An historic record and pictorial description of the town of Meriden, Connecticut and men who have made it, Part 8

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 8

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could then ; otherwise it should have been more prepared and presented to your view ; and at time of drawing, many people crowding in upon me put me beyond my ordinary pace and the indian names being many and odd were hard and difficult to retaine and distinctly and precisely to enter ; and hath often been in my thoughts to have renewed it but have feared that I should not get the Indians to- gether to sign ; they lived in such a scattered way and a great distance one from another that another year in reason would have been little enough to have brought this matter to pass and thought perhaps some might die whose names were in as salers* as was almost the case of the young sunk squa so that I thought it to be so tedious a business to adventure upon that which had proved soe troublesome al- ready ; some of you Gentillmen may remember what Court it was that the Indians agreed in Mr. Adams orchard they would meet at my house at that time. I had but a day as I sayd before me to write and draw ; now hoping worthy gentillmen and friends you will excuse me wherin I have fallen short of your expectations, granting your favorable acceptance of what I have herewith presented to your view who am honord. Gentillmen and friends your reall

friend and faithfull Servant,

JOHN TALCOTT.

* An obsolete word ; meaning sellers, that is grantors.

A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.

1708, this vote was passed in town meeting by both Wethersfield and Middletown "Whereas the Gen11 assembly of this colony having formerly granted unto the townes of Weathersfield Middletown and Farmington all that tract of Land ly- ing between Weathersfield Middletowne and Farmington and Wallingford not before granted, this town appoints Capt Robt. Wells, Capt Joshua Robbins & Leut Benja Churchill a committee they or any two of them, fully Impowering ym to do any Lawfull act or acts wch we are able to doe in order to a Survey of the said tract & what further they may Judge meet in order to the settling of the same with Inhabitants or Its distribution for our use and to make return of what they do in this affair to this town as soon as they can perform the trust com- mitted to them hereby." These votes were in identical language and passed on the same day, which shows that it was concerted action, and an attempt to take advantage of the grant by the Colonial government in 1687. That same year a Wethersfield man had bought a large part of Henry Coles' farm of his heirs, and possibly some action was deemed necessary to protect him in his purchase, for Wallingford had insisted that the deed should be recorded in her land records. Two years later the latter town made this individual buy her Indian or native right to his purchase, held under the deed, from Adam Puit. Nothing further transpired to show that Wethersfield and Middletown were giving attention to the disputed territory until 1722 and 1723. In those years two petitions were presented to the General Assembly by two groups of Wallingford men, show- ing that the dispute over these lands had broken out again. The petitions are in the Connecticut State Library among the archives entitled Towns and Lands.1 The first one reads as follows: "To ye Honble The Govr & Councill and Representa- tives in ye Gen11 Court Assembled at New Haven October IIth 1722. The Pe- tition of Joseph Moss of Derby, Thomas Yale, Nath11 Yale, John Yale, Hawkins Hart, Samuell Hall, Joshua Culver, John Atwater, Thomas Miles, Daniel Tuttle, Henry Williams, ye heirs of John Moss deceased, Gideon Ives, and Thomas Hall, all of Wallingford: and the heirs of John Burroughs deceased: Humbly Shew- eth: That whereas there was a purchase of Land obtained by ye ancient Pro- prietors of New Haven in ye year 1638; of one Mantuese an Indian Sachem, wch purchase extended northward even beyond ye northermost bound of yt we is now ye Township of Wallingford; and Livery of Seizin was made to ye Gentlemen of Newhaven, by ye Sd Indian Sachem of this Tract of Land being eight miles wide from Nhaven East River eastward, and extending into ye north to a cer- taine tree, marked by ye Said Indian Sachem (wc tree is about a mile north of Pilgrims harbour). And whereas ye Proprietors of ye Town of NHaven were in actual Seizin of these Lands (as all ye Rest of their Township purchasd of ye Natives) for many years before ye date of Connecticut Charter without Dis-

1 Vol. IV., Doc. 66.

EARLY HISTORY.

