Chauncey Judd, or The Dayton Robbery of 1780

The story of Chauncey Judd is one of the core histories of the Naugatuck Valley, from Waterbury down to Derby, a patriotic tale of a young man kidnapped by Tories during the Revolutionary War. The story is retold from time to time in local newspapers and by various historical societies, although the facts of the story are sometimes muddled. The retellings are generally based on a novel by Israel P. Warren published nearly a century after the events took place. Although Warren’s novel was rooted in fact, he distorted and embellished historical information in order to create a compelling narrative. I have been unable to find any source that separates the book’s facts from fiction, so I spent a little time digging into the historical documents to get a better understanding of what really happened in 1780. Here’s what I found.

 

 

Brief Synopsis

 

Early in the morning of Wednesday, March 15, 1780, shortly before dawn, a group of local men led by a British officer raided the home of Ebenezer Dayton in Bethany, Connecticut. Dayton was away on business, but his wife and children were at home and were held hostage as the men plundered the house. They left carrying as much gold, silver, and other valuables as they could.

The Dayton Robbery, as the incident was known, caused an uproar. Hundreds of militia members spread out across the region, hunting for the robbers. Over the course of several days, the robbers traveled west across the Naugatuck River, hiding out at the homes of friends and relatives (possible co-conspirators) before finally making their way to Stratford, where they stole a boat and crossed over to Long Island to join the British. Their escape was short-lived: Connecticut’s militia followed them in a pair of whale boats and captured them while they were sleeping. (Connecticut Journal, 22 March 1780, p. 2)

 

During the course of their travel, the robbers encountered Chauncey Judd, a teenager who knew some of them. They took Judd prisoner and at times considered killing him to prevent him from telling anyone what they had done. Judd was finally rescued when the robbers were apprehended on Long Island, but he never fully recovered from the trauma of his experience. 

 

Chauncey Judd begging for his life
Illustration in Israel Warren's book

 

Ebenezer Dayton

 

The story of Chauncey Judd begins with Ebenezer Dayton. Born at Brookhaven on Long Island in 1744, Dayton tried a number of occupations as a young man, working briefly as a teacher in Newport, Rhode Island and publishing two pamphlets of poetry in 1769 (Advertisement, Newport Mercury, 31 October 1768 and Charles Evans, American Bibliography, Volume 4: 1765-1773, p. 173).

 

By 1771, Dayton was back at Brookhaven and was a licensed peddler, using a horse and cart to transport his wares (New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, 10 June 1771, p.3). He traveled all over Long Island, selling products he picked up on credit from merchants in New York City, quickly expanding his business to include a second peddler who covered another route. Dayton’s business venture landed him in serious trouble in 1772, when the residents of East Hampton mistakenly thought he had caused an outbreak of measles in their community. He was beaten, tortured, robbed, and nearly drowned by the angry mob before they finally lost interest and left him lying in the road. The attack left him with a debilitating scrotum hernia, as well as less permanent injuries. Seventeen people were eventually charged with the assault and sent to trial the following year. (Steven J. Stewart, “Skimmington in the Middle and New England Colonies,” Riot and Revelry in Early America, The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2002, p. 64-73)

 

Following his horrific experience at East Hampton, Dayton launched a new venture, purchasing the sloop Springfield-Galley to transport oysters and clams from the south side of Long Island to New York markets. This new venture didn’t last long. Two years after Dayton purchased the sloop, his new business partner stole it, married a “base woman” at New York City, and sailed up the Hudson River to Albany. (New-York Journal, 9 November 1775, p. 1)

 

At the start of the Revolutionary War, Dayton joined Col. Josiah Smith’s Regiment of Minute Men as Quarter Master, responsible for the regiment’s supplies and provisions. The regiment participated in the Battle of Long Island on August 27, 1776, retreating to their homes after being overwhelmed by the British, then retreating further to Connecticut a few days later.

 

Long Island was now held by the British. Dayton and his family fled to Connecticut on September 2, 1776, settling at Bethany, roughly four miles east of the Naugatuck River. After getting his family safely across Long Island Sound, Dayton made several efforts to transport regimental records and supplies, including horses, to New Haven. On his second trip across Long Island Sound, on September 2, the whaleboat he had borrowed for the trip was seized by the British. For his third trip, he joined Col. Livingston’s detachment to Brookhaven, hoping to retrieve more of his family’s personal belongings, but he was unsuccessful and lost a gun in a skirmish. (Frederic Mather, The Refugees of 1776 from Long Island to Connecticut, 1913, p. 763-764)

 

Perhaps due to bitterness over losing his personal property to the British and their supporters, Dayton sent a letter to the president of the Provincial Convention in October 1776 recommending sending “ranging companies” to Long Island. Dayton’s proposed rangers would serve as spies, sending reports and taking prisoners as needed, and conducting raids at night. Dayton volunteered to command a company of rangers, pointing out that his familiarity with the island and its inhabitants would give him an advantage. (Benjamin Thompson, History of Long Island, Vol. 1, 1918, 335-336)

 

Raiding civilian targets was a standard tactic of European warfare in North America. During the late 1600s and through the 1700s, English colonists were frequently attacked by the French and their Native American allies, and vice versa. Each side saw themselves as unfairly victimized, but military and political leaders continued to target civilians as an effective strategy to wear down their opponents.

 

Dayton became known to the British as a “head of the Banditti” carrying out assaults, kidnappings, and robberies on Long Island from his schooner, the Suffolk. Launching his raids from New London, Dayton found that being a privateer was highly lucrative, as Connecticut allowed privateers to keep half of what they took. Dayton’s schooner was commissioned on April 11, 1778 and equipped with two cannons and a crew of seven.

