USA > Connecticut > Connecticut as a colony and as a state; or, One of the original thirteen, Volume I > Part 16
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Becoming dissatisfied with the government of New Haven Colony, a large number of the inhabitants of Southold, with several of the people of Guilford, Stamford, and Green- wich, tendered their persons and estates to the Colony of Connecticut. After mature deliberation on the part of the Connecticut colony, they were accepted and promised free- dom and protection. During the year 1662 Commissioners were appointed by the General Assembly of Connecticut to visit New Haven, and to confer with its inhabitants for an amicable union of the colonies under the Royal Charter. This was bitterly opposed by Rev. John Davenport and oth- ers, who insisted that New Haven had been recognized as a distinct and separate government by her sister colonies, as well as by the Protector and Charles II .; that she had never been heard on the subject of confederation with Connecticut, and that if there had been any wish to unite the colonies, some of the New Haven representatives would have at least been named in the patent with the other patentees; while their ab- sence was conclusive evidence that his Majesty did not in- clude them within the limits of the charter. It was also argued that it would be a violation of their oath, to consent to a union and to maintain a commonwealth with all the priv- ileges allowed by the Royal Charter. The matter was finally
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left to the freemen; and after fully debating the subject they voted that to accept the union would be contrary to righteousness, amity, and peace, and that all proceedings should be suspended until Governor Winthrop returned to Connecticut. A committee was appointed to draw up an answer to the Connecticut Assembly, which they embodied in a long letter reiterating their objections and grievances, and requesting the adoption of effectual measures to repair the breach made, and to restore them to their former state as a confederate and sister colony. Connecticut's reply to this letter was the appointment of a committee, which in 1663 again visited New Haven; but their endeavors to con- summate a union met with no better results than the pre- vious attempt, owing partly to the fact that the inhabitants were prejudiced by the hasty action of the Connecticut As- sembly in admitting as citizens of their colony, dissatisfied members of several towns under the jurisdiction of the colony of New Haven.
The committee appointed by the freemen of New Haven was also empowered to prepare an address to his Majesty, asking his assistance and relief from the encroachments and demands of the patentees under the Royal Charter. A mes- senger was appointed to convey this petition to London; and on his arrival in that city, Governor Winthrop, still being in England, explained to him the state of affairs between the two colonies. Winthrop immediately became surety for the Connecticut Colony that New Haven should suffer no further annoyance; he immediately notified the deputy governor and Assembly of Connecticut to take no further action towards the union until his return, when he hoped to arrange matters to bring about the desired result by amicable adjustment. He further stated that before he made application for the char-
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ter, he had assured the people of New Haven that in no way would their interests be compromised by the step Connecticut was taking. Relying on these promises made by Governor Winthrop, New Haven's messenger did not present the pe- tition to the King. Totally disregarding the wishes and in- structions of Governor Winthrop, the chartered colony ap- pointed a new committee to treat not only with New Haven, but with Milford, Guilford, and Branford, upon terms of union; and they were instructed, if amicable arrangements could not be made, to read the charter publicly, proclaiming to the people that Connecticut resented their attempted main- tenance of a separate government within her borders, and called upon them to surrender themselves to her jurisdic- tion.
At the Congress of the United Colonies of New England held at Boston in September 1663, the New Haven Commis- sioners were received and seated, as acknowledged representa- tives of an independent colony. The colony of New Haven through its accredited deputies presented a complaint against Connecticut, ably defending its case through Governor Leete and Benjamin Fenn; a decree was passed that the distinct colonial existence of New Haven should remain inviolate, that no encroachments should be made upon her jurisdictions, and that her power should continue unimpaired as one of the confederates, until such time as the Congress should will it otherwise. This decree was obtained through the jealousy of Massachusetts, aided by the appearance of Governor Stuyvesant at Boston, indignant at Connecticut's trying to ex- tend her jurisdiction over Westchester and adjacent towns.