turbance or Interruptions of any person or persons laying claim thereunto, or any part thereof : And Whereas abt ye year 1669 some of ye Inhabitans of Nhaven inclining to settle themselves in northern parts of ye Lands belonging to Nhaven & to make a village or new Town there; The Town of Nhaven (according to ye honest and well-meaning customs of those times) did in full Town meeting, by vote grant all their Right of Lands, in ye northern part of their purchase, un- to such persons as would Inhabit there and Incorporate themselves in a Town or Village Society, for ye Setting up and Supporting ye publique Worship of God according to Gospel Institution, etc. : Whereupon Sundry Persons ye Ancestors and Proprietors of ye Petitioners Removed thither and Obtained from ye Gen11 Court A Grant of a Township with priviledges of a Town, wch is now called Walling- ford; but only when Wallingford obtained their Pattent from ye Govr & Com- pany for ye better holding their Lands, their bounds were not extended north- ward so far as their just claims from Ancient purchase and Grant from Nhaven, ye Reason of wc was (as our Ancestors have told us) viz ye Worship'fll Major John Talcott Deceased (sometime before Wallingfords Pattent was moved for) had obtained a Mortgage from some one Indians of Connecticut River of these very Lands we were ye Northern-most part of Nhaven's purchase of Mantuese as abovesaid, and he ye sª Major Talcott being at yt time Walling- ford's great Patron for obtaining a settlement from ye Gen11 Court: therefor Wallingford did not earnestly move for ye bounds of their Pattent to be ex- tended any farther northward than was pleasing to yt sd worthy Gentleman, but since yt Time ye Town of Wallingford have purchas'd ye sª mortgage of ye abovesaid Major Talcott yt they might have ye good likeing of ye above said Major Talcott and might be sure to obtain an undoubted Native Right & Title by Purchase either from Mantuese as abovesaid or by these latter Indian Claim- ers, who mortgage'd to ye abovesaid Major not knowing wt Indians might have ye most just claim to those Lands: And Whereas now in ye one or ye other of ye methods abovesaid ye Town of Wallingf'd Supposing that they had obtain'd an undoubted honest Native Right above ye bounds of their Township, they did thereof in a Lawfull Town-meeting Authorize and Impower Capt Thomas Yale and Capt John Merriman and Sergt Thos Hall as a committee to sell any of those Lands above ye Township and yet within their Indian purchase we Buyers should appear willing to take of: and to Deposite ye money we Should be so ob- tain'd into ye Town Treasury : whereupon your Petitioners (being ye heirs and assigns of some of ye Ancient Inhabitants of Wallingford) did severally pur- chase of ye above said committee severall parcells of those Lands abovesaid and took Deeds from ye sd committee as followeth viz Joseph Moss and John Moss deceased as partners for 150 Acres. Thos Yale 100 Acres, John Yale 100 Acres, Nath11 Yale 80 Acres. Hawkins Hart 100 Acres, Samuel Hall 29 Acres, Joshua

A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.

Culver 100 Acres, John Atwater 100 Acres, Thos Miles 50 Acres, Danll Tuttle 80 Acres, Henry Williams 200 Acres : Gideon Ives 20 Acres, and Thomas Hall 100 Acres, John Burroughs 480 Acres : wherefore ye Prayer of your humble Pe- titioners is yt this Honble Assembly in their Wisdom, Justice and Equity, would Grant a confirmation of ye several parcells of Land Specified above unto ye Persons above named for ye better holding of those Lands to them and their heirs for- ever : according to ye Laws of this Governmt, and ye Royal Charter of King Charles ye Second of blessed memory and ye Petitioners as in Duty bound shall ever pray &c

John Moss &c.

The year following a like petition was presented by Gideon Ives and Nathan- iel Curtis who had each purchased under like circumstances two hundred acres. The purchases of the first petitioners had been made in the extreme northern part of the disputed tract on the other side of Cat Hole pass and adjoining ; and the sec- ond group had bought the land in the extreme northeastern part known as Notch Meadow near Middletown. Both seem to have been test cases ; and each purchaser found his land claimed by people in the neighboring towns. The petition while it stated the case fairly showed ignorance of the records, for John Talcott did not obtain the mortgage from Adam Puit until 1684, fourteen years after the set- tlement of Wallingford, and he could not have had a claim to the land when the bounds of the town were granted. Moreover New Haven had not been in quiet possession of the lands in question "without disturbance or interruptions of any persons laying claim thereunto." But more than 50 years had elapsed since the date of the union of the two colonies and the memory of man is short and in the main the petition was a just claim. The General Assembly appointed a committee to view the land, and set such price on the land as said committee should think just and proper. Thus the petitioners had to pay another purchase price in order to buy the right of the colony to these lands. But the colonial government then settled once and for always, the jurisdiction over the disputed territory, for at the October session, 1723, the following resolution was passed : "That the polls and rateable estate of all the inhabitants living on a tract of land bounding east on Middletown, north on Jonathan Belcher Esqr his farm, north- westerly on Farmington, south on Wallingford, shall be put into the general list of the town of Wallingford ; and the said inhabitants are to give in their lists to the listers of the town of Wallingford (upon lawful warning given them by said listers) etc., etc:"1 At the May session, 1725, the following resolution ap- pears : "Upon the petition of the north farmers in Wallingford and those inhab- iting the land northward of said Wallingford. commonly called Wallingford Pur-

