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AN
ADDRESS
DELIVERED TO THE PEOPLE OF
GOSHEN, CONNECTCUT,/
AT THEIR FIRST
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION,
September 28, 1838.
BY REV. GRANT POWERS, A. M.
OF GOSHEN, CONN.
HARTFORD.
PrjNTED BY ELIHU GEER, 26^ ST^TE-STREET,
18 3 9.
MAY X 1905
At a meeting of the proprietors of the common and undivided lands in the town of Goshen, holden on the 14th day of February, 1839. Voted, that the thanks of the proprietors be presented to Rev. Grant Powers, for his Address delivered at the celebration of the first Centennial Anniversary of the settle- ment of this town, on the 28th of September last ; and that a copy be request- ed for publication.
ABRAHAM NORTON, Moderator, LEWIS M. NORTON, Clerk.
Gentlemen, — I have received the gratifying vote of the proprietors, passed on the 14th inst., relative to ray Centennial Address, and I do assure you that any services of mine which may be requisite to further your wishes in regard to its publication will be cheerfully rendered.
Most respectfully yours,
GRANT POWERS.
Abraham Norton, Moderator.
Lewis M. Norton, Clerk. Goshen, Feb. 18th, 1839.
Note. — The Principal authorities, consulted in support of this address, are here inserted once for all. Mather's Magnalia ; Trumbull's History of Conn. ; Marshall's Life of Washington ; Historical Collections of Conn.; Town Re- cords ; Dea. Lewis M. Norton ; and Old men of the town.
9.
A,
r-
ADDRESS
America has been denominated the New World, and tliis with much propriety. She wais new, p^elatively, in respect to ihe time of her discovery by Columbus. Five thousand, five viiundred years nearly, had elapsed from the creation before this vast continent held a place in the catalogue of existences among civilized men ; and we have no sufficient evidence, per- haps, to authorise the conclusion that the inhabitants of her sister continent seriously contemplated her existence. She was new, because from the time of her discovery, the minds of civilized nations in Europe were turned into a different channel of thought, and enterprise spread her wings for the far West, instead of the East. She was neio ; for, until this time, the spherical figure of the Earth had not been demonstrated, and the sciences of Geography and Astronomy were necessarily limited and imperfect : but from this time a new impulse was given to these sciences, and navigation and commerce imme- diately quit their narrow track by the rock bound coast, and bomided away upon the dark expanse of mighty Oceans. She was new, because the blessings chartered to civilized man by a beneficent Providejice, were by this discovery greatly in- creased, not only by extending the limits of his habitation, but also by adding to his means of subsistence, and to his luxuries, both from the soil and from the chase. Again, she was new because liere was to commence a new order of things. Man, by his translation from the old world to the new, was to drop the shackles, which ages of ignorance and wickedness had fab- ricated and imposed on him, and to test the new principles of self-government, and to feel his responsibility to God alone for
his reli^ous faith. This was indeed an era in the world, espe- cially as it relates to civil and religious institutions. And of the truth of this, the enlightened and virtuous of both hemis- pheres, will become more and more impressed, the farther they recede from the point of their separation, and as events transpire, both in the old and new world. It is by no means strange, then, that the history of that individual whom Provi- dence raised up to bless the world by his discoveries, and the subsequent events in Europe w^hich led to the settlement of New England by the church of the living God, should be read with intense interest by every friend to humanity ; by every admirer of God's ways-. It would be peculiarly gratifying to me to take special notice on this occasion of the incipient steps that were taken by our Pilgrim Fathers in the settlement of New England, and to call on you to adore the wonders of God's love and mercy towards his people, as exhibited in his calling them out from a furnace of affliction, and in planting them in a land of freedom, and by the side of " Sweet Waters." But I must forego this pleasure, as time would fail me, and limit my remarks to the settlement of this State, and the pro- gress of this Colony ; and this I shall do as preliminary to a more specific history of this town. A httle more than two centuries asjo, this entire State was a wilderness, an unbroken forest, with the exception of limited prairies on dry soils and bottom-lands, the result of annual fires kindled by the tenants of these hills and vallies. Every species of forest tree, com- mon to other states in New England, here grew in great per- fection, and the butternut, button- wood, sassafras and white- wood trees, exceeded, it is thought, in proportional number, and in magnitude, the same species of the North and East. Wild fruits of all kinds that are indigenous to this section of our country, were produced in great abundance, and animals of the land, of the water, and of the air, were proportionally numerous. And so were the men of fierce countenance and of idomitable spirits. Some have estimated their number to have been twenty thousand, and their warriors four thousand, a greater number, it is presumed, than could have been found
on an area of equal extent in any other part of New England. Thus had things remamed for unknown ages, nor had a single adventurer from the old world discovered the channel of the long and beautiful Connecticut, even when Plymouth and Massachusetts Colonies had attained to a good degree, and Manhadoes or New York was rising to some distinction.
But in 1631, eleven years after the settlement of Plymouth, Wah-quimaceet, a Sachem of the Connecticut valley, came to the Plymouth colony, and thence he went to Boston, soliciting the governors of these colonies, to make settlements in the Connecticut valley, promising as an inducement, to supply the colonies with corn, annually, and he would make them a pres- ent of "eighty beaver-skins." The governor of Massachusetts declined the proffer, but Mr. Winslow, the governor of Ply- mouth, came on in a ship, discovered the river and the adja- cent parts, and learned the true cause of the Sachem's solicitude for an English settlement in the valley. He was expecting an invasion from the terrible Pequots, at New Lon- don, and he thought he might find his safety from an English settlement in his territory. The next year, 1632, the people of Plymouth made still further discoveries, and fixed a spot for a trading-house ; and this was in Windsor, a little below the entrance of the Farmington river into the Connecticut. In 1 633, John Oldham, of Dorchester, and three others in com- pany with him, came through the wilderness to Connecticut, the first Europeans who ever performed this tour. They were hailed by the Sachem with joy, and received a present in beaver. Oldham found Indian hemp growing on the mead- ows spontaneously, and in great abundance, and on trial, found it to be superior to the hemp of European growth. The same year, Wilham Holmes of Plymouth, prepared a frame for a trading-house, at Windsor, and putting it on board a vessel, with materials for covering it, sailed for the Connecti- cut river, but did not arrive till September. In the mean time, as early as June of that year, the Dutch from New York entered the Connecticut river, purchased of a Pequot captain, twenty acres of land in Hartford, built a fort, and mounted
6
two pieces of cannon to command the river. They claimed Connecticut on the ground of prior discovery, and never wholly relinquished their claim until 1664. When Holmes appeared in the river, the Dutch stood by their cannon, for- bade his proceeding, and commanded him to strike liis colors, uttering the most vehement threats, that they would sink him if he did not obey. Holmes, in true English blood, replied that "he had a commission from the Governor of Plymouth to pro- ceed up the river, and he should do so" — keeping his sails ex- panded to the breeze, and leaving his antagonists to their own vauntings. The great object sought by these rival Colonies, was exclusive trade with the Indians, which was at this time exceedingly lucrative. The Dutch purchased of them ten thou- sand beavers annually, and the Massachusetts and Plymouth Colonies sometimes freighted ships to England ; the estimated value of furs amounting to a thousand pounds sterling, to a single ship. Holmes proceeded to Windsor, erected the house, covered it, fortified it, and leaving men for a garrison during the winter, returned to Plymouth in October. This was the first house ever erected in this State. In 1634, a few men came on from Watertown in Massachusetts, and built them huts at Wethersfield, and this is the oldest town in the State. In 1635, a number of men from Dorchester came to Windsor, built them log houses, and prepared to bring on their families. Men from Watertown did so likewise at Wethersfield. In the fall of this year, these men returned to Massachusetts for their families, and on the 1 5th of October, about sixty men, women, and children, with horses, cattle, and swine, commenced their journey through the wilderness. Says Dr. Trumbull — " after a tedious journey through swamps, and rivers, over mountains, and rough ground, which were passed with great difficulty and fatigue, they arrived at the places of their destination."* But they consumed so much time on their journey, and the winter setting in unusually early, they were unable to trans- port more than a part of their cattle across the river that
* Deacon Lewis M. Norton and his wife, of tliis town, are each of the fifth generation on the Maternal side, from one of these early adventurers — John Mills, from Windsor, (England.)
season; Connecticut river being frozen over by the 15th of November. These emigrants had put their provisions for the winter, and their household furniture, on board vessels at Bos- ton, which were to sail round and meet them on the river ; but some of these were shipwrecked in the Sound, and those which outrode the tempest, could not ascend the river, by rea- son of the ice, and left the Pilgrims in a forlorn condition. By the first of December, provisions generally failed, and death stared them all in the face. Thirteen men set out to retrace their way to Boston, and after ten days' march, twelve arrived there ; one fell through the ice in passing a river, and was drowned. Seventy men, women, and children, left Windsor, and Wethersfield, and travelled in dead winter from fifty to sixty miles to the mouth of the river, to find their provisions ; but not finding them, they entered on board a vessel lying there, and sailed for Boston, where they arrived in a few days. Those who remained at Windsor and Wethersfield, subsisted on acrons, and grains. But many of their cattle perished, al- though that part of them, that were left on the east side of the river, and had no human aid, were in better condition in the spring, than the others. But notwithstanding these dangers and hardships experienced by those who first attempted the settlement of this Colony, those who had returned to Massa- chusetts during the winter, and others who had meditated a removal thither, resolved on transplanting themselves, as soon as their cattle could subsist on the buds and leaves of the forest, during their journey. Accordingly, about the first of June, 1636, the Rev. Mr. Hooker, and Mr. Stone his colleague, and about a hundred men, women and children, and a hundred and sixty head of cattle, took their leave of Newtown, (now Cambridge,) and travelled over the same ground, which the pioneers had travelled the year before, subsisting principally on the milk of their kine. Those of this company, who had not already placed their families at Windsor or Wethersfield, located themselves at Hartford ; and thus in the space of little more than two years, the three towns, Wethersfield, Windsor, and Hartford, became permanently settled. But they had
8
yet to experience great trials. In less than one year they were compelled to declare war against the Pequots, a power- ful tribe of Indians, inhabiting the present district of New Lon- don and Groton, a tribe which had subjugated nearly all the tribes upon the Connecticut river, and were determined to ex- terminate the English as fast as they came into the pleasant valley. They had already massacred about thirty persons, putting some to the most dreadful tortures. Accordingly, in May, 1637, these three towns, Wethersfield, Hartford, and Windsor, relying upon Massachusetts for aid, declared war against the Pequots ; and in ten days, ninety men had embarked for Pequot harbor, and in sixteen days from their embarkation, six hundred Pequots were slain, their fort destroyed, and the renmant of their nation were flying in every direction ; and this without the assistance of a single man from Massachusetts, or Plymouth, and while the Mohegans, their Indian allies, stood aghast at the instant anniliilation of a tribe, which they had long considered invincible! It may be seriously doubted, whether the annals of history record a campaign so brief, so disproportional in number with the enemy to be encountered, and yet a result so successful ! It not only annihilated this potent enemy, but it spread terror at the English name in other tribes, and secured a peace, with slight interruptions, for nearly forty years. But these pioneers in the wilderness were men of whole hearts ; they were lions ! They shrunk not at danger, or fatigue, and when stimg to the quick by such hor- rid butcheries upon the bodies of their families and friends, and when called to act in defence of their lives, and of all that was dear to them on earth, they did not strike as those who beat the air. They did not war for amusement ; they did not wear an epaulette for honor, or bear arms for emolument, but for life and liberty ! And whatever we may think of the horrid nature of war in general, and even the picture of it is revolting to every principle of humanity, I see not how our Fathers could have done otherwise, and preserved their own lives and the lives of their families. Treaties they had made, and they were all violated. They came here at the solicitation of the
9
original owners of the soil. They gave a fair equivalent for every foot of soil they occupied, and had done what they could to bless the Indians. They had prayed, and labored for the salvation of these heathen ; they had prayed to be delivered from their murderous tomahawks ; and were they to sit and see their families immolated, and to feel their murderous blow upon their own heads ? Happy thought ! The Lord is the judge between them and the slain !
It is from this time we date the commencement of the pros- perity of this Colony. The people being released from the horrors of war, applied all their energies to agriculture, and soon the wilderness became a fruitful field. In 1638, New Haven Colony was planted, and they extended their purchases and settlements east and w^est with great rapidity. It was the same with the Connecticut Colony at Hartford, and vicin- ity, and in 1643, all the colonies in New England, entered into a mutual confederation, offensive and defensive, for future aid and strength. In 1665, Connecticut and New Haven colo- nies, which had to this time been separate, and independent of each other, now became united. At this period, twenty-nine years from the settlement of the Comiecticut Colony, and twenty-seven from that of New Haven, these Colonies united, consisted of 1700 families, and enjoyed the labors of twenty ministers, giving to each minister eighty-five families.
This will show that they were not unmindful of the advan- tages of a Gospel ministry, and that they were williing to sup- port it, amid all their accumulated burdens, arising out of their pecuhar circumstances. It was at this time, Commissioners arrived at Boston from the crown of England, making demands precisely of the same nature, with those which one hundred years afterwards, produced the war of the revolution, and they were equally resisted m the first instance, as in the second. In 1675, the ever memorable war with Phillip commenced, which involved the dearest interests of Connecticut, as well as those of all the other Colonies in New England. This celebrated chief had his principal seat at Mount Hope, in the eastern part of the town of Bristol, in Rhode Island, and he had the temerity to 2
w
conspire the destruction of all the Colonies in New England^ For this purpose, he drew into his scheiues all the principal chiefs and tribes in the region, and with all possible secrecy, proceeded to execute his diabolical Avork. Swanzey, a frontier town of Plymouth Colony, was the first to experience the vengeance of the Indians. This electrified each Colony, and Connecticut sent troops immediately to Stonington, for the defence of that, and the neighboring towns. But notwithstanding all that the colonies could do this year, the Indians triumphed. Brook- field, Iladley, Deerfield, Northfield, and Springfield, were all attacked. Houses and barns were burned, cattle killed, grain destroyed, and many of the inhabitants were either massacred, or carried into a terrible captivity. Connecticut raised sixty dragoons in each county, for the defence of the Colonies : all towns were put in the best state to repel an attack, and in No- vember, they sent three hundred of their own men, and a hundred and fifty Mohegans to cooperate with troops from Massachusetts, and Plymouth against the Narragansetts. This expedition was successful in destroying the NaiTagansett fort, and dispersing the Indians, but it was a dear bought victory I Of the 300 regular troops from Connecticut, eighty were either killed or wounded. But in the summer of 1670, Philip himself fell in battle, and with him expired the hope of the Indians, and peace was the result. In this war it is estimated, that every eleventh English soldier in New England fell ; every eleventh house was burned, and a great proportion of the inhabitants were clad in deep mourning. But before the Colonies had time to recover from this terrible calamity, another of equal magnitude threatened them from another quarter. Upon the accession of James II. to the throne of England, this infamous Prince resolved on vacating all the charters of these Colonies^ and mstituting a tyrannical government over them ; and in pursuance of this object. Sir Edmund Andross was appointed Governor of all New England, who arrived at Boston, Dec, 19, 1686. This Andross was a modern Nero, and employed all his powers to despoil the Colonies, and to enrich himself. He came to Hartford in December, 1687, demanded the Char-
ter, and took upon himself the government. This was the time that the old oak at Hartford became the Ark for the chartered rights of this Colony, wherein they reposed securely for the space of nineteen months, and then upon a 'change of Sove- reigns in England, were again brought forth for the peace and prosperity of the Colony. It was in anticipation of this visit of Sir Edmund Andross, that the government of tliis Colony, with a view to save their unappropriated lands, from the un- lawful grasp of this rapacious Governor, did, Jan. 2Gth, 1686, grant to the towns of Hartford and Windsor, " those lands on the North of Woodbury, and Mattakuck*, and on the west of Farmington and Simsbury, to the Massachusetts line north ; to run west to Housatonick, or Stratford river, provided it be not, or part of it, formerly granted to any particular person, to make a plantation, or village." It was perfectly imderstood at the time of this grant, that it was no bona-fide conveyance to these towns, for they advanced not a shilling for it, nor did they claim it for special services rendered, yet when the evils which then threatened the Colony had passed away, and the government was desirous of disposing of those lands, for the benefit of the Colony ; the towns of Hartford and Windsor set up their claim, and insisted that the grant to them in 1680 was a bona-fide transaction, and refused to yield to any acts of the Assembly, in regard to the sale of the land. Their claim was extensive, comprehending Kent, Litchfield, Harwinton, New Hartford, Torrington, Goshen, Cornwall, SaHsbury, Ca- naan, Norfolk, Winchester, Colebrook, Barkhamsted, and Hartland. How Salisbury should have been included in this claim, I am unable to learn, for the grant of 1686 was bounded west by the Housatonick. But both parties proceeded to take possession of the territory in dispute. In 1718 the Assembly sold a tract of country, then called by the Indians Bantam, but from the incorporation of the town in 1724, the same has borne the name of Litchfield. Settlements commenced in this town in 1720. In 1722, individuals of Hartford and Windsor came on and laid out the township, north of Litchfield, then
* Waterbury.
