
 
 Organized August 1, 1919. 
 
 The American Legion is a national organization of Veterans of 
 the World War. Its objects are as follows: "To uphold and defend 
 the Constitution of the United States of America; to maintain law 
 and order; to foster and perpetuate a one-hundred-per-cent Ameri- 
 canism; to preserve the memories and incidents of the associations 
 of the members in the great war; to inculcate a sense of individual 
 obligation to the community, state and nation; to combat the autoc- 
 racy of both the classes and the masses; to make right the master 
 of might; to promote peace and good will on earth; to safeguard 
 and transmit to posterity the principles of justice, freedom and 
 democracy and to consecrate and sanctify our comradeship by our 
 devotion to mutual helpfulness". 
 
 W. M. Foord, Post Com. 1920- Sutherland A. Beckwith, Historian 
 
 Dr. Chas. H. Turkington, Vice-Corn. Albert W. Clock, Finance Officer 
 Edward A. Brennan, Adjutant Archibald A. MacDonald, Chaplain 
 
 E. P. JEFFPvIES POST, No. U, AMERICAN LEGION, BANTAM. 
 Organized October 3, 1919. 
 
 R. W. Landon, Post. Com. 1919- Clifford Moore, Treasurer 
 
 Frank E. Wedge. Vice-Commander Bruce Jeffries, Chaplain 
 
 Samuel Leithiser. Adjutant Andrew Terek, Historian 
 
 TROOP NO. 1, BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA. 
 
 Organized February 12, 1915. 
 
 The Boy Scouts of America, is a corporation formed by a group 
 of men who are anxious that the boys of America should come under 
 
324 APPENDIX 
 
 the influence of this movement and be built up in all that goes 
 to make character and good citizenship. 
 
 Scout Masters. 
 Dr. A. E. Childs 1915-1918 Edward Pikosky 1918-1919 
 
 Samuel P. Griffin, Assistant Albert Hausmann 1919- 
 
 Troop Committee. 
 Dr. A. E. Childs M. J. Moraghan 
 
 Samuel P. Griffin 
 
 TEOOP No. 2, BOY SCOUTS OF AMEKICA. 
 
 Organized January 10, 1917. 
 
 Scout Masters. ^s. 
 
 J. L. Mower 1917- J- L. Kirwin, Asst. 1917- 
 
 Troop Committee. 
 Dr. A. E. Childs M. J. Moraghan 
 
 Rev. William J. Brewster 
 
 BOY SCOUTS OF AMEEICA, NORTHFIELD. 
 Organized 1918. 
 Rev. W. Humiston^ Scoutmaster 1918- 
 
 GIRL SCOUTS. 
 
 Organized 1915. 
 
 The purpose of this organization is to train girls to be good 
 citizens, through natural contacts of work and play; to give them 
 healthy ideals, to keep them physically fit, to broaden their inter- 
 ests and to increase their capabilities. 
 
 Captains. 
 Mrs. Baillie Ripley 1915-1917 Mrs. Richard Chisolm 1917- 
 
 Miss Blanche Richardson 1916-1917 Miss Elizabeth Deming 1917-1918 
 Miss Dorothy Bull 1918- 
 
 LITCHFIELD CHAPTEE, AMEEICAN EED CEOSS. 
 Organized May 21, 1898, as Eed Cross Auxiliary No. 16. 
 
 Eed Cross Auxiliary No. 16 was reorganized October 5, 1900 as 
 Auxiliary No. 5; became Sub-Division No. 1, July 11, 1905; became 
 Litchfield County Chapter, March 1910; became Litchfield Chapter, 
 April 3, 1917. 
 
 "The purpose of this Chapter shall be to aid the work of the 
 American National Eed Cross, in time of war by participating 
 vigorously and loyally in furnishing such relief as may be necessary 
 
APPENDIX 32s 
 
 for the Army and Navy, or other forces of the country, and in 
 furnishing Civilian Relief for the dependents of soldiers and sailors, 
 and in time of peace by responding to general appeals for relief 
 made by the Central Committee, by providing systematic relief in 
 cases of disaster, and in general by rendering relief or performing 
 service in conformity with the Charter and By-laws of the American 
 National Eed Cross and such policies and regulations as the Cen- 
 tral Committee may from time to time establish". 
 
 Chairmen. 
 Mrs. George M. Woodruff 1898-1905 Rear-Adm'l Colvocoresses 1910-1919 
 Mrs. S. A. Willis 1905-1910 Miss Cornelia B. Smith 1919- 
 
 William J. Brewster, Vice-Ch. Florence E. Ennis, Corres. Sec. 
 
 Mrs. John L. Buel, Rec. Sec. Esther H. Thompson, Treas. 
 
 LITCHFIELD BEANCH, CONN. INDIAN ASSOCIATION. 
 
 Organized 1881. 
 
 The purpose of the Indian Association is to extend financial 
 aid to the Indians, to carry on medical and hospital work among 
 them, and to maintain an Indian mission at Fort Hall, Idaho. 
 
 Presidents. 
 Mrs. Allan McLean 1908-1910 Miss Josephine E. Richards 1910-1918 
 
 Mrs. G. P. Colvocoresses 1919- 
 
 Miss Mary P. Quincy, Vice-Pres. Miss Kate H. M. Sylvester, Treas. 
 
 Mrs. Frederick Deming, Secretary 
 
 THE LITCHFIELD HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 Organized August 3, 1893. Incorporated 1897. 
 
 The object of the Society, according to its constitution, is "to 
 discover, procure, and preserve Avhatever may relate to the civil, 
 military, literary and ecclesiastical history and biography in gen- 
 eral, and of the County of Litchfield, and the State of Connecticut 
 in particular; to investigate and preserve such traditions as now 
 exist only in the memory of aged persons; to establish and main- 
 tain a library for general reference, also procure and main- 
 tain collections in archeology, art and of the natural history of 
 Litchfield County, and in general to encourage study and research, 
 particularly that relating to local history, biography, antiquities and 
 natural history, and to disseminate information relative thereto". 
 
 In 1901 the Society took posession of the museum and lecture 
 room, especiall}' provided for its uses in the beautiful building 
 given by Mr. John A. Vanderpoel as a memorial to his grandmother, 
 Julia F. Tallmadge Noyes, widow of William Curtis Noyes. Here 
 are on exhibition the collections of the Society, consisting of Indian, 
 Colonial, Revolutionary and modern local and other objects. Notable 
 
326 APPENDIX 
 
 among these is the collection of ten portraits and a landscape by 
 KaJph Earle, the American painter, who visited Litchfield in 1796. 
 The Litchfield Scientific Associartion, which was organized in 
 1903 was merged with the Historical Society in 1919, and its col- 
 lections, which are housed in the Noyes Memorial Building, now 
 form part of those of the Historical Society. 
 
 Presidents. 
 Rev. S. O. Seymour, D.D. 1893-1918 Hon. George M. Woodruff 1918- 
 Mrs. J. A. Vanderpoel, ist Vice-Pres. Alain C. White, Cor. Sec. & Treas. 
 Cornelius R. Duffie, Rec. Sec. 
 
 THE WOLCOTT and LITCHFIELD CIKCULATING LIBEARY. 
 
 Wolcott Library organized May 27, 1862; Litchfield Circulating 
 Library organized on June 2, 1870. Consolidated in 1903. 
 
 The Wolcott Library was so-called in honor of a generous donor, 
 J. Huntington Wolcott, whose family coat of arms was adopted as 
 the arms of the Library Association. The library was housed in 
 the brick building on South Street, now known as the Telephone 
 Building, and was a reference library. Dues were paid for life 
 membership, $2.00 originally, raised to $3.00 in 1863. 
 
 The Litchfield Circulating Library was organized at a meeting 
 held on June 2, 1870, in Dr. David E. Bostwick's house, which stood 
 on the site of the present Library Building. The books were kept 
 for many years in the house of Mrs. Mary C. Hickox, who was the 
 first librarian. 
 
 The dues were fixed at $3.00 for membership, and were trans- 
 ferable. Persons paying $1.00 were entitled to the benefit of the 
 Library for one year, but not to membership. It was provided in 
 the By-Laws that on the first Thursday of every month a meeting 
 should be held at which should be sold at auction the use for a 
 month of books, magazines, etc., not more than four books to be 
 bid off by one member or yearly subscriber, and no bid of less than 
 two cents should be accepted. 
 
 At stated periods, to be fixed by the Librarian, between each 
 monthly sale, books returned or remaining unsold, might be taken 
 out by members and subscribers on payment of ten cents a volume, 
 "half to go into the treasury and half to go to the Librarian for his 
 trouble". This method of distributing the books by auction was 
 kept up until January, 1877, when a graded scale of charges was 
 fixed, of ten cents for each volume for the fifty volumes of the 
 highest numbers, five cents for all others down to ISTo. 500, and 
 three cents for all others, for two weeks us. These rates were altered 
 from time to time. 
 
 The Wolcott and Litchfield Circulating Library was formed 
 in 1903, by the consolidation of the two existing libraries. The 
 present building was the gift of John Arent Vanderpoel, in memory 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 327 
 
 of his grandmother Julia Tallniadge| Noyes. The Library was made 
 free to the general public. The Mary Floyd Tallmadge Chapter 
 of the D. A. K. was largely instrumental in raising the money for 
 the purchase of the site and the endowment fund. 
 
 Wolcott Library Association. 
 
 Presidents. 
 
 Dr. Henry W. Buel 1862-1894 Rev. S. O. Seymour, D.D. 1900-1903 
 
 George A. Hickox 1894-1900 
 
 Librarians. 
 
 George A. Hickox 1862-1863 Mrs. Harriet B. Belden 1883-1886 
 
 William L. Ransom 1863-1881 Mrs. Mary J. Buel 1887-1902 
 
 Mrs. Mary C. Hickox 1882- Miss Susan Mason 1902- 
 
 Miss Katharine Baldwin 1902-1903 
 
 Litchfield 
 
 Circulating Library Association. 
 
 
 
 
 Presidents. 
 
 
 Dr. David E. Bostwick 
 
 
 
 George M. Woodruff 
 
 1876- 
 
 Mrs. Adelaide Bostwick 
 
 1870- 
 
 
 George A. Hickox 
 
 1877- 
 
 Edward W. Seymour 
 
 1871- 
 
 
 Mrs. E. G. Roberts 
 
 1878- I 879 
 
 George M. Woodruff 
 
 1872- 
 
 
 A. B. Shumway 
 
 1880-1884 
 
 George A. Hickox 
 
 1873- 
 
 
 George C. Woodruff 
 
 1885- 
 
 Dr. Howard E. Gates 
 
 1874- 
 
 
 George M. Woodruff 
 
 1886-1901 
 
 George A. Hickox 
 
 1875- 
 
 
 Dr. John L. Buel 
 
 I 902- I 903 
 
 
 
 Librarians. 
 
 
 Mrs. Mary C. Hickox 
 
 1870-1871 
 
 Miss Nellie Tompkins 
 
 1880-1881 
 
 Mrs. E. W. Seymour 
 
 1872- 
 
 
 Mrs. Mary C. Hickox 
 
 1882- 
 
 Mrs. Mary J. Buel 
 
 1873- 
 
 
 Mrs. H. B. Belden 
 
 1883-1884 
 
 Mrs. D. E. Bostwick 
 
 1874- 
 
 
 Mrs. H. W. Wessells 
 
 i88s- 
 
 Mrs. E. G. Roberts 
 
 187s- 
 
 
 Mrs. H. B. Belden 
 
 1886- 
 
 Mrs. H. W. Wessells 
 
 1876- 
 
 
 Mrs. Mary J. Buel 
 
 1887-1901 
 
 Mrs. C. H. Piatt 
 
 1877-: 
 
 1878 
 
 Miss Susan Mason 
 
 1902- 
 
 Miss Annie Roberts 
 
 1879- 
 
 
 Miss Katharine Baldwin 
 
 1902- I 903 
 
 Wolcott and Litchfield Circulating Library. 
 
 Presidents. 
 Rev. S. O. Seymour, D.D. 1903-1918 George M. Woodruff 1918- 
 
 Alain C. White, Secretary Charles H. Coit, Treasurer 
 
 Miss Katharine Baldwin^ Librarian 1903- 
 
 NOKTHFIELD WOMEN'S LITEKAEY CLUB. 
 
 Organized 1893. 
 
 A social club for the study of literature, history and science, 
 and for local civic work. 
 
 Presidents. 
 Mrs. Louise A. Wooster 1893-1894 Mrs. Ella Catlin 1894-1895 
 
328 
 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 
 
 Miss 
 
 Ella J. Curtiss 
 
 1895-1896 
 
 Miss 
 
 Ella J. Curtiss 
 
 1903-1904 
 
 Mrs. 
 
 Elizabeth W. Pond 
 
 I 896- I 897 
 
 Mrs. 
 
 Gertrude Peck 
 
 I 904- I 905 
 
 Mrs. 
 
 Gertrude Peck 
 
 1897-1898 
 
 Miss 
 
 Ella J. Curtiss 
 
 1905-1909 
 
 Mrs. 
 