1 Colonial Records of Conn., Vol. VI., p. 414.

EARLY HISTORY.

chase Lands. This Assembly grants that they be a separate society for setting up and carrying on the publick worship of God among themselves, with all such liberties, powers and priviledges, as other such societies in this colony have and do by law enjoy ; and that the bounds of said society shall be as followeth viz. : all that part of said Wallingford Purchase Lands not already granted to Wal- lingford West Society1 or to Farmington South Society,2 which lands adjoyn to said Wallingford north bounds, and also that part of said Wallingford township bounded as followeth, that is to say: that the river shall be the line from the bounds of the West Society down the stream unto the south side of Joseph Coles farm, and from thence unto the country3 road north of Amos Hall's farm, and from thence a straight line unto the highway below Amos Camp's house at the east end of said highway, and from thence an east line unto the mountain ; and if these lines shall happen to cross any man's land, the said piece of land shall wholly belong unto that society wherein the owner dwells."4

In the main these bounds are the present boundaries of Meriden, except that Jonathan Belcher's farm called Meriden was not included. At the May session, 1728, "Upon the prayer of the North Society in Wallingford: It is now ordered that Merridan farm shall be annexed and the same is hereby annexed to the said society ; and that all the lands heretofore ordered by this Assembly to belong to said society, together with said farm, is hereby annexed to the town of Wal- lingford and to the County of New Haven, and that said society shall be called and known by the name of Merridan."5 Thus at last the status of the parish was established and christened by the name of Meriden, the name heretofore borne only by the farm in the northern part.6

The new boundaries gave Meriden parish a straight line on the north and in- cluded the territory in modern Berlin up to the laneway running west, just south of the house of Albert Norton, and so it continued until the last years of the eight- eenth century. Those farms lying around what is known as Botsford's Corners, beyond Cat Hole pass in Kensington, were then also included in Meriden. But the disputes about boundaries were not settled even by this action of the General Assembly and during many years Wallingford and Middletown were almost an- nually involved in controversies that brought out the county surveyors, the se-

1 Cheshire.

2 Great Swamp Societv or Kensington.

3 Colony Road.

4 Colonial Records of Conn., Vol. VI., p. 521.

5 Colonial Records of Conn., Vol. VII., p. 196.

6 The absorption of this farm into the parish of Meriden was not pleasing to Eleazer Aspinwall who. it will be remembered, was Gov. Belcher's tenant at this time. At the October session he petitioned the General Assembly that he didn't wish to belong to the new parish but to Kensington parish where he had attended since the start; but the petition was refused notwithstanding it was fortified by an affidavit from Rev. Mr. Burnham, of Kensington, saying that Aspinwall had paid his rates to Kensing- ton parish from 1717 until 1727.

A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.

lectmen of both towns and adjoining property owners until it seemed as if the matter never would be settled. These troubles will be related later.

At any rate much had been accomplished. The long coveted land north of Pilgrims' Harbor ford was now a part of the township of Wallingford and a new society or parish had been formed out of this newly acquired territory and a por- tion of what had been incorporated in the township in 1670, and henceforth when one spoke of Meriden the name covered almost identically the same stretch of mountain, hill and dale that it does to-day.

NORTH

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West

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MERIDEN

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MOUNT CARMEL

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MapTHE VILLIAGE. On ye Weast Side of ye River, By vote of ye Town . April ve 30!" - 1723 -

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QUINNIPIAC RINT

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MIDDLETOWN

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MAP PREPARED BY JOSEPH P. BEACH OF CHESHIRE.

EARLY HISTORY.

CHAPTER VII.

Before the Indian deed given by Adam Puit had been obtained by Walling- ford through the mediation of Major Talcott, the colony of Connecticut had granted two large tracts of land in the territory north of Pilgrims' Harbor ford to two prominent men : one James Bishop, the other William Jones, both of New Haven. Each gift was probably a pension or reward for valuable services per- formed. Both men had been conspicuous in the colony of New Haven before the union with Connecticut and both were influential in the councils of the colony after the union.

The name of James Bishop does not appear on the New Haven records until 1646, so probably he was not one of the original planters. Evidently he was a man of ability and high character, and after 1661 he was conspicuous and in- fluential. In that year he was elected secretary of the colony and continued in that office until the union. In 1668 he was chosen one of the magistrates of Con- necticut and was re-chosen annually until 1683 when he was made deputy gover- nor. To that office he was re-elected each year until his death on June 22, 1691.