Decree or no decree, there was no stopping the demands of Connecticut. At her General Assembly, held a month after the adjournment of the Congress of United Colonies at Bos-
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ton, a committee was appointed to treat with inhabitants of New Haven, Milford, Guilford, Stamford, and Branford, who still persisted in maintaining a distinct government not authorized by the Royal Charter. The General Court of New Haven, in the same month, resolved to petition the King for a bill of exemption from the government of Con- necticut; and to carry out this object, levied a tax of £300, and issued warrants on the personal estates of those who re- fused to pay this tax. The moment the taxgatherers tried to enforce this decree of the General Court, and attached the property of those who refused to pay the expenses of the gov- ernment, the recreants fled to Connecticut for protection and were received with open arms. The collection of the tax threatened civil war; and thus, deprived of the accustomed revenue, the government became so short of funds that the ordinary expenses could not be met.
A Special Court was convened by Governor Leete at New Haven, Jan. 4, 1664, at which he stated the trouble that had grown out of the order distraining taxes, and the earnestness of the magistrates of Connecticut in calling upon the gov- ernment of New Haven to refrain from the exercise of this authority, which was in violation of the right of the citi- zens of Connecticut. A new statement of the grievances of New Haven was prepared by a committee consisting of Mr. Davenport and Mr. Street. This paper, which was called "The New Haven Case Stated," was written in Davenport's best manner; but it failed to make any impression upon or effect any change in the policy pursued by Connecticut. But what arguments, petitions, speeches, and resolutions could not accomplish, was finally brought about by a patent granted by Charles II. to the Duke of York, which included the en- tire territory of New Haven, besides a large part of Con-
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necticut. The arrival of an armed force at Boston, and a call upon New England for troops to reduce New Netherlands, together with the threatened danger to all the colonies by this British invasion, led the people of New Haven to unite with Connecticut, to assist her in defending the liberties and boun- daries named in the Royal Charter.
At a session of the General Court, held Aug. 11, 1664, it was agreed that if Connecticut would in his Majesty's name assert their claims to New Haven, and secure to them full im- munities, they would make a united exertion for their char- tered rights, and submit to the jurisdiction of Connecticut un- til the next meeting of the Commissioners of the United Colonies.
The principal citizens of New Haven realized that it was to their advantage to become incorporated with Con- necticut; but the movement was strongly opposed by the general public. At the assembling of the Court of Commis- sioners of the United Colonies of New England, in spite of the opposition of Connecticut, the New Haven representa- tives were given their seats. The question of the union of the colonies was considered; and the Congress decreed that while they did not approve of Connecticut's manner of pre- cedure, they recommended the amicable union of the two col- onies, declaring that divine honor and the welfare of all the colonists were greatly concerned in the event.
In compliance with this advice, Governor Leete convened a general Court at New Haven, Sept. 14, 1664, and urged that the union be consummated; stating as a reason that they would be in better position to vindicate their liberty, and se- cure their just rights, under a Royal Charter than in their present circumstances. But he did not express the opinions of a majority of the freemen. Many asserted "that to stand
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as God had kept them to that time was their best way"; others held contrary opinions; and after the fullest discus- sion no vote for a union could be obtained. This state of af- fairs alarmed the General Assembly of Connecticut, not only for her jurisdiction over New Haven Colony, but for her original patent. The Duke of York threatened, notwith- standing her loyalty, to dismember her territory; and the Duke and Duchess of Hamilton were likewise prosecuting their claims. In a spirit of generosity they voted the King's Commissioners five hundred bushels of corn, and referred the whole matter to them for adjustment. A committee was al- so appointed to settle the disputed boundary lines between the colony and the Duke of York, but was charged to relinquish no lands included in their charter. The Commissioners on Nov. 30, 1664, declared and ordered that hereafter the southern boundary was the Sea, and also established the other boundaries between New York, Massachsetts, and Rhode Island. By this agreement Connecticut relinquished all rights to lands in New York, Long Island, and Delaware. The decision of the Commissioners put an end to the strug- gle between the two colonies; and on Dec. 13, 1664, the free- men of New Haven held their last General Court, and adopted resolutions dissolving the colony of that name.
