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HISTORICAL DISCOURSE DELIVERED BEFORE THE CONNECTICUT HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND THE CITIZENS OF HARTFORD 26th DAY OF DECEMBER, 1843 DAY
Gc 974.602 H25d 1770104
M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
GO
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01105 5461
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A
HISTORICAL DISCOURSE,
DELIVERED BEFORE THE
CONNECTICUT HISTORICAL SOCIETY,
AND THE
CITIZENS OF HARTFORD,
ON THE
Evening of the 26th day of December, 1543.
BY THOMAS DAY,
PRESIDENT OF THE CONNECTICUT HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND OF WADSWORTH ATHENEUM.
HARTFORD : PRESS OF CASE, TIFFANY AND BURNHAM. 1844.
=8463.2
A
1770104
HISTORICAL DISCOURSE,
DELIVERED BEFORE THE
Connecticut historical Society,
AND THE
CITIZENS OF HARTFORD,
ON THE
Evening of the 20th December, 1813.
BY THOMAS DAY, President of the Connecticut Historical Society and of Wadsworth Athenmun.
THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY CHICAGO
HARTFORD.
CASE, TIFFANY & BURNHAM, PRINTERS, Pearl-street, corner of Trumbull. 1811.
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Day, Thomas, 1777-1855.
F 8463 .22 A historical discourse, delivered before the Connecticut historical society, and the citizens of Hartford, on the evening of the 26th day of December, 1843. [Hartford, 1844]
SHELF CARD
5906
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F8463.22
AT a meeting of the CONNECTICUT HISTORICAL SOCIETY, January 2d, 1844:
Voted, That the thanks of this Society be presented to Hon. THOMAS DAY, President of the Society, for his very interesting historical address, delivered to the Society, on the 26th of December, 1843, upon the occasion of their occupying, for the first time, the rooms in WADSWORTH ATHENEUM, recent- ly prepared for their reception; and that he be requested to furnish a copy of the same for the use of the Society.
A true copy,
Attest .- CHARLES HOSMER, Recording Secretary.
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PREFATORY NOTE.
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THE following remarks were prepared at the request of THE CONNECTICUT HISTORICAL SOCIETY, and were originally designed as an address to the members of that Institution, on the occasion of their taking possession of the rooms in WADSWORTH ATHENE- UM destined for their use. About the same time, the Society pro- posed to give a series of historical lectures to the citizens of Hartford ; and the committee charged with that business applied to me to commence the series. It occurred to me, that a subject adapted to one occasion would not be inappropriate to the other ; and I concluded to make this two-fold application of the subject I had in preparation ; and thus the address and the lecture became identified. The Society first met, on the evening of the 26th of December, 1843, in the south division of the Atheneum; and thence proceeded, shortly afterwards, to the lecture-room of the First Congregational Society, a few rods distant, on the opposite side of the street, where the contents of the following pages were addressed to a numerous and highly respectable assembly, con- sisting of the members of the Connecticut Historical Society, and the ladies and gentlemen of Hartford.
24 May 33
man
The facts stated in the narrative have been cautiously taken from authentic sources, generally based upon evidence such as would be admissible and satisfactory in a judicial proceeding. In preparing
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PREFATORY NOTE.
the discourse for publication, I have referred to the authorities, in all cases where it was practicable and desirable; and these cases embrace the most important facts ; but in a few instances, where the facts were derived from entries in old bibles which were private property, from monumental inscriptions, to which but few persons could have access, or from oral communications or personal knowl- edge, it seemed hardly practicable, and useless as impracticable, to refer to the authorities. When I have had occasion to refer to the records of the United Colonies of New England, I have referred to them as printed in Hazard's Historical Collections.
The names of the several proprietors of the Athenaeum lot, when first introduced, are printed in small capitals.
T. D.
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HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
MEMBERS OF THE CONNECTICUT HISTORICAL SOCIETY,
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN :
GREAT and manifold are the uses of history. To say that it connects the past with the present, is to say the truth ; but it is not all the truth. It brings forward the accumula- ted treasures of the past, and gives them present existence. It makes the experience and wisdom of by-gone ages our own. Of the future we know nothing ; of the present, not much more-as the present becomes past before we can garner its fruits. The great store-house of human know- ledge, therefore, lies in the dominions of the past. History is the common carrier that brings it to us. As well might we expect to enjoy the benefits of foreign commerce, with- out ships, as to appropriate the acquisitions of past genera- tions, without history.
