History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

alw«T5 ailed with integrity aed E-ielity. ... A contemp>rai7 says of Mm: 'Capt Goald was a natanl ggntleman always dignia^U and coor- te«:.as in hi- icaiiDer^ and kia-ily ia his ce^cTXniriii towaris every joe. By his indostry and enterpriser in earfy life he a^^ni.n*.i a rvasonahle C5mp«ence ; SJ thax. acart from his patUc duties, be le-i a life of e»?m- rorative ease al his nse res'icnce ia Fairnel'L He was a man of Dxes -tijnaUe private character and a meniLerof the Cvagre^tioEial Chuni :- his tratire town. ~ * His death is laxnente*! by his nameroas friea-is ia all fsins of the "^ite. aad to his iunily. wh-j were t^aderfy atta^ed to him, the loss is irreparable." . . . - It will le l;ns before Fairneld can Ujast a finer gentlesiin. a ki&ier friend, a n>^re cserd ciazen. an-i a tDOt^ npririit man than her >:etarted son, John Gould.'' At a meeting of the Connecticut National Bank. Capt. Jonathan G>>ifrer, oi' Sjuthport. pDncmneed this eulogv : -Cart. John G-MiM was a man whnse whole paUic life had challe-nze-i Vie adimrati->a c-f the p-^:ple of ihe State. Iti whatever sTati:.a he was ■illed t>. his condncs evinced the strongs evi-ience of i*>aad judstueDt ^lid tm^itichiog fidelity, and whenever ia the -\s6einl*ly or Senate of the ^taie bis acti-jn o^maianded the fullest relias-^e. iiis of-itd.c:s a&i conn*el were largely s»jnzht and c?nsie-i in, .\s zeaeral railr.ai c^niniis&ijner his supervision gave wufideiice to these who traveler! oa the rv;*is c^f the Slate. When President Linoln app-jintai him faiteo States nsaishal fcr this Sute. the lec^h and the Iai hailed his api>:in:inent with ac- clailae-i apprvvaL Thnr-agh years of fneQ*i!hip he wsts Lever kn-.'wn !.> ":ner an unkind woni of any one a-^r to any one, and his home character ■^as the same as at-fTja.!. No matter what the prov<>:ati>>a. his i^>Ie manhcc«i seemed to rise aiove it. His genial and pltasan: aai^re always triamciied. Is has leea well and truly ^ai-i. ' John tj-.^^ild was one ^-f Xamre's nohlemen.* Of commanding perst-n and graceful carriage, he ■^ on the tehoMer a: sizfat, creasins impres^jns the aj-.is; Lavorable.~ Bes-:>lurion= were passed acknowledging the traits set forth al»Te. with expressions of sympathr. and passed to his familT. Among the many res<jlntions of T;yiau= institutions, the board of directors of the Connecticut National Bank, at Bridgeport, met at their banking-house in Bridgeport, Sept. 5, 1S71, and passed the following: '^ Bemired^ Tbas the death of Mr. G-Dold, who was for nearly a qoarler f a centnry a memcer of this hrard. is re^aried by ns as an irrefoiaUe 1 :SE to our inslitation a&i to the memiers iniividually : that he was ia • - -s. nal eodowments an-i STac>^a! and co^irte'jus manners, as in the -ss of his nn^ieistandia^ the manline^ of his sen^lilities. and ■ jity of character, a worthy representative of an old colonial 1 tme New England geatieman. who adortted the societr ia e lived. . . . .. ^.r.-eii, Tba£ a o^py of th^e resi-dntioas le transmitted to both the --;. :,ife:s of this city for pclli.-atfc-'n. an-i that they also Le placed - J«: n the records c-f this lank." Capt. John Gould, his wife. Marr Wakeman Thorp, w;:;; other members of the family, lie in Fairfield East burying-ground. There have been four houses on their homestead. Th- first was burnt by the British ; this was once the h >me of Governor Ludlow. The second was a tem- porary house, which was improvised out of a corn- house till they could have a better one. The third was removed about \>fVi to give place to the last, which is a stately mansion on a rise of ground which gives a commanding appearance and dignity to the estate. The lofty trees, extensive lawns, and the house, with its large Corinthian pillars, constitute a charming cotintry residence. The families of Goulds and Thorps so intermarried that Capt. Gi3uld"s daughters state truthiully in say. ing : ■■ My father lost his father : my mother lost her mother : then, in due time, my mother's father mar- ried my fathers mother, and the father's daughter married the mother's son,"" Here is a museum of curiosities, many of which were f>urchase<l in foreign parts by their grandfather. Capt. Walter Tiiorp. Amiing them are elegant china, decanters and wine-glasses, antique yet handsome. als«j articles made of tortoi-e-shell. spectacles, fr.inie and bows, snuff-box. and other things made t > order from the shell he furnished. Many of the anicles are one hundred years old. others older. Here are the family pictures, p<:>rtraits, siihouertes, etc, A domestic asked a member of the family if one of the ancestors was nlortd, as she saw a black picture ' silhouette among the group. Among the curiosities is a pair of scales for weigh- ins money, which seemed essential in the days when our captains rrade>l at all \xtni and we had no es:ab- IL^hed currency of our own. A paper accompanies, with a table of coins and this statement : "Otie Ounce c<f G-.