History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

"The first justice of the peace who w.as appointed was ^Ir. .lames Beebe. The first town clerk was ^Ir. .bisiah Starr. For many years after this time there were Indians living in town, who held their lands separate from the English people by known bounds. It does not appear that they were ever troubleEome. But in the time of the wars, whicli were in the eally part of the century, iu which the French used great exertions to excite the enmity of the natives against the English settle- ments, it became necessary to provide some means of security. The house of Mr. Samuel Benedict, at the southeast corner of the street, and the house of Uev. Mr. .Shove, on the emiiieiice near wdiere the two former meeting-houses stood, were placed in a posture of defense. When they were apprehensive ol danger all the families used to repair to these two houses, especially nights. But it does not appear that tbey ever had any .sei ions alarm. In Oi tuber, 17iis, il naseuailed by the Ceneral AsM-mbly that garrisons shoiilil be kept at Wuodbiiiy and llanbiiiy if the council of war should judge expeilieiil. It ibi-iiic lolliiws that this was llieu a lioiitier town. But we ba\e no account tliat any gairiMin was ever luailitailii-d licic at jiublic expense. "The western part of the town, called Miry Brook, and the eastern part, which now composes palt of the town of Itrookfield, were settled within a few years after the centre. Many pait.s in the miildli- of the town wliicli ale now very fertile and pmlitic were considered by the early piopTietois as not worth cultivation. Smile of theiii, therefore, went liiini lour to seven inilc.~ for land to laiM' Ibeir ordinary crops. ■■One lit the early inliabilaiits in this tow n was John R 1, a man of great talenls, and thoroughly skilled in the kiiowledL-e and practice of the law. He jiosscsseil naturally i ly peculiarities, ami alti i led still more. He is known to this day Ibrougb the i try by many singular anecdotes and characteiistics under the apiiellaliou id •.lobn H I the Lawyer,' The first representative from this town to the Ceneral .\sseiu. Illy was Mr. Tliomas Taylor. He was for many years a useful man in the town, and died January, KrCi. au'cd ninety-two. He conliuued the t llauiel Benedict, .Ir., married HebeUaa, daughter of Mr. Thomas Tavlor. 178 HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT. loiigettt of any of tlio flrst oottlt»rs. The second jiistlco of the peace waa Mr. Josiali Stiirr. lie bd J tin- ufflc e but a short periixi. Ho died Jan. 4, 1715,» aged fifty-devon. The next to liim in office was John OregorjS son of Jndali Gregory, ouo of the first settlers, Juiiict* Bocbe, Jr., was successor in office lo his futlior, wlio died April 22, 1728, agwl eighty- seven. It is noticeable tliat James IJcebe, the fatlier and tbc son, eacli bore the several offices of justice of the peace, captain of the militia, and deacon of the churtb. Tlie father, having oonimandi-d the military com- pany of the town for many years (said to be thirty), uu bis resignatimi led Ihem to the choice of a siioeesftor, which fell uiK»n bis son. The fifth justice of the peace was Thomas Benedict, son of Jnnies Benedict, a fii-st settler. Samuel Gregor>', son of John Gregory, the former justice, wiuj next appointed to that office. The ne.\t to bim was Comfort Sturr, youngest won of Jo»iali Starr, Esq. These seven justices of the peace are ; all that have l»een in town prior to those now living.f It is worthy of remark that in five instances that office has been sustaiued by father and son. The town clerks have been, iu succession, Josiah Starr, Israel Curtis, ThnniUN Benetlict, Thuddeim Benedict, Major Taylor, and Eli Mygatt. The l'r..li»te liistrict of Danburj- was establislicd by act of As- sembly, Oct<)bor, 1744. It then cont^dne*! the towns of Newtown, Ridgc- tield. New Fairfield, and Danbury. Redding and Bniukfield have since been added. Befoiv that time this town belonged to the ilistiictof Fair- field. The first judge was Thomas Benedict, Esi\. lie held the office until bis tleath, in 1775. The present judget was then appointed. "Comfort .'itarr, l':sii., who died May 11, 17(;;i, in the fifty-seventli year of bis age, left to the town a donation of eight hundred pounds, lawful money, for the sup|>«)rl of a p<-rpetual sch<x>l in the centre of the town : to be under tbc ilircction of the civil authority and selectmen, the in- structor to bo capable of teaidiing reading, writing, arithmetic, and the Latin and Greek languages. In the general wreck of paiwr currency during the Bevolutiuuary war, the fund depreciated to the sum of four hundreil and eighty-eight ixmnils twelve shillings and nine pence, which now remains. In Ai>ril this scb.M.l v.u» converted into a 'schfxil of higher order,' agreeably lu an act of Assembly passed May. 1708. A sketch of this school fi-om the beginning fias been lately written, which was