History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

The Bridgeport Bank, of which a more particular account will follow, was chartered by the Ijcgislature in 18()() with a capital of two hundred thousand dol- lars. In 1810 the census of the borough, which be- fore that date had been included with the town of Stratford, was taken separately, and showed a popu- lation of two hundred and twenty-two persons on the point, and eight hundred and sixty-seven on the west side of the river,— an aggregate of one thousand and eighty-nine souls. Bridgeport contained at this time one bank, two houses of public worshij), — one for the Episcopalians, one for the Congregational ists, — and one hundred and twenty-three dwelling-houses, thirty- one of which were on the point. Most of the houses were two-story buildings and painted white. Eighteen vessels, of the capacity of one thousand four hundred and fourteen tons, were owned here, and were engaged in the West India or the coasting-trade. The principal exports were live-stock, wheat and rye flour, and Indian meal, corn, rye, oats, flaxseed, pork, beef, butter, lard, cider, and cider-brandy. Among tlie articles numufactured in the place were beaver hats, rope, saddles and saddletree.*, booths and shoes, cabinet-work, and carriages. There were two tan- neries, three printing-oflices, two weekly newspapers, one pottery, and forty-three stores. During the war of 1812, New London was block- aded for a number of months by a British fleet, while the coa.sting-trade of Long Island Sound was for a long time almost entirely .suspended owing to the presence of the fleet and the activity of several pri- vateers fitted o\it in the British i)rovinees. One of these, known as the " Liverpool Packet," and hailing from Liverpool, Nova Scotia, picked up, among other l)ri/.es, two sloops running iis packets between Bridge- port and New York. One afternoon in 1814 she was seen in pursuit of two coasters, a sloop and a schooner, the latter owned in Derby, and commanded by Capt. Hart, of that ])lace. Both vessels spread every sail in the attempt to escape, but, finding their efforts in vain and that their enemy was gaining upon them, they bore uj) for Bridgeport Harbor, which the sloop succeeded in reaching safely, while the schooner grounded on the outer bar. She was .soon boarded by a boat's crew from the Nova Scotianign, who, finding their prize immovable, would have sot her on fire, but it was be- fore the day of matches, and Capt. Hart had taken the precaution to throw overboard the tinder-box as soon as his vessel struck. The captors now rum- maged cal)in and hold, taking whatever suited their fancy, and some of them had even commenced to cut with their sheath-knives strips of duck from the sails to mend their canvas trousers with, when a cannon- ball from the shore coming inconveniently ncar.taused them to tumble precipitately into the boat and return to their own ship, which soon bore away uj) the Sound. At the next tide the stranded schooner floated again, and was brought up to the dock and discharged her cargo here. The pursuit and capture and subsequent relinquishment of the prize were witnessed by hun- dreds of excited spectators on shore, and the artillery- fire which drove off the privateersman was partly from the single gun of the Bridgeport Artillery Com- pany, under command of ('apt. Samuel Hawley, and partly from the little tort on the "Tongue," from which Capt. James Allen fired twenty-four shots at the enemy. As there were no railroads at that time and the British had entire control of the Sound, great incon- venience resulted from this practical blockade of our ports. Most of the commerce carried on between them and New York had to be by means of whale- boats, which, being of exceedingly light draught, could clo-sely hug the shore, and if pursued i^ut up into some little creek or inlet for safety; but this mode of conveyance was both inconvenient and costly, and it is not surprising that a plan to cap- ture some of the detested privateers was much dis- cussed. It was proposed to put out from Bridgeport Harbor with an old sloop gotten up very much on the plan of the celebrated Trojan horse, with two or three venerable fishermen of simple demeanor on deck, and half a hundred well-armed athletic young fellows concealed below in the hold. When captured, as they were sure to be, they would lie to very close to their cajjtors, — if possible alongside, — and then at the proper time would turn tiie tables in a most .surpris- ing manner, ea))tnre the British privateer, and bring her into |)ort amid the ringing of bells, the firing of cannon, and the applause of the populace. I am told that this remarkable plan would actually have been attempted but for the opposition of Joseph Backtis, already mentioned as an attorney and a leading man in the jdace at that time. Early in the war a company of State militia, com- manded by Lieut-s. Curtis and Bellamy, was stationed here for a time. It was quartered in an old bakery on Water Street, opposite Union Street, on the ground now occupied by the