History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

" H'Arn-iM, Robert Thom|)8f>n. of New Town, in the State of Conne*-tl- cut, was, on the 21 day of .\pril, -\n. Ptjm. 1777, iKjfure a General C4tiirt- Mortial, holden at Panbur}', whereof (.^donel Charles Webb was PreiJ- dent, accus'd of Spying. out the State of tlic Army A Country* with Intent to give Intelligence thereof to the Knemy A of entlsing Sunilry I'enMitis, Inhabitants, A Dwellers in Connecticult, into tlio Knemy's Serriro, of which crimes Sundry* PnK^fs were exhibited A Pi\Mhu-e<l iK'forc Said Court, and the Said Thi>m|K*on fully hoanl In his Defence: and Said C^>urt, u|ion Consideration therettf gave Sentence that Said ThomiMoo NEWTOWN. 461 was guilty of a bieach of the 19 article of the 13 Section of the Uules & Regulations I'f tiie Army, * also of a Kejiulatiou of Congress of the lil of August, 1776, ami that he Suffer Heath, wlii.li S.ritciicc i^ approvetl, and Kxecution thereof remains to ho (loin-. "These are, therefore, to require A- onler you, the said Samuel lti«-li- artls, to cause the Said Sentence to he exciiitc'l hy hanging tlie Said Thonil.sou hy the Neck, in New Town aforesaid, on the Xinth day of ,Tuuc. Inst., hetween the Ilonrj. of Eight in the nioniing ,V; Si\ in the Afternoon; for «*hicli this Shall he your Siilficient Warrant. "Uiven under toy Hand .V Seal in New Haven, the Si.\tli Hay of .Inne 1777. "Sam. II. r.iRS(iNS, " Xrvvrow.N, June '.I, 1777. "In obedience to the uithin warrant. 1 did, on this day, heing the 0 day of June, 1777, direct a Seigeant of the detachment under my com- niaud to draw out twelve scddiers of the detachment, and with their as- sistance perform the execution of the within-named Koheit 'fhompson, which execution I saw liuly performed on said day ; and on the applica- tion of his friends I consented to have th.-m t.ikc down the h.i.ly for in- lenueut at their discretion. " Saml F.L Krcii.vliDs." OLD .-iTTOIiXEY.^. Among tlio prdiiiiiifiit hiwyvrs wliei wcrf citlRT born or practicfil their profo.'<si(iu in Xewtowii, Wiis William Etlmonds. He servt^d in tlie Rfvolutioiiarv war, and was wounded at the li.-ittle of llidfrefield and lay on the field over iiiolit. lie afterwtirds became judge of the Superinr ( 'mirl. Among others who have praetii'ed here were Asa Chapman,* Samuel ('. lilaekniiin, Col. Timothy She]i- herd (who was in tlie war of 1S12|, IVnjamin F. Shel- ton, D. R. Heers, Isaae M. Sturges, Henry Dutton, Charles Cha]iman, Frederiek D. Mills, Amos .<. Treat, F. B. Swift, and James A. Wilson, t The flither of Gen. "William T. Sherman tilso studied law here, in the olliee uf .Judge ,Vsa Cha])- man ; so also did ex-Governors Clark Bissell, Hol- hniok Curtis, and .[. B. Thorntdii. PHYSICIANS. The first disciple (if ^Eseulapiiis in Newtown was ■ Dr. Gideon Shephenl. He was followed by Bennet Perry, Oliver Bancroft, .Icdin .ludson, Thomas L). Shepherd, C. H. Bodth, Hr. Slieltoii, Dr. Skidmore, George Judson, Krastus Erwin. Tlmiiias Duttnii. and Graves. Dr. Thoniiis Chambers was an early physician lieri\ and was known as the "stick" doctor. The present iihysicians are Monroe Judsoii, F. N. Bennett, William E. Bronsoii, (.'elest A. Benedict, William C. Wile, ;ind ( iecjrge T. lirown. MERCIIAXT.s. The first merchant in Newtown was David Curtis, who kept a store on the site n{' i\\r present store of Sanford & HawJey. The old building is .standing, aiid oeeu|)ied l)y the JJcf office and a tin-shop. He was succeeded in the same buibling by Elijah Nichols & Son, who remained a number of years, when it passed into the hands of Nichols i^: I'rince. This tirm was succeeded by .Tosepli Nichols, son of Elijah. .Toseph finally sold to Baldwin i<: Beers, and removed to New York! This firm continued nearly half a century, when they were succeeded by Henry Sanfiird, whi> carried on the liusiness fifteen years, when he associated with him Eli C. Barnum. This i)artnership continued about six years. This firm was succeeded by Sanford & Hawley, the present firm. Mr. Henry Saniiird is a veteran in the mercantile business in the town, having conducted its business on this site over forty-three yetirs. Ezra 3[organ, fiither of D. N. Morgan, the present (b'^.SO) mtiytir of Bridgcpcu't, was a merchant in this town for over forty years, ;ind did niiu'li to advance the material interests of the town and <'ounty. ADVERTISEMENT OF 17»2. 'J'he llinnwing advertisement ap]iearc(l in the Far- iiii'iv Jdiiniiil. published at Danbury, under date Dee. 22, 17!»2 : Bell-Foundery, .Smitiieky, Jewellery, &c. ■ nPHE Subfcribcr refpectfidly informs the public, that he carries on, -*- at his fhop at the head of the ftreet in Newtown, the GOLD- SMITH'S bnfniefs in all its branches: Cafts Bells for "Churches. — Makes and repairs Surveyor's Inftruments, — Church Clocks, and Clocks and Watches of all kinds — where orders will be punctually alLeiided. and all favors gratefully acknowledged, by the public's humble fervant, ZIBA BLAKSLEE. Newtown, March 27, J792. 