USA > Connecticut > New London County > A modern history of New London County, Connecticut, Volume I > Part 28
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protection of the Rights of the People, and under which that Country in long succession enjoyed great Tranquility and Peace, though not unattended with repeated and powerful efforts, by many of its haughty Kings, to destroy the Constitutional Rights of the People, and establish arbitrary Power and Do- minion. In one of those convulsive struggles our Forefathers, having suffered in that their native Country great and variety of Injustice and Oppression, left their dear Connections and Enjoyments, and fled to this then inhospitable land to secure a lasting retreat from civil and religious Tyranny.
The God of Heaven favored and prospered this Undertaking-made room for their settlement-increased and multiplied them to a very numerous People and inclined succeeding Kings to indulge them and their children for many years the unmolested Enjoyment of the Freedom and Liberty they fled to inherit. But an unnatural King has risen up-violated his sacred Obligations and by the Advice of Evil Counsellors attempted to wrest from us, their children, the Sacred Rights we justly claim and which have been ratified and established by solemn Compact with, and recognized by his Pre- decessors and Fathers, Kings of Great Britain-laid upon us Burdens too heavy and grievous to be borne and issued many cruel and oppressive Edicts, depriving us of our natural, lawful and most important Rights, and subjecting us to the absolute Power and Control of himself and the British Legislature; against which we have sought Relief, by humble, earnest and dutiful Com- plaints and Petitions : But, instead of obtaining Redress our Petitions have been treated with Scorn and Contempt, and fresh Injuries heaped upon us while hostile armies and ships are sent to lay waste our Country. In this distressing Dilemma, having no Alternative but absolute Slavery or success- ful Resistance, this and the United American Colonies have been constrained by the overruling laws of Self Preservation to take up Arms for the Defence of all that is sacred and dear to Freemen, and make this solemn Appeal to Heaven for the Justice of their Cause, and resist Force by Force.
God Almighty has been pleased of his infinite Mercy to succeed our Attempts, and to give us many Instances of signal Success and Deliverance. But the wrath of the King is still increasing, and not content with before employing all the Force which can be sent from his own Kingdom to execute his cruel Purposes, has procured, and is sending all the Mercenaries he can obtain from foreign countries to assist in extirpating the Rights of America, and with theirs almost all the liberty remaining among Mankind.
In this most critical and alarming situation, this and all the Colonies are called upon and earnestly pressed by the Honorable Congress of the American Colonies united for mutual defence, to raise a large additional number of their militia and able men to be furnished and equipped with all possible Expedi- tion for defence against the soon expected attack and invasion of those who are our Enemies without a Cause. In cheerful compliance with which request, and urged by Motives, the most cogent and important that can affect the human Mind, the General Assembly of this Colony has freely and unani- mously agreed and resolved, that upwards of Seven Thousand able and effective Men be immediately raised, furnished and equipped for the great and interesting Purposes aforesaid. And not desirous that any should go to a warfare at their own charges (though equally interested with others) for defence of the great and all-important Cause in which we are engaged, have granted large and liberal Pay and Encouragements to all who shall volun- tarily undertake for the Defence of themselves and their country as by their acts may appear, I do therefore by and with the advice of the Counsel, and at the desire of the Representatives in General Court assembled, issue this Proclamation, and make the solemn Appeal to the Virtue and public Spirit of the good People of this Colony. Affairs are hastening fast to a Crisis, and the approaching Campaign will in all Probability determine forever the fate
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of America. If this should be successful on our side, there is little to fear on account of any other.
Be exhorted to rise therefore to superior exertions on this great Occasion, and let all the people that are able and necessary show themselves ready in Behalf of their injured and oppressed Country, and come forth to the help of the Lord against the Mighty, and convince the unrelenting Tyrant ot Britain that they are resolved to be Free. Let them step forth to defend their Wives, their little Ones, their Liberty, and everything they hold sacred and dear, to defend the Cause of their Country, their Religion, and their God. Let every one to the utmost of their Power lend a helping Hand, to promote and forward a design on which the salvation of America now evidently de- pends. Nor need any be dismayed : the Cause is certainly a just and a glorious one: God is able to save us in such way and manner as he pleases and to humble our proud Oppressors. The Cause is that of Truth and Justice; he has already shown his Power in our Behalf, and for the Destruction of many of our Enemies. Our Fathers trusted in Him and were delivered. Let us all repent and thoroughly amend our Ways and turn to Him, put all our Trust and Confidence in Him-in his Name go forth, and in his Name set up our Banners, and he will save us with temporal and eternal salvation. And while our Armies are abroad jeoparding their lives in the high Places of the Field, let all who remain at Home, cry mightily to God for the Protection of his Providence to shield and defend their lives from Death, and to crown them with victory and success.
