USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Greenwich > A history of the town of Greenwich, Fairfield County, Conn., with many important statistics > Part 3
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So quickly had this work of destruction been accomplished, that the night was yet far from being spent. The Dutch therefore, warmed and cheered by the fires that had scorched and crisped their enemies, spent the remainder of the night upon the field; and when the morn- ing came and the sun had arisen and looked upon the work of the preceding night, they threw the dead bodies of the Indians into heaps and covered them with the ashes of their village and frozen earth and snow, and left them without farther monument. Yet the mounds thus formed bore testimony to the place of the battle for many years. Tradition has long pointed out with accuracy the place of these mounds. An aged lady, Mrs. Howe by name, who lived to the advanced age of a hundred and two years, and who died some forty years since, remembered these mounds distinctly. Five of them she said were between
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HISTORY OF GREENWICH.
the present houses of J. K. Stearns, Esq., and Mrs. Hitchcock, and twenty were scattered about just across the lane southeast of the present residence of William White, Esq., on the land of Edward Mead. And some fifty years, or more, ago, Joseph Sackett, who lived close by, was digging with one of his men for the purpose of covering potatoes from the cold of winter,-which was then done by digging four or five feet in the ground,-and came upon one of these settled heaps, then mostly turned to dust. But the good old farmer turned to his man, whose name was Avery, and told him to "throw in the potatoes any way," for the bones couldn't hurt them if they were " Injins;" and in they went, and I believe were kept safe just as the old man had said. Bushels of flint arrow-heads have been plowed up by the owners of land on all parts of Strickland's plain. Some of them are beautifully cut from the finest white flint; but the greater part of them are rougher hewn, from blue flint. Their old burial place as yet is not all extinct ; but what remains is but a monument of the care- lessness of the people of the neighborhood. Not only is the place neglected, but absolutely is being demolished by the penny grinders
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who want dirt to fill in docks, or for some other purpose. It should have been fenced long ago, and protected from men who will take dirt from dead men's bones.
This battle is equal to any ever fought in Connecticut in the numbers of those engaged in fight, in the fierceness of the contest, and in the carnage and destruction made. And the Indians in this part of the country never recovered from the blow. True, a few desper- ate ones hung about the settlements seeking revenge ; but they soon melted away, and their few descendants had none of their fathers' ambition. Now none are to be seen. The proud, civilized, and enlightened European has driven the aborigines from the lands which were theirs by discovery, inheritance, and actual occupation. And now it is too late to repair the injury.
Proud of their victory, the soldiers on the next day after the battle began their return march, "the Lord enduing the wounded with extraordinary strength." Great was the re- joicing at New Amsterdam when the result of the expedition was known. Public thanks- giving was ordered by the Dutch authorities ; and it is said by O'Callaghan in his History of New Netherlands to have been regarded as a
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special Providence that when the attack was made on Petuquapaen " the Lord had collected most of their enemies there to celebrate some peculiar festival." But the results of the war were most favorable to the settlers themselves. What few Indians were left lived peaceably, and brought rich furs to the whites in trade for rum. This trade yielded of course a double traffic to the whites, while it cheated and wronged the aborigines.
Underhill, the hero of the battle, on returning to New Amsterdam, took with him Elizabeth Feaks, the widow of Robert Feaks, and married her, each thus entering upon matrimony for the second time. In the same year he settled in Flushing, L. I. Again he moved to Killing- worth, Ct., where he died in 1672. He was artful and intriguing, and he had changed his name before taking the command of the Dutch forces to Hans Van Vanderhill. His son, Nathaniel, emigrated from Killingworth to Westchester county in 1685.
BOUNDARY ON THE WEST.
The boundary line on the southwestern part of Connecticut has been frequently changed ; and probably we can do no better than give an
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HISTORY OF GREENWICH.
account of the various changes here, although we may be obliged to anticipate somewhat the events of the history. As has been before said, Patrick and Feaks bought under the New Haven Colony in 1640 ; but they also, in 1642, made over the town to the Dutch, they both becoming patroons of the manor. This left the western boundary of Connecticut to be the Potommuck river, that is, the present boundary line between Stamford and Greenwich.
But a treaty was made in Hartford in 1650, making the boundary line as follows: to com- mence on Long Island "on the westernmost part of Oyster bay, so, and in a straight and direct line to the sea ; and upon the main land a line to begin on the west side of Greenwich bay (i. e. all that bay within Capt's I.) and so run in a northerly line twenty miles up into the country, and after as it shall be agreed by the two governments of the Dutch and New Haven, provided said line come not within ten miles of the. Hudson river." (Hazard's State Papers, vol. ii., p. 218.)
