USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Bridgeport > A History of the Old Town of Stratford and the City of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Part I > Part 1
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LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
OF VIRG
1
i
UN
LA
1819
PRESENTED BY
William W. Roberts
I
A. R. Davis Www. w. Roberts III West Mains,
'ALDERMAN LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA
1 !
!
- -
.
A HISTORY
OF THE
Io Eown
OF
STRATFORD
AND THE CITY OF
BRIDGEPORT CONNECTICUT.
.
BY
REV. SAMUEL ORCUTT,
AUTHOR OF THE HISTORIES OF WOLCOTT, TORRINGTON, NEW MILFORD, DERBY AND INDIANS OF THE HOUSATONIC VALLEY.
PART 1.
·
PUBLISHED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE FAIRFIELD COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 1886.
GIFT FEB 9 '56
F 104 1086
v.I Copil
ŮV
PRESS OF TUTTLE, MOREHOUSE & TAYLOR, NEW HAVEN, CONN.
1
..
.
PREFACE.
HE task of making this book, such as it is, is ended. The work upon it as the history of one of the oldest towns in the State, includ- ing one of the youngest and most pros- perous cities, has been very attractive and entertaining, and the only regret the author has concerning it is that the income from the sale of the work would not pay for another year's labor, by which a degree of completeness, somewhat satisfactory, might have been attained. This is especially applicable to the genealogies, which in their present state are only the beginning of what might have been secured; which is true, after all the gratuitious labor, put upon them for several years, contributed by the Rev. B. L. Swan, formerly pastor in Stratford, Bridgeport and Monroe, in which he collected a large amount of historical facts which have made the work much more complete than it otherwise would have been.
The author has also profited very much from the re- search and historical collections made, during many years of thoughtful gathering by R. B. Lacey, Esq., Major W. B. Hincks and George C. Waldo, Esq. Many items which they had gathered were as seed producing a hundred fold, when improved. This is particularly true of Mr. Lacey as to his collections and memory concerning old Stratfield Soci- ety and the city of Bridgeport, and the public are to be con- gratulated upon the fact that this part of the book was written largely under his eye, while yet his memory was in its sun-
iv
Preface.
niest noontide and his physical strength nothing abated. It is also probable that but for his interest in the matter of local history, this work would not have been commenced, and certainly without his counsel and aid at various points in its progress it would have been very difficult to have gone on with the work to its completion.
The aid received by the most cordial and continuous commendatory support of the Fairfield County Historical Society, and the financial support rendered by several of its members, have been, not only greatly helpful to the work, but without these the enterprise would have gone no further than the publication of the first one hundred and eighty pages. Much cordial friendly aid has been rendered by the town clerks, Mr. Henry P. Stagg of Stratford, and Mr. Daniel Maloney of Fairfield, they hav- ing spared no effort for the success of the work.
:
The author has great pleasure in acknowledging the honor and value bestowed upon the work by those persons who have contributed illustrations to it, especially the steel plate prints, which are first-class in respect to the art of en- graving and of very great satisfaction in such a historical book.
It is due also to say that, with a few exceptions of no particular importance, whatever errors may be found in the book the fault lies with the author and not with the proof-readers at the office of publication.
It is a matter of some considerable satisfaction that such a memorial work, although costing the untiring effort of three years of most diligent labor, however imperfect it may be, is a realized fact.
THE AUTHOR.
! i
.........
.
1 i
ERRATA.
Page 20 and 157-C. " H." Hoadley should be C. J. Hoadley. Page 152-Bottom of the page the date "1662," should be 1692.
Page 157-" Winfield " Benham should be Winifred and her daughter Winifred. Page 135-" Robert," should be Thomas Tomlinson.
Page 223-Rev. "Jackson," should be Rev. Joshua and Sarah Leavitt. Page 226-The name " Patterson " should be Batterson.
Page 390-Mrs. Benjamin Fairchild died 1874, aged 88. Page 454-The Lasper K. " Whitney" should be Whiting. Page 454-J. W. " Dufow," should be Dufour. Page 454-The name " Hendric" should be Hendee.
Page 454-Lasper K. " Whitman," should be Whiting.
Page 455-" A. W." Lewis, should be W. A. Lewis.
Page 505-Under the title Benjamin Hubbell should read, Polly, who m. Gale Ensign and had Howell.
Page 535-The record should be Abigail Hurd, not " Rebecca."
Page 550-" Charles H." should be Charles R. Brothwell.
Page 601-12th line from bottom " 1692 " should be 1792.
