History of Fairfield County, Connecticut : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 70

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 70

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" The swamp was now surrounded, and a skirmish followed that proved so destructive to the savages that the Fairfield Indians begged for quar- ter. They said-what was probably true-that they were there only by accident aud had never done the English any harm, and that they only wished for the privilege of withdrawing from the swamp and leaving the Pequots to fight it out.

"Thomas Stanton, who knew their language, was sentinto the swamp with instructions to offer life to all the Indians who had shed no Eng- lish blood.

" When the sachem of the Fairfield Indians learned the terms pro- posed by Stanton, he came out of the swamp, followed by little parties of men, women, and children. He and his Indians, he said, had shed no English blood. But the Pequot warriors, made up of choice meu, and burning with rage against the enemy who had destroyed their tribe and driven them from their old haunts, fought with such desperate bravery that the English were glad to confine themselves to the border of the swamp.

" There now sprung up a controversy among the officers as to the best mode of annihilating the little handful of Pequots. Some advised that they should plunge into the swamp and there fight theu. But the ex- periment of Davenport discouraged others from so foolhardy a course. Others suggested that they should cut down the swamp with the hatchets they had brought with them ; others, that they should sur- round it with palisades. Neither of these propositions was adopted. They finally hit upon a plan that was more easily executed. They cut down the bushes that grew upon a little neck of firm upland that almost divided the swamp into two parts. In this way they so lessened the area occupied by the Pequots that by stationing men twelve feet apart it could all be surrounded by the troops. This was done and tlie sentinels all stationed before nightfall. Thus keeping watch on the borders of the morass, wet, cold, and weary, the soldiers passed the night under arms. Just before day a dense fog more than shrouded them in almost total darkness. A friendly mist it proved to the Pequots, for it doubtless saved the lives of mauy of them. At a favorable moment they rushed upon the English. Capt. Patrick's quarters were first attacked, but he drove them back more than once. Their yells, more terrible from the darkness that engulfed the scene of the conflict, were so unearthly and appalling, the attack was so sudden and so well sustained, that, but for the timely interference of a party sent by Mason to relieve him, Patrick would doubtless have been driven from his station or cut in pieces.

" The siege had by this time given place to a hand-to-hand fight. As Mason was himself marching up to aid Patrick, the Pequots rushed upon him from the thickets. He drove them back with severe loss. They did not resume the attack upon the man who had recently given them such fearful proofs of his prowess, but turned upon Patrick, broke through his ranks, and fled. About sixty of the Pequot warriors escaped; twenty lay dead upon the field ; one hundred and eighty were taken prisoners. Most of the property that this fugitive remnant of the tribe had attempted to carry with them fell into the hands of the English. Hatchets of stone, beautiful wampnm-belts, polished bows, and feathered arrows, with the utensils employed by the women in their rude labors, became at once, as did the women themselves, the property of the con- querors. The captives and the booty were divided between Massachu- setts and Connecticut. Some were sent by Massachusetts to the West Indies, and there, as slaves, dragged out a wretched yet brief existence. Among the captives taken in this battle was the wife of Mononotto and her children. With much dignity, she begged them to save her honor inviolate and to spare her life and that of her offspring. She had been kind to the girls who had been taken from Wethersfield, and for this she and her little ones were recommended-not in vain-to the mercy of the Governor of Massachusetts."

Thus ended the Pequot war, this being the last stand made by the tribe against the allied powers of Massachusetts and Conneetieut.

The advent of Roger Ludlow was an important epoch in the history of this town. He saw with that intuitive glanee eharaeteristie of the man the natural

279

FAIRFIELD.

advantages of this seetion, and, comparatively speak- ing, the war-whoop of the conquered Pequots had seareely died away ere the great lawyer and statesman had bade adieu to the comforts and conveniences of his home at Windsor, and with a few pioneers was thread- ing his way through the wilderness, anxious to rear

eivil division of Connecticut. Ludlow settled on the premises now occupied by Mrs. John Gould.

INDIAN TREATIES.