 

In May 1778, Dayton and a crew of fourteen men raided a waterside home at Huntington, on the north side of Long Island, during the night, taking a number of people prisoner, stealing their valuables, and transporting both prisoners and valuables back to Connecticut. Dayton was aided by William Clark, who had kept a shop at Brookhaven until about a month earlier, when he left Long Island for Connecticut. The Dayton bandits were condemned by the British as being “a species of plunderers distinct from the rebel troops.” (“New-York, May 18,” Royal Gazette, 20 May 1778, p. 3)

 

Some of Dayton’s captives became strategic prisoners of war: on June 15, Connecticut’s Governor Trumbull authorized exchanging three of the prisoners taken by Dayton for three Connecticut men. (Records of the State of Connecticut, Volume 2, p. 90)

 

On May 19, 1778, Dayton and his crew captured eight whaleboats on the south side of Long Island. Upon his return to New London, Dayton was able to share the latest news from New York City, that a war ship from England was at Sandy Hook and that Great Britain and France were now at war. (Connecticut Gazette, 22 May 1778, p. 3)

 

Other raids by Dayton & Company included one at Fire Island in which they seized five vessels loaded with lumber, oysters, furniture, dry goods, and provisions and took a number of people prisoner. (“New-London, May 15,” New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, 1 June 1778, p. 2)

 

Ships seized by Dayton & Company during the summer of 1778 included the sloops Jane, Polly, Dispatch, and Nancy; the pettiauger (periauger) Lively; and the schooner Betsey. (Connecticut State Archives, New Haven County, New Haven County Court Records, Volume 8, pp. 361, 377)

 

Emboldened by his success, Dayton regularly attacked vessels on Long Island’s shoreline, but not all of his raids went well for him. In November 1778, Dayton attacked a schooner and a sloop on the south side of Long Island. Dayton’s crew was defeated, some of them were wounded, and they retreated to the Moriches home of Josiah Smith, former leader of a minuteman regiment. (“New-York, November 30,” New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, 30 November 1778, p. 3)

 

Dayton’s defeat increased his determination to harass the British. On November 20, 1778, Dayton entered the harbor at New York City with plans to take a pair of schooners docked at the wharf. New York City had been occupied by the British since the Battle of Long Island in 1776 and British privateers brought the ships they captured to New York City. In the six months between September 1778 and March 1779, for example, British war ships and privateers brought 165 captured vessels to New York City (William A. Polf, Garrison Town: The British Occupation of New York City, p. 13). Dayton may have been seeking to recapture a ship he had lost to the British, or perhaps he was simply brazen enough to think he could successfully attacks ships in the British occupied harbor.

 

In an attempt to intimidate the captains of the schooners before his attack, Dayton sent a bold letter to one of the ships:

 

“On board the Sloop Ranger, Nov. 20, 1778

Captain Stout,

I take this method of informing your that I am on board the said sloop, on a cruize, with 45 men, 6 carriage guns and 12 swivels, with blunderbusses, and plenty of muskets, lancets, handgranadoes, and other warlike instruments; I am determined to have your schooner, and the schooner along-side of you; and having seen some movements on board the said schooner that look like an intent to strip them and render them unable to be carried out of the Bay; wherefore it is, that I take this method of informing you, that as my sloop is a-ground, and like to continue so untill the next tide, therefore, shall attack you with two whale-boats immediately, and shall, notwithstanding the boats mount 6 swivels, run you on board, and throw your deck full of handgranadoes, and board you with pistols, musquets, swords, and lances, which will be undoubtedly attended with loss of blood (if you resist) and as I know your strength, shall take it to be an unreasonable and groundless hope of you to expect to defend the said schooners, and therefore demand a surrender immediately without firing a gun, if you fire, expect no quarters, if you strip the schooners I will burn them, if you surrender them manfully to superior force, I will give you and your men all their own property on board, and set them ashore, and in all things show you all the favours you can expect. If I supposed you would believe, which I am sure you cannot, that you had men and force sufficient to defend your schooners, then in that case I would commend you in using your utmost endeavours to defend them, and then if I should be able to take them, I would give you good quarters, but in the present case you cannot attempt to defend them on any other motive, than from a desire to shed blood. – Therefore it is, that I am determined to shew you and both the cruisers, no quarters, if you make the fruitless attempt to defend them. I mean to take the lives of those who thirst after blood when they have no reason to expect any benefit thereby; but I mean not to shed human blood, but mean to treat all men as they desire to treat me. I take the present case to be singular and a like case with storming a garrisson after a formal demand of a surrender, in which case you know the garrisson are not entitled to quarters. I shall row near you in my two whale boats, and if you come in your boats in a direct line from your schooners to my boats, upon seeing my men hold their oars up perpendicular, then it will be well with you, and you shall have the above lenity and indulgence, and the contrary behavior you must expect to be at your greatest peril, if after this fair warning you shall persist, you must remember your blood will be at your own door.

I add no more, but remain

Your humble Servant,

Ebenezer Dayton

Commander of the American Sloop Ranger

N.B. I expect you will favour the Commander of the other schooner, with the reading of this letter.”

