The Cogswells in America - citizen hylbom blog

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the granddaughter of Gov. Thomas Dudley, governor of Massachusetts in 1634,
1640, 1645, s"*:' '^5° Her mother was the granddaughter of John Chester,
who married .Sarah Wells, a daughter of Gov. Thomas Welis, governor of Con-
necticut from 1655 to 1658. They lived in a house which was standing in 1883,
the residence of a lineal descendant, Gould C. Whittlesey, Esq. It was located
at the junction of several roads, on the line of travel to \ew York, West Point,
Hartford, Boston, and other large towns.
Mr. Cogswell was among the first to initiate revolutionary measures in
resistance of English oppression. At a town meeting held Sept. 20, 1774, he
was one of a committee chosen to collect and communicate all necessary intel-
ligence of movements in and about Boston and other parts of the country. In
Dec , 1776, he was on the Committee of Inspection and Correspondence. He
was selectman of New Milford, Conn., from 1774 to : 1777 elected moderator
of the first meeting held in Washington in 1779; the first selectman, and
elected the first representative of the new town to the General Assembly of
Connecticut. He was re-elected each succeeding year, and was serving his
eighth term as a member of the Assembly when he died. Mr. Cogswell was
Justice of the Peace, Major in the State militia, and Captain in the army of
the Revolution. He was in command, under Washington, in the retreat from
Long Island. Major Cogswell died in the prime of life, leaving a widow and
nine children. His estate was large. In the cemetery of New Preston P.nish,
Washington. Conn., the stone that marks the spot of his burial is inscribed as
follows :
" Cropt at niKin, he is gone ! he is gone I
lie shinecl in acts of peace to still a storm.
Skilful to advise and vigorous to perform.
Kind to the world and duteous to the skies.
Distress and want on him did fi.\ their eyes.
Here lies his body, blended with the dust.
Waiting the resurrection of the just."
iVitmotantia.
Gen. Washington and many of the principal otliccrs of the Revolution were, at differ-
ent times, entertained at Major Cog.swell's tavern, and soldiers by the scores and hundreds.
When the treason of .Arnold was communicated to Washington, as he was at a i)oint where
he must pass through .Vew I'reston early the ne.xt morning, he despatched a page, who was
dressed in yellow flannel, to .Major fogswell's, to have breakfast ready promjUly at si.x
o'clock. He reached there at the time, and gave his suite fifteen minutes for breakfast.
Washington's agitation was such that he himself did not sit down, but took a bowl of milk,
and walked the room while eating.
One morning, after the previous day's fatigue, the cooks were sitting do\yi 10 breakfast,
and one said, " ' I hope we shall be permitted to eat in peace for once " Just then an officer
came galloping up. announcing that three hundred soldiers wanted breakf,ast immediately.
Major fogswell was much from home during the war, and his wife was left to manage
affairs in his absence. It is .said of the Tories who lived in the neighborhood that, in the
absence of Major logswcU, they would gather about the premises, and seek to intimidate the
children and Mrs. e'ogswell; perhaps saying, " .\ews has just come that M.ajor Cogswell is
de,id : he was killed in the last battle ; aiid now is a good time for Tories." More than once.