WAR CAUSES DISAGREEMENTS ON THE HOME FRONT

    Perhaps it is true of all wars, but the Civil War found the people of the Valley towns split in their attitudes toward the fighting.
    One of the best outlines of split attitudes during this time in area towns, is found in the Rev. Lowell Johnson's History of the Seymour Methodist Church. The following paragraphs are quoted from that book:
    "The election of 1850 was not the only time when Sylvester Smith became involved in civic affairs. He was again elected to the state legislature in 1852. He also served for a year in the State Senate. The war between the states arrived and it found Mr. Smith an ardent supporter of the cause of the Union. From 1861 to 1865 he served as president of the Union League. His position was not totally popular, however. There was some suspicion that the fire which burned down his paper mill in 1863 was a case of arson. The young hoods in town were found to be out in front of his house singing in chorus: 'We'll hang Parson Smith to a sour apple tree.' In the election of 1864, Mr. Lincoln received 124 votes while his democrat opponent received 222.
    "There was support for the war in town, however. Many young men did respond to the president's call for volunteers. At a special town meeting in August 1862, taxes were levied and the sum of $100 was appointed to each volunteer who went. More money was appropriated later. At least fourteen young men from the parish left to serve the cause of the Union. Among them were Sylvester's sons, William E., and Wilbur F. Smith. The latter returned home with the rating of Captain..."
    The Rev. Smith was succeeded by the Rev. George Lansing Taylor. He also supported the Union cause. The following, also from Johnson, shows the tenor of the times in Seymour.
    "It cannot be said that the town was unanimously behind Rev. Taylor's activities. Objections were raised over the poems that appeared from time to time. In general, however, he had the support of the church in his work. He said that only once did he run into viciousness in his work in the parish. It was a woman who sought to insult her pastor and his wife by calling them 'Nasty abolitionist nigger lovers.'