CHAPTER XIX.
WALLINGFORD AND MERIDEN IN THE WARS.
virgil, as he commenced his world-renowned epic, could hardly have announced a grander subject than when he wrote, "Arma virumque cano." Man and his weapons of warfare, inseparable in their close connection, in their mutual interdependence, how much have they together accomplished! We can scarcely separate one from the other.
The fathers of our country were early conversant with a state of things widely different from what now exists. Driven by religious oppression to seek an asylum on this side the ocean, they came in successive feeble bands, and planted themselves on a sod, until then, untrodden by the foot of civilized man. They were far from the influence of despotism, and no servile band could there burst in on their Sabbath-day ministrations, tear their pastor from the sacred desk and immure him within the walls of a prison. But we see them seated with their weapons by their side ready at any moment to repel the attacks of the ferocious Indians, who were exasperated by the alleged encroachments on their rights. Scarcely had the first log cabin been built by the pioneers, when the Indians, forecasting the growth and fruitfulness of resources incident to the English race, began to devise
348
means for their destruction. While the Indians appeared friendly to the new settlers, they stole their cattle, they shot arrows from their secret lurking places, at the farmer when he went into his field in the morning, or murdered his wife and children when they were left unprotected at home.
At the time Wallingford was settled it was thought that Philip, chief sachem of the Wampanoags, was using all his address to incite a general insurrection of the Indians for the purpose of exterminating the English. Philip was a sachem whose proud spirit of independence, whose heroism and whose misfortunes, have rendered him the most famous of all the New England aborigines. Philip formed no general league, no great conspiracy against the English; but he was smarting from humiliations inflicted upon himself and his brother; and, like most of his race, he looked with anger and dismay upon the steady progress of the foreigners in spreading over and occupying the country.1 The inhabitants of the newly formed settlement of Wallingford were greatly troubled at the warlike rumors which reached them every day, and
. . . "Short of succor, and in deep despair, Shook at the dismal prospect of the war."2
Houses were fortified, sentinels were appointed, and on the Sabbath in the little log building without chimney or steeple, while the voice of Mr. Street is engaged in solemn thanks to God for his mercy and faithfulness in bringing them to their land of promise, the armed sentinels pace backwards and forwards in the narrow space
1 DeForest's Hist. of the Indians of Conn., p. 279.
2 Multaque durasuo tristi cum corda putabant. Virgil's AEneid, VIII. 522.
349
which they call a street. Every man has a loaded musket by his side, and powder-horn and shot-bag slung around his neck; for the savages may burst like thunder on their homes and let loose the tomahawk and scalping-knife on their families at any moment.
In 1673 the General Court ordered "That five hundred dragoons be forthwith raysed, to be ready upon one hovvers warning to defend any place in this colony, assaulted by an enemie." The proportion for Wallingford was eight. The war broke out in the summer of 1675, just about a century before the commencement of our own struggle for independence, and continued with uninterrupted fury until the autumn of 1676. Connecticut entered with spirit into the struggle. Her sons left their husbandry and followed Treat and Talcott to the scene of danger. It was a "fierce and bloody war, in which both parties aimed at extermination. The war on the part of the Indians was a war for freedom and existence, and when that was no longer possible it became a war for revenge. August 27, 1675, Mr. Street's and Lieut. Merriman's houses were ordered to be fortified. At the same time,
"In respect to the present doings of ye Indians itt was ordered that the inhabitants secure themselves and the prin-cipall of theyr goods by fortifiing about too houses. Also that eveure man bring his armes and amunition compleat on the Saboth day that he may be able in a fitt posture to doe service if need Require." "That selectmen gaurd as sentinells on ye Saboth, and ye rest of the town ward 4 men every Saboth and 2 every weeke day; that they begin to ward when the watch breaks up and hould on till ye watch be sett again; that they begin and end, at the dawning and shutting in of the day." "October 15, 1675, Ordered that those persons at the end of the town if they see cause to fortifie any of theyr
350
houses which they can agree upon for theyr saftie in these times of dainger what theyr full charg is shall be defraied out of ye town's treasurey. Also that any that are willing to be asistant to make too flankers att Left Merriman's barne shall have due recompens out of ye towne treasurie."
Their mode of "fortyfiing a house" was as follows: At a short distance from the house, ten feet perhaps, and all around it a log wall was erected, with the ends of the logs dove-tailed into each other at the corners, and carried up to ten or twelve feet in height, with such openings as might suffice for pointing muskets at an attacking enemy. The "Seymour fort," which stood in Christian Lane just back and south of the residence of the late Mr. John Goodrich of Berlin, was made of palisades sixteen feet long, sharp at the top, and firmly set in the ground near together.1 Such erections were ample protection against any strength which the Indians were able to exert. Though no battle was fought near them, yet the inhabitants were kept in a constant state of alarm which greatly hindered their agricultural operations, and were compelled to fortify and garrison their little village as if actually in a state of siege.
In fact every settlement within the bounds of Connecticut was mercifully preserved from the presence of the enemy. No village was swept away by the storm of war. No rural sanctuary was laid in ruins. No laborer shot by the ambushed savage, fell in the furrow. No
1 Within this fort the settlers repaired at nightfall for safety against the Indians and for quiet rest. The well at which they quenched their thirst still furnishes the best water. The fort was built about 1686. Thomas North, ancestor of the North families of New Britain, the Seymours and Gilberts clustered about the fort. Dr. Joseph Steele, the Standleys, Rootes, Harts, Nortons, Cowles, Nehemiah Porter, Joseph Lankton, Newel, Grid-ley, Bronsons and others were located south of the fort.
