History of Norwich, (New London County) Connecticut United States of America

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Local History Notes:

NORWICH, a city and semi-capital of New London county, Connecticut, at the head of navigation on the Thames river, where it receives the Yantic, 13 miles N. from New London. Lat. 41? 33' N., lon. 72? 7' W. This is a beautiful city, built on a steep acclivity facing the S., the edifices rising in terraces street above street, making a delightful appearance as approached by the river. In wealth and population it ranks first in the county. It contains, besides the county buildings, a town hall, and 8 or 9 churches. Two newspapers are published. The financial institutions are 6 banks, a saving institution having on deposite $1,115,169, and 3 insurance companies. The confluent streams which here form the Thames, afford excellent water-power, which is extensively used in manufacturing. The principal articles produced are paper, cotton and woollen goods, pottery, ropes, leather, &c. The city has communication with the seaboard and interior by two lines of railway?the Norwich and Worcester, and the New London, Willimantic, and Palmer railroads. A line of steamers also ply daily between Allyn's Point, 7 miles below, and New York. Population of the township in 1830, 5179; 1840, 7239; 1850, 10,265, in 1853 about 11,500.

Biographies:

Isaac Backus, clergyman, was born at Norwich, Conn.. Jan. 9, 1724; son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Tracy) Backus. He was ordained pastor of the Congregational church at Middle-borough in 1748, and continued as pastor and evangelist until 1756, when he assumed charge of a newly formed Baptist church in the same town. From 1765 to 1799 he was a trustee of Rhode Island college. In 1774 he was chosen agent of the Baptist churches of Massachusetts, and in this capacity was sent to Philadelphia to enlist in behalf of the Baptists the protection of the Continental Congress. President Manning of R. I. college presented a memorial, petitioning for relief from the persecution and oppression to which the Baptists were at that time subjected, and Mr. Backus made several addresses in behalf of religions freedom. In 1789 he made a tour through Virginia and North Carolina for the purpose of strengthening the Baptist denomination in that section. He published: "History of New England with Particular Reference to the Denomination of Christians called Baptists" (1777, 2d ed., 2 vols., 1871); "An Abridgement of the Church History of New England, 1602-1804" (1804), and "Church History of New England from 1620 to 1804" (1844). He died Nov. 20, 1806.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

James Backus, pioneer, was born at Norwich, Conn, July 14, 1764; son of Elijah and Lucy (Griswold) Backus. At the age of twenty-four he joined the colony which, under General Rufus Putnam, founded Marietta, and thus was one of the first settlers of Ohio. As agent of the Ohio company he made the first surveys in Marietta, and he is said to have built, at the junction of the Muskingum and Ohio rivers, the first frame house that was erected in Ohio, then the Northwest Territory. He was both a civil and military officer in the new settlement, as his journal shows. He was a man of means, and devoted his money without stint to the benefit of the settlement. He erected the first saw and grist-mill at Marietta, and had driven from New England the first yoke of oxen that ever trod the soil of Marietta, Ohio. The mill crank and saw, the grist-mill spindle, and the other irons were made by his father at the Backus iron works, Norwich, Conn. He remained at Marietta about three years, and in March, 1791, he returned to Yantic, to succeed his father in the management of the Backus iron works, which had been established by his grandfather, and carried on by his father, both prior and subsequent to the war of the revolution. He was widely known as a man of character, great energy and executive ability. In 1793 he was married to Dorothy Church, daughter of Charles Church Chandler, of Woodstock, Conn. He died Sept. 29, 1816.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Jabez Williams Huntington, senator, was born in Norwich, Conn., Nov. 8, 1788; son of Gen. Zechariah and Hannah (Mumford) Huntington, and grandson of Gen. Jabez and Elizabeth (Backus) Huntington. He was graduated at Yale in 1806, studied in the Litchfield Law school and practised law in that town, 1809-33. He was a member of the state assembly, 1829, and a representative in the 21st, 22d and 23d congresses, 1829-35. He was married, May 22, 1833, to Sally Ann, daughter of Joseph and Eunice (Carew) Huntington, and removed to Norwich, Conn., and was judge of the supreme court and of the supreme court of errors, 1834-40. He was elected U.S. senator in 1840 to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Senator Thaddeus Belts, April 7, 1840, and in 1844 was elected for a full term as his own successor. He died in Norwich, Conn., Nov. 1, 1847.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Joseph Lathrop, clergyman, was born in Norwich, Conn., Oct. 20, 1731; son of Solomon and Martha (Perkins) Todd Lathrop; grandson of Joseph and Elizabeth (Waterhouse) Lathrop, and of Deacon Joseph and Martha (Morgan) Perkins, and a descendant of the Rev. John Lathrop of Egerton, Kent county, England, who served as pastor of the First Independent church in London, and in 1634 came to America and settled as a minister in Scituate, Mass., and removed to Barnstable, where he died in 1653. Joseph was prepared for college by the Rev. Hr. White of Bolton, Conn., and was graduated at Yale in 1754. He was principal of a grammar school in West Springfield, Mass., and studied theology under the Rev. Robert Breck, 1754-56. He was ordained, Aug. 25, 1756, and was pastor of the church at West Springfield, Mass., to March, 1818, a term of sixty-two years. In 1816 the Rev. William Buell Sprague became his assistant. He was married in May, 1759, to Elizabeth, daughter of Capt. Seth Dwight of Hatfield, and had six children. He was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1792, and declined the professorship of divinity in Yale college in 1793. He received the degree of D.D. from Yale in 1791, and from Harvard in 1811. In 1772, during the controversy on the subject of baptism in his parish, he preached several sermons, which were afterward published and passed through many editions. His newspaper contributions were published in a small volume, entitled: A Miscellaneous Collection of Original Pieces, Political, Moral and Entertaining (1786), and his sermons in seven volumes (1796-1821), the last of which contains his autobiography. He died in West Springfield, Mass., Dec. 31, 1820.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor