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SCRAPS OFWETHER8FIELD HISTORY,—BYJUDGE a W. ADAMS, OF HARTFORD.NO. VII.(Copyrighted by the Wethersfield Farmer.)Having given some account of the part taken by Wethersfield people in the employment of private armed vessels in the Revolution, it is proposed herein to notice the action of some of her citizens in connection with the use of public armed vessels, or men-of-war, in the same epoch. We must remember, however, that at the outbreak of hostilities between the Colonies and Great Britain, there was no American navy; and such war-vessels (few in number) as the Americans possessed in the course of the war, had been constructed, or purchased, by some of the seaboard states; or through the efforts of the Naval Committee of the Continental Congress. As examples of vessels of war owned by the state of Connecticut, we may mention: the armedworth, of ITartford, proceeded on a sixJie requer Continental Congress. This beinmonth’s cruise, at the request of theIIended, without any extraordinary inci- aappears, Capt. Ephraim I Bill (afterward copnmander of thedent, so far as a;Oliver Cromwell) was placed in com mand. Tlie Minerva had in the meantime been delivered to her owner, atRockjnHill, after having been taken toNew Haven, where her armament had been removed from her. At NewHaven, four of her guns were transit .gether with some balls and canisterferred to the row-galley Whiting to-shot. This was in June, 1776. In December, six of her guns, also at New Haven, were fitted to carriages, forschooner Spy; the brigs Defence, and Old Defence: and the ship OliverCromwell. The latter carried 20 guns, and was built at Saybrook. She wasthe largest man-of-war built by the state. The Defence was built at thesame yard; being in that part of the town since set off as Essex. The Spy,and the Old Defence, were old merchantmen, remodelled for war purposes. The brig Resistance, the ship Conft acy. ana the frigate Trumbull, are in-'eder-stances of war-vessels built in Connecticut, by authority of the ContinentalCongress. The Trumbull, launched atitwhat is now Portland, (then in Chatham) was, probably, the most formidable of all; and is said to have been of 700 tons burthen and to have carried 36 guns.In the whole course of the war, there were but twenty-six vessels of war contributed by Connecticut. This number includes those built by the state as well as those constructed by the Committee of Congress. It in. eludes several not completed in time to be put in service; one of which, the largest of all, was the Bourbon, built at Portland. It includes, likewise, some vessels not sea-going; notably threefield-pieces. In April, 1778, it appears the Minerva was owned by the state; and it further appears that in March, ofGthat year, the state had sold to Capt. Griswold sixteen 4 pounder and 6 pounder cannon, from its foundry, at Salisbury. So that we may assume that Capt. Griswold first fitted out the vessel for war purposes, and then sold her to the state.The next information I have of her is to the effect that, in 1781, she was owned or held under a charter, by the United States; and she then carried 16 guns, and a crew of 100 men, and was under the command of Giles Ilall, her first commander. Later, she was commanded by Dudley Saltonstall, and her crew was 120 men. Whether her guns were heavier than those first supplied for her does not appear; but the very heaviest then carried by most of our I i-of-war were 0 pounders. With ;™ s of so small a calibre, and closely r;5,7Y1C2Gmen-guns1Cwatched by British men-of-war, some of which carried 24 pounders, it is. apparent that our feeble navy was illy PIprepared to cope with the war vessels of England. If the Minerva was ablei to make her way into the ocean, it is -doubtful if she ever achieved anything|J more than the capture of some of the smaller armed vessels of the enemy. And what she accomplished is not told 12,in any record within my knowledge.Capt. Griswold was engaged in ship- 30 building, and in mercantile operations, 20row-galleys; which, though having a length of keel of 60 feet, and a crew of50 men each, were propelled wholly byoars. And yet, Connecticut took ainleading part in the naval operations of the war; and Wethersfield, as we shall see, was more prominent as a factor in those operations than she has. ever been in subsequent ones of alike nature.Among the sea-captains of Wethersfield at the outbreak of the Revolution,was William Griswold, living at Stepney parish. I am unable to identify his parentage; but it is certain that he (as are all the Wethersfield Griswolds of to-day) was a descendant of Michael Griswold, the settler. Many of this family have been mariners; and I had nearly come to the conclusion that the William in question was that William who was a son of the first Capt. Caleb Griswold; but subsequent investigation has rendered that belief untenable. Certain it is, that when a youth, he ranat Rocky Hill (and perhaps at the Cove), 10 during the war. lie was a member of 50 a co-partnership, whereof his associates were Capt. Barnabas Deane, Capt. P] John Wright and Capt. Justus Riley. Herein may probably be found the reason why he did not take the command of the Minerva when she became a war vessel, and the first one sent out|N by the colony, in that war. He built and lived in the large red house, which was some years ago remodeled to become Green’s Hotel, at Rocky IIill.