History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

It may seem rather presuiiiptiious to speak of Bridgeport in connection with the Revolution, when, strictly speaking, one hundred years ago to-day there was no such place as Bridgeport in existence. This beautiful city, the third in the State in size, and, :is we believe, second to none in many respects tinit make it desirable as a dwelling-jdace, wtis thru not only unknown to fame, but the ground now occn|iicd by the busiest streets and most stately warehouses was cither overfiowed by the rising tide or was, at best, but a dcn.se morass; while CtoIiIcu Hill, now crounrd by so many spacious mansions, wtis only a craggy eminence surmounted by nothing more palatial than a few Indian wigwams. Fairfield and Stratford were indeed places of some imiiortance, especially the fiirnicr, wdiicli was ti business crnlrr. ami for more than a hundred years had been the county and court town; but Bridgeport was as yet represented only by Stratfield, a plantation upon the weslrm hordia- of our present townsliip, embracing sonn' om- Ininilicd and fifty houses and a ]iopiilalioii ol' pcihaps a thou- sand ]iersons. Let us for a fi'W moments dismiss the present from our thoughts, and try to c;dl up before us this settle- ment of Stratfield as it existed a hundred years ago. We find it rather :i ftirinino' eommunitv than a com- 78 HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT. pact village, iiml tin- houses arc somewhat widely scattered, tlioiigii most of them either front upon the old Boston stiiKc road, now known as North Avenue, or else extend along Park Avenue to a point far up the slopes of Toilsome Hill. The houses themselves were of that antiipie type of which a few specimens yet remain, — unpainted and covered with clapboards of riven oak, with sloping roofs descending nearly to the ground in the rear, and windows of diamond glass set in leaden frames and swinging upon hinges. Fre- quently the wpi)er story of the house overhung the lower, and in every case the only means for securing warmth and ventilation, especially the latter, was the immense fireplace in the great stone chimney, some- times twelve feet square, which occupied the centre of the building. As elsewhere tiiroughout the colony, the people of this vicinity were almost entirely of English descent. The occupation of the men was either agriculture or seafaring, for, with the exception of the miller, the blacksmith, and the tanner, — important personages in every new connnunity, — maiuifacturers and me- chanics were almost unknown, everything required for use being either produced on the homestead or brought 1)y exchange from foreign countries. Sheep- raising was a much more important branch of in- dustry than at present, and broad fields of flax waved upon every farm. The spinning-wheel and the loom were indispensable articles of furniture, and with these the women of each family produced all the clothing and linen needed for the household. Negro slavery was common. Almost every family of means held one or more slaves, who were in general kindly treated, and were sometimes members of the same church with their owners. Besides the churclies and the school-house, which have already been described, the only other public bnilding in Stratfield was the tavern kept by John Nichols, where, on week-days and in the evening, when the work of the day was done, the men used to assem- ble to talk politics or discuss the news of the day as obtained from some pa.ssing traveler, or read aloud from the columns of the Connecticut Journal and Pout-Boy, a weekly newspaper i)ublished in New Haven. This tavern may still be seen ou the western side of the ])arade-ground, not far from the cemetery. It is a building of antique -style, but in such good re- pair that it can hardly look a day older than when Washington was entertained within its walls; and if ])rescrve(l from lire and from the spirit of modern im- provement, it bids fair to withstand the storms of still another century. Political debate used sometimes to run liigh within its walls ; as, for instance, on a certain evening, when among the company present were Bev. Mr. Ross, pas- tor of tlie Congregatiimal church, and the village blacksmith, Nathan Bangs, whose two sons, Nathan and Heman, afterwards rose to such eminence in the Methodist denomination. Some doubts having been expressed as to whether the people of New England were prepared to make the sacrifices necessary to insure their country's independence, the ."turdy black- smith arose, and with flashing eye and a glowing coun- tenance proclainiecl that lor his part he would not only be willing to shed his blood, but to endure the ])ains of perdition eternally, if by such a sacrifice he could set America free. "It is a good thing to be zealous, Brother Bangs, but not loo zealous," re]>lied Parson Ross, who was perhaps