History of Litchfield county, Connecticut, Part 117

Author: J.W. Lewis & Company (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1532

USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > History of Litchfield county, Connecticut > Part 117

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The persons who associated themselves together to form the legal corporation or society were Fitch Fer- ris, Harman Peet, Edward Thorp, Oliver P. Root, John P. Camp, Jonathan C. Stevens, Abraham Thorp, ¿ prietorship of the paper, intrusting the management Alfred C. Isham, and R. S. Potter.

The parish being weak, and partially dependent on missionary aid for support, has been served in connec- tion with other points, and not unfrequently vacant. The mission was begun, and parish was organized by Rev. Mr. Fash, succeeded by George L. Foote and William Atwell in 1847. These two held services every other Lord's Day until Easter, 1850. From this date until Easter, 1854, the Rev. G. II. Nichols, of Salisbury, ministered to the parish. From Easter, 1854, to Easter, 1855, Rev. HE. V. Gardner was the rector. The Rev. II. S. Atwater had charge for the greater part of the two succeeding years, in connec- tion with St. Andrew's Church, Kent.

Since 1858 the following have been in charge: 1860-6I, Rev. Clayton Eddy ; 1863, William Wil- liams ; 1865, H. C. Stowell ; occasionally, C. I. Pot- ter. In 1871, Rev. Elisha Whittlesey became rector,

and during the six years of his rectorship he rejuve- nated the whole work and renovated the church building, making it both comely and comfortable. In July, 1877, he was succeeded by Rev. Harry L. Bodley, who is rector at the present time.

Only one of the original signers of the articles of association remains with the parish, Mr. Oliver P. Root. The others have died or removed. The pres- ent wardens are Joseph W. Peet, Senior Warden ; Miles T. Granger, Junior Warden. The vestrymen are ---- Watson, Samuel A. Bennett, Jacob B. Harden- bergh, and Henry G. Williams, Clerk and Treasurer.

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

The origin of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Canaan, Conn., should be dated as far back as the pastorate of Rev. David Phillips, in the year after 1866. He is properly the founder, though the church build- ing was not commenced until the year after his removal. Under the administration of his immediate snecessor, Rev. M. R. Lent, the building of the edifice was begun and completed. It was dedicated on the 16th day of January, 1868, and cost eleven thousand and fifty dollars. The present trustees are D. P. Strong, J. S. Corbit, N. C. Ward, E. S. Roberts, and J. L. Bragg. The present membership is one hundred and fifteen.

The following is a list of the pastors : Revs. David Phillips, 1866; Marvin R. Lent, 1867-68; William Hall, 1869-71; John II. Lane, 1872-74; Robert Hunt, 1875-77; E. H. W. Barden, 1878; W. A. Mackey, 1879-8I.

THE CONNECTICUT WESTERN NEWS

was established at Salisbury, July 14, 1871, by Joseph L. Pease, as a neutral journal devoted to local inter- ests. In October, 1876, it was moved to North Ca- naan, as being a better business location in point of accessibility. The editor and founder, Mr. Pease, died on July 30, 1878, and his widow retained pro- to John Rodemeyer, Jr., until its purchase by the present owner, Hon. J. B. Hardenbergh, a prominent lawyer and ex-State senator, which was effected Dec. 1, 1878. The News has a circulation far in excess of the average country journal, and ranks among the first throughout the county. It publishes each year a daily edition during the week's session of camp- meetings at Pine Grove, in the vicinity of Canaan, having established the custom in 1877.

Canaan is a pleasant village, with churches, numer- ous stores, two hotels, and a newspaper, and is an im- portant station on the Housatonic and Connecticut Western Railroads.

East Cannan is a small hamlet in the eastern part of the town, and a station on the Connectient Western Railroad.

THE NORTH CANAAN SAVINGS BANK

was incorporated in 1872. The first officers were M. T. Granger, President ; F. Watson, James A. Under-

· Contributed by Rev. Il. I .. Bodley.