And in the Name of the said General Assembly I do hereby earnestly recommend it to all, both Ministers and People frequently to meet together for social prayer to Almighty God for the outpouring of his blessed Spirit upon this guilty land-That he would awaken his People to Righteousness and Repentance, bless our Councils, prosper our Arms and succeed the Meas- ures using for our necessary self defence-disappoint the evil and cruel Devices of our Enemies-preserve our precious Rights and Liberties, lengthen out our Tranquility, and make us a People of his Praise, and the blessed of the Lord, as long as the Sun and Moon shall endure.
And all the ministers of the Gospel in this Colony are directed and de- sired to publish this Proclamation in their several churches and congrega- tions, and to enforce the Exhortations thereof, by their own pious Example and public instructions.
Given under my Hand at the Council Chamber in Hartford, the 18th day of June Anno Domini 1776.
JONATHAN TRUMBULL.
There is a marked difference between Jefferson's Declaration of Inde- pendence of July 4, 1776, and that solemn proclamation of Governor Trum- bull of twenty days earlier, lately discovered by the keen eye of Mr. Hoadly, and characterized, perhaps with a strained use of the word, as "the Con- necticut Declaration of Independence." The one starts with an enumeration of self-evident truths, and with a doctrine of human rights, and is grounded on the principles of the Contrat Social of Jean Jacques Rousseau. The other begins with the creation and the fall of man, is grounded on the Holy Scrip- tures, and is the utterance throughout of a lofty and noble religious faith.
Jefferson's Declaration, accepted as the voice of the American people, is famous thoroughout the world. The proclamation of Trumbull has only just now been rescued from its century of oblivion by the hand of the patient antiquary. But we may safely challenge the twentieth century to pronounce
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between the two as to which is the nobler, more solemnly eloquent, document, and the worthier of the great theme which is common to them both.
Ledyard .- Ledyard is bounded on the north by Preston, on the east by Stonington and North Stonington, on the south by Groton, and on the west by the Thames. From the article written by Captain William T. Cook, over forty years ago, we quote briefly :
The Pequot Indians were the aboriginal inhabitants of this section of the country. They were a warlike race, more savage than the surrounding tribes, and more unfriendly towards the whites, although there is no record of any Indian battle taking place within the limits of what is now known as the town of Ledyard.
A favorite place of burial seems to have been on the farm now owned by Mr. William Fanning. An old gentleman who was present at the opening of one of these graves many years ago gives this description of it : A circular opening was dug in the earth, and the body placed in a sitting posture. A stake had been forced into the ground perpendicularly in front of it; a nail was driven into the stake, on which was hung a looking-glass opposite the face of the dead, who was supposed to be a female. Two earthen bowls were also deposited in the grave; these were supposed to contain the succotash to be used as food on the journey to the spirit-land. The finding of these articles in this grave shows that the body was placed there after the country was settled by the whites. The glass and bowls dropped in pieces on being exposed to the air. In the grave where another body was laid years after were buried a gun with seven pounds of powder and seven pounds of shot for the use of the hunter when he should arrive at the "happy hunting- grounds." A white man is said to have coveted these then precious articles and hired a man to rob the grave, but his courage failed before the time came for the attempt to be made, and the Indian is supposed to still retain his gun and ammunition.
The last "Retreat" (so-called) of the Pequots is a portion of it situated in the northeast part of this town. This reservation, consisting originally of nine hundred acres, was called in the Indian dialect, Mashantucket. It is now known as "Indian Town." The tribe has been gradually dwindling away, and probably at this day there is not a pure blood left.
Miss Caulkins gives the names of early settlers as follows: Christopher Avery, Robert Allyn, Philip Bell, Jonathan Brewster, William Chapman, Edward Culver, Silas Dean, Edmund Fanning, George Geer, John Hurlbutt, William Maynard, Benadam Gallup, James Morgan, Isaac Lamb, Robert Park, Peter Spicer, Ralph Stoddard, Ezekiel Turner, and William Williams. Other names were added afterwards.
