Colonial history of Hartford, Connecticut, Part 14

Author:
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Hartford, Conn.
Number of Pages: 460

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Their immediate need of tillable land naturally turned their attention, first, to the Little Meadow, lying between Front Street and the river. It was the only tract on the west side of that river in which the inhabitants of both plantations participated as such, perhaps because the Dutch had the best meadow land on the South-side. They divided it into two sections, one lying north and the other south of the road leading eastward through it, now the lower end of State Street. The northern part contained about thirty- five acres. It was distributed among as many North-side inhabitants, four of the South-side being included with them. The size of the lots varied from thirty perches

1 These lots were given out by estimate, which proved to be liberal. "In every case where original lines have been determined," says Mr. Washburn, "The amount of land within those lines has been proved to be from fifteen to twenty-five per cent greater than was called for." This may be accounted for by [the different chains then in use. Concerning this an old writer on surveying says: "The stationary distance, or merings of ground, are measured either by Gunter's chain of four poles or perches, which consists of 100 links; (and this is the natural division) or by one of 50 links, which contains two poles or perches: but because the length of a perch differs in many places, therefore the length of chains and their respective links will differ also. The English statute perch is 53 yards, the two-pole chain is 11 yards, and the four-pole one is 22 yards; hence the length of a link in a statute-chain is 7.92 inches. There are other perches used in different parts of England, as the perch of woodland measure, which is 6 yards, that of church-land measure, which is 7 yards, and the forest measure perch which is 8 yards."- The Theory and Practice of Surreying, by Robert Gibson, page 145. See also Hartford Town Votes, I: 72, 119.

TO FAR

TO T.

134

THE COLONIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD

nection with which it is termed "the deuiding lyne betwene ye South & North side." This line is mentioned in quite recent conveyances. House-lots were the first allotment. These were intended to be about the same in size - "two acres more or less." They were so generally more, that in most sections there proved to be an excess of land.1 House- lots given by courtesy were usually of smaller extent and were located in the same neighborhood. In the autumn of 1636, all the inhabitants who had then arrived were doubtless provided for. These house-lots have been plotted from the records by William S. Porter, in whose plan of Hartford in 1640 their location may be seen. In the older parts of the town, this plan is equally applicable to the plantations as they were in 1636. The division of other tracts in each plantation was doubtless begun in that year.

WEST DIVISION

WEST

DIVISION

FIRST HILL

Tow! I common

Bridgefield.

Town Common.

SNIT NOISING

OX PASTURE RIVE

Nook Farm

Rocky Hill

Hooker

STOOM OL 17/H

pina. drield

VINE STREET

Gallows

Brick

-KITA

Brook

TO THE GREAT SWAMP

venturers

GARDEN STREET ___

Cow Pasture

west field

Ox Pasture

WINDSOR

The Neck

George Wyllys

PALISADO

TO THE NECK

Adams Ian

CENTINEL

Soldiers Field

North Meadow Swamp

Little ·

South Meadow

Meadow

Island

Durch Point

RIVER

North Meadow

GREAT

Birds Gilberts

Dutch Island

Pequer Heads

Plantation Divisions as Hartford

=> WRTH

A L.Washburn, Del.

hrm 15 Caso Love 1919

54OLHOS 01

Middle Ox Pasture ·

Blue Hills

Pasture

TO FARMINGTON

Wolf Pound

Pesiponce

Stone

LOW FASTUA.

Ox Posture

Rocky Hill

Brook

15 OS PASTURE

Jwam

Brick

FreMd

George Stecke

NYT YTIH 310

Haynes

Pasture Gate

FARMINGTON

John Moody

ROAD TO

WETHERSFIELD

LANE

Dutch mens Land

UNOT NYIONIO1 -

Town Common

ASORSHIS O

Bridge

Gurney's Bridge.