This act closes the history of New Haven Colony, which tried during its quarter-century of life, under as favorable circumstances as are ever likely to be found, the experiment of a purely religious commonwealth governed by the Word of God and founded on pure aristocracy. It is not perhaps quite correct to say that it failed as an internal government within the original municipality : the majority of citizens of New Haven were not less loyal or less satisfied than those of Hartford. But it was entirely unfit to weld together scat-
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tered towns into a state, and it had no elements of growth; by its nature its very progress was through the growth of the elements of distintegration. If the lesser towns had not joined Connecticut, they would ultimately have joined New York, or broken away and set up for themselves. And even in New Haven, another generation would have seen the overthrow of the system: the excluded were too little below the level of the included-often not at all below-to remain thus in content, and the town flourished only at the expense of its government.
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CHAPTER XV KING PHILIP'S WAR
W ITH the danger from New York removed, with the various communities in its bounds united in one vigorous body, and with no Indian problem of any magnitude to trouble it, Connecticut grew and pros- pered. Her wilderness blossomed with the homes of her set- tlers; and though religious differences disturbed her serenity, no eventful question arose till Massachusetts and Rhode Island were forced to solve their Indian problem in the same way in which Connecticut had settled hers, and called on her for aid.
Massasoit, Sachem of the Wampanoags, and faithful ally of the Massachusetts colonies, died in 1662. The tribe orig- inally inhabited the country between Cape Cod and the home of the Narragansetts, comprising the southwestern part of Massachusetts and the eastern portion of Rhode Island. By gifts and sales to the whites, this extensive country had been reduced to a small tract of land in the present town of Bristol. Rhode Island. The old chieftain was succeeded by his son Alexander, who, seeing the Indian hunting grounds rapidly depleted by the pioneer's axe, tried to form a combination with the Narragansetts to resist the encroachments. The Plymouth Colony authorities, hearing of this intended league, summoned Alexander to appear before them to answer charges for instigating hostile designs against the whites. On his journey to Plymouth, Alexander was taken suddenly ill and died in a few hours. It is alleged that his sickness was caused by a fever brought on by rage and mortification ; but his squaw Witamo, who accompanied him, circulated the re- port that he was poisoned by the English. This suspicion soured the mind of his brother Metacom (called by the Eng- lish Philip), who succeeded him; and it was one of the indi-
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rect causes of the later Indian war. Philip continued plotting against the whites, though he professed friendship and re- newed treaties.
The execution of three of Philip's Indians by the Plymouth Colony in June 1675, for the murder of John Sausaman, a converted Indian Apostle whom Philip condemned as a traitor, precipitated the war. It was the intention of Philip to combine all the Indian nations of New England in war- fare against the whites; and the preparations were not to be perfected before 1676. The inhabitants of New England amounted to one hundred and twenty thousand whites, of whom sixteen thousand were able to bear arms. It is esti- mated that the war strength of the Indians was ten thousand warriors. Connecticut's prompt action in her own Indian troubles had impressed upon her Red Men a lesson well re- membered by the few remaining, and by outside tribes; and while the war storm raged around her northern and eastern boundaries, her territory was not invaded. The authorities of Massachusetts committed a fatal mistake in the early part of the war, by selling into slavery the first Indian captives ; and this act deterred many of the savages from laying down their arms.
At the first outbreak of the war, Connecticut nobly went to the rescue of her sister colonies. Major Robert Treat with one hundred men was despatched to western Massachusetts, and was instrumental in relieving the garrison and inhab- itants at Northfield. Troops were ordered to her eastern frontier, to protect the colony from invasion; and in the con- flict Connecticut received the assistance of her Mohegan and Pequot allies, who remained loyal to the whites, and had at least more to hope from them than from other Indians. The savior of western Massachusetts was Major Treat, who with
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his Connecticut contingent saved a portion of the Massachu- setts troops from massacre at Bloody Brook, and turned a defeat into victory, by his timely arrival with one hundred Englishmen and seventy Mohegans. Of the army of one thousand soldiers ordered raised by the New England Con- gress, the Connecticut quota was three hundred and fifteen, and Major Treat was placed second in command of the en- tire army.
