History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

M. B. Perry has never taken jiart in public politics. Indeed, it can be said of both that they are disposed rather to quietly look after their own atfairs than those of their neighbors or the general public. In politics both gentlemen are Re|iublican3. The children of Samuel L. Perry were Anna Maria, Charlotte, and Garry. Dr. John Tomlinson married Anna Maria, by whom he had one child, Samuel Perry; and upon her death married Charlotte, by whom he had two children, John B. and Anna Maria. MONEOE. 427 iite<l effii'iently to the e^tablishniont of an important branch iif American niannfactures." His lite was essentially a honie-lif'c. To know jiini as he was it was essential to enter tlnit circle. He was a devonrcr of hooks, mostly scientitic; hut there were few subjects that eseapeil his tliouj^htful i)ivesti- gation. A jierseveraiicc that wnulil not turn aside from its object, that woulil not he batllcil or thwarted, that come what would his |iur|iose must he ai'complished, was his most characteristic trait. Hittidence haulked his public utterance, l)Ut those who have read his wonderfully clear and readily understood descriptions of eomidieated nuichinery know how thoroughly lie was master of this aecompli.shment. While a resi<lent of F.irmingliam, Dr. Howe hchi many ofliees of trust, and interested himsell in all new business undertakings. Ks])ecially was he inter- ested in that great enterprise wdiieh resulted in the damming of the Ousatonie River, and contributed by his nn:)ral ami nmterial aid largely to its success. In the war for the preservation of the Union he was responsive to every call, and contributed lifteen hundred didhirs to the families of soldiers who were at the front. During the latter years of his life he alternated be- tween his hooks and his tiuits; in the cultivation of the latter, and in the ]uopagatioM of new sjiecies, he found genuine [ilca~ure, leaving as a legacy more than fifty new kinds of ]iears. He died in his garden, under the branches of a favorite peach-tree, his basket partly filled with sjiecimens of fruits intended for ex- hibition at the Internatiomil ICxjiosition at Pliiladel- phia. Thus peacefully and alone he passed away, in the place where he had spent so many hapjiy hours. It was on a beautiful Sunday morning in Septendier. Life rounded and full was ripe tor the gathering along with his fruits. It is good to contemplate such a life, warm in its friendshij)s. faithful in its relations, clear in its con- victions, unbending in its integrity, winning tlie es- teem of the wise and the approbation of the good. Dr. Howe's descendants at the time of liis death were two grandsons and two granddaughters, the children of his only (laughter, Mrs. William E. Downes. CHAPTER XL I. MONROE. Geograpliical — Topograpliical— Stn-anis— Suiface — S^n\ — Rdiiiliiscelifos of Monroe, by Rev. T. T. WatiTnian— Kavly Settlers— Tlioir Loratiolis —Incidents— Piililic and Seleet Sehools— Initial p^vcnLs- St. Peter's Church— Mineral Ileposit— Civil History— Organizatiun of Town- First Town-^reelitig— Oftieers Elected — Representatives to the General Assembly from IS24 to l«8t. This town lies in the eastern part of the cininty, and is bounded as follows : On the north by Newtown and the Housatonic River; on the east by the Housa- tonic and the town of Huntington; on the south by Huntington and Trumbull; and <in the west by Easton and Newtown. The surliiee of the town iii generally uneven, and in some portions exceedingly rough. The soil is good and well adaptcil to grazing. KEMINISCENCES OF ONE IIUNHRED VE.\R.s IN MONllOE.^ The following excellent address is not taken entire. Some extracts not strictly historical have been elim- inated : " The flight of time, bearing with it all we have of possession, friend- ship, and life, is full of instruction. The p.a*t is the present as it was and is. It is all stern reality. In this sense, in tlie words nf Solomon, that whii li hath been now is. " To-ilay, :ui a church and congregation, we record the passing awjiy of :;,l.j:l,Li(K),(XMt secomls, 51,oGO,l«.iO minutes, S7*l,oou hours, 3r,,oix) days, or one hundred years of our religious history. This histoiy commenced iu the organization of this church, Dec. 14, 17(>4. Of the order of e.vercisea on that occii.siun, the place in which the persons by whom those exer- cises were conducted, the sentiments uttered, the emotions expressed, the portions of Scripture read, the hymns sung, the prayers offered, the sermon preached, we have no record. Tradition is silent. To my knowl- edge no one lives to tell us of that day and that scene. "Were it otherwise we might give reality to the enactments of that interesting hour by a sketch of tlio men, women, youth, and children who then entered into solemn covenant with each other and with the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Gathered amid joy and tears, anxieties ■and misgivings, and yet with buoyant and blessed hope to plant, on this then wilderness hill-top, a branch of the true vine, which to-day is and to-morrow ami still to-niorrow we trust will be, all