USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Berlin > History of Berlin > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24
HISTORY OF BERLIN, CONNECTICUT BY CATHARINE M. NORTH
1900
F104 Class
Book 24/86
Copyright N.ยบ.
COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT
Catherine M. North
HISTORY OF BERLIN
CONNECTICUT
BY unda CATHARINE M. NORTH
REARRANGED AND EDITED WITH FOREWORD BY
ADOLPH BURNETT BENSON, PH.D.
INSTRUCTOR IN SHEFFIELD SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL OF YALE UNIVERSITY
NEW HAVEN THE TUTTLE, MOREHOUSE & TAYLOR COMPANY
1916
COPYRIGHT, 1916 BY ELIZABETH W. NORTH
NOV 21 1916
CCIA446548
201
TO
THE MANY DEAR BERLIN FRIENDS, WHO WERE SO FAITHFUL IN THEIR FRIENDSHIP, SO WARM, LOVING, AND TRUE IN THEIR AFFECTION, THIS BOOK IS GRATEFULLY DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR'S SISTER, ELIZABETH W. NORTH
FOREWORD
Catharine Melinda North, daughter of Deacon Alfred North and Mary Olive Wilcox, was born March 1, 1840, and, with the exception of one year in girlhood, spent her whole life in Berlin, Conn. She was educated in the Curtis School in Hartford, studied in the Boston Conservatory, and taught music for a long time in her home town. "Following the example of her father, whom she so greatly loved and reverenced, she lived his daily prayer, 'filling up each day with duty and usefulness.'" She interested herself in every good cause, and especially in the work of the Second Congregational Church of Berlin of which she was a member. In the Sunday school, both as pupil and teacher; in the missionary work of the church; and more par- ticularly in the church music, her cooperation was of the utmost importance. At one time she assisted the choir with her truly cultivated and musical contralto voice, and then for years, she led, as organist, the worship of the church. During the declining years of her father, Miss North assisted him in his duties as town clerk, and after his death she gave up her music and continued as agent for the fire insurance companies which he had represented. Her historical work falls in the last quar- ter of her life, and her notes seem to show that she was working on the history of East Berlin and Beckley Quarter, paying considerable attention to the Bowers family, when a stroke of apoplexy ended her work, July 8, 1914.
Miss North was a director in the Berlin Library Association and a member of the Emma Hart Willard chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. While organist of the Berlin church, she turned over the remuneration she received to the Library Association to be used as a fund. One of her former pupils characterized her as a "truly educated" woman, "fond of study," and whose influence was to teach others. In her research work, she often sat up until the "dawn o' day,"
vi
HISTORY OF BERLIN
pondering on historical problems, and it is thought that this may have reduced her physical vitality enough to shorten her career. She possessed, also, a considerable knowledge of botany and had a "genuine love for a flower." An intimate friend has paid the following tribute to the memory of Catharine North :
A long-time friend wishes to express her loving admiration of the character of Miss North, who recently entered into her heavenly rest. Her personality was strong, upright and most interesting; strong in the force of her mental gifts, and in her moral nature; upright in a most conscientious fidelity to all known duty; interesting because responsive to many interests. Her whole nature vibrated in many chords. Did one seek her for advice on any point, how quick she was with her helpfulness and spirit of service! Did one lead the talk to music, art, travel, history, genealogical research, or the deeper things of the spirit, how she brightened and enlarged the sub- ject by her own original ways of looking at it! Who could ever tire of such a companion? When one thinks of the physical pain endured for several years past with the most heroic fortitude, one can but rejoice at the thought of the freed spirit reaching its highest development where all is light and love. We who were her friends are grateful for the companionship of these years, and are glad to believe what has been wisely said, that "Christians never meet for the last time."
BERLIN, July 16, 1914.
s. C. C.
The following chapters contain all of Miss North's work on the history of Berlin which is available for printing. Most of the notes, as is well known, appeared in the Berlin News, from November 9, 1905, to October 3, 1907, and many readers expressed the desire at the time that the articles might some day be printed in portable form. In the present volume two distinct papers have been added: one on "Daniel Wilcox, Pio- neer Settler," which was read before a meeting of the D. A. R. of Berlin, and another on "The Dunbar Family," which was contributed by one of its members and was found among Miss North's correspondence. To my knowledge, neither one of these has ever appeared in print before. A few notes on Ser- geant Beckley have been compiled by the editor from Miss North's papers and added to the first chapter.
vii
FOREWORD
A strong revival of interest in the history of Berlin was pro- duced in September, 1905, when residents of the town decided to celebrate an Old Home Day. On this occasion, all interested were invited to participate, either in body or mind, and a small number, who were already engaged in some historical work on Berlin, accelerated their efforts, brought their material into tangible form, and presented it at this celebration, which took place in the Second Congregational Church of Berlin on the twentieth of the month.
