What is in a name? Quite a lot. North Mianus – that allusive area that neither has a zip code or an exact boundary – is only known by Greenwich natives, and even then….just maybe. The North Mianus of today, was once named Dumpling Pond, and before that Steep Hollow – there is even a road in Cos Cob by the same name. But so, what?
Land is a fickle thing. It goes through the ordeals of profit and progress – but the land is still the land. What was once Steep Hollow, was also Dumpling Pond, and today it is North Mianus – yet what is North Mianus? It is perhaps Cos Cob, perhaps ‘North’ Old Greenwich, and perhaps Riverside.
From the earliest of times – it was a swamp land – a terrain unknown to the present inhabitants of the town – yet a territory the Indian population knew quite differently in its most natural state than the present day. As Spencer Percival Mead writes in his great and good work, this land was:
To the north, far away for miles, extended the Green Mountains, abounding in game, which the Indians hunted for a subsistence. To the southwest lay an extended swamp, a part of which still [sic: then] exists, which afforded a safe retreat to the inhabitants when attacked by their enemies. Northeast from this Indian village, about a mile north of the present settlement of Steep Hollow (now called North Mianus), was an Indian fort, known to them as Betuckquapock, to which they could retire when any danger approached from across the Sound.
John Mead had married Hannah Potter, daughter of William Potter of Stamford, [the same William Potter who had sold land to the author’s 10th great-Grandfather John Finch in the North Field of that place]. John Mead was an honest fellow who liked to teach lessons. He taught such a lesson to a fellow pilgrim traveler who belonged to the Society of Friends. The anecdote is thus recorded:
One day when he [John Mead] was quite an old man, as he was going for his grist on horseback to the mill at Dumpling Pond, before he reached the Mianus River he overtook an old Quaker jogging slowly along loaded with a heavy budget. In a real spirit of kindness he offered to take the Quaker’s load upon his horse, and thus give him a lift on his journey. “No,” replied the Quaker, “thee don’t get my bundle, for I can read men’s thoughts. Thee wants to get my bundle and then thee’ll run off. Thee don’t get my bundle.” “Very well,” was the simple reply, and so they went slowly on together. At lastthey came to the brink of the Mianus River. Here the Quaker was really in trouble. How to cross a river, two or three feet deep, dry shod, was quite a puzzle. But he gladly accepted a second offer of assistance from the horsemen. The bundle was mounted in front, John in the middle, and the Quaker behind. Arriving at the center of the river, in pretending to adjust his stirrup, John caught the Quaker by the heel and gave him a gratuitous bath. Such treatment was too much, even for Quaker forbearance, and the victim, with is hands full of pebbles, would have taken summary vengeance, had not the other party threatened to put the bundle under similar course of treatment. This threat, and the lecture following it, gradually cooled off the Quaker’s anger. John informed him that all had been done for his good, to teach him a lesson, and the lecturer said he hoped the stranger would never again to profress to read men’s thoughts. “For,” said he, “I asked you to ride, kindly in the first place, when you refused; but at the second time of asking, I really intended to do as I have just done.” So saying, and tossing the bundle back, he rode on, leaving his companion to apply the moral as he thought best.
A simple truth, sometimes has to be taught with a harsh reality. One of the other harsh realities of the time was crossing the Mianus River. This reality was solved by the construction of the first bridge in town and arguably the first recorded construction of a bridge in the Colony of Connecticut.
The author’s 9 th great-Grandfather, Lt. Jonathan Lockwood – a revered and respected person in the early settlements’ affairs – died in 1688. He is buried in an unmarked grave in the second Burying Ground of the Congregational Church, the first being on the westerly side of Sound Beach Avenue, abutting the northerly portion of the old Ridabock Estate, where it meets the old Quintard farm, [yes, the author knows the exact parcel and house that now stands on the first, and earliest graveyard of the Town of
Greenwich, and remained vacant and protected until the 1950’s – until a house was finally built upon it – but in order to ensure peaceful, and quiet possession of property – the author refuses to reveal its location].