351
father returning to his house, found all desolate-the calcined bones of his children mingled with the ashes of his dwelling. No mother torn from her sick bed, saw her babe clashed in pieces against her own hearth-stone. Such things there were in other parts of New England, but they were not in Connecticut. Yet here were alarms and watchings; here were levies of soldiers; here every store-house, every dwelling yielded its supplies to feed the army; here was that sad sight-the young, the brave, the hope of gray-haired sires, the strength and pride of the plantation, marching away from the homes that looked to them for protection. Here were dreadful tidings from the camp and the battle.1 Although there were no battles fought in Connecticut, yet five men at least, within her limits, were sacrificed by sudden shot from a lurking foe.2
April 28, 1674, eight persons were chosen in Walling-ford as a guard for the Sabbath. In 1681 forts were ordered to be erected in the town, and in 1690 a fort was built around the meeting-house. The arms of private soldiers were pikes, muskets and swords. The muskets had matchlocks or firelocks, and to each one there was "a pair of bandoleers or pouches for powder and bullets," and a stick called a rest, for use in taking aim. The pikes were ten feet in length, besides the spear at the end. "Ten foot in length, at least, is the wood." A train-band consisted of not fewer than sixty-four men,
1 Bacon's Hist. Dis., p. 162.
2 Josiah Rockwell and John Reynolds of Norwich were slain January 28, 1675-6, on the east side of Shetucket river, which they had crossed for the purpose of spreading flax. John Kirby of Middletown, was slain between Middletown and Wethersfield. Edward Elmore or Elmer, was slain in East Windsor. Henry Denslow slain in Windsor. William Hill of East Hartford, wounded but not killed. These were all in 1676.
352
and not more than two hundred. It was constituted of twice as many musketeers as pikemen; the latter being-selected for their superior stature. The officers of a band were a Captain, Lieutenant, an Ensign and four Sergeants.
Wallingford furnished her quota of troops for the French and Indian wars of 1690, and again in 1694 for the defense of Albany. The whole amount of taxes paid by Wallingford in common with other towns for the defense of New York and Massachusetts, amounted to the enormous burden of about twenty pence on the pound; so that at the close of the year 1695 the colony had drawn from the pockets of the people and paid out seven thousand pounds. We cannot but admire the self-sacrificing spirit of the citizens, especially when we remember that they submitted to this heavy drain from their resources from the most magnanimous and unselfish motives that ever actuated a people.1
In 1691, there was great difficulty and disturbance in Wallingford in regard to the choice of military officers; and there being but little majority in the choice, and dissatisfaction growing out of the same, it was carried to the General Court, who could
"See good reason not to confirm the choys, and order that lnt Merriman and Ensign Yale shall continue to be the com-ission officers of the traine band of Wallingford as formerly, untill this Court shall order otherwise, or the Governor."
This did not seem to settle the difficulty, for in October, 1691, we find that,
"Whereas the good people of Wallingford, by reason of some variaty of apprehensions that hath fallen out between
1 In 1684, there were sixty-one taxable persons in Wallingford. Amount of tax, £2,967. 353
them, sit uneasy, and their seams to be a breach made of their peace, and differences seem to be increasing among them; for the issue of all matters and controversies between them that are not for the present stated and determined by this court already, this court doe nominate and appoynt Lnt Col. Allyn, Capt. Sam. Talcott, Mr Wm Pitkin, and the Rev. Mr Samll Hooker, and Mr Perrpoynt, they or any two or three of them, to be a comittee in behalfe of this court to hear and determine all maters of controversie that have arisen between the good people of Wallingford since their looking towards of military officers, and the good people of Wallingford to aquiesse so far as to be peaceable under the same."
In 1692, it was ordered that Lieut. Nath. Merriman and Ensign Thomas Yale should have the rule and command of the train-band, until the court should order otherwise. In October of the same year,
"This court having heard and considered the matter of Wallingford in respect of their military officers, doe declare that they cannot see reason to confirm the former choyse of military officers formerly, but do order and appoynt Lnt Col. John Allyn and capt. Stanly in som convenient time to appoynt a meeting of the trayne souldiers in Wallingford, and to lead them to an orderly choyse of a captain, lieutenant, and ensign, and sargts, and they are to receive blanck commissions from the Govr, and upon the choys, if they approve of the said choys, they are to deliver such as shall be chosen commissions, impowering of them to take the charge of the trayne band of Wallingford under their care and discipline according to law."
Whether this settled the matter, history or tradition showeth not. In 1704 Lieutenant Samuel Hall was appointed Captain of the train-band, Sergt. John Merriman Lieutenant, and Sergt. Thomas Curtis, Ensign, "and all the said officers are to be commissionated respectively." In October, 1698, the General Court
354
granted to Sergt. John Merriman of Wallingford, fifty acres of land, in consideration of his father's service in the Pequot war, to be taken up where it would not prejudice any former grant. At the same time fifty acres of land were granted to Thomas Hall of Wallingford, in consideration of his father's service in the Pequot war. Captain Thomas Yale, and Sergeant John Merriman were appointed to lay out these grants. In 1709, the proportion of troops for Wallingford was twelve.
REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
The origin of the Revolutionary War was to be traced to the imperial instincts of England. The colonies wished for their freedom; the mother-country was not sufficiently disinterested to grant it; the colonies declared their independence, and the English people felt insulted, and determined to put the rebels down. But the capacity to do so did not wait on the inclination, and the English found a vigorous resistance from a people of their own race, whose habits, political traditions and moral courage were kindred to their own. The ideas of Lord Chatham towards the colonies were those of a great, but splendid tyrant, who thought more of the power of England than of the happiness of America. Only one man, Edmund Burke, regarded the whole contest with a philosophic mind. But he had no social influence or personal authority corresponding with his genius and ambition. The people through the whole contest were uncertain and capricious, neither ready to part with their ambition and the colonies, nor desirous of the expenditure of wealth requisite for carrying on an internecine contest with the descendants of the outcast Puritans.
