The Romance of Norwalk

In 1 807 Jefferson pushed his Non-Importation act of 1 806 in the Embargo Act of 1807. For a while all foreign com¬ merce ceased; few boats came into Norwalk, few went out. New England grew fretful, sullen and then rose in anger against the Embargo. Protest resolutions from the states flew fast and thick to Washington. Even Governor Trum¬ bull of Connecticut felt that the Federal government was in the wrong. When he received a letter from the Secretary of War asking that the governor assign “militia officers of known respect for laws” to aid in the enforcement of the embargo, he refused the request. He then called the legis¬ lature together and said: “Whenever our national legislature is led to overleap the prescribed bounds of their con¬ stitutional powers, on the state legislatures in great emer¬ gencies, devolves the arduous task, it is their right, it becomes their duty, to interpose their protecting shield be¬ tween the right and liberty of the people and the assumed power of the general government.” The legislature an¬ nounced its approval of the sentiment. It was this speech of Governor Trumbull’s which caused the Norwalk fathers to state in their resolution that they felt deep regret that the administration of the state should refuse aid to the gen¬ eral government and should “seek for constitutional difficul¬ ties to sanction their evasions.” June 18, 1812, the United States declared war on Great Britain. A black pall descended upon New England when this news was received. Church bells were tolled as in death; flags were lowered to half mast — everywhere it seemed, except in Norwalk. Here there was great rejoicing and the leaders in the community expressed themselves as being glad that at last the United States had come to its senses and decided no longer to stand England’s insults. It was such feeling which provoked the stirring resolution by the town fathers in September, 1812. 202 ROMANCE OF NORWALK Norwalk* s strong stand The Norwalk resolution follows: “Whereas Europe has long been engaged in a bloody and vindictive waT in which the rights of neutral nations have been made the sport of legalized perfidy and sacrificed with wanton barbarity, the supreme and sanctioned law of nations trampled under foot and right and power unidentified, (word not certain) And whereas the right and interests of the United States have been totally disregarded in the savage exterminating war of the Belligerants particularly England, in open defiance of law, usage and the acknowl¬ edged rights of Nations, has claimed the empire of the Ocean and made it her teritory, and with haughty domina¬ tion sits at home, marks out the water and the land, Inter¬ dicts now a City, now an Empire and now a continent, say¬ ing to each distant nation, hither to shalt thou come and no further. “England has kidnapped, impressed and imprisoned, known citizens of the United States compelling them to fight her battles and shed her brothers’ blood. “England has insulted our flag, outraged our territory and in peace shed the blood of our fellow citizens. “England with piratical hardihood has seized, condemned and pocketed millions of our property in ways practiced by none but by Arabs and Algerines. “England has broken her public faith in scornfully dis¬ avowing the Act of her accredited Minister. “England has proposed and eluded negotiation with more than Carthagenian duplicity till her Syrian Song of Recon¬ ciliation and peace is perfectly nauseating, we must defend our rights or bid them an eternal farewell. “France beholding our patient acquiesence and the rich plunder of her rival has followed suit, uttered her interdicts, come in for a share of the gain, and our property and our rights are treated abroad as free plunder. These glaring outrages we have seen and have felt year after year till numbers have been ruined by their losses and commerce WAR OF 1812 203 nearly driven from the ocean. Laws the most sacred, rights the most invaluable afford no protection. “The closing communication of the Minister of England demands as the only ground of respecting our rights that we compel the Emperor of France to do what we have neither the right to demand nor power to enforce. Under these long endured and encreasing evils, War on the part of England, Peace on ours, America having committed her cause to God, has declared war, a war in defense of‘ our essential rights, therefore Resolved: “1. That the national Government in declaring war against Great Britain has done right. “2. That at this critical season the welfare of the country imperiously demand the united aid of the whole community. “3. That we pledge our property, our character and our lives to aid the general Government till the object of the present war be obtained, to wit, a safe and honorable peace. “4. That we view with indignation the wrongs done us by both Belligerants, and as we now resist the one are equally ready to resist the other. “5. That if Great Britain be as she is called, the bulwark of our Holy Religion, she is of the same Religion with us now just as she was with our fathers, when they fled from her fires and faggots kindled to roast them alive. “6. That the thought of rending this fair country is big with horror and meets universal execration, foreign and domestic. . . .