pfornia Inal <,. //;/ ,/,. /,,/,. // //; /,,.., ,./'/,',,... ./,,/, /,/.. /,<., /. ,/, ,,,/,// '. tr Jt. Eiufniral by ASmM J.JIA. THE HISTORY OF EEDDINQ, CONN., FROM ITS FIRST SETTLEMENT TO THE PRESENT TIME. WITH NOTES ON THE ADAMS, BANKS, BARLOW, BARTLETT, BARTRAM, BATES, BEACH, BENEDICT KETTS, nURK, Bt-RRITT, BURTON, CHATFIELD, COUCH, DARLING, FAIRCHILD ;TER, GOLD, GORHAM, GRAY, GRIKFIN, HALL, IIAWLEY, HILL, HERON, HULL, JACKSOJf, LEE, LTON, LORD, MALLORY, MEADE, MEEKER, MERCHANT, MORE^fSE, PERRY, PLATT, READ, ROGERS. r.U.MSEY, SANFORD, SMITH, AND STOW FAMILIES. BY CHARLES BURR TODD, AUTHOR OF "A HISTORY OF THE BURR FAMILY. NEW YOUK: THE JOHN A. GRAY PRESS AND STEAM TYPE-SETTING OFFICE. CORKER OF FRANKFORT AND JACOB STREETS. 1880. PREFACE. AN interest is attached to the place of one's birth which change of scene rather enhances than removes, and which increases rather than diminishes in intensity as one ap- proaches the later stages of life : this home feeling has been largely instrumental in the production of this work, and to it is due nearly every thing of interest or value that the book possesses. A history of Redding has been long contemplated by the author as a service due his native town, and as long shrunk from because of the labor, the expense, and the difficulty of its compilation. Whether well or illy done, it is now completed, and goes out to the somewhat limited public for whom it was written. The materials for the work have been drawn largely from the ancient records of the town and parish, from the rec- ords of the colony, and from the files of musty papers in the State Library at Hartford. Tradition and oral infor- mation have not been neglected, and every reasonable effort has been made to render the work as far as possible a thorough and reliable history of the town. That errors and discrepancies will be found, is to be expected ; bub it is not believed that they are sufficiently numerous or impor- tant to destroy its historical value. In the preparation of the book the compiler has aimed to preserve the character of a local historian, and has confined himself chiefly to the 20124C8 iv PREFACE. narration of local facts and incidents. In harmony with this principle, an extended biography of Joel Barlow, at first intended for this work, has been excluded. The sketch of the poet so grew on the author's hands, that it was found it would make a volume by itself, and con- tained so much of general interest and detail that it could not be made to harmonize with the local character of this work. A concise sketch of the poet's life, however, and the original portrait from Fulton's oil-painting, that formed the frontispiece of the Coluinbiad, are included in its pages. The compiler has not aimed at making a large book : many facts in few words is what a busy age demands of the historian, and in deference to this demand only such matter as was of real value and interest has been admitted. The church histories and the genealogical notes are, per- haps, the most important, if not the most interesting, por- tions of the work. It would have added to the value of the ecclesiastical history, no doubt, if it had been prepared by the pastors of the different churches represented ; but, with one exception, these had so recently assumed the care of their charges, that they did not feel at liberty to undertake it, and the task fell to the lot of the compiler. If this department is not what it might have been, the cause may be found in the disadvantages which a layman must labor under in attempting to write ecclesiastical history. The Rev. Mr. Welton, rector of Christ Church, very kindly consented to prepare the history of that church, and his paper will be read with interest by our citizens. In preparing the notes on the early families of the town, it was the writer's intention at first to make them much more complete and extensive. But the little in- terest in the matter manifested by the families concerned, and the great labor and expense involved in compiling any thing like a complete history of the thirty or forty PREFACE. v families mentioned, led him to abridge the work, and to give the matter in the form of notes taken chiefly from the town and parish records. The fact that the record of some families is given more fully than that of others, is not owing to any partiality on the author's part, but to the fact that these families interested themselves enough in the matter to furnish the data called for. By reference to the title-page it will be seen that the modern method of spelling the name of the town Redding is adopted rather than the ancient Reading. Legally, no such town as Reading exists in Connecticut, since, both in the act of incorporation and on the probate seal, the name is spelled Redding ; and inquiry elicits the fact that the majority of the citizens prefer the latter method of spelling. It is the opinion of the writer, however, that the original name of the town was Reading, and that if historical precedents are to be followed it should be so named now. In all old documents among the State ar- chives, and in the ancient records of Fairfield (where the name first occurs), the orthography is Reading. In the town and society records it is spelled either Redding or Reding, rarely Reading. Rev. Moses Hill, a gentleman well versed in the antiquities of the town, informs me that at the time of its incorporation, in 1767, a meeting was held, at which it was voted that the name of the new town should be Redding ; and the fact that in the original bill incorporating it the name Reading has been crossed out and that of Redding substituted, would seem to point to some such action on the part of the town. I find no entry of any such action, however, in the town records. The books consulted in the preparation of the volume have been Barber's " Historical Collections of Connecti- cut," Hollisters " History of Connecticut," I)e For- rest's " Indians of Connecticut," Teller's " History of Ridgefield," the Congregational Year-Book, and Stevens' M\ PREFACE. " History of Methodism." The author's thanks are due Mr. Lemuel Sanford, our efficient town-clerk, for ready access to the town records, and for many valuable hints and suggestions ; also to Messrs. Thomas Sanford, William E. Duncomb, Daniel Sanford, David S. Bartram, James Sanford, and David H. Miller, for efficient aid in the prep- aration of the work. He is also indebted to Rev. Moses Hill, of Norwalk, for data of the Hill and Barlow families ; and to Mr. A. B. Hull, of Danbury, for many papers and documents relating to the history of the town. C. B. T. REDDING, March 1, 1880. CONTENTS. CHAP. PAGE I, PRELIMINARY SETTLEMENT 1 II. REDDING AS A PARISH 23 III. TOWN HISTORY 32 IV. REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY AND INCIDENTS 47 V. CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH 75 VI. CHRIST CHURCH 90 VII. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH 113 VIII. BAPTIST CHURCH IN GEORGETOWN 129 IX. METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH 133 X. HISTORY OF SCHOOLS 137 XI. MANUFACTURERS 143 XII. MISCELLANEOUS 149 XIII. REDDING IN THE CIVIL WAR 159 XIV. THE EARLY FAMILIES OF REDDING 173 XV. BIOGRAPHICAL.. . 223 PHYSICAL HISTORY. "READING, 60 miles south-west of Hartford, about 5 miles long by 64- wide, with an area of 32 square miles. The Saugatuck River crosses it through the middle, north and south ; and the Norwalk River is in the west part. The forest trees are oak, nut trees, etc. Population in 1830. 1686." United States Gazetteer, 1833. " Like many of the New England villages, it is scattered, and beautifully shaded with elms, maples, and syca- mores." Lossing, Field-Boole of the Revolution. " The geological character of the town, as throughout Western Connecticut is metamorpliic. Granitic and por- phyritic rocks, and especially micaceous schists, predom- inate. The minerals are such as are familiar in such rocks hornblende, garnet, kyanite, tremolite, etc. In the western part of the town are deposits of magnesian lime- stone (or dolomite), much of which is quite pure, though some of it contains tremolite and other impurities. The other mineral features of the town are not specially noteworthy, or of general interest. The soil is probably, in the main, the result of the disintegration of the under- lying rocks." Notes of Rev. John Dickinson. HISTORY OF REDDING CHAPTER I. PEELIMIXAKY SETTLEMENT. THE history of the early settlement of Redding differs radically from that of any of the neighboring towns. A new settlement was generally formed by a company of men, who purchased of the Indians a tract of land in the wilderness, had it secured to them by a charter from the General Assembly, and also surveyed and regularly laid out, and then removed to it with their wives and families. Dan- bury, Newtown, and Ridgefield were settled in this manner ; but Redding at the time of its first settle- ment was a part of the town of Fail-field, and so continued for nearly forty years a fact which makes it much more difficult to collect the frag- ments of its early history and to accurately define its original metes and bounds. Fairfield formerly ex- tended to the cross highway leading from the Centre to Redding Ridge, and the entire southerly portion of Redding was given by that town on the erection of the former into a parish in 1729. This portion of Redding was probably surveyed as early as 1640, being included in the purchase made by the proprie- tors of Fairfield in 1639. Between Fairfield north 2 2 HISTORY OF REDDING. bounds and the towns of Bidgefield, Danbury, and Newtown was an oblong tract of unoccupied land, whose bounds were about the same as those that now exist between Redding and the towns above named : this tract was variously called, in the early records, the "oblong," the "peculiar," and the u comon lands." It was claimed by a petty tribe of Indians, whose fortified village was on the high ridge a short distance south-west of the present resi- dence of Mr. John Read. This tribe consisted of disaffected members of the Potatucks of Xewtown. and the Paugussetts of Milford, with a few stragglers from the Mohawks on the w*est. Their chief was Chickens Warrups, or Sam Mo- hawk, as he was sometimes called. President Stiles says in his " Itinerary" that he was a Mohawk sagamore, or under-chief, who fled from his tribe and settled first at Greenfield Hill, but having Id] led an Indian there he was again obliged to flee, and then settled in Redding. All the Indian deeds to the early settlers were given by Chickens, and Naseco, who seems to have been a sort of sub-chief. The chief, Chickens, figures quite prominently in the early history of Redding ; he seems to have been a strange mixture of Indian shrewdness, rascality, and cunning, and was in continual difficulty with the settlers concerning the deeds which he gave them. In 1720 he was suspected by the colonists of an attempt to bring the Mohawks and other western tribes down upon them, as is proved by the following curious extract from the records of a meeting of the governor and council held at New Haven, September loth, 1720 : HISTORY OF REDDING. 3 " It having been represented to this board that an Indian living near Danbury, called Chickens, has lately received two belts of wampumpeag from cer- tain remote Indians as it is said, to the west of Hudson River with a message expressing their de- sire to come and live in this colony, which said mes- senger is to be conducted by aforesaid Chickens to the Indians at Potatuck, and Wiantenuck, and Po- quannuck, in order to obtain their consent for their coming and inhabiting among them ; and that here- upon our frontier towns are under considerable a.p- prehensions of danger from Indians, fearing that the belts have been sent on some bad design : "It is Resolved, That Captain John Sherman, of Woodbury, and Major John Burr, of Fairfield, tak- ing with them Thomas Minor, of Woodbury, or such other interpreter as they shall judge meet, do repair immediately to said Indians at Potatuck and Wian- tenuck, and cause the said Chickens, to whom the belts and messengers were sent, to attend them, and to make the best inquiry they can into the truth of said story, and what may be the danger of said mes- sage, and as they shall see cause, take proper order that the said Indian with the belts, and the principal or chief of the Potatuck and Wiantenuck Indians, attend the General Court at its next session, to re- ceive such orders as may be useful to direct them in their behavior in relation thereunto ; and that Major Burr return home by way of Danbury, that the in- habitants there and in those western parts may be quieted as to their apprehensions of danger from the Indians, if upon inquiry they find there is no just ground for them." The first deed or grant of land in the " oblong 1 ' within my knowledge was given to Mr. Cyprian Nichols in 1687. This grant, in Secretary Wylly's handwriting, reads as follows : 4 HISTORY OF REDDING. "At a General Court held at Hartford, October 13, 1687. "This Court grants Mr. Cyprian Nichols two hundred acres of land where he can find it, provided he take it up where it may not prejudice any former grant to any particular person or plantation ; and the surveyors of the next plantation are hereby ap- pointed to lay out the same, he paying for it. ' ' CALEB STANLEY/ ' Captain Nichols " took up" his grant in that part of the " oblong" which is now Lonetown, as is shown by the following document : "MARCH 1, A.D. 1711. " Then laid out ye Grant of two hundred acres of land granted by ye General Court to Capt. Cyp- rian Nichols, Oct. 13, 1687, as follows, viz., be- ginning at a great Chestnut tree marked on ye south and west side, and J. R. set upon it, standing at ye south end of "NVoolf Ridge, a little below Dan- bury bounds, thence running west one hundred rods to a Walnut tree marked on two sides, then running south one mile to a red oak tree marked, then run- ning east one hundred rods to a black oak tree marked, then running north one mile to the Chest- nut tree first mentioned. An heap of stones lying at ye root of each of ye trees. We say then thus laid out by us, THOMAS HOYT, DANIEL TAYLOR, Surveyors of ye Town of Danbury. " Entered in ye public book of En- trys for Surveys of Land, folio 14, per Hezekiah Wvllys, Secretary, March 21, 1711." The next two grants in this tract of which we have any record were made, the first, May 7th, 1700, to Mr. Daniel Hilton, and the second October 10th, HISTORY OF REDDING. 1706, to Mr. Richard Hubbell. They were laid out nearly at the same time, and side by side with the preceding grant, as follows : "MARCH SRD, A.D. 1711. " Then laid out ye Grant of two hundred acres of land made by ye General Court to Mr. Daniel Hil- ton, May 7, 1700, and ye Grant of one hundred acres, granted October 10th, 1706, by ye General Court to Mr. Richard Hubbell, all in one piece as folio we th, viz., Beginning at a Walnut tree marked, and J. R. upon it, standing a little way North East from ye Hog Ridge, between Danbury and Fairfield, thence running two hundred and eighty rods north- erly to a Red Oak tree marked, on ye West [side of Stadly Ridge, thence running easterly one hundred and eighty -four rods to the Little River at two Elm Staddles and a Red Oak, marked, thence running Southerly, west of ye river, and bounded upon it, two hundred and eighty rods to a bitter Walnut tree marked, thence running one hundred and sixty rods westerly to the Walnut tree first mentioned, thus and then laid out by us, THOMAS HOYT, DANIEL TAYLOR, Surveyors of tlie Town of Danbury. ," These grants were purchased, probably before they were laid out, by Mr. John Read, one of the earliest actual settlers of Redding. Mr. Read was a gentle- man of education, and later became an eminent law- yer in Boston. He was withal something of a wag, as is proven by an Indian deed given him about this time, which he drew up, and which was w T hat rarely happens a humorous as well as a legal pro- duction.* It reads as follows : * For tliis paper and several others that follow, I am indebted to Mr. George Read, of Redding, a lineal descendant of Colonel Read. G HISTORY OF REDDING. " Know all men by these crooked Scrawls & Seals, yt. we Chickens, alias Sam Mohawk, & Naseco, do solemnly declare yt. we are owners of yt tract of land called Lonetown, fenced round be- tween Danbury and Fairfield, and Jno. Read, Govr. & Commander in Chief there of, & of the Domin- ions yr-upon depending, desiring to please us, hav- ing plied the foot, and given us three pounds in money, & promised us an house next autumn. In consideration yr'of, we do hereby give and grant to him and his heirs the farm above mentioned, corn appertaining, & further of our free will motion & soverain pleasure make ye land a manour, In- dowing ye land with ye privileges yr of, and create the sd. John Read, Lord Justice and Soverain Pon- tiff of the same to him and his heirs forever : AYit- ness our crooked marks and borrowed Seals, this seventh day of May, Anno Regni, Anno Dei, Gratia Magna Brittannia, and Regina Decimo Tertio, An no Dom'r, 1714. 1 1 1 *i ' CHICKENS, alias SAM MOHAWK, his NASECO x mark. Sealed and delivered in presence of his WINHAM, X mark. his Li AC us, ? crook. NATHAN GOLD. her MARTHA HARNEY, x mark. "The above mentioned Chickens & Naseco personally appeared & acknowledged ye above HISTORY OF REDDING. 1 Instrument yr free act and chearful deed in Fair- field, ye 7th of May, 1714, before me. N. GOLD, Dept. Gomr About 1723 Captain Samuel Couch of Fail-field appears as a large landholder in Redding, and his operations there seem to have caused the settlers no little uneasiness. The General Court of 1712 had ordered that all the lands lying between Danbury and Fairfield, not taken up by actual settlers, should be sold in Fairfield at public vendue. The land, however, was not sold until the August of 1722, when it was bid off by Captain Couch for himself and Nathan Gold, Esq. No notice of the vendue was given to the settlers at Redding, and when news of the sale reached them they became very much excited and indignant, and Mr. Read at once drew up the following protest and petition, which was signed by the farmers and presented to the next General Court at New Haven. It is noteworthy from the fact that the Quaker system of dates is used. " At a General Court held at New Haven, 8th, 10th, 1723. ' ' To the Honor' ble the General Court : " John Read in behalf of himself and the rest of the farmers or proprietors of farms between Dan- bury and Fairfield, humbly sheweth, " That the Hon'ble Nathan Gold, Esq., late de- ceased, and Peter Burr, Esq., as Agents for ye Col- ony, held a Yandue lately at Fairfield about ye time of ye Superior Courts sitting yr in August last, and sold to Capt. Samuel Couch, who bid for himself and 8 HISTORY OF REDDING. for s'd Nathan Gold, Esq., all ye land between Fair- field and Danbury not before disposed of for the snm of - . Yr humble pet'rs conceive the same ought not to be ratified : because ye same was done so unexpectedly, and without sufficient notice, none of us most nearly concerned knew any thing of it : if ye order of ye General Court had been freshly passed, ye less notice was need full, but lying ten or twelve years, sufficient notice was not given, and well con- sidered it cant be good. The inconveniences are in- tolerable ; the place is now growing to be a village apace. Ye lands purchased are but ye over and over for farms. "The remaining Scraps will be a very lean and scanty allowance for a comon, and (are) absolutely necessary to accommodate the place with hiways, and some strips left on purpose for ye use and ye surveying of the farms Several farms interfere through mistakes and such iuterfers must be sup- plied elsewhere ; now in such circumstances it was never the hard fate of any poor place to have ye shady Rock at their door, and ye path out of town or about town sold away from them by ye General Court. Therefore humbly praying ye Hon'ble Court to grant ye same to ye proprietors of farms there in proportion for a common and hiways, or if the same seem too much, since some persons have bid a sum for our hiways we pray to buy them at first hands, and will pay this Hon'ble Court for the same as much as ye Court shall sett upon, and remain your honor's most obedient servants. " JNO. READ." When the matter came before the Court, Mr. Read produced several witnesses to show that the vendue was conducted in an unseemly and illegal manner ; amon?r them Mr. J onathan Sturges, who deposed as follows : HISTORY OF REDDING. 9 " Some of the Company began to bid for s'd land, and some of the Company desired that -Mr. Stone who was there present, would pull out his watch and that the time for bidding should be but ten minutes, arid the watch was laid down on the table ; for a little time the people bid but slowly ; but w T hen they perceived the ten minutes to be near out, they began to bid very briskly, and when it come to the last minute, the people bid more quickly, and at the last they bid so quick after one another that it was hard to distinguish whose bid it was ; at the very minute the tenth minute ended ; but I, stand- ing near the watch, spoke and said, ' the time is out, audit's Capt. Couch's bid,' but I am certain Thomas Hill bid twenty shillings more.' ' Mr. Read .did not succeed in his attempt to have the sale set aside, and the lands were adjudged to the purchasers. Captain Couch seems to have disposed of an interest in a part of his purchase to Thomas Nash, of Fairfield, and in 1723 the two received a joint patent for the same : this patent is a curious and valuable document and is given entire : " Whereas, the Governor and Company of the English Colony of Connecticut, in General Court as- sembled at Hartford, the 8th day of May Anno Domini 1712, did order and enact that all those lands (lying within the said Colony) between Danbury on the north, and the towns of Fairfield and Norwalk on the south, should be sold at Public Yendue, and by said act did fully authorize and empower the Hon blc Nathan Gold and Peter Burr Esq. both of the town of Fairfield aforesaid, to make sale and dispose of the s'd same lands accordingly, and whereas the s'd Nathan Gold and Peter Burr in pur- suance and by force and virtue of the aforesaid act, did by their deed in writing, executed in due form 10 HISTORY OF REDDING. bearing date this first day of May, Anno Domini, 1723, for a valuable sum of money paid by Samuel Couch and Thomas Nash, both of the town af ores' d, Grant, sell, and convey unto them the s'd Samuel Couch and Thomas Nash, one hundred acres of s'd land bounded and butted as follows, that is to say, lying within six rods of the north bounds line of the townships af ores' d, and on both sides of the road that leads from Norwalk to Danbury, and lying the whole length of the one hundred acres formerly laid out to s'd Thomas Nash and bounded westerly by the s'd Thomas Nash, and from the north east corner of s'd Nash, his bound being a black oak stump, that stands on the land, and a small box Avood tree marked in course, running northerly, sixty eight degrees, eastwardly thirty two rods to a white oak staddle, thence South forty three degrees and thirty minutes, eastwardly fifty rods to a rock, and stones on the same, that stands on the eastward side of a brook that runs by the southerly end of Umpawaug Hill, between the s'd brook and Danbury road, and from s'd Rock to run North sixty eight degrees, Eastwardly eighty six rods to a mass of stones, then South twenty two degrees, Eastwardly, one hundred and thirteen rods to a white oak sap- ling, marked, standing on the aforementioned North bounds line of ^airfield, then by s'd line one hundred and forty rods up to the South East corner of s'd Nash, his one hundred acres, Danbury road being allowed in above measure of six rods wdde, and the hiway by the Township's line of six rods wide, and whereas the s'd Samuel Couch, and Thomas Xash, have humbly desired that they may have a particular grant of s'd Governor and Company made (by Patent) unto them, their heirs and assigns for the same land bounded butted and described, under the seal of the s'd Colony, know ye therefore, that the Governor and Company of the s'd Colony, in pursuance, and by virtue of the powers granted unto HISTORY OF REDDING.. 11 them by our late Sovereign Lord, King Charles the Second of blessed memory, in, and by his Majestie's letters patent under the great seal of England bear- ing date the three and twentieth day of April, in the fourteenth year of his s'd Majestie's Reign, have given and granted, and by these presents, for them their heirs and successors do give grant, ratifie, and confirm unto them the s'd Samuel Couch and Thomas Nash, their heirs and assigns forever, all the s'd peice or parcell of land containing one hundred acres be the same more or less, butted and bounded as af ores' d, and all and singular, the woods, timber, under woods, lands, waters, brooks, ponds, fishings, fowlings, mines, minerals and precious stones, upon or within the s' d piece or parcell of land, here by granted or mentioned, or intended to be granted as af ores' d, and all and singular, the rights, members, hereditaments and appurtenances of the same, and the reversion or reversions, remainder or remainders, profits, privileges whatsoever, of and in the s'd peice or parcell of land or every or any part thereof. To have and to hold the s'd one hundred acres of land hereby granted with all and singular, its appur- tenances unto them the s' d Samuel Couch and Thomas Nash, their heirs and assigns to and for their own proper use, benefit, and behoof from the day of the date hereof, and from time to time, and at all times forever here after, as a good, sure, lawful, absolute, indefeasible estate of Inheritance in Fee simple, without any condition, limitation, use, or other thing to alter change, or make void the same. To be holden of our Sovereign Lord, King George, his heirs and successors, as of his Majestie's Manor of East Greenwich, in the county of Kent, in the King- dom of England, in free and common soccage and not in cappitee, nor by Knight service ; they yield- ing and paying therefor to our Sovereign Lord the King, his heirs and successors forever, only the fifth part of all the oar of Gold and Silver, which from 12 HISTORY OF REDDING. time to time, and at all times hereafter shall be rot- ten, had or otherwise obtained ; in lien of all rents, services, duties and demands whatsoever according to charter. In witness whereof, we the s'd Governor and Company have caused the Seal of the s'd Colony to be hereunto affixed, the fourteenth day of May, Anno George, Magna Brittannise &c. Annoque Do- mini 1723. G. SALTOXSTALL, Governor. " By order of the Governor, HEZEKIAH WYLLYS. Secretary." Subsequently Captain Conch purchased of the In- dians a tract of land lying in Lonetown, contiguous to the estate of Mr. John Read, and which a few years later he sold to that gentleman. The deed was given by Chickens, and some of its provisions caused considerable trouble to the colonists in later years. This deed is as follows : " Know all men whom it may concern that 1 Chicken an Indian Saggamore living between Fair- field, Danbury, Ridgefield and Xewtown, at a place called Lonetown in the county of Fairfield in the Colony of Connecticut, in 2^ew England, for and in consideration of twelve pounds, six shillings, al- ready paid unto me by Samuel Couch of Fairfield, husbandman, have given, granted, bargained, sold, confirmed, and firmly made over unto said Samuel Couch, his heirs and assigns forever, all the lands, lying, being and situate between the aforesaid towns of Danbury, Fail-field, Newtown, and Ridgefield, except what has been by letters patent from the Governor and Company of this Colony of Connecti- cut made over unto any person or persons or for any particular or public' use. To have and to hold HISTORY OF REDDING. 13 unto the said Samuel Couch, and to his heirs and assigns forever the aforesaid granted and described lands or unpatented premises, with all the privi- leges and appurtenances thereunto belonging, or any manner of way appertaining, affirming myself to be the true owner, and sole proprietor of said land and have just, firm, and only right to dispose of the same. Reserving in the whole of tJie same, liberty for myself and my heirs to hunt, fish and. fowl upon the land and in the waters, and further reserving for myself, my children, and grand children and their posterity the use of so much land by my present dwelling house or wigwam as the General Assembly of the Colony by themselves cr a Committee indifferently appointed shall judge necessary for my or their personal improvement, that is to say my Children, children's children i' God on our Industry have (passed) through (the) many difficulties that generally attend such new & Wooden Habitations and have now yet to go through, which are by us insuperable but reilecting upon your Honor's accustomed Goodness, ready protec- tion, and willing encouragement towards all such that have been under ye like circumstances as we now are, makes us far from despairing of Living like rational Creatures and Christians in a very few years, and under our present Circumstances we have often the neighboring Ministers preaching ye word of God to us, and when your Honors shall be pleased to grant this our earnest & necessary request our number of Inhabitants will immediately be greatly renewed & we soon able to obtain a Minister & give him an honorable support and that is to grant the vacant land that lies in slips and pieces between ye Land already given and sold to your HISTORY OF REDDING. 15 Petitioners to lye for a perpetual Comon for ye good of ye Parish : otherwise your poor Petitioners living at a great distance from any place where the public worship of God is attended, must be obliged and their Posterity after them to be soon as the Hathen are without the outward and ordinary means of Sal- vation, the Thought of which makes us now most importunately address your Honors with this our Request making no doubt but yt ye desire your Honors have & the great care you have always taken to promote & encourage Religion will also now be moved to grant your poor Petitioners their Request, it being no more than your Honors have often done even unto every new Plantation, many of which are not nor never will be comparable unto this. Your Honors, granting us this our Request, and it will be as we humbly conceive the most profitable way for ye good of this Colony to dispose of ye land for a perpetual comon, for ye good of a Parish than any other way whatsoever : for a flourishing and large Parish such as we are assured this will make will soon pay more into ye Public Treasury than the whole of the Land would do if it were now to be sold : and not only so, but your poor Petitioners & their Posterity preserved from Heathenism & Infidel- ity : for if your Honors should not grant the Land for a common for the good of a Parish your poor Petitioners the most of us at least, must be shut within the compass of our own land, & cant pos- sibly get off unless we trespass, or gain the shift yt the birds of the air have, neither to market nor meet- ing & we & our Posterity forever unable to have a settled Minister & your Honors may easily conceive how greatly disadvantageous to our Temporal In- terest, which is so great an act of cruelty and hard- ship that never yet was experienced from your Hon- ors & your Petitioners humbly beg they may not : but yt they may be sharers with their neighbors in your Honor's thoughtful care and regard for them " And if your Honors in their Prudence and Wis- 16 HISTORY OF REDDING. dom shall think it best to sell the aforesaid Land your Petitioners humbly beg they may have the first offer of it, who are always ready to give as much as any shall or will let it lye for a perpetual Common, & your humble Petitioners beg and most earnestly desire the Land may not be sold from their doors or confirmed to any yt pretend they have bought it : for whatever pretended sale there has been made thereof already we humbly conceive that it was not with the proper Power & Legality that it ought to be confirmed : and as for its being purchased of the Indian (who both English and In- dian acknowledge has a good Indian title to it viz. Chicken, is by what we can learn by the Indian him- self & ye circumstances of, a sligh peice of policy & we fear Deceit, ye latter of which the Indian con- stantly affirms it to be, for his design as he saitli. and being well acquainted with him, living many of us near him have great reason to believe him, was to sell but a small Quantity, about two or three hundred acres, but in ye deed ye whole of the land is compre h ended, which when the Indian heard of it he was greatly enraged, and your Petitioners humbly beg yt such a sale may not be confirmed, lest it prove greatly disadvantageous to this Colony & cause much bloodshed, as instances of ye like nature have in all Probability in our neighboring Provinces " Your Petitioners most earnestly & heartily beg that your Honors would think on them & grant them their request, & your Petitioners as in duty bound shall ever pray JOHN READ, WILL'M HILL, THOMAS WILLIAMS, DAN'LL CROFOOT, STEPHEN MOREIIOUSE, EBENEZER HULL, BENJAMIN HAMBLETON, ASA HALL, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, JOSEPH MEEKER, MOSES KNAPP, DAN'L LYON, NATHAN LYON, THOMAS HILL, BENAJAH HALL, GEORGE HULL. " And we, ye Proprietors of a certain Division of HISTORY OF REDDING. 17 Land in Fairfield called ye Long-lots most heartily join with your Honor's above Petitioners in their needful Request to you, & as we your humble pe- titioners being well acquainted with the circumstances of them they being our Children Friends & Neigh- bors & concerned greatly for their welfare do ear- nestly beg that your Honors would consider how melancholy a thing it is, that these poor people should live destitute of the means of grace for want only of your small encouragement which to give them would not only be most certainly very pleasing to Almighty God but would likewise enrich this Colony if a large & Rich Parish will any ways contribute thereto, & as your Petitioners Land runs to & ad- joy ns to ye aforesaid Vacant Land, We for the good of a Parish, thereby to advantage your above poor Petitioners are willing & very ready to give in Two miles of our land adjoining to the af ores' d Vacant Land to be within the Parish ; & are assured if your Honors would grant the afores'd Land to be for a Comon there soon would be a Flourishing Parish ; & being so well acquainted with the Circum- stances of the above Petitioners that we cant but earnestly & Pathetically entreat your Honors to grant their Request. " & your Petitioners as in Duty bound shall ever Pray:" MOSES DIMON, JOSEPH WILSON, JOHN HIDE, JOHN WHEELER, Tuo. HILL, JOHN STURGES, CORNELIUS HULL, JOSEPH WHEELER, ELIZABETH BURR, THOMAS SANFORD, JONA STURGIS, JOHN MOREIIOUSE, JOHN SMITH, JOSEPH ROWLAND, TIIAD'S BURR, WILLIAM HILL, ANDREW BURR, NATHAN GOLD, SAMUEL WAKEMAN, JOHN GOLD, SAMUEL SQUIRES, ROBERT SILLIMAN, EZEKIEL SANFORD, DANIEL MOREIIOUSE. ROBERT TURNEY, JR., 3 18 H1STORJ OF REDDING. The settlement of Georgetown seems to have been begun at about the same time as the other portions of the town, though the present village has had but a short existence. The first settlers in that section seem to have been Benjamin and Isaac Rumsey, one of whom lived in a house that stood in the old orchard east of Aaron Osborne's, and the other near the site of the present homestead of Mr. S. M. Main. As early as 1721 Robert Rumsey, of Fairfield, bought of John Apple- gate a large tract of land located in what is now the village of Georgetown. In 1724 he willed this land to his three sons, Benjamin, Isaac, and Robert. Ben- jamin and Isaac were actual settlers on this tract. and the former's estate was inventoried and dis- tributed in 1744. The earliest settlers located their houses on the three fertile ridges that now form the most strik- ing as well as beautiful features of our landscape. The valleys were avoided, as being literally in the shadow of death from the miasms which they en- gendered ; the hills, according to the early writers, were open, dry, and fertile, ^and, being compara- tively healthful, were in almost all cases selected as sites for the infant settlements. At that day they were covered, like the valleys, with continuous for- ests of oak, chestnut, hickory, and other native woods, from which every autumn the Indians re- moved the underbrush by burning, so that they as- sumed the appearance of natural parks : Indian paths wound through the forest, often selected with so much engineering skill as to be followed later by the highways of the set tiers. There were " long- HISTORY OF REDDING. 10 drawn aisles and fretted vaults" in these verdant temples, nooks of outlook, and open, sunny glades, which were covered with tufts of long coarse grass ; groves of chestnut and hickory afforded shelter to whole colonies of squirrels black, gray, and red. Other game was abundant. Deer, wild turkeys, water fowl, quail, partridges, an occasional bear, and, in the autumn, immense flocks of wild pigeons dark- ened the air with their numbers. Panthers were seen rarely ; wolves were abundant, and the otter and beaver fished and builded in the rivers. Both tradition and the written accounts agree in ascribing to the rivers an abundance of fish : Little River is especially mentioned as being the favorite home of the trout, and tradition asserts that scarcely four generations ago they were so abundant in that stream that the Indian boys would scoop them up in the shallows with their hands. According to tradition, the three first houses in the town were built nearly at the same time. One was in Boston district, where Mr. Noah Lee's house now stands, the second in the centre, on the site of Captain Davis 1 s present residence, and the third in Lonetown, built by Mr. John Read, and which occupied the site of Mr. Aaron Treadwell' s present residence. It is re- lated of the lady of the house in the Boston district, that, becoming frightened one day at the conduct of a party of Indians who entered her house bearing an animal unmentionable to ears polite, which they ordered her to cook, she seized her babe, and fled with it two miles through the forest path to her nearest neighbor at the Centre, arriving there safe- ly, though breathless and exhausted. It is fair to assume,' however, that erelong neighbors were 20 HISTORY OF REDDING. nearer. Settlers began to flock in from Stratford, Fairfield, and Norwalk ; several families moved here from Ridgefield and Danbury, and the settlement began to assume quite the appearance of a popu- lous community. It is not, however, until 1723 that we get any authentic record of the names of the in- habitants or of their entire number. In that year a petition was presented to the General Court praying that the settlement might be constituted a parish ; and which bears the signatures of twenty-fire of the planters or settlers of Redding. This invaluable paper has been preserved in the State Archives at Hartford, and is as follows : ' ' May 9th, 1723. At a General Court in Hartford. " To tlie Horfble tlie Gov'nr, Assistants and Dep- uties in Gertll Court Assembled. " To this Hon'ble Court yr hon'rs most humble pet'rs hereunto subscribing, settlers and well wishers to the settlement of a plantation between Fairfield and Danbury, Humbly Shew, That there is a Tract of land lying between Fairfield and Danbury, Ridge- field and Newtown and without all ye claims of the largest pretenders of those towns, containing about two miles wide, north and south, and six miles long- East and West, mostly laid out in particular farms, so that when the farms that casually interfere on others are made up, there will not be one hundred acres of any value left in the whole. " On these farms are one half dozen housen set up, and many more going to be set up, and therefore we humbly conceive it is of great necessity for ye use of them, that are come and coming, and for ye incour- agement of others to come, to take some prudent care for the establishment of Divine service in that place. That forasmuch as the distance from this land to Fairfield church measures about fourteen miles or better, that is the part on which will cer- HISTORY OF REDDING. 21 fainly be most of the inlargement made, and on that side the bounds of those lands uncertain ; for the grant of 12 miles from the sea given to Fail-field, as far as we can learn has never yet been measured, as it ought long since to have been done. Your hon'rs pet'rs therefore humbly pray that a Com' tee may be appointed to measure out the twelve miles granted to Fairfield from the and put the vacant land, if any shall then appear into the hands of a Com' tee of ye Court to be dealt out to such as will settle on and improve the same, at such price as will bear ye charge of ye Com' tee therein, first laying out a farm of 200 acres for ye ministry, 200 for a school, and as much for the first minister that shall settle there, and annex the whole to the town of Fairfield. Set- tling the bounds of the parish to comprehend so much of the west end of ye long lots of Fairfield as may make it near square at ye discretion of ye Com" tee upon ye view of it when ye proprietors of the long lots shall settle their end they may pay their dues there (if they will not be so good as to tiing up the west end to a public use, which would doubtless be their private advantage also. " Yr hon'rs most humble pet'rs, NATHAN PICKET, THOMAS WILLIAMS, (TERSIIOM MOREHOUSE, ASA HALL, JOHN' HALL, JOSHUA HULL, FRANCIS HALL, DAVID CROFUT, ROBERT CHAUNCEY, JNO. READ, WOLCOTT CHAUNCEY, ISAIAH HULL, DANIEL MOSES KNAPP, WILLIAM HILL, JR., BENJAMIN STURGES, PHILLIP JUDD, SAM'L HALL, NATHAN ADAMS, JOHN READ, 2d, STEPHEN MOREIIOUSE, BURGESS HALL, BENJAMIN FAYERWEATHER, ISAAC HALL. THOMAS BAILEY," * Illegible. 