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Gc 974.6 C54 pt.1 1764775
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
= ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01150 5010
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center
http://www.archive.org/details/historyofconnect01inclar
A HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT
ITS PEOPLE AND INSTITUTIONS
pt. 1
BY
GEORGE L. CLARK
AUTHOR OF "SILAS DEANE : A LEADER IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION," "NOTIONS OF A YANKEE PARSON," ETC.
WITH 100 ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS
SECOND EDITION
974.6 C 54
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS NEW YORK AND LONDON Tbe Iknickerbocker Press
563
1764775
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7
The Connecticut State Capitol, Hartford, Conn. Completed in 1879
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COPYRIGHT, 1914 BY GEORGE L. CLARK
Che Knickerbocker Press, Rew Dork
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To MY CHILDREN
THIS VOLUME IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED IN MEMORY OF HAPPY DAYS IN
CONNECTICUT
62331
CONNECTICUT
'T is a rough land of earth and stone and tree, Where breathes no castled lord or cabined slave; Where thoughts and tongues and hands are bold and free, And friends will find a welcome, foes a grave; And where none kneel, when to Heaven they pray, Nor even then, unless in their own way.
FITZ-GREENE HALLECK.
;
PREFACE
W HILE Connecticut is passing from foundation work and a style of living, moulded by the frugal Puritan influences of the early years, into conditions, shaped largely by people from many other lands; while wealth, luxuries and amusements multiply, it is well to review the past, study the reasons for the migrations hither; glance at early idealism, hardships and problems; see the thrift, wari- ness and common sense; observe what farmers had for breakfast, what and how they believed, the way they worked, struggled and occasionally played; how fines as well as interest in a warm theology promoted attendance at the icy meeting-house. It is diverting to notice leather breeches, home-spun coats and linsey-woolsey gowns issuing from forest, sheep-pasture and flax-field; watch the evolution of the log-house into the gambrel-roofed and lean-to; see the bridle-path widen and harden into turnpike, railroad and trolley; schooner change to steamboat and ferry to bridge; mark how the versatile people managed with Indians, wolves, rattlesnakes, witchcraft, slavery, tramps and Sunday; how they erected schools, meeting-houses, whipping-posts and pillories in every town; how they relieved the monotony of brewing beer, working the loom and hoeing corn by a journey to Tower Hill to enjoy the luxury of a moving picture of a public hanging. We are to see the innocent-looking sloop go down the river toward Barbados, loaded with horses, pipe-staves, salted fish, beef and pork, returning with a cargo of rum and molasses, or of unwilling immigrants from
vii
viii
Preface
Guinea; examine afresh the evolution of town and colonial government; the working of Charles II's liberal charter; the development of courts, schools, colleges, taxation, insurance, temperance, music, art, literature, industries, penal and reformatory methods, philanthropies and religious freedom; how slavery grew, waned and ceased; mines were opened, inventions multiplied, looms worked and brickyards poured forth their treasure; how tobacco fields, market gardens, orchards, factories, Yankee notions and tin-peddlers flourished.
In touching so many interests, adventurous were the daring that should expect to include in one volume all that deserves saying, and with infallible accuracy, but in this endeavor to describe the place and influence of Connecticut in the onward movement of the country, the author believes that the work invites to an instructive and interesting excursion into a vital and inspiring field.