 

Despite his boasting, Dayton failed to take either schooner, but his attempt led Major General Valentine Jones, the British commandant overseeing the occupation of New York City, to issue a proclamation restricting access to the New York City wharfs. Only private ships of war, trading vessels, and captured vessels with a fifteen-day permit could dock at New York City. (“New-York, December 5,” Royal Gazette, 5 December 1778, p. 2)

 

Dayton appears to have temporarily given up privateering after his failure at New York City, as no records of any attacks by him have been found between 1779 and 1781. In 1779, Dayton turned to settling old debts on Long Island. The exact nature of his business on Long Island this year is hazy, but it appears he brought a large quantity of English goods from Long Island to his home in Bethany. Dayton would later insist that he was innocently collecting on old debts with the permission of Connecticut’s Governor Trumbull, and that his customers chose to pay him in goods as well as in gold and silver. In the fall of 1779, the New Haven militia raided Dayton’s home and confiscated close to £200 worth of English goods which they believed to have been illegally imported. Others accused Dayton of having plundered the goods while he was on Long Island, insinuating that he had replaced legal privateering with illegal robbery. Dayton later paid the Connecticut Journal to run two full pages of testimonials supporting his innocence. (Connecticut Journal, 20 April 1780, p. 2 and postscript)

 

Dayton’s activities on Long Island in 1779 also included a peculiar incident at his hometown of Brookhaven. On August 14, a group of about twenty men from Connecticut, led by Dayton, crossed Long Island Sound to the Corum district of Brookhaven and attempted to kidnap Loyalist Isaac or Isaiah Smith and five of his sons. Smith and one of his sons escaped, while the rest were taken to Connecticut. The group led by Dayton included “Petticoat Isaac” Smith of Corum and his son, who had left to join the Americans in Connecticut only three months earlier. (Royal Gazette, 28 August 1779, p. 3 and New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, 23 August 1779, p. 3)

 

According to family tradition, “Petticoat Isaac” Smith earned his nickname after being held prisoner in his home by the British and disguising himself in women’s clothing to make his escape. He and at least some of his family fled to Connecticut and lived in Derby until the war was over. (Amelia Augusta Smith Norton, “Isaac and Joshua Smith Tease the English,” Longwood Central School District website)

 

In 1780, Isaac Smith was one of the people to testify on Dayton’s behalf, stating that they had grown up together in Brookhaven and had been neighbors as adults. Smith also stated that he remained at Brookhaven until July 1779, when he fled to Connecticut seeking refuge. Smith’s testimony suggests that Dayton stayed regularly at Smith’s house when he was making his trips to Long Island and that both men made numerous trips across Long Island Sound after July: “Said Dayton was at my house the greater part, as I suppose, of the time he was upon Long Island, and I have been with him over every time he hath since crossed the Sound, except twice….” (Connecticut Journal, 20 April 1780, p. 2)

 

Smith also testified that Dayton’s character on Long Island was “free from any accusations of plundering” and that many people believed Dayton “had more honour than to plunder any body on shore…” These same people, Smith freely admitted, fully expected that Dayton would attack their vessels at sea. (Connecticut Journal, 20 April 1780, p. 2)

 

 

The Plot Against Dayton

 

In March of 1780, a Scottish man calling himself John Lake arrived in Waterbury looking for young men interested in joining the British army. His real name was Alexander Graham, and his plans included raiding Dayton’s house, then absconding to Long Island with the stolen money and goods.

 

Israel Warren’s book about Chauncey Judd’s abduction states that Graham was a deserter from the American army with a commission from British General Howe to recruit Loyalist soldiers in Connecticut. It is unlikely that Graham had a commission from William Howe, since Howe returned to England in 1778, but it is possible that Graham was working for the British in some capacity.

 

The historical records suggest that Graham may have deserted multiple times as a scheme to collect the enlistment bounty without having to serve. An Alexander Graham enlisted with Col. Chandler’s Regiment (8^th Connecticut) at Hebron in April 1777, collecting the initial bounty payment, then disappearing before it was time to muster (Norwich Packet, 5 May 1777, p. 3). 

 

Norwich Packet, 5 May 1777, p. 3

Another (or the same) Alexander Graham enlisted with Col. Webb’s Regiment (9^th Connecticut), Capt. Bull’s Company on May 6, 1777 and deserted the next month. Yet another (or the same) Alexander Graham deserted from Col. Russell’s Regiment (8^th Connecticut), Capt. Brown’s Company in 1778 or 1779. (Ancestry.com U.S. Compiled Revolutionary War Military Service Records, 1775-1783)

 

In 1778, an Alexander Graham enlisted with Col. Meig’s Regiment (6^th Connecticut), Capt. Leavenworth’s Company at Middletown, collected the bounty, and then disappeared. A ten dollar reward was offered for his capture; the advertisement described Graham as “a Scotchman, about 45 years of age, 5 feet 7 inches high, dark hair partly gray, light coloured eyes very small and sunk into his head more than common.” (Connecticut Courant, 5 May 1778, p. 4)

 

Connecticut Courant, 5 May 1778, p. 4

There was also an Alexander Graham, described as “a Foreigner,” who was convicted of theft in 1768 after stealing money and clothing from a house in Hebron while the people who lived there weren’t home. (Connecticut Gazette, 12 February 1768, p. 3)

 

It seems likely that all of these Alexander Grahams were the same person, someone with no morals and no desire to become part of a community, traveling throughout the region looking for easy money. Ebenezer Dayton was famous for his wealth and for his raids on the British, making him an ideal target for someone like Alexander Graham. 

 

 

Waterbury in 1780

 

Town boundaries changed significantly after the Revolutionary War. In 1780, Waterbury was much larger than it is today and included parts of Middlebury, Naugatuck, Oxford, Watertown, and Plymouth (in Thomaston). Waterbury was divided into “societies” similar to parishes. The First Society was on the Green in Waterbury, the location of the town’s first meeting house. As the settlement of Waterbury spread out from the Green, additional societies were formed as the centers of newly settled communities.

 

The events relating to Chauncey Judd took place primarily in what was then Waterbury but has since become parts of Oxford, Naugatuck, and Middlebury.

