USA > Connecticut > Historic towns of the Connecticut River Valley > Part 19
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 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39
In 1808, John Mather built a small powdermill and glass- works. The capacity of the mill was fifty pounds of powder daily and when a wagonload had been made, it was sent over to Boston and "swapped " for cash and New England rum. The fact that Mr. Mather had twelve names on his pay-roll caused him to be regarded with profound respect and almost awe, simply because he could " boss" and give orders to twelve men. There was a mill for the manufacture of woolen cloth in 1780, built by Aaron Buckland.
The descendants of Timothy Cheney of clock fame became the founders of the great Cheney silkmills of the present day and it is because of them and the great industry that they built up and not because of John Fitch, the inventor of
-
1 232
THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.
the steamboat, that Manchester is best known to the world. This proves that money makes a much louder noise in the twen- tieth century than does genius. Another invention that must be credited to Manchester, although at a much later period - about the middle of the nineteenth century - is the famous Spencer repeating rifle, 100,000 of which were used in the Civil War and later on the plains against the Indians. This weapon, perfect in its day, was invented by Christopher M. Spencer, who by thought, study and experiment produced the result desired; a weapon which General Custer declared to be the finest known.
-
WINDSOR.
W INDSOR, the venerable, the ancient, has the pecu- liar distinction of being the site of the first house built by white men in the Connecticut Valley. It was at Windsor, near the mouth of the Farmington River, that William Holmes erected the house, the frame of which had been made before the vessel left Plymouth, in which he and his com- panions sailed, to make the settlement he was ordered to make by his superiors.
The attention of the English settlers at Boston and Plym- outh was first attracted toward the Connecticut by the Indians, for the same reason that the Mohawks, of New York, sought and welcomed the Dutch. The River Indians were greatly harassed by the Pequots, who were fast driving them from the beautiful country which had been theirs for centuries, The River Indians felt sure, that could they induce the Eng- lish to come to their river as friends (whose good will was to be assured by promises of corn and beaver skins), they would be a source of great strength against the savage Pequots. This was in 1631. The Bostonians were not enthusiastic in regard to moving so far into the wilderness, but the people of Plymouth, being of a more adventurous disposition, were strongly impressed with his representations, so Captain Holmes was sent with his company of pioneers to settle above the Dutch, on the Connecticut.
The claim of the Dutch, who had a small fort at the place where Hartford was afterward situated, was based upon deeds from the Pequot Indians, who had stolen the land from the original Indian owners. But the Plymouth people went back of this ownership by conquest for their authority to the land. Holmes took with him the Sachems who had been driven from their lands by the Pequots and so obtained his deed from the original owners. This made the English the friends of the River Indians. The house Holmes put up was situated about two miles south-east of the First Con- gregational Church, on the western bank of the river, near a point of land extending down the river, known as Plymouth Meadow.
[233]
.
-
234
THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.
In 1634, the Dutch sent VanCurler to purchase land from the Pequots on the Connecticut, but those self-willed, deter- mined Yankees were found to be so firmly fixed and so tough a proposition, that VanCurler did nothing more than to pro- test. A little later, a leader with seventy men under .arms - and presumably outside of plenty of Dutch courage - made a military display in the hope of driving Holmes and his companions away. When it was found that this could not be accomplished without shedding blood, the Dutch returned to their master, VanTwiller, at Fort Amsterdam, without having accomplished anything, except to ac- quire a knowledge that the transplanted Eng- lishmen were there to stay.
In 1630, the Rev. John Wareham, with the Ros- siter, Maverick, Ludlow, and Wolcott families, among others, arrived by ship from England, at a place they named Dorchester, Mass. These families were of a su- perior class socially and intellectually and were possessed of more means than the average settlers SCENE ON CONNECTICUT RIVER, NEAR WINDSOR. of the Colonies. In 1635, a number of these people visited Connecticut and, being pleased with the prospects, they began their journey with their families from Dorchester to Windsor, on October 15, 1635. This little company of pioneer gentlefolk, to the number of sixty men, women and children, took with them their live stock, through forest and swamp, over mountains and rivers and arrived at their destination just as the winter was setting in. The people were entirely unpre- pared for the great cold, deep snow and bitter wind. The few
-
235
WINDSOR.
cabins were insufficient in number and far from being a protec- tion from the cold. The Connecticut was covered with ice on November 15, 1635, and the snow was so deep that it was impos- sible for the people to get but a few of their cattle and sheep across. Many of them died of starvation and cold. The house- hold goods and much of their provisions had been sent around by ship, but did not arrive.