The author wishes to express his hearty thanks to all who helped him by suggestions and criticisms: chief of these is Charles M. Andrews, Professor of History in Yale Univers- ity, who, with accurate scholarship, made many invaluable comments. Among others who have placed the writer under decided obligations are the following librarians: George S. Godard of the State Library, Albert C. Bates of the Connecticut Historical Society Library, Frank B. Gay and Forrest Morgan of the Watkinson Library. Material assistance has also been rendered in lines in which they are experts by President F. S. Luther and Professor J. J. McCook of Trinity College, Professor W. S. Pratt of Hartford Theo- logical Seminary, Professors W. M. Bailey, Williston Walker and H. A. Beers of Yale University; Dr. Edwin A. Down, Chairman of the State Board of Charities; C. D. Hine, Secretary of the State Board of Education; Dr. W. N. Thompson, Superintendent of the Hartford Retreat for the Insane; Dr. G. H. Knight, late Superintendent of the School for the Feeble-minded; Albert Garvin, Superintendent of
Preface
ix -- X
the State Reformatory; W. A. Garner, Warden of the Con- necticut State Prison; W. G. Fairbank, Superintendent of the Connecticut Industrial School for Girls; C. M. Williams, Superintendent of the Connecticut School for Boys; Dr. W. E. Fisher of the staff of the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane; Dr. H. M. Pollock, Superintendent of the Norwich Hospital for the Insane; E. M. Warner, Esquire, of Putnam; C. M. Thompson, Secretary of the Connecticut Prison Asso- ciation; J. M. Taylor, President of the Connecticut Mutual Insurance Company; Burton Mansfield, Insurance Commis- sioner; W. S. Corbin and C. C. Maxfield, Tax Commissioner and Clerk; R. B. Brandegee, C. N. Flagg and James Britton, artists; Charles Hopkins Clark of the Hartford Courant and Professor Anson D. Morse of Amherst College.
G. L. C.
WETHERSFIELD, CONNECTICUT, April 1, 1914.
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..
CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER
I THE PREHISTORIC PERIOD . ·
.
I
II THE SETTLEMENT .
.
.
4
III
SETTLEMENT CONCLUDED
· 17
IV THE INDIANS . · · 28
V WARS WITH THE INDIANS
·
.
· 38
VI FORMING THE GOVERNMENT .
. 53
VII COURTS AND LAWS .
.
. 81
VIII HOW THE PEOPLE LIVED IN THE EARLY DAYS IOI
IX THE EARLY RELIGIOUS LIFE . 119
X WITCHCRAFT . · · 145 .
XI SLAVERY . .
· 155 XII CONNECTICUT STRUGGLES FOR HERSELF AND NEIGHBORS 164 .
XIII THE UNITED COLONIES OF NEW ENGLAND 18I
XIV EARLY MANUFACTURES AND COMMERCE 185
XV EXPANSION . 195
XVI EDUCATION · · .
·
·
· 207
. . 228 XVII THE COLLEGES . · . .
xi
xii
Contents
PAGE
CHAPTER XVIII DEVELOPMENT OF THE HIGHWAYS . 249
XIX THE GREAT AWAKENING . ·
· 264
XX THE REVOLUTION .
.
·
· 279
XXI CONNECTICUT AND THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES . .
· 297
XXII CONDITIONS AT THE CLOSE OF THE EIGH- TEENTH CENTURY . 307
XXIII FINANCE AND TAXATION ·
·
· 317
XXIV THE SECOND WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. . 330
XXV THE CONSTITUTION OF 1818 .
.
339
XXVI INVENTIONS, DISCOVERIES, AND INDUSTRIES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY . 354
XXVII THE LATER RELIGIOUS LIFE · 367
XXVIII
THE ANTI-SLAVERY MOVEMENT IN CON-
NECTICUT
.
.
· 375
XXIX CONNECTICUT IN THE CIVIL WAR .
· 381
XXX INSURANCE ·
·
.
·
· 392
XXXI TRANSPORTATION .
· 414
XXXII THE POOR-LAW. .
. 420
XXXIII PENAL AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS 438
XXXIV PHILANTHROPIC INSTITUTIONS . 461
. 486 XXXV TEMPERANCE LEGISLATION ·
XXXVI LITERATURE ·
·
·
.
· 496
XXXVII ART
·
.
·
·
· 514
XXXVIII MUSIC . ·
.
.
.
·
. 525
·
Contents
xiii- Xiv
CHAPTER XXXIX AGRICULTURE . . . .
PAGE
. 536
XL THE CITY .
. 547
XLI THE OLD CONNECTICUT AND THE NEW. . 553
BIBLIOGRAPHY .