Jonathan’s brothers, Gershom and William, were chosen by the townsmen to construct a grist mill at Steep Hollow. They were also asked to build a bridge across the Dumpling Pond [Mianus River]. Topographically, this was an ideal choice. The old Indian paths were not recycled by accident, they made sense in a time before re-grading and modern geometry enabling more practical routes which we enjoy today. As S.P. Mead writes:
The town during the same year took into consideration the building of a gristmill on the Mianus River, and also a bridge across the Mianus River at Dumpling Pond, now North Mianus. This was the first bridge built in the Town of Greenwich, and was built by Gershom Lockwood and his brother William Lockwood. They received for the work, according to an agreement made just before the construction of the bridge commenced, ‘whatever the town should see fit to give after the work was done.’ This was originally part of the King’s Highway between New York and Boston, later the Post Road, and remained so for one hundred years, until 1788, when the bridge at Mianus was rebuilt, and made into a car and wagon bridge. The new arch bridge at Dumpling Pond, now known as North Mianus, was built in 1907, and it took the place of the bridge built in 1688.
Sometimes a forgotten treasure can be found, and add to the story. One thing the present author has done is search for any of the original 1857 publications of Daniel Merritt Mead’s first formal history book of the Town of Greenwich, and purchase them – wherever they may be – and they were found all over the country. After purchasing three of them, the first had no named inscribed on the initial leaflet. It was given as a gift to Most Worshipful Grand Master Melvin Johnson as a token of brotherly love and
affection on him having appointed the author to his current office of Grand Historian of Ancient, Free & Accepted Masons of the State of Connecticut. The other two remain in his possession. Of the other two books, one of them has written in the initial leaflet [in ink] the following:
Joseph W. Mead, Adamsville, Ohio – April 15, 1892.
This is the same Joseph which Jeffrey Bingham Mead wrote about in his blog post concerning the removal of the ancient Mead Homestead. This house once stood on the Greenwich High School campus and has since been relocated to Salem Street, but which once stood where the Greenwich High School tennis courts now stand [just in front of them]. It is here that the remains of Major General Ebenezer Mead once rested. Joseph W. Mead came back to Greenwich from Ohio to find his ancestor’s grave and had it relocated to the Christ Church cemetery – but the question remains – was the stone removed only, or did the stone and remains of the general move to CCG? That is a question and an article for another day. The author is grateful, and thanks Jeffrey Bingham Mead for his assistance and invaluable information in this effort to determine the same.
In the other book that was purchased by the author, on the initial leaflet was found [in pencil] the following inscription:
Mrs Alba M. Minor
from
Susan C. Mead Wilcox
Inside the same book, at the very end, were two clippings – one titled, “For Nearly Two-Score Years.” The article discusses the Banksville [native home of the author’s Finch and Banks ancestors] stagecoach in Greenwich before cars and trains were a modern reality as they are today. This is a topic for a
separate article. The second clipping was titled: “Old Bridge is Gone,” dating to December 28, 1907. A picture of the clipping has been provided in this article, and an exact transcription has been provided at the end of this publication.
After the new bridge was constructed, the article began with these words:
It’s gone.
It goes on further to state:
Gershom and his brother William Lockwood in the year 1687 agreed to build a bridge across the ‘Myanos at Dumpling Pond’ and received in payment ‘whatever the Town should see fit to give after the work was done.’
In those days people were more ready to trust the town than nowadays. Politics was unknown then.
That the bridge was most substantially built is evident. Its age shows that, for it stood for 220 years.
Very little has been done except now and then to put in a few boards on the flooring and sides.
But the four stone piers stood it well, especially when it is considered that there was no cement to bind the stone together.
