USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Stratford > A history of the old town of Stratford and the city of Bridgeport, Connecticut > Part 14
USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Bridgeport > A history of the old town of Stratford and the city of Bridgeport, Connecticut > Part 14
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Test : JOHN ALLYN, Secretary.
155
Witches and Witchcraft.
" The testimony of Abraham Adains and Jonathan Squire also is, that when Mercy Disburrow and Elizabeth Clawson were bound hand and foot and put into the water, they swam like cork ; and one labored to press them into the water, and they buoyed up like cork.
Sworn in Court, September 15th, 1692.
Attest : JOHN ALLYN, Secretary.
" Catharine Beach, aged seventeen years or thereabouts, testifieth and saith, that sometime this last Somer She saw and felt goodwife Clawson and Mercy Disborough afflict her, not together, but apart, by scratching and pinching and wringing her body ; and farther, saith that good wife Clawson was the first that did afflict her, and afterward Mercy Dis- borough ; and after that sometimes one of them, and some- times the other of them ; and in her afflictions though it was night, yet it appeared as light as noone day.
Sworn in Court, September 19th, 1692.
Attest : JOHN ALLYN, Secretary.
" Having taken this testimony and much more of a sim- ilar character, the court adjourned for several weeks. On the 28th of October, 1692, it assembled again at the same place, and after taking further evidence, the case was sub- mitted to the jury. Elizabeth Clawson, goody Miller, and the widow Staples were acquitted, but a verdict was returned against Mercy Disborough of 'guilty,' according to the indictment, of familiarity with Satan. Being sent forth to consider their verdict, the jury returned saying they saw no cause to alter it, but found her guilty as before. Their ver- dict was approved by the court, and sentence of death passed upon the prisoner by the Governor. It seems probable, how- ever, that she escaped this fate, and was pardoned, with the return to reason which followed the collapse of the Salem delusion, for a woman named Mercy Disborough was living
8 The water test was the process of binding the hands and feet and putting them in sufficient water upon the supposition that if they were witches they would float upon the water, but if they were not witches they would sink, and thus prove their innocence.
156
History of Stratford.
in Fairfield in 1707, and is named as one of the executors upon the estate of her husband Thomas."
Witchcraft in Connecticut .- Authentic Records.
1648-9. Mary Johnson of Windsor was executed at Hart- ford, which was the first case in New England.ª
1651. Goody Bassett executed at Stratford.b
1653. Goodwife Knapp executed at Fairfield.c
1653. Elizabeth Goodman of New Haven accused.d
1657. Thomas Mullener of New Haven accused.e
1658. Goodwife Garlick of East Hampton, L. I. was tried at that place and sent to and tried at Hartford and acquitted.f
1659. Mr. Willis and Dept. Governor Mason are ordered by the Court to investigate a case of " witchery " at Say- brook.g
1662. Greensmith and his wife executed at Hartford and two others fly from the country.b
1663. Elizabeth Seager was indicted in Hartford for witchcraft, but convicted of adultery on another count in the indictment. She was tried again in June, 1665, and found guilty, but the court set aside the verdict, for informality.i
1670. Catharine Harrison of Wethersfield tried and con- victed of witchcraft at Hartford, but allowed to pay costs and leave the town.k
a Winthrop, vol. ii. 374. Col. Rec. i. 143, 171, and Savage's Genealogical Dictionary, article Johnson.
b Conn. Col. Rec., i. 220. New Haven Col. Rec., ii. 81.
c New Haven Col. Rec., ii. 77-84. Conn. Col. Rec., i. 249. Kingsley's Hist. Discourse.
d New Haven Col. Rec., ii. 29, 151.
e New Haven Col. Rec., ii. 224.
f Conn. Col. Rec., i. 573. Doc. Hist. of New York, i. 683.
& Conn. Col. Rec., i. 338.
h Mather's Magnalia, ii. book 6, p. 390 ; Remark Prov. Chap. 5.
i Winthrop, ii. 374.
k Conn. Col. Rec., ii. 132, note.
157
Something besides Witches.
1671. False accusations made by Elizabeth Knapp of Groton.1
1692. Trial of Disborough, Clason, Miller and Staples at Fairfield, and the first convicted and sentenced.m
1694. " Winfield Benham, Sen. and his son Winfield Benham, Jr. were charged with witchcraft at Wallingford, but the Grand Jury refused to find an inditement."n
Improvements for the Public.
