USA > Connecticut > New London County > Groton > Groton, Conn. 1705-1905 > Part 9
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35
Robert P. Wilbur, 1897, was a retired clipper ship captain living in Mystic. He was afterwards engaged in the ship- building business in Noank with his uncle, Robert Palmer. Donald Gunn, 1897, was a coal dealer in Groton.
William H. Allen, 1899-1901, a retired whaling captain, was one of the most highly esteemed citizens of Groton. Ralph H. Denison, 1899, was a lawyer with an office in New London but resided in Groton. George A. Perkins, 1901, was a clothing dealer in Mystic and New London. Ben- jamin F. Burrows, 1903, a son of Benjamin Burrows, Jr., 1864, is a successful coal dealer in Mystic. His colleague, Albert E. Wheeler, was a grandson of William E. Wheeler 1873 and 1875, and of Albert G. Stark, 1850, great-grand- son of Sanford Stark, 1843 and 1848. We find no repre- sentative in recent years with so many ancestors in the office. He was engaged with his father in the general store business in Mystic until, on the death of the latter, he re- tired. Simeon G. Fish, 1905, son of Nathan G., 1849-50 and 1857, was a member of the firm of Maxson, Fish & Co., shipbuilders at Mystic during the Civil War, afterwards in business in New York and Boston. He was lieutenant in Co. K, 26th Connecticut Volunteers, and served with dis- tinction at Port Hudson. Edward E. Spicer, 1905, is a large landholder and ice dealer in Groton.
102
GROTON, CONN. 1705-1905
Probate Court
At the October session, 1766, the territory east of the Thames River was made into a separate probate district known as the Stonington district. The probate court, which was organized January 1, 1767, embraced the territory now comprising the towns of Stonington, North Stonington, Groton and Ledyard. During the time that Groton formed a part of that district, the following citizens of the town filled the office of judge:
1814-19-Ralph Hurlburt of Gales Ferry; 1819-31-William Wil- liams of Cider Hill; 1836-38-Stephen Haley of Center Groton.
The following Groton men filled the office of clerk :
1818-Erastus S. Smith of Center Groton; 1831-38-Nathan Daboll of Center Groton.
In 1839 Groton was made a probate district by itself and the judges of that district have been :
1839-Stephen Haley; 1840-41-James Gallup; 1842-44-Nathan Daboll; 1845-Joseph Durfey; 1846-Amos Clift; 1847-Joseph Dur- fey; 1848-51-Zebadiah Gates; 1852-53-Albert G. Stark; 1854- Nathan G. Fish; 1855-58-Amos Clift; 1859-Sanford Stark; 1860-62 -Amos Clift; 1863-Hiram Appelman; 1864-74-Amos Clift; 1874-75 -Lemuel Clift; 1876-81-William H. Potter; 1882-1900-Lemuel Clift; 1901-Arthur P. Anderson.
The following persons have served in the capacity of clerk at various times :
Nathan Daboll, Nathan G. Fish, John Hudson, Albert G. Stark, Nathan S. Fish, Amos Clift, Lemuel Clift, George F. Costello.
In 1818 Groton was the only town in Connecticut that cast a unanimous vote in favor of the new Constitution. In 1850 it voted, 142 to 9, in favor of a constitutional amend- ment for the election of probate judge by vote of the people, but in 1855 it gave a majority of thirty-two against the amendment to the Constitution requiring the reading quali -- fication for all new electors .*
About the time of the Revolutionary War efforts were
* History of New London County, p. 434.
108
POLITICAL
made to divide the town. In June 1781 the following vote was passed :
"Voted-That Thomas Mumford Esq. and Capt. John Morgan be agents to represent this town and oppose a me- morial. preferred to the General Assembly now sitting in Hartford by Jonathan Brewster and others, praying for a part of this town to be set to a part of Norwich and Pres- ton for the forming of a new town, as they shall be advised by counsel learned in the law."