22 HISTORY OF REDDING. Fairfield, as was to be expected, opposed the petition, and her potent influence defeated the meas- ure, and although it was agitated year by year, it was not until 1729 that the petitioners effected their object, and the little settlement blossomed into the dignity of a parish. The action of the General Court constituting it a Parish is thus recorded in the Colonial Records, vol. vii. pp. 231-2 : " Upon the memorial of John Read, in behalf of himself and the rest of the inhabitants of Lonetown, Chestnutt Ridge, and the peculiar between Fairfield and Danbury, shewing to this Assembly, the great difficulty they labor under in attending on the publick worship of God, and the forwardness of the to^\n of Fairfield to encourage them to set up the publick worship of God among themselves, by conceding that two miles of the rear end of their long lots be added to them, in order to the making them a par- ish, and praying this Assembly that they may be allowed to be a society for the worship of God, with the privileges usually granted to such societies or parishes, and that said society or parish may com- prize those lands that lie encirculed betwixt the town- ships of Fairfield, Danbury, Newtown and Ridge- field, together with the aforesaid two miles of Fair- lield long lots ; and that they may have remitted to them their country rate during the pleasure of this Assembly ; and that all the lands aforesaid may be taxed by the order of said Assembly, and that said parish may be annexed to Fairfield, and that it be named Redding. This Assembly grants that the said Lonetown, Chestnutt Ridge and the peculiar thereof, be a society or parish by themselves, and to have all the privileges usually granted to societies or parishes, and that said society or parish shall com- Di'ize all those lands that lie encirculed betwixt the HISTORY OF REDDING. 23 townships of Fair-field, Danbury, Newtown, and Ridgefield, together with two miles of the rear end of Fairfield long lots. Furthermore this Assembly doth remit to them their country rate for four years, excluding those only who decline to joyn with them for what is prayed for, of being released of country tax ; and that all the laid out, unimproved lands within the limits of said parish be taxed at six shillings a Imndred acres per year for four years, and that the money raised thereby be improved for the defraying the ministerial charges among them in that place ; and that said parish be named Red- ding." CHAPTER II. REDDING AS A PARISH. THE parish history of Redding covers a space of thirty-eight years, and for this period the only materials we have for our history except a few en- tries in the records of the colony are found in the record book of the First Church and Society. These records seem to have been kept with the most piti- less brevity ; only the barest details were set down, and if one desires more than the dry facts of this era, he must draw on his imagination for material. During this period events happened of the greatest moment to the colony. Three of the terrible French and Indian wars occurred, to which Redding contrib- uted her full share of men and money, although Fairfield received the credit. Then there were con- stant alarms of Indians on the border there were 24 HISTORY OF REDDING. hunting and exploring parties into the wilderness, under the guidance of the friendly Indians, and the usual incidents of pioneer life ; all of which would have been vastly entertaining to the men of to-day, and which a hundred years ago might have been taken down from the lips of the actors themselves, but which has passed away with them forever. Things spoken vanish, while things written remain, and the unfriendliness to the pen, of the early set- tlers, has entailed a sad loss upon their descendants. It is evident, however, that this was the busiest pe- riod in the history of the town. The men were abroad in the clearings from morn till night, felling the trees, burning, ploughing, sowing, and reaping, or building churches, school-houses, mills, high- ways, and bridges. The women remained in the rude cottages, preparing the simple food, carding and spinning wool, weaving it into cloth, fashioning the homely garments of linsey-woolsey and home- spun, and rearing their large families of rosy, health- ful children. This is the picture in the barest out- line ; the imagination of the reader will fill it out at pleasure : but, as before said, for our details acknowledged facts we must turn to the quaint and musty records of the Society. The first Society meeting was held June oth, 1729 less than a month after the parish was organized. A fuller account of this meeting will be found in the history of the First Church and Society. The three first committee-men of the parish, elected at this meeting, were John Read, George Hull, and Lemuel Sanford. At this time, too, the " places for setting up warnings for Society meetings" were de- HISTORY OF REDDING. 25 termined on as follows : "In the lane by Ebenezer Hull, and a Chestnut tree by Mr. John Reads, and a post set np by Moses Knaps :" These were the first sign-posts in the town. Ebenezer Hull's house I am unable to locate. Mr. John Read's house has al- ready been located. Mr. Knap lived probably where James Kerwick now lives. The next February a parish rate or tax of 2d. 2 far. on the pound was laid, and John Hull was ap- pointed the first tax-collector ; he received for gath- ering the rate fourteen shillings. The next year, February 23d, 1730-1, the rate had risen to 9d. on the pound, and John Read appears as collector. The next year, 1732, the first " pound" was built by Mr. John Read, near his house, and at a Society meeting held January 25th, 1732, he was appointed "-key-keeper." May 8th, 1732, they petitioned the General Court to have their north-west corner bounds settled, Captain Couch bearing the charges. The same meeting they voted " that there shall be but one sign-post in this society," and voted that this sign-post should be by the meeting-house, which had been built the preceding year on the com- mon. Mr. Hun, the first minister, was settled early in 1733, and the rates that year rose to the high fig- ure of one shilling on the pound. A very important entry appears on the records of a meeting held Octo- ber 17th, 1734, w r herein Stephen Burr and Thomas Williams were appointed a committee to the County Court to desire the court to choose a committee to lay out the county road from Chestnut Ridge to Fairfield town. This road was probably the first ever laid out through the town, and passed through 26 HISTORY OF REDDING. Lonetown, the Centre, and Sanford town, and thence nearly direct to Fairfield. December 10th, 1735. Stephen Burr was appointed a committee to go to the County Court, and desire them to send a committee to lay out necessary high- ways in that part of the parish above the long lots. January 26th, 1737. " Joseph Sanford and Samuel Sanford were appointed a committee to take charge of the parsonage money belonging to said parish, giving a receipt to said parish, and to let the same at their discretion, and to the best advantage, taking double security in land, and not to let less than fifty pounds to one man, and for no longer time than five years, and said committee shall be accountable to the parish committee for the interest of said money, and also at the period of abovesaid term of five years, for the principal." December 26th, 1737. It was " voted to have a par- ish schole, voted to maintain s'd schole by a parish rate voted that John Read, Joseph Lees, Joseph Sanford, John Hull, Matthew Lion, Stephen More- house, and Daniel Lion, shall be a com'tee for s'd schole, also that s'd schole shall be divided into three parts, that is to say, five months in that quarter called the Ridge, and five months in the west side of the parish near the mill, and two months at Lone- town, understanding that the centre of division is the meeting hous, and likewise that Stephen Bun- belongs to the west side. ' ' Thus was established the first school. Subsequent action of the parish in this direction will be found in the chapter on Schools. At the above meeting, John Read, Esq. , was cho- sen to represent the society, " to pray for to be relest HISTORY OF REDDING. 2? from paying county rates." The action of the Gen- eral Court on this petition is given in Colonial Rec- ords, vol. viii., p. 176, as follows- : " Upon the memo- rial of the Presbyterian society in' the parish of Read- ing in Fairfield County setting forth to this Assembly their low circumstances, and praying a remission of their country tax : this Assembly do grant unto the said society their country tax for the space of four years next coming." It will be remembered that the bill organizing the parish in 1729 exempted it from country rates for four years. In 1733 the Assembly granted them a further release of four years, and also imposed a 11 tax of three shillings per one hundred acres, on a,ll unimproved lands laid out in said society ,for the space of four years, to be exclusive of those lands belonging to persons of the episcopal persuasion (who) by our law are discharged from paying taxes for the support of the ministry allowed by the laws of this Colony." When the next quadrennium began in 1741, the parish seems to have been on a better financial foot- ing, and no further taxes were remitted. Apropos to the above, it may be remarked that in 1737 the parish rates had risen to Is. Id. on the pound. Continuing our extracts from the parish records, we find at a meeting held August 22d, 1738, that " it was voted to try for town privileges in s'd Society/' and Stephen Burr was chosen agent " to see if the town (i.e. Fairfield) will consent that s'd Society shall have town privileges." This entry gives a hint of the rapid growth of the settlement, and of the energy and enterprise of its in- 28 HISTORY OF REDDING. habitants. There were many reasons why they desir- ed a separation : Fairfield was fourteen miles distant, and the interests of the two were distinct ; then they must go to Fairfield to vote, to pay taxes, and to record deeds and conveyances. They could not even have their necessary highways laid out without the consent of that town ; hence we find them making- early and persistent efforts for town privileges, so effectually opposed, however, by the mother town, that it was not until twenty-nine years after that the town was organized. In this year, 1739, the place for putting up warn- ings for the society's meetings was changed from Umpawaug to the mill-door. In the vote establish- ing a school in 1737, reference is made to the mill, and it is evident that it was erected at 'a very early date. The miller and the blacksmith were very necessary artisans in a new settlement, and grants of land were in many cases made to induce them to set- tle : if such was the fact in Redding no record of it remains. According to tradition, the first miller was Jabez Burr, and the first mill stood on the Saiiga- tuck, near the present dwelling of Stephen Burr, a short distance above where the Kobbs Crook m id crosses the stream. October 1st, 1740, it was voted to try and get liberty to have the north of Redding set off for a town, and in December " to have a pound erected on the high- way southwest of Ebenezer Ferry's barn provided he will build it on his own charge," also voted that " Ebenezer Ferry be key keeper of the pound and have the profits of it." This was the second pound erected in the parish, the first being at Mr. John HISTORY OF REDDING. 20 Read's. In 1741 they again voted to ask the consent of the town, that ' ' we may have town privileges. ' ' No further entries of importance appear until 1746, when Joseph Sanford was appointed agent for the parish to " petition the Superior Court now sit- ting in Fairfield to appoint a committee to lay out highways through the lands granted to Gapt. Couch and Company in s'd parish" (these lands were in Umpawaug). In 1747 a list of the parish officers is given. They were as follows : Lemuel Sanford, selectman ; Adam Clark, constable ; Daniel Meeker, David Knapp, grand-jurymen ; Thomas Taylor, James Gray, James Morgain, Joseph Hawley, Jos- eph Bradley, Jabez Burr, surveyors of highway ; Ebenezer Couch, Thomas Taylor, listers ; William Burritt, John Mallory, tithing men ; Lieutenant Stephen Burr, Joseph Hawley, fence viewers ; Al- len Lee, key-keeper for the pound. January 23d, 1749, it was voted that " Ephraim Jackson shall procure a copy of the doings of the General Assembly concerning highways in the coun- try in this parish," and at the same time complaint was made against Daniel Deane, the Society's col- lector for the year previous, for his "mismanage- ment " in collecting the rate, and it was voted " that the committee shall prosecute him in case he shall not satisfy them." This action seems to have been carried to Mr. Deane at once, for he the next day makes this humble apology : " REDDTHG, January 24, 1749. u To Mr. Jehu Burr, Mr. RtepJien Betts. and Mr. Samuel Sanford, Committee men for said Red- ding : " GENTLEMEN, I understand vou have declared 30 HISTORY OF REDDING. that there is some mismanagement in the rale that I have to gather in the year 1748, and you seem to think that T have done the same, and if yon insist upon it, I desire your forgiveness : in so doing y much land near his wigwam as they should deem necessary for his and their personal improvement ; and the Assembly appointed such a committee. No report of the action of this committee is pre- HISTORY OF REDDING. 31 served in the archives ; but ten years later, in 1745, Chickens again petitioned the Assembly to appoint a committee to view his lands for the same purpose, and the Assembly appointed such a committee " to repair to and upon said land, and having due regard to said deed of conveyance, with the savings and res- ervations therein contained, to survey and by proper meets and bounds set out for, and to the use of the memorialist and his children, such and so much of said lands as they shall be of opinion (on hear- ing all parties or persons therein concerned) ought to be allowed and set out to said memorialist and his children. The third and last memorial, presented in 1749, is a very interesting document, and is given in full. " The memorial of Capt. Chicken alias Sam. Mo- hawk of Reading in Fairfield county, shewing to this Assembly that in his deed formerly made to Capt. Samuel Couch, late of Fairfield, deceased, of his land lying between the township of said Fairfield, and Danbury, Ridgefield and Newtown,he had reserved to himself so much of said land as a committee, appoint- ed by this Assembly, should judge should be suffi- cient for himself, his children and posterity, for their personal improvement, which said reserve has since been set out by proper meets and bounds in two pieces, containing in the whole about one hundred acres as per the surveys thereof may appear, reference thereunto being had : and showing also that John Read Esq. late of Boston deceased, had surveyed, and laid out to him two hundred acres of land by the appointment of this Assembly, at a place called Scat- tacook bounded as in the survey thereof on record : and also shewing that the land aforesaid, laid out to the said John Read Esq. is much more convenient and advantageous for him, the said Chicken, being 32 HISTORY OF REDDING. well situated for fishing and hunting, and that he had made and executed a deed of exchange of his aforesaid hundred acres, lying in two pieces as afore- said in the parish of Reading to the said John Read Esq. and to his heirs, which said deed bears date October llth, A.D. 1748, and in consideration thereof did receive of the said John Read Esq. a deed bearing date the day aforesaid well executed to him the said Chicken and to his heirs by his attorney John Read Esq. of said Reading, being fully au- thorized thereunto, of the aforesaid two hundred acres ; praying this Assembly that said deeds, exe- cuted as aforesaid, may be allowed of, ratified, and be admitted as good evidence in the law for convey- ing and fixing the title to the several pieces of land aforesaid." This petition the Assembly gra nted, and Chickens and Ms tribe soon after removed to the reservation at Scattacook. His grandson, Tom AVarrup, how- ever, remained in Redding, as will be more fully re- lated. CHAPTER III. T O W X II I S T O K Y . THE Act of the General Assembly incorporating the town was as follows : "AN ACT FOE MAKING AND FORMING THE PARISH OF REDDING INTO A DISTINCT TOWN BY THEM- SELVES. " Whereas this Assembly are informed that the Parish of Redding in the northwesterly part of the township of Fairfield is very remote from the main body of that town, and that they are by their situa- HISTORY OF REDDING. 33 tion almost entirely prevented from attending the publick meetings of said town, and that they suffer very great inconveniences thereby, and that for them any longer to continue as a parish of said Fairfield is very inconvenient : Therefore, " Be it enacted by the Governor and Council and Representatives in General Court assembled and by the authority of the same, That said Parish of Red- ding be and they are hereby erected, made and con- stituted within the limits and bounds of said parish a distinct Town by themselves with all the liberties, privileges and immunities which by law the other towns in this Colony have and do enjoy, and that said new constituted town shall hereafter be called by the name of the Town of Redding, with this lim- itation a,nd restriction, that but one Representative which said new constituted town shall at any time chuse to attend the General Assemblies shall be at the publick expence. " And be it further enacted by the authority afore- said, That said Town of Redding shall have and hold their first Town Meeting for the choice of their town officers for the present year some time in the month of June next, which meeting shall be warned by a warrant signed by any justice of the peace in; the county of Fairfield, to be directed to some in- different person to serve, which warrant shall ap- point the time and place at which said meeting is to be held, and shall be served at least five days before the day appointed for the holding said meeting." It was passed at the May session, 176T, and as meeting was held, June 15th, 1767, in accordance with its provisions. Colonel John Read was chosen Mod- erator. Lieutenant Stephen Mead was chosen clerk for the year, and the following town officers elected. Stephen Mead, Ephraim Jackson, Daniel Hill, select- men ; David Lyon, Asahel Fitch, Daniel Hull, con- 4 34 HISTORY OF REDDING. stables ; Benjamin Hamilton, Zalmon Read, fence viewers ; Peter Fail-child, Lemuel Sanford, Jr., David Jackson, listers ; Thomas Fairchild, Jona- than Couch, grand-jurymen ; Gurdon Merchant, town treasurer ; Paul Bartram, Thomas Fairchild, Eleazer Smith, Jr., tithing-men ; Ebenezer Wil- liams, Ebenezer Couch, pound keepers ; Gershom Morehouse, sealer of leather ; Benjamin Meeker, Jonathan Mallory, sealer of weights ; Ephraim Jackson, Captain Henry Lyon, and Gurdon Mer- chant, a committee to take all proper and lawful methods to clear the highways. The town by vote made the pound by Elizabeth Sanford's the " Town pound," and voted " to use the school house by the old meeting house for ye place for holding ye town meetings in ye future." The second town meeting- was held September 28th, the same year, at which " it was voted and agreed that whereas the people being within one mile of the Southeasterly end of this Township, and in the Northwesterly end of the town of Fair-field, are about to petition the General Assembly to be held at New Haven in October next, to be annexed to this town, we are willing and de- sirous to receive them, and that we will assist them to endeavor to have them annexed to this town by appointing an agent for that purpose," and Colonel Read was appointed such agent. Shortly after they began agitating the question of building a town- house, and in November a meeting was called to provide " for the building or purchase of a Town house and pound. The first mention of a turnpike in the town is found in the records of a town meet- ing held in 1768, wherein the Highway Committee HISTORY OF REDDING. 35 are instructed " to lay out a road from the School- house in Lonetown, so called, east, through Col. John Read's land to consort with a highway lately laid out from the road that leads from Danbury to Fairfield, west, through Andrew Fairchild's land, to s'd read's land, " and Colonel Eead was given liberty to keep a gate at the west end by the school-house, "he having given land to the town." The same year the town offered a bounty of 3s. on every " wile cat" lulled, and of 2s. for every grown fox, and Is. for every young fox. A meeting held Sep- tember 20th, 1768, appointed a committee to act with a committee of the Superior Court to lay out a high- way in Redding from west to east, in rear of the long lots. This will be recognized as the road lead- ing from Boston District to Hopewell, though por- tions of it must have been in use long ere this. In the records of a meeting held October 6th, 1768, we iind a striking example of the towering ambition of the town fathers : this meeting appointed a com- mittee to "present a memorial to the General As- sembly, praying that Redding be made a County town." December 26th, 1768, the selectmen were in- structed to " set the districts for the law books be- longing to this town, and to enter the names of those persons in each district that hath a right by law to said books, in said books." Several highways were laid out during this year, and the next : one across Sturgis' long lot, beginning at the upright highway above Ebenezer Andrus' barn, ' ' to run southerly slanting down in some suit- able way until it comes to the cross highway South- easterly from said bam." The county road from 36 HISTORY OF REDDING. Danbury to Fairfield, originally laid out six rods wide, was reduced to four rods, and Stephen Mead, Gurdon Merchant, and Lemuel Sanford were ap- pointed a committee " to lay out the County road, four rods wide, exchanging where it shall be thought necessary, and all at the Proprietor's cost." A highway was also laid out from Samuel Smith's, southerly to the bridge below Daniel Perry's grist- mill. The following interesting entry appears in the records of a meeting held March 6th, 1771 : " Voted and agreed, that whereas a Plan hath been proposed of moving to the General Assembly in May next for the erecting a new county, to consist of the towns of Danbury, Newtown, Ridgefield, Redding, and New Fairfield, we are willing and desirous that said towns shall be erected a county, and that we will assist them to endeavor to have said county established. ' ' The committee appointed for this purpose were David Lyon, Gershom Morehouse, and James Rogers. In October, 1773, the General Assembly passed a resolution, " to assert, and in some proper way sup- port their claim to those lands contained within the limits and bounds of the charter of this Colony westward of the Province of New York" an act strongly disapproved by the people at large. Town meetings were called to protest against it, and a convention comprising delegates from twenty- three towns met in Middletown, and adopted a peti- tion and remonstrance to the General Assembly against the proposed action. Redding's attitude in the matter is shown by the HISTORY OF REDDING 37 following extract from the doings of a town meeting held March 14th, 1774 : ' ' Whereas it is the opinion of many of the freemen and other inhabitants of this Colony (and of this meeting in particular) that if ye abovesaid Resolve be carried into execution it will inevitably involve the inhabitants of Connecticut in a long, expensive, and fruitless Litigation with Mr. Penn, therefore this meeting appoints and dele- gates Messrs. William Hawley and Peter Fairchild to attend a meeting to be held at Middletown on the last Wednesday of Instant March, to concert some Proper Methods in order to put a stop to so disa- greeable a procedure. " But the project of the As- sembly was never carried into execution : within a few months an invading army was hovering about its coasts, and the sturdy, belligerent little Colony found other vents for its pugnacious spirit. In the Revolutionary War, to which period we are now come, Redding played an important part : her people were fully alive to the importance and dire- fulness of the conflict, and bore their full share of the burdens it imposed ; but the town records dur- ing this period refer but rarely, and then briefly, to the great conflict. The hrst action of the town in regard to the war is found in the records of a town meeting held April 2d, 1777, when a committee consisting of Messrs William Hawley, Zalmon Read, Thaddeus Benedict. David Jackson, Gershom Morehouse, Stephen Betts, Jr., William Heron, and Daniel Mallory was appointed '' to hire a number of Soldiers to serve in the Continental army." It was also voted that the " sum or sums the said Committee promise to, or do 3 HISTORY OF REDDING. pay, to those soldiers that do enlist themselves as soldiers to serve in said army, as a bounty over and above what the Government bounty is, shall be paid by way of town rates, and the Selectmen are ordered and desired to make a rate to collect the money. ' ' In the records of the same meeting is the following sig- nificant entry: " Hezekiah. Sanford, Seth Sanford, Daniel Mallory, S. Samuel Smith, William Hawley, Stephen Betts Jr. Jonathan Couch, Stephen Gold, and Hezekiah Read, are appointed a committee to take care of the families of those soldiers that are in the service of their country ;" and this also, under date of May 5th, 1777 : " David Jackson, Seth San- ford, Thaddeus Benedict and John Gray are chosen Selectmen in addition to, and to supply the place of Stephen Betts and James Rogers taken prisoners by the enemy in their expedition to Danbury." The above-named gentlemen were released when the British re-embarked at Norwalk. September 18th, 1777, it was voted " that the injunction or re- quest from his Excellency the Governor and the Council of Safety be complied with, and that the Committee procure and get double the articles if they can, mentioned in the Governor's said request, and that said Committee be paid by the town, the extra charges that the said articles may cost more than they are set at in said request." March 23, 1778, David Jackson, Zalmon Read, and E ph- i-aim Robbins w r ere appointed a committee to pro- vide clothing for the army. May 8th, 1778, Asa- hel Fitch appears as committee, " to take care and provide as the law directs for Nathan Coley's fam- ily." At the same time he, with Capt. Zalmon Read, HISTORY OF REDDING. 39 was appointed a committee to provide " shirts, shoes, stockins and other articles of clothing for the Con- tinental soldiers." December 17th, 1778, another committee was appointed to care for the families of soldiers as follows : Nehemiah Hull for Nathan Oolcy's ; Elijah Burr for Stephen Meeker' s ; Eben- ezer Couch for Elias Bixby ; Nehemiah Sherwood and John Read for Jeremiah Ryan, and William Hawley for Samuel Remong. July 30th, 1779, Mi- cayah Starr, Thaddeus Benedict, and Stephen Betts were appointed a committee to prepare clothing for the soldiers, and a tax of 2s. on the pound was lev- ied to pay for the same. Several of the records are very annoying from their incompleteness ; the fol- lowing for instance of a meeting held September 2d, 1779: "Voted, to ratify the proceedings of the County Convention held Aug. 10th, 1779, and to ap- point a Committee to carry into effect what was rec- ommended in the first resolve of said Convention.'' 1 Not a word is said as to the object of the Conven- tion, nor is any report of its proceedings given. From other sources, however, we learn that it was called to devise measures to prevent further depreci- ation of the paper currency, and also to consider what course should be pursued in dealing with the Tories among them. No record of the proceedings of this convention, interesting and important as it would have been, is found. It was held at the dwelling-house of Cap- tain Stephen Betts, on Redding Ridge. January 23d, 1780, the town voted to appoinc a committee of nine " to procure and. hire nine soldiers to enlist into the Connecticut Line in the Continental army, 40 HISTORY OF REDDING. for the town of Redding." This committee consisted of Stephen Betts, Ezekiel Sanford, David Jackson, Nathaniel Barlow brother of the poet -Asahel Fitch, Hezekiah Read, Elijah Burr,Ephraim Robbins, and Hezekiah Sanford. The committee were also in- structed " to use their utmost diligence to hire nine able bodied efficient men to enlist as aforesaid, dur- ing the war or for three years, or six months, and that they enlist them at such sum or sums of money in any price, or such quantity of provisions of any kind as they shall judge reasonable and just." Six months later, June 26th, they voted to instruct their committee to give to each soldier they enlist for six months, ten bushels of wheat per month or the value in hard money when paid, besides they shall receive the bounty the state offers, but the town shall receive their wages." The same offer was made to the drafted men. This course was probably taken in the belief that the town could more readily collect the wages of the soldiers than they could themselves. November 20th, same year, it was voted, " that the town will lay a tax on provisions to supply their quota of provisions for the Connecticut Line in the Continental Army, and that a rate bill be made ap- portioning to each individual his proportion of each kind of provision to be raised, viz. flour, beef, and pork, according to his list for the year 1779. George Perry was appointed Receiver of the flour collected by the town, and sworn to a faithful discharge of his trust. Russell Bartlett was appointed Receiver of pork and beef, and was also sworn. At the same meeting a committee was appointed " to repair to HISTORY OF REDDING. 41 the camp and ascertain the number of soldiers of the town now in camp." This order was several times repeated, but none of the reports of the committees are preserved. The following significant entry ap- pears in the records of a meeting held February 5th, 1781 : " Voted not to abate assessments for purposes aforesaid (I.e. tax, on provisions) on Enos Lee, James Morgan, Hezekiah Platt, Daniel Lyon, Abigail Lyon, Sarah Phinney, David Knapp, James Gray, Abigail Morehouse, Ezekiel Hill, Andrew Fairchild, and Sarah Burr, who have each of them a son or sons, or a son or sons in law gone over to the ene- mies of the United States." At this meeting several who had refused to pay the tax levied for hiring sol- diers were assessed doiible rates. March 28th, 1781, Captain Gershom Morehouse and Lieutenant !N~ehe- miah Hull were appointed a committee "to collect the tents belonging to this town" probably those furnished for the winter encampment of the troops ; at the same time a committee was appointed " to vindicate our claims to the Connecticut Soldiers." April 16, 1781, it was voted "to divide the people into eight classes according to their several lists in order to raise seven soldiers, and one Light Horse- man to serve for one year as coast guards." It was voted " that the sixth class (for procuring men to serve in the guards at Horse J^eck till ye first of March next) shall procure a light horseman and horse, and that the town shall pay said class all it shall cost them more to procure a man and horse, than it shall cost the other seven classes on a medium." July 5th, same year, a tax of three pence on the 42 HISTORY OF REDDJNG. pound was laid " to pay last year's six months men, to be paid in Silver, or Gold, or wheat at six shillings a bushel, and to be collected and paid to the selectmen before the 10th of July Inst." The next fall, October 30th, 1781, George Perry was chosen " Receiver of Grain and flour on the half crown Tax, Benjamin Meeker and Isaac Meeker to receive the grain and flour on the two sixths tax, and William Hawley Esq. to receive the Beef and Pork on said tax, and to provide casks and salt said provisions as the law directs." The last entry referring to the war appears August llth, 1783, some nine months after the Provisional Articles of Peace had been signed at Paris. It is as follows : '" Voted that the select men of this town be desired to move out of this town all those persons that have been over and joined the enemy, and have returned into this town, and that they pursue the business as fast as they conveniently can according to law." The selectmen on whom this task devolved were, Seth Sanford, James Rogers, Stephen Betts, Hezekiah Sanford, and John Gray. Several items that next follow are important as denoting the progress of events. December 18th, 1781 : " Voted, that the select men be instructed to petition the General Assembly to annex this town to Danbury Probate District," and the road com- mittee was instructed to sell the highway from Nobb's Crook to Captain Grays, and also the " up- right highway" west of Micayah Starr's, from Nathan Rumsey's to the rear of the long lots. August 9, 1782, the town appoints d delegates to a County Convention held in Greenfield " to inquire IirSTORY OF BEDDING. 43 into the progress of illicit trade :" also a Committee of Inspection to assist the informing officers in put- ting the laws into execution. August llth, 1783 : It was voted " that the town will set up a singing school," and a tax of one penny on the pound was laid to pay the singing master. March 13th, 1797: "Voted not to admit Small Pox by innoculation ; voted to admit Small Pox by innoc ulation next fall. ' ' December 14th, 1791, a committee was appointed to apply to the proprietors of the mile of commons for a title to the land in Redding left by said proprie- tors for a parade." (This " parade," familiar to all old inhabitants of Redding, was in the large field ad- joining the Congregational parsonage now owned by Mr. Joseph Squires ; it was the scene of many militia trainings in later days.) December 19th, 1792: "Voted to reduce the highway from D anbury to Norwalk to four rods wide, arid to sell two rods." In 1795 : " Voted that the selectmen prosecute those persons that cut tim- ber on the highways." The first town-house was built early in 1798. It stood nearly in the centre of the common, a few yards west of the present building. From the plan submitted December 27th. 1797, by the building committee, we learn that it was " 36 feet in length, and 30 feet wide, with 12 foot posts, cov- ered with long cedar shingles, the sides with pine." There was a chimney in each end, and fifteen win- dows with twenty lights in each. Peter Sanford, Ezekiel Sanford, Samuel Jarvis, Aaron Sanford, An- drew L. Hill, and Simon Munger were appointed 44 HISTORY OF REDDING. ' ' to receive proposals and contract for building the aforesaid Town House." The builder was Daniel Perry. In 1807 there was a movement to petition the General Assembly, " that Redding be made the shire town of Fairfield County." In 1809 it AY; is voted unanimously," That we will prefer a petition to the Congress of the "United States for the estab- lishment of a Post Road through this town," and AVilliam Heron, Lemuel Sanford, and Billy Corn- stock were appointed to draft the petition. This w T as successful, and the first post-office in the town was shortly after established. It was kept in the dwelling-house of Billy Comstock, who was the first postmaster ; his house stood where Mr. Dimon Finch now lives, at the fork of the Danbury road, and that leading to Redding Centre, md Nobb's Crook. There are old people in town who remem- ber this first post-office, and the excitement attend- ant upon the arrival of the weekly mail, carried by the great lumbering Danbury stage, which, with its four horses, its red-faced driver, and crowd of dusty, sweltering passengers, was the great tri- week- ly event of the villages through which it passed. There is evidence that in early times the town exer- cised considerable influence in public affairs. In the Farmer's Journal (Danbury) for April 8th, 1793, appears a circular letter " sent by a committee ait- pointed to correspond with the different towns in the county of Fairfield," from Reading, as follows : " READING, Apr. 2, 1793. " GrENTLioi i:x : We are, by the inhabitants of this town, in a town meeting legally warned for that purpose, appointed a committee to correspond witli HISTORY OF REDDING. 45 the other towns in Fairfield County respecting the list of persons entered on the records of Congress, a number of whom this town apprehend are really undeserving. We are ordered to ask of you to adopt a similar mode of appointing a committee to correspond accordingly, and if by due enquiry any person, or persons shall be found to be put on the pension list, who are undeserving, to adopt proper means for redress at a proper board. Signed : TIIADDEUS BENEDICT, WILLIAM HERON, LEMUEL SANFORD, S. SAMUEL SMITH, JAMES ROGERS. To the Selectmen of And in the Farmer's Chronicle (Danbury) for January 6th, 1794 : " At a Town Meeting held in Reading, by ad- journment, on the 23rd day of December A.D. 1793, " Voted unanimously, That this Town will exert our- selves in every legal and constitutional method in our power to prevent the sale of the western lands at present, and to obtain a repeal of the act of this state appropriating the avails thereof for the sup- port of the ministry and schools in this state, as we conceive the same to be impolitic. And that a com- mittee be appointed to correspond with the other towns in this county to effect the purpose aforesaid, and that this vote be sent to the committee ap- pointed to sell those lands, with our request that they will omit to make any contract or sale of them till the sitting of the next General Assembly." And in the records of a town meeting held April 20th, 1818 : " Voted, That our Representatives to the General Assembly to be holden at Hartford in May next, be, 40 HISTORY OF REDDING. sincl hereby are, instructed to use their influence that measures be taken preparatory to forming a written constitution for the Government of this State. That it is the opinion of this meeting, that the State of Connecticut is without a written constitution of Civil Government, and we belie \ r e it very important for the security of the Civil, and Religious rights, and privileges of the Citizens, that the powers and authorities of the Government should be distinctly defined." The present town-house was erected in 1834. At a town meeting held March 3d, 1834, Mr. Thomas B. Fanton made a proposition " that he would en- gage to build a new Town House, same dimensions as the old one, of good materials, covering to be of pine, with shutters to the windows, outside of house to be painted, and the whole inside and out, to be finished in a w r orkman like manner, to be erected near the old one, on land belonging to the town, pro- vided the town will give him $400, and the old house," and engaged to save the town from any ex- pense on account of materials provided by the com- mittee to repair the old town house. This propo- sition was accepted, and John R. Hill, Gershom Sherwood, and Aaron Burr, 2d, were appointed a committee " to superintend building said House." There were objections, however, to having the new house built on the old site, and a meeting held shortly after voted " to relocate the house in the building owned by Thaddeus M. Abbott recently oc- cupied for a school house." But other parties objected to this plan, and a third meeting was held, before a site satisfactory to all parties could be agreed on. HISTORY OF REDDING. 47 This meeting voted to locate it "on the Southeast corner of Thaddeus M. Abbott's homelot, fronting the public parade on the South, and on the west the Lonetown highway, provided that nothing in tliis vote interferes with the contract made with Thomas B. Fanton for building said house, and that it be no additional expense to the town." The building belonging to Mr. Abbott which stood on this site was moved away, and the present town- house erected in the summer of 1834. From this point until the opening of the civil war the records indicate only the usual routine of town business, and may be profitably passed over in or- der to make room for the valuable and interesting K evolutionary history of the town. CHAPTER IV. REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY AND INCIDENTS. Two years had passed since the opening of the War of Independence years of alternate victory and defeat to the colonists when a hostile armament of twenty -five vessels bearing two thousand men, the llower of the British army, appeared off Compo, in West-port, on the Connecticut shore. It was the 26th of April, 1777. A few days before, news had come to Lord Howe, commanding in New York, that a magazine of munitions of war had been formed by the rebels in Danbury, and which afforded him a pretext for a descent on Connecticut a step which he had long meditated. The region 48 HISTORY OF REDDING. of country covered by the proposed campaign had been swept of its able-bodied men, who were in the Continental ranks keeping a careful watch on his lordship's regulars ; but that there might be no balk in the operations, an overwhelming force of two thousand picked men was detailed for the expedi- tion. For commanders, Howe chose a nondescript genius, one Governor Tryon, and two military men of ability, General Agnew and Sir William Erskine. Tryon had been Governor of New York ; he had the further merit of being intimately acquainted with Connecticut, and of being consumed with an inveter- ate hatred for, and thirst for revenge on, the Yan- kees ; he had a special grudge too against Connecti- cut, the sturdy little colony having thwarted him in a variety of ways. Her dragoons had scattered the types of his newspaper organ through the streets of New York ; her " Sons of Liberty" had plotted against him even in his own city, and she had treated with contempt his proclamations, inviting her to return to her allegiance, even printing them in her gazettes as specimens of the governor's pleasant humor. Furthermore, he was well acquainted with the country to be traversed. He had been as far inland as Litchfield, had probably visited Danbury, and had been dined and feted at Norwalk, Fail-field, and New Haven. He seems to have acted as guide to the expedition while his two advisers attended to its military details. The troops disembarked at Compo at four in the afternoon, and the same day marched to Weston, about eight miles distant, where they en- camped for the night. To oppose these troops there HISTORY OF REDDING. 