This boundary was made without the parti- cipation of the inhabitants of Greenwich. Accordingly, some of the spirited ones con- tinued on under their old customs and habits
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and laws, and regardless of those of Connecti- cut. On the eastern bank of the Armonck (Byram) river there was a little trading ham- let at which the Indians, those which were left of the once powerful tribe, used to purchase their firewater. Hence the place was called, as it is properly spelled, By-rum. And during the year 1656, " from representations previous- ly made at New Haven that the people of Greenwich lived in a disorderly and riotous manner, sold intoxicating liquors to the Indians, received and harbored servants who had fled from their masters, and joined persons unlaw- fully in marriage," the General Court of that colony resolved to assert their jurisdiction over the town and bring its citizens to a more orderly manner of demeaning themselves. In May, the General Court sent a letter, calling upon those living in Greenwich to submit to its authority. They returned an answer couch- ed in very spirited language, declaring that New Haven had no right to set up such a claim, and that they would never submit to its authority unless compelled to do so by Parlia- ment. But when the spirits of such men as Eaton and Davenport pervade a body, it is not easily driven from any position that has been
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deliberately taken. The General Court passed a resolve that unless the recusants should appear in open court and make a formal sub- mission by the 25th of June, Richard Crab and some others who were most stubborn in their opposition should be arrested and punished according to law. This had the effect intend- ed; Crab and others who had been ready for martyrdom, yielded with as good grace as they could. This Crab will be mentioned hereafter, and was a large landholder in town. (Colo- nial Records and Hollister's History of Con- necticut.)
This settled the matter for a time. But when, in 1664, the Dutch surrendered to Col. Richard Nicolls, the Duke of York's Governor, the three Commissioners appointed to settle the boundary line between the Duke of York's patent and the colony of Connecticut decided
That the creek or river called Mamaronec, which is reported to be about twelve miles east of West- chester, and a line drawn from ye east point or side, where the fresh water falls into the salt, at high water mark, north-northwest to ye line of Massachu- setts, shall be ye western bounds of ye said Colony of Connecticut.
RICHARD NICOLLS, GEORGE CARTRIGHT, SAMUEL MAURICKE.
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HISTORY OF GREENWICH.
Again on the 28th of January, 1673,
The General Court ordered the bounds between Greenwich and Rye to be from the mouth of the Byram river, to run up the one quarter of a mile above the great stone, lying on the cross-path, by the sayd commons, upwards, between Stamford bounds and the colony line, is to be equally divided between them by a parallel line, with Stamford and Norwalk to the end of their bounds, up in the country.
ROBERT TREAT, JONATHAN SELLICKE, PETER DISBROW.
The town of Rye thus remained a part of Connecticut until December 3d, 1683. But at that date we find from Gov. Treat, of Con- necticut, a letter formally bidding good-by to those living west of the Armonck or Byram, and making them over to the New York Gov- ernor, Dougan. In 1696-97, Rye and Bed- ford were again received into Connecticut. And the western boundary was never finally fixed until May the 14th, 1731, when the present one was agreed upon. Greenwich, however, since 1650, has formed a permanent part of Connecticut.
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HISTORY OF GREENWICH. .
INCREASE OF INHABITANTS, ETC., 1645-1665.
