USA > Connecticut > Connecticut as a colony and as a state; or, One of the original thirteen, Volume II > Part 12
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These vital questions were met, however, in Connecticut's own conservative way, through the medium of her town meet- ings. Committees were appointed at these meetings, who met
212
CONNECTICUT AFTER THE REVOLUTION
in convention at Middletown and passed resolves expressing disapprobation of the acts of Congress, for extra pay to offi- cers and soldiers.
The financial question also became a leading factor in pop- ular discontent. The general government had emitted vast sums of paper currency, and Spanish and French specie became abundant during the war, inflating the circulating me- dium. The people at the close of hostilities were destitute of clothing and other necessaries of life. A demand was created for foreign importations which depleted the country of specie, and the uncertain value of the Continental paper currency caused a stringency in the money market. The bulk of Con- necticut's importations were necessarily through the ports of New York and Boston, and were subject to a tax levied by these States; she was therefore in favor of surrendering to Congress the right of taxing imports. This required the unanimous consent of the States, and her willingness was neutralized by Rhode Island's refusal to consent to the prop- osition.
These financial difficulties led the people of the State to view the officers of the late war as harpies, who were attempt- ing to obtain riches from the misfortunes of their fellow citi- zens, and Congress was thought corrupt for abetting their efforts. These sentiments were expressed by the Middletown convention, and were concurred in by the Assembly at their October session 1783. Connecticut did not object to national taxation, but was opposed to the taxing power being used for the benefit of the members of the Society of the Cincinnati. She readily consented to the proposition of Congress, in 1783, to base taxation on the number of inhabitants in each State rather than on the lands. Her ready acquiescence in these acts of Congress is greatly to her credit, when it is remem-
213
CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE
bered that she had been deprived of her Pennsylvania pos- sessions, and received in exchange but a pittance of Western reservation lands, small in comparison with those granted to satisfy the demands of Virginia.
The masses of the people of Connecticut were so discon- tented, that open sedition was likely. The better educated and informed citizens of the State, among whom were the clergy and the executive officers, were opposed to the uncon- stitutional step taken by the Middletown convention. By arguments and correspondence they supported the measures of Congress, contending that the additional pay allowed the army was necessary to maintain its organization, and that the expenses thus incurred would not be oppressive. Though in the minority, their endeavors took effect; the opposition subsided, the committees were dismissed, and tranquillity was restored to the State. The General Assembly, at its next ses- sion in May 1784, passed several measures which had pre- viously been very unpopular.
The executive who piloted Connecticut through the troublous days of the Revolutionary War had passed the allotted period of threescore years and ten. Though urged repeatedly, to become again a candidate, he refused any further honors. His eighteen years' service as an executive officer, during the first three years of which he was Deputy Governor in this exciting time, had well earned him the merited reward of retirement from public affairs.
Jonathan Trumbull was the only colonial governor who took a stand against the British government in the Revolu- tion, being almost the only one not appointed by it. He was born in Lebanon, Oct. 12, 1710; son of Joseph Trumbull, who ten years before Jonathan's birth moved to Lebanon, and engaged in trade. The younger Trumbull at the age of
214
CONNECTICUT AFTER THE REVOLUTION
thirteen entered Harvard College, graduating four years later. He studied theology, and was licensed to preach; but his services as a minister were brief. In 1731 we find him studying law, while engaged with his father at Lebanon in mercantile business.
Governor Trumbull's political life began in 1733, and con- tinued without interruption for over half a century. He has been justly styled by a well-known writer "the presiding genius of Connecticut during the American conflict." He ended his days at Lebanon, Aug. 17, 1785.
The efforts of Governor Trumbull during the Revolution were ably seconded by Matthew Griswold, who filled the office of Deputy Governor during the entire period of his illustrious predecessor's occupancy of the executive chair. Governor Griswold was born at Lyme, March 25, 1714. He had no early educational advantages, and his success in life was due solely to a natural ability, which attracted public note while he was still a young man. He began the study of law at twenty-five, and soon after was admitted to the bar, and by indefatigable work became a prominent advocate. He entered political life in 1751. Governor Griswold was first elected to the gubernatorial chair in 1784, and served two terms; then, declining a re-election, he retired to private life. He was a sincere friend, of a benevolent disposition, and in his domestic life hospitable and charitable, enjoying an exten- sive acquaintance. He died in his native town, April 28, 1799.
