Christopher Leffingwell (1734-1810)
Christopher Leffingwell was an illustrious, ambitious member the early Norwich community. He was the great-grandson of Lt. Thomas Leffingwell. He was an ambitious member of the community and a pioneer in many fields. In 1760 he owned and operated the Leffingwell Tavern.
Prior to the beginning of the Revolutionary War he was a member of the “Committee of Correspondence“, which was a conduit through which ideas of American independence from Britain were nurtured. These ideas ultimately led to the American colonist’s Declaration of Independence.
From the beginning of the Revolution he was Norwich’s first citizen; the one to whom the first news of Lexington and Concord was addressed, and to whom the Huntingtons and Trumbulls requested supplies when troops were called into action.
It is believed that throughout the Revolutionary War he had special avenues of information. He had both imagination and foresight enough to bring General Washington to him when the British troops appeared likely to have split our army in two. No one, perhaps, in Connecticut took a more strategic part in the War, albeit always as a private citizen, than Christopher Leffingwell. The contents of one of his letters to George Washington is preserved in the United States National Archives.
In 1770 he and his brother, Elisha, opened the first chocolate mill in Norwich. He made the chocolate of the best quality and the quantity produced was estimated at 4000 to 5000 pounds per years. It sold wholesale for 14 pence ($8.80 in today’s dollars) per pound and 18 pence ($11.30 in today’s dollars) per pound retail.
Leffingwell operated the Leffingwell tavern along with several of his other pursuits. He had a pioneering spirit that led him to become one of Norwich’s earliest tycoons. In 1766, along with his neighbor John Bliss, he established the first paper mill in Connecticut. His mill made newspapers in the Colony a practical reality. He also ventured upon a stocking factory (when men as well as women, wore them) using machines that turned out thousands of stockings a year, as well as gloves and purses.
Leffingwell Row (circa 1785)
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In 1780 Leffingwell built row of shops for his enterprises, an early instance of block building of a commercial nature, which stood until burned about a hundred years later. It was somewhat like a modern-day shopping center. Leffingwell Row was located near the junction of Harland Road and Washington Street. One of the stores on Leffingwell Row, shown in the image on the left, was active until 1882.
Christopher Leffingwell was engaged in several other enterprises such as, a fulling mill, a dye-house, a grist mill and an early pottery.
In 1784, shortly after the end of the Revolutionary War, Christopher Leffingwell was appointed to be the first naval officer of the port of Norwich under the United States of government. He also served as a Colonel in the Norwich Light Infantry Brigade.
Acknowledgements
National Park Service
“Old Houses of the Ancient Town of Norwich, 1600-1800”, by Mary Elizabeth Perkins
“History of Norwich, Connecticut: From Its Possession From the Indians, to the Year 1866”, pp 475, 608, by Frances Manwaring Caulkins
“Old Houses of the Ancient Town of Norwich, 1600-1800”, by Mary Elizabeth Perkins
The complete list of sources may be found by clicking the “Bibliography” button, and, then typing “Christopher Leffingwell” in the SEARCH box.
1735-1807 Thomas Harland
Thomas Harland was a clock maker and master craftsman in Norwich. After learning his trade in England, he came from London to Boston in 1773. He sailed aboard one of the ships from which the tea was thrown overboard during the Boston Tea Party. Harland had planned to settle in Boston, but finding the town is such an excited and unsettled state he decided to find a more remote, peaceful place. Soon thereafter, he settled in Norwich, and opened his shop before the end of 1773.
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A Thomas Harland Clock
This is a fine Chippendale mahogany-cased, Thomas Harland tall clock, built in Norwich in 1785. It sold at auction in 2018 for $36,900.
On December 9, 1773 Harland advertised in the Norwich Packet newspaper :
“Thomas Harland, Watch and Clock-maker from London begs leave to acquaint the public, that he has opened a shop near the store of Christopher Leffingwell in Norwich, where he makes in the neatest manner, and on the most improved principles, horizontal, repeating, and plain watches, in gold, silver, metal or covered cases. Spring, musical, and plain clocks, church clocks, regulators, etc. He also cleans and repairs watches and clocks with greatest care and dispatch, and upon reasonable terms.”
In 1790 Harland had ten or twelve hands in constant employ, and it was stated that he annually produced two hundred watches and forty clocks. His shop produced spring, musical and plain clocks, with brass works and a 40″ long pendulum. The cases were about 6-feet high. Sometimes the clocks were hung up, without cases, and were called wag-on-the-wall clocks.
Harland trained many apprentices who went on to become fine craftsman and open their own businesses. One of his apprentices was William Cleveland, the grandfather of U.S. President Grover Cleveland.