Jonathan Brewster, one of the early settlers, came to America in 1621 ; his wife Lucretia was one of the original "Mayflower" Pilgrims, and was the daughter-in-law of Elder William Brewster of Plymouth fame. Silas Dean, Jr., born in Ledyard, was graduated at Yale in 1758, and was one of the three commissioners appointed by Congress to urge France to acknowledge the independence of the United Colonies. Allyn's Point and Stoddard's Wharf still bear the name of the original settlers in these places. Gale's Ferry, as the name suggests, indicates the ocupation of a former proprietor.
The original settlement, then a portion of Groton, soon obtained permis-
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sion from the legislature to organize an ecclesiastical society. The parish was incorporated in 1724 as North Groton. The town of Ledyard was incor- porated January 1, 1836, taking its name from Col. William Ledyard, of Fort Griswold fame. The town contained about 2,000 inhabitants. The popu- lation has since that day grown less. Farming constitutes the main occupa- tion of the people. Among the men who have gained national fame is Asa Whitney, the projector of the first Pacific railroad.
Lisbon .- Lisbon is bounded on the north by Windham county, on the east by Griswold, on the south by Preston, on the west by Norwich and Sprague. Originally claimed by the town of Norwich, it was granted on certain conditions to the Mohegan chief Owaneco and his followers. An extract from Miss Caulkins' "History of Norwich" shows how difficult it was for the settlers to deal satisfactorily even with friendly Indians :
On this grant the sachem gathered his special clan, probably some twenty or thirty families. An annual tribute of ten deerskins was at first demanded of them, but the scarcity of deer in the vicinity rendered that regulation a dead letter. Moreover, the village was soon broken up by the war with Philip, which called the sachem and his warriors to the field and scattered the women and children among their neighbors. When the conflict was over a part of this tract was assigned to the Indian fugitives, called Surrenderers, and in May, 1678, Mr. Fitch reported to the government that twenty-nine families of this class had settled upon it under the supervision of the English.
By a deed of trust, December 22, 1680, Owaneco assigned to James Fitch, Jr., the care and disposition of all his lands on Quinnebaug river. A few years later, absolute deeds of sale of these and other tracts of land were executed by the sachem in favor of the same Captain Fitch. In 1695, Owaneco and Samuel Mason, who by his own choice and the authority of the govern- ment had been appointed his trustee, requested that a committee of the town should be empowered to survey the three-hundred-acre grant and fix its bounds. The next year Captain Fitch, being then proprietary clerk, recorded the whole grant to himself, as included in the large purchases he had made of Owaneco in 1684 and 1687. The town entered a formal protest against the' claims of Captain Fitch, particularly to the three hundred acres at Quinne- baug Falls, which had been guaranteed to the Indians with a proviso that it should not be alienated. The course of Captain Fitch in regard to these Indian purchases was distasteful to the town, and no clear account can be given of the basis upon which the difficulty was settled. Apparently the town, after some murmuring, acquiesced in the claim of Captain Fitch to what was called the eighteen-hundred-acre grant.
Also :
The settlement of Newent was for many years obstructed by the diversity of claims arising from a confusion of grants and conveyances. In 1723 a committee was appointed "to enquire into and gain as good an understanding as they can come at respecting the Indians land in the Crotch of Quinebaug and Showtucket rivers."