William Jones,1 who had been a lawyer in London, came to America in the same ship which brought the regicides Whalley and Goffe in 1660. He had mar- ried in London, Hannah, the youngest daughter of Governor Theophilus Eaton. of New Haven. The governor had died in 1658 and Mr. Jones came to New Haven to look after his wife's estate and there he made his home. He was a man of good talents and the fact was soon recognized, for in 1662 he was chosen one of the magistrates of the colony of New Haven. In 1664 he was elected deputy governor. Upon the union in 1665 he was elected a magistrate of Connecticut and was annually re-elected until the death of James Bishop in 1691 when he was elected deputy governor to succeed him. He was each year re-chosen until 1698 when he refused to continue in the office longer as he was then 74 years old. He died Oct. 17, 1706, at the age of 82, and the General Assembly which was then sitting in New Haven voted to give him a public funeral and appropriated the funds to defray the expense. The most interesting fact in his life was his connection with the two judges, Whalley and Goffe. While they were hiding in New Haven, Mr. Jones' house was their place of refuge for eleven days, and he seems to have shared the honors with Rev. John Davenport during this exciting episode in the history of New Haven.2

1 His father was executed as one of the judges of King Charles 1st; see Palfrey's History of N. E., Vol. II., p. 504. .

2 Connecticut Magazine; year 1905, p. 539.

A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.

At the October session of the General Assembly, 1669, the following vote was recorded : "This court grants Mr. James Bishop three hundred acres of land, pro- vided he takes it up where it does not prejudice any former grant," and the fol- lowing year the "Court appoynts Mr. John Mosse and Mr. James Brockett to lay out to the Honrd * Mr. James Bishop that land that was for- * merly granted by this court." The farm or grant laid out for Mr. Bishop was in the very heart of Meriden, and although we cannot locate the exact bounds we can approximate it very closely.

Start at the bridge over Harbor brook, just east of the office of Lyon & Bil- lard Co .- the southwest corner, and follow the west bank of the brook until we reach the northwest corner of the Center street bridge over Harbor brook. Then draw a straight line westward to the intersection of Springdale and Capitol ave- nues ; thence due south to Main street, and then by a straight line to the starting point. The northern line of this land grant crosses Colony street a little north of Foster street and the south line runs just back of or through all the business blocks on the south side of West Main street. The Meriden Bri- tannia Co. factories and all the business blocks on West Main street and nearly all on North Colony street are in the Bishop farm, and it includes within its bounds the most valuable part of Meriden's business center. But at the time the grant was made, it was what may well be termed a "howling wilderness." Just what use Mr. Bishop made of it we cannot tell. Doubtless he sold timber which was floated down Harbor brook and Quinnipiac river, and perhaps, after part of the land was cleared he put some one in charge to till the land and raise crops. In an inventory of his estate made after his death in 1691 this farm was valued at £40, or say $200. Of course this sum is ridiculous when compared with the valua- tion that two hundred years of settlement and progress have added to it.

Capt. John Prout, a mariner of New Haven, and a man of large wealth, mar- ried one of Mr. Bishop's daughters and eventually gained possession of the farm. There is no record of the boundaries until it was sold by Capt. Prout and his wife, Mary, for £305, to John Merriam on Nov. 3, 1716. In this deed it is described as "300 acres in the wilderness at Pilgrims Harbour, butting south on Wallingford old line, north on Cole farm, east on a brook formerly Mr. William Jones, west on land lately laid out to sundry persons by the town of Walling- ford." The phrase "south on Wallingford old line," is the key by which we are enabled to roughly locate all the ancient farms in Meriden that were in Pil- grims' Harbor. It should be mentioned here that there never was an attempt to establish a village in Meriden. The land was granted in large tracts scattered here and there, and they were solely for farming purposes. That a village was finally formed was due wholly to unconscious gravitation towards a convenient cen- ter. In other words it was a form of evolution.

EARLY HISTORY.

