USA > Connecticut > New London County > Norwich > A historical discourse delivered in Norwich, Connecticut, September 7, 1859, at the bi-centennial celebration of the settlement of the town > Part 1
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Gc 974.602 N833gi 1779020
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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
Go
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01151 3493
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/historicaldiscou00gilm_0
A
HISTORICAL DISCOURSE,
DELIVERED IN
NORWICH, CONNECTICUT,
SEPTEMBER 7, 1859,
AT THE
BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF THE SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWN.
BY DANIEL COIT GILMAN, LIBRARIAN OF YALE COLLEGE.
1 SECOND EDITION, WITH ADDITIONAL NOTES.
BOSTON: GEO. C. RAND AND AVERY, CITY PRINTERS. NO. 3 CORNHILL. 1859.
100921-1
1779020
HISTORICAL DISCOURSE.
1:
F 8466 .3
Gilman, Daniel Coit, 1831-190S.
A historical discourse delivered in Norwich, Connectiont. September 7. 1850, at the bi-centennial celebration of the set- tlement of the town. By Daniel Coit Gilman ... 2d ed .. with additional notes. Boston, G. C. Rand and Avery, city print- ers, 1850.
12S p. 23cm.
1. Norwich, Conn .- Hist.
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Library of Congress
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HISTORICAL DISCOURSE.
GENTLEMEN AND LADIES,
SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF NORWICH : -
WE are met to review in one brief hour the record of two hundred years. The The task assigned to me, though simple, is not easy, and your sympathy with the theme must excuse the incompleteness of the story I shall tell. The preacher, the orators and the poet appointed to address you, leave me the humbler office of a chronicler; and I therefore make no apology for dwelling chiefly on facts, assured that others will present those poetical, patriotic and re- . ligious reflections, which this occasion appropriately calls forth.
We need to summon on this day of jubilee all our own recollections of the past, and what our fathers have told us of the days gone by; we need to gather the fragments of history we have learned from the genealogical tree, the old trunk of letters, the time-worn records of town, society and church, the family Bible and the moss-covered tombstone ; we need to combine all this with what we have
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read in the printed page, especially in that of our honored and accomplished historian ; and we must then put forth the utmost powers of our imagina- tion to picture the settlement, the establishment, and the development of a town which we cherish as our home.
Two hundred years ago, at this golden harvest time, a band of sturdy pioneers, accustomed in their younger days to the comforts of an old and highly civilized country, coming here from the infant set- tlement of Saybrook, had traversed with the rude Indians as their guides, this beautiful Mohegan plain ; they had climbed Wawequa's hill; had traced the Shetucket and the Yantic, from their confluence in the Pequot, far into the back country ; had admired the waterfalls, never so wild and picturesque as then ; had estimated their power for grist-mills and saw-mills ; had examined the forests, fisheries and soil ; and were ready to return to the other side of the Connecticut, like the spies from beyond the Jordan, having " seen the land, what it was, and the people that dwelt therein, whether they were strong or weak, few or many," and saying with Caleb, " Let us go up at once and possess it."
'This survey of the land of promise, in advance of the colony, is the auspicious event which we have chosen to commemorate. But it is not the time of our earliest acquaintance with what we now call Norwich.
The settlers at New Haven and in Connecticut, as well as the knowing ones in places more remote. were long before familiar with this region as the battle-ground of two powerful tribes of Indians, the Narragansetts and Mohegans. The very plain on which we stand, yielding as the plowshare and the spade upheave the sod, tomahawks and arrow-heads, by scores if not by hundreds, bears witness to this day of those fierce conflicts which once darkened the skies with the arrows of death .*
Our information of this period is of course meagre, but the history of civilization in Norwich would be indeed deficient, without some reference in its preface to the darker days which went before.
The Mohegans, from whom our fathers bought this " nine miles square,"¡ several score of whose descend- ants are our neighbors to this day, were originally a part of the Pequot tribe, and were of the same race with the Mohicans of the Hudson, the last of whose warriors has been so fitly commemorated by the great novelist of America. It has even been conjectured that the Pequots had immigrated to this eastern part of Connecticut at a period not very much earlier than the time when the white men came here.