At least three letters and papers were read, either wholly or in part, on that memorable Wednesday evening: a letter by Mrs. Jane Porter Hart Dodd of Cincinnati, which gave some "delightful reminiscences of early Berlin"; a paper by Miss Alice Norton on "Memories of Berlin's Earlier Schools ;" and one by the Hon. F. L. Wilcox on "A Glimpse into the Industrial Life of Some of the Early Families of Berlin." The first two of these were printed immediately in the Berlin News, on September 28th and November 2nd, respectively. A revised version of Mr. Wilcox's paper began to appear the following week, and formed the beginning of the series which Miss North continued and expanded until it had assumed its present pro- portions (see note, page 168). For a time, Miss North and Mr. Wilcox worked together on the task of revision, but in all collaboration-to use Mr. Wilcox's own words-Miss North was the "real historian." All indebtedness to Mr. Wilcox, who kindly placed his own manuscript at the editor's disposal, is here gratefully acknowledged. Many facts and suggestions on Berlin's early industries may be traced to his paper.
Miss North was the historian of the Committee on Prepara- tions for Old Home Day. In an editorial in the Berlin News for September 28, 1905, we find this testimony :
To Miss C. M. North, the News, and all who were connected with the committee, are much indebted for her part of the work in com- piling the great list of names, and in their arrangement for publiea- tion. She was the historian of the committee, and her extended and accurate knowledge of the history of Berlin was a great assistance.
viii
HISTORY OF BERLIN
An examination of Miss North's historical legacy, both pub- lished and unpublished, reveals a contribution to the history of Berlin of no little importance. Above all, it shows true his- torical sense; that is, a conscientious research with an untiring effort to obtain historical truth. Any mistake in a published article (in the Berlin News) was always corrected and explained in a subsequent paper, and the last installment of the printed series, just before the publication of the Berlin News was discontinued, was devoted exclusively to corrections and additions. A study of Miss North's working tools or raw material discloses a surprisingly large variety and quantity of reliable sources. Records of interviews with the oldest residents in town; extracts from correspondence with former residents, who are no longer in Berlin ; innumerable newspaper clippings, describing more recent events; hand-made maps of sections of the town, as it existed a hundred years ago, giving roads, houses, and waterways ; and, finally, quotations from the official records of Farmington, Wethersfield, Hartford, Middletown, New Britain, and other places, connected in any way with the history of Berlin; all these are well represented among Catharine North's papers. Whenever necessary, of course, authorities outside of the state were consulted.
A word about the literary method of the author. Her style was interesting, decidedly unique, and she frequently punctuated the more sober matters of fact with personal comments or his- torical anecdotes. With respect to the mechanism of dealing with the historical material, there seems to have been no well- defined plan. As the author herself expresses it in the opening sentence of the paper on Daniel Wilcox, she took "the liberty of going backward, or forward or sideways at-pleasure." In so far as there was a definite plan, it was geographical. Miss North went from house to house, from street to street, giving the history of both present and former residents.
It has been one purpose of this compilation-and the wish of Miss North's friends-to preserve both the content and the style of the original. As far as possible, this has been done.
ix
FOREWORD
The task of the editor, therefore, has, for the most part, been a mechanical one. There has been no re-writing in any real sense; neither have any stylistic changes been made. It is hoped, however, that the numerous misprints of the original have been removed; the titles of the chapters have, necessarily, been simplified; and all errors corrected which Miss North her- self designated as such. The most important change has been made in the mechanical arrangement of the material. As far as convenient, all data about the same family have been brought together under one heading. The arrangement of the first chapters is meant to have a chronological import; consequently, the earliest settlers of Berlin have been placed at the beginning to serve as an introduction to the rest. This rearrangement has necessitated a few textual changes at points of transition.
Since several historical facts were treated but briefly in the original, and it has seemed impracticable and unnecessary to give each topic a separate heading, several different matters have sometimes been introduced into the same chapter. The reader in some cases, therefore, will be agreeably surprised and will find more than he expected from the title. Whenever this occurs, and there seems to be a break in the continuity of thought, the mind of the reader, as in the original articles, will easily be able to bridge the gap and adjust himself to digressions and abrupt transitions. It should be borne in mind, also, that most of the articles were written ten years ago, and that the "now" of the text refers to conditions as they existed at that time.