 Laura Peck 
 
 I 898- I 899 
 
 Mrs. 
 
 Grace Humphreville 
 
 1909-1910 
 
 Mrs. 
 
 F. S. Grant 
 
 I 899- I 900 
 
 Miss 
 
 Ella J. Curtiss 
 
 1910-1911 
 
 Miss 
 
 Ella J. Curtiss 
 
 I 900- I 902 
 
 Mrs. 
 
 Grace Humphreville 
 
 1911-1912 
 
 Mrs. 
 
 Amelia Ray 
 
 I 902- I 903 
 
 Miss 
 
 Ella J. Curtiss 
 
 1912- 
 
 Mrs. 
 
 F. M. Blakeslee, Vice-Pres. 
 
 Miss 
 
 Lucy Beatson, Treasurer 
 
 
 Mrs. 
 
 Louise A. Wooster, 
 
 Secretary 
 
 
 THE CANSTANAWACTA CLUB. 
 
 •Organized January 21, 1915. 
 
 The purpose of the club is to pay the fees of the Bantam Libra- 
 rian and to buy new books for the Library. 
 
 Presidents. 
 
 Ruth E. Curnalia 
 Mildred E. Beers 
 Ruth Edwards 
 
 1915- Eva Svvartfiguer 1916- 
 
 1915- Mrs. Raymond Brown 1917- 
 
 1916- Ruth Ravenscroft 1917-1919 
 Mrs. Raymond Brown 1919- 
 
 Ruby Mattson, Vice-Pres. Mary T. Dempsey, Secretary 
 
 Mrs. Clifford Hotchkiss, Treasurer 
 
 THE SHAKESPEAEE CLUB. 
 
 Organized 1915. 
 
 A social club devoted to the reading of the plays of Shakespeare. 
 Rev. F. J. Goodwin, Leader 1915- Miss Ruth Mathews, Secretary 
 
 THE MEN'S FORUM. 
 
 Organized April 22, 1908. 
 
 The object of the society is to hold meetings for social inter- 
 course, and the discussion of subjects of common interest, and to 
 engage in any movement for the good of the community that may 
 seem best to the members. 
 
 James P. Woodruff 
 Charles Rood 
 R. K. Biglow 
 P. North Clark 
 W. B. Allen 
 
 Presidents. 
 
 1908- Storrs O. Seymour, D.D. 1913- 
 
 1909- Dr. Albert E. Childs 1914-1915 
 
 1910- John T. Hubbard 1916-1917 
 
 191 1- Rev. William J. Brewster 1918- 
 
 1912- F. North Clark 1919- 
 Dr. A. E. Childs, Sec. and Treas. 
 
APPENDIX 329 
 
 THE WOMEN'S FORUM. 
 Organized March 1914. 
 
 The Women's Fonun was organized to secure an interchange of 
 thought on any subject of general interest. 
 
 Presidents. 
 Mrs. A. T. Van Lear 1914-1916 Mrs. A. T. Van Laer* 1919- 
 
 Miss Adelaide Deming 1916-1917 Mrs. William T. Marsh 1919- 
 
 Mrs. John Laidlaw Buel 1917-1919 ^Resigned. 
 Mrs. Ellsworth F. Miner, Secretary Mrs. Frank Mathews, Treasurer 
 
 THE LITCHFIELD VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT COMPANY. 
 Incorporated April 24, 1875. 
 
 The purpose for which this Company was formed is to make 
 improvements in the Village of Litchfield, its streets, parks, public 
 grounds and public buildings ; and to purchase, erect and maintain 
 new ones; and to do all things incidental to said business, and to 
 the proper management thereof. 
 
 Presidents. 
 George M. Woodruff 1875-1876 J. Deming Perkins 1888-1889 
 
 J. Deming Perkins 1876-1877 A. E. Fuller 1889-1911 
 
 George M. Woodruff 1877-1885 Seymour Cunningham 1911-1913 
 
 Charles H. Coit 1885-1886 A. T. Van Laer 1913-1919 
 
 A. E. Fuller 1886-1888 Alain C. White 1919- 
 
 Clara Kenney, Secretary Esther H. Thompson, Treasurer 
 
 LITCHFIELD DISTRICT NURSING ASSOCIATION. 
 
 Organized November 1914, in affiliation Avith the Public Health 
 Nursing Service of the American Red Cross. 
 
 The District Nursing Association has for its objects; to provide, 
 adequate public health nursing service for the township of Litch- 
 field, through a trained public health nurse, with everj^ facility to 
 enable her to work to the best advantage; and to assist in improving 
 the health and social Avelfare of the community, through its Board 
 of Directors and trained workers, and to dispense material relief 
 through its Auxiliary Committee. 
 
 Miss H. M. Richards, Pres. 1914- Mrs. G. P. Colvocoresses, Secretary 
 
 Rev. William J. Brewster, Vice-Pres. Mrs. E. P. Roberts, Treasurer 
 
 Nurses. 
 Miss Ada Snowden 1914-1916 Mrs. Carolyn Wright 1918- 
 
 Miss Genevieve Robb 1916-1918 Miss Emma B. Brown 1918- 
 
 THE LITCHFIELD HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION. 
 
 Organized December 26, 1906. 
 
 The Litchfield High School Alumni Association is a voluntary 
 body formed for the purpose of promoting good feeling and loyalty 
 
330 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 among the graduates of the Litchfield High School, and among those 
 who from time to time, may be associated with them. 
 
 Presidents. 
 Dr. Henry H. Fenn 1906-1908 James L. Kirwin 1912-1914 
 
 George R. Crutch 1908-1910 Rudolph Karl 1914-1916 
 
 William A. Crutch 1910-1912 Albert W. Clock 1916- 
 
 William L. Herbert. Vice-Pres. Dora L. Stoddard, Sec. and Treas. 
 
 PAKENT-TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION. 
 
 Organized November 4, 1914. 
 
 The Parent-Teachers' Association was organized for the purpose 
 of bringing into close relations the home and school, that parent and 
 teacher may cooperate intelligently in the education of the child. 
 
 Presidents. 
 Mrs. Philip P. Hubbard 1914-1915 Mrs. Milo D. Beach 1916-1917 
 
 Mrs. J. H. Reynolds 1915-1916 Mrs. W. S. Plumb 1917-1919 
 
 Mrs. R. Dunscomb Sanford 1919- 
 Miss Adelaide Deming, Secretary Mrs. Stanley Coe. Treasurer 
 
 THE CONNECTICUT JUNIOE REPUBLIC. 
 Established 1904; incorporated July 1, 1909. 
 
 The Connecticut Junior Republic was established in 1904, on a 
 farm of 80 acres, two miles north of Litchfield, left by will by Miss 
 Mary Buel at her death in 1900. The original homestead was 
 destroyed in 1914, but new buildings were given by William Col- 
 gate and Professor Roswell P. Angler, so that the Republic is 
 equipped with an administration building, dormitory and gymna- 
 sium; the old school house is now serving as a dormitory and there 
 are accommodations for 70 boys. Rev. John Hutchins was largely 
 instrumental in getting the Republic established. 
 
 The object of the Republic is to change the delinquent and way- 
 ward (but not backward or criminal) boy of today into the self- 
 supporting and law-abiding citizen of to-morrow; to direct but not 
 suppress native energy. 
 
 Its method is to make each boy a citizen in a miniature 
 republic, the watchwords of which are "self-govermnent" and 
 "nothing without labor". There is no adult domination, the boys 
 truly govern themselves. There is no idleness and no enforced 
 labor; each boy simply confronts the dilemma of working for his 
 living or of suffering the penalty of laws enacted by the boys, admin- 
 istered by boy courts, enforced by boy officers. 
 Presidents Board of Trustees. 
 Rev. John Hutchins 1904-1909 Roswell P. Angier* 1915-1918 
 
 Charles S. DeForest 1909-1912 Harley F. Roberts 1918- 
 
 George Parmly Day 1912-1915 -^Became Honorary President in 1918. 
 
APPENDIX 331 
 
 William T. Marsh, Vice-Pres. Union & N. Haven Trust Co., Treas. 
 
 Ralph D. Cutler, Secretary 
 
 Superintendents. 
 
 Frederick King 1904-1908 Lester F. Babcock 1917-1919 
 
 H. G. LeRoy 1908-1909 John M. Kingman 1919- 
 
 S. J. Davis 1909-1917 Tilden Gifford 1919- 
 
 THE LITCHFIELD AID 
 
 OF THE CONNECTICUT JUNIOK KEPUBLIC. 
 
 Organized December 30, 1911. 
 
 The Litchfield Aid was organized for the purpose of raising 
 funds toward the current expenses of the Republic, and has a 
 general supervision of the buildings through its House Committee. 
 The Aid also supplies suitable recreation for the citizens and helps 
 to keep the trustees in close touch with the needs of the Republic. 
 
 Presidents. 
 Miss Minerva W. Buel 1911-1913 Mrs. A. T. Van Laer 1913-1919 
 
 Miss Minerva W. Buel, Vice-Pres.* Mrs. John Dove, Cor. Sec. 
 Mrs. Seymour Cunningham, Rec.-Sec. Miss Harriet C. Abbe, Treasurer 
 *Acting president. 
 
 THE LITCHFIELD EQUAL FRANCHISE LEAGUE. 
 
 Organized September 5, 1913. 
 
 The Litchfield Equal Franchise League is an Auxiliary of the 
 Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association, which has for its object 
 the securing of the ratification of the Susan B. Anthony Amend- 
 ment and the preparation of Connecticut women for the use of the 
 vote. 
 
 Presidents. 
 Miss Frances E. Hickox 1913-1914 Miss Adelaide Deming 1914- 
 
 Mrs. William T. Marsh, Vice-Pres. Miss Florence E. Ennis, Sec. -Treas. 
 
 LITCHFIELD MEMORIAL DAY ASSOCIATION. 
 Organized 1913. 
 
 This association was organized for the purpose of assisting in 
 the observance and perpetuation of Memorial Day. 
 
 Presidents. 
 Mrs. W. O. Butler 1913-1919 Alain C. White 1919- 
 
 Miss Cornelia B. Smith, Vice-Pres. Miss Edith H. Crutch, Treasurer 
 Mrs. George S. Elmore, Secretary 
 
^32 APPENDIX 
 
 THE LITCHFIELD COUNTY FAEM BUREAU. 
 
 Organized February 12, 1915. 
 
 The Litchfield County Farm Bureau was organized for the pur- 
 pose of promoting the development of the most profitable and per- 
 manent system of agriculture; the most wholesome and satisfactory 
 living conditions; the highest ideals in home and community life; 
 and a genuine interest in the farm business and rural life on the 
 part of the boys and girls and young people. 
 
 Presidents. 
 C. E. Hough, Washington 1915-1916 Richard Dodge, Wash'ton 1917-1918 
 Robert Scoville, SaHsbury 1916-1917 S. McL. Buckingham, W't'n 1918- 
 S. R. Scoville, Cornwall, ist Vice-Pr. Philip P. Hubbard, Litchfield, Treas. 
 Mrs. W. Griswold, Goshen, 2d V.-P. 
 
 County Agricultural Agent. 
 Allen W. Manchester 1915-1919 Arthur G. Davis 1919- 
 
 Home Demonstration Agent. 
 Miss Josephine Leverett 1917-1918 Miss Marie Lovsnes IQIQ- 
 
 Miss Emily Bronson 1918-1919 Miss Eleanor S. Moss iQip- 
 
 Boys' and Girls' Club Leader. 
 Harold Brundage 1918- Raymond T. James ipip- 
 
 THE SANCTUM. 
 Incorporated 1906. 
 A social club with a club house on South Street. 
 
 Presidents. 
 Col. George B. Sanford 1906-1908 Dr. John L. Buel 1908- 
 
 Alain C. White, Vice-Pres. Seymour Cunningham, Treasurer 
 
 William Trumbull, Secretary 
 
 THE LITCHFIELD COUNTRY CLUB. 
 
 Incorporated 1916, as the successor of the Litchfield Lawn Club 
 and the Litchfield Golf Club. 
 
 Club house, golf links, tennis courts, etc., at the Catlin Farm. 
 
 Presidents. 
 Alain C. White 1916-1918 F. Kingsbury Bull 1918- 
 
 Robert C. Swayze, Vice-Pres. John H. Lancaster, Secretary 
 
 Cornelius R. Duffie, Treasurer 
 
 THE CANOE CLUB. 
 
 Organized August 20, 1897; as "The Bantam River Club Company". 
 The Bantam River Club Company was organized with 20 stock- 
 holders with shares of $25 each. The Canoe Club of Litchfield 
 
APPENDIX 333 
 
 was organized on March 13, 1911, with a capital of $2,000, shares 
 $50 each, and took over the property of the Bantam River Club 
 Company. 
 
 Charles H. Coit, Pres. 1897- Charles T. Payne, Sec. and Treas. 
 
 MARSHEPAUG FOREST CLUB. 
 Incorporated 1913. 
 
 A fishing and shooting club, with clubhouse. 
 