who on that day wept and rejoiced around tliis then new altar of the Lord, this then new <ominunion-table, have mouldered back to dust. Unknown to ua by name, in their works they live, and by all that is dear in the past and grateful in the present of our existence ;us a churcli, they with the em- jiliasis of ' a hundred years ago' greet us in love to-day. " We remember their deeds of Christian heroism and love, and, bid- ding them ' All hail !' we render thanks unto God and bless His holy name. " In atlemptiug to signalize the hallowed associations of this hour, I shall notii-e some particulars connected with the earlyhistory of our State and county, and some as identified with individuals and incidents in our advance as a church and congregation. " The settlement of our State commenced in 1G35, or two hundred and twenty-nine years ago; that of Stratford, — which then embraced Newficdd (now Bridgeport), North Stratforil (now Trumbull), New Strat- ford (now Monroe), and Ripton (now Huntington), — in 163(1. " The Indians were numerous at that date in this section. Their luimber in the .State was computed to bo twenty thousand. Of these some four thousand were trained warriors ; three hundred of this class were in the limits of Huntington. Some of these were friendly and greatly aiiled the first settlers by teaching them the mode of cultivating c'lrn and of securing other means of subsistence. Others, not a few of them, were intensely hostile, and against them and their depredations the settlers had constantly to watch and in stern b.attle array to fight. , A yell of an Indian at morning, noon, or midnight Wiw a doleful sound i in the ears of fathci-s and motleus and neighboi-s, e.xposed and wholly unprotectetl as they were, of all tlii.s wo in our quietude have no just conception. " The Inrlians prepared the ground for corn with the clam-shell or a small piece of wood sharpened for tlie purpose, and cultivated it with the same implements. They leveled laige forest-trees such as they w ishc-d for their canoes, some of which accommodated forty or fifty ineu, by fire and their stone axes. " In 103it it is stated there were not more than five plows in tliisState. The price of a cow was one hundred and fifty dollars, of a pair of oxeu tw»t hunilred dollars, and at one season that of corn was three dollars per bustiel. "In H;.'i7 Uie snow lay from the 4th of November until the 23d of * By T. T. Waterman. Delivered on Dec. 14, 1864, at the centennial celebriition of the organizatitui of the Congregational Church, Doc. 14, 17G4. 428 IIISTOIIY OF lA in FIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT. March, and was ut times throo or four foot deep. TIio whole inlaud of our State was a perfect wildoriices, — no roads, nu dwolUngs, no cultivated grounds. Wolves, bt-ars, foxes, deer, moose, wild turkeys and fowl of various descripttous, an<I Indians were tlio tenants. Aside from tht>se, all wm solitude, silcnre, and gloom. Thus, too, was it for nearly one hundred yeiira from li'^JO. '■ In the year ITl.'i thirty-eight towns liad been incorporated. Nino of these were in Fairfield County,— Stratford, Fairfield, Greenwich, Stam- ford, Norwalk, Woodbnry, Banbury, Newtown, Kidgetield. The popn- lation of the State wna then sevonteen thousand; one regiment of militia in each county, four regiments in the State. IJut one cloth-mill in the State, and all its operator conld do was to full the cloth, which waa worn unshorn an<l impressed. "The lii-8t i)riuter in the State was Thomas Short, 1709. Ho settled in New London, in 171ii printed the Say-Brooke Platform, and soon died. The next printer wa** Tiniuthy Green, of Cambridge, JIiiws,, and son uf Samuel Green, the fii-st printer in North America. Ho 8etth;d in Now London, 1714. " During this period, near 10-17, the use of tobacco was nnfortnnately introduced, and to prevent, if possible, its disgusting prevalence, no per- son under the age of twenty years was permitted to use it, unle^ under medical treatnunit. All persons over twenty years of age wore prohibited * using it in company, or when traveling with others, and but once a day. Had this wisely -tlesigned proscription of this noxious weed prevailed, the henltli, niannei>, and thrift of thousands would have been greatly pro- moted, the worse tiian useless expenditure of millions of dullarn, and the melancholy fact that the cultivation of corn and substantial vegeta- ble crojw is being supplanted by this impudent and rampant twenty-four- inch loafed and vile worm-bearing narcj^tic, and this on our bejut soil, would have been prevented. Hut then, as now, fleslily apj)etite proved itself a mighty spoiler of man's dignity, rctinenient, and peace. Not a few then, as now, could let decency and tlirift and money go to nnike their tobacco-jpiids and their i)uffing sure! It was thought strange in 1>>17, and if possible is more strange in 1804, that an intelligent nuiii could consent, by chewing It, to make a sink of liL'* stomach, a sink- drain of his throat, and a sink-spont of )iis mouth, or by smoking it a fireplace of liia mouth, a chimney of his nose, and a smoke-house of bis brain!