History of Fairfield County, Connecticut : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 141

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) comp. cn
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1572

USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > History of Fairfield County, Connecticut : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 141

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).

" THOMAS HOYT, " DANIEL TAYLOR, " Surreyors of ye. Town of Danbury.

"Entered in ye public book of En- trys for Surveys of Land, folio 14, per Hezekiah Wyllys, Secretary, March 21, 1711."

SUBSEQUENT GRANTS.

The next grant of land in this locality was made to Daniel Hilton, May 7, 1700, of two hundred acres, and on the 10th of October, 1706, a grant was made to Richard Hubbell, of one hundred acres, as follows :

"MARCH 3RD, A.D. 1711.

" Then laid out ye Grant of two hundred acres of land made by ye Gen- eral Court to Mr. Daniel Hilton, May 7, 1700, and ye Grant of one hun- dred acres, granted October 10th, 1706, by ye General Court to Mr. Richard Hubbell, all in one piece as followetli,-viz., Beginning at a Walnut tree

575

REDDING.

marked, and J. R. upon it, standing a little way North East from ye Hog Ridge between Danbury and Fairfield, thence running two Imndred and eighty rods northerly to a Red Oak troe marked, on yo West sido of Stadly Ridge, thenco running easterly one hundred and eighty-four rods to tho Little River at two Elni Staddles and a Red Oak, marked, thence run- ning Southorly, west of ye river, and bounded upon it, two hundred and eighty rods to a bitter Walnut tree marked, thence running one hundred and sixty rods westerly to the Wahunt troe first mentioned, thus and then laid out by us,

" THOMAS HOYT, " DANIEL TAYLOR, " Surveyors of the Toum of Danbury."

Mr. Todd in his "History of Redding" says, "These grants were purelased, probably before they were laid out, by Mr. John Read, one of the earliest actual settlers of Redding."

CAPTAIN SAMUEL COUCH'S PURCHASE.

In 1712 it was ordered by the General Court that all lands lying between Fairfield and Danbury, not already "taken up" by settlers, should be sold at pub- lie auetion in the town of Fairfield. This, however, was not sold until August, 1722, when it was bid off by Capt. Couch for himself and Nathan Gold. The in- habitants of Redding elaimed that no notice of the sale had been given, and the result was that they grew very indignant, and in the following year presented the following protest and petition to the General Court then convened at New Haven :

" TO THE HONOR'BLE THE GENERAL COURT:

"John Read, in behalf of himself and the rest of the farmers or pro- prietors of farms between Danbury and Fairfield, humbly sheweth,

" That the Hon'ble Nathan Gold, Esq., late deceased, and Peter Burr, Esq., as Agents for ye Colony, held a Vendue lately at Fairfield about ye time of ye Superior Courts sitting yr in August last, and sold to Capt. Samuel Couch, who bid for himself and for s'd Nathan Gold, Esq., all ye land between Fairfield and Danbury not before disposed of for tho sum of - -----. Yr humble pet'rs conceive tho same onght not to bo ratified, because ye same was done so unexpectedly and withont suffi- cient notice, none of us most nearly concerned knew any thing of it; if ye order of ye General Court had been freshly passed, ye less notico was need full, but lying ten or twelve years, sufficient notice was not given, aud well considered it can't bo good. The inconveniences are intoler- able, the place is now growing to bo a village apaco. Ye lands purchased are but ye over and over for farms.

"The remaining Seraps will be a very lean and scanty allowaneo for a comon, and (are) absolutely necessary to accommodate the place with hiways, and some strips left on purpose for yo use and ye surveying of the farms. Several farms interfere through mistakes, and such interfers must be supplied elsewhere; now in such circumstances it was never the hard fato of any poor place to havo ye shady Rock at their door and yo path out of town or about town sold away from them by yo General Court. Therefore humbly praying ye Hon'ble Court to grant ye same to ye proprietors of farms thero in proportion for a common and hiways, or if the same seem too much, sinco somo persons have bid a sum for our hiways, we pray to buy them at first hands, and will pay this Hon'ble Court for the same as much as ye Court shall sott upon, and remain your honor's most obedient servants.