* For many years the writer has received from Mr. Angel Stead what he terms " a crop of arrow-heads," gathered annually in his gardening on the plain between the landing and up-town.
t See note A.
1
S
To the east of the Pequots and Mohegans, (whose domains before their separation extended over a wide territory upon both banks of what is now the river Thames,) were the Narragansetts, around the bay which still perpetuates their name, and toward the west were the Niantics, both tribes of one stock, and both hostile to the Pequots, whose hunting and fishing grounds lay between them.
Uncas, the chief of the Mohegans when the white men came here, was a descendant, according to his own statement, of the royal Pequot family, and by marrying the daughter of the sachem Sassacus, had allied himself still more closely to the ruling powers. But notwithstanding this, or more likely because of this relation, Uncas rebelled against the chief of the Pequots, and remained in open hostility to his kins- men until they were crushed as a nation a few years later. The adherents of Uncas, occupying the right bank of the river, appear to have assumed their original designation, the Mohegans, while the follow- ers of Sassacus retained the name of Pequots, and probably their "seat of empire " on the left bank of the stream to which their name was long applied.
When the English undertook the famous expedi- tion to punish the Pequots for their alleged atroci- ties, Roger Williams succeeded in enlisting the aid of the Narragansetts, and Major Mason that of the Mohegans, so that about this period two naturally
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hostile tribes were at peace with one another and united against their common enemy. By the bold expedition which destroyed the Pequot fort in May, 1637, the war was concluded, for the foe was almost if not quite exterminated. A threefold treaty was soon afterward signed at Hartford, in which the English, the Narragansetts and the Mohegans were parties. The two Indian tribes were to keep the tomahawk buried, and refer their troubles to the Eng- lish. For a time they observed the letter if not the spirit of the contract, till at length Miantonomoh, the Narragansett chief, and Uncas, the Mohegan, grew jealous of one another. Each strove to enlist the sympathy of the whites; but Uncas was the more successful, and, as a natural consequence, the diffi- culties between the rival sachems increased and open war broke out.
From the many rumors, traditions and allusions which have come to us from those days, it would require more legal skill than I possess, to deduce " the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth." But there are a few incidents of this pro- tracted war, the details of which have been so often repeated, that at least they seem authentic, and de- mand from us a passing mention." The first to which ' I allude is the battle between Uncas and Miantonomoh, on the great plain some two miles south-west of
* See note B.
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where we stand. The Mohegan sachem challenged the leader of his foes to fight him singly, but the challenge was declined, the host of the Narragansetts was soon afterward routed, and their proud chieftain, flying from his pursuers, was taken prisoner on "the Sachem's plain" near the spot where a block of gran- ite, replacing the loose pile of stones which the Indians threw together, still reminds us of his la- mentable fate .*
At a later period, Uncas was besieged in his fort, on the bank of the Thames, nearly opposite Poquetan- nock. His provisions were almost exhausted, and destruction seemed inevitable. Lieut. Thomas Lef- fingwell, and others, who had learned the perilous condition of the Mohegans, secretly brought them the longed-for corn, and so recruited the besieged army that they succeeded in repelling their enemies, and ever afterward remembered with gratitude this timely assistance. There can be little question that such generous relief cemented the friendship of Uncas for the whites, and saved the companions of Leffingwell in after days from many a hostile attack. The rocks where the welcome interview is said to have taken place between the sachem and his friends, are still . known as " the chair of Uncas."
At another time, (perhaps just after the battle on the great plain, to which allusion has been made.) we
* See note C.
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are told that the Narragansetts were so pressed by the Mohegans, that either in rash courage, or excessive fear, they plunged from the lofty cliff at the west of the Yantic falls, and were lost in the abyss.
But these stirring incidents which tradition perpetu- ates, should be reviewed by the muse of romance, rather than of history. It is probable that we have the facts in outline, though we have the outlines only. Legends enough are extant to celebrate each hill and plain in Norwich. Wawequa's hill, Fort hill, Little Fort hill, Sachem's plain, Trading cove, the Indian burying ground, each has its interesting story. Would that some skillful hand would weave the scattered threads, and do for Norwich what Cooper has so aptly done for another portion of our country !