The plan failed then but was renewed from time to time, until finally in 1836 the vote stood 76 to 63 in favor of the division, and the North Society was set off as a separate town by the name of Ledyard in honor of the hero of Fort Griswold.
January 25, 1845, the town voted, 149 to 64, to purchase the old church building on Fort Hill for use as a town house. Notwithstanding the large vote in favor of the project, there was from the beginning a strong opposition to the site, which was manifested from time to time. Tra- dition says that at a mock session held at the close of a town meeting, a committee was appointed to burn down the building. The following petition relating to the subject is given here because of the large number of Mystic and Noank names appended to it-a very large percentage of all the voters in the eastern part of the town:
Groton, January 30, 1815.
Whereas, we the undersigned understand that there is a Petition in circulation for the purpose of calling a meet- ing to rescind and do away with the vote that was given on the 25th of January 1845 for a Town House (that is) the agents of the Town was instructed to obtain a title for the Fort Hill meeting house and lot within sixty days (for the price agreed on) two hundred and twenty-five dollars, for a town house, the vote stood thus 149 for 64 against (85 maj.). Now we the undersigned pledge ourselves, not only to vote, but to use all our influence to sustain the doings of that meeting held at Pequonnoc on the 25th of the pres- ent month.
104
GROTON, CONN. 1705-1905
Perez Chipman
Elam Wilbur Samuel Rathbun
Thos. Franklin
Thos. J. Sawyer
Albert G. Wolf
Luther Rathbun
Edwin Hempstead
Gilbert Park, Jr.
Horatio N. Fish
Wellington Brown William Wilbur
Roswell Fish Silas Burrows
George W. Chipman
Silas Burrows, Jr.
Abner B. Spencer
Dudley A. Avery
Elisha Fitch John Packer
Thomas Hallam
Nathan Niles
Samuel Marston
G. E. Morgan
Austin Packer
Benj. Burrows
Jeremiah Wilbur Lanman Lamb Simeon Fish
Gilbert B. Wilcox
Jonathan Stark
John Fitch
Latham Fitch
Ezra S. Spencer
Asa Willis, Jr.
Benjamin Brown
Joseph S. Avery
Isaac Park
Jonathan Larkin, Jr.
John Brown
Levi Spicer
Simeon W. Ashbey
George W. Packer
George W. Ashbey
William L. Wheeler
Moses Ashbey
Caleb E. Tufts
George Jearison
E. Franklin Coates John Edgcomb
J. H. Breaker Isaac Randall
William R. Sawyer
William P. Randall Beriah Grant Jonathan Wheeler
Barton Saunders Charles Chipman Richard Woodbridge
Griswold P. Rathbun
Nathan G. Fish
Isaac B. Pecor
Ezra Watrous
Peleg Denison
Albert Morgan
Henry Latham
William H. Potter
Robert P. Avery John F. Page
Isaiah W. Holloway C. M. Williams
Theodore H. White
Elisha Rathbun Jesse Crary Sanford Stark
William E. Hancox
Peter Baker, Jr.
Amos C. Tift
Pardon T. Brown
Edward Fitch
Hezekiah Wilcox
Jedediah Randall
A. P. Niles Henry G. Beebe
J. S. Schoonover William Crumb
C. S. Williams J. G. Bradford Silas Beebe Joshua L. Hyde
105
POLITICAL
Nathan Chester Latham Fitch 2nd Eldredge C. Ingham George W. Beebe Nathan Lamb Joseph L. Wightman Benjamin Ashbey Augustus Morgan John Palmer Jonathan Burrows James A. Latham
Denison Lamb Charles Murphy Parkenson Hadley
Jonathan W. Sisson Daniel R. Williams
John Appelman George Eldredge
Benj. W. Brown William Batty
Albert Baker
John D. Latham Moses Wilbur
John Palmer, Jr.
Gilbert Park Gilbert Fowler
Calvin Morgan
Henry D. Chesebrough
Roswell Brown
J. C. Avery Joseph Durphey Albert Latham, Jr. Jabez Watrous William P. Harris
N. F. Denison D. D. Edgcomb
Thos. H. Lovett
Latham Rathbun
Nathl. W. Wilbur
William Smith, Jr.
