By Florence Goodman

In this month's article I will share stories from the lives of several more Farmingbury soldiers who volunteered to serve in the fight for our country's freedom. I will start with a family that had seven members serve during the war. Then you will read about a soldier who served in the French and Indian War as well as the Revolution and the last soldier's family was connected to our town clerks. All these men served their town and country well.

To discuss the Harrison family history, I must start with Deacon Aaron Harrison. His family moved from East Haven to Farmingbury in 1738 when he was twelve. They settled on Benson's Hill, now Wolcott Center where he lived most of his life. He married Jerusha Warner in 1748, and they had eight children. In January of 1774 he was chosen as the first deacon of the Ecclesiastical Society and Church of Farmingbury and served in this position for 45 years. He was highly respected and served in many offices in the Parish Society as well as being chosen moderator at the first Society meeting. He was the first captain of the military company of Farmingbury Winter parish thus referred to as Captain Aaron Harrison. His sons Mark, Aaron, David, Daniel, John, and Aaron Jr all served in the Revolution.

His first son Mark was born in 1751 in our town. In 1775 he married Rebekah Mills and they had eight children. Mark served in the 13th Company 15th Militia Regiment. He died July 11, 1822, and is buried in Edgewood Cemetery.

Aaron Jr was born circa 1760s and served a short time during the revolution in 1780 in the 6th Regiment. He died in 1808 near New Haven.

David Harrison was born December 3, 1756. He married Hepzibah Roberts and they had six children. After his first wife died, he married Lydia Hotchkiss in 1793 and they had four children. David served as a private in the Continental Regiments in 1775. He built a house southeast of the meeting house in 1777. The David Harrison House is located at 228 Center Street. He died April 5, 1820, but the location of where he's buried is unknown.

Daniel Harrison was born March 14, 1756, but there is little information about him. Information taken from a Frisbie Family history, states that Daniel Harrison was at the Siege of Boston in 1776. He left there on the 18th of December 1775 "having been detained by sickness."

The last of Deacon Harrison's sons to serve in the Revolution was John. He was born on December 3, 1758, in our town. He died while serving on November 10, 1776, at the age of 17. No other information is available.

Our second soldier today is Jabez Harrison born October 11, 1744, on the Waterbury side of Farmingbury. His parents were Benjamin and Dinah Warner Harrison. On October 15, 1772, Jabez married Deborah Johnson and they had two children. On July 8, 1778, at the age of 33 Jabez joined the military as a private in Captain Stoddard's Company. Records show that in 1790 he was residing in Southington, but by 1810 he resided in Burlington. He died at the age of 92 in Burlington, Connecticut.

The next soldier I'll discuss is Captain Samuel Upson. He was born March 8, 1737, in the Southington section of Farmingbury. He was an active and influential man in the Parish Society. He married Ruth Cowles on April 5, 1759. They had ten children. Samuel served in the French and Indian War. Samuel also served in the Revolutionary War, first as a private under Captain James Stoddard, Col. N. Hooker's regiment. In 1779 his company repelled the enemy at the New Haven Alarm. Later, he served as captain of a company under Colonel Smith of the 15th Militia Regiment. They guarded the coast and turned out at all alarms. On July 5, 1779, he served at Tryon's Invasion. He is buried in the Southeast Cemetery. The house of his son Isaac was built in 1795 and is located at the Woodtick Reservoir mill pond. The house is owned by the town.

The last soldier for today is Joseph Minor, born in Lyme, CT in 1756 to Jedediah and Elizabeth (Marvin) Minor. In 1774, Joseph purchased a house, barn and land on Bound Line Road from John Beach. Joseph enlisted in the military April 8, 1776, in Captain David Smith's Company. After his time served in the military, he married Mary Upson on December 25, 1781. They raised their eight children in the house on Bound Line Road. In 1814, their son, Archibald acquired the title of the house. He had married Betsy (Tuttle) in 1808, and they moved into the house and raised their two children there. This house is significant not only because Joseph owned it, but because his son, Archibald served as the town clerk for 24 years from this house. Henry, Archibald's son took over the town clerk's position and served for 54 years. Together, father and son served as the town clerks for 78 years in this house on Bound Line Road. Joseph Minor died on April 8, 1845, at the age of 89 and is buried in Edgewood Cemetery. The Beach-Minor House is located at 512 Bound Line Road across from the library.

These early settlers came to this country for various reasons, but mainly for the ideals of freedom. On April 19, 1775, when those ideals of freedom were slipping away, they left their families to fight for a cause in which they believed.

(Information for this article was taken from two brochures, one from the Wolcott Historical Society titled WOLCOTT In The French and Indian Wars, The Revolutionary War and The War Of The Rebellion and the second The Journal of Josiah Atkins of Waterbury Farmingbury Society In Ye State of Connecticut N. England 1781 printed by the Mattatuck Historical Society, Waterbury, Number 21. October 1954; the 1986 Historic Resources Inventory by J.P.Loether Associates; History of the Town of Wolcott (Connecticut) from 1731 to 1874 by Samuel Orcutt; and hours of research by Deb DuBois on Ancestry.com, Newspapers.com and other online research sites; a talk given by Florence Goodman for Patriots' Day 2017; The Journal of Judah Frisbie, A Soldier of the Revolution by Judah Frisbie and compiled by The Mattatuck Historical Society, 1943; Woodtick Cemetery records)

David Harrison built this house southeast of the Green in 1777. It is located at 228 Center Street.

This is the Upson family plot located in the Southeast Cemetery.

The Isaac Upson House was built in 1795. It is located at the Woodtick Reservoir on Nichols Road.

Henry Minor served as town clerk for 54 years.

This 1773 Beach-Minor House is located at 512 Bound Line Road. It was used as the town clerk's office for 78 years by Archibald and Henry Minor.

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