In December their provisions had nearly given out, and what they suffered can hardly be imagined. Thirteen of their number attempted to reach the nearest settlement in Massa- chusetts. One of them was drowned by falling through the ice on a river that was being crossed, and had the remaining twelve not received food and temporary shelter from friendly Indians, they would probably have perished. They finally reached a settlement, at the end of ten days of awful hard- ship. Seventy persons, including adults and children, worked their way to Saybrook and finally reached Boston in the " Rebecca ", a 60-ton vessel. These were the persons who were mentioned in the chapter on Saybrook.
Those who remained at Windsor to keep the settlement in existence suffered greatly. The cattle which were left on the east bank of the Connecticut suffered less,- strange as it may seem - than the few which were taken across to the settle- ment. They kept warm in the deep snow and lived by browsing. In the spring and summer following this dreadful winter, large numbers of settlers arrived at Windsor; and at Hartford and Wethersfield.
At this time the territory of Windsor was great, the length of the boundary lines being forty-six miles. They included ten small tribes of Indians, who outnumbered the white settlers twenty to one. For a number of years the settlers were troubled with fear of the Indians, not all of them being friendly. Fights were frequent and danger from ambuscades so great that the settlers carried their arms to Church and to the fields, which they worked in small companies for the safety of numbers. As an additional protection they built a large fort to which the people could go, should a general attack by the Indians take place, and where the women and children were sent whenever an attack by Indians was feared.
-
236
THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.
Their first minister, the Rev. John Wareham, was a thoroughly good man who was bowed down by an unfortu- nate bilious-temperament which was the cause of much misery for him, as he frequently feared that he was unworthy of Divine love and goodness. His doubts were so over- powering on occasions, that he would refrain from partaking of Communion while serving his people with that miraculous source of Divine strength and courage. There is a tradition, that he was the first minister in the New England Colonies to preach from notes. This was almost an unpardonable offence, in those days, in New England, but so eloquent and earnest were Mr. Wareham's discourses, that his people for- got the fault in their admiration for the man and delight in his sermons. Mr. Wareham died on April 1, 1670, after forty years of service as minister; thirty-four of which were spent in Windsor, the other six in Dorchester.
In those days it was a custom for nearly all of the New England settlements to have a minister, and a teacher of the Gospel. The minister's duties consisted chiefly in exhorting the people ; the teacher's duties were to expound and interpret the Scriptures and to defend the doctrines of Congregation- alism. Windsor's teacher was the Rev. Ephraim Huit, who was installed in 1639.
In 1640, there were in Windsor the following heads of families according to the town records for that year.
Matthew Allen
Deacon William Gaylord
John Bissell
Nathan Gillet
Thomas Barber
Edward Griswold
. Thomas Buckland
Matthew Grant
Thomas Bascom
Thomas Holcomb
Daniel Clark
William Hill
Aaron Cook
William Hosford
Thomas Dibble
William Hayden
Thomas Dewey
John Hillyer
-
Nicholas Denslow
William Hurlburt
Bigot Eglestone
Roger Ludlow
Lieut. Walter Filer
John Loomis
Thomas Ford
Joseph Loomis 1
.
-
WINDSOR. 237
Deacon John Moore
Bray Rosseter
James Marshall
Thomas Stoughton
. Captain John Mason
Henry Stiles
The brothers Newberry
Return Strong
Richard Oldage
Isaac Shelden
William Phelps
Peter Tilton
Humphrey Pinney
John Taylor
Samuel Phelps
Stephen Terry
George Phelps
Owen Tudor
John Porter
Thomas Thornton
Eltwed Pomeroy
Richard Vore
Elias Parkman
Henry Wolcott
George Philips
John Whitefield
Nicholas Palmer
Robert Watson
Abraham Randall
Roger Williams
Roger Wolcott, who was born in Windsor on January 4, 1679, was one of the first, so called, self-made men of Con- necticut. He rose from the possession of nothing more than a healthy mind and body, a trade and a few clothes, to the possession of the respect and admiration of all classes of his fellow countrymen - from the farm laborer to the college professor - and finally reached the office of Governor of the Colony. Without a single day's attendance at school, he so far cultivated his mind that he was able to write poems which attracted attention all over the Colony.
