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GENERAL HISTORY
TOWN OF SHARON, BY
C. F. SEDGWICK.
the university of connecticut libraries
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General history of the town of Sha
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GENERAL HISTORY
LEHIGH UNIVERSITY
-- OF-
JUN 17 1942
LIBRARY
THE TOWN OF SHARON,
LITCHFIELD COUNTY, CONN.
FROM ITS FIRST SETTLEMENT.
BY CHARLES F. SEDGWICK, A. M.
SECOND EDITION.
AMENIA, N. Y. : CHARLES WALSH, PRINTER AND PUBLISHER. 1877.
217775
CONTENTS.
CONTENTS,
3- 5
PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION, 6-
PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION, 7- 8
CHAPTER I., 9- 16
Containing a Concise History of Events which Led to the Sale and Settlement of the Township.
CHAPTER II., 17- 20
An Account of the Measures Proposed and Ex- ecuted for the Sale and Settlement of the Township.
CHAPTER III., 2.1- 30 Incorporation of the Town-First Town Meet- ing-List of Officers Chosen-Settlement of Rev. Peter Pratt-First Meeting House- Alarming Sickness.
CHAPTER IV .. 31- 37
Indians in Sharon.
3
4
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER V., 38- 49 Ecclesisastical Affairs-Deposition of Mr. Pratt -His Subsequent Career-Litchfield County when Organized-Settlement of Mr. Searle- Ellsworth Society-Rev. Mr. Knibloe-Dismis- sion of Mr. Searle.
CHAPTER VI. 50- 54 A History of the Moravian Missions in Sharon.
CHAPTER VII.
55-64
Rev. Cotton Mather Smith-Census-Church of England Missions - Organization of the Episcopal Parish-New Meeting House-Rev. George Whitfield.
CHAPTER VIII., . 65-76 Events of the Revolutionary War.
CHAPTER IX.
77-86 Incidental Events-Disastrous Fire in Sharon Valley-Small Pox-Casualties-Shays' Rebel- lion-Excise Duties.
CHAPTER X 87- 92 Methodist Society in Sharon.
CHAPTER XI., . 93-106
History of the Ecclesiastical Society Continued.
CHAPTER XII., 107-112
The War of the Rebellion.
CHAPTER XIII., 113-173
Biographical Notices-Family Sketches, Geneal- ogies, Etc.
APPENDIX A., 177-179 Form of Deeds Given by the Government's Committee to the Purchasers of Rights to the Common Land in Sharon.
CONTENTS. 5
APPENDIX B.,
.180-183
Patent of the Town of Sharon.
APPENDIX C.,
,184-187
Rev. Cotton Mather Smith's Reply to Rev. Dr.
Trumbull's Circular.
APPENDIX D., . .188-189 Copy of the Deed by which the Indians Con- veyed Away their Last Claim of Title to Lands in Sharon.
APPENDIX E., . . 190 --- List of Names of Soldiers of the Revolution, belonging to the Town of Sharon, who served in 1776, taken from the Controller's Books, in Hartford.
APPENDIX F., .
. 191-194
Narrative of Adonijah Maxam.
APPENDIX G., 195-196
Graduates of Yale College who have been
Citizens of Sharon.
APPENDIX H., . .197-
Names of the Children of the Rev. Cotton Mather Smith, with the dates of their decease.
APPENDIX I., .
198-203
Roll of the Representatives from the Town of Sharon to the General Assembly.
APPENDIX J.,. 204-206
Town Officers.
APPENDIX K.,. 207- Hymn composed by the Hon. John Cotton Smith, and sung at the Celebration of the One Hundredth Anniversary of the First Town Meeting.
PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION.
THE Author of the following pages was requested by his fellow citizens of the town of Sharon to prepare an address to be delivered at the celebration of the one-hundredth anniver- sary of their first town meeting, on the 22d day of December, 1839. This request was complied with, but the short period in which it was prepared rendered it, necessarily, in many re- spects imperfect, and in some inaccurate. By the advice of many friends he has been induced to embody the facts con- nected with the History of the Town in the form here pre- sented, and to commit the work to the press for the benefit of the inhabitants of his adopted town. The labor of making the researches has necessarily occupied much time, and no effort has been spared to make the work accurate in its details. In preparing sketches of the many citizens of the town who are brought to notice in the last chapter, the personal history of more than two hundred individuals, many of whom have been dead for a half century, has been investigated, and many names which had long since gone into forgetfulness are brought to light. It is not unlikely that in this part of the work some errors may have intervened, but it is believed that in almost every instance accuracy has been attained.
