USA > Connecticut > New London County > Norwich > History of Norwich, Connecticut, from its settlement in 1660, to January 1845 > Part 1
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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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HISTORY
OF
NORWICH.
CONNECTICUT,
FROM ITS SETTLEMENT IN 1660, TO JANUARY 1845.
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BY MISS F. M. CAULKINS.
" Many of these little things which we speak of are little only in size and name. They are full of rich meaning. They illustrate classes of men, and ages of time."
NORWICH.
PUBLISHED BY THOMAS ROBINSON. 1815.
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NORWICH TOWN. FROM THE EAST.
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/historyofnorwich00caul_0
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F 8466 .15
Caulkins, Frances Manwaring, 1795-1869.
History of Norwich, Connecticut, from its settlement in 1660, to January 1845. By Miss F. M. Caulkins ... Norwich, T. Robinson, 1845.
Yili, (91-359 p. front., plates. 20cm.
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Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1545, by THOMAS ROBINSON, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Connecticut.
3016
PRINTED BY CASE, TIFFANY AND BURNHAM, HARTFORD, CONN.
:
TO THE CITIZENS OF NORWICHI,
INHABITANTS OF A BEAUTIFUL AND VARIED TOWN, INTERESTING FROM ITS HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS,
AND ALWAYS DISTINGUISHED FOR HOSPITALITY, ENTERPRISE, AND A MANLY ' SPIRIT OF INDEPENDENCE,
THIS HISTORY
IS GRATEFULLY AND RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, EY THE AUTHOR.
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PREFACE.
THE sources from which the following history has been drawn, as far as regards the facts, are
1. The Town Records : these are ample and in a good state of pres- ervation.
HI. Files of the New London Gazette and Norwich Packet, from which many of the incidents related in the Revolutionary period are derived.
III. Private documents : such as letters, account-books, bills, mem- ofandums, deeds, and justices' papers
IV. Tradition and conversation with aged persons. Tradition, it is acknowledged, is but an uncertain guide,-a glimmering light that often leads astray ; for it rests wholly on memory, and memory is fre- quently treacherous,-an officious imagination sometimes getting firmly seated in its place. But when tradition contradicts no authentic record, and when records fail, even history may be permitted to receive its aid.
To an historical . work references are generally considered invalu- able,-stamping it with authenticity, and enabling the reader to verify each particular incident. But from the nature of the materials from which this work is composed, references would be almost entirely use- less. It is not a compilation from published documents, is not founded on previous histories,-it has no predecessor, and therefore cannot appeal to works which are generally accessible. As a History of Nor- wich, it is an independent, original work; but it makes no claim beyond that of a faithful purpose to give a more enduring form to a Muss of local information, that would be lost if left much longer in the charge of mouldering paper, fading ink, and fast dropping age.
The limits of a single volume are too narrow for the publication of original documents, which are usually technical, occupying a large space. The plan pursued is to give the results of inquiries, and con .-
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VI
PREFACE.
densed statements of facts, without tracing the intermediate steps, and spreading out at large the materials from which they were drawn. Neither is it practicable within these limits to enter so largely into the genealogy of families, as would otherwise have been desirable. On this point the aim has been confined to the furnishing of a few data, the earliest that could be ascertained, to assist those who may wish to pursue the subject, and trace the line of their descent from the first settlers of the town.
The great point kept in view through the whole composition of the work, was accuracy. It was the aim of the author to be minutely accurate. Not a fact, name, or date has been given without careful inquiry and examination. Even those sketches which may seem most like fancy pictures, are faithful copies of scenes, as they were depicted by eye-witnesses. But the information on many points was scanty, and doubtless in some cases incorrect ; mistakes, therefore, will prob- ably be discovered.
The author cannot dismiss her work without giving utterance to a deep feeling of regret, that several of those aged persons from whom many of its minuter details have been derived, and who regarded with lively interest this attempt to retrieve the events of other days from oblivion, are now no more. Among those who have passed away during the progress of the work, and are not here to welcome its pub- lication or be cheered with its details, sentiments of personal esteem and veneration lead her to record the names of
Rev. JOSEPH STRONG, D. D., Capt. DAVID NEVINS, and
Dr. PHILEMON TRACY, Deacon CALEB HUNTINGTON. JANUARY, 1545 ..
CONTENTS.
m
CHAPTER. PAGE.