cojded ofl" by several of the pui>ils, which they ore again requested to presen-e as a vabnible memoir. "At an early jM-ritKl in the town, of which the year cannot now be I ascertained, a nndignaiit nervous fever prevailed by which numbers of the inhnbitaiits died. Aside from that, there never was any prevalent ' epidemic in the town till the year 1775; in that year a tlysenterj' raged with great furj in all parts of the Uiwu. The number of deaths in the town during the year was alKUit one bundrfid and thirty, of which eighty- two were within the limits of the first society. Says Mr. Baldwin, in his Thanksgiving sennon of that year, 'No less than sixty-two have l»een swept away fn..ni within the lindts of tbis wK-iety in b-ss than eleven weeks the summer past, and n<'t fur from fifty in otherjiarta of tbetown. 3Iuch the greater part of this number were small children. A terrible lilow to the rising genenition!' A remarkable fact occurred that year. A military r«>ni|Mitiy of nlwut one hundred men was raised in town and onlered to the Northern anny, on Lake Chnmplaiti. When they went it was vifwcfl by their friends us next to a final dejtanure. At the con- clusion of the cani]mign they all returned safdy, and found that great numlH-m of ilu-lr friends at home had sunk in death. The disorder sub- sided iK'fore their return.^ "The town wasagain visiteil by thesamedis4>nler in the year 1777, but it was far U'm nmllgnant and mortal than before. In the autumn of the year 1780 theinfiuenuispread tbnuigh tbecounlr>-. This town was visited in common with olhera ; few pentons oscapml the disorder, yet in very i few instances was it mortal. In the fulluwing spring. 171K), the same disease again spread abn»ad ; it was less nnivennd and much more sever* than iK-fore. 3Iany of the persons db-d of it in this and most of the towns Ihnuigh the country. In Die years 17!t:i and 171M the s4-arlel fevpr Hpnad ronsideiubly, but was not mottal but in a few instances. The Bmall|N>x hiu> never t>i-i>n but liitb- in ihix t..vt>. ..m.i 11...1., ..r.. ,,,,u- * His tnmlwtone. t Tln».o who hove bot-n ttp|Hi|uted to the office of justice of the peace, since tlnHH- atM.vo mentionetl, are lion. Jtisepb V. Cin^ke, Banlel Taylor, Thaddeus B«-ne<Hct, 8unuiel Taylor, Kll Mygalt. Thomas Tayb.r, James CUrk, Klhba Whlttlwy, Timothy Taylor, and Tlumias Taylor, Jr Kaoii'l and Niniuel Taylor are since dead, and Thaddeus Benv«lict Is not now in ofilre; the renniining seven are. IIoii. JoiHiph 1*. Cooke. { A stnuig evidence that tho^inler was not l>it>ught from the army, OS won goiiurmlly inn(glne<l. few or no towns in the State whore a leas population of the inhabitants have had tlial diHordcr than in this." THE KEVOblTION. *' In the latter \*nrt of the year 1770 the commissioners of the Ameri- can army chose this town for a deposit of a quantity of military stores. Large quantities of flour, meat, and various kinds of militar)* stonw were collected and depoaileil here. In April, 1777, Governor Tryon, of Hazing nienioi->', set out fnjni New York with a detxicbment of two thou- sand men for the puriwso of destroying the Continental stores iu this town. They landed at Compo Point, in the town of Fairfield, and marched without interruption directly to Danbur>'. There was in the town a snud] number of Continental troops, but without arms. They with the inbabitjinis gcneitilly withdrew from the town as the enem j approached. The enemy entereil the town on Saturday, the 2Gtb of A]tril, at about three o'clock in the afternoon. They soon began those cruelties and exci'wses which clianu'teri/,*' an unprincipled and exas- perated enemy. Several persons were inhumanly murdered. One very valuable house, with four persons in it, was burnt immediately. The utmost inhumanity was committed upon all except the persons and pro[^ orty of the Tories. Tlic next morning, before the King of Day bad arisoHi the unhappy inhabitants who remained iu the town saw the darkness of night suddenly dispelled by the awful blaze of their dwellings. The enemy, fearful of their retreat lieing cut off, ralliLHl early on the morn- ing of the 27th, set file to tbc sevenil stores and buildings, and imme- diately marched out of town. Nineteen dwelling-bouses, the meeting- bouse of the New Danbury society, and twenty-two stores and iHiriis, witli all their cont(?uts, were consumed. The quantity of Contineiitnl stoi^es which were consumed cannot now bo accurately ascuitaintti ; accounts vary consideratdy. From the best infommtion which can be obtained, there were about throe thousand barrets of p^»rk, more than one thousand barrels of flour, several hundred liarrels of beef, sixteen hundred tents, two thousand bushels of grain. ItesidLV many other valu- able articles, such ju* rum, wine, rice, army-carriagos, etc.' The private losses were estimated, by a committee up)N>inted for the purpose, nixteim thousand one humlred and eighty-four p«>unds seventeen shillings and ten pence.