· 561
.. INDEX . . . . .
. 565
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X
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
THE CONNECTICUT STATE CAPITOL, HARTFORD, CONN.
COMPLETED IN 1879 . Frontispiece
THE PERCHED GLACIAL BOWLDER AT TAFTVILLE
.
4
.
GLACIAL STRIÆ, SUMMIT STREET, HARTFORD
·
4
JOHN WINTHROP, JR., OF NEW LONDON .
.
14
REV. JOHN DAVENPORT
·
·
18
THE OLD HOME OF HON. JOHN WEBSTER, FIFTH GOVERNOR OF CONNECTICUT, AT HARTFORD · 20
A TYPICAL CHAIN FERRY
.
. 20
WHITEFIELD HOUSE, GUILFORD, IN 1640.
.
. 28
THE PLAN OF THE PEQUOT FORT · .
· . 42
BELT AND STRINGS OF WAMPUM .
· 42
THE MONUMENT AT THE SCENE OF THE SWAMP FIGHT, WESTPORT . .
· 46
A PASTORAL SCENE IN WOODSTOCK
.
· 50
BISSELL'S FERRY IN WINDSOR, IN CONTINUOUS OPERATION SINCE ABOUT 1645 . · 50
YALE COLLEGE AT THE LEFT AND STATE HOUSE NEAR THE MIDDLE, CENTER CHURCH AT THE RIGHT, NEW HAVEN 60
THE TITLE-PAGE' OF THE FIRST ELECTION SERMON PREACHED IN CONNECTICUT
. 72
XV
xvi
Illustrations
PAGE
THE CHARTER OF 1662 . 78
FACSIMILE OF THE TITLE-PAGE OF PETER'S HISTORY . . 92 .
CHIEF-JUSTICE OLIVER ELLSWORTH AND HIS WIFE, ABIGAIL WOLCOTT ELLSWORTH .
94
THE TAPPING REEVE LAW SCHOOL .. . · 96
TAPPING REEVE . . . 96
FACSIMILE OF THE TITLE-PAGE OF THE FIRST PUBLISHED LAW REPORTS IN AMERICA 98
SEALS OF CONNECTICUT AND HOOKER'S DECLARATION 100
FACSIMILE TITLE-PAGE OF A ROGER SHERMAN ALMANAC II2
EDMUND ANDROS . .
. 168
THE WYLLYS MANSION AND THE CHARTER OAK · 172
EARLY SAILING VESSELS .
· I86
ABEL BUELL'S PETITION FOR A LOTTERY. . 194 ·
TICKET OF A LOTTERY TO BUILD THE BULFINCH STATE-
HOUSE . · . 200
THE CONNECTICUT LAND GORE . . . . . 200
THE HORN BOOK
· 218
A PAGE OF WEBSTER'S SPELLER . · 218
NOAH WEBSTER
.
.
4 .
. . 220
HENRY BARNARD
. . . · 220
SARAH PORTER · .
·
. . · · 222
CATHERINE E. BEECHER .
.
.
.
. 222
EMMA HART WILLARD . ·
.
.
. 224
.
. .
·
.
Illustrations
xvii
PAGE
MANASSEH CUTLER . . 226
THE BUILDINGS OF MODERN YALE UNIVERSITY · 230
VIEW OF THE CONNECTICUT STATE LIBRARY, ON CAPITOL HILL, HARTFORD
. 230
TIMOTHY DWIGHT
.
· .
· 234
PROFESSOR JAMES D. DANA . . . . 236 ·
PROFESSOR BENJAMIN SILLIMAN . . · 236
THE RIGHT REVEREND SAMUEL SEABURY, D.D. . 240
THE STAGE-COACH AMERICA .
254
·
.
CHAISE BELONGING TO SHERIFF WARD OF WORCESTER
.
254
A STAGE NOTICE AT HARTFORD
·
. 258
A TAVERN SIGN AT SAYBROOK
.
