An historic record and pictorial description of the town of Meriden, Connecticut and men who have made it, Part 3

Author: Gillespie, Charles Bancroft, 1865-1915; Curtis, George Munson
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Meriden, Conn. Journal publishing co.
Number of Pages: 1252

USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Meriden > An historic record and pictorial description of the town of Meriden, Connecticut and men who have made it > Part 3

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ADO? Beliber

(Facsimile of signature taken from a letter in possession of the writer.)

the land and building tennantable houses and settling tennants therein and other improvements which are like to be a publick as well as private benefitt the said tenements being conveniently situate for the relief of travailers in their journeying from place to place, for his incouragement to goe forward with his improvements doe see cause to grant his petition and doe now give and grant unto the said An- drew Belcher all the said four hundred and seventie acres" he had bought of the Gilbert heirs3 and the following May gave him in addition the land from the East Side of the farm to the top of Lamentation Mt., "consisting of steep rocky hills and very stoney land, judged to be very mean and of little value."4 Mr. Bel- cher's farm was now a very large one and with other purchases he had made ad- joining, contained about twelve hundred acres and he now called it "My Meriden Manor." It is probable that Capt. Belcher built the stone house that made the farm noteworthy. But it disappeared many years ago, no one knows how or when. There are many traditions still extant, for the personality of the Belchers impressed itself strongly on the locality. Of the wall which bounded the farm on the west the following story is told by Mr. Kendall in his Travels Through the Northern Parts of the United States in 1807-8.1

1 Trumbull's Hist of Conn., Vol. II., p. 40.

2 Records : Office Secretary of State.

3 Col. Records, Vol. IV., pp. 450-451.

4 Idem, p. 475.

1 Vol. I,, p. 122.

EARLY HISTORY.

When Mr. Belcher owned the farm "the Indians were at this time trouble- some ; and mention is made of a wall built by Mr. Belcher as if for purposes of defence. In this way, however, it could be of no use; for it was of more than a mile in circuit and formed of uncemented stones, raised only four feet high, like the walls at present common in the country. This wall, however, had some ex- traordinary personages among its builders. It is current in tradition, that four- teen or fifteen settlers came into Mr. Belcher's neighborhood, from the town of Farmington, of whom the whole band possessed unusual strength and stature. Two were of the name of Hart. Of these one, whose son at the age of seventy years is still alive, is said to have had bones so large that an Indian, who, with others, was passing through the settlement, stopped and examined him with sur- prise. Mr. Hart and his fellow giants were employed by Mr. Belcher on his wall."

This stone wall skirted the then road to Kensington which long since ceased to be used, but it is still possible to trace this old road, once the usual route of travel to that parish. If one starts at the old Way place now owned by Mr. E. H. Higginson and follows the road running west over the railroad track, within per- haps a quarter mile a point is reached where the road turns at right angle and runs south to Colony street, reaching it just below the old Malleable Iron Co. factory, now owned by The Meriden Fire Arms Co. If, instead of turning south at the right angle mentioned, one keeps on to the west the lane is soon found turning gradually to the north and soon one has the ancient Meriden Farm on the right. At times the traces of this ancient highway are difficult to follow; but per- severance, after a while, brings one to where it is again a well traveled road.

There was another road to Kensington which began where Kensington avenue leaves Colony street and followed the present line of the avenue as far as the present trotting park (there was then no road through Cat Hole Pass). Here it turned toward the north and finally climbed the steep sides of the mountain, com- ing out near Botsford's or Corrigan's corner. All that is now left of this road is the old Bailey road, skirting the west side of the trotting park. There was a road branching from it which joined the one already described as bordering Meriden Farm, on the west. Over these old roads now neglected and almost lost to sight in a tangle of briar bog and forest our great grandparents plodded their way on foot, or in saddle or pillion on horseback were carried over these weary miles to Kensington Parish or Farmington Village. The southern limits of Farmington at this time were bounded by the laneway just south of Albert Norton's house in Berlin, so that none of Meriden Farm was in the town of Farmington.

For some years after the colony had confirmed Capt. Belcher's title to the farm and enlarged its bounds we learn nothing to add to our annals. It is proba- ble that the captain frequently visited the farm and gave careful attention to its needs and with his tenants made frequent search for the minerals which the rocky

A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.

sides of Lamentation had seemed to promise, but evidently without success. On Oct. 22, 1707, he deeded to "My son Jonathan my mannor or farme of Meriden near to a place called Cold Spring now in tennance and occupation of Joseph Hop- kins, Sam'l Peck and Samuel Hubbard, their under tenants or assigns" and hence- forth his connection with Meriden Farm ceases ; he died Oct. 31, 1717.

