“Many years later Sherman’s character was thus sketched by the

discriminating hand of Professor James L. Kingsley:

* * * * *

“‘No man in Connecticut ever enjoyed the confidence of the people

of the State more entirely, or for a longer period, than Roger

Sherman. Where he doubted, who ventured to be positive? Where he

saw his way clear, who hesitated to follow? In the whole course of

his public life Roger Sherman never failed to leave in those with

whom he had intercourse an impression of deep sagacity, and stern

integrity; and he bequeathed, as a public man, to those who should

come after him, the character of a great, and what is much more

rare, of an honest, politician.’[40]

“Sherman’s English ancestors were of the yeoman class. He was born

in the ranks of what, for want of a better name, is called the

‘common people.’ He knew their virtues, but he knew their failings,

too. It may fairly be said that, when he came to be entrusted with

high public station, the people had more confidence in Sherman than

Sherman had in them.

“This, no doubt, was an esoteric doctrine to be wisely kept for

those who had ears to hear. He stated it without reserve in the

Convention which framed the Constitution of the United States.

Governor Randolph of Virginia had proposed--what is now urged by

many as a needed constitutional change--that the senators from each

State should be elected by popular vote. Sherman opposed it,

‘insisting,’ as Mr. Madison reports him, ‘that it ought to be by

the State legislatures. The people, he said, immediately, should

have as little to do as may be about the government. They want

information, and are constantly liable to be misled.’[41]

“His views prevailed, and, if we may judge from the experience thus

far of his own State, he was probably right in believing that it

was safer to confide in the wisdom of the General Assembly than in

a popular vote. He was speaking as the representative of one of the

smaller States, of territorial limits such as to make it reasonably

certain that every leading man among her citizens would be known to

most of the leading members of her Legislature. The inhabitants of

our towns, again, are quite generally personally acquainted with

those whom they send to represent them at Hartford; and if these

men betray their trust, they are called to a prompt account at

home, before the bar of public opinion.

“It is to be remembered, of course, that Sherman’s unwillingness to

trust the people with the election of a Senator by a direct vote

was not inconsistent with his confidence in their judgment on

general questions of public policy or moral right. That confidence

he always maintained.

“Sherman was an effective speaker, but it was not because he had in

him anything of an orator.[42] His power in debate lay in his habit

of never taking the floor unless he had something new and important

to suggest,[43] and in stopping as soon as he had said it. It lay

also in what Cicero said was the first qualification of the

successful orator--being a good man. People believed him, because

they believed in him.

“Justice was his polar star. He believed that it was the true

mainspring of all political action on the part of the mass of the

people. ‘Popular opinion,’ he said on the floor of the First

Congress, ‘is founded in justice, and the only way to know if the

popular opinion is in favor of a measure is to examine whether it

is just and right in itself.’

“‘The popularity that follows, not that which is run after,’ was

what he thought should be the wish of the legislator.

* * * * *

“So lived, and so, in a green old age, still in high public station

and still useful in it, passed away the man to whose commemoration

this hour has been devoted.

“The Church no longer thinks a peaceful end of a well-spent life is

to be taken as a token of the divine displeasure. It no longer

discusses the theological opinions that were of such absorbing

interest in Sherman’s age. He belonged to the eighteenth and we are

drinking in the inspiration of the twentieth century.

“But Sherman’s religion is still our religion. He stood for

justice, and truth: he stood for duty, quietly, daily, untiringly

done, in whatever station, high or low, God may see fit to place

us. He was a good shoemaker, and he was a good Senator.

“His example will never die out of American memory, because it

appeals to every man in every walk of life, and shows how

character, perseverance, industry, joined to common sense, under

our system of government, put within the reach of their possessor

whatever the times may have to give of opportunity for doing public

service and winning public esteem.

“There are five names in the history of the United States that seem

to me to stand alone. In the view of most Americans, I think,

Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, John Adams, and Hamilton were

above all others the founders of the Republic.

“In his ‘Studies in History and Jurisprudence,’[44] James Bryce

marshals in order the leaders in American affairs at the time of

the adoption of our Constitution. Five, he says, belong to the

history of the world: Washington, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson,

and Marshall; ‘and in the second rank are to be named John Adams,

Madison, Jay, Patrick Henry,

[Illustration: EGBERT MARSH Founder of the Memorial Library]

[Illustration: HONORABLE DANIEL DAVENPORT of Bridgeport, Conn.]

Gouverneur Morris, Roger Sherman, James Wilson, and Albert

Gallatin.’

“John Marshall seems to me not so much a founder as a re-founder of

the Constitution, and I should be unwilling to agree with Mr. Bryce

in giving him a place which appears with greater right to belong to

the successor of Washington in the presidential chair. So, in

arranging the statesmen of the second order, it may be doubted if

Gallatin does not more properly belong to a later generation. But

that in that class is Roger Sherman, rather than Trumbull, rather

than Ellsworth, rather than Johnson, rather than any other son of

Connecticut, or, after John Adams, of New England, few will

question who have closely studied the Journals of the Continental

Congress, and the debates in the Convention of 1787, out of which

our Constitution sprang.”

The last speaker, Hon. Daniel Davenport of Bridgeport, was introduced as

a descendant of John Davenport, the leader of the first group of

colonists to settle the New Haven Colony, and the first pastor of the

first church in New Haven. Mr. Davenport spoke as follows:

“The settlement of New Milford began in 1707, exactly a century after

that of Jamestown, Va. At that time, although Milford and Stratford at

the mouth of the Housatonic had been settled almost seventy years, and

the river afforded a convenient highway into the interior, for much of

the distance, this place, only thirty miles from the north shore of Long

Island Sound, was still beyond the extreme northwestern frontier of New

England, and indeed of English North America.

“The inhabitants of Connecticut then numbered about fifteen thousand,

settled in thirty towns, mostly along the shore of Long Island Sound,

and upon the banks of the Connecticut and Thames rivers. During the

thirty years next before, a few families from Norwalk had settled at

Danbury, from Stratford at Woodbury, from Milford at Derby, and from

Farmington at Waterbury. With these exceptions, hardly more than pin

points upon the map, and a few settlements about Albany, N. Y., the

whole of western and northwestern Connecticut and of western

Massachusetts and northern New York was a savage wilderness, covered

with dense forests, and affording almost perfect concealment for the

operations of savage warfare.

“Though the northwestern portion of Connecticut was then a most

formidable and inhospitable wilderness, strenuous efforts were already

being put forth by the Colony to encourage its settlement. For, strange

as it seems to us now, at that time, owing to imperfect modes of

cultivation and the difficulty of subduing the wilderness, the settled

portions of the Commonwealth had begun to feel overpopulated.

Twenty-five years before, the Secretary of the Colony had reported to

the Home Government, that ‘in this mountainous, rocky, and swampy

province’ most of the arable land was taken up, and the remainder was

hardly worth tillage.

“This need of more land, and the protection from invasion which the

settlement of this section would afford the communities near the coast,

and the innate love of adventure and desire to subdue the wilderness,

which have characterized the American people from the beginning, were

the impelling causes which led to the planting of New Milford.

“So pressing did this movement become that, though what is now

Litchfield County was then as remote and inaccessible to the rest of the

Colony as were Indiana and Illinois to our fathers in the middle of the

last century, within forty-five years after the first settler had built

his log cabin and lighted his fire here twelve towns had been settled

and the county organized with a population of more than ten thousand.

“In order that we may appreciate, somewhat, the broader political

conditions under which the first settlers took up their abode here,

which largely engrossed their thoughts and vitally affected them and

their children for two generations, it is necessary, before taking up

the narrative of their actual settlement here, to advert briefly to the

state of affairs at that time in England, and on the continent of

Europe, and in the English, French, and Spanish Colonies of North

America.

“By 1707 it had become apparent to the people of Connecticut that, soon

or late, they must fight for the very existence of their chartered

privileges and natural rights, not alone the British Crown, but the

English people. The disposition of the people of England to reap where

they had not sown had become very clear. In April, 1701, Connecticut was

named in the bill then introduced in Parliament to abrogate all American

charters. She resisted with all her might through her agent, but it

passed the second reading, and would have become a law but for the

breaking out of the French War. Its principle was supported by the

mercantile interests and the great men of England. Then for the first

time the people of Connecticut fully realized that their foes were to

be, not the exiled house of Stuart, but the English people themselves,

and that, though they changed their dynasties, they did not change their

own nature.

“In 1707 the principal kingdoms of Europe and their colonies were ablaze

with war. Anne was Queen of England. In that very year she attached her

signature to that long projected and most important constitutional

arrangement, the Act of Union between England and Scotland, which made

them one kingdom, the crown of which, by the Act of Settlement passed a

few years before, had been forever vested in the person and heirs of

Sophia, the electress of Hanover, the present reigning dynasty. Anne’s

accession to the throne in 1702 had been followed by the acknowledgment,

by Louis XIV., of the son of James II., the deposed and fugitive king of

England and the determined foe of the rights of the Colonists, as the

rightful king, although in the Treaty of Ryswick, in 1697, he had

solemnly stipulated to the contrary. This act of perfidy roused the

English to fury. The primary cause of the war, then raging, was the

acceptance by Louis of the crown of Spain for his grandson Philip

despite a previous formal renunciation. But the immediate occasion was

his espousal of the cause of the son of James II. as pretender to the

British throne, which enabled the English Government to form a great

European alliance to wrest Spain from Philip and prevent Louis from

becoming the absolute master of Europe.

The year before, 1706, had witnessed the humbling of the pride and

ambition of Louis by the defeat of his armies at Ramillies by the Duke

of Marlborough, in Piedmont by Prince Eugene, and in Spain by Lord

Galway. Charles XII. of Sweden had advanced to Dresden in Saxony, an

English and Portuguese army had occupied Madrid, and an attack of the

combined fleets of Spain and France upon Charleston, S. C., then claimed

by Spain as a part of Florida, had been repulsed by the vigor and

martial skill of the Colonial authorities.

“At that time the valley of the St. Lawrence was occupied by about fifty

thousand French settlers, imbued with bitter hostility towards the

settlers in New England and New York. Already the vast design of La

Salle to acquire for the King of France the whole interior of the

continent seemed to have been accomplished. While as yet the English

were struggling to secure a foothold upon the Atlantic seaboard, the

French had explored the Mississippi and its tributaries to its mouth;

and the whole vast region drained by them, between the Alleghanies and

the Rockies, had been taken possession of by the French under the name

of Louisiana; and a chain of military and trading posts from New Orleans

to the St. Lawrence, admirably chosen for the purpose, had been

established to hold it; and another chain was already planned to extend

southward along the west side of the Alleghanies, to forever keep out

the English. The French had been for fifty years hounding on the

numerous tribes of Canada and northern New England to attack and

exterminate the settlers of New England. The conquest of Canada by the

English was, therefore, an object of the greatest political importance,

and necessary for the peace and safety of the Colonists, and their

future growth, and it continued to engross the efforts and exhaust the

means of the Colonists, until their purpose was finally accomplished in

1763.

“The people who settled here were entirely familiar with the hardships,

dangers, and horrors of Indian warfare to which they were liable in

taking up their abode on this frontier. The horrible incidents which

attended the massacre of the inhabitants of Schenectady, in 1690,

seventeen years before, during the previous war, and of the inhabitants

of Deerfield, Mass., and other places in 1704, during the war still

raging, were household words throughout Connecticut, and had left an

abiding imprint in the minds of the people on the border. Though the

Indians, right about them here, seem to have been few in number and

comparatively harmless, they knew from their own and their fathers’

experiences that their position was one of extreme danger, and that at

all times their scanty and hard won possessions and their lives were

liable to instant destruction from unheralded irruptions by the more

distant Indian tribes of the North and Northwest, urged on by their

French instigators and allies. For the experiences of the last seventy

years, from the time of the Pequot War, and during the subsequent

troubles with the tribes in southwestern Connecticut, and on Long

Island, and during King Philip’s War, had fully taught them the craft,

treachery, and pitiless cruelty of the savages, as well as their

capacity for extensive combination among the widely separated tribes.

“When Major de Rouville, in 1704, with his band of civilized and

uncivilized savages, committed the atrocities at Deerfield, Mass., the

suspicions of the Colonists that the French had instigated the former

Indian outrages became a certainty, for in this instance they openly

shared in them.

“Their object was, as I have said, to drive the English colonists from

North America, and substitute in their place their own colonial system.

For this purpose they fitted out hundreds of parties of savages to

proceed to other portions of the English settlements, shoot down the

settlers when at work at their crops, seize their wives and children,

load them with packs of plunder from their own homes, and drive them

before them into the wilderness. When no longer able to stagger under

their burdens, they were murdered, and their scalps torn off and

exhibited to their masters, and for such trophies bounties were paid.

The French Government in Paris paid bounties for the scalps of women and

children, as Connecticut did for those of wolves, and it not only fitted

out other savage expeditions, but sent its own soldiers to assist in the

murderous work. Detailed reports of each case were regularly made to the

Government at Paris by its agents in Canada, which can now be read.