49 was only a militia corps of old men and boys, not equal in number to one half the invading force. Colonel Cook was in command at Danbury with a company of unarmed militia. General Silliman at Fail-field, General Wooster at Stratford, and Gene- ral Arnold at Norwalk could not muster, all told, more than eight hundred raw, undisciplined men. Under these circumstances Try on' s expedition can only be viewed as a picnic excursion into the country, and as such no doubt he regarded it. On the morn- ing of the 26th his army was early astir, and reached Redding Ridge, where the first hait was made, about the time that the inhabitants had concluded their morning meal. What transpired here is thus narrated by Mr. Hollister in his admirable " History of Connecticut," vol. ii., chap. 12: " On the morning of the 26th, at a very seasonable hour, Tryon arrived at Reading Ridge, where was a small hamlet of peaceful inhabitants, almost every one of them patriots, and most of them farmers, who had crowned the high hill, where they had chosen to build their Zion, with a tall, gaunt church, which drew to its aisles one day in seven the people that dwelt upon the sides of the hills, and in the bosom of the valleys, within the range of the sum- mons that sounded from its belfry. By way of sat- isfying his hunger with a morning lunch, until he could provide a more substantial meal, he drew up his artillery in front of the weather-beaten edifice that had before defied every thing save the grace of God, and the supplications of his worshippers, and gave it a good round of grape and canister, that pierced its sides through, and shattered its small- paned windows into fragments. The only spectators to this heroic demonstration were a few women and 50 HISTORY OF REDDING. little children, some of whom ran away at the sight of the red-coats, and others faced the invaders with a menacing stare." Mr. Hollister is in the main a careful and accurate historian, but a due regard for the truth of history compels us to say that he was misinf ormed in regard to the above facts. The following account is be- lieved to be correct, our principal informant being an aged inhabitant of Redding, and a competent authority : During the halt the main body of the troops re- mained under arms on the green in front of the church. Tryon, Agnew, and Erskine were invited into Esquire Heron's, who lived in the first house south of the church, and which is still standing, though in a ruinous condition. Here they were hos- pitably entertained with cake and wine, and with many hopeful prognostications of the speedy col- lapse of the "rebellion." Across the street from the church, in a house a few yards south of the cfae now occupied by Thomas Ryan, lived Lieutenant Stephen Betts, a prominent patriot, and at whose house it will be remembered the county convention was held in 1779. A file of soldiers entered the house, seized him, and he was taken with them on their march. James Rogers, another prominent patriot, and Jeremiah Sanford, a lad of ten years, son of Mr. Daniel Sanford, met a like fate. The lad, we may remark, was carried to New York and died in the prison ships, June 28th, 1777. Shortly before the army resumed its march, a horseman was observed spurring rapidly down the Couch's Hill road toward them, and approached within musket- HISTORY OF REDDING. 51 shot before discovering their presence ; he then turned to fly, but was shot, and severely wounded in the attempt. He proved to be a messenger from Colonel Cook in Danbury, bearing dispatches to General Silliman, by name Lambert Lockwood. Tryon had formerly known him in Norwalk, where Lockwood had rendered him a service, and seems to have acted on this occasion with some approach to magnanimity, as he released him on parole, and allowed him to be taken into a house that his wounds might be dressed. The statement concerning the firing into the church is a mistake, and I am assured that the re- verse is true. It is said that the church was not mo- lested at all (except that a soldier with a well-di- rected ball brought down the gilded weathercock from the spire), and the fact that the pastor, the Rev. John Beach, as well as several of its most prominent members, among them the Squire Heron above referred to, were most pronounced loyalists, strengthens the assertion. The British army, after halting an hour or t\vo in the village, resumed its march to Danbury, with the capture and burning of which the reader is no doubt acquainted. Meanwhile the patriots in Redding anxiously waited the approach of the Continental army in pursuit. At length it came in view, marching wearily, with dusty and disordered ranks, a lit- tle army of five hundred men and boys, led by Brigadier-General Silliman in person. They had marched from Fairfield that day, and were fully twenty-eight hours behind the foe, who was then ly- 53 HISTORY OF REDDING. ing drunken and disorganized at Danbury. A mus- ter-roll of the little band would have shown a most pathetic exhibition of weakness. There were parts of the companies of Colonel Lamb's battalion of artillery, with three rusty cannon, a field-piece, and part of the artillery company of Fairfield, and sixty Continentals ; the rest were raw levies, chiefly old men and boys. It was eight o'clock in the evening when the troops arrived at Redding Ridge an even- ing as disagreeable as a north-east rain-storm with its attendant darkness could make it. Here the troops halted an hour for rest and refreshment. At the expiration of that time a bugle sounded far down the street ; then the tramp of horsemen was heard, and presently Major-General Wooster and Brigadier- General Arnold, at the head of a squadron of cavalry, dashed into the village. On hearing that the British were so far ahead, it is said that Arnold became so enraged that he could scarcely keep his seat, and his terrible oaths fell on his auditors' ears like thunder-claps. Wooster at once assumed command, and the column moved for- ward through the mud as far as Bethel, where it halted for the night. At Danbury, but three miles distant, Tryon's force was sleeping in drunken security, and might have been annihilated by a de- termined effort, but the command was too much ex- hausted for the attempt. Tryon the next morning was early astir, being- aware that the militia were closing in on him on all sides, and commenced a retreat to his ships, taking the circuitous route through Ridgefield. On learn- ing this move, General Wooster at Bethel divided HISTORY OF REDDING. 53 his command, one detachment under Generals Ar- nold and Silliman marching rapidly across the coun- try and taking post at Ridge field, while the other, commanded by himself, pressed closely on Try on 1 s rear. , The succeeding fortunes of the patriots how they met the foe at Bidgefield, how "Wooster fell gallantly leading on his men, how Arnold per- formed prodigies of valor, and how the enemy were pursued and harassed until they gained the cover of their ships has become a part of our national history, and needs no recounting. News that the British had landed at Compo, that they were encamped at Weston, and would march through Redding the next day, was conveyed to this town at an early hour, and occasioned the greatest consternation and excitement. Money and valuables were hastily secreted in wells and other places of concealment ; horses and cattle were driven into the forests, and the inhabi- tants along the enemy's probable route held them- selves in readiness for instant flight. Herod's emis- saries could not have excited livelier emotions of terror in the hearts of Judean mothers than did Tryon's invasion in the breasts of the mothers of Redding. He seems to have warred pre-eminently on women and boys. The latter especially he made prisoners of, and consigned to the horrible prison- ships, either holding them as hostages, or on the plea that they " would very soon grow into rebels." The women of Redding had heard of this propensity, and at his approach gathered all the boys of thir- teen and under the older ones were away under arms and conveyed them to a secluded place near 54 HISTORY OF REDDIXG. the Forge, where they were left under the charge of one Gershom Barlow ; here they remained until the invader had regained his ships, provisions being- cooked and sent in to them daily. Many other incidents of the invasion are current in the town. On receiving intelligence of the landing at Compo, Captain Read mustered his company of militia, and forthwith marched to intercept the invaders. A t a place called Couch's Rock, in Weston, they came suddenly upon the entire force of the enemy and were taken prisoners. Timothy Parsons, one of the militiamen, had a fine musket which he particularly valued ; this a grenadier took, and dashed to pieces on the stones, saying it should waste no more rebel bullets. Mrs. Thankful Bradley, living in Weston. near the Redding line, was milking by the roadside when the troops surprised her. An officer told her to remain quiet, and they would not molest her. She followed his advice and continued milking while the entire army filed by. With the exception of kidnapping the lad Sanford, the British behaved with praise- worthy moderation during their march through Redding. No buildings were burned, and no such enormities committed as marked their descent on Fairfield and New Haven two years later. After their departure nothing further of a warlike nature occurred in the town, until the encampment in Redding in the winter of 1778-9 of General Putnam's division of the Continental Army. This division comprised General Poor' s brigade of New Hampshire troops, the two brigades of Connecticut troops, the corps of infantry commanded by Hazen, HISTORY OF REDDING. 55 and that of cavalry by Sheldon. This division had been operating along the Hudson during the fall, and as winter approached it was decided that it should go into winter quarters at Redding, as from this position it could support the important fort- ress of West Point in case of attack, overawe the Cow Boys and Skinners of Westchester County, and cover the country adjacent to the Sound. Accordingly, early in November, General Putnam arrived with several of his general officers to select sites for the proposed camps. Three were marked out : the first in the north-eastern part of Lonetown, near the Bethel line, on land now owned by Aaron Tread well. The second also in Lonetown, about a mile and a half west, on the farm of the late Sherlock Todd, a short distance south-west of his dwelling-house. The third camp wns in West Red- ding, on the ridge lying east of Uriah Griffin's, on land now owned by him, and about a quarter of a mile north of Redding Station. The sites of all three camps may be easily distinguished by the ruins of the stone chimneys which formed one side of the log huts in which the troops were sheltered. The ruins of the first camp are most distinct, and form perhaps one of the best preserved, as well as most interesting, relics of the Revolution within the reach of the antiquary. This camp was laid out with ad- mirable judgment, at the foot of the rocky bluffs which fence in on the west the valley of the Little River. The barracks were so disposed as to form an avenue nearly a quarter of a mile in length, and several yards in width. At the west end of the camp was a mountain brook, which furnished a plentiful supply 56 HISTORY OF REDDING. of water ; near the brook is a heap of cinders which probably marks the spot where a forge was erected. The camp was until recently covered with heavy forests, which explains perhaps the secret of its pres- ervation. The present owner is clearing up the un- derbrush which has overgrown the ruins, rendering it easy of access to visitors, and it will in time no doubt become a favorite place of resort. Only a few heaps of stone mark the site of the second camp, which was also laid out on the southerly slope of a hill, with a stream of running water at its base. The same may be said of the camp at Long Ridge. As to the exact location of Putnam' s headquarters at this time, authorities differ, but all agree in plac- ing it on Umpawaug Hill. Mr. Barber, in his " His- torical Collections," says it was the old house that, stood until recently on the corner of the road lead- ing down to Sanford's Station, a short distance north of Andrew Perry's present residence. Mr. Lossing, in his "Field Book of the Revolution," makes the same statement ; but I am informed by an aged resident, whose father was an officer in the Revolutionary army, and visited General Putnam at his headquarters, that they were in an old house that then stood between the residence of the late Burr Meeker and that now occupied by Mr. Brady, and that the first-named was his guard-house. The question is one of little importance perhaps, except to those who demand the utmost possible accuracy in the statement of fact. Some of the officers were quartered in the house now occupied by Seth Todd, then owned by Samuel Gould ; others in a house that stood on the site of HISTORY OF REDDING. 57 the one recently occupied by Sherlock Todd. Gen- eral Parson's headquarters were on Redding Ridge. While the army lay at Redding several events of importance occurred, which are worthy of narrating with some degree of particularity. The troops went into winter quarters this year in no pleasant humor, and almost in the spirit of insubordination. This was peculiarly the case with the Connecticut troops. They had endured privations that many men would have sunk under the horrors of battle, the weari- ness of the march, cold, hunger, and nakedness. What was worse, they had been paid in the depreci- ated currency of the times, which had scarcely any purchasing power, and their devoted families at home were reduced to the lowest extremity of want and wretchedness. The forced inactivity of the camp gave them time to brood over their wrongs, until at length they formed the bold resolve of marching to Hartford, and presenting their grievances in person to the Legislature then sitting. The two brigades were under arms for this purpose before news of the re- volt was brought to Putnam. He, with his usual in- trepidity and decision of character, threw himself upon his horse and dashed down the road leading to his camps, never slacking rein until lie drew up in the presence of the disaffected troops. " My brave lads," cried he, " whither are you going? Do you intend to desert your officers, and to invite the enemy to follow you into the country \ Whose cause have you been fighting and suffering so long in is it not your own \ Have you no property, no parents, wives, or children ? You have behaved like 58 HISTORY OF BEDDING. men so far all the world is full of your praises, and posterity will stand astonished at your deeds ; but not if you spoil all at last. Don't you consider how much the country is distressed by the war, and that your officers have not been any better paid than yourselves ? But we all expect better times, and that the country will do us ample justice. Let us all stand by one another then, and fight it out like brave soldiers. Think what a shame it would be for Connecticut men to run away from their officers." When he had finished this stirring speech, lie directed the acting major of brigades to give the word for them to shoulder, inarch to their regimen- tal parades, and lodge arms, which was done ; one soldier only, a ringleader in the affair, was con- fined in the guard-house, from which he attempted to escape, but was shot dead by the sentinel on duty himself one of the mutineers. Thus ended the affair, and no further trouble was experienced with the Connecticut troops. Xothing had so much annoyed Putnam and his officers during the campaign of the preceding sum- mer on the Hudson than the desertions which had thinned his ranks, and the Tory spies, who fre- quented his camps, under every variety of pretext, and forthwith conveyed the information thus gath- ered to the enemy. To put a stop to this it had been determined that the next offender of either sort cap- tured should suffer death as an example, and ac- cording to the usages of war. The time for putting this determination into execution soon arrived. One day some scouts from Putnam's outposts in W<>M Chester County captured a man lurking within their HISTORY OF REDDING. 59 lines, and as he could give no satisfactory account of himself he was at once haled over the borders, and into the presence of the command er-in-chief . In answer to his queries, the prisoner said that his name was Jones, that he was a Welshman by birth, and had settled in Ridgefield a few years before the war commenced : that he had never faltered in his al- legiance to the king, and that at the outbreak of hos- tilities he had fled to the British army, and had Ipeen made a butcher in the camp ; a few weeks before, he had been sent into Westchester County to buy beeves for the army, and had been captured as above narrated. He was remanded to the guard -house and a court-martial at once ordered for his trial. The result is to be found in the following document found among the papers of the late Lieutenant Sam- uel Richards, paymaster in Colonel Wylly's regi- ment : * 1 ' Feb. 4, 1779. Was tried at a General Court Mar- tial Edward Jones for Going to and serving the en- emy, and coming out as a spy found guilty of each and every charge Exhibited against him, and accord- ing to Law and the Usages of Nations was sen- tenced to suffer Death. ' ' The General approves the sentence and orders it to be put in Execution between the hours of ten and eleven A.M. by hanging him by the neck till he be Dead." Two days after another court-martial was held for a similar offence, as the following proves : * Many other papers from the Richards Collection, both interest- ing and valuable, will be found in this work. The originals are in the possession of Hon. D. B. Booth, of Danbury, Avho has kindly al- lowed me to copy them. 60 HISTORY OF REDDING. " Feb. 6, 1779. At a Gen'l Court Martial was tried John Smith of the 1st Connecticut Regiment for de- sertion and attempting to go to the Enemy, found guilty, and further persisting in saying that he will #;o to the Enemy if ever he has an opportunity, Sen- tenced to be shot to death, and orders that it be put in Execution between the hours of ten and twelve A.M." General Putnam having two prisoners under sen- tence of death determined to execute them both at once, or as he expressed it, " make a double job of it," and at the same time make the spectacle as terrible and impressive as the circumstances de- manded. The lofty hill dominating the valley and the camps (known to this day as Gallows Hill) was chosen as the scene of the execution, the instru- ment of death being erected on its highest pinnacle. The details of, the execution, for reasons which will appear, I prefer to give in the words of the three different historians who have chronicled it. Mr. Barber, in his "Historical Collections of Connecti- cut," p. 399, says : " The scene which took place at the execution of these men is described as shocking and bloody. The man on whom the duty of hangman devolved left the camp, and on the clay of execution could not be found. A couple of boys about the age of twelve years were ordered by General Put- nam to perform the duties of the absconding hang- man. The gallows was about twenty feet from the ground. Jones was compelled to ascend the lad- der, and the rope around his neck was attached to the cross-beam. General Putnam then ordered Jones to jump from the ladder. 'No, General Putnam.' said Jones, ' I am innocent of the crime laid to my HISTORY OF REDDING. 61 charge ; I shall not do it.' Putnam then ordered the boys before mentioned to turn the ladder over. These boys were deeply affected by the trying scene ; they cried and sobbed loudly, and earnestly en- treated to be excused from doing any thing on this distressing occasion. Putnam, drawing his sword, ordered them forward, and compelled them at the sword's point to obey his orders. The soldier that was shot for desertion was but a youth of sixteen or seventeen years of age. Three balls were shot through his breast : he fell on his face, but immedi- ately turned over on his back ; a soldier then ad- vanced, and putting the muzzle of his gun near the convulsive body of the youth, discharged its contents into his forehead. The body was then taken up and put into a coffin ; the soldiers had fired their pieces so near, that they set the boy's clothes on fire, which continued burning. An officer with a drawn sword stood by, while every soldier of the three brigades who were out on the occasion was ordered to march by and look at the mangled remains." Mr. Barber says in a foot-note that the above par- ticulars were, derived from an aged inhabitant of Heading, who was present on the occasion, and stood but a few feet from Jones when he was executed. Mr. Hollister, in his " History of Connecticut," takes exception to the above account. In Vol. ii. , page 87o, of his work, he has the following note : " The Rev. Nathaniel Bartlett, who was pastor of the Congregational church in Redding for a period of fifty years, officiated as chaplain to the encampment during the winter, and was present at the execution. He interceded with General Put- nam to defer the execution of Smith until Wash- ington could be consulted the offender b.eing a youth of seventeen years ; but the commander 62 HISTORY OF REDDING. assured him that a reprieve could not be granted. Mr. Bartlett was an earnest and fearless AVhiir. and openly talked and preached 'rebellion' so much so, that the Tories, who were numerous in the eastern part of the town, threatened to hang him if they could catch him. In consequence of these threats he often carried a loaded musket with him when on his parochial visits. His son and successor in the ministry at Redding the Rev. Jonathan Bartlett, now (1855) in his ninety-first year well re- members the Revolutionary encampment at Red- ding and frequently visited it. He is sure that the story in Barber's 'Historical Collections' about Putnam's inhumanity at the execution of Smith and Jones is incorrect. Though not present himself, he has often heard his father relate the incidents of the occasion ; and furthermore he once called the atten- tion of Colonel Asahel Salmon (who died in 1848, aged ninety-one), who was a sergeant in attendance upon the execution, to the statement, and he de- clared that nothing of the kind took placv." Another historian, Rev. Thomas F. Davies, in an historical sermon delivered at Green's Farms in 1839, also takes exception to Mr. Barber's statement. He says : " Mr. Barber must have been misinformed. Reading is my native town, and from my boyhood I have heard the history of the proceedings on the occasion referred to, and was much surprised at the statements in the ' Historical Collections.' The Rev. Mr. Bartlett, whose father was chaplain on that occasion, informs me that General Putnam could not have been guilty of the acts there charged. "That Mr. Barber may have something to substi- tute for the narrative to which I object, I give the following : HISTORY OF REDDING. 03 "When General Putnam occupied the house of which Mr. Barber has given an engraving, a scene occurred which presents the General in a very amia- ble light. A poor man with a family needing sup- port, and who lived in the neighboring town of Ridgefield, w r as told by one acquainted with his wants, that if he would visit General Putnam and hold a conversation with him, he would on his re- turn, and on proof of the fact, give him a bushel of wheat. The temptation in that time of scarcity and taxes was great, and so also was the fear of intrud- ing upon so distinguished an individual ; but the stern necessities of his condition at length induced the poor man to venture. He accordingly presented himself at headquarters, and requested the servant to solicit for him an interview with the General. Putnam promptly summoned the man to his pres- ence, directed him to be seated, and listened with interest while the man with great trepidation gave the statement which accounted for the liberty he had taken. The General directed the servant to bring some wine, conversed for a time very pleas- antly with his needy visitor, and then calling for pen and ink, wrote a certificate in which- he gives the name of the individual, and stated that he had vis- ited and conversed with General Putnam, who signed it in his official character. Thus furnished with the means of giving bread to his family, the distressed individual returned to his humble roof ; and this anecdote, which I have on the very best authority, is proof that Putnam was not destitute of those kind and gentle affections which are so desira- ble an ornament of the most heroic character." This diversity of statements has led the writer to investigate the matter more thoroughly than he would otherwise have done ; and the weight of proof seems to be in favor of the correctness of Mr. Barber's statement. His version of the affair is HISTORY OF REDDING. the one generally prevalent in the town, with the ex- ception of Putnam's forcing the boys to become ex- ecutioners. Nor is there any thing in the story in- consistent with Putnam's known character and tern perament. He had been a man of war from his youth, in perils often from wild beasts, the ele- ments, the wilderness, and the Indians. Long service in the bloody French and Indian wars had scarcely taught him amiability. Boldness, firmness, promptness, decision these were tho chief elements of his character, and at this particular crisis all were needed. There was disaffection and insubordination in the army, as has been seen. De- sertions were frequent, and spying by the Tories was almost openly practised. To put a stop to these practices was vitally necessary to the safety of the army ; and as the prisoners had been tried and sen- tenced to death by a competent tribunal, it was Put- nam's duty to see that the sentence was carried into effect. If the execution was bunglingly done, the fault was with the executioners, and not with the General. As was to be expected, the citizens of Redding felt quite honored by the selection of their town for the army's winter quarters, and welcomed heartily the dusty battalions as they filed into camp ; but a few- months' acquaintance opened their- eyes to some of the ways of soldiers, and caused them to speed the army in the spring as heartily as they had wel- comed it in the autumn. The soldiers argued that as they were fighting the country's battles it de- volved on the latter to furnish the sinews of war, and plundered the neighboring farmers, whether Whig or HISTORY OF 11EDDING. 65 Tory, with the utmost impartiality. To them a well- stocked poultry yard or a pen of fat porkers offered irresistible inducements. A milch cow never failed of a circle of devoted admirers, while bands of merry reavers occasionally stole over the borders into the neighboring towns, and harried in under cover of night droves of fat cattle, which were killed and eaten with as little formality as they were taken. AVith the morning would come the owner complain- ing of these little peccadilloes, but as he could never prove property nor identify the rogues, they usu- ally escaped punishment. After a time, however, the wary farmers foiled the depredators by herding their live-stock over night in the cellars of their houses and in other secure places. The ringleader in all these forays was Tom War- rups, an Indian, grandson of the chief Chickens, whose story is given in the earlier pages of this work, and one of Putnam's most valued scouts and mes- sengers. Tom possessed a great deal of individual- ity, and impressed himself on a succeeding genera- tion to the extent -that numberless anecdotes are re- membered and told about him to this day. Some of these, illustrating the Indian character, are worthy the attention of the grave historian. Tom had a weakness for liquor, which would have caused his expulsion from the camp had it not been for his ser- vices as scout and guide. One day he was seen de- plorably drunk, and the officer of the day in disgust ordered him to be ridden out of the camp. A stout rail was brought, Tom was placed astride of it, four men hoisted it upon their shoulders, and the caval- cade started. On their way they met General Put- 6 66 HISTORY OF REDDING. nam with his aids, making the rounds of the camp. "Tom," said the General sternly, "how's this '. Aren't you ashamed to be seen riding out of camp in this way ?" " Yes," replied Tom, with drunken gravity. " Tom is ashamed, vera mooch ashamed, to see poor Indian ride and the Gineral he go afoot.' ' Tom had a house on the high ridge back of Captain Isaac Hamilton's, now owned by William Sherwood. It was built, it is said, in primitive Indian style, of poles set firmly in the ground, then bent and fas- tened together at the top. This framework was cov- ered with bark, and roofed with reeds and rushes. Its furniture consisted of framework bedsteads, with bedding of skins, wooden bowls fashioned from pep- perage knots, huge wooden spoons, baskets made of rushes or long grass, pails of birch bark, and an iron pot and skillet begged or borrowed from the settlers. His sister Eunice was his housekeeper. Except in war he was a worthless, shiftless fellow, and lived chiefly by begging ; hunting and trapping were his recreations. He would often absent himself from his hut for weeks at a time, sleeping in barns or in the forest. A huge overhanging rock about a mile north of Georgetown often sheltered him on these occasions, and is still known as Warrup's Rock. Tom's neighbor and landlord before the war was Colonel John Read, son of the early settler of that name. On one occasion the colonel had a company of gentlemen from Boston to visit him, and planned a grand hunt in their honor. Tom was always mast cr of the revels at such times, and piloted the party on this occasion. In their rambles through the forests they came to a spring, and being thirsty one of the HISTORY OF REDDING. 07 party lamented that they had left their hunting cups behind. Tom at once slipped off his shoe, and fill- ing it with water offered it to the guest to drink ; whereupon Colonel Read reproved him sharply for his ill-breeding. Tom drank from the vessel while the homily was being delivered, and then replaced the shoe, observing with the haughtiness of a king, " Good enough for Indian, good enough for white man too." After the war Captain Zalmon Read and Tom were near neighbors, and the former had a corn- field in dangerous proximity to Tom's cabin ; he missed the corn and suspected Tom, and watching, not only discovered him to be the thief, but also his ingenious plan of procedure. About midnight the Indian would come, basket in hand, and seated on the top rail of the fence would thus address the field: "Lot, can Tom have some corn?" "Yes, Tom," the lot would reply, "take all you want ;" whereupon Tom would fill his basket with ears and march off. The next night, as the story goes, the captain armed himself with a grievous hickory club and lay in wait behind the fence. Presently Tom came, repeated his formula, and proceeded to fill his basket, but when he returned with it to the fence, it was occupied by the captain, who proceeded to re- peat Tom's formula with a variation. " Lot, can I beat Tom ?" " Yes,' ' the lot replied, " beat him all he deserves ;" whereupon the fun-loving captain fell upon the culprit and gave him the thorough beating Avhich his roguery deserved. One more anecdote of Tom must suffice. One day he went to a neighbor's house and demanded whis- key. No, the neighbor was of the opinion that GS HISTORY OF REDDING. whiskey was bad for Tom. " Rum, then." " !N>.' ' *' Cider." " No, cider was bad too ; food he might have to keep him from starving, but no fire-water." Tom ruminated. '" Well," said he at length, " give me toast and cider" a favorite dish in those days and in this way won the desired stimulant. Some years after, when age was creeping on, Tom and his sister removed to the Indian reservation at Schaticook, in Kent, whither his tribe had preceded him, and the time and manner of his death was un- known to his white brethren in Redding. This is a long digression, pardonable in this con- nection only because its subject was one of the brave defenders of his country. Among the papers in the " Richards Collection" are some that are interesting as detailing little epi- sodes of camp life, as well as some that possess con- siderable historic value. They are as follows : "HEADQUARTERS, READING, 3Iay 28, 1779. "Daniel Vaughn and Jonathan Gore of the 8th Connecticut Regt Tryd by a Brigade C. M. whereof Lt. Col. Sumner was President, For Steal- ing a Cup from Capt. Zalmon Read of Reading. The Court are of Opinion the charges against Vaughn and Gore are not supported. "B. O." "CAMP, SXD HILL, Nov. 14, 1778. " The General having obtained permission of the Commander In Chief to be Absent a few days from the Division, the Command will devolve upon Brig adier Gen'l Huntington. Gen'l McDougal is happy rliat it falls upon a Gentleman in whose care for and attention to the Troops he has the utmost Confidence. The Orders will be issued as usual at the Head- quarters of the Division." HISTORY OF REDDING. CO GEXKHAL PUTNAM'S ORDERS. " READING, Dec. 18, 1778. " Lieut. Col. Butler of Wylly's Reg. is promoted to the command of the 2nd Company Battalion and is to be obeyed as such. Col. Meigs is appointed Inspector to the Division and to do the duty of Adjt. General for the same until further Orders- Quartermaster Belding of the First Conn. Brigade is appointed Quartermaster of the Division and is to do that duty until further Orders. David Humphrey Esq. late Brigade Major to Gen'l Parsons is ap- pointed aide de camp to Gen'l Putnam till further Orders." "FEB. 13, 1779. "The Gen'l Directs that no person be permitted to visit the Prisoners under sentence of Death Un- less at their Request as frequent Complaints have been made that they are interrupted in their Private Devotions by persons who came for no other Pur- pose but to Insult them." " At a Gen'l Court Martial Jield at Bedford Oct. 3 1778, By order of Gen. Scott wliereof Lt. Col. Blaisden was President. '"' Elisha Smith a private in Capt. Stoddard's Co. 2d Regt. Light Dragoons was tryed for Deserting to the Enemy last August and JPiloting them into and against the troops of this State Defrauding the publick, by selling his horse and Accouterments in a Treasonable Manner to the Enemy and for Menac- ing and Insulting his officers while a Prisoner, found Guilty, and Sentence Him to Suffer the pains of Death His Excellency the Commander in Chief Ap- proves the Sentence^ and Orders s' d Elisha Smith to be Executed next Monday the 12th Inst. at 11 O Clock A.M. at or near Bedford as Gen. Scott shall Direct. '' Xo date : " Divine Service will be performed to morrow at the Church, to begin at 11 O Clock A.M. 70 HISTORY OF REDDING. Those off Duty are to March from Camp so as to be at the Church by that time." The "Church 1 ' was the Congregational at the Centre, and the preacher the Rev. Nathaniel Bart- lett. " HEADQUARTERS, May 27, 1779. " Major General Putnam being (about) to take command of one of the Wings of the Grand Army, before he leaves the Troops who have served under him the winter past, thinks it his Duty to Signify to them his entire approbation of their Regular and Soldier like Conduct, and wishes them (wherever they may happen to be out) a Successful and Glo- rious Campaign." Hazen's command seems to have been the first to break camp in the spring, as the following proves : "HEAD QUARTERS, READING, March, 21, 1779. " Col. Hazen's Regt. will march to Springfield in 3 Divisions by the shortest notice : the first Divis- ion will march on Monday next, and the other two will follow on Thursday and Friday next, Weather permitting, and in case the detached parties join the Regt. Col. Hazen will take with, him one peice of Cannon and a proportionable Number of Artillery men." April llth, the following order was issued : " HEAD QUARTERS, Apr. llth, 1779. " The officers are Requested to lose no time in Pre- paring for the field, that they may be ready to leave their present Quarters at the Shortest Notice. The Q. M. Gen'l as far as it is in his power will supply those with Portmanteaus, who have not been fur- nished before, and those who have or shall be pro- vided are on no account to cany chests or Boxes into the field. The portmanteaus are given by the pub- lick to Supersede those of such Cumbersome articles HISTORY OF REDDING. 71 in order to contract the Baggage of the Army and lessen the Number of Waggons, which besides saving the Expense, is attended with many obvious and most Important Military Advantages. The General also thinks it necessary to give explicit notice in time with a View to have the army as little Encum- bered as possible in all its movements, and to pre- vent burthening the public and the farmers more than can be avoided. No officer whose Duty does not Really require him to be on horseback will be permitted to keep horses with the Army It ought to be the pride of an officer to share the fatigues, as well [as] the Dangers to which his men are exposed < >n foot. Marching by their sides he will lessen every inconvenience and Excite in them a spirit of patience and perseverance. Inability alone can justify a De- viation from this necessary practice. Gen. Wash- ington strongly recommends to the officers to Divest themselves as much as possible of Every thing Super- fluous Taking to the field only what is Essential for Dining and Comfort. Such* as have not particular friends within reach with whom they would choose to confide their Baggage, will apply to the Q. M. Gen'l who will appoint a place for their Reception and furnish Means of Transportation. " " READING, May 24, 1779. " Gen. Parsons orders the Brigade to be Ready to March to Morrow at 6 o Clock A.M. Complet for Action. ' ' This brigade seems to have returned to the High- lands ma Ridgefield and Bedford, as General Par- sons dates his next order at Ridgefield, May 30 : "That Col. Wyllys furnish a Sergt. Corp. and 12 privates to be posted as a Guard this Night one quarter of a Mile in front of where his Regt. is quartered on the road leading to Bedford. That Col. Meigs furnish a Guard of the Same Number 72 HISTORY OF REDDING. and Distance on the road leading to Norwalk. The Revielle to be beat to-morrow morning at the Dawn of Day, the troops to parade at 4 o'clock half a mile below the meeting house, on the road leading to Bedford, for which place they will march immedi- ately after in the same order as this day." " BEDFORD, May 31st, 1771). " The troops of Gen. Parson's Brigade to have two Days . . . per man from Capt. Townsend . . . refresh themselves, and be ready to march in two hours to Parade near the Meeting house." " FISIIKILL, June 2, 1779. " Gen. Parsons orders that Com'sr Sturm deliver one gill of Rum per man, and two Days provision tp the troops of his Brigade, this Day. The Qr. mas- tar to make return for the same." " HD. QUAKTEKS, HIGHLANDS, June 6, 1779. " General McDougal Orders a Detachment of !."><> Men Properly Officered from Gen. Parson's and Huntington's Brigades to parade at 12 o clock, with arms, ammunition, accouterments. Blankets and three daj T s Provisions in front of Gen. Hn. Bel." (Huntington's Brigade). " HD. Qu. June 7th, 1779. " The Grand Parade in front of Gen. Hn. Bd. 100 men properly Officered from Hn. Bd. will parade for piquet at 3 o'clock for the future. The Relief will parade at 8 o'clock in the morning. No person will pass the piquet who cannot give a Good Ac'ct. of himself." " The Signal of Alarm will be three cannon fired Distinctly by the Artillery in the front line." The following orders show the route taken by the army in the fall of 1778 from the Highlands to Redding : HISTORY OF REDDING. To " HEAD QUARTERS, FREDERICKSBURG, Oct. 16, 1778. "Tomorrow being the Anniversary of the Sur- render of Gen'l Burgoynes and his Troops to the Arms of America under the Command of Major Gen']. Gates, it will be Commemorated by the firing of thirteen cannon from the Park of Artillery at 12 o : Clock." "HEAD QUARTERS, Oct. 22, 1778. "Nixon's, Parson's and Huntington's Brigades are to march to morrow morning at 7 'o'clock from the Line Tinder the command of Major Gen'l Mc- Dougall Orders of March Gen'l Nixon's Brigade leads, Huntington's follows, Parson's brings irp the Rear, Commanding Officers of Corps will be an- swerable for the conduct of their men while on the March. Artillery to March in Centre of each Bri- gade the Baggage of Gen'l Officers to March in Rear of the Troops, the other Baggage will march in the same order. Forage and Commissary Wag- gons in the rear of the Whole." " XEW MILFORD, Xov. 5, 1778. " The Honorable, the Continental Congress hav- ing on the 12th of October passed a Resolution to discourage prophaneness in the Army it is inserted in this Division for the information of Officers, and Gen. McDougall hopes for their aid and Counte- nance in Discouraging and Suppressing a Tice so Dis- honorable to human Nature, to the commission of which there is no Temptation enough." " CAMP, NEW MILFORD, Oct. 26, 1778. " His Excellency the Commander in Chief has Directed the troops to remain here till further or- ders and be in Readiness to March at the shortest Notice as Circumstances shall require. While the Division is Reposed, two days brea(l will be on store Continually, Baked." 74 HISTORY OF REDDING. These interesting extracts might fitly conclude the story of the army's encampment in Redding ; there are, however, some entries in the parish records, proving that amid the horrors of war sly Cupid found a chance to inflict his wounds, that are worthy of insertion. They are given as entered by the Rev. Nathaniel Bartlett : " Feb. 7, 1779. I Joined together in marriage James Gibbins a soldier in the army and Ann Sul- livan." " March 18th, 1779. I joined together in marriage John Lines, a soldier in the army, and Mary Hen- drick." " March 30, 1779. I joined in marriage Daniel Evarts a soldier, and Mary Rowland." " Apr. 15, 1779. I joined in marriage Isaac Olm- sted a soldier, and. Mary Parsons." " Apr. 28, 1779. I joined in marriage Jesse Belk- nap an artificer in the army, and Eunice Hall." " May 4, 1779. I joined in marriage William Little, Steward to Gen. Parsons, and Phebe Mer- chant." " May 23, 1779. I joined in marriage Giles Gilbert an artificer in the army, and Deborah Hall." "March 9, 1780. I joined in marriage William Darrow a soldier, and Ruth Bartram." In the month of June, 1781, Count de Rochambeau and the Duke de Lauzun marched a column of French troops across Connecticut and took post in Ridgefield, within supporting distance of Washing- ton's army on the Hudson. They passed through Redding on the march, and encamped over night, it is said, on the old parade- ground. Their supply-train numbered 810 wagons, most of HISTORY OF REDDING. 