Harland was a man of considerable genius. In addition to making clocks, in 1788 he supervised and participated in the building of one of Norwich’s first fire engines. In 1788, the citizens of Norwich Landing, disturbed by the many fires which were constantly occurring, resolved to have a new fire engine. Thomas Harland, and several of his workers, built an engine from plans of the existing engine being used in Norwich. Thomas made the engine valves, large screws and several joints for the engine himself. Two of his apprentices, a smith, and Mr. Samuel Thomas assisted in the effort.
In 1779 Thomas Harland married Hannah Clark Harland. They had four sons and three daughters. Thomas Harland died in 1807 and is buried in the Old Norwichtown Cemetery, along with his wife, Hannah, and son Thomas Harland Jr.
One of his grandson’s, Brigadier General Edward Harland, was a highly decorated Union Army officer, who proudly served in the Civil War.
Acknowledgements
Delaney Antique Clocks
“Old Houses of the Ancient Town of Norwich, 1600-1800”, 1895, pp 112-116, by Mary Elizabeth Perkins
Skinner Incorporated
Find A Grave
The complete list of sources may be found by clicking the “Bibliography” button, and, then typing “Thomas Harland” in the SEARCH box.
Dr. Philip Turner (1740-1815)
The following is an excerpt from Info Source 1.
“Dr. Philip Turner was born Feb. 25, 1740 in Norwich to Philip T. and Anna Huntington Turner. Very little is known of Philip Turner’s early life except that he attended school in Norwich. As a youth, he was aware of the French and Indian War and personally knew many of the local participants.”
“Philip married Lucy Tracy, also a Norwich native. Her father, was Dr. Elisha Tracy, a most respected physician and surgeon practicing in Norwich. Philip assisted a number of doctors in Norwich and began practicing medicine as a young man.”
“He was present on June 17, 1775 at the Battle of Bunker Hill as a military surgeon. During the war, in Roxbury, Mass., there was what was called The Connecticut Camp. Turner served as first surgeon for those Connecticut troops. Later, he served at Ticonderoga as assistant surgeon of the Army post there.”
“Jedediah Huntington, of Norwich, a field officer at that time, spoke of Turner as “being blessed with a natural insight into wounds and a dexterity in treating them.”
“In 1777, Congress appointed Turner as director-general, later appointing him surgeon-general of the Eastern Department. He remained there until the end of the war. As still a comparatively young man, Dr. Turner was the first surgeon in America to perform the operation of tying the femoral artery, which supplies blood to the leg.”
“After his retirement from the army in 1781, Turner returned to Norwich where he resumed his private practice as the leading surgeon in the Eastern portion of the state, and some said in the entire state. He continued his practice for 19 years until 1800 when he moved to New York.”
“The official papers of Dr. Philip Turner include items such as correspondence with some very interesting people of his time. They include George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, James Monroe and James Madison, among others.”
“Dr. Philip Turner died in New York at the age of 75 on April 20, 1815. His widow survived him by 13 years. Turner was buried in Yantic Cemetery with military honors. His wife, Lucy, is also buried there.”
Dr. Turner’s home, at 29 West Town Street is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Acknowledgements
“Norwich Doctor 1st to Tie Femoral Artery in 1700s”, by Richard Curland, (09/11/2017)
Public Domain
Benedict Arnold (1741-1801)
Benedict Arnold was born in Norwich on January 14, 1741. When Benedict’s was a young boy his father, Captain Arnold, prospered as a respectable merchant and held various town office positions. He had four siblings and a loving mother.
However, when Benedict was 9 years-old, his younger brother Absalom died due to an illness and three years later a deadly epidemic swept through Norwich, claiming the lives of two of Benedict’s younger sisters.
These family tragedies, in addition to several poor business decisions made by his father, led to a disintegration of Benedict’s childhood family. His father’s alcoholism and ill health prevented him from training Benedict in the family mercantile business.
Before the age of nine Benedict attended school in Montville, and was later sent to a private school. It was expected that Benedict would someday attend Yale College. However, after the death of his siblings and the degradation of his father’s financial position, private school was no longer an option. However, Benedict’s mother, Hannah, was able to secure an apprenticeship for thirteen year-old Benedict with her cousins, Dr. Daniel Lathrop and Dr. Joshua Lathrop.
They operated a successful apothecary shop and merchandise trade in Norwich. Benedict apprenticed with the Lathrop brothers from 1754-1761 and he impressed them with his skill. They made Arnold their junior business associate in New Haven and sent him on trading voyages to the West Indies and London. Benedict Arnold gained valuable experience as a mariner and a merchant. While living in the Lathrop home Benedict matured into a gentleman and learned how to operate a business.