Roger Wolcott was born in that part of Windsor which was most harried by Indians, so no minister or school master was ever seen there during his boyhood. At the age of twelve years he was bound as apprentice, till his twenty-first year, to a mechanic and upon receiving his freedom he started in business for himself at his home. As he was the best in his trade so he was the best in the military and civil offices, which he filled with honor and credit to himself and the Colony.
The apprentice boy of 1688 became Commissary of the Colony in 17II, in the expedition against Canada, and in 1745, at the capture of Louisbourg, he was a major-general. In civil life his first office was that of member of Assembly, then member of the Council, judge of the County Court. Lieutenant-Governor, Chief Judge of the Supreme Court, and finally Governor of the Colony
-
238
THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.
i11 1751-'54. Roger Wolcott's only inheritance was character and this inheritance was so carefully managed and so well invested, that it not only became notable all over the British Colonies in his generation, but has come down as the most valued pos- session of his descendants, in the twentieth century. When he finished his work in his eighty-ninth year, on May 17, 1767, it was simply death of his body, for his influence remained alive in the New England Colonies for many generations.
-
.
VITIARA
OLDEST CHURCH IN WINDSOR.
.Another of America's famous men was Oliver Ellsworth, also a son of Windsor. Ellsworth was born on April 29. 1745. He possessed early advantages that Roger Wolcott lacked, but at the same time, his greatness was the result of his own exertions and fine qualities and not the less deserved and admirable, because of his advantages, than were the honors borne by his splendid fellow townsman. It is a fact,
-
. 239
WINDSOR.
that the men of early times in the Connecticut Valley, who be- came famous, were so because greatness was in them, whether they started with nothing or with much.
Oliver Ellsworth was graduated from New Jersey (Prince- ton) College in the class of 1766, and then began the study of law. Possessed of eloquence, elegance of manner, and great mental energy, he rose to the highest legal position in the country and the most honorable office - barring none - in the United States, that of Chief Justice. In 1777, he was a delegate to the Continental Congress; in 1784, he was Judge of the Superior Court of the State of Connecticut and was in the convention that formed the Constitution of the country which honored him and which he honored by his splendid citizenship, patriotism, wisdom and profound scholarship. When the Federal Government was organized in 1789, Mr. Ellsworth was elected to the Senate in which he continued till he was appointed to be Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, in 1796. Toward the end of his fourth year as Chief Justice, he was appointed Envoy Extraordinary to France, in 1799. Soon after, he resigned from the chief jus- tice-ship because of failing health. After his return to Con- necticut he was elected to the State Council and was ap- pointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State, but this office he declined as his lack of health would not permit of his acceptance. His death occurred on November 26, 1807. There was an act of Judge Ellsworth's that was not entirely approved by his strict fellow townsmen, who believed that no human necessity was sufficiently great to warrant the breaking of the "Sabbath ". One Sunday, soon after the advent of the year 1800, a military officer, said to be General Armstrong, was seen by the tithingman, Lemuel Welch, being rapidly driven through Windsor, on his way to Boston, where he had been ordered to report as soon as possible. Mr. Welch stopped the horses with the intention of arresting the man in the carriage, who was breaking the Commandment, and the State law regulating the observance of Sunday. Gen- eral Armstrong was indignant and ordered that the horses be released, but the faithful Tithingman, who believed in en- forcing the letter as well as the spirit of the law, refused to
,
-
240
THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.
let the General go further on that day. The General, unaware of the strictness of the law in Connecticut, and of the fearlessness of the officers of the law in Windsor, threat- ened Mr. Welch with his pistol and ordered him to loose the horses. Mr. Welch told the General that he had seen bigger guns than that in the Revolution, and that he could go no further on that day. General Armstrong ap- pealed to Judge Ellsworth, stating the necessity that he should be in Boston with all possible haste, as ordered by
-
.
LOCATION OF FIRST SHIP YARD, WINDSOR.
his superiors, and succeeded in obtaining a pass through Connecticut from Judge Ellsworth, which would permit him to travel on Sunday. Mr. Welch was indignant and asked Judge Ellsworth if he was to "fish with a net that would catch the little fish and let the big fish run through". Mr. Welch's indignation and disgust were so sincere, that he resigned the office of tithingman.