"JNO. READ."

When the matter eame before the court Mr. Jona- than Sturges deposed as follows :

"Some of the Company began to bid for s'd land, and some of tho Company desired that Mr. Stone, who was there present, wonld pull ont his watch and that the timo for bidding should bo but ten minutes, and the watch was laid down on the table. For a little timo tho peoplo bid but slowly; but when they perceived tho ten minutes to bo near out, thoy began to bid very briskly, and whon it come to the last minuto tho people bid more quickly, and at the last they bid so quick after ono another that it was hard to distinguish whose bid it was. At tho very

minute the tenth inlante ended ; but I, standing near the watch, soke and said, 'The time is ont, and it's Capt. Couch's bil, but I am certain Thomas Ilill bid twenty shillings inore.""

Mr. Read, however, did not succeed in his attempt to have the sale set aside, and the lands were ad- judged to the purchasers. Capt. Couch seems to have disposed of an interest in a part of his purchase to Thomas Nash, of Fairfield, and in 1723 the two re- ceived a joint patent for the same. This patent is a eurious and valuable document and is given entire :

" Whereas, the Governor and Company of the English Colony of Con- necticut, in General Court assembled at Hartford the 8th day of May, Anno Domini, 1712, did order and enact that all those lands (lying witbin the said Colony) between Danbury on the north, and the towns of Fair- field and Norwalk on the south, should bo sold at Public Vendue, and by said act did fully authorize and empower the Honble Nathan Gold and Peter Burr, Esq., both of the town of Fairfield aforesaid. to make sale and disposo of tho s'd same lands accordingly and whereas tha s'd Nathan Gold and Peter Burr, in pursuance and by force and virtue of the aforesaid act, did by their deed in writing, executed in due form, bearing date this first day of May, Anno Domini 1723, for a valuable suni of money paid by Samuel Couch and Thomas Nash, both of the town afores'd, Grant, sell, and convey unto them tho s'd Samuel Couch and Thomas Nash, one hundred acres of s'd land bounded and butted as follows, that is to say, lying within six rods of the north bounds line of the townships afores'd, and on both sides of the road that leads from Norwalk to Danbury, and lying the whole length of the one hundred acres formerly laid ont to s'd Thomas Nash, and bounded westerly by the s'd Thomas Nash, and from the northeast corner of s'd Nash, his bound being a black-oak stump that stands on the land and a small box- wood tree marked in course, running northerly sixty-eight degrees, east- wardly thirty-two rods to a white-oak staddle; thence South forty-three degrees and thirty minutes, eastwardly fifty rods to a rock, and stones on the same, that stands on the east ward side of a brook that runs by the southerly end of Umpawaug Ilill, between the s'd brook aud Dan- bnry road, and from s'd Rock to run North sixty-eight degrees, East- wardly eighty-six rods to a mass of stones; then South twenty-two degrees, Eastwardly one hundred and thirteen rods to a white-oak sap- ling, marked, standing on the aforementioned North bounds line of Fairfield ; thon by s'd lino one hundred and forty rods up to the Southi- East corner of s'd Nash, his one hundred acres, Danbury road being allowed in above measure of six rods wide, and the hiway by the Town- ship's line of six rods wide, and whereas the s'd Samuel Couch and Thomas Nash have humbly desired that they may have a particular grant of s'd Governor and Company mado (by Patent) unto them, their heirs, and assigns, for the samo land bounded, butted, and described, under tho seal of tho s'd Colony, know ye, therefore, that the Governor and Company of tho s'd Colony, in pursuance and by virtue of the powers granted unto them by our late Sovereign Lord, King Charles the Second of blessed memory, in and by his Majestie's letters-patent under the great seal of England, bearing date the three-and-twentieth day of April, in the fourteenth year of his s'd Majestie's Reign, have given and grantod, and by these presents, for them, their heirs, and successors, do give, grant, ratifie, and confirm unto them tho s'd Sammel Couch and Thomas Nash, their heirs and assigns forever, all the s'il peice or parcell of land, containing one hundred acres, be the same more or less, butted and bounded as afores'd, and all and singular the woods, timber, under- woods, lands, waters, brooks, ponds, fishings, fowlings, mines, minerals, and precious stones upon or within the s'd piece or parcell of land here by granted or mentioned, or intended to be granted as afores'd, and all and singular the rights, members, hereditaments, and appurtenances of tho same, and tho reversion or reversions, remainder or remainders, profits, privileges whatsoever, of and in the s'd peice or parcell of land or every or any part thoreof. To have and to hold the s'il one hundred acres of land hereby granted, with all and singular its appartenances, unto them tho s'd Samuel Couch and Thomas Nash, their heirs and assigns, to and for their own propor use, benefit, and behoof from the day of tho dato heroof, and from time to time and at all times forever horo after as a good, sure, lawful, absolute, indefeasible estate of Inherit- ance in Feo simple, without any condition, limitation, use, or other thing to nlter, change, or make void the same. To be hohlen of our Sovereign Lord, King Georgo, his heirs and successors, as of his Majestie's Manor of East Greenwich, in the county of Kent, in the Kingdom of England, in free and common soccage and not in cappitee, nor by Knight service;