12
called New Bantam, but which has borne the name of Goshen, from an act of the Assembly, in 1737. These individuals claimed their right under the towns of Hartford and Windsor, which brought on a violent conflict, between the Colony and these towns. In October of 1722, while the Assembly were in session at Hartford, some of the trespassers were arrested, and imprisoned at Hartford, but a mob was raised, the jail broken open, and the delinquents were set at liberty ; and so violent was the opposition of these towns to the acts of the Assembly, that the civil authority was unable to execute the laws of the land. Finally, the Assembly, feeling the disastrous consequenses of a protracted warfare of this nature, did in the autumn of 1724 appoint a Committee to investigate all the claims, and report thereon, that the difficulty might be amicably settled. This Committee spent nearly two years in the inves- tigation, and then reported, that a division of this territory be made, giving one half to the towns of Hartford and Wind- sor, and one half to the Colony. Hartford and Windsor should have the Eastern division, and the Colony the Western. In May, 1726, the Assembly adopted substantially the report of the Committee, and subsequently secured to these towns, Hartford and Windsor, by patent, all the disputed lands East of Litchfield, Goshen, and Norfolk, and retained the Western section, viz. Goshen, Norfolk, Canaan, Cornwall, Kent, and Salisbury ; and thus an affair was adjusted, which had re- tarded the settlement of these towns, and threatened the whole Colony with disastrous consequences. At the October Session of the Assembly in 1726, a grant of 300 acres of land in this town, was made to James Wadsworth, Esq., of Durham, John Hall, Esq. of Walhngford, and Hezekiah Brainard, Esq. of Haddam. What the consideration was for this grant, does not appear : probably it was for services rendered the Colony. This survey was made by John Hitchcock, April 28, 1731. The North-west corner of this special grant was east of the road opposite the brick house of Capt. Jonathan Wadhams, and south of the School house. The west line of the grant, running South 300 rods, intersected the North lire of Litchfield
13
tliirteen rods West of the North and South road, that passes the house of Harvey Brooks, thence East on Litchfield hne 160 rods. Thence North 300 rods, and then West 160 rods to the North-west bound, ah'eady described, near Capt. Wadhams. This grant has always borne the appellation " the 'Squires Farm," because the three Gentlemen to whom the grant was made, all had the title Esquire attached to their names respec- tively. It is said that the house owned, and occupied, by the widow, and heir of the late Isaac Wadhams, stands in the central part of the 'Squires Farm. But at the time of this survey, the town had not been laid out by government, and was denominated Western Lands or New Bantam, the assem- bly not regarding at all the laying out of the town by Hart- ford, and Windsor, in 1722. But at their session in May, 1731, they enacted that their Western lands should be laid out into five townships, and appointed their Committee to perform this business. The report of this Committee as it respects this town, bears date Oct. 15th, 1731, describing the Umits of the same, making the South line four miles and 196 rods. The West line, nine miles and 60 rods. The North line four miles and 86 rods — and the East line, eight miles, and 146 rods; showing that the South line is ten rods longer than the North line, and the West line 234 rods longer than the East line. Soon after these towns were laid out, the Trustees of Yale College, applied to the assembly for a grant of land in aid of this institution, and in 1732 they made a grant of 1500 acres to the Trustees, 300 acres iii each of the five towns so recently laid out, and in January, 1737 the College Farm so called in this town, was surveyed and its boundaries established. The dwelling houses of Messrs. Asa Leverett, and Cephas Ives, stand upon this grant, and also the house at the turnpike gate leading to Cornwall. On the 13th of Oct. 1737, the assembly enacted, that the township called Goshen, should be divided into fifty-three rights, exclusive of former grants, referring to the 'Squires Farm, and College. Two of the 53 rights were to be appropriated to the Ministry. One of them to be the property of the first settled minister, and the other to remain
14
for the support of the Ministry in all after timo. And a third right was to be for the support of Schools. Fifty rights would remain for the Proprietors of said township. The as- sembly then resolved that this township should be sold in so many rights, at public auction at the Court House in New Ha- ven, to the highest bidder, commencing on the first Tuesday in December next (1737), and to be continued by adjournment until all the rights were sold. The conditions required of each proprietor were, that he or his agent should within two years from the date of his purchase, enter upon his premises build and finish a house thereon, no less than eighteen feet square, and seven feet between sill and plate j clear, subdue, and fence six acres of said land, and continue to dwell thereon for the space of three successive years (unless prevented by death or unavoidable Providence) commencing after the expiration of the two years in which the specified conditions were to be performed ; and furthermore, he must perform all orders, and duties, and pay all taxes granted. If these conditions were performed, then his deed was valid ; but if any part of the conditions was omitted (extraordinaries excepted) his title was void, and of no effect.
It seems that during the winter, spring and summer of 1738, the rights were all or nearly all disposed of and that a meeting of the Proprietors w as called at the house of Capt. Jolm Buel in Litchfield, on the 27th of September, 1738. This Capt. John Buel, or Dea. Buel, as he is generally called was one of the first settlers of the town of Litchfield, and deserves special notice in this place, on account of the interest he took in the settlement of this town, and the interest his descendants have held in it to this day. He with his wife Mary came from Leb- anon in this state, to Litchfield in 1720, and lived on Town Hill, North side of West street, and seventy rods West of the County Jail. He was distinguished for his piety and active be- nevolence. A brief anecdote of him will tell the whole story. In 1740 or 41, there came a man from Cornwall in the depth of winter to purchase some grain for himself and family, who were in great need. He was directed to the house of Deacon
15
Buel as being the man most likely to have grain to sell. The man called at the house and inquired if Deacon Buel lived there, and whether he could purchase a little grain for his fam- ily ? Deacon Buel asked him if he had money to purchase the grain ? He replied that he had some. " Well," said the Dea- con, " I can show you where you can procure it." Going with the stranger to the door, he pointed out to him a certain house, and said, " There lives a man who will let you have the grain for your money. I have some grain to spare, but I must keep it for those who have no money !" We are forcibly impressed with the scripture truth, The memory of the just is blessed. Deacon Buel departed this life April 9th, 1746, aged 75 years. His wife survived 22 years, and the following is inscribed on her tomb stone, " Here lies the body of Mrs. Mary, wife of Dea. John Buel, Esq. She died Nov. 4, 1768, aged 90 ; having had 13 Children, 101 Grand-children, 247 Great-grand-chil- dren, 22 Great-great-grand-children ; total 410. Three hun- dred and thirty-six survived her."
Nearly all, if not all who bear the name of Buel, in Litch- field and Goshen are the descendants of this same Dea. John Buel. We have his Grandson with us to day, Capt. Jonathan Buel, aged 85.
On the 27th of Sept. 1738, the propiietors of this town, as- sembled at the house of Dea. John Buel, Litchfield, agreeably to appointment. Capt. Joseph Bird, of Litchfield, was chosen clerk, and Deacon John Buel was chosen Moderator. After being fully organized they adjourned to meet at the same place at 8 o'clock the next morning, one hundred years ago this morning. Here let us pause for a moment's reflection. How eventful were the doings of this meeting ! LTpon the acts of this body were suspended the settlement of this town, the manner of its settlement, and much of its prosperity to the present time. Nor will our descendants cease to be influenced by these incipient steps for ages to come, and may not to the end of time.
Whether our Fathers were sensible of the importance of their proceedings to unborn generations or not, yet loe may
16
learn that we never act for ourselves exclusively, but that oth- ers are to be affected for good or for evil, by our influences to the latest generation, and probably to eternity !
The adjournment of this meeting on the 27th to the 28th of the month, was doubtless that they might arrange matters so as to transact business with greater despatch the next day. We understand, that each Proprietor of one right in the town, owned one fifty-third part of the town, exclusive of the ^Squires Form, and College Farm. But no man's right was yet located. And that each might have as fair a chance as possible in his location, they agreed that but one hundred acres to each right, should be located at that time, and that no one should select more that fifty acres, until all the others had se- lected their fifty acres upon their respective rights. The meth- od adopted to locate each man's fifty acres was this : — There were fifty- three slips of paper cut and marked from No. 1, to 53. These papers were put into a hat or box, and the Pro- prietors drew out one paper each, and according to the number the individual drew so he stood in the choice of his first fifty acres. The man who drew No. 1, had a right to select his fifty acres in any* part of the town, not encroaching upon the two Farms specified. He who drew No. 2, held the next choice, and so on to fifty-three, an individual being designated to draw for the Ministerial and School rights. But in the choice of the second fifty acre lots to each individual Proprietor, there was no drawing for a choice ; for it was agreed, that he who had the last choice in the first division, should have the first choice in the second division ; so that he who had the first choice in the first division had the last choice in the second di- vision. These preliminary steps being taken, the Proprietors met on the 28th, appointed a committee for laying out the lots when chosen, and drew for their choice of lots. Aaron Cook drew No. 1, and had the first choice. Daniel Richards the fifty-third. The meeting was then adjourned to the first Wednesday of December next, at 8 o'clock, A. M., to meet at the house of Joseph Bird hi Litchfield, and the Proprietors hastened to Goshen, each to search out, and locate his future
17
home, and where he should repose his mortal part. This is the day we celebrate at the distance of one entire century from those hardy adventurers. From this period we date the regular settlement of this town ; and whatever degree of in- terest ive may feel on this occasion, we may rest assured our venerated Fathers felt far more. They had to select for them- selves, and for theirs. Their personal interest and comfort, were in a good degree involved in their choice. The labor of converting a wilderness into a fruitful field, and into smooth and green pastures was theirs. Far distant was the day in their vision, when the Sun with unobstructed rays, and mel- iowuig influences, should look down upon their soil as at this day. For a long period, they could hope for the necessaries of hfe only, with few conveniences and no luxuries, unless they were derived from the chase ! They knew the toil of felling the towering trees of the forest, of making roads, building bridges, erecting mills, fences, habitations, barns, school houses, and a house for worship ; and it will appear in the sequel that these first settlers contemplated all these tilings from the com- mencement of their enterprise. Now, notwithstanding this was a peculiar race of men, prepared by the Providence of God for bold and arduous undertakings, yet, must they not have felt an interest, and a solicitude while entering this forest for the first time, which we do not and cannot feel ? Yet they were sustained and directed, and by the strength of their arms, and the perseverance of their labors, we their descendants are placed in the lap of ease and plenty. I have stated that Aaron Cook drew No. 1, and had the first choice in the first division of lots. lie chose, and we honor his choice, the south part of Town Hill, whereon now stand the brick house of the late Col. Moses Lyman, and the house of his son, Samuel Lyman. Daniel Richards who was last in choice in this division, chose the land lying South East o{ Narshapogge Pond, now injudiciously call- ed West Side Pond, and it embraced the land whereon now stands the three story house, known by the name Hudson house. I say this pond is injudiciously called West Side Pond, because it is entered in all ancient conveyances by its Indian name 3
19
ISfarsTiapogge, aiid because it is much more definite in its Indian name than in its present name ; for who that was not well ac- quainted with the use of terms here could decide which pond was meant by the term 'West Side Pond, whether it w^as tliis pond, or the one a little South of it ? Beside, the Indian name is a much more dignified name ; and as it was prior to the one now in common use, by thousands of years probably, it ought to be retained as a memorial of a mighty race that have passed away to make room for the more civilized, but more effeminate European ! And what is said of this pond, apphes with equal force to her sister a little South, which was called in the Indian tongue Marsluipogge, but is now called Tyler Pond, Who for a moment can balance in his judgment in regard to the euphony of these two names ? Not one. We say then let them bare their original names, and the names they hold in our records, and not attempt to filch from the poor Indian, tlie right wliich God and nature gave him to imprint the seal of his own lan- guage upon those everlasting hills, lakes, ponds and streams ! Pardon me this digression, and I will proceed, I have said this day, one hundred years, this town was settled by its pro- prietors, but these were not the first EngUsh inliabitants with- in this town. I have already spoken of the 'Squires Farm, and given its boundaries at the South-easterly part of the town, ly- ing on Litchfield line. It is upon record that in February, 1734, James Wadsworth, Esq. sold his one third part of the 'Squires Farm, to Ebenezer Luke and Isaac Hill, all of Walling- ford of this state ; that in Feb. 1736, there was a division of the whole farm between the owners, and that the Southern third part fell to the share of said Hill. It appears, also, that in 1737, Ebenezer Hill came on to the West part of this South third of the farm, and built him a small framed house on the ground now improved for a barn-yard by Harvey Brooks. The house stood East of the road as it then run, but West of where it now runs. This same season, 1737, Benjamin Fris- bie bought of Luke Hill his third of the one hundred acres, di- vided between the said Hills, and built him a house a little North of the house of Ebenezer Hill, on the same side of the
19
Toad. These two houses might have accommodated some few of the proprietors of the town, while attending to the location and survey of their respective lots ; but by far the greater por- tion must have reposed at night on the lap of indulgent nature, and slept under the protecting wing of high Heaven.
