History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

f F.'oui the Congregatiomil Church Kecords, Fairtield, Couu. 314 HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD rOT-XTV rONN-Fr'TTCUT. " In 3Ienior>' of Mr. Datiifl Willson, who was born Atig\ist 6tli, 1747 and depiirtoJ thit} Lifu Aug. 17, 1795, aged 4S Yeure and 1 1 da.va. Dentil 18 a debt to iintuio due, Which I have paid ; and so must yon." The age of this house is variously estimated at from one hundred and twenty-five to two hundred years. It is in good repair internally, and, with a good coat of paint, would htst several generations. Tlie fasten- ing to the door is a peculiar contrivance which the descendants of the original owners would like to pos- sess, as there is notliing like it in the country. No. 45. Tliis was built for Gen. Gold Seliick Silli- man, who was born in 1732 and graduated from Yale College in 17;J2. He married Martha Davenport in 1754. They united with the Prime Ancient Church, Fairfield, March 3, 1754, siie liaving before been a member of the church at East Haven. She died in August, 1774, leaving one son, William, who was taken prisoner (by the British) with his father in 1779. She was buried with the Sillimans, and this is her inscrip- tion : ** Here lies bulled tlie Body of M" Miirthn Silllmnn, Wife of G. Sikck Sillinian, Ejuj', who died .Vufust firel, 1774, agctUl yeara 1 moii. & 23 D. Sweet Soul, we leave thee to thy Rest ; Enjoy thy Jesus and thy God, Till we, from Bands of Cliiy releust. Spring out ,t: Climb the Shining Rond, While the dear Dutt she leaves Itehind Sleeps in thy Ilosoni, Sacred Grave. Or does she seek, or has she found her Babe, Amongst the Infant Nation of the blest, And elaspt It to her Soout to Satiate tliere The Young nniternal Love. Thrice happy child. That saw the Light & ttirned its Eyes aside From our illm Regions to the Eteniul Sun And led the Parents' Way to Glor)'. — Watts." Gen. Gold S. Sillinian married, for his second wife, in 1775, Mrs. Mary Noyes, widow of Rev. Jolin Xoycs, of New Haven, ami daugliter of Rev. .Joseph Fish, of Stonington, Conn. She liad three sons by her first marriage, — Joseph, John, and James. Joseph was owner or occupant of "colonial" No. 44. John graduated at Yale College in September, 1770; was licen.xed as a preacher, October, 17S3 ; was ordained to tlie work of tiie ministry and installed us piLstor over the church in Norfield, then a i)arish of Fairfield, May 31, 178G. He continued his public ministrations till March, 1S06, when his health failed liim, so that he was unable to perform the duties of his ministry ; and, seeing no prospect of speedy restoration after a lapse of more than a year, he took a dismission from his pa.storal relation May 2l), 1807. With much wetikncss he resumed pul|)it labor Sept. 4, 1808. For many ycata he was employed iu vacant societies within the couutj'. He supplied his former charge a part of the time. At length he engaged for them without intermission from year to year, and continued so to do for about fourteen years, and then liro|iosed to the people that they .should look out for a young man to settle with them, which they did. He continued to preach occasionally for ministers and vacant congregations, but never moved his resi- dence.* In August, 1790, Daniel Osborn was chosen deacon in room of Gold Seliick Sillinian, deceased. After he gradiuiled from college he engaged a short time in business, and then studied law and "became a suc- cessful practitioner at the bar, as is indicated by his holding the office of prosecuting attorney for the county. He had interested himself in military affairs, and at the outbreak of the Revolutionary struggle was a colonel of cavalry in the local militia. But during the most of the war he held the rank of brigadier- general, and was charged with superintending the de- fense of the southwestern frontier of Connecticut, which, on account of the long occupation of the city of New York and Westchester County, as well as Long Island, by the British, Wiis a post requiring much vigilance and efficiency. He took the field at the head of a regiment early in 177G, was in the battle on Long Island, and both iu that retreat and on the retreat of the American forces from the city of New- York his command was i)Iaced as the rear-guard. He bore a perilous and honorable i)art in the battle of White Plains, and on this, as on several other occa- sions, narrowly escaped the balls of the enemy. While serving in the camp of Wiushington, Gen. Sil- liman enjoyed his confidence. Gen. Sillinian descried the British fleet when approaching to land the troops for the destruction of the military stores at Danbury in 1777, and, rapidly collecting the militia, he, in connection with Gens. Arnold- and Woo.ster, intt'r- posed a resistance to their ])rogress, sustaining the at- tack of superior numbers in the conflict at Ridgefield and harassing the enemy on their way back to their vessels. The estimate that w-as put upon the value of his services is attested by the enterprise undertaken by the British