But it is not my present purpose to dwell upon the bene- fits of history generally. This topic, with its wide-spread ramifications, so full of dignity and interest, may be illus- trated, by an abler hand, on some other occasion ; and the time could rarely happen in connexion with any stated or extraordinary meeting of this society, when such a topic would be inappropriate. What I wish particularly to call your attention to, now, is, the desire so universally preva- lent of knowing more or less of the history of the persons and things most intimately connected with ourselves. This desire is manifested in early childhood. Give your little boy a toy, and, as soon as it is his, much as he values it, he will break it, to find out what is in it, and how it was made ;- in other words, to learn its history. This desire increases with advancing age ; and gradually amplifies its scope to take in the multifarious objects that are continually springing up before it. This desire is a laudable one. It
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is dignified in its nature ; and not only innocent, but posi- tively beneficent, in its tendency and results. It emanated from the same divine spirit as the unquenchable thirst of im- mortality. It is, indeed, "of the eternal" a " co-eternal beam."
The commencement of this course of historical lectures is cotemporaneous with the opening for our use of yonder cas- tellated edifice, whose apartments are destined to become "storied halls" with " trophied arches ;"' our society having met this evening, for the first time, in the division appro- priated to our use. Under the influence of the spirit allu- ded to, let us cast a retrospective glance at some of the ob- jects immediately connected with such an occasion : I refer particularly to the structure spoken of, and the ground on which it is erected.
Following the natural order, let us then, in the first place, enquire what title we have to the land thus occupied ; for it much concerns us to know, whether we are rightfully in possession, or trespassers. Can we truly and confidently say to all adverse claimants-Hoc mea sunt ?
It is familiar history with those whom I address, that the first permanent settlers of Hartford came here in 1635 ; that having been admitted freemen in Massachusetts, they, on their arrival here, organized themselves as a municipal cor- poration ; and that the next important step was, to procure from the original proprietors a title to the land within their corporate limits. Accordingly, upon the application of Samuel Stone and William Goodwin, in behalf of them- selves and their associates, SUNCKQUASSON, (") Sachem of Sukiauge, and grand-proprietor of the lands in that sachem- dom, with the consent of his adult subjects, in the year 1636, granted to such applicants, for the use of themselves and their associates, by a written instrument under his hand, for a satisfactory consideration by him received, all the land
(a) The name of this chieftain, like most Indian names, is variously spelled. Winthrop spells it, in one instance, Sequasson, and in another, Sequushin. 2 Winth. V. E. 125. 332. (Sav. ed.) Trumbull spells it, uniformly, Se- quassen; and it is generally so spelled in the records of the United Colonies.
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between Wethersfield bounds on the South and Windsor bounds on the North, and extending, the whole breadth, from Connecticut river on the East, six large miles into the wilderness on the West. This grant was afterwards, upon the desire of Mr. Haynes and the other authorities of the · town, and upon a further consideration paid, renewed and enlarged, by the same aboriginal patriarch. In a succeed- ing age, after he had gone to his final rest, [1670] it was fully confirmed, by his successors, on their receiving a fur- ther gratification nearly equivalent to the original value of the land. (*)
The first notice of Sunckquasson, furnished by our records, after his original grant to the Hartford planters, is under date of July 2d, 1640, when he appeared before the Par- ticular Court, and testified, that he never sold any ground to the Dutch ; neither was at any time conquered by the Pequots, nor paid any tribute to them. The object of this testimony probably was, to repel the claim of our Dutch neighbours of the Manhattoes to any part of the land em- braced in the above-mentioned grant.
Sunckquasson was a relative of Miantonomo, chief Sa- chem of the Narragansets, and one of his peculiar favourites ; and the well-known hostility of the patron towards Uncas, Sachem of the Mohegans, was readily infused into the heart of the protege. Uncas was not backward to reciprocate the sentiment, whenever a suitable occasion presented itself. Such an occasion occurred in 1643. Sunckquasson's men had killed a principal Indian belonging to Uncas ; and shortly afterwards, Uncas himself having been up Connec- ticut river, on his return, was way-laid and shot at with arrows, by Sunckquasson, or some of his warriors. Uncas
1 Trum. Hist. Con. 129. 161. 2 Haz. Hist. Col. passim. In the records of the Colony of Connecticut, July 2d, 1610, it is written Saqueston. 1 Col. Rec. 49. And in the Hartford Town records, under date of January, 1643, it is written Soaquasen. 1 Hart. Town Rec. 25. But in the Indian deed of confirmation, as it appears upon the public records, it is written Sunckquas- son ; (1 Col. Rec. 390, 1.) and this orthography I have adopted, because it is supported by equal authority, and is, I think, favoured by analogy. (a) 1 Col. Rec. 390, 1.