Unfortunately his mother died in 1759 and his father died in 1760, leaving young Benedict and his only remaining sibling, Hannah, in dire need. The Lathrops cared for Benedict and his sister Hannah for several years thereafter. He and Hannah may have lived in the Dr. Joshua Lathrop house, a Norwich home listed on the National Register of Historic Places after their mother’s death.
Benedict Arnold began his militia career while in Norwich when he enlisted in the Connecticut Militia in 1757 at the age of 16. His unit was marched to the Lake George area of New York. However, before reaching their destination they received word that the French had already besieged Fort William Henry and their Indian allies had committed atrocities after their victory. Word of the siege’s disastrous outcome led the company to turn around. Arnold had served for only 13 days.
In 1764, the Lathrop brothers helped Benedict, twenty three years old at the time, to sell the Arnold homestead. Benedict and Hannah, moved to New Haven, putting their childhood years in Norwich behind them. Arnold became a successful druggist and merchant-sea captain there.
While in New Haven, the Stamp Act of 1765 prompted Arnold to join the American patriot voices in opposition, and also led to his joining the Sons of Liberty. Arnold initially took no part in any public demonstrations, but, like many merchants in New Haven he continued to do business openly in defiance of the British Intolerable Acts.
In 1767 he married Margaret Mansfield, the daughter of New Haven’s sheriff. Over time they had 3 sons, Benedict VI, Richard and Henry.
A few years later, in March 1775, Benedict joined the colonist’s rebellion as a Captain in the New Haven militia. The next month his company marched northeast to assist in the Siege of Boston that followed the Battles of Lexington and Concord. He proposed an action to the Massachusetts Committee of Safety to seize Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York, which he knew was poorly defended. Massachusetts issued him a Colonel’s commission on May 3, 1775, and he left Cambridge to join with Ethan Allen and his men in the May 10, 1775 Capture of Fort Ticonderoga in New York. As the first decisive victory of the Revolutionary War, this event provided both a moral booster and cannons that were later used by the colonists at the Siege of Boston.
A week later, on May 18, 1775 Colonel Arnold and his men conducted a bold raid on Fort Saint-Jean. The fort was the principal defense of Montreal. During this successful raid he captured the fort’s garrison and Lake Champlain’s only large military ship.
A few weeks later, after returning to Fort Ticonderoga a Connecticut militia force arrived. Arnold had a dispute with its commander over who was to retain control of the fort. As a result, Arnold resigned his Massachusetts commission and left the fort. On was on his way home from Ticonderoga, in June 1775, Arnold learned that his wife, Margaret, had died. Their sons were only three, six and seven years old at the time.
Three months later he was commissioned as a Colonel in the Continental Army for an expedition to attack Quebec City in Canada. He and his 1,100 men left Cambridge for Quebec, however, it was a very difficult journey. Two hundred of his men died en route and another 300 turned back. After the siege he was promoted to Brigadier General.
After several successful campaigns in the Continental Army, Benedict Arnold became a trusted confidant of George Washington. Washington appointed Arnold the military commander of Philadelphia in 1778 after the British withdrew from the city.
Unfortunately, Arnold planned to capitalize financially on the change of power in Philadelphia and eventually betrayed the trust of George Washington and his fellow countrymen. Benedict Arnold will always be remembered as America’s most infamous traitor.
The life and times of Benedict Arnold are well documented. One well written book is “The Notorious Benedict Arnold : A True Story of Adventure, Heroism & Treachery“, by Steve Sheinkin.
Acknowledgements
“The Notorious Benedict Arnold : A True Story of Adventure, Heroism &Treachery”, 2013, by Steve Sheinkin
Wikipedia
“Colonel Benedict Arnold”, by Thomas Hart
The complete list of sources may be found by clicking the “Bibliography” button, and, then typing “Benedict Arnold” in the SEARCH box.
Aaron Cleveland Jr. (1744-1815)
Reverend Aaron Cleveland Jr. was President Grover Cleveland’s great-grandfather. He was born in East Haddam, CT and moved to Norwich at the age of 21. His father’s early death deprived him of the privilege of a college education, but he pursued his studies while apprenticed to a hatter in Haddam.
At the age of nineteen, he produced a poem, “The Philosopher and Boy”, in which he refers to his botanical pursuits. In 1779, Aaron Cleveland was a member of the provincial legislature of Connecticut.
He operated a hat shop on Bean Hill in post-revolutionary days. He became active in speaking and writing and took the lead in opposing slavery. Cleveland introduced the first bill for its abolition because he was dissatisfied with the emancipation measures adopted in 1790.