355
The American Colonies were inhabited by an earnest yet philanthropic people. They had sprung from the blood of the better order of England, and their culture had eminently fitted them to think before they ventured to act. Historians have loved to eulogize the manners and virtues, the glories and benefits of chivalry. But what have the Puritans and their descendants accomplished? If they had the sectarian crime of intolerance, chivalry had the vices of dissoluteness. The knights were brave from gallantry of spirit; the Puritans from the fear of God. The knights were proud of loyalty; the Puritans of liberty. The knights did homage to monarchs in whose smile they beheld honor, whose rebuke was the wound of disgrace; the Puritans, disdaining ceremony, would not bow at the name of Jesus, nor bend the knee to the King of Kings.1
On the 22d of September, 1763, three men high in power, held an interview in a dingy chamber in London, and there sketched the outline of a plot that was to rob the British Empire of half its glory, and deluge a continent in blood. The result of the meeting was, "to write to the commissioners of the stamp duties to prepare the draft of a bill to be presented to the parliament, for extending the stamp duties in the colonies." This act required that all paper and parchment used in the transaction of business, should be stamped, for which a duty should be paid; and all writing on unstamped materials was declared null and void. When the news of the passage of this act reached Boston, there were visible everywhere tokens of astonishment and apprehension. When the news reached Hartford, the General
1 Bancroft's History, I. 468.
356
Assembly appointed a committee to assist Governor Fitch in preparing a protest. Such was the exhibition of popular feeling against it, that the law was repealed in March, 1766. At a town meeting held in Wallingford, January, 1776, it was voted, that
"Whereas it appears from antient Records and other Memorials of Incontestable Validity, that our Ancestors with a great Sum Purchased said Township, at their only Expence Planted, with great Peril possessed, and Defended the Same, we are Born free (having never been in bondage to any) an Inheritance of Inestimable Value. Voted and Agreed that if any of said Inhabitants, shall Introduce Use or Improve any Stampt Vellum Parchment or paper, for which tax or Tribute is or may be Demandable, such Person or Persons shall Incurr the Penaltie of 20s to be recovered by the Select Men of said Town for the Time being for the Use of the Poor of said Town."
The following petition was sent by the first society, to "the Inhabitants of the Society of Wells assembled in Society Meeting, Dec. 1st, Tuesday, A. D. 1766:"
"Gent11: The General Assembly of this Colony have set a very Laudable Example in Disavowing the authority of the Parliment of Great Brittain in regard to the Late American Stamp Act, because in their private Judgment the same was inconsistant with the true principals of the freedom of the English Constitution. A Noble Spirit of liberty was roused in this and all the Colonies through this Extended Continent and they made a Bold Stand for their Liberty. When Reasoned humble Petitions decent Remonstrances, prevailed not with the British Parliment, America as well as this Colony like bold and brave Sons of persecuted Puritans, Resisted, and the great and renounded Right Honorable Comoner Mr Pitt, declared in a British Senate speaking of the Stamp Act and of the Americans, 'I rejoice that they have resisted.' "
357
The repeal of the Stamp Act was followed by other oppressive statutes of a kindred sort; but the most prominent and immediate cause of the war was undoubtedly the Boston Port Bill. This act of the British Parliament to destroy the trade of Boston, excited universal sympathy throughout the colonies. Numerous town meetings were held, speeches were made, and resolutions were passed, many of which found their way to England and caused the ears of the British ministry to tingle, and their cheeks to redden with anger. Almost every town sent donations to Boston for the relief of the poor of that place. At a town meeting held at Wallingford in November, 1774,
"In consideration of the sufferings of the people of Boston in the Common Cause of Liberty, a committee were appointed to collect subscriptions for their relief, and it was voted that the Committee send to the selectmen of the town of Boston such donations as shall be received by them, to be disposed of at the discretion of said selectmen of the town of Boston for the benefit of the indigent sufferers by the Port Bill."
In October, 1774, the General Assembly met at New Haven, and a law was enacted to raise one-fourth of the militia for the special defense of the colony, formed into companies of one hundred men each, and into six regiments. The companies from Wallingford were commanded by Captains Isaac Cook and John Couch. In May, 1775, Wallingford received by order of the General Assembly, L146 14s. 10d. for the services and expenses of the men of that town in the Lexington alarm in April. In 1776, Wallingford, in connection with Waterbury, Cheshire and Durham, formed the 10th regiment. On the 14th of June, 1776, Governor Trumbull
358
convoked by his special order a General Assembly of "the Governor and company of the English Colony of Connecticut, in New England, in America." Samuel Beach and Captain Thaddeus Cook were the Representatives from Wallingford. At this Assembly it was
"Resolved unanimously, that the delegates of this colony in General Congress, be and they are hearby instructed to propose to that respectable body to declare the United American Colonies Free and Independent States, absolved from all allegiance to the King of Great Britain, and to give the assent of this colony to such declarations."
While the members of the Assembly were without a dissenting vote promulgating these sentiments to the world, the committee of Congress, composed of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston, were engaged in preparing the form of the Declaration of Independence, to which, on the 4th of July, was affixed the signature of Lyman Hall, a native of Wallingford, who was chosen a member of the Continental Congress in May, 1775, from Georgia, of which state he was elected Governor in 1783. This was the first solemn declaration by a nation of the only legitimate foundation of civil government. In the eloquent words of Adams, "it was the corner-stone of a new fabric, destined to cover the surface of the globe. It demolished, at a stroke, the lawfulness of all governments founded upon conquest. It swept away all the rubbish of accumulated centuries of servitude. It announced in practical form to the world, the transcendent truth of the inalienable sovereignty of the people." Had we remained subject to England, the American colonies would have been without doubt what we see to-day in the Australian colonies--a great country without greatness;
359
living a reflex life and not an original one; without art, without literature, without originality, an instrument of civilization still material and gross. But after all England is dear to us. There are the graves of the ancestors of our Carvers, our Brewsters, our Hancocks, and our Adamses; of our Henrys, and our Pinckneys; of Washington. Its language is ours. Its religion is ours. Its history is ours. We delight to think that Milton, and Cowper, and Shakspeare, and Newton, and Bacon are no more theirs than ours.
