USA > Connecticut > Connecticut as a colony and as a state; or, One of the original thirteen, Volume I > Part 30
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This revival had an influence on the Indians as well as the whites. There had been converts in the early days, the first being Wequash, a sagamore who had acted as guide to Ma- son's expedition against the Pequots; his conversion, it was said, was due to the result of the campaign, when he found the Englishmen's God stronger than the gods of their ene- mies. It was believed that he came to his death from poison given him by some of his own people who hated him as an apostate.
About 1730 an effort was made, probably not for the first time, to educate some of the Indians, a school for that pur- pose being established at Farmington; and the General As-
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sembly imposed a fine on any one having Indian children in his family who failed to teach them the English language and instruct them in the Christian faith. In the fall of 1733 a missionary named Jonathan Barber was sent to the Mo- hegans, and he probably was still with them at the time of the Great Awakening. The chief, Ben Uncas, became a Christian, and thirteen of the Indians were admitted mem- bers of the church in Lyme. From this tribe came the In- dian convert who holds the most honored place in our an- nals, Samson Occom. Inspired with a desire to become a preacher to his own people, he entered Rev. Eleazar Whee- lock's school at Lebanon in 1743, when he was towards twenty years of age, and became fluent in the English tongue, besides gaining a fair knowledge of Latin, Greek, and He- brew. For ten years he taught the Montauk Indians and preached to them as a licensed minister, and in 1759 he was ordained by the presbytery of Suffolk. Meanwhile Mr. Wheelock's school had became a missionary training-school for Indians; and as, owing to the stress of the times, it was difficult to obtain needed help for it, Occom was sent to England in 1766 with Rev. Nathaniel Wheeler, that he might be a living example of what Christianity could do for the American Indians. His appearance and his eloquent and forcible way of speaking and preaching attracted much at- tention; and he collected some £10,000 for Mr. Wheelock's project, among the contributors being King George III. and Lord Dartmouth. In the advancing years he removed with a band of Indians to Oneida County, New York, where he died in 1792. With the funds which he brought from Great Britain, a school for Indians was established in New Hampshire, from which sprang Dartmouth College.
S. H.
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CHAPTER XXVII THE COLONIAL JURISPRUDENCE
T HE name of the colony is taken from that of the river, which is Indian, meaning "the long river." The discrepancy of the spelling from the pronunciation, which disturbs our Eng- lish cousins greatly, is the most natural thing in the world. Our ancestors had two things to do with the Indian name,-to write it and to spell it; and, like sensible and illogical Englishmen, did not allow one to interfere with the other. The nearest approach an English throat could make to the Indian sounds is probably about Kwon-egh- te-kut, the second syllable representing a very rough and harsh guttural sound has no counterpart in English. In speaking, it was simply dropped; in writing it was repre- sented by the English guttural available, the k sound. Nei- ther spelling nor pronunciation corresponds to the original; but of the two, the latter comes the nearer, as a total sup- pression of the sound has more similitude than the one of k. The first was often given its full phonetic equivalent "qu," rarely as "K," more usually "C."
The colonial records and other sources furnish us Quin- niticut, Quinnihticut, Quinnehtukut, Quoneketacut, and Quo- nahtucut,-the latter seemingly the nearest to accuracy,-Ke- neticut, Conecticutt, Conecticot, Conecticotte, Conetcoit, and Connetticote ; the nearest to the present spelling is one with but one n in the first syllable. It is impossible to tell at what date the present spelling became uniform, as in many of the transcripts from the original records the modern orthography has been adopted.
The legislative and judicial power of the colony was vested in the General Court, which had no check on its authority except the provision that its acts were not to be contrary to the laws of England. It had absolute power
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within these lines over life, liberty, and property; the real check being its election and that of the magistrates by the body of freemen.
On its formation its membership consisted of four depu- ties from each of the towns of Hartford, Windsor, and Wethersfield; and at its last session before the union of the colonies of Connecticut and New Haven, there were present six magistrates and twenty-five deputies.
