USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Norfolk > A brief history of the town of Norfolk [Conn.] from 1738 to 1844 collected from the public records of the town and other correct documents, with the dates accurately annexed. To which is added a description of the town, incidents, list of officers, and other interesting matter > Part 1
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M. I
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01150 5762
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/briefhistoryofto00roys_0
A
BRIEF HISTORY
OF THE
TOWN OF NORFOLK ,
FROM 1738 TO.1844:
AND A
SUMMARY OF EVENTS AND TRANSACTIONS WHICH HAVE OCCURRED IN THIS TOWN, FROM ITS FIRST SETTLEMENT, CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED.
. FAITHFULLY COLLECTED FROM THE PUBLIC RECORDS OF THE TOWN AND OTHER CORRECT DOCUMENTS, WITH THE DATES ACCURATELY ANNEXED.
TO WHICH IS ADDED .
A DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN, INCIDENTS, LIST OF OFFICERS, AND OTHER INTERESTING MATTER.
. BY AUREN ROYS,
Town and Ecclesiastical Society Clerk.
" He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their chil- dren ; that the generations to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children ; that they might set their hope in God."
NEW-YORK:
PRINTED BY HENRY LUDWIG, 70 VESEY-STREET. -
M DCCC XLVII.
150100
-
1774700 A
BRIEF HISTORY
OF THE
TOWN OF NORFOLK,
FROM 1738 TO 1×44:
AND A
SUMMARY OF EVENTS AND TRANSACTIONS WHICH HAVE OCCURRED IN THIS TOWN, FROM ITS FIRST SETTLEMENT, CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED.
FAITHFULLY COLLECTED FROM THE PUBLIC RECORDS OF THE TOWN AND OTHER CORRECT DOCUMENTS, WITH THE DATES ACCURATELY ANNEXED.
TO WHICH IS ADDED
A DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN, INCIDENTS, LIST OF OFFICERS, AND OTHER INTERESTING MATTER.
BY AUREN ROYS. Town and Ecclesiastical Society Clerk.
" Ile commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their chit- dren : that the generations to come might know them, even the children which should be born : who should arise and declare them to their children ; that they might set their hope in God."
NEW-YORK : PRINTED BY HENRY LUDWIG. FO VESEY-STREET.
M DOCC XLVII.
Roys, Auren.
F 84655 . 76 A brief history of the town of Norfolk, from 1738 to 1844: and a sum- mary of events and transactions which have occurred in this town, from its first settlement ... Collected from the mercim public records of the town and other correct documents ... New-York, 1847.
n ImAnt
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CONTENTS.
Brief history of Norfolk, 1
Concluding remarks,
- 45
Romantic and extensive views, -
- 46
Summary of events, etc.,
- 47
Situation-Description-Resources,
50
Incidents, - -
66
Representatives to general assembly,
72
List of graduates, etc., from this town,
- 75
Ministers employed-Deacons,
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76
Admissions to the church,
- 77
Memoir of Madam Elizabeth Robbins,
- 78
Memoir of Joseph Battell, Esq., -
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-
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79
List of deaths of male heads of families,
- 80
Town officers, - - -. 83
Grand list, from 1759 to 1844, -
-
-
- 85
School money,
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-
-
- 89
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C17001
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HISTORY
OF THE
TOWN OF NORFOLK.
THE unconveyed lands in the colony of Connecticut, were claimed by a company instituted in the fourteenth year of the reign of Charles II., and incorporated by the name of the governor and company, and while emi- grants were effecting a settlement of several towns in the colony already conveyed and incorporated. On the 11th of October, 1722, there arose an unhappy contro- versy between the legislature and the towns of Hartford and Windsor, originating from the following circum- stances.
In the troublous times of Sir Edmund Andrus' ad- ministration, who attempted to grasp and enrich him- self and his minions, by the sale of the lands in the colony hitherto unconveyed, the legislature, it seems, had, in a hasty manner, conveyed to the towns of Hart- ford and Windsor, the section of the colony described in the annexed grant, dated January 26th, 1686, in the words following.
" This court grants to the plantations of Hartford and Windsor, those lands on the north of Woodbury and Mattatuck, and on the west of Farmington and Sims- bury, to the Massachusetts line north, to run west to Housatonic or Stratford river, provided it be not, or part of it, formerly granted to any particular person, to make a plantation or village."