Page 627-Thaddeus " Barr" should be Burr. Page 642-" Billings," should be Phillips Academy.
Page 675-" Harwinton" should be Rev. Daniel Harrington.
Page 704-The title should be Parallel Railroad Company, and H. R. Parrott, president of the company as well as of the directors.
Page 754-"Griffin " should be Grippin.
Page 721-" Northnagle " should be Nothnagle.
Page 791-" Both sides of Wall and State" should be both sides of Bank and State streets.
Page 1166-Brown, Dea. "Isaiah," should be Josiah.
Page 1247-L. N. Middlebrook was graduated in 1848, not " 1828."
Page 1251-The name Nicoll, should be Nicolls, making it Sir Richard Nicolls ; but on page 1258, the name is correct as Nicoll.
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1 i
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER
I-Stratford Indians,
.
I
Page
CHAPTER
II-Indian Deeds and Reservations.
20
CHAPTER
III-Indian Deeds, Wars and Relics,
44
CHAPTER
IV-Cupheag Plantation,
71
CHAPTER
V-The First Planters,
84
CHAPTER
VI-The First Planters (continued),
107
.
CHAPTER
VII-Conflicts, Wars, Witchcraft,
137
CHAPTER
VIII-The Church of Christ in Stratford,
164
CHAPTER
IX-Progress Amidst Difficulties, .
181
CHAPTER
X-New Settlers and Enterprises,
239
CHAPTER
XI-Pushing into the Wilderness,
269
CHAPTER
XII-Beginning the Eighteenth Century,
292
CHAPTER
XIII-Eighteenth Century (continued),
314
CHAPTER
XIV-Ecclesiastical Progress
347
CHAPTER
XV-The Revolutionary War, .
370
CHAPTER
XVI-After the War,
404
CHAPTER
XVII-Stratfield Society,
465
CHAPTER XVIII-Stratfield's Early Settlers,
504
CHAPTER
XIX-The Borough of Bridgeport, .
585
CHAPTER
XX-Ecclesiastical History,
620
CHAPTER
XXI-The City of Bridgeport, .
693
CHAPTER XXII-The City of Bridgeport (continued),
796
CHAPTER XXIII-Huntington,
955
CHAPTER XXIV-The Town of Trumbull, .
1007
CHAPTER XXV-The Town of Monroe,
1083
CHAPTER XXVI-Stratford Concluded,
1097
Genealogies,
1115
·
.
STEEL PLATES.
Page
GEORGE B. HAWLEY,
536
ISAAC SHERMAN,
594
NATHANIEL HEWIT,
648
JOHN BROOKS
650
ALFRED BISHOP,
696
NATHAN BUCKINGHAM,
708
HANFORD LYON,
716
WHEELER & WILSON COMPANY,
724
NATHANIEL WHEELER, .
728
I. DEVER WARNER,
740
EATON, COLE AND BURNHAM COMPANY,
764
FREDERICK W. PARROTT,
766
JULIUS W. KNOWLTON,
774
JAMES W. BEARDSLEY,
800
DANIEL N. MORGAN,
806
PHINEAS T. BARNUM,
840
WILLIAM H. NOBLE,
856
E. FERRIS BISHOP,
862
ROBERT HUBBARD, .
868
WILLIAM B. HALL,
869
ALFRED C. HOBBS,
872
ROWLAND B. LACEY,
892
HENRY R. PARROTT,
896
SIDNEY B. BEARDSLEY,
900
PHILO C. CALHOUN,
902
CIVILIAN FONES,
904
JACOB KIEFER,
906
DAVID B. LOCKWOOD,
908
JAMES STAPLES,
910
WILLIAM H. STEVENSON,
912
THOMAS J. SYNNOTT,
CURTIS THOMPSON.
918
RUSSELL TOMLINSON,
920
AMOS S. TREAT. .
922
THOMAS L. WATSON,
923
ANDREW L. WINTON,
924
NATHANIEL S. WORDIN,
926
THOMAS C. WORDIN,
928
PETER W. WREN, .
930
THOMAS PUNDERSON,
998
PLUMB N. FAIRCHILD,
1060
JOHN W. STERLING,
1100
1
1 1
1
914
1
ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD.
Page
FALLS MOUNTAIN,
26
WARHAUMAUG'S MONUMENT.
28
JUNCTION OF HOUSATONIC AND NAUGATUCK,
33
INDIAN FIELD, AT NEW MILFORD,
37
WILLIAM SHERMAN,
42
STRATFORD VILLAGE LOTS,
.