Before the adoption of the Fundamental Orders, the Gen- eral Court organized what became known as a "Particular Court" for the trial of persons charged with misdemeanors; the personnel of this court is traditional, though it undoubt- edly consisted of a majority of the magistrates. Though no mention of its existence appears in the Fundamental Orders, it continued holding its session at irregular times until May 1642, when it was enacted that it should meet only once in three months, and thereafter was known as the "Quarter Court." The earliest record of the definite formation of this court is in May 1647, when the General Court enacted that it should consist of the Governor, Deputy Governor, and two magistrates; and in the absence of the executive officers, three magistrates could hold court. The jurisdiction of this tri- bunal extended to all minor disputes. It was purely judicial in its construction, though its functions included all subjects of legal controversy, both civil and criminal; while it was a court of appeals for the inferior judicial tribunals, its de- cisions could be carried on appeal to the General Court. In civil cases, where the amounts involved exceeded forty shil- lings, the trial at the discretion of the magistrates could be submitted to a jury of six or twelve, and two-thirds of their number could render a legal verdict; if in the opinion of the magistrates the verdict was not in accordance with the testi-
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mony, they could require the jury to reconsider its decision, or they could impanel another. In suits for damages, if the magistrates deemed the sum allowed exorbitant or inade- quate, they had power to alter it. As early as 1643 pro- visions were made for a grand jury; and as the magistrates received only fees for their services, a statute was passed making it obligatory for persons to pay the costs of the pros- ecutions before leaving court, or suffer imprisonment.
The inferior judicial bodies were limited in their jurisdic- tion to the boundaries of the township, and were designated as town courts; their members consisted of five or seven men, who were called principal men, afterwards known as select- men. These were elected annually, and one of their mem- bers was chosen Moderator, his presence being required to constitute a quorum. Their judicial powers were limited to claims of debt and trespass where the amount involved was less than forty shillings, and before execution was issued the case could be appealed. Sessions of the town courts were held once in two months, and in case of a tie the moderator was empowered to cast the deciding vote. These three courts, the Town, Quarter, and General, were the judicial tribunals of the colony before the granting of the charter.
There were no radical changes made by the new charter, although the General Court became the General Assembly, which name it has since retained. The General Assembly enjoyed the same supreme power as its predecessor, and the same formal style of an enacting clause was retained, as fol- lows: "Be it enacted by the Governor and Council and House of Representatives in General Court assembled." It had the sole power of dissolving itself; and by the revision of the statutes in 1672 it asumed the right of filling its own vacancies, also of granting reprieves, pardons, and jail suspen-
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sions. Monopolies and trusts were not allowed unless prof- itable to the country : a sufficiently large loophole.
Marriage was considered as a civil contract, and divorces were the prerogative of the Assembly; separations were al- lowed, by the enactment of a law in 1677, for adultery, fraud- ulent consent willful desertion for three years with neglect of duty, and seven years' absence, certification of the facts being required. These were very liberal divorce laws, when it is remembered that most Christian countries barely toler- ated it, and that the Scriptures specify adultery as the only cause.
On ecclesiastical subjects the Assembly was the fountain- head of laws, their privilege extended even to choosing sites for meeting-houses. Their sessions were semi-annual, and on the consolidation of the two colonies it was proposed that they should be held alternately in Hartford and New Ha- ven; this did not receive the sanction of those interested in the latter city till 1701, and from that year the May As- sembly was held at Hartford, the October Assembly at New Haven. The dual capital was not abolished till 1876.
The first meeting-place of the General Assembly was a square frame meeting-house, situated on the southeast cor- ner of the present City Hall Square at Hartford. In 1719 the first assembly house was built on the west side of the square, having one entrance on Main Street and another on Central Row; the appropriation for it was the result of an agreement between the rival capitals. The sales of un- granted lands had netted £1,500, and £650 was appropriated to build a colonial assembly-house at Hartford, and to ap- pease New Haven, £500 was donated to Yale College. This building continued to be occupied for legislative purposes till
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1795; the cupola was accidentally destroyed by fire in 1783, at the celebration following the peace with England.