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2
HISTORY OF THE
The design of this conveyance was, that those towns should hold the lands thus granted, for the governor and company, until those times of danger and trouble should be past, but not as their property. They had never purchased, nor given the least valuable . consider- ation for them, and had no valid deeds or patents of them ; yet, by virtue of the above grant, they laid claims to all the lands within the limits expressed, and in viola- tion of the most explicit laws of the colony, they pro- ceeded to locate and vend the lands in controversy.
The governor and company still claimed the lands as firmly as if no grant had been made to those towns. And some of the principal innovators were arrested and punished by the superior court, and some of them were committed to the common prison in Hartford. The contention finally rose so high, that quite a number of persons collected in a riotous manner, and even while the assembly were in session, they went forward, broke open the jail and set those prisoners at liberty. The sheriff of the county of Hartford was ordered to pursue, apprehend, and re-commit them, and was authorized, if necessary, to call out the militia of the county to assist him.
Notwithstanding these firm and determinate measures, several persons were attempting to lay out and dispose of, for their own benefit, the lands which lay north, cast, and west of Litchfield, and west of Farmington and Simsbury. Suitable persons were authorized to arrest them. The rioters in Hartford we e eventually taken, and fined each £20 and £5 costs. But on their preferring a petition to the assembly, their fines were abated to £20 fine and costs.
Soon after this, three men from Hartford and two from Windsor ventured to lay out the town of Goshen, and claimed it for their own; they were prosecuted and fined. In order to quiet the business, the assembly appointed a committee whose duty it was to endeavor amicably to settle it. They labored assiduously for nearly two years, and reported their doings to the assembly. Pursuant to their report, the assembly re-
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TOWN OF NORFOLK.
solved that the lands in controversy should be divided between the colony and the towns of Hartford and Windsor : the colony to have the western, and Hartford and Windsor the eastern division. The town of Litch- field and two other conveyances were not to be included in this division.
The business was thus settled, and the legal proprie- tors proceeded to survey and locate townships, and give them names, which were subsequently established. The four following parcels of land were deeded by Hartford to Windsor.
The first tract surveyed in this division was named Torrington, the second was called Berkhempstead, the third Colebrook, the fourth Harwington. This was done in 1732 ; in 1733, Hartland, Winchester, and New- Hartford were incorporated.
The following towns were sold and named at the session of the assembly in May, 1737, their agents having conducted the business in the several towns directed. The one sold at New Haven was called Goshen ; the one sold at New London, Canaan; that at Fairfield, Cornwall ; and that at Windsor, Kent. The township proposed to be sold in Hartford, April, 1738, was called Norfolk, and the one sold in May after, at Hartford, was called Salisbury. These towns were all annexed to the county of Hartford, and were to be settled by the inhabitants of Connecticut ; it took several years for the sale and settlement of them.
Norfolk was the first town appointed to be sold for the colony at Hartford, on the second Tuesday in April, 1738. It failed, and was again offered for sale at Middletown in 1742, but was not entirely sold until about sixteen years from that time. There were so many townships offered for sale, which were considered far preferable to it, both as to soil and situation, that when it was first set up at vendue, one bidder only appeared and bid off a small part of it.
In May, 1750, an act was passed by the assembly, ordering the remainder to be sold at public vendue at Middletown, December next ensuing; and, if not sold
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HISTORY OF THIE
then, to continue. the vendue until it was sold. This was not effected until about four years after. There were at this time twelve or fourteen persons on the lands, who eventually became proprictors.
In 1758, when the town was incorporated, there were but twenty-seven families residing in it. There were fifty proprietors of the disposable rights, and it was a condition among the proprietors that each should settle one family upon his respective right within five years. This so expedited the settlement, that in about three years the number of families increased to sixty, and soon to seventy.
Timothy Horsford, of Windsor. took a deed of one right of 400 acres, which he retained and paid for ; being the tract since occupied by Titus Ives and Nathaniel Pease in the westerly part of the town, on the Canaan road. Mr. Horsford sold his right to Titus Brown, and soon after, he sold it to his brother Cornelius Brown, both from Windsor. Mr. Cornelius Brown built a house on the tract and removed his family. His team drew the first load which passed through the Green- woods, so called. Mr. John Turner and Mr. Jedediah Richards soon after came from Hartford and lived near Mr. Brown. These were pious families, and were early engaged in the establishment and promotion of Christian society.
In consequence of unavoidable embarrassments, together with the forbidding aspect of the then wild and uncultivated tract, the first purchasers forfeited their first payment, forty shillings on the right, and it was re- sold. Soon after the second sale, a number of families settled in this town. In the north part, Ebenezer, Ezra, and Samuel Knapp, and James Benedict, all from Dan- bury. Jacob Spalding and Isaac Holt soon came into that part of the town.