And now enters a character, the most famous in our early annals. In his day the most distinguished of the sons of New England; charming in his manners, delightful in his vanity ; picturesque in his lordly way of dispensing hospitality and always conscious that he was his majesty's most imposing representative in these Puritan commonwealths.

thy Selcher

(Facsimile of signature taken from document in possession of writer.)

son of Captain Andrew and Sarah (Gilbert) Belcher, was born in Boston Jan. 8, 1682-3. He graduated at Harvard college in the class of 1699 and then spent some time in traveling in England and on the continent to prepare himself for the large inheritance his father was to leave him. He had an honorable reception at the Court of the Elector of Hanover and that of St. James in England. Re- turning home he followed in his father's steps as merchant, representative in the General Court of Massachusetts and member of the Council. In person he was graceful and attractive ; he had a cheerful countenance, a hearty voice, a demon- strative gesticulation and an habitually affable address ; altogether he was a man of society and of the world.1 An heir to a large fortune, he had been accustomed to dispense it in ways to draw attention and give him consequence. His acquaint- ance with Connecticut people was wide and in 1729 he acted as agent for this colony in England. While there he threw out intimations in high quarters that the view he once held regarding the king's prerogative had undergone a change.2 Returning he was appointed royal governor of Massachusetts, which position he held until 1741. His administration, while considered by some a fairly good one, has been accused by others as honeycombed by political corruption. He had the usual troubles with the colonial court ; and his character, prone to small resentments and foolishly irritable, did not tend to smooth matters. He was not troubled like his differently constituted and differently trained predecessor by pride and obsti- nacy abouts points of honor. He loved intrigue and underhanded methods.

1. Palfrey's Hist. of N. E., Vol. IV., p. 530.

2 Nar. and Crit. Hist. of Am., Vol. V., pp. 131-132.

EARLY HISTORY.

The ways of thinking of his early training kept their hold on his experienced mind. He brought into politics some habits of trade. When finally removed from his position in 1741 he was appointed governor of New Jersey, where he governed with success and satisfaction to himself and the people for sixteen years. The following anecdote illustrates the governor's vanity to perfection. He lived in grand style in a mansion he had built at Milton, Mass., which was surrounded by large grounds, modelled on the style of an English estate; and he had many

GOVERNOR BELCHER.1

servants and equipages. In laying out the avenue to his proposed mansion he told his architect that he wished it executed with such precision "that friends and visitors on their first entrance upon the avenue might see the gleaming of his gold kneebuckles as he stood on the distant piazza." This house was burned in 1776. Governor Belcher, as stated before, acquired the title to Meriden Farm Oct. 22, 1707. For some years his ownership left no impress on our records. But he doubtless was familiar with the property and frequently visited it for his ac- quaintance with people in central Connecticut was considerable. He kept a book in which were preserved drafts of all his letters so that we have a record of a great deal of his correspondence which has been printed in the Massachusetts Historical Society collections. It has already been stated that the elder Belcher was probably induced to buy Meriden Farm by the alluring prospect of hidden

1 This cut taken from Memorial History of Boston follows a portrait painted in 1729 by Leopoldt. hangs in the gallery of Mass. Hist. Soc.

A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.