a little scandalized at the vehemence of his parishioner; and, calling for his hat, the reverend gen- tleman took his departure. It should not be inferred from this incident that Mr. Ross was indifferent to the issue of the contest. On the contrary, he was a strong Whig, and throughout the Revolution, in his public services never failed to pray for the success of the cau.se of independence. A sermon of his, preached about the commencement of the war, and afterwards printed, from the text, " For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart," had reference to the painful state of uncer- tainty in wliich many found themselves in regard to their future political action, and endeavored to remove it. Stratfield possessed at this time one military com- pany, the Stratfield Train-Band, which for nearly eighty years before the Revolution used to drill on the village parade-ground, a tract of common, still uninclosed, a short distance east of Mountain Grove Cemetery. It was organized in the year 1()!>7, in obedience to the following order of the General Court : " OniiTP<1 by tills Court, tliiit tlic Bouldiors inlmliiting witliiii tlic Imuncls of Stratfi'nl un tliy west sido of Pcquuiiiiack Kivor, iind tlioeo iiilmbit- iiiK within tlie bounds of Fuirlit-ld Villujjo westward, be united togellier and exercised in one banil and iionipaiiy, and Lieu* .luhn Beernley to l>o ttieir Lieu', and Ensign Isaac W'lieeler to be tlieir Ensign, and to he coui- missiunatcd respcctivoly.'* Besides the Stratfield Train-Band, several other military companies and detachments were raised here during the Revolution. One of these was a company called the Householders, ma<le up entirely of elderly men and desigiu'd for home defense. It was organ- ized .Vug. !•'{, 177(i, with the following officers: Cap- tain, Hezekiah llubbcU; lieutenants, .Fames Hamil- ton and Stephen Burroughs ; clerk, Joseph Strong. It was not disbanded until the close of the war. Another company wius the guard of about twenty- five men stationed on Stephen Burroughs' wharf at the foot of State Street. At that time Burroughs' wharf was the only landing-place for shipping in this harbor below the present Berkshire Bridge. .\l)ove the site of this bridge the depth of water used to be much greater than at present, — so much so that ves- sels designed for the foreign tratle were built and launclied where now a skiff could scarcely tbiat. The design of this guard Wiis to break up contraband traffic with the enemy, to hinder the Tories of Newtown and vicinity from communicating freely with their breth- BRIDGEPOKT. 79 ren on Lniiir Ishiiid, ;nni to protect the place from sud- den attacks hv uuiraudinjj:-partios from over the 8onnd. Following is a copy of the petition for this guard, signed by tifty-seven patriotic individuals living near Newfield (now HritlgeportI Harbor. Fur convenience of reference the signatures are arranged al|ih:dirti- cally : PETITION FOR HARBOR GUARD. " Tlie memonal of the people livin;; near Newfield Harbor, in the township of Stratford, in Fairfield County humbly showeth : That New- field Harbor is distant from Stratford between three and four miles, and there are afew inhabitants settled near tlie water, and this harbor is loii- venient for and almost the whole navit^ation of the town is carried on from this harbor; and though there has been occasion enough given by our Tory enemies, yet no effectual measures have been taken to secure this harbor, although there has within a few months pastbeeu taken ami carried away out of this harbor in the night season nine vessels and boats by our Tory enemies from among ouiselves, who have gone off to the enemy. The last was a sloop of about twenty tons, taken off and carried away in the night to the enemy, aboift eight days ago, by forty-four Tories; and there is gieat reason to believe that Mr. Mat- thews. Mayor of New York, and several otiier prisoners have made their escape from this harbor in some of tiie boats and vessels that have been tJiken away, t^)gethcr witli our Toi'y enemies ; that there are so many pei-sous living but a little way from this harbor that are unfriendly to their country; that these enemies of their country always be secreted until a favorable night arrives for them to steal a vessel and go off; and there is no possible way to prevent further mischief of this kind but by a con- stant gnanl being kept at the harbor. Unless this is done we have reason to believe tliat what has been ilone by the Tories is but the beginning of the mischiefs that are to be apprehended from these deserters of their country's cause. The friemls of the deserters will sometimes threaten that those who have gone off in tliis way will soon return in L-ircum- stauces to make themselves respected and feared, and that it will not be long before new laws will be established here that will prevent people being oppressed, etc.