I am forbidden to dwell longer on this period or to delineate in full the eventful life of Uncas, by the recollection of that interesting discourse which the author of the "Life of Brandt" delivered when the Uncas monument was erected. Besides, the character of the sachem is now very generally appreciated as it deserves. The common opinion is not far from right, that he was about equally removed from the savage and the saint. Cotton Mather denounced him as " an obstinate infidel," although Jolm Mason had said he was "a great friend and did us much service." Each had reason to make his assertion. The truth is, that being naturally a man of decided qualities. both
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good and bad, he learned new virtues as well as vices by his intercourse with the English.
When King Charles the First sent his red-faced, well- beloved cousin, "a Bible, to show him the way to heaven, and a sword, to defend him from his enemies," Uncas valued the latter gift much more than he did the former. But I am happy to bring forward one new fact to show that he was not at all times indiffer- ent to the other present. It has often been stated that Uncas uniformly opposed the introduction of Christianity among the people of his tribe. Within a few days past an original document has been brought to light by Mr. Brevoort, of Brooklyn, which bears important testimony on this interesting question. It is nothing less than a bond in which, under his own signature, the sachem promises to attend the min- istrations of the Rev. Mr. Fitch, whensoever and wheresoever he may choose to appoint. This paper is so remarkable that I shall take the liberty of read- ing it in full. If we can not call it the sachem's creed or confession of faith, it is at least his covenant :-
Be it known to all men and in special to the Authority of The Colony of Conecticott, That I Uncass sachim of the Munheags, now resident in Pamechaug, doe by these presents firmly en- gage and binde my selfe, that I will from time to time and at all times hereafter, in a constant way and manner attend npon Mr. James Fitch Minister of Norwich, at all such seasons as he shall appoint for preaching to and praying with the Indians
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. either at my now residence, or wheresoever els he shall ap- point for that holy service, and further I doe faithfully promis to Command all my people to attend the same, in a constant way and solemn manner at all such times as shall be sett by the sayd Mr. James Fitch minister, alsoe I promis that I will not by any wayes or meanes what soe ever, either privatly or openly use any plots or contriveances by words or actions to affright or discourage any of my people or others, from attend- ing the Good work aforesayd, upon penalty of suffering the most grevious punishment that can be inflicted upon me, and Lastly I promis to encourage all my people by all Good wayes and meanes I can, in the due observance of such directions and instructions, as shall be presented to them by the sayd Mr. James Fitch aforesayd, and to the truth hereof this seav- euth day of June in the year one thousand six hundred seventy and three I have hereunto set my hand or mark.
Wittnesed by us
mark
John Tallcott, The X of Uncas.
Tho : Stanton, Ser. of Uncass.
Samuell Mason.
Let us look with charity, my friends, upon this promise, remembering that every man, red face and pale face alike, is accepted " according to that which he hath, and not according to that which he hath not."
Descendants of Uncas, whose fathers bade our fathers welcome to their wigwams and their hunt- ing grounds, we welcome you to this our jubilee .* Yet our joy is not without its sorrow when we see
* A score or two of the Mohegans were seated near the speaker.
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that you have lost what we have gained, that your numbers are few, and your sachems gone. Be assured that it is the Great Spirit himself who has ordered that every race, like every man, should act his part and die. But grateful remembrance shall live, and until yonder memorial shaft of granite shall have crumbled to the dust, until our race shall be no more, succeeding generations shall be taught that Uncas was the white man's friend.
When we turn from the Indian history to that of the English, our information for several years con- tinues to be likewise fragmentary and unsatisfactory. The original records of Saybrook have disappeared, and almost every clue is lost to the circumstances which attended the removal of the colony to the east. The earliest entry on the public records of Norwich is dated December 11th, 1660. The name of Norwich first appears on the colony books at Hartford, so far as I am informed, in October, 1661. The papers of an early date respecting the first church have wholly perished. You therefore can not expect, in this part of the story, that I shall add to your present knowl- edge ; and I can only repeat, in a new form, the items which have been often told before. May we not learn from the losses, of which we are thus made sensible, the importance of securing, for those who come after us, copies of what yet remain -the torn and almost
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illegible papers now gradually decaying in the town clerk's office ?