 

Map showing Waterbury's original boundaries
from Bronson's History of Waterbury, 1858

Waterbury Loyalists

 

As with every community, not everyone in Waterbury supported the Revolution. In 1775, the West military company or trainband in Waterbury’s Northbury society (now part of Plymouth) was found to be composed almost entirely of officers and soldiers “totally disaffected with the General Cause of American Liberty” and unafraid to speak openly against the Continental Congress. The Connecticut General Assembly dissolved the company in October 1775. (Connecticut State Archives Revolutionary War Series 1, Volume 1, Documents 417-419)

 

At the same General Assembly session in which the West company was dissolved, a group of Waterbury residents issued a formal complaint about Capt. Hezekiah Brown, commander of another of Waterbury’s trainbands. According to witness testimony, Hezekiah Brown was at Thomas Clark’s tavern on the Green in Waterbury sometime in May 1775 (presumably drinking, as the incident occurred in the evening). Brown launched into a tirade against Connecticut’s General Assembly and the Continental Congress. Brown complained that the wasting everyone’s money “for they did no more good than a parcel of squaws,” that he didn’t see the necessity of Connecticut raising soldiers “as it was unnecessary expense and the Assembly had no right to do it, and that Boston had wrongfully undertaken a quarrel with the Parliament about the tea, and we had not hand in it.” Brown also declared that the General Assembly was “as arbitrary as the Pope of Rome.” (Connecticut State Archives Revolutionary War Series 1, Volume 1, Documents 420-426)

 

Hezekiah Brown pleaded his case before the General Assembly on October 19, 1775, confessing “that in these times of darkness and difficulty and distress, when my country has been in distress and anxiety; my own mind at the same time being filled with doubts and difficulty, I have spoken indiscreetly, unadvisedly, and injurious of the Honorable Assembly and Honorable Continental Congress…” He promised to faithfully obey all orders and to be loyal to Connecticut and “America in general.” (Connecticut State Archives Revolutionary War Series 1, Volume 1, Document 427)

 

Despite his promises, Brown continued to resist the orders of the Continental Congress and the General Assembly. In 1776, he was banned from military service and his company was dissolved. Less than a year later, Brown left Waterbury to join the British army in New York. (Bronson, The History of Waterbury, p. 352)

 

The best known of Waterbury’s Loyalists was Moses Dunbar, who was executed on March 19, 1777 for high treason against Connecticut. Dunbar was born in Wallingford and moved to Waterbury in 1760, when he was seventeen. He joined the British army in 1776 and was subsequently caught trying to recruit more Connecticut men to do the same. In his final speech before his execution, Dunbar confessed that he didn’t think that “taking up arms against Great Britain” was necessary or lawful.  (The Town and City of Waterbury, Vol. 1, pp. 434-436)

 

 

Graham’s Recruits

 

Alexander Graham, going by the name John Lake, recruited half a dozen men to help him raid Dayton’s house and then join the British on Long Island. I have not found any historical records giving details on how this played out. The only source is Israel Warren’s fictionalized account.

 

According to Warren, Graham was at Turel Whittemore’s tavern in Seymour (then part of Derby) one evening before the raid on Dayton’s house. Also at the tavern that night were Samuel Doolittle of Litchfield, Henry Wooster, Jr. of Derby and his cousin, David Wooster, Jr. of Waterbury. The next day David Wooster, Jr. recruited two more men to assist in the raid on Dayton’s house, Jesse Cady and Amasa Scott, both living in Waterbury.

 

The men recruited may have been motivated by their loyalty to Great Britain and their belief that Ebenezer Dayton had been plundering homes on Long Island. They may also have been motivated by financial reasons, as Dayton was well known for his wealth.

 

A seventh man was never identified, but is believed to have been a British officer.

The Robbery

 

Graham and his recruits broke into Ebenezer Dayton’s house early in the morning, before dawn, on Wednesday, March 15, 1780. Dayton’s wife and young children were alone at home; Ebenezer was away on business. The initial newspaper accounts stated that Graham’s crew stole “a large quantity of valuable property” from the house. (Connecticut Journal, 22 March 1780)

 

Ebenezer Dayton’s account of what happened that night was published a month later:

 

“In the night following the 14^th of March last, while I was in the state of Massachusetts Bay, on business, seven armed men came to my dwelling-house, in Bethany, a parish of New-Haven, nine miles north of the state-house, and 14 miles from the sound, and broke in, bound my wife and family, rifled all the rooms, broke and destroyed all the glass, earthen[ware], and other furniture in their power, such as they were unable to remove; let run to waste part of a hogshead of rum, and then plundered me of four hundred and thirty pounds in silver and gold money, and the most valuable papers, such as deeds, bonds, notes, receipts, my books of accounts, a sum of continental money, and as much of the clothing, and other the most valuable property in my house, as they all with convenience could carry away; being in the whole, to the amount of five thousand pounds, in bard money value to me, consisting chiefly in said books, papers, &c. that could be of no worth to them.” 

(Connecticut Journal, 20 April 1780, postscript page paid for by Ebenezer Dayton)

 

Another account of the robbery was written by John Warner Barber, who learned the story from Dayton’s son half a century later. Barber wrote that Dayton’s wife, Phebe, tried shouting for help. The robbers tied her hands behind her back using sheets torn into strips, placed her infant on her lap, and held a gun to her head for two hours to keep her quiet. Other details of Barber’s version of the story are incorrect, but there is presumably some truth to his account of what happened to Phebe Dayton. (Barber, Connecticut Historical Collections, 1836, p. 186)

 

Henry Bronson, in his 1858 History of Waterbury, wrote that David Wooster, Jr. was the culprit who held the gun to Phebe Dayton’s head.

