History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

We remember to have listened with breathless si- lence to stories told of her by one of her con- temporaries. The following, which was believed to be true, we distinctly recollect : In the immedi- ate vicinity of this notable jjcrsonage resided an old gentleman of sterling character and worth, enough of a Presbyterian to defy witches or devils, and of muscular power and courage "to grapple with foes material or ghostly." Our hero w;us a farmer by ])rofession, and after he had forced the rugged soil to yield its scanty crop, and the grain was safely gar- nered, he frequently mis.sed quantities from his bins. He watched the witch in vain. She eluded his grasp, and vanished into air whenever he discovered her in the darkness of night. These ])etty depredations continuing, he, becoming impatient, at last con- structed an ingenious trap in liis granary, and, lo ! the next morning, when he went to his barn, there stood witchcraft embodied and visible to human eyes. It ai)peared to be the veritable "Aunt Nab." The lord of the manor passed her without saying a word or ajiparently noticing her. Afterdoinghis "chores" he was quietly leaving, when the giiost in the trap called out, " Uncle Thonnis, for (lod's sake let me go!" Uncle Tliomas was, liowever, deaf ami blind just then, and after breakfast went out to interview his game. The old woman made a full confession, and promised reformation. Siie was released with the solemn warning of Paul to the Ephcsians: " Let him tliat .stole steal no more." After a few months a daughterofl'ncle Thomas, who was a prepossessing young lady of fifteen summers, wius awakened from her quiet slumber at midnight. A fien<lish form stood bejide her couch, and in an instant seized her by the lower limbs and with super- human effort hurled her bodily through the door into FAIRFIELD. 287 lier father's apartment. The ftuuily, being thus unduly alarmed, sought the caiLse. But the daughter was in- sensible, and the witch invisible. The girl suflered intensely for weeks, and gradually drew her knees to her chest, and was in that condition for years, help- less and a burden to her friends, but intelligent and skillful wiih needle and pen. Years alter "Aunt Nab" "shook otf the mortal coil" the bonds were loosened from the afflicted girl, and she became straight and strong, f^hc confirmed the above state- ment, and fully believed " Aunt Nab" was her tor- menter. CHATTER XXX. FAIRFIELD (Continuedi. COLONIAL ]IOU.SF,S.e The houses which are at present standing that were built in the old colonial times, and were spared from the conflagration of July S, 1779, are : 1. The old house nearly opposite the old burying- ground in the rear of town-hall. It has not yet been ascertained who built it nor when it was built. The first owner.ship was of the Bulkeloys; probably it was Tlionias Bulkeley (second son of the Rev. Peter Bulke- ley, of Concord, Mass.), who came with his father-in- law, the Rev. John Jones, first minister in the Prime Ancient Church (Congregational), in 1044, and died in 1()50. The Bulkeleys deserve more than passing notice, as through them our history has been greatly augmented. The Rev. Peter Bulkeley, B.D., was of honorable descent. He was of the tenth generation from Robert Bulkeley, Esq., one of the English barons, who in the reign of King John (who died in 1210) was lord of the manor of Bulkeley, in the county-palatine of Chester. The names of the lineal descendants from Robert, furnished by Charles Bulkeley, Esq., of New London, a grandson of Gershom, gathered from a sketch on the names and titles of nobility, were: 1, William; 2, Robert; 3, Peter, who married Nicholaus Bird, of Hampton ; 4, John, who married Andryne, daughter and heir to John Colley, of Ward, and died in 1450; 5, Hugh, who married Hellen Willjriham, of Woodley; 6, Humphrey, who married Cyle, daugh- ter and heir of John Matten ; 7, William, who mar- ried Beatryce, daughter and heir to William of Bulansdale; X, Thomas, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Randelle (trovenor; 9, Edw-ard, D.D., of Woodhill, who married Olive Islby, of Lincolnshire ; lu, Peter, of Concord. He (Peter) was born at Wood- hill, in Bedfordshire, Jan. 31, 1583. His father, the Rev. lidward Bulkeley, D.D., was a faithful minister of the gospel, under whose direction his son received a learned and religious education suited to his distin- * By Mrs. Katf E, Perry. guished rank. Aliout the age of sixteen he was ad- mitted a lucndier of St. John's CiiUege at Cambridge, of which he was afterwards chosen fellow, and from wliich he received the degree of Bachelor of Divinity. He succeeded his father in the nunistry in his native town, and enjoyed his rich benefice and estate, where he was a zealous preacher of evangelical truth about twenty years, and forthe most part