The first treaty with the Pequonnocke Indians for lands in this town was consummated May 11, 1639,

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their homes on the fertile lands at Unqowa .* These were soon after joined by a number from Watertown, Mass., and not much time elapsed ere, under the wise guidanee of Ludlow, the little plantation grew into a large town, and has ever sinee remained an important

and ten years later, June 24, 1649, a second treaty was made for lands extending from the southwest bounds of Stratford, six miles along the sca-eoast, to the Saseo fields, and six miles north into the country. The quitclaim deed to these lands was given March 16, 1656, and February 11, 1661, the Sasco Indians

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280

HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

gave a quitclaim deed to the Sasco lands. The boun- daries of these lands were "from the southwest bounds of the land called Ungowa to the northeast bounds of the land called Maximus (Bankside), and straight up into the country six miles."

The deed to these lands were given in consideration of "thirty coats, 2 yards apiece of cloth, and the same in wampum." This was signed by Ponocamus, Min- koe, and James, and witnessed by Wenans and Mana- chem. In deeding these lands the Indians always reserved " the liberty of fishing, hunting, and fowl- ing in any river or stream within the town bounds, only they were not to set traps to the injury of the cattle." The Fairfield planter always pursued a hu- mane and equitable course in dealing with the In- dians, and it was agreed that "the Indians should have a certain amount of land within the English bounds set apart to them to plant on for their liveli- hood."

In 1668 a tract of land lying along the northern portion of the town was purchased. This was called Northfield. Soon after, a number of small lots were laid out along the coast; extending across the town north of these were a tier of pasture lots ; north of the pasture lots a half-mile common, and north of the common were laid out the long lots reaching as far north as the present Redding Centre. These "long lots" werc about eleven miles in length and a few rods in width. Six hundred and fifty acres were reserved for church purposes, and three hundred and twenty- five as school land.

In 1680 a quitclaim deed was executed by the In- dians to all the lands which had been purchased, of which a fac simile is given on page 279.

THE FAIRFIELD PATENT.

The following is a copy of the patent granted May 25,1685 :

" The General Court of Connecticut have formerly granted to the pro- prietors of the inhabitants of the town of Fairfield all those lands, both meadow and upland, within those abutmeuts upon the sea towards the south, about seven miles in breadth, and in length from the sea into the wilderness twelve miles, aud upon Stratford bounds on the east, and the wilderuess north, and on Norwalk bounds on the west, only a parcel of land between these bounds and Saugatuck River, that is likewise granted to the said Fairfield; provided the said Saugatuck do not exceed two miles from the bouuds of the said Fairfield, the said lands having been by purchase or otherwise lawfully obtained of the Indian natives, pro- prrietors; and whereas the proprietors, the foresaid inhabitants of Fair- field, in the colony of Connecticut, have made application to the Gover- nor aud company of the said colony of Connecticut assembled in court, May 25, 1685, that they may have a patent for confirmation of the afore- said land, so purchased and granted to them, as aforesaid, and which they have, and stood seized, and quietly possessed of for many years last past, without interruption; now for a more full confirmation of the aforesaid tract of laud, as it is butted and bounded as aforesaid, unto the present proprietors of the said Township of Fairfield, in the possession and enjoyment of the premises, know ye that the said Governor and company assembled in General Court according to the commission granted to us by His Majesty in our charter, have given, granted, and by these promise to give, grant, ratify, and confirm unto Major Mather Gold, Mr. Samuel Wakeman, Mr. Jehu Burr, Mr. John Burr, Mr. Thomas Staples, Mr. John Green, Mr. Joseph Lucknow, Mr. John Wheeler, Mr. Richard Hubbell, Mr. George Squier, and Mr. Isaac Wheeler, and the rest of the present proprictors of the Township of Fairfield, their heirs,

successors, and assigns forever, according to the terms of East Greenwich in Kent, in free and common sosage, and not in capitte, nor by knight's service ; they to make improvements of the same as they are capable according to the custom of the country, yielding, rendering, and payiug therefore to the Sovereign Lord the .King, his heirs and successors, his due according to charter.

" In witness whereof we have caused the seal of the colony to be here- unto affixed the 26th of May, 1685, in the first year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord James the Second of England, Scotland, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c.

"By order of the General Contt of Connecticut.

(Signed) " ROBERT TREAT, Gov., " JOHN ALLEN, Sec."

THE DEPARTURE OF LUDLOW.

Through the wise guidance of Mr. Ludlow the little plantation increased in importance, and nothing of any particular consequence occurred until 1665, when the border settlements were thrown into a state of excitement caused by the belligerent attitude of the Dutch and Indians.