In January, 1777, it was voted that the selectmen of Wallingford provide tents according to the act of the General Assembly requiring said town to provide tents. A tax of two pence on the pound was levied for that purpose. It was also voted that the selectmen provide all articles necessary for the comfort of the army in accordance with the act of the General Assembly. A two pence tax was laid to cover such expenses. March 31, 1777, it was voted that the town would give a bounty to those engaged in the continental service. Also voted,
"That Each Soldier that Engage in the Continental Service for the Quota of Wallingford Shall be paid by the Town the Sum of five pounds Lawful money by the year for three years unless Sooner Discharged, to be paid the Beginning of Each year. Voted fourpence halfpenny on the pound for the aforesaid Purpose." "December 16, 1777, Voted a tax of three-pence on the pound for the Benefit of the Soldiers and their Familys that are now in the Continental army."
In September, 1777, Wallingford was appointed a place of rendezvous for the second brigade. The same year it was voted,
"That the Families of all those who are Convicted of
360
Torieism or Inimical to the States of America and the heads of all the Familys that have absconded to Lord How, they and their Family shall be removed to Lord How." "Voted that the Select-men of said Town Secure the Estates of all those Persons that are Inimical to the States of America."
At the General Assembly held at Hartford August 13, 1777, James Benham of Wallingford stated that by the influence of designing men he was induced to go to Long Island, and was there induced, partly by threats and partly by necessity, to enter the service of the enemy, until the proclamation offering pardon to such as should leave the British service and return to Connecticut was issued; but by sickness was detained after the 1st day of August, 1777 (the time limited in said proclamation); that he escaped on the 7th day of August 1777, and returned home with the determination of becoming a good subject of the State. The Assembly pardoned him, on condition of his taking the oath of fidelity, and discharged him from imprisonment, upon his paying the cost of apprehending and confining him, to the time of his discharge.
Governor Franklin of New Jersey (son of Dr. Franklin), was brought to Connecticut in 1776 (taken by a convention of his province, as a virulent enemy of the colonies), to be confined there in such manner and place as Congress should direct. Governor Trumbull having taken his parole informed him that he might go to Wallingford; after remaining there a few months he was permitted to go to Middletown. While in Middletown he wrote several letters to Governor Trumbull, more sharp than respectful, and he was finally confined without pen, ink or paper, and sent under guard to the Litchfield jail. In 1777, Ralph Isaacs of Durham was
361
supposed to be inimical to the State, and it being considered dangerous to the American cause to suffer him to be at large in Durham, he was arrested, and by order of the Governor and Council, sent to Wallingford to be under the civil authority and selectmen, and kept in one of the societies of that town. Abiathar Camp, who was a noted Tory, resided in New Haven, but also had a house in Wallingford. He was arrested at New Haven by order of the Assembly, but was permitted to remove to his home in Wallingford. But it seems that he did not conduct himself in a manner agreeable with the feelings of the inhabitants of the town, for we find that they
"Voted that Abiather Camp formerly of New Haven now being in the town of Wallingford, Shall not Dwell in said Town nor be an Inhabitant of Said Town." "Voted that the Selectmen of said Town Go and Warn said Camp Abiather Immediately to Depart said Town."
Mr. Camp went to Eastbury and shortly after applied to the Assembly by petition, in which he stated that he was a professor and member of the Church of England; and asked to be indulged in a free exercise of his religion in attending religious worship at Middletown on Sabbath-days, &c., which was the nearest church of England to Eastbury. The petition was negatived. Feb. 11, 1777, Col. Hall of Wallingford appeared before the Governor and Council for directions concerning the tories at Wallingford. At a town meeting held at Wallingford January 14, 1778, a committee of nine persons1 were chosen to consult the articles of Confederation proposed by Congress, and make a report at an adjourned meeting
1 Caleb Cooke, Andrew Andrews, Deacon Samuel Street, Deacon David Hall, Major Reuben Atwater, Timothy Hall, Samuel Beach, Deacon Ebenezer Cowles, Deacon John Hough.
362
The committee appointed, reported at an adjourned meeting as their unanimous opinion, that the following instructions be immediately forwarded to the representatives of the town, viz.:
"To Col. Street Hall and Mr David Brooks, representatives of the Town of Wallingford in the General Assembly of the State of Connecticut, now Setting at Hartford:
"gentlemen:-Your Constituants Confiding in your abilities, & public Spirit think it unnecessary to give you direction in the General business of your appointment, but as the Important Subject of acceding to the 'articles of Confederation and perpetual union between the united States of America' lies before the General Assembly, we shall freely offer you our sentiments upon it-these articles have been considered by us as far as the Time would allow, with a deliberation and impartiality due to so interesting a subject. We admire and applaud the wisdom of the illustrious patriots, representatives of the united States in General Congress- the liberality of their Sentiments; their mutual Candor and Condesention; their patient attention to the weighty enquiry on what basis an independent, free and permanent empire may be erected by these States. An Empire which may equally secure to the respective States their distinct prerogatives, and unite their Councils against a Common Enemy, an empire which from its advantages for Commerce, population and extension together with the Singular Circumstances of the present Struggle for its existance, Promiseth to be the most stable and formidable on the globe. The result of the deliberation of the public Council of these States on this great Subject we have waited for with much expectation. We are Sensible it is of importance that a Form of Government for the united States be agreed upon as soon as possible-it gives us great pleasure that we can so cordially acquiesce in much the greater part of the Articles of union proposed and thought it would have been agreeable to our own inclination
363
had we one or two things in Several of the Articles been different yet we would not be so illiberal as even to mention things of small Comparative moment.