|W There are descendants of him, not numerous, still living, within and without this state.Capt. Moses Tryon was not in the Navy proper, until after the Revolution;! i,c but he received his training therefore on board the privateers commanded by LI him in the war. It was in 1798, when1 48 years of age, that he was commissioned a captain in the Navy; and this was........bit ‘ • *away, and was apparently an orphan. He followed the seas, and, when quite aIoung man, arrived in London; where, n 1761, he married a Miss Martha Tapley, a lady of some wealth, and with whom he returned to Rocky Hill, the place of his nativity. It is said that at this early date he was master of an East India ship, and that his manly and intelligent appearance captivated his bride at first sight.At Rocky Hill, Capt. Griswold hadthen the highest attainable rank in the service. In the squadron of Barry, and Decatur he commanded the Connecticut, 24 guns; and was distinguished foriAI gallantry in the contest with the Barba-ry powers. He died, greatly respected, in 1817, and was buried at Wethersfield. The house he lived in stood next north of the meeting-house, and was one of] those burnt in the conflagration of 1833 (if I rightly remember tlie date). His son, Moses, is said to have removed to Rochester, N. Y.STATE CORltESPONDENCE. ~rebuilt and was the owner of the brig Minerva. In July, 1775, a committee ofthe Connecticut Council of Safety was chosen to look about the colony to find suitable vessels to be converted into men-of-war. This Committee reported August 2d, that it had performed its duty, but could find no vessels iu allrespects suited to the purposes of war-ltfare. One was finally selected by the Council, at this August meeting; and this was the “brig Minerva, owned by Capt. William Griswold, of Wethersfield, of 108 tons burthen.” On August 3d, the vessel was chartered by the state, at 37 pounds 16 shillings per month. Capt. Giles Hall, of Wallingford was placed in command; and he, with Capt. Griswold, supervised the fitting out and armament of the bilg. The other officers were: a first lieutenant, second lieutenant, steward, cook, carpenter, pilot, etc.; and there were 40 seamen and mariners in the crew. A sailing-master, a mate and a gunner were added in September. The vessel was partly fitted out at Rocky Hill, and it was probably there that her sides were pierced for port-holes for her guns. Then she proceeded to Middletown, where she received five barrels of?owder, and suitable balls, brought rotn New London, and 300 pounds of lead, from Wethersfield. This must have been before the lead mines at Middletown were worked. At the same time, September, 1775, Peter Goodrich (of Middletown Upper Houses) prepared 5,425 lbs. of bread for the Minerva; but just when he was about to send it on board, his house was destroyed by fire, and with it the bread was consumed. In October, the vessel was ordered on a cruise; whereupon the crew, with the exception of 10 or 12 men, refused to obey orders. In extenuation of this mutiny, it is well to remember that at that time Connecticut was still a colony of Great Britain; war had not been formally declared; independence had not been determined upon; and we had simply been acting on the defensive against the enforcement of oppressive law. The sending out of this first vessel of war from this colony, in that conflict, was probably deemed uncalled-for by the situation.A new crew was speedily obtained, and, the vessel having been supplied with provisions by Jeremiah Wads-Rockv Hill.—George Bulkley, whohas been visiting friends in Bloomfield, I wahas returned home Mr. T. II. Vincent IWahas returned here, and has been engagedagain, as pastor of the M. E. church. liewill preach to-morrow A new cupalohas been put in the Pierce hardware shop,aud business is rushing The churchyard repairing was begun yesterday. A dinner was served in the Benevolent Society’s parlors for the workmen....\fr ftnmnnl nf thi«i nlnnn nnrl AfrQMaMr. Samuel Dimock of this place and Mrs. Rhodes of Wethersfield were married I Bak Sunday afternoon at Mr. Dimock’s resi-i vdencc by Rev. Mr. Chase Mr. Gilbert’s gratpet dog was shot by some one Saturday. I1™ Ladies Benevolent Society was well attended Wednesday Rev. Father Murphy has sufllciently recovered from his Ha illness to resume his duties at the Catholicchurch Clyde Brooks of Hartford,spent Sunday in town It is reportedthat Mr. N. J. Hall is going to move to theCentre Whooping cough is prevalentamong the children — Mr. Clark has moved into Mr. Medbury’s house....Mr. Luther Sherwood is moving into his newhome Mr. Hills horse got frightened atthe train Wednesday and ran away. Nodamage done Alfred Smith is ill withthe diphtheria.NosSt]Newington.—The gift of one hundreddollars mentioned in your last issue shouldhave been credited to Mrs. J. M. Bclden I Piinstead of Mr. Beadle.Farmers arc considerably delayed intheir work of sowing and planting bymow and raiu, yet a good deal of land has been plowed and some fields planted. I F Mr. George Churchill, who has been!lion under treatment in the Hartford hospital for nearly twelve weeks, is now at home much improved and hopes soon to be able o attend to his usual business.Mrs Ellen A. Doming and her son, have gone to East Haven to spend a few months with Mrs. Deming’s sister, Mrs. Clark.Mrs. Tingley, of Providence, R. I., 1ms been spending a few days with hercousin,Mrs. C. J. Wolles.Mr. Nathaniel Root, who lms bought and now occupies the old parsonage, lms lost a valuable c«\v with milk fever. Deacon J. Doming, also lost a cow with the same disease.3t»lt;IGeorge P. Rowell Co., of NowYork, advertising agents, will issue theirNineteenth Annual edition of tho Ameri can Newspaper Directory, May 2d. By this work It appears that tho number ofDublished in tlie United Statesnewspapers pand Canada Is 15,424.
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Wethersfield Weekly Farmer
Wethersfield, Connecticut, US
Sat, Apr 30, 1887
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