I will here remark that the first English child born in this town was called BiUious Hill, son of Isaac Hill, one of the orig- inal proprietors. He was born at the house of Ebenezer Hill, by Harvey Brooks', as already described.
I shall not attempt to describe the location and survey of each lot successively as the business proceeded ; but shall ad- vert to the fact that the proprietors held two meetings more at Litchfield before they were convened at Goshen, at which meetings they proceeded to make further divisions of land upon the same plan that was adopted at the first meeting. The first proprietor's meeting at Goshen was on the 13th of May, 1740, at the house of Joseph Hickock, on East street, where Nathaniel Stanley afterwards lived. And here we may take our leave of the meetings of the proprietors as distinct meet- ings from the town, although they have held occasional meet- ings in their corporate capacity -to the present time.
The first town meeting ever held in this town was on Dec. 6th, 1739. John Beach was chosen Moderator, and Samuel Pettibone, Town Clerk. John Beach, Samuel Pettibone, Na- thaniel Baldwin, Samuel Towner and Benajah Williams were chosen Selectmen. Moses Lyman was chosen Collector and Treasurer. The place of tliis meeting not being specified, it is supposed that it was held at their meeting-house, standing a lit- tle East of North from the dwelling-house of Erastus Lyman, Esq., and four or five rods South East of the yellow building, denominated Mechanic's Hall, the spot we have now visited in solemn and grateful procession. This first meeting-house was built of rude materials. The butt end of a large white ash tree felled, composed the principal part of the wall on one side, and piled logs, with a covering of bark, completed the sanctuary ! And does this appear small in our view, almost provoking a smile ? It was great in the sight of God ! It was the best they
20
could do, and more than many of them enjoyed for their own sliclter. It was the expression of their hearts and an earnest of what they would do in time to come ! It was saying that the God of the Pilgrims was their God, and should be the God of Goshen as far as it might depend on them. I would that that house now stood ! How often would we steal a solitary walk thither, and in the holy stillness of evening, go round her enclosures, think of the generation that congregated there, their fervent devotions, their prayers for covenanted mercies upon their posterity, and their present rest on high ! And while thus musing, would not the fire kindle in our own hearts, and should we not praise God that our Fathers loved him, and gave us this precious example of dedicating to him the first fruits of their hearts and of their hands !
But notwithstanding our Fathers had thus early a house for God, they did not always improve it. It was of course much open between logs, and there were no stoves. It was, there- fore, not filfed for worship in the severity* of winter. Besides, there were no roads for the weak and tender of their congre- gation to travel in from different sections of the town. They therefore adopted the plan of carrying the Gospel to the people by appointing the public worship of God in different parts of the town ; and at this first town meeting they passed a vote that the " Selectmen should ascertain the places for holding the meetings for the public worship of God." At a town meeting, Jan. 11, 1740, it was voted to hire a minister on probation, and that Nathaniel Baldwin, Samuel Towner, and Samuel Pettibone be a committee to go after a minister, with full power to agree with him. It seems that this committee were suc- cessful in obtaining ]Mr. Stephen Heaton, of Nevz-IIaven, to be their candidate ; for in April, 1740, the town voted him a call to settle with them in the Gospel ministry, and specified the settlement and salary they would give him. The call was not immediately accepted, and in September following, it was re- newed to him, with some addition to the former proposed sala- ry. This call was accepted, and Mr. Ilcaton, was ordained Nov. 1740, at the house of Capt. John Beach, on East street,
21
East side of the road opposite to the present dwelling house of Eber Bailey.
The town at their meetings preparatory to the settlement of Mr. Heaton had voted that it was necessary to build a meeting house, and Nathaniel Baldwin was appointed to solicit the General Assembly for a Committee to be appointed to decide on the spot where the New Meetmg house should stand. It appears further, from the Records, that the General Assembly agreeably to the request of the Petitioners, did appoint a Committee of three from the town of Hartford to fix on the site for a Meeting house, and that the said Committee, did come out and set the stake where the house should stand, sometime in the summer of 1740, and that after some delay, and embar- rassments, the second meeting house in the town was raised, and covered in the year 1744. It was a house 46 by 34 feet, and 20 feet between sill and plate. It had two galleries, one above the other, and when it was finished, was painted yellow. It stood a little North west of this house, and a Httle South of the house that was removed in 1832, the South side of the tliird Meeting house, coming within 4 feet of the North side of the second house. There are some two or three individuals present who remember this second house wliich was removed in 1770.
I will now for the satisfaction of the present generation, and with a view to impress us all with the truth, that the fashion of this world passeth away, present you this town as it was in 1745. I am indebted for these statistics mainly to Deacon Lewis M. Norton of this place, whose unwearied and persevering effort in tliis cause for years entitles him to the lasting gratitude of his town's men and to a more substantial reward. We will return then to the South part of the town, where we have already been in the history, and commence with Capt. Jonathan Buel, son of Dea. John Buel of Litch- field, and Father of Capt. Jonathan Buel now of this town. His house stood upon the line between Litchfield, and Goshen, on the West side of the North and South road, as it now runs. In the house lately owned, and occupied by Elias Buel, a little
22
South of Harvey Brooks, on the East side of the road, lived Ebenezer Hill, Jun., son of the Ebenezer Hill whose house we have already located in Mr. Brooks' barn yard. This house of Ebenezer Hill, Jun,, lately occupied by Elias Buel, was built in the summer of 1741, and is the oldest house in the town. This Hill, and Capt. Jonathan Buel kept tavern alternately for a number of years. Buel would keep two years, and then Hill two, for the accommodation of those who were going to and from " Western lands." About half way between the house of Ebenezer Hill, Jun., and the house lately occupied by Elisha Buel, now by Watts Brooks, stood the house of Asa Hill, an- other son of Ebenezer Hill, first mentioned. A little North of the present house of Watts Brooks, near the flat, stood the house of Benjamin Frishie, already described as the second house, built in 1737, on the 'Squires Farm. A little North of Frisbie's house as we ascend the hill, and precisely where stands the house of Joseph Beardsley, lived John Dibble, with a numerous family from Wallingford. Afterwards John Dibble, Jun., kept a- store in the house for several years, and then built him a store, about ten rods South of his house, near the house of Frisbie, and traded there. It was called the red store, because it was painted red. Proceeding North until we come to within four rods South-east of the present brick house of Samuel Ives, and there lived Noah Wadhajns, from Middletown, the progeni- tor of all those, who have ever lived in Goshen, bearing the name of Wadhams. He w^as prosperous in business, and reared a numerous family. About 28 rods North of Noah Wadhams, lived, on the West side of the road, Jeremiah Howe from Wallingford. He was the Progenitor of all the families by the name of Howe in Goshen, and of many in Canaan. The next neighbor to Howe at the North, w^as Samuel Pettibone, from Simsbury. His house stood a few feet North of the present brick house of Thomas, and Hiram Griswould, on the same side of the way. He was the first Lawyer in Goshen, and for some time was State's Attorney. He was much employed in the early business transactions of the town ; but being over- come, and thrust down, by the Strong Man from the West In-
23
dies, he terminated his earthly existerxe at the old house, for- merly occupied by Harvey Brooks. About 115 rods North of the house of Pettibone on the West side of the road, stood the house of Christopher Grimes, from Wallingford, the old well still designating the location of his dwelling. North of the house of Grimes, and about GO rods South of the house long owned, and occupied by Deacon Augustus Thomson, but now owned by Abraham Norton, and his son William, stood the house of Gideon Hurlbut, from Wethersfield, on the East side of the road. Hurlbut was a substantial man, and pious. He reared a numerous family, and has one Grand-daughter still living in the town — Lorana, the Avife of Andrew Norton, Senior.
A few rods North of Hurlbut's ; and on the west side of the road running North and South, and North of the road then leading to town hill, stood the house of Zachariah Curtis, from Wethersfield. The town hill road came into West street road at that time, between Gideon Hurlburt's and Curtis' ; 40 or 50 rods South of where it now comes in. North of Curtis', and opposite to the house of Abraham Norton, on the west side of the road, stood the house of Benjamin Phelps, from Windsor. He soon afterw^ards sold to Timothy Gaylord of Wallingford, Father of the late Joseph Gaylord, and Grand Father of Jo- seph Ives, and Willard Gaylord. This Timothy Gaylord was killed in the old French war ; was shot through the head by an Indian, as he stood behind a tree, and was moving out his own head to obtain a shot at the Indian. The next house North, on the West side of the way, near where now stands the barn of Truman Starr, was the house of John Wt'ight, who had a numerous family. He is the ancestor of those who bear the name of AVright in this town. A little North of this, on the same side of the way, and a little North of the late Woodruff house, stood the house of Deacon Gideon Thompson, from New Haven. This house was palisadoed against the Indians. The manner of fortifjdng a house was this : — They dug a deep ditch around the house, placed logs perpendicularly in it all around the house, leaving a space only for a gate. The logs were placed close together, sharpened at the top, and extended
24
eight, ten, or twelve feet above the ground. The earth taken from the trench, was then returned, and beaten down, until the logs stood firmly ; and this with a gate well secured, was a tolerable defence against a sudden attack from the Indians. It is needless, perhaps, to say that the Indians did not deal in artillery. At this house a town meeting was held in May, 1741. He was one of the first Deacons in the Church, being appointed at the time of the organization of the Church in November, 1740 — before the ordination of Mr. Heaton, or very soon afterwards. He was the first representative from this town, to the General Assembly 1757. And in 1759 he died at Hartford while a member of the Assembly. He was the Grandfather of Jonathan Thomson, and Deacon Augustus Thomson. From this house of Deacon Gideon Thomson, there was no road open either North or West in 1745 ; but all was forest with the exception of a settlement in Canada Vil- lage, so called.
In 1739, or 40, the said Benjamin Frisbie of the South end, nioved into that place, and built him a house a few rods North of the present house of Augustus Miles, Esq. In 1742, he built a Saw Mill, where stands now the Woolen Factory, and soon after he built the first Grist Mill in town. Tliis stood a little distance from the Saw Mill, and occupied the ground, which is now improved as a tannery by George Miles. Undoubtedly the inliabitants of this village, are indebted to this same Fris- bie, for the name of their village ; and that the Connecticut Historical Collections, have the truth in the case. Capt. Jon- athan Buel, who can remember 80 years, says, that it was called Canada as long ago as he can remember, and he always understood that it came by its name as stated in the Collec- tions, viz. that this Frisbie was ever talking about removing to Canada, but never went. The wags of his time being wearied with his story of Canada, told him he should live in Canada, and if he would not remove to Canada, they would bring Canada to him, and from that time, they called the place of his residence Canada. West of Canada Village, in 1745, there was no road, and no settlement, until we came to Corn-
25
wall. We will return then to Town Hill. Here were but three families, and all South-westerly of them in this town, was wilderness. On the top of Town Hill, on the West side of the road, and a little South of the present dwelling of Gen. Moses Cook, stood the house of Joseph Curtis, from Wethers- field. He had a numerous family. He sold out in 1750 to Daniel Cook, Father of the present Moses Cook, Senior, who still survives. About twenty-five rods South of Gen. Moses Cook's present dwelling, on the East side of the road, stood the house of Joseph Cook, from Wallingford, Father of Daniel Cook, and Grand-father of Moses Cook, Senior. Joseph Cook lived here until the time of his death, Nov. 7, 1764.
South of Curtis', and about midway of the hill, on the W^st side of the road, stood the log house of Deacon Moses Lyman r from Northampton, JNIass. His son Col. Moses Lyman, after- ward built the present brick house, now owned by the Hon. Moses Lyman, on the spot where stood the house of Deacon Lyman. This first house was built upon elevated underpin- ning, and the windows were made high in the walls of the house, to prevent the Indians from firing into the windows, in case the family were invaded by them. But this Deacon Mo- ses Lyman was cut oft' in the midst of his years, and in the midst of his usefulness, Jan. 6th, 1768, aged fifty-five. He had a protuberance of the bone in one of his limbs, submitted to amputation, and after one month's slow but incessant bleeding he expired, I have seen a printed sermon delivered on the occasion of his death, by the Rev. Mr. Newell, which shows that the church, and town, were in mourning by this bereave- ment. They felt as did the young Prophets, at Elijah's remov- al— that the Lord had taken away their Head man from among them. And from all that I can learn of the aged now living concerning him, lie was a great blessing to the town. He came from Northampton, then the centre of Theology, and active piety in New England. He had sat tmder the Ministry of the celebrated Jonathan Edwards, seen, and felt the power of those great revivals, and he was eminently prepar- ed to bless a new settlement. Whatever his hand found to do 4
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of benevolence and usefulness, he did with his might ; and as a beneficent Providence had given him the ability to bless, so he imparted : the blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon him, and he caused the widow's heart to sing for joy f His rest is undoubtedly glorious ! We have with us to day three Grand-children of this man — Moses, Samuel, and Eras- tus Lyman. He has here a Grcat-great-grand-child, who is the tenth Moses Lyman in regular succession, and the first son born in each successive family, and the first born in every family, with one exception. It has been said that Town Hill received its name on account of the early impression that there would be the centre of the town. It is more probable they thought that might be the centre of a South Parish, when the North part of the town became a Parish, and the South- west part became settled. At the North side of tliis Town Hill, we find a collection of water called Dog Pond. This received its name from the simple fact, that Dea. Nathaniel Baldwin of the North part of the town, lost his dog there by drowning in 1738. The circumstances are not mentioned, but it is probable that the event occurred while the old Hunter was in the chase I Leaving Town Hill on the North side, and passing East towards Samuel Pctlibone's, now Thomas Gris- would's, and just before w-e reach the bottom of the hill, w^e see a Saw Mill, a little at our right, on the South side of the road, which is supplied with W' ater taken by a small canal, from the natural channel made by the waters, which flow from Dog Pond. Tliis Mill was built in 1742 by Benjamin Phelps, and others. Proceeding on Eastwardly by Samuel Pcttibone's, and crossing the meadow precisely as the road now runs, we shall come to the house of Zacheus GriswoHld, from Wmdsor. His house stood a very little North of the present house of the widow, and heirs of John Griswonld. He was the Father of all those inhabitants of this town, who have borne the name Griswo1|ld. He hved more than one hundred years, and his wife attained to just one hundred. His daughter in law, the wife of his son Giles Griswo^ld, still survives, and has attained to her ninety-ninth year. A little further to the North, and
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we coniG to the house of Ahcl Phelps, from Simsbuiy. It stood a few feet South-east from the preseut dwelling of Becbe Wadhams. He and his son Abel, occupied the house for many years. Proceeding North, we do not find a habitation, until we reach the residence of Capt. Samuel Thomson, from New Haven. His house stood on the West side of the North, and South road near the present store of Moses Lyman, Jun. The road from West street, came into Middle street, where it now does, and proceeding East by the first Meeting House, at the old ash tree, proceeded directly to East street, and came out nearly opposite to the road, that comes in from Torrington. On the South side of this East and West road, and ten rods East of INIechanic's hall, on middle street, lived Amos Thomson, from New Haven. Dea. Gideon Thomson, Samuel Thomson, and Amos Thomson, were all brothers, or near relatives. Proceeding North on Middle street till we come to the garden now improved by Simmons Scovil, and here we find the site of the dweUing of Rev, Mr. Heaton, the first Minister of the town. This garden belongs to the house and lot now owned by Nelson Wadhams of Canada village. There was no other house between Mr. Heaton's, and the second Meeting house already described. At this date, there was no road directly East from the Meeting house, and none directly West. There was no house from Amos Thomson's, to East street, and none on Beach or Lucas Hill. There was a road open to West side, so called, but no house from the Meeting house, till we como to the house of Timothy Tullle, which stood on the East side of the road, nearly opposite to the present house of his Grand-daughter, Mrs. Huldah Tuttle. He was an original Proprietor in the town, from Wallmgford, and reared a nume- rous family. Some thirty or forty rods North of Tuttle's we come to the house of Daniel Richards, from Hartford, of whom we have already spoken. His house stood a little North-west from the present three story Hudson House. He was the Grand- father of the present Russel Richards.