In the south part, the first settlers were Joseph and Samuel Mills, Asahel Case and Samuel Cowls, all from Simsbury ; Samuel Manross came from Farmington, and built a log-house near where the meeting-house now stands. Joshua Whitney removed from Canaan and
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TOWN OF NORFOLK.
erected a frame-house near, and Cornelius Brown a saw-mill on the present site of the centre grist-mill.
The second sale of the town was effected by the agency of Mr. John Turner, who was appointed by the town to make application to the assembly for its sale. He at the same time procured its incorporation; also a land-tax to continue two years, to assist in defraying the ecclesiastical expenses.
Stationed as were the first settlers in this then dreary wilderness, the land, since improved for meadow and pasture, being then mostly covered with a thick-set forest, the severe winters of this climate adding much to the dreariness of the scene, the inhabitants near the centre of the town were greatly favoured by a kind Providence, " who careth for oxen," in having discovered that the low meadows west of the meeting-house were then mostly open, and for two or three years supplied the few cattle then in their possession with coarse hay.
It is believed from the appearance then, and present examination, that those now valuable and productive meadows were, in ages long past, the bed of a lake of considerable extent, and that the outlet was down the falls by the centre grist-mill. The natural dyke ap- pears to have extended across from the ledge bordering the north-easterly side of the present meadows, to the turn of the road west of the centre mill. From some unknown cause-probably by the same convulsion of nature which so terribly shattered the rocks composing the ledge-the barrier gave way, and poured the con- tents of the lake and its yielding dyke with thundering and appalling velocity-appalling if there were the eyes of man to see, or ears to hear-down the falls by the mill, leaving only a small stream meandering through the meadows.
As the potent enemy of life soon began its ravages, the inhabitants were obliged to seek a place where to bury their dead. The first burials were in Canaan, where the first settlers attended public worship on the Sabbath. The first person buried in this town was the
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HISTORY OF THE
wife of Jedediah Turner; her grave with two others were on the ground where Col. J. W. Phelps built his house ; in digging his cellar the bones were found almost entire ; they were enclosed in a case and deposited not far distant in a decent and proper manner. The next persons who died were placed in the present centre burying-ground.
The fear of invasion of a foreign foc, and the still more dreaded assaults of the aborigines of this country, whose aggressions and cruelty they had already experi- enced, induced them to learn the art of war. The first militia company embodied in this town was commanded by Lieutenant Whitney, who was afterwards appointed captain when the company became full.
Notwithstanding the embarrassments common to infant settlements, many indeed, and peculiar ones fell to their lot ; for in addition to the troubles attending the unsettled state of the colony, civil, political, and ecclesiastical, which they suffered in common with their brethren of this new country, they had also to encounter severe hardships in trying to subdue a stubborn soil, and erect habitations for their families from the crude, and at that time the expensive materials obtainable from abroad, which, in their circumstances as carly settlers, must some of them be dispensed with ; yet having imbibed the spirit of the New England fathers, they determined, as soon as practicable, to provide for the stated enjoyment of gospel ordinances. They therefore unanimously agreed to exert themselves for that purpose.
December 20th, 1758, an itinerant clergyman by the name of Treat was procured, and preached the first ser- mon ever delivered in this town. They had occasional preaching until January 8th, 1759 ; they then hired Mr. Peck to preach for a considerable time, and also agreed to commence building a meeting-house for the worship of the God of their fathers and their God. These exer- tions they soon perceived were likely so to involve them, that in May following, they applied to the general assembly for the land-tax before mentioned. It is not stated whether they obtained this or not, but in October
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TOWN OF NORFOLK.
of the same year they again applied to the assembly for a land-tax of two pence on the acre, to continue four years ; this, it appears, they obtained.
The inhabitants who were legal voters, assembled December the 12th, 1758, and organized their first town- meeting ; it consisted of 44 members-their names were the following :
George Palmer, Moderator.
Samuel Mills.
William Barber.
- Thomas Knapp.
Jedediah Richards.
Ebenezer Knapp, Jr.
John Turner.
James Hotchkiss.
Ebenezer Knapp.
Samuel Ransom.
Cornelius Brown.
Abraham Knapp.
Aaron Aspenwall.
James Benedict.
Samuel Gaylord.
Stephen Baker.
Ezra Knapp.
