History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

" It must not be understood, however, that thi-se men were all that Danbury gave to the war, but the company was the only organization going from here of which there is any record. On a previous page it was stated that two sons of Aaron Gunn, living at the upper end of Main Street, were drafted into the army during the war of 1SP2-14. Previous to the draft they enlistcil and served for several months at New Jyon- don. When drafted they were a-ssigncd to <luty at the same place. Uncle ,\mos Morris and tiie late ' Frederick Whit* were dratteil at the same time. At New London the command had the choice of mess- ing inside or outside the fort. The Gunn party of Danbury boys chose the outside, and boarded with a widow-woman who gave them a bed and cookeil their rations daily for the sum of six cents each. No mesa in New London fared so well as the Danbury mess, thanks to the knowledge of the country gained by the two Gunn boys during their previous location in the place. "One day an officer of the reginuMit visited their quarters at dinner-tlnu>, and was amazed at the sight of their table. One i)rominent dish thereon was new potatoes, and that before the same were scarcely in the market and totally unknown to the comniis.sary. " ■ Why, boys, how's this ?' he exclaimed. ' Here DANBURY. 195 you've got new potatoes ! Why, there's not anotlier moss in tlie command with new potatoes. We can draw notliing- but old potatoes. How is it tliat you draw new iiir'S?' "'I'll tfll you, major, how we draw them,' spoke U|i ^VIlit^•, in a coutidential tone: 'we draw them by the tops.' " CII.VTTEI! XVIII. • DANBURY (Continued). VIEW OF DAXBrRY IX lsir,-2(l. Ix the tolldwin.i: i-hapter, taken from the Dunhnni ^Vof.?, will l)e I'uund located all the dwellings and stores which, in lSl;j-20, stood upon the present site of the village. MAIN .STREET. "It is likely that, with few exceptions, the jiicture was the same at the beginning of the century. Main Street was then as now the princi]ial thoroughfare. Running from it on the east was North, White, and Liberty Streets; on the west, Franklin, Elm, West, and Wooster .Streets ; South Street at the foot. Tiu' other streets were River aiul Town Hill. Deer Hill Avenue was then but a lane, chiefly used for tlu' transfer of farm products. " Edit Side. — The first house, on coming into Main Street at the nortii, on the e.ast side of the street, was occupied by .\ar(pn <iunn. It was washed away liy the Kfdianza disaster in 186S>. Mr. (Junn had two sons who were drafted in the war of 1812, and entered tlie army at New London. "The next house stood on the <-orner of .Noilli Street. It was occupied by Benjamin liarnuni, ami was a large, roomy building. Some years ago it was moved north on Main Street, and still stands there. "On the opposite corner, where is now the Porter estate, lived Noah Hubbell, grandfather of Mrs. .John Carpenter. Between there and what is now Patch Street there was but one house. It was occu- pied by William Patch, Jr., father-in-law of its picsent occupant, Oliver P. Clark. " Next to him was a small tenement owned by Mary Daniels, an aunt of the late W. A. Daniels, ami was then occupied by a family named Barnum. "John Gregory's house came next. None of his descendants are living liere. " Where Wildman's Lane or Cinirt now is were two houses, since gone. One of these was occupied by Benjanun Cozier and the other by William Patch, father of the William living above, and grandl'alber of Mrs. A. P. Tweedy and Mrs. (i. D. Koote. "The next premises were those of .lohn Nickerson, a lay preacher in the Methodist church. Nickerson was an active in:iri, and consequently well known to his fellow-citi/.ens. "Then eame another tenant-house, which w:is occu- pied by Zar Patch. " Following the tenement was the home of Arebi- liabl Benedict, now occupied liy his veiurable widow. He was a son of Capt. Noble Benedict, our Uevolu- tionary hero. "The residence now occupied by Harrison Flint was then the home of the late Enoeli .Moore. It was built by Amos Stevens. "Next in order came the home of \\\v\ (Jregory, now owneit by Mrs. Henry Benedict, and alter this a school-house. It stood on the north line of what is now the grounds of E. T. Hoyt's Innne. .Many years ago it was removed to Franklin Street, where it con- tinued to be used as a school until about fifteen years ago, w hen it was turned into a tenemeid. "Deacon Joseph Piatt Cook, son of the Uevolu- tionary colonel of the same name who was in com- mand of Danbury when Tryon came, occuiiied the next house. It stood on nearly the same ground at jiresent occupied by the residence of William Jabine. " Russel Hoyt lived next to Deacon Cook, in the house now occupied by his son (Jranville. " Just south of the house was a store wliere Daniel B. ('ook sold shoes, shirting, sug.ir, and other gro- ceriis. The building was suljsequently removed to ^Vhite Street, and is now occupied by Avery Ilay- niond's market. "Next came the home of Col. Russel White, which