"We therefore concur with the Articles in every particular, except that which determines the proportion of each State Shall bear of the public expence, according to the value of their Lands, buildings, and improvements Respectively, the mode of estimating the value thereof to be directed and appointed from time to time by Congress, Art. VIII. To this you are directed to dissent first, because the mode of estimating Land &c. is not ascertained. In a matter which so nearly affects us and our posterity, we Cannot place an implicit Confidence even in the wisest and greatest of men. Secondly, Because it is difficult to know the differences of real estate, and Still more so to find people that are not interested in mistaking them. In addition also to the difficulty and expence which must attend the proposed estimate, its being Subject to frequent alterations will probably excite jealousies and tumults which will bear an unfriendly aspect on the wished for union, thirdly and especially, because laying the whole of Each States proportion of the Common Expence on Land, buildings, and Improvements will be unequal-buildings are a perishing Interest, attended with expences not profit. In the northern states their number, and in general their quality much exceed the proportion in most of the Southern States, this mode therefore Subjects the former to a disproportionate part of the public burthen it moreover lays an heavy tax on the necessaries of Life, and tends to introduce great inequality of condition both which are incompatible with a Free government. Besides the various improvements and Profits of the soil in the different States, the Same improvements are attended with very different expence, in the Northern and Southern States; In the former, from the coldness of the Climate and high price of Labor, the neat profits of a farm Small. It is often observed that after a deduction of the Expences the owner instead of
364
Income from his farm is involved in debt. In the Latter from the plenty of Laborers and low price of labor added to the fertility of the Soil, the Clear profits are great Rich plantors in the Southern States are better abel to Pay the public tax on their polls, than the greatest part of the husbandmen in the northern States on their Lands, from which with all their diligence and discretion they get but a Scanty Subsistance for their families, the Length and Severity of the winter Consuming all that is gathered in Summer. When the Inhabitants of a State are all free Subjects, taxes says the great Montesquieu, may be laid either on persons, on Lands, on Merchandise, on two of these or on all three together. The duties felt least by the People are those on Merchandise. The same inimitable writer remarks 'that taxes Should not follow the proportion of peoples property, but the proportion of their wants. Every man is entitled to an equal Share of what is necessary for Nature; and whatsoever is necessary for Nature ought not to be taxed. If the Body of the people in any State are permitted to enjoy only Just what is necessary for Subsistence the least disproportion in the tax will be of the greatest Consequence.' To what is necessary for nature, Succeeds the usefull which ought to be taxed, but less than the Superfluity and the Largeness of the Taxes on what is Superfluous prevents Superfluity. Such were the Sentiments of the Greatest civilian of the Present age. While you are to dissent from the 8th article for the reasons aforesaid you will submit it to Consideration, whether the following mode of proportioning the part each State Shall Defray of the Common expence may not be equal, viz., one third of the tax to be laid on Land, Provided Some mode of ascertaining the Value can be pointed out, one third on the polls-and the other third on exports-any State can pay taxes according to the Number of Laborers or according to its exports so far at least as this exceeds the import of necessary articles. We have only time to offer hints of our Sentiments on the important subject, corroborated by the greatest name in the
365
Political world, your own Judgment and opportunity will readily suggest many things coincident herewith-you will consider gentlemen, that the proposed confederacy is to be perpetual that it will when once established, Collect Strength Daily-that if there are any material objections to the plan of Confederation before you now is the only opportunity to State them-that it is of the last moment to lay the foundation of a new empire right in every Respect; especially in a point so essential as taxation. Which thing forced these States into the present war with britain-that the State of Generations yet unborn depends on the confederacy now forming. However solicitous we are to have a Confederacy of these States Speedily accomplished, we had rather it were Deferred a Little longer, than that any wrong principles Should be interwoven with it. Should an inequitable mode of taxation be adopted into the Constitution of the confederate States, we could not even apply what the eminent writer before named Says of the Constitution of England, his words are, it is not my business to Examine whether the English actually enjoy Liberty, or not, it is sufficient to my purpose to observe that it is established by their Laws.
"Voted at said Meeting to accept the above Report of the committee.
"July, 1781, voted that those men who were Draughted for three months Tower of Duty be paid by the Town 20s a month in Silver or Equivalent in other Money while in Service."
The struggle which succeeded the Declaration of Independence was long and arduous, and nobly was it maintained. One spirit seemed to animate the whole country, that of resistance to oppression. The injuries inflicted, the battles fought, the sacrifices of property and life endured, and the final victory and triumph, are written on the pages of history. Wallingford men were to be found in many a hard fought battle; they carried
366
with them marks of honor from Bunker Hill, the blazing lines of Saratoga and Yorktown, the blood-dyed waters of the Brandywine, the dreary snows of Valley Forge, the streets of Lexington and Concord, from Trenton and Monmouth, Camden, Bennington, and other hard fought fields of battle. Dr. Dana while at Wallingford, took an early and decided position in favor of our national independence. At that time, while the revolution was approaching, public sentiment in Connecticut had by no means become unanimous as to the expediency of attempting to stand against the British government, or of taking any measures which might sever the tie between the colonies and the parent empire. The eastern part of the State was somewhat in advance of the western, and if I mistake not, the "new lights," as a body, were a little before the old light or conservative party as a body. So slow was Governor Fitch in coming up to the grand movement of the day, and consenting to the adoption of strong measures, that during the agitations consequent upon the stamp act, he lost the confidence of the people and lost his office.
