The Romance of Norwalk

Hurd in his history of Fairfield County insists that “the first Methodist sermon was preached in this place by a young minister named Cornelius Cook in 1787, but Method¬ ism was formally introduced into Norwalk, as indeed in New England by Jesse Lee.” Lee is generally given the credit. Mr. Lee continued in his work until he had formed a circuit which included Norwalk, Fairfield, Stratford, Mil¬ ford, Redding, Danbury and Canaan, now New Canaan. In this circuit the oldest society was Stratford, and Redding was the second. The first Methodist church in New Eng¬ land, according to the Rev. H. B. Munson, formerly of the Norwalk M. E. Church, was built in Weston and called in honor of the pioneer, Lee’s Chapel. Bang’s history verifies this statement. There is now a church in Ridge¬ field called the Jesse Lee M. E. Church. One of the Jesse Lee converts was Rev. Moses Hill, grandfather of Mrs. Helena Hill Weed of Wilson Point, Mrs. Elsie Hill Levitt of Ridgefield and Miss Clara Hill of Mexico. Mr. Hill, after his conversion, became a religious circuit rider and traveled all up and down the Maine coast, forming Methodist societies in the little towns. Both his first and second wives were Maine girls whom he met in his organization work. Sometime later, Rev. Hill was called to Hartford to preach. While there he was stricken with paralysis of the throat and was unable to talk. So beloved was his wife by the church congregation that its members asked her to preach in her husband’s stead, until he should have recovered. This she did. After a second stroke, Rev. Hill came to Norwalk, studied to be a homeopathic STAGE COACH DAYS 191 physician and preached from time to time in the Norwalk Methodist church. The Methodist church was organized in this town in 1790 and services were held for some years in South Nor¬ walk “in the old red schoolhouse that stood on the site now occupied by the store of Nash Brothers.” A number of prominent citizens became affiliated with the Methodist organization and worked hard to spread the new religion. One of them was Absolom Day, who was a Methodist convert from New York city. He opened his home to meetings and did everything in his power to give Method¬ ism a firm foothold in the town. In spite of his efforts, however, it seemed doomed to an early death. It was not until the day of the last scheduled service that the towns¬ people came to life. Several received a religious awaken¬ ing and suddenly, without warning, a revival broke out. So many thereupon joined the ranks that there was great difficulty in securing any sort of accommodation. In 1816 the first Methodist church was erected in South Norwalk and dedicated in 1817. From that time until 1834, Norwalk continued as part of a circuit, served by two or more itinerant ministers, each preaching in regular turn. Among them were Elijah Hebbard and Abram S. Francis. Luther Mead was the first regular Methodist minister in this town, installed in the year 1834. Rev. Walter Duncan in an article on Methodism in South Norwalk, printed under date of 1901 in the book “Norwalk After 250 Years,” wrote : “In 1836 the first parsonage was built, the land having been given by Absolom Day. It was situated on what is now South Main st. This property was abandoned in the year 1851, and the next year the present grounds were purchased. The building purchased with it was used as a parsonage until 16 years later when the present building was substituted. In 1843 the second Methodist church building was erected in South Norwalk, a building which would seat no 192 ROMANCE OF NORWALK less than 450 persons. In 1856 the old edifice was enlarged and its seating capacity increased to 600. The uptown Methodists drew away from their brethren in South Nor¬ walk in the year 1858 and formed their own organization known as the Second or Norwalk Methodist Episcopal church. First gatherings of the new organization were held in Phoenix hall on Wall st., with Dr. Asa Hill. The ground on which the present church now stands, corner of West ave. and Mott st., was purchased for $1,600 and in the fall of 1859, work was begun on the new church building. It was rapidly nearing completion when it was destroyed by a terrible gale, February 10, i860. The church people were in a quandary as to what was best to do. Finally the builder agreed for an additional $2,500 to go forward and complete the building, according to the original contract. Nathanial Mead was the first pastor in the new church, i860 to 1861. In 1868 the Rowayton M. E. church was organ¬ ized. The East Norwalk M. E. church was organized by the Rev. Thomas G. Osborne on the seventh day of Decem¬ ber, 1871, with 34 members. It was then called the Fourth M. E. church of Norwalk and Rev. D. A. Goodsell was the first pastor. The present church, corner of East ave. and Van Zant st., was erected in 1890. PAPERS— PAUPERS Chapter XVIII Norwalk has N ewspaper in 1800 — Early A dvertising and News — Norwalk Has Population of $,ooo — Darien Be¬ comes Town