USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Winchester > Annals and family records of Winchester, Conn.: with exercises of the centennial celebration, on the 16th and 17th days of August, 1871 > Part 25
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61
CHILDREN.
I. ELECTA,8 b. March 14, 1788.
II. TRUMAN,3 b. February 22, 1790.
III. ALFRED,3 b. March 19, 1792.
IV. PHILO,3 b. October 10, 1794.
ISRAEL CRISSEY lived on the eastern border of the Indian Meadow near Colebrook line. He removed in 1810 to Norfolk. He married February 7, 1788, Alice Woodruff.
CHILDREN.
I. MEHITABLE, b. July 21, 1789 ; m. Seth Barber, and removed to Western N. Y.
II. BENJAMIN WILMOT, b. May 19, 1791 ; m., 1828, in Norfolk, Ennice Burr, and had Warren, b. 1831; Ralph Israel, b. 1833; Olive Elizabeth, b. 1835 ; Theron Wilbert, b. 1837.
III. ALICE, b. June 15, 1793 ; d. unmarried in 1861.
IV. OLIVE, b. February 28, 1795 ; m. Seth Barber, Western N. Y .; living in 1859.
271
AND FAMILY RECORDS.
1776.
DAVID MILLS, from West Simsbury, now Canton, owned the lot which embraced the Winsted Manufacturing Company's and Cook Axle Com- pany's premises, and extending easterly to Barkhamsted line. He lived on Wallen's Hill, where the clock-factory road joins the north and south roads, in the red house afterwards owned by Lemuel Clark and Daniel Burnham. He removed with his sons, Eliphalet and Daniel, to Colebrook, about 1804 or '5, where he died. He was son of John4 (born 1690; died Canton, 1774) and Damaris (Phelps) Mills ; grandson of John and Saralı (Pettibone) Mills ; great grandson of Simon and Mary (Buell) Mills, and great-great-grandson of Simeon and Sarah (Bissell) Mills, who came from England. He married, about 1761, Huldah Edgecomb ; she died February 7, 1787 ; and he married (2d) May 8, 1788, Jane Hungerford ; he mar- ried (3d), December 26, 1789, Abigail Shortman.
CHILDREN.
I. DAVID, b. May, 1762; d. 3} years old.
II. CHAUNCEY,
III. PHEBE,
m. David Smith.
IV. ROSWELL,
m. Ellis Apley.
V. ELIZABETH, m. February 4, 1795, Josiah Apley.
VI. HULDAH, b. in W. October 19, 1776; m., January 1, 1794, Thomas Boyd, of Amenia, N. Y.
VII. ELIPHALET, b. January 5, 1779.
VIII. DANIEL, b. February 6, 1782.
IX. SARAH, b. January 10, 1785 ; in. Wm. Shortman, of Kinderhook, N. Y.
CHAUNCEY MILLS lived in a house next north of his father's, which stood on the site of the house now owned by George Raymond. Ile sold out in 1803, and is named of Adams, Jefferson county, New York, in a deed of 1806. He married September 26, 1784, Ruth Doolittle.
CHILDREN.
I. SELOEN, b. September 27, 1788.
II. ANNA, b. February 14, 1790.
III. FYLER (twin), b. September 15, 1792.
IV. FANNY (twin),
ELIPHALET MILLS learned the scythe makers' trade of Jenkins & Boyd, and resided in the town a few years after his majority ; and then, with his brother Daniel, erected and carried on a scythe works at Cole- brook River. He eventually migrated to Ohio, where he died. He mar- ried Eda Hurd.
DANIEL MILLS learned the hatters' trade and afterwards went into the scythe-making business at Colebrook River, where he died. He married Hannah Hurd.
272
ANNALS OF WINCHESTER,
IIis son, Daniel H. Mills, and his daughter, the wife of C. S. Norton, now reside in Winsted.
1777.