In the description of the Bishop farm, the eastern boundary is given as butting on a brook or Mr. William Jones. Mr. Jones' farm was laid out in 1680 by vote of the General Assembly and two additions were granted him at a later date by Wallingford and the colony so that eventually he had 550 acres. The description of the first or colonial grant is as follows,1 "beginning by Wallingford Bound stake on the south (or east) side of Pilgrims Harbor River and from thence east- ward by the line of Wallingford bounds a mile in length to a walnut tree marked W. I., from thence a line varying from a perpendicular eastward trianglewise to a white oak standing upon the land of the aforesaid river marked W. I., and from thence the mayne branch of the aforesaid river to the forementioned stake by the sayd river in the old road from New Haven to Hartford." This grant is very easy to trace on a modern map except that the eastern line is a trifle indefinite. Start at the southeast corner of the Colony street bridge over Harbor brook just east of the office of Lyon & Billard Co. and draw a straight line eastward running through the Main Street Baptist church and then up Liberty street until Orient street is reached, or a spot just a mile from our starting point ; then by a straight line running northeast to the southeast shore of Baldwin's pond; then back to our starting point, following the bank of the pond and Harbor brook. This was the first grant and contained 300 acres. The second grant was wholly in Wallingford territory and contained 150 acres and is dated in 1680. The boundaries are as follows: Start at the southeast corner of the bridge where first grant started and then by a line south to the intersection of Colony and Olive streets, thence eastward by a line parallel to Liberty street to a point due south from the junction of that street and Orient street ; then northerly to that junction and thence westward by the south boundary of the first grant or Liberty street to our original starting point. The third grant contained 100 acres and was made in 1687 to "Debity" governor Jones, by the colony, acting by the hand of her duly accredited agent Mr. Thomas Yale, not only by the delivery of a deed, but also by an old English custom dating from time immemorial, viz: the delivery of "turf and twig."2 It was wholly east of the first grant of 300 acres. Its south- ern boundary was simply an extension of the same line which began at South Colony street bridge and ran up Liberty street to Orient, mentioned in the first grant. It was extended now until it reached the brook3 on the east and then the line ran down the brook northerly to the northeast corner of the first grant

1 Volume entitled Deeds and Patents of Lands, Vol. II., p. 148 in the office of secretary of state, Hartford.

2 This method of taking possession was formerly required by English law. Its origin antedates the use of written documents ; a twig broken from a tree and a sod cut from the turf of the property sym- bolized the transfer. The later written deed simply took the place of this symbol. See Andrew's

. River Towns of Conn. Johns Hopkins University Studies, p. 41.

3 Some call this Willow Hill Brook : The ancient name was South Branch of Pilgrims' Harbor Brook.

A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.

by Baldwin's pond. Consequently this third grant and the first gave him all the country bounded on the east, north and west by the brook and on the south by the straight line mentioned. Here then were two great farms given to Messrs. Bishop and Jones that really embraced a very great part of the business center of modern Meriden.

It almost seems as if these gentlemen had a prophetic vision of what the fu- ture was to be when choosing their grants in territory that was to contain so large a part of Meriden's business activity.

It is now time to describe the "northern bound line of Walling- ford" or "Wallingford old bounds," which has been mentioned in the foregoing descriptions. Its location was as much of a puzzle in the early days as it is to-day. The one point already located-its intersection with Colony street at Harbor Brook bridge is easy to remember. As land transfers be- gan to increase the selectmen found it necessary to locate this line in a way that could not be mistaken. It was particularly necessary for this reason. All grants south of this line were given by the town of Wallingford-the town was, there- fore, the fountain source. But land north of the line had been granted by the colonial government or the "Country," as the old records express it, and was governed and taxed by it. Wallingford had nothing to do with these north farms previous to 1723, except that she held the Indian or native right after 1684 through the purchase from Adam Puit, and made some grants under it. The re- sult is interesting. The northern territory was settled almost wholly by people from Wethersfield, Middletown, Farmington, Durham and Massachusetts, while the southern or Wallingford section was settled by the inhabitants of that town. This rule was not invariable, but it was general. A lack of knowledge of the lo- cation of the northern boundary line made it easy for one man to encroach on an- other's property. It is anticipating events somewhat to describe how this boun- dary line was marked for we have to jump from the year 1687 to 1721-a year when the Jones farm had begun to be broken up into smaller holdings. In Oc- tober, 1721, the town committee or selectmen laid out a "two rod highway be- ginning at Pilgrims Harbor brook at the Country road to follow the town line to Middletown bounds."1 Later deeds show the exact location of this road and it is a straight line the whole distance to Middletown. The Rev. Theophilus Hall and Aaron Lyman acquired the southern part or second grant of the Jones farm, and their northern bounds both from their own frequent descriptions and from tradition were on Liberty street. The old Brenton Hall farm in the extreme eastern part of Meriden, originally granted to Rev. Samuel Hall, of Cheshire, was also bounded on the north by this old town line or highway. Imagine Liberty street extending westerly until it reaches the Colony street bridge over Harbor

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An historic record and pictorial description of the town of Meriden, Connecticut and men who have made it, Part 8

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