 Presidents. 
 Charles T. Payne 1913-1920 Richard Hunt 1920- 
 
 John H. Lancaster, Secretary William M. Foord, Treasurer 
 
 THE LITCHFIELD GARDEN CLUB. 
 
 Organized September 1913, became member of the Garden Club 
 of America in 1916. 
 
 The Litchfield Garden Club was organized for the purpose of 
 promoting scientific and artistic methods of gardening. While 
 this has been the avowed object, the Club has widened its activities 
 somewhat during the six years of its existence and has undertaken 
 civic work, such as the improvement and planting of the grounds 
 around the NeAV Haven station in Litchfield, and in the autumn of 
 1919 the j)urchase of the building formerly known as the Lawn Club, 
 which it ijroposes to put in good shape, so that in the near future 
 there may be a comfortable building available for rent at moderate 
 prices. 
 
 Mrs. S. Edson Gage, Pres. 1913- Mrs. John Dove, Cor. Sec. 
 
 Mrs. Chas. B. Curtis, ist Vice-Pres. Miss Alice Kingsbury, Treas. 
 Mrs. Henry S. Munroe, Sec. 
 
 THE NEEDLE AND BOBBIN CLUB OF LITCHFIELD. 
 
 Organized 1919. 
 
 This society is the first Auxiliary of the Needle and Bobbin 
 Club of New York and its purposes include: to bring together those 
 who are interested in lace, embroidery, w^eaving and allied siib- 
 jects; to make collections of handmade fabrics and exhibit them 
 in the rooms of the Litchfield Historical Society; and to contribute 
 toward the education of, and give awards to, workers in these 
 fabrics. 
 
 Mrs. John A. Vanderpoel, Hon- Pres.' Miss Kate I. Thomas, Secretary 
 Miss Mary P. Quincy, President Mrs. Floyd L. Vanderpoel, Treas. 
 
 Mrs. Charles B. Curtis, ist V.-Pres. 
 
 LITCHFIELD BASEBALL CLUB. 
 
 Organized 1919. 
 
 Arthur Staples, Manager 1919- 
 
334 APPENDIX 
 
 LITCHFIELD FIRE COMPANY. 
 
 Organized October 27, 1890. 
 
 The Litchfield Fire Company is a voluntary organization, and is 
 equipped with a La France Chemical and Hose Auto Truck, pre- 
 sented to the Company in 1916 by Mrs. W. H. K. Godfrey and Miss 
 Ella Coe. In 1892, the Company moved into the present Fire Depart- 
 ment Building, built by J. Deming Perkins, the use of which was 
 given by him to the Fire Company. This building was purchased 
 from the estate of Mr. Perkins on August 1, 1911, by the Borough 
 of Litchfield. 
 
 Foremen. 
 Samuel J. Cone 1890-1894 Edward Crutch 1903-1905 
 
 Alexander B. Shumway 1894-189S George A. Smith 1905-1907 
 
 George C. Woodruff 1893-1896 George R. Crutch 1907-1908 
 
 W. Beach Morse 1896-1897 Louis J. Goodman 1908-1909 
 
 W. Burton Allen 1897-1899 Robert K. Biglow 1909-1912 
 
 Charles W. Biglow 1899-1901 Thomas F. Ryan 1912-1917 
 
 George E. Mason 1901-1903 William L. Herbert iQi?- 
 
 Chiefs. 
 Eugene L. Phelps 1891-1896 George C. Woodruff 1902-1907 
 
 J. Deming Perkins 1896-1898 W. Beach Morse 1907- 
 
 W. Beach Morse 1898-1902 
 
 A. J. Hausmann. Secretary James E. Conroy, Treasurer 
 
 BANTAM FIPtE DEPAPvTMENT. 
 
 Organized February 1916. 
 
 Robert Currie, Chief 1916- C. Hotchkiss, Secretary 
 
 C. Deno, Assistant Chief R. Brown, Treasurer 
 
 THE LITCHFIELD CEMETERY COMPANY. 
 
 Incorporated February 6, 1866, in charge of East Cemetery. 
 
 Presidents. 
 Origen S. Seymour 1866-1883 Henry W. Buel 1887-1893 
 
 George C. Woodruff 1883-1885 Edgar B. VanWinkle 1893-1920 
 
 Alain C. White 1920- 
 
 James P. Woodruff. Treasurer Seymour Cunningham, Secretary 
 
 WEST CEMETERY IMPROVEMENT COMPANY. 
 
 Incorporated 1901. 
 
 The Company was organized for the purpose of caring for and 
 maintaining the West Cemetery. 
 
 Francis M. Coe, Pres. 1901- 
 
 Lewis Marsh, Secretary F. U. Newcomb, Treasurer 
 
o 
 
 H-1 
 
 Oh 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 335 
 
 BOROUGH OF LITCHFIELD. 
 
 Incorporated 1818, as a village, at the May session of the 
 Legislature, in which act the limits of the village were defined, 
 officers to be a president, treasurer and clerk. In 1885, at the 
 January session of the Legislature, all the electors dwelling within 
 the limits of the village were declared to be a body politic and 
 corporate by the name of the Borough of Litchfield, the officers to 
 be a warden, burgesses, etc. 
 
 Presidents. 
 
 Frederick D. Beeman 1857-1858 
 
 John H. Hubbard 1858-1859 
 
 Edward W. Seymour 1859-1860 
 
 Henry W. Buel 1860-1862 
 
 Seth P. Beers 1862-1863 
 
 George C. Woodruff 1863-1879 
 
 J. Deming Perkins 1879-1880 
 
 George A. Hickox 1880-1882 
 
 Frederick Deming 1882-1884 
 
 ens. 
 
 Charles H. Coit 1898-1899 
 
 William T. Marsh 1899-1900 
 
 John T. Hubbard 1900-1901 
 
 Aaron Crutch :90i-i907 
 
 P. M. Skelly 1907-1908 
 
 Aaron Crutch 1908-1911 
 
 W. Burton Allen 1911-1919 
 
 George C. Ives 1920- 
 
 Burgesses. 
 
 Charles W. Biglow 
 Edward M. Sepples 
 William S. Plumb 
 Assessors 
 
 Richard V. Tobin 
 Matthew E. Brennan 
 W. Jerome Bissell, Treasurer Charles H. Coit, Auditor 
 
 Travis A. Ganung, Clerk 
 
 BOROUGH OF BANTAM. 
 Incorporated April 16. 1915. 
 
 Wardens. 
 Eli D. Weeks 1915-1918 John Hard 
 
 John Coe, ist Burgess 
 R. L. Rochfort, 2nd Burgess 
 A. C. Morey, 3rd Burgess 
 
 Frederick Wolcott 
 
 1818-1820 
 
 Uriel Holmes 
 
 I 820- I 824 
 
 William Buel 
 
 1824-1838 
 
 Phineas Miner 
 
 1838-1839 
 
 Joseph Adams 
 
 I 839- I 842 
 
 Josiah G. Beckwith 
 
 I 842- I 853 
 
 Garwood Sanford 
 
 I 853- I 854 
 
 Henry B. Graves 
 
 1854-1856 
 
 P. K. Kilbourne 
 
 1856-1857 
 
 H. E. Gates 
 
 wa 
 I 887- I 888 
 
 William L. Ransom 
 
 1888-1889 
 
 Seth Pratt 
 
 1889-1890 
 
 William T. Marsh 
 
 1890-1892 
 
 Charles B. Bishop 
 
 1892-1893 
 
 Henry W. Wessells 
 
 1893-1894 
 
 Eugene L. Phelps 
 
 I 894- I 895 
 
 James P. Woodruff 
 
 1895-1898 
 
 Charles N. Warner 
 Martin J. Moraghan 
 Lyman J. Booth 
 
 Louis J. Goodman 
 
 R. J. Landon 
 
 F. M. Seelye, Treasurer 
 
 1918- 
 Frank Seward, 4th Burgess 
 George Burgoyne, 5th Burgess 
 Clifford Hotchkiss, 6th Burgess 
 Assessors. 
 
 W. L. Ravenscroft 
 Robert Currie, Auditor 
 
 George Morey, Clerk 
 
336 APPENDIX 
 
 BOAKD OF TRADE, BANTAM. 
 
 Organized December 5, 1911. 
 
 Presidents. 
 C. F. Flynn 1911-1912 Floyd Vanderpoel 1913-1914 
 
 W. S. Rogers 1912-1913 Milo D. Bartholomew 1914-1916 
 
 C. B. Heath 1916- 
 
 Herman Foster, Secretary F. M. Seeyle, Treasurer 
 
 LITCHFIELD AUXILIARY OF THE NEW HAVEN 
 
 BRANCH, WOMEN'S BOARD OF MISSIONS OF BOSTON. 
 
 Congregational Cliurcli. 
 
 Organized 1870. 
 
 The purpose of the Auxiliary is to cooperate with the Women's 
 Board of Missions in the support of missionaries and mission sta- 
 tions on the foreign field. 
 
 Presidents. 
 Mrs. Allan McLean 1875-1881 Mrs. John Hutchins 1895-1913 
 
 Mrs. Charles Symington 1883-1893 Mrs. John L. Buel 1913-1915 
 
 Mrs. Frank J. Goodwin 1915- 
 Mrs. Henrietta Bissell, Secretary Mrs. George S. Elmore, Treasurer 
 
 DAISY CHAIN, CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. 
 
 Organized July 1875. 
 
 The purpose of the Daisy Chain is to interest children in mis- 
 sionary Avork and lead them to do what they can to help the children 
 of less favored lands. 
 
 Presidents. 
 Miss Josephine E. Richards 1875-1912 Miss Mary A. Hutchins 1912- 
 Miss Eleanor Hexamer, Secretary Miss Elizabeth Potter, Treasurer 
 
 YOUNG LADIES' MISSION BAND, CONG'ATIONAL CHURCH, 
 Organized November 15, 1881. 
 The object of this organization is as follows: To promote the 
 Kingdom of Christ in the general work of Foreigii Missions and so 
 fulfill His parting command. All money raised by the Society is 
 sent to the Woniien's Board of Missions to assist in its work of 
 sending the Gospel to the more remote parts of the earth. 
 
 Presidents. 
 Miss Emma L. Adams 1884-1896 Miss Cornelia B. Smith 1912- 
 
 Mrs. George C. Woodruff 1896-1912 
 Miss Mildred Rylander, Secretary Miss Clara B. Kenney, Treasurer 
 
APPENDIX 337 
 
 YOUNG PEOPLE'S SOCIETY OF CHKISTIAN ENDEAVOK. 
 
 CONGKEGATIONAL CHUKCH. 
 
 Oganized 1890. 
 
 The object of this society is to serve as a training school for the 
 church. It is a member of the Winsted Union, and contributes to 
 Home and Foreign Missions. 
 
 Eleanor Hexamer, Pres. 1920- Cornelia B. Smith, Sec. and Treas. 
 
 Mildred Rylander, Vice-Pres. 
 
 THE CEADLE EOLL, CONGEEGATIONAL CHUECH. 
 
 Organized 1897. 
 
 This organization takes the children of the church up to the 
 time they are six years old. No meetings are held except once a 
 year in connection with the Daisy Chain, when they have a Cradle 
 EoU Tea. A suitable tea is served, with a birthday cake with as 
 many candles as there are members. Through an Endowment Fund 
 established by Mrs. Shepherd Knapp, the children support a little 
 African boy. 
 
 Leaders. 
 Mrs. John Hutchins 1897-1915 Mrs. Albert E. Childs 1919- 
 
 Mrs. William O. Butler 1915-1919 
 
 THE WOMEN'S GUILD, CONGEEGATIONAL CHUECH. 
 
 Organized January 190.3. 
 
 The Women's Guild was organized for the puiTiose of helping 
 to carry on the work of the church in Avhatever way seemed best. 
 
 Presidents. 
 Miss Martha Peck 1903-1906 Mrs. William T. Marsh 1911-1912 
 
 Mrs. Frederick W. Peck 1906-1908 Mrs. Robert A. Marcy 1912-1913 
 Mrs. George E. Mason 1908-1911 Mrs. William J. Dykes 1913- 
 
 Miss Cornelia B. Smith, Vice-Pres. Mrs. George E. Mason, Sec.-Treas. 
 
 WOMEN'S HOME MISSIONAEY SOCIETY 
 CONGEEGATIONAL CHUECH. 
 
 Date of organization unknowni. 
 
 The early records of this Society have either been lost, or as 
 seems more likely, no official records were kept. It is certain, 
 however, that the Home Missionary work has been carried on by 
 the women since early in the history of the church. The work of 
 the Society has been preparing and sending boxes of clothing and 
 household articles to home missionaries in the field. Later the 
 
338 APPENDIX 
 
 Society became affiliated with the Connecticut Women's Congrega- 
 tional Union, and the work included the raising of money for the 
 work of this organization. 
 
 Presidents. 
 Mrs. Henry R. Coit Mrs. John Hutchins 1910-1915 
 
 Mrs. George M. Woodrufif Mrs. George C. Woodruff 191 5- 
 
 Mrs. Frederick Deming. Vice-Pres. Mrs. W. B. Allen, Treasurer 
 Miss Cornelia B. Smith, Secretary 
 
 LADIES' AID SOCIETY, 
 
 METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHUPvCH. 
 