Passing onward to the North-^west, till we cross the outlet of Narshapoggc Pond, we come to the house of nBxtbai Beach,
28
standing near where Russel Richards' house now does. He was from Wallingford. At the Barnam house, South of the West side grave yard, hved Daniel Harris, Jun. from Walling- ford. No descendants in town. A little West from the last mentioned place, and in the present garden of Lewis C. Wad- hams, on the East side of his house, stood the house of Benja- min Deming, from Middletown, Father of Wait, Ellas and Jon- athan Deming. Still farther North, about sixty rods, on the East side of the road, stood the house of Thomas Marvin, from Litchfield. He was an original Proprietor in the town, but did not remain long here. Near the house long occupied by Philo Collins, and now by William Miles, stood the house of Benajah Williams, from Stonington, an original Proprietor in two rights. He did not remain long in town, but sold his large and beautiful farm of more than 400 acres to Ephraim Wil- liams of Wethersfield, whose son Jacob Williams, came and lived on it. Pursuing this road North, until we come to the present new house of Acres Lawton, we come to the house of Jonah Case, from Simsbury, an original Proprietor. From this house North, all was Wilderness, and no road. There was no house North of the Meeting house, and AVest of Humphrey's lane, until we came to West side street, already described. We must return back then to the Center, and be- fore we go to East street, we must visit the beautiful hill of Andrew Norton, Jun., three-fourths of a mile South-east from this house. On the East declivity of this hill, on the South side of the road, and about fifteen rods East of the old house of Andrew Norton, Jun., stood the house o{ Leniis Ward, from WaUingford. In the autumn of the year of which we are now speaking 1745 — Ward sold out to William Walter, who brought up a family there, and from him the Walters m Goshen have descended. At a little later date than the time of which we are speaking, came David Norton, from Durham, and built a house on the North side of the road, on the top of the hill, almost on the same spot where now stands the new house of Andrew Norton, Jun. He was a young man of unusual enter- prise, and of substantial character. He was the Father of
29
David, Ebcr, Oliver, John, Anna, Alexander, Andrew, William, and Miriam, three of whom continue to this present time, Al- exander, Andrew, and Adimii. He was however taken awayt/^Ju^* in the midst of life and usefulness. He w^as greatly interested in the buildmg of the third meeting-house in 17G9. On Mon- day he labored very hard in getting in large stones for the foundation of that house. He was taken suddenly ill, and died on Thursday, aged fo/irty-four ; so that like David of old, he was not permitted to sec the house his heart was fixed upon. Not only his family, but the town felt their bereavement.
At the South end of East street, we come to the place of Cyprian Collins, the fourth son of Rev. Timothy Collins, of Litchfield. In the spring of this year. Rev. Mr. Collins pur- chased land at that place, and some time afterwards, sent his son Cyprian to clear the land, and build upon it, with the ^jromise of a future deed. The first house of Cyprian Collins stood on the West side of the road, near the horse shed of Capt. Timothy Collins. His second house was the one now owmed and occupied by Capt. Timothy Collins. This Cyprian Collins had a numerous family, and was the ancestor of all who bear the name of Collins in this town. He had eleven children, Ambrose, Triphena, Amanda, Philo, Anna, Luranda, / ^ Rhoda, Cyprian, Phebe, and Tyrannus ; and all these lived to • tm f' become heads of numerous families, Cyprian CoUins was a frugal and an industrious man, and a firm patriot in the Revo- lution. In the early period of his life, he owned the covenant, as it was called, and brought his children to baptism, and was always a regular attendant on divine worship. And here it may not be inappropriate to remark, for the benefit of the ris- ing generation, that the practice of receiving persons of moral life into a half-way relation to the church, had obtained exten- sively in New-England at that day. The applicant for tliis re- lation was required to profess his belief in the fundamental principles of the Gospel, promise to lead a sober life, and to train up his household in the things of religion. If he would do this, he might bring his children to baptism, and yet not con- sider himself a member of the Church, or come to the com-
30
municn <^able, and not even consider himself a regenerate per- son. This will explain what we have further to say of Mr. Cyprian Collins. Notwithstanding he had owned the cove- nant, had his children baptized, and ever been a regular attend- ant on the instituted means of grace, yet in old age, his atten- tion was powerfully arrested to the spirtual concerns of liis soul: he realized that he was a great sinner, cast himself upon the mercy of the Saviour, and, as wc trust, obtained eternal life. At the age of seventy-five years, he made a public pro- fession of religion, and to the close of his life, gave pleasing evi- dence, that he was indeed a child of God.
I will here remark, that in 1745 there was no road from Litchfield to meet East street road, for I find that at a town meeting m 1749, a committee was raised to " treat with Litch- field men, about their laying a road to meet ou,r East side road,"
Leaving the place of Cyprian Collins, and proceeding North, we come to the house of Benoni Hills, standing near the North-west corner of the present barn of the late Samuel D. Street. The roaci then ran West of this barn. Benoni Hills "was the Father of Zimri, and Col. Medad Hills, About nine rods West of the present house of William Lyman, the late residence of Capt. Jonathan North, and West of the road as it then run, stood the house of Joseph North, from Farmington. He was the Father of Doctor Joseph North, Ezekiel North, and others. This house was palisadoed, or fortified against the Indians. A little further North, and just where the barn stands which was lately owned and improved by Dudley Hen- derson, stood the house of Capt, Samuel Hinman, an original proprietor, from Litchfield. This house was built in the fall of 1 738. About thirty rods North of Hinman's, and a little South of the turnpike road, as it comes into East street, from Sha- ron, stood the house of Stephen Goodwin, from Simsbury. Here Goodwin kept tavern some years. Afterwards he built about twenty rods South-east, and there he kept a tavern. Of this man we shall hear again, when we come to the war of the Revolution. A few feet North of the present brick
31
house of Joseph Goddard, built by Birdscy Norton, Esq., stood the log house of Deacon Ebenezcr Norton, from Durham. A few years afterwards he built the house which stood a little North-west of the present brick house, and in this he lived until his decease. This Deacon, or Esquire, or Colonel, Norton, for he bore these several titles at the same time, was a distinguish- ed character in his day. No man, perhaps, with the exception of Deacon JMoses Lyman, was ever more loved and honored by the people of tliis town, than he. He was a member of the General Assembly twenty-six sessions, in times that tried men's souls. And he would have been called to discharge those duties still longer, but his increasing infirmities induced him to decline all public services. He married Elizabeth, the daugh- ter of Deacon Nathaniel Baldwin, of this town, and their child- ren were Miles, Aaron, Elizabeth, Ebenezcr, Rachel, Marana, Nathaniel, Olive, and Birdsey. They have three Grand-child- ren, now living in town — Abraham Norton, Deacon Lewds M. Norton, and Elizabeth M., the wife of Joseph Goddard. He departed tliis life March 15, 1785, aged seventy. She died April 16, 1811, aged eighty-nine. Their descendants at the time of her death were 208. Four of them were Great-great- grand-children.
About thirty rods North from the house of Deacon Ebenczer Norton, and a little North-east of the red house once occupied by Deacon Samuel Norton, and now owned and occui)icd by Adam Bently, stood the log house of Samuel Norton, from Dur- ham. This house was palisadoed against the Indians. Eben- ezcr, Samuel and David Norton, were brethren, the sons of Samuel Norton, of Durham.
Proceeding North we come to the dwelling of Nathaniel Stanley, from Farmington. His log house stood about two rods North-west from the North-west corner of the present house, so long occupied by his Grand-son William Stanley, and his Great-grand-son Deacon George Stanley, but now owned by Adam Bently. He came to this town in 1742, and pur- chased the lot of Joseph Hickock. He died March 2, 1770, attaining to more tlian ninety years.
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A few rods North-east of the East street burying ground, on the East side of the road, stands the same house which stood there in 1745, and is one of the oldest houses in the town It was originally the house of Barnabas Beach, eldest son of Captain John Beach. Daniel Miles, Esq. succeeded Mr. Beach. It was long known as the residence of Samuel Chapin, Esq., and is now the home of widow Emily Chapin. On the same side, about twenty rods South-east of the dwelling of Jesse Beach, stood the house of Adna Beach, second son of Captain John Beach. He had a numerous family, was once a repre- sentative to the General Assembly, and was the Grand-father of Jesse Beach. A little North of the house occupied by Nor- man Austin, on the same side of the way, stood the house of Edmund Beach, the third son of Captain John Beach. His family was numerous. Upon the death of Dea. Ebenezer Nor- ton, he was chosen to succeed him in the office of deacon. Three times he was sent a representative to the General As- sembly. His house has remained until recently, and its place may yet be seen.
A little at the North of the old house now spoken of, on the same side of the way, opposite to the house of Eber Bailey, and North of the road running East, stood the house of Captain, or Deacon Jolin Bench, the place already spoken of as the one where the Rev. Mr. Ileaton was ordained. This was the old hive, where issued nearly all the families bearing the name of Beach in tliis town. Deacon John Beach was from Walling- ford, an original Proprietor in two rights, and came to this town in 1738 with nine sons — Barnabas, Adna, Edmund, Li- nus, Amos, Jacob, John, Roys, and Baldwin. Being thus blessed with a quiver full of arrows, he commanded respect. First and last, he sustained all important offices in the town. Four times he represented this town in the General Assembly. We may suppose, that Dca. Beach, with his nine sons, would not, in the first instance, erect a mean cabin. Tliis, with the considerations, that there was no meeting-house fitted to the occasion of an ordination in 1740; that there was no road from East to Middle street, worthy of being called a road ;
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and that East street was at that time more thickly inhabited than any other section of the town, is explanatory why Mr. Heaton w^as ordained at the house of Deacon John Beach, I will remark here, that Dca. John Beach had a brother, Samuel, who settled in Litchfield, and gave name to the North and South street, that is called Beach street. He was the progen- itor of those families of that name in that neighborhood. I will also say that Jacob Beach, the sixth son of Deacon John Beach, was the Father of the present Francis and Julius Beach, whose joint ages amount to 156 years, and are with us to-day.
From Deacon John Beach's house, we proceed North till we come to the garden of Robert Palmer, on the East side of East street and on the South side of the road leading Eastward, and there stood the house of Samuel Towner, from Waterbury. He w^as an original proprietor, but did not remain long in town. Just North of Towner's house, and near the spot where Ro- bert Palmer's house now stands, stood the house of John North, from Farmingrton. He did somethins; as a merchant there. He built what was called the Blue house, deriving its name from the color of its paint. It stood precisely on the spot where now stands the house of Robert Palmer. This house w'as struck by lightning in the afternoon of the 6th of June, 1767, in a tremendous tempest of lightning, thunder and rain. ^-^ All were struck down in the house, and two men,^©iwt4t Rice/ and Martin Wilcox, were killed. This Martin Wilcox was a young man, pious and much beloved. The house seemed in- stantly on fire in various places, and the bodies of these men were nearly consumed before they could be taken from the flames. The terror produced by this Providence was so great, that the ancients speak of it with awe t9 the present day. About twenty rods at the North of the Blue house, on the West side of the road, stood the house of Jolm Thomson, Jun., from Wallingford. His father was the original proprietor. John Thomson was the progenitor of the Thomsons in the North part of the town.
North of John Thomson's, and fifty rods South-east of the vellow house built by Asaph Hall, Esq., stood the log house of 5
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Elkaiiah Hall, from Wallingford. His father David Hall, was the original proprietor in two rights, but he never lived in Goshen. He afterwards was killed by a ball at Fort George, in the old French war. Asaph Hall, Esq., succeeded Elkanah at the log house, and hved there until he built the yellow house, and there lived until his death, about thirty-eight years ago. Asaph Hall was a talented man, and possessed the confidence of the people of this town. Twenty-four times between 1773 and 1792 he sat in the General Assembly, He was then called Captain Hall. For many years he sustained the office of mag- istrate, and was a firm friend to his country.
And now we come to the house of Deacon Nathaniel Bald- win, one of the first characters of that day. He was originally from Guilford, but came first to Litchfield, and at the settle- ment of this town, he purchased two rights and came to Go- shen in 1739. His house stood on the West side of East street, and on the South side of the narrow road leading to Hum- phrey's lane, a few rods South-west from the brick house of Asaph Hall. He was eminently a man of God, and was highly esteemed both in the church and in the town. Twice was he sent to the General Assembly. He was at first a deacon in the church at Guilford, then at Litchfield, and as soon as the church was organized here, he was appointed one of their first dea- cons. He married, while yet in Guilford, Elizabeth, the sister of Abraham Parmele, the progenitor of all the Parmeles in Goshen. Deacon Baldwin, his wife, and his eight children, all had a standing in this church, and although all of them have long since gone from this world, yet our faith sees them mem- bers of the church triumphant and glorfied, the father saying, " Behold, / and the children whom the Lord hath given me i" The names of their children were Nathaniel, Elizabeth, Sam- uel, Brewen, Anne, Sarah, Lucy and Rachel. The late Isaac Baldwin, of this town, was the Son of Nathaniel Baldwin, and Grand-son of Deacon Nathaniel Baldwin.
The late Brewen Baldwin, was Grand-son of Deacon Na- thaniel Baldwin, and Son of Samuel Baldwin. But the late Daniel, Stephen, and Elisha Baldwin, were Grand-sons of
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Timothy Baldwin, of Guilford, brother of Deacon Nathaniel Baldwin. On the East side of the road, and nearly opposite to Asaph Hall's brick house, on the North side of the road which leads to Hart Hollow, stood the house of John Smith, from Farmington. Here he commenced trading, and was the jfirst merchant in the town. After about two years, he re- moved to the Towner house, just Sauth of Robert Palmer's ; and next he came to the lot on which Erastus Lyman, Esq., now lives. He built a large house between INIechanic's Hal!, and the house of Esquire Lyman, afterwards called the Kettle house. He for some years made potash, on the little stream at the foot of the hill. East of this house ; and from this cir- cumstance, the stream derived its name Potash brook. The little children who resort to this place in the summer months, when out of school, to catch tadpoles, or porwigles, may re- member how they come to say, " Come let us go to the Pot- ash." Abigail, the daughter of this Mr. Smith, married the Rev. Abel Newell, the second minister in the town.
