History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

"•2ond. That although he early took the Oath of Fi.l.dity to this Stale, au'l in the begiuidiigof the late War showed nmch zeal in tlie Ameiican Ciiusc in the pul|iit as well as elsewhere, yet contrary to his said oath of Fidelity, in ITT't, on or about tlie U>th day of .July, he volunt;uily went to a Miilish officer with a flagg then at the house late Seth Mead's, in this place, ami there acknowledgeil his I'olitical Friendship to the liiitish, and that soon after he began to justify trade with the then enendes of this Stjite among the people in this place, ari<l Incouraged it by his own example. ":id. In May, ITSO. he was (with his own consent) taken by Dthtncy's C.u-e and ParoU-d, ordy to come t<t their lines a piiMiner when tailed for, but under no restraint by his parole as to his preaihing or pniyer. Vet after that he totally neglected in public to pray fur luotection to us, Dis- cretion to our Councils, or Success to our arms, to the great Grievance of tiie jieople here. "4th. That ho was offered an exchange, but his fiieinlwhip to the Brit- ish interest prevailed over his oath of Fidtdity it duty to his country as well as ]ieople, and he refused the exchange. "i'.th. That on or about the Ktth of October, 1770, his <:owh were (as he said} taken fiom him on a Friday night, and on the next Sabbath lu' went after them down among the Enemy, he- ohtainetl a permit to tiike them, he found them and sold them and bo't British Goods with the money &. brought the Goods into this State, ciuitrary to law, an<i in thus d(dng he broke the Sabbath, set an ill example, and broke covenant witli the church in neglecting his duty on the Lord's day. '' ilth. In 17S0, in the summer seas«.ui, he frequently left the House rif God in this place vacant in the afternoon of the Lord's day, & without 374 HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT. tho consent or the Cliurcli, in neglectof bisdnty here, wontand preached to tho Boparato IlaptiHtfl at their place of worship, tlioroby countenancing tliat reparation, to tho great Grcifo of tlii;) Church and all the gtwd peo- ple here. "7th. In 1"S(), between fore and afternoon worship on tlie Lord's day, lie sent Mr. Sanmel Peck, jun. and culled Mr. Siliis Mead to hishonse, Mr. Beiuaniin Peck being present ; he dunned him for what they owed hint, and desired ttiein to do the same to their neighborit. Yet not far from that time liu reproved Mr. Tlicophilus Peck for brodiing tho Sab- bath only for bringing back a seinion l»ouk in his pocket on the LonFs day. In other instances lie admonished 3Ir. Pldlips, the lluptint min- ister, against marrying n|»on the Sulibatli as a great Immorality, since which he has frciiuently pi-aclbed it himself. *'8tli. He bus fre»iuontly and abi-oad knowingly nusreprescnted and traduced this Ctnirch ,t society, in perticuhir Capl. Maish, before tlie or- daining Couimillee at Noiili Stamford, in declaring tliat this Society had never itaid liJm in any tlung but Continental money, wliicli words so K|M>ken, ho Mr. Jonutliao 3Iunlock then knew were false, he himself being possessed of tho means of knowletlge tliut they were so. "yth. He has frequently, as this Church takes it, been giiilty of tho bremdi of the Dtli command in denying facts and appealing in an un- chiisttaulike manner to the father of lights for coiiflrniution of what he Biiid. Viz. :— On or aliout tho 3(Jlh of April last, before tho Society's ntecting in this place, he jjublicly declared that the report that ho had refused to settle accounts with the |>eople of this society was without fouinlation, groundless and false ; which declaiation he, the said 31 r. Jon- athan Murdock , at the llouse of Mr. Henry Mead did in a publick inau- uor nuike a few days before. '• loth. That the foregoing matters of Groivance and many more which ndght be nienti'ined have .so disdlected the people in this place that there are many who have Icit the Society and gone over to ami joined other denominations, and but few who attend Mr. Jonathan Murtlnck's min- istry in this place, '* 11th. That in the opinion of this church the breach is become so great between the said Mr. Jonathan Slurdock & this Church & great imrt of the said Society that it can not be healed, but that his uj^efulness is at all end in this place." Says Mead's " History," " Upou tlicse cliarges Mr. Murdock was heard, and lie was dismissed, being found guilty, lie appears to have been a man of but little mind and energy, and at the time when dis- missed had no friends in the church whatever. He graduated at New Haven in the class of 1770, with Dr. Timothy Dwight, Dr. Backus, David Ely, Dr. David Macclure, and Dr. Nathan Strong. Soon after his settlement at Greenwich he fell in love with Miss Ann Grigg, a bouncing girl of sixteen or .seventeen, who was a much greater lover of fun than of Mr, Murdock. He persecuted her with epi.stles of love by bribing the blacks to bear his mes.s:iges to her, or, when that was impossible, by thrusting them under her room-door. The blacks gladly carried his notes, and greatly enjoyed the reading of them with Miss Grigg her.