 Organized September 29, 1869. 
 
 Originally called the Sewing Society. Later became the Ladies' 
 
 Aid Society, with the object of helping the church financially and 
 
 socially. No record of officers available, prior to 1900. 
 
 Presidents. 
 Mrs. George Wallace Newcomb Mrs. Aaron Crutch 1914-1915 
 
 Mrs. Horace Cowles 1900-1911 Mrs. F. U. Newcomb 1915-1917 
 
 Mrs. Seth Osborne 191 1- Mrs. Charles Shumway 1917-1919 
 
 Mrs. Marvin S. Todd 1912-1913 Mrs. Milo D. Beach 1919- 
 
 Mrs. Harry T. Lynch, Secretary Mrs. William B. Pruner, Treasurer 
 
 EPWORTH LEAGUE, CHAPTER 10376 
 METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 
 Organized June 8, 1893. 
 This society was organized as a Christian Endeavor Society 
 originally. 
 
 The purpose of the Epworth League essentially is for the disci- 
 jjline of the youth of the church in Christian life and experience, 
 and training for Christian service. 
 Joseph D. Coffin, President 1920- Miss Emma Drumm, Sec. and Treas. 
 
 JUNIOR EPWORTH LEAGUE, CHAPTER 4679 
 METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH 
 
 Organized May 20, 1896. 
 
 Mrs. Milo D. Beach, Supt. 1920- 
 
 Elizabeth Pruner, Pres. Marjorie Fenn, Secy. 
 
 Bradford Smith, Treas. 
 
 THE OXFORD CLASS, METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 
 
 An organized adult Bible Class. The Purpose: The mutual 
 improvement of its members through Bible study and social culture, 
 and the advancement of the church. 
 
 Leonard A. Dickinson, President Mrs. Gladys S. Ganung, Treasurer 
 
 Joseph Coffin, Vice-President Miss Kittie Fenn, Teacher 
 
 Miss Emma Drumm, Secretary 
 
APPENDIX 339 
 
 ST. MICHAEL'S GUILD, ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH. 
 Organized 1903. 
 
 For financial aid of parish, especially the maintenance of the 
 Eectory; feature, an annual sale in August. 
 
 Presidents. 
 Mrs. C. W. Hinsdale 1903-1920 Mrs. Charles N. Warner, 1920- 
 
 Mrs. A. P. Lewis, Hon. Pres. Mrs. Seymour Cunningham, Treas. 
 
 Mrs. M. G. Wright, Secretary 
 
 YOUNG WOMEN'S GUILD, ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH. 
 
 Organized 1920. 
 For the aid of the Rector and missionary work. 
 
 Mrs. A. Cahill, Pres. 1920- Mrs. R. Dunscomb Sanford, Sec. 
 
 WOMEN'S AUXILIARY TO THE BOARD OF MISSIONS 
 
 ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH. 
 
 Date of organization unknown. 
 
 For the aid of general and special missionary work of the 
 church at large. 
 
 Mrs. W. J. Brewster, Ch. 1917- Mrs. W. H. Sanford, Sec. and Treas. 
 
 THE LADIES' SOCIETY OF UNITED WORKERS 
 METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. BANTAM. 
 
 Organized June 13, 1895. 
 
 The object of this society is to help the church financially and 
 socially. 
 
 Mrs. John Bishop 
 
 Mrs. George demons 
 
 Mrs. John Coe 
 
 Mrs. George demons 
 
 Mrs. Fred Landon 
 
 Mrs. George Peck 
 
 Mrs. Augustus Smith, Vice-Pres. Mrs. F. O. Landon, Sec. and Treas. 
 
 EPWORTH LEAGUE 
 METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, BANTAM 
 
 Organized January 31, 1897. 
 
 Presidents. 
 Samuel Glover 1897-1898 Jennie Coe 1898- 
 
 Presidents. 
 
 
 
 189s- 
 
 Mrs. 
 
 Arthur Morey 
 
 1908- 
 
 1896- I 897 
 
 Mrs. 
 
 Henry Wheeler 
 
 1909- 
 
 I 898- I 900 
 
 Mrs. 
 
 Fred Landon. 
 
 1910-1912 
 
 1901-1904 
 
 Mrs. 
 
 John Coe 
 
 1913-1916 
 
 1905- 
 
 Mrs. 
 
 Harley Scott 
 
 1917- 
 
 1906-1907 
 
 Mrs. 
 
 George Peck 
 
 1918- 
 
340 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 
 John Sparklin 
 
 1898-1899 
 
 James Monroe 
 
 1906-1908 
 
 George Peck 
 
 1899- 
 
 S. May Barber 
 
 1908-1909 
 
 Jennie Coe 
 
 1899-1900 
 
 Herman Foster 
 
 1909-1910 
 
 George demons 
 
 1900-1901 
 
 Samuel Glover 
 
 1910-1911 
 
 Samuel Glover 
 
 1901-1902 
 
 Herman Foster 
 
 1911-1912 
 
 S. May Barber 
 
 1902-1904 
 
 Robert Elliott 
 
 1912- 
 
 Jeanie Strathie 
 
 1904-1906 
 
 Herman Foster 
 
 1912-1913 
 
 , 
 
 James Monroe 
 
 1913- 
 
 
 Gladys Mattson, Vice-Pres. 
 
 Hazel Morey, Treasurer 
 
 Harriet Peck, Secretary 
 
 WOMEN'S GUILD, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, BANTAM. 
 
 Organized 1896. 
 
 The Women's Guild succeeded tlie Women's Sewing Society, 
 whichi had been in existence for many years. The object of the 
 Guild is to promote the welfare of St. Paul's Church and to do 
 such charitable and missionary work as shall be determined by the 
 members. 
 
 Presidents. 
 1896-1897 Ad!rs. Edward Robinson 1908-1909 
 
 1897-1902 Mrs. George B. Morey 1909- 191 1 
 1902-1904 Mrs. James L. Doyle 1911-1915 
 
 1904-1905 Mrs. William A. Buell 1915-1916 
 
 1905-1906 Mrs. Thaddeus W. Harris 1916-1919 
 1906-1908 Mrs. Wm. L. Ravenscroft 1919- 
 
 Mrs. Cornelius R. Duffie, Sec.-Treas. 
 
 Mrs. George B. Morey 
 Mrs. William A. Buell 
 Mrs. Hiram Stone 
 Mrs. John H. Jackson 
 Mrs. John O. Ferris 
 Mrs. William A. Buell 
 
 Mrs. Filmore Brown, Vice-Pres. 
 
 ALTAR GUILD, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, BANTAM. 
 
 Organized 1910. 
 
 The Altar Guild has the sacristy work of the church in charge. 
 Mrs. H. Macintyre, Pres. 1910- Miss Edith Moore, Treasurer 
 
 WOMEN'S AUXILIARY, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, BANTAM. 
 
 Organized January 1920. 
 This society is a branch of the Women's Auxiliary of the Dio- 
 cese of Connecticut, and is organized for missionary work. 
 Mrs. J. C. Calloway, Pres. 1920- Mrs. C. B. Heath, Sec. and Treas. 
 
 Mrs. George B. Morey, Vice- Pres. 
 
 BOY'S CLUB, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, BANTAM. 
 Organized 1920. 
 
 The purpose of this club is to interest the boys of the Parish in 
 the higher life of the community and to provide athletic and social 
 entertainment for them. 
 
 Hugh Trumbull, Pres. 1920- Jack Ravenscroft, Secretary 
 
 William Ravenscroft, Vice-Pres. William Doyle, Treasurer 
 
Floyd L. Vanderpoel, Pres., Trumbull- Vanderpoel Co. 
 
William T. Marsh, President, Litchfield Water Co. 
 
APPENDIX 341 
 
 THE FIKST NATIONAL BANK OF LITCHFIELD 
 
 Organized September 1814, as the "Phoenix Branch Bank", 
 reorganized December 22, 1864, as "The First National Bank of 
 Litchfield". 
 
 The Bank has a capital of $100,000, deposits exceed $400,000, 
 surplus $30,000. 
 
 The Phoenix Branch Bank. 
 
 Presidents. 
 
 Col. Benjamin Tallmadge 1815-1826 Asa Bacon 1833-1846 
 
 Judge James Gould 1826-1833 Theron Beach 1846-1852 
 
 George C. Woodruff 1852-1864 
 
 The First National Bank. 
 
 Presidents. 
 Edwin McNeill 1864-1875 George E. Jones 1893-1896 
 
 Henry R. Coit 1875-1887 Judge Charles B. Andrews 1896-1899 
 
 Henry W. Buel 1887-1893 George M. Woodruff 1899- 
 
 Charles H. Coit, Vice-president Philip P. Hubbard, Cashier 
 
 Directors. 
 Weston G. Granniss Lester R. Denegar 
 
 Frank H. Turkington William T. Marsh 
 
 James P. Woodruff 
 
 THE LITCHFIELD SAVINGS SOCIETY. 
 Incorporated May 1850. 
 
 The Litchfield Savings Society is without Capital Stock; has 
 deposits of $2,000,000; surplus $200,000; number of depositors 3,600. 
 
 Presidents. 
 George C. Woodruff 1850-1885 George M. Woodruff 1885- 
 
 James P. Woodruff, Vice-president Charles H. Coit, Sec. & Treas. 
 
 Directors. 
 Almon E. Fuller John T. Hubbard 
 
 WilHam T. Marsh Charles N. Warner 
 
 W. J. Bissell 
 
 THE LITCHFIELD WATER COMPANY. 
 
 Organized 1889. 
 
 The Litchfield Water Company began its work by building a 
 reservoir in the town of Goshen, on Fox brook, which could not 
 properly be called a brook, as it practically dried up soon after a 
 rainfall. 
 
 Water was introduced into the town in 1891, and people realized 
 that they could now enjoy the luxury of a public water supply. 
 
342 APPENDIX 
 
 which had always been considered out of the question for Litch- 
 field. It onl}^ required hoAvever, the experience of a few years to 
 show that the supply was inadequate, and could not be depended 
 upon. 
 
 In 1896, under the direction of Prof. Munroe, a pumping plant 
 was installed in the valley beloAV the reservoir, which was con- 
 nected with several driven Avells, sunk to a depth of about 90 feet, 
 and these wells have proAdded an unfailing supply of pure Avater 
 ever since, so that hoAvcA^er dry the season or Iioav near a AA^ater 
 famine many of the surrounding towns were, Litchfield people, other 
 than the stockholders, had no cause for worry. 
 
 Soon after the completion of the reseiwoir, the Company acquired 
 practically all of the Avater-shed contributory, about 500 acres, and 
 have alloAved it to return to Avild land, and what was at the time 
 fine farm land, is now covered Avith quite a growth of young hard- 
 wood trees, Avell fenced to keep out cattle. 
 
 In 1914 a filter was installed to take out some sediment which 
 washes into a reservoir in time of heavy rains, and while not 
 entirely preventing trouble arising from that cause, it has been of 
 very great help in keeping the water clear. 
 
 Presidents. 
 F. H. Wiggin 1889-1892 F. H. Wiggin 1894-1897 
 
 George M. Woodruff 1892-1894 William T. Marsh 1897- 
 
 James P. Woodruff, Vice-Pres. Charles H. Coit, Secretary 
 
 William T. Marsh, Treasurer 
 
 THE LITCHFIELD ELECTKIC LIGHT & POWER COMPANY. 
 
 Incorporated 1897 
 
 In March 1901, the Company purchased at Bantam all the land 
 of the Litchfield Land Improvement Co., north of the railroad track 
 and all its water rights to the stream. They also purchased 
 from Buel and Coit the old grist mill, formerly run by Samuel 
 Bennett. This privilege AA^as originally granted by vote of the 
 town in 1804, "being rights of the Shepaug stream", Avhich at that 
 time was the name applied to the stream from the outlet of Bantam 
 Lake. These privileges gave the Company controlling rights to 
 water privileges, aggregating a head of 65 feet. 
 
 Some time during 1901, the power was generated at Bantam and 
 took the place of the small plant in Grannis and Elmore's basement. 
 
 The present poM^er house was built in July 1901. The business 
 started with a capital of $10,000 and an income of about $75 per 
 month. The Company, at present has a capital of $100,000, surplus 
 of $25,000, a debt of $65,000, and property of something over $200,000. 
 The annual business amounts to about $50,000. 
 
 Presidents. 
 George S. Elmore 1898-1900 John L. Buel 1909-1916 
 
 Charles H. Coit 1901-1909 Walter Camp Jr. 1916- 
 
u 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
 Ph 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 343 
 
 Weston G. Granniss, Vice-Pres. Charles H. Coit, Treasurer 
 
 Philip P. Hubbard, Secretary Ellsworth F. Miner, Superintendent 
 
 BANTAM BALL BEAEING COMPANY. 
 