In 1725 the proprietors of the common and undivided land put an end to all controversy by giving a quit-claim deed to Captain Jabez Perkins, Lieut. Samuel Bishop, Mr. Joseph Perkins, and Mr. John Safford of all the Indian land in the crotch of the rivers, and of all contained in Major Fitch's eighteen- hundred-acre grant, for the sum of seventy-five pounds money in hand paid to said proprietors, provided that the Indians shall be allowed to remain and
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occupy the tract that had been secured to them. To these purchasers and to those who should claim under them the town confirmed the title of rever- sion. The Indians dwindled away, and in 1745 the descendants of Owaneco and other principal Mohegans, for the sum of one hundred and thirty-seven pounds, executed a quit-claim deed of the Indian reservation in favor of the English claimants. This instrument, which extinguished the last aboriginal claim to land in the Nine-mile square, was in substance as follows:
Ann alias Cutoih, Betty Ancum widow, Wedemow daughter of Mahomet deceased, Ann otherwise voung Ben's wife, all of whom are descendants of Owaneco, late sachem of Mohegan, and the said young Ben of Ben Uncas Jr. and Daniel Panganeck, all of Mohegan, for the consideration of 137 pounds in bills of credit-to Captain Samuel Bishop, Joseph Perkins, Jacob Perkins, John Safford, Joseph Safford, and Solomon Safford, to all of them in propor- tion as they now possess-do now relinquish all right and title to the tract of 300 acres more or less in Newent, in the crotch of the rivers of Quinebaug and Showtucket, called the Indian Land, abutting southeasterly on the Quine- baug, April 9, 1745.
Witnesses, ISAAC HUNTINGTON, ASA WORTHINGTON.
Lyme and Old Lyme .- On the north the town of Lyme is bounded by East Haddam and Salem, on the east by East Lyme, on the south by Old Lyme, and on the west by the Connecticut river. This portion of the original town of Lyme is not the oldest portion, though it retains the original name. In 1665 the town of Lyme was set off from Saybrook. In 1816 a part of the town was set off with part of Waterford to form the town of East Lyme. In 1855 another portion, as a matter of fact the oldest settled part, was set off to form Old Lyme. The original articles of agreement between Saybrook and Lyme were as follows:
Whereas there hath been several propositions betwixt the inhabitants of east side of the River and the inhabitants on the West side of the River of the towne of Saybrok towards a Loving parting, the inhabitants on the east side of the River desiring to be a plantation by themselves; doe declare that they have a competency of Lands to entertaine thirty families.
They declare that they will pay all arears of rates past and all rates due by the 2 of May next ensuing that belongs unto the towne and ministry, to be brought into the townsmen in the town plots, to wit; Richard Rayment and Abraham Post now in Place. At the request of thos on the east side of the River to abate them ther proportion belongin to the ministry from the furst of May to the latter end of January next ensuing, the towns doe consent ther unto, and in case they have not a minister selected amongst the, then they are to pay rates to the minister on the west side, as formerly, unless a minister be settled amongst them.
In reference to the Lands of hamanasuk, they on the east side of the River doe fully and freely Resign all their Rights, titles, and claims to all and every parcels of the Lands to the inhabitants of the West Side, engaging themselves to afford what help they have amongst them for the Recovery of those Lands, they being Resonably considered for their pains. That the Indians at Nehantick have the Land agreed upon by the covenant maid betwixt the inhabitants of Saybrook and them.
The above laid articles being agreed upon by the comites chosen on both sides of the River, the inhabitants east side have Liberty to be a plantation of themselves. In witness whereof the comites on both sides have sett to
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their hands. Signed by John Waldo, William Pratt, Robert Luze, William Parker, Zachariah Sanford, for the west side; Nathan Griswold, William Waller, Renald Marvin, John Luze, Sr., Richard Smith, John Comstock, for the east side.
It would perhaps be fairer to speak of Lyme as North Lyme, for the his- toric interest of Old Lyme is much greater than that of Lyme itself. In spite of the legal separation of these towns, their history is one from the original settlement until 1855. Miss Martha Lamb, writing for "Harper's Magazine" in 1876, said of it:
It was settled over two centuries ago (in 1666) by an active, sensible, resolute, and blue-blooded people, who gave it a moral and intellectual char- acter which it has never outgrown. Its climate is one of perfect health, and its people live to a great age. The salty, bracing atmosphere tends towards the increase of mental vigor as well as length of years, hence the results which we are about to chronicle. It is a town which has kept pace with the times. It has been near enough the metropolis to partake of its literary culture and many-sided opportunities, and sufficiently remote to escape its dissipating wastes, and it has always maintained a self-respecting inner life. It is exceptionally rich in family reminiscences, occupies in a certain sense historic ground, and possesses elements of national interest. Lyme-Regis is said to have been famous for its physicians. Lyme is, or ought to be, famous for its lawyers, as it has produced more than any other town of its size on this continent, or any other continent, and not only lawyers, "whose trade it is to question everything, yield nothing, and talk by the hour," but eminent judges, senators, and governors, its latest and grandest achievement being a chief justice of the United States.