Rowland R. Smith
Amos A. Smith
Lyman Dudley I. D. Miner
G. G. King B. F. Grant
William Meeker
Chester S. Prentice
C. H. Cranston William Niles
Thomas Williams
Denison Burrows
Ambrose H. Burrows John Johnson Charles Johnson
William Murphy Abel Eldredge Albert Fish
Elisha W. Denison Elisha A. Denison
Dick Prentice George Packer Guy E. Burrows N. G. (S?) Fish Henry Denison James C. Lamb Benj. F. Stoddard
Josephus Fitch
John L. F. Wheeler
Sevilian Perkins
Peter Baker Caleb Latham Calvin Wilbur Vine Stoddard
Elijah Chester Gilbert Derth
John Burrows Alden Fish
Samuel Fish William Rathbun
Thomas Park John Adams William Douglass
Jasper Fish
Oliver Batty
John Batty Nathan Noyes, Jr.
Sanford Lamb
Anthony Fish William Burrows
106
GROTON, CONN. 1705-1905
John Gallup
Eldredge Spicer
James Gallup
Charles Chester
William H. Bentley
John S. Barber
Barber Wheeler
Joshua Packer
Ezra S. Beebe
Ebenezer Cleverly
James Potter
January 18, 1864, Peter E. Rowland, Benjamin Burrows et al., petitioned the town to sell the town house, which pe- tition, the record states, was lost by a viva voce vote. April 4, 1864, it was voted not to build a new town house and also voted to let the old house remain as it was, and on November eighth of the same year on petition of Roswell S. Burrows to buy the town house it was
Voted-To drop the subject.
July 22, 1867, at a specially called town meeting it was voted to repair the old building. From a newspaper report of the day we quote:
"This building, originally a one-story church, was built about the close of the Revolutionary War, between eighty and ninety years ago. Some thirty years afterwards it was raised to two stories and galleries were put in. About 1842 it was discontinued as a church and soon after was sold to the town for a town house together with the lot on which it stands. It is one of the most beautiful of locations on a fair summer day, situated on the summit of Fort Hill near the site of the royal fortress of King Sassacus. of the Pequots. The house has done good service as a town house, for the purchase price was small-less than the land would sell for today. It has of late been sadly neglected and pur- posely suffered to go to decay. But a majority thought it was worth repairing and so voted. We doubt it."
The house was suffered to fall into a state of dilapidation, and finally was abandoned and torn down in 1905. By vote of the town in September 1870 the number of selectmen was reduced from five to three. In February 1879 steps were taken looking to the organization of a fire district in the Mystic end of the town, and March 25, 1879, an act of the Legislature was approved by the Governor, incorporat-
107
POLITICAL
ing the villages of Mystic River in Groton and Mystic Bridge in Stonington as the Mystic Fire District. Under this charter an organization was affected April 7, 1879, and the following officers were elected :
Executive Committee-Thomas S. Greenman, John E. Williams and Gurdon Gates.
Assessors-Charles Grinnell, Samuel H. Buckley and Samuel S. Brown.
Board of Relief-Mason C. Hill, Isaac W. Denison and George W. Mallory.
Clerk-Asa Fish.
Treasurer-Elias P. Randall.
Collector-John H. Hoxie.
Chief Engineer-Thomas W. Noyes.
Assistant Engineer-Charles W. Clift.
The Mystic Valley Water Company, organized in 1887, furnishes a water supply for the district.
The fire district officers for the present year (1905) are as follows:
Executive-John S. Edgcomb, Frederick Denison and Clinton L. Allen
Assessors-John H. Hoxie, Benjamin F. Burrows and Manning Miner. .
Board of Relief-Samuel H. Buckley, John H. Hill and Charles H. Eccleston, Jr.
Clerk-Asa Fish.