105
·
STRATFORD VILLAGE, FIRST LOTS,
185
PEWS IN THE STRATFORD EPISC. CHURCH,
352
INTERIOR, CONG. CHURCH, STRATFORD,
411
LOG-HOUSE OF 1665,
.
466
HISTORIC OAK, BRIDGEPORT,
468
STRATFIELD SECOND MEETINGHOUSE,
482
PORTER PROPERTY,
489
OLD MILE STONE,
.
521
BRIDGEPORT FIRST BANK,
596
BRIDGEPORT SECOND BANK,
.
598
UNITED BANK BUILDING,
606
BRIDGEPORT'S FIRST CHURCHES,
632
SILVER TANKARD, .
640
SECOND CONG. CHURCH, BRIDGEPORT,
644
ST. AUGUSTINE'S CHURCH,
668
HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING,
.682
PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDINGS, .
684
PUBLIC LIBRARY BUILDING,
689
MAP OF BRIDGEPORT, 1824,
692
ELIAS HOWE, JR., . 735
HOWE MACHINE COMPANY,
737
WARNER'S MANUFACTORY,
.
740
RESIDENCE OF DOCT. WARNER,
.
.
742
FIRST CONG. CHURCH, BRIDGEPORT,
638
PLAN OF SCHOOL BUILDINGS,
686
.
.
viii
Engravings on Wood.
Page
BRIDGEPORT KNIFE COMPANY,
748
BRIDGEPORT ORGAN COMPANY,
754
PEMBROKE IRON FOUNDRY.
BRIDGEPORT BURNT DISTRICT,
758 769
SEASIDE PARK,
796
PEOPLE'S SAVINGS BANK,
802
BRIDGEPORT SAVINGS BANK,
804
CONNECTICUT BANK,
808
MONUMENTAL BRONZE COMPANY, 813
818
ELM HOUSE,
818
EVENING POST BUILDING,
825
BRIDGEPORT HOSPITAL, .
834
GATE OF MT. GROVE CEMETERY,
836
IRANISTAN, 838
ROYAL HONORS TO TOM THUMB, .
842
TOM THUMB BEFORE THE QUEEN,
842
CASTLE GARDEN, 844
ELEPHANT PLOUGHING, . 844
MARRIAGE OF TOM THUMB,
846
WALDEMERE,
848
BARNUM'S WINTER QUARTERS, 850
EAST BRIDGEPORT, .
852
TELFORD PREMIUM, 886
RESIDENCE OF F. J. LOCKWOOD,
908
STERLING RESIDENCE (HELIOTYPE),
II02
RESIDENCE OF ISRAEL BEACH,
1124
RESIDENCE OF ELIAS WELLES,
1329
ATLANTIC HOUSE, .
HISTORY OF STRATFORD.
CHAPTER I.
STRATFORD INDIANS.
NDIAN history, under whatever circum- stances found, excites a melancholy sympa- thy, which partakes of extreme loneliness as if one were lost in an interminable wilder- ness from which there could be no escape by the ingenuity or power of man. As we pass over the site of their ancient wigwams, although not a stick or stone is left to mark the place, we seem to be traveling amid the ruins of some ancient Persian or Egyptian city, long celebrated for its beauty and mag- nificence and from which, although the glory has all faded or crumbled to dust, we hesi- tate to depart, as though expecting still to see the forms of the long-departed coming forth to newness of life, to exhibit the wonders of ancient days. Occasionally we discover about traditional localities, some stone implement, arrow-head, pestle or axe, that seems as a spirit resurrected by enchantment to portray the marvel- ous, wild life that wrought it, for the severest needs of earth, which is like the recovery of some long-lost painting of kingly banquet or national pride and glory. The hatchet, although of stone, was the Indian's ensign of renown; the bow and arrow, his national flag of wild but unconquerable liberty, and his tent, because it was not immovable, declared
.
2
History of Stratford.
an inheritance in a vast continent rather than a few circum- scribed acres of walled distributions.
Sometimes the rolling waters of a mighty river, or the heights of immense mountain ranges barred his progress for a time, but no mountain was too high and no valley too low for the unwearied feet of the Red man in the greatness of his freedom and the inexhaustible resources of his physical strength. Nothing but the mighty ocean ever stayed his wandering footsteps, until the white man took possession of the rocky and sandy shores of the Algonkin country, after- wards called New England; when " the poor Indian " fled to the inland wilderness as if pursued by a devastating pesti- lence ; nor has he yet, after nearly three hundred years, found a sure resting place. To him the shores of Long Island Sound were an enchanted country, in the abundance it gave to supply his wants, and the beauty of its climate and scenery reminding him of the native tropical clime of his ancestors.