The special thing about this article, is not just the age of it – and the history it conveys to the present Greenwich people. It is also that, in 1907, someone could have had a Grandfather that witnessed an event such as Washington’s crossing upon this ancient, and sturdy bridge. The author remembers this
lesson well when while attending Eastern Middle School, Mr. Davenport, then the Principal, gave a talk to students telling them that he remembered his grandparents discussing their memories of the Civil War. History is both distant, as well as, relatively close. Talk to the right people. It must be remembered that Palmer’s Hill is named that name for a reason – and the memory of the old Cider Mill should not be neglected– the old stone walls up and along the hill still being present. The article continues, that:
Sitting on the bridge with the late Rex L. Palmer, a few years ago, he told us what he knew about the structure, and he knew more than anybody else in the locality, because he had always lived there. He was nearly 80 years of age then, and lived in a little house just beyond the bridge. His father lived there before him. His name was Albert Palmer, and he was 88 when he departed this life.
And near there his grandfather, John Palmer, lived and died. Rex Palmer had heard his grandfather and father talk about the old bridge many a time.
‘I have heard this was the first bridge built in the town, and one of the first in the state. I guess it’s so.
‘I have heard my father tell the story of how General Washington shortly after the Revolutionary war crossed this bridge with Mrs. Washington.
‘Father said that General Washington never liked to ride in the carriage. The coach with Mrs. Washington and maid in it passed over, but the General was behind on his horse.
‘My father was standing on the bridge when the General leaned over as he passed along and shook hands with him. He spoke of the bridge, what a good one it was and asked how far it was to Hartford. Washington said he was on his way to Boston.’
The Post Road, or then known before the Revolutionary War as the Country Highway or the King’s Highway – was the I-95 of today – and it was not where the road now is in some places. Valley Road where it meets the old Patio.com/iHop property owned by the Fong family, was where it turned north into what is River Road Extension and then onto Valley Road. The wagon bridge over the Mianus River on US-1 was not constructed [as mentioned] until 1788, and now is rightfully named after the late and great Selectman David Noble Theis – it is the Theis Bridge today – in yesteryear it was the Mianus River Bridge. For those who live on Valley Road – between the St. Lawrence Club and the old Bridge at Steep Hollow, or what is referred to today as the Palmer Hill Bridge – you live on the old King’s Highway. As the article continues to state:
But the old bridge is gone, with its association with colonial days. In its place is a new structure, whose stones are not moss grown, in which there are no crevices where grasses and flowers may grow. In the new bridge the arch span is 40 feet wide. All of the stone in the abutments of the old bridge were used, so that at least there is something left of the old, old bridge on the new one.
Dumpling Pond is no more, and Steep Hollow is simply a recollection, passed away as it were, with the old bridge.
It is now North Mianus, and the bridge is known as the new bridge at North Mianus.
Some time when over the way take a drive over this new bridge. Stop for a moment and look up and down the river, and see what a pretty picture there is. And also reflect, if you want to, that it is not such a great while ago that Washington crossed the Mianus at this point. But not over this bridge – that one is gone.
And so, why for instance is this thus, and what is the reason for this thusness? What is in a name? The answer is a whole heck of a lot. When you fish, or drive over the old Palmer Hill stone Bridge – know that you cross over the same path as General Washington – know that you cross over the bridge made of the same stones as the first bridge in town in 1687 – and know that this is a path well-traveled and only made possibly by those who came before – made and set by our forefathers, blood related or not. Those who build in the past, build the foundations of the future – and anyone who wishes to poke at, or destroy these foundations of the past – is willing to collapse all peace and harmony – now and well into the future. Cherish Cos Cob – Steep Hollow – North Mianus – that ancient Indian retreat – and when you cross the bridge, gaze at the stones, the same ones Gershom and William collected to build the ancient pillars of that good, sturdy, and old bridge – so travelers could pass that way – because of them – we still do.
December 28, 1907
OLD BRIDGE IS GONE
It was over Mianus at Steep Hollow – Was Built in 1687 – First One in the Town and in the State. Washington, Putnam and Lafayette Passed Over it.