· 258
THE CONNECTICUT RIVER BRIDGE (NEW)
.
.
· 262
THE CONNECTICUT RIVER BRIDGE (OLD) . . 262 .
·
266
JONATHAN EDWARDS
.
LAUREL IN WINCHESTER
.
·
268
BIRTHPLACE OF JONATHAN EDWARDS, SOUTH WINDSOR . 268
JONATHAN TRUMBULL . 280 . ·
SILAS DEANE
·
·
· ·
·
. 284
GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM . · . .
. 284
ISRAEL PUTNAM'S PLOW . ·
. . · 286
THE PUTNAM WOLF DEN, POMFRET
·
· 286
.
NATHAN HALE, A BRONZE STATUE IN THE CONNECTICUT STATE CAPITOL ·
·
288
..
xviii
Illustrations
PAGE
THE GROTON MONUMENT COMMEMORATING THE BATTLE OF SEPTEMBER 6, 1781 . 290
"HOSPITALITY HALL, " WETHERSFIELD . ·
. 292
A VIEW OF WETHERSFIELD FROM THE CONNECTICUT
RIVER . · 292
ROGER SHERMAN ·
. . 298
WILLIAM SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D .. . . · 304
SAMUEL HUNTINGTON . .
.
. . · · 304
THE OLD HOME OF ROGER SHERMAN, "THE SIGNER" AND FIRST MAYOR OF NEW HAVEN .
· 308
TEMPLE STREET, NEW HAVEN ·
.
· 308
A YANKEE TIN PEDDLER .
. · · · 310
THE WETHERSFIELD ELM
.
.
· 310
FIRST PAGE OF FIRST COPY OF CONNECTICUT "COURANT" 312
THE RUINS OF THE FORGE WHERE THE ANCHOR OF THE "CONSTITUTION" WAS CAST
· 314
THE STEAMBOAT OF JOHN FITCH · · 314 .
CONTINENTAL CURRENCY. ORIGINALS IN CONNECTICUT
STATE LIBRARY .
· 320
OLIVER WOLCOTT, JR. . .
·
. . .
. 350
ELI TERRY . · · .
·
. . ·
· 358
SETH THOMAS . . .
.
.
· 358
CHARLES GOODYEAR
· . . · 360
SAMUEL COLT · · · ·
. · · · 360
Illustrations
ELI WHITNEY
·
·
FIRST CHURCH, HARTFORD .
.
.
.
· 370
HENRY WARD BEECHER .
· 374
· . · 376 JOHN BROWN . · . .
ROGER S. BALDWIN .
· 378
GOVERNOR WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM . . 380
GENERAL ALFRED H. TERRY
·
.
. 380
GENERAL JOSEPH R. HAWLEY
. 382
MAJOR-GENERAL JOHN SEDGWICK
.
.
. 384
GENERAL NATHANIEL LYON .
.
·
.
·
. 384
ADMIRAL ANDREW H. FOOTE
· 386
GIDEON WELLES .
.
.
.
· 386
MODERN STEAMBOATING ON THE RIVER, "THE HARTFORD LINE" · ·
·
416
A RARE SKETCH OF NEWGATE PRISON
.
.
·
438
CONVICT DINING-ROOM AT MEAL HOUR AT CONNECTICUT STATE PRISON
· 442
THE MAIN CAVERN . · .
· 442
· . 472 ELI TODD . · . · . . · . 472
HORACE WELLS . ·
. 482
. ELIHU BURRITT . .
. 482
.
FITZ-GREENE HALLECK
.
.
.
.
.
502
JAMES G. PERCIVAL . .
·
· 502
r
xix
PAGE
362
.
.
F. H. GALLAUDET . .
XX
Illustrations
PAGE
DR. HORACE BUSHNELL
·
. 504
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE . · . ·
. 506
CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER . .
. .
·
· 508
SAMUEL L. CLEMENS (MARK TWAIN) . . ·
. 510
FREDERICK E. CHURCH . . . 520
JOHN TRUMBULL .
