USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Hartford > A historical discourse, delivered before the Connecticut historical society, and the citizens of Hartford, on the evening of the 26th day of December, 1843 > Part 2
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(a) 2 Winth. N. E. 363. Append. ( Sar. ed.)
(b) 1 Winth. N. E. 129. note. ( Sar. ed.) (c) Id. 142.
(d) Id. 228,9. note. (c) 1 Trumb. Hist. Conn. 310, & seq.
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accompanied by the possession of the vendee and an entry of the land upon the town records as his property, gave him as perfect and valid a title, before the period referred to, as a deed executed with the formalities required by the exist- ing law, can now give. As early as October, 1639, it was provided, by an act of the General Court, that each town should provide a ledger book, with an index, and should choose a town-clerk, who should record every man's house or lands already granted and measured out to him, with the bounds and quantity of the same ; every owner was required, under a penalty, to bring in to the town-clerk a note, (not a deed) of his house and lands, with the bounds and quantity of the same, by the nearest estimation ; the like to be done in relation to all lands thereafter granted and measured to any; and then it was declared, that all bargains or mort- gages of lands whatsoever should be accounted of no value, until they should be recorded. (") And we have the author- ity of our supreme court of errors, in the opinion delivered by Judge Trumbull, in a case before that court in 1814, for saying, that by virtue of our early statutes, the freehold of lands became vested, without livery of seisin, by a record of the title or conveyance in the public register of the town in which such lands were situated ; and a grantee in posses- sion under a title or conveyance so recorded, was not liable to be evicted, by the grantor or any other person, but had evidence of his title against all mankind. (b) It is true, that deeds were in use from the earliest period of our govern- ment. The first on record was one of the Plymouth house at Windsor, executed by William Holmes, as agent of the governor and assistants of the Plymouth Plantation, to Mat- thew Allyn, dated May 3d, 1638. () And many others of a date somewhat later, previous to the statute of 1660, are to be found on our early records. (a) But that conveyances were often-not to say generally-made, without deed ; and that such conveyances, accompanied with a change of
(a) 1 Col. Rec. 30, 31.
(b) Chalker v. Chalker, 1 Conn. Rep. 88.
(c) 1 Col. Rec. 413. (d) 1 Col. Rec. 413. & seq.
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possession, and recorded, were effectual to transfer the title, are truths established by incontrovertible evidence.
After Elder Goodwin removed to Hadley, we find JOHN BLACKLEACH, formerly of Boston, now a merchant of enter- prise and wealth in Hartford, in possession of the lot in question. What title had lie to this lot ? No deed of it to him can be found. But does the record shew no title in him ? Let us see how it reads : "Land in Hartford upon Connecticut belonging to Mr. John Blackleach and his heirs forever. One parcel which he bought of Mr. William Goodwin, on which his dwelling-house now standeth, to- gether with several out-houses &c. thereon being, contain- ing, by estimation, three acres, (be it more or less) and abutteth on a highway lying on the North side of the Riv- eret, on the South ; and on a highway leading from the palisado to the Sentinel-hill, on the West ; and Mr. Samuel Stone's land, on the East ; and on Jeremy Adams his land, on the North." (") The description of the land as to quan- tity and boundaries, it will be perceived, is precisely the same as in the original distribution to William Goodwin, except the North line. John Steele having, in the mean- time, conveyed his lot to Jeremy Adams, the present record correctly describes the premises as being bounded on the North, by his land.
It appears, then, that John Blackleach bought this land of William Goodwin ; and that a note thereof, with the bounds and quantity of the same, was duly recorded. We do not, yet find a broken link or flaw in the chain of title. Let us- proceed.
On the 20th of June, 1661, John Blackleach, in consid- eration of £210 sterling, conveyed the premises, by a formal deed of that date, to his son, JOHN BLACKLEACH, JUN. of Boston. (') [This, you will perceive, was after the statute of deeds of 1660.] The deed follows the record we have re- cited, in the description of the premises. The grantee, though at this time described as of Boston, was admitted
(a) Orig. Dist. 557. (b) Id. 559.
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an inhabitant of Hartford, on the 2d of September follow- ing.(“)
John Blackleach jun. held this lot until the 26th of Feb- ruary, 1666, when he conveyed it, by a deed containing the same description as that in the deed to him, to THOMAS WELLES, of Hartford, (b) a son of Gov. Thomas Welles.
Of this proprietor I have not been able to procure much information. It appears, that he was married, in June 1654, to Mrs. Hannah Pantry ; (') and that he died in 1668, or about that time. He remained proprietor but a short time.