Dissatisfaction arose in Connecticut, in the winter of 1675- 6, because the Plymouth colony had failed to raise her pro- portion of the troops. This was most severely felt, as the total number was in any event inadequate and insufficient to carry on the operations of the war successfully. The di- rection of the military manœuvres was vested in the Com- missioners of the United Colonies, though Major Treat was recognized as the chief commander of the forces in western Massachusetts. The Commissioners seem to have exercised such a degree of authority, that there was little if any inde- pendent action by the commanding officers.
The success of the Indians at Northfield and Deerfield, together with the solicitations of Philip, caused the Spring- field Indians to desert their English allies, with whom they had kept faith for forty years. They admitted three hun- dred of Philip's warriors into their fort at Springfield; these burned and destroyed the town, and massacre of its people was only prevented by the arrival of Major Treat, who was stationed with his army at Westfield. The General Assembly of Connecticut, in recognition of this gallant service of Ma- jor Treat, gave him a public expression of thanks, and ap- pointed him commander-in-chief of all the troops to be raised by the colony. He was summoned by the assembly to pro- ceed to Norwich, it having been reported that a large body of
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Indians was approaching that town. This order was coun- termanded, with the fortunate result that he and his forces became instrumental in relieving Northampton and Hadley, which, but for this aid, would have been sacrificed to the enemy.
Active measures had been taken by the General Assembly in 1675 to protect her border towns; and with this end in view, each county was required to raise sixty dragoons, well mounted, equipped, and provisioned, ready at any moment to be called to the aid and defense of the colony. Troops under Captains James Avery and John Mason, with Mo- hegan and Pequot allies, were stationed on the eastern bor- ders, as the persuasions of Philip had at last won the consent of Nanuntenoo, the chief of the Narragansetts, to become his confederate. The New England Congress raised an army of one thousand men to combat this alliance, of which Con- necticut furnished three hundred Englishmen and one hun- dred and fifty Mohegans and Pequots as her quota; these formed five companies under Captains Nathaniel Seeley, John Gallop, John Mason, Jr., Thomas Watts, and Samuel Mar- shall, the corps being commanded by Major Robert Treat.
On Dec. 18, 1675, Treat joined his forces with those from Massachusetts and Plymouth, and the following day the march was begun against the Narrangansetts, the Con- necticut troops protecting the rear of the column. The In- dians were intrenched in a swamp, in the rear of which was a blockhouse defended by marksmen. The Connecticut troops were repeatedly driven back with heavy losses in their at- tempts to assault the fort. Captains Gallop, Seeley, and Mar- shall were killed at the head of their companies, and Captain Mason received a mortal wound. The Indians, after being subjected to a cross-fire, were defeated; three hundred war-
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riors were slain, and about the same number were taken pris- oners, with three hundred women and children. The village with all its provisions, supplies, and stores was burned to the ground. Of the army of one thousand whites, four hundred were unfit for duty. Connecticut's troops suffered the great- est percentage of the loss, as eighty of her soldiers were killed or wounded; and Major Treat deemed it advisable to return home to recruit his troops.
A large number of Connecticut volunteers, principally from New London, Norwich, and Stonington, were formed into companies under Major Edward Palmer, Captains George Denison, James Avery, and John Stanton, to prose- cute the war against the Narragansetts. This was in the lat- ter part of the winter of 1676; this force succeeded in cap- turing Nanuntenoo, who was tried and sentenced to be shot. The power of the Narragansetts was broken, the remnant of the tribe was scattered and ceased to be a menace to the peace of the whites.