stores of copper and other minerals in the rocky sides of the nearby hills and had left the still visible traces of diligent prospecting at different points. But in 1712 there appears in the records of the General Court1 the first positive evidence that the Belcher family had at last discovered sufficient traces of this hidden wealth to warrant an actual investment of pounds, shillings and pence to bring it forth to the light of day, and from that time on for many years Jonathan Belcher and his partners poured forth a steady stream of good colonial money in the vain endeavor to mine copper in sufficient quantities to make the investment a profitable one. In the western parts of Wallingford and in Granby the mines were located and miners were imported from Germany and other places. Not only was Jon- athan Belcher a loser in these ventures but the craze infected all classes and the records of Wallingford abound in mining leases to men and women in Boston, New York and Wallingford. Some were ruined and lost their all in this mad hunt for wealth, among others Adam Winthrop, a great-grandson of the first governor of Massachusetts. The venture was an unfortunate one for Governor Belcher, and his losses were very large for the operations were carried on for many years. But this is not the place to tell the story of copper mining in Connecticut. Governor Belcher must have spent much time at his Meriden Farm during the copper min- ing venture, for his correspondence book contains many items relating to people în this part of Connecticut. In the year 1720 he placed Eleazer Aspinwall, of Brookline, Mass., in charge of his Meriden Farm and thereafter there are con- stant references to this farm. Aspinwall, doubtless, kept up the tavern or inn and gained what income he could from the soil and paid a rental to the owner and so far as we know this arrangement was satisfactory to Mr. Belcher and the relation between landlord and tenant was harmonious for many years. But in the year 1731 Mr. Belcher was appointed royal governor of Massachusetts and naturally his interest in the far away Connecticut farm began to wane. To add to his dissatisfaction the copper mining ventures had proved anything but profita- ble. He wrote in 1735 that during about twenty-three years he had disbursed upwards of fifteen thousand pounds in this vain quest.2 Added to this Mr. Aspin- wall had become dilatory in paying his rent. Altogether the governor thought it high time to dispose of his Meriden Farm. From 1731 to 1735 we find in his draft book various letters to Rev. Elisha Williams, rector of Yale college, Rev. Samuel Whittlesey of Wallingford, Joseph Pitkin of Hartford and Rev. Ebenezer Williams of Pomfret. All these letters betray great anxiety to sell Meriden Farm and the last one of the series says, "I am content to sell my Meriden Farme if you can meet a chap that will give a reasonable price and pay the money down when I execute the deed." In Oct., 1732, he sent his son, Andrew, to Connecti-

1 Col. Records Conn., Vol. V., pp. 323 and 455.

2 Phelps Hist. of Simsbury, Granby and Canton, p. 115.

EARLY HISTORY.

cut to look after his interests there and his letters to Aspinwall about his unpaid rent became quite peremptory. Whether it was ever paid we do not know, but the disgust of the governor now became so great that he determined to get rid of the farm at any cost and the only victim he seems to have been able to find was his son, Andrew ; perhaps on the theory that adversity is a good teacher and that if his son could make an income out of the farm he would acquire a talent and genius for business that would make him a rival to his grandfather. Governor Belcher during his ownership had spent much money on the farm, and had evi- dently tried to make it an attractive "Manor." The pond which now spreads over seventy-five acres of its meadows, due to the dam built by the Hartford Ice Company, had a predecessor, for the governor during the days of his pride in the estate had also built one about three hundred feet north of the present one and the remains of this old dam now shaded by lordly old oaks and hickories are very easily traced.1 On a recent summer day the writer followed the brook as it wanders through the meadows, murmuring and gurgling as it did in the days of the beavers and the aristocratic old governor. He paused at the gap between high banks where his excellency had once caused the dike to be built, and he sud- denly found himself confronted by four genuine knights of the road. Three were fast asleep on the grassy bank, their dirty and peaceful faces shaded by the sun- flecked shadows cast by a sturdy old oak. The fourth, wide awake, and absorbed in a copy of the New York Journal, looked up and asked "looking for anything, boss." "Yes," was the answer, "a dam that used to be here." "Well, boss," said the tramp, "this has been one of our resting places for fifteen years and I never seen no dam here." He proved to be a philosophical knight for after a short talk he said, "purty here, isn't it, and handy to the railroad? I'm better off than you, boss, for you want to stay and have got to go, but I can stay until I'm tired of it and then go to another place just as purty." A parting glimpse from a dis- tance showed the tramp busy hanging a can of water over a fire, preparing a re- past of one knows not what concoction. We have followed the career of the gov- ernor through many years and it would not be displaying proper respect to leave him here. A few brief facts will be added to this sketch and then we will say good bye to him when he enters "the undiscover'd country from whose bourne no traveler returns." He was twice married; first to Mary, the daughter of Gov- ernor Partridge, of New Hampshire. She died in 1736, and her funeral was on so magnificent a scale that the streets and housetops were packed with sight- seers as the cortege passed through the streets of Boston. His second wife was a Miss Teal, of New Jersey. Of his children, it is only necessary to mention two-Andrew, to whom Meriden Farm was deeded, and Jonathan, Jr., who be-

1 Farmington Records Aug. 17, 1714 : Samuel Newell sold to Jonathan Belcher the right to drown or flood his lands by any dam or dams not exceeding 12 foot high from bottom of work.