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thereupon required that six of Sunckquasson's men should be delivered to him for the murder of his man, because he was a great man. Governor Haynes and the Court interpo- sed their offices to dissuade Uncas from insisting on this de- mand ; and he at length reluctantly consented to accept of the murderer only. But Sunckquasson would not agree to deliver him. Uncas then gave him battle, and obtained a victory over him, killing seven or eight of his men, wound- ing thirteen, burning his wigwam and carrying away the booty. (*)
The next passage of much importance in the life of Sunck- quasson, which has come to our knowledge, relates to his concern in what Dr. Trumbull calls " a horrid plot concert- ed among the Indians for the destruction of a number of the principal inhabitants of Hartford."(') This transaction, whatever was its real character, took place in the Spring of 1646; and was brought before the Commissioners of the United Colonies, at their session at New Haven, in Septem- ber of that year, upon the representation of Mr. Hopkins and Mr. Haynes, charging Sunckquasson with a murderous design against themselves and Mr. Whiting. Mr. Haynes had twice sent in vain to Sunckquasson, who was then at Warrinoke, [Westfield] to answer to this charge ; but he, instead of coming to clear himself, chose to remain where he was. The Commissioners, considering the premises, thought fit to send for him again, with safe-conduct under their hands ; and accordingly gave instructions to Jonathan Gilbert, to repair, with all convenient speed, to Warrinoke, and having obtained opportunity to speak with Sunckquas- son, to give him to understand, that he and some others were accused, by a certain Indian some time residing with him, of a plot and conspiracy, entered into by them, for the killing of Mr. Hopkins, Mr. Haynes and Mr. Whiting ; and that the Commissioners, being very desirous to understand the truth or falsehood of the premises, tendered to him an
(a) 2 Winth. . V. E. 128, 9. ( Sar. ed.) 2 Haz. Hist. Col. 9. 1 Trum. Hist. Conn. 120.
(b) 1 Trum. Hist. Conn. 161.
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open and impartial hearing before them, at their place of meeting in New Haven, in the presence of his accuser, who held himself ready to make good his accusation. The mes- senger went to the place where he understood Sunckquas- son was; but could not get access to him so as to speak with him; and of course, returned without him. But a few days afterwards, two Sagamores, with other Indians, came to New Haven, and informed the Commissioners, that they were friends of Sunckquasson, and had been with him in Massachusetts ; that having respect for the English, they had brought him down to clear himself ; that while one of them held him by one arm, and the other by the other arm, when he was near New Haven, almost at the town fence, he broke from them, and disappeared, alleging that he was ashamed to go before the Commissioners, because he had brought them no present. The Commissioners declared, that they would not accept of any present from him, if ten- dered ; neither should the want of it prejudice his cause. They then proceeded to an ex parte examination of his ac- cuser, who testified, through an interpreter, that Sunck- quasson had, the Spring before, proposed to him to go to Hartford, and kill Mr. Hopkins, Mr. Haynes or Mr. Whi- ting; that he was to give it out, that Uncas had hired him to do this deed, which would set the English against Un- cas ; and that he and Sunckquasson would then fly together to the Mohawks : that Sunckquasson thereupon gave him some wampum, and promised to give him much more : that the witness told Sunckquasson it was dangerous to kill an English Sachem ; and calculating that the favour of the English, which he would obtain, by a discovery of the plot, would be better to him than Sunckquasson's wampum, with the fear and danger attending it, he declined the offer, and immediately came to Hartford, and informed against Sunck- quasson. (*)
Winthrop tells the story somewhat differently. He says, that information was given to the Commissioners, that
(a) 2 Haz. Hist. Col. 59-61.
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Sunckquasson would have hired an Indian to kill some of the magistrates of Hartford ; whereupon he was sent for, but came not ; that they then sent for Uncas, who under- took to fetch him in, which not being able to do by open force, he surprised him in the night, and brought him to Hartford, where he was kept in prison divers weeks. "But," Winthrop adds, " there not being sufficient proof to convict him, he was discharged." (') Winthrop was prob- ably misinformed as to the arrest and imprisonment of Sunckquasson ; but that the Commissioners did not consider the proof sufficient to convict him, or to justify any further proceedings against him, is unquestionably true.