stood on the site of the present residence of his son, William R. White. Col. White was a ])r(]mineiit hat- manufacturer. "Xirum Wildman lived next, in the house now occujiied by his grandson, John W. Wildman. " Where the residence of Giles JI. Hoyt now stands stood the home of Rev. Ebene/.er R. White, grand- father of William R. White and Ebene/.er R. Whit- tlesey. Between and jpartly in front of these two bouses stood a small building once the store of Burr iS; Wliite, but at this time occupied by the worshi|)ers in the Sandemanian CInirch. Previously dissension liad arisen in the body because of the second marriage of an elder, and the congregation divided. " Next came the hat-manufactory of White Brothers & Co. It stood near the banks of the Still River, its site not at present being occupied. "Across the river, and on the corner of White Street, stood the giant old home of Benjamin Knajqi. "Wfd Side. — (Joing back to the north end of the street ami returning on the west side, the first bouse was the home (if Steplien .Vmbler, tile husband of Miss Munson. He was the grandfather of Mrs. \. A. Heath and O. P. and W. H. Clark. He did active wiirl< in the war. It is said that he ami five brothers, lying down on a thirty-six loot stic'k of tindier, would just cover its baigth. His Innise stood umler tlu' hill, next to the graveyard, and was long sim'c torn down. "The graveyard itself was tln>n there. It was not only o]ieMed to relieve the Wooster Street grounds, 196 HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT. but to aecomniodate the districts of Middle River, Kin<r Street, and Penil>roke, whicli tlieii, being spar- iiifrly settled, had no burial-plaee in their distriet. " Andrew Akin occupied the house now owned by George Downs. " Next to it was tlie home of Mary Daniels, who owned property on tlie other side of the street. The phiee is now oeeupied l)y V. E. IJarnum. "John Foot, father of Mrs. Ezra .\l)l)ott, lived in the next house. " Where Abijah Knapp's home is stood Capt. Foot's hat-shop. "Adjoining this was a tenement, now owned by Harmon Kiiapp. " Following eame tlie home of .\sa Hodge, now ocoui)led l>y George W. Hoyt. " Thaddcus Morehouse lived next north of where now stands the home of G. E. Cowi)erthwait. "Adjoining was a small tenement, which closed its existence in a summary and tragic manner. We do not know who occupied it at the time. It perished in 18.'5(). It was at the time that a strong anti-slave feeling was exhil)ited in tlie North. An Abolitionist address in the Baptist church called forth a mob, who stoned the church, breaking the windows, and threat- ened tiie life of the speaker, Rev. Mr. Colver, who Wijs visiting here. Danbury's trade wjis then largely in the .Soutli, and it was natural its people should be in .sym|)athy with that section and averse to anything calculated to disturb its peace. The family occupy- ing the tenement were strong anti-slavery people, and had given shelter to runaway slaves. This coming to the knowledge of our citizens, a number of them made a descent ui)on the house in the night-time and leveled it to the ground. The family escaped. " The next house was occupied by Knapp Bough- ton, who distinguished himself by winning for a wife the young woman Parson Robbins wanted. He wa."* father of L. H. Hr)ugliton. His place was removed to make room for tlie spacious residence of S. H. Rundle. " Mr^. Boughton, mother of Knai))), occupied a house adjoining his. It was afterwards owned by Nathaniel Bishop, and was removed. On the south- east corner of this lot was a brick building occujiied by Knapp Boughton as a store. It was removed a long time ago. " Mrs. Elias Boughton occupied a place wlure now stands tieorge C. AVhite's residence. " The next building stood on the corner of Frank- lin Street, where Burr Roland now lives. It was occupied as a hat-Rnishing sh<>\> bv Rus.sell and Eli T. Hoyt. "On the opposite corner stood the residence of Wil- liam Cook, who was a ]irominent member of the Masonic order. Mrs. William I). Morris' dwelling now occupies its site. Mr. Cook's luiuse was removed to l'at<h Street. • " Nrxt to Mr. Cook lived Starr Nichols, grand- father of Mr. .Iriliii Nichols, of Nichols & Hine. ]lf was a large liat-manufacturer, and an active man in all enter|)rises. "Following this was a tenement. It was taken down, and the present residence of Judge Lyman I>. Brewster occupies its place. "Next came the residence of Samuel and William Tweedy, father and .son. Samuel was the grandfather of Edgar S. Tweedy. They were cutters off of fur, and their shop stood north and in rear of their home. " Adjoining their liou.se was the place of Gerehom Nichols. " Where Charles H. Merritt's residence now is stood the house of Capt. Elijah Hoyt, grandfather of Wil- liam and .Mbert Hoyt. " Daniel B. Cook, son of Col. Joseph Piatt Cook, the soldier of the Revolution, lived where does now L. P. Hoyt. "Next to this place was a store occupied by E. M. White. It was removed to White Street. "Following was a house belonging to Najali Wild- man.