We return to East street, and proceeding North from Smith's house, we come to the present store of Putnam Bailey. Here stood the house of Timothy Stanley/, the brother of Na- thaniel Stanley, of wham we have spoken. He came into town in the summer of 1742, from Farmington. His descend- ants are numerous, but are scattered abroad in the several States. From this house there was a highway, existing in name, a little distance North of the present house of Collins Baldwin, but the whole country North and East was yet in possession of the tenants of the forest. Nature vegetated, blossomed, matured, and fell, without the friendly hand of cul- ture, and without imparting directly a single blessing to civilized Hfe.
la Humphrey's lane, as it is called, a road running parallel with East street, South of the North meeting-house and a little West of East street, there were tw'o families. On the West side of this lane, about ten rods from where the road from the meeting-house comes into the lane, stood the house of John Wilcox, from Farmington. Daniel Wilcox, from Simsbury,
36
was the original owner. The posterity of this John Wilcox have now become numerous. John Flavel Wilcox is his de- scendant. The other family in this street was Samuel Hum- phery. His house was thirty or forty rods South of Wilcox, on the East side of the road as it now is, but on the West as it then was. Humphrey was an original proprietor from Sims- bury. He had eishteen children by four wives — ten sons, and eight daughters ; and his posterity are very numerous, and have ever well sustained the reputation of their worthy pro- genitor. Indeed it is thought that the descendants of this Samuel Humphrey are more numerous, by far, than the de- scendants of any other man who ever lived in Goshen.
We have now but one more location to notice. It is that of Abraham Parmele, from Guilford. His father was the orig- inal proprietor, but never came here to live. His son came on at the settlement of the town. His house, when built, stood about 130 rods North-west of Whist pond, on the North and South road, running West of the pond, and near where the East and West road from Robert Palmer's, comes into the pond road. The first year he labored on this lot all alone, but boarded with his uncle Deacon Nathaniel Baldwin, of East street. The next year he had a wigwam, and boarded him- self; and he had a bed too, for returning from Guilford in the spring of that year, he brought with him a bag of grass-seed which was far more elastic and downy than the floor of his cabin. On this he reposed at night, secure from the wolves that howled around his tenement. It is said of young Parmele, that his axe was heavy, but he knew it not. It fell thick and strong. The sound thereof was from early morn until the stars ap- peared, and the sturdy sons of the forest, lay around him as windfalls ! But although he was thus enjoying single blessed- ness in the stillness, grandeur, and sublimity of a deep forest, yet it seems he did not think it good for man to live alone al- ways, and believed there must be a help meet for him some where. In the summer of 1745, his house went up, an indica- tion of a revolution in his domestic establishment, and in May^ 1746, Mary Stanley, the 4th Daughter of Nathaniel Stanley of
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of East Street, was legally constituted associated Head of the establishment. This was an honorable, and a happy union. They had ten children, nearly all them, with the Parents, be- cam3 pious, and two of the Sdus entered the Gospel Ministry. This was the Father of our much loved Friend, and Father in the town, Nathaniel Stanley Parmsle, who still survives the successive attacks of the most formidable disease, which falls upon our race — Apoplexy ! I have several times mention- ed Whist Pond in the vicinity of INIr. Parmele's. This Pond derives its name from an old Indian of that name, who came every year alone from Farmington, and spent the sea son in hunting around the Pond, and fishing, and bathing in it, but who was finally drowned in its waters. I will here remark that Gun Stock Brook, in the North part of the town, derived its name from the fact, that curly Maple grew plentifully upon its banks, which was much used during the war of the revolution in the manufacture of stocks for muskets.
I have now presented you with a map of this towm, as it was wiien the original Proprietors were fairly settled on their lots. And we can hardly fail to see that some parts of the town, were then as thickly inhabited as at this day. This was the case with West street all the distance to Litchfield line. It was so on West side from Timothy Tuttle's to the house of William Miles, and on East street, from Cyprian Collins to Putnam Bailey's store.
But other parts of the town, were either thinly inhabited or remained a wilderness, as at the beginning. But how solemn the thought, that of all the families spoken of, not one remains. But few of their children remain, and these are all bending to the earth for very age !
How brief is this life ! How mutable all things here !
We will now bring into view some of the civil, and ecclesi- astical affairs of the town, at the same time of which we have been speaking — 1745. It seems that at an early period, the inhabitants of the North part of the town, were sensible of the disadvantages they labored under, from the location of the meeting h use in this place, and that they commendably
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labored, for one of two things, either, that the second meeting house should be located further North, or that the town should be divided into two Parishes. And this was the cause of a Committee being appointed by the General Assembly in 1740 to come to this place, and decide where the house should stand. And we can scarcely doubt but that it was in view of another ecclesiastical society existing at the North, that the stake for the second meeting house was placed here ; for no man in his senses could suppose, that a house for worship here, would give equal advantages, to the North, with those imparted to the South. Accordingly, we find a vote passed at a pub- lic town meeting, on the 10th of December, 1745, expressing their willingrness for the town to be divided into two ecclesias- tical societies, as soon as the North should stand 1500 pounds on the grand list, and the dividing line should be through the centre of the town, running East and West. This appears to have been satisfactory at the time, and the North and South proceeded on in their original relation ; and indeed, nothing appears on record to show that this subject ever alienated the feelings of the brethren of the church, or that it ever interrup- ted the community of feeling, between families naturally allied. But at this early period of Mr. Heaton's ministry among the people of Goshen, dissatisfaction arose in the minds of many in regard to him, and early in the year of 1746, we find one of the most loving, modest, and polite invitations for Mr. Heaton to leave them, that may be found, I think, on history. The vote stands thus : — " Voted, that we will choose a Committee to treat with our Rev. Pastor, about some reasonable, and loving terms of agreement, so that the door may be opened, if he in his wisdom, shall think fit, to seek for an orderly dis- mission from the work of the ministry in this place, or to treat with him about making same suitable alterations."
Mr. Heaton, it seems, was not equally pacific, and loving towards his people, but retained h"s relation to them as a Pas- tor, seven years longer. The reasons for this dissatisfaction are no where publicly stated ; but it may be supposed, that the pressure of the times, together with their recent origin,
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and expenditures, contributed something to this uneasiness ; for we have arrived to that period, when the inhabitants were visited with the greatest calamity, they ever were called to experience, I mean what is termed the The Old French war ! This was a war that originated from ttie rival interests of France and England, both in Europe, and America. France had long asserted her right to North America, by prior discov- ery, and she had actually been prior in her settlements, in No- va Scotia and in Canada. She claimed also all the great val- ey of the West, and as fast as possible for her, she sent out her Jesuit Pioneers, to travel from the gulf of Mexico to the great lakes, gaining the affections, and confidence of all the In- dian tribes making treaties with them, inspiring them with hatred, and revenge towards the English Colonies, building forts upon the banks of the father of rivers, the Mississippi, and upon the shores of the great lakes ; and she viewed the English Colonies upon the shores of the Atlantic, as intruders, and enemies. England, on the other hand, viewed the advan- ces of the French, with equal jealousy, and she was resolved on sustaining her colonies, and expelling the French from North America. It was natural, then, to expect, that in the event of war between France and England in Europe, this country would become the arena where the combatants would spend no inconsiderable portion of their strength. And so it turned out, and the portion which fell to these Colonies was calamit- ous in the extreme. The evils they suffered, were not the or- dinary concomitants of war simply, but the horrors of an In- dian war, aggravated by every cruelty, that a powerful, en- lightened, and exasperated enemy could suggest, so that when war was proclaimed, between these two nations in 1744, these Colonies were the first to feel the miseries of the tomahawk and scalping knife, sharpened and rendered mighty by for- eign leaders, who rioted in the blood of mother's, and their infants. These Colonies then took up arms, not only in de- fence of civil rights, but they fought for their lives, and the lives of their families. It was victory or death. The first enterprizc of the Colonies against the French in the year 1745,
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was directed against Louisburg, the capital of the French set- tlement in Nova Scotia, and vicinity. It was a strongly forti- fied place. But they were surprised and captured by the New England troops. Connecticut, although then a small Col- ony, furnished a thousand men for the taking and retaining of that place. I know not whether any men from Goshen were in the first expedition against Louisburg ; but they could not but feel the effects of this campaign, as the Colonies paid the whole expense ; and although one million pounds sterling, was captured at, and before Louisburg, by New England troops, not one cent came to the aid of the colonies, except a small compensation to a Capt. Fletcher, who decoyed a South Sea ship into the harbor of Louisburg, estimated at 400,000 poimds. For the prosecution of the war in 1746, Connecticut raised 1000 men, and gave thirty pounds bounty for every en- listment. The enlistment alone cost the colony 30,000 pounds. But on account of troubles at home, neither England or France did much to decide the contest in this country, in this, or the following year ; and in April, 1748, a treaty was entered into, which suspended hostilities, about six years until 1754. Tliis treaty restored all things as they were before the war.
We will now look at some of the domestic transactions of the town from 1745 to 1754. At a town meeting, February 16th, 1747, it was voted to pay Timothy Stanley thirty shillings, old tenor, for killing a wolf April 22, 1747, the town forbids the Select men paying the Rev. ]SIr. Ileaton any money. Janua- ry 4, 1748, the town raise a committee to lay out a road four rods wide from the meeting house, north to Canaan. Septem- ber 19, 1749, a committee is raised to look out a road from Deacon Gideon Thompson's (opposite the present house of Truman Starr, Esq.) to Frisbie's Mills in Canada, and to Corn- wall. April 8, 1751, It was voted that Samuel Pettibone, Esq. be an agent to petition the General Assembly, for a coun- ty in this part of their government. I would here remark that until 1751, these Western towns were all included in the coun- ty of Hartford ; but this year the new county of Litchfield was created. In June, 1753, the Rev. Stephen Heaton was
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dismissed from his pastoral relation to this church, and people, and steps were immediately taken to procure prcacliing. It appears that Mr. Abel Newell, was their first candidate upon Mr. Heaton's removal, that he received a call to settle with them in 1754, but did not receive ordination till 1755. The town stipulated to pay Mr. Newell fifteen hundred pounds settlement, old tenor, within three years of his ordination, 500 pounds annually for three years. His salary for the first year was to be equal in value to one hundred bushels of wheat, to sixty-six bushels of rye, and to two hundred and one bushels of Indian corn ; and then to rise forty pounds per annum, old tenor, in the same proportion to said grain, till the salary sliould amount in value to one hundred and twelve bushels of wheat, to one hundred and thirty four bushels of rye, and to two hun- dred and twenty five bushels of Indian corn, and then his sala- ry was to remain fixed at that sum.
But we now come to a renewal of the old French war, wliich had been suspended with no other view than to give the principal belligerents in Europe, time to recruit their exhausted energies. And scarcely had these colonies enjoyed a respite from their toils and dangers ; for the French foreeseing there must be a renewal of the contest soon, had kept the Indians constantly irritated, and they had again and again massacred some and captured others of our border inhabitants. But now the recruited energies of France and England awoke, and it was soon apparent, that each of them was preparing to give the other the fatal blow. Four expeditions were planned by England against the French this season, 1755. One against fort Du Quesne in Ohio, commanded by General Brad- dock, and one against Nova Scotia, and a third against Crown Point, and a fourth against Niagara. The colonies were called upon to raise, equip, and provision as many troops as they well could. Connecticut sent into the field one thousand men, and voted to raise five hundred more, and to have them ready to march at a moment's warning if occasion demanded. The Connecticut troops were destined for Crown Point, under the command of Major General Lyman. In August these troops 6
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reached the South end of lake George, where they had their first battle with the French and Indians, under Baron Deiskau, It was a hard fought battle, but the French were defeated, their General wounded, and taken prisoner, and seven hundred of his troops left dead on the field. The loss of the Provincials was two hundred. Some men from this town were in that battle, and here it was that Timothy Gaylord lost his life by the unerring aim of an Indian, as previously stated. Tliis battle aroused the fears, and energies of all New England, Connect- icut called a special Assembly, and m a little more than one week, she raised, equipped, and sent out two regiments of seven hundred and fifty men each, to reinforce our army, so that in 1755, Connecticut alone sent into the field two thousand five hundred troops, requiring at that time, doubtless, a greater effort, than she would now make in sending thirty thousand troops into tl^ field ; the number of her inhabitants at that time, poor as they were, not exceeding we should think, the present number in the two counties of Hartford and Litch- field. With this battle terminated the campaign of 1 755. Of the four expiditions projected by England for this year, two were successful, and two were failures. That against Nova Scotia succeeded, and this at lake George ; but that under General Braddock was a total defeat, and that under Govern- or Shirley against Niagara, a failure. The plan of operations for 1756, was to prosecute the enterprises against Crown Point, Niagara, and fort Du Quesne. To meet the expecta- tions of England, Connecticut raised two thousand five hun- dred men, more than double the number required by the Com- mander in Chief, and more than double her proportion to oth- er colonies. England sent out more troops with new com- manders. General Abercrombie, and Lord Loudon. But all was delay on the part of England, and notwithstanding there was the finest army, early in the camp at Albany, ever yet seen in the colonies, ten thousand strong, with two thousand in their forts at the North, yet the Generals did not reach Al- bany until about the first of July, and nothing was done that year, offensive, and the English lost their important fort at Os-
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wego. Although the colonies were greatly disheartened in view of these results, and had lost their confidence in these Generals, yet Connecticut raised for the campaign of 1757, two thousand five hundred troops, and they were in readiness to enter the field at an early day. But when the fleet arrived from England this year, much of the season was past. They reached Halifax the 9th day of July, and then the colonies learned that the Northern campaign was wholly laid aside^ the forts Edward, and William Henry, were to be left wholly unsustained, and their troops for that year were to be called away to recapture Louisburg, on the Island of Cape Breton* which had been surrendered at the treaty of 1748. Nothing could exceed the astonishment of the colonies, at the folly, and madness of this course, for they foresaw nothing but disaste r and ruin attending it ; but they acquiesced, until the British commander, relinquished the object himself; but at so late a period in the season, as to prevent their doing any thing for the support of their forts at the North. The French General Montcalm, seeing the exposed situation of these forts, near lake George, moved with his army from Crown Point, and shortly reduced them. Many Americans fell in, and around those forts, and a vast amount of property in military stores, fell into the possession of the French. The colonies made all haste to reinforce these forts, as soon as they heard that they w^ere invested, and Connecticut sent forward five thousand troops, but the fatal blow was struck before relief could be af- forded. This terminated the third year of the war. The re- sources of the colonies were nearly exhausted. Their men had perished in battle, and in camp, and their only reward was defeat, and disgrace. Dissatisfaction was now at its height in the colonies, and it extended to the mother country. This produced a change in the ministry, and the incomparable Pitt, was brought forward. This inspired all with new life, and Connecticut, exhausted, and feeble as she was, voted to raise five thousand troops for the campaign of 1758, and to raise thirty thousand pounds, lawful money, by the emission of bills of credit, bearing interest at five per cent. With the
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troops and fleet, which came out from England this year, came as commanders, the ever memorable names, Amherst, and Wolfe. They inspired the armies with invincible cour- age. The fruit of this campaign was the fall of Louisburg, forts Edward, and William Henry, Frontenac, and Du Ques- ne, and every thing was inspiring to England and the colonies. To prepare for the campaign of 1759, Connecticut voted to raise five thousand troops, and fifty thousand pounds, lawful money by bills of credit, and laid a tax adequate to redeem all their bills. The design of this campaign, was to carry the war into the heart of Canada, and strike an effectual blow up- on an enemy that had so lately triumphed, and was full of hope. The troops were early in the field, and Ticonderoga, and> Crown Point, were the first to fall into the possession of the English. The fort at Niagara, was the next to surrender, and lastly Quebec itself, the Gibralter of America, September 18th, 1759. This was the decisive blow, so long anticipated, for which so much blood, and treasure had been expended ! The battle which transferred Quebec from the hands of the French, to those of the English, will ever stand on history, as one of the most tremendous, that was ever fought by men. Each General, each subaltern, and each soldier, on both sides, fought as for their all, and for the last time I The two com- manders, Wolfe, and Montcalm, may well compare with Han- nibal, and Scipio, before the walls of Carthage. They both fell, the former, rejoicing that his death was the ransom of his country from incalculable evil, and the latter sorrowing in view of that cloud, that hung over his country's future destiny ! I must be permitted to say in this connexion, that history has never exhibited to me more splendid military talents, than we witness in General Wolf, at the capture of Louisburg, and then at Quebec. But my friends, let us remember that our father''s were there ! They were among the brave, and true hearted, and the dead ! Some probably from our own town, who on that terrible, eventful day, amidst thunder, fire, and blood, thought of parents, wives, and children on the green hills of Goshen, whom they were never to see ! Peace to their ashes on the heights of Abraham. While they sleep, we their
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descendants will not be unmindful of the debt of gratitude we owe them.