WOO

VER

Pasture

Little

Town Common

135

PLANTATION DIVISIONS

to about two and a half acres. The highway to the landing ran through this section, and there was a road north and south in the southern part of it. The north bound of this meadow was the two-acre lot originally used for a cow-yard. Here the pioneers probably herded their cattle. On the east was the creek where they were watered. Just north of this lot was the road that crossed the creek by a bridge into the North Meadow, now at the foot of Pleas- ant Street. Here they maintained the meadow gate. The cow-yard had fallen into disuse before January 11, 1640-41, when the town gave it to Richard Olmsted in exchange for his house-lot, then taken for a burying-ground, now called the "Ancient Cemetery." The fact that this meadow lot was entered among his lands by the second recorder, proves that this scribe did not complete his work until after that date, and presumably John Steele had not succeeded him at the task. This lot was acquired later by Edward Steb- bins and descended to his heirs.1 The southern section of the Little Meadow contained about twenty-seven acres. It was distributed among twenty-three South-side inhabit- ants. James Olmsted and Mathew Marvin of the North- side also shared with them, perhaps because of a prior occupation. The latter's lot was an acre lying along the Connecticut River, from the division roadway southward to Dutch Point. West of this there was a row of small lots. The others in the western part of this section ran north and south, the larger ones being distributed to Haynes, Hopkins, Wyllys, Welles and Webster. Three acres at the point were then owned by the Dutch. All the participants in this division of the Little Meadow are thought to have had in 1636 an inhabitant's right in one of the plantations, although some of them had not as yet arrived. The indica- tions are that this tract was first used for corn-fields and gardens.

The early settlers discovered at once the value of the North and South meadows, annually fertilized by the spring- time floods. The nearer portions of them were distributed in 1636. Other divisions were not long delayed. The North Meadow, or Long Meadow, extended from the gate

1 Hartford Town Votes, I: 40, 41; Original Distribution, pp. 107, 190, 254, 255.

136

THE COLONIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD

at its entrance, northward along the Connecticut River to Windsor. Its western boundary was the "Little River falling out of the North Meadow," and, farther north, the Soldiers' Field, the Neck and the upland. It was distrib- uted exclusively among North-side inhabitants. At first, the southern portion was divided in small lots. All the original grantees are thought to have been legal inhabitants in 1636. Later, there was another division of larger lots. In both cases the allotments ran east and west. As dis- tributed this meadow contained about eight hundred acres. The land records indicate that about two-thirds of it were sufficiently cleared to be described as "meadow." The remainder was a thickly wooded swamp, lying largely along its western side, whence the creek flowed. Parts of it were named the "Dead Swamp." Here and there, other marshy places and pools are mentioned. Trees were then scattered over this meadow, but, if it was ever woodland, large open areas had been cleared by Indian fires for planting fields. The South Meadow offered the inhabitants on that side of the Little River a large proportion of tillable land. It extended from the Great River to the upland, and southward to Wethersfield. The northern portion had a desirable breadth. Some of this land had been already cultivated. Lots here were very convenient, and it is not strange that the settlers crowded the Dutch. They laid out a tier of lots along the Little and Connecticut rivers, from Governor Hopkins's house-lot to the Indian Land, reserving only the site of the House of Hope and the Dutchmen's bouwerie. On the southwest, these lots were bounded by the "Road to the Indian Land." On the other side of this road, large lots were granted to the principal South-side inhabitants. In the meadow, farther south, there were at least four divisions. For these they chose apparently the open areas not occupied by the Indian reservations. There were several forty-acre lots, some of which actually contained considerably more than that amount. After the larger divisions had been made, other tracts, as Porter says, were taken up by "pitches." The records show that several individuals were associated in the ownership of certain tracts. There remained large areas of swamp. Some of these were

137

PLANTATION DIVISIONS

gradually cleared and cultivated. Haynes' Swamp became in time Haynes' Meadow, and Ward's Swamp became Ward's Meadow. Great Swamp was the largest, lying along the river near Wethersfield bounds. There were also the Swamp by the Great River, Dead Swamp, Clayboard Swamp, Dry Swamp and Wet Swamp, with "Nod" near at hand. East of the Dead Swamp was the Great Pasture. There was also a Hangdog Pasture. Cole's Island, otherwise called Penny- wise Island, Peck's Island or Standish Island, was at Wethersfield bounds. It was involved in the town's bound- ary disputes. Lots acquired later from the Indian Land are usually so described. More than any section of early Hartford, the South Meadow was altered in extent within a few years. The lots of owners were increased or dimin- ished, from time to time, by the fickle current of the Great River. In the divisions of this meadow, Haynes, Hooker, Stone and Goodwin shared with the South-side inhabitants. It was utilized to a considerable extent in raising cattle. Upwards of five hundred acres were early brought under improvement.