-iclf. Once, on seeing him coming in at the door, she hid away in the garret, while a favorite negro woman politely informed Mr. Murdock that she, in a sjdrit of fun, had climbed up the chimney to hide from him. He, innocent of any thought of a joke, really believed the story, and i)Ut his head up the large winding chimney to find her. Finally rais- ing himself high enough in the chimney with the greatest difficulty, he not only found her not there, but also found his clothco covered with soot and his throat exceedingly well choked with hot smoke. "He visited considerably in his parish ; and on a certain visit at Mr. Theophilus Peck'*, where he was obliged, on account of tlie distance, to take dinner, he was much surprised, when being seated at the table, that Mr. Peck did not ask his pastor to implore llu- divine blessing, but that Mr. Peck performed the duty himself, using the following words: "0 Lord.' v-- have ix wolf in sheep's clothing amongst us. Put a brkth in his mouth and a hook in his nose, and lead him back to the place whence he came." INCIDENTS OF THE REVOLUTION. Thus far we have given to our readers the simple records of the town-meetings held during these time- so trying to true patriotism. jVt the outbreak of tin war some, from their loyal and religious zeal, immi- diately sided with the enemy. However, they did ndt at that time openly avow their design. So little spirit was shown on the part of the Tories within the limit- of the town up to 17.77 that a vote sustaining tho Declaration of Independence and the Continental Congress was passed in town-meeting without a di^■ senting voice. Yet there were disafl'ected ones, as th. event proved, and before the war was finished ninety - two men had gone over to and openly joined tiie raiik^ of the enemy from the Second Society alone. A com- plete list of the names of these was made years ag' ■ by one of the committee of safety. The number I'l family names in the li.st is thirty-four, and twelve ot these names are not now to be found in the town. The immediate descendants of the others are but fc" , and in many instances the race is quite extinct. Thcrr seems to have been a doom upon them and their de- scendants. After the British had occupied New York ther. arose another class of men, much worse than the fir^t. This body was composed pf certain lawless characters, who seized with avidity upon every opportunity for plunder. They committed their depredations upon both the Americans and their enemie-s. Old grudge- contracted before the war were now satisfied witii rt- lentless vigor. Kence the Americans sufl'cred ino.st from these wretches. And, inasmuch a-s they did \i\ far the greater injury to the Americans, they wer. often assisted by Britit^h troojis to carry out their foul cruelties and barbiuities, and were always sheltered by the enemy when hotly pressed by the citizens. They banded together to carry out their nefarious designs. Skulking about at night in the woods and by-places, they wouki shoot down the inhablttiiits when they least supposed an enemy near. Their mode of warfare can only be compared with that of the Indians in the early history of the country. A few instances will show the refinement of blood- thirstiness which they had attained about the close of the war. Shubal Merritt, who.se family is now extinct, waa one of these. With one of his boon companions, he was once lurking about the village of Rye for the accomplishment of some hidden purpose. An aged man was plowing a field hard by their hiding-place, and as be diligently pursued his labors backward and GREENWICH. b7a forwiinl across the lot tlicv wwe wliiliiig away the time by playiiij; cards. Finally, Sliubal proposeil a. game to decide which shouhl shoot the victim. The result was against ^Imbal, who, as the old man ap- proached them slowly with his team, ileliberately raised his musket and shot him througl) the heart. After the war was over the munlirer sutlered h.is just deserts. A son of his victim met liim face to face at White Plains, and shot him dead upon the spot, and so great was the feeling of hatred to him on the part of the citizens that no notice was taken of the act.