If the work shall prove interesting or useful to the citizens of the town, the labor incurred in its preparation will be well repaid.
SHARON, March 1842.
6
PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION.
-
IT is now thirty-five years since the author published a his- tory of the Town of Sharon. He was appointed by his fellow townsmen to prepare an address to be delivered on the one hundredth anniversary of the first town meeting of the town. This led him to a partial but by no means thorough investiga- tion of facts connected with the history of the town. Very little aid was obtained from public documents, other than the records of the town, and the principal reliance for items of history was upon the traditions handed down from the early settlers. Under these circumstances the work was committed to the press. The consequence was that in regard to the early history of the town, it was very defective, owing to the uncer- tainties of traditions and the barrenness of documentary proof. Since the book was published, the study into the history of lo- cal corporations has become very general, and the success which has in some cases attended such pursuits has encouraged the author to make more minute investigations into the facts relating to the early history of Sharon. In prosecuting this purpose he was greatly aided by the late Nathaniel Goodwin, Esq., of Hartford, who was an antiquarian of most scrupulous accuracy, and who delighted to extend his aid in the diffusion of historical knowledge. Many of the documents thus obtained have been copied into this work, that the men of those times may give in their own language a history of their trials and success.
When the first book was published some were living who
7
8
PREFACE.
were acquainted with some of the early settlers of the town, and whose recollections extended back to the preaching of Whitfield and to the exciting times preceding the war of the Revolution. Many others then survived who took an active part in that war. The late Alpheus Jewett, Esq., was one of the party which was organized in Sharon, which broke up and scattered a large body of tories who had gathered at Washing- ton Hollow, N. Y., in 1777, to welcome the coming of the British General, Burgoyne, then on his way with a large army from Canada. He was also in the battle at Compo in Fair- field, where Lieut. Samuel Elmer, Jun., was killed, and fur- nished the particulars of that battle as given in the body of this work. He had a remarkably retentive memory, and the aid which he furnished the author in gathering up the incidents in the history of the town is gratefully remembered. The same acknowledgment is due to the memory of the late Calvin Gay, Esq., from whom the author derived much aid in the prepara- tion of the notices of individuals noticed in the last chapter.
These worthies of the olden time have all gone to their rest, but their statement of historical events occurring during their time furnish the only authentic information of many incidents in the annals of the town.
It is only of late that the Author has been persuaded to prepare and publish this edition of the work. The strong in- terest expressed by the prominent citizens of Sharon for the embodiment of such additional facts as might be brought to light by further investigations into another edition of the work, has persuaded him to engage in the undertaking. If in any degree it answers the expectations of those who have urged the publication, he will feel much gratified.
CHARLES F. SEDGWICK.
History of the Town of Sharon.
CHAPTER I.
CONTAINING A CONCISE HISTORY OF EVENTS WHICH LED TO THE SALE AND SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWNSHIP.
THE North-western part of Connecticut was sold and settled at a much later period than any other portion of the State. As early as the year 1686, nearly all the lands in the Colony had been disposed of, except those lying north of Waterbury and Woodbury, and west of Simsbury. Under the Charter of Charles II., obtained in 1662, the Colony of Connecticut, though nominally dependant on the crown, enjoyed, in fact, a strictly Republican form of government ; the only service they were required to render to the crown of England being the one-fifth part of the produce of such mines of gold and silver as should be discovered. Charles was succeeded by his brother, James II., a prince of very arbitrary and vindictive propensities, and no sooner was he firmly seated on his throne, than he began to manifest his tyrannical disposition by causing the charters, which had been granted by his predecessors, to be vacated, and by assuming to himself the right cf appointing governors for the different Colonies. It was feared by the people, that these Royal governors would seize upon all the
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IO
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF SHARON.
public lands which had not been sold and granted by the Colony, and measures were taken to prevent such unjustifiable proceedings. It was believed, that if the public lands were sold, and the title to them guaranteed by the governor and company of the Colony, they could not be seized for the king, and under this impression, the land within the limits just mentioned were on the 26th day of January, 1686, conveyed to the towns of Hartford and Windsor. The grant, however, did not include the lands west of the Ousatonic River, the assembly probably supposing, that, on account of their great distance from the settled parts of the Colony, they were beyond the reach of the royal governor's rapacity. In October, after the grant just mentioned, Sir Edmund Andross came into the Colony, and by virtue of a commission from King James, took upon himself the administration of the government, and continued in it about two years, or until the deposition of King James, when the people quietly resumed their ancient form of government under the Charter.
