The Norwalk Historical Society is again pleased to host its annual Fourth of July program. This year’s “Happenings around the Historic Norwalk Green” will run from 12:00 to 1:30 pm and will again include activities held simultaneously at Mill Hill Historic Park, St. Paul’s on the Green Episcopal Church and the First Congregational Church on the Green.

Mill Hill Historic Park Open House, 12:00-1:30pm
Visitors are invited to discover Mill Hill Historic Park, Two East Wall Street, home of the Norwalk Historical Society. Guests will be welcomed to tour the Town House Museum (1835) by Norwalk Town Clerk Andy Garfunkel, portraying Revolutionary War Town Clerk Samuel Grumman. All ages will delight in learning about early Norwalk education under the tutelage of “schoolmarm” Samantha Kulish in the Downtown District Schoolhouse (1826) and will enjoy touring the Gov. Thomas Fitch Law Office (c. 1740) with John Atkin portraying Norwalk’s lively colonial governor.

Revolutionary War Tour of Mill Hill Burying Ground, 12:00pm
At 12:00 pm, guests will also learn about some of the town’s Revolutionary War citizens during a Mill Hill Burying Ground tour led by local historian and NHS Advisor Madeleine Eckert.

St. Paul's on the Green Patriotic Organ Concert, 12:00pm & Open House, 12:30-1:30pm
St. Paul’s on the Green, 60 East Avenue, will present a patriotic organ concert from 12:00 to 12:30 pm. This will be followed by an open house of the church, the fourth structure built on that site since its beginnings in 1737. St. Paul’s holds the distinction of being the oldest same site organization in Norwalk.

First Congregational Church on the Green Open House, 12:00-1:30pm
An open house at the First Congregational Church on the Green, Three Lewis Street, from 12:00 to 1:30 pm will feature an exhibit of historical artifacts from its early history. The Congregational Church is the oldest religious organization in Norwalk, having been founded in 1652.

"Let Freedom Ring" Bell Ringing Ceremony on Norwalk Town Green, 1:30pm
At 1:30 pm, the Independence Day Celebration continues with the Let Freedom Ring™ National Bell Ringing Ceremony on the Historic Norwalk Town Green, with the reading of the Declaration of Independence by a uniformed Revolutionary War reenactor. At exactly 2:00 pm, the bells from both churches and the Town House will toll 13 times to commemorate the founding of the 13 original states.

Norwalk Historical Society Program at the Town House Museum, 2:15pm
This will be followed by a procession to the Mill Hill Town House, where guests will be entertained with musical numbers performed by Norwalk’s renowned Crystal Theatre under the direction of NHS Advisor Cheryl Kemeny. There will be guest speakers and a special “Battle and Burning of Norwalk, July 11, 1779” edition of the popular presentation, “Did You Know? Little Known Facts About Norwalk During the American Revolution.” As always, refreshments such as Muster Day Gingerbread and Edenton Tea Party Cakes, made from authentic Revolutionary War-era recipes, will be served.

The Norwalk Historical Society was incorporated in 1899 with the purpose of promoting and encouraging historical research in Norwalk. That vision is kept alive today with the re-establishment of the NHS in 1949 and the continued focus on “the research, preservation, and promotion of interest in the history of Norwalk.”

For more information, please call the Norwalk Historical Society at (203) 846-0525 or email info@norwalkhistoricalsociety.org or visit the NHS website at www.norwalkhistoricalsociety.org.

Download NHS Membership Form here

Friday, July 10, 2009 at 8:00pm
Norwalk Town House, Mill Hill Historic Park, 2 East Wall St., Norwalk

7:00pm - Memorial Service for Victims of the 1779 Battle and Burning of Norwalk will take place at the Historic Norwalk Town Green on East Avenue

Some of Norwalk’s top officials will travel 230
years back in time at the Norwalk Historical
Society on Friday, July 10th at 8:00 pm.  Mayor Richard Moccia, Police Chief Harry Rilling, Town Clerk Andy Garfunkel and Councilmen Doug Hempstead, Bill Krummel and Steve Serasis will portray their eighteenth century counterparts in a reenactment of a meeting of the Norwalk Selectmen on the eve of the Battle of Norwalk in 1779.  They will wear authentic 18th century clothing and the Mayor, playing first selectman Thaddeus Betts, will read a letter actually sent from Norwalk’s Selectmen to George Washington on Friday, July 9th, 1779. 

All photos by Bill Wrenn

Public is invited to participate

There will also be a chance for audience participation.  Anyone who attends can ask questions of the Selectmen as though they were Norwalk citizens in 1779. Costumed reenactors in the audience will play out scenes taken from records of the time. Audience members will get a real feeling for the tension between American Patriots and Tories still loyal to the King.

When the Selectmen wrote this letter the General Washington, they already knew about the violence and destruction of the British attacks on New Haven and Fairfield. They knew Norwalk would be next and everyone could see the troop ships across the Sound at Huntington.  The letter asks Washington for troops to help defend the town because, “The militia are collecting but will by no means be sufficient to oppose such an Army.”

The Mayor as Thaddeus Betts will be joined by Norwalk Police Chief Rilling as militia commander Lt. Col. Stephen St. John, Town Clerk Garfunkel as Town Clerk Samuel Grumman, Councilman Bill Krummel as Selectman David Comstock, Councilman Doug Hempstead as Selectman Matthew Marvin, Councilman Steve Serasis as Selectman Nathaniel Benedict and Historic Commissioner Peter Bondi as General Wolcott.

Reenactment to be preceded by Memorial Service for Victims of the 1779 Battle and Burning of Norwalk at 7:00pm on the Norwalk Town Green

The Meeting will be preceded by a memorial for all victims of the Burning of Norwalk - American or British, soldier or civilian - on The Green near the cannon at 7:00 pm on Friday, July 10. The memorial will be led by Eric Chandler of Sheldon’s Horse, the 2nd Continental Light Dragoons who will conduct a Libation Ceremony, as a tribute to the fallen.  Reenactors in American and British 18th Century uniform will participate in the ceremony.  Mayor Moccia will read a proclamation designating July 10-12 as the Commemoration of the Battle and Burning of Norwalk.   

Also participating in the memorial will be The Connecticut Line, the Living History Color Guard Unit of the Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution and DeLancey’s Brigade.  Madeleine Eckert, Norwalk Historical Society Advisory Board Member and member of the Norwalk-Village Green Chapter, Connecticut State Society Daughters of the American Revolution will speak about the significance of the Norwalk DAR monuments and highlight the dedication of the Tryon/Grumman's Hill monument.  Ed Eckert, Norwalk Historical Society Board Member and member of the Roger Sherman Branch #5, CTSSAR will be speaking about Patriot casualties. 

The Battle of Norwalk may be the biggest battle fought in Connecticut during the Revolutionary War and Norwalk suffered more destruction than any other town in the state. One hundred thirty homes, forty shops, one hundred barns, five ships, two churches, and some flour mills and salt works were also lost. “The Green is really sacred ground. A few American regulars and a lot of citizen soldiers, just regular people trying to protect their homes and families, fought here and in other parts of town against overwhelming odds,” said Tod Bryant of the Norwalk Historical Society. “All of the combatants were doing their duty as they saw it and all of them deserve to be remembered.”

For more information, please call the Norwalk Historical Society at (203) 846-0525 or email info@norwalkhistoricalsociety.org or visit the NHS website at www.norwalkhistoricalsociety.org.

Download NHS Membership Form here