Samuel Huntington was the son of a farmer, and was born in Windham, July 2, 1731. His ancestors were originally from Saybrook. The benefit of an early education were denied him, owing to his father's poverty; he worked at farming, varied by irregular attendance at the district schools.
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CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE
He was his own instructor in Latin, and on arriving at his majority began the study of law, with borrowed books and no preceptor. With great perseverance he mastered the rudi- ments of his profession, and was admitted to the bar. His increasing clientage caused his removal to Norwich in 1760, where his public career soon afterwards began. He became a member of the General Assembly, and associate judge of the Superior Court; was elected a delegate to the Continental Congress, and in 1779 was chosen President of that body, which at that time was the highest office in the land.
On his forty-fifth birthday he participated in the debate on the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, of which he was a signer. Governor Huntington, owing to ill health, resigned his Congressional duties in 1781, and returning to his native State, resumed his seat upon the bench and his position as a member of the Council. He became a member of Congress in 1783, but resigned in the same year, and returned to private life. His appointment as Chief Justice of the Superior Court, and his election as Deputy Governor, occurred in 1784. Two years later he was made Governor, which position he held until his death at Norwich, Jan. 5, 1796.
Although not a collegian, Governor Huntington was invested with the degree of Doctor of Laws by Yale and Harvard Colleges. He was a man who talked little, was of a naturally retiring disposition, and to one not acquainted with him had the appearance of haughtiness; yet with his friends he was free and winning in his manner.
Governor Huntington's able assistant, during his occu- pancy of the chair, was one of the famous quartette whose signatures ornament the Declaration of Independence. Oli- ver Wolcott was a son of Governor Roger Wolcott, and
216
Sam " Huntington
CONNECTICUT AFTER THE REVOLUTION
was born at Windsor Nov. 26, 1726; after graduating from Yale in 1747, he began the study of medicine with his brother, Dr. Alexander Wolcott, and in 1751 entered upon that profession at Goshen. His entrance into political life dates from the organization of Litchfield County, when he was elected its first sheriff. He became a member of the State Council in 1774, and two years later was chosen a delegate to the Continental Congress, holding both positions until 1786.
After the adjournment of Congress in 1776 he returned home, and was appointed by Governor Trumbull to the com- mand of the Connecticut militia, which consisted of fourteen regiments raised for the defense of New York. This body of troops was thoroughly organized by General Wolcott, and took part in the battle of Long Island; after which their commander returned to Connecticut, and the following winter occupied his seat in Congress. During the year 1777 we find General Wolcott commanding a brigade, with which he rein- forced General Putnam on the Hudson River and took part in the capture of Burgoyne's army. He was present at the session of the Continental Congress held at York, Pennsyl- vania, in the fall of 1777; on its adjournment he returned to his native State, and was placed in command of the State militia at the time of Tryon's raid. His attendance in Con- gress from 1780 to 1784 was irregular, his time being occu- pied with the military and civil affairs of Connecticut.
At the cessation of hostilities, General Wolcott was appointed Indian agent, and was a member of the commis- sion which effected the treaty of peace with the Six Nations. On the death of Governor Huntington, Wolcott became the State executive ad interim, and at the next general election was chosen his successor.
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CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE
Governor Wolcott was re-elected, but did not complete his term of office; his death occurred Dec. 1, 1797. He was a singularly modest man, even diffident in his intercourse with men, in the common walks of life. Lossing says, "As a patriot and statesman, a Christian and a man, Governor Wol- cott presented a bright example of inflexibility, virtue, piety, and integrity."