The old "Particular Court" or "Quarter Court," after the securing of the charter, became known as the Court of As- sistants, and consisted of the Governor or Deputy Gover- nor, who was the presiding officer, and at least six assistants. It had original cognizance over all crimes relating to life, limb, or banishment, and appellate jurisdiction over all cases; its powers were enlarged by assigning to it all di- vorce cases, and in 168 1 it was invested with the duties of a Court of Admiralty. The court consisted of seven mem- bers, of whom five were a quorum; and it was so closely identified with the upper house of the Legislature, that its semi-annual session was held one week before the convening of the General Assembly. For the first thirty-five years of its existence the court terms were held at Hartford, but after 1701 they alternated between that town and New Haven. It was found inconvenient and expensive, however, to hold only two sessions a year at only two points; and in May 1711, by an act of the General Assembly its successor the Superior Court was created.
By the organization of the Court of Assistants, only a small part of the business belonging to the Particular Court was provided for, and other judicial tribunals were needed. The colony was first divided into counties in 1665, and in the following year county courts were instituted; their personnel consisted of three assistants, or at least one assistant and two commissioners who later became known as justices of the peace. In 1698 it was enacted that four freemen should be justices, three of whom, with a presiding judge appointed by the General Assembly, should constitute a court; and in absence of the legislative appointees, three justices were em-
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powered to act. The jurisdiction of the county court was limited to granting letters of administration, probating wills, civil cases,-real, personal, or mixed,-and all criminal cases not pertaining to life, limb, banishment, adultery, or divorce; in 1712 its duties were enlarged, and in association with the grand jurors it could levy taxes upon each town in the county.
The duties of the county court were lightened in 1716, and courts of probate were established in each county; to their jurisdiction were delegated all cases pertaining to the administration of estates and probating of wills; there was an appeal to the higher courts, from all the decisions ren- dered by these inferior courts.
On the organization of the Superior Court it consisted of four judges, of whom three were a quorum, and two terms were to be held annually in each of the counties; its jurisdic- tion was similar to the Court of Assistants. It had cog- nizance of all pleas to the Crown, matters relating to the conserving of peace and the punishment of offenders, as well as civil cases brought before it by appeal, review, writs of error, or otherwise. The General Assembly having the pow- er by its rules to invest other judicial tribunals with its au- thority, as cases accumulated on its docket a channel was sought to relieve itself of its multiplicity of business. The superior court was the most convenient tribunal of justice, and in consequence, the General Assembly gradually enlarged its functions. On the court's organization its jurisdiction was limited to civil cases involving £100; this was soon increased to £450, in 1768 to £800, and in 1784 to £1,600. The county courts' jurisdiction in 1762 was increased from £20 to £100. Both the superior and county courts were granted the power
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of ordering new trials for mispleading, new evidence, and other reasonable causes.