But with the fall of Quebec, there was not the immediate surrender of all the forces of the French in Canada, and there was another^demand of the colonies for an army to be raised for a campaign in 1760. Connecticut again raised her 5,000 men, and sent them into the field, and this year, the remaining fragments of the French armies were captured, and all the Canadas were in the possession of the British Crown. But all those forts which had been taken from the enemy, were to be garrisoned ; new forts to be built, roads to be repaired, and new ones made, and every thing done to secure the peace of this extended territory ! For these, another requisition was made of the colonies for an army in 1761. Connecticut raised 2300 men, and 45,000 pounds to defray the expenses ! Again the same number of troops were required for 1762. They were raised by this colony, and 65,000 pounds were voted to be raised, and taxes laid to redeem the bills. But the treaty of Paris, in February, 1763, released these colonies from the further labors, sacrifices, and sufferings, of a long, and cruelly savage war. Great joy was experienced on the recep- tion of the news of peace, and all successes were ascribed to Him, who ruleth over all. But almost incredible was the ex- pense of this, then small, and infant colony. After all remu- neration from the British Parhament, it appears that the colony had expended more than 400,000 pounds sterling, exclusive of the expenses of the four first years of the war from 1 744 to 1748. And this vast amount was paid by this colony, with httle or no depreciation in their bills, because they taxed the people from year to year, to meet the demands on the treasury. And now let us reflect for a moment, with what constancy and perseverance the colonies sustained those burdens ! And what hardships, new settlements lilie those of this town, at that day, must have suffered, in order to meet the expenses of government, and all domestic expenses ! These are times we know not by any experience, and we hear little of them at this day, because a war succeeded that, which resulted in our Inde-
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pendence, a theme ever new, and inspiring to us ; but we can remember the tales of old men, thirty, forty, and fifty years ago, and they carried us back to the old war, for hard- ships, sufferings, and deeds of daring ; and Louisburg, Forts Edward and WiUiam Henry, and the heights of Abraham, could scarcely be named, without convulsing their frames, and drawing tears from their eyes.
There is nothing especially interesting in the public transac- tions of the town, from 1755 to 1765. There is one vote of the town in 1762, which may be humiliating to our present feelings, and yet it confirms what I have already stated in re- gard to the pressure of the times, in the new settlements at that period, and shows how the views and feelings of men, will differ at different times, in regard to the morality of things, according to the light they have on those subjects. The vote reads thus, " Voted to choose an agent for said town to pre- fer a prayer to the General Assembly at their session in May next, praying said Assembly to grant to said town, liberty to raise the sum of 200 pounds, by a Lottery, for the making and mending highways, in said town, under such regulations as said Assembly in their wisdom, shall think proper." Another vote January 12, 1763, will show us the price of different kinds of grain at that time — " Voted to give the Rev. Mr. Newell for his services in the ministry, in this town the year past — for wheat, four shillings per bushel — and for rye, two shillings and nine pence per bushel — and for Indian corn, two shillings per bushel."
April 21, 1768, "Voted forty-nine to twenty-two, that a new meeting-house is needed. July 3, 1769, Voted to build a new meeting-house for public worship, at the place affixed by the County Court in said town. Voted, that said meeting-house be sixty-four feet in length, and forty-four in breadth, and that Ensign David Norton, Lieut. Parmele, and Zacheus Gris- would be a committee to carry on the business of building said meeting-house." This third meeting-house was raised in the spring of the next year, 1770, giving twenty-six years for the existence of the second meeting-house, and sixty-two years for
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the third, as that was removed to make way for the present house in 1832. In the autumn of 1771, Nov. 15, Ensign Eli- sha Blin was appointed first Chorister, Fisk Beach the second, and Miles Norton the third, at a regular town meeting.
I would here stop to speak of certain appendages, to that meeting-house, and to many others in the country at that day. They were called Sabbath day houses, or noon houses. The object of these houses, was to furnish the owners of them, and such of their friends as they were disposed to invite, with a warm retreat, in winter, during the interval between forenoon and afternoon public services. And we must bear in mind that at that day, a stove in a meeting-house was a thing unknown, and unthought of. These houses generally consisted of two rooms, ten or twelve feet square, with a chimney in the cen- ter between them, and a fire-place in each room. They were generally built at the united expense of two, or more families. Dry fuel was kept in each house, ready for kindling a fire. On the morning of the Sabbath, the owner of each room deposited in his saddle-bags the necessary refreshment for himself and family, and a bottle of beer, or cider, and took an early start for the sanctuary. He first called at his Sabbath day house, built him a fire, deposited his lunceon, warmed himself and family, and at the hour of worship, they were all ready to sally forth, and to shiver in the cold, during the morning ser- vices, at the house of worship. At noon they returned to their Sabbath houses, with some invited friends, perhaps, where a warm room received them : the fire having been in operation during the morning exercises. The saddle-bags were now brought forth, and their contents discharged upon a Prophet's table, of which all partook a little, and each in turn drank at the bottle. This service being performed, and thanks returned, the Patriarch of the family, drew from his pocket the notes he had taken during the morning service, and the sermon came under renewed, and distinct consideration, all enjoying the utmost freedom in their remarks. Sometimes a well chosen chapter, or paragraph was read from an author, and the service was not unfrequcntly concluded by prayer ;
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then all returned to the sanctuary to seek a blessing there. If the cold was severe, the family might return to their house to warm them, before they sought their habitation. The fire was then extinguished, the saddle-bags and the fragments were gathered up, the house locked, and all returned to their home, there were no less than four of these houses standing around the third meeting-house at once, three on the North side of the road, West of the present blacksmith's shop, and one South, by the town post between the brick school-house, and H. N. Lyman's store. The Sabbath house that stood by the present town post, was owned by Deacon Moses Lyman, and Capt. Jonathan Buel, father of the present Capt. Jonathan Buel. The one farthest East, on the North, was owned by Dea. Ebenezer Norton, and his brother Samuel Norton. The next West of them was owned by Dea. Nathaniel Baldwin, and Samuel Baldwin, and the third was owned by Nehemiah Lewis, and Adna Beach.
I am now in the history of the town, 1772, when a road was laid out, directly West from the meeting-house, to Elisha Thompson's house, standing near the present cider mill of Ira Thompson.
We will now very cheerfully give the Ladies of Goshen a place in our history, since they did at the time, we are now speaking of demonstrate, that some things could be done then, as well as at other times. There arose a sphining-match, among the young married ladies, at the house of Nehemiah Lewis, the late residence of Samuel D. Street. The trial was at the foot-wheel, in spinning linen. The conditions were previously defined, and agreed to, viz : Tliey might spin during the whole twenty-four hours if they cliose. They were to have their distaffs prepared for them, anl their yarn reeled by others. Upon the first trial, at Lews' house many did well. The wife of Stephen Tuttle spun five runs, which were equal to two and a half days' labour, when on hire. Several others spun four runs each ; but Mrs. Tuttle came off victor. But this aroused the ambition of some of the unmarried ladies, and Lydia Beach, the daughter of Dea. Edmund Beach, of
49
East-street, was the first to come forward, and take up tKe gauntlet. She spun from early dawn to nine o'clock in the evenino-. She had her distaffs prepared, her yarn reeled, and her food put into her mouth. She spun in this time, seven runs, three and a half days' labour, and took the wreath from the brow of Mrs. Tuttle.* Upon hearing of the exploit of Miss Beach, the wife ofCapt. Isaac Pratt, of the South part of the town, came upon the arena. Between early dawn, and the setting of the sun, she had actually spun six runs, but at this moment, her husband interfered, and peremptorily forbade her proceeding further. She sat down, and wept like a child, when she ought to have rejoiced, that she possessed a husband, in whose eyes her future health and happiness were more pre- cious, them the brief applause which might arise from success in that contest.
The hand of Miss Lydia was sought in marriage, by the young, and aspiring Jesse Buel, son of Capt. Jonathan Buel, and she was led to the hymenial altar, while her garland was yet fresh upon her brow ; but the doating husband was destined to see it wither down to the grave, for Lydia never enjoyed health from the hour of her triumph.
But I must return to graver subjects. Times had now be- come dark in these colonies, by reason of the cloud that hung over them, portending an explosion, that would convulse the old, and new world. In the last French war, which was ter- minated in 1763, the English nation had learned more of the moral and physical powers of the colonies, than she had ever before known ; and having meditated for a hundred years, on the plan of depriving the colonies of their chartered rights, and rendering them vassals of the crown, she felt the necessity of asserting her rights, and enforcing her claims, before the colo- nies should become any more formidable, than they then were. And as she knew that her loyal subjects in America had ex- hausted their treasures, and poured out their blood, as free as water, to sustain the cause of their mother country, and their
* Some of our Matrons say, that ten runs were a week's labor ; if so, Miss Lydia performed the labour of four days, and one fifth of a day in one day. 7
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own cause against their common enemy, she thought that a favorable moment to enforce the right she claimed to tax the colonies in all cases whatever, vs^ithout representation or con- sent. Accordingly, as soon as she had concluded a treaty with France, she voted taxes upon these colonies. But almost uni- versally was her right to do so denied, and her oppressive acts repudiated, and resisted.