A blight seems to have fallen upon the little settlement during the five or ten years follow- ing the summary destruction of the Indians on the plain. In general, the Indians had never shown so great animosity to the English as to the Dutch settlers. And it was for this reason that Capt Patrick refused to lead the Dutch in their first expedition, and that the greater part of the English settlers had not offered their services in the more successful one. And being now fully under the dominion of the governor of the New Netherlands, few addi- tions were made from honest Englishmen. Still, they remained at their post, buying from the Indians all the land they could afford, and without hindrance or molestation they attended to the usual avocations of early settlers. But
after 1656, when Connecticut had forced Crab and his adherents to submit to her authority, the prospects of the settlement brightened. Crab or Crabbe, before coming to Greenwich, had been a member of the first Assembly of Connecticut, which was held in Hartford in 1639. Previously, he had bought large tracts
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of land of the Indians in many places, and sold it again in smaller parcels to the new set- tlers. In 1656, he sold portions of his estate to the ancestors of the Studwells, the Hobbys, and the Hubbards. Peter Disbrow and John Coe, who, with Thomas Studwell, afterwards bought the greater part of the town of Rye, settled here at about the same time. Jeffere Ferris returned from Fairfield, where he had gone upon the ceding of Greenwich to the Dutch. Others came, many of them from Long Island, when that was given over to the authority of the Duke of York. Among them were John Mead and John Hobby or Hubbe. The deed under which John Mead first held lands is given on the town records as follows :-
These presents witnesseth an agreement made be- twene Richard Crab, of Greenwich, on ye one side, and John Mead, of Heamstead, on Long Iseland, on ye other side, viz. : ye said Richard Crab hath sould unto ye sd John Mead all his houses and lands, yt sd Richard Crab hath in Greenwich with all ye Apurtenances, Rights & privileges, & conveniences, yt Doth belong unto ye sd houses & lands, or shall here after belong unto them, viz: ye house yt Richard Crab liveth in, ye house yt Thomas Stud-
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well liveth in, with ye Barne yt is on ye other side of ye hye waye ; also ye home lott yt ye house stands on, being bounded with a fence lying about them on ye northwest, against ye houselott ; also eightene Acres of land in Elisabeth neck, more or less, being bounded by ye sea on ye east and southeast, and a fence on ye west, northwest, and ye north.
Also ye Rig, with 5 acres of Meadow lying in it, more or less ; ye rig being bounded by ye sea on ye southeast, william low on ye east, and ye fence on ye northwest, & north ye hye waye & hethcut's (Heathcote) & angell Heusteds on ye west; also 3 acres of meadow in ye long meadow, & 1 acre of meadow by Ferris, bounded by Jeffere Ferris land on ye southeast, and ye cove on ye west and north- west ; also 5 acres of meadow in myanos neck. all ye above specified I do hereby acknowledge to have sould unto ye above sd John Mead, his heaires and asignes, fully and freely to be possest forever, and for ye quiet and full performance hereof, I have hereunto subscribed my hand, anno 1660, October, 26 Daye.
RICHARD CRAB.
ADAM MOTT,
ROBT. WILLIAMS.
Witnesses.
The John Mead above referred to is not the oldest John, but his son ; which latter having himself a son John always went, as we too shall call him, by the name of John Mead, 4
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senior. The first John had become an old man, and all the purchases and other business was done in the name of his son. Joseph Mead, his only other child, is reported by tra- dition to have died young, although it is not improbable that he may have removed to New Jersey or elsewhere, and become the ancestor of another branch of the family. The brother who remained here married a Miss Potter, whose father afterwards owned Shippan Point at Stamford; and through her he afterward received a considerable amount of property. John-and many of his thousand and one de- scendants take greatly after him-was a queer fellow, though honest and charitable. The following anecdote, which has been preserved by tradition, shows his character. One day when he had become quite an old man, as he was going for his grist on horseback to the mill at Dumpling pond, before he reached the Myanos, he overtook an old Quaker jogging slowly along, loaded with a heavy budget. In a real spirit of kindness, he offered to take the Quaker's load upon his horse and' thus give him a lift on his journey. "No," replied the Quaker, " thee don't get my bundle, for I can read men's thoughts. Thee wants to get my
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bundle, and then thee'll run off. Thee don't get my bundle." " Very well," was the sim- ple reply, and so they went slowly on together. At last they came to the brink of the Myanos. Here Mr. Quaker was really in trouble. How to cross a river, two or three feet deep, dry shod was quite a puzzle. But he gladly ac- cepted a second offer of assistance from the horseman. The bundle was mounted in front, John in the middle and the Quaker behind. Arrived at the centre of the stream, in pre- tending to adjust his stirrup, John Mead caught the Quaker by the heel and gave him a gratuitous bath. Such treatment was too much for even Quaker forbearance, and the victim with his hands full of pebbles would have taken summary vengeance, had not the other party threatened to put the bundle under a similar course of treatment. This threat and the lecture following it gradually cooled
off the fellow's anger. Mead informed him that all had been done for his good, to learn him a lesson. And the lecturer said he hoped the stranger would never again profess to read men's thoughts. "For," said he, "I asked you to ride, kindly, in the first place, when you refused; but at the second time of asking, I
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really intended to do as I have just done." So saying, and tossing back the bundle, he rode on, leaving his companion to apply the moral as he thought proper.
