USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Hartford > Colonial history of Hartford, Connecticut > Part 9
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Above all, the Constitution had provided for organized towns as the local factors in their government. The in- habitants had constituted the Commonwealth; now its General Court must authorize the creation of towns. It was from that supreme power, confirmed to the Colony in the Charter of 1662, that all town rights emanated. As a distinguished Connecticut lawyer, Hon. Henry C. Robinson, once said, "Under the original fundamental orders, under the charter and under the constitution of 1818, the towns have had no power, except as it was given them by the organic law or by the general court." The Constitution provided that the three original town's should each have four deputies, according to the historic principle of equality among them as plantations, there being then about the same population in each. It also provided, however, that "whatsoeuer other Townes shall be hereafter added," "they shall send so many deputyes as the Courte shall judge meete, a reasonable prportion to the nuber of Freemen that are in the said Townes." 1 So that Supreme Power, which the people had created, pledged itself to secure unto its constituent communities a reasonable representation of the people.
That the General Court experienced unexpected delay in securing the passage of these orders is proved by its own records. These inform us that, at their spring election, on account of "the state of the present ty[me] and the many occations that ly vppon men," it being their planting season, the Court appointed a committee "to ripen orders formerly in agitacon against [the] next meeting of the Court." 2 This committee consisted of John Haynes, governor; Roger Ludlow, deputy governor; George Wyllys, Edward Hopkins,
1 Ibid., I: 24. 2 Ibid., I: 27, 28.
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THE COLONIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD
Thomas Welles, magistrates; and John Steele and William Spencer, committees. The orders in question concerned the adjustment of their Colonial government. At the court September 10th, Roger Ludlow being absent, Hopkins Wells, Steele and Spencer, were "intreated to ripen some orders that were left vnfinished the former Court, as about prvition of settling of lands, testaments of the deceased, and recording spetiall passages of Prvidence." 1 These orders were voted at an adjourned session, October 10th. They constitute action of vital importance in the solution of Connecticut's historical enigmas. The only one that has no known sequel is the last provision. If only Roger Ludlow Esq., Captain John Mason, Rev. Samuel Stone, Elder William Goodwin, Elder Clement Chaplin and Mr. George Hubbard, who were appointed to this service, had left us a symposium on the "spetiall passages of Providence" in his dealing with the River Plantations, they would have won the lasting gratitude of posterity.
Thus at their next Court of Election, April 9, 1640, the committees of the inhabitants give place in the records to the "Deputies" of three organized towns. The Ship of State had crossed the bar, and, with the recognition of a guiding Providence hitherto, it put out to sea.
1 Ibid., I: 34.
CHAPTER VI INDIAN FORTS IN HARTFORD
THE Indian paths that followed the Connecticut River southward from Agawam, were much frequented. Here and there along them, were the forts, favorite haunts and planting fields of the natives. These River Indians were all of one general tribe, called Sequins, but they were divided into bands, according to their residence and sachemship. In 1633, Natawanute had sold the planting field of the Matianuck or Windsor Indians to the Plymouth traders. At the time of the settlement of Hartford, Sequassen was the sachem of the Suckiaug Indians. From his village, a well-known trail led southward to Pyquaug. There, in early times, was the residence of the chief sachem of the Sequin tribe, Sowheag, who sold land to the planters of Wethersfield and removed to Mattabeset, near Middle- town. In their later residence, these natives were termed "Wongunks," from their location at the river's bend, "Wongunk" meaning bend. The Dutch called this sachem "the chief Sequeen." Sequassen of Suckiaug was his son. Other bands of this tribe resided east of the river. One of these was the Hockanum Indians, who lived along the river of that name in East Hartford. Another was the Podunks, residing along the Podunk River, between East Hartford and South Windsor, where they had a famous fort. The Tunxis Indians are sometimes referred to as a sub-clan of those at Suckiaug. Probably this relationship arose from intermarriage and long association in their winter residence. It is proposed to locate as nearly as possible the homes of these aborigines within the bounds of early Hartford, which now the white man inherits.
