Chauncey Judd – Conclusion

#Middlebury

The band of Tories takes Chauncey Judd by whale boat to Long Island, a British stronghold. This engraving comes from the 1906 Perry Press (Naugatuck) edition of the book, “Chauncey Judd, The Stolen Boy.” (Robert Rafford scan)

By DR. ROBERT L. RAFFORD

Chauncey Judd had been taken prisoner by a band of Tories because he recognized them as they were returning from ransacking the home and terrorizing the family of American patriots Captain Ebenezer and Phebe (Smith) Dayton in Bethany. After a fortnight of hiding in Middlebury, Oxford and other places, the band headed for Long Island, a British stronghold, and they secured a whale boat to make the crossing.

The loyalist band fled from Connecticut by going through Derby to Stratford, but they were spotted and their plan quickly reported. Fortunately for our hero, the American loyalists were ready to respond to the report, and secured two whaleboats which were then manned by Captain William Clark and James Harvey. They followed fast on the trail of the Tories as they clutched their booty and their captive, and overtook them just after they had landed in Brookhaven within British lines. All but one of the band were taken prisoner and returned to Connecticut for trial.

Of the six who were captured, Captain Alexander Graham was quickly tried as a deserter from American forces; a paper found on him showed a commission from General Howe permitting him to serve as a British recruiter. He quickly confessed, was sent to Morristown, convicted and was executed.

The other five were put on trial in Superior Court in New Haven; two of the band were allowed to turn state’s evidence and the other three were imprisoned for four years in Newgate Prison in East Granby. In addition, a number of others were tried as accessories, and all of them were imprisoned and fined. Captain Dayton, through civil suits, recovered a great deal of the goods stolen from his household, and Chauncey Judd’s father was awarded 800 pounds for damages to his son (W. C. Sharpe, “History of Seymour”).

Once in prison, Henry Wooster, one of the five captured, convicted and sentenced to Newgate Prison, displayed an uncommon ingenuity that was chronicled in a 1907 “New England Magazine” article by George H. Hubbard, “Legends of Old Newgate.” Originally from Derby, Conn., Wooster engineered a daring escape from Newgate Prison and was not found. He had made his way to New London and hid on an English ship, enlisting in British service. After the Revolutionary War had ended and peace was at hand, he made his way back to his family in Derby and settled there quietly with his welcoming parents.

By now, readers who have been following this series know Chauncey was a real person who was born in Waterbury, Conn., in 1764 and died in Salem Parish (Naugatuck) in 1823. Through his marriage to Mabel Hotchkiss, daughter of Captain Gideon and Mabel (Stiles) Hotchkiss, he had three children, Polly, Huldah and Chauncey Judd Jr. After Mabel died in 1797, Chauncey married Eunice French, possibly the daughter of Nathan and Lucy (Johnson) French, and had six more children, Marvin, Larmon, Mabel, Eunice, the Rev. Truman and Laura.

During his captivity, poor Chauncey had lain in houses and on the boat with his hands and feet tied, and for the rest of his life he suffered from the near-frostbite from the journey. It was reported that for months after the ordeal, until he had gained some stability, he would sit up in his sleep from nightmares and shout “Hurrah for King George!”

Through nine children, Chauncey and his two wives still have a number of descendants in these parts. A 1960 “Naugatuck Daily News” article featured the story of Willie C. Judd (1870-1964) of Naugatuck, husband of Iva Northrop and a great-grandson of Chauncey, son of Chester B. Judd. The article presented how the Naugatuck Historical Society planned to retrace the road Chauncey and his Tory captors followed during that historical odyssey.

Bob Rafford is the Middlebury Historical Society president and Middlebury’s municipal historian. To join or contact the society, visit MiddleburyHistoricalSociety.org or call Bob at 203-206-4717.