Norwich native, Samuel Chester Reid has a plaque on a rock in his honor on Chelsea Parade. But when was the last time you heard this tale of his exploits told in Norwich?

Samuel Chester Reid was born in 1783, son of John Reid, a Scottish lieutenant in the Royal Navy who was captured in an expedition against New London, Conn., in 1780, and paroled to Judge Chester of Norwich. He married the judge’s daughter, Rebecca. Their son Samuel Chester Reid became a powder monkey in the U. S. Navy and by the War of 1812 he was made captain of the privateer, GENERAL ARMSTRONG. In September of 1814 through his leadership skills he escaped from the New York harbor during light winds by pumping water on the sails and convincing his crew to tow the ship by rowboats past the British ships. His ship was then pursued by the British squadron across the open Atlantic Ocean. On the afternoon of September 26, 1814 he entered the harbor at Fayal in the Azores. A squadron of three British ships arrived soon afterwards, with 136 guns and 2,000 men. The GENERAL ARMSTRONG had seven small guns and 90 men. In the evening the British attacked with four smaller boats and were beaten off. Later, at midnight, fourteen boats with cannonades and 600 men attacked the Americans again. The British succeeded in boarding the GENERAL ARMSTRONG after heavy losses from cannon fire. In hand-to-hand combat with the courageous crew the British were repelled with many dead and wounded. Reid dueled and killed the British leader with his cutlass. Reid moved all of his guns to one side of his ship by cutting new gun ports during the night in anticipation of further attacks. With the light of dawn the 18-gun CARNATION came in and received a withering fire from the ARMSTRONG, taking so much punishment that she left the battle. As the larger British ship PLANTAGENET with 74 guns began moving in for the kill, Reid scuttled his ship.

On the next day Captain Reid was invited to tea with the surviving British officers at the British Consulate. Reid accepted, ignoring the possibility of a trap. He was cheered and welcomed by the British officers as a brave and resourceful foe. General Andrew Jackson later told Capt. Reid that “If there had been no Battle of Fayal, there would have been no Battle of New Orleans.” Reid had delayed the British expedition against New Orleans for ten days allowing Jackson to arrive there earlier. Thus, Louisiana and the Northwest Territory might now be British if Reid had not engaged them in what has been called one of the world’s most decisive naval battles. Capt. Reid received many honors and was a popular naval hero.

Thank you for sharing my blog with your friends. Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com
View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs and please read the daily 225th Bulletin Anniversary Nuggets in the newspaper daily.

Chickens are the latest pet craze in Norwich, CT. There were a few roaming in the business park, a few are kept in a lovely coop on a side-street in Taftville, there are three brave and hardy hens in the downtown area too. At least they appear to my untrained eye to be hens and not roosters but I probably should not speculate. Keeping two or three or six chickens in at least one neighborhood yard seems to be becoming the norm. The hens help keep the bug population down and the eggs are handy for Sunday breakfast.

For many years there were no chickens to be found roaming the lawns or being kept in small coops, but in 1853 Norwich, the chickens were wandering and pecking everywhere and finding especially tasty were the plants in the neighbors garden. The chickens were quite certain the gardens were planted just for them. So after much attempted reasoning with the neighbors and the chickens the following was printed in the Norwich Courier as fair warning and notice to all on April 27, 1853.

“The Hen Law. – The following is proposed as the proper treatment of hens when found in your garden;

1^st On the appearance of hens in your garden, give the owner of the hens notice.

2^nd On their second appearance, kill them, and throw the bodies over the fence of the owner.

3^rd On all subsequent appearance of hens, throughout the season, kill and eat them! “

I am unaware of any chickens being kept in my neighborhood because we have cats who hunt and on occasion bring birds home as gifts and only one of the neighbors dogs has a reputation for escape and hunting something. Usually he comes home with a tree limb or a lost stuffed animal. No one has claimed either from the collection. At the moment the bugs in the area are under the care of our birds, at least one woodchuck, brown rabbit, numerous squirrels and a few skunks that have made friends with the neighborhood cats.

Thank you for sharing my blog with your friends. Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com

View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172 and please read the daily 225th Bulletin Anniversary Nuggets in the newspaper daily.

Re-printing articles from the past is not a revolutionary new idea. Reprints  allow new generations to  look at old information with new eyes, viewpoints,  information, technology and influences.  Reprints allow the examination of details frequently ignored in the history books and not presented in the movies we now consider perfect representations of the time periods. Sometimes the information spread widely in the newspapers of the time confuses the modern reader because it is in an unexpected format or presented in a way different than what is expected.  For example, the following was taken from the Norwich Courier of March 2, 1859.

“NOW AND THEN. – The following extract will be of interest to those who are engaged in contributing to the necessities of the Union troops. In these days of national trial, many of the scenes of our Revolutionary War are being re-enacted, to be recorded, perhaps, in our history as evidences that the spirit which animated our fathers in the first great struggle for liberty still breathed in their descendants in the war of 1861:

Norwich, January 1^st, 1778.