 Organized February, 1905, as the ••Bantam Anti Friction Co." 
 Manufacturers of ball and roller bearings. Annual output 
 $750,000. Employs 130 hands. Plans are being matured for a 
 large increase in the plant. 
 
 W. S. Rogers, Ch. Bd. of Directors Helen Schoonmaker, Treasurer 
 Nellie M. Scott, President C. B. Heath, Secretary 
 
 H. H. Edwards, Vice-Pres. 
 
 BANTAM BALL BEAKING MUTUAL BENEFIT ASSOCIATION. 
 The Bantam Ball Bearing Association is an association created 
 for the benefit of the employees of the Bantam Ball Bearing Company. 
 Assessments are made and benefits are paid to members of good 
 standing on account of sickness creating inability to work. 
 Eugene Converse, Pres. 1919- George Molitor, Sec. and Treas. 
 
 THE CONNECTICUT ELECTEIC MANUFACTUEING CO. 
 
 Bantam Branch organized 1919. 
 Product, metal and fibre flashlights. Approximate production 
 per year $700,000. Employs 74 hands. 
 
 A. H. Trumbull, President H. M. Doyle, Secretary 
 
 F. S. Trumbull, Vice-President H. D. Hazen, Manager 
 
 THE TEUMBULL-VANDEEPOEL ELECTEIC MFG. CO. 
 
 BANTAM. 
 Organized 1912. 
 Manufacturers of safety switches, knife switches, switch boards, 
 panel boards, weatherproof sockets and switches. Employs approxi- 
 mately 100 hands. Capital $92,200, output about $350,000 per year. 
 
 Presidents. 
 Charles F. Flynn 1912-1914 Floyd L. Vanderpoel 1914- 
 
 Ralph K. Mason, V-Pres.. Gen. Mgr. Harold C. Richardson, Sec.-Treas 
 
 LITCHFIELD LAND COMPANY. 
 Incorporated 1915. 
 The purpose of the Litchfield Land Company is to purchase, sell 
 and otherAvise deal in improved and unimproved real estate. 
 Henry R. Towne* Pres. 191 5- John H. Lancaster, Sec. and Treas. 
 
 WAEEEN LAND COMPANY. 
 Incorporated 1913. 
 The purpose of the Warren Land Company is to purchase, hold 
 and deal in forest lands and abandoned farms. 
 
 Charles T. Payne, Pres. 1913- John H. Lancaster, Sec. and Treas. 
 
344 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 G. HOUSES and STOKES IN THE BOKOUGH OF LITCHFIELD. 
 
 In 1849, George C. Woodruif prepared, chiefly from information 
 given by Dr. Abel Catlin, a List of most of the dwellings then 
 standing in the village of Litchfield. This was enlarged by Seth 
 P. Beers, by the addition of stores, offices, public buildings and some 
 other dwellings, and was printed in 1862 with the Charter and By- 
 laws of Litchfield. In 1919 the list was again added to and brought 
 up to date by Miss Anna W. Kichards ; while the final revision, here 
 printed including the houses on several streets not in the previous 
 lists, has been made by Miss Ethel M, Smith. 
 
 NOETH STEEET 
 
 East side beginning at comer 
 of East Street. 
 
 I — NAME: Roberts House 
 BUILT: 1792-3— Charles Butler 
 OWNED : 1920— Miss Edith Kings- 
 bury 
 
 2 — Ladies School 
 1854-5— Sylvester Spencer 
 1920 — Lyman J. Booth 
 
 3 — Lucretia Deming House 
 1793 — Julius Deming 
 1920— Misses A. E. & E. D. Kings- 
 bury 
 
 4 — Bronson House 
 i867(?)— Edwin McNeill 
 1920 — J. H. Bronson 
 
 5 — Bacon House 
 1770 (about)— Reuben Smith 
 1920 — Charles H. Coit 
 
 6 — Warner House 
 1867— Prof. W. G. Peck 
 1920— Mrs. Charles N. Warner 
 
 7 — Wadsworth-Kilbourn House 
 i8ii( about)— Col. Tallmadge store 
 
 removed 
 1920 — Julius Adenaw 
 
 8 — McLaughlin House 
 1830 — Charles S. Webb 
 1920 — Mrs. E. T. McLaughlin 
 
 9 — Andrew Adams House 
 1765 — Michael Dickinson 
 1020 — Alice T. Bulkeley 
 
 10 — Riley House 
 1828 — Leonard Goodwin 
 1920 — Miss Alice T. Buckeley 
 
 II — Charles Perkins House 
 1833 — Julius Deming 
 1920— Mrs. William W. Rockhill 
 
 12 — Judge Church House 
 1 83 1— Rev. L. P. Hickok 
 1920 — Mabel Bishop 
 
 13 — Trowbridge House 
 1876 — Thomas Trowbridge 
 1920— Mrs. Blanche Bucklin 
 
 14 — ^Lord House 
 
 1785 — Oliver Boardman 
 1920 — Amy R. Thurston 
 
 15 — Charles Deming House 
 1900 — Charles Deming 
 1920 — Mrs. Charles Deming 
 
 16 — Colgate House 
 
 1880 — James A. Robinson 
 1920 — William Colgate 
 
 17 — Van Winkle House 
 1900— M. D. & E. S. Van Winkle 
 1920 — Mary D. Van Winkle 
 
 18 — Dr. Buel House 
 1895 — John L. Buel 
 1920— John L. Buel, M. D. 
 
 19 — Spring Hill Sanitarium 
 1858-9— Dr. H. W. Buel 
 1 920— John L. Buel, M. D. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 345 
 
 NORTH STREET 
 
 West side beginning at corner 
 of West Street. 
 
 20 — County Jail 
 
 1811 — Litchfield County 
 1920 — Litchfield County 
 
 21 — Drug Store 
 
 1784-5 — Samuel Sheldon. Torn 
 
 down : Litchfield Savings Society, 
 
 same site, 1914. 
 1920 — Litchfield Savings Society 
 
 22 — Banking House 
 181 5 — Phoenix Bank 
 1920 — First Nat'l Bank 
 
 23 — Wessells House 
 
 1765 — Laurence Wessells. Torn 
 down. New House, 1877 Dr. Wil- 
 liam Deming. 
 
 1920 — Mrs. William Deming 
 
 24 — Samuel Buel House 
 
 1821 (about)— Samuel Buel, M. D. 
 
 Torn down. New House, 1892, 
 
 Dr. Charles Belden. 
 1920— Mrs. W. H. K. Godfrey 
 
 25 — A. Norton House 
 
 i762(about) — Jas. Kilborn. Torn 
 down. 
 
 26 — Tallmadge House 
 1775— Thomas Sheldon 
 1920 — Mrs. E. N. Vanderpoel 
 
 2"] — Beeman House 
 
 1849-50 — Mrs. Brisbane 
 
 1920 — Mrs. E. N. Vanderpoel 
 
 28 — Judge Gould House 
 1760 — Col. Elisha Sheldon 
 1920 — J. P. Elton 
 
 29 — Abel Catlin House 
 1800 — John Allen 
 1920 — Frederick Deming 
 
 30 — Uriel Holmes House 
 
 i755(about) — Mark Prindle. Burn- 
 ed about 1840. 
 
 31 — Chase House 
 1910 — H. S. Chase 
 1920 — Estate of H. S. Chase 
 
 32 — Theron Beach House 
 1783 — Daniel Sheldon, M. D. 
 1920 — Est. E. B. VanWinkle 
 
 ■^2) — Pierce House 
 '1803 — Miss Pierce. Torn down. 
 
 34 — Underwood House 
 1895 — F. L. Underwood 
 1920 — F. L. Underwood 
 
 35 — Miss Pierce's Academy 
 1827 — Academy Association 
 1920 — H. P. Jones. Removed. 
 
 2,(> — Pierce-Brace House 
 i7So(about) — Zebulon Bissell. Torn 
 down. 
 
 2,7 — Congregational Parsonage 
 
 1863 — Congregational Society, same 
 
 site as preceding. 
 1920 — Congregational Society 
 
 38 — William Deming House 
 1771-2 — Lynde Lord, Sr. 
 1920 — Mrs. Harrison Sanford 
 
 39 — Beecher House 
 
 1774 — Elijah Wadsworth. Remov- 
 ed, part to Spring Hill. 
 
 40 — Old Academy, Henry Jones 
 1827 — Academy Association. Re- 
 moved. Enlarged by H. R. 
 Jones, 1878. 
 1920 — Henry R. Jones 
 
 41 — Fanning House 
 
 1830-1 — Erastus A. Lord. Removed. 
 
 42 — Bissell House 
 
 1888— F. A. P. Barnard 
 1920 — Mrs. L. P. Bissell 
 
 43 — Carrington House 
 
 1781 — Eli Smith. Torn down. 
 
 44 — Stephen Deming House 
 1778-9 — Alexander Catlin 
 1920— M. W. & K. L. Buel 
 
346 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 TALLMADGE AVENUE 
 North Side. 
 
 45 — Bostwick House 
 
 i900(about) — Mrs. Williams 
 1920 — Arthur Bostwick 
 
 46 — Greycot 
 
 1899— M. W. & K. L. Buel 
 1920— M. W. & K. L. Buel 
 
 TALLMADGE AVENUE 
 
 South Side. 
 
 47 — Bullard Cottage 
 1910 — Elizabeth Bullard 
 1920 — Mrs. John L. Buel 
 
 PROSPECT STREET 
 North Side. 
 
 48 — A. W. Richards House 
 1842 — Daniel Baldwin 
 1920 — A. W. Richards 
 
 49 — George Richards House 
 
 1832-3 — Removed from South St., 
 
 by Daniel Baldwin. 
 1920 — George Richards 
 
 50 — Col, Tallmadge Farm House 
 1790 — (after) — Col. Benj. Tall- 
 madge. Later used as part of 
 boys' school kept by Mssrs. Berry 
 and Eastman. 
 1920 — Mrs. FitzGerald 
 
 PROSPECT STREET 
 
 South Side. 
 
 51 — Miss Quincy House 
 1904 — Mary P. Quincy 
 1920 — Mary P. Quincy 
 
 52 — Shepherd Knapp House 
 1894 — Shepherd Knapp 
 1920 — George A. Vondermuhl 
 
 53 — Congregational Parsonage 
 1786 — Reuben Webster 
 1920 — Est. of Archibald MacMartin 
 
 54 — George Matthews House 
 1822-3 — Sylvester Spencer 
 1920 — Mrs. W. J. FitzGerald 
 
 55 — FitzGerald House 
 1867— W. J. FitzGerald 
 1920 — Mrs. W. J. FitzGerald 
 
 56 — Wheeler House 
 1880— J. W. Wheeler 
 1920 — E. M. Wheeler 
 
 57 — Wheeler Cottage .^ 
 
 1906 — E. M. Wheeler 
 1920 — E. M. Wheeler 
 
 SOUTH STREET 
 West side beginning at corner 
 of West Street. 
 
 58— Judd Block 
 1888— Jesse L. Judd 
 1920 — Mrs. Ward 
 
 59 — Beckwith Block 
 
 1897 — Mrs. J. G. Beckwith 
 1920 — Mrs. J. G. Beckwith 
 
 60 — Beckwith House 
 
 1819-20 — Moses Seymour Jr. 
 1920 — Mrs. J. G. Beckwith 
 
 61 — Origen S. Seymour House 
 1807-8 — Ozias Seymour 
 1920 — Morris W. Seymour 
 
 62 — Major Seymour House 
 
 1735 — E. Marsh Sr., or Thomas 
 Grant. Torn down, 1855, new 
 house on same site by George 
 C. Woodruff. 
 
 1920 — George M. Woodruff 
 
 63 — George C. Woodruff House 
 1829-30 — Elihu Harrison. Enlarged 
 
 by George C. Woodruff, i860; 
 
 James P. Woodruff, 1916. 
 1920 — James P. Woodruff 
 
 64 — Samuel Seymour House 
 1784-5 — Samuel Sej'mour 
 1920 — Episcopal Rectory 
 
 65 — Judge Reeve House 
 1774 — Judge Reeve 
 1920 — Lewis B. Woodruff 
 
 66 — Morris Woodruff House 
 1833-4 — Lyman J. Smith 
 1920 — John T. Hubbard 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 347 
 
 67 — "Parson" Jones Place 
 1800 — Rev. Dan Huntington. Burn- 
 ed in i862v rebuilt by the Misses 
 Scott, enlarged by Chief Justice 
 Andrews. 
 1920 — Mrs. Grace M. Granniss 
 
 68 — Henry Bissell House 
 
 1847 — Henry Bissell. Enlarged by 
 G. H. Hollister and John Lindley. 
 1920 — John Lindley 
 
 69 — Starr Cottage 
 1885— A. E. Fuller 
 1920 — Miss Kate I. Thomas 
 
 69 — Starr Cottage 
 
 1850-1 — William F. Baldwin. Made 
 from 2nd St. Michael's Church. 
 1920 — Miss F. E. Frost 
 
 70 — Oliver Wolcott Jr., House 
 1799 — Elijah Wads worth. Enlarg- 
 ed, 1817, by O. Wolcott Jr., and 
 later by George B. Sanford. 
 1920 — Mrs. Harry G. Day 
 
 71 — Wallbridge House 
 1858— Wolcott Institute 
 1920 — W. Beach Day 
 
 72 — Henry R. Towne House 
 1915 — Henry R. Towne 
 1920 — Henry R. Towne 
 
 SOUTH STEEET 
 
 East side beginning at comer 
 of East Street and continuing to 
 Soutli Bridge. 
 