 

 

Flight of the Robbers and Abduction of Chauncey Judd

 

Ebenezer Dayton gave an abbreviated version of what happened after the robbers left his house:

 

“From my house they were several days and nights performing a circular march of above 40 miles thro’ Waterbury, and Darby, to Stratford, where they stole a boat, and escaped to Long-Island. Soon after leaving my house, they took a prisoner, and with him and their plunder, they were several days and nights in the bowels of this State, in the character of plunderers, and self-incorporated subjects of the King of Great-Britain; and as such were received, advised, secreted, comforted, fed, & piloted in bye and secreted ways from place to place, by numbers of their confederates, many of whom had previously furnished them with arms and ammunition, for the express purpose of plundering me, and joining the enemy. … For their aid, much of the plunder taken from me was shared among the confederates not immediately active at my house.” 

(Connecticut Journal, 20 April 1780, postscript page paid for by Ebenezer Dayton)

 

The person taken prisoner was, of course, Chauncey Judd, who had turned 16 only a few weeks before his abduction. The earliest account I have found of Judd’s experience is in J. W. Barber’s Connecticut Historical Collections, published in 1836. Some of the information is incorrect, but it conveys the general concept of what happened to Judd—in every version of the story, the robbers talk about killing him. In Barber’s account, the robbers considered dumping Judd into a well, but “the old lady of the house begged they would not think of it, as it would spoil the water.”

 

A more detailed version of the story was published in 1843 by Chauncey Judd’s nephew, Silas Judd, and republished in a national magazine in 1859. “Whig and Tory, or The Abduction of Chauncey Judd, 1778” was published in the Madison Observer (NY) in 1843. “Abduction of Chauncey Judd” was published in The Historical Magazine in September 1859.

 

Silas Judd’s version of the story was greatly embellished, and a number of details are incorrect, but it seems likely that Silas would have been told the story directly by Chauncey, who was only twelve years older than him.

 

Israel Warren’s version of the story was originally published as a newspaper serial in 1874. Warren’s knowledge of the events came from grandmother, Millicent Judd Perkins. Millicent was Chauncey’s younger sister and was about ten years old when Chauncey was kidnapped. As with Silas Judd, some of Warren’s details are clearly wrong, even the day of the week on which the robbery occurred, and the story is embellished for narrative effect.

 

I have cross-referenced what Judd and Warren wrote with the limited trial records in the archives of the State Library and with the Waterbury Land Records. Although the trial records I viewed don’t include witness statements, they do include the names of the witnesses. I have pieced the sources together to come up with a likely overview of what happened after Chauncey Judd was abducted.

 

Chauncey Judd knew all of the men who took him captive, with the exception of Alexander Graham and his unidentified companion. It was dark out when Judd encountered them, and at first he assumed this was a prank and they would release him in the morning.

 

There is no obvious reason for the robbers to have been anywhere near Chauncey Judd. After leaving Dayton’s house, if their ultimate plan was to head south to Long Island, why did they go northwest?

 

Their first stop after committing the robbery was Jobamah Gunn’s house, after which they spent time at the homes of David Wooster, Sr., Noah Candee, Thomas Wooster, and Capt. John Wooster. Gunn, David Wooster, and Noah Candee all lived relatively close to one another in what was then the southwest corner of Waterbury, near Long Meadow Pond in what is now Middlebury, Towantic Pond in what is now Oxford, and Gunntown in what is now Middlebury and Naugatuck.

 

My guess is that David Wooster, Sr. and Noah Candee were involved in the plot to rob Dayton, and that they had agreed to receive some of the stolen goods for later sale. They were both eventually convicted of burglary in relation to the Dayton robbery, even though they weren’t at Dayton’s house. They were both struggling financially and may have been easily tempted by the thought of stealing from Dayton, who was himself reputedly a thief. As Dayton himself wrote, the men who plundered his home were given arms and ammunition to help them with the robbery -- presumably Wooster and Candee were involved with that.

 

The first night after the robbery was spent sleeping in the barn of Jobamah Gunn (“Joe” in Silas Judd’s story). Jobamah Gunn was a wealthy farmer and landowner, loyal to Great Britain. He does not appear to have been involved in the plot to rob Dayton, but he provided food and shelter to the robbers and was aware that Chauncey Judd was their prisoner.

 

The next morning, Graham and his crew took Chauncey Judd to a nearby meadow with plans to kill him and dump his body in the brook. Amasa Scott and Jesse Cady successfully argued against this plan, while Chauncey cried and begged for the group to spare his life. The group then moved on to pay a visit to David Wooster, Sr. and spent the night at his house.

 

While the group was at David Wooster’s, Graham once again tried to kill Judd. This time Judd was given a bible to hold as he prepared for his death. Judd was saved by the women of the Wooster family, who very loudly opposed the plan and threatened to turn them all in if Graham killed him.

 

Graham continued to threaten Judd’s life the next day as the group traveled through the Naugatuck River valley, frequently pointing his musket at him. Each time, Jesse Cady threw himself in between Judd and the musket, refusing to allow Graham to kill Judd. By the third night, Graham lost interest in killing Judd and turned his focus to evading capture by the militia groups that were searching for them. They stopped at the home of “a Tory friend named Candee for refreshments” before traveling another three miles to the home of Thomas Wooster, where they holed up in a barn for three days. The militia groups hunting for them passed by several times: Judd saw his own father twice, but was too afraid of Graham to try to escape.

 

The “Tory friend named Candee” was Noah Candee, a blacksmith who lived near David Wooster, Sr. Candee appears to have been involved in the plot against Dayton and was almost certainly motivated by financial needs, as he had accumulated a huge amount of debt with numerous creditors.

 

At Candee’s home, the group also interacted with Daniel Johnson of Derby, who was visiting Candee. Johnson and Candee both knew that Judd was being held prisoner and that the robbers were planning to join the British, and were willing to help them.

 

The last night was spent at Capt. John Wooster’s tavern in Oxford, sleeping in the barn after eating in the tavern. Wooster’s daughter Ruth Wooster was present when the robbers arrived, as was Bartimeus Fabrique, who lived in Woodbury.

