History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

"In 1040 such were the disappointments and sad forebodings of the set- tlors at New Haven that they fonned a iiurixjso to leave the country. They had invitations to Ireland and to Jamaica, in the West Indies, and actually, it is said, entereil into treaties for the city of Galloway as a I>lace of settlement. Tliey were providentially prevented fn-m execut- ing tlieir designs, and in 1804 what spot more attractive and beautiful and far famed than that tlion sad and gloomy and about to be forsaken New Haven? " At this time the settlements were almost exclusively on the line of the sea-shore. All was labor, sacrifice, exjtosure, watchfulness, and war- fare. Every man must be drilled as a soldier, — a soldier when ho stood in Ilia door ; a soldier when ho sat at his meals; a soldier when he wont to his corn-field ; a soldier when he entered the place of worship ; a soldier by day and by night. Those were tiays of unconceived peril and en- durance, und thus for some one hundred and fifty years in our State. Incidents surj^assing fiction, and acts of hen^ism by man and woman and child, characterize those eventful days. What was then attempted and accomplished for the sjikc of liberty' and ti-uth, home and country, end in preparing this our Wautiful heritage for us antl our cliildron and childron's children, is replete with instruction and counsel. All this may be forgotten by us and be unknown to our descendants, but ft will all live In our history and In the tM>ok of Go<rs acconnt. "For holy faith, triumphant zeal, and beneficent design the record Btands unsurpassed in the nnnals of man. If through party prtyudice, sectarian zeal, or any other infiuenco any jiersons chix>so to l>e ignorant, so let them be ; or If any cho^tse to know only to prevent, divide, it nioy be denounce, so to let them ilo. May God enable ns and ouni to know and rovero His name in these wonderful darings and doings of our fathers in this State from 1G:tr> to 1776. " In the nddst of all this endurance and borolsm on the soa-eliore, bunting and exploring expeditions into the Interior were not Infre- quent. The hills alNiiit us. as Ilagburn ami Barn and Blom'e, attracted early notice, ond wore favurito splits, being at an early dale partially cultivated and settled. In \1'*5, as tradition affirms, Mr. Samuel Lewis, with his family, moved from Stratfonl and settled on this tlion forest- -COTcred and wild bnt beantfAil hill ; his residence was north and west of the green, on the street running north. Mr. Frederick Lewis, the father of 31r. Hcuo' Lewis, was then two yoars old. He died in 1825. " The mother of Mr. Henry Lewis was Uio widow of Uio sou of Deacon Henry Hawley, one of the first deacons of this church. The family name of Mith. Lewis was Scott ; she was a member of this church. "Tlio landed estate of this early and enterprising settler, Mr. Sannn-l Lewis, or portions of it, are now in the |>osses4fion of the respc*ted roprt- sentative of the third generation of this family, who is present toHJuy. Mr. Siiuiuel Lewis gave distinctive proof of his interest in this church and society byjiresentingtlie Kev. Mr. Itexfonl a lot of ground, on which he erected the tenement which is standing, a memorial of the first pastor of this church. "Capt. and Deacon Henry Hawley, as wo infer, was from Stratford, and a direct descendant, if not sun, of 3Ir. Samuel Hawley, one of tlo' prominent first settlers of Stratford. The tra<litionary record of Deacon Hawley is highly commendatory. He was intelligent, industrious, patri- otic in the colonial son'icc, evangelical and consistent in his Christian profession. He resided nejir Mr. Samuel Lewis, north and west of tli' green; the niinsof hi."* homestead still speak the place. He probab!'. settled hero as early as 1756, and was, we supiwse, at the organization ■ i the church, and then or soon after apiMunted its deacon. By name he i- identified with a family of many infiuential branches, and which, in it- public and piivato relations, has been and is known and felt throughout this county. I cannot say that any of his Immediate descendants renniin in this town. The name frequently occurs in our list of members from the commencement to the present time. " Gideon Hawley an<l Elias Hawley were early and prominent setthr- in the more western portion of the town. Their inllTienco was felt ii- members of this society and church; they lived to bo aged. Gen. Kli Hawley, who years past has done this society valuable service, and whv is now eighty-seven years of age, is of this branch of the family. "The wife of Deacon Henry Hawley — Kuth, I believe — was sister of Deacon John Judson, and, in the language of tradition, was mighty prim,— that is, as I take it, a smart, bright-eyed, neat, precise, well-to-do lady, one who in woi-d and deed causcnl her influence to be felt, if not feared. She was, I infer, a good wife fur a deacon, as she certainly was