One of the earliest needs of each plantation was pasturage for cattle. Herders drove their cows to pasture in the morning and returned them at night. The North-side residents found a convenient place at the upper end of their settlement. Here they set apart, at an early date, about four hundred acres, and called it the "Cow Pasture." It was bounded on the south by Westfield, Venturers' Field and Pinefield. The northernmost lots in Venturers' Field were those of Thomas Stanley and Richard Goodman, who are named in the records as abutting owners. Probably this tract was laid out before a highway, now Albany Ave- nue, separated it from this field. The Cow Pasture was bounded as one tract in the entries made by the early recorders, and was held in common for some years. The proportions, however, were known and are recorded. At a later date, the common land on the north, to Windsor bounds, was allotted, and the abutting owners of each lot are given. This tract is also described as in the Cow Pas- ture. The same is true of the land along Blue Hills, west of the Little Ox Pasture, extending to the river, though

138

THE COLONIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD

lots there were named later after that locality.1 At first, this pasture land was heavily wooded. Here the early settlers obtained much of the timber used in their buildings. Thus it was gradually cleared. Some lots have been traced in the deeds from woodland to pasture and then to fenced farm land. Porter estimated this entire tract as containing about one thousand acres.

East of this pasture was the Neck - a name then applied to a narrow strip of land. It extended from Village Street northward, along the hillside slope, to Windsor. On the east was the North Meadow swamp for a long distance. The common fence or road to Windsor was the western bound, separating it from the Cow Pasture, on which earlier allotments abutted.2 There were two divisions in the Neck among North-side inhabitants. It contained about four hundred acres.

The Little Ox Pasture was west of the original Cow Pasture. It was a tract of about one hundred and sixty acres, divided into nineteen lots, lying on either side of a highway running north and south through it, now Vine Street. The land north of it was then common. South of it was the road leading, in successive stages of development, to the Common, Blue Hills or Simsbury, now Albany Ave- nue. This pasture was an early division. It seems to have been allotted to certain inhabitants who were omitted in other divisions. All these north end tracts were used at first for pasturage.

We do not know of any cow pasture held in common by South-side inhabitants. They had, however, their Ox Pasture of large extent, which was probably put to such uses. It included the land from the South Meadow on the east, to a north and south line running, says Porter, "on the east side of the burying ground," now on Maple Avenue and called the "South Burying Ground." On the north were their house-lots. At first about four hundred acres were distributed in large lots to the wealthier inhabitants. An-

1 Blew Hills was a frequent designation in early New England for hills having that color when seen at a distance. The present spelling "Blue Hills" was rare in those times, and became common later through French influence.

2 Hartford Town Votes, I: 163; Original Distribution, pp. 160, 182, 187.

139

PLANTATION DIVISIONS

other division later, extended this pasture to the Wethers- field line. The south-east section was sometimes called "Southfield." Through these large lots the path, lane or highway to Wethersfield ran. Poke Hill was west of it in the second division. Much of this tract was marshy land and was partly drained by a brook, which ran south in Hart- ford and emptied into the Connecticut River in Wethersfield. The Folly Brook channel eastward was cut through in 1726, to further this drainage. The less prominent inhabitants had liberal plantation allotments on both sides of the road, from "George Steele's to the Great Swamp." This highway originally ran along Lafayette Street, curving to the south- east a little north of Park and reaching Washington near Ward Street. West of it was the upland "Forty Acres," a plantation division of small lots made among neighboring residents of the town's courtesy class. On the north was the highway over "Rocky Hill toward the Little River," called later Baker's Lane, now Ward Street. It was an early road to West Hartford. Zion Street led thence to the Stone Pits. There were other divisions south and west of this tract. They extended westward to Rocky Hill and continued south- ward eventually to Wethersfield line.1 West of Rocky Hill, four hundred acres were divided in large lots. The Great Swamp contained about the same amount. Much of it is now included in Goodwin Park. The entries of some of these upland lots were made by the second recorder. The division was doubtless made at an early date. At first this region was wooded and wild, but it was rapidly improved. Cedar Mountain was a famous resort for wolves, which made predatory raids upon the settlers' animals. Large holes were excavated, baited and covered with brush to trap them. These were called "wolf pounds," or "wolf pits." Jeremy Adams willed his lot "at the wolfe pound" to his son-in-law, Zachary Sandford. This was near Zachary's Lane, now Vernon Street. Men were employed by the town to hunt these wolves, and a reward was offered for killing them.2