It was not far from this time that Dr. Dana, then a young man, was invited to preach for Mr. Whittelsey in New Haven, on one occasion while the Legislature was in session in that place. Many, particularly of the eastern members, would have refused to hear so suspected a preacher if they had not understood that he was strongly on their side in politics. Their curiosity and their confidence in his political orthodoxy overcame their dislike of his ecclesiastical irregularity. His audience therefore included all the leading political men of the colony. Expecting, or at least hoping for such an audience, he had prepared himself for the
367
occasion. His text was Heb. 11: 24, 25. "By faith, Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharoah's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." And though to men not in the habit of looking for a double sense, the sermon might have seemed far enough from having any political bearing, there were few in that audience who did not see the meaning. As the preacher illustrated and vindicated the conduct of Moses "when he had come to years," it became very plain that Connecticut having come to years was old enough to act for herself, and trusting in the God of Israel, to refuse to be any longer dependent upon Pharaoh.1
In the eloquent language of Boutwell,2 "the American Revolution was a clear indication, in itself, of what the colonies had been, and what the republic was destined to be. Had the Revolution been delayed, no history, however minute, could have given to the world so accurate a knowledge of the colonists from 1770 to 1780 as it now possesses. It was the full development of all their past history; it was the concise, vigorous, intelligible introduction to their future. It was a great illustration of preexisting American character. Neither religious nor political fanaticism was an element of the American Revolution. It was altogether defensive; defensive in its assertion of principles, defensive in its warlike operations." At this late day it is impossible to obtain a complete list of the persons who served in the war. In addition
1 Bacon's Hist. Dis., p. 273. This incident is related on the authority of Judge Chauncey, one of the hearers of the sermon.
2 Dedication of the Davis monument, at Acton, Mass.
368
to those who as militia men were called occasionally into service, the persons whose names are annexed were soldiers in the regular army from Wallingford, including the Meriden parish. The greater part of the names were found in contemporaneous records, manuscript or printed, and a very few have been added on the testimony of descendants whose account the author deemed trustworthy. Let us pay to their memory and their virtues the most respectful and acceptable tribute, by cultivating a love of the principles by which they were actuated, and by assiduously striving to preserve the blessings which they won. col. thaddeus cook, capt. elihu yale, capt. john COUCH,1 capt. isaac cook, lieut. joseph shailer,2 lemuel collins, lieut. divan berry, joseph twin, B. rexford, Jun., lamberton clark, abner andrews,3 edward merriam, daniel roberts, silas bellamy,4 1 John Couch held a commission, and was prisoner for several years on Long Island.
2 Joseph Shailer was a lieutenant in the regiment of Col. Meigs, a corps distinguished for its gallantry and efficiency. Subsequently he was engaged in the frontier war with the Indian tribes in the year 1791. Having received a Captain's commission, he raised a company of soldiers from this town and vicinity, and joined the forces of General St. Clair in their expedition against the Indians on the Miami. At the time of St. Clair's disastrous defeat, with terrible slaughter of his troops, Captain Shailer was absent as commander of some garrisoned fort in the rear. About that time he and his son venturing to hunt a short distance from the fort, were attacked by Indians. His son was killed and scalped, but Capt. Shailer escaped. He settled in Ohio at the close of the war and died there. I find the following in the church records of this town: "1789 Capt. Joseph Shailer is debarred from church privileges for using profane language."
3 Lost the use of one arm in the service.
4 Died of yellow fever.
369
james baldwin, john ives, chatham FREEMAN,1 enos hall, ephraim merriman, ambrose hotchkiss, oliver collins, josiah merriman, black BOSS,2 asahel merriam, JOASH HALL,3 DANIEL CRANE, serg't. levi munson,4 isaac hull, Jun.,5 ralph rice, george hall,6 aaron rice, eldad parker.7 1 A slave of Mr. Noah Yale. The circumstances of his enlistment are related elsewhere.
2 Black Boss was a slave of Abel Curtiss; and like his colored friend preferred the harsh discipline of the camp and the perils of battle even, to that very mild form of slavery which existed in Connecticut. The name here given is a nickname ; but is the only one by which he was ever known, according to the information of those elderly people who remember him.
3 Joash Hall rode on horseback to aid the troops of Connecticut when they pursued the British troops on their retreat from Danbury; he rode within half a mile of the action at Compo, there left his horse and engaged the enemy for some time; but at last retreated to his horse and mounted him; but the horse was soon shot under him by the enemy. The Assembly ordered Mr. Hall to be paid for the horse the sum of L19 lawful money.
4 Levi Munson was at the battle of Ticonderoga, and was taken prisoner with Col. Ethan Alien in his attempt upon Montreal, and was confined with others in a room at Halifax, among felons, thieves, and negroes.
5 Isaac Hull Jun. was a lieutenant in the third company, first regiment of light horse in this State. The troops were ordered by an act of 1776 to the western part of the State, to join the forces under General Wooster- the captain of the company being at the time sick-and Hull took command of the company from the 25th day of October, 1776 to the last day of December, 1776, for which service neither himself or his company received any pay. The Assembly in October, 1773, ordered the pay-table to adjust the pay roll of said troop of light-horse, by the rule before allowed by Congress to the troops of light-horse in this State while in service of the country; and "draw on the Treasurer, and charge the same to the Continent."
6 Killed in army in 1791.
7 Eldad Parker was killed with twenty-six others during the attack on West Haven by the British in the summer of 1779. In the same engagement Mr. Atwater and a negro both from Wallingford, were wounded.
370
---- goodrich,1 moses baldwin,3 ---- HOTCHKISS,2 samuel RICE,4 moses hull.5 Robert Rice of Wallingford was drafted and ordered to join the continental army, but by lameness of his feet for years he was unable to march and do the duty of a soldier, and was therefore dismissed from the draft and service in the battalions raised in this State for the continental army. At the alarm in Danbury, Aaron Ives of Wallingford volunteered and went to Compo, and was in the engagement at Compo hill, where he was wounded in his leg, by which misfortune, when he was helped from the battle-field his horse was missing, with his saddle, bridle, great-coat, blanket, and a bag with three days' provisions. His horse he afterwards found, but lost the other articles, which were ordered to be paid for by the Assembly.