This is true of every French and Indian war until 1763, and the fact was

as well known to the settlers here in 1707 as it is to the historical

investigator of to-day.

“In the beginning of 1707 reports of an expedition by the French and

Indians against some part of New England gave alarm to the Colony, and

on the sixth of February of that year a council of war was convened at

Hartford, consisting of the Governor, most of the Council, and many of

the chief military officers of the Colony. Suspicions were entertained

that the attack would fall upon Western Connecticut, and that the

Indians in this vicinity intended to join the French and Indians. The

Council of War determined that the then western frontier towns of

Danbury, Woodbury, Waterbury, and Simsbury, should be fortified with the

utmost expedition. They were directed to keep scouts of faithful men to

range the forests to discover the designs of the enemy, and give

intelligence should they make their appearance near the frontier. At the

October session in 1708 it was enacted that garrisons should be kept at

those towns, and so it continued until after the close of the war in

1713.

“It was in the midst of alarms and dangers such as these that the

settlement of this town was begun. One of the first houses constructed

here had palisades about it to serve as a fort, which lasted many years,

and, in 1717, soldiers were stationed here for the protection of the

inhabitants; and this was repeated several times afterwards. Every man

here was a soldier. He was a soldier when he sat at his meals, a soldier

when he stood at his door, a soldier when he went to the cornfield, a

soldier by day and by night.

“At the time the first settlers arrived here there was a tract of

cleared land on the west side of the river called the Indian Field. It

extended from where the river runs in an easterly direction south to the

mouth of the little brook which runs along Fort Hill. It was not

included in the original purchase from the Indians, having been reserved

by them in their deed. It was, however, purchased from them in 1705 by

John Mitchell, and was conveyed by him to the inhabitants of the town

in 1714. This was of the greatest advantage to the first settlers. It

furnished them a space of cleared ground, where each planter could at

once plant his corn and other crops without the delay of felling the

trees.

“It is thought also that the ground where we now stand and Aspetuck Hill

had been in a large measure cleared of trees by the Indians by burning,

as was also Grassy Hill, two miles east of here. There appears also to

have been some meadow land partially cleared at the mouth of the

Aspetuck River.

“At that time the country about here presented no such appearance as it

does now. The river then flowed with a fuller tide. With the exceptions

I have noted, a continuous forest overspread the whole landscape. No

thickets, however, choked up the ways through it, for the underbrush was

swept away every year by fires built by the Indians for that purpose.

Winding footpaths led here and there, which the Indians and wild beasts

followed. The roots of the smaller grasses were destroyed by this annual

burning over. A coarse, long grass grew along the low banks of the river

and wherever the ground was not thickly shaded by trees. After the

occupation of the country by the white settlers this annual burning was

prohibited. In lieu thereof, the General Court early in its history

enacted that every inhabitant, with a few exceptions, should devote a

certain time yearly, in the several plantations, to the cutting of brush

and small trees in the more open forests for the purpose of allowing

grass to grow in such places, as during the summer the cattle ranged

through the forests near the plantations subsisting on what grew there.

It is said that in the early settlement of this town all meadow land was

secured by clearing marshy or swampy ground and allowing it to grow up

with grass from the roots and seeds already in the soil. It was one of

the early difficulties in the colony to secure grass from want of seed.

“The forests about here abounded with bears, wolves, foxes, and

catamounts, deer and moose, wild turkeys, pigeons, quail and partridges,

and the waters with wild geese, ducks, herons, and cranes. The river

itself was alive with fish, and every spring great quantities of shad

and lamprey eels ascended it. Strawberries, blackberries, and

huckleberries were extremely abundant in their season.

“The winters were usually of great severity. In 1637 the snow lay on the

ground three feet deep all over New England from the third of November

until the twenty-third of March, and on the twenty-third of April it

snowed for several hours in Boston, the flakes being as large as

shillings. The springs were very backward, the summers extremely hot and

often dry.

“Upon the petition of the people of Milford, in May, 1702, the General

Assembly granted them liberty to purchase from the Indians a township at

Wyantonock, the Indian name of this place, and directed them to report

their doings to the Assembly. The next March they made an extensive

purchase of the natives, and a patent for the same was granted by the

Assembly. In October, 1704, the Legislature enacted that the tract so

purchased should be a township by the name of New Milford, and that it

must be settled in five years,--the town plat to be fixed by a committee

appointed by the General Assembly. In October, 1706, the Legislature

annexed the tract to New Haven County. In April, 1706, the first meeting

of the proprietors was held at Milford, and it was voted that the town

plat and home lots should be speedily pitched and laid out by the

committee appointed by the Legislature, according to its own best

judgment, following certain rules laid down by the proprietors. During

that year and according to those rules, the town plat was laid out.

“It was originally intended to lay out the settlement on the hill

immediately east of the present village, from this circumstance called

Town Hill to this day. In point of fact, it was laid out on Aspetuck

Hill, and consisted of the town street and sixteen home lots. The street

was twenty rods wide. It began at the south end of the brow of the hill,

or at the lower end of what was then called the ‘Plain on the Hill,’ and

extended northward. Eight lots were laid out on each side of this

street, each lot being twenty-one rods wide and sixty deep.

“By the rules adopted by the proprietors, these lots were to be taken up

successively in regular order by the settlers as they should arrive.

John Noble took the first lot on the east side of the street at the

lower end, he being the first settler to arrive. John Bostwick took the

lot on the opposite side of the street, he being the next settler on the

ground. This method was followed by the others until there were twelve

settlers, with their families, numbering seventy souls, located on this

street in 1712. Of these twelve families, four were from Northampton and

Westfield, Mass., four were from Stratford, two from Farmington, and

only two from Milford. In 1714 the town street was extended southward to

the south end of the present public green.

“The first houses constructed here by the settlers were of the rudest

description. They were built of logs fastened by notching at the

corners. They were usually from fifteen to eighteen feet square, and

about seven feet in height, or high enough for a tall man to enter. At

first they had no floors. The fireplace was erected at one end by making

a back of stones laid in mud, and not in mortar, and a hole was left in

the bark or slab roof for the escape of the smoke. A chimney of sticks

plastered with mud was afterwards erected in this opening. A space, of

width suitable for a door, was cut in one side, and this was closed, at

first, by hanging in it a blanket, and afterwards by a door made from

split planks and hung on wooden hinges. This door was fastened by a

wooden latch on the inside, which could be raised from the outside by a

string. When the string was pulled in the door was effectually fastened.

A hole was cut in each side of the house to let in light, and, as glass

was difficult to obtain, greased paper was used to keep out the storms

and cold of autumn and winter. Holes were bored at the proper height in

the logs at one corner of the room, and into these the ends of poles

were fitted, the opposite ends, where they crossed, being supported by a

crotch or a block of the proper height. Across these poles others were

laid, and these were covered by a thick mattress of hemlock boughs, over

which blankets were spread. On such beds as these the first inhabitants

of this town slept and their first children were born. For want of

chairs, rude seats were made with ax and auger by boring holes and

inserting legs in planks split from basswood logs, hewn smooth on one

side. Tables were made in the same way, and, after a time, the floor, a

bare space being left about the fireplace instead of a hearthstone.

“No sooner had the first settlers taken up their abode here than they

were called upon to defend the title to their lands in the courts of the

Colony. About thirty-seven years before, the General Court had granted

permission to certain Stratford parties to buy land from the Indians and

settle a plantation at this place, and they had bought over twenty-six

thousand acres hereabouts. Apparently, however, no attempt was made

towards a settlement of the same until after the purchase of the same

tract from the Indians by the Milford parties in 1702, and the grant for

a patent for the same to them by the General Court in 1703. Soon after

the settlers first broke ground here, in 1707, a suit was begun against

them by the Stratford people in the County Court at New Haven in May,

1708, and it was carried thence to the General Court. It was tried

sixteen times. The first fifteen times the plaintiffs won on the

strength of their Indian title. The sixteenth, the defendants won on the

strength of their Indian title, the patent from the General Court, and

occupation. This incident is particularly interesting, because one of

the plaintiffs and the lawyer in this great case was the famous John

Read, one of the ablest men and most remarkable characters which New

England has produced. Some notice of him will not be inappropriate here,

as he was one of the earliest inhabitants of this place.

“He was born at Fairfield, June 29, 1679, and was a brother-in-law of

Governor Talcott. He graduated at Harvard in 1697, and became a

minister, preached in Woodbury as a candidate, and in various towns in

Hartford and Fairfield counties, and preached the first sermon ever

delivered in this place. He studied law, and when, in 1708, the General

Assembly first provided for the appointment of attorneys as officers of

the court, he was one of the first admitted. He held the offices of

Colony Queen’s Attorney, 1712-16; Deputy for Norwalk, 1715-17;

Commissioner to settle the boundary with New York, 1719; and he was

Connecticut’s representative in the Inter-Colonial Commission in regard

to Bills of Credit, in 1720. He removed to Boston in 1722 and became the

Attorney General and a member of the Council of Massachusetts. He was by

far the most eminent lawyer of New England, and was called ‘The Pride of

the Bar, Light of the Law, and Chief among the Wise, Witty, and

Eloquent.’ It was he who prepared the instructions to Lord Mansfield,

the counsel for Connecticut in the great case of Clark vs. Tousey, in

which was discussed the question whether the Common Law of England had

any force in Connecticut other than as it was adopted by the people of

Connecticut. His exposition of the principles involved was most

masterly, and it was the great authority upon which in a later

generation the people of Connecticut relied to sustain them in their

opposition to the measures of the crown in 1775.

“In a centenary sermon delivered at Danbury in January, 1801, the Rev.

Thomas Robbins had this to say of him:

“‘One of the early inhabitants of Danbury was John Read, a man of great

talents and thoroughly skilled in the knowledge and practice of the law.

He possessed naturally many peculiarities and affected still more. He is

known to this day through the country by many singular anecdotes and

characteristics under the appellation of “John Read, the lawyer.”’

“In 1712 the town was incorporated, which gave it the power to tax the

inhabitants to support a minister, and the place became thereby an

ecclesiastical society. In March, 1712, the Rev. Daniel Boardman was

called to preach to the settlers. In May, 1715, the settlers petitioned

the General Assembly that they might obtain liberty for the settlement

of the worship and ordinances of God among them, and the Legislature

granted them liberty to embody in church estate as soon as God in his

providence should make way therefor. On November 21, 1716, Mr. Boardman

was duly ordained as the pastor of the Church of Christ in New Milford,

the total number of the inhabitants of the town then being one hundred

and twenty-five. The first vote of the town to build a meeting-house was

passed in 1716, but work was not commenced upon it until 1719, and it

was not completed until 1731, after infinite struggling. It was forty

feet long, thirty wide, and twenty feet in height between joints, and

was provided with galleries, pews, and a pulpit. Long before completion,

when it was first used for religious purposes, the congregation was

accustomed to sit upon its outer sills, which were able to accommodate

every man, woman, and child in the town with a little squeezing. In

1713, the town voted to build for the minister a dwelling house forty

feet between joints. In 1726, thirteen years later, the house was still

unfinished. The first Sabbath Day house was not built until 1745.

“In 1721, when there were but thirty-five families residing here, a

public school was ordered by the town to be kept for four months the

winter following, one-half of the expense to be borne by the town. The

children were taught reading, spelling after a phonetic fashion,

writing, and the first four rules of arithmetic. In 1725 it was voted to

build a schoolhouse twenty feet long, sixteen feet wide, and seven feet

in height between the joints.

“The first settlers crossed the Housatonic to their lands on the west

side by fording it at a point near the mouth of Rocky River, about a

mile above the settlement, or at Waunupee Island in times of very low

water. In 1720 the town built a boat for the purpose, which was used

until 1737, when the first bridge ever built across the Housatonic from

its source to its mouth was constructed at what is now the foot of

Bennett Street.

“The settlers for many years crushed their grain by hand in mortars or

carried it to mill at Danbury, Woodbury, or Derby, and brought back the

flour and meal. In 1717 John Griswold, under an arrangement with the

town, built a grist and saw mill on Still River, at what is now

Lanesville.

“It is said that in 1713 there was but one clothier in the colony. The

most that he could do was to full the cloth which was made in the

homes. A great proportion of it was worn without shearing or pressing.

He lived at Woodbury, and thither the early inhabitants of this town

resorted to have their cloth fulled. People, to a very large extent,

wore clothing made from the skins of animals. They also wore wooden

shoes and moccasins, or went barefoot, although leather boots and shoes

were sometimes used.

“The implements which they used in subduing the wilderness, their axes,

saws, plows, hoes, and scythes, were of the rudest description. Their

horses, cattle, sheep, and swine, we should now regard as of very

inferior quality. The same was true of the few vegetables they

cultivated and of their fruits, especially their apples. Turnips,

squashes, and beans were the principal vegetables. Potatoes were not as

yet cultivated in New England, onions were not generally, and tomatoes

were looked upon as poisonous. Some of them owned negro slaves, but

worked the harder themselves to make them work.