in conjuiution with the Tories, whicli resulted in his being detained in captivity for iiearly a year." The Sillinian biographer quotes the account of the capture, as taken from some of the family papers, thus: " My father's vigilance made him obnoxious to tlio Tories, and he w as so much an (tl«tacle in the way of British incursions that it l>ecame an important object to make him piisoner, esjieclally as the British In Xew York were, as it now appears, al«out to devastate the cojist nf New England, plundering and burning their towns and dfstrxjying their rt^ources; anil as Connecticut, on acct>unl of its strenuous opiKwIlion to British aggres- sion on the rights of the colonies, was, in their view, (iccullarly worthy of chastisement. It was deterndned to make this hated colony the flnt omiM:t of their resentment. " A secret Issit-expwlillou was sent by Sir Henry Clinton from New York, manmsl chictly by Tories. This craft was a whole-l»oot ; the crew- were nine in number, and only two of them were foreigners. They en- * From lettcra, chiefly of n moral uid religioiu lutttiro, to fileods of various conditions, by Rev. John Noye« (1E44,I. FAIRFIELD. 315 tered Black Rock Harbor, at Fairfield, drew ui) tlicir boat into tlie sedge, and. leaving one of their number as a guard, the remaining eiglit pro- ceeded across tlie hills, two niiles, tu uiy father's house, which at the midnight hour was all iiuiet. and the family asleep. *' On May 1, 1770, Tietween twelve and one o\ lock A.M.. the house was violently assaulted by large heavy stones banging against both doors with oaths, imprecations, and threats. 5Iy father, being awaked from a sound sleep, seized two lojide«l guns stiiudiug at his bedside, ruslied to the front windows, and, by the light of the moon, seeing armed men on the stoop or portico, he thrust the nnizzle of a musket through a pane of glass and pulled the trigger; but there was only a fla^h in the pan, .and the gun di-l not go off. Percussion-caps were then unknown, and nuiskets were fired by flint anil steel. Instantly the windows were dashed in, and the ruffians were upon him. The doors were ojn-ned, and he became their prisoner. William, his son, although ill with ague and fever, was aroused from his lied, and became also their captive. These rude men, bearing guns witli fi.xed bayonets, follow el my father into the bedroom, a terrific sight to his wife, she being in bed with lier tittle son. Gold Selliek (Jr.), not yet eighteen months old, lying upon her arm. The invaders were soothe<l by my father, as if they were gentlenien soldiers, .and were desired to withtlraw from the presence of his wife. They sulkily complied, and my father, by t^>ssitlg my mother's dress over a basket containing the sacramental silver (to he used that ilay) of the church, of which he was deacon, thus a>ncealed from them what would have been a rich prize. He also secured some valuable papers bel'oi-e he, with his son, w.is hurried off to the boat, leaving my mother discunsidate and almost alone." In the mean tiinr she I'etircd to tlie hon.se of" jNfr. Eliakim Beach, at North Stratford, now Trumbull, seven or eight miles distant, where "Benjamin Wlli- man, the most eminent oCAmerican teachers of natural science, ■was born." In later years, while speaking of his mother, he says: "Her cheerful courage contrib- uted to sustain her; and I ought to be grateful to my nolile mother and to my gracious ( !oil that the mid- night surprise, the horror of rudians armed for aggres- sion, and the loss of her husband, as perhaps she might fear, by the hands of assassins, had not pre- vented my life or entailed ui)on it physical, mental, or moral infirmities." Gen. Silliman died in 1790, ten years after the family reunion. This bereavement brought upon his wife much trouble. Slie was obliged to decide how Iter sons were to lie educated ; the eldest was not quite thirteen, and the other not (juite eleven. There was considerable ])ropcrty in land, farming-imple- ments, carts, carriages, lior.ses, cows, oxen, sheep, and swine, but there was no income without labor. There were some slaves, — some by purchase anrl some by descent, — about a dozen in number. The slave- mothers served in the kitchen and the laundry; the boys and girls were waiters. The principal slave was an able man with a master, but without was Ixilcl and impudent; his wife was kind and faithful. (ten. Silliman would liave been much better oft" with his legal business alone than with the horde of servants, who consumed the products of the farm anil were, in general, triflers, and some of them ilishonest. His resting-place (in Fairfield's illustrious ground) is marked by a freestone slalt : *' Gold Sellick Silliman, Esq., attorney-at-Iaw, justice of tlie peace, and during the late war Colonel of Horse and Itrigadicr-Genrral of militia, died July til"', 179(1, aged 58 yeais, having discharged these and other public oftiees with reputatiipn and dignify, and in private life 8li(»ne the affectionate husband, tender parent, e.vemplary Christian, and man of fervent piety."