Public improvements, in the early settlement were con- fined more strictly to the things absolutely needful for the general success and advantage, and this not because the settlers could not appreciate the artistic and beautiful but because of the straitened circumstances in which they were placed. Of their ability to appreciate elegance and culti- vated taste there is sufficient evidence in the laying out the village plot and its subsequent improvement. The first loca- tion of the company which came from Wethersfield, consist- ing according to tradition, of fourteen or fifteen families, was around or near Sandy Hollow where the first meeting-house was erected; then with much deliberation, apparently, they arranged and laid out the plan of the village by opening the highways, very much as they are to-day, only the streets at first were somewhat wider ; especially Front street, now Elm.
The first record found in regard to public convenience, is concerning a ferry : " The motion made by Mr. Ludlow, concerning Moses Wheeler for keeping the Ferry at Strat- ford, is referred to such as shall keep the next court at Fayer- field, both in the behalf of the Country and the Town of Stratford."" The Fairfield Court gave a favorable order, for the ferry was established, and running as appears by the fol-
1 Mather's Magnalia, ii. book 6, p. 390.
m Conn. Col. Rec. iv. 76 note, and 79. T. Lord's Scrap-book.
n The authority for this reported case has not been seen. Mr. C. H. Hoadly. in preface to Col. Rec., vol. vi. says, there was but one subsequent indictment, namely, that of two females in Wallingford in October, 1697, upon which the Grand Jury returned, " ignoramus."
· Col. Rec., i. 163.
158
History of Stratford.
lowing town record : " April 14, 1653. In consideration that the passage to the ferry was stopped up the town gave order to the townsmen to pull up the fence and make way for pas- sengers where they had laid out the way formerly and they promised to bear them out in that act." The ferry continued in the Wheeler family three generations at least.
A mill to grind grains was one of the first public improve- ments, and being attended to before the year 1650, the present records contain no account of the time, or manner of building it, but a record of Nov. 7, 1671, informs us that it was in existence, for a division of the land between the mile-path and the fence " was ordered. The mill was a tidewater mill and stood on Nesumpaws creek, southwest of the village of Stratford, probably, on the east side of the creek.
In 1652, the town by vote made a proposition for another mill, and John Hurd and Thomas Sherwood entered upon the work, and two years later the enterprise was established as follows : " Jan. 5, 1654. John Hurd and Thomas Sherwood in consideration of the expense laid out for the making and keeping a mill to grind the town's corn, do require the town to give them forty acres of upland lying as near the mill as may be, bounded as followeth ; the creek eastward of it, the common highway on the north, the commons west and south- ward; and three spots of meadow a little below the mill ; all which is granted by the said townsmen.
PHILIP GROVES, THOMAS FAIRCHILD, RICHARD BUTLER, JOHN WELLS.
JOHN HURD,
Townsmen.
THOMAS SHERWOOD."
These items were all according to the proposition made by the town, in 1652, and the mill stood at what is now the east end of Old Mill Green. The town required that the land should not be sold from the mill ; that if either partner desired to sell the property, he should give the town the first chance to buy ; and that the millers who were to have the sixteenth part of the corn they should grind, should use a measure provided by the town-" an even and just measure," so that "when it was stricken it may be just the sixteenth part of a bushel."
159
Improvements for the Public.
Public School was another enterprise entered upon by town vote to the following effect :
" 1650. It was agreed by the town that they would give £36 by the year to a schoolmaster, the town to bear one-half and the parents of the children the other half." The same vote was passed the next year, and the same enterprise has characterized the township to the present day.
A proposition having been presented to the Commission- ers of the United Colonies in 1644 to take collections yearly for the " poor scholars at Cambridge," it was approved by all, and committees were appointed for each town in Con- necticut, and that for Stratford consisted of William Judson and John Hurd. Thus early and benevolently did the plan- tations unite in efforts for general education ; and the higher, classical schools as well, for where these latter are neglected the others are.
The first select school of the place was inaugurated, probably, in obedience to a town vote, March 17, 1670, “ that the present townsmen shall endeavor by inquiry to see if there be children sufficient in the town whose parents are free to place them to school, that there may be encourage- ment to endeavor the obtaining a schoolmaster and endeavor to procure either Mr. Mitchell, Mr. Benj. Blakeman, John Minor, or any other suitable person."
