Norwich bulletin., 1916-05-09
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
PIairaeId in the Past.

MT. Editor:-A few months ago | heard man say (speakfng of the good old town of Plainfield) T can't find that Plainf1eld has much of any his- tory; never produced either presi- dent or United States senator Ac- cording to Miss LIS history of Wind ham county, the most noted man who ever went out from Plainf1eId was a quack doctor and even his name has been forgotten" And as had never read that history carefully I just kept quiet but I could not get the impress sion from my mind that Rev. H. T. Arnold got some of the facts for his history of PIainfield church from that same book. and Rev. MT. Benedict will be remembered as long as the Bene- gave that library (Prof. Wm. Kinney) will never be forgotten as long as there is child graduated from the public schools to try for the Kinney prize.
 I thought of Rev. Charles Spalding, D. D., of Boston; and I wondered what his brother Frank (who was the idol of his native town 35 years ago) would have said at the suggestion of Plain field having mo history"
 thought of George J. Corey, student of the old Academy and a for mer United States consul to Amster- part in making China a modern na- ton. And he told us only last August that the name of PIainfield Academy was well known in that distant land and it must have reached South Amer ica in the height of it's popularity or students would not have come from there.
 I looked up our war record and I found that P1ainfield took part In She | old French and Indian War in 1755, | and during the long struggle for In i dependence the town did her full share l -Sr-E,4 1S ! and his good wife entertain Washing | ton and Lafayette, when they passed | through Plafnfield and stopped at the old Eaton Tavern. Again in 1872 when 1 England made a second attempt to subdue her lost colonies a regiment of fense of New London. In the stirring days of anti-slavery the Burleighs of 1 of Plainfield took an active part l Charles Burleigh being with Elder l Frost of Canterbury and Wm. Lloyd 1 Carlson, when the latter was dragged
 cause of his anti-slavery views and
 his companions did not escape the vio- I lence of the mob.
 During the great Civil, War oul
 "boys in blue" gave us no cause fol l shame, a student of Plainef1ld Acad- emy being among the 335 men who marched up to Fort Hudson, wher
 only 176 survived the march. We sent some of our sons to defend oul l country from Spain and at the pres.
 ent time few are at their posts ot
 duty. Among the names of men wht ] have made and enforced the laws o
 our land found the name Of Judge Daniel W. Bond; also a sketch from the pen of Hon. A. Payne of Provi
 dence, in which Speaking of hi
 school days at Plainf1eld Academy) h. tells of Edward A. Bradford, who il 7QdA Inadinnr Ia in NnN
 Orleans. and was nominated by Presi
 dent Fillmore, to fill a vacancy upol
 the bench of the Supreme Court of tn,
 United States and only his whig poll
 tics Unpopular in the South in thos
 days) kept his nomination from be
 ing confirmed by the senate.
 He speaks of one of his teachers a
 the Academy, James Humphrey, a sol { of President Humphrey Of Amhers l College, who finally fell into congress. Mir. Payne also tells of the remark
 of John Witter as he dropped