Treasurer -- George E. Grinnell.
Collector-Albert Denison.
Chief Engineer-George E. Tingley.
Assistant Engineer-Stephen Morgan.
In 1884 Mystic Hook and Ladder Company, No. 1, was incorporated with a charter membership of twenty-seven. The company's first headquarters were in Central Hall block, but it soon purchased the land to the north of that building and erected the structure that now houses it.
In 1903 the village of Groton was incorporated as a bor- ough. The fire district form of organization was not deemed sufficient for the needs of the village, which under the borough system owns its own water and electric-light plants. C. Tyler Landphere was the first warden chosen
108
GROTON, CONN. 1705-1905
and he still remains in office, an enthusiastic advocate of the borough form of government.
Borough of Groton
OFFICERS
Warden-C. Tyler Landphere.
Clerk-William E. Joseph. Treasurer-Milton M. Baker
Water and Light Commissioners-Walter R. Denison, Clerk; H. E. Marquardt, Treasurer; L. D. Whipple.
Burgesses-Charles A. Marquardt, Pierre L. Schellens, A. G. Richardson, Eugene L. Baker, Clinton D. Hanover, Sanford Meech.
The borough purchased the works of the Groton Water Company and the Groton Electric Light Company for the sum of $125,000 cash, assuming a mortgage of $75,000, making the total cost $200,000. Bonds were issued to the amount of $150,000, the balance of the bond issue having been used to take up the Groton Water Company's indebted- ness of $26,155.21.
CHAPTER VI
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
F OR FIFTY YEARS after the first settlement of Groton its inhabitants were obliged to attend divine service in New London. Attendance was made obligatory by law. Under the laws establshed by the General Court, May 1650, it was "ordered and decreed by this Court and authority thereof, that wheresoever the ministery of the word is es- tablished according to the Gospell throughout this Juriss- diction, every person shall duely reporte and attend there- unto respectively uppon the Lords day, and uppon such publique fast dayes and dayes of Thanksgiving as are to bee generally kept by the appointment of Authority, and if any person within this Jurissdiction shall without just and necessary cause withdraw himself from hearing the pub- lique ministry of the word, after the means of conviction used, he shall forfeit for his absence from every such pub- lique meeting five shillings; All such offences to bee heard and determined by any one Magistrate or more from time to time.
"Forasmuch as the peace and prosperity of Churches and members thereof, as well as Civill rights and Libberties are carefully to bee maintained-
"It is ordered by this Courte and decreed, that the civill authority heere established hath power and libberty to see the peace, ordinances, and rules of Christe bee ol served in every church according to his word; as also to deale with any church member in a way of Civill (justice) notwith- standing any church relation, office or interest, so it be done in a Civill and not an Ecclesiasticall way: nor shall any Church censure, degrade or depose any man from any
109
110
GROTON, CONN. 1705-1905
Civill dignitye, office or authority hee shall have in the Commonwealth."
Again the same code provides* under the head of "Min- isters Meintenance:"
"Whereas the most considerable persons in (these Col- onyes) came into these partes of America that they (might) injoye Christe in his ordinances without dis (turb- ance) and whereas amongst many other pretious (mercies) the ordinances have been and are dispensed amongst us with much purity and power; this (Courte) took it into theire serious consideracon how due meintenance, according to God, might bee provided and setled, both for the present and (future) for the incouragement of the Ministers who (labour) therein; And doe order, that those who are (taught) in the word in the severall plantations, bee (called) together, that every mann voluntarily sett downe what hee is willing to allowe to that end and (use:) And if any man refuse to pay a meet proportion, that then hee bee rated by Authority in some (just) and equall way ; and if after this any man withhold or delay due payment the Civill power to bee exercised as in other just debts."
