History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

dark times at Valley Torge to the peace of 1783, when he wan honorably discharged." ■'Asa BoixJamin. Pled Aug. 17, ma, in the 70th year of litB age. A aoldler of tlie American Revolution." " J&mea Wakolee. .\ Revolutionary penxloner. Seri"oil 7 yean) and G nioB. for the Ittiorty of hl« country. Died June 3, 1829, lel. 74." " In memory of Benjamin Muinton Woolooy,* who died on the 17th day of January, 1813, aged 55 yra. and 11 m06." " Dr. Junies Eaton Beach. Born in Cheshire, Ct., a.d. 1702. Died Feb. 21, 183s, ret. 76. In his youth he took an active part in the RevoluUonnry content. A friend to education, and for more than :10 yeara Deacon in the 1st Congregational Cliureli." (From the old SlralHeU Cenieleri/, on North Aretiae.) " In memory of Mr. Edward Hurroughs, who departed this life Sept, 14, 177G, in the 42d year of his age. Glory with all her lamps shall burn And watch the warrior's Bleeping clay. Rest his dear sword beneath his head: Round him his faithful arms shall stand The guards and honours of our land." " M^jor Aaron Ilawley in his turn received the shaft of death .July 2l8t. 1803, in the fi;ld year of his age, and was here dejwsited in hopes of a glorious resurrection. Man wants but little, nor that little long: How soon must ho resign his very dust. Which frugal nature lent him for an hour!" ANECDOTES OF GENERAL WASHINGTON. Reference has already been made to the fact that Geu. Washington several times jiassed through Strat- field by the old stage road, now North Avenue. One of these occasions was in 1775, when on his way to Boston after having been appointed commander-in- chief of the American army. Rev. Dr. Ripley, pastor of the Congregational Church in Green's Farms, mounted his horse and joined the cavalcade. "They stojijied at Bulkley's Inn, in Fairfield, and I think dined there. After ])a.«sing from the hou.se, and while standing in front of it, waiting for their horses, Wash- ington, continuing his conversation on public affairs, pa.ssed his finger through the button-hole of the doc- tor's coat, and said that if the Americans could pro- long the contest for one year they woubl ultinuitdy succeed, because by that time arms and ammunition could be obtained and they would be invincible. Dr. Ripley was a man of commanding presence, — of tall, athletic, and dignified frame. His fine countenance beamed with intelligence and kindness, ami yet there was something in his look which gave a.ssurance of unyielding firmness. I think it would be difiicult to find two men who would be a finer subject for a painter than those two patriots communing together under such intertrsting circumstances. The doctor accompanied Crcii. Washington to Stratford Ferry. "t It may have been upon this occasion, as has been said, that Washington, accompanied by Maj.-(ien. Lee, Major Thomas MifHin, and Sanuiel Griffin, aides- de-camp, halted at Nichols' tavern, in Stratfield, for refreshment, occupying the southeast corner room as their parlor. Aiiotlier version of the incident, per- haps the correct one, is that Washington stopped in Stratfield in March, 17S1, when on hjs way to meet Count Rochambeau at Xewjiort. * A rojallit ofllcA see pagoa 82 and r t Sproguc's Antmls of American Pulpit. BRIDGEPORT. So Still anotlicr interesting anecdote connected with Washington's j)rogress through this ]iart of the country used to he related hy a daughter of Ueorge Benjamin, Mrs. Alice Thompson, of Stratford, who died in May, lsiI2, aged nearly ninety-eight years. She was eleven years of age in 177-'i, and nniy have heen about thirteen or fourteen when she saw Washington. On that occasion she with other girls was ]iieking berries on the banks of the Housatonic, near the ferry, when su<ldenly a cry was heard that suldiers were crossing the river, and presently an officer witli a nund)er of others landed and asked the ferryman to direct them to the tavern. He replied, " Yonder is the tavern-keejier's daughter," and, calling Alice, bade her show Gen. Lafayette the way to her father's house. She walked beside his Imrse im their way to the village, Lafayette talking to her in liis charming broken English, telling her of his children, and ask- ing her if she would not like to gn tn france with liim to see them, t Mi riaehing home she f.iuiid that (ten. Washington had arrived by the western road. Her mother, thus unexpectedly called upon to pro- vide dinner for two such distinguished guests, would have apologized for her fare, but was reassured by Washington, who t(ild her that all he wanted was simjile food, and that what was gudd enougli for her family was good enough for him. Mrs. Benjamin hap])ened to have some jiotatoes, — then a great rarity, — and Alice obtained leave to place them upon the talile. In doing this she stepped between Washing- ton and Lafayette, when the former, j)lacing his hand on her head and turning her face towards him, asked her name, and after some other questions told her to be a good girl and gave her his blessing. It may easily be believed that she never forgot the circum- stance. On a tour made by Pre.sident Washington through New England after the war, in October, 17.Sy, he is .said to have halteil and asked for a drink from the well of the old Seeley house, which is still standing on Xorth Avenue, a short distance from Island Brook Bridge. At that time Capt. Alison Benjamin was living in West Stratford, in a house which may still be seen, about half-way down the western slope of Old Mill Hill. This Capt. Benjamin built a sloop of forty-five tons burthen, called the "Hunter, of Berk- shire," in a field south of the road, just ojiposite his own door, although no water was in sight. It was nearly comjdeted when Washington passed, and, sur- prised at the sight, he alighted, went over to the place, and questioned the workmen as to how they expected to get the vessel to the water. In re]ily they told him that strong ways were to be built beneath the craft to .serve as a .sled, upon which, when winter came, it could glide down hill to the creek (a branch of Yellow Mill stream, fully a quarter of a mile away), and with the spring it would settle through the ice into the water, — a plan which was subsequently carried into effect. CHAPTER X. BRIDGEPORT Coutinuedi. Nowficld Stjjri-s iu ITfiO — NewfieUl Yerry diartered, ami Main ami State Streets wideueU, 17S7 — Act establishing Lottery Bridge, 1791 — Stratf.ird Aveiiiio laid out, and tlie first Newspaper establisbe<l in 17'.to— Cini.tus -\dvertisenients from the Ajnerkan Tdegraphe — Tragical Fate of Wilson Hid>l)ell— Incorporation of the Borough of Bridgeport, Isoo— (^lJly of the Petition and List of Signatures — St. Jttlin's and the Congregational Churches removed to Bridgeport — Founding of the first Methotlist Church in New England — The Bridgepon Bankincorjiorated — Pe>crjp- tion of the Borough in 1810— Incidents of the War of 1.S12— Recei>tion of Oen. Lafayette — The Town of Bridgeport set olf, 1S21, and the City incor[)orated. May, 1S3G. Zachahiah Lacf.y, a Kevolutionary veteran and grandfather of Mr. R. B. Lai-i'y. used to sav that lie well remembered the time in his bnyhooil when there was not a single dwelling-house on either -\i\r nf the river within that ])art of Bridgeport now oecujiieil fcir bii-iiii'ss ]iuri)oses.* There were, however, two shan- ties mi the shore, near the jiresent intersection of State and AVater Streets, one of them owned by Cajit. Stephen Burroughs, Sr.. ami the other by Aaron Hawley. There was no wharf, vessels being laden anil unladen in the stream by boats nr bv teams driven out into the water. This was between the years ITtitl and 170."). It is evident, however, from the petition for a harbor-guard in the preceding chapter, that Xewtield. as the jilace was called, had begun to increase a little in size before the Revolution, and alter the close of the war it developed rapidly in im- portance. There was then no bridge across the I'e- quonnock below the head of tide-water, which was where the old stage road, now called Xorth .\venue, crosses the river. Xear this bridge was the .store of Philip Nichols, estalilished before the Revolution. In May, 1787, the following resolution was ]iassed by the Connecticut Legislature: ■■ t poll report of a committee api>ointed in Jl.ay last, which is now ac- . ej.teil and approved, resolved liy this Assenihly that the town of Strat- ford he and they are hereby Impowered and allowed t^i keep and main- lain a [niMic Ferry in said town, acrt)!.s llie Creek or Harbour called New Field Harbour, from the Jtoint of land called New I'asture Point, below TobyV Ware, to the opposite shore of said IniiUmr oi creek, to and oa the land of Aaron Hawley, about ten rods south of said Ilawley's dwell- ing-house, anil that two sufficient Boats shall be constantly kept, one on eiudi side of said C'reek, plying from shoi e to shore as occjision may re- quire, at the places aforesaid, during the pleasure of this Assembly, all subject txj the same regulations that other F'enies in this Stale are by Law subjected to." The western te.nninus w;is near the jiresent foot of Union Street and the following were the legal rates of fare : Each man, hoi-se, and load 4 cents anii 2 mills. Each footman 2 cents and 1 mill. Each led horse 2 cents and S mills. Ejich o.\ or other neat-kine o cents and o nulls. Each sheep, swine, or goat 1 cent. With such a tariff it must have soiiietimes been a diffi- cult matter to make change. Whether Benjamin's Brid.sri' — now called Yellow Mill Bridge — had been built at this time, the writer I * Municipal Register for 1877, p. 308. 86 HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT. d<30s not certainly know. Ilr \v.i< been told that it had not, and that jiasscngers by this ferry, if bound to Stratford, were oblijred to take boat again across the eastern arm of the harbor; but of this there is no mentiou in the act. PETITION FOU A BKIDGE.