75 them drawn by two yoke of oxen and a horse. The column attracted much attention as it moved with flashing arms and soldierly precision over the hills and through the valleys on its way to Ridgefield. No complete list of the soldiers furnished by Redding to the Continental army can be prepared. The following names appear on the town list of Revolutionary pensioners : Colonel Asahel Salmons, Captain Zalmon Read, Captain John Davis, Joel Merchant, Ezra Bates, Calvin Jenkins, Ezra Hull, Stephen Batterson, Jacob Patchen, and Abraham Parsons ; and in the town records those whose families were aided were Nathan Coley, Stephen Meeker, Elias Bixby, Jeremiah Ryan, and Samuel Remong. CHAPTER V. THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, 1729-1879. THE Congregational church was the first religious body organized in the town. Deeply impressed as were our Puritan forefathers with the value of relig- ion to the soul, they were equally impressed with its value to the state, and were careful to rear, side by side with their civil structure, the church, in which, as they believed, the pure Gospel of Christ was preached, and the soundest principles of moral- ity inculcated. Proof of their pious care in this re- spect is to be found in the history of Redding, as in that of almost every New England town. As 76 HISTORY OF REDDING. early as August, 1729, but three months after they had wrung a reluctant consent from the mother town to assume parish privileges, we find them providing for the settlement of a minister among them in the following manner : " At a Society Meeting held in the Society of Red- ding, Deacon George Hull chosen Moderator. It was voited that s'd Society would give for the settlement of a minister in s'd society the sum of seventy pounds, and a house, and his wood, and bring it up, and the next year eighty pounds, and raise five pounds a year till it comes to one hundred pounds a year. It was voted, that Edmond Luis, esquire, shall decide the matter as to seting the meeting hous, it was voited that s'd Mr. Luis should come the first week in October to decide the matter afore- s'd." minister was settled, however, until 1733 ; the first church edifice Avas erected early in 1732. It stood a few yards west of the present Methodist church, and nearly in the centre of the public square or common.* A photograph or rough sketch even, of this the first church in Redding, would be inval- uable to men of the present day : we are certain, however, that it was a much more elegant and fin- ished edifice than was common in the new settle- ments. It was two stories high, as we shall see, and of quite respectable dimensions. It was also lathed and plastered, and furnished with galleries, and win- dows of imported glass, but further details are lack- ing. All that is to be found in the church records * The corner-stone of the old church may still be seen on the com- mon, a little south of a line drawn from Deacon Abbott's to the store lately occupied by Mr. Mandeville. HISTORY OF REDDING. 7? concerning the building is contained in the follow- ing extracts : November 12th, 1730. It was voted " that we will build a meting-hous in said society for the worship of God in the Presbyterian way. Voted that the me- ting-hous shall be thirty feet long, twenty eight feet wide, and two stories high, voted, that Lemuel San- ford, Thomas Williams, and Daniel Lion, (be) chosen committee for (building) s'd meting hous." Feb. 23d, 1730-1." You that are of the minds that all those persons that do, or hereafter may in- habit in this parish, which profess themselfs to be of the Church of England, shall have free liberty to come into this meting hous that is now in building, and attend the Publick worship of God there, ac- cording to the articles of faith agreed upon by the assembly of Divines at Seabrook, and established by the laws of this Government, and be seated in s'd hous according to their estats." November 3d, 1732. " Stephen Burr hath under- taken to cart stones and clay for the underpinning the meting hous for 1 Ib. 10s. OOd. Daniel Lion hath undertaken to underpin the meting hous and tend himself for 2 Ibs. 4s. Od. Daniel Lion hath under- taken to get the lath and lay them on for 3 Ibs. ()s. Od. Stephen Burr and Theophilus Hull are chosen committee to take care of the parsonage" (probably to secure a parsonage for the expected preacher, as it is not likely that one was then built). It was as yet, however, a church without a pastor. Mr. Elisha Kent had been called in October, 1730, but had declined,. as we infer from the silence of the records on the subject. A Society meeting held May 8th, 1732, extended a similar call to the Rev. Timothy Mix, and deputed Deacon George Hull " to go to the association at Stanford to ask advice con- 78 HISTORY OF REDDING ceming the settlement of Mr. Mix ;" but this call, a,s in the case of Mr. Kent, seems to have been de- clined. At length a unanimous call was made to the Rev. Nathaniel Hun, as follows : Jan. 31, 1732-3. "At a society meeting held in the parish (of) Reading, George Hull chosen Mode- rator for s'd meting, Mr. Nathaniel Hunn by a voit nemine contradicente was made chois of for the minister of s'd parish, furthermore it was voited at s'd meting to settle upon the s'd Mr. Humr s yearly sallery as followeth, that is, for the first year of his administration, seventy pounds current money or bills of Public Credit in ]N"ew England, the second year, seventy-five pounds, for the third year, eighty pounds, for the fourth year, eighty five pounds, the fifth year ninety pounds, the sixth year, ninety live pounds, the seventh year, a hundred pounds, all in currant money as af ores' d, and so on a hundred pounds a year during the term of his continuance in the ministry in s'd parish, and also to give the s'd Mr. Hunn the whole and sole priviledge of all the parsonage land belonging to s'd parish. and to provide him his firewood, during the term aboves'd, also to find him a convenient dwelling hous for the first five years, also to give the s'd Mr. Hunn, a hundred acres of land on or before the day of his ordination." Feb. 20th. 1732-3." It was voited that the ordina- tion of Mr. Hunn shall be on the 21st day of March next," and John Read and George Hull were cho- sen a committee " to represent the parish concern- ing the ordination of Mr. Hunn." From this point we have for a guide the church records in the hand- writing of Mr. Hunn, its settled pastor. It is called " A Book of Records Wherein is an account, 1st of the transactions of the church, 2d of persons ro HISTORY OF REDDING. 70 ceived to communion, 3rd of persons baptized, 4th of marriages, 5th of deaths, 6th of persons who re- new the covenant." The Rev. Sidney G. Law, in his Centennial Ser- mon, delivered at Redding, July 6th, 1876, thus speaks of Mr. Hunn's pastorate : " His first record is very brief for so important a matter, viz. : ' March 21st, 1733, I was separated to the work of the ministry by prayer and fasting, and the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery.' The next record gives the choice of deacons, viz. : l At a church meeting March 29, 1733, we made choice of Stephen Burr for a deacon, and some time after we chose Theo. Hull to the same service. . . . ' The next records relate to the adoption of Tate and Brady' s version of the Psalms, first for one month, and then for the indefinite future. The first mem- bers of the church enumerated by Mr. Hun were as follows : Col. John Read and wife, Theophilus Hull and wife, George Hull and wife, Peter Burr and wife, Daniel Lion and wife, Daniel Bradley and wife, Stephen Burr and wife, Ebenezer Hull and wife, John Griff en, Nathaniel Sanford, Thomas Fair- child, Lemuel Sanford, Benjamin Lion and wife, Alary wife of Richard Lion, Isaac Hull, Esther wife of Thomas Williams, Esther wife of Benjamin Ham- ilton. Thus it appears that the church was organ- ized with twenty-six members, including the two deacons, about the time that Mr. Hun was ordained, viz., the 21st of March, 1733. Mr. Hunn married Ruth, a sister of Col. Read,* He was pastor of the church sixteen years. During this time he received * She -was a daughter of the Hon. John Read, who settled at Lonc- towu in 1714. Both Mr. Law and Mr. Barber are in error in suppos- ing that the original John Read lived and died in Redding-. He re- moved to Boston in 1722, and his son John succeeded to his title, and to the manor at Lone-town. The latter is the one mentioned hi these records. 80 HISTORY OF REDDING. about ninety-two members into the church, the most of them by letter of recommendation from neighboring churches. He performed thirty-live marriages and one hundred and ninety-two bap- tisms. He died while on a journey, and was buried in Boston in 1749. His widow, Ruth Hunn, died in 1766, and was buried near her brother, Col. John Read, in the cemetery west of the parsonage." Mr. Hunn's administration seems to have been a happy and prosperous one, and few events of im- portance occurred during its continuance. The rec- ords are taken up with cases of church discipline, with additions to his salary, providing his lirewood, and with repairs to the meeting-house. In 1738 it was voted " to finish glassing the met- ing hous, and to finish seating the meting hous as is begun, and do something to the pulpit." In 1739, " voted, that Sergt. Joseph Lee shall get Mr. Hun's wood, and have seven pounds for it." " Voted that the place for putting up warnings for society meet- ings be changed from Umpawaug to the mill door." In 1740, u voted to rectifie the meting hous in the following articles, viz. to put in new glass where it is wanting, and to mend the old. To lay some beams in the gallery and double floor. To fasten the meting hous doors ; to make stairs up the gal- lery ; to put a rail on the foreside of the gallery," and " that the place for parish meeting shall be at the school house, by the meting hous for the future." In 1741, "voted, to seat the meting hous in the lower part with plain strong seats." In 1742, "voted to iinpower the parish committee to agree with a person to beat the drum as a signal to HISTORY OF REDDING. 81 call the people together on the sabbath." Again Feb. 15, 1743-4, " It was voted, that the timber and boards provided for seating the meeting honse, shall be improved to that end for the use of the Parish." These entries though unimportant in themselves give us pleasant glimpses of the healthy and active life of the church. Mr. Hunn died in the summer or fall of 1749, and for the four following years the church was without a pastor. A call w r as extended to Mr. Solomon Mead in March, 1751, without suc- cess, and in November of the same year to the Rev. Tzrahiah Wetmore, with a like result. The interim was improved by the people, however, in building a new church, which stood nearly on the site of the present edifice. The first action in this important matter was taken at a Society meeting held Feb. 9,1748, when it was put to vote " whether it be necessary to build a new meting hous in s'd Parish," and passed in the af- firmative ; whereupon " Left. Joseph Sanford" was appointed agent for the Society to prefer a memo- rial to the next General Assembly, " to affix the p]ace whereon the meeting house should be built." The successive stages by which the building grew to completion are defined in a very interesting manner in the records." Dec. 29th, 1799, " It was voted that Beacon Burr and others be a committee to see that there is timber got, and sawmill logs for a meeting house in this Parish, s'd timber to be 37 ft in width and 46 ft in length." Jan. 17th, 1750, the County Court in session at Fairfield, on the memorial of Redding, appointed Thomas Benedict, Esq., and Capt. Josiah Starr, of Danbury, and Samuel 7 82 HISTORY OF RFJDDIKQ. Olmsted, Esq., of Bidgefield, a committee to affix the place whereon the meeting-house should be built ; to act with these, the Society appointed a committee composed of John Read, Stephen Burr, Joseph Sanford and Ephraim Jackson. Jan. 29th, 1751, a committee was appointed " to agree with some persons to build the new meting hous." It would appear that ground had not been broken for it as early as April 25th, 1751, for at that date a committee was appointed to meet the County Court's committee " to find a place for the meeting house." It was probably completed and ready for use early in the summer of 1752, as on the 22d of June of that year a call was extended to the Rev. Mr. Tammage to be their preacher, and the old meet- ing house was sold to Jehu Burr for 34. The manner in which this meeting-house was " seated" (which did not occur until 1763) is an interesting commentary on the manners and customs of the day, and has the further merit of novelty, it being doubtful if another record can be found in JN"ew England detailing so minutely the method of assign- ing pews in the early Puritan churches. We copy from the records of a Society meeting held at, Widow Sanford' s, June 23d, 1763 : " Put to vote whether the meeting house of s'd society shall be seated in ye form following viz. a com'te being appointed to Dignify ye pews and other seats in s'd Meeting House the Respective members of s'd society shall sit in s'd pews and seats accord- ing to their Rank and Degree to be computed by their several lists and age, viz. upon ye two last years lists, and to allow three pound per year to be added to a person's List for his advancement in a HISTORY OF REDDING. 83 seat, and all at ye discresion of s' d com' te who shall be appointed to Dignify s'd pews and seats, and to inspect the Respective lists and ages of s'd mem- bers." The committee appointed was Joseph Sanford, Ebenezer Couch, and Stephen Burr ; but Messrs. San- ford and Burr declining to act, Ephraim Jackson and Joseph Banks were chosen in their place." This committee was unable to settle the question satisfactorily, and a meeting was held August llth, 1763, at which the following action was taken : " It was put to vote whether the Dignity of ye pews and seats in ye meeting house should be in the following manner viz. ye pew adjoining ye pulpit stairs first in Dignity : ye Pew adjoining ye grait doors, west side, second in Dignity : the fore seat third in Dignity, the second pew west of ye pulpit, fourth, the second seat, fifth : the second pew north from the west door, sixth : the fifth pew north of ye west door seventh : the third pew north of the west door, eighth : the second pew west of ye grait doors ninth : the first pew south of ye west door, tenth : the third seat, eleventh : the second pew south of the west door twelfth : the fourth seat, thirteenth the front seat in ye gallery, fourteenth : the fore seat on ye side of the gallery, fifteenth : the pews and seats upon ye east end of ye meeting house of Equal Dignity with those upon the west side in the same manner and order as they are above men- tioned. Passed in the negative." Three months later another meeting was called, and adopted the following plan : ' ' The respective members of the society shall sit in ye pews and seats of the meeting house of s'd Society according to their rank or degree, to be com- 84 HISTORY OF REDDING. puted by their respective lists and ages, viz. upon the lists given in upon the years 17ol and 1761 and 1762, and to allow three pounds per year to be added to a person's list for his advancement in a seat or pew the Respective lists and ages of s'd members are to be inspected, also to give the committee chosen at this meeting power to seat those that are new comers, and have not . . in s'd society, to seat them at s'd committee's discresion. " Likewise to seat ye "Widows in s'd Society at the best of ye Committee's judgment, which method of seating s'd meeting house shall continue until s'd Society at their meeting shall order otherwise. " Also voted that s'd com'te shall seat those women whose husbands belong to the Church of England at their discresion." The Rev. Nathaniel Bartlett, the second pastor of the church, was ordained May 23d, 1753, the next year after the church was built. From the record in his own handwriting, we learn that the ministers who assisted at his ordination were as follows : " The Rev. Mr. "White of Danbury made the first prayer. The Rev. Mr. Todd of East Guilfoid preached the sermon. Rev. Mr. Kent made the ordaining prayer. Rev. Mr. Mills of Ripston gave the charge, Rev. Mr. Judson, of Newtown gave the right hand of fellowship, and Rev. Mr. Ingersoll of Ridgefield made the concluding prayer." Mr. Bartlett came to Redding when a young man fresh from his collegiate studies, and continued pas- tor of the church over which he was ordained for fifty -seven years the longest pastorate, it is said, known to the New England churches. He is de- scribed as a gentleman of the o]d school, kind and considerate, of an equable temper, a just man, a fine HISTORY OF REDDING. 85 scholar, and an eloquent preacher. During his term of service the crude settlement in the wilderness assumed the dignity of a town. The church grew from infancy to manhood and the country passed from the position of dependent colonies to that of free and sovereign states. In the War of Independ- ence Mr. Bartlett's sympathies were entirely with the patriot cause ; two of his sons entered the army, munitions of war were stored in his house, and he himself frequently officiated as chaplain during the encampment of Putnam's division in the town in the winter of 1779. Like many of the New England clergymen of that day, he was the teacher of such youths in his charge as might desire a liberal educa- tion, and among the many whom he thus fitted for usefulness was the celebrated poet and statesman, Joel Barlow. Mr. Bartlett died Jan. 11, 1810, and was buried in the old cemetery west of the church. The simple inscription upon his tombstone reads as follows : THE REV. NATHANIEL BARTLETT. Died, January 11, 1810, aged 83 years. "I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." JESUS CHRIST. During the entire period of Mr. Bartlett's ministry we have in the church records but one entry of im- portance, and that is of interest as marking the or- ganization of the Episcopal Society in the town. This entry is as follows : " To Seth S. Smith of Redding, in Fail-field Co. Greeting, Whereas by law the Episcopal Church in said Redding is become a distinct society whereby 86 HISTORY OF REDDING. the members of the Presbyterian church in said Red- ding have become the first society in said town. These are therefore by authority of the State of Con- necticut to command you to warn and give notice to all the members of said lirst society, and all others who by law are obliged to contribute toward the support, and the worship, and the ministry with the same, to meet at the meeting house in said Redding on Monday the 20th of December at 12 in order to choose a moderator and necessary officers. " REDDING, December 14, 1785." The Rev. Jonathan Bartlett, third minister of the church, was ordained as colleague with his father, Rev. Nathaniel Bartlett, in 1796. The first of the church records in his handwriting is as follows : " Feb. 3, 1796. I was separated to the work of the ministry and ordained as colleague with my father Nathaniel Bartlett over the Congregational church in Redding in Gospel order and form. The minis- ters who performed the work were as follows viz. the Rev. Israhiel Wetmore chosen Moderator, Rob- ert Ross made the ordaining prayer, Elisha Rexford made the introductory prayer, David Ely preached the sermon. Imposition of hands by N. Bartlett, R. Ross and Rexford. John Ely gave the right hand of fellowship, Samuel AV. Stebbins made the concluding grayer. ' ' Of the life and ministry of this most excellent man, one who knew r him intimately, the Rev. Thomas P. Davies, thus wrote : " In February, 1796, Mr. Bartlett was ordained colleague with his father, and after a faithful minis- try of thirteen years, greatly esteemed and beloved by his people, was dismissed on account of ill-health, and by his own request. His heart was gladdened HISTORY OF REDDING. 87 near the close of his pastoral life by a powerful and general revival of religion among the people of his charge. After his dismission, and when his health had been in a degree restored, he preached from time to time to destitute congregations in the vicin- ity, and at different periods, as occasion required, to the church of which he had been pastor, with great acceptation and usefulness. As a preacher he was eminently distinguished, for he was a man ' mighty in the Scriptures.' Large portions of the Word of God, entire epistles even, dwelling in his memory, and when an impaired vision rendered the perusal of a book difficult or painful, he reviewed in his own mind, and often rehearsed to others, portions of the Scriptures with comments which rendered his society delightful and instructive. He was a man of native eloquence, and great skill in the examination and exhibition of the subjects which came before him. He was a scribe, ' well instructed in the things of the kingdom, a workman that needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. ? While aiding other societies, he was eminently a ben- efactor to the church and society of which he had been a pastor, for in addition to the ministerial ser- vices gratuitously rendered, he gave in money in his various benefactions more to the society than the entire amount received from it during the whole period of his ministry, and has also left it a legacy of three thousand dollars. Useful, honored, and be- loved he lived in his native town, inhabiting for nearly a century the same residence, for he was born in the house in which he died. With a calm and humble trust in God, in the entire possession of his mental powers, and with little apparent suffering, he fell asleep in Jesus." Rev. Daniel Crocker, of Bedford, IN". Y.. was called in August, 1809, as colleague with .Rev. Na- thaniel Bartlett. He was a good man and a success- ful pastor, and served the church fifteen years, being 88 HISTORY OF REDDING. dismissed in 1824. The Rev. Charles De Witt Tap- pen was called, but not settled. The next pastor chosen was Mr. William C. Kniffen in 1825. He was dismissed in 1828. The Rev. Burr Baldwin was next called, but not settled. The next pastor was the Rev. AA'illiam L. Strong, formerly pastor at Somers, Tolland Co., Conn. He was installed June 23d, 1830, and dismissed Feb. 26th, 1835. In Sep- tember, 1835, following Mr. Strong's dismissal, a sub- scription was commenced for the erection of the pres- ent church edifice, which was built in 1836. The expense was not to exceed $2500 with the old meet- ing-house. In December of the same year a unani- mous call was extended to the Rev. David C. Corn- stock, but was not accepted at that time. In March, 1837, Rev. Daniel E. Manton was called, but not set- tled. In June of the same year the Rev. Jeremiah Miller was called, and was installed July 12th, 1837. Mr. Miller was dismissed in 1839. In the following- year, 1840, Mr. David C. Comstock was ordained and installed pastor of the church. He was dis- missed in 1845. After him Daniel D. Frost, after preaching as stated supply for eighteen months, was ordained December 30th, 1845. He continued pas- tor ten years, being dismissed October 13th, 1856. In 1857 the pulpit was supplied by the Rev. Mr. Root. In 1858 the Rev. Enoch S. Huntington supplied the pulpit one year. He presented the communion ser- vice to the church, for which he received its thanks. In 1859 the church was remodelled and painted, re- ceiving the beautiful fresco which still adorns it. In 1860 Rev. AY. D. Herrick became pastor, and so con- tinued until 1864. After him Rev. E. B. Hunting- ton, and also Rev. Mr. Barnum, preached for a short HISTORY OF REDDING. SO time. Rev. S. F. Farmer supplied in 1865. Rev. K. B. Glidden was installed September 12th, 1866 ; resigned December, 1868. In 1869 tlie Rev. Charles Chamberlain became acting pastor. He resigned in September, 1871. Rev. Sidney G. Law, to whom I am indebted for the above summary of the later history of the church, became acting- pastor June 1st, 1872, and after a prosperous ministry of six years resigned in 1878. Rev. W. J. Jennings, the present pastor, was in- stalled December 17th, 1879. Some statistics of this ancient church ready gathered to my hand will prove interesting and valuable. The complete list of those who have served it as pastors, with the date of their ordination and dismissal, is as follows : MINISTERS. SETTLED. DISMISSED. DIED. Nathaniel Hunn Mar. 21, 1733 1749. Nathaniel Bartlett. . . May 23, 1753 Jan. 11, 1810. Jonathan Bartlett ! Feb. 3, 1796. . . June 7, 1809.. . Mar. 22, 1858 Duniel Crocker !Oct. 4, 1809 . . . Oct. 24, 1824. William C. Kuiffen. .JJune 8, 1825. . .iD.-c. 17, 1828. J William L. Strong. .. 'June 23, 1830.. i Feb. 26, 1885.. I Jeremiah Miller July 12, 1837. JJuly 23, 1839..! David C. Comstock. . .Mar. 4, 1840. . . April 8, 1845. Daniel D. Frost Dec. 30, 1846. . Oct. 15, 1856. . Enoch S. Hnntington. 1858 U859 W. D. Herrick 1860 1864 K. B. Glidden Sept. 12, 1866.. Dec., 1868. . Charles Chamberlain. 1869 Sept., 1871. Sidney G. Law June 1, 1872.. . June 1, 187! DEACONS. APPOINTED. DEACONS. APPOINTED. Stephen Burr 1733 Lemuel San lord 1808 Theophllus Hull 1733 Aaron Read 1808 Lemuel Sanford 1740 Joel Foster 1820 Daniel Mallory 1740 Lemuel Hawley 1832 Joseph Banks' 1776 Samuel Read 1832 Simon Couch 1776 Charles D. Smith 1854 Lemuel Sanford 1785 Rufus Meade 1854 Stephen Betts 1785 [ Thaddeus M. Abbott. 1854 90 HISTORY OF REDDING REVIVALS. YEAR. CON VERSIONS. YEAR. CONVERSIONS- 1808-9 75 1838 30 1823 40 1852 24 1829 8 1855 . 12 1831 .... ... ... 20 The present membership of the church is 119. Males, 40 ; females, 79. CHAPTER VI. (' II R I 8 T C II U R C II . 1752-1879. BY REV. AI,ANSON WELTON. THE present town of Redding is one of the few places in the old Colony of Connecticut where the Episcopal ministry is entitled to the distinction of having been first on the ground, laying foundations, and not building upon those already laid. The Church of England \vas not planted in New England without strenuous and bitter opposition from the Puritans, who were first in the field. By old Eng- lish law, indeed, that church was established in all the plantations ; yet it is manifest from the records of the colonial legislation of the charter government of Connecticut, that previously to 1727, the church of which the king was a member was not recognized as having a right to exist. Congregationalism was the established religion. " in opposition to which there could be no ministry or church administration entertained or attended by the inhabitants of any HISTORY OF REDDING. 91 town or plantation, upon penalty of fifty pounds for every breach, of this act ;" and every person in the colony was obliged to pay taxes for the support of this establishment. In this uncongenial soil the Anglican Church of Connecticut was planted strange to say. not by foreign-born missionaries, but by seceders from the ministry of the Congregationalists. The pioneers in this movement were Timothy Cutler, Rector of Yale College, Daniel Brown, Tutor ; James Wetmore, of Xorth Haven ; and Samuel Johnson, of West Haven, a former tutor in the college. These gentlemen, after a professedly careful and prayerful examination of the subject of church order, discipline, and worship, which resulted in a conviction that the English Church followed most closely the teaching of the Scriptures and the practice of the church of the first ages, sent to the trustees of the college a formal statement of their views, and declared for Episcopacy to the no small surprise and consternation of their colleagues in the college and church. The four went to Eng- land for Episcopal ordination, where Brown died. The three survivors returned in 1722, as missionaries of the " Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts," Johnson only being sent to Con- necticut. The ante-Revolutionary history of the church at Redding Ridge is mostly to be found in the archives of this Society, as published in the " Documentary History of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Connecticut," and the Rev. Dr. Beards- ley's " History of the Episcopal Church in Connec- ticut" from which sources, mainly, this sketch has been compiled. 92 HISTORY OF REDDING. A letter was addressed to the secretary of the S. P. G., dated October 19th, 1722, signed by John Glover and twelve other heads of families in Xew- town, Thomas Wheeler, of Woodbury, and Moses Knapp, of Chestnut Ridge, thanking the Society for the services of the Rev. George Pigot, missionary at Stratford, and earnestly soliciting the appointment of a missionary for themselves at Newtown. The next year, 1723, Mr. Pigot was transferred to Newport, R. I., and the Rev. Samuel Johnson, his successor at Stratford, " accepted all his missionary duties in Connecticut." In 1727, the Rev. Henry Caner [pronounce Canner] was sent to Fairfield, of which town Chestnut Ridge was a part. After having named in his report the several villages or hamlets in the vicinity of his sta- tion, he says : " Besides these, there is a village northward from Fairfield about eighteen miles, con- taining near twenty families, where there is no min- ister at all, of any denomination whatsoever ; the name of it is Chestnut Ridge, and where I usually preach or lecture once in three weeks." In 1728 he says there are four villages " about Fairfield, Green Farms, Greenfield, Poquannuck and Chestnut Ridge, three of them about four miles distant, the last about sixteen. The same year, the name of Moses Knapp appears as a vestryman of the church at Fairfield. In 1729, " Moses Knap, Nathan Lion, and Daniel Crofoot" objected, in a meeting of the [Presbyteri- an] " Society of Redding" ''against" the " hiering" any other than a minister of the Church of England. These three names appear again in the list of .Mr. HISTORY OF KEDDING. 93 Beach's parishioners in 1738. The Rev. Dr. Bur- hams [Churchman's Magazine, 1823] says: "The first Churchman in Reading was a Mr. Richard Lyon, from Ireland, who died as early as 1735. ' ' He also says on the authority of "an aged member of the Church in Reading," that "Messrs. [Richard?] Lyon, [Stephen] Morehouse, [Moses] Knapp, [Joshua] Hal], [William] Hill, [Daniel] Crofoot, and [Lieut. Samuel] Fairchild, appear to have composed the first Church in Reading." Nathan Lyon died in ! ?.">?, in the fifty-fourth year of his age. Mr. Caner reported in 1728 seven families at Chestnut Ridge ; the number reminding us of the "House of Wis- dom" with its " Seven Pillars," as the first Puritan ( organization at New Haven was named. Mr. Caner was succeeded at Chestnut Ridge, in 1732, by the Rev. John Beach, a pupil of Johnson in Yale College, and afterward Presbyterian minister at Xewtown for several years. As Mr. Beach was a resident of East Redding for about twenty years, and pastor of this church full half a century, his history is substantially that of the parish, or mission, over which he presided. His pastorate was the longest of all the ante-Revolutionary clergy. He was born in Stratford, October 6th, 1700 ; graduated from Yale at the age of twenty -one, and licensed to preach soon afterwards. He is said to have been selected for the Presbyterian pastorate atNewtown as a " popu- lar and insinuating young man," well fitted to check the growth of Episcopacy, which was there thriving under the ministry of Caner and Johnson. Many Churchmen must have " joined in settling him with Presbyterian ordination," for in 1722 they claimed 94: HISTORY OF REDDING. to be a majority of the population, whereas, for some- time after his " settlement," Mr. Johnson ministered to only about five families. " From these visits . . . frequent and earnest discussions resulted be- tween the two teachers, the influence of which was soon evident to Mr. Beach's congregation. After two or three years of patient study and meditation he alarmed his congregation by his frequent use of the Lord's Prayer ; and still more by reading whole chapters from the Word of God. Next he ventured to condemn a custom, common in their meetings, of rising and bowing to the minister, as he came in among them, and instead of which he begged them to kneel down and worship God. At length [in January, 1731], " after he had been a preacher more than eight years, he told them from the pulpit that, ' From a serious and prayerful examination of the Scriptures, and of the records of the early ages of the Church, and from the universal acknowledgment of Episcopal government for fifteen hundred years, compared with the recent establishment of Presby- terian and Congregational discipline/ he was fully persuaded of the invalidity of his ordination, and of the unscriptural method of organizing and governing congregations as by them practised. He therefore, ' In the face of Almighty God,' had made up his mind to ' conform to the Church of England, as be- ing Apostolical in her ministry and discipline, ortho- dox in her doctrine, and primitive in her worship. 1 He affectionately exhorted them to weigh the sub ject well ; engaged to provide for the due adminis- tration of the sacraments while absent from them, and spoke of his intended return from England in HISTORY OF REDDING. 95 holy orders. So greatly was he beloved, that a large proportion of his people seemed ready to acquiesce in his determination." But the others, in evident alarm and consternation at this " threatened defection from their ranks," held a town meeting ' ' to consult " as to " what was possible to be done with the Rev. Mr. John Beach, under present diffi- culties ;" " voted to have a [day of] solemn fasting and prayer ; ... to call in the Ecclesiastical Council of Fairfield to direct and do what they shall think proper, under the . . . difficult circum- stances respecting the Rev. Mr. Beach, and the in- habitants of the town of Newtown also that the first Wednesday of February [1732] be appointed for the fast." The council met, and in spite of Mr. Beach's re- monstrances proceeded to depose him from the min- istry. "From this resulted a printed discussion" between him and his deposers, which ultimately helped rather than hindered the Church of England. Mr. Beach returned from England in Episcopal orders, and took charge of the Newtown and Red- ding mission in the autumn of 1732. From this pe- riod his history and that of his mission may be more accurately told in the language of his own letters to the Secretary of the S. P. G. " NEWTOWN IN CONNECTICUT, August 7th, 1735. k ' REVEREND SIR, I think it my duty to acquaint the venerable Society with the present state of my parish, although the alteration since my last has not been very considerable. I have baptized twenty- nine children and admitted twenty-live persons more to the communion, so that the number . . . HISTORY OF REDDING. now at Newtown, Reading, and the places adjacent, is ninety-five. I preach frequently and administer the Sacrament at Rldgefield . . . about eight- een miles distant . . . where there are about fourteen or eighteen families of very serious and religious people who have a just esteem of the Church of England, and are very desirous to have the opportunity of worshipping God in that way. I have constantly preached, one Sunday at Newtown ; and the other at Reading ; and after I have preached at Reading in the day-time, I ... preach at Newtown in the evening : and although I have not that success I could wish for, yet I do. and hope I always shall, faithfully endeavour (as far as my poor ability will allow,) to promote that good work, that the venerable Society sent and main- tained for me. I am, Rev. Sir, " Your most humble servant, " JOHN BEACH."" As a specimen of his manner of defending himself against personal attacks we have the following from a controversial pamphlet, in reply to John Dickin- son, of New Jersey, in 1736 : " I have evened the scale of my judgement as much as possibly I could, and to the best of my knowledge, I have not allowed one grain of worldly motive on either side. I have supposed myself on the brink of eternity, just going into the other world, to give up my acccount to my great Judge ; and must I be branded for an antichrist or heretic, or apostate, be- cause my judgement determines that the Church of England is most agreeable to the AYord of God ? I can speak in the presence of God, who knows my heart better than you do, that I would willingly turn Dissenter again, if you, or any man living will show me reason for it. But it must be reason (whereby I exclude not the Word of God, which is the highest HISTORY OF REDDING. 97 reason.) and not sophistry and calumny, as you have hitherto used, that will convince a lover of truth and right." In 1739 he says: "I have one hundred and twenty-three communicants, but they live so far dis- tant from each other, that commonly I can adminis- ter to no more than about fifty at once, which occa- sions my administering it the more frequently ; and, though I meet with many discouragements, yet I have this satisfaction, that all my communicants (one or two excepted) do adorn their profession by a sober, righteous and godly life." In 1743, some three years after Whiteiield began his famous "re- vival of Puritanism," Mr. Beach says : " My people are not at all shaken, but rather confirmed in their principles by the spirit of enthusiasm that rages among the Independents roundabout us ; and many of the Dissenters, observing how steadfast our peo- ple are . . . while those of their own denomi- nation are easily carried away with every kind of doctrine, have conceived a much better opinion of our Church than they formerly had, and a considera- ble number in this colony have lately conformed, and several Churches are now building where they have no minister. . . . Were there in this country but one of the Episcopal order, to whom young men might apply for ordination, without the expense and danger of a voyage to England, many of our towns might be supplied which must now remain desti- tute." (This letter is dated at " Reading, in New England," as all his published reports are, between 1740 and 1760.) " My people are poor, (he con- tinues) and have but few negro slaves, but all they 08 HISTORY OF REDDING. have, I have, after instruction, baptized, and some of them are communicants/' In October of the same year he says : " I beg the venerable Society's direction in an affair I am just now perplexed with. There are about twenty families ... at Xew- Milford and New-Fairfield, which are about fifteen miles hence. I preach to them several times a year, but seldom on the Lord's day. They frequently corne to Church at ISewtown ; but by reason of the distance, they can't attend constantly, and their families very seldom, and. when they can't come to Church, they meet together in their own town, and one of their number reads some part of the common pniyer and a sermon. They are now building a Church. . . . But the Independents, to suppress the design in its infancy, . . . have lately prose- cuted and fined them for their meeting to worship God according to the common prayer. . . . The case of these poor people is very hard ; if, on the Lord's day, they continue at home, they must be punished ; if they meet to worship God according to the Church of England in the best manner they can, the mulct is much greater ; and if they go to the Independent meeting . . . they must endure the mortification of hearing the Church vilified." After the death of the Rev. Joshua Honeyman missionary at Newport R. I. in 1750, the church of which he had the care, petitioned the Society that Mr. Beach might be sent to them, as their minister. The petition was granted, but Mr. Beach felt con- strained, on account of feeble health to decline the appointment ; fearing, as he said, that " the people might complain that a woriiout man was imposed upon them.'' HISTORY OF REDDING. 09 The first church on Redding Ridge, which was built in 1733, and was quite small, was in 1750 re- placed by another on the same site, fifty feet long and thirty-six wide, surmounted by a turret, which, in 1797, was replaced by a steeple in which was placed the first bell. This church, according to the style of the period, was furnished with square, high- backed pews, with seats on their four sides ; so that some of their occupants had to sit with their backs to the minister. And though others doubtless be- sides Bishop Jarvis " could see no necessary con- nection between piety and freezing," there was no heating apparatus in the ch arches until considerably past the beginning of the present century. " Trinity Church, New Haven, had no means of being warmed until 1822, and none of the rural churches were sup- plied with stoves until a much later period." Many persons in the rural districts were in the habit of walking several miles, barefooted, to church in sum- mer, and probably did not feel the lack of shoes a great privation. So common was it for men to go to church without their coats, that the first time Bishop Seabury preached in New Haven, a dissenting hearer reported that "he preached in his shirt-sleeves." Often the family was mounted, the parents with a child in arms to be christened, upon one horse, and the older children upon another. Sometimes the whole family were clustered together upon the ox- cart or sled, and thus they went up to the house of God. In 1759, three years after the breaking out of the "Old French War," Mr. Beach, writing from " Reading, Connecticut, in N. England," says : 100 U1STORT OF REDDING. " My parish is in a flourishing condition, in all re- spects, excepting that we have lost some of our young men in the army ; more, indeed by sickness than by the sword, for this countrymen do not bear a campaign so well as Europeans." Dr. Johnson's playful remark to his son that, " Mr. Beach had always these seeming inconsisten- cies, to be always dying, and yet relishing mundane things," would seein to indicate that his friend was not really so near death' s-door as he often imagined himself : for example, in 1761, when he says : " My painful and weak state of body admonishes me that, although this may not be the last time of my writ- ing, yet the last cannot be far off ;" and he had sup- posed himself a " worn out man" several years be- fore. Writing from "New-Town Oct. 3, 1764," he re- ports : " My congregation at Reading has increased very little for some years past, by reason that many who were wont to attend there, though living at a distance of 6, 8, or 10 miles, have lately built [each] a small church near them, where they can more conveniently meet ; viz., at Danbury, Ridgbury, North Fairfield and North Stratford ; which has very much retarded the growth of the congregation at Reading : which . . . now consists of about 300 hearers at one time." Under date of April, 1765, he says : " I am now engaged in a controversy with some of the Independent Ministers about those absurd doctrines, the sum of which is contained in a thesis published by New Haven College last Sep- tember. . . . They expressly deny that there is any law of Grace, which promises eternal life upon HISTORY OF REDDING. 