ENSIGN JESSE DOOLITTLE, from New Hartford, this year bought of Stephen Chubb, Jr., the mill lot reserved by the proprietors at the Still River Falls, where the clock factory is now located, and the land adjoining on the east side of the river. His house was burned, after which he built, on the same site, the Asaph Pease house, which has recently been taken down and removed, which stood where the road now runs, nearly opposite the house of Isaac B. Woodruff, and occupied it until his death, February 9, 1793, aged 55. The house previously occupied by Elias Balcom, and which Mr. Doolittle first occupied, stood on the site of the house next south of the Beecher store. His wife, Mary, died March 2, 1819, aged 82.
JESSE DOOLITTLE, Jr., oldest son of Ensign Jesse, lived about half way up Wallen's hill, on the south side of the road running east from the clock factory, in a house long since torn down. About 1812, he removed to Wolcott, Wayne county, New York, where he died about 1822. He married November 15, 1787, Hannah Jopp.
CHILDREN.
I. MARION,
b. July 6, 1788 ; m. Moses Hitchcock.
II. LORRAIN,
b. December 16, 1790.
III. SILAS,
b. September 17, 1794.
IV. ZEBINA,
b. July 20, 1796.
V ERWIN,
b. June 1, 1799; lived at Wolcott, N. Y., 1822.
VI. ZERAII,
b. October 1, 1802.
VII. HULDAH,
b. August 26, 1804.
VIII. HANNAU HENSHAW, b. December 3, 1806.
IX. EDWARD HOUGHTON, b. January 29, 1809.
X. NELSON, b. November 4, 1810.
ZERAH DOOLITTLE, second son of Ensign Jesse, lived with his father, and continued to occupy the homestead until he removed to Vermont about 1800. He married Lucy Wheeler in 1793, who eloped with Major Seth Wetmore about eight years afterwards.
LYMAN DOOLITTLE, third son of Ensign Jesse, born June 5, 1779, lived in the old homestead until 1819, when he bought the Zenas Wilson place, now owned by William F. Roraback, on the old North Road, where he died March 14, 1851, aged 72. He married Achsah Davis. She died October 9, 1854. He had a son, Lyman Jr., who died a soldier in the U. S. army near the time of the Mexican War, leaving a widow. One of his daughters married Daniel B. Wilson, one married Julius Weaver, and another married Henry Dowd.
The name of this Doolittle family has become extinct in the town. The descendants in the female line are numerous.
273
AND FAMILY RECORDS.
SAMUEL HAYDEN, Esq., came from Goshen this year, and owned a farm on the old North Road ; his dwelling stood on the north side of the road, nearly opposite the late Riley Smith's. Before 1790, he sold out and purchased a farm on Wallen's Hill, and built a house a little east of the town line, in Barkhamsted, which is still occupied by his daughter, Mrs. Laura Andrews. In his old age he removed with the family of his youngest daughter, to Ashtabula county, Ohio, where he died. He was a man of pure character, strong intellect, and quiet humor ; a justice of the peace, and three times a representative of the town of Barkhamsted. In his advanced years, he united with the Winsted Congregational Church and honored his profession. He was born in Windsor, January 12, 1748, son of Samuel and Abigail (Hall) Hayden; grandson of Samuel and Anna (Holcomb) Hayden ; great-grandson of Daniel and Hannah (Wilcoxson) Hayden; and great-great-grandson of William Hayden, one of the early settlers of Windsor, and afterward of Killingworth. He married Rebecca Smith ; she died September 1, 1793 ; he married (2d) Sally Maybee.
CHILDREN BY FIRST WIFE.
I. SAMUEL,
b. October 24, 1774 ; d. September, 1799.
II. MARY, 1830.
b. December 4, 1776; m. 1797, Gideon Hall; d. March 16,
III. SETII,
b. June 8, 1781 ; m. Huldah Soper; d. 1845.
IV. MOSES,
b. October 30, 1783 ; m. May 8, 1806, Sally Jenkins.