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CHAPTER XIV THE WESTERN RESERVE
T HE war clouds of the Revolution had scarcely disappeared from the horizon-in fact, it was only a fortnight after the surrender of Corn- wallis-when Pennsylvania, although she had remained inert during the hostilities, peti- tioned Congress, the new arbitrator between the States, to adjudicate her claims to Westmoreland. The status of the case had entirely changed. The State of Pennsylvania appeared as a complainant instead of the Penn heirs. This gave a wholly new aspect to the case. The Penns, unsup- ported by the people of Pennsylvania and striving only to keep the Wyoming territory a waste for their future personal profit and aggrandizement, were powerless against the swarm- ing Connecticut immigration. Settlement could only be opposed by settlement; those who would use the land by oth- ers who would use it. The Penns were on little better foot- ing than the Indians, and like them were justly ousted by the forces of civilization. But when Pennsylvania wanted to use her own door-yard for civilized purposes, there was another case in equity if not in law.
The bulk of the Connecticut survivors had returned to the Wyoming Valley in the autumn of the year of the massacre. The Indians had again raided the territory, and the white people suffered disasters of every description; yet in defiance of mortal danger, they maintained their occupancy of the lands.
Among those-swept along by the tide of emigration that had swelled the settlements at Westmoreland, was Colonel John Franklin, destined to play an important part in the affairs of the new Connecticut. The Continental Congress, solicited to adjudicate on the ownership of the disputed terri- tory, was placed in a dilemma. The confederation was a part-
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CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE
nership of States claiming free sovereignty except as con- tributing quotas to a common defensive organization, and did not possess the power to arbitrate in disputes between its members. It therefore recommended that the subject of jurisdiction should be left to a board of commissioners, selected by delegates from the two States.
This board was to consist of seven members, of whom five constituted a quorum; they were to be selected from four States, New England having but two representatives in the body; the populous State of Virginia had three, while the State contiguous to Pennsylvania had two.
It would seem that Connecticut had not much to expect from the delegates chosen to the commission. Virginia had always been opposed to New England, and New Jersey's interests coincided with those of Connecticut's opponent. The original delegates reported to Congress, on Aug. 12, 1782, were William Whipple of New Hampshire, Nathaniel Greene of Rhode Island, David Brearly and William Church- ill Houston of New Jersey, Cyrus Griffin, Joseph Jones, and John Rutledge of Virginia. General Greene and Mr. Rut- ledge declined the appointment,and Welcome Arnold and Thomas Nelson were substituted.
The Court was opened at Trenton, New Jersey, Nov. 12, 1782; Commissioners Whipple, Arnold, Houston, Griffin, and Brearly being present. Connecticut's counsel were Eli- phalet Dyer, William Samuel Johnson, and Jesse Root; while William Bradford, Joseph Reed, James Wilson, and Jona- than D. Sargeant appeared for Pennsylvania. The position of the Court was definitely stated when, in answer to the peti- tion of the Wyoming settlers, they replied that their jurisdic- tion extended only to State rights, and not to the settler's right of soil. The Court sat forty-one judicial days and
222
CONNECTICUT AFTER THE REVOLUTION
heard testimonies and lengthy arguments; but there is no record of its sessions or deliberations. Before delivering a verdict, they agreed among themselves that no reasons should be assigned for it, and that it should be made unanimous. They arrived at the following judgment on Dec. 13, 1782 : "We are unanimously of opinion that the jurisdiction and pre- emption of all territory lying within the charter of Pennsyl- vania, and now claimed by the State of Connecticut, do of right belong to the State of Pennsylvania." On the promul- gation of the Trenton Decree, Connecticut, which under pro- test had held control over Westmoreland for nine years, with- drew her jurisdiction.
The Susquehanna Company had held no meetings from 1774 to 1782; just previous to the holding of the Tren- ton Court, they appointed the State's attorneys their agents. The stockholders of the company were surprised at the deci- sion of the Court, and petitioned the General Assembly, at its May session in 1783, to request Dr. Johnson and Colonel Root to give an account of the trial. The confidence of the company in Colonel Dyer was not shaken, as he was not included in the requested investigation. The General Assem- bly, however, took no action on the petition.
The Connecticut delegates concurred in the action of the Continental Congress, in withdrawing the national troops from the Wyoming Valley. Connecticut's acquiescence in the decision is greatly to her credit : the country was in a turbulent state, and a show of resistance to the authority of the Con- tinental Congress would have endangered the union of the States. But her not requiring a guarantee for the protection of her sons, who had so nobly defended the Wyoming Valley and her jurisdiction over the territory, despite all excuses was not creditable, and leaves an ill taste in the mouth to this
223
CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE
day. She could have exacted it had she firmly insisted on it as a sine qua non of relinquishing jurisdiction; it was worth fighting for, and a most righteous cause. Why it was so tamely abandoned is still a mystery; the northwestern land grant in lieu of it by Congress was some compensation as a State, but to take it from the pockets of the Wyoming settlers was not equitable. Unofficially, however, the Connecticut people and the Susquehanna Company still kept up the strug- gle and supported the settlers, and at last the State was forced to interfere again.