A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.

came Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia. They were both the cause of much annoyance to their father on account of their idleness and extravagance. Andrew, in particular, did not aspire to the rank which his father's ambition had marked out for him. The event in his life which is most interesting to us is that when Bishop Berkeley sent his library to Yale college in 1733, the gift was consigned to Andrew Belcher.1 The governor died Aug. 31, 1757, at Elizabethtown, N. J. We learn from the Boston News Letter of Dec. 1, 1757, "The corpse of his excel- lency, Jonathan Belcher, Esq., late Gov. of New Jersey, was brought hither last week from New York and deposited in a new tomb built for that purpose at Cam- bridge agreeable to the desire of his Excell'y before his death." In a funeral sermon preached by Rev. Aaron Burr, president of the college of New Jersey, it is stated, "His father was the Famous Andrew B., Esq., one of his Majesty's Coun- cil in the Province of Mass. Bay, justly esteemed an ornament and blessing to his country. (The Governor's) excellent endowments of mind (learning and travel) were set off by a peculiar beauty and gracefulness of person, in which he was excelled by no man of his day. There was a dignity in his mien and deportment which commanded respect. This joined with the frank, open and generous man- ner in which he treated his friends, his polite and easy behaviour towards strangers rendered him the delight of the one and the admiration of the other. The schol- ar, the accomplished gentleman and the true Christian were seldom ever more happily and thoroughly united than in him." Gov. Hutchinson, in his History of Massachusetts, states that Belcher was the victim of political intrigues while governor of that province and his view of his character does not at all agree with the slurring remarks of more modern historians. On the Wallingford land rec- ords2 under date June 9, 1741, Andrew Belcher, of Boston, sold to Jedediah Nor- ton and John Yale of Wallingford for £1950 "all that tract of land contain- ing by estimation 670 acres, being that part of Meriden Farm, so called, lying west of the Country Road leading from Hartford to New Haven." To this day much of the old farm still remains in the hands of the Yale and Norton families. On March 4, 1742, Andrew Belcher sold to Samuel Peck, Nathaniel Edwards and Zebulon Peck, all of Middletown for £1925, "all that farm of land called Meriden, lying eastward of Country Road and containing 350 acres, bounded easterly on top of Lamentation Mt.," etc.3 Thus came to an end all connection of the Belcher family with our Meriden Farm; a connection so noteworthy that to this day the property is still frequently called the Belcher Farm.

Since the foregoing chapter was put in print the writer has gained some addi- tional information relative to Meriden Farm, which he thinks of sufficient im- portance to add in the form of a note or appendix.

1 N. H. Col. Hist. Soc. Collections, Vol. I., p. 162.

2 Wallingford Land Records, Vol. IX., pp. 18-19.

3 Idem, pp. 30-31.

EARLY HISTORY.

A careful study of the Wallingford records has convinced him that the southern boundary of the farm extended to the road or laneway running west from the old Eli Way place on North Colony road, now owned by Mr. E. H. Higginson. This road was the ancient highway to Kensington, which has al- ready been described. It is fully a quarter of a mile south of what the writer had previously believed to be the southern boundary of the farm.

From Mrs. Hiram Richmond (a daughter of Selden Merriam and grand -. daughter of Sidney Merriam who came into possession of the tavern or inn and many acres adjoining about the year 1812) has been gained the fact, that in 1833 the old building was moved to the rear for a wood shed and carriage house, and the present house was erected on the ancient site, now occupied by Mr. Michaelis. Between this house and that of Mrs. E. H. Yale to the north, stood what Mrs. Richmond had supposed was a stone fort which disappeared long be- fore the Merriams acquired the property. The reason for believing this building to have been a fort was the existence of subterranean stone chambers in the rear that were called powder magazines, which were filled in probably fifty years since. This old stone building was doubtless erected for purposes of defense and was really a fort, but it must have had the general outlines of a house for the old rec- ords refer to the old building as "stone house." The entries relating to stone house farm are many and are always used in connection with this particular part of Meriden or Belcher Farm. Had the building been in shape like a fort the rec- ords would have called it stone fort farm.

Nearly sixty years ago, the late Henry S. Wilcox, then a boy of ten, wrote a composition on the early history of Meriden. There was no history of the town then in existence. There are so many early dates and facts given in this article that are corroborated by recent examination of the early records that there is the strongest evidence that the boy got his data from some one who knew many facts long since forgotten, and who had seen the old stone house. From this boy's composition, we learn that the building was well constructed to withstand an Indian attack, for the door was filled so full of spikes that a bullet could not be shot through it, and instead of windows there were port holes, through which one inside could use his rifle with deadly effect.