BERLIN, CONN., July, 1916.
A. B. B.
.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
Foreword
V
CHAPTER I.
The Earliest Settlers of the Town. Jonathan Gilbert and His Family. Captain Andrew Belcher. Captain Seymour, Keeper of the Fort at Christian Lane. John Goodrich and Family. Sergeant Richard Beckley
1
CHAPTER II.
The North Family; its Ancestors, Descendants, Indus- tries, and Neighbors. Simeon North, the First Official Pistol Maker in the United States 26
CHAPTER III.
The Hart Families of Lower Lane; Their Ancestors, Descendants, and Dwelling Places. Abby Pattison and Her Ancestor, Edward Pattison, the First Manu- facturer of Tin-ware in America. Emma Hart Willard and Her Work 55
CHAPTER IV.
Daniel Wilcox, Pioneer Settler of Savage Hill, Northwest Division of Middletown, and His Family .. 80
CHAPTER V.
The Porter Family. Edmund Kidder, the Centenarian. The Lee Family 103
xii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER VI.
PAGE
The Root Family. The "Lee House" and its Occupants 118
CHAPTER VII.
The Deming Family 131
CHAPTER VIII.
The Dunbar Family 144
CHAPTER IX.
Church History of Berlin. Early History of the "New Ecclesiastical Society." The Divisions of the So- ciety. History of Christian Lane Cemetery. The Reverend William Burnham and His Family. His- tory of South Cemetery. Incidents in the History of the Worthington Church. Deacon Amos Hosford .. 150
CHAPTER X.
The Early Industries of Berlin. The Houses of Berlin
Street and Their Occupants 168
CHAPTER XI.
Trout Streams of Berlin. The Peach Orchard 233
CHAPTER XII.
Belcher Brook and Its Industries ; the History of Risley's Mill, James Lamb's Stove Factory, and the Blair Factory 238
CHAPTER XIII.
Lower Lane. Isaac Norton and His Descendants. Nor- ton's Saw Mill. The Great Flood of 1797 248
xiii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER XIV.
PAGE
Disposal of Highway Property. The Building of the New Haven Railroad. The Train Wreck at Peat Swamp 258
CHAPTER XV.
Mount Lamentation 268
CHAPTER XVI.
The South District: The Roberts Farm; David Sage, Alfred Ward, and Their Children; the Stantack Road 280
CHAPTER XVII.
Benjamin Cheney, Pioneer Clock Manufacturer 288
CHAPTER I.
The Earliest Settlers of the Town .- Jonathan Gilbert and His Family .- Captain Andrew Belcher .- Captain Seymour, Keeper of the Fort at Christian Lane .- John Goodrich and Family .- Sergeant Richard Beckley.
One of the early settlers of Hartford was Jonathan Gilbert, ancestor of our Christian Lane family of that name. He mar- ried January 29, 1645, Mary, daughter of John White, preach- ing elder in Thomas Hooker's church. After her death in 1650 he married, second, Mary, daughter of Hugh Wells. He had eleven children. He died December 10, 1682. Besides con- ducting a tavern and a warehouse in Hartford, Jonathan Gilbert was deputy collector of customs and marshal for the colony. He was also a member of Connecticut's first body of cavalry, formed in 1658, under Major John Mason.
For twenty-six years, from 1638 to 1665, the General Assem- bly of the Colony of Connecticut met twice a year, and with two exceptions, at Hartford. It consisted of two magistrates and three deputies from each town.
Dr. Horatio Gridley, in his manuscript history of Berlin, says that for a long time their sessions were held in a chamber of Mr. Gilbert's inn, where the members boarded.
In April, 1665, at the last session, before the Connecticut and New Haven Colonies united, there were six magistrates and twenty-five deputies present.
For his services, the General Court convened at Hartford, August 28, 1661, granted him a tract of three hundred and fifty acres of land, with the privilege of choosing it, "provided it be not prejudicial where he finds it to any plantation that now is or hereafter may be settled."
Gilbert's official duties had called him occasionally over the "principal path," leading to New Haven, so that he knew about
1
2
HISTORY OF BERLIN
the rich meadows in the valley now traversed in Berlin by the New York, New Haven & Hartford railroad, and it was here that he took up his grant. By other grants and by purchase he added to his possessions until in 1672 his title deeds covered a landed estate of more than a thousand acres.