This incident had the effect of causing his successors to become careless in their duty and finally, Sunday travel be-
1
1
241
WINDSOR.
came so general, that Judge Ellsworth and a number of the most influential men of the town, made strenuous efforts to restore the old order of things in this respect, but without satisfactory success.
According to the records, the first inns of Windsor were kept by Simon Chapman and Eliakim Marshall, who were appointed at a Town meeting held in December, 1715. On the east side of the Connecticut, the innkeepers were Grace Grant, widow, and Nathaniel Cook - Mrs. Grant kept the inn in East Windsor till 1735, when she was succeeded by her son, Captain Ebenezer Grant, who became the leading mer- chant of the east side - the other innkeepers on the east side, before the incorporation of the town, were Nathaniel Porter and Captain Joel Loomis. The latter was succeeded by his son, Captain Giles Loomis, who built an addition to the store to be used by the Masons for a lodge.
The first American ancestor of the Grant family was Matthew Grant, who arrived in Dorchester, Massachusetts, in May, 1630, and settled in Windsor in 1635, where he was surveyor of the Colony for forty years and for many years Town Clerk. His eldest son, Samuel, settled on the east side and the property was in the family for nearly 250 years. General U. S. Grant was the eighth in descent from Matthew, and the seventh from Samuel Grant.
Captain Ebenezer Grant's business grew to large propor- tions and he eventually took his son, Roswell, into partner- ship with him. Roswell was given a liberal education. He was possessed of excellent qualities and good business judg- ment. The Grants bought largely from the great statesman, John Hancock, and from Jonathan Mason, both of Boston. They did a large business in trade with the West Indies, exporting horses, tobacco, lumber, and barrel staves and im- porting rum and sugar. The correspondents of the Grants were Samuel Olcott, Samuel Welch and Jonathan Welch, of Barbadoes ; and Thomas Elmer, of Antigua. Besides building several vessels at the mouth of the Scantic River, Mr. Grant was part owner in many other vessels.
Ship building in the Windsors was a prosperous and busy industry for many years. The first launch being that of a sloop,
16
2.42
THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.
in May, 1724. John Hayden, one of the famous ship builders of Essex, went to Windsor just before the year 1800, and opened a ship yard at the " Old Red House ", near the present station of Hayden. There was another yard at Rivulet Ferry and three on the east side -at Warehouse Point; the mouth of the Scantic and at Higley's Ferry - where vessels were launched till about 1820.
There was a type of patriot in the Revolution, few in number,
-
THE ELLSWORTH MANSION. The home of Oliver Ellsworth, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court in 1796.
and unselfish and heroically patriotic, which has been portrayed by Cooper in his finest of books, " The Spy ". To this type be- longed Daniel Bissell, of Windsor. But Daniel Bissel went further in his patriotism than did the majority of spies, for be- sides the great risk, and surety of death should he be discovered to be a spy, he cheerfully sacrificed his feelings, his self-love and his pride by permitting himself to be regarded as a deserter by his neighbors and fellow soldiers. Mr. Bissell was officially reported as a deserter, because Washington feared, that unless he was
.
243
WINDSOR.
regarded as a deserter by his fellow patriots the secret would leak out that he was a spy, and so would reach the British. To be a spy required great bravery ; to allow himself to be regarded as a deserter required a degree of courage that was magnificent.
'Daniel Bissell was born in Windsor in 1754, and was the eldest son of Daniel and Elizabeth (Loomis) Bissell. As a youth and young man he was notable for his bravery, caution, self-reliance, and inherited integrity. When war was declared with Great Britain by the Colonies, he enlisted, and served with credit to him- self and his town. As a soldier, his cool head and warm heart won the affectionate regard of his fellow soldiers and the confi- dence of Washington. Because of this con- fidence he was selected by Washington for the dangerous and import- ant work of obtaining ABIGAIL information in regard CHAI to the British forces and their plans, in New York and on Long Island, in 1781. Mr. Bissell took part in the battles of White Plains, WINDSOR. Trenton and Monmouth.