The General Court in March 1658 ordained as follows : "This court orders that there shall be no ministry or church administration entertained or attended by the inhabitants of any plantation in this Colony distinet and separate from, and in opposition to that which is openly and publicly observed and dispensed by the settled and approved min- ister of the place except it be by approbation of the General Court and neighboring churches ; provided always that this order shall not hinder any private meeting or godly persons to attend any duties that Christianity or religion call for, as fasts or conference. Nor take place upon such as are hindered by any just impediments on the Sabbath day from the public assemblies by weather or water and the like."
William Chesebrough in 1649, at the request and prob- ably by the aid of John Winthrop, began at Wequetequock
* Colonial Records of Connecticut, 1636-1665, p. 545.
!
1
1
£
111
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
the first settlement in the town of Stonington. At the time of his settlement there he supposed himself to be within the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, but in November. of that year he was notified by the Connecticut authorities to desist from trading with the Indians. As his occupa- tion was that of a gunsmith it was natural that his neigh- bors looked with suspicion upon his dealings with the natives. He ignored the summons at first, claiming to be under another jurisdiction, but finally in March 1650-1 he appeared at Hartford and made his defence as follows :* "Whereas uppon former information given to this Court that William Cheessbrooke (a smith, sometimes an in- habitant in the Massachusetts, but more lately at Seacunck, alias Rehoboth in the jurisdiction of New Plimouth) had begunn to settle himselfe at Pacatuck, a place within the limitts of this Colonye, order issued out to the said Cheess- brooke uppon severall weighty consideracons, either to depart the place or to make his appearance and give an account of his proceedings, whereunto he submitted, and by a penal obligation engaged himself to attend :
"The said Cheessbrooke now presented himselfe to this Courte, and in way of apologie professed his sitting down there was beside his purpose and intendment, his ayme be- ing to settle at Pequett plantation, but finding that place in severall respects unsuitable to his expectations, and having dispossed himself of his former aboade hee was in a manner necessitated for the preservation of his estate to make winter provision for his cattle there, whereunto hee was allso incouraged by Mr. John Winthrop, who pretended a Commission from the General Courte in the Massachu- setts for the planting of those partes. Hee was tould that as the right of that place did clearely appertaine to this Colonye, so his proceeding was unwarrantable in sitting down there without the knowledge and approbation of this Govrnment, and it carried (in the open face of it) the greater ground of offence, in that by his calling hee was fitted, and by his solitary living advantaged, to carry on * Colonial Records of Connecticut, 1636-1665, p. 216.
112
GROTON, CONN., 1705-1905
a mischievous trade with the Indians, prfessly cross (to) the generall orders of the Country and extremely preju- diciall to the publique safety, which was increased by reports of practice in that kinde in the place of his last abode; besides it seemed more than uncomely for a man professing Godliness so to withdraw from all publique or- dinances and Xtian society.
"In his answer he acknowledged his former transgression (for wch hee justly suffered) but affirmed (to take of all suspition in that kinde) that at his remove he sould away his tools, and thereby made himselfe incapable of repairing any gunlocks, or making so much as a scrue pinn, either for himself or others, and that he was fully resolved not to con- tinue in that sollitary condition but had to himself good grounds of hopes (if libberty might be granted) in a shorte time to procure a competent company of desirable men for the planting of the place.
"The Courte duly considered all that was presented, & though they were willing to make the most favorable con- struction of his former proceedings, yet they exprest themselves altogether unsatisfied in the aforementioned respects, for his continuance there in the way he is in, and could give no approbacon thereunto, yet they were inclined (hee professing his full agreem't with the approved churches of Christe in all things) if the necessity of his occasions to his owne apprehensions were such that he would adventure uppon his owne acco't and engage himselfe in a bond of 100 pounds not to pr'secute any unlawful trade with the Indians, they would not comp (el ) to remove."
We quote the above to show the jealous watch care of the settlers at New London over the religious character of their neighbors. William Chesebrough's character is fur- ther vouched for by his biographer, Judge Richard A. Wheeler, as follows :*
"He was a man of decided Christian principle, and wherever he planted himself he was an earnest supporter of religious worship and religious institutions.
* History of First Congregational Church, Stonington, Wheeler, p. 29.