The tract included Christian Lane and extended south to the present bounds of Meriden.
Captain Andrew Belcher, born January 1, 1647, was a rich merchant of Boston.
Professor David N. Camp tells us that he was engaged in trade with the Connecticut and New Haven colonies, that he owned several vessels employed in transportation and was the agent of Connecticut in purchasing "armes and ammunition" for the colony and was also employed by Massachusetts to carry provisions from Connecticut to Boston for the supply of the the army and the Massachusetts colony. That
He married July 1st, 1670, Sarah, daughter of Jonathan Gilbert, and had seven children, two sons and five daughters.
His youngest son, Jonathan, born in 1681, graduated at Harvard College in 1699, and soon after visited Europe, where he made the acquaintance of the princess Sophia (Dorothea, wife of King George I) and her son, afterward George II. He was governor of Massa- chusetts and New Hampshire from 1730 to 1741, and afterwards governor of New Jersey. He was instrumental in enlarging the Charter of Princeton College, of which he was patron and benefactor.
His son Jonathan, grandson of Captain Andrew Belcher, graduated at Harvard College, studied law in London, and was Lieutenant- Governor and Chief Justice of Nova Scotia.
Sir Edward Belcher, a grandson of the preceding, was a com- mander in the British navy, commanding the expedition which was in search of Sir John Franklin in 1852-54.
When on business at Hartford, Captain Belcher was in the habit of staying at the Gilbert tavern and here he found his wife, Sarah Gilbert.
Soon after his marriage he purchased of his father-in-law the greater part of his farm.
One of the deeds, as confirmed by court, reads in part as follows :
3
THE EARLIEST SETTLERS
Att a Genall Assembly holden at Newhaven October the 14 1703,
Whereas, the Govenr and company of this her Magesties Colonie of Connecticutt in Genall court assembled at Hartford, Aug. the 28th, 1661, did give and grant unto Jonathan Gilbert of the said town of Hartford, inn holder, decd, three hundred and fifty acres of countrey land for a farm,
and whereas, the said Genall Assembly holden at Hartford, March the 13th, 166}, and Octobr the 12th, 1665, did give and grant to Capt. Daniel Clerke of the town of Windzor three hundred acres of land for the same use,
to be taken up partly upon the branches of Mattabessett River, and partly upon the road from Wethersfield to Newhaven, at or near a place called Cold Spring on the west side of a ridge of mountainous land commonly called or known by the name of the Lamentation Hills,
all which appears on record; and the said Jonathan Gilbert did purchase of the said Daniel Clerke his said grant, by which grant and purchase the said Jonath Gilbert obteined to himself and his heirs a good and lawfull right and title to sixe hundred and fiftie acres of the said countrey land,
four hundred and seventy acres whereof was laid out to the said Jonathan Gilbert . . . at and nere the said place called the Cold Spring on the west side of the said Lamentation Hill; the said four hundred and seventie acres of land comprehending within it three pieces of meadowe, one called the south meadow, another the north meadow, and the third beaver meadow; and the said Jonathan Gil- bert having purchased the native right of the said land, and of the land thereunto adjoining, amounting in the whole to the sume of one thousand acres and upwards of meadow and upland;
and whereas Capt. Andrew Belcher of the town of Boston in the province of the Massachusetts Bay in Newengland, merchant, hath by purchase gained to himselfe and his heirs forever all the estate, right and title that the heirs or assignes of the said Jonathan Gilbert had or might have in, or to the said four hundred and seventie acres of land, meadow and upland . . . This assembly considering that the said Andrew Beldrer hath expended a considerable estate upon the said land in building tennantable houses and settling tennants therein,
and other improvements which are like to be a public as well as a private benefitt, the said tennements being conveniently situate for the relief of travailers in their journeying from place to place,
for his incouragement to goe forward with his improvements doe see cause to grant his petition . . provided always, neverthe-
4
HISTORY OF BERLIN
less, that there shall be a country road or highway through the said farme or part thereof, as there shall be occasion.
At the same session of the court Captain John Hamlin peti- tioned for another grant of land for Captain Belcher :
Which land lyeth between sd Mr. Belcher's farme at Meriden and the mountain called Lamentation.
Captain Thomas Hart and Mr. Caleb Stanley jun, "were ordered to survey the tract and report both as to quantitie and qualitie."
At the next meeting of the General Assembly the committee reported.