As early as this date (1660), the settlers felt the want of a minister ; and, although not numbering perhaps more than twenty adult male settlers, annually subscribed, or rather taxed themselves, for preaching during a por- tion of the year; as did also Rye, which was at this time included in Connecticut. But no church was formed or pastor ordained. Dr. Trumbull says, "Greenwich and Rye were but just come under the jurisdiction of Connecti- cut, and not in circumstances for the support of ministers ; they had only occasional preach- ing for a considerable time."
Several settlers, though living here about this time made large purchases in the town- ships of Rye, Northcastle, Harrison, Bedford, and even as far off as Westchester. Hence we often see the names of John Coe, Thomas Studwell, Peter Disbrow, Thomas Lyon, and a number of others, figuring extensively upon the records of those towns.
.
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HISTORY OF GREENWICH.
ITEMS FROM 1665 TO 1690.
A few years must now be passed over with but slight notice ; as the town records of that period, from which we gain the most of our information, are remarkably barren. Never- theless the little settlement increased greatly, both in wealth and population. As has been said, meetings were held regularly on the Sab- bath, though but a part of the time attended by preaching. In 1666 a school-house was established. Mention of the school-house is made, but we have no means of learning its situation, or the name of the teacher. He, no doubt, was revered more than most modern pedagogues, since there was no minister, and the largest landholder (John Mead) wrote his name with a "his mark." At any rate the school, thus early established, shows that Greenwich, then as well as now, properly valued the advantages of education.
In the year 1669, Daniel Patrick, the only son of the original settler by that name, came hither from Flushing, L. I., and opposed the doctrine of " squatter sovereignty," by asserting his claim to all the land which his father had owned here, but which was now passed into dif-
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ferent hands. But as young Patrick, like his father, was of a roving disposition, a compro- mise was easily effected, and "all his right, title, and interest in any land or estate in the settlement," were bought with a horse, saddle and bridle, and fifty pounds ; with all which he left for parts unknown.
The actual settlement, as we have said, was made east of the Myanos river ; but about the year 1672, a number of persons, mostly living in town, though some, as Rev. Jeremiah Peck, were even from other colonies than Connecti- cut, purchased Miosehasseky from the few In- dians yet living about the western part of the
town. These purchasers were twenty-seven in number, and styled the " 27 Proprietors of 1672." Their names are, we believe, nearly all preserved in the town, and we give them as we accidentally found them on a stray leaf of the well-worn records :-
27 Proprietors of 1672.
Ephraim Palmer, Samuel Peek,
Jonathan Reynolds, or Joseph Seres, Renolds, John Hubbe (Hobby), Stephen Sherwood, Joseph Mead,
Angell Heusted,
William Hubbard,
Samuel Ginkins (Jenkins), William Ratere,
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HISTORY OF GREENWICH.
John Bowers,
John Marshall,
Joseph Finch,
Jonathan Lockwood,
William Rundle,
- John Renalds, Gershom Lockwood,
/ John Mead,
John Asten,
James Seres,
Jeremiah Peck,
Thomas Close,
John Palmer,
Thomas Close, Jun.,
Walter Butler,
Daniel Smith.
These kept separate records of their own, and West Greenwich (by them called Horse- neck), was entirely under their control.
In 1676, the people began, more than pre- viously, it is said, to feel the need of having the Gospel preached more regularly upon the Sabbath. Accordingly, at a full meeting of the voters of the town, it was resolved to in- vite some " suitable minister" to come and live among them. Inquiries were immediately made for some proper man, and upon the recommendation of a certain Mr. Bishop, an invitation was extended to the Rev. Mr. Wiz- wale. For some reason, this call was never ac- cepted ; and the town was two years longer without a pastor. But, in 1678, an invitation was given to the Rev. Jeremiah Peck, of Eliza- bethtown, N. J. He was one of the proprie- tors of the large tract of land on which Eliza- bethtown is built; and it was no small recom-
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mendation of the man that he was one of the " 27 Proprietors of 1672" at Horseneck. This invitation was almost immediately accepted ; and in the fall of the same year Mr. Peck settled in Greenwich, and became the pro- genitor of the numerous Pecks still to be found in Greenwich. The first salary paid to Mr. Peck was fifty pounds with firewood, or sixty without. He chose the latter.
In 1679, Thomas Close sold his land, lying on both sides of the Myanos, which was a very large tract, and purchased other land in the southeastern part of the town. The house or a portion of the house in which he lived a hun- dred and sixty years ago, is claimed to be still standing, half a mile southeast of the present borough of Greenwich.