The lands above mentioned being deemed of little value, and the more fertile parts of the State being but thinly popu- lated, it was more than thirty years before any attempts were made to settle them. About the year 1722, the public atten- tion was turned to the western lands, as they were called ; and as they began to rise in value, the towns of Hartford and Windsor laid claim to them, under the ancient grant which had been made to them under the circumstances which have been mentioned. This claim created a strong excitement throughout the Colony, and a long and bitter controversy ensued, which resulted in a division of the lands between the towns and the Colony, the towns taking the eastern portion and the Colony the western.
This contention with Hartford and Windsor had retarded the sale of the western lands, but that difficulty was now adjusted, and the Assembly took measures, soon after 1730, to effect this object ; and for this purpose they were surveyed and laid out into townships of suitable dimensions. At the
IL
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF SHARON.
session in May, 1732, Edmund Lewis, Esq., Capt. Stephen Noble, and Mr. William Gaylord,* were appointed a commit- tee to view the Colony lands west of the Ousatonic River, and to lay out a township in the northern section of them. They were also endowed with discretionary power to lay out a township on the south of the one just mentioned, if, upon viewing the lands, they should be of opinion that they were of such a quality as to render them a desirable place for a new settlement. This committee entered promptly upon their duties ; and by their report, dated at New Milford, October 9, 1732, it appears they laid out both townships. The north township, now Salisbury, they denominated "the township of M," and the south township they called N. S. The remainder of the country lands west of the Ousatonic River were after- wards annexed to Kent. The boundaries of the second town- ship are thus described by the committee :- " Then having taken a view of the whole tract, we proceeded and laid out a second township, which begins at the southwest corner of the aforesaid township of M, it being a stake set in the ground, and many stones laid to it, standing on the east side of a pond, as above set forth ; and from thence the line runs 12} D. W., with the line of partition between said province of New York, and the Colony of Connecticut, nine miles to a heap of stones laid on a rock, in the aforesaid line of partition, and is about two miles east from Captain Sackett's dwelling house, which is the southwest corner bounds of said second township,-from thence we run the south line of said second township E. 9} D. south four miles and a half and 115 rods, to the Ousatonic
* Mr. Lewis, who was placed at the head of this committee, belonged to Stratford, and was the County Surveyor of Fairfield County. He had been employed through the whole of the preceding year in surveying and running the boundary line between the colony of Connectient and the province of New York, which was a work of very great labor. IIe had also been employed, years before, in laying out country grants in the south part of the territory, and of course was well acquainted with all this region of country. then in a state of nature. Mr. Noble was the second son of Mr. John Noble, of New Milford, who is re- pnted the first settler of that town. Mr. Gaylord was also one of the first settlers of New Milford. and was originally from Windsor. He was the patriarch of the Gaylord family which settled in the northwest part of that town, called Gaylord's farms, or straights, in which the Gaylord name still prevails.
I2
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF SHARON.