In his description of the view upon which the founders looked on their arrival at Hartford, Stuart has the follow- ing statement: "Here and there, scattered in open spaces on the banks of the Great River, and along the Little River
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here and there, beneath tall and majestic trees or on little cleared elevations in different parts of our present city, the smoke rises from numerous wigwams." 1 It is an in- teresting picture. Acquaintance with Indian customs, however, would lead to the conclusion that their wigwams were gathered in one locality. Their practice was to retire inland during the winter season, to more secluded vales and forests, or to shut themselves within their elevated strongholds. Their residence near the river would have been at some favorite fishing-place. Some of these Indians doubtless remained near the pioneers during the winter of 1635-6. They are thought to have furnished the whites with food. In the springtime we shall find them in a vil- lage of Indian wigwams, ready for the fishing. The name of the Suckiaug Indians points to the river meadows. It was derived from the word "sucki-auke," meaning "black earth." Later authorities inform us that the North and South meadows were partly wooded, with forbidding swamps in places. The Little Meadow was, according to a tradition that the land records favor, the Indians' planting-ground. Their name seems most likely, therefore, to point to this tract. It was between the Indian path and the river. In that case, their village would have been near at hand. The homes of the pioneers looked out upon this Indian field. The native village could not have been south of them. There the rivulet made a boundary between them and the Dutch. There was a tract on the north, however, quite similar in its features to those the Indians usually chose for this purpose. It bordered upon the North Meadow Creek on the east. The path from Matianuck led to or near it. The creek emptied into the Connecticut River at the landing-place. It thus afforded a harbor for canoes. At times these could ascend it for some distance. In the springtime it was a good fishing-place and has been to recent times. Porter says of this location: "There is a tradition that it was once an Indian camp ground, and Indian im- plements of war have been found on the premises." 2 That these natives continued in the neighborhood in 1637, and
1 Scaeva's Hartford in the Olden Time, p. 18.
2 Porter's Historical Notices, No. 2, p. 26.
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were friends of the settlers, is certain. Their presence exerted no little influence in the declaration of war against the Pequots. Thomas Hooker himself wrote to Governor Winthrop of their relations in this wise: "Though we feele nether the tyme nor our strenght fitt for such a service, yet the Indians here, our frends, werr so importunate with vs to make warr presently, that vnlesse we had attempted some thing, we had delivered our persons vnto contempt of base feare & cowardise, & caused them to turn enemyes agaynst vs." 1 Danger was encompassing the river settlements like a prairie fire. A general uprising of the Indians was threatened. Savages who had never tested English valor naturally attributed inactivity to cowardice. Even their friends were infected. Suddenly, on April 23rd, came the Wethersfield massacre. It was a challenge they must accept, or soon be overwhelmed. So, on May 1st, the General Court declared an offensive war against the Pequots and, ere long, their little fleet was afloat on the Great River. "Agaynst our mynds" wrote Thomas Hooker, "being constrayned by necessaty, we haue sent out a company, taking some Indians for guides with vs"; and before they set out their reverend leader gave them his blessing.2 In due time, they attacked the Indians' stronghold at Mystic. The power of the most dangerous tribe in New England was crushed forever.
If the Suckiaug Indians were on such friendly terms with the English before the destruction of their traditional ene- mies, the success of that war must have augmented their obligations. A reward was suitable. The English wanted their lands and did not want them for near neighbors. All cleared land was very valuable. The Little Meadow ap- pears to have been divided in 1636. Most of its lots were small, as if for garden use. Some of these were bounded eastward on the creek. They extended as far north as the cow-yard. If there was still farther north another open tract, it would have been a temptation to the early settlers. Such land for immediate use was a necessity.
1 4 Ser. Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., VI: 388, 389.
2 Mason's "Brief History" in Mather's Early History of New England, ed. 1864, p. 156.
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THE COLONIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD
It seems very probable, therefore, that the Soldiers' Field was the original location of the Indian village, that their wigwams were standing there when the pioneers arrived, and that the natives did help them during the winter. Upon the coming of Hooker's company in 1636, the natives came under the protection of a considerable force. They evidently did what they could to instigate war against the Pequots. When this was forced upon the English, the natives became their allies. Thus, when the little army returned home, victorious beyond their hopes, it was a natural thing for the Indians, in their gratitude over the destruction of their enemies, to surrender to the English the site of their village to be divided among the soldiers, and themselves remove, as we know they did about this time, to the South Meadow. There was never, so far as we know, any Indian fort on this tract. Centinel Hill may at some time have served such a purpose. These In- dians, being a clan of the Sequins, would more likely seek protection elsewhere in time of war. In fact, Governor Hopkins said in 1640, that the Indian "owners had fled away to seek assistance from their people." This was doubt- less true, but it happened sometime before the occupation of the land by the English, whose title the Governor was then defending.