After Long Struggle — Care of Poor Occa¬ sions Trouble — First Almshouse — Present Naramake Home The first newspaper in southwestern Connecticut was published in Norwalk in May, 1800 by a printer named Picket who came here from Danbury. Mr. Picket’s paper was quite small, scarcely larger than a sheet of letter paper. According to account, “it was printed on an old time Ben Franklin Ramage Press with wooden platen and requiring four impression pulls for each paper; so that almost literally the more subscribers the paper had the worse its owner was off.” The most up-to-date news from New York city was no less than ten days late; intelligence from Washington was a month old, while news from Europe was three months past date. The unbelievable sluggishness with which news traveled in those days is exemplified in the fact that al¬ though George Washington died December 14, 1799, Bos¬ ton did not know it until December 24, ten days later. And that was considered fast! In 1818, Roswell S. Nichols and Philo Price purchased the Picket concern and commenced issuing the “Gazette” once a week. The old copies of the paper including the very first may be found in the Norwalk library. The first copy appeared on May 6 and was a four page paper half way between the size of a tabloid and that of a regular newspaper. The publication was full of foreign news, ex- 193 194 ROMANCE OF NORWALK tracts from books, editorials, jokes and quaint advertise¬ ments but practically no local news. As a matter of fact there were only two items which pertained to the vicinity of^Norwalk, both weddings, one in New Canaan and one in Wilton. So different is this ancient Gazette from the newspaper of today that it is interesting to stop a moment and see what it holds within its pages. News of the Spanish Main, of doings in Buenos Aires, of snow in Albany, rain in Raleigh, of new ships in the British navy, of a drowning in Pittsburgh and of a clipping from the history of Massa¬ chusetts fill the columns of the first page. The only thrilling piece of “yellow journalism” is a bit of news about an inch long headed “Scandal.” This sets forth that one Jonathan M. Beach of Cambria, N. Y. “lately jumped out of a third story window at Buffalo in a fit of insanity which instantly terminated his life.” Advertising plays a part in the first edition of the Norwalk Gazette, 1 8 1 8 , as it does in the following editions, but it is a minor part. Lacking are the large display advertisements of today. The advertisers set forth their wares in black and white and let it go at that. Bark, hides, paints, grave¬ stones and groceries were announced for sale, the advertise¬ ments all being about the same size and seeming importance. A little more exciting was the advertisement of the Norwalk Packet which speaks of the fine bar aboard ship, saying: “The new superior fast sailing sloop packet, Samuel Daskam, master, is intended solely for the accommodation of passengers, having three elegant and spacious cabins with 42 berths. The proprietors assure their friends and the public that no exertions will be spared for the accommoda¬ tion of passengers. The bar will be well furnished with the best of liquors, wine, porter and so forth. She will leave Norwalk every Tuesday and Saturday and New York on Mondays and Thursdays.” From the above it would appear that there were 14 berths in every cabin. Astoundingly vague were some of the advertisements discovered in the lost and found columns. Witness the fol- PAPERS— PAUPERS 195 lowing: “Twenty dollars reward for the mare of John Comstock.” The mare’s description includes only: “Her mane generally lying on both sides of her neck unless con¬ siderable pains is taken with it.” Modern advertisers when racking their brains for some new “line” with which to attract the public, might find it possible to catch the eye of the customer with something unique like this: “November 7, 1821 : To the Dull of Ap¬ prehension: Whereas you don’t seem to fully understand the import of long sentences, I will treat you to a couple of proverbs, short but sweet and easy to be understood: Lawyers’ houses are built with fool’s money. A word to the wise is sufficient. D. S. Bartram. Two Fresh Rum Hogsheads for sale.” darien's struggles The year 1800 found Norwalk with a population of 5,105 people including the residents of Wilton and New Canaan, both of which settlements were part of Norwalk then, New Canaan becoming a separate town in 1801 and Wilton being formally organized in 1802. Darien did not become a separate town until 1820 and then, only after a terrific struggle in which Norwalk blocked her every effort to become independent. May 3, 1804 the town fathers de¬ cided “to oppose the petition of the inhabitants of Middle¬ sex,” (former name of Darien), to become a town. On subsequent dates, May 12, 1806, May 9, 1808, September 10, 1808, May 7, 1810, and October 8, 1810, Norwalk in each and every case decided to oppose the petition. May 11, 1818 appeared the following in the town records of Norwalk :