History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

Kitty years .ago, Thfimas, Danitd, and Walter Hoyt, William Boutoii, and Stephen Wood, tiged residents fif Flax Hill, used to rehearse to the children of the neighliorhood their exploits with the red-coats and Tories of the Revolution. They having on one occa- sion received reliable information that the British and Tories had arranged to meet at midnight at a certain house lietwecn the I'ampaskeshank and Rooton Point to organize a raid to capture some of the jiatriots, the guard of Flax Hill tiinl Miildlesex rtiUicd and ]iro- ceetled to c:iiiture the woidd-be captors. They sur- rounded the house in which the Tories h.ad congre- gated. They watched for the enemy till morning without avail. When at a respectful distance to- wards their homes, the enemy emerged from their conceidment ami ran for their boats; but those left in charge of them, having become alarmed at the prcdonged absence of their comrades, rccrosseil the Sound, upon which the enemy fled into the ftjrest and the guard gave up the pursuit. On another oc- casion the guards started in the night to arrest several persoTis near the coast who were charged with the crime of jiiloting Tryon's raiding-jiarties through the ) country, but upon their ajiiiroaeh they fled, as usual, : and could not be found. ( )ne of the Tories whom the guard was \-cry desirous to ca])ture did not return to his family until the close of the war. He was reported as liaving tlcil to Canada. But very soon after the surrender of the British iirmy at Yorktown he re- turned to his family. A short time previous to tlu' Ijurning of Norwalk was heard in i[uick sneccssion the report of three muskets, the signal that the enemy were landing, which brought every patriot in the town to the coast. The affair, however, was but a ruse of the Tories for the purpose of seeing what would be the etfect upon the jieoplc, that Tryon might judge if it would be jiractictible to cope with the rebels when he was prepared to land his army. Finding that they had been deceived, they pursueil the Tories, and were about making them prisoners when they passed from view. Sunday morning, July 22, 1781, a company of I'.ritish troops landed on the west shore of the Pamjjaske- shank, and, with a few disati'ectcd persons, proceeded to the parish church of IMidillesex for the purimse of nuiking prisoners of the congregation. But those members most obno.xious to the troops and Tories being absent from the morning service, the enemy hid behind the fences until the afternoon services began, when they emerged from their concealment, environed the church, and doubly guarded the door with bayo- nets crossed to iirovent egress, over which, it is said, Dr. Marther Icapcil into the arms of the enemy. The 504 HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT. men were all taken out of the church and tied in couples, with their pastor at the licad of the column, and marched down to the coast and conveyed to Long Island, thence to New York, where tliey were con- fined in the old Provost prison for several weeks. As soon as the inforniatioh of tlie capture of Dr. Marther and his people was known, the inhabitants and the coast-guard rallied, and piu-sued and exchanged sev- eral shots with the enemy, some of whom were seen to fall. For several years after this transaction it was sup- posed that tlie enemy carried away their dead. Nor were they undeceived until about 1790. A party while in pursuit of game found a cave in the rocks in the southern part of the parish of Middlesex, the exploration of which satisfied them that it had been the hiding-place of the British and Tories in the Kevolution. The i>arty were surprised to find in it the remains of .several human beings, probably the skeletons of the enemy who were seen to fall when retreating from Middlesex church, whom their com- rades secreted until a favorable opportunity should offer for their removal to Long Island, but which the vigilance of the patriots prevented thorn from doing. So this cave became their sepulchre. Among the articles found by the explorers of the cave were an axe, a toot-horn, several heads of spears, parts of one or two old king's arms, pieces of iron hoop, and stones placeil for a fireplace beneath crevices in the rocks, through which the smoke escaped. Also were found large tiuantities of bones of fowls, cattle, sheep, and pigs. The Indians were not unfamiliar with the loca- tion of this cave, as many of the im|)lements used by them were discovered within and about it. The Revolutionary war was now near its end, leaving the |)eople in extreme poverty and in un))leasant re- lations towards those of their neighboi"s who had been the instruments of despoiling them of their hard earnings to enrich themselves and keep the British army from starving. There should, though, be some distinction made between the Tories and