101 the condition of faith, repentance and sincere obe- dience ; and assert justification only by the law of innocence and sinless obedience. Though my health is small, and my abilities less, I make it a rule never to enter into any dispute with them unless they begin, yet now they have made the assault, and ad- vocate such monstrous errors as do subvert the Gos- pel, I think myself obliged by my ordination vow, to guard the people as well as I can against such strange doctrines." Again he writes in October of the same year, after the publication of that precursor of Revolution, the memorable " Stamp Act," of 1765 : " My parishes continue much in the same condition as in my last. I have of late, taken pains to warn my people against having any concern with seditious tumults with re- lation to the stamp duty enjoined upon us by the Legislature at home : and I can with truth and pleas- ure say, that I cannot discover the least inclination towards rebellious conduct in an}' of the Church people." A year later he says: '"For some time past, I have not been without fear of being abused by a lawless set of men who style themselves the Sons of Liberty, for no other reason than that of en- deavoring to cherish in my people a quiet submis- sion to the civil government. . . . It is very re- markable, that in part of this Colony, in which many missions and Church people abound, there the people are vastly more peaceable and ready to ren- der obedience to the Government of England ; but where there is no mission and few or no Church peo- ple, they are continually caballing, and will spill the last drop of blood, rather than submit to the 102 HISTORY OF REDDING. late Act of Parliament." In 1767 he says : " It is some satisfaction to me to observe, that in this town [Newtown], of late, in our elections, the Church people make the major vote, which is the first in- stance of this kind in this Colony, if not in all New England." Again in 1769: "There are in these two parishes about 2400 souls, of whom, a little more than half profess the Church of England. Here are about fifty negroes, most of whom after proper instruction have been baptized. Here are no heathens or infidels. I commonly bap- tize about 100 children in one year, among them some black children. My actual communicants are 312. Here are no Papists or Deists." In 1771 he writes : " In Reading, my hearers at once are about 300. There is a meeting of Presbyterians about two and a half miles from our Church, in which the con- gregation is not so large as ours. In a manner, all ... who live near the Church join with us ; scarce any go by the Church to meeting." "The Church, (he says in 1774) stands not in the centre of the town, but on one side, to accommodate the Church people, who live near, though out of the bounds of Reading." One of the most interesting of his reports is that of May oth, 1772 : " It is now forty years since I have had the ad- vantage of being the venerable Society' s Missionary in this place. . . . Every Sunday I have per- formed divine service, and preached twice, at New Town and Reading alternately ; and in these forty years I have lost only two Sundays, through sick- ness ; although in all that time I have been afflicted HISTORY OF REDDING. 103 with a constant cholic which has not allowed me one day's ease, or freedom from pain. The distance be- tween the Church ... is between eight and nine miles, and no very good road ; yet I have never failed ... to attend at each place according to custom, through the badness of the weather, but have rode it in the severest rains and snow storms, even when there has been no track, and my horse near sinking down in the snow-banks ; which has had this good effect on my parishioners, that they are ashamed to stay from Church on account of bad weather. ... I have performed divine service in many towns where the Common Prayer had never been heard, nor the Holy Scriptures read in public, and where now are flourishing congregations of the Church of England ; and in some places where there never had been any public worship at all, nor ser- mon preached by any teacher, of any denomination. " In my travelling to preach the Gospel, once was my life remarkably preserved, in passing a deep and rapid river. The retrospect of my fatigues, lying on straw &c, gives me pleasure ; while I flatter myself that my labor has not been quite in vain ; for the Church of England people are increased more than 20 to 1, and what is infinitely more pleasing, many of them are remarkable for piety and virtue ; and the Independents here are more knowing in matters of religion, than they who live at a distance from the Church. We live in harmony and peace with each other, and the rising generation of Inde- pendents seem to be entirely free from every pique and prejudice against the Church." In a previous report he said: " They who set up the worship of God according to our Liturgy, at Lanesboro', at Nobletown and Arlington, proceed chiefly from my parishes. But notwithstanding these frequent emi- grations, my congregations increase." His last report, which was made about six months 104 IIISTORY OF REDDING. before his death, is dated October 31st, 1781, and is as follows : "It is a long time since I have done my duty in writing to the venerable Society, not owing to my carelessness, but to the impossibility of conveyance from here. And now I do it sparingly. A narra- tive of my troubles I dare not now give. My two congregations are growing : that at Heading being commonly about 300 and at New Town about 600. 1 baptized about 130 children in one year, and lately 2 adults. New Town and the Church of England, part of Reading are, I believe, the only parts of New England that have refused to comply with the doings of the Congress, and for that reason have been the butt of general hatred. But God has pre- served us from entire destruction. " I am now in the 82d year of my age ; yet do constantly, alternately, perform and preach at New Town and Reading. I have been 60 years a public preacher, and, after conviction, in the Church of England 50 years ; but had I been sensible of my inefficiency, I should not have undertaken it. But now I rejoice in that I think I have done more good towards men's eternal happiness, than I should have done in any other calling. " I do most heartily thank the venerable Society for their liberal support, and beg that they will ac- cept of this, which is, I believe, my last bill, viz : 325, which, according to former custom, is due. [Probably at 50 per annum for six years and a half, or from 1775.] At this age I cannot well hope for it, but I pray God I may have an oppor- tunity to explain myself with safety ; but must con- clude now with Job's expression : t Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends ! ' Tradition has preserved a few incidents in his ex- perience during the War of Independence : HISTORY OF REDDING. 105 " In the autumn of 1775, several officers of the militia, having collected a number of soldiers and volunteers from the different towns in Western Con- necticut, undertook to subdue the tones. They went first to Newtown, where they put Mr. Beach, the Selectmen, and other principal inhabitants, un- der strict guard, and urged them to sign the Articles of Association, prescribed by the Congress at Phila- delphia. When they could prevail upon them neither by persuasion nor by threats, they accepted a bond from them, with a large pecuniary penalty, not to take up arms against the Colonies, and not to discourage enlistments into the American forces." Shortly after the declaration of Independence (i.e., July 23d, 1776) the Episcopal clergy of the colony fearing to continue the use of the Liturgy as it then stood praying for the king and royal family and conscientiously scrupulous about violating their oaths and subscriptions, resolved to suspend the public exercise of their ministry. ' ' All the churches were thus for a time closed, except those under the care of Mr. Beach. . . . He continued to offi- ciate as usual' ' (as himself testifies) during the war. " Though gentle as a lamb in the intercourse of pri- vate life, he was bold as a lion in the discharge of public duty ; and, when warned of personal violence if he persisted, he declared that he would do his duty, preach, and pray for the King till the rebels cut out his tongue.' ' Whether the following were separate incidents, or are but different versions of one and the same, is uncertain : It is related that a squad of soldiers marched into his church in Newtown, and threat- 100 HISTORY OF REDDING. ened to shoot him if he prayed for the king ; but when, regardless of their threats, he went on, with- out so much as a tremor in his voice, to offer the for- bidden supplications, they were so struck with ad- miration for his courage, that they stacked their arms and remained to listen to the sermon. A band of soldiers entered his church during ser- vice, seized him, and declared that they would kill him. He entreated that, if his blood must be shed, it might not be in the house of God. Thereupon they took him into the street, where an axe and block were soon prepared. " Now, you old sinner (said one), say your last prayer. " He knelt down and prayed : " God bless King George, and forgive all his enemies and mine, for Christ's sake." One of the mob then pleaded to " let the old fellow go, and take some younger man instead." The following is 1'amiliar to the people of Redding Ridge parish. The old church of 1750 had a single door in the centre, and the pulpit and chancel were at the west end, opposite the door. A squad of sol- diers, seven in number (hired, it is said, by 'Squire Betts with a gallon of French brandy to shoot Mr. Beach), gathered before the open door of the church, and from one of them a bullet was fired which lodged in one of the ribs of the sounding-board, a foot or more above the head of the venerable preach- er. As the congregation sprang to their feet in unfeigned consternation to rush from the church, he quieted them by saying : " Don't be alarmed, breth- ren. Fear not them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul ; but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell;" and HISTORY OF REDDING. 107 then proceeded with his discourse as if nothing had happened. The " History of the Episcopal Church in Connec- ticut" informs us that " the Redding Association of Loyalists was a strong body, whose secret influence was felt throughout the mission of the venerable pastor ;' ' but how or in what way that influence was exerted, does not appear. The " Sons of Lib- erty' 7 have been already mentioned in Mr. Beach's reports. After the death of Mr. Beach in 1782, the Revs. Richard Samuel Clarke and Andrew Fowler offici- ated here alternately for a short time. Clarke emi- grated to Nova Scotia with others of the missiona- ries, and many of the members of their flocks, in 1784 or 1785. He returned on a visit in October, 1786. The discontinuance of the stipends of the missiona- ries by the S. P. G., whose charter restricted its ben- efactions to the British provinces and plantations, was a severe blow to the Episcopal churches, which had been already greatly weakened by the effects of the War of the Revolution. Mr. Beach's congrega- tions were exceptions to the general rule, in that they increased while others diminished in numbers ; but whether few or many of the Redding Churchmen formed a part of the thirty thousand Loyalists who, Hawkins says, emigrated to the British provinces from New ..England and New York, it is impossible to ascertain. It is not probable, however, that there were half that number of Churchmen in all New England at the close of the war. The next name on the list of ministers of this par- ish is that of Truman Marsh in 1785, who "visited 108 HISTORY OF REDDING. the Parish every third Sunday ;" but, as he was not ordained till 1790, he must have been only a licensed lay-reader, though it is not improbable that he preached as some of that class did, in those days when there was a dearth of ordained ministers. In 1794 the Rev. David Perry, M.D., minister of the parishes of Redding, Ridgefield, and Danbury, in consequence of some reports to his disadvantage as a clergyman, and of some errors in regard to baptism, was suspended from the ministry, and the next year, at his own request, deposed. He returned to the practice of medicine in Ridgefield. The revenues of the Church were gathered after the Revolution much as they were before. "The Episcopal parishes were taxed to build churches and to sustain religious services, and the Diocesan Con- vention assessed the parishes to provide for the Bishop's Fund. Each parish was required to make an annual return of what was called the ' Grand Levy' that is, its taxable list according to its last enrolment and upon this return rested the right of a lay delegate to his seat in the Convention. The resolution which fixed this rule was adopted in 1803. The first published Grand Levy appeared in the Journal of 1806 ; and from that time onward for fif- teen years the roll of the lay delegates was accom- panied by the taxable list of the several parishes which they represented. If the list of any parish exceeded ten thousand dollars, such parish was en- titled to . . . two delegates." The Grand Levy of the Redding parish in 1806 was 812,960, "It is interesting to note the changes since that period in the relative wealth of the Church in Con- HISTORY OF REDDING. 109 necticut. In those early days, as reported, Litchfield was stronger than Waterbury or Hartford, Wood- bridge was stronger than Meriden, Huntington than Derby, Redding than Bridgeport, and Newtown than New Haven." The longest pastorate since Mr. Beach was that of his great-grandson, the Rev. Lemuel B. Hull, who resigned his charge in 1836, after twelve years' ser- vice. " In 1815, a fund of a little more than $3000 was raised." On the second Tuesday in October, 1833 the year in which the present church edifice was built the Annual Convention of the Diocese at Norwich failed to organize for want of two more lay delegates to form a quorum. " On the morning of that day, at three o'clock, the steamboat JN"ew England, on her passage from New York to Hartford, having on board seventy-one persons, burst both her boilers near Essex, and eight persons were immediately killed and thirteen seriously injured. Among those who were fatally injured were Mr. John M. Heron and Dr. Samuel B. Whiting, lay delegates from Christ Church, Redding ; and they were within a mile of their landing-place at the time of the acci- dent." In the spring of that year several members of the parish withdrew by certificate ; among these was John Meeker, clerk. At a parish meeting, October 25th, 1834, the vestry were instructed " to take proper [legal] steps to procure the Records of the Parish from the hands of the late Clerk, without delay." At another meeting 110 HISTORY OF BEDDING. in December following, the agents of the parish (James Sanford, Jr., and Charles Beach) were authorized to "prosecute to final judgment such suits as they should deem necessary for the re- covery of the books, records, funds or other property of the Society, before any Court proper to try the same." In October, 1835, fifty dollars were appropriated from the parish treasury " to enable the agents to carry on the suit commenced against the heirs of John Meeker, deceased." Some money was thus re- covered, but the records have never yet been found. In 1847 the old parish debt of $870 (incurred in the building of the church in 1833) was paid by sub- scription. In 1850 the parish fund, about s2700, which be- fore had been held as a loan by members of the par- ish, was by a considerable effort, and against the desire and judgment of the minority, collected and invested in the stock of the Fairlield County Bank. The same year the church edifice was altered and repaired, at an expense of $380.25. " On Advent Sunday" of this year, " the last Sunday of my mrn- stry" (says the Rev. Joseph P. Taylor), " the sum of 8600 was collected at the Offertory for the pur- pose of building a new parsonage." " The above-named sum," says the Rev. Orsamus H. Smith, his successor, " having been put upon the plate in written pledges, there remains of them un- redeemed in April, 1853, from fifty to one hundred dollars," which being "part of the money relied upon for the building, . . . the Vestry were niSTORY OF REDD IN O. Ill obliged to borrow it. and it remains a debt upon the parish. The new house was finished in October, 1851, and immediately occupied by the family of Mr. Smith. In 1858, says the Key. W. W. Bronson : " The Glebe lot was very much improved by the purchase of a strip of land [on the west side] and the erec- tion of a suitable fence, mainly through the exer- tions of the ladies of the parish." In 1863 the organ was repaired, and the broken bell replaced by a new one of similar tone, from Meneeley's, at Troy. In 1873 the church spire was repaired, and the old [English] weathercock, a relic of Colonial times (one of whose legs had been shot off by one of Tryon' s soldiers in 1777), having persistently refused to re- main upon his perch, was excused from further duty, and a gilded cross erected in his place. The vener- able bird, however, is still to be seen on one of the outbuildings of the great-grandson of the Rev. John Beach, in East Redding. The parsonage was adorned in 1874 with a new and spacious veranda, in 1876 with a set of blinds. The noticeable incidents of the present year, 1879, are the destruction of the church sheds by fire on the evening of the 12th of May, and the acquisition of a baptismal font of Italian marble, purchased with contributions of the Sunday-school and other members of the parish, collected during the rector- ship of the Rev. Mr. Kelley. The number of nomi- nal communicants is sixty five ; of baptized persons, about one hundred and twenty. 112 HISTORY OF REDDING. LIST OF MINISTERS OFFICIATING IN THE PARISH OF CHRIST CHURCH, REDDING. TO Rev. Henry Caner 1727 1732 " John Beach lOct., 1732 Mar. 19,1783.... R. S.Clarke f alt - nate8 . 1782. . ,. . Andrew Fowler ) ' Truman Marsh 1785 ( Officiated a short " David Belden 178G -| time only, on ac- ( count of ill-health. " Ambrose Hull 1789 1791 David Perry, M.D 1791 Susp'd Nov. 1794. David Butler Jan. 20. 1799 |l804 Elijah G. Plumb Jan. 30, 1806. . . .J1811 Reuben Hubbard 1812 1818 Ambrose S. Todd, D.D. . . . 1820 1823 Lemuel B. Hull (1824 Feb. 23, 1830 Edward J. Darken, M.D. . . (Aug., 1836 Dec. 25, 1837 Charles Jarvis Todd June, 1838 Easter, 1842 " William Atwill. May 8, 1842 1845 " David H. Short, D.D Easter, 1845 1846 " Abel Nichols 1846 1847 " Joseph. P. Taylor Easter, 1847 Dec., 1850 " Orsamus H. Smith (Nov. 29, 1850.... Mar. 31, 1853 " Abel Ofrden lJuly 10, 1853. . . . Died May 8. 1854. James Adams Autumn, 1854. . . Oct., 1856 " Win. White Bronson 1857 1860 " Alfred Londerback May 25, 1861 Aug. 5, 1862 " Henry Zell March 12, 1863. . Died Nov. 5, 1863. " Wm.'L. Bostwick Easter, 1864 June 15, 1867 " John W. Hoffman Dec. 6, 1868 Nov. 30, 1871 " Charles W. Kelley Jan. 5,1873 1 April 30, 1876 " Ximenus Alanson Welton. July 1, 1877 1 The number of communicants belonging to Christ Church, Redding, as reported at different periods, were : In 1809 55, In 1860 47 - 1810 631 " 1863 55 " 1811 67| " 1866 45 " 1815 61 i " 1869 37 " 1817 61 " 1873 40 " 1845 42 ' 1874 55 " 1851 60 i ' 1875 61 ' 1854 56 ' 1877 59 1856 57 1878 64 "1858 58 '1879 65 " 1859 56 HISTORY OF REDDING. 113 CHAPTER VII. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 1789-1879. WHEN Jesse Lee left New York on the mission which was to quicken and vitalize the New England churches, his first resting-place was at Norwalk, where he preached on the highway tinder a spread- ing elm, no house being opened to him. From Norwalk he proceeded to Fairfield and New Haven, and from the latter place to Redding. He reached this town on Wednesday, the 24th of June, 1789, and from this period we are to date the origin of the Methodist Church in Redding, although some six months elapsed before it was formally organized. In his journal under the above date, Mr. Lee thus nar- rates some of the incidents of this first visit : " I travelled a stony road to Redding and accord- ing to directions called on Esquire Benedict but he was not at home ; so I got my horse and rode to Mr. Rogers to consult him about the matter. While I was talking to him Mr. Bartlett a Congregational minister came by, and being informed who I was asked me home with him. After I had been there a while he asked me some questions relative to doc- trines, and I endeavored to inform him what kind of doctrines we preached. He said he could not invite me into the meeting house, because I held what he thought was contrary to the gospel. I told him I did not expect an invitation to preach in the meeting house, but if I was asked I should, not refuse. How- ever Mr. Rogers sent his son down in a little time to let me know that there was a. school house that 114 HISTORY OF REDDING. I could preach in, so I made the appointment for the people at six o'clock. Having met at that hour I preached on Isa. 55 : 6 : ' Seek ye the Lord while he may be foimd c.' I bless God that I had some liberty in preaching." The school-house where this first sermon was de- livered probably stood on the common near the old meeting- house. The few and simple doctrines that Mr. Lee preached were the witness of the Spirit, the entire efficacy of the Atonement, and the possi- bility of falling from grace, and they were presented with so much force and earnestness as to produce a deep impression on those who heard them ; yet he had no time to remain and note the effect produced, but rode away the next day, carrying his tidings to other communities. Twice again Lee visited Red- ding July 8th, and September 16th of the same year without seeing any fruits of his efforts ; for, although many were impressed with the truth of his doctrines, they hesitated about coming out openly and joining the new sect. At length on his fourth visit, December 28th, 1789, he "joined two in so- ciety for a beginning. A man who has lately re- ceived a witness of his being in favor with the Lord led the way, and a woman who I hope was lately converted, followed.'' This was the second Method- ist society organized in New England, the first be- ing at Stratford. The two first members mentioned above were Aaron Sanford and his mother-in-law, Mrs. William Hawley. Mr. Sanford by this act be- ^ame the first male member of the Methodist Church in New England ; he was at once appointed leader of the class thus formed, and its meetings were held HISTORY OF BEDDING. 115 for years at liis house. After its organization the growth of the Society was very rapid, chiefly through the class-meeting, and that agency so eifectively used by Methodism, the lay preachers. It is unfortunate that, owing to the loss of the early records of the church, we can give the names of but few of its original members. From the rec- ords of the first society I copy the following cer- tificate, dated December loth, 1789 : " I hereby certify that Aaron Sanford of Reading, has constantly attended the Methodist meetings in this town, and pays his part toward my support as a minister of the gospel. "JESSE LEE." Similar certificates were given, February 9th, 1790, to Hezekiah Sanford, and August 6th of the same year to Isaac Sherwood, and S. Samuel Smith. From the church book of baptisms which has been preserved, we learn that prior to 1794 the early preachers had baptized children of Daniel and Anna Bartram, Silas and Huldah Merchant, Jonas and Lucy Platt, Paul and Mary Bartram, Jabez, and Sarah Gorham, Elijah and Menoma Elder, Aaron and Mary Odle, John and Sarah Sherman, Uriah and Hannah Mead, Benjamin and Elizabeth Knap, Chester and Elizabeth Meeker, Charles arid Lucy Morgan, Ezekiel and Easter Bertram, Jesse and Martha Banks, Isaac and Betty Platt, and Aaron and Eunice Hunt, and we may safely reckon them as members of the church at that time. Early in 1790 Lee organized his first circuit in New England ; it was called the " Fairfield Circuit,' ' and embraced Norwalk, Fairfield, Stratford, Mil- 116 HISTORY OF REDDING. ford, Redding, Danbury, Canaan, and intermediate places. The first regularly appointed minister whose name appears on the Society records was John Bloodgood, who was here as early as January 21st, 1791, perhaps earlier. He was a native of the South, and after serving on the Fairfield Circuit one year, was transferred to the Baltimore Confer- ence, to which his ministerial labors were chiefly confined. He died in 1810. Like most of his col- leagues, he preached in the school-houses, under trees, sometimes in the barns, but always so fervent- ly, and with such native eloquence, that multitudes flocked to hear him. He was succeeded at the May (1791) session of the Conference by Nathaniel B. Mills and Aaron Hunt. Mr. Mills is described by his colleague, Mr. Hunt, as " a man small in stature, intelligent, sound, an able preacher, and rather inclined to dejection." He was born in New Castle County, Delaware, February 23d, 1766. He entered the Baltimore Conference in the spring of 1787, and after a laborious ministry of forty-two years, both in New England and the South, was compelled in 1835 to retire to the ranks of the superannuated, where he remained until his death in 1844. His colleague, Rev. Aaron Hunt, was born in Eastchester,Westchester County, N. Y., March 28th, 1768, and entered the Methodist ministry in 1791 , making some of his first essays at preaching on the Redding Circuit. In 1793, while preaching in Redding, he married Miss Hannah Sanford, daughter of the Mr. Aaron Sanford before mentioned, and shortly after "lo- cated'' in Redding, where he continued to reside for HISTORY OF REDDING. 117 many years, and where most of his large family of children were born. Mr. Hunt was prominent among the early Methodist preachers, and was well known throughout the State. During his pastorate the church had been encouraged by a visit from the emi- nent Bishop Asbury, who passed through Redding in June, 1791, during his hasty tour through New England, and preached here ' ' with much satisfac- tion," as he remarks in his journal. The church re- ceived another and longer visit from him in Septem- ber, 1796. " The society in that village," says Mr. Stevens, the historian of Methodism, "had been gradually gathering strength. They assembled to greet -him at Mr. Sandford's, where he gave them an encouraging discourse from 1 Peter 1 : 13-15." From this time until 1811, the record of the church is one of continued growth and prosperity ; revivals were frequent and accessions many ; classes w r ere early formed at Lonetown, Redding Ridge, Sanford- town, Boston, and at Long Ridge, the latter some years later becoming a separate church organization. Still the society was without a house of worship, and the want was beginning to be severely felt. In 1803 they first leased the town-hall for a place of public worship, as appears by the following extract from the town records : " At a town meeting held December 12, 1803, it was voted, ' That the Town House be leased to the Methodist Society for $15 per year to be used as often, and as much as they please for public worship, and said Society to repair all damage done to the Town House while they are assembled therein for public worship.' ' This lease was continued from year to year at varying rates, 118 HISTORY OF REDDING. until the erection of the first church in 1811. Of the building of this edifice we have no data except such as is contained in this extract from the society records : "At a Society meeting of the Methodists, duly warned and held at the house of AVilliam Sanford in Kedding, on Tuesday the 30th day of October, 1810. Voted, that Seth Andrews, William Sanford, and John R. Hill be a committee to said society for the ensuing year, to do and transact all temporal business. Voted, That our said committee carry round a subscription paper immediately to raise money for the purpose of building a Meeting-House in said Redding, for the purpose of Divine Wor- ship. X SANFORD, Cleric." The church was built the succeeding summer. It stood on the site of the present residence of Deacon Charles Smith, on land purchased of Jonathan R. Sanford, Esq. His deed conveying the land, dated June 6th, 1811, was given to Seth Andrews, William Sanford, and John R. Hill, trustees for the Method- ist church and society in Redding, the consideration being $130. No actual description of the first church is preserved to us, except that it was built after the usual fashion of Methodist churches in those days. It had no steeple nor tower, no ceiling except the roof, and there were no means of warm- ing it, except by foot-stoves earned in by the female worshippers. With the above exceptions, the follow- ing description of an early Methodist church would probably apply to this in every particular : " The building was as unpolluted by paint within and without as \vhen its timbers were standing in HISTORY OF REDDING. 119 their native forest. A gallery extended around three sides. At the extreme end of the left gallery wns a small room partitioned off for class meetings. The pulpit was elevated about six feet above the floor, and in form resembled a large dry goods box, the breastworks so high as almost to conceal the preacher if small of stature from view. From the pulpit extended a staircase conducting to the class- room in the gallery, to which the preacher and the members repaired at the close of the public ser- vices."* of the incidents in the history of the old church are so vividly remembered and described as the quarterly meetings which were held there. The quarterly meeting to the early Methodist was the most important of all the institutions of the church, and those held in Redding were especially note- worthy ; it was a sort of home-coming to the mother church, and at such times all the Methodist homes in town were open to the brethren from abroad. The presiding elder and the two preachers on the "Cir- cuit" were always present on these occasions, and the membership was gathered from Danbury, Ridge- lield, Easton, and Newtown, as well as from places more remote. The exercises on these occasions be- gan at 9 o'clock on Sabbath morning with the " love- feast" and the passing of bread and water, of which all partook, as a token of their brotherhood in Christ. At 10.30 a sermon was preached by the elder. At 12 M. the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered. At 1 P.M. another sermon was preached, generally by one of the preachers in * Sermon of Rev. J. L. Gilder, before the N. Y. East Conference. 120 HISTORY OF REDDING. charge. At the conclusion of this discourse the genial elder would proceed to designate to the guests their respective places of entertainment. The day was usually concluded by a series of prayer- meetings held in the different districts, and con- ducted with great warmth and fervor. The old church seems to have been intended for a temporary structure, and was succeeded in 1837 by the present neat and commodious edifice. A brief account of the erection of the present building will be interesting and probably new to many, though little more than forty years have elapsed since its timbers were standing in the forest. AVe find on the society records the following en- tries : " The members of the Methodist Episcopal Society of Redding are hereby notified and warned, that a society's meeting for said society will be held on Tuesday the 26th day of instant January at one o'clock P.M. at the Methodist Church in said Red- ding for the purpose of taking into consideration the propriety of building a new church in said society, and locating the same near the intersection of the roads near the Town House, appointing a building committee to superintend and carry said object into effect, make arrangements to dispose of the old house if thought proper, and to do any other business proper to be done at said meeting. " SHERLOCK TODD, i JESSE BANKS, - Trustees. AAEON MALLETT, ) "REDDING, Jan. 20, 1886." A society meeting was held at the appointed time Rev. H. Humphreys being chairman, and HISTORY OF REDDING. 121 Thomas B. Fanton clerk. It was then voted " To approve of the proposed plan in the caption of the subscription paper to raise subscriptions and build a new house. . . . ' It was also further provided "that the said House shall be located somewhere near the four cor- ners that intersect at Redding Town House, But the said object not to take effect, unless the sum of Two thousand Five hundred Dollars be subscribed, and the said House be built within eighteen months from the date hereof." Voted : " To build a House agreeable to the above caption, provided a place be obtained that is approved by the committee appointed for that purpose." Voted: "To appoint a Building Committee of three persons to superintend, and take charge, and contract for the same House, viz. : Thomas B. Fan- ton, John R. Hill, and Gershom Sherwood." Voted : "To add two more to the building Com- mittee Jesse Banks and David Duncomb." Voted: "To adjourn the meeting two weeks from this day at one P.M." THOMAS B. FANTOIST, Clerk. No account of the adjourned meeting is to be found in the society records. The twenty-five hun- dred dollars needed was speedily subscribed, and the building was erected in the summer of 1837 and ded- icated in December of the same year, Rev. C. K. True preaching the dedication sermon. In 1868, during the pastorate of Rev. William T. Hill, the church was thoroughly remodelled and re- furnished. The pulpit was cut down, and the an- tique pews exchanged for the present neat and com- lortable ones. The rededication service at this time 122 HISTORY OF REDDING. was perhaps the most interesting occasion in the his- tory of the church. Bishop Janes was present, and preached the dedication sermon to an audience that tilled every nook and corner of the building, and many old pastors and friends of the church added by their presence to the interest of the occasion. In September, 1870, Rev. Aaron Sanford Hill gave to the church some ten acres of land lying in the northerly part of the town, the income from which was to be appropriated to the use of the church. This gift Mr. Sanford supplemented by another of $4000 in 1871, of which the interest only was to be used in meeting the expenses of the church. This fund is known as the Sanford Hill Fund. In 1877 another benefaction of $500 was given by "William A. Sanford, Esq., to be applied in the same manner as the preceding. Revivals in the church have been frequent, and attended with gratifying results : notably in 1815 under the preaching of Rev. Reuben Harris, in 1822 during the pastorate of Aaron Hunt, in 1838 under that of Rev. John Crawford, in 1855 under Rev. E. S. Hebbard, and in 1867 under Rev. Wil- liam T. Hill. According to the minutes of the Annual Confer- ences the following ministers were appointed to Fairfield Circuit (which included Redding), begin- ning with its organization in 1790 : 1790 John Bloodgood. 1791 Nathaniel B. Mills, Aaron Hunt. 1792 Joshua Taylor, Smith Weeks. 1793 James Coleman, Aaron Hunt. 1794 Zebulon Kankey, Nicholas Snethen. HISTORY OF REDDING. 1^ Those appointed to Redding Circuit were : 1795 Daniel Dennis, Timothy Dewey. 1796 Elijah Woolsey, Robert Leeds. 1797 David Buck, Augustus Jocelyn. 1798 William Thatcher. 1799 David Brown. 1800 Augustus Jocelyn. 1801 Samuel Merwin, Isaac Candee. 1802 James Coleman, Isaac Candee. 1803 James Campbell, N. U. Tompkins. 1804 Peter Moriarty, Sylvester Foster. 1805 Peter Moriarty, Samuel Merwin. 1806 Nathan Felch, Oliver Sykes. 1807 James M. Smith, Zalmon Lyon. 1808 Noble W. Thomas, Jonathan Lyon. 1809 Billy Hibbard, Isaac Candee. 1810 Nathan Emory, John Russell. 1811 Aaron Hunt, Oliver Sykes, and John Rey- nolds. 1812 Seth Crowel, Gilbert Lyon, S. Beach. 1813 Aaron Hunt, Henry Eames. 1814 Ebenezer Washburne, Reuben Harris. 1815 Elijah Woolsey, Reuben Harris. 1816 Samuel Bushnell, John Boyd. 1817 Samuel Bushnell, Theodocius Clarke. 1818 James M. Smith, Theodocius Clarke. 1819 J. S. Smith, Phineas Cook. 1820 Laban Clark, Phineas Cook. ^ 821 Laban Clark, Aaron Hunt. 1822 Samuel Cochrane, Aaron, Hunt. 1823 Samuel Cochrane, John Reynolds. 1824 Elijah Woolsey, John Reynolds. To Redding and Bridgeport Circuit : 1825 Marvin Richardson, H. Humphreys, Frederic W. Siger. 1826 Marvin Richardson, H. Humphreys. 1827 Henry Stead, John Lovejoy, J. C. Bontecue. 124 HISTORY OF REDDING. To Redding Circuit : 1828 Henry Stead, Gershom Pearce. 1829 Ebenezer Washburn, Gershom Pearce. 1830 Ebenezer Wasliburn, Oliver Y. Am merman. 1831 James Young, Josiah Bo wen. 1832 Nicholas White, Jesse Hunt. 1833 Jesse Hunt, John B. Beach. 1834 Josiah Bowen, John B. Beach. To Redding and Newtown Circuit : 1835 Humphrey Humphries, Josiah L. Dickerson, John Davies. 1836 Humphrey Humphries. March 28th, 1837, the society, "after due delib- eration, existing circumstances being considered, voted to try a station the ensuing year ;' ' which was accordingly done, and the Rev. Humphrey Humph- ries became the first stated pastor. Since then the church has enjoyed the undivided care of its pastors, and has been generally prosper- ous and aggressive. The list of pastors since 1837 comprises many well- known names and will be read with interest. They are as follows : 1838 John Crawford, 2d ; Morris Hill. 1839-40 Paul R. Brown. 1841-2 Daniel Smith. 1843 Phillip L. Hoyt. 1844-5 William F. Collins. 1846-7 Joseph D. Marshall. 1848-9 Jacob Shaw. 1850-1 John L. Gilder. 1852-3 Friend W. Smith. 1854-5 E. S. Hibbard. 1856-7 Hart F. Pease. HISTORY OF REDDING. 125 1858 George C. Crevey. 1859 William II. Gilder. 1860-1 John W. Home. 1862-3 George Hollis. 1864-6 David Nash. 1867-8 William T. Hill. 1869 Alexander Graham. 1870-2 Theodore C. Beach. 1873 William R. Webster. 1874-6 Joseph Smith. 1877-8 John Dickinson. 1879 John Haugh. Of the above list, but one, Rev. Jacob Shaw, died and was buried in Redding. Of the laymen who nobly aided these clergymen in their ministry many will be held in grateful remembrance by the church. The names most familiar to the early membership perhaps were those of the lay preachers, Aaron San- ford, Hawley Sanford, Rory Starr, and Walter San- ford ; the class leaders, John R. Hill, Abraham Couch, Urrai Meade, Sherlock Todd, and Bradley Burr ; and the official members, Thomas B. Fanton, David S. Duncomb, Aaron Sanford, Jr., Charles Gorham, Eben Treadwell, and John Edmonds. The present membership of the church is 149. Males, 57 ; females, 92. II. THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH AT LONG KIDGE. The origin of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Long Ridge, as narrated by Rev. Paul R. Brown, pastor of the church in 1842, was as follows : 126 HISTORY OF REDDING. " One evening as Father Goldman (a Methodist preacher) was passing through Starr's Plain, on his way to Danbury, he saw a man sitting on the fence by the wayside, and inquired the distance to town. The man told him, and added : ' Are you a Doctor ? ' ' No, sir.' ' Are you a Lawyer ? ' ' No, sir.' ' Then,' said the man, following up the question, ' what are you ? ' Father Coleman answered, ' I am a Meth- odist preacher.' ' Methodist preacher ! What's that ? ' replied the man. ' If you will open your house, and invite in your neighbors, I will let you hear a Methodist preacher, the next time I come this way,' was the reply. The offer was accepted, and Father Coleman preached to them on his next visit ; ;he soon organized a cla.ss, and among the members of that class was the man who sat upon the fence and questioned the preacher. After that the class grew into a society, and in due time a small church was built in Long Ridge, which gave way to a larger editice, in the course of a few years." The first church w^as built when the society con- sisted of but eleven members, under the following circumstances. They were assembled for the weekly class-meeting at the house of one of their number, and were speaking of their need of a church, when Uriah Griffin remarked, that if he had a hundred dollars in hand he would build them a church. David Osborne, the youngest member pres- ent, at once agreed to furnish the required sum, and the church was built the same year. This was in 1820-1, during the pastorate of Rev. Laban Clark. The little society at once became connected with Redding Station as an auxiliary, the preacher in charge there having the care of its temporal con- cerns, and filling its pulpit once in four weeks. In HISTORY OF REDDING. 12? the interim the pulpit was supplied by the lay preachers, Aaron Sanford, Morris Hill, Aaron S. Hill, of Redding, Rory Starr, of Danbury, and others. The society's connection with Redding ceased in 1848, and the same relation was formed with the church in Bethel. For several years past it has been a separate station. The pastors of the church from 1820 to 1848 were the same as those of Redding, and are given in the history of the Red- ding Church. The pastors since 1848 have been as follows : 1848-9 Morris Hill. 1850 Elias Gilbert. 1851-2 Charles Bartlett, 1853-4 George Stillman. 1855-6 Samuel H. Smith. 1857-8 John Crawford. 1859 David Osborn. 1860-1 Sherman D. Barnes, local preacher. 1862-3 Elias Gilbert. 1864 William H. Adams. 1865 J. W. Bramblee. 1866-7 G. W. Policy, local* 1868 Stephen J. Stebbins. 1869 James H. Crofut, local. 1870 Frank F. Jorden, local. 1871 William P. Armstrong, local. 1872 Frank F. Jorden, local. 1873 Joseph W. Pattison, local. 1874-5 William Cogswell, local. 1876 Joseph W. Pattison, local. 1877-8 Charles A. Wilson, local. 