"Fairfield having demanded protection from the government of New Haven, and receiving none, held a town-meeting, and unanimously resolved to send troops and carry on the war themselves indepen- dently. This action of the inhabitants seems to have incurred the displeasure of the government. Their conduct was treated as reprehensible and seditious, and Robert Bassete and John Chapman were charged with " fomenting insurrections and were treated as the leaders of the project. Ludlow must have known that these accusations were aimed at him, as he was the principal man of the town. He felt that he had, without any moral guilt, incurred the displeasure of the colony, and that, unless he should make some humiliating concessions, his behavior would not be likely to escape public censure. It was quite evident that his popularity had already reached its meridian. Proud and sensitive to a high degree, he brooded over the change that had taken place in his prospects, as well for promotion as for usefulness, and at last came to the conclusion, not without many keen regrets, to leave the colony where he had held so conspicuous a place for ninetcen eventful years. On the 26th of April, 1654, he embarked at New Haven with his family and effects for Virginia, where he passed in obscurity the remainder of his days."

THE REVOLUTION .- THE BURNING OF FAIRFIELD.

The first reference to the war of the Revolution is under date Dec. 29, 1774, as follows :

" At a Legal Meeting of the Inhabitants of the Town of Fairfield, held by agreement on the 29th day of December, A.D. 1774, Ebenezer Silliman, Esq., Moderator, this meeting having duly considered the Agreement and Association entered into by the Continental Congress Lately held at Philadelphia, do heartily approve thercof and adopt the Same, And take this opportunity to Express their most grateful sense of the good services of the worthy Delegates from this Colony who attended said Congress; and pursuant to the Eleventh Article, said Agreement and Association, make choice of the following Gentlemen to be a Committee for the pur- poses therein mentioned, viz. : Gold Selleck Silliman, Jonathan Sturges, Job Bartram, Andrew Rowland, Samuel Squier, Janathan Bulkley, Elijah Abel, Iucrease Bradley, Eliphalet Thorp, Aaron Jennings, Benjamin Lacy, Daniel Wilsou, Azariah Odell, David Hubbell, Zalmon Bradley, John

281

FAIRFIELD.

Hlubbell, Thomas Cuble, Joseph Hunford, Stephen Gorham, Thaddens Burr, Jonathan Ferris, David Dimon, John Wilson, Joseph Strong, Albert Sherwood, Moss Kent, Samuel Wakeman, John Squier, Ichabod Wheeler, Ebenezer Bartram, Jonathan Dimon, Jabez Hill, George Burr, Hezekiah Hubbell, Benjamin Wheeler, Joseph Hide, Jeremiah Sher- wood, Daniel Andrews, Hezekiah Bradley, Joseph Bradley, Ephraim Lyon, and Jolin Allen.

"Voted, That if any Person or Persons Shall, directly or indirectly, with intent to divide, disunite, or otherwise prevent us from Strictly comply- ing with and conforming to said Agreement and Association, Publish, Vend, or Sell, or otherwise dispose of Any Books, l'amplilet, or publica- tions iu the Town directly tending thereto; Sueli Person or Persons Shall be dealt with and exposed in the same wayward manner as is pre- seribed in said Eleventh Article for such Person or Persons as violate said Agreement and Association.

"Voted, That it is expedient a County Congress be held to advise and Consult on the most effeetnal measures to carry the said Agreement and Association into Exeention.

"Voted, That Col. Gold S. Silliman, Jonathan Sturges, Andrew Row- land, Esq., Mr. Job Bartram, and Thaddeus Burr be a committee to attend at Same at Such Time and place as they shall appoint, agreeable to the other Towns in this County who shall adopt said measures.

"Voted, That Col. Gold S. Silliman, Jonathan Sturges, Andrew Row- land, Esq., Mr. Job Bartram, and Thads Burr, Esq., be a Committee of Correspondence for this Town.

"Ordered by this meeting that a Copy of ye foregoing votes be sent by the aforesaid Committee of Correspondence to one or more of the Printers that they may be made be Publiek.

"Test: NATHAN BULKLEY, . " Town Clerk."

The following is a copy of a letter sent from Boston to the "Patriotic Inhabitants of the Town of Fair- field :"

" BOSTON, Nov. 24, 1774.