486

HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

wood, N. C. Ward, J. W. Peet, Trustees. The present officers are F. Watson, President; P. C. Cummings, Vice-President; N. C. Ward, James A. Underwood, George W. Cowdry, J. W. Peet, Trustees. Amount of deposits, seventy thousand dollars.

HOUSATONIC LODGE, No. 61, F. AND A. M.,

was organized in May, 1869. The charter members were William L. Twiss, R. Van Deusen, George H. Cook, Edward D. Norton, H. Root, S. C. Beckley, J. B. Hardenbergh, J. A. Underwood, C. A. Morris, H. H. Cogswell, H. J. Mead, Benjamin Benedict, W. McIntyre, A. E. Yale, S. A. Bennett, Nelson Clark. "The first officers' of the lodge were W. M., J. B. Har- denbergh ; S. W., Samuel C. Beckley ; J. W., Hiram H. Cogswell; Treas., Robert Van Deusen ; Sec., Theodore F. Watson ; S. D., Samuel A. Bennett ; J. D., P. Kilburn Cogswell; S. M. C., Henry J. Mead ; J. M. C., Warren McIntyre.

The present officers are as follows: W. M., Henry J. Mead ; S. W., William Walter ; J. W., H. Macrae ; Treas., J. A. Underwood ; Sec., R. Van Deusen ; S. D., L. Lindsey ; J. D., J. F. Homan ; S. S., D. L. Peirce ; J. S., A. T. Roraback ; Tyler, S. Mallory.

MILITARY RECORD.

Canaan responded promptly to the call for troops during the late Rebellion, and the following is the list of volunteers :

Rev. James Deane, Isaac F. Daboll (died), William Twiss, Edward D. Lawrence, Albert P. Briggs, Miles H. Day (died), Amos L. Ives (died), Edward H. Roys, Samuel S. Beach, Henry Sims, Sydney Ilart, Frank A. Cummings, P. C. Cummings, Eugene Decker, Philander Em- mons (died), William Gorman, Bennet Hines, James Mullen, John W. Coon (died), Walter D. lloag, John Lemley, John Rodemyer, John Carrol, Abram Coons (died), William Linahan, Ilenry Root (died), Ensign Butts, Fred Reill, Robert Gardner, Alfred June (died), William Hart, Heman Il. Coons, Charles Long, Neziah Demars, Patrick McGrath, Thomas Noonan, Edward Morton, Alexander Waters, Allen B. St. John, James Keith, Gen. H. Morgan, Charles Thompson, John Warner, Samuel T. Rowlson, William II. Morris, James Linahan, Charles Morris, James Reill, Ira C. Bailey, Burton B. Everts, John Hillyer, Edward Fuller (died), Jacob Scamerhorn, James F. Bigelow, surgeon.

Col. David S. Cowles, a native of the town, son of Rev. Pitkins Cowles, entered the service as colonel of the One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Regiment New York State Volunteers, and was killed at the assault on Port Hudson, May 27, 1863. At the breaking out of the Rebellion he was a lawyer in Hudson, N. Y. He was a grandson of Ebenezer Smith, a captain in the army of the Revolution, a right-hand man of Gen. Washington, in whom he reposed so much confidence that he placed Maj. Andre after his capture under his charge.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

WILLIAM BENNETT.

William Bennett, of North Canaan, Conn., is a son of Samuel and Lydia (Paine) Bennett, and was born on the farm where he now (1881) resides, in North

Canaan, Conn., Dec. 27, 1809. The grandfather of William was Abijah Bennett, who was born in New Milford, Litchfield Co., Conn., married Abby and had children, one of whom was Samuel. The father of Abijah was an early settler in Milford, Conn., and a farmer by occupation.

Abijah Bennett was a blacksmith by trade and a Revolutionary soldier. He settled in Canaan (now North Canaan), Conn., in April, 1806, with his family, and continued to reside there till his death.

