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Some years ago a block of granite, inscribed with his name and the year of his death, was placed over the grave of the brave and gifted Narragansett chief.
1 GREENWICH, seven years after this, was ceded back to New Haven by the boundary treaty, which was made with Stuyvesant.
2 DELAWARE BAY. The attempt to form a settlement met with opposition, both from the Swedes and Dutch, who claimed the country. After the forma- tion of the union between the New-Eng- land colonies, New Haven, through the commissioners, sought to gain some sat. isfaction for the injury the Dutch had done the property of English settlers. In 1651 another attempt was made to send a company to form a plantation. They were stopped by Governor Stuy- vesant at New York, and compelled to return. The union failed to give any assurance of protection; and, while the matter of establishing a permanent plan- tation was agitated for a number of years, the plan was finally given up.
3 A LEAGUE. This New England Confederacy was very helpful to the interests of the colonies, and especially to Connecticut. The trouble with the Dutch threatened hostilities, while the Swedes were annoying the colony that had been sent to Delaware Bay. The Indians were restless, and the struggle in England between the King and Par- liament made the colonists more anxious to unite for their mutuai protection. Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven signed the articles of union. "The Confederates took the name of 'The United Colonies of New England.' It was a league for both war and peace, as mutual interest might de- mand. Each colony retained its own independence in all things, though it was bound to help all others at need. And the relative number of men that each should furnish was agreed upon.
48
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
If two hundred were wanted, Massachu- setts was to raise one hundred, while the quotas of the others were fixed at forty- five each. This agreement was given effect by choosing two commissioners from each colony, who formed a board for settling all questions that should come before it " (Drake).
4 MIANTONOMO felt that the English had treated him wrongfully; but his anger was directed towards Uncas as the one who had not only sought to arouse the ill feeling of the English against him by false reports, but as the foe of his tribe and friends. Uncas had
made war on Sequasson, a Connecticut sachem, who was a relative and ally of Miantonomo, and, after killing many of his men, had burnt their wigwams. When tidings of this attack upon his kinsman reached Miantonomo, he has- tened at once to march against Uncas, giy- ing notice of his intention to the English.
5 PALFREY says (Ilist. N. E., vol. ii. 125), " Miantonomo, encumbered in his flight by some ' armor,' was dragged by two of his own captains to Uncas, who, with a sense of their treachery different from what they had expected, laid them dead at his feet."
49
THE DUTCH AND THE INDIANS.
1643.]
CHAPTER VIII.
1643-1645.
TROUBLES WITH THE DUTCH AND THE INDIANS.
THE early governors of New Netherlands (New York) persistently asserted the claim of Holland to the valley of the Connecticut and the adjoining country, on the ground that they had explored the coast and river, and bought lands, and traded with the Indians, both at " Good Hope " (Hart- ford), Saybrook (" Kievit's Hook "), and "Red Mount " (New Haven), some time before their settlement by the Eng- lish. A good deal of bad temper was stirred up, but fortu- nately it never developed into an open contest of arms. Their common danger from the Indians made them allies at the very time letters of fiery discussion were passing between the authorities.
The sale of intoxicating liquors to the natives was the source of a very profitable trade to the Dutch merchants ; but then, as now, it proved a terrible curse. The ignorant savages were made more brutal and bloodthirsty by the kindling of this awful appetite. The murder of a Dutch- man by a drunken Indian, and the massacre, soon after, of thirty friendly natives, by the Mohawks, led the governor of New Amsterdam to commission one of his captains to kill as many of the hostile tribe as he could find.
This was the beginning of a guerilla warfare, in which the Indians set fire to farm and store houses, and sometimes killed their occupants. The Dutch governor found himself
50
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
[1644-45.
in a very uncomfortable position. He asked Captain Under- hill of Stamford to assist him, which so enraged Marine, his own hot-tempered commander, that he tried to kill him ; and the feeling among the people was such that his excellency hired a guard of fifty Englishmen to protect his person.
Among the victims of this war was the notorious Mrs. Hutchinson. After her banishment from Massachusetts on account of her strange religious beliefs, she found refuge in Rhode Island, where she remained until the death of her husband, when she emigrated to the wilderness beyond Stamford. It was here, while seeking to gain the good will of the natives, that she with her entire family, and several neighbors, were treacherously murdered by the Indians, with the exception of a single daughter, who was carried into captivity.