Joshua Whitney.
Isaac Pettibone.
Jacob Spalding.
Edward Strickland.
Stephen Comstock.
Samuel Cowls.
Jededialı Turner.
Ebenezer Burr.
Samuel Strickland.
Elijah Barber.
Jabez Rood.
Ebenezer Pardia.
Samuel Monross.
Cornelius Dowd. Joseph Mills. Gideon Lawrence.
Luther Barber.
Asahel Case.
Timothy Gaylord. Elisha Richards. Giles Pettibone.
Justis Gaylord.
Jonathan Stricland.
Rufus Lawrence.
Amariah Plumb.
Eli Pettibone.
David Turner.
Thirty heads of families only, now (182S) reside in this town who are descendants from the above-named persons.
For fifty-six years, the civil and ecclesiastical concerns of the town were conducted by one corporate body. Im- posing and collecting taxes, appropriating money and other property collected to meet the exigencies of the day, and prudently parcelling it out-in small sums, of course-in some measure to satisfy the pressing and numerous claims then demanding their attention. For the above reason the subsequent history will be carried on in a connected form, and so as not needlessly to break the chronological chain.
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HISTORY OF THE
1759 .- November 26th, the people invited the Rev. Mr. Noah Wetmore to preach on probation. While he was employed, they proceeded so far in building the meeting-house as to raise and cover it. This must have been performed, or a considerable part of it, in an incle- ment season, and previous to June 24th, 1760.
1760 .- March 31st, the inhabitants united in giving Mr. Wetmore a call to settle and reside with them as their minister. A committee was appointed to treat with him on the subject, and also to advise with a council of clergymen, who were about to convene, respecting their contemplated union ; and in case he was re- jected, or did not accept their proposal, they were authorized, if practicable, to obtain the Rev. Noah Bene- dict to supply his place. For some reason, not now known, Mr. Wetmore was rejected by vote in a regular meeting ; Mr. Benedict was not obtained. In their destitute condition, the Rev. Daniel Farrand, of South Canaan, was very kind and attentive to them, preaching occasionally, assisting at funerals, and on other occa- sions ; he also assisted in first gathering and organizing the church, which then consisted of 23 members only.
They did not rest here, but in a meeting assembled June 21th, 1760, they agreed to invite the Rev. Jesse Ives (brother to Titus Ives,) to preach on probation; he was obtained, and December 21th following, they gave him a call to settle over them as their gospel minister. They proceeded so far towards settling Mr. Ives, as to offer him the minister lot, and to give him a salary of £62 10s. annually, for 3 years, and after that time, to give him a salary of £70 per annum statedly. The time was set for his ordination-the third Wednesday of Octo- ber, 1760-a committee was chosen to provide for the ordaining council, in the proper time. Another com- mittee was appointed to accompany Mr. Ives to the association, soon to meet, and to attend his examination. His ordination, for reasons not now known, was postpon- ed. In February, 1761, another committee was appoint- ed to attend the examination of Mr. Ives a second time ; but soon after an altercation took place between him
.
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TOWN OF NORFOLK.
and one of his expected parishioners, and he was left to exhibit a specimen of his very hasty temper, and im- prudently and wickedly used such language as very much disgusted the man, and those to whom he related the matter. The business respecting his settlement pro- ceeded no farther.
The call of Mr. Ives was unanimous, but the second attempt to decide the matter was not so propitious ; one vote only constituted the majority in his favor. It seems the town had too hastily given him a deed or lease of the use of the parsonage land, for he was after- wards required to quit his claim. His other claims against the town were not promptly liquidated, and a law-suit was the result, which, after considerable delay, brought the business to a close.
Our fathers were not discouraged by this failure, but with renewed zeal pursued their favorite object. In June, 1761, they invited Mr. Ammi Ruhamah Robbins, a young candidate for the ministry-son of the Rev. Phi- lemon Robbins, of Branford, in this State-" to preach to us on probation." After taking suitable time to acquaint themselves with his qualifications, and to de- liberate on the subject, they, on the 16th of September, 1761, gave him a unanimous call to take the charge of them as their minister; the committee informed him of the result of their deliberations, and proposed to him the following stipend and terms : viz., to give him the lot reserved for the first settled minister, and an annual salary of £62 10s. for two years, and after that time agreed to give him a stated salary of £70, payable an- nually, and in produce at the market price, and fixed by a committee to be appointed annually for said pur- pose ; (this mode of payment was continued for 45 years, when a contract was made). After due consi- deration Mr. Robbins accepted the terms proposed, and waited their time to receive him as their minister.