V. ABIGAIL,
b. March 27, 1788 ; d. 1805.
VI. LAURA,
b. October 17, 1791 ; m. July 13, 1826, Charles Andrews.
CHILDREN BY SECOND WIFE.
VII. ANNE,
VIII. SALLY,
b. November 2, 1795 ; m. Luman Whiting, Austinburg, O. b. June, 1803 ; m. Solomon Curtis Smith.
SETH HAYDEN, son of Samuel, Esq., lived on the southerly side of the Old North Road, adjoining Barkhamsted line, until 1827, when he migrated to Bethany, Wayne Co., Penn., where he died March 14, 1845, aged 64. IIe was a retiring man, of feeble constitution, and industrious habits, who reared and educated a large family of children, now occupy- ing stations of usefulness and honor. The compiler affectionately remembers him, after a lapse of nearly sixty-five years, as a mild, kind- hearted, and faithful schoolmaster. He married Huldah Soper.
CHILDREN.
I. SAMUEL, b. May 4, 1805 ; m. ; d. New Harmony, Ia., March 7, 1842; had two children, Laura and Henry.
II. SETII, b. February 21, 1807 ; d. April 2, 1825 ; unmarried.
III. LUCIEN, b. October 31, 1808 ; graduated Hamilton College, 1836 ; ordained Pastor of Baptist Church, Dover, N. H., 1838; resettled Saxton's 35
274
ANNALS OF WINCHESTER,
River, Vt., 1843; received degree of A.M. at Madison University, 1854; resettled New London, N. H., 1857 ; m. (Ist), Caroline C. Smith, Keene, N. II., by whom he had one child, Lucien Henry, b. May 21, 1839 ; he m. (2d), 1858, Mary J. Prescott of Concord, N. H.
IV. COLIN MARCUS, b. January 15, 1811 ; farmer, J. P., and Deacon of Bapt. Church at Cornwall, Ill .; has two children, Samuel S. and Huldah Sophia.
V. CORINTIIIA, b. July 28, 1814 ; m. Benjamin Smith of Penn.
VI. HULDAH REBECCA, b. February 28, 1817; m. Levi Bronson, E. Saginaw, Mich.
VII. HENRY, b. February 28, 1817; m. Sophia Bowman, Town Hill, Penn .; lives in Muncy, Penn; has a son, William B., b. June, 1851.
VIII. WILLIAM, b. September 9, 1821 ; graduated Castleton Medical College, Vt .; settled in Wyoming, Ill. ; has children : 1. Isabella, b. 1848; 2. Frank, b. 1849.
IX LAURA ABIGAIL, b. May 30, 1826.
MOSES HAYDEN, Esq., second son of Samuel, resided, until his removal from the state, a little south of his father, in a house built for Rev. Mr. Woodworth, the first pastor of the Winsted Congregational Church. He, too, was a schoolmaster in his early years, less kind, but more efficient than his brother. He early succeeded his father as justice of the peace, was a member of the Assembly during seven sessions, and in the war of 1812 commanded a company of state troops called out for the defence of New London. In 1815 he migrated to Bethany, Penn., where he was a justice of the peace. He died suddenly in 1829, aged 46. He married May 8, 1806, Sally Jenkins.
CHILDREN.
I. JAMES CARLETON, b. August 13, 1806 ; m. - Phillips; lives in Corn- wall, Ill. ; has two sons and one daughter.
II. JULIA, 1830.
III. JOSEPH ADDISON,
b. January 1, 1809 ; went to Michigan.
IV. LUCIA,
b. February 16, 1810; m. H. Ames.
V. JANE, b. April 21, 1811 ; m. (Ist), - King; (2d), M. Greiner.
VI. HELEN, 10, 1842.
b. August 5, 1812; m. C. P. Sweet; d. October
VII. EDWIN,
b. March 7, 1814.
VIII. LAVINIA,
b. July 15, 1815 ; m. - Miller.