576

HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

tbey yielding and paying therefor to our Sovereign Lord the King, his heirs and successors forever, only the fifth part of all the oar of Gold and Silver, which, from time to time and at all times hereafter, shall be gotten, had, or otherwise obtained, in lieu of all rents, services, duties, and demands whatsoever, according to charter. In witness whereof, we the s'd Governor and Company have caused the Seal of the s'd Colony to be hereunto affixed the fourteenth day of May. Anno George, Magna Brittanniæ, &c., Annoque Domini 1723.

"G. SALTONSTALL, .

" Governor.

" By order of the Governor : " HEZEKIAH WYLLYS, " Secretary."

Subsequently Capt. Couch purchased of the Indians a traet of land lying in Lonetown, eontiguous to the estate of Mr. John Read, and which a few years later he sold to that gentleman. The deed was given by Chickens, and some of its provisions eaused consider- able trouble to the colonists in later years. This deed is as follows :

" Know all men whom it may concern that I Chicken an Indian Sag- gamore living between Fairfield, Danbury, Ridgefield, and Newtown, at a place called Lonctown in the county of Fairfield in the Colony of Con- necticut, in New England, for and in consideration of twelve pounds, six sbillings, already paid unto me by Samuel Couch of Fairfield, husband- man, have given, granted, bargained, sold, confirmed, and firmly made over unto said Samuel Couch, his heirs and assigns forever, all the lands, lying, being and situate between the aforesaid towns of Danbury, Fair- field, Newtown, and Ridgefield, except what has been by letters patent from the Governor and Company of this Colony of Connecticut made over unto any person or persons or for any particular or publie use. To have and to hold unto the said Samuel Couch, and to his beirs and assigns forever the aforesaid granted and described lands or unpatented premises, with all the privileges and appurtenanccs thereunto belonging, or any manner of way appertaining, affirming myself to be the true owner, aud sole proprietor of said land and have just, firm, and only right to dispose of the same. Reserving in the whole of the same, liberty for myself and my heirs to hunt, fish, and fowl upon the laud and in the waters, and further reserving for myself, my children, and grandchildren aud their posterity the use of so much land by my present dwelling-house or wig- wam as the General Assembly of the Colony by tlienselves or a Commit- tee indifferently appointed shall judge necessary for my or their personal improvement, that is to say my Children, children's children and pos- terity, furthermore I the said Chickens do covenant, promise, and agree, to and with the said Samuel Couch, that I the said Chickens, my heirs, executors, and administrators, the said described lands and bargained premises, unto the said Samuel Couch his heirs, etc., against the claims and demands of all manner of persons whatever, to warrant and forever by these presents defend. Iu confirmation of the above premises I the said Chickens set to my hand and seal this 18th day of February Anno Domini one thousand seven hundred and twenty four five Annoque Regis, etc.

his "CHICKENS, X Saggamore." mark

Although the lands were adjudged to the pur- chasers, the people did not submit quietly, and in 1725 presented the following unsuccessful petition to the General Court :

" To the Honorable the General Court to be holden at Hartford on the Second Thursday of May, 1725.

