With Independence Day fast approaching, it seems fitting to turn our attention to neighbors from the past who served in the American Revolution. But, as New Canaan Historical Society Librarian Sharon Turo reminded me, finding New Canaanites who served in the war would be difficult. "There wasn't a New Canaan at that time," she said. Instead, what is now the town was Canaan Parish, made up of sections of Stamford and Norwalk centered around the Congregational Church.
From the Stamford side of Canaan Parish came a father and son, both named Theophilus Hanford. Although the elder Theophilus never served in the war, the two shared an unfortunate distinction. Both were captured and held prisoner by the British Army.
Theophilus III, the younger Hanford, was born in 1753. He married Norwalker Esther Dean at the age of 20, and in the years before the war the pair had two children on White Oak Shade. But in May 1775, Theophilus felt the urge to join the fight against the British, and enlisted in the Fifth Continental Regiment under General David Waterbury.
In June the next year, he switched to Philip Burr Bradley's brigade in the State Troops, a newly formed Connecticut militia. By November, Hanford was one of the 2,800 Americans at Fort Washington captured by the British in the Battle of White Plains. They moved him to a prison ship near New York City, where he stayed for more than two months until he was released in January 1777.
The conditions in the prison were terrifying. Theophilus Jr., his father, would later write that his son was "like to die, and he suffered much for want to the conveniences and comforts and necessaries of life in his distressed situation." Theophilus III was released, but his harsh treatment ensured that he would not make the journey from New York to Canaan Parish.
The elder Hanford got permission from Bradley to go into enemy territory to find and help his son. But even with the right documentation, British soldiers still harassed him on his way to New York. Convinced he was a spy, they confiscated his horse, his money, and even "sundry small items such as gloves, pocket handkerchief, and a pocket knife." They held him for 12 days until he was acquitted at a court-martial.
A year after he returned to Canaan Parish, Theophilus petitioned the General Assembly to institute a memorial for his son. It was just a small comfort, but one that Theophilus needed. In his petition, he wrote, "[I] hath met with great misfortunes and losses, which Memorialist humbly conscious he has no other remedy than for application to you Honors."
Click here to follow Daily Voice and receive free news updates.
