Local Revolutionary Veterans
Five Mile River (Rowayton) Patriots
Gershom Raymond, Sr. (1725 – 1806): “In the time of the American Revolution, Gershom, in whose blood was mingled that of six of the founders of Norwalk, owned nearly the whole of lower “Five Mile River.” Gershom and his wife Abigail are buried in Raymond Cemetery.
In 1775, Gershom was chosen as a representative to the newly formed Fairfield County Congress before he joined the Ninth Connecticut Regiment at its formation in 1777.
Despite such a history of active patriotism, Gershom Raymond's name was presented to the town as potentially "Inimical and Dangerous to the Liberties and Independence of the United States of America" in 1781.
Gershom gave the house at 8 Wilson Avenue to his son Gershom, Jr., on the occasion of Jr.’s 1787 marriage to Mary Whiting. It is still standing today.
Paul Raymond (1750 -1828): Gershom’s oldest son. Paul is buried in Raymond Cemetery. Paul’s two sons-in-laws also fought for the Patriots.
Gershom Raymond, Jr.(1762 – 1813): Gershom Sr.’s son, buried in Raymond Cemetery.
Edward Raymond (1755 -1813): Gershom Sr.’s son. Edward is buried in Raymond Cemetery.
Jesse Raymond (1725 -1805), Gershom Sr.’s brother, also served some of the many Revolutionary committees that convened in Norwalk through the 1770s and 1780s. One was "The Committee of Inspection," an ominous-sounding group responsible for monitoring the behavior of local citizens. Jesse owned two slaves. He coauthored several letters to the governor and the General Assembly in Hartford, warning about British activity on Long Island:
"The enemy frequently, just at night, cross the sound, and come upon us and take away our stock, and plunder us, notwithstanding the utmost care to prevent it. . . they very often of late come hovering about our shores, and anchor about our islands with small armed sloops, and boats come within our harbor, and in two instances, have come in the night up our harbors and fired upon our houses, which causes frequent alarms, and creates great uneasiness among the women and children . . . and that as we have no armed force on the water, we have it not in our power to prevent the enemy's [sloops] distressing us."
The letter went on to request permission to purchase an armed vessel to protect those eight short miles of water between Huntington Bay and Rowayton. All this must have greatly pleased Jesse's father-in-law, Moses Mather, the Middlesex Congregationalist minister so devoted to independence.
Another of Jesse's committees ensured the physical and financial security of Norwalk families whose men had gone to war. This was a blatant attempt to encourage enlistments, given the current "slow progress made in filling up the Continental Battalions to be raised by this state, and the vast importance of their being immediately completed." Interestingly, this committee coincided with the organization of the Ninth Connecticut, Gershom's regiment. Jesse is buried in Pine Island Cemetery in Norwalk.
Ebenezer Raymond (1727 - 1816) Gershom Sr.’s brother, buried in Church Hill Cemetery, New Canaan.
Nathaniel Selleck (1759 - 1828) Gershom Sr.’s son-in-law, married to Azubah Raymond, buried in Raymond Cemetery.
Hopkins Byxbee (1766 - 1817) Gershom’s son-in-law, married to Anna Raymond, buried in Raymond Cemetery.
Eliakim Raymond, Gershom’s cousin, and Gershom were appointed members of the Committee of Safety in 1774 - local men who controlled the militia and acted as a provisional government in cooperation with the Committees of Correspondence and, of course, the Continental Congress. Where is he buried?
Aaron Raymond, a near neighbor, served in the Third Connecticut for six-and-a-half years before receiving his discharge papers, signed by General Washington himself. He served in Capt. Bett’s Co., enlisted 1 January 1777, was a corporal and sergeant, and is buried in Troy, NY.
Captain Simeon Raymond, Aaron's father, who owned the property adjacent to Gershom's on the Five Mile River. He and his sons ran a ferry that conveyed passengers from the area of South Norwalk known as "Old Well" across the Sound to Huntington Bay, at a rate of one shilling and six pence per person (one shilling and ten pence halfpenny if you wanted to bring your horse). He also held an officer's commission in the British army. As tensions swelled in the prewar years, threatening open conflict, many colonists struggled to balance loyalties that grew ever more disparate. For men like Simeon, who had sworn oaths of allegiance and defense to Britain, the situation was especially tenuous; the stronger the commitment, the harder the choice—and, of course, the fiercer the punishment. As the story goes, Simeon's decision to resign his commission and join the resistance so enraged Loyalists that they burned his entire property. He became a Prisoner of War, held on Staten island, and was paid 475 pounds & 10 shillings for his losses during the British plundering and burning of Norwalk. Buried in Pine Island Cemetery.
Five Mile River (Rowayton) Loyalists
Captain Esaisas Bouton, who was rumored to have made more money off the war than anyone else in Norwalk. The Captain’s home was situated at the head of Wilson Cove, high up on the hillside off Witch Lane, and boasted a fireplace that faced the water. According to Samuel Richards Weed’s history, Norwalk after 250 Years, when the coast was clear for British boats to land, Bouton would signal the British invaders with a roaring fire and then meet them on the Wilson Cove shore to offer cattle and produce for sale to feed the hungry Tory soldiers. Bouton is buried in the Bouton-Hoyt family cemetery on the north side of Witch Lane.