Early meadow divisions on the east side of Connecticut

1 Porter's Historical Notices, No. 2, p. 30; The Hartford Times, Aug. 8, 1890.

2 Hartford Town Votes, I: 11, 35, 58, 88, 159, 204; Original Distribution, pp. 196, 292, etc .; Conn. Col. Rec., I: 149, 283, 377, 561.

140

THE COLONIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD

River were made by both plantations. These were not exclusively to the legal inhabitants. Residents of small means, later arrivals and young men participated. As a rule each plantation divided the land on its side of an east and west line, but there were many exceptions. These lots extended eastward to the Meadow Bank road. The North-side tract was sometimes called Podunk; and Hock- anum was the name usually applied to South-side lots. In the latter district large grants were made to the more promi- nent settlers. This East-side land was used mainly for hay and pasturage. When these early divisions were made, the eastern bound was "upland," a tract held in common by the proprietors of 1639 for many years, as already stated.

It is convenient now to begin at the square and note the divisions westward. The first outlying tract to be appro- priated for house-lots was Westfield. Some of these were taken in the early summer of 1636, others in 1637. The name suggests its location - west of the town-plot. Its eastern boundary was Trumbull Street. The highway from Centinel Hill to the Cow Pasture was on the north. This road then continued beyond Tunnel Green toward Belden Street, thence turning westward. A line running south- ward from that point to the Little River was approximately its western boundary, and afterwards the west bound of the city. Following this line it separated Venturers' Field on the west from a row of five Westfield lots, which abutted east on the road from the Cow Pasture to Mr. Allyn's land, now High Street. Some rods north of Church Street it crossed the road to Venturers' Field or Brick-kiln, running westward. South of this road were the remaining seven lots of the above row, abutting west on the Birck-kiln lot, and then Mr. Allyn's ten-acre swamp lying along Gully Brook. On this lot the railroad station is now located. Westfield was unquestionably a plantation division, but it was not allotted by any rule, being reserved apparently for North- side house-lots.

Venturers' Field was a rectangular tract, through which there ran a north and south roadway from the Cow Pasture to the Swamp, now approximately Edwards Street. On the east side there were four lots, Nathaniel Ely's Brick-kiln

141

PLANTATION DIVISIONS

lot completing the tier. On the west side there were eight, the southernmost owned by John Steele being poorer land and nearly twice the size of the others. South of it was William Wadsworth's swamp lot of eight acres. This field contained about forty-one and a half acres, including Ely's lot. It was distributed, as elsewhere stated, to adventurers of 1635.

Pinefield bounded this tract on the west. A roadway followed the ravine westward into it, continuing northwest to the north fork of the Little River, otherwise called Ox Pasture River, West River or Woods River. This road intersected another passing through the tract from the Cow Pasture to the Old Ox Pasture. The north boundary was Albany Avenue. The road from the Mill into the Woods, or into the Country, now Asylum Avenue, was on the south. Its western boundary was an early road about where Sig- ourney Street now runs. This probably followed an Indian path northward from Rocky Hill, crossing Little River near the upper falls and diverging to the northwest to pass over Woods River near Albany Avenue, or to continue along the ridge of Blue Hills. About seventy acres in Pinefield were divided among twenty-seven North-side settlers, some being of the town's courtesy class. The name was suggested by the pine trees which grew in this section and are mentioned in the records. In more recent times this section has been called "Tower Hill," "Lord's Hill" and "Asylum Hill." The last name is now often applied to the entire west section of the city.

The Middle Ox Pasture extended westward from Pine- field to common land or Woods River. This pasture is bounded as one tract in the record of the original grants, which was made by the second recorder. It appears to have been given in certain proportions to six inhabitants, about 1639, and to have been laid out later. Perhaps it was a special allotment in recognition of some public service. Here William Spencer acquired sixty-three acres before his death, partly under the privilege of exchange.1

1 The original grantees were William Spencer, Dea. Edward Stebbins, William Kelsey, Serg. Thomas Spencer, William Parker and William Ruscoe. The first four lots were acquired by William Spencer, and were on the west side of the tract.