. 520
THE ATHENAEUM AND MORGAN MEMORIAL, HARTFORD 522 THE OLD STATE HOUSE, HARTFORD, NOW CITY HALL · 522
DUDLEY BUCK . .
. .
. 534
BEAR MOUNTAIN, SALISBURY, 2354 FEET HIGH ·
· 546
THE CONNECTICUT STATE FLAG ·
· 546
ORVILLE PLATT .
.
. 554 .
MAPS
MAP OF CONNECTICUT 1758 .
24
MAP SHOWING THE NEW YORK AND BOSTON POST ROAD IN CONNECTICUT
. 250
MAP OF CONNECTICUT, 1914.
. .at end
.
.
A HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT
.
A History of Connecticut
CHAPTER I
THE PREHISTORIC PERIOD
C ONNECTICUT extends on Long Island Sound a hundred miles, rises to an average height of a thou- sand feet at its northern line, and in the case of Bear Moun- tain in Salisbury, to the extreme height of two thousand three hundred and fifty-four feet. The eastern boundary is forty-five and the western seventy-two miles in extent, and within these modest limits lies one of the original thirteen colonies, busy, thrifty, inventive, and conservative. It is on the turnpike between empire states,-sharp for the best trade, keen for the main chance, laughed at for its steady habits, wooden nutmegs, peddlers, and Blue Laws; leaned on in times of national peril; sought by tired nerves for its lovely valleys, whispering brooks, and radiant lakes. The eastern counties are sandy, stony, sometimes rocky and wild, but beautiful. The western parts are famous for their noble mountains, picturesque lakes, and entrancing scenery. The three main rivers and the streams which flow into them once abounded with salmon, shad, and trout. These streams are still beautiful, and are useful for steamboats, tugs, sailboats, power-boats, and for turning wheels to manufacture every- thing from a jackknife to an automobile. Varied is the wealth of Connecticut-forests, mountains, orchards, and meadows-
I
.
2
A History of Connecticut
and in their season there abound sweet and blushing peaches, spicy apples, delicious grapes, mammoth strawberries, the lowly potato, the rank tobacco, the crisp celery, the royal Indian corn, the courtly rye, and the graceful herd's grass.
Searching for the foundation of this park-like state, we see beneath all else the ancient rocks-granite, quartz, feld- spar, found in abundance in the eastern and western counties, and sometimes cropping out elsewhere. Midway, the high- lands sink into a wide trough, in which are rocks of a later date, showing that a muddy valley once ran through the state into Massachusetts, and that over it sauntered in lazy promenade, or leaped in hungry pursuit of prey, huge reptiles and the terrible mastodon; some of those foot- prints used to be called "Connecticut River bird-tracks," but it is now known that birds did not appear at that early period, and that the animals must have been reptiles. An interesting example of the monsters in Connecticut thou- sands of years ago was found in Farmington in August, 1913, by workmen digging on the shore of an ancient lake, whose mud bottom rests on glacial rock. It is a skeleton of a mastodon, which is supposed to have been eleven feet high and to have weighed about eight tons. Upon that weird scene a volcano rolled its molten lava, spreading over the beds of mud, hardening it into rock, after which there succeeded a long era of peace, with busy streams pouring in their tribute of sand and gravel. Then there occurred another volcanic outburst, and later still another, for there are in central Connecticut three sheets of volcanic trap, and sandwiched between them are beds of sand, clay, and gravel, long since hardened into rocks known as shale, sandstone, and conglomerate. The three fiery torrents killed the animals, preserving many of their tracks. Long after the rocks were laid, and the last lava stiffened, there were powerful earthquakes, which tilted the rocks. The latter, through the weathering of the ages, form the mountains we call Talcott, Hanging Hills of Meriden, Lamentation,
3
The Prehistoric Period
Three Notches, and Pond Rock, in the long range from Mount Tom to the Sound.