IX. SAMUEL SHERIDAN,
b. November 9, 1822.
b. October 25, 1807; m. Heman Arnold, Pa .; d.
JAMES CARLETON HAYDEN, son of Moses, lived in Winsted for some fifteen years after coming of age ; afterward at Wolcottville, whence he. removed about 1855 to Cornwall, Illinois. His residence in Winsted was in the house on the south side of Main street, nearest to Still River Bridge. The family name has become extinct in the town, but several descendants in the female line still remain.
275
AND FAMILY RECORDS .
JOHN DARBE or DERBY, from Hebron, lived beyond the Barkham- sted line on Wallen's Hill, as early as 1773, and came into Winchester as early as 1778. He owned the land south of the road east from the clock shop up Wallen's Hill, afterward owned by Ensign Doolittle, and lived in the house near the top of the hill until 1782. He is named of Norfolk in 1787. He married September 22, 1773, Sarah Balcom; had one child, Phebe, b. July 8, 1774.
HENRY WALTER from Torrington, bought and occupied land on Spencer street, now a part of the Lockwood farm, and lived in a log house near the Lockwood dwelling. His land was taken on execution for debt in 1793.
JOHN WALTER, son of Henry, from Torrington, owned in 1779 a lot of land within the borough limits of Winsted, and in 1790 bought a part of the Lockwood farm, on which he lived until his removal to Burke, 'Vt., after 1798. He served in Captain Watson's Company, Colonel Burrall's Regiment, on the northern frontier. He married August 3, 1773, Sarah Gleason.
CHILDREN.
I. CYNTHIA, b. April 7, 1774.
. II. NORRIS, b. October 25, 1775.
III. JERUSHA, b. January 18, 1777.
IV. ANDREW, . b. December 5, 1779.
V. JOHN, b. February 25, 1782.
VI. EBER, a younger son, came back from Vermont, lived in Winsted several years, and removed to and died in Wayne Co., Pa. He married a daughter of Major Isaiah Tuttle of Torringford.
ANDREW WALTER returned from Vermont to Winsted not far from 1805; married Abby Westlake, and raised a family of children, one of whom married Silvester Hart. He lived several years on the William .F. Hatch farm, and afterwards in various places. He died not far from 1840.
LEMUEL WALTER, probably brother of the foregoing, also lived on a part of the Lockwood farm in 1781, and afterward in a log house on Spencer street, between Hinsdale street and the district school house. He died in the town in 1792. He had wife Mehitabel, and
CHILDREN.
I. HANNAH, b. November 9, 1776.
II. ROXY,
b June 5, 1779.
III. LEMUEL, b. January 2, 1780 ; d. 1792.
.
276
ANNALS OF WINCHESTER,
DANIEL WALTER, in 1786, owned the western part of the Colonel Hinsdale farm, and sold the same in 1793. He married August 19, 1779, Mary Gleason.
CHILDREN.
I. AUGUSTUS, b. March 3, 1780.
II. LEONARD, b. April 19, 1782.
III. POLLY, b. September 29, 1784; d. July 17, 1785.
IV. DANIEL, b. November 13, 1787 ; d. June 17, 1792.
IRA WALTER, in 1793, bought land north of and adjoining John Walter's land, which he sold in 1797.
EBENEZER ROWLEY, JR.'s name first appears on the land records of 1781, but his name is on the Petition of 1777, for the incorporation of Winsted Society, as well as the recorded birth of his oldest child, indi- cates an earlier residence. He came from Chatham, and was probably the first settler on South street. He owned and occupied until his death, the dwelling and farm lately owned by Orson W. Jopp. He was a hard working, jovial, thrifty, and in earlier years, public-spirited man, who raised a large family, and by his practical jokes contributed largely to the cheerfulness of his associate pioneers.