In the middle of the eighteenth century, a curious struggle took place between the established and essential democratic methods of inheritance, and an attempt to install feudalism in Connecticut. Primogeniture and democracy are obviously contradictions in terms : the latter rests on general equality of opportunities, though not of condition. Of course in- equalities could be constituted by will in New England, but the feeling was against them. But since, in the absence of specific law, the estates of intestates were settled on the Eng- lish principle, the eldest son taking all the real estate, Mas- sachusetts in 1692 and Connecticut in 1699 passed acts pro- viding for the equal distribution of such estates, save a double share to the eldest son. This was confirmed by an English Order in Council, permitting all colonial laws to remain in force till disallowed by the Crown. The Intestate Estates Act was respected till 1724, when John Winthrop of New London, son of General Wait Still and grandson of Gover- nor John Winthrop, contested it. He was administrator of the estate of his father, as well as that of his uncle Fitz John; his sister's husband, Thomas Lechmere of Boston, brought suit for the daughter's share. Winthrop took the ground that the Connecticut act was invalid as contrary to English law, under which real estate belonged to none but the heir- at-law. and administrators had no concern with it. The Con- necticut Superior Court made short work of this denial of its basis of existence, ousted him from the administratorship, and appointed Lechmere and his wife instead. Winthrop petitioned the General Assembly to cancel the decision and restore his rights, threatening an appeal to the King in Coun- cil; the Assembly dismissed the petition; Winthrop pro-
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tested, and was summoned before the Assembly for con- tempt. He insulted that body like another Randolph, declar- ing himself its peer as standing under English law, and per- petually interrupting the Governor; was committed to the custody of the sheriff, "escaped" that night, and was fined in absence. Making his way to England, he obtained from the Council, Feb. 15, 1727-8, a decree sustaining him and annulling the Intestate Estates Law. The colony, which had not been heard, instructed its agent to defend the case, and sent petitions to the home government to allow the act to continue, and at least to validate the acts of the probate courts previous to the decision. No help could be had, and the colony was in sore distress. Not only was a large quan- tity of property thrown into possible litigation, but the char- ter itself was merely waste paper; its existence was a farce if it had no power except to transfer English law and custom bodily to Connecticut. The colony, however, acted with its characteristic resolution not to let the records show any more legal precedents against itself than it could help. Winthrop's case was beyond repair; but as far as possible intestate cases were settled out of court, and if not, the appeals from the Probate to the Superior Court were continued from term to term. Connecticut was waiting its chance; a few years later it came. One Gillam Phillips of Boston appealed to the King in Council against the equal division of his property un- der the Massachusetts law; but the latter was sustained in Phillips vs. Savage. But the Massachusetts was the same as the Connecticut law, and the Connecticut charter gave it a far freer hand than the Massachusetts system: why the dif- ference? It would seem that the reasons alleged for Lech- mere's failure, a lawyer inexperienced in such cases and lack of court influence, were really to blame. In May 1742 a.
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promising case arose in Milford, Clark vs. Tousey, the for- mer claimed to be heir-at-law as Winthrop had, and sued against an equal division. The Assembly voted Tousey £500 to go to Great Britain and defend his case; the agent, Eli- akim Palmer, was instructed to employ solicitors and aid him in every way possible. This time the colony was successful : on July 18, 1745, Clark's suit was dismissed. Primogeni- ture was cast out from New England.
The origin of the public seal of Connecticut is told in an unpublished paper written in 1759 by Roger Wolcott. From statements made to him by his stepfather Daniel Clark, sec- retary of the colony 1658-66, it is there stated that the seal was a present from George Fenwick to the colony; the oldest extant impression is preserved in the State Library, on a com- mission of John Winthrop as magistrate of Namcock (New London), and bears the date of Oct. 27, 1647. The State archives contain three poor wax impressions of this seal, which is slightly oval in form, and has a beaded border; upon it is a vineyard of fifteen vines supported and bearing fruit; above them a hand issues from the clouds, holding a label with the motto "Sustinet Qui Transtulit."
There was no change in the seal made by the first General Assembly, and the first printed edition of the revision of the statutes of Connecticut, published at Cambridge, Massa- chusetts, in 1673, bears its impression on the title-page; all other editions of the statutes during the colonial existence of the colony bear the royal arms. It is asserted in Bulkley's "Will and Doom," that on Sir Edmund Andros' assuming control of the government, the seal was delivered to him by John Allyn, secretary of the colony. This statement is partly substantiated by the fact that on the resumption of the charter government, the impression of the seal used varies
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considerably from the first one; being larger and not so well cut, the hand bent downwards, and in the first syllable of the last word of the motto the N is missing. It is more than probable that it was a temporary wooden substitute for the original seal.
The General Assembly in 1711 ordered a new seal, which was to be kept in the office of the secretary of the colony; it was considerably larger than its predecessor, measuring 2 1-8 inches in length and I 3-4 inches in breadth. Instead of fifteen vines, there were only three; and there was a hand about midway, on the dexter side, pointing to them; the motto was on a label below the vines, and read "Qui Tran- stulit Sustinet," and around the circumference was the legend "Sigillum Coleniae Connecticensis." In making impressions, wax was generally used until about 1784, when a new seal was approved by the General Assembly; in this, which was larger by a quarter of an inch in length and an eighth of an inch in breadth than its predecessor, the hand was omitted, and the inscription around the circumference was abbrevi- ated to "Sigill. Reip. Connecticutensis." This seal was en- graved on a silver plate, which was presented to Yale Col- lege.