Our quest now takes us to the South Meadow, whither Sequassen and his band went to make their last stand against civilization. The land the Dutch claimed to have bought, was situated, they said, "in the jurisdiction of the Chief Sequeen," whose tribe had been subdued by the Pequots. From the latter's sachem, as the conqueror, their purchase had been made. This was done, as they said, "with the free will and consent of the Sequeen." 1 The narrative thus continues: "It is further expressly conditioned by this contract and assented to by the aforenamed chief, that the Sequeen should dwell with us, all at the request, and to the great joy of the Sequeen Altarbaenhoot [Natawanute] and all interested tribes. This has taken place, on the part of the Sequeen, with the knowledge of Margaretinne [Mi- antinomo] chief of Sloop's Bay" [Narragansett Bay]. In
1 Holland Documents, I: 543, II: 139.
THE DEPARTURE FOR THE PEQUOT WAR
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INDIAN FORTS IN HARTFORD
a Dutch report of their boundaries, written in 1649, there is a similar statement. " For greater security," it says, "the Sequeen and his tribe on the Conitte Cock, went to dwell close by Fort Hope, which is also expressly conditioned in the purchase of Conitte Cock, as can be proved by Son- quassen the son of the late Sequeen, who is still living." 1 Some have supposed that these assertions are untrue, having been made in support of their claims to the land. Others have thought that they refer to the settlement of Sequas- sen's Indians in the South Meadow, as no other band has been known to have lived there. It is here claimed that the Dutch statements are not only true, but also that they offer the only explanation of certain facts in our own records. There is nothing improbable in the claim that the Dutch purchased their land of a Pequot sachem. The Pequots were given to such sales. Nor is it unlikely that the Dutch offered protection to some Sequins, who consented to the bargain. It was common for the Dutch to have Indian neighbors in their wilderness life. If these Indians went to dwell under the protection of the House of Hope, that event occurred in 1633, soon after the Dutch made their purchase. The erection of an Indian fort for protection against their enemies, would have been their first undertaking.
That there was in early times an Indian fort in the South Meadow, is established by our records. A Dutch map of the Connecticut River, dated in 1666, has upon it the usual sign for a fort south of the House of Hope.2 This could have been none other than an Indian fort. Whether it was intended to locate this fort in the South Meadow or at Wethersfield, is perhaps uncertain. Our earliest record is of action at a town meeting, January 29, 1643-4. A committee was then appointed to "inquier of [the] statt of the land yt ded belong to the Indians aptayning to Soaquasen or to him Sellfe & of that yt ded belong to manorolos whether it doth belong to the towne or nott & if it do so then it shall be desposed of by them by Letting of it for the tounes vse." 3 This must mean that there were two
1 Ibid., I: 543.
2 Winsor's Narr. and Crit. Hist. of America, III: 333.
3 Hartford Town Votes, I: 68, 69.
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tracts or parts of the "Indian Land" in the South Meadow, one that had belonged to Sequassen or the remnant of his people, and the other to Manorolos, who it is here claimed was a Sequin chief who had lived near the Dutch. This record is significant at that date. During the previous season, Sequassen had been at war with Uncas, who was himself at enmity with Miantinomo, the Narragansett chief. Various attempts had been made upon Uncas's life by poison and sorcery, and had failed. "That being discou- ered," the records say, "some of Sequassons company, an Indian Sagomore allyed to, & an intimate confederate wth Myantinomo, shott at Vncas as hee was going downe Con- ectacutt Riuer wth a arrow or two." 1 According to the treaty of 1638, Uncas appealed to Governor Haynes, who, having been unsuccessful in effecting a reconciliation, because Sequassen preferred war rather than sacrifice the friendship of Miantinomo, left them to fight it out. This they pres- ently did. Uncas soon attacked Sequassen on his reserva- tion, "Killed seven or eight of his men, wounded 13, burnt his wigwams and carried away the booty." 2 This event occurred in the early summer of 1643, and the battlefield was in the South Meadow. Miantinomo then took up the conflict, that resulted so disastrously to him, as hereafter related. It seems probable, therefore, that, after his defeat and the destruction of his village, Sequassen deserted the land he had occupied, and the English began immediately to consider its future improvement. Soon afterwards, he was suspected of a conspiracy against the English and became a fugitive until 1650. He was then permitted to return to Hartford.