142

THE COLONIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD

The remaining North-side woodland, east of the north fork of the Little River, was included in the Old Ox Pasture. On the north was the road from the Mill into the Country, and the tract extended southward to the river. This was a plantation division made, it is believed, in 1638 or 1639. The participants were the more prominent North-side in- habitants, and their lots were large. Seventy-two acres along its southern side and east of the cross-road near Sig- ourney Street, were granted in one tract to Governor John Haynes, Rev. Samuel Stone and Rev. Thomas Hooker. Their respective shares, as laid out, were forty, twelve and twenty acres. The Hartford Public High School is on Governor Haynes's lot. Much of Mr. Hooker's is now in- cluded in the Dixon place. The rest of this ox pasture is also bounded in the records as one tract, the individual proportions being given. Probably the lots had not been laid out when the second recorder made his entries. A few recorded later name the abutting owners. There were about twenty original grantees who thus divided nearly five hundred acres. The lots west of Sigourney Street ran east and west. Mathew Allyn's was the largest and con- tained sixty-four acres. Other original owners were Wads- worth, Chaplin, Talcott, Pantry, James Olmsted, Westwood, Steele, Marvin, Scott, Lewis, Hart, William Goodwin, Thomas Stanley, Goodman, Richards, Webb and Grant. Their proportions were in the order named. The lots at the southern end of this tract, amounting to one hundred acres, were acquired by Rev. Joseph Haynes and constituted the "Nook Farm." It descended to his son John Haynes and, at his decease in 1713, it was described as "in the Nook of the River." Its value was then £100. Other lands located in the bends of rivers bore this name. There was a "nook" farther north, on Woods River.

The division and development of the land west of the two forks of the Little River were materially affected by the course of the highways leading thither. The earliest com- munication with Farmington was by the Old Farmington

In 1684 William Edwards, who had married widow Agnes Spencer, conveyed this tract to Thomas Lord (Land Rec., 1: 84). William Parker's six acres and William Ruscoe's fifteen acres were sold in 1684 to Joseph Collier (Orig. Dist., p. 339).

143

PLANTATION DIVISIONS

Road along Retreat and New Britain avenues. This road passed through the southern section of the Town Common. North of it was Baker's Road, over Rocky Hill, which crossed Hog River near Hamilton or Park Street, and ran through the Common to John Seymour's, or Major's Corner. This was an early highway to the West Division and was some- times called the Middle Road to Farmington. Farther north, was Gurney's Road. This was originally projected as an extension of the road from the Mill into the Country, to reach the Common. In 1686, Joseph Wadsworth con- veyed land to the town for that purpose, receiving in ex- change a tract on Simsbury Road.1 This extension was accomplished later, through John Gurney's land to the river. The bridge was known as Gurney's Bridge. In 1754, this highway was laid out from the river to Prospect Avenue. The same year a road from Wadsworth's, over the "First Hill" southward, was opened. This route to West Hartford was by Gurney's Road, along the above road southward to Fern Street, where it turned westward. Still farther north, was the Simsbury Road already mentioned. It crossed the Little River at the Sheep's Bridge. The part just be- yond, which passed the Wadsworth homestead, was some- times called "Wadsworth's Road." It was also known as the "Old North Road." In 1798, the General Assembly laid it out as Talcott Mountain Turnpike. Nearer the Windsor bounds there was another road. It was projected in 1727, and was to run from the northeast corner of John Pantry's lot on Blue Hills, westward to "Cole Pitt Plain," then across Pantry's Brook, where there was a bridge, and so to continue to the place where Nathaniel Jones first began to make a dam.2 In 1754 it was laid out through the Common. It was little used and was finally discontinued. This road is now the western portion of Tower Avenue.

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Colonial history of Hartford, Connecticut, Part 14

Author: Publication date: 1914 Publisher: Hartford, Conn. Number of Pages: 460

Author:
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Hartford, Conn.
Number of Pages: 460