10 * See chapter on the bar. t Still in practice at Sandy Hook. VILLAliE.S. The village of Newtown is j)le;isantly located on ail cle\ated ridge a little north id' the centre of the town, ami is an iminjrtant station for the Housatonic Rail- road. Tlic main street, uptjii whicli is located the business of the village, is one of the finest in this sec- tion. It contains two churches, Ei)iscopal and Con- gregational, and an academy. Siinilij llodl: is ;i manufacturing hamlet located on the I'ohttitnck Brocjk, a fine mill-stream which furnishes an abundance of water-iiower. Here are locateil the New York ISelting ;ind Ptieking Works, besides other industries. HiiirliiiriHr is a small hamlet tind a station on the Housatonic Railroad, located in the northwestern part of llic town. Cold Spring is ;t post-odice in the sontheni ]iart of the town. fii Baiber's "History," pnlilished in 1S:!,S, he savs, "The borough of Newton is situated on the southern termination of a ridge of elevtited land. ,\fter as- cending tiie ridge from the south there is a broad tmd level street about eighty rods in extent. The bor- ougli is mo.stly built on this street; there are about fiirty or fifty dwelling-houses, three churches, — one 462 IIISTOlir OF FAIItl'liaD COUNTY, CONNECTICTT. Congregational, one Episcopal, and one Methodist, — and four mercantile stores." Of 8an(ly Hook he writes, "The flourishing village of Sandy Hook is situated about one and a half miles northeast of the eentrc part of Newtown, at the foot of a rocky eminence, a bluff, from the top of which is a fine prospect of the surrounding country. A fine mill-stream (the Pohlatuck) runs in a northerly course through the village at the base of the bluff, which rises almost perpendicularly to the height of one hundred and si.xty feet. Near Mr. Sanford's cot- ton-factory, at the northern extremity of the village, some traces of coal have been discovered. The vil- lage contained, in 1834, one cotton, one hat, one comb, and two woolen-factories. There was also one ma- chine-shop and one establishment for nuiking brass. The village contained about fifty families in 1834; it is at the present time rapidly increa.sing." CflURCIIES®- CHAPTER XL VII. NEWTOWN (Continuedi. LODGES— SCHOOLS— CIVIL AND MfLI TARY HISTOllY, Etc. The CongregationnI Church — Trinity Chiireh — The Methodist Episco- pal Church, Sandy Hook — Otlier Cliun:lies— Granite Lodge, I. O. G. T. — Alpha Juvenile Temple — Olive Brauch Temple — Myrtle Temple — Schools — The Newtown Savings Bank — The Newtown Bee — The Chronicle — Slanufacturca — Railroads — Civil History — Militar>' — Rep- resentatives— Selectmen. The following is an abstract from the address de- livered at the centennial of the Congregational church : " What has the past to tell us of the history of our world from the Ijcginning up to the year 1700, when the authentic hi.story of this town and church (as preserved in the documents and records) begins? I say from the beginning, for I propose to begin at the beginning, as every historian should. Wc need not wait long for an answer to this <]uestion. The oldest and the best history of this town, and all towns and all parts of our world— written by inspiration — replies, 'In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was without form, and void.' The elements which compose the soil of this conti- nent and of this town, then, were bnmght into existence by the creative act of God, and for a time — a long time (we know not how long) — were form- less, confused, and unfa.shioned. But He who created ■was not idle, and in the successive periods of creation, 80 vividly and beautifully described in the first chapter of Genesis, Ue separated earth from water and light from darkness. " Ue gathered the waters together into yonder seius and lakes and rivers, and depressed the land into these * A large portion of tbo church hjstoxy wu ooDtributod by Ber. J. P. Bojt. valleysor uplifted it into these hills; and when, finally, the firm world stood forth with its rocky skeleton, He covered it (in the course of ages) with the soft soil, and then clothed this huge body with the verdure of trees and shrubs and gra.ss, each having its seed within itself. Finally, he placed on a selected portion of the earth man, created-in His own image, and made him lord and poss&ssor of all. When God saw what He had made He pronounced it very good. I believe this town wii-s iiicliuled in the survey, for these hills then rose toward heaven as now; the same streams flowed through these valleys, and these places now so familiar to us were then fully prepared for our habi- tation. The dust beneath our feet is as old as the world ; the rocks in our glens, the bowlders upon our meadows, yonder lake, hollowed out from the midst of the surrounding hills and filled with the water of heaven, this air, this sky, the stars which will look down upon us to-night, all are as they were in the be- ginning, or rather at the end of the beginning, when God looked upon the rolling earth and pronounced it finished." PURCHASE AND SETTLEMENT OF NEWTOWN.