Samuel Bennett, son of Abijah and Abby Bennett, was born in New Milford, Conn., Oct. 15, 1778 ; mar- ried Lydia, daughter of Barnabas Paine, for his first wife, and had the following children, viz .: Jarvis (deceased), Susan (deceased), Harriet (deceased), wife of J. W. Bostwick, of Syracuse, N. Y .; William, and Charles F. Mr. Bennett married for his second wife Falley Griswold, and to them were born one son, Samuel, an enterprising and respected citizen of Canaan, Conn., and a soldier, an officer, in the great civil war. Samuel Bennett, Sr., settled in Canaan, Conn., in April, 1806, where he owned a very large tract of good land on the Four Corners, within the present limits of North Canaan village. He was a Whig and Republican in politics, and died, October, 1865. His wife died in 1841.

William Bennett received a common-school educa- tion, supplemented with a few terms at an academy. He was reared a farmer, which business he has con- tinued to follow successfully. He has been quite extensively engaged in buying and selling stock, which, added to his farming interest, has made him independent, and justly entitles him to be numbered among the most prosperous of Canaan's citizens. He owns the old homestead, which is beautifully situated. In politics a Republican.

He has been three times married, his last wife being Adeline Kellogg, widow of Charles Kellogg, and daughter of Maj. Peck, of Canaan, Conn. They were married Jan. 23, 1868.

CHAPTER XLVIII .*

PLYMOUTH.

THE settlement of New England dates from the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, Mass., in 1620. The first settlement in Connecticut was made in 1634 and 1635, at Wethersfield, Windsor, and Hartford. In 1640 people from Hartford came over the moun- tain, and commenced a settlement at Farmington, being the first in the State, away from navigable waters, and before we reach the thread of Plymouth history.

The original proprietors of the territory of the town were the Tunxis or Farmington tribe of In-

* Contributed by Rev. E. B. Hillard.

Doughty, Photographer, Winsted, Conn.

William Benneto

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PLYMOUTH.

dians. As early as 1657 some of the inhabitants of Farmington, on hunting excursions, had penetrated the wilderness .west as far as the Naugatuck Valley, and had discovered what they thought to be a mine of black lead, and applied to the Indian owners for the right to work it, which right was conveyed to them by the following deed, which is recorded in the Farmington records :

" This Witnesseth that Wee, Kapaquamp & Querrimus & Mataneage have sold to William Lewis and Samuel Steele, of ffarmington, A psell or A trackt of Land called Matetacoke, that is to ssy, the hill from whence Jobn Standley & John Andrews: brought the black lead & all the Land within eight: myle: of that hill : on every side: to dig : & carry away what they will & To build on yt for ye vee of them that labor there: & not Otherwise To improve: ye Land In witness whereof wee : have hereunto Set our: hands: & those: Indians above mentioned must free the purchasers from all claymes: by any other Indians:

" WILLIAM LEWIS, " SAMUEL STEELE, " The mark of KAPAQUAMP,

" The mark of QUERRIMUS,

" The mark of MATAUEAGE.

" Witness: JOHN STRELE.

" febuary : ye Sth 1657."

This is believed to be the earliest title of white men to the region. It embraces the entire territory of the town of Plymouth, the traditional site of the lead-mine being a little north of the Harwinton line, on the east side of the highway running past the house of Alfred Cleveland, in the woods, about half a mile back of his house. The marks are still appa- rent of roek-blasting, which could only have been for mining purposes. There is a spring which from time immemorial has borne the name of the Lead- Mine Spring.

No immediate settlement seems to have resulted from this discovery. The anticipations of wealth to be derived from the mine were not realized, and it was abandoned,-one of the earliest of the many mining delusions that have left their traces on the New Eng- land hills. The original settlement of the valley was begun down the river, at what was first known as Mat- tawuck, and afterwards as Waterbury. The interval on which that city stands seems not to have been dis- covered by white men till some sixteen years after the lead-mine deed was given, the first recorded re- port of it bearing date of Oct. 6, 1673.

At the October session of the General Court in that year the following petition was presented from twenty- six citizens of Harwinton :

" Octobr 9, 73.

shall take care of: & se not to trouble with farther Inlargements, only desireing your due consideration & a return by our Loving ffriend John Lankton."