In 1776, the following persons from Wallingford enlisted in the regiment commanded by Colonel Philip Burr Bradley, of Ridgefield: Jarius Wilcox, Francis Wilcox, Samuel Abby, Thaddeus Ford, James Francis,
1 Killed in army in 1791.
2 Killed in army in 1791.
3 Moses Baldwin was in the six months campaign under Capt. Couch in Colonel Bradley's regiment in 1777, and received from the State £9 8s. 6d. for sickness and losses sustained after he was taken prisoner in the above campaign. In 1778 he received £2 1s. on account of loss of clothes at Fort Lee.
4 Samuel Rice received from the State £6 5s. for sickness and losses sustained while a prisoner during the six months campaign.
5 Moses Hall was the father of the late Chauncey Hall of Meriden, and was in Canada at the surrender of Fort St. Johns. He was also at New Haven, Danbury, New London, and was at Albany when Burgoyne surrendered.
371
Jonathan Hall, jun., Asahel Deming. Each of the above signed the following document:
" I ---- of Wallingford, do hereby acknowledge myself inlisted a Soldier in a Regiment now raising by the Colony of Connecticut, to be under the Command of Philip Burr Bradley Esq., subject to the Orders and Regulations of said Regiment and entitled to their Privileges, until the first day of January, 1777, unless sooner discharged by proper Authority. In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my Hand this 26th. Day of June, A. D. 1776."
The following persons composed the company raised by Captain John Couch, in Meriden, July, 1776:
lieut. divan berry, sergt. timothy hall, corp. asahel deming, benj. rexford, street yale, jonathan hall, reuben bellamy, samuel rice, justin rice, nathaniel yale, samuel johnson, Jun., steven atwater, wate rice, samuel johnson, asaph merriam, nathaniel douglass, daniel yale, david hall, rufus hall, gideon ives, moses baldwin, amos hall, joel hall, benj. austen, thomas iggleston, ephraim merriam, Fifer, joel marchant, daniel collins, moses warner, thaddeus averitt, james francis, francis wilcox, caleb hall, sergt. jarius wilcox, samuel abbey, jesse cook, ebenezer hough, amasa hall, enos MIX, thomas MIX, caleb hough, john robinson, jared benham, --- holt, josiah merriman.
372
December 19, 1780, Captain Berry received orders from Colonel Thaddeus Cook, to have his company in readiness to march at short notice for Horseneck. Let us honor these noble men, for they perilled their lives in behalf of liberty when
"T'was treason to love her, and death to defend."
CIVIL WAR.
Events of unparalelled magnitude have succeeded each other with unprecedented rapidity, "as if," to use the language of an eminent Scotch writer, "they had come under the influence of that law of gravitation, by which falling bodies increase in speed as they descend, according to the distance." Within the last century, our country has emerged from the condition of a weak and dependent colony, has passed through one long and bloody war to achieve a national existence, and a ten-fold bloodier one to preserve that existence and make it worth preserving; and having extended its territory from the Atlantic to the Pacific and increased its population from less than three millions to more than thirty-three, it stands to-day equal to any of the empires of the other continent, if not superior to the greatest of them in all that constitutes true greatness.
During the last few years we have passed as individuals, and as a nation, through the greatest and darkest crisis the earth has ever beheld; one where the most gigantic crime that can be committed against man, struggled for conquest against the highest blessings he can enjoy; wherein the noblest nation upon the globe, with agonized exertions, tried to save its bared throat from the bloody knife in the hands of her own children-children nursed from her own bosom and reared by her with
373
excess of all tenderness-while others of her children sought to pinion her hands and stifle her cries that the diabolic deed might be accomplished.
Grand providential movements sweep in a wide orbit. They may seem intensely destructive, while they are the needful preparations for future blessings. The little republic of Greece, whose heroic history has filled so large a space in the world's annals, had a baptism of fire and blood many times repeated. Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis, Plataea, crowned names in the legends of civilization, were but the graveyards of her heroes. The fall of Rome and the extinguishment of the old pagan civilization, seemed to cover the world with the starless night of settled barbarism. But we know that above the wide social ruin there sprung better races, better institutions and a better life, personal and national, than paganism in its best state ever produced. Great Britain had her full share of perilous crises and torturing trials. From the bloody meadow of Runnymede, where Magna Charta was wrung from the infamous John, to the Revolution and Declaration of Rights under William of Orange, for four and a half troubled centuries, England's green fields were crossed and re-crossed by the deadly tramp of armies. Yet her conflicts have made England what she is. The wretched dynasty of the Stuarts in England, which according to Macaulay, "had produced seditions, impeachments, rebellions, battles, sieges, proscriptions and judicial massacres," seemed an interminable age of darkness and blood to both Puritans and Presbyterians. But we have lived to see that it cemented the English Constitution so firmly, that over changeful centuries it has held the nation together, and evoked a rare civilization.
374
The fiery and frosty trials of our Puritan ancestors on both sides of the Atlantic-their colonial sufferings, their Indian wars and massacres, and especially their terrible struggle for independence-purified and elevated them, burned up the dross of their characters and fitted them for their great career. In the progress of nations, principles have survived powers, and honest hearts have conquered dishonest hosts. We have passed through terrible scenes of strife and bloodshed, but we live to see one Capital, one President, one Congress, one Government for all this land. And one flag, the same whose stars twinkled cheeringly in the dark night of Revolution, of 1812, of Mexican struggles, and of the recent most hideous rebellion; the same whose stripes twice drove England from our shores, silenced Mexican hostility, and crushed the most monstrous hydra-headed insurrection that ever arose in any nation; that flag we now see peacefully waving over every hamlet, in every state and territory from the St. Lawrence to the Rio Grande, from the rocky headlands of Maine, to the golden shores of the Pacific.