For about twelve years, matters were growing to a crisis, Massachusetts leading in the opposition. In 1774, British troops were sent over to Boston to quell all opposition to Brit- ish exactions, which produced great sensation in the colonies. And although the British crown professed to have no contro- versy with her colonies, except Massachusetts, hoping thereby to divide the colonies in the approaching contest, yet all had the sagacity to see that they must all ultimately stand or fall with Massachusetts, and they agreed to take part with her. Delegates from ditterent colonies were sent to Philadelphia in September, 1774, to form a Congress of the Colonies, to con- sult, to devise plans, and to afiord mutual aid in executing them. It was while this first Congress was in session, Sept. 20th, 1774, that this town chose a Committee to correspond with Committees of county and colony, " relating to the pres- ent alarming situation of our affairs in North America." It will be recollected that this first Congress addressed the in- habitants of the several colonies in a circular stating what they had done, the right they had so to do, with the necessity ex- isting in the case, and calling upon all to unite in support of these measures. We find the response of this town to this address, bearing date Dec. 12th, 1774, at a regular town meeting. The resolution is patriotic and well-expressed : Voted, " that the resolves and declarations concerning the lib- erties of the several governments in North America, come into by said Congress, are just, and founded in the law of God, of Nature, the English Constitution, and the particular privi- leges granted to the several colonies aforesaid, by their respective charters ; and this town will use their utmost en- deavors in all lawful ways, to secure and defend the same to
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ourselves, and hand the same down to the latest posterity { and that we approve and acquiesce in the associational agree- ment come into by said Congress, and resolve to keep the same inviolate ourselves, and use our true endeavors that oth- ers shall do the same " ! This was meeting the exigencies of the times — the true spirit of the Revolution, and the pledge here given was fully redeemed by the people of this town. It is the opinion of the aged men of this town, that several men from Goshen were on the heights of Charlestown,inl775, at the ever memorable battle of Bunker Hill ; but they are not cer- tain of more than one individual, and he was John North. This individual was one of Col. Arnold's men, who that same season marched through the entire wilderness lying between Quebec in Canada, and the shore of the present State of Maine. The object of this expedition was to meet Generals Mont- gomery and Schuyler from the way of Lake Champlain and Montreal, at the City of Quebec, and to take that important place by storm. The march of Arnold through that wilder- ness was a bold and rash undertaking, and his men suffered every thing but death. Thirty-two days were they in that wilderness without seeing a house or any thing human ; nor would the Canadians have been more surprised perhaps, had they seen these men fall from the clouds, than they were wiien they saw them come from the wilderness of Maine. But the expedition was a failure ; J\Iontgomery fell in the assault upon the town ; Col. Arnold was wounded, and some of his men taken prisoners. The remnant of the army retreated about three miles from the city, and entered into winter quarters. There were no less than twenty-eight men from this town at the assault on Quebec in 1775, at the time Montgomery fell, twenty-seven marched by the Lake Champlain, and John North by Kennebec, under Col. Arnold. But no one fell in battle belonging to this town, that year, 1775. The news of the disaster at Quebec having reached Congress, great exer- tions were made to recruit the army in Canada, in the winter of 1776. Twenty men enlisted in this town to recruit tho army near Quebec. Ten of these men were in the company
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of Captain Titus Watson, of Norfolk, and ten in the company of Captain Luther Stoddard of Salisbury. Captain Stoddard's compa^^ny commenced their march on the first day of February, and arrived in camp the first day of March. Captain Watson's company arrived shortly after. Of these twenty men, six- teen had the small pox in the natural way. Three of them died of this disease, one of pleurisy, two of the camp distemper, and one of them, George Dear, who lived on Whist Pond Hill, was killed by a cannon ball on Lake Champlain, cut almost in two in the middle ; so that there were seven of the twenty dead before the year had expired for which they were enlis- ted. But one of these twenty men is with us to-day — Mr. Ambrose Collins. This same year, 1776, Stephen Goodwin of East-street was appointed Captain, and he enlisted sixty men, fifty of whom belong to Goshen. They enlisted for six months to go to New York. Four of Captain Goodwin's men died ot sickness. One was taken prisoner after being wounded, and was never more heard of At one time, this same season all the able bodied men in the two Militia companies in this town were in the camp at or near New York. They were commanded by Medad Hills at the taking of New York city by the British. So that there could not have been less than one hundred and twenty soldiers in camp from this town a considerable part of the summer and autumn of 1776. Cap- tain Jonathan Buel, of this town, and now present, was at Long Island, and New York ; and at the time our troops evac- uated Long Island, on the night of the 28th July, 1776, these withered arms, then full and vigorous impelled a boat six times across the sound full of soldiers. It was dark, and no man was permitted to speak a loud word. It ought to be mentioned likewise, that Theodore Parmele, son of Abraham Parmele, commanded a company of horse in this campaign at New York. But after all the exertions of the Americans, their affairs wore a gloomy aspect at the close of the campaign in 1776. The British arms seemed everywhere to prevail, and many in the colonies were desponding. But this town adopted energetic measures to raise troops for a renewal of the cam-
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paign in 1777. At a public town meeting, April 1st, 1777, it was voted to raise the quota of men demanded of this town. The select men were authorized to pay a bounty of ten pounds lawful money, for every enlistment for one year, and in case a soldier enlisted for a second year before his return, he should be paid another ten pounds, for a bounty, and the same sum for a third enlistment, and the treasurer of the town was au- thorized to hire money to defray those expenses. A com- mittee was appointed to supply the families of the soldiers, if they had them, with necessaries in the absence of those men. How many enlisted upon those conditions, it is not known, the names of seven are recollected. It was at this time the Brit- ish sent a detachment from New York to destroy the public stores at Danbury. The news of this reached this place on the Sabbath, and a number of volunteers set out immediately to meet the enemy, but they had retreated before our men arrived, and the volunteers returned to their homes. The same spring there was a draft upon the Militia at Litchfield, Torrington and Goshen for a company to go to Peekskill, on the River Hudson. A number of Goshen men helped com- pose this company. There was another draft on Goshen for men to go to Peekskill in Sept. of this year, the object of which was to prevent the British passing up the river to the assistance of Burgoyne and his army. So many as ten names of those who went from this town on that expedition, are now recollected by the aged men. The same month, this year, there was a call for men to go to the assistance of General Gates, who was opposing the march of Burgoyne, towards Albany, on North River. This was an inspiring subject. The lion whose march had been stately, and whose roar had carried dismay to the hearts of the people, was now in the toils, and there was an animating hope, that if efforts were made corresponding to the magnitude of the object, he might be taken, and the coun- try saved from further ravages by him, A town meeting was called. Sept, 25, 1777, and a bounty of five pounds was voted to every man who would enlist for that expedition, and a Com- mittee was raised to supply at the expense of the town, every
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non-commissioned officer and soldier in the Continental army^, with one shirt, either linen or woolen, one hunting frock, one pair over-alls, one or two pair of stockings, and one pair of good shoes, and deliver them to the commissary. Men with great readiness enlisted for this service, and a good number marched forthwith for the camp. The names of thirteen of this company are still retained. These men were in nearly all the hard fighting preceeding the surrender of the Royal army, and as many as two of them are before us to-day, Capt Jona- than Buel and Ambrose Collins ! Yes, their eyes saw that very General Burgoyne of whom we read, surrender his sword to the American commander, and his troops lay down their arms, the very troops with which he promised the Par- liament of England to subdue the colonies ! This was a joy- ful day to America ! It was the ray of hope that penetrates and illuminates the dark cell of despondency — tlie life-boat that comes to the shipwrecked mariner. The news was car- ried as on angels' winus, and it inspired every friend of his country with hope and fresh resolutions. As an illustration of the feelings of many others, I will relate an anecdote I re- ceived a few days since from an aged individual now present, but who cannot hear one word of what is now spoken. He went out in the autumn of 1776, as one of ninety men on board a Privateer, Capt, Day, of Massachusetts. They were gone one full year, took eleven prizes, entered St. George's Channel, went in sight of Bristol, put in at a port in France, and re- turned in Dec, 1777. As they approached the American continent, they took some prizes, and their prisoners related to them the successes of Burgoyne's army, and gave it as their belief, that at that time the colonies were conquered, and all the ports in New England in possession of the British. As it was a matter of reality with their prisoners, their own hearts sunk within them ! The thought of returninj? to their beloved country, now humbled and subdued, waiting to receive the portion that their enemies should deal out to them, was almost overpowering. The Captain concluded to lie off for a time, east of Boston harbor, and see if he could not gain some in-
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formation from passing ships, concerning his safety in entering that port. But no ships appearing, he concluded to run up near the fort which guards the harbor, and if it was in the possession of the British, he concluded he should hear from them in season to make his escape, or to humble himself in the agonies of his country. They approached the fort without molestation, and entered the harbor. As they entered, they saw the tents of an army pitched on Bunker Hill. They in- quired of the first small craft that passed them, " what tents those were on Bunker Ilill ? " The response came buoyant upon the v,'aters, " Burgoyne's army, all prisoners of war 1'^ The old gentleman added in an emotion I never shall forget^ " That was the pleasantest sight iny eyes ever beheld " 1 This aged man is Fi*ancis Beach, of this town, aged 83.
We cannot tell the average number of soldiers from this town in 1777, as some were in one enlistment and some in another ; some with one army, and some with another ; but we cannot estimate them less than fifty. One or two more anecdotes, and I must dismiss the campaign of 1777. Am- brose Collins was one of six men who went on to the assist- ance of the army, under General Gates, before there was the call for volunteers. And he was in the fiercest part of the battle, on the 7th of October, where the left wing of the American army under General Arnold, cnijaijed with the right wing of the British army, commanded b^/ Burgoyne in person. This battle lasted most of the day, and was not suspended until the dusk of the evening. The dead and wounded of both armies, lay promiscuously togethei- ; for the same ground had been taken and retaken repeatedK% and many w^ere the wounded, the dying, and the dead. Just at dusk, Cyprian Collins, the father of Ambrose, arrived as a volunteer at the field of battle. As would naturally be the case, he first sought for his son Ambrose, but not finding him readily among the living, he turned his attention to the dead on the field of bat- tle. He soon found a corpse which he thought must be his son. He went, and got him a torch light, and examined it more perfectly, and concluded it was Ambrose, and with feel-
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lugs, such as a father only can know, he was in the act of re- moving the body for burial, when Ambrose came up to him, and addressed him " father," in the well known voice of his son ! We may imagine the emotions of father, and son in this interview.
I ought here to mention that the late Colonel Moses Lyman, then a lieutenant in a company of militia belonging to this town, arrived at Saratoga on the evening of the memorable 7th, havmg in command some volunteers from this town, and some others who fell in with them while on their march for the field of battle. Lyman was well known to many of the officers in camp, as he had been on several expeditions of this kind, especially to Long Island, and New York, in 1776, and to Peekskill, in 1777 ; and he was put in command of a com- pany, of observation, during the night of the 7th, to watch the movements of Burgoyne, to see whether he would advance, or recede from the position, which he held at the close of the action. It will be recollected, that the sentinels of the two hostile armies, were stationed near each other, and might have hailed, and challenged each other. But no movement was dis- covered in the British camp during the night. Soon after the dawning of the 8th, Lyman marched out with his men, in view of the British camp, expecting that his appearance would pro- voke some kind of movement on the part of the enemy, but there was none. lie advanced nearer, and as he saw no ene- my, and no human being, except the slain, or wounded on the field of battle, he continued to advance, until he came to their deserted tents, and found no persons within, but the wounded and dead. He was the first to inform General Gates, that the enemy had deserted their camp, and had taken another posi- tion, nothing more secure ; for indeed at that time, there was no asylum for the unhappy Burgoyne, whose fate resembled that of the victim, who is almost suffocated, and is ready to be broken under the contracting and tortuous folds of the Ana- conda. There was no year of the war, after the surrender of Burgoyne's army in which so many soldiers were furnished by Goshen, as in 1776, and 1777, unless it was in 1779, at the in-
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vasion of New Haven, and Fairfield, when many volunteered to repel the mvasion, but as the British soon retired, the sol- diers soon returned. But all the demands of the Congress and of the colony were promptly met in furnishing men for the Continental army, and the Connecticut line ; and from year to year, town meetings were held to raise men and money and to lay taxes to defray all expenses. I have thirteen names, now recollected, of men who entered the Continental army after 1777, most of whom enlisted during the war. John Norton, fourth son of David Norton, was at the execution of Major Andre, in 1780, at Tappan, was one of the guard and stood so near the unfortunate man as to hear all that was said.
And that this town was true to her first, vote of adherence to the voice of Congress, and to the cause of her country, I will give a vote of the town, passed June 29, 1780, when the seat of war had passed from the North to the South, where the final blow was struck, which decided the long conteste 1 ques- tion of our Independence. " Voted to give to each able bodied, effective soldier to the number of ten, (wliich is the Quota now demanded of this town,) who shall by the 29th day of July next, enUst into the Continental battalion for three years, or during the war, so as to be allowed towards our quota, now demanded, shall be entitled to a bounty, over and above all public bounties and wages, to be paid out of the Treasury of this town, the sum of twelve pounds, silver money, or in other money equivalent thereto, for each six months they shall serve in said battalion, to be paid out at the end of each six months ; and in the same proportion for a less time at forty shillings per month." To this bounty they added ten shillings per month before the meeting adjourned, and voted the same to those who had enlisted since the first day of .April, and to all who should enlist before the first day of September.
Just let us look at the magnitude of this vote, for a small town oppressed with other taxes. We will take the number ten, the least number specified for three years. Their bounty 8
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will amount to 2400 dollars, and if the war continued five years, and they continued in service, their bounty would amount to 4000 dollars. But it seems that other soldiers had enlisted, and it was expected and hoped that more would en- list before September ; yet all were to share the same ! I ask, do we see any thing like this devotion to country now ? Nothing like it ; I say, nothing. And yet when we speak of deterioration in their sons, both in moral principle and in true magnanimity of spirit and patriotism, we are almost denounc- ed as defamers, and more in love with antiquity, than with the " spirit of the times." But facts will speak for themselves, and they will speak in louder accents, the further we go from the generations that have passed away. It is my full conviction that the generations which took possession of this wilderness, repelled the assaults of the ferociou ? inhabitants, destroyed the beasts of prey, subdued the forest, broke the tough soil, and then defended it by two long and bloody wars at the expense of ease, wealth and blood, were such as the same world pro- duces but once, and that we are not to expect to see their like again ! There will be a holier generation, a happier genera- tion, but they will not be prepared by a holy Providence to do the things that were done by the Pilgrims of New England, and their immediate successors. Nor do we speak of these men only, but their mothers, their wives, and their daughters were like them. They were worthy of such men, worthy of our gratitude, and worthy of our eulogies. They sustained their full share in all the trials and dangers of the Ocean, of the wilderness, and of war ! Their courage in times of peril, and their fortitude in trials never forsook them ! They gave up their husbands and their sons for the cause of God and their country, and their example was all powerful. And this was true, not only of Pilgrim women, but of women in the Revolution. This town possessed them. I will give one instance of this, that it may be a memorial of her. Abra- ham Parmele was a warm patriot in the Revolution, and shrunk not from any demand of him ; but in tliis, it is said, he
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was thrown into the shade by the patriotism of his wife, Mary Stanley that was. She was fixed in the righteousness of the cause of the Colonies, and when war broke out, she said they would prevail ! She said she could pray for the cause of America; and not in the darkest period of the conflict, when many faces were pale, aud many hands were on their loins, did this woman's confidence fail her in the least, and her actions corresponded with her words. Four different times did she fit out her own son Theodore, for the battle field, and gave him her parting blessing ; and with her own hands did she make five soldier's blankets, not to sell, but sent them a present to the poor soldiers, who after the battles of the day, had neither bed, nor covering for the night. Could soldiers, thus sustained, ever relinquish the cause of their Country 1 Never.
I mentioned in the course of the narration that George Dear of this town, who lived on the North side of Whist Pond Hill, was killed by a cannon ball on Lake Champlain, in the war of the Revolution. He and Timothy Gaylord of West Street, who was killed in the old French war, were the only persons of this town who were ever known to have been killed in battle since the settlement of the town. This is to be acknowledged with thankfulness to Him who saveth from death in the day of battle, whilst we at this distance of time, mourn for the fallen of our towns-men, and would sympathise with the bereaved.
But although so few fell in battle, yet many were the dead of this town. Sickness was the great destroyer of our soldiers. I cannot ascertain the number of those who died of sickness, but they were many. The Campaign of 1776 was very fatal to our men. A number were taken away by the small pox, and still more by the camp distemper. Especially was this true of the soldiers who went that year to New York and Ivong Island. A number died in Camp : others were dismissed on account of sickness, and died while they were striving to reach their home. Abraham Beach, and Martin Beach, cousins, and both Grand-sons of Deacon John Beach of East Street, reached Milford in this State, but there died, and one grave
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received them. Thomas Lucas, a young man of 27 years, and of great promise to this town, left New York with this disease upon him. His friends heard of his condition, and Allen Lucas, his brother, and the Father of Olive and David Lucas, went out to meet him and bring him in. The brothers met under affecting circumstances. Thomas says to Allen, " Brother I am glad to see you, I hope I shall live to get home, and not die under the fence as some do." He reached his home and died in ten days ! Oh, what distresses did that cruel war of eight years bring upon this infant nation ! They are written and most of them sealed up for the great day, and we must repress all further desire to break the seal, and to read the Book at this time.
From the acknowledgment of the Independence of these States in 1783, by England and other nations, our town and country have held on the even tenor of their way, and it has been prosperous with occasional interruptions. The war of 1812 brought its calamities, but it was maintained in a manner so different from the wars preceding it, and was so exclusively in the hands of Congress, that towns in the interior, as towns, did little more than pay their taxes, and read their News-papers. The public records will tell all the story to the generations to come.
I will here state that during the war of the Revolution there were three Pest houses established in this to wn,whe rein persons were inoculated with the small pox. One on Whist Pond hill, one about half a mile East of Robert Palmer's, and one where Timothy Wadhams now lives. In this last house one patient was lost, by the name of Joel Davis, as I learn from the old men.