the wife of a good deacon. "The family of Deacon Judson, wo suppose, was among the earlier settlers. Ho lived on Kim Street, nearly op[>osite the residence of Mr. Hiram Beardslee. He is sjUd to have Ikhmi wealthy, a large luudholdi r. and, us the phnise is, ' no fool.' As wo infer from tradition, ho was a nntti of strong common sense and firm adherence to right, just, and equal law. He wasa justice of tlie peace or judge, and, as ho wore his leathern upnn in court mther than silk and French broadcloth and a wig, was calletl tb' ' lioatliern-apron judge.' " It is re|Mirted that some guilty of witchery wore arraigned befoi him for various misdemeanors. As ho was too honest to be bril>ed unl too bold to bo frightened by invisible things or by dead men, he prove"! himself too much for Beelzebub strategy, wizard legenlemain, and pn'- hme hobgoblinisro. As the roconl is, he put the criminals ond witchi - through by law. Ho lived to bo somo eighty years of ago, and was im infiuential and early deacon in this church. His descendants still oxi-t in Now Y*>rk, — none of them, I believe, in this town. " It is given as an illustration of the infiuenco of his decisions agaiuf i the impudent claims of Bi)irit mtHlium^ ami tiealers with the unwen world, fortune-tellers, midnight wonder-tloers, apparitions, voices, glioct*. and the like hanim-scanims, that among the inhabitants of this to^^n there is little cre<lit given to the«e absunl and c<uisummately sill> nen-a ainimtoron wl/xat\la uupouados quas tuno deail man and womana ono ]>uoluveiUi delusions. " In one instance a young lady of ono of the famlllos wo notice to-^loy was t*)ld, as a means of deterring her from a discharge of her duty, frightening her Into the faith, in going atone to a certain place in tin- evening that she would meet a nnui witii his head cut ofT coming towarl- her. * Ah, indeed !' said this Judge Juds«m heridnc ; ' 1 should Ik? mu' h more altu-med if I should meet a man with his head on !' That is noble womanhtsMi 1 It is men with their heads on tluit we all, oe]>ecially young women, have reason to fear. " Capt. Joseph Moore, whoso residence was on tlio northeast corner of the green, on o lot now owneil by Deacon N. Wheeler, has a reputation among the flrnt settlers in this centre. Ho was a man of p<-cniii»n means, and. In the language of the day, ' head of the hi'ap.' He in sail to have iK'cn verj' clever when ho was pleased and had his i^wii way. lb- was a shrewd and coudcal genius. He at least had influence and goii- ortMilly. " The original meeting-house, tt seems, was at first located by a oom- mttteo apjHilnteil for the purpose to Imj one-half mile west of this, near Mrs. Williiun Buacher's ruaidonco. Capt, Moore and others were disMtl^ fled, ami procured the ap|*ointnicnt of luiother committee, who located It on this hill. Capt. Mooro donated tho land for its site, and ab» for oar i :moxr()E. 429 present comninii or green. Tlin'ugh llioiiglitlessness ur to save labor | tli^' heautifiil turf ami tiiangular form of this rommoii hns at tiinos. ami for liig)i\vay purposes, lieon disfi^ired in a nianuer wliii-h we believe, cituM (.'apt. Monro he present ami witnes-* the same, woubl call fortli fmni , him emphatic words and gestures. Happy is it for some who thus err in working out their highway tax that tlie doctrine uf spiiit mciliums is false; otlierwise the spiiiti'f tho old and t>t)'iu gi-nth'man to their sorrow might bo after them. ! "A daughter nf ('apt. Jloore traditi(»n signalizes as a noted belle, in i pei-soual charms, attainments, and general attractiveness surpassing all other female youth in tliis st-ctinn. She marrird the Rev. Mr. Mon- son, a brother of BIrs. Kexford, « ho was pastitr itf a cliureh in Lenox, I Blass., and afterwards reniovcd to this i>lace, and here tiled. fAmnections ' of this family still resiilo in this jilaee, and are membr-i's I'f the church, j !Mr. Slonson, of New York, son of this lady, gave fifty didlars tiwards the erection of this house of wui-ship. i "Capt. Moore was appointed t* superintend the building nf thi> meeting- I house, which was raised on the 21st and '2'2d days of June, ITiiO, sonm I five years after the organization of the church. It occupied ground a j few feet in advance of this editice, encroaching ujHin the green. The ; house, tradition states, was some seventeen years in the process of com- | pletion. This delay was tlu- result, no doubt, of the dit^icnlty of procuiing 1 materials, and specially of securing lalmrers, as the young men (many if not most of them) wore in the ranks fighting the battles of our freedom. ' " Cajit. Moore, being a white-oak aiitl pei-severitig kind of man, liebl i it on its course, and in HSii, as wo juilge, it was conipleteil and dedi- I cated. The last religious service held within its walls was on June i:i, i 1847. This house, which happily succeeded it, was raisetl July 20, 1H47, and was deilicateil Dec. 15, 1.S47, seventeen yoai*s ago to-morrow.