River, where we marked a white oak tree, and laid many stones to it, for the southeast corner bounds of said second town- ship, and we have marked many trees and made many monu- ments in the said south line. Thus we have surveyed and laid out the township of N. S., and it is bounded north on the township of M., south on the country lands, west on the afore- said line of partition between the province of New York and the Colony of Connecticut, and east on the Ousatonic River." The above work was completed October 7, 1732 .*
It would seem that the way was now prepared for the sale and settlement of the township, but the Hartford and Windsor lands being nearer the settled portions of the Colony, probably afforded a more desirable field for the enterprise of new settlers, and the Colony lands were neglected. Other circumstances also existed which produced a serious delay in bringing the lands in Sharon into market. The line of partition between the Colony of Connecticut and the Province of New York, was defined and established in May 1731. The commissioners to settle the boundaries between the different jurisdiction on the
* The opinion of the committee as to the quality of the lands west of the Ousatonic River is here given in their own language, and it will be read with much interest by those who are acquainted with its present condition and value. "Furthermore these may cer- tify the Hon., the General Assembly, that as to the quality of the aforesaid described and laid out lands, in the said townships, we find them like a great part of the rest of the lands in this government, some good and some otherwise; we find the good and fertile lands in the north township to be considerably scattering, and that there are country grants laid out in it to the quantity of about 3,500 acres. There are six ponds in said north township, which we judge, all of them, contain not less than 2,000 acres .- There is at the northwest corner of said township, on Poconnuck Mount, a large piece of rough waste land, we think not less than 4,000 acres. The remainder of the lands in said township will, in our judg- ment, be serviceable for plowing, mowing, and pastaring; and will, with the inhabitants there, and the farms, accommodate a sufficient number of inhabitants for a town.
" In the second township we find two ponds, which may contain 500 acres. There is laid out in it, of country grants, 400 acres, and a considerable quantity of rough land, yet we find such a quantity of feasible lands in it (and not so much scattering as in the first township), as will, in our judgment, accommodate a sufficient number of inhabitants for a town.
" The remainder of the country lands there is about eight miles in length, and at the south end, we judge, about three-fourths of a mile wide; which we find, the greatest part of it, to be very rough and mountainous ; yet we find some feasible land in it-which is all at present supposed to be needful by your Honors' most obedient servants to command.
EDMUND LEWIS, STEPHEN NOBLE, WM. GAYLORD,
Committee.
New Milford, October 9, 1732.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF SHARON.
part of Connecticut, were Samuel Eells, Roger Wolcott and Edmund Lewis ; on the part of New York, Cadwalader Colden, Vincent Matthews and Jacobus Bruyn, Jun., and the articles of settlement are dated Dover, May 14, 1731.
Several years before the settlement of the boundaries, one Richard Sackett had located himself at the place now called the Steel Works, in the beautiful Valley of the Ten Mile River, about seven miles south of the now village of Sharon. The whole region was a wilderness, and it being in the time of Queen Anne's war, he was exposed to imminent peril from hostile savages. He acquired large possessions of land and his settlement is spoken of in cotemporary documents and records as Sackett's Farm. He had been a sea captain in early life, and in connection with wealthy individuals in the city of New York he commenced at an early day to purchase the Indian title to the lands near him. The colony line not having been established, he probably availed himself of his knowledge of astronomy acquired in the study of navigation, and made experiments and observations, based upon a treaty of partition made in 1683, but which had never been carried out by actual survey, and persuaded himself that the boundary line, when sur- veyed, would run within about two miles of the Ousatonic River. In this belief, he purchased of Metoxon, the great Chief of all the Indian tribes in that region, whose residence was probably at Copake Flats, N. Y., about twenty-two thou- sand acres of land, more than seven thousand acres of which the survey of the boundary line, showed to be in Connecticut. The boundaries were definitely traced in the treaty of purchase, but in general terms they were as follows :
The east line commenced at a place which the Indians called Wimpeting, at the western base of a range of mountains, about seven miles south of Sharon Village, and from that point it followed the western base of the mountain range, northerly, to a point in Salisbury, a little east of Town Hill, so called. From that point the line ran northwesterly to the base of the mountain north of the Ore Hill, which in the Indian deed is
I-4
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF SHARON.
called Ponsumpsie, thence southwesterly to the foot of the mountain west of Spencers Corner, then following that range southerly through the Wassaic valley, to Sackett's other pos- sessions. Looking at this territory in all its characteristics and resources, we can hardly conceive of any other which exceeds it in rural beauty or sources of wealth.
He, believing that the whole tract was within the territory of New York, obtained a confirmation of his title from the Provincial Government and from Queen Ann's Most Excellent Majesty. He exercised acts of ownership in different parts of the territory. He built a dwelling house in what is now called Sharon Valley, which stood west of the. Ten Mile River, a little west of the Malleable Iron Works, and just within the territory of Connecticut. There he settled a tenant of the name of Baltus Lott, a Dutchman. There can be no doubt that the house occupied by this individual was the first house built by a white man in Sharon, and that he was the first white inhabitant of the town. Sackett also made other improvements in various portions of the lands claimed by him. But the running of the boundary line in 1731 showed him that a large and valuable portion of them were within the jurisdiction of Connecticut, and that so much of them would be lost to him unless he could obtain a confirmation of his title from that Colony.