On the 2Sth of February, 1666, two days after the date of his deed from Blackleach, Thomas Welles conveyed the lot, by deed, to ELIEZUR WAY; (4) who held it until his death. Administration was granted on his estate, on the Ist of September 1687, and an inventory of his property was made ; but no distribution was effected until January 8th, 1696; when the land in question was, by agreement of the parties interested, distributed to EBENEZER WAY. (*)
This proprietor held it less than a year. On the 3d of October 1696, it was conveyed, by a deed of that date, executed by him and his wife Irene, (she joining with him to extinguish all future claim of dower) to ELIZABETH WILSON, of Hartford. The consideration specified in the deed is £150, current silver money of New-England. An- nexed to this deed is the following clause, under the hand and seal of Mary Way, the mother of Ebenezer : "Mrs. Mary Way, to signify her free and voluntary consent to her son's alienating the housing(') and land above demised, sub-
(a) 1 Hart. Town Rec. 106. (b) Orig. Dist. 11.
(c) Orig. Dist. reversed. (d) Orig. Dist. 64.
(e) 4 Hirt. Prob. Rec. 133, 251,2. 5 Hart. Prob. Rec. 225.
(f) The word " housing," which occurs frequently in our ancient records, it has been said, was used by our ancestors, as the plural of house. But this,
I apprehend, is not strictly correct. It is rather nomen collectirum, and imports not simply two or more houses, but every structure of the house kind upon the lot. The word is analogous in its meaning to other words of a sim- ilar formation-e. g bedding, carpeting, clothing, shipping, &c. "Hous- ing" has now become obsolete ; but it is not otherwise exceptionable.
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scribeth and sealeth with her son, and thereby relinquisheth all her right, title and interest in said housing and land, howsoever derived."(") In this deed, the premises are des- cribed as abutting " Northerly on land of Ensign Zechariah Sanford, and Easterly on land of Samuel Spencer ;" but these boundaries are in fact the same as those in the former · conveyances, on the North and East ; there having been, in the meantime, a corresponding change of ownership in the parcels of land referred to.
I am happy to have it in my power to give some account, though a concise one, of this proprietor. She was the daughter of John and Elizabeth Crow, before-mentioned, and of course, the grand-daughter of Elder Goodwin. Her first husband was William Warren of Hartford, by whom she had a daughter, who will be introduced to you presently. After his death, she became the wife of Phinehas Wilson, an eminent merchant from Dublin, settled in Hartford ; and, at the date of the last-mentioned deed, she was his widow ; he having died in May, 1692. She was a woman of busi- ness habits and of wealth ; being one of the greatest land- holders, and probably the greatest money-lender, in the town. And she was careful to take good security : the town records of that period are filled with her mortgages. In January, 1725, she made her will, disposing of all her estate. Among her numerous legacies, was one of £40. to the poor widows in Hartford, to be distributed among them at the discretion of her executrix. She died, on the 19th of July, 1727, at the advanced age of eighty-seven, having been in possession of the land in question more than thirty years.
Mrs. Wilson, though she left many legatees-these she could make by a stroke of her pen-left but one child-the daughter just alluded to-at that time the estimable consort of the Rev. Timothy Woodbridge, pastor of the First Con- gregational Society in Hartford. To ABIGAIL WOODBRIDGE, and her heirs, forever, Mrs. Wilson devised the residue of her estate, after payment of the specific legacies, with cer-
(a) 1 Hart. Rec. of Deeds, 155.
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tain limitations which it is not necessary to specify here ; and constituted her the sole executrix of her will. The inventory of Mrs. Wilson's estate, dated the 26th of July, 1727, contains the following clause : " The homestead and buildings thereon purchased of Way, £250." (") Mrs. Woodbridge, after her mother's death, thus became the proprietor of the estate in question, by an indisputable title ; and so continued until the transaction which I am about to state, took place.
This estate, from the time it was originally laid out, and allotted to Elder Goodwin, down to the time referred to- through all its changes of ownership, during a period but little short of a century-remained entire. A division is now to be effected. The Rev. Mr. Woodbridge died on the 30th of April, 1732 ; and the Rev. DANIEL WADSWORTH Was ordained, on the 28th of September, 1732, as his successor in the ministry. Mrs. Woodbridge now has an opportunity to furnish her new minister, and the congregation under his charge, with eligible sites, one for a dwelling-house, the other for a meeting-house, from contiguous portions of land taken from the Elder Goodwin .lot. Accordingly, she, on the 25th of June, 1733, executes two deeds, in the presence of the same witnesses, and acknowledges them before the same magistrate ; and so simultaneously are they to take effect, that the subject of each is described as it would be, if no conveyance of the other were made : i. e. the line constituting the Northern boundary of one lot and the Southern boundary of the other, is described as still border- ing on her own land.