“They had little or no currency, taxes and debts being paid in produce.

What they ate, what they wore, what they coaxed from the reluctant soil

of these hillsides, cost them infinite labor. As was to be expected, a

stingy avarice was their besetting sin, which manifested itself in all

the relations of life. They were without newspapers, none being

published in the Colony until 1755. They had few books, the first

printing press in the Colony not having been set up at New London until

1709. They suffered greatly from malaria and other forms of sickness, as

did all the early settlers in the State. Medical treatment was poor and

difficult to obtain. The women went to the limit in childbearing, and

the burden of rearing their large families was awful. The art of cooking

was little understood. They had no stoves nor table forks. The food was

served in a very unsavory fashion, and was very indigestible. The people

therefore had frightful dreams, and dyspepsia was very prevalent. No

carpet was seen here for a hundred years after the settlement.

Communication with the outer world was slow, difficult, and rare. On

several occasions, owing to the failure of their crops and the

difficulty in getting relief from distant places little better off,

they nearly starved to death.

“Truly the task which they had undertaken to subdue this wilderness, to

plant here the civil, religious, and educational institutions of

Connecticut, and to prepare this beautiful heritage for their children

and children’s children, was no holiday pastime, no gainful speculation,

no romantic adventure. It was grim, persistent, weary toil and danger,

continued through many years, with the wolf at the door and the savage

in the neighboring thicket.

“Besides the physical evils with which they were beset, they had

spiritual troubles also. They fully believed in witchcraft, as did all

their contemporaries, in a personal Devil who was busily plotting the

ruin of their souls, in an everlasting hell of literal fire and

brimstone, and in a divine election, by which most of them had been

irrevocably doomed from before the creation of the world to eternal

perdition, from which nothing which they could do, or were willing to

do, could help to rescue them. The great object of life to them,

therefore, was to try to find out what their future state would be. Said

one of their preachers: ‘It is tough work and a wonderful hard matter to

be saved. ’Tis a thousand to one, if ever thou be one of that small

number whom God hath picked out to escape this wrath to come.’ That we

may get a touch of reality from those far-off days, let me quote to you

a few lines from the saintly Thomas Hooker, the founder of Connecticut

and long the model for her preachers:

“‘Suppose any soul here present were to behold the damned in hell, and

if the Lord should give thee a peephole into hell, that thou didst see

the horror of those damned souls, and thy heart begins to shake in

consideration thereof; then propound this to thy own heart, what pains

the damned in hell do endure for sin, and thy heart will shake and quake

at it. The least sin that thou ever didst commit, though thou makest a

light matter of it, is a greater evil than the pains of the damned in

hell, setting aside their sins. All the torments in hell are not so

great an evil as the least sin is; men begin to shrink at this, and

loathe to go down to hell and be in endless torment.’

“The only test which they were taught to apply to ascertain whether they

were predestined to suffer or escape this fearful doom was in their

ability and willingness to conform their wills to the will of God as

revealed in the Bible. According as they succeeded in this, they had a

reasonable assurance as to their fate, though no wile of the Devil was

more frequent than to falsely persuade men that their prospects were

favorable. To study the Scriptures day and night to ascertain the will

of God, and to struggle without ceasing to conform their wills to his as

therein revealed, was therefore the great object of existence for them,

not that they could thereby alter in the least their future state, but

that they might, if possible, find out what it was likely to be.

“Should this recital of their beliefs provoke a smile, our amusement

will soon be checked by the thought of the little progress which has

been made in the last two hundred years towards solving the same

problems. The origin of evil, the ineradicable tendency of the human

heart to sin and do evil, the mournful spectacle of ruin and desolation

in the moral world, and the future life are the same inscrutable

mysteries to us as to them. If we have constructed or adopted a more

comfortable theology, it is probably because we are less logical than

they. It is perhaps because we have forgotten or refused to look at some

things at which they did not blink.

“Then, too, the Lord was abroad in those days. Their thoughts were

deeply tinged by the semi-pagan views with which the authors of both the

Old and New Testaments were imbued. When the thunder crashed, it was the

voice of an angry God that spoke. When the lightning flashed, it was the

gleam of His angry eye. Benjamin Franklin was then but a year old, and

electricity had not become the packhorse of the world. The smiles and

frowns of nature in all her varying moods through all the days and

seasons, which we ascribe to the operations of law, were to them the

visible tokens of the wrath or favor of the Almighty. On December 11,

1719, for the first time in the history of the Colony, the northern

lights were seen here. They shone with the greatest brilliancy. The

consternation they caused was fearful. The people had never heard of

such a phenomenon. They considered it the opening scene of the Day of

Judgment. All amusement was given up, all business was forsaken, and

sleep itself was interrupted for days. Again, on the twenty-ninth of

October, 1727, a mighty earthquake occurred, which shook with tremendous

violence the whole Atlantic seaboard. The people here believed that the

Lord was about to swallow them up in His fierce anger. The women

throughout New England immediately discontinued the wearing of hoop

skirts, then recently come into fashion, believing that the earthquake

was the sign of the Lord’s displeasure at the sinful innovation.

“Hardly had the first settlers here begun to build permanent homes for

the living when they were called upon to provide resting places for the

dead. The first person to be buried in yonder burying ground was a

child, a girl, Mary, the daughter of Benjamin Bostwick. The next was

John Noble, the first settler and the first Town Clerk. He died August

17, 1714. The town formally laid out the burying ground in 1716. Within

fifty years three hundred had gone to rest there.

“There were no religious exercises at the funerals, neither singing,

praying, preaching, nor reading of the Scriptures. This was by way of

revolt from former superstitious practices. The friends gathered,

condoled with the afflicted ones, sat around a while, and then the

corpse was taken to the burying ground. After that the party returned to

the house of the deceased, where much eating and drinking was indulged

in, and, if the weather permitted, outdoor games and horse races were in

order. The next Sabbath an appropriate funeral sermon was preached. A

bereaved husband or wife usually soon married again.

“The meeting-house was never heated, but the people, summoned by drum

beat, attended it every Sabbath, morning and afternoon, even in the

severest weather, although no Sabbath Day house was erected here until

1745.

“The sacramental bread often froze upon the communion plate, as did the

ink in the minister’s study. The people worked their minister very hard,

as was the case in all early New England communities. They went to

church not so much because they had to as because they wanted to.

Church-going was their principal recreation. They demanded long prayers

and two long sermons each Sabbath from their minister, usually on

doctrinal points, which they acutely criticised. Services began at nine

o’clock in the forenoon and continued until five in the afternoon, with

an hour’s intermission. Soldiers, fully armed, were always in attendance

throughout the services ready to repel any attack upon the settlement.

It should be added, however, that with all their strictness in

Sabbath-keeping and catechising, in family and church discipline, there

was great license in those days in speech and manner, much hard

drinking, and rude merry-making, due to their rough form of living. They

were not what they wanted to be, nor what a loyal posterity perhaps

longs to believe them. They had red blood in their veins. They were

among the most enterprising men of their generation. They were

backwoodsmen, the vanguard of that wonderful race which in two hundred

years pushed westward the frontier from this place to the Pacific,

fighting with man and beast the whole way, and sowed the land with

vigorous sons and daughters.

“The congregational singing in those days must have been an interesting

performance. When the first settlers came to New England from the old

country, they brought with them a few tunes, to which they sang all the

psalms and hymns.

“The proper mode of rendering these was through the nose. With the lapse

of time and the advent of a new generation, these tunes became jangled

together in inextricable confusion. The practice was for a deacon as

leader to read a line of the psalm or hymn, and the congregation then

sang at it as best they could, each one using such tune as he chose, and

often sliding from one tune to another in the same line or improvising

as he went on. Finally, in 1721, the Rev. Thomas Walter of Roxbury,

Mass., published a treatise upon the grounds or rules of music, or an

introduction to the art of singing by rote, containing twenty-four tunes

harmonized into three parts. The attempt to supersede the old Puritan

tunes and restrict the liberty of the individual singers met with the

greatest opposition and was long successfully resisted in all the

churches in New England, so tenacious were they of the rights of the

individual singer. It caused great dissension in the church at this

place. Finally, in February, 1740, the church voted to halve the time

for the next year, singing the old way one Sabbath and the new way the

next, and in 1741, at a meeting specially called to settle the matter,

it was voted thirty to sixteen to sing thereafter after the new way.

“No musical instruments were allowed in the meeting-house. They had

never seen or heard a church organ. But they knew that their fathers

likened its sound to the bellowing of a bull, the grunting of a pig, and

the barking of a dog, and had resisted its use in religious services

even to the shedding of blood. Nor were flowers allowed in the church.

“In those days in New England women were not thought to have minds worth

educating, and they were brought up in extreme illiteracy. Nevertheless,

their natural wit, brightness, and good sense made them very agreeable

companions of the superior sex. And their influence over their husbands,

sons, and brothers was quite as great as that of their more cultivated

daughters of the present day. The refining, educating, stimulating

influence of the women had much to do in withstanding that tendency back

to barbarism which life in an isolated and new community led to. The

debt which is owed to them is incalculable.

“As the descendants of these people assemble here to-day, after the

lapse of two hundred years, to commemorate their work and rejoice in all

the strength, beauty, and order, now smiling around us in peace and

plenty, which have grown out of what they began, and as we look back

upon their condition, trials, and experiences, we are apt to imagine

that their lot, contrasted with our own, was an unhappy one. Nothing

could be further from the truth. They were a brave, hardy, thrifty,

frugal, industrious, and most capable people. Man for man, and woman for

woman, they were probably superior to those here to-day in faculty, and

in the capacity for healthy enjoyment. Their whole previous lives had

inured them to their experiences. They were the sons and grandsons of

the original pioneers of New England, and they had been born and reared

in rude settlements. They never indulged the delusion that this region

was a land flowing with milk and honey. Before they came they knew that

they were to wrest their living from an uncongenial soil, to struggle

with penury, and to conquer only by constant toil and by self-denying

thrift. The forest would supply them with the materials for shelter and

fuel and to some extent with food and clothing. All the rest must depend

upon their own exertions. There was a pleasure in facing and overcoming

the perils and difficulties which they encountered which those, more

delicately reared, who live here now can never know. Their individual

helplessness in the face of appalling obstacles to be met but bound them

closer together in mutual helpfulness. Accordingly we find that their

social faculties were highly developed. It may well be doubted whether

the sum total of human pleasure among the whole five thousand

inhabitants of the town to-day is any greater than it was among the few

hundred who settled it. Probably our own superabundance of good things

has actually lessened our capacity to enjoy, in comparison with theirs.

Their simple tastes and homely joys amid their rude surroundings were

probably more productive of positive pleasure and real happiness than

all the refinement and culture of our twentieth century civilization.

“It would be a pleasing and instructive task to trace the progress of

this old town from those rude beginnings to its present strength and

wealth. But the limits of the time and subject allotted to me on this

occasion forbid. It is the product of the labors of eight generations,

who now sleep beneath its soil. They never could have foreseen the

present. They never knew or thought of us. Each generation was busy with

its own problems, tasks, and experiences.

“As we look back upon them our hearts are filled with gratitude for the

results of their work. A clean-blooded, land-loving, thrifty race,

through their activities they escaped from the poverty of their

beginnings and attained unto an almost ideal abundance of the primal

needs of civilization. Their physical condition became probably as good

as that of any other village community in the world. Their experiences

stimulated their intellectual life into full activity, and they bore

their full share in the wonderful work which Connecticut has done in the

world. In all critical times in both State and nation, the sons of New

Milford, both native and adopted, have been very active and influential,

and one of them, Roger Sherman, performed a work which will last as long

as this nation shall continue to be free and independent, or as long as

the Constitution of the United States shall endure.

“We know that the past two hundred years are but the beginning of a long

history of this town. We believe that as the years roll by, at the close

of each century of its life, the events of this day will be repeated

here. What will be the lot of those who shall stand here, one two,

three, and four hundred years hence, to recall the origin and history of

this town, we cannot conceive. Our hope is that it will be as peaceful,

as prosperous, and as contented as our own.

“Whatever it shall be, we expect that their desire to know what can be

known of that long-vanished world, in which both present and future have

their roots, will lead them to examine the memorial of what is said and

done here to-day. We are not more sure that the Housatonic will then be

flowing than that they will share with us in affectionate interest in

what has gone before.”

The rendering of the “Star Spangled Banner” and several other selections

by Prof. Clemence’s Bi-Centennial Chorus was an inspiring feature of the

Historical Meeting.

THE COLONIAL RECEPTION

Soon after the close of the Historical Meeting, the booming of cannon

announced the arrival in New Milford of Governor Woodruff, his staff and

a detail of the Governor’s Foot Guard. They were met at the railroad

station by a train of automobiles, in which they were taken, after a

short ride about the village, to Ingleside School, where they dined in

the company of a number of prominent citizens.

