political
views, and although members of the Congregational church, they fell
under the label "Tory." What of men who took up arms against their
patriotic
neighbors?
There is one warlike incident52
that took place in Oxford, and it was part of a series of events that
landed men in Newgate Prison in upstate Connecticut. Newgate was not
only notorious
for being used to incarcerate Tories during the war, but it also was
plagued by regular uprisings and escapes.
During March of 1780, a band of seven Tories, including
its leader, a deserter from the army named Alexander Graham, led a raid
on a house in Bethany. After sacking the house, the party fled south,
with
the intention of escaping down the Housatonic River to safety on Long
Island. Along the way, they stopped at a "safe house" in the Gunntown
section of
Oxford for a few days. Next, dodging pursuing officers and a vigilance
committee, they moved to another barn in Oxford possibly belonging to
one of the Wooster families. A severe snow storm kept them there for
another few days. Finally they made their way down the Housatonic and
across the sound to Long Island. Their escape was not assured, as a
posse from Derby followed them in two
whale boats, and captured the men just inside British lines, bringing
them
back to Connecticut to justice.53
Graham was executed for treason; the rest of the party,
including a Henry Wooster from Oxford, was
sentenced to four years in
Newgate.
After much deception and effort, Wooster and several others escaped
through
a drain. Most were immediately recaptured, but Wooster managed to get
to
New London, where he boarded a British vessel. Evidence suggests he
enlisted
in a Tory regiment soon after.54
Four years after the war, Wooster made his way home, and
because of his previous service, one can assume he had disguised his
identity. He stopped at his parents' house in Oxford, begging lodging
for the night. The Woosters welcomed him to dinner, and as the
conversation drew on, Mrs. Wooster told the
story of her missing boy,
who had "fallen in with a stranger...on a foolish expedition..."
resulting in his being sent to "Newgate Prison, but after a
52
This is the
basis
for the famous (for the period) "
Chauncey
Judd" story, written by
Israel
Warren.
53 Richard H.
Phelps,
Newgate of Connecticut
(Hartford, Connecticut: American
Publishing Company. 1876) 55-56. Litchfield,
Oxford 60-61
54 Phelps, 57