Michael Humphrey, Esq., and Ezra Knapp, werc appointed to accompany Mr. Robbins to the association and attend his examination. He was approved of by the association, and the 28th of October, 1761, fixed
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HISTORY OF THE
upon for his ordination. The time arrived, and pre- parations were made for the occasion. At the age of 21, Mr. Robbins presented himself before the ordaining council, and submitted to their examination, which re- sulted in his ordination. The council was composed of the following clergymen, who performed the services assigned them in the solemn transaction.
Rev. Mr. Lee, of Salisbury, offered the introductory prayer; Rev. Mr. Robbins, his father, preached the ser- mon, text 2d of Corinthians, 5th chapter, 20th verse.
Rev. Dr. Bellamy, of Bethlehem, offered the conse- crating prayer, and gave the charge.
Rev. Mr. Champion, of Litchfield, gave the right hand of fellowship; Rev. Mr. Robberts, of Torrington, offered the concluding praver.
The number of families in town at this time was 60, and soon increased to 70. The church consisted of 38 members. In May 13th, 1762, Mr. Robbins married Miss Elizabeth Le Baron, daughter of Dr. Le Baron of Plymouth, Mass., and removed her through the then rough and devious way to his new habitation, there to suffer many privations, aid him in his arduous and responsible station, share with him in trials, in joys and sorrows, and, finally, to close his eyes on scenes long dear to them, and for several years after to live in lonely widow- hood.
Our progenitors, deeply impressed with a sense of the importance of religious institutions, were, from the commencement of their residence in this place, united in their exertions to establish them on a permanent foundation ; and, after several fruitless attempts to settle a gospel minister, Providence sent them a man to break to them the bread of life, who was cordially received, and in union with the people of his charge, enjoyed the smiles of the Great Head of the church, and served them faithfully for 52 years ; he finished his course, and rested from his labors. His memory will be ever dear to the church and inhabitants of this town.
When considering the multiplicity and variety of their engagements, their pecuniary embarrassments, many and
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TOWN OF NORFOLK.
of a magnitude one would think sufficient to dampen the ardor of most communities in their infant state and peculiar location, political troubles thickening around them, and threatening to overwhelm and blast their dear and cherished hopes-we cannot but admire how stea- dily they persevered in pursuit of the superior object of their wishes. One thing which very much engrossed their attention was the building a house, wherein pub- lickly to worship God and permanently establish reli- gious order. By the strictest economy, management, and patient labor, in the course of about 12 years, they so far accomplished their wishes, as to be in a good de- gree accommodated with a house dedicated to the wor- ship of God and the establishment of divine ordinances. Many other improvements were made at that time, which will be noticed in the proper place.
Their progress in building the meeting-house may be seen by the following statement: in 1759, they com- menced building the meeting-house, and in the course of the year raised and covered it. In 1761, underpinned and floored the lower part of it. In 1767, laid the gal- lery floor. In 1769, finished the lower part and made the pulpit. January 2, 1770, dignified and seated it. In 1771, finished the galleries and procured a cushion for the pulpit desk.
The house, respectable in its appearance for those early times, was in dimensions 40 by 50, of suitable height for galleries, built in a plain style, without any ex- ternal decoration, except the then fashionable triangular cornices or laps over the doors and windows. The in- side finish was equally plain and remained unpainted. The outside was painted about this time, with what was called a peach-blow color, which must have appeared a glaring contrast to the sombre hue of the thick and lofty trees which then surrounded it; so dense, that in coming from the south it was not seen until entering the lower part of the triangular green, now in use, and cleared of the incumbrance of lofty hemlocks and wide-spreading maples, etc. ; and the surface thus cleared exposed a still more stubborn article, to be removed in due time --
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HISTORY OF THE
rocks, deeply imbedded, had lain undisturbed since creation, until they felt the force of powder, which they could not resist ; yet, some remain as a specimen of the once rough appearance of the surface. In 1793, the house was painted white, and retained a slight appear- ance of it when taken down in 1814, having stood about 55 years.
The congregation was, for some time after the house was finished, or in a condition to occupy, summoned to assemble on the Sabbath, and on other occasions, by blowing a horn, or some other signal understood and authorized by vote of the town. Suitable persons were appointed and required to see that every one, who had not a satisfactory excuse, should regularly attend public divine worship in the sanctuary, and, also, that every family be furnished with a Bible.
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