In the year 1644 the colonists were depressed by many anxieties. Tidings came of the civil war that was raging in England ; and at home the savages, on every side, were turbulent and threatening. The Narragansetts, eager and determined, sought to avenge the death of Miantonomo ; and the Indians in the western part of the State, who had been heretofore peaceable, seemed to catch the fierce and warlike spirit of their neighbors, and committed terrible crimes against life and property.
In the following year (1645) whole settlements in Virginia were destroyed at a single stroke ; and the settlers had reason to believe that the New-England Indians were arranging an alliance with the Southern tribes, with the purpose of de- stroying the entire English population.
Steps were taken to quell the quarrel between the Narra- gansetts and Mohegans. At the request of the commission- ers, then in session at Hartford. the Narragansetts sent one of their chiefs, and Uncas came in behalf of the Mohegans. Uncas denied the principal grievance of the Narragansetts, - that he had received a ransom for the life of Miantonomo,
51
THE PURCHASE OF SAYBROOK.
1644-45.
and after his death had refused to return it. The decision of the commissioners was in his favor ; and the Narragansett chief agreed that his people should defer hostilities until after the next year's planting-time, and that thirty days' notice should be given to the governors of Massachusetts and Con- necticut before the war commenced.
That the Indians stood in peculiar awe of the English is illustrated by a visit that was made, about this time, to Hart- ford by four sachems from the east end of Long Island. They appeared before the commissioners, and said that their tribes had paid tribute to the white men ever since the Pequot war, and they desired a certificate of their good behavior, and the assurance of the protection of the English as long as they were peaceable. The paper was cheerfully given, and the delegation returned home highly gratified.
In December, 1644, a matter was settled, that not only in- creased the strength of the Connecticut colony, but decided questions in regard to title, that might have made much trouble. The General Court purchased from Colonel Fen- wick, and those he represented, the fort at Saybrook, with the adjoining lands and buildings, and also every claim that they had to the surrounding country.1 It was agreed that
Colonel Fenwick should be allowed the use of all the houses belonging to the fort for a period of ten years, and that a duty for the same length of time should be paid to him on all beaver, grain, and biscuit exported from the river.2 The fort was at once put in good repair ; and Colonel Fenwick was requested to act as the agent of the colony in England, for the purpose of securing an " enlargement of the patent, and to furnish other advantages."
In violation of the recent treaty, the Narragansetts, in the summer of 1645, marched to the Mohegan country, and at- tacked Uncas in his fort. So determined were they to an- nihilate their old enemy, that Connecticut and New Haven sent a few soldiers to aid the Mohegans. A special meeting
52
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
[1645.
of the commissioners was called ; and messengers were de- spatched by them to the sachems of the contending tribes, asking their presence in person, or by representatives, to give their reasons for making war. This they declined to do, and the Narragansett chiefs returned a threatening and in- sulting answer. Even Roger Williams of Rhode Island, whose voice was generally on the side of peace, felt that it was necessary to prepare for an impending war. Three hundred men were gathered by formal proclamation, and placed under the command of Major Edward Gibbons. Cap- tain Mason and Lieutenant Robert Seeley had charge of the Connecticut and New-Haven forces.
KING PHILIP'S WAMPUM BELT.
Alarmed by the prompt action of the colonies, the Narra- gansetts sent a present to Governor Winthrop of Massachu- setts, asking for peace, but begging the privilege of fighting the Mohegans, and avenging the death of Miantonomo. The present was returned by the commissioners, who sent word to Pessacus, Canonicus, and the other sachems of the Narra- gansetts and Niantics, that they would accept neither gift nor terms of peace until they had atoned for past offences, and given pledges of future good behavior. The sachems, with Pessacus at their head, soon came to Boston, and appeared before the commissioners. They denied that they had been guilty of violating the old treaty, and renewed their accusa- tions against Uncas, while giving assurance that they would not begin the war against the Mohegans before the next planting-time.
53
FARMINGTON INCORPORATED.
1645.]