Lyme was formerly a part of Saybrook, the settlement of which com- menced in 1635. The region was selected for the commencement of empire by Cromwell, Hampden, and several English noblemen who had become dissatisfied with the management of civil and religious affairs under Charles I., and fully determined to remove permanently to the wilds of America. They organized a company, and secured a patent for a large portion of Connecticut, and sent John Winthrop the younger to take posession and build a fort at the mouth of the Connecticut, and it was called Saybrook, in honor of Lord Say and Seal and Lord Brook, who were foremost in pushing the enterprise It was located on a peninsula, circular in form, and connected to the mainland by a narrow neck, over which the tide sometimes flowed, and was considered safe from any sudden incursion of the Indians. Two great handsome squares were laid out on the rolling land near the fort, designed as a building site for palatial residences.
Colonel George Fenwick was the only one of the original patentees who came to abide in Saybrook. Cromwell and some others actually embarked in the Thames, but were stopped by an order from the king. Colonel Fen- wick was accompanied by his young, lovely, golden-haired, sunny-tempered wife, Lady Alice Boteler. She had been reared in the bosom of English luxury and refinement, but could, however, adapt herself to pioneer life, and made her rude home in the quaint fort bright with wild-flowers and merry with laughter. She brought with her a "shooting-gun," with which she used to practice, to the great diversion of her neighbors, and she had "pet rabbits," and a little garden which grew table delicacies. She was fond of out-of-door exercises, and was often seen cantering over the country on horseback. She had few associates: Mrs. John Winthrop, whose home during that period was on Fisher's Island; Mrs. Lake, a sister of Mrs. Winthrop; Mrs. Anna
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Wolcott Griswold; and Colonel Fenwick's two sisters (one of whom married Richard Ely), comprised about the whole list. She died after nine years of Saybrook life, and was buried within the embankment walls of the fort. Colonel Fenwick soon after returned to England, where he was one of the judges who tried the unhappy Charles I. He left his private affairs in this country in charge of Matthew Griswold, who erected the monument over Lady Fenwick's grave, which for two and a quarter centuries was an object of sorrowful interest on the treeless, flowerless, desolate bluff which overlooks the flats and shallows of the mouth of the Connecticut river. It is, however, no longer there, but occupies a shady nook in the old Saybrook Cemetery. Four years since an enterprising railroad corporation found the world so narrow that it must needs plow directly through this sacred spot, and not only rob us of the last shovelful of earth which our heroic ancestors heaped to- gether, but heartlessly overturn the "quiet couch of clay" upon which Lady Fenwick had so long rested. Her remains were reinterred with imposing ceremonies. Her golden hair was found in a perfect condition, or nearly so. and a lock of it is preserved in an air-tight box in the Acton Library at Saybrook.
Lyme, notwithstanding its uneven surface, has very little waste land. Agriculture and the raising of horses, mules, and horned cattle have been a great source of wealth to the inhabitants, particularly in former years. The shad-fisheries in the Connecticut have also yielded large profits, and shell and other fish have been taken plentifully from the Sound. The town has a thrifty, well-cared-for appearance, even to its remotest borders, and a quiet, uncon- scious aspect, as if the stormy world had rained only peace and contentment upon its legendary soil and historic homes. It is one of the loveliest nooks on the New England coast, and if its distinguished sons and daughters could all be gathered home, the world might well pause to exclaim, in figurative language, "However small a tree in the great orchard, Lyme is a matchless producer of fruit."
Certainly no town of its size in America can boast a more wonderful list of sons and daughters than Lyme, not only as a "mother of lawyers," but as the progenitor of many famous men in other walks of life. Lyme has produced at least one author of note, Rev. E. F. Burr, for many years pastor of the Congregational church in Lyme, who wrote "Pater Mundi," "Ecce Coelum," and many other well-known volumes.
The beauty of the scenery of Lyme and the convenience of its location have made it a Mecca for artists. Here in recent years Henry Ranger, Louis Dessar, Childe Hassam, and a host of other well-known artists have lived in the summer colony. Lyme, more than any other town in New London county, is unspoiled by the bustle and uproar of our modern age. It still retains the calm and restful aspects of its earlier charms.
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