No report of the above committee is recorded. The land records indicate that soon thereafter the southwest portion of the Indian Land was allotted among the English. In 1657, there were several owners who had bought of John Crow land, which has been identified as part of this tract. We have no record of the original distribution of it. The explanation may be, that a tract of acreage unnamed, in that "which was called the Indian Land," was given by the town to Elder William Goodwin, in lieu of his land in the
1 Ply. Col. Rec., IX: 11. 2 Winthrop's History, II: 155.
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North Meadow and for other service. This may have passed to John Crow, his son-in-law. The land occupied by Sequassen was mostly west of the highway to the "Forty Acres." It was bounded on the west by the "Great Swamp" lots. East of the roadway, there were several parcels ex- tending to the Connecticut River, which then flowed not far away. To these lots the change in the river's course has added much land since. A tradition that was current in the middle of the last century, locates Sequassen's wig- wams on what is known as the Richard Brown lot. This may be true. Indian land that has been traced was in that locality. In that neighborhood certainly, the Indian chief who first welcomed the founders of Hartford, was living when he suffered a blow from which he never recovered.
Let us follow the history of Manorolos's land. It was situated on the river, not a great distance from the Dutch- men's land. Indians lived there for many years. The acreage was ever decreasing in extent. In 1657, a new com- mittee of the town was appointed "to enquire after thos that now enjoy ye Indian Land," and to require rent of them.1 They reported the next year that there were eight and a half acres in the possession of five persons. Among these tenants was Lieutenant Thomas Bull, who had two acres. The renting continued. In 1659, the town granted to Lieutenant Bull his two acres, "as long as he himself continnueth an Inhabitant in Hartford ... and then the land is to return unto ye Towne." 2 Twenty-five years elapsed before his death. The condition of the grant had probably been forgotten, and the land was considered as his own. In his will, he bequeathed to his son Captain Jonathan Bull his "Two Acar Lott Lying by the Indian ffort by the great River's side." No one had better informa- tion on which to base the use of such language than that renowned Indian fighter. In 1663, the townsmen were empowered to "dispose of that land called the indians land in the south meadow vnto the antient natiues who have lived amonge vs according to their best discreetion for this yeare"; but, in 1683, the land, excepting that actually occupied by the Indians, was divided between the First
1 Hartford Town Votes, I: 120. 2 Ibid., I: 121, 126-128.
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THE COLONIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD
and Second churches, for the maintenance of the ministry.1 It has been traced in the town's land records to the present time. That of the First Church is the tract of four acres belonging to the "Heirs of John Barnard," as indicated on a map accompanying the "Proceedings at the Dedication of Charter Oak Hall" in 1856. It remained in the possession of the church, excepting for the exchange of one acre in 1769, from the date it was received from the town to 1813. It was then leased for 999 years, to John Barnard, he "pay- ing therefor on the first day of January of each year during said term a yearly rent of one pepper corn if demanded." 2 The land of the Second Church was next south of it, and the two acres of Lieutenant Bull next north. The Second Church retained its tract until 1825. The committee, as then author- ized, sold it to Elijah Bibbins.3' East of this land and the meadow path, there was a tract of thirteen acres, also called "Indian Land." It was known later as "The Sands." This name correctly suggests the making of land on the west bank of the river by the change in its course. In all, there were originally about thirty-six acres in this northern tract, formerly belonging to the Indians.