He immediately commenced petitioning the General Court of Connecticut for the recognition of his title, and prosecuted his suit for nearly seven years. He urged, from time to time, his claims to the land for the reasons, that he had expended large sums of money in the purchase of it, in the full belief that it was in New York; that he had braved many dangers during a long residence in the wilderness, encountered perils and privations of various kinds, had built a grist mill for the benefit of the neighboring inhabitants ; and in various other ways urged a confirmation of his title. His petitions were uniformly rejected by the legislature, and he, after several years' of effort, satisfied that a further prosecution would be useless,
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF SHARON.
abandoned it forever. But his tenant Baltus Lott held on to his possessions for several years after the town was settled, despite the many efforts of the proprietors to dislodge him, and finally compelled them to pay him a liberal price for his improve- ments.
The Colony of Connecticut ever made it a practice to deal justly by the Indian claimants before they attempted to dispose of its lands by settlements. Treating Sackett's pur- chase as a nullity, the governor and company employed Thomas Lamb, who lived at Lime Rock, in Salisbury, to buy up the Indian title to the lands in Sharon, and in October, 1738, he effected a purchase from the tribe claiming title to them, for about four hundred and fifty dollars. The indefiniteness and uncertainty of this contract with Lamb, as to how much, if any land was reserved to the Indians, afterwards, as will be seen, caused no little trouble to the settlers.
It will be observed that the committee who laid out the township mention in their report to the legislature that there had been laid out in country grants about four hundred acres of land. This was the designation given to lands patented by the Colony to individual purchasers. The land thus described was near Hitchcock's Corner. It was laid out in two parcels, one of three hundred acres to Samuel Orvis, of Farmington, and another of about one hundred acres to Jonathan Bird, of the same town. Both pieces were surveyed by Mr. Lewis, about the time of the original survey of the town. This grant included lands of the very first quality, and extended as far north as to include the farm of the late Southard Hitch- cock, Esq. Orvis and Bird never occupied their lands, but before 1734 sold them to one Daniel Jackson, and the patent was taken out in Jackson's name, and the land for many years was called Jackson's Patent. Daniel Jackson was the first New England man who lived in Sharon. His house stood where the house lately owned by the Sharon Manufacturing Company stands. He was originally from Newtown, in Fairfield County, but at the time of his purchase he resided in Dover, N. Y.
16
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF SHARON.
His son, Jehiel Jackson, who once lived where George Maxam now lives, in the Great Hollow, was the first white child born in Sharon. Mr. Jackson lived but a few years in town. In February, 1739, he sold his patent to Garret Winegar, and removed to Great Barrington, Mass.
CHAPTER II.
AN ACCOUNT OF THE MEASURES PROPOSED AND EXECUTED FOR THE SALE AND SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWNSHIP.
AT the session of the Assembly in May, 1738, it was ordered that the township should be sold at public auction at New Haven on the second Wednesday of the following October. Samuel Eels, Esq., Joseph Whiting, and Capt. Isaac Dicker- man were appointed a committee for that purpose. It was divided into fifty-three rights, or shares, as they were called. one of which was given to the first minister, one was reserved for the use of the ministry in the town, and one for the support of schools, and the debts accruing from the sale were secured by the bonds of the purchasers, and when collected the avails were divided among the other towns in the colony for the sup- port of schools therein. The following is a list of the original purchasers of the town :--- Nathaniel Skinner, Ichabod Foot, Stephen Calkin, Thomas Skinner,
Nathaniel Skinner, Jr., Samuel Calkin, 2 rights, Samuel Gillet,
Samuel Hutchinson,
Timothy Pierce, 3 rights,
James Smith,
Joshua Lyon, Joseph Skinner,
Ebenezer Mudge, John Sprague,
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF SHARON.
John Pardee, Niles Coleman, Matthew Judd, Jabez Crippen, William Goodrich, 2 rights, Jonathan Petit,
Samuel Butler, 3 rights,
Benjamin Johns, James Talmadge,
Daniel Hunt,
Thomas Spafford,
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