His brother-in-law, Knowlton, occupied the adjoining farm. Their cleared lands extended down the hill westward to Still River at the base of the mountains. "Uncle Ebb." had been out cooning through the night on the mountains and was returning at early dawn, when he hears Knowlton calling to his cow which had strayed into the forest. To Knowlton's call Uncle Ebb. responded in cow language from the foot of the mountain. Knowlton wades the muddy stream to reach the spot from which he had heard the looing. Rowley, unseen, ascends the slope and gives another cow-like moo-o, and Knowlton follows; Rowley reaches the top of the ridge and gives another moo-o, -and while Knowl- ton climbs from crag to crag, wondering how the "tarnal critter" could get up there, Rowley slips down the mountain, crosses the stream to the cleared land and presents himself to the bewildered view of Knowl- ton from the mountain top, and explains the joke by another prolonged moo-o-o, and by throwing himself on all fours and kicking up his heels in the air, after the manner of sportive female oxen, and then sets off on the run for his chores and breakfast.
-" Uncle Ebb." sometimes " found his match." It was in those days a stigma to a man's thriftiness to lay in a short stock of pork for the com- ing year, and our uncle was a self constituted inspector of his neighbors' pork barrels. Calling on the mild, sober-sided Squire Hayden, the squire lighted his candle to get a mug of cider from the cellar, when Uncle Ebb.
277
AND FAMILY RECORDS.
proposed to go with him and examine his pork. The squire assented, and . showed him a barrel nearly full ; the inspector examined and smelled. The squire then called his attention to another barrel in a dark corner which he thought might have a little pork at the bottom, - and so turn- ing the light as to give an imperfect view, he raised the lid, - Uncle Ebb., in haste to complete the inspection, thrust his arm to the bottom of the barrel before discovering that it was filled to the brim with soft soap, which adhered to his arm from the hand to the shoulder.
A hardy race were these South street pioneers, from Still River bridge down to Major Isaiah Tuttle's, who sifted their corn-meal for hasty pud- ding " through a ladder." The Major remarked that by working bare- footed in the stubble fields, their heels became so hard and flinty that if they happened to tread on the feet of their cattle it would make them bellow !
Apropos of the Major, - the horse-tamer, who could ride anything but chain-lightning. - With his boys he was felling timber on top of the same ridge of mountains. They felled a tall tree, so that one-third of its length extended over a precipice of some twenty or thirty feet. The Major ordered his oldest boy to go out on the trunk and cut away the top. Uriel went out and after striking a few blows came back with a swimming head. Daniel was sent out to finish the job, but soon came back equally dizzy. After blazing away in his characteristic manner at his boys for their want of pluck, the Major took up his axe and went out himself, and chopped away, until the top of the tree unexpectedly yielded. One of his feet was on each side of the chopping; and as the one on the top section yielded he lost his presence of mind, and instead of grasping the main body of the tree threw his arms round the falling section and went down with it. The boys, hastening round the precipice, came down to the landing place of the tree top, and found the Major bruised and wounded, but on his feet, wiping away with green leaves the blood that was flowing into his eyes and mouth from a wound in his forehead " Father," said one of the boys, "you've had a terrible fall." " Yes ! yes !" said the Major, " a terrible fall ! Adam's fall was nothing to it !"
Returning from this undignified digression, we remark that Mr. Row- ley was a vivid type of the pioneers of this region ; a hardy worker, turn- ing his hand to any farming or mechanical labor, shaving his own shingles, splitting his own laths, hewing his own timber, and grafting his own trees. No man was more efficient and public spirited than he in getting up the East village Congregational meeting house and settling the pastor. A change in the mode of raising the salary of the minister by annual sale of pews instead of the old method of taxation, so disaffected him towards the society that he ceased to attend its worship and selected a spot on his
278
ANNALS OF WINCHESTER,
farm for his own burial .* He died at the age of 79, Aug. 25, 1834. Wife, Abigail.
CHILDREN.
I. REUBEN, b. Feb. 10, 1775.
II. ABIGAIL,
b. Nov. 5, 1779; m. Hazael Dunham.