of the time lived an unmolested nonconformist. At length, his preaching meeting with distinguished success, and his church being very much increased, complaints were entered against him by Archbishop Laud, and he was silenced for his nonconformity to the re(iuirements of the English Church. This cir- cumstance induced him to emigrate to New England, where he might enjoy liberty of conscience. He ar- rived in Caml)ridge in 1034 or 1035, and was the leader of resolute and self-denying Christians who settled with him at Concord, where he expended most of his property lor the good of his people, and tlierc lie died March 9, 1059, aged seventy-six. He was twice married: (1) To Jane Allen, daughter of Thonnis Allen, of Goldingt(jn, whose nephew was lord nuiyor of London. This marriage resulted in ten sous and two daughters. (2) To Grace Chet- wood ; they had four children. By the first marriage their eldest son, Edward, was born in England. He was a highly educated min- ister, and was the father of four children, of whom Hon. Peter Bulkeley (appointed to offices of great distinction) had a son Joscjdi, who married the widow RebeccaMinot, daughter of John Jones, and Thomas, brother of the Rev. Edward Bulkeley, married Sarah, another daughter of Rev. John Jones. They had five children, four of whom are oti the Fairfield (Connecticut) records. The Bulkeley property was quite extensive, occupying the place of the present John tiliiver and the two houses known as the Deni- son prfi])erty. Joiuithan,t the eightieth descendant of the first Bulkeley settler in America, born Sept. 21, 1731, nmrried Hannah Hoyt, daughter of James Hoyt, of Norwalk, Conn., June, 1702. They occujiied the old building which was on the site of .John Glover's house, an illustration and description of which are found in Barber's " Cidlection of Connecticut Rem- iniscences." Gn the 7th of July, 1770, Governor Tryon, with his army, sailed from New Haven to Fairfield, and the next morning disembarked upon the beach. The Hessians who aceomjianicd Tryon were his incendi- aries. To them he intrusted the wielding of the torch, and faithfully they obeyed their master. When the people fled from the town, not susiiecting that their homes would be burned, they left most of their furni- ture behind. The distress was, consequently, great, t Sec Bulkeley's Genealogy. Dr. RaiiUiTi in liis Historical Discourse chills hiui Beiijaiiiiu, 28S HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT. for many lost every earthly possession. Among the buildiiigH saved was that of Mr. Bulkeley. Tryon made it his headquarters. The naval officer who liad eharjie of tlie British ships, piloted tliem to Fairfield, w.i-s Mrs. Bulkeley 's brother (George Hoytl, and he had requested Tryon to spare tlie house of liis sister. Tryon aniuioscod, and, fooling his indel)tedness to her brother, the general informed Mrs. Bulkeley that if there was any other house she wished to save she should be gratified. After the enemy left the enraged militia, under Capt. Sturges, placed a field-piece in front of the dwelling, and then sent Mrs. Bulkeley word tliat she might have two hours to clear the house anil leave it, or thoy would blow her to atoms. She found means to communicate a notice of lier sit- uation to Gen. Silliman (see " Colonial," No. 45), who was about two miles distant. He immediately Avent to town and found one hundred and fifty men at the common. By threats and persuasions lie induced them to withilraw. The next day Col. Benjamin Talmadge, with his regiment, arrived from White Plains, and, encamping on the smoking ruins, made Tryon's quarters his own. Mrs. Bulkeley was not a friend of the enemy. According to her testimony under oath, she was badly treated by the .soldiery, notwithstanding she had a protection from Gen. Garth, the second in command. Tliey i)lundered her house, stripped the buckles from her shoes, tore a ring from her finger, and fired the house five times before leaving it. The four houses on the opposite side of the street now standing were saved through her in- tercession. The occupant of this house, opposite the cemetery, in 1779, was Peter Bulkeley (see Dr. Rankin's "His- torical Discourse," July 8, 1879). The houses built at the colonial period embrace two styles of archi- tecture,— the one long and one short roof, and the gambrel or hip roof. This Bulkelev house has the one long roof, and has never been remodeled. This antiquated structure has been the shelter for the an- cestors of the numerous Bulkeley families in South- port and adjoining towns. Passing out of the family, it has been used as a tenement-house for years. It may lie interesting to know that two thousand or more peojile can trace their ancestry to the Thomas Bulkeley who settled in one of the two (the/)ne which was Tryon's headquarters, or No. 1, colonial) houses already mentioned.