I will first take some notice of that conveying the meeting- house site.
The operative words of the deed are introduced with the following recital : " Whereas my honoured mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Wilson, late of Hartford, deceased, in her life-time, did promise to give to God and the First Church and Society in Hartford, whereof the Rev. Mr. Daniel Wadsworth is now pastor, so much of that lot of land which
(a) 12 Hart. Prob. Rec. 28 to 34.
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my said mother purchased of Mr. Ebenezer Way, lying in the town aforesaid, bounded North on land of the heirs of Zechariah Sanford, deceased, East on the land of John Austin, [now the owner of the original Stone lot] and South and West on the street, as would be needful and convenient to erect and build a house for attending the public worship of God ; which, nevertheless, my mother, in her life-time, did not make sure, by any instrument of conveyance ; and whereas the whole of the aforesaid lot of land, since the death of my said mother, has, by descent or otherwise, law- fully become the proper estate of inheritance of me, the said Abigail Woodbridge ; and being truly sensible of the desire and good intent of my said mother in and respecting the premises ; and also considering it as a duty to honour God with my substance, and to return to him and the church some part of that, which, in his kind providence, he hath given me ; and whereas the committee of the said Society hereafter in these presents named, have moved to me for a legal conveyance of so much of my aforesaid lot as may be sufficient for the use aforesaid." The deed then proceeds thus : " Know ye, therefore, that I, the said Abigail Wood- bridge, for the considerations aforesaid, and for divers other good and weighty considerations me thereunto especially moving, have given and granted, and do, by these presents, give, grant, convey and confirm unto the Hon. Joseph Tal- cott Esq., Capt. Hezekiah Wyllis, Capt. Cyprian Nichols, Capt. John Sheldon, Dea. Thomas Richards, Mr. James Ensign, Mr. Samuel Catlin, Mr. John Edwards and Mr. Edward Cadwell, all of Hartford aforesaid, committee of the First Society aforesaid, and members of said Society, and to the rest of the members of said Society, to and for the use of the said Society, to build a house upon for the inhabitants of said Society to meet in and attend divine service and worship-one certain piece or parcel of land, . being parcel of the lot above in these presents described and mentioned, containing in quantity 7842 square feet, (be it more or less.) beginning at the North-West corner thereof, at the street, on the West, at the Northernmost post of the
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board-fence South of the gate opening into the barn-yard- and to extend Southerly, in the line where the fence now stands, seventy-nine feet ; and from thence to run Eastward into the lot ninety-eight feet, and from thence running Northwardly, by a line parallel to the street, or first above described line, seventy-nine feet; and from thence to run Westward, ninety-eight feet, to the first above-mentioned North-West corner : being in form of a parallelogram or ob- long square ; bounded West on the street, and every other way on mine own land." Then follow the habendum, covenants, &c. in the usual form. (")
The land described in this deed, is, with some changes in its limits, the lot which is now owned by Charles Brain- erd, and which was so long the residence of the Rev. Dr. Strong. The Society held it but a little more than four years. In May 1737, the General Assembly established another place as the site of the new meeting-house, viz. " the South-East part of the burying lot in Hartford, with part of Capt. Nathaniel Hooker's lot adjoining thereto ;"'(8) so that the land granted by Mrs. Woodbridge, was not needed for that purpose ; and the society, at a meeting held on the 1st of August 1737, authorized their committee to execute to her a release deed of such land; which, on the 7th of October following, was accordingly done.(')
In the other deed, the grantee is described as " Daniel Wadsworth, late of Farmington, now of Hartford ;" the consideration stated therein, is, " £100 in money ;" and the description of the premises is as follows : " One certain piece of land lying in Hartford, containing one acre, being part of the lot formerly belonging unto Mrs. Elizabeth Wilson, and by her bought of Ebenezer Way, which acre of land is butted and bounded, Easterly with land belong- ing unto Mr. John Austin, Westerly with a highway, Northerly with land belonging to Mr. Samuel Flagg, [father of the late Dr. Flagg of East-Hartford, who had become the
(a) 1 Hart. Rec. of Deeds, 126.
(6) 6 Col. Rec. 310. (c) 6 Hart. Rec. of Deeds, 335,6.