"GENTLEMEN,-The Testimony which the Patriotie Inhabitants of the Town of Fairfield have given of their attendance to the Common and Glorious Cause of Liberty by their liberal Donation of Seven hundred and fifty bushels of Grain by Capt. Thorp has afforded much Comfort, as well as Seasonable Relief, to their friends in Boston, who are now Suf- fering under the Cruel Rod of Ministerial Tyranny and Oppression.

" The Sympathy of our friends is a great Support to us under onr Tryals, notwithstanding the greatness and severity of them ; and we trust, through the favor of our God, We Shall be enabled to persevere in our Opposition to the Enemies of America, and so Answer the Hopes and Ex- pectations of our friends of Whose generous Donations We trust We Shall ever retain a greatful Sense.

"We are particularly obliged by the Assurances you give us that you are not insensible of our snfferings, and tho hope you express that you shall yet consider your Selves bound to afford us Such Succor and Relief as your Circumstances and our Wants may Demand.

" May a Kind Providence bountifully reward your liberality and kind- ness, and the Blessings of him that was ready to perish come down and rest on the heads of the generous Inhabitants of the Town of Fairfield.

" We hope the inclosed Acet. of the manner in which the Committee are distributing the Donations of our Friends and Benefactors, in whose cause (as well as our own) this Town is Suffering, will meet with your Approbation, as it will afford great satisfaction to

" Your Obliged Friend & Humble Servts.,

" Henry Hill, by Order of Committee of Donations.

"To Jona Sturges

at Fairfield :

634 Bushels Rye

116 Bushels Wheat

750 Busliels.

Reed 3 pr Shoes of Capt. Thorp

"To Mr. Jonathan Sturges

and others Committee for Collecting Donations in the Town of Fairfield,

Conneetient.

" Pr. favor Capt. Stephen Thorp."

" The above is a true Copy of the Origll Letter & Subscription.

" Recorded pr. Nathan Bulkley, Town Clerk, Dec. 19th, 1774." 19

THE BURNING OF FAIRFIELD.

The following account of the burning of this town is taken from the historical address delivered by Rev. E. E. Rankin, D.D., at the Fairfield Centennial Com- memoration, in 1879 :

"On Saturday evening, the 3d day of July, the British fleet weighed anchor off the port of Whitestone, eleven miles east of New York. During the spring it had made a destructive raid upon Virginia, and returned lu time to aid Gen. Clinton in his successful assault upon Verplanck's and Stony Point on the Ist of June.

" Tho New York Sons of Liberty had been informed of preparations for a fresh departure, and sent couriers to New London to warn that city of the coming invader.

"Sunday, the 4th of July, was a warm, calm day. Our people were In their churches, and the vessels eould scarcely have appeared in view be- fore the night eame ou. The light breeze had no power to move them swiftly on their course. There were two large men-of-war, the 'Camilla' and 'Scorpion,' and forty-eight row-galleys, tenders, and transports. Sir George Collier commanded the fleet and Gen. Tryon the land forces, about 2600 in number. Brig .- Gen. Garth had special charge of the Ilessian regiments, the Landgraves and Yaegers. The English forces consisted of two bodies of Fusileers, the Guards, the Fifty-fourth regi- ment of foot and the King's American regiment refugees enlisted in the British army. Early on Monday morning the squadron came to anchor near New Haven, where, on that day and Tuesday, the troops pursued their desolating work. On the evening of Tuesday the fleet left New Haven, and during that night was moving toward Fairfield, About four o'clock of Wednesday a gun from the fort on Grover's Ilill announced its approach, but it seemed to be passing by, and about seven o'clock the people who were anxiously watching it were rejoiced to see that it was steering westward, proceeding, as they thought, to New York. Soon after a very thick fog came on, during which the vessels were obsenred from view, but when this dispersed, between nine and ten o'clock, it was seen with consternation that the whole fleet was under our western shore, where they came to anchor at the Pines, which have since die- appeared, a little to the east of Mckenzie's Point. From Geu. Tryon's report it appears that he, with the main portion of the troops, landed there, and that the Hessians, under Gen. Garth, made their disembarka- tion at the water front of Saseo Hill, over which they marched to take possession of the western section of the town.