THE EARNEST PRAYER

Of the inbabitants, and of those that have farms in a certain tract of land lying between Fairfield and Danbury, Newtown and Richfield, with whom the Proprietory of a certain division of Land in Fairfield importunately joins-

" WHEREAS the Honorable General Assembly of this Colony hath in several of their Sessions, been pleased out of their great goodness & generosity to give unto some of your humble Petitioners & to others of

them to sell certain Parcells of Land between the aforesaid towns & many of your Petitioners that they might get a comfortable maintenance & tbereby be better able to serve their country have removed from their former habitations with great families of Children unto sd Land where we by ye blessing of God ou our Industry have (passed) through (the) many difficulties that generally attend such new & Wooden Habitations and have now yet to go through, which are by us insuperable-but re- flecting upon your Honor's accustomed Goodness, ready protection, and willing encouragement towards all such that have been under ye like circumstances as we now are, makes us far from despairing of Living like rational Creatures and Christians in a very few years, and under our present Circumstances we haveoften the neighboring Ministers preaching ye word of God to us, and when your Honors shall be pleased to grant this our earnest & necessary request our number of Inhabitants will im- mediately be greatly renewed & we soon able to obtain a Minister & give him au honorable support-and that is to grant the vacant land that lies in slips and pieces between ye Land already given and sold to your Pe- titioners to lye for a perpetual Comou for ye good of ye Parish : other- wise your poor Petitioners living at a great distance from auy place where the public worship of God is attended, must be obliged and their Posterity after them to be soon as the Hathen are-without the outward and ordinary means of Salvation, the Thought of which makes us now inost importunately address your Honors with this our Request making no doubt but yt ye desire your Honors have & the great care you have always taken to promote & encourage Religion-will also now be moved to grant your poor Petitioners their Request, it being no more than your Honors have often done even unto every new Plantation, many of which are not nor never will be comparable unto this. Your Honors, granting us this our Request, and it will be as we humbly conceive the niost profit- able way for ye good of this Colony to dispose of ye land for a perpetual eomon, for ye good of a Parish than any other way whatsoever: for a flourishing and large Parish such as we are assured this will make will soon pay more into ye Public Treasury than the whole of the Land would do if it were now to be sold: and not only so, but your poor Petitioners & their Posterity preserved from Heathenism & Infidelity: for if your Honors sbould not grant the Land for a common for the good of a Parish your poor Petitioners-the most of us at least, must be shut within the compass of our own land, & cant possibly get off unless we trespass, or gain the shift yt the birds of the air have, neither to market nor meet- ing & we & our Posterity forever unable to have a settled Minister & your Honors may easily coneeive how greatly disadvantageons to our Tem- poral Interest, which is so great an act of eruelty and hardship that never yet was experienced from your Honors & your Petitioners humbly beg they may not : but yt they may be sharers with their neighbors in your Honor's thoughtful care and regard for them-

" And if your Honors in their Prudence aud Wisdom shall think it best to sell the aforesaid Land your Petitioners humbly beg they may have the first offer of it, who are always ready to give as much as any shall or will let it lye for a perpetual Common, & your humble Petitioners beg and most earnestly desire the Land may not be sold from their doors or confirmed to any yt pretend they bave bought it: for whatever pre- teuded sale there has been made thereof already we humbly conceive that it was not with the proper power & Legality that it ought to be con- firmed: and as for its being purchased of the Indian (who both English and Indian acknowledge has a good Indian title to it viz. Chicken, is by what we can learn by the Indian himself & ye circunstances of, a slight peice of policy & we fear Deceit, ye latter of which the Indian constantly affirms it to be, for his design as be saith, and being well acquainted with him, living many of us near him have great reason to believe him, was to sell but a small Quantity, about two or three hundred acres, but in ye deed ye whole of the land is comprehended, which wben the Indian heard of it he was greatly enraged, and your Petitioners humbly beg yt such a sale may not be confirmed, lest it prove greatly disadvantageous to this Colouy & cause much bloodshed, as instances of ye like nature have in all Probability in our neighboring Provinces-

" Your Petitioners most earnestly & heartily beg that your Honors would think on them & grant them their request, & your Petitioners as in duty bound shall ever pray-

" JOHN READ, WILL'M HILL,

THOMAS WILLIAMS, DAN'LL CROFOOT,

STEPHEN MOREHOUSE, EBENEZER HULL,

BENJAMIN HAMBLETON, ASA HALL,

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, JOSEPH MEEKER,

MOSES KNAPP,

DAN'L LYON,

NATHAN LYON,

THOMAS HILL,

BENAJAH HALL,

GEORGE HULL.

