Experience 300 Years of Norwich History
The primary goal of this website is to educate the public about Norwich, Connecticut’s rich heritage and history spanning the 300-year period from 1659 to 1959. The site offers quick and easy access to an extensive collection of media, focusing on Norwich’s historical events, places, and other interesting tidbits.
This site is entirely free of charge
IconicNorwich.org features over 3,000 concise articles and numerous historical maps of Norwich. The articles are organized into more than 30 categories. The Bibliography connects you to thousands of historical web-based links from Norwich. Several quizzes, prepared presentations, and crossword puzzles are provided to enhance the learning environment.
You are invited to add or contribute to new or existing placemarks by filling out the form in the “Contribute Article” section.
Recent Updates to IconicNorwich.org
Added: Capt. Chester Hillard Biography: Click Here
Added: Horace A. Briggs Biography: Click Here
Added: Lucretia Bradley Biography: Click Here
Added: Alfred H. Vaughn Biography: Click Here
Added: Henry H. Starkweather Biography: Click Here
Norwich History … It Never Gets Old
Chester Hillard was born on November 24, 1815, in Preston, CT. In January 1840, he was a passenger on the ill-fated steamship Lexington. He became the sole surviving passenger of the Lexington’s shipwreck. By trade, he was a ship’s captain, like both his father and uncle before him.
The steamship Lexington left its Manhattan East River pier at 4:00 pm, carrying 143 passengers and a cargo of 150 bales of cotton on its overnight run to Stonington, CT. By 7:30 PM, the Lexington was four miles off the north shore of Long Island near Eaton’s Neck lighthouse when the ship’s first mate noticed fire erupting from the cotton bales near the smokestack. Crew members formed a bucket brigade and used a small fire pump to fight the fire, but the strong winds fanned the flames, which quickly spread through the ship.
The ship’s Captain, George Child, ordered people into the lifeboats. But with the engines still running, the first boat was pulled into the turning paddlewheel, instantly killing all on board, including Captain Child, who had slipped and fallen into the water. The remaining two lifeboats were launched but immediately capsized in the Lexington’s wake and sank into the freezing waters.
Chester Hillard, who responded to the first alarm, came on deck. He organized the crew and helped them throw cotton bales and anything that would float to the people in the water. With the boilers now spent, the Lexington slowed and began to drift. By 8 PM, the main deck began to collapse in flames, and Hillard, along with one of the ship’s firemen, Benjamin Cox, jumped overboard, clinging to one of the last cotton bales.
Hillard testified at the coroner’s inquest that, “We were sitting astride the bale with our feet in the water. It was so cold as to make it necessary for me to exert myself to keep warm, which I did by whipping my hands and arms around my body.”
Click HERE to read a more detailed account of Chester Hillard and the wreck of the Lexington
Click HERE to read previous “Norwich History … It Never Gets Old” articles
“Norwich History … It Never Gets Old” is published here on Fridays.
Next issue will appear here on Friday August 14
The IconicNorwich.org website was designed, developed, and is maintained by Bob Dees
1815-1868 Capt. Chester Hillard
Chester Hillard and Benjamin Cox escaping on a cotton bale
An historical fiction novel by Bob Dees about Norwich's 1850s Gold Mining Company. Click image to see.