I. Introduction, 9
IT. Events prior to the settlement, 13
III. Preparations for a settlement, 32
IV. The settlement and settlers, 58
V. Houses. Books. Schools. Food,
VI. Grants of Land. Highways. Fences. Boundaries. Selectmen. Innkeepers. Town Clerk, 57
VII. Mohegans. Enlistments. Aboriginal relics, . 66
VIH. Ecclesiastical affairs. Ministers. Meeting-houses, 70
1.X. The Patent. Major Fitch. Number of Inhabitants, X. The Thirty-five, 79
XI Other Early Settlers. Settlers east of the Shetucket.
Richard and Jeseph Bushnell. Cases of Trespass, 115
.
XII. Prices current. Town expenses,
XIII. Animals, . 121
. . 129
XIV.
Bell. Meeting-House. Ecclesiastical Dissensions. Councils. Ministers Woodward and Lord. Dea- cons, 135
Chelsea or the Landing. Bridges over the Shetucket, 142
XVI. Rogerenes, 14S
XVII. Currency, 151
XVIII. Sheep-walks. Names, 154
XIX. Mason Controversy, 15S
X.Y. Indian Deeds. Sachems, . 165
XXI. Freemen. Justices. Physicians. Sign-Posts. Town- llouse. Mohegan Road. Societies. Population. Schools. Saybrook Platform. Treasurer. Con- stable, . 171
X.XVI. Civil affairs. Cases of Trespass, Chaises. Biograph- ical Sketches. Africans, . 177
XXIII. Chelsea, Highways. Warnings. The Cove. Com- Ineree. Deleware Purchase. French Neutrals.
Trade, . 186
..
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VIII
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE.
XXIV. Ecclesiastical Affairs, 193
XXV. Ministers. Rev. Dr. Lord. Rev. Dr. Strong, 201
XXVI. The Revolutionary Period, : . 207
XXVII. Bird's-eye View of a scene in Norwich, 1775, 22S
XXVIII. Continuation of Revolutionary Events, . 233
XXIX. Biographical Sketches, 24S‹
XXX. Episcopal Church and Society, . 261
XXXI. Population. Inoculation. Division of the Ancient Town. Franklin. Newent. Bozrah. Long So- ciety. Hanover. Portipaug, 270
XXXII. Chelsea Society, .
. . 28S
301 XXXIII. Schools. Books. Amusements. Gov. Huntington, XXXIV. Commerce, Shipping. Men of business. Lawyers. Bridges. Highways. Turnpikes. Somerset Lodge. Murray. Winchester, 307
XXXV. Greatest Fire. New Mecting-House. Second Con- gregational Society. Falls Church. Greeneville Church. Fifth Congregational Church. Baptists. Methodists. Universalists. Roman Catholics, 316
Norwich City, 324
Incorporated Manufacturing Companies, . 330
Banks, &c.' 331
Population, . 332
Newspapers, 332
Missionaries, . 333
Railroad, 335
Health, Longevity, Death, . 337
Freshets, 316
Descriptive Sketch, . 3.52
Statistics of Manufactures, 339
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
CHAPTER I.
Introduction.
As you ascend the river Thames, in the eastern part of Connecticut, and approach towards its head, a sud- den opening of its banks, presents you with a distant glimpse of a few fine buildings, crowning the hill-top, or scattered along the slope of a headland that seems to project directly into the bosom of the river in your front. Another turn in the river, hides the scene from your view, and when it again opens, you are near enough to see that a picturesque town is before you, built around the base, and on the declivity of a hill, which is embraced by the two branches of the stream that come winding down through the distant hills. Around this declivity the streets rise, one above an- other, displaying several handsome churches and other public buildings, some of which ascend to the summit of the hill. The very narrowness of the view, being circumscribed on all sides by hills, except the open space afforded by the river in front, gives it the charm of unity and distinctness.