Taxes were of small amount compared with those of the present day, but were very burdensome at the time; and were paid in produce and not in money ; the produce was shipped to Boston, New York, Barbados and the West Indies. Barbados was the principal market for grains out- side of the coast, and Alexander Bryan, of Milford, was the great shipping merchant for thirty or more years from the settlement of Milford in 1639. There was no leading shipping merchant at Stratford ; the man who approached nearest to it was Joseph Hawley, followed more prominently by his son, Samuel Hawley, a few years later.
The taxes were accepted in grains, and hence the gov- ernment fixed the price of each yearly, and that price was the standard for exchange and private dealings.
160
History of Stratford.
Stratford was not taxed, probably, for the general gov- ernment until 1645, and for several years afterwards Stratford and Fairfield rates were collected together, or as of one plan- tation. The General Court order in 1646, that the rates of Stratford and Fairfield should be divided, but they were reported together after that.º
The assessment for Taxes by the Connecticut Colony, May 9, 1647, was for £150, and Hartford, Windsor, Wethersfield. Seabrook and Farmington, only, are mentioned in the list.
Grand List of Connecticut, Jan. 25, 1648.
Hartford,
£35 : 10
Farmington, £ 8:00
Windsor,
24:10
Long Island,
5:00
Wethersfield,
24:00
Fairfield and Stratford, 20: 00
Seabrook,
8: 00
Grand List of Connecticut, October, 1651.
Hartford,
£22404 : 19
Seabrooke,
£4150.
Windsor,
I5435
Fairfield,
8895 : 3
Wethersfield,
I2748
Stratford, 7118 : 8 : 6
Farmington,
4741
£75492 : 10 :6
Grand List of Connecticut for the year 1652, October.
Hartford,
£19733:19
Seabrooke,
£3630:00
Wyndsor,
14093: 00
Stratford
7040 : 19
Wethersfield,
11499: 00
Fairfield,
8850 : 15
Farmington
5164: 00
£70011 : 13
Grand List of Connecticut for October, 1653.
Hartford,
£19749
Norwake,
£1968
Windsor,
15084
Matabezek,
1501
Wethersfield,
I2243
Pequet,
3334
Farmington,
5157
Fairfield,
8822
Seabrook,
4268
Stratford,
7450 : 19
Stratford Harbor, or, according to the more recent name, Mack's Creek, from a negro of that name who made it his business to gather and sell oyster shells to make lime-there being no stone lime in that place at that time. His daily work was to go down the harbor and obtain a canoe load of shells and return, and in this way keep a supply for sale on
9For comparison, the Grand Lists of Connecticut for a few years are here given.
Improvements for the Public. 161
the north point at the mouth of this creek; and hence the name Shellkeep Point, as the locality is still called.
At first there was deep water at the mouth of this creek, but the building of the wharf into the channel of the river, a quarter of a mile north, turned the current so that it became muddy south of the wharf down to the mouth of the creek, and hence all the sedge grass land at that place has been made since the settlement began. This creek was once so deep that Capt. Gorham used to winter his schooner of 200 tons burthen in it. He lived on the corner of the high ground a few rods north of the creek, the point now called Prospect Hill. On this site Mr. Nathan B. McEwen,10 a descendant of Capt. Gorham, was born April 23, 1806, and from whom a number of interesting facts and historical narratives have been obtained.
Sometime before the year 1800 a dyke was made across this creek so that the water could not pass, but so much sickness of dysentery and typhus fever followed, that in 1805 the town voted to remove it, and leave the creek open. After it was opened and the salt water let in, there came to the surface out of this ground great quantities of worms, and their decay caused more sickness than had been before, but after that year the sickness ceased. In 1860 the dyke was again built and afterwards in dry summers there was consid- erable sickness as before, for a few years, along the line of the creek.
This harbor was a place of great importance for many years, it being the only place along the river where vessels could find a safe retreat in an casterly storm. The Housa- tonic river (Indian name was Pootatuck) was a broad sheet of water, with very little if any meadow or sedge grass along its banks, and one island in it, which was granted by the town to Nicholas Knell, for meadow, in about 1650, and which still bears his name, but it was then much smaller than now, according to tradition. It has been stated that the island was not there when the whites first came, but that is suffi- ciently refuted by the town record of its grant to Mr. Knell.
10 Manuscript of Mr. Nathan B. McEwen.
II
162
History of Stratford.