We should follow more in detail the most northerly portion of this tract on the river's bank. Upon it the old Indian fort once stood. It is part of the ten acres of Henry Barnard on the above named map. It can now be best located as near Colt's Ferry. As late as 1832, it was known in conveyances as the "the Indian Lot." This land actually remained in possession of the native owners until 1723, and they are proved to have been kindred of those who dwelt at Wongunk. In 1713, Sarah Onepenny, Indian woman, in a nuncupative will, bequeathed her land in the South Meadow to her grandson Scipio, a servant of Colonel Wil- liam Whiting.4 It was set off as 4 acres, 55 rods, "which said piece of land is and has been reputed to belong to the Indians for a great many years." This woman was a rela- tive of Sarah Hopewell, an Indian of Wethersfield, who, in
1 Ibid., I: 141, 212.
2 Hartford Land Records, 13: 43, 60; 31: 170.
3 Ibid., 44: 447, 530, 531; 47: 562; 48: 183, 360, 361; 51: 93, 174.
4 Manwaring's Hartford Probate Records, II: 269.
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1704, had bequeathed her estate to Robin Mashoot, Sarah Onepenny and Munnumquask.1 Another Sarah One- penny, daughter of the first of that name, bequeathed her estate, in 1727, to her nephew, Scipio Two Shoes, doubtless the servant above mentioned. She refers particularly to her "lands at a place called Wongogn near Middletown." 2 Thus it seems that the last and sole heir of these natives, who had owned this northern tract of Indian land, was Scipio Two Shoes, Indian servant of Colonel Whiting. In 1723 he sold this lot to his master, "being that whereon ye Wigwams are now Standing." It is further stated that it was the same land that had been given to him by his grand- mother. Colonel Whiting conveyed this land in 1744. It is then described as that "whereon the Wigwams were formerly standing." 3 So the old home of the aborigines was gone forever. There they had built their fort, in 1633, when they went to live under the protection of the Dutch. It had in time given place to the habitations of peace. One by one, they had stolen out of those wigwams and departed for the happy hunting-grounds of their fathers. At last, a solitary Indian youth stood there, to utter the farewell of his race.
The fort these Sequins erected was not a very substantial structure. Of the like an early writer gives us this descrip- tion: "These Forts, some be fortie or fiftie foote square, erected of young trees, ten or twelve foote high, rammed into the ground, with undermining within, the earth being cast up for their shelter against the dischargements of their enemies, having loope-holes." 4 Such a fort could not have stood long against the spring floods. It was doubtless repaired frequently until the need for such a defence had passed. Then it was displaced by wigwams.
There is another tract of land in this neighborhood to which some historic interest attaches. It extended along the Connecticut River northward from the fort track, and connected it with the Dutchmen's bouwerie. The
1 Ibid., II: 81. 2 Ibid., II: 557.
2 Hartford Land Records, 5: 9; 7: 76; 21: 536; 23: 29, 30, 142, 364; 50: 117; 51: 169; 88: 359; Hartford Probate Records, 36: 83.
4 Wood's New England's Prospect, 1865 edn., p. 94.
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river has now washed away some of this land. A roadway that ran from the House of Hope to the Indian fort, was its boundary on the southwest. The lots into which this tract was divided, are designated in deeds as lying at a place called "Pequot Heads." It was an Indian custom, after their victories, to tie the scalps of their enemies to the tops of poles set up in a conspicuous place near their village, as a defiance and warning. Each great chief had a pole, which proclaimed his prowess. Sometimes the English were as barbarous in setting the heads of Indians on poles.1 We conjecture that it was the practice of this custom by the Indians that gave this tract its name, which it received at an early date. It was admirably suited to the purpose, being in full view of all who went and came on the river. As Sequassen's tribe never had an opportunity to make such a collection of bloody trophies, except in the Pequot War, it seems probable and natural enough that, when he removed immediately afterwards to the South Meadow, he should dedicate this river's bank to that purpose. So these scalps dangled from their poles in the breezes for many a day. This incident led the English to name the tract "Pequot Heads." It is now in part the land along the Connecticut River, given to the City of Hartford by Mrs. Elizabeth Colt. There were other places west of the river where the natives sometimes set up their wigwams. All along the Little River and its branches, they had their favorite fishing-places. Near them they encamped at times. One of their resorts in Hartford was known by the Indian name "Pesiponck." It was near the intersection of Broad and Grand streets. The fact is disclosed in the will of Captain Thomas Watts. In 1683, he bequeathed to Martha Hannison "73 acres of Land called by the name of Pesiponck." This was the southern part of a lot that originally belonged to William Andrews. The Rocky Hill brook ran through it. The name "Pesiponck," or Pesuppauog in the Narragansett tongue, means, literally, "they are sweating." It indicates that there was once within the bounds of Hartford, probably in the hillside ascending westward from the brook, one of the Indians' peculiar bath-houses. Roger Williams gives
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