3
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owner of the original Steele lot,] and Southerly with land belonging to the said Abigail Woodbridge"-[i. e. the land conveyed by the first-mentioned deed.] (")
The grantee under this deed went into immediate pos- session of the land, and erected thereon a dwelling-house, in which he spent the remainder of his life.
Before we proceed with our history, let us take leave of the late proprietor, by a short notice of her. She was a great-grand daughter of Elder Goodwin; and was born in the year 1676 or 1677. Her parents appear to have been respectable, but in moderate circumstances ; though her mother, as we have seen, eventually became wealthy. In January, 1692, Miss Warren, at the early age of sixteen, was married to Richard Lord, then a young man of twenty- three, the only child of Richard Lord, a merchant of great wealth and some political consideration, being a member of the Upper House. Her husband died in 1712, leaving three or four children by her, and a large estate. The Rev. Timothy Woodbridge, the respected and beloved pastor of the First Society, then a widower, was so fortunate as to contract an alliance with this lady, who was still young, and as rich in moral worth as in worldly estate. Her second husband died in April, 1732. She survived him until Jan- uary 1, 1754 ; when she was buried by the side of her first husband, the companion of her youth. Among her known benefactions, during her long life, it may not be improper to mention the gift of a bell to Yale-College, in 1723-the first that ever broke the morning slumbers of a student in that institution.(')
The Rev. Daniel Wadsworth was the great-grand-son of William Wadsworth, one of the first settlers of Hartford. John Wadsworth, the eldest son of William, and brother of Joseph of charter memory, settled at Farmington, and was .an Assistant or member of the Upper House, from 1680 until Sir Edmond Andross took into his hands the govern-
(a) 5 Hart. Rec. of Deeds, 521,2.
(b) Baldwin's Annals of Fale College, 308.
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ment of the Colony. He was sitting at the Council Board, when his disloyal brother abstracted the charter. His sec- ond son, also named John, married Mrs. Sarah Gridley. They had two sons, John and Daniel, and four daughters. Daniel, the subject of our present notice, was born at Far- mington, in the year 1704 or 1705. He was educated at Yale-College, and graduated there in 1726. He was a member of the corporation of that institution, from 1743 until his death. In February, 1734, he married Miss Abi- gail Talcott, daughter of Gov. Joseph Talcott. He died, greatly respected, on the 12th of November 1747, in the prime of life and in the midst of his usefulness, leaving a widow and six children, viz. two sons,-Daniel and JERE- MIAH, and four daughters,-Abigail, EUNICE, ELIZABETH and Ruth. In the inventory of his estate, his " house and homestead" are apprised at £2000.(")
By his will, dated December 19th, 1746, and a codicil, dated October 3d, 1747, he disposed of his estate, giving to his wife one-third part of his personal estate forever, and the use and improvement of one-half of his homelot, dwell- ing-house, barn and well, during her natural life.(b) It is not necessary for our present purpose to specify the provis- ion made by the testator for each of his children ; for, on the 10th of August, 1765, after the death of Daniel and Ruth, the survivors entered into a mutual agreement, under their hands and seals, for the settlement of their father's estate, which was exhibited to and approved by the court of probate.(') By this arrangement, Jeremiah, Eunice and Elizabeth, each, became the proprietor in fee, of one full third part of the mansion house and lot in question, subject, of course, to the life estate of their mother in one half. Abigail, the other surviving sister, was provided for, by other estate equivalent in valuc. In the instrument referred to, the premises are thus described : " The mansion house and lot in Hartford, containing one acre, bounded North on the
(a) 15 Hart. Prob. Rec. 321.
(b) 15 Hart. Prob. Rec. 238, 9.
(c) 21 Hart. Prob. Rec. 311 & seq.
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heirs of Samuel Flagg, late of said Hartford, deceased; West, on the Main-street ; South on land belonging to George Lord [the grantee of John Haynes Lord, who was the grandson of Mrs. Woodbridge;] and East on land be- longing to the heirs of John Ellery, deceased." John Ellery was the grandson of John Austin, the former owner of the last-mentioned land, and took it by devise from him, after the death of his widow and daughter, the devisees for life.(")
On the 28th of June, 1773, Mrs. Abigail Wadsworth died ; and thus her life-estate in the homestead became extinct.