Here on these shores he had dwelt many ages, when the glittering sails of the white man came bearing the pilgrim planters to their new life of freedom. In the winter many of them had retired to the sheltered valleys of the inland wilder- ness, where they secured their daily food by the hunter's sport, and then in the spring they returned to their old sea- side haunts, just as their white successors now, in the same season of the year, flee from the hot breath of the inland val- leys to the cool breezes of the New England coast. These "children of the wilderness " have been called " Red men," " wild Indians," "savage beasts," but with all, they have exhibited a manliness of character and rectitude of life, ac- cording to the instructions received, that leaves no room for boasting by those who now inhabit the same beautiful coun- try. To these untutored inhabitants the pilgrim immigrants were rather unceremoniously introduced, and to them in turn they gave a cordial welcome, not knowing what the final result would be. And now, after the lapse of ages, the pen of the historian is importuned for some memorial record, which, although inadequate to the object sought, shall be as a brief epitaph to commemorate the greatness of those, of whom there is now nothing but ashes and fragments left.
3
Pootatuck River.
On the shores of Long Island Sound various clans or settlements of these Indians were found by the incoming English, which belonged to the same general class,-the Mo- hicans, the name having been localized or modified to Mohe- gans in the south-eastern part of the state. Those on the Housatonic river appear to have retained a system of general government, with head-quarters at New Milford, and when their lands further south had been sold they gradually re- turned thither, and thence to Scatacook and to Pennsylvania. Tradition and implements found, indicate that at first the Indians came from the Hudson river-the Mohicans-to the valley of the Housatonic in the vicinity of the town of Kent, and finding several falls in the river, to them of unusual grandeur, they named it Pootatuck, meaning 'falls river.' This was the only name to the river when the first white set- tlers came, and those natives inhabiting its valley, were the Pootatuck Indians,' but being settled at that time in quite large numbers at various places, were spoken of by their local names. There are also evidences that these local clans retained the general name of Mohegan Indians, specially as this is the tradition now among the intelligent survivors of all these clans.
The first Indian settlement on this river, south of the Massachusetts line, seems to have been in the southern part of Kent, near what is now called Bull's Bridge, and after- wards, two or three miles north where a few families still reside. This locality they named Scatacook, or Schaghti- coke, signifying the confluence of two streams,' which is true where what is now called Ten Mile River comes into the Housatonic a little below Bull's Bridge.
The second settlement was made, probably, at New Mil- ford, called Weantinock, which remained the capital, or place of the great council-fire for the whole tribe (or all the clans) on the river, until that territory was sold to the New Milford company in 1703. Thus gradually the Indians made their
1 Indians of the Housatonic Valley, 6 to 12.
' See Indian Names of Conn., by J. H. Trumbull, and Indians of the Housa- tonic. .
.
.
4
History of Stratford.
settlements down the river until they reached Long Island Sound; and afterwards they dwelt on the Sound more largely in the summer than in the winter on account of fish, oysters and clams, and of the hunting inland in the winter.
The Cupheags and Pequannocks.
When the English first came to Stratford they found there a settlement of Indians, their local name being Cuph- eags, the name denoting 'a harbor' or 'a place of shelter." literally, 'a place shut in." The clan was small, and was governed by Okenuck, who soon after, if not at that time, resided at Pootatuck-now Shelton-whither his people re- moved soon after Stratford village was settled. Okenuck was the son of Ansantaway of Milford, and his brother Towtanimow, son of Ansantaway, was sachem or chief at Paugasitt.
The name Pequannock' means 'cleared field,' land 'opened' or 'broken open,' and was applied by the Indians to the tract of land on the east side of Uncaway river (which river is now called Ash creek) extending northward to the old King's Highway and southward to the Sound, including two or three hundred acres of land, on which were probably several pieces of a kind of open woods, as well as the Indians' planting ground. This name was not applied to the water now called Pequannock river, but to the beautiful plain as above described and now constituting the western portion of the city of Bridgeport. On this plain " at the north end of the cove in the Black Rock harbor" was the old Indian planting field, limited to about one hundred acres, and on this field was the old Indian Fort, standing near the end of the cove where now is the flower garden of Mr. James Horan. In 1752, the General Assembly in describing the boundaries of the Stratfield Society gives the precise location of this fort.'
* Indian Names, J. H. Trumbull.
' Indian Names, J. H. Trumbull.
""General Court, October, 1752. Whereas, in the setting off the parish of Stratfield, it so happened that the act of this Assembly setting off said parish did
5
The Pequannock Indians.