The commissioners, in a few plain, indignant words, gave the proofs that their statement regarding the keeping of the treaty was false, and assured them that they did not pro- pose to let matters go on as they had done. The Indians finally acknowledged their treachery, and one of the leading chiefs humbly presented a stick to the commissioners as a token of submission. A new treaty was made, by which the hostile tribes restored to Uncas all the captives and canoes they had taken from him, and, as a pledge of good faith, gave hostages to the English, and agreed to pay " two thou- sand fathom of good white wampum," 3 in four instalments.
The settlement made on the Tunxis (Farmington) River in 1640 was incorporated in 1645, and given the name of Farm- ington. The township included the territory that has since been divided into the towns of Southington, Berlin, New Britain, Bristol, Burlington, Avon, and Plainville.
George Wyllys,4 elected governor of Connecticut in 1642, died in 1645.
1 THIS SALE, on the part of Fenwick, included the fort at Saybrook and the land upon the river, with a pledge, on his part, to convey to the colony, " if it come into his power," all the land be- tween Saybrook and Narragansett River, included in the old patent. This convey- ance does not appear to have been made. As late as 1661 the colony did not have even a copy of the patent. When Gov- ernor Winthrop went to England to procure the charter of 1662, he was re- quested by the General Court to secure, if possible, a copy to aid him in assert- ing the rights of the colony. Through the kindness of the executor of Mr. Hopkins, a copy was found among the papers that were left by this gentleman on his death. Winthrop brought it home with him, and some years since it was discovered among the old files in the State Department by Dr. J. H. Trum- bull. " The settlers of the river towns
had not - before or after the agreement with Mr. Fenwick -any right of juris- diction except such as grew out of oc- cupation, purchase from the native proprietors, or (in the case of the Pequot territory) of conquest. Their policy seems to have been to dispose as quietly and cheaply as possible of the claims of such as challenged their title, -into the exact nature of which they were not dis- posed to provoke too close an investiga- tion " (J. H. Trumbull, Col. Rec. of Conn., vol. ii. 569).
2 THE "SAYBROOK IMPOST " was the occasion of a very serious difference be- tween Massachusetts and Connecticut. Of the settlements then existing on the river, one town, Springfield, was within the jurisdiction of Massachusetts. The people of Springfield refused to pay any duties to the officers appointed to collect them, claiming that, as they belonged to Massachusetts, they ought not to be
54
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
taxed for the benefit of Connecticut. The question was referred to the com- missioners of the colonies for their decis- ion. New Haven and Plymouth acted as arbitrators. The matter came up for hearing, under various pretexts, during the three following years; and each time the decision was, that the "impost " ought to be paid by the Springfield traders as well as by those in Connecti. cut. Massachusetts was not pleased by this decision, and sought to retaliate by placing a duty on all goods imported from Connecticut, as well as New Haven and Plymouth, to Boston, or exported from there to these colonies. This act was repealed the next year (1650). The entire discussion caused a good deal of ill feeling, and has been a fruitful topic for historians of later times to dwell upon.
3 WAMPUM. Drake, in his " Making of New England," says, "Among the New-England Indians the manufacture and use of wampum, or shell-money, seems to have begun with the Narragan- setts, who sold it to the whites, who again used it the same as money in buy- ing furs of the Eastern Indians, by whom wampum came to be highly prized. In short, it represented the wealth of a tribe. But wampum had for the Indian a higher meaning. Beautifully wrought, the belts, or strings, of shells stood, not only as his highest work of art and workmanship, but were his records, his tokeus or pledges of friendship, or his eredentiais to other peoples or tribes. The Indians had no written records; and belts of wampum were exchanged be- tween tribes to ratify treaties of peace or war, or as pledges of the good faith of the parties. Hence, they not only bore a character of sacredness, but sym- bolized the whole history of a war, a great council, or other remarkable event in the history of a tribe. No two belts
were exactly alike. Some are very beau- tiful indeed, and show the Indian's ap- preciation of art, as the idea of the belt itself does the poetic side of his nature. At certain seasons the Indians used to meet, in order to'study the meaning, and renew the memories, of the wampum belts. Seated in a circle, the belts were passed from hand to hand, while the story of each was being repeated by the old men of the tribe. In this way what each belt stood for was made familiar to old and young. Boys who were the sons of chiefs were admitted to these talks, in order that they might get ac- quainted with the concerns of their tribe, at a time when such things impress themselves. most. Wampum also was sometimes given in pledge for private friendship. There is no instance of such a promise ever having been broken by an Indian. Wampum was made from the inner wreath of the cockle or peri- winkle, some shells being white, and others blue, veined with purple. The white beads were used by the Indians for stanching the flow of blood from a wound. Its commercial value differed as much as gold and silver, being first determined by the quality, and next by the workmanship. In trade the strings passed at so much a fathom (six feet). Ilaving little gold and silver, the whites soon adopted wampum as a medium of trade."