It is not within the scope of this work to follow the indig- nities and persecutions heaped upon the Connecticut settlers in the Wyoming Valley, in their attempted protection of the homes they had reclaimed from the savages and the wilder- ness. The action of the Pennsylvania authorities became so despicable and unjustifiable that it threatened the dissolution of the Confederation, by the prospect of a civil war. The formation of a new State was agitated, to be called Franklin or Susquehanna; the project was enthusiastically backed in New England and New York. The plan was to send a large number of emigrants into the territory; and Colonel Ethan Allen with a number of the Green Mountain Boys were again to attempt the formation of an independent commonwealth.
The Connecticut schemers had drawn up a plan of govern- ment and had a constitution prepared, and the first Governor and Lieutenant-Governor had been selected. To disrupt the new State movement, Pennsylvania passed the Conforming Act of 1787; this was a compromise which a majority of the Wyoming settlers were in favor of accepting. Colonel Tim- othy Pickering, who had been appointed one of Pennsyl- vania's commissioners, stopped all revolutionary demonstra- tions by his diplomatic efforts, in connection with this Act.
224
CONNECTICUT AFTER THE REVOLUTION
Pennsylvania was savagely bent on confiscating the lands outright. The legislature in 1790 repealed the compromise measure of 1787, declaring it unconstitutional. But the hold- ers of the Pennsylvania land titles gained nothing by this greedy action, as the long-suffering Connecticut settlers still held their possessions, though the legal warfare was con- tinued. It was not until 1807 that a clear title to the lands was obtained by the Yankees; they made the State a trifling payment, and the last vestige of injustice was obliterated,- just half a century from the time the first Connecticut settle- ment was made on the Delaware River.
In a résumé of the advantages derived by each State, we find Pennsylvania the chief gainer, as indicated in a former volume. The settlement was not against but in favor of Pennsylvania as such, however the Penns' pockets might suf- fer. Trade and industry were immensely helped; and the Yankee blood of the northern territory was a useful supple- ment to the Quaker and the Dutch of her southern section. The persistency and energetic business qualifications of her Connecticut-bred settlers, in the development of her mineral resources, redounded to the credit and riches of the Com- monwealth.
Connecticut, by sturdily maintaining her charter boun- daries as extending to the Pacific, and by illustrating her belief in making actual settlements, became the possessor of that region of the Northwest Territory called the Western Reserve of Connecticut. This exceeded in area the original domains of our State.
The difficulty in the ratification of the Articles of Confed- eration was in the establishment of the disputed boundaries of the different States. Six of the thirteen States by their charters had defined limits. Among the claimant States was
225
CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE
Connecticut, who claimed according to her royal grants the territory between her parallels of latitude as far as the Mis- sissippi River, which had been established in 1763 as the western boundary of the British possessions in America. The problem that confronted the general government was to obtain the acquiescence of the various claimants to the dis- puted territory between the established boundaries and the Mississippi. This darkened, and for a time retarded, the prospects for the formation of an American Union. It was not until sacrifices were made by the claimant States, that disruption was averted.
Connecticut was the last State, and reluctantly, to give her sanction to the cession of the territory to the general govern- ment. An act passed by the General Assembly, on May II, 1786, relinquished all her right, title, interest, jurisdiction, and claim to lands within her chartered limits, lying west of a reservation of one hundred and twenty miles in length, between latitudes 41° and 42° 2' north, and west of and parallel with the western boundary of the State of Pennsyl- vania.