Nearly every battle-field of the rebellion had its Meriden representatives. With Grant in his repeated and telling blows against the main army of the rebellion; with Sheridan in his brilliant movements in the Shenandoah; with Sherman in his arduous but glorious march through the "hollow shell" of the so-called Confederacy; with Hooker "above the clouds;" with Terry at Fort Fisher, and wherever call has been made for brave and valiant work, Meriden sent to the war the flower of her young men. Ardent and enthusiastic lovers of their country, they freely relinquished the alluring prospect of a useful and in many instances a brilliant
375
future, to encounter the mortal dangers of the field and the camp. Enduring and indefatigable on the march, cool and steadfast in action, patient under privation and ready in obedience, they offered their talents, their hopes, their health and their lives on the altar of patriotism, for the safety and welfare of their country.
In the beginning of the war, the Meriden company, constructed on the basis of a militia company, was the first accepted by the Governor. An immense war meeting was held, at which Charles Parker presided, and speeches, exhorting to action, were made by O. H. Platt, Dexter R. Wright, Rev. D. Henry Miller, and G. W. Wilson, afterward captain. A company was immediately raised, and a Colt's revolver presented to each man by Charles Parker. The sum of $5000 was raised for equipments. It would be interesting to follow the history of each company that went from Meriden, but we must be brief, and bear in mind the maxim of Cicero that "there is nothing in history more delightful than a pure and perspicuous consciseness."1
While we are now writing, the first chapters of this work are passing through the press. It would be impossible in the brief time allotted us, to make this chapter complete, as we have not yet been able to make a complete list of the men who served in the war from Wallingford and Meriden. It is the author's intention to publish soon a "Soldier's Memorial," giving a full account of the part borne by Meriden and Wallingford during the war; a full list of the soldiers, personal incidents concerning them, the battles in which they were engaged, and full biographical details. We can only add here the Meriden Roll of Honor:
1 Nihil est in historia, pura et illustri, brevitate dulcius. Cicero in Bruto, 75.
376
A LIST OF THE MERIDEN SOLDIERS WHO HAVE DIED IN THE DEFENCE OF THEIR COUNTRY.
Lieutenant and Quartermaster Marshall C. Augur, Henry Avery, Henry D'Angelist, William F. Ackerman, George W. Andrus, Alonzo S. Atkins, Capt. Julius Bassett, Oscar M. Bailey, Francis D. Baker, Wallace W. Bates, John E. Barlow, A. H. Barr, Lyman A. Beach, Marshall Belden, George Blake, John C. Brooks, George Burrows, James Butler, John Byxbee, Andrew Carlin, John D. Comstock, James I. Cook, Daniel Crowley, Oscar Crusins, James Cassada, William Cassada, Charles Catlin, Maurice C. Clark, Silas Davis, George V. Dagle, John K. Doolittle, James Doran, Watson W. Davis, David Dunham, Captain and Chaplain Jacob Eaton, James S. Ely, James M. Ford, Henry Finken, James M. Foster, Sergeant Alfred P. Green, James Greenland, Charles Gangloff, George M. Garrett, Patrick Green, Charles F. Green, Julian A. Griffin, Sylvanus A. Hall, Thomas Harvey, George Harwood, Andrew B. Hitchcock, Sylvanus Hull, Captain William H. Johnson, John S. Jameson, Alvin Kenney, Henry W. L. Keach, Lieutenant Henry B. Levi, Harrison Lamphear, Madison Lamphear, William Lewis, Charles H. Lewis, George H. Lewis, Henry A. Lathrop, George W. Lester, Charles P. Lewis, Lieut. Edwin J. Merriam, Abraham Miner, Jas. A. Miller, Henry W. Miller, Charles T. McWhinnie, William Masch-meyer, Edward Maschmeyer, Michael Mallory, Michael Magee, Charles R. McCorney, Jacob Meyer, Giles Norton, Aaron Johnson Pratt, Henry A. Plumb, Edward Parmelee, James B. Parker, William H. Peterson, Felix Quinn, John Quinn, J. G. L. Roberts, Joseph Rancorn, Lawrence Riley, A. I. Richards, William W. Richardson, I. L. Richmond, Derrick A. Roberts, Cyrus Root, Chauncey W. Roberts, Oliver Sellew, Selleck Scott, Benjamin R. Sherman, John H. Simmonds, Lieut. William W. Thompson, F. A. Taylor, Elihu Talmadge, James Thrall, Edward D. Todd, Thomas Waldron, Joseph H. Walker, John E. Warner, Edmund E. Westerhood, Joel Yale, Henry A. Edgerton, Henry Butler. Total, one hundred and eight.
jpeg 377 378
The expenditure of Meriden for bounties, premiums, commutations and support of families, was $91,371 33. The estimated amount paid by individuals for bounties to volunteers and substitutes was $10,715 53. Grand List for 1864, $4,300,981. In Wallingford, the town expenditures were $40,750 00. Individual expenditure, $6,200 00. Grand List, $1,796,416. The following is a
LIST OF THE WALLINGFORD SOLDIERS WHO DIED IN THE DEFENCE OF THEIR COUNTRY.
Col. Arthur Button, 21st Conn. Vols., and Capt. Engineer Corps, U. S. A.; buried at Baltimore. Nehemiah Hough, 32d Iowa Vols., buried at Vicksburg.
THE FOLLOWING ARE BURIED IN WALLINGFORD:
Henry T. Hough, 15th Conn.; Thomas Lynch, 15th Conn.; Augustus Morse, 15th Conn.; Austin Phelps, 15th Conn.; Delevan W. Ives, 15th Conn.; Oliver S. Munson, 15th Conn.; Gilbert Clark, 15th Conn.; James Parker, 15th Conn.; John Webb, 17th U. S. Reg.; Ralph W. Pomeroy, 189th N. Y.; Derrick S. Pomeroy, 29th N. Y.; Joel Camp, 27th Conn.; Patrick Conclon, 27th Conn.; Timothy Carral, 27th Conn.; John Callahan, 15th Conn.; John Regan, 15th Conn.; Francis Rourke, 2d Ky. Rifles.