 

Israel Warren wrote a heavily embellished version of the events of that night and the following morning.  Over the course of the evening, Samuel Doolittle showed off a huge amount of money in silver coins in an attempt to purchase Fabrique’s watch from him. The next morning, Tobiah, who was enslaved in the Wooster household, and Tobiah's father-in-law Peter alerted the local militia to the robbers’ presence at the Wooster tavern, but by this time the group had already left.

 

The robbers headed next to Stratford, with the militia close on their heels. The robbers and Judd rowed twenty miles across the Sound to Long Island, which was held by the British. They settled into a house for the night, and they were all sound asleep when the militia finally caught up with them. Graham and his recruits were all taken prisoner, with the exception of one person who escaped out a window. The identity of this person, Graham’s accomplice from the British side, has never been found.

 

Chauncey Judd was so traumatized by his experience, it took some effort to convince him that he had truly been rescued.

The Rescuers

 

Once the news of the robbery spread, militias from Bethany, Salem (Naugatuck), Derby, Oxford, Waterbury, and Watertown set out to find the robbers (State Archives Revolutionary War Series 1, Volume 31, document 240).

 

Instead of a police force or National Guard, Connecticut at this time relied on government militias that were called up when needed and paid for their services afterwards. More than a hundred militia members were involved in the pursuit. Their names are all included in the bills sent to the state for payment. The militia members received 5 shillings per day if they were on foot and 8 shillings per day if they had a horse. An officer with a horse received 8 shillings per day. The higher pay for men with horses was intended to compensate them for the cost of feeding the horse. (State Archives Revolutionary War Series 1, Volume 31, document 241)

 

Ebenezer Dayton appears to have returned home soon after the robbery, as he participated with the militia in the pursuit of the robbers. Dayton later submitted his own bill for his service and expenses involved in the pursuit and attendance at the trial. That bill included six gallons of rum and a hundred meals consumed by the militia during the pursuit, the cost of having advertisements printed, and expenses related to 240 miles worth of horse riding. (State Archives Revolutionary War Series 1, Volume 31, document 257)

 

The total cost for the various militia companies and for the trial came to just over three hundred and eighty two pounds. A bill for the services of fourteen men and two whaleboats used to cross Long Island Sound was not allowed. (State Archives Revolutionary War Series 1, Volume 31, document 258)

 

 

The Trial

 

According to Judd family tradition, Alexander Graham was found to have a British commission and was thus subject to military law. Silas Judd and Israel Warren both stated that Graham was sent to the American military headquarters, where he was executed (Judd said it was at White Plains, Warren said it was at Morristown). I have not yet found any contemporary records of Graham’s fate.

 

The rest of the robbers, and their accomplices, were placed on trial in Derby. Joseph Hopkins, a justice of the peace who was also Waterbury’s representative to the General Assembly for decades, was placed in charge of the trial. He was assisted by Eliphalet Hotchkiss, Thomas Clark, John Dibble, James Bristol, and Caleb Beecher. (State Archives Revolutionary War Series 1, Volume 31, Document 255)

 

Jesse Cady and Amasa Scott, who had argued with Alexander Graham to save Chauncey Judd’s life, were given their freedom in exchange for serving as witnesses during the trial. They were paid for three days each for their time at the trial. (State Archives Revolutionary War Series 1, Volume 31, Document 253)

 

The trial took place over the course of nine days in March at Oliver Curtis’s tavern in Derby. The justices, constables, grand jurors, prisoners, and prison guards were all lodged at the tavern for the trial. All of the expenses were paid for in advance by Ebenezer Dayton, including the cost of food for the prisoners and rum for their guards, who drank more than three gallons of rum during those nine days. (State Archives Revolutionary War Series 1, Volume 31, Documents 249 and 259)

 

Witnesses in addition to Cady and Scott were Bartimeus Fabrique, who testified against Capt. John Wooster; Ruth Wooster, daughter of Capt. John Wooster; Tobiah, who was enslaved by Capt. John Wooster; Peter Priss (possibly Tobiah’s father-in-law, although Warren gave his last name as Hull; I have not found any records for a Peter Hull in Derby, but a Peter Priss appears in the 1800 census for Derby as a free man of color and is possibly the same man as “Pris negro” who purchased a small parcel of land in Derby in 1752); sisters Elizabeth Welton and Sarah Finch, whose attendance at the trial was partially paid for by their father; Isaac Hotchkiss; Jesse Carrington; Solomon Hotchkiss; Henry Wooster; Oliver Welton, from Waterbury; and Daniel Warner, from Waterbury. (State Archives Revolutionary War Series 1, Volume 31, Documents 250 and 253)

 

Thomas Yale was placed in charge of the prisoners during the trial at Derby and during the four-day trip to Hartford, where they were imprisoned after the trial. Yale had 24 guards assist him during the nearly two weeks he was in charge. (State Archives Revolutionary War Series 1, Volume 31, Document 254)

 

As part of their defense, the robbers and their accomplices accused Ebenezer Dayton of being a Tory who traveled regularly to Long Island to plunder the homes of people living there, just as they did to him. They apparently sought to defend their actions as a form of justice. Their accusations led Dayton to pay for the publication of testimonials on his behalf, insisting that he was loyal to Connecticut and had never committed any form of robbery (Connecticut Journal, 20 April 1780, postscript page and p. 2).