Housatonie Railroad building, and details were sent down daily to mount guard in an earthwork upon the peninsula known as the "Tongue." Another detachment occujiied "Fort Union," upon Orover's Hill, Black Rock. Some time alter this company had been ordered elsewhere, probably during the year 1814, the com- brii)(;ki'()1!t. 93 luunity was startled one afternoon by the sifjlit of two Britisli iiirii-of-war coming to am-lior "I'piisite the town. These vessels belonged to the lleet which, nnder the eniiiniand of Sir Thomas JIanly, the tVieiid and companion of the illustrious Nelson, was lildei;- adinjr Decatur at New London. Their |Hirt-hoh's were raised, as if it was intended to sliell tiie town, and by the aiil of a spy-glass it eouhl be seen that tlieir ilecks were swarndng with men. People re- called to mind the fate of Fairtiehl and Ndrwalk in the Revolution, and, thouLdi the sun went down and darkness came on without the firing of a gun or any attem])t being made to land, the excitement on sliore was very great, and continued to increase throughout the night. No one slept, the church-bells were rung, the money and valual>le papers Ixdonging to the Bridgeport Bank were removed into the country for security, and not a few of tlie pi'oi)le, taking with tlcni their most portable property, sought sah'ty upon the summit of Toilsome Hill. Of course tlic militia were called out and made ready to welcome the invaders " with hospitable hands to bloody graves," and (leu. Enoch Foote sent messengers for reinforcements to all the neighboring towns, some of which responded, while others did not. To the great relief of all, when morning dawned mit a trace of the British ships could be seen. They had sailed during the night, having only anchored liere to procure a supply of fresh provisions, wdnch, under cover of darkness, were pmrchased from certain parties on shore. A man named (xarlick, wlu> was proprietor of the Johnson tide-mill, in West Stratford, earrii'd on contraband traffic of this kind quite ex- ti'usively, buying many sheep and cattle and selling tliem again at smdi times to the officers oi'tlu' J'ritish tieet. The enemy never made any attempt to land here, but their vessels were frequently in siglit, ami caused much alarm to the timid. One evening the sentinel stationed upon the sliore, near wdiere the Soldiers' Monument now stands, rode furiously up town shouting at the to]) of his voice, "The British have landed!" Two parties wi're sent down in different directions to meet the supposi'd in- vaders, ami in the darkness tired upon each otlnr, causing great excitement for some tinn', hut, for- tunately, no lives were sacrificed. The news of the treaty of peace between the Uniti'd States and Great Britain was received in New York, Feb. 11, 1815, and was welcomed with an illunnna- tion. A public celebration in honcu' of tlie event was held in Bridgeport, February '22d. There was tiring (d' cannon and ringing of bells at daylireak, and in the forenoon a procession headed by a liand of music marched tlirough the streets to tlic North church, wliere the President's proclamation was rea<l, Rev. Messrs. Shelton and Waterman offered prayer, and J. A. Crocker pronounced an oration, .\fter the ex- ercises in the church were concluded there was a piddie <linuer at Knapp's Hotel, and a hall in the evening. At Fairfield an ox was barliecucd on tlie public green. On the night of Aug. 20, 1S24, Gen. Lafayette and suite, while (m a journey from New York to I'.ostou, put up in Bridgeport at Kuaiii)'s Hotel, on the cmaiiT of Wall and Water Streets. Breparations had lieen made for an escort to meet the jiarty in Fairfield and conduct it in triumph to the hold, hut these were disconcerted by the lateness of the hour — past cdevcn o'clock — of the general's arrival, nearly every one liaving given up expecting him and retired to rest. An eye-witne.ss"'' gives the following account of his reception next morning: " At five in the morning the bells began ringing and tlu' c'annon firing. Lafayette had arrived and slejit sc- enrely through the night at Knap|i's. A few nduutcs later the street before tlie hotel was thronged with men, and tlie walk before the brick stores was filled with ladies. Lafayette and his suite niaile their ap- jicarance upon the balcony between Mr. Hubbell and Mr. Lockwood. The people welconu'd Lafayette with three cheers. He rei)lied, 'I am very happy to re- ceive your kind welcome.' Afterwards, placing his hand upon tlie balustrade, he exclaimed, not in a loud voice, but with much feeling, 'Hajipy, hajqiy peoplel' The ladies now formed in line in front of the men, and, going up one by one, shook hands with him. The men did the same, and I grasped the hand of La- fayette." .Mtcr breakfast Lafayette resinned his journey east- ward, and was aee(mipaniedby a disorderly ]irocession of the townsi)eople, some on horscl>ack, others iu vehicles of various dcscri])tions. At Wasliington Bridge, Gen. Enoch Foote made brief farewell re- marks "in behalf of the citizens of Bridgcjiort," Init a few of the escM't kept (m as far as Milford.