Phebe Humphrey

Phebe Humphrey was 16 years old and home alone that day, in 1779.

It was a time of revolution. British ships were moored in Westport. In 1777, Connecticut native General Benedict Arnold would lead patriot forces in the Battle of Ridgefield. Later that year, Arnold would also defeat British General John Burgoyne and his army of 5,700 British soldiers and Hessian mercenaries, in the Battle of Saratoga. In 1779, British Loyalists set fire to Fairfield and Norwalk, as well as ships in New Haven harbor. The battles would continue to be close by, until 1783.  

Back to Phebe, alone in 1779.  Sam Humphrey, her father, was a gifted writer and teacher. He was at school that day. While Sam, a staunch patriot, was disabled and unable to enlist in the military, Sam Jr. was away serving in the army. Prudence Mills Humphrey, her mother, had taken the younger siblings out to pick berries for the family meal.  

Before leaving with the kids, Prudence instructed Phebe to bake off some bread in the home’s Dutch oven. She also warned her daughter to be mindful about soldiers, from General Burgoyne’s army, who had been spotted in town the previous evening, on their way to Boston.

So, didn’t a couple of these soldiers enter Phebe’s kitchen, that day, and start making demands. They wanted the bread. Phebe took matters, as well as the hot poker from the Dutch oven, into her own hands. And, with an incantation worthy of a Shakespeare drama, she demanded that the intruders, “be gone!”

She apparently chased them back outside, onto what would someday become Route 44. And, the history of one young women’s bravery and tenacity was sealed. Years later, when asked by her grandson whether or not she was afraid of the intruding soldiers, she answered, “I never yet saw the man I was afraid of.”    

This incident, the hot poker heard ‘round town, occurred in a salt box type colonial on West Simsbury land that was to become Canton. And the indelible example that Phebe would leave, for her grace and courage under pressure, would earn her the designation and namesake of the Canton Chapter of the Daughter of the American Revolution, in 1905.

During the month of March, About Town welcomes readers to share other histories of extraordinary Canton women who left a standard of excellence, leadership and/or integrity that serves us all, to this day.

 Here’s the Deal

President Carter designated the first National Women’s History Week in March, 1980. His message, at that time, was as follows:

From the first settlers who came to our shores, from the first American Indian families who befriended them, men and women have worked together to build this nation. Too often the women were unsung and sometimes their contributions went unnoticed. But the achievements, leadership, courage, strength and love of the women who built America was as vital as that of the men whose names we know so well.

In 1987, Congress expanded the week to National Women’s History Month.

Canton Historical Museum, 11 Front Street, Collinsville; 860-693-2793: www.cantonmuseum.org.

 www.DAR.org.

Special thanks to local historian, Mary Ellen Cosker, for allowing About Town to explore her Phebe files.