Promptly at 8:30 o’clock, the gubernatorial party arrived at Roger

Sherman Hall, where it was arranged that they should meet the people of

the town, and entered it by a side door. Before the main door was opened

for the admission of the general public, seats were given upon the stage

and on the floor of the hall in front of the wings on either side to the

members of the Colonial Reception Committee and of the Invitation,

Reception, and Entertainment Committee; also to the following persons,

who had been requested by these committees to assist them in receiving:

Mr. and Mrs. John F. Addis, Mrs. F. E. Baldwin, Dr. and Mrs. J. C.

Barker, Mr. and Mrs. A. G. Barnes, Miss Mary Barton, Miss Hattie

Bassett, Mr. and Mrs. C. M. Beach, Mr. and Mrs. S. C. Beach, Miss

Charlotte B. Bennett, Mr. and Mrs. W. F. Bennett, Mr. and Mrs. C. P.

Bentley, Miss Helen M. Boardman, Miss Kate T. Boardman, Miss Ruth Booth,

Miss Lena Botsford, Miss Bessie Brown, Miss Adaline Buck, Miss Alice

Buck, Mr. and Mrs. H. S. Donnelly, Miss Susie C. Erwin, Miss Minnie A.

Ferriss, Miss Jeannette Gaylord, Mr. and Mrs. Minot S. Giddings, W. G.

Green, Mr. and Mrs. S. S. Green, Mr. and Mrs. C. N. Hall, Miss Elsie

Hall, Mr. and Mrs. H. D. Hine, Mrs. J. S. Halpine, Mr. and Mrs. G. H.

Jackson, Rev. and Mrs. F. A. Johnson, Dr. and Mrs. F. E. King, Mrs. W.

F. Kinney, Mr. and Mrs. David Kyle, Miss Carrie Marsh, Mr. and Mrs.

Chauncey Marsh, A. H. McMahon, Miss Grace Merwin, Mr. Perry Green, Mr.

C. H. Noble and sister, Miss Lizzie Noble, W. B. Pell, Mrs. Pettibone,

Mrs. J. F. Plumb, Mr. and Mrs. H. L. Randall, Miss Juliette Rogers, Mrs.

Wm. Schoverling, Miss Harriet V. Sherman, Mr. and Mrs. F. E. Starr, Miss

Minnie Toussaint, F. M. Williams, Dr. and Mrs. G. H. Wright.

The New Milford Cadets (Captain Gifford Noble) were drawn up as guard of

honor about the hall, forming an aisle around an open square, through

which the people walked as they advanced to greet the Governor and

passed out again after shaking his hand. The members of the staff, in

full uniform, were in front of the stage and back of the Governor,

while, to the right and left of them, the detail from the Foot Guard

were stationed as a special guard. By the side of his Excellency stood

W. Frank Kinney, the chairman of the Bi-Centennial Invitation, Reception

and Entertainment Committee, who presented every one by name. There were

many Colonial costumes, many gay uniforms, and many elaborate evening

toilettes. In the exquisite setting provided by the pale blue, white and

yellow colonial draperies and festoons with which the hall was most

artistically decorated, the reception offered an exceptionally brilliant

spectacle. In fact, it was probably the most striking affair of its kind

New Milford has ever witnessed.

Dancing was begun, to the music of Gartland’s Band, when the handshaking

was over, and was kept up for two or three hours after the Governor and

his party had retired.

Governor Woodruff was also entertained in the rooms of the Commercial

Club; in Odd Fellows’ and Masonic Hall, where he was formally welcomed

by Henry O. Warner, Past Master of the New Milford Masonic lodge; and by

the New Milford Fire Department, in their quarters, where he was

welcomed by Chief John F. Addis, who presented him with an engrossed

certificate of honorary membership in Water Witch Hose Company, No. 2.

[Illustration: GOVERNOR WOODRUFF, STAFF AND GUARD, IN FRONT OF ROGER

SHERMAN HALL]

GOVERNOR’S DAY

On Tuesday, the culminating day of the Bi-Centennial Celebration, New

Milford possessed a population variously estimated at from ten to

fifteen thousand--the largest, probably, of any moment in its history.

The heat was intense, and some were so tactless as to prophesy showers.

Others--and these were right--scoffed at such a possibility, basing

their optimism on the fact that the new uniforms of the Governor’s staff

had never yet been wet and that New Milford was not going to be

ungracious enough to be instrumental in wetting them.

The forenoon was devoted to the preparation of the Civic and Military

Parade, which was scheduled to begin at noon. Only a few minutes after

the time appointed, the column began to move in the following order:

FORMATION OF PARADE

CHIEF MARSHAL SAMUEL R. HILL IN CHARGE.

_First Division_

Platoon of Police, Capt. David Bradley of Danbury

Chief Marshal and Staff (Perry Green, Noble Booth, Charles

Pomeroy, Madeline Dodd, Louise Beeman.)

Gartland’s Tenth Regiment Band

Second Company, Governor’s Foot Guards, Major Weed

Governor Rollin S. Woodruff and Staff

Bugle Corps

Company G, Third Infantry, C. N. G., Captain Ryder

Upton Post, G. A. R., John F. Williams

New Milford Cadets, Captain Gifford Noble

Official Guests in Carriages

_Second Division_

Marshal David E. Soule and Staff (Dr. C. B. Blackman,

George Dean, Louis Wilton)

Second Regiment Band

Water Witch Hose Company, No. 2, of New Milford

Danbury Military Band

Litchfield Fire Department

American Brass Band of Waterbury

Fountain Hose Company, No. 1, of Ansonia

Holt’s American Band of New Haven

Echo Hose, Hook and Ladder Company of Shelton

Ansonia Brass Band

Eagle Hose, Hook and Ladder Company, No. 6, of Ansonia

Bethel Drum Corps

Danbury Volunteer Fire Department

_Third Division_

Marshal George E. Ackley and Staff (Granville Breinig,

W. M. Keeler, Clifford A. Trowbridge)

Boys of Center High School, Marching in Costume

School Children in Floats in District Order

_Fourth Division_

Marshal Henry O. Warner and Staff (James Marsh, W. C.

Beeman, Clifford Marsh)

Wheeler & Wilson Band of Bridgeport (by courtesy of

Roger Sherman Chapter, D. A. R.)

Colonial Features

Industrial Floats

There were more military organizations, fire companies, drum corps, and

brass bands in line, probably, than had ever been seen at one time in

New Milford, and they elicited by their brilliant uniforms, stirring

music, and fine marching the admiration and the hearty applause of the

crowds massed along the line of march; but the features which

differentiated this parade from all previous ones, which lent it special

distinction, and

[Illustration: SAMUEL R. HILL. Chief Marshal]

[Illustration: SAMUEL RANDOLPH HILL, JR. And Gun Used in Firing

Salutes]

which will make it memorable as long as the youngest persons who

witnessed it shall survive, were the school floats, the Colonial floats,

and industrial floats of the Third and Fourth divisions.

The school features were as follows:

Boys of the Center School costumed as Indians and farmers--the Indians

emitting blood-curdling war-whoops from time to time.

Pony cart trimmed with pink and white containing members of “Miss

Treat’s class” representing butterflies.

Float of “Room 1” (Center School), trimmed with white and yellow,

carrying under a canopy twenty girls dressed in white. It was drawn by

two sorrel horses also trimmed with white and yellow.

Another float of “Room 1” trimmed with flags and bunting. It contained

twenty-three girls and was drawn by four horses.

Flower girls dressed in pink and green--to represent the petals and

sepals of flowers--on a “Cinderella” float provided with a pink canopy.

It was drawn by a pair of black horses.

Float of “Rooms 5 and 6” (Center School), trimmed mostly with green and

white and carrying twenty-four girls. It was drawn by black horses which

were decorated with flags.

Float of “Rooms 7 and 8” (Center School), green and white--stars of

green laurel against white bunting--carrying twenty children in white

wearing white wreaths.

Float of “Rooms 3 and 4” (Center School), yellow and white, carrying

forty children under a canopy.

Park Lane Float, pink and white, carrying thirty-one children--the girls

wearing white gowns with pink sashes. It was drawn by iron-gray horses

wearing pink and white harnesses. David Rothe’s dog, trimmed with white,

blue, and pink, rode proudly on the driver’s seat beside the driver.

Hill and Plain Float, decorated with evergreens, bunting, and flags.

Second Hill Float, representing an open trolley car, bearing the

legends--“Second Hill Traction Co.,” “Cross Town,” and “Fireworks

To-night”--and, in the advertising spaces, cards provided by the

village merchants. The conductor amused the spectators greatly by the

tireless energy he displaying in collecting and ringing up the fares.

This float, which was trimmed with patriotic bunting, was drawn by three

horses and carried thirty-five children, each holding a flag. It was

designed by Mrs. Andrew Clark.

Upper Merryall Float, decorated with red, white and blue bunting. It was

drawn by black horses and carried twenty-two children.

Chestnut Land Float, white and green--ground pine and laurel against

white bunting--carrying forty children. It was drawn by four horses

decorated with greenery.

Aspetuck Float, representing a sixteen-foot flower-bordered birch-bark

canoe. It was trimmed with garnet and gold and was provided with a

garnet banner. It carried sixteen children (gaily adorned “braves” and

maidens) and the teacher.

Boardman Float, decorated with flags and patriotic bunting, bearing the

device, “1707-1907” in green letters on a white ground. It carried

twenty-eight children.

Lower Merryall Float, trimmed with Colonial yellow, white, and blue

bunting and flying a big flag. The children, who were seated under a

canopy, wore rosettes of the same colors. Four footmen in yellow walked

beside it.

Gaylordsville and Waller Float, decorated with bunting and flags. The

children, fifteen in number, sat on raised seats, one row above another,

and held flags and baskets of flowers. It was drawn by four horses,

whose driver was disguised as Uncle Sam.

Northville and Hunt Float, a “little red schoolhouse,” trimmed with

evergreens. It was drawn by two yoke of Nelson Kenney’s steers. Children

leaning out of the front windows held red, white, and blue ribbons,

which were attached to the horns of the steers.

Long Mountain Float, decorated with white bunting, flags, and ground

pine. It carried twenty-two children.

Still River Float, trimmed with flags, plumes, and bunting, and provided

with a white canopy and a bell. It was drawn

[Illustration: MAIN STREET FROM THE NORTH]

by four horses and carried thirty-five children (the girls in white

dresses, the boys in shirt waists) wearing flag sashes. The teacher sat

upon a throne.

The Colonial features of the parade were preceded by a man carrying a

beautiful blue and gold banner of Roger Sherman Chapter, D. A. R.,

Charles G. Peck of Newtown in Colonial costume on his famous

high-stepping horse, and the Wheeler & Wilson Band of Bridgeport--the

first and last named, by courtesy of and at the expense of Roger Sherman

Chapter, D. A. R.

Next came Mr. Williams and Mr. Lee of the Brookfield Drum Corps in

Colonial costumes with drum and fife; and Joseph Cowan, Fred Kinbloe,

and William Cogswell in Indian costume on horseback, the last named

being a descendant of the Schaghticoke tribe of Indians.

Next, a float with a log cabin representing the one built by John Noble,

the first white settler in New Milford. Chauncey B. Marsh and his little

daughter, Esther Noble Marsh, seven years old, rode on this float, in

the doorway of the cabin, impersonating John Noble and his little

daughter. A watch-dog was chained beside the door, a musket hung over

the door, and, during the early part of the parade, smoke issued from

the cabin chimney. The float was drawn by oxen.

Back of this was started Jim Harris, better known as “Jim Pan,” the last

of the Pequots, and the only full-blooded Indian left in the

Schaghticoke Reservation. Having filled up with firewater before the

parade started, he soon left the Colonial section, marched most of the

route with the fire companies, and ended up among the Governor’s Foot

Guards. He lost only his wig in the shuffle, the rest of his Indian suit

being securely strapped upon him.

Next came Mrs. R. S. Todd and her daughter, Parthenia, in an

old-fashioned chaise, with a dignified colored footman on the

rumble--all attired in Colonial costume, the ladies wearing sun-bonnets

and dimity gowns.

Next, Andrew Humeston, on horseback, with his sister, Athalia, on a

pillion, attired as a Quaker and Quakeress. Mr. Humeston’s real white

fur Quaker hat, which he went far afield to get for this occasion, was a

relic well worth seeing.

Next, Samuel Porter and Charles Donnelly, also on horseback, as a bride

and groom of Colonial times. The saddle and pillion used by this happy

pair were very interesting.

Next, a float with six young ladies in old-time costume operating

different spinning and flax wheels. This float was decorated with dark

green and bore the inscription, “HOMESPUN DAYS.” The young ladies were

Miss Florence Merwin, Miss Elsie Hall, Miss Julie Barker, Virginia

Stevens (Miss Barker’s little niece, three years old), Miss Flora

Stilson, and Miss Minnie Toussaint. The float was drawn by oxen.