"Tryon, with the troops immediately under his command, marched along the beach and turned up the Beach Lane, somewhat galled by the guns of Grover's Hill. They pursued their way to this point where we are now assembled, and where, on the site of our town-hall, the court- house was then standing.

"The British general was guided by George Hoyt, who was brother-in- law of Mr. Benjamin Bulkley.

" His house, since demolished, stood on the ground where Mr. John Glover has his home, and Gen. Tryon made his licadquarters while here. With this, the dwellings of Capt. Maltbie, Justin Hobart, and Nathan and Peter Bulkley were saved from the fire. These are now in the possession of Edmund Hobart, Miss Hannah Hobart, and the Denison estate.

"The lino of the conflagration extended from Mrs. Gould's house to Mill River, in the vicinity of Perry's Mill, including both the streets and their immediate neighborhood, and extended westward through the lower road at Green's Farms.

" To silence the guns at the fort where Lieut. Isaac Jarvis had a gar- rison of twenty-three men, a galley had been dispatched, but altlongh there was constant firing throughout the night of Wednesday, and ser- eral detachments of troops tried to take the fort by assault, it was gal- lantly defended and held ont to the end.

" As the troops marched np toward the centre of the town young Sanı. Rowland, then ten years of age, saw them from the steeple at the Epis- eopal church, but he was soon sent home from his dangerous position, and his grand-children to-day repeat the story they heard in their child- hood from his lips. Mrs. Gen. Silliman, from the home of her temporary widowhood on Holland Hill, heard the first guns of the conflict and set ont for a safe asylum in Trumbull, where a few weeks later her second son, the distinguished Yale professor, was born.

" Before the landing was effected, Mrs. Esther Jennings, the young wife of Peter Burr, went early to the pasture fields near Mckenzie's Point and drove the cattlo there feeding to a safe refuge on Greenfield Hill. Thither and to Fairfield Woods many of the little children, with much furuiture, were removed in carts und chaises, while some of the

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282

HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

women remained to guard the dwellings. The company who had charge of a field-piece wheeled it to a good position on Burr's highway. The men in the village and farm-houses grasped their muskets and ammu- uition, and rallied under command of Col. Whiting at the rendezvous on Round llill.

"Tryon's march to the green was the signal of their resistance, and a small company, under Capt. Thomas Nash, made a brilliant attaek upon the English troops, firing from behind the fences, and killing a few who were laid in shallow graves by their comrades on the meeting-house grounds. These afterwards were removed to permanent rest in our ancient cemetery.

" About this time it would appear that the first honse was fired, the one belonging to Isaac Jennings, on whose site Mrs. Esther Huntington now lives. Then came the flag from Gen. Tryon and the reading of that address of which 1 have spoken. Col. Whiting sent back this spirited reply :

"'Connecticut having nobly dared to take up arms against the cruel despotism of Britain, and as the flames have now preceded the answer to your flag, they will persist to oppose to the utmost that power exerted against injured innoeence.'

"In resistance of an organized army who held possession.of the town, it was impossible for the militia to concentrate an effectual force. The night was coming on,-that Wednesday night of the 7th, which wit- nessed scenes of del auchery and cruelty such as Fairfield has never known at any other period of her history. The IIessian general held the western portion of the town, and his regiment of Yaegers are de- scribed as skulking and yelling like the wild savages of the forest. The detachments broke up into small squads, and some of the governor's guards engaged in a dance in the Sun Tavern on the green. Most of the soldiers were passing in little companies from house to honse, pil- laging and wasting provisions, breaking up glass, earthenware, and fur- niture, stealing the watches, jewelry, and shoe-buckles from the persons of women, taking from them even their aprons and handkerchiefs, and with oaths and ribaldry grossly insulting them. Many soldiers were drunk with liquor or strong eider they had stolen. Tryon reports that they lay on their arms during the night, and Dr. Dwight, who was not an eye-witness to those scenes, describes in eloquent language a terrific thuuder-storm. Enough it is for us to hear the guns thundering through all its dark hours in the defense and attack of the little fort, and to see one after another of the pillaged houses fall before the flames which the British general's troops had kindled. The burning cinders that fell that night, wet with the tears of women theu made homeless, must ever in the record of history blacken Tryon's name.

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History of Fairfield County, Connecticut : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 70

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