By a release deed, dated the 30th of December, 1797, Jeremiah Wadsworth, in consideration of twenty dollars and an exchange of lands, conveyed to his sisters Eunice and Elizabeth all his right in the homestead, to extend from the front on Main-street as far East as the fence which ran North and South and divided the land as it was then occu- . pied, between him and his son, DANIEL WADSWORTH. (5) Eunice and Elizabeth Wadsworth, on the same day, and as part of the same arrangement, conveyed to their brother Jeremiah all their right in that part of the homestead which lay East of the garden fence.() By a deed of indenture of the same date, they then leased to him the West part of the homestead, for the term of his natural life ;- to have and en- joy the same in common with the lessors, and them alone, without let or hindrance ; he paying the reasonable rent of one pepper-corn annually, on the first Monday of May in each year, during said term.(4) Col. Wadsworth spent the remainder of his days in a hired house.
He had no longer any title, except as lessee, to that part of the homestead, which lay West of the garden fence ; but he had become the sole and absolute owner of that part which lay East of this fence, and was also the sole proprie- tor of other land adjoining thereto on the West side of Pros- pect street, which he had bought of Joseph Hart and his
(a) See the will of John Austin, dated February 19th, 1542, 14 Hart. Prob. Rec. 92. and the will of John Ellery, dated April 7th, 1764, 19 Hart. Prob. Rec. 200.
(b) 21 Hart. Rec. Deeds, 617.
(c) Id. 618
(d) Id. 619.
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wife Eunice.(") She was the daughter of John Ellery, and took the last-mentioned land by devise from him. (b)
By will, dated October 30th, 1799, Col. Wadsworth devi- sed to his son Daniel Wadsworth, the land, house, and other buildings where the devisee then lived, and now lives, bounded Easterly by Prospect street ; Southerly, by land in possession of the Rev. Nathan Strong; Westerly, by land of Eunice and Elizabeth Wadsworth, divided by an open fence ; and Northerly, by an alley.(').
On the 8th of August, 1803, Eunice and Elizabeth Wads- worth made their wills respectively, each giving to the other, the use of all her real estate, during the life of the devisee, and such estate in fee, after her decease, to her nephew, Daniel Wadsworth, and her niece, Catharine Terry. The testatrix then provided, that whatever right she might have in " our mansion house and the land there- to adjoining," should be vested in said Daniel, subject to a condition which it is not necessary to specify, as all that the condition required has long since been done.(a) Elizabeth Wadsworth died on the 15th of November, 1810, and Eu- nice, on the 23d of July, 1825. Daniel Wadsworth thus be- came vested with an absolute title to the homestead West of the fence. Having previously taken the land between the fence and Prospect-street, as we have seen, by devise from his father, a perfect title was now vested in him to all the land between Main-street on the West, and Prospect-street on the East.
.
For a notice of Eunice and Elizabeth Wadsworth, I am indebted to one intimately acquainted with them. They were born at Hartford ; the former, on the 31st of August, 1736, the latter, on the 19th of July, 1738. Heartfelt piety and an integrity that influenced every word and action, were the foundation of those virtues which distinguished them through life. Respect for the institutions and minis-
(a) 17 Hart. Rec. Deeds, 231.
(0) See the will of John Ellery, before referred to.
(c) 27 Hart. Prob. Rec. 144. 213.
(d) 29 Id. 206, 7. 35 Id. 161, 2.
..
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ters of religion, sacred regard for the Sabbath, and love of God's holy temple, were mingled with an industrious im- provement of time, fond affection for those connected with them by kindred blood, and warm sympathy in the woes of others, which age did not quench, and which might be seen in the moistened eye, whenever any tale of human suffer- ing met the ear. Of these sisters it may be emphatically said, " the memory of the just is blessed." (")
The life of Jeremiah Wadsworth is yet to be written. The biography of this distinguished man, if properly exe- cuted, would be replete with interest and instruction. All that I propose to do, on the present occasion, is, to glance at a few of the prominent events of his life.
He was born at Hartford, on the 12th of July, 1743. His father died when he was but a little more than four years old. Tradition says of him, that in his early youth, he was inclined to action and sport, rather than to study. While he was yet of a tender age, his mother placed him under the care and in the service of her brother, Matthew Talcott, Esq., a merchant in Middletown, extensively concerned in navigation. When he was about eighteen years of age, he was taken with spitting blood ; and his flesh began to waste away. Under these circumstances, he, by the advice of his friends, readily accepted the place of a seaman before the mast, in one of his uncle's vessels. Here he soon recover- ed his health. After several voyages-generally short ones-in this capacity, he became, first the mate, and after- wards the master, of a vessel. He was thus at sea at least ten years. Faithful and efficient in his business, he won the confidence and esteem of his employer, and of all who had dealings with him.
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