Dr. Griswold Bragaw, in Colonial costume, rode a horse following this

float.

Next came a carriage, said to be one hundred years old, brought from

Merryall and driven by two boys in Indian costume.

The last float represented the different styles of dress of periods

fifty years apart in New Milford history. Mr. Frederick N. Fowler and

Mrs. William Percy wore the costume of 1707; Willis Barton and Miss

Hattie Bassett, that of 1757; Merrit Merwin and Miss Grace Merwin, that

of 1807; Mr. and Mrs. Frederick E. Starr, that of 1857, and Arthur Brown

and Miss Bessie Brown, that of 1907. This float was canopied with yellow

and bore the inscription, “TIMES AND COSTUMES CHANGE.”

Wm. W. Stilson impersonated the “Town Crier” and, ringing a huge bell,

was typical in every way of that old-time character.

The yellow and dark green draperies which concealed the base of all

these Colonial floats gave them a highly finished appearance.

The industrial features of the Parade were:

Float of the Bridgeport Wood Finishing Company, decorated with the

national colors and displaying the signs, “Wheeler’s Patent Wood

Filler,” “Paint That Lasts,” etc. It carried boxes and cans of the

company’s products and pieces of silex in its natural state.

[Illustration: MAIN STREET FROM THE SOUTH]

Float of G. B. Shiappacassee, the Bank Street fruit dealer,--a brand new

wagon decorated with the national colors and carrying oranges, bananas

and pineapples, arranged with a fine consideration for color and form.

Float of the New Milford Hat Company, decorated with the national colors

and carrying a group of hat-makers, who gave a practical illustration,

along the line of march, of the different processes of hat-making.

A tobacco float displaying the firm names--S. Rossin & Son, J.

Lichtenstein, C. F. Schoverling & Co., Staubb & Mallett, J.

Marquesee--and the legend, “NEW MILFORD SUPPLIES THE WORLD WITH

TOBACCO,” and carrying a large number of tobacco boxes.

Float of W. H. Coleman, a new milk wagon decorated with the national

colors and bearing the inscription, “Conetia Farm Dairy.”

Float of Chauncey B. Marsh, proprietor of a New Milford saw-mill,

decorated with white and green and carrying wedge, ax, saw and chain,

and an enormous artificial log, which two dummies sawed persistently

with a cross-cut saw.

Float of the Aspetuck Valley Grange, decorated with green and white,

roofed over with grain, and displaying the principal implements of

husbandry and the principal products thereof.

Float of the ice dealer, Samuel J. Ferriss--a capital, white cotton

imitation of a snow-bank between snow-laden “Christmas trees.” Upon this

float rode two small boys (S. Boynton and Charles J., sons of Mr.

Ferriss), offering dippers of ice.

After passing through the principal streets of the village, the parading

column was reviewed from the reviewing stand on the village “Green” by

Governor Woodruff and his staff and other distinguished visitors. The

paraders were then disbanded and provided by the Committee on

Refreshments with abundant good cheer in a colossal dining tent back of

the Knapp building.

After dinner, at two o’clock, the last formal exercises of the

Bi-Centennial were held on “The Green,” Charles M. Beach presiding. In

introducing the first speaker, Rev. Timothy J. Lee, Mr. Beach said:

“There is much cause for regret that, on account of ill health, our

President, Mr. Henry S. Mygatt, has been unable to be present or to take

any part in the exercises of this Celebration. It was at his suggestion

that the movement was inaugurated bringing about this event, and we all

know that he worked most heartily and earnestly for its success. I am

sure that there is a universal feeling of sympathy for him in the keen

disappointment which is his. Because of his absence, the duty devolves

on me to take charge of the exercises of the day.

“The first address will be words of greeting by the Rev. T. J. Lee, a

former pastor of the Congregational Church. Mr. Lee comes to us as a

representative of two of the oldest families in New Milford, Mrs. Lee

being a lineal descendant of the Rev. Daniel Boardman, who was the first

pastor of the old Congregational Church, and also of the Rev. Nathaniel

Taylor, who was inaugurated its second pastor in the year 1748, and

continued the pastorate for a period of fifty years.

Among other things, Mr. Lee said:

“The other day I met one of our recently adopted sons whose home is in

the great West. In the course of our conversation I referred to this

Bi-Centenary; but he pushed the subject aside as trivial, and began to

boast of his own great State. ‘Why,’ said he, ‘you can put twenty-two

Connecticuts into our Nebraska.’ Then he added that the time has come in

the history of our country when we can cut out New England and not feel

it. Cut New England out from the great life of this nation! Yes, you

may, when you can cut out a thread of gold woven in and out in a

beautiful fabric without ruining the entire piece. Cut New England out!

Yes, you may, when you can cut out from the loaf the leaven that has

made it sweet and light. Cut New England out! Yes, you may, when,

without disfigurement, you can cut out the features of a mother from the

face of her child. There may come a time in some far-off age when this

great American people may become so afflicted with some strange, new

form of insanity as to desire to cut out from its vast domain that sharp

northeastern angle which was alike its birthplace and its cradle and

the seminary of the best elements of its greatness. If that time ever

comes, New England, true to her ancestral pride (I speak as one who

knows and loves his mother), New England will say to you: ‘I am ready to

go; I desire to stay no longer where I am no longer wanted. But

first--first, in all justice and fairness, give me back some of the

contributions I have made to your greatness. Give me back the free,

forceful words which from my pulpit, my press, and my platform have

kindled the fires of religion and of patriotism, and quickened the

intellectual life of generations. Give me back my millions of capital

that have stretched across the broad land the iron bands of travel and

of trade, changed the Western wilderness into a smiling garden, the

desert into a fruitful field. Give me back some of the descendants of

those loyal sons and daughters of mine, who, under the canvas covers of

those old emigrant wagons, carried with them not merely their humble

household goods, but the very principles of their nurture--give me back

these, I say, and then, if you do not feel so utterly impoverished, so

stripped of everything that can make a nation great and strong and

enduring as to repent of your rashness and folly, I will go.’

“It is true that henceforth New England’s influence in the nation will

not be that of numbers, nor of territorial greatness, but she will still

rule by the force of ideas and convictions, by the sovereignty of

principles that can never be discrowned.”

Mr. Beach next presented Governor Woodruff in these words:

“During my business experience, it has been my privilege to make many

congenial acquaintances, one of which stands out most prominently

to-day. A number of years ago, a young man called upon us representing a

firm with which we had established relations. He has risen step by step

in his business career, until he now occupies a position at the head of

the firm which he then represented. A few years ago his name became

mentioned in political circles, and he has risen so rapidly in this

sphere that he comes to us to-day as the Chief Executive of the State.

“For integrity of character, for honesty of purpose, for having the

courage of his convictions, he is a Governor whom the people of the

State of Connecticut will do well to honor. Roosevelt at Washington,

Hughes at Albany, Woodruff at Hartford, are the type of public officials

which the people want.

“It is my very great pleasure, as well as honor, to present not only to

the people of New Milford, but also to the guests whom we are

entertaining to-day, his Excellency, Rollin S. Woodruff, of New Haven,

Governor of Connecticut.

Governor Woodruff said:

“My friends, I am very glad to join with you in celebrating the two

hundredth birthday of the settlement of New Milford. This commemoration

will become an interesting experience in your lives, and your children

will never forget the history that is taught them by this event. They

will learn of the early struggles of those who laid the solid foundation

of Connecticut, in the establishment of her towns, in the making of her

laws, and building of a great commonwealth out of the materials of

industry, education, and patriotism.

“It was no easy task your forefathers set out to perform, when they

determined to have a government as nearly democratic in its intention as

it was possible to conceive. The scheme of the founders of our State was

to insure happiness for all by making all the people independent and

free to govern themselves, and to advance themselves in a way that had

never before been dreamed of by any race of men. The wisdom of those

early settlers in organizing society upon a liberal plane seems to us

almost marvelous. What they hoped for has been realized.

“The people who founded New Milford and the other Connecticut towns were

unselfish. They planned not only for themselves and their time, but they

planned for those that were to come after them. They saw through the

years what might be

[Illustration: HONORABLE ROLLIN S. WOODRUFF

Governor of Connecticut]

ours, if their plans prevailed. They saw the human race rising to its

highest perfection in an atmosphere of liberty and of opportunity. Yet

their most daring fancy could not have pictured this surprising scene of

to-day. They were rough and rude men two hundred years ago. And they

were determined men, and their lives were the serious lives of hardship

and peril. What they wanted was freedom and a government that would keep

them free. They wanted to do what was right--justice to all men was the

motive that inspired them. They had faith in themselves and believed

that the real government was that which came from the people; and they

made their laws to last for all time, trusting to the people the

responsibility of taking care of themselves. They were the fathers of

freedom in its truest sense, and intended to leave their children a

house that was built upon a rock.

“In all this, they gave evidence of the very noblest patriotism, and

they have set for us an example which we have followed for two hundred

years--an example which must continue to guide us in our government, if

this grand development of Connecticut is to go forward to its highest

possibilities. We must keep our foundations solid and build for the

future. We must grow better as we grow older. Our lawmakers must be

sincere and serious men. They must be representative in the deepest

meaning of the word, for the whole happiness of our people depends upon

the making and the administration of laws that are enacted in the

interest of all the people of our State, and our representatives should

be held responsible for their acts at the polls. The rights of the

people are sacred and must be kept inviolate, and no law should be

placed upon the statute book that will be a burden to the people, or

that takes from the people any right that belongs to them all. Let there

be no hasty, inconsiderate, or careless legislation that robs them of

their own. Great privileges should never be given away to private

interests, and every man’s property should be protected throughout the

State. We frequently learn what we have lost, when it is too late. I do

not mean to alarm you, but I do mean to warn you that you may keep

guard over your right against oppression, which is sure to come when

the people lose interest in their own affairs.

“What an advancement you have made in two hundred years! The country

towns of to-day share with the large cities all modern advantages. Your

children have matchless chances for education, and your commercial

conditions offer every opportunity for success in life. The farmer of

to-day is a prince among farmers and lives in the surroundings of

comfort and luxury: with vast systems of water supply; a high sanitary

arrangement protecting health; gas and electricity for light, heat, and

power; the telegraph in every village, and the telephone in every home

where it is required; the best facilities for travel at your doors--a

prosperity in business never known in the history of mankind. All men

are educated by the affairs of the hour, and all men think. You are

better equipped to govern yourselves than any people in the world.

Contrast all these comforts with the inconveniences of your ancestors,

and tell me have we not reason to rejoice at this Bi-Centennial of New

Milford?

“In my position as Governor of this State I have kept steadily in view

the general prosperity of all the people, and I have always believed in

an educated public sentiment as the safeguard of law and order in our

Commonwealth. I believe in the people of Connecticut and in the future

of the State; and I believe that the more interest you take in public

matters the better your government will become. I want to congratulate

you upon the growth of New Milford, and thank you sincerely for the

privilege of joining in this triumphant Celebration.”

Mr. Beach next presented Rev. Watson L. Phillips, D. D., saying:

“At this time it is in my power to speak a word of welcome to my

comrades of the Foot Guard. They have been connected with the history of

Connecticut since 1775, when the Company marched out to Lexington and

Concord. It has not been my privilege to be as close to the armory as I

should have liked, but I am proud to belong to that old organization

which has done so much for the honor of Connecticut, and I will simply

ask the Chaplain of the Company to speak to you more fluently than I

can.”

Chaplain Phillips delivered an eloquent eulogy of the Foot Guard. Among

other things, he said:

“The Second Company of Governor’s Foot Guards was born in that strenuous

time when ideas were crystallizing, opinions taking shape, men beginning

to realize something of the struggle that was before them; something of

the real significance of the Mayflower, of the Colonial forms of

government, and of those acts of protest by which the colonies had

lifted their voices against the usurpations of the mother country. In

1775, when the clouds were beginning to gather, when men’s hearts were

beginning to tremble within them for fear, this company was born. On the

first roster, you will find the names of the leading citizens of old New

Haven town. The first men of the town were its sponsors. Back of them

was a patriotic and humane purpose, and, having that purpose in view, I

am able to declare that we are the oldest military organization of the

sort in the State.

“The First Company in Hartford antedates us by a few months, but the

First Company was what its name implies, the Governor’s Guard. The

Second Company came at the call of the danger to liberty and its first

act was to make response to the call of Lexington and Concord. Under the

man, then a magnificent patriot, Benedict Arnold, the company marched to

the defense of their endangered brethren in Massachusetts.

“And these men, before they left, listened to a sermon by Jonathan

Edwards, the benediction of which went with them throughout their march.

They marched to the powder house--they asked for ammunition; the

selectmen of the town denied their request. Arnold drew up his men

before the door, and said: ‘We will give you five minutes to comply with

our request; if the ammunition is not then forthcoming we will break

down the doors and help ourselves.’

