Holidays
Independence Wasn’t Free for Darien
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The Fourth of July is traditionally more about celebrating what we’ve gained, not lost, but on this fifth of July it’s worth remembering not only that freedom isn’t free, but independence wasn’t free right here in Darien. When Darien’s Push-n-Pull Parade on Saturday pulled out of Goodwives Shopping Center at 10:37 a.m. onto Old Kings Highway North, it crossed the path the Continental Army would have taken through town as it moved between the successful siege of Boston and its upcoming disaster at the Battle of Long Island. The red Radio Flyer wagons rolled past the United Congregational Church — the site of sermons by patriotic clergyman Moses Mather. The minister, one of the most vocal patriots in Connecticut, was taken prisoner at the church in a raid by Tories on July 22, 1781, along with 47 other parishioners. Many of them suffered five months in prison before prisoner exchanges set them free.