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adderbolt - Jack posted an update Monday, Nov 14, 2011, 5:13am EST, 13 years, 11 months ago
Book Review - Old Connecticut’s Darker Side
By Jaime Ferris
Readers know they are in for true historical intrigue and adventure through the darker side of Connecticut’s Colonial history upon reading the William Faulkner quote on one of the first pages of his new book, Tales of Old New Milford: Slavery, Crime and Punishment on the Connecticut Frontier. “The past is never dead,” it reads. “It’s not even past.” This is a truth that the author, Michael John Cavallaro, knows well. He spent years researching New Milford’s colorful and eventful early history. He takes you on a wild ride through the dark side of Colonial history; from the enslavement of the Native Americans to the introduction of African American slaves in the early 18th century, the story of Connecticut’s earliest plantations is examined. The history of the nation’s first detention facility, Newgate Prison is told in all of its graphic detail.
These mysterious stories in their ancient form demand to be unraveled. Research into slavery led to the discovery of some heartbreaking tales, but also inspiring stories of freedom. One of the more uplifting stories revolves around Partridge Thatcher, a farmer and lawyer who lived in town. Partridge Thatcher and his wife, Mary were unable to have children of their own, acquired two African children, Jacob, 11, and Dinah, 10, in June, 1749. The Thatchers raised the children as their own. The Thatchers would have had to examine the social climate of the time and … how their peers in New Milford would view the new addition to their family and the commitment of the choice they made on that day.
Though there were slaves in the area Litchfield County was anti-slavery, as evidenced by the freedom documents unearthed. The first slave freed in New Milford was in 1754, something that then-town clerk Elijah Bostwick noted with beautiful penmanship in the freedom documents he penned. These freedom documents are a beauty to behold. People can find these documents for themselves in town records. Bostwick’s penmanship was extraordinary. You can tell he was proud of his job. It shows in every freedom document he wrote.”
Through research, Mr. Cavallaro also discovered America’s first mass murder. According to his initial research, on Feb. 3, 1780, 19-year-old Barnett Davenport of New Milford entered the home of Caleb Mallory and violently killed him and four other family members. Known as “The Mallory Murders,” Davenport’s crime was so shocking and gruesome that the news spread from Maine to Georgia in a matter of days.
But the story of the Mallory murders became a regional legend of sorts. Research turned up incorrect or conflicting information. Trial records disappeared from the Litchfield court, and Davenport’s confession was missing. It took two years and a lot of detective work to, once and for all, resolve the myths and mysteries swirling around this heinous Litchfield County crime. But it finally cleared up inconsistencies and made some interesting and rather disturbing discoveries. Now, the truth has been exposed for the first time in more than two centuries.
And that led the author to the third subject of the book, Newgate Prison. “One thing led to another … and I became inexorably drawn into the vortex of these intriguing tales,” the author explained. “At every turn, the subject of Connecticut’s Newgate Prison arose. Those references drew me to the story of America’s first state prison, and I found myself fascinated with how the themes of crime, society and the need for a prison were interwoven in early American Colonial history.
The prison, built in Simsbury (now East Granby), was a converted copper mine, and was not a pleasant place. “Most of the ruins above ground are gone now … and the tunnels are too dangerous to explore, but there are many stories about Army deserters, murderers and village idiots who, in Colonial times, were mentally ill persons.”
The book is available [in CT] at the Bank Street Book Nook in New Milford, The Hickory Stick Bookshop in Washington, House of Books in Kent, the Gaylordsville Market and at http://www.local-author.com. [As of this date the book is not available on Amazon - ISBN 9780981678153]