“That was the spirit with which they started on their march to

Cambridge, and that spirit has animated the command through all these

years. It has been our privilege to have been represented in every war

the country has waged from 1775 to the present day, beginning with the

attack upon West Haven, to repel which the company marched as a body

under the command of Captain Hezekiah Sabin. Down through all the wars

and in the most conspicuous battles, representatives of this Governor’s

Guard have been found, shoulder to shoulder with the patriots of other

States and other towns, contending for our liberties.”

The next speaker, Hon. Ebenezer J. Hill, was presented as one who needs

no introduction to New Milford. Congressman Hill said:

“One year ago I united with some of your citizens in celebrating the

fiftieth birthday of New Milford’s offspring, the town of Bridgewater.

“To-day I congratulate you that the parent has reached the hale and

hearty age of two hundred years.

“While New Milford has had many trials and sore experiences, the old

town shows no wrinkles, or scars, but is fresh and blooming and ready to

enter upon the third century of its career with a courageous heart and

unfaltering purpose to maintain in the future, as in the past, the

splendid character of our New England civilization.

“There is no higher standard in the world than that, for it was

established in the beginning of our history by men who feared none but

God. Our fathers built upon the granite hills of New England communities

and States, which, though small in area, have been mighty in influence,

molding and shaping the destiny of the nation, and through it giving to

the whole world an example of self-government, based on the sanctity of

the home, the common school, freedom of religion, and the New England

town meeting. With these maintained, the prosperity of the future is

assured, for, while old age with all its weaknesses comes to _men_ with

the passing years, the lapse of time, if rightly used, should make a

community or a nation stronger and more enduring.

“Temporary success may come from many causes, but, in the long run, it

is character which counts, not only in the individual, but in the nation

as well.

“A few weeks ago I visited the site of old Panama, a city on the Isthmus

to which it gave its name. It was founded in conquest and plunder, a

century before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. A hundred and fifty

years later, in conquest and plunder, Morgan and his pirate crews swept

it from the earth; and now, nothing but an old church and tower, almost

hidden in the tropical jungle, mark the spot where this once flourishing

and populous city stood.

“A few years ago I walked from the ruined palaces of the Cæsars down the

slope of the Palatine Hill into the Roman Forum. The way was paved with

stones which were put there twenty-six hundred years ago by the

shepherds and farmers from the Alban Hills. Their virtues were as strong

and rugged as the stones with which their streets were paved, and their

descendants, imitating those virtues, ruled the world for a thousand

years. But at last, licentiousness, extravagance, and lust for wealth

came in and rotted the moral fiber of the Empire, until the very men who

had sworn to guard the nation sold the positions of honor and trust, and

even the Empire itself, at public auction at the city gates, as cattle

and sheep were sold in the open market; and Rome fell from its high

estate never to rise again. It was a literal exemplification of the

proverb which was old even then, that ‘righteousness exalteth a nation,

but sin is a reproach to any people.’

“But why multiply illustrations? The history of the world is full of

them, and, on the other side, none more marked than is shown in our own

land in the marvelous progress which the New South has made since the

curse of human slavery was lifted from her in the desolation and horror

of the Civil War.

“This town, this State, this nation is just exactly what you and I, as

individuals, are making it to-day. The past is unchangeable, the future

is in the hands of God. Only the present is ours. We have come in our

own experience to times of great unrest and discontent with existing

conditions. I am glad of it. It shows that the world is growing better

and that we are not satisfied to-day with the solution of the problems

of yesterday, but it does not follow that the new problems of to-day are

unsolvable. It simply proves that there is still room in the world for a

large amount of civic righteousness and that it is for the individual

citizen to prove that the supply has not been exhausted.

“There is an old hymn which we sing in our churches,

“‘We are building, building every day,

A temple which the world may not see,

We are building, building every day,

Building for eternity.’

So far as the immortal and divine in us is concerned, the hymn is all

right, but so far as this work-a-day world is affected by our actions I

would paraphrase it thus,

“‘We are building, building every day,

A temple which the world can see,

We are building, building every day,

Building for humanity.’

“A few days ago I read a story in a newspaper of a man who advertised

that he wanted to buy a horse. In a day or two men came with all sorts

and kinds, young and old, blind and lame and halt. They told him of the

splendid records of the old hacks, and the great possibilities of the

young colts, till he finally sent them all away, saying, ‘I don’t care

anything about your “has beens” or your “to be’s,” what I want now, is

an “is-er.”’

“The men of New England are the heirs to-day of more than two centuries

of growth, and progress, and education, and we owe it to ourselves and

to our children to add something in our lives to the sum total of human

happiness and the public welfare; for there is a mighty difference

between always trying to get the better of the community in which we

live, and giving _to_ the community the best that there is in _us_.

“From the very beginning of our State, till now, there have never been

lacking men, who, by their strength of character and devotion to the

public welfare, have made an impress on their day and generation, until

at length Connecticut is known among her sister States as “The Land of

Steady Habits.” I can only refer now to two of them, Colonel Abraham

Davenport of Stamford, and Hon. Roger Sherman of New Milford. Of the

first, Timothy Dwight, in his book entitled ‘Travels in New England and

New York,’ tells us that he was a judge in Danbury and a member of the

Governor’s Council in Hartford, and cites this incident concerning him:

“‘The 19th of May, 1780, was a remarkably dark day. Candles were lighted

in many houses, the birds were silent and disappeared, and the fowls

retired to roost. The Legislature of Connecticut was then in session at

Hartford. A very general opinion prevailed that the Day of Judgment was

at hand. The House of Representatives, being unable to transact their

business, adjourned. A proposal to adjourn the Council was under

consideration. When the opinion of Colonel Davenport was asked, he

answered, “I am against an adjournment. The day of judgment is either

approaching, or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for an

adjournment; if it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. I wish,

therefore, that candles may be brought.”’”

“Such a man would be a success at any period of the nation’s history.

“Of Roger Sherman, for many years a citizen of New Milford, time would

fail me to properly speak of the long and distinguished public services

which he rendered, not only to the community in which he lived, but to

the nation at large.

“Some years ago, in studying his life and character, I collected from

the Colonial Records of Connecticut every mention of his name, and will

present the record[45] to the New Milford _Gazette_ for publication;

for, of such a citizen, New Milford may well be proud.

“The lives which these men lived, and countless others in the early

days, should be an inspiration to us all.

“Opportunity does not come alike to all, but these men simply did their

duty honestly, faithfully, and well; and all of us can do the same

to-day, in full confidence that the motto of our dear old State--‘_Qui

transtulit_, _sustinet_’--has not yet lost its meaning or its power.”

After a witty speech by Rev. Marmaduke Hare, who spoke as an Englishman

who is an American in the making, Mr. Beach terminated the exercises

with these words:

“One brief thought in closing. As the sun sinks behind the hills of our

western horizon to-night, we close the second century of the history of

New Milford; but let us not linger too long in contemplation of the

setting sun. Rather, let us turn our faces eastward and greet the rising

sun, which will usher in the third century. Yes, it will be our

privilege to enter the portals of another century, but certain it is

that not one present will reach its exit. Let us press forward, doing

faithfully each duty as it presents itself, placing our confidence ‘in

the God of our fathers, from out whose hand the centuries fall like

grains of sand.’”

* * * * *

Tuesday evening was devoted to a magnificent display of fireworks in

Riverside Park on the west bank of the Housatonic, and thus, in a blaze

of glory, Governor’s Day, the last of the New Milford Bi-Centennial,

came to an end.

THE AFTERMATH

The great event is over, and New Milford has excelled all records and

exceeded all anticipations. This might sound egotistical, were it not a

fact that it is only the plain truth, and corroborated by the speech of

everyone who witnessed the Celebration. Our town stands higher to-day in

public estimation than it ever stood before. As we look back, it is not

possible to name an event which should have been omitted or a feature

which should have been added. A four-days’ celebration has been held,

covering every point which such a celebration should cover; dignified

and formal, where dignity and formality were appropriate, informal,

happy and homelike at all other times.

A celebration very carefully planned, ably financed, and splendidly

conducted; with every contingency provided for and the most minute

details planned in advance. Our townspeople have shown that they can

accomplish great enterprises, for it is the universal verdict of our

guests, especially of those who have traveled much and participated in

such events, that this was a great enterprise, never equaled in some

respects, and never excelled in the matter of perfect appointment. Our

townspeople have found, too, that in oratory, music, and literature they

have men and women of whom any community may well be proud.

Some special points should be noted regarding the celebration. Perfect

order was maintained throughout; during the four days, some sixteen

thousand different people have occupied our streets, but, during all

that time, there has been no disturbance, no violence or theft, no

accident of any kind, and a very noticeable absence of drunkenness. That

such admirable order prevailed is a great credit to our town and its

visitors, and this community owes a debt of gratitude to the Committee

of Public Safety and the selectmen of the town.

Perfect system prevailed, so that every event occurred on time and

exactly as planned, with no break or delay at any point. This fact

appealed very strongly to our official guests, who had attended other

similar events, and knew that delays and unforeseen contingencies almost

always arise at such times.

The decorations, public and private, were beautiful and appropriate, and

brought the warmest commendation from visitors.

The literary, religious, and historical exercises were of a very high

class. Every address and sermon being most appropriate to the occasion

and excellent of its kind.

The musical programme was splendidly conceived and carried out, and high

praise is due the committee, the chorus, and, especially, Professor

Edwin G. Clemence.

The pleasure and success of the Celebration were very largely added to

by the presence of Gartland’s Tenth Regiment Band of Albany during the

entire four days. Such splendid band and orchestral music was never

heard here before.

The Loan Exhibit was a great success; admirably managed and very greatly

admired.

The spectacular features were beyond any criticism. Both parades were

perfect in appearance and in management, and the fireworks received the

highest praise. The Civic and Military Parade was a surprise to

everyone; newspaper men and guests, who had seen the world’s greatest

parades, declared that the School Division had never been equaled in

originality and attractiveness. Our prominent visitors stated that,

while a great city undoubtedly could do as well, no great city ever had

done as well.

New Milford has won a high place in the estimation of thousands, and has

gained vastly in civic pride and public spirit; may these, and the good

feeling engendered by the Celebration, last for the next two hundred

years.--_New Milford Gazette._

* * * * *

The day after the close of the Bi-Centennial Celebration, the President

of the Bi-Centennial Committee received the following letter:

“EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, STATE OF CONNECTICUT,

“HARTFORD, June 19.

“HON. H. S. MYGATT, New Milford, Conn.

“MY DEAR MR. MYGATT: Upon my return to Hartford, I want to say just

a few words to you in appreciation of the scope of the celebration

prepared by you and your fellow committeemen on the occasion of the

Bi-Centennial of the town of New Milford. It was a success in every

particular, and reflects great credit upon your community, and upon

the men who planned and carried it out.

“For myself, personally, and the members of my staff, let me say we

enjoyed every minute of our visit, and appreciate to the fullest

extent the hearty welcome and the unfailing courtesy of your

people.

“It was a source of regret to me, and I learned from others that it

grieved them, too, that you were ill and unable to see the fruit of

your thought and labor. I hope it will be a gratification to you to

know that what you wrought was so well carried out by those who

took up the work and followed your plans. You have reason to feel

very proud of the whole affair, and I trust that you will soon be

restored to health and strength, and be able to return to your

delightful home town.

“With best wishes, I am sincerely yours,

“ROLLIN S. WOODRUFF.”

The same day, the following letter came to Charles M. Beach:

“EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, STATE OF CONNECTICUT,

“HARTFORD, June 19.

“MR. CHARLES M. BEACH, New Milford, Ct.

“MY DEAR MR. BEACH: Upon my return to Hartford I want to

congratulate you and your fellow committeemen, and, in fact, the

entire town, upon the magnificent celebration of New Milford’s

Bi-Centennial. I wish also to thank you for your unfailing courtesy

and your thoughtfulness for the comfort of myself and staff during

our delightful stay there.

“I enjoyed it myself very much, and I am proud that Connecticut

holds New Milford as one of her communities. The enterprise of your

citizens, and the scope of their celebration, is equal to what much

larger places might have attempted, but few of New Milford’s size.

We shall remember our visit there with much satisfaction.

“Sincerely yours,

“ROLLIN S. WOODRUFF.”

Another letter of similar purport came to H. LeRoy Randall (Chairman of

the Bi-Centennial Finance Committee) a few days later:

“DANBURY, June 22, 1907.

“H. LEROY RANDALL, Esq., New Milford, Conn.

“MY DEAR SIR: New Milford has reason to feel proud over the success

of the Bi-Centennial. The Governor said he had the time of his

life, and so say we all of us.

“Yours very truly,

“J. MOSS IVES,

“Of the Governor’s Staff.”

THE FINANCES OF THE CELEBRATION

The work of the Finance Committee and Treasurer was not only of the most

vital importance to the success of the Bi-Centennial, but was so

remarkable in many ways as to deserve a chapter to itself.

When the first estimates of cost were made, about $4000 was, in round

figures, the amount asked for. To many this seemed a large sum to raise

by subscription, but the Finance Committee stated without hesitation

that the amount would be raised, and more if needed; and the promise was

made good by a total subscription of about $5000, secured in an almost

incredibly short time. This was accomplished without any noise or public

display, and was the result of careful planning and perfect system. The

funds were paid out by the Treasurer to the several committees, on

approval of the Executive Committee, and a most accurate and detailed

account of all expenditures was kept by the Treasurer, and may be

inspected by subscribers at any time. There remained a substantial

balance on hand after all bills were paid, and while this will probably

be devoted to publishing the Book of the Bi-Centennial, the sales of the

volume--when published--should return to the treasury the amount

expended, and more. No appropriation was asked for from the town

treasury, and the only items of expense met by the town were the

necessary ones of decorating its own buildings and furnishing the police

force during the Celebration. It is safe to state that no enterprise of

this nature was ever more ably and successfully financed than was the

New Milford Bi-Centennial of 1907.

INDEX

NOTE. Names given in lists, such as soldiers in the wars, members of

committees and contributors to the loan exhibit, may be found by

reference to the pages under “Soldiers,” “Committees,” “Loan Exhibit,”

etc.

Adams, John, 16

Addis, John F., 276

Addresses

Charles M. Beach, 283, 285, 288

Simeon E. Baldwin, 232

Rev. George S. Bennitt, 171, 208, 215

Daniel Davenport, 255

Charles N. Hall, 137

Samuel Hart, 228

Ebenezer J. Hill, 290

Rev. John T. Huntington, 171

W. Frank Kinney, 170

Rev. Timothy J. Lee, 284

Edwin W. Marsh, 171

Timothy Dwight Merwin, 171

Rev. Watson L. Phillips, 288

Rev. Charles J. Ryder, 202, 208

Henry C. Sanford, 171

Frederic W. Williams, 228, 232

Rollin S. Woodruff, 286

Boardman Wright, 171

Frederick A. Wright, 202

Adelphi Institute, 92, 112

Agriculture, 84

Allen, Ethan, 42

Andrews, Governor, 76

Anthony, George W., 87

Aunty Thatcher, 79

Automobile Parade, 226

Averill, J. K., 93, 112

Baldwin, Albert N., 112

Ashel, 32

Hezekiah, 32, 33

Israel, 32, 33, 104, 107

Jared, 42

John, 42, 226

Jonas, 42

Jonathan, 98

Josiah, 33

Judthon, 40

Simeon, 105, 106, 107

Simeon E., 232

Theodore, 42

Theophilus, 102

Band, 94, 137, 296

Banks, 94, 95, 112, 113

Barnes, Andrew G., 86

Bartlett, Isaiah, 3, 98

Barton, Edward, 88

Bassett, Abigail, 26, 27, 28, 29

Alice Canfield, 26

Josiah, 26, 28, 79

Battles

Danbury Alarm, 39, 40

Germantown, 42

Heights of Abraham, 34

Kipps Bay, 35

Monmouth, 42

Mud Forts, 42

Princeton, 39, 42

Saratoga, 42

Siege of Boston, 35

Stony Point, 42

Ticonderoga, 42

Trenton, 39

White Plains, 35

Beach, Charles M., 297, 283, 285, 288

Rev. Mr., 12

Beard, Samuel, 100

Beebe, Samuel, 99

Beecher, Eleazer, 110

Beeman, Hannah, 14

Bennett, Caleb, 104

James, 33

Bennitt, Rev. George S., 171, 208, 215

Benson, Henry, 110

Bentley, Charles P., 139

Black, Mrs. William D., 9, 90, 93

William D., 19, 90

Blaisdell, Roger, 36, 38, 39

Blatchford, Elnathan, 32

Blizzard, 113

Board of Trade, 13, 97

Boardman, Daniel, 4, 8, 9, 14, 101, 108, 109

Rev. Daniel, 99, 100

David S., 20, 111

Homer, 109

Rev. Mr., 34

Sherman, 14, 104, 105, 107

Bolles, Joshua A., 93, 94

Booth, Charles H., 95

Henry W., 95

Reuben, 104, 106

Booth’s Assembly Room, 17

Bostwick, Amos, 41

Benjamin, 41, 98

Bushnell, 104, 109

Daniel, 98

Ebenezer, 41

Elisha, 41, 109

Elijah, 41

Henry S., 87

Mrs. Henry, 11

Isaac, 35, 36, 39, 40, 41, 43, 103

Israel, 41

Joel, 41

John, 98, 99, 101, 102

John, Jr., 98, 99

Joseph, 102

Nathan, 108

Nathaniel, 101

Oliver, 41

Ruben, 32, 106, 107

Robert, 107

Samuel, 13, 104

Solomon, 41

Solomon E., 112

Walter B., 87

Zadock, 32

Botsford, Nathan, 13

Bounty for Continental Service, 105

Breinig, David E., 91

Bridges, 8, 90, 101, 102, 103, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113

Bridgewater, 84, 86, 93, 112, 171

Bridgewater Society, 86, 93

Bristol, Mrs. Andrew, 92, 113

Mrs. Isaac, 226, 227

Isaac B., 87, 95

Brooks, Thomas, 103, 107

Brookfield, 84, 107

Bronson, John, 32

Brownson, Benjamin, 105, 106, 107

Roger, 98

Samuel, 98, 99, 100

Thomas, 104

Buck, Barrall, 32

David, 32

Ephraim, 107, 108

Buckingham, Earl, 94, 112

Buell, David, 33, 36, 38, 39, 40, 42, 43

Burying Ground, 100, 101, 103, 107

Buttonmaking, 87, 113

Cablegram, 173

Calhoun, George B., 91

Newell, 97

Callahan, Francis, 86

Camp, Abram, 104, 107

Israel, 107, 108

Canfield, Alanson, 77

Amos, 41

Ezra, 41

Herman, 108

Jeremiah, 33, 104, 106

John, 42

Joseph, 33, 103

Josiah, 33, 42

Moses, 42

Nathaniel, 42

Samuel, 15, 34, 42, 101, 102, 104, 106, 108, 109

Carr, Mrs. Helen, 15, 16

Chittenden, Frederick G., 94

Stephen, Jr., 108

Church organized, 100

Church singing, 13

Churches, 4, 9, 10, 93, 109

Advent, 12

Baptist, 108, 110, 111

Congregational, 10, 12, 102, 111, 114

Episcopal, 12, 102, 108, 109, 113

Methodist, 12, 110

Methodist Episcopal, 110, 112

Quaker Meetinghouse, 101, 108

Roman Catholic, 12, 112

Union, 110, 114

Civic and Military Parade, formation of, 277 to 283

Clark, James S., 110

Clarke, George, 98

Samuel, 100

Thomas, 98

Clemence, Edwin G., 136, 274, 296

Cogswell, William, 104

Collings, David, 32

Colonial Reception, 275

Commercial Club, 97, 276

Committee on Colonial Features, 128, 134

Colonial Reception, 123, 130, 134, 275;