1879 Henry A. Van Dalsem. The membership at present is sixty. * * The present church edifice is situated in Danbury, a few yards from the Redding line, but as the church was so long identified witli Redding, it was thought proper to preserve its history here. 128 HISTORY OF REDDING. III. A few yards from Redding Station, on the banks of the Saugatuck River, is situated the old camp- ground, noted for being the place where the first camp-meeting of the Methodists in New England was held. Just when this event occurred we are un- able to state, but it was about 1810, probably under the leadership of Nathan Bangs. The tents of this first assemblage were of the most primitive kind, many of them being constructed of the branches of trees, and others of blankets stretched over a frame- work of poles. Meetings continued to be held in this grove every year for over sixty years. About 1860, owing to some difficulty in leasing the grounds, and from other causes, the meetings here were discontinued, and another camp -ground opened at Milford, Conn., on the line of the Naug- atuck Railroad. This grove was, however, soon abandoned, never having been popular with the Methodist public. In 1878, after the lapse of nearly twenty years, the old camp-ground at Redding was reopened, and that year a very successful and well-attended meeting was held there. It was supposed, then, that the grove would be purchased and continue to be used for camp-meet- ing purposes, but this desirable consummation was not effected. HISTORY OF KEDDING. 12!) CHAPTER VIII. THE BAPTIST CHURCH IN GEORGETOWN (NOW EX- TINCT). THAT there was a society of Baptists in Redding as early as 1785, appears from an entry in the rec- ords of the First Society, dated December 9th, 1785, wherein Michael Wood has a certificate given him by John Lee, Deacon, as a member of the Baptist church in Redding. Similar certificates were given to John Conch, Micayah Starr, and Jabez Wakeman ; but we have no evidence of the existence of a church here until 1 833. On the 28th of January of that year an eccle- siastical council was held at the house of Timothy Wakeman, in Redding, and a church formally organ- ized. The record of the proceedings of this meeting constitutes the first entry in the Church Book of Records, and is as follows : " Chose Elder Thomas Lascombe Moderator, and Elder Nathan Wildman, Clerk. Invited Brethren present to a seat with the Council. Proceeded to hear the Articles and Covenant, also reasons why they wished to be constituted into a Church. The Council unanimously voted to proceed to the con- stitution. Repaired to the meeting house. Intro- ductory prayer and sermon by Elder Nathan Wild- man. Right hand of fellowship in behalf of the Council, and closing prayer by Elder Thomas Las- combe. "NATHAN WILDMAN, Clerk." 1 There were but 18 original members 4 males and 14 females. For some years there was no settled pas- 10 130 HISTORY OF REDDING. tor, and the pulpit was supplied alternately, once in four weeks, by Elders S. Ambler, of Danbury. and Stephen B. Bray, a licentiate from Sonthbnry. Conn. Elders X. Wildman, of Weston : Erastus I ' of Colebrook, Conn., and Chandler Curtis also preached occasionally. June 3d, 1837, the church extended a unanimous call to Rev. William Bo wen. of Mansfield, Conn., which was accepted, and he be- came the first pastor of the church. He continued to sustain this relation to the church until Novem- ber, 1838, when he was dismissed, owing to the ina- bility of the society to meet his salary. The same month the church edifice was nearly destroyed by mob violence the only instance of the kind that ever occurred in this staid and conservative town. It was 1838, the period of the slavery excitement. when abolitionist and pro-slavery man engaged in almost daily conflict, and men thought to stifle with shot-gun and bludgeon the first faint stirrings of the national conscience. A few pithy entries in the church records thus refer to the affair : " Nov. 26th. Rev. Nathaniel Colver lectured on slavery in our meeting house was disturbed by un- ruly persons." " 27th. Another lecture on Slavery molested as night before." "28th. Meeting house blown up by a mob, bur not entirely destroyed." This is all the information the church records give us on the subject, but from the files of the Xor- walk Gazette for that year we glean a full account of the affair. This article is interesting, as showing HISTORY OF REDDIXfi. 131 the manner in which even the Whigs handled the question of slavery at that time. " HIGH-HANDED OUTRAGE. We learn that Judge Lynch has been exercising his summary proceedings in this vicinity within the week past. Colver, the abolitionist lecturer, has been holding forth, as we understand, for a number of evenings, on the subject of immediate emancipation, in the Baptist church in Redding, and in the course of his lectures had taken occasion to exhibit before his audience the practi- cal am.ali/d/nafionism of the Vice-President of the liiited States, the Hon. Richard M. Johnson. We are informed that he accused this distinguished per- sonage of making merchandise of the offspring or his own loins, of selling his own sons and daughters into slavery. This so enraged some of his political partisans, that they determined to abolisli the walls which had echoed the nefarious libel upon ' Dick, the Tecumseh Killer.' So, after the lecture was con- cluded, a keg of gunpowder was deposited under the church which had been profaned by these abo- lition orgies and about two o'clock on the morning of the 29th ult. the church was blown ' sky-high,' as John Randolph used to say. It was a small build- ing of one story, and not worth more than $500. But notwithstanding the provocation, and notwith- standing the comparatively trifling amount of damage occasioned by this wanton outrage, we most sin- cerely deprecate the prevalence of a spirit which does violence to the dearest rights of every freeman in the land the freedom of speech and of opinion. We are no apologists for the intemperate and fanatic zeal of the abolitionists ; but we deem it the duty of every press in the land to cry out against such violations of the Constitution and laws. And though we would denounce in the severest terms the exas- perating conduct of the abolitionists, we would at the same time do our inmost to bring the trespassers 132 HISTORY OF REDDING. upon the rights which the Constitution guarantees to every citizen and the violators of the public peace, to condign punishment."* This action of the mob, with the dissensions en- gendered by it, proved a sad blow to the church, and from which it never fully recovered, although it con- tinued in existence for several years. Elder John H. Waterbury served the church as pastor for some months in 1839, and was succeeded in 1841 by Elder John Noyes, of North Haven. Mr. Noyes' letter of dismission from the Baptist church in North Haven is as follows : * The Baptist Church in North Haven- to the Baptist Church in Reading. " DEAR BRETHREN, This certifies that Rev. John Noyes and his wife Ann are members of this church in good standing, and as such we commend them to your Christian affection and fellowship. We have voted that when they are received by you, we shall consider their connection with us dissolved. " In behalf of the church in North Haven. " M. F. ROBINSON, Clerk. " May 1, 1841." April 2d, 1842, Mr. Noyes was dismissed to Phil- lipstown, N. Y. Rev. George Crocker, of Danbury, supplied the pulpit for the succeeding twelve *A resident of Georgetown at the time gives the following addi- tional particulars : About two o'clock on the morning following Mr. Oolver's lecture, the inhabitants of Georgetown were startled by a tremendous report and rumbling noise, which jarred the houses and broke the windows in the immediate neighborhood. In the morn ing, this unusual disturbance was found to have been caused by the explosion of a keg of powder which had been placed directly under Hie pulpit, a portion of the underpinning of the church having been removed for that purpose. The pulpit was demolished, the front of the building displaced several feet, the windows broken out, and the walls destroyed. HISTORY OF REDDING. 133 months. Elder David Pease was the next preacher, he being called February llth, 1844. His connection with the church was short and uneventful. There is no record of any other preacher being called ; in fact, the society was becoming too weak to support an organization, and shortly after, in October, 1847, was dissolved by the unanimous vote of its mem- bers. CHAPTER IX. THE METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH IN GEORGE- TOWN (NOW THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH). THE Methodist Protestant Church in Georgetown had its origin in a small schism in the Methodist Episcopal Church, commencing about 1818, in the New York Conference. Among the ministers who seceded from the church at this time was the Rev. William M. Stillwell, who, in 1820, organized a small class of persons in George- town, sharers in his peculiar ideas of church polity, but who still retained the name of Methodist, though called by their opponents Stillwellites. In 1829 a convention was held and adopted the name of Meth- odist Protestant, and in 1839 the church at George- t< >wn was formally organized as the Methodist Prot- estant Church and Society, of Wilton Circuit. The first members of the class, so far as can be ascer- tained, were Ebenezer Hill, Banks Sherwood, David Nichols, Isaac Osbome, and Benjamin Gilbert and wife. The first minister was Rev. William M. Still- 134 HISTORY OF REDDING. well. The first entry in the church records is as fol- lows : " The first Methodist Protestant church in Red- ding was organized in the year of onr Lord 1839, on the 15th of the 9th month, at a regular warned meet- ing held at the house of Sturges Bennett. The fol- lowing officers were chosen. David Nichols chair- man, John O. St. John, secretary. John O. St. John was duly elected clerk of said society, and the oath was administered by Walker Bates, Esq. John O. St. John was also elected Treasurer of said so- ciety." Aaron Osborne was the first sexton. (He was to open the church thirty minutes before service, sweep the house, make the fires, and attend to the lights, for a yearly salary of $6.00.) The present house of worship had been built in 1839, prior to the organization of the church, by John O. St. John and Charles Scribner. For a num- ber of years the church records show only the ordi- nary routine of business. In 1851, March 10th, a society's meeting passed the following resolutions : " Resolved, 1st : That we take into consideration the amount of Damage sustained by the society, by the Danbury and Norwalk R. R. crossing the so- ciety's grounds near this house of worship. 2nd : That the assessment of damages by crossing the so- ciety' s grounds be left to three men one chosen by the trustees, one by the Rail Road contractors, and those two to choose a third. 3rd : That the trustees be instructed to hold the contractors or Rail Road Company responsible for all damage to the society's house of worship." To these resolutions a meeting held December 27th, 1851, added the following : HISTORY OF REDDING. 135 " Resolved, by vote of this meeting that the so- ciety's committee be authorized to give by deed to the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad Company a right of way across said Society's ground, for the consideration of one hundred and fifty Dollars." At a meeting held February 19th, 1858 : " On motion S. M. Main and Hiram St. John, .were appointed a committee to circulate a subscription to raise money to build a parsonage house." A meeting held No- vember 17th, 1853, voted : " that the society's com- mittee be authorized to circulate a subscription paper, to raise money to the amount of six hundred dollars for the purpose of purchasing Mr. Weed's house for a parsonage ; and at a subsequent meeting- held November 26th, the committee were authorized to purchase Mr. Weed's house so soon as six hun- dred dollars is pledged for that purpose." It was also voted that the "horse sheds be located 40 feet south of the butternut tree in the yard, provided the ground can be obtained for one dollar.' 1 At a meeting held December 7th, 1867, Messrs. John R. Sturges, J. O. St. John, and Sturges Ben- nett were appointed a committee to ascertain the de- nominational preferences of all the members of the church, " with a view to a change of name to that of Congregational, or that of letting it be the Method- ist Protestant Meeting." This committee reported to an adjourned meeting, held December 14th, in favor of a change of name, and by a unanimous vote the name of the church was changed from Methodist Protestant to Congrega- tional. It was also voted to petition the next legis- lature to change the name of the society in accord- 136 HISTORY OF REDDING. ance with the above vote, and to secure to the Con- gregational Society the property now held by the Methodist Protestant Society. The committee ap- pointed for this purpose were Messrs. David E. Smith, Hiram St. John, and E. G. Bennett. From October, 1865, to May, 1875, the church was sup- plied by Rev. Samuel St. John, of Georgetown. He was succeeded by Rev. Albert H. Thompson, of Yale Theological Seminary, who supplied the pulpit until November, 1876. Mr. Thompson's suc- cessor was Rev. C. B. Strong, of Hartford Seminary, who remained until the close of 1877. The present pastor, Rer. C. A. Northrop, began his labors with the church January 6th, 1878, and was ordained and installed as pastor October 2d, 1878. The present membership of the church is 79. Males, 30 ; females, 49. The records of the Methodist Protestant Church give no data of the settlement or dismissal of pas- tors. From old members of the church, hoAvev r er, I gain the following names of those who served the church in this capacity. The list is probablj r com- plete, though the names are not given in the order of succession. They were : William M. Stillwell, Stephen Treadwell, Abram Glasgow, Stephen Rem ington, - - Shemeall, - Yredenburgh, James Summerbell, Aaron G. Brewer, Richard K. Diossy, James Rolliston, William McCutcheon, William H. Bosely, William Cliff, Samuel M. Henderson, Jacob Timberman, - Wade, Elizur W. Griswold, Menvin Lent, William H. Johnson, John L. Ambler, Joseph J. Smith, Joshua Hudson, Thomas K. Witsel, John H. Painter, M. E. Rude, AVilliam C. Clarke. HISTORY OF REDDING. 137 CHAPTER X. HISTORY OF SCHOOLS. WE have before spoken of the care of our Puritan ancestors to provide for the church and the ministry in their infant settlements. They were equally care- ful to furnish them with the school and the teacher. If piety was one of the pillars of Democracy, so also was intelligence ; and church and school were alike deemed indispensable to the growth and security of the state : hence we find the pioneers of Redding making early provision for the establish- ment of schools among them. The first recorded movement of the parish in the matter was in 1737, when, at a parish meeting held December 26th, 1737, it was voted to have a parish school, and to maintain said school by a parish rate. John Read, Joseph Lee, Joseph Sanford, John Hull, Nathan Lion, Ste- phen Morehouse, and Daniel Lion were the first school committee. The meeting also voted : "that said school be divided into three parts, that is to say, five months in that quarter called the Ridge, and five months on the west side of the parish near the mill, and two months at Lonetown, understand- ing that the centre of division is the meeting-house, and that Stephen Burr belongs to the west side.' 1 These were the original school districts of the town : in them the first rude school-houses were erected, and from the one to the other went the peripatetic school-master as his duties called him. These school-houses were built of logs : their furni- 138 HISTORY OF REDDING. ture was of the most meagre description, consisting of a sloping desk of boards affixed to the wall and extending around three sides of the building, benches of rough-hewn plank, and a planed pine board whereon the student ' ' figgered ' ' with bits of charcoal. Nor was the curriculum of the schools much more extensive. Reading, writing, and arith- metic were all that was then thought necessary for the country boy to know ; further knowledge was to be acquired in schools of a higher grade. As years passed on, and new families moved into the place, the districts became strong enough each to support its own school. Hence we find a parish meeting held December 10th, 1742, voting : " that the interest of the school money belonging to the parish shall be divided into three equal parts for the year ensuing, for the main- taining of three separate schools (each to be kept by a master,) one third part of the money for that part of the Parish east of Little Elver, one third part for that part of the Parish between Little River and the Saugatuck River, and one third for that part west of the Saugatuck. Provided, that each part of the Parish as above divided, keep a school as abovesaid three months in the year ensuing, but if any part of the Parish fail in keeping a school as abovesaid, the other two parts that keep said school, shall equally divide the said money between them, and if two parts of the Parish fail in keeping a school as above- said, that part of the Parish that shall keep said school the three months, shall draw the whole of the school money."' The same districts are defined in the appropriation of the school money in 1748 as HISTORY OF REDDING. 130 being " the school on the West side of Aspetuck River, the school by Mill River (Sangatuck) and the school by the Church." In 1745 the appropriation was made to the same districts, with the provision that each should. " keep a school with a school master sufficiently capable to learn children to Wright and Reade." There seems to have been no change in this re- spect until 1764, when it was voted : " that the school money should be subdivided according to the lists within such subdivisions/'' In 1768 the bounds of the districts were first set out by a com- mittee appointed at town meeting for the purpose. This first committee consisted of Stephen Mead, Daniel Hill, and Daniel Sanford. The school com- mittee for this year, appointed at town meeting, con- sisted of seven, and it is probable that each repre- sented a district which would give us seven dis- tricts in the town at that time. December 19th, 1792, the following important vote was taken : ' ' that the School money shall be lodged with the Treasurer, and he to collect the interest arising on the School bonds annually by the first day of April, the Interest already arisen and unpaid to be collected forthwith, and in failure of pay- ment of back interest, he to send the bond, or bonds, and collect principal and interest, and to con- duct in the same manner on neglect of annual pay- ment of interest on said Bonds, and to pay said In- terest and School Money to the School Committee as it may be appropriated by the committee of the Districts annually."' 140 HISTORY OF RED U ING. As to the source or origin of these school bonds, or by whom taken, I am unable to give a positive answer. The town of Redding has a school fund of $400, distinct from the State fund, and which dates back to a period beyond the reach of memory or tradition ; it is more than probable, however, that it was the sum realized from the sale of lands in Litch- iield County in 1733, called western lands, and which was divided among the several towns in pro- portion to their poll list and ratable estate for that year and to be secured and forever improved for the use of the schools kept in said towns according to law. Redding, unlike most of her sister towns, has preserved this fund inviolate, and still uses its pro- ceeds in support of her schools. In 1795 came the sale of the Western Reserve, and Connecticut's mu- nificent grant to her common schools, whicli has put- t-hem in the front rank of educational forces, and contributed so much to the material prosperity of the State. In October of that year the inhabitants of Redding met, and formed themselves into a school society, in order that they " might, have the advantage of the monies arising from the sale of western lands." Peter Sanford, James Rogers, and Simeon Hunger were the first committee chosen by this society. Prior to 1870, the cost of supporting the schools above that derived from the school funds was borne by the parents or guardians of the scholars, but in that year the legislature passed a law compelling the towns to maintain free schools, and this plan has since been pursued. The town appropriation for schools this year, 1879, is $2500 ; HISTORY OF REDDING. 141 before 1879, it was $3000. The income from tlie School Fund is $936.40. There are at present ten school districts in the town, and three half districts, named and numbered as follows : Name. No. of Children enu- merated in 187!). District No. 1 Centre CO 2 Ridere 48 ;j Couch's Hill 15 4 Diamond Hill 17 5 Boston 54 Hull 20 7 Umpawaug 51 8 Lonetown 29 9 Picket's Ridge 9 10 Foundry 23 11 half district, Georgetown 40 12 Florida 46 13... " Rock House. . , 5 The total number of children enumerated was 387. The whole number who attended school was 406. Messrs. Arthur Hill, William R. Duncomb, and Rev. X. A. Welton comprise the present Board of Education for the town. William E. Duncomb and Rev. X. A. Welton are the acting School Vis- itors. From an early period Redding has been favora- bly known for the number and excellence of her select schools ; some of these were conducted by the pastors of the different churches, and others by pro- fessional teachers. One of the earliest of these schools was that kept by S. Samuel Smith, Esq., in the centre. The Rev. Jonathan Bartlett opened a school for boys and young men about 1795, that at- 14*2 HISTORY OF REDDING. tained a high reputation and flourished for a term of years ; his school was kept in his dwelling- house now the residence of Mr. Lemuel Sanford. The first boarding-school in town was opened by Mr. Walker Bates about 1825. Mr. Bates was a pupil of Mr. Bartletf s, and a very successful teacher. A few years after, Mr. Eli Gilbert opened a select school at the centre, which continued in successful operation for a term of years; and in 1836 two schools were established on Redding Ridge one by Mr. John Osborne, the other by Mr. Aaron B. Wilson. One of the most noteworthy schools of the town was the Redding Institute, founded by Daniel San- ford, A.M., in the fall of 1847. Mr. Sanford, after- receiving a thorough education, and spending some years as a teacher at White Plains, !N~. Y., returned to Redding and built the large and w T ell-appointed school-house adjoining his dwelling. His school from a small and feeble beginning grew to be large and flourishing, containing at one time forty schol- ars, most of them sons of prominent New York and Brooklyn families. In 1851 he secured the services of Mr. Edward P. Shaw, a graduate of Wesley an University, who continued with him as a teacher un- til 1867, when Mr. Sanford retired, and Mr. Shaw became principal and conducted the school success- fully until 1873, when, owing to a family bereave- ment, he was obliged to discontinue it. The boarding-school opened by Mr. Burton Brad- ley about 1850, and Miss Polly Sellick's boarding- school for young ladies, founded in 1844, were'suc- HISTORY OF REDDING. 143 cessfnl and well-conducted institutions. The only select school at present existing in the town is the Misses Sanford's school for young children. In 1878 Rev. Aaron S. Sanford, of New Haven, donated the sum of five thousand dollars for the en- dowment of a High School. This munificent gift was accepted by the people of the town, and the Hill Academy was incorporated under the laws of the State. The trustees of the institution are seven in number, viz., Francis A. Sanford, Aaron Tread- well, John Todd, X. Alanson Welton, Stephen Sanford, Thaddeus M. Abbott, and Arthur B. Hill. The officers of the corporation are : President, Francis A. Sanford ; Vice-President, T. M. Abbott ; Secretary, Arthur B. Hill ; Treasurer, Aaron Tread- well ; Auditor, Stephen Sanford. The first princi- pal of the academy was Mr. T. M. W. George, of Hartford, who closed his first year's labor July 1st. 1879. CHAPTER XL M A X I! F A C T IT RES. Ix 1793, under a State law, a specific tax was laid on the various trades and professions, and from the grand list of that year we may gather accurate knowledge of the number of tradesmen, artisans, and professional men in the town at that- time. 144 HIS WHY OF REDDIXG. The following table is prepared from this list : TRADE OR PROFESSION. TAX. TRADE OR PROFESSION. TAX. ATTORNEYS. BLACKSMITHS. *g0 Aaron Barlow 5 5 ' 5 5 5 15 1.1 i a 15 8 6 4 5 4 4 4 10 50 Tliaddeus Abbott PHYSICIANS. Thomas Davies Enoch Merchant WEAVERS. Thomas Peck IU SADDLER. Edward Starr TRADERS. James Rogers p'2 TANNERS AND SHOEMAKERS. 25 Asahel Salmon Benj Sanford & Co Stephen Belts & Co William Heron Ezekiel Jackson & Co 25 25 TAVERN-KEEPERS. Stephen Belts Abijah Parsons TAILORS. K/t'kiel S&nford Joel Byin r ton 5 Abel Burr CLOTHIER. GRIST-MILLS. 5 Ephraim Wheeler WHEELWRIGHT. Stephen Burr and Daniel Perry Seth Meeker & Co 5 Crawford & Sanford COOPER. Stephen Gray SAW-MILLS. 5 Stephen & John Fairchild i (liver San ford JOINERS. Eli Lyon Barlow & San ford Enos & Seth Wheeler IRON-WORKS. " ; 5 Oliver Sanford. . . . . Stephen Lyon Daniel Perry Prom this date down to 1850 the town made a HISTORY OF REDDING. 145 very creditable advance in manufactures. The iron smelting works of Oliver Sanford in Sanfordtown were one of its earliest and most prominent indus- tries. Ore was brought from Brookfield and Rox- bury in great wagons and smelted at the mills, and after smelting was conveyed in the same manner to Westport or Norwalk, and shipped to various points. This enterprise was the pioneer of its kind in America, and proved quite profitable to its pro- jector. The works were entirely destroyed in the great freshet of IvSOo, and never afterward rebuilt, the business being removed to Valley Forge. Full- ing-mills were early erected, the first, probably, by Abraham Fairchild about 1742, near Nobb's Crook, on the Saugatuck River. The first wool- len-mill was erected in 1812, near the site of the old fulling-mill, by Comstock, Foster & Co. It did a prosperous business through the war and for some years afterward. It was later bought by Mr. Joel Foster, one of the members of the old company, who continued the business until the burning of the factory in 1843, or 1844. Carriages began to he built in Sanfordtown as early as 1800, and the busi- ness soon became one of the leading industries of the town. Ephraim Sanford built the first carriage factory in the rear of the house on the corner now owned by Mr. Bradley Tread well, lie was succeeded in 1820 by his two sons David and Enoch A. San- ford. David Sanford died in 1834, and the business was continued by Enoch A. Sanford, the surviving partner. A few years after, Daniel Sanford was ad- mitted a partner, and the firm entered largely into the Southern trade. In this they proved unfortu- 11 140 HISTORY OF nate, and failed. Subsequently Mr. E. A. Sauford formed a partnership with Charles Duncomb, and later with G. A. Sanford, by whom the business was conducted with varying success. In its palmiest days this firm did a large business, employing from twenty -five to thirty men, and maintaining a depot for their goods in New York. Mr.. Aaron Bar-tram built a carriage factory in 1840 (now standing), and in company with Mr. Eben "Wilson did a large busi- ness for a term of years. Mr. Bradley Sanford be- gan the manufacture of carriage axles in Sanford- town in 1833, and continued it until 1838, when he was succeeded by Mr. G. A. Sanford. Hat -making was at one time a prominent indus- try in Redding. To Mr. Billy Comstock is due the credit of erecting the first hat manufactory, which stood near his house in the Boston district. Mr. Daniel Gould had a large hat shop in Lonetown, and later Mr. Jesse Banks carried on the business some- what extensively in Sanford town. He employed at one time from twenty-five to thirty men, and sup- plied the Southern and West India market. Mr. Milo Lee also carried on the business for a number of years, first with Mr. Banks, and afterward in a fac- tory near his house. Bricks were made at one time by Mr. Alanson Lyon, on Redding Ridge ; and in the same district a large shirt manufactory was once in successful operation, under the management of Mr. Curtis Fanton, and his son, Henry Fanton. In 18.">( the Redding Manufacturing Company was organized in Sanfordtown for the manufacture of pins, and other small articles in brass. The large building in Sanfordtown still known as the pin factory was HISTORY 0* REDDING. 147 built by this company ; for a time its prospects for a successful career were excellent, but owing to some mismanagement on the part of the directors, it soon proved a failure. The Hill Limekiln in Lonetown is perhaps the oldest lime-burning establishment in the State. It was probably opened at an early day by Colonel John Read, who was the owner of the tract of land in which the quarry is situated. In 1810 it came into the possession of John R. Hill, a grandson of Colonel Read, who conducted an extensive business and acquired a fortune. Mr. Hill retired in 1823, and was succeeded at different period by his sons Aaron S. Hill, Moses Hill, Wil- liam Hill, and John L. Hill. These gentlemen con- ducted the business with the same energy and suc- cess that had characterized their father's manage- ment. Since Mr. John L. Hill's retirement, the bus- iness has been conducted, successively, by Messrs. Ames & Osborne, Barnes, Smith, and Philo Wood. In 1842 Squire James Sanford built a foundry on the Aspetuck River in the Foundry district, and en- tered largely into the manufacture of agricultural implements. He had before invented an improved hay-cutting machine, in which the cutting was done by revolving cylinders furnished with knives, which he manufactured here, and which had an extensive sale throughout the country. This foundry is al- most the only one of the old-time industries of Red- ding that remains in successful operation to this day. The Aspetuck River, dashing through a gorge in this district, furnishes abundant water-power, and this the skill and energy of the Sanford brothers has 148 HISTORY OF REDDING. utilized in the manufacture of buttons. Their three button factories have a capacity of between three and four hundred gross of buttons per day, employ twenty-eight hands, and have made this district one of the busiest and most prosperous localities in the town. The pleasant village of Georgetown, in the western part of Redding, owes its existence largely to the establishment in its midst of the Gilbert & Bennett Manufacturing Company's works. This firm is largely engaged in the manufacture of sieves, iron wire, wire c.loth, galvanized wire netting, ash sieves, and cheese and meat safes. They have a warehouse in New York, and at present employ a force of one hundred men. Until 1877 they were also engaged in the manufacture of glue and curled hair, but nt that time this part of their business was purchased by the J. P. Gage Manufacturing Company, of New York, who still continue the business, having added to it the manufacture of sand paper. The origin of the Gilbert & Bennett Manf. Co. dates from the year 1818, when Benjamin Gilbert commenced the manu- facture of sieves and curled hair. Afterward, his sons, Sturges Bennett, and E. O. Hurlbut formed a co-partnership under the name of Gilbert, Bennett & Co., for the manufacture of the above-named arti- cles, including glue. In 1874 a fire destroyed the main factory, together with a large amount of manu- factured stock and machinery, causing a loss of over $100,000. After the fire the concern was incorporated under the name of the Gilbert & Bennett Manufacturing Co., with Sturges Bennett as president, David H. HISTORY OF REDDING. 149 Miller, secretary, and W. W. Beers as treasurer. The works before the fire employed a force of 125 men, and its manufactured products amounted to $500,000 annually. CHAPTER XII. MISCELLANEOUS. A FAVORITE dish with the Latin nations is the olla podrida a thing of shreds and patches, com- posed of odds and ends of the larder that could be utilized in no other way. This chapter is intended as a sort of mental olla podrida, and we have no doubt will prove as varied, if not as savory, as the dish above described. For our first ingredients we insert some quaint and curious extracts from the town records as follows : January 2d, 1778. It was voted, " that the selectmen provide a Spade, Pick Axe, and Hoe to be kept for the use of digging graves." August 11, 1783, " Voted, that the town w r ill set up a singing meeting. Voted to lay a tax of Id. on a pound to pay the Singing Master." March 13, 1787, " Voted not to admit Small Pox by innoculation : Voted to admit Small Pox by Innoeulation next fall." Octo- ber 19th, 1795 : ' ' Voted that the select men prosecute those persons that cut timber on the highways." September 19th, 1798: "Voted that the district to which Silas Merchant belongs, shall pay him $2 for his dragg." In 1801 the town voted to relin- 150 HISTORY OF REDDING. quish to Enoch Merchant the fine imposed on him by William Heron, Esq., for "admitting pup- pet shows into his house contrary to law." De- cember 20th, 1802, John Read, Jr., was " ex- cused" for admitting puppet shows into his house, " on said Read's paying the costs." In 1804 it was voted, " that this town will not remit to Ebenezer Robinson of Danbuiy, the fine imposed on him by William Heron Esq. for breaking the Sabbath, which fine is now uncollected." The same year Aaron Read was appointed " Keeper of the Key r<> the Town House." In 1807, it was voted to remit the fines $1.67 in amount of Peter Bradley, and Nancy his wife, for Sabbath-breaking : also voted, that 'William Heron Esq. be paid Si 1.08, amount of costs in defending a suit brought by William P. Jones against him, for a fine collected and paid into the treasury of the town. In 1808, voted that the town will remit the fines of all those persons who labored on the Sabbath the 31st of July last past, in this town, on payment of costs. In 1817, Daniel Sanford and Aaron Burr were appointed a com- mittee to procure the fish called pike, and put in Umpawaug Pond. In 1840 it was voted, that if any non-resident should kill birds within the limits of the town he should be fined and if he killed rob- ins, except in case of sickness, he should be fined $5. In the records of a town meeting held December 8th, 1806, occurs the following curious entry : " Voted, that S. Samuel Smith, Lemuel Sanford, and Benjamin Meeker be a committee to write to Wil- liam Crawford requesting him to name the person HISTORY OF REDDING. 151 belonging to Redding to whom he delivered Mrs. Sarah Fleming's letter in May last, notifying him that in case of refusal, the Inhabitants of this town, will feel themselves authorized to declare to the world, that he never did deliver such a letter to any person belonging to Redding." Conversing with an aged citizen of Redding on the generous and confiding nature of our towns-peo- ple, he substantiated the fact by a list of the public enterprises which they had aided at different times, with the amount contributed to each, as follows : Kujrle Bank, New Haven $G,000 Virginia Land Company 8,000 Michigan Land Company 20,000 Bethel Bank 40,000 Midland Railroad 20,000 Making a total of $94,000 The above in round numbers. He is quite sure that there have been enough minor enterprises aided to swell the grand total to $100,000. Isaac Hilliard was a poet of considerable local ce- lebrity whom Redding had the honor of producing, but at this late day I am able to collect but few facts and anecdotes concerning him, and most of these are gathered from the Federal journals, who were his traducers, owing to the fact that Mr. Hil- liard, like a true poet, had espoused the cause of the people and was a Whig. The New England Repub- lican of August 29th, 1804, has this to say concern- ing him : 132 HISTORY OF REDDING. " FORLORN HOPE. " ISAAC HILLIARD, a wretched vagabond, originally of Reading, in Fairfield County, lias lately published a large pamphlet, in which he warmly advocates the cause of democracy. To criticise such a work, one must sink himself to a level with the author : that is, he must become an idiot, or a lunatic, or a brute. The composition is just about on a level with Peter St. John's poetry. The pitiable but wrong-headed writer is now busied in hawking his pamphlets about the streets. He presents them to every man whom he is not afraid to insult, and tells those to whom he delivers them, to pay him twenty-five cents each, if they like the work ; otherwise to return it. Never was a man better fitted to any cause than Mil- liard to democracy ; and never was a cause better adapted to the man engaged in it than democracy to Hilliard." The pamphlet referred to above, entitled the " Rights of Suffrage," and also Mr. Hilliard's chief poem, "The Federal Pye," the writer has been so fortunate as to procure. They are included in a pamphlet of some seventy pages, printed at Dan- bury in 1804. A brief examination of the first-named work would force one to conclude that, however brilliant a poet Mr. Hilliard may have been, he was not a master of prose. His nouns, adjectives, nominatives, and verbs are so commingled, that it is difficult to separate them ; but in his preface Mr. Hilliard ob- serves that he has written for persons of limited ed- ucation, and had not therefore adopted a lofty and HISTORY OF REDDING. 153 flourishing style a fact which explains, perhaps, the somewhat ungrammatical construction of his sen- tences. An extract from his poem " The Federal Pye" we will submit for the criticism of the reader. At a Federal " caucus" one Holdfast, a Federalist, arises and opens the proceedings with the following- seech : 1 know you see my tears, The strong expression of my fears. There's no one here that is a stranger Then every one must know our danger. Poor people all begin to see Their rights are gone, they are not free ; Some wicked men espouse their cause, And say they're lost by cruel laws. They have found out, as sure as death, That they are taxed for their breath. I am very sorry that our youth Should ever find out so much truth : The poor old men now make a noise And say we tax all their poor boys. Somehow or other, those poor souls Find other States don't tax their polls. They say 'tis cruel, and a sin To pay for breath which they breathe in And now they all set up this note, If they pay taxes they will vote : They say they've found what we're about We taxed their polls and left ours out. That faculties, and the poll tax, They wish were under the French axe, Together with all those that like 'em, And let it have one chance to strike 'em. Why, they might just as well have said They wished all Federal rulers dead. The poor will rise in every nation W T hen they are drove to desperation. 7 ' Etc., etc. 154 HISTORY OF REDDING. Redding is now much sought after by invalids for its health-giving properties, but it has been occa- sionally visited by epidemics of a fearful character. Small-pox, before Dr. Jenner's discovery of inocu- lation, was a fearful scourge, and news of its appear- ance in town always excited the wildest apprehen- sion. The roads near the infected spot were at once fenced up, and no one save the physician and nurse was permitted to have any communication with the stricken family. If the disease became epidemic, pest-houses were erected in secluded localities, whither the patients were removed. Those dying of this disease were placed in a rude coffin, and buried at midnight, the clergyman standing at a safe dis- tance and reading in a loud voice the service for the dead. An epidemic called the "camp distemper" raged in the town in 1780 the year succeeding the encampment here of Putnam's division. It seems to have been of the same general character as the dysentery, but from the fact of its raging more vio- lently in the neighborhood of the camps was called the camp distemper. A severer scourge was an epidemic that visited the town about 1810, and which displayed many of the characteristics of Asiatic cholera. Strong men were stricken down by it in a day, and there was scarcely a house where there was not mourning for the dead. In one school district alone, Lonetown, it is said that twenty died of this disease. The victims of this scourge were interred in the old cemetery near the Congregational Church. They were buried hastily, at midnight, and the Rev. Nathaniel Bart lett, who officiated on the occasion, stood on the HISTORY OF REDDING. 155 ledge, a few yards south of the church, and there read the burial service, in tones so stentorian, that they Avere heard by residents on Uinpawaug Hill, fully two miles distant. An old account-book mildewed and mouldy, its leaves discolored by time, and its writing half illegi- ble from the same cause, may not be supposed to furnish very interesting reading ; yet if one will go through its pages carefully, he may cull much that is both instructive and entertaining. A book of this character, 130 years old, the day- book and ledger of a former merchant of the town, furnishes the following extracts : Jar.. 24, 1751. ,Jeams Hull Dr. . s. d. To 1 ink horn 3 fi, reckninor 3/ 6 6 July 2. To 2 qts. rum 16/6, 1 do. 11/6 1 7 " 13. To 2 qts. rum 22/, the sugar G/, rubston 3/6... Ill G " 22. To 2 qts. rum 22/ 1 2 Sept. 24. To 2 hanks liar. 8/ rum, 2/6 10 G Dec. 3. To 1 ax 55/, 1 pint rum 2/6 3 1 1752. Tolicker4,9, Ucker 1/6 6 3 1750. Daniel Gould, Dr. . .. d. Dec. 2. To making clock 9 1751. Topnnch2/ 2 May 1C. To 17 d buckram 16 , 24.' 1 wodinor 16/ 1 12 Aug. 22. To punch 6/, rum 2/6 8 8 Sept. 11. To 1 qt. wine 12/ 12 There is also credited to Mr. Gold : 1 cow waid 389 lb., @ 1/9 25 18 8 Robert Sedey, Dr. July 3, 1753. To Testament 25/, 2 trays t2/, Oct. 22. To 2 lb. nails 14/, 1 comb 14/, . To parshon 15/, to 10 Ibs. hogs fat 20/, To i brom 6/, to bunit paper 3 ', silk 6/. 156 HISTORY OF REDDING. Other entries at this period are : 1 oral, molasses at 19/, % bnsli. salt 17/, almonek 1/9, Phlip 6/, 1 pail 12/, 1 skimmer 3/0, 1 basket 9/, 14 yds. Calocho 13/9, 1 tray of pins 4/, 2 Ibs. brimstone 12/, To paid the pedler 34/, to sundrys training d^ay 25 6, 1 cake soap 8/, by 3 dear skins 28, Os. Od., 4 bbls. 3, ^ busfi. ots 8/, 1 doz. butius 6/, To poundeg. of slieep 8/, 1 hogs- hedSO/, 1 bankerchief 25/, 6 pipes 2/6, To writinprnote2/, 1 sickle23/, 4 bl. powder 11 /. 1 botle 3/, 8 sqr. glass 40/, 90 Ibs. pork 9, 10s. J)d., 1 pr. cards 45/, 1 Ib. Tobacco 4/, 17 busb. rye in Boston cleaned 11, 12s. 9d., 1 oz. Indigo 15/, To charge of writ 16/, 2 qts. Methejr- linp; 20/, 1 beaver bat 13, 1 caster bat $8, 1 frying pan 78 ', $ Ib. allam 4/, 1 Spanish dollar 64/, 1 pr. gloves 23/, 1 cartwhip 5 , 1 pr. nee-buckles 6/6, 4 Ib. 11 oz. Tobacco 20/10, 3| Ibs. hay sead 54/6, 1 pr. cart wheels 7, 10s. , 1 grindston 50/, 1 Ib. shot 3/6. 2. vinegar cruses 20/, 1 mustard pot 10/, -J quire paper 7/ , 1 Ib. lead 4/, pnundeg of 14 hogs '9/4, 2 qt. basons 42/, By poundeg of Barlow's hors 8/, 6 tacks 1/6, To interest, and fall of money 6/, flints 3/, 2 doz. pewter buttons 7/, 35 bush, wheat in Boston cleaned 55, 18s., 3d., 1 bbl. pork in Boston 20, 1 hat band 27. This list might be extended indefinitely, but enough has been given to show the prices of articles in general use at that day. A Lodge of Free Masons was once in active oper- ation on Redding Ridge, as is shown by the follow- ing extract from the records of the Grand Lodge : "Oct. 19th, 179G. A petition from sundry Free- masons residing in the towns of Redding and A\V^ ton, was presented to the Grand Lorlge of Free- masons then in session at New Haven, praying to be formed into a new Lodge, which petition was laid over until the next session of the Grand Lodge. At the next session of the Grand Lodge of F. & A. M. held at New Haven on the 17th May, 1797, the prayer of the petitioners was granted, and a Lodge formed under the name of Ark Lodge No. 39, F. & A. M. and William Heron was appointed Master." At the October session 1804, of the Grand Lodge, Lemuel Sanford represented Ark Lodge, also at the May Session 1808, the October session 1808, and the May Session, 1818. H [STORY OF REDDING. 157 In 1823, a Lodge was built by the Members of Ark Lodge No. 39, on Redding Ridge. This Lodge continued its labors until May 12th, -1839, when it surrendered its charter to the Grand Lodge. On the 23d of December, 1869, the charter was again taken up by the following members : David H. Miller, Chas. A. Jennings, Chas. H. Canfield, Lewis Northrop, Chas. O. Olmsted, David E. Smith, H. R. Osborn, E. Thompson, Aaron H. Davis, Luzon Jelliff, Seth P. Beers and Waterman Bates, and is still working, its present Lodge Room being situated in Georgetown. A Lodge of Odd Fellows succeeded that of the Free Masons on Redding Ridge, but only continued in active operation for a few years. One of the earliest antislavery societies in the State was organized in Georgetown, in December, 1838. Dr. Erasmus Hudson and Rev. Nathaniel Colver were appointed by the Connecticut Anti- slavery Society agents for the evangelization of the State, and in October, 1838, entered Fairfield County in the furtherance of their mission. They lectured at Sherman, Danbury, Redding, GeorgetoAvn, and Norwalk, being driven from each place in succession by mobs who abused and threatened, and in some cases stoned them. At Norwalk they were burnt in effigy, and assailed with brickbats and all manner of missiles. At Weston they organized the first society in the county. In November a call was issued for a convention to be held in Redding (Georgetown) De- cember 12th, 1838. On the 29th November, Messrs. Colver and Hudson went to Georgetown to hold meetings. They met on Monday night in the Bap- 158 HISTORY 0* REDDING. tist church, but the mob was so violent that the meeting was adjourned until Tuesday evening. All through Tuesday there was great commotion among the enemies of the cause, and this culminated in the evening, when a mob composed of men and boys, some with painted faces and some wearing masks, surrounded the church, and assailed it with stones, clubs, and hideous outcries. Being dispersed by the citizens the band betook itself to quieter forms of mis- chief. Dr. Hudson drove to the meeting a beautiful milk-white horse, and on that night his tail was sheared so closely that it resembled a corn-cob ; and other outrages were committed. At this meet- ing a society was organized, called the Georgetown Anti-slavery Society. The constitution of this society bears date December 4th, 1838 ; its officers were : President, Eben Hill ; Secretary, William Wakeman ; Treasurer, John O. St. John. From the lofty ridges which form a distinguishing- feature of our landscape, fine views of the Sound, the shipping, and of a pleasant country of farms may be obtained. The " Glen" in the valley of the Sau- gatuck is widely famed for its beautiful and pictu- resque scenery. The valley of the Aspetuck, in the eastern part of the town, also offers many attractions to the tourist. Little River, in the upper part of its course, flows through a w r ild and picturesque region, and near its western bank may be seen the well-de- lined limits of Putnam's camp. Near the camp is Phillip's Cave, so called, according to tradition, be- cause in colonial times it afforded shelter to a runa- way slave of that name, who lived here for a term of HISTORY OF REDDING. 1~'.) years, and levied on the fields and poultry yards of the settlers for subsistence. Gallows Hill, in the western part of the town, near Redding Station, was the scene of the execution of a spy and a deserter in the war of the Revolution. CHAPTER XIII. RKUDING IN THE CIVIL WAK. THE news flashed over the wires in 1861 that the old flag had been fired upon at Sumter, and that war was imminent, was received by the citizens of Redding with the same courage and decision that had been displayed by their ancestors at the open- ing of the Revolution, nearly a hundred years be- fore. The old flag had been dishonored, and the Union, the inalienable birthright bequeathed by the fathers, had been declared to be at an end. It was felt to be a time for action, for the burying of party differences, and for uniting in support of the measures which were at once adopted for over- coming the threatened evil. Public meetings were held, at which sentiments of the purest patriotism were expressed, and volunteers hastened to enroll themselves for the defence of the flag. These acts of loyalty were supplemented by certain practical measures adopted at special town meetings, and which can be best exhibited by extracts from the town records of the period. On the 23d of April, 160 HISTORY Of REDDING. ten days after Sumter fell, the following " was issued : "The legal voters of the town of Redding are hereby notified and warned to attend a special town meeting to be held at the Town House in said Town on Monday Apr. 29, 1861, at 2 o'clock P.M., to con- sider the expediency of appropriating funds to de- fray the expenses of the families of those who enlist in the service of the L\ S. army under the present call of the President for troops. " JOHN EDMUND, i Selectmen BURR MEEKER, of FRANCIS A. SANFORD, ) Jtedding. " REDDING, April 23, 1801.',' " At a special Town Meeting legally warned and held in Redding on the 29th day of April, 1861, Walker Bates, Esq., chosen Moderator. " Voted, unanimously, that an appropriation be made from the treasury of the Town, for the fam- ilies of those who have enlisted, or may enlist from the town in the service of the U. S. Government under the present call of the President for troops, the same being a call for 75, 000 volunteers for the space of three months. " Voted, unanimously, that such appropriation be as follows, to wit, three dollars per week for each of the wives, and one dollar per week for each of the children of the several persons enlisting as aforesaid, dining the time of service of such person under said call. 11 Voted, that a committee of three be appointed for each grand division of the town, to disburse the foregoing appropriation such committee to receive no pecuniary compensation for their services. Sturges Bennett, Thaddeus M. Abbott, and James Sanford chosen such disbursing committee. " Voted, that the selectmen be instructed to draw HISTORY OF REDDING. 1G1 orders on the Treasurer of the Town on application of either of the foregoing named committee, in favor of such as are entitled to an appropriation as afore- said, under the foregoing vote. " Voted, that the selectmen be instructed to call a special town meeting as soon as practicable, for the purpose of making an appropriation for those who enlist from this town in the service of the U. S. Gov- ernment. " The above and foregoing is a true record. "Attest, LEMUEL SANFORD, " Town A call for additional troops was issued by the President early in the summer of 1862, and a draft to fill it seemed imminent. Under these circumstances a special town meeting was held July 26th, 1862, at which it was voted, " that the selectmen be a com- mittee to correspond with the Adjutant- General, to ascertain whether if the town furnished its quota under the recent call for additional troops, it would exempt the town from a draft under said call," and the meeting was adjourned to July 31st, 1862, to await the action of the Adjutant-General. His answer be- ing in the affirmative, the meeting on reassembling, July 31st, passed this resolution : " Resolved, That a bounty of fifty dollars be offered to every volunteer from this town, who shall enlist into the service of the United States between the present time and the 2()th of August next, under the present call for ad- ditional troops, such bounty to be paid to each vol- unteer enlisting as aforesaid, on certificate of his ac- ceptance from the proper authority when presented to the selectmen." A subsequent meeting held August 23d extended the time in which the bounty 12 162 HISTORY OF REDDING would be paid to September 1st. September lst r a meeting was held for the equalization of bounties, and the bounty of $50 was voted to all who had en- listed prior to the vote of July 31st, 1862, as well as to all who should enlist hereafter, except those en- listing under the tirst call of the President for troops. The selectmen w r ere also authorized "to borrow such sum of money as might be needed to carry out such vote. Mr. John Edmond was also appointed an agent for the town to ascertain the full numbers of those who had enlisted from the town. Six days after, September 6th, another town meeting was held and voted an additional bounty of 850 to all who had previously enlisted (except under the first call), and an additional bounty of $100 to all who should thereafter " volunteer to fill up the quota under the present call," thus making the bounty paid each volunteer $200. Throughout the war the town was anxious to avoid a draft, and made strenuous efforts to fill its quota by volunteering. July 13th, 1863, when a fourth call for troops was daily expected, a, town meeting was held, and the selectmen authorized to draw from the treasury of the town and pay over as a bounty " to each person who shall or may be drafted under the next call of the United States Gov- ernment for troops, and who shall not be able to get excused for physical inability, or any other cause, the sum of $300, or such less sum as the Secretary of War shall fix upon for the procuration of a substi- tute ;" and George Osbom, David S. Johnson, and Daniel Rider were appointed a committee to procure recruits. Substantially the same plan was pursued by the town for filling its quota under the various HISTORY OF REDDING. 163 <;alls of the President for troops, and so successfully, that no draft ever occurred within her limits. The sum total of the war expenses of the town is vari- ously estimated at from twenty-two to twenty-five thousand dollars. The war record of Redding, so far as it relates to the number of men furnished the General Government, is, it is believed, exceeded by but few towns in the State. From official returns in the Adjutant-General's office, it appears that Redding furnished one hundred and eight men to the land .forces of the United States more than one fifteenth of the entire population of the town, and fully one third of all its able-bodied male inhabitants. To this number must be added many of her sons who en- listed in other towns and States. The names of these one hundred and eight soldiers constitute a roll of honor whose lustre time will not dim, but brighten, and which all good citizens will be glad to see pre- served in this enduring form. They are given with as full details as can be gathered from the somewhat meagre returns in the Adjutant-General's office. SECOND REGIMENT (ARTILLERY). 1. Andrew H. Sanford, volunteered Jan. 5, 1864, was taken sick through fatigue and exposure while in Virginia, and died in hospital in Philadelphia, June 5, 1864. 2. Morris H. Sanford, volunteered July 21, 1862 ; was made 2d Lieutenant, Co. C.; promoted to be 1st Lieutenant Aug. 1, 1863. Again promoted to be Captain. Was wounded in the shoulder at the battle of Fisher's Creek. 164 HISTORY OF REDDING. THIRD REGIMENT (THREE MONTHS). MUSTERED IN, MAY 14, 1861. 3. George W. Gould, Co. G. Honorably dis- charged Aug. 12, 1861. FIFTH REGIMENT. MUSTERED IN JULY 12, 1861. 4. John H. Bennett, Company A. Transferred to Invalid Corps Sept. 1, 1863. 5. Rufus Mead, Jr., Co. A. Re-enlisted as a vet- eran Dec. -21, 1863. -6. Hezekiah Sturges, Co. A. Died Oct. 14. 1861, and is buried in the Hull Cemetery, Sanfordtown. 7. Arthur M. Thorp, Co. A. Transferred to the Invalid Corps Sept. 1, 1863. 8. Benjamin P. Squires, Co. A. Served three years, and was honorably discharged. SIXTH REGIMENT. MUSTERED IN OCTOBER 28, 1863. 9. John Foster, Co. B. 10. Francis De Four, Co. C. 11. John Murphy, Co. G. SEVENTH REGIMENT. MUSTERED IN SEPTEMBER 5, 1861. 12. Andrew B. Nichols, Co. D. Re-enlisted as a veteran. Killed at the battle of Drury's Bluff, Va., May 16, 1864. 13. Oscar Byington, Co. D. 14. William Nichols, Co. D. Dischargt d for dis- ability Jan. 3, 1863. 15. George W. Peck, Co. I. Enlisted in United States Army Nov. 4, 1862. HISTORY OF REDDING. 165 16. Henry Clark, Co. I., recruit. Enlisted Oct. 30, 1863. 17. Jerome Pufoy, recruit. Enlisted Nov. 6, 1863. Killed at Olustee, Fla., Feb. 20, 1864. 18. Emil Durand, recruit. Enlisted Nov. 2, 1863. 19. H. R. Chamberlain, recruit. Enlisted Nov. 4, 1863. 20. Henry D. Harris, recruit. Enlisted Oct. 29, 1863. 21. Peter Hill, recruit. Enlisted Oct. 31, 1863. Transferred to U. S. Navy Apr. 28, 1864. 22. Robert Hoch, recruit. Enlisted Nov. 3, 1863. 23. John Miller, ?ecruit. Enlisted Nov. 4, 1863. 24. John H. Thomas, recruit. Enlisted Nov. 3, 1863. 25. Antoine Yallori, recruit. Enlisted Oct. 29, 1863. 26. William Wilson, recruit. Enlisted Nov. 6, 1863. 27. William Watson, recruit. Enlisted Nov. 2, 1863. Transferred to U. S. Navy Apr. 28, 1864. EIGHTH REGIMENT. MUSTERED IN SEPT. 25, 1861. 28. Aaron A. Byington, Corporal, Co. H. 29. Lewis Bedient, Co. H. 30. Thomas Bigelow, Co. H. Re-enlisted as a veteran Dec. 24, 1863. 31. William Hamilton, Co. H. Re-enlisted as a veteran Dec. 24, 1863. 32. William H. Nichols, Co. H. Re-enlisted Jan. 5, 1864. 33. Franklin Paine, Co. I. Died March 8, 1862. 166 H18TOR7 OF REDDING. 34. Albert Woodruff, Co. I. Discharged for disa- bility May 11, 1862. 35. Charles M. Platt, recruit. Enlisted Feb. 24, 1864. M.VTH REGIMENT. 36. Michael Dillon, recruit. Enlisted Feb. 17, 1864. TENTH REGIMENT. MUSTERED IN SEPT. 21, 1861. 37. Francis H. Grumman, Co. D. Died Apr. 1, 1864. ELEVENTH REGIMENT. MUSTERED IN OCT. 24, 1861. 38. Nathan Cornwall, Sergeant, Co. A. Re-en- listed Jan. 1, 1864, and promoted to First Lieutenant, A prisoner at Andersonville. 39. Samuel B. Baxter, Co. A. Discharged for dis- ability Dec. 4, 1862. 40. Charles O. Morgan, Co. A. Wounded by the fragment of a shell, and discharged for disability June 3, 1864. 41. George Sherman, Co. K, recruit. Enlisted Feb. 16, 1864. TWELFTH REGIMENT. DATE OF MUSTER FROM NOV. 20, 1861, TO JAN. 1, 1862. 42. George Green, Co. B. Died June 11, 1863, of wounds received at Port Hudson. FOURTEENTH REGIMENT. 43. George Lover, Co. A. Mustered in June 16, 1862. HISTORY OF REDDING. 167. 44. Wesley Banks, Co. E. Mustered in Oct. 1, 1863. Died Feb. 12, 1864, of wounds received at Morton's Ford, Va. SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT. DATE OF MUSTER FROM JULY 14 TO AUG. 14, 1862. 45. Waterman Bates, Co. A. Discharged for dis- ability Dec. 18, 1863. 46. Edmund Treadwell, Co. D. Taken prisoner in Florida. 47. George AY. Banks, Sergeant, Co. G. Dis- charged Sept^lo, 1862. 48. David S. Bartram. Enlisted as a private in Co. G., Aug. 16, 1862. Promoted to 2d Lieutenant May 8, 1863. Participated in the battle of Chancel- lorsville ; and was taken prisoner at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863. Was an inmate of rebel prisons for twenty-two months, experiencing in succession the horrors of the Libby Prison at Richmond, and of the prison pens at Danville, Macon, Savannah, Charles- ton, Columbia, and Goldsboro. He was paroled March 1, 1865, near Wilmington, N. C., and succeed- ed in reaching the Union lines at the latter place. 49. Morris Jennings, Co. G. Discharged for dis- ability March 26, 1863. 50. James M. Burr, Co. G. Discharged for dis- ability March 9, 1863. 51. Martin Costello, Co. G. Taken prisoner. 52. Andrew D. Couch, Co. G. Killed at Chancel- lorsville May 2, 1863. 53. John W. De Forrest, Co. G. Discharged for disability Apr. 4, 1863. 108 BISTORT OF REDDING. 54. Edrnund Godfrey, Co. G. Discharged for disability March 9, 1863. 55. George Hull, Co. G. 56. Burr Lockwood, Co. G. 57. John Lockwood, Co. G. 58. Aaron Peck, Co. G. 59. John M. Sherman, Co. G. Discharged for disability Dec. 10, 1862. 60. George Whalen, Co. G. TWENTY-THIRD REGIMENT. DATE OF MUSTER FROM AUG. 15 TO SEPT. 20, 1862. 61. David H. Miller, Major of the regiment. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. 62. Obadiah R. Coleman, Co. D. Discharged Aug. 31. 1863. 63. Charles A. Gregory. Discharged same date. 64. George W. Gould, Corporal, Co. E. Dis- charged Aug. 31, 1863. 65. Azariah E. Meeker, Co. E. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. 66. Frederic D. Chapman, Co. E. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. 67. Henry H. Lee, Co. E. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. 68. Charles Albin, Co. E. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. 69. Edward Banks, Co. E. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. 70. Henry W. Bates, Co. E. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. HISTORY OF REDDING. 169 71. Charles H. Bates, Co E. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. 72. Smith Bates, Co. E. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. 73. Lemuel B. Benedict, Co. E. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. 74. Peter W. Birdsall, Co. E. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. 75. William F. Brown, Co. E. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. 76. Henry F. Burr, Co. E. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. 77. Martin V. B. Burr, Co. E. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. 78. Aaron Burr, Co. E. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. 79. Ammi Carter, Co. E. Died Aug. 12, 1863. 80. William Coley, Co. E. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. 81. Cyrus B. Eastford, Co. E. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. 82. William Fanton, Co. E. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. 83. Charles A. Field, Co. E. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. 84. Samuel S. Gray, Co. E. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. 85. James F. Jelltff, Co. E. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. 86. Charles Lockwood, Co. E. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. 87. Elihu Osborne, Co. E. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. 88. John Osborne, Co. E. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. 170 HISTORY OF REDDING. 89. Henry Parsons, Co. E. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. 90. Henry Platt, Co. E. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. 91. Sanford J. Platt, Co. E. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. 92. James J. Ryder, Co. E. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. 93. George E. Smith, Co. E. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. 94. Anton Stommel, Co. E. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. 95. Jacob B. St. John, Co. E. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. 96. Ralph S. Meade, Co. G. Discharged Aug. 31 , 1863. 97. Henry Wheelock, Co. G. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. 98. George S. Tarbell, Co. G. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. 99. Almon S. Merwin, Co. G. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. 100. Lyman Whitehead, Co. K. Discharged Aug. 31/1863. 101. Seth P. Bates, Sergeant, Co. E. Promoted to 1st Lieutenant. Discharged Aug. 31, 1863. TWENTY-NINTH REGIMENT (COLORED). MU8TERKD IN MARCH 8, 1864. 102. John H. Hall, Co. A. 103. John M. Coley, Co. E. 104. Theodore Xelson, Co. E. Died Apr. 6, 1S04. HISTORY OF REDDING. 171 105. Lafayette S. Williams, Co. E. 106. Edward Voorhies, Co. E. 107. Joseph F. Butler, Corp., Co. G. 108. Henry B. Pease, Co. G. 109. Cato Johnson, Co. G. On February 4, 1862, a meeting was held in George- town for the purpose of electing officers for Co. E., 8th Regt., 2d Brigade, Conn. State Militia, the Company being known as Co. E., ^National Guard. David H. Miller wi Hiram St. John Geo. M. Godfrey John N. Main Jas. Corcoran Lewis Northrop David S. Bartram Aaron 0. Scribner Wm. D. Gilbert Aaron H. Davis Alonzo Dickson Jerem'h R. Miller Edw'd Thompson Seth P. Bates Geo. W. Gould Albert D. Stur^es is ele( ted Capta 1st Li 3d Lit 1st Se 2d 3d 4th 5th IstC 2d 3d 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th n Redding. eut Wilton. ut ro"t. . Reddino- . . ..Wilton. . . . . Weston. Redding. Wilton. rpl. . Redding. Wilton. Reddinf . ..Wilton. PRIVATES. John W. Mead Ridgefield. Moses Comstock Wilton. James Lobdell " James F. Jelliff Weston. Hezekiah B. Osborn Redding. Joseph R. Lockwood Wilton. Henry Parsons Redding. Wm. H. Canfield Minot S. Patrick Charles A. Jennings Wilton. Edwin Gilbert Redding. David E. Smith " Hiram Cobleigh " Samuel A. Main " Anton Stommel " George L. Dann Wilton. Jonathan Betts. . . .Weston. 172 HISTORY OF REDDING. Charles Olmsted Wilton. Charles Albin Redding. Fred. D. Chapman Henry Holnnan Wm.'B. Smith Wm. E. Broth well Wi ton. Azariah E. Meeker Redding. Charles S. Gregory Charles S. Meeker Charles H. Downs Wm. Coley Lorenzo Jones Henry F. Burr Obadiah P. Coleman Charles H. Canfield John L. Godfrey Wilton. Sylvester Albin Redding. The Company uniformed itself and drilled until August, 1862. When Governor Buckingham called for troops to serve for nine months, the entire com- mand volunteered its services, and was accepted. The company was immediately recruited up to 108 men, and reported for duty at Camp Terry, New Haven, where it was mustered into the U. S. service as Co. E., 23d Regt. Conn. Vols. On the forma- tion of the 23d Regt., Capt. Miller was promoted to be Major of the regiment. Geo. M. Godfrey was elected Captain of Co. E., to fill the vacancy caused by the promotion of Capt. Miller ; and John JN". Main promoted to 2d Lieutenant, to fill vacancy caused by the promotion of Lieut. Godfrey. The company was sent with the regiment from New Haven to Camp Buckingham, on Long Island, and from thence by steamer Che Kiang to New Or- leans, where it w r as embodied in the 19th Army Corps, under Gen. Banks. It was engaged at Lafourche Crossing, La., on June 21, 1863, with a superior force of the rebels, but came out victorious. HISTORY OF REDDING. 173 The company was mustered out of the U. S. ser- vice at New Haven, Sept. 3, 1863, after a service of nearly thirteen months. CHAPTER XIV. THE EARLY FAMILIP;S OF REDDING.* ADAMS. JOSEPH ADAMS removed when a young man from Boston to Fail-field, and married, soon after, Joanna Disbrow, of Fairfield. About 1760 he removed to Redding, and settled in Lonetown, on the farm now owned by his grandson Stephen. His children were : Stephen, baptized August 15, 1762. Hezekiah, bap- tized September 30, 1764. Ellen, baptized Novem- ber 10, 1765. Abigail, baptized March 6, 1768. Joseph, baptized April 28, 1771. Israel, baptized January 10, 1773. Aaron, baptized July 16. 1775. Nathan, baptized September 6, 1778. Of these children, Stephen enlisted in the Continental Army and never returned. Hezekiah married Betty Par- sons, and had children : Betsey, who married John Gray, and settled in Norwalk ; Stephen, now living in Redding, at the age of eighty-nine ; Lemuel, now living in Redding, aged eighty-six ; Aaron, who re- * These notes, arranged alphabetically, are not intended as com- plete histories of the families mentioned, but rather as sketches of the early settlers of the town, and as aids to the genealogist in his researches. For complete histories, the inquirer should consult the ancient records of Norwalk, Stratford, Fairfield, and Danbury, as well as those of Redding. 174 HISTORY OF REDDING. moved to the West ; and Elinor, who married Hawley Judd. It is related of Hezekiah Adams, that, too young to enlist as a soldier in the Revolutionary Army, he entered the service as a teamster, and on one occasion drove a wagon, loaded with Spanish milled dollars, to Baltimore. Abraham Adams, brother of Joseph, was contem- porary with him in Redding. His wife was Sarah . Their children were : Ann, baptized March 6, 1768. Deborah, baptized April 28, 1771. Sarah, baptized July 31, 1774 ; died in infancy. Sarah, baptized October 20, 1776. Eli, baptized January 30, 1780. Family record mentions a son Abraham. BANKS. JESSE BANKS, son of Joseph Banks, of Fail-field, removed to Redding at an early day ; married, June 11, 1763, Mabel Wheeler (town record says Meliit- cible Wheeler). Their children were : Hyatt, born December 9, 1764. Jesse, born October 29, 1766. Joanna, born July 27, 1768. Mabel, born October 2, 1772 ; died in infancy. Mary, born June 23, 1774. Mabel, born November 17, 1776. Jesse married, December 15, 1787, Martha Sum- mers. Mabel married Ebenezer Foot, August 29, 1797. Seth Banks also appears in Redding contem- porary with Jesse ; married Sarah Pickett Novem- ber 20, 1766, and had children : Mehitable, born January 15,. 1768, and Thomas ; and perhaps others. BARLOW. THE Barlow family in Redding is descended from John Barlow, who appears in Fairfield as early as HISTORY OF REDDING. 175 1668, and died in 1674. Samuel Barlow, son of Sam- uel Barlow, of Fail-field, grandson of John Barlow, he a son of the first settler of that name, removed to Redding about 1740, and settled in what is now Bos- ton district, near the present residence of Bradley Hill. He married, first, Eunice, daughter of Daniel Bradley, of Fail-field, August 2, 1731. Their chil- dren were : Daniel, born November 24, 1734. Ruha- mah, born January 22, 1737. James, born January 29, 1739. Jabez, born March, 21, 1742. After the death of his first wife, Samuel Barlow married Esther, daughter of Nathaniel Hull, of Redding, August 7, 1774. She died August 28, 1775, aged fifty-four years. Their children were : Nathaniel, born May 13, 1745. Aaron, born February 11, 1750. Samuel, bora April 3, 1752. Joel, the poet, born March 24, 1754. Huldah, born . Mr. Samuel Bar- low purchased his farm of James Bradley for 2500. It consisted of 170 acres, with "buildings thereon,'' and was bounded on the north by the first cross highway from the rear of the long lots without doubt the road before mentioned leading from Boston through the centre to Redding Ridge. " This northern boundary," says Mr. Hill, " together with the familiar names of the old owners of prop- erty on the other 'side of the farm, and also the names of such familiar localities on the farm as ' the boggs,' and the ' flat ridge,' and the ' up and down road, leading to each from the main road, mark this farm purchased by Samuel Barlow as being unmis- takably the present property of Bradley Hill, and the heirs of Gershom Hill. There was on it at the time a good substantial dwelling-house of respecta- 176 HISTORY OF REDDING. ble size, erected by a previous owner, and which stood about four hundred feet west of the present residence of Bradley Hill, on the same side of the street. The house was demolished in 1823. Having purchased this property January 2, 1749, he un- doubtedly located his family on it the following spring, as in subsequent deeds he is recognized as a resident of the " Parish of Reading." It was here that Aaron, Samuel, Joel, and Huldah were born. It was here he lived and died, and from here he was buried in the old cemetery west of the Congre- gational Church in Redding Centre." Of the children of Samuel Barlow, Daniel and Ruhamah died early. James settled in Ridgefield, on a farm of 130 acres conveyed to him by his father March 30, 1770. He had four children : Samuel, who removed to the South ; Lewis, Abigail, and James, who settled in Vermont. Jabez, the young- est son by the first wife, settled in Ohio. Nathaniel Barlow married Jane Bradley, who was born May, 1744. Their children were : Gershom. born October 21, 1765 ; died of consumption Septem- ber 24, 1794. Esther, born September 30, 1767 ; a deaf mute ; died May 10, 1783. Sarah, born January 16, 1770 ; died April 11, 1845. Jonathan, born April 14, 1772 ; died August 28, 1775. Betsey, born Aug- ust 2, 1778 ; died September 9, 1864. Huldah, born April 3, 1780 ; a deaf mute, died August 29, 1787. Mr. Nathaniel Barlow died December 26, 1782. Aaron Barlow settled in Redding, on Umpawaug Hill, on a farm purchased by his father several years before. He was a man of ability, tall, and of impos- ing bearing, and served in the capacity of a colonel HISTORY OF REDDING. 177 in the Revolution. He removed to Norfolk, Va., and died there of yellow-fever. His children were : Klnathan, who died young. Elnathan, died in the war of 1812. Samuel, removed to Ohio. Stephen was a lawyer in Ohio. Daniel, lived and died in Redding. Aaron, died at sea. Esther, died at jSTorfolk, of yellow-fever. Joel, died in Redding. Rebecca, lived and died in Redding ; and Thomas, called after Thomas Paine by his uncle Joel. Thomas was educated and adopted by his uncle, the poet, and accompanied him to France as his private secretary. He was also his companion on the fatal journey to Wilna. After the death of his uncle, Thomas returned to America and established himself as a lawyer in Pittsburg, Pa., and died there. Samuel Barlow, the third son by the second wife, was a soldier in the Revolutionary Army, and died at Rhinebeck, X. Y., on his return from the expedi- tion against Ticonderoga. A stone to his memory was erected in the old cemetery in Redding, near the Congregational Church, and which is still standing. Of Joel Barlow, the poet, a full account is given elsewhere. BARTLETT. REV. NATIIAXIEL BARTLETT, second pastor of the Congregational Church in Redding, became a resident in 1753, and so remained until his death in 1810. He married, June 13, 1753, Mrs. Eunice Rus- sell, of Branford, Conn. Their children were : Rus- sell, baptized June 9, 1754. Daniel C., baptized January 16, 1757. Anne, February 25, 1759. Eu- nice, April 26, 1761. Jonathan, October 14, 1764. 13 178 HISTORY OF REDDING. Lucretia, March 27, 1768. Russell married, February 28, 1776, Rachel Taylor, and had children : Clare, baptized March 30, 1777, and Flora, baptized August 29, 1779. Daniel C. married Esther Read January 7, 1778, and settled in Amenia, N. Y., where some of his descendants now reside. Rev. Jonathan married, first, Roda, daughter of Lemuel Sanford ; second, Betsey Marvin, of Wilton ; and, third, Abigail, daughter of Lemuel Sanford. lie had no children. Sketches of Rev. Jonathan Bartlett, and of his father, Rev. Nathaniel Bartlett, are given in the his- tory of the Congregational church. BARTKAlf. 33AVID BAKTRAM removed from Fail-field to Red- ding as early as 1733, in which year he appears as surveyor of highways. He was a farmer, and settled in Lonetown. He had five sons and three daughters born in Fairfield, viz., David, Paul, James ; Daniel, born October 23, 1745 ; John, Mabel, Hannah, and Betsey. All the sons settled in Redding. David married, April 30, 1762, Phebe Morehouse, by whom he had Joel, David, John, Jonathan, Hulda, Hepsy, and Phebe. (Family record.) Paul married, Sep- tember 19, 1756, Mary Hawley. Their children were : Joseph, born January 28, 1758 ; died in infancy. Mary, born May 12, 1760. Sarah, born August 6, 1762. Eunice, born January 3, 1765. Eli, born March 30, 1767. Ruth, born January 7, 1769. Ezekiel, born July 9, 1770. (Town record.) Ezra, baptized May 9, 1773. Joseph, baptized March JO, 1776. (Family record mentions a daughter HISTORY OF REDDING. 179 Olive.) Of these children. Mary married Jabez Burr, and removed to Clarendon, Vt. Sarah married Milo Palmer, and removed to the same place. Eunice married Daniel Parsons, of Red- ding. Eli married Dolly Lyon, of Redding ; and about 1804 removed to Delaware Co., N. Y. His children were William, Belinda, Phebe, and Lodema, Ezekiel married Esther, daughter of Jonathan Par- sons, of Redding.. Their children were : Mary, Jared, Milo, Clarissa, Elizabeth, Jehu, Sarah, Elias, Ezra, Phebe, and Noah. One of his sons, Jehu, studied law and rose to eminence in the profession ; was judge, representative, and senator. Ezekiel moved to Ohio at an early day, and settled in Marion, where he resided until his death, March 15, 1845. Ezra was a sailor ; married Elinor, daughter of Chauncey Merchant, of Redding, and quitting the sea, removed to Delaware Co., N. Y., where he died shortly after, leaving children Joel M., Ezra, Uriah, and Lucy. Joseph removed first to A r ermont, and after- ward to Tioga Co., N. Y. Olive married Justus Stillson, of Redding, and removed to Groton, N. Y. James Bartram, son of David, settled in Redding. Was a private in the Revolution. Married Hannah Morehouse, who became the mother of twenty -one children, ten only of whom survived. These were : Isaac, born April 15, 1758. Noah, born 1760. James, born 1770. Aaron, born February 21, 1784. Lucy, Hannah, Betsey, Irena, and Anna. Of these children, Isaac settled in Redding ; mar- ried Molly Hamilton, by whom he had seven chil- drenIsaac, Harry, David, Willis, Chasie, Lucy, Polly, and Huldah. Aaron also settled in Redding, 180 HISTORY OF REDDIKG. married Eunice Jenkins, and raised a large family of children. Daniel, fourth son of David, also settled in Red- ding, was a tanner and currier by trade, and built the first works of the kind in the town, on the ground now occupied by Walter M. Edmonds for the same purpose. He married, October 10, 1768, Ann Merchant, of Redding. Their children were : Esther, born April 16, 1770. Gurdon, bom October 25, 1771 ; died in infancy. Anna, born January 23, 1773 ; died in infancy. Elinor, born March 1, 1774 ; died in infancy. Gurdon, born September 21, 1776. Anna, born August 10, 1778 ; married - - Mead ; settled in Ridgefield. Elinor, born February 4, 1780 ; died in infancy. Uriah, born January 9, 1782. Elinor, born October 28, 1783 ; married - Nash ; settled in Marion. Julilla, born November 12, 1785 ; married - Bangs ; settled in Central N. Y. Levi, born November 26, 1787. Phebe, born September 19, 1790; married - Curtin. David, born June 5, 179o. At the time of Try on' s invasion, with nearly every other man in the town capable of bearing arms, Daniel Bartram joined the militia and marched to the defence of Danbury. Being absent several days, he sent word to his wife that she must get some one to take the hides from the vats or they would spoil. There was not a man to be found ; and so the brave woman, leaving her four small children to amuse one another, caught her horse, hitched him to the bark mill, ground the bark, took the hides out, turned and repacked them and had just seated herself at the dinner-table wh7. By His Honor's Command. THOS. FITCH. GEORGE WYLLYS. Secty. ROGERS. JAMES ROGEKS was a prominent man in his day, and tilled many responsible offices in town. He ap- pears as early as 1762. His children were : Joseph, born October 31st, 1762. Chloe, born October 24th, 1766. James, born April 28th, 1768. Haron, born August 22d, 1770. (Town record.) RUMSEY. JOSEPH RUMSEY appears in Redding as early as 1747. His will, dated December 27th, 1754, mentions his wife, Sarah - , and children, Isaac, Saiah. Joseph, Daniel, William, andEphraim. The will of Daniel Rumsey, of Reading, probated March 10th, 1761, mentions his father Robert, broth- ers John Rumsey and Seth Hull. John Rumsey settled in Redding. His children by wife Esther were : Abigail, baptized February 19th, 1751. Rachel, baptized February 25th, 1753. Mary, June 5th, 1755. Nathan, August 8th, 175(5. David, January 28th, 1759. Mary, June 15th, 1701. Esther, May 13th, 1764. Eben, February 4th, 1768. HISTORY OF KEDD1NG. 215 Isaac Rumsey married Abigail St. John, May 23d, 1 761 . Children : Abigail, born December 25th, 1761. Jeremiah, born May 23d, 1762. Ruth, De- cember 29th, 1763. Noah, born March 28th, 1768. SAXFORD. THE Sanford family is one of the oldest and most numerous in the town, having been founded by four persons of the name, who removed here from Fair- field when the country was first opened to settlers. The names of these four settlers were : Nathaniel, Lemuel, Samuel, and Ephraim. The first two were original members of the church ; the last two joined it during the first year of its ex- istence, viz., in 1734. According to Savage, Ephraim Sanford, who settled in Milford, and married Mary Powell, of New Haven, in 1669, had children, Mary, Samuel, Ephraim, Thomas, Nathaniel and Zacariah. Samuel, Ephraim, and Nathaniel, are no doubt iden- tical with those who settled in Redding, as they were elderly men with families when they removed here- According to the above-named authority, Ezekiel, eldest son of the above Thomas Sauford, was free- man in 1669 and died in 1683, leaving a widow, Re- becca and children, Ezekiel, Thomas, Sarah, Mary, Rebecca, Martha, and Elizabeth. Ezekiel,* eldest won, settled in Fairfield, and in his will, dated Janu- - Mr. E. ,1. Sand ford, of Knoxville, Term., sends me the following ncccmnt of Ezekid Sandford, which he derived from Rev. Thomas F. Davies : Ezekiel Sand ford was an English engineer, and had charge of the erection of the stockade fort atSaybrook, at the mouth of the Connecticut River, for protection against Indians. He after- ward removed to Fairh'eld, and built Ihe first mill in the county, at Mill River, for which he received a huge grant of land from Ihe English Government 21 G HISTORY OF REDDING. ary 29th, 1729, mentions two sons, Lemuel and Eze kiel. Lemuel settled in Redding, as above stated. Thomas Sanford, father of Ezekiel and Ephraim, was the first of the name in America. We shall trace the families of these ancestors in Redding in the order of their arrival here. Nathan- iel Sanford settled in Umpawang. His children re- corded were: Abel H., baptized March 25th, !?:>:>. Ruth, baptized May 12th, 1787. Esther, baptized May 27th, 1744. T have no further record of this family. Lemuel Sanford settled in the centre. He was one of the first committee-men of the society, and promi- nent in public affairs. He married - - Squire, of Fairfield. Their children were : Hezekiah, probably born in Fairfield. Sarah, baptized September 19th, 1734. Anne, baptized November 1st, 1736. Lydia, baptized June 4th, 1738. Lemuel, baptized April 20th, 1740. Ezekiel, baptized July 4th, 1742. Anne, baptized October 7th, 1744. Roda, baptized February 26th, 1749. Hezekiali married Hannah - , and settled in the centre, on the farm now owned by Mr. Delavan. His children were : Aaron, baptized May 29th, 1 ?.">?. Hannah, baptized August 26th, 1759. ^Villiam, bap- tized October 14th, 1764. Eunice, baptized June 7th, 1772. Huldah, baptized May 18th, 1777. Aaron, his eldest son, settled in the centre, and lived in the house now owned by Mrs. Connors. He was the first male member of the Methodist Church in New England, and was the leader of the little class organized in Redding in 1790. The Methodist preachers in their rounds al \vay.s HISTORY OF REDDING. 217 found a home with him, and often held their meet- ings in his house. Later in life he became an accep- table local preacher in that church. He married Lydia Hawley, daughter of William Hawley, Novem- ber 2d, 1780. Their children were : Betsey, born October 5th, 1781. Hannah, born May 31st, 1784. Aaron, born July 8th, 1786. Hawley, born July Ifith, 1789. Jesse Lee, born July 27th, 1791. Eu- nice, born August 10th, 1793. Walter, born Febru- ary 18th, 1796. Charlotte, born January 8th, 1800. Lydia, born September t 23d, 1803. William A., born January 15th, 1807. Aaron Stanford, Jr., settled, on Redding Ridge, in the eastern part of the town. He married, December 19th, 1813, Fanny Hill, daughter of Andrew L. Hill. Their children were eleven in number : Andrew H., Daniel, Mary, Clara, Henry, Aaron, Fanny, Jesse L., Mary, Elizabeth, John, and Julia H. Ilawley, the second son, married Betsey Stow November 2d, 1814, by whom he had two children, Russell and Betsey. On the death of his wife he married, second, Sarah Ketchum November 20th, 1823. The chil- dren of this marriage were : Francis A., Aaron K., (now presiding elder on the Poughkeepsie District), Hawley, Lydia, David, Morris, and Mary. Walter, the third son, married, December 6th, 1821, Harriet M. Booth. They had one son, Charles. Walter Sanford married, second, Emily Gorham. William Sanford, the fourth son, married Harriet Tuttle May 2d, 1832. Of the daughters, Betsey married John R. Hill. Hannah married the Rev. Aaron Hunt, a Methodist clergyman, celebrated in his day as being the first to successfully contest the old co- 218 HISTORY OF REDDING. lonial law which forbade all ministers except those of the " Standing Order" to perform the marriage ceremony. Mr. Hunt was at one time located and resided for several years in Redding. Charlotte married Thomas B. Fanton. Lydia married Aaron Sanford Hyatt. Lemuel Sanford, second son of Lemuel Sanford, settled in the centre, near his father. He married, September 20th, 1768, Mary Russell, of North Bran ford, Conn. The circumstances attending his mar- riage are thus narrated : He left Redding on horse- back, early on the morning of his wedding-day, but was delayed on the road and did not reach Branford imtil midnight. By that time the wedding guests had dispersed and the family had retired ; but he roused them up, collected the guests, and the cere- mony was performed. The next day bride and groom returned to Redding, travelling on horse- back. The children of Lemuel and Mary Sanford were : Lemuel, born July 18th, 1769. Roda, born March 4th, 1773. Mary, born May 18th, 1776 ; mar- ried Dr. Thomas Peck. Abigail, born 1779 ; died in infancy. Jonathan R., born February llth, 1782. Abigail, born April 18th, 1784. Lucretia, born May 4th, 178G. Mr. Lemuel Sanford died March 12th, 1803, at Danbury, in the performance of his duties as Judge of the County Court, leaving a most honorable rec- ord. He had filled all the positions of honor and trust in his native town, and during the Revolution had been a member of the Committee of Supply, the duties of which kept him absent in Danbury and Fairfield nearly the whole period of the war. He HISTORY OF REDDING. 