The present seal was ordered by the General Assembly in 1842, and was engraved on brass; in comparison with its predecessors it is of superior workmanship. It has three clusters of grapes on each vine, the one preceding it having had four clusters on each of the upper vines and five on the lower. The legend around the circumference is spelled in full; the motto remains unchanged.
The armorial bearings of Connecticut would be blazoned thus : argent, three vines supplanted and fruited proper,- that is, the field is white or silver, and the vines of their natu-
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ral color; the vines symbolize the colony brought over and planted here in the wilderness. Referring to the Bible, we find in the eightieth psalm the verse, "Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt ; thou hast cast out the heathen and plant- ed it." The translation of the motto is "He who transplant- ed still sustains."
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CHAPTER XXVIII THE INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS OF THE COLONY
I N an age when the extension of civilization could pro- ceed only by dispossessing or assuming authority over barbarians, no question of the rightfulness of slavery was likely to arise. Aristotle says that it exists "by the law of nature," and such was the uni- versal assumption in the seventeenth century; not only so, but it was believed a providential institution for the elevation of the blacks themselves of course with occasional accidents and limitations. There was no reason why the New Eng- land colonists should invent a new doctrine of ethics, and they took their share in the traffic to Africa, and the holding of slaves for domestic servants; attempt was made to apply the system to Indian captives, but fortunately for New Eng- land they were found intractable and unteachable. The cler- gy and magistracy of Connecticut and New Haven were slave-owners, as evidenced by the inventories of their estates. It was in 1637 that Hugh Peters, in corresponding with John Winthrop, Jr., says that he "hears of a dividend of Indian women and children from the Pequot captives, and he would like a share." In the following year, Connecticut's Pilgrim pioneer, William Holmes, in conveying his real estate and other possessions to Matthew Allyn, mentions ser- vants as a salable commodity; this may mean slaves or in- dentured servants. The shipments of Pequot captives, and later those of other Indian nations, to the West Indies to be sold to the planters, will be remembered. There were a few instances in Connecticut where planters owned a number of slaves, but in most cases the holdings were small, ranging from two to ten in a family. The imported negroes were easily converted to their master's religious belief, and "the African Corner" was an established feature of the colonial meeting-house.
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In the early part of the eighteenth century, the price of slaves varied from 6os. to £25, but towards the middle of the century the value increased from £75 to £125 sterling. A negro maid in Hartford in 1650 was inventoried as being worth £25; and John Allyn, the secretary of the colony, thirty years later in reporting to the Board of Trade and Plantations, says there were very few servants in the colony, and about thirty slaves who had been imported from Barba- does, at £22 each. The slave trade was usually carried on clandestinely, not for moral reasons but for smuggling. The records show that Rev. Ezra Stiles sent a barrel of rum to the coast of Africa to be exchanged for a negro; this was before he became president of Yale College. A Connecticut clergyman, while filling the executive chair of the colony, de- cided that the offspring of a negro bond-woman was born into servitude. A fugitive-slave law was enforced by the colony, by which a slave found without a pass from his mas- ter or the colonial authorities was prohibited from traveling, and any person assisting him in securing transportation, was subject to a fine of twenty shillings. The master was re- quired to provide for his slaves in old age, to prevent eman- cipating them and throwing them on the town.
The town of New London in 1717 became greatly agi- tated at the prospect of Robert Jacklen, a gentleman of color, becoming a bondholder in that township; at a town meet- ing, it was decided to petition the General Assembly to pass an act prohibiting negroes from purchasing land without first obtaining consent from the town. The gradual eman- cipation of the negro, his valiant services in the Revolution, with a narrative of the black governors, are topics that will be treated in a subsequent volume.
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