The photo of the Cleveland homestead, shown on the left, was taken circa 1897, about 80 years after Aaron Cleveland Jr’s death. It is unknown which of his surviving family resided here.
Aaron was twice married. His first wife, Abiah Hyde, bore him seven children. One of their sons, William, became the grandfather President Grover Cleveland. Another of their sons, Charles, became a clergyman in Boston noted for his philanthropic activities. His second wife, Elizabeth Clement, bore him one child.
Late in life, he became a Congregational pastor near Hartford. He died leaving thirteen children and is buried in the Old Norwichtown Cemetery.
President Grover Cleveland was the Guest of Honor in Norwich’s 1901 celebration of Old Home Week. During the event he visited his great-grandfather, Aaron Cleveland Jr’s hat shop hat shop on Bean Hill. He most likely also visited his family’s homestead.
Acknowledgements
“Reminiscences of Bean Hill, Norwich – part 2”, (1897), page 448, Burrell W. Hyde
Wikipedia
FindAGrave.com
“Reminiscences of Bean Hill, Norwich – part 2”, (1897), page 448, Burrell W. Hyde
The complete list of sources may be found by clicking the “Bibliography” button, and, then typing “Aaron Cleveland” in the SEARCH box.
Joseph Howland (1750-1836)
Joseph Howland was a prominent merchant, ship owner and officer during the Revolutionary War. He was one of the earliest major businessmen in Norwich.
Howland was in business in Norwich for nearly forty years. Over the years he was associated with several businesses, most of which were focused on shipping. He and his partners established a very profitable businesses that outfitted, owned and insured sea-going ships. He and his partner, Thomas Coit, were owners in several Revolutionary War period vessels, including the privateer vessels Hibernia, Governor Trumbull, Thetis and several others.
He was a strong supporter of fair trade. In 1782 he was a member of Norwich’s “Association Against Illicit Trade“. He, and others in the group, made a solemn pledge of life, fortune, and honor to support the civil authority and have no connection, social or mercantile, with those detected in evading the laws.
In 1774, Joseph Howland was one of the three men who paid the highest taxes in Chelsea (the original City of Norwich).
Joseph Howland was one of the directors of the Union Bank, one of the first banks in Connecticut. He was also the president of the Norwich Marine Insurance Company, chartered in 1803.
Joseph Howland married Lydia Bill (1753-1838), the daughter of Captain William Coit, in 1772. He was also a great-grandson of John Howland, who sailed to America on the Mayflower.
He later moved his family moved to New York. He is buried in Brooklyn, New York.
Acknowledgements
“History of Norwich, Connecticut: From Its Possession From the Indians, to the Year 1866”, pp 638-639, by Frances Manwaring Caulkins
FindAGrave.com
The complete list of sources may be found by clicking the “Bibliography” button, and, then typing “Joseph Howland” in the SEARCH box.
Colonel Joshua Huntington (1751-1821)
Joshua Huntington operated several successful businesses. One was based at the Norwich Landing and another was a import/export, sea-based enterprise. However, when the Revolutionary War first broke out, he answered the first call to arms, and fought at the Battle of Lexington and Concord. Later, he went to Cambridge, where he was commissioned First Lieutenant on May 1, 1775, and soon thereafter he participated in the Siege of Boston.
In June 1775 he was encamped on Prospect Hill in Cambridge. Shortly after this, when the army was organized, Huntington left to help his father Major General Jabez Huntington, in his business. He again joined the army in 1776 and fought in the New York and New Jersey campaign. Near the end of 1776, Huntington left the army again, this time permanently. However, he served in the Connecticut Militia from 1776 to 1788, attaining the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
Later, in 1789, Huntington was appointed County Sheriff and held the office until his death in 1821. In 1805 he was a Presidential Elector from Norwich, in the fifth Presidential Election.
Lydia H. Sigourney (1791-1865) a well-known American poet and Norwich native, said of him :
“Col. Joshua Huntington had one of the most benign countenances I ever remember to have seen. His calm, beautiful brow, was an index of his temper and life. Let who would be disturbed or irritated, he was not the man. He regarded with such kindness, as the gospel teaches, the whole human family. At his own fair fireside, surrounded by living congenial spirits, and in all his intercourse with the community, he was the same serene and revered Christian philosopher.” (Info Source)
If you look carefully at Joshua Huntington’s portrait, you can see the “beautiful brow”, that Lydia Sigourney refers to.
Acknowledgements
“Old Houses of the Ancient Town of Norwich, 1600-1800”, (1895), page 218, by Mary Elizabeth Perkins
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