In 1681, took place the earliest marriage that is recorded, although others must have preceded it, by the Rev. Jeremiah Peck,-John Mead, jun., to Miss Ruth Hardey.
About the same time, John Banks and Thomas Lyon received a large grant of land. The whole tract consisted of four hundred acres, and was situated in the angle made by the Armonck or Byram river and the West- chester path.
1684. Mr. Peck still continues to preach,
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and for the same salary. In February of this year they granted him a right to build him a house anywhere north of the Westchester path, and west of the Myanos river. The meeting-house, however, was not far from the head of the cove ; and why he wanted a house so far from his church we are at a loss to con- jecture. Still, as he obtained the grant, we trust he made good use of it.
Up to 1685, Lieut. Lockwood had been the leading and influential man in the town. This year he died, and the people met in town's meeting and passed resolutions deploring the loss of so valuable a citizen. A saw and grist mill was put up at Dumpling Pond. An old mill building still marks the site, and doubt- less contains some of the same timber.
In 1686 the town voted that all the land lying in commons and belonging to the town should be divided, and whoever should take his share of the same should pay therefor six- pence per acre. It was also voted that a line of fence should be built on the front of this land, along the Westchester path from the Myanos to the Byram river. Each owner was to put up that part of the fence before his own land, and have it completed by the 1st of April thereafter ; and for every rod un-
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finished by that time was to pay a fine of six- pence. During the year another grant was made to Rev. Mr. Peck, of the use of certain land as parsonage land for three years ; being the first record of any grant of the kind in the town.
1687. During this year, permission was given to the citizens of the town to build fish- pounds on the sea-shore " anywhere outside ye feelds." John Mead, jun. was elected constable, then the most remunerative as well as im- portant office in the gift of the town. Gershom and his brother William Lockwood, during this year, agreed to build a bridge across the Myanos at Dumpling Pond, and receive in payment " whatever the town should see fit to give after the work was done." A good way to insure good workmanship, and at the present day most builders would shrink from such a test. The building used for church and town- meetings was repaired, but to what extent does not appear.
The number of legal voters in town now amounted to about fifty, and the number of inhabitants probably exceeded three hundred. We find the following list of legal voters re- corded in 1688, which may not now prove uninteresting to readers :-
1
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Jonathan Lockwood, Angell Husted, Joseph Mead, John Mead,
Ephriam Palmer, Jeames Palmer, Walter Butler, Samuel Peck,
Joseph Ferris, John Renalds,
Rev. Jeremiah Peck,
John Mead, Jun.,
John Hubbe,
Henere Rich,
Meriam Hubert,
Jonathan Mead,
Jeames Ferris,
Joshua Knapp,
Jonathan Renalds,
George Hubbert,
John Bowers,
Joseph Huested,
Joseph Finch,
Angell Husted, Jun.,
Meriam Hubert, Jun.,
John Renalds, Jun.,
Thomas Lyon,
Peter Ferris,
John Banks,
Thomas Hubbe,
Thomas Close,
John Hubbe, Jun.,
Frances Thorne,
Job Ferris,
Nathaniel Howe,
Jonathan Lockwood,
Joseph Palmer,
Robert Lockwood,
William Rundle,
Caleb Peck,
Gershom Lockwood,
John Marshall,
Joseph Mead, John Mead's 1 Son, Joseph Mead, Joseph
Daniel Smith,
Jonathan Huested,
Mead's Son.
Ebenezer Mead,
Joseph Knapp, Jun. John Tash.
It will be noticed that the names then written Heusted, are now written Husted : Hubbe, Hobby ; Renalds, Reynolds ; Hub-
HISTORY OF GREENWICH.
bert, Hubbart, &c. The name of Tash is, I believe, the only one now unrepresented in town. He was a shepherd, employed by the "Twenty-seven Proprietors" to watch their herds on their commons. This fact proves that Greenwich is indeed a portion of the land of steady habits, and that her sons are great lovers of home.
A little previous to this time, about 1686, the Indians sold their almost last acre of ground in the town. These lands were at the mouth of the Myanos, on its western bank, and are now in the possession of Capt. Noah Mead, who still possesses the veritable deed.
A controversy arose in 1688 upon the sub- ject of infant baptism. Mr. Peck refused to baptize the children of non-professors, and for the time was supported by a majority of the members of the church. He claimed to be unable to find any command enjoining such a practice, and said we were constantly breaking too many direct commands, whilst rigorously obeying supposed but doubtful ones. The question coming before the town meeting, resulted as follows :-
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