Norwich bulletin., 1917-01-13
PRISONERS IN EARLY NORWICH

more then sheriff of New London county.
 Here the prisoner was detained dur i ing the winter in strict and cheerless
 seclusion. MT. Edgerton, the gaoier, l was directed to build a high picket fence around the prison, and even i within this enclosure Dr. Church was not permitted to walk but once week, and then with the sheriff by his slde. This was harsh discipline, we are re- ! minded to a man accustomed to a l luxurious, independent style of living.
 Dr.. Church was a Boston physician of considerable literary ability, wll 1 had written /songs and delivered ora l tions in favor of American liberty, and had been a member of the ProVlhclai congress in 1774. He was an associate of Warren and other patriots; but Tn September, 1775, a letter written by him in cypher to his brother in Boston I was intercepted, and the contents 1 found to be of so questionable a char acter that he was arrested and tried 1 for holding a reasonable correspon- dence with the enemy. The letter, though it contained no positive trea- son. seemed to enanate from one who was feeling his way to treachery and diShonor.
 pr. Church was kept in Norwich until the 27th of May, 1776, when by order of congress he was sent to Wa tertown, Mass. About the same time h eobtained permission to retire to the West Indies; but the vessel in which he embarked was never heard of af- terwards.
 Norwich and some other towns in
 the eastern part of the state, removed
 from the seacoast, were often charged
 with the safe-keeping of tories and
 other prisoners of war.
 Items like the followin gappear in
 the newspapers of that time and in
 the public records:
 Aug. 26, 1776. Last Sunday a num-
 Der of gentlemen tories were brought
 to New London and sent from hence
 to Norwich.
 In the accounts of the State Pay Table there is startling item of
 6 5So 10 s. 2 d. drawn by J. Hunting ton of Windham for rum and coffee furnished to prisoners under his charge in August, TIT. This might lead us to conclude" comments Miss Caulkins in her History of Norwich, were very numerous, or that they were slightly luxurious in their habits, and had uncommonly indulgent Wardens. But it is probable that the amount is given in a Appreciated currency"
 Another Item reads: Ten persons arrested in New York and first inn prisoned in Litchfeld gaol. have been transferred to Norwich.
 Feb. % 1777. John l.. C. Rome, Esq., of New York, confined as a tory in Norwich, was released on his pa role, to return on request of the gov erncr and council
 During August, 1776, the sheriff re- moved from New London to Preston twenty persons arrested a Albany for toryism. They remained at Preston for several months and were allowed to live as they chose, at their own expense, most of them paying for their board by their labor.
 The tory prisoners of Norwich were. often distributed in private families, and allowed their liberty within cer- tain limits.
 In March, 17e2, a company of saiI- been taken in an English privateer and sent up from New London for safe-keeDing. broke out of Norwich jail in the night, and after lurking three or four days uncaught in the woods, succeeded in reaching New London, and by stealth got possession of a fine new coasting sloop, just fit ted for a voyage and fastened to one of the wharveS; and in this they es- capped.
 The large number Of tories arrested duringSthe earlier years of the war suggests one of the great trials that beset the patriot cause: Secret enc mics, opponents at home, were, we are told. like thorns in the side, or ser pentS in the boSom.'
 Such were often arrested, but sel- dom kept long in duress. After deten- were generally dismissed, on giving bonds to return when called for or upon taking oath not to bear arms against the country, or to aid and comfort the enemy in any way.
 1t was during the summer of 1775 that the town set about building prop ed defense for itself.
 A battery or redoubt was erected 1 below the Landing, on Waterman's 1 Point. Benjamin Huntington and 1 Epbraim Bill were direcors of the l work; but the labor was mostly per formed by Captain Lyons company of | militia, that had been sent to Nor l wich on an alarm of an invasion from !! vessels proving in Long Island sound | Capt Ephraim Lyon, by the way, was l of Colonel Putnam's regiment.
 When the work was completed, four | six-pounders were brought up from 1 New London and a regular guard and | watch kept.
 For further defense of the place, two wrought iron field pieces and sev- 1 eral other pieces of ordnance were | manned and placed in charge | of Capt. Jacob Dewitt.
 That other preparation for defense, both local and state, were made by i Norwich is evident from the records.
 William Lax established a manu- factory of gun carriages in town, and | succeeded so we'll that he was em- | oloyed by the state to furnish appa- yatus for much of the cannon used. Elijah Backus, Esq, at his forges upon he Yantlc river, manufa ctured the | ship anchors used for the states arm ed vessels, two of which weighed i 200 pounds each. He afterwards en- gagged in the casting of cannon
 Samuel Moves made and repaired l guns and bayonets for the light in 'antry.
 Capt. Ephraim Bill of Norwich was n the service of the state as a marine agent, and Capt. Jabez Perkins as contractor for and dispenser of the public stores.
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