After this, Sunckquasson lived on terms of so much favour with our government as to excite the apprehension of Capt. Mason, the friend and neighbour of Uncas, as well as one of the pillars of the colony, that he was held in too high con- sideration. Capt. Mason accordingly wrote a letter to the General Court sitting at Hartford, in October, 1651, express- ing his dissatisfaction at Sunckquasson's being exalted, un- der our power, to great sachemship. The Court, however, declared, that they did not know of any such thing ; neither did they, or should they, allow or approve thereof. (') It was their policy to pursue a course of impartial neutrality between these hostile chieftains ; and to this policy they adhered as strictly as the circumstances in which they were placed in relation to them respectively, would admit of.
Notwithstanding the hatred subsisting between Sunck- quasson and Uncas, it was not so inveterate as to prevent their uniting against a common foe. In 1656, a young Indian having killed a Sachem of Connecticut, dwelling at Mattabe- set, [Middletown] allied to Sunckquasson, the aggressor fled to the Podunk Indians, who entertained and maintained him, as Sunckquasson alleged, against all justice. In this emer- gency, Sunckquasson resorted to Uncas " for help to be re- venged for the said Sachem's death." Uncas, being at that time enraged with the Podunks, for sundry wrongs which they
(b) 2 Winth. N. E. 332, 3. (Sar. ed.)
(c) 2 Col. Rec. 21.
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had previously done him, especially in protecting a murder- er, who had fled from him to them, readily joined with Sunck- quasson in a complaint to the magistrates of Connecticut for redress. The magistrates thereupon ordered, that the Sa- chems of both sides should appear before the General Court at Hartford; and they appeared accordingly. Sunckquasson stated his case. The Governor asked the complainants what satisfaction they required ? They pressed hard to have ten men, friends of the murderer, who, they said, was a mean fel- low, [i.e. a common man, ] putto death. The Podunk Sachem said, this was unjust; because the Sachem that was slain, had murdered the young man's uncle. They therefore proposed to give wampiun, by way of satisfaction. This was wholly rejected. After some time spent by the Court, in persua- ding the parties to make peace, the complainants agreed to be satisfied with the death of six men. This offer was also rejected. The Court again interposed. The Govern- or stated to them, that by our law, only the murderer, and his accomplices, could be punished ; and pressed the Po- dunks to deliver up the murderer in this case. They sug- gested that his friends were so many and so potent within the fort, that they could not deliver him up ; but finally, 'Totannimo, their Sachem, promised to do it. A committee of the Court then addressed Uncas privately, and persuaded him to accept of this satisfaction. But Totannimo, acting with punic faith, stole out of Court, and returned to Podunk fort. This offended both the English and the Indians, who agreed to send a messenger to take the murderer, and de- liver him up. (") What success this messenger had, the record does not inform us. Probably he consulted his own safety, by eschewing Podunk fort.
These are the most interesting incidents in the life of this savage chieftain, which history has preserved. The memory of Uncas has been illustrated, even in our day, by a stately monument, erected on the soil which was once his own ; but not even a rude head-stone has ever told us where the bones of Sunckquasson repose. He, and his subjects, and their
(a) 2 Col. Rec. 86, 7.
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descendants, have vanished from his dominions. May not the majestic pile across the street, standing on the soil over which he once bore sway, constitute his cenotaph !
The first settlers, as we have seen, organized as a muni- cipal corporation, fairly purchased the lands within their borders of the original proprietors ; paid them for such lands an adequate consideration ; and received from them au- thentic muniments of title. They are now tenants in com- mon of these lands. Not being imbued with the social the- ories of a later age, they proceed immediately to a partial division, subject to certain conditions which the public good required. The allotment of each individual is equitably apportioned, in quantity and value, to the amount of pur- chase money paid by him. Of every allotment a parcel of ground eligibly situated for a homestead, comprising from half an acre to three acres, is an essential part. (") The dis- tribution being made, the several parts allotted to each in- habitant are entered together upon a book kept for that pur- pose in the town-clerk's office; (') such entry being the consummating act in conferring a title in severalty.