 T2) — Oliver Goodwin House 
 
 1759-60 (about) — Ebenezer Marsh, 
 Jr, Torn down, 1899. 
 
 74 — Library Building 
 
 1901 — John A. Vanderpoel 
 1920 — Wolcott-Litchfield Circulat- 
 ing Library 
 
 75 — Historical Society Wing 
 1906 — E. N. Vanderpoel 
 1920 — Historical Society 
 
 76— Law School 
 
 1 784 (about) — Judge Reeve 
 Removed to West St., in 1846, and 
 
 in 191 1 to present site. 
 1920 — Historical Society 
 
 •7~ — Webb House 
 
 1819— Charles L. Webb 
 1920 — Ruth E. McNeil 
 
 78 — Telephone office and Woodruff 
 Offices 
 1846 — Origen S. Seymour 
 1920 — George M. Woodruff 
 
 79 — St. Michael's Church 
 
 1809-12. 1851-2 On site of that of 
 1812. Moved south for erection 
 of stone church, 1919. 
 1920 — Episcopal Society 
 
 Note : The lot on which St. Michael's 
 Church stood was given by Sam- 
 uel Marsh, Esq., in 1808. The 
 first church building was one 
 mile west of the village, erected 
 in 1749. The second church build- 
 ing on South Street, 1809-12, as 
 listed. The third church building 
 on same site, 1851 (as listed). 
 
 The fourth church building, of stone, 
 on same site and started in 1919 
 (as Hsted). The lot was added to 
 by gifts and purchase east and 
 south. 
 
 80 — Bronson House 
 
 1785-6 — James Stone. Torn down, 
 1919. 
 
 81 — Bronson Store 
 
 1819-20 — Phineas Miner's law of- 
 fice, enlarged by Silas N. Bron- 
 son, 1850. 
 
 1920 — ''The Sanctum" 
 
 82 — Abraham C. Smith House 
 1780 — Benjamin Hanks 
 1920 — Esther T. Champlin 
 
 83 — Huntington's Office 
 1831 (about) — Jabez W. Huntington 
 1920 — Roman Catholic Parsonage 
 
348 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 84— Roman Catholic Church 
 
 1864 — First R. C. Church; moved 
 back in lot for building of new 
 church in 1885-6, later torn down. 
 
 85 — St. Anthony's Church 
 
 1887-8 — Roman Catholic Church 
 1920 — Roman Catholic Church 
 
 86 — Edward W. Seymour House 
 1864 — Edward W. Seymour 
 1920 — Origan Seymour 
 
 Edward W. Seymour 2nd 
 
 87 — Morse House 
 
 1832 ( about )—Alanson Abbe, M. D. 
 1920 — Mrs. William H. Sanford 
 
 88 — Fenn-Fuller House 
 
 1867— Wm. C. Buel and Frank F. 
 
 Cook, M. D. 
 1920— W. S. Fenn & A. E. Fuller 
 
 89 — Wolcott House 
 
 i753-4(about)— Oliver Wolcott Sr. 
 
 Enlarged by Fred'k Wolcott. 
 1920 — Alice Wolcott 
 
 90 — Belden House 
 
 1773-4 — Capt. Phineas Bradley, fin- 
 ished by Ephraim Kirby and re- 
 built by B. S. Clark. 
 
 1920 — Mrs. H. B. Mendenhall 
 
 91 — Morse House 
 1874 — Holmes Morse 
 1920 — Betsy F. Morse 
 
 92 — Wiggin House 
 1871 — Mrs. Wiggin 
 1920 — Mrs. A. M. Wiggin 
 
 93— Hamlin House 
 
 1858-9 — Henry B. Graves 
 1920 — E. B. Hamlin 
 
 94 — Cunningham House 
 
 1904 — Seymour Cunningham 
 1920 — Seymour Cunningham 
 
 95— Ozias Lewis House 
 1806 — Ozias Lewis 
 1920 — Mrs. Antoinette Cahill 
 
 96 — Cahill House 
 
 1890 — Mrs. Antoinette Cahill 
 1920 — Mrs. Antoinette Cahill 
 
 97 — Parmalee House 
 
 1 886 (after) — Caroline Parmalee 
 1920 — Seymour Cunningham 
 
 98 — Drury House 
 1888 — James Drury 
 1920 — James Drury 
 
 99 — Coe House 
 
 1892 (about) — Sarah Coe 
 1920 — Mrs. John Moran 
 
 100 — Bissell House 
 
 1830 — George H. Palmer 
 1920 — W. G. Rosbach 
 
 loi — George W. Thompson House 
 1844-5 — George Thompson 
 1920 — Miss Esther H. Thompson 
 
 102 — The Misses Thompson House 
 1868 — George Thompson 
 1920 — Miss Esther H. Thompson 
 
 103 — Stevens House 
 
 1822 — John Baldwin 2nd 
 1920 — Robert Stevens Jr. 
 
 104 — Sedgwick House 
 1825— A. P. Roberts 
 1920 — Ralph P. Smith 
 
 105 — Stevens House 
 1887 — Robert Stevens 
 1920 — Joseph Bellerino 
 
 106 — Erickson House 
 1889 — James Erickson 
 1920 — George Suhaj 
 
 107 — Morris House 
 
 1829 — S. Sheldon. Right wing 
 
 drawn from south and finished 
 
 by Mrs. Wood. 
 1920 — Augustus Rolli 
 
 108 — Palmer House 
 
 i8oo(about) — Asa Sanford. En- 
 larged by Samuel Sheldon. 
 1920 — Est. Reynolds Crandall 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 349 
 
 SOUTH STKEET 
 
 West side from fork to South 
 Bridge. 
 109 — Gleason House 
 
 i8oi-2(about) — Deacon O. Lewis 
 1920 — Mrs. D. G. Ambler 
 no — Hempsted House 
 
 1827-8 — Hiram B. Woodcock 
 1920 — Richard Liggett 
 III — Homer House 
 
 1803-4 (about) — Henry Blinn, fin- 
 ished by Augustine Buell, torn 
 down and rebuilt by Thom.as J. 
 
 Harris, 1892. 
 1920 — Thomas J. Harris 
 112 — Harrigan House 
 
 1 893-4 (about) — John Harrigan 
 1920 — Mrs. John Harrigan 
 
 113 — Burns House 
 
 1914 — Barn remodeled and drawn 
 
 from High Street. 
 1920 — Daniel Burns 
 
 114 — Fisher House 
 
 1825-6 — A. P. Roberts, for shop. 
 1920 — George Beers 
 
 115 — Samuel Buell House 
 i825(about) — Samuel Buell 
 1920 — John Scanlon 
 
 WOLCOTT AVENUE 
 116 — Trumbull House 
 
 1896 — William Trumbull 
 1920 — William Trumbull 
 
 117 — MacLaren House 
 
 1894 — William MacLaren 
 1920 — W. S. Walcott 
 
 118 — Hatheway House 
 
 1899 — Curtis R. Hatheway 
 1920 — Curtis R. Hatheway 
 
 OLD ROAD or HIGH STREET 
 
 East Side. 
 119 — Heffernen House 
 
 1822-23 (about) — Horace Gregory. 
 Drawn there, torn down and 
 rebuilt by John Shanks 
 1920 — John Shanks 
 
 120 — Burns House 
 
 1879 — John Burns 
 
 1920 — John Burns 
 121 — Peck House 
 
 1894 — Edwin B. Peck 
 
 1920 — George Beers 
 122 — Peck House 
 
 1894 — Edwin B. Peck 
 
 1920 — ^Thomas Beers 
 
 123 — Doyle House 
 
 1888 — James Richardson 
 1920 — Lawrence Doyle 
 
 124 — Moran House 
 1894 — Edwin B. Peck 
 1920 — Daniel Moran 
 
 125 — Kennedy House 
 
 1879 — Michael Kennedy 
 1920 — Daniel Kennedy 
 
 126 — Delafontaine House 
 
 1889 — Charles Delafontaine 
 1920 — Otto Munn 
 
 127 — Burns House 
 1913 — Daniel Burns 
 1920 — Daniel Burns 
 
 128 — Phelps House 
 
 1794 — Abner Baldwin 
 1920 — Mrs. Aylmer 
 
 129 — Fitzpatrick House 
 1873 — David DeForest 
 1920 — Mrs. Bridget Fitzpatrick 
 
 130 — Ryan House 
 1909 — John Ryan 
 1920 — John Ryan 
 
 131 — Powers House 
 1761 — William Marsh 
 1920 — Mrs. Katherine King 
 
 HIGH STREET 
 West Side. 
 132 — Prescott House 
 
 1850 — William H. Thompson 
 1920 — Mrs. Symington 
 
 "^33 — Prescott House 
 
 1889 — George Prescott 
 
 1920 — Mrs. William Brennan 
 
350 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 134 — Country Club 
 
 1853 — George Prescott 
 
 1920 — White Memorial Foundat'n 
 
 WEST STEEET 
 South side beginning at busi- 
 ness blocks, at corner of South 
 Street. 
 
 135 — Piielps Block 
 
 1888 — Eugene L. Phelps 
 1920 — Eugene L. Phelps 
 
 136 — Bishop Block 
 
 1888— Bishop & Sedgwick 
 1920 — Est. Charles Bishop 
 
 137 — Pratt Block 
 
 1886— Seth Pratt & Thompson 
 1920 — George H. Hunt 
 
 138 — Court House & Town Hall 
 1797-8 — County and Town. Burn- 
 ed in 1886, rebuilt in 1888, in 
 wood, by town. Burned same 
 year and rebuilt in 1889 by town, 
 in stone. 
 1920 — County and Town 
 
 139 — Sedgwick Block 
 
 1889-90 — Theodore Sedgwick and 
 
 James T. Sedgwick, M. D. 
 1920— J. T. Sedgwick, M. D. 
 
 140 — Meafoy's Block 
 
 1890 (about) — Eugene Meafoy 
 1920 — M. J. Moraghan 
 
 141 — Sanford Block 
 
 1890-1 ( about )—-Fred'k Sanford 
 1920 — M. V. Moraghan 
 
 142— Mrs. Sedgwick Block 
 
 1890-1 — Mrs. Lizzie Sedgwick 
 1920 — Mrs. T. P. Conroy 
 
 143 — Beach Block 
 1890 — Dr. Beach 
 1920 — Mrs. T. P. Conroy 
 
 144 — Granniss & Elmore Block 
 1888 — Granniss & Elmore 
 1920 — W. G. Granniss & Mrs. Nel- 
 lie Elmore 
 
 145 — Marcy Block 
 1887 — John Marcy 
 1920 — Robert A. Marcy, M. D. 
 
 146 — Ives Block 
 
 1905 — George C. Ives 
 1920 — George Theophilos 
 
 147 — T, F. Ryan office 
 
 1898 — Frederick Sanford, remodel- 
 ed in 1912 by T. F. Ryan. 
 1920 — Thomas F. Ryan 
 
 148— Buell House 
 
 1848 — William Lord. Finished by 
 
 Charles Buell in 1855. 
 1920 — Thomas F. Ryan 
 
 149 — Ganung House 
 1798 — Joseph Adams 
 1920 — Mrs. C. M. Ganung 
 
 150 — Methodist Church 
 188s— Methodist Society 
 1920 — Methodist Society 
 
 151 — Page House 
 
 1799 — Arad Way, and enlarged by 
 
 Cheney. 
 1920 — George H. Hunt 
 
 152 — Julia Deming House 
 1872 — Julius Deming 
 1920 — Julia A. Deming 
 
 153 — Baldwin House 
 
 1887 — Mrs. Charles Baldwin 
 1920 — Mrs. Charles Baldwin 
 
 154 — Mrs. Emma Pratt House 
 1887— Seth Pratt 
 1920 — Mrs. Emma Pratt 
 
 155— Mrs. Margaret Pratt House 
 1822-3 — A. Benedict 
 1920 — Mrs. Margaret Pratt 
 
 156— Berkshire Hotel 
 
 1874 — Thomas Richards. Torn 
 down, 1919. 
 
 157 — Berry House 
 
 1806-7 (about) — Stephen Parmen- 
 
 ter 
 1920 — Miles Cummings and Mrs. 
 
