The Romance of Norwalk

On the flyleaf of an ancient Bible which once belonged to Eliakim Smith, whose home on Ann street was burned in 1 7 79 , which Bible was found some years ago in the posses¬ sion of the New York Bible society, is the following note: “Norwalk burnt, July 11, 1779 and ye winter following most severe in ye fore part and ye following summer very dry.” Many of the residents bore up bravely under the trying situation and some even viewed it in the most rosy and optimistic of lights. Witness the following: “The burning of Norwalk occurred in July and tradition preserved by the descendants of a Revolutionary War mother, relates that there were two aftermath hay crops in Norwalk that season, and many sheep had twin lambs the following year, which helped make good the losses,” according to Miss Juliette Betts, daughter of Captain Hezekiah Betts, a Revolutionary War veteran. We cannot help but give thanks to the kindly Providence which provided double hay crops and twin lambs for the destitute people of Norwalk. Such generosity must have been overwhelming in view of the past sufferings of the town. REBUILDING OF NORWALK The rebuilding of Norwalk was not accomplished in a day nor yet in a year. Even had the men been able to devote all their time to the process of rebuilding, instead of divid¬ ing it between the homes and the farms, the materials necessary for the work were not at hand. Though the trees were here, the mills were gone ; though the hands were ready, the tools were lacking; though the spirit was willing, the wherewithal was missing. The people were anxious to ROMANCE OF NORWALK 176 rebuild immediately not only their homes but their churches as well as is evidenced by the earnestness with which they went to work on some sort of structure to replace the burned St. Paul’s. It was decided to put up a building 24 by 36. Some gave money, some, parts of the frame and covering, the girders, the posts, the rafters, studding and shingles, some, skill in cutting and strength in working and some, time in carting. Among the new homes built by Norwalkers after the fire were the following: Lockwood dwellings on Knight street and hill; Samuel Cannon and Governor Bissell homes on Town House Hill. The latter home stood where Le Cordon Bleu now holds forth, corner of Park st., and Mill Hill. Between the Cannon and Bissell residences was the home of the future “Blackstone of America,” James Kent, LL.D., chancellor. Other houses constructed after the fire included the John Cannon, Jr., house, “Squire Betts” house, and the senior William St. John homestead, “with faultless green in front and delightful forest patch behind and quiet stream meandering 'gracefully through it.” Then there was the Junior William St. John home on High st., rebuilt after the war, the Phillips house on West ave., and the James Cannon place, not far from the tomb, according to history, of some who fell in the France street battle of Norwalk. Some time after the Revolution, the son of “Mad Anthony Wayne,” general during the Revolution¬ ary War, built a home on lower Fairfield ave. This after¬ wards became the rectory of Trinity church and here Widow Caroline Birch Cockefur, grandmother of Humphrey Doulens, 9 Lafayette Circle, was married to Charles Doulens, October 29, 1876. The place next fell into the hands of Louis Udelman who resided there at 21 Fairfield ave. It was recently sold by him to Nat Wissman, realtor, who intends erecting an apartment building on the site. The Town House was replaced by rather an ugly look¬ ing structure which was destroyed some 40 years later by a band of young men who called themselves “Ensign An- REBUILDING THE TOWN 177 drews.” The present town house which followed the last named was erected in 1835 and is one of the oldest brick structures in town. John Seymour hastily built a little cottage until he could have time properly to construct a new home for his family, on the site of the present home of Mr. and Mrs. Russell Frost, Jr., 200 West ave. After Seymour’s home fell into decay, it was followed by the old Sammis residence which finally gave way to General Russell Frost’s home. When the General moved up to High st., his son and daughter-in-law took over the West ave. home¬ stead. Dr. Jonathan Knight, a surgeon during the Revolutionary War, came to Norwalk in 1781 and built a fine home on a new and nameless road, which was called after himself, Knight st. James Quintard, son of Peter Quintard, who owned a large Inn at Liberty Point, at the foot of Marshall st., rebuilt his father’s hostelry after the fire of 1779. The new permanent homes were not very pretentious; they could hardly be called mansions, although a few of them were imposing. The majority were just large farm houses built to conform to the prevailing period of architec¬ ture. The style of this period of house building might