This petition to the General Court was based on the report of a committee of their number whom they had sent to view the place, which report is as follows:

" We whos names are here under written, partly for our own satis- faction & for the satisfaction of some others, have been to niew Matita- cooke in referans to a plantation, do judge it capable of the Same.

" THOMAS NEWELL, SR.

" JOHN WARNER, SR.

" RICHARD LEMAR.

"Octtober : the 6: 1673."

Of the signers of this report, the second, "John Warner, Sr.," was the ancestor in direct line of the Warners of Plymouth, being the great-grandfather of John Warner, the third deacon of the Northern Church. The third signer, "Richard Lemar," was the leader of the first company that went over the East Mountain from Farmington in 1686, and made the settlement at the Great Swamp, now Berlin. Of him the following singular incident is recorded in the old Farmington Church record, in the handwriting of Rev. Samuel Hooker, first pastor of the Farming- ton Church, illustrative of the hardships and perils of those carly times. It is in the form of a note ap- pended to the entry of the baptism of his daughter :

"On the same day that this child was born, the father, viz., Richard Le- mar, went early into the woods to look for horses six or seven miles off; found and followed them homeward, but had liked to have perished ero he got home; wny so feeble that he remembered nothing of coming down the East Mountain, hls sight and memory nud strength in a manner gone. But God, who lendeth the blind in a way that wo know not, directed him to Jolin Norton, Jr., who was thrashing lu his barn, and he took him in, put him to bed, called friends about him, who were diligent in the way and menns for his relieving. After some time spent betwixt hope and fear as not knowing whether he would die or live-he lay in a and man- ner, grating his teeth, and eyes rolled In his hend-it pleased God that ho rovived and came to rights again. The day In which this followed wu June 8, 1823, a snowy Saturday, especially the latter part of It. Hnd the man not been directed home, in all likelihood he had perished in the wilderness, and perhaps have been so far covered with snow as not to have been found till wild fowls or beasts had preyed on him."

In response to the above-named petition, the Gen- eral Court appointed a committee to view the lands at "Mattatock," and report "whether it be judged fit to make a plantation." This committee reported to the General Court at the next or May session, de- scribing favorably the lands, and concluding with the expression of their "apprehensions that it may ac- commodate thirty families." It proved to be equal to the accommodation of several more than that number. The committee in their estimate of the capabilities of the valley took into account only the land, the river being reekoned an obstruction and a peril rather than a resource. In the result, Mattatuck, like most of the manufacturing towns of New England, has been saved, ns was Noah and his family, "by water" rather than by land. The present population of the city of Water- bury is upwards of twenty thousand.

The early history of the town of Waterbury, in which Plymouth was originally included, has been fully written and need not be repeated here. Suffice

" TO THE HONORED GENERAL COURT NOW SITTING IN HARTFORD :

" HONORED GENTLEMEN AND FATHERS,-We, being sensible of our grent need of a comfortable subsistence, doe hereby make our address to your- selfs In order to the Same, not Questioning your enre & faithfulness In ye premises : also hoping of your freeness & readyness to acomidate your poor suplicanta with yt which Judge to be : In your hands: acording to an orderly proceoding, wo, therefore, whose names are hereafter Insertod to liumbly petition your honors to take cognisance: of our state who want Land to Labor upon : for our subsistance, & now having found out a track at a place called by ye Indians Matitacooke : which we aprihend miny susfetiently acomidate to make a small plantation : we are there- foro bould hereby to potetion your honors to grant va ye liberty of plant- Ing ye same, with as many others as yt may be : capable comfortably to entertain & as for the purchasing of ye natives with your alowance we

488

HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

it to say that the General Court, upon the report of its "viewing" committee, granted the petition of the Farmington people, authorized "the settling of a plantation at Mattatuck," and appointed a committee " to regulate and order it." This the committee pro- ceeded to do. Articles of association and agreement, bearing date of June 6, 1674, were drawn up and signed by the proposed settlers. A site was selected for the village; and after a delay of three years, cansed by the great Indian war of New England, known as "King Philip's war," in 1677, a settlement was begun.

At the outset the "Grande Committee," as the com- mittee of the General Court appointed to superintend the settlement was called, ordered that, " for benefit of Christian duties and defense against enemies," the inhabitants of the new plantation " should settle near together." Accordingly, prior to the year 1700, all the inhabitants lived in the town centre or its imme- diate neighborhood. But as the lands at the Centre were taken up, the new settlers had to find room in the remoter parts of the town. It is not till 1725 or 1730 that we get trace of settlers in the northern part, and here the history of Plymouth as a distinct com- munity begins.

The first settler of the town, so far as known, was Henry Cook. He came with a family about 1728, and had a farm on the west bank of the river, not far from the Litchfield boundary. He was the great-grandson of Henry Cook, of Plymouth, Mass., before 1640. He had a grandson, Samuel, who was one of the last pensioners on the roll of the Revolu- tionary war, and who lived to be over one hundred and five years old. John Sutliff appears to have been the next settler. He came with a family from Branford about 1730, and built on the west side of the river on what is known as the West Branch. These two men are mentioned in a vote of the town of Can- terbury, Dec. 14, 1730, providing outside schools, as living at " Wooster Swamp," a term by which all the northern and northwestern part of the town was de- signated. Mr. Sutliff was a leading man in all the early history of the new community. After him came Thomas Blakeslee, Northbury's first "captain," an office in that day second in rank and honor only to that of minister ; Isaac Castle, from Westbury ; Bar- nabas Ford, the chief land-owner, from Wallingford ; Gideon Allen, from Guilford ; John Humaston, from North Haven ; Ebenezer Richason, from Westbury ; Lieut. John Bronson, from Canterbury ; Samuel Towner, Ebenezer Elwell, Jonathan Foot, and others. These were called "up river," or " northern people," by the inhabitants at the centre of the town, and they soon began to organize as a distinct community.

In all the early New England towns the first move- ments towards distinct organization were in the direc- tion of church privileges. The earliest organization was ecclesiastical. The first public body organized was the church. The first public building erected -

was the meeting-house. The first public officer pro- vided for was the minister. As an old writer says,-

" In the first Settlement of New England, when the people judged their number competent to obtain a Minister, they than Surely seated themselves, but not befors, it being as unnatural for a right New Eng- land man to live without the minister as for a Smith to work his iroo without fire."'

The earliest history of the town, therefore, is the history of the church. This is true of the early his- tory of Plymouth. No sooner had the "northern" in- habitants become numerous and strong enough to do something independently for themselves than they began to move for independent religious provision, independent of the church at the centre of the town, to which, by law, they were required to pay taxes for the minister's support. At first, in 1732, they joined themselves with the " northwestern" inhabitants, now Watertown, in the endeavor to obtain independent " winter privileges,"-that is, the privilege of hiring a minister to preach among them during the winter months, with exemption, during the period, from parish rates at the Centre. But soon after the settle- ment west of the river, settlers began to locate on the hills east, and before long the west-side settlers found it for their advantage to combine with their east-side neighbors, and the united sections began to act to- gether as one community.

In 1734 they opened their campaign for independ- ence. In October of that year Henry Cook, Ebenezer Elwell, and Samuel Towner, on the ground of their living so far from the meeting-house, requested the town to allow them and others to hire preaching the ensuing winter, and to abate their parish rates while they should thus hire. The town curtly voted "to do nothing in the case." Two years later, Sept. 27, 1736, Thomas Blakeslee, Henry Cook, Jonathan Cook, John How, Jonathan Foot, John Sntliff, John Sut- liff, Jr., Samuel Towner, Samuel Frost, Barnabas Ford, Ebenezer Elwell, Gideon Allen, Isaac Castle, Daniel Curtis, and John Humaston, fifteen in number, united in the following touching appeal to the town :

"To the inhabetance of ye town of Waterbary, convened in town- meting, Sept. 29, 1736.