4 GEORGE WYLLYS was of an old and honored English family, and in- herited a valuable estate in the county of Warwick. In 1636 Mr. Wyllys sent over his steward, with twenty men, with orders to purchase a site, and build a house, in Hartford for his use. Two years after this he left England, and came to Connecticut. He held a promi- nent position in the colony, and was elected a magistrate annually until the time of his death.
55
DISCOVERY OF AN INDIAN PLOT.
1646.]
CHAPTER IX.
1646-1647.
DISCOVERY OF AN INDIAN PLOT.
INTHE wise leaders of affairs in Connecticut early saw that it was desirable to have a written code of laws. In 1646 the Court " desired " Roger Ludlow "to take some pains in drawing forth a body of laws for the government of this Commonwealth." Three years passed before his work was completed and the code adopted.1
The year was marked by a renewal of the controversy between Governor Kieft of New Netherlands and the colo- nial authorities. This warfare of words did not trouble them, however, as seriously as the treachery of once friendly tribes of Indians. The inhabitants of Windsor suffered severe losses from the destruction of property ; and a plot to murder Governor Haynes, Governor Hopkins, and Mr. Whiting, a prominent magistrate, was traced to Sequasson, a River Indian. Fortunately the Waranoke brave, whom he had hired to do the deed, betrayed his employer, and in- formed the authorities at Hartford of their danger.
The Mohawks constantly harassed the weak Indian tribes, scattered through the western part of the State; but they were shrewd in keeping on good terms with the English. An interesting story, illustrating Indian character, is con- nected with the early history of Milford. A company of Mohawks came within the borders of the town, and lay in the ambush of a swamp waiting to attack the Milford
56
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
[1646.
Indians. The English discovered their hiding-place, and apprised their neighbors of the danger. They gathered in large numbers, and suddenly surrounded the Mohawks, who were taken by surprise, and easily defeated. Among the prisoners was a stalwart warrior, whom his captors tied to a stake, and left in the tall grass of the swamp to die of starvation. An Englishman found the poor savage in this cruel plight, and, cutting the thongs that bound his limbs, set him at liberty. Having given him food and shelter, he aided his escape. This kindness was never forgotten by the Mohawks. They always treated the citizens of Milford with marked civility, and in various ways sought to show their gratitude to the one who had given his aid.
Tobacco was first brought into use about this time ; and the Connecticut colony passed a curious law in regard to it, that we give as it stands on the original records.
" TOBACKO.
"FORASMUCH as it is observed, that many abuses are crept in, and committed, by frequent taking of tobacko:
" It is ordered by the authority of this Courte, That no person under the age of twenty years, nor any other, that hath not already accustomed himselfe to the use thereof, shall take any tobacko, untill hee hath brought a cirtificate under the hand of some who are ap- proved for knowledge and skill in phisick, that it is usefull for him, and allso, that hee hath received a lycense from the Courte, for the same, - And for the regulating of those, who either by theire former taking it, have to their own apprehensions, made it necessary to them, or upon due advice, are persuaded to the use thereof :
" It is ordered, That no man within this colonye, after the publica- tion hereof, shall take any tobacko, publicquely, in the street, nor shall any take it in the fields or woods, unless when they be on their travel or journey at least 10 miles, or at the ordinary tyme of repast called dynner, or if it be not then taken, yet not above once in the day at most, & then not in company with any other, under the pen- alty of six-pence for each offence against this order, in any the perticulars thereof, to bee paid without gainesaying uppon conviction, by the testimony of one witness, that is without just exception."
57
NEW LONDON FOUNDED.
1647.]