The heroism of Sergeant Daniel Bissell is not tradition but fact, as may be found from documents in the War Department in Washington. It is a humiliating fact that Mr. Bissell was not rewarded by Congress, either in the way of promotion or estate. It only adds to the wrong, that although he again and again petitioned Congress for reimbursement for money spent in clothing himself for nearly four years, and for the purchase for his food for thirteen months, all of which money was expended by him while in actual service in the Continental Army, not one cent did he ever get, notwithstanding the fact that Congress had agreed to reimburse non-commissioned officers and privates
(
1-
244
THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.
who provided their own clothing. Washington, however, gave to Mr. Bissell an autograph testimonial which compensated him for the indifference of Congress. The testimonial was as follows :
Whereas, it hath ever been an established maxim in the American Service, that the road to glory was open to all, that Honorary Rewards and Distinctions, were the greatest Stimuli to virtuous actions, and whereas Sergeant Daniel Bissell of the Second Connecticut Regiment, has per- formed some important service, within the immediate knowledge of the Commander-in-Chief, in which his fidelity, perseverance and good sense, were not only conspicuously manifested, but his general line of conduct throughout a long course of service, having been not only unspotted but highly deserving of commendation.
Now, therefore, know ye, that the aforesaid Sergeant Bissell, hath fully and truly deserved, and hath been properly invested with, the Honorary Badge of Military Merit, and is entitled to pass and repass all Guards and Military Posts, as freely and as amply as any Commissioned Officer what- ever; and is further Recommended to that Notice which a Brave and Faithful Soldier deserves from his Countrymen.
This was written by General Washington in the Highlands, on May 9, 1783. When Mr. Bissell returned from the British in New York to his own army, he was offered an honorable dis- charge and a pension. He refused the first because he had been in every campaign and wished to continue in the army till the war was ended, and he refused the pension because he believed his Country was too poor to be able to pay it.
Mr. Bissell served in the Indian War of 1799, as a first lieu- tenant, of the 16th U. S. Infantry. Later, he moved to Vermont where he married Rhoda Hurlbert for his second wife, and in 1810, he moved to Richmond, New York, where he died in August, 1824, at the age of seventy.
Another of the Nation's fine heroes was Elihu Drake, a Wind- sor boy only eight years old. A number of Tories living in Windsor thought to have some amusement with the little Rebel by forcing him to say "God save the King". Although they threatened to duck him in the river he courageously refused to speak the words. The Tories becoming angry, that even the children were possessed of so fine patriotism, actually did duck the little fellow. When he was pulled out of the water they heard his half-strangled, squeaky voice shout, "God damn the
1.
245
BLOOMFIELD.
King " and although he was again ducked no other sentiment could they drown out from that heroic little patriot. Elihu was the son of Adjutant Augustine Drake, of Windsor, and four years later, when he was but twelve years old, he accompanied his father to the war.
BLOOMFIELD.
D OWN to 1835, when Bloomfield was incorporated, it was known as Messenger's Farms and later, the Parish of Wintonbury, in the Town of Windsor. Wintonbury was made up from the Towns of Windsor, Farmington and Sims- bury and it is said that the name was composed from the first three letters of Windsor, the last three of Farmington, and the last four of Simsbury, Win-ton-bury, so that each Town, which gave land for forming the parish, might be honored. The idea is sufficiently attractive for it to be well to have faith in the tradition.
The territory included in the bounds of Bloomfield was known for many years after the settlement of Windsor as the Wilder- ness, and was so described officially in an Indian deed of 1660. There is not even tradition as to when the first settlement was made. In 1734 the inhabitants of Messenger's Farms petitioned for what was then called winter privileges. This meant, that they should not be required to labor through the deep snow, exposed to the bitter cold, to attend Church in Windsor, but should be permitted to worship in one or another of the homes of the settlement in the winter months.
It seems odd that it was necessary to ask permission to wor- ship where they chose, when it is remembered that the settlers of New England had left comfortable and even luxurious homes in Old England to obtain entire freedom in religious matters. As a matter of fact, there was no freedom or liberty in religious matters in New England, for a great many years, except that all had liberty and freedom to be Congregationalists, and to live in strict accord with its laws, one of which was, that no one should refrain from attending Church no matter how great the distance or the hardship. So, when the twenty-six heads of families of Messenger's Farms became convinced that the jour- ney through the woods, with the snow anywhere from knee to
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.