Battle of the Bonhomme Richard and the Serapis, 1779

"On September 23, 1779, Captain John Paul Jones fought a battle without parallel in naval history. Hitherto the contest upon the sea had been mainly a predatory warfare of privateers, aimed at the destruction of commerce and the plunder of merchant vessels. The young republic was without a navy proper. Called 'Pirate Jones' by the English, for retaliating on the coast of England for the atrocities committed on the coast of America, the captain of the Bon Homme Richard gallantly refused the sword of the surrending captain of the Serapis — but did take his ship."

ROGER SHERMAN TABLET.

"Upon the site of this building stood the home of Roger Sherman, and near here in 1793 he died, jurist - patriot - statesman, signer of the Bill of Rights, Articles of Confederation, Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States, first Mayor of New Haven, Treasurer of Yale College, and for twenty years a member of Congress -- Washington claimed his friendship and counsel, and was here his guest in 1789 -- to record his great service in the founding and early government of our country, this tablet is placed by the Connecticut society, Sons of the American Revolution, 1904."

In 1761, Roger Sherman moved to New Haven

"When, in 1761, Roger Sherman moved to New Haven, he found himself in what served as a metropolis for the colony, insofar as its fifteen hundred or so shopkeepers, artisans, and farmers could enable it to do so. Sitting quietly by the sea, the little port was outside the main currents of commerce and politics of the British Empire. She trafficked a little with Boston, New York, and the West Indies, but hardly any with England."