This harbor was particularly advantageous in consequence of the small sized boats used at first and for nearly two hundred years. Boats were very few for many years, but canoes were common, being made of one pine log, the inside being cut out, sometimes three feet wide and from fifteen to thirty feet in length. These canoes were quite convenient as oyster boats and for fishing, and were in demand until fifty years ago. As late as 1825 many were made in the northern and western part of the State of New York and floated down the Erie canal and Hudson river and brought to New Haven where they brought from sixty to one hundred dollars each, some of them being thirty feet in length and without a knot in them. The oysters were very plenty in the Housatonic river from where the old Washington bridge stood to the Sound, in water from twelve to twenty feet deep, the longest handles "to the rakes being twenty-two feet, and the number of bush- els taken out in a day being sometimes fifty. Mr. Nathan B. McEwen remembers that one man made a bet that he could take out, in twelve feet of water, in a day, one hundred bush- els, but lost his bet by only a few bushels. The oysters then were very large and of rare quality. The shells still dug up from two feet under ground, where they were deposited by the Indians, show their very large size and the gravelly bottom on which they grew, for some of them are very rough or full of indentures made by growing on a gravelly bed. The oysters from here were sold in Boston, New York and other cities as of the best quality. The immense quanti- ties of shells left by the Indians in the fields a little back from the western shore near the mouth of the river indicate the Indian's appreciation of oysters for many generations, but the oysters now opened in one year at Stratford leave more shells, probably, than all left in all past time by the Indians.
Sandy Hollow, near Mack's Creek, was quite a hollow extending west some distance, which is called Sandy Hollow because the sand was deep, at first, and the tide came up the hollow, frequently, some distance. This has been filled by taking off the hill east during the many years that have passed since the first settlement.
163
Improvements for the Public.
Guard Hill, directly in front of South avenue, on the cast side of Front, or Elm street, was quite a hill, higher than at present, which was called Guard Hill at the time of the first settlement because it was the parade ground or rendezvous for the guards or soldiers on watch against any attacks by the Indians. The hill extended north some distance from the creek, forming quite a plateau, terminating at the creek in a high bluff of soft sand, which was a noted place for athletic sports, specially of running and jumping, and for children to ride down on sleds. The first meeting house stood at the west end of this high bank, as elsewhere described.
Little Neck lay at the south of Mack's Creek, and was formed by a tide creek on the west which was originally of considerable depth. The north end of this neck was owned, at first, so far as the records now show, by Thomas Uffoot and by him was sold in 1661 to Nicholas Gray, from Flush- ing, Long Island, who had a tide-mill where the lane or highway crosses Little Neck creek, and to him the town granted, in 1671, another piece of land adjoining on the south if he should maintain his dam wide enough for a passable highway.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN
STRATFORD.
HE earliest mention of this Church now dis- coverable is in a vote by the Milford Church to invite the attendance of the Stratford Church and its aid on the occasion of ordain- ing " Bro. Whitman" as a ruling elder. The elders of the Church in New Haven were also invited and were pres- ent at the ordination, June 26, 1645, at which time Stratford Church was repre- sented by its " pastor and another messen- ger." It is most probable that this Church was organized in the summer of 1639, the year when Mr. Blakeman and his followers came to the place, and if not, they began their work that year as a company of believ- ers devoted to the Christian cause. The Rev. Adam Blakeman, who had labored as an ordained min- ister in England, was their pastor and served them about twenty-six years. Whatever church records he kept must have remained among his private papers, and are lost, and the same was true with the Rev. Israel Chauncey's records until 1675, with which year the existing volume commences. Nothing of Mr. Blakeman's writing is known to be ex tant except a paper drawn in 1665 by the Rev. Israel Chauncey as his assistant minister, which he subscribed.
No list of the membership, nor of the officers are found but the following names as the Deacons have been ascertained.
165
First Church in Stratford.
The Ruling Elder and Deacons1 of the Congregational Church of Stratford.
Philip Groves was the first and only Ruling Elder in this Church from 1640 to his death in 1675.
Deacons :
John Birdseye.
Ebenezer Coe.
John Wilcoxson.
Nathan McEwen.
Thomas Wells.
Samuel Uffoot.
Robert Walker.
Agur Curtis.
John Thompson.
Philo Curtis.
Ephraim Judson. Peat.
Agur Curtis 2d.
David P. Judson.
Elnathan Wheeler.
Agur Treat Curtis.
Israhiah Brown.
Lewis Beers.
The first sexton and bell-ringer was John Peat, the first of the name in Stratford, called in those days in a friendly way Goodman Peat. He held this office until 1660, when John Pickett was elected by the town to fill the place.