 Juckett 
 
(J 
 
u 
 
 > 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 351 
 
 158 — Beach House 
 
 1875 (about) — Samuel Beach 
 1920 — Edward Weir 
 
 159 — Denegar House 
 1893 — L. R. Denegar 
 1920 — Edward M. Sepples 
 
 160 — Burns House 
 
 1875 (about) — Samuel Beach 
 1920 — William Burns 
 
 161 — Perkins House 
 
 1877 — Edson L. Perkins 
 1920 — Mrs. M. S. Todd and Harry 
 F. Lynch 
 
 162 — Associated Farmers Building 
 1881 (about) — William Johnson, 
 remodeled by Jos. Slack, 1887. 
 1920 — Est. of Joseph Slack 
 
 EUSSELL STREET 
 
 163 — Slack House 
 1887— Joseph Slack 
 1920 — Est. of Joseph Slack 
 
 164 — Slack House 
 1887 — Joseph Slack 
 1920 — Est. of Joseph Slack 
 
 165 — Slack House 
 1887 — Joseph Slack 
 1920 — Est. of Joseph Slack 
 
 WEST STREET 
 Nortli side beginning at North 
 Street corner. 
 
 .166 — Fire Department 
 
 1891 — J. Deming Perkins 
 1920 — Borough 
 
 167 — Fannj' Morse House 
 1780— Eli Smith 
 1920 — Miss Clara Kenney 
 
 168 — Methodist Parsonage 
 1884-5 — Methodist Society 
 1920 — Methodist Society 
 
 169 — Marsh House 
 
 1820 — Horace Gregory and A. 
 
 Wadsworth 
 1920 — WiUiam T. Marsh 
 
 170 — Trowbridge House 
 
 i840(about) — Henry Trowbridge 
 1920 — Edward Trowbridge 
 
 171 — Playhouse 
 1893 — Casino 
 1920 — Litchfield Garden Club 
 
 172 — Judd House 
 1786 — Amos Galpin 
 1920 — Mrs. A. T. VanLaer 
 
 173 — Elmore House 
 
 1901 — George S. Elmore 
 
 1920 — Mrs. George S. Elmore 
 
 174 — Allen House 
 1883 — Mrs. Barnes 
 1920 — W. B. Allen 
 
 175 — Goodman House 
 1841 — William Rogers 
 1920 — Louis J. Goodman 
 
 176 — Williams House 
 1782— Abel Darling 
 1920 — Martin J. Moraghan 
 
 177 — Sepples House 
 
 Part of Robert Williams house. 
 
 Drawn there from the east. 
 
 Later remodeled. 
 1920 — William Sepples 
 
 178 — -Beach House 
 
 1822-3 — Sylvester Spencer 
 1920 — Mrs. Margaret Pratt 
 
 179 — Parmalee House 
 1823 — Lynde Parmalee 
 1920 — Mrs. John Sepples 
 
 180 — Saltonstall House 
 1842 — Garwood San ford 
 1920 — Mrs. Harriet F. Biglow 
 
 181 — Herbert House 
 
 1883-4 — William Herbert. Moved 
 to present site and remodeled 
 in 1914. 
 1920 — Mrs. William Herbert 
 
 182 — Coe House 
 
 1905-6 — Stanley L. Coe 
 1920 — Stanley L. Coe 
 
352 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 183 — Donohue House 
 1870 — Thomas Donohue 
 1920 — Thomas Donohue 
 
 184 — Mrs. Donohue House 
 
 1883 — Mrs. Thomas Donohue 
 1920 — William Bergin 
 
 185 — Crutch House 
 
 1 884 (about) — Malachi Tracy 
 1920 — George R. Crutch 
 
 186 — Barce House 
 
 1814-15 (about) — Simeon Taylor 
 1920 — Mrs. Cora Beebe 
 
 187 — Rogers House 
 1912 — P. J. Rogers 
 1920 — Patrick J. Rogers 
 
 188 — Rogers House 
 191 1 — P. J. Rogers 
 1920 — Patrick J. Rogers 
 
 spe:ntcee steeet 
 
 West Side. 
 
 189— Beach Shop 
 
 1832-3— T. L. Saltonstall. Re- 
 moved north on Spencer St., 
 and remodeled. 
 
 1920 — Mrs. Mark Polka 
 
 190 — Bray House 
 
 (?) — Mrs. Michael Bray 
 1920 — Mrs. William Tucker 
 
 191 — Radich House 
 
 1919 — The present house was 
 
 drawn there and remodeled. 
 1920 — John Radich 
 
 192 — Stone House 
 
 1828-9 (about) — Sylvester Spencer 
 1920 — Timothy Higgins 
 
 193 — Turkington House 
 
 1828-9 (about) — Sylvester Spencei 
 1920 — William E. Turkington 
 
 194 — Merriman House 
 
 1828 (about) — Sylvester Spencer 
 1920 — Hugh Higgins 
 
 SPENCER STREET 
 East Side. 
 
 195 — Da Ross House 
 1916-7 — John Da Ross 
 1920 — John Da Ross 
 
 196 — Jonathan E. Fuller House 
 i852-3(about) — William Rogers 
 1920 — Antonio Da Ross 
 
 197 — Vanderpoel House 
 
 191 1 — Piano shed drawn from 
 Daniels property and remodeled. 
 1920 — Mrs. E. N. Vanderpoel 
 
 198 — Vanderpoel House 
 
 1917 — Mrs. E. N. Vanderpoel 
 1920 — Mrs. E. N. Vanderpoel 
 
 199 — Brown House 
 
 i8i9(about)---Col. B. Tallmadge 
 1920 — Joseph Mayer 
 
 EAST STREET 
 
 Beginning at corner of North 
 Street. 
 200 — Luke Lewis House 
 
 1782 — John Collins 
 
 1920 — Phelps House Corporation 
 
 20i^Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe 
 
 1781 — Dr. Reuben Smith. Moved 
 
 from North St., by Luke Lewis. 
 
 1920 — Phelps House Corporation 
 
 202 — Phelps Tavern 
 1787— David Buell 
 1920 — E. L. Phelps 
 
 203 — Wing of Beers House 
 1802 — Roger Skinner office 
 192a— Mrs. W. W. & W. J. Bissell 
 
 204— S. P. Beers House 
 1787 — Timothy Skinner 
 1920— Mrs. W. W. & W. J. Bissell 
 
 205 — Congregational Church 
 1828 — Congregational Society. 
 
 New church built, 1873. 
 1920 — Congregational Society. 
 
 206 — First Conference Room 
 
 i830(about) — Congregational So- 
 ciet}'. Removed. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 353 
 
 207 — Reuben Merriman House 
 
 1807— R. Webster and Reuben 
 Merriman. Removed, 1917. 
 
 208 — Webster House 
 
 1784 — Frisbie. Enlarged, 1816 by 
 
 R. Webster and by Aaron 
 
 Crutch in 1914. 
 1920 — Aaron Crutch 
 
 209 — Perkins House 
 
 1786— Litchfield County. Torn 
 
 down. Center School built in 
 
 1886-88. 
 1920 — Town 
 
 210 — Sedgwick House 
 
 i895_J. T. Sedgwick, M. D. 
 1920 — J. T. Sedgwick, M, D. 
 
 211 — Sedgwick House 
 
 i884(about)— Theo. Sedgwick 
 1920 — J. T. Sedgwick, M. D. 
 
 212 — Karl House 
 
 igii — Adolph C. Karl 
 1920 — Adolph C. Karl 
 
 213 — Taylor House 
 1875— Devoe & Hill 
 1920 — Patrick C. Burke 
 
 214 — Karl Brothers House 
 1875-6— Devoe & Hill 
 1920 — Karl Brothers 
 
 215 — Bergin House 
 
 1879 — William Bergin 
 1920 — Vendelin Macejka 
 
 216 — Devoe & Hill House 
 1875-6— Devoe & Hill 
 1920 — John Broderick 
 
 217 — Devoe & Hill House 
 1875-6— Devoe & Hill 
 1920 — Mrs. John Finan 
 
 218 — Noonan House 
 
 1882 — Theodore Sedgwick 
 1920 — Mark Burns 
 
 219 — Moraghan House 
 1877-8 — Joseph Slack 
 1920 — Bernard Moraghan 
 
 220 — Finan House 
 1884— Joseph Slack 
 1920 — James Finan 
 
 221 — Fitzpatrick House 
 1885— Joseph Slack 
 1920— Mrs. K. Fitzpatrick 
 
 222— Lyons House 
 1883— Joseph Slack 
 1920 — Jacob Hexamer 
 
 223— Perry House 
 
 1810— S. P. Beers. Removed by 
 D. Baldwin, Sept. 1829. Part 
 used when rebuilt by Bartley 
 Lavin. 
 1920 — Mrs. Bartley Lavin 
 
 EAST STREET 
 South side beginning at corner 
 of South Street 
 
 225 — Hickox House 
 
 1810— Augustus & Betsy Collins 
 1920 — Frances E. Hickox 
 
 226 — Wheeler House 
 
 1879— Wolcott Wheeler 
 1920— F. North Clark 
 
 227 — A. S. Lewis House 
 1814 — Charles G. Bennett 
 1920 — Est. Cornelia B. Hinsdale 
 
 2^ — Bissell House 
 1817 — John Bissell 
 1920 — Mary D. Colvocoresses 
 
 229 — Buckley House 
 
 1850— William Wheeler 
 1920 — Mrs. Thomas Buckley 
 
 230 — Meagher House 
 
 1896 — Timothy Meagher 
 1920 — Timothy Meagher 
 
 231 — Cahill House 
 
 1906 — Thomas Cahill 
 1920 — James Casey 
 
 232 — Smith House 
 
 1 894 (about) — Michael Grady 
 1920 — Stephen Smith 
 
354 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 233 — Kelley House 
 
 1899 — Aaron Crutch Jr. 
 1920 — John Kelley 
 
 234 — Curtis House 
 
 1901 — C. LesHe Curtis 
 1920 — C. LesHe Curtis 
 
 235 — Kelley House 
 1869 — Leonard Stone 
 1920 — Mrs. Bridget Kelley 
 
 236 — Kinney House 
 1872 — John Kinney 
 1920 — Mrs. John Kinney 
 
 237 — Lavin House 
 1871 — Bartley Lavin 
 1920 — John Gallagher 
 
 238 — Birmingham House 
 
 1869 — Patrick Birmingham 
 1920 — Mario Simoncelli 
 
 239 — Lavin House 
 1 87 1 — John Lavin 
 1920 — Eugene L. Phelps 
 
 240 — Eugene L. Phelps House 
 1878 — Eugene L. Phelps 
 1920 — Eugene L. Phelps 
 
 241 — John Phelps and House 
 
 1834 — Albert Homer. Removed 
 
 and enlarged by S. P. Beers. 
 1920 — Eugene L. Phelps 
 
 242 — Slack House 
 1876 — Joseph Slack 
 1920 — Est. Joseph Slack 
 
 243 — Slack House 
 
 1812 — Joseph Slack 
 
 1920 — Aaron Crutch 
 244 — Wells House 
 
 1830 — Tomlinson Wells 
 
 1920 — Est. Frank Wells 
 
 MEADOW STKEET 
 East side beginning at corner 
 of West Street. 
 
 245— Masonic Hall 
 
 1836— Methodist Society 
 1920— St. Paul's Lodge, No. 11 
 
 246 — Ganung House 
 1850 — William Lord 
 1920 — John Bernard Olsson 
 
 247 — Jennee House 
 
 r830-i (about) — George Bolles 
 1920 — Frank B. Mason 
 
 248— Buell House 
 
 1828-9 (about)— Curtis Woodruff 
 1920 — Eugene Meramble - ■ 
 
 249 — Meafoy House 
 
 1 823-4 (about) — Lemuel O. Mea- 
 foy 
 1920 — Matthew Brennan 
 
 250 — Kilbourne House 
 
 i824(about) — George Bolles 
 1920 — Morris W. Seymour 
 
 251 — David C. Bulkley House 
 1825 — (about)— George Dewey 
 1920 — Edward Buckley 
 
 252 — Edward Buckley House 
 1902 — Edward Buckley 
 1920 — Edward Buckley 
 
 253 — Parmelee House 
 1832-3 — Henry Adams 
 1920 — Mrs. Nellie R. Elmore 
 
 254 — Leonard House 
 
 1 890 (about) — Edwin B. Peck 
 1920 — Walter Cahill 
 
 255— Henry Kilbourn House 
 
 1830-1 (about) — Samuel Waldon 
 
 drew it there ; finished by Dr. 
 
 A. Abbe. 
 1920 — George M. Woodruff 
 
 256 — Harris House 
 
 1879 — Barn drawn there by Mrs. 
 
 E. Rogers. 
 1920 — Mrs. W. H. Harris 
 
 257 — Grossman House 
 1835 — Ransom Potter 
 1920 — Martin Rogers 
 
 258 — Rogers House ^ 
 
 1894 — John Rogers 
 1920 — Mrs. John Rogers 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 355 
 
 259 — Munger House 
 
 1831-2 — Truman Munger 
 1920 — William Erwin 
 
 260 — Cunningham House 
 
 191 1 — Seymour Cunningham. 
 MacLaren barn drawn there 
 and remodeled. 
 1920 — Seymour Cunningham 
 
 261 — Peacocke House 
 
 1893 — Mrs. John Peacocke 
 1920— Mrs. E. F. Miner 
 
 MEADOW STREET 
 West side beginning at corner 
 of West Street. 
 