The original distribution of the lands in Hartford among the inhabitants, included a tract lying North of the Little river, between what are now Front and Main streets. The most Easterly part, comprising two acres, bordering upon the flats, or " little meadow," as it was then called, was allotted to Richard Webb, and by him sold to John Haynes, the first chief magistrate of the young community. () Adjoining to to this on the West, was the homestead of the Rev. Thomas Hooker, a man not less considerable in moral, than his neighbour was in political power. This also comprised two acres. (4) Adjoining to this on the West, was the domestic residence of that " lesser light" of the church, the Rev. Samuel Stone, comprising the same quantity.() The Southern part of the neighbourhood was then completed,
(a) 1 Hart. Town Rec. passim.
(6) This book is entitled " Original Distribution of the Town of Hart- ford among the Settlers, 1639."
(c) Orig. Dist. 1. 40. (d) Id. 32S. (e) Id. 37S.
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by giving the remaining parcel, lying West of Mr. Stone's and East of the highway, (now Main Street) comprising just three acres, to Elder WILLIAM GOODWIN.(") These four neighbours, thus located together, and separated from the other members of their community, on three sides, by highways, had other neighbours on the North ; among whom was John Steele, one of the persons named in the Massachusetts commission, and the first town-clerk of Hart- ford; whose homestead, consisting of two acres, was bound- ed by the highway on the West, and extended Easterly through the breadth of the Goodwin and the Stone lots. (b)
We are now prepared to introduce the description, which the record gives, of one of " several parcels of land in Hart- ford upon the river of Connecticut, belonging to Mr. Wil- liam Goodwin, Elder there in Christ's church." It is as follows : " February, A. D. 1639. One parcel on which his dwelling-house now standeth, with other out-houses, yards or gardens thercon being, containing, by estimation, three acres, more or less; abutting on the highway lying on the North side of the Riveret, on the South; on the highway leading from the palisado to Sentinel-hill, on the West ; on Mr. Samuel Stone's land, on the East ; and on John Steele's land, on the North." (') The word "riverct," the diminutive of river, is here appropriately and beautifully used to distinguish this stream from Connecticut river. The "palisado" was on the North bank of the riveret, where the present Main-street crosses it ; and Sentinel-hill was an eminence a little North-west of the present North Congre- gational church, which has since been reduced. The line dividing the Goodwin and Stone lots on the South, from the Steele lot on the North, was nearly coincident with the North side of the present way, called " Wadsworth's alley." The land whose history we are tracing, was, consequently, embraced in the Goodwin lot, constituting the North-west corner thereof.
Elder William Goodwin, the first proprietor in severalty of the land in question, was a prominent man among the
(a) Orig. Dist. 19. (b) Id. 461. (c) Id. 19.
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first settlers of this commonwealth. He was admitted a freeman of Massachusetts, at Cambridge, in November, 1632; (") and was a member of the first General Court in that province at which delegates attended, held in May, 1634; and among those delegates, his name stands first on the record. (b) Gov. Winthrop, speaking of his conduct in that General Court, describes him as "a very reverend and godly man, being the elder of the congregation of New- town"-i. e. Cambridge. (') Soon after his arrival here, he was commissioned to act with Mr. Stone, (as we have seen) in the important negotiation with the Indians for the pur- chase of their lands. He was comparatively a man of wealth. He was honoured by Gov. Hopkins, by being made a trustee in his will.(d) At the time of the dissensions in the church in 1659, he, being at the head of one of the parties, left this place, and removed, with Gov. Webster, Mr. Whi- ting, Mr. Cullick, and others, to Hadley, () and was a ruling elder in the church there. He subsequently removed to Farmington in Connecticut, where he died, in 1673. He left but one child, a daughter, named Elizabeth, who mar- ried John Crow, of Hartford, whose residence was on the East side of the Connecticut river. His name, among his descendants, thus ran out : not so, his blood. It continued to flow, and still flows, as will be seen in the course of these remarks, in veins not unworthy of their ancestry.
Before we proceed to our next link in the chain of title, it is necessary to advert to the law of Connecticut, at this period, regarding the alienation of real estate. You will probably expect me to show, in behalf of the succeeding proprietor, a deed or devise fiom William Goodwin, or at least a distribution or sale pursuant to a decree of probate. I can shew neither ; and I maintain that neither was neces- sary, in order to transfer a legal title. No statute was passed, and no law existed, making a deed necessary for this purpose, until October, 1660. A sale by parol agreement,
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