III. ERASTUS,
b. April 17, 1782.
IV. ANTHA, b. July 10, 1784 ; m. April 3, 1806, Thos. R. Bull.
V. ADA,
b. June 26, 1786.
VI. FLORA, b. April 15, 1789; m. June 1, 1809, John Westlake.
VII. BETSEY,
b. June 10, 1791.
VIII. ADNA, b. abont 1793.
IX. ALPIIA, b. 1795.
X. MIRA, b. 1798 ; m. IIalsey Bailey.
XI. BEULAH, b. 1800 ; m. May 27, 1829, Benj. Fowler.
ASHER ROWLEY, younger brother of Ebenezer, Jr., first appears on the list of 1789, though it is probable that he came to Winsted earlier. In 1794, his father conveyed to him the farm on South street, next north of his brother Ebenezer, which he occupied until his death. He was b. Jan. 18, 1765, at Chatham, Conn., and d. at Winsted, Sept. 7, 1844. He m. Mehetabel, dau. of Lieut. Jonathan Dunham, b. at Colchester in 1774. She d. June 21, 1839.
CHILDREN.
I. BETSEY, b. Jan. 10, 1794; m. Lewis MeDonald, from Wood- bury, Conn., and now (1872) living in Wisconsin.
II. ANSEL, b. Feb. 13, 1796; m. Lucy Clayborn, of Chester- field, Va .; d. at Oakland, Missouri, Oet. 25, 1851.
III. ELIAS, b. March 22, 1798.
IV. WARREN DUNHAM, b. June 20, 1800; m. (1), Nancy Stanton ; (2), Har- riet Curry, both of Southi Trenton, N. Y., where he d. Sept. 25, 1854, highly respected, and entrusted with important offices.
V. SALLY M., b. June 28, 1802; m. Sept. 6, 1827, Chauncey Shat- tuck of W .; settled in Green Township, Pa., where he d. She now re- sides in Ackley, Iowa.
VI. HARRIET, b. July 20, 1804 ; d. Aug. 18, 1831, unmarried.
VII. GEORGE, b. July 16, 1806 ; supposed to be living in Wisconsin.
VIII. HARLOW, b. July 12, 1808; m. Sarah A. Haynes. Now living in Brighton, Canada West.
IX. HIRAM, b. April 7, 1811; drowned while fording a stream near Little Rock, Ark., Jan. 7, 1841.
X. CHARLES, b. May 3, 1813; d., unmarried, at Philadelphia, Dec. 21, 1833.
XI. CHARLOTTE, b. Dec. 6, 1815 ; d. Dec. 17, 1815.
* His remains, and those of his wife, were transferred to the Central burying- ground, after the farm went out of the hands of the family.
279
AND FAMILY RECORDS.
ELIAS ROWLEY, son of Asher, received a conveyance of his father's homestead and farm, in May, 1839. He sold the homestead on South street, and built his present residence on the Wolcottville road, about 1847. He m. Widow Laura Curtis, dau. of Lemuel Bushnell, of Hartland.
CHILDREN.
I. HIRAM D., b. Sept. 4, 1828 ; now of Delphi, N. Y.
II. GEORGE S., b. Oct. 20, 1830 ; m. Sophronia Buckman.
III. WARREN, b. Jan. 15, 1832. Supposed to be living in Idaho Ter.
IV. CHARLES L., b. Jan. 10, 1834; m. Martha J. Simonson, of Watkins, N. Y .; living at Willard, N. Y.
V. ANSEL, b. Dec. 28, 1836; m. Ruey Rogers, of Orwell, Vt., now of Hersey, Michigan.
VI. JOHN G., b. July 11, 1838 ; m. Anna C. Latham, of Granby, Conn.
VII. HENRY H., b. Aug. 26, 1839; m. C. Louise Grant, of Torrington ; now (1872) of Burrville, Conn.
VIII. CATHARINE A., b. Dec. 11, 1841 ; m. Samuel H. Norton, of Otis, Mass .; d. May 18, 1861, leaving son Edward L.
IX. EDWARD, b. Feb. 28, 1844; d. Sept. 18, 1844.
CHAPTER XXI.