577

REDDING.

" And we, ye Proprietors of a certain Division of Land in Fairfield called ye Longlots most heartily join with your Honor's above Petitioners in their needful Request to you, & as we your linmblo petitioners being well acquainted with the circumstances of them-they being our Chil- dren Friends & Neighbors & concerned greatly for their welfare do earn- estly beg that your Ilonors would consider how melancholy a thing it is, that these poor people should live dostitute of the means of grace for want only of your small encouragement which to give them would not only be most certainly vory pleasing to Almighty God but would likewise enrich this Colony if a largo & Rich Parish will any ways contribute thereto, & as your Petitionors Land runs to & adjoyus to yo aforesaid Vaeant Land, Wo for tho good of n Parish, thereby to advantage your above poor Petitioners aro willing & very ready to give in Two miles of our land adjoining to tho afores'd Vacant Land to be within the Parish ; & are assured if your Honors would grant tho afores'd Land to bo for a Comon thero soon would be a Flourishing Parish ; & being so well ac- quainted with tho Circumstances of the abovo Petitioners that wo cant but earnestly & Pathetically entreat your Honors to grant their Request. " & your Petitioners as in Duty bound shall ever pray :

" MOSES DIMON, JOSEPH WILSON, JOHN WHEELER,

JOHN HIDE,

Tuo, HILL,

JOIN STURGES.

CORNELIU'S IIULL,

JOSEPH WHEELER,

ELIZABETH BURR,

THOMAS SANFORD,

JONA STURGIS,

JOHN MOREHOUSE,

JOHN SMITH, JOSEPH ROWLAND, WILLIAM HILL,

THAD'S BURR,

ANDREW BURR,

NATHAN GOLD,

SAMUEL WAKEMAN,

JOHN GOLD,

SAMUEL SQUIRES,

ROBERT SH.LIMAN,

EZEKIEL SANFORD,

DANIEL MOREHOUSE."

ROBERT TURNEY, JR.,

CHAPTER LVII. REDDING (Continued).

The First Dwellings-Sketches of the Various Families: Adams, Banks, Barlow, Bartlett, Bartram, Bates, Beach, Benedict, Betts, Burr, Burritt, Burton, Chatfield, Conch, Darling, Fairchild, Fostor, Gold, Gorham, Gray, Griffen, Hall, Hawley, Hill, Heron, IFull, Jackson, Lee, Lyon, Lord, Mallory, Meade, Mecker, Merchant, Morehouso, Perry, Platt, Read, Rogers, Rumsey, Sanford, Smith, Stowe, etc.

THE PIONEERS.

THERE is a tradition that the first three dwellings in this town were built at about the same period, -- one in the Boston District, on the site of the present residence of Noah Lee; one in the centre, on the site of Capt. Davis' present residence ; and the third in Lonc- town, built by John Read, on the place now occupied by Aaron Treadwell's residence.

Although the settlement increased gradually and gave evidence of a healthy growth, still there is no authentic record of the inhabitants until 1723, when we find the following names: Nathan Pickett, Gershom Morchouse, John Hall, Francis Hall, Robert Chauncey, Wolcott Chauncey, Daniel * Wil- liam Hill, Jr., Philip Judd, Nathan Adams, Stephen Morchouse, Benjamin Fayerweather, Thomas Bailey, Thomas Williams, Asa Hall, Joshua Hall, David Cro- fut, John Read, Isaiah Hull, Moses Knapp, Benjamin Sturges, Samuel Hall, John Read (2d), Burgess Hall, Isaac Hall.