The probable explanation of this stone house seems to the writer to be this: viz, that the building was erected during the troublous times of 1675 and 1676 when all New England was in great apprehension on account of the war of ex- termination begun by the Indians, which is commonly called King Philips War. Wallingford was so alarmed by the outlook that armed guards or pickets were constantly maintained and the village fortified. What more natural than that the owner or occupant of a farm unprotected and alone in the wilderness, should erect a stone building adjoining his ordinary habitation, for refuge is case of last

A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.

resort? It was doubtless built hastily, and therefore did not last as long as the wooden building adjoining, built much more leisurely. This wooden house was very old when removed to the rear and has long since disappeared ; it was prob- ably the building erected by Mr. Gilbert when the farm was granted to him in 1661, and was consequently 172 years old when abandoned as a dwelling.

Andrew Belcher

(Facsimile of book plate used by Andrew Belcher, Sr. From original in possession of writer.)

EARLY HISTORY.

CHAPTER III.

Copies of land deeds and documents relating to the purchase of lands to the northward showing the basis for the statement that the planters of New Haven made purchases of land from the Indians extending from New Haven harbor northwardly as far as the junction of Kensington avenue and Colony street or one mile north of where Colony street crosses Pilgrims' Harbor brook.

INDIAN DEEDS OF 1

THE PLANTATION OF NEW HAVEN.

Articles of agreement betweene Theophilus Eaton & John Davenport & others, English planters att Quinopiocke on the one partye & Momaugin ye Indian Sa- chem of Quinopiocke & Sugcogisin, Quesaquauch, Caroughood, Wesaucucke, & others of his counsell on the other partye, made & concluded the 24th of Novem- br 1638. Thomas Stanton being interpreter.

That hee ye sd sachem, his counsell & company doe jointly profess, affirme & covent, [th]at he ye sd Momaugin is the sole sachem of Quinopiocke, & hath an absolute and independant power to give, alien, dispose or sell, all or any part of the lands in Quinopiocke, & that though he have a son now absent, yet neither his sd son, nor any other pson whatsoever hath any right title or interest in any part of the sd lands, soe that whatsoever he, ye forenamed sachem, his counsell & ye rest of ye Indians present doe & conclude, shall stand firme & inviolable against all claimes & psons whatsoever .-

Secondly ye sª sachem, his counsell & company, amongst which there was a squaw sachem called Shampishuh sister to ye sachem, whoe either had or prtend- ed some interest in some part of ye land, remembring and acknowledging the heavy taxes & eminent dangers wch they lately felt & feared from ye Pequotts, Mohaucks & other Indians, in regard of which they durst not stay in their country, but were forced to flie, & to seeke shelter under the English at Conecticutt, and ob- serving ye safety & ease yt other Indians enjoy neare ye English, of which benefitt they have had a comfortable tast already since the English began to build & plant at Quinopiocke, which wth all thankfullnes they now acknowledged. They jointly & freely gave & yeilded up all yr right, title & interest to all ye land, rivers &

CENTURY OF MERIDEN.

ponds, trees with all ye libertyes & appurtenances belonging unto ye same in Quinopiocke to ye utmost of their bounds East, West, North, South unto Theophi- lus Eaton, John Davenport & others, the prsent English planters there, & to their heires & assignes for ever, desiring from ym ye sd English planters to receive such a portion of ground on the East side of the Harbour towards ye fort at ye mouth of ye river of Conecticott as might be sufficient for them, being but few in number, to plant in; and yet within these limitts to be hereafter assigned to them, they did covent & freely yeild up unto ye sd English all the meadow ground lieing therein, with full liberty to chuse & cut downe what timber they please, for any use whatsoever, without any question, licence or consent to be asked from them ye sª Indians, and if, after their portion & place be limited & set out by the English as above, they ye sª Indians shall desire to remove to any other place within Quinopiocke bounds, but without ye limitts assigned them, that they doe it not without leave, neither setting up any wigwam, nor breaking up any ground to plant corne, till first it be sett [ou]t & appointed by ye fore- named English planters for them.

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An historic record and pictorial description of the town of Meriden, Connecticut and men who have made it, Part 3

Author: Gillespie, Charles Bancroft, 1865-1915; Curtis, George Munson Publication date: 1906 Publisher: Meriden, Conn. Journal publishing co. Number of Pages: 1252

Author: Gillespie, Charles Bancroft, 1865-1915; Curtis, George Munson
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Meriden, Conn. Journal publishing co.
Number of Pages: 1252