Last Sabbath there was a contribution in the several parishes in the town for the non-commissioned officers and soldiers in the Continental army that belong here, when there was collected 346 pair of stockings, 227 pair of shoes, 118 shirts, 78 jackets, 48 pair of breeches, 9 coats, 22 rifle frocks, 19 handkerchiefs, and 258 pounds in money all of which is forwarded on to the army; also a quantity of pork, cheese, wheat, rye, Indian Corn, sugar, rice, flour, wood, etc., which it was engaged to receive and distribute the same to needy families of the officers and soldiers. The whole value of this donation, at a low estimate, will exceed £1,400. – Barber’s Historical Collections.”

Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com

View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172 and please read the daily 225th Bulletin Anniversary Nuggets in the newspaper daily.

Thank you for sharing my blog with your friends.

I am always on the lookout for great Norwich, CT stories that were carried by other newspapers across the nation. What a grand and advanced city we must have sounded like. Here is one from the September 13, 1895 Marshall County Independent.

“Peculiar Accident that Befell a Trolley Car in Norwich, Conn. The latest prank performed by Nutmeg Lightning was starting Motorman Harlow Ladd’s trolley car at Norwich, Conn., and whizzing it ten rods along the track without any help from the rumbling dynamos that were grinding out refined electricity in the company’s works, half a mile away. Harlow had reached the end of the Greenville route, switched the electric current from the motor, and. brass handle-bars in hand, then stepped across the street upon the sidewalk. The trolley was still connected with the wire, light overhead a big, round thunder cloud, black and threatening, spun slowly about, portentous with muttering thunder. The rest of the firmament was serene and blue, unsullied by a patch of vapor. Suddenly the frowning cloud mass was riven by a zigzag shaft of glittering flame that was shot straight downward against the car motor and made it ring like a bronze bell smitten with a hammer. The report, said Motorman Ladd, was far louder and stronger than a pistol shot. Then, with surprise amounting almost to awe. the motorman beheld his car, Impelled by crude electricity from the clouds, shoot forward eight or ten rods along the track. It did not move very rapidly, and by running he overtook and boarded it just before it came to a halt on the rather stiff grade. In the opinion of motormen and other street railroad operatives, the thunderbolt, heavily charged with electricity, acted on this car motor momentarily in precisely the same way as the regular electric current from the company’s works. In the same storm a trolley car operated by Motorman Ed Ladd, a cousin of Harlow’s, was touched up in a similar way on Franklin square, in Norwich. The car was in motion at the time. A long, zigzag tongue of flame was shot like a javelin straight through the open car. Luckily there were no passengers aboard. Conductor John Cousins, who was on the rear platform and had his hand on the brass railing, received a considerable shock. Motorman Ladd was still more severely shocked. Most of the bolt went into the platform switchbox with a ringing report.”

Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com

View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172  and please read the daily 225^th Bulletin Anniversary Nuggets in the newspaper daily.

I read an article on Facebook about a new organization in Maine that was working on re-introducing native and indigenous plants to Maine thinking how cool this would be for Norwich, CT. Then I returned to my scrolling and promptly lost the original blurb. So I decided to look up the terms I could recall being mentioned but I am certain there are more and better definitions than the ones I paraphrased from the United States Department of Agriculture. Then all the citizens of Norwich, CT need to do is convince the forestry, naturalists and gardening leaders of Norwich, CT to consult with the Connecticut Botanical Society, http://www.ct-botanical-societyorg/ whose President, Glenn Dreyer,  just happens to be the Charles & Sarah P. Becker ’27 Director, of the Arboretum and Adjunct Associate Professor of Botany at Connecticut College in New London, (860.439.2144 glenn.dreyer@conncoll.edu) about what we can do to improve the native growth in Norwich.  I think it is a great opportunity for Chelsea Gardens to re-establish the educational connection they once had. Perhaps develop a native plant growth area and trail on a portion of the now cleared area of Mohegan Park.  Maybe  work with the Mohegan Park Advisory Board, Departments of Parks and Recreation, and Public Works to create a native plant open space plan while working on raising the millions of dollars they need for their buildings and restaurant. Just thinking out loud . . .

Native Plant – A plant that is a part of the balance of nature that has developed over hundreds or thousands of years in a particular region or ecosystem. Only plants found in this country before European settlement are considered to be native to the United States.

Non-Native Plant or Exotic Plant- A plant introduced with human help (intentionally or accidentally) to a new place or new type of habitat where it was not previously found. Note: Not all non-native plants are invasive.

Invasive Plant – A plant that is both non-native and able to establish on many sites, grow quickly, and spread to the point of disrupting plant communities or ecosystems.

Naturalized Plant – A non-native plant that does not need human help to reproduce and maintain itself over time in an area where it is not native and is not invasive.

Translocated Plant – A plant not native to the portion of the continent where it is now found. (California Poppies in New England are an example of a translocated species.)

Opportunistic Native Plant – A native plant that is able to take advantage of disturbance to the soil or existing vegetation to spread quickly and out-compete the other plants on the disturbed site.

Weed – A weed is a plant (native or non-native) that is not valued in the place where it is growing.

Noxious Weed – Any plant or plant product that can directly or indirectly injure or cause damage to crops (including nursery stock or plant products), livestock, poultry or other interests of agriculture, irrigation, navigation, the natural resources of the United States, the public health, or the environment.

Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com

View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172  and please read the daily 225^th Bulletin Anniversary Nuggets in the newspaper daily.