C
113
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
When he emigrated to America he brought his religion with him and both he and his wife were enrolled among the first members of the church in Boston, Mass., and on his removal to Braintree and Rehoboth, he took his church relations with him; and though he died prior to the organization of the First Church in Stonington, the tradition is that prior to the establishment of religious worship in his neighbor- hood he was accustomed in all suitable weather to attend Sunday services at Pequot, starting a little after midnight that he might in good time accomplish the fifteen miles of travel over rough roads and the crossing of two rivers. There can be no doubt that he took an active part in the measures which were initiated in 1657 for establishing reg- ular religious services within the limits of the plantation, and which issued, after the employment of several preachers for short seasons, in an invitation to Rev. James Noyes to serve the people as their permanent pastor. Mr. Noyes entered upon his labors here in 1664, about three years before Mr. Chesebrough's death : but he was not ordained, nor was the church organized before 1674."
Judge Wheeler goes on: "Up to 1651-5 the planters here attended meeting at New London when the weather per- mitted and paid their rates for the support of the ministry there, but the distance was so great, with two rivers to pass in going and coming, that they were anxious to have public religious worship established among themselves: and in order to do it they must obtain a grant for a new town from the General Court, for this was long before any religious societies or parishes were established in this State.
"The proposition met with the decided opposition of the people living west of Mystic River, and did not meet with much sympathy from the General Court, probably from an apprehension on their part that this place might eventually become a part of the Massachusetts Colony. In 1656 the planters here were ordered by the General Court to pay their taxes for the support of the minister at Pequot, which greatly intensified the feeling in favor of a new town."
Early in 1657 Rev. William Thompson, the Pequot mis-
114
GROTON, CONN. 1705-1905
sionary, brother-in-law of Captain George Denison, re- moved to Stonington and on March 22 of that year held his first religious service at the house of Walter Palmer. From that time forward a vigorous agitation finally resulted in the organization, June 3, 1674, of the First Congregational Church in Stonington, the first church east of New London. Almost from the beginning, residents of Groton attended and were members of this church, its ease of access and the avoidance of the river crossing at New London making it much more convenient.
In 1687 the town meeting at New London granted the people on the east side "liberty to invite the minister of the town to preach for them on every third Sabbath during the inclement season." At the May session of the Gen- eral Court in 1696 "Captain James Avery and Mr. Crary appeared in behalf of the inhabitants on the east side of the New London River, to grant the said people liberty to embody themselves into church estate." The agitation for a separate church thus begun resulted in the formation of the First Congregational Church in Groton, and from an unpublished manuscript of the late Rev. Frederick Denison we give its history as written by him (in 1858) :
"At a General Assembly Holden at New Haven, October 14th 1703:
"This Assembly grants liberty to the inhabitants on the East side of the River in the township of New London to Imbody themselves in Church Estate; And to call and settle Mr. Ephraim Woodbridge to be their minister to dispense the ordinances of God to them, proceeding therein with the advice and approbation of Neighbour Elders."
"Test: Eleazar Kimberly, Secy."
The church was soon organized and Mr. Woodbridge was ordained November 29, 1704, and remained as the pastor till his death December 1, 1725. His salary averaged about ninety pounds per annum : eighty were paid by rates levied on the inhabitants according to their property and ten were received from the income of lands granted to him.
115
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
This church, after the formation of a second, was known as the South Church or South Parish, because it embraced the southern part of the old town. Of the history of the church under Mr. Woodbridge's ministry but little is now known. It is inferred that the church moved slowly and prosperously forward. No church records of that period have survived.
The first formal steps toward the holding of meetings in Groton were taken in 1687, when it was agreed that the inhabitants on the east side of the river might have the services of the minister of New London every third Sab- bath during the four most inclement months of the year. And in 1702 liberty was granted to organize a church and choose a minister to whom they might pay a salary of seventy pounds. They were also permitted to build a meeting house thirty-five feet square at the joint expense of the east and west sides of the town.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.