Sentencing

 

The Connecticut Superior Court, by special order of Chief Justice Matthew Griswold, convened on May 2, 1780 to review the findings of the grand jurors for each defendant and pronounce judgment. The sentencing of Daniel Johnson, an accomplice of the robbers, gives a good overview of the sentencing process for all of the guilty men:

 

“The Grand Jurors for the County of New Haven upon their Oaths present that Daniel Johnson of Derby in the County of New Haven on the fifteenth day of March last … did know and has knowledge that David Wooster Jun’r, Amasa Scot and Jesse Cady all of Waterbury in New Haven County and Henry Wooster Jun’r of said Derby and Samuel Doolittle of Litchfield and John Lake otherwise Called Allisander Graham a Transient person all then being at Derby in said New Haven… Endeavour to join the Subjects and Troops of the King of Great Britain Enemies at open War with the state of Connecticut and the United States…    Whereupon it is Considered by this Court and this Court do sentence & … Give Judgment that he pay as a fine to and for the use of the public treasury of this state the sum of one hundred and fifty pounds lawful money, and also be imprisoned in the Goal [jail] in the town and county of Hartford the full term of three months….”  (State Archives Revolutionary War Series 1, Volume 36, Document 337)

 

I have not found sentencing records for all of the convicts. Israel Warren lists sentences for each person involved, but his information does not appear accurate. He wrote that Daniel Johnson was sentenced to a fine of £250 and nine months in prison, which conflicts with the information in the State Archives.

 

Noah Candee and David Wooster, Sr. were found guilty of misprision of treason (failing to report treason) and of committing treason by attempting to join the British army. May 2, 1780 they were ordered to pay £300 plus court costs for this offense. They were also found guilty of burglary and ordered to pay an additional £200 and court costs to the state. Candee and Wooster served out their related prison sentences in the Hartford jail. (Waterbury Land Records, Vol. 16, p. 522, 524, 526, 528)

 

Samuel Doolittle, David Wooster, Jr. and Henry Wooster, Jr. were sent to Newgate Prison at Windsor. The three men were all part of a group of prisoners who escaped from Newgate on May 18, 1781. Doolittle and David Wooster were soon apprehended and returned to Newgate. (Connecticut Courant, 22 May 1781, p. 3)

 

Civil Suits

 

Chauncey Judd filed a lawsuit against Noah Candee, Jobamah Gunn, David Wooster, David Wooster, Jr., and Daniel Johnson on March 20, demanding £10,000 in damages for assault and imprisonment. Judd was unable to represent himself in court, since he was still a minor, so his father Isaac represented him. (Connecticut State Archives, New Haven County, New Haven County Court Records, Volume 8, p. 414)

 

Ebenezer Dayton filed numerous lawsuits. Ebenezer and Phebe Dayton filed a lawsuit against David Wooster, David Wooster, Jr., Noah Candee, Jobamah Gunn, Amasa Scott, and Henry Wooster, Jr., demanding £5,000 for assaulting Phebe Dayton. Ebenezer also filed a suit against that same group, demanding £150 for breaking into his house. (Connecticut State Archives, New Haven County, New Haven County Court Records, Volume 8, p. 412)

 

Dayton filed a suit against Noah Candee and Daniel Johnson for hiding Alexander Graham, David Wooster, Jr. and Henry Wooster, Jr. on March 15 while knowing that they had just robbed Dayton of goods and money totaling £5,372. He filed a similar suit against John and Eunice Wooster and their daughter Ruth for hiding the three men on March 15 and 16, and a suit against David and Hannah Wooster for hiding them on March 15. (Connecticut State Archives, New Haven County, New Haven County Court Records, Volume 8, p. 413)

 

The New Haven County Court referred the cases to the Superior Court which met in August 1780.

 

 

The Aftermath

 

Between the fines imposed by the state, and the verdicts awarding damages to Judd and the Daytons in the civil suits, entire families became destitute. The harshness of the punishments varied depending on the individual circumstances of each person.

 

Jobamah Gunn

Chauncey Judd was successful in his lawsuit against Jobamah Gunn, along with Noah Candee, Daniel Johnson, David Wooster, Sr. and David Wooster, Jr. On December 26, 1780, they were each ordered to pay Judd £200 plus court costs. Jobamah Gunn was a wealthy man and was able to pay the full amount, just over two hundred and eighty six pounds, on March 3, 1781. (Waterbury Land Records, Vol. 16, p. 549)

 

 

Noah Candee

Following due process, the Hartford sheriff visited Noah Candee in the Hartford jail on May 25 and reported back to the court that Candee was unable to pay the £500 in fines for misprision and burglary. On June 26, 1780, Waterbury Sheriff’s Deputy Samuel Thatcher went to Candee’s farm to seize whatever property he had equal to the amount owed to the state. (Waterbury Land Records, Vol. 16, p. 527, 529)

 

When a court gave creditors the right to seize the property of someone who owed them money, appraisers were selected by the creditor and the debtor to ensure that the seized property was fairly valuated. In this case, Noah Candee refused to select an appraiser. Stuck in prison, knowing that he was about to lose everything he owned, Candee was most likely too depressed or angry to be involved in the forfeiture of his land. A total of 134 acres of Noah Candee’s land were taken by the state in place of the more than five hundred pound fine he was unable to pay.

 

Noah Candee’s troubles didn’t end with the state seizing part of his farm. On November 14 and 15, 1780, the New Haven County Court awarded his creditors with judgments against him, allowing them to also seize his property. Candee owed more than nine hundred pounds to half a dozen creditors who were anxious to collect now that he was in prison. The creditors who went after him were Silas Kimberly, Mary Kimberly, Samuel Candee, Zacheus Candee, and merchant Joseph Howell, all of New Haven, Japhet Benham and Obadiah Wheeler of Woodbury, and Ebenezer Osborn of Derby. (Waterbury Land Records, Vol. 16, p. 550-563 and Vol. 18, p. 347-348)

 

On December 26, 1780, Candee was ordered to pay Chauncey Judd £200 plus court costs for his civil suit.