This is Norwich :- but from the river you see only a section of the place; for the buildings are extended on each side along the arms of the river farther than your eye can reach, and on the other side of that ob-
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
trusive hill is a lovely and varied landscape, exhib- iting avenues of venerable trees, elegant dwelling houses and numerous gardens, scattered around the plains and extending far onward over the hills, cach group crowned with its spire, and relieved by a back- ground of rocky heights or dark bosomed forests. If you land on the west side, just below the bounds of the town, where Trading Cove, an arm of the river almost as broad and deep as the main stream, extends a short distance into the country, and ascend the Mohegan highlands,-the line of vision will stretch far to the north and west, and you will obtain a good general idea of the situation and varied surface of the town. You will perhaps imagine, and with good rea- son, that the first English explorers beheld it from this point, and that they were struck with admiration, not only at the romantic scenery, but at the various ad- vantages presented for commerce, manufactures and agriculture. Here they beheld a navigable river and an easy access to the ocean; hills that would make excellent pastures for their herds and flocks; plains and meadows that industry might soon convert into mowing lands and cornfields ; rapid streams and cat- aracts, affording innumerable mill-seats and sites for future manufactories. We can almost fancy that we hear them exclaim, " What a noble place for a settle- ment !"
Nearer the city, on each side of the river, are lofty eminences, from which the prospect is still more ex- tensive and variegated. The castern summit bearing the name of Tory Hill, from its having been the con- fiscated property of a royalist during the Revolutionary war, affords a fine view of the harbor, the city, and the valley of the Shetucket. From Windmill and Baptist Hills on the west, the eye surveys almost the whole
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
area of the town, and observes the situation of its distinct villages, the course of the streams, the rude clumps of rocks interspersed, and the circumjacent hills. The short and rapid Yantic, spreads out into a broad cove, with romantic banks beneath you, and seems to be the principal tributary to the Thames, while the Shetucket, a much longer river, of consider- able magnitude and power, comes almost unnoticed into its bosom, stealing through a narrow channel, round a projecting cliff.
It is not strange, that a place possessed of such ad- vantages by nature, when once known to the English, should have been highly prized by them; or that when obtained from the natives, it should be speedily settled; or that since its settlement, it should have grown and prospered more uniformly and extensively, than any other town in the eastern part of the state. Its increase has been gradual, but sure. It has never known any serious decline, either in numbers, or prop- erty, and though at times, laboring under disadvan- tages, in common with the rest of New England, it has generally been upon the advance. The spirit of enterprize has shifted from one part of the town to another, but has never wholly left its precincts. It has been greatly dismembered, for the original bounds of Norwich comprise at present nearly five towns, but the nucleus has not been injured by the division.
Norwich may be considered a beautiful type of the second class of New England towns, embodying a bright portion of the genuine old English character, and rich in traditionary lore. In some respects, it has always been a prominent place. The Mohegan tribe of Indians resided upon its immediate borders, and its carly history is intimately connected with that noted race. Many remarkable individuals have, first and
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
last, emanated from the community ;- the inhabitants took a bold and determined attitude in the revolution- ary war, and are famous for their carly attention to manufactures, as well as for their present deep interest in them. The scenery of the town is also remarkably picturesque : it is emphatically a place of hills and springs of water. Copse, dingle and glen are scatter- ed about in lavish abundance and wild variety. These and other circumstances, have thrown a more than common degree of splendor npon the place, and ren- dered it more conspicuous than many others of greater numerical importance.
In its present dimensions, Norwich covers an area of twenty-six square miles, in which are six considerable sections, mainly distinct, though gradually melting into each other. The greatest extent is from Trading Cove to Plain Hills, which measures about seven miles ; its medium breadth is about three miles. Almost all its boundaries are rivers and brooks. The Thames and Shetucket wash its eastern border, and the little stream called Yantic, divides it into nearly equal parts from the N. W. to the S. E.
By the old stage route it is one hundred and twenty- eight miles E. of New York, and eighty S. W. of Bos- ton. By steamboat to Greenport and thence by the Long Island railroad, New York is now reached in seven hours and a half, and by the Norwich and Wor- cester railroad, Boston in four hours and a quarter.
Lat. 41º 34' N. Long. 72º 29' W.
CHAPTER II.
Events prior to the Settlement.
THE earliest notice that we gain of the tract of land now called Norwich, either from history or tradition, is from some incidents of Indian border warfare that took place in the year 1643. It was at that period, in the possession of the Mohegan tribe of Indians, and had originally been included in the extensive domain claimed by the Pequots. The Mohegans and Narra- gansetts had long been engaged in a rancorous and predatory war with each other. The early history of Connecticut is perplexed with accounts of their petty quarrels. Among the rocks and ravines of Norwich, the scouting parties of the Narragansetts often laid their snares, or found shelter when pursned; and here also was the lookout port of the Mohegans when ex- pecting an attack from their foe. All the accounts of this contest are written with an evident bias to the side of the Mohegans, whom the English were bound by treaty to defend from aggression. Nevertheless, they made many attempts to reconcile the two tribes, and endeavored to act the part of an impartial umpire. A compact was made at Hartford, in 1638, by which it was stipulated, that the hostile sachems should not make war on each other without an appeal to the English. A spirit of rivalry and of personal hatred seems, however, to have existed between Miantino-
2
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
moh* and Uncas, which was easily inflamed into open war, and neither party, when roused to the conflict, waited for the sanction of the English.