210 several times represented the town in the General Assembly, and also held the office of Associate Judge of the County Court. Lemuel Sanford, eldest son of Judge Sanford, after being educated at President Dwight's famous acad- emy on Greenfield Hill, returned to Redding, mar- ried Mary Heron, daughter of Squire Heron, and set- tled in the centre, on the farm now owned by Albert Gorham. He was a man of much ability, and quite prominent in town affairs. He had but two chil- dren, Mary and Abigail. Jonathan 11., the second son, married Maria, daughter of Dr. Thomas Davies, October 17th, 1808. Their children were : Amanda, Maria, (who died in infancy), Lemuel, Jonathan T?., and Thomas. Mr. Jonathan Sanford died August 20th, 1858. In 1808 Mr. Sanford was appointed town-clerk and treasurer, and held those offices until his death, a period of half a century. He also filled the office of Judge of Probate for several years, besides representing his native town at different periods in the State legisla- ture. Ezekiel, third son of Lemuel Sanford the first, married Abigail Starr November 21st, 1773, and set tied in Boston district, in the western part of the town. His children were : Mollie, baptized Decem- ber 18th, 1774. Rebecca, baptized April 24th, 1777. Ezekiel, baptized November 1st, 1778. Abigail, baptized March 19th, 1780 ; perhaps others. He is called captain in the old records. Some of his de- scendants are now living in Amenia, N. Y. Samuel Sanford the first, settled in Umpawaug. He is called captain in the records. His children 220 HISTORY OF REDDING. were : Daniel-, baptized April 22d, 1734. Seth, bap- tized August 23d, 1735. Mary, March 19th, 1738. David, December 2d, 1739. Abigail, January 30th, 1743. Samuel, May 5th, 1745. Sarah, May 10th, 1747. Esther, April 16th, 1749. Ezra, March 25th, 1751. Rachel, February 25th, 1753. Peter, May 23d, 1756. Captain Samuel Sanford died November 6th, 1768, aged sixty-two years. Daniel married Esther Hull April 18th, 1758. Children : Eli, baptized August 16th, 1761. Chloe, July 5th, 1767 ; and others. Seth married Rebecca, daughter of Deacon Stephen Burr, April 25th, 1759. Her children, as named in Deacon Burr's will, 1776, were": Elias, Ebenezer, Joel, Elijah, Samuel, and Seth. Mary married Timothy Sanford, son of Joseph. Abigail married John Hawley December 21st, 1762. Samuel, Jr., married Sarah Olmsted July 23d, 1767. (Town record.) His children re- corded were : Uriah, baptized February 14th, 1768. Thomas, December 17th, 1769. Peter married Abi- gail Keeler June 1st, 1780. Ephraim Sanford the first, settled in Sanfordtowu, and was a large land owner there, as is shown by sev- eral deeds now in the possession of his descendants, some of which date back as far as 1733. His chil- dren by his wife Elizabeth Mix, according to the par- ish record, were : Rachel, baptized July 29th, 1733. Abigail, baptized May 18th, 1735. John, April 29th, 1739. Oliver, September 20th, 1741. Lois, September 17th, 1743. Huldah, May 5th, 1748. Augustus, July 15th, 1753. Esther, April 27th, 1755. His will, dated January 30th, 1761, mentions also Ephraim, Elizabeth, and Tabitha. Ephraim HISTORY OF REDDING. 221 Sanford, according to the family tradition, was the first man having a store of goods in Redding. His goods were brought from Boston. Of his children, Abigail married Daniel Jackson October 2d, 1755. John married , and settled in the Foundry district, in Redding. His children were : James, Stephen, Ephraim, John, Eli, Huldah, Lois, Betty, Elizabeth, and Annie. James, the eldest son, settled in the Foundry district, near his father. He was a teamster in the Revolutionary army, and was present at the execution of Jones and Smith on Gallows Hill. He married Sarah, daughter of John Beach, and grand- daughter of Rev. John Beach, the faithful missionary of the Church of England. He was the father of Squire James Sanford. John, Jr., the fourth son of John Sanford, settled in Redding, and was the father of John AY. Sanford, a well-known citizen. Oliver Sanford, son of Ephraim, married, in April, 1767, Rachel, daughter of Deacon David Coley, of Weston. Their children were : Mary, baptized July 31st, 1768. David, August 20th, 1769. Ephraim. September 15th, 1771. Abigail, May 29th, 1774. Enocli A., April 28th, 1776. Levi, December 14th, 1777. Oliver C., Abigail, Mary, Betsey, and Lor- raine. SMITH. ANXA, daughter of Samuel Smith, of Redding, was baptized July 6th, 1740 ; and Seth Samuel, son of Samuel and Lydia Smith, September 28th, 1760. The latter was the first lawyer who located in Red- ding. He had an office in the centre, where also he HISTORY OF RED DIM;. kept a select school. He was town-clerk for a term of years, and wrote a most elegant hand, as will be remembered by those familiar with the records of his times. He also filled many other important positions in the town. He married Huldah - - . Their children were : Zalmon, baptized February 3d, 1780 : and probably others. BTOHTE. ROBERT STOW, the first of the name in Red- ding, settled in Lonetown, on the farm now owned by his grandson, Sumner Stowe. He married Anne Darrow January 26th, 1775. Their children were : Daniel, born July 4th, 1779. Abigail, born April llth, 1776 ; married Israel Adams. Sarah, born October 4th, 1777. Sarah, born August llth, 17S1. Sumner, born September 17th, 1783. Huldah. born February 6th, 1787 ; married Andrew An drus, of Danbury. Abraham, born March 4th, 1792. Polly, born September 20th, 1794 ; married Moses Parsons, of Newtown. Robert Stow died November 5th, 1795. Daniel Stow married Lucy Hoyt, of Bethel, and settled in Redding, near his father. IIi> children were : Robert, Almira, Sarah, Harriet, Lucy. Sumner, Mary, and Polly. Abraham settled in Bethel. Sumner died when a young man. Other settlers in the town at an early date, but who do not appear to have been permanent resi- dents, were: Daniel Bradley, Thomas Williams. Thomas and William Squire (of Fail-field), Ebenezer Ferry, George Cowden, Nathaniel Booth, Edmund Sherman, Jonathan Squire, John Whitlock, John HISTORY OF REDDING. 223 Truesdale, Frederick Dikeman, and John Nott. The families of Byington, Chapman, Hamilton, Knapp, Osborne, Dennison, Bennett, St. John, Gilbert, Johnson, Abbott, Duncomb, Edmonds, Olmstead, Rider, Treadwell, and Todd figure in the later rec- ords of the town. CHAPTER XV. BIOGRAPHICAL. JOEL BARLOW, the poet and statesman, was born in Redding March 24th, 1754. He received his early education first from the Rev. Mr. Bartlett, pas- tor of the Congregational church in Redding, and second at Moor's preparatory school for boys, near Hanover, N. H. He entered Dartmouth College in 1774, at the age of twenty, and shortly after removed to New Haven and was entered at Yale. His col- lege course was a highly creditable one in many re- spects. During the college terms he was a faithful student, especially winning distinction for literary attainments ; and during the long summer vacations lie joined the Continental army as a volunteer, and aided in lighting the battles of his country. He grad- uated in 1778. From 1779 to 1783, he was chaplain of one of the Connecticut regiments in the Revolu- tionary army. Shortly after leaving the army in 1783, he married Miss Ruth Baldwin, daughter of Michael Baldwin, Esq., of New Haven, and in 1783 settled as a lawyer in Hartford, Conn. In Hartford Mr. Barlow appears as lawyer, journalist (editor of 224 HISTORY OF REDDING. the American Mercury), bookseller, and poet. Iii the latter capacity he produced a revision of Dr. Watts' s " Imitation" of the Psalms, and also, in 1787, his famous poem. " The Vision of Columbus." In 1789 he accepted from the Sciota Land Company the position of foreign agent for the sale of their lands in Europe, and went to England and later to France for this purpose ; but shortly after his arrival the company made a disgraceful failure, and he was again thrown on his own resources. Fortunately, his literary reputation had made him quite a lion in the French capital, and he easily succeeded in ob- taining work on the French journals. Later he em- barked in some mercantile ventures, which proved successful and brought him a competence. He at first participated actively in the French Revolution, which broke out soon after his arrival in France, but becoming disgusted with the atrocities of the Jacobins, he withdrew and went over to England. In London, in 1791, he published his "Advice to the Privileged Orders," a work which drew out a formal eulogium from Fox in the House of Commons. This was succeeded in 1792 by his " Conspiracy of Kings," a poem so bitterly hostile to royalty, that he found it prudent to leave England for France im- mediately on its publication. On his return to France, at this time, the privileges of French citi- zenship were conferred on him, only before accorded to but two Americans, Washington and Hamilton. In 1793 he accompanied Gregorie, former Bishop of Blois, and other dignitaries to Savoy, and aided in organizing that country into a department of the Republic. While here he wrote his " Hasty Pud- HISTORY OF REDDING. 225 ding," the mock-heroic, half -didactic poem, which has chiefly endeared him to his countrymen. In 1795 President Washington appointed him consul to Algiers, with instructions to ratify the long pend- ing treaty with the Dey, and to liberate the Ameri- can prisoners there. Colonel Humphreys, American Minister to Portugal, an old friend of Mr. Barlow, himself came to Paris to urge him to accept ; and proving successful, the two friends left Paris on the 12th of September, 1795, for Lisbon. From Lisbon Mr. Barlow proceeded to Algiers md Alicant, and after a year and a half of effort, succeeded in ratify- ing the treaty and in liberating the captives. He then returned to France. During the succeeding eight years he resided in an elegant villa near Paris, formerly the property of the Count Clermont Ton- nere, enjoying the friendship of the chief men of the nation, as well as that of all Americans of eminence who visited the capital. But in 1805 the desire to once more revisit the land he had left seventeen years before, became too strong to be resisted longer, and disposing of his estates in France, he returned in Juty of this year to America. He was warmly received in his native land, and after an extensive tour, extending into the western country, he returned to Washington, where he built an elegant mansion called Kalorama, and which was widely famed in its day for its beauty and elegance, and as being the resort of all the famous men of the times. At Kalorama, Barlow gave his chief attention to the cultivation of the Muses, and to philosophical studies. Here, in 1808, he finished his great poem, "The Columbiad," which was 18 220 HISTORY OF REDDING. printed at Philadelphia, and was one of the most elegant volumes ever issued from the American press. He also busied himself with collecting materials for a general history of the United States. In 1811 President Madison offered him the respon- sible position of Minister to France, in the hope that his reputation and his influence with the French Government might secure for us a treaty giving in- demnity for past spoliations on our commerce and security from further depredations. Barlow ac- cepted the position from motives of the purest pa- triotism, in the belief that his talents and position might be made useful to his country. He sailed irom Annapolis in July, 1811, in the historic frigate Constitution, Captain Hull, which had been placed at his disposal by the Government. His negotia- tions with Napoleon, while on this mission, were conducted through the Duke de Bassano, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and covered a space of nearly a year and a half. Napoleon acknowledged the justice of the claims of the United States, and ex- pressed a willingness to ratify a treaty of indemnity; but he was so absorbed in directing the campaign against Russia, and in his other operations on the European field, that it was very difficult to bring the matter to a satisfactory conclusion. At length, on the 25th of October, 1812, Mr. Bar- low received a letter from the Duke de Bassano, writ- ten at Wilna, Poland, saying that the emperor had deputed the business of the treaty to him, and that if Mr. Barlow would come to Wilna, he had no doubt but that the treaty might be speedily ratified. Bar- low, on receipt of the note, at once set out, and trav- HISTORY OF REDDING. 227 elling night and day, reached Wilna about the first of December, only to find the village filled with fugi- tives from Napoleon's retreating army, while the duke was out on the frontiers hurrying forward re- inforcements to cover the emperor's retreat. Dis- appointed in his mission, he hastened to retrace his steps ; but at Zarniwica, an obscure village in Poland, he was seized with an acute attack of .pneu- monia, the result of privations and exposure, which terminated his life December 26th, 1812. He was buried in the little village where he died, and a mar- ble pillar was erected by Mrs. Barlow to his mem- ory. No friendly pen has ever written the poet's biography, and his memory has pretty much faded from the minds of his countrymen ; but there were few men of his day more widely known, or who did deeds more worthy of grateful recognition by the American people. " STEPHEN RUSSELL MALLOEY, second son of Charles Mallory, of Redding, Conn., was born in the West Indies in 1814, and came to the United States when but three months old. In 1819 he accom- panied his father to Florida, and was placed at an ' old field school ' near Mobile, from whence he was removed to the academy at Nazareth, Pa., where he spent several years. He returned to Florida in 1830, and established his residence at Key West, where he embraced the profession of law. Mr. Mai lory has filled many important trusts under the State and General Governments, and was collector of the customs and superintendent of the revenue at Key West, under Mr. Polk. In 1850 he was 228 HISTORY OF BEDDING. elected to the United States Senate for the term of six years." The above is from Gleason's " Pictorial Companion" for 1853. Mr. Mallory's subsequent career as Secretary of the Confederate Navy is familiar to the reader. DUDLEY S AFFORD GREGORY, Mayor of Jersey City, N. J., and prominently identified with the early history of that city, was a native of Redding. MAJOR-GENERAL DARIUS COUCH was born of Red- ding parents, in South- East, New York, July 25th, 1822. The following sketch of his career, taken largely from Cullum's History of the Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy, will be read with interest : " Darius N. Couch, born in New York, appointed from New York, cadet at United States Military Academy from July 1st, 1842, to July 1st, 1846, when he was graduated and promoted in the army to Bre- vet Second Lieutenant 4th Artillery. Served in the war with Mexico in 1846-47-48, being engaged in the battle of Buena Vista, Mex., as Second Lieutenant in Captain Washington's Battery, Light Artillery, for which he was brevetted First Lieutenant for gallant and meritorious conduct. Participating in the oc- cupation of the Seminole country in 1852-3, he planned and executed at his own expense a scien- tific expedition into Central and Northern Mexico, the results of which were very creditable to his en- terprise. He married, in 1854, a daughter of Hon. S. L. Crocker, of Taunton, Mass., and grand-daugh- ter of Isaiah Thomas, founder of the Antiquarian Society of Worcester, Mass., and author of the ' History of Printing.' The next year he resigned from the army. At the breaking out of the Rebel- HISTORY OF REDDING. 229 lion, being settled in Taunton, Mass., lie raised the 7th Reg. Mass. Vols., and proceeded to Washington in July, 1861. Was made Brigadier-General in August, and assigned to the command of a brigade in the defence of that city. In McClellan's Cam- paign on the Peninsula, General Couch commanded the 1st Division, 4th Army Corps, holding the left of the line at the siege of Yorktown. At the battle of Fair Oaks, his brave Division held their ground for more than two hours against the combined at- tack of the Confederate troops. With part of his Division he reinforced Hooker in the hot action of Oak Grove, June 25th, 1862, and was in various skirmishes during the seven days until July 1st, on which morning General McClellan posted him on the main road leading to Richmond, where was fought the successful battle of Malvern Hill. " Being promoted to the rank of Major-General, July 4th, 1862, he joined Pope with his Division on the retreat from Manassas, in the Northern Virginia Campaign. October, 1862, in command of the 2d Army Corps, Campaign of the Rappahannock. At Rredericksburg December 12th, 13th, 14th, and 15th, it fell upon General Couch to assault Mary's Heights, in which desperate work that brave, mag- nificent 2d Army Corps lost more than 4000 men. The loss of his Corps at the disastrous battle of Chancellorsville, where he was second in command, was very heavy. In November, 1864, he joined Thomas, who was besieged at Nashville, and was assigned by that commander to the command of an Army Corps. In the battle which followed he com- manded a division, turned Hood's left, and cap- tured several pieces of artillery and many pris- oners. In North Carolina, March, April, and May, aiding Sherman in closing the war. Resigned in June, 1865, the Great Rebellion having been crushed out. " The General has for several years resided at 230 HISTORY OF REDDING. Norwalk, Conn., having been Quartermaster-Gene- ral at Hartford during the years 1877-78." HON. GIDEON" H. HOLLISTEK, of Litchfield, is a de- scendant of two of our Redding families, as will be seen by reference to the notes on the Gray and Jack- son families. He was born December 14th, 1818, in Washington, Conn., and graduated at Yale College in 1840. Studied law in Litchfield, and was admitted to the bar in April, 1842. He practised law in Litch- field until 1859, when he opened an office in New York. He went as United States Charge d' Affaires to Hayti when that country was under the adminis- tration of Salnave. In 1855 he published a History of Connecticut in two volumes, of which two edi- tions, of two thousand copies each, have been ex- hausted. He is the author of three historical dra- mas, one of them bearing the title of " Thomas a Becket." He has also written a legal treatise on the Law of Eminent Domain. Mr. Hollister is now engaged in writing a history of Hayti. Attorney-General Bates, of Missouri, was of Red- ding ancestry. Judge Strong, of the United States Supreme Court, spent his childhood and youth in Redding, and made his maiden plea here before a justice court. Mrs. Dora Goodale, a writer for Scribnef s, is a native of Redding, being a descendant of Colonel John Read, one of the earliest settlers. She is the mother of Elaine and Dora Goodale, the child poets, whose charming verses have been so warmly wel- comed by the American public. In the several professions Redding has been well HISTORY OF REDDING. 231 represented. " Dr. Asahel Fitch, the first physician who settled in the town, is remembered in Fairfield County as a worthy man, and one of its most respect- able practitioners of medicine. He was among the principal pioneers in the formation of the County So- ciety, but died soon after its organization. His death occurred in 1792, or about that period. I understand that he was the grandfather of Professor Knight, of Yale College. Among the physicians of Fairfield County who enjoyed a long and successful practice was Dr. Thomas Davies, of Redding. He removed to Redding in 1793, on the decease of Dr. Fitch, and there con- tinued in the duties of his profession until his death, which occurred in 1831. Dr. Daveis possessed the reputation of being among the first of the physicians of the county who assumed regularly obstetrical duties, and so successful were his labors, that he be- came particularly eminent in that department. The doctor was once summoned as an important wtiness to appear before the Court in Fairfield, and not appearing, the sheriff was sent to compel his at- tendance. Being absent, and learning on his return that the officer was awaiting at a public-house in the vicinity, he without notice to the official rode to Fairfield, and appeared before the Court. On the question occurring with the Court regarding the costs attending the capias ', he requested one or two of his legal friends to excuse the delinquency. The judge decided, notwithstanding, that the law must b3 observed and that the doctor must bear the expenses. Dr. D. then requested a hearing in his own behalf, which being granted, remarked : " May it please the 233 HISTORY OF REDDING. Court : I am a good citizen of the State, and since I was summoned to attend this Court I have intro- duced three other good citizens into it." The Court replied, that for so good a plea, he would leave the parties to pay the expenses. Rev. Thomas F. Davies, of Philadelphia, is the only male descendant of Dr. Davies. * Among the later practitioners of the town, Dr. Charles Gorham was very widely known and re- spected. He was the son of Meeker Gorham and Elizabeth Hubbell, of Greenfield Hill, in the town of Fairfield. He began the study of medicine with Dr. Jehiel Williams, of New Milf ord, and afterward pur- sued his studies at the College of Physicians and Sur- geons in New York. He settled in Redding in 1816, at the age of twenty-one years, and practised as a physician and surgeon in Fairfield County forty- two years. He married Mary, daughter of William King Comstock, of Danbury. Dr. Gorham is de- scribed as a man of more than ordinary strength of character, with a well-balanced mind and sound judgment. He was fond of scientific investigations, and was remarkable for close observation and power of analysis. He died at his residence in Redding Centre, September loth, 1859. Among clergymen may be enumerated the follow- ing : Rev. Justus Hull, Rev. Lemuel Hull ; Rev. Thomas F. Davies, of Philadelphia ; Rev. William T. Hill, Presiding Elder of New Haven District ; Rev. Aaron K. Sanford, Presiding Elder of Pough- * From an Address beforo the Connecticut Medical Convention, in 1853, by Rufus Blakenian, 3I.D. HISTORY OF REDDING. 233 keepsie District, New York Conference ; Rev. Aaron S. Hill, of New Haven ; Rev. Morris Hill, of New Haven ; Rev. Moses Hill, of Norwalk ; Rev. Hawley Sanford, of Iowa ; Rev. Morris Sanford, of Iowa ; Rev. Platt Tread well ; Rev. Albert Miller, of Iowa ; Rev. Leroy Stowe, of Milford, Conn. ; and Rev. A. B. Sanford, of Brooklyn, N. Y. The following State Senators have been natives or citizens of Redding : Thomas B. Fanton, elected in 1841 ; Lemuel Sanford, 1847 ; Cortez Merchant, 1855 ; Francis A. Sanford, 1865 ; James 'Sanford, 1870 ; Jonathan R. Sanford, 1877, Thomas Sanford, former High Sheriff of the county, and at one time nominee of the Democratic party for Comptroller of the State ; Henry Sanford, of New York, Superintendent of Adams Express Company : Aaron Sanford, of Newtown, present High Sheriff of Fair-field County ; and Albert Hill, City Engineer of New Haven, are natives of Red- ding. APPENDIX I. THE following recollections of those who attended church at the old Congregational nieeting-house, before it was pulled down in ]836 to make room for the present edifice, have been kindly furnished by Thomas Sanford, Esq. They will be read with interest, as relating to a later period of the town's history than that covered by the preceding chapters. Jesse Lacy, wife, son, and daughter, resided in the north- east part of the town of Easton, and had to go about five miles to meeting. The son, Deacon Rowland B. Lacy, now resides in Bridgeport. Eli Lacy, wife, and daughter, from the same neighbor- hood. Mrs. Ichabod Gilbert resided about two miles north- east of Eedding Ridge. She was the grandmother of the Gilbert Brothers, of Bethel. Deacon Lemuel Hawley, and niece, Miss Sarah M. Dut- ton, who afterward became the wife of Rev. Thomas Dut- ton. Daniel Betes, wife, and two daughters. Michael Jennings, wife, and daughter, Eliza, who be- came the wife of Mr. Thatcher, of Hartford. Samuel S. Osborn and wife. Joseph Hawley and wife. Jedediah R. Hawley and wife. Mrs. Abbott, the mother of the present Deacon T. M. Abbott, who was married about this time, and, together APPENDIX 1. 235 with his wife, were, and have been constant attendants at meeting. Mr. and Mrs. Daniel A. Frost, and son, Ezra M. Frost, who now resides in Watertown, Ct. Rev. Thomas F. Davies built the house just north of theToivn House, and with his family attended church here till 1831, when he left to take charge of the Congrega- tional church at Green's Farms. Charles Wilson and family. Leman Can field and family. Zalmon Read, an officer in the Revolutionary War, and family. Deacon Samuel Read and family. Henry Read and family. Widow Betty Adams. Calvin Jenkins and wife. He was a drummer in the Revolutionary army. Mrs. Harry Lines and children. Abraham Parsons, a soldier of Revolution, wife, and daughter. Timothy Parsons and children. The widow of Doctor Thomas Davies. Deacon Lemuel Sanford and wife. Widow Huldah Marvin and children. Deacon Charles D. Smith, of this place, married the only daughter of Widow Marvin for his first wife. Eli Read and wife. Rev. Jonathan Bartlett and family. Samuel J. Collins, wife, and two (laughters. His youngest daughter is the Avife of our present physician, Dr. Wakeman. Jared Olmstead, a soldier in the War of 1812, and family. Colonel Aaron Burr and family. Jonathan R. Sanford and family. 236 APPENDIX I. Mrs. Benjamin Couch. Mrs. John Goodyear and Jane Tillow. Colonel Asahel Salmon, a soldier of the Revolution, and family. Colonel Salmon led the singing for several years. Mrs. Daniel Shenvood. Daniel Meeker's family. Captain Lemuel Adams and family. John Meeker and wife. He played the bass viol for years. Azariah Meeker and wife, the grandfather of the pres- ent Azariah. Harry Meeker and family. Moses Meeker and family. Captain John Gray and wife. Joel Gray, wife, and daughter. Mrs. Daniel Benedict and two daughters. Captain John Davis, a soldier of Revolution, and two daughters. Benjamin Meeker and wife. Eli Starr Boughton, father of Benjamin S. Boughton, and family. Samuel Meeker and wife. George B. Phillips and family. Cortez Merchant and family. Mrs. Samuel S. Gray and children. Mrs. Holmes. Edward Couch, wife, and two boys. The boys now reside in Ridgefield Edward J. and Simon. Peter S. Coley and wife. Alfred Gregory, wife, and children. Eli Sanford, wife, and son, Hinman. Daniel Barlow and wife. Burr Meeker, a soldier in the War of 1812, and family ; and Miss Coley, who became the wife of Dr. L. N. Beardsley, of Milford, Ct. APPENDIX L 237 Joel Barlow and family. Henry and Joseph II. Meeker. Ebenezcr Sanford and Stephen Sanford. Widow Esther Sanford and family. Joshua Chapman and family. David Chapman and family. Daniel Chapman, 2d, and wife. Daniel Chapman, grandfather of Daniel C. Eider, who with his family have been constant atcndants at church. Edward Merchant and wife. Orson Merchant and family. Joel Merchant, a soldier of the Revolution, wife, and son. George Merchant and daughter, Eliza. Zalmon Sanford and niece, Emily, afterward Mrs. Lonson Coley of Westport. Captain Daniel Sanford and two sons Marvin C. and Moses B. Aaron Perry, Avife, and two sons Andrew S. and David. John Couch and wife, and Yonge Lobdell, who after- ward was a missionary in Asia. Also for a time a boy, who is now Eev. Augustus Jackson, of Washington, D. C. Beach Whitebead and family. John II. Lee and wife, and Jane Sherwood. Xoah II. Lindley and family, and his wife's mother, Mrs. Win ton. Isaac Coley and daughter, Betsej". Lemuel Burr, grandfather of Lemuel B. Benedict. Samuel Mallory - Eli Mallory, Avife, and son, Frederick. Aaron B. Hull. Alfred Rockwell, wife, and son. Thurston Lee and family. Noah Lee and wife. Azariah Coley's family. The Darling family. Widow Billy Comstock and her children. 238 APPENDIX I. Mrs. Cornelia Coley, and her children, who are now Mrs. George A. Hickok, of Bethel, and Mrs. Matthew Starr, of Nor walk. Alonzo Byington and wife. Joseph B. Goodsell and family, and J. B. Goodsell, Jr. Burr Bennett and wife. Samuel B. Goodsell and wife. Aaron Byington and wife, Jane Darling, and William B. Skillenger. Old Mr. Billy Morehouse. Walker Bates and family. Mr. Bates at this time taught a select boarding and day school, and his scholars attended church. Elias Bates and wife. Bradley Hill and family. Eliza A. Hull, sister, and brother John A. Noah M. Lee and wife. Stephen Jackson. Zalmon B. Banks, wife, and family. Deacon Joel Foster and family. Mrs. Moses Dimon. Charles Lewis (colored). Mrs. Nathan Lee. Captain Stephen Gray and wife. Colonel Joseph W. Gorham and family. Samuel Hull, wife, and granddaughter. John Fairchild and family. Ephraim Sanford and wife. Enoch A. Sanford and family. Bradley Sanford and wife. David Sanford, wife, and son, George A. Daniel Sauford and wife. Joel, Ezra, and Irad Carter came to Redding about this time and attended church here. Eli Gilbert, Milo Lee, and the Messrs. Sheltons, hatter?, attended church. APPENDIX II. REPRESENTATIVES TO THE LEGISLATURE. October, 1767. Col. John Bead. May, 1763. None. October, 1768. Gapt. Stephen Mead. May, 1769. Col. John Read, Capt. Henry Lyon. October, 1769. Capt. Henry Lyon. May, 1770. Capt. Stephen Mead, Mr. Lemuel Sanford. October, 1770. Col. John Eead, Mr. Lemuel Sanford. May, 1771. Col. John Read, Mr. Lemuel Sanford. October, 1771. Mr. Hezekiah Sanford. May, 1772. Col. John Read, Mr. Hezekiah Sanford. October, 1772. Mr. Hezekiah Sanford. May, 1773. Col. John Read, Mr. Hezekiah Sanford. October, 1773. Mr. Lemuel Sanford, Mr. James Rogers. May, 1774. Mr. William Hawley, Mr. Peter Fairchild. October, 1774. Mr. Lemuel Sanford, Mr. William Hawley. May, 1775. Mr. William Hawley. October, 1775. Mr. Lemuel Sanford, Mr. \Villiam Hawley. May, 1776. Mr. Hezekiah Sanford, Mr. Seth Sanford. * October, 1776. Mr. Samuel Sanford, Jr., Mr. Stephen Betts, Jr. May, 1777. Mr. Lemuel Sanford, Mr. Daniel Sanford. October, 1777. None attended. January, 1778. Mr. Seth Sanford. February, 1778. Mr. Lemuel Sanford. 240 APPENDIX II. May, 1778. Mr. Lemuel Sauford, Mr. William Heron. October, 1778. Mr. Lemuel Sanford. May, 1779. Mr. Setli Sanford. October, 1779. Mr. William Hawley, Mr. William Heron. May, 1780. Mr. William Hawley, Mr. William Heron. October, 1780. Mr. Lemuel Sanford, Mr. Seth Sanford. May, 1781. Unrecorded. October, 1781. Capt. William Hawley. May, 1782. Mr. Stephen Betts. October, 1782. Mr. Lemuel Sanford. Mr. Stephen Betts. May, 1783. Mr. Stephen Betts, Mr. Tiiaddeus Benedict. October, 1783. Mr. Lemuel Sanford, Mr. Stephen Betts. May, 1784. Mr. Hezekiah Sanford, Mr. Thaddeus Benedict. October, 1784. Mr. Lemuel Sanford, Mr. William Heron. May, 1785. Mr. Hezekiah Sanford, Mr. William Heron. October, 1785. Mr. Hezekiah Sanford, Mr. William Heron. May, 1786. Mr. William Hawley. October, 1786. Mr. Hezekiah Sanford, Mr. William Heron. May, 1787. Mr. Lemuel Sanford, Mr. William Heron. October, 1787. Mr. William Heron. May, 1788. Mr. Lemuel Sanford, Mr. William Heron. October, 1788. Mr. Lemuel Sanford, Mr. William Heron. May, 1789. Mr. William Heron. October, 1789. Mr. Lemuel Sanford, Mr. William Heron. May, 1790. Mr. Thaddeus Benedict, Mr. William Heron. October, 1790. Mr. Thaddeus Benedict, Mr. Andrew L. Hill. May, 1791. Mr. Hezekiah Sauford, Mr. Andrew L. Hill. October, 1791. Mr. Hezekiah Sanford. Mr. Andrew L. Hill. May, 1792. Mr. Hezekiah Sanford, Mr. Andrew L. Hill. October, 1792. Mr. Hezekiah Sanford, Mr. Aaron Barlow. May, 1793. Mr. Hezekiah Sanford, Mr. Andrew L. Hill. October, 1793. Mr. Hezekiah Sanford, Mr. Simeon Munger. APPENDIX 11. 241 May, 1794. Mr. Thaddeus Benedict, Mr. Aaron Barlow. October, 1794. Mr. Thaddcus Benedict, Mr. Aaron Bar- low. May, 1795. Mr. Thaddens Benedict, Mr. Aaron Barlow. October, 1795. Mr. William Heron, Mr. Andrew L. Hill. May, 179G. Mr. William Heron, Mi*. James Rogers. October, 1796. Mr. William Heron, Mr. James Rogers. May, 1797. Mr. Simeon Munger, Mr. Scth Samuel Smith. October, 1797. Mr. Simeon Munger, Mr. Seth Samuel Smith. May, 1798. Mr. Simeon Munger, Mr. Seth Samuel Smith. May, 1799. Mr. Simeon Munger, Mr. Stephen Jackson. October, 1799. Mr. Simeon Munger, Mr. Stephen Jack- son. May, 1800. Mr. Simeon Munger, Mr. Seth Samuel Smith. October, 1800. Mr. Andrew L. Hill, Mr. Stephen Jack- son. May, 1801. Mr. Andrew L. Hill, Mr. Stephen Jackson. October, 1801. Mr. Simeon Munger, Mr. Peter Sanforcl. May, 1802. Mr. S. Samuel Smith, Mr. Andrew L. Hill. October, 1802. Mr. Aaron Sanford, Mr. Joshua King. May, 1803. Mr. Seth S. Smith, Mr. Andrew L. Hill. October, 1803. Mr. Seth S. Smith, Mr. Andrew L. Hill. May, 1804. Mr. Seth S. Smith. October, 1804. Mr. Simeon Munger, Mr. Peter Sanford. May, 1805. Seth Samuel Smith, Andrew L. Hill. October, 1805. Simeon Munger, Peter Sanford. May, 180G. Andrew L. Hill, Simeon Munger. October, 180G. Andrew L. Hill, Simeon Munger. May, 1807. Andrew L. Hill, Simeon Munger. October, 1807. Seth Samuel Smith, Lemuel Sanford. May, 1808. Andrew L. Hill, Lemuel Sanford. October, 1808. Lemuel Sanford, Simeon Munger. May, 1809. Andrew L. Hill, Lemuel Sanford. Octobar, 1809. Andrew L. Hill, Lemuel Sanford. 17 242 APPENDIX II. May, 1810. Andrew L. Hill, Lemuel Sanford. October, 1810. Andrew L. Hill, Lemuel Sanford. May, 1811. Samuel Whiting, Peter Sanford. October, 1811. Andrew L. Hill, Samuel Whiting, May, 1812. Andrew L. Hill, Lemuel Sanford. October, 1812. Andrew L. Hill, Lemuel Sanford. May, 1813. Lemuel Sanford, Samuel Whiting. October, 1813. Lemuel Sanford, Samuel Whiting. May, 1814. Lemuel Sanford, Samuel Whiting. October, 1814. John Meeker, Lemuel Sanford. May, 1815. Jonathan R. Sanford, Samuel Whiting. October, 1815. Simeon Hunger, Hezekiah Read, Jr. May, 181G. Isaac Beach, Hezekiah Read, Jr. October, 1810. Samuel Whiting, Hezekiah Read, Jr. May, 1817. Isaac Beach, Benjamin Meeker. October, 1817. Jonathan Meeker, John R. Hill. May, 1818. Billy Comstock, Aaron Sanford, Jr. October, 1818. AVilliam Sanford, John Meeker. May, 1819. Billy Comstock, Hezekiah Read. Jr. 1820. Isaac Coley, Jonathan R. Sanford. 1821. Daniel Barlow, Seth Wheeler. 1822. Billy Comstock, John R. Hill. 1823. John R. Hill, Aaron Sanford, Jr. 1824. Ephraim Sanford, Rowland Fanton. 1825. Benjamin Meeker, William Sanford. 182G. Joel Merchant, Michael Jennings. 1827. Thomas B. Fanton, Gershom Sker \vood. 1828. John M. Heron, William Sanford. 1829. Aaron Sanford, Daniel Barlow. 1830. Gershom Sherwood, Gurdon Bartram. 1831. Jonathan R. Sanford, Jared Olmstead. 1832. Ralph Sanford, Walker Bates. 1833. Jacob Wanzer, Thaddeus B. Read. , 1834. Thomas B. Fanton, Bradley Hill. 1835. T. B. Fanton, Walker Bates. APPENDIX //. 243 1836. Ralpli Sanford, Burr Meeker. 1887. Timothy Parsons, Jesse Banks. 1838. Thomas B. Fanton, Aaron Perry. 1839. Thomas B. Funton, Benjamin Meeker. 1840. Walker Bates, David S. Duncomb. 1841. Thaddeus M. Abbott, Morris Hill. 1842. Hezekiah Davis, John W. Sanford. 1843. Edward Starr, Jr., Barney Bartram. 1844. Charles Beach, Charles D. Smith. 1845. Peter S. Coley, Aaron R. Bartram. 1846. James Sanford, Harry Meeker. 1847. Bradley Hill, Samuel S. Osborn. 1848. Burr Bennett, Floyd Tucker. 1849. Daniel C. Rider, Henry Couch. 1850. Matthew Gregory, Rufus Mead. 1851. Milo Lee, Frederick 1). Dimon. 1852. Aaron Burr, Aaron B. Hull. 1853. Ebenezer Wilson, Turney Sanford. 1854. Jonathan R. Sanford, Walker Bates. 1855. Cortez Merchant, Gurdon B. Leo. 185G. Thomas Sanford, Milo Lee. 1857. John 0. St. John, David B. Sanford. 1858. James Sanford, Benjamin S. Boughton. 1859. John Edmond, Matthew Gregoiy. 1860. Jacob Shaw, Daniel S. Sanford. 1861. Edmund T. Dudley, Matthew Gregory. 1802. Walker Bates, George Osborn. 1803. John Edmond, David H. Mead. 1864. Walker Bates, Aaron Treadwell. 1865. Thomas B. Fanton, William Hill. 1866. Charles Osborne, Edward P. Shaw. 1867. David S. Johnson, William B. Hill. 1868. Francis A. Sanford, B. S. Boughton. 1869. Aaron II. Davis, William II. Hill. 1870. John S. Sanford, J. R, Sanford. 244 APPENDIX II. 1871. E. F. Foster, Luzon JellifL 1872. Henry S. Osborn, Arthur B. Hill. 1873. Stebbins Baxter, Moses Hill. 1874. J. R. Sanford, Edward P. Shaw. 1875. Turney Sanford, Henry Burr Platt. 1876. James Sanford, Orrin Platt. 1877. Thomas Sanford, George F. Banks. 1878. Azariah E. Meeker, Daniel Sanford. 1879. Harvey B. Rumsey, George Coley. 1880. David S. Bartrani, Azariah Meeker. Bedding was made a Probate District in 1839. The Judges of Probate have been : Thomas B. Fanton, Jona- than R. Sanford, Thaddeus M. Abbott, and Lemuel San- ford, the latter being the present incumbent. APPENDIX III. PAY-HOLL OF CAPT. WILLIAM JUDD'S COMPANY, COL. WYLLY'S REGIMENT. ENCAMPED AT READING, 1778-9. Asa Chapman, Sergt. Comr. Dunham, Jr. Homer Phelps. Ebenezer Park. Joel Smith, Sergt. Samuel Hotchkiss. Thomas Peck. Ephraim Taylor. Elijah Porter. Amos Barns. William Lee, fifer. Shaw. Eleazer Porter. Joseph Hill. D. Adams. Benj. Potts. Timothy Keeler. David Heydon. Levi Hamlin. Ebenr. Park. Elisha Holsten. Abel Scipio. Stephen Chapman. Thomas Swift. John Oakley. Luther Atkins. APPENDIX IV. NAMES BORNE ON THE LIST OF THE SOCIETY OF CINCIN- NATI OF CONNECTICUT. Timothy Ailing, Capt. Robert Ailing, Lt. Stephen Ailing, Lt. Thomas Andrews, Lt. Roger Alden, Capt. Simeon Avery, Lt. Ezekiel P. Belden, Capt. Simeon Belden, Lt. Caleb Bull, Capt. Aaron Bull, Lt. John II. Buell, Capt. Phillip B. Bradley, Col. Daniel Bradley, Lt. Nathan Beers, Lt. Nathaniel Bishop, Lt. James Bennet, Lt. Aaron Benjamin, Lt. Abm. Baldwin, Chaplain David Bushnell, Capt. Isaac Munson, Surg. mate William Beaumont, Lt. Stephen Billings, Capt. John Barnard, Capt. David Beach, Lt. John Ball, Lt. Ebenr. Beardsley, surgeon. Jona Burnall, D. C. M. G. Gurdon Bill, marines. Zebulon Butler, Col. Edward. Bulkley, Capt. Stephen Betts, Capt. Moses Cleaveland, Capt. John. Cleaveland, En. Elijah Chapman, Capt. Albert Chapman, Major. Lemuel Cliff, Capt. Willis Cliff, Major. Solomon Cowles, Com. George Cotton, En. Samuel Comstock, Capt. William Colfax, Capt. Giles Curtis, Lt. Joseph Clark, En. Eliph. Chamberlain, Capt. Noah Coleman, Surgeon. Thomas Converse, Capt. Jesse Cook, Capt. Abner Cole, En. 246 APPENDIX IV. John Davenport, Major. James Davenport, Com. Pownall Denning, Lt. Henry Daggett, Lt. Samuel Deforest, Lt. Richard Douglass, Capt. James Dole, Lt. Horse. John Dusher, Capt. Martin Denslow. David Dorrenee, Capt. John Ellis, Chaplain. Edward Eels, Capt. Charles Fanning, Lt. Ebenezer Frothingham, Lt. Thomas Farmer, Lt. Silas Goodell, Lt. William Glenny, Lt. Ozias Goodrich, En. Samuel Gibbs, Lt. Xebemiah Gorham, Lt. Eben. Gray, Lt.-Col. Matthias Gregory. Thos. Grosvenor, Lt.-Col. Jesse Grant, Capt. Jed. Huntington, B. -Gen. Eben. Huntington, Lt.-Col. Hezekiah Hubbard, Com. Elijah Hubbard, Com. Neh. Hubbard, Com. William Higgins, Lt. Jos. Higgins, Surg. mate. Tallmadge Hall, Lt. Philemon Hall, Lt. Amos Hall, Lt. Jona. Hart, Capt. John Hart, En. Chas. Hopkins, Lt. David Humphreys, A. D. C. Timothy Hosmer, Surgeon. Elijah Humphreys, Capt. Prentice Hosmer, Lt. Elisha Hopkins, Capt. John Hobart, Lt. ; Samuel Hart, Lt. Jacpnes Harman, En. Gideon Hawley, Lt. Horse. Jerouymus Ilogeland, Capt. Salmon Hubbell, Lt. Asahel Hodges, Capt. Peleg Heath, Lt, Hez. Holdridge, Lt.-Col. William Henshaw, Lt. James Hyde, Lt. Roger Hooker, Lt. Jona. Johnson, Lt.-Col. David Judson, Cnpt. William Judd, Capt. Elijah Jones, Lt. Horse. Thaddeus Keeler, Lt. Isaac Keeler, Lt. Aaron Keeler, En. Ephraim Kimberly, Capt. Jacob Kingsburv, En. O J J J Joshua Knapp, En. Joshua King, Lt. Horse. Amasa Keyes, Capt. Eli Leavensworth, Major. Elihu Lyman, En. William Leverett, Lt. Sibbens Loomis, Lt. APPENDIX IV. Seth Lewis, Com. .lames Lord, Lt. Noah Lee, Capt. Asa Lyon, Lt. William Lyon, Lt Return Meigs, Col. John Meigs, Lt. William Monson, Capt. Theophilus Monson, Capt. Charles Miller, Lt. John Mansfield, Lt. John Mix, Lt. James Morris, Capt. Eneas Monson, Sur mate. Jasper Meade, Lt. Samuel Mills, Lt. John Miles, Lt. Timothy Matthew, Surgeon. John Noyes, Surgeon. William Nichols, Lt. Simeon Newell. James Olmsted, Lt. Sam. H. Parsons, Maj.-Gen. Stephen Potter, Capt. Solomon Pinto, En. William Pike, Lt. Horse. Ralph Pomroy, Lt. Seth Phelps, Capt. Aimer Prior, Maj. Reuben Pride, Lt. David Phipps, Capt. Jonas Prentice, Capt. R. Peck. Charles Pond, Capt. Daniel Putnam, D. C. Ebenezer Perkins, Capt. Hezekiah Roberts, Capt. Jedediah Rogers, Lt. , Joseph Rogers, Ens. Peter Robinson, Capt. Elias Robinson, Lt. Cornelius Russ3ll, Lt. John Rose, Surgeon. John Riley, Capt. Aaron Rhea, Lt. Horse. Samuel Richards, Lt. Nehemiah Rice, Capt. Josiah Root, Sur. mate. Josiah Starr, Col. David Starr, Capt. Thomas Starr, Lt. Cleorge Starr. David Smith, Maj. Ezra Smith, Lt. Joel Smith, En. Isaac Sherman, Lt. -Col. John Sherman, Lt. Thos. Y. Seymour, Capt. Horace Seymour, Lt. Horse. Aaron Seymour, Capt. Benjamin Sutliff, Lt. Elias Stillwell, Capt. Reuben Sanderson, Lt. Heman Swift, Col. John Simpson, Surgeon. Ezra Selden, Capt. William Stanton, Capt. John Sumner, Lt.-Col. Thomas Skinner, Surgeon. Abijah Savage, Capt. 248 APPENDIX IV. Simon Thatcher, Capt. David Strong, Capt. David F. Sill, Lt.-Col. Joseph Shaler, Lt. Elisha Sheldon, Lt.-Col. Jon. Trumbnll, Lt.-Col. John Trumbull, Col. Ebenezer Farmer, Lt. Tryal Farmer, Lt. Timothy Taylor, Capt. Josiah Tiffany, Lt. Henry Ten Eycke, Capt. John Trowbridge, Lt. Isaiah Thompson, Capt. John R. Troop, Lt. Benjamin Tallmadge, Maj. Samuel Wyllys, Col. John P. Wyllys, Maj. Jeremiah Wadsworth, Col. Elijah Wadsworth, Capt. Samuel B. Webb, Col. John Webb, Capt. William. Watmaly, Engr. Ebenezer Wales, Lt. John White, Lt. Joseph A. Wright, Maj. Roger Wells, Capt. Joshua Whitney, Lt. Joseph Walker, Capt. Peter Woodward, Lt. Theodore Woodbridge, Maj. Thaddeus Weed, Capt. John P. Watrous, Surgeon. Ames Walbridge, Maj. Samuel W. Williams, Capt. Erastus Wolcott, Capt, Fred. Whiting, Lt. Horse. Nathan F. Whiting, Lt. Jeffery Whiting, Capt. Robert Warner, Maj. Joseph Wilcox, Lt. University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. JAN 2 11991 REC'D LD-UK. Univerl Soul Lioi