 

On January 12, Waterbury Constable Ira Beebe seized just over seventy-five acres of Candee’s farm to satisfy his debt to Chauncey Judd. Candee was able to come up with £10 in cash for Judd. On February 22, the seventy-five acres became Chauncey Judd’s property. (Waterbury Land Records, Vol. 16, p. 545-549)

 

On January 11, February 13 and February 20, 1781, Candee’s farm was divided up amongst the various creditors. Candee lost more than 166 acres of farm and woodland, as well as three barns, cow houses, and the rights to half his house. In an attempt to save at least some of his property, Candee paid £16 to Obadiah Wheeler, but it wasn’t enough to settle his debt with Wheeler, who seized six acres and the remaining half of Candee’s house on March 10. More creditors filed claims in the spring of 1781 and again in the winter of 1782. (Waterbury Land Records, Vol. 16, p. 349-351)

 

When Noah Candee was released from prison, he was destitute. The combined criminal and civil suits left him with nothing, forcing him to rely on the town for aid. In 1798, Waterbury’s selectmen petitioned the General Assembly for relief. Illness and infirmity prevented Candee from being able to provide himself, which meant that the town had to care for him at their expense. The town had also been paying for the care of Candee’s daughter since about 1793. The selectmen noted that the situation for Candee’s family had been “deplorable” ever since he lost his land, and that Candee and his daughter would continue to require public assistance for the rest of their lives. Waterbury’s selectmen described the expense placed on the town by the Candee’s destitution as “extraordinary & severe.” The General Assembly was not moved by their plea, and refused to provide any assistance for Waterbury’s support of the Candees. (State Archives Revolutionary War Series 3, Vol. 1, Document 117)

 

David Wooster, Sr.

 

David Wooster, Sr.’s fate was similar to that of Noah Candee. The Hartford sheriff visited Wooster in the Hartford jail on May 25 and reported back to the court that he was unable to pay his fines. On June 26, 1780, Waterbury Sheriff’s Deputy Samuel Thatcher went to Wooster’s farm and seized ninety-five acres and Wooster’s home. (Waterbury Land Records, Vol. 16, p. 523, 525)

 

Following the court’s decision to award £200 plus costs to Chauncey Judd, Waterbury Constable Ira Beebe seized David Wooster’s livestock on January 11, 1781. Wooster’s horses, cows, and sheep were sold at the sign post near the Waterbury Green on January 31 and February 1, 1781, with the proceeds being given to Chauncey Judd. Beebe also seized a barn and more than forty acres of Wooster’s farm for Judd. (Waterbury Land Records, Vol. 16, p. 545-549)

 

As with Candee, Wooster’s creditors filed claims in court to get what they could from him. Thomas Osborn seized a total of forty-one acres in April 1780, while Wooster was still in jail in Hartford. On February 20, 1781, Ebenezer Osborn seized nine acres of Wooster’s land and a small dwelling house on that land. (Waterbury Land Records, Vol. 16, p. 511-517 and 564-565)

 

David Wooster and his entire family were left with nothing. Waterbury’s selectmen petitioned the General Assembly for compassion on May 23, 1781, noting that Wooster’s family was “wretched” and “large & very expensive” with twelve children including one pair of twins who were infants, one pair of twins who were too young to earn a living, one daughter who was an invalid with no hope of recovery, one child deemed insane, and one child “totally destitute of all appearance of Reason.” (State Archives Revolutionary War Series I, Vol. 22, Document 233)

 

The selectmen hoped that the state would allow the town to keep Wooster’s house and the lands seized by the state for use in supporting Wooster’s three disabled children, arguing that the town was being punished by having to pay for the care of children whose parents were unable to care for them. By taking ownership of the house and farm, the town could support the family without added expense.

 

The General Assembly agreed to consider the request and sent a committee to view the property and examine the condition of the Wooster children. After some negotiations between the town and the state, the General Assembly finally agreed to allow Waterbury’s selectmen to use the farm to support the “impotent & helpless children.” (State Archives Revolutionary War Series I, Vol. 22, Documents 234-236)

 

 

David Wooster, Jr.

 

In January 1782, David Wooster, Jr. petitioned the General Assembly to grant him an early release from prison, stating that he was “very young” when he fell “under the influence of one John Graham, a deserter from the British army, and some other much more respectable connections.” Wooster assured the Assembly that after nearly two years of confinement, he was now “fully sensible of the baseness and wickedness” of his deeds and again blamed the influence of older men whom he had seen as his superiors. The Assembly agreed to allow Wooster early release so long as he secured a bond of £150 and stayed in Hartford County. Wooster secured the bond and found lodging and employment with Joseph Spencer of East Haddam. Spencer later reported that Wooster did indeed regret his former actions and had the potential to become a “good citizen” once he was given his full freedom. (State Archives Revolutionary War Series 1, Volume 24, Documents 200 and 201)

 

 

Ebenezer Dayton

 

Ebenezer Dayton returned briefly to privateering during the summer of 1782, now sailing out of New Haven (New London was largely destroyed by British troops in 1781). On July 27, Dayton recaptured the American schooner Sukey, which had been taken the day before by the British. On August 2, he took the British schooner Dolphin and on February 8, 1783, he captured the British sloop Leaf and its cargo of pottery, glassware, and other merchandise. (Louis Frank Middlebrook, History of Maritime Connecticut During the Revolutionary War, Vol. 2, p. 219-224)

 

In 1786, Dayton appears to have faked his death, disappearing during a swim in the Housatonic River. His actual death occurred in 1802 in New Orleans. (Hervey Garret Smith, “Patriot Peddler,” Long Island Forum, April 1975 on Longwood Central School District website)

[Updated on December 16, 2021 with information from the New Haven County Court Records]