Most gladly to-day would we summon before us one of the original proprietors who succeeded, in 1660, to these domains of the Indians, and made Norwich of Mohegan. Were such our privilege, I am sure that with one voice we should call on Major John Mason, renowned at the time of the settlement of this town, as the hero of the Pequot war, and honored as the actual deputy Governor of the colony of Connecticut. Picture him before you now, my hearers; his manly form unbent by age, his eye undimmed, his active manner still evincing readiness to plan and will to execute ; while his lofty brow and composed counte- nance as clearly indicate the man of prudent counsel. Ask him what you desire to know of his companions in the settlement of Norwich.
With your own exploits, most Worshipful Governor, we are all familiar. They form a stirring chapter in the history of New England, which we teach in our common schools. We have heard of your bravery, under Fairfax in the old world, over Uncas in the new. We honor your wisdom as a statesman not less than your boldness as a warrior. To-morrow we shall celebrate your fame." To-day, let us hear of your comrades. Were they men of character?
* On the day following this address, a discourse, commemorative of Ma- jor Mason, was pronounced by the Hon. John A. Rockwell. See note D.
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Indeed they were, "the Major" would reply, as brave a company as ever trod the wilderness. Nearly all were born in England, and came in early life to this new country. They had landed in various ports, and many of them had resided in Hartford till we formed a colony in the fort at the mouth of Connecticut river. Many others joined us while we were in Say- brook. At length, in the spirit of true pilgrims, having no abiding city, they listened to my story of the beauty of these hills and plains, and the charming valleys extending in every direction, and joined by men of kindred sentiments from New London and else- where, they came with joy into this promised land. They were all puritans, hearty friends of civil and re- ligious liberty ; and more than that, they were honest Christians, fearing God and loving man. They made no high pretensions. Some of them, I know, could boast of pedigrees as good as any in the land; but they counted little upon that. Some of them were of humble origin ; but they were not despised for that. We valued men least for what their fathers were, and most for what themselves were worth.
And had you not found in Saybrook the freedom which you sought ?
Yes, Saybrook was a good home-I love to remem- ber it. A finer river nowhere flows; more abundant and better fisheries need not be sought : and our little
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fort, to some of us, at least, was hallowed by many a sacred recollection. But we left because this spot was so much better. I had been a traveler. In boyhood I had seen fair scenes in England; a youth, I had crossed the channel, and had trod the fertile Nether- lands; a man, I had traversed New England; but I had never found a better place for settlement. The rivers, though not large, were sufficient for our trade, and an admirable harbor was not far distant. The back country was productive. Uncas urged us to come, and assured us of his friendship. Saybrook and Hartford and Windsor were all good, but Norwich was the place for a beautiful and tranquil home.
Did you call this region Norwich before removing here ?
Yes; its position on the river reminded some of us of the Norwich which we had known in England, ( the same where John Robinson lived,) although we did not expect that the high preeminence in manufactures of that old city would ever be rivaled by the simple homespun of our feeble colony .*
It was also the early residence, I believe, of the Huntingtons, who joined us in Saybrook. Besides- though this was said more in sport than in earnest- Governor Winthrop's home at the mouth of the Thames had been called New London, and why
* Sce note E.
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should we not commemorate the second town in England by the designation of New Norwich?
Will you tell us how you came from Saybrook hither ?
Having bought a tract of nine miles square and secured it by a formal deed, we surveyed our lands in 1659, and left a few men here during the winter. Early in the spring of 1660 our company came in shallops, stopping over night at New London that some of the party might visit the site of the Pequot fort, and enjoy the beautiful prospect from its summit. Next day we sailed up the Thames. As we passed "the chair of Uncas," a company of Mohegans, with the old sachem at their head, joined us, in their birch canoes, and came with us up the cove to the landing near the falls. On our way thence to the plot chosen for our future homes, we passed near the Indian burying ground. Uncas charged us, I remember, to keep it sacred for ever, and I gave him a promise which I hope will never be forgotten.
How many were with you, Major Mason, in the company ?
Indeed, we were too busy to count.# I believe we
* See note F.
brtogo
rotla
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. first divided the land among some five-and-thirty full grown men, and as most of them were married, and had families, we may have been some five or six score in all. But though I can not say how many individuals were in our company, I can tell you almost, if not quite, every name. First, of course, I must mention our worthy pastor, Rev. James Fitch, first in all good words and works. Then I hardly know what order to follow.