Then came the Glacial Age, whose vast sheet covered the land and moved heavily down mountain and hill, carry- ing bowlders for miles, grinding the surface of the rocks, leaving piles of sand here and there. All the rocks of the state show the results of the Glacial Age, but the clearest markings are in the trap ridges of the central parts, wherever the trap comes to the surface. The broken material torn off by the ice is found in the gravelly soil of the cultivated land, in the hills of gravel, and in the sandy bluffs along the rivers. Long Island is probably a terminal moraine, and Saybrook rests on a glacial sand plain, as does the town of Essex, and a part of Norwich. In the central part of the state, the drift is mostly of trap, sandstone, or shale, but in the eastern and western sections the light-colored crystalline rocks and gravels are seen.
The central valley, about twenty miles in width, is drained by the Connecticut as far south as Middletown, where the stream forces its way between two mountains, leaving the valley that reaches the Sound at New Haven. This valley, the home of the first settlers, is of a deep, rich loam, until the river leaves it, after which it is sandy. The more broken country, often rugged and grand, in the eastern and western parts is less favorable for agriculture than are the central parts, but the rivers are powerful sources of wealth.
Connecticut is well supplied with clay for bricks in New- ington, Windsor, North Haven, and elsewhere; its granite quarries are many and inexhaustible, its sandstone measures at Portland abundant, and its iron mines at Salisbury of great value, especially where toughness is required. It was a long, stiff discipline through which Connecticut passed to prepare for the coming days; she was wrenched, twisted, racked, pounded, frozen, washed and burned, but at length the sturdy foundation was laid for a resolute people and a vigorous history.
..
CHAPTER II
THE SETTLEMENT
IT is well that this singularly favored tract with its varied wealth of building materials, soil, rivers, and harbors stayed in obscurity so long, until the seed of a highly developed civilization could be winnowed out of the gloomy and weari- some life of Europe. It was in 1614, that the clear waters of the Connecticut were first traversed by a keel steered by a pale-faced mariner. The first European visitor to Connecticut was the Dutch navigator, Adrian Blok, who, on his way through the Sound in his American-built yacht, the Restless, explored for sixty miles the river, which the Indians called "Quaneh-ta-cut," the long tidal river. It was spring- time, and forest and meadow were charming to the keen mariner; few signs of life were seen until he reached Middle- town, where the Indians were numerous, and he learned that they were of the nation called Sequins; near Hartford he came to the country of the Nawaas, where "the natives plant maize," and their village was fortified to withstand the Pequots. Landing there, Blok parleyed with the Indians, and learned that natives from the upper parts of the river brought rich peltry in bark canoes. Then he sailed up-stream as far as Enfield Rapids, where he turned and went down to the Sound; thence he continued eastward, taking note of the Thames and Montauk; explored Narra- gansett Bay, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket; named Rhode Island the Red Island, from the color of the soil;
. 4
5
The Settlement
glanced at Plymouth Rock, and entering Massachusetts Bay, went as far as Nahant. On his way back he fell in with another Dutch captain, Christaensen, in the Fortune, and turning over his vessel to another, Blok sailed for Holland, where so much interest was awakened that the Amsterdam Trading Company was formed; a map was made from Blok's data, and the whole matter was laid before the States-General, which gave the company a charter, and exclusive right to trade for four voyages during three years.
Under that charter of 1614, Dutch ships were soon sailing up and down the river, trading with the Indians, and for nearly eighteen years Amsterdam vessels were on the Con- necticut, which was unknown to the English until a Dutch captain from Manhattan, seeing the Pilgrims at Plymouth "seated in a barren quarter," shortsightedly told them of the rich valley Blok had discovered; said that it was a "fine place for plantation and trade," and wished them to make use of it. This was in 1627, and, the hands of the Pilgrims being full, the acceptance of the invitation was deferred for six years. In 1631, some Mohican Indians visited Plymouth and urged the settlers to go to Connecticut, extolling it as a good place for plantation and trade; they wished to gain the help of the English in behalf of their chief, the able and unscrupulous Uncas, who was seeking the headship of the Pequots.