The origin of this rupture is thus related by Gov. Winthrop :
" Onkus, being provoked by Sequasson, a Sachem of Connecticut, made war upon him, and slew divers of his men and burnt his wigwams ; whereupon Miantun- nomoh being his kinsman, took offence against Onkus, and went with near one thousand men and set upon Onkus before he could be provided for defence, for he had not then with him above three or four hundred men."
Other historians, and among them Trumbull, in his History of Connecticut, trace the dispute farther back, to an attempt which was made to assassinate Uncas by a Pequot, who was suspected to have been incited to this act by the Narragansett Sachem. Of this, how- ever, no proof was ever adduced. Miantinomoh indig- nantly denied the charge, and retorted upon Uncas that he had cut his own arm with a flint, and then accused the Pequot of wounding him. But whatever might be the incident which supplied the spark of igni- tion, the materials had long been gathering, and the flame broke forth in the summer of 1643. The fol- lowing account, more minute than is usually given of this contest, is deduced from a careful comparison of the earliest histories, with the traditions of the Mohegans.
Miantinomoh having secretly raised an armed force,
* This name is variously spelt and accented. The text gives, not the most popular, but probably the most correct form. Miantinomoh, or Miantimomy, with the accent on the penultimate, is said to come nearest to the Indian pronunciation, and is sanctioned by the authority of Roger Williams.
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
amounting probably to six hundred warriors, * marched against the Mohegans. He expected to take them by surprise, the season being that in which they were usually busy in their cornfields, or engaged in fishing, and he might reasonably anticipate a brilliant victory. But Uncas was a wary chieftain ; his partizans were at that very time abroad, and he soon received informa- tion of the movements of his enemies. The tradition is that the Narragansetts were first discovered as they were crossing the Shetucket at a fording place, near the junction of the Quinnebang. The Mohegans had a look-out post on Wawekus Hill, [in Norwich City,] which hill was long afterwards known as Fort Hill, and it is not unlikely that the spies who discovered the approach of the invaders, might have belonged to a scouting party stationed here. A path, afterwards widened to a road by the English settlers, led from this hill to the Little Plain, where was the burial ground of the Mohegan Sachems. A cleft or ravine from this spot, once the bed of a rivulet, came out directly by the Indian Landing Place at the foot of Yantic Falls, from whence a canoe could glide in a few minutes to Shantok Point, five miles below, where Uncas had a fort. In this way the intelligence may have been communicated to the Sachem with great rapidity.
Uncas assembled his warriors to the number of three or four hundred, and boldly advanced to meet the foe.
. Nine hundred or one thousand, says Trumbull, and the warriors of Theas four or five hundred. This is doubtless an over estimate, as an enquiry into the resources of the two tribes will show. The Narra- Lasetts perhaps numbered one thousand warriors in all; but it is absurd to suppose that every man of all their tribes was engaged in this expedition. The Moherans at no time had much over four hun- died wattiers, and it is not probable that all could be collected on a sudden emergency.
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
When he reached what is called the Great Plain, three or four miles from his principal settlement, and a mile and a half south-west of the Yantic, he learned that the Narragansetts had crossed the fords of the Yantic, [at Noman's acre, ] and were pouring down upon him. He immediately halted, arranged his men on a rising ground, and made them acquainted with a stratagem, the effect of which he was about to prove. He had scarcely given his warriors instructions how to act, be- fore the Narragansetts appeared on an opposite decliv- ity. Uncas sent forward a messenger, desiring a parley with Miantinomoh, which was granted, and the two chiefs met on the plain, between their respective armies. Uncas then proposed that the fortune of the day should be decided by themselves in single com- bat, and the lives of their warriors spared. His prop- osition was thus expressed : " Let us two fight it out : if you kill me, my men shall be yours; but if I kill you, your men shall be mine."