The question often arises, was this town ever the permanent residence of Indians 1 And this question may have arisen in the minds of many on hearing of houses here, fortified in the early settlement. I think we have no sufficient evidence to convince us that a tribe of Indians was ever permanently estab- lished here. Their camps, when located from choice and not from necessity, were found on soft, and dry soil, in vallies and upon the banks of streams and rivers, where they might
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raise corn and pulse in the use of such implements as they possessed, and where they might take fish. This town was not adapted to their necessities, like the towns of Farmington, New Milford,or the bottom lands on the Housatonicin general. But that they visited this place for hunting in certain seasons of the year, is beyond a question. None can doubt that these hills and vallies were once well stocked with such meats as the Indian craves for his food, and with such furs as he needed for clothing and for trade. Moose, Bear, Deer, Beaver, Otter, Mink, and Muskrats would resort hither when it was no longer safe for them to appear in the valleys below. Many of these animals were abundant in the town at its settlement. Within the memory of one now present, Jacob Beach of the North part of the town, took in traps and by other means, seventeen bears in one year. Samuel Wilcox killed sixteen another year. Said Beach killed four wolves in one year, and took £16 bounty for their heads. Francis Beach relates that he has seen four deer at once, and at another time three wolves, and that it was no uncommon thing for him to fall in with a bear in his rambles in the woods, and sometimes they were destructive to their fields of wheat and corn, and sometimes to their herds of swine. And we have repeated mention made in our Town records, of bounties given for lulling wolves, and of fines collected for killing deer contrary to law. Now would Indians suffer these dainties to fatten here and perish, and they not regale themselves on this savory meat, or line their jackets with the furs at the approach of winter ? Impossible ! Be- sides, Indian arrow heads, and other equipments for the chase, have been found in great abundance in this place, especially on the sides of the hills and in the valleys between the dwelling of Capt. Timothy Collins, and the widow Lucy Street ; also in the vicinity of each of the ponds at the west end of the town. At the North-west side of Dog Pond, on a high and dry point of land, some distance from the pond, there were found in the early settlement of the town, large quantities of mus- cle shells, that had been taken from the pond, carried there, and their contents feasted upon by the Indians. Moses Cook^
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senior, has ploughed through them, and thinks their fertilizing qualities may be traced in the vegetation to the present day. And, indeed, the practice of Old Whist coming from Farming- ton every year after the town was settled to spend the milder part of the season around his favorite pond, until like thousands of others, he lost his life in the pursuit of pleasure, teaches us that Goshen was the Indian's summer Elysium : That hither came the newly wedded pair, to meet newly acquired connex- ions, to be introduced, to compare agility and strength, and to rejoice in all the gifts of nature ! But although this was not the permanent residence of the Indian, this might not preclude the necessity of fortifying houses against an Indian foe. For if once aroused by the demon spirit of war, he went through the wilderness like a spirit, and in the moment of falling upon his prey he crouched like a leopard, he bounded from his copse, and the unprotected fell a sacrifice to his ferocity ! I suppose some of my little friends, the little boys and girls, will wish me to tell them some things about the condition of their schools and school-houses in those early days of our ancestors, I must do it in few words. The Government of the Colony granted to the town one right of land, the use of which was to be forever appropriated to the benefit of schools. But such was the pressure of the times, and such the state of the roads for many years, but little was done to furnish competent in- struction for children. An old gentleman of eighty-three years, told me a few days ago, that while under age, he never had lived nearer a school house than four and ahalf miles, and that he never attended school a day in his life : but his mother taught him to read and write some, and he applied himself, and thus saved him from the calamity of knowing nothing. The first school house that was ever built in this town, stood about ten rods North-east of the dwelling house of Thomas Gris- wold, near the corner on your left, as you cross the meadow and turn south to go to Mr. Griswold's house. The second house, and built nearly the same time, stood twenty rods south from the house of Mr. Street, late deceased. From
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tlMs time school districts were organized, one after another^ and school houses were built until all were supplied as at this day. Children, be mindful of your present advantages, im- prove them as faithfully as did the old Gentleman to whom I referred, and you may be happy and useful in life.
It is said, the following is a Ust of clergymen born in this town, Noah Wadhams, Elisha Parmele, Reuben Parmele, Luther Hart, Darius O. Griswold, Abraham Baldwin, Theron Baldwin, William Thompson, Orlo Bartholomew, Ephraim Lyman, Mark Ives, John F. Norton, and Augustus C. Thomp- son— thirteen. The following Physicians were born in this town, Joseph North, senior, Gideon Thompson, Isaac Humph- rey, Daniel Lyman, Hunn Beach, Isaac Pratt, Westal Wil- oughby, Elisha North, Joseph North, Jr., Ethel North, Ezekiel North, Stephen Stanley, Daniel Goodwin, Horace V. Beach, Henry Denison, William Denison, Alfred C. Thomson, Silas Wright, Albert Wright, Isaac H. Brown, — twenty. Judges, Samuel Lyman, Birdsey Norton, Moses Lyman, Augustus Baldwin, John Newton, Orson Oviatt, Van R. Humphrey — seven. Samuel Lyman was second son of Dea. Moses lay- man, a graduate of Yale College, a lawyer in the city of Hart- ford, succeeded the late Governor at the head of the Pay- table office in this State, removed to Springfield, Mass., was a member of Congress a number of years, and died while sus- taining the office of judge in that State. Lawyers, Joab Gris- wold, Theodore Sill, Ebenezer F. Norton, Darius Lyman, Theodore North, Birdsey Baldwin, Marcus Humphrey, Eb- enezer Newton, Daniel Raymond, and David Raymond — ten. Men who have received the honors of College, but have not entered into a Profession, are Solomon Wadhams, Truman Starr, Ephraim Starr, Frederick A. Norton, Willard Wad- ams, and Theodore S. Gold — six. We have had two Gen- erals of the Militia, David Thompson, and Moses Cook, Jr.
I shall now give a concise but connected view of the ec- clesiastical concerns of this Church and Society, and with this I shall dismiss my statistics.
The Church in this place was organized, Nov. 1740, and the Rev. Stephen Heaton was ordained at the same time Pas-
64
tor. He continued to sustain that relation until June, 175?J, 3 He was then dismissed from his charge, and the Rev. Abel Newell was settled over the Church and people on the 2d Tue&day of June, 1755. He sustained this relation until Jan- uary 30th, 1781. He was then dismissed, and the Rev. Jo- siah Sherman installed their Pastor in the summer of 1782. He sustained this relation but about seven years, and was dismissed in the spring of 1789. Sept. 7th, 1791, Rev. Asahel Hooker was ordained their Pastor, and from this period we
can avail ourselves of Church Records. Previous to this, all
* . . . .
our information relative to ecclesiastical concerns is derived
from the Town Records, or private writings of individuals, or the recollection of aged people. We cannot therefore say much of revivals or nigatherings into the Church prior to the settlement of Mr. Hooker ; but quite a number were received under the Ministry of Mr. Sherman, and some were excinded from the Church. It was a day of trouble in Israel. At the time when Mr. Hooker was ordained, the Church consisted of 111 members, nor was there more than an ordinary enlarge- ment, until 1799, when 72 were received. That year this Church and people experienced wonderful measures of grace I The Lord was coming down to revive the work of 1736 to 1745 in New England, and it pleased him to visit this place. From all I can learn of it, it was the greatest work of grace ever experienced m this town. I have observed that the old people, and those who were savingly wrought upon at that time, can seldom speak of it but with meltings of heart, and with a kind of awe in view of the power and grace of God, which they witnessed and felt. There was another revival in 1807, which added to the church twenty-five. In 1808, thirty more were added, the revival being continued into that year. Mr. Hooker took his dismission from this Church and people, June 12th, 1810, and the Rev. Joseph Harvey succeeded him in this charge, Oct. 24th, 1810, and continued his Ministry nearly fifteen years. He was dismissed Sept., 1825. During the Ministry of Mr. Harvey, two seasons of revival were experi- enced. In the year 1816, twenty were added to the Church,
65
'aftd in 1821, forty more were added, February 1st, 1826, Rev. Francis H. Case was ordained Pastor of this Church and people. Mr. Case sustained his relation to this Church and people two years and a half, and was dismissed, Sept 30th, 1828. In this time a revival of religion was enjoyed which brought in sixty-two persons. In 1828, the Congregational Church in the North part of this town was organized, and thirty persons were dismissed from this Church to help con- stitute that. By reason of this, and on account of previous subtractions by Baptist and Methodist denominations at the North and West, this Ecclesiastical Society does not embrace more than one-third part of the number of the inhabitants, that it did in 1791. The present incumbent in office was installed Pasktor, August 27th, 1829. The Church consists of 139 members, forty Males, and ninety-nine Females. Sixty-nine of these have been added since 1829. Thirty of these were received as the fruit of a revival in 1831, and ten of a brief revival in 1835. 489 Persons have been members of this Church since 1791. 350 are removed by death or otherwise. The greater portion took letters of commendation to Churches in the West. There have been seventy baptisms in the last nine years. In regard to Meet- ing houses, I would state, that the first house by the Old Ash Tree, was improved occasionally by the people for worship five years, from 1739 to 1744. The 2d, the Old Yellow house, with double galleries, served them twenty-six years, from 1744 to 1770. The 3d house, which was removed to make way for this, sixty-two years from 1770 to 1832, and this has stood six years. Sixteen persons have sustained the office of Dea- con in this Church. John Beach, Gideon Thomson, and Na- thaniel Baldwin were the three first Deacons from 1740. Moses Lyman succeeded Dea Gideon Thomson, who died, May, 1759. Samuel Nash succeeded Dea. Nathaniel Baldwin, who died 17G0. Ebenezer Norton succeeded Dea. Moses Lyman, who died 1768. Edmund Beach succeeded his Father, Dea. John Beach, who died, 1773. Stephen Thomson suc- ceeded Dea. Ebenezer Norton, who died 1784. Samuel Nor- 9
66
ton succeeded the resignation ofDea. Stephen Thomson, 1798. Nathan Hale and Jesse Stanley succeeded Deacons Edmund Beach and Samuel Nash, both resigning on account of infirmi- ty of years, 1800. Daniel Norton succeeded Dea. Nathan Hale, deceased, 1811. Henry Hart succeeded Dea. Daniel Norton, deceased 1815. Augustus Thomson succeeded Dea. Samuel Norton, resigned on account of infirmity, 1817. George Stanley succeeded Dea. Augustus Thomson, removed to Norwich, 1831. Lewis M. Norton succeeded Dea. Henry Hart, removed to Illinois, 1835. Here I promised to suspend my statement of statistics. I do it amidst a profusion of inte- resting facts. I do it with no ordinary sacrifice of feeling, but absolutely, my strength and your patience can endure no longer. But I offer a reflection.
What a re vealer of secrets is time ! How remote from the minds of our Fathers were the leading events of the last Cen- tury, when they came up from Old Bantayn to the New, and entered this wilderness ! What mighty changes have taken place in the face of Nature here ! What revolutions, in our po- litical relations and our civil institutions ! And not only in ours, but in every civilized nation upon earth ! And not less impor- tant have been the changes in the aspect of Science, Litera- ture, and Religion ! As we now contemplate the relative po- sition of our Fathers in regard to time and events, they seem to have stood in the birth-place of nations, and as they were called to sympathize in the throes of nature to produce her largest gifts for a world, so they participated in the joy of the free and the blessed. But all these things were in the counsels of Him who hath the end from the beginning, and with whom there is nothing new. But this view of the subject teaches us how little we know of the future, and how great may be the vicissitudes through which we and our children may be called to pass ! Another revolution is in motion. Nature again travails, and whether the result will be for the weal or woe of the present generation of men is known only to him who holds the destinies of all in his hands. One thing is certain, we must go the way of our Fathers. We already stand above their ashes, and every memorial of theirs preaches to us the
67
brevity of life, its emptiness, and the all importance of a saving interest in Jesus Christ. Let us hear with all readiness, the instructions of God's w^ord, and of these merciful monitors, and hearing, may we obey ! May we like our fathers, not only provide Gospel instruction for ourselves, but for our de- scendants likewise : and like them, may we strive to lead our wives and children into the Ark of safety. Then, when another shall here address that far distant generation on an occasion like the present, although we are dead, and our children are dead, may both we and they be triumphantly happy : triumphantly glorious.
APPENDIX.
The hard winter of 1 779 and 80, as given by the old people of the town, and authenticated by some manuscript papers. — The severity of this winter set in about Dec. 20, 1779, and more or less snow fell forty successive days and there were heavy winds much of the time. It was so cold that for six weeks, the snow did not yield to the influence of the sun upon the roofs of the houses, The snow became very deep. Some orchards were so buried in snow, that scarcely a twig was visible. The fences were all covered. The house of John Thompson, North of Robert Palmer's was nearly covered, and a passage was dug under the snow from the road to the door of the house, a distance of several rods. In March, the snow was four feet deep in the woods, and so hard that oxen could travel upon it. At the usual time of making sugar, the fences were buried in snow. Many sheep and some cattle had been buried alive. Public worship on the Sabbath was maintained, but very few attended besides those who went on snow shoes. The same contrivance for a long time furnished the only means of communication between East and Middle street, and indeed between all the diiFerent parts of the town. These snow shoes were made to a considerable extent by Lieut Cyprian Collins, and so great was the demand for them at that time, that several old horses were killed, that their raw hides might be used in the manufacture. The people, until the snow became so solid as to bear oxen, drew their grains to mill on hand sleds. The little business that was done consisted chiefly in going to mill,
68
feeding their stock, and maintaining their fires. But few faraiiies attempted to drive their cattle to water ; and the cattle soon learned to supply the de- ficiency by eating snow.
This state of things remained until the latter part of March, and then the weather became mild, the snow wasted gradually without a flood, and the spring opened in usual time.
Tnis winter proved destructive to the deer in this county, for until the snow became so solid as to bear up deer as well as wolves and dogs, they were hunted and destroyed without mercy, and they never recovered from that slaughter.
It may not be uninteresting to those who shall come after us to state in this connexion, that the winter of 1835 and 6 was an unusually hard winter. It set in on the 23d of Nov. 1835, and sledding and sleighing were maintained uninterruptedly to the 17th of April, 1836, making 147 days, or twenty -one weeks ! There were many days of extreme cold. On the 16th of Dec. 1835 mercury here fell to fourteen degrees below zero, at the city of Hartford twenty-seven degrees below, at Woodstock Vt., to forty degrees below, and at Franconia, N. H., to forty degrees below, or 76 degrees below the freezing point. In all parts the mercury fell lower in the vallies than on the hills. Many of the old people who could well remember the former hard winter thought there were more extreme cold days in the latter than in the former, but the cold not so uniform, and the snow not so deep at any one time.
Respecting Episcopalians in Goshen it may be stated ; that as early as 1767, and sometime afterwards, the part of the ministerial tax which was collected from " churchmen" was by a vote of the town annually paid over to " the Rev. Mr. Palmer." Whether this Mr. Palmer was a resident here is not known. A house of worship for persons of this denomination was erected about that time, at the South end of East Street grave yard ; and meetings were held in jt with more or less of frequency for several years. This house was respectable in size, but was never finished within, or painted without. The Episcopalians as such did not flourish here, and their house becoming useless to them, was bargained to the North East winter parish, whither it was removed in 1793. It was placed on nearly the same spot where stands the present North meeting house, but was never fitted up for use. In the memorable storm of March, 1796, it was blown down, and the present house was first erected not long afterwards.
Respecting the Methodist Episcopal Church in this town, the following sta. tistics are given.
The first sermon was by Mr. Canfield, at the house of Capt. Jabez Wright, on the last day of Dec. 1797.
The first quarterly meeting was held in the barn of the said Wright, in July of 1798.
The first meeting house was on the same ground as the present one, in Canada Village, and was built in 1809, and 1810. This was painted red. The present neat and commodious house was erected in 1836.
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