We found that the said land petitioned for aforesaid doth contain about two hundred and eightie acres :
And as to the qualitie thereof by reason that the same is almost wholly consisting of steep rocky hills and very stony land we judge it to be very mean and of little value.
As early as 1664 this locality, as far north as New Britain, was known as "Merrideem."
Jonathan Gilbert's deed from Daniel Clark, dated April 22, 1664, is still in the possession of his Christian Lane descendants. It describes the 300 acres of land conveyed as "lying, situate, and laid out at a place called Moridam, where Mr. Jonathan Gilbert's farm is and bounded partly on the Mattabesick River where it may be allowed of the town of Farmington."
Later the whole of the present town of Berlin was known as "Great Swamp."
When the Misses Churchill were planning to come to Berlin to live, they were told in New Haven that there was a "great swamp" up here.
In 1660, when Charles II ascended the throne of England, all who had presided as judges, when the death warrant of his father, Charles I, was signed, were in danger of losing their heads. Ten of the regicides, as they were called, were executed. To escape the same fate, three of the guilty men fled to New England.
At first the "judges" were treated as distinguished guests, but when King Charles sent officers across the water for their arrest,
5
THE EARLIEST SETTLERS
it was dangerous for minister, magistrate or commoner to befriend the fugitives. It is to be hoped, however, that those, who assisted them, will not be held accountable in the day of judgment, for all the lies they told the officers.
The regicides fled from one hiding place to another, as they were pursued. In 1661 they were secreted in a cave at West Rock, New Haven, since known as "Judges" cave.
Mr. Richard Sperry who lived about a mile west of the "Rock" used to leave food for them on a certain stump, where the men would go for it under cover of darkness. The mountain was full of wolves and wild cats and one night, when a panther appeared at the mouth of the cave, its blazing eyeballs and unearthly screams frightened them so that they abandoned that retreat.
The tradition is that in their wanderings they encamped, for several days, by the side of a river near what is now called West Meriden. The stream is still known as "Harbor Brook." Daniel Clark, secretary and clerk of the court, mentions "Pil- groomes Harbour," by which name the locality was known for more than a hundred years.
Mr. F. H. Cogswell of New Haven has written a very inter- esting story entitled "The Regicides." The book may be found in our public library.
Wallingford, set off from New Haven, was first settled in 1670.
Hartford and New Haven had then been settled about thirty- five years, and a road which had been made between the two towns was mentioned, in the deed of this land to Wallingford, as the "Old Road." It was the identical road now known as "Old Colony," as it runs through West Meriden.
The court confirmed the grant for the new village, provided it "doe not extend to the north any further than wh (ere) the old road to New Haven goeth over Pilgrimes Harbour."
Edward Higby was the first settler in Westfield Society (Middletown). His deed, given October 15, 1664, reads as follows :
6
HISTORY OF BERLIN
I Seaukeet, Indian, (abiding in or about Hartford, on Conec't,) Sachem, owner . of a large tract of land in the woods toward New Haven att and about the land now in possession of Mr. Jonathan Gilbert, doe sell unto Edward Higbey, one parcell of land Hills, rocks, brooks, swamps, and all other appur- tenances bounded . . . by marked trees, and by land of sayd Jonathan Gilbert and Pilgrim's Harbor Brook or River.
Another deed given in 1681, received for record at Hartford August 10, 1684, reads :
that I, Adam Puit, Indian, now residing at Podunk, (Windsor) doe hereby mortgage all my land lyeing upon the Road toward New Haven, . next adjoining to Jonathan Gilbert's farme, . in breadth North and South five miles, with 'all the swamps, Rivers and meadow Land lyeing within the said Bounds . to John Talcott of Hartford
Adam Puit received in hand from the said "John Talcut" one parcel of "Trucking Cloaths" and stipulated that before the end of the year he should "receive foure coats more, as full satisfac- tion for the purchase thereof."
The next year, 1683, Mr. Talcott made over all this land to Wallingford, and so, while the original northern boundary of Wallingford was Pilgrim's Harbor, by this purchase in 1682, it was extended to the present south line of Berlin. When we hear that our Berlin grand sires married their wives down in Wal- lingford, we need not necessarily think that they went so very far away from home.
Some of our village people trace their ancestors to Ensign Nathaniel Royce of Wallingford, who received three separate grants of land at Dog's Misery, described as lying by the southern branch of Pilgrim's Harbor (brook) that being the name of the whole stream from its mouth up to the pond whence it flows.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.