This reservation-the Western Reserve of Connecticut- was the subject of a protracted debate in Congress. It was stigmatized as a Yankee bargain to convey and relinquish an elusive, intangible, and imaginary title to a visionary and unproductive territory, for a tract of solid land with a sure title and definite boundaries. That Connecticut's claim to the reservation should have received the unanimous support of the delegates of the State against which she had been so lately arrayed in land controversies, is strongly presumptive evi- dence that there was some secret understanding between the representatives of the two Commonwealths at the Court held
226
CONNECTICUT AFTER THE REVOLUTION
at Trenton. Furthermore, the territory thus reserved was about equal to that relinquished in Pennsylvania.
Connecticut's bitterest opponents were the delegates from Virginia and Maryland; Washington was in the opposition; but the Virginians finally acquiesced, knowing that Connec- ticut would immediately settle her reservation with emigrants, who would form a barrier between the British and the Indian tribes, thereby enhancing the value of the adjoining territory, in which they were interested.
The States, excepting Maryland, agreeing to Connecticut's proposition, Congress accepted the cession of the territory on May 23, 1786; it was duly completed on the 17th of the following September.
The reservation, according to the latest authorities, con- tained 3,366,921 acres, or over 5,260 square miles, an excess over the area of the mother State of 173,921 acres. It embraced the present Ohio counties of Ashtabula, Trumbull, Lake, Geauga, Portage, Cuyahoga, Medina, Lorain, Huron, and Erie, the greater part of Mahoning and Summit, and small portions of Ashland and Ottawa, in which is located the chief city of Ohio. That the population of this vast ter- ritory should at the beginning of the twentieth century num- ber within a few thousand of that of the mother State, is a living monument to Connecticut's far-sighted patriotism and enterprise.
As soon as peace was established with Great Britain, a com- mission was appointed by the Connecticut legislature to esti- mate the damage done to private citizens by British raids during the Revolutionary war. The committee reported the results of their labors as follows :
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CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE
New London burnt Sept. 6, 1781 .... £145,788 I5S. 6d. Groton burnt Sept. 6, 1781. 23,217 6
Scattering towns burnt Sept. 6, 1781. 9,806 9
2
£178,812
IO 8
Norwalk burnt by the British in 1779
34,867
9
2
Confiscated property and other losses .
2,077
£36,944
9
2
Greenwich
6,365
II
8
Losses of men not on oath
369
17 7
£6,735
9
3
Fairfield burnt in 1779
40,809
2 IO
New Haven ravaged by Tryon in July 1779
24,893
7
6
East Haven ravaged by Tryon in July 1779
4,882
16
4
West Haven ravaged by Tryon in July 1779
474
O
3
Other losses
586
0
I
£30,836
4 2
Total amount of the losses in the whole State, according to the money value in 1774, £294,236 16s. Id. This estimate included merchandise and public buildings; exclusive of these, the loss was estimated to be £167,000.
It was not until May 1792 that the legislature made pro- vision to reimburse the war sufferers. In that year 500,000 acres of the extreme western part of the Reserve, comprising the greater part of what is now Huron and Erie counties and
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CONNECTICUT AFTER THE REVOLUTION
a small portion of Ottawa, was deeded to those having claims, and the tract became known as the Fire Lands. The follow- ing year the General Assembly appointed a committee con- sisting of one from each county, empowering them to sell and give deeds for the balance of the territory, to purchasers whose proposals were sanctioned by six of the members of the committee; the purchasers were allowed six years in which to pay for their allotments.
The lands were disposed of in thirty-six parcels. The heaviest purchaser was Oliver Phelps, who, individually and in partnership, took over $250,000 worth. Gideon Granger's purchases amounted to $80,000; and Pierpont Edwards, a son of Jonathan Edwards, negotiated for $60,000 worth of landed property. The smallest sum received was nearly $1,700. The total sales amounted to $1,200,000, payable in five years, with interest after the second year.
The purchasers of the tract formed the Connecticut Land Company. The settlement of the territory and the efforts of this corporation were retarded by the lack of acknowl- edged jurisdiction over the territory. To establish law and order, the whole Reserve was converted into a county, and named Trumbull, in honor of the Governor in office at that time.
The difficulty which prevented the land company from giv- ing titles, and also retarded their sales, was solved by Congress passing the "Easement Act," in which Connecticut ceded to - the United States her jurisdiction over the territory, the gen- eral government releasing to her all right, title, and claim to the soil.
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