Assistants, 275

On Decoration, 123, 129, 133

District, 131, 132, 133

Executive, 123, 128, 130

On Exercises, 123, 128, 131

Finance, 123, 128, 130, 299

General Arrangements, 122, 123 to 128

On Historical Research and Permanent

Publication, 123, 130, 133

Of Inspection and Correspondence, 104, 105

Of Inspection on Provisions, 107

Of Invitation, Reception and Entertainment, 123, 129, 133, 170, 275, 276

Loan Exhibit, 123, 130, 134

Nominating, 122

On Public Health and Comfort, 134

On Public Safety, 123, 130, 133

On Publicity, 123, 129, 133

On Refreshments, 123, 129

On Religious Observances, 123, 131, 133

On Vocal Music, 123, 130, 134

Comstock, John, 104

Samuel, 102, 104

Confederacy, articles of, voted on, 105

Couch, Ebenezer, 34, 35, 39, 44, 103, 105

Crossing the Delaware, 39

Curtis, Lewis F., 90

Cushman’s Tavern, 43

Daton, Daniel, 32

Daughters of the American Revolution, Roger Sherman Chapter, 114

Davenport, Daniel, 255

Dayton, Abraham, 106, 107

Nathan, 106

DeForest, Isaac, 106

Delegates in Congress, 105

Delevan, Marcus L., 93

Douglas, Dominie, 32

Drinkwater, Thomas, 34

William, 33, 39, 40

Dunlap, Robert, 226, 227

Earliest settlers, 3, 4, 98

Ecclesiastical Society, 15

Electric light, 90, 114

Ellis, Rev. Elisha J., 196

Emmons, Edwin J., 95

Erwin, Robert, 93

Silas, 95

Everett, Daniel, 16, 104, 106, 107

Fairchild, Jesse, 32

Ferriss, Joseph, 101

Sarah, 98

Zachariah, 3, 32, 98, 99

Fires, 21, 96, 112, 114

Fire Company, 95, 96, 111

Fire Department, 276

Fireworks, 294

Fisher, Beatrice, 226

Moses, 32

Flag, 139

Pole, 133, 139

Garlicks, Henry, 89

Gas, 90

Gaylord, Benjamin, 104, 105, 107

Deacon, 42

Ebenezer, 107

Homer, 89

Nathan, 106

Peter, 89, 109

William, 99, 100, 101, 102

Gaylordsville, 84, 89

Giddings, Franklyn Henry, 93

Levi P., 3, 8, 90

Minot S., 7

Gillett, William, 101

Grand List, 101

“Green,” The, 11, 18, 19, 21

Green, General, 40

Seymour S., 86, 95

William G., 86, 121

Griffin, Charles E., 90

Grist Mill, 88, 89, 90, 100, 106, 109, 113

Griswold, John, 100

Rev. Stanley, 108

Good Shepard’s Lodge, 113

Gould, William, 32

Governor’s Day, 277

Hall, Charles N., 137, 173

David, 32

Elijah, 85, 89, 109

Perry, 85

Hanke, E. W., 87

Hare, Rev. Marmaduke, 208

Rev. Samuel, 181

Hart, Samuel, 228

Hats manufactured, 86, 110

Hartwell, Joseph, 107

Hawley, Benjamin, 32

Joseph R., 94

Nehemiah, 107

Hayes, Abraham, 108

Heacock, Rev. Stephen, 202

Highways, 100, 112

Hill, Albert S., 88, 112

Merritt W., 87

Samuel R., 139

Samuel R. Jr., 139

Hine, Abel, 104, 106

Anan, 110

Edward S., 226

Frank, 173

Henry D., 226, 227

James, 11, 95, 108

Noble, 107

Walter C., 134

Hinman, Colonel, 33

Historical Meeting, 228

Hitchcock, Isaac, 32

Samuel, 99

Hoar, George F., 94

“Home,” by Mary Murdoch Mason, 172

Hotchkiss, Ebenezer, 104, 105, 106, 107

Housatonic Agricultural Society, 112

Housatonic Institute, 92, 112

Hungerford, J. Edwin, 97

Huntington, Rev. John T., 171

Indian Deed, 98

Industries

Agricultural, 84

Buttonmaking, 87, 113

Electric light, 90, 114

Gas, 90

Grist Mill, 88, 89, 90, 100, 106, 109, 113

Hatmaking, 86, 110

Iron Works, 89, 102

Lime Works, 90, 114

Lounges, 87

Machinery, 88, 111

Paper, 88, 112

Pottery, 91

Plows, 89, 109

Saw Mill, 88, 89, 106, 109

Tobacco, 85

Wood Finishing, 91, 114

Wool and Linen, 89

Ingersoll, Briggs, 108

Ingleside School, 9, 93

Iron Works, 89, 102

Isbell, Robert H., 87

Ives, J. Moss, 298

Jacklin, Phil, 80

Jackson, George H., 97

Uri, 107

Jones, Joseph, 32

Mayor, 15, 16

Johnson, Rev. Frank A., 137, 195, 202

J. R., 93

Moses, 32

Jumel Mansion, 36

Kent, 4

Kindergarten, 113

Kinney, W. Frank, 170, 276

Mrs. Sara T., 94

Knapp, Frederick, 131

Levi S., 108

Residence, 3, 10

Lafayette, General, 15, 105

Lake, H., 226

Landon, William P., 88

Lane, Jared, 103

Law, Jonathan, 99

Lazarus, Dandy, 79

Leach, Ray W., 95

Leavitt, Rufus, 87

Lee, Rev. Timothy J., 283

Letter, 173, 297, 298

Lewis, Thomas, 107

Lime Works, 90, 114

Lines, C. W., 226

Loan Exhibition, 140

List of Exhibits, 141 to 169

Lombardy Poplar, 103

Lonetown, 4

Long, C. F., 226

Longevity, 76, 81 to 83

Lounges manufactured, 87

Lynes, Joseph, 32

Machinery, 88, 111

Mail delivery, 18

Marsh Chauncey B., 89

Daniel, 95, 111

Edwin W., 171

Egbert, 93

Mason, Mary Murdoch, 171

Masonic Hall, 276

Masters, Nicholas, 16

Nicholas S., 108

McAllister, 94

McDougall, General, 105

McMahon, Albert H., 95

George, 85

Meetinghouse, first, 10

Memorial Hall and Library, 93, 114

Memorial Tablet, 114

Merwin, Samuel, 107

Samuel, Jr., 106

Sylvanus, 110

Timothy Dwight, 171

Miles, Justus, 88

Tavern, 88

Milford Company, 3

Morgan, 42

Mosher, Lewis W., 139

Murphy, J. E., 226

Robert E., 95

Mygatt, Andrew B., 95

Eli, 95

Henry S., 91, 95, 173, 297

Roland F., 95

Neck, The, 84

Newbury Society, 84, 102, 107

New Milford Cadets, 139, 276

New Milford, became a town, 8

Original extent of, 84

Owners of, 22, 23

Plantation, 8, 98

New Preston Society, 84

Newspapers, 93, 112, 113

Nicholson, Angus, 89

Noble, Asahel, 106, 107

Charles H., 95, 96

David, 100

George B., 226

Gifford, 139, 276

John, 3, 8, 9, 14, 31, 98, 99, 100

John, Jr., 3, 98, 101

Lyman, 39

Russell B., 96

Stephen, 31, 99, 101, 102

William, 40

Zadock, 104

Purchase, 100

Northrop, Amos, 104, 106

David, 88

Jasper A., 88, 111

Joseph, 102

Roswell, 88, 111

Sheldon, 88, 111

Odd Fellows’ Hall, 276

Old Sugar House Prison, 37

“Our Forefathers,” by Charles N. Hall, 175

Oviatt, Thomas, 32

Owners of New Milford, 22, 23

Palmer, Rev. Solomon, 12, 102

Paper Mill, 88, 112

Parade, Automobile, 226

Civic and Military, 277 to 283

Marshals, aides for, 184

“Patent” granted, 98

Payment for Army Service, 105, 106, 107, 112, 113

Payne, Ezekiel, 102

Peck, Joseph, 98

Pendleton, Daniel, 40

Pepper, De Watt, 87

Peterson, Peter, 226, 227

Phillips, Chester, 40

Ruben, 40

Rev. Watson L., 288

Plantation of New Milford, 98

Platt, Daniel, 20

Plow Foundry established, 89, 109

Plumb, Rev. J. F., 202

Population, 97

Porter, Edward E., 91

John, 106

Pottery, 91

Power Company, 114

Prindle, Samuel, 3, 98

Prudden, Peter, 30

Public Library and Memorial Hall, 93, 114

Quaker Meetinghouse, 101, 108

Quakers, 12, 102, 108

Railroad, 111

Randall, Charles, 95

H. L., 226

H. LeRoy, 95, 298

Read, John, 3, 4, 9

Colonel John, 4

Redding, 4

Reed, John, 100

Reynolds, Isaac, 86

Richmond, Seeley, 85

Rivers, 84

Roads, 110, 111

Robburds, Mary, 20

Roberts, Gerardus, 20

Mary, 103

William, 89, 110

Robertson, James S., 226

Rochambeau, General, 15

Roger Sherman Hall, 3, 94, 113

Rogers, Ambrose S., 92, 112

Roosevelt, Theodore, 114

Ruggles, Joseph, 101, 104, 107

Lazarus, 102

Ryan, Rev. Joseph, 200

Ryder, Rev. Charles J., 202, 208

Sabbath Day House, 4

Sabbath work fines, 109

Sabins, Charles, 20

Sanford, David C., 12

Glover, 86, 110, 113

Harry S., 95

Henry C., 171

Joseph, 86

Zachariah, 104

Sawmill, 88, 89, 106, 109

Schools, 4, 14, 92, 103, 108

Schoverling, William, 87, 88

Mrs. William, 88

Seelye, Benjamin, 106

Separatists, 12, 103

Sermons

Rev. Elisha J. Ellis, 196

Rev. Marmaduke Hare, 208

Rev. Samuel Hare, 181

Rev. Frank A. Johnson, 175

Rev. Joseph Ryan, 200

Rev. Harris K. Smith, 189

Rev. Orville Van Keuren, 193

Rev. S. D. Woods, 187

Settlement, 3

Silliman, Rev. C., 110

Singing School, 14

“Sitting Down” Place, 75

Shanty Town, 21, 97

Sherman, Roger, 6, 94, 101, 102, 115 to 118, 232

Addresses on, 232 to 255

William, 94, 102

Slavery, 20

Slaves liberated, 20, 103, 107

Smith, David, 106

George, 104, 107

Rev. H. K., 87, 202

Joseph, 32

Perry, 109

Reuben, 106

Starr, Eli, 110, 114

Joseph, 103

Josiah, 106, 109

William J., 18, 34, 80

Staub, Nicholas, 90

Verton P., 95

Stebbins, Benoni, 99

Sterling, Vincent B., 85

Stilson, Cyrene, 14

Stoddard, Gideon, 33

Stone, Benjamin A., 92

B. J., 112

Mrs. B. J., 112

Ithiel, 104, 105, 107

Lyman B., 86

Mary A., 92

Strong, Nehemiah, 108

Sturges, Everett J., 95

Social Life, 17

Societies

Agricultural, 95

Daughters of American Revolution, 94

New Milford Washingtonian Temperance

Benevolence, 111

Soldiers, lists of, 32, 33, 34

In Civil War, 54 to 66

In Colonial Wars, 45 to 49

In Mexican War, 53

In Revolution, 49 to 53

In Spanish-American War, 66

In War of 1812, 53

Soule, David E., 86

George T., 226

Tourney, 88, 95

Winifred, 94

South Farm, 100

Sunday School, 113, 114

Talcott, John, 4

Taylor, George, 110, 112

Rev. Nathaniel, 15, 17, 99, 108

Rev. Nathaniel, Jr., 15

Mrs. Nathaniel, 17

Tamar, 15, 16

William, 108, 109

Terrell, Terrill; [see Turrill]

Thatcher, Partridge, 20, 103, 107

Thayer, Augustine, 20

Tithing man, 11

Tobacco Raising, 85

Todd, Jonah, 104

Toll bridge, 111, 112

Tomlinson, Henry, 3

Topeka Hall, 75

Tornado, 108

Town Court, 91, 114

“Town Plot,” 8

Township granted, 4, 99

Train band, 31

Transportation, 18

Treat, Gideon, 20

John, 107

Joseph, 98

Robert, 98

Trott, A. N., 226, 227

Turrell, [see Turrill]

Turrill, (Terrell, Terrill, Turrell),

Ashel, 33, 41

Caleb, 26, 27, 28, 29, 33, 41

Daniel, 26, 28

Ebenezer, 32, 41

Enoch, 33, 41

Isaac, 33, 41

James, 104, 106

Joel, 41

John, 33, 36, 39, 40, 41, 43

John S., 95

Major, 26

Nathan, 33, 41

Stephen, 34, 41, 44

William, 109

Zorvia Canfield, 26

Ufford, Abigail, 30

“Underground Railroad,” 20

Union Circulating Library established, 108

Upton Post, G. A. R. organized, 113

Van Keuren, Rev. Orville, 193

Village Improvement Society, 18

Wallis, Benjamin, 32

Watson, E. M., 226

Wallace, Mrs., 226

Wanzer, Nicholas, 108

Ward, Andrew, 34, 104

Warner, Colonel, 42

Elizur, 106, 107

Henry O., 34, 95, 276

John, 100, 110

Lemuel, 107

Martin, 32, 107

Oliver, 104

Reuben, 107, 109

Samuel, 104, 105

Washington, General, 35, 36, 39, 84, 105

Water Company, 95, 113

Water Witch Engine Company, 113

Water Witch Hose Company, 276

Wayne, Anthony, 42

Webb, Charles, 35, 103

Weller, John, 98, 99

Thomas, 98

Wells, Edwin S., 88, 112

Mary C., 92, 113

Philip, 94, 112

William W., 88, 112

Whiting, Captain, 32

Colonel Nathan, 32, 33

Whittlesey, George W., 94

Williams, Frederick W., 228, 232

Jehiel, 19

Wilkinson, Jemima, 107

Wilson, Fred, 79

Wood finishing, 91, 114

Woodruff, Rollin S., 275, 276, 277, 283, 285, 286, 297, 298

Woods, Rev. S. D., 187, 202

Wool and linen manufactured, 89

Wooster, David, 32, 33, 103

Wright, Boardman, 171

Frederick, A., 202

Yates, Paul, 106, 107

THE END

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Henry Stuart Turrill. Brigadier General United States Army, a

native and former resident of New Milford, enlisted in the army,

1863, retired, 906, died suddenly May 24, 1907, while dictating his

reminiscences for this volume.

[2] In Orcutt’s “History of New Milford,” but not in the Connecticut

Historical Society Rolls.

[3] In Orcutt’s “History of New Milford,” but not in the Connecticut

Historical Society Rolls.

[4] In Orcutt’s “History of New Milford,” but not in the Connecticut

Historical Society Rolls.

[5] Tradition that he was in Canada, but there is no record.

[6] In Orcutt’s “History of New Milford,” but not in the Connecticut

Historical Society Rolls.

[7] A native and former resident of New Milford, who now resides in

Hartford, Connecticut.

[8] Mr. Canfield viewed the various ceremonies of the Bi-Centennial

Celebration from the veranda of his residence on the east side of “The

Green.” He received scores of visitors there with little apparent

fatigue.--Editor.

[9] The writer of this article has endeavored to be accurate in his

statements. He has sought information from various sources; from the

town records, from files of newspapers of the town, from personal

recollections, and from the “History of New Milford,” by Rev. Samuel

Orcutt, 1882.

[10] The Second Congregational Church was established in Bridgewater

Society which became the town of Bridgewater in 1856.

[11] Deceased.

[12] Deceased.

[13] Deceased.

[14] Deceased.

[15] The President and Secretary of the General Committee were _ex

officio_ members of all committees.

[16] Presented by Charles P. Bentley of Booth, Bentley & Co.

[17] Page 196

[18] Conn. Stat., Revision of 1715, pp. 110, 234.

[19] Boutell’s Life of Roger Sherman, 32.

[20] Dwight’s Travels, IV, 299.

[21] Collections, Connecticut Historical Society, II, 145.

[22] Collections, Connecticut Historical Society, II, 146.

[23] Stiles, Literary Diary, I, 16, July 8, 1769.

[24] Elliot’s Debates, 178.

[25] Davis, The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, I, 672.

[26] Journ. of Congress, XIII, 155.

[27] _Id._, XIII, 122, 161, 162, 165.

[28] _Id._, XII, 179, 180, 252.

[29] Journal of Congress, XII, 54.

[30] Papers of the New Haven Colony Historical Society, I, 177.

[31] Annals of Congress, I, 125.

[32] Elliot’s Debates, II, 189.

[33] Travels, IV, 299.

[34] Lit. Diary, I II, 500.

[35] Stile’s Diary, III, 460.

[36] Lit. Diary, III, 499.

[37] _Ibid._, 500.

[38] Boutell: Life, 283.

[39] Literary Diary, III, 500.

[40] Historical Discourse, 1838, 69.

[41] V Elliot’s Debates, 135.

[42] 3 Am. Hist. Review, 326.

[43] Sanderson’s Lives of the Signers, III, 297.

[44] P. 306.

[45] The chronology here referred to is to be found in Part I. of this

volume, pages 115-118.

Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:

Mr. Daniel Bordman was called to preach=> Mr. Daniel Boardman was called

to preach {pg 8}

A Justice of the Supreme Court of Connectiucut=> A Justice of the

Supreme Court of Connecticut {image facing pg 20}

the devolpment of the town=> the development of the town {image facing

pg 20}

had so far receovered from his prison experiences=> had so far recovered

from his prison experiences {pg 39}

these were of foriegn birth=> these were of foreign birth {pg 66}

Generals Washington and Layfayette were said=> Generals Washington and

Lafayette were said {pg 105}

Great River in the neck=> Great River in the Neck {pg 108}

given by Kamahameha I=> given by Kamehameha I {pg 144}

From estate of Alex. Resseguie=> From estate of Alex. Rosseguie {pg 155}

that is it hard for us to appreciate=> that it is hard for us to

appreciate {pg 178}

made the rihcer by their=> made the richer by their {pg 214}

It was the place for more than century=> It was the place for more than

a century {pg 234}

which he rendered to Conneticut=> which he rendered to Connecticut {pg

244}

his Indian suit begin securely=> his Indian suit being securely {pg 281}

Water Witch Hose Conpany, 276=> Water Witch Hose Company, 276 {pg 306}