-Id is worth Five Poan-ls One Shilling and Fottr Peace, Lawriil Money ; and an il»ua're of Silver- Six Shillings and Ei^t Peace. One Pennywei^Ut -of G-^Id is w.»rth Five Shilling and Three Farthing; A Pennyweirfit of silver. Foot Pence, t'ne Giaio of G-jld is worth Two Pence Half-fenny. 24 G.-ains make 1 Peno.vw eight ; 20 Pennyweights 1 Ooisj^e: 12 Ounces 1 PoanX -The Oisi-jmary >letli-,^ of receiria* Oodd in Pa.vments is to take any of the atove Pieces f_r the Talce esprwsed in this Tatle. pr'>vi.ied they fall short Two Grains only; bat if a greater Naml-er of Grains than Two are wantiag. then every Grain short of fell Wei^t is \.> l^e allowed for at the Bate of Two Pence Half-penny, Lawful Jl'.-nvy. each Grain. - The coins are Crxl'wns, Hall-Crowns. Shilling, Sii-pence, Spanbh Dollar. Half I>;I!ar, Quarter ^f a IVillar, Five M.ii're Pie--e. l>jcble Jo- hannes. I>oaiil>jn. a Tw;-ani-a-balf M--i i-r^. Single Johannes. Two Pis- tole Piere, Mojiore- A giiin-ja. Haif Johannes, a Pist.,!e. Half JlMd-jre. Half Guinea, vuarter ■:■€ a Johannes, Three English Farthings, and Eng- lish Half-fence, in greater or le^ numter, in Pivtportion-" Oa the back of one of the rates of coins adopted by the Chamber of Commerce. Aug. 7, 1770, the rates of stages from Xew Y'jrk to Philadelphia are given : "The Flying Machine, kept by John Men>rean. at the Xew-Blazing- Star Ferry- near Xew York. Sexs -j? -luring tiie summer season - frvm Powles-H->:-k f.-r PhlLauelp-hia every Monday, W,^ines*3ay, an-i Fri-jay Mornings. From the Irst -jf }iovemler to the fi!^ of May it perform,s the J-otimey only tvi i ^ a week, and sets c-ot on Mondays and Thuiviaj s- The Wag^?ns in Philadeiphis set -ju; fr m the H^-ose of Mr. Joseph Vaa- de---rist the same i&omings- .v.- the Stages set o£ early in the m->ming fpjm Powles-H^v-k. Psss-rngers wi-uld -io well •■> cirwttf the Ferry the Evening t-efore. The Price f.-r «ich Passenger is -1: is. Pr>r. and Gjoos as usuaL" Probably the people of 1770 never once thought that in 1*70 a passenger could leave Fairfield at 7.20 A.M. and arrive in Philadelphia at 4 p.m. after having spent a couple of houis in New York. A knowledge of the rates of money and of travel was necessarv- to traveling and commercial men. In 17-*4> several of the descendants of Xathan Ciold removed from Fairfield to Delaware Co., X. Y., some retaining the Gold, others changing to GomM. A lai^e colony cut their way thr-jugh the forests to the sources of the Delaware over the Catskill Mountains. Abraham Gold was a prominent man in the town 320 IITSTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT. of Eoxbury, N. Y. His oldest sou, John Burr, was also a prominent man, and quite a hero in the Anti- Rent war of 184G. The Fairfield eolony settled on leased land ; rent, twelve and a half cents per acre. Abraham Gold had six sons and four daughters. Jay Gould, the New York baniccr, is one of his grand- sons. Another was Daniel Gold, who studied law in Delhi, was clerk in tlie New York Legislature, and afterwards appointed eliief clerk of the House of Representatives at Washington, D. C. The Rev. Hezekiah Gold, of Stratford, graduated at Harvard and labored in his native town more than thirty years. Rev. Hezekiah Ciohl, of Cornwall, married Abigail Sherwood, of Fairiield, for iiis second wife. He was a farmer a.s well as minister, and it is reported " that he could lay more green rail-fence in a day than any of his parishioners." His eldest son, Thomas, gradu- ated at Yale, and was a lawyer at Pittsfield, Mass. ; he acquired wealth and held an honorable position. His residence was the finest in the village. Here .stood the old clock on the stairs, the subject of a poem written by H. W. Longfellow, a grandson-in- law of Mr. Gold. Hon. Thomas R. Gold graduated from Yale in 1786 ; he stood at the head of the bar in Central New York. For al)Out twenty years he repre.scntcd New York in the Congress of the United States. He contributed largely to tlie North American Review. Dr. Samuel W. Gold graduated at Williams Col- lege in 1814, and studied at Yale, where he in 1884 received the honorary degree of M.D. He practiced medicine from thirty to thirty-five years, and then re- turned to Cornwall and with his son, T. S. Gold, es- tablished Cream Hill Agricultural School, which was a success twenty-four years. He was State senator in 1847 and 1859, and Presidential elector in 1857. T. S. Gold graduated at Yale in 18.38, established the agricultural school with his father in 1845, and taught twenty-four years. He was chosen secretary of the State Board of Agriculture at it.s organization, in 1866. Considering the whole family, Maj. Nathan Gold and his descendants, it is seen that from Fairfield have emanated a distinguished and honorable family, who have been devoted largely to public service, and have preserved an unsullied re|iutation.