Ridgebury – George Washington Slept Here

Ridgebury, known as “The New Patent,” was one of the last land purchases made by the Proprietors. Tradition holds that the First Congregational Church in Ridgebury began in the “New Patent Meeting House” as early as 1738, and in 1768 the congregation voted to build a new church that was completed in 1769. Episcopal services in Ridgebury began at the same time as those in Ridgefield, often with the same minister. That building remained in use, except during the Revolutionary War years, until 1789, and it was torn down twenty years later after falling into disuse. Ridgebury also had many taverns, and General George Washington spent the night of September 19, 1780, at Ensign Samuel Keeler’s Tavern. Other taverns in the area were operated by Nehemiah Keeler, Icabod Doolittle, Abraham Rockwell, and Benjamin Lynes. Aside from some individual French officers, the French government did not take an active part in the Revolutionary War until le Comte de Rochambeau arrived at Newport, Rhode Island, in the spring of 1780 with 6,000 men as part of a plan to meet General George Washington and march across Connecticut to attack New York.

Ridgebury, Connecticut · United States