" Whair as it is well known to you all that we, whose names are hearunto affixed, have our place of abode at such a distance from ys fixed place of publique worship io this town, and that ya circum- stances of ya way ars such as yt it is with difficulty yt we come to ya house of god at any time of ya year, and especaly in ya winter season is extreamly dificult and sumtimes wholy imposable, and being much con- sarned for our poor children, yt they also might have ye opportunity of atending ya publick worship of god more conveanantly, and nothing donting of your rendiness to shew cindness to us and to our children, we do therefore hearby pray and ask for yor wilingness consent and appro- bation, yt al those who live within Bounds hearafter mentioned,-that is to say, begining at Deep reuer and runing westrly to yo line stated by ya town for ye northwest society, as may appear of record io Waterbenry, and from ya snid Deep roner eastwardly to ye north end of John War- ner's farm, at hancock's brook, from thenes a northeast line to farming- town line, and by farmingtown line to ye north end of Waterbary bounds, and then by ye lige of said bounds to lichfeald bonods, and fur- ther westwardly by lichfeald bonnds to ye west branch, may nt our own cost and charg have ya preaching of ye word of life among ourselves in ye thres winter months of desember, ienswary, and febevary, and ba freed from paing ministeriel charg with ye towo for ye said three

489

PLYMOUTH.

monthe (being wiling to pay our proprotien and ministeriel dues for ye other nine months of ye year), which privilidg to be enjoyed from year to year, and every year for such term of time as ye honourable generel asembly in their wisdom and goodness shall graut and determine, wherby you will much oblige your christian brethren aud neibours."

It would seem that such an appeal must have pre- vailed. But it did not. The original petition is in existence in the possession of B. B. Satterlee, Esq., through whose favor we are able to present it here. It is signed by each of the petitioners in their own handwriting; is inscribed on the back " Appeal to ye town."

"T'be within petition negatived att a towa-queeting in Waterbury, Sept. 29, 1736.

" Attest,

JOHN SOUTHMAYO, "Town Clerk."

But the petitioners did not give it up. Indeed, it seems, from some after action, that the town at this meeting did take some action in their favor. But whatever it was, the town either recalled or denied it, and the privileges asked for were refused. A month later, Oct. 26, 1736, the request was repeated, in writing as before, signed by twelve persons, asking that all living " within two and a half miles of Bar- nabas Ford's new dwelling-house" be allowed the privilege of hiring a minister for three years three months in each year, -December, January, and February,-with exemption from ministerial rates at the Centre for the time. The town voted to grant the request. But, as before, either through mis- understanding or change of views on the part of the town, the proposed exemption was denied, and the "up-river" people were back where they were be- forc. At a town-meeting, the next spring, April 18, 1737, "it was asked whether the said northern inhabitants shall be exempt from ministerial charge by the town for so much time as they shall hire a gos- pel minister among them, in addition to a grant made then, September 29th," and an answer was given by vote in the negative. Still the northern people did not give it up. Despairing of the consent of the town, they now, at the May session, 1737, applied by petition direct to the General Assembly, which in those days was supreme in affairs of church as well as State. They state they live "on a tract of land about five miles square, whereof Barnabas Ford's dwelling- house is the centre ;" that "the town voted, Sept. 29, 1736, that they might have a minister for three months for three years, with exemption from ministerial charges the said term ;" that they had supplied a preacher, and now are obliged to pay rates. They asked winter privileges, and the usual exemption from taxes. The petitioners are seventeen in number, the same as those who signed the petition to the town, on Septem- ber 29th, except that three new names, those of Amos Mathews, Ebenezer Richardson, and Phineas Royce, appear, and Jonathan Cook's does not. The town re- sisted the application, and it was denied. At the Oc- tober session of the same year, however, the petition was renewed, John Branson, Obadiah Warner, and

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History of Litchfield county, Connecticut, Part 117

Author: J.W. Lewis & Company (Philadelphia, Pa.) Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1532

Author: J.W. Lewis & Company (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1532