Lieut. Thomas Tracy witnessed with me the Indian deed, and afterward held almost all our civil offices. Lieut. Thomas Leffingwell was as brave a soldier as we had, and secured our purchase by the relief he furnished Uncas. Thomas Adgate and Hugh Caulkins were our deacons, ordained as such in Saybrook. Simon Huntington succeeded one of them in that sacred office. His brother, Christopher, who was one of our two earliest selectmen, married Ruth Rockwell, and her eldest son was the first-born boy in Norwich. Old goodman Bradford was a selectman for the west end, and goodman Hyde was always a wise counselor. Thomas Post, poor man, was the most unfortunate of our band, for he lost his wife soon after we came here, the earliest victim death demanded. Then there were the two brothers Backus, Lieut. William and Stephen, excellent men. Baldwin, and goodman Gager, Ensign Waterman, Bliss, and Allyn, and Bingham, and Bow- ers, and Edgerton, were all original proprietors, and so
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· was Lieutenant Griswold, one of the most active of our company. Of course we had a Smith, and beside there were Olmstead, Pease, Howard, Reynolds, Read. and Royce. John Birchard, I mention last, but he was by no means last in the estimation of the colony. being townsman and constable, and the first commis- sioner of the peace.
We have always been taught, most Worshipful Gor- ernor, to honor the Rev. Mr. Fitch. Let us ask how you esteemed him ?
If I answer this inquiry, you must let me use strong language. Through an eventful period of twenty-five years he was my friend. I saw him first in Hartford, a mere boy just arrived from England. beginning his studies for the ministry with the Rev. Mr. Hooker. A few years later, he became, as you know, our first pastor at Saybrook, and we were his first church. When we talked of coming here, he said he would go or stay as the major part of the church should decide. We brought him with us. For years our freewill gifts were more than enough for his support, and well did he deserve them. He was deeply concerned that all our enterprises should be begun in the fear of the Lord, and he used to warn us in most solemn words that, a colony by ourselves. we should not neglect in the least, that public and
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private worship to which we had been accustomed. They called him once to Hartford, but his only answer was, With whom shall I leave these few sheep in the wilderness ? In learning, wisdom, patience and purity of life, he was a model to us all, -" a burning and a shining light."
You may know that he married my daughter, but though I called him son, he seemed to be my father. To him I owe it that amid all my varied duties I could never forget, however I fulfilled, my responsibilities to the Court on High. Of his power as a preacher you may judge for yourself in the sermons which were printed. That which he preached at the funeral of my own beloved wife, was the most tender and appropriate of them all .*
But if we were to engage in friendly talk with Major Mason upon all the topics of interest which are associated with his name, the lengthening shadows would soon tell us that the day is gone. There are various subjects connected with the original settle- ment, on which we could not expect him to inform us, for he was sixty years of age when the town was organized, and during the twelve years more which were added to his life, he was often called away on business imposed by the general court. So let us
*See note G.
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close the conversation and return to simple nar- rative.
Although Norwich, at the outset, was within the jurisdiction of Connecticut, yet its carly settlement and history do not indicate the exercise of much con- trol on the part of the General Court. The town sovereignty was undisputed. To be sure, May 20, 1659, we find the record that the General Court "haueing considered the petition p'sented by the inhabitants of Seabrook, doe declare yt they approue and consent to what is desired by ye petitioners, re- specting Mohegin, p'vided yt within ye space of three yeares they doe effect a Plantation in ye place p"pounded.""
But there is no recognition of Norwich as a town, until October 3, 1661, when the Court orders " ye sec- retary to write a Letter to Norridge, to send vp a Comittee in May next, invested wth full [power] to issue ye affair respecting setling that Plantation vnd" this gouerment."+
In 1662-3 (March 11,) it is furthermore voted that " the conveyance of nine miles square made by Onkos wth other Indians, to Norwich plantation, is ordered to be recorded, with this proviso, that it shal not preiudice any former grant to o' worl gouernor or others," and in May, 1663, "the Court orders that
*Trumbull, Col. Ree. i, 336.
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