Moved by these persuasions, in 1632, Edward Winslow went in a boat to the river, confirmed the statements of Dutch and Indians, and on his return went with Bradford to Boston to discuss a plan for a joint trading-post, but they received no encouragement. In September, 1633, a vessel was sent from Boston into the Connecticut, and John Old- ham with three others set out from Watertown overland to explore the river. Plymouth waited no longer, but equipped "a great new bark," in the hold of which was the frame of a house, with "boards to cover and finish it," and sent it forth under command of Captain William Holmes.
6
A History of Connecticut
When they reached the Connecticut, they were surprised to find the Dutch at Hartford in possession of a fort, on which were mounted two cannon. In the previous June, the Dutch bought of the Indians twenty acres, and called their fort the "House of Hope," on reaching which Holmes heard the drum-beats and saw the cannoneers beside the guns with lighted torches, under the banner of the Nether- lands. The commander, Jacob van Curler, bade Holmes "strike and stay," but the Plymouth captain appealed to his commission and went on. No shot was fired, and on reaching the point just below the mouth of the Farmington River September 26, 1633, they landed, quickly "clapt up" the house and soon had a palisade around it to protect against the Dutch and the far more dangerous Pequots.
The Dutch in the House of Hope found their English neighbors disagreeable, but they stayed in their meager stronghold till 1654, in almost constant broils, their land invaded, workmen harassed, and claims challenged. They were "disgusted with a post so constantly insulted," the English denying the right of the Dutch to any land about the fort. Facing the question of Governor Hopkins, "Show your right and we are ready to exhibit ours," there was only one thing to do since the English were becoming so numerous. In 1636, the English secured deeds from Sequasson, the son of Soheag, "lord and rightful owner of the entire river and land thereabouts," and he testified in the Hartford Court that "he never sold any ground to the Dutch." A little later, the colony procured from Uncas, who, after the Pequot overthrow, was the all-powerful Mohican sagamore, "a clear and ample deed of all the lands in Connecticut, except the lands that were planted." The purchase money was in wampum, shoes, and trading-cloth. Boundaries were in- definite, especially when a distance was described as far as "one day's walk," and Connecticut carried out the advice of Sir William Boswell, English ambassador at The Hague, to "crowd on, crowding the Dutch out of those places which
7
The Settlement
they have occupied, without hostility or any act of violence." Soon English and Dutch farmers came to blows; Evert Duyckink, a garrison man, while sowing grain was hit "a hole in his head with a sticke, so that the bloode ran downe very strongly, downe upon his body." Ground which the Dutch had made ready for seed was seized in the night and planted with corn by the English, and then held by them. At length, after countless irritations, retaliations, and negotiations, the English cold shoulder proved so stiff, and the English disposition so freezing, that in the April session of 1654, the Court at Hartford "ordered and declared that the Dutch Howse of Hope, with the lands, buildings and fences thereto belonging bee hereby sequestered." Captain John Underhill posted this notice on the doors of the House of Hope, "I, John Underhill, do seize this house and land for the State of England, by virtue of the commis- sion granted by the Providence Plantation." The Dutch were glad to leave a place which had become so uncomfort- able, and long ago the river wore away the last vestige of the fort, of which the only relic remaining is a tired-looking yellow Holland brick with the halves of two others, which are now among the relics of the Connecticut Historical Society at Hartford.
We must now go back to the story of the settlers from Boston Bay. The people of Watertown, Dorchester, and Newtown (Cambridge) were growing restless under the Massachusetts authority, and the lure of Connecticut ap- pealed strongly. The master mind of this migration was Thomas Hooker, a man of majestic presence and powerful intellect, who had graduated at Cambridge at the age of twenty-two, and continued for a time in residence as a lec- turer, at a time when Laud was advancing to become Arch- bishop of Canterbury, and the policy of "thorough" was developing. Hooker's disposition is seen in his unwilling- ness to accept a living, for which he would come under obligations to a bishop, and as an alternative he accepted a
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