(word blurred) only excepted. “7. That the Orders in Council are repealed in name only, not in principal nor in fact. “8. That we feel deep regret that the Administration of this State should refuse their aid to the general Government, seek for Constitutional difficulties to sanction their evasions. “9. That amidst the accumulated outrages heaped upon this much injured Country we have a perfect right to choose our antagonist. ‘To. That present suffering is infinitely preferable to future and eternal degradation. 204 ROMANCE OF NORWALK “Voted that the foregoing be recorded in the Town Jour¬ nal, signed by the Moderator and Clerk and printed in the Mercury at Hartford and the Republican Farmer at Bridge¬ port. “Barnabas Marvin, Moderator “Jacob Osborn, Town Clerk.” This fiery outburst was in direct contrast to the feelings expressed by the rest of New England. But then Norwalk had to be “different.” During the Stamp Act revolt when the rest of the country was up in arms, and fire and riots were on every hand, Norwalk remained steadfast on the side of King George. In the beginning of the Revolution she continued to believe that the colonies should bow to England, nor did she turn patriotic until the signing of the Declaration of Independence. When the War of 1812 broke out however, Norwalk was in the foremost ranks of patriotism, feeling so strong in the matter of support of the United States government that she caused to be written the set of resolutions previously quoted. This, in direct contrast to the remainder of New England which saw in the war only great financial losses and crippled shipping, and which roundly criticized the Federal government for drag¬ ging the country to the battlefront. NORWALK SHIPPING SUFFERS Each year of the War of 1812 found more and more American ports closed to shipping, and each year found more and more boats tied to Norwalk wharfs, because they had “no place to go.” November 27, 1812, Great Britain declared the first American blockade, including the Dela¬ ware and Chesapeake bays. In March of the following year the blockade was extended to New York, Charleston, Port Royal, Savannah and the Mississippi. The whole of Long Island Sound together with every port southward to Florida was blockaded on November 16, 1813. Norwalk, of course, was sadly affected by this new turn of affairs, PFAR OF 1812 20s caught like a rat in a trap. The British Commodore Hardy and his “Liverpool Packet” made the blockade doubly sure by patroling the waters here. He and his Packet practically annihilated commerce in Long Island Sound. By this time the New England towns had commenced to talk about secession. There is no telling what might have happened had not the Americans glimpsed hope on the hori¬ zon in the signing of peace between Great Britain and France, May 31, 1814. Alas, this treaty only gave Great Britain more opportunity to harass the Americans and she immediately declared a blockade of the whole American coast. The New England ships could not even get from port to port among their own states. In such manner did the “carrying trade” spring up, by means of which farm and vegetable produce, goods of all kinds and fish, were carried overland in wagons. So matters continued for sev¬ eral months and then the night before Christmas, December 24, 1814, peace was signed in Ghent, Belgium. Then was there much rejoicing in Norwalk and ships which had not left the harbor since 1812 or 1813 once more set their sails for foreign ports. Norwalk furnished its quota of soldiers during the War of 1812. Only the militia were called and none suffered loss. According to the records, given in “Norwalk 250 years ago,” 108 Norwalkers served and few of them were in the service any length of time. For the sake of record, their names are given as follows. In the militia : Andrew Akin, John Akin, Samuel Akin, Daniel T. Bar- tram, Plum Bearsley, Holly Bell, Ammon Benedict, Asa Benedict, Lewis Bennett, David Betts, Philo Betts, Andrew Bigsby, John Bigsbee, Isaac Bishop, corp., Samuel Bissa, Joseph Boughton, captain; Isaac Bouton, Thomas Brady, muse.; Charles Brown, Lemuel Camp, John Cannon, Ros¬ well Ceed, Corp.; Isaac Church, James Clock, lieut. ; David Comstock, Alanson Cowley, Bud Finch, Cyrus Fitch, Corp., Stephen Fitch, Horace Gills, muse.; Isaac Gred, John Greg¬ ory, John Griffith, Thomas Hanford, Seeley Hason, Ira Hoyt, Ralph Hoyt, ensign; Samuel Hoyt, Stephen Hoyt, 206 ROMANCE OF NORWALK Walter B. Hoyt, Ebenezer Hyatt, Charles Jarvis, corp. Uriah Johnson, William Johnson, Oliver Jones, Joseph Kee¬ ler, sergt. ; Ezaih Kellogg, James S. Kellogg, Matthew Kel¬ logg, sergt. ; John Knapp, corp.; Benjamin Little, Jacob Little, David Lockwood, corp.; Nehemiah Lockwood, lieut. col.; and Ira Marvin, sergt.; Raymond Mathews.