It’s gone.
The old bridge at Steep Hollow.
A new one has taken its place.
It was the first bridge built in the town of Greenwich and probably one of the earliest constructed in the state.
Adrian Block, in 1614, while exploring Long Island Sound touched at Greenwich, and claimed the locality for the Dutch colony.
But later, in 1640, it was settled by men from the New Haven colony.
This bridge was built in 1687. The records of the show who built it and how it was paid for.
Gershom and his brother William Lockwood in the year 1687 agreed to build a bridge across the ‘Myanos at Dumpling Pond’ and receive in payment ‘whatever the Town should see fit to give after the work was
done.’
In those days people were more ready to rust the Town than nowadays. Politics was unknown then. That the bridge was most substantially built is evident. Its age shows that, for it has stood there for 220 years.
Very little has been done to it except now and then to put in a few boards on the flooring and sides. But the four stone piers stood it well, especially when it is considered that there was no cement to bind the stone together.
Sitting on the bridge with the late Rex L. Palmer, a few years ago, he told us that he knew about the structure, and he knew more than anybody else in the locality, because he had always lived there. He was nearly 80 years of age then, and lived in a little house just beyond the bridge. His father lived there before him. His name was Albert Palmer, and he was 88 when he departed this life.
And near there his grandfather, john Palmer, lived and died. Rex Palmer had heard his grandfather and father talk about the old stone bridge many a time.
‘I have heard this was the first bridge build in the town, and one of the first in the state. I guess it’s so. ‘I have heard my father tell the story of how General Washington shortly after the Revolutionary war crossed this bridge with Mrs. Washington.
‘Father said that General Washington never liked to ride in the carriage. The coach with Mrs. Washington and maid in it passed over, but the General was behind on his horse.
‘My father was standing on the bridge when the General leaned over as he passed along and shook hands with him. He spoke of the bridge, what a good one it was and asked how far it was to Hartford. Washington said he was on his way to Boston.’
‘In those days this was the thoroughfare from New York to Boston, and was called the King’s Highway. ‘It was over this bridge that Putnam brought his troops from Stamford after he made his famous ride down the hill.
‘And during the colonial days and Revolutionary war this bridge was a famous spot. ‘In 1788, one hundred and one years afterward, a new bridge was thrown over the Mianus, about a mile and a half say, further south. That was known as the Mianus Bridge. The one at Steep Hollow, or North Mianus, Dumpling Pond, the King’s Highway called by all these names, was at the head of navigation in the Mianus river until the new bridge a mile and a half below, fixed a new place further down.
The old King’s Highway ran through Greenwich village and it is now known as Putnam Avenue. When it struck the Mianus river, it passed up the west side to Steep Hollow, over this old bridge to Palmer’s Hill, by what is now known as Stillwater avenue on into Stamford.
The King’s Highway was the stage coach route from New York to Boston before the New York and Boston turnpike, sometimes called the Post road, was built. The old highway was very crooked, and went around the hills, the new turnpike went through them. The old highway was laid out eight rods wide, but it has been encroached upon so that it is now four rods wide in many places.
But the old bridge is gone, with its association with colonial days. In its places is a new structure, whose stones are not moss grown, in which there are no crevices where grasses and flowers may grow. In the new bridge the arch span is 40 feet wide. All of the stone in the abutments of the old bridge were used, so that at least there is something left of the old, old bridge on the new one. Dumpling pond is no more, and Steep Hollow is simply a recollection, passed away as it were, with the old bridge.
It is now North Mianus, and the bridge is known as the new bridge at North Mianus. Some time when over that way take a drive over this new bridge. Stop for a moment and look up and down the river, and see what a pretty picture there is. And also reflect, if you want to, that it is not such a great while ago that Washington crossed the Mianus at this point. But not over this old bridge – that one is gone.