The following sketches of the carly families of Red-

ding are taken substantially from Mr. Charles Burr Todd's excellent " History of Redding." Some addi- tions and corrections are made by Thomas Sanford, Esq., of Redding, and Mr. A. B. Hull, of Danbury.

. THE EARLY FAMILIES OF REDDING.t

Joseph Adams removed when a young man from Boston to Fairfield, and married, soon after, Joanna Disbrow, of Fairfield. About 1760 he removed to Redding, and settled in Lonetown, on the farin now owned by his grandson, Stephen. His children were Stephen, baptized Aug. 15, 1762; Hezekiah, baptized Sept. 30, 1764; Ellen, baptized Nov. 1765; Abigail, baptized March 6, 1768; Joseph, baptized April 28, 1771; Israel, baptized Jan. 10, 1773; Aaron, baptized July 16, 1775; Nathan, baptized Sept. 6, 1778. Of these children, Stephen enlisted in the Continental army and never returned. Hezekiah married Betty Parsons, and had children: Betsey, who married John Gray and settled in Norwalk ; Stephen, now living in Redding, at the age of eighty-nine; Lemn- ucl, now living in Redding, aged eighty-six ; Aaron, who removed to the West; and Elinor, who mar- ricd Hawley Judd. It is related of Hezekiah Adams that, too young to enlist as a soldier in the Revolu- tionary army, he entered the service as a teamster, and on one occasion drove a wagon loaded with Spanish milled dollars to Baltimore.

Abraham Adams, brother of Joseph, was contem- porary with him in Redding. His wife was Sarah Their children were Ann, baptized March 6, 1768; Deborah, baptized April 28, 1771; Sarah, baptized July 31, 1774 (died in infancy) ; Sarah, bap- tized Oct. 20, 1776; Eli, baptized Jan. 30, 1780. Family record mentions a son Abraham.

Jesse Banks, a son of Joseph Banks, of Fairfield, removed to Redding at an early day; married, June 11, 1763, Mabel Wheeler (town record says Mehitable Wheeler). Their children were Hyatt, born Dec. 9, 1764; Jesse, born Oct. 29, 1766; Joanna, born July 27, 1768; Mabel, born Oct. 2, 1772 (died in in- fancy) ; Mary, born June 23, 1774; Mabel, born Nov. 17, 1776.

Jesse married, Dec. 15, 1787, Martha Summers; Mabel married Ebenezer Foot, Aug. 29, 1797. Seth Banks also appears in Redding contemporary with Jesse; married Sarah Pickett, Nov. 20, 1776, and had children : Mchitable, born Jan. 15, 1778, and Thomas ; and perhaps others.

The Barlow family in Redding is descended from John Barlow, who appears in Fairfield as early as 1668, and died in 1674. Samuel Barlow, son of Sam- uel Barlow, of-Fairfield, grandson of John Barlow, he a son of the first settler of that name, removed to

+ These notes, arranged alphabetically, are not intended as complete histories of the families mentioned, but rather as sketches of the carly settlers of the town, and ns nids to the genealogist in his researches. For complete histories, the inquirer should consult the ancient records of Norwalk, Stratford, Fairfield, and Daubury, as well as those of Redding. -TODD.

* Illegiblo.

578

HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

Redding about 1740, and settled in what is now Bos- ton Distriet, near the present residence of Bradley Hill. He married, first, Euniee, daughter of Daniel Bradley, of Fairfield, Aug. 2, 1731. Their children were Daniel, born Nov. 24, 1734; Ruhamah, born Jan. 22, 1737; James, born Jan. 29, 1739; Jabez, born March 21, 1742. After the death of his first wife, Samuel Barlow married Esther, daughter of Na- thaniel Hull, of Redding, Aug. 7, 1774; she died Aug. 28, 1775, aged fifty-four years. Their children were Nathaniel, born May 13, 1745; Aaron, born Feb. 11, 1750; Samuel, born April 3, 1752; Joel, the poet, born Mareh 24, 1754; Huldah, born - -.

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History of Fairfield County, Connecticut : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 141

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) comp. cn Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co. Number of Pages: 1572

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) comp. cn
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1572