In the spring of 1646, John Winthrop, jun., under the auspices of Massachusetts, began a settlement near Pequot Harbor. This territory was claimed, both by Massachusetts and Connecticut. Mr. Winthrop removed his family from Boston in the fall of 1646. They spent the winter upon Fisher's Island, but in the spring they settled on the main- land. This was the beginning of the city of New London. In 1647 the territory was conceded to belong to Connecticut, and the General Court suggested that the place be called " Fair Harbor ; " but the settlers finally decided upon the name of New London. The "Pequot River " was there- after known as the "Thames."
A romantic interest is attached to the death of the wife of Colonel Fenwick of Saybrook, that is supposed to have occurred not far from this time. Lady Fenwick was the daughter of Sir Edward Apsley of England, and came to this country, cherishing the hope with her husband, that a beautiful and flourishing city might spring up where the waters of the Connecticut flowed into the Sound. The great leaders of the Revolution in England, like Cromwell and Hampden, were among those who planned to make this spot their future home, should they be compelled to leave their native land. The friends whom Lady Fenwick expected to welcome did not come, and she spent the remaining years of her life in the loneliness of surroundings that must have often seemed sad and strange in contrast with those of other days. Her tomb of hewn blocks of sandstone, without name or inscription, stood in a conspicuous spot not far from the old fort. Some years since, in building the Valley railroad, it was necessary to disturb this ancient memorial ; and it was removed with every care to the cemetery near at hand.
The death of the Rev. Thomas Hooker,2 in the summer of 1647, was a severe affliction to the infant colony of Connecticut. Recognized as " the light of the Western churches," the historian Bancroft says, "He had no rival
.
58
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
in public estimation but Cotton Mather, whom he surpassed in force of character, in liberality of spirit, in soundness of judgment, and in clemency. They who judge men by their services to the human race, will never cease to honor the memory of Hooker."
1 UNTIL this code was established, punishment was left to the discretion of the Court, and was sometimes arbitrary and uncertain. The code was by no means an original composition on the - part of Ludlow. It is a compilation from the code of Massachusetts and other existing law.
2 MR. HOOKER fell a victim to an epidemic disease that carried off many Indians as well as Dutch and English. Cotton Mather has left an account of his death, in which he says, " In the time of his sickness, he did not say much to the standers-by; but being asked that he would utter his apprehensions about some important things, especially about the state of New England, he answered,
' I have not that work now to do : I have already declared the counsel of the Lord.' And when one that stood weep- ing by his bedside said to him, 'Sir, you are going to receive the reward of all your labors,' he replied, ' Brother, I am going to receive mercy.' Closing his eyes with his own hands, the glorious peace of soul which he had enjoyed without interruption for near thirty years together, so gloriously accompa- nied him, that a worthy spectator, writ- ing to Mr. Cotton, a relative thereof, made this reflection : 'Truly, sir, the sight of his death will make me have more pleasant thoughts of death than ever I yet had in my life.'"
59
UNCAS AND THE NARRAGANSETTS.
1649.
CHAPTER X.
1647-1651.
UNCAS AND THE NARRAGANSETTS.
THE Narragansett and Niantic Indians broke their pledge of peace at the first opportunity. They failed to furnish the wampum they had agreed to pay, and hired bands of Pocomtocks 1 and Mohawks to assist them in their war of extermination against the Mohegans. The governor sent Thomas Stanton to Pocomtock, at the head of a deputation that found the Indians armed, and waiting for their Mohawk allies. The stern threats of Stanton, that the English would avenge any wrong that Uncas suffered, had the desired effect ; and, the Mohawks failing to come, the Narragansetts gave up these plans of war, although they injured and wantonly de- stroyed a large amount of property in Rhode Island.
In 1649 the old feud broke out again. Enraged that they had been so often baffled in their attempts to destroy the hated Mohegans, the Narragansett and Niantic chiefs plotted the assassination of Uncas. The Indian whom they hired to do this deed went on board a vessel where Uncas was, and stabbed him in the breast. The wound did not prove fatal ; and as soon as Uncas was sufficiently recovered, he appeared before the commissioners to tell the story of his wrongs. Ninigret, the Niantic chief, was summoned to appear, and clear himself of the charge made against himself and Pes- sacus, that they had hired the assassin of Uncas. His de- fence proved very lame ; and the commissioners gave him
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