The Pequannock Indians were more numerous than any Other clan from New London west, on the shore of the Sound. They had three encampments or villages of wigwams; one on the west bank of the Uncoway river, as we may hereafter see in the testimony of Thomas Wheeler, one at the Old Fort, and one at the foot of Golden Hill on the south side; the last, some years later, is said to have contained about one hundred wigwams. The one on the west side of Uncoway river was at the head of a cove near a fresh water pond, just south of the old King's Highway, and a few rods west of the mile-stone which is standing one mile east from Fairfield vil- lage, on that old highway, south of which the Indians had a planting field which afterwards constituted a part of the terri- tory called by the first settlers the Concord field. This place we are told in a future chapter by Thomas Wheeler, was the old established place of residence for the Sachem of the Pequannock tribe many generations.
There seems to have been, at first, no reservations of land for the Indians at Cupheag, or Stratford village, and none elsewhere in the town except at Golden Hill, and this was not measured to them until twenty years after the first set- tlers came, or until 1659. The planting ground at the Old Fort, in the edge of Fairfield, was retained by the Indians as their planting ground until 1681, when it was sold, and after that the field at the Old Fort was called the Old Indian field, and is so referred to frequently on the Fairfield records.
Stratford and Fairfield Conquered and Ceded Territory.
It appears by various authorized records, that the terri- tory of Stratford and Fairfield was not at first purchased of
not settle and fix the line dividing between the said first society and said parish any nearer the south-westerly extent of both said societies than where said line intersects the country road [the King's highway] near Jackson's mill, so-called [now, 1884, Moody's mill] . . . which line runs from said country road southerly as the river or creek runs on which Jackson's mill stood, commonly known by the name of Uncoway River or creek, till it comes due west from the north end of the cove in the Black Rock harbor, which said cove heads or terminates at, or near the place called the Old Fort, and then to run straight from said creek to the head of said cove, and so straight to the sea or Sound." Col. Rec., x. 147.
.
6
History of Stratford.
the Indians, as has been asserted by all historians, but was held nearly twenty years as conquered and ceded territory, and so declared by the General Court, but afterwards, as a matter of friendliness to the Indians, was purchased by vari- ous agreements and deeds.
At the time the whites came, Queriheag was Sachem of the Pequannocks, with his dwelling-place on the west side of Uncoway river, but a large part of his people were dwelling on the east side of that river-at the " old field " and at the foot of Golden Hill.
The settlements of Stratford and Fairfield were com- menced under the supervision of the Connecticut, in distinc- tion from the New Haven Colony, and the territory was. granted to them by the General Court to which the Indians had previously given it in regular form in 1638. On neither of the town records are there any Indian deeds recorded earlier than 1656, and in 1681 when all former deeds are men- tioned in the final sale, no reference is made to any as having been given earlier than 1656. Nothing is said in the records in regard to the purchase of this territory, until 1656, when we find the following statement made by the court at Hart- ford :
·
"This Court, at the request of Stratford, do grant that theire bounds shall be 12 myle northward, by Paugusitt River, if it be att the dispose, by right, of this Jurisdiction.""
This action of the Court was soon proclaimed, and the Pequannock Indians denied the right of Stratford to the ter- ritory as thus described, as the Court intimated would prob- ably be the case. The immediate cause for the desire that the Court should fix the boundary of the Stratford plantation, was the fact that a tract of land had just been sold by the Indians in the western part of Fairfield, and considerable trouble had arisen between the settlers and the Indians, in consequence of the cattle and swine of the whites trespassing on the Indians' corn at Pequannock. One item is thus re- corded :
"General Court, October, 1651. Upon the complaint of the Deputies of Stratford to this Court, in behalf of Richard
" Col. Rec., i. 281.
-
.
7
Stratford Bounds.
Buttler, against an Indian named Nimrod, that wilfully killed some swine of said Buttler's, this Court consenteth that Mr. Ludlow may prosecute the said Indian according to order made by the commissioners in that respect.""
Another reason for this desire by the Stratford planters was that the Indians being quite numerous at Fairfield, the settlers there were pushing them over on the Stratford terri- tory as much as possible to make room for themselves, as was acknowledged afterwards. There had been several efforts made by the General Court to settle the boundaries between Stratford and Fairfield and the Indians at Pequannock com- mencing soon after these places began to be settled; and also it is shown that these Indians having agreed to pay tribute to the Connecticut Court, as conquered and protected subjects, as appears from the records, neglected to fulfill their agreement.
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