INCORPORATION OF WINSTED SOCIETY, AND CONTINUED IMMIGRATION.
1778.
THE families named in the preceding chapter, with those of the Austins on Lake street, composed nearly the whole population in 1778, while a settlement almost as large had been made in the west part of Barkhamsted.
The circumstances of the new settlement at this period are fully set forth in the following petition to the general assembly for the incorpora- tion of the ecclesiastical society of Winsted.
" To the Honorable General Assembly of the State of Connecticut, to be convened at New Haven on the second Tuesday of October next :-
" The memorial of the subscribers hereunto humbly sheweth to your honors, that we are inhabitants of the east part of the town of Win- chester, and west part of the township of Barkhamsted, to the number of about twenty-five families, and nearly 130 souls, being destitute of the privileges of a preached Gospel, and that there having formerly been a tax granted by your honors to promote the Gospel in that society, and no tax on the land east of the Long Pond, and that said pond so divides the town that the inhabitants on the east side of the pond cannot attend worship with those on the west side of the same ; and that those inhabit- ants on the west side of Barkhamsted are so divided from those on the east side of said town by a rough and ragged chain of mountains and a rapid river, that it is impossible for them to have any communication as a society without the greatest inconvenience. We would further humbly shew to your honors that the greatest part of the lands are held by wealthy proprietors residing in other towns, who are not disposed to sell or settle, which is much to our detriment, in keeping out people that would otherwise come in, whereby the inhabitants are disabled from supporting the Gospel. We would not censure them too hard, but are humbly of the opinion that as we, by breaking the way and encountering the many difficulties and disadvantages that attend the first settlement of
281
AND FAMILY RECORDS.
such a new, rough and heavy-timbered place have added to the value of their land, it is no more than equitable that they, with us, should contri- bute towards defraying the costs that will arise in having the Gospel set up among us.
" We, therefore, your honors' memorialists, would humbly pray that to so good an end your honors would form the part of Barkhamsted that is west of Farmington River, with the east part of Winchester. into one ecclesiastical society, with powers and privileges that other societies have, taking in all the land in said Winchester east of said pond, and to run by the end thereof with the line of the lots next to said pond, across the pond stream to the west end of said lots, and then running north- ward at the end of the lots to the river known by the name of Mad River, so as to take in all the land that has not been taxed before, and from thence up said river so far as to take in the third tier of lots, and from thence to Colebrook line, containing in the whole about 12,000 acres, and that your honors would grant a tax on all the above lands, sufficient for the purpose of hiring some suitable orthodox preacher, to preach the Gospel among us for the space of four years next coming, and that Mr. Charles Wright, whom we nominate for a collector, be empowered to gather said tax, and as in duty bound, your memorialists will ever pray.
" Dated at Winchester this 1st day of September, Anno Domini, 1777.
John Darbe, Charles Wright. Lemuel Walter,
Josiah Smith, John Wright, Jr., Abraham Catling,
Enoch Palmer, Freedom Wright, Foster Whitford,
John Balcom, Phinehas Potter, Jonas Weed, Jr.,
David Mills, John Walter,
Stephen Arnold,
Reuben Sweet,
Isaac Kellogg, Nathaniel Crowe,
Ebenezer Rowley,
Eleazer Kellogg, Robert Whitford."
1778.
This petition, after continuance to the February session in 1778, was granted, and the Society of Winsted, embracing the territory prayed for, was invested with all the powers and privileges by law belonging to other ecclesiastical societies in this state, with the power of taxing the lands of non-resident proprietors two pence on the acre of their lands not taxed by the Society of Winchester, for the term of four years, for supporting the gospel.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.