At the election held in 1676, Robert Treat was elected Deputy Governor. The next General Assembly voted to raise a standing army of three hundred and fifty men; Major John Talcott was appointed chief commander of the forces. King Philip, after the destruction of his Narragansett allies, made overtures to the Mohawks for assistance; but to this proposition they would not listen. The Connecticut troops were assembled at Norwich, and at the commencement of the summer season raided the Wabaquesset country, but the enemy had fled. A march was then taken for the Connecti- cut Valley in Massachusetts, and Talcott and his force ar- rived just in time to save Hadley from being destroyed by Philip's Indians. After spending three weeks in this section of the country, Talcott marched his command through the
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Narragansett country, capturing and killing the remnants of that tribe. Recruiting his men, he stationed his army at Westfield, Mass., and fought a successful battle in what is now the town of Stockbridge, on the western bank of the Housatonic River. The death of King Philip on Aug. 12, 1676, put an end to the active prosecution of the war by the Indians, though peace was not finally concluded until two years later.
Connecticut, although kept in constant alarm during King Philip's war, suffered no disastrous effects; but she gave freely of her troops and resources to protect her sister col- onies. Her disbursements amounted to over £22,000, and she suffered the loss of a number of her citizens in the differ- ent engagements. The devastation in Massachusetts and Plymouth colonies was appalling. Twelve of their towns were utterly destroyed, and more than half the remainder had been laid waste by the torch and tomahawk. Six hun- dred buildings, mostly dwellings, had been burned, and about the same number of men killed, in addition to scores of women and children.
King Philip, the last great New England Sachem, and the last hero of the New England aborigines in their struggle against the whites, has had a full meed of justice and appreciation from his conquerors. His name is still a house- hold word in New England, and his dogged courage and leadership have given him a white man's position in our memory. The dramatic crisis he forced on has gained him immortality : if he looms larger in retrospect than his real magnitude, less worthy men have had the same fortune.
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CHAPTER XVI.
INDIAN TITLES AND MOHEGAN LAND TROUBLES
T HE early colonists of Connecticut deemed it important to strengthen their land titles by purchasing the territory from the aborigines, which however with some writers seems not to strengthen their equitable title. Before 1639 this was done by the proprietors, but after that time all unoccupied lands became public domain, subject to the control of the colony. Part of the land thus acquired was given as pensions to those taking part in the war, the total grant being some 2,500 acres. In thirty years the colony gratuitously deeded 13,000 acres, in lots of forty to 1,500 acres, to its leading men; who, we may add, were not back- ward in petitioning for these concessions. By the conquests of the Pequots, the colony acquired all the lands belonging to that nation, and reaped this additional benefit, that the ter- ritory controlled by other tribes was opened to them by their native owners, who were completely cowed by the English, but also deeply grateful for their deliverance from the domi- nation of the Pequots.
The sums paid to the Indians were small; but it must be remembered that the country was wild and totally unim- proved, and that in granting it for a mere pittance of that merchandise which usually formed the purchase money, the Red Man thought he was taking advantage of his white brother. The natives parted with what was to them without value, and acquired that which not only pleased their vanity and catered to their desires, but enormously increased their own capacities. It is claimed that there is not a single inch of land within the limits of the Commonwealth, save the terri- tory wrested from the Pequots, that was not bought of the native proprietors. These purchases began with the first set- tlements, and continued till about 1708.
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The territory comprised within the limits of Saybrook, Old Saybrook, Essex, and Chester was granted in an Indian treaty made in 1636. The early records show no Indian con- veyances of lands in Hartford, Windsor, and Wethersfield, except the following :- The records of Windsor state that Nassecowen was "so taken in love with the coming of the English" that for some small matters, he gave them all his possessions on the eastern side of the river. There is also un- der date of April 25, 1636, a deed conveying to the English a tract on the east side of the Connecticut, lying between Po- dunk and Scantic rivers, and extending a day's march into the country; the consideration named was twenty cloth coats and fifteen fathoms of wampum. The earliest colonial rec- ords have a brief notice, to the effect that the settlers of Wethersfield made a satisfactory purchase of a tract six miles in width and nine miles in length from the Sachem Sowheag. The supposition is that the deed for Suckiug, which was the Indian name for Hartford, was given to Samuel Stone and William Goodwin, in behalf of the settlers, by the Indian chief Sequassen, and included lands west to the Mohawk country. The New Haven colonists purchased at different times from the Red Men, the land that now comprises the present area of that county.
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