 262 — Mason House 
 
 1803 — Cato Freeman. Removed 
 from Prospect St. to Meadow 
 St. in 1873 and improved. 
 
 1920 — Travis A. Ganung 
 263 — Public School 
 
 1858-9 — First School District re- 
 moved from West to Meadow 
 Street in 1873 and remodeled 
 for tenement house. 
 
 1920 — Wolf Schuster 
 
 264 — Newcomb House 
 1881 — Cornelius Allen 
 1920 — F. U. Newcomb 
 
 265 — Hadsell House 
 
 1881 (about)— Mrs. Hadsell 
 1920 — George C. Ives 
 
 266 — Treadway House 
 1885 — Julius Treadway 
 1920 — Mrs. J. J. Treadway 
 
 267 — Fuller House 
 1875— A. E. Fuller 
 1920 — Eugene Banker 
 
 268 — Trowbridge House 
 
 1879 — George H. Trowbridge 
 1920 — William S. Plumb 
 
 269 — Buckley House 
 1882— D. C. Bulkley 
 1920 — George H. Deacon 
 
 270 — Buckley House 
 1884— D. C. Bulkley 
 1920 — Robert A. Marcy, M. D. 
 
 271 — Rogers House 
 
 1897 — Patrick J. Rogers 
 1920 — Mrs. John Rogers 
 
 272 — Prescott House 
 
 1848 — Reynolds C. Crandall 
 1920 — Harry B. Morse 
 
 273 — Gibbard House 
 1850 — Leonard Stone 
 1920 — Mrs. William Cone 
 
 274 — Stone House 
 
 185s — Leonard Stone 
 1920 — Wilbur B. Morse 
 
 275 — Stone House 
 
 1868 — Leonard Stone 
 
 1920 — Mrs. Leonard Stone 
 
 276 — Rev. Hiram Stone House 
 1903 — Rev. Hiram Stone 
 1920 — Mrs. Isabel Titus 
 
 277 — Stone House 
 
 1880 — Leonard Stone 
 1920 — Mrs. Leonard Stone 
 
 278 — Stone House 
 
 1864 — Leonard Stone 
 1920 — Mrs. Leonard Stone 
 
 279 — Stone House 
 
 1876 — Leonard Stone 
 1920 — Mrs. Leonard Stone 
 
 280 — Hoffman House 
 1874 — Hoffman 
 1920 — Armando Versari 
 
 281 — Grosjean House 
 1874— Peck 
 1920 — Mrs. Alexander Grosjean 
 
 282 — Lancaster House 
 
 191 5 — John H, Lancaster 
 1920 — John H. Lancaster 
 
 283 — Barrett House 
 1886— Patrick Barrett 
 1920 — Patrick Barrett 
 
356 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 284 — Rogers House 
 
 1881— Mrs. Ellen Rogers 
 1920 — Mrs. Finan 
 
 285 — Molloy House 
 1874 — John Molloy 
 1920 — Mrs. Swanson 
 
 286 — Ryan House 
 
 1871 (about) — Charles Cotton 
 1920 — Litchfield Land Co. 
 
 torringtojs^ road 
 
 West Side. 
 
 287 — Colonial Hall 
 
 1828 — 1st Congregational Church. 
 Moved to present site when new 
 church was built. 
 1920 — George Barber 
 
 288 — Baldwin House 
 
 1821-2 — Daniel Baldwin 
 1920 — George Barber 
 
 289 — Taylor House 
 
 1784 — Daniel Starr. Removed from 
 
 East Street. 
 1920 — Mrs. George Hawley 
 
 290 — Cone House 
 1884 — Samuel Cone 
 1920 — Mrs. Amelia Ensign 
 
 291 — Monroe House 
 
 1895 (about) — This house drawn 
 
 to present site by Prof. Monroe. 
 
 Formerly Mrs. Gleason's house. 
 1920 — Prof. Henry S. Munroe 
 
 292 — Bulkeley Bungalow 
 
 191 1 -2 (about)— Miss A. Bulkeley 
 1920 — Miss Alice Bulkeley 
 
 293 — Perkins House 
 
 No record of the building of this 
 house. Probably by J. Deming 
 Perkins. 
 1920 — Lawrence Carbury 
 
 294 — Quigley House 
 184&— G. F. Davis 
 1920 — Miss M. VanWinkle 
 
 TORRINGTON ROAD 
 
 East Side. 
 
 295 — Brennan House 
 
 1916 — Mrs. Michael Brennan 
 1920 — L. R. Denegar 
 
 296 — Merriman House 
 
 1807 — R. Webster and Reuben 
 Merriman, 1839. Moved to 
 
 present site and improved, 1917. 
 
 1920 — Matthew Brennan 
 
 297 — Hausmann House 
 
 1916-7 — Albert Hausmann 
 1920 — Albert Hausmann 
 
 298 — Sedgwick House 
 
 1 884 (about) — Theodore Sedgwick 
 1920 — J. T. Sedgwick, M. D. 
 
 299 — Cahill House 
 
 1881-2— Mrs. Eliza Cahill 
 1920 — ^Frank Fabbri 
 
 300 — Seth P. Beers House 
 
 1825 — Seth P. Beers. Drawn to 
 
 present site in 1869. 
 1920 — Mrs. James Madden 
 
 301 — Doyle House 
 
 1913 — Nicholas Doyle 
 1920 — Nicholas Doyle 
 
 302 — Watts House 
 
 1847 — James Trowbridge 
 1920 — Mrs. Patrick Lavin 
 
 WOODRUFF STREET 
 
 303 — Bray House 
 
 1853 (after) — Michael Bray. Re- 
 moved to present site, 1914. 
 1920 — Litchfield Land Co. 
 
 304 — Crover House 
 
 1853 (after) — Mrs. Bernasconi 
 1920 — Litchfield Land Co. 
 
 305 — Downey House 
 
 i853(after) — Henry Friday 
 1920 — Litchfield Land Co. 
 
APPENDIX 357 
 
 306 — Harrigan House 308 — Dwyer House 
 
 1797— James F. Wolcott's office 1853 (after)— John Dwyer 
 
 on South St. removed to pres- 1920— Litchfield Land Co. 
 
 ent site, 1914. ^^ ^, , ,. 
 
 T -^ 1 r u T J r- JNote: ihese houses were all remov- 
 
 1920 — Litchfield Land Co. , . , , . ^ 
 
 ed from the lower section 01 
 
 307 — Higgins House Meadow Street. The lower 
 
 1879 — George Prescott Meadow highway was opened 
 
 1920 — Litchfield Land Co. February 7th, 1853. 
 
358 APPENDIX 
 
 H. PATENT OF THE TOWN OF LITCHFIELD. 
 
 "The Governor and Company of the English Colony of Connecti- 
 cut in New England, to all to whom these Present shall come, Greet- 
 ing: 
 
 KNOW YE, THAT the said Governor and Company, by virtue of the 
 povirer granted unto them by our late sovereign, King Charles the Second, 
 of blessed memory, in and by His Majesty's Patent, under the great seal of 
 England, dated the twenty-third day of April, in the fourteenth year of His 
 Majesty's reign, and in pursuance thereof and in General Court assembled, 
 according to charter, did, by their act, made May fourteenth. Anno Domini, 
 1719, upon the humble petition of Lieut. John Marsh, of Hartford, within 
 the said Colony, and Dea. John Buell, of Lebanon, grant unto the said John 
 Marsh and John Buell, and partners, settlers, being in the whole fifty-seven 
 in number, liberty to settle a town westward of Farmington, in the county 
 of Hartford, at a place called Bantam, which town was to be in length east and 
 west, eight miles, three quarters, and twenty-eight rods, and in breadth, seven 
 miles and an half — to be bounded east on Mattatuck river, west part on 
 Shipaug river and part on the wilderness, north by the wilderness and south 
 by Waterbury bounds and a west line from Waterbury corner to the said 
 Shipaug river. And Ordered, that the said town should be called by the 
 name of Litchfield, as more fully appears by the said act. The said 
 Governor and Company, by virtue of the aforesaid power, and by their 
 special act bearing even date with these presents, for divers good causes 
 and considerations them hereunto moving, have given, granted and by these 
 presents, for themselves, their heirs and successors, do fully, clearly and 
 absolutely give, grant, ratify and confirm, unto the said John Marsh and John 
 Buell, and the rest of the said partners, settlers of said tract of land (in 
 their actual full and peaceable possession and seizin being) and to their 
 heirs and assigns, and such as shall legally succeed and represent them, 
 forever, (in such proportions as they, the said partners and settlers, or any 
 of them, respectively, have right in and are lawfully possessed of the same,) 
 all the said tract of land now called and known by the name of Litchfield, 
 in the county of Hartford aforesaid, be the same more or less, butted and 
 bounded as followeth, viz : Beginning at the north east corner, at a tree 
 with stones about it, standing in the crotch of Mattatuck river aforesaid, 
 and running southerly by the side of said river until it meets with Waterbury 
 bounds, where is a well known white oak tree standing about fifteen rods 
 west of said Mattatuck river, anciently marked with IS : IN : From thence 
 running west twenty three degrees thirty minutes south, to two white oak 
 trees growing out of one root, with stones about them, and west one mile 
 and a half to Waterbury north west corner bound mark; and from thence 
 west five degrees thirty minutes north to Shipaug river, where is a tree and 
 stones about it butting upon Waterbury township ; then beginning at the 
 first mentioned tree by Mattatuck river and running westward into the 
 wilderness, to an oak tree marked and stones laid around it; then south to a 
 crotch in the Shipaug river ; and thence by the westermost branch of the 
 
APPENDIX 359 
 
 Shipaug river to Woodbury bounds. And also all and singular, the lands, trees, 
 woods, underwoods, woodgrounds, uplands, arable lands, meadows, moors, 
 marshes, pastures, pondsi, waters, rivers, brooks, fishings, fowlings, huntings, 
 mines, minerals, quarries, and precious stones, upon and within the said land. 
 And all other rights, members, hereditaments, easements and commodities 
 whatsoever^ to the same belonging or in any wise appertaining, so butted 
 and bounded as is herein before particularly expressed or mentioned, and 
 the reversion or reversions, remainder or remainders, rights, royalties, 
 privileges, powers and jurisdictions whatsoever, of and in all and singular the 
 said tract of land and premises hereby granted, and of and in any and 
 every part and parcel thereof. And the rents, services and profits to the 
 same incident, belonging or appertaining — To Have and To Hold all the 
 said tract of land, and all and singular other the premises hereby given 
 or granted, or mentioned, or intended to be granted, with all the priviledges 
 and appurtenances thereof, unto the said John Marsh and John Buell, and 
 the rest of the partners, settlers of the same, their heirs and assigns, to 
 th ^ir only proper use, benefit and behoof, forever ; and to and for no other 
 use, intent or purpose whatsoever. And the said Governor and Company, 
 for themselves and their successors, have given and granted, and by these 
 presents do give and grant, unto the said John Marsh and John Buell, and 
 the rest of the partners, settlers of the tract of land herein before granted, 
 their heirs and assigns, that the said tract of land so butted and bounded as 
 aforesaid, shall from time to time and at all times forever hereafteri. be 
 deemed, reputed, denominated, and be an entire town of itself and shall 
 be called and known by the name of LITCHFIELD, in the county of 
 Hartford, and that the aforesaid partners, settlers and inhabitants thereof, 
 shall and lawfully may from time to time and at all times, forever hereafter 
 have, use, exercise and enjoy all such rights, powers, priviledges, immunities 
 and franchises, in and among themselves, as are given, granted, allowed, 
 used, exercised and enjoyed, to, by, and amongst the proper inhabitants 
 of other towns in this Colony, according to common approved custom and 
 observance; and that the said tract of land and premises hereby granted 
 as aforesaid, and appurtenances, shall remain, continue and be unto the 
 said John Marsh and John Buell, and the rest of the partners, settlers, their 
 heirs and assigns, in proportion aforesaid forever, a good, peaceable, pure, 
 perfect, absolute and indefeasible estate of inheritance in fee simple, to 
 be holden of His Majesty, his heirs and successors, as of His Majesty's 
 Manor of East Greenwich in the county of Kent, in the Kingdom of England, 
 in free and common soccage, and not in capite, nor by Knight's service — 
 Yielding therefor, and paying unto our Sovereign Lord, King George, his 
 heirs and successors foreven, one fifth part of all ore of gold and silver 
 which, from time to time and at all times forever hereafter, shall be there 
 gotten, had or obtained, in Hew of all services, duties and demands what- 
 soever. 
 
 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, The said Governor and Company have 
 caused the Seal of the said Colony to be hereunto affixed. 
 
 Dated at Hartford, May the igth day, Anno regni regis Decimo Georgii 
 
36o APPENDIX 
 
 Mag'ae Britt'ac, Fran'ae, Hybern'ae, Annoque Domini, One Thousand 
 Seven Hundred and Twenty-Four, 1724. 
 
 G. SALTONSTALL, Governor. 
 
 By order of the Governor and 
 
 Company in General Court 
 
 assembled. (Seal.) 
 
 Hez. Wyllis, Secretary." 
 
 FINIS. 
 

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