Miantinomoh, who seems to have suspected some crafty manœuvre, in this unusual proposition, replied disdainfully, " My men came to fight, and they shall fight." Uncas immediately gave a pre-concerted sig- nal to his followers, by falling flat upon his face to the ground. They, being all prepared with bent bows, instantly discharged a shower of arrows upon the enemy, and raising the battle yell, rushed forward with their tomahawks, their chieftain starting up and leading the onset. The Narragansetts who were care- lessly awaiting the result of the conference, and not expecting that the Mohegans would venture to fight at all with such inferior force, were taken by surprise ; and after a short and confused attempt at resistance, were put to flight. The fugitives and their pursuers, with despairing cries and triumphant shouts, crossed
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
the river at the shallows, and swept like a whirlwind over the hills, regardless of tangled forests, rushing tor- rents, and precipitous ledges of rock, directing their course to the well known fords of the Shetucket.
Two of the Mohegan captains, who were very swift of foot, singled out Miantinomoh, and pursued him with relentless pertinacity. He had nearly reached the river when they overtook him, he being encum- bered and retarded, it is said, by a coat, or corslet of mail. Throwing themselves against him they impe- ded his motion, and when the chief recovered himself repeated the act, continuing thus to obstruct his flight, but not attempting to seize him, that Uncas might come up and have the honor of his capture. The moment that Uncas touched his shoulder, Miantinomoh stopped, and without the least resistance, sat down, calm and silent. Uncas immediately gave the Indian whoop of victory, which collected all his men around him, and the strife ceased : the whole conflict and pur- suit having occupied, according to tradition, not more than twenty minutes. About thirty Narragansetts were slain. Among the prisoners, besides the great Captain himself, were his brother, and two of the sons of Canonicus, his uncle.
Some of the early historians say, that the two cap- tains who assisted in the capture of Miantinomoh, were his own men, who by this treachery hoped to make their peace with Uncas, whose subjects they had for- merly been. From Gov. Winthrop's account it is not clear whether it was the chief himself, or his brother, whose flight was thus treacherously obstructed. Sav- age, in his notes to Winthrop, understands it to be the former : Trumbull, in the History of Connecticut, the latter. In a letter written by Thomas Peters, of Pe- quot Harbor, now New London, in 1645, just after a
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
visit made to Uncas at Mohegan, he speaks of "Tan- taqnieson, a Mohegan Captain, who first fingered Mian- tinōmoh."* This agrees with Mohegan tradition : the family of Tantaquieson, or Tantaquidjin, is a noble one among them, and the descendants to this day have scarcely ceased to boast of the above-mentioned exploit of one of their ancestors.
After the battle, Uncas returned in triumph to his fortress, carrying his illustrious captive with him, whom he treated with generous kindness and respect. But he soon conducted him to Hartford, and surrendered him to the custody of the English. He probably feared some desperate attempt on the part of the Narragan- setts to recapture their prince ; and he was moreover incited to this course by an urgent message from Mr. Gorton, of Rhode Island, who supposed the life of Miantinomoh would be safe if he could but get him into the hands of the English. Roger Williams, the warm and constant friend of the Sachem, was then in England, and there seems to have been no other person of any influence in the country to take his part. He was imprisoned at Hartford, and Uncas consented to be governed in his future conduct towards his captive, entirely by the advice of the English. The whole affair was laid before the Commissioners of the United Colonies, at their meeting at Boston in September, and the question was there debated whether it was just and lawful to put Miantinomoh to death. The execution of a Pequot who had given his testimony against him; his repeated attempts upon the life of Uncas by assas- sination, poison and sorcery ; his turbulence in making war against the Mohegans without a previous appeal to the English ; and his inveterate hostility to the
* See Appendix to Savage's Winthrop.
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
whites, to exterminate whom he was accused of endea- voring to bring about a confederacy of several tribes, and of hiring the Mohawks to assist in the deadly work, were the arguments urged against him. Never- theless, the court still hesitated whether it would be just to put him to death, and in this dilemma referred the matter to ecclesiastical counsellors. Five of the principal ministers in the colonies were consulted, and these, considering it hazardous to the peace of the country that the Sachem should be released, gave their voice in favor of his execution. This decided the question in the affirmative. It was determined, how- ever, that the deed should be committed by Uncas, in his own jurisdiction, and without torturc.
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