Oow-Boys who infested Norwalk in the Revolution. The for- mer usually were men of property, — substantial men. They were charged with the crime of giving " aid and comfort to the enemy" by disposing of the products of their farms for British gold. It was indeed a crime. The Cow-Boys were men of little or no means, — ad- venturers, thieves, — who raided through the country to plunder the inhabitants of their cattle, grain, and other products, which were taken to the country " butted on the sea," shipped in flat-boats, and towed by the enemy to Long Island. They were not only guilty of theft, but they were guilty of murder also. During and for several years after the Revolution there resided in the country " butted on the sea" persons who sympathized with the English. Tiiey were deeply imbued *ith the principles of a consti- tutional monarchy for the United Colonies, to be pre- sided over by some member of the royal household of King George. They were members of a secret so- ciety organized in the colony, the object of which was to establish a monarchy, not only for the United Colonies, but for all the British provinces of North America. Of this class of persons was the resident of rami)askeshank, who was a firm friend and patron of the Church of England, to which he gave of his means to extend the gospel into new settlements, and was one of the chief supporters of that church in Norwalk and a warm friend of Rev. Mr. Leaming, its pastor. He reasoned, " I have sworn allegiance to the King of England. That oath is as liimling upon my conscience as the vow to serve my Maker." The house in which he died was demolished twenty- five years ago, the chimney of which was suffered to remain standing for the purposes heretofore stated, a drawing of which was taken in 184.5 for Graham's Maf/azinc, and at the time excited a lively interest in the min<ls of those who were familiar with its history and its surroundings. The drawing exhibited its two fireplaces, the flues of which, it hiis been asserted, are united into one above the cross-sticks, leaving a jog or set-off, upon which two persons can stand unperceived, and that there was a trap-tloor leading to a recess in the cellar of ample dimensions to accommodate sev- eral persons, used as a hiding-place by the Tories and Cow-Boys in the Revolution. It is said that one Miles Capstie, who resided in this old house, whom the sheriff of the county wanted, evaded him for several months by concealment in the places de- .scribed. There is not the least trutli in these state- ments. An examination of the old chimney stamps the whole iis a creation of the imagination. Though the lone dweller of Pampaskeshauk was no friend of the patriots, yet it would perhaps be far from the truth to assert that he wiis not a good man in other respects. He contributed to sustain the cause of morality and the church, and w:is ever kind to the poor. He de- parted this life in 1-821, aged ninety, and his remains were buried in the northeast corner of his farm, near the road leading to Middlesex, over which the British marched when proceeding to capture Dr. Mathers and his people, in a locality selected by himself in vig- orous manhood. The i>lat of ground, triangular in shape, was a fit representative of his character, and its surroundings in harmony with its rough points. His grave is protected by ledges of rock in the midst of a forest of cedars, through wliich the winds sing a perpetual requiem over the remains of the departed. Tilt: XORWAl-K INDIANS. The Norwalk Indians, when selecting sites for set- tlement, invariably had an eye to the beautiful in nature. They sought for some promontory from which they might have an extended outlook over the surrounding country. On the southern exposure, near its base, contiguous to a bountiful supply of wood and water, ihey arranged their vill:iges. This gave them good drainage and protection from the NORWALK. 505 north winds, leaving the phiins beneath for cultiva- tion and burial-purposes. The form and extent of those villages maybe easily determined whenever the fields on whieh tiiey were situated are jdowed. J'y following the line and ex- tent of their shell-heaps south of and parallel witli the wigwams or streets, we arrive at their lengtli and may reckon the number of their houses upcju each line. Most all the villages of the M(diawks in this town were built U]ion straight and i)arallel lines, each line containing an even number of wigwams, excepting the first, on which ajijiears to have been an odd num- ber, which proliably was the residence nf the chief of j the tribe or the council-chamber in whieh they dis- ! cussed measures of war or peace. Though tlieir tondis ' were several yards south of their tenements, they showed a due regard for the line upon which they were established, and in almost ever)' instance they are found to have been parallel with the streets of their villages. '