The First Meeting house stood on the east side of Front, now Elm street, at Sandy Hollow, on the southeast corner. This house must have been very plain, and of small dimensions, but there are no records by which its size or height can be ascertained. It was built without a gallery at first, for the following vote is recorded : " Feb. 4, 1661. It was agreed that there shall be a gallery builded in the meet- ing house in the convenient place."
The first burial ground was adjoining the meeting house and burials were probably made there until the new ground, which was laid by the town in 1677, was opened where it now is, in 1678, west of Main street. The grave stones standing at the old place were removed to the new. In the excava- tions made at the old ground since it was abandoned several skeletons have been exhumed. Quite many graves were made without head stones and no traces of them were to be seen when the removals were made, and hence after more than a hundred years some bones were found in digging a well that is still in existence near the barn standing on the old site.
1 Manuscript of the Rev. B. L. Swan.
12
166
History of Stratford.
The almost total obliteration of this burying place is symbolical of the life of man, and our reflections, while mel- ancholy, may be instructive. In the graveyard are still a few plain stones which were removed from the old ground, with rude inscriptions, consisting simply of initials of a name with a date such as, " E. B., March 9, 1652." Whom did men bear to his lowly rest beneath this monument, two hundred and fifty-two years ago? Was it a stranger, or did he or she belong to one of the families of Blakeman, Burritt, Booth, Bostwick, Beardsley, or Beach? Another is "J. H. 1690, Æ. 100." Who was this, born in 1590, somewhere amid the troublous times of the Mother Country, when the fires around the martyrs' stake had but just gone out? And yet another -" J. H., June 25, 1691," without the age. Others have no monumental letters,-only the date, as : " March, 1684," and " January, 1691 ;" and others there were, barely a stone, weather-chafed, shapeless, and yielding to most curious inqui- sition only defaced particles of an inscription, in which no letter or figure can be determined .? How much is it to be regretted that these stones do not tell us more about those who fell in a strange land, the first sacrifices for a liberated conscience and an enlarged freedom. How pleasing the thought that man but begins, in this life the high and noble purpose for which he is created, and looks forward to a larger sphere of activities and enjoyments, as set forth in the beautiful words of Everett in his commemoration of the decease of the great Webster : " The wakeful eyes are closed, the feverish pulse is still, the tired and trembling limbs are relieved from their labors, and the aching head is laid to rest upon the lap of its Mother Earth, like a play-worn child at the close of a summer's day; but all that we honored and loved in the living man begins to live again in a new and higher being of influence and fame."
What Happened in the first Meeting House.
The first sexton, so far as known, was John Peat, called " Goodman Peake," and " Goodman Pickett " was elected by
2 Manuscript of the Rev. B. L. Swan.
167
First Church in Stratford.
the town in 1660, to fill the place which Mr. Peat had resigned and a part of the instructions given him, besides ringing the bell, were these: " And also to watch over the disorderly persons in the meeting and use his discretion in striking any person whom he finds so disorderly." In this they had con- ferred two offices upon him, for in November the year before the town appointed Henry Wakelee to "watch over the youths or any disorderly carriages in the time of public exer- cises on the Lord's day or other times and see that they behave themselves comely, and note any disorderly persons by such raps or blows as he in his discretion shall see meet."
In 1666, Hugh Griffin was appointed to oversee the youth in the gallery or without doors," and if any did con- duct disorderly he was to report the same " to the parents and masters;" and the next year Esbon Wakeman was appointed to this difficult office.
In December, 1678, when they had commenced to build a new meeting house Thomas Jefery was chosen to keep order in the time of public service.
The bell spoken of above was in use in 1660, but how much earlier is not known. It is said to have been the first church bell in the State, and must have been brought from England, since it could not have been made at that day in this country. It would be an item of history of much interest and some curiosity to know how it was secured and when brought here.
Progress in the Settlement of the Township.
After the settlement of the right to the soil in the town in 1659, and some satisfaction made to the Indians the next year, the settlers of Stratford extended their work of division, laying out and settlement of the township with, apparently, new energy and enterprise. In view of this a town meeting was called and the following was a part of its doing :
"Jan. 3, 1661. It was voted that all the inhabitants shall have liberty to take up a whole division of land in the woods for planting land anywhere within the bounds of Stratford where he can find fit land, provided it be not within two miles
168
History of Stratford.
of the town, and also all such who do take up land in this. way are prohibited from making it their dwelling place, but by the consent of the town ; and they have chosen by a vote Philip Groves, William Curtis and Joseph Judson to lay it out unto particular men according as they desire it."
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