be called the sixth in early domestic architecture of Connecti¬ cut. In the beginning it will be remembered, the Norwalk settlers constructed only log cabins, or at best, tiny one room shelters, a story or a story and a half in height, having the chimney at one end. This was the first period. The second period saw the addition of a second room to the first built house. With the third period in Connecticut architec¬ ture, came the lean-to type of house which boasted an addi¬ tion across the rear of the house. The fourth period ushered in the lean-to as an integral part of the construction of the home, while the fifth insisted that houses be two full stories throughout. During the fifth period, the chimney ran through the center of the house. The central hallway ap¬ peared during the sixth period. Up to this time, the chimney, from its central position, had more or less domin- ROMANCE OF NORWALK 178 ated the house and controlled its plan. However, with the call for central hallways, the central chimney was found to be very much in the way and so architects conceived the idea of putting in two chimneys, one on either side of the house. This plan allowed the wide central hall to run from the front door through to the back. On such a plan the new Norwalk homes were built. Of course there were numerous variations. For instance, there were the ells built on to the rear of the house, regard¬ less of its shape and size. These ells were not always added after the erection of the house. Sometimes they were constructed beforehand. Such was the case frequently in Norwalk. The temporary shelter, built immediately after the fire, in order that the family might have some place in which to live, afterwards formed the ell or rear quarters of the permanent home. It is interesting to note in passing that all these new homes were of wood. No brick was used until many years later. Lewis Raymond built the first brick residence in Norwalk on Keeler ave., in 1829. A quaint picture of it, owned by Camilla Goodrich, was presented to the D. A. R. and now hangs in the old Town Hall on Mill Hill. STAGE COACH DAYS Chapter XVII Norwalk on Three Main Stage Lines — “N orwalk Hotel” and “Connecticut House” Entertain Travelers — Local Tavern Center of Life — Bridge Built at Falls — Pigs Cause Much Trouble — Methodism Gains Foothold Here Stage travel was resumed shortly after the Revolutionary War in the year 1789, and Norwalk was once more in fairly close contact with the great outside world. The stage, which brought travelers from the east, west, north and south with tales of their respective communities and news of conditions in the country in general, stopped at the Norwalk hotel. There seems to be considerable vagueness as to the exact location of this hotel. One fact is fairly certain, that there was a hotel in this town at which the stage coaches stopped when travel was resumed along the Post road, shortly after the war. In Low’s Boston Almanac for the year 1800 is a stage coach schedule on which appears the name of the “Norwalk hotel” with the name of the proprietor, Reed, after it. The hotel is starred, meaning that stages stopped there on their way to and from New York. Stephen Jenkins, who tells of this almanac in his book “The Old Boston Post Road,” has this to say of the hotel: “The Norwalk hotel, dating, so it is said, from 1775, was a very important tavern in the coaching days, when it was known as the Connecticut House.” In the same volume appears a picture of the “Norwalk hotel, 1775,” which leads one to believe that the old Boston store, northwest corner of Main and Wall sts., the Connecticut House and the “old Norwalk hotel” were one and the same. The im¬ pression is given that the building in early coaching days 179 i8o ROMANCE OF NORWALK was called the Connecticut House, that its name was. later changed to the Norwalk hotel and that still later it was sold, and turned into a department store, until re¬ cently known as the Boston store. A new block of buildings has been erected there. No definite men¬ tion is made of what we moderns used to know as the old “Norwalk hotel,” corner of Wall and River sts. We of today are in the habit of referring to the above place as the Norwalk hotel and to the building which was formerly used as the Boston store, corner of Main and Wall, as the “Connecticut House.” Another historian is of the opinion that neither the Norwalk Hotel corner of Wall and River, nor the Connecticut House, corner of Wall and Main, were here in the revival of coaching days shortly after the Revo¬ lution, claiming that the Norwalk hotel was not built until 1800 or 1801 and that the Connecticut House was not erected until 1824. If this argument is correct then there must have been another important hotel here about 1789. We do know that during Revolutionary times there were the following inns in Norwalk: